The sound of piercing air could be heard in a clearing slightly outside of Konoha's borders. Every few seconds, a projectile flew at impossible speeds before lodging itself into a large boulder, all clustered around the centre of the boulder where cracks had begun to form, slowly enveloping the entire boulder as more and more projectiles were shot.
At the source of the arrows was a young child clad in black, a beautiful bow drawn and being fired as if the size didn't hinder the girl at all. As time passed, the arrows began to land more accurately, and eventually started filling the holes left by earlier arrows and causing internal damage within the boulder. One would expect the girl to start tiring out, but instead the she picked up the pace and began shooting faster and harder whilst she reduced the amount of chakra she supplied to her upper body slowly but gradually, until she no longer used any chakra to strengthen herself, but only to prolong her endurance in order to keep shooting.
This continued for minutes, perhaps hours as arrows that had been previously embedded in the boulder dissipated and reformed within the girl's quiver. Eventually, the cracks had enveloped the entire boulder to a point where even the slightest nudge would end in its collapse. Noticing this, the girl lowered the bow before pulling out the dagger kept under her skirt. Taking two forward leaps and what little chakra she had remaining being supplied into her arms, she threw the dagger with a slight spin before pulling back, watching as the blade spun rapidly whilst making its way to the boulder that was about a hundred meters away at an impressive speed.
A sound confirmed that the dagger had collided with the boulder, and as confirmation the larger boulder collapsed into a pile of smaller stone and dust, causing the earth to shake as the larger pieces of the boulder dropped to the ground. A weight could be felt on her waist, confirming that the dagger had returned to its original position. She was admiring her work with a satisfied smile until a voice broke her out of her own world as she dropped to her knees, panting with exhaustion.
"You realise that the dagger hit the boulder from the pommel right?"
"Shut up."
"You put too much chakra into it and miscalculated the spin."
"I know."
"And also you—"
"I know! Stop reminding me of it, that was my first attempt for god's sake!" The girl mentally yelled as she ran out of what little patience she possessed, though her frustrations didn't die as she heard a chuckle within her mind.
"Hahahaha, maybe I should tease you more often? You're cuter when you're angry, little sister."
Suppressing a groan, she turned slightly red at the way Kyuubi had addressed her. Though she would never admit it, she liked it when the tailed beast acted like a sibling, perhaps it was due to the lack of love in her upbringing, but it brought warmth to her heart that she had someone that would accompany her for life and would never abandon her.
"But on the bright side, your accuracy is getting better, and you can utilise 10% of the bow without any form of chakra assistance, whilst you can go up to 20% at max with chakra. Once we complete the Soul-merge, I can assist you on the accuracy side of events—no, I'm not going to tell you how, you'll find out then. By the time you enter the academy at the end of this year, you should be able to draw up to half if you keep going at this rate.
"And also, why were you trying to throw the dagger again? Kunais exist for that purpose, you know."
"But the dagger reforms and it can't be deflected!"
"…Yes, thought that's true and will catch stronger enemies off guard, you can't exactly use it as a casual throwing tool."
"That's what the bow is for though…"
"You know what, I give up. Just remember that the soulmerge will commence any time today since it has been a full month, just make sure you don't go to any danger zones, even I can't protect you in the case that wild animals decide to have a bite at you."
"Don't worry, this place is officially Uchiha territory, there are seals all over the place preventing wild animals from getting nea—AAAGH!" With a cry of pain, Naruko fell to the floor clutching her head before swiftly falling unconscious. At the same time, The Kyuubi experienced pain for the first time in years as she swiftly fell unconscious inside the mindscape.
"So it's begun…"
***
She found herself in a dark sewer, too big to be of Konoha's, yet for some reason she found the atmosphere familiar—yes, this was what she felt during her time inside her own mindscape. Further ahead, she saw ten figures, nine sitting in a circle around the tenth. Looking closer, she could see that nine of the figures were animals of some sorts. Tanuki, Kitsune—they were all tailed beasts! But to her surprise they were all small, too small to fit the frightening figures they were, it was like they were all still… young?
She could make out the Kyuubi on the far side of the circle, at the very least a hundred times smaller than she was depicted in the current day and age and cuter by the same amount.
In the middle of the circle stood an old man, with two horns sticking out of his forehead. His two eyes were of a purple ripple-like pattern whilst a third eye coloured a Sharingan red was present on his forehead. She could tell from the eyes and behavior of the tailed beasts that they revered and respected the man, almost like a parent. A staff rested by his side whilst he radiated an aura that screamed power.
She couldn't make out what they were saying, and before she could analyse the scene any further, the world twisted and distorted.
Once she came to her senses again, she was now at a waterfall. She could hear shouts coming from behind her as she twirled around, before she gasped in shock.
She recognised the place, it was where Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama fought for the last time, but instead of two statues, there stood two people, looking exactly the same as the statues she was so used to.
She watched as the two figures clashed with monstrous techniques that she didn't even know were within human reach. Eventually, the Kyuubi appeared, roaring without the sanity that she usually had. Looking carefully, she could see a strange Sharingan pattern replacing the Kyuubi's usual weary eyes. Is this what the Mangekyou looks like? She thought to herself.
And even with the Kyuubi as an opponent, the Shodaime did not waver, but managed to seal the tailed beast with techniques involving wood before returning to his fight with his old friend.
Once again her vision began to distort and fade before she awoke in a small chamber.
She looked around, and saw several people surrounding a bed. Seals were all over the floor, and at the centre of the seals was a woman with bright Uzumaki red hair. The Shodaime could be seen holding the woman's hands since she looked as if she was in pain. red chakra surrounded the woman, the familiar red chakra of a tailed beast.
From this, she could now tell that she was viewing memories—memories of the Kyuubi to be specific. From her knowledge, she could tell that the woman was Uzumaki Mito, and the scene was most likely the events of the Kyuubi's first sealing and the birth of the first jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.
Her vision faded once again as the sealing was reaching its end, and she awoke in front of a village, Konoha to be exact.
It was night, and she could see fire emerging from various parts of the village along with the village sirens blaring. Looking behind her, she could see a figure, her father to be exact, fighting the Kyuubi. She watched as a tailed beast bomb was thrown at Minato whilst he swiftly used a Hiraishin to teleport it to a distant location, protecting the village in the process.
She had heard stories from the village about how the battle had went, and though she didn't doubt her father's combat abilities, her past had slightly clouded her judgement on the man's skills, but seeing the battle up close, she had no choice but to acknowledge that her father was indeed powerful, perhaps the most powerful she had seen personally, not counting the two founders she had witnessed earlier. Looking closely, she could see the Sharingan replacing the Kyuubi's eyes again, confirming the story that she had indeed been controlled. Though the tailed beast had personally told her of what had transpired shortly after the half-merge, she couldn't believe everything she heard even if the Kyuubi was the closest thing to an actual family she had that genuinely cared for her at the moment not counting the Uchihas, and seeing that she was indeed telling the truth, Naruko felt slightly guilty inside for doubting her words.
They fought and they fought, and eventually with the use of several toads (which Naruko found absolutely gross in all aspects, why a toad contract of all things?) to hold the Kyuubi down, he swiftly performed the sealing.
She watched on as her father decided the order of the sealing, of the yin, yang and the soul… A simple choice that had literally changed Naruko's life forever.
The vision faded once again as the Kyuubi was sealed.
But this time something felt off. She wasn't drowsy like the last time it occurred, fully awake as she was surrounded by darkness. She began to grow worried as the minutes passed and nothing happened, but eventually a small spark of light appeared in the never-ending darkness. The light ate away at the darkness slowly, before she was finally thrust into another memory, and her instincts told her that this was the final one.
… But something was off.
VERY off.
She gasped as looked around. There was only one word that could describe what she was seeing—
—Hell.
The sky was dyed crimson as the desolate wasteland stretched for what seemed like ages. Bodies, some clad in armour whilst others in leather, were littered all over the ground.
Fire—
There was fire EVERYWHERE.
she could feel her stomach turning as the endless piles of scorched bodies littered the burning plains of wherever she was. Hundreds of swords lay embedded in the ground—most were insignificant, but she could tell that others were forged by masters.
She turned around as she heard the sound of metal clashing. She could see two figures.
One was covered from head to toe in armour that was decorated in red, both in blood and in paint. Two horns were sticking out of her intimidating looking helmet which blocked all view of her face. In her hands was a beautiful blade, of a shape she had never seen before, but even she could tell that it was one of a kind. Even when covered in blood, she could see it glistening under the flaring sun that was still over the crimson sky.
She was clashing with another figure—a woman, no, teenager, around the age of 15 from what she could see. Her hair was a beautiful shade of blonde that glistened as if covered in gold along with turquoise eyes very similar, but slightly different to her own. Her blue and white battledress covered her modestly, with the skirt and various parts of the body covered in thick armour that glistened under the sun just as bright as the first figure's. In one hand she was holding the most beautiful blade she had ever seen in her life. It exhibited an aura that she could only describe as divine, shining brightly as particles of gold swirled around the blade. It was of a strange design like the red sword held in the first figure's hands, but yet she could tell that it was of the same, if not superior quality to the first sword.
In her other hand she held a beautiful lance, far larger than the petite girl's frame. It was of a spiral design from the hilt, and radiated a similar aura to the sword.
She watched as the two exchanged blows at inhuman speeds, and the more she watched, the more she was convinced that this was not the Kyuubi's memory, but something else altogether. Why was she being shown this? She had no idea, but she watched in awe as the two figures fought amidst the wasteland of scorching bodies.
Eventually, the figure clad in red armour managed to disarm the blue swordswoman of her sword. Using the opening, she thrust the lance in her other hand and impaled the red-clad warrior, who had also swung forward and impaled the blue swordswoman with her sword.
She held her breath as the blue swordswoman pulled the spear out, seemingly unaffected by the stab wound, though she could clearly see that blood was pouring out of her chest where she was stabbed.
The two exchanged words as the red warrior fell forward, one hand clutching her wound whilst the other was reaching out for the blue swordswoman. Initially, Naruko thought that she was trying to kill her with the last of her strength, but the gesture was different from before.
It was almost like the warrior yearned for the lance-wielding woman.
A distant expression filled with pain played across the blue-clad woman's face as she watched the red warrior die, before she also dropped to her knees.
And as such, the memory faded as her consciousness was swallowed by darkness once more.