Shinobi of the Zodiac
I know that some of you are probably going to yell at me to update Draconian Ninja. However I am stuck because the person I need to get in touch with for the character specs on Drago's third teammate hasn't gotten back to me. In the mean time, here is a Naruto Knights of the zodiac crossover that has been bouncing around in my head for awhile. So without further to do, here is chapter one of Shinobi of the Zodiac.
I do not own either knights of the zodiac or Naruto.
"Speaking"
'thinking"
It was the day of announcing the new students to be enrolled at the konoha ninja acadamey, and the sandaime hokage had a bombshell to drop on the new shinobi hopefuls.
"Attention Genin hopefuls! For years since the last great shinobi war, we have sought a means to guarantee our place as the strongest among the elemental nations. And today I am pleased to announce the names of the ten that are going to enable us to do just that! Know that if you name is called you will be subjected to training harsher than what some of our Jonin go through. Yet I have every hope that the names that I call will be able to succed where countless others have failed. These ten I believe will make proud guardians of the peace. I give you the names that I along with the councils have decided will partake in training beyond the veil that hides our nation from the rest of the world. When I call your name, please step forward to receive the location you will be training at."
At these words all the assembled students, both new rookies and those that had entered the academy a year earlier, anxiously held their breath to find out who would be going where. Some though, were more enthusiastic than others.
Once more the sandaime looked out at all the assembled students and had chuckle at the fast one he was about to pull on the unsuspecting council. He had heard from the man that had originally proposed sending off ten of his prospective gennin, especially his adopted grandson Naruto. When Sarutobi heard about the shield of Athena, to say the least he was shocked. If only his successor had been able to obtain such a powerful artifact, he might not have had to sacrifice himself.
Also when told about this alternate power source to chakra, called a cosmo, made him realize that one boy, a child whos coils were underdevolped, so that he couldnot use any gen or ninjutsu, would possibly be a powerful force after this type of training.
Clearing his throat, he began to read off the names of those who had been picked.
"Rock Lee, you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Sakura Haruno, You have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Ino Yamanake, you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Neiji Hyuga, you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Hinata Hyuga, you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Shikamaru Nara, You have been chosen to depart beyond the veil." Before the aging Hokage could any further, a sigh of "troublesome" was heard from the young man whose name had just been called. As the Hokage was about to continue, a cry was heard from nearby "Kill the beast!" "Time to finish what the Yondaime started!" Before anything else could be heard however, the two chunin who had been trying to capture and kill one Uzumaki Naruto were silenced by their heads being removed from their necks by a cat masked Anbu. Back with the Hokage, he heard the commotion but no one else had, they were too busy chatting amongst themselves about whether or not the Uchiha would be sent beyond the veil for special training.
After acquiring the student's attention once again, the hokage continued reading: "Kiba Inuzuka you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Shino Aburame you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil. Choji Akikichi you have been chosen to depart beyond the veil."
After this everyone tensed to see who would be the last name called. The hokage paused knowing he had their complete and undivided attention. Everyone's, that is, except for a certain blonde haired youth who had energy in spades and chakra that put most jonin to shame.
"Come on Old Man, Hurry up and tell us who the last person is that's going beyond the veil as you put it!"
The Sandaime just chuckled at this knowing that he was going to be very busy soon, considering the last name on his list. On the other hand, he would be having fewer pranks pulled throughout the village.
"Funny you should pipe up Naruto, because YOU are the last name on my list."
Naruto summed up everyone's thoughts with his intelligent response to this statement "HUH?"
Sarutobi just chuckled as he made it official. "Yes, Naruto Uzumaki, you have been selected to depart beyond the veil.
"Furthermore, anyone whose name I called will not be enrolled in the academy here. Instead when you reach your destination, you will be trained not only in the arts and techniques of your new gifts, you will also be getting privately trained one on one over the basic shinobi arts. However, I do not think you will find the world into which you enter as easy to adjust as the one you are leaving. Each of you are also receiving a field promotion to Genin in light of the fact that in all likelihood, you will be training for at least 5 years. "
At this statement both Ino and Sakura looked horrified that they would be away from their precious Sasuke-kun for at least 5 years, even more shocked that thye were going to have to do some hard work just to come back to see him again.
Even more shocked was Naruto, not only was he going to be able to train for real away from people who hated him for some reason, but he was going to be training away from the Elemental countries entirely.
Sarutobi stared across the assembled students and their guardians, and said "Those students whose name I called, and your guardians, you have until the end of the week to say your goodbyes to your friends and family. Also, when you return from your training trips, we will have a tournament between the ten of you to see which of you has what it takes to perform missions for the village. Now, you are all dismissed except for Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee. I need to speak with both of you in private."
At that, everyone but the two boys left to say goodbye, and for the two fan girls, stalk Sasuke.
Once the two boys were alone with the sandaime, he began to speak to them, ensuring that he had a privacy barrier up. Sarutobi looked at the faces of the two young boys both wanting to know what was so important that he had to speak with them privately.
"Now what I am about to say to you both is an S – class law that was put into effect shortly after I took office for the second time. It involves the reason why you are hated so much, Naruto. Lee the reason I am going to tell this secret to you is because I feel that Naruto needs a friend he can share his burden with before he goes away from the village for 5 or more years."
Naruto looked at Sarutobi with hurt in his eyes as he said to his grandfather figure "You knew all along why they hated me, didn't you Ji-san? Why didn't you tell me before now?"
The Sandaime just sighed as he said "I did not tell you to protect from certain members of the council. They see you as a weapon for them to use on other villages at will. The reason you are hated is because you are the jailor of the Kyuubi that attacked on your birthday 8 years ago. However you are NOT the beast, you are merely a living breathing jail cell. However, when the Kyuubi wasn't on a rampage, it was a powerful guardian for whoever earned its favor. When Konoha was first founded, the Kyuubi made a vow that as long as one of Hasirama Senju 's descendents was in the village, it would not attack us. However, when my student Tsunade left, there were no more senju in the village so the kyuubi was free to attack whenever it wanted."
With that explanation out of the way Sarutobi saw a look of understanding run across each boys face. But seeing as he still had one more surprise for Naruto and another for Lee, he took a breath and began to speak to them again.
"Naruto and Lee, the others are going to find out where they are going to be training tomorrow however I am going to tell you both where you are going now. Naruto, you are going to a place called Greece, which if I understood the man who proposed this situation, is where all of the powers that the ten of you are going to try and obtain originated. The reason behind this is that at the shrine they have to their goddess Athena, there is a shield that is said to be able to destroy any evil demon that resides within a person, no matter what amount of power that demon has. Lee, you are going to a place called China, where the most physically powerful member of their order resides. That person will be able to train you to the point that one of your punches will be able to make a waterfall flow backwards."
Having said his piece, Sarutobi watched as the soon to be Shinobi of the Zodiac ran all the way to Naruto's favorite place to eat, Ichiraku Ramen. Chuckling he made his way to his office in the Hokage tower, knowing that things were going to be very quiet without his adoptive grandson around to liven things up, but at least he was truly safe. 'Now', he thought with a sigh, 'if I can just figure out how Minato solved the paperwork problem, I can find true peace for myself."
Finally finished. This one took a life of its own faster than I expected it to. Also, could you please shoot me a PM where the Knights trained at? I can remember the 5 major bronzes as well as the Bear and Chameleon, but after that I don't remember where they trained. Next chapter will be a timeskip to when Naruto and Lee get back from training and the tournament , and I have already decided who gets which armor, so don't think that you can change that. But I would like your input on whether or not Orochimaru should offer Sasuke one of the black armor's in exchange for coming with him. Don't forget to review on the way out! Until next time, Peace!