Author's Note
Hello to everyone reading. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Let me tell you more about this fanfic.
You've already read the title and summary and seen the cover, so there's no need to expand on that. This fanfic is a crossover between Naruto and the Dark Souls games, particularly Dark Souls 1.
Now, do you need to play Dark Souls to understand this fanfic? Honestly, no. I explain a lot of the lore and game mechanics throughout the story, so whether you've played the games or not, you'll still be able to follow along. If you have played the games or read the lore, you'll probably catch some cool details and think, I remember that!
The story is divided into two parts.
Naruto, in this fanfic, has the ability to move between the Dark Souls universe and his own. You can think of it like he's become a Dark Souls player, except he can bring items, spells, and systems into his own world. For example, in Dark Souls, there's an item called a firebomb. Naruto can now throw that firebomb at someone like Orochimaru in the Naruto universe. Because of this, the chapters will alternate between the two settings. One chapter will take place in Dark Souls, and the next in the Naruto world. That means chapter titles will look something like this:
Chapter 1: Dark Souls
Chapter 2: Naruto
Chapter 3: Dark Souls
...and so on.
This way, if someone wants to focus only on the Naruto portion, they can. Of course, each chapter will also have its own unique title.
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Chapter One – Prologue
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Giggles echoed through the dark forest, and Naruto laughed louder. He knew how ridiculous he must have looked, alone under the moonlit trees and laughing for no reason. But none of that mattered, tonight.
After countless failures and frustration, he had finally done it. He had made a clone that actually worked.
He stared at the figure in front of him, barely containing his excitement. It looked just like him. The three whisker-like marks on each cheek, the spiky yellow hair that caught the moonlight, the bright blue eyes. Even the outfit was right. Orange jacket with blue shoulders, a white fur collar, mesh undershirt, and blue open-toed sandals.
"It's perfect," he whispered, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Great, with this I can become a genin," he began, but the clone cut him off.
"I'll take my first step into becoming Hokage."
Naruto blinked. Clones weren't supposed to talk. That was new.
He reached out and poked it. He expected his hand to pass through, like all the failed illusions before. But this time, his finger touched solid flesh.
"My clone is solid... and it can talk," he said slowly. A wide grin spread across his face. "You know what that means, right?"
The clone nodded, just as excited as he was.
"My clone jutsu is better than everyone else's."
The thought filled him with pride. He watched, curious, as the clone turned toward the forbidden scroll of seals nearby. It was massive, dark green with black markings, nearly as tall as he was.
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, even though the answer was obvious.
"We have some time before Mizuki-sensei shows up. Let's learn another jutsu," the clone replied, voice eerily identical to his.
"Let's do it."
Naruto's excitement faltered when he looked at the scroll. He had expected something simple and flashy. Instead, all he saw were complicated lines and symbols. The seals looked like a puzzle meant to keep him out. They covered the parchment like a spiderweb. As the clone spread the scroll across the forest floor, Naruto hesitated. He wanted to say it was pointless. He had never understood seals like these. But just as he was about to give up, the scroll began to open. One seal loosened, then another, and soon the entire scroll unfurled, revealing its secrets layer by layer.
"It's like an onion," the clone muttered.
Naruto couldn't help but agree. The scroll, once fully opened, didn't just reveal a single technique or seal. Layered across its surface were countless symbols in individual sections. Each carrying its own seal, and one massive design woven across them all. A spark of recognition flickered in his mind. It was a storage seal. He didn't know the exact mechanics, but he understood enough to know this type of seal could store something inside, like a pocket that needed chakra to unlock.
Judging by the size of it, the seal would probably need a ton of chakra. That wasn't a problem. If there was one thing Naruto never seemed to run out of, it was that. He remembered how even Sasuke, that smug show-off, would be panting after using a few scrolls. Sasuke could manage twenty-four at his best. Most of the class couldn't handle more than six. But Naruto? He could laugh his way through a hundred and still keep going.
Standing beside his clone, both of them staring down at the intricate seal, a reckless grin spread across his face.
"Well, it looks like it's just a matter of chakra," he said to himself. "And if there's one thing I've got plenty of, it's that."
"Let's open this up and see what cool item is inside."
They placed their hands on the center of the seal. As their palms pressed down, it felt like fitting a key into a lock. The seal didn't just accept their chakra. It pulled on it.
Naruto felt the familiar surge start in his gut, rising through his arms like a current. It was second nature by now. But something was off. The seal wasn't just absorbing chakra... it was draining it, faster and harder than anything he had ever encountered. The clone vanished in a puff of smoke.
A sharp pain shot through Naruto's chest. He grit his teeth and pushed harder, trying to keep the chakra flow steady but it kept pulling. For the first time in his life, Naruto felt what true chakra exhaustion was like. His body trembled. Breathing became hard. Each inhale felt like fire in his lungs.
Then it stopped.
The seal had taken what it needed. With a final, greedy gulp, it unlocked. A thick puff of smoke burst out. Naruto collapsed.
His body hit the dirt with a dull thud. The forest spun around him. The trees blurred into one another, swirling like ink in water. Pain throbbed through his limbs. His head felt stuffed with cotton. His breath came in short, shallow gasps. He'd never been this tired before. Not from pranks, not from training. This was a new kind of exhaustion.
The cold earth beneath him was the only thing keeping him grounded. He shut his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing.
The worst part?
The seal had opened to absolutely nothing.
"Bastard seal, you took my chakra, now give me your secrets!"
His chakra was slowly trickling back. He could feel the steady pulse of recovery, stronger than what most of his classmates could manage. He remembered how they always complained about chakra exhaustion, whining about how long it took to recharge. He smirked.
Guess their recovery speed isn't as great as the great Naruto Uzumaki.
That thought gave him a brief flash of smug satisfaction before his glare returned to the scroll. He wasn't finished with it but he didn't expect what came next.
It began as a glow. Then, like a fire being born, chakra spilled into the air. It wasn't just any chakra. This one burned with an orange hue, vibrant and alive. It rose in a spiral, weaving and dancing with a will of its own. As it ascended, it started to form a ring, floating just above the seal.
It pulsed slowly, like it was breathing.
The ring shimmered at the edges with gold, while its center burned darker and hotter. Its light bathed the surrounding trees in fiery orange, casting flickering shadows. It looked like the sun itself was being forged in front of him. Without thinking, Naruto reached out. His hand moved on instinct. The moment his finger touched the ring, a blinding flash consumed him.
Everything went dark.
Naruto opened his eyes, but there was no light, no scroll, no forest. He stood in absolute blackness. He didn't panic, not yet. Darkness wasn't new to him. He had spent plenty of nights alone. But this wasn't just dark. This was empty.
Where am I? Is this a dream? Did I pass out? What was that ring of fire?
No answers came.
He walked, unsure if he was making any progress. The ground felt like stone, but he couldn't see it. No sound. No breeze. Just him.
"I'm pretty sure Ayame would be terrified of this place," he muttered, trying to laugh.
"Jiji, are you there?" His voice echoed through the void. "Is this because I knocked you out with the Sexy Jutsu? I said I was sorry."
He pinched his ears, the way children did when apologizing. It felt silly. It was silly. But the silence that followed felt heavier than before.
"Is anyone there?"
His voice cracked. He didn't like the way it sounded. Small. Afraid. It reminded him of nights in his apartment, before ramen, before friends, when silence was all he had. Then light exploded across the void.
Naruto staggered back, throwing his arms up to block the glare. He squinted through his fingers and saw ten rings of fire.
They floated in the air before him, flickering with the same orange chakra as before. One ring pulsed brighter than the rest.
Naruto approached it. As he got closer, the ring expanded. Inside it, an image appeared.
It was him.
Or... a version of him.
He wore armor. Real armor. A chest plate, shoulder guards, metal gauntlets. In one hand, a sword. In the other, a round metal shield. The blade gleamed in the firelight. He looked strong. Dangerous. Cool.
"This is so cool," Naruto whispered, eyes wide.
Is this showing me my future? Or is it just an illusion?
He stepped closer.
"Do I get the sword if I touch it?"
He reached out again, unsure if this was a test, a vision, or just a trick of the seal. The ring pulsed in response, but said nothing.
Pausing, Naruto turned to survey the nine remaining rings. A spark of curiosity lit in his chest. Just then, a scroll unfurled in front of him, as words shimmered across the surface.
[Warrior Class: Weapon expert. High strength, dexterity.]
He glanced back at his armored self, mentally piecing it together.
"I think I get it now, dattebayo!" he exclaimed. "If I touch you, I get to be a weapon expert and be super strong and... dex-something."
He stumbled over the last word. He had no idea what dexterity meant, but high strength was more than enough to sell him on the idea. Still, something tugged at his attention.
The next ring revealed the Knight Class.
[Low-ranking knight. High HP. Solid armor. Not easily toppled.]
The illusion wore far more metal than the warrior, practically encased in steel from head to toe. Naruto scratched his head.
"What the hell is a knight?"
No answer came, just the flickering of quiet flames. He shrugged and moved on.
[Wanderer Class: Wields scimitar. High dexterity.]
This version of him wore a dark leather outfit with a hood. A curved sword which he guessed was the scimitar. A small shield hung from his arm, shaped suspiciously like a ramen bowl.
Naruto snorted. Dressed in all black with that moody look, he resembled someone far too familiar.
"At least if I pick this class, I can use the shield as a ramen bowl," he muttered, smirking.
The next class was Thief.
[High critical hits. Has master key.]
Thief Naruto held a dagger not much bigger than a kunai and a shield so small it looked like it belonged to a toddler. He wasn't impressed, though the part about the key caught his attention.
"What's a master key do anyway?"
No one answered.
Next up was the Bandit Class.
[High strength. Wields heavy battle axe.]
Bandit Naruto was huge. Towering muscles. Biceps thicker than both of Naruto's arms. His armor included a chainmail hauberk, padded trousers tucked into heavy boots, and broad leather straps crossing his chest. A thick belt wrapped around his waist. One shoulder was armored with metal plates, and he carried a massive, intimidating axe along with a spider-emblazoned shield.
"Do I get that body if I choose this class?"
He wasn't scrawny, but Bandit Naruto was on another level. He imagined Sakura taking one look at him and completely forgetting about Sasuke. That thought alone made him giggle. Still, he forced himself to move on.
He couldn't decide just yet.
The next illusion was the Hunter Class.
[Bow-wielding hunter. Decent at close range. Weak with magic.]
Hunter Naruto wore rugged armor, not too heavy, with a bow slung across his back and a quiver of green-feathered arrows.
Naruto frowned. "Weak to magic?"
That part puzzled him. What did magic even mean? Was it like another word for chakra? The thought left him with more questions than answers. The scroll for the next class unfurled without warning.
[Sorcerer of Vinheim Dragon School. Casts soul sorceries.]
Sorcerer Naruto looked... weird. Big, floppy hat. Robes that screamed "nerd." It was disappointing. The name had sounded so cool—Dragon school? Soul sorcery? It sounded like he was getting a new ninjutsu.
He sighed. "Let's just move to the next."
Still, part of him couldn't stop thinking about it. Dragon school? Do flying lizards teach there or something?
He didn't have time to dwell.
[Pyromancer Class: Swamp pyromancer. Casts fire spells. Wields a hand axe.]
Pyromancer Naruto stood tall, holding a worn axe and a wooden shield. His armor was padded and practical, though the green hood draped over his head looked like it had seen better days.
"You look homeless," Naruto muttered.
But the fire spells. That detail made his heart race. He still remembered Sasuke showing off those fireballs during training. Naruto had always wanted to do something just as flashy. Maybe this was his chance.
Then came Cleric.
[Cleric on pilgrimage. Wields a mace. Casts healing miracles.]
The illusion was bald.
"Nope. Not going bald."
And finally, the last class: Deprived.
[Unclothed enigma. Armed with a club and old plank shield.]
"Gaaa!" Naruto clapped a hand over his eyes.
Deprived Naruto was practically naked. Just a loincloth, holding what looked like a piece of broken fence for a shield. He stumbled back, shaking his head hard.
"There is no way I'm choosing that. Nope. Never."
He looked over the ten rings once more, arms crossed, weighing his options.
It came down to two.
The Bandit was awesome. Muscles, armor, big axe. And the Pyromancer? He could throw fire and look cool doing it. One had strength. The other had flash.
"My fireball is going to be better," he mumbled, already picturing Sasuke's face when he showed up with flames of his own.
The thought alone made the decision harder.
He closed his eyes, held out a hand, and began to hum an old rhyme he barely remembered. His hand floated between the two rings, back and forth, until it stopped. When he opened his eyes, his palm hovered above the Pyromancer ring.
A grin split his face.
"I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces when they see my awesome fire jutsu."
The ring of fire shimmered. Then, without warning, light erupted around him, swallowing the world in brilliance. Naruto shielded his eyes, expecting the forest to return once the glow faded. But when the brightness dimmed and his vision cleared, he realized something was very wrong.
He wasn't anywhere near home.
Naruto gagged, instinctively pinching his nose shut as the stench overwhelmed him. The source wasn't hard to find. A dead rat, bloated and half-decayed, lay beside an old, rusted bucket that looked like it had been used as a makeshift toilet. The sight was revolting. The smell made his eyes sting.
He'd seen plenty of unpleasant things in his short life, but this… this was on another level entirely.
Turning away, Naruto tried to focus on anything less disgusting. The rest of the room wasn't much better. Moss blanketed the walls in slick, green patches that crept up from the floor to vanish into the arches above. The stones were damp and crumbling. Cold, wet air clung to his skin and sank into his bones, making every breath feel heavier than the last.
A few slivers of dim light pierced through cracks in the ceiling. They barely reached the floor, casting long shadows that danced with the dust swirling in the gloom. Across from him stood a rusted iron door, bolted shut. From underneath it, a faint line of torchlight spilled into the room, glowing gold against the stone.
I don't think I'm in Konoha anymore, he whispered.
He shifted to stand up, but a harsh clinking echoed in the room. Looking down, his breath caught.
Thick metal cuffs were locked around his ankles, their ends bolted into the floor. Not only was he trapped, he was a prisoner. And he was no longer in his usual clothes. He wore the pyromancer outfit he'd seen in the ring of fire. The cloth was rough, stitched together from worn leather and strange fabric.
How? His thoughts spiraled. Why am I chained up?
Was this some punishment for stealing the scroll? The idea crossed his mind, but he dismissed it. The Hokage wouldn't do something like this. Not Jiji. He wasn't that cruel… right? Still sitting, Naruto forced himself to look away from the rat and the filth, focusing instead on the cold stone and the slivers of light trickling from above. He needed to think.
In the corner of his eye, a line of woodlice began crawling toward the rat's corpse, their tiny bodies inching along the floor like a living shadow.
"Where's a fire jutsu when you need it?"
The idea of blasting them all with a fireball brought a flicker of satisfaction.
He looked down at the pyromancer clothes again. Wait. I should have gotten a fire jutsu, right? I got the clothes... His brow furrowed. But where were the axe and shield that came with this?
Weird.
Deciding not to worry about it just yet, Naruto extended his hand toward the advancing bugs and shouted, "Fireball!"
Nothing.
Only his voice echoing off the damp stone walls.
He stared at his hand like it had betrayed him. Where's my fireball? How am I supposed to one-up that emo bastard now? How do I change my status?
The moment the word status left his mouth, something flickered to life in the air.
A glowing screen appeared before him, floating just above eye level.
He blinked at it, stunned.
Did saying 'status' summon this? What even is this thing?
Maybe it could tell him what happened to his fire jutsu. Or better yet, maybe it held a clue on how to break out of these chains and escape the dungeon. His heart pounded. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached out toward the screen, half-expecting it to vanish the moment his fingers got close.
But it didn't vanish.
"Okay," he breathed. "Let's see what you can do."
[ Name: Naruto Uzumaki ]
- [ Covenant: None ]
- [ Level: 1 ]
- [ Souls: 0 ]
[ Attributes: ]
- [ Vitality: 10 ]
- [ Attunement: 12 ]
- [ Endurance: 11 ]
- [ Strength: 12 ]
- [ Dexterity: 9 ]
- [ Resistance: 12 ]
- [ Intelligence: 10 ]
- [ Faith: 8 ]
- [ Humanity: 0 ]
[ Stats: ]
- [ HP: 573 / 573 ]
- [ Stamina: 93 ]
- [ Equip Load: 8.0 / 51.0 ]
[ Weapon Stats: ]
- [ R Weapon 1: 20 ]
- [ R Weapon 2: 20 ]
- [ L Weapon 1: 20 ]
- [ L Weapon 2: 20 ]
[ Defense: ]
- [ Physical Defense: 73 (20) ]
- [ VS Strike: 78 ]
- [ VS Slash: 73 ]
- [ VS Thrust: 73 ]
- [ Magic Defense: 73 (13) ]
- [ Flame Defense: 99 (21) ]
- [ Lightning Defense: 59 (16) ]
[ Resistances: ]
- [ Poise: 0 ]
- [ Bleed Resist: 104 ]
- [ Poison Resist: 194 ]
- [ Curse Resist: 35 ]
[ Miscellaneous: ]
- [ Item Discovery: 100 ]
- [ Attunement Slots: 2 ]
[ Attunement Slot 1: Fireball × 8 ]
[ Attunement Slot 2: Empty ]
Naruto blinked in confusion as he stared at the numbers and terms on the screen, not understanding what any of it meant. But his eyes locked onto fireball listed under something called an "attunement slot."
"Okay, so I have a fireball, but how do I use it?"
He tapped on the screen, hoping for some additional info to pop up, but nothing happened. Just as he was about to give up and try something else, the entire room filled with a blinding light. He squinted upwards, shielding his eyes, and as his vision adjusted.
Naruto saw an armored man in a patchwork of gleaming steel and worn leather that fit him like a second skin. His helm was a sculpted piece of metal with narrow slits for eyes, hid his face, but the set of his jaw was unmistakable. This guy meant business. He rested one gauntleted hand on the pommel of his longsword, and in his other hand, he held a shield emblazoned with a golden lion.
"Hey, who are you?"