Burnt Sky

So I had this idea see… something to do with Naruto and wolves, and this is what my brain vomited out quite happily. Here’s the story behind the image:

“Many generations ago, there existed a great fox-beast with fur the colour of gold, and crimson eyes so full of menacing that all would tremble at its feet. It was known as the Kyuubi no Youko, and having survived for thousands of years in the primordial world, had reached the status of Godhood. The Kyuubi no Youko was said to have been a plague upon the living beings of the jungles, causing destruction and strife wherever his great paws landed and his nine great tails swung. He was a beast of chaos and malice, and when he passed through the lands the sky wept tears of crimson. The Wolves, those favoured by the higher gods themselves, took it upon themselves to rid the world of his fearful presence, and with much bloodshed and loss, slayed him brutally.

With his dying breath, the great Godbeast made an impression of himself upon a young Wolf female in a final act of desperation, and nine months later she gave birth to a beast, the very likeness of the Godbeast himself. The Wolves, in fear and shock slayed the child before it could let out its first mewl, and took care to watch for any other attempts at the cunning youko’s revival.

It is said that every hundred years a child is born amongst the great Wolves who live in the jungles, with fur the colour of gold, and the symbol of the great Kyuubi no Youko emblazened around his navel.

This child is more animal than hunter, more instinct than intellect, more beast than wolf, and feared and revered by all. The child is masked from birth. Upon the day of his coming of age, he is reavealed to the masses thus signifying the beginning of the great hunt, where the strongest of warriors race through the jungles to be the first to slay him, he who carries the blood of the Godbeast Kyuubi; fitter, stronger, more agile, and infinately more cunning than mere Wolves. The one who brings back his head is crowned the village chief, and he and his descendants hold that right, the glory and the honour, until the next child is born and the hunt begins anew.

Every hundred years the child is born with a symbol more elaborate than the one before. Every hundred years, the child is less wild and more wolf-like. Every hundred years, it becomes more unsettling to see the tears of a child, rather than the rage of a beast. Every hundred years the villagers grow more camplacent. Within the child who carries the mere shadow of a God, the Kyuubi’s power weakens, and the child begins to shine.

In the past 300 hundred years, the rules of the hunt have changed. Now the hunters are the village youth, those burgeouning on their own coming of age, the ones who carry the future of their village on their backs. The one who succeeds in capturing the spirited child is the first to graduate to the next level of hunter, and has the highest standing in becoming village leader in the future. The winner also has honour of taking the child as his future mate…

It has been one thousand years since the Kyuubi’s demise, and another child has been born, this one more golden and vibrant than any before. More beautiful and more vivacious, easily capturing the hearts and minds of everyone around him. This one more dangerous as well. Because this child, who remains unacknowledged as anything other than a trophy, wants to create a name for himself in this village hidden in the leaves. This child will be no one’s mate.

…And he wants the position as leader for himself.

So the great hunt begins again in the legendary Wolf village, Konoha!”