Hello everyone. I know I promised that this story along with my others would be updated back in February, but that was just not possible. I just kept getting delayed and delayed due to real-life issues that took precedence over my hobby in writing. Not to mention a bit of writer's block. Plus having too many ideas caused me to not really move forward with any of my stories.
Now we get to the next chapter of Neo Uzu. This will be the last chapter for this part of this story. The next few chapters will be following what would be considered the two-year time skip and some parts of Shippuden. I don't know when the next update will be, but I will get it out when I have time for it.
Not much will happen here, but it's more of setup and warp for future parts of this story.
Hope you enjoy the read.
A Union of Light and Darkness
Naruto sighs as he relaxes in his meditative state. He truly has come to enjoy these sessions as it allows him to unwind and let his mind relax and let all the stress he has built just release from his body.
It had been a month since his mission at the Crescent Moon Kingdom and Yami's warning that they will fight for him to gain access to the other half of his yokai half. For the past month, he had been preparing himself for the conflict. His girlfriends and his other friends have been helping him train for the inevitable conflict.
However, Naruto knew brute force, jutsus, and transformations would not be able to help him in this fight. After debating this for the entire month and looking back at everything Yami has told him, Naruto has figured out what Yami is. Or to be more exact what Yami represents in accordance to Naruto.
If he was right that would make things all a lot more difficult. He has been aware of Yami since he gained his yokai powers, but Yami probably knows everything about Naruto since the day he could remember anything. Meaning nothing he does will surprise him in terms of his arsenal. If he wants to win then he will have to be more unorthodox. And he may have the perfect way to win.
"Naruto." the blonde was cut from his musings as he turned to see Ahri standing by the doorframe.
"Are you ready?" she asked. Naruto nodded as he got up and they left Tazuna's home to find a secluded area in the forest for this. Once they reach a clearing, Naruto saw an array of seals going in a circle around the clearing.
"The seals are set just in case anything happens, but I have faith you'll prevail kit." Ahri proclaimed proudly.
Naruto smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Ahri-chan."
The beautiful vixen smiled at her partner and gave him a soft peck on the lips. "Good luck, Naruto-kun."
Naruto's cheeks were dusted with a bit of pink as he nodded and sat in a meditative position. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
[Naruto's Mindscape]
Naruto opened his eyes as he took the surroundings of his inner mind. He looked forward to seeing Yami staring at him with a maniacal grin. "Hello Hikari, I am glad to see you."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Are you really?"
"Of course, I was honestly expecting you to not come here. Too scared to lose the power you've gained so far."
"If you really believed I would do that then you don't know me at all," Naruto replied.
Yami shrugged. "Touche'. But we both know that I know you better than anyone else. Or are you still ignorant to who I am?"
Naruto scoffed. "No, I know who you are. Or at least what you represent. You are my dark half. My inner darkness. You represent all the suffering, hate, rage, and bitterness I felt while growing up in Konoha. That's why responded so positively to my admitting I hated Konoha. It's because you…. no, we hate Konoha for what it did to us. That's why I can never forgive it. All the lies, the secrecy I have had enough of it. Since it's also why part of me wouldn't even care if the village gets destroyed. It's just how I really feel about the village I grew up in."
Yami stared at him for several seconds before a smile curled upon his lips. "So you finally figured it out. Good. I was worried you were going to say some bullshit about me being fake and that I was lying to you."
Naruto shook his head. "I have no right to deny your existence. Since by doing so I would be denying a part of myself. Hatred is part of being human. We can mourn, suffer, envy, and of course hate. But we can also love, understand, and forgive."
Now Yami looked confused. "You just said you can't forgive them, so what do you plan to do?"
Naruto shook his head. "I plan to move forward. I will not forgive them. But I will no longer let my hatred bind me down like chains like the shackles the village tied to me while I lived there. And that is why I am here. To release the last chain binding me."
Yami laughed as he got into a fighting stance. "Well let's see what you can do!"
"No," Naruto said bluntly.
The look Yami's was absolutely priceless. He looked completely stunned by the answer, but that quickly gave to anger and confusion. "NO?! What the hell do you mean no!?"
"I mean I won't fight you. It would be pointless." Naruto said.
"What the hell?! Did you forget that I hold your power?! You won't be able to use the rest without beating me!" Yami shouted.
"Oh I will get the power, but not by fighting you. But by accepting you." Naruto began walking towards Yami.
Yami took a step back in fear as his light counter came closer to him. "What are you doing?! Stay back! Don't come any closer!" he shouted as he began to throw several bolts of electricity at Naruto.
The blonde ninja kept walking forward as lightning landed around him but not one landed a hit on him. "To move forward, I need to accept you and everything that entails with it." He says as Yami continues to fire off attacks as they exploded all around Naruto, but never touching him.
When Naruto appeared in front of Yami as his dark half was freaking out in fear as he believed that his light half will obliterate him to nonexistence.
"STAY BACK! DON'T COME NEAR!" he shouted as they turn into whimpers as Naruto loomed over him. "Please don't hurt me."
However, to the shock of Yami, Naruto hugs him. Yami is frozen in shock, unsure of what to do. But he does eventually return the hug.
"It's time for our inner conflict to end."
"What will happen to me?"
"You and I will become one. Because you are me. We make up the light and dark of Naruto Uzumaki. Yin and Yang."
"Become one."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks for everything. You kept me going through all those years. But you can rest. Let me take control and we can do this together, Menma."
Yami looked at his light counterpart in confusion. "Menma?"
"I thought I should give you a name. Better than just Yami. What do you say?"
Yami thought long and hard before smirking, "I like it."
Naruto holds out his arm in front of Yami. The dark half looks at the appendage with some apprehension before shaking it with his own. The ground below the two glowed brightly as the symbol of yin and yang appeared below. The two looked down in shock before looking at each other with small smirks. As they showed genuine care towards one another, the eyes of Yami Naruto changed as the black sclera became white and his eyes went from red to blue like his light counterpart.
Unknown to the two, there were two orbs above them. One red and the other blue. These represented the divine and yokai gifts that Naruto received from the Shinigami. The union between Naruto's two halves has caused a change with the powers as well. Instead of remaining separate, the two powers felt compelled to merge as well just like their chosen vessel and become whole. Become something new. The two powers merged into a bright purple orb that shone brightly as Yami and Hikari Naruto glowed and merged into one as the orb fell into the merging duo.
[Back in the real world]
Naruto gasped as he woke up from his deep meditation. He looks around to see that it was late in the afternoon. He had been in his mind for some time.
Ahri gets up from reading her book. "How did it go?"
Naruto gave her a smirk. "Better than expected but things seem to be a lot more different than I expected."
Naruto lifted his arm as it transformed completely into a dragonic forearm with silver tribal markings as a majestic, almost divine lightning danced around the limb.
The two looked at the appendage in wonder. "Looks like there are some unexpected consequences to the merger," Ahri commented as Naruto smirked in excitement at the new developments and the opportunities that will arise from this change.
[Oto]
"How goes the experiments, Kabuto?" Orochimaru asked.
"The hybrid bodies are showing remarkable progress. I have conducted several different combinations of bloodlines we have available. Though I have kept it the merger to two so they can develop sooner." The medical ninja replied.
The snake sannin smirked. "Excellent. I am glad Hiruko offered his assistance in this case and I have seen a lot of the combinations you have developed. Very interesting combinations you have made."
Kabuto bowed in gratitude. "Thank you for the praise, Orochimaru-sama."
"Now then how goes your personal project, Orochimaru-sama?"
"It's going quite well Kabuto. The bloodlines are surprisingly melding together beautifully. However due to the sheer number I incorporated into this one, it would take close to ten years before it would be ready, but I am a patient man. I can wait. I will merely have to use some inferior models as my host until my perfect one is ready."
"That is good news to hear. I was honestly worried the bloodlines would clash with one another. But I am surprised at how many melded together. Especially the Senju samples with the other four."
"Yes. It just goes to show that my theory of them having a common ancestor is well in fact true. Though I did not expect the Kaguya clan to also be connected, that just makes things all the more interesting." Orochimaru said. "How are allies, Kabuto?"
"They are building their forces. Iwa is getting back to the strength they had before the third war. Though due to how Minato Namikaze crippled them, they will still need time. Kumo has always had a might is right mentality." Kabuto explained.
Orochimaru chuckled. "The Raikage was always an easy pawn to manipulate. Always thinking with his muscles and the head in his pants than the one on his shoulders. One only must-see Kumo's three failures to kidnap a kunoichi from Konoha. They failed with Kushina Uzumaki and twice with Hinata Hyuuga. And yet the Raikage is still obsessed with getting a Hyuuga to create a clan in his village."
"Some would say you have a similar obsession with the Sharingan." Kabuto joked.
"The difference Kabuto is that I understand the value of patience. The Raikage cannot." Orochimaru retorted.
"I am sure anyone who has met him would agree with you."
"Well, I did give him some assistance so now we shall wait. And Danzo?" the snake ninja asked.
"Slowly building his forces from all around the Elemental Nations. His operation should be ready to be implemented in just a few more years. Around 2 or 3, that should give him enough time to have his spies and pawns in all the right locations."
"What of Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked. He was interested in hearing how his future perfect vessel is progressing in his training. He usually monitors his training, but he had been preoccupied in the last couple of days.
Kabuto hummed in thought. "He is progressing well. Currently, Guren is helping in his training. He is coming along well with his fire and lightning ninjutsu. With his Sharingan, he is now able to activate it in just a split second and hold it for long periods of time. He has been taking a liking to kenjutsu and using several other weapons. He's excelling in genjutsu and using storage seals. He has also been getting more adjusted to the different levels of curse seal after I changed the seal on it so none of the power is limited but he can control the outflow of power. He has been asking about getting a summoning contract for some time now."
Orochimaru laughed in amusement. "Excellent. We'll let young Sasuke sign the snake contract soon enough. Perhaps he can take further than we ever did. Ah, the possibilities. All in good time." He said with a wicked grin on his face as the two walked into a deeper portion of their lab.
[Iwa]
"How goes our new soldiers?" The tsuchikage asked.
His messenger bowed to his leader. "They are still a bit rough around the edges, but they should be ready in time for our operation."
The earth shadow nodded. "Good are allies are gathering their strength and we must be ready when the time comes to not only take down Fire Country but Konoha as well. This will be our revenge against The Yellow Flash and his crippling of our forces for over a decade."
He chuckled as he imagined the shocked look of his defeated enemies at who was the one to prevail against them. "Yes, and we have the most ironic weapon to use against them."
The leaf will suffer for its crimes against Iwa, and their revenge against the Yellow Flash and the Uzumaki will be complete.
[Kumo]
"How is Yugito coming along?" the raikage asked.
Darui saluted. "Sir, she continues to grow stronger under Bee-sama's tutelage."
Ay nodded. "Good. How goes are forces?" he asked.
"They are growing steadily, and our allies are reporting results."
Ay nodded as he dismissed Darui and looked out towards his village. "Soon. In just a few more years I will get what was denied to me."
[Konoha]
"How is it going, hime?" Jiraiya asked as he came into her office from the window.
"Good. All of the clan heirs have been taking their training seriously." Tsunade replied.
"And when do you plan to speak about Naruto's heritage?" Jiraiya asked as he knew that had been a topic during the discussion.
"In a few years. We agreed to reveal the truth on the day that Naruto would have turned 16." She replied.
"Fair enough. How goes your apprentices?"
"Sakura and Ino are progressing well. They both have the potential to become great medical ninja. However, they are a long way before they become truly competent. Tenten is struggling a bit, but she has the drive to motivate herself to do better. When I am not able to train them, Shizune is the one teaching them. The girls are also taking lessons from Anko in interrogations, Kurenai in genjutsu, and Yugao in tracking and weapon usage." Tsunade explained.
Jiraiya whistled in an impressed tone. "You sure are making them work."
"I need them to be well rounded not just ar being medical-nin, but as shinobi in general. The academy and their senseis have been too soft. We have war looming over us and I need them to be ready for the storm that is coming. It will be on their shoulders many will depend on to save the lives of the injured on the battlefield. No more playing around. It's time they start becoming adults."
"How are the jonin taking the news?" Jiraiya asked.
"A lot better than expected. All of the senseis of the rookies are especially training hard. Asuma is working on his wind control and I heard he even took the monkey summon as a way to honor his father. Perhaps we can have a monkey sage in the village." Tsunade said.
"If he does that, then Asuma would have finally surpassed his father," Jiraiya replied.
Tsunade nodded. "Hm. Kurenai has taken to learning to fight not just in genjutsu but also in ninjutsu with Kakashi, taijutsu with Gai, tracking with Hana, and bukujutsu with Yugao. Anko and Hana are also taking a similar training schedule."
Jiraiya shivered. "Yeesh. They must be truly sadistic if they go to Gai of all people for training."
"Kurenai feels immense guilt for what happened to Hinata. She feels that she failed Hinata when she needed her the most. She decided to become a stronger jonin, but not just in the area of genjutsu, but well-rounded in all areas." The slug sannin explained.
"Well damn." That was all Jiraiya could say.
Tsunade snorted. "If you think she's crazy. You should look at Kakashi. Besides everything else he's doing, he's training and sparring with Gai regularly and when he's not doing that, he's throwing himself into every available anbu training regimen he can get into."
Jiraiya shivered as he whistled in amazement. "Wow." He knew how challenging Gai's training regiment was and adding Anbu on top of it. It's borderline suicide.
"Speaking of training, how goes your sage training?" Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya sighed in slight annoyance and disappointment. "It's going slow. After all, it's been years since I have trained in the sage arts, so this is going to take some time."
Tsunade nodded. "Same with me. Though my issue is that I have never tried to master sage mode and I need time between my apprentices and being a Kage. So, I have limited options. I may have to use shadow clones to free up my schedule as much as possible to train."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "That's probably your best solution. My only news is that Kumo and Iwa are building up their forces for something. And not just about a possible invasion. I am hearing that they are planning something crazy. But what that is I have no idea."
"Then we will just have to prepare for the worst," Tsunade replied.
"Yeah, and pray we will walk out from all this in one piece." He said as he jumped out of the office with Tsunade screaming at him to use the door.
[Unknown Location]
"Ugh." A young voice uttered as she regained consciousness. Her vision focuses on a ceiling that is foreign to her. She looks around to find herself in a well-kept room with a single bed and two windows to her left and a small drawer to the right.
'Where am I?' she wonders to herself. 'The last thing I remember is…..' her eyes widen. 'NO!'
She tried to get up but immediately regretted it as she felt pain flare-up throughout her entire body. The girl grunted as she laid back down. She slowly pulled off her covers to see her entire chest, arms, and legs covered in bandages.
'That was a terrible idea.' She thought in regret. 'None of it was a dream. It was all real.' She bit her lip in frustration as tears nearly slipped out of her eyes.
"Just where in the world am I?" She grunted out loud.
"I can answer that for you." A voice suddenly said. The girl turned to see a young woman with raven hair in a hime cut with bright green eyes walking towards her. She wore a form-fitting shinobi outfit with a headband with an unfamiliar symbol.
"Who are you?" the girl asked.
The young shinobi girl smirked. "I should be the one asking you that since I found you heavily injured in the forest near my home, but I will humor you. My name is Shizuka and you are in Nadeshiko no Sato. Now, who are you?"
The girl's eyes widen as she recognized the place she was in. Now she wondered what she should do. She couldn't lie and she was in no position to refuse after their hospitality and she was in no shape to go anywhere, especially her old home.
'Guess I have no choice but, to be honest, and hope I am not thrown to the wolves.'
"My name is Kurotsuchi. I was originally from Iwa, but…"
[Hidden Rain Village]
"How do you feel Nagato?" Konan asked.
Nagato looked at his renewed body as he walked on his own with his legs after several years without use. "Incredible. I feel like I have not aged a day. I should have done this sooner."
"Do you plan to stop using the paths of Pein?" the paper ninja asked as that had been his main use of combat for so long.
"No, I will continue to use them. But now I will no longer have to rely on them. Once I master this new body of mine, I will ensure that I will feel little strain in using the paths or my own body. Plus, I think it's time I start learning about my family's abilities." He replied as his friend nodded and the two left the chamber they were in.
Unbeknownst to them, a familiar man with an orange spiral mask was hearing their entire conversation.
"Good. Good. Get stronger Nagato. After all, it will be all for my ambition. This world will be mine." the man said as he disappeared in a swirl.
[In a faraway location]
In the clearing of a large forest, a battle was taking place.
"Come now, gentlemen. Surely you can do better than this? I would be disappointed otherwise." said a smooth metallic voice. The man who spoke was covered from head to toe in armor. His face was covered in a metallic helmet with a golden grown with a silver metallic mask. Even his eyes were not truly visible unless the man was planning to attack.
In the man's hands were a pair of beautiful blades that resembled katanas with golden guards that were curved upwards and downwards. Finally, there were two red jewels on both sides of the guard.
Around him, there were close to a hundred bandits surrounding him, though they seem more scared of him than the reverse. This is understandable as the man in armor had slaughtered more than have the forces when they crossed paths and the craziest thing is that the armored warrior did in just under two minutes.
"Get him, you idiots. We kill him and see his armor and weapons, and we will be set for life!" the leader proclaimed.
The armored man sighed. "Human greed will never no its limits. Especially in the face of death. Don't you agree my blades?" he asked as he looked at the two blades in his hands that seemed to hum in agreement.
The bandits charged at the armored warrior as he was covered in a dark blue aura as eyes glowed a similar deep shade of azure.
"Weaklings like you are no challenge and only deserve a one-way ticket to hell. Winged Angel of Death!"
A bright golden flash illuminated the dark forest for several seconds, but as soon as the light came it vanished. There was utter silence. All that remained of the conflict except for a large crater with the armored warrior standing in the middle of.
The warrior sighed. "How disappointing." he sheathed his swords as the skies turned dark and rain began to drizzle onto the battlefield.
"Is there really no one that challenges me and my soul swords?" The masked asked aloud as he walked into the dark depths of the forests and disappeared.
Well, that is the end of the chapter. As I said, there was not a lot happening in this chapter and it was simply meant to close part one of this story as we get to the next part. Now we have seen a lot of setup with this chapter. So originally Naruto's powers were to remain separate, but I felt that there were too many transformations and decided to combine the two powers into one to make it easier for me. We get our first introduction to Shizuka and the mysterious girl we had been following was in fact, Kurotsuchi.
What happened to Onoki and what caused Kurotsuchi to flee her village? All in due time.
Can anyone guess who was the armored warrior at the end?
So we see that everyone in Konoha is training to become stronger. I always wondered why Jiraiya did not go back to finish his sage training to complete in canon. The same could be asked as to why Tsunade never tried. Well in this story both will have true senjutsu.
Now things will slowly build up in the following chapters as Naruto gains more allies as he prepares for the day that Uzu rises again and he has some unexpected reunions.
Thank you for reading. Favorite and Review. Have a good day and evening.
Harem(s):
Naruto (In-complete): Hinata, Ahri, Tayuya, Koyuki, Serafall, Ultear, Toki, Haruna
Gaara: Sasamae, Matsuri, Yukata, Fuu,
