Hello Everyone, ARandomDragon here and welcome to my first story on the site. Now, I've been an avid fan of Naruto for a fair few years now and I've always had a fascination with What-ifs. So I decided, Why not try my hand at fanfiction? Seems fun enough so here we are.
Naruto: Empath is a story that has been floating around my mind for a while now (about a week to be exact) and the question it poses is very simple. What changes would the story take if Naruto actually posessed the ability to feel the emotions of others. Now, I didn't want to be bland and obvious and so I added a few twists to that ability (which you will see as the story progresses).
Now, let's get a few things out of the way.
If you came here for a story about an OP godlike Naruto or giant harems then unfortunately you've come to the wrong place. I've chosen the M-Rating for this story mainly because of language and because I want to have the option to delve into darker subject matter without fear. That said, While the beginning of the story will have a great deal of angst I will slowly take it down to a more manageable level as the tale progresses. Also, updates should happen pretty frequently (fingers crossed, student life sucks) but they won't be completely consistent (Though I will probably update once a week give or take a day). Other than that.. Yeah, Enjoy the story and leave feedback!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, that's Kishimoto's thing.
Naruto Uzumaki lay on the ground defeated. Stood above him with a smug look on his face was the pride, joy and resident genius of the village; Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto looked at the Uchiha with a blank look as the smug boy put a kunai to his neck.
"Surrender." Sasuke said with a smug smirk as he stood victorious over his rival. Not that he had lost any time prior to this mind you, Their rivalry had always been extremely one sided and Naruto was always on the losing side.
"I surrender." Naruto replied, staring at Sasuke with a thousand yard stare.
Iruka Umino, the chunin in charge of this training exercise cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention. "Alright, This taijutsu match is over; Sasuke wins."
The all genin audience watching the match (Especially all of the fangirls) cheered loudly for Sasuke who merely 'Hn'-ed before heading towards a shady tree to lean against in order to begin his favourite activity; Brooding. The fangirls all rushed towards Sasuke like he was made of gold in order to ask him out (Or whatever else fangirls did as they stalked their idol).
While almost everyone's attention was focused solely on Sasuke however, Naruto simply stood up and headed to the other side of the academy training ground away from everyone else.
Iruka however looked at Naruto with sadness in his eyes. The boy had become so different and distant to everyone in such a short time, His blue eyes that once glowed with mischief and energy were now an empty hollow void. Naruto had been the most troublesome student of his class until a few weeks ago, Back before then the boy would seemingly pounce on every opportunity he got to annoy the crap out of him or the rest of the academy with his over the top pranks and his loud and confident declarations about how he would 'Become the best Hokage'. Although Iruka would never have never admitted it out loud but the boy had gradually grown on him, loud mouth and all. In a way he had begun to look at Naruto like an annoying but lovable little brother.
Still, Iruka would have given anything to make the boy settle down just a tiny bit and actually focus on his studies but now... Iruka wanted that blonde ball of energy and those sparkling blue eyes back more than anything in his life.
With a sigh Iruka jotted down a few notes on his clipboard while the bell signifying the end of class rang out. As the class began to busily file out of the ground; Iruka gathered his resolve before heading towards the blond boy who trailed behind everyone else. "Naruto, Would you please come with me? I want to speak with you about a few things." he said before awaiting a response. He didn't have to wait long however as the boy nodded and together the student and pupil headed back into the academy.
Iruka was going to get to the bottom of this today no matter what happened.
Iruka motioned for Naruto to sit as he closed the door to the office behind him. The office itself wasn't anything special, A wooden desk stood across the door with a standard desk chair behind along with two comfy chairs in the font of the desk for any visitors; Besides that, There were a few filling cabinets along the walls and a picture of the previous batch of genin adorned the wall above the cabinets.
Iruka took off his chunin vest before hanging it on his chair and sat down face to face with Naruto who stared at the ground blankly, his blond hair falling over his dark eyes. The two sat in a somewhat tense silence for a few moments as Iruka thought about the best way to tackle the problem in front of him. After a while the chunin spoke up. "Naruto... I'm going to ask you a simple question." He said before pausing.
"Do you trust me?" The man asked.
After a few moments the blond boy nodded in affirmative.
"Alright then Naruto... I want you to know that I'm asking this not as your teacher but... as a friend." Iruka said slowly while looking at his young friend. The boy didn't respond however and Iruka briefly considered repeating himself but then decided against it and continued. He didn't want to antagonize Naruto or talk to him like he was mentally challenged or something. Right now, He needed his student's cooperation.
"Naruto... for the past two weeks you have been acting very... unusually." Iruka stated. Once again it seemed as if the boy in front of him was a mannequin or something as he sat still without the slightest trace of... anything, on his face. His eyes still staring at the ground. Iruka had to admit that looking at him while he was like this was a bit unsettling to say the least.
"Granted, I do understand that you may still be a bit shook up after the Mizuki incident-" Iruka stopped abruptly as he saw a flash of brief... something... appear on Naruto's face, However; the look of emotion was gone as soon as it had appeared.
Iruka sighed "so this is about Mizuki..." he thought as he subconsciously clenched his fists underneath the desk while he recalled the incident. There wasn't a whole lot to it actually, Mizuki had tricked Naruto into thinking that there was a way he could 'skip' academy and become a ninja early by passing a special test. This test however; was just a ruse, a fabrication Mizuki had created in order to kill two birds with one stone. That traitor had told Naruto that he would need to steal a secret scroll from the Hokage residence and deliver it to him to earn his headband. Of course, Naruto; being the most knuckleheaded ninja of the class, trusted Mizuki and went along with his plan.
After Naruto had somehow stolen the scroll (Iruka still couldn't fathom how a clumsy genin like Naruto had accomplished that under the noses of both the Hokage and his elite ANBU) Mizuki had tricked him and told him the truth about what had happened when the Kyuubi had attacked the village. He had told the boy about his burden as the container of the Kyuubi... No, He had told Naruto that he WAS the Kyuubi. The bastard would have also killed Naruto had Iruka not shown up sooner. While he had assured Naruto that he wasn't the Kyuubi but rather its container, the boy's eyes had already gained this hollow look that he still wore even now. Not only that but Naruto had grown incredibly quiet and detached since then, Disturbingly so.
"Damn it! Why couldn't I have caught on to Mizuki earlier? Why couldn't I have arrived to save Naruto before that bastard had said a word?" Iruka thought as he continued to mentally curse his lack of ability.
"Iruka sensei... please don't blame yourself..."
"What?" Iruka thought as he returned to reality. He saw that Naruto was staring at him, his eyes were still hollow and detached but for the first time it actually looked like the boy was looking at him and not through him. Iruka found himself a bit uneasy looking into the lifeless eyes of the boy in front of him. These eyes didn't belong to a child, They belonged to someone who had no hope left in their life.
"Please... I don't want you to keep blaming yourself for that..." Naruto said in a voice that was incredibly weak and small for him.
Iruka looked at Naruto in surprise. What?... "Wha- Naruto, What a-are you talking about." He sputtered out. How the hell did Naruto figure that out? Had he really been wearing his emotions on his sleeve like that? It was unfitting for a ninja.
For the first time in what seemed like decades a smile appeared on Naruto's face. It was a ghostly, pale imitation for his normal bright grin but it was still present. "Iruka sensei... I felt it... I felt your anger and sadness." He said.
"Felt... my anger? What are you talking about Naruto? I'm not angry at you." Iruka said with confusion. What the hell was going on?
"No, I know you weren't angry at me... I just felt that you were angry and sad at something, I guess you were thinking about Mizuki after all." Naruto stated.
"Felt?... Naruto, You can't... feel the emotions of someone else... that's impossible." Iruka rationalized. What on earth was the boy going on about? He wasn't making any sense at all. Was he feeling all right?
"I know sensei... that's the most terrifying thing about it... It feels wrong." Naruto said in a hollow voice.
Iruka looked at the boy in surprise. What on earth was going on? What was he saying? Iruka knew that Naruto wasn't a liar, A prankster sure but not a liar; This wasn't Naruto's style of prank anyway. Naruto's pranks were always quick and brutal, They were never slow or deliberate. Besides, This was way too elaborate for a prank and it didn't have any humor in it either.
"I know it's hard to believe sensei... but it's true. If you want I can prove it too." Naruto assured in that same monotonous tone.
"Alright then... I want you to tell me what I'm feeling... okay Naruto?" Iruka asked in a resigned tone, playing along with Naruto's claim. There was no point pussyfooting around the problem, obviously Naruto's recent behavior had been caused by this 'empathy' or whatever Naruto thought he was feeling. Iruka felt a twinge of worry, Had the knowledge about the Kyuubi actually affected his mind? Was.. was the boy losing his sanity?
Iruka pushed that thought out of his mind and decided to play along with Naruto. He thought about the saddest moment in his life first, The moment when he had realised that his parents had died in the Kyuubi attack; He let that feeling of sorrow wash over him while making sure that his face stayed as still as a mask. Then, He thought about the most anger he had felt, That had happened with Mizuki.
After that he thought about the most stress he had felt, That once again circled around to being alone in the Kyuubi's attack. That was probably the single most terrifying moment of his life. After that he thought about the most embarrasing moment of his life and well... He didn't have to think too deeply to feel the need to curl up in a ball and implode.
After a few moments Naruto spoke up." You felt worried first, then really sad, After that you felt very angry and after that it seemed like you felt extremely afraid and stressed out and then... Embarrasment, lots of it." Naruto replied.
Iruka gaped at Naruto. He had predicted everything! Every shift in his emotion! How? What the hell was going on? He needed to tell Hokage-sama about this!
Before Iruka could make a move however, Naruto spoke up." Iruka sensei stop panicking... I already told Jiji about this... he told me that he had heard that the First Hokage's wife; Mito-sama, Had also awakened this ability after she became the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi... He told me that... I'd have to get used to this." Naruto explained while looking down.
Iruka stared at Naruto for a few moments, His mind completely blank and still reeling from this new discovery. Everything clicked into place in front of his eyes. That was the reason why Naruto had been acting so weirdly all of a sudden! He had awakened a Kekkei Genkai and he didn't know how to deal with it!
Iruka breathed out a sigh of relief, He'd thought that the Kyuubi was somehow affecting the boy's mind or something but thankfully he'd been proven wrong. It was still a bit freaky to realize that Naruto had predicted his state of mind and intent to rush to the hokage. Being caught off guard like that felt a bit weird but he quickly let that thought go. He needed to ask Naruto more questions! He needed to know more about this ability!
"Well then, that's good isn't it Naruto?... I mean you now have a cool new jutsu that no one else has and-" Iruka stopped abruptly as he saw something shocking.
Naruto was crying. His sobs were quiet but tears flowed freely from his eyes.
Iruka glided out of his chair in one move as all questions he had faded away into the back of his mind and he swept up his surrogate little brother into a hug. Right now, nothing else mattered. Naruto was alone and he needed him. In all of the time he had known the boy he had realized that Naruto never cried. No matter what happened he always remained strong.
Whatever Naruto was feeling right now was more terrifying or painful to him than all of the hatred the villagers had put on him. He had never cried once even as the villagers glared at him in the streets and attacked him in their drunken stupor. It was even worse than the attempt Mizuki had made on his life. He headn't even broken down during that. For him to be crying right now... It meant that this problem was far greater than anything Iruka had imagined and he had just scratched the surface of it.
Boom, So there's chapter 1. Hope you guys and gals enjoy. Please make sure to leave reviews and let me know what you think of my style and also favorite the story of you like it. Other than that, I'll see y'all later. Bye.