PrinnyMist steps out from behind a red curtain. He stands in the center of a stage.
"Hello and welcome to my first fanfiction in the Naruto universe." He bows as a young woman with short white hair in a white kimono and a young man with unkempt black hair and dark blue eyes emerge from the other side of a stage. "I'd like to now turn the stage over to two of my OC's, Natsuki and Ryousuke!"
Natsuki and Ryou bow.
"Disclaimer: Naruto and his universe are property of Masashi Kishimoto. PrinnyMist does not own these characters, the manga, or the anime in any way, shape or form." Natsuki softly announces.
"PrinnyMist's only wish is that you keep an open mind when you read this fanfiction, and to leave a review and/or constructive comment." Ryou calmly adds.
Natsuki smiles as she nudges Ryou.
"PrinnyMist however, does own these characters: Natsuki, Ryousuke, Keisuke, Drago, and Nina." Ryou quickly adds.
"Without further ado, PrinnyMist presents: "
Naruto: Rising Darkness
Chapter 1
Everything was white. Naruto blinked in disbelief. Was this real? He felt the whiteness around him. It was soft and flowing, like silk sheets. He glanced around, searching for something to explain this bizarre situation. He finally glanced down and leaped in shock; he was naked. He quickly covered his crotch and crept through dream-like clouds that seemed to faintly outline a path. Naruto paused to stare down the path, hoping that there was an end to it.
Naruto…
Naruto's eyes widened with surprise. It was just a whisper, but still, it seemed so loud. But before he could contemplate this paradox, a figure appeared at edge of the white horizon. As Naruto squinted to discover the figure's identity, it began to race towards him.
Naruto!
The voice was louder this time, calming, clear, and friendly. It was familiar, too, but Naruto still could not figure out whose it was. Deciding that the voice was coming from the figure, he raced towards it. He took a single step forward, and quickly raised his arms to catch the falling figure. But he was too close, and in a split second, their lips met. Naruto's eyes initially widened with surprise, but they quickly turned into passionate, tear-filled eyes.
He caressed the figure's soft white skin, free from blemishes. He cherished the figure's full, gentle lips. He stared into the figure's unique, all-seeing eyes that saw his ultimate desires. Naruto and the figure shared a loving smile, the kind shared by secretive lovers. But they would keep their love secret no longer. At last, the Sharingan was his…
--
"RIBBIT! RIBBIT!"
The loud, annoying croaking of Naruto's alarm clock filled his bedroom. Naruto glared angrily at it, despite its timely interference of the nightmare. He mentally reminded himself for the thousandth time to get a new, less obnoxious one. He yawned and stretched, feeling remarkably unenergetic, despite the trials he would be going through later that day. He lazily lay back down and rolled over into the soft white skin and softer, red lips of his bed-mate.
"Hey, Hinata."
Hinata giggled and forced her tongue into Naruto's mouth. Without opening her eyes, she went further and rolled Naruto onto his back, then slyly peeked at him with her left eye.
"Ohayoo…" She cooed, as they kissed again. "I'm glad that we were able to spend last night together on that secret mission." She laughed, blushed, and let Naruto slip out from under her.
Naruto laughed as he picked up random articles of Hinata's clothing. "It was all your idea, Hinata."
They shared a loving smile, wishing that they could stay together for longer…
--
The Konoha ANBU collapsed into the pool of his two comrades' blood, his own beginning to mingle with theirs. The ninja who had defeated him, a tall young man with blond, spiky hair, stood over the corpse and sighed. Behind him, his two teammates shook their heads. One, another young man, this one with glasses and short, neat black hair, removed the mask from the fallen ninja.
"That's one more down…One more and then we can report to Lord Hokage." The one with glasses coldly reported.
"Yeah…this is too easy for us, though." The spiky-haired ninja groaned. "I want a challenge."
"Well, you'll get one soon. Once we complete this mission, we can go after Him again." Their teammate, a kunoichi, calmly responded, while examining the bodies. "The one you just beat was reanimated. We just killed someone who was already dead."
"Damn. So there's still two more of his buddies out there?" The spiky-haired ninja complained in his gruff voice.
With that, the three ninja leapt back into the shadows to continue their hunt…
--
In the lingering moments of the morning twilight, Naruto gazed upon the mountain-side, as he always had for the past year. The five towering stone faces returned their usual, blank stare. Naruto's eyes scanned the monument one last time, trying to absorb the courage, strength, and ideals that each face represented. He gazed upon the last two faces on the right and smiled.
"Granny Tsunade, Father, one day, my face will be next to yours." He promised, before turning away to face the exam building. "Even if all I can be is a Genin, I will not give up my dream of being Hokage." He hesitated before starting off, wondering if he should take one last look at the great Hokages who protected Konoha. Slowly, he raised his head, and shook it.
I won't look back. Not until I've become Hokage. Today, I'm gonna take one step closer to my dream…With that, Naruto took one step forward towards the exam building.
As the sun rose on Konoha that day, those who gazed upon the mountainside swore that each and every Hokage smiled.
--
Hinata sighed as she continued to browse through the selection of wedding kimono. It wasn't as if her relationship with Naruto was a complete secret, but the clan was in an uproar. She wondered if her father was angry or happy that she had decided to marry Naruto. She paused as her father's words came back to her.
--
"You…are sure of this decision?" Hiashi gruffly asked.
"Yes, Father." Hinata bowed deeply.
"I see." Hiashi furrowed his brow and lowered his head in thought. "If that is the case…then I am at loss at what to do."
Hinata cringed a little. She had expected this. "Ever since my recent decision to name you the heiress to the clan, I could not bear to give you the seal of the branch family. But I fear that the elders will restrict him from his dream of becoming Hokage in order to prevent the Kyuubi from resurfacing. They have all pushed for his exclusion in any promotion exams, despite clear evidence that he is more than capable of controlling his power." Hiashi continued in a calm voice.
Hinata raised her head as her father rose to his feet. "I do not believe that the son of the Fourth would like to remain caged. If you wish to remain with him, I will not stop you. I will speak with the elders on this matter…I know that the Hyuga Clan has one of the most well-kept Kekkei Genkai in the world, but I feel that Naruto does not belong in the clan as it is."
Deep in thought, Hiashi walked out of the room, as a single tear rolled down Hinata's cheek.
--
As the memory faded away, she looked up and wondered why she was shopping for a wedding kimono now, before her father had even talked with the clan elders. She slipped out of the store, and gazed at the exam building, the same one where she and Naruto first took the Chuunin Exam in. Naruto would be taking the exams with Sasuke and a ninja that no one inside Konoha had ever met before. Even though his skills had vastly improved since his first time, Hinata still could not shake the doubt that something terrible would happen to Naruto during the exam…
--
Shikamaru gazed over his clipboard at the Genin taking the written portion of the exam. Several had already cracked or failed, and most of the remaining applicants were nervous and sweating, afraid to make another mistake that would cost them and their teammates their chance to become Chuunin. He noticed one shaking ninja peek at his neighbor's test, his final slip-up. Shikamaru nudged the proctor next to him, who swiftly leaped over to the cheater and rammed her fan down on his paper. Temari gave the terrified ninja her perfected basilisk gaze, causing the poor man to scream in horror and subsequently faint. She relaxed and sighed, as the fainted ninja's teammates helped him out of the room. She glanced over at the ninja's neighbor and stifled her laughter. It was completely blank, save for the smudges caused by the ninja's drool.
At least he's not snoring, Temari thought, before leaping back to her seat next to Shikamaru.
"Hey, is he allowed to do that?" She whispered into his ear, as Ibiki began the final portion of the exam.
"I don't know. But according to Ibiki, the first time Naruto took the test, he had a blank paper." Shikamaru frowned as Naruto continued to snooze while Ibiki explained the last question. "I think it would be too troublesome to wake him up."
"Despite what you may have heard before, we're being a little stricter this time around. This time, anyone who failed to answer any of the questions correctly will be forced to remain a Genin forever!" Ibiki announced, causing several ninja to immediately leap from their seats and withdraw. Ibiki smirked; the pool had dropped to nearly one-fourth its original size.
"Hey, how could the Hokage let Naruto, Sasuke, and that guy from Darkness, Ryousuke or whatever, form a team? Two of them are supposed to be under S-class protection and the third is a complete unknown!" Temari watched as the remaining ninja continued to battle the difficult decision of risking permanent demotion.
"The Fifth Hokage gave them special permission." Shikamaru bluntly responded, noting that one team, from the Village of Darkness, seemed unnaturally calm. "I'm not worried about Naruto. But I am worried about Ryousuke and his teammates from Darkness."
"Why's that?" Temari's eyes wandered towards the four ninja Shikamaru pointed out.
"They've been far too calm during the entire exam. Normal Genin would show some sign of fear or tension, but those three didn't even flinch when Ibiki mentioned the rules of the final question." Shikamaru looked over his notes. "I haven't marked them down for cheating, either. And," He peeked at the one with short black hair and glasses. "The one with the glasses and neat hair, Keisuke, took only 5 minutes to answer all the questions."
"That's impossible…Even you take 10 minutes to answer the questions!" Temari glanced at Keisuke, who still sat with his head resting on his hands, calmly and quietly. To Temari, it seemed that he was simply a life-like statue. She shivered, and quickly turned back to Shikamaru, who frowned.
"I have a bad feeling that those three will be quite troublesome…Especially Keisuke."
--
Naruto awoke with a start, his dream interrupted by a powerful blow to his face. As the room swirled around him, he could barely make out a tall, warped black figure leaning on a large metal beam. He shook his head and blinked a few times rapidly, then rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"What time is it?" He blurted, groping for his alarm clock.
"It's time for the second part of the Chuunin Exam." The voice was familiar, thought Naruto, as he struggled to stand. "You slept through the entire first part, and we thought it'd be too troublesome to wake you up."
"You sound like your husband, Temari." Naruto laughed, as he rubbed his cheek. "From the way you hit me, you must still boss him around."
Temari smirked and slapped Shikamaru on the back. "You got that right. Anyway, the second part of the exam is going to be in the same place we had ours; the Forest of Death. The rest of your team went ahead. You've got about 10 minutes to get there, or else you're out."
"What? Aw man, that's not much time! Well, I, uh, gotta go!" Naruto dashed off, as Temari clenched her fists.
"Hey! Get back here!" She shouted, starting to give chase. She took her first step, and tried to take her second, but stopped suddenly. "Shika!" She shouted, as her body forcefully relaxed.
"Let him go, Temari. That's the way he does things." Shikamaru let his shadow recede from his wife's, and led her by the waist to the door. "Even though he's not always prepared, he'll find a way to do what he wants. Although I have to admit, it's a completely troublesome and unpredictable way of doing things."
"Well, you're like that when you're with me." Temari laughed, kissing Shikamaru on his cheek.
"Well, uh, I, uh…What a drag." Shikamaru conceded. "You have got to be the most terrifying, troublesome, beautiful woman ever."
"But you still love me." Temari smiled, as they headed after Naruto, who had mistakenly headed towards the Hokage's office instead of the Forest of Death.
--