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Prologue: The Valley of the End
Uzumaki Naruto had gained many titles during his life, Prankster Extraordinaire, Konoha's Number One-Hyperactive-Knucklehead-Ninja, Demon Brat, Dead Last, and Jinchuriki, the vassal of the Kyuubi No Kitsune. But none of these are what he would call himself right now as he chased after his black-haired teammate. Right now he was Uzumaki Naruto, friend of Uchiha Sasuke, and he would be damned if he let the bastard get away without a fight. He made a promise and Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word.
He clenched his fists as he faced his teammate, knuckles turning white, "What the hell do you think you're doing Sasuke?" He shouted angrily, his voice echoing down the dark chasm that was the Valley of the End. Uchiha Sasuke slowly turned around, a small breeze blowing tendrils of black hair across his face as he opened his eyes revealing the swirling red of the Kekei Genkai of the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan. "Hn," Sasuke stared at Naruto dismissively, "Pathetic," he snarled, the black pattern of Orochimaru's curse seal etching itself on his skin. "I'll kill you," he growled, his Sharingan spinning furiously.
The two clashed together, each fighting for their own reason, Naruto for camaraderie and Sasuke for power. "I won't let you leave the village," Naruto yelled, silently thinking, "I won't let you leave us," as the swirling chakra of the Rasengan formed in his hand. Rage mixed with respect in Sasuke's Sharingan eyes as they battled, finally seeing the other not as the dead last, but as an equal. He forced himself to go faster; the sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air as he charged his Chidori, aiming for Naruto's heart.
Naruto's azure eyes widened as the electric charge of the Chidori pierced his skin, he jumped back causing the lightning to bypass his heart by a mere centimeter, nicking the top of the Shiki Fujin seal on his stomach. He trembled in pain, falling to his knees, as Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto's chest, shaking his hand to flick the blood off of his hand. He gazed down at Naruto, a self-satisfied sneer on his face as he turned to make his way to the Sound Village where he would gain the power to avenge his clan and kill his brother.
Naruto reached out, grasping Sasuke's wrist in a weak grip, "Sa…suke," he rasped, "Yo-you ca-can't…lea-". Sasuke turned dispassionate eyes to look down at the pale hand clutching his wrist. His eyes narrowed and kicked Naruto's shoulder, causing the blonde to collapse in the sand and left, not once looking back. Naruto coughed into the ground, blood trickled down his chin as he watched Sasuke leave, his vision slowly failing as he fell into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.
A figure cloaked in black sprinted across the surface of the water, stopping abruptly as they spotted the form of a person lying on the ground, a round pool of blood surrounding the body. "Shit," the man cursed, running over to the boy's side. He rolled the boy over, wincing as he saw the hole in the young child's chest, "He may yet be alive," he thought optimistically. Two fingers were pressed down on his neck, searching for a pulse, if there was one. The man exhaled slowly as he felt the faint beating beneath the boy's pale skin.
The Nin glanced around, checking his surroundings as he scooped the young male into his arms, and noticed a path of footprints that headed in the direction of Otogakure. Hazel eyes narrowed, and then remembering, gazed down at the boy held in his arms, his grip tightened and he turned, running in the direction of his village with a quiet resolve to see that the boy made it there alive.
Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-Nin, man of a thousand jutsus, and, most importantly of all, the sensei of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, raced forward, breathing raggedly as the deep pangs of worry echoed in his heart. He paused, head snapping to the right as the scent of burning flesh reached his nose, "Naruto," he whispered, breaking into a sprint, the smell growing stronger and stronger until he stopped in the midst of the Valley of the End, the scent consuming his senses, surrounding him completely. He spun around, eyes searching for the body of his student; the red-crimson color of blood caught his eye.
He stopped, staring down at the puddle of blood that was slowly being soaked into the earth, and he fell to his knees, he closed his eyes, trying to will the image away. There was a crack of thunder and rain began to pour down from the overcast sky. He slowly stood up moments later, the rain having soaked through his clothing, muscles tense and face void of any emotion, he turned around facing the direction of Konohagakure and began to run back to the village to tell the Hokage of the situation, not looking back once.
Senju Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, sat in the chair behind her mahogany desk, a bottle full of sake in her hand. She stood, walking over to the window, one hand on the wall as she stared out at the faces etched onto the side of the mountain. She swirled the sake, bringing the bottle to her lips, taking a small sip of the addicting alcoholic liquid. The doors to her office burst open revealing the worried face of her apprentice, Shizune, and the copy-nin himself. She turned around slowly with a sigh, her brown eyes weary and tired, "What is it now?"
Kakashi stepped in front of her, standing rigidly still, "Hokage-sama," he started stiffly, kneeling down. Her grip on the bottle tightened, "Report," she ordered, worry worming its way into her heart as she observed the emotionless façade of the man standing before her. He raised his head, the Hokage Monument catching his eye, "Sensei," he thought sadly, fists clenching as he stared at the fourth face on the mountain. "Report," Tsunade repeated forcefully, "He's distracted, what the hell happened?"
He let out a breath, looking down to the floor, unable to stare at the man who was like a father to him any longer, "Hai, Hokage-sama," he paused before continuing in an detached voice, "I tracked their movements to the Valley of the End. When I arrived there were signs that a battle took place between the two Genin. I," he closed his eyes, "Was too late. There was blood soaking into the ground, blood belonging to Genin Uzumaki Naruto, but no body. I could smell burning flesh and there were remnants of chakra from a Rasengan, a Chidori, and a… fire jutsu."
The cloaked man sprinted through the village gate's, not stopping to be ID-ed or yell at the sleeping Chuunin who was on guard duty. He quickly made his way over to the hospital, jumping from roof to roof to get there as fast as possible without interruptions by civilians or other shinobi. He burst through the doors, skidding across the gray tile, the bloody form of the boy he found in his arms. Time seemed to slow as everyone turned to look at the two, the loud cacophony catching their attention. "Get a medic over here," he ordered, his voice piercing the deathly silence.
The hospital staff burst into motion, they took the boy from his arms, putting him on a stretcher and running toward the emergency wing, the ninja following them. They reached the swinging doors, one nurse looking over her shoulder, "Sir, You're not allowed back here." He glared at her and kept following them. A medic rushed over, standing over the boy's body, his hand glowing green as he attempted to heal all the damage, "Shit! Normal healing techniques aren't working."
He looked over at the nurse; a stern expression on his face, "Get Itonami-sama," his baritone voice quivered slightly, the nurse, a new intern at the hospital, seemed frozen. "NOW!" he shouted, gathering bandages and doing his best too stop the blood from seeping out of the hole in his patient's chest. "Dammit," he muttered, putting pressure on the wound. He wiped a blood covered hand across his forehead, "Who the hell would do this to a child?" He blew strands of auburn hair out of his eyes, keeping his focus on his young patient. Unbeknownst to him, the blood on his forehead slowly disappeared, sinking into his skin. He glanced over at the closed doors, silently wondering why the hell that woman hadn't shown up yet. A crash echoed down the corridor, followed by a stuttered apology from one of the nurses, he let out a relieved sigh, rubbing the back of his neck with a bloody hand.
"Get out of my fucking way!" came the 'dulcet' tones of Itonami as she made her way into the emergency room, pushing up her sleeves, "What the fuck have you done so far?" she asked, quickly taking over the situation. "Basic field medicine," Hachirou answered, stepping away toward the sink to wash his hands. He turned on the faucet as he lathered his arms and hands with soap, "I could only put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. His body seems to have a resilience against regular healing jutsu." Itonami nodded, violet eyes on the boy; her hand hovered over his body, her eyes unfocused as her hand began to move back and forth rapidly, glowing an unearthly violet as she healed all the damage.
The boy suddenly sat up, eyes opening to reveal the slitted blood red orbs of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. His head snapped to the right, his arm extended, and hand around the neck of the medic. Hachirou turned around, hands reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. A hand grabbed him, holding him back by the shoulder, "Do not do anything," the forgotten shinobi whispered forcefully, his hazel eyes watching the scene before him with a strange intensity. The boy growled revealing fangs as whiskers darkened on his cheeks, "Who are you? And what are you doing to my vessel?" he asked sounding much like two different voices overlapping one another. Itonami choked, as the hand gripping her neck tightened.