Chapter 1
The hands of Destiny
()
humanity has always been a wonder to those of supernatural, by there standards, origins.
They were creatures born inherently weak and fragile, yet could grow to powers rivaling or even surpassing their own.
Gods, demons, angels and other such creatures has been overcome by those of mankind, even if their strength weren't enough there gifts, knowledge and adaptability, were said to be second to non.
It was why despite existing for millions if not billions of years they continued to live. Through catastrophe after catastrophe, tragedy after tragedy, where other races would simply cease to exist they refused to be wiped out.
It was a phenomena that had even gotten the attention of -The hands of Destiny-, to entities that existed since the dawn of time, said to stand as the pinnacle of absolute power.
Luck and Fate, two sides of a coin, one who controlled the path of life and one who controlled chance and possibility.
Together they made up -The hands of Destiny- they who controlled and set the path of the universe in stone.
However that was before humanity had come into play, and they broke everything, changed all of their plans and ideals.
The two entities because of this had become sour with one another, due to their own wants and opinions of humanity.
Fate, despised, humanity due them being able to break it's control and create its own path in life.
Luck, adored, humanity due to them being able to break it's control and create their own possibilities.
One who was interested and one who was insulted, as they continued to watch them they saw interesting individuals all across the timelines, they who stood out from the sea of people.
They were labeled 'deviants', they who, like them, had control over destiny and had the highest resistance to their influence even if it was minutely.
Immortals, those who defy the natural order of the universe and continue to live far beyond normal or mortal standards.
Reality benders, those who defy space and possibility, creating ripples through dimensions and timelines with just a mere action that could alter the flow of reality and possibility.
Puppeteers, those who defy destiny itself, controlling how others lives are to be lived and what the world should be, past present and future, through just their charisma and character.
It was not uncommon for a deviant to fall into more than one of these categories.
Such was their newest target of interest and ire respectively, Uzumaki Naruto, a Reality bender and a Puppeteer.
He, like many others, grew up defying destiny, when he was meant to die he lived, when he was meant to fail he succeeded, when he was meant to fall he stood tall and proud.
Even when faced by the scorn of his entire village he boldly declared that he would become someone who would be remembered until the end of mankind.
So as they continued to watch the Uzumaki's life they saw first hand the beginnings of that bold declaration,
and what a beginning it was.
()
Tonight was meant to be a peaceful night within Nami no Kuni.
He was meant to have a peaceful breakfast with his team and the family of wave, go to bed to have a good nights rest then wake up in the morning to train for their inevitable run in with the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza and his masked accomplice.
However things had to take a turn for the worse when that brat opened up his big mouth, going on a rant about how he and his team had never experienced pain before and dragging up long since buried memories that he didn't want to remember.
He had stormed out of the house in barely suppressed rage after chewing the boy out, intent on a quick late night training to blow off some steam before eventually going back and pretending the whole encounter never happened.
That plan was now an impossibility for The one who called himself Uzumaki Naruto.
He felt empty.
It was such an obscure and strange way to describe how he felt but it was fitting even if it was off putting, he was always used to his base emotions that came with who he was, short-tempered, hot-headed, optimistic, mischievous, optimistic, determined, stubborn, prideful.
But right now he felt none of those.
He stood within an abandoned warehouse his eyes and face despondent and devoid of life as he gazed at the sight before him.
It was a grotesque scene, rivers and pools of blood flooded the ground and painted the wall in deep crimson. Men and Women, young and old lay dead before him with eyes as dull as his very own, deep punctures, cuts and slashes that had taken their lives were left bare for the world to see.
And he was the cause of all the life taking injuries.
He had killed.
'Monster'
Blood clung to his hair, face, clothes and hands. His signature and beloved orange jumpsuit torn and looking more like rags, stubbornly held on to his form.
They were Gato's men and civilians that had been caught in the crossfire of his blind rage and desperation to survive.
None of them had been spared
'Demon'
he didn't even realize till it was already too late, whatever had happened to him, whatever came over him all he saw was enemies, enemies that needed to be eliminated, He didn't even felt only partially bad for their death, rather he did feel bad about was what he had done.
'Selfish'
What would his sensei think? would he be proud? ashamed? disgusted? disappointed? did any of that even matter? he was a shinobi was he not? shinobi were known for assassination above all.
'Killer'
"shut up." Naruto mumbled out to himself in a daze. That voice... it's accusations... he didn't want to hear it.
However the voice never stopped continuing to pester him as he turned from the horrific sight to go back to his temporary residence.
Maybe when he made it back he would be able to just forget everything that happened tonight, play it off as some kind of bad dream, it wouldn't be the first time he had such a terrible nightmare and definitely wouldn't be the last.
After all the night couldn't get any worse than this, right?
He would quickly be proven wrong.
He was bathed in the ethereal light of the moon that filtered through the forest as he stepped out of the silent warehouse and was suddenly hit by unnaturally cold air like it was invisible ice.
He continued through the forest however, uncaring of the unnatural temperature or of whatever predators could be within the forest.
Crack
The voice within his head suddenly became several, weird that had never happened before, was that something he should look into?
CRack
The long shadows cast by the trees suddenly grew in size and seemingly moved unnaturally to become something.
CrACK
The shadows manifested into non descript images of humans, the voices once in his head now echoing from their non existent lips.
CRaCk
His vision swam while the sounds of the night became a drone of melded sounds, only the voices of the shadows and voices could still be made out.
cRACK
He stumbled over himself, his pace turning into a drunken stagger as his breath became ragged and uneven, his arms and legs once fueled by adrenaline and nearly infinite stamina now felt heavy and weak.
Eventually he gave into his bodies wishes and he collapsed to his hands and knees, the shadows growing into monstrous figures that loomed over him, while their voices became melded and unintelligible as the spoke and yelled over one another.
CRACK
They say everything gave in and damage when enough pressure was applied. He could feel that that pressure reached its breaking point, his mask, perfectly crafted and made through artificial and genuine emotions to fool anyone and everyone fall apart after 9 years. It was a real masterpiece too, hell it even managed to fool him into believing the character that was Uzumaki Naruto, the knuckle-headed ninja was truly who he was.
It was all a lie that even fooled the one who told it.
Maybe that was because that was his ideal version of himself, a hyperactive and unpredictable youth who retained even a slight trace of his innocence. How did the saying go again? Think it till you believe it or something like that.
Naruto watched more than felt as a single droplet of water fell before him into the dirt ground, then another and another and before he realized it he was crying or could it even be called crying? he felt no sadness, no anger, not even a singular sound escaped him as he cried.
He just felt... tired.
Very, very tired.
Even as he felt the repressed emotions of anger, guilt, fear, disgust, self loathing, sadness, he never acted upon them, even when the memories of his childhood assaulted him now that they were blocked behind the barrier that was his mask his face never so much as twitched, instead he let his head hit the soft grass as he let his eyes roll to the back of his skull and he passed out.
()
He was within a familiar park, one where some of his worse memories were made.
He felt small like he was a young child once more, the world was bright and colorful and he smiled widely, it was a fox-like smile.
"Naruto!" a voice called out to hims and he turned to see a girl around his age rapidly approaching him.
She looked odd, for one she had no face and had long flowing red hair and a smile such a familiar smile that he almost recoiled.
What was the most off putting however was that he couldn't describe the girl despite seeing her,
it was like his brain refused to register what was before him except for her hair and smile.
"[̵̢͇̰̦͓̓͌͒́̏͗̅͘͝R̵̯̫͊͘e̵͕̠̦̊͊̆̽͘d̸͍̈́͌͌̈́̍̃̈͊̀̋ͅͅȧ̸̱̭̳̭̯̝͉́̒͊̂̊͂̆͠ͅc̴̨̨͔̝͉̠̻̏̏͂̒̃̿͝t̴͈̼͖́͛̋͂̐̆͗͛̚͠ḙ̷̛͛͌̾̆̍͛͛̊d̷̛̠̯̎̄̚]̴̹̤̲̰̀̑̆̃͒" he responded back, paying no mind to the fact he couldn't hear her name for some reason.
"Come on let's go play in the forest again." she beamed to him "I found a cool spot where we could play ninja, follow me."
She extended her hand and Naruto went to grasp at it however he paused.
'do not believe that girl,' a strange, unrecognizable voice said in his head and he for some reason believed them.
Just as he retracted his hand that smile vanished and was replaced by a frown. "what's wrong?" she asked.
It was then Naruto heard it, the almost unrecognizable second voice that spoke along side hers.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, he felt the girls confusion.
"Are you ok Naruto it's just me." she said, but Naruto just asked again.
"who are you?"
Suddenly the environment of the park he knew so much was warped and instead replaced with a place beyond mortal comprehension,
The best way he could describe the place was a battlefield.
A battle field only meant for gods and those of the divine.
"You truly have some nerve to question me like that." a voice said, "then again your 'her' vessel." It added, seemingly more to itself than him.
Naruto looked to see who it was,
That would prove to be the biggest mistake he would ever done.
As soon as his eyes landed on the owner of the voice his body was already pressed to the ground as an unreal amount of power crushed him.
The man, just like the entire landscape, was beyond mortal comprehension,
the best way he could put the man into words? Dangerous.
Even now he felt like the slightest movement would render him to shreds,
He hadn't even seen the man all he saw was an abyss, a black that erased all light and encompassed all.
"We will be meeting again."
He didn't know why but for some reason the man's voice irked him, a lot, and he felt white hot anger bubble up from within him,
He felt like there was something within him that caused this anger like a part of him knew who this was,
It caused two separate powers that were both foreign to him surge just beneath his skin.
"Remember my name for it will be my vessel who cuts you down."
The man was seemingly speaking to someone else, more specifically whatever were the powers that violently surged beneath his skin at the man's antics
He mocking them and by association him. He didn't like being mocked.
Just as Naruto was about to turn his gaze up to glare at the figure he spoke.
"K̸̡̝̲͍̺̺̺̰̼̦̻͓̘̎̆̒̄̏ͅͅh̷̖̭͓̱̠̝̩͉͐́́͗̆̾̚͜͠͠a̴̯̼̿̅̌͊̏̎̋̂̽͛̊̚͝o̸̡̹̞̊͛̿͛̔́̃͂́̉̓̊s̷̢̛͙̘̘̠̬̰̞͔͚̠͍̫͍̈́̽̂̈́̓͑̄̎͊̆̐̕͠͝, it will do well you remember, M̵̨͉̳͚̩̗͆̈̄o̴̢͙̞̬̙̮̫͋͗̊r̷̢̮̙͕̜͌͌̐̉͗̍n̸̜̗̦͈͛̎͋ḯ̷̱̣̠̪̖̣͂̅̅̄̒͝ͅn̶̮͓͈̕͘͘ͅǵ̶̘̫̞͘s̵̢͉͚̰͛̋̓͗͜t̷̛͇̐̇̽̋̓ą̵̖͇̥̭͊ŗ̶̳̂, Fox."
Just as the man's unrecognizable introduction was over Naruto felt his body be crushed into paste before the world went black.
()
Waking up in the forest the next day to the feeling of the sun's rays was definitely a serene experience, one that he basked and reveled in for just a moment before the memories of last night hit like a train.
His body sagged and he felt like he was once more tired, however he willed his body to move, he needed to shower and get ready for training and sort through his emotions and thoughts.
He ignored the strange dream and began making his way back to the house.
"I just need a shower and when I get to training everything will go back to normal, like always." Naruto spoke aloud, seemingly trying to convince himself of his thought process and how the events for the rest of his days at Nami no Kuni.
Although no matter how much he tried, how much different scenarios he played in his mind of heroism and romance, his face never moved and his eyes remained dull.
His mask of illusions who was Uzumaki Naruto was gone and he no longer saw the world in rose tinted glasses, it made everything look so... dull, empty, hollow.
So caught up in his own emotions that Naruto never realized the slight alteration in his eyes or the earth he once laid upon nor did hear the strange, unrecognizable voice in his head.
It would be many years later that many would speak about the place where a legend was born for good or bad who knew?
()
A/N: Alright first chapter done, as you see not much has changed except for Fate no longer having a gender and the introduction of Luck as an equal. Their characters would be seen scarcely throughout the story but that isn't something to worry about.
The way how Naruto's Hollow power will work similar to before back in the original but with a bit of differences.
He also won't bounce back from the incident as easily as before and actually have effects on his character and growth.
And finally Naruto doesn't have a breakdown like before and it is for an important reason and instead has an interesting dream.
Anyways, as always criticism is welcomed and hope you enjoyed reading.