All We Are
AU. In order to save Naruto's life, Sandaime has no other choice but to enlist seven year old boy into the ROOT division. Five years later, Naruto snaps, slaughtering every member. Will the young weapon survive without its wielder? Will he overcome his insanity? Will he finally become human?
Meaningless Rubbish:
I hope you like this story. I realize it's not perfect: there are some holes in the plot (which I was too lazy to correct) and the idea itself is hardly original but still – it's a nice read. I started working on the second chapter but don't get your hopes up – it won't be finished for a while.
Anyway, the following poem was written by Philip Larkin – one of my favourite poets of all time. Oh, and yeah, I don't own Naruto.
Closed like confessionals, they thread
Loud noons of cities, giving back
None of the glances they absorb.
Light glossy grey, arms on a plaque,
They come to rest at any kerb:
All streets in time are visited.
Then children strewn on steps or road,
Or women coming from the shops
Past smells of different dinners, see
A wild white face that overtops
Red stretcher-blankets momently
As it is carried in and stowed,
And sense the solving emptiness
That lies just under all we do,
And for a second get it whole,
So permanent and blank and true.
The fastened doors recede. Poor soul,
They whisper at their own distress;
For borne away in deadened air
May go the sudden shut of loss
Round something nearly at an end,
And what cohered in it across
The years, the unique random blend
Of families and fashions, there
At last begin to loosen. Far
From the exchange of love to lie
Unreachable inside a room
The traffic parts to let go by
Brings closer what is left to come,
And dulls to distance all we are.
-Ambulances by Philip Larkin
Chapter 1 – I'm sorry, Danzo-sama
He could hear the whisper of death.
A silent whisper, so silent in fact, that if not for years of shinobi training, Danzo would miss it.
"I'm sorry, Danzo-sama."
It was Project Nine, Uzumaki Naruto, his greatest creation. The young boy, merely twelve years old was a perfect shinobi, a tool of such potential and skill that the word 'prodigy' simply did not do him justice.
In that moment, Danzo realized that there was no escape.
Today, he would die.
Uncovering his right eye, the crippled man stared at the blonde with his sharingan. He knew he had no chance, even if he had more experience. The shinobi in front of him had more power and skill then Danzo could ever dream of.
The blood bathed boy would obliterate him.
Suddenly, the leader of ROOT chuckled. It seemed so fitting to die at hands of his greatest accomplishment. It mattered little though. He would die a shinobi's death, for he had no illusions about the outcome of the battle that was about to commence.
"Let us fight then."
The fight was short: the boy's speed surpassed his by miles, genjutsu was out of question since the boy had a second source of chakra and to use ninjutsu... Well, Danzo was no fool. To use ninjutsu against Project Nine would only quicken his demise.
He wanted to enjoy his last battle as a shinobi.
The last blow came quickly like a lightening, and Danzo barely managed to catch the glint of a midnight-black tanto before it pierced his kidney.
"I'm so sorry, Danzo-sama..." Tears purred out of the boy's eyes but no sobs left the mouth. Emotions were an obstacle, Danzo once thought the boy... It seemed that even after four years of constant training, Uzumaki Naruto still preserved a part of his humanity.
"Nine." He whispered harshly. Project Nine – the boy's codename. Danzo was pretty sure that Nine didn't even remember his name but...
"I have a last mission for you." his voice was failing him.
The Kyuubi boy stared at him, the blue eyes still full of tears, the pale face passionless, void of any emotion as if curved in stone.
"From now on... From now on you will go by the name... Uzumaki Naruto. That's your last mission." He would end up in hell, Danzo knew, for killing so many people, for brainwashing and for turning those children into weapons of destruction. It was all for the good of Konoha. His duty to the village was finally over and with his last breath, he gave Project Nine a hope for better future – for humanity – hoping that the madness would stop, that his weapon would kill no more people in the village.
Slowly, he closed his eyes.
'Broken'
'Kill'
'Emotions are for the weak'
'Slaughter'
'Trust no one'
'Destroy'
'You shall be referred to as Project Nine or Nine'
'The family of weapon makers on the border of the Country of Water. Kill them'
'Demolish'
'Nine-chan! What are you doing, Nine-chan?'
'KILL'
'Don't... please don't, please... please don't kill me'
'KILL!KILL!KILL!
'From now on, you will go by the name... Uzumaki Naruto. That's your last mission'
For the first time since he could remember The Voice... The Voice was silent. Closing his eyes, he sat down on the blood stained floor. Sleep embraced him like the darkness he was born from.
The tears continued to flow down his cheeks.
The stench of decaying bodies welcomed the early hours.
It was an unmistakable smell, smell that even civilians knew very well, for the scent of death was imprinted deep into human psyche. Of course, there was a small amount of panic but after Hokage addressed the populace things seemed to calm down.
And then, the search began.
Shinobi and Kunoichi alike searched for the filthy stench and in a matter of minutes they located the source. The smell came from the sewers.
Afterwards, the Hokage took it upon himself to search for the bodies – for surely, there were many of them – so changing into his battle gear he ventured deep below the ground, a dozen ANBU with him.
He was sure that the stench had to do something with Danzo. Opening the doors to the main hall of the ROOT, he was proved right.
Bodies on the ground like litter, scattered limbs and splashed blood, clouded eyes, deathly silence. Never in his life, did Sarutobi see such a gruesome sight. One of the ANBU – Cat, if he wasn't mistaken – took of her mask and puked.
He wasn't surprised. He felt sick himself.
They searched for any victims of the attack that survived. There were none.
Finally, the convoy of the ninja stopped when their leader motioned for them to be quiet. The aged Hokage pushed the wooden doors open, already knowing what scene would await inside.
He was right.
Inside, there were only two bodies: a crippled man with a smile and a sleeping, crying boy.
"Cat, Dog. Take the boy to the hospital and insure that he is well cared for. And get Inoichi to look into the child's mind, tell him it's an emergency."
The two complied soundlessly, shocked – just like everyone else, by a small child bathed in blood. Cautiously, they touched him, wondering if he would wake up.
He didn't.
They left in a hurry.
"The rest of you, clean up the bodies and check the rest of the compound for any scrolls, books or other informations. Report to me when you're finished – I'll be in my office."
"But Hokage-sama, what happened here?"
Sarutobi knew what happened. He knew perfectly well.
"If I'm not mistaken... we have created, yet another Uchiha Itachi."
"Kakashi-sempai... what do you think happened?"
Sitting in a hospital next to this beautiful child, Uzuki Yugao had to wonder how was it possible for something that small and innocent to be stained by blood.
"I'm not sure..."
It was a lie. Both of them knew, they just couldn't believe it. To think that a tweleve years old child would do something like that... How was that even possible?
"How...? Why?" she rasped out. Was Konoha really that bad, that atrocious, as to create weapons out of children? Didn't they learn from their mistakes? Didn't they learn from Uchiha Itachi?
"I don't know."
The world was an awful place, she knew that, she killed many people before. But that... To take away an innocence of a child, she decided, was a sin unlike any other.
"What are we going to do know?" she asked.
"I don't know." Kakashi-sempai's whisper was different then before, sad and sorrowful.
It seemed like they were all lost.
There were so many questions, yet the answers were concealed by a veil of uncertainty and doubt. Would Hokage decide to punish the boy? If so, then how?
"It shouldn't be like that... Things like that shouldn't happen." she said. It was so unfair... What kind of monster would turn this beautiful boy into a mindless machine?
Kakashi was silent but she knew he agreed.
"I'm going to make it better..." her voice was thick with resolve. When she was younger she always thought she would be saving someone. She dreamed about helping people. "I'm going to do everything I can..."
Besides her, Kakashi nodded.
"Yeah."
"We're all fools, aren't we?"
No one answered him but that was alright – it was a rhetorical question.
Back then, he was hard pressed to keep Naruto alive, especially after the boy accidentally killed a Chunin by the name of Mizuki.
The cries of outrage that followed the incident demanded for the boy's death. Then, Danzo proposed for young Naruto to be turned into a shinobi under the crippled man's command. The Council liked that idea and he foolishly approved.
"What am I to do with you?"
A swish of leaves and wind announced the arrival of ANBU and any thoughts of grief left him. It was time for action.
"Report."
"We have sealed all of the corpses and obtained all the possible scrolls and books."
Sandaime nodded.
"Whatever you have learned today will not leave this room, am I understood?"
A symphony of "Hai, Hokage-sama." answered him.
"Good. Now, leave the scrolls and books with me. I expect the bodies to be identified by tomorrow morning."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
Turning around to the window, Sarutobi didn't even notice when the ANBU left.
"What am I to do with you, Naruto?"
Inoichi Yamaka knew something was wrong the very moment he woke up.
It was the smell, he later reasoned, and although he couldn't identify it, it still left him distressed. The Hokage addressed the people later that morning and then his Little Princess had a genin exam. He wished her good luck.
Throughout the day he was nervous, on the edge, simply because the stench of human flesh couldn't leave his mind. He still went to the ANBU Interrogation department and he still did his job. He invited Shikaku and Chouza to the 'Rusted Kunai' so they could celebrate. He congratulated his Little Princess.
Then, the ANBU came.
He was apprehensive, at first, but when Dog explained to him that it was an emergency, he departed instantly.
When Inoichi opened the room 101, the evening was setting in quite nicely.
Dog and Cat explained the situation. Then, they showed him the young lad.
He thought it was a sick joke.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
They didn't. They asked him to look into the kids mind.
"Tch. It would be much easier if the kid would wake up. 'sides, it'd be rude to just ravage his mind. We should ask first-"
Dog pushed the boy's head up. Cat took out the lad's tongue. There was a seal on it. Inoichi wasn't a seal expert. He knew what the seal was meant to do anyway.
His blonde brows in a frown, he extended his hands. He was a veteran of war, he had killed many boys, he had killed many women. He interrogated thugs of the most vile minds.
He couldn't help but feel cold.
Then the world dissolved into stray thoughts, silent whispers, pleads of help, yells of blood. There were no colours.
Colours... The boy had no emotions whatsoever.
TBC