I don't own Naruto or any of the characters or situations associated with it.
The basic idea for this story has been culled from the abandoned story Legacy Of The Aburame (id 7148159) by VizeerLord. I decided to run with it in a slightly different direction… (evil laugh)
Unfortunately, I reached a certain point, and my muse abandoned me. As such, I'm putting the complete chapters up for adoption.
Enjoy.
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Prologue
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The darkening evening was cold and quiet as the five-year-old boy crept down the long road. Long-dried tracks showed that tears had flowed down his dirty cheeks, but the time for crying had long since passed and the boy moved onwards, looking round for a place to spend what remained of the night.
The paved road gave way to a dirt track and through the bushes that lined it, the boy saw a shed. Although it was old, rickety and dilapidated, its walls riddled with cracks and holes while the window had long-since lost any glass it had, it was still shelter, far from those who had thrown him out of the orphanage with fists and curses, and the tired blond made his way to it, fighting through the undergrowth until he reached the door and the remains of a Kanji on it that he could not read. Opening it, he stepped through and, ignoring the dust and webs that festooned the interior, he lay down on the floor, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep.
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The smallest decision can change the entire path of the future. A single scrap of knowledge, properly applied, can change the world, as can the lack of knowledge if it occurs at exactly the wrong time and place.
In this case, the lack of knowledge that the boy suffered from, in addition to having not been taught even the basics of reading, was that the shed was where one of the Aburame Clan's most deadly experiments had been housed.
Being bug-users who housed their hives inside their own bodies, sustaining and controlling the insects with chakra, the Aburame focused on the use of their symbiotic insects to such a degree that they had little time (or chakra) available for much of the normal ninja skill-set. Not for the Aburame the flinging around of elemental jutsu, no fireballs, no water dragons or earthquakes. Instead, the Aburame used the advanced senses and chakra-draining capabilities of their insects along with poison to take down their enemies. Since emotions could reduce the control they had over their Kikkai bugs, and in extreme cases turn them against the one housing them, the Aburame practiced logic and self-control to a degree that surpassed even the Hyuuga clan.
Their reliance on insects, however, had some notable disadvantages. The Aburame were vulnerable to fire jutsus, as well as water attacks. While their Kikkai were their greatest strength, they were also their greatest weakness. An Aburame with less than a third of his Hive was an Aburame who would lose to any genin who knew what they were doing.
Hence the Death Bite Beetle project.
The idea was simplicity itself. Carefully introduce traits from other bugs into the baseline Kikkai, not concentrating on anything other than getting the resulting insects to be as powerful as possible.
The results were an excellent example of something that had gone horribly right. They were too deadly.
Of the nine colonies created, four were used in the Aburame Bonding Rites. In each case, the Aburame died, not having even a tithe of the chakra required to support a single colony of the Death Bite Beetles. One colony was placed into stasis and put into storage for future experimentation while another colony was destroyed as the Queen tried to escape. The final trio of colonies were carefully transferred to a distant shed on the far side of the Aburame compound and left to fade away naturally since the destruction of the rogue colony had cost another three Aburame, and no-one wished to sacrifice more ninja. To ensure that no-one fell victim to the threat that the colonies represented, the hut was painted with a series of warnings, so that everyone who saw them would know that death lurked inside, held until it finally died by the hundreds of specialized seals arrayed around it, seals designed to affect the Death Bite Beetles and only the Death Bite Beetles.
No-one had thought about what would happen if someone who couldn't read found the shed.
A single error that changed the path of the world.
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An observer to the scene would have witnessed the young boy curled up, fast asleep, in the middle of the shed. A truly astute observer would have seen the half-dozen bugs that landed on the boy, then flew off to three separate corners. The same observer would probably have seen several other bugs move from one corner to another, almost like messengers.
It would have taken an observer who was blind and deaf not to notice when the three bug-infested corners burst into life, the boxes almost exploding open as they disgorged a veritable wave of bugs that swept over the sleeping boy, covering him like a blanket and starting to wrap him in silk. Within an hour, all the bugs had vanished, leaving only a cocoon resting in the middle of the hut
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"Where am I?"
The boy looked round in confusion at the surrounding walls. Although it seemed to be a large, dark hallway with a shallow layer of water on the floor, the bricks that made the walls were… changing. Even as he watched, the line of change moved slightly, the bricks that were caught in it bulging as they changed from solid rectangles to hexagons, some of which had holes in them.
Curiosity winning out, the boy followed the line of change as it progressed deeper down the tunnel, then he stopped as a set of bars appeared in front of him, a set of bars with a pair of red glowing eyes staring back at him.
"So, my jailor finally deigns to visit me."
The boy tilted his head curiously as the being behind the bars moved forwards, coming into the light. Blood-red fur glistened as nine tails lashed at the walls behind it.
"Who are you?"
"My name is not for one as insignificant as yourself, but you can call me the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or you can call me your death!" the foxlike being snarled.
"We are the Hive." Another voice buzzed and both the boy and the Bijuu jolted in shock, looking round frantically. "If you wish to harm our Host, you will face us."
"Host?"
"You are our Host. We shall protect and serve you as it is you that now sustains us."
The boy stared at the small glow of light that hovered before him. "Serve?"
"We are the three who are one, three Colonies now merged. Our abilities are yours to command."
"This is all very well and good," Kyuubi snarled, "But what abilities do you have, little bugs? How can you compare to me? How do you think you can stand against one such as myself?"
"Our abilities are many." Came the emotionless reply. "As we are three into one, our abilities are still being integrated since each Colony had its own speciality. The first Colony is Link. All the Kikkai are linked, what one sees, hears, smells, feels or tastes is known at once by all. The second Colony is Change, any form of Chakra can be changed into any other form. The Chakra from the one known as Kyuubi helps to sustain us through this, your Chakra of Air can be changed to Chakra of Fire, of Lightning, of Water, of Earth, of Bijuu or of Healing should you wish. The third Colony is Shape, the Chakra you wish to use can be shaped without need for signs or speech.
"All the Colonies can provide enhanced senses, the ability to produce silk, deadly or paralytic poisons and the ability to create acids that can destroy wood and can damage metal. We believe that within twelve generations of workers, we will have combined all the abilities into one. By your terms, it shall be about four seasons."
A huge gasp echoed and the boy turned back to the trapped Bijuu.
"This is… incredible! So much power, so much potential! Yes, with the Hive, you will indeed become a truly worthy container for me… the first container I can be proud of."
"I… don't get it." The boy admitted.
"As you get older, you will." Kyuubi said almost reverently. "You may call upon my Youki through your new Hive as you need it, and I give you my name. I am Kurama."
"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." Came the reply. "Pleased to meetcha."
"You will wake soon and will need to eat. The Hive will help you to hunt that you may gain the nutrients we need."
"Thank you."