Long ago, before most can even remember, there were three tribes of men created by the dragon goddess Naga: the wise dragonkin; the mighty beorc; and the bestial taguel. The three tribes lived in peace, although they did have their disagreements from time to time. It was an age of peace and prosperity like none before.
Then, a dark shadow fell across the land: the fell dragon; Grima. Like a plague, Grima swept across the land, burning all in his path, and leaving death and destruction in his wake. Many stood against the fell dragon, but their mortal weapons and magicks left nary a scratch on the fell dragon's scaled hide. The earth dragon clans were driven mad by Grima's foul presence, becoming little more than thralls to Grima's malevolent desires. The divine dragon clans, scions of Naga herself, were forced to seal away their abilities in crystal stones, lest the same befall them. The taguel were forced to do the same, lest they devolve to slavering beasts. Plague and pestilence swept through the cities of the Beorc. Even the dead were affected, clawing their way out of their graves to attack the living on their dark master's will.
Naga sought out and confronted Grima and his thralls. For days on end, the earth shook as the two titans fought. In the end though, not even a goddess could withstand the sinister power of Grima. Her attentions diverted by attacks from Grima's enthralled minions, the great goddess was laid low by the fell dragon's treacherous blow from behind. Mortally wounded, Naga was forced to return to her realm in the outrealms and enter a healing sleep.
Before she entered her long slumber, Naga heard a prayer. A warrior king begged of the great goddess a weapon capable of ending the fell dragon's reign. Granting his request, Naga tore out a fang and gifted it to the warrior king. Telling him to forge the fang into a mighty blade, Naga succumbed to her wounds and fell into a healing hibernation. Heading the goddess' command, the warrior king had the fang forged into a sword like none that had been before or since. Lofting the blade, he christened it Falchion.
With Falchion in hand, the warrior king gathered his armies and marched against Grima. Standing tall, the warrior king dueled the fell dragon as his allies clashed with the black dragon's corrupted thralls. The divine blade dug deep into Grima's hide, drawing black blood that set the ground below aflame. Though the wounds vexed Grima, they were not fatal. As the fell dragon was poised to end the warrior king, the king noticed a weak point at the base of Grima's horned skull. With all his might, the warrior king thrust Falchion deep into the dragon's cranium, finally slaying the fell beast.
With Grima dead, his armies fell into smoke and ash. His mighty carcass left to rot where it fell to the earth, Grima's vanquishers returned to their homes to victorious celebration. Soon, the world began to prosper once more.
However, while Grima's body moldered, his mind slept and waited.
Centuries passed, and a new age of strife came upon the land. The Grimleal, fanatical worshipers of Grima, sought to resurrect the fell dragon. The Exalt, descendent of the hero king and newest wielder of Falchion, and a Tactician whose memories had been stolen by the Grimleal, moved to stop the fanatical cult. While too late to stop the resurrection ritual, the Exalt and the Tactician were able to interrupt it, causing the fell dragon to awake in a weakened state. Taking advantage of the dragon's lessened condition, the Exalt and the Tactician struck at Grima and slew him.
Grima slept once more.
As the centuries passed once again, a tree grew where the weakened Grima had been struck down. Calling it Shinju, the god tree, the people worshipped it. One day, a strange fruit grew on the god tree, and the people rejoiced. Taking it as a sign, the people gave the fruit to their princess. Soon the princess was blessed with a son, who grew to be a mighty sage and priest. There was peace and prosperity like no other.
However, a madman, the last of the Grimleal, sought to resurrect Grima once more. Using the tree as a medium, the fanatic attempted a ritual. As the dark energies that would cause Grima to be reborn swirled around the god tree, something unexpected and horrific occurred. Instead of resurrecting the fell dragon, the Shinju itself absorbed the miasma spiraling around it and came to life. Now a mindless beast, Shinju rampaged across the lands, changing the very face of the world as it walked. In the chaos of those first dark days, the descendents of the Exalt and the Hero King were amongst the first to perish, and the Falchion was lost.
But not all was lost. The son of the princess who had eaten of the Shinju, now known far and wide as the Sage of Six Paths, stood against the Shinju. Unable to purify the mighty tree, and unwilling to kill it, the Sage used a powerful and esoteric ritual to seal the Shinju away into the moon.
Halfway through the sealing, the Sage was attacked by the surviving cultist. The ritual only half done, the body was sent to the moon, but its energy remained. Exploding in a burst of dark light, the energy spread across the world, changing the very nature of magic itself.
With the change of magic and the sealing away of the Shinju, the world began to shift. People began to learn to harness the new magic, learning to channel it without the use of tomes. As nine tailed beasts rose from the earth, the practitioners of this new magic gained a name.
It was the dawn of the shinobi.
-Excerpt from Legends of the Old World
/
Ah, Konohagakure, the shinobi run Village Hidden in the Leaves. Surrounded by the immense trees of the forests of Fire Country, it is a bustling city. Under the leadership of the elderly third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the city had flourished and recovered from the disaster that had befallen it fourteen years before.
Today though, the village was host to visiting shinobi from all across the elemental nations, for today was the first day of the bi-annual chuunin exams. Twice every year, genin-class shinobi from across the nations would gather in one of the ninja-run Hidden Villages to display their prowess and skill in hopes of getting promoted to chuunin, and become journeyman level ninja. And this year's second portion of the spring exams was being held in none other than Training Ground 44, the infamous Forest of Death. Let's take a look, shall we?
/
The-ahem -tranquility of the Forest of Death was broken by a sudden and unnatural blast of gale-force winds, followed by a strange bout of cussing.
"…iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!"
The curse was cut off as a blond teen in a gouge-your-own-eyes-out orange tracksuit, born aloft by the dissipating winds, crashed into and through several very large trees that resided in the deepest part of the forest. Sliding to the ground, Naruto Uzumaki let out a groan as he collected himself.
He had been going through the Forest of Death with his teammates when a blast of wind had caught them and tossed him…wherever the hell he was. Opening his bright, sapphire eyes, Naruto rubbed his face, stretching the three whisker-like birthmarks on either cheek as he did so.
As he sat rubbing his face wearily (hey, getting tossed about like socks in a dryer really takes it out of you) Naruto opened his eyes and paused. Pulling his right hand away from his face, he opened it fully to stare at the birthmark on his palm. All his life that strange teardrop birthmark had been just barely visible unless it caught the light just right. But now, there it was, practically shining for everyone to see, almost silver in color.
"What the-"
A noise caused Naruto to look up just in time to see a wall of scales slam into him and send him careening through the forest.
"Not agaaaiiin!"
Spewing a stream of invective that actually made the giant snake attacking him blush slightly, Naruto went tumbling and bouncing through the forest. Rolling to a stop against the small rocky cliff of a forest grotto, the blonde groaned. "Now where am I?"
Looking around the small grotto, Naruto took notice of a vine encrusted pedestal with something sticking out of the brambles at the top. He stepped closer, squinting as he examined it. It almost looked like…
A loud hissing caused Naruto to spin around to see the massive head of the leviathan snake that had blindsided him. Snarling at how the snake was blocking his way out, the blonde reached for his kunai holster, only to blink in confusion when his hand met empty air. Looking down at his leg, Naruto grimaced when he saw that his kunai holster had been torn away from the straps that held it to his leg. Looking up, he saw the snake's tongue flicker hungrily.
"Shit."
Not taking his eyes of the great serpent, Naruto slowly started to back up. He had one hand reached out behind him, feeling for the pedestal so that he wouldn't stumble over it. Just as the snake reared back to strike, Naruto's hand instinctively gripped something behind him.
/
All across Konoha and for miles around, everything stopped as people paused and turned to see a radiant column of light pierce the sky, the clouds sent spiraling away from the towering brilliance.
In the Forest of Death, a snake-like woman had just pulled her fangs from Sasuke Uchiha's shoulder when the forest lit up. Hissing in pain as her skin burned away to reveal a white-skinned man with purple eye-markings, the man disappeared as the light ate away at him. Unbeknownst to him, the mark he had left on his otherwise unharmed victim smoldered and turned white as his pink-haired teammate watched the beacon of light in awe.
Elsewhere in the forest, several belligerent genin received painful sunburns while others basked in the warm glow bathing the forest in white.
In a monastery on a mountainside, the monks all gathered at the walls to gape and speculate at the radiant flare reaching towards the heavens. As the younger monks in the archives rushed to the windows, the ancient archivist gently caressed an antique tome. Staring at the beacon of hope with teary eyes, the old archivist spoke a single word. "Faiāemuburemu."
/
Deep inside a dark, barred sewer, a massive creature with red fur and several tails grunted in its sleep and rolled over. As the white light washed over it and dissipated, the large fox sat up and blinked awake. Something was different…
/
Naruto stood entranced as the light engulfed him, not noticing the giant snake rear back and vanish into a cloud of smoke as it was blinded. Nor did he notice the vine-encrusted pedestal burn and crumble away behind him. He was too enraptured by the radiant beam. As he stood there basking in the white glow, it was as if he was being embraced. It was the way he had always imagined his mother would have held him. In fact, he could have sworn he could hear a woman singing.
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You've come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say: «We have come now to the end»
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West
All his life, Naruto had been alone, never truly known affection from others. It wasn't just because he was an orphan. The people of Konoha, the civilians mostly, despised Naruto, for reasons he had only recently discovered. While nothing overly horrific happened, it didn't need to. People merely ignored the blonde, prevented their children form interacting with him, kicked him out of public establishments or shot him hate filled glances. As such, Naruto's spirit had been broken down methodically, the hurt hidden behind a mask of joviality and stupidity.
The light swept away the hurt in Naruto's heart, healing the wounds left in his soul. The scars were still there, but Naruto no longer felt like he was alone in the world. It made him remember the people who had been there for him: the Old Man Hokage, who took him from the streets and gave him his own place when the orphanage kicked him out; Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku, the father and daughter duo who ran a ramen stand and gave him free food sometimes; the silver-haired ANBU black-ops agent with the dog mask, who kept an eye on him when he was younger and sometimes read bedtime stories to him; Iruka Umino, the only teacher at the Academy to treat Naruto like an actual person and never sabotaged his learning; and the nice snake lady, who, though crazy, had taught him to read and defend himself properly. Tears of happiness flowed freely down Naruto's bewhiskered cheeks.
Soon, the pillar of light began to recede. The presence around Naruto began to fade, though it seemed to hold him tighter as it did so. It left what Naruto thought was a kiss on his cheek before it finally faded away. The column of light shrunk until it was no more than a sliver in the sky, until that too was gone. Sniffing with a small smile on his face, Naruto brushed the tears away with his free hand. Blinking, Naruto belatedly realized that his right hand was holding something.
Holding up his arm, Naruto gasped. There in his hand, clasped by the hilt, was a sword unlike any that the blonde had ever seen before. About three feet in length, the blade was perfectly straight, and unlike the straight swords Naruto had seen other ninja use, the blade had two edges and came to a point in the center. Running down the length of the blade was a channel inlaid with finely worked gold. At its base, the sword flared out, with a teardrop shaped hole in the blade the size of a child's fist. To Naruto's awe and bemusement, the blade shone, untouched by age and corrosion.
The same could not be said for the hilt, however. The ridged, golden guard was chipped and dirty, almost a green color from the grime that had accumulated in the recesses. The grip, wrapped in what was once red leather, was cracked and blackened. The hilt ended abruptly, like some animal had gnawed away whatever was at the end.
Looking at the decrepit hilt, Naruto knew that he would need to get it replaced before he could use the sword properly. That and learn how to use a sword.
Falchion
Naruto blinked. He could have sworn that he heard someone whisper something to him, a name possibly? He looked at the sword in his hand. Perhaps it was the name of the sword? Naruto paused. Hadn't he heard that name somewhere before?
Torn from his musings by a distant scream, Naruto remembered that he was in the middle of the Forest of Death during the second part of the chuunin exam. Taking off the tattered remains of his my-eyeballs-are-throwing-up orange tracksuit top, Naruto wrapped the sword and tied it diagonally to his back. Gathering himself, Naruto leapt into the mammoth trees of the forest, leaving the grotto behind without a glance.
AN: Well folks, another plot bunny procreates. This one started out as Naruto finds Ragnell, and eventually evolved into what you see here. Read and Review. More reviews make me want to write more.
All praise the Gods of Fanfiction!