Author's note – You might find this a little odd... but maybe that is due to the insanity i enjoy in my life. And Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Only i want those Sound-nin... One-Shot

Also flaming is allowed but don't do it too much... please give me constructive critism so my next stories will flourish!

The Boy and the Snake

The boy ran through the streets of his local district and clutched a brown paper bag. Shouts could be heard thoughout the district and people poked their heads out of the doors and windows to see what was happening. Immediately they shut them and the sound of clicking locks could be heard. Unfazed, the boy still ran, clutching the bag as if it held the secrets of life. The shouting men caught up with the boy and jumped on him. The bag and its contents flew out of the boys arms and onto the street. The bag instead held two loves of bread and the men began to scowl.

"All this running for just two loaves." The first man said.

"Damn kid. We probably got robbed fifty times already right now" the second man said frantically.

"Good point." Said the first man. The two men turned and ran back for their store. The boy struggled to get up and his face was bloody. His eyes swam around the small street he was in, and fell on the bread. His eyes filled with tears as he picked up the dirty bread and began to eat it. He finished both loaves in the span of three minutes and the tears dried up. Instead his eyes were boiling with rage and anger. The boy stood up and walked out of the street and wandered till he tripped and fell into a field of crops. He looked from the ground and noticed that it was behind the small bakery that he stole from. An evil grin wiped his face as he took out a small cutting knife from his belt and cut the stalks of wheat and barley. He stopped halfway through the field when he heard loud cursing, enriched with rage. He turned and saw the man who, with the other man, chased him around the whole town. His eyes were red with fury and his hands bled as his nails dug deeply into his palms. The other man appeard from behind the bakery and he held a large knife, most likely used to cut meat off bones due to its large size. The boy looked scared. I mean who wouldn't be? The men advanced toward the boy, yelling and cursing at him for their destroyed crops. The boy ran through the fields, his knife long forgotten in the wheat stalks. He ran like his life depended on it, which in fact did, and never stopped. Only until he realised that there were no footsteps besides his own did he realise that he was alone once again. His feet slowed down, he looked behind him and no one was there. Letting his relief get the best of him he sighed and smirked. Feeling proud of himself, he turned back the way he was running and his face turned pale. A group of people, all owners of stored he stole from, were there with their own tool or weapon. A knife, a pitchfork, a wooden board, a piece of stale bread, everything imaginable was there. He felt like he was going to die, that gut feeling like you've swallowed butterflies. There was a gust of wind, a leaf fell down at his feet, a sound pierced the sky with a shrill noise like a million birds singing at once. Only this noise, wasn't a noise. It was a sound. A beautiful melody that would entrance any lover of music. This music soothed through the boy's ears and made him feel relaxed. He was broken from his trance when blood dripped on his face. He looked ahead and saw that the people's ears were bleeding, their eyes popped, their mouth's looked like portals to hell as each one screamed out a sound like agonising burning. The red of their mouths looked like burning lava and seared through their throats as they burned. He soon realised he wasn't looking at an illusion as the bodies of burning people fell at his feet, the stench overwhelming his nose as he grabbed his nose and pinched his crying eyes. The sound stopped and the smell was gone. He opened his eyes and looked at the bodies on the floor. He realised that they were not burning, but just bleeding profusely. He saw a man's face in the pile of bodies and saw that his face was... faceless. His head consisted of nothing but bone, hair, scalp and melted muscles and eyes. When he heard a footstep behind him he froze sharply and shook. A cold, pale hand touched his shoulder and though cold, felt soothing. He turned and noticed the face of a man, about the age of thirty or fourty. His face was pale with markings at his eyes that give a sort of snake-like appearance. His hair flowed by his gaunt face and his earrings, the crescent and circle, looked like snake eyes. His robe was perfectly clean and the hem was as white as a unicorn. His other hand was covered but it looked like it was holding a scroll of sorts. The boy stopped shaking and stared into the man's slitted eyes. His hand shook into fists and flew at the man's face. The boy suddenly found his face was eating dirt, and his hands were numb. Panic-stricken, he moved his arms to his face and felt relieved to see that his his hands were still firmly in place on his arms. He flipped over onto his back and looked at the spot where the man had once been. A snake was there instead. It slithered with lightning speed up the boy's sleeve and bit his right shoulder. A peircing scream was heard in the sky which receded as if it felt the pain in the voice. The boy screamed more as his other arm was bitten. His hands felt like they were going to explode. Then as abruptly as it began, it stopped. His sweat matted brow creased as he looked at his arms. They were perfectly normal. When he looked as his shoulder there were no markings or holes. When he looked at his palms there were holes. When he looked at the place the man was standing before he saw feet. The same pale feet that stuck out at the hem of the man's robe. When the boy looked up and saw his face he had no expression. Instead a hand was in front of his face. The boy grabbed the hand and stood up.

"Come with me and I'll show you what power means." The man said in a slightly hissing voice. He walked off into the shadows and another voice asked.

"What is your name?" The boy showed happiness for the first time since he was a small baby, since his parents had been killed by ninja from the stone. His eyes flowed with tears and he ran into the shadow of evil, following the snake.

"Zaku. Abumi Zaku"