Ten Years Later, Part 1

It's been ten years since Naruto was incarcerated in the Blood Prison.

Many things happened during these ten years, both inside and outside of the prison.

Let's talk about the events that took place on the outside first.

During the first year or so after Naruto was incarcerated, a group purely made up of S-rank rogue ninjas from all across the Elemental Nations known as the Akatsuki had sprung up and their goal was the capture of all tailed beasts and their hosts belonging to each village. Their group activities started out quite strong considering they managed to capture the hosts of the five-tailed dolphin-horse, Han of Iwagakure and the seven-tailed butterfly, Fuu of Kusagakure. It was rumored that they also had the six-tailed slug's host as well but these rumors were never confirmed.

It was during the time that they sent a team to capture the host of Shukaku, Gaara of Sunagakure that they got the news that Konoha had sent their Jinchuriki to the Blood Prison on some trumped-up charges. At first, both the leader and the mastermind behind the Akatsuki both thought that Konoha had sent the Jinchuriki there to go into hiding but after receiving information from their resident spy, Zetsu, they learned that not only had Konoha sent their Jinchuriki to such a place as a prisoner, the Jinchuriki was sent there on some trumped-up charges. When the other members of the Akatsuki heard this and the charges he went there on, a few of them genuinely entertained the idea of nuking the village because what they did truly disgusted the group, and they were S-ranked criminals. This was especially so for the rogue ninja from Konoha himself, one Itachi Uchiha and his partner Hoshigake Kisame.

All members of the Akatsuki know what kind of place the Blood Prison is and none of them, including the leader with a God-complex, Pain, were confident in breaking into such a place and escaping with their lives. This bit of info forced the group to suspend all activity as continuing would be a futile effort on their part since one of their targets was currently untouchable and might remain that way for a few decades in the case that the Jinchuriki actually dies in the prison.

This suspension of activity eventually led to the group having a falling out as since they no longer had a means of achieving their goals, they were wasting time acting as a group. Ultimately, the group split up. Some went about their own business, some went back to their former villages and some decided to move to different villages altogether. The leader and his aid went back to Amegakure to continue running the place while the hidden mastermind and his spy disappeared altogether with the two sealed tailed beasts. It was rumored that they were last seen in Rice Country but no one can provide any details on the subject.

Another major event that took place, at least major to Konoha, was that Uchiha Sasuke managed to escape the village, again. This took place roughly nine months after Naruto was first sent to jail. Just like Naruto predicted, no one took up the rescue mission this time and the Hokage, Lady Tsunade, didn't force anyone either. Instead, she just called a council meeting, updated them on the situation then left without giving a crap about what they had to say. After she got back to her office she just gave orders to update the Bingo Book with a new entry for one Uchiha Sasuke, listed as a mid C rank rogue ninja.

To say the council was vexed would be quite an understatement but what could they do? They knew damn well why no one went and could do nothing about it. Danzo even sent some of his "secret" ninjas after him but none could catch up in time and by the time they caught his scent he was long gone. He truly started regretting that stunt he pulled months ago with Naruto but there was no medicine for regret so he had to live it. Eventually, news of Sasuke killing Orochimaru and taking over Otogakure was spread around a few years later but by then he was firmly cemented as an enemy of Konoha.

Speaking of regrets, ever since the day Naruto had left the village, many things started going wrong. The few nations that were once allied with Konoha started backing out of their peace and trade agreements. This was especially the case for Nami no Kuni and Yuki no Kuni who outright turned hostile to Konoha and its citizens, banning them from even stepping a foot across their borders lest they face aggressive actions.

Sunagakure was also one place that wanted to break all ties with Konoha but due to the previous incident at the Chunin Exams, they were forced to maintain an alliance with them. Be that as it may, the alliance that remains between the two villages now is more or less on paper as the current Kazekage, one Sebaku Gaara, made his anger towards Konoha known in these few short words, "Though I cannot break the treaty I have between both villages at the moment, expect no help from my village outside of a major war. And even then, don't expect much because I won't send my ninja to die for a village very willing to stab their most loyal ninja in the back for a traitor." This was followed by him storming his way out of the council chambers followed by his siblings who also looked at the Konoha council in disgust.

Facing these words, Tsunade wasn't surprised nor was she angry. Instead, she was ashamed, ashamed and helpless. This was a mess created by her council and she couldn't even fix it because the root cause was currently in prison and she couldn't attempt to get him out due to the contract and letter she found in her office safe. That day Naruto left, he told her the location for a contract and after the council meeting, she went to her office and found it. From the scroll with the fox seal on it, she got two items, a contract, and a letter. Feeling that the letter should be read first, Tsunade removed the seal on the letter first and started reading. She was surprised as the letter was written by her Sensei, the Sandaime. The letter went as such:

"If anyone is currently reading this letter, then that means Konoha has truly screwed up. When I originally wrote this letter, I wrote it in the hope that it would never see the light of day but if someone is reading this then Konoha is in way more trouble than it was in during the night of the Kyuubi attack. The contract is essentially a seal of sorts that binds Naruto, sealing a portion of his memories as well as abilities. To understand why this is, we must go back to what happened when Naruto was just seven years old. It was during that time that something inside of young Naruto snapped. Back then, as usual, he was being chased on his birthday. The usual, "we must finish what the 4th started" crap being done by the villagers that they usually pull every year. At the time I was out of the village on official business and left a few of my close aids to look after the boy. Never did I know that they would be plotting against the boy behind my back and what's worse, I definitely never thought they would have succeeded in their plans.

That day, while I was in the Fire Capital, I felt very uneasy during my meeting with the Daimyo so I asked if we could hold after another week. The Daimyo agreed since I seemed to be distracted during the whole meeting and asked me to give him a report on it when I get back. After leaving that meeting, I immediately rushed back to the village as fast as I could. I did not even inform the bodyguards that came with me to the Capital. Around five hours later when I was around three miles away from the village, I felt it. A wave of chakra had spread out with the village as the center and when I felt it, it made me fall to my knees from the shock. This wave of chakra reminded me of the nine-tailed fox itself but it felt so much darker, so much more sinister. It was the kind of thing that you could experience once and even your descendants would know what it was if they experienced it centuries after your death. Gathering all my resolve, I rushed to the village. What greeted me caused my face to turn green instantly. I found Naruto's dead body in the arms of another. That was bad but what made it worse was that the being holding his body was another Naruto, except this one, had white hair with black lines and red eyes, similar to that of the fox itself. Surrounding them were the bodies of the two aids I had left to watch him along with a few dozen villagers ripped to shreds with what appeared to be sharp blades. The scene was quite gruesome. When the white-haired Naruto noticed my presence, he turned towards me and there I saw it; he was crying tears of blood. These tears obviously weren't for the dead villagers or ninja but for the Naruto, he held in his arms. The white-haired Naruto then took a step towards me, which made me take a step back on reflex.

Seeing my reaction, instead of continuing, he stopped and placed Naruto on the ground before putting one hand on Naruto's chest before he started speaking, "You've seen the result of what your village has created. By all rights, I should destroy it and move on but if I stay out for too long then I won't be able to revive him. Consider this your villages' final chance to survive." Following this, the white-haired Naruto seemed to have turned into a ghost as he turned transparent before fusing back with the original. After about a minute or two the originally dead body finally regained some color which signified life had returned to the boy.

Just as I was about to approach, however, Naruto started screaming out in pain as if he was suffering from immense torture and it was then that I noticed all the wounds on young Naruto's body. His upper body was a mess with blade wounds with a few brandings littering both his chest and back. There were also a few of his ribs poking out of his flesh that was being hidden under the tatters that were his shirt. As for his lower body, however, that was a sight that caused me forcefully swallow back down the vomit that threatened to escape my mouth. His ankles and kneecaps were broken, tendons cut and a trail of blood flowing from what appeared to be his rectum.

I immediately grabbed the boy and rushed with him all the way to the hospital where he was put under treatment for the next 17 hours, following which he was placed in a room in a secure wing of the hospital where only I and hospital staff were allowed to enter, and that was after the staff was checked multiple times for anything dangerous on their person.

It took a week for Naruto's body to fully heal and another two for him to fully wake, but after that, he no longer talked. This carried on for an entire month. I didn't know what I found worse, the fact that I failed to protect the boy from such an event or that I found his silence even worse than the feeling of facing down against the fox from all those years ago.

This carried on until one day when Naruto himself came to my office. Though he didn't outright say it, it seemed as if he wanted to speak to me privately and he was looking about the room, at certain points which pinpointed the locations for all my hidden Anbu, so I sent them out before setting up a privacy barrier.

Immediately after doing so, however, Naruto's appearance changed from his usual blonde hair and blue eyes to white hair silver eyes. This was the look of that second Naruto that appeared on that day. Immediately the temperature of the room fell. I took up a defensive stance, only to notice that the now silver-eyed youth was currently looking at me with an impassive gaze. Instead of staying in that stance, I went to the lounge area and sat on the sofa before pointing to the seat opposite me, indicating to Naruto.

The youth got the hint and sat in the seat before staring at me for a few minutes. After what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes the youth finally opened his mouth and said, "You should probably have a guess as to what I am, don't you Sandaime Hokage-san?"

"Kyubi no Yoko," replied the Sandaime with a stern face.

"Hmm, both yes and no," said the youth slightly amused.

"What do you mean?" asked the Sandaime.

"It's simple, Old Man. While this form was made using the fox's chakra as a base, I'm someone else entirely," replied the youth in a cool manner.

"So you are essentially a spirit who possessed both Naruto and the fox??" asked/stated the Sandaime.

"Not entirely correct but close enough. Would you like to know why I'm here today?" asked the youth indifferently. To this, the Sandaime nodded his head. In response, the youth continued, "I'm here to make a deal with you old man. This deal decides the fate of both this village and this child."

"What do you have in mind?"

"After the stunt those idiot villagers pulled, I have all right to burn this hellhole to the ground and move on with my life but this boy needs a few things from the village, both for his sake and the fox. And instead of just taking it like any other person who's strong enough would, I would rather it be obtained by means of a contract."

"And why would you go through so much trouble when taking it is so simple?" asked the Sandaime

"Because the contract itself will decide the fate of EVERYONE in this village, "replied the white-haired youth with a smile.

The smile itself was a normal smile with no alterations made to show off any dark or cruel emotions but the moment I saw it, I could tell. I could almost picture how he would cruelly kill every single person present in the village at the moment, not leaving anyone alive to account for the atrocities he would commit. I could feel myself breaking out in cold sweat before I did my best to swallow some spit and ask the question he was waiting for.

"So what are the terms of the contract?"

"Well, the terms are as follows….."

2 hours later

It was at this point the white-haired Naruto got up to walk out of the room. Just as he got to the door he turned back to look at me before leaving one last statement.

"Just to answer the question before, my true identity is that of a demon. And you know how demons are when it pertains to contracts so I don't need to inform you of the consequences of breaking this deal, right, "said the youth with another simple smile before he disappeared from near the door.

Immediately after he left I collapsed in the chair. I spent the last 2 hours coming up with as many clauses as I could to prevent the white-haired youth from personally taking action should the contract be breached in any way, and he agreed to most of them. The only condition in which he never budged on was in the case that the village itself was the one to break the contract and that too by means of betrayal. Though he never budged on that condition, he did add amendment stating that if he was still asleep when such an event takes place, all rights to collect would be passed on to Naruto himself for whenever he is ready to collect. Should such a situation occur, I implore whoever is reading this to abide by his conditions, as that is the only true way this village can escape a fate truly worse than death itself.

I sincerely hope that what I have just described is not the reason for reading this letter else…"

After reading up to this point, it took Lady Tsunade all she could to resist falling into a heap on the floor. Such a serious and damning event happened in Konoha whilst she was away and she never knew about it and now she was in charge of a village that essentially broke a contract with a demon. She truly didn't know whether she should laugh at the stupidity of the village dooming itself over a traitor or cry at the fact that she was currently stuck as the leader for the said foolish village. That being said, she did the next best thing that she could think of; she had a seat at her desk and pulled out a bottle of her deceased sensei's secret stash and took a big swig of it to calm her overly tensed nerves.

After spending a few minutes to calm herself down, she sent a ninja to find Jiraiya to deliver a message to come to her immediately. It took roughly an hour for Jiraiya to show up since the ninja that went looking for him couldn't find him in his usual places and spent the extra time searching through the village carefully. The ninja eventually found Jiraiya in the forest behind the Hokage Mountain.

When he appeared in the office, Tsunade noticed that Jiraiya seemed a bit drunk as he wasn't as attentive or as sharp as he normally was. His eyes looked pretty much dead to the world as they weren't even focusing on her sizeable chest, something even she noticed. There was even a distinct stink of sake wafting off of him. Without any words between then, Tsunade just gave Jiraiya the Sandaime's letter and the contract.

At first, Jiraiya was still out of it but as he read the letter a solemn expression took over his face. By the time he got to the end, his face was visibly paler, quite similar to their rogue teammate. He then looked over the contract and when he was done he fell on the floor. He couldn't believe what he had just read but the contract was in his hands and he saw what happened to his godson during that council meeting. After a few minutes, Jiraiya started laughing. He laughed pretty hard that day, all while shedding tears. And no one could blame him; not Tsunade, not the deceased Sandaime and not even the recently incarcerated Naruto himself. This situation was truly that bad.

Jiraiya spent roughly 20 minutes like this and Tsunade watched it all, all while taking swigs of her sensei's secret stash. When he finally got tired of laughing and shedding tears, Jiraiya got up and took a pen and some paper from Tsunade's desk. In front of her, he wrote his resignation letter as a ninja of Konoha. After he finished, he pushed the letter in front of her before walking out of the office, never to be seen again for a few years. Tsunade watched this happen, and after he left she took another swig of the Sake before taking the letter and filing it away. It wasn't until a month later that Konoha learned that Jiraiya retired and disappeared from the village. Understandably, this caused a lot of unrest within the council but Tsunade ignored them. She just told them he's retired and probably won't be returning to the village anytime soon. After saying her piece, she left the council chambers, ignoring the councilors once again, thinking that she wants to leave as well but she still has a job to accomplish where Naruto is concerned.

That's it for the outside world. Now let's take a look at the events that took place within the Blood Prison itself.