UPDATE: 5/14/18
HELLO, I HAVE RETURNED. For anyone still with fanfiction who has this on follow, I've started a proper rewrite as a new story. Check it out, maybe. Cheers, Cy.
Blood Ties
Chapter One: Knowledge is Power
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook with cold fury.
He read the paper in front of him for the fifth time, although he already knew its contents intimately. They were the cause of his emotional state, after all.
"Petition for the Execution of Uzumaki Naruto" was printed in bold text at the top of the page. To the right was the seal of the civilian council; to the left, the seal of the shinobi council. Two short paragraphs were below, written in the elegant flowing hand of the insufferable bastard Fugaku, explaining the reasoning and desires of the petitioners clearly and concisely.
It was a preventative measure, they said. None of the signers hated the boy, they said. It was unwise to allow him to live, when his death guaranteed the death of his prisoner, they said. Why yes, of course none of it was motivated by revenge. Everyone just had the best interests of the village at heart, with no concern for half a decade of grief and anger.
Most obnoxious of all was the idea that killing Naruto would kill the beast sealed inside him. That was presumptuous in the extreme, but no one seemed able to notice. The seal was an invention of the fourth hokage and had only ever been used once—on Naruto, no less—and no matter where he looked, Hiruzen hadn't been able to find anything on the death of a Jinchūriki. No one knew anything! And they thought killing him was the safe option?
Hiruzen clenched his hand into a fist, crumpling the paper. His arm shook from trying to reign in his anger, but it raged too fiercely. The crack of his desk boomed through his office, and when he pulled his fist from the wood small drops of blood fell to its surface. He'd explained all of it to them, down to the most minute and insignificant detail. Explained over and over, time and again, that they needed Naruto, that his death was just as risky as his life.
This wasn't some policy up for debate, or a trial for a traitor! No, this involved a concerted effort to get rid of their one major deterrent. Without the threat of a Jinchūriki, Iwagakure was certain to incite war again, and Konoha wouldn't be able to retaliate. Somehow, Konoha's supposedly most intelligent had embraced the idea that keeping Naruto alive was more dangerous than war.
As it was, Hiruzen had barely kept Naruto's status hidden from outsiders. The one spy they'd caught had assumed the boy to be nothing more than an orphan pariah, the son of a murderer or some other brutal and despised criminal. If word ever got out that their Jinchūriki was a child, or that he was killed, Konoha would almost certainly be crushed into the dust.
Even after he'd made all of that clear as day, going so far as to reveal highly classified interrogation transcripts, the belief that the Kyūbi could escape had still spread like wildfire through the more intelligent ranks of Konoha. In fact, it had seemed to speed up. It had to have been ignited by someone; fire didn't just burn that intensely on its own. Not through his ninja, and certainly not through Konoha's council.
Was it Fugaku, insulted that Hiruzen didn't think the Uchiha enough of a deterrent on their own? It could be, those Uchiha had been acting rather more irate and arrogant than usual. Or was it Danzō, in some complicated ploy to claim the boy as one of his "tools"? The very idea of betrayal infuriated him, and the petition itself was a betrayal of the highest order. But the thought that one of his shinobi had set everything in motion? He had to clench his teeth until his jaw felt like it would snap to keep from thrashing something, anything.
Deep breaths, calming breaths. Now wasn't the time for anger; it wasn't the time to get overwhelmed. Pulling the splinters from his hand, he uncrumpled the petition and looked at it again.
Not everyone had agreed. The representative of the Aburame clan, the Artisan's representative, and Danzō had all stood behind Hiruzen, but the remainder of the combined council was firmly against the boy remaining alive. There was no use in fuming and fretting any longer. Ruining his desk and shredding the petition wouldn't unearth the person behind this.
He picked up his stamp and ink pad from where they'd fallen to the floor and slammed the ink-coated rubber onto the paper. In the corner of the page, bold and red, "Denied." For all the appeasement he partook of to allow the current state of affairs to remain, he appreciated the power of position more than he had in many years. The leader of the village, Hokage, wasn't simply an empty title; he didn't just lead the village, he controlled its fate.
Brushing the paper to the side, he opened a drawer and withdrew a white cloth. He wrapped it tightly around his hand, turning from his desk to the enormous window at his back. Naruto wouldn't ever be executed unless the combined council could reach a unanimous decision, which had not happened once in its fifteen years of existence, and wouldn't happen now so long as Danzō still desired Naruto as a tool. The small victory didn't blind Hiruzen to the resilience of the vengeful; whoever had orchestrated this affair would try again. Failure breeds desperation, and Hiruzen fully expected an assault on the boy. Security would have to be stepped up.
However, that amount of preparation wouldn't be sufficient. He needed a long-term plan—something, anything, to keep Naruto safe. Gazing down at his village, bathed in the scarlet light of sunset, he observed its citizens. From up at the top of the administrative tower, every person looked like no more than an ant, and the throngs milling about seemed as though the anthill had regurgitated its entire population.
If only getting rid of his adversaries were as easy as squashing an ant.
Hiruzen's musings were interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door. He turned and gave his desk an annoyed glare. It wouldn't do to have any evidence of his explosion of anger, but there was nothing for it. Today of all days, he couldn't afford to simply send this visitor away.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly to reveal an ANBU with vertical silver hair. His face was hidden by an animal mask, but the hokage easily recognized the young man.
"Hokage-sama," he said with a slight bow.
"What can I do for you Kakashi?"
"It's about Naruto," the silver haired ANBU replied in a monotone.
Ah, not good. Getting visited by any on-duty shinobi during a festival was bad enough, but mentioning Naruto was always a disaster. Even when the brat had just been playing base pranks on some shopkeeper or other. But that wouldn't be the case today.
No, this meant one of two things; either someone had an incredible back-up plan with the foresight that Hiruzen would disagree on Naruto's execution, or a citizen attacked him of their own volition. Today was the one day where tensions were the highest and security was the worst—the anniversary of the defeat of the Kyūbi—so it wasn't inconceivable. With memories of the catastrophe still fresh in the minds of many of Konoha's citizens, the relaxing of inhibitions brought on by alcohol and raucous festivities could drive someone to go after Naruto. But most people shouldn't be able to find him that easily, and definitely shouldn't be able to corner him.
His mind cooled down, and he looked to Kakashi.
"How bad is the situation?"
"He's been attacked. He was able to somehow kill his assailant and escape, but we've been unable to locate him. The other ANBU on patrol are searching as we speak."
Hiruzen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course his intuition was right. It just had to be, all the damn time. "Are you sure of this Kakashi?"
"Yes, hokage-sama. I discovered the body and initiated the search. It… it doesn't look good though. There was… more than enough blood to get the scent, but I found it too late and it was already lost in the crowds. But that's not the greatest concern."
Hiruzen raised both eyebrows high. Not the greatest concern? Things got worse? What, did they find an Iwagakure shinobi? Wouldn't that be a joy!
"The assailant received multiple deep stab wounds and had both hands severed. No one sensed any of the Kyūbi's chakra at the scene, but it almost certainly had a hand in this. But even if the Kyūbi is influencing Naruto, his wounds must be severe, probably fatal. This may be a recovery mission now, hokage-sama."
Well, worse was relative. The Kyūbi couldn't be involved, even a sliver of its chakra would've tipped off Kakashi's hounds, but most would find some way to convince themselves that it meant the Kyūbi had taken full control of Naruto.
"How many know of the incident, Kakashi?"
The man took a moment to answer. "Five including myself, hokage-sama."
All right, so it could stay secret. There'd be some other way to cover up this shinobi's death, probably some scapegoat. There was that young Inuzuka who just couldn't seem to stop from injuring his allies. Ah, but he was getting ahead of himself. Naruto first.
Whether the Kyūbi had been involved in fending off the assault wasn't important; it would keep Naruto alive as long as possible. That amount of involvement from the beast was certain. Now they just had to find the boy and stabilise him.
If Naruto hadn't come here…
Not good. He'd have to spend more time with the boy, build greater trust and dependency. Still, he had more to work with than anyone else in Konoha, especially if there was no scent to find. He turned to face his window again. The scarlet washing over the village was growing darker. If they couldn't find Naruto before dark, that could pose a serious problem. They needed him alive.
There weren't many places in the village Naruto would flee to, if he hadn't come to the tower. There were alleyways and training grounds littering the entire village, but Naruto would never feel safe there. Hiruzen scanned the village that lay before him, the festival lanterns beginning to make themselves visible as daylight dwindled. Abandoned buildings? Sewers? Library? School?
Sarutobi discarded every idea, and barely stopped the growl forming in his throat. They didn't have the time for this. He looked over to the Hokage Monument, hoping to find inspiration from Naruto's father. He locked his eyes to the dead grey eyes of the carvings. Then inspiration struck.
"I believe I know where Naruto is."
Kakashi looked at his leader expectantly, muscles coiled and ready to spring into action.
"You may go Kakashi. Continue the search as a precaution, but I will find Naruto myself."
Kakashi froze for a moment in surprise, the tension in him slowly draining away, before bowing and hurrying from the room. The hokage sat in his chair in contemplation for a moment, and a moment was all it took for him to confirm his conclusion. Naruto was atop the hokage monument, unknowingly drawn to the comfort of his father, though the man was unknown to the boy and long dead.
For him to have gone there could only mean the worst.
Hiruzen acted instantaneously upon reaching his conclusion, suddenly disappearing from where he sat in a rush of air. A slight burst of air in the street next to the tower housing his office marked his reappearance, startling the crowds milling about near the festival plaza. Ignoring their gawking, he immediately took off running before he disappeared again mid-step. He moved across town faster than he ever had before, reappearing and disappearing in bursts of air as he used consecutive shunshins to push his speed to its limits.
A minute after Hiruzen left his office, he arrived near the monument, appearing silently in the forest behind it. He ran towards the forest's edge, but slowed as he neared the exit, not wanting to frighten the boy. Of course, that was assuming that he was correct and the boy was here at all. If he wasn't…
The exit from the forest was abrupt and the hokage had to shield his eyes from the direct view of the setting sun. As soon as his vision adjusted, he saw a silhouette near the edge of the cliff, clearly outlined by the orange glow bathing the entire cliff. As he closed the distance, he saw that it was a small blond boy and he felt no small amount of relief flood through him. He had found Naruto.
However, as the hokage drew closer to the boy he felt something amiss. Naruto was too still; too quiet. He should still be whimpering or crying. Unless… he'd already fallen unconscious. That could only bode ill. If adrenaline, fear, and the Kyūbi combined couldn't keep him up, death was a serious possibility.
Throwing caution to the wind, he sprinted to the boy's side, skidding to a stop and crouching down. No reaction. Damn. He gave the boy a quick once-over, and noticed a pool of blood filling the cavities in the stony face and running down in a red waterfall. Judging from their position on the cliff and the sheer amount of blood, Minato's stony face would be crying blood soon enough. Not exactly a good omen.
He'd taken long enough. In a single motion Hiruzen scooped the bloody boy into his arms and used a shunshin down to a nearby roof. Feet touched ground for only a moment before he burst away again. With the number of these he'd used, Hiruzen knew he'd not be doing much any time soon.
Relief washed over him when he saw the hospital ahead. Just in time; he only had enough chakra for maybe ten shunshins. With one final shunshin he appeared outside the hospital's doors and burst through them.
The hospital staff was shocked as they watched the hokage sprint past them; every one of the people he passed stood stock-still, frozen by the unprecedented event. Luckily, one of the med-nins was able to recover quickly and started running after the village leader.
Hiruzen stopped at the first empty room he found and ran inside. As he laid the blond on the bed, the med-nin who had been trailing him entered.
"Hokage-sama what's going on?"
The hokage turned to look at the med-nin who had followed him. He saw that she was young; a newly accredited med-nin. He hoped that would make things easier.
"He's been badly wounded. I need you to heal him."
The young woman nodded before moving over to examine the boy. She recognized him immediately; only one person in Konoha had whisker-marked cheeks. His identity did not faze her in the least, though, and she immediately began her treatment.
A green glow engulfed the med-nin's hands as she used a diagnostic jutsu. She swept quickly over the boy's small frame, looking for internal injuries and assessing the damage done. When she finally got a look at him she stumbled back a step and threw her head to the side, retching.
Hiruzen watched impassively as the woman wiped her mouth and returned to work, doing her best to avoid looking at the boy. It was rather grotesque, he had to admit. Most bodies burnt that badly were charred corpses. For someone to still be alive with all of their skin, except for that above the neck, burned away shouldn't have been possible. Ah, the power of a Jinchūriki.
The medic girl began to pant slightly as she did her best to heal the boy. Before Hiruzen could get a second medic to take over for her, she pulled away, wiping the sweat from her brow.
"I've done all I can hokage-sama, his chakra is too depleted to withstand the strain of medical ninjutsu. I'll bandage the wounds and give him an antibiotic; then all he'll need is rest."
The aged village leader smiled warmly at the young woman. A serious medical professional at quite the young age, to be embracing the philosophy of treating everyone who needs it. Well, that was an assumption, but a safe one. He'd had to heal Naruto himself a few times, as a good number of doctors would outright refuse him treatment.
It hadn't started that way, but things had gone farther and farther. And the bastards could get away with it because he needed them, and they knew it. If at some point things changed, he had quite the list. Ah, but it was only a dream. At least there was someone skilled who hadn't been swept up in the fervour.
"Miss, what is your name? If you don't mind me asking, of course."
Her eyes went wide. "Uh, ah... Nadare."
"Well, Nadare, thank you for taking care of Naruto."
"Thank you hokage-sama." She said with a deep bow. Yes, should would do nicely. He'd have to make sure whatever oh so convincing argument turned so many others against Naruto didn't affect her. It couldn't be allowed to even reach her; he needed a doctor who would treat Naruto on hand. Replacing Ikuto wasn't a valid option, but he'd find something for her to do.
As the woman went about completing the civilian treatment of Naruto, the hokage pulled a chair from the nearby table, setting it next to the bed. The woman heard the noise and shot the hokage a questioning look.
"I'll stay until he wakes. It would do him good to see a friendly face."
She nodded in understanding before finishing her treatment and heading for the door. When it closed behind her Hiruzen bot his thumb and grimaced before slamming his hand into the ground. In small puff of smoke a monkey no bigger than a pug appeared.
"Medata, can you take a message to Anbu Headquarters?" The little monkey nodded its head.
"Good. Tell them that Naruto has been found and that he is safe. The search is over, but they need to take the witness to T&I for memory erasure."
With another nod the monkey scuttled over to the room's window and dashed out, leaving it open in its wake. Hiruzen, with his subordinate gone and the room finally empty and quiet succumbed to exhaustion from his intense chakra usage and fell into blissful sleep.
Naruto woke to the strong smell of antiseptics. There wasn't much else, really. He felt pretty weird, but it wasn't bad. Wait, antiseptics? What kind of place smelled like that? The orphanage sure didn't! What was going on, how did he get here! Well, where was here came first.
The simple solution, of course was taking a look around. Naruto opened his eyes, but found his eyelids feeling heavy, like he was really tired. Staying up too late wasn't anything new, so he ignored it and looked all around. It was white. Lots and lots of white.
Awww, it's the hospital! He groaned. The last time he'd been here was from falling down the stairs and tumbling out a window. Sure it had been his fault, but that stupid shopkeeper shouldn't have been so mean! Wait, what was he worried about? Oh, right, he didn't know how he got there. After the…
He shivered. Didn't want to remember that. It took effort to force the memory aside, just think about anything else. Like pranks! There was that one he played on the bullies where—
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a deafening snore. Spinning to face the source of the noise, he saw a familiar wrinkled visage slumped over. Naruto couldn't help but giggle as the man drooled on his robes. He'd never seen the old man asleep before. It was kinda funny. Actually, come to think of it, this was the first time he'd ever been around the old man without being noticed.
Oh, yes. Pranking time. Oddly, though, he found his body quite stiff as he tried to move. He hadn't gotten hurt that bad right? When… Well, that had hurt a lot, but it couldn't slow him down, right? Nothing ever did!
The issue settled in his mind, Naruto carefully lowered himself to the ground and shuffled over to the man in the chair. He tried pushing with all his might, but the chair didn't even budge. Well, that was a bummer. Looking more closely, he thought he'd be able to poke the old man from on the bed. That could work.
Climbing back up wasn't as easy as it should've been, but he made it. Carefully lining his knees up on the edge of the bed, he reached out and was just barely able to reach the old man's chest. This'd teach the old man to tell him to stop playing pranks!
He used every ounce of his five-year-old strength to poke the old man in the chest. With a start he woke, and the momentum of suddenly sitting straight cause the chair to begin to tip.
"Wha-" Was all he got to say before plummeting to the ground in a heap, tangled in the chair.
It actually worked! Naruto was beyond surprised. Well, not really, but he hadn't really been sure if it was going to work or not. He'd have to remember that. When people suddenly sit up straight really fast they fall out of chairs. Oh, the pranking opportunities!
Naruto laughed, a mixture of maniacal and giddy. The old man looked up, his visage a bit stern, but it could never be all that scary. Still, laughing probably wasn't the right thing to do. But he just couldn't stop.
"Good morning Naruto-kun."
Naruto slowly brought his laughing under control, almost too out of breath to continue. Several deep breaths later, he replied to the old man with a wave. "Good morning jiji!"
"Ah, how are you feeling Naruto?"
He almost shouted his usual "Fine!" but he just couldn't. He knew he wasn't fine. He was in the hospital, he was stiff and it hurt a little to move, and he had that memory trying to come up and ruin his good mood. But he didn't want to worry the old man!
Hiruzen furrowed his brows as Naruto's response became ever more belated. Ah, it was already getting too late! He had to hurry, what could he say? He had no time, just the normal response!
"I'm okay, I guess." Hold on, that wasn't the normal response. Where had that come from? The old man frowned and looked concerned. Well, mission failed.
"Naruto, you didn't shout. Do you want to tell me what's going on?" The old man's voice was calm and rhythmic; comforting and soothing and asking for Naruto to let the old man help him. Naruto tried to place the last time he'd heard that voice from the old man, but he couldn't. He audibly gulped. It must've been really really bad yesterday.
"I-I…" His throat felt like someone had shoved an orange down it, and he just couldn't squeeze the words out. Tears started to build up, and he fought valiantly against them. Tears weren't allowed in front of the old man. Never ever! He had to prove he was tough enough to be a ninja, and take that funny hat for himself one day!
"Naruto, I know that you don't want to, but we need to talk about what happened yesterday. Do you think you can tell me?"
"Do… do I have to?" His voice wavered and tears threatened to spill out.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to know. If I don't know what happened I can't stop the people who hurt you from doing it again."
Naruto spoke in a nearly soundless whisper, his answer seeming to be a thought escaping the confines of his mind. "But what if they're right…"
That… that man he'd said demon. And sometimes, when people thought he couldn't hear, they'd call him demon too. He hadn't done anything wrong to anybody! Well, nothing seriously wrong, so maybe it was…
"You're not a demon Naruto. Those people have no idea how wrong they are."
"But… but I… how could… it doesn't… he…" Naruto rambled, his breathing becoming heavier as he grew more and more upset. As he trailed off, he began to sob.
Hiruzen reached out and embraced Naruto, shocking the boy. No! He wasn't supposed to cry, he had to stay strong. He… he… he couldn't stop. The tears flowed as though a dam holding them back had shattered, and Naruto decided to just give in, crying out all his insecurities and fears. After a few minutes he pulled away, breathing still ragged, but he was no longer leaking.
"Will you talk to me about it now Naruto?"
Naruto looked at the old man who had just shown him more affection than anyone else. Ever. He knew he owed it to the old man and, frankly, now he actually wanted to tell him. Maybe he actually could make things better. He just hoped that the old man wouldn't hate him too much for his demonic powers.
"*sniff* Okay *sniff*. It happened…"
Naruto sat silently in his room in the attic of the orphanage. Cross legged on his bed, tattered blankets cast about, he gazed at the street below. There was little else for him to do, the accumulated possessions left behind by years of orphans took up near all the space, and Naruto was forced into a corner; pressed up against the roof, he could only look out his window, or dig through the assortment of forgotten belongings. The matron wouldn't allow him a room, and she looked away every time Naruto asked her why. After the first time he'd asked, she helped him stack the crates of junk to form a little room of sorts, big enough for a bed and his few possessions.
The saving grace of the situation was the window. Through it, he could look at the world without it reacting to him like it always did. With scorn and ignorance. Most days he saw nothing interesting, but today was different. On the Anniversary of the Kyūbi's defeat, all manner of things happened outside the window. He watched as villagers celebrated on the street, drinking and eating, drifting from one vendor to the next. He watched children running about, playing ninja and eating sweets while their parents watched, men chasing after women, and the hitting that ensued, couples wandering hand-in-hand, and everyone he could see wearing a smile.
At times like this, Naruto wished he could just be normal. He wished he had a family to love him and take him to the festival. He wished he could play with the other children without them beating him up or running away. He wished that others would look at him with smiles rather than sneers and glares, in those rare times when they even bothered to look his way at all. He didn't know why he was so ignored and hated. He'd never done anything to anyone.
These thoughts occupied Naruto as he gazed idly out of the window. Because of his lack of attention, he nearly missed seeing two men walk up to the front of the orphanage. They were dressed in plain shinobi garb, easily identified as such by their flak jackets and hitai-ate. Naruto grew worried. Nobody came to the orphanage during the festival, and two male shinobi never came to the orphanage at all. In fact, he was the only one there apart from the elderly matron.
The blond quickly moved from the window and started wading through the piles of junk. He climbed over tables and couches and walked on top of stacks of crates, moving to his hiding place. He had cleared out an area far into the sea of junk after the third time the older orphans had found him in his sleep and beat him up. After what felt like hours, he made it into the area: a cleared out box next to the wall, just far enough out for him to squeeze in.
He sat there for several minutes hearing nothing. Just as he thought he must've overreacted he heard voices coming from below. They were too deep to be other orphans home early or the matron.
"Are you sure you wanna do this Koji? I mean he's just a kid..."
"For the hundredth time, yes, Kansei. I didn't spend the last five years earning the Kyūbi Festival station to back out now. That beast killed my wife and son and hundreds of shinobi and it's still alive! For all we know the demon could already be in control of the boy. There's no way a kid could hold that demon back! I'm just doing the necessary evil that no one else will."
Kansei sighed deeply. "You know I don't agree, but I know you won't listen to me anyway. Go get your revenge. I'm gonna head back out and enjoy the festival. See you later Koji."
Naruto heard one set of footsteps head back down the hallway. As they left his hearing, a second set started moving towards the entrance to the attic. Starting out softly, and growing louder than the footsteps, was the man's ominous humming. Naruto hadn't heard much music in his life, but he recognised this tune from the dedication of the Kyūbi memorial. It was a death march.
Naruto didn't know what to do. He'd never had to run from an adult before, let alone a ninja. He'd heard stories about ninja, and if one said he was going to kill someone, he did it. Always. Curling into a ball, Naruto closed his eyes and had to force himself not to cry.
He's gonna kill me. Kill me, kill me… Naruto fixated on that thought, repeating it over and over, his heart beating faster and faster, until the sound of it overpowered the ninja's approach. A rhythmic thumping, matching the beat of the hummed death march, that seemed to be calling out to the ninja in Naruto's fear addled mind.
A slam marked the ladder's drop to the floor below. It creaked under the weight of an adult, each step taken slow and methodical. Naruto counted the number of steps, trying to curl further in on himself and disappear. It seemed an age before the hatch opened on its rusty hinges, and was slammed closed a moment later. A scraping noise caused Naruto's heartbeat to speed up even more. He knew what it meant; the shinobi had closed off his only escape.
Heavy footsteps began to echo through the large room, crunching and clattering bouncing from wall to wall, and growing ever louder. Naruto tensed, preparing himself to run for his life. As if suddenly realising where Naruto was, the footsteps of the ninja stopped.
Just go away. The silence continued, and Naruto fearfully crawled close to the edge of the box, sliding forward on his knees to make as little noise as possible. He placed a hand on the edge of the box to take a look out when he heard the footsteps again, near enough that the man could definitely see his fingers curled around the box's edge. Naruto sprang back like he'd been bitten, and fell through the back of his cardboard sanctuary.
He rolled and made a dive to get away, but his ankle was caught in mid-air. His momentum carried him to the ground and he felt blood pooling in his mouth. Ignoring it, he tried frantically to claw his way through the sea of hand-me-downs and castoffs, but he couldn't break free of the ninja's grip. He was able to grasp a piece of splintered wood before the man yanked him into the air.
"Now where do you think you're going?" the ninja asked, his voice laced with ill intent.
"Let go!" Naruto shouted at the man, his voice cracking. He lashed out with the fractured wood, the jagged edge biting into the ninja's wrist deep enough to draw blood. But the ninja's grip didn't falter. Naruto felt his panic continue to rise, and lashed out with the wood again. With a grip like steel, the ninja used his other hand to grab Naruto's wrist and sharply twisted it, forcing him to release the wood in a spasm of pain.
"Mmm, seems you haven't lost any boldness being trapped in a child. Well then, let's see how you deal with this. Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Naruto watched, eyes glued wide open, as four copies of the man appeared in clouds of smoke. Instinctively knowing things had just gotten worse, Naruto kicked and swung his arms wildly in a desperate bid for escape. His terrified screaming filled the attic. "Let go! Jiji! Jiji!"
His screams were cut off by a vicious uppercut to his stomach. Dazed, he barely noticed getting thrown across the room. Time seemed to slow as he sailed headfirst towards a wall, and he closed his eyes, doing what little he could instinctively do to brace for impact.
He never hit. Less than a second before he could slam into the wall, he was smashed to the floor. He gasped in pain but immediately tried to crawl away, his screams quieted to pained mewling. Before he could move an inch, he was kicked across the room where he was smashed to the floor again. The impact was even greater, and he could feel wooden splinters dig into his abdomen. He screamed, and any thoughts of fear or escape were overwhelmed by blinding pain.
All five copies of the man stood over Naruto's prone form. One of them kicked the blond boy onto his back, all of them stoic with eyes blazing. He gritted his teeth in pain, forcing himself not to cry out, as he watched four of the copies pull out some kind of swords. Naruto had learned from the older orphans that, if he didn't cry or scream, they got bored and left sooner. He hoped it would work here too.
He steeled himself for whatever torture was next, trying his best to focus on anything but where he was now. It didn't work; pain of the splinters kept him trapped in reality. The copies stood still for a moment, as if judging him and giving him time to think, before suddenly lunging forward, stabbing one sword through each arm and leg, pinning the boy to the floor. Naruto clenched his jaw, but as they drove the swords deeper, the screams started of their own accord.
Koji sneered slightly at the blond boy and whispered in his ear, his voice gravelly and menacing. "Not much fun is it demon?"
After a few moments, he saw that Naruto had stopped screaming and was holding back the pain. He waved a command to his clones before speaking again.
"Tsk tsk. Can't have you sitting there quietly, now can we? You didn't let any of those you killed go quietly." He motioned to his clones again and they started grinding the swords into Naruto's flesh. He screamed as loud as he could in agony. As they continued to twist the swords, causing blood to begin pooling on the floor, Naruto somehow found the volume to scream even louder.
After what seemed like hours to the tortured boy the pain finally ceased. He lifted his head to see that four of the men had disappeared. The fifth one, however, was standing by his mangled legs, the anger shining in his eyes growing brighter as his scowl deepened.
The ninja started making handseals very slowly. "I can't boil your blood with poisonous chakra, but I think fire would be a fitting retribution, don't you?"
He finished the handseals, and put one hand to his mouth before hissing "Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
A small, but intense, ball of flame engulfed the blond boy who immediately started screaming again. The ninja cut off the technique after a few moments and stood there watching the boy burn. The agonising pain was like nothing Naruto had ever felt, and he just knew he was going to die. The chakra-fuelled flames started to lick at his face, when suddenly he felt a wet, icy coldness wash away the heat.
Naruto was paralysed from pain.
Did someone come to save me? He hoped, confused about why the fire stopped. He heard the thud of a body dropping to the wood, and saw his assailant in his peripheral vision. The man was breathing heavily on his hands and knees. He heaved multiple times, and the smell of stomach acid mixed with half-digested food hit Naruto's nose. The ninja wiped his mouth and crawled to loom over Naruto, shakily drawing a kunai, his scowl now mixed with hesitation.
"I won't back down now," he mumbled, seemingly to himself, barely in Naruto's hearing. "Even if he's just a boy, its just one more life." The man raised his voice, dropping the any doubt in his tone. "Th-this is where it ends demon. For my wife and son! Whatever happens to me doesn't matter so long as you get what you deserve!"
Koji leant over him and moved the kunai to his throat. He tried to avoid looking in Naruto's eyes but couldn't. Through a film of tears, Naruto saw the man fall forward, his kunai clattering to the floor. Panic-filled, Naruto tried to move, but the pain was too intense. He tried and tried, mind whirling in chaos, screaming at him 'Get away, get away!' until he heard a scream that wasn't his.
His attacker jerked upwards, and a sickening tearing sounded from near both of Naruto's ears. He could feel a warm liquid splashing against his face, and looked towards this man who had nearly killed him in confused pain. Even through his tears, he could see the bloody stumps at the ends of the man's arms, and his fear multiplied.
The man didn't take long to recover, and in a blind rage began to elbow the blond boy in the face. After three blows, the hitting stopped, and Naruto squinted through the stinging in his eyes. This horrible man, Koji, Naruto's memory told him had lost any semblance of confusion or anger or hesitation in his face; his eyes had widened for the first time beyond narrow slits, and Naruto thought he could see fear and pain in the man's eyes.
Slowly, as if in a daze, the man moved his bloody stumps to his chest, drawing Naruto's attention to six large holes in it.
Blood started pouring out of the wounds. It gushed onto the injured boy in a flood, washing his already stinging eyes in red, and soaking what remained of his clothes. The flood continued unabated as the man slipped aside in his own blood, hitting the floor with a sickening squelch.
The blond boy was in shock. What had happened? After a moment, he decided it didn't matter. He was alive, and the shinobi was dead. But with the body lying in his room, and the blood beginning to seep through the floorboards, he instinctively knew he had to escape. He tried to get up but the pain hadn't dulled, if anything it was growing worse by the moment. He blinked as much of the blood from his eyes as he could, and slowly forced his head to turn. He saw that the swords had somehow disappeared, but they had badly damaged his arms and legs.
Naruto had no idea where the swords had gone, but decided to think about that later and started to crawl towards the hatch, desperate to escape the room. Then he realised again that it was closed off. He was trying to think of any other way out when he saw the window by his bed. A determined look appeared on his face and started to crawl towards it.
It took him ten minutes to cross the room. Once at the window he realized that he was in much less pain, and though unsure why, he was not one to take a blessing for granted. The blond tried to stand and found that he could, although his legs were still mangled. He punched the window as hard as he was able, but only wound up hurting his hand.
Naruto started to panic again. However, his panic subsided when he remembered what had happened earlier. Somehow, something had happened to kill that shinobi. It had to have been something he did, what else could it be? He just needed that to happen again. Pressing his palm against the glass, he waited, panic and anxiety settling in as he heard screams from downstairs, the blood finally having soaked through. Suddenly a white spike shot out from his hand, shattering the glass before flying across the street.
Naruto saw his chance, and forced his way through the window, expanding the break even as the glass cut into his skin; his only thought was of escape, and the punishment if he couldn't. He carefully made his way down the tiered roof of the orphanage, crawling and mewling in pain, doing his best to stay out of sight. Eventually he reached as far as he could and tumbled from the roof, landing hard on the solid earth. Even with the pain he felt returning to his chest, he forced himself to stand and to run. To run far from the hellhole heretofore called home. To run to the one place he was safe from everything.
When he finished his story Naruto looked hopefully at the aged hokage. What he'd done couldn't be something normal, so he had to be a demon. If the old man abandoned him too, he'd be lost. Life might not even be worth it anymore, if he had no one left.
"You're not a demon Naruto. In fact many people would be jealous of your… ability."
Not a demon? He didn't want to say the word again, so he just threw the old man a questioning look. What else would what he did be? What else could it be but the powers of a demon? Actually, Naruto realised he wasn't precisely sure of what a demon was. Something bad, of course, but that really didn't explain much of anything. Maybe it could somehow be something else!
"The ability you used to stop that man… is called a kekkei genkai. Kekkei genkai are powerful abilities passed from parents to their children. You were saved by a gift from your parents, Naruto."
Naruto had no idea what to say. He had been given this strange ability by his parents? So were they demons too? Or maybe one was and he was just a half demon? Well, maybe it wouldn't be all bad. And know he knew something about his parents: they'd been like him! He still wasn't entirely sure though. Time to double check.
"My ability? Is a gift from… my parents?"
The hokage nodded his assent. "Yes Naruto. This is a gift from your parents, and it's something to be proud of. Kekkai genkai are very rare and families with them are almost always respected."
Naruto felt as though something that was missing in him had been filled. His family wasn't a bunch of criminals, like some of the other kids said, and they didn't just hate him and abandon him! There was a nagging thought in the back of this mind that perhaps they did anyway, but he ignored it. This had to be something special, if it had saved him from that evil man. They would've loved him and that's why the gift saved him. It had to be.
But then, if his ability was something to be proud of, then why was he always called "demon"? Naruto looked up at the hokage, very confused by this new information. If families with these ability things were famous and respected, wouldn't people be proud of him even if he was a demon?
"But if my… kekkei genkai is good, then why does everybody hate me?" Naruto looked at the old man, and was surprised to not hear him answering right away. What was he thinking about? Was he trying to make something up, so Naruto wouldn't feel so bad about it? No, he wouldn't do that. The old man would never lie to him, or make anything up. Maybe it was just confusing.
Hiruzen sighed before finally speaking. "Well… it's complicated Naruto. It's a long story and it's already getting late." The hokage pointed out the nearby window, where the sun was far along its descent into the horizon. Naruto was miffed. He had told the hokage his story, but the hokage wouldn't tell him one?
"But if you want, you can come to my office tomorrow, and I'll promise to tell you then. Okay?" The blond cheered up considerably at that, a smile adorning his features.
"Okay. But do you have to go? I don't wanna be here alone…" The doctors were scary, and they could be mean too.
"I have to go Naruto, but you can leave with me, if you want. The nurse said that you would be allowed to leave by this afternoon. However, there is one more, small thing we need to talk about before we leave…" The hokage paused, and Naruto leaned forward. What was he going to say?
"You need to put on some clothes." Naruto did a double take, his mouth hanging open. All that suspense and… really? Then Naruto saw the old man's smirk peeking through. Ohhhhhhhh. Revenge. Well, that was quick.
"I brought some from your room at the orphanage. They should be…" The old man stood up and walked over to a table. "Yes, here they are. All right Naruto, put these on and then we can leave." Naruto nodded and took off his stupid hospital gown. He still didn't understand why they made you wear a dress in the hospital.
Looking down, he noticed he was entirely covered in bandages. Well, that was weird. Did fire really hurt you that badly? It had hurt, so much that he couldn't even bear to remember that for long, but he hadn't thought it hurt him. Oh well, doctors knew best.
It still hurt a bit to move, but he put on his orange shirt and black shorts quickly enough. He looked to the old man, who wore a small smile.
"All right, now what I wanted to talk about; your kekkei genkai. Right now, I don't know anything about it, but there is one thing I do know." He crouched to look Naruto straight in the eyes. "You cannot tell anyone. The reasons are complicated, and I can explain them to you tomorrow if you want, but for now just remember not to tell anyone. Okay Naruto?"
The blond nodded, slightly confused again. So that meant people hadn't known he had that weird ability. But then why did they hate him and… Shrugging it off, he decided to trust the old man. When he went to talk to him tomorrow he could ask that question too.
"Ready to go Naruto?" The hokage asked. He nodded, and took the old man's hand when he offered it. Walking through the hospital, a number of odd looks were shot their way, but they were fleeting. Naruto knew that people didn't glare at him or mutter anything when the was around the old man.
When they left, Naruto felt disoriented as soon as he began to look around. His heavy eyelids made themselves known again rather abruptly, and he passed it off as that. When he got tired he always got lost. Still, he tried to puzzle out where they were headed, because it didn't seem like the way to the orphanage.
"You hungry Naruto?"
The blond stood in silent contemplation for a moment before his stomach growled loudly. The hokage chuckled.
"I'll take that as a yes. Have you ever had ramen?" The boy shook his head. He had never even heard of ramen.
"Well, then I know where we're getting some food. It's not too far, and I've always meant to try it." The boy was pulled along as Hiruzen began to move again. He stumbled slightly, but managed to stay up. It seemed he was hurt worse than he'd thought before. Or maybe he was just more tired. Either way, he was ready to take a break.
The walk was indeed quite short, only a few minutes even at their leisurely pace, however by the time they arrived Naruto was ready to collapse. Between the physical exertion and the emotional distress, he had worn himself out. They entered a small ramen stand and were welcomed by a young girl, her back turned.
"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen!" As she turned at the sound of footsteps her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh! H-Hokage-sama! Uh… welcome! Uh… uh…" She nervously kneaded her apron, stuttering. The hokage chuckled at the effect his presence had on the girl.
"I'll have a miso ramen." He looked over at Naruto who had collapsed onto the counter, struggling to keep his eyes open. He tried to summon the energy to sit up, to prove that he was fine, but struggling only made it worse. "And two miso for Naruto."
The girl nodded and yelled the order as she walked into the kitchen. Not a moment after she went through the door, an older man came out, apron stained here and there a pale yellow.
"Welcome to my humble establishment hokage-sama." He said with a bow. "My name is Ichiraku Teuchi. The food will be ready shortly, I just wanted to come apologize for my daughter's rudeness. She's young, but she should know better."
The hokage just smiled and laughed. "It's perfectly alright Teuchi-san. It's not every day the hokage visits your family's restaurant."
Teuchi nodded in thanks. A yell from his daughter prompted his return to the kitchen, and he left saying he'd be back shortly. Naruto was brought from his exhausted stupor by the smell of the food, perking up immediately. He gazed hungrily towards the door the smell was wafting from.
By the time the food emerged Naruto was wide awake, his growling stomach taking over. He looked to the old man in the apron, and received a warm smile along with his two bowls of ramen.
"Here you go, enjoy!"
Naruto looked from the food to the man and back again. When the smell hit his nose he couldn't repress his voracious grin. Next to one of the bowls were child-size chopsticks, and he picked them up and twirled them between his fingers. One dropped to the counter with a clack, but Naruto picked it up again as quick as he could, hoping he hadn't been seen.
"Hey, that was pretty good. You looking to be a ninja when you get older?"
Naruto looked to the old man who had served him with an embarrassed blush, but it quickly vanished. Had this old guy just treated him like a normal person? How could he not know? Everyone else seemed to. It was probably a question better left alone, as it was novel for Naruto to be treated like a person. And he liked it.
"Yeah ramen guy! I'm gonna take the hat from the old man!" Naruto pointed excitedly to the hokage, who was slowly eating his noodles with a small smile.
"That's a good goal to have, but you'll have to work hard to earn it."
"I'm gonna be the strongest ninja ever! I'm gonna take it before anyone knows it!"
Teuchi and Hiruzen both chuckled at his exclamation. The hokage set his chopsticks down. "Don't be too hasty Naruto, you don't just have to be the strongest. You have to have years of life experience." Naruto titled his head to the side in confusion. Before the hokage had a chance to answer, girlish squealing erupted.
"So cute!" Before Naruto knew what happened the girl had come around the counter and engulfed him in a hug. This was starting to get to be a bit more than he could take.
"Ow! Let go!" He squirmed free from her grasp and backed away a few steps, wincing in pain as he rubbed one arm.
"Oh, you're hurt! I'm sorry!" Ayame said, eyes wide from surprise and shining with sorrow. In a rush she darted to his side, and almost hugged him again, stopped by his backing away. She winced and bent down, giving Naruto the most repentant look he'd ever seen. Looking in her eyes, he couldn't help but to don a smile.
"Ayame, don't scare the customers."
The brunette girl pouted. "I didn't mean to hurt him!
"That's not what I meant. You can't just go out and hug customers. Did you see his face before he started hurting?" His face was stern, gaze hard and jaw locked.
"Aw, but he's so cute! I can't help it!"
"Just get back behind the counter. Naruto, It's safe to get back in your seat."
Naruto still stood, muscles tensed and ready to spring into retreat at any moment. "Promise?"
"I promise. I won't let her out no matter what."
"Hey! Dad!" She pouted, but only received a stern gaze.
"It's your own fault. You can't just latch onto customers for acting cute."
Naruto's face grew increasingly red as the conversation went on. He looked down to try and hide some of it as he shuffled back to his seat. Sliding onto it, he picked up his chopsticks to finally dig in, ignoring whatever everyone around him was doing. It was just too overwhelming. Did other people have to deal with things like this all the time?
With the first noodles hanging in the air, broth splashing back down into the bowl, he gazed at them in interest. This didn't look all that special, it was just noodles. Still, it was food, and he was too hungry to worry about that, so he shoved them in his mouth, only chewing enough to be able to swallow. They were pretty good.
It took him a few moments to get a rhythm going, but once he found one his food was gone in a matter of minutes. Before he knew it, the first bowl was empty and he dragged the second closer, emptying it even more quickly.
"Could I have some more, I'm still hungry…" Naruto looked up to the old man, who was standing still, his mouth slightly agape. The hokage's voice to the side turned Naruto's head.
"Of course Naruto. You can have as much as you want."
Naruto smiled hugely. He'd never gotten to eat all that he wanted to before! There was a menu on the counter in front of him, and he looked over it, judging as well as he could by the pictures. Everything looked delicious and he was definitely hungry. The old man had said to have as much as he wanted…
"I'll just have one of everything Teuchi-san." The man blinked several times before responding.
"Um… sure. I'll be back in a minute with your order."
He headed to the back and soon after returned with his daughter, carrying eight bowls between them. They set them by Naruto and the two chefs stood to observe Naruto's eating prowess. The boy didn't disappoint as he began shovelling in ramen even faster than before, having discovered how to most efficiently eat it after his first two bowls.
"How… is that even possible?" Asked the girl. As broth sloshed and wet noodles smacked on his face she blanched. "And I thought he was cute? Naruto, you're gross."
That didn't really bother him. Getting food to his protesting stomach was more important than not being gross. It took Naruto a minute, but he realised she'd said that based on something he'd actually done, and not just said something mean for no reason at all. She'd even been nice to him before, it's not like she'd known he was hurt. Maybe he could eat a little less messily, for her sake.
"Sorry, Ayame-chan, I'm just really hungry!" He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and gave her his best smile. The grin he received in return was feeble and uncertain. It did not last long before it collapsed and she turned away.
Aw, what had he done now? He took another bite of ramen, doing his best not to throw it everywhere, and then looked to the old ramen guy. The old man had a strange smile until he burst out laughing.
"Naruto, we've got napkins for a reason, don't wipe your face on your shirt."
He looked to the napkin dispenser on the counter and blushed. "Ah, sorry again Ayame-chan. I'll start doing better right now!"
He took another few bites before he found nothing left to grab, and then drained the broth, slurping as little as possible. He looked for another bowl to make up for his previous messiness, but all that was left on the counter were scraps of food and empty tableware.
"Er, how about next time Ayame-chan?"
The girl turned around cautiously, and nodded her head to the little boy. "Ok Naruto! I'll show you how you're supposed to eat." She giggled a little bit, turning back behind her father.
Naruto felt a slight pang of worry in his gut, but ignored it. How bad could it be? He was just going to learn how normal people eat.
"So Naruto, how do you feel about ramen?" The hokage asked. His bowl was long empty and cleared away, and he sat comfortably straight, not appearing too intimidating and radiating welcoming warmth.
Naruto responded immediately. "It was the best food I ever ate! Thanks jiji, ramen-chef-guy!"
His voice was only filled with slight enthusiasm, but it was enough to convey the sincerity of the claim. Both older men smiled, but Teuchi smiled wider. It wasn't often his ramen was complimented.
"I'm glad you liked it. You're welcome back anytime, and if you always eat so much, I'll even give you a discount!"
This was the most blissful surprise Naruto had ever received in his young life. In fact, it was so perfect he wouldn't have believed it to be more than subterfuge aimed to earn his trust to allow for betrayal if the hokage wasn't there. He slid off the stool at the counter, looking to his favourite old man. Sandals hit the hard ground with a thud. A stroll over to the old man brought a smile shining down from behind the counter.
"Hey, if we're gonna have a new best customer we're gonna need to know his name."
"Don't you already know my name?" he questioned. "Everybody else does."
Teuchi's mouth quirked upward. He mindlessly wrung the cloth apron in his hands, kneading it like dough.
"Well... ah, yes, we do, Naruto. I just wanted to treat you like anybody else who came into my restaurant for the first time."
Naruto looked up. He couldn't have just said that, could he have? No one wanted to treat him like a regular person. Did the hokage have something to do with it? Ah, he couldn't really be too bothered by it. It was so nice to be treated like normal he didn't even care if the old man behind the counter was just pretending.
"Ah, I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He said, encouraged by the unusual kindness.
"It's nice to meet you Naruto. I'm Teuchi, and my daughter in the back washing dishes is Ayame."
Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a very long yawn. He felt like he'd been run over by a cart; his pain and tiredness spiked to a level he couldn't cope with. The old man seemed to notice and stood from his chair, carefully laying money on the counter.
"It seems it's time to go. Thank you for the dinner Teuchi-san, perhaps I'll come by again with the little bottomless pit over here."
Teuchi bowed. "Thank you for visiting us hokage-sama, and you too, Naruto. You're always welcome here."
The hokage lead Naruto out of the ramen stand and started toward an older section of Konoha. The blond boy, despite being exhausted, realized they were going in the wrong direction.
"Aren't you taking me to the orphanage jiji?"
"Of course not Naruto. After what happened I'd never let you go back there." The old man said, looking over his shoulder and smiling at the boy.
Naruto smiled tiredly back. The old man was still looking out for him. But he began to wonder where he was going to go. Would he go live with the hokage? Was some family going to adopt him?
"Then where are we going?"
Hiruzen grinned. "It's a surprise."
Naruto was slightly excited by that answer. As they continued to walk, he entertained the idea that he wouldn't have to live alone anymore. That he'd have someone to love and take care of him. He felt some of his tiredness fade and felt his smile grow wider the more he thought about it.
After a lengthy walk, the hokage stopped in front of a plain looking apartment building. Naruto scrutinised the large building and felt some of his previous excitement fade. He was going to live in an apartment? His disappointment was dismissed, however, when he remembered what the hokage had done for him. Anywhere was better than the orphanage, and although an apartment wasn't as cool as a house, it was better than the alternative.
Naruto followed the hokage as he walked through the building. He noticed that it was sparsely populated, most people having moved into the newer areas of Konoha. As they moved up the mostly abandoned floors Naruto grew anxious. If there were so few people here, who would he live with?
Hiruzen stopped on the fourth floor and led the blonde boy down the hallway to a corner suite. Naruto didn't realize that they had stopped, being exhausted and lost in thought, and ran into the hokage. The old man helped Naruto up and, while he was still crouched, put something in Naruto's hand. A key. He spoke gently as he looked into the boy's bewildered eyes.
"Naruto, this is the key to your new apartment."
Naruto blinked a few times in shock. He was too tired to think much about it, but he was aware enough to be shocked. He had… an apartment? An entire apartment all to himself? The idea excited, frightened, and disappointed him. On one hand, he had his own apartment. He could actually keep his things safe and wouldn't have nasty people yelling at him all the time. On the other hand, he was still alone and he had no idea how to live by himself. He looked up at Hiruzen in disbelief.
"I have an apartment?"
"Yes Naruto. I'll show you around if you like."
The boy nodded dumbly and was led inside by the hokage. The apartment was spacious with a combined living area and kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, several large closets, and a laundry room. The place was completely furnished, albeit impersonally; the walls were bare, but every room was filled with furniture.
When Naruto saw what his jiji had done for him, he embraced the man. His eyes were misty from the thoughtfulness of the gift. The hokage just smiled down at the boy.
"Thank you jiji."
"It was my pleasure Naruto. Now, you probably want to go to sleep. We can talk more about your apartment and you living by yourself tomorrow, okay?"
The boy nodded before yawning. He was barely able to stand he was so exhausted. The hokage chuckled and led the tired boy to one of the bedrooms. He was asleep before he even hit the bed. Hiruzen tucked the exhausted boy in, being careful not to wake him.
Naruto found himself standing in a dark corridor, flooded with ankle deep water. He looked around, extremely confused. 'Didn't I just go to bed? Where am I?'
The walls to either side were lost in blackness up above. Cracks in them were splayed like a spider web pinned up for display, and were of every size. Naruto walked over to one of the walls and touched his finger to a crack, reflexively yanking it back.
Huh? That's colder than ice!
Still too interested in the cracks, he ran reached as high as he could and ran his finger along one, ignoring the cold. Pieces of the wall began to crumble as his finger ran over them, splashing quietly into the water below. They grew steadily larger until a chunk almost the size of a kunai broke off. Its splash startled Naruto into jumping backwards.
Bending down to pull it out of the water, he reached to where it fell and halted. The water was icy cold as well, but it felt thicker than regular water. Swishing his hand around in curiosity, Naruto didn't feel anything solid where the pieces of wall had fallen.
He reached further down and ran his fingers along the floor, hoping to find it nearby. All he found was icy metal. Quirking his head to the side, he bent down closer to try and get a look. The tip of his nose touched the surface, and he couldn't see a thing through the murk. Giving up on finding the piece of wall, he ran his hand along the floor from one side to the other. A bunch of tiny metal hills greeted his fingertips, the dipping low enough in the middle of the hall wide that his feet slipped into them.
This place is weird.
Looking up, Naruto noticed he could see farther down the hallway ahead, and looked behind him to see if it looked the same. He almost ran headfirst into the wall of darkness. It had moved mere inches from him, and was moving closer still.
Naruto backpedalled as quickly as he could and stumbled, crashing onto the hard metal and into the cold water. The darkness continued to advance slowly, and Naruto scrambled back to his feet. Running towards the far edge of darkness ahead, he found the air growing rapidly colder, freezing the water on his clothes, but not the water under foot.
Why's it so cold? He thought, the chill biting at his face and his fingers. His teeth began to chatter, and every bit of him began to shiver. Turning as quickly as he could, he began to slowly walk back to where he started, hoping that would make it warmer. The wall of darkness was still approaching right on his heels, and it seemed to be moving faster. He glanced from side to side, and saw more darkness seeping from the cracks in the wall, dripping down and pooling on the floor. He stared at it, and the air around him grew colder at a frightening rate.
What's happening? His mind screamed in protest at what he was seeing, and grasped onto what he could understand. What did jiji say to do when I'm cold?
Naruto couldn't remember. He decided to simply run forward and hope he could find a way out before he froze. Running as fast as he could, the air stayed the same, but he could almost feel the cold chasing him, nipping at his heels. The sound of tiny ice crystals, the water droplets kicked up by his feet freezing in mid-air, caused him to run even faster.
His head was down and his lungs on fire from the cold air. Darkness started flowing beside him, tendrils like shadows of snakes slithering past. He didn't see the rise in the floor until he was tripping over it. Time slowed. Naruto could see the water cascading down the rise, a grand waterfall, white foam frothing at the base and swirling away into the sea. For a moment, Naruto thought he could see stone through the water, an empty cave.
Time sped up. His vision blurred, refocusing just as he crashed into the dark water. He began sinking down, the water freezing to ice overhead. He tried to swim up to it, but the water was too heavy, it was pulling him down. He looked around in a panic. Neck wouldn't move, too numb. Tried it again, forced it around. He was blind in any direction but up. Weight of the water forced his head down. His burning lungs gave way for want of air.
Darkness rose up to meet him. He took a breath. Water rushed into his lungs. His body protested. His head began to feel light. He looked down, and all he could see was the darkness. Eyes squeezed shut, giving up hope.
No! I can't die! I have to be hokage! Naruto grasped onto his dream, feeling more lightheaded with every passing moment. He settled on the bottom, the cold metal stinging his face. The pain gave him the energy to struggle once more to be free of the crushing pressure. He thrashed about, trying to push it away, and felt his foot rise into the air, a spray of water flying from it. Raising his head up, the water broke over him like waves on a cliff. He coughed the water from his lungs, and collapsed onto his back, breathing raggedly.
He tried to grasp solid ground, but found his grip sliding over icy metal. He tried to sit up, but the burning kept him down. Looking up at the darkness overhead, he thought he could see it flowing, drifting forward in waves. Swimming through the black were small wisps of nothingness. Darkness so black, the complete absence of light seemed bright as the sun.
He tried to sit up again, and found it possible, even with his lungs still recovering. Naruto climbed to his feet, and stumbled, barely catching himself. Choosing the direction he was facing as he stood up, he started walking. Light gathered around him, a bubble providing sight a few feet in every direction.
This has to be a dream. It was the most dreamlike dream he'd ever had. But it felt real, perhaps even more real than reality. Naruto couldn't wrap his head around the idea, so he dropped it, though it didn't make the feeling go away.
He picked up this pace, trying to keep his mind away from the problem he couldn't come close to understanding. With each step he took, his bubble of light shrank a little. The darkness flowing above sinking to flow around him, a rock buried beneath a rushing river. It shrank and shrank, until he found himself standing in front of an iron pillar, thicker than twenty of him, and rising out of sight. Turning around, he could touch the darkness with his arm fully outstretched.
He closed his eyes. It's just a dream. Wake up!
The air shifted around Naruto. His sopping wet clothes blew dry in an instant, and he opened his eyes. The darkness was gone, the light was gone. Everything was… normal. He turned again to face the iron pillar, and was surprised to find it still there. Walking until he came to the end of it, he immediately shied away. The darkness hadn't gone, it had moved. When it didn't do anything, he inched forward, holding out a hand to try and touch it.
"So you have finally found your way here."
The deep bass blew Naruto off his feet, several yards back. His smashed into the metal floor, and he felt his consciousness start to slip away. A growl even louder than the voice quelled the pain somehow. Confused, Naruto staggered to his feet, and was surprised to see the darkness behind the bars gone, replaced by a hazy red light. He took a few steps closer, and immediately felt an enormous presence hidden in the shadows. He looked up to where he thought its head might be.
"Hey, who are you? Where am I? What's going on? This is the weirdest dream ever."
"Unimportant. You wouldn't understand even were I to tell you. Suffice it to say… you are not where you think you are."
Naruto was dazed by the power behind the voice once more. Its boom sounded throughout the strange room, echoing through him and almost knocking him back. Its weight carried on to his mind, halting his thinking for a moment before he could actually realise what was said.
"Huh? You mean it's not a dream? It's real? I'm not in Konoha? Where'd I go?" Naruto asked innocently, tilting his head to the side in confusion. The slight decrease in volume and the absolute neutrality of the tone, though Naruto couldn't pinpoint it as such, had shifted his thoughts completely off of who—or what, as this thing was not human—exactly he was talking to. The being paused silently in response while Naruto simply stood in confusion, and the blond boy could sense a sort of shifting from behind the door. He could almost hear the beast thinking, a vague bass hum resonating in the confines of his mind, almost like a sound that didn't need to be heard.
"Listen carefully, child. This is your mind. In a sense you are no longer in Konoha, but physically you are where you last remember being."
The voice boomed, but much more softly than before. Like it had moved to another room. Naruto was relieved that he wasn't going to be sent flying back anymore, but was still thoroughly confused. What did this thing mean?
"So it is a dream?"
"No."
Naruto was totally lost. "Uh, so how am I in my head? Isn't that what dreams are? Jiji calls them 'head adventures' I think. Does that mean I'm really awake?"
"You did fall asleep. This is…" The being paused, as if searching for the right words. After a time, it released a frustrated grumble. "Yes, you can just think of this as a dream."
"Cool! I was right!" Naruto excitedly jumped in the air.
"No, it's actually nothing like a dream. Just think of it that way. You are here, but it is not real, and you are asleep."
"Um, uh... ok. Hey, how do you know this stuff? Are you, like, my head guy? I think jiji said he was a con sense." Naruto looked up expectantly until the bass rumble started up.
"Yes, I am your conscience. After today, I thought a dream would aid your recovery."
"Oh. Ok," Naruto said, attempting to pretend to understand. "This was a really funny dream though. Was it one of those genji things jiji talks about? This feels like one of those. Have you been in one of those before, mister con sense? I bet they're weird, and this place is weird. Do you know why it's so weird? There was this dark stuff, and it was cold and it came out of the cracks…"
The being interrupted Naruto's rambling, rumbling slightly in the darkness like a dog groaning or a cat mewling. It sat silently for a long while before a rush of air blew Naruto's hair back. It seemed to the boy almost like the giant thing had sighed. Like jiji did when he asked too many silly questions.
"Oh." He suddenly said, voicing his thought immediately. "Ohhhhh. You're like jiji when I ask a buncha things and say silly stuff and act like I know stuff. You get all grumpy and go *sigh*." He mimicked a sigh rather well, even going as far as to mimic the facial expression of exasperation. "He usually says some important stuff I don't get. Are you gonna do that too?"
"Perhaps." The being said, with a timbre suggesting it was slightly humoured by Naruto. "I did not realise you are as young as you are. You will not understand all that I have to say, but you made it here, so you will comprehend its meaning."
Naruto squinted slightly as he tried to understand what he was being told, but he simply didn't know what some of the big words meant. And the tone the thing had used clearly said "don't ask." He quickly gave up on figuring it out and simply sat down in the water with his legs crossed, looking up wide-eyed and receptive to whatever he was going to be told. Jiji always said to listen to your con sense, and Naruto was a bit excited to be able to use the advice.
The being noted that the boy was prepared to listen and began its speech immediately.
"You are here because of what occurred today. You were simply so damaged that you were unable to process the physical and psychological trauma, and you forced my hand in consolidating your memory. And so, you've come here." The being paused and shifted in the darkness. It seemed to Naruto as though it was attempting to explain things to him in a way he might understand. "You are young, but you must not allow others to hurt you as that shinobi did. You must stand up for yourself, defend yourself, unless your desire is to be… hurt like that all your life. Until now, you have wallowed in your own self-pity and allowed those around you to step on you as they please. Take matters into your own hands and improve yourself, even if you need to ask for help. Your… jiji will not turn you down."
It didn't work very well. Naruto still couldn't comprehend half of what he'd been told. But he hazarded a confident, enthusiastic guess. "You mean I gotta be stronger? Like a ninja? I was gonna do that anyway! I wanna be hokage!" Naruto jumped to his feet, kicking water all around.
"So you say. Until you prove your conviction, however, I remain unconvinced."
Naruto was having a very difficult time understanding what the thing behind the bars was trying to tell him. It wanted him to be stronger, but now it sounded like it didn't? Maybe the words meant it thought he couldn't do it? He could understand that it wanted him to do something at least, and it was trying to use big words and a funny voice to get him to do it, like his jiji did sometimes. "I can do it! I'll go talk to jiji about ninja stuff when I wake up!"
"Hmm." The thing behind the bars mumbled thoughtfully. "That sounds acceptable. That is all we have to speak about for now. When you are older, return here and we shall speak again. Do not disappoint me."
The voice spoke with a deep authority, causing Naruto, even with his unquenchable independent streak and loathing of authority, to just stand there wide-eyed and compliant. The voice held power immeasurable, and Naruto barely even thought about doing as it said. Then again, it was simply trying to get him to do something he already wanted anyway.
"Ok, big voice guy!" With that, Naruto turned to find a way out of this dream, which was a novel experience for the boy. He tried walking away from the bars and the voice, but found that it didn't matter where he went nor how long or fast he moved. He went nowhere. After what felt like hours to the impatient boy, he turned around and walked the few steps back to where he had been before.
"Uh… Mister con sense? How do I wake up? This was a cool dream, but I wanna sleep like normal."
The thing rumbled slightly and took a deep breath, it's exhale blowing Naruto's hair behind him again. Unlike before, Naruto could smell its breath, and noticed it smelled exactly like the forest in spring. He kept his curiosity to himself for now, though. This thing obviously didn't want him to ask questions like that.
"To leave, you must imagine yourself waking. Location and any circumstances surrounding your coming here are unimportant." When Naruto continued staring at it blankly, the being patiently tried again. "Just think about getting up. Perhaps how you usually wake up. An alarm or so?"
Naruto nodded slowly in comprehension and decided to try to do as it asked. He'd never thought about waking up before, so it was as strange experience. He closed his eyes and imagined the banging of a broom handle on the floor below him, waking him up for morning chores.
He felt a slight shift and kept his eyes closed until he felt completely normal again, finding the ceiling directly in his view when they finally opened. He snapped up and swung his around, scanning to see that it had indeed worked. He was in the new apartment jiji had just taken him to. Feeling confused about what exactly had transpired, Naruto simply decided to ignore it for now and go to sleep. He was curious, but his exhaustion was more powerful. Perhaps he could talk to jiji about it in the morning.
This is AU. Important note on that, please read it:
This story is going to be quite AU. If I explained all of what was AU, well, you'd be here for a long while. And it'd spoil things. Wouldn't you rather see it for yourself as the story unfolds? Suffice it to say, most things post-time skip are no longer relevant. There are three things to know before continuing, however. This Gai is an alternate character interpretation, as the fic is going to be rather serious in nature, Hiruzen has an alternate character interpretation as well, and Naruto will be vastly different due to altered upbringing. Most other characters should be consistent with canon interpretations. If they are not, well, I want it to be a surprise for later. If that's not what you want to read then this fic is not for you. This is not subject to change
This will be the format for all following A/Ns. Essential information in bold. Information that is still useful, but not essential, in plain text.
Okay, this is my first fic, so I decided to fall back on some fanon clichés for help to boost my way through the beginning. I believe they aren't too dull.
The Kyūbi scene was inspired by Paradox Jast, I think fairly obviously if you've read Experiments in Empathy. I don't plan on moving the story that quickly, though, so it wont be anywhere near the same after this point. Also, please point out inconsistencies in plot and characters and any grammar or spelling errors. I have no beta, so there may be issues with it I can't see.
ConCrit would be wonderful, if you've got any. My skin's thick, so don't worry about coming across too harsh or mean.
Edit: 8/30
After reading another fic (the Sherlock one in my favourites) and browsing Writers Anonymous forever I was struck with inspiration on what seemed wrong with my fic. I believe I've gotten it sorted out.
The chapter follows the same events, but there are lots of new details, parts are written entirely differently, I fixed all the spontaneous pov swinging, and the emotion and characterisation has changed, ranging from drastically different to slightly.
The first scene is by far the most changed, and it's really the only one with seriously relevant changes, so if you don't want to reread the whole thing, probably try the first scene. The second, both halves, is changed to better reflect Naruto's point of view, with event changes once they hit the ramen stand.
I'll apologise to anyone who is displeased by the changes, but this was my original intent all along. I wanted it to be more subtle, but I decided that it didn't make sense for it to be when writing from Hiruzen's perspective. I like the contrast between Naruto's and his pov, I think it represents the future of the fic well.
For anyone who's read but hasn't reviewed yet, this is a perfect opportunity! Just say "Yeah, I liked it better" or "Dude, this blows" or something similar. I'd always appreciate more detail, but a simple yes or no on the change is good too. I know new content is better, but I've gotta get this done up to my personal standards.