Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto, Marvel, DC or any other comics, games or manga, which I used while writing this...unfortunately.
Note: found a good cover image for my fic, all rights reserved.
Apocalypse, welcome.
Chapter I.
This will not be a story about the boy, who wanted to be a Hokage, this will not be a story about the boy, who wanted revenge. However, it will start very similar. This is a story about freedom. This is a story of how I gained such freedom.
Who I am?
I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Recently everyone started to call me Apocalypse. Well recently, but this story started more than twelve years ago. But let us start from the beginning, when on my life was placed big fat crest.
By my own father no less.
The day I was born, was the happiest and saddest day for my parents. Since my mother was slowly dying from terrible wounds and father was about to follow her, he decided to seal the beast, which inflicted those wounds on them and on countless others, since the area was heavily populated, inside me.
Let's just say that shit nearly instantly hit the fan. Next three years aren't worth mentioning. Beatings, hunts on my birthday, words of the Old Man, who tried to support me and not succumb to the darkness within…
Everything changed, when I was three and half years old.
I found him in the forest. Bleeding. Dying from his wounds. I tried to help him, I wasn't so heartless as I am now. But he just raised his hand and touched my forehead. Later, when I become more stable I understood what happened.
Apocalypse, ancient being from another world tried to overcome my mind, make my body his own. However, when I opened my eyes in some dark place, chained and clad in resized version of the armor that wore that strange man…
I was scared.
Then he came. My colonel Striker to my inner Wolverine.
Danzo Shimura.
He managed to override Hiruzen's opinion, with backing of the council and decided to turn me into a proper weapon for Konoha. However… Apocalypse took care about his soon to be host. They didn't manage to do anything to me, since I was protected by some kind of barrier.
After several operatives had lost their lives, I was left for a while.
Alone. In darkness.
Yet, not so alone as it seemed. There was someone else. The one, who saved me from the fate of being turned into the vessel of the Apocalypse.
Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox.
My second father in way.
His energy filled and shaped me, when I was in my mother's womb. His marks were on my cheeks, for everyone to see, he protected my mind during Apocalypse's assault.
And it was him, who helped me to learn how to control my new powers. Then came the respond from Danzo. He unleashed upon me wave after wave of convicts. But when I decided to give one of the convicts a bit of power, he stopped doing so really fast.
So, from time to time, I gave Danzo super soldiers, with powers, that slowly stopped working. Until one day, he decided to give me a child. Little girl with indigo hair and silver eyes. Her father heard about Danzo's program and decided to make his daughter stronger and if she will die in process, way for the other child, the stronger one, will be cleared.
That's what Hinata told me. She loved all her relatives and didn't disobey her father, since Hanabi, her dear younger sister was next in this… volunteering.
"I will give you power girl. Enough to change your clan, maybe even your world if you dare."
"And what is the price."
"I'm lonely here."
I gave her power. Unmatched speed that dwarfed even Yondaime's in comparison was now in her hands. She was powerful, and she was my first friend.
For the first time in my life I had someone to speak with. Hinata told me about the world outside my underground cage. She told about stars, sky and sun. About her friends, missions and her rival, Satsuki Uchiha.
Danzo, of course, didn't like this, but he was now too powerless to change something. Of course I knew about his little sleeping agent but we both knew how devastating our actions can be. So both of us waited till the other will make a mistake.
And years flew by. Chunin Exams passed, Invasion led by Orika the Snake Sanin had failed, the Third was buried, his grandson, Konohamaru, became the apprentice of Gama Sanin, Jiraya, Tsunade Senju was nominated as the Fifth, Uchiha Satsuki had fled to Orika. All this news came with Hinata, who became apprentice of the Fifth.
But slowly the clouds darkened above the village. The terrorist organization, named Akatsuki, set before themselves a goal to world domination, by collecting all nine Bijuu under their rule. So they decided to set an example, through attack on Konoha, to their supposed Leader, Pain. It was also personal.
Danzo had seen to it.
So Pain attacked Konoha, even before they managed to collect at least one Tailed Beast. I sensed, how they fought. Bravely, yet futile. Jiraya, Tsunade and many others. They fought, with fire in their hearts, yet one by one, they had fallen.
Until Hinata joined the fight.
With my gifts, her bloodline limit and power from the Tsunade's teachings she managed to destroy all but one body of the Pain. Sudden boost in his powers was a nasty surprise for Pain. So when he decided to kill her…
I decided to step in.
Hinata was berating herself. She was so stupid. How could she even think that she can best an opponent, who bested her teacher and countless ninja combined. The fact that she managed to beat several versions of it, while only Konohomaru managed to even hurt one, wasn't enough to stop her from berating herself.
"Now feel the power of the god!" stated Pain, creating the large meteor above Konoha. "Last chance, give me the demon host and I will not kill you!"
"Yahiko, please, there is no demon host within our walls, he is long dead!" screamed Jiraya trying to rise.
"Well, unfortunately then, I will need to destroy Konoha. Because of Danzo's actions… Yahiko's life was lost too." He slowly lowered his hand and meteor started to fall. However, as if it was stopped by something unseen, the meteor slowly stopped, seconds later it just turned into the dust and disappeared on the wind.
"What?" asked Pain. "Who dared?!"
"I did."
Pain turned to the direction where the voice came. There stood the figure in the black robes.
"Who are you? Do you even understand, who you are facing? I'm Pain, I'm the God!" said Nagato, through the Yahiko's body. Newcomer just raised his hand.
"You are pitiful." Tremendous, invisible force crushed into the so-called god and pushed him away from Hinata.
"He has the same powers as Pain?" thought Jiraya.
"Greetings, god." Meanwhile said the figure. "I'm Apocalypse, your average god-slayer." Then he turned to Hinata and gave her his hand.
She took it.
"I thought that you don't care about Konoha?' asked she.
"I do not. But I care about you." Answered he.
He raised his hand and body of Yahiko rose in the air. With the flick of his fingers it turned into dust.
"The original escaped." Said he. "He managed to leave even after all that he did. Yet he failed to do what he desired the most."
"Who… are you?" asked Jiraya slowly raising to his feet.
Instead of answering, the man pooled off his cape. Jiraya gasped. It was Naruto.
"Hinata." Naruto turned to his friend. "Now you must make a choice."
"What are you speaking about?" asked she a bit fearfully.
"Either you go with me, or stay with them." Answered he.
Hinata looked at the ground.
"You will not stay?"
Naruto growled. "They hated me for the burden they placed on me. They kept me in the underground cage for long twelve years… I can feel, how they blame me for Pain's attack on them…"
"But surely, there is a way for us to stay… When I will become Hokage…" when she muttered the last words, Narut understood that no matter what he tried, she will not go. She has already chosen her path, or maybe he set her in it when he gave her power.
"Whatever." He raised his hands and dust started to collect near the buildings, repairing them. Ten minutes later, Konoha was as good as new.
"My last gift to you, Hinata. My dear Lady Hokage." Bowed he as black portal opened behind him.
"Wait!" she appeared between him and the portal. "I will not let you go! There are so many things I wanted to do! I wanted… I wanted…"
His hand touched her cheek. "I still remember, what happened back then, during one of your visits." Whispered he in her ear, as she became as red as tomato. "You don't need words, I understand what you wanted to say." His lips found hers and for several long moments there was nothing but them for each other.
"But I must go." Said he stopping this mystical moment. She lost the sense of time, and her reaction was
a bit rugged. So when he disappeared in portal she didn't manage to follow him.
"NARUTO!" screamed Hinata. "I SWEAR I WILL FIND YOU! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME HERE! NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE!" screamed she to heavens. She was happy when he responded to her feelings. But so angry when he left. Hinata growled. When she will become Hokage, she will get him back, he will not manage to hide from her for too long.
Somewhere else.
He stepped out of the portal, covered by his large cloak. Naruto found himself in some kind of underground room, if the stairway upwards was any clue to his location. He sensed something alive nearby, but there was absolutely nobody nearby.
Then his metal boot stepped into some sort of black goo.
When it instantly completely covered him, he understood what was hiding in this room. A symbiotic organism. Klyntar. Instantly, both of them struggled for control of the body, but unlike previous hosts of the Klyntar this one wasn't alone in this fight.
Mighty roar of Kurama nearly destroyed the mind of the alien, it quickly calculated all his chances for successful overwhelming of his host's mind and gave up.
Since klyntar itself was rather a plus than a minus, so Naruto decided to not get rid of him. Inside of his mind for some long hours he talked with the creature, who started to call itself Venom.
He promised Venom that he can be his host, while he isn't trying anything funny with his brain. Suffering without a partner, Venom happily agreed and only Kurama growled that it is becoming a bit crowded here.
As he managed to know from Venom, who himself found this information in the head of his former host, Peter Parker, this place was either the past or one of the variations of the world, where Apocalypse came from.
A lot of things still haven't happened, Avengers still weren't assembled, world didn't know anything about mutants, Reed Richards still wasn't in space and young hero, going by the alias Spider-Man, just started his career in crime fighting.
From copied memories of Peter Parker, he received a lot of knowledge of genetic science. And the memory about one certain doctor, who worked in hopes of creating the cure that can regenerate limbs to finally return his arm that he lost on war.
Apocalypse smiled. He made even more miraculous deeds.
But at first… he needed to find the part of the symbiont, which was somewhere in this town. Using the abilities of Venom, he tried to sense the missing part, since he was new in usage of such power, he sensed the part weakly.
This time he decided to feel something new, that as he felt from Parker's memories was really enjoyable. Symbiont covered him from head to toe, creating for him a black and white version of Spider-Man's suit.
On the other side of New-York.
Curt Connors nearly ran inside of his laboratory. The sample of the strange organism, given to him by Spider-Man was really interesting. It regenerative and amplifying abilities were beyond anything he had ever seen.
However, when he entered the laboratory, near the sample stood the figure in the black suit, which highly resembled the suit of Spider-Man.
"Finally you are here, dr. Connors. I think we have a lot to discuss." Glass where the sample was, instantly shattered and the black substance jumped on Naruto's opened palm.
"We have a lot to discuss."