Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter, or any of the characters from these universes. I am making no money off of this fanfiction.
A/N:
Summary: An old and dying Naruto throws his soul forward through time in order to prevent the Juubi's escape upon his death. His soul merges with that of 15 month old Harry Potter in the moment the Killing Curse is reflected. Super!Harry
Pairing: I have not decided on this yet. It will not be Harry x Hermione though. She will be a close friend, but as much as I like that pairing with cannon!Harry, I can't see the two of them working as a couple with this very ooc version of Harry, though it would still be better than Hermione x Ron. After some thought, it will almost certainly be one of Tonks, Fleur, or Luna, but I have not decided. Feel free to leave suggestions or just let me know if you don't like that pairing. Romance is not going to be all that major a part of the story regardless though, and will not start at all until fourth year.
Warnings: This will be a Super!Harry story. He will be immensely powerful by the time he goes to Hogwarts, much less later. That's not to say there won't be conflict, but the direct physical combat will generally be very one-sided and short. If that's not the type of story you like, feel free to not read, but please don't flame about it.
Chapter 1: Soul Fishing
"Grandfather, I still don't think this is a good idea." The worried old man speaking didn't look like he was young enough to have a living grandfather. In fact, he looked at least as old, if not older, than the bedridden man he referred to as grandfather. "If anyone has earned their place in the Kami's realm, it is you. You have protected the world for your entire life. Someone else can handle the Bijuu now."
The other man in the room was very old with entirely white hair held back with a very worn forehead protector with the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. But in spite of his clearly advanced age, he still appeared to be in admirable physical shape, if less so than he once was. He sat partially propped up in his hospital bed as he continued the same discussion, or more accurately argument, he had every time he had recently spoken with his closest living relative.
"You are right that I have lived a long and full life Hiruzen. Several long and full lives by most people's measure. I am one hundred and ninety years old, for Kami's sake. I am not afraid of death. But I have spent by entire life protecting people from the power of the Bijuu. And I have spent a good portion of the last decade finding a way to continue this protection after my death. And I have one. I can do what the Sage of the Six Paths failed to do, and prevent the Bijuu from being released upon my body's death. How can I refuse to do so?"
The younger man sighed. The two of them had covered all of this in multiple earlier discussions. He knew that Naruto would never budge once he was convinced something was the right thing to do. But he couldn't keep himself from trying. "So you will just throw your soul into this timestream, with no way of determining where or when you will end up, or what will happen when you arrive? Besides, you are basically killing whoever's body you end up in. Can you do that to an innocent child?"
Naruto frowned. This was the one thing that did bother him, but he couldn't let it stop him. "Not killing. Not exactly. Our souls will merge into one. You are right that my soul is so much more than that of a young child's that the vast majority of the newly formed soul will come from mine, but it still isn't killing. And even if it was, as much as I don't like it, I do understand that sometimes people, even innocents, must be sacrificed in order to save others. I was the Hokage for over forty years, if you remember. And I have killed an almost literally uncountable number of others in my most of two centuries as a ninja. Rarely a young child, or not on purpose, but still, the principle remains. Sometimes terrible things are necessary. And on the scale of it, this isn't even that terrible."
He continued after a moments pause, "Or at least it's not when you consider the alternative. Regardless of any possible preventative measures I could take, it is virtually certain that any other path I take will result in the Bijuu being free within a handful of generations at the most. I know that even the stories of the terrible acts the tailed beasts committed while free were fading by the time you were born, but it is an evil I cannot allow if I can do something about it.
I could split the Juubi as the Sage of the Six Paths did, which would make the Bijuu beatable, but too many lives are always lost in such things. I could create a series of behavior modifications with the Sharingan, but that would never last. The tailed beast's chakra will inevitably corrupt whatever form I created for them. I could even go ahead and make another nine jinchuuriki to hold them in my stead, but as I said, that system would never last more than a few generations before they were released, or their container was killed and they reformed. There is no possible lasting safety from the Bijuu if I allow their escape after I die, and this is the only way to prevent that."
The slightly younger old man sighed, but pressed on in spite of knowing he was defeated. He knew this would be his last chance to convince his grandfather. "What if you taught someone the seal sequence you used to use to take another's kekkei genkai? They could take your bloodlines just as you took them in your youth. It would kill you, but with you dying anyway..." He hesitated and gave a tiny shrug, before continuing, "And another with your bloodlines, especially the Rinnegan, could take the Juubi and hold it as you do. I'm certain that one of my grandsons could be trusted with this, and they could pass it down once they approach death as well.
This would have the added benefit of maintaining the peace you have established. There has been no great ninja war since the Fourth. You know that this is because of you. You declared there would be no more war between the villages, and there is none with the power to go against your word, even now. For that matter, from what I have read, there are only about half as many ninja as there were in your youth. The world is just a lot safer than it once was and fewer are needed, in spite of higher populations. That all goes away with your death. How many will die once there is no longer any with the power which everyone knows cannot be resisted to maintain the peace. How long will it take before war breaks out once again?"
"No. I have sworn I would never teach that, nor will I allow my power to be passed on", Naruto responded with a strong frown. "As much as I trust your judgment, or how much I trust your grandchildren or anyone else, you can never be entirely certain what someone will do with this sort of power once they have it. And if not them, all it would take is one mistake in judgment as they pass the power to another. Even a good man can do great evil in a misbegotten attempt at creating a utopia or some such. Or if they feel that the world would simply function better united. Or any of a hundred different reasons why even a good man might be willing to use my full power with less than the greatest restraint. And the damage they could do would be so much worse than that were even one to be corrupted, as great power is wont to do. I will not allow it.
But I did not ask you to come here to argue things we have already argued about though. I asked you to come so that I could say goodbye. I have said goodbye to the others already, those few who remain who I am still close to. So it is time for us to say goodbye as well. This is the only way that the power of the Bijuu can remain safely contained for all time. It may not be a perfectly ideal solution, but it is one that will save countless lives down through however many centuries that will come before my soul is reborn."
Growing desperate to dissuade his grandfather, Hiruzen continued, "But you don't have any idea where or when you will be reborn. You said you had no way of controlling that, now or when you are in the timestream. What if you get put into a situation that just makes things much worse somehow? You have no way of knowing what the result of this will be. Why take such a risk? Yes, there will eventually be danger if the Bijuu are released, but it is now well recorded how to deal with them should it really be needed, which wouldn't likely come for centuries. You can't know that things won't turn out much worse taking this path, since you have no way of controlling what happens after you use this ability."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "True enough. I have no way of knowing, and no way of controlling anything that happens after I release my soul and everything I have linked to my soul from my physical body. But the way the jutsu is set up will cast that upon Destiny. I was born a Child of Destiny and Prophesy. There will come a time when such a one is born again. When the power I have gained, and the knowledge I have amassed is needed in this world again, beyond simply to keep the threat of the Bijuu at bay. It is then that Destiny will release my soul into a new body. I have no idea when this will be. It could be next year, or it could be in a thousand.
But Destiny, as terrible as it can make your life as you live it, has a certain method to its apparent randomness. Certainly no guarantee that things will turn out well, but I highly doubt I will be put in a situation in which I am reborn and instantly killed, releasing the Juubi upon the masses. That doesn't seem like it would fit with a Child of Destiny, whatever that Child's ultimate fate. And anything else, I can deal with as it arrives."
With one last possibility, Hiruzen suggested, "What if I did the same thing and went with you? Or perhaps more than just me. From what you said, it seems likely we would be put into the same time, with Destiny guiding our soul's placement. It would probably be easier if there were at least some of us from this life to help you in your next."
With a shake of his head, Naruto said, "No. First because you would not be able. I have calculated the chakra requirements for the technique, and I doubt anyone other than a jinchuuriki, and powerful one at that, would be able to give the chakra required. Maybe if someone with very high level Kage level reserves opened all eight gates, ate some food pills, and drank Hero Water, they might have enough chakra, and might last long enough to complete the technique before all of that killed them. Though more likely, their chakra control would be so worthless with that amount of chakra and no practice controlling it that they wouldn't be able to do anything at all with it. But even if others could, I would not have them come with me. They might or might not end up in the same time as me. More likely not, given the near infinite range of time that exists. I also don't want this technique to ever have a chance to spread. It is a sort of method of immortality, but shouldn't be used as such.
Which actually reminds me of an additional reason this is a good idea. I have always been a bit worried of the possibility of someone bringing me back with the Impure World Resurrection after I die. In spite of my best efforts, knowledge of that particular kinjutsu has never been entirely stamped out, and I would make an enormously tempting target. Which I both don't want to experience, and I don't want anyone to have such power over others, especially the sort of people who are generally willing to use a technique like that. But since my soul will have been thrown forward in time, this won't be a possibility. The Sage of the Six Paths managed to do something to prevent techniques like that from working as well, but I'm not sure what it was, and this will work just as well."
Hiruzen sagged in defeat. He had known for weeks that his arguments would not succeed. But he felt he had to try. Naruto had done more, and sacrificed more through his life for others and for what he felt was his duty than anyone else living. It wasn't right that he be forced into an eternal duty to remain ever vigilant against something he never really had a choice about from his birth. But there was nothing that could be done. Even as sick as he was, Naruto would never submit to something he didn't agree to. The only thing to do was to wish him luck and pray that he may find happiness in his next life.
"Very well grandfather. I...I'll miss you. And I love you. And I will make sure that people remember you for what you have done for them."
Naruto now smiled as he responded. "Thank you. I will miss you as well. Along with everyone else, but most of those that I truly treasured as my precious people have already passed on. You, I wish I could stay here for though. But as that choice has been taken from me, it is time for me to move on. I am just doing it a little differently than most do." His smile grew. "Not that anyone should be surprised by that. I have always done things a little differently."
Naruto and Hiruzen shared a long hug before Naruto was finally released with a sad smile shared between the two of them. Hiruzen left his hand sitting on his grandfather's shoulder. "Is there anything else I can do for you? Can I help you to wherever you plan on completing your seals, or get any medicine for you? I could even help with some of the sealing, if you would like. I may not be nearly as skilled or knowledgeable as you, but I am a Seal Master in my own right, and could at least help with some of the basic structuring of the seals."
Naruto patted the hand on his shoulder as he responded, "Thank you, but no. I can just Kamui over to my room, and I do all my sealing these days with chakra strings anyway, so my difficulty moving much scarcely matters. But I wouldn't mind spending another hour or two talking of old times. You know how old people get." He gave a grin that still remained in some indescribable way fox-like, in spite of the Kyubi having long since been destroyed when the Juubi was recreated. But even that smile kept a hint of sadness remaining to be seen by those who really knew him well enough to see through even Naruto's well perfected masks.
And so most of Naruto's last hours in the Elemental Nations passed, reminiscing of times long since passed, and hopes for the future and for their descendents. But eventually it was time, so after one final hug and not a few tears, Naruto briefly activated his Sharingan eyes and warped space to put him in the ritual room he had created for himself decades before.
The room was a perfect cube made entirely of white marble walls with no door. Or connecting building or tunnels of any kind, for that matter. In fact, the room existed about a half mile below the surface of the earth in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing connecting it to anything. Not that anyone else knew that. Naruto actually had to create oxygen from time to time while he was here, which was one of the more amusing uses of the Creation of All Things technique. But even for someone with his skill, not to mention a dozen clones, it took almost seven hours to carefully guide the sealing ink into the awesomely complicated sealing structures which covered every inch of all of the walls, floor, and ceiling.
After verifying every one of those inches, Naruto carefully lifted himself up until he hovered in the exact center of the room purely using his mastery over the wind and gravity elements, and began a series of over one thousand hand-seals, while simultaneously carefully pouring massive amounts of chakra into specific sections of the sealing structure in order to carefully create one of the most complicated techniques ever activated.
Finally, the technique was complete. And as Naruto's body died and his soul was ripped from it and mostly out of reality as it entered directly into the timestream, Naruto felt pain beyond anything he had ever experienced before. And Naruto was no stranger to pain. But this was agony beyond what could be felt by simple nerves in a human body. And the pain felt unending. Later, Naruto would never be sure exactly how long it lasted. It might have been a minute, or it might have been millennia, but at the time it certainly felt eternal.
But as the pain finally and with abruptly ended, a feeling of perhaps to be expected disorientation came over him as his now open eyes were filled with the lingering flash of bright green light.
A/N: There will be some more passing comments that will fill in bits and pieces of information about Naruto's life (which even at an early age did not exactly follow Cannon!Naruto's, though it was reasonably close). There may even be a small flashback or two, but we will pretty much be focused on Harry's world from now on.
But please review! I don't care if it's just a short, "I liked it," a detailed breakdown of what you think I did wrong (and hopefully can improve on), or even just informing me of a grammar or spelling mistake, I would appreciate it. But please no flames. I don't mind criticism as long as it is constructive, but a simple, "This is the worst thing ever written," or "You made Harry too powerful. You suck" will be ignored.