A/N: I, like many Naruto fans, don't like Kaguya. So I decided to remove her from Naruto altogether. This is my headcanon of what I think the lore might look like without Kaguya. I hope you enjoy!
My headcanon revolves mostly around the Bijuu and their role in the universe. I don't like Kaguya, and I don't particularly like the Juubi either. The Sage of Six Paths is ok, I guess, but he works better as a mystical lore figure than the deus ex machina who is sort of Naruto's and Sasuke's spirit dad who give them the power they need to seal away the evil rabbit goddess during the climax. It kind of cheapens all the work they've put into improving if the only reason they can win is because they just happen to sort of be the reincarnated children of an old dude who's just there to give them the exact power they need for absolutely no reason? Either way, I'm definitely cutting out Kaguya and the Juubi (debatably Hagoromo too, to a lesser extent), so I need to figure out where chakra comes from and what role the Bijuu fill without them.
Although, the whole reason I don't particularly like the Sage is because he's overused in the climax and overexplained instead of left as a cool ancient lore figure. So does chakra really need to be explained? I don't really think so, at least, not to the extent of inventing a god-tree and a rabbit goddess to doom the world to never know peace or some bullshit like that. My personal view on chakra is that it's just the energy of the world. There isn't any origin for it, beyond it came into existence when the world did. No, I'm not making an origin for the world. I'm just saying that chakra is an integral part of the world just as much as matter is and I will treat it like that.
So, what does that look like? I think chakra is really just energy, so anything that takes energy uses chakra. Life, movement, reaction, thought, souls, lightning, fire, everything. So, from that context, it makes sense for natural chakra to exist as simply the ambient energy in the air and nature. Physical and spiritual chakra are just the energy in your body and spirit, respectively. So then, even civilians use chakra for everything that uses energy. Shinobi just happen to know how to use it for things that civilians don't. And certain people are just better at using energy than others (ninja clans, prodigies). Certain people are predisposed to certain types of energy (elemental affinities, kekkei genkai), and those predispositions are hereditary.
I like the Bijuu, so I want them to exist without that dumb god-tree bullshit. So, how do I do that? I thought the best solution (or at least, the coolest one I thought of) was for them to be an extension of nature. After all, nature is chaotic and difficult to control. Even more, nature often takes advantage of destruction. Fires destroy forests, and new forests grow from the ashes. That's the idea I want; Bijuu are natural disasters incarnate, that simply allow for the growth of life through destruction. They are just concentrations of nature's chakra that are so dense and potent that they not only have physical form, but also sentience and sapience. This means that Hagoromo Otsutsuki didnot make them by splitting up a god-tree. He actually has no involvement whatsoever in their origin, and probably doesn't have any relationship to them at all.
In that context, it makes complete sense for Bijuu to be altogether indifferent towards humans in general. After all, nature doesn't give a shit when it throws a hurricane towards populated areas. Why should the Bijuu? They might even see it as a service; after all, if there is no destruction, the world would stagnate and new life could not replace old, dying environments. It would also be a way to foster a negative relationship between Bijuu and humans. After all, even when a fire might be necessary, we still very much don't like it. Humans might even see Bijuu as evil beings, without realizing the important purpose they serve. How I characterize this relationship might differ from fic to fic; I personally like to put the Bijuu in a more distant role. They wouldn't really see a point in dealing with humans, and so they wouldn't really bother showing themselves. After all, if they are seen, humans would know about Bijuu and they might become an obstacle in the way of the Bijuu's work. I just think the idea of Bijuu being forcefully introduced to the world and humans just having to deal with it is a really cool idea and a great way to inspire stories. Still, I might go either way in a story. I even like the idea of Bijuu being thought of as gods (for some stories), like how destructive gods are worshiped in some religions.
I prefer the idea of Bijuu being even more interconnected with the world. I'm not entirely sure if they're associated with Summons in the canon lore, but here they will be the bosses of their respective Summon clans. Those clans might even be considered "noble" clans. I think this would be a great way to get more into depth with the Summons in general. My fics will have a big focus on Bijuu and their relationship with humans, but I've always thought that Summons just aren't explored enough. In canon they kind of just pop up whenever we need them. But there's so much cool lore potential with Summons! Why do we only see toad Sages? Can all clans have Sages? Why do we only see a toad seer? What kind of cultures do intelligent animals have? Does Hashirama's Sage Mode have anything to do with Summons, or is it just his own thing? We barely spend any time on Mount Myoboku, and we only see glimpses of other Summons' homes. I want to see more.
Again, my focus will (usually) be the Bijuu and their relationships with humans. Summons will most likely be used to explore and deepen those relationships more often than not, especially if I'm using the Bijuu as their leaders. Their culture might vary from fic to fic. But I will make an effort to include them and their cultures beyond just using them for plot convenience.
The Hidden Villages will function much like they do in canon. I plan to leave the humans (mostly) the same. If I feel the need to change something there, it will vary from fic to fic. Most of the changes here will be in their legends and how their chakra works. Even then, it won't be that noticeable unless I have a really exposition/lore heavy chapter or fic.
So. Reincarnation. I'm not doing it. Ashura and Indra might still exist, but they don't reincarnate. Any feud between the Senju and Uchiha will be because of political conflicts or similar things, not some bullshit reincarnation/curse nonsense. Madara and Hashirama are just really strong leaders of their clans who both happened to have similar ideals. Naruto and Sasuke's bond is that of friendship, maybe brotherly, but certainly not some ancient brother/spirit bond junk. There is no predestination, beyond what prophecies the Summons might pump out. Even then, those prophecies are not set in stone.
Speaking of prophecies, I don't like them. Well, that's not quite right. I like the whole mystical stuff and seers in general. I think a skilled writer can absolutely use destiny to create amazing stories. The problem is, you need a very talented writer to do that. Like "Naruto was destined to save the world." Then he saves the world. Of course he did. Where are the stakes? We knew exactly what was gonna happen, even if it was vague, and it takes away from Naruto's accomplishments. Like, of course he was gonna win, he was destined to. I want his story to be his story, not destiny's story. So with seers, I'll use them more to share possibilities. The most likely ones, of course, but the future is always changing and knowing the future can cause you to make different choices. Once you tell someone what the future is, that future is even more subject to change. Free will and all that stuff. I'm not doing a bootstrap paradox. Ironically, I think this perspective will make me more likely to use the toad seer. If I use him to tell the most likely possibilities instead of concrete, absolute futures, he'll be a heck of a lot easier to include without cheapening my stories. Who knows? Maybe I'll even add seers for different Summon clans. I wonder how a toad seer would differ from a slug seer? Maybe the snakes are particularly good at one aspect of divination, while hawks are good at a completely different part of it. Maybe some clans have no talent for fortune telling while others are only good at it. I think it makes Summons more varied than just "toads are good at espionage" and "hawks can fly". I can incorporate animals' symbolism even more this way instead of their natural, real-world abilities. It even gives me more to do with Sages.
So, let's make increased durability, strength, and healing factor a baseline for all Sages. If toads have a particular talent for espionage and future sight, then toad Sages are good at those too. Hawks symbolize vision, intuition, and spiritual awareness. That ties into Sasuke's Sharingan so well! Imagine if Sasuke learned some sort of Hawk Sage Mode to build on that connection! Maybe he would have a spiritual power? Maybe he could see spirits? What would a power that lets him see spirits be like? Or look at a different character. Some people like to write Hiruzen as a bit of a chaotic gremlin (say what you want about him, those fics are hilarious). Monkeys symbolize mischief and community. WE CAN ENABLE GREMLIN SARUTOBI. Heck, imagine giving Naruto a monkey Sage Mode. No, imagine giving Naruto a fox Sage Mode! The kind of ridiculous shit he could do with powers based on trickster/mischief symbolism would be hysterical! Oh, the potential for crackfics is too incredible to turn down! Heck, what if we tied that symbolism to the BIJUU?! MAKE KURAMA A GREMLIN! Or we can give Naruto fox-based powers without fox Sage Mode through Kurama. There's a distinct lack of actual foxes and fox-based things in canon, despite Kurama being a fox. Honestly, how does fast healing relate to foxes? They donothing with all that potential! I want to take advantage of each unique animal to bring more depth to their powers and culture.
Moving back to chakra, I want to look at the difference between how humans use it and how Summons and Bijuu use it. I like to think that because the Bijuu are made purely of chakra, using it comes far more naturally to them. They wouldn't have to bother with things like hand signs; manipulating chakra would be instinct. Of course, Bijuu will have their specialties. I'm not gonna make Kurama start throwing sand around like Shukaku does. But they wouldn't really have to think about what they're doing; the chakra within and around them just reacts to their thoughts far more easily than any other being. I kind of like to think of this like music. (I might take that very literally in some fics). Nature "communicating" with itself is every sound in the world. The birds singing, water flowing, wind blowing, rumbles of earthquakes, even the words we say, that is nature and chakra "singing." Of course, humans can't translate bird songs, but to a Bijuu, who is literally made of chakra, it would be as natural as breathing is to us. Chakra just responds better to Bijuu because they speak the right language and have the right instincts.
If Bijuu are native speakers of the language of chakra, then to shinobi it would be like a second language. Except they don't really get the grammatical structure. The shinobi would be "singing" when they mold their chakra for jutsu, but they will never be as natural with it as a native speaker would be. Chakra, both within and without, will not respond as readily to a shinobi as it would to a Bijuu. Of course, shinobi can get to be very skilled with jutsu. I think, with enough practice, a shinobi might be able to understand nature "singing" around them. But they would never be as skilled or as powerful as a Bijuu.
Summons would most likely fall somewhere between shinobi and Bijuu. Not quite as natural as Bijuu, because they aren't made purely of chakra, but not as unnatural as a shinobi, due to their lifestyle and culture. I would say that this is where Sage Mode comes from; Summons learning an imperfect way to function as close to the Bijuu as possible, and then teaching shinobi. That's why Summons would learn Sage Mode easier and be more naturally talented with it, but shinobi with enough talent, skill, and dedication could definitely learn Sage Mode. I'd bet that there would even be certain clans who are more naturally predisposed to Sage Mode. Possibly descendants of Jinchuuriki? That would most likely vary from fic to fic.
On to the Sage of Six Paths. Like I said before, I want him to be more of a historical figure/legend than an actual character. Maybe I'll use him as a character in some fics (on rare occasion, if inspiration strikes), but I don't see him existing in Naruto's time without some sort of lingering soul/immortality bullshit. The Bijuu would (possibly) know him, or at least know of him, but he won't really be a parental figure to them unless it helps my story without being a plot device. I'd use him more as the first shinobi, who just happened to take really well to Sage Mode. That'd be why his descendants (the Senju and Uchiha) are so good with chakra; they're more naturally predisposed to natural chakra than any other humans.
Now, even if people from civilian families who become shinobi (like Sakura and Rock Lee) can be really cool, they will not be at the top of the shinobi world. They are literally not genetically built like clan shinobi, who are more naturally suited for handling chakra. They can certainly be powerhouses, and it is possible (although unlikely) that a bloodline sensitive to chakra hasn't been discovered yet, but I think their strength will come more from dedication and cleverness. Don't get me wrong, those will take you very far, but in a fight between someone who is dedicated and clever and someone else who is dedicated, clever, and extremely talented, the second person will win most of the time. A smart shinobi from a civilian family can go far, but a smart shinobi from a shinobi clan will go farther. Still, I think that "civilian" shinobi can be very interesting and cool as characters. If inspiration strikes, I will be more than happy to use them. Just because Sakura isn't as powerful as Naruto does not mean that she's worthless, it just means she needs to find another niche that's better for her to fill.
As for Naruto, he is the main character. I will focus on him a lot. I literally have never written a story before. I'm on this site most of the time because a cool idea hit me and I want to see if anyone else has written about it. If I'm going to start writing stories, I want them to be good stories. So I'll be starting simple, doing less challenging things to start with. Expect one-shots that focus mostly on one or two characters. Most of them will involve or focus specifically on Naruto. Partially because he's the main character and I like him, partially because I've thought of a lot of cool (fluffy) stuff that involves him, and partially because I love the Bijuu and he's one of, if not the best character, to explore them through. In general, it just seems easier to focus on one or two characters in a story than twelve or something like that. Take Sakura. She doesn't suck, her writing does. Kishimoto just focused far more on developing other characters and she paid the price. So I will focus on just a couple characters, at least at first, and be very transparent about it so I don't do characters like Sakura dirty. And I will stick to whatever stories currently strike my fancy. There will be much fluff and comedy, although I might try more heavy topics later. I will not do extensive angst unless I really want a story that involves it, and even then it won't be the main thing. Sorry if that's not your thing, but I don't think I'll write very good stories if I'm not interested in what I'm writing. I will probably branch out a lot more if I find that I like writing these kinds of things, but I'm starting small.
Ending Notes
This is just my version of the Naruto lore. I don'tneed you to know all this stuff for my stories, I'm just writing out my headcanon and plans for my stories just in case someone is actually interested in reading it. I am completely open to suggestions. No way I'll improve if I don't take criticism. So if you have any critiques or cool ideas to add to this, I'm all for hearing them!
