The Chains That Bind
Chapter One
Defiance leads, Guileless will Follow
"Naruto... Why did you do it?" An old man interrogated a young boy dressed in an orange outfit sitting oppsotite him in a small room. Three jounin level ninjas stood by the door, grim expressions on their faces and standing between the boy and his only escape route. The boy slouched in the chair, his arms crossed and glared at the floor, in an act of defiance. He muttered a smart-ass answer under his breath. "Naruto, I've had enough of this. Before you're little pranks never hurt anyone, but now you've gone and defiled the very monument to the four hokage who..." The old man's voice became a mosquito's buzzing in the background. He swatted it away and out of his mind, leaving with the punishment to undo his vilolation.
Naruto sulked as he walked out of the door alone, receiving glares from people passing by on the streets and murmurs of what he did. Mothers pulled their children away from him and warned them not to go close. Naruto heard, but watched the ground and refused to make eye contact with any of them. He walked the streets alone, his hands in his pockets and his goggles on his forehead almost covering his eyes, hiding them from the world. From the shadows, one glowing, expressionless eye watched him. A single tear bled down the shadow's hidden face, shining in the fading light from the dying sun. He did not notice, and kept walking.
The year was almost over. Somehow, he had to pass and become the greatest ninja of all time, become Hokage, just to prove to them all...... The way things are going, he'll never become a ninja...
The sun was in the middle of the sky, shining brightly over the students who could now call themselves ninjas. With their new forehead protectors that proved they were now ninja, they ran to their mothers and fathers, who congratulated them and told them how proud they were. Naruto sat on a swing under the shade of a great oak tree, watching the crowd from a distnce. No forehead protector replaced his goggles. He had failed the final exam. He was not a ninja. Two women in the crowd noticed him sitting alone, each with a disgusted look on their face.
"He's the only one who didn't become a ninja..." One said to the other, who nodded in agreement.
"Tch. Serves him right. After all, he is a-"
"Hey! You know it's forbidden to say that..." One interputed the other. They turned away and back to their own children who had their forehead protectors and were wearing them with pride.
A shadow watched him again, from above. It sat haunched over, ready to attack, on the branch of a tree near the one Naruto was shaded under. The shadow began to stir, mustles tightening and tensing up soundlessly, not even making a rustle in the leaves surrounding it.
"...Now's my chance..." A feminine voice whispered to herself. She leaned foreward, readying her body to lunge foreward from the branches when someone else wandered over to Naruto, a jounin. The shadow stopped and relaxed, leaning against the tree and sighing. She had missed her opportunity. She closed her eyes, wishing she could hear what was being said. The boy got up with the man and they left together. In the blink of an eye the shadow was gone.
"Naruto!! Don't give him the scroll! Mizuki tricked you!" Iruka-sensei called to Naruto, pulling a kunai out of his bleeding leg. He couldnt let Mizuki get his hands on that...Naruto looked from Mizuki back to Iruka, clutching the Scroll of Sealing in his hands, unsure of what to do. Mizuka just smirked, shrugging contently in his spot standing high on a tree branch.
"Why should you beleive him, or anyone else in this village? After all, they all lied to you..." Mizuki said. Naruto stared directly into his deceiving eyes, paralyzed and clutching the scroll. "They kept a secret from you..." Mizuki chuckled.
"What...What secret...?" Naruto's voice quivered.
"Mizuki!! Stop it!!" Iruka-sensei yelled to Mizuki, but to no avail.
"...That you are the demon fox that attacked Konoha!" Naruto stared unblinking into his eyes, holding his breath. "Iruka hates you. You killed his parents... And yours, too... And uncountable others..."
"Mizuki!!!"
"Now it's your turn..." Mizuki reached to the four-edged blade on his back, ignoring Iruka, and threw it directly at Naruto. Before the blade could lodge itself in Naruto's chest, Iruka threw himself in front of him, the blade stabbing his back as he sheilded Naruto with his life. His own blood began to drip from the corner of his mouth.
"Naruto! RUN!!" Iruka-sensei hissed at him, his eyes swelling with tears as more blood flowed out of his mouth. Naruto, still clutching the scroll, suddenly regained the ability to move, deciding Iruka's devotion would not be in vain, he would not give the scroll to Mizuki...
A streak of orange flashed among the tall branched of the trees, jumping from tree limb to tree limb. Naruto had the scroll tied around him on his back as he quickly got as far from the site as he could.
"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei appeared next to him, his blood-covered state keeping up with Naruto's speed in the trees. "Give me the scroll...!! I will keep it from Mizuki! If you have it, theres no telling-!" Suddenly Naruto body slammed his sensei in the chest, knocking him hard on the ground. He spit out a mouthful of blood to the ground beneth him, once he had rolled from his back to facing the grass. Naruto landed on his feet directly in front of him, his eyes menacing and angry. Iruka just grinned, wiping the blood from his chin with the back of his hand.
"How did you know it was me, Naruto?" In a puff of smoke, Iruka transformed back into Mizuki, and stood up. Naruto also dissapeared in smoke. Mizuki's eyes widened as he stared at the person before him. It was a woman- seemingly in her late teens. Her long blonde hair flowed gracefully in the wind behind her. She stared at him with her right eye, the other covered by a crooked forehead protector. She wore a black sleeveless vest with many pockets on the chest and sides, and zipped up to the neck where it hid most of her face. She had two black sleeves detached from her vest that began at her elbows and ended at her wrists. She wore a short black skirt with two slits going up the sides, and black cloth wrapped around her legs just beneath her knees, tucked into her sandals around the ankles.
"You're from the hidden valley of the Mist..." Mizuki said hesitantly, noticing her forehead protector had the symbol of the Mist on it. "What are you doing here?" He asked uncertainly but with confidence, wondering why a ninja of another village was so far from her own.
"You dare even speak to me?!" She said calmly, her rage visible in her eye. "Stay away from Naruto!!!" The sound of a blade cutting through flesh echoed throughout the forest, unsettling a flock of birds from their peaceful nests in the trees.
