PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE, THANK YOU!!
(A/n): Before we begin, I'd like to preface a few things. One, I do not own Naruto at all and the cover art was not drawn by me (God I wish lol). This amazing piece of fanart can be found here: https://www.pinterest.com/Pitaromina/naruto/ Two, I have NOT finished Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. I have finished all of Naruto Part 1 and Shippuden (including all filler), but am only around episode 100 of Boruto as of writing this. So please, no spoilers. Three, please forgive me for plot inconsistencies with myself and the original anime/manga (I'm a huge Naruto/Boruto nerd but I will most certainly make mistakes)! Four, because this is a fanfiction and somewhat of an alternate reality thingy, I'm gonna change some things within this canon. Maybe timeline changes, character additions, character subtractions, etc. And five, thanks so much for being here! If you have any suggestions, comments, etc. please do not hesitate to reach out!
Note: if the cover art belongs to you, and you don't want it to be used, please dm me! I'd be more than happy to change it!
Lord Third glanced at the wide-eyed Leaf shinobi around him. He felt his stomach turn as the realization hit him. Lord Fourth, Minato, his successor and friend, was dead. The sickly image of the blood stained grass surrounding him and his wife, the former Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, burned its way into his memory, forever scarring him. Hiruzen dropped the giant staff he had been gripping so tightly and slowly removed the samurai-esque helmet, also dropping it to the grass. Throughout his long life, Hiruzen had seen many dead, but now, Minato and Kushina lied dead in the fields of the Leaf with sizeable holes through their torsos. If only he had been faster. Stronger. He should've called for more back up, more reinforcements. How could he have been so careless. So careless as to let Minato and Kushina take on the Nine-Tails alone. He willed his feet to move and slowly walked over to his friends. He closed their eyes and layed them down next to each other, resting their hands in each other's. He closed his eyes and whispered a thanks as a single tear traced its way down his weathered face.
The silence was abruptly pierced by a wail. The wail of a child. Naruto! Hiruzen spun around, tears blurring his vision. "Naruto!" he cried out. But it was too late. The other Leaf shinobi Hiruzen had just been standing with now all lied dead, blood staining the grass around them. But how?? So fast?? A single man, clad in an orange and black mask stood above them all, clutching the crying child. "You've grown slow, old man Third," the masked man teased in a low, gravelly voice. Hiruzen lunged, but yet again, he was too goddamn slow. The masked man side stepped him and proceeded to kick Hiruzen's exposed form. The masked man chuckled in that deep, menacing voice, "I think I'll keep this one. He may be be...useful later."
"Damn it!" Hiruzen let loose a flurry of chakra infused shuriken. The masked man chuckled again and waved, disappearing in a vision-bending swirl. Thunk thunk thunk. The shuriken buried themselves in a tree, leaving Hiruzen with nothing but the dead and regret.
YOU ARE READING
Red Clouds: A Naruto Story
FanfictionThe Hero of the Hidden Leaf, Naruto Uzumaki, does not exist. There is only the Akatsuki's child. There are only red clouds. Red clouds on a black horizon.
