—
*dealt is eating cook as a gateway opens up above and someone comes out of it* Dealt: had fun going through the gate?
Adventreader221: *Lands on my feet causing the earth to rumble* Yea, I had fun.
*advent looks at dealt and wonders how he got here first.* Dealt: that's good to, we will have blaze arrived…later, for now, chicken? *points at a cooking chicken.*
Adventreader221: *nods* Yes, thank you Boy. *takes a leg*
D: there's drinks for you *points at two cases, one with soda and other alcohol.*
—
The Heir of War; Rise of the Maelstrom
Chapter one
~XxX-Valley of the End; Daybreak-XxX~
Rain poured down heavily from the heavens. Lying on the ground, beaten and bloodied, a young blond lay in a growing pool of his own blood. His orange outfit was ripped, torn, and shredded to pieces. His right arm was ripped off, sliced by a literal bolt of lightning, at the lower shoulder. There was a cut across his left eye, the socket empty and bloodied from the knife that had torn into the optical nerve and severed it from the body.
On his chest, there were two new scars; slowly healing. One was located on the left shoulder; now a jagged scar that would never heal properly and would always remain to remind him of his blunder. The second one was directly over the heart and had both an entry and exit opening to show that the attack had fully pierced his chest cavity, the pool of crimson life growing further from the constant expelling of blood from his slowly beating heart.
Then something happens as if a fate had preordained it to become. Walking along the shore of the river was a figure wearing a dark brown cloak. The person seemed to be a man, as he was just passing through but he came to cross the boy laying there. He came up to him and he said, "Boy, are you alive?" in a deep tone of voice as he place his free hand on the back of the teen. Look at the boy, the man can see that he seems to be around 13, maybe 14 years old, but all the man could hear from the boy is soft groans, showing that he was alive; if only just. Without saying anything else, the man grabs the young man and hoists him up onto his back, not caring for the blood.
He had seen and experienced worse.
It was nothing new to him.
And with that; he walks away.
Minutes later, a man wearing a green vest and a mask over his face landed in the valley and saw the pool of blood. He had come too late again.
Minato Sensei would have been more than disappointed. But, that day he made a vow, Sasuke Uchiha would die by his hand for killing his fellow student-BY HIS HAND!
~XxX-Meanwhile outside of the land of fire's border; Midnight-XxX~
Sounds of crackling wood from a campfire greeted him as he groggily opened his eyes. The young blonde wakes up, just only for a brief moment, he opens his only eye and sees that he's laying on a makeshift bed, as well as the fire nearby.
Then he notices a man in a coat sitting by the fire. He is garbed in a dark cloak that covered his head and body, the exception being the single arm that slowly stirred a pot that sat in the flame, a long red line-a tattoo probably-running along his arm and into the cloak. Before he can say anything, the man speaks in a deep gravelly voice, "You're awake, good." he says, "I trust you learned a valuable lesson in that fight?" he questions.
The boy in a tired yet defeated voice "H-how do you even know? There was no one else but me and…a friend" he questions.
The man gives a chuckle at the boy's question, "That is simple, a warrior would know when a battle is held and ended, but it looks to me as if you were on the losing end. An eye and an arm are not something that can go unnoticed as I'm sure you already figured out. How do you plan on making your next move?" the man questioned.
"I need to get stronger!" the boy declared, "I have a promise to keep! I'll just go back and talk to the pervy sage and the-" he gets cut off, "And then what? Kill the one who did this to you? If I have to guess, this person in question is this so-called friend you mentioned earlier"
"What no! To bring him back!" says the young boy.
Though his face was covered by the cloak, the boy could tell the man was shaking his head "So foolish." the man states, "So tell me this promise of yours, who asked you to make it?" he questions. Such childish notions weren't made without outside interference, usually of the feminine kind.
"Well, Sakura asked me, she asked me to bring Sasuke back." says the boy.
Hearing this makes the man laugh incredibly hard, to the point he had to hold his gut from lack of air; as if he knew this would be the answer and reason, "So a girl, asks you, to risk your very life to bring back this other boy; this Sasuke?" the man questions as he calms himself down.
"That's right! I will do anything for her since I-" he gets cut off "Oh spare me, I know what a love sick fool would do for someone who doesn't have the same feelings. And what you have isn't love; trust me. If a girl is begging you to bring someone back and knows you love her, then she manipulated you. The best thing you can do is forget him; leave her-or kill her cause I see no problem ending such people for the greater good."
This causes the boy to be angry and snaps at the man, "You take that back! You don't know what you are talking about! And I would never do such a thing!" and stops as he groans as he holds his shoulder.
The man ignores this, "Maybe so, then tell me, what were you trying to do, such trying back this Sasuke back"
"I-it was a mission, given by grandma Tsunade, to bring back Sasuke or else he would, well now, gone to that snake man."
"Snake man?" the man inquires curiously.
"He's an old teammate of Grandma Tsunade, his name is Orochimaru. He went rogue a couple of years before I was born and experimented on people so he can find a way to become immortal and learn everything the world over or something like that. He thinks-well wholeheartedly believes I should say- that Sasuke's bloodline will quicken the process so he can become some type of god or whatever." the boy shrugs.
"It seems what I said before still stands if that's the case, he was better off killed than be in the hands of your enemy," said the man.
Hearing this makes the blonde young man's anger spike up, "What do you know?!" he demands.
Calmly, the man looks at him "What would I know? I know what it's like to be enslaved. To be told who or what to kill, not caring who they were. Believing that is was all for some grand design for me to become a great warrior…" he shows more of his arm as his skin is white as ashes, with red marking, "You see this?" he questions, "This was the curse placed upon me for my actions. I killed many who were deserving, and many who were not. My own wife and child, my father, brothers, and sisters, and for my actions of killing the innocent; the ash of their bodies is now a burden to carry for the remainder of my days." he tells the boy softly.
The boy couldn't say anything, but the man continues to speak, "What I am, what I will always be…is a monster, and monsters are better off killed and dead and you just sealed your friend's life that" he stares at the boy, "Your ideas, these childish beliefs, whatever your people do on their lands, you had led them into their doom, all-cause you promised a childish little girl to bring back a boy who clearly didn't want to return. But it seems that you paid for your sins already; theirs will come in due time, make no mistake about that." the boy just stares at the man.
"So what am I gonna do, where am I gonna go? Sasuke was like a Prince to the people of the village, and if I return without him things will be worse for me than they already were. They don't care about any of us that tried to help Sasuke come back, and they sure as hell wouldn't celebrate me dragging him back, they'd try and finish what Sasuke tried to do. I can't fight with one arm and eye; I'm not that skilled, not like my teacher Kakashi-Sensei." the boy responded.
"Follow your own path; ignore the desires and whims of the chain, and break it. Be who you want to be, not what others wish for you to become." the man tells the child.
"Well, my dream is to be the Hokage, to be someone they respect and admire! That's all I ever wanted." says the boy.
The man nods in understanding, "To be respected and admired? Mm if I know any better, you sound like a man that I once knew from my homelands. You almost sounded like my old friend, Atreus…"
"Was he a soldier?"
"He was a soldier. A Spartan."
"A Great Warrior?"
"All Spartans are great warriors. We train from birth. Our lives were duty, discipline, battle, and death. Life was grim, and we greeted it grimly. But Atreus of Sparta was unlike the rest of us. He wore a smile, even in the worst of times. He was... happy. He inspired others to hope. That though we were machines of war, there was humanity in us. Goodness. When the day came for him to lay down his life in battle, his sacrifice saved countless others and changed the tide in our favor. I carried him home on his shield and buried him with the full honors of the Spartan customs. His memory was comfort in dark times."
The boy is in awe, "He sounds like a great guy"
The man nods, "That he was. Now boy, what are you going to do?" he set his eyes back on the pot,
The boy shrugged his shoulder, "I guess…I don't know…go with you?"
This causes the man to stop stirring the food, "this is surprising, are you certain? Cause if you do follow me, there's no telling when you are able to return to these lands that are your home and know, I'm not a soft teacher."
"I know but a person such as you, who doesn't give me bullshit excuses, doesn't show up late! Or let alone go off teaching someone else what he knows down to a full-on assassination technique, please, let me go with you!" the boy pleads.
"Hmmm' The man hums to himself, "What is your name, boy?" the man asks.
"Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?"
"I am Kratos, of Sparta." the now-named Kratos responds before he then looks at the now named Naruto, "And we have lots of things to work on. But for now, focus on your recovery, and when you are able, we will be leaving their lands and who knows, and know that the journey will be rough, it won't be easy but it will be rewarding in the end." Naruto nods. As he has no clue about the hardship he will face in the coming days.
But he will return home, no matter how long it will take.
~XxX-Flash forward to 12 years later-XxX~
Konoha, middle of the day
It's been 12 years since that day at the Valley of the End. It was well known that the failed mission put the team that had taken it placed in grim danger. The revelation that Sasuke Uchiha didn't just defect to Orochimaru the Snake Sannin and the worst Rogue Ninja since the time of Madara Uchiha, but the boy who killed his friend all for the sake of getting revenge stirred a lot of mixed feelings in the population.
It made them question things, if Sasuke Uchiha was willing to kill his supposed best friend and teammate all for the sake of power, what other atrocities would he pull just to see his goals come to fruition?
Now status among the clans, the village, and ninja system, as well change of leadership was under change once again. The name and power behind one of the clans, The Uchiha Clan, with now most of the members as well being a founding clan, the Uchiha's wrath, status, and power no longer held any meaning. As far as the village was concerned; the Uchiha Clan had disgraced itself beyond measure and was beyond redeeming itself.
Sasuke Uchiha was placed into the Bingo Book as a A-Rank Ninja with a bounty of 50,000 dead only hit on his head. Orochimaru was wanted strictly Dead with a 1,000,000,000 bounty as he was a SS class ninja. His second in command; Kabuto, was wanted Alive or Dead with a 150,000,000 bounty on his head due to being S-Class in rank.
All in all, those in charge wanted the Uchiha dead, with no excuses of complaining, begging and whining that could change that.
Though, only one person was still trying to change that so her beloved Sasuke could come home with a heavy penalty on him but wasn't getting her way as the letter signed by the Daiyamo explicitly explained that the murder of a Konoha Ninja in any attempt to gone rogue was treason and was punishable by however the Hokage saw fit.
In the village themselves, there have been changes as well, such as villagers no longer having a say about the affairs of the ninjas, and any who dared to try to place any harm on a child for something they didn't do that's out of their hands were immediately executed. The civilian council had lost all say in political meetings, and lost eighty percent of their income-which was never used to better the village but their own pockets-was sent to the more distressed areas of the village. The Elders were strictly demoted to giving advice to the Hokage and the Ninja council only and were not allowed to pass any laws. The Hokage even was placed under strict observation and control. Laws that had to be passed went through the Daimyo and his advisors for a double-check before being signed off to be a law or denied.
Clan affairs were untouched with the exception being the Caged Bird Seal; the seal that induced slavery into half the Hyuuga CLan for generations. Now legally made an illegal act to have the brand placed on any member of the Hyuuga clan, was officially banned for enslavement-which was already illegal to begin with. Those who tried to continue to old practice were immediately executed to serve as a warning; several people were still on thin ice for trying it again behind closed doors for the second warning was that the entirety of the Hyuuga would be exterminated to the last child if it was revealed to be continued when now outlawed by the ruler of Fire Country.
Now, to the ninja system itself, it went through a major overhaul, as such, adding teaching of medical Justus, and changing certain teams was now a standard for all classes. Elemental affinities were learned and taught the basic control exercises as well as chakra control techniques. Only seasoned Jonin with explicit permission could teach any jutsu with a signed approval from the Daimyo being the only way to pass on a jutsu.
This was mostly due to Sasuke Uchiha using a A-Rank; borderline S-rank, assassination technique to kill his own teammate for his selfish ambitions. When the revelation that Naruto was the last Uzumaki alive-for all intents and purposes-Sasuke Uchiha became the Number One enemy for all major and minor clans in Konoha when the legacy of the Uzumaki Clan was revealed. The Uzumaki had defended their island home for five months against enemy nations from three Major countries and sixteen minor before they were overrun and destroyed while it only took a single man to wipe out the Uchiha spoke volumes of how powerful Naruto's family truly was.
And not only that, there are changes in the academy as well, they removed the whole basic jutsu's for the graduation exam, this was added to weed out those who truly might want to be a ninja and those who think it was just a game.
XxX
And now, into the Hokage's office, was a woman, with blonde hair, brown eyes, with a blue mark on her forehead. She is a fair-skinned woman with brown eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. Her hair has shoulder-length bangs that frame her face and the rest reaches her lower-back. wears a grass-green haori with the kanji for "gamble" (賭, kake) on the back, inside a red circle. Underneath she wears a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. Her blouse is closed quite low, revealing her sizable cleavage. She wears open-toed, strappy black sandals with high heels. She has red nail polish on both her fingernails and toenails and uses a soft pink lipstick.
As for what she was doing, well that was simple; she is looking through the normal mountain of paperwork, this is Tsunade, a woman with the blood of the Senju and Uzumaki running through her veins. Tsunade sighs as reading about affairs of other villages as well trading routes and such then she hears, "Lady Tsunade." Tsunade looks up from the papers and sees her long-time friend and former traveling companion and now assistant. Shizune.
"Yes Shizune?" Tsunade asks as she places the paper down to look at the woman.
"She's trying again." Shizune commented as she passed her the paper.
Taking it, she simply grabbed a red stamp and pressed it once into the red ink before slapping it down on the paper, a large 'DENIED' printed in red across the page yet again.
"Send her away, and tell her to find a better hobby than trying to annoy me with a murdering psychopath being redeemed." she ordered the woman, "And tell her that if she tries again she's going back to T&I for a week. And also inform her, that if I see another referral to try and repeal Sasuke Uchiha's status as a Missing Ninja again, she's going to prison for obstructing the Hokage's Elite Forces from carrying out their orders for life. Then inform her that if she continues to bother me with this, after she is sent to prison; her chakra will be permanently sealed off, and she will be sent to level Seven." she said before moving back to her original paperwork without so much as another word coming out of her mouth.
"I would…but she's at the door My Lady." says Shzune.
Tsunade just groans, "By the gods, just how dumb is this girl." she snapped her fingers and a pair of ANBU appeared before her, "Take her away, I don't want to hear it." she commanded.
They left to carry out their orders. Shizune says "And to think once upon a time, you wanted to take her as a student." Shizune said, shaking her head.
Tsunade sighed, "So much potential, wasted. All over a stupid crush turned obsession." she stated, "I'm kind of glad I managed to make Ino and Hinata learn some of my skills. I'm more disappointed than anything that Sakura harps over that damned Uchiha Brat. And it's been 12 years, going on 13 now."
Shizune says "Ok how about we take a break and get fresh air, I'm sure it will help you cool off my lady" as a pig come up to Tsunade and lets out 'oink' "yeah that sounds nice" she gets up and both along with the pig named Tonton, they're gone outside.
~XxX-Meanwhile at the gates of Konoha-XxX~
A lone man wearing a smooth white coat, the hood pulled up enough covering his face and head can be seen as he looks around as he talks to himself, "A dozen years away, and nothing has changed. They all think that they are safe here behind these walls, they know nothing." the man muttered to himself.
Gripping the small rope holding his travel bag, the man pulls it up and makes his way forward with no clear destination in mind. The man calmly walks up to the guards as he talks, "Hello there" calmly. The two men note that as he speaks, the guards look at the man as one of them with a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light-colored marking on his chin speaks up.
"Um yes, how can I help you sir?" said the guard, he isn't sure what to make of this guy in the coat, and was that… a head on his hip?
"Oh yes, say lad could you lift me up, just let me do the talking," says another voice, which freaks out him and the other guard as the coated man grabs the end of a rope that's tied to the head and lifts it up.
"Oh yes, thank you, now then I'm Mimir and this lad is an old companion of mine. This is Magni, son of Magnus and Magda." he introduces himself and his companion.
"How are you able to talk, let alone function, you're a head?" the first guard says with wide eyes.
"How perceptive of you, but it's alright, it's just a flesh wound I assure you." Mimir jokes.
"Enough Mimir, we are here on business, not to socialize with the locals." Magdi states.
"Yes yes, always such a rush like your Da ain't you? Now then we are just here to visit, you know how these folks do, sightseeing and all, may you let us through?" said the head of Mimir.
Kotetsu and Izumo look at each other and shrug; this was first so they had no clue as to what to do, "I mean, yea we can, it's just, strange to see a talking head, might want to do something about that so you don't scare people." Izumo points out.
"I'm quite aware of this." Magdi says.
"And so full of humor too." Mimir grumbles as Magdi puts him under his cloak, "You could use a bath ya know?" the head questions.
"And you could use a body so I don't have to worry about dropping you off to the fish." Magdi responds.
"I'd like to see you try, that stubborn brother of yours would make you fish me out of the water." Mimir retorts with a laugh. Both make their in as the guards look at each other with one of them saying "so we are not going to report the Anbu about a guy in a coat with a talking head?"
"No way besides, it's likely some Genjutsu to play mind tricks with us" as the first one went back to his post as the other responds, "If you say so"
~XxX-moments later-XxX~
"Really?" said the coat man as he held up the head of Mimir with his left arm as they stood on the rooftop of a building, "Of all the names, you pick Magdi? Son of Magnus? What did you drink?"
"You know I can't drink much less eat anything, it'll go right through me. Besides, we couldn't risk revealing your true identity now, can we? It was either the made-up stuff, or we simply speak your real name and suffer some consequences we can't get out of." Mimir stated.
"Right right, I forget, I'm basically a dead man," said the cloaked man, then looking at Mimir as the head asks "Now then onto more important matters, my lad, how does it feel to be back to the place you were born and raised? Must be nostalgic for you," the body-less head questioned, raising a brow.
"I feel nothing, nostalgia is a comfort that I cannot afford at the moment, or did you forget; the Son of Odin hunts me." he stated.
"Oh forgive me for wanting to shed some light on our situation, my boy, after all, for time being you are safe as aesir gods have no power here, given the land around belongs to another pantheon of gods"
The cloaked man "And you forget, the gods here don't get involved with the humans here." explained the man.
"Ah you worry too much. Say here's an idea, why not we go get you a drink then maybe, you will loosen up a bit, gods know it you haven't since we left home."
"The last drink I had was that weird mead that the Blue one gave me, and I never sat right with alcohol since." said the cloaked man.
"Alright, how about we found a nice lass for you and the-"
"Are you sure you are not one of these 'cool uncles' I hear about?" asked the cloaked man,
Mimir laughs, "No I'm afraid my boy, I'm all about the good times, well besides being an all-knowing adviser"
"And yet you fell off a mountain and had to be saved by a Valkyrie."
"I'll have you know, that that incident took place three hundred and sixty winters ago," Mimir grumbled.
"Right, anyway I'm not going to look for a woman, but rather, food as I'm hungry" he looks in a certain direction "I wonder if they're still open?" he asks himself before he jumps off and rejoins the crowd of villagers.
—
*time freezes* Dealt: i learn this from watching blaze *eating the chicken more.* So what do you think candyman?
Adventreader221: *Swallows some chicken* About what?
Dealt: both the chicken and the story!
Adventreader221: Chicken could use some salt, but the story leaves a lot to be desired from. There's not much that is revealed this chapter plot wise, and this leaves readers coming back to find out more.
D:indeed as for the salt part….I could get it from that guy *points at a souleater as its forming together and whats more, we are somewhere at the land of fire.*
Adventreader221: *Waves a hand at Dealt* By all means, go get some, I'll keep the fire going. Meanwhile; all you readers need to leave a LIKE/FAVORITE/FOLLOW to show this story the love it deserves and leave a nice long REVIEW/COMMENT to keep it going
*background as Dealt had jumped onto the soul eater like a wild animal and ripped out its core with his mouth alone as adventreader22 points at Dealt, for what he did, for those who leave flames reviews and guest reviews.*
Adventreader221: You get the picture.
Dealt:*shaking head like a wild animal with the core in its mouth before crushing it then starts grinding the stones into salt.*