I decided to rewrite this to be updated to my current style before posting the next chapter. Sorry folks, but I don't want confusion for new characters or accidents I made. This is my way of fixing things.
Disclaimer: Don't Own Naruto
Chapter One: Monster in the Making
He grew up emotionless and with a cold heart, for no one cared for him. He was bitter because of the hatred the village threw at him. By the time he was four, he had already tried suicide by jumping. His final chance to achieve freedom was foiled when she had to catch him running away from the village on her way back from a mission. He was only armed with a kunai that was most likely stolen from a careless Genin. The frightened look in his eyes made her wonder if he feared all Konoha shinobi or just a few. With him being potentially dangerous, she approached him with caution.
"Back away!" Uzumaki Naruto screamed. He didn't like the way her eyes were red because it made him think of the Uchiha bastards. He didn't cry because his tears were dried up, and he didn't give up because freedom was so close. He did the only thing that he knew would gain him freedom. He sent his kunai through the soft skin of a neck, but that skin didn't belong to the red-eyed Chunin. When he was three, Naruto discovered his like for pain because pain made him alive, so he threw himself off of many buildings along with other pain creators. He stopped reacting to certain things anymore, and every emotion besides fear and hatred were alien.
The neck that he sliced had been his very own. He slit his neck and hoped she'd leave his body alone when he died. He died because it was freedom. Her next move though would shock him completely. She picked him up from where he collapsed and rushed back to the village at a speed only a shinobi could achieve. Nobody stopped her as she burst into the ER. The hospital staff caught a glance of her baggage and turned their backs to the pair. He was going to die; she could just feel his life slipping away as blood continued to soak her front. She frowned. He wasn't going to die today. Not on her watch.
"How can you just stand there as a child dies!" she shouted at the medics. The so-called medics would rather waste their chakra on people who were going to die no matter what instead of a child. "Just heal him! That's your job!" Finally, a medic came forth and healed the neck wound, which was starting to heal on its own, to just a scar. He put a bandage around it to keep Naruto from playing with it and looked at the Chunin.
"Heal him! He's just a child!" Kurenai shouted at the medics. The so-called medics would rather waste their chakra on people that were going to die no matter what instead of a child. "Just heal him! You're supposed to be healers!" One medic did come forth, and he healed Naruto's neck wound that was healing very slowly on its own. He put a bandage around it and looked at the Chunin with pitiful eyes. She felt even angrier with the hospital staff.
"He's in your care now. I've done all I can. He was just trying to please his village once more," the man said with a quick shake of his head and a sigh. He walked away as the Chunin took her chance to leave. She had no clue where Naruto lived, so she took him to her place. He slept in her brother's old room as she dug through her little brother's things in the basement for clothing. The Chunin had lost her brothers and father to the Kyuubi, but she didn't see the boy as the Kyuubi. She couldn't hate this little boy that held the face of an angel.
Naruto woke up in an unfamiliar room that had a nice soft bed. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around the childish room before his eyes rested on the lady from the day before sleeping in a chair. He calmed himself down and decided that escape was his best option. He touched his neck where the bandage covered his scar. He'd remove them later because he needed to leave quickly. He tried to quietly slip out of the bed, but a hand grabbed his arm. The lady was awake and didn't look happy.
"I'm Yuhi Kurenai," the lady said. Naruto didn't make any motions that he understood what she was saying. Kurenai just had to trust that he might. "Why do you want to die?" Tears were blinked away from her eyes as he cocked his head to the side. How many times did he hear that question? "Do you want to die?" Naruto nodded. Kurenai closed her eyes and forced herself to be calm. "I don't want you to die. You're just a little confused about your place in the world." Naruto backed away from her touch until his back hit the wall the bed was against. He stared at her with cold blue eyes. Kurenai saw the hurt within those orbs and knew that she couldn't help him alone. "Naruto, let's make a promise." Naruto blinked and looked interested. "Promise me that one day, you'll smile for me." Naruto watched her outstretch her pinky and kept rehearing her words in his mind. He looked up at her red eyes. He could make this promise, so he linked his pinky with hers and was set free from her home. "Can't keep you forever, can I?" Naruto shrugged and walked down the streets to home.
Naruto was home before he looked at the clothing he wore. The kind Chunin had given him a black long sleeve t-shirt with the words, 'Lil' Tigers' on the front in white with the number eleven. The brown cargo pants were a little long, but they were okay. Both items were old and worn to the point where the black was almost a dark grey. Naruto figured they were a brother's. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and promised in his heart to repay the red-eyed woman that wasn't an Uchiha.
ICECOLD
Twelve-year-old Naruto had gone colder since he met Kurenai. The roughly cut scar going across his neck made everyone a little fearful of him. Unlike the other children, he passed his Genin Exam a special way. He had stolen a scroll, gained the respect of Iruka (a teacher he thought hated him), and beat up a traitor Chunin. The price for all of this was listening to the most boring lecture in the universe. Naruto spent it staring out the window. He barely listened to the teams being called. When it came to Team Seven though, he rolled his eyes at Haruno Sakura's name; she was a weak fan girl. When Iruka said Uchiha Sasuke's name, Naruto felt an old anger bubble in his chest.
"I refuse to be on the same team as one of the idiots from the Bastard clan! I didn't graduate at the bottom of the class, so why am I with him!" Naruto shouted. Some of the fan girls screamed at him and threw things, but Naruto only stared at Iruka with angry eyes. The Chunin hated explaining things to Genin because they grew giant egos most of the time. He didn't need Sasuke's ego getting any bigger. Iruka called for silence of the fan girls.
"Naruto, just because you grew up alone, doesn't mean you can be selfish. The Hokage and I put these teams together because most of the teams have specialties," Iruka started. Everyone was now paying attention. "Naruto, you have a single specialty. You'd work best in assassinations, so whatever team you were to be on was expected to be the Assassination Squad under Hatake Kakashi. He chose Sasuke and Sakura because we didn't know who else to put on the team. You'll just have to deal with it." Iruka let out a long sigh as he looked at the new Genin. How many of them would come back for more training? How many of them would be dead before they were sixteen? He sometimes hated his job. Iruka looked at Naruto, the perfect assassin. The boy reminded the Hokage of Kakashi himself because Naruto had a tendency to live by the book and nothing else. The shinobi rules were life to Naruto.
"Iruka-sensei, you said Team Seven is the Assassination Squad. What do you mean by that?" Yamanaka Ino asked. She was worried about Sakura, but she'd never show it. Iruka frowned before smiling again. He loved teaching kids about the unknown one more time before they left his class forever. It might be better for them to know this anyways because it would affect some friendships.
"In the Third Great Shinobi War, a special Genin squad type was created. The Assassination Squads are linked to the ANBU, and they live the toughest lives. In the war, this type was in charge of killing off leaders and important civilians without getting caught," Iruka said. He knew he had to wrap this up quickly. "Nowadays, to have an Assassination Genin Squad is rare, but they go on missions were there are targets needing to be cut down. They're one of the most important squads to Konoha's welfare." He went back to calling out the names of the teams. The Jonin came and went to collect their students. Sakura watched Naruto with large eyes. He glanced at her.
"Is it true that you once killed a guy for looking at you cross eyed?" Sakura asked. Naruto shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. There must've been a million little squares up there, so he started counting to pass the time. He got up to a million and five hundred thousand before their sensei showed up. He was a silver haired Cyclops, and all he had to do was wave his hand to them to follow. Team Seven shuffled out in a line, and that was the last time anyone except the Hokage who saw them again. None of the new Genin truthfully wanted to know what happened to them.
ICECOLD
Months passed since graduation, and Team Eight and Ten met up at the Chunin Exams. They were all waiting to see if Team Seven made the cut. A couple older Genin glared at the rookies, but they were mainly ignored. A group that had graduated a year ahead of the rookies walked in with a brushy eyebrow kid going on about a rookie group having youthful teamwork. This caught their interests, so they listened in on the one-sided conversation.
"I challenged the unyouthful dark haired one, but they all worked as one! The power of youth keeps them together! I could tell from their strength of each of their punches that they could probably handle a youthful Jonin level or higher alone. All three of them had the same scar on their right cheek. A plus sign! One kid took it too far and put whiskers on each cheek with another going across his neck. So unyouthful. They were dress in an unyouthful black, as if going to a funeral. The snow haired kid told me when I said that 'We don't go to funerals. We make them.' His speech was all in monotone, and the others held the most emotions," the kid rambled on about. The kid's teammates sighed and listened on. "The scarred up kid had the most frightening hate-filled eyes!" Finally, one of the kid's teammates, a Hyuga, told him to shut up. The rookies had no trouble figuring out what team the kid was talking about just because of the hate-filled eyes and scars. The door opened for another team. "That's the team!" All eyes fell on three cold faced Genin that were Team Seven. The eyebrow kid wasn't joking about the scar or clothes.
They all wore Jonin standard black cargo pants with regulation pouches. Naruto wore a black sleeveless with a long sleeve fishnet shirt underneath. Sasuke and Sakura had on long sleeved black shirts. They each had a sword strapped to their backs, and who knew what other weapons were hidden. Naruto and Sasuke both wore black, fingerless gloves without the metal plate while Sakura's had the plate on the back. The real deal sealer was the sight of seeing an unlit cigarette dangling from Naruto's mouth.
"So, Rookie Nine is now all here," Kiba said. He grinned as he led his team over. Ino attempted to latch herself onto Sasuke, but Sakura and Naruto blocked her with their arms. No one had seen them move to behind Sasuke or Sasuke giving a command. "Wow, Naruto. Finally better than being dead last. I thought you hated the Uchiha clan?" Naruto shrugged as he backed away from Sasuke.
"When Team Seven is together, we are Flame, Fox, and Flower. As soon as Founder or Hokage-sama, dismisses us from our duties, we become Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Haruno. I apologize, Inuzuka-san, because your brain might not understand the difference," Naruto said with a yawn. This only proved to make Kiba madder. This time though, Naruto didn't need to be rescued by his teammates.
"You shouldn't be so loud, rookies," a silver haired Genin said. He pushed up his glasses and looked at them with a friendly face. "I'm Kabuto." Naruto didn't trust this guy. He began to show the rookies shinobi cards. Kiba asked about seeing the cards on Team Seven's members. Kabuto tried to show them, but what came up was a message about the information being classified without Hokage's permission.
"Alright, you weak links," Ibiki shouted. He walked in and passed the rookies. On his way past, he took Naruto's unlit cigarette. The other Chunin proctors when to their places without the bear of a man moving from standing in front of Naruto. The room seemed to hold its breath as Naruto and Ibiki stared at each other. Ibiki looked back at the cigarette, laughed, and gave it back. Everyone was shocked. "What kind of shinobi smokes mint flavored cigs? Every shinobi knows to smoke odorless unless they're off duty and in the village. Kid, I guess you need bigger balls to smoke regular cigarettes." Ibiki chuckled and went to walk away, but Naruto grabbed his wrist. "What now, little boy?" Naruto sighed.
"Ever hear about the group of shinobi that slaughter missing ninjas left and right with a mint scent left behind?" Naruto asked. Ibiki figured this kid was just another copy cat, but it was still better than nothing. He nodded. "I'm one of them. I'm the minty fresh guy." Naruto had whispered it with a crazed look in his eyes. Ibiki backed off and went into explaining the rules of the test quickly.
ICECOLD
Ibiki walked into the Jonin lounge room and grabbed Kakashi's collar. He shoved three papers into the masked Jonin's face. Kurenai and Asuma looked at the papers as well. They were from the Chunin exams. Ibiki looked angry, so Kakashi's team must've done something to tick the guy off. Asuma spotted it first. All three papers were identical except for the handwriting. Every single picture and word was perfectly the same. It was unheard of for three Genin to be this good.
"Not once were they caught cheating! The papers show the same exact answers!" Ibiki shouted. He let go of Kakashi's collar as Kurenai sniffed the air and laughed. A glare was sent her way by the examiner. He smelled of mint. "That white haired brat had the nerve to smoke his girly cigs in the middle of the test too!" Kakashi laughed as Asuma and Kurenai were confused. Who was the white haired Genin on Kakashi's team? "What's so funny?" Naruto was definitely a strange child.
"Naruto's cigarettes go with his strongest Katon technique. He invented green flames that hold a mint scent rather than smoky. These flames don't burn. They melt whatever they touch," Kakashi said. Ibiki glared at them and took back his comments on the girly cigs. He turned and marched out. Kurenai wanted to know about Naruto's hair. Kakashi looked at their confused faces. "Naruto's hair?" They nodded. "Naruto was captured once as part of the plan. The variable was what they would do to him. They injected him with a poison. It failed to kill him before I could give him the antidote, and Naruto's hair had turned white within a few days." Kurenai remembered the four-year-old blonde. She remembered his promise to her. Kakashi was gone before anymore questions could be asked.
"Damn! I didn't think that brat could be so bold," Asuma said. He laughed on his way out, leaving Kurenai to puzzle on Naruto's life under Kakashi's teachings.
ICECOLD
In the Forest of Death, night had fallen rather quickly, and Naruto couldn't help but dream of a lady with red-not-Uchiha eyes that had a musical voice. He never threw out the clothes she had given him because someday, he was going to give them back with the smile he practiced in the mirror when nobody was around. He only smiled when he thought of her, and it made his search for her stronger.
Orochimaru attacked the next morning. Naruto gritted his teeth as the Sannin bit his leg and injected him with some sort of poison. It felt like everything was on fire before a bunch of cuts suddenly exploded open on his body. He lost consciousness due to pain that had started going numb. Sasuke was out with a weird bruise on his neck, leaving Sakura alone to fight. She growled and knew that she couldn't stand a chance against Orochimaru. Thankfully and wordlessly, Orochimaru left.
"Stupid boys," Sakura muttered as she carried her teammates to lower ground. They refused to run because Naruto never ran since their worse mission. Sakura knew she'd protect them with her life as she began First Aid on Naruto. She unsealed a large axe from a scroll and prepared for a long night of sitting by her unconscious teammates. She would not leave that spot for hours.
Naruto woke up to Shikamaru and Ino poking him. They stopped when they noticed him awake and backed up to give him space. He moved to get up and winced. It was extremely painful to move even the tiniest bit. He forced himself to stand and hide the pain. He rushed away with Team Seven as they hunted down another team quickly. They were at the tower before nightfall on the third day. He opened the one scroll while Sasuke opened the other. As soon as he dropped his scroll, he collapsed, and, as soon as Iruka showed up, he passed out. Sakura and Sasuke were frozen with shock as Iruka rushed to see what was wrong. Naruto wasn't breathing.
"We need a medic!" Iruka shouted. Those very words would forever bother Sakura and Sasuke because they've seen Naruto brush off life threatening injuries and do things they couldn't. Something about the crack in Iruka's voice made them realize that Naruto was gone.
ICECOLD
Naruto woke up in a numbing pain. He looked around him with half opened eyes and noticed he was in the infirmary. He failed an attempt to tune out the beeping machines. They refused to quit telling him he was still alive and kicking. Naruto glanced at the side of the bed with the morbid thought of having nobody around. Kakashi was the only one there with a grim eye. Naruto didn't feel like talking to this man at the moment. He had to get back onto his feet and go to the next test. He had to become a Chunin. He wasn't going to have it end this way.
"You're no longer in the exams," Kakashi said, sadly. He looked at the machines with a far off look. "These machines are the only things keeping you alive until we can arrest Orochimaru to get the antidote." Kakashi looked at Naruto. "Fox, we won't let you die, so we've decided to pull you out." Naruto sighed and looked at his hands. They were scarred and ugly from the rough training and missions he went through and looked strange to him without the gloved. He tightened them into fists, ignoring the pain. He looked at Kakashi with determined eyes, something that Kakashi never saw in Naruto.
"I'm staying in the exams. She'll be out there watching, and I have to show her my smile before I kick the bucket!" Naruto said. He shocked the Jonin with an emotion that had flashed in his eyes for a split second. Kakashi knew he was the final deciding factor on Naruto's fate in the exams. Without talking, Kakashi walked out and pretended not to notice the hurt on Naruto's face. It would be a memory forever burned within his memory. He almost wanted to turn around and say the two words Naruto wanted to hear, but he couldn't. He forced himself out of the room.
Naruto was allowed to stay in the exams with one condition. He had to be able to walk out of the infirmary for his match. He listened for his name on the intercom with his hand tight around the wires. He wore only black pants because the shirt would just be in the way, and his shoes were lost along with his gloves. When he finally heard his name against Inuzuka Kiba, he ripped out the cords with a stifled scream. He walked out to his match with the wall being his support.
"You can't expect me to fight a guy who is injured," Kiba said, watching Naruto limp over. Hayate shrugged. "He can barely stand without shaking, and I don't want to hurt him any more than he is." Naruto panted and looked at the dog boy. He couldn't muster up a glare at that moment and just wanted to be back with the machines. They were better company at least. "Naruto, think of your health." Up in the stands, Kurenai watched Naruto's face. He grinned large and proud as she choked back tears. He kept to his promise.
"Inuzuka-san, I'm going out like all shinobi should. With a bang," Naruto said. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it as Hayate shouted go. Everyone in the stands couldn't believe the smile Naruto showed as Kiba and Akamaru charged him. No one in the building was aware that his heart was starting to slow down and give up. His mind was starting to shut down too. "Goodbye Kurenai-chan. Thank you." Kurenai couldn't believe what was happening and had to turn away. She didn't hear what Naruto said, but this was the same little boy she rescued. The same cold little boy that was ready to die.
Kiba and Akamaru fell victim to Naruto's second strongest jutsu. The green flames acted as a skin poison that froze up their muscles. It was simple to knock Kiba out with a punch. Naruto dropped his cigarette to the concrete floor and stomped on it with his bare foot. There was a little bit of clapping, but Naruto barely heard it as he began to vomit blood. His eyes were wide, but his mouth was smile as he fell to the ground. He could feel his heart giving everything to keep beating as he looked up. She had jumped down and was holding his head on her lap. He raised a hand to catch a fallen tear.
"I've always loved you. You showed me happiness…kindness," Naruto whispered. Kurenai smiled and brushed some of his white hair from his face as his heart gave its final beats. Everyone in the stadium knew she wasn't going to let him just die, but she began crying. Sakura looked down at him with sad eyes before turning away. Not one of the medics would even look at him, and Kakashi was working on restarting the heart with electric chakra. Burnt flesh could be smelled a mile away.
"Damn it, Fox! I told you to quit! Why can't you just listen?" Kakashi asked no one. He gritted his teeth and charged the chakra in his hands one final time. He wasn't allowed to go on and would have to declare Naruto dead. Something he truly didn't want to. His hands touched the bare skin causing it to jump a bit, and Kakashi lowered his ear to listen. Not a single sound came from the body. Too late. "Naruto! You should've listened!" Kakashi was shouting without a care.
"Winner is late Uzumaki Naruto. Neither fighter moves on," Hayate announced. He looked at Kakashi, who only stared at his hands that couldn't save. He glanced at Kurenai, who stared at the Hokage with hopelessness. What Hayate and no one else noticed was the twitch in Naruto's hand as the medics finally took the body away. Kurenai quickly moved to check on her students because the dead take a second place to the living. During the rest of the matches, she couldn't remove the picture of a four-year-old blonde boy gripping a stolen kunai out of fear of death by her hands. He looked human in her first memory of him, and when he grinned, she could see that little boy wanting freedom. Too late.
