Authorial notes.
I do not own Naruto or anything linked to it. If I did, Sakura wouldn't be so screechy.
This story is inspired by the Bloodline Challenge. I had been considering a werewolf Naruto, but there are already several good ones out there, and I cannot match them. So I went another route... sort of.
This is an Naruto Alternate Universe. I've tried not to conflict with canon backstory, but the divergence occurs well before Naruto gets his own place to stay. If you don't like AU stories, why the heck are you even reading this? No, really. Why?
I always thought the presence of the giant tigers in the Forest of Death should have been explored better. This is my take on them, let's see how many others follow in these... um... tracks (pun not intended, honest)
This story was started before Kitsune's Power (id s/8649007/1/Kitsune-s-Power ), but I hit a writers block after the first two chapters. Unwilling to drop the whole tiger-idea, I integrated it into Kitsune's Power, but this is where it came from.
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Prologue
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Facing a trained user of a Kekkai Genkai, or Blood Limit, is one of the greatest challenges any shinobi will ever face. If one faces a Kekkai Genkai, great care must be taken whilst identifying and countering it.
The most well-known are the Dojutsu, or eye-based Kekkai Genkai. The Byakugan, Sharingan and the semi-mythical Rin'negan are all types of Doujutsu, although there are other Doujutsus known to exist.
Elemental Kekkai Genkai are also fairly well known, the Mokuton, which allows for the control of wood, was instrumental in the creation of the Village hidden in the Leaves. Other elemental Kekkai Genkai noted include the Hyouton (ice) and the still-unnamed crystal jutsu.
The third branch of Kekkai Genkai are the body-morph types. The Kyagun Clan are well-known for their Bone-pulse bloodline which lets them reconfigure their skeletal structure into shielding, weapons and other things. Other known physical Kekkai Genkai include self-healing and limb elongation.
There are certain Kekkai Genkai that do not fall into these categories. The Hatake clan were renowned for an unusual type of white chakra which allowed them to use less for a greater result. The Uzumaki clan (now virtually extinct) had chakra levels so high that they could externalise it in the form of chains or even swords comprised of pure chakra.
Whenever two bloodlines are mixed, the child generally only gains one Kekkai Genkai, assuming that the Kekkai Genkai are not of the same type. If they are, the end result is that the child usually gains neither. On rare occasions, however, two Gekkai Genkai can merge to form a new one which may or may not seem similar to the originals. However, some Kekkai Genkai follow different rules. These "recessive" Kekkai Genkai do not interact with others but only rarely surface in the clans they are found in. It is not unknown for one of these to appear apparently out of nowhere, having skipped several generations before activating while others are present in every generation, but require initialisation by an external agency...
{[Extract from A Guide to Kekkai Genkai for Bakas, Konoha Shinobi library]}
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The small, blond-haired rag-clad boy fled through the twisting alleys away from the angry mob seeking him. He had once again been locked out of the orphanage where he was meant to live and although that normally mean that he simply scrounged some food from bins and found a small corner to curl up in, this night was different for a reason that made no sense.
It was like his birthday.
On his birthday, which co-incided with the defeat of the Kyuubi by the sacrifice of the Yondaime Hokage, the boy found himself targeted by the mob and beaten almost to death.
Yet today wasn't his birthday.
Fleeing from the thrown stones and glittering knives, the boy kept running, afraid to stop, unable to understand what he had done to cause such hatred, unable to learn that this time, it was because a couple of drunks had spotted him, and the whole thing had snowballed unexpectedly.
"Ooof!"
The boy cannoned into the figure that had dropped down from the wall, knocking it over and causing it to drop the bag it was holding. The bag opened and a young bound and gagged girl rolled out, eyes wide in panic.
"You little brat!"
The boy dodged the knife-slash and leapt backwards as the man tried to kill him. Pounding feet sounded and the man snarled as an angry group of robed adults appeared.
"Hold it right there!"
Panicking, the boy fled, ignoring the cut on his arm and the shouts for him to stop. Fleeing randomly from the angry man, he soon found himself at a damaged gate, on the far side of which was a veritable wall of plants. Carefully squrming through it, he slipped through and moved into the forest looking for a place to hide. Within moments, he was hopelessly lost and then he froze as a pair of eyes opened up in front of him. Fora moment that seemed to stretch out into a year, the boys blue eyes were transfixed on the golden slit-pupiled eyes staring back at him, and then the eyes moved, revealing the shape they were part of. The giant tiger prowled forwards and stopped just in front of the boy.
"Are... are you a friend? I'm... Naruto..."
The tiger sniffed at the boy, then its head snapped forwards, grabbing him by the back of the tattered jacket. Picking him up, the tiger turned and vanished tracelessly into the area known to the Konoha shinobi as the Forest of Death.