The Monster of Nature
Disclaimer: Quite clearly, I do not own Naruto or any associated manga or anime.
Chapter 1: Hashirama's Mystery
The sun had barely risen, nothing but a golden haze beyond the heads of the once great leaders of the Village Hidden in the Leaf. The leaves circled above in spirals as they were carried over, under and through every house and apartment as if the Wind-God himself willed it.
Upon one of the roofs, up high, and flat as the base of the building, a boy in orange, stretched, sweat dripping from the crevice between his furrowed brows.
Exhaling he wiped clean through his forehead, moving his charcoal-black locks from his sticky forehead. He shook his head, beads of sweat flew from him like shuriken primed to kill.
As the sun rose from beyond the mountain range, it highlighted his spiky locks, turning them almost bronze for a short instance. The boy crossed eyes with that particular face. That mountain head.
Tightening his bandaged hands into tight balls, he collapsed to the floor, crossing his legs over one another. His creased brow smoothed over, just a little as he breathed in and released the pent up air.
His eyes glassed over as the furrow in his brow was smoothed over, and his eyelids dropped partially over his empty blue eyes, his eyelashes fluttered and his sapphire eyes were shuttered completely.
Complete darkness…
That all there was, and as he walked, a dim light, almost waning like candlelight in the wind. A boy almost identical to Naruto came into view. His hair as bright as the sun, and his eyes gleaming like the stars.
"What do you want now?" the blonde drawled lazily.
Naruto pouted, why did this… well whatever he was; have to be so damn lazy! "Cant I just come by for a visit?" Naruto grinned cutely-well in his mind it was cute(technically they were in his mind). ahem! Charming.
Right, Naruto thought. He grinned charmingly once more for extra measure.
The blonde rolled his eyes. Quite clearly not buying it. "Just get what you came for and go. I need to sleep."
"What the hell do you need to sleep for? You just lay around in this darkness the whole day!" the brunette threw his hands up in the air.
"Its a lot more exhausting than you'd think," sighed his blonde opposite. "anyway, tell me what you want or get out!"
It wasn't like his blonde half to get so worked up, he was usually quite calm. He must really be having a tough time if he is having outbursts like these. "When you said the forth was my father, were you telling the truth?"
"I'm telling you what I remember. The night of the nine tails attack I was the conscious one. I was at the forefront, not you. And I remember that night in vivid detail. I remember that red-haired woman trying to hold back the fox with her chains. I remember our mother… she used these black constructs to protect us and to protect father. I remember the beast forcing his claws through our mother's chest and throwing her to the side. I remember our father's last words: "Protect the village. Guide your brother." and that was it. Some old man waved his wrinkly hand in front of our face and I was out cold." explained his other half, in a deathly cold voice, that was so clearly devoid of any emotion.
"So that guy, Menma? He is my brother?" Naruto asked, open-mouthed.
"Believe what you want to, Naruto. I need some rest, so get out!" exclaimed the blonde, raising his arms and a storm of shadow pushed him back into consciousness.
Naruto's eyes widened from his cross-legged position on the floor. "Getting pushed out of your own head? The nerve of some people."
Naruto turned his neck from side to side and looked up at the infamous, long-dead leader of the village. "So it's true?"
He ran a hand through his dark spikes and turned away from the great head in the mountain. There was work to do, and if nothing else, his childhood had taught him to ignore the things he could not change and focus on those things that he could.
Hours later he was sitting in the front desk of his academy classroom, sweating even though he had a shower two hours prior. He flexed his hands and rubbed his biceps. "It's gonna get easier," he reminded himself.
Looking around the glass, he figured not many of the faces changed from when he was in his first year until now, his very last year in the Shinobi Academy, before becoming a fully-fledged Ninja.
In fact, he had been ready over a year and a half ago to graduate from the academy, but he was denied on technicalities. He wasn't surprised though, being the demon brat didn't come with as many perks as you may think.
It did keep his annoying classmates off his back, and that came with a vaunted relief. However, there were still a select few that he was curious about himself. The top of that list is his, maybe-brother, Menma.
He was definitely one of the most intelligent students in the class, and that skill translated even better to the training field than it read on paper. But there was something about him that Naruto could not help but feel unease about.
"Definitely not the whiskers," he shrugged. Shaggy blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, a slim face. These were the descriptions of "The Nightmare of the Hidden Stone."
Others preferred to call him the yellow flash as if he were some character out of a fairy-tale, but across the border, on all side, even in the territories of their so-called: allies-he was known as one of the biggest boogeymen to come out of the Village Hidden in The Leaf.
Yes, Naruto had soon come to realize that this idol, his hero, was not some fairy-tale super-ninja that saved little damsels from the tall towers. He still fought dragons though, not actual Dragons mind you, but he had heard that the nine-tails was as mighty and ferocious as any fairy-tale dragon.
Iruka, their form teacher went through the attendance and narrowed his eyes as he landed on Naruto's own name. Studying the dark-haired boy for a second more and then moved on.
Not that Naruto could blame him, he wasn't always present for class. The Chūnin exams were way too good to miss, which was actually where he found out about how the other villages felt about the yellow flash.
He found out more than that in fact, in comparison, his realization concerning the forth seemed almost insignificant. He learned what ninja life was all about, and slowly, he was coming to terms with it, as much as he didn't want to.
"Alright, as you all well know, graduation is in a few short weeks, eight of them. I've taught you as much as I possibly could, and so has your other teachers. We'll be spending this time preparing for the genin exams. You can stay home or use the classes, library and training grounds in whatever way you need. However, today will be your last official class. Are there any questions?"
Naruto raised his hand. "I've already passed the exams, do I need to write them again?"
"Unfortunately, since you are repeating the curriculum, the exams will be included," explained Iruka.
Naruto balled his fists, locking eyes with Iruka he murmured, "I understand."
Iruka nodded and started the lesson off. Naruto cast his gaze around, ignoring the lesson for the most part. What did he need to pay attention to? He was already ahead by weeks on every assignment, and he was literally repeating the year. He probably had the same lesson sometime down the line last year or the year prior.
He landed on a particularly skilled boy, every single battle the two had ever had always stopped in a stalemate. The same was true for any fight he had with Menma.
Naruto wasn't a fool either if it came down to Ninjutsu they'd probably wipe the floor with him. Almost any of the students in the class would, he was good, he was fast, he was strong, but Ninjutsu could completely destroy that advantage.
The academy three was an utter joke. And they could do nothing against someone of this boy's caliber. He had heard all the stories of his brother, all up to the most recent ones.
He was still an arrogant little pale-faced jerk, but he had to respect that the black-haired boy was powerful. He was envious in fact. Those fireballs weren't anything Naruto would like to get in the way of. Not to mention how cool he looked doing it (not that Naruto would tell anyone that).
Sasuke Uchiha. The heir of the great Uchiha Clan.
Sasuke crossed eyes with him, they darted to the side and scoffed, turning his head to the side.
"The first Hokage was originally from which country, Senzo?"
A bronze-skinned boy raised his hand, "Lightning country, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka paused, looked to Naruto, only barely, almost as if he wanted to ask him a question, but he moved on with the lesson until Naruto had enough. If there was one thing that Naruto prided himself on, it was his knowledge of each and every Hokage to date, and to say Hashirama Senju was from the land of lightning was an absolute transfer of misinformation.
"What is it Naruto?" Iruka asked, upon noticing Naruto's raised hand.
"Earlier Senzo said that Hashirama Senju is from Lightning Country, why didn't you tell him, and the rest of us where he really is from?" asked Naruto, he was baiting Iruka, and they both knew it.
"That's because he wasn't wrong. Lord first was born and raised in Lightning country before the Senju Clan moved to the land of fire," explained Iruka.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, he bit the inside of his cheeks. No change. "What the hell is your source material! I know for a fact that that the Senju Clan is from Lightning Country, originally, but Hashirama himself was born near the border of Fire Country, close to where the village hidden in the waterfalls is found."
"Do you need to lie down Naruto? I don't know where you got that idea from?" Iruka frowned.
"Still got your head in the clouds there lover-boy," mocked Ichika, an orange-haired girl.
"Stop calling everyone lover-boy! It's weird!" exclaimed Kiba, oddly and not Naruto. Although Naruto silently echoed his sentiments.
"Whatever you say, Lover-boy." she flipped her hair and sent a green wink his way.
Kiba almost pulled his hair out, then and there, but Naruto wasn't paying much attention to it. What really had him intrigued was Iruka. He truly believed that trash about The First. It made no sense. Lightning Country wasn't even one of the biggest rumors about Hashirama, only a very small group of people believed it. Undoubtedly it was a stunt by either the Lightning Daimao or the Raikage to increase tourism in the area.
One of the biggest legends that Naruto had read to date was Hashirama Senju's birth in the renowned, and legendary Shikottsu Forest. Many believed it was how he was so powerful. Many believe it was the reason why, out of all the Senju, despite all the legends that surrounded the clan, he was the only known user of the Wood Release.
Add to that, Iruka was still giving him looks as if he was the mad one? What in the world is going on here?
"May I be excused sensei? I'm not feeling too well." Naruto held his head, hoping his sensei would believe him.
Iruka narrowed his eyes, he knew very well that the boy contained the nine-tails, he never held anything against him for it. He was a dutiful student-when he wasn't ditching class- that kept to his own business(not all that difficult when you had no friends to call your own).
He sighed, knowing full well that the boy didn't feel ill. There was something else afoot he could tell. He had no idea what though. And besides how many leaves in the leaf village did he eat to get those absurd notions about Lord First. He got his information from Lord First's own journals.
"The lesson is almost over, just wait a while longer and you do what you like after the period, the same goes for the rest of you."
"Aww is the baby feeling ill," mocked a boy beside Naruto, and perhaps one of his closest friends, which said a lot, considering they were nothing more than training partners.
"Shut it, Hisano," Naruto rolled his eyes. He'd rather go to sleep, it wasn't often when the need for sleeping in class hit him, but whenever it did, something was usually plaguing him. Something that he needed to solve. "How annoying."
"Seriously, Naruto, what up?" Hisano asked, brushing and hand through his long red hair.
Naruto focused on the scar running through his left eye, while he tried to come up with something to placate his training partner. "You know, you've never told me about this scar of yours."
Hisano was quiet for five long seconds, then his lone brown eye looked into his. "I'll tell you what, you let me in on whatever is going on here and ill tell you about my scar."
Naruto shrugged, "Let me figure a few things out and ill get back to you."
"Good enough for me," Hisano turned back to the lesson, but he would throw worried glances toward Naruto every few seconds. What had he got himself into? He should have just kept quiet. There were more than a few people curious about him now.
And none more so, than Menma Namikaze.
Naruto sighed, "Could this get any worse?"
Naruto paced up and down within his living room, over his run down carpet and in front of his broken TV-set. His hands were linked behind his back, and his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.
It just didn't make sense, could he be wrong? Was he imagining things? Had he gone completely mad? He remembered it like it was yesterday. Sitting in the library, despite the disapproving glares from the on-duty librarian.
He cracked open a book, the musty smell of old paper filled his nostrils, the words made slight bumps under his fingers.
It was there, where he read about all the legends, and all the histories concerning the first Hokage, and all that came after him. It was there where returned after class, and not only were many of those books mysteriously gone, but the main histories, and for that fact, the journal entries taken from his very own journal seemed to have been altered.
He had referred to his own notes, and wouldn't you know, they had been altered as well. Maybe he was losing his mind. How could so many things have changed? Why would someone go through all of that effort just to change a few simple facts about Hashirama Senju that hardly anyone cared about?
There was only one way to solve this, he realized, sinking into his thoroughly beaten and weathered leather chair, avoiding the "spring-loaded" side on his left. The dark-haired youth relaxed his eyes and breathed in deeply and let it out in the same breath.
It got easier, each and every time.
"Twice in one day; what's got you so bothered?" yawned his blonde counterpart, naruto inched closer, his light illuminating the blonde even more. Faded ropes of black spread across her body in ringlets.
"Where was Hashirama Senju born?" asked Naruto, deathly serious. He was just about ready to pull his hair out, and maybe even the hair of his counterpart.
"I know what you know, stop asking me stupid shit. Just let me sleep." yawned the blond, closing his pitch dark eyelids.
"Just answer the damn question!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Fine," the blond picked at his right ear, "he was born near Waterfall, happy? Good, now go."
"Actually, no. I'm far from happy. Every single textbook and scroll from the library says he was born in the land of lightning and all the legends about Shikkotsu Forest are gone. Not only that, but the theories around those mysteries are gone too!" he ranted, throwing his hand up in the air.
The blond's eyes widened, it looked like he was wearing eye shadow at this point. "That is interesting," he grinned.
"What the hell are you smiling about?" Naruto cursed, he was bright, brighter than almost anyone else he associated with, save maybe Shikamaru, the Nara genius.
"Do you know why I've been fighting such a losing battle? Against all of this…" the blond gestured to the atmosphere around them. The darkness, he soon realized. "it's because, we need balance, and the only way we are ever going to get there is if we become one, or if you spend almost as much time in here as you do out there."
Naruto was stumped, and it wasn't often that he felt like this. "just spit it out. What are you trying to say?"
"The thing is I cant. You'll have to find out on your own. All I can say is this very much related to our mother, and even in here, they've somehow managed to hide it. To conceal it. I have no idea how. It's definitely not a Genjutsu. I'm thinking seals are involved." the blond paced up and down.
"What exactly does this have to do with mom?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"Again, I can't say." the blond said dismissively, waving away the question as if unimportant. "ask yourself, how else could a Nara be powerful enough to stand against the Nine-tails for as long as she did?"
He could tell that his counterpart was throwing him hints like a clown playing charades. Unfortunately, he had no idea what they meant. He spent all the time down here. He had all these deep memories, and he had none of them. How was he supposed to figure it out?
"Remember that one Chunin exam from what was it? Three years ago. You found those two teams fighting, that red-head with those honey eyes. Remember how she absolutely slaughtered two whole teams from the leaf? Remember how she got so strong. Remember those-that covered her body." said his counterpart.
"Shit, you mean those black marks that covered her skin!" and his counterpart grinned, and yet he screwed his eyes together.
"Whatever form of secrecy they're using, its very powerful. Even vague gestures to the - and there it is again. It's getting even stronger. What I don't understand though, why aren't you affected? I mean as a part of you I shouldn't be affected." the blond pondered.
Naruto rubbed his chin, "Probably because you're around this gunk the whole day."
The blond narrowed his eyes, then grinned, and he released a throaty chuckle that bounced against darkened walls and ceiling. "You're more perceptive than I thought. I honestly hoped to fill you in on everything, but it looks like I can't anymore. It up to you. I'll keep this side on lockdown until you're ready."
Naruto nodded, he gave his counterpart a thumbs up and faded from view.
"I need a nap," sighed Naruto when he returned from the darkness of his mind.
The days following hadn't born fruit in terms of Hashirama's Mystery-as he had taken to calling it. There were absolutely no books, and for that matter scrolls regarding anything related to the Shikkotsu Forest, or even the summon animals.
So he diverted his route to Hashirama's immediate family, starting at his brother, Lord Second, otherwise known as Tobirama. There was even less concerning Tobirama's life before the founding of the leaf village.
That was no surprise though, it always was that way, however, once again the birth of the second Hokage was wrong, not only by date but by location too.
And so he moved on to the next connection and the only one he thought would bare some fruit. Lady Tsunade, the granddaughter of Hashirama.
It went on to mention a few passing statements concerning her vast strength, and then her medical innovations until it got to the point he was waiting for.
Lady Tsunade, along with her teammates Lord Jiraiya of (xxxxxxx) and Lord Orochimaru, was known summoners of the (xxxxxx) clan, (xxxxxx) clan, (xxxxxx) clan, respectively.
Clearly, it was definitely something related to the summoning animals, if even they were classified information.
He had to put that on hold for the moment, it was cutting real deep into his real training and seriously couldn't have that. He needed to have something to bring himself to an even field with Sasuke and Menma, and learning Ninjutsu, or rather, expanding the Ninjutsu he had wouldn't be the answer.
Menma and Sasuke had so much going for them, aside from adept tutors they had the natural genes of a Shinobi. Their senses were beyond anything Naruto had encountered whilst facing a classmate, or even his sensei who had an all-round average background.
Naruto was faster than the duo and much more technically skilled by far, and yet they managed to spar him to a standstill?
Naruto knew the Uchiha were known for the power of the Sharingan, but if Sasuke didn't even have it yet and he was this good, Naruto didn't even want to consider what he'd be able to do if he did have the Doujutsu.
Then came Menma, he wasn't in the least surprised with his sensory input, as the son of Minato Namikaze, a Known and powerful sensor, and double onto that his Uzumaki lineage? Naruto knew he'd have to up his game by a long shot.
At this point, Naruto didn't even want to imagine their vast differences in Chakra capacity. Those two were definitely made for Ninjutsu.
So, that begged the question, what was there for him? He needed something, something to even the odds just a little. He knew he wouldn't be able to go up against those two with their natural talent or even the more power Chūnin or Jōnin ninja straight up in a battle of skill or will.
What he needed on his side was a bit of trickery.
He needed something that very few Ninja employed, and now that he thought about it, there were a few things that came to mind. The first was Genjutsu, naturally, it wouldn't work against someone like Sasuke or anyone else that was particularly in-tuned with their Chakra, but it didn't have to, it only needed to slow them down.
Then there was what his blond counterpart mentioned, Seals. It was a very powerful art, that his so-called: Father had been famous for.
And it was very likely that the whole "Hashirama Mystery" revolved around seals, or seals were behind whatever was going on.
Naruto nodded, this time grinning(and while others may have been discouraged by the challenge, it only motivated him all the more).
"There's work to do!"
AN: Will more than likely go over this chapter again; just to check that there aren't any errors, ill as well have my readers to tell me if they see anything too startling, but for now I'm pretty happy with the outcome.
In any case please let me know what you think, feedback is always welcome.
VG out!