His life has come to an end yet he continues on surpassing death itself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto wish I did though.. The story is just for fun not profit.

"speaking"

"Thinking"

"kyuubi to Naruto"

The Maelstrom

A terrible silence filled the world, within it was cradled the famished echo of a desolate wasteland.

It was the battlefield of ages.

A man's body lay still at the epicenter of a massive crater. His blond hair stirred in the wind, which carried the wavering voices of his allies. He was dying and; unfortunately, the last person that he wanted to see was in the end, the first one to make it to where his body lay. Ignoring the worried calls of his comrades a dark-haired youth skidded to his knees and gently lifted the head of the person who was at once his closest friend and most bitter adversary.

"Why?" His friend asked.

"I never go back on a promise." Blood bubbled at the edges of the fallen figure's mouth.

The kneeling man's dark eyes turned away, unwilling to look, "You…Idiot." He grated out.

Busted, bloody lips sketched a smile- it looked painful, though even on the verge of death, it seemed that the blonde youth could not resist a final parting shot if only to make the other understand, "I kept my promise."

The light dimmed in once clear blue eyes.

"Hn."

Silence…

In a large darkened room a pale blue light appeared. It hung in mid-air, glowing softly above a sarcophagus. The orb of light began to pulse. Strange shadows crept across the contours of the empty chamber. For a fleeting moment the light changed to an ominous burnt orange color illuminating what appears to be a tomb, casting eerie shadows.

With a sound akin to gushing water, blue light poured out of the orb and seeped into the tomb. The sound and light grew in intensity before finally they culminated in a blinding flash of light and a thunder-crack of displaced air. Abruptly the room returned to oppressive darkness as the mysterious orb vanished without a trace.

Muffled voices could be heard beyond the walls of the tomb as the sound of rustling cloth came from atop the sarcophagus within.

There came the sound of grating stone, echoing louder than the voices. The doorway of the chamber shifted and a thin sliver of light fell upon a figure that lay sleeping upon the lid of the stone coffin. Dressed in a thin white yukata, a young boy of seven or eight years rested peacefully; he was completely oblivious to the havoc he that he would soon be the cause of.

The grating sound continued and the entrance finally opened, creating a rectangle of light as seen from the inside of the tomb. Several forms poured through the portal prepared to attack or defend. Their tense stances soon changed to one of startled surprise at the sight before them. Before these first few individuals had time to recover their composure, a woman dressed in a kimono of expensive and ornate design entered accompanied by guards.

Emblazoned on the back of the woman's clothes was a hexagon that enclosed crossed rectangles and a rhombus. The geometric design was decorated with stylized stars and a new moon. The evidently important woman allowed her finely crafted eyebrows to arch as her grey eyes took in the scene, the figure as it lay and her agitated clansmen.

"Interesting…" She murmured.

"Intriguing…" The fox muttered.

Having never been dead before, it was an apt description for its current situation…

As far as inner worlds went, it was an improvement over a dank sewer…

The wind caressed the tops of several trees in a strangely silent forest. Leaves shook free from their branches and danced in the air with thousands of their brethren. The moonlight casts shadows from the cloud of leaves upon a shrine to the god Inari.

A winding stairway of grey stone interspersed with red Torii gates stretched up the valley wall to the shrine sitting near the top the ridge. Leering stone kitsune sat upon stone pedestals at the entrance to a large pavilion. Animalistic snarls emanated from the darkened entrance of the shrine itself. Loud barks subsided into a deep bass rumbling growl.

Soft padding noises preceded the appearance of red-furred paws that were slightly deformed, appearing to almost be hands. A canine shadow stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Its fur rustled in the wind which rose to a roar. Bamboo groves clattered together in a cacophony that their leaves seemed to want to hush with a truculent hiss. The canine figure paused as its tails swished about in apparent agitation.

"Death…" The voice spoke with a contemptuous snort.

"Be grateful boy…to me."

"And to the one…who sealed me within you."

"The Yondaime Hokage!"

A kitsune cried out to the midsummer night sky. The canine body reaed unto its hind limbs as claws turned into long and slender fingers. Tipped with well manicured nails, henna painted hands drummed softly across a taut, tanned stomach as rust red fur receded, revealing something more human in appearance.

Painted toes flexed upon paved stones as serpentine shadows wind across sinuous legs decorated with mehndi body-art.

Black and white tipped tails embraced naked flesh before transforming into a furisode. Long sleeves brushed against the ground as the silken robe patterned with the image of fireflies circling a bonfire at night, shifted and rustled.

A long, furry red tail reached out from between the kimono's folds. It partially transformed two thirds its length into a red sash that pulled the robe closed. The remaining third of the tail rested against the woman's outer lapel, curling over the shoulder and around the back of her neck like a feather boa, serving to accentuate an already impressive bust.

A necklace of prayer beads glinted in the light as a single leaf settled into the palm of an outstretched hand.

The guards had moved the child to an empty room within the complex while the clansmen debated his fate. The majority of the clan had favored simply throwing the urchin out. However; the timing and location of his appearance, as well as the momentary surge in reiatsu, nearly the level of a captain, precluded that option.

"Vandalism!" Some had scoffed as they called for him to be cast out, yet the boy's power could not be dismissed. Nor was it missed that he had appeared at exactly the end of a ceremony intended to ask their first ancestors for guidance, hell, he had even appeared within the tomb of their family's first founding father.

It was against the traditions of the clan to take in urchins without close scrutiny but some argued that perhaps this event was a sign from the Spirit King, a new heir; the clan's current heir was female after all.

The grey eyed, regal woman looked to the current clan head as the discussion shifted. He subtly shook his head. There would be no change in heir. The girl would need a powerful consort however; the anomalous child will stay until his potential, as an asset, could be evaluated.

In the end, the discussion was concluded with some smug and others disgruntled. The members were soon debating the particulars of the child's life within the clan. What are they going to call the boy? New commonly souls lost their memories during the transfer to Soul Society after all…

The amber eyed clan head looked on in amusement. These people were not always solemn but the topic of this child had wreaked havoc on their decorum, a chaotic maelstrom. Lips thinned into a wry smile.

Buddha in heaven laughs.

"Naruto…Until we know otherwise his name is Naruto."

In the corner behind a screen a young woman twitched in incredulity.

"You named him after a ramen topping?"

A purple demon mask crowned with horns and a mane of dense white hair adorned the wall opposite. A stone sword was clenched tightly in its teeth and a white robe was mounted on a frame below. A young boy was pretending to sleep peacefully on a large square futon. It was placed in the center of the room. As he breathed in, deeply sleeping, the front of his yukata opened to reveal a pale green crystal pendant hanging on his neck.

It pulsed once, twice, then three times before settling down. The child stirred sleepily…

Naruto's inner world…

She allowed her powers to recede within her. Escape was for the moment impossible. This cage was much finer, much larger than the last. Her pride only allowed a slight frown to show her frustration. This world was larger than her old seal and the bars could not be seen; yet she knew they were there, they had to be there.

A cage was still a cage…

No matter how much power she expended she could not find the limits of this dimension. She had traveled through the endless forest for miles and yet the shrine always appeared to be close by when she looked for it, much closer than it should have been at times. She had briefly turned her ire on the landscape and an ominous power, even greater than her own, had filled the world. Emanating from a dreadful object in the heart of the shrine, it seemed to pick her up and squeeze her to the point of breaking. Since then the Fox had resolved to forgo violence and investigate that power later.

There just had to be a catch though, this place was not what it seemed.

Suddenly, the sky rippled!

He dreamed of the past... perhaps...

They did battle in twilight. Experience, talent, genius and determination, all these factors bore upon their epic struggle. Their battle was not purely of strength as each had attained legendary might. Their conflict was not one of speed as their time/space ninjutsu was at a level that defied belief.

Doujutsu such as the Sharingan and Byakugan were rendered ineffective by techniques that required their users to subtly grasp and manipulate the space around them. Their comrade's battles played out in red shift as an agonizingly slow ballet. A fist was intercepted, redirected and very nearly lost as blows and counter-blows were exchanged. Lightning, summoned down from the heavens was redirected through walls or stone and into unstoppable, giant swirling blades of wind. Sealing script scrawled across barriers of existence. A terrible black flame searched out its victims, consuming dragons of earth, water and even burning elementals of fire.

They fought in a world of silence. Their voices echoing like the thunder of the gods. To their allies it seemed like heaven had opened up a can of whoop-ass. The earth surged and cracked into massive fissures, the clouds frothed in the sky, a giant tornado of fire, lightening, wind, superheated water and molten earth reached up into the stratosphere. Even his mighty teammate was daunted, struggling to heal a lavender-eyed woman amid a field strewn with bodies covered in black cloaks with embroidered red clouds.

Konan lay fatally wounded as Tsunade, Tenzo and Kakashi witnessed the death of a god. The dark man held his hands in the dragon seal focusing awesome amounts of chakra to reinforce a terrifying jutsu.

All focused on Naruto…

"I command all things within this world."

At these dreaded words his world erupted in agony. A black blur crashed into the figured that stood before him, only to hurtle backward leaving a trail of blood that froze into place as the wounded ninja lost his foothold in the twilight realm.

"In this world I control both space and time."

Blue eyes widened in panic before narrowing and turning red. Black lines traversed the space between them and traced the outline of his body. The lines of sealing script encompassed him, burning into his skin.

"Submit!"

His deranged ally and enemy, brother and would-be murderer had returned to the real world. A dark-haired woman raced toward the body hoping to make in time.

"You will Submit!"

A soundless voice snarled within him, screaming a frightful challenge and uttering terrible promises. His body filled to bursting with furious power. Invisible fingers dug deeply into his being violating his inner self, seeking out the entity within him.

"Your will is inconsequential you poor detestable brat!"

"This world and all within it shall bow to my will; a world of chaos and bloodshed!"

A sharingan shrouded in shadow begins to spin.

"Vanish from before me, vanish from this world!"

Darkness tinged the edges of his vision, his mind and body fractured under the pressures within and without. His heart fluttered wildly as old wounds began to open. Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Crimson fluid even began to bead his skin. Bones were shattered into fragments then crushed to powder. One seal burned while another began to unfurl.

His world was engulfed in light. He was timeless, without past or present, uncaring of the future. Yet; for all his existence in this realm there was something that niggled at the back of his mind. A faint echoing scream that would not leave him be. That demanded that he never give up.

"Me, who am I?"

A blond man appeared wearing Anbu style armor covered by an open orange jacket.

"I am him… Is that me?"

He floated below the surface a vast and endless sea. The wind moved the surface of the water forming rippling waves that slowly formed a collage of scenes from his life.

He tasted the bitter tears of frustration.

"I…tried sooo hard!" Malicious laughter boomed from multiple taunting sources, laughing at his failure, as she demeaned the worth of his struggle against fate.

"I failed so often!" A scratched leaf forehead protector is held in hand, water and blood stained the cloth but fall from the forever scarred metal.

"Acknowledge my existence!" Cold eye turned away, taking with them a generation of children taught to hate without reason, to detest without understanding, to deny the right of another to live and love and find freedom and happiness.

"I am alone…Am I dead?"

Silence, echoing… silence.

The image was of a memory not his own, painted in a palette of pastel colors, greens and browns, a shock of grey-white hair as seen from a pont of view partially obscured by a lock of golden colored hair.

"Heh, it was just something that I thought of while eating a bowl of ramen." The white-haired man blushed at the praise, abashed and awed by the love shown to him by the one person he regarded as his son.

"We would be honored to use that name." A woman illuminated by the soft inner beauty that could only come from saints, sages and those who create new life, rests gentle hands upon her husband's shoulder. Her red hair flowed over her shoulders, he very badly wanted to touch it.

"I guess this makes me the godfather!"

Silence...

"My son…l…" Gasping, blood pours from his mouth, Sarutobi tried to help him stand but the blond man waves his predecessor away, "You were entrusted because you were trusted, I the Hokage place their lives in your hands, Naruto!"

Silence...

"What do you mean?"

"Orochimaru, after all these years you still don't get it!" The two stood upside down on the belly of a snake, watching the kyuubi jinchuuriki's struggle to survive against Kabuto.

"The True worth of a ninja is to have the guts to never give up!" In his final moments, Gallant Jiraiya summoned the strength to restart his heart by the power of will alone, clawing from the void of death to fufil his role in prophecy, to make his choice.

Silence...

He had not become Hokage. He had not yet succeeded in changing the Hyuuga. There were still those who hated him with an irrational passion. As a ninja He had equaled or surpassed his idol in every area save one. There was still something missing from that jutsu. But true to form in the balance between life and death he found what had eluded him.

The violation of his mind provided the answer. He reached within himself for the ruined remnants of the seal. The counter seal provided by the toads allowed him the alter it. The First Hokage's necklace provided the focus. His blood provided the energy to drive, not the attack itself but the summoning. Using space/time ninjutsu to forge the links he needed to make the attack impossible to avoid, sealing script began to spiral out from where he stood. The seals that were killing him would create a path to strike the enemies within and without.

A deep voice uttering what sounded like a Buddhist sutra caught all their attention, but it was already too late by then. An icy coldness filled him where the incarnation of death touched his shoulder. The man before him visibly wilted and died, his unnatural lifespan too fragile to survive beyond this stage. The Demon turned triumphant eyes upon him. The Shinigami took a measured gaze and pierced both his heart and the demon fox with his blade.

The world erupted in light.

A sonic boom passed over the secret ninja nations. A titanic wave of wind forced those nearby to put up barriers or be slapped with crushing force. In a far away nation a certain bridge stood strong under the force of a sudden monster wave.

One ninja fell within a mile wide crater. His death would eventually be forgotten in history, but the works of his life would change the ninja world; bringing about its salvation. Lightning flashed and his body vanished into legend.

AN: It's a first try and unbeta-ed, I'd write something witty but just typing 2000 words takes a lot out of me. The story is just beginning I'll just put this out and see what happens. I checked and double checked every thing. Yet when I was about to post the story I still got creamed with errors. This should be okay. I have a newfound respect for authors that write into six or seven thousand words. A measly two thousand feels in accurate but I have also noticed a tendency among such authors for long rants within the story itself, cathartic but in this persons humble opinion, a bad habit. Is it just me or is the text editor getting suckier every day? TTFN.