The puppeteer of Life
Chapter 1
"K-kakashi s-sensei, w-why!" shouted the blonde in a weird combination of anger, fear, hate, and sadness. This Blonde is none other than Uzumaki Naruto, also known as the kyubi jinchuuriki or otherwise just "The kyubi" or "Demon Brat". He is a 12 year old boy with sunkissed, spiky blonde hair with deep blue eyes and three wisker like markings on each cheek. He seems to be wearing a hideous orange and blue jumpsuit, but mostly orange with a weapons pouch attached to his right thigh. His normally innocent and sparkling blue eyes are now as dark and cloudy as a thunderstorm, raging in a battle between a collection of negative and painful emotions.
"What a demon, to think that he can actually speak even with my Raikiri pearcing his lungs, if not because of the damage, than the raw electrical currents I'm streaming throughout his body should have hindered his ability to even speak, much less scream so loud." Thought the above average height Jonin now identified as Hatake Kakashi with white gravity defying spiky hair and one dark eye, with his left eye being red with three tamoe. The man is dressed in the standard jonin outfit with a green flack jacket and black gloves with metal plates attached for protection.
"One of the first lessons I taught you was to always look underneath the underneath, Naruto, you should have seen this coming a mile, no, a million miles away. I expected you to at least have anticipated this, I find it hard to believe that someone who has lived the kind of life you have led could be so naive and ignorant, to think that a blind fool like you wanted to be hokage is an insult to the title itself.."
"Shut Up! T-teme...Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon and betray their comrades are worse than trash, wasn't that also one of the first lessons you taught us, ne Kakashi SENSEI!" screamed the blonde in anguish and hate, having started off in barely decipherable whispers.
"Very true, I'm actually glad that you could remember this lesson, Naruto, that is exactly why I am doing this, I am taking out the trash that is holding our team back, so that we may reach our full potential." Said the copy nin without so much as a flinch from the jab from his student, soon to be former student.
"Cough Cough, what..~cough~ are you talking about?" asked the blonde in between coughing fits.
"Naruto, let us travel back down memory lane, do you remember when I was defeated by Zabuza, when he captured me in his water prison, tell me, did you honestly believe that me, The Legendary Copy Ninja, could have lost a battle so easily, without even at least injuring my opponent, especially after i had promised Sasuke that I would not fail to protect my comrades?" asked the copy cat, resisting the urge to smirk at the horrified look of recognition on the blonde's eyes.
"You..You...what do you mean?" asked the blonde, adopting an incredulous facial expression.
"And here I was thinking you had put 2 and 2 together, maybe I overestimated your limited IQ. Naruto, the person that was captured in the water prison was my shadow clone, which I had substituded myself with when Zabuza kicked me into the water, you get it right...I had counted on your promise to never run away that you made to yourself and your chronic need to show off, especially against Sasuke, your rival, and for Sakura, your crush. That desire for attention together with your stupidity would have driven you to attack first and head on and get yourself killed, imagine my surprise when I found myself having to switch back with my clone because you actually turned out to have a brain and rescued my shadow clone from Zabuza's water prison." Said the White haired Jonin, giving the blonde one his unnerving, intense stares.
"You...You were trying to get me killed and than save Sakura chan and Sasuke!" asked/stated the blonde in disbelief, his mask slowly but surely crumbling from the revelation.
'How is he still alive, how is he still even conscious, and asking me all these questions?' Thought Kakashi absent mindedly.
"Correct, why else did you think I only taught you the tree climbing excercise in wave country when I could have taught you all much earlier? Why do you think I entered you into the chuunin exams when you clearly were not ready for it? Why do you think I pawned you off to that useless Jonin Ebisu to train for the finals, Why do you think I taught Sasuke the chidori?" Asked the copy nin rhetorically.
"I thought..."
"Never mind, let me answer for you, it was a rhetorical question anyway.." stated Kakashi mockingly.
"I tried to get you killed by zabuza, but you came up with a plan and outwitted me. I didn't teach the team anything prior to that because i had been hoping to get rid of you first, I would than use your death as an excuse for the sudden change of attitude towards my team and train the remaining two to the best of my abilities. But I failed and you survived despite my efforts." Said Kakashi, pausing momentarily to give the blonde a chance to digest the information.
"I than entered the three of you into the chuunin exams, but not before teaching Sasuke numerous fire techniques from my arsenal and how to cast a genjutsu and copy techniques with his sharingan, and not before teaching Sakura trap making and setting and some low level genjutsu and how to heal moderate injuries without the use of chakra, once again I had hoped you would die in the exams because you were unprepared, and once again you defied the odds and came out on top against my best wishes." Said the copy nin venomously.
"But there was still hope when you were paired with Neji, the genious of the Hyuga clan who had raw skill, intelligence, and jonin level taijutsu and speed, and most importantly, who had displayed homicidal behaviour against his cousin and anyone who challenged his beliefs. I knew he would try to kill you if you were to be paired together in battle as you would obviously challenge his beliefs against what he did to his cousin, who also happens to be your classmate and friend, imagine my luck when it turned out you would be the first to fight, and against him of all people. So I pawned you off to a weak Jonin who hated your guts. But once again you saw through my efforts like the demon fox trickster you are and sought yourself a better teacher who taught you how to access your powers, and you used them to defeat Neji." Said Kakashi, glaring daggers at the demon for making a fool out of him like that.
"By this point I was confident in my suspicions, I had always known that that happy go lucky Hokage wana be attitude was fake, and looking underneath the underneath, I realised exactly why you wanted to be Hokage, you wanted to infiltrate the village hierarchy and destroy us from within to get your revenge, playing the innocent child all the way until you had the power that you required, you were trying to hide your true self, but your ability to not only see through my plans but to counter them so efficiently without looking too suspicious confirmed my thoughts. Even your win against Kiba was a well thought out strategy, using his nose against him to create an opening, under normal circumstances, people would write it off as the idiot naruto getting a stroke of luck, but I, being your sensei, and knowing how you countered my plans knew better, this was all part of your genious plan wasn't it, why else would you pretend to be something you're not?" asked Kakashi out loud, though the question was not directed at anyone in particular.
All the while Kakashi had been talking, Naruto had been silently listening, too shocked to react or say anything in retaliation, who wouldn't be in his place, how could one have expected someone they considered family to have thought so ill of them all this time, to have been deceived like this?
"But I had already anticipated everything you would do, demon fox!" snapped Kakashi hatefully, breaking the blonde from his stupor.
"On the off chance that you survived your battle against Neji, I had decided to teach Sasuke my prized technique, the Chidori, I knew that Sasuke would try to kill you at some point in order to activate his mangyeko sharingan so that he could gain the strength to defeat his brother, but I knew he would need a trump card to defeat a demon trickster like you, so i taught him the chidori, using the excuse that he would need it to defeat the unstable and homicidal Sabaku no Gaara, this way, he would stand a chance against you, it would also be poetic in a sense, if my technique would be used to end your existence."
"But once again you saw through my plan again, after witnessing the power of the chidori when Sasuke used it against Gaara, you convinced Jiraiya sama to teach you an equally powerful technique, the rasengan. When I found out about this when you fought Sasuke at the hospital, I was angry at Jiraiya sama and confronted him about teaching you the rasengan and almost gave my cover away, that's when I realised what you were doing, trying to expose me to get rid of me, but indirectly, frustrating me until I started acting out of character without even realising it, which could have had the result of people starting to become suspicious of my behavior. You would than use your current influence over the Hokage, Jiraiya sama, and the clan heirs to make me look like the guilty one, painting yourself as the innocent boy with a burden, who only wants to protect his precious people. When I realised how much control you already had over the village, the village that Minato sensei sacrificed his life to protect, I knew what I had to do, which is why we are where we are at this moment." Said Kakashi, ending his long explanation.
"You bastard, you won't get away with this! Baa chan will know, she'll know that you're lying, and Ero sannin will investigate, me and Baa chan have a bond, she is like the mother I never had, and ero sannin treats me like his own son, they'll know what happened, you're going to rot in jail you bastard!" shouted the blonde, steeling his resolve with that trade mark defiant look in his eyes, a look that silently infuriated the copy nin.
"Mother you never had? Father you never had you say, you don't know anything about them do you? About your so called God Father and God mother who abandoned you and wanted nothing to do with you? Or your twin sister and mother who deserted you on the day that you were born, do you...Naruto...?" asked Kakashi, silently revelling in the horror and grief stricken look on the blonde's face.
"I'm an orphan. My mother and father died as heroes in the kyubi attack, they loved me...t-they...they wanted to be with me, to raise me b-but..but they died ..unfortunately, that is what jiji said, so I know, I know you're lying, jiji wouldn't lie to me teme!" said the blonde softly, hyperventilating, whether because of emotional or physical distress, Kakashi honestly did not know, maybe a combination of the two.
"When you asked him what their names were, what did Sandaime sama tell you? When you asked him why everyone hated you, what did Sandaime sama tell you, huh...Naruto...?" asked Kakashi.
"Jiji didn't know their names, the records were lost during the destruction. W-what does that have to do with anything, who cares about that! You know about my parents? I want to know about my parents, tell me about my parents, teme sensei!" screamed the blonde in frustration and anticipation, maybe even a little bit of trepidation as well, fearing what horrible truths might be uncovered.
"You fool, how do you know if someone is a hero or not if you do not even know who they are? Did you honestly think it is possible for a Kage to not know the names of his own shinobi, his own employees? Naruto, I used to be one of the A.N.B.U that were occassionally assigned to watch over you, so i know better than anyone how many times you asked the sandaime why everyone hated you, he blatently lied to you every time you asked that question,. If he could lie to you about something that important, what made you think he wouldn't lie to you about your lineage? If it was up to him, if Mizuki had not told you, you still wouldn't know why everyone hated you, he never intended for you to ever find out anything?" said Kakashi venomously, causing the blonde to almost flinch at the hate filled eyes directed at him.
"No...he wouldn't...Sandaime jiji said he loved me like his grandson..he was the only one there for me.."
"Of course he was, demon fox...!" cut in Kakashi.
"He had to determine whether you had regained your memories or if you had any hold over your powers, but he couldn't behave too suspiciously, he couldn't directly interrogate you either, that would render the law he made about your existence irrelevant. So he did the next best thing, he earned your trust by pretending to be your grand father figure, at the time, the only interactions you had experienced with other people were negative memories. He would then be your light in the darkness, the person who treated you kindly and cared about you, the person you admired and wanted to emulate, the person you could confide in. This way, it would make it easy for him to monitor you, or rather, to monitor the seal and determine whether you were a threat or not, you get it right...no one has ever truly cared about you..." said Kakashi with absolute sincerity that not even the blonde, who was bordering on complete denial could ignore.
By now endless tears were freely flowing from the blonde's eyes, staining his cheeks and even his torn jump suit. He couldn't believe it, this man, this man had to be lying, this sounded too much like a movie, or a play or something, things like this didn't happen in real life did they? But how could he prove it to be lie? It made too much sense to be anything but the truth. But than...if this was true, what did that say about him? Was he really so stupid, so desperate that he couldn't even see what was always in front of him? He should have known better shouldn't he have? What had made him so special, that out of all the orphans in the orphanage, that the Hokage of all people would pay special attention to him, to go to such great lengths to befriend him? He should have suspected something, but he was arrogant, he had simply thought that the hokage had recognised his awesomeness, and that if the hokage could see it, than he could make everyone else see it too. What a gullable fool he was...but wait a minute...didn't Kakashi say something about his family, he wanted to at least know about that before he died, no..he didn't want to know about it, he needed to know about it, damn that Kakashi, he would force it out of him, if only he could tap in to some youki. But he couldn't for some reason, ever since he looked into that teme's sharingan ...
"I-I'm tired, please...just tell me...tell me about my mother, and sister, why did they abandon me, a-and who is my God mother,and God father? Why did they abandon me...cough cough...?" asked the blonde, not even looking at the Cyclops anymore, his eyes looking at the ground with his spiky, blonde bangs covering his eyes darkly, his forehead protector having slipped off of his head during his battle with his best...former best friend.
He could feel it, he was dying, his body was so...numb, yes, he was numb, he couldn't even feel his limbs anymore. His heart rate had slowed down and he was sure that the internal damage he had suffered would hard press even kyubi's healing ability to keep him alive.
"Your mother left you on the day you were born, demon. She took your sister away with her so that she can train her to be a strong kunoichi, come to think about it, they are supposed to come back two years from now." Said Kakashi.
"Why..w-why didn't they take me with them?" asked the blonde.
"To protect Naruko, if people knew that Kushina sama was raising the demon, than they would hate her too, and by extension, they would hate Naruko for being the sister of the demon, to protect her daughter, she decided that she would leave the village and come back when Naruko was strong enough to protect herself from anyone, and strong enough to protect her home village, just like her father did." Explained Kakashi patiently.
"F-father?" asked the blonde curiously.
"Yes, Namikaze Minato, my sensei, The Yondaime Hokage, otherwise known as the koroi no senko."
"W-what! Impossible, the Yondaime is my hero, the man i look up to the most, he would never seal a demon in his own son!" denied the blonde with renewed vigour.
"It was a no doubt a difficult decision, but sensei had trusted that your god father, Jiraya sama would take care of you, and as a fellow seal master, he would be able to ensure that the kyubi stayed locked away. Your mother, Uzamaki Kushina left you in her cousin's care, Senju Tsunade, but she also abandoned you, no one wanted to raise a demon it seems." Said Copy Ninja.
"Y-you keep speaking as if I'm the demon itself, and yet you were patient and generous enough to tell me about my lineage, why, if you truly believe I'm the demon, than why did you find it necessary to explain all of this to me?" asked the blonde softly. He couldn't find the strength to shout, scream, or curse anymore, his desire to hear the truth, to receive some form of closure was the only thing keeping him alive at the moment.
"Contrary to what you might believe, I'm not killing you out of revenge, at least it is not just revenge against you, demon.."
"Then why?" asked Naruto, not understanding at all.
"I cannot bare to see you use the body of my sensei's son like this, to watch Naruto suffer at your hands, by killing you, Naruto will be able to find peace in the afterlife, he will be reunited with his father and be freed from your evil, that is why I have taken the liberty to explain things to you, Naruto's spirit is still locked somewhere inside you, this way, he can at least know the truth about his family before he passes on, now die demon fox...Lightning Style: Lightning Blade Current!" said Kakashi, fully activating the modified version of his signature technique.
"GWAAH!" screamed Naruto in pain and anguish. He couldn't believe how much pain he was in, if he thought being pierced by the lightning blade was painful, than this was ten time worse. He could feel the electrical currents not just in the area surrounding his wound, but all throughout his body, it felt like every organ in his body...no, never mind that, it felt like every cell in his body was being electrocuted.
"Rest in peace...Naruto." whispered Kakashi before he kicked the blonde into the river, right between the statues of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
'I've done it, finally. I've killed the kyubi, freed your son, and protected the village, just like you did all your life, Minato sensei...' Thought Kakashi, feeling a mixture of relief, sadness and nostalgia.
"Argh!" grunted Kakashi in pain originating from his sharingan eye, it was the most burning sensation he had ever felt in his life, but just as it came, it was almost immediately gone in nothing but 5 seconds, making him question if it was ever there in the first place.
'No...something is different, my eye is draining a lot more chakra than it usually does.' Thought Kakashi, who had to suppress a gasp from leaving his throat when he looked at his reflection in the water. Something was different about his reflection, more specifically, something was different with his sharingan. Whereas before it was red with three tamoe , it now looked like the tamoe had been connected to form a black, three pronged shuriken.
'M-mangyeko Sharingan, but how, I'm not an Uchiha...' Thought Kakashi in bewilderment.
'I cannot let anyone find out about this, at least not yet.' Thought the cycloptic ninja as he deactivated his ultimate sharingan, covering up his eye with his forehead protector.
"Sasuke, we'll meet again, I'm sure of it. I'll save you from Orochimaru, I won't fail Obito, we'll definately meet again." Thought Kakashi out loud before he disappeared with a leaf shunshuin.
Scene change
With Naruto as he was sinking he did not feel anger or hatred or even betrayal, all he thought was
"finally, I am done with this charade, the boss can move a bit more freely in the shadows." yes you guesses correctly this Naruto was a bunshin, but not any kind of bunshin, a unique kind of bunshin that only Naruto was able to make. And so without a puff of smoke or anything the bunshin disappeared, passing the intel from his passing to the original.
Scene change
Kosanji den (High sacred montain den) is the house and domain of the fox clan, the first user's of senjutsu, while they are less known than the toads, they are without a doubt better at using senjutsu than the amphibians. But now on the mountain was not a fox but a man. Naruto is a tall, young man with tanned skin, grey eyes and long spiky blonde hair. His hair is left wild and has long bangs that frame the left side of his face. He wears a straw hat (called a sakkat) and white shitagi (under clothing), black kosode (small sleeve), black hakama, a white hakama-himo, white tabi (foot pouch), and waraji, and a white haori with long sleeves, on the back of said Haori was the red Uzumaki swirl. On his side is a standard katana, with a dark purple handle and a circular hand guard. Its name is Ryujin jakka. He was meditating when he felt the intel of his clone hit him, thankfully he had that fuinjutsu installer that only let him have the last 24 hours of the clones life, if he had to watch the whole eight years since he left konoha he would have killed himself. Smiling he looked behind to see his partner, kyubi or as she liked to call herself, Kurama, Kurama is a kitsune with red-orange fur and red eyes, it possesses the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. During the last remaining days of the Sage of the Six Paths, Kurama was much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage. Over time, Kurama's size increased tremendously, standing roughly the same height as the Hokage Rock, and Gamabunta being only the size of Kurama's torso. Its eye alone is bigger than a fully grown human. When Minato separated Kurama's Yin chakra from its Yang chakra, it was split into two entities, both of which are shrunken more than half its original size. But Naruto repaired that over two years ago when he released her and gave her back the chakra that was sealed within the Shinigami. She looked at the young man she nurtured since he was six years old, and she could honestly say that she was proud of both herself and of him. She saw him shift in his meditation so she asked
"what is the matter Naruto kun?"
"nothing just my clone had dispelled recently, all I need is some time to handle the stress of the memories, but do not worry the seeds have been planted as it was according to plan. I have to admit that for a jounin Kakashi was quite predictable."
"not everyone is capable of feeling other peoples' emotions Naruto, you have me to thank for that" blasted the bijuu which made Naruto chuckle before saying
"touché, now what do we do about both Sasuke and Kakashi?" asked Naruto
"Sasuke, as you know is the transmigrant of Indra just like Madara teme before him, we can't let someone with that kind of power unchecked so we should kill him right now, as for Kakashi, that brat is as reliant on his precious sharingan that in half a year, I can assure you he will have discovered the power of his Mangekyo and wether our hypothesis checks out or not we still kill him what do you think?" asked the bijuu and Naruto nodded his head before answering
"I agree in regards to Kakashi but for Sasuke, I think we should just let him be for now, with the seed planted in him, the little bastard is as good as dead, we can kill him any time we want, so let's leave him be for now and let's focus on more important matters like the situation in Kiri. The rebellion is winning thanks to our assistance but they need a little push, I suggest I return there to help with the preparations for Yagura's 'death' so to speak. What do you think Kurama kaa sama?" he asked the bijuu before she started glowing red, when the light faded, she was no longer a giant fox but she took the form of a pale-skinned young woman with icy blue eyes. She has long, crimson hair, which is partially tied up in the back in a long bun and falls behind her shoulders while a strand falls between her eyes, and is parted on the left side of her head by a blue, star-shaped hair clip. She wears a red kimono with large sleeves and a long hem, and has a pale yellow-green obi wrapped around her waist which is attached to a large, pale purple bow on her back. She smiled at her surrogate son before she said
"fine, but he will only have two years to live, passed that he is to be killed understood?" she asked Naruto who merely nodded before he remembered just how he met the bijuu.
Flashback start
Naruto opened his eyes. He didn't see the alley which was the scene of the current brutal attack to his person. No, he saw that he was in a sewer of some sort. He was currently lying down on a very wet floor. The walls were dirty with pipes all going to who knows where. It must have been a trick of the light but the pipes were glowing blue and red.
Despite popular belief, Naruto wasn't stupid. He was intelligent but he hid it since he didn't know how the villagers would take it if the most hated child in the Village Hidden in the Leaf had a brain between his ears. No, he hid it and kept on smiling like an idiot. Despite the beatings he got and the obvious hatred leveled at him, he held a child-like innocence hoping against hope that everything would turn out alright.
This current attack, however, was enough for him. No longer could he hold on to his innocence. This attack was more brutal than the rest and he couldn't deny the fact that the villagers this time was extra vindictive considering the type of weapons they were carrying and using at him.
Fortunately, or unfortunately in this case, one of the villagers who was beating the hell out of him with a rusty knife was able to voice out the reason of why he was being treated that way as each blow was dealt. It must have been the rage and anger that the villager was feeling that eventually gave way to the revelation.
He was the Kyuubi.
The demon.
The nine-tailed fox.
His intelligence, however, denied this as blows upon blows were rained down on him. He couldn't be the Kyuubi since he was his own person.
He was Uzumaki Naruto.
The village pariah.
He wasn't the Kyuubi and deep down, he knew this to be true.
He looked around and observed the place he was in. He knew that he wasn't in the sewers of Konoha. He knew the sewers like the back of his hand since the underground catacombs of the village was his safe haven and escape route when the mobs would start chasing him. He would look for the nearest manhole and jump in, making his way along the maze-like cavern until he reached the manhole that was near the Hokage Tower where he would immediately go to his surrogate grandfather, the Sandaime Hokage, for safety or his apartment where he would hide without a peep until the crowd grew tired of looking for him.
No, this wasn't the Konoha sewers that he grew to love. This was something else.
Not knowing anything else to do, he pushed himself off the wet floor and started walking. He didn't know where to go but he decided to just follow the pipes since they would eventually lead to somewhere. While he walked, he checked his body and was surprised to discover that the wounds and bruises that were supposed to be there were none to be found. He couldn't even feel any pain. He knew that he healed fast, but he knew that the healing wasn't that fast to get rid of the aftermath of the attack, especially one of this caliber. This was further made true when he discovered his clothes were still intact. His white t-shirt with the red whirlpool symbol in the middle was still in one piece and as clean as ever. His blue shorts were still there, protecting his modesty if he ever had one to begin with considering his status in the village. Modesty was for the privileged, after all.
He shrugged it off as one of life's many mysteries as he continued to follow the cavern to who knows where.
He didn't know how long he walked but he eventually reached the end of the metaphorical maze he was traversing. Naruto found himself in a large, spacious room. At the opposite side of the entrance was a very large cage with bars as thick as his malnourished body. In the middle of the cage where a lock was supposed to be had a square paper with the kanji of 'Seal' written in black ink.
Naruto's mind was whirling as to what the cage could be holding considering how fortified it was. In fact, the question of where he was currently at was pulled up again. But before he could do anything else, a powerful voice emanated from the darkness behind the bars.
"My container finally graced me with his presence." The voice growled from somewhere in the darkness and reverberated across the room, amplifying its intensity. "I was thinking that it would take a few years more before you would discover my presence but it seemed that the idiotic villagers have put you on the brink of life and death, forcing your consciousness to retreat deep within your mind."
Naruto didn't say anything but instead peered into the darkness to try to determine who owned the voice that spoke to him. It didn't take long for him to see a pair of gigantic eyes looking at him - a pair of red eyes that spoke of power and cunning that could never belong to a human.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked calmly. He was scared, sure, but he was tired of showing his fear. The current attack from the villagers hardened him to the point that his emotions were starting to become an echo, a memory that was better ignored or forgotten.
"Oh? Not scared are you?" said the voice, though this time; there was an amused quality to it as if it found his lack of fear laughable.
"I am scared but I'm tired of wearing my emotions on my sleeves." replied Naruto as he approached the cage though he stopped a few scant meters away from it before peering into the cage while willing the darkness to disappear so he could see who he was talking to.
"It seemed that the current idiocy of the villagers hardened my container." The voice mused though Naruto could feel a tinge of anger and rage behind it which confused him. Why was the voice angry that he was attacked?
"Container?" Naruto asked the voice.
"You already know who I am, boy." The voice growled at him. "I know that you have an intelligent mind, a prodigy you might say, that you chose to hide behind that stupid smile of yours. I know everything about you considering that I am inside you."
Naruto thought about what the voice said. The voice of the villager who mentioned that he was the Kyuubi echoed in his head. If the villager was correct then…
"Kyuubi?" Naruto asked while dread rose from deep inside his hardening heart. But despite the admission, which he instinctively knew was correct; he continued to hold his gaze at the menacing red eyes staring back at him.
Instead of an answer, the blonde could hear movement from deep within the cage. It didn't take long for the owner of the voice to show itself and Naruto couldn't help but stare at the powerful figure in front of him.
The owner of the menacing eyes was gigantic and the physical structure was something that he only read in books. The creature was covered in red-orange fur. The facial structure was that of a fox though the rest of body was of a human-like structure. Nine large tails were waving behind the creature as if it had a life of its own.
"You are correct, my container. I am the Kyuubi no Yoko. The nine-tailed demon fox." Said Kyuubi as it revealed itself to its container and looking down at Naruto with a shrewd grin on its face.
"Why are you here? Didn't the Yondaime kill you five years ago? Better yet, where are we?" asked Naruto as he coldly stared at the legendary creature in front of him. He knew that he should be scared considering the tales he heard concerning the beast trapped in the cage in front of him; but he wasn't. In fact, he was more curious than scared and it showed with a slight tilt of his head that made him look like a fox.
Of course, Kyuubi saw the gesture and couldn't help but give a fang-filled grin at the fox-like attitude its container was showing.
"To answer your question in order, I am here because I exist. The Yondaime didn't kill me but sealed me inside you since killing me was above his skills at that time nor it would ever reach such stage to deal me intense harm to purge my existence. And finally, we are inside your mind; or in this case, your soul." Answered Kyuubi as he sat down on his haunches, tails wrapped around him. The posture was intimidating, to say the least.
"My soul…" Naruto trailed off as he digested the information. "If that is the case then you're sealed inside me. Meaning, the villagers were correct in saying that I am you."
Kyuubi shook its head and released a growl of anger which was followed by a wave of red energy that pushed past Naruto though the boy stood his ground and refused to give in to the menacing power that threatened to engulf him.
"Don't insult me. You could never be me. Would a kunai placed in a storage scroll replace the name of the scroll? No human. You are not me. I am merely sealed inside you. You are my jailor, my container." Kyuubi explained with a growl.
Naruto simply nodded at the explanation, his mind already processing the possibility of having the most powerful bijuu sealed inside him. There were questions plaguing his mind and he knew that the fox wouldn't be forthcoming with the information despite it knowing what he needed to know.
"I see. So this is the reason why the villagers kept attacking me and showing me nothing but hatred." Naruto said coldly with narrowed eyes, his mind running through the memories of the experience he faced from the residents of Konoha.
Kyuubi looked at those cold eyes and couldn't help but shiver at the intensity behind them. The bijuu could see that the current attack, a step up from the previous attempt to destroy its container, hardened the child in front of him.
No, its container could never be considered a child. Despite the age, the child in front of him was clearly a man.
A man that grew up in hatred and suffering that no human should ever be forced to endure.
"You're correct, my container. However, that is neither here nor there. I'm sure you have questions in that prodigious mind of yours and you know that only I can grant you the answers you seek."
"Correct, Kyuubi. But I don't see you being forthcoming with the information unless you get something out of it. If you're really a fox then it would only stand to reason that you have the same mannerism as your animal kin." Naruto drawled, recalling the book on the various animals given to him by his surrogate grandfather when he was taught how to read while he was still in the orphanage. Of course, he picked it up rather quickly and his photographic mind processing all the information it contained and embedding it into his thoughts in crystal clarity.
Kyuubi was amazed. Gone was the child in front of him to be replaced by a cold calculating human who was forced to endure the harshness of life. This was going to an enjoyable relationship. The bijuu shuddered in pleasure at the potential the boy, no man, held in him; a potential that can only be rivaled by a tailed beast. Kyuubi couldn't wait to tell its container of his proposition and it knew that it would be well received.
"It seems that you know me well, my container. But despite what you think, my offer to answer your questions requires no payment. The 'seal' that keeps me inside you demands nothing less. You control everything and the only thing that was allowed of me by the Shinigami who supervised the sealing was access to your thoughts. The law of non-interference is in place and only you could lift it if you so desire." The Kyuubi explained to its contained with a fanged grin.
"I see. So you would answer all my questions despite your unwillingness to do so. Interesting." Naruto mused out loud while looking around the room he was in. He noted the dreary atmosphere surrounding him. If this was his mind the he needed to do something about it. "You said that this is my soul and my mind?"
"Yes." Kyuubi said with a nod, curious as to what its container was thinking.
The bijuu saw its container close his eyes followed by a deep concentration on his face. It was speechless when the cavern morphed into pure darkness. Gone was the sewer-like cavern. Gone was the cage that held him in place. It was like as if the two of them were standing in darkness with no solid footing whatsoever.
Slowly, the darkness receded to reveal a large forest. Great trees with heights that reached the heavens above surrounded the large clearing they were in. The wet floor was replaced by a grassy field with flowers dotting here and there to add to its overall beauty. The final change was a sudden heat that seemed to surround its neck. It didn't take long for a collar to materialize around it with a name tag with the kanji of 'Seal' on its face.
Kyuubi growled in anger at being treated like a dog, a pet. A memory surfaced from its mind. A memory of red eyes with three black tomoes before darkness claimed him before he was sealed into the child. It's moment of anger was dispelled when its container spoke.
"Interesting. You were right when you said that I control everything in this place, my mindscape, so to speak." said Naruto as he looked around before his eyes settled on the collar that the bijuu was wearing. "Now that is an interesting development. I didn't 'imagine' the piece of accessory on your neck. It seemed that there is more to the Shinigami's seal. No matter how much I change the looks of my mindscape, the seal keeping you in place would still manifest itself in one form or another."
Kyuubi relaxed after hearing that explanation from the blonde. Its container didn't purposely place the demeaning accessory around its neck. It would let this go since its container had nothing to do with it.
"You're correct, in a way." said Kyuubi as it lay down on the soft grass, inwardly relishing the feel of nature underneath him. It was so long ago that he felt such sensation from nature and welcomed it with child-like glee. The bijuu made itself comfortable and crossed its front paws in front of him as he regarded its container who was already seated on the piece of rock that materialized behind him. It couldn't deny the fact that Naruto was a prodigy if he could command such change within his mind in just a short span of time. Intelligent men couldn't even begin to grasp the control that the brat had. "So, boy. Tell me your questions and I will answer them to the best of my abilities."
Naruto stared at the fox for a few seconds before the first question of many escaped his lips.
"What's your name?"
Kyuubi was surprised at the question. The bijuu was expecting more serious questions but the boy asked its name first. Interesting.
"It seemed that you realized, how I don't know, that Kyuubi was a title and not my real name. I will humor you, human. My name is Kurama. A name given to me by my father."
"Father?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Yes, my father. The man that I owed my life to; the man that created me and the rest of my siblings; the man that is a legend of your kind; The Sage of the Six Paths, the Rikkudo Sennin."
Now this piece of information surprised the blonde. He read that the Sage of the Six Paths was the founder of Ninjutsu but he didn't know the real history behind the man and the tailed beasts.
"I think this would be an interesting story to tell." said Naruto, not voicing his intent on learning the truth of the tailed beast though he knew that the fox would eventually tell him.
"Indeed. If you're interested then listen well, human…"
"Naruto. If we are going to hold a decent conversation then you might as well address me by my name, Kurama."
Kyuubi nodded to the request.
"Naruto then. The story started with a great beast that ravaged the land when the Elemental Nations was still in its infancy. A beast that was even more powerful than I. The Juubi, the ten-tailed beast."
"Ten tails? Now that is one part of history that I haven't heard about."
"Of course you wouldn't since it happened a long time ago and was forgotten except for a few who loved to learn the true history of the world. But I digress, the Rikkudo Sennin, the man I considered as father, sealed the Juubi into his body, thus, making him the first jinchuuriki."
"Jinchuuriki? Is that the name of those who had a demon sealed inside their body?" asked Naruto while unconsciously placing a hand on his stomach, not knowing that it was there that the seal of the Kyuubi was located.
"Correct. But before I start, I commend you on having such knowledge. A five-year old such as yourself shouldn't know of such terms, more so understand them with ease." Kyuubi complimented its container.
"I grew up faster than most, Kurama. It is both a blessing and a curse to be born with a well-developed mind. It was wrong of me to hide it but I had no choice in the matter if I wanted to live. However, I don't think I have the drive to live anymore unless I find something that would push me to continue in this dreadful existence that people call life." Naruto said bitter, his face grew colder if it was possible.
"I have a proposition for you that you might find interesting but let me finish the story first since you expressed the desire to learn." said Kyuubi. Naruto nodded in agreement. "As I was saying, the Rikkudo Sennin, my father, was the first jinchuuriki which could be literally translated to 'Power of Human Sacrifice'." However, my father realized that the seal keeping the Juubi in place would shatter upon his death and release the demon again into the world of the living. So in order to avoid such powers from decimating the human race, my father used one of the techniques granted to him by the Rinnegan to separate the Juubi's chakra into nine entities. This gave birth to the tailed beasts that exist today."
"The Rinnegan?" Naruto asked curiously, unfamiliar with the word.
"The Rinnegan is the most powerful of the Three Great Eye Techniques that dwarfed the power of the Sharingan and Byakugan. According to my father, the Rinnegan allowed the user to have the power of Kami - the power of life and death, of creation and destruction. The Rikkudo Sennin used the creation powers of the Rinnegan to create nine living bodies to house the power of the Juubi, thus me and my brothers and sisters were born."
"Interesting. I never knew that there were other eye techniques aside from the Byakugan and Sharingan." said Naruto as he rubbed his chin, an action that Kyuubi found weird considering that said person doing it was a boy. More like a man trapped in a boy's body.
"There are other eye techniques aside from those three, minor ones with minor abilities that merited no distinction from the Great Three."
"I see. Thanks for answering my question, Kurama. Please continue."
"Anyway, the human race is prideful at best and couldn't stand the thought of having entities more powerful than them so thus began their goal to capture our powers and seal them into humans that they could control. However, we were too powerful for them and only father's descendants had the power to truly control us if the need arises."
"Descendants? The Rikkudo Sennin had children?" Naruto asked in excitement. This was a piece of history that no longer existed and he craved to learn more.
"Yes. It was hidden from the human race that the Rikkudo Sennin fathered three children who became legends in their own right. These three children were blessed by father with his own powers which manifested differently in all three of them. The firstborn was the father of the Senju Clan who inherited father's calming presence. This was the reason why Senju Hashirama had the power to subdue and calm us even when under the fit of rage. His Mokuton bloodline was the manifestation of father's power in him."
"The second born was the father of the Uchiha Clan and was gifted with father's eye, though it mutated to become the Sharingan as it is known today. The eye held its own unique abilities depending on the owner's power and mindset but its ultimate power towards the tailed beast was to put us in an illusion to trigger the rage we inherited from the Juubi. However, such power was sealed until the Sharingan's ultimate level is unlocked."
"Finally, the youngest son was the father of the Uzumaki Clan and gifted by father's god-like body. This was one of the reasons why the Uzumaki Clan was the fit holder of the tailed beast since they inherited the Sage's tolerance towards the bijuu's potent chakra. A side-effect to this is their healing factor and potent chakra reserves which you display in abundance, as well as their longer life span."
"So you mean that my ability to heal rapidly from the various wounds I sustained from the attacks was because of the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline?" Naruto asked, mind already processing the information Kurama imparted to him.
"Yes and no. You have the healing factor that is unique to your clan alone but it was further amplified by my presence inside you. It is known for a jinchuuriki to display the traits of the tailed beasts inside of them, like Shukaku's jinchuuriki who had complete dominion over sand and wind."
"So what did I get from you if each jinchuuriki displayed unique traits according to the bijuu sealed inside them?"
"Aside from the boost on your healing abilities that would be an invaluable asset in the battlefield, you have the ability to properly to reach a certain level of master over your regeneration that you would become a pseudo immortal. Hell is you work hard enough you can literally slow your aging process or even halt it."
"Hmmm… that is interresting, but that is not all you are offering me is it?"
"Correct. I also offer to teach you how to use chakra at its fullest, I am one of the oldest beings alive in the world and I was sealed inside two other Uzumakis so I should be able to impart some of their knowledge on you, but we must keep this a secret for now at least."
"I agree with you there. There are only a few I trust in this village - the Hokage which I treat like a grandfather, the Ichiraku Family, and some of the shinobis in the village who protected me from the attacks." said Naruto as he mentally listed the few people who he considered precious to him.
"I know. As I told you, Naruto, I have access to your memories so everything that you experienced is known to me."
"Hmmm." Was Naruto's reponse before nodding. "So, Kurama, when would this lessons begin?" asked Naruto with a little bit of excitement in his voice.
"As soon as you're ready, Naruto. But I suggest that we hold that thought for now since it's time for you to wake up."
Naruto agreed with that. He could sense his consciousness inside his mindscape wavering, meaning that he was waking up in the real world. He gave Kurama a smile which was his true smile.
"Thank you for being forthcoming with me, Kurama. I will see you soon." said Naruto before disappearing from the midscape. He opened his eyes in the real world and found himself in a familiar room with white-washed walls. He turned his head to see the Hokage looking at him with a worried look on his face.
Flashback end
And that was the start of Naruto's training, and boy was the bijuu a slave driver, she thought him an old way of using chakra. You see in the old days people did not categorize jutsu under any of the current branches, they had three categories so to speak
Burst: In summation, Burst is the ability to manipulate the world around one's own self. In essence, a person is able to channel and manipulate chakra or matter in the surrounding environment. In essence all ninjutsu fall under this categorie.
Trance: At its most basic form, it is the ability to manipulate the minds of others. So far, it has been used to read minds, "dive" into memories and force the target to see illusions. The Yamanaka clan hijutsu and genjutsu fall under this categorie.
Rise: Rise is used to manipulate any of the user's senses. Rise powers can be further subdivided into three types: Sense, Strength and Healing
Sense-type Rise: This type increases either any one of the 5 senses or all of the 5 senses of the user (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch) to extraordinary levels and also increases the user's reflexes. The yondaime raikage A was a prime exemple of that with his Raiton no yoroi.
Strength-type Rise: This type focuses on the user's physical body, increasing the body's physical strength, speed and endurance. It can simply be referred to as Super Human Strength. Tsunade Senju used a bastardised version of Strength-type Rise with her super strenght technique.
Healing-type Rise: This type ties into Strength-type but focuses more towards the body's endurance. When trained properly, the user can reduce the amount of damage being taken and how long it will take for their body to recover from damage such as a large cut or bruise. There are also other types of people who can "share their rise to another person and heal their body instead of their own", one of the most known user's of this type of rise was the Shodaime Hokage Hashirama Senju.
What made this type of chakra training was that a person was attuned to a certain type of manipulation, of course he could use the other two but they will never achieved the mastery over it like their primary type of manipulation. Fortunately for Naruto he was a Rise user specialising in healing type Rise. That meant that Kurama drilled him in physical conditioning. The bijuu also analyses his chakra and found that he had the same type as his mother's, but unlike hers that created chains, his took the form of Seeds of chakra which can be planted in any spot to "take root". They can also take root in human bodies. From there many things are possible. They called it Seimei no Ki "Tree of Life". Also thanks to Kurama he unlocked an ability of the sensing skills of the Uzumaki clan the ability of empathy and thanks to said ability he saw the thrice colors of Hiruzen Sarutobi, while the elder Hokage respected and cared for him somewhat, he only saw him as Konoha's weapon and jinchuriki. That allowed the blonde to make his decision to leave konoha.
Flashback start
In Naruto's rat infested shithole of an appartement, Naruto was busy preparing himself for leaving Konohagakure no Sato, it had been one year since his meeting with Kurama and the bijuu gave him the OK to leave konoha, sealing all his belongings in a sealing scroll which he sealed on his body, he then took a chakra seed inside his hand and put it on the ground, he went through some handsigns and finishing with a modified ram sign, he yelled "Seimei no Ki Mandragora bunshin "Tree of Life Mandragora clone". One of the first jutsu he created, by charging a chakra seed with his chakra he could create a solid clone of himself, teh clone had some his abilities, and while it might not be combat based, it still could not be dispelled even with a killing blow, all that would do was make it a corpse, the ideal jutsu to either fake your death or have it replace you. He then turned turned to the clone and slammed his hand on the clones stomach, an intricate pattern appeared on its stomach, looking a lot like a Hakke no Fuinjutsu Shiki, at the same time Naruto sealed a bout six tails of bijuu chakra inside the clone to keep him from dying easily. He looked at his creations and said
"you know what to do." the clone just answered and took a scroll wich it sealed in the wall under the graffiti.
"hai boss." and like none the wiser and with the jinchuriki of the kyubi left Konoha under the cover of the night, while the rest of Konoha was celebrating the kyubi festival.