Yo, this chapter has also been edited slightly, i mainly just removed some of the japanese, honestly im not sure what i was thinking using it - a slightly strange and offensive review pointed out that i used too much, i must admit i used a bit, but, what the hell - also said my english was bad also... which is worrying since its my first language.
Oh well, enjoy the chapter!
As Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha, he noticed a slight change in the looks sent his way. While the majority still glared, a few (mostly shinobi) offered appreciative nods his way. Although a small difference, it added to Naruto's high spirits. Naruto was currently on his way to the village gates. After he'd received the jutsu scrolls from Tsunade he'd bumped into Jiraiya who told him they'd be going on a training trip which had elated the young blond to no end, however he'd also found out that he'd be gone for three years. That bit of information hadn't exactly thrilled him, but considering the amount of training he needed to do, he decided it was acceptable.
Turning the corner, Naruto's eyebrows shot up at the sight of the large gathering of people waiting at the gates. There was the whole of team 8 and 10, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei were also there. Tsunade and Shizune stood closest to the gate, the latter looking slightly disgruntled at having to ward off a pervy looking Jiraiya. Team-Gai had also turned up and stood slightly apart from the rest of the group, a tired looking Tenten standing guard between an excitable Lee and a bored Neji. As Naruto got closer, the group's attention was drawn towards the young blond.
"Mornin' everyone!" Naruto shouted happily.
"Ugh Naruto, you're too loud for this time of morning." Shikamaru drawled in a bored tone, followed by a 'troublesome blond comment' upon getting an angry cry from Naruto, earning him a knock on the head from Ino. The jinchuriki weaved his way through the crowd and approached the two Sannin and Shizune.
"Yo Ero-sannin, Baa-chan, Shizune nee-chan!" Naruto greeted, ignoring the throbbing veins that appeared on both the Sannin's foreheads and grinning at the small smile on Shizune's face.
"Bloody brat…" The toad sage mumbled to himself, "Anyways, you ready to go?" He questioned.
"Yep got everything I need right here!" Naruto exclaimed, his thumb pointing to his backpack.
"Probably filled with cup ramen…" A certain Nara commented from behind, earning a chorus of laughs much to the young blond's displeasure.
"Moving on," Tsunade began, clearing her throat, "You two should probably get going." She said, a slight waver in her voice.
"Hai!" Naruto responded, in an excited tone but with the same waver his adoptive grandmother had. One by one, each member of the Konoha 12 minus Sasuke came up to bid Naruto the best of luck. Team 10 had offered Naruto a small travelling pack of assorted foods, courteous of Choji. Team 8's goodbye and abruptly short, Kiba having done the majority of the talking and an extortionately shy Hinata handing over a small container of healing ointment, to which Naruto was grateful for and praised her causing the young Hyuuga to pass out. Team Gai's parting words had also been short, Tenten and Neji having to drag Lee away as his shouts of youth became a slight bit overbearing. Kakashi put away his book to wish Naruto farewell and gave a few words of wisdom, something along the lines 'treasure your time training with the world's most amazing author' to which Naruto sweatdropped and then laughed, embarrassed. Next Sakura approached Naruto slowly, her head lowered.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned. She proceeded to walk towards the young blond before embracing him gently.
"Be careful Naruto-kun," She whispered, before withdrawing and giving him a death glare, "And I swear to Kami if you come back a pervert I'll personally castrate you." Sakura threatened menacingly, causing shivers to run up the spins of every male present, and a subsequent sweatdrop from Jiraiya.
"She's just like Tsunade…" He thought to himself worriedly.
"Right brat, we should be off." Jiyaiya stated, after shaking himself from his thoughts and beginning down the path out of Konoha.
"Hai, hai" Naruto replied, before following the sage.
"Naruto-kun!" Naruto spun on his heels to find a teary Tsunade with a small, kind smile on her face. She walked up to him and bent over at the waist so she could speak to him at eye level causing the young blond blush as she unknowingly gave him a prime view of her cleavage.
"W-what's up baa-chan?" He stuttered, earning a knowing grin from Jiraiya.
"You stay safe you hear me Naruto, and you better come back strong too," She smirked, "Can't have the future Hokage being a weakling, can we?" Tsunade joked. Naruto smiled at the running joke between them. Naruto's expression turned to shock however as the medic leaned down further and kissed him on the forehead. "Now run along Naruto-kun, I'll see you in 3 years." She said, standing up straight and walking back to the crowd, ignoring the shocked (and some jealous) faces of the other ninja.
"Y-yosh, see ya" Naruto said having cleared his mind, waving to the group before running off to catch up with the old sage. "This is gonna be the best training trip ever!" He cheered to himself merrily. Oh how he was in for a shock…
6 Months Later
"This training trip sucks." A very unhappy Naruto grumbled as he walked through the dark streets of a small village near wave country. To say Naruto was unimpressed with his new sensei thus far would be an understatement. All they'd done since leaving Konoha was make their way from village to village, Jiraiya assigning Naruto chakra control exercises to do while he went off whoring.
"Bloody Ero-sannin" Naruto thought to himself despondently. The only consolation to the whole thing was that he had the Jutsu scrolls Tsunade had given him, but without proper instruction he hadn't gotten far. Plus he didn't even have a sword to practice the kenjutsu with. Looking up, Naruto noticed a small ramen stand. Smiling at his discovery he strutted over the little restaurant. "Trust ramen to save the day" He thought to himself merrily.
"Oi Ossan, give me 2 large misos." Naruto exclaimed as he moved under the flap.
"Yosh, coming right up" the stand owner replied turning around briefly to flash Naruto a grin. Naruto paused momentarily, eyeing the man cautiously, he looked suspiciously like Teuchi ojisan... Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as two people sat down at the other end of the stand.
"Did you hear about that fisherman the other day?" The first man questioned, he had a mop of brown hair and a rugged face.
"No? What the hell you on about?" The second asked, he too had messy brown hair however his was cut shorter and he had a younger, slimmer face.
"Well I heard he was out on a trip and got too close to those whirlpools surrounding the old Uzushiogakure ruins" the man began, leaning closer.
"Ooooh that's never a good thing" the other declared dramatically, throwing his head back.
"Yep, just goes to show. Reelin' in a good catch ain't worth your life" the first stated followed by a sage like nod from the second man. Meanwhile Naruto's mind was working at a mile a minute. He was near his ancestral home! He HAD an ancestral home! He knew that he clan had been all but wiped out but he'd never thought of their origins, their old home.
Buzzing with excitement, Naruto vacuumed up the rest of his ramen and payed the stand owner before shooting of to find ero-sannin to tell him of his discovery before stopping mid sprint. "Even if I do find the old perv he'll probably be with some girls and tell me to get lost... And he might not even want to go out to some ruins because there won't be any girls out there." Naruto mentally considered conclusively, "Bah! Screw him, I'll go without him!" Naruto declared out loud earning odd glances from people passing by. "Alright, first things first, where the hell is Uzushiogakure?" The young jinchuriki questioned to himself. "I know, I'll go ask those guys at the stand!" He cried out loud before dashing off back to the stand.
Upon reaching the small restaurant, Naruto was relieved to find the men still sitting eating their ramen.
"Oi ossans" Naruto shouted, causing the two men to swivel on their seats.
"Watcha want gaki, we're eating here." The older of the two answered, the younger nodding in agreement.
"Do you guys know where Uzushiogakure is?" the young blond questioned loudly.
"Yeah," The older of the two again responded, "What's it to you huh?"
"Yeah what's it to you?" The younger one echoed earning an annoyed glance from his elder.
"I wanna go there!" Naruto exclaimed, causing the two men to pause and look at each other briefly before bursting out laughing.
"Ha ha… you wanna aaah go to Uzu? Oh man, that's the funniest thing I've heard in ages" The older one laughed, ignoring the disgruntled expression on Naruto's face.
"Oi what's so funny you bastards!" The jinchuriki shouted indignantly, breaking the two grown men out of their laughter.
"That place is a death trap kid, not only are the ruins rigged with traps, but the surrounding waters are home to numerous whirlpools." The older one stated, the younger nodding along.
"What so there's no way to get there?" Naruto questioned, his faced scrunched in confusion.
"Well not necessarily," The man began, "There is a way, but it's a hard route to navigate." He explained.
"Hn, very hard." The younger of the two repeated, nodding to himself, earning another glare from the older.
"Why anyway? What's got you so worked up about Uzushiogakure?" The older man asked, giving Naruto a curious glance, to which Naruto mumbled something incomprehensible, "What's that gaki?" He asked, a frown etched upon his face.
"My families from there! It's my ancestral home!" Naruto shouted, shocking both the men.
"What? You mean…" The elder began.
"Yeah I'm an Uzumaki, what of it!" the blond screamed, both men's surprise was evident on their faces.
"For real?" The eldest questioned shock still written all over faces, earning a fierce nod from Naruto, determination evident in his eyes. Slowly however, a grin crept onto the face of the older man before a soft chuckling emanated from his throat.
"Well I'll be damned, a real honest to god Uzumaki." He giggled, the younger man still looking on in confusion, "Hmm well you know what brat, how bout I take you to the old Uzu ruins then?" The man's smile widen upon seeing Naruto's expression.
"What? You mean it?" Naruto stammered, he couldn't believe his ears.
"Yep! And since I suppose you'll be travelling with us I guess introductions are in order!" The elder exclaimed dramatically, before thumbing his chest, "I'm Taro and this here is my younger brother Tari." He said gesturing to the younger of the two.
"Nice to meet you! The name's Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage of Konoha!" The young blond greeted enthusiastically.
2 Days Later – waters outside wave country.
"So are you guys sure you know where you're going?" A very sceptical Naruto questioned. The trio had set sail the day after meeting one another. Apparently the two brothers were fishermen and owner a small company that had been in their family for generations. Taro, the oldest had told Naruto that back before the Uzumaki clan had been exterminated, Taro and Tari's family had been in the slumps but the Uzumaki's had gone to them asking to help set up a fish trade business as the majority of the fish in the area lived on the wave countries side of the whirlpools surrounding Uzu, therefore the clan had little resources, so the Uzumaki's gave them a client to help re-establish their business and the Uzumaki's gained a source of fish, hence Taro and Tari's eagerness to help young Naruto.
"Yeah yeah don't worry about it, we'll be there soon enough" Taro responded casually.
"Yep nothin' to worry about." Tari copied, garnering a curious glance from Naruto and yet another glare from Taro.
"Well anyway it still's weird. I mean I haven't even seen a single whirlpool!" Naruto said, obviously agitated by the time it was taking to get there.
"Well of course you haven't, why would anyone sail near or into whirlpool's? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!" Taro quipped.
"Well how the hell are we getting there then? Isn't Uzushiogakure meant to be surrounded by whirlpools?" Naruto asked exasperated.
"Why we're goin' round the back of course." The older fisherman stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Upon seeing Naruto's remarkably confused features he expanded, "Not many know this but there's actually a slim part of the sea which isn't filled by whirlpools, that's how people travel to and from Uzu. While the whirlpools are a great defence from intruders, it's just impractical to have them surround the whole of the land. In fact I'm pretty sure our family are the only ones to know about it." While Naruto wasn't entirely convinced of this whirlpool-less pathway, he accepted the answer and went back to sulking about the ship they were sailing on before sitting down in his quarters and slipping into a dreamless sleep.
A few hours later and Naruto was abruptly brought out of his rest by the shouts of the two brothers. Rising sleepily, he made his way out onto the deck.
"Looks like you finally woke up!" Taro greeted merrily, "Just in time too, we're about to arrive." He said before moving off to steer the ship. Speechless, Naruto gazed into horizon and gasped at the sight of the approaching land. The first thing he noticed was the trees. While used to growing up around trees having been born in Konoha, Naruto had never seen any like this. They stood taller than any tree Naruto had ever seen. In fact the forest itself wasn't like any forest Naruto had ever seen. It was more like a jungle or a rainforest.
As they got closer to the island, Naruto's excitement only grew. He was so close to seeing his ancestral home. Where his kaa-chan was born. Sensing the young blond's excitement the eldest of the two brothers came over and placed a strong hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Listen brat, I know you're excited and all, and I get how you feel, but just don't get your hopes up okay" He said in a solemn tone.
"What do ya mean ossan?" Naruto asked.
"Well the village was left in ruins after the second great ninja war. So I'm pretty sure there's not much left there. Sorry kiddo." He replied sympathetically.
"Oh…" Was Naruto's only response. While he knew there wouldn't be much left he was still hoping for something nonetheless.
Upon reaching the island, Naruto hopped off the boat and stared wide eyed at the size of the forestry, craning his head to try and get a look at the top of the trees.
"Alright Gaki, me and Tari will wait here while you go ahead, the ruins should be located in the centre of the island so just keep going straight from this point and you should reach them." Tori shouted from aboard the ship.
"What!?" the young blond replied, "You mean you guys aren't coming with me?" Naruto shouted back.
"No" both brother's said in unison before causing Naruto to sweatdrop before Taro explained, "Uzushiogakure was a ninja village you see, no doubt they would have laid countless traps that us civilians wouldn't be able to avoid, it would be a certain death trap for us to go wondering in there."
"Oh right" Naruto said to himself, "suppose that's true…" he then turned to face the forest and began walking forward.
"We'll see you later kid! Stay safe!" The eldest brother exclaimed, echoed by Tari. Naruto didn't respond but instead simply raised his hand and waved slightly as a parting gesture before dashing off into the trees.
Hours later and to put it simply, Naruto was lost. He didn't know quite how long it was supposed to take him to reach the centre of the island, however he was pretty sure it shouldn't have taken him this long. "Not that Taro's directions were any help" He thought to himself irritably. Naruto however, never one to give up, kept on travelling through the large forest. As time passed, the sky which was barely visible through the trees began to darken, and just as the young Uzumaki was about to call it the quits, at least for the day that is, the forestry suddenly gave way to a vast clearing. Naruto gasped at the sight before him. Basked in the soft orange glow of the sunset, a whole village of ruins lay in front of the blond, while obviously ruins, the structures still stood proudly exhibiting their past prosperity.
Naruto hopped down from the tree he was standing on and walked towards the vast maze of rumble and ruined buildings. In the distance, the wreck of a particularly large building stood, towering over the rest. Seeming like a good place to start his exploration, the jinchuriki took off towards the building. Having heeded Taro's warning of possible traps, Naruto entered the structure with caution. The building itself was barren of pretty much anything salvageable, all the furniture lay in pieces and bits of broken ninja tools lay scattered across the floor. Nonetheless, he continued further into the building.
After exploring countless numbers of empty rooms Naruto came across a set of great wooden double doors, which despite the ruins around them seemed to be in relatively good condition. With a large shove, the young blond pushed the double doors open revealing a large room which reminded him of the Hokage's office back in Konoha. Naruto's eyes ran over the bookcases that lined the walls, slightly annoyed at the fact that they only seemed to contain history books and no jutsu scrolls. At the back of the room stood a sturdy wooden desk, Naruto rushed over to it and began searching through the drawers in hope of finding something worthwhile. To be honest, the Uzumaki didn't quite know what he was looking for, if he was even looking for anything in particular that is. Part of him however secretly hoped he'd come across a family heirloom or something which would connect him with his clan. But after seeing the state that the village was left in, his hopes were dwindling.
After rummaging through the majority of the draws he found no success, sighing to himself he sat down in the large swivelling chair, which somehow seemed in remarkable condition considering its surroundings. Looking down, he noticed a small box placed under the wooden desk. Reaching down, he picked it up carefully, eyeing the spiral engraved upon the lid. Opening it hesitantly, a small smile crept its way across his face as he saw the contents of the box. There, sat in a bed of velvet, was a perfectly maintained Uzushiogakure forehead protector attached to a jet black headband. Taking it out of the box his smile grew more content as he traced the spiral engraved on the metal, having found something to connect him with his clan. After a moments of consideration. Naruto used his mouth and his left hand to tie the forehead protector onto his right arm over his bicep, displaying his connection with Uzu with pride (A/N like how shikamaru wears his). Staring down at his now decorated arm, he sighed contentedly before spinning himself around in a slow, drawling pace, before a piece of parchment on the wall behind the desk caught his eye. "Why didn't I notice that before?" He wondered to himself. Standing up to get a better look at the text, he read it out loud.
"When the strength of the whirling tides has fallen, only the blood of an Uzumaki may rekindle the fire that lights the path of the whirlpool…" Naruto finished, his face scrunched in thought, pondering on the words written before him. "I don't get it" He thought, "What's the path of the whirlpool?" Shrugging to himself, he reached up and took the parchment from the wall before rolling it up and place it in one his larger pockets. Looking up he was shocked to find a seal painted on the wall where the parchment had previously been. Looking into his pocket as if considering the text and then back at the seal on the wall, the young blond remembered something the old ero-sannin had said about some seals that could only be released using blood.
"Ah fuck it," He said shrugging once more, "Not like I've got anything to lose." The young Uzumaki reasoned before grabbing a kunai out of his weapons pouch and opening a small cut on his thumb and smearing the blood over the seal. Seconds later and nothing happened. "Oh well it was a long shot anyway" Naruto sighed, turning around to leave. As he reached the door however, the room was covered in a bright blue light as the seal shone. Spinning on his heel, Naruto stared wide eyed as the seal expanded in complex sequences of kanji covering the entire wall. As the whole wall was engulfed by the fuinjustu, the room started shaking and very slowly, the wall began to rise giving away to another chamber. After a few tense moments, Naruto realised he had been holding his breath. Quickly exhaling, he stepped towards the new room cautiously. Upon reaching the boundary where the wall had risen, the young jinchuriki gasped at the sight of the chamber. It was more like a corridor than anything really. Its walls were lined with statues of people both men and women dressed in traditional Uzumaki battle armour. Each figure had a name engraved onto the base of its stand. Walking down into the chamber Naruto couldn't help but be amazed at the level of detail carved into each statue. It was if they were each alive, eyes boring into him.
At the end of the corridor stood the largest of the statues. The figure was different from the rest of the other statues, not only in his attire but also his facial features. It wore plain robes instead of armour and had a plain head band tied around his head covering his forehead up two his eyebrows. His hair, unlike the others whose hair was mostly long and tied into ponytails, was cut short and spiked up at the top in random directions. Two bangs fell through the head band tied by hairbands at either side of his face. His face was fixed in a stern gaze, which if Naruto was observant, he probably would have realised to be a warning, as if he was guarding the chamber. In front of the statue was a podium, on top of which stood a regal looking Katana, its sheath a simple black with 3 red tomoes at the base of the sheath near the hand guard. The handle was black but with small red diamonds running up the length of it on both sides and a small red tassel hanging from the end. The hand guard was red and circular, designed in the shape of the spiral. Underneath the blade, Naruto noticed writing was engraved onto the stone podium.
"Here lies the sword of Asura Otsutsuki. Only those of direct decent may wield this blade with strength of the whirling tides." Naruto read aloud. "Again with the strength of the whirling tides" He thought to himself, "And who the hell is Asura Otsutsuki? He's not even an Uzumaki" The young blond questioned mentally. After moments of careful consideration, Naruto decided that since Tsunade baa-chan had said he was an Uzumaki, he must have been of direct decent, whatever that meant, and since he'd come this far, he might has well take the sword. Reaching out with both hands, the young Uzumaki grasped the blade by the sheath and lifted it up off the stand it was perched upon. Seconds went by and nothing happened. Naruto let out a sigh of relief having not tripped some crazy elaborate trap. "Phew, thought I was gonna have to run for it then" He thought, chuckling to himself.
As the young blond turned to leave however the room was once again bathed in the blue glow of a seal activating. Spinning on his heel, Naruto turned to see the great statue of what was presumably the Otsutsuki guy covered in a complex seal with a large spiral in the middle. Slowly, as if becoming unfrozen, the stone that made up the statue began to chip away revealing another layer beneath. Naruto gazed on in awe as bit by bit the stone veneer crumbled away only to reveal a life-like model of the man portrayed in the statue.
"W-what the hell is that" Naruto stuttered, taking a few steps back. To his surprise however a voice answered him back.
"Not 'what' child, 'who'" The voice answered, the deep sound resonating throughout the chamber. Now Naruto was really freaking out. "Where the hell did that voice come from" He thought frantically.
"Up here, child." The voice once again boomed, its tone stern but not aggressive, if anything it had a kind ring to it. Naruto looked up in the direction of the voice and was surprised to find the statue behind the sword staring down at him. He opened his mouth to speak however nothing came out as he again took steps back away from the statue.
"Worry not young one, I'm not here to hurt you. If I was you'd most likely already be dead." The figure consoled, however it did little to ease Naruto's nerves.
"W-what do you mean I'd already be dead" The young jinchuriki stammered, his fear having eased slightly.
"I was placed here as a countermeasure, to ensure that no one unworthy could ever wield the sword in your hands. However, I am also here to greet those who have reclaimed the blade." It explained, before staring at Naruto inquisitively, "In fact, how did you know you were of direct decent child. While you are obviously of my blood, the line is long and clouded. How did you know you are my decedent?" It questioned. Naruto, momentarily snapped out of his fear, took a moment to rub the back of his head and chuckle embarrassingly.
"Haaa, yeah I kind of… didn't?" He said through a foxy smile, noticing the slight falter in the statues facial expression which could be akin to something like a sweatdrop. Coughing, the figure regained his composure.
"Well anyway," It began, "My name is Asura Otsutsuki, son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, sage of the six paths and heir to his teachings" the figure introduced proudly.
"Never heard of you." Naruto said simply, causing the statues face to falter more visibly this time.
"I suppose that's irrelevant, "It said, coughing once again, "I am the sole ancestor of the Senju and Uzumaki clans. Through the generations, my will and chakra has been passed on to the one most worthy. The last before you was a certain Senju, Hashirama if I recall correctly." He stated definitively.
"The Shodai?" Naruto questioned to himself in wonder. It was all a little much for him to comprehend. He was related to the Shodai? Or they had the same chakra? "Wait Asura oji-san, what does any of this mean?" He asked, ignoring the fact that the figure's eyebrow twitched upon hearing his term of address.
"It means, young one, that your path will be long and will contain many hardships that you must face, you are not gifted with natural talent, much like myself, therefore must work hard to attain strength to protect those closest to you. It also means your fate is intertwined with that of another, who carries the will and chakra of my brother, Indra." He answered. Naruto didn't know why, but as soon as Asura mentioned the descendent of Indra, his mind immediately conjured images of Sasuke. "Go now child and become strong. Wield that sword with pride in the name of all those who have wielded it before you, and keep your will strong, it's all us geniuses of hard work have, after all." Asura advised in a sage-like tone.
"You bet Asura oji-san, I'll become stronger than even you!" Naruto declared, earning the small curt laugh from the old sage. Suddenly the seal once again flashed of the figure of Asura as stone began creeping its way up his body covering it. Looking on with a content smile, Naruto waited until the figure was completely encased in stone, before turning and walking back down through the long chamber. What he failed to notice however, was the small grin that now graced the newly re-formed statues features.
Yo thanks for reading, press all those buttons at the bottom or top if you wanna follow somethign i dunno.
Ciao.