Naruto: Demon of Steel
Author's Note: This is a response to Zeus501's 'Demon of Steel' challenge. By the way, the actual chapters will be around a thousand to three thousand words, pinky promise.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Warnings: Moderate Harem (Six), Neglect-fic, Twin-fic, Profanity, Suggestive Language, Violence, Character Death, Sexual Content/Lemons (in the distant future), Gender Bending, Age Manipulation, and Crossover (Ruroni Kenshin)
- No, I'm not going to bash characters especially Sasuke and Sakura; on the other hand, Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya will seem like it but nothing extreme.
Harem: Shizuka, Female Haku Yuuki, Older Hanabi Hyuuga, Karin Uzumaki, Female Itachi Uchiha, and Ino Yamanaka
Minor Pairings: Minato/Kushina, Aoshi/Misao, Gaara/Hinata, Neji/Sakura, Shishio/Yumi, Sai/Naruki, Mangetsu/Guren, Omoi/Kin, Shikamaru/Temari, Suigetsu/Tayuya, Sora/Honoka, Yutaro/Ami, Idate/Yakumo, Shino/Hotaru, Lee/Tenten, Hayate/Yugao, Chouji/Ayame, Kiba/Karui, Asuma/Kurenai, Sanosuke/Megumi, Ranmaru/Samui, Iruka/Anko, Kakashi/Hana, Konohamaru/Kaede, Obito/Rin, Seta/Amaru, Udon/Moegi, Genma/Shizune, Yahiko/Sae, Sasuke/Koyuki, Kenshin/Kaoru
Chapter 00
What is family? Most would define it as a group of blood related people living in a household who are all magically supposed to love one another and be there for each other no matter what, right? Well, Naruto didn't think so in the slightest. He had a family, if you could call them that, they were related by blood sure, but they didn't really "love" him or were "there for him no matter what", in fact his family felt like strangers to him. Sure, he knew all their likes, dislikes, favorites, pet peeves, and everything under the sun but they didn't know anything about him on a personal level.
They never invited him to their family outings; even if he did attend, he would only be a shadow following them in the distance. At times they forget to tell him dinner's ready or to remind him about the Academy. His parents never tucked him in at night; his mother never kissed his forehead or sung him a lullaby, his father never taught him how to mold his chakra or how to fight, his sister never played with him or annoyed him to death to hang out with her – they never interacted with him.
At times he use to wish, desperately, that his parents would at least scold him for leaving the toilet seat up after using it, for forgetting to brush his teeth, for eating sweets before dinner time, anything to show him that they at least acknowledged his existence. Sometimes it worked, in the beginning at least, but it was usually his mother who played the "mean parent", his father, on the other hand, always seemed to be too busy to notice him even when his pranks had him as the target. It frustrated Naruto to no end. He wanted to belong, to be noticed, to be wanted, and most importantly to be loved.
He honestly couldn't remember truly being a part of his family. Everyone, including his supposed godparents and his parents' friends, hell the entire village, were too busy doting on his younger sister to even glance in his direction much less remember that he was breathing most of the time. It was always, "look at what Naruki did", "Naruki is so talented, just imagine how strong she will be in the future", "Naruki is such a cute child I bet she'll be even more beautiful than Lady Kushina when she gets older", or his favorite "why can't you be more like Naruki?"
Frankly, it sucked, to live your life being pushed aside for your sibling literally by everyone around you for a majority of your life, was heartbreaking – it gnawed at your heart and twisted your mind. He couldn't remember the last time his mother hugged him, he couldn't recall a time where his father ever said he was proud of him, he couldn't remember at time where Naruki ever said she looked up to him. Nothing, it was also though he didn't exist in their eyes – they never hit him for no reason, they never said a harsh word to him, they never starved him, or anything of the sort. They just forgot about him and didn't truly care about his well being, which was made shockingly clear when he was denounced as the Clan heir and subsequently banished from the Clan entirely due to Konoha's Clan Laws. They basically gave him a forced emancipation from his – no, their family. It was like a slap in the face. Did he really mean that little to them? What did he do to deserve being so unloved by them? Was it something he did, said, didn't do?
It hurt but eventually the hurt he felt turned into anger, anger turned into hatred, but that hatred soon melted into indifference, if his family didn't care about him, why should he? If they could give him an emotion, why should he waste his time feeling anything towards them? Why should he always have to be the one to start conversations? Why should he always have to be the one to say, "I love you"? Why should he continuously ask for training only to be scolded or brushed aside? The answer is, he shouldn't. Even though a part of him still loved his family unconditionally, he couldn't get over the abandonment he felt towards them.
From that moment, he made a vow, a vow to pave his own path outside of Fire Country. He even made a blood oath to never let anything stop him from his dream; to be powerful enough to protect his loved ones, and he'll be damned if anything happens to them.
He knew by leaving that he was leaving his precious people with heavy hearts. But he knew they would understand, they always had.
His precious people; Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku, Shikamaru Nara, Hinata and Hanabi Hyuuga, the Uchiha family consisting of Sasuke, Mitoko, Fugaku, and Itachi, Iruka Umino, and his cute little adopted siblings; Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi, they were the only ones who loved him in the village.
Nevertheless, to be sure, he would leave each of them a letter to explain his actions and a small gift to show his appreciation of the love they have always showed him and hopefully he could see them soon. But in the meanwhile, he had a future to plan.