Rebirth of Legends

Chapter 1: Despair and Departure

The moon shone brightly down upon the Village Hidden in the Leaves. For most of those who lived there, it was a perfect night. But for one certain ninja, it was perhaps one of the worst nights of his life. In a somewhat decaying apartment, a blonde sixteen year old ninja started at the ceiling above his bed.

'How is it possible?' he thought. 'How can a life go so wrong in so little time?'

Naruto Namikaze thought back to the beginning of the week. Teams Kakashi and Kurenai had barely returned from their failed mission to capture Itachi Uchiha, when Naruto was summoned to Lady Tsunade's office. There, he learned that his mentor, Jiraiya, had been killed in combat against the Akatsuki leader.

[Flashback]

"What?" Naruto said softly, not quite believeing what he had just been told.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I...I wish I hadn't sent him on that mission." Tsunade seemed close to tears, as she told Naruto the truth. She was barely even able to look at him.

Naruto's head was hung, with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. But he realized what Tsunade was feeling as well. He looked up at her, and put on a brave face as possible.

"It's all right, Granny Tsunade," he said with as much courage as possible. As she looked up, surprise in her eyes, Naruto gave her a sad smile. "He was a ninja and did what he needed to do. You were just doing what you needed to do when you sent him."

As she began to cry, Naruto gently touched her shoulder. "Please don't think I hate you. I can't hate you for doing your job."

Tsunade looked at him with gratitude. "Thank...thank you. You don't know what this means." She picked up a scroll on her desk.

"He sent this for you before he died. I have already looked through it. I hope you don't mind."

[End Flashback]

Naruto looked at the scroll on the table next to his bed. He had taken it home and opened the seal written in it. There had been a letter, several books on jutsus and a scroll covered in several powerful seals. He read the letter first, hoping for an explanation. In it, he learned about Pein, the leader of the Akatsuki and his doujutsu, the Rinnegan. He also learned that the scroll contained the yin chakra of the Nine-Tails, which surprised him. He never knew he had only half of the Fox sealed in him. But what came next had really floored him. Jiraiya had explained in the last part of the letter that the scroll could only be opened by one who had the blood of the one who had sealed it. Jiraiya's letter revealed that Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Naruto remembered how he had stared at that for hours. He is the son of the legendary Fourth Hokage. His father had saved the village by sealing the Nine-Tails in him. Naruto understood what his father had done, but it still came as a shock. The letter finally concluded with the instructions on how to join the yin and yang chakra when Naruto was ready.

That had only been the first day. Two days later, with Naruto still trying to adjust to the fact that he is the son of the Fourth, disaster had struck him again. One villager, an old man, had finally had enough. He hated the Nine-Tails for slaughtering his son when it had attacked the village. When he saw the that Naruto was being treated, like a normal person, he lost it. He went through the village yelling, "The Nine-Tails lives! The Nine-Tails lives in that scum, Naruto Uzumaki!!"

Most of the villagers and ninjas already knew this and didn't really care. But there were those who didn't know the truth yet. Specifically, nine ninjas who were Naruto's friends and allies didn't know. From Naruto's understanding, they were all shocked. Sai and Sakura Haruno, having witnessed the Nine-Tails' power, already knew the truth and were unaffected. But from what they had told Naruto, the others weren't taking the news well. Naruto, assuming the worst, had locked himself away in his apartment for two days. Until that day, the worst in Naruto's life.