Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... Blah blah
Naruto: Keeper of the Seal
Prelude
With Eyes to See
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Writing
"Bijuu speech"
Jutsu
XXXXXX
CHIDORI!
RASENGAN!
Naruto felt the sphere of condensed chakra in his hand collide with the lightning edge clasped in Sasuke's. The maelstrom of energy swirled in rage against the piercing edge, throwing aside the razor sharp point of the jutsu, holding both users in place as they forced more and more chakra into their attacks.
Suddenly, the balance shifted, Naruto felt something twitch in his head, and Sasuke gave his last desperate shove. The Chidori lanced through Naruto's chest right above the heart, severing his aortic artery, cutting off his precious supply of oxygen from his body. Pain coursed through his body with the crackling electricity, throwing Naruto into convulsions. His writhing body slammed his own Rasengan into his stomach, directly over the seal which held the Kyuubi at bay.
The entire valley flashed with a fiery red chakra, and both adversaries were hurled to opposite ends. Sasuke caught himself with his level 2 curse seal wings, while Naruto unceremoniously slammed into the canyon wall, leaving a massive dent in the stone before falling to the ground.
Sasuke drifted to the ground and stood staring at Naruto's fallen form, smirking slightly.
"Baka. I was always better than you, and now that I have power to match the Kyuubi's I will become powerful enough to destroy my brother! You said I was travelling into darkness... but then, why is it that I can only see the light of my future?" Sasuke felt the level two seal fade from his body as he jumped across the river and stood over the blond, "I won't allow you to stand in the way of my ambition dobe, if you want me to return to your pitiful village, prove to me that your way is better. Hate me Naruto, like I hate my brother, live your life in a way that would make your friends sick of you, a way in which people would fear you, and I would finally respect you."
Sasuke turned to leave, limping quietly away from the scene of his last battle as a Konoha shinobi.
Naruto bled in silence on the ground, and finally, darkness took him. All he could feel was the scratched forehead protector in his hand.
XXXXXX
"Kakashi! Naruto is nearby, but he's weak, we have to hurry." Pakkun exclaimed to the masked ninja.
Kakashi didn't bother replying, but instead forced an extra burst of chakra through his legs and leaped into what he had thought was a clearing. Unfortunately for Kakashi, the Valley of the End was not really a clearing, more like a gaping chasm in the earth.
"HOLY &(!!! who put this huge hole in the ground!"
Kakashi spun around in mid-air, attaching several shuriken to some ninja wire and hurled them at the tree he had overpassed. He caught himself and was able to latch onto the canyon wall with chakra and walk down it. The sight that greeted his eyes was rather disheartening.
He could tell a battle of epic proportions had been fought here, every nearby tree had been uprooted and sent downstream, or into the rock walls. Even the canyon itself was not left uninjured. Large cracks and craters decorated the floor and walls, bearing witness to the massive power which had been used here.
"Incredible... what were they thinking?" Kakashi mused.
As Kakashi pondered this issue he wandered around, trying to spot a flash of blinding orange that would signify Naruto. He had already tried to sense his chakra, but the place was so saturated with it that it was impossible to discern any one signature from another.
When he finally spotted Naruto he almost cried out in pain. The boy had a massive hole in his chest, and his clothes were in tatters, yet this was not the worst of his injuries. Kakashi could see Naruto's bare stomach and realized that something was wrong with the seal. The normally constant spiral look as if someone had taken a blender to the mix, throwing strange contortions and curves into the seal, altering its four (eight?) points into an indistinguishable mess.
"Oh Kami... Naruto!!" Kakashi yelled.
Naruto didn't respond to his exclamation, but lay there, silent, yet somehow still alive. Kakashi tenderly lifted the boy and clutched him to his chest. Without another word he launched himself to the top of the valley and headed back towards Konoha as fast as possible.
XXXXXX
Kakashi waited nervously in the waiting room of the Konoha hospital OR, doing one of the many things that would have made half of Konoha pass out from surprise and fear, note reading his book. In truth, Kakashi's copy of Icha Icha Paradise had been soaked in Naruto's blood, and was therefore unreadable. Reading usually helped calm him. Before he could ponder more on this, the door to the OR swung open and Jiraiya stepped out, looking exhausted, in both body and spirit.
Kakashi stood quickly, "How is Naruto?"
Jiraiya collapsed in the seat next to where Kakashi had been sitting and closed his eyes for a second before responding.
"Naruto is fine physically..."
Kakashi heard the reluctance in the man's voice, "but what?"
"When his Rasengan hit him in the stomach it dealt some serious damage to his chakra pathways... and the seal holding the Kyuubi in."
Kakashi stared at him in horror, "You mean... the Kyuubi is breaking free?"
"No, nothing like that. If it could it would have already escaped,
the seal is not deteriorating, in fact, before I even went to work on
it it seemed to be healing itself. It seems as if Naruto's chakra
pathways have incorporated the seal into themselves, creating more
tenketsu and a longer thread, in which more chakra is stored. If that
were not surprising enough, I also found numerous other spiral shaped
chakra pathways throughout his body, it seems as if Naruto has been
reinforcing the seal unconsciously throughout his body, creating
smaller gates through which he can let more of the Kyuubi's power out
without losing control."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Well... when the seal was damaged a burst of the Kyuubi's youkai was able to escape into his system, and because of the reorganization of the seal he cannot return it to the Kyuubi, so his body has absorbed it."
Kakashi looked at him in shock, "Naruto is becoming a demon?"
Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Not quite, I'm not quite sure what this could do to Naruto, but I'm fairly sure that he is going to..."
Before Jiraiya finished his statement a loud shout was heard within the OR. Both ninja reacted instantly, hurling themselves through the swinging doors and into a sight that would burn itself into their minds forever.
Naruto Uzumaki, the number one hyperactive, and most determined ninja in all of Konoha, was sitting up in his bed, one eye clawed out by his own hand, and the other soon to join it. The offending eye flashed in colors more brilliant than the rainbow.
XXXXXX
Kakashi slammed his hand onto the Hokage's desk the next day, after spending the previous evening restraining an incredibly strong Naruto.
"What happened to him!" He yelled at the woman sitting behind the desk.
Tsunade grabbed Kakashi's hand and squeezed, forcing him to sit in the chair which he had just risen from.
"Calm yourself Kakashi, no one here cares more about Naruto's health than I do. Do you think I would have called you away when I left if I didn't think he would be fine. Besides, we need to talk about Naruto's... condition."
"You speak, I don't know what to think at the moment."
"It's simple really, Naruto just suffered a revelation."
Kakashi blinked, then felt his rage kindle, "I JUST WATCHED MY STUDENT TEAR OUT HIS OWN EYE!!! THAT IS NOT WHAT I CALL A REVELATION!!"
Tsunade tapped him on the head, once again back into his chair.
"Listen very closely Kakashi. From what Jiraiya and I have been able to gather, the effect of having the Kyuubi's youkai absorbed into his body has changed Naruto's genetic makeup."
"And why would that make him pull his own eyes out?"
"Well, according to what I've been able to find, Naruto has developed a bloodline."
"Wait... that can't happen, you're born with bloodline, you don't just gain one."
"Yes, but all bloodlines began with demons, and the human children of unions between demon and human. When Kyuubi's chakra ingrained itself into Naruto's body it literally tore a hole in his DNA and inserted itself in, at which point it began to change and mutate to accommodate itself to his body and spirit. At which point his bloodline activated, waking him from his slumber and causing his... episode."
Kakashi leaned back, stunned by this revelation. Naruto? A bloodline? It seemed impossible that something like this could happen, but here Tsunade, the greatest medic-nin of the time, was claiming that it had. There was only one thing to ask now.
"But, what kind of a bloodline would make a person tear their own eyes out? I saw his other eye flashing different colors, but I don't think that's reasonable cause to destroy your own body."
"Ah, and there is the interesting thing. From Naruto's rantings, and a thorough brain scan, I think I've found the fundamental nature of his bloodline. It is the ability to see truth. It's basically an over stimulation of the area of the brain which can detect lies, to such and extent that you can literally see through any lie. I believe this is the reason for Naruto's reaction."
"The mask..."
"Yes, Naruto has lived his whole life beneath a mask of happiness, and in a way, has even been able to convince himself of the lie in which he is living. But now, with his bloodline, the truth of the situation was made all too clear to him, and it was just too much, so he sought to destroy the source of the problem.
"And now he'll be a one-eyed shinobi forever, like me without my Sharingan."
"Actually, that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Naruto's episode has been labeled a S-class secret, and you are not to reveal it, or any information about his new bloodline, under any circumstances."
Kakashi, who thought that he had had his share of surprises today, was again knocked off balance, "Why?"
"Apparently this bloodline is adept at protecting itself. The eye that Naruto tore out regrew in a matter of minutes, just as a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra spiked."
"So it uses the Kyuubi's chakra as well?"
"There's no telling the limits of this new bloodline. Think about it Kakashi, we have in our hands probably the most powerful dojutsu in the history of the world. Created from a union of the Kyuubi and Uzumaki Naruto, the possibilities are limitless. But the most amazing thing is, I don't think it's done evolving yet."
"What?!" Kakashi thought his head was going to implode any second now.
"Naruto's body has been changing over the past few hours, adapting. The process has slowed, but it's definitely continuing, and as far as I know, will continue for as long as he lives. Konoha is now the sole holder of the world's only ever-changing bloodline."
"You sound as if we're going to use him as a weapon." Kakashi accused, his eyes narrowing.
"I don't like it any more than you do. But other people will. The council, Root, even other villages will attempt to use him. I'm only pointing out the obvious. Of course, I myself want him for my research I won't deny that. But I still love him like a brother, and I won't let anyone take him away from me because he is changing."
Kakashi nodded. The Hokage had acknowledged Naruto more quickly than any person, even himself. This made him feel slightly ashamed for doubting her. But with this new power, he was not certain what would happen to Naruto. Only time would tell.
Tsunade finally stood up, "Now, I'm going to bed, you should too. Here is your mission from here on out."
Tsunade handed him a scroll and left. The weight of it seemed almost unbearable.
XXXXXX
Kakashi-San
This mission issued by the... "blah blah, yadda yadda, hmm let's see, ah, here we go."
As the most trustworthy leading expert in Dojutsu, you are to aid Uzumaki Naruto in the developing of his own power. Any resources you desire are at your disposal, and any aid from any Shinobi that you should require will be immediately provided by the show of the mark sealed within this scroll. You are not to disclose the contents of this message to anyone, or the nature of your mission to non-vital personnel, namely, those who are not directly aiding you, or are considered untrustworthy, in the developing of said ninja's eyes. A list of notable dojutsu users had been compiled below, those higher on the list are more devoted to Uzumaki Naruto, or less likely to give away this secret.
Kakashi unsealed the mark and stuck it in his pocket, then took a look at the list. He found a large number of Hyuuga's on the list, along with some other less notable people, whom all possessed some form of dojutsu, whether it be a simple as the ability to notice things easier, or powerful enough to kill with their very eyes. They were very low on the list. Surprisingly enough, the first three names were as follows:
Hyuuga Hinata
Hyuuga Neji
Hyuuga Hiashi
"I suspected Hinata and Neji, but Hiashi? Tsunade must be off her rocker. Well then again, I suppose Hiashi is devoted to Konoha enough to put aside his prejudices in the face of gaining more power for it. I don't see much help from the Hinata sector... yet, looks like my first choice of Byakugan users is Neji. I think I'll try a Sharingan approach first. This new ability seems to be closer to it that the Byakugan anyway."
Kakashi closed the scroll and burned it with a mid-level fire jutsu, assuring that it, and the sensitive information contained within it were kept secret. He had already memorized the list.
"Well Naruto, looks like we're going to have Lots of fun."
I would like to apply most of the credit for the inspiration for this story to my good friend Forrin K Weatherstorm, who came up with the idea for the bloodline which I am using in this fic.