Naruto: Overlord of The Ashes

Disclaimer: This will be a Naruto fanfiction with elements borrowed from Overlord, Diablo, Warhammer and maybe even Dragon Age and Dragon Quest. This story will try to follow canon settings but I cannot guarantee it. A word of warning, Naruto will be darker than canon and be Konohagakure's antagonist (and I sincerely pray will not be a Jerk-stu)!

Chapter 0: The Endless War and The Withered Leaf

Before the Age of Ninjas, there was the Endless War.

No one exactly knows how the Endless War all started. Some claim that the world was already at war, a twisted prelude to the true Endless War as some would put it, while others say that it was a period of peace and prosperity before the Endless War ruined that peace. Regardless, it is known that the end of Endless War involved the Juubi, the Ten-Tailed Demon which possessed a power so vast and foul that its very presence can cause despair and destruction. In fact, the Juubi would have destroyed the world had it not been vanquished by a man known as the Sage of The Six Paths, the Saviour of The World who would later be known as the God of Shinobi. By wielding chakra, the fusion of both physical and spiritual energies, the Sage of The Six Paths was able to defeat the Juubi by sealing it away, thus ending the Endless War as well as creating the Age of Ninjas as all modern forms of ninjutsu relied on chakra to work.

However, not even those who know about the Sage of The Six Paths, including his great feats, his legendary treasures and the conflict between his two sons due to the jealousy of the elder son, knew what exactly entailed during the Endless War itself. Of course, it did not require a genius to know that in times of war there would be tools and weapons, including weapons of mass destruction which even the Juubi itself might have actually been. Therefore, is it any surprise that there could be hidden relics of that terrible period, relics which had not been seen again even before the beginning of the Age of Ninjas, relics that might somehow be still… alive…?

Scene Change

Uzumaki Naruto, a sun-blond boy with tan skin, cerulean-blue eyes and three pairs of whisker marks on each cheek, was running for his dear life. Having been recently banished from his own home village, Konohagakure, the boy's day only got worse as ninjas who wore plain white masks started to hunt him down like he was an animal.

With tears welling in his eyes, the boy asked himself as he continued to run, "Why… what did I ever do to deserve this…?"

Flashback

For as long as he could remember, Uzumaki Naruto had been hated by the majority of the adults in the village while the majority of the children followed their example. The misdeeds that the adults had committed against him included kicking him out into the streets, giving him outrageous prices even for rotten food, assuming that they do not drive him away first, vandalizing his home, kicking him out of class for no reason, glaring at him or insulting him as though he is worse than thrash, and ignoring him as though he does not even exist. Some even went so far as to physically abuse him and a few even tried to kill him although those attempts are thankfully few in number. It was not until after his third failure to be promoted into a genin, a low-ranked ninja, did Naruto finally found out the reason behind their hatred.

On the day he was born, a terrible demon known as the Kyuubi no Youko attacked the village and had killed many people before the village's leader at the time, the Fourth Hokage, sealed the demon into a new born baby which happened to be Naruto. After sealing the demon, a deed which had cost him his life, the Fourth Hokage made a dying wish for Naruto to be seen as a hero rather than the demon he had contained within him. The Third Hokage, predecessor of the Fourth Hokage who ironically took back his position after the tragic death of his successor, informed the Fourth Hokage's wish to the people of the village as well as made a rule which forbid the people who saw the attack from ever revealing Naruto's status as the vessel of the Kyuubi to the younger generation. However, rather than respecting that wish, many of the people instead did everything within their power to make Naruto's life as miserable as they could safely get away with.

Fortunately for Naruto, not everyone in the village hated the boy. The Third Hokage treated Naruto like a grandson who sadly was not able to do more for the boy due to both his busy schedule as a leader of Konohagakure as well as political limitations. There were also Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame, the people who own Ichiraku Ramen who, in Naruto's opinion, make the best ramen in the world. Naruto's favourite teacher, a chuunin instructor known as Umino Iruka, was another adult who cared for the boy. In fact, Iruka had actually taken a blow meant to kill Naruto and later gave Naruto his own headband, thereby acknowledging him as both a person and a ninja, after Naruto rescued him in return from the traitor that had tried to kill the boy during a "makeup exam" after his third failure to pass as a genin.

As for people from his own age group who graduated alongside with him, Naruto could consider himself as a friend or at least a friendly acquaintance with Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji. That said, Kiba did consider Naruto as a rival and can be bit of an arrogant boor at times but no one would ever doubt Kiba's loyalty to his friends, especially towards his ninja-dog, Akamaru. Then there was Aburame Shino, a quiet boy whom Naruto never really got to know before their graduation. As far as girls go, he knew Yamanaka Ino, but was never close to her, and Hyuuga Hinata, a strange girl who always stutters and seems ready to faint whenever he sees her but is otherwise a nice person as he later found out after his graduation. Upon graduating, they were assigned to their own teams with Kiba, Shino and Hinata led by Yuuhi Kurenai while Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were led by Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Finally there is his own team, a team that Naruto had once hoped to be the closest thing he has to a family. His teammates included Haruno Sakura, a girl whom Naruto had a crush on for as long as he could remember, and Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's rival and a prodigy unlike Naruto who was the dead last of his class. Then there was his jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi, a perpetually tardy man with a love for Icha Icha books who place special emphasis on the importance of teamwork. Alas, Naruto's hope did not come true as the team eventually broke apart which later led to Naruto's banishment…

Flashback End

Forcing down the memories of the terrible events which led to his banishment, Naruto continued running as he barely avoided thrown kunai, shuriken and senbon. Making a handseal, Naruto summoned over a hundred shadow clones, unique clones which do not require an elemental substance such as earth or water clones and yet can interact with their physical environment unlike a normal illusionary clone. Hoping to lose his pursuers, Naruto and his clones scattered in all directions, some even turning around to face their attackers and charge head-on.

Realizing what Naruto had done, the pursuing masked ninjas knew that they would not be able to catch him easily as his clones would delay and misdirect them while the real Naruto continues with his escape. Forced to hunt down every shadow clone they encounter to find the real one, they would be unable to find him anytime soon especially if he decides to create even more clones to further increase his chances of escaping. As such, one of them quickly retreated to report the situation and request for reinforcements while the others continued with their hunt…

Scene Change

After creating his shadow clones, Naruto continued to run and kept creating more clones along the way to further confuse his pursuers. The boy did not stop running until he reached a mountainside and found a cave to shelter in for the night. Not daring to risk detection, the boy staggered deeper into the cave, his chakra almost completely depleted due to running for almost an entire day and night without stopping. Naruto did not even dare to light a fire to light his way into the cave as its light and smoke will reveal his location.

As he stumbled blindly into the cave, Naruto unwillingly recalled the circumstances which eventually led to his banishment and later his current dilemma…

Flashback

It all started during the chuunin exams when Naruto's team, Team Seven, attended the exam in the hopes of becoming chuunin, middle-ranked ninjas. Of course, there would be other genin teams, teams composed of low-ranked ninjas, including teams from other villagers. While fights and even deaths are not uncommon in the chuunin exams, facing legendary ninjas during the second phase of the exam is certainly not part of the exam's standard procedure as Team Seven fought against a traitor of Konohagakure known as Orochimaru. Biting Sasuke's shoulder, Orochimaru placed some sort of seal which caused Sasuke to grow stronger but also made him incredibly aggressive. While it is debatable how much the seal had affected Sasuke's thinking, it did not change the fact that Sasuke ultimately chose to join Orochimaru in pursuit of power in order to have his revenge against his elder brother who was responsible for massacring the rest of his clan, Uchiha Itachi. Desperate to stop his former teammate from joining the same traitor who was responsible for killing their Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Naruto set off with a team lead led by his former classmate, Shikamaru, to capture him…

Scene Change

In a location known as the Valley of The End, Naruto was holding onto the gash on his chest as he looked down upon his former teammate. During their struggle, Sasuke, a boy with dark hair and eyes, used the cursed seal that Orochimaru gave him to change into a grey-skinned winged humanoid while Naruto, the vessel of the Kyuubi no Youko, tapped into its demonic power and thus gained a fox-shaped cloak of crimson-red chakra. In another time, Naruto would have held back and lost in his battle against Sasuke. However, in a moment of admittedly twisted brilliance, Naruto used the cloak's ability to extend itself and drove his technique, the rasengan, directly into Sasuke's right knee. As the technique is well-known for its destructive capacity, it ended up completely shattering the bones in Sasuke's entire right leg as well as nearly pulverizing its muscles and sent the Uchiha boy spinning to Naruto's side of the river they were fighting on. Due to the circumstances, Sasuke's aim went off thus causing his own technique, the chidori, to swipe over Naruto's chest instead of driving it into his chest as originally intended.

Due to having his right leg completely broken as well as the agony that came with it, Sasuke was unable to continue fighting as he screamed in pain and impotent rage towards Naruto, "What have you done to me, dobe?"

Looking at Sasuke's eyes, which are currently crimson-red with three black tomoe spinning around the pupil due to the Uchiha clan's unique bloodline ability, the Sharingan, Naruto replied, "Well did say that I would bring you back even if I have to break your arms and legs, didn't I? Bedsides, our mission was to stop you from going to Orochimaru."

"And this is your idea of stopping me? Look at me, my right leg is completely useless because of you!" Getting onto his knees, or rather his left knee, Sasuke continued to yell, "How the hell am I supposed to ever have my revenge on that man for killing my entire clan with my right leg as it is? You took away my ambition!"

Still angry at how Sasuke would willingly join forces with the same man that led the recent invasion into Konohagakure which killed Hiruzen, Naruto shouted back, "Then what was I supposed to do, teme? Let you go and have that snake-bastard take over your body? He only wants your eyes and you know it!"

"What right do you have to stop me? I chose to join him because he can give me what I wanted… no, needed most!" yelled Sasuke.

"What about your other ambition, to rebuild your clan? What about the village that you left behind, your teammates? Don't tell me any of those things, those bonds, don't matter to you!"

Glaring at Naruto with all the hate he could muster, Sasuke growled, "You're right, they don't, not if they hold me back from my true objectives." Stunned, Naruto was silent as Sasuke continued, "A nameless orphan idiot like you… will never understand what it feels like to lose everything you cared for, to be betrayed by those you trusted most!"

Ironically enough, Sasuke's hateful words foreshadowed the tragic reality that can never be undone…

Scene Change

"Uzumaki Naruto, on behalf of the village and the Hokage who is unable to attend this emergency council meeting due to immediate medical emergencies involving the rest of your team and the last Uchiha, you are hereby sentenced to banishment!"

Scene Change

Glaring hatefully at Naruto, his pink-haired female teammate, Sakura, shouted at him, "How could you do this to Sasuke-kun, you… you monster!"

Scene Change

It was after that painful encounter with Sakura, right after receiving that horrible sentence, when Naruto decided to just run away rather than stay any longer in the village in the hopes of at least saying goodbye to the people that he hoped at least cared for him. Then again, it would not have made much of a difference as he had to leave immediately or he would be punished severely should he still be within the walls of Konohagakure by sundown…

Flashback End

Tenderly stroking the aching bruise on his right cheek, courtesy of his last encounter with Sakura, tears flowed freely from Naruto's eyes as he wondered, "Why… why is it that everything I do never seem right to you… or to anyone in the village?"

Too exhausted from both fatigue and grief, Naruto fell down and assumed a foetal position as he continued to weep. In fact, he was so exhausted that he never noticed the ground beneath him giving away, or even crying out in surprise as he fell into the abyss below…

Scene Change

Within the first week after Naruto's banishment, Senju Tsunade, the fifth Hokage of Konohagakure and one of the few people that cared for the boy, almost went on a mad rampage when she realized that the council had gone behind her back and banished Naruto against her wishes or that of the ninja clans. Quickly sending out all the ninjas she could afford to dispatch to find Naruto, her hopes were dashed when she realized that Naruto could not be found no matter where they searched within the Land of Fire, not even with the aid of the endangered Bokouchuu, a type of beetle which remembers the first scent it smells and would be instinctively drawn to it no matter how faint it is. The fact that she cannot undo the banishment order due to council's political manipulation only made her hate them even more for banishing the closest thing she had to a younger brother ever since the Third Ninja World War.

So strong was her resentment that she staunchly refused to treat their "precious" Uchiha Sasuke's admittedly horrific injury unless they undo Naruto's banishment, thus forcing the council to rely on less skilful doctors to treat his mutilated right leg. Granted, the council did try to threaten Tsunade into treating Sasuke's injury by having the recently-exiled Naruto be labelled as a missing-nin, which basically means a rogue or traitor ninja, but Tsunade threatened them that if they do so, she will label Sasuke as a traitor that indirectly almost caused the deaths of heirs from at least two major ninja clans and demand for his immediate execution regardless of how the cursed seal he had received from Orochimaru may had affected his thinking. Combined with Kakashi's testimony that Sasuke really cared for nothing else other than power and his revenge, the council could not even stop Tsunade from having a seal placed on Sasuke to ensure that leaving the village or using the cursed seal will hurt him horribly before finally killing him. Ever since that incident, the council realized that Tsunade is far more willing to be "tyrannically oppressive" in defending Naruto than Hiruzen was and that the only reason why they even succeeded in banishing Naruto in the first place was because she had more immediate priorities at the time, namely saving Chouji and Neji from dying.

As for the remaining members of Team Seven, Sakura continued hating Naruto for what he had done to Sasuke and was frankly glad that he was gone. However, she soon found out that her opinion about the "useless monster" was not shared by everyone the hard way when Tsunade almost strangled her to death with one hand and called her a worthless traitor-loving scum. Her former jounin instructor, Kakashi, on the other hand quickly disbanded Team Seven after making it clear that Naruto was what even held the team together in the first place. Speaking about Kakashi, the silver-haired man with his left eye hidden beneath his forehead protector was among the first to desperately search for Naruto but failed to find him despite using all the ninja-dogs he could summon to help. Ashamed of his own mistakes, the man quit being a jounin instructor and could no longer bring himself to look at the memorial stone which bore the names of his lost loved ones as he was sure that they were just as ashamed of him if not more so. Already many of his colleagues are disappointed or ashamed of him.

Shikamaru, formerly one of Naruto's classmates and the chuunin leader of the team that retrieved Sasuke, was ashamed that he had almost gotten three of his teammates killed and caused Naruto's banishment. Had it not been for his father's wisdom, his mother's almost-uncharacteristic show of motherly kindness, his best friend's encouragement and the moral support of a certain blond ninja from Sunagakure, the lazy-looking boy with narrow eyes and a spiky ponytail on top of his head would have resigned from his position as a chuunin. Speaking about Shikamaru's best friend, Chouji, the overweight boy with brown hair and swirls on his cheeks felt bad about Naruto's banishment as well and vowed to become stronger so that he and Shikamaru can find Naruto someday and apologize for not being strong or smart enough to prevent his unjustified banishment. Unfortunately for their team, Ino, a pale-blond girl with blue eyes, was resentful towards Naruto for crippling Sasuke and her friendship with the two boys suffered greatly as a result. Asuma, who knew quite a bit about the boy from his father, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was deeply ashamed with his own village, the same village his father died protecting, for banishing the boy.

Kiba, upon realizing what had happened to Naruto, was tempted to immediately charge into the council chamber to call "those stupid retards" out for banishing his friend and rival who had done nothing wrong as Sasuke was the real traitor to both the village and Team Seven, not Naruto. The only reason why he didn't was because his mother, Inuzuka Tsume, already made that same statement. Shino, who was unavailable for that mission at the time, agreed with Kiba and regretted that he had been unable to help with the mission. As such, much like Shikamaru and Chouji, both boys swore to become stronger. Their third teammate, Hinata, was heartbroken by the banishment and would have fallen into suicidal depression had her teammates, her jounin instructor and even her elder cousin not encouraged her to become stronger so that she can one day find the boy whom she had always admired. Determined to find Naruto and finally tell him her feelings, she dedicated herself to her training in ways that even Neji's eccentric teammate, Rock Lee, and jounin instructor, Might Guy, found impressive. Kurenai, who knew about Hinata's crush towards Naruto, not that no one with a working pair of eyes other than Naruto did not know, was willing to help her genin become stronger and better as trackers so that they can find Naruto, wherever the boy may be.

Speaking of Neji's team, the Hyuuga boy was also determined to find Naruto to thank him for making see that a person's fate can indeed be changed for the better. Lee, whose continued ninja career had been saved thanks to Naruto who brought back Tsunade, the legendary medic-ninja, was equally determined to find Naruto to thank him for "rescuing his flames of youth". Tenten, while not directly involved with Naruto like her other teammates, was nevertheless willing to help them as Naruto was responsible for helping them, even if Neji did not want it at the time. Guy, who was grateful to Naruto for helping Neji let go of his obsession with fate and for helping Lee recover from an otherwise crippling injury which would have ended his ninja career, was all too happy to train anyone who wanted to help Naruto in any way they can despite the circumstances.

As for Jiraiya, the white-haired toad sage of Konohagakure, the middle-aged man quickly tried to locate Naruto by using the Toad Summoning contract that the boy shared with him but realized to his horror that the boy, while alive, somehow broke his contract with the toads. Unable to find out how or why exactly the boy did so, Jiraiya knew that he had failed his disciple but was determined to find him.

It was also during that period when the people that Naruto had helped over his tragically short career as a genin of Konohagakure came to know about his banishment and many were less than pleased by it to say the least. The Land of Waves, a land which suffered under the tyranny of Gatou Cooperation until Team Seven helped Tazuna complete of the Great Naruto Bridge, would have cut ties with Konohagakure for banishing their hero had it not been for Tazuna lying about the ranking of the mission as well as the need for trade to both pay off the resulting debt and to recover their economy. The hidden ninja village of Takigakure, another village which Team Seven had helped, was shocked that the village that aided them during Suien's attack on the village to obtain its fabled Hero Water would actually banish a loyal ninja of the village just because he crippled a traitor. Shibuki, the current leader of the village, quickly tried to find out why someone as inspiringly brave as Naruto was unfairly punished. The Land of Tea, especially the Wasabi family and their champion runner, Morino Idate, were also shocked that Naruto was unfairly banished. Angered by the banishment, Idate would have hated ninjas like the time before he met Team Seven had it not been for the fact that his friend, Naruto, was a ninja himself albeit a rather unorthodox one. The Land of Spring, which was once known as the Land of Snow, would have cut ties with Konohagakure as well but Kazahana Koyuki, the land's daimyo, knew that she could not do so without sufficient proof that her people are better off without the village as their ally. Sunagakure too could not cut ties with Konohagakure as they needed the alliance due to their currently weakened state. The fact that Sunagakure was guilty of betraying Konohagakure during the chuunin exams which resulted in the death of the Third Hokage certainly did not give them any moral high ground regardless.

Scene Change

A month had passed ever since Naruto's banishment when a book was published, starting from the Lands of Wave, Spring, Tea and Wind, a book titled "The Unmasking of Konohagakure, as written by the Broken Ashes".

To describe the book's story in brief, it was basically a story of Naruto's difficult childhood followed by his time in the academy, his short career as a genin of Konohagakure and finally his banishment. Although the book did not state what happened to Naruto after his banishment, it did clearly imply that the boy's life-story did not end there and that he was able to somehow move on with his life, finding a new purpose which would be revealed in its "sequel". While those that cared for Naruto were glad that he is likely to be alive, many were hurt, horrified, angered and disgusted by what he had to go through because of his status as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko as well as the less than stellar relationship he had with his teammates and his teachers, including Kakashi and Jiraiya.

Despised by almost all of the adults in Konohagakure, the book was pretty much banned from the village thus denying anyone from reading it within the week of its discovery. Of course, Tsunade staunchly refused their demands to punish anyone found reading the book severely and only "confiscated" their books at worst. However, for reasons and through methods unknown even to the current Hokage, the books were somehow smuggled into every home in the village despite the ban in place. Those that hated Naruto immediately destroyed them but those that cared for the blond boy or at least respected his courage and sympathized with his tragedy treasured the books. While it was not surprising that those that cared or sympathized with Naruto treasured the books, including Kakashi who actually favoured reading his copy over his once-beloved Icha Icha books, not that anyone knew until weeks later as he disguised it as an Icha Icha book, the book had more fans within the village than expected, especially among the younger generation.

One of the fans was Kurama Yakumo, a girl with brown hair and eyes, who found a smuggled copy of the book in her room one day. As a member of the Kurama clan, a clan renowned for their ability to create genjutsu so powerful that it can actually physically harm their victims, Yakumo was unfortunately born with a weak body and thus unable to become a ninja. Although tutored by Kurenai, Konohagakure's foremost expert in the field of genjutsu, Yakumo still did not manage to become a ninja as Kurenai felt that she was unfit to be one and was eventually forced to seal away her powers by the order of the Third Hokage. Due to a tragic misunderstanding which involved the deaths of her parents after the sealing of her powers, Yakumo believed that the Third Hokage decided to have her executed should her powers become uncontrollable and thus developed a deep resentment towards the village. Reading the book only made her resentment towards her own home village grow but also made her realize that becoming obsessed with revenge like Uchiha Sasuke would make her no better than the very people she grew to hate. And so, rather than attack Konohagakure as she originally intended, she decided to simply leave the village and find her destiny elsewhere. However, her change of heart provoked her Ido, a malicious entity created from her Id, to attempt an aggressive takeover of her body so that she will carry out her original plan. After realizing the truth, that her Ido side was the one responsible for killing her parents, Yakumo eventually succeeded in overcoming it with the help of Kurenai, as well as her genin team, who finally admitted that she did care for her. Despite these events, Yakumo still wanted to find her destiny elsewhere and eventually succeeded in leaving the village thanks to her advanced genjutsu skills. As she was never a ninja despite her abilities, Yakumo was not labelled as a missing-nin but that did not stop Konohagakure, especially her clansmen, from desperately trying to find her.

Like everyone else in Konohagakure, Sakura and Ino received their copies of the book. However, rather than immediately destroy them as some had expected, they actually read the books first. Ino, after reading the book and receiving confirmation from her father, Inoichi, became deeply remorseful and had to work hard to finally regain the trust of those that cared for Naruto and took her resentment towards him unfavourably. As for Sakura, she actually believed that Naruto was lying through his books and destroyed it soon after reading it. However, while many believed that she did it out of continued spite towards Naruto, Ino felt that Sakura was really doing it out of a desperate desire to deny her guilt which would have led to extreme self-loathing had she allowed it to consume her. Regardless, Sakura was pretty much despised by everyone that cared for Naruto with the exception of Ino.

Scene Change

Ever since the book was published, alliances between Konohagakure with the Lands of Waves, Spring and even Tea were further strained. To mock "scum worse than trash", they openly promoted the books despite most of Konohagakure protesting against it. However, with the support of the people that cared for Naruto including Tsunade and Jiraiya, they were able to promote the books and even made it into a new bestseller comparable to Jiraiya's Icha Icha series. Ironically enough, Konohagakure's chief rivals, Kumogakure and Iwagakure, were the biggest buyers of the book. To them, the comical pranks that Naruto had played even against the likes of the Hyuuga clan, Konohagakure's ANBU and the Third Hokage were gold-rated comedy. The book was also famous in Kirigakure as the story featured the final moments of Momochi Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist who became a missing-nin for attempting a coup against the ruling Mizukage at the time, Yagura.

After finding out about Naruto's difficult life from the book, the people of Sunagakure made it clear to the people of Konohagakure that many of them are ultimately no better than them for two reasons. The first reason is that most of the people of Konohagakure had hated Naruto, a boy who did not even tap into his demonic powers until after his third failure to graduate unlike Gaara, jinchuuriki of Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, who was able to use his powers to hurt and kill people even before he attended the academy at Sunagakure. The second reason is that the people of Konohagakure had, just like the previous Kazekage that betrayed Konohagakure and Gaara, his own son, betrayed a loyal ninja who played a key role in stopping Shukaku's rampage during the invasion as well as preventing Sasuke from defecting to Orochimaru, the one responsible for both killing the treacherous Kazekage and the Third Hokage. That is not even counting the fact that they have all but ignored the dying wishes of the Fourth Hokage, a man whom the entire village supposedly worship as a hero.

Unknown to Team Seven during their mission at Takigakure, the hidden village actually had a jinchuuriki of their own who contained the Nanabi no Kabutomushi, Fuu, whom they had also horribly mistreated to the point that she had to live outside the village in semi-exile. Realizing the error of their ways after reading the book, a few of the more sympathetic members of the village, including Shibuki, wanted to make amends. However, by the time they decided to act upon it, Fuu had already left as she was somehow able to read the book and made a decision that she would be better off proving herself to people that actually cared for her even if they are not members of Takigakure. Unable to bring himself to brand her as a missing-nin, due to somehow finding out that Naruto was hunted like one not long after his banishment, Shibuki instead placed her as a wandering-nin, much like Tsunade herself had been before she finally became the Fifth Hokage.

Despite suffering from a great rise in infamy, which also affected the Land of Fire thus earning the ire of the Fire Daimyo, Konohagakure was still able to somehow get by through the following months after Naruto's banishment. In fact, the ninjas that cared for Naruto became quite popular selections for clients outside the Land of Fire such as Princess Haruna from the Land of Vegetables. Once a cold-hearted young woman, reading the book made her realize that there are others who had suffered much worse than her and, after realizing how much Naruto had suffered because of his unfair banishment, did not want to become anything like the council of Konohagakure or Uchiha Sasuke, namely by becoming as cruel and uncaring as them. Being together with Hinata, Chouji and Shikamaru only cemented her change into a kind but firm daimyo of the Land of Vegetables.

Haruna was not the only daimyo influenced by the books as Toki, a woman who was once obsessed with vengeance over the deaths of her father and brother, eventually gave up on revenge after realizing the cost it would have on her very heart and soul. That said, Toki still wanted justice and eventually gained it with the help of Team Guy and later became the daimyo of the Land of Birds. It should be noted that Toki's rise as Daimyo of the Land of Birds occurred before Haruna's own ascension.

Besides the Lands of Vegetables and Birds, the few ninjas that cared for Naruto also gained employment from other places including the Land of Sea and Hoshigakure.

Unknown to the ninjas of Konohagakure, the Land of Sea had one person who had suffered unfair persecution just like Naruto, Isaribi. An unfortunate victim of a cruel experiment to create the ultimate aquatic assassin, Isaribi was mutated to become a fish-like humanoid creature which the local people would later fearfully dub as the Kaima. Although able to change form, the scales of her Kaima form could not completely disappear and so she was forced to wear bandages to hide them. Somehow able to get access to the book, Isaribi was convinced that she will never be accepted by the local people even if Amachi, the man that made her into an experimental Kaima in the first place, somehow cured her and thus decided to abandon him to find a place which will accept her regardless of her physical appearance and, more importantly, her misguided misdeeds in her desperate hope for a cure which he ultimately falsely offered. Without his precious test subject to create the ultimate aquatic assassin, Amachi was forced to kidnap more people which drew the attention of Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Anko and Kurenai. Working together, they were able to put an end to Amachi's cruel endeavours. As for the people that mistreated Isaribi, it is a tragic fact that many of them never thought about their own actions against her despite being fans of the book.

As for Hoshigakure, Team Guy was able to stop Akahoshi from gaining control of the village and corrupting people through the corrupting powers of a chakra-enhancing star. Despite losing their star which made their village unique, the people of Hoshigakure were determined to become a strong ninja village even without it, just as Naruto was determined to become Konohagakure's Hokage despite the odds stacked against him. When asked why the people of Hoshigakure found inspiration when it was clear that Naruto ultimately failed to achieve his dream, unless council of Konohagakure somehow ends the banishment which will obviously not happen anytime soon if ever, the reply Team Guy received was, "True, but the fact that he could still keep going despite of it all is nothing short of inspirational." Needless to say, Guy and Lee outright wept in joy of Hoshigakure's "youthfulness".

The ninjas of Konohagakure aside, Ayame and Teuchi decided to leave the village altogether after the second month of Naruto's banishment and settle down in the Land of Waves, the first place where Naruto was finally accepted as the hero he really is. Unable to deny them, especially considering that their business had taken for the worse ever since they lost their best customer, Tsunade allowed them to leave. Soon after settling down in the Land of Waves with Tazuna's blessings, their humble ramen stand would quickly become a renowned restaurant that even the new Mizukage, Terumi Mei, is all too happy to drop by for a bowl of ramen, especially their unique "diet ramen". However, despite becoming a renowned restaurant, Teuchi and Ayame never forgot about Naruto and so kept a humble outdoor stand which a seat especially booked for their beloved blond customer.

Scene Change

A year had passed ever since Naruto's banishment when the ninjas of the elemental nations first realized that something worryingly strange was going on. Granted, they were already aware about Orochimaru being the leader or Otogakure and of Akatsuki, an organization comprised of S-ranked missing-ninjas that seem to be seeking out the powers of the nine Tailed-Beasts, including the Kyuubi no Youko. While anyone would be worried about individuals like Orochimaru and the members of Akatsuki making their move, it was later realized that many of the strange incidents either have nothing to do with them or are actually done against them.

One example of such an incident, which occurred a few months after the "Unmasking of Konohagakure" was published, is the mysterious disappearance of the Fuma clan from the Land of Rice Fields. It was later discovered that the clan is controlled by Orochimaru and that someone actually freed them. As to what happened to them after that, not even Jiraiya's spy network could find out.

Another example is the mysterious disappearance of a chamber known as the Chamber of Sealing, a chamber which contained the Stone of Gelel. A powerful substance, the blue-coloured stone could be used to power and entire army capable of destroying an entire continent. Needless to say, the people that sought for the stone for its power would be less than happy to realize the chamber's disappearance which looked as though a small army had dug around it and somehow snuck away with it.

The third incident would be the disappearance of the sealed body of a certain demon known as the Mouryou. A powerful demon believed to be a rival or an ally to the Juubi, Mouryou's body was separated from its spirit which is sealed in the Land of Demons. Without its body, the demon's spirit cannot revive itself and not even its devout Yomi followers could find it. This of course led to a massive panic for the Yomi clan as they desperately sought for the missing body of Mouryou but to no avail. It would only be later when a certain priestess named Shion realizes who took it and why.

As stated before, some of the incidents that occurred were done against Orochimaru and Akatsuki which included attacks on Orochimaru's many hidden lairs and attacks on Amegakure ninjas which are actually affiliated with Akatsuki. What was worrisomely strange however are the stories the few survivors spoke of as they told stories of dragon-like beasts which have scales hard enough to repel not only normal ninja weapons but even lower-tier ninjutsu attacks. There were also incidents involving both Mount Koryuu, a mountain with the mysterious effect of negating a ninja's chakra abilities, and the Land of Sky, a land which possesses the means to become mobile through flight, although these incidents were not discovered until much later.

Although no one knows who caused these incidents or why, it is generally agreed that whoever did it must have an ulterior motive not unlike that of Orochimaru and Akatsuki. As time passed, the attacks against Orochimaru and Akatsuki only grew and many were convinced that they are better off letting the mysterious antagonist deal with the two known threats, not that they did not bother to at least try and find out who exactly is responsible for them…

Scene Change

Over two years had passed since Naruto's banishment.

With Konohagakure's rise in infamy, Sunagakure somehow became more prosperous than expected especially after considering their failed attempt to betray and destroy Konohagakure. As for Wave, the people had finally settled their debt to Konohagakure and quickly proceeded to make trade agreements with other nations that were more sympathetic to Naruto so that they can minimize trading ties with the village. After making trade agreements with the Lands of Wind, Tea, Vegetables, Birds and Spring, the Land of Wave was no longer reliant to Konohagakure. It could be said that the increased trade with the Land of Wave and its allies was what allowed Sunagakure to prosper more than expected. Despite its infamy and loss of trade, Konohagakure still managed to get by for the past two years and was able to recover somewhat from the failed invasion led by Orochimaru during the chuunin exams. Having Sunagakure supply the necessary trade as an apology for being involved with the invasion certainly helped the village to recover.

Despite having his leg healed by the second year after Naruto's banishment, courtesy of Sakura who feverishly trained as a medic-nin to help heal him despite being hated by Tsunade, the Uchiha boy did nothing to thank her and instead brushed her aside as nothing more than a necessary annoyance to achieve his ambitions. Ironically enough, Sasuke's cold dismissal of her ultimately invaluable aid as well as his inability to tolerate any delays in his recovery finally made Sakura snap as she punched him for the first time in her life, with a chakra-enhanced fist she had been meaning to use on Naruto whom she was sure was lying about his tragedy and is the reason behind her past two years of suffering. Finally losing interest in the boy who had done nothing but ignore her or mistreat her after spending two years by his side to heal his leg, a feat made more impressive by the fact that Tsunade refused to train her, Sakura was forced to finally realize that the only person who actually gave her any sincere encouragement, other than Ino prior to Sakura breaking her once-close friendship with her simply because they have a crush on the same boy, was Naruto. Needless to say, realizing that she had effectively wasted her life and broken her friendships with almost everyone worth befriending over the "ungrateful Uchiha bastard" was an unpleasant revelation to put it mildly. Despite finally getting over her infatuation with the Uchiha boy, Sakura's situation only got worse as she was rejected by not only the people that supported Sasuke and took her assault on him unkindly, including her own parents, but also by the people that still could not forgive her for hurting Naruto, especially her former classmates and Tsunade. Had it not been for Ino's support, and surprisingly Kakashi's as well once he was convinced that she truly got over her increasingly deluded infatuation towards Sasuke, Sakura would have taken her own life, a suicidal desire that only grew stronger as her conscience finally accepted the truth that Naruto had indeed suffered horribly and that she had done nothing but hurt him.

As for Uchiha Sasuke, being effectively bedridden for two years only made his resentment towards Naruto grow to the point that he hated him just as much as he hated Itachi. While given a copy of "The Unmasking of Konohagakure" like everyone else, Sasuke felt nothing but indifference towards Naruto's own suffering as he was convinced that the blond boy will never understand his pain or his "need" for revenge. After recovering from the injury Sakura gave him, Sasuke immediately started training again despite knowing that the new seals on his body will forbid him from either leaving the village or using the cursed seal. Not surprisingly, those that supported him or desired his power immediately gave him their services, not that he cared for any of them other than the fact that they would help him achieve his ambitions.

And so begins the next chapter of this terrible and tragic tale…

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Just to let you know, Naruto will have a harem and, to those that hate Hinata for whatever reasons they may have, Hinata will be a part of it. Also, Naruto will be an antagonist to Konohagakure as stated before but the details are for me to reveal in due time. As for the book being published so soon after his banishment, let's just say Naruto has Shadow Clones at his disposal and leave it at that.