Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters or the Dead or Alive characters. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Tecmo respectively.

Author's Note: This fic was inspired by "The Ultimate Tournament" and "Naruto Xtreme 3", both of which were written by Gravenimage. If you haven't checked out those two fics, I highly recommend you do. Although the fics' storyline as a whole has not been finished (and I do hope Gravenimage does get back to it someday), they are both highly entertaining stories and you won't be disappointed if you read them.

The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze

Prolouge

In this world, there are many stories that become more than just mere stories, and people who become more than just mere mortals within said stories. And in certain parts of the world where individuals known as ninjas live, train, and fight, this principle is still the same.

And perhaps the story of a man who once saved the entire world (not just the ninja part) from a great upheaval that had arisen long ago is the most well-known story among shinobi.

This man was known as the Sage of The Six Paths.

According to the story, this man was a monk who had appeared in an age of endless war. He was the first person to ever understand the true nature of chakra itself and with this knowledge set out to lead the world out of the constant conflicts and into peace. Traveling around the world and spreading his beliefs/ideology, he slowly developed a loyal following. Of course, naturally there were some who believed the Sage to be nothing but a naïve fool with pipe dreams, but then something happened that ultimately changed the naysayer's perceptions…the Jūbi, otherwise known as the Ten-Tails.

As to where it came from, no one knew at first, but those who had encountered the beast and were fortunate enough to escape it said that it seemed to have a disturbingly foul presence about itself and it seemed to come across as nothing more than a living entity of destruction. Some warrior clans believed it to be another underling created by the Fiends, a supernatural multi-millennia-old race that is consisted of several of demons, undead monsters and other foul creatures descended directly from a malevolent being known as Vigoor, the latter whom said demons were "preparing the way" for his revival. However, once the Sage learned of this and stepped in, he discovered that the Ten-Tails was not a part of the Fiends at all, but rather another entity entirely, and interestingly enough, one of the survivors told the Sage that when one of the Fiends were near the Ten-Tails, the demon had backed away from the latter in sheer terror.

Realizing that if the Fiends – who were not known for fearing anything except for those who descended from what was known as the Dragon Lineage – were terrified of something whose power could easily surpass their own, the Sage knew that action had to be taken to stop the Ten-Tails, and thus took it upon himself to do so. After what could only be described as an epic battle, the Sage defeated the Ten-Tails. Not only that, but he developed a way to seal its power within himself so it could never threaten the entire world again. As a result, the Sage become an almost god-like figure and was hailed as a savior.

Despite this title, the Sage himself knew that he was not immortal, and along with knowing that his dream of peace was unattainable in his lifetime, the Sage also knew that the Ten-Tails would be unleashed on the world once the former died. So using one of his many abilities, the Sage created nine living constructs of chakra out of the Ten-Tails' own, and encased the latter's body within a gigantic stone prison and hurled it into the sky far beyond the heavens, where it would then become entombed within the moon itself (although some have claimed that the Sage created the moon to imprison the beast).

Knowing that his end was drawing near, the Sage called all the chakra constructs (whom he called bijū, or tailed beasts) together and told them that while his time on Earth was coming to an end, he did reassure them of one single promise.

"I'm afraid I don't have much time left in this world…however, even though my end is coming, there is still one last thing I wish to impart to all nine of you…Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Chōmei, Gyūki, and Kurama…even though you have been separated and have your own respective name, there will come a time when all nine of you shall become one entity again, different from before, and you will be shown a righteous path by someone, not a path of darkness. When that time comes, you will then understand what true strength really is. However, until then…"

The Sage never seemed to finish his sentence, only with a slight but still warm smile across his now-elderly face as he looked at all of the tailed beasts as a father would look to his beloved children, feeling emotional himself as he saw a tear fall down the face of Kurama the Nine-Tailed Fox, who tried to stay strong emotionally but could not.

Shortly after, the Sage then entrusted his dream of peace to his only two sons, each with their own respective gifts inherited from their father. Knowing he could only choose one successor and not both, the Sage on his deathbed chose his youngest son due to the latter's belief that love was the key to peace, as opposed to the elder, who believed in power as the key. Unwilling and therefore unable to accept his father's decision, the elder son attacked the younger, sparking a feud that would sadly continue all throughout the ages, and the tailed-beasts themselves would find themselves to their own devices for many generations to come, having no desire to involve themselves in the two brother's feud (namely on the elder son's end).

Relieved that the Ten-Tails was dealt with once and for all, the Fiends wasted no time in trying to consolidate power for themselves once again and stir up trouble on occasion as they prepared for the coming of Vigoor. However, much to their dismay, the warriors from the Dragon Lineage (some of whom had been students of the Sage for a time) would always rise to stop them whenever that happened. Not only that, but they also had to deal with occasional encounters from the tailed beasts, namely Kurama, who was able to easily detect places where excess malevolence would occur. Many of the Fiends cut their losses and fled whenever they encountered any of the bijū, but some were foolish enough to fight the tailed beasts anyway, believing them to be nothing but mere shadows of the Ten-Tails' power. Needless to say, it was the last mistake said Fiends would make, since Kurama (as well as all the tailed beasts) easily disposed of them.

Once that happened, the Vigoorian Emperor then considered tracking down the creatures (namely Kurama) and tempt it to fight by his side, but quickly dismissed that idea, knowing full well that it would be futile and Kurama would just level their entire Empire into nothing.

Centuries passed, and the Sage's existence soon passed into history and myth, and even the tailed beasts to some extents. However, their existence was anything but a myth, and in some ways, their power was highly coveted, and eventually Kurama found itself as an unwilling pawn in a longstanding power struggle between two ninja clans of a hidden village. First time was under the control of Madara Uchiha, a shinobi from a clan descended directly from the Sage's Elder son. Then shortly after, Kurama was sealed away into the wife of Hashirama Senju, the latter's clan being direct descendants from the Sage's younger son. Having been mostly indifferent to humans before, now Kurama was developing a great deal of resentment towards them due to it being subjugated against its will via Madara and now being denied any freedom of any kind. The fact that its own brethren were eventually captured by Hashirama as well and then given to all the other hidden villages as a way to maintain the balance of power didn't even bother the fox, since the latter kind of looked down on them due to their number of tails, which signified their strength (something the Sage had rebuked Kurama for several times in the past).

Although sealed away, Kurama was still conscious of its surroundings but still spent most of its time sleeping and occasionally peeking out through its jinchūriki's mind.

When it wasn't resting, the fox would occasionally wonder what its now late father-figure meant in regards to meeting someone who would show them a righteous path, for as far as the fox could tell, no human it had seen thus far fit the description.

And when it was re-sealed within another kunoichi who was also from the same clan as Hashirama's wife, Kurama's mindset still hadn't changed one bit.

However, all this changed when its second jinchūriki became pregnant with her first son. Although the fox saw this as its opportunity to finally break free (and it more than took that chance), what it didn't realize was that its own life, as well as the life of a certain infant child born that night, had now become entwined.

As to what this meant for the tailed beast and the infant boy, it was too soon to tell, but one thing was certain: both of their lives, as well as those they had yet to meet, and the entire world (not just the ninja world) would never be the same.

Not only that, but a new story – one that future generations would come to call an epic that transcended all others, including that of the Sage of The Six Paths' – had now begun…