Asura's Will

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By Angelbloodlover

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~ "Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise."
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Horace

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Prologue: When Life gives you a Second Chance

"Love is the key to peace."

- Otsutsuki Asura

Black eyes stared impassively at her reflection in the mirror. She wasn't sure what to make of herself, of her identity. When she had been a child, all she had wanted to achieve was the acknowledgement of her fellow villagers. When she had been a teenager, all she had wanted to achieve was her best friend's retrieval.

...when she had become seventeen, she had achieved all of her dreams: the villagers' acknowledgement, her position as the strongest ninja in the world, her role as the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and finally the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. As the Toads had foreseen, she was the Child of the Prophecy, and thus she had finally achieved the long-awaited peace.

..all,

...-but,

...one.

For years she had lived alone, and the mantra that she kept repeating again and again was disgusting...

...the only one you could count on was yourself.

But that gradually changed with the appearance of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Umino Iruka and many more. In the end, the people who she thought were unnecessary in her life, were the ones that helped her stand up and fight off the loneliness that had nestled deep inside her heart.

They had firmly rooted themselves in her heart and with each passing day, the darkness in her life had lessened even more so.

Then came the day that she had met Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre, and Haruno Sakura, the annoying fangirl.

If someone were to tell her that those two would have become her best friends in the far future, she would have scoffed at that ridiculous joke. Because seriously, the reason she had been teamed up with them was of the fact that the teams were supposed to balance out each other's weakness.

...and as Uzumaki Naruto, she had a lot of weaknesses.

All thanks to the negligence of the Academy instructors, who had despised her very being.

Thus, Team Seven had been formed, under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi, also known as the man who had copied more than thousands and thousands of jutsus.

Dysfunctional, that was the definition of Team Seven.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry from the unfairness of it all. She had wanted to graduate from the Academy and gradually on earn the villagers' respect. Not this, she had never asked for all these problems.

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She didn't like Sasuke, nor did she like Sakura-both living in their own dream world.

-...one who was embraced by the very darkness that his elder brother had created.

...-and one who wanted nothing more than a happy ever after with her Prince Charming.

Preposterous.

...and oh-so delicious.

Back then she had been a naive, innocent girl with a far-fetched dream. She believed that there was good in every bad.

Light in the Darkness.

Hope that defeated the less.

Chuckling softly, she brushed her blonde locks away. She had been too naive to see the evilness that clung to Team Seven like a leech.

...and...

...-just like that,

-...-

..she had been too late to save her best friend in the process.

All because of her idiotic self.

"Rokudaime-sama."

A polite bow, followed by blind admiration.

Naruto nodded curtly, her elegant steps taking her to her office where she worked from dusk till dawn, and sometimes even late into the night.

She could feel the presence of her ANBU following her every step, and for a moment she faltered, but she was able to gain her composure. How ridiculous of her to be thinking along that line. Shaking her head, she opened the door that lead her to her office and sighed in annoyance. How had all the previous Kages endured this never-ending cycle of paperwork?

All she seemed to do lately was finishing up her stacks of paperwork, only to see it return twofold the next morning.

There was nothing she could do about that fact. As a leader she was forced to take responsibilities for her village.

...but she had envisioned her dream to be different.

-..so different from this one.

'Naruto, stop bringing up the past.' Kurama's voice resonated in her head and she almost flinched at his angry voice, 'You're doing no one good by thinking about the what-if's.'

Naruto knew that he was right but she couldn't help it. The joyful memories hurt her so much and yet she relinquished in them. She wouldn't know what to do if it weren't for them.

Coal black eyes stared at her with undying love and friendship.

...only to be replaced with empty eye sockets.

Emerald green eyes sparkled with happiness and mischief.

...only to see it perish into nothingness.

She couldn't handle this anymore- the room was starting to suffocate her, squeezing the life out of her body. Out, she need to get out before she would lose control of herself.

A yellow flash and then emptiness greeted the surprised ANBU, who were acting as the Hokages bodyguard.

"This wasn't supposed to be like this!" Naruto screamed in anguish, harshly pulling on her blonde locks. "Sasuke and Sakura were supposed to be with me! Not dead and buried six feet under!"

She crumbled into a pitiful heap, sobbing for the lives of her long-lost comrades, who had perished during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

"This wasn't supposed to be like this..."

And Kurama watched on as his jailer and friend was drowning in misery and sorrow. This couldn't go on like this, he had to do something before she did something that she would regret later on. Kurama knew that if it weren't for him Naruto wouldn't know how to live on. He was the branch that kept her from drowning completely.

"Hearts are wild creatures, that's why our ribs are cages." She recited softly.

Naruto had to agree when she read it in one of her favorite poems. Those words were so true- she couldn't help but think of how her heart was right now. Not so wild anymore, she thought dryly.

'Don't assume things that easily, Kit. Life isn't supposed to be like this.'

'Than tell me, Kurama, how am I supposed to enjoy life?'

Kurama sighed in irritation, 'There is no guideline about that. The only thing you should be doing is enjoy life to its fullest.'

Naruto chuckled in amusement when Kurama grumbled about brooding women and becoming a therapist for idiots. Maybe Kurama was right-she was becoming a shell of her old self.

She ignored Kurama's remark that he was always right, snorting at the thought that he was trying to imitate her Therapy no Jutsu.

'Shut you mouth, meatbag! Like hell will I try to imitate that idiotic jutsu of yours!'

For the first time after two years Naruto laughed openly, the heaviness that obscured her like a mist vanishing slowly on. She was starting to feel lighter with each passing day.

The villagers of Konoha were pleasantly surprised. None would admit that they had longed to see a wide grin on their Rokudaime, until it had effectively happened. And then came the shock that left them speechless.

Their Rokudaime was appointing a new Hokage after two years of being in-active duty to travel around the world and help innocent people.

'Kit, I may not say it a lot, but I am proud of you.'

Naruto's grin only widened when she found a new purpose of life. It was all thanks to the encouragement of Kurama that she had started viewing life as something precious. Of course, handing the Hokages hat to one of her trusted comrades didn't mean that she was abandoning Konoha-she only wanted to find peace within herself, and helping people had always been something she enjoyed thoroughly. To see hope shining in their eyes made her feel alive.

Thus Naruto's new adventure started...

-...defending the helpless people and destroying those that tried to end their peaceful era.

-...healing the poor and sick people.

Naruto's new way of living became her coping mechanism; she became a wandering traveler while writing stories in memory of her friends.

Her new way of living earned her even more respect throughout the Shinobi Nations. And before she knew it Time flew by and Naruto had reached the end of her life.

Naruto smiled in contentment, reminiscing about the good 'ol day. She passed away from old age, having no regrets in life.

Dad, Mom, Sasuke, Sakura, Ero-sennin, everyone, here I come.

...and..Kurama

-...thankyou.

For everything.

Kurama smiled and closed his eyes as darkness welcomed him.

'Naruto!'

Naruto jolted upwards when she heard the screeching of Kurama inside her head and frowned in displeasure.

"What the hell, dattebayo?!"

Shock penetrated her very being and she stared at her youthful hands, which were supposed to be wrinkly. No, she was supposed to be dead, not living. Closing her eyes, she summoned up her chakra and split it in two, only to see a nine year-old girl staring at her, black wide eyes with a haunted look and clothes too big on her. Still in disbelief, Naruto bit her thumb and winced in pain. So, this was no dream...

What kind of sick joke was this? She had been ready to die and move on to the afterlife, but clearly Life had other ideas.

'Naruto, finally! I have tried to wake you up countless of times.'

'Kurama, what the hell is going on? Didn't I die?'

She heard Kurama grumble in annoyance, muttering curses under his breath. 'It seems that not even Death could keep you contained. Che.'

'Is the almighty Kurama brooding?'

A dangerous growl echoed inside her head and she chuckled in amusement, slightly relieved that Kurama was still with her, even in this unbelievable situation. She didn't know what to do if it weren't for his presence.

Alright, she had to set priorities straight-for some weird reason she hadn't died and became her younger self. First thing first, this could be a possible Genjutsu.

"Kai!" Nothing happened, no image wavered and she was still under the shade of the giant, looming trees.

Frowning, she tried to feel her chakra, but there was nothing wrong with. It felt slightly the same, the difference being that her physical chakra had lessened, but that was to be expected since she was nine years old. She stood up and stretched her limbs, wondering about the possible solution of her misplaced rebirth or whatever it was.

She averted her attention on her clone and bit her under lip, "Activate your Sharingan."

The Naruto-clone obeyed her command and black turned into demonic-looking red, black tomoes spinning lazily. "Try to break the Genjutsu." She ordered again, ignoring Kurama's snort.

Again, the clone tried to dispel the pestering Genjutsu, but nothing happened. Shoulders slumped, she shook her head, "Nothing, Boss."

"Try with the different version of the Sharingan." Naruto wasn't going to give up-there had to be a reason for this idiotic revival.

'There is no Genjutsu, Naruto!' Kurama growled in annoyance, stating the truth, but Naruto wanted to be sure of it. And again no inclination that someone had used a Genjutsu on her.

She sighed tiredly, rubbing her temples and stood up. "What am I supposed to do now? Where in the name of the Sage am I?" Her eyes noticed the familiar and yet not-so familiar forest around her. Confusion settled in the pit of her stomach, but that was soon replaced by anger, resentment and pure unadulterated hate.

'Naruto, it's him again.'

Even Kurama couldn't suppress the undeniable hate that clutched to his heart. But how?

Naruto's confusion seemed to increase even more when she felt another familiar chakra. What in the world was going on?

'For once, Kit, I'm even confused as you are.'

Naruto flexed her muscles and jumped on a branch, using chakra to enhance her speed even more. Anger seemed to overtake all her senses and before she knew it, she appeared behind a bewildered black-haired shinobi and sent him flying through a couple of trees. Growling, she continued attacking him relentlessly, using Tsunades famous axe-kick to finish him off. Before she could do so, the other familiar shinobi interfered.

"Hashirama, don't intervene. This piece of scum has to die."

She felt his chakra flicker in shock, and before she could kill off Madara, Hashirama had intervened again. "No, please, don't! Stop! He's my friend!"

Naruto faltered at that pleading voice and ceased her merciless attacks. "What?!" Turning towards the Shodai Hokage, she visibly stumbled in pure shock and mortification when he wasn't the taller, stronger shinobi that she had seen during the fight with Obito, Madara and Kaguya. "What in the world? Hashirama, why are you so...small...oh fuck..." Naruto turned her attention on the unconscious and bleeding shinobi, not seeing the crazy lunatic, but a twelve-year old boy.

Naruto paled.

'Kurama, what in the actual fuck is going on?'

Kurama was too mindfucked to say anything. 'Kurama! He has Madara's chakra signature and this one has Hashirama's chakra all over him!' Inwardly, she was shouting in desperation, not knowing where she was nor knowing what was going on.

'I..No, that's not possible...'

'What is not possible, Kurama?! Tell me, I'd believe anything right now!'

Kurama chuckled, shaking his head, 'Kit, guess what?'

'What?!'

She could feel his grin widen as he spoke the following words, 'We must be back in time during the Era of the Warring States.'

Naruto's eye brow twitched in irritation at the fox' obvious amusement as she warily eyed the frantic mini-Hashirama, trying to wake up mini-Madara. 'And pray tell, Kurama, what's so funny about this situation?'

His answer was an amused laughter. Damn it! This was not funny! It was her luck to get thrown back in time, during these times. What kind of mess did she get herself into this time?