Kasek: You may notice I already have a story with this premise. That is because I am starting over, and plan on making this story a LOT better than Child of Prophecy was. I made a fair few mistakes, and the writing style was kind of bad, and so was the actual writing. I am surprised that it was (well, is for the moment) as popular as it was.

Why not just start the story over by rewriting the chapters and keep all of my readers? Because this fic may or may not go in a different direction than the other one was taking. The old story was NaruHina, but I may just make this NaruIno (because I've always wanted to try that- also, the NaruHina in CoP was kinda bad). Naruto's sensei was Kakashi, but I may make it someone else instead (as I write it, it's heading in that direction, but that may not happen). I may even make it so Naruto's not on the same team as Sasuke (which would be appropriate if someone else were to be Naruto's sensei, as it makes sense that Kakashi was purposefully handed Sasuke). I still have some planning to do (obviously), but for now, you can enjoy chapter 1 of this new story, Eye of Samsara.

Japanese dictionary in advance (though I'm sure most fanfic readers know at least this much by now): Kyuubi no Youko= Demon Fox of Nine Tails, I believe (Kyuubi=Nine Tails, Youko=Demon Fox).

Rinnegan- "Samsara Eye"

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the affiliated characters.

It had started simply enough. Succeed at this task, and he would become a Genin.

Simple, right?

Yet it had gone oh so wrong.

The first sign of trouble had been when Iruka had showed up at his little spot in the woods, by an abandoned cabin, and yelled at him. Why would the man yell at him if the boy had done nothing but what he had been told to do? It wasn't that Naruto knew this was a sign of trouble; he was too one-track minded to realize that there was something wrong with Iruka not knowing about this alternate form of graduation Mizuki had presented him with.

The second sign of trouble was far more obvious than the first- it was when Iruka pushed him down, and was suddenly pinned to the wall of the cabin behind them with many kunai. They weren't aimed so as to merely pin him by his clothes, as some expert ninja were known to do- more than one had made its way into the scarred man's flesh, more than just mere drops of blood soiling his clothes.

Mizuki appeared, standing on a tree branch; he and Iruka then gave him conflicting messages- Mizuki told him to hand over the scroll like a good ninja, while Iruka told him to do anything but, stating that the scroll was full of dangerous hidden ninjutsu, and Mizuki was just using the boy to get his hands on it.

It only got worse from there. Mizuki said that there was no point in Naruto having it, and decided to tell Naruto "the truth", which caused Iruka to yell at him to not do it. Time would tell if Mizuki continuing would be a good thing.

He spoke of the attack of the Kyuubi no Youko of twelve years ago, and of a special rule that was to never be mentioned to Naruto. Naruto, unable to do anything else, inquired as to what this rule was.

Mizuki gave a dark smile. "The rule is... that nobody is allowed to tell you that you are the Kyuubi no Youko."

Naruto's breath hitched in his throat. "What...?"

Iruka continued his fruitless yelling. "Stop it now, Mizuki!"

Mizuki sneered at the pain he was causing to the both of them, and began spinning the large shuriken in his hand. "You are the Kyuubi no Youko, the beast that destroyed our village and killed Iruka's parents! You were sealed up by the Hokage you so admire..."

"STOP IT!!!"

"...and you have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd that everyone hated you? Even Iruka, he hates you too!"

And with that, Naruto snapped, if but for a moment.

Iruka saw the change in Naruto's stance- the boy tensed, and tilted his right side towards Mizuki; chakra began to spin all around him, visible to the naked eye. Mizuki saw the difference in the boy, but paid this no mind, intent on making the boy suffer before he died. "Nobody will ever love you!" He threw the large shuriken, and with practiced aim it sped towards Naruto. Iruka tore himself from the wall, tearing parts of himself in the process, and dashed in front of Naruto, his back to the shuriken. When he stopped in front of Naruto, his eyes widened at what he saw- Naruto had his hand raised, as if he were going to stop the shuriken with that gesture, and the boy's own eyes were widened at the sight of Iruka getting in the way. Speaking of the boy's eyes, they were not the usual white sclera, blue iris and black pupil Iruka was used to- no, now they were near entirely a greyish-purple, with a black circle as big as Naruto's old pupil and iris combined in the center and multiple black rings that expanded from this center.

Iruka barely had a second to register all of this before the shuriken embedded itself in his back.

As he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, he looked down at the boy in front of him. Naruto's eyes reverted to normal, and the only thing the boy could say was "Iruka...sensei...?"

The scarred sensei coughed, both to clear his throat and to see if he could still use his throat- considering the shuriken was square in the middle of his back, who knew what kind of damage had been done to his nervous system. He told the boy in front of him of his own past- without parents, he was starved for attention, so he had acted very much like Naruto himself did to get it. Tears began running down his cheeks. "It was... so painful... you must have been in a lot of pain, Naruto. If I had only done better... your life wouldn't be like this."

Naruto did not know what to do in this situation. He was confused, and so he did what he always did when presented with the possibility of being hurt- he ran. Iruka called after him, but it was useless, and he fell to the ground, the shuriken still in his back and still hurting like hell. Mizuki jumped down, and began taunting his former partner, about how Naruto was the type of person to use the scroll he had stolen to take revenge on the people of Konoha. "I'm sure you saw those eyes of his- those were not the eyes of a human. I'd say those were the eyes of a demon..."

Iruka pulled the shuriken out of his back, grunting in pain as he did so. "Naruto... isn't like that!"

Villain that he was, Mizuki shrugged it off. "Either way, I'm going to kill him and take that scroll. I'll take care of you when I'm done." Mizuki disappeared, leaving Iruka to pull the kunai that were still in his limbs before he could get back to defending Naruto.

--

The Third Hokage could hear the cries of "Kill the demon!" even from his office. He was staring into his crystal ball, observing Naruto's form inside of the smooth orb. Naruto knows... and he is afraid more than any other time in his life. The chances of the Kyuubi being released are infinitely small... but the fact that those eyes have awakened in him of all people...

--

The form of Uzumaki Naruto could be seen jumping from tree limb to tree limb, the scroll he had stolen on his back. The form of Umino Iruka jumped up next to him and began moving alongside the boy. "Naruto! Give me the scroll, Mizuki's coming!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and changed his trajectory, tackling the man and sending him to the forest floor. The boy landed as his victim skidded along the ground, and collapsed into a sitting position with his back to a tree. Iruka looked very cross. "Naruto..." His form was enveloped in smoke, the distinctive sound of a Henge jutsu dispelling reaching the boy's ears. The smoke cleared, revealing Mizuki in the place of Iruka. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

'Naruto' gave a smirk as his own form was enveloped in smoke, revealing Iruka underneath when it cleared. "Because... I'm Iruka!"

The traitor's eye twitched, though he tried to hide it with a smirk. "Is that so..." Unknown to him, the real Naruto was hiding behind a tree nearby. "You'd even transform into the thing that killed your parents to protect the scroll... and him. You're an idiot, you know that? Naruto and I are the same... if you have the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want! There's no way the Youko wouldn't use the power of the scroll for itself! Unlike what you seem to think he's going to do with it..."

Iruka coughed again, and stared at Mizuki. "Yeah... the Youko would do that..."

Naruto's breath caught, and he dared not try to breath while he was stunned. I knew it.... deep down, even Iruka-sensei... doesn't acknowledge me...

When Iruka continued, the blond found he could breathe again. "But... Naruto isn't the Youko, now is he? He is... one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker... and he is kind of clumsy... and no one accepts him. He knows within his heart what pain truly is. He is not the Youko; he is a member of this village. He is Uzumaki Naruto, just as much of a person as I am!"

By this point Naruto's tears were falling freely- he had never been so acknowledged before in his life.

Mizuki's reaction was quite the opposite- he was now quite mad with his former teaching partner. "I said I would take care of you later, but... I changed my mind." He took out another giant shuriken from his back, and began spinning it. "HURRY UP AND DIE!"

Naruto snapped yet again, and this time nothing would stop him.

The blond appeared between the two shinobi, and raised his palm towards Mizuki. "Shinra Tensei." Mizuki was thrown backwards by some invisible force, his shuriken flying away and embedding itself in a tree. Mizuki himself rolled along the ground for a moment before pushing himself back up and looking at Naruto. "Those eyes again... you are a demon, aren't you?"

Said 'demon' did not respond to this, however, and disappeared from Mizuki's sight. Mizuki felt a hand grip the top of his head, and suddenly he had no energy- he couldn't bring himself to move at all, though his arms were miraculously holding him up. Naruto's voice, now extremely cold, came from behind him. "Mizuki... you manipulated a young boy's hopes and dreams to your own ends, and would willingly kill your comrades... and the things you plan on doing with the scroll... it will be a mercy on your soul to kill you before you commit such sins."

Naruto yanked his hand from Mizuki's head, and Iruka was horrified when what looked like a ghost came with the man's body. Mizuki fell down like a puppet with its strings cut, now completely lifeless. The ghost faded into nothingness, and Naruto began to blink rapidly. "What- how-" he looked down, and saw Mizuki's corpse. He poked it with his finger, thinking the man was merely unconscious. "Ummm... what just happened? And why is everything black and white?"

--

The Third Hokage merely sighed as he observed the happenings through his crystal ball. It seems that whatever possessed Naruto is no longer possessing him... yet his eyes remain changed. That ripple-like pattern... It has to be... the Rinnegan. The eyes of the great Sage of the ninja world... He saw no point in further observing them, so he decided to go outside and stop that infernal racket. He had thought the shinobi of the village were more understanding than the villagers... apparently he had thought wrong.

--

Naruto was confused. "Seriously, everything's black with white outlines, except for the fact that there's yellow flames in your chest, Iruka-sensei."

Said sensei was equally confused. "Uh, Naruto, I think you have... a doujutsu. And the 'flames' are probably my untapped chakra."

The boy tilted his head, which looked rather creepy from the sensei's point of view due to Naruto's eyes. "Dou-jutsu? Wuzzat?"

Iruka couldn't help but chuckle at the young boy in front of him. "You never paid any attention in class, did you? A doujutsu is a jutsu that uses your eyes to activate, instead of handseals. They're really rare if you don't come from clans like the Uchiha or Hyuuga, in which the doujutsu 'Sharingan' and 'Byakugan' are passed down from member to member. I'm no expert, but if I had to name your eyes... I'd say that they were the Rinnegan."

Naruto looked at his sensei while his head remained tilted, hoping to get more answers out of Iruka without having to say anything. The man sighed. "The Rinnegan is said to be the doujutsu held by the Sage of the Six Paths. I can only hope you know who that man is."

The boy's eyes widened at the revelation. "He's... the man who founded the ninja world! How could I have not heard of him?"

Iruka chuckled at the boy. "So you do pay attention in class... sometimes, at least. Well, it's merely speculation on my part... the Hokage would probably know for sure. We should probably go back to the village, everyone's looking for you."

Naruto turned back to Mizuki, and seemed to examine him from a distance. ".....Mizuki's..... dead, isn't he?"

The man gave a sigh- he was hoping he wouldn't have to go through this. "....yes, yes he is."

The odd, greyish purple eyes flickered back to his sensei. "I thought so... he doesn't have any chakra. ...Did... Did I kill him? I know I blacked out, but... what did I do? Was I possessed by... the Kyuubi?"

Iruka didn't quite know what to say. "I don't... think the Kyuubi possessed you. The Youko is a vile beast, hatred incarnate. Whatever possessed you... was cold and calculating, yet it seemed to be a force of good. It said killing Mizuki would be an act of mercy on his soul, before he could commit the deeds he had intended."

Naruto blinked, before looking at Mizuki again. "I... see."

Iruka gave a soft smile, though Naruto didn't see it, and patted the boy on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go home."

Kasek: Hope you guys like this one a lot better. My writing style devolved as the chapter progressed, but I can live with it if it's still slightly better than CoP's writing (especially chapter 1- UGH).

Changes I made to the beginning:

Iruka makes his speech to Naruto (though only part of it is said in dialogue), thus making him one of Naruto's precious people, and Naruto uses more conventional Rinnegan techniques to kill Mizuki.

Anyways, don't be afraid to try to give me ideas- some of you guys actually come up with some pretty good stuff (for instance, a far better explanation for how the Rinnegan actually works than what I came up with in CoP)