Previously, the Elemental Nations have found peace with the death of Madara and his plans. Naruto has returned a hero but is dying. In present day we find Naruto miles away from Konoha and about to strike a deal that'll change his life. Naruto is currently 21.
Book 1: The Rise of Naruto. Chapter 1: A Deal is Struck.
Opening his eyes, Naruto found himself inside of a place he had recently become familiar with. Sitting up in the dark, flooded room, he looked around.
He was in his mindscape. He noticed the pipes and conduits that ran along the walls of the dark and flooded room. Then he noticed the most important part of the room. The huge metal bars of a cage stood in front of his prone form.
From deep within the recesses of the dark cage, beyond the bars, he heard a deep menacing voice call out to him.
"Naruto it's time", the voice said to him. No sooner than it had spoken, the creature that the voice belonged to slowly became visible to Naruto, if only partially.
Before him now stood the giant form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Nine-Tailed fox.
Naruto was about to speak, but then the demon spoke before he could.
"Naruto, what is your choice?" it asked. "The time has come, and we can delay no longer, you are going to die soon if you don't accept the deal I offered to you", it said as it's gaze shifted downwards to look upon the boy with it's eyes that seemed to emit hatred, even though Naruto knew that it didn't mean to do so.
Naruto thought back to the time when the Kyuubi had told him about his fate, and then about the deal and how it could save his life.
(Flashback Start)
"Naruto, you are dying and there is nothing I can do. Your injuries from your fight with Madara and Sasuke had prolonged after effects that I can not heal." The demon said.
Naruto just stared at the Kyuubi with a blank look on his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. All of his life he never had to worry about injuries because Kyuubi had always been there to heal him. To hear that for the first time in his life, Kyuubi couldn't help him was something he never could have imagined.
"So if you can't help me, then no one can right?" Naruto asked in a depressed tone. "So I'm just going to die? Is that what you're telling me?" he asked with an upset look on his face. "After all I've been through, all the fights I've won, and all the training I've done, that I'm going to die because of some injury!", he almost yelled.
"Naruto calm down! What happened to your 'I can beat anything' attitude? You can't just give up, you have to fight this!" the Kyuubi spoke to him in a way that it hoped would 'rally' Naruto and his determination to live.
I understand what he is saying, and why he is so upset, but that is no reason to give up. He needs to keep trying, and never abandon his determination to never give in, or else this will never work, the Kyuubi thought to herself.
"Hai Kyuubi, you're right. Gomen, but this is just a lot, and to hear that I'm dying… Gomen…But Kyuubi are you sure there isn't something you can do?" he asked her with a desperate and pleading look in his eyes.
For a moment, the demon seemed to stare into the tantalizing blue eyes of its container.
There is no other way… I have to tell him. She thought to herself.
"Hai Naruto. But in this situation, I will make a deal with you. There are two options, one of which I'm sure you will dislike. Neither of them is painless, but if you refuse the deal I will offer you, the only other option would be death…" She spoke in a powerful, yet soft voice.
She realized how hard this was going to be for the boy, so she felt bad for the poor young man in front of her.
"I will not back down!" he yelled.
"Ok Naruto. Here is the first choice." The Kyuubi said as she got ready to explain the details to him. "You will need to tear off the seal on the cage, which will release me back into the real world. When you do this, I'll be able to initiate the change your body will undergo to transform into that of a Hanyou. This will be done by me infusing my fangs with my own chakra and then biting you which will cause my chakra to rush into your body, and your body will take on some of the physical characteristics of the creature the chakra is from, which in this case is me." While she was saying all of this she noticed that Naruto maintained a stoic, and emotionless face which surprised her.
Before she could continue, Naruto quickly asked, "And what kinds of characteristics will I gain?"
Not surprised by his quickness to question her on this detail since she herself had already spent some time thinking about it, she replied, "I'm not exactly sure, but I think you will gain 9 fox tails, your normal ears will be replaced by fox ears, your eyes, or pupils to be more precise will most likely take on the slit characteristic of a foxes. Also, your teeth will become pointed and sharp, your whiskers will become darker, and more pronounced, and then I can't say exactly what will become of your already existing body features."She said as though it were a never ending list.
Meanwhile, Naruto couldn't help but be amazed by all of the things she had just said.
I don't know, what will the rest of the world think? They already dislike the fact that I have the Kyuubi inside of me. Not to mention they have mostly gotten over that already… but now this? I can't do this, not if it will make it where everyone hates me- He was thinking to himself when Kyuubi suddenly spoke again, as if she knew exactly what was on his mind.
"These may seem bad, but I do know some ways that you could conceal your features, and look like your old self temporarily", she said to him.
Naruto looked at her to make sure she was telling the truth, but found that she was being honest.
"We can talk about the details more when the time comes, but for now you need to know your options."She said while trying to keep him from dwelling on the possible outcomes.
"So, after you become a Hanyou, you will no longer be affected by the internal injuries you received from your fight. Also, when you remove the seal, I will be set free…."She said and paused at this when she noticed Naruto's look of concern.
"I can't do that!" he yelled. "What am I supposed to do, let a giant fox appear in the middle of nowhere!" he said to Kyuubi with the tone that would suggest he had doubt with her sanity at the moment.
"Naruto, I would never do anything to harm you or your precious people, so relax. Over the past years as I have watched you develop, and have started to respect you. And, I will not come out in my fox form. I will be in my human form, but that isn't important right now. What is important is that I tell you how the seal that your father made works."She said to him.
"The seal is designed so as you get older, our chakra slowly fuses, granting you control of all of it when it is finally complete. This would make you extremely powerful. But an option was placed where if you were to remove the seal in your final minutes, it would give you complete control of the chakra, release me, and allow me to turn you into a Hanyou in the way I stated before.", she said as she spoke in a monotone voice.
Naruto silently contemplated the words of the demon.
Noticing his look, but thinking nothing of it, Kyuubi continued to speak.
"The second option is that you do not remove the seal, preventing me from being released, and therefore preventing me from changing you into a Hanyou, which in the end will result in your death." She said in a voice that got quieter as she spoke.
To be honest, she didn't know what Naruto would pick.
I hope he trusts me enough to do this… she thought to herself nervously.
Naruto remained silent through all of this. She could tell that he was having trouble deciding so suddenly on such a large decision.
"Naruto, you don't need to choose now, you still have a whole year before the time comes when you have to make a decision." She said quickly.
Naruto looked back up to the giant fox. "Ok then. I need that time to think about it…" he said to her.
"Ok, that's fine" she said to him.
He was about to leave when she called out to him. "Naruto, if it means anything to you, I'm sorry about everything that has happened to you especially the things caused by my presence inside of you."As she said this, her voice became quieter and quieter.
Naruto had stopped moving. When she stopped talking, he turned his head slightly in her direction. "It's ok Kyuubi-chan." He said to her.
When she heard him say this, her eyes widened slightly.
"Arigato Naruto-kun. And my real name is Natsume." She said to him, nervous since this was the first time she had ever told someone her real name in the past 500 years.
He turned around to look at her again. "No problem Natsume-chan. And arigato for telling me your real name." He said to her while smiling. "I think that's nice of you, and thanks for apologizing. But, it's ok. I don't hold any ill-will towards you because of it. It's not your fault. Well goodbye Natsume-chan" He said to her in a cheerful voice as he slowly faded away.
"Goodbye Naruto-kun."She said to his half visible form.
And with that, Naruto disappeared completely from sight.
Since then, Kyuubi had managed to form a mental link between the two of them, thus making it possible for them to communicate with each other when Naruto was in the real world.
Through this, Kyuubi felt they had definitely developed a stronger connection. They loosely fit into the category of 'best friends'. And both Naruto and Kyuubi were happy with this. Neither of them dwelling much on any kind of future they might have together, but Naruto did often times wonder about what Kyuubi would look like since she mentioned her human form.
(Flashback End)
So now, Naruto was sitting in front of the Kyuubi no Kitsune with the decision that would determine his future.
Naruto really had thought about and pondered on the subject of his choice for the majority of the year. He couldn't help it. The choice between releasing a demon into the world or dying was very difficult to make.
Naruto thought back to one of the many times Kyuubi had saved his life. This was one of the more prominent memories because it had occurred in his year-long period of time to think about his decision. An Iwa ninja had ambushed him on his way to a river for food and water, and the fight had not gone well.
(Flashback Start)
Naruto inhaled deeply, the crisp scent of the forest wafting through his nostrils and sending a pleasant chill down his spine. He briskly walked through the brightly lit forest. He didn't know where he was, all he knew was that he was far away from the Leaf Village.
He thought about the village a little, and about leaving it. He had left because he was unsure what was going to happen to him. He was planning on gong through whatever it was, and then returning once it was all over. So now he strolled through the forest, entranced by the peace and quiet of it all.
He whistled an off key tune, unaware of the presence lurking within the tree tops. The figure stalked the blond, watching as he quietly wandered through the brush. His eyes narrowed in disgust of this boy's cheerful demeanor and decided that now was a good time to attack.
Naruto kicked a pebble along the trail, starting to become bored. He was just not the kind of person to stay quiet, nor walk alone in a deserted forest. He was a people person, he liked attention. And there definitely no attention he-
Three kunai stabbed into the tree ahead of him. Shocked and confused, he turned as more kunai came straight for him. He jumped and rolled, dodging the knives and landing on his feet with his own kunai out in defense.
"Who's there?" He barked, knees bent and elbows out. The standard stance for any Shinobi using kunai.
Above the tree line came out a man, dressed in Iwa Nin clothing. He glared four shuriken already ready in his fist.
"Prepare to die you infernal brat!" The Iwa Nin bellowed, raising his arm and throwing the shuriken directly at the blond.
Naruto parried quickly, each star clanging against his knife and dripping to the ground lazily. He watched as his opponent charged forward, running through hand seals and chanting something under his breath.
Suddenly, the earth below Naruto's feet erupted into cracks and six stone pillars rose up high into the air, caging Naruto inside the prison and leaving too small of openings for his escape. His body pressed in on itself and he felt the panic of being closed in this small space.
"Dammit!" He cursed, struggling to shimmy his way out of the hold.
The Iwa Nin hopped on top of the pillars, looking down at Naruto from above through the fist sized hole at the very top. He sneered and then grinned as he then preformed another set of hand signs.
He inhaled wide and large, his cheeks puffing out, and then release a strong stream of fire down into the confined space of the stone prison.
Naruto's body was engulfed with flames, and the rock ninja watched gleefully as the blond teenager was burnt to a crisp.
The Nin jumped back, marveling at his quick work of the so called 'Konoha Hero'. He grinned, a small trail of smoke puffing high into the air as the pillars stood with charred marks along the inside of them. He gave a second to pride himself on his handy work and turned to high tail it out of there before being caught.
"Not so fast!" Naruto appeared from the trees, two kunai in hand and a set of shuriken in the other. He landed on top of the man, stomping down with all his weight to knock him off his feet and onto the ground.
"Bastard! How!" The Nin growled, pushing up and lunging at Naruto with a fist.
Naruto dodged by jumping back a few feet. He glared and threw his shuriken stars at the man, watching as two sliced open his left shoulder and the other missing. The man snarled in pain and jumped to his feet to attack.
"Replacement Jutsu, duh." The teen grinned as he blocked the punch and sent his own kick into the man's abdomen. He doubled over and fell to his knees, leaving a wide opening for Naruto to uppercut his chin and send him tumbling backwards in a flip.
The Iwa Nin growled again, anger bubbling inside of him. He stood, a bit off balance, and put up his hands to perform yet another Jutsu to try and disable this stronger than expected Shinobi. But Naruto was quick to stop the technique from happening, charging and smashing a right hook into the man's chest, knocking the wind out of him and knocking him back onto his rear.
Naruto followed the punch with a kick, rocking the man's brain back and forth within his skull and popping his lip wide open. Blood filled his mouth and he felt unconsciousness start to blacken his vision.
The man knew he couldn't be caught. If he was knocked out he would be taken as a prisoner, and then be interrogated. He couldn't do it, he'd break for sure. He was never trained to hold his tongue like other nin, so he decided to place his last resort.
Naruto felt the man shift suddenly, and then was somehow knocked back by a strong force. He was hit in the gut, sent back hard against a tree. He quickly overcame the delirium and looked back at his attacker.
The man now stood panting, the sudden burst of adrenaline having rushed so fast through his veins that it took more out of him than doing a hundred push-ups. He gritted his teeth and smirked, his teeth coated in blood, and pulled open his vest to reveal explosive tags.
Naruto's eyes widened. There were enough tags to take out at least half a mile!
The man gave a howl as he ignited the tags with his own chakra and descended into darkness as they all exploded, obliterating his body into ash.
Naruto's instincts took over and before he was hit: he spun and circled the tree he had hit to use it as cover. The blast though was strong, so the tree gave way and splintered into a million pieces, stabbing into Naruto right before the explosion smacked into him and all he saw was white.
(Mindscape)
He didn't remember much, just a big flash after seeing the exploding tags, seering pain in his chest, and then nothing. He looked around, trying to discern where he was from his surroundings.
Hmmmm…. Cold, wet and gloomy room, flooded floor, giant cage… Must be in my mind again. He thought to himself.
He went to get up, but found himself unable to due to a large weight that seemed to cover his whole body from the neck down.
What the hell- he thought to himself but stopped after he saw what was happening.
Covering his body were nine red tails of energy. He couldn't see any part of his body. He started to panic.
Sensing that he was awake and alert, Natsume walked over to the edge of her cage. She noticed him struggling. "Naruto don't struggle, I'm sorry, but something has happened" she said in a solemn tone.
Naruto didn't like the way she said that, it almost seemed to frighten him. Wondering why, he asked, "Whats wrong? Why am I here and why am I covered with your tails?" he asked in a questioning manner.
"Naruto, do you really not remember? The fight and the explosion?" she asked.
Thinking back to it he realized what she meant. The faint memories of a flash, the tree shattering, his chest searing, and then nothing… I must have looked like a pin cushion after that. I felt the splinters, judging from that pain, I would say I should be dead, but I'm not…
Natsume noticed the contemplation look, and decided to enlighten him.
"Naruto, you were hit by that blast. The tree shattered and you were pierced a number of times that I'd rather not count. And as for the tails, they are all that is keeping you alive. You missed the worst part, where you almost bleed out, but now I need to put your body back together… The only problem is, it will be extremely painful since I'm going to have to force so much chakra into you." She said to him with a serious tone that let him know that there was no joking around.
"Alright, but what do I need to do?" he asked stupidly.
"Survive" was the only thing he heard before Natsume disappeared in a flash of red, and the chakra tails on his body flared super bright red as he screamed before he almost immediately fell into a white darkness.
(Some time later)
All was quiet and still. Nothing moved. Nothing lived.
Darkness…
Yet from within this darkness flashes a golden color.
Nothing lives…
Yet one thing moves…
In a crater half a mile deep, and a mile wide.
Within the center, a lone figure lays…
That figure is known as Naruto.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes, but immediately shut them again as the sun nearly blinded him. Flashbacks of the previous events alerted him to the current situation.
"Naruto, are you feeling okay" he heard the now familiar voice of Natsume call out to him.
His eyes opened again as he sat up to scan his surroundings. He knew he wasn't in his mind, and that he shouldn't be able to hear her if that was true.
"Where are you" he questioned aloud.
"Naruto calm down, I'm still inside of you." She said reassuringly hoping to calm the boy. The truth was that she didn't know how he would react to the possibility of her being outside.
"Why can I hear you then?" he said, seemingly talking to himself.
"When I pushed all the chakra into your body to heal you, I forged a mental link between us so we can freely talk no matter where we are. It connects our chakra and souls together." She answered.
Oh, that's interesting he thought as he started to stand up.
He looked around and surveyed the damage done by the blast. Nothing… Nothing except dirt surrounded him. He was at the center of a huge crater.
The sheer size of the crater made him realize how lucky he was to be alive…and how lucky he was to have Natsume.
"Natsume…" he said in an unsure way.
"Yes Naruto?" she answered, waiting to hear what he was going to say.
"Thanks… Thank you for saving me. I don't understand how you can be a demon, and still be so nice, but thank you. I don't know what I would do without you." He said in a thankful way.
Natsume was surprised, and very excited that he had said that. She took those words of thanks as compliments.
Maybe, just maybe… I have a chance… She thought to herself.
"You're welcome Naruto-kun." She said to him teasingly.
He blushed a little in embarrassment. He wasn't good with the whole mushy thank you things.
Neither of them realized that this was the start of something that would change their lives.
(Flashback End)
So, as he was sitting in front of Kyuubi, Naruto thought back to everything he had accomplished throughout his life. Growing up being hated, then gaining friends, and fighting battles that no other person would dare think to have. He thought about all the people he loved, and all those he left behind to protect them.
The worst part was, he wasn't protecting them from others, but for the first time he was protecting them from himself. He was scared about what would happen.
Then, he thought about someone whom, 2 years prior, he wouldn't think twice about. He thought about Kyuubi. Over the course of his life, Kyuubi had never done anything to make him loose trust. Sure, she tried to take over him a couple of times, but if he was trapped in someone for that longed, Naruto knew he might be tempted to do the same.
The last year had gone well. Naruto had bonded a lot with Kyuubi, even though neither would ever admit it because it seemed embarrassing to say or think. Bond with a demon/boy? Neither thought about that much, but now at the point in time where the relationship between the two of them would decide both of their fates they were forced to think about it.
I never would have trusted her before… hell, I didn't even know it was a her… Naruto thought to himself. I guess I only have myself to blame for that though… I never took the time to get to know her.
Naruto didn't know what to do. Kyuubi had earned the trust of the young boy, whether she knew it or not. It was just a big burden to be the one whose choice could possibly result in the deaths of so many people.
Seeing the boy struggling to decide, Natsume decided to act.
"Naruto, I swear I will not harm anyone if you were to choose to release me." She said to him in a voice that was as kind as the demon could manage in her current form.
"…And since I'm a demon, I can't go back on my word according to the laws of demons." She explained.
"You see, unlike in the human world, where you can't believe all the promises made, in the demon world, laws were made so that if we were to ever swear on something, that we would either have to go through with it, or be destroyed. I say destroyed because we don't die. We are removed from existence completely." She said to him in a slightly more serious tone.
"Wow, I never knew demons had rules too", he said a little amazed.
"Well, what did you think?", she asked him incredulously.
"Well, I kinda thought that you just… you know-" he said as he stumbled over his own words while trying to not upset the demon.
"That we just destroyed, and did whatever we wanted to"? she asked him, or more like stated because she already knew it was exactly what he was thinking.
"uhh kinda, yeah." He said ashamedly.
"Don't worry Naruto, that's not how it works, and I'll tell you how it does some other time because it's very hard to explain, and if you didn't notice, we are on a deadline." She said to him to try to get him back on track.
Naruto just sat there and stared at her in disbelief. Natsume noticed this and began to be a little nervous.
"What? Was it something I said?" she asked him.
"Yeah, that wasn't funny at all…" he said to her.
"What, all I said was that we are on a deadline- o shit…" she said as she realized what he meant.
He was about to die and she just said they were on a deadline. That was a great way to get him to unseal her, make jokes about his approaching death.
Her eyes widened in shock. "Naruto, no I didn't mean it! I was just saying that-" she said rapidly to try to explain her mistake.
"Yeah I know, I'm just messing with you jeez." He said jokingly.
This infuriated her. But she let it slide. No one needed to be mad at anyone else. Especially at a time like this.
"Naruto, I don't mean to pressure you, but you're running out of time. You need to make your decision NOW." She said as she put emphasis on the word 'now'.
She was slowly monitoring his body through chakra connections she made for healing, and she began to notice that like a machine, his body was slowing down. He wouldn't notice for a while though since they were in his mind, which was the last thing that would go if he died.
Naruto picked up the undertone, and acknowledged the fact that he was going to die soon.
Can't say I didn't try, and… I don't want to be without her, so what the hell… I'll do it. He thought to himself.
The truth was that Naruto now saw Natsume as an important figure in his life. He began to trust her, and he didn't want to be without her. Whether she meant any more to him than just a friend, he didn't bother thinking about because now was not the time for those thoughts.
"I'll do it…" he half whispered.
Natsume thought that she had heard him say something, but she wasn't sure.
"What was that?" she asked him.
He looked up at her, only then realizing he had whispered his answer to the floor.
"I said I'll do it" he said with much confidence, and his bright blue eyes glowing with energy.
Natsume was surprised by this. She hadn't thought he would actually agree to it.
She thought he would go down like a hero, a hero that everyone that knew him now thought that he was.
Deciding not to waste any time, since there was none left, Natsume told him what to do.
"Naruto, just remove the seal, and I will take care of the rest" she said to him as she went through a few preparations.
"Oh, and Naruto… This may hurt." She said to him.
Well, here goes nothin… he thought to himself before he leapt up to the middle of the cage. He grabbed onto the upper right corner of the seal, and in a quick sweeping motion, he tore it off.
As the last bit of the seal left the wall, all hell broke loose. In less then a fraction of a second, Naruto was burned, blinded, and… strangely enough, bitten. He never saw what happened, just a bright flash, a burning sensation, a pain in his neck, and then nothing.
(Real World)
While all of this was happening, back in the real world, a huge explosion of demonic chakra shot into the sky. The explosion had not gone unnoticed. You could feel the chakra miles away.
(Far off somewhere unknown)
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
A shiny metallic door slid open soundlessly as a figure shrouded in darkness entered.
"Report, what happened?" the figure demanded to the rest of the creatures in the room whom were all smaller.
"Sir, A spike in energy has been detected at coordinates H-79/36." The smaller figure spoke quickly. "Cross references against signatures in the database has confirmed the ID of the source. The demoness Kyuubi no Kitsune." He told the larger figure, which was now standing next to him and looking at the display that was showing all of the information.
"At last, we have found her… Call a meeting of the council. We must take action before we lose her. Find out what she is up too." The figure said aloud in the room.
The rest of the figures in the room just sat still, not doing anything.
"Well what are you waiting for? Get moving!" the large figure commanded. And with that, the room burst into a flurry of activity as commands were given, information traded, and creatures went to perform their given tasks.