A/N:
This fanfic is a rewrite of the Naruto series. However, it's also an AU with different rules to the Naruto world. The origin of chakra is different, chakra as such is different, the history of the shinobi world is different (no aliens) and thus the tailed beasts are different.
However, none of these topics were really touched upon early in canon Naruto, mostly only in late Shippuuden. So this fanfic might feel (and be) a bit like Canon-rehash in the beginning. Most changes will only become fully apparent in the Shippuuden timeline. But since there are quite a few subtle changes, I wanted to introduce them slowly and naturally, by rewriting everything that was shown in canon in a way that fits and happened in this AU.
Warnings: Character Death possible, as much violence as you'd expect in a ninja world (more than in canon), implied suicide attempts. This is a T-rated fic, but there are some topics mentioned that are not really... nice (like killing cute little rabbits). I'm not describing any of that in detail, but if the sheer thought of stuff like that makes you feel uncomfortable, maybe don't read. I'd say this is somewhere in between T and M (and I suck at rating stuff).
Prologue - Origin
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Hundreds and thousands of years ago, sages roamed the world of the elemental lands. Back then, there were no shinobi, no samurai, no daimyo. Only travelling tribes living hand in hand with nature, hand in hand with her elements and their energy.
It was the sages whose eyes were able to see that very energy that was all around them. In the trees and flowers, in the earth and the water, even in the air they breathed. And it was thus the sages who first learned how to use chakra, who first learned how to harvest it. It was chakra that made them settle down, chakra that built villages, towns and cities. Chakra quickly became the one thing that made the world go round.
Where there was chakra, the world flourished. But where there was chakra missing, the world died.
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Naruto lay in his bed, fast asleep. He dreamt of cities ten times bigger than Konoha, or even more. With houses that extended all the way to the sky. The streets were filled with people and animals, one weirder than the other. And he was in the midst of it. He was small, barely reached to the knees of the people passing him.
Panic spread in him, the feeling of being lost. But those weren't Naruto's feelings. It wasn't because the place looked strange and foreign, because the people wore clothing he had never seen before, and spoke a tongue he somehow understood even though he had never heard it before.
He felt lost because there was someone missing. He was searching for someone.
From in between the crowd he could hear a boy call out for him. The voice was so familiar, and his eyes naturally searched for its source as he heard his name again.
"Kurama!"
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Naruto awoke in the middle of the night. His dream was still stuck in his head, so vividly it almost felt real. Usually he dreamt of a red-haired woman, but not tonight.
Pearls of sweat formed on his forehead, and a tingling feeling spread from his belly button, a feeling he was all too familiar with. It was the one his sensei had told him to push back, the one that soon turned into darkness. Naruto tried to push it back. He tried to be a good boy. But he didn't know how. The feeling was too strong. It overcame him.
And suddenly, his head was empty. The dream was gone. His thoughts were gone. His hands moved to his own throat, and started choking.
"Naruto!"
The voice was distant.
Next was a sharp pain in his stomach. Reality came back to him like a slap in the face, out of nowhere.
Naruto looked around, found that he was in a different room.
His teacher was leaning against a wall, breathing heavily. Naruto took a step towards him, stepped onto bits of broken glass. He only realised now that the window next to them was shattered, chairs had fallen over. Somehow, he was in the living room. And somehow the living room was chaotic and destroyed.
"What happened? Are you hurt, sensei?"
The man shook his head, but wouldn't look at Naruto. "Go back to bed."
"But…"
"I told you to go back to bed!"
Naruto quietly went back to his room. This man was the fourth teacher already that Naruto had been assigned to in the last two years. And all the others had decided they didn't want to teach him any more after a few months. He could feel that this one would not stay for long either.
He started calling his teachers after their most striking characteristic. It had started as a joke to himself as he pretended he couldn't even remember their names anymore. This teacher, he'd named Longnose. Next the pranks started. Those helped him feel like he chose to chase them away. He was in control.
Naruto went back to his room, took a pen, and started drawing on the wall next to his bed. He didn't want to go back to sleep, he couldn't. Drawing helped him take his head off the things that happened around him. The things he couldn't understand.
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Only a few days later, Naruto's teacher met with the Hokage, third of his title, and a few selected Anbu. They were Naruto's secret guards, his shadows.
"Has the boy scared away yet another teacher? Is that why I had to bother coming here?" one of the Anbu said, taking a seat. He was a Nara, and almost collapsed on the chair, acting like he had just climbed a mountain. A bear mask hid his face.
The teacher was standing in the front of the room, next to the Hokage. He was the one who had called them. "I'm not scared. I'm simply reporting on the progress Naruto made in the last few months. And I am afraid there is none."
"You told the Hokage you would like to step back from being Naruto's teacher. This is not a job you just abandon because there is not enough progress," another Anbu said. There were four of them, all carefully selected, all wearing a different animal mask. A Nara, an Uchiha, a Yamanaka, and, the newest member, a clanless girl praised as a sealing expert.
Those four people were responsible for Naruto's safety. And for the safety of all of Konoha.
"I cannot teach Naruto how to control this monster. It's impossible. Because I don't know myself! I can keep temporarily resealing it every time it tries to break out, but Lord Hokage, with all due respect, this is no solution to the problem. The boy is not making any progress at all and there is zero I can do to help. For the safety of everyone, including his own, the ninetails needs to be sealed completely."
There was a hint of disappointment visible on the Hokage's face, even though he tried to hide it. "A seal like that would completely mess with his chakra system. He'd most likely become an average shinobi at best, with subpar chakra control. Minato wouldn't have wanted that."
The teacher shook his head. "Lord Hokage, I also doubt he wanted his son to turn into a monster. Or be killed by that monster. You know how many times I had to keep Naruto from killing himself in his sleep? The kyuubi's influence over him is real. Too real. Even with Minato's seal."
The Nara stretched himself. He was the oldest from the four, though his mask hid that fact well. Only his hands gave him away. "We tried. It didn't work. We cannot expect a child to figure out how to control a tailed beast all on their own. If we at least had the First Hokage's notes, then…" He stopped himself, knowing there was no use in bringing up that topic again. "I'm sorry. No offense."
"The First Hokage's notes?" their newest member asked. She was young, and had only recently joined Konoha's special unit. She was the fourth shinobi assigned to protect Naruto from the shadows, after the position had been vacant for over a year.
The Hokage cleared his throat. "There are scrolls written by the First and Second Hokage. They hold all the knowledge Hashirama and Tobirama, and their whole generation, had collected about sealing and controlling tailed beasts. But unfortunately… we lost them."
"Lost? How can you just lose something that valuable?" she asked in disbelief.
"Kagura!" The Yamanaka woman immediately scolded her. "Watch your tone in front of the Hokage."
"No, she is right," the Hokage admitted. "It is my fault those documents are gone. And it should never have happened. But I am afraid Orochimaru, my former student, took them when he deserted Konoha. I asked Jiraiya years ago to bring them back, but so far… nothing."
Danzo was present as well. He was standing in a corner, and quietly observed the meeting. "We could try resealing the ninetails in someone else. Maybe someone older would be able to figure out how to control it."
The Hokage frowned. "Are you suggesting we kill the Fourth Hokage's son? He would not survive the resealing."
"I'm simply trying to find a solution to the ninetails situation. A tailed beast that is completely sealed away is of no use to us. If Kushina had been better at controlling the beast, then maybe - "
"Enough, Danzo." The Hokage turned away from his advisor. "Resealing is not an option, so we do not have to discuss this. As long as there are no major incidents, we will keep trying. No one claimed that it was easy to control a tailed beast. We have to trust Naruto."
The teacher shook his head again. He seemed exhausted, with dark rings around his eyes. The nights were always the most dangerous. "But Lord Third. There have been major incidents. Enough of them. We even lost one of our own."
"Our investigation concluded that the Anbu in question did not handle the incident properly. Besides, it's been over a year," Danzo dryly added.
"If you wish to step back, you may do so," the Hokage said with as much empathy as he could find in him. But he too was exhausted. They had tried too much to teach the young boy to control the beast sealed inside of him. Yet too little had worked. And the Hokage was running out of options. "I am not forcing you. But we do not have an unlimited amount of shinobi suitable for this job. Give us some time to find a new teacher for Naruto."
"But Lord Third…" the shinobi was not yet content. "I have spent the last few months with him. Day and night. And I am telling you, he is dangerous. And he is dangerous to himself first of all. If you don't seal the ninetails away, it will kill him. He is just a boy."
The Yamanaka woman rose and stood straight. "If I may share my opinion, Lord Hokage?" She didn't continue, but waited for his permit to speak.
"I'd be glad to hear it, Komachi."
"I have watched over Naruto since the day he was born, and I am afraid I have to agree. The ninetails is unpredictable. There is a reason both Mito and Kushina chose to seal it away completely. We putan unbelievably high burden on the boy. At this rate, he will grow up in complete isolation because the people of our village are scared of him." She paused for a moment. "The applications for the Academy are open right now. If Naruto was not a Jinchuuriki, this would be the year he would enrol. We could seal it for now, let him join the Academy, allow him to have a normal life for at least a few years."
"As I have said before, the new seal would interfere with his chakra flow, change it. He would only struggle in the Academy."
"So you are afraid he will struggle in the Academy, but it doesn't concern you that he's struggling to keep that big monster locked up inside?" It took a moment for the young woman to realise everyone was staring at her. She sat up straight in her chair and stopped resting her chin on the back of her hand. Formalities were nothing she was used to. And the Nara next to her was not a good role model.
"Even if we strengthen the seal now, it doesn't mean that we cannot undo it again in a few years. When Naruto is older, and can decide for himself that this is the fate he chooses."
The Hokage wouldn't admit it, but Komachi was the one of the four whose opinion he valued most. The one who had been with Naruto from the day he was born. The one who had known Minato better than he did. Hearing those words from her made his defeat even more apparent. "We will vote then. And I will take everyone's opinion into account when making my decision. So, raise your hand if you are in favour of sealing the ninetails chakra completely, and allowing Naruto to join the Academy. For now."
The teacher's hand was the first to rise, followed by the Yamanaka woman.
"Less work," the Nara man murmured as he raised his hand as well. The Uchiha voted yes as well.
All eyes were on the young woman again. She stared back at them as though she did not understand at all what they expected of her. " What is it? I have never even seen the ninetails and now you want to seal it away already?"
They ignored her and shifted their attention to Danzo, who, as the Hokage's advisor, was expected to give his opinion as well. His hand rested in his lap.
"I have my informants in all Hidden villages. And every single Hidden village has at least one Jinchuuriki," he calmly said. "We cannot be the only village who does not try to harvest the power of theirs."
His words ended the meeting.
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Sakura was standing in front of the Academy building, observing the families that went in and out. Most of them were shinobi. Clan members.
Application for the Academy was open, and all parents seemed eager to enrol their child. Next year, her best friend Ino would go to this school, the ninja school, while Sakura would go to the normal school, the boring one. Throughout the last years, Sakura had tried hard to be like Ino. Because everyone loved Ino. But this was a big setback. It reminded her that she wasn't special like Ino. She wasn't the heiress of a prestigious ninja clan. She was the daughter of an accountant and a housewife. She was a civilian. Ordinary.
Sakura was interested in the Academy. Curious. She heard that shinobi were able to perform magic and left the village to go on missions. All her friends thought that being a shinobi was super cool. Sakura thought so too.
But her parents didn't like the idea of their daughter becoming a shinobi. So there was no way she would join the Academy and play with knives, as her father liked to say. Sakura would join Konoha's civilian school. After all, she was a civilian, not a clan member.
A family left the Academy. A mother with her two children. Sakura could immediately tell which clan they belonged to. They had dark hair, black eyes, and, most importantly, wore the crest of the Uchiha clan on their clothes. Everyone in the village knew them, the Uchiha. And of course children of that clan would get signed up to become a shinobi. Or rather, they didn't become shinobi, they were born as shinobi.
But the girl seemed unhappy. Her loud complaints caught Sakura's attention.
"Why can't I go to the Academy too, aunt Mikoto? I want to be a shinobi too, please! I'm old enough too."
"I'm sorry, Naori," the woman softly said, and her voice truly sounded sorry.
The boy next to her ignored the girl's continuous complaints. He wore a bright smile on his face, content and proud.
Sakura wanted to know how an Uchiha could possibly not be enrolled into the Academy.
So she wandered after them down the road until the girl asked whether her and Sasuke could go play in the village until it was time for dinner. The woman nodded and left them.
"I don't have time to play with you. Now that I'm enrolled in the Academy, I have to go and train with my older brother," the boy informed, making sure he sounded as mature and grown-up as possible. He tried to walk off, but the girl grabbed his arm.
"Not fair, Sasuke-kun!" She pouted, her cheeks filled with air. "I want to train too! Come on, just for a bit. Please, please, please!"
"You know my mother has forbidden me to teach you any ninjutsu. So I can't!"
"I won't tell! You can also teach me taijutsu. Aunt Mikoto didn't say anything about that, right?" she pleaded. "Please, I don't want to be the only one our age who doesn't know how to fight."
The boy seemed annoyed and unwilling, yet he let himself get dragged along by the girl.
Sakura followed them. She had never heard that an Uchiha was not allowed to learn ninjutsu. But somehow, it made her relate. It made her want to know why, badly.
She hid behind a tree as she watched them train a series of movements. Punch, dodge, kick, jump back. Over and over. An hour passed and they eventually moved on to throwing shuriken.
It surprised Sakura, almost scared her, that this boy carried real shuriken around. Her father wouldn't even allow her the wooden ones for child's play. The two Uchiha children seemed more than used to throwing sharp and spiky weapons around.
Sakura wanted to join them. She wanted to step away from the tree and greet them. But she couldn't. She didn't know these children, and her father would scold her if he even knew she secretly watched clan children train. So she stuck to the tree trunk instead, making sure no one would notice her.
Soon, the two Uchiha had enough of shuriken throwing, and Sasuke started to complain that he had to work on his Fireball jutsu. It was the one technique every Uchiha was expected to master. Every Uchiha except the little girl next to him.
Sakura's eyes grew bigger. That was the magic all of her friends kept talking about. But no one could actually use a jutsu yet. Not even Ino.
"Just practice the jutsu here," the girl still tried to convince Sasuke. "I'll watch and help you train. So you aren't breaking any rules. Maybe I even have some tips for you!"
"You don't know anything about jutsu. I have to go find my brother so he can give me tips."
"I do!" She protested and grabbed his hand once more so he couldn't run off. "Actually, I bet my fire jutsu is better than yours!"
Sasuke frowned. "No, it's not. I've been training with Itachi for months."
"Yes, and I have watched you train and you suck." She stuck out her tongue at him before starting to giggle to herself at the fact that she just used one of the forbidden words.
Sasuke was ready to throw an insult back at her, but she interrupted him. "Why don't we bet? Because I bet that I can burn a branch faster than you. And if I win, you will have to play with me all day long tomorrow! It's so boring when you train with brother Itachi and I am not allowed to join."
"But tomorrow is his day off! He promised to teach me -"
"What? Are you afraid you will lose?"
"Fine!" Sasuke yelled at her. "But if I win, you will stop bothering me for a whole week."
The girl immediately took his hand to shake it. "Deal!"
Sakura watched as they both collected a pile of twigs and then decided on two that looked about the same size and were fairly dry.
Next they sat down in front of their respective twig and formed a sign. They held it for a bit before forming another one, and another. Their movements were slow, and their faces full of concentration.
The girl had her eyes closed while Sasuke already stared down his twig as though trying to ignite it with his glance.
He was the first to take a big breath, and then blew all the air he had collected at the branch.
Sakura did not believe her eyes when a bit of smoke started to rise from out of nowhere.
She believed her eyes even less when the girl's twig caught fire and burned down with a bright orange flame.
Apparently Sasuke shared Sakura's disbelief and dropped his piece of smoking wood to stare at Naori's fire with an open mouth.
Naori was giggling and laughing, clearly enjoying herself.
"How did you do that?" he moaned. "It's not fair! My branch was wet! Yours was way easier!"
The girl offered to show him again, and Sasuke was eager to see her light another twig on fire, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Again, she set it on fire with seemingly no effort.
"Sasuke!" A sharp voice echoed through the forest around them.
Another boy with a fan on the back of his shirt appeared. Sakura had never heard him coming, and even after he had called out to Sasuke, she could only spot him once he had somehow managed to walk past her.
"You know mother and father strictly forbid you to teach Naori ninjutsu!"
Sasuke grew smaller. "Please don't tell father!"
The girl immediately ran up to him. He was only a few years older than Sasuke and Naori, but already looked much more mature.
"Sasuke didn't teach me anything! I learned this myself. He didn't do anything."
Itachi looked at Sasuke as if to confirm her story. A look at his brother told him that she was speaking the truth. Sasuke was no liar.
"You taught yourself?" he asked, but quickly brushed his surprise away. "You can't do that. Father will be angry, and mother will be sad. No ninjutsu, promise, okay?"
The girl pressed her lips together and looked away, sulking. "But why? I can learn it too. See? I'm just as good as everyone else."
She grabbed another twig to show him, but Itachi quickly took it away.
"Mother and father said no. And you will go home and tell them what you did."
She crossed her arms in front of her. The glances she threw at him made it clear she disagreed.
"Brother Itachi, you promised we would train together today. Can we?" Sasuke carefully asked. He was afraid his brother would be angry with him, and that the promised training was no longer a thing.
"I will take Naori home first. Wait here for me, okay?"
While Sasuke jumped around happily with anticipation, Naori kept pouting.
"I want to train too!" she protested.
Itachi's face grew softer and he put a hand on her head. "Sorry, Naori. Maybe you can make some mochi with mother instead."
The girl's pout grew smaller at the thought of her favourite sweets.
Sasuke ran up to the two. He too wanted his brother to show him some attention.
"So you will come back here right away and we will train?" he asked to make sure Itachi wouldn't just leave with their cousin and have fun somewhere else.
Itachi smiled, and poked the foreheads of both children.
"I will be right back."
"And can you carry me back home? Piggy-back?" The girl asked full of expectation. All former defiance had vanished.
"Are you injured?"
"Well, my little toe does hurt a bit from training," she announced, knowing she needed to give him a reason to carry her. Because healthy people with healthy feet could walk on their own feet, that's what he always told her and Sasuke.
"Then I better carry you," he said, giving the lie a short smile.
Naori happily jumped on Itachi's back.
Sasuke's glance followed them as he watched them leave together.
Suddenly, Itachi stopped. He looked at one of the trees. "Also, it seems like there is someone else who'd like to train with you."
Sakura felt like she was struck by lightning as the older boy's eyes somehow found hers. She had tried hard to make sure no one noticed her watching strangers from behind a tree like a creep.
With lowered shoulders she stepped into the open. A cloud filled with guilt was hanging over her, drizzling down.
Naori looked down at her from atop Itachi's shoulders with curious eyes. But Itachi continued walking. The two left together.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked when he found himself alone with the pink haired girl. "You are friends with Ino Yamanaka, right?"
"You know Ino?" Sakura didn't know why she was surprised. Everyone knew Ino. She was her best friend, yet no one knew Sakura's name.
Sasuke nodded. "Have you signed up for the Academy too? I saw you there earlier. Your hair. It's pretty striking."
She touched it, awfully self-conscious all of a sudden. She could only hope he wouldn't also find her forehead striking.
Sasuke got concerned he had offended her somehow. The girl didn't exactly look happy, so he added, "But I like the colour. It's different; that makes it special. I think it suits you."
Sakura dropped the strain of hair she'd been playing with. Her cheeks and ears became hotter. She almost forgot she still hadn't introduced herself.
"I'm um… Sakura. Sakura Haruno. You are Sasuke Uchiha, right?" She searched for an explanation for why she had watched him while hiding. She didn't want this boy who noticed her and who was so nice to her even when Ino wasn't around to think she was weird. But honesty was all that came to her, so she added, "I saw you were doing jutsu. That's very impressive! I wish I could do that too."
A proud smile found its way on Sasuke's lips and he quickly forgot that just a moment ago, he'd felt slightly bitter that his cousin lit the twig quicker than he did. "I'm always practicing a lot," he proudly proclaimed. "Right now, I'm also waiting for my brother so he can teach me more. I'm afraid I can't talk. I need to practice so when he comes back, I'm prepared."
"Can I watch? I think it's interesting."
Sasuke nodded, and she sat down in the grass close to him. She made sure to be quiet to not disturb him, but one question after another popped up in her head as she watched him try and burn twig after twig.
Eventually, Sakura couldn't hold back anymore. "How do you do that?" she blurted out as another piece of wood slowly started to burn down in a tiny cloud of smoke.
"You have to collect your own chakra first. And then you… transform it. Into fire chakra. It's very hard to do. Even collecting your own chakra is not something anyone can just do. You usually only learn it in your 3rd year at the Academy." Sasuke was clearly bragging, but his words somehow got transformed on the way towards Sakura and reached her ears as a tale full of magic and wonder. She wanted to find chakra in herself too.
"Can I try?" she said, her eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"Collecting chakra? You wouldn't be able to do it. It takes a long time until you can get it right. But my brother said I learned it very quickly. And it even took me a few days."
"Can you just tell me how it works? I can practice at home. Maybe my parents will let me join the Academy if I can learn it."
Sasuke showed her, making sure he sounded wise and mature as he retold the exact steps the way Itachi had explained them to him.
He'd given his cousin the same lecture once, but the way Sakura looked at him made him feel more like an actual teacher, like someone proficient and smart. Her eyes were overflowing with awe and admiration. And additionally, this time he didn't have to worry that his parents would scold him for sharing his knowledge like they always did with Naori.
Sakura kept nodding at his explanations, though it all seemed very abstract to her. Something about "finding your inner energy" and "channelling it into your hands".
"How do I know if I'm doing it right?"
"You just have to feel it. Getting this right is the first step before you can actually mould it." He quickly realised his explanation didn't help Sakura much. "You could also put your hands into still water. If waves form around your hands, you are doing it right. That's the chakra pushing the water away."
They looked around, but there was no water close-by. So Sakura sat down in the grass again and thought about that mysterious energy inside of her. Once she was home, she would try with the water. And if she managed to do it before applications to the Academy closed, she would convince her father, no matter what it took.
The Academy reminded her of something. And she asked, "That girl earlier, is she your sister?"
Sasuke was inspecting more twigs, wondering whether they were too fresh and thus had too much water in them, or why else they wouldn't burn properly. "Kind of," he answered. "My cousin actually."
"Then why doesn't she go to the Academy too?"
He stopped, and turned to Sakura. He shrugged. "My parents say it's too dangerous for a girl to become a shinobi. And that her mother didn't want her to become one because of that."
Sakura's head dropped. Knowing that someone else, an Uchiha of all people, had the same problems as her did not feel as relieving as she'd expected it to feel. Because it didn't change her own situation. And after talking to Sasuke and seeing him train, she wanted this even more than before. "My parents also say becoming a shinobi is too dangerous."
"Not becoming a shinobi is dangerous. Because then, you can't protect yourself or others. My brother says I have to become twice as strong, so I can protect both Naori and myself."
Itachi came back, and a bright smile formed on Sasuke's lips. He told Sakura that he had to go now, and ran towards his brother, filled with enthusiasm.
Sakura looked at her hands. She really needed a bucket with water.
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For once, Naruto was excited to go to bed. Because he was excited about the next day. Longnose had told him that tomorrow, they would visit the Hokage and Naruto's seal would get adjusted. That didn't excite him, but what they would do afterwards. They would enrol him in the Academy. No more private lessons. He would go to school, just like any other child.
So he quickly closed his eyes. The sooner he'd be asleep, the faster he could go to the Academy.
It did not take long until Naruto's consciousness drifted off. His mind fell asleep.
He found himself in a dark space. He couldn't see anything. Except for the woman standing in front of him.
Her long red hair almost seemed to glow. All of her seemed to glow in a red light, her body coated in red energy.
"Naruto."
Her voice was soft.
"You know who I am, don't you?"
And Naruto did remember her. When he was asleep, all those lost memories came back to him. It was like he remembered every single dream he'd ever had. And in almost every single dream, this woman appeared.
"I am your mother."
There was a distance between them. A distance they had never bridged, in none of his dreams.
"I love you, Naruto. But they want to take me away from you. We mustn't let them."
She held out her hand to him.
Naruto looked down. He was standing in water, but it wasn't wet. And it wasn't blue. A yellow liquid engulfed his feet and extended all around him into the darkness like an ocean at night.
"Take my hand."
His mother stood in a different ocean. He could barely see it. It was all too dark. But her water was red, not yellow. And in between where they stood, the colours mixed.
He liked that colour, he thought. Orange.
"Take my hand, Naruto. You don't want me to die, do you?"
Her words sent pictures to his head, whole scenes of his mother. Dying. Impaled by a gigantic claw.
Of course, he didn't want her to die.
But the red ocean was forbidden.
It was almost like his mother could hear his thoughts.
"You don't have to come here. You don't have to touch the red."
Her hand was still waiting for his.
"Just take my hand. Then we can be together."
Naruto bit his lips. Swallowed. "Will you be gone again tomorrow? Will I forget about you once I wake up?"
She smiled, but somehow, Naruto couldn't see her face. He couldn't make out the details. All he saw was the long red hair, waving around her like an ocean itself. And the hand that reached out to him.
"I won't. Not if you take my hand. It will make me real."
Naruto wanted his mother to be real. It was the one thing he had always wished for. The one wish that had been so strong and intimate he kept it a secret. He wanted a mother.
So Naruto took her hand.
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.
The Anbu were sitting on the roof of a building close to Naruto's home. It was located in the outskirts of Konoha. Not a lot of people lived there. The Hokage had chosen the house and had given it to Naruto's caretaker and teacher.
There were three Anbu. Usually they operated in teams of two, but one of them was new, and one of them had to be taught.
The youngest, Kagura, yawned under her mask. She didn't find it enjoyable to just sit on a roof all night long and wait for anything to happen.
The Yamanaka woman stared at the house in which Naruto was sleeping. The Uchiha had been smart enough to bring a book.
A short surge of energy alarmed them.
The Uchiha put his book away. "I'll have a closer look. Probably just bad dreams again."
He left.
"Does this happen often?" Kagura asked. She was still rather bored by her new work. But it was what she'd been assigned to after joining the Anbu.
Komachi was calm when she answered. The surge they had felt was nothing out of the ordinary yet. "Every few nights. The ninetails mostly tries to break out when Naruto is asleep. That's why we have to be especially careful at night. Simply pushing the ninetails chakra back works most of the time though, and Naruto usually doesn't even wake up."
The new Anbu nodded.
There was another surge, stronger this time. Komachi rose.
"Is this normal as well?" Kagura asked, now slightly irritated at how strong the second wave of chakra was. It was nothing she had felt before. And this one stayed, grew even stronger.
"No, it's not," Komachi said, and sprinted towards Naruto's house.
Kagura followed.
They heard screaming when they arrived. Glass broke.
Naruto was still in his room. Red chakra engulfed his body. The Uchiha was on top of him, pressed him down onto the bed. The Sharingan eyes were locked onto Naruto's and it left the boy struggling to move.
The screams came from his teacher next to them. He was burning, his whole body eaten by flames. The floor beneath him was wet from a water jutsu. But the flames were black and would not die.
The man bumped against walls in panic, ignited them as well. He screamed for help. Then threw himself to the floor and rolled in what was left of the water. The black flames only spread further.
Kagura stared at him in shock. She took a step towards the man, wondering if there was any way to save him still.
The Yamanaka woman immediately grabbed her arm. "Don't. Stay away from those flames." Her eyes fell on Naruto, who was still struggling to move, pinned down. "Kagura, you have the seals, right? Do it, seal the ninetails' chakra as long as he is constrained."
Kagura did as her older partner said. She pulled out a paper seal, one that had been prepared especially for these situations. She pressed it onto Naruto's belly and pushed her own chakra into it to activate.
Naruto was now the one screaming, so loud and full of agony as if he was burning himself.
Soon, the room went completely quiet.
The ninetails' chakra was gone. The teacher had stopped moving.
"Take him," Komachi said to the Uchiha. "We need to leave."
"What about the flames?" Kagura asked. They were slowly eating away at the house and the now motionless body, spreading farther and farther.
"We can't extinguish those." Her eyes stayed on her Uchiha partner. "It's the Amaterasu."
.
.
.
Naruto's seal was reinforced that very night. The ninetails completely locked away. No drop of its chakra would mix with Naruto's anymore. But the damage had been done. A second Jounin dead, a house eaten by eternal black flames. The news spread fast.
The Hokage's office filled with clan heads the next day. All of them were upset. Furious. All of them were talking over one another.
"A danger." "Unacceptable." "No way he will go to the Academy with my daughter." "The Uchiha's role?" "Lock him away." "Lock the Uchiha away." "The second time the Amaterasu was used." "The Uchiha's secret jutsu." "Treason."
The Hokage assured them that the ninetails was no threat anymore.
The Uchiha clan head reassured them that no Uchiha had ever used Amaterasu against the village.
Neither was heard.
.
.
.
A/N:
Hello again!
I just want to give a few more infos on where this story is going. For now, the same direction as canon. It'll be "team-7-centric", so similarly to the anime, will focus on all the members of team 7 and the world around them, no one in particular. Naruto is not the only main character and he won't be the one to talk away every problem.
There are quite a few OCs. Most of them are no MCs, except for an additional team 7 member. I wanted to extend on the Naruto world a bit and thought stuff like "Naruto having Anbu guards" made sense, after all, he is a Jinchuuriki.
For this fic, I want some more character development, team bonding, a story that hopefully makes sense, tailed beasts that are an actual threat, a better final villain than alien lady Kaguya, and much more. For more info on the AU, feel free to visit my profile or send me a message/leave a comment, I don't want to write an essay in the author notes.
Also, short note: Naori is NOT the Naori Uchiha from the Anime filler. She's 100% an OC and not based on any character from the manga/anime. I decided on the name Naori and only realised later that there already was a Naori Uchiha :( Unfortunate coincidence.
!: This fic has been updated/rewritten. If there are any inconsistencies or weird things you notice, please let me know. I'd be lying to say I didn't get confused by the bazillion documents with different versions of chapters.