Hello again. I am back with another fanfiction, which means that it is time for the annual disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own any Naruto affiliations as they all belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the writer, Creator, and illustrator for said possessions.
This story rules abide by that of which I have used for my other Fanfictions, meaning:
-There will be no pole for Pairings, as of this moment, though the future is uncertain for this story. Nor will this story be a 'Yaoi' story as this is one of the aspects that ruins great storyline plots, in my opinion.
-I will not take a whole entire sentence and turn it into Japanese/Chinese from English, nor will I incorporate Japanese/Chinese Kanji from English letters to add 'Dramatics' to the story. I will use single to two Japanese/Chinese words, as well as do my best to keep Nin, Gen, Ken, and Tai jutsu as close to their original wordings as possible.
-Don't ask for Honor and Integrity. These are NINJAS for the sake of the people! They have NO Honor, They have NO Integrity! Now, I'm not saying that Naruto will collect fee from his client , or stand behind his friends and stab them in the back with a Kunai, but He won't be this kid Ninja that has this Honor that people not even today have.
-This will not be a kid friendly story. There will be Swearing, Gore, Sex, lewd comments and other adult items that some should not read. Not that this will stop you, I was ten and reading rated M Fanfictions. This is just a warning going out to people.
Prologue:Life after The Death
"You mean to tell me that you haven't heard the rumors about Konoha's Forest Of Death?" A genin questioned as he stood in a crowd of others, all preparing to enter the deadly looking forest that stood before them, at the command of their Second Chunin Examiner, Anko Mitarashi.
~Flashback~
A Eight year old Naruto sobbed silently to himself, confused as he was rough handled. A black sack covered his bright blond hair, keeping sight from coming to him, keeping him from knowing where he was going. He should have known that this day had been to calm and peaceful for him, Konoha's Demon. That had quickly deterred when an Anbu, one of his 'Jiji's personal guards, had roughly snatched him from his stride, placing the black bag over his head, bringing him to his current position.
Naruto released a cry of pain as he was roughly thrown onto the earth floor, voices filling in around him. Naruto's eyes widened as his breathing began to shallow, his air running out, he was having a panic attack. Then quickly, so roughly though that it snatched his head to the side with a loud snap. His head swirled around, his eyes blurry and unfocused. All that he could comprehend were that there were more people, much older than him, forced onto their knees as he, Anbu prepared to strike behind them.
Vision began to slowly seep back into his eyes as a, frighteningly, familiar voice spoke out to them, shocking Naruto to his core, "You are all the bottom feeders of the barrel, the lowliest of my village, and Ronin Ninja." A man spoke, Naruto's vision coming to recognize his as the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. "And you have all been brought here for one purpose, our entertainment. We will release you, all twenty four of you, into the Forest Of Death, which, unless during the Chunin Exams, is never used. You will all fight, to the death, until only one remains.
If you are one of my bottom feeding villagers, you will have a better life. I will personally sponsor you, buy your food, buy you shelter, whatever you may need to survive. If you are one of the Ronin Ninja that we have collected for this special occasion, It's very simple, If you survive all of the other, if you are the remainder, you will be released, and never again pursued by a Leaf Village Ninja again. Sound good to you, bottom feeders?" The Hokage questioned, Naruto's eyes watering as he stared up at the man he had always called Grandfather.
"Jiji, what's going on?" Naruto questioned the Aging Hokage, only to have the Anbu behind him to kick him face first into the mud of the Earth. Naruto lifted its head, tears coming from his eyes as he came to stare at the Hokage's robes and shoes.
"I thought I just made it abundantly clear, Demon?" The Hokage sneered down upon him. "I am sending you into this forest, along with twenty three other men, and you will all fight to the death! And when one remains, he leaves the forest. This is what I deemed a worthy enough punishment for you, for what you've done to me and my village. If you're all clear on these aspects, I may return to my rules.
You will have no food, the forest will supply for you, but be warned, many things inside are as deadly as your new enemies. You have no weapons, we have stripped you all of them, however, we have hidden various weapons throughout this Forest. Find one, and it will turn the battle in your favor. When we know one of you has died, we will send a flare into the sky so you may know. That is basically, all of the rules. When I say go, you go out into these woods. If you do not, my Anbu will strike you down in you place, there will be no choice in this... Competition... Go!"
With his piece finished, the Sandaime waved his arm, allowing the gates of the Forest to open as the 'Contestants' of the 'Game' were forced forwards by the Anbu behind them, the people stumbling into the Forest Of Death as the gates shut behind them.
~End Flashback~
"Honestly?" A second Genin replied, eyebrow raised in suspicion, "I've never heard anything about Konoha's Forest Of Death... Why? What Happened?"
"Well, I don't know the whole story, only bits and pieces I get from my parents whispering, but apparently an 'Injustice' happened to someone, here, in this forest. And they fought against whatever was happening to them..."
~Flashback~
Naruto's eyes widened as the men who had just sat, kneeled beside of him, turned on the others, hands grabbing throats, long, thick, wooden sticks slamming into guts, a stone slamming into the skull of a man. Looking around at the brutal scene surrounding, Naruto turned on the balls of his feet, bolting off farther into the forest as a man grinned, following off after him. Naruto ran with all he was worth, years of running from the villagers and their ninja coming into play. But it was for naught, the man was in his physical peak, easily keeping pace with the child without breaking a sweat of his own.
Sticks whipped out from the trees, cracking into the boys face, creating large red welt marks, and some ripping the skin open, allowing the blood to travel down into his eyes and even farther down into mouth, a metallic taste filling it. With ease, the blood blinded the child, ruining the escape that he had tried to make, allowing him to trip over an uprooted root. Falling on his face, the child skidded to the bottom of a tree as the man stopped running, his prey within footsteps. Naruto lifted his head, his eyes widening as he saw, within the trunk of the trees, multiple throwing knives. Lurching forwards, Naruto grabbed one, flipping onto his back before letting it sail through the air, planting perfectly in the man's forehead, forcing his head to loll back before his body fell to the cold ground, lifeless. Naruto grasped at his hair, a shocked, sickened expression on his face. And then, something inside the small child snapped as he allowed his bangs to cover his blue eyes.
Standing to his fool height, Naruto removed the rest of the Throwing Knives from within their hideaway, also carefully taking his used one from the deceased man's skull. Casting a lasting look at the man as the Knives were fixated around his waist, Naruto took a deep breath, taking out even farther into the forest, his direction heading towards the large building that towered in the direct center. The blond dodged and weaved through the forest, slowly becoming better at dodging and avoiding the branches of the trees, and the trees uprooted roots. His small form allowed him to hide away from the larger men as they passed right by him, allowing him to gather an arsenal of weapons.
A Bow, with its arrows, his throwing knives, a close ranged knife, spiked brass knuckles, Kunai, Shuriken, but the one he valued the most, a ring. But not just any ring, it seemed to be just a pure gold ring, with the intricate design that told that it had been created during that Kyuubi Defeat Celebration. This all was not what made it valuable. The top, which held the symbol of the leaf village, could be flipped open to reveal a spiked point, coated in poison, and it continued to coat itself in poison at a steady rate. The poison, one that would kill its victims within seconds if they were not treated properly.
A rustle in the bushes alerted the, now, emotionless eight year old as he dived to the side, just barely avoiding one of the ronin that had entered into the Forest with him, Withdrawing four shuriken, Naruto released them into the wind, allowing them to hit their intended targets. His forehead, above his heart, below his heart, and just in between them. The man stumbled back, not at the shock of accuracy the child held, but to fall to the ground in a gurgling mess as he faded in and out of his miserable existence before finally releasing his hold on life.
Naruto walked forwards, yanking his shuriken from the man's body. After all, what good would it be if he left his weapons behind for another to use in his stead? Something like that would only lead to his sure death. Snarling as he looked skywards, Naruto estimated the time before it became night. He needed to find cover, and quick. The rest of the ronin men may be used to fighting during the night time. Looking around around at the trees, Naruto grinned as he ran forwards, quickly scaling one of the trees. With a deep breath, the blond heaved himself from tree to tree before coming to a rest with a pant on a branch shaped perfectly enough to give his body slight comfort.
Nestling back into the tree, Naruto brought his bow forwards, stringing an arrow upon it as he glanced around, wearily waiting for the first signs of movement. Then, it shot into the sky and blared a loud sound. A flare gun shot. One. Another flare shot high into the air. Two. The was the number of men he had killed that day, that was how many he had eliminated thus far. Three. Naruto continued to count the flare gun shots off in a silent whisper before he came to a final count. Ten. Ten people had been murdered in cold blood because of the Sandaime Hokage, and people's will to survive. He had accounted for two of those murders: A Villager of the Red Light District, and a Ronin Ninja.
Laying his head back, Naruto closed his eyes in dismay, allowing tears to fall from his eyes, crying where no one, not even himself, could hear, before he finally dozed himself into sleep, albeit a very light and paranoid one.
Snap! Blue eyes shot open. Opposed to the darkness that had shone when he had allowed himself rest, the light of day now shadowed the forest. Glancing down below himself, Naruto's breath caught in his throat. There was one of the Ronin men, a big brute who looked like he could snap Naruto in two with very little trouble, if any at all. Tightening his hands on his bow and arrow, Naruto aimed his weapon towards the man's head, albeit shakily. Taking a, silent, deep breath, Naruto let the arrow fly, burying itself into the back of the man's skull. The man stumbled forwards, Naruto absolutely sure that the man would topple over, dead, as his last two victims had. But he didn't. He reached back, ripping the arrow from his skull before casting it onto the ground.
His ugly, scarred head snapped to the tree Naruto sat in, a savage grin upon his face. "Oh, so you have a little assortment of weapons? Good, I might need those!" The man began stalking forwards to the tree, Naruto's eyes widening considerably as he restrung his bow, releasing another arrow. It was snatched clean out of the air as the man threw it to the ground, a smile still placed onto his face. "What're you gonna do, Gonna do, What're you gonna do?" The man sang to the child as he climbed the tree that he resided in, eyes crazed and smile insane. "When Johnny comes for you!" The man jumped up the tree from where he was climbing, intent on grabbing Naruto, but only managing the branch he sat on.
This was all the time Naruto needed to restring his bow, yet again, before releasing it and allowing the sharp arrow to pierce through the man's forehead, exiting through the back and allowing a small amount of blood to spill onto Naruto's face. Naruto released a choked sound as the man fell to the ground, the arrow penetrating the Earth, keeping itself lodged inside of the man's skull. Naruto sat in the tree he had slept in, shell shocked. The killing, it didn't get better. He felt worse every time an arrow pierced a skull, a shuriken, a throwing knive, whatever his case, it continued to worsen. Allowing a sob to escape him, the eight year old child slowly lowered himself to the ground, jumping as he heard the Flare Gun explode: The Signal of another Victim, Another of his victims.
Naruto quickly recollected the two Arrows that the man had thrown aside before trying to retrieve the one that had implanted itself completely through the man's skull. It was no use. No matter what he did, how hard he pulled, or how much he cursed, the arrow sat, lodged in the skull. But he wouldn't allow it to be used against him, he wouldn't allow it to kill him. Picking up a nearby rock, Naruto allowed it to descend onto the arrow, burying it farther into the man's head, and the earth. Naruto continued. Over, and over, he pounded against the man's skull until the arrow was lodged so far deep into him that it would be impossible to remove it through the skull, or from the Earth.
Panting at the force it had taken to knock the arrow down, Naruto bolted back out into the forest. Eleven down. Eleven men out of twenty four. Then it hit him. The hunger. It wracked throughout his stomach, urging him to find something to eat. Yet, what would he eat? Something in the forest that could poison him, and send him to the next life, setting the flare gun off to signal his death? One of his victims, forcing him to become a monster worse than that of which the village proclaimed? Shaking his head, Naruto stumbled slightly, his eyes widening as the whistling sound hit his ears. His head turned to make out the object as an a kunai pierced through his neck, almost cutting a serious artery.
Naruto clutched his neck in pain, stumbling as he fell to the ground, a Ronin Ninja, the last one, he was sure of it, came out of the woods, Laughing at his expense. "You know... You killed my ally. We were gonna kill you all, then I was gonna stab him in the back, get out of here, and never be hunted by Konoha again... You ruined most of my plan, so now I gotta kill you to put it back on course. No, don't cry, it won't be fast, it'll be slow and brutal." With these words, the man began stalking forwards, his hands outstretched to strangle Naruto. The boy kicked back away from him, but it was no use. Then it donned on the child. With a single flip, Naruto punched his fist forwards, the spike of his ring piercing his opponent's throat. The man released a scream as he shoved Naruto away, grasping at his throat as the fire sensation began coursing throughout him, his veins puffing out and becoming black. The man dropped to his knees, his hand outstretched towards the eight year old, who sat, horrified at the reaction. a word escaped the man's mouth. Please. Reaching over, Naruto picked up the Kunai that the man had sliced his neck with, throwing it to where it embedded itself into the man's head, forcing him onto his back.
The vomit couldn't stop itself as her leaned over, heaving. He threw up even long after until he had nothing to heave. He needed to eat, and there wasn't a damn thing in that god forsaken forest that he knew was edible. Unless... Naruto looked towards his dead opponent. Bile rising up in his throat again. He couldn't eat the man, his blood boiled with the poison that he had injected him with. But how long could he resist the hunger? How long until he lost all control.
Again, something deep within the recess of the boy's mind, something snapped, Naruto releasing a brutal, feral scream that seemed more animal like than it ever could that of a human.
~End Flashback~
"And then?" The other genin questioned as more gathered around the boy, an unseen sorrowful face upon the face of their Chunin Instructor.
"And then... He won, against all of the odds he had stacked about him. He won, and made these forests his homeland..."
~Flashback~
Naruto sat in a tree, tired and weary as he watched the sky, counting off the number of people killed that day. Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen. Twenty people were down. It had only take three days for twenty people, one being an eight year old, to murder each other. And now it came down to two. Naruto himself and one other man, a Villager. Naruto sighed, laying back in his tree, Bow Strung, when he heard it. The cackling fire, the murderous whispers.
Naruto, on instinct, jumped from tree to tree with huffs of breath until he came upon the campsite of the last man, standing by a fire, warming himself, whereas Naruto's lips had turned blue. "Fucking game? This is bullshit! I hate this! I hate it! I don't fucking know who it is that's still alive with me, but I'm going to kill them and then leave this shit hole! YOU HEAR ME FUCKER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Naruto watched the man with emotionless eyes, unimpressed.
The boy pulled his strung bow back, aiming it at the man's head, who sat, flames warming him. "I hear you." Naruto whispered silently to himself before letting the serrated arrow fly, slamming through the man's skull, and sending him into his fire, Naruto speaking a line he had once heard from the lying fuck that he had once called, Jiji. "First rule of a Ninja, Deception and Stealth."
Falling backwards, Naruto grunted as his back hit a tree, he sighed as his met the cold hard ground, for the first time in his entire life, secure. It was a short lived security as one of the Sandaime Hokage's Personal Anbu appeared before him. "So you're the surviving person? Well, it can't be helped... Get your fucking ass up, the Hokage wants to see you."
"... No..."
"Excuse me?" The Anbu snarled.
"I will not return to that village! It is no longer my home! I claim this to be my home! I claim this forest, no longer The Forest Of Death, but the Forest Of The Demon!" The Anbu snarled in rage, lurching forwards to snatch the child from his perch on the ground, only for a kunai to be jammed through hi mask, and into his brain. "And you all have given me weapons to sustain myself. I know there's more... I'll find them."
With this, the boy stood himself up, walking away from the site, dragging the body of the Anbu without ease, heading down towards the single building in the forest, the Chunin Exam Preliminary.
~End Flashback~
"That's a load of bullshit!" One of the genin exclaimed with a snort, only for Anko Mitarashi to shoot him down with a glare.
"No, it's not. It happened, though not all details are clear. And the man who lived... He still remains in that forest, waiting for new targets to enter his domain, his mind always reverting to thinking that it's another battle, like the one he faced before. Be careful, he is more of a priority than even your scrolls. Now, without farther a due..." She spoke, lifting a flare gun into the air.
~Forest Of Death~
Dark blue slitted eyes glared dangerously at the flare that shot into the air before exploding, flashbacks rushing forwards into his mind. Each year, another face. Each year, another death. A dark red tongue darted out to lick across his teeth, revealing that he had fangs, the kind you would think be wielded by vampires of legends. This year... It would be no different than the rest.
And then... The shadowy figure was gone into the forest, its traps readying themselves for his victims.
That is all I have now. I hope you enjoyed, if not, so be it. I will not tell you to review, nor favor, nor flame me, it would all be redundant, as I have seen it to become in so many other stories.
