Disclaimer: Ya'll know I don't own Naruto right? Good. Oh, and this applies for the rest of the story, what can I say, I'm lazy.
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"This is an old legend. About the First of the firsts, about times of war, and times of peace, but most important of all, its about friendship and loyalty.
There exists, neither here nor there, between the nonexistent and the infinite, and forever held in the midst of time, a hidden village. It was once a wondrous place, full of marvels and strength, for within its walls lay the tombs of the first shinobis. They were the finest warriors ever, even though they were but four. There was the master of taijutsu, of genjutsu, and of ninjutsu, and then there was the master of the light and the dark, the first shinobi ever. It was said that this man had been trained by demons, and grew up around them, had befriended them even! And that a prophet had told him to go and seek a master of each of the three bodily traits: of the physical movements, of the mental and the spiritual, and-a mix of the three-of the elemental energies. These four all became fast friends, and eventually taught each other all they knew, though they each stayed the master of their respective categories. These four friends eventually founded the first ninja city, the Hidden Village of Miracles.
Their village prospered and grew, and some kids were chosen for shinobi duties. They were taught under the four friends, each in each of their respective categories. Eventually the ranks grew until there were a respective amount of Nins, with more training in the wings. The village grew until it seemed a city in size, if not in name. It was no longer small enough to walk from one end to the other on a whim, people kept to their communities, and clans came to be. This was a time of peace and prosperity, serenity and growth, and for a few years, the village was unknown to other countries, and was blissfully ignored until it was too late, as it had then become a strong power.
Of course, as with all great beings, others seek to rob them of that power, or at least bring them under their control. Others, not-so-graced in their strength, those whom were too lazy to improve themselves, greedy warlords of great armies and magnificent nations, these and many more, all tried to breach the city's wall. And yet, every time they tried to siege the village, they were deterred at every angle. The walls grew spikes when they tried to break it; the ground grew arms and dragonheads and attacked the enemy. Fire, water, even the very wind itself, all seemed to come to life around the village and ally themselves with the evil ones. Indeed, to them, the village was all the things that they hated and despised, which was part of the reason they called it Demon Village. They used black magic, they did not fight fairly, they even allowed women into combat! And despite all that, they were winning. None had yet to break through the wall, none had yet to scale its heights, though one daring and memorable, though foolish, commander took it upon himself to try and climb with half his army. The poor fools never got more than halfway before the wall suddenly sprouted people all clothed in black, all standing as if the wall was the ground, and a giant massacre ensued, and wall was as blood red as the moon that night. It was that night that history was made, the shinobis inside were tired of war, they wanted peace, they wanted to go outside and run in real grass, they wanted run up and jump in real trees, they wanted to walk on running rivers rather then just stand in bowls of water.
They sent a messenger to the warlords, the shinobis wanted peace, the warlords wanted peace, each also wanted the others to just disappear off the earth as well, but as that wasn't going to happen, they settled on an amnesty. "Demon Village" opened its gates to the citizens once more, and a peace was once again spreading its wings throughout the land. The Hidden Miracle started to become too small for some of the younger Nins. They were ambitious and strong, and they knew they had no place in a community where all the places were taken, so they did the one thing they could, they moved out, and started their own villages. They left with the Firsts' blessings, as they wanted to extend their hand farther out to others. They took jobs and commissions to survive, they were oppressed by others, some went back, thoroughly humbled, some survived, and took government positions and assignments. The strongest though, started their own villages, not all succeeded, some failed due to a number of reasons, mismanagement, overly ambitious, or they could have just angered a neighboring community that drove them out. Out of those that made it though, the only ones that really prospered, were the best of them all. They grew fast, and quickly progressed, some started to create new styles of fighting, new types of ninjutsu, and eventually, they were separate entities, self supporting and prospering, they owed debts to no one, and yet, they never forgot their Village of origin, and set their allegiances with the Hidden Miracle.
The warlords never forgot though, and had laid in waiting for many years, advancing, gaining allies, buying up weaponry with which to supply their new ranks of troops. They then reached a point in which all the warlords all owed-one way or another-one warlord their loyalty and help. Now history may have left us with many bits of information, but unfortunately, the name of this influential man is not one of them, all that is known is that he was brave in battle, had a slight tendency to dress flashy, and was respected, and loved by his men. Either way though, he gathered the largest army every known to this earth, and marched towards the Hidden Village of Miracles.
The Hidden Miracle wasn't wasting time though, the four Firsts, once the most respected ninjas throughout the land, were now gone and dead. All great men have to fall eventually, for them; their time had come a while ago. The Village was not defenseless though; a large jutsu was created in order to remove all of the shinobis to another land, one devoid of their hated enemy. The council called in all the defenseless, the elder and crippled, the women and young, they were all were called to Hidden Miracle before the great army could reach them. This was a never-before-done jutsu, was originally left unfinished since the time of the Firsts and hurriedly completed before the army could arrive. It was like a summoning jutsu, except in reverse, so everything was complicated to the extreme in order to make sure everything and everybody whom the jutsu was supposed to transport would arrive safely, and in one piece, instead of blown across half the landscape in a mist of blood. All the research was done, the jutsu, in theory, would work, but it would take time to complete the chakra charging and the multitude of katas, a full week to be exact, and the Warlord's army was upon their doorstep. All was thought lost, until a ninja army arrived. It was composed of the many, younger Hidden Villages, they had banded together and to try and buy time for the Hidden village. They numbered over ten thousand, but compared to immensity of the Warlord's army, they were greatly outnumbered. They were each as strong as many men, they could all fight continuously for a long amount of time, but an entire week was near impossibility. It was a futile effort, and they knew it, but still they fought.
They took down many of the enemy in the first few days, and few, if any shinobis died those days. Carcasses of fallen samurai and warriors littered the ground until the ground was covered in dead men three deep. Each new attack eventually started with soldiers charging over the dead bodies of their comrades, until they joined them. Even the lowest ranking shinobi killed over fifty soldiers, one man had claimed to have taken out half of a company with one soldier, and still another had claimed to have killed over a thousand. Those few days were ones of battle frenzy and victories; those were the Days of Glory. After the third day though, battle fatigue started to show. The enemy had more soldiers then positions with which they could attack them from, so the Warlord's army began each new attack with fresh, rested and well-fed soldiers. The Shinobi army however, was under supplied, as all available men were fighting, and tired, as they did not have enough men to take shifts fighting. The Shinobi army suddenly started dropping like flies under each new assault. Now, both sides had to fight standing on the bodies of dead men, once their friends and comrades, now a new/old battleground. Men were littered everywhere, no place had less then a pile of men five deep, in some it was more than twenty. The places where the largest battles had taken place started to become hills. Both sides fought for possession of the pile of bodies, each attempt adding to its size and desirability. Some shinobis started to live by the hour, taking soldier pills with frightening regularity. Others, started to lose their minds, and had to be under the effects of genjutsu to continue fighting, as that was their wish. The Shinobi's army started to lose its advantage of ninjutsu and devastating long-range attacks. More and more started to switch to conserving their chakra for an added advantage in melee fights. They started to lose land, little by little, the Warlord's army advanced towards the Hidden village, and it was only the fifth day.
On the morning of the sixth, barely any of the ninjas had any chakra left for anything but the most basic of jutsus, they were almost out of soldier pills, with enough for only one or two boosts more. All was lost, and both sides knew it. The Warlords dressed in fancier armor then the battle-ruined armor they had wore the past few days. The Shinobis just wearily pulled their tired bodies up and readied themselves for another long day; for some, shorter than others. They knew it was pointless, but still they fought, not only to rid themselves of a long-time debt the owned to the Village in helping them in times of need, but also for their pride. They had all depleted a great many enemy warriors; what was once lush and arable farmland and grassland was now a bloodstained battlefield. Men were littered everywhere, as everybody seemed to be fighting on a raised platform of dead friends. Their army was failing though, what was once a large army of over ten thousand now numbered only a fraction of that. The jutsu was almost finished though, they just had to hold them off for another day, and then they could all rest.
They all tried, they really did, with all their might they resisted, however, the Warlord's army, sensing victory, suddenly surged forward in a massive charge. Caught weakened and aged considerably with a week of relentless battling, they only managed a brief halt in the charge before they swept past them in a wave of blood as they the remaining shinobis performed all types of forbidden kinjutsus in a last-ditch effort to bring as many of enemy as they could to the afterlife. Explosions of chakra created vast holes in formations, silent one-on-one kills blew up commanders in gouts of blood, various types of elements were summoned from life offerings and wiped out vast amounts of troops. Even the ones who couldn't do or didn't know kinjutsus made their lives expensive. Wielding their kunais like daggers and using up the last of their shruiken, they fought in the enclosed space the doorway provided, while one of them ran to the main chamber as the harbinger of impending doom. The giant gates blew open as the pressing of bodies broke the lock-bar, for once, the wall wasn't attacking since they, and all other independent defensive jutsus had been drained of chakra for the jutsu. Gaining land step by step, the Warlord' army forced the remaining tiny group of Shinobis to the door of the main chamber. As they approached, the door swung open, and inside could be seen several Nins frantically trying to speed up their seal making without making any mistakes. Nothing could disturb their circle, so everybody not busy with the jutsu went outside to fight, somewhat rested if drained of chakra. Their slight reinforcements were a much-needed respite for the tired fighters. Accurately thrown shruiken and kunai forced the ranks back a bit, a second wave of various jutsus forced them back even more and fresh soldier pills helped to even up the score a bit. The enemy still had a large army, but barely a quarter to what they had before. However, with the majority of the thirty Nins tired from a weeklong war, and the others elderly and drained of chakra and energy, such a respite could not hold for long. They were overwhelmed and the Warlord's armies surged forward. He ordered his entire army through the gates, and before closing them himself he was heard by a few barely surviving nins say, 'to prevent the enemy from escaping, I have trapped them in here with us' As they burst through the doors, the few remaining nins were severely distracted for the first time since the beginning of the jutsu a week ago. One of them panicked and quickly did a series of ten seals, activating the unfinished jutsu, by the time the others noticed what was happening, it was too late. The entire city, the few remaining Nins, the entirety of the Warlord's army and the citizens of the village in the basement rooms…all were gone, as if a giant hand had scooped out the entire city, down to its very foundations.
The few surviving Nins regrouped, and started another Hidden Village. As all of the Warlords and their armies had disappeared along with the city, they were safe. By the time any of the communities had regrouped enough to pose a threat, the shinobis had prospered and grew. They now a full village, not just a bunch of houses whose residents knew each other. Their ranks had swelled so that instead of either crippled elderly Shinobi, and young wet-behind-the-ears rookies, there were full-time soldiers with various battles under their belt. Eventually, they grew and expanded, groups leaving and founding new Hidden Villages, some died, others grew, and then split up. In time, they grew into the Hidden Villages that we have today."
When the Third finished, he smiled as he saw his entire audience in rapture of what he said. The twenty something kids in front of him had sat with their complete attention towards him, not even noticing when their marshmallows had been burnt to a crisp. Every time he told this ancient legend to a new group of first year academy students, the reactions had been the same year after year. Disbelief. Amusement. Interest. This year though…
"YEAH! THAT WAS A GREAT STORY GRANDPA, DO YOU HAVE ANYMORE LIKE IT!"
Ah yes, Uzumaki Naruto, known by general consensus as the loudest student in the Academy, and as usual, slightly insulting without actually making anybody feel insulted. Sarutobi himself didn't mind the "Grandpa" crack, well, not too much anyway. Naruto's teacher though, was another story.
After hitting him on the head, he yelled, "SHUT UP! How dare you call the Hokage by such an insulting name! Now leave and go home!"
"What! But we're twenty miles from Konoha! And it's already night!"
Smirking until it looked just under cruelty, "So, you want to be Hokage right? Think of this as advanced endurance-survival training!"
Frowning slightly at the instructor's degenerative tone, Sarutobi said, "No, No, its alright. I don't mind, really, let him stay with the others."
"But Hokage-sama…"
"I said it's alright!" said the Third firmly, with just a slight emphasis on the last word.
Grumbling as he was walking off, the instructor mumbled, "…alright is it? No it's not…not as long as that demon is still around Konoha…"
Expressing some displeasure at the instructor's words, and hoping that the kids wouldn't hear and ask what they meant, the Third turned back to the group, "Now, where were we… Ah, yes. To answer your question Naruto, yes, there are two more legends affiliated with that particular one, want to hear them?"
"HELL YEAH!"
Smiling slightly at the boy's enthusiasm, "There were two more legends that they left behind though, in the form of scrolls. It is commonly believed that the Hidden Miracle contained four scrolls of great value, written by the Firsts themselves, containing the techniques they knew and how to perform them. Many believe that great, powerful jutsus are contained in these four scrolls. However, soon after they died, the council believed that the techniques contained in these scrolls were too strong, so they buried each of them with their respective writer, and hid each tomb in a large labyrinth below the Village. This labyrinth was said to be the ultimate test for any whom would seek the scrolls. It is filled with countless traps and summoned demons that live off of the corpses and each other. This is almost common knowledge as it is very likely, but almost impossible to confirm as the entire labyrinth is gone with the Village. The second legend though, says that the person whom finished the jutsu believed almost religiously in backups, and copied it down on another scroll, then hid it somewhere outside the village. This scroll is said to help the user find the Hidden Miracle, and everything affiliated with it that left when they did. Most regard this as pure myth though, as they believe it is highly unlikely the person had any time to copy such a lengthy jutsu down twice and hide the second outside the walls in the small amount of time he had."
"Hokage-sama?"
"Yes?"
"Did anybody even try to search for the scrolls?"
"Of course, mostly treasure hunters though, and none of them found anything, even though they must have followed up on every rumor and crater in the elemental countries. Oh yes! I forgot to tell you, there was also a poem that was passed down with the legend:
Hidden 'tween, Tygers' blue road
Inside of the training tree
Defended by the home of gold
Defend yourself, pay the fees
Enclosed is the key, 'neath the seam
Need help? Bring a fox
Include a friend, take a team,
Slog through the maze of rock
That's it, good night everybody!"
"(Chorused) Good night Hokage-sama!"