Chapter 1: Awakening

(I'll say this once. Italics means thought. Normal typing means narration. Text in quotes means dialogue. Bold face type will be chapter headings and previews. Naruto does not belong to me, nor do any of the trademarks. I intend for this to be long [at least 12 chapters)

Intro: 25 Years have passed since the death of the fifth Hokage, Tsunade. She fell to the hands of the Akatsuki, who were subsequently eliminated by Team Hebi, Jiraiya and other Konoha shinobi, including as Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake. Now, as the 7th Hokage, succeeding Kakashi, Naruto watches over the shinobi of Konoha.

Light… Where was it coming from…? What is this light…? Where am I…? Who am I…?

The gray eyes stirred. A light overhead shown down on the tinted glass, from behind which the eyes stared up at through stray auburn bangs. The light was the only thing he could see. On either side of him were walls of metal, curved around the body. He was confined, with little room to move. He couldn't even look down at himself.

I am trapped, he thought. I must escape!

He pounded on the glass, but it would not give. Whoever put him here intended for him to stay there… No… It must be more… A test… He must destroy it. In the little room he had, he drew back his fist and summoned his chakra to his fist. After collecting a large amount in his hand, he struck the glass, which immediately shattered with the blow. He shut his eyes as the shards fell, but not a single piece cut him. He rose from the pod he had awoken in.

Who am I…? What is this place?!

He looked around. There were 7 other pods in this room, each a metallic dome with a tinted glass window with a cold, vacant feel, but vacant was the last thing they were. He stepped over to the pod next to the one he emerged from and cupped his hands against the glass, staring in. He could make out the figure of another man with white hair with markings on his face. The man in the pod did not look familiar.

He examined the rest of the room. It was all metal, with pipes running in and out of the walls. Many of these pipes were covered with cobwebs. On one wall was a large monitor, above something like a control console. It had the appearance of a super computer. On the opposite wall was a stairway leading up. The only freestanding furniture in the entire room was a table next to the pod he emerged from.

He walked over to that table. On it laid a videotape and an envelope. He picked up the tape and turned to the computer, examining it more carefully. After a minute, he found a VCR. He pushed the tape inside and reached up to the single button on the monitor. With a press, the screen flashed. Light filled the obscure room. He pressed the play button on the VCR.

A face appeared. The monitor showed a man with spiky, auburn hair too, with many piercings on his face. A headband with a steel plate was on his forehead. Upon the plate were four vertical indentations, with a horizontal slash through all of them. Most intriguing were his eyes, which were a series of gray concentric circles around his pupil.

The man on the monitor began to speak, "If you are watching this, then I have been dead for many years. My name is Pein, and I was the leader of the Akatsuki. Both these names probably mean little to you, as you don't even know your own. It is Roku. You are my son."

Roku stepped away from the monitor and gaped, watching curiously as Pein continued. "You all have these eyes," Pein stated as he pointed to his own. "They allow you to see everything the other five people with these eyes can see. The five other people with these eyes are in five of the other pods in this room."

What happened next made Roku take another step back. Pein declared, "Those five other people are not to be treated as allies. They are to be used as tools. You are a shinobi of the Hidden Rain Village, and they will treat you like a God."

A pause. Roku swallowed and listened as Pein's voice filled the room again. "You have spent your entire life, since the moment you were born, in that pod. I knew they would kill you if they knew I had a son, that you would have the Rin'negan, as I do. It is my wish that, in return for protecting you from death and providing you with what is necessary for you to be successful, you carry out my will, the will of the Akatsuki."

Roku nodded, seeing the truth in his father's words. The monitor flickered; this computer was old. "You must collect followers. At least nine other must join you, nine who have abandoned their village to seek power. In the envelope with this video are rings belonging to the Akatsuki of the past. 'Zero, White, Scarlet, Boar, South, North, and Orb.'" Pein held up his hand and showed his ring. Zero. "Three other rings, 'Blue, the Void, and Three' are lost. If someone appears with these rings, they must either join you or the rings, taken back." His voice became darker as he added, "Use whatever means necessary."

Roku lowered his head in thought. He knew of no shinobi, and nothing about any of the other villages. As if on cue, Pein spoke again, "Everything you need to know is on the desk in the room upstairs. Files on the other villages. Important facts about jutsus. Also, as you have noticed, there are eight pods, but only five of them were set-aside for you. One of them is empty. The other, next to yours, is Project Kosshi. He will awaken on his own. He is to be one of your nine followers, a vital asset to the team.

Pein paused again and continued, "Once you have everything you need, information and followers, you must seek out and capture the nine Bijuu. You will learn about them in your studies. Carry out my dreams. Bring peace to the world."

The monitor flashed again and the room fell back into darkness. Roku swallowed again and turned to the stairs, climbing up. He opened the door to the next room and shut his eyes as light flooded in. Sure enough, the desk Pein mentioned was right beside the door, though dusty and untouched for many years.

Roku sat down at the desk and began his study.

Next Chapter: Departure