The Hidden Leaf Village… beautiful, peaceful. Those two words were just enough to describe this ninja village in a normal day. Unfortunately, today wasn't a normal day. Hell, it wasn't even normal on a not normal day, if that makes sense.

Shonobis, hundreds and maybe thousands of shinobis gathered around the forest enar the village, throwing weapons towards a gigantic monstrous fox as it roared loudly, its 9 tails swaying at random directions. But the weapons don't seem to have an effect, as it just made the monster even madder. It swung its huge claws killing dozens with each swing.

"We can't hold it anymore!" one of the ninjas declared. "We have to go back!"

"The more we move back, the harder it will be for the Fourth to make his move…" the older ninja replied. "We have to delay this monster until he arrives!"

"But… its unstoppable!"

The older ninja didn't reply, his mouth twitching, but hidden beneath the mask. Its true. The monster was an unstoppable force. Legends say it appears once every 10 years, causing mayhem, chaos, destruction and death… and it is also said to be one of the mythical creatures to have Absolute Chakra.

Absolute Chakra is one type of chakra that literally is Infinite. There are a few unique marks that show the Absolute Chakra in mythical creatures. A few examples are Halo's over the head, and others are brandished black marks on their arms or legs. The Demon Fox had nine long tails to mark him, according to the legend. The nine tails can cause mountains to move, and tidal waves to be made. It was a monstrous monster.

But the legend was wrong in one thing. The fox wasn't a 'he'. It was a 'she'. And she was about to embark on the strangest adventure yet.

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"Ehhhh…" Buds declared as he watched his sister run away, screaming that she didn't want to hold the flare that he ignited. "What the hell… point it upwards! UPWARDS!"

"Noooooo!" she screamed, running around like a chicken about to lose her head. The time was 11:56 PM of 31 December 2004. The New Year is fast approaching, with a few minutes to connect them to 2005. Not really much excited. Everything virtually is the same. After a bit, it was school time once again.

Buds slowly took the candle he was holding, and tube of "Fountain" fireworks. He placed it an a hard surface, and put the candle's flame in it. He waited a bit until the rope caught fire, and jumped a bit, putting distance between himself and the lit tube. He waited a bit… a few seconds… a few more… he smirked.

3… 2… 1… ignition… he thought before the whole thing began to sparkle and made light sparks shoot up and fall down as gravity took its effect. The whole view clearly stated why it was called 'fountain'. Closing his eyes, he smiled with accomplishment.

In the old days, he'd be in the back, watching his uncle or father light the fuse. He was like his sister, more or less, at her age. Scared of getting burned. Scared of pain. Not really a shameful trait… but he laughed as he opened his eyes and watched the light swirl around… 9 red lights moving in zig zag motion, never touching the ground…

Buds blinked. He rubbed his eyes. He watched. 9 lines of light moving around, randomly, not touching the ground, he wondered what it was. After all… fountains don't do that… right?

He was about to look even closer when suddenly, he heard "BEEP BEEP" sounds coming from his side. Turning his face towards the source of sound, and his eyes widened in surprise. He saw a Ford Explorer, full speed, charging towards him.

The driver was either in a hurry, stupid or both, as he drove at breathtaking speeds, his hand on the horn, his foot on the pedal in the metal. He probably couldn't see Buds as he stood there, shocked as the car rushed to him.

No time to think. No time to even breath. He bent his knees, and jumped out of the way. Unconsciously, he jumped to the towards the fountain, and the last thing he saw he the 9 red lights before a flash of light blinded him.

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A blonde man with wild spiky hair stood up straight up on top of the giant frog summon, looking at the red fox with dread. The frog's eyes seem to go up, and look at the blonde man. It opened its mouth slightly, and spoke, "Yondaime… are you sure about this? If it doesn't work…"

"It will work, my friend… I have faith in this Jitsu. But… I need more time for preparation. And… we need to somehow distract the damn Demon Fox… or else will target me before I complete the sealing," the blonde man replied.

The frog looked around, and saw a group of powerful ninjas grouping together. "I hope the distraction team will prove to be useful here…"

"They will have to… or else… we are doomed," was all the blonde man said. A few moments of silence, he watched the leader of the group raise his hands. And suddenly, they moved.

The group surrounded the front of the gigantic demon fox and began to throw everything they had, in different directions. The fox growled, and used her claws to swipe away three members of the group, but they were swift, and scattered accordingly.

While the fox's attention was elsewhere, the blonde man smiled. "This is it…" and he began to perform hand seals. "Hitsuji-I-Mi-Ne-Inu-U-Mi-Uma-Tori! Fuuin Jitsu!"

The frog shivered as the Jitsu was complete. "Yondaime…"

The blonde man didn't answer. He just looked forward and waited until the allotted time needed was complete. He felt something behind him, and turned his head slightly, and gasped silently.

"… So… that is how he looks like…"

"What? What did you say?" the frog asked.

"Nothing…" the man replied, looking back towards the fox. "Nothing is wrong… everything is going as planned…"

The fox seemed to get smarter, as she suddenly began to use her tail as an advantage, and whirled around. The ninjas were good, but at the rate they were going, it seem that they would need to retreat and plan another form of attack.

"Come on you stupid fox!" one of the ninjas declared as he began to retreat towards the the east direction, whispering, "I should draw it away from the Fourth until the Jitsu is complete…"

Unfortunately, the fox had other plans. It really wasn't that stupid, actually. For a 'Mass Destroyer' and 'Monster' it was pretty smart. It could feel if Chakra was being used into something. And right now, she felt a large and dangerous one on the guy on top of the frog.

She also wondered one thing. The frog was her size… well, in scale, that is. And the person on top of it… he seemed pretty strong. Why wasn't it attacking? And what's that ominous feeling she had? It was like… something in the air bothered her. And the energy flow in that man… something wasn't right.

Instead of that puny human who was shouting stuff at her, she went straight towards the frog, ready to attack.

"Eh… its coming this way…" the frog muttered. "Distraction Team failed…"

"The preparations are almost done…" the Fourth stated, his eyes looking behind him.

"How do you know that?" the frog asked, his hand going for the dagger on his side.

"I can see 'him'. He's almost done with the Ritual…" the Fourth said mysteriously.

"'Him'? Who is hi…" the frog cut himself short when the fox was almost at him. "Damn it… Looks like it's my turn to delay it…"

Unsheathing his gigantic dagger, the frog went to a defensive position, bracing itself for the monster, when suddenly a spark of light caught his attention. The fox, seemingly too, caught by surprise by the sudden flash of light just above her head. Both paused as it looked at the spherical light, a bit enchanted, a bit shocked, and a bit weirded out. After all, the phenomenon taking place is something never seen in this world…

The light stopped flashing, and shrunk little by little to nothingness… leaving behind… a human boy…?

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The flashes of light stopped, and the boy could only have a second to realize something. Just a second ago, he was dodging a stupid SUV… and the next second, he was on open air… on top of a giant mean looking fox… and a giant frog with a man on its head. And gravity was beginning to work against him…

"Oh… SHIIIIIIIIIITTTT!!!!" he shouted as he fell down towards the fox.

He blinked… his voice sounded muffled… he looked at his left, and saw a black cloth flowing in the air with him. He looked at his hands… black gloves. He looked at his shirt; white shirt with black tribal lines. He looked at his pants… loose ripped black pants equipped a very long red belt in the waist, and black rubber shoes with orange lines.

"Am I…?" he didn't finish as he saw the fox nose on his way, and he wasn't prepared to take a landing. Spinning forward, he positioned his feet to land on the fox, and bent his knees to absorb the impact. He also readied his arms in case he needed extra support.

He didn't need it, as he landed smoothly on the snout of the fox, and stood up straight, and looked at the eyes of the creature he landed in. The red tint of the eyes of the fox didn't give a very exact reflection of himself, but no doubt about it. His spiky hair, the black nitemare scarf covering his mouth and wrapped around his neck, his lean appearance… and the slit in his eyes; Demon Eyes Laharl.

"Ouch… damn… what happened?" Laharl asked as he twirled his arm around, loosening the joints. "Where am I? Who the hell is this fox?"

The surprise was over as the fox suddenly realized there was an impudent… human? Well… human like, puny thing on her beautiful snout. She growled, and began to jump around.

"Whoa!" Laharl shouted as he began to lose his footing. Scalpels formed around his hand automatically, and wrapped around his fingers as he grabbed the snout, and the scalpel acted like claws, digging in her skin to make him hang on.

The fox roared in pain, and began to jump more and more violently. The pain wasn't unbearable… but it stung her in an annoying way. Laharl screamed as he tried to hang on, "CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN! JUST LET ME OFF SAFELY AND IT WONT HURT ANYMORE!!!"

The fox didn't listen as it jumped more and more violently, and began to try and pry the bastard who stuck needles in her snout with her paws. The boy screamed as he dodged to the right, left, right, right, left, left, left… and then, timed the paw correctly as it was going to swipe him, and used it to help him jump back on top of her nose, and wasted no time, he dashed towards the fox, and stared it in the eyes.

The fox suddenly stopped as she felt the eyes of the boy on her… and everything went black.

Laharl didn't have time to gasp as everything for him went black as well…

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"WHAT THE HELL?!" a lady with fox ears and nine fox tails behind her began to scream. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"That's what I want to ask…" a male voice replied behind her. The Fox lady gasped, and turned around. She saw a young man with purple spiky hair, red eyes, and… fox ears and a fox tail?

"YOU! YOU'RE THAT BASTARD WHO PUT SPIKES IN MY NOSE!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!" she screamed and lunged towards him.

The boy calmly pointed at her. "You're naked…"

She stopped running, and paused… and looked at herself. "EEEEEEEKKKKK!!!" she screamed and covered herself. She paused again. "Waitaminute… why am I acting like a stupid human girl?! I'm a fox. I'm always naked… well… covered in fur. AH!" she pointed at Laharl. "You're naked too!"

Laharl shrugged. "Of course… I'm just a mental projection. I can be naked or not…" and his normal clothes appeared, covering him. "See? You try it, while I figure out what the fuck happened."

"I'm fine without clothes, I was just surprised…" the fox woman declared. "More importantly, what are you doing here?! I'll assume you are in my head, since you mentioned 'mental projection'."

"Yeah, we are on your head…" Laharl replied. "You were swiping me with your claws, I had to calm you down. So I used my Demon Eyes on you."

"Demon Eyes?" the woman snarled softly.

"My power. Projection of my mental self towards your mind with the use of your eyes as a medium," Laharl explained. "I hack inside your brain, and basically gives me power to do anything. Usually, I give illusions, and dreams since projecting myself to the mind of any organism takes a lot of energy in me… but somehow… when I was about to give you a dream, I couldn't control anything from your brain… its strange…"

The woman looked at him… and whispered softly… "So… that's how it is… eh?"

"Eh? What was that?" Laharl asked, hearing something from her, but not fully understanding.

"YOU BRAIN HACKER!!!" she shouted and punched Laharl straight in the face. "You're ASS IS MINE!" and she sat on top of him and began to strangle him.

"ECK! AT… LEAST… PUT… ON… SOME… CLOTHES!!!! ACK!" Laharl shouted as he was strangled.

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"The… fox stopped…" the frog muttered.

The Fourth nodded. "Its complete… its time to end this!"

Unnoticed to them, they didn't see Laharl come out of the light. Although they did notice the fox stop, and thrashing away, swiping her paws in her face, and suddenly stop. They took this as a chance to finish it once and for all.

"Take this… FUIIN JITSU!" the fourth shouted.

A flash of light burst from the Fourth, and the fox disappeared, along with Laharl who was on top of her snout.

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"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Laharl shouted as he felt something pulling him away.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" the fox lady screamed, feeling the same thing.

Both souls were taken away from their bodies. The giant fox disappeared, as its soul was taken. Laharl, surprisingly, also had his body disappear as his soul was taken away as well.

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The Fourth grunted, and went down to one knee. He saw the hand of the Death God grabbing the Fox's soul, and unknown to him, Laharl's as well. "Okay… lets go…!" he said weakly.

The big frog nodded. "Hang on, Yondaime… I'll bring you there now…"

The frog disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and reappeared near the outskirts of the village. There was a camp there, a small one, with a few torches to keep the place lit. There were also a few people around; one of them was an aged man with a grayish goatee. He seemed to be expecting his arrival, because once the frog appeared, he rushed towards them.

"Yondaime…!" the old man softly called. "… you did it… didn't you?"

The blonde man looked at the other man weakly… "There is no time… bring me to him…"

The old man wasted no time, and signaled some people to help him carry the man. A few people were shocked, and had cried out "Hokage-sama!" "He's hurt!" "Come on… help him…!" and led him inside the main tent of the camp. The giant frog watched the whole spectacle before giving a respectful nod to the man who rode his back, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

When that was done, the old man signaled the others to leave. They obediently obeyed, and took off without a sound. The blonde man slowly made his way inside, feeling his life being stolen away. On his left hand clutched a scroll. The knuckles of that hand were white. Whatever the scroll was, it was important to him, the old man noticed that.

After a few painful steps, the Hokage finally saw what he was looking for. A basket surrounded by a few lit candles, and the sound of the crying baby. The blonde man broke to a very happy smile, seeing the baby crying, the evidence of its life.

"Naruto… this is a burden that I can only entrust upon only one person… you," the blonde man stated, his right hand holding him up as he neared the basket with the baby inside. "Hopefully… you'll understand… and grow up to be a strong Ninja…"

"Yondaime…" the old man called softly. "Are you ready?"

"Yes…" the Hokage replied.

The old man nodded, and softly made a few hand signs. Green energy began to flow out, and covered the entire room, and slowly began to shrink towards the baby and the blonde man. It encased them both.

The technique was a complex field energy, sealing not only two individuals in the physical plane, but also in the spiritual plane. This was needed for the transferring of soul the Fourth was about to do.

The blonde man smiled sadly. He took the scroll, opened it. It looked blank, and laid it opn on top of the baby's stomach. He then began to grunt, seemingly exerting effort into something. Slowly, he raised his hands, and the old man looked quite surprised when he saw a spiritual hand raising itself, copying the Fourth's movement. The ghostly hand's palm suddenly had something spherical on it, spinning slowly into a spiral. The fourth slowly put lowered his arm, the palms from face p now slowly facing down. The white spirit hand followed suit as well…

Yondaime manipulated the hand to move towards the scroll on top of baby's stomach… and slowly pressed down. The white hand passed through the scroll, and the baby seem to suddenly become rigid, and suddenly burst out with a wail of anguish. The fourth grimaced. The baby was getting hurt…

"A little more… hold on Naruto…" he muttered, and lowered his hands even more. Then, he was satisfied. "SEAL!"

A black mark formed in the navel of the baby. First, it was a small dot, then began to move out towards a circle, and began to spiral outwards. Then, eight marks surrounded the spiral, and the Fourth smiled slowly and lifted his arms as the seal was done.

"Done…" he whispered. "Hehe… that wasn't as hard as I… ugh…" and slowly collapsed. The older man gasped, and caught the other before he fell completely to the ground.

"Yondaime! Yondaime!" the older man shouted. He placed a hand on the Fourth's neck, and checked the pulse. There was none. He placed a hand on his chest… there was no heart beat. The old man's eyes glistened, tears slowly filling up. "Yondaime… how could this happen? At such a young age… I made you promise by Kami-sama that I would die first before you!"

The older man slowly laid the man on the floor… and closed the Fourth's eyes. He looked… peaceful. He seemed to choose death over being killed… dying on his terms. He looked up to the stone altar where the baby was. It didn't cry. It seemed to copy his father, and went to sleep.

"Yondaime…" the old man whispered. "You're sacrifice won't go to waste… Your bloodline won't end here. I shall promise this to you…"

Inside the navel of the sleeping baby, two souls behind bars closed by a powerful paper seal looked at each other in disbelief. The woman still had no clothes, and the young man looked even more shocked than anything.

As much as they were different, they did have something in common… "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" they both shouted.

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(Music: Swamped by Lacuna Coil)

The old man resumed his duties once again as the Third Hokage, with the Fourth who sacrificed himself for the villagers. His first task was to take care of Yondaime's child, Naruto. He called in the villagers, and brought Naruto along, and proclaimed the blonde boy as a hero, the carrier of the nine tailed demon fox. He would have thought such proclamation would make them appreciate the young baby, the symbol of the Fourth's love and sacrifice to the village.

It turned the opposite. No sooner then he announced it the people began to demand the execution of the baby. "Kill him and kill the demon inside him!" was the first statement and demand they said. "He is the demon himself! No human being can contain such an evil soul inside it!" was a statement the villagers said to justify their demand. "He's UGLY!" … well, that was a stupid statement, but the village considered it as a valid point.

Things don't turn out as they were expected to. The Third Hokage had thought that some family would be kind enough to watch over Yondaime's last living proof of his life… the Fourth Hokage's flesh and blood… but no. The village seemed too ignorant for their own good. He frankly was quite disgusted by the way they were acting.

He had thought he could take care of Naruto himself… he had considered to train another young gun, treat him like a son he never had… like Orochimaru. But before he could, the council forbade him. They reasoned out that the Hokage, the leader of the whole village, taking care of the black sheep of the community would demolish his image and power. Chaos and power struggles could take place. It also didn't help that almost a third of the council detested the boy like the villagers, and certainly didn't make the Third comfortable when he heard some jounins were also for the death of Uzumaki Naruto.

It was a bit understandable. The Kyubi, or Nine Tailed Demon Fox had caused and wrecked havoc and killed lots and lots of skilled Ninjas. Fathers and mothers died, leaving their family to suffer. The death of the Demon might have been enough to ease them… but now they know the Kyubi isn't dead. It's much alive, inside a baby at that! What if the Kyubi breaks out of that weak shell of his? Its better to destroy the baby before the monster can be let loose again, right?!

The Third Hokage was on his last card. After a few weeks of listening to protests and demands of the baby executed, he made the rule. "From this day forth, Uzumaki Naruto will be part of the Hidden Leaf Village. He will be protected and given opportunities like any other child. No special favors will be done to him, nor will he be disadvantaged from everyone. He has rights like other citizens here."

"And also, I'd extend this to the whole village. The fact of him being the vessel for the Kyubi shall be silenced. No one is allowed to talk to anyone about the nature of Uzumaki Naruto, not to people outside the village, and not even amongst yourselves. Offense to this rule will be punished most severely. First offense is stripping of the right to be a shinobi. Second offense will be imprisonment. Third will be death!"

And with one statement, the whole village who were so vocal in hating Naruto for what he carried hated him in silence. Contented with this temporary sort of solution, he proceeded to plan Naruto's future.

Naruto's mother died during his birth. He has no brothers nor sisters. He was an orphan… a very rich orphan, actually. Yondaime had left him a large fortune… but not trusting anyone with the funds, the Third handled it himself. He placed Naruto in the care of an orphanage run by a friend of his for a few years.

In the 10 years that Naruto grew up, he was met with the cold glaring eyes of the villagers as he went out of the open. He knew he was silently hated by the villagers. At first, he had paid no mind. After all, a 5 year old child didn't know anything except helping the caretaker buy food and supplies for the orphanage. But as the years grew, he suddenly began to feel… a very strong emotion… something he couldn't describe.

He would hear them whisper at times, while looking at him with those cold eyes. He didn't like it. It annoyed him. It was the exact opposite of what the caretaker usually gave him. Warmth, genuine concern of the boy's well being… but the old caretaker was really annoying most of the time. He made him clean halls, scrub toilets, and buy food.

There were only a few kids in the orphanage with him, and they all acted a bit indifferent to him. They didn't like him, that was a given, and he never knew why. Must be because the caretaker seemed to treat him like a servant that the kids there thought he was lower than them.

When Naruto was 9, the caretaker died. When that happened, a few jounins had come for him, telling him that he was being transferred. It confused him at first, not knowing where he was being taken. They brought him in a furnished apartment, and left him there without a word. In that apartment, he found an envelope on top of the table. Inside that envelope, he found money inside, and a letter stating he'd been accepted by the Ninja Academy and classes was starting next month. His surprise turned to shock.

Inside the Hokage Tower, the Third Hokage was peering inside a glass ball, watching Naruto with a smile. He had provided the place for him to stay, also pulled a few strings for Naruto to get in the Academy. It wasn't really that hard, after all, he was Hokage… but he frowned at the way Naruto lived his life. The people still looked at him with cold eyes. Some things never changed.

He would have thought that the younger generation would at least offer their palm of friendship at him… but it seemed the villager's cold attitude affected them a bit. He silently theorized that inside their homes, the parents lectured the kids to stay away from 'that Boy'. Naruto found himself alone all his life… or so he thought.

Something changed now. Instead of one soul inside him as it was widely known, there were two. The seal was never meant to seal more than one soul inside and it had an interesting effect on Naruto.

When the whole world seemed to fail him, he could at least count on two of his private friends; the ever mysterious Laharl-nisan, and the ever angry, and always spouting death-threats Kyubi-nichan.

Kyubi

And Uzumaki Naruto in

- The Uzumaki Naruto Ninja Chronicles -