The Runaway Refugee
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, unfortunately.
Summary: A test subject carrying a strain of influenza weaponized for biological warfare prematurely escaped a covert underground base before a cure had been developed. How will such a devastating plague change the way of life? Will the survivors adapt to a plague-stricken shinobi world?
A/N: As you may soon notice, this fic is inspired by my favorite book, 'The Stand' by Stephen King. He is an incredible writer, and I certainly recommend reading any of his books.
Arguably the best Naruto fic ever written, 'Dreaming of Sunshine' by Silver Queen, had an interesting quote at the start of every chapter. I enjoyed it, so I'll do the same. I recommend reading her fic before mine. A full list of recommendations is in my biography.
"Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter." - Stephen King
Chapter 1
It had been a rather peaceful day of border patrol for 3 young chuunin from The Hidden Mist. Outsiders seldom entered the Land of Water, both because it is home to the notoriously dangerous Bloody Mist and because of its geographical isolation by hundreds of miles of sea. Moreover, they were stationed at the southeastern border, opposite to any potential visitors from the major nations. As such, the chuunin were content to lie around, simply listening to the therapeutic collapsing of waves on the shoreline.
Suddenly, however, one of the guards was snapped out of his relaxed stupor when a distinct pitter-patter could be heard approaching on the surface of the water. The sound, which could easily be identified as water-walking, jolted Daisuke Hozuki into action. Unsheathing his long Katana from across his back, he quickly dissipated into water to begin his stealthy approach.
'He doesn't seem to be that tired,' Daisuke observed as he approached the scrawny man who had nearly made it to shore. 'But the nearest island is at least 30 miles away. No way he could have water walked so far and still have any chakra left! Where the hell could he have come from?'
Gemma suppressed another cough as he stepped onto shore. 'Finally,' he thought, 'I'm home.' It had been a relatively short journey from Orochimaru's underwater base stationed about 5 miles from the southeastern coast of The Land of Water. In the wake of one of Juugo's rampages, he had been able to sneak away and bolt for the nearest island.
Another coughing fit emerged, this one producing trace amounts of blood. 'Man, I've been coughing up blood all damn day. What the hell did they do to me?' As he wiped the blood spatters on the side of his shirt, he briefly saw the broad side of a sword before getting knocked out.
The pale Hozuki gathered Gemma's limp body in his arms as he leaped towards his nearest teammate.
'He's obviously a shinobi, but he doesn't have a headband. Is he hostile?'
Daisuke paused as he began to observe the man more closely. 'Jeez, he's paler than my left ass cheek. You'd think he's lived underground for the past few years.' Continuing his inspection, he noticed the man's side was slightly bloodied.
He lifted the bloodied shirt. 'Where's the wound? Eh, whatever. I'm sure someone else will figure it out.'
Conferring with his teammate, Daisuke decided he needed to report the intruder to the Mizukage immediately. So, he brought the sickly man straight into the heart of The Hidden Mist, where countless unsuspecting citizens were oblivious to the bomb that had just been dropped upon them.
Nightmares of his experiences as Orochimaru's guinea pig haunted Gemma's slumber. Locked away in a cramped cell like some sort of wild beast and fed the bare minimum of nutrients to survive, his muscles had atrophied severely. Once a husky man to be feared, Gemma was now nothing more than skin and bones. He had only reached The Hidden Mist on sheer willpower.
He hadn't known much of his purpose to Orochimaru, but he deduced that he was being used as a test subject to weaponize some series of diseases. He had always gotten over them, whether it be naturally or at the hands of a young red headed girl who gave him medicine, but he escaped before receiving treatment for his latest illness. Oh well, he'd shake it eventually, he figured. He always had been able to, so why would this one be any different?
Konoha
"Would you like another bowl, Naruto-kun?"
"I wish, but I don't really have any money," Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Don't worry, this one's on the house," the young waitress said as she placed a steaming bowl of ramen in front of her favorite customer.
"Aw sweet! You're the best Ayame-chan!" the blonde ball of eccentricity said as slurped down his first mouthful and nearly choked.
"Sure thing. How are you doing at the academy?"
"Oh man, I'm doing great! I'll pass this time for sure!" Naruto said, with a hint of uncertainty that few could pick up on.
Naruto knew he could truly become a great ninja, but he just couldn't make a damn clone. Even after years of practice, he had seen no improvement. He worried inwardly every day about the upcoming exams, and was at a loss as to how to master the technique. The clone technique was useless anyway, he figured. He planned on destroying enemies so quickly that a clone would merely be waste of time.
Nonetheless, he still maintained his confident shell, suppressing his self-doubts and locking them away for none to see.
As Naruto waddled home, protruding belly and all, he spotted Sasuke sitting alone on a riverbank. 'Man, he seems so lonely. I guess he doesn't have a family, so he's kinda like me.'
As he was deep in thought, he hadn't noticed that his legs were moving in Sasuke's direction. He decided to go with it, and plopped down beside him. What's was the worst that could happen? They certainly couldn't become any less of friends, so it was worth a shot.
"The one in dead last…" Sasuke paused to steal a glance at the bloated blond, "what do you want?" he said in a cold yet inquisitive tone.
"What, I have to have a reason to sit next to you?"
Sasuke skipped a pebble on the lake, counting 4 hops before it submerged beneath the surface. Sasuke honestly didn't mind the boy's presence, as long as he wasn't trying to one-up him or impress Sakura. As such, he decided to remain quiet and hope Naruto would follow suit.
'Why is he ignoring me?' Naruto thought as he picked up a pebble, determined to outdo Sasuke. Failing miserably, without even managing a single skip, he turned to Sasuke, expecting to see a superior smirk on his face. Instead, Sasuke picked up another pebble.
"Here." Sasuke said as he tossed him the pebble. "You're supposed to throw is like a shuriken."
Naruto nodded, standing up as he cocked his arm back.
"What the hell is that?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. "Who taught you to throw like that?"
"Hey! I'm doing it just like Mizuki-sensei said, so take it up with him, not me."
"Show me the first academy kata," Sasuke ordered.
Naruto, somewhat confused, settled into position, as if he were completely confident in it. Just as he was waiting for Sasuke to say something, he had to jump away to avoid Sasuke's incoming fist.
"Hey! What the hell was—" Naruto was interrupted by a leg sweep that sent him to the ground.
"Your stance was horrible. I decided to demonstrate that for you."
"You could've just told me!"
Sasuke smirked. "Yes, I could've." He paused, allowing Naruto to get up. "Did Mizuki teach that to you as well?"
"Yeah, I swear! He offered to be my tutor after I failed the exam the first time and we train once a week. No way I would get it wrong!"
'Why would Mizuki-sensei mislead him? Is this why he's dead last?'
As an Uchiha, Sasuke was taught the ins and outs of shurikenjutsu and had learned the Uchiha taijutsu style many years ago. But, out of curiosity, he paid attention when Mizuki-sensei had taught the class so he could compare his techniques to the academy's. Thus, he knew that Naruto was executing them poorly.
Sasuke actually felt bad for Naruto. He could empathize with Naruto's loneliness, and knew that he had no friends in the academy. Nobody, not even his own teachers would pay any attention to him. Others treated him like dirt, as if they were angry that him for being alive.
'I wonder how strong he actually could be; the academy is capping his abilities and preventing him from excelling. Maybe I could be the one to unleash him. It'd be nice to have someone to give me somewhat of a challenge. A competent sparring partner would further my goal, even if he's unbearably annoying.'
"Follow me."
"To where?" Naruto asked. Lacking a reply, Naruto just blindly followed him.
3 months later
The young, aspiring genin cluttered around the newly released class rankings. There were only a few months before the graduation exams, so the teachers already had a general idea as to who would pass. The rankings hadn't changed much since the beginning of the year, but one of the students had jumped in the rankings.
"I can't believe the demon fox jumped all the way from last to 5th. My attempts to mislead him haven't worked in 3 months; what the hell is going on?" Mizuki said to a coworker, who seemed equally distraught. The two of them were glaring at Naruto, who was just getting into a position to see his updated ranking.
"He even started performing the academy techniques correctly, and throws shuriken and kunai like the Uchiha!" Mizuki continued, wondering what could've possible happened.
"All right!" Naruto yelled, visibly annoying some of the other students. "Sasuke, I'm all the way up to 5th!"
"I suppose I can't call you a loser anymore."
It turned out that fixing Naruto's taijutsu stances and throwing style had raised his practical grade immensely. Naruto had only trained with Sasuke a few times, mostly to fix things he was doing incorrectly, but he had still made massive strides in the academy. Naruto was a quick learner, and became an adept fighter upon learning proper taijutsu stances. Seeing his improvements motivated him to actually try academically, as well. Naruto missed class much less frequently, and usually paid attention in class.
But one problem remained: he was still incapable of producing a clone. He tried desperately to follow Iruka's instructions, but nothing seemed to work.
"Hinata-chan, wait up!"
The young girl turned as she let out a small gasp. What could Naruto and Sasuke possibly want from her?
"Hello N—Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun." She twiddled her thumbs nervously as she waited for them to speak.
"I need you, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, choosing his words poorly.
Sasuke's eyebrows raised as a smile came across face.
Hearing those words, Hinata's heart dropped. 'He needs me? He feels the same about me?' She tried to speak, but could only mouth, "W—What?"
Frowning at her lack brevity, Naruto elaborated. "I need you to help me with my training. I can't do a clone, and Sasuke says that your B—By—"
"Byakugan," Sasuke said while rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, that. He said you could watch me and tell me what I'm doing wrong."
While disappointed that she misinterpreted his words, she was still happy that he was seeking her out. She was happy to help, or do anything with Naruto. She followed the two boys out to the academy practice field, where her eyes widened as she watched him attempt the technique.
"Um, you're using too much chakra."
With a determined look, Naruto tried once more, using as little chakra as possible. Again, the outcome repeated itself. "I can't use any less chakra! That's not fair!" Naruto yelled as he clenched his hands together.
"You have incredible chakra reserves Naruto-k—kun."
Hinata knew that he'd probably never be able to perform techniques that used so little chakra, but she just didn't have the heart to tell him. How could she possibly crush his dreams? She hoped he would find a way to graduate. If anybody could, it was Naruto.
He wondered what his next course of action could be. Clones were currently impossible; he simply couldn't use so little chakra. He considered asking Iruka-sensei for an exemption from that portion of the exam, but figured he didn't have the power to do so. So, he decided to consult the most powerful person in the village.
"Hey, kid, the Hokage is on break."
"Yeah, yeah, well Naruto Uzumaki needs to talk to him!" Naruto said as he raced past the Hokage's assistant.
He wished that Sasuke would've accompanied him to see the Hokage, but Sasuke said something about 'needing to get stronger.' Naruto felt that everyone always seemed to suck up to Sasuke and do whatever he said, so Naruto really wanted his help. Regardless, he knew the old man had a soft spot for him and his antics, so he still had a feeling he could work it out.
"Naruto-kun, what brings you here?" the Hokage said just as Naruto was turning the doorknob.
"Ah, well," not exactly sure how to ask, Naruto paused. "I need a big favor."
"Oh?" the Hokage asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"So you know how I need to do the clone technique to graduate but I've never been able to?" he paused, waiting for a small nod. "Well, I had Sasuke and Hinata-chan help me, and Hinata says I'm using way too much chakra, even when I use as little as I can, and said that I have a lot of chakra."
"I see," the Hokage began. "And what is this favor?"
"Well, I was kinda hoping you could let me skip that part so I could graduate. I mean, who even uses clones? It's not like—" he stopped babbling as the Hokage raised his hand.
"I've been told you have gone from last to fifth in the class, only behind some of our most promising clan heirs. Is this correct?"
"Yeah, Sasuke fixed all of the wrong stuff Mizuki was teaching me so my training has really picked up."
Deciding that was an entirely different issue to investigate, he continued. "I will compromise, since you have been trying so hard lately. And be sure to thank Sasuke-kun. You are exempt from the academy's clone technique."
Naruto began cheering, only to be interrupted by the old Hokage once more. "However, you must learn this technique," he said as he walked over and uncovered a hidden scroll. Taking a drag from his pipe, he contemplated if he should really give an academy student such a dangerous technique.
'Well, he would have to learn it eventually, and he already has more chakra than the Jonin who use it. I suppose it's alright.'
"You will learn the Kage bunshin technique. It requires far more chakra than its regular counterpart. As such, you must exercise caution when using it. Many have died by overexerting themselves," he said, exaggerating to get his point across. "Furthermore, you will only practice learning it in this tower's training facility under the supervision of an Anbu that I will assign. You will not view any other jutsu in this scroll, as they are forbidden and life-threatening. You don't want to break these rules." He paused to sigh inwardly, remembering how his successor was killed using a technique in the scroll. "Do you understand, Naruto?"
Naruto jumped in place, barely containing his excitement. "When can I start?"
A/N:
Just as a heads-up, I'm not suddenly making Sasuke a friendly person. He is still his antisocial, broody self. He only helped Naruto a couple times, fixing his stances, etc. I'm trying to keep this story realistic and I'm certainly not going to have an OP Naruto. Please raise your concerns in the reviews if you think I'm violating these rules.
Some of you may have noticed a lack of indirect interior monologuing (when I comment on a character's thoughts). This was intentional; the characters are currently very similar to their canonical versions. As such, you know exactly what is going through their heads. I'll pick up the monologuing as we delve deeper into the plot, which can change the way these characters act. There is also an abundance of dialogue because I want the backstory to progress quickly so you can start reading the more interesting things that accompany the plot divergence from canon.