Welcome to my newest story! It snuck up in my mind while studying and I couldn't continue until writing it down! I just can't stop my brain to come up with new ideas…
Anyhow, this won't exactly be a story but a lot of short stories that appear completely randomly.
English isn't my first language so please bear the mistakes.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and never will.
Chapter 1: Kakuzu - Failed mission
They'll try to take your pride
Try to take your soul
They'll try to take all the control
They'll look you in the eyes
Fill you full of lies (Unbreakable Heart – Three Days Grace)
He stumbled. He barely could keep himself from falling right into the mud. Instead he continued to limp forward, inch by inch, without stopping.
He had to make it to the village. It wasn't that far away anymore, he could already hear the water of the waterfall but it felt like he'd never make it that far.
Behind him a trail of blood marked his way, impossible to oversee. He clutched the bleeding gasp in his stomach; the warm red blood covered his trembling hand. His other arm hung uselessly at his side, broken. Blood dripped into his eyes. His head felt dizzy. He dragged his tired body over the earth, his breath becoming shallower with every heavy step he took.
He didn't see the root in time; stumbled; fell. He wanted to stand up but his body refused. Somewhere in his fuzzy mind he just wanted to rest there on the ground, lose consciousness and die. Maybe that would be better. After all, a part of him feared coming back to the village. He had failed the mission. He, the prodigy, the best ninja, the one who survived every battle, the strong hero, had lost and been beaten up to a bloody pulp. He was lucky to have survived. Well, until now. That was the end of his road.
He closed his eyes. His heart flattered, clutching to the last ounces of life.
"You don't look good" a high voice suddenly called out. With all of the strength he still had left he lifted his head and stared up. There in front of him stood a little girl and looked down at him with concern. He could only see her blurry outlines as his vision started to blur.
"Wait, I'll help you." She crouched down to his miserable form, one of her little arms outstretched. She touched his shoulder but instead of feeling flesh all he could feel was warmth and energy that flooded into his body. It made his slow heart start to beat once again, stopped the blood loss and gave him the strength to rise up from the ground.
"There, better" she said and smirked widely at him. Wiping the blood out of his eyes with his shoulder he stared down at her little form. She had blonde, almost golden, hair that reached down to her knees, her big eyes were bright blue, she was maybe seven years old, and was dressed in a white dress.
For a moment he just stared at her dumbfounded. She looked too innocent to be from this world. Maybe she was an angel and he was about to die. She probably came here to take him.
"You're heading for this village, right?" she asked and pointed over his shoulder to the direction of Takigakure. He just nodded.
"Then let's go!" Enthusiastically she pumped her small fist into the air, grabbed his blood covered hand and dragged him to his destiny.
He still was too taken back by her sudden strange appearance to say anything and so he just let her do. Along the way she jumped up and down, humming happily. If she was an angel she was an annoying one that was for sure, he thought grimly but also amused.
He soon found out that whatever kind of energy she had given him, it wasn't forever. He once again felt the strength being sucked away from his shaking legs and blood pouring out of the wounds. He wanted to apply pressure on the most severe one on his stomach but the little brat wouldn't let go of his hand.
Finally they stood in front of the giant waterfall marking the village that just had been founded and soon the giant tree came into vision. He had made it.
They just had crossed the outlines of the village as he finally passed out from blood loss and fell to the earth like a cut tree.
The last thing he heard was the panic voice of the angel crying his name. His mind was too foggy to wonder how she knew it.
When he woke up he carefully opened his eyes just to be blinded by bright light. Was this it after all? Was he finally dead?
"You're awake!" the happy voice of the girl yelled, making his ears ring. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the light and he could see that he was in Takigakure's hospital. Looking down he saw that he was covered in bandages making him look like a mummy. Titling his aching head to the side he saw the girl sitting on a chair, dangling her feet back and forth while grinning like an idiot. He couldn't help but smirk making her giggle. Whether she was an angel or not she saved his life. But before he could thank her, the door opened and a young nurse entered. When she saw him awake, her eyes widened and she rushed to his side.
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly and concerned.
"Like shit" he growled but then grinned, "but alive."
"That's good to hear. Your recovery progress is unexceptionally quickly so you'll be able to leave your bed in a few days" she informed him smiling. He glanced at the girl and was sure that she had something to do with his rapid healing. She just winked at him.
However, they didn't give him time to recover as after about an hour, two shinobi rushed into the room.
"The elders demand your presence" was all they said. Despite the nurse's protest he obliged and shakily stood up. The girl followed them quietly outside to the biggest house in the village, the one where the elders stayed.
He hadn't noticed it before but the girl's footsteps were so silent and light that he couldn't hear them at all. He also didn't feel her chakra signature, just this warm energy radiating of her being. Also he slightly wondered why neither of the shinobi or the nurse had mentioned her presence. Maybe she was invisible to them. Maybe she was his own guardian angel. This thought almost made him laugh in amusement.
The two elders already awaited him, standing tall and proud while he kneeled down in front of them. The shinobi stepped back into the shadows. Once again no one questioned the girl's presence.
"Kakuzu, how are you feeling?" the old man on the right asked but his voice wasn't concerned at all.
"I am feeling much better, thank you."
"We are glad to hear that" the woman continued but he sensed her lying. "You were on the brick of death and it wasn't sure if you'd survive."
"So tell us… the mission… was it a success?"
He bit his lip, his eyes narrowing on the floor, not daring to look at his superiors while shame rose inside of him.
"No" he finally whispered out. "I am sorry but I lost. The Hokage was too strong." Heavy silence followed. He could feel their cold judging gazes piercing through him, making him shift uncomfortably.
"Unforgiveable!" the man hissed.
"We put our hope in you Kakuzu and this is how you repay us? In failing the most important mission you ever had?"
"You survived the battle but if you had lost you would have died on the battlefield like a true shinobi! You ran away!"
"For this disloyalty you will be punished!"
His head shot up. "But I carried out the mission!" he protested loudly. "I fought the first Hokage but couldn't win against his wood release. I came back here to tell you about the fight so that we can develop a strategy to win the next time!"
"There won't be a next time" the man growled. He looked down at Kakuzu with detest like he'd stare at an ugly insect. "Because of your failure Hashirama Senju is now warned."
"Yes you failed Kakuzu and put disgrace upon Takigakure. You will face the consequences of your betrayal." With that the shinobi who had waited in the shadows rushed forward and pinned him to the ground, chaining his hands behind his back and putting a sack over his face. He struggled but was still too weak to put up a fight.
"What are you doing?!" he heard the girl yell. "He did what you ordered him to do and risked his freaking life for your fucking mission you old geezer! He did everything to come back here alive! You should bow down to him instead of treating him like this you ungrateful snobs!"
He was surprised by her outburst. So his guardian angel could curse he thought amused and then something hit the back of his head.
They put him into a dirty cell in the dungeon. Ripped him off his clothes and chained him to the wall. Tortured him. Starved him. Denied him his sleep. Broke his body again and again and again. Took away his pride.
The only thing keeping him alive was this warm energy coming from the girl every time she touched him. She never let him alone but was always standing right next to his side, looking at him desperately and sadly, whimpering and flinching with every new wound he received. She didn't seem to have a physical body and so couldn't help him out of there.
In the end they threw him into the darkest pit they had to offer and left him there to rot. There was only darkness surrounding him. Pitch-black thick darkness.
Why? No matter what he did he couldn't stop the questions from circling through his head. What had he done wrong? How did he, a proud shinobi, end up here? Forgotten? He was going to die here and no one would care. After everything he'd risk for the sake of this village, for the elders… He had crawled back to this village and this is how they repaid him.
Anger rose inside of him. These damn bastards… They probably had sent him to this mission to get rid of him. And when this hadn't worked they had thrown him into their own dungeon, left to croak.
He growled.
He would show them… He would show them that he wouldn't bite the dust that easily. He would make them pay.
"Girl, give me as much of that energy as you can" he growled. He knew she was there even though he could neither see nor sense her.
"What are you going to do?" she timidly asked. Her voice came directly from behind him. He glared into the darkness.
"I'll rip them apart." His voice was thick with hatred and anger. He could feel her hesitate. "Just do it, brat!" he snapped.
She didn't say anything but a moment later he felt the warm feeling engulfing him. It wasn't exactly chakra but something way more powerful that made his own chakra rise drastically while in the same time had a healing effect.
The warmth left as abruptly as it had come. She still didn't say anything. He could feel her big sad eyes look on him but currently didn't give a fuck about it. She wasn't the one who had to endure the torture, humiliation and pain after spending all of her life as a loyal shinobi doing everything to serve that hypocritical village.
He stood up and flexed his muscles. Carefully he stepped forward until he touched the wall. Collecting chakra in his hand he broke it down.
He was pissed. He was angry. He was ready to kill every person that crossed his way. He wanted to destroy the village's pride like it had destroyed his.
This time the girl didn't follow him. He didn't turn around but left her alone in the darkness of the cell. He didn't need her anymore.
What do you think about it? Do you want to read more or are you bored already? Is there any particular person that should appear next? Please tell me! I'm always open for criticism as long as it's not mean.