Hey, I'm still alive! I would say more, but I don't want super long author's notes, so look for more in Embodiment of Desire BTS under my stories on my profile!
I do not own Naruto or Black Rock Shooter
The world was unsettling, to say the least.
The landscape looked like it was designed by a child. With the pink tinted skies and land and the giant toys lying everywhere, it was something that was not hard to believe. But, there was one detail that changed that thought, and made the reality seem all the more terrifying.
Every single toy was broken.
Doll arms were scattered here and there. The fractured and sometimes collapsed faces of baby dolls were lying in a pile, partially covered by the decapitated head of a stone pony.
And the stone.
It was a strange addition, but something that fit well with the creepy motif. Jagged spikes of substance were sticking upright out of the ground, but they were few in number. The real use of stone in this world was the stones pathways criss crossing all over the world, some of them defying gravity.
A good number of them lead to the same area, a doll house floating in what appeared to be the center of the world.
However, even the stone couldn't cover up the blocks that were present in the world. Blocks number in the thousands, if not millions, dotted the landscape. Some stood solitary, while others were in groups. They were all the same general shape, yet the colors varied from block to block.
Despite all this, everything in the world seemed to be in harmony, the existence of one unusual thing accenting another. Everything seemed to fit.
Except for one.
A little girl.
The first thing that stood out about her was her choice in attire, something that was completely inappropriate for someone her apparent age of twelve. Actually, her choice of clothing was inappropriate for anyone to wear in public.
She was wearing a pair of black short shorts, the waist line of which was crossed by a white belt with a blue band running through the center of it. Her upper body had hardly any better attire, covered only by two black cloth triangles, fastened to her back and over the shoulders. It could have been called a bra if she had any chest to speak of.
Her extremities were better covered, with shoulder-length arm warmers being leading to wrist-length gloves covering both her arms. Much like her belt, the arm warmers were of multiple colors, this time a navy blue with a white line running down the center. Her legs were housed within a pair of knee-high navy blue boots, the top of which had white bordering.
The only thing that was preserving her modesty from the world was A navy blue and white jacket, one that was ankle-length, and unfastened. On the back of the jacket was a single white star, proudly lying there as the only decoration of her entire attire.
Around her neck was a navy blue choker, with what appeared to be a small lock hanging off of it. Even though chokers were considered a derogatory accessory, this one only seemed to enhance her otherworldly appearance.
To complete the look, her head was shrouded by a hood. Despite the use of the headwear, the black bangs that covered her forehead and a portion of her face was still visible. Staring out of her hood and between her bangs were her most defining trait
Two blue eyes.
Usually, the eyes were one of the last things that stood out about a person, but she was different. Not many people had eyes that were glowing, nor had multiple rings within them.
Nor did most pairs of eyes have the complete and utter lack of emotion that hers did.
It was quite scary. The girl did not seem to register the depravity that was her surroundings, and was just walking on one of the many paths of the world, her clothing disturbed only by the wind that caused her jacket to flutter behind her. However, her eyes did not seem to register this.
To be accurate, her eyes did not wish to put forth the effort to register it.
As she walked in between yet another pile of bricks, she was greeted by an intersection. Turning her head, she was greeted by the sight of a golden gear masquerading as a wheel, rapidly approaching her face.
Naruto snapped awake, quickly sitting up in bed. Still panting and sweating from his dream, he reached over to his nightstand and picked up the glass of water, quickly downing it in hopes of providing himself with some relief.
"That dream, it was so…real…"
Naruto placed the glass back on his nightstand, and got out of bed. Walking towards the bathroom, he thought about what he had just seen.
Sure, he had dreamt before, but this time it was so vivid, so detailed. Most of his dreams were either hazy of hard to remember, but Naruto could still remember every detail he had seen, including the girl that he had seen.
Opening the door of his bathroom, he walked to the sink and turned the tap, letting the water flow. Reaching forward, he yelped and quickly drew his hand back from the scalding water, turning the tap to a cooler setting.
As he waited for the water to cool down, his thoughts drifted back to the dream that he had seen, and he blushed. He might be seven years old and have shown no signs of interest in women yet, but he still had to blush at the indecency of the girl. He idly noted that she was quite beautiful given her apparent age, despite how thin she was.
Reaching into the pool of water, Naruto quickly doused his face with the cooler water, washing away his sweat and his drowsiness. Looking into the cracked mirror above the sink, two blue eyes looked back at him with determination. He needed to get his mind off these serious thoughts, and there was only one thing that could do that.
As he grinned at the mirror, he threw both arms into the air and ran to the adjoining closet. Sparing the slightest glance at the sign that read "Pranking Supplies", he threw open the door and looked at his small horde.
His grin stretching even wider, the blonde boy reached out and grabbed the few containers of orange paint that he had left from his last supply run. Shaking them, he nodded in approval when he realized that every container was at least half full.
He had just enough for what he wanted to do.
Naruto was running down the street, nimbly dodging civilians as he fled the shouts of anger that he could hear following him a distance away. He did not need to put that much effort, when the civilians caught sight of him, they would either sneer at him in disgust or glare at him angrily. All of them at least attempted to move out of his way, taking care not to touch him.
Naruto laughed out loud as he ran, a massive grin stretched on his face. The spent buckets of orange paint would clash against each other on his forearms, giving his pursuers a signal to follow. The blonde didn't mind this, it would make the chase more exciting.
It would make sure someone was interested in him, even if it was only to punish him.
"Ha! Those Hyuuga temes didn't even see it coming! Serves them right!"
Naruto had the previous night snuck into the Hyuuga compound. It really was not that hard for in their arrogance, the Hyuugas did not post any guards, believing that the reputation of their "All Seeing Eyes" would deter any trespassers.
Having easily gotten into the compound, Naruto swiftly went from home to home, snatching any underwear that was still left outside to dry. This, a few buckets of paint, and a desire to cause mischief spawned what the village woke up to earlier that morning.
Underwear. Every piece of underwear that he had managed to get his hands on the previous night had been dyed orange. But that was not the end of it. No, Naruto took his time to scatter the underwear all over Konoha, making sure to place them in not only every other clan compound, but as well as frequented areas of the village, such as the Hokage mansion and the market district.
Even as he watched, many red-faced Hyuuga's were rushing around to collect their underwear, or were blushing and looking downward as they received their undergarments from smug-faced or laughing members of other clans.
Looking at another Hyuuga collecting her underwear, Naruto had to suppress a shudder. No woman in her forties should be collecting lacy and provocative underwear that was meant for someone half her age. Naruto gagged and nearly tripped due to the mental image that popped into his head.
"I need to bleach my eyes…and my brain…and then my eyes again…Why would an old grandma wear that?"
This distraction costed him though, as he was yanked out of his thoughts by a hand that was firmly clasped onto his shoulder, stopping him from running away. Looking up, he was greeted by the stone-like visage of the Hyuuga clan head Hiashi.
Naruto may have been more scared if it wasn't for the twitching eyebrow, and the small collection of orange underwear that he held in his free hand.
Grinning to himself, Naruto did what he did best when caught in a situation like this. He made matters worse.
"Hey Oji-san! I see you found your stuff!" Giving him a thumbs up, he closed his eyes and gave Hiashi a toothy smile. "I like your choice of color! I knew there had to be a fellow orange-lover in Konoha somewhere!"
Even after saying all of that, Naruto was still smiling. He was still smiling, even as he was knocked out by a not-so-gentle strike to his chest, driving the air out of his lungs as he collapsed onto the ground, robbed of consciousness by the foreign chakra that had entered his body through the strike.
Hiashi looked at the boy, and starting walking in the direction of the Hokage's office. By unspoken command, a Hyuuga Branch member arrived, picked up the fallen child, and followed his clan leader to his destination.
Naruto's snapped open as he sat up suddenly. Clutching his head due to the sudden vertigo, he stood up and started to look around. When he finally registered the details of the world that he was in, he froze.
The pink skies. The broken toys. The stone formations that were scattered around the landscape. Even the omnipresent blocks.
It was the same world that he had dreamed of the night before.
Naruto, being as calm and collected as he usually is, did the one thing that he would obviously do when the wakes up in an unfamiliar place with no recollection of how he arrived there.
He started to yell.
"WHAT THE HELL! WHERE DID YOU PUT ME, YOU STUPID WHITE-EYED TEMES? COME BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK ALL YOUR ASSES, DATTEBAYO!"
When he said his verbal tick, Naruto immediately clamped his hands over his mouth as he turned red. It was a source of embarrassment for him. No matter how hard he tried, whenever he became really angry or really happy, the word just slipped out of his mouth. It didn't help that he could still hear the word echoing in the distance.
Before he could launch into another tirade about how it would take more than this to scare him that would someone turn into another exclamation about his dream of becoming Hokage someday, he was snapped out of it by the sound of footsteps approaching him from behind.
Swinging around, a confident smile lit his face as he addressed what he thought was an approaching Hyuuga. "Ha, I knew you guys were around here! Now I can—"
The words died in his throat when he noted that the person behind him wasn't a Hyuuga. The person wasn't a Konoha shinobi, nor anyone that Naruto had actually met in person before. Despite this, he still recognized the person in front of him.
How could he forget the girl that he had dreamed of the night before?
Before he could address the girl, she thrusted her arm forward. Expecting an attack, Naruto was surprised when her outstretched arm stopped a few feet away from his chest, her palm open as if she was expecting him to give her something.
Or to take her hand.
Still confused about what was going on, Naruto questioned the girl, but this time without his usual level of confidence. "Um, where are we, and who are you?"
Expecting an answer, Naruto was disappointed when she didn't answer, or even show any signs of hearing what he had said. Slightly irritated, Naruto waved his hand in her face. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Where are we?"
Naruto only grew further incensed when he got the same answer as before. Before he could snap and start yelling at her for ignoring him, the world around him started to fade as he started to wake up.
The girl never made a move to stop him, and even as he caught a last glimpse of her, she never moved from her position with her outstretched arm.
Snapping awake, Naruto sat up in the couch, this time growing slightly angry as he was hit with a sense of deja vu.
"Seriously!" He yelled at himself angrily, "This is the third time that this happened today, and it hasn't even been twelve hours yet!"
As he sat there fuming silently, he looked around to see exactly where he was. Recognizing the familiar walls of the Hokage's office, Naruto was greeted by the stern eyes of the Hokage, who was seated behind his desk.
Leaping off of the couch and onto the desk, Naruto unrepentantly knocked over a stack of papers as he greeted the village leader.
"Jiji!"
Throwing his arms around his grandfather figure in a tight hug. Naruto relaxed as he was finally somewhere he could feel safe.
The village leader's face softened as he encircled the child with his much longer arms. As the boy finally settled in his embrace, the Hokage questioned him.
"Why did you do it, Naruto-kun?" Naruto froze in his jiji's lap before he looked up into Sarutobi's eyes. He nervously replied, "Did what jiji?"
The Sandaime released Naruto and started rubbing his temples. Prankster, the boy may be, but he was a horrible liar. "You know what I mean Naruto. Hiashi was in my office not five minutes ago, holding a pair of orange underwear. Care to explain that?"
"Uh…it wasn't me?"
If it wasn't the hesitant tone in his voice that gave him away, the sheepish smile and the hand rubbing the back of his head surely did. Groaning, Sarutobi motioned for Naruto to sit across from him. Rearranging himself, the Sandaime looked across the desk directly at Naruto, an air of seriousness about him.
Growing worried, Naruto was about to break the silence before the aged leader beat him to it. "Naruto, do you know why I ask you to stop pranking the village every time you come to my office?"
Confused, all Naruto did was shake his head.
"You're now six years old, almost seven, so I think that it is time that you finally understood." Shutting his eyes, the Sandaime prepared to lecture his young charge.
"When you pull a prank, I divert resources from the already limited shinobi pool in order to assess the damages and make any necessary remunerations. Due to the enormity of the task, I sometimes need to assign several squads to this task. Since they are settling the mess, I am unable to give them missions. Not only does this negatively impact the income of the shinobi involved, it also hurts the general welfare of the village. Do you understand this Naruto?"
Opening his eyes, the Hokage sweatdropped at the sight before him.
Naruto was mumbling to himself with swirls in his eyes. The lecture too much for him, he slammed his forehead on the table and looked at the Sandaime again. Obviously, he gave an incredibly intelligent reply, one far beyond his years and that of his peers.
"Huh?"
The Hokage rubbed his face, replying "When you pull pranks, you hurt the village."
Hearing this, Naruto's eyes widened as he started to blubber about not wanting to hurt the village, which at some point saying that he will become an awesome shinobi village and then Hokage.
The Sandaime raised his hand, stopping Naruto in mid-sentence. "I'm not saying that you have to stop your pranks, but just tone them down, and make them less frequent." The Sandaime rubbed Naruto's hair and smiled down at the child. "Understood?"
"HAI, JIJI!" A grand smile spread across Naruto's face. Turning around to leave the office, the Hokage called him. Looking back at the aged leader, Naruto was surprised to see that there was ANBU agent where there had not been one moments before.
"You need to get home, and I don't want you walking around alone right now. Tora here will make sure that you get home safely and make sure that you don't get into any mischief."
Giving his grandfather-figure an all too innocent look, Naruto whined. "Aww jiji, why, don't you trust me?"
Seeing the dry look on the Sandaime's face, Naruto extended his arm towards the ANBU agent. With one last goodbye to the Sandaime, the blonde felt the world blur around him as he arrived in front of his apartment.
Quickly falling to his knees, Naruto dry-heaved, while muttering about it being too fast, and that he wouldn't do such a thing ever again if he could help it.
Managing to recompose himself, he turned towards his escort. "Thank you ANBU-san! See you later!" Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his key, he unlocked the door and walked inside, closing the door behind him, never giving Tora a second glance.
Sitting on his bed, Naruto smiled as he spotted the picture of himself and his jiji eating a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's. His jiji had always been nice to him, even when he did bad things. Considering how angry that Hyuuga had been earlier, he thought that he would be in loads of trouble, but his jiji didn't even punish him.
Wiggling out of his clothes, Naruto put on his nightcap as he laid down in his bed. It may have been the afternoon, but he hadn't slept the previous night, and he was dead tired. Stretching out one last time, Naruto's breathing started to slow even as his breaths became longer and deeper.
He was so tired, that he didn't wake up that night.
Tora was not amused.
Some might even say that he was a little angry.
He was always a hard worker. Not having any prominent ninja clan to back him, he had to train tooth and nail for every scrap of skill that he possessed. No kekkai genkai shortcuts, no advantage of private tutors.
Ever since the academy, he pushed himself to improve as much as he could. He managed to graduate at twelve and join a nondescript team with a nondescript sensei, and managed to impress the judges at the chuunin exams enough to secure promotion soon after he had turned sixteen.
That had been such an amazing day for him. When the truth that he no longer had to do D-rank missions finally hit him, he was not ashamed to admit that he had broken down in tears of manly joy.
He didn't care what others said, their had to be something demonic about Lady Shijimi's cat. That cat was around since the reign of the Nidaime, dammit!
After becoming a chuunin, he immediately threw himself into ANBU training, giving himself the smallest of breaks. After a year of hard work, his dedication did not go unnoticed. His superior's impressed by his drive, He was quickly recruited to fill the ranks of the ANBU slain in the midst of the Kyuubi attack. So, at the tender age of seventeen, Tora became one of the many faceless ANBU Black Ops Operatives.
That was seven years ago.
It was a very tough seven years. Despite his dedication, even Tora had limits, he himself being forced out of the ANBU program as necessitated by his oath. Even shinobi had limits, and all agents were required to spend at least six months in the regular pool of shinobi every three years, to prevent them from being driven insane by the sheer psychological torture that were ANBU missions.
They were Black Ops. They received the dirtiest and most secretive of missions. Worst of all, if something went wrong, that was it. The mission was not on record, they never existed. If the mission went south, they would be doomed.
Despite this, Tora did well for himself. He didn't thrive like he had expected, but he surely didn't wither like he had seen many other operatives. He held pride in his work, and the upgraded pay scale didn't hurt either.
However, he did not like this, nor did he not have any pride in what he was currently doing.
He was an ANBU Black Ops pperative, the elite corps, the best of what Konoha had to offer. The scalpel that removed any threats against Konoha and her continued existence. So he felt that it was completely understandable that he was angry that he was essentially a babysitter for a brat.
Don't get him wrong, he knew who the kid was and what he contained. Sure, he didn't hate the kid like much of the village did, and he did realize the military advantage that the kid represented, but that didn't matter. All his effort and hard work in his life, and he was a glorified nanny.
Seeing the sun had set just over an hour ago, and most people had already turned in for the night, Tora turned around, witnessing the arrival of Tori, his replacement for the night. Giving his comrade a slight nod, he turned around, ready to go home and forget about the day, preferably in a nice saucer of sake.
His train of thought was immediately cut off when he felt a small pinch of pain in his chest. Looking down, he say the sanguine blade of a tanto sprouting from his chest, piercing through where his heart was located.
Before he could react, the blade was withdrawn from his chest, accompanied by a wet squelch, a fine trail of blood following the retreating edge. Blood still dripping down the length of the blade, Tora didn't even have the time to scream, much less realize Tori had betrayed him, before his head was relieved from his shoulders.
Tori watched as the headless body of his fellow shinobi fell to the ground. A glazed look in his eye, Tori pulled out a sack and bagged Tora's corpse, not wanting to risk the off chance that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki or any other shinobi could feel the slight usage of chakra that was associated with the activation of storage scrolls.
Tying the top of the sack with a length of rope that he had brought with him, Tori stood up straight when he heard the shuffling and clacking of wood approaching him from behind. Turning around, he was greeted by a hunched figure wearing a cloak that hid his features.
When the hunched figure settled in front of him, a gravelly voice emerged from the depths of the cloak. Since the figure had come closer, Tori was able to identify a prominent design on the cloak that had escaped his attention before due to the darkness of the night.
Red clouds.
"Eiko Sanda, do you remember who I am?"
Story Word Count: 4,003 Words
Finished: July 29, 2015
