The Dynasty of Tomorrow
Chapter one: World once lost
They say that time is valuable. That you should live your life to its fullest because you will never get that time back again.
Naruto had lived by that standard.
Alone in this world with no knowledge of who his family was or wasn't Naruto Uzumaki was thrust into a life of constant battle of proving his mettle. Of showing time and time again that he was worthy of the goodness in the world and not of the disparaging looks or harsh sneers.
He was a man of worth despite all the words of the villagers that spoke otherwise.
He had been put through trials and gone past all tribulations to survive to metamorphosis into someone that was of worth in not only the eyes of those around him. For himself as well. He was the village's Hokage proven through his merit, blood, sweat, and tears.
Though this new venture had to be the most challenging.
Naruto's once pale blue eyes swirled deep and dark like the depth of the vast seas that had once surrounded his former clan. His once golden hair was now a glimmering ruby red. The years of age he had gained over the last decade were gone and a youthful child stared back from his reflection. He thought he was going crazy.
No, he had to have been going crazy.
Just yesterday he was facing his late thirties, most likely facing his death. A rather unexpected man had appeared before him, a man sent out to end the peace Naruto had worked so hard for. The man that had been haunting every human sacrifice trying his damndest to put the world into his own perfection. It was truly hard to destroy ghosts it would seem.
His village had been torn asunder and Naruto had been caught up fighting a man strikingly similar to every cursed Uchiha he had ever had the misfortune to come across.
While his people died from the man's black and white minon called Zetsu he was trying to stop the catastrophic force before him. He won the battle but lost himself and his mind when returning to the remains that were once his people.
It had broken him to asunder with seeing everything turn into nothing but rubble and ash before his own eyes. All this time he had thought he had been fighting to save them when in truth he was being fooled and pulled away.
It took the death of all his precious people for Naruto to break.
It had been a daze of him haggardly searching, broken heart on his sleeve until the deep echo of Karuma inside him dredged his weakened mind and soul from the shell.
The near manifestation of the nine tails was the final straw and moved the last Uzumaki to the land of his people. The man could not focus on the dilapidated buildings and soothing calling of the land.
He mindlessly aimed got isolation and some hidden fortitude.
Naruto had lost his control but the power of the beast inside him wanted him to live, to be his purpose once again and there was only one way to do that.
With all his might the demon within moved and urge his human to follow his will.
This was the will of the collective of bijuu inside the body and soul of the last Uzumaki. This itself was the will of the sage of six paths, to save them all Naruto needed to fix it all.
They probably should have warned the former Hokage before they shipped him off to the past though.
T.D.O.T.
Eyes blearily blinked looking up into the bright sunshine-lit skies. The sound of running water nearby made the young form scrunch his face in confusion.
His body ached and made the figure jolt a bit in pain while struggling to sit up. His stomach lurched and he shifted to vomit into the stone beneath him.
"What the hell happened." The small voice was scratchy and echoed in the quiet of the empty village.
A toddler sat in the vast structures of nothingness only surrounded by foliage and water. Surrounded by the rich growth of wildlife and water threw the boy off for a few faltering moments.
The deep blue eyes blinked away and looked to his surroundings. Staggering village homes and ripplings of water were the only things in abundance in the ghost village he was sprawled in.
Naruto frowned ignoring the ache in his body and rubbed his eye only to be shocked by the abundance of cloth rubbing his face.
The boy jerked away and stared shocked at the long sleeve hanging off his raised arm.
"What the fuck?" His other hand reached out to grasp the cloth only to see the same amount of long cloth hanging off his other arm. He looked down seeing small legs peeking out of his shirt and gently eased himself to stand on shaky legs.
His pants were piled next to him alongside his traveling gear and his gaze focused on a complicated seal carved into the bottom of what had once been a fountain. It looked impacted from where he had lain, the stone carving broken and no longer a solid piece it had been before. To an untrained eye, it seemed like a beautiful carving on the once-fountain floor but Naruto knew better.
Any traces of the symbols that had been scattered though were gone and now just sat the beginning carvings of what had to have been a long detailed fuinjutsu seal.
One he had never seen before in his life or several years of study.
A glimmering of red caught his eyes and Naruto swiftly shifted, mind still clinging to the years of survival he had once lived by. Despite his body being a little slow to catch up.
There was nothing though, nothing but shimmering ruby red hair hanging off his shoulder. Moving the sleeves of his clothing back Naruto gingerly touched the hair and tugged horrified to find it was attached to his head.
Dizziness overwhelmed the former Hokage.
Naruto stumbled over clawing his way to a river of running water that bisected the dilapidated village. He blinked confused staring back into the soft features and youthful face of himself. Except he had red long hair and deep blue eyes. His skin had paled out and his once tight-fitting shirt now hung large and loose on his small frame.
"I'm fucking dreaming!" Small hands immediately clutched the red hair and the toddler began pacing until Naruto halted and scrambled to meditate.
It was immediate the boy fell easily through the darkness in his mind into the familiar pathway that led him to his partner. Naruto bolted surprised to find himself still like the small toddler he awoke himself to be.
He arrived at the cage that housed his bijuu who was panting and eyeing the boy, not in anger or annoyance but almost pleased.
"Good our bond was not severed." The tension in the nine tails seemed to escape the creature before Naruto was before him clinging into his snout.
"Karuma, what's going on?" Naruto's voice was quivering and he was openly freaking out. The bijuu soothed his human with a low rumbling of his throat sounding similar to a purr.
"We have gone back, I could not allow for you to live a life of misery Kit. You can fix it, save them all. You can keep your will alive now." Naruto frowned not understanding.
"Save who, what do you mean by back?" Naruto was vibrating with fear and uncertainty.
"We went back in time. Far back to a time even before you had come into existence. Though not far off the mark if my perception is correct." The bijuu hummed softly as if trying to sway off of sleep.
"You will face much more trials this life Kit, as the sage foretold you are the child, our guiding light. Change what you must but know some events must come to pass even with your intervention." A low purr came from the large creature who eyed the tearful boy.
He could see hope glimmering in the gaze of his charge and it soothed the beast who trilled in excitement once more. A wave of exhaustion took the beast but he had to fight it off for a bit more.
"Go study the way of your clan, you cannot be Naruto any longer. Find a new you and carve the future you must to move forward. I must sleep now Kit you will always be protected but do not manipulate my chakra until I have recovered. Go now." Karuma settled that his words were heard surged and ensured his charge was pushed back into unconsciousness before he settled to begin his long sleep.
Naruto surged upward-looking once more into the vast emptiness that surrounded him.
He was in the past, how far back that was left to be figured out another time.
Karuma was right though he had no time to sit around idle trying to figure that out. He was in the body of his former toddler self and needed to regain a semblance of who he once was.
He would fix it all but for now, he had to figure it all out first and get his shit together if he was going to be helping anyone.
T.D.O.T.
Jiraiya frowned feeling a tugging on seals he had long thought be erased. His gaze lifted from the memorial left in honor of his only student and willed his body forward. Hiruzen had ensured to watch over his godson so he could continue his path set before himself.
The sage bit his tongue he needed to return to the land of Toads. They were calling to him urgently and it gave the sage a foreboding feeling.
Jiraiya excused himself and set off slipping into the realm of summons and moved to the mount encountering Pa who stopped him from pressing forward.
The old toad eyed Jiraiya warily and only cleared his throat. "We need the toad summoning contract you have. We have found one worthy." Pa did not elaborate despite Jiraiya's stiffening and the sage only frowned annoyed to be called for this task.
He trusted the toad and relinquished the contract despite the urge to ask more of the aged toad. Another toad clamored down to obtain the contract and scatter up the looming mount to where the mysterious person was hidden away.
Jiraiya didn't leave but was kept from further entering the land of the toads and his curiosity only skyrocketed. He eyed the toad when a ripple of power escaped the area and settled with ease. In a shuffle of moments, the contract was returned and Jiraiya was sent away.
The sage huffed at the rude treatment but his curiosity was peaked and swiftly the contract was opened. Looking to the new addition of a name Jiraiya was stunned.
Soma Uzumaki.
It was eloquently written but that wasn't what caused the sage's eyes, it was the name above that. One covered in a seal so complicated it even made Jiraiya's head spin in confusion. A name that had not been there before and he was sure of it. Had two people signed it and were one someone the Toads wished to hide away, even from him.
The leaf Sannin sealed the contract closed before trudging off back toward the hidden village.
Something told him he would be seeing this Soma soon and hoped he would shed light on who's name had been written and hidden.
T.D.O.T.
The young boy traveled the lands with ease a child his age should not have had. The troupe of people who followed in his wake was an even more peculiar sight to behold though. The young redhead was only a child of seven years and a mystery to all those around him, even to his own people.
His name was no longer his to claim, the boy was now called Soma. The current head of the once scattered Uzumaki clan. In the few years he was alive the child had become more into himself a small genius to those surrounding him. The Uzumaki prince to those that still lived and wore their clan name proudly.
He scoured the lands collecting the tomes and relics of his people and saving those of the scattered clan despite his small body and youth.
Soma glanced back to the people he claimed his family and could spot the trio of teens he had saved. Orphans like he was and thankfully people he had saved this time. The Ame orphans who Naruto had veered away from the path of death and destruction they had been hurtling towards.
To his other side stood Azumi Uzumaki holding a quietly sleeping Karin. Soma had made a name for himself in his few years of life and done his best to begin his plans of saving those in his future.
The young boy sealed away the main thorn in his side, white and black Zetsu. They would be sealed away forever and for all eternity never to fulfill their goal. Well, that's what he was hoping for at least. White Zetsu he was sure would be bound. Black Zetsu was always a bit slippery but Soma's seals were nothing to laugh at and he had decades to perfect them.
He had been nothing but lucky to stumble upon the creatures resting place. It must have been in hibernation after is separation as it had not once opened its eyes while the child did his task. When finally growing enough to skillfully escape the ruins of his clan's homeland the boy had sought out to find exactly when he was. It was hard to get a read on where and when he was.
That was until he was reverse summoned to the toad mount. Soma had heard the fourth hokage lived. He had thought he had enough time to accomplish his tasks and hopefully save his parents.
The toads began training once more before he scrambled off to accomplish a few goals necessary for future security. His aim was to ensure small things from his life never occurred here in this time.
It was how he encountered Pain, who still called himself Nagato. Yahiko was still living and Konan was still faithfully by their sides. Soma ensured the trio saw the truth of their fruitless endeavors by ensuring to manipulate clones of his to look like them. He made them watch what would have been their outcome that would have led to certain death.
Their heartbreak over their escaped fate opened them up to Soma's words and they followed his will and word then and there. All becoming Shinobi under the tiny Uzu child.
While they had each been burdened about the fact they had been so close to the end they could do nothing but follow the child who had gone out of his way to save them. He gave them hope, he gave them peace and he opened their eyes to the truth.
It wasn't hard to see the obvious origins of the boy, He had all the blaring traits of an Uzumaki and didn't seem to by afraid to his it.
Not too much long afterwards they encountered a pregnant red-haired woman, Azumi. She was kidnapped by a group of men who forced her to heal so often that it was killing her. That in itself nearly threw Konan into a fit of rage.
It was Soma who had surprised them all by rushing forward and helping the woman escape with them, they didn't encounter her captors but they hadn't had long till the woman later gave birth.
Now they all travel completing odd jobs to support their traveling group but Nagato and Yahiko could both see it in the boy, in their leader.
He was looking for a safe home for his people, despite being so young the boy shouldered a responsibility to them they could not fully grasp.
It took several weeks until the boy temporarily settled his group in a small area near the land of waves. Nagato and Yahiko kept the group from entering the domain of people though, as they held many vulnerable Uzumaki's in their grasp still. Soma kept them safe and they didn't want to risk any in their small group.
It was at this time that their unspoken child leader left them for a few momentary hours only to return looking pouty and somber. A turbulent mix of emotions made the group concerned with their leader who chose to hold back whatever had caused him anguish.
That was when Soma realized he had just missed his opportunity to save good parents. Though looking at his group he understood that some sacrifices would have to come to pass. Karuma's words rang true and Some knew some events had to happen.
Everything he did had consequences and Soma realized he needed to return to his previous people. He needed to ensure they would be safe.
Soma led the group out and away walking deeper into the land full of trees. He was following a officially signature of chakra, one he would always remember. He couldn't risk missing another opportunity, he didn't want to disappoint himself further.
The Ame trio had switched over to the boy's shinobi attire at his insistence even going so far as to wearing the Uzumaki headband. Azumi had pulled out a similar headband she kept hidden as well and they walked deep into fire country.
Deep into the forest and through the canopy of trees that surrounded them all. The boy stayed mostly silent leading them into a village full of bustling crowds out celebrating and the young boy ushered them into an inn.
Pulling out a wallet looking like a overstuffed frog their shared room was paid for and the young boy settled his people in with food and a promised word of his return.
It would have been strange for any other to witness but the boy truly was their leader whom they would devoutly follow.
Soma sighed swiftly his soft gaze taking in the festival surrounding him. He was here and he was sure of it. His narrowed youthful gaze watched the roads and turns of the town until he found the spot he was looking for.
The bathhouses.
Soma bit his lip in worry. It was so close to his birthday and he had yet to find a way to enter the hidden village of the leaf.
He may have been a child but he was still a trained shinobi, they would not trust the boy. Not when they had just finished a war, not on his promises of loyalty.
If he followed everything correctly then he could be there to protect his younger self from all the nights of the festival. His birthday was never a celebrated time and he shuddered and refused to allow this Naruto the life he had led once before.
To do that though he had to become a shinobi of the leaf, he had to get access to the village. Currently, he was an unknown force as it was and needed the leaf to seek him out.
Yes, he needed them to want him and the only way to do so was to catch their eye.
Soma charged forward spotting the familiar head of white and pushed his emotions away before slamming forward and into the giant peeping man. Quick with his movements he slammed a seal hindering the sage's movements.
"Oi, you pervert stop peaking on the woman's bathhouse!" Soma easily dodged the suddenly fussing older man and snickered when a torent of angered woman practically scaled the wall to attack the pervert.
Jiraiya was annoyed the little brat had ruined his most important research. Though he paused himself despite the blaze of fury aimed at him by a group of women and watched the young red-haired boy snicker at him.
A shade of red that was unmistakable but the boy's forehead sat an insignia he thought was long lost.
Uzumaki.
The boy was gone in a flash of moments but Jiraiya did everything he could to follow the ghostly whisper of humming energy the boy had.
It led him to an inn, to a room full of others and the sage gulped before charging into the room. He could hold himself well and had no doubt He could take on a child and a few others he was traveling with. So he burst into a room if alert people who all froze on sight of him.
He blinked and the occupants blinked before Jiraiya was warmly enveloped in a hug by a trio of kids he had heard were dead.
The young red-haired boy eyed the older man and his hands when hugging Konan threatening him with his tiny gaze. The greetings had to be put on the back burner though.
The young boy called to his people who the sage realized now bore the status of Uzumaki shinobi-hood.
"Did you need something you pervert?" The young boy finally spoke and his soft scratchy voice didn't match the threat of power behind the kids' gaze. Jiraiya spotted a woman carefully clutching a young girl but the small red haired leader blocked his gaze and warned him away from them.
The sage knew though a child the boy could back up his threat and the hope he had once lost in life was slowly returning. Ever since Minato's death he had been fearing for his godson, the council was in control of the boy.
Despite Jiraiya being his godfather, Naruto was alone after birth and denied a chance to proper care and protection. They claimed Jiraiya was not the boy's blood and would not be allowed to sway the boy's motives.
That was bullshit.
The civilians just wanted to make that child life a living hell but Jiraiya was gone from the village often and the people of his village refused to give up their 'weapon' despite treating the child like shit.
That settled something in the sage, some powerful emotion he never thought he would encounter. He needed to get word back to the village right away and he needed to convince this little brat into joining the leaf.
"Hey kid, what's your name," Jiraiya noticed the narrowed of the boy's gaze. The sage could practically taste the overflowing power coming from the kid and knew there was hope for his godson's future after all.
Now he just had to convince the kid and his sensei of this and it would all work out...Right?
Thank you for reading