Author: I am so sorry I haven't updated in almost a year! I am Not dead people! It's just that nobody told me that college life was going to be this hectic. It's now my summer vacation and I shall try to update as much as I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction with it. I WOULD MAKE MY DREAMS REALITY! Muhahahahaha! *cackle*)
Sakura ran through the trees while suppressing the guilt of deceiving her friends. Hardening her expression for what was to come, she spread out her senses to search for nearby chakra signals. 'This chakra signal . . .'
"Danzou." Sakura narrowed her eyes at this name. Slowly, her expression saddened.
'Sasuke, he's going to kill him . . .How did it all become like this?'
Memories of long ago (3rd person p.o.v.)
A man covered in a black cloak with a black staff in his left hand watched the scene below him with a sorrowful frown.
Below the hill he was standing upon, a group of men were fighting and killing each other. Sparks of coarse blue energy could be seen among the fighting at times.
'I thought that mankind would live a bit more comfortably if they discovered and learned about chakra . . .'
A man fell with blood flowing from his mouth. His eyes were wide open due to the pain he last experienced before dying.
'They can now endure better against natural forces and other dangers. But power corrupts, without fail, huh?'
Down below, the fight had ended and a shout of victory rang out in the clearing. 'That is no victory.' The hermit's eyes narrowed. 'This is not why I taught men how to use chakra . . .'
Closing his eyes, the Rikudo Sennin turned his back to the scene below, having nothing more to see, and walked into the woods.
Slowing, night fell upon the lands, but the hermit kept walking deeper into the woods.
'Peopler used to suffer from common colds, natural disasters, and even attacks from wild animals. So I taught people the knowledge of chakra in hopes of letting them be able to protect themselves and the things they hold dear. They did . . .but they couldn't just stop there, could they. Just because they could gain strength that is above normal, some began to steal and harm the weak. At this rate, people are going to kill themselves before anything else does.'
At the end of the forest, the hermit came upon a clearing lit by moonlight. There, he sat in the center of it in a meditating pose and closed his eyes. Sheen of light started to appear in front of the hermit. Gradually, the circle of light split in the middle and from its black depths, a pair of dark eyes opened up, staring straight at the hermit. It opened its huge mouth to speak, showing a set of large, sharp teeth.
"Why have you called on me human?"
The hermit opened his eyes and giving a bow, the hermit stated, "I apologize for waking you, Ten tail-sama, but I am in need of you rhelp. The human race is turning upon itself and I am in need of a greater "evil" – so to speak – to unit them. Please lend me your assistance, just this once."
"Hm! Unfortunately, I know you humans and I know that this will be more pain than it is worth on my part. You are on your own on this one, boy."
The Rikudo Sennin was disheartend by this reply, but he had expected such a response in the back of his mind. The hermit slowly lifted his gaze to meet that of the Ten tail's and smiled sadly. "I realize. However, I cannot leave things this way. That's why . . .I will be using you by force, Ten tail-sama."
The Rikudo Sennin's eyes turned into what is known today as the sharingan. With it, he started to enter the mind of the Ten tails.
"I have no wish to be involved with such matters nor can you force m-." The beast's words were cut off as he felt a force prod into his mind. He tried to resist the tug in mind at first, but as time passed by, it was becoming more difficult to do so.
A great roar ripped out of the Ten-tail's jaws as it felt its mind being invaded by the man in front of him.
"You impudent human!"
Outwardly, the beast's eyes glassed over as his mind became blank. Yet, in a deep corner of its mind, the dislike for humans grew.
At the crack of dawn, the world came to realize the existence of the Ten tails.
And that is how it all began.
End memory
Sakura could see the trees starting to thin up ahead. 'This is it.' With that last thought, Sakura jumped out of the tress and landed on the ground. No more than fifteen feet away from her was the runaway member of Team 7.
"Sasuke-kun . . ."
However, beyond her ex-teammate, she could also see Danzo along with Sasuke's current team member not far behind. Behind them, she could see a black figure with an orange mask covering his face watching the scene before him with an air of childish amusement.
'Madara . . .'
Memories of long ago (3rd person p.o.v.)
All across the forested land, people woke up to the sound of a giant roar. The sound was so loud that it reverberated all the way to the snowy lands of the north. Settlers living near the forests cautiously came out of their homes.
An enormous black shadow rose from the middle of the forest, casting its shadow across most of the surrounding area. The Rikudo Sennin, standing on the Ten-tails' shoulders, stared down at the land below. He slid his eyes to the right and willed the Ten-tails to move forward while taking care not to harm any of the settlements nearby.
'Our goal is to provide people with a bigger threat than themselves. We don't necessarily have to kill anyone.' However, the Rikudo Sennin clutched his head in his hand as soon as his thought ended. The sound of statics rang through his head.
'There is no 'Our!''
The Juubi's voice pierced the hermit's mind, breaking his concentration on keeping a reign on the beast's mind for a few seconds. Nevertheless, those few seconds were all it needed for the Ten-tails to gather his chakra and attack its surroundings. A massive ball of dark energy gathered in its jaws. At once, the beast released the mass of energy before the Rikudo Sennin could stop him.
"No!"
The Rikudo Sennin quickly grabbed hold of the Juubi's mind, but it was too late. The damage had been done. In front of him, a line of charred remains was all that was left in the wake of the Juubi's attack. Numerous villages along with a hundred of people had been demolished.
'Hehehe . . .' The Juubi's dark chuckles echoed in the back of the hermit's mind. Although he was furious at first, worry soon overpowered the other emotion. The Rikudo Sennin knew what would now occur: a war. It was an inevitable outcome with the way things had gone today. The idea saddened him, but he knew that it was too late for him to back out now.
'Great sacrifices are needed for great goals . . .' The man schooled his expression to hide his regret. He hardened his eyes, and his heart, for what was to come. He then raised his left arm and pointed to his left, and ordered the Juubi to fire another attack. This time, however, it did not hit any villages, only the trees and land.
It was a threat; one that would get the people from all the lands to unite in order to defeat it.
By afternoon, the Juubi and the hermit moved out of the forests and travelled to the deserts. They created fierce sandstorms that blew away countless houses, and buried parts of villages. After that, they moved to the edge of the desert. There, the Juubi roared and howled wildly. The vibrations it caused were strong enough to shake the lands far away. It caused avalanches in the northern lands and landslides in the mountainous rocky lands. Catastrophes happened one after another. The leaders of various settlements soon met and formed alliances, each promising to send their best warriors and chakra users to the front lines.
On the fifth night since the ten-tailed beast had appeared in the lands, a war broke out.
"Douton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth release: Mud turnover)!"
An echo of hundreds of voices rang through a clearing. A second later, another group of men shouted out another phrase.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Fire release: Great fireball technique)!"
Soon after the phrases were shouted, a giant wave of mud covered the front paws of the beast, followed by a huge stream of fire. The flare hardened the mud, trapping the beast for a few seconds. In the back, two giant mounds of sand kept the beast's hind paws in place.
"Do not back down! We must hold on!"
Up ahead on a plateau directly facing the Ten-tails, a group of men were quickly going through a series of hand signs.
"Doku-"
Before the main attack group could fire, the Ten-tails broke free from the mud prison with a great heave. Everyone started to back away. However, the two shouts were heard from a distance not too far away before the beast could free its hind paws as well.
"Suiro no jutsu (Water prison technique)!" "Hyoro no jutsu (Ice prison technique)!"
Just as the Ten-tails put down its front paws, they were again covered with water and ice. The newly arrived troops gave hope to others.
"Hurry and attack while we hold it down!"
Back up at the plateau, the main attack groups prepared again.
"Dokugiri (Poison mist)!" A thick cloud of purple mist covered the beast's face. It shook its face from side to side in order to dispel the mist, but it didn't work too well. Then, the second attack commenced. From behind the first group, a second group of men stepped up.
"Raiton: Ikazuchi hakai (Lightning destruction)!"
A huge flash of lightning headed straight towards the beast, and struck. The attack was strengthened by the water and ice covering the beast. The Ten-tails staggered and fell to its knees. On its shoulders, the Rikudo Sennin wavered as well. Having kept control over the Juubi for nearly a week without rest along with the recent attacks were taking a toll on his body and mind.
'Haa, haa. I guess this is it.' He looked ahead at another lightning bolt rushing its way to where he was.
Closing his eyes, his world turned dark after a flash of white.
Laying on the ground next to the Juubi's head, the Rikudo Sennin stretched out his arm to stroke its face.
"My initial plan was to send you back to your world after all this, but neither do I have the strength nor time to do so." The fallen hermit frowned. "Yet, there is no doubt that I cannot leave you like this. No one knows what someone may do with you . . ."
He gave a gentle pat on the Juubi's snout and using his eyes on last time, he willed the Juubi to separate itself. Its body was soon engulfed in a bright light, and then it rose into the sky and formed into a sphere of light. In an instant, the sphere separated into nine different ones of varying colors which darted across in nine different directions.
While the hermit may have averted some of the problems for now with his actions, he knew that the nine beasts would cause trouble in the future as long as they remained in this world. His mind filled with worry, along with a pang of curiosity as to how people would live from now on. With these thoughts, the Rikudo Sennin gathered the last of his remaining chakra and split himself. His body was engulfed in light just as the Juubi had been. From the sphere, came out two different beings. The hermit's eyes, with the side of himself which hated mankind for its actions, became Madara. His body, with the other side of himself which cared for mankind, became Hiroshima.
Yet, a very small portion of the original sphere remained.
Ba-dump
Ba-dump
The two beings may have taken the Rikudo Sennin's eyes and body, but his heart had still remained. He may have had a reason for all this, but that did not forgive him for killing hundreds of innocent people. He also had a responsibility to return the Juubi to its rightful place left for him to finish.
His regrets, responsibility, and wish to right his wrongs were too strong to let go, and thus the last portion of the light formed into one last being, in the size of a child.
In a flash, the three beings were transported to separated places.
End memory
Madara felt someone's eyes on him and turned his head to see. Meeting the pink-haired ninja's gaze, he waved his left arm childishly – all the while smirking behind his mask.
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the picture Madara made.
It's time to finish what we started.
Everyone! Reviews are what make the author's world go 'round. Constructive criticism is welcomed.