( Six Years After Kyūbi's Attack )
In the Land of Fire, there is a large Village hidden among the leaves. Similarly, there are four more Hidden Villages in the Elemental Nations but the Leaf Village is known to be the strongest because of the many strong Clans inside their walls and because of the many prodigies the Village gives birth to, such as Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Orochimaru of the Sannin and Minato Namikaze.
The first thing a person would notice once they gaze among the Village is the calm and peaceful environment, even though they were attacked by the Nine Tail Fox six years ago. Happy Civilians walk up and down the streets of the Village while a few chat with their families and friends. Ninja can be seen hopping off the rooftops of the buildings, either to go off on their mission or to do their daily patrols around the Village. The Village seems to be the main concept of the word, peaceful.
However, past all of those happy smiles lays a darkness.
A darkness which an innocent child is currently suffering from.
The sad and frightened child can be seen running through a dark and cold alleyway. He has spikey blond hair which looks like it was kissed by the sun itself because of how bright it is but it's hidden behind a trail of grime and dirt. His eyes are a beautiful shade of blue which would make the cleanest of sea's jealous of its colour but his eyes are filled with desperation as he makes his way through the alley, accidentally bumping into a trashcan which cuts through the bottom left of his dirty white T-shirt. On both sides of his face are three strange birth marks which oddly resemble whisker marks. Other than the dirty white tails, he wears a pair of black shorts which are covered with cuts and a bit of dry blood in the corner of them.
This scared and lonely child in none other than the six year old, Naruto Uzumaki.
The Village's Pariah.
"Kill the Demon!"
"Avenge our families!"
"Finish what the Yondaime started!"
These are the screams of an angry mob of Civilians and Ninja which mostly vary with Chunin and four Jonin who are all chasing the six year old with the idea of ending his life.
Ducking just in time to dodge another thrown kunai, Naruto makes a left at the end of the alley and slides underneath a small gap in the fence which is big enough for his little malnourished body to fit through. After making through the fence, he runs straight towards the forest while not caring for what is inside of it. People in the mob curse out for the blond but he ignores their insults and continues his trek through the dark forest.
Running and ducking another branch, Naruto inwardly thanks whatever deity blessed him with his large stamina. While running past the large trees, Naruto doesn't notice that the mob behind him is slowly starting to catch up with him.
"Why do they hurt me!? I haven't done anything wrong yet they call me a Demon. Why!?" he shouted, mentally while holding back his tears which are threatening to pour out of his eyes. He looks over his shoulder and widens his eyes in fright as he sees the Shinobi and Kunoichi in the mob are gaining on him. One of the Chunin is close enough to reach his hand out to try and grab him so running with even more adrenaline, Naruto's speed increases which allows him to barely dodge the thrown out hand and he just miss a branch because of his small height. The Chunin is too distracted on trying to catch Naruto that he doesn't notice the branch until he hit his head off of it.
The mob sees the Chunin fall to the floor while holding his forehead in pain and thinking that the Demon had just attacked him, their anger increases tenfold.
"The Demon is fighting back! Kill it before it kills us all!" roared the leader while waving around his torch.
"Fighting back? But I didn't even touch him" thought Naruto in confusion. He doesn't notice the person in front of him and his heart skipped a beat as he false on top of them, thinking that it's someone apart of the mob.
( Five Minutes Earlier )
A man is walking through the deep forest of the Land of Fire while hoping to find someplace to spend the rest of his immortal life. He looks like he is in his young twenties in actual fact, he is over 400 years old. He's wearing a high-collared, black and tan robe with gold trims, along with a large flowing white toga draped around his torso. He has short black hair, black eyes and abnormally sharp canine teeth. Around his neck is a circular-shape silver necklace.
He walks through the forest with a sad expression on his face. He is a man who is known by several different infamous titles. Examples are "Wizard Killer", "Demon Creator" and "Black Mage".
However, he prefers to go by his birth name.
Zeref.
The reason he is in the deep forest of Fire Country is because he has grown sick and tired of killing everything in sight by accident, whenever his Curse which was given to him by the God, Ankhersam who gave him the Curse of Contradiction after he made the R-System and Eclipse Gate. The Curse forces him to kill everything around him whenever he feels like human life is important which sadly, is most of the time.
Last month, he had tried to make a Demon which in his case, isn't as hard as it sounds because of his mastery over Living Magic. The Demon he was trying to make was suppose to be his ultimate creation, a Demon so powerful, it would be strong enough to kill him and finally give him some peace from his miserable life. Sadly, the creation ended up as an abomination so he sealed it away in its book form and left it in his Library of Demons. Now, he scours the world to find the one place with no sense of life.
"Why can't I find a place to live alone?" thought Zeref, sadly while looking around the forest and sees the various wildlife creatures looking at him curiously. He quickened his pace so he won't accidentally harm them. While he is speed walking, he doesn't notice the incoming child heading his way until it's too late. The child collides with his stomach which causes them both to fall on the floor with dizzy heads.
"Shaking his head, Zeref looks down to see a dizzy Naruto, laying on his chest. "A c-child" stuttered the strongest Wizard in shock before standing up and pushing away Naruto, in fear of killing him for being so close to him. "S-Stay a-away" stuttered Zeref while taking a few steps back.
Naruto gets his bearings together and looks up at Zeref from the floor. Seeing the man with his hands up, Naruto believes he is one of the men who are threatening his life so he does the same thing he does when getting beaten. "P-Please d-don't h-hurt m-me" pleaded Naruto with his arms raised to protect himself and eyes closed, ready to get hit. "I-I'm so-sorry for w-what I d-did s-so p-please d-dont hit me."
Zeref's eyes widens from hearing the fear in the child's voice. Upon getting a good look at the Child, he notices the child's malnourished body which is barely hidden by the rags on his body. All he can see on the child is skin and bones which is also covered with dirt and grime. "What does a child have to do to be in such a condition" wondered Zeref as he looks down at the frightened and malnourished child. A voice interrupts their thoughts.
"The Demon is over here!" shouted the fat Civilian leader as he waves over the rest of the mob over. "And somebody has him!" Naruto looks back at the Civilian with eyes filled with fear at the idea of another beating. Under a minute, the entire mob appear in front of Zeref and Naruto with their weapons raised. Naruto stands up and makes a run for it but a hand grabs his shoulder before he can get too far. His heart skips a beat and he looks back to see the stranger he ran in is the one holding his shoulder. He shuts his eyes tightly and expects to feel pain but instead, he feels...warmth?
Opening his eyes, Naruto looks up to see the strangely dressed man holding him close while glaring at the crowd of Civilians and Ninja. From his position beside the stranger, Naruto doesn't notice that Zeref's eyes had turned red and they've gained a ring around his pupils which are all giving him a very menacing look.
"Now, tell me what has this child done to all of you to earn your wrath?" he asked with his eyes slightly narrowing. He doesn't know why they are ganging up on a child but there is no excuse in the planet which is good enough for them to explain their actions.
"Have you been living under a rock?" asked the Civilian leader before pointing at the terrified six year old. "That little pest is the reason that most of our family is dead! Because of that demon, I can no longer wake up everyday and see my wife who he killed six years ago so he must pay for that!" explained the Civilian as he glares at Naruto who shivers from the glare but Zeref tightens his hold on Naruto to help comfort the child.
"Demon? All I see is a poor child who is being changed by grown adults" stated Zeref as his cold red eyes glare at everyone in front of him, making a lot of people gulp and take a few steps back in fear.
"He's just tricking you. A demon fox is known for their trickery anyway so just give us the brat or we'll take him by force" threatened a Chunin as she takes out a kunai.
Zeref looks at her for a few seconds in wonder before his eyes land on Naruto. "I do sense something demonic inside of him" thought Zeref. His eyes widen when he recognizes which demon is inside him. "Is that Kuruma? How did he get himself into an infant?" thought Zeref, wondering how one of his more powerful demons got into a child of all things. Sensing something else, Zeref eyes the Seal on Naruto's stomach. It merely took him a few seconds to understand the effect of the powerful Seal on Naruto's stomach and he can honestly say, he is impressed with the work. "Impressive. Whoever made this Seal intended it so the host will be able to use the demon's power while at the same time, locking it away. Although, I'm not familiar with this type of Seal" thought Zeref who only remember Seals being made from Magic and not ink.
Ignoring the mob for now, Zeref bends down to the same height as the child and gives him a smile to ease his tension. "Hello young man" he greeted.
"H-Hello" muttered Naruto as his eyes go from the mob to Zeref and back to the mob.
"May I ask for your name?"
"N-Naruto U-Uzumaki" stuttered Naruto who isn't sure what to do at this point. The only few people who have ever been nice to him before has been the Hokage, a woman with purple hair and the nice people in Ichiraku's so he isn't used to much kindness.
"That is a lovely name, Naruto Uzumaki. I'm Zeref and I'm sorry about this but this might sting a little." Before Naruto can ask what he means by that, Zeref places his right forefinger and middle finger to Naruto's forehead.
Naruto closes his eyes from the sharp sting in his head but when he opens them, he sees that he isn't in the dark forest anymore but is now in a massive sewer with ankle deep water with blue and red pipes on the walls.
"Where am I?" asked Naruto as he looks around the giant sewer.
"Your Mindscape" answered Zeref as he looks around the child's mindscape. "What does a child have to go through to have such a damaged Mindscape" thought Zeref as he notices the many deep cracks in the walls. Sensing an immense power in one direction, he walks down the path while ignoring the ankle length water. Naruto follows him so he won't be alone in the dark sewer.
Five minutes later and they are both standing in front of a massive gold cage which has a large Seal in the centre of it. Naruto looks up at it in awe while secretly wondering why such a thing would be in his head. He jumps back in fright and hides behind Zeref as a large slitted eye opens up in the darkness at the other side of the cage.
"My jailor finally comes to visit after all these years. And what's this? He brought me lunch" chuckled the Kyūbi with a grin, showing Naruto his very sharp looking teeth.
Having been kicked out of class everytime it involves the Kyūbi, Naruto has gain very little knowledge on the great demon but does know that what is in front of him is the Kyūbi which the Fourth Hokage has supposedly killed. Seeing such a thing in his head brings up a lot of questions he really needs to have answered.
"Is this why they call me a demon?" wondered Naruto with tears escaping his eyes. Zeref sees the tears on Naruto's face so he places a comforting hand on top of his head and rubs it a bit to ease his worries.
"Do not worry little one. Everything will be alright" said Zeref in a soothing voice. Naruto doesn't know why but he feels oddly safe beside the strange man who he doesn't know is the most powerful man in the world.
"Hello again, Kuruma" greeted Zeref with a serious expression.
The now revealed Kuruma narrows his eyes dangerously at the man who just said his name. No human should know his real name and if they do, only the ones he deems worthy enough will be able to say it. Before he can roar, Kuruma notes the man's strange clothes which he feels like he should remember. Taking a closer look at him, Kurama's eyes widen in fear upon recognizing the man in front of him.
"L-Lord Z-Zeref" stuttered the mighty demon fox as he bows his head in respect to his creator. "I apologize for my lack of respect, Lord Zeref. I hadn't known you would be with my container." Zeref waves off the Nine Tails Fox and notices the curious and cautious look Naruto is giving him.
"How come the Kyūbi is calling you Lord Zeref?" asked Naruto who's truly surprised by the fact the large demon which had laid waste to the Village six years ago.
Zeref smiles at Naruto and explains to him about the fact that he was the one who has created the Nine Tails Fox along with his siblings who all roam the Elemental Nation on their own or trapped in a Jinchuriki. He had created them hundreds of years ago and let them off on their own to their own devices. Turns out the Sage of Six Paths thought of them as a danger to the world so he had sealed them all inside of himself to keep them away from hurting humans and became the very first Jinchuriki.
He also explains how Naruto is said Jinchuriki, an embodiment of a human sacrifice and a living weapon to be used. This did not go well with Naruto who doesn't enjoy the fact of being used like that. The next thing Zeref tells him is Magic and that it can be used for an infinite amount of things. What Zeref told Naruto about Magic made Chakra sound like garbage when compared to it.
After making sure Naruto is up to date with everything, Zeref's cold red eyes look up into Kurama's own who shivers from the gaze of the Black Mage. "I'm sure I don't need to explain to you what might happen if you are to hurt Naruto in anyway. Do I Kuruma?" asked Zeref, his eyes narrowing, almost begging Kuruma to defy him. Kuruma nods his head to his creator, all ideas of taking over Naruto's body now gone.
"O-Of course master. I wouldn't even dream of harming him."
"Good" replied Zeref with a nod. With a flick of the wrist, the Seal holding back Kuruma evaporates into nothingness and the cage opens up to show a free Kyūbi. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of the now free demon but Zeref pats his head comfortably. "Do not fret. He won't harm you" said Zeref while pushing Naruto ahead of himself. "Go ahead. Say hi." Naruto just stand there for a few minutes looking at the Nine Tails Fox, shyly as the fox looks down at him while trying his best to suppress his anger.
While Naruto and Kuruma got to know each other, Zeref sets his eyes on the pair of small doors at the side of the wall and walks over to them. The left room has the word "Good" on it and is coloured green while the right door has the word "Bad" along with it being coloured red. "What are these?" asked Zeref, looking back and then chuckles in amusement at the sight of Naruto cuddling with Kurama's furry paw.
Kuruma looks down at the child who is currently cuddling with him and can't help but feel a lot of his pride go out the window. He is the great Nine Tail Demon Fox! A swing from one of his tails can destroy mountains and cause tsunamis of epic proportions.
Now, he's a cuddle toy.
"Those are the kid's memories" answered Kuruma while trying to shake off the child.
Nodding his head, Zeref opens and walks through the "Good" door and he finds himself in a room with white walls, floor and ceiling. Floating in the air are small blue orbs which Zeref guesses are the child's happy memories.
Walking towards one of the orbs and touching it, the orb pops like a bubble and the next thing Zeref knew, he is standing in a ramen booth stand. He sees a four year old Naruto who is sitting on a stool at the counter and eating a bowl of ramen. Behind the counter is a roundish man with a few wrinkles on his face and a thirteen year old girl.
"T-Thank you for letting me eat here sir" shyly thanked Naruto after finishing his bowl of ramen. The last two restaurants he tried to eat at had kicked him out for some reason he doesn't know but thankfully, this stranger offered to cook him some ramen to eat.
CUUTTE!" shouted the waitress, Ayame who hops over the counter to hug Naruto and rub the side of his face with her own. Naruto blushed in embarrassment and confusion since he isn't use to having been hugged before. The only times he had were when a woman came to adopt him from the orphanage but just used the chance to stab him in his back. Naruto slowly pushes away the girl in fear of the same thing happening.
"Don't worry about it kid. By the way, don't call my sir. Makes me sound old. Just call me Teuchi" said Teuchi with a grin.
"And you can call me big sis Ayame!" squealed Ayame while hopping up and down in her spot.
Zeref smiles a little after seeing the happy memory. Looking around, Zeref suspiciously looks at the orbs around him. The reason for his suspicion is because a large majority of Naruto's happy memories involve a elderly man who is wearing the robes of the Village's leader. He can understand if he is Naruto's grandfather but it's obvious he isn't if the fact that he isn't doing anything to protect the child from a mob of his own followers. Did he not give Naruto any guards or caretakers? Naruto's attire says it all.
Seeing enough, he walks out of the room and eyes the "Bad" door curiously. "Why is the bad door chained up?" Zeref asked Kuruma who has given up trying to pry the now sleeping Naruto off of him.
"Those are the kid's most traumatizing memories. Those stupid humans really did a number on the kid" told Kuruma with a low growl. Zeref looks at the door and with a wave of his hand, the chains dissolve away like as if they were dunked in acid. He opens the door and walks in while ignoring the pleas from Kuruma who is telling him not to go in there. The room Zeref finds himself in is completely devoid of light. Darkness fills the room from the floor to the ceiling. Floating around the room are hundreds of large red orbs.
"Let's see the damage" thought Zeref.
Usually, Zeref wouldn't give a damn about any child since he would spend his time away from civilization but Naruto has earned his interest. From what he can tell, Naruto has had a harsh life which would make any grown man insane but yet, he still has that spark in his eye which shows his strong soul, so he wants to know what is it that makes Naruto thick. What makes the child fight through the tortuous life as a Jinchuriki and not lose his mind. Walking over to a bubble, Zeref pops it and like before, the landscape changes to one of the past.
What he sees sickens him.
It shows a young five year old Naruto trying to purchase food from several food vendors but they all deny him service. The last vendor starts swinging around a butcher knife and shouts curses at Naruto who runs away in fear.
Blinking his eyes after looking through the memory, Zeref walks over and pops another memory bubble. Now, he is in an alley with a similar mob from the one in the real world, surrounding Naruto and beating him with anything they can get their hands on. They cut him with knives and kunais, burnt him with torches, clubbed him with lead pipes and electrocuted him with Jutsus. All the while, the mob laughs at the child's screams of pain and pleas to stop.
Getting out of that memory, Zeref snarls in anger. He is over 400 years old and so he has seen many sick and cruel things done by humans.
He has seen men and women cheat on their husbands and wife's without a second thought.
He has seen parent sell their children into slavery just to get a bit of pocket change.
He has seen bandits pillage and slaughter towns and villages just because they could.
This just proves to him that humanity is truly a sick disease. For them to do such a thing to a child and laugh about it is disgraceful to all the species. While his hate for humanity grew, his respect for Naruto improved to a level he has only shown to Mavis. For someone so young to go through such an act of evil and not lose his sanity, truly is something to behold.
Looking to his left, Zeref notices how the orb is a darker shade of red than the others. Walking over to the orb with caution, Zeref pops it like the others and what he sees made him gasp in horror.
He is now in the Village Square with a mob of Civilians and Shinobi surrounding the centre of the Square. Looking around, Zeref notes the ANBU on the buildings who seem to be enjoying the 'show'.
Zeref looks ahead to the centre of the Village Square and amazingly, feels sick to his stomach which is a great accomplishment, seeing as he has created some of the sickest and vilest demons in the world.
In the centre of the Village Square is a four year old Naruto Uzumaki who is currently nailed into a cross by his hands and feet. Zeref can't see his eyes because his hair is shadowing his eyes but a trail of blood can be seen pouring down the side of his head. A pool of blood grows ever so larger as Naruto's blood seeps from his wounds and into the floor. He has been stripped of his shirt which gives Zeref a good view of the many cuts and bruises on the child's body along with the many kunai and swords imbedded in non vital yet, painful areas of the body. The most noticeable wound on the child's body is the cut wound on his chest which reads "Demon".
"Death to the demon!"
"Avenge my husband's death!"
"Kill it!"
"Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" they all chanted
An hour later and everyone disperses back to their homes with big grins on their faces as they leave a horribly tortured Naruto to suffer his fate. Zeref doesn't end the memory there and instead, continues it to see what will happen next. He stands there for an entire thirty minutes while staring at Naruto's still crucified and bloody form as the child tries to breathe. Someone eventually told the Hokage what happened to Naruto and so he got his ANBU to cut him down and bring him to the hospital as Zeref follows them.
Entering the hospital, Zeref sees the ANBU walk down the hallway towards a room while the doctors and nurses glare or smirk at the bloodied body of Naruto. The ANBU lazily drops Naruto on a bed and waits for the Hokage to arrive. The Hokage arrived a minute later with his own private doctor who does not look too happy treating the child but the look from the Hokage tells him to do it or he might be in trouble with the leader of the Village.
"To think that they would go so far and do this. Minato must be rolling over in his grave" sobbed Hiruzen as he gazes down to the bandage-covered child. "I wish I could do something but the Council have my hands tied. I'm so sorry." Zeref ignores the Hokage as he leaves and instead, watches Naruto's steady yet pained breathing.
"To think humans have become so low. You truly amaze me Naruto" he said as he gazes down at the unconscious Naruto. "Humans have grown so weak to have fallen by their greed and ignorance but yet..." Tears begin to fall down Zeref's young face as he smiles sadly at Naruto. "...you never once cried. You never once showed them weakness. You stayed strong no matter what they did to you."
"I..." Zeref hears Naruto mumble something in his sleep so he moves closer and places his ear near Naruto's mouth to hear what he is saying. The next few words that come out of his mouth hits something inside Zeref as his eyes widen and more tears fall down from his eyes.
"I won't give in."
Zeref opens his eyes and sees that he is back in the bad memory room. Without a second glance at the other memories, he walks out of the room with a sense of duty in his steps.
Kuruma looks up after watching the still sleeping Naruto and shivers in fear once he saw the untold fury in his creator's eyes.
"They shall suffer" is the last thing Zeref says before he kicks himself out of Naruto's mindscape.
( Reality )
Zeref opens his eyes to see the mob still standing in front of him. To him which felt like an hour in Naruto's mindscape was actually one a few seconds for the mob. He just barely catches Naruto who collapses in blissful sleep after mentally falling asleep. The mob sees Naruto fall into the stranger's arms and all grin at the chance.
"The Demon is weak! Kill it before it wakes up" roared the leader while waving his katana sword in the air. Cheers are his response as the mob wave their own weapons in the air while unknown to them, the man in front of them could kill the Nine Tails Fox with a single flick of his finger. They all made a move to kill the demon and possibly, the stranger if he gets in their way. However, it takes them one step until they stop their advances and shake in fear. Many of them uncontrollably shake in terror and drop their weapons, feeling all of their strength leave them. The reason for their fear is because Zeref's red eyes are glaring straight into their souls.
"You scum have fallen from your glory days. Your greed and ignorance have powered your wicked ways for long enough so I shall cast your sentence...Death. Go to the deepest parts of hell and burn for all of eternity."
A black dome of Death Magic surrounds Zeref which is frightening the mob even more from the immense power coming off the man in front of them. The Civilians are on the verge of fainting but no matter how much they wanted to pass out, something in the stranger's eyes is forcing them to stay conscious.
All of a sudden, the dome of black mist shoots outwards in all directions. The mob of Civilians and Ninja try to move their bodies to run away from the incoming wall of death but Zeref's an unbelievable amount of Killing Intent is forcing them to stay where they are. The black mist washes over everything in its path and whatever it floats by, quickly dies. The wave of Death Magic washes over the mob and one by one, they all drop like flies until they're all lying on the floor, dead.
Zeref stops releasing his KI and looks around the area to see the damage. All the trees are now grey in colour and are slowly withering away into ash, whatever nearby animals are now dead on the floor and the grass is drying up before shivering away. Several birds which were once flying overhead him are now collapsing to the floor after having gotten hit with Zeref's Death Magic. If someone were to see the wasteland for the first time, they wouldn't believe that it was once a luscious forest.
Turning around, Zeref waves his hand and the shield he had to protect Naruto from his Magic, fades away before he picks him up into his arms. "I better move us before more Ninja show up" thought Zeref before he and Naruto are surrounded by a swirling black mass of Magic.
When the Magic disperses, they are gone.
( 12 Kilometers From Konoha )
In the centre of an empty field, a swirl of black mist spins around for a few seconds before dispersing and showing Zeref with a sleeping Naruto in his arms.
"From what Kuruma has explained to me, Naruto's father is the former Hokage. If he is smart enough to perform a Seal which is strong enough to hold back the Kyūbi, I would guess that he was smart enough to make a will to give Naruto an inheritance if he were to die, so why does he not have anything from him?" wondered Zeref in suspicion. Kuruma had also explained to him that the Hokage has kept Naruto's parentage a secret so his father's former enemies wouldn't come to try and assassinate him which Zeref can understand. What he can't understand is the poor treatment of the former Hokage's son. If Hiruzen does know of Naruto's parents then he should be protecting Naruto with everything he's got but isn't.
Clicking his fingers, in a poof of smoke and ash, a small demon is summoned in front of Zeref. A little creation Zeref has been making which he likes to call, Darklings. The demon is two feet tall and has glossy black skin. He is hunched over and on his left hand is a bit of blood which Zeref guesses was from someone who annoyed him a few years ago but can't exactly remember who it was and at this point, doesn't care. It is also wearing a baggy blue jumper which has the symbol of the Alvarez Empire on it.
( Darkling from Darkness Game )
It's waddling around the place in excitement for being outside again. It stops itself and looks up at his creator abortion's has a very stern expression on his face.
"What will it be today, master?" asked the Darkling as it wobbles closer to the immortal Mage.
"There is a large Village a few kilometers away from here" he stated while pointing towards the direction of the Leaf Village. "I need you to find me all the information they have on one Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. If need be, you can summon more of your kindred. Just do not get caught."
The Darkling smirks before giving a mock salute. "Righty-oh master. It shall be done." A swirling purple portal opens up underneath the Darkling and sucks him up.
Zeref stands in the open field and stares towards the direction of the Village.
( Wasteland )
Hiruzen Sarutobi can honestly admit to himself that he is very confused at what he is seeing. He was called out of his office by Kakashi who mentioned something bad happening just in the outskirts of the Village and so, like a good leader, he left the confines of his office to investigate. Upon arriving to a certain part of the forest which was once a livid area of forestry, it is now a barren wasteland which infamy would usually see in Wind Country. Lined up in three different rows are what he guesses to be four dozen body bags.
"What the hell happened here!?" demanded Hiruzen, wanting to know what could do such destruction.
"We are not sure what it is sir" answered Inoichi as he appears beside his leader. "There are no signs of Chakra in the area and it's obvious that this isn't from natural causes but we are still looking for the source of this."
"How bad is the damage?"
"Pretty bad" answered Inoichi with a frown.
Ibiki walks up to Hiruzen with a clipboard and reads out the contents of it. "There are fifty one deceased. Thirty nine are from a Civilian background while the rest are Shinobi and Kunoichi who al rank up from Chunin to Jonin."
"Dear Kami, that many?" asked Hiruzen in shock.
"That's not all. The wasteland also has a radius of one kilometer and all living life from the kilometer radius are now dead. However, there is one survivor we found with a concussion. He is currently in the hospital, healing from his injuries."
"You're telling me that someone who might know the cause of this is in the hospital as we speak?" asked Hiruzen with his eyes narrowing.
"Yes sir" replied Ibiki.
"Then come with me. I want the answers to all this" said Hiruzen before disappearing with Ibiki in a swirl of leaves.
( Konoha — Hospital )
Once they arrive in the hospital, Hiruzen and Ibiki make a beeline towards the survivor's room.
"In here?" asked Hiruzen.
"Yes sir."
Both Hiruzen and Ibiki walk inside the room and see the one survivor in a bed with bandages wrapped around his head. He has whitish-blue hair which goes to his shoulders.
"Mizuki, what happened out there?" asked the Hokage with a stern stare.
Mizuki looks up from his bedside and sees his leader standing there with the Village's head interrogator, he decides to use his acting skills he has been practicing for the last three years. "Lord Hokage? Thank kami that you've arrived" said Mizuki with a happy smile. "It was that demon who attacked me in the forest. I was able to escape with my life" he lied with a frightened expression but Hiruzen and Ibiki easily see through his lies.
"You need to send a squad out to find and kill him! He's gotten too dangerous to keep alive" explained Mizuki while inwardly grinning at the thought of Naruto getting killed by a ANBU squad.
"ANBU!" called out Hiruzen and four of his personal ANBU appear behind him in kneeling positions.
"Sir!" they all announced at the same time.
"I want Naruto Uzumaki in front of me now!" ordered the Hokage.
"Yes Lord Hokage" they replied before disappearing in four separate poofs of smoke.
"Ibiki, I want the truth out of him in the next five minutes" ordered Hiruzen while glaring at Mizuki who gapes at the Hokage in shock and a tinge of fear when he sees Ibiki who's cracking his fingers menacingly.
"I only need two" Ibiki replied with a grin.
With a nod, Hiruzen leaves the room and ignores the constant screams coming from within the hospital room. True to his word, Ibiki comes out of the room in exactly two minutes. "Bad news. Turns out, Mizuki had gotten a mob together to hunt down Naruto and kill him. Having gotten a good amount of people, he believed that if they were to kill him, you won't be able to do anything because of their majority. The last thing he remembers is chasing Naruto through a forest."
Hiruzen's clenches his fists in anger until they turn white. "Damn fools! Why can't they understand that Naruto is a hero for holding back the Kyūbi" thought Hiruzen in anger.
( Hokage Office )
Growing out of the shadows inside the Hokage's office is the Darkling Zeref had summoned earlier. After detecting none of those bothersome ANBU inside the room, it scurries out of the shadows and onto the ceiling before jumping off on top of the Kage desk while not caring for whatever he knocked down from it.
"Hehehe. Stupid monkeys. Now, let's see what you're hiding" chuckled the miniature demon. It crawls to the edge of the desk and pulls out all of the drawers onto the floor and goes searching through all the papers and documents which he just piled onto the floor. Finding nothing, it looks around the room and stops when he notices the floor underneath the Kage chair is slightly elevated by an inch. Nobody would notice such a thing unless they have good eyes or know what they are looking for. The demon chucks away the chair and carpet and grins a tooth grin when he catches sight of a safe. He reaches out to touch it but brings his clawed finger back after a spark of lightning shoots out and electrocutes him.
"Mother fucker!" cursed the demon as he places his burnt finger into his mouth to ease the pain. He growls when he sees the intricate Seals on the safe. "As if that will stop me" it stated before it reaches out to the safe again but this time, its claw is covered in a black aura. When his claw touches the safe, no lightning tries to zap him like last time. Instead, the Seals all erode away into dust once the dark aura in the Darkling's spreads all over the runes.
Opening the safe, he sees that it holds the Forbidden Sealing Scroll and several documents. Chucking the large scroll to one side, the Darkling scurried through the documents until it finds the name of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Reading the contents of the file, the Darkling smirks and chuckles lightly from what he is reading.
"Master isn't going to be happy about this," commented the Darkling before taking the Forbidden Scroll and Document and disappears into the shadows of the now wrecked office.
( Zeref's Location )
Zeref continues to stare in the same direction which faces the Hidden Leaf Village until he hears Naruto murmur so he turns around to see Naruto waking up.
"Where am I?" Naruto asked himself, still feeling the effects of sleeping off all of the stress from the evening. He looks around the open field and sees Zeref smiling down at him.
"Morning."
"Umm..morning?" said Naruto, unsure if that's the correct term for right now. "Where are we?" he asked whole looking around the open field. He doesn't see the large buildings of the Village and can't hear the populace so he guesses that he must be somewhere other than the Village.
"We're a few kilometers away from the Village" told Zeref with a shrug of the shoulders.
"What!? I need to get back before tramps gets worried!" shouted Naruto in worry.
Zeref shakes his head and walks over to Naruto and squats down to get to eye level with the young child. "Tell me Naruto. What is it you hope to gain in the Village?"
Naruto didn't expect that kind of question but answered anyway. "I want everyone to acknowledge me for who I am. That's why I'll be Hokage someday" he said with a grin.
Zeref looks into Naruto's eyes, not once losing his straight face. "So, tell me how you are going to be Hokage?" asked Zeref.
"I'm going to be the strongest Shinoni in the Village" Naruto announced with full confidence.
"How are you gonna do that if all the teachers kick you out of class?" asked Zeref, surprising Naruto at how he knows that.
"H-How do you know that" asked Naruto as his confidence takes a drop from remembering all the times the teachers kicked him out of the classroom whenever they are learning anything of benefit.
"I've seen your memories while you were sleeping" answered the Mage as he pokes Naruto's forehead.
"Y-You s-saw m-my m-memories?" stuttered Naruto, all of confidence now gone as well as tears threaten to escape his eyes but like all of the other times, he holds it all in. Zeref smiled warmly at the six year old who is trying to play a strong front in front of himself. Zeref reaches out and brings Naruto into a surprising him from the sudden contact.
"Its alright to cry now. You deserve it" said Zeref soothingly. It doesn't take long for Naruto to empty his tear ducts as he cries out six years of pain and suffering into Zeref's shoulder. Zeref smiles as he pats the crying child's back, not caring if his robes get wet from Naruto's tears. After a full ten minutes from crying, Naruto pulls back from Zeref and gives him a shy smile.
"T-Thank you...big bro." Zeref's eyes widen as he hears Naruto's words but then smiles and rubs the top of his head with affection.
"It's alright, little brother" said Zeref, earning himself a big smile from Naruto.
"Big brother? I like the sound of that" thought Zeref with a smirk. Zeref narrows his eyes and looks to his left when he senses a Magic source which gets him confused. No Wizards other than him should be at this part of the world since it mostly consists of using that energy source they attain from in and out of their bodies. Chakra, if he remembers it properly. Instead of it being a Wizard, his Darkling jumps out of the floor from a portal with two items in its arms. A document and a large scroll.
"What did you find?" asked Zeref as he walks over to the small demon.
The Darkling chuckles which scares Naruto who hides behind Zeref and hold show robes for comfort. "You wouldn't believe what I found" said the demon as he drops the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing and hands out the document which Zeref takes and reads.
While he reads away, Naruto pokes his head from behind Zeref's robes and takes a few steps over to the small demon. The Darkling notices the child and glares at him, thinking that he's gonna shout and squeal and try to kill him like all the other stupid humans. "What are you staring at monkey?"
Naruto ignores the name and walks over to the demon's face with stars in his eyes. "That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do that hole thingy?" he asked in awe, referring to the portal he used. In Naruto's mind, this isn't just an unholy being.
The demon blinks a few times to get used to the shock until he smirks. "I think I'm gonna like this kid."
While the demon and child began to chatter, Zeref reads the file.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze
Parents: Minato Namikaze — Deceased, Kushina Uzumaki — Deceased
Family: Godfather — Jiraiya, Godmother — Tsunade Senju
Occupation: Jinchuriki
Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze's heritage has been kept secret to the populace so he won't be in danger of assassins and to protect the Village from his parents enemies such as Iwagakure and Kumogakure who all hold grudges against his parents for their accomplishments in the previous war. Naruto has not been told of his parents, in fear that he unknowingly reveals their identities. It also because of this reason he has not been allowed the ownership of his parents former estate as well as their bank accounts and possessions so he is now staying at the orphanage.
Naruto's identity as a Jinchuriki has been announced to the entire Village, in hopes that they may act positive to Naruto but instead, they reacted with negative responses.
The Council has declared that Naruto can not be adopted by a Ninja Clan in fear that they get too much power in the Village and he can't be adopted by Civilians so he can continue his parents legacy and become a Shinobi. At the age of four, Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage by the caretaker who is serving a maximum of five years in prison for his actions. The Council has provided Naruto with an apartment in the Red Light District which he has been living in since then.
Three years after the Kyūbi attack, the Council had ordered the liquidation of the Uzumaki and Namikaze accounts which are now being used to finance the Ninja Corps and repairs to the Village. However, nobody has been able to gain entrance to the Uzumaki and Namikaze estate to attain the many scrolls and valuable items from within, due to the Identity Seals which requires DNA from a willing relative which means, Naruto is the only suitable subject to allow entry. Jiraiya of the Sannin was called in by the order of the Hokage to get pass the Seals but he has rejected the order since he sees it as an insult to his student. Since then, the estate has been sealed off from the world but a research team has been formed to search for ways to get inside the estate.
Jiraiya has neglected his duties as Naruto's godfather so he can concentrate on his spy network.
Tsunade is still away from the Village and has not been informed of Naruto's existence, in fear that she will take their Jinchuuriki away from the Village.
The more Zeref reads, the more he wants to go back and lay waste to the Village. From what he is reading, it's clear that the Hokage thinks of Naruto as more of a weapon than a child. It says it all when he took away the money which belonged to Naruto, how he has him living in the Red Light District and how he hasn't told the one sort of family member who might have cared for him that he is alive because he is afraid that she'll take him away from the Village. This is more of a reason to take Naruto away from the Village and away from the corrupt leader.
Turning around, Zeref smirks at seeing Naruto play tag with the Darkling. "I swear, he must be the only child who isn't afraid of demons" thought Zeref with a chuckle.
"Naruto, can you come over here?" asked Zeref while waving over the blond. Naruto stops playing with his first friend and walks over to Zeref.
"Yes big bro?"
"Would you like to travel with me? I can train you to gain power and strength many would barely imagine" asked Zeref, making Naruto's eyes widen in shock. He was about to say no until he starts to think about it. It isn't like he likes the Village all that much. Everyone treats him like dirt except for a few who help him but he can count all of them with one hand. He still wants to be Hokage but Zeref is right about it. How can he get strong if nobody will give him a chance?
Looking up to Zeref's eyes, Naruto asks "Will I be strong?"
Zeref smirks at his question, liking the child even more. "When I'm done training you, you'll be the strongest in the world."
"Okay!" grinned Naruto.
Zeref raises his hand o stop Naruto from continuing his little celebration. "However, if you come with me, you can't come back here and become a Shinoni" he explained but to his surprise, Naruto immediately agreed.
"That's fine."
"Are you sure? Aren't there a few people you might miss?" asked Zeref, knowing the answer. He knows that there are only a handful of people in the Village who treat Naruto like a human being and that doesn't include the Hokage. In fact, the only people who treat him nicely are the father and daughter duo who run the ramen stand and the trench coat wearing Kunoichi.
Naruto nods his head in agreement. "I know but as you said, I can't become strong here. Even if I have to sacrifice my chance at being Hokage, I'm okay with that. I will miss Ayame and her father but I'm sure they would understand my decision."
"He's a lot smarter and mature for his age" thought Zeref as he looks into Naruto's sky blue eyes.
"Very well, let's head off" said Zeref before turning his back to Naruto. Naruto was going to say something but Zeref interrupts him before he can. "I know you must have a lot of questions but wait until we leave the country."
"Okay" said Naruto as he sees the Darkling poof away back to the void.
Naruto looks up at Zeref and asks "Big bro, you said that I can't be a Shinobi. So, what am I gonna be?"
Zeref smiles and brings Naruto in close as a Black Magic Circle appears underneath their feet.
"Why, a Mage of course," replied the Black Mage before they both vanish from the clearing and the Elemental Nations.