The Jagged Crown

Summary: One altered decision changes everything. Orochimaru manages to convince the Hidden Rock to join his invasion of Konoha, and the Hidden Leaf Village doesn't survive the onslaught. The Konoha 12 make a run for it in an attempt to keep Sasuke from Orochimaru's grasp, and find their way onto an exploration vessel heading deep into the Southern Seas.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own the Elder Scrolls Series, either. I do, however, own a copy of Skyrim. One that I have definitely overused and abused, thus some of the many characters I have created over the years may show up in this story.

-.-

Chapter One - Madness (Muse)

-.-

The world was on fire.

At least, Naruto felt like the world was on fire, because his world was on fire. The Hidden Leaf Village was burning to the ground, and there was nothing he could do about it. He felt so weak, so completely and utterly useless.

He'd managed to chase down and eventually subdue Gaara after the redhead had gone full-biju. He'd actually been very proud of himself, feeling rather accomplished after the fact. He'd been tired, bone-dead tired, but he'd managed to drag himself to his feet. Stumbling about like a hopeless drunk in the middle of the forest, he'd retraced his steps from the battle and found his teammates. Sakura had still been unconscious lying beside Sasuke high up in a tree. Despite the fact that they were both injured and exhausted, the two boys of Team 7 had put aside their differences - just for a moment - in order to carry themselves and their unconscious teammate back towards the village.

Sakura had woken up with a headache halfway through their trek, but she'd been well enough to walk on her own. The three of them, bruised and battered, but alive, had hobbled their way through the forest side-by-side.

Naruto had smiled to himself quietly, then. He'd been sure, been absolutely positive, that people would finally begin to recognize and acknowledge him for his talents. He'd managed to take down the One-Tailed Racoon entirely on his own, after all. Even for one as dense as Naruto, it wasn't hard to see how much of an accomplishment that really was.

It had taken them nearly an hour, but the three young teens, barely into the beginnings of puberty, had reached the front gates of their village, their home.

Only to find out that the world was on fire.

The three of them emerged, stumbling, from the expansive forests of Hi no Kuni and were immediately bathed in an orange glow. The entire village was aflame, like some sick parody of a massive bonfire. Flames seemed to erupt from the village like writhing monuments, reaching with grasping fingers up to the darkening sky.

Naruto's gaze was glassy, the massive inferno before him reflected in his deep cerulean eyes. Without realizing it, tears had begun to streak down his face. Naruto almost flinched as a small, barely calloused hand slipped into his own. Barely moving his head, he glanced to his side.

His heart clenched at the sight. With a sort of numb realization, Naruto understood that his expression must have mirrored the look on Sakura's face. Even looking at it now, he never wanted to see that expression on her face again. Her cheeks, marred with dirt and grime, had two clear tracks running down them. Her tears flowed freely and her hands clutched desperately at his and Sasuke's.

With one last glance to his burning home, Naruto felt his heart harden. His tears slowed and eventually stopped. His eyes, deep blue and ever-expressive, turned hard and cold as diamonds.

Haku's words echoed loudly in his ears, now.

"When you have someone precious to protect, that is when you truly become strong." The village was precious to him, yes, but it was the friends he'd made there who were truly precious to his him. The village may burn, the buildings may crumble, but as long as Naruto had his precious people to protect, the Will of Fire would continue to burn in his heart.

That was a promise, to his friends, and more importantly, to himself.

And he never broke his promises. That was his ninja way, after all.

Giving Sakura's trembling hand one final squeeze, Naruto was just about to leap through the blazing gates of the village when a rumbling crash stopped him. The inferno seemed to swell for just a moment, and then a shinobi wearing a Leaf Headband burst through the gates. He was charred and bloody, and even from the edge of the forest, Naruto could see the terror in the man's eyes.

"Wh-what's going on in there?" Sakura muttered quietly, but the shinobi must have been hopped up on adrenalin because he heard her anyway. With wide eyes, he skidded to a stop and turned in their direction.

"E-everyone's running for their lives. The Hokage's been killed, and most of our forces went down when Oto and Suna got back-up from a platoon of Iwagakure shinobi!" Sakura gasped beside him, and Naruto even thought he might have heard a small grunt of surprise from Sasuke.

None of that mattered at the moment, however.

His heart had gone cold in his chest. The Hokage was dead. His Jiji, the old man who'd looked after him and taken care of him for longer than he could remember… he was dead. It was almost unbelievable. He was the Hokage, he was supposed to be the strongest shinobi in the village, and now he was dead?

Naruto curled in on himself slightly. There truly was no hope. The village, his grandfather figure, they were all gone. It was finally hitting him. He had no home to return to. The Hidden Leaf Village wouldn't be able to recover from such large-scale destruction.

There was no longer a Village Hidden in the Leaves.

They weren't even rogue shinobi, they were shinobi without a village. Shinobi without a purpose. They had nowhere to go, what was a mere Genin supposed to do in order to survive alone and helpless in the wilderness?

…

No…

Naruto let go of Sakura's hand and clenched his own into fists. He wasn't alone. He still had his friends. He still had his precious people. As long as he had them, as long as he had something to protect, he had something worth living for.

Once more, just as Naruto was about to leap into action, to jump headfirst into the roaring blaze that was once his former home, something stopped him. He heard a distressed cry, his eyes snapping to the shinobi who was now sprinting past them.

His eyes widened, and the world seemed to slow. He watched as the shinobi tipped over mid-stride, the gleaming black handle of a kunai sticking out of the back of his head. Blood sprayed from the wound, splattering the side of Sasuke's face in a grisly display. Naruto suppressed a flinch as he realized Sasuke's Sharingan was active and spinning fiercely.

It made for a truly gruesome display.

Before the man had even hit the ground, the sound of whistling reached Naruto's ears. His eyes widened even further, and he saw Sasuke's Sharingan eyes focus on something slightly to the right of Naruto's current field of vision. Naruto tensed his muscles, his entire body flooded with adrenalin, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time. He wasn't fast enough to save his teammates. He wasn't even fast enough to save himself.

Just when all seemed lost, Naruto felt his muscles lock up. In a flash his body was responding to commands that weren't his own. With a start, Naruto realized that Sakura and Sasuke's bodies were moving in perfect sync with his own.

All three of them leapt backwards, just barely managing to clear a barrage of kunai on time. Feeling his heart pounding in his throat, Naruto looked over his shoulder and caught sight of Shikamaru. His fellow academy ditch-buddy was down on one knee, his hands tied up in a hand seal and his shadow extended, connected to all three members of Team 7.

Naruto grinned. Shikamaru had always been someone you could count on in a pinch. Throwing his grin over his shoulder at the shadow-user, Naruto sent him a double-thumbs-up.

"Thanks for the save, Shikamaru."

Despite the sweat running down his forehead in rivulets, Shikamaru couldn't keep the small smirk off his face. "Anytime, Naruto."

The shinobi who'd tossed the kunai at them growled and bent at the knees. He was clearly about to leap towards them and attempt to finish what he'd started, but before he could, he was suddenly enveloped in a massive swarm of bugs. There was a single, high-pitched scream, and then the man was on the ground twitching.

Naruto jumped slightly as there was a rustle from the underbrush beside him, and the green-clad Aburame Shino emerged from the line of trees.

"Whoa, Shino, that was pretty cool man." Naruto complimented, slightly surprised at the seeming ease displayed by the young Aburame. If Naruto wasn't wrong, that shinobi wasn't just unconscious, he was dead from chakra exhaustion.

Shino just pushed his round sunglasses further up his nose.

"I simply got lucky. Why? Because that shinobi was cocky, had he stayed closer to the flames, my Kikai bugs would have been unable to reach him due to the intense heat."

"Oh."

There really wasn't much more you could say after that, was there?

Naruto took a moment to steady himself, staring down the blazing inferno that was his village for a moment, before he turned and looked back at the rest of his comrades. His classmates. His friends.

He smiled to himself a little. His friends. It sounded unbelievable, but it was true. His smile grew further, only for his features to suddenly harden. His blue eyes turned to steel in their sockets, and though he didn't notice it himself, everyone else, Sasuke included, sat up straighter.

The only one who consciously made note of this sudden change was Shikamaru. He smirked internally to himself, even as he felt a sudden rush of strength and determination fill his heart.

"Geez, Naruto,' He thought to himself, 'One look was all it took and you've already got yourself looking like a leader.' This time he really did smile a little. He chuckled in his head. 'Hah, you're really going places, aren't ya blondie?'

Naruto took in a deep breath and squared his shoulders, looking all four of his comrades in the eye.

"Look, it's absolutely hell in there." Naruto jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the mass of flames behind him, "In all honesty…" He paused for a moment, suddenly looking nervous and licking his cracked lips, "… in all honesty, I don't think the village is gonna make it out of this alive."

They all swallowed hard, but none more-so than Naruto.

"The Hokage, Jiji," Naruto's voice cracked a little, "Is dead. The civilians were evacuated, but I don't see any other shinobi making it out of there alive, and the fire's just getting worse."

Shikamaru idly wondered when Naruto, prankster extraordinaire, had turned into a speech-giving war-commander on the battlefield. In all honesty, he was slightly reminded of some of the stories Inoichi and Choza would tell him about his dad.

"On top of that, I recognize that nasty smell in the air. That's a special oil meant to burn super hot for a very long time, and it's made in Iwa." Naruto hesitated with something for a moment, and then his lips twitched. "I used some for a prank once, it was hella expensive stuff, but totally worth it."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. There was Naruto: prankster extraordinaire.

"Where are you going with this, Uzumaki." Sasuke ground out from his position on the ground. Both he and Sakura had stumbled when released from Shikamaru's shadow possession technique. They were still injured and exhausted from the fight with Gaara.

Naruto turned to look at his raven-haired teammate for a second and his expression hardened once more.

"What I'm saying is the the Village Hidden in the Leaves no longer exists."

Nobody seemed to breathe. Those words coming from Naruto's mouth were practically an announcement that the apocalypse had arrived. For the first time since they'd all convened, Sakura spoke up.

"We can always rebuild…" Even Sakura realized how weak her voice sounded. Naruto just shook his head at the statement.

"Buildings can be rebuilt, yes, but not as Konoha. Not with so many shinobi already gone." Naruto's words rang true, but he was nonetheless clenching his fists, his knuckles white with effort. Even from the edge of the trees, Shikamaru could hear the blonde's teeth grinding together.

"But- but what about your dream to become Hokage?" Sakura stumbled on her words, tears coming to her eyes. Shikamaru mused that Naruto's words must have made her realize that her parents probably hadn't made it out alive. Both of them were still Genin-level shinobi, and they weren't protected like the younger generation of Genin would be.

Shikamaru tried not to flinch. Though he didn't realize it, a single tear ran a line down his grimy cheek. He was only just realizing himself that his father had probably already been killed as well. He was the Jounin commander, a very high-priority target.

Naruto gave a quick, heavy sigh at Sakura's words and looked down at his sandalled feet.

"Sakura-chan… when I first wanted to become Hokage, it was because I wanted people to acknowledge me. To see me, to recognize me, to tell me that I was worth something, that I was needed, wanted." His voice was heavy and thick. He looked up, his shimmering blue eyes staring into Sakura's watery green.

"But I've got that. You guys gave me that, even if it's not perfect. It's still acknowledgement. It's still friendship. Not long ago, I had a long chat with the Old Man about my dream, and you know what he told me?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Sakura shook her head anyway.

"He told me that, more than anything else, a Hokage has to have the Will of Fire. Above all else, a Hokage must be willing to put everything on the line, to put his life before the lives of every other citizen of Konoha. To protect, with all his heart, that which is precious to him. That's what it means to be Hokage."

Naruto clenched his fists even tighter and turned around, gazing up over the village walls, past the flames licking the sky above the village, and into the cracked visage of his grandfather figure high atop the mountain.

"That is why I'm still going to be the best Hokage I can be. Even if I don't have a village to protect, I still have my friends. Friends I will protect with my life, because they've given me mine. This is my Will of Fire, the Flame of the Fire Shadow."

He looked over his shoulder. His blue eyes were blazing with chakra, and Shikamaru flinched back as a pressure descended upon the clearing. Blue wisps of energy were swirling in and out of existence at Naruto's feet.

Shikamaru was beginning to realize just how powerful Naruto really was. Maybe all that bravado when he was still in the academy wasn't all for nothing. For him to be manifesting a physical chakra presence through nothing more than his heightened emotions…

… well. Shikamaru didn't even know what to think, let alone say.

"I've still got friends in there. Friends who mean the world to me. I know they're all alive because I have faith in them. We're strong, every single one of us. We're all Genin, and we're young. Those who weren't sent after Gaara, the rest of my - the rest of our friends, were probably as far from the battle as possible."

Shikamaru and Shino found themselves nodding. It was a logical thought process.

"So they're still alive in there, probably fighting for their lives… and I'm not about to let them die in this damned fire."

Shikamaru felt his slightly erratic breathing calm, his heartbeat slowing down, the world slowly sharpening around him as he began to hyper-focus. No wonder Naruto was able to talk Gaara out of going on a mass-murder spree. He wasn't the most articulate speaker out there, but the kid really had a way with words.

Slowly, Shikamaru stood from his kneeling position. From the corner of his eye he saw Sakura and Sasuke stand, and Shino step forwards to stand beside him. The four of them had formed a line in front of Naruto.

'We're all subconsciously deferring to his leadership,' Shikamaru thought to himself, 'Even Sasuke.'

He found he didn't really mind.

Naruto took in their tense stances and hardened looks, and gave a single sharp nod.

"Alright. So I'm thinking a good chunk of our friends are gonna be stationed by the hospital. As it is, Lee is already there, so Neji and that other girl, One-One or something, are probably there as well."

In the intensity of the moment, nobody bothered to correct Naruto.

"If we're lucky, Hinata might be there as well because of her injuries." It came out a little morbid, but again nobody said anything. It was a logical deduction, anyway.

"That leaves Ino, Choji and Kiba, who are probably still somewhere near the hospital because the hospital is near the base of the Hokage monument, at the back of the village. They might even be guarding some of the evacuation tunnels we sent the citizens through. It should've been difficult for most of the invaders to breach that deep into the village, so there's a chance they're still out there."

Naruto took a deep breath, as if he was about to say something he didn't want to. When he opened his eyes, they seemed to be a darker shade of blue.

"It's pretty dangerous… but I'm going to ask Shino and Shikamaru to be the ones to find those three, and Hinata if she's not at the hospital." There was a slight pause.

Both Shino and Shikamaru nodded.

"It's a good idea." Shikamaru piped up, "Both of our fighting styles will allow us to sneak up on people and take them out silently if anything happens." Naruto nodded and turned to his two teammates.

"The three of us are gonna raid the hospital. We're gonna get in, find our friends, take as many medical supplies as we can carry and get the heck outta there. Both of you are injured from the fight, and I'm sure some of the others will be as well, so we'll need to be able to patch ourselves up somehow."

The both of them hesitated for a moment before giving nods of their own, one more reluctant than the other. Naruto almost sagged with relief.

Though he hadn't said it out loud. He wanted Sasuke with him instead of out looking for the others with Shikamaru and Shino. Orochimaru, the bastard, had been strong enough to kill the Hokage and get away with it, and now he'd probably be after Sasuke. Even if he didn't come after Sasuke himself, Naruto was sure he'd be sending henchmen to hunt the Uchiha down. Naruto didn't want to leave Sasuke on his own.

Whether that was because he was afraid the Oto shinobi would be strong enough to kidnap Sasuke, or that he was afraid Sasuke would defect to Oto on his own, he wasn't quite sure. Not after the way Sasuke had been acting recently.

"Okay," Naruto shook himself from his thoughts, pushing them to the back of his mind for the moment, "While we're doing that, I'm going to send as many Shadow Clones as I can into the village disguised as enemy shinobi. Hopefully they'll be able to find anyone if we miss somebody."

Shikamaru leaned back at the idea. Where the heck had Naruto come up with such an odd, brilliant plan.

"How the heck is anyone going to recognize your Shadow Clones if they're disguised, Naruto? Won't the others just attack and dispel them on sight?"

Shikamaru cut in before Naruto could speak.

"No, it's genius." Sakura gave him a surprised look. "Don't give me that look, don't you see? Naruto's always had trouble disguising his whisker marks with the henge, every single one of us knows that."

Naruto nodded, smiling at Shikamaru with his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm hoping they'll at least hesitate if they see an enemy shinobi with my whisker marks plastered on their face. Then maybe that clone will have enough time to tell them to get the heck out of the village as quickly as possible."

"Okay, so then where are we all going to meet?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru idly noticed that her hands were shaking.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding to himself.

"We'll meet up in the forest behind the Hokage monument."

"Behind?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, behind. If we meet on top we'll be too visible. We'll meet behind the monument in an hour, and then go south from there. If…" Naruto suddenly stopped, shook his head, and ground his teeth together. "… if the other group isn't there in an hour, leave."

Everyone flinched, even Sasuke. They'd never heard Naruto sound so cold in his life.

"What, but-" Sakura started. Naruto cut her off.

"No, Sakura-chan. I'm serious. If the other group isn't there in an hour, leave." Sakura looked like she wanted to continue protesting, but Shikamaru interrupted her before she could.

"Look, if we head south from here we'll be hitting Tea country in a matter of hours. If we haven't met up by then, we'll head towards the town at the very tip of the Tea Country peninsula. It's a large port town, so we should be able to hide out in the crowds for a week, maximum."

Everyone slowly nodded their heads.

"So, if we don't meet up outside the village, we meet up at the other end of Tea Country in about two weeks. If one group gets there before the other, they'll wait for a maximum of a week before moving on."

Shikamaru nodded his affirmative.

"We'll meet up at the docks if we do make it to Tea Country, that way we won't have to constantly be combing through the crowds in order to find the others."

Again, everyone nodded.

The clearing was silent for a moment, aside from the roaring inferno behind Naruto.

"Alright then," Naruto grinned, a hard, humourless grin, "Let's go save our friends."

-.-

AN: Longest opening chapter I've ever written. I've been playing a lot of Skyrim lately, as well as reading some fantastic Skyrim x Naruto crossovers, so I've decided to make one of my own. Hopefully this'll be as unique as some of the other great stories I've read from this fandom.

Yeah, that's about it for now.

Peace, people!

The Chthonic Professor