AN: This story is filled with my own characters mostly, and has a deep plotline underneath the whole thing. I ratede it M because I was worried that some of the later on events might push the T rating, and because this is supposed to be a violent, emotional fan fiction. I hope I can do it justice. I tried to put lots of hints for the people who are looking for them, so keep your eyes peeled. Also, for those who are curious, this prologue starts roughly 65 years before Naruto is born. Also, note that the names are in traditional Japanese format, e.i. family name, then first name.

Part 0: Prologue

The creature of darkness fell to its knees, its opposite made of white light falling with it. The writhing tentacles of the dark one gave a final twist as they, and the other being that they penetrated, slowly faded into a mist, which drifted towards the heavens. Soon, the destruction of the land was the only sign that they had ever been there, the torn trees and scattered craters turning the moonlit land into a strange and foreign country. The nine masked figures standing watch stood as still as statues, until one of them finally spoke.

"That was unexpected," said one of the nine.

"Unexpected?" replied another. "It was a disaster!"

"Calm yourself," spoke the third. "Anger will not help right now."

"But what went wrong?" asked the second. "There was only supposed to be one of them. Where did the other come from, and why did it appear?"

The fourth one to speak said one word. "Balance."

"I see," the fifth commented. "There are two sides to the whole, the light side and the dark side."

"And you can't draw from one side," the sixth continued, "without drawing on the other."

"Then what do we do?" questioned the seventh of the masked people.

"Either we solve this problem," said the eighth of them, "or we form a new plan." Immediately, all of them began to argue over what to do. Only the ninth, who had yet to speak, remained silent. After a few moments of talk, he raised his hand. Quiet instantly descended. As his hand fell back to his side, he spoke.

"We shall seal the two into several objects. When the Dark side has grown strong enough, we will release them, and the battle will begin. Ninth of Nine."

The fourth one to speak replied, "Yes?"

"You will oversee their growth. Insure that when the time comes, they will be ready."

"Of course, First," the Ninth of Nine responded.

"The rest of us will meet in one week to discuss what each of us will do to help the process. The meeting will be at our sixth meeting location."

"Yes, First of Nine," the others replied. One after another, they began to disappear, the Ninth of Nine leaving first, until the First of Nine was the last one left. He stood staring at the gibbous moon for a few minutes, the moon light shining on his black metal mask, which covered his whole face except his eyes. His green eyes burned with desire, looking like two emeralds in a sea of shadows.

"Soon, the world will tremble. Soon, I will know absolute power." With a flick of the wrist, he created a disk of energy in the air before him, hovering a few inches off the ground. He stepped onto it and floated off into the darkness.

~Fifty Years Later~

The Yurokage stared grimly at the letter he had received only moments before from a messenger. He betrayed little emotion on the outside, but his thoughts were quiet different. How dare the Reo Clan defy me! They have served me for years, always performing the jutsu to save the village. Now, they warn me to evacuate the island, because they will not do it anymore? I will have to do something about this. He turned to Thean Wan, his right hand man. "Assemble every shinobi, genin to jounin, that isn't part of the Reo Clan. I want them to destroy that clan, down to the last member. Their bloodline limit is inhuman, and I have had it with their insolence. Do it now."

A look of pain passed on Wan's face, but he nodded. "Yes, Yurokage. As you command, so I do." As he started to leave the room, the Yurokage spoke once again.

"Also, send in Henrt Kunio and I would like to speak with your son as well. His name is Yane, right?"

This time, Wan looked startled. "Y-yes it is. Why do you want to see him?"

The Yurokage smiled. "You don't think I would hurt your son, do you?"

Wan was quick to answer. "Of course not, but it is unusual, the Yurokage wishing to speak to a three-year-old boy. I will send for them at once." With that, he left the room, but not before the Yurokage saw concern cross his face. Ah, Wan. So blind in his obedience. Always does as he is told, and acts quickly. The Yurokage wished he had more such men. But the Yurokage's thoughts were interrupted by Kunio's sudden appearance.

"You sent for me, Yurokage." It was not a question, it was a statement. Kunio rarely asked questions.

"I did. I have a job for you. Wan is leading a task force against the Reo Clan, but I fear his feelings will betray him. Please make sure he does his job."

Kunio simply nodded. He received this sort of mission from the Yurokage all the time. If Wan was his right hand, Kunio was the dagger hidden up his sleeve. Kunio walked out, as a chunnin, Sone Mara if his memory was correct, escorted the young Thean boy into the room. Yane stared around the room, which looked more like a practice field than an audience chamber, and followed her.

"Leave us," the Yurokage said to the chunnin. She nodded and left with a "Yes, Yurokage." When they were alone in the room, the Yurokage got up and performed a quick genjutsu on the boy. In his mind, he and the Yurokage were now having a nice talk together. In reality however, eight black masked figures stepped out of a door behind the Yurokage's throne. The Yurokage slipped his own mask over his face.

"Let us begin," said one of the nine masked figures, his green eyes staring at the young child.

~Three Hours Later~

Thean Wan ran through the trees, doing his best to stay ahead of the person following him. The child clutched in his arms was only about 12-years-old, and didn't truly know what was happening. She kept asking him questions like "Who are you?" and "Where are we going?" Wan hopped she stayed quiet enough that the person following him wouldn't hear her. He finally made it to the farm house he had been heading for, and quickly handed the child to the man and woman, both good friends of his, and left, changing direction to throw his follower off the path of the house if he could. Soon he could hear the person behind him. And that's when it hit him. There were nine of them.

AN: Alright, I know, no jokes in the reviews about the whole "Soon the world will tremble." line shortly followed by a fifty year time jump. I'll explain why that works in chapter 2 or 3 (depending on when I cut off chapter 2. I'm still debating). oh, and in case you're wondering, I'll be bringing some of the Konoha gang around in chapter 2.