Seals of Fate

Hey guys. This is my first attempt at a fanfic. Since I am a student, my updates may be a little spread out until school end in a few weeks. Anyway, please review for me, your reviews are what let me write better stuff. Hope you enjoy the fic. (or well… the start of it…)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its contents.

Chapter 1: Prologue:

Four years ago in the land of fire, a great peril befell a large ninja village, for reasons unknown. The great nine tailed demon fox, Kyuubi no Youko, attacked the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Konohagakure. It is said that with each swing of its mighty tails it could smash mountains, cause tsunamis, unleash destruction.

It seemed that all was lost for the people of Konoha. Ninjas died by the hundreds, with no chance of slaying the vile beast. Even the third Hokage could not stand against the beast long, eventually being forced to retreat, if only to ensure that if the village survived, there would be a leader remaining. For you see, the Third knew what was coming, and that his successor would not be in this world by the time the ordeal was finished.

'Hold on for just a little longer' the blond ninja thought to himself, as he raced through finishing the last of the forbidden seal. The Shishou Fuujin, a seal created for the sole purpose of sealing away demons, at the cost of ones own life. Running out of his house, the blond raced for the Kyuubi's location at a speed nearing the speed of light. With a throw and a yellow flash, there standing before him was the Great Nine Tailed Demon Fox.

With a bite of his thumb, 5 short handseals, and a cry of "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!", the Great Toad Gamabunta was summoned. Standing 60 feet tall, about the same height as the Kyuubi, the toad was orangish-brown, wearing a blue vest with the kanji for 'Toad' on the back, and wielding his tanta, which was about half the size of himself, the Toad Boss was truly a sight to behold. However, it was not him the people were looking at, it was the man atop his head. The blond ninja, the Yondaime Hokage and quite possibly the world's greatest ninja, standing 6'2" tall, with a jounin flak jacket, blue ninja pants and shirt, and his trademark white cape with the kanji 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' on the back, stood proudly, radiating a power which could seem to overwhelm all who opposed him.

"The Yondaime has arrived!" cried many ninjas from the ranks.

The Kyuubi too took notice of the great being before him. Not as great as himself of course, but indeed powerful. With a lightning fast slash of a claw, the great toad Gamabunta was wounded, a scar reaching from his left eyebrow to next to his nose, damaging the left eye.

Jumping back, Gamabunta growled "If you can do something kid, do it quick, I can't handle too much damage."

"I will, just keep us close. If we get too fair away, this won't work", the Yondaime yelled to his toad comrade.

"I'll do what I can" the Toad replied, and jumped high into the air, announcing "Suiton: Teppodama" (Water Release: Water Bullet). Three large orbs of water fired straight towards the Kyuubi, only to be deflected by its tails with seemingly little effort. While this happened, the Yondaime was quickly going through all 125 of the required seals. When Gamabunta landed, he was hit by one of the Kyuubi's tails, greatly injuring his organs. Yondaime as well was struck by some of the Kyuubi's energy, but at the same time he shouted out his technique, in a voice which rang louder than any of Kyuubi's roars.

"Fuin: Shishou Fuujin no Jutsu!" (Seal: Four Image Seal Technique). In an instant, the Kyuubi, Yondaime, and consequently Gamabunta disappeared. Only Sarutobi, the third Hokage, saw where the Kyuubi went. Its energy along with that of an unknown source, that felt almost like the Yondaime's, was felt entering the stomach of a newborn baby. The Yondaime's son, Namikaze Naruto, was now sealed with the greatest of the bijuu within him. The cry which echoed within the barely lit room where Sarutobi and Naruto resided was not heard by many, but for Sarutobi, it would be the most painful experience for him, as he couldn't do anything to stop it.

All the remaining ninjas on the battle field cheered uproariously as they believed the Kyuubi had died, however the cheering didn't last long, as they quickly noticed the absence of the Yondaime's body, as well as the number of corpses littered around them. The cries of pain were not ignored for more than a second, and quickly the remaining ninjas gathered the wounded and the dead, treating or burying them depending on the circumstances.

(1 day later)

The Third Hokage was seen standing atop the Hokage tower, addressing the people who stood below in the clearing. He was roughly 5'6" tall, with short brown yet graying hair with a few bald spots, and in his 50s he was still a force to be reckoned with. Nicknamed 'The Professor' he knew over 1000 jutsus, and could take down a small army of jounin by himself. Addressing the crowd, he spoke out to the crowd:

"We have suffered greatly, we have lost many good men, women, children, we have suffered losses of our treasures, our pride, our power, but we are not yet lost. The brave Yondaime Hokage gave his life for this village, sacrificing himself in order to defeat the mighty Kyuubi. He would wish us to rebuild, and we will honor him. We will rebuild ourselves into the great village we once were. All is not lost, and by my life I swear I will protect you all, and that Konohagakure will again rise into a great village!"

Shouts of encouragement, whistling, clapping, and cheering was heard from the crowd. None of them knew the Kyuubi was merely sealed away, but let them believe what they need to. It is too early to drop such a bomb upon the people again, and knowing their hatred of the Kyuubi, they would surely try to kill the child.

(2 Weeks Later)

The reconstruction of the village was coming along well. The Fire Daimyo decided to help fund the village's renewal, and with additional missions for surviving teams, the economy was improving. With the sped up economy, the village would soon be completely rebuilt. However, this was not the matter the council met to discuss that day.

"Kill the Demon Child! It is too dangerous to be left alive" Shouted several members of the council.

"It is a danger to us all, the seal could break, and then what would happen, we'd have a second coming of the Kyuubi!" shouted other members.

Sarutobi cut in, quieting the room with a gesture. When the room was fully silent, he spoke: "We cannot kill the child. The Yondaime wished for him to be seen as a hero, and surely if you believed in our Yondaime you would believe in his skills."

At this, a white-eyed man with long black hair and white robes addressed the room. "The Hokage is correct, and who knows what would happen if we were to kill the child, perhaps killing the child will break the seal, and that as well would cause a second coming of the Kyuubi."

Danzo, a man greatly distrusted by the Hokage, began to speak. Wearing bandages around most of his face, and a normal formal robe, he addressed the rest of the council: "This is true. We do not know about the inner workings of the seal, however if it was truly weak, would it not have broken by now? No. I say we take this child and make him into a weapon for Konoha. If he becomes a ninja, he may be able to use the Kyuubi's power against our enemies. Plus then he could be restrained, we could control the power of the Kyuubi!". While stating this, Danzo was laughing maniacally in his head, but he succeeded in not showing what he felt inside.

Several council members agreed to this plan of action, but Sarutobi would hear nothing of the sort. "This child is the son of the Yondaime! We cannot use him as a weapon!"

Hiashi Hyuuga, the man in the white robes, spoke up again. "Though I don't particularly care for the child, perhaps he should be placed with a family with one of the council members. He will soon start to resemble the Yondaime, and that will only cause questions to arise. Enemies of the Yondaime will chase after him, and if killing him results in the Kyuubi being released, then we'd all be doomed. This child must be hidden."

Sarutobi "I agree, he cannot be put with just any family in Konoha. He must be protected until he can protect himself. In order for this to happen, I believe a clan head should take care of the child."

After 15 more minutes of discussion, it was clear that most of the council agreed the child must be placed in a clan heads' family in order to prevent a second Kyuubi attack from occuring, but none of the clan heads were willing.

Sarutobi "Then I shall take him into my household. Perhaps if he lives with us, he can at least learn to protect himself while he is young. Since he truly is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, then he will be able to grow very strong, and perhaps he will become the second Yondaime, instead of the second Kyuubi."

With this statement, the Council took a vote, and the acceptance of Naruto into the Sarutobi family became official. Though several of the members still hated the child, believing him to be the demon, the majority saw him as merely the container, and were either indifferent, or had plans for using him (Danzo). A rule was also made on that day, that Naruto's secret would be held by clan leaders and clan leaders only. If the law was broken and anyone told someone in the village, even their own family, they would be charged with treason and executed. The fact that Naruto was the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki was to be kept a SS class secret, and Naruto himself would not be told until he officially became a genin. Naruto would become a ninja, the most powerful of his kind.