AN: Just so you all know the pokémon that were listed last chapter are not the only pokémon that will be caught. Also the pokémon in the party and storage will be switched frequently depending on the situation.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Pokémon.
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Last time on The Rise of Chaos: Continuing along the dirt trail leading to Saffron City, Naruto was attacked by the CHAOS operative that had been following him for the past few weeks. After inflicting a major wound to the operative, Naruto knocked her out and instructed Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Denkou to run to the nearest Pokémon Center in the next town.
Sent to recover the operative sent to kill Naruto, a boy named Nobuo ran through the forest. After revealing the downed operative's name to be Tsukiko, Nobuo sent an Omicron squad to stabilize her. The squad was promptly killed and in response Nobuo told his remaining Alpha squad to secure their position and went to go retrieve Tsukiko himself. While he was trying to do this, the entire area exploded into one huge blackened crater.
Meanwhile, at the Pokémon Center Ash and Brock convinced Misty to stay in the suite instead of going to help Naruto.
Back in the crater, Naruto engaged Nobuo in conversation. Nobuo inquired about Naruto's relationship with Hinata and in response Naruto suggested that Nobuo's relationship with Tsukiko was based solely on her unique talents. Angered by this Nobuo attacked Naruto, and after a brief swordfight Nobuo was forced to dodge large blast of wind that Naruto had conjured. After he dodged the attack, Nobuo was soon engaged by Naruto once more, except Naruto was now wielding Tsukiko's sword. After being forced into the air Nobuo was soon blind-sided by a Rasengan from the real Naruto. But, still believing the clone wielding Tsukiko's sword to be the real Naruto, released a huge pulse of Aura as he continued to fly through the air. The Aura pulse created a dark dome like covering to be formed by the ash that had covered the crater, severely reducing anyone's view into the crater from the outside. And, after another short conversation, Naruto left Nobuo with Tsukiko still mortally wounded and the police fast approaching.
When Naruto once again met up with Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Denkou in the Pokémon Center he was immediately questioned about what had just transpired.
So lets hear his answer.
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"You better get comfortable, because this will be one long story. And I will not be tolerating any questions during it, so don't ask any until the end." Naruto commented, allowing his eyes to unfocused as he began to reminisce on his life in Konoha.
Something he hadn't done in a long time.
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(Flashback Start)
My life began during a devastating attack on my village, known as Konoha, by a demon. And because of my timely arrival into the world, the Yondaime Hokage, the military leader of Konoha decided to use me to stop the demon and save the village.
The fact that this leader was my father was revealed to me by my own observations very early on in my life and it was confirmed a number of years later. This fact would have a huge impact on my life in the future.
But, that's beside the point.
To stop the demon's rampage, the Yondaime basically sealed it in me, killing himself in the process.
So, within the first hour of my life, I was used as the vessel to contain and control the demon, known as the Kyubi no Yoko or Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. And, with my mother having died the day of the attack, I was an orphan as well.
So because of these events, one could guess that I was not well liked among the citizens of my village. After all I housed the being that had destroyed the vast majority of their city, brought the death of their leader, and most likely killed a large number of their family and friends.
However, the shinobi portion of my village did not share this hatred.
Having knowledge of the art the Yondaime used to seal the Kyubi in me, they saw me as the savior of their village. While the common villagers, in their ignorance, called me the destroyer.
And, while such a positive view from the entire military portion of my village did keep my life from being worse than it already was, it didn't exactly make my life great, good, or even normal in anyway.
()
The relationship I had with the shinobi of my village did have its perks. Such as the fact that the laws put in place by the village were heavily enforced on any villager that tried to break them in my case.
These laws included: the overpricing of goods, refusing service, assault, attempted murder, and other such crimes.
But, even with all of these laws in place, I didn't exactly receive the treatment a regular child would receive. The village laws didn't restrict a villager's ability to glare at a child, avoid any sort of communication with him, or even their ability to release the small amount of killing intent they posses onto said child.
So with the villagers exploiting every loophole they could to make my childhood miserable and the shinobi of my village too busy trying to prove the Kyubi's attack hadn't reduced Konoha's military standing by a exploitable margin, I never got the loving comfort a child probably should receive.
As the years progressed, I learned to rely on myself for most things.
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When I was about five years old, it dawned on me I needed to find something to do. Having been aimlessly wondering around the village every day for an entire year and living off of monthly allowances given to my by the Yodaime's predecessor, I figured their had to be something more to do.
It was around that time that I noticed a bunch of people that jumped across the city rooftops as their way of transportation.
I found such a feat very cool at the time, so naturally I wanted to be like them.
So, after I discovered this new breed of people, I went to the library to learn more.
And while it was easy to find books on the people, it was near impossible for me to understand them. Even the section of picture books was incredibly hard to comprehend.
I struggled for weeks to decode the puzzle that was the shinobi world simplified into the form of a children's tale. But, even with the large amount of time I devoted to studying the subject, there is only a certain amount of things a five year old can understand when he already has a limited vocabulary of regular speech, let alone that of the shinobi.
So, about a month after my first trip to the library, I finally swallowed my pride and decided to enlist the help of the Hokage.
After all he was the one that helped me learn how to read in the first place.
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The Hokage was very excited by my interest in shinobi, which wasn't that surprising considering my heritage.
Instead of just teaching me how to better understand the books I had been receiving from the library, the Hokage insisted that he got me a personal tutor to teach me the ways of the shinobi before I entered the Shinobi Academy.
And, being as stubborn as I was, I outright refused.
I was determined to learn how to be a shinobi through only the books I had access to, my intellect, and sheer determination.
I was hardly willing to budge on the subject either.
It was only after a long night of conversation that the Hokage was able to work out a compromise with me.
He said that he would only provide tutors to go over the books with me and to answer any questions I might come up with, but besides that he would leave me to my own devices.
So, for the next five years, I devoted my life to learning the ways of the shinobi in hopes of one day becoming one of the best.
About six months into the training the Kyubi also showed an interest in me, making contact with me for the first time in my life when I went to sleep one night.
He basically told me that he was under the control of another when he attacked my village and that he didn't have 'much' ill will towards shinobi, the Yondaime, or me.
Oddly enough he didn't include Konoha as a whole.
But, either way, I accepted his explanation and he ended up saying that he had taken an interest in me. And, because of this, he decided it fit that he help train me to be a shinobi by giving me advice, instruction, tips, and any other useful methods.
As the years progressed, our relationship grew into that of partners instead of the teacher/student relationship it had began as.
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So, with nothing else to do besides train to be a shinobi for five years straight, and with a assortment of seasoned shinobi helping me along, as well as a all-powerful demon; suffice to say that I got quite good.
When I entered the Shinobi Academy at the age of ten I was required to take at least a yearlong course before I could attempt to graduate, which I found to be completely pointless.
The school year consisted of lectures that I had already heard at the age of six and a bunch of children.
I had never really come into contact with other children before this point, having been devoted to achieving my goal and having been left isolated every time I tried to go to a local playground.
So my first impression of them was that they were incredibly annoying… and quite ignorant.
I never really made any attempts to make friends during the school year, but some came anyway.
People like Shikamarua, Kiba, Choji, Shino, Ino, Sakura, Saskue, and Hinata worked their way into a tight circle of friends that I soon found myself pleased to be apart of.
Three upper classmen also found their way into the group, the family connection between Neji and Hinata having been the thing that connected us to his friends Tenten and Lee.
Our group of friends would all go to dinners after school and they would all go play together at the playground until their parents finally picked them up.
I myself never actually joined in such activities, despite the fact that their parents didn't banish them from my presence once I entered the area.
Such things just seemed to have had lost their charm.
I would every so often join in on some of their dinners and a select few times I would simply watch in peaceful silence as my friends played on the various equipment, but most days I would simply bid them farewell and go home to my books and training.
()
The year passed by, and as promised I was allowed to take the graduation test. I passed it without trouble and promised my friends to keep in touch before I left the academy that day as a Genin, the lowest official rank of shinobi.
I was assigned to a preexisting squad for about six months before I was able to convince the Jonin leader to enter us in the Chunin exams. And just like the graduation exam, my team and me passed without any trouble, though only me and one of my other squad members got promoted.
Then, almost as soon as I passed the exam, I was removed from my squad and put under the tutelage of Jiraiya, a shinobi outranked by only the Kages.
He took me on a two year long training trip outside of the village. During my trip with him he explained to me that I was the son of the Yondaime and that an evil organization was after me for the Kyubi.
None of this information really surprised me, so we simply got to training.
When I returned to my village at the age of thirteen I immediately took the Jonin exam and passed.
Now, officially ranked as one of the highest-ranking shinobi in the village, I started getting sent on the missions shinobi were known for.
Assassination, espionage, sabotage…
The Hokage quickly came to realize my preference for missions basing heavily on stealth and planed accordingly.
If a squad of Genin went on a mission that seemed suspicious, I was sent as their phantom protector. If a weapons designer got a particularly destructive idea, I was sent to make sure he forgot about it.
I was simply a faceless entity, unseen by those that I targeted.
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One day I was ordered to report the Hokage immediately for an urgent mission.
Apparently a Chunin squad was sent to map an unknown location near one of Konoha's allied nations, Suna. The site was supposed to be devoid of any opposition, but that turned out not to be true.
An enemy nation, named Iwa, had decided to build a fortress there and conceal it with a large amount of advanced illusions.
It seemed that the members of the Chunin squad had sensed something was amiss and decided to investigate, and it didn't go well.
I was told that all available units above the level of Genin would be sent from both Konoha and our ally, Suna.
Their main objective would be to assault the base and hold back any attempts of to stage any kind of counterattack on Suna.
My mission, however, was to cut off any communication the outpost had with their village, to prevent them from calling for any reinforcements. As soon as I had done that, I was told that the Konoha and Suna allied forces would begin their assault on the base.
During the conflict, I was supposed to plant explosives in any key structures inside the outpost and promptly leave, setting them off on my way out and joining the main force to clean up any of the remains.
I left the village immediately after receiving my orders, arriving at the outpost at about noon that same day.
Just outside of the base, I noticed hundreds of Suna and Konoha shinobi stationed just out of sight and sense of the bases sentries.
They were all waiting for the signal, and I was defiantly prepared to give it.
I infiltrated the base with relative ease and immediately made my way to the obvious communications center of the entire outpost. The patrols guarding the building were few and far in-between so getting in was extremely easy.
I wandered the narrow corridors of the building for a while, sticking to the near-infinite number of shadows that existed just out of the reach of the dim lights that lit the entire building.
As I traveled, I would place small tags on the walls of the building near key support structures and I would cover the tags with a small, powerful illusion I had learned just for such use.
The tags I placed contained a large amount of explosive capability. Just one of them could level a fifteen square foot, one story brick house.
Once the tags were placed I promptly set them off, exiting the building undetected in the midst of the chaos that ensued.
And as soon as I got outside, I witnessed the outpost go on full alert as legions of the allied shinobi bore down on its walls.
Artillery barrages consisting of a variety of explosive-based techniques rained down inside the walls of the outpost striking both shinobi and buildings with unrelenting ferocity.
In the middle of the turmoil, I stayed hidden trying to contemplate my next strike with Iwa shinobi all around me scrambling to defend against this unexpected attack that was only foretold by the routine disposal of anyone unlucky enough to find their base.
Navigating throughout the base was a relatively simple task. With the Iwa shinobi completely focused on the large allied force stationed just outside their walls I was able to weave in and out of buildings freely, bringing down buildings who's destruction was blamed on the large amount of explosives flying over the walls into the outpost.
After I had exited the third building, I noticed a large number of deeply entrenched Iwa shinobi were stopping the allied advance into the outpost with incredible efficiency. Striking down any advancing allies with a rain of arrows.
They were guarding the front and only entrance into the outpost. And, with the walls rigged with abnormally advanced chakra nullifiers and reinforcements, it was the only possible way in.
So, in an attempt to assist my allies in braking though the defenses, I simply attacked the entrenched archers from their flank. Having been completely surprised by my sudden assault, the archers weren't able to put up an effective resistance to my attack and were soon eliminated.
As soon as that happened, the allied shinobi quickly flooded into the outpost, dispatching any opposing shinobi in their path.
The outpost was successfully captured within the hour and the mission was claimed to be complete, having seemed to have gone on without a hitch.
This was not so however, because at about eleven o'clock that night, just as the majority of the allied forces had finished cleaning up and were about to return to their respective villages, we were suddenly bombarded with numerous distress calls.
Apparently everyone that had left the outpost previously had run into a large force advancing on the outpost.
Under such heavy opposition most of the allied shinobi were added to the causality list before they were even able to send out a distress signal. But despite that fact, hundreds of signals were thrown our way, each with only sparse information on the group that attacked them and each numbering the enemy force in the thousands.
I was one of the first to hear the numerous reports of an advancing enemy and immediately contacted the Hokage via a long-range radio. The Hokage's reaction was instant and in a matter of seconds I had over a hundred clones running throughout the outpost, relaying the Hokage's orders to what remained of the allied troops.
All of our remaining shinobi were paced tightly within the confines of the base, anticipating the time at which thousands of shinobi would run from the cover of the pitch black forest and begin their siege.
I had heard from the Hokage that he would contact the Kazekage, the leader of the Suna, and have him sent as many reinforcements as was possible, but it was quite obvious that unless the reinforcements arrived within the time range of half an hour they would likely that their job would be, not to reinforce, but to retake the outpost and dig a lot of graves.
With such a thought in mind I surveyed some of the shinobi as they waited silently for the expected attack. All of the Chunin were obviously nervous, pondering the odds of their survival and making silent vows if they got out of it alive. Some even whispered amongst themselves, assuring friends of their survival, promising to protect them, telling a number of secrets that they didn't think they would live to regret.
Among such Chunin were a number of my friends from the academy. Kiba, Hinata, Sauske, Akamaru, Neji, and Shikamaru were all stationed near the front left corner of the base conversing quietly amongst themselves.
If they took any note of my presence they didn't show any signs of it.
Though I do remember making eye contact with Shikamaru for about two seconds before the enemy finally made their presence known.
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They attacked the front gates with a type of ferocity that momentarily paralyzed most of the less experienced shinobi of our ranks, but the Hokage's plan placed them as reserves so they had time to hesitate.
I, on the other hand, didn't.
Cold determination filled my entire being as I engaged the enemy forces with the rest of those stationed in the frontal assault.
I was no stranger to all-out close combat battles, but I had always preferred the way of stealth, it just seemed more… natural to me.
The battle was a large one and each side took many causalities, but it was quite clear who was going to end up winning. The enemy shinobi seemed to be never ending and our forces were dwindling fast.
Being as determined as I was, I remained unfazed as the ratio between our forces continued to tilt severely. But as one enemy gave way to two who gave way to four, exhaustion quickly began to set in.
It was at that point when I finally decided to glance across the battlefield. Seeing small squads of the allied shinobi fighting for their lives in an overwhelming sea of enemies, I began to realize just how impossible 'winning' was.
My glance didn't reveal the faces of the friends I had seen previously which I found extremely disheartening.
So, with my friends likely KIA, a massive portion my allies KIA, the outpost no longer defendable, reinforcements to far away to be of any help, and the high probability that I would not return home, I began to contemplate my own mortality.
Or, lack there of.
Calling upon the Kyubi's power, as well as what remained of my own, I decided to tryout a technique that I had designed myself in honor of my late father.
The technique was designed to give the user the ability to reach unimaginable speeds in less than an instant.
Let's just say it worked.
(Flashback End)
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"And, after I used my technique, I found myself just outside of Pallet Town and from there you know the rest." Naruto concluded.
He was met with silence.
"Sooo." Ash began awkwardly. "You're a shinobi?"
"Yes."
"A ninja?"
"Yes."
"You've killed people?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to kill us now that we know your secret."
"Why would I?"
"Have you ever heard the saying 'if I told you I would have to kill you'?"
"What?"
"Never mind."
"Wait." Misty cut in, effectively stopping the rapid digression. "I'm confused. What happened to your friends after you used your technique, did you get the outpost back?"
"I eliminated every enemy shinobi inside the outpost so unless Iwa had reserves on hand the allied reinforcements should have arrived and secured the outpost. As for my friends… I wasn't able to see or sense them so it is likely they were KIA." Naruto explained revealing bit more emotion than he intended.
"So that's it?" Brock asked. "The base was taken and the fighting just stopped?"
"Not likely." Naruto responded. "Such a large scale fight wasn't common outside of the Great Shinobi Wars that had taken place years before I was ever born. It is likely that Iwa, Konoha, and Suna would first ask for some compensation. And unless one side gave in, tensions between the nations would escalate and lead to one very costly outcome."
"And that would be?" Ash asked.
"War."
"War between a bunch of ninja. That's a scary thought." Ash commented.
"A thought that will become a reality in the near future." Naruto said, gaining everyone's attention.
"How so." Brock asked.
"Have you forgotten what happened this afternoon?" Naruto questioned, looks of recollection masking more than a few faces. "You've all lived in this world your entire lives. You should know that that was not just some common everyday occurrence."
"Now tell me this." Naruto requested after a short pause. "Have any of you ever read about history?"
His question was met with three looks of uncertainty.
"Sort of." Ash said.
"What do you mean?"
"I have only read about the history of great pokémon trainers."
"Have you read about the Indigo Plateau?"
"Some."
"What did you read?"
"That it was built in the name of salvation, or something like that."
"Not quite." Naruto responded. "The Indigo Plateau is home to such a prestigious competition because it is the location where the War of Salvation began."
Looks of realization dawned on everyone in the room as Naruto spoke those words.
Apparently everyone was taught at least some history.
The pieces gradually began to connect as the ungodly battle that was held between Naruto and his attacker began to line up with descriptions that had, at one point been written of as the hallucinations of veterans scarred by the horrors of war.
"Wait." Ash said as he attempted to fill in the puzzle Naruto had now presented. "So, what your saying is that the organization of superhuman soldiers that had fought for control over the world a century ago, is somehow related to the person that attacked you on the road?"
"Not only that, but I also believe that the person that attacked me on the road is in the organization." Naruto clarified.
"So, what does that mean?" Misty inquired, not quite sure where the conversation was headed.
"It means that the organization has once again rose to power." Naruto explained. "But, this time they have virtually no opposition. If my estimates on the strength of their army are correct, then all they have to do to achieve the takeover that they had so desired a century ago is strike."
"Then why don't they?" Brock asked.
"That is a question that I cannot yet find an answer for."
"So then what?" Ash asked.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"What are we going to do about the impending doom that you speak of?" Ask inquired as he shifted his position on the couch. "Judging by the fact that you know all this, I'm guessing that your not just going to look the other way as these people over run the planet. And, judging by the fact that you are a ninja that has had previous experience in large scale combat, I'm guessing you would be the most ideal person in the world to lead a resistance against the organization."
"You seem to have really thought this though Ash." Naruto commented.
"Well wasn't that one of your rules?" Ash responded smugly. "Observe the situation before reacting to it."
"Indeed." Naruto said, pausing for a second to collect his thoughts. "As you said, I do plan on challenging the organization by combating it with an army of my own, but there is one problem. While I may know how to train such an army, my ability to recruit one is extremely lacking."
"Well you got me so far, so it can't be that bad." Ash said.
"What?"
"You thought I was just going to pass up the chance to save the world by fighting alongside a closet-ninja who could teach me how to be a Pokémon Master as well as a deadly warrior of the shadows?" Ash asked.
"Yes." Naruto responed. "Aren't you ten years old? I fully expected you to try and find a way to avoid entering the war by disassociating yourself with one of the people it is going to be centered around. Namely me."
"Well its obvious that you don't know me that well. And if I know Brock and Misty as much as I think I do then you don't know them that well either." Ash retorted. "You just told us that the entire world was about to be taken over by a organization that is not known for its benevolent rule and you expect us to run away? We have more of a reason to fight than you do. We have families that we would rather not see suffer and you just gave us a perfect way to prevent them from suffering of course we would go with it. Misty might be a little squeamish at first, but that should be expected."
"Of course you would say that." Misty growled as she glared at Ash from the other couch. "Weaving an insult into a heartfelt speech. I should have known that would happen."
"Yes. Yes you should have."
"So, how are we going to find an army?" Brock questioned, breaking up the mounting tension.
Brock's question was followed by one minute of complete silence everyone present in the room searched for a solution.
The silence was finally broken by none other than Denkou.
"Pika, pika, chu, pika, pika, pika, chu, pikachu, pika!" Denkou exlaimed as he waved his hands around in a series of wild gestures.
Denkou's outburst received an approving nod from Pikachu and, at that very moment, almost everyone in the room wished for the ability to speak the Pikachu language.
"I think what Denkou is trying to say is that we need to show the public what kind of danger this organization poses and show our ability to fight it." Ash clarified, surprisingly gaining a nod of agreement from the small pokémon.
"How do you propose we do that, seeing as only one of us can actually fight the organization?" Brock inquired.
"Well of course Naruto would teach us how to be proper ninjas before we preformed such an advertisement." Ash said, receiving a nod of approval from Naruto. "And as for the advertisement itself I think we should do it in Vermilion City. I heard that the gym leader there was once related to a military organization and I also want to get one more badge before the war begins."
"That sounds like a good plan for now." Naruto consented as he headed for the door of the suite motioning for the others to follow. "We'll work out the details later, but right now we need to start our training."
"Training?" Misty questioned. "Its like nine o'clock."
"Well then we will train for one hour tonight." Naruto responded. "Becoming a respectable shinobi takes time."
"Time that I am going to have to make for this army to have any sort of chance."
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AN: Well, there's the chapter hope you liked it.
This chapter was basically an extremely simplified summary of Naruto's past, which will be clarified and explored more in depth at certain points of the story.
As always reviews are welcome and appreciated.
Until next time...