AN: Fic is inspired by Oregobu and Through the Eyes of. This'll be an AU Naruto, where he was trained by Danzo as a child. Will also have elements of an AU Hinata.

I may edit chapters on occasion. I'll update the date here when I do.

Edited: 10/18/18

Elements of other RPG Anime/Games may appear. Hope you enjoy.

An eternal void of nothingness. This is punishment… my punishment.

"…Narut…"

Darkness everywhere, nothing but an endless sea of abyss. It's been how long? Days? Months? Years? — I've no concept of time.

"…Naruto-sen..."

My hands curl into a ball, her pendant clasped tight — A token baptized in her blood. Like it was mocking me, reminding me that I failed.

"…Naruto-senpai…"

I just don't understand. The sheer concept of it escapes me. What did you see in me? Why value my life over yours?

"Live…Naruto-senpai...live" ice cold hands touched his cheek, she gave him a smile, blood running through the corners of her mouth.

It hurts. I clenched my teeth, closing my eyes.

Hinata.

You made a mistake, wasting your life for a tool. A tool without a purpose.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

I see a light, multiple rays piercing through the veil of darkness. Expanding. Growing. The shadows vanish.

"What I should've done a long time ago. Afterall…"

I see nothing but light.

"I learned from the best, taichou."

Then I knew no more.

Naruto's eyes shot open and saw that it was dark. A different kind of dark. It wasn't pitch black, there were some sources of light. Candles above him, affixed to the wall. Small ones from the looks of it.

"Where am I?"

It felt cramped. Cramped enough that he could touch the ceiling with his fingertips. He grabbed at his throat, taking huge gulps of air. It was hard to breathe.

He ran a quick diagnosis jutsu on his body. His brows furrowed a second later. Testing a theory, he slapped his hands together forming a hand seal.

"What…? Why can't I…?"

He still had chakra. It was there, he knew it. He could feel it and yet he couldn't reach it. His brows scrunched together. What is this? There's a wall blocking access, like he was trying to breach a dam with a straw. Futile.

Then he sensed the presence of others nearby.

Humans?

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he heard someone ask. A female.

"Yeah" a man this time.

He heard a few others reply mostly with "yeahs" or "I'm here."

A creaking noise screeched through the air like that of a gate opening, and light came from the gap. There it was, the exit. An old iron grate.

A man with brown hair, this one well-built, grabbed the iron bars and pulled it inwards. It creaked open and the man went outside.

He followed soon after.

The dimly lit sky spread out as far as the eye could see. It was twilight. The smell of wild grass hit his senses. Its wild springtime scent tickling his nostrils, almost like Konoha. From here, he observed a luscious grass field as wide and as far as the eye could see.

From far away, he saw a town encompassed by two rocky hills on both sides. It had a huge gate with a dirt path leading towards it.

Behind him is a tower of some sorts. It stood at about twelve feet and was made from well-polished concrete.

"What the hell?!"

The sudden scream caught his attention. He turned to the voice, it was the lanky guy who screamed. There were a few others behind him, huddled together. Looking at him with wide eyes.

Tilting his head in confusion, a nearby puddle reflected his image back to him.

'Oh.'

He was a mess. His ANBU flak-jacket was ruined, missing half of its right side. Of the three pouches he had, only one remained functional. His ANBU mask looked salvageable at least. His apprentice's necklace was secured firmly in his hand, the golden cable spooled in between his fingers.

His hair was dyed red with blood, along with the rest of his attire. His wild whisker marks and dull blue orbs that resembled that of a dead-fish didn't help with his image.

For several moments, nothing was heard, nobody moved, only silence pervaded. The group stood still staring at him in fear, not even daring to breathe.

...

"...W-what the i-is that.. is that...? B-blood?! Blood?! S-stay back!" The man took a step back, almost tripping as he stumbled on his own feet.

A spike of pain burst forth from his head as a particular memory resurfaced through his mind.

"M-monster, leave us alone, you freak!"

He held his head, trying to stifle the dull throbbing pain. He resisted the urge to scowl as he slowly willed the pain to go away.

The man's question remained unanswered. That was fine, he didn't know how to reply to it anyway. Observing the group, a frown formed on his face. He was causing scene, he needed to go. Turning around he was just about to leap, but froze when he caught sight of something or rather, someone.

There in the middle of the group stood an exceptionally beautiful young woman with hair the same shade and color as Hinata's. It's unmistakable. That luscious dark-blue hair bordering indigo, the color of the evening sky.

"...care taichou..."

His throat burned all of a sudden, it was like there was something crawling inside his chest. It was a tight feeling, squeezing him, threatening to crush him.

Their eyes meet and she recoiled back.

"I-"

He froze midway. He wanted to say something, it seemed like the right thing to do. But he had nothing, he didn't the right words to say. So instead, he schooled his features, setting his mouth down to a thin line.

The tension that followed was almost palpable. So, it was a godsend to everyone when it was broken by the sound of someone singing something along the lines of "Charararararahn, chararararahn."

A young woman appeared from behind the tower. She was a bundle of joy with a positively beaming smile on her face. Her twin-pigtails moved about as she pranced around with a light spring on her step.

"Hiya! How's everyone doing today? I hope you're all feeling fiiine. Welcome to Grimgar! I'm your cute guide, Hiyomuu-" the newcomer was midway into giving a peace sign when her eyes caught sight of the blood-spattered shinobi.

"Oooh~ that's new," curiosity marred her voice as she made her way toward him with dainty steps.

She placed an index finger to her chin, tilting her head a bit, her wide puppy-like eyes looking at him curiously.

...

"Meh," She dismissed him with a shrug as if to say, "not my problem," twirled around, and continued with a singsong voice. "As I was saying, my name is Hiyomu and I'll be your guide for today~!"

"Oi lady, what's the meaning of this, huh?!" Lanky jabbed a finger at her, "Where are we?!" he snarled, attempting to grab her by the collar of her shirt.

"Eek!" Hiyomu shrunk back, backing away a few steps and shielding her face with her hands, seconds later she opened her fingers allowing her eyes to poke through. "Teehee~ You're so scary!" she giggled and blew a raspberry at him

"Don't get mad! Hiyomu means good! Just smile, smile, smile! Okay?!" she pushed her index fingers on each side of her cheek, giving him a megawatt smile, "All will be explained by my superior! For now, just follow after me~ Okay? Okay~?" she ended with a wink, tilting her head a bit.

Lanky kept his narrowed eyes at her, but conceded with a stiff nod.

"Alrightyyyyy~!" Hiyomu grinned and placed her hands on her hips, "I'm gonna do my job now, yosh!" She pointed her finger ahead and exclaimed, "Onwards!"

Grimgar

Red. The moon was red. It looked so unusual, unnatural. The crimson light gave off an eerie feeling like it was an omen for a disaster prowling around the corner, a trap waiting to be sprung.

Naruto slapped his hands together, forming a seal, concentrating - still nothing. He turned his eyes to the form of the blue-haired female or rather, her raven-blue tresses.

He couldn't really say why the color of her hair called to him. Hinata's dead. He held her as her life drained away, as her pulse left her body - as she breathed her last.

"It's c-cold… taichou."

He shook his head, fists clenched together.

What's wrong with him? It felt like there's something scraping inside of his chest just wanting to burst out. Is this grief if so, how do you stop it? — It didn't make sense. It wasn't the first time he's had comrades die for him, what made her so different? Isn't death a normal part of life? Death comes to everyone. He knew that but it didn't help. He can't stop thinking about her.

Rubbing the aching migraine away. He breathed out a sigh, affixing his gaze back on Blue-hair.

Lub-dub.

There it was again, the pain in his chest.

He frowned, turning away from her. There's nothing more to it. It's just her hair. It reminded him of Hinata. That's it. He needs to find a way to stop this. It was… unbecoming of him.

He caught her gaze. Her blue orbs wavered, like she wanted to be somewhere else. Anxiety and fear. Naruto recalled that smiling makes people less uncomfortable. So he tried to give her what he thought to be an earnest smile.

It was a mistake.

She recoiled back like she was struck — whipping her head back to the front.

Scrunching his brows, he wondered where he messed up. Did he not give her a smile? Maybe it wasn't. He didn't know.

He saw his reflection from Hinata's pendant. His blood-soaked visage.

'Maybe that's why.'

From what he noticed, she wasn't the only one that was avoiding him. The closest person to him is the strange tour guide, Hiyomu, and even she was staying at least three meters away. Someone from the group spared a glance back, keeping an eye on him, making sure he remained the same distance away.

There was a common theme in their eyes.

Fear.

It's strange. As a soldier of ROOT, he was taught to recognize how his targets felt. Fear, anger, lust, confusion. He knew how they felt given the smallest detail; but he couldn't recognize how it felt. It was part of his training. ROOT agents were stripped bare of their emotions. Useless things according to Danzo.

Tools didn't need emotions.

His brain pricked at him. No. There was a time. A time when he felt something. A time before ROOT. He remembered… The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen. He called him ji—

A sharp stab of pain ran through his skull. The vessels in his brain were on fire, like hot magma was flowing through. He bit his teeth trying to stifle the pain as memories appeared in a series of flashes, far too fast for him to perceive.

Eventually, to his relief, the pain subsided and only a dull throb remained.

Danzo called it a memory seal. A seal that acted as a blockade, preventing him from accessing locked memories.

"You're a tool, boy. The village's asset. Never forget that"

It brought forth useless emotions he said.

He blinked, seeing a hand wave back and forth in front of him. Turning to the owner, he saw Hiyomu looking at him with a questioning look. In fact, everyone had stopped to look at him. Muttering a small apology. He closed his eyes, proceeding forward.

Hinata, emotions, memories. He had so many questions but so little answers.

"I don't even know…" he muttered. Leaning his head back with a sigh, he closed his eyes. Pocketing Hinata's necklace inside his jacket and tuning everyone out.

The town of Alterna had streets lined with buildings. Some parts consisted only of wooden buildings while others consisted solely of stone buildings. There was also an aqueduct, with mostly clean water flowing through it. At times a foul odor would invade their senses, most likely excrement, but as the group continued walking, the smell became less of a bother to them.

Hiyomu led the group into the town beyond the hill. It was populated as one might expect from a place classified as a town. Majority of the residents seemed to be morning people as there was a handful of them who stopped to stare at the group, or rather the blood-soaked shinobi.

"So, is this like a foreign country or something?" a brunette with brown eyes asked.

"Huh, A foreign country? Wait, what country am I from anyway? What's my nationality?" Lanky asked.

"You guys didn't notice?" It was the well-built man from before, "My name is the only thing I remember."

Now, that was news to him.

"Huh? He's right, I-I don't remember anything from before… what's…my name… my name's Mutsumi," the brown haired-girl stated.

"I'm… Merry. I think?" the blue-haired girl added.

'I'm the only who remembers?' Naruto thought.

No, actually there were a few memories where he drew a blank. He couldn't remember how he got here. He didn't know why he was inside that tower, and ...the war. He fought in a war. The fourth shinobi war. But… he couldn't remember which village fought who. Who did they fight against? Kiri? Suna?

…

"We're heeere!"

He was brought back to reality by Hiyomu's loud boisterous shout.

In front of them was a building. The building had a ruffling flag with a red crescent moon engraved on it. There was a sign out front with faded out letters saying "Altern Fronter Arm Voluter Solder Cops Red Mon."

"Ta-da!" Hiyomu said, pointing at the building, she started doing a little cheer as she continued. "Yosh we're finally here! Here. It. Is! This is the office of the famous volunteer soldier corps of the Alterna Frontier Army, Red Moon!"

"Come in, come in!" Hiyomu led them to a large hall with tables and chairs scattered around. The place looked like your average tavern complete with a counter at the back.

Behind the counter was a 'man' with his arms crossed. He was dressed in a white vest that exposed the upper part of his chest and his bellybutton under. He wore shoulder-length gloves and short-shorts that only reached down to his upper thighs.

"Well. This is it for me! Hope you all had fun on our little tour!" Hiyomu said with a slight bow. "Bri-chan, over there give you a rundown of what's next, 'kay? Ta-ta~" She gestured to the man behind the counter.

'Bri-chan' gave a light salute and waved Hiyomu good-bye. For some strange reason, he was also shaking his hips while waving his hand.

What a strange man.

After Hiyomu closed the door, an immediate silence befell the group. A weird tension started spreading through the air.

Bri kept his gaze fixated intently on the group, examining them, almost like he's dissecting them. A look of intrigue passed over his eyes as his gaze landed on Naruto.

Clicking his tongue, he started, "My, my… how unusual. What do we have here?" he rested his elbows on the counter, eyes staring intently at Naruto.

"That's what we'd like to know," the well-built man misunderstood who he was addressing, "We don't know where we are or who we were… the only thing we remember is our names."

Bri-chan chuckled in response and gave him a once-over, "aaand~ what's your name?" the way he said it made his spine tingle in disgust.

"Michiki." Michiki narrowed his eyes at him. He can't help it, this guy seemed way too suspicious.

"I'm sorry to say this Michiki-kun… and company," he gave the group a strange smile, "but no one in Alterna knows where you came from nor who you are." He then walked over to open one of the windows of the building.

The window had an unrestricted view of a large stone tower on a hill. The same tower where they came from.

"All we know is that occasionally groups of people are summoned in the forbidden tower. There's no pattern to it. It just happens." he jabbed a thumb towards the stone tower. Sending Naruto a creepy look, the same look one would have if one were to abduct him and keep him all to himself, "However, you… you're a special case, aren't you?"

Bri started circling him like how a lion stalks its prey. "Your eyes says it all." he started listing out, looking at Naruto straight in the eyes, "You don't look lost like the rest of them…" he stopped with a snap of his fingers, "you remember everything. Don't you?"

If Naruto was affected at all by Bri's conclusion, then he didn't show any outward response to signify it.

Bri grinned, stroking an imaginary beard. He bent at the waist level with a hand on his hip, "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he replied, his face maintaining its emotionless look.

If it was possible, the look of delight in Bri's face would've magnified even further. The group felt the tension in the air. It felt like a timebomb was about to go off.

"Tell me Naruto-kun… exactly how skilled are you in your profession." he ended with a devilish smile.

For a while, nothing happened.

...

Then it happened.

You would've missed it if you blinked.

Bri wasn't just fast, he was also fluid, smooth ,and precise. His movements came out all too natural. Something achievable only through years of practice.

Everyone had to do a double take. Their eyes trying to comprehend what they just saw.

Bri pressed the knife against Naruto's throat further, almost enough to draw blood — he would've had it not been for the kunai pressing against his heart.

Naruto regarded him with dull blue eyes. It fascinated Bri, those eyes were that of a killer but his innocence remained. How? This one had claimed the lives of others, but his purity remained. There was no guilt in him. It reminded him of the eyes one would see from typical predators like wolves, lions, bears.

He gave a soft chuckle which turned into full-blown laughter. Soon he was laughing hysterically while clutching at his ribs.

The group wondered if he knocked a few screws loose.

"Sorry." he excused himself, catching a breath and wiping a tear away. He removed the knife from Naruto's throat licking the small line of blood on the edge.

"You're a dangerous man. I like you." Bri said while licking his lips paying no heed to the knife poised to strike at his heart.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, regarding him with his dead-eyed stare, "Bri-san, please refrain from doing that in the future." He took his kunai and sheathed it back in his right pouch. He kept his eye on him. Just in case.

"Right." Bri cleared his throat, his eyes still full of glee. It was pretty creepy, quite frankly. "Anyways," Bri clapped his hands together, "This is a volunteer soldier office," he said with arms lifted in proclamation.

"You're all going to be volunteer soldiers. However, this isn't slavery and you have the freedom to decide."

"All of you can choose," Bri continued while lifting his index finger and wiggling it around. "You can either accept it or reject it. Here's my offer. You can join our Red Moon Volunteer Soldier Corps as part of the Alterna Frontier Army, and of course, you'll be starting off as trainees until you've reached the status of becoming a full-fledged volunteer soldier."

"Volunteer soldiers…" Mutsumi started, a worried look on her face, "What do they even do?"

"They fight of course!" Bri-chan replied with a wave of his hand. He started wiggling his index finger again, "Here in the borderlands there are races that are hostile to us humans. Our duty is to exterminate them, while the Frontier's armies' duty is to secure their post."

His lips curled downwards, forming a frown. A hand rubbing his chin.

"But, to be honest, it's not an easy job. Even more so for you. It would've been so much easier had you been summoned in the capital city. You would've only fought against brainless slimes. Too bad, Alterna's weakest monsters are goblins, sentient creatures who can think."

Michiki rubbed his chin contemplatively, "So basically, the regular forces protect the town, while the volunteer soldier corps strike out to slay hostile races and monsters. Did I get that right?"

"You got it!" Bri-chan cheered with a wink.

"What happens if I turn down your offer?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing really, y'know?" Bri tilted his head and shook his waist a little. Was he messing with him? Perhaps he was and threatening him at the same time.

"I told you before that I am giving you room to decide. You can choose. If you don't want to be a volunteer soldier then I welcome you to leave right now and never come back, no strings attached."

"However," Bri continued, "I can't take responsibility for you after that." He paused, "Any other job you find will come with its own troubles. Even if you do luck out and find someone willing to hire you, they'll pay you barely enough to cover for your necessities. Now for those of you who do accept the offer, you will receive ten silver coins to start you off. That will be enough for you to live on for the time being, I think." He pondered a bit followed with a shrug.

Bri began lining something up on the counter. Reddish, coin-like objects and little leather pouches. He grabbed one of the coin-like objects, which had a crescent moon engraved on it, between his fingers.

"This badge identifies the holder as a trainee. It's called a Trainee badge. It's proof of your status as a volunteer soldier trainee. If you take one, don't lose it. But I guess… it doesn't really entitle you to anything." He said with a shake of his head.

"Once you buy the official Corps badge from me for 20 silvers and become a full-fledged member of the Volunteer Soldier Corps, that one will have some perks."

"We have to pay for status?" the blue-haired lady asked hesitantly.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

She had no answer for that.

"Listen, say what you like and do what you want, but in this world without money, you can't eat, you can't clothe yourself, you can't do anything. What choice do you have?" Bri ended with an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.

"I see," Michiki began as he walked towards the counter and grabbed one of the Trainee badges. Then he looked back at the group and gave them a once over.

"Ogu-san," he approached the lanky man, maintaining eye contact with him. "Let's group up." He raised his hand up for a handshake.

Ogu paused and chewed on the left side of his cheek. He regarded the hand in front of him with an unsure look on his face. He looked up at Michiki and saw him nod his head with an honest smile.

Eventually he gave a shrug and grabbed his hand in a firm grip. "Alright." He replied

He gave the same offer to Hayashi. Who agreed to join without any issue.

Michiki then set his gaze on Merry and Mutsumi. He saw them sitting together in one of the stools with their own respective badge set on the table.

"Excuse me," he began, catching their attention.

Seeing them give him slightly guarded looks, the likes you'd give to strangers, he scratched at the back of his head. "Hey, I believe our chance of survival is better if we group up. Don't you think so?"

"So, would you like to join us?" he ended with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his head.

Merry kept her gaze on him for a moment and looked down at her feet murmured a soft,

"I guess."

Mutsumi agreed soon after.

"I didn't notice it before, but this is almost like one of those RPG games, right? Wait… game? ...What's a game anyway?" Mutsumi asked confused.

Michiki grabbed his chin in a thinking posture. "It sounds familiar but, I don't…know?" he said with furrowed brows.

"Maybe it's something from the world before?" Merry supplied helpfully.

Michiki nodded his head. Now that the group is almost complete he turned to set his eyes on Naruto, only to find no trace of him.

He glanced at the counter and saw all the badges missing.

'He claimed one then,' he thought. 'is he planning to get by on his own?'

CLAP CLAP

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clapping.

He saw Bri smiling and clapping his hands "Congratulations! Now, all of you are trainees. Work hard and learn to stand on your own two feet. Once you're a proper volunteer soldiers, I wouldn't be adverse to giving you some advice."

Bri noted that there was one trainee absent from the room.

"Ara? He left already?"

He shook his head with a smile.

Seriously that man...

Naruto is walking through the street corners of an area called West Town.

He was able to secure himself a lodging area a couple blocks away for a measly cost of 5 coppers a day.

He got what he paid for. His lodging area is what you'd expect for that price. The place was more of a stable than anything else. The ground had no floors instead it was just a bunch straws piled up together. At least it came with a bed… made out of straw. There was also a bathing area and a table with a stool.

However, for him who's accustomed to sleeping in caves or on some occasion tree branches, it was luxurious enough.

Today was the day he was to join one these so-called guilds, where he was to be trained to specialize in a specific 'job class'.

Not that he needed the training, he may have lost the ability to use ninjutsu but he was still confident with his base taijutsu and kenjutsu. If it didn't lead to consequences, he wouldn't even join. Guilds had to follow some kind of regulation—a code—or face punishment. It was all just another restriction to him, but his landowner had argued that nobody would be willing to hire him if he wasn't affiliated with a guild.

Which is why he now found himself in the middle of an alleyway, in front of a ridiculously low doorway. The height could just barely reach up to his waist; the door itself was rusty and the knob looked like a human hand with a keyhole engraved in its palm.

He crouched low and gave the knob a twist.

Click-clack.

It was locked.

So, he tried knocking a few times.

…

…

...

No answer

Furrowing his brows, he knocked again. He tried this a few more times to no avail. He was just about to call it quits but then a low voice come from inside. "State your business." it sounded vaguely female.

Clearing his throat, he uttered, "I'm here to join the guild."

The door clicked open.

Naruto put his hand on the knob and turned. The hall beyond was cramped. He had to twist his body diagonally to fit in. He idly wondered if this is how worms felt when they crawled their way underground.

He managed to progress down the hall soon enough and came upon a dimly lit room. Unlike the entrance this room was spacious, there was a desk in the room with a woman sitting on it cross-legged.

The woman practically oozed danger. She was playing with a knife, throwing it up in the air, effortlessly catching it with her fingertips. Her brown hair was long, covering up half her face. She wore glasses over her brown eyes, though it was missing its upper frame.

Her attire left little to the imagination. Her arms, thighs and parts of her chest were exposed for the world to see.

"You want to join the thieves' guild?"

Naruto gave her a nod.

Catching her knife and spinning it idly with her thumb, she said, "If you're joining us you'll be going through seven days of training. One-on-one."

A flirtatious smile spread across her face, "I'll be responsible for you of course. An honor, no?" she finished with a wink.

If her teasing had any effect on him at all, he didn't show it.

Her eyebrow twitched at his lack of reaction. Stabbing her knife through the desk, she licked her lips. A menacing gleam crossed her eyes, "You know, I like guys like you," sauntering over to him.

"Silent types like you usually scream the loudest" the woman jeered, chuckling sadistically.

His face remained blank, eyes dull as ever.

She made a tsk sound with her mouth. Crossing her arms under her bust, she continued. "Do you know the code of the thieves' guild?"

"There isn't one."

"Correct." The woman jumped off the desk simultaneously pulling out the knife and giving it a twirl as she did so.

"However, there is honor among thieves." She raised an index finger, "we don't do jobs that interfere with jobs of fellow thieves, we don't steal from our own, we don't sell each other out. I'll discuss more about it later. If you become a thief that is"

She stuck her hand out palm up "I'm sure you know this already, but we don't exactly do this for free."

Naruto reached into his pouch and laid the required amount on the woman's palm.

8 silver coins.

She gave him a charming smile as she pocketed the coins.

"Payment received. All you have to do now is take the oath, but we're pretty lenient about it. More importantly, we should find you a trade name"

Seeing Naruto's confused look, she explained "We thieves don't use our real name among each other. You're just another face here. As your Mentor, I'll be the one to christen you with it. So, you better work hard if you want something impressive."

"I'm Barbara by the way. You can call me Barbara-sensei or Barbara-chan," she hooked an arm around his neck and whispered into his ear. "We'll have sooo much fun in the next seven days. Do try to stay alive for me, please?"

Barbara could count on one hand the number of people who've impressed her. But this one trainee blew her expectations, barreling his way straight to the top of her list.

In six days she had taught him all the necessities a thief needed to know. Roles in a party, rules of engagement, assassination techniques, and a few others. Besides that, she also trained him the basic skills and movesets of a thief.

[Slap] is a skill used when the user and the opponent are in a deadlock. It's a skill that maneuvers the dagger to hit or slash at the opponent's wrist to make them drop their weapon.

[Stealth Walk] is a skill that allows the user to be undetected by making their movement supernaturally silent.

[Backstab] is the signature skill of a thief. It gave the user access to a prepackaged moveset that maneuvers the thief behind their opponents, stabbing them in the back, dealing significant damage.

Naruto took to it like a fish to water. His movement was always so fluid, so natural. Like he'd done it for years.

On the final day of training, she asked him to spar with her.

If she were to be honest, spar sessions were more of an excuse for her to release pent-up stress. She expected the spar to be completely one sided... and it was.

She was absolutely getting destroyed.

The fight began like how she expected it to, with her in the offensive. Yet, for some reason, none of her strikes connected with her target.

Every single one was either dodged or parried. Finally, she found an opening when he had over extended his leg a bit too far.

She capitalized on the opening, swinging her dagger at him.

The blond easily blocked it with an almost lazy swipe of his knife.

But she expected that, she grabbed his knife hand and hooked her right leg on the back of his extended right knee. Throwing off his sense of balance. Pressing on, she yanked his knee out from under him.

Her lips curled to a smirk as the blonde sucked in a breath. Barbara used the leverage she had on him to slam him down.

But she didn't expect his counter. Naruto had hooked his left arm on her right, using it to flip her, reversing their positions.

Spittle flew from her mouth as her back met the ground with a sharp THWACH. She resisted the urge to groan, knowing how that'll feel the next morning.

"That reflex," She winced, turning to her bruised right arm. That last throw almost dislocated it!

"and that strength."

Naruto propped his body up with a handstand, using the spring of his arm to propel himself away from her. Giving her room to recover.

She stood up with a wince and set her gaze on him. Her eyes narrowed at him. He wasn't even winded! It frustrated her, he seemed to be just pulling moves out of nowhere. Everytime she'd increase the intensity of her attacks, he'd match her as if… wait — was he…. was he toying with her.

She gritted her teeth bloodlust leaking from her eyes. Clutching her knife so hard her knuckles turn white. Rage propelled her forward, eyes blazing with the intent to maim him.

'I'll make you pay for that, you prick'

They clashed, and for the next few minutes or so, the two were stuck in a deadlock. Slowly, it became clear who was winning this sudden exchange. Naruto parried or dodged everything Barbara threw and she was starting to feel winded. The deadlock was finally broken when Barbara took a critical misstep and she felt the air suddenly robbed off her lungs, courtesy of a spinning side kick.

She sucked air through her teeth, jumping away and clutching her aching ribs. The force of that kick felt like a bull had rammed her at full speed!

Taking the time to regain her bearings, she took a deep breath and examined his stance.

It was stable. There was no flaws to it. His left foot extended forward with his legs bent a bit, muscles loose and ready to spring into action. His left hand was loosely tucked under his chin and his right hand held his dagger in a reverse grip.

Her eyes narrowed, sweat dripping from the side of her head, 'Just who the hell is this guy.'

His blade didn't look like any weapon she recognized. The shape seemed foreign to her, the hilt was wrapped in bandages with a small ring attached to the end of it.

'And what kind of weapon is that?'

From its design, she deduced that it was meant for stabbing, more so than cutting, but Naruto proved to be more creative with his use of it.

Her thoughts were cut short when Naruto suddenly blurred in front of her, crossing the distance between them at almost supersonic was only by pure reflex that she was able to duck underneath his fast swipe. Capitalizing on the opening it left, she went for a swipe of her own, targeting his legs.

Putting his hand on her back, he pushed down, using her body as a springboard. He twisted his body mid-air attempting to nick her shin but she rolled away narrowly avoiding the crippling slash.

Barbara gulped, if that hit landed then it would've been over immediately. She'd be hard pressed to beat him if he took her mobility away from her.

Dull blue eyes regarded her with the same unnerving stare. He exhaled a breath, going back to a loose stance waiting for her next move.

There was only one way she could win this, and she only had one chance at it. Mustering all her strength, she sped up toward him, speed increasing with every step. When she was in striking range, she twisted around using the momentum to send a roundhouse kick.

Naruto ducked under the attack, preparing to counter, but just then a handful of sand connected with his eyes, robbing him of his vision.

Barbara capitalized on the opening, dashing toward him,

'You're faster than me, you're stronger than me, but you're a long ways off from becoming as crafty as me, rookie,' she thought.

The taste of victory was only an edge away from her.

Switching her grip on her dagger so that the blunt end was facing him. She didn't want to kill him, afterall. She swung, aiming to knock him out.

But instead of hearing the satisfying smack that followed a hit. Barbara felt a sudden force connect with her ribs. Her body lurched forward as the air was once again knocked off her. Eyes wide opened, Barbara marvelled in disbelief as she hurled out the breakfast she ate this morning.

'H-How?!'

Somehow, He'd managed to both dodge the swing and counter her by grabbing the back of her neck and; giving her a hard knee straight to the solar plexus. All with his eyes closed.

Her back met the ground with a loud THUD. Coughing, she clutched at her ruined abdomen. Everything was like a blur. There were stars circling her vision and by the time her senses came back, Naruto was already on top of her, straddling her, the unmistakable feeling of cold steel against her throat.

"Yield." he said.

She gave several coughs in response, pangs of disappointment coming through in waves, "Alright, -cough- alright, jeez, you got me. I -cough- give" she grumbled with an uncharacteristic pout. Defeated by a rookie… if her coworkers hears of this they'll never let her live this down.

The blonde loosened his hold on her, withdrawing back the knife to his pouch, by then Barbara had just realized exactly how close they were. A devious plot formed on her head and she couldn't suppress the mischievous grin that grew on her face.

Revenge...this was revenge, retribution for her ruined pride.

Licking her lips, Barbara hooked her arms securely around his neck, drawing him close. She closed her eyes and mashed their lips together.

An electrifying jolt sprang from her lips, light tingles traversing her spine. She ravaged his lips, pressing herself body against his and plundered his mouth roughly.

Grinning to herself, she imagined his heart racing. The light sputter on his lips as a blush formed in his cheeks. His calm facade shattering, exposing his flustered face.

Slowly opening her eyes, she felt goosebumps run down her spine. Eager to see the look of shock on his face.

Only, it wasn't there...

'Wah?'

He was completely unresponsive. His eyes retained their dreary look. Twin pools of hollow blue eyes that threatened to suck you in..

'It's like kissing a brick wall.'

Her expression drooped down to a complete deadpan, the passion within her eyes withering like doused flames. 'How dull…', she pressed hands against his chest, palms up and harshly shoved him off.

"Baka," she spat. An angry pout on her face. Her lips, bruised; Her pride even more so. She stood up, dusting her clothes off and fixing her glasses. Finally she turned to him, eyes narrowed in a glare.

"I've decided."

He grunted feeling her jab him harshly with an index finger.

"I've decided on your name…"

She jabbed even harder this time, lips falling into a thin line.

"I'm calling you Deadfish from now on. Why? Cause you literally have the same emotional capacity as a dead fish!"

She promptly walked away from him, muttering something about annoying overpowered blondes.

"He's so… Ugh!" she clenched her teeth, balling her hands into fists, "Seriously, can he at least show a little bit of appreciation?!... The nerve!" she growled, stomping away from him.

Naruto could only cock his head to the side, still trying to comprehend what happened.

He scouted them from behind a tree. Five of them...There was only five of them. He leaned back, feeling the rough surface of the tree trunk rub against his back.

These were ugly diminutive creatures.

The tallest one stood at about 4 ½ feet with the smallest barely reaching up to 4 feet. They had pointed ears over a hairless head black pearl-like eyes. Their skin tones varied from green, grey and muddy-yellow. They had a big mouth with their upper and lower fangs jutting out.

They were all wearing a one-piece loincloth to cover their lower bodies. On their neck hung a necklace with two wolf-fangs acting as a pendant. They were equipped with a variety of weapons, mostly made of wood and iron. The tall one wielded a spear, two of them had hand-axes, one had both a sword and a leather buckler, and the smallest one wielded a short dirk.

The group was out in the open, all gathered around a campfire a couple meters away from him.

The fire crackled as the spear goblin prodded at the burning cinder with his spear. The two hand-ax goblins were in makeshift bedrolls. The sword-buckler goblin was sitting on a tree stump on the opposite side of the spear goblin. The dirk goblin was sitting with his knees bent near the riverbank with his water pouch out.

He carefully took out a pair of kunai knives in his pouch. One on each hand. Emerging from behind the tree trunk and taking careful aim of the two sleeping goblins. He lifted his arms to throw.

Now.

A wet squelch echoed throughout the clearing as one of the hand-ax goblins dropped from a kunai embedded into its skull, the other one wasn't as lucky. The kunai lodged itself into its throat. The gob grabbed at its neck, trying desperately to stifle the blood. But it was futile, it choked on its own blood, slowly dying from its wound.

The spear goblin shouted something in its tongue with a distinct inflection of fear in its voice.

Naruto didn't waste a moment and continued to press his advantage. Grabbing another kunai from his pouch he dashed toward the spear goblin.

He crouched low, avoiding the incoming stab and quickly countering by swinging down with his kunai. It staggered on it steps letting out a shriek as the blade clipped its Achilles' heel.

Desperately, it swung wildly, trying to keep him away. But he didn't have to worry. The gob swung in a wide arc missing him by a large margin. Finally, its feet gave out from under it. The creature couldn't hold on anymore. It fell flat on its butt and clutching its heel, trying to stop the ebbing flow of blood.

The sword-buckler gob tried to help but Naruto anticipated this. The gob's head snapped back, stars suddenly erupting in its vision courtesy of a swift punch from the blonde shinobi.

He grabbed the sword-buckler gob's neck.

Crack

With a sharp twist, its neck snapped, ending its life. Naruto quickly grabbed the deceased gob's sword and chucked it at the wailing spear goblin.

"Yaaaaa— achk!"

With a resounding welch, the sword dug deep into the spear gob's torso. It took a few seconds for it to register the sword sticking out of its back. Then it fell on its back with a thud, Dead. Twitching occasionally.

Seeing its allies dispatched so easily the dirk gob tried to make a run for it only to see the blonde blocking its path.

It looked around, taking a step in every direction. Eventually it stopped, it sucked in a breath and cried out loudly. It wanted to run away, but it couldn't.

The diminutive creature looked at Naruto and started screaming as fiercely as it could. Fight or flight. If one option was removed, you'd typically resort to the other.

It was scared. He could see it. The dirk gob was desperate. It didn't want to die. It wouldn't just let itself die. It has a resolved look in its eyes. It was either going to kill him first or die trying.

But Naruto was unmoved by its threats. He quickly dashed toward it, drawing another knife from his pouch. The gob attempted a desperate lunge forward, trying to stab his head.

His eyes dilated into focus and time slowed down to a crawl. He could feel everything around him. The gob was moving so slow. He could see every muscle tense in the diminutive creature. He duck down under its thrust, swinging himself to the side and lining his blade to its back. Grabbing his kunai with both hands, he felt for the sudden pull of his skill.

Back Stab

The knife was brutally driven into the dirk gob's back and immediately it collapsed in a heap.

Naruto let out a breath as the adrenaline in his body started to die. As he took in a breath, he scanned the clearing examining his handy work.

Other than the pools of blood coming from the goblins' corpses the camp looked pretty much the same.

"Mercy...please have mercy!" a woman pleaded, her form covered in blood, and her arms holding tightly on a bundle of cloth.

He groaned, clutching the side of his head. He leaned on a nearby tree, trying to right himself as another memory surfaced up from the depths of his mind. Eventually, the visions stopped, burying itself back into the deep recesses of his thoughts.

'J-just another memory'

Shaking his head, he bent down the recently deceased gob and used its loincloth to wipe the blood of his knives. Taking the makeshift pendant around its neck, he started going through all the deceased gobs' valuables, looting anything that looked to be of any value.

His haul amounted up to five pendants, a low-grade spear, a low-grade dirk, two worn-out hand axes, a low-grade sword and a tattered leather buckler.

Sitting down on the grass, he lowered his guard, letting his hand fall to his sides. Then he tilted head back and closed his eyes, allowing himself to have a short period of rest.

My eyes hardened as I walked away, the ground littered with corpses of men, women and children.

This was his first bounty. His first mission as a volunteer soldier. He understood this world. It wasn't so different after all, it followed the same principles. He knew how it worked, in fact, he excelled in it.

The rules were the same.

Kill or be killed. Take or be taken from.

The strong lived, the weak died.

The sweet calm breeze of the cool night air carried with it the soft scent of fresh mildew. It was a full moon tonight. Its gentle light delicately illuminated the wild flora surrounding him.

He leaned back, hands propped up against the luscious grass. Tilting his head back a bit, and letting a serene look come upon him. A rare look. For some strange reason, he was at peace. He opened his eyes, lazily fixating it on the brilliant constellation of stars that blanketed the evening sky.

Light footsteps came from behind prompting him to spare a glance at the new arrival.

"Taichou..." she nodded in greeting, a radiant smile on her face.

He gave her a nod, setting his gaze back up as she situated herself beside him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" there was a hint of wonder in her voice, the brilliant pearls of her eyes soaking in the magnificent view.

He nodded his head in reply, but he kept his eyes on the view, allowing the scene to forever be engraved in his memories.

For a while, no other sound came. The two took their time, enjoying the short moment of respite.

"Naruto-senpai," she kept her gaze locked on the night sky.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow's the day, right?"

"Yes." he answered softly. A slight bit of mist formed from his breath. It was getting cold.

"Then it'll be all over?" she asked again.

"Maybe."

Her smile flickered seeming to be a little bit more somber this time. He heard her shuffle in place, a moment later, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, feeling her rest her face on the crook of his neck.

"I-I'm afraid...taichou...I-Is it ok to be afraid?"

"...You won't die," he assured her.

She shook her head, her face rubbing on his back.

"Not for me… for you"

"What do you mean?"

"Senpai," her voice sounded more like a whisper this time. "...when everything's done, I want you to live...live for me..."

"I don't understand."

She pulled him in tighter.

"...You don't know it yet, but you're covered in burns," Turning around to face her, he saw tears on the corners of her eyes. There was a slight quiver as she fought to keep the remaining tears at bay.

"You don't understand it yet, but one day you will...and when you do, you'll know that you are burning inside…"

She buried her head on his chest, her tears staining his shirt wet.

"...On that day, I want you to remember — if not for yourself, then at the very least… please, do it for me."

"Live for me."

"Live for me."

Her arms wrapped around him tighter, it felt constricting this time. It kept getting tighter and tighter. It was starting to become uncomfortable.

"Hinata."

He pressed his hands against her shoulders trying to loosen her hold, to no avail. A hard cough escaped her lips as something wet hit his chest.

"Live for me."

"Hinata." he said, louder this time.

Pushing her away, this time amplifying his arms with chakra. Her vice grip broke and he froze.

There was a red stain on his chest.

Blood?

His eyes widened as his eyes befell her.

She stood hunched over, arms wrapped around herself. A katana protruded from her chest, splotches of blood on her torso.

A malicious grin was on her lips, blood dripping from the side of her mouth. No, blood came out off every orifice. And she chuckled darkly.

The winds picked up, gathering together, slowly forming a vortex. Not long after, it became a howling tornado. Trees, boulders,and dirt were thrown about in a horrific display of destruction. Cracks formed in the ground and fissures came out as the entire place shook. Wails of despair echoed throughout the clearing. What was once a place of tranquility had been twisted into an infernal region filled with despair.

Her mantra continued, her voice contorting, sounding more and more monstrous with every word.

"Live for m-e…Live for me… Live for me"

Her eyes opened wide, a crazed look in her pearl orbs. She made lunge for him, grabbing a hol—

Gasp

He awoke with a start, sweat dripping from every pore. His shirt was wet, sheets scattered about. His hand trembled and he grabbed it in a firm hold to still it. He mustered himself, taking deep heavy breaths.

It had been a little over a month since he arrived. In that time, He'd been able to make enough money to buy himself the necessities such as pillows, toiletries, etc.

His chosen hunting ground is Damuro. It used to be the second-largest city in Arabakia, and had been much larger than Alterna. However, it was laid waste by the No-Life King's forces and came into undead control.

After the No-Life King's demise, the goblins, who were their slaves drove out the undead and made the city their own. Now, it's well known as Damuro, the city of goblins.

Socially, he'd kept mostly to himself, choosing not to interact with people unless needed. So far, the only ones he'd interact with were his landlord, the local blacksmith, and the local baker.

Raising a hand to rub the fatigue out of his eyes, he thought, 'What's happening to me.' There was noticeable bags in his eyes, nightmares had plagued his dreams every night and sleep had been lost to him since then.

Pulling at the hem of his shirt, he raised it up. Revealing a toned body, the type you'd get only after years of constant harsh training. His gaze directed to the seal on his abdomen, examining every intricate symbol etched on it.

'It's becoming unstable' He noted, tracing the element with his fingers.

The eight-trigram seal had been progressively deteriorating. It was lacking in supply. The seal originally used his chakra to power it up, reinforcing the ink on a regular basis. But now, since his chakra remained inaccessible to him, the ink had started to fade away. The seal was weakening. The consequences it entailed not only meant his death but also more than half of the denizens.

After all, the Kyuubi was considered an SS-class threat in the ninja world. And he could tell that this world's populace is significantly weaker. If the fox were to ever be released, no one would be able to stop it. It'd be a massacre.

He couldn't let that happen. There has be a way to unlock his chakra, and he needed to find it fast.

For his sake, and for theirs.

Naruto shifted his cloak breathing out a cold mist. Nightly strolls have always been one of the leisure activities he enjoyed. The air was cold, but it was also gentle, calm, peaceful; quite the contrast to his current state of mind.

He had another one of 'those' dreams again and it was wearing him down. His movements have been sluggish, sometimes he'd lose track of what he was doing.

It was impossible to sleep, so he decided to take a walk. It helped, but it didn't stop the haunting visions of Hinata that would plague his thoughts on occasions. It was like a mirage, but it felt so… real.

Alterna's streets was bustling tonight. The soft plucking of lute strings formed pleasant melodies in the air. Merchants were hollering everywhere, giving out discounts and deals, no doubt wanting to sell the last of their goods before the night ends. Torches lined the walls illuminating the area in soft orange.

He turned to a nearby post, looking at the street sign. 'Flower Garden Street' so he was by the northern section of Alterna.

The jovial shouts of patrons sounded out in a building ahead of him. It had a sign on the front written in bold letters "Sherry's Tavern", the color of the words "Tavern" was worn out, making it hard to read.

He twisted the knob, pushing the door open. It was a bit crowded inside, but it had a cozy feel to it. There were a couple of tables and chairs scattered about and a counter near the back. Behind the counter, displayed on a shelf were various liquors and spirits.

Seating down on one of the stools by the counter, he rested his elbows against the countertop.

"What'll it be?" the bartender, a bald burly man asked him.

Naruto looked at the shelf, looking for options. There was a bunch of strange drinks, ranging from shots infused with wolf blood, to ...ogre eyes sunrise; but they also had the traditional drinks. He settled for something more familiar this time.

"A tankard of mead."

The bartender gave a nod and excused himself.

Naruto scooted forward, situating himself in a more comfortable position. overheard the conversation of the two people sitting beside me, to my right.

"Seriously?!"

He turned to the source, a volunteer soldier wearing a plate armor with a hood and a white cape in the symbol of seven-crests forming an X shape. His companion shushed him for his outburst, the man gave a sheepish look.

"…I mean really...? Another wave of rookies came out of the tower… that's pretty quick." exclaimed the one with the hood.

"Yeah, they've been the talk of the townsfolk today."

"Can you blame them? Hayashi's group has only been here for like two months or so. Bless their souls, It's a shame… you know… with what happened to them."

Naruto's ears perked at that little information.

'…Two months?'

That must be the same group from the tower.

"None of them deserved that… it's… quite sad, seeing rookies die so early in the job," the hooded guy shook his head. He continued,

"How's Hayashi doing these days?"

"He's been coping well, I think..." the brown-haired guy replied taking a sip of his beer. "He knows well enough that death isn't a stranger in this line of work... He's a bit worried about Merry though..."

The hooded guy nodded in response

"Yeah about that... rumors say that she doesn't stay more than a week in a group. Some soldiers have even started calling her 'Ill-tempered Merry'."

"Yea-"

"Here you go, lad. Enjoy!"

Naruto's thoughts broke off as a tankard of mead arrived on the table. He gave the bartender a silent 'thanks', taking a sip of the beverage.

It tasted...sweet, with the mild burning sensation of alcohol intermingling in together. It's quite refreshing. It probably is one of his favorite beverages her at Sherry's.

He leaned forward, resting his head on his arms. His thoughts going back to the subject of the two soldiers.

It seems like that group died.

He didn't really know how to feel about it, everyone dies someday, it was only a matter of who would go first, or rather, how one would go.

Though his thoughts moved to the blue-haired lady. Merry, if he recalled correctly. It's quite ironic, her new 'title' is a complete opposite of what her name meant.

There's been a few things he's learned ever since he arrived in this world. He'd rented out a book in the local library that detailed the finer points of human emotions. It said that when a person loses something they 'loved' it results in a painful sensation, mostly associated with the heart.

This 'love' is perhaps the most confusing and inconsistent emotion. Some say love is the best thing one can experience, but others state that love is the most painful thing that has happened in their life. So which one is it, what is 'love'?

If he could figure what this meant, then maybe he can understand exactly what made Hinata so… different.

It's quite strange, for as long as he could remember he had never 'felt' before. But here, he's experiencing these strange sensations, feelings and emotions. Things that up to now, remain foreign to him.

Though it seems to him, that this… Merry is experiencing what one would call grief. He wondered if that's what he felt with Hinata, but then the implications of that meant he 'loved' Hinata, wouldn't it? Shaking his head, he downed the rest of his drinking.

He lifted an index finger at the bartender, requesting for another around.

Naruto twirled the blade in his hand, shifting his grip to test for its weight.

"You interested in that, lad?" the smith asked him, hands in his pockets while leaning on the counter.

He was a brute of a man, in his late forties or early fifties. Facial hair covered the majority of his face, with his beard reaching down to the top of his chest. There was a mass of tattoos lining up his arms, so much so that his arms looked like it had been painted ebony.

"That's a throwing knife." The smith informed, "hunters love them, but there's a few soldiers that keep them as back up."

Examining the knife, he traced the edge with his finger. Naruto frowned,

It was a bit flimsy, the edges were a bit dull and he doubted it had the durability to last as long as a kunai. Though it's light for its size. The handle was wrapped in a black cloth with a ring drilled to the end of it. The blade curved outwards from both sides, meeting in a single sharp point at the tip.

It wasn't the best but it was a passable substitute till he found a way to supply himself with kunais. Nodding at the man he said, "I'll take a dozen."

"It costs two and a half silver for one so, that'll be... thirty silvers."

He dug into his pocket and fished out the right amount of coins, setting it on the counter.

"That leaves me with... 27 silver coins," he thought.

A thought crossed him. "How much would it take to repair this?" he unsheathed the tanto strapped to his back and placed it on the counter.

There were cracks lining the blade, the edge was chipped, looking like it had suffered its fair share of battles.

The smithy took the blade, examining it. After analyzing it, the smith nodded his head, taking a mental note of the overall costs for the material, repair, and service.

"This blade is made of high-quality material." the smithy noted, holding the blade evenly in his hands. "That alone is going to cost you a fortune."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"It'll be around four gold coins plus another fifty silvers for service and repair."

He frowned, his lips sloping downwards in disappointment. That was a bit too much for his price range. He made about twenty-five silvers on a good day, recently, however, with the arrival of the rookies The amount he brought back had become even less.

Giving the man a nod of thanks, he took back his tanto and his newly purchased goods and opened the knob of the doorway leading outside.

The smithy was situated in the central plaza, where the marketplace was located. It was the central place of commerce in Alterna - a hot spot for merchants and storekeepers.

The marketplace was lively. The prices of all the items were written as 1C, 7C, 1S, and so on. Merchants and adventurers were noisily haggling. Merchants were calling out to him, "You sir, come browse my wares…" or "You sir, would you like some…"

He heard the sound of hammer hitting nail. Turning to the source he saw a man nailing something on a wooden post.

Taking a closer look, he saw the words "Notice Board" carved into it. There were various requests on the board ranging from assisting a shopkeeper, collecting ingredients or collecting the bounty of certain creatures. His eyes caught sight of a certain request.

Bounty Notice!

Slay the Mutilator.

Calling all adventurers, The Mutilator has been reported to be wandering the grounds of Central Damuro, be warned, this hobgoblin has killed more than its fair share of volunteer soldiers.

Reward for confirmed kill: 5 gold pieces.

For more information contact, Bri of the Red Moon Army.

Warning! This is a party quest, do not venture alone.

…

'Five gold?' he marvelled.

One gob kill usually netted him an average of seventy copper in loot. For it to be valued at five gold coins, that means it was worth more or less a hundred goblins.

He looked at the etching sketched on the parchment. The target's most prominent features is the large nose stud made of direwolf fangs stuck its septum. It's also described to have a collection of shrunken human heads hanging from its neck, bounded by a string.

'If I succeed, I'll have enough gold to repair my tanto. However,' his eyes skimmed over the parchment again. 'I've never been to the deeper parts of Damuro.'

His hunting grounds for a long time had been restricted to the outer ruins of Damuro. He didn't really find any reason to venture deeper into the lost city, but this changes things.

Running his tongue on the lower part of his teeth, he sucked in air through his teeth.

'I need more supplies'

Naruto pressed his back against the wall, holding his breath, waiting for the gob to pass through.

The new city of Damuro turned out to be a lot more fortified than he expected. They had multiple lookouts set up at certain points to spot approaching hostiles. The city itself was enclosed in a stone wall with four gates serving as the entrance. Each gate was heavily guarded by at least eight to eleven gobs, depending on the time.

It was well after dusk, the sun having swallowed by darkness.

He was mindful enough to bring a rope. It served its purpose, he used it as a rappel to get himself up the walls and inside the city.

The inside was no less fortified as the outside, patrols littered almost every part of the city. He had to exploit every nook and cranny of the alleyways to remain undetected.

He wasn't having any luck in finding the target though. He had scoured high and low for it yet there were no signs of it.

Eventually, he hid inside a dimly lit balcony of an abandoned building, avoiding one of the patrols. Though as luck would have it a shadow steadily approached the doorway.

It was cautious like it knew something was wrong.

His eyes sharpened. Naruto held his breath, suppressing his presence, blending in with the shadows. There was tension in the air, he could the sweat on his back dripping onto the cold hard floor. It'd been a long day of running and stealth, and he felt the fatigue start to get to him. Naruto took a firm hold of his knife seeing the shadow approach at strike distance.

'I have to make this quick - make sure it couldn't alert anyone.'

It happened almost instantly.

Its eyes widened, lips opening up to scream something but it was already done. It gurgled blood as his knife lodged itself deep in its throat.

Naruto made sure to cover its mouth muffling any sound it made, all the while keeping eye contact with it. It struggled briefly but then its strength began waning.

For a moment, all that was heard was the faint sound of gurgling as the gob choked on its own blood. There was great panic in its eyes, looking everywhere trying to find a way to escape its predicament.

His hands clawed at my wrist, trying to break my hold on his neck. His eyes started to dull.

Naruto shook his head, things have gotten worse lately. The visions won't stop, it just kept coming.

Finally, almost mercifully, he shoved another knife underneath its head, jabbing it straight up its brain - the light left its eyes immediately. Setting the lifeless body down on the rough concrete, he gathered whatever he could from it, finding a dirk of medium quality, and a necklace with a tusk of some kind as its pendant.

Reaching into his pockets and unfurling a map. He examined the etchings, taking out a piece of charcoal from his pocket, he marked his location on the parchment.

'I've scoured well over more than half of the city, and there were still no signs of the Mutilator.'

His eyes narrowed, lips pressed together. There's a high chance it was staying in the central plaza. That was bad news for him. The central plaza is a hot spot for gobs. The chances that he'd remain undetected in that area was slim to none.

But this is best shot he had at eliminating it. He had killed one of the patrols, soon enough, they'll send a search party, and discover the corpse. He was running on a time limit.

The [Stealth Walk] skill came in handy as he moved over from building to building until finally, the plaza came into view.

It was quite big, consisting of a few stone buildings in the center, there were wooden stalls scattered about, filled with various goods as goblins and hobgoblins alike clamored.

Ducking under the cover of one of the wooden stalls, he raised his head out to look. There were about twenty hobgoblins and double that number in terms of regular gobs. He scowled. It's just as he thought, this area is a hotspot for gobs. His chances of finding the target was dwindling.

Things looked bleak.

'Even if I do find my target, there'd no guarantee that I'd be able to escape this place alive. I need to go ba—'

CRACK

He froze at the sound. It came from behind him. Turning around he felt his heart skip a beat.

A few meters away, a merch gob stood quaking, with its hands held out, holding an imaginary pot.

My eyes met the quivering form of a civilian man, his eyes full of panic, he turned to scream-

The gob turned around to scream.

Naruto shook himself awake, drawing a knife from his pouch and flinging it at the frightened gob.

Seconds later, its cry was silenced as the flying projectile met its head in a sickening wet squelch. It hit the ground soon after, but it was already too late. The gob had done its job, every gob in the vicinity had been alerted to his presence.

Silence pervaded for a few seconds. The gobs flicking their eyes over between him and the newly deceased corpse. It took them a second to realize what happened.

"HAaR MEL, HAaR DAan MOLkAC!"

Every gob and hobgob plowed their way toward him in an angry mass of green and grey.

Naruto bit the side of his cheek, resisting the urge to curse. He quickly sprang up from his position darting toward the direction of the nearest gate. He sprinted, jumped, skidded, — and dived through all the obstacles in the way. His heart beating a mile a minute, his body pumping copious amounts of adrenaline into his system.

Retrieving couple knives from his pack, he flung it behind him in random directions. A couple of them cried out in pain, from the sudden attack. It didn't stop the group though. In fact, it added fuel to the fire as their shouts renewed in strength. These gobs were relentless.

Naruto ran for what seemed like an eternity, till finally, almost mercifully. The entryway of the gate came into view. His lungs screamed at me, legs begging for rest, but his adrenaline kept him up, pumping more and more into his bloodstream.

'O-only a f-few meters now'

He gritted his teeth, seeing the guards form a perimeter to intercept him.

Nimbly ducking under an overhead swipe. He bent his knees as low as he can, placing every ounce of energy he had left on to his legs, he made a desperate lunge forward, using the guard's head as a springboard to further his ascent.

'Al-most'

He landed about three meters in front of the gate, reaching his hand out to the exit — the gate sealed shut — and so was his fate.

His strength left him, the adrenaline expired. He failed. There was no more escape, there were too many gobs. He can't beat all of them. That's it.

'It's over'

For a moment, something gripped at his heart. It felt… cold, empty. Raising a hand he marvelled, 'Why am I shaking…? Is this fear?''

He gritted his teeth, closing his eyes.

'What is happening…? Do I fear death...? since when?'

He tuned everything out — his fatigue, his breathing, even the malicious cackles of the gobs as they approached.

...Live for me…

'Right.'

His eyes opened, burning with resolve, taking out a pair of kunai, the last few he had left. He turned, blurring and landing a vicious strike on the side of a mace-gob. It cried out in pain, holding unto its bleeding side. The group moved back, at the sudden attack, slowly trying to circle him.

His eyes scanned his opponents.

He counted ten, including the injured guard gob, all armed with assorted weapons; a spear, a sword and buckler, a crossbow, a dagg-

He narrowly ducked under a crossbow bolt. His eyes immediately locking unto the crossbow gob, labelling it as the greatest threat.

He dashed toward it, he moved so fast it put a strain on his legs. He hoped that his speed would catch it by surprise but it wasn't so. The gob maneuvered away from his strike jumping back behind the group.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, it was a nimble little gob. His instincts kicked in and he dodged to the right, a sword slashed at his previous location, courtesy of the sword-buckler gob. He countered with a right knee delivering it straight to its chest cavity.

SQUELCH

Correction, straight through. Wrenching the deceased gob off his foot, he flung the blood away with a swing of his leg.

The group of gobs were a bit more wary now. The way he easily dispatched their fellow gob must've shocked them. They moved, taking careful steps to approach him as group. Then one of them cried out, prompting all of them to attack simultaneously.

Dodging a left swing, ducking under a spear stab, then an overhead strike, a right swing — Naruto was slowly losing ground.

Sweat dripped as he parried yet another strike. He had to make space somehow, then a thought hit him, an idea quickly forming in his head. Opening his pouch, he took out a black ball. A smoke screen, he had limited supply but it was necessary.

He threw it on the ground and immediately, smoke came out, blanketing the air in a thick haze. The gobs coughed easily giving away their position. They cried in panic, as the smoke screen blotted out their vision.

Without further delay, he began to move. Slicing and dicing. He used their coughs and cries as beacons. By the end of it, the only ones left were the crossbow gob and the spear gob.

His blade bifurcated a man, it's strange, it almost feels like a routine now.

The spear gob widened its eyes at the sight of the dead bodies and cried aloud, charging at him recklessly. Parrying the blow, Naruto broke through its guard, grabbing its head in a headlock, and twisted.

SNAP

The spear gob fell its head lolling back in an unnatural angle.

The crossbow gob recoiled, dropping its weapon in fear. It started crying out something, but he ignored it, dashing forward and covering the distance between them in an instant. Twirling his knife, they clashed. The gob tried to muster a desperate defence but it was futile. He easily maneuvered past its wild swing, driving the kunai on its head. Its skull broke from the force allowing the blade unhindered entry to its brain. It held still for a moment, a sudden seizure wracking its body.

Pulling his blade out, the gob dropped to the ground. Dead.

He felt a sense of relief washed through him, then he raised his guard ready for the next opponent.

But then a sudden tremor wracked the ground as a bone-chilling roar echoed throughout the city. Loud thundering sound stomps shook the ground down. Each step creating a shockwave that reverberated around the area.

The goblins and hobgobs, parted making room for… a monstrosity.

Naruto felt a slight sweat, seeing the creature.

Standing at about eight feet tall, with veiny arms as thick as tree trunks bulging with muscles, hands the size of his head, long tusks jutting out its lips, nose with a large septum piercing and its iconic necklace of shrunken human heads. The Mutilator looked more like a troll than a goblin.

It was clad in tribal armor with a cloak draped over its shoulders made out of a grizzly pelt. The cloak was connected to a single pauldron on its right shoulder made out of a troll skull. Held in its hand was a single-edged crooked longsword.

What it lacked in sharpness more than made up for its size. It was as thick as his shoulder and as long as the creature.

This is bad.

"Huu-men"

'It...spoke?' Naruto's brows furrowed, there's not a lot that could surprise him, but this definitely did.

"Me, Am-Mut."

So it did speak, its speech pattern was broken, but it did. It introduced itself. Who knew gobs were capable of learning the human language.

Am-mut pointed at him with one of those branch sized things it called fingers.

"You, Who?"

It took a bit for the shock to settle, but he quickly shook his head, raising his knife.

"Naruto." he rasped. At this point, he couldn't hide his fatigue, he was beyond exhausted.

It ordered its kin to drop their weapons and circle them, making a makeshift ring with them at the center. It turned toward the crowd, and raise its arms, yelling something in its tongue. The gobs roared back, excitement dancing in their eyes.

Then Am-mut slammed its sword to the ground, sending dust particles in the air. When the dust cloud cleared it spoke.

"You, Me, Fight! You, Win, Live!"

Naruto understood enough of what it wanted. This creature reveled in the struggle of its prey, it wanted to have its prey hope. Give it a chance and crush it. This fight was to decide his fate, whether he lived or died. A duel.

It started slamming its fist on the ground, the crowd matching to its beat. It sent dust particles everywhere, blanketing the area in a cloud of dust. The force of its blows was so strong it was breaking the cement.

When was the last time he fought for his life?

Ducking under the strike of an Iwa-nin he countered, driving his blade straight into the man's throat. He dropped like a sack of heap. The man laid there twitching... bleeding out as Naruto charged straight to his next opponent.

The thrill of battle - the struggle of life and death. It's been so long... This fight... it called to him… it excited him. Naruto's eyes dilated, adrenaline once again running through his bloodstream. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, as he raised his blades, one on each hand.

And they clashed.

Am-mut struck first going for an overhead thrust. Naruto skidded low blocking the strike with both of his blades, running it through the lower edge of the blade. Sparks flew, as he closed in on its legs.

Naruto attempted a swing, only to jump over to the side as he narrowly dodged a knee that would've surely caved his head in. The force the blow was so strong, the wind whipped his hair up.

He narrowed his eyes, realizing the implications.

If he gets hit once, he's dead for sure.

Naruto jumped back creating space between them, beads of sweat dripped down from his brows, his adrenaline was wearing down.

'This needs to end now.'

Reaching into his pouch, and taking out a handful of ninja wire, he took both ends and tied it on on the ring end of the kunai, he did the same for the other.

In a flourish of moves, he spun the thread around him, kunai flying in the air.

Am-mut howled, eyes full of bloodlust. It crouched on all fours, and sprang forward. Charging at straight at him like a bull.

Naruto jumped to the side, throwing a kunai at it. It connected, hitting its left knee, staggering it a bit. However, it shrugged it off, quickly turning around and began its charge anew. He jumped to the side, chucking the other blade at its uninjured right leg. It pierced its right tibia, the blade digging deep into its bones. It roared in anguish, it's furious eyes locked into his as saliva dripped from mouth.

He drew a pair of throwing knives, keeping hold of the wires connected to the kunai. Then he dashed straight toward it, closing the distance between them in an instant.

Am-mut swung its sword, attempting a right swipe. He jumped over its attack and quickly dashed through its legs, swiping the blade on the tendon of its knees.

It grunted, dropping down on all fours. Capitalizing on this, Naruto jumped on the back of its head, driving both of his knives on each side of its thick skull.

CLANG

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the blades bounced off its skull. The blade easily pierced through the skin but it couldn't break past its skull.

Am-mut roared in anger, and made move to grab him, but he reacted quickly, ducking under its attempt and jumping off its back.

Naruto took a firm grasp of the wires in his hands and pulled. The thread wrapped itself around its form, lockings its arms to its sides, hindering its movements.

Opening his pouch with one hand, Naruto grabbed a handful of throwing knives, one for each finger.

Am-mut seeing what he was planning, howled, panic settling into its features. It clawed at the ground struggling violently against its bindings. But it was futile, ninja wires were meant to hold back chakra reinforced bodies.

Taking aim, Naruto propelled all five blades toward its neck.

It landed true, Am-mut let out a guttural cry as the knives punctured through. It choked, gagging from the blood in its throat.

Naruto took slow steps, approaching its whimpering form. The creature scooted back, eyes wide open in fear. Drawing out another kunai out from his pouch, he readied it in his hands.

"Senpai."

Its eyes darted everywhere in panic, looking for something, anything. It was afraid to die, it made an attempt to say something, but it came of as a gurgle, it clutched at its neck desperately holding onto its last vestige of life.

"Senpai."

There was that voice again, his head began to hurt. He needed to end this now.

Raising his blade, he prepared to swing—

"Se-npai"

'What...?'

Hinata. She appeared, face caked with blood, her mangled torso… sporting a mess of crimson. Bloodshot eyes looking straight at him. She reached out toward him, her hands stopping just a few inches away from touching him.

She gave him a bloodied smile.

"You're burning"

His eyes widened at his mistake.

Feeling a tug, his body lurched forward as the monstrous gob pulled him up, and slammed him to the ground.

Its was filled with bloodlust, teeth set in a snarl. The crowd gave an exhilarated roar and started chanting excitedly.

"MECH MEL! MECH MEL!"

Pain filled his senses, blood coming out of his lips. There was a sharp sensation on his sides, one of his ribs had probably punctured his lungs. Blood seeped down from his head in copious amounts, covering his eyes in crimson.

Naruto mustered every ounce of strength he had left, pressing hard against its vice grip, pouring all the remaining strength in a desperate attempt to pull himself free — but the the creature was relentless. It wouldn't budge a single inch.

By this point, his thoughts were muddled in pain, he couldn't think anymore. His strength withered as darkness crept up onto the edge of his vision.

"Tell me, boy, are you afraid to die?" he asked, a strange look in his eyes.

"We all die someday…"

He felt himself give way, his eyes dulling as the last trace of consciousness left hi—

"Pathetic"

That voice…

The fox…? No...

Suddenly, raw power surged inside him, reenergizing his unused coils and triggering his healing factor. His coils tingled in pleasure almost like how one would feel when drinking water in a desert. His thoughts returned, his senses amplified,

'C-chakra...'

It was euphoric. Like a missing puzzle was just returned to him. He was complete.

Grasping the hands of Am-mut, he easily broke the the vice grip of the goblin. It looked at him incredulously, disbelief written all over its features.

Fear settled in and it tried to make a break for it, turning around in a desperate attempt to escape its fate.

Big mistake.

Naruto went through the hand seals of one of the most notorious assassination jutsu.

[Kaze no Yaiba]

The blade of wind cut straight onto its neck, like hot knife through butter. Its head toppled to the ground, blood spurting from its neck — mouth stuck open in a silent scream of terror.

The head rolled at his feet, reaching down he tugged at its septum piercing, it came loose with a soft squelch sound. He also grabbed the makeshift necklace it had, putting both in his pouch.

"KhrUun! KhrUun! KhrUun! Morac!"

Naruto raised his guard, ready to defend himself, but to his surprise the group of goblins went past him, throwing themselves on Am-mut's side.

His head throbbed, shaking his head as visions once again filled his thoughts.

The smell of rot filled the air, numerous bodies posed in awkward angles. Piled one over the other.

They howled something in their tongue, tears falling from their eyes. All around him, gobs and hobgobs alike were hunched forward.

"Don't you have any ounce of mercy in you?!" she roughly pulled at the collar of his jacket, looking straight into his eyes.

Shaking his head, Naruto saw a little green thing zip past. It was a small gob, around two feet tall, holding onto the hand of the dead chieftain.

"Your a monster… you monster!" she yelled, tears running down her cheeks.

It looked at the corpse, tears flowing from its eyes. Then it turned, locking eyes with him. Its eyes turning cold, almost like it was imprinting himself into its thoughts.

"Monster!"

Surprisingly, the gate opened. The gobs honored its chief's wishes it seems. He wasn't about to press his luck though, he needed to leave now.

"I see."

He was lucky to find shelter in a cave just a short distance away from Alterna.

"...Live…promise...me"

And only then did he let the sweet embrace of darkness take him.

"...I will…"