Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't have given out the rights for the Boruto sequel.

Tailed Beast Tango

AN: Welp, here's the latest challenge I'm working on that will be several chapters long, each one featuring a different way this challenge can go down. It will go like this:

I've seen several stories where Naruto gets a different one of the Tailed Beasts sealed in him when he's born, but not many of them are good and fewer still give a decent explanation to why one of the other Tailed Beasts got sealed in him instead of Kurama. I have come up with a solution that will solve this problem for everyone. Each chapter (around nine in total) is going to depict Naruto having a different Tailed Beast sealed inside him. The scene the chapter will depict will contain random scenes from the series that I feel would best represent the differences this change has caused and to avoid typing up the same scenario again and again.

Now, while one or two of the stories are going to have different circumstances for why they happened, the majority of them are going to be based off this here prologue that will explain why a different Tailed Beast was used. The finer details like pairings and some abilities can be discussed when each individual story is adopted, which I hope will be soon. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this CHALLENGE and let your friends know about it so that one of you may adopt it in the near future. Allons-y!

Prologue:

Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox, groaned as he lay on the ground, massaging his stomach with a hand like paw. "Damn those humans," he growled in irritation.

Why was the strongest of the Tailed Beasts so upset, you may ask? Well, a few days ago he had just hacked up two human brothers named Kinkaku and Ginkaku who had tried to capture him, who he then proceeded to eat. This proved to be a poor decision, however, as Kurama had forgotten to chew his food before swallowing, allowing the brothers to survive being eaten. And instead of having the curtesy to die in his digestive tract, those bastards stayed alive. What's worse is that, in order to survive, they had the gull to start eating the inside of his stomach so they wouldn't starve to death. Naturally as a Tailed Beast, Kurama wouldn't be killed by this but it still hurt like hell. Kurama didn't know how long he withstood the torment, but eventually the pain overrode his sense of dignity and he regurgitated the two humans.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was just recovering from having his insides made a meal of, the Fox would have killed those two worthless ninja then and there. As it was, the brothers were able to escape and, if he was sensing correctly, had made off with a chunk of his power while they were at it. The whole thing just infuriated him! The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

'These humans…they are the worst species on the planet! They lie, cheat, steal, and murder over petty things no matter who gets hurt in the process. If those two insects were able to steal a portion of my power, what's to stop other humans from trying? I wish they'd all just die!' he mentally growled before coming to a decision. 'I cannot and will not allow any humans to have access to my power ever again! I'll find someplace safe, someplace far away from these lands where my kin and I have never been heard of and I will hide myself. No one will ever find me unless I want them to."

He then thought of his siblings and thought, 'Should I let the other's know of my plans? It's only a matter of time before the humans go after them too, especially since I will no longer be around. I even heard they managed to capture Shukaku, the idiot.' Kurama then shook his head, 'No. They're no longer infants that need to be told what to do. If they can figure out their own place to hide, good for them. If not, then perhaps they deserve to be caught for their stupidity. I will keep tabs on them through our connection if anything seriously wrong happens, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.' His expression then became melancholy, 'Father…while I still believe in your words, I can no longer wait in this horrible land for the person you spoke of. I will keep searching and hoping that the one you prophesized of will come to past, but it will no longer be here!'

With that, the great beast got onto his legs, stretching all nine of his tails out behind him. With a blast of hurricane force winds, the mighty fox vanished in a burst of speeds to parts unknown. Legend has it that he went to the Land of Waves, where he jumped into the ocean and swam to parts unknown. Others say they saw a crimson blur running to the icy tundra past the Land of Iron. And still more tales speak of a running fox wandering into the wastelands beyond the Land of Wind where not even Sand Ninja dare to travel. Whatever the case, no one saw hide or hair of the Nine Tails for many years. And little did anyone realize that this decision would change the course of history for the Elemental Nations.

Madara Uchiha growled in anger as he tossed a kunai at a map of the Elemental Nations. The blade sank into the spot containing the Village Hidden in Grass. This kunai joined dozens of others that marked various spots on the map, obviously being used to cross off locations the man had visited.

"Yet another dead end," Madara muttered darkly as his eyes, crimson from his Sharingan, wandered over the map. "Where is that damned Fox at? How can finding one dumb animal the size of a mountain be so difficult?!" In a fit of rage, Madara set the map, and the wall holding the map, on fire with a well-placed Fireball Jutsu. His anger filled face then smoothed down to its more impassive look as he went over his options.

Originally, Madara had hoped to find the Nine Tailed Fox and bend it to his will using the blessed eyes of his clan for his upcoming duel against Hashirama. However, after over a month of searching the Nations, it looked as though the rumors of the Fox fleeing the land were true. At first he thought of expanding his search to even outside the Nations, but quickly shot that idea down. Not only was the outside world yet to be explored and thus unpredictable, but the time for his duel drew near and he didn't have time to go on an extended fox hunt. He then considered just facing Hashirama by himself, but quickly shot down that idea when he remembered the last time they had fought where the Senju had crushed him utterly. No, he'd need an ace if he was to fight his former friend, and the only ones that had the power were the Tailed Beasts. While he would have preferred to have used the most powerful Tailed Beast as a way to ensure his victory, with his options limited one of the lesser Tailed Beasts would have to do.

"But which one to use?" Madara muttered as he looked at a scroll held on the wall adjacent to the one he set on fire. Depicted on it was a detailed diagram of the other Tailed Beasts that contained information on their skills and their locations. After the Fox had seemingly vanished, the ninja villages had begun taking closer tabs on the other beasts so they wouldn't be taken unawares. The next obvious choice for him to go after would be the Eight Tails in terms of power…but perhaps one of the others could work as well if they complimented his abilities well enough.

After staring at the diagram and their stats for over an hour, the Uchiha made up his mind. Turning to the door of his hideout, the man paused to grab his war fan before heading out. "May the hunt begin," Madara grinned maliciously as his Sharingan morphed into their next stage.

It was these two decisions that would forever alter the fate of one Naruto Uzumaki.

AN2: Alright, so this is the prologue for the challenge series. Next chapter will have the One Tail, then Two and so on. Just as a reminder that while this prologue is the default beginning for the other parts of the chapter, it is no guarantee and I will mention at the beginning of the chapter if its origin is different. I hope you all enjoy reading this as I did writing it. I'm going to work on one more challenge story for my Naruto/DBZ crossover challenge, then one of my main stories, and finally this again. Hopefully I'll have it up by August, but until then let me know if you have any ideas. Please READ, REVIEW, and ENJOY!