I hereby disclaim my ownership of both «Naruto» and its characters (applies for the chapters to come).
Warnings: *sigh* I don't really do warnings, but, alas, I guess most of you do. Death of characters, I guess. And an OC… she won't last more than two minutes alive, though.
Merciful Fate
I
I'd like to say I'm a proud ninja of my village, Konoha. Sadly, even though I am indeed a ninja of Konoha, I hold no pride of my position in the world.
A soft breeze passed through Naruto's blond locks as he played in a swing, his charming laugh not stopping as it went further up, making a funny feeling to appear in his stomach every time it went down. His mother, Kushina, watched over him with a gentle smile while resting a hand on her swollen stomach.
Naruto was happy, he was just as a happy as the day his father and mother had told him he was going to have a little sibling. In fact, his happiness was related to that little baby inside his mother's stomach, as little Mako-chan (Naruto was proud to say he had given his sister her name) was due to be born in a few weeks time. He could bet Mako-chan would have blonde hair and clear blue eyes, just like him, because they were brothers, and both came from his mother, they would surely be alike!
He kept on swinging, liking the feeling of the wind caressing his face.
Truth to be told, I would have been a fairly strong ninja of Konoha, fighting to protect it and its people, eager to die for the common good.
Naruto was in a cave, watching silently as his father worked hard with a black pattern with lots of kanji on his mother's stomach. He watched with mild fascination as that same pattern moved and danced across his mother's body, and with some concern for her, as she seemed to be in pain, if her moans were anything to go by.
The nurse took the baby out of Kushina, and cut the… large salami that was linking his mother and sister. Something stroke him odd, though, because both his mother and father told him not to get scared if Mako-chan began wailing, as all babies were supposed to cry when they got out of their mother's stomach, and Mako-chan was a little too silent.
His weird feeling was proven right when the nurse shook her head and her mother began to cry. He looked at his father's dumbfounded face. What did that mean?
I guess… Things never go the way they're supposed to.
He had little time to think more intently of the situation, as it quickly changed with the sudden apparition of a man in a black cloak and orange mask. Naruto was quickly forgotten as the man began ranting about the Kyuubi no Youko and how the seal that held it captive would weaken when the host was giving birth.
So that's why the kanji were moving… Naruto thought, his seven year old mind running as fast as it could, trying to comprehend everything that was going on.
It hurt to admit it, but he knew Mako was dead, and he got a gut-wrenching feeling that the masked man would hurt whatever was left of his family.
His musings were cut short again when the masked person began doing hand-seals at a rapid pace and called "Summoning Jutsu". His widened eyes caught a red glow coming from the man's eyes as a majestic blood red fox appeared from the smoke that sprung up, up to skies themselves.
Naruto watched, thrilled, as the fox—Kyuubi no Youko— gave a mighty roar. He didn't know what people would think about it, but, for him, what rose in front of his eyes was real beauty. Nine lengthy tails swaying with madly grace, creating winds that buffeted the trees surrounding the Hidden Village of Konoha with strength.
It was real power what, in the end, made that beast beautiful.
Naruto snapped his head back to his mother, hearing her pant heavily, red rings were surrounding her eyes and a layer of sweat made her face shiny. She was crawling to the entrance of the cave and said something to his father, who was looking between his mother, his dead daughter, and Kyuubi no Youko with a beaten expression on his face. Naruto managed to catch something his father said:
"-seal it on anyone here."
I don't know what possessed me to follow the course of action I did.
Naruto thought it was time to prove useful for them. For the first time in his life, he decided to sacrifice himself in the behalf of other people. He stepped out of the cave.
He just wanted to live normally with his family—his mother, his father, and sister—, but that man and Kyuubi no Youko had already shattered his happiness, taking Mako with it. Some tiny voice inside him—the voice of reason— was telling him it would make no difference, that no matter how hard he tried, his life would never go back to the way it was. It was doomed to go downhill.
He paid it no heed, hoping with his entire being that the voice would be wrong; that he had the solution, and that, for his sacrifice, the rest of his family would be saved.
"Seal it on me."
I just know that it ruined my life.
Both of his parents stared at him dumbfounded.
"Are you sure, Naruto?" His father asked him.
Naruto found it funny, in a sick sort of way, that he often got mock-angry at his father for not taking him seriously and, when Minato finally addressed him with the desired seriousness, the moment was anything but happy.
Crestfallen, Naruto said "yes."
And thus, I had to start over. No longer as the "honorable" son of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Naruto, but as Naruto, the orphan.
Anyway, narrator/Naruto's insightful words served as line breaks for this chapter (Monologue Naruto=twenty-or-so years old; Narration Naruto=seven years old), maybe next chapter will be different. So, I killed my first OC within a few minutes of creating her, sue me, but Mako's (I got her name from my favorite SN doujinka, so I don't know what it means… lol) death is IMPORTANT for the plot… somewhat.
And… I changed the storyline a bit, you know, Madara just had his vague idea of releasing the Kyuubi no Youko when Naruto was born in this fanfiction, so he gambled with fate and waited for Minato and Kushina to have another kid. He is one lucky bastard, I know. So this *Maki points to chapter* will change Naruto's point of view in life and, thus, his personality.
On the other hand, this first chapter was… short. But I promise the next one will be DOUBLE the large of this.
NOW, I have a BIG (really, REALLY BIG) question: Should I write his Academy days? Should I pay much attention to Naruto being genin? Or should I skip it to the WAR? (I DO have the story planned, you know… for a war) Remember your opinion is important (and you could give some ideas, too), so
REVIEW? Pretty please? I will give you a smiley face and a cookie if you do! :D
If you have any question, don't hesitate to voice it… or review it, anyway.
09-28-2010: I hate you, laptop, you erased my... hard work editing this chapter! Anyway, bye-bye to Mr. Line Break and hi there to a few "me"s I had eaten. I'll update in 1 or 2 weeks, before I make a permanent update date.