Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any reference to any other thing owned by someone else.

Claimer: The OCs are mine. If any are sue-ish, well…they're still my sues.

Warning #1: Characters may sometimes be OOC. You have been warned.

To The Forgotten Hero: Just think of the last chapter as a prologue or something, lack of detail, yeah I know. You really got me again with your review. I really don't know if I want to kiss you, kill you, thank you, or all three.

To Anonymous Reviewer named "Z": I don't know what to say to you.


Lost

Chapter 20

Previously on Lost...

At the end of the day, all members of the Rosuto contingent made found themselves in Juushu's apartment having dinner, and sharing it with a few guests. The only people that weren't there were Mikio, Jiraiya, Kiyomi, Ikkaku, Chang'e, and Tsuneo.

,

,

While Yoshino was finishing her preparation of dinner, Shikaku wanted to know more about the past of his wife that until Tsuneo walked through the door he didn't know about. Temari was also just as curious about the life of the Nara head's wife.

"Why so curious about a past that she has not yet had the time to tell?" Tsuneo asked.

"It just never really occurred to me to ask her about her childhood..now that I think about it I really don't know all that much about my wife's life from before I met her" Shikaku admitted.

"Very well, its not so long a tale, there's is nothing all that special about it, but just to make you aware, those shadows you Nara pride yourselves in being able to control are not as under your command as you would like," around Tsuneo, in view of Shikaku and Temari, the shadow were moving on their own, some of which were detaching themselves from the surfaces that they were crawling on, these ones flew towards each other to form something that looked like a mirror, the clear part being made out of a lighter shade of shadow.

"View her mysterious past through this mirror of shadows and smoke," Tsuneo waved his had toward the mirror, "It is known throughout that Rosuto no Kuni is a land that lets none enter and none leave, but that is far from the truth, there are those that are allowed to come and go, and some that are forced to come and go."

The image in the mirror changed from being the reflected visages of the viewers to images of people going about their business, some vanishing into shadows, some into light, there were some that merely walked into a dark forest, and some that just flickered out of sight. None of the people that were shown in the mirror remotely resembled the specific Nara who in past had entered Rosuto no Kuni that the viewers wanted to know about.

The images swirled, shifted and changed, finally images of a small family was shown running through a forest. This family were the only people left in the mirror.

"You two might be wondering as to when this was," Tsuneo said referring to the event being shown in the mirror, "The family you are seeing is a family of one of the lost branches of the Nara clan itself, I say lost since it is a family that in the Nara clan history is written of as lost, lost forever to the sands of time."

"Uhm.." Shikaku began.

"Yes, yes, the when you wish to know, not the who. This one event occurred some five hundred years in the past. This family in question was running away the home of the Nara during that time, the rest of the clan were attacked, this particular family was not well versed in the combat arts therefore instead of defending the clan they fled."

Indeed the family didn't look like much of a family that had seen much action in their lives. The father in the family, along with the two sons, kept looking behind them, as if checking if they were being followed.

The forest that the small family of five were running through was the massive forest that covered the ground of Hi no Kuni. The shadows that littered the ground sensed the distress that the family was feeling. These shadows moved about even though it was night, the light of the moon and stars were not enough to influence the shadows, yet they were moving of their own accord. They swirled around the family, protecting them from whatever the shadows thought that they could protect the family from.

What the family was unaware of was that they had been running in the direction of the camp of the people that had been attacking the rest of the clan. The shadows were hiding them from the sentries. But the shadows were running out of night and darkness fast. They grew weaker every minute that passed since they started to protect the family.

By the time that dawn had arrived the family was nearly out of sensory range of the sentries of their enemies. The shadows released their protective grip far too early. The little girl of the group began to cry for some reason, she was a young one, a very young one probably around the age of three.

The crying travelled to and caught the attention of some of the sentries, which prompted them to seek out where the sound was coming from.

The men of the family realized that they were more or less caught, the father thought that maybe he should have stayed with the rest of the clan and fought even though he could not fight as well as the weakest of the ones that stayed behind. The family's chance of escaping the attackers had gone down to nearly nil.

The three men of the family decided to stay behind to buy the other two family members time to escape. The men not being that experienced with fighting lost their lives in rapid succession.

The cries of the child in her mother's arms led the pursuers to their position like moths to a flame. The sentries were upon the mother and child faster than, well they were faster than the mother.

The mother had arrived at the edge of a deep ravine, what lay at the bottom was not dicernable from the edge. While trying to figure out how to proceed with her escape, someone else chose for her, looking down she saw a blade protruding from her stomach, good thing her daughter's body was unharmed and above the blade. After realization sunk in, her reaction was swift, she dropped her own child down the ravine, her cries echoing and bouncing off the sides of the gouge in the ground.

The image in the mirror swirled and changed, then cleared to show what looked like a person mae completely out of the wind itself. It was a tornado that was shaped like a man, and in his arms was the child that had fallen into the ravine.

Shikaku and Temari could see that the man and child were moving over water, then they realized that it was infact the ocean. Suddenly they saw that man made of wind, and the child dove into the water. They witnessed that the chlid did not drown, and that she was now protectively carried by a man made of water. The pair moved deeper and deeper into the depths of the ocean. The farther down they went the darker the image became, until Shikaku realized that the darkness was not water but was shadow, that which his clan was known for the ability to manipulate and control.

The image in the mirror showed one man made of the shadows themselves hand the now sleeping child over to the shadows themselves. Then they heard the shadow man speak.

"Care for the child, she be of your kin, lost like the rest, keep her safe, four have sacrificed, let their sacrifice be not in vain," the shadow man said, his voice having a duality to it.

The two viewers somehow sensed that the shadows had somehow nodded in agreement at the command.

The child was then cared for in the realm of shadows by all the shadows that were there. She spent three years getting to know the rest of the world through the shadows of the things that lived in the light. Somehow she could move about, and live in the land devoid of almost all light. The only light that could be found was the one that surrounded her form, and kept her separate from the shadows themselves. She was not taught to read and write but was taught some other things.

The shadows of the world taught her many things that would later on in life help her more than reading and writing ever would. The shadow realm was devoid of anything save for her and shadow, and that little bit of light. She was kept healthy by the food and drink that was given to her by part of shadows that were connected to those kinds of things in the land where all elements played in. Most times the food came from the kitchens of the one that had brought the child to the realm of shadows.

The one thing that the shadows drilled into her very being was that the shadows were not something to be manipulated or controlled, they were alive in their own way, they had a life of their own, but different from how humans viewed what life and sentience were. The shadows imprinted on her very being that when trying to do something that had to do with them, she would have to ask them instead of command them, for only one of the world she lived in could actually command the shadows, yet he rarely did.

When the child was six-years-old, she found a shadow that was not like the others, this one was not 'alive' it was just there, as if it were a door. So she asked the shadows around her what it was, they told her that it was just another shadow, one that would not remain there for much longer. It was the shadow of a thing that was about to cease to exist. They told her that she was witnessing a dying shadow.

Not really thinking about her next actions, the only thought that entered her young mind was that she didn't want the shadow to die, so she dived towards it, not knowing how to save a shadow she dove towards the shadow, which resulted in her passing through it. The shadows of the realm she had spent three years of her life waved as she left them.

The child flew out of the shadow of a training dummy that had moments ago been blown to smithereens. The shadow that died was that of the training dummy. That which caused its dmise was what appeared to be human, it looked like a monk, and it was poised in a battle stance. What differentiated it from a person was that its skin was the color of dried and polshed wood.

Upon seeing that a child had popped up from nowhere, the puppeteer rushed to the naked six-year-old's side. One of the puppets in the vacinity was ordered to get some clothes for the child.

He then brought the child to one of the rooms of his home where he had one of the female puppets clothe her.

"Now, child, who are you, and where did you come from?" the puppeteer asked.

The child was frightened since spending three years in a world of shadow had made her unused to a land with more light than shadow. She didn't know if she should answer.

"Child, I will not hurt you, nor will any of my puppets," the puppeteer tried to calm the child.

"I..I am Yoshino.." the child answered.

"Ahh..my lord mentioned you some time ago..yes..you are Kagekodome Yoshino, yes?"

"Hai.." Yoshino answered shyly. She was not used to interacting with other humans.

"Alright then, since the shadow realm has allowed you to come to me, I shall care for you from now on, just as the shadows have done for you, until such a time that you are able to fend for yourself. Is that alright?"

"Hai.."

The puppet master took care of the child as if she were his own child, the puppet master had children of his own, most of which looked even older than he did, but that didn't matter, they all treated her as part of the family.

She was allowed to meet others of the Nara clan, a branch that had separated from the main clan, and had wandered into Rosuto no Kuni during the days when the country was being founded and populated. These ones were like her in the sense that they did not claim to have complete and utter control of the shadows that helped them in their everyday lives, as well as the fights that sometimes occurred.

In some of the social circles that she found herself in, Yoshino was treated as lesser then men and boys, while in others she was treated as if all were equals. Rosuto no Kuni was a utopia in itself, but not all things ca nbe perfected.

When she was at home with the puppet master, she was taught many things that the shadows had failed to or did not want to teach her. She learned to read and write, as well as how to use puppets and wield a sword.

When she was around sixteen, she had grown to be a sometimes outspoken young woman, most of the times she was quite, reserved, while some other times she was loud, brash, or just freely spoke her mind.

There was a time that she had some friends over for a sleep over, these friends being from families that were free to come and go from Rosuto no Kuni at their liesure. It was as if someone had been manipulating their lives to be in such a way that those from outside would be somehow find each other.

Her friends had, mostly girls, had asked her what kind of guy she wanted for a boyfriend or husband in the distant future. Before she could answer, the puppet master entered the room they were in carrying a tray loaded with food and refreshments, he too was curious, stating that he wanted to know who he was going to have to send out his assassination squads to, of course that was a joke.

She admitted that she wanted an active guy that spoke his mind, not someone lazy, and boring most of the time. A fine example being Ichida Mazoku, he was the great-great-grandson of Ichida Mori, he was all those things and more, but one of the things that he wasn't was that he apparently was not all that fond of girls, good thing was that he wasn't the heir.

One problem with her choice of men was that most of those that she became attracted to only found her beautiful, but once they got to know her a little bit better, they chose not to pursue a relationship with her due to one half of her personality. When she turned eighteen a few of the Nara clan visited her to invite er to join them, they planned on leaving Rosuto no Kuni for Hi no Kuni, which was said to serve as the home for the Main branch of the Nara clan. She being one of them might like to go there for a visit or something. They then told her that they planned on leaving in a few days, and should she choose to go with them she would need to be by the wall closest to Kaze no Kuni before the time of departure.

Having been unable to find fulfillment in Rosuto no Kuni she bid farewell to the puppet master and the rest of the Hyakume clan, as well as to some of the friends that she had made during her stay in the country. With a storage scroll securely stored in a storage seal tattoo she left the Hyakume clan compound.

Travelling around Rosuto no Kuni didn't take all that long, as long as one knew where they were heading. The time it took to travel from point A to point B depended on the person or people travelling.

As soon as Yoshino left the compound she walked out of the city in the direction of the place where the rest of the Nara that were leaving were waiting.

Yoshino found out upon reaching her destination that there was a war going on in the world beyond the borders of the country. The people that would be escorting them were working for Rosuto Younen, the mother company of all of Rosuto Juushu's businesses inside and outside the country. These people would be taking them further into the future than merely tomorrow. The war that they spoke of was known as the third great shinobi war, where many legends were either born into or made. The group would be joining Konohagakure no Sato, their reason for joining being that they grew tired of merely hiding in the shadows, and that the war needed more people in it to help make it stop. The Rosuto Younen agents would help them join the Konohagakure forces.

They were warned that the world beyond the borders was different from the world that they knew, and were aware of, there were many differences. Even after being warned fo such things, many of those that were leaving still wished to leave, including Yoshino. They were also informed that once they left, there was little chance of them being allowed back in, even to just visit. A few decided to stay, but there were still those, like Yoshino that decided to still go out into the unknown.

The massive gates that towered before the group was not opened up for them, instead they were ushered onto an elevator that would bring them to the top of the wall. Once there the group disembarked from the eleveator platform, and led to the edge of the wall, where a man made out of shadows was sitting and apparently waiting for them.

"I see you have arrived," the shadow man spoke to the group, "Jump off the wall and into the mists, they will do the rest," he then looked at the unresponsive group, "Well? What are you waiting for? JUMP!"

After the shout of 'jump' the Nara that were on the wall did just that, they moved as if they were compelled to do so by some genjutsu. As they fell, the Rosuto Younen agents followed them.

They all landed in a heap on scorched earth that must have seen battle recently. As they regained their balance from their awkward fall, the Rosuto Younen agents informed them that a battle did indeed take place on the ground that they were all standing on.

Apparently the battle was far from over, in the distance some of the Nara heard sounds of fighting, the RY agents thought that looking into the matter would be beneficial to the Nara, so they all went to investigate.

The group found a battle that was still raging, between two forces, one whose hitai-ate bore the symbol of a leaf, and the other group sported a different one.

Since they were to join the leaf, the group decided to aid the Konoha-nin in their battle.

The Konoha forces were made up of members of three of Konoha's most notable clans, the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and the Nara. It was fortunate that the Rosuto Naras had stumbled upon this battle, since it would allow them easier access to the village in which they too wished to be a part of. Five hundred years had not dulled the Rosuto Naras' fighting ability.

With their affinity with the shadows they struck the rear of the Iwa forces. The shadows slithering across the ground at alarming speeds. The speed in which the shadows and the Rosuto Naras were moving had surprised not only the Iwa-nins but also the Konoha-nins.

Due to the opening that their surprised states brought, the Iwa-nin were slaughtered, by the joint forces of the Rosuto Nara, and the RY agents that had made themselves known.

In order to leave no trace of a battle having taken place in the area, the shadows themselves took it upon themselves to swallow up the corpses. They also spat out some semblance of life back into the foliage.

The last image that was displayed on the mirror was one of a twenty-year-old Shikaku being introduced to the youngest member of the Rosuto Nara group, Kagekodome Yoshino.

"And the rest they say is history," Tsuneo said, just as the shadows retreated back to where they once were, or were supposed to be.

"The civilian members of the clan, are from those that joined up during the third great war? Whoa, I wouldn't have thought about that, my wife I can believe, but those guys that pose as civilians..who'd've thought," Shikaku said.

"So..basically Shika's mom has always been a Nara, but was brought up differently due to circumstances, did I get that right?" Temari asked.

"Hai, you did," Tsuneo answered.

"So why then hasn't she used any of her puppetry skills? I haven't seen hide nor hair of a puppet, unless it was being controlled by a Suna-nin," Shikaku said.

"Heh, you'll have to ask your wife that yourself, I may know her from before, but I don't know everything, plus the thing you just witnessed was from the memory of the shadows that have been watching her all this time," Tsuneo said.

"Dinner's ready! Get over here the lot of you!" was the shout that came from the dinning room of the Nara clan head's house, "Wake that lazy son of mine too!"

"Temari-san go on ahead, I have something that I need to tell Shikaku-san," Tsuneo told the blonde girl.

Once Temari had left, and Shikamaru was forced to wake and made to walk to the kitchen via some chakra strings, Tsuneo faced Shikaku.

The clan head stiffened as the gaze of the puppet master met his eyes. Shivers started trailing up and down his spine. There was a terror in his heart that he never knew he would experience of feel. He saw as the shadows once again moved on their own, without any visible prompting from anyone. The shadows then converged on the standing form of Hyakume Tsuneo.

"Since WE see that she has had a happy life with you, to the extent that you share a son, and seeing as WE did not have the chance to meet you before you became man and wife, WE shall say this, if you hurt her any time in the future, WE will know about it, and if and when that happens we will hurt you so bad that what the Kyuubi did will look like a child's temper tantrum, are WE clear?" Tsuneo and the shadows asked the Nara clan head in a whisper, their voices had joined together.

"C-c-c-crystal," Shikaku answered fearing for his life if he answered differently.

"Good," Tsuneo said as the shadows returned to their previous places and positions, "Now that I've don that, shall we get to dinner? I'm famished."

"H-hai!"

.


.

Some hours after the chaos had subsided and disappeared from the minds of the Konohagakure no Sato populace, the Aburame were having some problems with their bugs. The effects of the elements going nuts had yet to leave the Aburame bugs.

Aburame Shibi was one of the puzzled bug-users that were trying to desperately understand the chattering of the tiny creatures. Clearly the bugs were communicating with each other so fast that the humans couldn't help it if they couldn't keep up.

It had already been a few hours since the Kikai began their chattering, and the Aburame were starting to panic, such an event was unpresidented, but what they didn't know was that that was not true. Such an experience had occurred sometime in the past, long before the Hidden Village among the leaves was even founded. Back during a time in which the shinobi clans were all either roaming the countryside or were hidden in their own little villages.

The bugs were not chattering on about some great catastrophe that had befallen them, or anything morbid, but about a time or events that had led to their alliance with the humans known as the Aburame.

Many clans the world over could claim to have a connection with a species of bugs, many could also claim kinship with such little giants in the world. The Aburame was one clan out of many that at some point in time had made a pact with the insects.

The Aburame clan was not the first clan or people that had made friendly contact with the bugs. There was a people that had gained friendship of the bugs long before any Aburame or their kind did. The first true interaction between man and bug was the one that allowed future bugs and humans to form these pacts and alliances that made some clans what they were known as and for today.

The history of the bugs was long, longer than any history in which man kept, or even remembered for that matter. The human denizens of the world were still in the recovery stages of their race. Where once not a scap of land or sea was not occupied or chartered, the world was once under the thumb and control of the human race, then disaster struck, which led the world to plunge into darkness. Out of this darkness came a time ruled by something that wasn't man, they weren't even beasts. Once they too met their end, the first humans once again made their appearance. They slowly crept out of the darkness, and into a world where the sun once again shown for close to half a day and where the moon governed the sky during the rest.

When the world was populated but not enough for word to spread like wildfire as it was during the dawn of the age of chakra. People were still scarce, but during this time bugs were the ones that had taken over the world, these were remnants of the age previous, they were each literal giants. But that did not mean that there were smaller ones.

One would think that a great race such as the race of the bug, there would be equality and order, but during those days, it was not so. These giants in the world had grown far to large, the world may have been vast, but it was not large enough to hold the numbers of the bugs that grew exponentially each passing day. It seemed that just as soon as the Bug Age had begun, it was going to end as well, taking all life, which included the entire race along with it. Destruction was eminent, and there appeared to be no apparent way to solve the problem in which the bugs were facing.

The humans of that age feared all manner of bug, to the point of hating their very existence. Each and every bug that they could find was eradicated completely. Bugs did not always fear fire, but due to man, they feared it above all else. Fire was a weapon that man had discovered, and used to the best and worst of their abilities in inumerable ways. They exterminated trillions upon trillions of the smaller bugs thinking that they were the offspring, the next generation of the giants that roamed the world. When in fact they were not.

The tiny critters feared that armageddon was upon them, since they could collectively hear the mournful and anguished cry of each and every one of their brothers and sisters as each one was devoured by flame. Not only did they have to contend with their bigger relatives for resources such as sustenance, but they also had to deal with the bug hating humans as well.

One day it came to pass that the world's bug problem had grown to such an extent or to such a level that the bugs began to fight amongst themselves, the rest of the world could sense their eminent demise. But even that was not meant to be.

On the continent known as Elemental, even then it went by such a name, there was a deep crater filled with green, it was a lush forest filled with life, but not the kind that could or would be found just about anywhere. This one contained bugs of different kinds, or different species, there were bugs here from all over the world. It was as if the crater or basin was going to be the Noah's Ark for the bugs. It was a fortified home for the bugs that had called the place theirs. Their bigger relatives were unaware of its existence. These bugs knew that the end was upon them, along with the rest of the world, but they still held hope that there was still a possibility that someone or something would come to put an end to it all, avert the disaster.

There was a bright flash of light that illuminated the skies of the world. This flare of such brilliance lasted for more than a day and less than a week. It reality it was a wave of hellfire, the epicenter of which being right above the center of the unaffected basin of life. The wave ravaged the land, sparing so little of what life there was on the planet. Within the span of a few hours, almost all the giant bugs had been incinerated in the blast.

Once the fire had returned to their starting point they all vanished from the world, not to be seen again for a long while. The first foreign sight that the bugs in the basin saw was that of one man, one sole human. The ones closest to him saw that his hands were burnt, as if he had commanded the fire, and had shielded them from the blaze.

Each specie decided to confront this human, that had either come to see if they were well or come to finish the job. Each kind of bug sent one representative. There being more than eight hundred thousand different kinds of bugs, it was a sight to see.

The man sat on the forest floor careful to not sit on any of the little critters. He told them that he had seen the things that were happening all over the world. He also claimed that another, an Enlightened One had said that what had happened had to happen, but there were some that would have to survive. The bugs were surprised at such news. There were even more surprised that a human could speak and understand them.

The man further told the bugs that the world had reset or restarted itself, a new age had dawned. But instead of acting as those in the past had acted, the little critters along with all the other denizens of the world would have to work together for a brighter and longer future.

Unknown to the bugs, there were other enclaves of life scattered across the globe, just as there were smaller pockets of humanity that were also scattered across the globe.

It would be several tens of thousands of years before the world would reach the point that Chakra would be introduced to mankind, but to the creatures that lived far closer to nature, that little bit of energy was introduced right away.

Before the man left the bugs, he left them with something that the bugs decided to believe as a prophecy, there would come a time when their existence or their collective lives would be in peril, and there would be a group of humans that would come to their aid, what they would do at that point was up to the bugs. After leaving that little piece of advice the man vanished.

During his appearance among them, as well as his leaving, some of the more sensitive bugs felt a certain kind of power, the feeling they passed on to their descendants, and those to theirs, and so on, hoping that the day would come that they would once again feel the presence of their savior.

The bugs of the Aburame clan, felt that day arrive, the feeling of power that the man gave off was ingrained into their very DNA. This was one man that they would fly or crawl to the ends of the world for.

Aburame Shibi only realized, sometime nearing midnight, that the only way that he would know what was going on was to directly ask the Kikaichu, or at least one of them, what all the commotion was about. Once he did, it took him two hours of communicating with the tiny thing, just to find out that all the bugs, not just theirs were more or less celebrating and retelling the story of the time when the world was cleansed in wave of hellfire, and they were visited by one man, that was impossibly a man. The bugs of the present believed the man to be some kind of avatar of a god. In a sense they were correct.

To alleviate the panic and stress that the Aburame clan was feeling, the human members that is, Shibi was forced to tell the tale that the tiny critter had told him, in as much detail as he could.

Within the shadows of the forest behind the Aburame clan compound, a troop of onigumo listened to the tale of an event that they were not lucky enough to be a part of yet, was a part of their history.

'Juushu-sama really is crazy...' one of the older onigumo thought to itself.

.


.

After the grand of show of special effects had ended and most people forgot that it had even occurred, the Inuzuka dogs were moving around the compound cautiously, as if waiting for an attack of some sort to occur. For in the canine history a small part of it had reemerged due to the energies that had filled the village earlier that day.

This small bit of history had left the canines on edge, the event that occurred, occurred many thousands of years in the past. Back during the days that only beasts walked the world, and no human had yet been able to walk the world as a major power, or walk the world at all.

Back in those days giants walked the world, many a different race ruled their own little parts of the vast world in which they lived in. The toads had control over a mountain range and a valley in between. The canine had taken a patch of forest, a few caves, and a mountain to call their own. The foxes had ruled over a vast track of flat land. The seas were ruled in many part by different creatures. The world was vast, and many parts were left unexplored. There was peace in the world, until greed for land, and pride set in on the many races. The giants of the races decided to wage war on one another. Alliances were made and broken. Friendships were kept or torn asunder. Many battles took place, until all that was left were the younglings kept safe in the hidden areas of the world which were kept away from prying eyes through the use of magic.

At the tail end of the war, there were only ten sentient beast clans remaining willing to do battle with one antoher. The Cat and the Dog did not have the fiercest of rivalries, it was a rivalry between the Fox and the Dog which would later affect the way all beasts communicated.

The battle was a long and fierce one, fox and dog used up all the magics that they knew to beat the other into the ground, when that didn't work they resorted to using illusions to confuse their opponent. When even that did not allow them a clean hit, or an opening they resorted to using physical force to bash the brains out of one another.

Back in those days the land was whole, and the waters were one. But due to the brutality of the fox and the dog, and the other eight races, the land shattered into many parts, the waters moved as well.

Among the two rival clans the clan heads were the greatest rivals of them all. The dog had five tails, yet had the power over six things, five elements and a mastery over illusions, while the fox had nine tails, power over ten thing at its disposal. The dog had chosen illusions over power, since the foxes were known for their tricks and illusions, the foxes chose power that they might overwhelm the superior dogs with some added strength. One would think that five and nine were not equals, but so great was their rivalry that each made it possible to stand toe to toe with the other.

The battle raged on, the ten races fought for dominance, many of their respective races had fallen in the course of the fued. The reason for the war had been lost to time, that not even the eldest of the sages could tell what had truly caused it all.

When it came to the point that the world was about to be torn into two, a blinding flash of light illuminated the skies. After the light show had died down the two monster that were about to literally tear the world a part saw that right smack dab in the middle of the two of them, was a man in red. He looked at each of the ten heads in the eyes, and spoke, not in words but with visions directly implanted into the heads' heads.

These visions showed the races their futures on the world, which would serve as punishment for nearly tearing the world apart. A small percentage of each race would be allowed to keep their sentience and knowledge, but most would not.

Due to the war many had disappeared but one collective race of creatures that was wiped out were what would later be known as dinosaurs, none of those survived on the world. No evidence of the monumental battle would remain due to the remaining sentient members collecting the bodies of the fallen and properly disposing of the remains, all the while making sure that the ashes would return to the earth to prepare the world for a brighter, and hopefully greener future.

But before all the changes could be made, the fox had one more thing up his non-existent sleeve, it cursed its rivals, while the dogs did the same. Each curse had no exact dimensions or rules. But all it boiled down to was that should either race feel the presence of the one who would interupt their battle, they would either have to forget their differences and acknowledge the other as being superior and give the punisher a little bit of payback, or continue where they left of.

The curse only applied to one world, their world. Therefore when the Bijuu arrived on the world, there was no climactic battle that rent the world asunder once more.

But due to the energies that Juushu released unto the village, that little piece of history was released, add in the fact that the visage of the nine-tailed fox had allowed some bad and sad memories to resurface, and there was no way in heaven or in hell for the rivalry to end.

Too bad for the Inuzuka canines that there were no foxes within one hundred miles of Konohagakure no sato. The only foxes that ever visited were either demonic, spiritual, or alien to the world as a whole.

The rivalry extended to the races as a whole, more or less, there were always some exceptions, and the curse didn't really exist, it was not allowed to take effect, the popcorn eating one did not allow it to, but the two races did not know that.

The members of the races that kept the knowledge, and passed down the knowledge to the next generation were the elders, or alphas of the packs, these alphas would get their information from the leaders of the race, these leaders would be the elders of the 'clans' that were in constant hiding, only seeing the rest of the world outside of their little hidden space when they were summoned by a lucky summoner.

The beast war is the reason for the existence of the beast summon clans.

Unlike the Aburame clan which were told about the history of their race, the Inuzuka were unlucky enough to not think of asking the dogs why they were so cautious. But even if Inuzuka Tsume had asked Kuromaru, she would not get an answer, for the dogs did not like that particular part of their history, even the dog has a bit of pride. But apparently not all of the dogs of the clan were affected as such, seeing as Tsume and Kuromaru got into a fight that pushed aside all wondering or cautious thoughts aside.

To be continued again...