Naruto: Dark Beginnings
A/N: Thanks to ZGMF Naruto for providing me with copies of the original story and even correcting some of the grammar on them. For those of you who haven't read the original and want to, it is uploaded and the first few chapters have been reformatted to be easier to read. Eventually all of the chapters will be formatted but for the time being I am focusing more on this re-written version. The basic plot is the same between both stories but as there were quite a few chapters that I wanted to re-do, I figured I might as well continue re-writing the whole story.
The original is slightly darker and more of harem fic than this (Naruto will not be that interested in romance, the girls still will be though. Kind of like Tenchi Muyo if you ever watched that except Naruto recognises the girl's affections at points). Also Naruto will not get all the random power ups I bestowed on him. He will still be strong but will obtain his strength differently.
Seeing as the Kyuubi is the only Kyuubi, it technically is genderless as there is no male or female counterpart and the Kyuubi can choose whether to appear male or female. However for some reason I automatically type 'he' and 'his' etc. when referring to the Kyuubi so just go with the flow. If it is really a big issue for anyone out there I will change it later. I think that's it so on with the show!
Disclaimer: This one does not own the right to Naruto.
Prologue the Fourth, Making Friends Is Easy
City of Lost Innocence, approximately 1.00 am
Jiraiya scowled as he crept through the now abandoned streets of the city sticking to the shadows. The city was not well lit although there were periodic guard patrols, all armed with torches. They were also equipped with heavy armour, a sign that the higher ups noticed the increased tension. The city was gradually getting worse as more innocent were dragged off and more terrorist cells started to form, In all honesty there where probably very few traitors to the grass here, but the mayor was managing to mass produce them. Usually Jiraiya would have been happy to let the whole city burst into a revolution and go crazy, but Naruto was supposed to be here and Jiraiya wasn't about to let his Godson die that easily.
'There goes another patrol,' Jiraiya thought as he clung to the shadows. A small group of three guards, one of which wearing the armour of the royal guard, walked down the street. The smallest guard was holding the flaming torch and peering into the darkness. 'Idiots, don't they realise that the torch has killed their night vision. All they can see it was the torch is showing them.'
The patrol passed him by without noticing him and continued down the street with Jiraiya watching them. After they walked out of sight, Jiraiya continued his stealthy trek towards the mayor's house. If the mayor had an accident the oppressed people wouldn't ask who did it. In fact most of the city was of the opinion that the man was overdue for a visit from the Shinigami.
As he got closer to the Mayor's house he crouched behind a stone shrubbery and sighed inwardly.
The Mayor's house was in the middle of a large courtyard that was positively packed with guards and the only area in the entire city to be fully laminated, even at this late time. From his hiding place he could count at least five hundred soldiers stood around the building. Maybe seventy of them were wearing the elite armour of the Royal Guard. While they were not much of a threat, especially if he summoned 'Bunta, Jiraiya was not keen to engage the enemy just yet. An ancient instinct was sounding like an alarm bell in his head. Something bad was going to happen.
After trying to figure out a way to get by them, Jiraiya opted for the old fashioned hiding in a toad method. Making sure he was out of sight he summoned the small toad and climbed inside, giving the toad strict instructions on where to go.
No sooner had the toad swallowed the Sannin than it started hopping towards the courtyard, sticking to shadows as much as possible. Fortunately the guards were all on the lookout for Ninja falling from the sky, or at least it appeared that way with the amount of time they all spent staring at the sky in fear. Making its way across the stones the toad quickly made it to a small pond in the courtyard in which in jumped into and swam around in.
"You hear something?" A guard looked around suspiciously.
"Was probably one of the carp in the pond," Another guard responded automatically.
"What if it was a Ninja?" The first guard looked around edgily.
"Oh yeah," The other guard shot him a look, "Beware ninja fish are attacking." He shook his head, "Get a hold of yourself man, Ninja are people like you and me that are just very good at sneaking. They are not wizards."
"You're right," The other guard calmed slightly.
After realising the guards were not coming to investigate, the small toad quickly swam along the small pond until he found a small grate that lead to the Mayor's private sewers and quickly entered them before spitting Jiraiya back out and dispelling.
Jiraiya took in his surroundings. The area was dark, which was to be expected, but smelt far too clean to be a sewer. He channelled chakra to his eyes to improve his vision and blinked in surprise. He was in some sort of underground bunker. The water from the pond outside was flowing down some sort of water feature and there were several chairs and tables, all in good condition. There were a few locked chests which Jiraiya easily picked, revealing a cache of long life foods.
"Someone's planning ahead," Jiraiya muttered to himself before closing the chests. The room was a plane stone affair, much like the rest of the city. There was a large heavily bolted door with several locks and bolts, all on this side of the door. It was clearly built to keep the inhabitant of this room separated from the world until said inhabitant decided to leave. He cautiously pushed the door open, surprised by how quietly the heavy stone door seemed to glide open. After peering outside, he realised he was probably in a sub level of the Mayor's house. The stone walls were decorated with rich tapestries and the floor had a patterned red carpet along it.
With a shrug, Jiraiya continued onwards.
'Kinta's House'
Haku sighed as she cleared up the broken plates in the training area. They had been in the City of Lost Innocence for a week now and Naruto was slowly but surely getting better but all was not good. Naruto and Zabuza were at each other's throats a lot since the stabbing incident as Zabuza liked to remind him how helpless he had been and Naruto liked to point out that it was Zabuza's failure as a teacher and now it had escalated since Zabuza had admitted that he was not entirely bothered if Naruto had survived the 'test' of his regenerative skills.
"You really mean that don't you?" Naruto growled.
Zabuza nodded as the young blonde boy glared at him. "If you couldn't survive that then you were clearly too weak to be of use to me. If you had dodged or something that would have been better but you let it hit you. If you died it would have been your own fault."
"How about it being your fault for not training me to dodge in the first place?"
"Nope," Zabuza shrugged. "Sure you may be useful, but if you can't survive an attack like that by instinct or raw power then I have no need for you and no desire to train you."
"So you would have let me die," Naruto was pissed at this revelation.
"Yeah," Zabuza tilted his head, "What part of Demon of the Mist aren't you getting? Besides you proved you are useful to me. I will actually care about your life from now on... Maybe."
"It is just how he is," Haku smiled weakly trying to defuse the situation with no success.
Naruto felt a sudden burning feeling flowing through him, an irrepressible urge to shut that eyebrow-less freak up. He let out a growl and charged at Zabuza, who raised an eyebrow and easily caught the boy's fist but quickly regretted it; the burning red chakra that was slowly starting to surround the boy was apparently corrosive to the touch.
"Interesting," Zabuza grinned under his bindings 'So they boy can be aggressive… Very good' he thought before yelling out, "So you can use that power on your own. Good, let's test it out!" He drew his sword and leapt backwards as the boy gave a feral growl and charged again.
He moved faster than Zabuza was expecting, seeming to sudden appear in the bandaged nin's face and punched him hard. Zabuza skidded back before rubbing his injured jaw.
"That actually hurt you little brat," Zabuza leapt up as Naruto pounced again, narrowly evading the enraged Jinchuuriki's attack and countering with a blow from the blunt end of his sword sending the boy skidding backwards. "Get up boy; we both know you aren't done yet."
A feral roar was his response as the boy staggered to his feet and charged the missing nin, once again seeming to teleport but this time Zabuza was ready and side-stepped his attack, delivering a fierce kick to the boys ribs who yelled out in pain before lashing out blindly at Zabuza, catching the missing nin by surprise and sending him flying backwards into the wall which he hit with some speed.
There was silence for a while as the dust from Zabuza's collision blocked Naruto's sight, his rage addled mind trying to sense where Zabuza had got to when suddenly a voice in the back of his head forced him to duck as Zabuza's blow passed where his neck had been but moments before.
"Good!" Zabuza's voice seemed to come from everywhere. "You are learning it seems."
'I can't see him,' Naruto thought, slowly calming down and assessing the situation. 'I can't sense him… I am entirely at his mercy.' The boy sighed and allowed the red aura to fade away at the same time Zabuza used his sword to blow away the dust that had gathered. Of the two Zabuza looked worse for wear, although Haku knew that the man was fine.
"Not a bad hit boy," Zabuza planted the sword in the ground. "Feel better now?"
"A bit," Naruto admitted, "If I hadn't have ducked… you'd have killed me right?"
"Yeah," Zabuza nodded. "This life you have chosen isn't easy. To be honest dying in training is probably the best way to die compared to what your enemies will probably do to you. Besides there is nothing like a fight to the death to bring out your full potential."
"Cruel to be kind huh?" Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Your attacks were predictable at the start; I'm guessing you were in some sort of berserker rage. However you gained control and surprised me… I don't think anyone has managed to do that for a while. Guess I underestimated the boost the Kyuubi gives you. I would advise you get on good terms with your demon. It might help you use its power." Zabuza waved away Haku who stepped towards him with some bandages. "The kid needs medical assistance more than me."
"But I can regenerate," Naruto remarked as the man left the training area.
"I think… you may have impressed him." Haku chuckled. "You landed a good solid blow on him and took a fair few."
"So he'll cut me some slack?" Naruto asked.
"Quite the opposite. Now he knows you have potential he will do everything in his power to allow you to fully utilise it." Haku giggled slightly at the boy's face plant.
"He really gets under my skin," Naruto growled from the floor.
"I know he cares," Haku smiled softly, "And he didn't want you to die. After he threw his sword his first words were 'Oops. I forgot we hadn't actually trained him at all yet.' And he quickly raced you upstairs and got some medical supplies. You need to understand Zabuza-sama is excited. You could help him fulfil his dream, his goal in life." She turned to the young boy. "Zabuza has a noble goal to avenge his fallen comrades and overthrow a corrupt leader."
"So… he's like an anti-hero," Naruto commented. "Does the right things but comes across as a villain?"
"You could say that," Haku nodded.
"I see," Naruto smiled, "Well every anti-hero needs a hero." Naruto punched the air. "And I just so happen to be a hero."
Haku merely laughed at the young boy, "Maybe in a few years you will have the strength to back up that claim. But for what it's worth," Haku patted the smaller boy on the head, "You looked pretty cool using that red chakra. How'd you do it?"
"Er… I don't know," Naruto admitted. "I suppose I could try and ask the Kyuubi but I don't know how. Last time I had to nearly die…"
"Maybe if I put you in a catatonic state…" Haku mused.
"Er… do what?" Naruto tilted his head.
"Do this," In the blink of an eye, Haku pierced Naruto's throat in several positions and the boy slumped over. Haku picked him up and smiled at his sleeping face. "You know you are actually kind of cute." She muttered before carrying him upstairs.
The Sewers of the Kyuubi
"Welcome to my humble abode," The deep mocking voice called out. "Nice to see you, please take a seat."
"Kyuubi…" Naruto wandered up to the cage, making sure to stay out of claw rage. "Did you give me some of your chakra?"
"Well you did ask me to," Kyuubi tilted his head with a mocking smile, "Did you expect it just to give you energy. My Chakra is far more… influencing that normal chakra. Normal chakra is shaped by the human. My chakra is both shaped by the user and shapes the user. Besides that ape was annoying me with his conduct." 'At least when I give it to you anyway… if you were to claim my chakra as your own it would be a completely different story'
"Thank you," Naruto bowed once again. "Your chakra actually helped me get a hit on the bastard."
"Well aren't you polite," Kyuubi narrowed his eyes and leaned forwards staring deep into Naruto's eyes, "What are you playing at?"
"How'd you mean?" Naruto didn't look away from the fox's glare.
"What do you hope to achieve by being polite and nice to me?" The fox growled.
"I don't know," Naruto shrugged. "I just figured it would be a better set up for the both of us if we actually got along."
Kyuubi didn't know what was worse. The idea of a human pretending to be friends in order to take his power or the fact that he knew without a doubt that Naruto wasn't pretending. He was radiating nothing but honesty. "You are a strange boy." The Kyuubi finally spoke and settled down, closing his eyes. "Begone from here. I am tired of hearing your voice."
"Well… I'll see you later," Naruto slowly faded away from the sewer.
There was nothing but silence form some time then the Kyuubi opened one eye and stared at the spot where Naruto had been. "Naruto Uzumaki huh…" The fox chuckled briefly, "One last test to see if you truly mean what you say…" The fox got up and turned away from the gate approaching the far wall which no-one could see. There was a complex seal in the shape of nine tails. The Kyuubi place on of his tails on the one of the seals and watched with disinterest as his tail was absorbed.
"What are you planning?"
The Kyuubi glanced to the blonde haired man who had appeared next to the array. "Hmph, I should have known you would make an appearance at some point."
"You didn't answer my question," The man crossed his arms.
"What do you care? This was your seal design. You know what it does." The fox pulled back the sad little stump that was all that remained of one of his nine tails and watched as one of the nine tails turned from red to bright blue.
"Which is why I am confused. Why would you willing give him one of your tails? You realise this way if he calls on your power you won't be able to influence him at all. It will be free of your taint as if he had wrestled the chakra from you himself."
"The boy interests me." The Kyuubi grinned. "Besides I need to know what is more important to him. The power I hold or…" The Kyuubi looked somewhat embarrassed, "My companionship."
"You wish to see if he truly wants you as a friend," The blonde man smirked. "Getting lonely are we?"
"You are as irritating as ever," The Kyuubi responded.
"Well one good turn deserves another," The blonde man clicked his fingers and the mindscape began to change until it looked like a castle dungeon. "An improvement over the sewer isn't it?"
"I have a hay bed and don't have to listen to the annoying drips of water," The Kyuubi turned to the blonde man, "Why?"
"Because the world will be a much better place if we can all get along," The blonde man faded away.
"Tch," The Kyuubi settled down on his new bed. "Troublesome Yondaime. The boy will fail this test. I know it." As he allowed sleep to claim him, the last thought that travelled through his mind was 'But for once I wouldn't mind being wrong'.
'Kinta's' House
Naruto woke suddenly when he was shaken by Haku, who placed a finger over his lips and beckoned him to follow her. They were in the main living room and Zabuza was peering outside, the moonlight the only source of illumination.
"Ready to move?" Zabuza whispered and Naruto nodded in reply, "Good."
"Why are you covered in blood?" Naruto whispered.
"We had late night visitors," Zabuza scowled, "The local Royal Guard were sent to kill me and capture you. We are no longer safe here. I want you and Haku to head to this location," Zabuza passed a small map to the girl. "I'll go and… express my annoyance to the mayor and meet you there. Go!"
Naruto and Haku left the house quickly and quietly, grabbing a backpack containing all of their belongings. The two stuck to the shadows and made their way to the main exit, where there was a small patrol of three guards stood with torches.
"Can we sneak by them?" Naruto whispered to Haku.
"I could… but I doubt you could," Haku smiled softly, "So I guess we've got to fight. Don't worry they are only civilians who have been given spears to play with. You can easily beat them."
"Right," Naruto took a deep breath and reached inside himself. He felt an unfamiliar source of energy and called upon it.
"Naruto?" Haku blinked as the boy gained a slight yellow glow. "What are you doing? Stop it!"
"What's that over there?" The guards started marching towards them.
"Naruto!" Haku hissed.
Naruto opened his eyes. He felt amazing. His body felt so light and he could see people without his eyes. He could sense three people approaching. Their hearts were beating fast and they were emitting an aura of fear. There was Haku in front of him, a caring aura tinged with worry. He could sense the people sleeping in their rooms. He opened his eyes and noticed his glowing aura.
"Stop there!" The guard yelled at the two ninja. "Hands up and surrender."
Naruto charged forwards and found himself almost teleporting into the middle of the guards. The first guard fell to a chop to the neck like Haku had shown him. He then grabbed the other two by their heads and smashed them together, knocking them out.
At least that is how it went in Naruto's head. But in Naruto's head he wasn't taking one thing into account. The yellow aura was the power of a single tail and Naruto was unconsciously channelling it into his muscles. The chop severed the man's spine and the two skulls were mashed together and crumbled like tin foil, leaving a horrified and bloodied Naruto. The yellow aura faded.
"What?" Naruto felt his panic rising. 'I… I just killed them all…'
"Naruto," Haku walked up to the boy and hugged him. "It's alright. Let's get out of here."
"Yeah," Naruto nodded and was lead out by Haku. The two ran from the city and kept running until they got back to the large forest near the Konoha/ Grass border.
Haku checked to see if they were safe before finally stopping and sitting down on an over-turned tree. Naruto sat besides her staring off into space.
"… I killed them," Naruto muttered looking at his hands that were still covered in blood and brain matter. "I'm a monster…"
"Naruto," Haku grabbed his shoulder, "Do you feel bad about killing them?"
"Yes." Naruto nodded.
"Then you are not a monster," The girl ran a hand through his hair trying to calm him down. "That power is the power of a Jinchuuriki. You will learn how to control it better and then you can truly be the hero to stand beside Zabuza-sama. Maybe even the hero to save him from himself."
"Thanks Haku," Naruto smiled weakly as he wandered over to a small stream and washed his hands. "Can you… knock me out?" He turned to her.
"Why?" Haku frowned.
"I… want to ask the Kyuubi how to control the power better." Naruto admitted.
Haku sighed, "Well we are at the meeting point. You may feel a slight twinge."
Fort Kyuubi Dungeons
"…You have returned then…" The Kyuubi opened a sleepy eye at the boy.
"You don't sound so good," Naruto walked up to the cage. "Are you alright?"
"I am fine," The Kyuubi fanned his tails behind him and struggled to stand up.
"Your tail!" Naruto noted the small stub, "What happened?"
"You took my power…" The Kyuubi nodded to the glowing yellow orb that illuminated the cell. "That is one tails worth of power you took from me."
"I…" Naruto looked upset, "I didn't mean to! How do I give it back?"
"Give it back…" The Kyuubi dropped the sick act and stood up, "You really would wouldn't you? If I was actually suffering you would have given me the power back."
"Huh?" Naruto frowned, "What's going on?"
"You have witnessed how strong you are with just a fraction of my power. Yet you would return it for my sake." The Kyuubi shook its head, "I will never understand you, Uzumaki Naruto."
"That's the first time you've used my name," Naruto blinked. "Do you have a name?"
"I am the Kyuubi no Youko," The Kyuubi stated.
"But that's not really a name is it?" Naruto pressed on, "I mean you are a nine-tailed demon fox. That would like me being called 'Blonde Haired Human'. It's a description of what you are. Not a name."
"There is only one Kyuubi, so why is a name needed when the description suffices?" The Kyuubi countered.
"Because friends call each other by their names," Naruto stated.
"Again with the friends stuff." Kyuubi chuckled, "Begone you annoying little insect." He turned his back on Naruto and walked away. "I will let you keep that tail's worth of power. Once you master it I may even consider letting you have more."
"Thank you very much," Naruto bowed deeply. "I will visit you again."
"Just meditate and you can enter here, no need to risk brain damage getting yourself put into a coma every time you wish to speak." The Kyuubi looked over its shoulder and watched Naruto fade away. "And the Name is Kurama." He turned away and walked towards the back of the cave.
"See you later Kurama," Naruto grinned as he waved at the giant fox before fully leaving the mind scape.
"I see someone made a friend!"
Kurama turned to face the annoying blonde man. "Even in death you still annoy me."
"It's 'cause I'm awesome." The blonde man proclaimed before fading away.
"Tch," The Kyuubi stared at the seal hidden at the back of his cell. "I wonder if this is the boy you were talking about all those years ago when you created us Father…"
Mayor's Mansion
The Mayor's meeting room was silent except for the sounds of something dripping and a strange gasping noise.
The pale old man gasped as he felt the last of his life blood spill onto the floor. "We… had a… deal…" He gasped out.
"A deal which was broken," Orochimaru stated. "I found this," he held up Naruto's orange jump suit that had the clear hole where he had been impaled, "In the possession of one of your royal guards. Clearly he thought it would be a good idea to kill the boy I wanted. Still I can use the blood on it to try and grow a clone, but I would have preferred the original. "Orochimaru pulled Kusanagi free of the man who fell to the floor dead. 'While this isn't a major setback it is an annoyance.' The snake Sannin looked at the torn jumper. He had found it in the possession of a Zanbato wielding Royal Guard and the blade he carried matched the hole in the jacket almost perfectly. Clearly the old fool had learnt that Konoha wanted the boy and sought to deny them their prize.
Orochimaru left quickly, his new base in Lightning would be fully operational by now and he could get straight to work on cloning the blonde boy. Even if it didn't help him achieve immortality, having a Yondaime lookalike that he could use for stress relief would be useful.
Jiraiya entered the room just in time to see Orochimaru with the orange jumper.
"Orochimaru!" He yelled.
"Jiraiya?" Orochimaru scowled, "If you are here for the Kyuubi brat he is dead… the mayor over there ordered his death."
"Why would he do that?" Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.
"Oh I don't know," The snake shrugged, "He wasn't the sanest person alive."
"Hello Pot, I'm Kettle*," Jiraiya deadpanned.
"Haha," Orochimaru sighed. "How much does it hurt to know you failed your godson?"
"You bastard," Jiraiya's fists clenched.
"What if I could bring him back?" Orochimaru smiled.
"… What would the cost be?" Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry I have no designs against Konoha just yet," The snake Sannin smiled. "But would it be worth you letting me go?"
"… Get out of here," Jiraiya snarled.
"If I succeed I will be sure to let you know, somehow." Orochimaru started to leave then paused. "Jiraiya…"
"What is it now?" Jiraiya growled.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get there in time to save him," Orochimaru turned to face his once friend. "I never had any intention of killing the boy. Simply a few experiments to improve him."
"Just go," Jiraiya felt drained. The sad thing is Orochimaru was telling the truth. He would have probably performed some experiment that improved Naruto's abilities. At heart Orochimaru thought he was doing the world a favour by improving human kind. He was just unable to understand that sometimes the end didn't justify the means.
"I…" Orochimaru stopped as a third figure entered the room.
"You sent assassins after me you bastard!" Zabuza roared. Then he stopped and paused. "Er… wrong room?" He shut the door and ran as fast he could. Taking on two of the Sannin was not in his plans for the day.
"That was interesting," Orochimaru smirked. "Till we meet again Jiraiya." The snake left in a whirl of leaves allowing the orange jumpsuit to fall to the floor.
"Sarutobi is going to be pissed," Jiraiya picked up the jacket and noticed a small area around the hole had been cut away. "Orochimaru has a sample of Naruto's blood… does he intend to use that jutsu. Minato… Forgive me but I pray he succeeds…" Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of leaves, allowing a solitary tear to fall to the ground.
Hokage Tower
"I see," Sarutobi collapsed in his seat. "We failed him," He turned to look at Jiraiya, "We failed Minato."
"I know," Jiraiya hadn't revealed Orochimaru's presence to the old man, hoping that the snake succeeded in reviving Naruto. Sarutobi would have sent assassins to stop Orochimaru from succeeding claiming it would be a disgrace to Naruto's memory, but Jiraiya just didn't care. The blonde brat had grown on him to the point where Jiraiya seriously considered adopting. Tsunade was allowed to be selfish so why not him.
"I'll inform the council," Sarutobi looked older than Jiraiya had ever seen him.
"Right," Jiraiya nodded.
"Jiraiya," Sarutobi called out. "I want you ready to go to the Grass Village."
"Why?" Jiraiya frowned.
Sarutobi turned to face Jiraiya and his eyes were burning. "A ruler of Grass killed a Konoha citizen. They had best be reparations or we will take matters into our own hands."
"Yes sir," Jiraiya saluted Sarutobi for probably the first time in his ninja career.
"Get going," Sarutobi waved him away and tapped his fingers. "Get me Danzo before you leave," He called out to his pupil. In a matter of moments the one armed man wandered into the office.
"What is it Sarutobi-sama?" Danzo sat down.
"You have contacts with Orochimaru correct?" Sarutobi stared at the man.
"I may have units who know how to reach him," He said diplomatically.
"I want to arrange a meeting with him." Sarutobi looked out the window. "He was researching immortality… ways to beat death. I believe he may hold the key to bring Naruto back to life…"
"The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki died? Where is the Kyuubi then?" Danzo was alarmed.
"Dragged to the afterlife with Naruto." Sarutobi shrugged. "At least that's what I think the seal Minato devised does."
"I see," Danzo nodded. "I will have my agents try and arrange a meeting."
"Good," Sarutobi stood up, "I am entrusting this task to you. Orochimaru is not to know I am involved, neither is Jiraiya. Orochimaru would suspect a trap and Jiraiya would claim I am disgracing Naruto's memory."
"May I ask why you care so much about the boy?" Danzo offered.
"Have you ever heard of the Prophecies of the Sage?" Sarutobi responded.
"You think Naruto…"
"I know it," Sarutobi cut him off.
"For the leaf, I will not fail." Danzo bowed and took his leave.
"If you do," Sarutobi's voice called out, "We all will pay the price. Not just the leaf but the entire elemental nations."
And that is the end of the prologue arc: P
I am half and half whether to show time jumps involving Naruto's training or just jump straight to the actual story start. Drop a review to let me know what you want. Also don't forget that if you want to submit an OC for the mercenary company in this story to check my profile for details. I have some information up on the company but I am trying to keep it spoiler free for the moment.
In the (paraphrased) words of Toby Turner
'Bless your face and if you sneezed while reading this story, bless you."
