Yeah, yeah, yeah; I know already!

"Quit making new shit and focus on your existing shit!"

Do you guys even realize how hard it is to refrain from posting new things every time instead of updating something else?! Hell, part of me is thinking my profile should just consist of challenge stories that I post the first chapters for!

However, I won't do that. Instead, I'll hold on to the faintest hope that whatever new thing I post will be accepted and appreciated. So, without further ado, here I go with another new idea.

Edit: The site has been acting up lately, sometimes showing that chapters or stories don't exist. I'm hoping it fixes itself soon. If you can read this, then I hope you like the story enough to leave a review.

Disclaimer: pain17ification owns nothing

Genesis of a Legend

Chapter 1: Genesis of Bonds

It was storming above the Hidden Leaf Village, pounding the rooftops, the trees, and the grounds relentlessly with heavy drops of rain. Few people were out and about, and those that were outside weren't planning to remain that way for long.

The start of this tale focuses on a small child with wild red hair and vibrant blue eyes. He was seated on a worn-down bed that creaked with every shift of weight that laid upon it. The boy himself was watching the rain strike against his cracked window, ignoring the sounds of the other children playing in the other room of the orphanage.

He had long stopped trying to get involved with their merriment, having learned he wasn't welcome by the matron of the orphanage and ushered to his solitary room with nothing more than a stuffed toy to keep him company. Blue eyes looked down from the window and to the toy in his grasp, and a lonely smile formed on his face as he brushed off the dirt and dust that cling to the cottony outside.

The toy was a stuffed animal that took the form of a white fox with black beady eyes. It was dirty and old, obviously a hand-me-down that was given to him while newer toys were saved for the other children. He didn't care, though; for he was simply happy to have a friend to talk to.

"It's raining really hard, eh Yuki?" he asked the toy rhetorically. "I wonder if it'll keep raining through the night…"

He looked to the toy, which obviously said nothing in response to his musings. Still, the child nodded as if he received a reply.

"Yeah, I hope the window holds, too… I wouldn't like to wake up by getting soaked."

He chuckled to himself, as if he had heard a humorous joke. However, his chuckles died down for a depressed expression as he stared down at the lifeless object in his hands.

"…sometimes I wish you were real, Yuki…" he whispered before hugging the stuffed fox toy close to his chest and lying on his side.

He stared blankly at the wall across from his bed, watching as the moonlight lit up the shadow of his window frame and the raindrops splashing against it and running down its cracked glass. The sounds of the outside storm slowly began to fade as sleep started to claim him, and he clutched his toy tighter while thinking on his earlier wish.

For you see, Naruto Uzumaki was a lonely child who was distanced by nearly everyone he interacted with. The only people who treated him kindly were a pair of ramen chefs whose stand he frequented whenever he had a craving for their heavenly food. Even the Hokage, who treated everyone with respect, seemed to hold him at a certain distance despite coming off as a kindly old man.

Friendship. Acknowledgement. An end to this torturous solitude.

That was what he craved more than anything else in the world. He wanted someone to accept him into their life with open arms, to show him that not everyone would treat him like an unwanted stray. He just wanted a friend…

As sleep finally claimed him, the young boy was unaware that his recently awakened chakra had responded to his deepest, most desperate desire. His body was outlined with a golden aura that flickered like divine fire and seeped into the toy held in his grip. The beady eyes of the stuffed animal gained a glint of life in them, and it wriggled in Naruto's hold before turning so that it could watch him sleep.

And if someone happened to be within the boy's room, they would've heard a soothing feminine voice came from the stuffed fox, despite it not having a working mouth.

"Sweet dreams, Naruto…"

Deep within the mountain graced with the faces of the Hokage both past and current, there was an elderly man looking through some files concerning various ninja and Academy students. He held an expressionless face as he studied each file he picked up, sorting them into two distinct stacks as he lessened the one that they all originated from.

The sound of someone landing before his desk caused him to pause in his work as he regarded the operative under his command. "Report," he ordered.

"Lord Danzo, the Jinchūriki was reported to have recently given off an unknown kind of chakra as he fell asleep. The scout who reported this noted how the boy was outlined in golden colored energy that bled into a stuffed animal in his arms."

"Golden chakra…?" the elderly man repeated, sounding intrigued. "Anything else to report?"

"It's unconfirmed, but the scout believed he saw the toy move on its own when the energy died down. But it's inconclusive since the Jinchūriki could've simply shifted in his sleep."

Danzo Shimura, the "Darkness" of the Leaf, hummed in thought at that. "Keep having the scouts report on the boy. If his toy has gained sentience, then we must understand how the Jinchūriki was able to perform such a thing."

"Yes, sir," the operative bid before vanishing.

"…What do you think of this development?" the elderly man asked aloud to seemingly no one.

From the shadows, a pale-skinned man with long black hair and snake-like yellow eyes stepped out with an interested smile upon his face. "I think that Minato's boy will be need further observation beyond simply being the Jinchūriki. I have a couple theories, but I'd rather not say until I have more data and reports to look over."

"I'll send them your way when I have time. If we can discover what that golden energy was, we can attempt to assist the Jinchūriki in harnessing it." He turned to his secret accomplice and asked, "Could it be the Kyuubi?"

"No. The beast's chakra was a crimson red color, and Jinchūriki using that chakra had a bubbling cloak of energy. Your scout made no such mention."

"Then this is something unique to either the boy or his lineage. Perhaps his Uzumaki side…"

"If so, then I suggest making deciphering what it is our top priority for now. I'm making headway on taking control of the Land of Rice, so I can afford to step away from that for a bit."

Nodding, Danzo silently dismissed Orochimaru and left his own office. He would be patient and wait for the next report.

All was for the village… Or so he always preached.

"Naruto…"

He groaned in his sleep, not wanting to wake up.

"You need to get up, Naruto. You shouldn't oversleep."

"Five more minutes…" he mumbled, hoping the voice would adhere to his request.

"Please wake up. I need to speak with you about what has happened last night."

Finally cracking an eye open, he looked around the room for the possible source of the voice; but all he saw was his toy perched perfectly before his face.

"Good morning, Naruto," the voice spoke again, and it came from the stuffed fox whose tail was slowly swaying.

"…Yuki?" Naruto couldn't help but ask, now alert as both eyes opened and he sat up.

"Correct. I'm glad that you slept well, but you really need to be awake for this."

He nodded numbly, surprise visible on his face. "How…?"

"To put it simply, your chakra responded to your wish last night. I can't fully explain it, but based on what I instinctively know, your chakra gave me sentience."

"Senti-what now?"

A soft giggle came from Yuki. "Sentience, Naruto-kun. It's a smarter way of saying life, which is what your chakra gave me. That much I know, but I don't know the specifics."

"So…I did this?"

"Yes, you did. And I must say that I'm glad that I could speak with you. The chakra given to me came with glimpses of moments when you would speak to me, and I remember how you would try to stay positive whenever you didn't hear me respond. It saddens me that you had to endure such loneliness, but I hope to help you stop being so lonely."

Despite the oddness of the whole situation, Naruto was touched at the genuine care in Yuki's voice. Instinctively, he reached out and hugged her to him.

"There, there… I'm here, Naruto-kun. And I'll be around for however long you wish me to."

"…thank you…" he choked out as he hugged his friend.

Words couldn't describe the joy filling his heart.

Despite the storm from the previous night, the village was no longer suffering through the rain and many were pleased to see that a good chunk of the clouds had faded away. There was still a sense of overcast weather, but the sun was working on breaking through it.

With Naruto, we see him walking through the village streets with Yuki perfectly balanced atop his wild locks. He was hoping to show her off to Teuchi and Ayame, wanting to introduce them to his friend for real instead of when she was a lifeless toy.

"I wonder how they'll react to you talking, Yuki-chan," he mused aloud, though he kept his voice low so that nobody would hear what he was saying.

"I imagine they'd be rather surprised, but I think they'll also be happy for you. From what glimpses I have, I can tell they really care about you, Naruto-kun."

He smiled at that, relieved that the two were sincere. A part of him doubted their kindness, and that doubt reared its ugly head at times when he was depressed, taunting him with the notion that the ramen chefs would soon send him away like so many others.

Shaking off those thoughts, he approached the ramen stand and set Yuki on the counter first before taking a seat on one of the stools. Yuki awkwardly padded her way to sit in front of him, still getting used to moving around in a stuffed animal's body.

"Good morning, Naruto-chan," Ayame greeted kindly, smiling warmly at the whiskered boy. "You're a little early for any ramen, but it's nice to see you."

He returned her smile. "You too, Ayame. I'm not here for ramen, though. Even if it sounds good right now."

She giggled at his afterthought. "Why am I not surprised that you'd want ramen for breakfast?" she questioned teasingly.

"And what's wrong with serving our ramen for breakfast?" Teuchi spoke up as he made his way out from the kitchen. "Morning, kid. That was some storm last night, eh?"

"Yeah… I was worried my window wouldn't be able to take it," Naruto admitted. "Anyway, I came here to introduce you two to my first friend!"

Ayame smiled gently at the raw enthusiasm on the boy's face. She had seen him during some of his more depressed periods, and part of her worried that he would give up one day and do something drastic. Hearing that he had made a friend brought a sense of relief to her.

"They waiting outside?" Teuchi asked curiously.

Shaking his head, Naruto placed a hand on the head of the stuffed fox and introduced, "She's right here. Her name's Yuki."

Teuchi and Ayame faltered for a moment, having been introduced to the boy's stuffed animal before on the day it was given to him.

To their shock, the fox lowered its head on its own, as if giving them a respectful bow of greeting. "It's wonderful to meet you both officially," Yuki spoke up. "I understand that me speaking is rather odd, but I hope it isn't an issue."

Ayame broke out of her shock first, picking up the toy and inspecting it for any signs of a speaker. Naruto had started gaining a penchant for pranks, and she was curious if they were his current targets.

"I assure you, I have no speaker in my stuffing," Yuki stated, hoping to appease Ayame's concerns. "If you'd please set me down, I can explain my sentience to you both."

Awkwardly, she set the stuffed fox back onto the counter while Teuchi scratched his head in confusion. "I've heard of some crazy things happening, considering we live in a ninja village; but a toy coming to life is a new one."

"Chakra can be used for an immeasurable number of things; from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. Giving life to an inanimate object shouldn't be too much of a stretch."

"I suppose that's a fair point," the man conceded. "I'm guessing Naruto did this…?"

"Unconsciously, he did. His chakra was highly responsive to his desire for a friend, and it reacted when he wished that I were real. I'm not entirely sure how, but instinctively I know that it was Naruto's own power that gave me awareness and sentience."

"Isn't this awesome?!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning brightly. "I brought her to life!"

"It's amazing," Teuchi admitted.

"But…I think you should be more worried, Naruto-chan," Ayame added.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Naruto," she began, hoping to get him to understand the weight of the situation from the tone of her voice, "you brought your toy to life. I understand that chakra can do incredible things, but the closest thing I've ever heard of for something like this was that puppetry jutsu from the Hidden Sand; and that's because it's something they're famous for."

"She's right, kid. What you did goes beyond that, and that could make people try to take you away so that they could understand how you did it," Teuchi warned.

"But…I don't even know how it happened," Naruto replied.

"I doubt they'd care," Ayame stressed with an uncomfortable expression. "They might force you to try it different ways…"

Naruto looked scared at hearing that. "I was just…"

Seeing that he was trying to defend himself, Ayame moved around the counter and held the boy close to her in the hope of comforting him. "Hey, I'm not saying we're blaming you for anything. All we're trying to say is that you should be careful about who finds out. We don't want anyone trying to take you away…"

That statement erased any and all doubts in Naruto's heart about the ramen chefs, and he mentally promised to never doubt them again. For like Yuki, they were his friends.

And Naruto would forever trust those who proved to his heart that they were worthy of such a title.

A couple hours later, Naruto and Yuki left the ramen stand. Having been warned about the wrong sort of people finding out about Yuki, Naruto promised them to keep it a secret. The two chefs were happy to see that he was listening to their advice, and they promised him that they would also keep quiet about it.

As a gift to him, and to help Yuki, Ayame had offered to repair the stuffed fox if she ever got damaged. She had taken to learning how to sew so that she could repair hers and her father's uniforms if they ever needed adjustments. The two thanked her for the offer and accepted it gratefully.

"That went well," Yuki spoke up. "It's wonderful to see that they were so concerned for your wellbeing."

"Yeah… Part of me doubted they truly cared, but I'm glad that they do. They're…" He smiled softly as he finished, "They're my friends."

Had she a mouth, Yuki would've smiled at the relieved joy in Naruto's voice. "I'm happy for you, Naruto-kun…"

Naruto's smile remained as he made his way to the Academy. Due to the storm, classes had been canceled for a few days. However, Naruto wanted to use the practice grounds at the Academy to try improving his throwing skills.

When he got there, he was slightly surprised to see that the target posts had already been riddled with kunai and shuriken. The one responsible for the weaponry was a girl who looked a bit older than he was; probably a class higher.

She was panting as she readied some more kunai, but stopped when she heard Naruto comment jokingly, "I think you got them."

Turning to him, she saw that he looked rightly impressed with her efforts, though she fought a blush at his joke. "I…might have overdid it," she sheepishly admitted.

"I'd say so, but you must've practiced a lot to be able to do so much."

"Practice and good quality weapons will save your life one day," she advised, earning an embarrassed look from the redheaded boy. "What?"

"Uh… Well, the thing is…" he began before offering her his secondhand weapon pouch.

Curious, she opened it before cringing at the poor quality of the weapons inside. Some of them looked ready to break upon the next impact.

"Most places don't sell me training kunai, so I make the most out of the ones the teachers give us or any I find left behind at training grounds," Naruto confessed.

"These things won't last much longer. I'd say a couple hours of training at best," she informed him, earning a sigh from the whisker-faced kid. "Tell you what, if you help me pick up my weapons, I'll let you keep some and show you my dad's shop. I'm sure he'll sell you some in the future."

Excited at the prospect of getting better quality tools, and hopefully making yet another friend, Naruto agreed and set to work with the girl, who introduced herself as Tenten. As they picked up the discarded throwing weapons, the two made small talk and Naruto learned that his earlier assumption on her age was spot-on. She was a year ahead of him, and only had a few more left before she could graduate as a Genin.

He also learned that he motivation to improve was so that she could become a strong kunoichi like the legendary Sannin, Tsunade Senju. Apparently, some of the boys in her class talked down on her efforts, and she strived to prove the jerks wrong.

"You'll get there," Naruto had said to that. "Just don't ever let people make you think of giving up."

Touched at his supportive words, Tenten offered to help Naruto practice in the future. Something he gratefully accepted.

Throughout their cleanup, she had noticed that the stuffed fox upon his head was perfectly balanced the entire time; never falling off even when he bent forward. When he introduced it as his friend Yuki, she thought it was both cute and worrying that a kid his age still found companionship in a toy.

Still, she didn't judge him for it and figured that he simply had trouble making friends. She would never know how correct that thought was.

Once they had finished, Tenten led Naruto to her father's workshop and let him look around while she fetched the man. When she left, Naruto strolled through the shop and stared at the multitude of different weapons, amazed at how awesome and beautiful they all looked.

"These were forged by a Master Bladesmith, Naruto-kun," Yuki spoke up. "You can tell by the quality in both the design and craftsmanship."

"Yeah… They look amazing," he agreed.

"Why thank you, young man," an older man's voice spoke up, prompting Naruto to turn towards what could only be described as a giant of a man. When he saw the shock on the boy's face, he chuckled to himself.

It never got old seeing that expression, nor when someone asked how he got so big.

"So, you're this Naruto kid my daughter mentioned."

"Y-Yes, sir," Naruto replied nervously, not wanting to get crushed by the giant before him.

"Ha! No need to be so nervous, kid! I won't hurt you. Not when you might become a future customer someday."

Tenten squeezed through the space between her father and one of the shelves, giving the man an annoyed look at blocking the way. "Naruto, this is my father, Tenken. As you probably guessed, he made all the weapons in this place, and he's helped me learn the basics of blade smithing."

"So, you'll make weapons too someday?" the redhead asked.

"I certainly hope she will!" Tenken declared with a laugh. "So, you're looking for a place to purchase some weapons, right?"

"Yeah. The ones the Academy give us don't last too long, and other places won't sell to me…"

While Tenten looked confused at that, Tenken frowned as he easily deduced why that was. "Well, how about I make you a deal, kid?" At Naruto's nod, he continued, "I could use a hand around the shop now and again, and I'd rather not pull my daughter away from her own training. Now, I understand that you'll be training too, but I'll teach you some tricks of the trade if you want in return for cutting into your training time. I'll even pay you for your help. Sound fair?"

As quietly as possible so that neither Tenten nor her father could hear her, Yuki whispered, "Take the offer, Naruto-kun. This way you are guaranteed to get quality tools, you can start making money early, and you can learn an incredibly useful skillset for the future."

Nodding in agreement to both of them, Naruto replied, "You got yourself a deal, Tenken-san!"

"Excellent! If you're not too busy, we can start now!" Tenken offered enthusiastically.

"Sounds good to me, Boss!" the Uzumaki agreed with equal enthusiasm as he followed his new employer.

Tenten shook her head with a smile, almost worried about how someone as passionate about smithing as her father could influence Naruto.

"The earlier assumption can be counted as conclusive, sir," the ROOT operative reported to Danzo. "The toy owned by the Jinchūriki has gained sentience and the boy has shown it to the Ichiraku family. I believe it is safe to assume that he holds a great deal of trust in them."

"What's more is that the Jinchūriki has gained the support of Higurashi-san after coming into contact with his daughter at the Academy," a second operative reported. "How should we proceed, sir?"

Danzo frowned faintly in thought. "The boy has already made some attachments to notable members of the village. Taking him would draw suspicion; not that taking the Jinchūriki was an option in the first place."

"Sir, the Jinchūriki seems to desire acknowledgement based on psyche evaluations from before regarding his previous pranks. Perhaps it would be best to offer him assistance with his ninja training while establishing a source of trust and council?" a third ROOT suggested, having worked on the boy's psychological profile. She had seen firsthand how starved for attention the boy was.

"Go on," Danzo ordered.

"The Jinchūriki is watched by Lord Hokage and his own ANBU, but none have tried to establish a genuine connection with the boy. This makes him wary on who to trust, save for those who have proven to treat him fairly and show concern for him. I understand your desire to become Hokage, sir; but perhaps the boy can serve as a proxy in the future, having been molded for the position by you."

The man was silent in thought as he contemplated her suggestion. "…I will take it under consideration. Until then, keep reporting on his progress. The Jinchūriki is the greatest weapon of the village, and we need to be sure that any potential he has is honed to a fine edge."

"Yes, Lord Danzo," the three ROOT operatives replied before vanishing.

Left alone, Danzo further contemplated the suggested of his Psyche Squad operative. "In all the years of trying to usurp control from Hiruzen, a proxy Hokage had never once crossed my mind. Perhaps it's time to take on a future apprentice…"

Plans needed to be made for the future.

And done!

Now, to explain the premise of this story. I'm playing on the concept of Yang Chakra, which is said to "breathe life" into something while Yin Chakra "gives shape". Naruto is the embodiment of Yang (based on how Ashura is his ancestor).

So, based on Naruto's link to Yang, I decided to have Naruto be able to use Yang Chakra in its purest form; thus, giving life to an inanimate object that he has an emotional attachment to. Seeing as this is a Bleach crossover, what do you think that could mean for Naruto in the future?

Especially when you take into account how he now has a job under a bladesmith of the village.

Anyway, here's hoping that this first chapter and the premise keeps you interested in what may come!

Until next time!

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay positive!

pain17ification