Hello all, I'm new, so Imma tell you guys a couple things before I start. I have read a lot of fantastic fanfiction on this website, some completed, others still in development. I just want to be able to write a story that will entertain you guys. There will be an OC, so be prepared. I'll do my best to make my character realistically powerful, and try to keep them from being deus ex machina. This is my first story, obviously, that I'm writing. I don't own Naruto, or, frankly, anything you recognize in this story. If you've seen it before, it's not mine. There, now that that all is out of the way, I present all of you, my debut story, Some Call it Divine Intervention.
To any who happen to be reading my journal,
Have any of you had a very near death experience? It scared the shit out of you, didn't it? Yeah, I bet it did. And that was just a brush with death. Imagine how scary it is to have your own father stab you through the stomach in your sleep, and leaving you for dead. Scary as hell, isn't it?
Well, it wasn't my stomach, but I say close enough. I woke up right as the knife slid between my ribs, going clean through my lung. Nothing else was even touched. Ya know, medic nins like my dad rarely miss what they're trying to hit, if they stab someone. Bonus to knowing the human body inside and out like you know your own hand. I guess I just got lucky.
Luck. I still don't believe in it. I've never been a lucky person. A countless number of skinned knees, accidental cuts on kitchen knives, and various broken bones from seemingly easy tasks hasn't exactly lended itself to me believing that I'm lucky. But I like to wonder.
I like to wonder what would have happened if my father hadn't stabbed me, if that bastard with the disgusting yellow eyes hadn't brainwashed him into deserting everything that tied him down to our village. I wonder what would have happened if that mist hunter ninja hadn't stopped by, and stopped just long enough to patch me up and nurse me back to health. But at this point, I just don't even care that much, it's more an intellectual exercise than anything. I suppose that I wouldn't be writing this, sitting in class, bored out of my mind, with some annoying ass other kids all talking to each other far too loud. I suppose I should stop writing about know, my teacher should be showing up any second now. I wouldn't expect to see too many entries, I only just got this journal, and it's my last week in the academy, so I'll probably be getting very busy in a couple days.
Signed,
-Jeremiah No-Name
-Line Break-
Iruka walked into his classroom, slightly sad, for the first day of his last week with this graduating class. He knew most would be able to pass just about any test thrown at them, but there were a few he was a little worried about. Come to think of it, he was really only worried about three kids. He really didn't want to have to fail any of them. The Nara heir, he realized would probably pass, but just barely, given their fabled intelligence, but he was still a little worried, I mean, the kid literally slept the entire class, ignoring everyone and everything, except the Akimichi heir, and occasionally Naruto and the kid from Waves. Well, the hokage said he was from Waves, but Sarutobi had that mischievous glint in his eyes that old men get when they're meddling in something that other people don't know about. Speaking of the kid, Iruka was worried about him too.
It's not like he fell asleep, but he very obviously reading something every class, and blatantly ignored Iruka and every other teacher, regardless of punishments. About a year back, Iruka and the other teachers had simply given up on trying to get him to pay attention, since he seemed to always end up right in the average area of scores for his graduating class. But he always seemed to just barely grasp the material on the day of the test, and thus, Iruka was worried about him.
Naruto was another story entirely. Iruka just didn't think he could pass at all, despite his desire to see him pass. Naruto was, no way around it, just blatantly dead last. There was no test that naruto took where he got anything better than about 10%. The worst part to Iruka, is that Naruto didn't even seem to care. He would just shrug it all off, and move on with his day, not even fazed in the slightest. Iruka liked Naruto though, and wanted him to succeed. He thought of Naruto as the little brother he had never had. 'Oh well, at this point, since the rest of the week is just review, I just have to hope that they all will be able to get it by Friday. I like these kids, but I want them to be able to move on to bigger and better things.'
-Line Break-
I don't like being bothered while I'm reading, and Iruka yelling at all of us to quiet down was on of my least favorite ways to be interrupted. In the mad scramble for all my classmates to find a seat, I ended up between Shikamaru and Naruto. I like them both, they are both nice kids, but Shikamaru seems a little wary around me, and I'm not quite sure why. I think it's because of my red hair, but that would be silly, because there are much stranger colors, like Naruto's bright blond, almost yellow. Anyway, after a quick greeting to the both of us, Shikamaru was out like a light, and Naruto was already bouncing with his strange nervous energy. I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd think that Naruto was wired into a nearly limitless power source.
"ALRIGHT CLASS SETTLE DOWN!" Iruka's screaming signalled to me the beginning of class, which to me meant the beginning of my reading time, so I opened my current fixation, a scroll on elemental manipulation I had acquired only just the day before. I liked to steal scrolls from the ninja archives. Unfortunately, being an academy student, I could only sneak into the Chunin levels at best, and thus, my selection was slightly limited. Fortunately, right now, I was just looking to improve my base skills, and not learn anything too advanced yet. My earlier years had taught me much in terms of the necessity for the basics. The hunter nin that saved me had, evidently, known only basic medic ninjutsu, but was able to heal me enough that I made a full recovery. The scar is still there, but at this point, nothing will get rid of it, so I'm stuck with it. So, before I learned any jutsus in any element, I first had to perfect manipulation, a task I was finding much more difficult than I originally expected, but after the leaf stage, all of the elements have very different methods of training, so I suppose expecting to master the first stages of all of them at the same time would prove difficult for even the most talented ninja.
"As all of you should know, the academy exams are at the end of this week. This Friday, you will all either pass or fail, and, should you pass, will arrive on Saturday for team selections. But you all know this by now, or, at least should." Iruka seemed to look very pointedly at my table, where all three of us were, well, quite blatantly ignoring him. "It will the exam will consist of three very simple parts, a mental test, with a written exam," a collective groan sweeps through the class, but Iruka plows on, ignoring it, "a physical exam, with taijutsu, kunai and shuriken throwing, and finally, a ninjutsu test, of the Henge, Bunshin, and Kawarimi Jutsus. Any questions?"
FRIDAY
I've got to say, element manipulation is incredibly difficult. I've noticed that Fire and Water manipulation seem to escape me, no matter what I do. Wind and Earth are alright, but not great, and Lightning seems to come to me like I've always known what to do. I wonder why that is. The first step to all of the manipulations was to make a leaf change to fit the chakra I wanted it to, which I'm pleased to say turned out rather well. I can crinkle, burn, split, crumble and make the leaf soggy over and over again all I wanted, but, now it would do me no good. I got to that point on Wednesday, and, frankly, I've advanced beyond it. I'm trying more advanced manipulation, but my scroll only described up to the leaf part, so I'm on my own now. I've started bouncing lightning between the fingers on each hand, and I can do that fairly well now, I only got zapped once this morning, when I was practicing. I'm trying to cut larger objects, like sticks, for wind, but I haven't made much headway. I have been equally stumped on the subject of earth chakra, which I have been trying to practice with by pulling cylinders of solid earth out of the ground, but I'm struggling to hold the cylinders together consistently. Fire and water have been absolute failures. I cannot manipulate them at all beyond the leaf stage, so I might have to give up on them, which is saddening, since the only other area of study I've given up on, even temporarily, is medic jutsu. I wish I could have gotten it, but I don't think I will ever have the chakra control necessary. I've tried running up trees, walking on water, I even tried walking on water on my finger tips to perfect my chakra control, but that pinpoint chakra control needed just seems to elude me. It's a shame, really, that Iruka will probably never realize that the ignorant kid face I put on in class is a facade. Shikamaru almost seems to know, but, after all, he is putting on a facade himself. I think Naruto might be, too, but I don't know. I just don't think that someone could fail that much and still be unfazed by it all. I don't know everything, though, nor do I pretend to. I mean, since I found refuge in Konoha after, you know, the incident, I haven't learned nearly as much as I would like to.
Sarutobi's words still show up, about once a day or so, constantly reminding me of why I'm here. The day I arrived, I was brought to the Hokage's office, almost immediately, a very scary thing for a 10 year old kid who was dying just a little over a month ago.
-Flashback-
"Why are you in the Hidden Leaf Village?" He almost seemed to stare into my soul with his piercing eyes, I almost felt like he knew the answer already.
"I'm running away from my former home, and while growing up, my dad would tell me about Konoha ninja he met, who he said were very good people, and very skilled ninja. When I had to leave my village, this was the only place I could think of at the time." I said, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't ask the one question I didn't want to answer.
"Where are you running from?" He leaned forward, seeming almost intrigued by my answer, and genuinely seemed concerned.
"I lived in a village, that's all I know, my dad once said that we were very close to the Mist Village." I clutched the straps of the knapsack that was on my back, thinking 'I don't know why I was so scared, he seems so nice.'
The Hokage got up from his desk and kneeled down in front of me, at my eye level, and stared right into my eyes. "You have very green eyes, don't you? Well, young boy, you can stay here, and, of course, you will get money each month to take care of yourself, since you're an orphan and likely won't want to stay with anyone else. There is one condition, of course." His eyes seemed to brighten happily as he said this.
"What's the condition?" I responded impulsively, not really caring what it was.
"Become a ninja. You have the potential to be a truly great and gifted ninja, if my guess about your family is correct. Become great, and then you may be able to protect others from a sharing a similar childhood to yours. And you must become great, because either way, there will be a long road ahead of you, with many obstacles, none of which will be easy. You and others of your age will have to pass trials that you never should have to experience, and you must pass them with flying colors, or you will all fall tragically." His tone, demeanor, and facial expression were deadly serious. He had made it very clear that nothing I said or did would do anything to change the condition, but, at this point, I didn't particularly care. I didn't realize then the world I would really be stepping into. So I accepted, and from that day forth, I have never looked back
-End Flashback-
'You must become great.' Those words forced me to do things I didn't think I could do. I run around the village two times twice every day, at morning and at night, and I have begun to wear weights everywhere I go, as of about 6 months ago. I climb the Hokage monument by hand every morning, well before anyone else is up. Every day, I do chakra exercises, some for elements, others for control. I have learned 5 taijutsu styles during my time at the academy, and combine all of them into my own personal fighting style. The only thing I have yet to learn, are serious jutsus. I have only just begun to scratch the surface of chakra control, jutsus, and element manipulation, so I only really know the three Academy jutsus, but those I know perfectly.
The Hokage's words are a constant reminder to me why I must do well, not only for myself, but also so that I can help other people when the obstacles we must defeat reach us. I don't intend to be the Hokage, or anything so public. I intend to be the protector, there to aid people who need help. But I'm realistic. I am only about Chunin level at best right now. To truly be great, I must continue to work, for true strength comes from within, and only from one's own power.
The alarm clock in my room goes off, distracting me from my thoughts and memories. I stand up, and go to my room, turning it off. I look at the time, and leave, after gathering everything I'll need, for the academy, where I will face the first on a long road of trials that will be my life as a ninja.
Thanks for reading, all! I hope you enjoyed! Any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome in the reviews, all flames, or anyone looking to just be rude will be ignored. Also, can anyone guess what clan Jeremiah will be a part of? Yes, he will have a clan! Not the one you'd expect, however. Feel free to guess, and I will see you in the next chapter. I'm currently on break, so it should be out soon, in a day or two and following chapters should be as quick, but once my break is over, I'll have to slow down to a chapter every couple days, or one a week, but I'll try to keep the word count up to where it is right now. This is Anonymous Jonin, signing off.