Awakening

"Well shit..." Naruto mumbled, his mouth dry as his arms simply dangled next to him. "Looks like... my body's finally reached its limit..."

The blond kept walking even as his body fought him every step of the way, the surrounding mid-summer forest as green as Konoha could get.

Just half an hour ago, Naruto had one of the most difficult battles in his shinobi career against an opponent that couldn't be considered anything less than God-tier, and after learning about his parentage, somehow subduing the Kyūbi, meeting his father and reviving those who died that day, Naruto realized with a sigh that his exhaustion was completely warranted.

"I'm seriously done-ttebayo..." Naruto slurred, his body finally giving to the wave of exhustion overtaking him as he began to fall. He nodded in surprise feeling himself stopped on his way toward the floor by the soft body of his teacher. "Kakashi-sensei...?" He grinned feeling his body being lifted, a choked chuckle escaping him. "You have no idea... how happy I am to see you walking again, seriously..."

"Good job, Naruto..." Kakashi courtly replied, pride in his words by the fact that the student, had truly surpassed the teacher. He secured the boy on his back and began their journey to whatever remained of their village, a painful thought occurring to him then. "You really are your father's son..."

Kakashi tensed noticing his little slip up, something he brushed aside as being caught in the moment.

Naruto, oblivious to his teacher's dismay, grinned and gave a cheerful nod. "You betcha-dattebayo..."

Kakashi snapped his head at him, now truly surprised.

The knowledge of Naruto's parentage was an S-ranked secret known to a select few and even they knew better than to mention it outloud; a painful death expected anyone foolish enough to do otherwise.

"You know who your father is...?"

Naruto succumbed to his exhaustion and laid his suddenly heavy head against the Jōnin's back, a soft smile forming on his lips as the memories of his encounter with the Yondaime Hokage, his hero, his idol, now his father, replayed in his mind like the perfect picture. Naruto would never forget that moment.

"Yeah..." Naruto finally said, sounding drowsy and tired. "I know alright..."

In Konoha -or what remained of it- thousands of people were conversing amongst each other, some in surprise that the dead were back with the living, several fearful of the power capable of causing such destruction and the rest wondering if it would return to finish the job. Fear and speculation was strong among the Konoha populace, reason being snuffed out completely by the former.

Still, the village could be rebuilt so long as its people remained and Konoha was just glad that no lives had been lost, which in the end is all that mattered. All of this was possible thanks to their Jinchūriki, he was responsible for everything, the boy whom they used to hate was now their savior.

"Isn't it his fault we were attacked in the first place...?" One spiteful villager muttered offhandedly.

...

Silence reigned the crowd for a minute.

...

Whispers began to make the rounds as people of all ages started wondering about the same thing.

The Rookies, comrades and old classmates of Naruto, began to feel very nervous as the whispers turned to mutters. Once the mutters turned to shouts dread settled in each of their stomachs, filling them with an emptiness that could only be described as soul-crushing. All of them honestly believed in their hearts that Konoha was better than this...

Ino looked over the crowd with Chōji supporting her, blue eyes glistening with tears, "Kami, please no..."

"Oi... HE'S RIGHT!"

Then it began; the angry shouts, the cries for blood and the demands for Naruto's death. It took a spark to ignite the moss fire and a single villager to change the fate of an entire planet and every civilization on it.

"It's all that FOX'S FAULT!"

"He's right!"

"Kill him!"

"BRING HIM HERE!"

Shikamaru clutched his broken arm as he looked at the growing mob with a scowl on his face; this was disgusting on the grandest of fucking scales. He could feel his sympathy for these people chipping away with every shout for his comrade's blood and came to a sobering conclusion that didn't require his genius level intellect; Naruto must not come here.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru shouted over the bloodthirsty screaming of the villagers, his scowl deepening seeing Chōji supporting a faint Ino. "It's troublesome but, you need to find Naruto now! Tell him to stay the hell away until things blow over! Anything! Just keep him away from the village! There's no telling what an angry mob is capable of at this point!"

Sakura nodded, her head shaking a little. She bit back a sob as tears made two crystal clear lines down the sides of her face. How could they do this to Naruto? How could they change their opinion of him so quickly and forget everything he did for them? She knew of his burden and was admittedly scared at first, but deep down, she knew Naruto was not influenced by the fox sealed in his very core.

Sakura swiped her tears away with a swift swish of her wrist and shouted back, "Leave it to me!"

Kiba and Shino felt like their blood was boiling, and their trembling bodies only illustrated the point further. Both felt hands and shoulders trembling as if about to burst in a volcanic explosion, the complete stupidity of the villagers simply forcing them to go into their own world, and try and find reason to keep listening to the foolish chanting without taking action.

"Shino take my pouch," Kiba growled through grit teeth, offering his weapons pouch to his long time friend.

Shino gave his teammate a quizzical look, but took the pouch nonetheless. "Why?" He asked simply, the one word bottled with so much emotion it was clear he didn't trust himself to talk passively.

"'Cause I'ma start stabbing people real soon otherwise," Kiba barked angrily, Akamaru doing the same next to him.

Shino stared at the grayish pouch for a moment before removing his own from his backside, now simply staring at both through his cracked lenses. He dropped both pouches on the ground with a thump and clutched his trembling hands into fists.

"This is illogical..." Shino snarled as he grinded his teeth.

Both were certain that Naruto had saved each and every one of their assess just two minutes ago!

This entire situation was utter ludicrous.

"..." Hinata stared at the scene in complete dismay, the sweet and loving heart she was born with, broken as the scene played out before her. Both hands were clutched to her chest, where a few inches lower a rod had penetrated her stomach, almost killing her if not for Sakura. Next to nothing could be seen in her eyes, as if full with disbelief that this was happening. "Naruto-kun... e-even after everything you sacrificed for them..."

She could still hear the monstrous cry of the Kyūbi as it reflected the blond's pain. Hinata decided a change was needed, the world felt unfair to her, and only one way made sense in her mind on how to achieve that.

...

Sakura rushed past villagers with relative ease at a shinobi's speed, ducking under kitchen knifes and jumping over them at the opportunity. She squirmed through a group carrying several melee weapons almost unnaturally, taking advantage of the flexibility her womanly body gained under the tutelage of Tsunade the Slug Princess.

She dodged several sharp objects in her way and almost mockingly glanced at the men waving them around; as if they could even get close to her blond teammate, a true ninja, with such sloppy body movements. She would sooner stab both their eyes out with a rusty needle before letting that happen.

Sakura sidestepped left, twisted to the right, twirled in the air and a minute later she was racing through the woods, using the trees as she jumped over dozens of tree branches. She stopped halfway up a hill which Naruto was most likely on the other side of, taking in the sight of all the destruction brought by Pein.

Nothing but rubble, dirt and a giant crater remained of the once mighty Konoha... surrounded by a clearance large enough to fill a small asteroid in...

She hiccupped as the screaming of the villagers echo and reach her still, every word an insult to the effort Naruto put against a man that could've killed them all if he had decided to do so from the beginning.

"Naruto..." Sakura whimpered as more tears escaped her, rubbing them away with clenched hands. "They don't deserve you... we don't..."

With that rebellious and painful thought, Sakura jumped farther than ever before and resumed her journey to find Naruto... she could feel Kakashi-sensei's chakra signature after finally getting over the small hill, tethered with another dimmer, but somehow denser signature. Naruto.

Running harder and faster, Sakura's breath was shallow and ragged with every step she took. Her body was beaten and bruised, but the worry she felt was driving her adrenal glands into overdrive and kept the desperate girl running, to find him no matter what.

She felt tears once more as the almost insufficient speed rid them for her at the end of her jaw. She took in a shuddered breath too cold for her liking and chewed on her lower lip to stiffle another hiccup. How could they do this to him? Sakura knew Naruto could be an annoyance at times, and he could be a pest at the most unoportunne of moments, but even so, he was the kindest and most heartwarming person the pinket knew.

He was selfless and giving most of the time and more than willing to put himself before the lives of his comrades; or anybody else for that matter. That alone made him worthy of bearing the Konoha crest he proudly wore on his forehead.

Yet they still hated him despite his many efforts to prove them otherwise, that he was more than the fox they all saw him as. Unlike them Sakura loved him, like a brother or a very close comrade; Sakura loved Naruto. And so did the Rookies, because also unlike them, they had enough common sense to see the difference between the container and the contained.

They were fools, fools for refusing to see the kind heart the teen had. Fools for not being able to see the love Naruto had for his village. Fools for not seeing how desperately the boy just wanted to be acknowledged. Fools for lacking the compassion to value his noble sacrifice as he faced Pein, one of the greatest threats to Konoha since Uchiha Madara himself.

...

Sakura jumped and used chakra to stick her feet against the shaft of a large tree. She used it to launch herself straight for the two figures in the distance; Naruto and Kakashi.

"Naruto..." Sakura whispered, trying to think up ways on how exacly she would be telling him. How was she going to tell him that the village he loved so much had turned against him? She knew the blond would be crushed. "Narutooo! Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto felt a chill crawl its way up his back seeing Sakura rushing for them with her eyes, normally green and beautiful, red and swollen; Sakura had been crying. That was never a good sign. There was fear, bordering on horror etched on every inch of her beautiful face, and he knew she brought news, most likely unpleasant news.

And for a second there, Naruto suspected what that news might be.

Naruto instantly forced his way off Kakashi -despite the Jōnin's strong grip- and stood on shaky feet clutching one of his arms. "Sakura-chan...! What's wrong? Did something happen in the village?!"

"The villagers," Sakura began between breaths, her resolve nearly shattering as she stared into Naruto's big blue eyes. "Naruto... the villagers, they-!"

"Enough."

The tension in the clearing multiplied by a margin of five as Danzo, the leader of the -allegedly- disbanded organization known as ROOT, stepped into the picture, the usual limp in his step giving off a false sense of security to those wishing to attempt against him. He slowly stepped out of the shadows, in his opinion his natural habitat, seeing as he considered himself the unwanted but necessary evil of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Danzo's war torn body seemed fragile at first, but Kakashi, an experienced Anbu captain, knew well how to see underneath the underneath, and he knew Danzo was by no means a pushover. Adding the aura of shroudy intent surrounding him, it made Team Seven uneasy like never in their lives before.

"You two," Danzo began as he glanced at Kakashi and Sakura, his voice laced with authority. "Return to the village. You are not needed here. I will inform the Jinchūriki about the situation personally."

Sakura frowned. She did not like this man.

She could almost taste the shady intentions oozing out of him, and she would be damned before leaving her comrade alone with him in his weakened state. She took a step forward, opposition her clear intentions, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, her sensei put a gentle yet commanding hand on her shoulder, stopping her from mouthing off and creating something that would later come back and bite them.

Kakashi shook his head as he forced Sakura to take a step back so he could take one forward. "Forgive my curiosity, Danzo-sama. But what exactly are your intentions to speak with Naruto alone-?"

"That,"- Danzo interrupted pointedly and with a sharp edge to his voice- "is of no concern to you, Jōnin. Keep your frivolous curiosity in check and respect the orders of your Hokage," the members of Team Seven gasped at this, almost causing the elder to sneer. "As you may have guessed Tsunade has entered a state which will not allow her to fulfill her duties as Hokage, hence I will be taking up the position. She overdid herself to the point she entered a coma as a result."

Naruto's eyes widened hearing Tsunade had entered a coma. He was surprised, but somehow he saw it coming; she healed an entire village by herself, weaker ninja would have died after such an achievement.

"Baa-chan's... in a coma...?" Naruto asked slowly, the information still a bit overwhelming. "S-she's gonna be ok, right? I mean, she'll wake up eventually... she has to!" He glanced at Sakura and saw her anxiously chewing her lower lip, something that only worried him more." I-is there anything we can do?!"

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi calmly advised. "Tsunade-sama is strong... you know that. She'll pull through."

"At the moment she is in a stable condition," Danzo stated playing along, his one visible eye narrowing at the Copy Ninja. "Now as I was saying: Hatake, Haruno. Return to the village immediately, I need to speak with the Jinchūriki alone. Now, if you would please."

Kakashi felt his sixth sense, the one reserved for genius ninja like himself, spiking with so much alarm it actually got his heart racing. Something was very wrong here. "Forgive me, Danzo-sama," he fiddled with the pouch strapped to his side without anybody noticing, not even he was aware of it. "But I cannot in good conscience allow-"

"Save your self-imposed nobility as his master for someone who gives a damn, Kakashi," Danzo said finally getting irritated. The Elder snapped his fingers and around them appeared a squad of 16 ROOT agents, all of them armed and waiting to slaughter anyone their master ordered. "You are disobeying a Elder not to mention a Hokage, son. Either both of you step away now, without a word signaling disloyalty, or I charge both of you with treason and insubordination-"

"No way!" Sakura gawked at Danzo as she interrupted him, "You can't do tha-!"

"Try me," Danzo countered, his expression empty and almost hopeful for a reason to snap his fingers again, though this time blood would result of it.

Kakashi shared a simple glance with Sakura, simple with anybody else, but as a member of Team Seven Naruto knew better.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-chan!" He shouted their names before either could take a step forward, stopping them on their tracks. He knew it was pointless, there was no chance they would be getting their way and as far as Naruto knew Danzo had all of the authority as Hokage, it made no sense to oppose him when he would be sacrificing the lives of two of his precious people for nothing. "Thank you. But..."

Besides... Naruto had a feeling he knew what Danzo wanted to tell him and it was breaking his heart into thousands of pieces, even as he stood there unmoving. And if somebody was going to tell him, it might as well be someone he didn't give a single fuck about, not people he cared about deeply. He doubted he had the strength to keep himself in check otherwise.

"Please..." Naruto nearly begged as he took a step forward, hiding his face from both Kakashi and Sakura. "Just... just let us talk alone... I'll see ya back at the village..."

Danzo mentally huffed at that.

Kakashi looked hesitant and Sakura seemed to be on the verge of tears, but Naruto kept his resolve firm and completely confident in his decision.

Kakashi sighed and patted Sakura's back, the latter giving a shallow attempt to find comfort in the smile over her teacher's mask. She lowered her head and sighed. In the end, both started making their way to the villagers wanting to lynch their comrade, unknowingly leaving him to be molded by the hands of destiny.

Naruto watched the pair as they left with a stony expression on his face, completely unaware of what he just did. "So...? Tell me what you have to say..."

A whole two minutes passed as both ninjas stared each other down, a perfect circle of ROOT agents surrounding them.

...

Danzo smiled, and Naruto cringed.

"GAHH!"

Two seconds. It took Naruto two seconds to notice the sixteen tanto blades going through his heart, lungs, liver, stomach, spine, arms, legs and every major organ necessary for the human body to survive. All 16 ROOT agents made expert use of their blades.

Blood seeped down Naruto's chin, the source being his mouth and the numerous injuries around his body. He swallowed in an attempt to make sure he was still alive, tasting nothing but iron as he did so. His vision turned wavy, his consciousness started slipping, and his mind grew numb as it tried to process what was going on.

"NGHA...! W-why...?" Naruto managed to ask, the surronding green forest turning into a color reminiscent of Sasuke's Amaterasu flames. "KGH... how...!" He coughed. "Like this...!"

The blond fell to his knees and remained on that position, the sound echoing as his mind tried to understand the complete lack of reason behind what was occurring. Denial that this was the end of his shinobi career registered first, regret that he could do nothing about his promise with Ero-sennin was a close second, while his training as a shinobi aided in skipping the overlapping monsoon of thoughts that came after; he was screwed, nothing could save him from this, not even the Kyūbi.

"This is how it needs to be, Uzumaki..." Danzo informed the moribund Naruto three steps from his kneeling figure, all 16 blades of his ROOT agents still inside him.

Naruto raised his head using the last drops of his strength, a monumental effort that all but guaranteed he could hear his killer's last words. Everything about the situation felt surreal to him.

Danzo shook his head in self-disgust for a moment, "What a waste... you could have been the most powerful weapon Konoha has ever produced, I don't have a single doubt about that. I've been keeping an eye on you ever since the day you were born, waiting for a chance to add you into my ranks. Just one single opening... but Sarutobi shielded you from me flawlessly. Unfortunately the gains no longer outweigh the losses. Akatsuki wants you and they will stop at nothing to capture you... I must kill the Kyūbi to ruin whatever they are planning, and the only feasible way to do that is by killing you..."

Naruto felt like the world came crashing down on him at exactly that moment, 'Kyūbi again huh...?' He felt his head nod forward as his strength simply vanished. 'It's always the Kyūbi... everything up until now, somehow it always comes down to the Kyūbi... Now it's finally gotten me killed...'

16 years of life taught Naruto that the world was unfair, that the concept didn't even exist in the grand scheme of things. How many times had he been attempted against all because of the fox sealed in his gut? He honestly stopped counting after the last milestone of a hundred.

"KAAGH!"

Naruto gasped as all 16 agents pulled their blades from his body at the same time, leaving him to topple to the ground in a mess of orange and bloodied limbs. The red liquid became one with the dirt under him and he could no longer feel pain nor think coherently, blood coming out of him in several coughing fits.

"Prepare for the next step..." Danzo ordered, an agent with a cat mask bowing at the Elder. As Danzo spoke, his men started sticking dozens of tags all over Naruto's body, the paper wrinkling a bit as it soaked in Naruto's blood. "Super Explosive Tags. Nearly twice as destructive as the common Explosive Tag, and unlike the common version it can be detonated at much longer distances. A new technology I hope Konoha will employ in our rise to power. I'm afraid nothing less would suffice for you and your extraordinary regeneration qualities, Uzumaki. But even a Jinchūriki cannot survive 16 blades and an explosion large enough to blow Sarutobi's face from the Hokage Monument a second later."

The same agent with the cat mask stepped up and bowed at the Elder with his hand to his chest. "It is ready, Danzo-sama. All it needs is a bit of your chakra to initiate the trigger."

"Very well," Danzo said as he stepped forward, taking a knee right in front of him. He put his index on the tag right over Naruto's forehead and charged it with chakra, a slight hiss coming from it; the link between him and the tags was complete. "I saved the villagers the trouble of dealing with you, boy. Had you reached the village you would have seen a very familiar sight, a nostalgic view of your childhood. A sight where even your comrades look at you with glares and contempt, disgusted by the mere existence of you..."

Naruto's worst fears were confirmed; Konoha wanted nothing to do with him anymore, in fact the villagers wanted him dead. He knew today Konoha would either accept him after years of neglect or hate him like never before, and it's the latter that came to fruition. Living in the Village Hidden in the Leaves would be impossible for him now. Somehow, he should have seen this coming...

The last thing Naruto saw as a ROOT agent placed a tag over his eyes was the empty and smug face of Danzo staring down at him. He could no longer return to the Leaf, not when the whole population blamed him for its destruction, and it filled Naruto with an emptiness so raw it made him feel like his reason for living was gone.

He didn't even get a chance to answer Hinata's confession...

~~Naruto's Mindscape~~

"Tch, pathetic..." A loud growl ringed in Naruto's ears.

Struggling just to open his eyes, Naruto realized with some difficulty that he was now inside his own scape, the knee deep water in sight, but his body too numb to feel the wetness. Long and never ending pipes decorated the ceiling farther than the eye could reach, which was restricted by the poor lighting and brownish atmosphere.

Naruto raised his eyes slowly and with a silver of pain, coming face to face with the source of all the misery in his life; Kyūbi, the Nine Tailed Fox. The magnificent beast stood proud and on all fours, its long powerful tails swishing back and forth in an almost hypnotic fashion, an image that would inspire any artist in the world to draw the massive creature in all its splendor.

"Kyūbi..." Naruto muttered, his body tired and weakened even in his mindscape, a sign that he was moments from truly dying.

The Nine Tailed Fox lord glared at his container with every inch of muscle that contained his toxic chakra, the edges of its snout scrunched into a feral scowl that would otherwise make any ninja wet his pants in fear. At the moment, however, Naruto feared nothing. What else did he have left to lose? He was already dead strictly speaking.

"Kōzō..." The fox started in a voice that did nothing to hide his disgust, a ferocious growl rumbling in the back of his throat. Its raw power only helped in amplifying the disgust he felt seeing the sickening actions of a container he was starting to consider as worthy. "YOU'RE GIVING UP ALREADY, BASTARD?!"

Naruto's body tensed as the furious roar of the Kyūbi washed over him, its strength rivaling the winds of a tropical storm. The phenomenon continued behind him as the very walls and liquid inside the scape reverberate to the tune of the fox's scream, a roar that would otherwise flatten a small forest with its strength alone.

'I'll never give up! Because that is my Ninja Way!'

Naruto felt his eyes prickle as two warm tears sprouted at the edge of his eyes. He knew what the fox was getting at. He was supposed to be a ninja that never gave up, a ninja willing to go against all odds and somehow find a way to gain victory, no matter how impossible. It was his Nindō, after all, his Ninja Way.

But this...

"WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME, KYŪBI?!" Naruto roared back with nowhere near as much strength, the emotion finally making him collapse as tears streamed down his cheeks. "WHAT THE HELL CAN I DO NOW, HAH...?! There's no way out of this, you saw it yourself...!" He fell to his hands and knees, slamming the former against the floor. "I can't do this anymore... I've lost...!"

"FOOL!" The Kyūbi roared again, the blond before him cringing as he took the blast as best he could, the raw wind forcing him back to his feet. "IF YOU DIE SO DO I! I REFUSE TO BE EXTINGUISHED IN SUCH A PATHETIC FASHION! YOU'RE THE CONTAINER OF THE GREATEST SOURCE OF POWER IN THE WORLD, AND YOU WILL ACT LIKE IT!"

The giant fox swung its tails and sat crosslegged, slapping his claws together like he was about to start praying. He roamed through the deepest parts of his being searching for a power even greater than his own -although he would never admit it-, still surprised that he would be using it at all, let alone on Naruto.

...

"I don't have long any more. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyūki... Kurama. Even though you have been separated, you shall always be together. Until eventually that time shall come when you will become one… You each carry a name… And with a different shape than you had up to now, you will be shown a righteous path, different from the time you spent inside of me. What is true power, he will show you… Until that time…"

...

Kurama suppressed the too human emotion washing over him as he remembered his father's last words to him and his kin.

'I was supposed to give this chakra to the human my brethen and I chose as the succesor to the Old Man's will... I have no doubt it's you, Naruto...' The scape's color scheme flickered between brown and gold to purple and red. Kyūbi's crimson eyes snapped open as the chakra he searched for was within his grasp. "FOUND YOU!" He proclaimed, immediately switching seals from praying to a tiger over tiger seal. 'My kin would agree with my decision, and even if they don't, screw them...! I believe in you, Kōzō, that's all that matters... The substance in question was left to me alone anyways. '

Naruto watched the Kyūbi's actions bewildered and confused; he had never seen the fox sit so quietly before without him screaming how much he would enjoy skinning him alive. "W-what are you doing...? What is this feeling...?"

Kurama ignored the blond in favor of concentrating harder, 'Shit, the odds are strangely in our favor... those fools who tried to kill him managed to stab the boy at just the right angle and right over every major tenketsu; the engine of a human's chakra network... If everything goes well, this chakra should merge with his own. The Senju DNA deep within his cells will have no choice but to come out and play nice now, and hopefully, give him what I hope it does...'

"Wha-?!" Naruto's confusion turned to awe and terror as strings of chakra escaped through the bars of the Kyūbi's cage like the seal wasn't even there, the same being said of the pipes overhead, which were being filled with so much it looked like they were only hanging on against the pressure. "SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON-?!

A pulse in Naruto's chest stopped him from saying any more, right over the place where his heart signaled life.

Naruto clutched his chest as the feeling threatened to spread and felt his heart slow to a beat per second. "What... are you doing to me...?!"

Naruto felt like his blood had turned to lead, nothing in his life could compare to the feeling consuming him now. He felt sick and his body literally felt like it was shutting down. It scared him out of his skin because this did not feel like dying, this was something completely different. His breathing became labored, his hearing turned mute, and his eyes... they were on fire...

...

"AAAHHHHH!" Naruto screamed in agony clutching his eyes, both orbs throbbing and burning in a single blow of excruciating pain.

...

Kurama grinned seeing the blond screaming bloody murder, though the expression did not last as the last remnants of the purple chakra became thinner.

"This was the last memento I had of you, Old Man..." Kurama muttered, the momentary moment of emotion nearly making him barf. "Tah me this chakra's worth fifty times that of yours, baka-blond. It will give you the power necessary to survive this shit-fest you got yourself into."

"AAHHH!" Naruto continued screaming as he clutched both his eyes, perfectly understanding the Kyūbi's words, but unable to react through the amount of pain threatening to break his mind. "SHIT, SHIT! MY EYES WILL EXPLODE!"

Kurama's grin turned diabolical as he savored the blond's screaming; he had often fantasized of being the cause of such screaming, and it made him chuckle knowing it would probably never happen now.

"Let the chakra adapt, Naruto, don't fight it. What is coursing through your veins is chakra from the Sage of the Six Path's himself, a substance that is ignorant of the pity limitations of the human condition. But as an Uzumaki, and as my Jinchūriki, you are the only man on this planet capable of handling it. Savor the last seconds of humanity you have left... because when the process is complete, you too will be ignorant of such pity limitations..."

Naruto spread his arms apart and raised his head, a fierce purple glow sourcing from his eyes and mouth, "NGH-AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The Kyūbi's grin vanished and awe took its place, his efforts going towards containing this feeling. "I see... so this is it, huh...? This is... your version of it..." He shook his snout to clear his over erratic mind at the result of their venture; Naruto was on his knees, steam oozing out of him like his body was overheating. "Rest, Naruto... I'll be taking control of your body momentarily, you ain't surviving Danzo's attempt alone. It's obvious your power is still in its infancy, after all..."

"Why are you doin' this-ttebayo...?" Naruto asked, still marbled by the reflection coming from the water only half an inch from the floor.

Kyūbi grinned again, "Hey I practically own you now, kōzō, wake up and look around... self-preservation or not... I just saved your ass big time... Tell me, how many Bijū would help you survive 16 blades like I did...?"

Naruto stared at his hands for a moment appreciating the eery glow they gave off -his still scorching eyes were obviously to blame-, examining the Kyūbi's every word like sacred knowledge. "Considering everything else you've caused, I say we're even, furball..."

"Hmph," Kyūbi snorted, "We'll settle our debts later. For now..." The fox lord narrowed its eyes at the ceiling as his chakra got to work on the next step. "I gotta make sure you don't die prematurely..."

Naruto nodded and stood back on his feet to share a look with the giant fox, "Just so you know that prick Danzo will notice you're helping me if your chakra is dense enough."

"Which is why I'm not just using mine," Kyūbi retorted, its nine tails instinctively rising behind him to help his concentration. "I'm using my chakra to heal you, and I'm using the Sage's chakra to keep it in check. Simultaneously."

Naruto's eyes widened, "The Sage's chakra can heal wounds, and keep your chakra from being noticed...?"

The Kyūbi grinned like only a few times in his centuries of life, "You are seriously underestimating that Old Man's power, kōzō... this is nothing, there's so much more to his chakra... Well, I guess it's not necessarily his anymore, is it...?"

Kurama really hoped Naruto understood the implications of his words, and by the determined look the boy gave him, something told the Bijū he at least appreciated its value.

'Nearly there now,' Danzo thought filled with self-satisfaction; another covert mission accomplished and as usual no proof remains.

The amount of satisfaction Danzo got seeing the growing pool of blood filled him with pride, though for a brief moment there, confusion took its place seeing a brief shadow of purple and red flicker in the boy's pupils. Danzo watched with analytical eyes as the last tag was placed over the teen's eyes, pleased by the perfect layer of explosives keeping him in a beautiful cocoon, that window of uncertainty trickling into the back of his mind.

Purple eyes...

...

It was completely impossible... and yet for a second Danzo entertained the idea of decapitating him.

...

Danzo shook his head and turned on his heels, his mind completely embroiled in the fact that Konoha needed a leader that would rule with an iron fist; Shimura Danzo would be that leader.

Several minutes of walking later, Danzo made a hand sign and allowed himself a very small, very cold smile hearing the explosion in the distance. Goodbye, Jinchūriki.

Just half an hour later, Naruto was staring at his reflection over a lake a few miles away from Konoha completely in awe of what was staring back; it felt freaky having those completely purple eyes following his every move.

The teen's sclera and cornea were now lilac, and on each of the three rings surrounding the area where the pupil should be, three tomoes were now firmly attached to each ring over both eyes. There was no mistaking it; he now had the freaking RINNEGAN.

...

Naruto grinned. 40 minutes after having lost everything he held dear, his home and his friends, he grinned. The reason: Uchiha Sasuke will be PIST the day he sees this.

After taking a look at Konoha's villagers to verify Danzo's words, Naruto wasn't surprised to see them waving torches and pitchforks screaming for his blood. How pitiful. Why did ever bother with them? He didn't know if it was thanks to his new eyes, or perhaps the fact that his own "comrades" attempted to assassinate him, but now he could see through their false sense of care.

For a moment he asked himself which had affected him more, but came to the conclusion it was probably a healthy mixture of both. He needed to grow up now.

And now it was no longer a choice. It was a matter of survival from here on.

"Hey uh, Ku... Kurama..." Naruto began slowly, still not used to calling the Fox lord by its given name. "I don't have a thing anymore... I don't even have a home... what now...?"

Thanks to Kyūbi he could live, thanks to him and the Sage's chakra, but now what? His purpose in life had been bitch-slapped aside by fate's cold hand, taking away his dream of some day becoming Hokage and leaving him as nothing more than an empty shell without a clear goal in sight. Naruto truly felt like he didn't even want to be a part of this world. His comrades abandoned him -hell they may have contributed in the assassination attempt-, and his life was on the verge of complete and utter misery.

Lesser beings would have killed themselves by now...

Kurama, hearing the blond's turmoil from his relaxed position in his cage, yawned and laid on his belly. "Mmmh... even the Old Man had a home he wanted to protect, Naruto. It was a source of great strength to him. As a Bijū, I won't even try to understand what you're feeling right now, because I can't... but here's a bit of advice from an outside observer... build your own home, kōzō."

Naruto suddenly sprang to his feet and a ripple spread over the lake's surface, "Build... my own home, huh...?"

Naruto stared back down at his reflection hoping to find a clue to what he wanted, and as the ripple spread across the large body of water and reached the edge, a memory popped into his mind, the memory of a very powerful Jutsu that Pein used to seal both the Kyūbi and him inside a monstrous planet. The Akatsuki leader had literally built a planet using his own strength and wits as a Rinnegan wielder, so he asked himself, could he some day do the same...?

Naruto's answer came in the form of a very soft chuckle. Kyūbi could not stop himself from emulating the blond.

Crafty little bastard...

Full summary: Under enough pressure, anything may give - Uzumaki Naruto is no exception to this. After Konoha pins Pein's destruction on him, he decides to build a new home; one deserving of his love... Years later, as war ravages the land, rumors spread of a nation on a floating planet possessing the most advanced technology. A powerful nation lead by a man and his Seven Legendary Swordsmen, a man renowned as the 'Rikūdo Sennin.' (Mostly Canon Ships)

A/N: Helloo to all who made it this far! First of all, thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the experience! *humbly bows*

This here is a story I started waaaay back in 2012-2013, which I've wanted to rewrite since, but couldn't since I had my hands full with Senju's Heir, Furyan and tons of other stuff. It's a story which involves some characters from Bleach, but everything else will be strictly Narutoverse, not adding the technological advantages Naruto's nation will have, of course. Those that have been with me for a while know which story this is, but just to clarify, this story was conceived long before either Naruto or Bleach ended, so you may find some details lacking. Even my name -used to be Naruto's Alter Ego- was different when I first posted this story! PLOT-WISE I WILL TRY TO KEEP IT AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE ORIGINAL. Which is why there might be a plot-hole here and there when it comes to recent knowledge.

Anyways, I will give it my best shot to rewrite the thing, but please keep in mind that I don't have a lot of time to write. Life has not been very nice to me as of late. Let's leave it at that. It's the reason Senju's Heir has been in hiatus, and unfortunately, it will continue to be in hiatus for some time. At least until things pick up again.

Rest assured that I will finish Senju's Heir. I know a ton of you have been asking me for an update, but good things come to those who wait, so please be patient with me :)

To wrap things up, thanks again for reading and I hope you found something worth remembering it by. Please follow, favorite and review if you feel inclined to do so! Love ya guys, take care! :D

P.S. If anyone has a copy of the original, plz let me know! It'll be a massive help in the rewriting process. Also, to those of my more veteran readers, this is a thank you for being there even after so many years. I know I'm not the most reliable author out there so thanks for sticking with me.

Thank you guys especially!