Forward

The world is a fair place. That is one of the undeniable truths of this world. Ofcourse, this makes it applicable to anything and everything in this world. From the smallest plant to the largest elephant, they are all given the chance to survive. Some are gifted in ways others are not; what can be said of this, it is karma. And that brings us to another undeniable truth of this world, karma.

It is the one rule that stays constant, whatever be the situation. For every action you take there is a consequence, and ones karmic balance is affected by each and every single one. And when the day comes that you make your way into death or your next life, your actions in your lifetime affect your judgement.

Its is these two truths that together decide where and as what your are born as. In the case of humans, it decides whether the circumstances of your birth and the family you are born into. Some are born into warm, loving families; some into cold and distant ones and some are born in between. Some are born into wealth; some into poverty and some are born in between.

But there are an unfortunate few who fall into the cracks of this seemingly perfect system. Deprived of what makes life livable, not given the same chances as everybody else; these are the true unfortunates of this world. But, one fact must not be forgotten in all this. Though birthright and family imbue a person with certain characteristics, it is the circumstances of their life that define who they are.

It is said that life, as a whole, can be generalized and represented metaphorically and literally by a certain object. To satisfy your curiosity, and be aware if you are not in fact curious I shall tell you anyway, the object is simply an anvill. The simple anvill found in all blacksmiths across the world are a representaion of life itself. Metal taken from the furnace is pounded and weilded into its creators desired shape. And it is then pounded again and again untill it does either of two things.

As an example let us take the admirable example of a sword. As the blade is hammered, it does as stated before either of two things.It becomes too brittle and it snaps and breaks in half. Either that or it did not have the strength to underdo the anvill in the first place. The one other direction it can take, is that it withstands the pounding and survives to be taken to the water where it is then cooled. It then becomes a creation of umatched strenth and flexibilty, being given the ability to bend to stress and yet have the strength to never break from it. In this way it is similar to life. Ironically, the more it is hammered and shaped before cooling, the stronger then end result.

Similarily, any being is taken from its mother's womb, or in certain cases from its egg, and then it is thrust into the harsh reality that islife. Over the course of its life, it is pounded by the circumstaces of its actions and thusly it either breaks , or it is forced to overcome its boundaries and become stronger. In this way life either breaks you, or it makes you. One is either broken on it, never to stand straight again. Or one is tempered on it, forged in fire, they would be astempered steel. Willing to bend, if necessary, but never ... never break.

This is a story, nay ... it is an epic, for calling it anyting else would be an insult. The epic saga of a boy, one born with the most terrible fate & thrust into a destiny over which he had no control. He would be forced to bear the weight of the world, for his actions would decide the fate of every other soul was with him and those that would come after him. This would be unknown but to a few, and all others would wallow in their ignorance. His people would depise him, and would expect and even wish for him to break and shatter into a million fragments ... but he would not. He would bear his terrible burden with dignity and a nobility of soul not seen before or ever after. He would rise above it and even flourish under its duress, and he would go on to do great deeds. Deeds that would make his name be mouthed with awe and be known as far and wide as heavens.

This is the saga. These are the chronicles of a great, noble heart. Of a warrior. Of a shinobi. Of a boy ... a boy called Naruto.