Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto
The moon. The single white orb that illuminates the dark night. It was beautiful. To him, the moon soothed the pain he felt daily, it made him feel loved, comforted and mystified. Sure, the moon didn't illuminate nearly as much as the sun, but the sun did not evoke the same feeling as the moon, not by a longshot.
Sunny days were pretty and welcoming, to most. To him, it made him feel exposed and bare. The sun brought life and represented happiness, and to some extent, it did the same to him. It was rare however.
During the day in the busy marketplace, he would walk the streets under the sun's light, but rather than bring life to his dying soul or illuminate his existance, it brought nothing to life, and illuminated him to the scorn of the villagers who vehemently despised him, for reasons unknown.
A sunny day in the openness of nature was wonderful, sure, but he prefered the moons mystical nightime light. Whatever pull he received from the white satellite, brought joy and made him as if home was there.
His chakra felt attuned to the moon, just as much as it did to nature, it gave him some kind of boost. He wasn't sure really, one day when he was exceptionally sad, he felt chakra travel to his eyes and allow him to see everything, and during the night, this eyesight felt stronger.
On another distinct day, his body begun aching, his arm in particular burned and throbbed the moment he accidentally channeled an excessive amount of chakra. It felt like it was ripping itself apart from the inside, in fact, it did.
He screamed, loudly, but since his location was in the middle of the forest not a soul heard the his cries. It hurt, a lot, but that was not the main reason why he panicked, no, the main reason for his shreiking was because not an single drop of blood leaked from the opening.
It was, 'freaky' as he put it. He was able to see the muscles, tendons, and the other biological pieces that made up his arm. His bones however were hard, really hard. So tough in fact, that they withstood beatings that would break most rocks.
Once again, this ability he had, felt augmented when he stood before the mystical light of the moon. Whether this was real or psychological, he did not know, nor did he care.
Naruto Uzumaki loved the moon, and the moon loved him back.
It had been hours now since the mastermind begun observing one of his most distinguished pawns, one with so much potential in fact, it was comparable to the likes of the great Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju. Watching the boy awaken the Byakugan and the Shikotsumyaku was what he always envisioned a teacher would feel when their student achieved something.
He wasn't a teacher though, nor did the boy need assistance in awakening what he was born with, but, he couldn't help take a little credit for the boys progress, even if he was just an observer.
The boy's lineage wasn't too complicated, just little to no information. His parents. Only a handful of people knew the identity of them. Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, hero of the Third Shinobi War, The Fourth Hokage. Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Hot Habanero, famed jōnin, last of her clan. A few government higher-ups and elite shinobi knew of the boys parentage, all remained quiet though.
Beyond that, any ancestor the boy may have was an unknown. For Kushina, it was obviously more Uzumaki clan members seeing as how she was pure blooded. . . Right?
The creature who watched the young blond knew better. The deceased red-head had a Kaguya clan member grandfather who's name is irrelevant as he is long dead. No one in Konoha knew that that, not even the Hokage. That secret died with the village of Uzushiogakure.
Now the father. He was even less complicated, but unknown too. No one, not even the man's sensei or the Hokage had a clue as to who the man's parents were. The Fourth was an orphan, one who wasn't even registered in, but rather abandoned at the Konoha orphanage's doorstep as a toddler with a tag saying his name. Namikaze himself had zero memory of his parents. But once again, the creature who watched knew better.
The Fourth was the bastard child of an unnamed Hyūga clan branch member and a civilian man. Who these people were is irrelevant seeing as the mother died during childbirth while the father ditched the boy.
The black creatures yellow eyes absorbed the view of the lonely little boy who wants love more than anything else. Cliché, but it always works. Because if Zetsu was a master of something, it would be manipulation. With a boy like him, one who not only a descendant of Asura and by default Hagoromo, but more importantly a descendant of Hamura, with Kaguya and Hyūga blood. A child who's chakra is closer to his ancestor's Hamura than anyone else alive, and one who had the potential to awaken that dojutsu.
He smiled wickedly. A perfect pawn really.
Now there was one thing the millennia old creature was curious about. Why did this boy feel so entranced by the moon? He was connected to Hamura and the Ōtsutsuki clan, but what was it that really got the boy to adore the moon? He had an idea, one that may seem preposterous, but possible. It was time to find out.
"The moon looks more beautiful than usual does it not?" A raspy voice asked. Naruto's head instantly snapped in it's direction, startled. A black humanoid with almost zero human features aside from it's shape sat beside the frightened boy.
"Umm. . . who are you?" It was amusing to the ancient creature that the young boy showed little fear, in fact it was more curiosity than anything else. A common child would have been frightened at his presence. Then again, this boy was anything but common.
"Hmm, I'm Zetsu, an admirer of the moon, much like yourself." The blonde's eyes widened for a brief instant, before a joyful grin split his face. "The moon makes me feel comfortable, especially here in the plain fields."
Perfect! The boy was opening up to him without any effort on Zetsu's behalf, and exactly with the information he wanted.
Making an accepting 'hm' at the boys response, the chakra being pressed further.
"How so? How would you describe this feeling?" If by the off chance the boy was feeling residual chakra from either Hamura or her, then with the right motivation and words, Naruto could become an active pawn, even after the extraction of the Kyūbi.
The azure eyed blonde put a hand on his chin in a pensive manner, "Well, it's as if I feel at home, or at least I think that's it, cause I've never had a home with family-ya'know." Zetsu nodded patiently, he expected the boy to ramble. "This tug I feel from the moon makes me feel wanted, makes me imagine that's there's family up there," Zetsu's eyes widened slightly, "and my chakra doesn't feel as crazy to control as it usually does."
So that was it. The boy definitely feels residual chakra from the moon. It wasn't surprising seeing as how his chakra is nearly identical to the ones that once lived up there. His connection meant that it had to be with an extremely powerful chakra source. One capable of having a presence here on Earth.
There were only two sources strong enough to do that. More invest—
"Umm. . . do you feel the same thing Zetsu-san, about the moon?" The boy's shy curiousity cut the creatures musings, much to it's annoyance. Seeing as how he needed to contribute to the conversation, he obliged the boy.
"Yes, yes I do. Like you, I feel always feel a 'tug' of chakra when I contemplate the moon. But that's because I have family, my mother. In fact, all of her children are supposed to feel this way towards the moon, since she's trapped there."
Finally, he set his plan to motion starting with the half-truth he said at the end. If the boy was attuned to her chakra, in a lesser way than Zetsu then the whiskered brat would have the potential to be the strongest pawn in the black beings gallery. If however Naruto's chakra is attuned to that of Hamura's, then he'd sadly have to be disposed of.
Now Zetsu, plan was to give Naruto some of his own chakra which would inturn strengthen the bond Naruto had with whomever's chakra it was. If it was like Zetsu hoped for it to be, then Naruto would be able to even communicate with her, almost like the artificial being can.
Naruto's eyes had widened at the implication. If what Zetsu-san said was true than he too was a child of Zetsu-san's mother. Then that meant—
His musings were cut short when Naruto felt a hand on his forehead. . . Then it all went black.
The young Uzumaki opened his eyes to see a white room. Exactly white and just that. He looked left and it was white, he looked right and it was white, he looked up, down, infront, behind and it was all white. Where was he?
Right when he was about to reach his breaking point, he looked forward one more time just to see. . . A woman.
Before him stood a pale-skinned woman with delicate facial features. She had extremely long white hair, white clear eyeswith eyebrows cut in the shape of a circle and she wore a red shade of lipstick on her lips. Most noticeably however were the two brown horns that stuck out from her head and a third eye formed in the center of her forehead. Her outfit consisted of a high-collared hime-kimono which hastomoe running down the center and edges.
She was beautiful woman who was of clear nobility. For some reason, he felt inclined to trust her. It was only reinforced with her next action.
Suddenly the stoic and calm woman's features transformed into a beautiful smile. Then she opened her arms in a welcoming manner. "Come here Naruto."
Her gorgeous voice was soft and welcoming, but it sounded similar to those that he's seen mothers use on their children. Wait! Did that mean. . . Is that how she knew his name? Was Zetsu-san right.
His eyes widened. Then he felt a push, something telling him to run to her. Tears streamed down his whiskered cheeks, and as fast as his tiny legs carried him he ran towards her, crashing into her arms. The woman lifted him and brought him to her neck, he sobbed silently
"It's okay baby, mommy's here, she won't leave you. Ever" She cooed.
Removing his face from her neck. Naruto sniffed, allowing his face to form his toothy trademark grin "Mother."
And Cut!
Well I hope you enjoyed this one-shot that had been circling in my head for the last couple days. Many of the plot ideas were from "Everything Blooms Twice" by 4waterdragon27, whom I encourage you to check out. I am a great fan of the 'misguided' or 'manipulated' Naruto angle. In this case Zetsu and Kayuya herself would be the ones to manipulate Naruto into freeing her. Regardless I'm glad I was able to release this when I was, seeing as how school is right around the corner which will cause me to write even less than I do.
Thanx fur reading!!! ;)