This is the final replacement! The loss of three requires their replacing three! So far the replacements have been the Dragon Saiyan and Fire-Fox! Now...it is time for the final piece of the puzzle. This is the prologue to the greatest meister in the universe...

One again may I give credit to Dragonwarz50 for the name 'Alter'. Recycled for usage in this story. Also used in the story, 'Outbreak'.

Souls...Resonate...

The Demonic Meister

Prologue

It was dark...the night couldn't have been better for the events taking place. It was the infamous anniversary of the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and the death of the Yondaime Hokage. Everyone was out celebrating and some had finally decided that a...'Fox Hunt' was in order to get their revenge by killing the beast instead of simply beating it like they did almost every day...

No one could understand just what had happened...all they knew was that it was the anniversary of their beloved and their Kage. They knew who it was that did it...it all happened only six years ago...who could forget that horrid day? After all...so much blood had run in the rivers and one could only watch as the monster destroyed the very land with a single swipe of one of its nine mighty tails.

Now...they had their chance to get revenge for their fallen loved ones. They saw the one that had caused the carnage...they saw him cower before them. They saw it only as irony as they saw the form of the six year-old cower at the dead end of the alleyway. It made them laugh as one man spoke. "So now it is not us who are cornered...but the demon itself! Look at you...so pathetic! It's almost not worth it to kill you...almost."

The boy was looked so frail as he shivered in fear. He had sun blonde hair adorning his head, though it was matted with blood. His stomach was so thin from malnourishment, though not grotesquely so. He had his scrawny arms up to cover his head as he knew that another beating was coming for him. He wore only a pair of torn, oversized shorts and a raggedy white shirt with holes in it. He wore no shoes as he felt his tears break through his clenched eyelids and begin to puddle up at his feet. He spoke in a breaking voice. "Please...w-why...w-w-why are you doing...t-this?"

One more man spoke up from beside the first man. "You know damn well why we are doing this, you fucking demon! You are nothing but a curse on this village! It would be better if you were dead!" Everyone cheered in agreement as the first man stalked forward with a two-by-four that had a nail through the end of it. "I think I'll go first...maybe I can make you scream nice and loud to let my father hear your misery."

He raised his hand high with the plank of wood in it and Naruto heard the wind breaking as he brought it down. It smashed against his arm and he felt the pain rush through his body along with a pop from his elbow. In his mind he had no idea...it was beginning...but even if he himself did not know...there were others that did.

...

A man walked through the streets of the market and his state of appearance got very frightened stares from everyone as he passed them. He was a tall man with silver-gray hair and big, round glasses. He had a large screw going through his head, which he would occasionally turn. He had stitches all over his body and clothing. His most notable piece of clothing was his lab coat. He was also surprisingly well built for a man of his supposed age if his hair color was anything to go by. In his mouth he held a lit cigarette which he would occasionally take a drag from before blowing the smoke away.

As he walked over the streets he could not help but begin to think to himself. 'Hmmm...Shinigami-sama sent me here to find the little one...where on earth could he be? I know he's here...he's the only one with a soul wavelength that outshines all others here. Ah! There it is! Wait...this...what is this...this feeling of dread...I found his wavelength but it's starting to flicker out...shit! I have to hurry and get to him!'

The morbid doctor began to pick up his pace as he ran in the direction that he felt the soul. Coughing as he inhaled a large amount of smoke into his lungs, he stopped and hunched over as he threw the stick of tobacco away and resumed running, albeit slower now. He clenched his teeth as his eyes watered from the burning of the smoke in his lungs. 'Damn it...these things are going to be the death of me...and possibly the boy...'

As he neared where he felt the soul, he noticed something that intrigued him to no end. 'Wait a minute...oh my god. That...that soul...it's so...it's...why does it feel like its being held back? It feels so strained...it feels like even though it's flickering away that it could burst any moment and encompass everything in its radius! What...is this why Shinigami-sama sent me here to fetch this boy? What the hell is going on here?'

...

The blonde one had begun to fade...he could feel it...the life leaving his body. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he died. Whatever miracle that allowed him to stay alive this long...he knew that even it would eventually fail him. As blow after blow came from the men as they took their turns, his thoughts were tearing into his head. 'I'm going to die...I can feel it. It's only going to take a little bit longer. Maybe...when I'm gone...can I find a way to be happy?' As his thoughts began to run to fast for him to catch them...he lost consciousness.

...

His malnourished body had been healed...he felt this when he awoke in a sewer. The boy stood and noticed that due to his height, the water came up to his waist. He made a face at the smell of it and began to try and look around to find a way out of the stench-ridden place of common filth. Walking forward, he began his search.

After what felt like hours of walking, he sighed in annoyance as he still had not found a way out. It was actually at the time that he was about to give up that he felt something. It was...warm...it was inviting...it made him raise his head and start to move towards it. As he came closer he soon began to see the darkness begin to recede. From it he saw a large cage fade into the light as he neared it. On the line that was apparently the opening point of the doors to it sat a paper seal.

He continued to walk forward despite the fear that was poking at his brain. 'No...I don't need to fear whatever this is. After all...if it's behind that cage then it can't hurt me!' When he came close enough to touch the cage, he heard a voice speak up. "So...you've finally decided that now is the time to come and visit me, huh?"

His eyes widened as he backed away in fear. He tried to shrink away but found that his plan wasn't working very well. Finally, after moments of whimpering and crying, he spoke. "Um...w-w-who are y-you?" The voice sighed as the boy saw an eye open up. It was larger than his entire body and it stared down to him with his fox-like red eye. It spoke with a solemn voice but it betrayed a sense of regret with each choice of words. "I am the cause of the hate...I am the reason that the village abhors you with such passion...I, Uzumaki Naruto...am the Kyuubi no Kitsune that is sealed within you..."

Naruto was stricken by this as his eyes widened in fear. He backed away further, murmuring the whole way. "No...no...this can't be...Ojii-san would've told me...he...he would've...he wouldn't lie to me...I asked him so many times...he said he had no idea...he...he said not to worry...he... he wouldn't lie..." He would've gone on longer had he not hit some sort of wall behind him. He looked up, praying to whatever god he knew of that it was only a wall.

Unfortunately it wasn't so. Behind him stood a man of about maybe six feet tall. He had dark black hair to contrast Naruto's bright blonde color but had the same hairstyle. His skin was deathly pale and he had the kind of build that made Naruto think that he was just as malnourished as he himself was. He wore black cargo pants and from what Naruto could see he wore no footwear of any kind. Also...he wore no shirt...it showed Naruto that he had some kind of seal formula written over his stomach. His hands were curled in a way that made him look crazy and his fingers had inch-long claws that were filed to a point. It did not help his profile of insanity when Naruto finally looked to his eyes. They were wide and sickly white...they held no pupil of any kind and the outsides of them were bloodshot to the point that it looked like he was always under tremendous stress. He had a crazed grin that showed canines that looked sharper than any blade he had ever seen.

When he looked back into Naruto's eyes with the crazed look on his face, the young boy screamed and backed up into the middle between him and the cage. "W-Who are you?" The man laughed as he began to walk forward. "You know who I am...you know perfectly well who I am..." Naruto began to whimper again until he heard Kyuubi. "Stop this now, Alter."

The man stopped almost instantly and his arms fell limp to his sides as he sighed. "You really know how to ruin my fun, you furry fuck..." The voice of Kyuubi grumbled as it spoke again, the eye narrowing. "I don't entirely think tearing his half of your soul to pieces is a good way to have fun, you sadistic asshole."

Alter simply shrugged. "To each his own, I guess. Anyway, I wasn't going to do that. I was just trying to scare him a little." Naruto heard each word being said and, despite being only six years old and supposedly the dumbest of his class, he was able to pick apart what Kyuubi had said before. When he got the idea he spoke as he turned to Kyuubi. "Um...you said...you said his half of our soul." The eye seemed to cringe when it heard this. "Shit..."

Naruto caught its distress and capitalized, acting surprisingly fast for a young one. "What exactly did you mean?" Kyuubi sighed as Alter laughed. "You see Naruto...he is a part of you..." Naruto got wide eyed once more as he turned to get another look at the man. Alter looked into his eyes before blowing a raspberry at him. Naruto let his eyes settle before chuckling and turning back to Kyuubi's cage. "You've got to be kidding me! He too old to be me!"

An indignant 'Hey' was heard but Kyuubi just spoke over Alter. "I'm sorry to inform you, kit, but he is in fact a part of you. I'm quite sure that you know what a soul is, am I correct?" Naruto nodded and Kyuubi continued. "You see...souls vary in sizes. It is a very important thing to know, Naruto."

The boy blink. "Okay...I get that...but what does that have to do with him?" Kyuubi was slightly surprised at the seriousness of the boy when it came down to it. "Let me tell you something, kit. You know about the Shinigami, right?" Once more Kyuubi got a nod and a blink. "Shinigami-sama is the epitome of all souls. As so, he would have the largest in existence. Do you understand where I'm getting, Naruto?" The boy thought for a second before shaking his head quickly.

Getting a laugh from Alter, Kyuubi growled at the other half as he continued. "Hm...well...you see, with Shinigami-sama having the largest soul it would look very bad if someone else had a larger one. Now do you get what I'm saying?" Another shake of the head got another laugh from Alter and caused the Kyuubi to groan. Naruto, finally having enough, spoke up. "Why are you the one getting annoyed, fuzz ball? I'm the one who has to solve your impossible ass riddle! Just fucking tell me!"

Kyuubi's only visible eye widened as Alter could not hold in his laughter again. It burst forth like a hyena and Naruto sighed as he calmed down. "This generation...I swear...no respect...and that language! Anyway...you are right I guess. You see, Shinigami-sama was the one that sealed me into you. But before I went in I noticed something that most around you could not...though I'm sure he caught it as well. Your soul was the exact same size as his. He knew that by the time you reached the age of your peak, normally eighteen, that you would have a soul more than double his size and that would calculate directly to your soul's wavelength, or power, kit."

Naruto's eyes widened beyond belief as he heard what the Kyuubi was saying. He got the biggest grin on his face as he spoke. "So I was as strong as Shinigami-sama when I was only a baby? Oh yeah!" Kyuubi chuckled while Alter made a gagging noise before the demonic Kitsune spoke. "Hmhmhmhm...while you had the potential power...you lack the experience. Experience is worth so much more than power, Naruto. But anyway, when Shinigami-sama saw this, he did something about it discretely before he took your fathers soul as payment. He cut your soul clean in half but he did not take it for some reason. He left it within you to grow. But the sad thing is that it began to fester in the entirety of the emotional trauma that you suffered throughout the years and became what you see behind you now."

Naruto shivered as he turned to get one more look at the dark side of himself. Alter chuckled as he got a sadistic grin on his face, as if calculating which part he would crush into oblivion first. Naruto shook his head, trying to wipe the image away as he turned quickly to the Kyuubi with stars in his eyes. "So I'm as powerful as Shinigami-sama?" Kyuubi sighed. "Not anymore, kit. When he cut your soul in half and stored the other half inside of you, he cut down your power by half. The good thing, though, is that when you are eighteen you would have all of that power again! You would continue to grow until you reach your peak then and so will Alter."

Naruto grinned widely as he heard all of this. "So I will have two souls with the power of Shinigami-sama?" The Kyuubi nodded and Naruto jumped into the air with a whoop of victory, only to be silenced by the Kyuubi's next words. "You would..." Naruto caught this and calmed himself. "What do you mean 'would'?"

Kyuubi just spoke without hesitation. "You are dying, kit. You should know that. They were your last thoughts before you fell into unconsciousness." Naruto's face became dark as he heard his words and remembered his own thoughts. "Oh...yeah..." Kyuubi soon began to smile his fox smile. "But I have a way to save you and to give you a reason to permanently leave this place."

His eyes widened and Alter, for once, spoke up without laughing or making faces. "You realize what you are going to do...right, Kyuubi?" Kyuubi bowed his head in a nod and spoke. "I do..." Naruto, not being one who liked to be left in the dark, spoke next. "What are you both talking about?" Kyuubi began another explanation. "Since Shinigami-sama cut your soul in half and put me in here, you hold three separate souls. Lucky for you I am the kind of soul that can transform into a weapon. When he cut you in half he also did something to Alter and made him a weapon as well. We are going to become your weapons, kit. And when we do that you will be able to go to Shinigami-sama and enroll in Shibusen."

Naruto had a confused look and Kyuubi wasted no time. "It is a place where people are trained in the use of demonic weapons and the weapons themselves are trained and used to become Death Scythes." "So is it just a bunch of guys running around with scythes killing people? Sorry...not my thing..."

"No, kit, that's not what they do. Not all of the weapons are even scythes. They have different forms depending on their soul. There are scythes but they aren't the only ones. And they do not run around killing people. They collect the souls of the evil and wicked before they can consume enough innocent human souls and become a Kishin. And before you ask...I was not around in the time of the last Kishin and I don't even want to think about how terrible he was..."

Naruto nodded and spoke again. "So...one more question. How would I use you guys as my weapons?" Alter was the one to speak this time and Naruto turned, even if he didn't want to see the evil in his eyes. "You are going to rip our souls out of your body." Naruto shivered at that thought and spoke quite shakily. "B-But wouldn't that h-hurt me?" Alter shook his head. "No. As My soul comes out then you would experience pain beyond your imagination due to the fact that I have no chakra to flash through you to numb the pain. Kyuubi, on the other hand, will come out last and he will flash his chakra to make sure that the pain is numbed and since his soul will no longer be inhibited by the seal, he can flood enough chakra to make sure that you can heal. The only thing is that when you are finished using us we will simply return inside of you."

Naruto nodded while he thought through it. 'Hmmm...I can get power...I can get away from this village...it all just sounds so good to be true...wait...' "How would I find Shibusen?" Kyuubi spoke and Naruto turned to him. "You don't need to worry about that, kit. I can feel another soul...and it's one that I've felt before when he came hunting Kishin eggs as a child. My guess is he has come here to pick you up for Shinigami-sama to take you to Shibusen anyway."

Naruto nodded. "First thing is first, though. I have to get out of this mob. It's time for me to fight back for once. How do I bring you two out?" Alter took the reigns once more in the explanation. "Since you saying that sent chills up my spine I think I'll give you the easy way out and simply feed the information into your head. But I have to warn you of something before you wake up kid..."

Naruto looked at him, waiting for his warning. "When you feel Kyuubi's chakra flood your system...don't give into it or you may just lose yourself...only take out the ones in the mob. Even I know when something is self-defense and mindless slaughter. I'm sick and a bastard but I'm not evil. If you lose yourself then I will tear you apart from the inside out. Got that?"

Naruto faded and nodded before he turned to Kyuubi and gave a quick bow of respect to the elder demon. Alter chuckled when Naruto left and spoke. "The kid's going to make an excellent Meister...don't you think, fuzz ball?" A tick mark appeared on the Kyuubi's shadowed forehead before he called himself and spoke. "Yes...he will become an amazing Meister as long he doesn't lose himself to madness and the temptation of power. And as long as we are at his side then all three of us will remain strong."

...

The man with the screw through his head came to the alleyway with the mob spilling over onto the road as he heard the poundings of wood and metal on flesh coming from within the darkness of the dim alleyway. He grabbed one man by the shirt and threw him aside with a determined scowl on his face. 'I have to hurry! His soul is...oh...no...'

The man stopped and got a dead look on his face as his jaw became slightly slack. He saw the soul of the boy flicker down in size...and then it disappeared. He hung his head as he heard cheers coming from the front of the mob. "Yeah! We did it! We killed the...what?" The man suddenly felt a small pulse of the boys soul wavelength and looked up...but to a sight that made his eyes go wide.

Now...the soul of boy was slowly starting to appear again. But...this time...there were two others beside. One soul was red and had the image of nine fox tails on it. The other was black and would shiver every now and then, as if it were made of the static from a television. The original soul came back slowly...it started out a normal blue...but then...he noticed it start to change. It still held the sense of a carefree child but now it was changing color...it was mixing colors with the other two souls as it began to swirl with the colors black and red.

It didn't take long for the wavelength to return to the size that it had been. It was large enough to take up what he thought would be the size of the boys chest...but then...it exploded out. The man had wide eyes as he turned to see the souls wavelength begin the reach as far as the gates to the village. He could only turn back to the boy in wonder as he saw this. 'This power...dear god...'

...

The villagers had finished...they had thought that they had finally killed the demon child, Uzumaki Naruto. They had no idea as they began to cheer until they were silenced by a small spark of chakra from the body of the boy. "Yeah! We did it! We killed the...what?" The man who began the beating raised an eyebrow when he saw Naruto's body twitch on his back flat on the ground.

He walked forward and spoke in a low voice. "So you just won't die, huh? Time to teach you when you've met your match, demon." He lifted his two-by-four and was about the raise it above his head until he saw Naruto begin to rise to his knees. It was creepy as they saw him come up from the beating that they had just given him. He had a wide eyed look as he stared the man dead in the eyes. His pupils then dilated as he felt the power of his soul burst from his body like a caged animal. It expanded to its full power, only half of the Shinigami's own, within seconds.

All the men around him felt the powerful energy but did not know what was happening. Naruto bent forward and clutched his head. 'Step one: Find the origin...' Naruto's hands began to move to his stomach just above the seal. 'Step two: feel the energy...' He felt as the soul wavelengths of Kyuubi and Alter began to come forth from the seal. He felt the power begin to swirl around him and it swept up a small tornado of dust. Subconsciously he saw the souls of the man around him. 'So tiny...so weak...' He got a small grin on his face with his wide eyes as he heard the next words in his head. 'Final step: rip it out!'

Naruto screamed as loud as his young lungs would let him as he plunged his hands deep into his stomach, getting yells and screams of terror from the surrounding villagers. Blood poured over his hands from his stomach and the villagers tried their best to move, but were captivated at the terrifying sight. His left hand began to move as he pulled it out a small ball, no bigger than his own hand. It glowed with a dangerous black light that made it look like a black hole. When it was out, the hand went limp by his side and the ball began to pulse as power surged through the area, getting whimpers of fear and terror from everyone caught in its radius.

He then started pulling out his other hand. Everyone felt their breath catch in their throats as this one was far more chaotic than the last. It was red and had little swirls of energy that circled it constantly. Once more when it got out fully it pulsed with its power, sending it out again. Everyone remembered this power from six years ago...it was Kyuubi. This surge of power caused everyone within the bursting radius to start a panic, except for the ones that were to mortified to move...

The man watched as a red chakra poured from the hole in his stomach, coating Naruto's body. It began to slide off after a minute and he noticed that every cut and bruise that they had made was gone. Also, the hole in his stomach that he had made was perfectly healed. He bent back slightly as his mouth curled into another grin, far more crazed...deathly insane. He pulled up and stared the man in the eye. Before he could do anything he heard a voice come from his left. It sounded like it echoed slightly. "You'd better remember what I said, Naruto..."

Everyone's eyes widened when the heard the voice. Naruto, still having his crazed look, turned his head and looked to the black soul in his hand. "But, Alter...they hurt me...I can't let them get away with it!" I turned his head back to them as he hunched over with his grin. "I know...but you're losing yourself to his chakra! You need to fight it! The only ones that you need to kill are right here in front of you! No one else...you better remember that."

Naruto took in a deep breath as he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, knowing that if he didn't then Alter would follow through on his promise. "Okay...calm down...calm down...I...I am calm...now...can I slaughter these useless people?" "Be my guest. Fuzz ball!" They then heard a deeper voice echo from the red soul in his other hand. "Got it, shit face!"

Everyone around started to do as they wanted and began to back away slowly. The souls of Kyuubi and Alter both began to go into spasms and they glowed with their respective colors before engulfing Naruto's hands and forearms up to his elbows. Then...the light evaporated from the souls and they saw something that should've been utterly impossible in their eyes.

On Naruto's left hand he had a gauntlet covering his forearm like a glove. On the fingers of the gauntlet it had claws that extended an inch from all of the fingers and the thumb. On the knuckles of each of his fingers he had a blade, about an inch long as well, protruding back towards his elbow, letting them know that if they are even punched by him they would be torn to pieces. Going up the forearm from his wrist to his elbow it had a metal plate. On the back of his hand sat half of an onyx black orb, reminding them of the soul that made the weapon. The metal on it was grey but the fabric underneath it all was black.

On his other hand sat a gauntlet of the same description only the colors of the orb, metal and fabric were different. The metal of the claws, knuckle spikes and the plate were all black and the fabric was blood red. The orb was the same red as Kyuubi's soul but inside of it, it had a dark red smoke swirling within it.

As they backed away, they froze when they heard his voice. "It pities me..." He looked back up to them with calm eyes, scaring them to death. As he stood, he spoke. "That you can deal pain so easily..." He began to walk forward, his arms hanging by his sides with his fingers twitching every few seconds. "But at the thought of your own..." He felt Kyuubi's power surge through his body and he brought up his hands to look at the palms, his fingers curled crookedly inward. "You run away..."

The first man got his backbone and walked forward, tapping his hand with his two-by-four. "So you got some gloves...big fucking deal! I'll kill you anyway." He raised his hand up and quickly swung down on Naruto, the boy still looking at his hands as if he were hypnotized. The man smirked until he felt something grab with plank of wood. He noticed that it was Naruto who did...

The boy looked at him with his calm eyes...their cerulean blue piercing his soul. His left hand began to put pressure on the piece of wood until it exploded into splinters. This mad the man back away quickly in fear as he started to whimper slightly as Naruto chuckled. "You see...you run away when you're faced with overwhelming power! It's in your nature...your souls are weak! I can...I can see them...I can see your souls! So...pathetic...so...small! So weak..."

The young boy, only six years old, then disappeared in a burst of pure speed. Everyone began to shout things such as 'Demon' or 'Monster' until he reappeared in the face of the cowering man. Naruto reached for his face and grabbed it hard, his claws piercing his skin and he quickly ripped it off, blood spraying the ground and Naruto.

It got screams of terror from everyone as the scrambled to run away, but as they turned their backs, they froze when they heard him speak. "Oh...you're leaving...I didn't know...I thought you wanted to play more...we can have fun...why can't we just play together here?" This made everyone begin to cry as they tried to walk over each other to get away from the boy. Naruto walked forward slowly as he grabbed for one mans leg and dragged him to him, the person screaming the whole way.

He pulled him closer and ignored his screams for mercy as plunged his clawed right hand deep into his chest...pulling out his heart and tossing it aside. He stared into the man's eyes as he watched him die. "I only wanted to be left alone by you people. I just wanted to be left alone...but I also wanted to be loved...and not a single one of you were willing to look past what I hold...now you pay for it..."

He saw the life leave the man's quivering body and Naruto looked up, his eyes dead with a calm demeanor, to see the man with the screw through his skull staring down the dark alleyway towards him, a weird gleam in his glasses. Naruto stared back at him. "Are you another one to come and try and kill me? Or..." His attitude changed immediately. "Have you come to play with me? Are you here to have fun? I enjoy games...we should play a game...maybe...do you like blood? I know a game we can play with blood! We should play with yours, though..."

The man just kept staring at him calmly on the outside, but on the inside his mind was running a mile a minute. 'Is this what I think it is? He is holding the two souls that were inside of his as weapons! But how is this possible? Also...his personality...I can't read it in his soul...it's too erratic...it's chaotic...but it seems that he has some sort of multiple personality disorder...I hope it's only in battle, though. If he's this insane off the battlefield then he could be a great danger to the students at Shibusen.'

He stayed calm as he began to turn the screw in his head clockwise. "I'm not here to play with you...I'm here to pick you up." Naruto calmed down as he heard Kyuubi's voice come from his right gauntlet. "He's right kid. This is the guy that I sensed in the first place. He's not going to hurt you. Now reel in your soul wavelength and calm down. Alter and I are going to co back inside you now but you'll have to eat us."

Naruto immediately calmed down and the man immediately saw his soul wavelength return to the size of a normal Meister's own wavelength. It surprised him to no end. Naruto made a face as the two weapons formed their respective black and red souls. "That's disgusting! I don't want to eat your souls!" "Deal with it, you pussy!" "Alter! Shut up! Naruto, eat him first."

Naruto was quick to oblige, despite the fact that it sounded disgusting. He opened his mouth and stuffed in the black soul. He was about to bite down before he heard Kyuubi speak. "Don't do it, Naruto. If you mar his soul then you won't be able to use him for awhile while he heals. Plus, Alter's a little bitch and he'll scream for weeks." A mumbled 'HEY' was heard from Naruto's mouth as the boy nodded with a disgusted face. The screwed man watched in utter fascination as he saw Naruto ingest the soul of Alter.

"Alright...now it's my turn." Naruto nodded and spoke as he raised Kyuubi's soul to his mouth. "You know...souls really aren't all that bad! They don't have much of a taste but they feel kind of good going down!" With this said he quickly swallowed the soul and looked to the man. "So you're here to get me?"

He saw Naruto's mouth move but he heard no words, as he was too wrapped up in what he had just seen. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and then he spoke. "Huh?" Naruto sweat-dropped and spoke again. "Are you the one who's here to pick me up?" The man nodded his head as he walked forward. He spoke in a robotic voice that betrayed no emotions. "Yes, I am Dr. Franken Stein. I was sent here by Shinigami-sama to pick you up. It seems that you have caught his eye and he would like to take you in."

Naruto nodded and was about to speak until he saw someone appear in front of him. He wore a white cloak with the kanji for Hokage on it and a large white had with a trim of red on it. Naruto recognized the man as the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was facing Stein as he spoke. "You will not be taking Naruto anywhere, stranger." Naruto was about to speak again until Stein spoke next. "Unfortunately for you there is not much you can do. Shinigami-sama has told me to get him and I will do as my mission demands."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Shinigami-sama?" Stein nodded. "Yes. It would seem that he holds three different souls within him and also a great power that would need training or he could kill someone." "So you are taking him away for training to make him stronger?" Stein nodded and Sarutobi continued to speak. "So you would br..." "No."

Hiruzen just stuttered. "W-What?" Stein pushed his glasses up and turned the screw in his head. "I would not be bringing him back here." The Hokage got wide eyes as he tried to reason with the man. "B-But this is Naruto's home! He wants to become a ninja here!" Now Naruto refused to let people speak before him. "Not anymore."

Sarutobi turned to Naruto with his still wide eyes. "What? Why not?" Stein pushed his glasses up as he pulled a small carton of cigarettes out and lit one, taking a quick drag and exhaling the smoke before speaking. "I can see his soul clearly now...do you know what it is that I see?" The Hokage turned back to Stein as he had a questioning look on his face. "What do you mean you can see his soul?"

Stein took another drag from his cigarette before speaking. "That is irrelevant to you. All that will matter for this conversation is the fact that I can. By looking at his soul I see that it is actually not as insane as I had first deduced. It would seem that he is very good at masking his personality."

Naruto chuckled as he looked at the doctor. "You are very smart...and you were able to figure this out by looking at my soul? How...interesting..." Stein had a small grin on his face as he hung another unlit cigarette in between his teeth. "You know something...you remind me of myself as a kid. Tell me...what is it that interests you?"

The young one simply leaned up against a dumpster with his hands behind his back. "Well...considering all facts that I'm new to this talk of souls...I guess it would be all things about it that intrigues me." Stein chuckled. "Such a way to speak for one so young..." Naruto just sighed. "When you grow up on the streets you learn that knowledge is pure power. Brute force is a good thing to have as well, though. But when you are as badly treated as me I guess you can't really further yourself, lest you be torn down by the masses due to fear."

Hiruzen had broken out into a sweat as he heard the words leave Naruto's mouth. Stein eyed the man curiously. "So...you try to get him to stay in a place he has no desire to stay in, huh? Why exactly would you want him to stay?" The Hokage sighed as he spoke and turned to Naruto. He had only one more card to play...

He looked Naruto dead in the eyes as he began to speak with a low voice. "Because...his father wanted him to stay and become a ninja of the village. And...his father was the Yondaime Hokage..." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Hokage as he felt his anger begin to spark. Stein saw the boy's soul and was intrigued once more at its activity. 'He has a far more active soul than most people. It's like he actually has different masks for it. The boy is cowering one second then insane the next. He is calm and cool one minute and then the very next he is raging, every single emotion affecting his soul. If only Shinigami-sama had not told me to bring him in...he would be an interesting subject to dissect and study.'

Naruto felt his anger well over and he couldn't hold it in any longer. "You Held That Back From Me! You Bastard!" He ran forward and reared his fist back to punch him and the Hokage did nothing to avert the hit. He hit him hard there was no doubt, but it only made Sarutobi grunt as he felt the boy punch his stomach.

Stein watched with a stoic face. "That wasn't the best thing to say. The boy is truly angry now. That was actually the worst thing you could've said. I sense much confusion in his soul. It's as if he is wondering why you have lied to him. I take it he is an orphan...and he has asked about his parents before?"

Naruto backed away from the saddened Hokage with a look of anger as he spoke in a low voice. "Yes, I have asked him before. He always lied to me saying he did not know or told me that it would have to wait for another time. Heh...I guess I should've put two and two together. The two answers contradict each other now that I think about it. Hm...I should've caught onto it earlier."

Sarutobi sighed as he turned back to Stein. "Will I at least be..." "No." Hiruzen was angered by this. "How do you even know what I am going to say?" Stein lit his cigarette and took a quick inhale from the cancer stick before blowing the smoke into the shape of a cartoonish skull. "You were going to ask if you would be able to see him. The answer is no. You see, this part of the world is cut off from everywhere else. You are in the middle of the largest ocean in the world and compared to the other continents, you are on nothing but a tiny island. And the most confusing this is the energy that surrounds the island itself. When I first came near it to get the child I wasn't able to see it so I had to consult Shinigami-sama. He told me that the island is covered in some sort of veil. It covers it in a sort of illusion that makes it invisible to everything. The only way I was able to get in was by using my soul's wavelength to directly disrupt it, as it was slightly solid and did not allow me to get in. Honestly...I wish I could tear this island to pieces and inspect just what it is that does this to it. Fortunately for you I am only here for the child."

Hiruzen looked massively downtrodden by the information. "So you're saying that because of this I can't come to visit him?" Stein nodded as he turned the screw in his head. "Yes, that is basically it. Now...you can let him come with me or you can make this harder on yourself and just cause more trouble for you. After all...I'm not exactly the kind of person to let someone get in the way of a mission goal."

Naruto grunted as he walked past Hiruzen and stood by Stein, turning to the Hokage. He spoke in an unforgiving voice. "You have lied to me my entire life, Hiruzen..." This made Sarutobi's eyes go wide. He felt the pang at his heart when he heard him say his name. "You have told me you didn't know...you've dug a hole for yourself and now there's nothing you can do to get out of it. I am leaving and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me. But..."

He looked up to Naruto with hope in his eyes, only to have it crushed when Naruto spoke. "Know that when I leave I will make friends that you will never meet. I will love and you will never be able to meet. You have had your chance, you old bastard, and you blew it. So I say goodbye to this god forsaken place and to you."

He turned and was about to walk off with Stein until he heard Sarutobi scream for him tow wait. He turned with an accusing eye to the man. "What is it?" Sarutobi was in tears as he walked up to him and reached into his cloak and pulled forth a scroll before extending it to Naruto. He eyed it with a careful eye. "What is this?"

The old man sniffled as he spoke with a stern voice, despite the occasional crack. "This...this is the scroll that your...your father wanted me to give to you when you reached the correct age..." Naruto took it and stared at it. It was white with three yellow bands holding it closed with a golden dowel through the middle of it. "What is inside of it?"

Sarutobi wiped away his tears. "It holds some of his greatest techniques and it has some simpler techniques that I put in myself. It also holds some clothes if I remember correctly. Something that he thought you'd like. Your mother also put her blade inside in a storage seal." Naruto looked at him. "Who's my mother?" Hiruzen just looked down as he spoke, not willing to look him in the eye. "Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina. She was an expert in the ways of Kenjutsu."

Stein interjected. "From what I have seen then he does not require a sword. He already has his soul weapons that seem to have bonded with him effortlessly." Naruto looked up to him and was about to speak until Stein continued. "But I understand the importance of family heirlooms. It would be an amazing piece."

Naruto closed his eyes as he felt himself calm down. He smiled softly as he turned back to Sarutobi and opened his eyes. The old Hokage looked back to Naruto and met his eyes. They stood for what felt like an eternity with the full moon high in the sky. "Thanks, old man..." Sarutobi smiled slightly as he saw Naruto turn away from him. 'I can at least let him leave and know that he forgave me...'

Stein watched him walk away and followed him. He looked over his soul quickly before falling in beside him He smiled unnoticeably as he couldn't help but begin to think to himself. 'His soul has changed again. I am beginning to think that unlike most people, his personality is directly affected by his mood. It doesn't just gradually change from happiness to anger and insanity like most people would when they are angered by something. His soul just quickly flops to one in certain situations.' He looked at Naruto with one more look of curiosity.

'You are going to be a very interesting person, Uzumaki.'

END:

I hope you enjoyed this prologue. This is the last replacement so there are no new stories going up until I finish another story. Which will be soon.

R&R

Elemental Shadow Out!