AN: Hello and welcome to my first (second) Fic ever! I say first because although I have posted one other fic before, this is essentially the same fic, although it has enough changes and improvements to be a separate story on its own. I began this fic a while back and never really finished it. However I wanted to continue to write so I looked up some challenges on FanFiction. One of them caught my eye and gave me new ideas and realising what I could do with this fic I rewrote it and included some new points and better editing.
As a result this was born, a challenge fic in response to the challenger, Juggaloworldorder. Criticism is welcomed, flames are publicly destroyed in the review response on the next chapter and ideas are great! Lets begin!
A Journey to the Sun - Prologue (Part 1)
"Aniki where are you?" whispered an eight year old Sasuke, tears tracing lines in the soot on his face. Around him there were fires burning, the smell of wood smoke and burning flesh scorched the inside of his nostrils, while dark smoke billowed from one side of the Uchiha compound out into the starry night, fire causing flickering shadows to dance across the pavement. He could hear the screaming of women and children and battle cries of men. All were silenced with a short scream or a gurgle of blood, maniacal laughter echoing throughout the compound.
"Aniki!" he called slightly louder this time "Help me!"
"I'm here otōto!" Sasuke turned to find Itachi covered in soot and many small cuts running towards him with his sharingan activated. "I'm coming!" he called again the sounds of battle emanating from behind him. As soon as Itachi reached his little brother he bent down to one knee looking him over with a practised eye. "Are you hurt badly anywhere?" he asked quietly checking his arms and quickly applying a small amount of healing chakra to the numerous cuts on Sasuke's forearms.
"I'm fine Aniki nothing to bad."
"Good. We need to get out of here and quickly. Are you OK to walk?" Sasuke replied with a weak nod as he stood up. Itachi immediately grabbed his elbow and lead him away from the fires, towards the Forrest.
"Aniki, where are we going? What about otou-san and okaa-san? Why are we leaving them?" Sasuke asked despondently, still shocked that someone was attacking the Uchiha's and winning. 'How could this happen?' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Why is this happening? Who is so powerful not even Aniki can stop them?'
Quickly Itachi grabbed him and jumped them both over the compound wall before continuing to run towards the forest. Before he entered the trees shadowed confines Sasuke turned to look back at his home only to see a figure standing on the wall closest to them, starring at the fires raging all over the complex. Just before the first tree obscured his view the figure turned to them and Sasuke clearly saw a single sharingan eye on the left side of the man's face.
_-~Ayshun dragon~-_
As Kakashi ran through the Uchiha compound slaughtering everyone he saw, he began to see him in all of the Uchiha's he killed and couldn't help but feel guilty. You have his eyes; he thought to himself, you all have his eyes. You have his blood. Kakashi licked some blood of a kunai he had used to cut another Uchiha's throat. And now I do too. I have his blood in me. I have something else of his also. I have his eye, don't I? Yes I am sure i have his eye. Kakashi turned on his mangekyou sharingan and looked a woman in the eye. "Tsukuyomi "he said in a voice filled with malice and hatred and quickly caused the woman to experience 72 hours of continuous rape in a matter of seconds where she collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Yes I'm sure I have his eyes. Yes and they all have his eyes as well don't they? He thought as he knelt to cut the woman's throat. Quickly he turned and block a small volley of shrunken with his kunai, before rushing into the small group, cutting tendons and arteries, necks, wrists or simply disembowelling them.
Kakashi quickly shunshined towards a wall on the far side of the Uchiha complex, before turning slightly to look at the forest. His one sharingan eye soon locked on to two figures running into the shadows of the forest. The smaller one, who he could now see as Sasuke, had turned around to see him. Ah, to the prodigy and his otōto have run I see. Well the younger one does not seem to have activated his eyes yet so I will let them go.
Kakashi turnedback to the compound and glared with hatred at anything in sight. But not the rest of them, no they deserve this. Kakashi made a ram seal and pushed a small amount of chakra into his hands, before jumping away in the direction of hokage tower. Behind him, all of the explosive tags that he had placed around the compound exploded destroying everything and everyone left inside the walls.
_-~Ayshun dragon~-_
A young boy was woken his slumber by the pounding of feet on the roof of his apartment. Being a shinobi village, all roofs were constructed extremely strong to prevent a shinobi from falling through if they pushed off a little too hard. Naturally, if you're going to do something you do it all the way and almost every roof was also soundproof as well. I say almost because of one Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and martyr of Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves. It just so happens that the repair men that were almost daily coming to this apartment due to… outstanding circumstances, absolutely despised the boy and 'fixed' his roof. Of course being on the outskirts of town, this wouldn't really affect Naruto, unless someone happened to be called for an assignment at the hokage tower, and they just happened to be sent towards the rich part of town in the south, and it just happened that the most direct direction was right over his roof.
Sadly, that was exactly what happened, much to the annoyance of Naruto, who after much tossing and turning decided that he was not going to get any more sleep that night and was better off training. Slowly rising out of bed and quickly changing into a white shirt with the symbol of the Konoha leaf on it, as well as navy blue shorts and the standard blue ninja sandals. Grabbing his worn pouch full of rusty kunai, he ran out the door in the direction of one of his 'secret' training spots, a small lake a little over a mile from his apartment. If he hurried, he would get there in about ten minutes and still have a little over two hours before he would have to return in order to make it in time for the academy.
Nodding to himself as if he was deciding on a plan of action, Naruto quickly ran down the narrow alleyways and side streets until he came to one of the roads leading to the section of the wall that he had discovered a hole in. Quickly passing by the road that went to the Uchiha and Inuzuka clan compounds, he snuck past some of the ninja that were running towards the clan compounds and crawled through the hole that was covered by a small bush.
_-~Ayshun dragon~-_
Itachi continued to run even after almost two hours of fighting and a half hour of sprinting. Long ago Sasuke had collapsed due to fatigue and quickly fell asleep. Itachi was now carrying him on his back heading towards a small lake he had found on one of his ANBU patrols. Seeing the reflection of moonlight off the water Itachi sped up wanting to get the next part of his mission over-with as soon as possible. Reaching the shore in a short amount of time he gently laid Sasuke on the grass. "Otōto, wake up, you must help me with this mission." gently shaking him on the shoulder Itachi then stood up and looked back towards the forest scanning for any hint of pursuing shinobi.
"What is it Aniki?" Sasuke asked groggily
"Sasuke I need your help with an S-class mission. Can you help me?"
"An S-class? You want me to help you? What could I do?" Itachi just looked sadly at his little brother for a moment before continuing.
"My mission is to tell you everything you need to live. Otou-san ordered me to complete this mission so it is not official but that doesn't mean it's any less important OK? Before you say anything i must warn you that everything i say is considered an SS-class top secret, the same class as him.
"Same class as who Aniki?"
Itachi smiled sadly at his brother. "That's the secret otōto. Now are you sure you can help me?" Sasuke nodded quickly and looked up to his Aniki expectantly. Little did either of them know that there was another person on the shore of the lake.
Naruto quickly jumped from tree to tree heading towards his secret spot. As he thought about the shinobi that looked so panicked, he saw the lake up ahead and he sighed in contentment. He was in his secret spot, happy to be away from the villagers and now as he entered the moonlight, content to be alone. However as a cloud passed across the moon, he saw two figures, one shorter than the other. As he carefully crawled towards the branches of the forest, trying not to make any sound, one of them spoke.
"I must start from the beginning" he heard the taller one say. "It started eight years before now, not far from this day, when the kyuubi attacked. Do you know the story otōto?"
"Ya I do Aniki" replied the smaller one. Naruto had stopped just under the shadow of a tree. As the moon appeared from behind the cloud, he heard the smaller one continue. "The Yondaime killed it with a jutsu that took his own life right?" he heard the taller one chuckle lightly.
"Yes that is what otou-san told you weren't it? But it's not the truth." he heard the smaller one gasp and Naruto shifted slightly so that he rested comfortably in the roots of the large tree. "Yes otōto. The truth was hidden from everyone who didn't already know. The sandaime created a law that stated if anyone spoke of this secret to anyone who didn't already know they would be put to death." Naruto wasn't shocked by this as he had heard ANBU talk to mobs about 'the law', but the smaller figure gasped loudly and began to question the taller figure who, as Naruto had figured out earlier when they had called each other 'Aniki' and Otōto', was his older brother.
"But Aniki aren't you gonna tell the secret to me? What about the law! You'll be killed!" Naruto heard the taller one chuckle but heard no happiness in it. Before continuing he saw the older brother reach into his kunai holster before pausing and bringing his hand back out with nothing in it.
"Don't worry about it otōto. By morning we won't have to worry about it anymore. No to continue with my story, the Yondaime never killed the kyuubi." he held up his hand to stop his little brother who was obviously going to ask a question. "No he never killed it. Instead he used a fuinjutsu to seal the demon into a container. However it wasn't a normal sealing scroll or even an object. Instead he used a newborn child." Naruto was frozen starring at the two figures on the edge of the lake. "The boy had just been born and taken away from his mother to be used as the container for the demon. People like him are called jinchuuriki. This boy, this jinchuuriki, is still alive today, still holding the kyuubi back from destroying the village. He is a hero. He is also your age. I want you to make friends with this boy OK?"
"Of course Aniki I'll try my best, anything to help your mission but, who is this boy? What's his name?" Naruto looked towards the taller figure, eyes never leaving his head, both fearing and expecting an answer.
"That boys name..." the taller figure looked directly at Naruto eyes glowing red with the mangekyou sharingan, and he stared back, knowing only one person with those eyes. "That boys name was Naruto" he felt tears beginning to stream down his face, both happy that he knew the source of all his pain, and horrified at being the container for a demon. The man's mangekyou turned slowly as he said something that would change both boys forever. "Tsukuyomi" and Naruto fell down into a world of red skies and black ravens.
_-~Ayshun dragon~-_
As Naruto woke up he found he was tied to a wooden cross. Around him he saw ravens, black as night, cawing loudly at him. As he tried to loosen the bonds, only succeeding in rubbing the skin of his wrists and ankles, he began to see, in a creepy black and white movie, all of the times he was beaten, tortured, played in front of his eyes. He watched himself, burned with a fire Jutsu from an ANBU or paralysed with a juken strike from a Hyuuga. He tried to shut his eyes only to find the same pictures playing behind his eyelids. He began to feel tears leak out of his eyes, years of built up pain and suffering that he had hidden behind his mask, finally surfacing.
Suddenly he felt all of the pain, the hatred towards him, stop. He looked up to see the picture frozen of the dragon ANBU, stopping the mob from hurting him anymore. He felt the relief of being saved flood him and as the picture disappeared, there stood a man with the same dragon mask, looking at him with compassion and caring in his eyes. "*Ryu? Is that you? What are you doing here?" he asked quietly. Naruto was suddenly released from his bonds and he collapsed on the ground, weak from the mental trauma he had just suffered.
The ANBU just walked over to him and carefully helped him sit up. "Naruto I am here to deliver a message, more of a mission now that I think of it. It is very important that you help me. Can you do it?" said Ryu. As he reached up to take off his ANBU mask, he heard a quiet reply and, knowing who it was that he was asking, automatically know that he had just accepted. When the mask came of he heard a small gasp and a muttered 'I knew it' before he turned to look at the boy in front of him. "How could you tell?" Itachi asked him with a small smile.
"Your eyes" replied Naruto "I only know one person with those eyes, I knew it was you when you looked at me." he looked around flinching slightly when he saw a corpse being devoured by numerous ravens. "Where are we exactly" he asked quietly afraid of the answer. Itachi looked around before replying.
"Were in a genjustu" as he saw Naruto begin to make the ram seal he quickly added "Don't try and dispel it. It's a special genjustu, related to my kekkei genkai." he walked around the small boy, who was still trying to stand up, before lending him a hand. "You will be here for 72 hours, at least to your mind, and only three seconds will pass on the outside world. I brought you here so that I could tell you the most important thing that you will ever hear. It's a mission and I must deliver it to you personally. It will take time to explain and we don't have much so I used this to maximize our time. But before I do anything we must find my brother."
"So he's here to huh? Who is your brother exactly? And how can we both be here and not be in the same place as each other?"
"Slow down a little OK? First, yes he is here, and second my brother is Sasuke Uchiha. I believe that he is in your class at the academy right?
"Yea he is. I don't like him much, and I do believe he's gay. I mean he has all those fan-girls and not one girlfriend." replied Naruto. Itachi chuckled a little before continuing.
"Well I really hope he isn't. We can't have a gay clan head now can we?" Itachi said with a small smile.
"Yea that would be... Wait, Itachi aren't you the clan heir? Why did you say Sasuke was going to be clan head?" asked Naruto with a frown. Although he wasn't part of a clan himself and none of the clans had any special relations with hims, he did know enough about how they work that he could understand the only ways Sasuke would become clan heir. One was if the current clan heir was killed, disowned or willingly stepped down from their post. He really hoped Itachi was stepping down.
"I will explain everything to you in a short amount of time as soon as we find Sasuke. The reason you can both be here is simply because I willed it to happen. This is my dimension where I control time and space. The reason you're not in the same place is because this area," he said pointing to the world around them "Is actually a separate dimension. It has many areas for both torture and peace. I cannot send a person to a specific area but I can send the in the general direction. I tried to send you to a place filled with the happiest of memories. Unfortunately I missed and instead sent your to... where you were." he said sadly while looking at the ground. Clearly he was feeling guilty about what he had put Naruto through, and was aggravated at himself for it. "I tried to send Sasuke to a similar place so he shouldn't be too far away. Come on, I still have much to tell you and Sasuke"
As they continued to walk, Naruto became fascinated with this alternate dimension and what it could do. I wish I had a kekkei genkai. Then maybe everyone would stop hating me. Suddenly he remembered what Itachi had said about the kyuubi. Or maybe they would think I was being possessed. Kami knows how much they already hate me because of it. He thought unhappily.
"Ne, Ryu? When you said that I hold the Kyuubi, does that mean me and the kyuubi are the same thing?" asked Naruto sadly.
"Of course not Naruto! If I place a kunai in a pouch does that make the pouch sharp? It is much the same with you and the kyuubi. You are the pouch, and the kyuubi is the kunai, nothing more than a tool to use by whoever has the strength or the will to wield it. The seal on your stomach represents the cage the kyuubi is being held by. If it is intact then the kyuubi cannot harm you." Itachi said sharply, losing his cold exterior and showing a softer side that Naruto had never seen before.
"A tool to use, you say?" Called a dark voice, echoing ominously through the world. "I assure you that I am much more than a tool" suddenly as if out of nowhere, a large dark hole opened no more than ten feet from Itachi and Naruto. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed the hole widened until it stopped when it was almost fifty feet in diameter. Naruto and Itachi both backed away hurriedly as an enormous paw slammed down not two feet in front of them. From the portal came none other than the Kyuubi no Kitsune, demon king and lord of the underworld. Itachi grabbed on to Naruto's shoulder before he shunshined both far away from the area. A large red snout poked through the hole followed closely by blood red eyes with a black slit down the middle. As its lip curled up into a snarl it let out a low growl, shaking the ground beneath them. As the rest of the neck appeared Itachi noticed a black collar around the kyuubi's neck and relaxed slightly when he realized that it was still sealed. As the next paw came through the portal an unconscious Sasuke could be seen dangling from a single claw.
"Sasuke!" Itachi cried when he saw the limp form of his brother. The kyuubi quickly closed its paw around the boy before the rest of its body emerged from the portal.
"Don't try anything ningen, move even a single inch and I won't hesitate to crush this boy." It said as it began to walk towards the two.
"Kyuubi! What did you to him?" Itachi yelled at the approaching demon. He began to run towards it only to find that around fifty feet in front of the demon there was a wall of demonic chakra. Not wanting to be burned, he quickly retreated to the unblinking form of Naruto. Itachi could only growl as kyuubi stopped only sixty feet in front of them. As it stopped Naruto began to regain his senses and quickly ran through his mind on the only ways kyuubi could be in the dimension. He came to the conclusion that someone had either summoned it here or the seal had been broken, both of which he quickly realized were imposable to happen without him knowing. Lifting up his shirt and focusing a small amount of chakra to where the seal would be, he confirmed this as the seal appeared undamaged.
Cautiously he walked towards the kyuubi, slightly frightened before passing the wall of chakra without harm. Both Itachi and the kyuubi were shocked as they both knew it was imposable to be unharmed by demonic chakra. "S-stop there ningen." kyuubi called; slightly worried by this power his container seemed to have. Naruto stopped before looking up at the kyuubi and asked a simple question that both he and Itachi wanted to know.
"Why did you take Sasuke? What are you going to with him?" Naruto stood there, terrified at being so close to the most powerful of the bijuu, but confident that the seal still worked and would prevent the demon from harming him.
"I came to make a deal, a trade really."
"A trade for what?" asked Itachi scared for Naruto's well-being.
"This boy for my container" stated kyuubi. Itachi was torn between the love of his brother and the one he was meant to protect. He hesitated before Naruto spoke up for him.
"Deal. Just put him down first" he called without a hint of hesitation
"Naruto! Do you realise what you're doing? That's the kyuubi!" called Itachi, once again showing how much he cared. To be truthful Itachi had always cared for Naruto, almost as much as he cared for is brother and the thought of Naruto giving himself up to save Sasuke was unbearable. Itachi himself would….could not chose between his brother and Naruto.
"Don't worry Ryu. You said that he couldn't hurt me if the seal was intact right? I'll be fine" he said confidently, while he himself was breaking down on the inside.
He looked again to the fox obviously waiting for it to put Sasuke down. As said fox lowered his paw to the black ground of Itachis genjustu, Itachi rushed forward, scared that the demon had harmed his otōto. Kyuubi laid the small boy close to Itachi before turning to Naruto and looked at him.
Naruto, understanding, walked over to the demon. With a wave of its paw the kyuubi open up the portal again and began to walk through. Naruto walked forward with it and, just before he passed through the swirling mass of chakra in front of him, turned to look back towards Itachi and Sasuke. Sasuke had just opened his eyes as Naruto walked through the portal and, at least for Itachi, it would be the last time he would see him.
AN: First chapter done! For those of you who read the original, you will see how much I changed and for those of you who haven't, I hope you liked it! As I said at the top (Which I'm sure 99% of you didn't read) Criticism is welcomed, Flames are publicly destroyed on the review response on the next chapter, and Ideas are great! See you next time (sometime in the coming weeks) On A Journey to the Sun!
