Naruto: a New Beginning

Naruto: A New Beginning

by Ethan Darkcrow

Prologue

An old leather bound book sat on a golden pedestal, its cover gilded with golden writing and adorned with precious jewels In the quiet darkness of the room the tome sat on its pedestal waiting for someone to read its contents.

This, of course, was no ordinary book, one could automatically tell by the slight illumination that was coming off the pristine pages. No, this book was a book that recoded the events of the world’s history. Even now as it sat on the pedestal words were appearing on the once blank pages, until…

The page which once was blank suddenly began to stain black with ink as the sound of footsteps echoed within the room. From the surrounding shadows an old man, who had a white bead and mustache that fell to his knees, stepped into the illuminated area where the book rested. The man’s bald held shone dully in the muted light of the room, but what was even more interesting was the beautiful sword that hung at his hip. The exquisite blade crackled with electrical energy every now and again as the elderly man went about his business.

With a wave of his frail hand the darkness of the room ignited into light as rows and rows of bookshelves revealed themselves. The old man took one look at the black page and shook his head in what seemed to be disappointment before ripping out the offending page.

Looking towards a shelve one of the book that sat on the shelve wobbled before flying through the air and landing safely in his old weathered hands. Reading some of the words the old man finished by speaking one name, “Uzumaki Naruto…”

Letting go of the tome in his hands, it wasn’t a surprise when the book found its way back to the shelve where it had been stored. Turning his head the man found another book that seemed to interest him as he pulled out a rather thin book that had the image of a fan printed on its cover.

Flipping the pages of the book, the elderly man mumbled soothing to himself before stopping on a certain page. The very air around the man seemed to shiver while the book in his hands began to change and warp. The image of the library and the bookcases melted and fell away as they revealed a bright forest with rock landscape. Looking down at his hands the man smiled when he saw that the little book was now a thick book with blank pages.

The old man closed that book and as soon as he did so it disappeared into thin air. Taking a walk the elderly fellow came upon a strange scene. There, in front of him, four people hovered in mid action, as if the scene was nothing more than a picture that had been given life.

There was a brutish looking man, whose hand were clasped together as a wicked grin played on his face. The man’s gaze seemed to lock on a trio of young teens that seemed to be caught in a hail of boulders, undoubtedly the man’s doing.

A brown haired girl looked on in horror while a boy with spiky black hair and red eyes seemed to be pushing his friend, or comrade, out of the way of a very large boulder.

The old man twirled his long, thin, wispy beard around his fingers in thought, as he took in the scene of self sacrifice. Smiling to himself the man said in a soft voice, “You must not die here, young Uchiha. There is much for you to do, and a darkness that must be averted.”

Pulling his sword from his belt as the sound of rolling thunder echoed through the plains, the old man struck the boulder that was threatening to kill the young boy. Nothing happed, but yet the man looked pleased as he quickly turned away from the scene and nodded in self satisfaction. Walking away from the quartet the mans form slowly disappeared until there was nothing left, except the sound of thunder rolling through the area.

When he left, the scene slowly began to move as if a movie, which had been paused, was now resuming its full speed.

The black haired boy squeezed his eyes shut expecting the boulder to strike him, while at the same time the boulder overhead split into two halves and completely missed him. Not feeling the hit of the boulder, the black haired boy opened his eyes and saw that he and his friends were fine. That was when all three of them looked at the now very angry and equally confused man, they watched as his wicked smile now fading from his face only to be replace with a suspicious look.

“You’re going to pay for that!” said the red eyed boy as his friend stood next to him, “This time we’re going to make sure you stay down!”

Chapter One - The Demon’s Demise

The earth, it trembled. The night sky shook with the thunderous roar of a uncaged beast, while ninja on the ground did everything in their power to keep this “force of nature” at bay. Behind the desperate warriors lay their homes and families, yet stand before them was an ominous beast called the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was an ancient demon of unimaginable power and malevolence, and tonight it seemed to have Konoha in its sights.

The men and women that stood between this beast and their homes steeled their resolve while pledging to not let it gain any more ground. The beast released another air shattering roared as several powerful jutsu tore through it flank. In retaliation it swung two of its tails wildly and showered the lucky ninja with a rain of house sized boulders. The unlucky ones were crushed under the might of the demons tails.

“Die!” the growled as it released a wave of terror, watching as the fear it created swept through the shinobi ranks causing those with weak minds to double over and scream in helplessness. To the shinobi on the ground, it felt like a blanket of despair covered the battle field and many began to run for their lives.

That was when a shadow flew across the field revealing itself to be Gamabunta. Landing in front of the monster fox, the elder toad had his war blade unsheathed and at the ready while a figure on the toad’s head seemed to dispel all the worries of the ninja behind him.

“Keep it busy!” yelled the blonde man atop of the toad as the ninja seemed to rally around the man and renewed their attack on the fox, while even pushing it further back. On the toads head the man glared briefly at the giant demon fox before sighing in a sad manner. Going through a specific set of seals and gather an enormous amount of chakra into the chakra point in his abdomen he watched in fear and awe as a transparent vision appeared before him from nothingness.

A spirit stood before him with a hungry look in its eyes, its white pristine robes and dead grey hair seemed to rustle slightly as if there was a wind running through them. In the spirits black toothed maw was a beautiful blade that looked to be made from both ivory and onyx while the blade glistened in the moonlight of this dreadful night. The shinigami – the man had known exactly what he had summoned – began chanting as its hand rose over its head while prayer beads seemed to tighten around its translucent skin.

His blue eyes held the specter gaze but they widened when he saw the spirits hair reach out and grasp something. Slowly something came into view, at first he couldn’t distinguish its shape but when it began to shine brighter he was floored with the revelation. The form was outlined in bluish-gold energy, and it was currently being restrained by this ghost’s hair.

The blonde knew what it was and yet he still wasn’t prepared for all the emotions that surged through him. His soul, the form within the grasp of the death spirit was the man’s soul.

No longer wanting to look at the specter, he focused his attention to the threat that was hell-bent on destroying his village. It was here, at this point in time, that he remembered his conversation with his students when he told them of his insane plan, and he smiled slightly as he remembered their reaction...

“Are you mad!?” yelled a young man who wore a dark blue suit with dark orange trim, while his black hair seemed to bristle at the idea his teacher and leader had suggested. He adjusted his goggles while running a nervous finger over a scar that marred the back of his hand.

“Hey, ousan! Tell him he’s crazy!” said the young man lividly as he turned to another person that occupied the room. Sitting on a chair quietly was another young man with spiky grey hair. His lower face was covered by a black mask and one of his eyes were also cover. The expression on his face usually conveyed a feeling of boredom, but right now it was definitely giving off a hostile vibe that said ‘call me that again and I rip your tongue out’.

“As much as it pains me to agree with him,” huffed the one eyed boy in exasperation, “He is right. You shouldn’t go and sacrifice yourself needlessly.” The black haired boy shook his head up and down vigorously as he tried to get the point through that he agreed with his partner.

The blond man in front of the two young men began to talk, but he was interrupted as yet another voice sounded from the shadows of the room. A light brown haired woman emerged with a frown covering her face as she said, “I agree with them Hokage-sama. You are needed here...what if you plan doesn’t work? We will lose one of our most competent leaders and a powerful ninja before our real battle has begun. Also…what about your wife? Do you think she would want this? Besides, are you sure that this will even work?”

“Will it work?” asked the Hokage in a serious voice that cut through each of the people looking at him, “I honestly don’t know, but it is my duty to protect everyone. I cannot send others to die without trying something as well. That is the duty of a Hokage, one that is asked of him…and him alone.”

“But Kushina…”

“Is dead,” the man stated, shifting his body and face into the shadows of the room. “There was an unforeseen complication and she died giving birth,” explained the blonde haired Hokage when he saw the young lady about to speak.

Shaking his head at the somberness that the room took on, he looked at each of the ninja in the room with a sad smile “If you can come up with a better plan in the next couple of hours I’m all ears, otherwise...I’m going through with my original plan. Is that understood?”

“But,” the blacked haired man all but screamed at his blonde haired leader while the young woman placed a small hand on his chest which seemed to calm him down a bit. “I don’t know how to even...this is a baby we’re talking about, and...DAMN IT THIS IS MAKING ME SO ANGRY!” he yelled while punching his fist through the nearby wall. Not knowing what to do with himself the young man stomped out of the room leaving the three behind as he screamed and curses his way down the street.

“I’m so sorry about this sens...um...I mean Hokage-sama,” she bowed quickly, tears flowing from her eyes, as she ran after the young man. This left the silver haired young man and his leader staring at each other with nothing but silence between them.

It seemed that the one to break the silence was to be the subordinate as he ran his fingers through his hair while saying casually, “Explain to me again why you want him to raising your son?”

“Kakashi,” said the Hokage softly while looking out the window at the approaching menace in the distance, “you should know that even though he’s a loudmouth and a pain in the rear, Obito is a good person who has his heart in the right place.” The young man named Kakashi looked away when he felt blue eyes training themselves on the young man, “Who convinced Rin to research organ transplant? Who went through hell to get his clan blessings, when he got his brother to donate one of his eyes to you?”

Kakashi looked anywhere but at the blonde while he adjusted the forehead protector slightly and sighed loudly. “Besides,” the man said with a grin, “He always had Rin to straighten him out when ever he gets too full of himself. That has to count for something, right?”

Kakashi’s eye curled familiarly as the blonde knew he was smiling underneath his mask, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Now remember,” the Hokage said with a grimace as he looked around and whispered softly, “No one is to know of this. Not even the Sandaime, got that?”

“I understand,” said Kakashi as he looked in the corner of the room at the small child that slept quietly in a blue blanket.

The man looked back in time to see the spirit’s hand, it was covered in all sorts of strange seal-like marks, plunging into the souls body. The pain that shot through his body was almost unbearable. It was something akin to someone driving their arm through his chest and squeezing his heart. He was in so much pain that he was barely able to stand straight.

“Minato! Are you okay?” asked the giant toad under him in a gruff voice.

“Yes. I’m alright, Gamabunta-sama,” Minato replied as he winced at the feeling that was creeping over him. “Alright! Gamabunta? Get me closer, I have a surprise for it...”

Grunting the giant frog leapt into the air firing off three gigantic balls of water from its mouth that seemed to break over a red chakra barrier. ‘Forgive me son, but there are no other choices…,’ thought the man as he jumped off the frogs head and dove straight at the fox while a spectral hand seemed to rip out from his chest plunging deep into the demon fox body!

The foxes eyes widened as it felt its soul being pulled from its chakra created body and funneled into a waiting cage with wrought iron bars. ‘NOOOOOOOOO!’ the beast screamed as the doors to its cage closed and seemed to become sealed with something that not even it, with it’s raw and unimaginable power, could break.

The ninja on the field watched as their leader engaged the beast for a moment before the thing gave a death knell and seemed to burn away to nothing. Cheers could be heard as several ninja happy thanked their leader for defeating the menace to their village, but others watched in horror as a limp body fell from the sky and lay unnaturally still. It was those ninja that bowed their heads and prayed silently for their leader as he had made the ultimate sacrifice for the village, he had given his life to save them.

****

In a small room, three people stood watching a small baby sleeping atop a sacred alter. The alter was covered in seals and had several candles burned brightly at the corners of its surface. Suddenly, the flames of the candles flickered as their color turned blue and then they exploded with fury as they changed into fountains of blood red flame before dying out to nothing, and that’s when the crying started. Lighting the candles again, the three watched as three whisker marks appeared on each side of the baby’s tear streaked face and a black seal appeared on the child’s stomach for a moment then disappeared.

“That’s it,” the silver haired ninja said with a bit of sadness lacing his voice while he looked away from the boy. Rin began to cry while holding her hand to her face and sobbing into her palms.

The only one of the group who hadn’t said anything was standing over the crying baby. Slowly, and with an infinite amount of care, the man lifted the child and bundled him up while rocking him slowly. “He told me your name was to be Naruto,” said the spiky haired man holding the bundle and watching as the child forgot it’s crying to yawn and snuggle deeper into the blankets, “From this day on Naruto, I pledge my life to you. As I pledged my life to him.”

Kakashi watched in awe as his friend rarely show this side of himself. He couldn’t help but smirk as he walked over to his friend and looked down at the baby now sleeping in Obito’s arms. “I, Hatake Kakashi, pledge my life to you Naruto, as my friend has done before me.”