*NarutoxHestia*
Summary: Trust me, little one. Immortality is a curse. If you are ever offered the chance to live forever, think very carefully before accepting. Take it from me. Immortality is my curse, I have seen everything fall around me, and I curse the poor fool who thinks this is a blessing...
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11875169/1/
Word count:60k(COMPLETE)
Chapters:17
Chapter 1: A Curse of Life
. . . .
"Come on Annabeth! We need to keep moving!" Thalia Grace yelled out as she ran with a small girl next to her through a dark forest. "I'm trying Thalia!" She cried out as she followed the older girl. Behind the two of them, a young boy came up on them and ran besides them.
"I bought us some time, but we need to keep moving!" He yelled as the three kept running. Thalia spared a glance over at the boy before looking behind them when whatever was chasing them roared out in anger. The punk girl cursed under her breath before stopping, a spear appearing in her hand. "Shut up!" She roared out as lightning struck her spear and shot out towards the beast. She didn't stick around to see if she hit or not as she turned to catch up with her friends, but the loud, pain filled roar clued her in that she hit whatever it was.
Annabeth looked at the tall boy running with them with a worried look on her face. "L-Luke! What is that!?" She asked the blond boy. Luke glanced behind them and shook his head. "Hellhound, a big Hellhound." He breathed out as he kept running.
Thalia caught up with the two just as Annabeth tumbled to the ground. "AHH!" She cried out as she fell to the ground. She hissed in pain as she felt a jolt go up her leg. Thalia looked to the small blond girl and stopped and crouched next to her. "You okay Annie?" She asked the girl. Annabeth whimpered out in pain and shook her head.
Luke looked behind them and noticed the pissed off Hellhound was gaining on them. "Gods...We need to move now!" He called to the two. Thalia looked to the boy and back to Annabeth. "Luke, help me carry Annabeth." She said as she slung one of the girls arms over her shoulder. Luke nodded and got under her other arm and began to take off with Thalia.
"We can't get very far like this!" Annabeth cried out. "We need to find somewhere to hide." She said to the two, earning nods from both teens. As the girl said that, a small opening in the trees caught their eyes.
Thalia didn't know why, but the trail that went down that opening seemed to call out to her. "Luke, that way!" She said as she began to turn. "Alright!" He said as he turned with her and the two carried their friend down the path.
About fifty meters down the path they came across a small cabin, a soft light came from the windows of the home and a welcoming air overtook the three. "In there…" Annabeth breathed out, gaining nods from her friends. The three made their way to the front door of the cabin.
Thalia made to knock on the door, but before she could, the door opened. Behind the door was a tall man that seemed to be in his mid to late twenties. He had spiked blond hair and blue eyes that almost seemed to pierce through her soul. But what really caught the three's attention was the three whisker marks on each of his cheeks.
The man smiled at the three and opened his door fully. "Oh, visitors. It's been awhile since I've had anyone to entertain. Well, don't be shy, little ones. Come in, come in." he said as he stepped out of the doorway making room for them to enter.
Thalia looked to Luke, getting a hesitant nod of approval before they went in. They walked into the house and noticed that it seemed rather homey. There was a large fireplace in the center of the cabin with two chairs and a couch surrounding it. There was a small kitchen off to the side and a bed on the other side of the cabin. There was a door in the back of the main room that must have been the bathroom. What was odd about the house was that along one of the walls was what seemed to be a weapons rack filled with strange looking knives, single edged blades and ninja throwing stars. The strangest of the weapons had to be the oddly shaped three pronged knife in a glass case display.
Thalia looked around before helping Luke set Annabeth down on the couch. The Punk Girl looked over to their host with a curious gaze. She was about to say something but the blond man quickly cut her off. "Oof. Wow, that looks bad. Here, let me take a looksy." He said as he shuffled over to Annabeth and took a glance at her ankle.
After a second he scratched his chin and hummed lightly. "Yup, you definitely have a sprain here, little miss. Here, just give me a sec." Before he brought his hands up and hovered them over her ankle. "Now, I haven't done this in a long while, so bare with me here." He said, before he let out a long breath.
After a long second, a green hue began shining from his hands that steadily increased in brightness and size, until it covered the girl's ankle. Annabeth could instantly feel the pain in her ankle fade as she let out a sigh of relief. Thalia and Luke looked at their blond host in awe as the swelling in the young girls ankle instantly went down and lost it's dark purple coloring from bruising. "H-How are you doing that?" Thalia asked the blond with a look of awe.
Their host looked over at her with a raised eyebrow before his brow furrowed. "Uh, it's just medical Nin-wait, sorry, wrong Era for you to even begin to know what that is. Sorry, but uh, I don't know technicalities of what I'm doing. Sorta forgot, sorta never quite understood all the minute details of it to begin with. Like I said, it's been a while." He said to the girl before his eye furrowed. "Oh yeah, what're your names, by the way?" He asked the group.
Thaia narrowed her eyes at the man before crossing her arms. This guy was weird, and she didn't like it, he made her feel, oddly, both comforted and incredibly intimidated at the same time. But before she could tell him off, the little girl he was tending to spoke up. "I-I'm Annabeth Chase." She said to the man.
The blond man turned his head back to his patient and smiled warmly at her, his eyes closing and his whisker marks stretching slightly, giving him a fox like look. "It's nice to meet you little one. Oh, and by the way, you should stay off your ankle as much as possible for about a day or two, so as not to aggravate it and cause it to swell up again." He instructed her, waiting until he received a nod from the blond girl.
The other blond of their group stepped forward with an offered hand. "I'm Luke Castellian." He said with his suave smirk. Their host narrowed his eyes at the boy slightly, but shrugged and took the offered hand. "It is nice to meet you, Luke." he said politely, though with a subtle edge to his voice.
Thalia sighed lowly, and shook her head before stepping forward. "And I'm Thalia Grace. And you are?" She asked rudely, understandably not trusting the man. She didn't know what it was, but their host just seemed...off. Like there was more to him, much more to him, almost a sinister aspect to him. Their blond host looked at the girl for a moment before tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"You know, that is a good question. It's uh...oh wait it's on the tip of my tongue!...darn….I fear I've forgotten my name again, young miss. I do apologize." He said as he scratched his whiskered cheek with a nervous chuckle.
"How could you forget your own name!?" Annabeth cried out in confusion. The blond host turned towards the girl before ruffling her hair with his right hand, that Thalia took notice that it was covered in white bandages. "I don't know young one. I guess after a while with no one saying it, it just sort of...slipped my mind." He said as a sad look crossed his face. He sat quietly for a second, looking off into space for a moment before his eyes lit up like he remembered something.
"In fact, I think you are my first guests since that young mother and her baby came here. Rey? Ria? Rina? Reyna? I can't quite remember her name. It was a long time ago though." He mused while he tapped a finger against his chin. "They stayed here for about...I don't know...twenty years? Yeah I think that's it. Ah, little Zeke and his lightning powers. At least I think his name was Zeke. Could have been Zuke...Zach? Whatever. I helped raise that little tyke and showed him how to bend the wind and lightning to his will." As he continued to ramble on, Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth shared a look between each other. This guy was CRAZY.
Their host got up from his spot next to Annabeth and started to pace around the cabin as he talked about a mother and child coming to his cabin, hiding from the father because of an abusive relationship. Thalia leaned over to Luke. "What should we do?" She whispered to him in concern about being in the same place as a lunatic for too long. Luke thought for a moment before responding. "So far he hasn't acted hostile...in fact I think he just likes having someone to talk too. I say we stay until morning and then leave as soon as we are ready in the morning."
Thalia nodded to her friend and went back to whatever story their host was telling.
"Oh, but before those two, I had a visitor. She was the first to visit since that old man made this cabin for me. Ah, little pebble was cute back then. Now she's all grown up...I think. Haven't gotten to talk to her since she left to be back with her husband." He mused again, now he was in the kitchen making something. "I hope you guys like ramen, it's literally the only thing I remember how to make without burning." He said as he set three large bowls on the small table in his kitchen. He picked up a fourth bowl and walked over to Annabeth and handed it to her. "Careful dear, it's very hot." He said as he also handed her a towel and a pair of chopsticks and a spoon.
"Th-thank you…" Annabeth said quietly as she looked at the bowl of noodles in her lap. The man smiled broadly and walked back to the kitchen table and took a seat in front of one of the other bowls. Just before he began to dig in he looked back to Thalia and Luke with a raised eyebrow. "Well, come on? It'll get cold if ya let it sit for too long." He said as he raised his chopsticks and clasped his hands together. "Itadakimasu!" The man cried out before diving into his food.
Thalia and Luke watched as their host Inhaled his food like he hadn't eaten in years. After what seemed like a single second the blond man was draining the broth from his food and set his bowl down with a blissful sigh. "Man, how dull the centuries have been without the taste of ramen." He said with closed eyes and an airy smile. He cracked a single eye open to look at the two children sharing his table. "Well come on children, dig in." He urged the two.
Thalia looked to Luke before turning back to the bowl of broth covered noodles. She let out a low sigh before bringing some of the boiled dough up and taking her first bite. And then a second bite. And then she and Luke jumped into the bowls with gusto.
"By the gods this is good!" Annabeth called out from the couch as she finished her bowl. Thalia and Luke readily nodded in agreement as they drained their bowls and set them down with shocked looks on their faces. Their host sported a grin so large that it forced his eyes to close, giving him a fox like expression. "I've still got it, it seems!" He exclaimed with a wide smirk. "Can't believe I cooked it right after not serving it in about five thousand years." He mused as he stood from his seat and went to the hearth.
However, he didn't take notice-or if he did he very obviously didn't care-to the fact that both Thalia and Luke began to choke and flail around, spinning to stare at their host. "D-D-Di-Did you…" Thalia began to sputter out before Annabeth finished for her. "FIVE THOUSAND YEARS!?" She cried as she looked at the man in shocked confusion.
Taking a seat and poking at the flames, their blond host froze as his face went blank. He seemed to just sit their for what seemed like hours to the three children. He was dead to the world until Thalia walked up and snapped her fingers in front of his face, making the blond shake his head and look at her. "Sorry, did I zone out on you?" He asked with sheepish grin. Thalia gave him a deadpanned look and nodded her head. He chuckled slightly and scratched the back of his head. "Well, sorry about that. Why don't you kids get some rest. You all must be exhausted from all that running." He said as he stood from the hearth and moved towards the couch where Annabeth was lying.
As he took the bowl from the little girls hands, he draped a soft blanket over her, where he got it, no one knew. Thalia was about to start up her interrogation of the man when she felt something come over her. Her eyelids grew heavy and her legs grew weak.
Annabeth let out a long yawn before curling up on the couch, falling asleep quickly. Luke quickly got up from the table, only to fall to a knee. His eyes struggling to stay open. Before he could get back up, he finally succumbed to whatever was taking over, and fell to the ground asleep. Thalia watched as the blond man walked over to her friend. She tried to get up and stop him, but her body was too heavy to move on her own.
"N-No….stop…." She ground out as she struggled to stay awake. She watched the man pick up her friend and lay him next to the hearth, wrapped in a blanket, and resting on a pillow. The host looked over her with a soft smile and walked over to her. "Don't worry little one. Just rest, and learn from your dreams." He said before pressing his index and middle finger to her forehead in a quick press. "All will make sense soon…" she heard him say as her eyes grew too heavy to remain open, and finally fell into Morpheus' realm.
. . . .
An unfamiliar city laid at rest for the night. The moon rose up high, the citizens resting peacefully. But all was not well. Some distance from the city, a new life was being born.
There was a man and woman, in a small cave away from the city. The woman had finally finished going through labor, and her husband was smiling at her, congratulating her. But before either parent could hold their child, a masked man appeared and took the child.
The father saved the newborn boy, but at the sacrifice of his wife.
The father brought his son to a safe place before going to face the masked man again. But now, the masked man had a weapon of unparalleled power on his side. It was as big as a mountain, and it's nine swaying tails flicked out and crushed the city below it.
The husband defeated the masked man, but before he could kill the man, he vanished. Now the husband needed to deal with the dreaded monster attacking his home.
He lead the beast from his home, and brought it to his son. With tear filled eyes, he brought out a demon, a monster that was known as the Shinigami to seal the beast away. At the sacrifice of his own soul, he sealed the monster away into his newborn son.
And so, the boy's first hour in the world left him alone, and crying out for the ones who loved him.
It was day now, and people were walking through the streets of the unknown city. A young boy, clad in orange ran through the streets and over the roof tops. A megawatt grin across his face as he laughed and ran from his pressures. He had paint cans in his hands, and the grand monument that sat on the peak of the mountain overlooking the city had a fresh coat of graffiti on it.
The boy was adventually caught and brought back to his school. At the end of the day he walked through the streets with his eyes downcast. The faint whispers all around him. The heated glares and the muffled curses all pointed at the lonely boy.
The boy however, just raised his head and glared back at them. He raised his fist and vowed. He poured his heart into his vow and his eyes filled with determination. "I SWEAR I'LL BE HOKAGE ONE DAY! THEN, YOU ALL WILL HAVE TO RESPECT ME AND TREAT ME AS A SOMEBODY!"
The boy trained, he fought, and he grew. Soon, he was a young adult, standing before a ruined plain of land. That land was infact the city he had known for so long. The boy had fought many battles. He had defeated a demon with his own two hands, battled the lord of snakes, fought with his traitorous friend. And even killed an immortal. But no one had been able to fight him on this level.
He was beaten and battered. The man of six was down to one as he stood over him. The eyes of God staring into his soul as he prepared to finish the battle.
But before he could, a young woman appeared and stopped the man. She fought as well as she could, but was struck down by the man. She stared at the boy and smiled at him, telling him all will be alright, that she looked up to him, that he inspired her to keep fighting, that she had fallen in love with him.
And it was then, the man struck her down.
And it was then that the boy fell into despair. The monster that once attacked his home, he nearly let loose again as he attacked the man.
But he found his balance, he stopped his rampage, and finally, resealed the monster and defeated the man.
He brought them all back. All those he had lost to the man of six, they all walked again. He was hailed as a hero, his dream finally realized. He was looked at more than just a monster. He was the hero to the people, and loved by all.
But his hardships weren't over. The masked man returned, and war was brewing. The boy rallied the world together to face this foe. The armies of men, fought side by side against an army of the undead, and false men. They fought through the day and night, and finally, men gained the upperhand in the battle. All before the masked man played his ace.
A monster, every larger than the beast the boy had sealed away. It's ten tails changing the terrain and causing storm. Hundreds of men lost. Thousands more changed forever. But the boy stayed. He fought alongside his friends, his family, and even the beast within him, and finally, he struck down the beast. Only for the monster's creator to arrive and attack the boy and his friends.
They fought through lands of ice, fire, and a land that which none could stand. The masked man changed his ways and fought alongside the boy, and he died for the boy.
In a rage, the boy fought the goddess. He and his friends fought her and defeated her, but not before she cursed the boy.
"YOU! YOU INSOLENT WHELP! I CURSE YOU! I CURSE YOU TO UNENDING LIFE! MAY YOU WATCH YOUR PRECIOUS WORLD FALL AROUND YOU! MAY YOU WALK THROUGH TIME KNOWING ONLY SOLITUDE AND DESPAIR! WALK ALONE THROUGH TIME LITTLE BOY! WALK ALONE FOR ALL ETERNITY! WITH THIS I CURSE YOU! UZUMAKI NARUTO!"