AN: Welcome to "The Cultist". Now, a couple of things to address before we start.

M rating there for a reason.

No, this is not a crossover. I will aim to only use the characters and most lore already present in Naruto's Universe to try to make the story as authentic as possible while adding my own elements to it. If I am forced to make some OCs to cover some events then they will never be any major characters and will never impact the story in a meaningful way.

This is not NaruHina story despite how the start might seem.

Note - Two events of Naruto's childhood might not be in line with canon timeline here but that was a choice I made simply to make it convenient to kick off the story. In the end it doesn't really matter in what order they happened in canon.

While I said I will use "most lore already present" there will be some elements (which was also my inspiration) you will see I added and which will be the driving force (so to speak) of Naruto. But in grander scheme of things, the elements I am adding are in no way changing the existing lore and history of the Elemental Nations (unless I choose to twist something a bit to suit my needs).

This first chapter is also a bit nerdy... count how many times I've used "book".

And now, with the story.

The Cultist

Chapter 1: His Dark Beginnings

"Leave her alone!" a blonde haired child, no older than 8, shouted as he ran towards the group of bullies that were surrounding a lavender haired girl.

The dark canopy of Konoha's forest was casting perfect shade of the midday, as the child tried to run as fast as his little legs could carry him – weaving and jumping over thick roots of the mighty forest, hoping to make it in time to help the girl who was on her knees and crying.

The three bullies, all of them of nondescript appearance, tensed for a second when they heard someone shout. When they turned around and looked in the direction of the voice, they immediately relaxed.

"Oi, it's the demon kid!" one of them smirked.

Lavender haired girl's head snapped up upon hearing that and her teary eyes widened when she saw someone actually trying to help her. "P-please! D-don't hurt him!" she managed to plead through the sobs.

"Don't you worry! Naruto Uzumaki is here to save the day!" the blonde shouted as he finally got close.

But he was still a developing child who was not quite used to intense physical strain which he was doing for the past few minutes. He was running away from the village's town centre where he was unlucky to come across some civilians who took their hate on another level. It took him a couple of minutes of running until he reached one of the densely forested area near the walls of the village until he heard a girl's cry.

And thus he didn't see a particularly sneaky vine which twisted around a smaller root in his way. He tumbled, lost his balance, and fell face first into the ground right in front of the bullies. Almost like being served on a silver platter.

"Hahaha!" the bullies laughed. One of them, the one who was on the lanky side, quickly ran and sat on Naruto's back and pinned him down.

"My father always said to stay away from you. Always called you a demon. Why do they call you a demon?"

"I don't know!" Naruto exclaimed as he struggled to get up "Let me go!"

The third kid approached the blonde and looked at him nastily "My mother always told me if I get the chance then I should teach you a lesson. Apparently it's because of you that I don't have a sister anymore."

"You think it's okay?" the first one asked, a bit uncertain.

This time it was the second one who answered "My father has said something like that too. It's not really fun to play with the creepy girl anymore, all she does is cry. Lets teach this demon a lesson like our parents told us to!"

"Yeah! He will know better next time."

And so commenced the beating of one Naruto Uzumaki. A bundle of joy who only wanted to help the poor girl. It was very soon that he passed out from exhaustion and pain, at which point the bullies got bored and left.

"I-I-I'm s-so sorry!" the girl cried even more when the bullies left. She felt so guilty and powerless and terrified. It's because of her that the boy, Naruto he said, is now in this state. And she couldn't do anything.

A minute or two later she saw some people in animal masks arrive –ANBU-, together with her father.

"Hinata!"

When he opened his eyes all he saw was the white ceiling. Naruto sighed – again in the hospital. He didn't particularly hate the hospital because people treated him fairly here. But he didn't like it either – the sterile smell and the white walls were a bit suffocating. Then again, more often than not it was his own fault that he kept ending up here – trying to imitate ninja, doing some dangerous pranks, or trying to train not knowing what he was doing. Being an orphan and bored with a limitless amount of energy would do that to you.

"Good evening, Naruto-kun," an elderly voice called out from his right side.

Naruto immediately felt the voice fill him with that familiar warmth that he'd always craved and he couldn't help but smile in joy as he sat up and looked at his most precious person "Jiji!"

The voice belonged to one Hiruzen Sarutobi – the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. But to Naruto he was simply 'jiji'. "I'm glad you are okay, but please take it easy. Someone will come shortly to check up on you."

"I'm fine," Naruto pouted "I'm always fine!"

Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle a bit seeing the adorable pout of the child. The child was right too, he did possess remarkable healing capabilities "I know you are. But rules are rules," the door opened and a plain looking doctor came in "Ah, Takashi-san!"

"Hokage-sama," Takashi nodded and then turned to Naruto and gave him a smile as the boy waved to him "Good evening, Naruto. Before you ask, you've only been here for a couple of hours. I will just quickly check that you're definitely okay and then you can be on your way."

Naruto nodded. He was quite familiar with the procedure despite wishing he wouldn't need to do it every time. As the doctor got to work and activated his medical ninjutsu, Hiruzen decided that he might as well ask what happened. Naruto got a bit sad, but told the whole tale of what happened anyway. Hiruzen listened without changing his expression, but Naruto knew it was always painful for his jiji to hear these things. It's the way his eyes changed whenever Naruto spoke of such things. Eyes full of regret and sadness. It was quite sad that Naruto was forced to grow up so quickly and learn the skill of reading people in order to protect himself.

A couple of minutes later Takashi left after saying Naruto is healthy and good to go. This is when Naruto decided to ask a question he really wanted to ask but was too shy to do in front of Takashi.

"Jiji…"

"Yes, my boy?"

"Am I truly a demon?"

Hiruzen was quite shocked to receive such a question but in hindsight, he shouldn't be. "No, of course not!" oh how he wished he could tell Naruto the truth. He knew that not knowing why he was treated badly is worse than knowing the truth but he just wished to protect Naruto a little bit longer. Just if there was a chance for the boy to enjoy his childhood. A pipe dream, but the guilt was not allowing him to just tell the boy.

"Are my parents demons?"

"Of course not, Naruto."

Naruto looked sharply at his jiji "So you know who my parents are?"

Hiruzen sighed again. That's a question that comes up quite often and he knew that, partly, it just comes out automatically from Naruto. Yet he has to tell another lie "No, Naruto-kun, I don't. It's just impossible for you to be a child of a demon, at the very least for a simple fact that demons don't exist," well, the bijuu were not demons, he mused "They are a product of tales, stories, religion, and mythology. Something to scare the naughty children with. Why are you asking? Apart from today who is calling you that?"

"A couple of people. I don't know..." Naruto looked away for a moment before looking back at Hiruzen again "Jiji, you said demons exist in mith-moth-"

"Mythology."

"Mythology, yeah. And religion. Is there any books you could give me I could read about demons?"

"My boy, why would you want to read about something like that?"

"I just want to know the stories. Some people call me a demon."

Hiruzen sighed again. His lips twitched in mild amusement when he realised he does that a lot when with Naruto. "Naruto-kun, please don't listen to those people. You are a precious bundle of joy and I would like for you to remain that way. You don't need to read all of that grim, scary stuff."

Naruto giggled a bit at that comment before calming down and looking at Hiruzen with the most serious face he could pull off. Which looked like an intense pout. Hiruzen had to cover his mouth with a hand as he fake coughed to hide the throaty laugh that threatened to escape. This was serious and it wouldn't do well if he seemed like he was not taking Naruto as seriously as he should be.

"I know that, Jiji. But… it's for me. There are not many people that call me a demon but those that do are nasty. And village as a whole treats me… differently, I don't know. I just want to read a bit more about them to see for myself what they are. I am just Naruto and if they call me a demon then shouldn't they be demons themselves? I just want to see for my own eyes that I am not one of them…"

That was quite a leap of logic, Hiruzen mused. And then sighed. Again. He really didn't want Naruto to bother with these things, but at the end of the day it was harmless and would hopefully divert some of that endless energy into academics. Not quite what he envisioned for Naruto, but in a roundabout way the child did make a valid point. Maybe if he learnt more about the demons of yore and myths he would see for himself that he is not one of them. Despite Naruto saying he was fine, Hiruzen could still sense that it was troubling Naruto greatly. Maybe this would put his mind to rest.

"Very well. There are a couple of books that I could lend you to read. I will go and fetch them while you wait here. When I return, we can go for a late dinner at Ichiraku's before dropping you off at your apartment."

Naruto visible brightened up "Yeah! Thank you Jiji, you're the best!"

Unknowingly to both of them, or even the ANBU in the shadows, or even the rest of the planet… There was someone, something, listening in. Or more accurately, distant echoes of this conversation, distorted reflections of this blonde child, reached the deepest, hottest, most forgotten and abandoned depths of the netherworld, of hell. A closed eyelid fluttered, an ear twitched. And the tiniest, most atomic movement of chains reverberated the quietest clink that sent unperceivable vibrations across the time and space. Almost unperceivable.

[2 months later]

As promised, Hiruzen did give Naruto a couple of books on the topic: Religions of the Elemental Nations, Myths and Stories of the Elemental Nations which was written by the same author. Will of Fire: Religion or Philosophy?, Stories of the Night, Kami and the Scrolls, Spirits and their Nature.

At first, it was very hard for Naruto to read any of these books. He was, after all, still an 8 year old boy and by nature he was too energetic, and always thought books were boring. But as he managed to read one sentence one day, two sentences the other day… Eventually he got engrossed in the books he was reading and he finally managed to read the final book in just a week. It was hard to understand at first but Naruto was a fast learner – life forced him to be. It was good that Naruto discovered that he actually enjoy reading.

As a result, he was causing less trouble and pranks, and the villagers could release a breath of relief when they didn't have to look over their shoulders and think they will be the next to be pranked.

Most villagers didn't hate Naruto and most of their dislike stemmed from his troublemaking tendencies. While they couldn't ignore the fact that he was the bearer of the Kyuubi that killed hundreds all those years ago… they couldn't just go out and condemn a child for bearing this burden. They hated what he carried, but they knew that it wasn't the child's fault. Nevertheless they chose to simply ignore Naruto – that was easier than trying to face their inner conundrums. Because of this they also turned a blind eye when more fervent haters of the child spoke out. They were too ashamed to admit that it felt a tiny bit vindicating and just when these people bullied the child.

Regardless of that, Naruto had some questions regarding the material he has read and he decided to visit the local Temple to hopefully ask the priest a couple of questions.

Konoha was a ninja village and held no official faith, while the unofficial philosophy was that of the Will of Fire. Naruto read, that if Major Ninja Villages had official faiths, then it could ultimately lead to more wars. It could also potentially scare certain clients away. After all, there should be professional impartiality. Additionally, a ninja village is a military one - Kage is the god, and their word is the law. That's how they operated. But Konoha was also a fairly civil place and there were no laws prohibiting from celebrating anyone's faith as long as it didn't interfere with any business be it civilian or ninja. Small community temples were allowed but they were extremely rare in the village – there was a massive Fire Temple in Hi no Kuni for these reasons.

When Naruto visited one such small temple (which was more of a decorated gathering hall than a temple), he was a bit disappointed that the Priest, a retired Chuunin, turned him away. But he understood the reasons – most of his haters called him a demon so Naruto reasoned these people must be at least a little bit religious (since demons were mostly mentioned in the books on religious topics). And he also knew he was in a good standing with the Hokage. If it reached Hokage's ears that there was an issue with the temple and Naruto, then surely they would face immediate closure regardless of circumstances.

Naruto didn't hold it against the Priest as he genuinely saw that he Priest was upset he had to do it. Naruto bowed in respect, as he read, and then went to find his Jiji. Maybe he will have the answers – after all, he was the smartest person Naruto knew.

After a short while, we can find Naruto sitting in Hokage's office warmly smiling while Hiruzen waved his exasperated secretary out. Hokage tried to tell Naruto that it's impolite to just barge in, and that he has to go through secretary to which Naruto replied that it always takes ages and it's quicker to just come in. Hiruzen certainly didn't mind but teaching the young boy manners was vital.

They exchanged the general pleasantries and Hiruzen asked the boy why he came to see him.

"Well, Jiji. I finished reading all the books you gave me. They were really interesting!" the Sandaime didn't let it show that he was surprised Naruto finished reading all the books so quickly. He was sure the boy would give up on the first book. Hiruzen silently berated himself – he shouldn't think so lowly of Naruto. "And I had some questions! It was really fascinating to read all about different myths and stories…"

And so they conversed for the next couple of minutes with Hiruzen answering all the questions the young child had. He was marvelling at the understanding the boy possessed. Come to think of it, Hiruzen mused, the Academy starts around this time of the year and Naruto was of age to be enrolled.

"… yeah, I understand! Thank you, Jiji! Do you have any more books? I read all these books and I don't believe that they have mentioned all the gods and beings! For example, in Myths and Stories there was a chapter about something called a Jashin but it wasn't mentioned in any other books. Stories of the Night mentioned a Moryo and the Land of Demons! So I believe there are many more things to read about!"

Hiruzen chuckled "Right you are. The Elemental Nations are rife with legends and myths. I will give you some more books tonight. But first, let's eat some ramen and discuss about you attending the Academy. I believe you wanted to be a ninja?"

Naruto almost squealed in delight "Yes! Thank you Jiji! Just you wait I will take that hat off you!"

"Of course you will," the old man smiled.

Later than night Naruto returned to his apartment having enjoyed his 6 ramen bowls, and checked the books his Jiji gave him. He had a whole month to read them before the academy started. The Ninshu, Arcane: Truth or Myth, the Legends of Gods, They Who Walked Before. Naruto put the books down on the table and was about to go and have a glass of water before bed, but he accidentally knocked over some of the books.

"Ah!" Naruto yelped. Sighing, he bent down to pick them up when noticed a book he overlooked before – Manifesting the Power. Something about this book was odd – it was very plain, black, and looked more like a journal than a proper book. The feeling it gave off… Naruto couldn't describe it but he felt compelled to read it. Like it was calling to him.

And so he settled on his bed and opened the first page and began reading.

He stayed up until sunrise and almost finished the whole book. It was fascinating, Naruto thought with wonder. His observation from before was right, the book was written in a style of a journal. Almost like the author was compiling the knowledge as he learnt it. All kinds of Gods and Beings that he never heard of were written here, and the book mostly focused on the more practical aspects of worship. All kinds of rituals and ceremonies were described in a lot of detail. He learnt about the ancient feasts of Kami, the burial procedures of Shinigami, there was even a couple of chapters on Jashinism and their combat ritualistic masochism. That especially fascinated Naruto to no end – as a shinobi to be, he was interested in all kinds of techniques and to be honest, immortality and being able to inflict the enemy with the same pain that you feel… the details were a bit grim at first but the possibilities were endless!

Naruto finally turned the final page and only one word was written there before the book was finished, almost like something happened to the author with how abrupt the end was:

"Bethrezen," he read out loud and hummed.

Something twinged inside Naruto and made him feel a bit funny. With that he shut the book and seeing what time it was, went to sleep.

As he slept and dreamt of Gods and Spirits and fighting in a war of epic proportions in which he was the hero of all, something else was happening on the plane of all existence.

Naruto's spoken word pierced through the veil, flew through time and space, vibrated throughout the arcane, and when it reached the deepest, hottest, most forgotten and abandoned depths of the netherworld, of hell… all that remained was but a soft breath of eldritch particles. A veiny eyelid fluttered again, and for the first time in a hundreds of millennia it opened by a fraction of a centimetre, for a split second, before closing again.

[1 month later]

Naruto sat in front of the Hokage as he returned all of the books.

"Hey, Jiji, do you know anything about Bethrezen? I couldn't find anything about him. I even went to the library and tried to find something before the librarian kicked me out."

"Hmm…" the old Hokage mused as he blew out some smoke from his pipe "I've never heard of Bethrezen. Where did you see it?"

"In the book you gave me – Manifesting the Power. Only the name was mentioned so I don't even know if it's a religion, or a story, or a God…"

Hiruzen's eyes widened and he quickly became alert as put his pipe down "My boy, I did not give you such a book. You are way too young to read something like that."

Naruto frowned, stood up and picked up the book from the pile and silently gave it to Hiruzen. The old man was quite astonished, indeed there it was. "Please give me a minute." With that, he disappeared in a blur.

Naruto looked around the office and tried to spot any ANBU that he knew were hiding in the shadows. A couple of minutes passed when Hiruzen finally came back.

"You truly need to hurry up and take this hat off me. I am getting senile in my old age," Hiruzen joked as he sat down "Indeed, it seems I accidentally added that particular book into the pile when I was picking out something for you to read. I am truly sorry."

Naruto, on his part, was quite confused why Hiruzen was apologising and looking so defeated. When he voiced this, Hiruzen sighed "The contents of that book are quite dark. Take for example the section about Jashinism. It's not something children your age should be reading."

"I had to grow up quicker than other kids, Jiji. Besides, I am about to start the ninja Academy where we will be trained to be killers. This wasn't so bad. If anything, it was incredibly interesting that people could get all kind of boons through rituals dedicated to the gods. Why don't people do it all the time?"

"I am so sorry you have to had to go through that much," Hiruzen said "And that is an interesting topic to debate on. Even to this day there are no concrete evidence or facts to prove that those incredible feats were something else than just a Kekkei Genkai. In my scholarly opinion, it was family related bloodlines that allowed people to perform all kinds of amazing feats. Even if they truly were miracles and powers granted by the divine, then you must understand – it's so extremely rare for them to even look upon the Earth. In legends it's always the most exceptional and unique people on whom the divine cast their gaze. And usually it always comes with a price." Such as Uzumaki clan being the only ones with the knowledge how to summon the Shinigami who bestowed on them superior seals that could hold back even a bijuu, but the cost of that was the soul of the summoner. Not that Hiruzen would reveal that.

"I see, I understand, Jiji. Have you met anyone who was favoured by something supernatural?"

"I've met many individuals, and heard about even more, who claimed to be favoured by the Gods. Alas, in most cases they were just the tales of the crazed and delusional, or bearers of bloodlines. I remember there used to be a clan in Yugakure area some hundred years ago that worshipped Jashin. Only few of them managed to achieve the ritualistic immortality. You've read about that, correct?" Naruto nodded "After they were wiped out, I haven't heard of anyone else achieving the same which leads me to believe it was a family or clan based bloodline. Sometimes, when you read about myths and legends you have to read what's written between the lines."

"Written between the lines? There was nothing written there."

Hiruzen chuckled. Good to know that despite Naruto's apparent leap in intelligence he was still a kid "It's a saying. Reading between the lines means looking underneath the underneath. Meanings of things that are not written, but implied. Looking for the hidden truths, etcetera."

A lightbulb went off in Naruto's head "Oh, I see!"

"Now… regarding this book. As much as I wouldn't want to talk about this I feel like we must because you've read it," his expression changed and he regarded Naruto with a serious, piercing gaze "I hope you didn't try anything that was written in the book."

Naruto couldn't help but gulp at the sudden change of Hokage's demeanour "Well… No, I didn't try anything."

The hesitation in his voice made Hiruzen narrow his eyes "Why the hesitation?"

"I swear, I didn't try anything!" Naruto waved his hands trying to placate the old man "It's just, I don't know. That book kind of called to me?" the last part was phrased as a question as if he himself wasn't sure. "And I felt a bit funny when I read that word on the last page. But I think it was just me being tired. I stayed up all night reading it!"

And that was true - he definitely felt something when he first laid eyes on it, some kind pull. Naruto struggled to express what exactly it was.

Hiruzen picked up his pipe again and mindlessly lit it with an expert display of Katon chakra manipulation while he thought about what the boy told him. He picked up the book in question and opened the last page. Nothing there, it was just the closing paragraphs of the author summing up the book. No mention of this Bethrezen.

He did joke earlier that he was going senile in his old age but that's all it was - a joke. The developed chakra in his body significantly reduced the chances of ever getting any kind of mental affliction. While his body is not as sturdy as it used to be in his prime, his mind remained just as sharp. So he knew for a fact he didn't give Naruto this book yet the very same book was missing from his personal library. Then this unexplainable word Naruto claimed he saw. As much as he wanted to boil it down to kid's fantasy, something prevented him from doing it.

He didn't mislead the boy either when he said that in his lifetime he had met and heard about people claiming divine intervention. All of them had a common denominator - the so called "unexplainable pull". While Hiruzen didn't hesitate even for a second to mark most of such tales as rubbish, he couldn't in good conscience dismiss such claims either. He was a scholar after all and most, if not all, legends have a sliver of truth in them. The summoning of Shinigami of Uzumaki clan is the proof of that.

He let out a puff of smoke, and with minor chakra manipulation turned it into a perfect ring and blew it towards Naruto. The boy was getting nervous and this little trick immediately brightened him up.

Hiruzen now was certain that the events that transpired with the boy in the past few months were not random. Loath he was to admit anything of the sorts (he was not superstitious, a Kage is not superstitious) but if his instincts told him to regard this with the same seriousness as he would do any important mission, then he would listen to them. He didn't get to live as long as he had by ignoring his honed senses.

Now what to do with this revelation? He knew he was being too hasty. But at the same time, he had to think of the village too. He absolutely hated to admit it, but Naruto was a living weapon. His father made it so and Naruto's future was already predetermined to be full of battles and strife for the sake of the village. He tried to convince himself that Naruto did have a choice, but he knew that was just a lie. The choice was made for him all those years ago when the Kyuubi was sealed into him.

If Naruto was to come into possession of a boon on a similar level as those of legends, then it would benefit the village greatly. Even a minor benefit from any divine favour would aid the boy and the village. A certain warmonger would say Hiruzen is too soft and it's because of him that Konoha is no longer the strongest of the Five, but no one would deny his love for the village and its inhabitants.

Again, he was getting ahead of himself but he truly cared for the boy and if that meant supporting him on something so extremely obscure then he would do so. He won't shun him like so many others do.

For the sake of Naruto. And the village.

Seeing that Naruto was getting nervous again over his prolonged silence, he finally spoke "Don't worry, Naruto-kun, I'm not angry and you are not in trouble. Tell me, while you were reading it, did you feel any kind of particular interest to any of the specific chapters?" This would be the first step to see what kind of forces Naruto attracted.

"All of them were equally interesting, Jiji!" Naruto exclaimed. Hiruzen had to withhold a wince – if the boy considered things like mutilation and ritualistic cannibalism interesting then chances are there is something mentally wrong with the child.

"But we all become killers and murderers as soon as we can crawl. In hindsight, this is pretty normal," he thought.

"There was also a lot of information on a lot of the things that the book talked about," Naruto said and then frowned "But one thing confuses me."

"What is it?"

"As I said, when I turned the last page, there was only one word written there and nothing else. Almost like the author forgot to finish it. All it said was 'Bethrezen'."

"I see. Sorry, Naruto-kun, but I truly never heard of it. I will have a look, maybe it's something that has escaped my memory."

"Ah, that's alright, Jiji."

"Listen, Naruto-kun. If anything strange or out of the ordinary ever happens please come and let me know, alright?"

"Of course, Jiji!"

"Now, lets talk about the Academy. It will start next week…"

The rest of the talk was about lighter topics such as upcoming lessons, aspirations, and goals. Naruto was quite eager to start the academy and the Sandaime urged the boy to fully apply himself in all the lessons. Naruto also asked for various training tips.

Afterwards, Naruto had some light lunch at Ichiraku's and he went on a stroll to try and find some training ground where he could practice what the Sandaime has told him.

Later that night, when Naruto returned home, he noticed an inconspicuous looking book on his kitchen table. Apart from Naruto himself, only Sandaime had access to his apartment, so it wasn't such a big leap of logic for the boy to think it was his Jiji who dropped off the book. The cover seemed to be made out of surprisingly soft leather, dark crimson in colour. There was a piece of white thread binding the book shut. When Naruto picked it up there was the tiniest wave of warmth spreading across his body. Such a fleeting feeling that Naruto almost missed it. When he took a closer look he was surprised to note there was no title anywhere.

Naruto, tired but eager, went to his bed to read it in comfort. He untied the binding, looping it around the book three times, and opened the first page. As he did so, another wave of warmth spread across his body.

"I am the last loyal Disciple of Bethrezen.

My name is unimportant, and neither is my story.

This is the 13th Epoch and my God and Master is silent. It's been centuries since we have last heard Him, or seen his messengers. As the Epoch draws to a close and the people of Nevendaar are becoming extinct, many believe the Gods have either abandoned us, or are dead and gone. I suppose there are more important things in our current age – our survival, than prayers and sacrifices that fall on silent ears. Even the children of the accursed Highfather are losing their healing powers by the day. No one currently alive has seen a miracle performed.

As I am writing this I can feel our days are numbered. Nevertheless, it is my duty to Bethrezen to archive and immortalise some of the history, beliefs, customs, and anything else that I will deem to be of importance. And this is exactly that – a journal and an archive.

My Master might be silent and gone but I have utter faith in Him. He will raise once more to reclaim Nevendaar as his. I am writing this in hopes that someday, someone will pick up the candle and sing glory to Bethrezen. Before death claims me I will do my master proud and sacrifice my flesh and soul so that my death is not in vain.

If you are reading this, then congratulations – you are a survivor of the Cataclysm and it's now up to you to sing glory to Bethrezen and make the world tremble before his infernal might."

Naruto was truly fascinated! So Bethrezen was a God of some sorts. Nevendaar? Distant land or a country? 13th Epoch? How comes he has never heard of anything like that? He was getting mild headache from all the new information and he tried really hard to process it.

With the other books it was simple – things he was reading about were already more or less understandable as they existed in his time, and it was easy to relate to them.

This however… This spoke of things he has never even heard about.

Naruto decided to call it a night, and visit Jiji tomorrow to thank him for the book and to ask a couple of questions. Naruto was sure the Sandaime will know something.

As he lay in his bed and drifted off to sleep there was one thing on his mind.

"Singing glory to Bethrezen."

That night he dreamt of conquests, of chains, of fiery spells, and winged beings.

The next day Naruto sped towards Hokage's Tower with his new book in hand, quite excited to have a conversation with Sandaime regarding his discovery.

Naruto barged through the doors, completely ignoring the secretary who shouted after him, and run up the stairs and quickly entered Sandaime's office before the secretary could catch up with him. He had to abruptly stop in his tracks when he saw another man in the office, standing in front of the desk seemingly engrossed in a conversation with the Hokage. The man wore the standard Jonin uniform, had gravity defying silver hair, a mask covering his mouth and nose, and headband covering one of his eyes.

The man turned around and when he saw Naruto he gave an eye smile and a wave "Yo."

Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh "Kakashi, you have your orders. You are free to go."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied and casually left.

"Naruto-kun, how many times do I have to tell you to ask the secretary if I am available," he waved the said secretary away "At least knock before entering."

"Sorry, Jiji. I promise I will knock next time!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"See that you do," Hiruzen replied. Sometimes one just had to be strict to teach a lesson "Now, what happened? We only spoke yesterday and you are already back. Did something happen?"

"No! Well, sort of!" Naruto took a seat in front of the desk as he usually did, and put the crimson book down on the table "I wanted to say thanks for the book you dropped off last night, and just wanted to discuss it for a bit!"

Now this alarmed the old Hokage "I didn't give you any book yesterday. Did you see someone enter and leave your apartment?"

"Eh? No, I didn't see anyone. I was training for the whole day, doing some exercises you told me about, and when I came home I saw it on my kitchen table. I assumed it was you who left it there."

Hearing this he relaxed a bit. Maybe he wasn't hasty in his musings yesterday after all. "I see. May I?" he asked as he indicated towards the book.

"Of course, Jiji!"

Hiruzen picked up the book and marvelled at the soft leather. Just like Naruto yesterday he looked at both sides and noticed there was no title. Silently humming, he opened the book and his eyebrows shot up so high that they almost disappeared behind his hairline. All he could see were strange symbols and squiggles, marks and drawings, lines and some geometrical shapes that were written in a black ink. If it was supposed to be a language then it wasn't any he has ever seen before. He looked up from the book "Naruto-kun, you can read this?"

Furrowing his brows in confusion, he replied with an uncertain "Yes? It's just like any other book I've read."

"I see," when Hiruzen looked back at the book his eyebrows threatened to disappear behind his hairline again – where before there was something on the pages, now they were completely blank as if nothing has ever been on them in the first place.

So his instincts were right – there are some higher forces at play here. Clearly whatever was written here was intended for Naruto's eyes only. Nevertheless, he had to be sure it wasn't anything that could harm the boy "Do you mind if I keep it for the day? It wasn't me who gave it to you so I would like to run some checks on the book to make sure it's safe and there are no hidden traps on it. If it turns out to be harmless then I will return the book later tonight."

Naruto wasn't sure how a book was dangerous to which the Sandaime explained the basics of Fuuinjutsu and how, in this case, it could have been used to harm someone from a long distance. After that Naruto agreed without any further protests.

The next couple of minutes were then spent Naruto retelling what he learnt so far. To say that Hiruzen was both baffled and fascinated was an understatement.

"I see now why you took such interest to it. Indeed, I know nothing of what you just said. Maybe one of my scholar friends across the Elemental Nations would have heard something but I wouldn't want to bother them with something that's not quite an emergency. It could be long forgotten history, or it could be a simple tale. You will have to read further, if the book is clean of any traps."

Shortly afterwards Naruto left the office to go and find somewhere to train.

The most peculiar thing happened afterwards. As soon as Hiruzen felt that Naruto has left the building he turned his gaze towards the book that innocently sat on his table. Only for the book to disappear in a tiny puff of smoke.

"Interesting. I will have to keep an eye on Naruto-kun and move these conversations elsewhere. If there are indeed higher forces at play then it's important to keep them secret. Wouldn't do well for rumours to start spreading based on mere speculation," he stood up and approached the window to look over the village "It is yet to be determined whether it will be a boon to the village, or a curse to the boy."

[6 months later]

The last six months passed relatively quickly for Naruto. His mornings were busy with the Academy, then afterwards he would spend the whole day training – he took Sandaime's words to heart. Sadly, some of the instructors in the Academy weren't happy that the 'demon' was allowed into Academy and went out of their way to sabotage him which resulted him being dead last so quick. Other instructors who didn't mind or care much about Naruto, like the rest of the village, turned a blind eye to it. They saw that the boy was intelligent and quick to learn things, but they didn't go out of their way to help him in fear of being ostracised by their peers.

His relationship with his classmates were kind of shaky as well. He was super excited when he first attended, hoping that he would get some new friends but his hopes were crushed. Most of the people in attendance were civilian kids and naturally their parents warned them about Naruto when they saw he too is attending.

The clan children, however, were tolerable and he got along with them well. But them being from clans meant that they already interacted with each other for years before Academy and have formed their own friendship groups, so despite them being neutral (and even friendly) to Naruto he still felt like an odd one out.

He was happy however to see the lavender haired girl was in attendance too. On the first day Naruto ran up to her, grabbed her hands and told her he was super happy she was alright and asked what her name was. The girl managed to squeal "H-Hinata!" before promptly fainting. Now that creeped Naruto out a bit.

His new schedule also meant that he stayed away from the public's eyes and Naruto noticed that people's perception of him changed, a tiny bit. He still was regarded with cold indifference but now there was a bit of warmth there too. Not enough to make a difference, but enough for Naruto to notice. Seems like not being in their faces, so to speak, allowed the people to work on their issues regarding the boy.

During the evenings and nights he would obsess over Disciple's Archive, as he started to call it. No matter how much he read, it always seemed to never end - there was something new to discover which would then prompt him to re-read previous pages to better understand them with the new information. And there was a lot of information, things that boggled Naruto's mind. The birth of Nevendaar, the history of Gods and their many wars, tales of different races. Many times he would think that things written in these pages were pure fantasy of a very creative individual. But his soul disagreed – he always felt warm and pleasant when reading it. He knew that despite how fantastical all of it was, it was true.

At some point he learnt that the God the last disciple worshipped was not pure or benign. He was a cast off angel who was chained in Hell, overtaken by rage and hatred. His children – demons. His gift to humanity – pain and suffering. His goals – conquest, subjugation, and destruction of Nevendaar. At least that was in some previous Epochs before the time of the author. The author stated that throughout the centuries many things have changed including approach to goals. And as Bethrezen's voice grew quieter, so did the malice of His followers. The book contained records of different rituals and customs that were practiced throughout the centuries, and how they changed with time. Not in much detail, but more of a overall historic overview.

When Naruto discovered the nature of Bethrezen, he was in a bit of a loss with himself. He thought that Bethrezen stood for something good but it sounded like he was evil instead. But Naruto's problem wasn't with that, no.

What concerned him was that he didn't care about this revelation. He didn't care about all the dark things he read about, didn't care about Him being father of demons and Lord of Hell, didn't care about any of that. He realised the more he read and submerged himself in the book, the more he felt connected to the Old World as he dubbed it. He felt that everything was right and as it should be.

Naturally, Naruto approached the Hokage with this dilemma. Surprisingly for Naruto, Hiruzen took the young boy on a stroll in the outskirts of the village to discuss this.

When Naruto told Hiruzen all his findings, he fell silent for a couple of minutes. His face was perfectly blank but Naruto knew him enough to see he was deep in thought. When he spoke again, it was to ask a very simple question:

"Naruto, why do you want to be a shinobi? Why do you want to be a Hokage?"

Naruto was a bit surprised by the sudden change of topic and for some reason he felt a massive amount of pressure answering it. Almost like the course of his life would change depending on his answer.

So, like Hiruzen, he took time in thinking it over.

Indeed, why did he want to become a Hokage? Before it was to get the respect of people, to be recognised. And he always wanted to be shinobi to be able to throw all those flashy jutsus. But, he realised, those reason have shifted.

Yes, he still wanted to be respected and acknowledged but now there was so much more.

He remembered that day when Hinata was being bullied in the forest. How those bullies surrounded her, and then him. He didn't hold ill will towards them – he knew that their behaviour was a by-product of their parents' ignorance, kids imitate what they perceive they see and hear. They will learn in time.

But then he imagined the same scene but with outsider, with adults picking on the girl, or even enemy ninja threatening life of poor Hinata. He then imagined the same scene with any citizen of Konoha as the victim, even the ones who hated him. And he was overtaken by a sudden rage and that's when he realised and understood.

"I want to become strong so that I can be feared; I want to be strong and respected so I can protect my people and my village. I don't want what happened to Hinata to happen to anyone else in this village."

Hiruzen allowed a smile to grace his lips. Naruto's words were genuine, true, and full of conviction. The boy was truly the bearer of the Will of Fire. Recent revelations told Hiruzen that Naruto is on a dark path and there is nothing he could do about it. The least he could do is to guide him in a way that would positively benefit the village and its people. While he vowed to support Naruto in whatever speciality that he chose (or chose him), he would not allow another Orochimaru to raise.

He didn't know exactly what the future awaited but he could deduce from what Naruto told him that it wouldn't be all smiles and rainbows.

"Swear to me, Naruto, that you will never harm a citizen of Konoha."

Naruto turned to the Sandaime, shock evident on his face "I would never! Why would you even say that?"

"It's always good to be sure of your own convictions. Always remember that. Just because you don't feel repulsion or disgust to something doesn't necessarily mean there is something wrong with you. We live in a shinobi world where everyone performs unspeakable acts. The choices and the reasons you do things is what makes you a person. You might kill people in the future when on missions but by doing so you are protecting the people of Konoha. You might be exposed to conflict between villages but all of that is for the betterment of Konohan people. Always remember that. "

"For the village and its people." Naruto repeated.

Hiruzen nodded "For the village and its people."

The child was still ignorant of his possible future, and some part of Hiruzen was glad about that – it meant he could enjoy his childhood for a while longer. Maybe he should contact Jiraiya and ask him to investigate any rumours of cults and individuals he may have heard about. The Elemental Nations were full of all kinds of surprises and any information could potentially explain what is happening to the boy, and prepare them better on how to approach it.

The pair spent some time together, chatting and discussing various topics, with Naruto asking for more training tips.

Later that night when Naruto returned home he picked up the book and resumed reading it with vigour. He couldn't explain it but there was an underlying feeling of need to keep reading it. Like it was important. Naruto realised that ever since he expressed his, albeit childish, interest in demons that his life turned for the better – he realised his own intelligence, discovered his love for reading and learning, ended up spending more time with Jiji, became a bit more cool headed, and even the villagers attitude changed a bit (he chose to ignore that it was simply because he wasn't wrecking mayhem as much anymore).

When he went to sleep that night he dreamt of blood and fire, of protecting the weak, of glory and conquests.

In the deepest, hottest, most forgotten and abandoned depths of the netherworld, of hell… Cracked, red lips opened and released a breath before shutting. A breath so miniscule that it wouldn't even lift a feather, yet that breath held everything.

The rest of Naruto's day passed the same way as the others – attending the Academy in the morning, training during daytime, and reading during the evenings.

Until a month later when something happened that definitely changed the course of Naruto's life.

[1 month later]

As Naruto lay in the hospital bed he couldn't help but contemplate on today's events.

While he was training until late evening in a remote training ground on the outskirts of the village, he saw a suspicious looking man with a massive sack moving through the shadows. The man was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible while also being in a hurry. Having a bad feeling about this, Naruto chose to follow him.

The man quickly discovered that he had a tail in the form of a young kid, and instead of running for it he decided to deal with him.

As it turned out the man was a ninja of Kumo, and the sack actually contained Hinata. This scene made him remember how he imagined bullies surrounding the poor girl.

Getting angry that someone would do something so unspeakable to a Konoha citizen, Naruto engaged the enemy ninja in a fierce taijutsu battle.

At least Naruto thought it was fierce. In fact, it was pathetic – he was a fresh Academy student with the most basic taijutsu skills. The enemy easily beat Naruto, but instead of just finishing it and retreating with the Hyuuga, in his infinite wisdom he decided to toy and beat up Naruto.

And that was all it took for ANBU and Hinata's father to reach the scene and rescue them. Last he remembered before passing out was Hiashi delivering a debilitating strike and wishing that it was him who did that instead.

Once again he was powerless to do anything. It was a small miracle that there were already people chasing after the enemy.

As Naruto lay in the hospital bed he vowed to get stronger so that no one will have to go through something like that again. A new fire was ignited in his heart and his resolution was stronger than ever. No point crying over what happened – better to take it as a learning experience.

He had to remain in the hospital overnight, but was free to go the next day. When he arrived home, a new book was inconspicuously waiting for him on the kitchen table. This one, like Disciple's Archive, was made of soft leather, but was black in colour, had no title, and was bound with a white string.

I'm his excitement he disregarded the question of where it came from and quickly sat down at the kitchen table and opened it.

Now, unlike the last book, this one was very different. There was no introduction, no table of contents. A simple question sat at the very top of the page.

"Do you desire power?"

Now here is where Naruto felt a bit wary. Despite his instincts urging him to proceed, he wanted to exercise some caution. Those were one of the first lessons in the Academy. It's not every day a book randomly appears in your home (and he assumed it was not the Sandaime who dropped it off as was the case with the previous one), and asks you something.

But he couldn't ignore his instincts. And he remembered the vow he made earlier.

"Stronger no matter what, no matter the cost."

So there was only one answer to that question:

"Yes." was uttered silently, but with conviction.

And nothing happened.

Now, how to convey that to the book? Contents of the book convey their messages through the medium of written words… "So maybe I could try that?"

Naruto quickly scurried over to a cupboard in his living room and got some brushes and ink that he used in the Academy.

He came back to the table, and cleanly wrote 'Yes' under the question. He always had very neat and clean calligraphy.

As soon as he finished the last brush stroke, Naruto was startled to see another question form under his answer.

"Why?"

This time Naruto didn't hesitate to write his answer.

'To protect my village. To protect my people. To crush any enemies I might have in the future. No matter the cost.'

"A protector. Noble. Are you willing to walk the path together with Bethrezen?"

A moment of hesitation - from what he read he already had an idea of what that entailed and he was surprised how easily the answer came.

'Yes.'

"No matter the cost?"

'No matter the cost,' he wrote and then quickly added 'For my people and my future.'

"Then welcome, Disciple, young initiate of the path of the Damned. I bestow upon you the tools that will help you on your chosen path. Make your enemies quiver in fear. No one will dare to touch what is yours. Sing glory to Bethrezen."

And with that all the words scattered like dust in the wind and new words began to form. Words upon words, ink over ink, diagrams, drawings, illustrations. When the first page was complete, it turned on to the next page, and then the next and the next and the next, picking up with speed until -in a manner of seconds- the book slammed shut at the end.

And the only thing Naruto could feel was elation and freedom and an unexplainable warmth that spread across his whole body. Unbeknownst to him, the seal on his stomach flashed for a second before fading again, the edges of it becoming crimson.

He touched the book and yelped. Looking at this hand he saw a tiny puncture in his finger where some blood was leaking. Thanks to his amazing regenerative ability it was closing before his very eyes. He wiped the blood away and looked at the book with furrowed brows. Some of this blood was on the book but he noticed that it was rapidly being absorbed by the leather.

Uncertainly flipping the book, he opened the first page.

"Welcome, Initiate. This book will teach you everything you need to know about manipulation of demonic energies, conducting rituals, hurting your enemies, and many other things to make the living fear you while bringing glory to Bethrezen.

Chapter 1,

Blood and other Things you must know… "

Naruto was grinning in happiness as he kept reading. This will make all his ambitions come true.

So engrossed he was that he didn't even notice as the sun was already raising.

At the same time - in the deepest, hottest, most forgotten and abandoned depths of the netherworld, of hell; a veiny eyelid fluttered and then in a moment of revelation it snapped open quarter way.

And stayed open as an enormous tear slowly rolled off it.

AN: And there you have it. Hopefully you will see the potential here.

Now a quick word - There won't be any history dumps of the world of Nevendaar as its mostly irrelevant to Elemental Nations as it is now. UNLESS you would like me to add a paragraph at the beginning of each chapter telling you one thing or another, a la excerpts from Disciple's Archive - things that Naruto has read (but has no real relevance to the story other than just extra lore for you). Let me know.

See you next chapter, I am quite excited about this one!