Legacy of Naruto

When Naruto is born, he is taken by the Vampire Kain to be studied for demonic power. Naruto embraces the Dark Gift and returns to Konoha, rather different from your average fledgling.

Xxx

Prologue: The Demon Hunters

"You can assure us that this child shall be dealt with then?" The Jounin asked, his arms crossed.

"The Sarafan are anything if not thorough." The man across from him replied. This man wore purple garments and silver armour. "Point us to this Devil Child and we shall make sure that he never sees the light of day again and his soul is purified."

"Good, the demon will be heading for its apartment soon." The Jounin replied. "Get him out of our city."

"It shall be done, we thank you for providing us this information." The Sarafan Knight stood and left with his six companions. They exited the back room of the tavern and then went out onto the street, unaware that a figure had been listening to them through the room's window.

The figure was invisible to the naked eye, seeming to have blended in with the mist around it. Slowly the man became solid and visible, revealing first a pair of cloven feet and a pair of legs clad in a set of simple, featureless black trousers. The man was naked from the waist up, wearing only a small length of a leather strapped and a red cape that covered one of his shoulders. His skin was green and thick, powerful enough to deflect most regular attacks, and his hands were tipped with three large claws. He frowned as he watched the Sarafan from the alley he was standing in, a pair of fangs showing themselves. His golden eyes narrowed as the seven Knights vanished from view to go after the boy the Jounin had mentioned. His white hair was tied back so it was kept out of the way, allowing one to plainly see the odd segment of armoured flesh or bone that had formed what looked like a set of horns or a natural crown upon the creature's forehead.

Kain, once the Vampire King, now the Scion of Balance had heard every word that was said, and became interested as to why the people of this city would hire Sarafan Knights to take this child. The Sarafan had long been vanquished from Nosgoth with the rise of Kain's second Vampire Kingdom. Kain had personally decapitated their leader himself before he went on to rebuild his empire in the restored land of Nosgoth, having returned to the time he had departed from alongside Raziel the Wraith in their quest across time and space. They had been a last ditch effort by the Elder God to eliminate Kain before he could defy the God's precious Wheel of Fate any more than he already had.

The Elder God…that abominable, malignant, spectral monster that claimed to be the engine of life itself had been the cause of every event in Nosgoth's History that claimed lives in conflict. Kain's death, his resurrection, the seduction of the circle, Kain's quest for revenge, the genocide of the vampires, the constant rise and fall of the Sarafan Order, all to keep the Wheel of Fate turning. Kain himself had defied this wheel and the False God itself before it fled the continent of Nosgoth, going beyond the realm it had once controlled to escape Kain. The Vampire King, armed with a purified Soul Reaver that carried the soul of his former Lieutenant and son, Raziel set about rebuilding Nosgoth not merely for his own benefit, but because Raziel's sacrifice and everything Kain had experienced had left the King scarred.

The humans were not mere slaves of the vampires like last time, but still distrusted the blood drinking monsters. Kain formed a small army of vampires; just enough to assure the safety of the restored Citadel that had held the Ancient Vampires through centuries of war, and now was the Citadel of Kain. The King had chosen to track the Sarafan as they fled Nosgoth, and followed them across oceans to this new and mysterious continent where the humans used a form of magic called Chakra to manipulate the elements, increase their strength to that of a vampire's, to summon spiritual creatures, and enhance the strength of their weapons to the point where they could cleave a vampire in half.

This village, Kohonagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves was supposedly the largest in the Land of Fire and held many Blood Lines, families with specific abilities only they and their kin could access. Kain had explored the village's history, and found mention of a demon invasion barely eight years ago by a supposed Greater Demon known as the Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Fox Demon. It could create tsunamis, crush mountains, and flood miles of countryside with one swing of its tail and use its very chakra to set light to anything it touched.

They referred to this child as a demon, but Kain had watched the boy and saw little trace of any form of magic coming off of him. He certainly had more than the rest of the children his age, more equivalent to one of the teenagers or young adults of this village who already served as soldiers. Aside from this increase in energy Kain could detect nothing different from a distance. Perhaps he should follow and see if the boy displayed any form of potential power.

And so he did, turning into a swarm of bats that flew high into the sky and trailed the Sarafan to an Apartment Complex. As four of them remained outside to guard the entrance, three went up to the top floor.

Minutes later they came out carrying something that was screaming and kicking. Kain saw the blonde hair, the wide, fearful blue eyes, and the whisker like marks on the boy's skin. One Sarafan Knight struck the boy. "Be silent devil child!"

The boy didn't cry, but instead he bit the man's hand. This earned him another punch. "The devil spawn tried to spread his curse to me! Rid us of him now!" As some villagers came out onto the street to see what was happening, one Sarafan Knight began to raise the pole axe he was wielding as two more held the boy in place. He screamed, and a few villagers stepped forward to help, but the Knights blocked their advance.

"Stay back! This demon child is to be executed so his soul may be reincarnated pure!" The lead Knight shouted. "Do it now brother!"

The Knight raised the pole axe….and came back down empty handed…an without any arms below his elbows. He screamed as blood spurted from the limbs, and fell, writhing on the ground as his six brethren looked around desperately. Suddenly the attacker landed on one Knight, and stuck a hand right through his back and came out of his chest with his heart in its hand. With the first two Knights dead already, Kain shoved the corpse aside and drew his Soul Reaver.

"Vampire!" The five remaining knights shouted as they surrounded him.

The blonde child stared up in shock at Kain, who had an amused smirk on his face as he looked to each Knight.

"Do the Sarafan now occupy their agenda of murder with young human children? If my memory does not deceive me you have been calling me and my kind the monsters for centuries." Kain chuckled. "Are you so desperate to rebuild your order that you shall play as assassins and mercenaries for the criminals of this realm?"

"Do not heed his words men; each is laced with poison and deception!" The Leader growled before he swung his sword at Kain, who almost casually blocked it with the Reaver, using one hand to hold the Sarafan's broad sword back. A second knight stabbed at Kain, but he spun out of the way and then parried two more strikes from the leader and grasped a spear as it was jabbed at him by a third Knight. He jerked the weapon away from the man, spun it once in his hand, and stabbed the owner right in the throat, sending the spear through the man and into the wall behind him. The fourth Knight swung his mace at Kain, who pushed it aside with a swing from the Reaver and jabbed at the Knight, taunting him all the while before parrying the Leader's sword and leaping back as the second Knight swung his sword down. The last knight tried to attack Kain from behind, but the vampire spun and stuck his hand out, sending the man flying as he was struck with a Telekinetic Blast and hit the top floor of the apartment building before he fell with a cry and landed, breaking his neck.

Laughing, Kain face the three remaining Knights before him. "I see that your order still takes to recruiting only the most stubborn and determined of mortals."

The leader jabbed at him, but Kain pushed the blade aside and then jammed one claw into the man's chest and punctured both of his lungs. The last two knights attempted to flee, but were held in place by Kain's telekinesis. The vampire strolled up to them and snapped their necks. He then reached upwards with one hand and opened his mouth. Streams of blood came out of every body as flew into the air, combining into one stream above him and came down into his mouth. He savoured the blood and swallowed every last drop.

When he was done, he placed the Reaver back in its place and faced the gathered villagers.

"A demon! It is a demon! It drank their blood!" A woman cried.

"No, not a demon," Kain put a gift to use, a gift he absorbed from a traitor to his campaign during his first attempt to conquer Nosgoth over a thousand years ago, a vampire named Marcus who charmed humans into obeying him. The villagers paused, unable to speak or move as they listened. "Demons are often disguised behind the most pure of intentions, such as these…." He kicked one corpse. "These supposed Warriors of God, who pursued their goals through murder and dishonour." He looked at the child, who remained stunned and stained with a little blood that had gotten on him when Kain cut off the arms of the first Sarafan Knight.

Kain paused as he realized something; the child was slowly backing away, not held by Kain's Dark Gift of Charming but by fear of the Vampire. "Interesting…you are not rendered obedient by my power….what manner of defence do you possess to counter my Dark Gifts? Does it connect to the accusation of you being a demon child?"

"I-I don't know what you mean." The boy whimpered. "Please don't kill me!"

"Peace, child, I do not savour the blood of children where these men are at peace with staining their blades with it." Kain said.

Suddenly, something began to build up within the child; there was a noticeable increase in power the boy possessed. Kain's eyes narrowed as he whispered. "What sorcery is this?" The boy's power was increasing by the second, slowly beginning to manifest before Kain's vision. "This power…."

The boy fainted at that point.

Moments later, several humans leaped down from the roof tops, surrounding Kain. They were not weak minded like most of the humans here. One was a young man with spiked up white hair and a mask that hid most of his face along with his head band being angled to hide his left eye. Another was a young, attractive woman with dark hair that tumbled to her shoulders and was kept out of her face by a matching head band, revealing naturally red eyes. The third was a man with tanned skin, a short dark beard and matching hair that was spiked, but not as much as the white haired man-this one was also smoking a cigarette, a habit many humans both here and in Nosgoth had. The fourth was a young woman with purple hair tied back in a pony tail and wore fishnet clothing, an orange skirt, and a tan trench coat. The final one was an elderly man clad in all black cloth and armour, the Hokage, the Fire Shadow of this village, its leader.

"What the hell?" The second man tensed as he looked at Kain.

"Damn, looks weird but looks good." The purple haired woman drew a Kunai, a grin on her face. "But the claws and fangs are a turn off."

"Get away from the boy." The Hokage demanded.

"I am not one who to accept the authority of a foreign power, elder." Kain replied. "If I intended to do the boy harm I would have done it by now."

"What are you?" The Hokage was just about ready to use anything in his arsenal to destroy this creature.

"I go by many names to many different people." Kain crossed his arms. "Some call me Kain the Disruptor, Kain the Conqueror, Kain the Assassin, King of Nosgoth at one time, Vampire Kain. But you may simply call me...Kain."

"Kain it is then, now step away from the boy." The Hokage demanded.

"Is the child truly safer with these villagers than he is with I?" Kain smirked. "You have seen it for yourself, I can tell this was not the first attempt on the boy's life by his own people. And this time one of your own warriors went as far as to hire the Sarafan Knights to eliminate him."

"I have never heard of the Sarafan." The white haired man who had one eye hidden said.

"Because they have remained inconspicuous until recently. They only arrived at the shores of your continent several months ago. I would know...I spent the entire trip feeding on the crews of their ships." Kain hissed. "They claim to do the work of god by eliminating that which is feared by mortals, but in reality they are evil wearing the mask of divinity as they wet their blades with the blood of innocents such as this boy." He looked at the blonde child. "I have heard much about him as I charmed the eldest members of this village, they told me much of his burden...tell me old man, is this true?"

"You refer to the Kyuubi, there is no use hiding that." The Hokage relaxed a bit. "Indeed it is true, Naruto has been forced to bear the burden of that wretched demon for eight years, and every day has been an attempt at survival for him."

"I see...I sense the demon in him, it tries to feed him power through the conduit that has formed between them." Kain's mind was running at full speed, trying to understand just how powerful this creature could be, possibly stronger than the Elder God itself. "His stomach ,that is where it is."

"It is where the seal was made...by his father." The Hokage, Sarutobi held back a tear. "I have done what I can except for all but massacring a large population of this village to eliminate every person who attacks him. It is not easy to remain a leader of unpredictable people."

"Indeed, I too understand the betrayal felt when one who is supposed to trust your judgement operates in the shadows when your back is turned." Kain replied. "But what if I told you that this child need not fear his coming years?"

"You murder seven men and then attempt to offer us counsel?" The dark haired smoker growled.

"Peace, human, I only murdered them so as to prevent innocent blood from being spilt and because they have been my ancient enemy for countless years." Kain said. "I am a vampire, the so called scourge of your race, more demon than this fox spirit you speak of in the eyes of these fanatical hunters. I have watched their order rise and fall many times over years that I have lost count of. I banished them from Nosgoth, and this time attempted to build in a more...acceptable manner compared to my previous tyranny that I forced upon my home land. But sadly no matter what I or any other of my kin do, we shall always be known only as the scourge of humanity, the drinkers of blood, and those who walk in the night."

"Drinkers of blood...I saw that stream...you drank the blood right out of their bodies." The young, white haired man observed. "And those talons...the feet...you are not human." He drew a kunai, on guard.

"Stay your weapon, warrior, I do not care to spill more blood unless it is originating from beneath plates of armour marked with the brand of the Sarafan." Kain held up one hand, freezing the man in place with his telekinesis. As the red eyed woman took a step forward, Kain froze her in place also. The strain of using his telekinetic power on two people and his charming ability to keep a crowd of thirty or so people solitary would have made him stagger in his control if not for the seven bodies worth of blood he had just ingested, giving him a brief boost of power. "I shall release you if none of you attempt to bring me harm again, I am no enemy of your village and I have not killed a human who has not deserved it since the formation of my second empire."

"Stand down, let him speak." Sarutobi ordered Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Anko. "I sense the intentions in his voice, and they are not so foul as you may suspect. Am I correct in my assumption...Kain?"

"You are indeed correct, elder." Kain released the two. "My intent is to help clear the Sarafan out of this land before they corrupt it as they did Nosgoth so many times over. And I have just the way to make sure my influence helps to prevent such an event." He crouched and picked up Naruto, holding the boy gently in his arms. "Allow me to take this child, and I promise you on the grave of every one of my comrades that I shall return him when he is of age."

"That won't happen!" Kakashi snapped. "I promised his father I would keep him safe!"

"I sense you and the boy's father had a connection...what stopped you from adopting this child and preventing harm from him then? Training him as you would your own son." Kain asked, eyes narrowing.

"I...I am not fit to be a parent to anyone." Kakashi admitted. "I cannot keep anyone safe...not even myself, I have always needed help from others or else I would be dead." His hand touched his head band where it hid his eye.

"I promise you that as soon as this boy is of age to enter your military I shall return him, I have studied your culture in the time I have spent here and am well aware that in six years he would be graduating to the rank of Genin." Kain continued. "I would teach him to fight, to focus this energy within him; I would teach him of both human and vampiric lore. And then once he turns fourteen I shall return him to you, and he shall be ready to face this world and grow."

Sarutobi locked gazes with Kain for a full five minutes before he finally replied. "Despite your inhumane appearance and dark powers...I sense that you speak the truth...you would also help him to learn our ways?"

"I do not know how to channel my energy as this Chakra you favour, and I doubt I could ever master it." Kain shook his head. "He need not leave now...I can give him time to decide for himself." He handed the boy over to Sarutobi. "But remember the difference between Nosgoth and the Land, honoured Hokage, we have not had witch or demon hunts for many centuries, and this village seems to be in a constant quest to eliminate this boy's life every day. I shall leave it up to him in the end."

Kain stepped back, and then raised his hands to the sky before he suddenly vanished in a black swarm of winged bats that all flew up into the dark sky and vanished. The spell broke ,and the villagers looked around in confusion.

The group of five returned to the Hokage Tower.

Xxx

"Whatever that thing was, it was neither human nor demon." Kakashi stated, his arms crossed.

"He mentioned that he was a vampire...ah here it is." Sarutobi had gone through his collection of scrolls and produced one. "The vampires are said to be a race of human like creatures, stronger and faster than the average human and capable of taking on even trained shinobi without jutsu training. They feed off of the blood of humans or animals, are burned by water and sun light, and are usually stereotyped in romantic novels...I never thought they were real though, just myth."

"What about this place he mentioned, Nosgoth." Kurenai tried to figure this dilemma out.

"Nosgoth...there is no record of such a place, but he claimed to have travelled across the sea for months." Sarutobi rubbed his chin. "What do we know of the Sarafan?"

"They arrived in great numbers in water country and made a few hostile advances, but they were stopped after they got control of one of the islands." Asuma pointed out an island on a map of the continent. "The Hidden Mist Village has negotiated a ceasefire and allowed them to set up a small government. The fact that they have deep pockets further enticed the Mizukage to forgive their invasion of Water Country."

"Do we know anything more aside from their location?" Sarutobi asked. "Such as whether they may become a threat to us? They did attempt to murder Naruto, and are enemies of the Vampire Kain."

"Still, can we trust a creature that feeds off of the blood of humans anymore than we can trust the Sarafan?" Kakashi asked.

"Better the devil you know, than the devil you do not." The humans spun and came face to face with Kain, who had seemingly appeared from nowhere in the office, arms crossed and a playful smirk on his face. "I needed to be aware of any plots against me, I am glad that only the usual suspicions have been brought up in this meeting, elder."

"How did you get in here?" Kakashi stepped forward, placing himself between Kain and the Hokage.

The Vampire King took a moment to examine Kakashi. He was in his late twenties, and despite his youth he had a bit of that spark Kain had when he was a fledgling. This man was easily stronger than most Sarafan, possibly on par with some of their current inquisitors or maybe even their new and mysterious 'Sarafan King' who ruled their new island country. Kain did not doubt this man would make an excellent opponent, but he did not come to fight and needlessly kill; that was in the past.

"Be at ease warrior, if I intended harm many would be dead by now." Kain raised one cloven hand to stop Kakashi. "Would your actions be so different were you within the borders of Nosgoth? No man favours walking blindly with a possible foe plotting against him; a trait even vampires even as old as myself retain."

"Lord Kain...for what reason should I entrust you with Naruto? How will I be certain that you could be any safer for him than this village where I at least know where he is?" Sarutobi asked.

"I have seen and fought many things in my time elder, I have lived for millennia and have learned to identify those with pure of heart...and the most despicable of intention. I would know, I do not have such a clean history, but no being can claim that regardless of their race." Kain shook his head. "With the Sarafan moving here it is a matter of time before they take over, be it decades, centuries, or even a thousand years they will soon adapt to your use of the Ninja Arts. I see this as a way of making sure I am not demonized in the eyes of every leader. If I can at least know that I may have allies in this one village I may be able to thoroughly destroy the Sarafan before they may threaten you or Nosgoth again."

"Why would they seek to overthrow every sovereign power?" Kurenai asked.

"Because Madame Illusionist, conquest is all they know, and worse yet they have the motivation of their god." Kain replied. "I have seen this so called god, and he is far from divine in the eyes of any man or woman, mortal or vampire. Even demons fear the Elder God that directs them."

"It would take years to even begin to topple one of the great nations," Sarutobi set his pipe aside. "And if one fell, the rest would see the rising threat and swiftly deal with it."

"By the time one falls, the rest will be under the Sarafan's heel, just not officially." Kain drawled. "In time, without any direct action, the Sarafan will take over everything. They represent humanity's capacity for adapting to any new environment. Vampires may be drinkers of blood, but we do not kill without purpose; only to drink so that we may survive. These humans do what they wish because they can and they believe they must control all." His eyes narrowed. "The only question remaining, elder fire shadow, is if you wish to leave your people with the inevitable threat of crusaders ruling them with an iron fist, or if you would rather have an ally in the shadows."

He held out a single claw.

Sarutobi took a moment to ponder his decision. He knew that Naruto would be subject to many daily beatings by the villagers no matter what was done to suppress their rage. In their eyes he was only what they wished to destroy: a demon. Yet this vampire, who was far from human spoke more reason than most men would give on the subject. Most would reject the deal upon seeing Kain's appearance and finding out just what he was, but Sarutobi knew that evil did not often take the guise of something that repelled humans, but to attract them.

He took Kain's hand, and with amazing strength tugged the vampire forward so he could hiss into one ear. "If he is harmed, I will make sure you and your kingdom burn."

Kain chuckled. "Now that is the spirit of a true guardian and a father."

Xxx

End of Chapter

I know kids become genin at 12 and quite frankly I don't give a damn, it's my story.