A/N- About the Timeline, and Darker Story Tone.
The timeline won't be accurate, which should be obvious, due to Sabine being part of the story. While yes, I will attempt to not jumble up the timelines too much, I'll have to mix up a few things here and there.
That being said, this story will be significantly darker.
Anyways, enjoy!
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[The Prison of the Nine-Tails]
Officially known to a select few, inside of the boy named Naruto Uzumaki was a tailed beast. To be more exact, the Nine-Tailed Fox, aka "The Kyuubi", the same tailed beast that had attacked Konoha only a few years ago, was sealed inside of Naruto.
The Kyuubi, a creature made of chakra, whose size easily rivaled mountains, whose power can shatter the earth with a single cleave from its tail, was locked into the body and soul of a child. Locked behind the inescapable cage, the tailed beast could do nothing but sleep and observe the world through the boy's eyes. All because of the damned, late Fourth Hokage, who was known to many as "The Yellow Flash."
Since most of what its prison warden does was boring beyond comprehension, all the beast did was sleep for the most part. Right now, however, it was wide awake. That was because just a week ago, the blond brat had another interesting fight, where he needed his power to help him win. What was even more entertaining was the fact that he was fighting an Uchiha, or to be more exact, the last of its kind.
The Demon Fox smirked, reminiscing about the memory of the fight. Sure, he hated the annoying Uzumaki brat to hell, but he hated the Uchihas even more, and he took utmost pleasure in watching him beat the crap out of him, even if he didn't exactly walk away unscathed. Sure, the Uchiha brat wasn't killed, as he secretly hoped for, but he was still dragged back to the village in humiliation, and was no doubt going to be branded a traitor.
The Kyuubi frowned when his thoughts trailed from the defeated Uchiha to the Uzumaki brat that was containing him. He had to work extra hard to keep his ass alive, due to the two gaping holes in his chest. The worst part was that after his generous decision to keep the boy alive, he wasn't going to be thanked for it, which felt like another spit to the face he couldn't retaliate against.
Now he knew that the kid might be staying in this coma for another week or two, he found no reason to stay awake and just take another deep nap into his slumber.
But that wasn't what was occupying the fox's mind. No, it was the strange power that Naruto had just used moments before Sasuke Uchiha had been defeated.
It was...dark. Dark, potent, and powerful, it wasn't something that he had felt since...the day he was born. It was a power that was similar to theirs, and yet, it wasn't a power that they could use themselves.
Oddly enough, it gave him a sense of nostalgia that he knew was something he could never understand, given how he could remember everything from birth.
Before Kurama could think on it some more, something else caught his scent. He blinked, and he realized that something - or someone - had just entered this planet.
His eyes widened as he realized that he had felt and smelt this presence before. This scent, this aura, this power...he had felt it before. It was when they were born. It was when they saw the strange men retreat into the Heavens, sailing beyond the stars in their metal ships, with powers that rivaled theirs.
Kurama sensed a rainbow of auras, some darker than others, and some much brighter than the others. But only one of them stood out in particular. Yes, this aura...it was the one that he had met before.
"Yoda...my old friend. Have you returned after all these years?"
[Konoha - Konoha Hospital]
Jiraiya let out a sigh for what seemed like the millionth time that day. The old Toad Sage was sitting by Naruto's bed alongside another visitor, who was not human.
Small, old, and green, it was the eldest summoning toad, who was wearing a brown cape, had gray hair, and had noticeably thick eyebrows, which was also gray from old age. The old toad might not look like much, but he was the one that taught Jiraiya in his younger days as a Shinobi, which is why even Jiraiya held much respect for the old animal.
His name was Fukasaku, a resident of Mount Myōboku, as well as being one of their strongest warriors. Usually isolating himself from the human world, it certainly came as a surprise for Jiraiya when he actually came to visit him and the boy.
"So this is your new apprentice, eh, Jiraiya-boy?" The elderly green toad asked as he stared at the comatose blond on the bed. "He sure took quite a beating from that Uchiha kid you told me about."
"Yeah, I know." Jiraiya said plainly, still staring at Naruto's unresponsive body. According to Tsunade, the boy was possibly near Death's door, due to the damage he had sustained by the hand of the Uchiha traitor. It was only thanks to Shizune personally leading Naruto's surgery that the boy was still breathing - for now.
"You're angry, Jiraiya-boy." Fukasaku noticed the Toad Sage's grim expression. "I can see that."
"I'm a shinobi." Jiraiya sighed. "Death is part of our everyday life. We learn how to take lives, how to prevent others from taking them, and ultimately, how to deal with death, regardless of who it happens to. And yet, even after all these years, it still takes me by surprise when a close one is at the bastard's door. I walked into my village wanting to buy this brat a cup of ramen, only to find out that he nearly died to bring back a traitor, which, for some reason, seems to be more liked than this hero himself." He ended with a frown, angrily pointing to his injured student. It honestly took everything the old pervert had to not walk into the Uchiha's room and finish what Itachi started.
Fukasaku nodded solemnly, understanding the old man's sorrow very well, before turning back to Naruto. "This boy, you sure that he's ready to take his training to the next level when he wakes up?"
"Maybe not." Jiraiya grunted, standing up to walk over to the blond's side. "But ready or not, the minute he recovers from his injuries and wakes up, we'll leave this village to help him train to be ready for the Akatsuki. If my intel is correct, then this will be the right moment to do so."
"So how long do you plan on training this boy anyways?" The old toad asked, staring at the breathing machine that helps keep the boy alive.
"Two years." Jiraiya said with a determined look. "I want to train him non-stop for two years."
Whatever else he was going to say, he held his tongue, seeing the elder toad shake his head.
"Something wrong, Lord Fukasaku?"
"Jiraiya-boy." Fukasaku had a concerned look on his face. "We just found more bad news. There's something wrong with this boy's contract."
"Wait, what?"
"To put it simply...his contract's corroded." Fukasaku said carefully. "We don't know why, but somehow, his connection to us is just...disrupted. It's almost as if something evil just stepped in between our bond and poured acid all over it."
"Wait wait wait." Jiraya waved his hands around before speaking. "You're trying to tell me that Naruto's contract somehow got broken? How's that possible?"
"Not broken." Fukasaku corrected. "Just...corrupted. I don't know. All I know is that he can't summon us, and we can't summon him. The only thing we do know is that our bond can only allow us to know that he's alive, but that's it."
He turned his head back to Naruto's still form.
"Whatever it is, it's related to whatever happened at that valley."
"Come to think of it," Jiraiya snapped his fingers, remembering something that his friend had previously said. "Tsunade mentioned how Naruto somehow suffered from extreme mental fatigue, which may be the reason to why he's in a coma in the first place."
"Strange, but could be related." Fukasaku scratched his chin in thought. "Did the Uchiha boy say anything that'll help us solve this mystery?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Damn kid hasn't said a word ever since he got back here and got his chakra sealed off."
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A/N— Chapters will be around 1500-2000 each. I'll do my best to make sure the grammar and pace is done right.
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