Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".
Prologue
No. I didn't come here to die. As soon as that thought entered his head, Nicholas knew that there wasn't really anything he could do to stop them as he lay curled on the ground, bleeding from the scrapes and cuts on his forearms, back and shins. He knew that he wasn't a match for six armed men. He may have been much stronger than most children his age from living on the streets most of his life and working for a weapon smith as an apprentice, but there was still a limit as to what he could do given his size, and no real training. The very thought of his dead master and fellow apprentice brought on a fresh wave of rage, only to be silenced by the pain of a rib cracking from a particularly vicious kick to his unguarded left side.
About half a week ago, he had gone to the shop only to find it in flames, with his fellow apprentice laying on the ground outside, bleeding to death. His master had been knocked unconscious in the shop before it had been set ablaze, and had died in the fire. After asking around, he had heard that six, well armed men had robbed the place, setting it on fire in the process, and had cut down the young man who had tried to stop them. Nicholas had gotten their descriptions, and had taken it upon himself to hunt down the thieves and avenge his master and friend. Looking back on it now, Nicholas realized that he really had no plan, just as one of the attacker's boots began a downward stomp towards his head.
7 ½ years later
Nicholas woke with a start, covered in sweat despite the cool October night. While it never actually got cold here, fall and winter nights did tend to get a bit chilly, which made it all that much more unusual that he was sweating. Slowly sitting up, he pulled his brown hair, which went a little over half a foot past shoulder length, out of his face. Then, rubbing the sleep from his brown eyes, looked out the window to his left, and saw that it was still night, or at least very early morning. Rolling over, he looked at the clock at the nightstand next to his bed, and read it by the starlight.
3:52. Way too early.
While he was normally up before the sun rose, he usually didn't wake for at least another two hours. Rolling onto his back again, Nicholas closed his eyes. It happened every year, always around early spring, since that was when it had happened about seven years ago. Every fall, he would start getting nightmares that always brought him back to that moment. Even now, the scars covering his fairly well muscled back, shins, and arms itched at the memory. Truth be told, he should have died that day. If his kekkei genkai hadn't awakened, he would have.
He had blacked out, just as that boot had been about to crush his head against the street. When he came to his senses a few minutes later, he had been on his feet, surrounded by the men beating him either dead or dying in the street around him, killed with their own weapons. There was another person there, too- a bystander who had been just passing by, and had stopped to help at just the wrong moment. Nicholas never forgot the man's face, and had been shocked by his mistake. Despite his injuries, he had fled,terrified that he would accidently kill another innocent person. After a few days, he had vowed to master this new ability so that he would never again lose something he valued in life, and so that he would never again kill another innocent.
Nicholas turned to look at his clock again. 3:59. He knew that it was no use trying to fall back asleep, especially with those particular memories so fresh in his mind. Nicholas got up, stretched a little past his full height of 6' 3", got dressed in his typical white uwagi with sky blue sleeves, hakama of the same blue color as the sleeves, and tabi socks. Hethen went downstairs to get breakfast after picking up his katana, Zanryu, and its black scabbard fromthe stand by his bed. After eating, he went to the front door, put on his straw sandals, and left the house. Considering how far out of town he lived, it would take anywhere between half an hour to forty five minutes to reach town without using flash step, and that would give him just enough time to climb the stairs to the top of the cliffs to watch the sunrise.
As he walked, he reflected back on his past,and realized that he was quite well off, especially considering how his life had gone up to that incident years ago. Born in a small town on a trade route between Suna and Konoha, he had been lucky to have survived his first few years. His parents had been poor foreigners who had worked as rice farmers in the town, and had died in one of the plagues that periodically swept through the region every few decades when he was only four. He had been left to fend for himself, and grew up on the streets, surviving by doing odd jobs, begging, and stealing whatever he needed but couldn't get through other means.
Smiling at the memory, Nicholas realized now how much of a troublemaker he had been. After years of living as such, he had eventually arrived in another small, out of the way town, one very similar to where he'd been born, if somewhat larger. Upon arrival, his first act had been to attempt to pickpocket an elderly man who had just left a nearby food stand. Before he had even managed to get his hand into the man's coat pocket, an incredibly strong hand had grabbed his wrist.
"You're a sight for sore eyes," The man had said, looking down at Nicholas as he had frantically struggled against the man's grip. "You're filthy, and I'm willing to bet that you haven't eaten in a while, either."
Too scared at this point to refuse, Nicholas had accepted the man's offer, and had struck a deal. Nicholas would work at the shop the man owned, and would in turn get room and board. After three years, however, the events Nicholas had dreamed of earlier had come to pass, and that life had ended.
Reaching the stairs at the base of the cliffs, Nicholas began the long uphill climb.
After losing control and activating his kekkei genkai, Nicholas had sought out help, learning the shinobi arts wherever he could, under a number of different senseis. After five years of nothing but intense training at a rate that would have killed most people, Nicholas had emerged as a finely tuned instrument of destruction, much like Zanryu, the katana he had made with his own bare hands towards the end of his training. During that five year period, he had also done everything he could to learn about the ability that had saved his life. Despite mastering almost every aspect of his kekkei genkai, he still never found mention of it in any legends, myths, or historical texts, and after years of looking, had given up entirely and simply dubbed it the "shinigan", or Death Eye. Almost immediately after finishing his five years of training, he had begun taking contracts from anyone with enough money to pay. While he had made sure to only take jobs that fit his very strong sense of personal honor, he had produced exceptional results with every job, and after six months had garnered a reputation the envy of many who had spent years doing similar work. After a year, he had attracted the attention of every shinobi organization worth their salt, and had been approached by Konoha's agents looking to hire him for long term employment.
Reaching the top of the cliffs, Nicholas used a small flash step to propel himself atop one of the small, circularbuildings sitting above the cliffs, and sat down facing the direction that the sun would rise.
Of course, Nicholas had been reluctant to accept Konoha's offer- it would mean tying himself down, giving up much of the very freedom he so highly valued as a private contractor. At least, that's how he had felt at first. A week after Konoha had made their offer, Nicholas had been approached by yet another group, one that anyone in Nicholas's line of work had at least heard whispers of. Arriving home one night, only a short walk outside of the town he used to live in, he saw two people waiting for him outside the front of his house. The instant he saw the black cloaks with the distinctive red cloud pattern, he knew which group they were working for. Like with Konoha, they had wanted Nicholas to join them- well aware of their reputation, however, and knowing what their response would likely be if he turned them down, Nicholas had chosen to act first.
As the sun started to rise, Nicholas remembered that encounter very clearly. Activating the shinigan, he had quickly made eye contact with the man with the strange eyes, and had used one of its more advanced abilities to stun him. Nicholas then executed the fastest flash step he could muster, drawing Zanryu while he was still moving, all in the space of less than half a second. With the flash step placing him behind the man with the large scythe, Nicholas turned, used Zanryu to fling the man's weapon away from him, then proceeded to make several deep cuts as fast as he could. After making the eighth cut, he had used another flash step to flee before the deadman's partner could recover. As he had fled, Nicholas had realized that he had only escaped the encounter unscathed because he had caught them off guard with the shinigan, something he had worked very hard to keep a secret. He knew he wouldn't get lucky again, and if the rumors about the Akatsuki were true, he would most likely be found by them within the next few months, and would have to fight a far worse pair than those two, and without the surprise of the shinigan. In the end, Nicholas had accepted Konoha's offer, realizing that it had been the only way to escape the Akatsuki's reach.
The sun was well into the sky now. The town had come to life, with shops now just starting to open. Looking downwards to his right, Nicholas saw the instructors arriving at Konoha's Academy, setting up for classes that would soon start. Slowly standing up, Nicholas began his downhill climb, ready to start a new day.