Project Rebirth: Unit One
Konoha's Darkest Secret
"NARUTO!!" Sasuke shouted. They stood on the cliffs from the valley of the end, Naruto preparing to head to Rice Country, and out of Konoha's reach. Each stood on a giant statue of famous late ninjas, separated by a giant waterfall. Naruto stopped, staying still for a moment. For a moment, all that could be heard was the roar of the waterfall, with neither ninja advancing. Sasuke was tired, having run all the way across fire country to its very border. Naruto, however, didn't even have his heart pounding.
Sasuke gathered his breath and yelled again "NARUTO!!!" his voice echoed across the canyon, soon fading to the sound of the waterfall. Naruto didn't flinch. The sound of the waterfall was soon lost to Sasuke, watching Naruto for any sign of movement.
Finally, Naruto moved, away. He continued walking away from Konoha, from Fire country, and Sasuke. But before he could make a second step, Sasuke stopped him.
"DOBE!! TURN AROUND AND FACE ME, YOU COWARD!!!"
Naruto's feet stopped, and slowly he turned around. Sasuke could only gasp; this Naruto didn't look like Naruto at all. Naruto's hair went wild, falling freely without his headband, with a kunai pouch and shuriken holster on each leg. He wasn't wearing his orange jumpsuit, but a black robe with red lining the borders over a fishnet shirt, with a bowstaff in his hand and a katana strapped to his back. His eyes weren't happy, but filled with nothing, or perhaps loneliness.
"I should've known you'd find me, Sasuke." Naruto said calmly.
"Is that all you can say?!" Sasuke yelled angrily. "Tsunade-Sama ordered every ANBU member and available shinobi to look for you!!"
Naruto chuckled. "Yeah? Am I really that much trouble? But then again, maybe I am."
Sasuke clenched his fist. Naruto was never like this; he was always the happy one, the one who claimed he'd be the Hokage, but why would he do this? Abandoning Konoha, injuring two gate gaurds, Naruto couldn't do that! Not the same dobe who'd been the one who was always trying to beat him to the top of the tree, or the one he'd nearly died to protect, or the one who'd saved his life in the forest from the snake and from Gaara. Naruto wouldn't abandon them!
"Naruto, are you even listening? Everyone's looking for you." He looked up, meeting Naruto's gaze. "Please, come home!"
"Home…" Naruto sampled the word. He laughed. "That place…I hate it. You've got no idea what Konoha has done. Konoha has black secrets sins worse than Akatsuki's, or Orochimaru.
"Dobe, that doesn't matter! You were born and raised in Konoha! People care about you there! That's what makes it home!"
Naruto laughted. "Sasuke, I'll never call that place my home, not after what they did to me. I hate that place. Go back to your home. Tell them to no longer concern yourselves with me." He turned again and started walking away towards Sound, but Sasuke stopped him again.
"But why? Why go to Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked, looking at the ground again. "I got an offering too, but…" Sasuke looked up with a determined look in his eyes. "You taught me that I have a home in Konoha, and that I don't have to be alone! Naruto, please! You have a place too! You're my best friend, and all your other friends are out, looking everywhere for you!"
"Heh. You still don't get it, do you?" Naruto chuckled again. "I'm not going to Orochimaru for training. He has something of mine, and I want it back!"
"Naruto…please, we can help you. We all want you home!"
"Idiot. What's with that look? You can't help me. If you knew the truth about me, you'd want me out too, even if you do think of me as your best friend."
"Naruto…are you talking about the Kyubi?"
Naruto's eyes widened in amusement. "Ahh…who told you?"
Sasuke looked sad. "…Everyone knows. Our parents would all tell us in secret, but told us to never say it out loud. But…no one cares anymore, Naruto; not anyone who really knows you! Kakashi, Sakura, Neji, Lee, Hinata, Kiba, and even the sand trio have come to help!"
Naruto just chuckled again, amused by the idea.
"Naruto, why?! Why have you become like this?!" Sasuke shouted, stepping forward.
"…Whatever I do, you are no longer involved." Naruto tried to leave again, but stopped, an idea forming. He turned. "You know what, Sasuke, I'm really ashamed of you, and all of Konoha. None of you have seen through the deception." Naruto laughed.
"Why?! Please, let me help you!"
"You really wanna know, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, excited.
"Yes, then we can all go home, to your home as well. You taught me that."
Naruto smirked. "The story of the Kyubi being sealed inside of me…is one big lie!" Naruto shouted.
"Wh-wha?!" Sasuke was shocked.
"Yes, I was surprised when I learned about it too, but when I think about it, everything makes sense." Naruto reached into his robe and pulled out a red and yellow scroll, and threw them to Sasuke, who caught them. "Take those to Jiraiya and Tsunade. They'll recognize those. I don't need them anymore."
Sasuke stared at the scrolls, and opened one of them, revealing several lines of various widths, forming several lines all along the scrolls, each line less than a centimeter in length, all over the scroll. Sasuke didn't understand. He looked up at Naruto, not knowing what to say.
"Well, now you see, that's not any ordinary coding. Only I can understand it."
"…Naruto, what is this?"
"Something that limited me, and now, only the third remains."
Sasuke looked up, staring at Naruto. "Then, Orochimaru…"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, he has the final scroll, and once I read it, the final barrier will be removed!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically. "I'll tell you once more, leave me alone. I can't live in that village anymore. I'm done letting Konoha play with me."
"Wh-what?" Sasuke said. Then, Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Naruto, I don't know what's going on, but if I have to stop you, I will!" Sasuke flipped through some seals, and held his hand out as a ball of electricity appeared in his hand, the chirping could be heard for miles around. "CHIDORI!!"
Sasuke leapt the distance between the statues, aiming for a non-vital spot on Naruto's body. But Naruto just smirked, and held his own hand out. Sasuke fell towards Naruto, frozen with shock as a similar ball of electricity appeared in Naruto's hand. "RAIKIRI!!" Naruto shouted, and obliterated Sasuke's Chidori, but Naruto pulled his arm up, merely inflicting a slight cut on Sasuke. Sasuke fell to his knees, gripping his bleeding arm.
"H-how?" Sasuke said shakily as he turned to Naruto.
Naruto, however, chose to look at the clouds. "A week ago, Konohamaru barricaded himself inside the Hokage tower. Tsunade had to punch her way in to grab a book for Lee, but when I went in a yellow scroll caught my eye. I grabbed it, and read it, and as I did, I gained knowledge of thousands of techniques of Konoha, learned how to manipulate Chakra without handseals, and at the same time, learning all about the experiments used to create me!"
Sasuke stepped back. "C-created? No, that can't be!"
"Oh, but it's true, Sasuke. Observe." Naruto reached up to his forehead, and forced Chakra into his forehead, releasing a metal plate over his forehead. He removed it, along with the front of his forehead, and behind it was shining Blue Chakra, his brain. "This is what they did to me!"
Sasuke stood in shock. This made no sense. He just removed his forehead!
"Hmph. Yes, I was surprised, too. I spent that day in shock, remember?" When Sasuke said nothing, he continued. "I can understand that scroll by opening this up while looking at the scroll. Then, I found Jiraiya's scroll. I gained even more knowledge and techniques; this time mainly taijutsu. With Orochimaru's scroll, which mainly contains Genjutsu, I'll have all of the ninja arts I can learn from Konoha."
"Wh…what did Konoha do to you?"
Naruto's face went blank; Sasuke couldn't tell if he was angry or sad. "I'm a clone of the Yondaime, made for the purpose of being Konoha's secret weapon. I was the prototype of what was planned to be many. Konoha used his DNA and their finest technology to clone me in a test tube. As I grew, they gathered information techniques from all the ninjas of Konoha and DNA from several clans to be passed onto me, programmed into my brain. Watch." Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Naruto's eyes were three-tomoe sharingan eyes. Sasuke stared, unable to even gasp.
Naruto laughed at his reaction. "Surprised? Well, so was I. Let me continue. Shortly before my removal from the test tube, they placed limits on me, such as not being able to harm Konoha shinobi, but they also limited the techniques and bloodlines that had been programmed and infused into me. You see, they realized that I was unstable with this much power, and I was showing unwanted emotion in the test tube. They realized that I could hurt them, that I was too dangerous to use. So, they scrapped the project and they limited everything, except my love for Konoha, which is why I never abandoned it despite my treatment. However, these scrolls remove those limits, and soon I'll have everything back."
"Then, the Kyubi attacked just as I was being released from the test tube. The Fourth knew it was the perfect opportunity to cover it up. He claimed to have sealed the Kyubi within me, when he used the dead demon sealing technique to seal both of their souls away. I was never a human sacrifice. All those instances where I thought I was using its power I was temporarily releasing limits out of fear. Now, do you still want me back?" Naruto said, smirking.
Sasuke looked down, still in shock. But after a minute of soul-searching, he looked up. "Everyone has risked their lives to protect you! No one cares what you are!" Sasuke shouted, not running away.
Naruto actually looked shocked, but quickly regained his shoulder. "Well, that's nice for them." Naruto said before turning back to Rice country.
But Sasuke wouldn't let him go yet. "Naruto, please!" Naruto didn't stop. Sasuke ignored the pain in his arm and ran at Naruto. Naruto turned around, only to be tackled to the by Sasuke. "Just what do you think of your comrades in Konoha?! They're risking their lives to find you! They don't care what you are!"
Naruto looked at him from the ground, and chuckled. "I don't care anymore. I'll give you one more chance: turn back, or I'll make you suffer."
Sasuke looked defeated. "Naruto…" He quickly gained a fiery look. "I don't care how powerful you are! I'll drag you back if I have to! I won't let you leave! I'll force your eyes open and make you stare at your home!" Sasuke made a fist, and punched Naruto in the face, sending some blood flying, and again, and again, and again.
Naruto just took it, knowing Sasuke would run out of energy soon. After a minute of punching, Sasuke raised Naruto by the collar. "Are you back yet, Naruto?! If not, I'll keep punching you till you pass out, then I'll drag you back home!"
Naruto looked at Sasuke, anger growing for the first time since their meeting. "Stop calling that place my home! You can't help me! You can't save me! I'm already lost!" Naruto shouted, punching Sasuke and sending him flying. "That place…I'd rather I'd never existed than living as an inhuman creation! I hate the people who made me! Those damn scientists, that lab, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and all the Hokages who thought of creating me!!!"
He pointed his palm at Sasuke, and fired a blast of raw Chakra from his palm. Sasuke jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the explosion. Naruto did it again, and Sasuke jumped down to the lake, with Naruto following.
Naruto and Sasuke were both standing on the water, facing each other. "You know, Sasuke, you were my best friend too." Sasuke didn't move. "But, I don't care anymore. Nobody can save me now. Leave, or I'll show you my real power, long kept locked away."
Sasuke just took a fighter's stance, ready. "You're still my best friend, and best friends save each other when they need it!" Sasuke yelled, forming hand seals. Naruto cut in, and spun his bowstaff above his head, bringing it down on Sasuke, and quickly twirled it beside him, striking Sasuke repeatedly, before focusing his Chakra into the tip, and sent Sasuke flying into the canyon wall. Sasuke slid down to the side, barely conscious. Naruto walked up to him, disappointed.
"I don't need a pathetic life in that village anymore. Nothing could keep me there, not even you, Sasuke." Naruto turned to leave. "This is good-bye, Uchiha Sasuke. If we ever meet again, it will be as enemies." Naruto finished and ran up the cliff. Sasuke watched as long as he could, before falling unconscious, a single tear falling down his cheek. Soon Kakashi would come and pick him up to bring him home, knowing one of his students is far out of their grasp.
Naruto walked through the forest, his face without expression or emotion as he crossed the border into Rice country, and out of Konoha's reach. He no longer had an obligation to stay alive, but he swore he'd find one. He kept walking, letting the darkness and loneliness in his heart mix with betrayal and rage, forming wants of revenge. And so Konoha's greatest achievement, and greatest failure walked onto a new future, one where he could truly be free.
Rain began to cover the entire forest, along with Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and all other ninjas in the forest. It seemed a fitting end to their mission, and expressed what many refused to show.
Next time: The final scroll
Notes
Well, there it is, the first chapter of my new fic. I'm gonna have some fun writing this. This may have been the third place winner, but I wanted to start it first because I already have the plot figured out, and i'm still working on the other plots.
THIS IS NOT YAOI!!!!! Just making that clear.
Wait until you see some of Naruto's knew technques. Some of them are gonna be evil, but others will be
This is one of my theories of Naruto's origin. I believe he could be a clone of the Yondaime, since he looks just like him. If he had a mother, shouldn't he have some of her traits? So, that's where I'm coming from on this. In fact, I'm not even sure if I really believe the Yondaime is the father theory. I mean, the Yondaime having a child would be huge, but no one knows it, so that's why I find it hard to believe.
Just so everyone knows, Sasuke hasn't run off to Orochimaru. Though, the time is when Sasuke did by kishimoro's story. But in this story, Naruto left.
This story may not be as dark as I promised, but I think you get the picture that for now Naruto isn't gonna be so nice.
Well, here are the jutsu translations, but these are so famous in Naruto I doubt they need explanation.
Chidori-One Thousand Birds
Raikiri-Lightning Blade
Well, that's all. Bye, everybody. I'll update soon!
Later
Tsurugi-Sama