Hey! It’s me, the local lazy! Been a while since I wrote a ficlet, and there has never been a case of finished work. Hopefully, this will break my streak of procrastination when it comes to stories. So, I’m back in black with a new attack against the lazy brain of mine. It’s called inspiration.

I’m also gonna hold somewhat of a poll later on. I’m a very flexible guy, I can do multiple pairings. Yes, yes, the story starts completely OC and if you hate OCs, go away. I worked too hard on these guys to just let them go without a fight. But later on, around chapter 7-10, I will come back to the original storyline with my own little twists to it.

So welcome one and all to my undertaking for a Naruto fic! Warning: Long chapters. I swear I’m forgetting something though… What might it b-… Oh.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Naruto and the rest of the Rookie nine. The only things that belong to me are the things you can definitely notice as deviations from the original. Honoogakure, Takushi, Lavan, Odari, Maya, Kunnai and the rest of the things that belong to this area are MINE. Nothing else.

Well then… Shall we? Oh, and as usual, a warning: This chapter will be MUCH shorter than the others. Simply because this chapter sets the stage for the rest of the story.

“Normal” Normal speech

‘Italicized’ Thought

“Bold, Normal” Demon speech

‘Bold, Italicized’ Demon thought

The Legend of the Firebird

When time came for the firebird to attack, the world shook. Almost as powerful as the great Kyuubi himself, the grand bird of fire rampaged on and on, unstoppable, burning everything in it’s path. In it’s wake it left a path of carnage and scorched land, lifeless and bare. It cannot be stopped and cannot be killed: the damn bird somehow resurrects itself the moment it dies. Whatever possessed this wise creature to absorb the damn 7-tails proved to be the end of us all. With every day, the phoenix draws closer and we have no more time to lose. Let us hope that we will find a way to defeat it…

Kasaragi Torei, Late Sodier

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It all began when the shortest night came and ironically at a very calm and still time. The sun was setting, throwing a multitude of bright colors across the northern forest of the Fire country. Slowly, the sun lowered, letting the hues of color range from a bright yellow to a deep orange that soon settled into pinks, purples and finally the dark-blue of nighttime. The birds quieted, the woodland animals settled for the night and fell asleep, and the nocturnal animals came awake, hunting in the night as they have done for so many years.

The forest’s serenity was suddenly broken as a massive creature crashed through the undergrowth, seven tails swinging. The enormous badger-looking thing snapped around and swung it’s tail again, sending a wave of energy shooting for a shape that has been stalking it. The shape dodged, sending a wave of fire through the forest floor, obliterating a good portion of wildlife and starting up a forest fire… Again. The woodlands turned to chaos as animals fled the battlefield between the two beasts.

The first fighting monster turned around and ran for it again, trying to get away from its pursuer. The pursuer shot into the sky and followed, massive red wings blazing in anger, revealing itself as an enormous, aged phoenix. The bird of fire shot away after its target, the badger running for it and trying to lose itself in the undergrowth.

Its size however made matters far worse. As it tried to hide, the phoenix just swung it’s wing and set the undergrowth on fire again. Hawk-like eye met a 7-point-pupil eye for a second before the badger bolted again, swinging it’s tails behind it to slow the advance of the bird. The phoenix simply shot up into the sky and made a dive at the badger, slamming it against the ground harshly.

Having brought itself into close quarters, the phoenix stabbed its enormous talons into the badger demon, eliciting a screech of pain from the 7-tailed monster. Shichibi no Kaku fought back, trying to get out of the talon grip and keeping it’s tails away from the burning bird. The phoenix did not relent and began to tear away at its quarry with its beak, eliciting more screeches and growls from the badger. Finally letting up, the badger swung it’s tails around to slam the bird, but that only caused two of the tails to catch fire, causing the demon to scream even louder.

The battle of the titans continued as the badger slammed it’s opponent with its chakra-filled tails, while the bird mercilessly tore away at the demon with talons and beak, beating the badger with wings that constantly sent waves of fire in every direction. The badger continued to struggle, but it was getting weaker while the phoenix seemed unfazed by the attacks caused by the enemy. Slowly, the badger’s movements became sluggish and slow, letting the phoenix settle for a constantly increasing pattern of attacks. Ever so slowly and against all odds, it overpowered the tailed demon.

Just as the phoenix knocked the demon out of the conscious world, the fires around the bird began to collect themselves again, releasing the forest floor from it’s clutches and gathering in the beak of the bird. As the fires collected in the bird’s beak, the forest was left charred and burnt, but still alive in many cases. The enormous and beastly shape then plunged its beak right into the badger demon’s heart, sending all of the fire it collected into one strike.

An enormous explosion of flame suddenly engulfed the area, killing whatever plant remained, whatever woodland animal still stayed in the area for unknown reasons. As the fires cleared away again, there was nothing left of the 7-tailed badger. The Shichibi no Kaku was dead. However, the phoenix has undergone a massive change, its form shifting and 6 additional, grand tail feathers sprouting next to the original. With a massive flare of energy, the bird rose into the sky and grew larger, sending heat waves in every direction. As the power pulses faded, the bird slowly settled back on the ground, its eyes closed. Settling down, it opened its eyes lazily, revealing 5-point-star pupils that slowly spun. The bird shook itself and produced a half-growl and half-screech, snapping it’s wings open and lifting off again. The eyes filled with a blood-red color except for the pupil and the bird shot off, burning everything in its wake, breathing fire at everything it saw. The skies glowed red with the fires it left behind.

And so was the Shichibi no Suzaku, the seven-tailed phoenix, was born.

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Kasaragi Torei was confused. He has been running for a while now, trying to reach the very village that he swore to protect when he was younger, trying to reach it before the monstrosity could. Now, he found himself in unknown territory and was growing increasingly anxious at the sounds of explosions coming from what seemed like miles away. And the closer he got to his destination, the farther away the sound of destruction seemed to go.

It has been months since the 7-tailed badger disappeared and was replaced by an enormous firebird with 7 tails, which blazed through the countryside like a plague. It destroyed everything in its path: Forest, villages, towns, groves, whatever came in its way was left behind as a pile of burnt material and smoldering ash. It was unstoppable… A plague that could not be halted.

And Torei was going to find a way to stop it.

A man of action, Torei was a very interesting fellow. A villager with a spirit unlike any other, he swore to protect his village when he was much younger after a bandit raid that left his village in ruins. Swearing to himself that he would protect those he held dear, Torei has two years ago saved the village from yet another raid, thus earning him the respect he always wanted. He used to be a simple farmer with dreams that could not be reached. However, against all odds, he reached those dreams and became the one the village recognized as their hero.

In his eyes, he got lucky.

Now a man of 34 years old, he was a tough, strong and kind man whose words seemed to touch the hearts of those he spoke to. Having a wife and two children in the village, his ties to his home became even stronger. His wild, brown hair seemed to carry the very same disposition the man held for life, a rule-breaker that would bend any rule and law to help those in need.

But now, he was worried. He was farming on the expansive fields south of his village when a messenger came running saying that the enormous, 7-tailed bird that was sighted a month ago was heading right for his village. Dropping everything, the man ran for home, but got lost on an unknown trail in his worry. He knew he was heading the right way, but it was taking too long…

A massive explosion filled the skies suddenly, closer than the man thought the village was. So this WAS a shortcut! Putting on a burst of speed, the man ignored his heaving lungs and the heart that was trying to break out of it’s chest and headed straight through the bushes and trees, ignorant to the needles and branches that tore away at his skin. Seeing fire in the distance, he sped up again, barely able to keep his running pace. He broke through the last line of bushes… And uttered a curse of defiance.

There was his village, the place where he grew up in, the place where he lived a happy life… There it was, burning, with the massive shape of the firebird flapping it’s wings above it, sending wave after wave of fire at the ground and buildings below. Torei screamed in defiance and launched into the village, ignoring the heat and ashes that stung his eyes, heading straight for his home at the edge of the village. Upon seeing the destroyed house he broke, rage seething from his form as he thoughtlessly ran into the house, picked up the crossbow that miraculously was still untouched by the fire and ran out, aiming for the bird. Roaring, he sent a bolt into the figure and began to reload, now lost in the act of trying to load his weapon again…

He reloaded, looked up and aimed, only to have his weapon knocked from his hands as a wave of super-hot fire washed over him, burning him horribly. Dropping like a stone, he groaned in pain, coughing as the ash finally reached his lungs. Looking up, he watched in horror as the bird turned to him and he stared into the 7-pointed pupils.

Suddenly, the bird reeled as something hit it from below. A shape jumped to the closest roof to the bird and snapped his hand out, a whip of water snapping out and hitting the bird across the head again. A loud screech and a wave of fire followed as a counterattack, which was promptly blocked by a water wave. A claw shot out, impaling the shape and throwing it to the side. However, it seemed that it was not alone as more of these super-humans appeared, attacking the bird. Another snap f the bird’s wings got rid of more of these shapes, but they just kept coming, some of them throwing projectiles at the bird while others were doing something with their hands.

The bird was screeching in pain as it rose higher into the air, compressed fire in it’s beak and shot it down in a concentrated beam that exploded outwards once it touched the ground. This completely obliterated the area that was fired at and no more of these shapes appeared. Suddenly, one human shape launched itself at the demon and grabbed onto its leg. It screeched and shook the leg, but the shape just used the momentum to jump up and hit the thing in the stomach. Suddenly, a large, blue symbol appeared on the stomach of the bird. The bird seemed to enter a state of shock as it dropped to the ground like a stone, burying the human shape that hit it under it…

It was the last thing Torei saw…

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A few hours later, another man stood on the side as the village burned. He was surrounded by the survivors of the fire, looking at the utter destruction that was caused by this beast that attacked them. He shook his head, looking old and tired as he rubbed his temples, trying to get the headache to go away and to bury the sorrow caused by the attack. He lost his wife here…

A man ran up to him from the side, his face excited and lively.

“That ninja succeeded! The demon is gone!”

This elicited a small cheer from the villagers. But still, the fact remained: they had to start over, their village was utterly destroyed… And more than 3/4ths of the villagers were dead. There was a very small amount of those that cheered, for the rest looked at what was left of their home with shock, and even more cried for those they have lost.

A female ninja appeared next to the old man that was surveying the scene and trying to make the headache go away. She was shaking her head and growling. Approaching the man, she raised her soot-covered face and shook her head again.

“There is no one else left alive in there. I’m sorry.” The old man nodded and sighed, looking back over those that have survived. The woman’s gaze also followed his, watching the group of men, women and children that huddled in a small group. The woman growled again and slammed her fist into the ground, causing cracks to spread from her punch. “If only we had been here sooner…”

The old man shook his head. “It was none of your fault. You arrived when you could. But… Did it succeed?”

The woman nodded. “Yeah. It succeeded. The demon is now imprisoned… But not in an inanimate object. It could only be sealed in a living being.” This produced a reaction from the older man who looked at her incredulously.

A thousand thoughts ran through the old man’s head, the foremost of which was how the sealing succeeded. If the beast could not be sealed into an inanimate object, it must have been sealed… Into a human. Only humans were advanced enough for demons to be sealed in. But which human and how? His questions were answered in a second as another woman walked up to them, carrying a bundle of rags from which a baby’s cooing could be heard.

The old man raised an eyebrow as the woman explained. “The demon could not be sealed in just anything, so it was sealed in the only thing that could hold it: A newborn baby. His father… His father was the man that performed the sealing and died in the process.” This explained everything the man needed to know and he walked over to the woman with the bundle I her hands. The woman opened some of the folds, and a baby with bright-red eyes and a reddish tint to his head where hair would grow.

“So this is him…”

The woman holding the bundle nodded as the older man took the bundle. She also gave the man a letter addressed to him by the very man that just sacrificed himself to seal the demon within this little baby he now held in his arms. The old man nodded in understanding as the ninjas turned away. The first one looked over her shoulder and sighed. “I’m sorry we could not take him with us. But he is not ready. Bring him in a few months or so when you relocate.”

The old man nodded, holding the bundle of letters handed to him, watching as the two women disappeared in the distance.

This was going to be hell…