Heyo! This story here is only my second upload ever, and its taken around a year or so to work up the courage to do it. As this implies, I am by no means an experienced or talented writer (for those who are, I am sooooo jealous -.-). Why am I writing this? Well, for one thing, I really like the AU ideas that I will use in this, but it is mainly because I probably spend more time in 24 hours reading fan fiction then I do sleeping. I admire any person that has the courage and drive to put their words out there, regardless of the quality of their work. You guys are all my role-models, and this is my attempt at starting down the path to being one of you.
Most of the AU-ness in this story is cross-over from DotA, and most specifically, the Invoker. If you don't know DotA or the Invoker, then feel free to ask questions. I have a full explanation already typed out, but decided to not put it right up front so the surprises won't be spoiled. When the cross-over elements do appear though, I will try to explain them as I go.
Truthfully, I have not decided who Naruto's biological parents will be. Perhaps I might go cannon, perhaps not, but be sure to tell me what you think. For the moment, I am not renaming Naruto simply because the name Naruto is familiar and comfortable, but it probably won't change. Pairing is also undecided. Rating may change.
Reviews, opinions, thoughts, etc. greatly appreciated, and requested.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, DotA, and all associated thingies. Some plot twists and storyline inspired by Wolka's 'Naruto of the Hyoton', and I will never understand why that story isn't as well known as it should be.
For the orphan Naruto, cold was by no means an unknown, frightening feeling. A person simply gets used to these kinds of things over time, and he had had half of his life to do so at the orphanage.
Not that he was maltreated at the orphanage - the Caretaker was actually very mothering - the orphanage simply didn't have enough funds to provide fully for all the tiny tykes requiring homes after the Kyubi attacked.
But that is neither here nor there. From the moment he regained consciousness, Naruto. Was. Cold. Really, really, really cold. Cold enough that it was agony. Cold enough that the tears trying desperately to escape were frozen upon leaving his eyes, and he had to blink the ice away to be able to see. So cold in fact, that he even forgot to be afraid of his erie surroundings, consisting of the rectangular marble slate he was strapped upon (which was somehow actually warmer than him), a metal table covered in odd metal implements, one light hanging overhead, and worst of all, one extremely creepy, pale-skinned black-haired man staring at him with frightening intensity. For all of about three seconds were Naruto's wide, desperate eyes able to observe this, because suddenly the cold abated and his drained body forced him back into unconsciousness to do what it could to heal him.
Despite the all-too-obvious suffering of the child, the mouth of pale-skinned man watching on suddenly twisted into a rictus of wicked glee, tinged only slightly with regret and envy. This little experiment of his was working far more perfectly than he had ever anticipated. Far more perfectly than any of his experiments ever had. Too bad for him that the modification he was enacting would never again be able to be performed; it required 3 reagents, reagents that no longer existed in this world.
'Ah, pity...' he thought. 'Watching the agony of my little captives is always so entertaining. I will need to wait for at least another day to begin the next sealing.' Turning his back to his experiment, he stopped for a moment and crooned, "Goodnight Naruto-kun. Sleep well, regain your strength, and you might just survive tomorrow." Before striding away. As he stepped into the darkness, he finished, "I so dearly hope you do."
Unfortunately for Naruto, and to the great delight of the pale-skinned man who was called Orochimaru, Naruto was in fact recovered enough to continue the next day.
In a fashion all to similar to his previous awakening, Naruto regained consciousness in pain. This time however, it wasn't because he was cold. It was because from the tips of his toes, to the end of every hair on his red head, spasming, jarring shocks of power ripped through him. The effect of this was not only pain, it also prevented Naruto from forming a single coherent thought or viewing what was around him. Overloaded with pain and electricity, Naruto lost consciousness far before it ended.
While this didn't surprise the haggard looking Orichimaru, it certainly disappointed him. 'It looks like this one may have been almost too much. I will have to wait a little longer this time, for while the next one won't be as difficult, he will need time to recover from this. Even I, the rightful Yondaime Hokage, feel exhausted from this sealing.'
This time, there were no words of parting or pause before Orochimaru almost stumbled his way out of the light.
Burning. This time, Naruto felt as though he was a leaf in a forest fire that somehow failed to die a quick death by incineration, and was instead cursed to light aflame, burn to a crisp, and be reborn to burn again over and over. Writhing in desperation, he screamed for what seemed like days, though it was only an hour.
When the hated flame finally ran its course, he was on the verge of fainting once again when his head was suddenly grabbed and the pale-skinned man shouted into his ear. "Do not close your eyes child! Not now, not when we are so close to the finish! If we do not do this now, we may never get the chance. The Sandaime is closing in on me, he will be here soon. I MUST DO THIS NOW WHILE I STILL CAN!" Roared Orochimaru.
Seeing the boy's eyes drifting downwords despite his orders, Orochimaru took the choice away from him with a quick, rarely used jutsu. "Kyōsei-tekina ishiki no jutsu!" (Forced Consciousness Art)
Immediately, Naruto's eyes snapped fully open, and for the first time in days became fully aware of his situation. Frantically flicking his eyes in every direction he could, he noticed that the surroundings were almost identical to what he hazily remembered from the first time he had looked around during the terrible cold. He was still strapped to the marble slab, the metal table was still covered in obscure tools, though now it was more cluttered and many of the implements were bloodied. He figured they must be what had caused the myriad of scars and punctures all over his body. That light hanging above him was still the only illumination wherever they were, but it seemed dimmer than he remembered. Added to his surroundings was an additional table, this one made of wood and quite ornate, which was covered in ink stains, parchments, and writing implements in a messy spread.
Finally, Naruto turned his attention back to the pale-skinned man. Said man had his back to Naruto and was hunched over, roughly tearing through the piles of papers on the desk, looking for a very special one in particular. Naruto did not have to wait for long before the man's hands suddenly stopped and cradled one of the papers. Because it was hidden behind the man, Naruto could not see what this piece special, but that was quickly solved as the man straightened, and with a slow deliberate movement turned around. Naruto choked in horror. The man's eyes seemed to be glowing with a sickening light in their golden depths, and a snakelike tongue was currently licking his smirking lips. All together, it created a face comparable with a monster's.
It was nearly impossible to look away from the horrendous sight, but mustering all his willpower Naruto managed to move his eyes to rest upon the parchment in the man's hands. It was a beautiful thing, about the size of Naruto's stomach and covered in kanji of all shapes and sizes in swirling patterns that, when looked at as a whole, seemed to take the shape of a circle with a triangle inside, with yet another circle inside the triangle. Crossing over the outer circle, but stopping at the triangle were three more circles, with one centered to each side of the triangle. The three circles were roughly the same size as the triangle. Naruto's investigation of the pattern was broken though, when the hissing voice of the pale man brought his attention unwillingly back to him.
"Naruto-kun... You have done very well... But now, now we will see if you are meant to mean something in this world. Be warned, this will hurt." As he said this, the pale man suddenly seemed to disappear, and then reappear directly beside Naruto, slamming the paper onto his exposed stomach while bellowing out a command, but his words were lost as Naruto began howling and lost himself in mindless pain.
A/N:
So, 1200+ words down. Thats a lot for me xD
Next chapter there will be a time skip, and I haven't decided whether or not events directly after where this chapter left off will be explained in a flashback, or if it will be explained in the beginning of the next chapter before the time skip. Next chapter should also hopefully see the introduction of what the seal Orochimaru applied does.
Again, I would desperately like to hear whatever it is you have to say about my work. Unless, of course, its one of those useless, pointless, rants some people feel obliged to contribute. That doesn't mean I'm against rants, it just needs to be a rant with a reason.
If you don't feel like the effort of figuring out what to comment on, I would appreciate your thoughts on:
- Was the PoVs and switching okay?
- Did I describe scenes/senses/interactions to your liking?
- Is it okay that Naruto isn't really described yet?
- Advice for improving story description?
Anyways, thanks for reading even if you didn't review, and have a good day/night ^_^
btw, my account name is pronounced side-wash-er (washing from the sides :3) even though it technically should be said syd-was-here.
