Prophecy (Naruto Neglect Fanfic)

Beginning

A/N: Really hope you enjoy this one more than my last fanfic! I'm trying something a whole lot more epic but if it flops please be nice :)

October 10th marked the passing of the Kyuubi or Nine Tailed Fox. On that same night, Kushina Uzumaki had given birth to twins, Naruto and Karah Namikaze. Things went perfectly to plan and the Nine Tail Fox was passed down to the next in the long line of Nine Tails jinchuuriki: Karah Namikaze. 3 uneventful years passed as Minato Namikaze led the village as Hokage and also spent time with his two children. This all changed when Kushina yet again became pregnant and gave birth to another girl, Naruko Namikaze. Everything was perfect as Naruko was delivered and friends of the family came to see the newborn. One of these friends was one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. As all the commotion died down, Jiraiya took Minato aside to talk to him. He sighed.

"There has been... a prophecy," he began as he dodged Minato's eye contact. Minato smiled weakly as he noticed his sensei's nervousness.

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked Minato. Jiraiya looked up at Minato and explained.

"In the future... there will be a time where the world will be in need of a protector. A threat so big even a shinobi alliance could not stop it. It will appear... and when it does, the child of my pupil will be the one to stop it..." Jiraiya paused and looked at the confused Minato.

"I don't see why you were hesitant to-"

"Or... be the one to cause it." Silence stained the air as Minato's eyes widened.

"Karah," whispered Minato as he began to understand.

"As bearer of the Kyuubi, it is obvious that the prophecy is referring to her," explained Jiraiya, "You are treading on thin ice, Minato. One false step could send ripples leading to... destruction."
"What will we do?" inquired Minato after a long silence. Jiraiya once again looked at the floor.

"Minato, the biggest problem I see arising is a rivalry between Naruto and Karah," Jiraiya sighed.

"S-so what? Isn't it normal for twins to be rivals sometimes?" Minato raised his voice as if he knew what Jiraiya was asking him to do.

"I am sorry, Minato. It is imperative that Karah has special treatment over Naruto. There can be no rivalry. Karah must be assured that she is superior to her brother in all aspects. I would not ask you to do this if I did not believe that this was for the sake of the village or even the world itself. As Hokage... it is your duty." Minato looked back into the hospital room: Kushina lay sleeping with Naruko in her arms as Naruto and Karah sat on chairs next to the bed, talking happily.

"And Naruko?" asked Minato, as his head hung low.

"I do not believe Naruko will bring any problems." Minato knew that Jiraiya was wiser than him and thus knew that it would be in the world's best interest to do as he said but he could not help but feel an incredible guilt about what he would have to do his son.

"Please tell me this is some sick joke sensei?" Minato said quietly. Jiraiya simply shook his head in sadness, "Help me tell Kushina what must be done." Minato had resolve in his voice now. 'I must be strong' he thought, 'This is just how things must be now.'

"I have something that might help you." Minato turned his head to his senses, confused.

Over the next year, Minato and Kushina's heart hardened towards Naruto. It didn't take long for the two to disassociate themselves from Naruto. Karah's training had now begun. She had shown incredible talent and progress as she was quickly mastering chakra control and even beginning to understand jutsu at age 4. Of course being taught by the 4th Hokage and having incredible genes also gave her an advantage. Only a few weeks after her training started she already mastered walking on walls and water and could almost perform a select number of jutsus. Minato overlooked his student as Kushina watched from the sidelines with a baby Naruko laying in her arms. Naruto was the only one absent as usual. The Namikaze family had fallen into a routine after the prophecy was revealed to them. The prophecy seemed to be used as an unsaid excuse to ignore Naruto and after over a year of doing so, the family became quite content with only raising two of their children. Naruto was forgotten about at meals, ignored when he tried to speak and left alone for most of the time. Despite all of this, the villagers described him as a "ball of sunshine" while of course being oblivious to his situation, due to his eternal optimism. As Karah's training for the day began to finish, the door to the Namikaze House opened much to the surprise of its occupants. The door soon slammed shut and Kushina looked at Minato worriedly. Minato silently began to draw a kunai and signalled for Karah to be quiet. He slowly crept towards the corridor which held the front door but was surprised when he was met by the face of a tiny Naruto. He did not show his shock however and instead began to put his kunai away with uninterest.

"Tou-san!" Naruto called out as Minato began to walk back to his family, completely ignoring him. Naruto grinned happily and chased his dad. This is the most he'd talked to him in weeks. "Tou-san!" he repeated and pulled on his leg, causing Minato to look down at him.

"What?" replied Minato with an obvious lack of interest.

"Uh Tou-san- w-wen will I get twained like Kawah-nii?" Naruto asked, still grinning happily.

"In a bit," Minato said coldly and walked away. Naruto's whole face lit up. 'In a bit!' Naruto thought as he ran up to his room. Naruto's room was small and claustrophobic with dull grey walls and a cot in the middle from when Naruto was a baby. The only possession Naruto held was a little toy bear which Naruto hugged every night. Naruto got into his cot which was way too small for him and began talking to his bear.

"I was talking to Tou-san, Mr Bear and you'll never believe what he said-'' Naruto began talking with an excited smile still on his face as he described in detail the small altercation. Unfortunately for Naruto, the training never came for him as Karah began to get stronger with each day. Naruto was never allowed to eat at dinner. Whenever he came down, the door to the kitchen was slammed in his face by his mother. Everyday, Naruto just smiled and went back upstairs again. A slow year passed as Naruto's neglect got worse and worse. Naruto came downstairs and saw as his family enjoyed themselves, playing a game. As soon as he tried to walk up to the room, he was spotted by Minato who immediately stopped laughing and walked to the door to slam it. As soon as the door was shut Naruto began to hear the laughter emerge again as if nothing had happened. Naruto tried to open the door but discovered it locked.

"Hey," he called out weakly and as expected, there was no response. Naruto then did something he had never done before. He began to cry.

"Naruto!" Karah called out angrily as she burst into his room. Naruto held onto his teddy and slightly jumped backwards.

"Uh- hi Karah-nii! You don't need to call me Naruto, y'know you can just call me Nii-chan!" Naruto said nervously. Whenever his sister talked to him, it usually ended with him being hit.

"Why would I ever call you that? You don't deserve to be my brother, you weakling," spat Karah and she approached him, "Give me that toy." Naruto held his teddy to his chest and shook his head.

"N-no! I won't give you Mr Bear!" yelled Naruto. Kushina and Minato walked into the room.

"What's all this commotion?" Minato asked.

"Kaa-san! Naruto won't give me my toy!" Karah whined. Naruto held his teddy to his chest even harder.

"No, Mr Bear is mine!" Naruto shouted. Kushina slowly went over to Naruto and bent down to his level. A slap was heard and Kushina pulled Mr Bear out of Naruto's grip easily. Naruto tried to reach out again but was stopped by another slap. Karah was handed the toy and left the room with a smirk.

"You need to learn to share, annoyance," Minato said simply. He spat the last word with effortless venom as if used to calling him that. Minato left the room leaving Naruto speechless with a red mark on the side of his face. Tears silently began to flow.

That day however taught Naruto a lesson. Over the next few days, Naruto intentionally got in trouble just to be talked to by his parents. His parents clued into this after the 3rd attempt and Minato instead called over the guard to the Namikaze compound to deal with the problem instead.

"Did you take Karah-sama's toy?" the guard asked.

"Can I talk to Tou-san?" the boy replied, obviously uninterested in the guard.

"Hokage-sama is very busy at the moment, he asked me to punish you," the guard said as he pulled Naruto towards him. Tears began to form in Naruto's eyes.

"I'm sorry!" he said quickly before the man even had a chance to do anything. The guard was taken aback, "I'm sorry! I only did it so Tou-san would talk to me, please, I didn't mean it!" The guard let Naruto go. "Thank you," he said politely before bowing. The guard was in shock. "N-no, I'm the one who is supposed to bow to you," the guard said awkwardly, "Uh- what is your- name?"

"I'm Naruto," Naruto said sadly, "What's your name?"

"I am Hau, I work for your father, the Hokage," Hau stated and bowed, "I will be returning to my duty." He went back to his station at the entrance of the compound leaving Naruto, once again on his own.