Author's Note: Been a long time since I wrote one like this. Hopefully I'm not rusty on Naruto. But there's a few things that'll be changing big time. One: Swords from Bleach will be added into this story, as well as a few other swords from different anime. Mostly Bleach, though, they're awesome. Two: No Namikaze Clan. Minato was an orphan just like Naruto, accept he was just a civilian that rose up from the dust and became a total goofball/badass like his son. Three: Uzumaki clan...will be a big thing in this fic. Four: Kurama is nicer in this fic. Not like a parental figure, but more of a guid for everyone's favorite blond. He knows things about the world, and the Uzumaki clan as a whole.
Summary: The Uzumaki Clan. A clan of shinobi that were unlike any that had come before. Masters of the sword and the art of sealing, they were feared above even the ferocious Kaguya clan for their mastery and fearlessness in battle. And it was that fear that lead to their downfall. During the end days of the Second Great Shinobi War, a combined effort by the Hidden Villages of Rock, Mist and Cloud launched a fierce attack on the small island nation.
Though the Uzumaki were powerful, they could not overcome the countless days of battle and the mighty clan fell. Years passed, and the scattered clan now lies on the brink of extinction. However, three young lives will soon find themselves coming together in a maelstrom of events that will leave the land in awe.
1: The Journey Begins
The night was colder than usual as Karin attempted to sleep. Usually, her mother was there to keep her warm... but the Grass shinobi hadn't brought her back from treating the injured, yet.
Karin and her mother were good at healing others. It was the reason that the Hidden Grass Village kept them around. But they were taking things too far, she could tell from all the bite marks on her mouth. The Healing Bite was something that her mother said made them special. By having an injured person bite them, their chakra entered the person and healed even the most grievous of wounds... but the price was the fact that they were literally sucking the life out of her mother.
Each time she was taken she came back weaker and weaker.
Suddenly, the flap to her tent was thrown open, "Karin!" Shouted the shinobi harshly, "Wake up, you useless girl!" She sat up, hoping to avoid being kicked this time. Instead, the man looked down at her with a cruel smile, "Starting tomorrow, you'll be taking over your mother's duties... you understand what that means, don't you?" He asked.
Karin nodded slowly, resisting the urge to cry. Her taking over her mother's role in the village meant one thing: they had killed her. Her mother wasn't coming back ever again.
"Good," the man turned to leave, "Be sure to rest up tonight, because there are a lot more wounded that need treatment!" He left with a laugh following him out. Karin felt herself trembling as she laid back on the straw mat she was forced to call a bed. [The least they could do is give me a blanket,] she thought sadly as tears began to flow from her eyes, [They took my mother so I should at least... ] A sob wracked through her as she buried her face into her tattered and worn shirt.
As she cried, a commotion from outside her tent reached her. Shouts and cries could be heard as the smell of smoke reached her nose. [A fire?] She though with surprise. [How could... ?]
Something ripped through the back of the tent and she felt a hand clamp down on her mouth just as she was about to scream. "Shush!" Said a girl's voice from behind her, "Quiet!" She looked back and saw a girl not much older than she herself was, "C'mon, we're getting the fuck outta this damned village!" The girl said before she motioned to the hole that she had made.
"Tayuya?" Karin asked when she recognized the girl, "When did you - ?"
"As soon as I heard your mom was fucking dead," Tayuya snapped quietly, "Now come on before they figure out I set the damned village on fire!"
Karin yelped as she was pushed through the opening, "Ack!" She stumbled to her feet as Tayuya came out behind her, "Buh-but where are we gonna go?!" Karin asked as Tayuya grabbed at her hand and started leading her toward the edge of the village.
"Who gives a fuck?" The girl snapped, "Anywhere's better than here!"
The two girl skirted through the village, keeping close to the buildings so that they wouldn't be seen by those still working on the fire. The flames could be seen halfway across the small village. "What did you do?" Karin wondered as the blaze rose higher into the night.
"I set the fucking storehouse where they keep all of the black powder," she said with a mischievous grin, "Oughta keep those asshats real busy for a while." An explosion went off in the direction of the fire, and the girl couldn't keep down her laughter. "Fucking beautiful!"
"Mom says you shouldn't cuss so much." Karin said absently, though she was used to Tayuya's foul language. Tayuya scoffed but said nothing more as they neared the edge of the village.
The village itself was nothing special, yet, barely just a few dozen huts, and houses aside from the larger structure that was the Kusakage's home. The village was still recovering from damages done by the Third Shinobi World War. The village didn't even have walls. Which made Tayuya's little escape plan perfect since the fire she started wouldn't be going out for some time.
"If we can get to Tenchi Bridge, we'll have it made," the girl said as they crossed into the forests, no one the wiser to their escape.
Karin made a sound, "But that's Leaf territory!" The girl said fearfully, "I heard that they're even worse than the people here!"
"Pft!" Tayuya laughed, "Are you fucking nuts? We're Uzumaki! They'll treat us like fucking royalty!"
True, Karin knew that the Village Hidden in the Leaves had once been allies of the Uzumaki clan, but she felt if that were true, then they would have help their people during the fall of their country.
"Besides, the Leaf Village isn't far from the bridge!" Tayuya said as they started to run through the forest surrounding the village, "We'll be there in no time!"
Karin wasn't so sure.
Even if they could escape Grass territory, there was still miles of wilderness between them and real freedom.
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The Village Hidden in the Leaves...
While the two young girls were making their escape, hundreds of miles away, another child was left out in the night. Naruto Uzumaki, at the tender age of five, was sitting out in the streets of his village hidden in the shadows cast by the alleys. Why was he out on the streets? One may wonder. The answer being that the young blond boy had been kicked out of the orphanage he had been raised at for the last five years of his life.
And now, with no way of knowing how to fend for himself, he sat with his back to the wall, a piece of cardboard acting as a mat for him, hungry and lonely. He didn't know why he was kicked out of the orphanage. He tried to be good. Sure he pulled the odd prank here and there, but only on people he felt deserved it for being mean to the other kids.
The caretakers would sometimes yell at them for no reason, or short them on food. Naruto was used to that, even going so far as to share his food with some of the skinnier kids, yet he always caught the brunt of their anger whenever they seemed to feel like it. Which is why he found himself in this situation now.
His stomach growled loudly: he hadn't eaten all day.
He thought about rummaging through some of the garbage cans to see if there was anything edible, but he wasn't that desperate... not yet at least. But he was getting there.
"If you're hungry, then why not go find something to eat?" Said a rumbling voice. Naruto's head shot up. The voice sounded so close that whoever it was that had spoken could have been sitting next to him. But as the child looked around, he saw was still completely alone.
"Who said that?" Naruto wondered quietly.
"I did."
Naruto jumped to his feet when the voice answered him, "This isn't funny!" The boy shouted, trying to sound angry, "Are you trying to play a prank on me?!"
"No I'm not," the voice said again and Naruto finally realized that whoever was talking to him was there, he just couldn't see them. "If this were a prank, then it would most certainly be on me." The voice continued, "Now why don't you go find yourself something to eat before you starve to death?" It asked, "Surely you can find something?"
"But... I don't have any money to buy food," the boy said, looking down at his feet, "And the orphanage I lived at doesn't want me to come back, so I can't - "
The voice snorted and began to sound amused, "If you can't rely on someone to feed you, then you must feed yourself," it said, "Why not try foraging? The forest is filled with many different things to eat."
"Like what?" The boy asked, interested in the prospect of food.
The voice seemed to ponder a moment, "Hm, berries depending on what time of year it is," the voice said, "You could find a stream and try to catch some fish. Rob a bird's nest for eggs, or catch a rabbit perhaps?"
The idea of getting food for himself seemed better than digging through garbage, so the boy decided to take the chance on sneak out of the village to at least see if he could find a meal for himself.
Several minutes later...
As it turned out, sneaking out of the village was easier than he had imagined. The guard had been asleep at the North gate, so all the boy had had to do was tiptoe past him.
"Good," the voice said as he scampered around the walls of the village, "There is a stream nearby that has shallow waters, but many fish." It said, "You should find it easy to catch them."
Following the voice's instructions, Naruto found the stream easily. Scooping out the fish was another story altogether. His first attempt saw the boy all but falling into the stream, and dousing himself with cold water.
In exasperation, the voice he kept hearing instructed him to build a fire and warm himself before trying again. "But I don't know how to start a fire," the boy complained as he built a small pile of sticks. One of the stick he was holding onto, however, suddenly burst into flame, almost scaring the boy out of his skin. "Hey!" He yelled, looking around for the source, "Did... did you do that?" He asked, speaking to the voice he kept hearing, which was now chuckling deeply. "Just who are you, anyway?"
The voice's laughter continued, "Build your fire, first, little cub," the voice instructed, "And then catch your meal. After that, I will tell you."
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Land of Grass...
The moon was well past its zenith when the two girls finally stopped to rest. Both of them were breathing heavily after running from the village. Instead of hours, it felt as though they had been running for days.
"I can't see the fire anymore," Karin said as she looked behind them, seeing nothing but the darkness provided by the forest, "But they probably know we're missing." She felt terrified that any moment a squad of shinobi from the village would appear to take them back.
Tayuya sighed, "We're not missing," she told the girl, "We're fucking free!" She suddenly shouted, the sudden volume in her voice scaring a few birds from the trees, as well as startling Karin into falling back on her rump. Tayuya giggled and fell flat on her back, looking up at the canopy above them, just barely concealing the stars from sight.
Karin scowled at her, "Don't yell like that," she admonished, "Someone will hear us!"
"Yeah," the older girl said, "You think you can keep going?" She asked the girl, "How're your feet?"
Karin looked down at her feet, wiggled her toes and frowned, "Sore... but I think I can keep going... what about you?" She asked of her friend.
Tayuya gave a shrug, "I've had worse." She muttered, getting to her feet, "C'mon, we should get moving before someone or something really does hear us."
"Something?" Karin stammered out fearfully. "What do you mean something?"
Another shrug, "There's wolves around here, Karin," Tayuya said, "And saber-toothed tigers. The last thing we wanna run into." She said and helped the girl to her feet. "So come on. There's still a long way to go."
"Maybe some nice Leaf shinobi will find us?" Karin suggested hopefully in an attempt to stay positive.
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Back at the Leaf Village...
Naruto could have done without the laughter he was hearing as he used a rock to scrap the scales off of the fish he had managed to catch. It had taken more than a few tries, but he finally had two fish he could eat. Which meant that his clothes were now strewn out next to the fire so that they could dry. The laughter, he was sure, was because of how many times he had slipped and fallen into the stream in his attempts to catch his dinner.
Now, after scaling and gutting his catch, he was huddled up next to his nice warm fire watching the fish cook. "Thank you." The boy muttered, not knowing if he was talking to himself, or an actual living being that he couldn't see. It was weird to think that there was someone speaking to him that was invisible, but he lived in a village full of shinobi, so maybe it wasn't so weird?
"You're welcome," came the rumbling reply from the voice. "What will you do after you've filled your stomach?" The voice continued, "If you return to the village, you'll still be out on the streets."
Naruto shrugged, "I don't have anywhere else to go." He said, not knowing who would be willing to take him in if not even the orphanage wanted him. Whenever other kids his age had been adopted, the caretakers always seemed to make him avoid whoever was coming in.
Another rumble was heard, "True, if you return to the village, there will be very few places that you would be safe," it said, "Fools, all of those that would turn you away." Naruto smiled at that, "They do not know the gift that you are," the voice said with sadness in its tone, "What you were meant to be."
"And you do?" Naruto had to ask, "From the way you're talking, you know me pretty good."
A rumbling laugh echoed around him, "I should certainly hope so, little cub," the voice said, "I've watched over you for a very long time. I only wish I could do more for you at the moment."
Naruto just shrugged and reached for a fish, "You taught me how to fish so I wouldn't starve," the boy said as he blew on the still sizzling fish to cool it down before taking a large bite. Tears almost sprang to his eyes: even without salt, it was the best thing he had ever tasted. "And you're talking to me," the boy continued as he ate, "No one else does that."
The voice now growled in anger, "And for that, you have my deepest apologies," it growled, leaving Naruto confused, "I feel your confusion, little cub," the voice continued, "You see, I am the reason that you are shunned by the villagers."
The boy nearly choked on his dinner, "You?!" The boy coughed, "But...why?" He asked.
There was a deep sigh like that of a strong wind blowing through a canyon, "I will show you," the voice said, "Go to the stream, and look into the water." Still not understanding, the boy got to his feet and did as he was instructed. He walked to the edge of the stream and looked down at his reflection. His brow furrowed in confusion before the rippling water showed something behind him.
Something massive.
Looking over his shoulder was the massive form of a giant nine-tailed fox with red/orange fur. It had coal black markings around its mouth and eyes, and the same shade of black fur in its ears. It's blood-red eyes looked at him with sorrow. "Now you see," the fox spoke, its voice a soft rumble, "I am what the villagers hate."
Naruto whipped around, thinking that the creature was behind him, but found nothing save for his little campfire. He then turned back to the stream as the beast chuckled, "This is no trick, little cub," the fox said, "I am real."
"Buh...but how are you - ?"
"Inside of you?" The creature finished for him, "It is very simple," it said, "I was sealed inside of you on the day of your birth five years ago."
Naruto was still confused, greatly so. How could a giant fox get sealed inside of him? And why? Foxes were rarely seen around the village, let alone one so large as the one that had been speaking with him for so long. The only one that he could think of was...
"You...you're the Kyūbi!" Naruto said in shock, "But...I was told the Fourth Hokage killed - "
The Kyūbi shook its head, "I am a bijū, cub, I cannot be killed," it explained, "I can, however, be defeated and sealed away." It hung its head, "Truly, I wish that I had been allowed to remain left alone through my years," it gave a great sigh that seemed to ripple the water, "But that was not to be."
Naruto sat down on the banks of the stream, still looking down at the fox, "Okay, so you can't be killed, but..." he frowned, "Why did the Fourth Hokage seal you inside me, then?"
The Kyūbi looked at him, "This is not a nice story, little one," it told the boy, "Are you certain that you wish to hear what I will say?"
Naruto nodded slowly, "I want to know why he had to choose me, and make the village hate me." The boy said, "I've always looked up to Lord Fourth since I read about him, and wanted to be just like him so I could - wait, why're you laughing?!" The boy demanded as the Kyūbi chuckled happily.
"Forgive me, little cub," the beast said, "I believe that the Fourth Hokage would be happy to hear you say such a thing." It smiled at the boy, "But you should know this before I begin my story, cub: the one that sealed me inside of you had no choice in the matter as you were the only child alive capable of bearing half of my chakra."
Naruto frowned, "Half?"
"I will get to that in due time," the Kyūbi said, "First, allow me to take you back to a time when shinobi villages were not so civilized as they are now." The water began to ripple violently, "Allow me to take you back to the First Shinobi War."
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Author's Note: Two little girls are fleeing imprisonment and slavery while a little boy begins to learn why he is shunned by all but a few. If you'd like to see more of this story, then please leave a review to show support for the the story and the author.
Until next time! Adios Amigos!