Transcending Time
A/N: Same old general disclaimer for the Naruto characters and storyline. Blegh. Ok, well this is the first official chapter of this story. I am sure you guys have read some of my other stories (or have started some since I haven't been quick on getting chapters out for A Chance) and hope this won't be a disappointment.
So please enjoy and thank my friend Mona for kind of inspiring this idea, so the story has been dedicated to her. ^_^
Chapter One: Unstoppable
He had wandered for many years, stopping only to rest and nurse any wounds from battle. It was a harsh life the Kyuubi had lived, trying to avoid the flares of power in the human realm that he recognized as his siblings. When he felt the power of Shuukaku, he felt comforted, but did not head towards the only sibling he felt close with.
Kyuubi met many people and watched the development of many nations, but found himself drawn to one small village hidden within a forest of massive trees. The village was peaceful even though the inhabitants trained themselves in the art of battle and stealth. He was accepted among them and even got to know their leader really well, a leader they called the Hokage.
The families enjoyed his presence and he found a sense of comfort among them and no signs of his siblings. He played with the children and taught the villagers various battle tactics and skills, strengthening their forces and giving aid to other nations. He watched as families rose in status and the town grew in size and population with the passing years, saw the Hokages grow old, and then became a Hokage himself.
He enjoyed his position and status in the village, pleased to see the prosperity and joyful faces, but the days passed and those familiar faces that saw him everyday began to grow old. People began to notice something was off about their precious Hokage, they noticed that he never seemed to suffer from the signs of aging. Thus the Kyuubi cast an illusion upon the village, creating the story of some massive demon attack that only he could stop with the sacrifice of his 'child.'
It worked, but it broke his heart to see the village mourn the loss of their favorite Hokage and he was shocked to see the sudden hate they held for the false child he created. So he resumed hiding in the shadows and appearing in a new disguise every now and again until he found himself entangled into the most powerful and darkest clan of the village, the Uchihas.
He met a young child and his pregnant mother one day when he was tending some wounds from an attack. The woman was kind and the child curious about him, but Kyuubi found himself drawn to the contents of the woman's womb.
He began to live with them and eventually watched over them, taking note of the way the woman's mate treated their son. He knew the boy by name as Itachi and felt that something was off about the child's mind. The woman noticed the changes too and Kyuubi was able to sense her worries about her son, especially with another one on the way.
He tried to ease her fears and decided to become a companion to the boy, even partaking as a member on his missions when he became a ninja. However… things changed for the Kyuubi when the mother went into labor.
He could feel the strong life force within, but once the child was born, Kyuubi gasped in surprise. The soul was a tad different, but there was no mistaking the fact that his mate had indeed been reborn. His heart rejoiced and he became more involved in the lives of the Uchihas, watching the young Sasuke and training Itachi.
A couple of more years passed and the real story begins…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
There was a tension; he could feel it exist tightly between Itachi and his father. Ever since Itachi had become a member of the elite, a member of ANBU, Itachi had grown more disturbed in his actions. His father didn't help matters, making Kyuubi feel bad for the boy's mother.
He was thankful that Sasuke still remained free from the tension and crazed madness that appears to run through the bloodline. However, the admiration Sasuke had for Itachi unnerved him, he sensed things were going to get messy soon in this Uchiha household.
He ran a hand through his disguise, sighing as Itachi came over after talking with their father. He didn't mind this since Itachi had formed some bond with him after the many years of working together and training together.
The awkward boy took a seat next to where Kyuubi sat on the porch, watching his young future mate enjoy the summer air and seasonal dragonflies. The disguised animal god felt uneasy, a sort of premonition that things would not be so happy much longer, not while Itachi continued these missions.
"I still don't think you should be joined with the ANBU yet. Those kinds of missions are not meant for one as young as yourself, they are to taxing on the mind and done without emotion." Kyuubi stated, looking at Itachi with concern and worry.
"I have made my choice. I seek power and freedom from this clan. Freedom from the lies and customs…" Itachi began before Kyuubi shushed him.
"I don't think that is the answer… take some time to enjoy life, like your younger brother." He indicated the joyful look of Sasuke as a dragonfly settled upon his nose. "I fear what might happen if you don't."
"I have my answer…" Itachi looked away from his brother; a brief moment of pain crossed his features. "The clan must be eliminated, to prevent anymore lies or bloodshed…"
Kyuubi blinked in shock. "I think that is not for you to decide. Most of the clan is innocent from these lies you speak of. Eliminating them equals the actions of a cold blooded killer and goes against the purpose of this village."
"None are innocent if they hold the powers of Sharingan… especially those with Magenkyou…" Itachi muttered before leaving Kyuubi in a rare show of anger.
Kyuubi shook his head in defeat at the moment. He let Itachi leave without stopping him, knowing that following would only make matters worse. He sighed, stretching himself out on the porch, pondering the ancient customs of the clan and the origins of the Magenkyou. "I see… that he mentioned it means… he may try and gain its power despite the requirement. I need to keep my guard up…"
Laughter jerked him out of his thoughts and he automatically enforced some barriers even though it was only young Sasuke running over to him.
"Look!!! I caught a dragonfly for nii-chan!" He cheered, hands clasped over the hidden prize of his innocent efforts. Kyuubi's heart wrenched as the young boy's face faltered when he noticed his brother had left and only Kyuubi remained in his disguise.
"I'm sorry Sasuke. Your brother left for important ninja work. May I see it instead?" He asked, leaning closer to Sasuke, eyeing the tiny pale hands that showed signs of great skill in the ninja arts.
The young Sasuke looked at his hands holding the dragonfly, then at Kyuubi and back again. He was adorable with his face scrunched up thinking about what to do and Kyuubi fought from hugging the boy.
"Sure…" Sasuke stated, grinning widely and he thrust out the hands and opened them slightly for Kyuubi to peak through. Sure enough there was a small iridescent dragonfly resting on the small cage the boy's hands created.
"My, that sure is a big one… and beautiful too… if only I could catch such lovely creatures…" Truth was Kyuubi could sense the desire to be free in the little bug and sympathized after his own troubles in the past.
"You know what would be better though?" He spoke in a cheery manner, instantly converting Sasuke into following along with his plan without having said it yet.
"What?" Sasuke asked, his face was lit up in excitement and that purity shined brightly within, almost blinding Kyuubi.
Kyuubi said nothing, but gently pulled the 'cage' apart and watched the dragonfly slip away in its freedom. "Setting him free…" He saw Sasuke look upset and knew the boy must have been planning to keep the dragonfly until Itachi could see it.
"Don't be saddened… the dragonflies will always come back to this area, but if you catch one and never release him, the other dragonflies will leave and return in much smaller numbers until there are none." He placed a roughened hand on Sasuke's shoulder and showed him the view of the garden teaming with the seasonal dragonflies.
Sasuke watched the creatures flit about, darting from one food source to another, escaping predators, and courting one another. His dark eyes gleamed with understanding and felt good about having let the dragonfly free. "Then I will wait for aniki to return…"
Kyuubi smiled and offered a hand to hold as they headed inside the house towards the living room to relax and enjoy the television. Father was not back yet from checking out some of the problems in houses of the clan, so tension did not exist inside the cozy house that Kyuubi called home.
Sasuke would be starting the academy soon since he had managed to make the trademark fire jutsu of the clan. Right now Sasuke was intent on mastering a shuriken technique Itachi had performed, pushed by the expectations of his father and others as well as the desire of more attention from Itachi.
A chill came over him again as he listened to Sasuke chatter about Itachi and his plans to finish mastering the technique and showing it to his father. His senses tingled and a now familiar sense of unease washed over him. He pat Sasuke on the head, whispered a good bye, and left the house. He hoped this would slow things down and draw Itachi away from the family for a bit.
He noticed, with the first step back outside, a faint smell of hatred and craziness all around and the unease of the clan's district. There was a hushed air as Uchihas of all kinds hurried to their destinations. His keen ears picked up the familiar voice of Sasuke's father and a group of other men of the clan.
"I swear… something is wrong with your son, genius or not, he needs to be dealt with…"
"I agree as well… I noticed that he keeps eyeing those who have activated the Sharingan, mainly those who have mastered Magenkyou…"
"Nonsense… my son has no idea about the Magenkyou and how to obtain it… genius or not…" The father complained his pride evident and strong.
"I hear he does know how and plans to attack and kill his closest person soon… whoever that may be…" Muttered one of the men Kyuubi recognized as an Ex-ANBU member.
"Who would that even be? I mean… he is so distant from everyone… even that stray you guys have picked up."
"That stray has imparted great wisdom and help to my family and has known Itachi since the youngest was still unborn. He could be the one Itachi plans to kill, to sever the only bond he has made…" Father stated, sparking Kyuubi's anger as he sensed that the clan members no longer cared as much about the growing situation.
He tuned them out, pissed off at how easily people write him off. They were right though. Itachi was targeting him and therefore he had to prepare a grand illusion to fake another death. He stalked away, senses searching for Itachi, who would be back soon.
He caught a faint trail and followed it while staying hidden out of the villagers' sight. He was doing fine, until the trail ended next to a red bridge. Confused he scanned the area and looked out over the railing. The water was rushing through the river, indicating that rain was falling somewhere upstream and is heading towards the village; in fact he noticed that the sky had grown darker.
"At least Sasuke should be safe while out training, I can't smell any rain fall yet…" He mused to himself, his ears picking up a faint ruffling coming from the near by bushes. He sniffed at the air, the growing breeze made it difficult, but he recognized Itachi's scent. He held back a sigh and performed a quick genjutsu technique and sat back to watch the illusion.
He was right. The sky was growing darker and Itachi came out from hiding, looking like his normal self. The illusion had ensnared him into seeing Kyuubi, conversing with him like they normally would. But something didn't seem right about their interaction, almost like they were both fake.
The illusion faded when Itachi killed him, but the blood red glare with the changes to the sharingan marking a magenkyou holder, looked straight at him. Kyuubi cursed as he quickly tried to cancel the technique just used on him, but he failed.
"ARGH!" He bellowed looking around the dimension created by the sharingan and the ominous form of Itachi. He looked at himself, the human disguise was stripped bare and he stood in his true form, held down by the technique.
"Ah, the Kyuubi… I have heard many tales about you… especially about how you were supposedly sealed into that blonde child who is going to be in Sasuke's class. I see that isn't the case now." Itachi mused looking at the massive animal god before him. "Never thought a demon such as your-self could fall victim to a mere human's technique."
Kyuubi snorted. The human's abilities came more from their ancestors who had mated with the other animal gods. Adaptation came into play creating a whole mess of varieties in human powers. So, he was able to be harmed by their powers, just that he normally could dodge them. "You have your damn technique; do you still plan to kill the whole clan? The way I see it, you're no better than those who committed the lies and murders."
He was hoping to aim at the mind of his current foe, forcing the crazed Itachi to come to his senses and release him from the technique. It looked like he struck home as the young Uchiha seemed torn by what he had wanted to do.
"Shut up! I will still destroy them! All of them!" He shouted and before Kyuubi could speak again, he fell victim to the pain and the mind's sense of time with the ability of the sharingan.
When he was finally released, he could barely move and Itachi was already gone. He cursed himself for failing to stop the boy as he struggled to get up. The phantom wounds were slow to heal, but his chakara was healing him. He needed to hurry, he was now worried for Sasuke, who may be running into the slaughter Itachi was performing.
Thunder rolled across the sky as Kyuubi ran, his senses still disturbed and found it hard to maintain a balance on only two legs. In order to run faster he decided to shift into the form of a regular fox and run.
He wasn't far from the district and normally there were sounds of people active in the area, but as thunder roared again, there was only silence and the scent of death mixed with incoming rain.
His heart pounded in his chest. He ran, the adrenaline forcing out the feeling of pain as he ran towards the main house, towards Sasuke's home. He could see the faint form of the young boy, crying in horror at the sights of his dead neighbors, running into the house hoping his parents were still alive. Then came the horrifying scream.
Kyuubi felt his heart crack in two, fearing that his young companion was killed by his brother, he ran harder, entering the compound and seeing Sasuke run back out, almost tripping over him. Itachi came out and Kyuubi could smell the death and mind sickness all over him. He listened to the words Itachi spoke, almost as though he were casting a spell over the boy.
Then he vanished before Kyuubi could change forms. He decided against it, seeing Sasuke begin to crumple under the severe emotional trauma. In his slender form, he raced over and caught him before he fell to the ground. He could hear the loud sirens of ambulances and the police force, relieved to know that help was on its way.
He curled up next to the boy, his fur blocking some of the rainfall as he licked some of the salty tears and rainwater off his face. He couldn't help his disguises soft whimpers, but it seemed to make the boy relaxed and ready to come about so he let the whimpers continue. He could hear shouts and running mixed in with the soft footfalls of the village's ninja force, commanded into action by the Sandaime.
He wasn't surprised to see a concerned young Iruka, a new teacher at the academy arrive first. He could tell his presence as a fox alarmed the young man, who was captured within the grand illusion and feared Iruka would harm him since he was a fox. However, Iruka came close enough to pet the Kyuubi on the head, muttering thanks as he gathered the small child into his arms with a blanket pulled from a sack.
His little charge was safe now, which allowed Kyuubi to escape back into the woods. He had a plan running through his head to make sure his destined mate would pull through and interact with people, trying to break his desire for revenge he knew would grow from tonight.
A/N: There we have it. The first chapter of the tale has ended. I know many you have questions or concerns, so please feel free to let me hear them and I will either fix details or clarify anything else.
I would like to let you know that there is a discussion board where we can also have a broader discussion about the first chapter and the others that will follow. This will be one epic story for me, so please check in often on the board because I may have some questions to ask you guys myself. And if you don't like this site's discussion board, let me know.
If you have read my other stories, please feel free to ask questions about them as well on the discussion board! I am trying to encourage a better interaction with my readers, so please don't be afraid of me, I won't bite or bark! ^_^
