A/N: Inspiration is the font of imagination, wouldn't you say?
I recently had the privilege of seeing Alita: Battle Angel and well...how do I put this...
...go see it.
NOW.
Seriously, this move is one in a million and it absolutely blew me away. Apparently there's even a novel, as well as a prequel one at that. Guess I'm buying them~!
I had NO idea what it was about, so I went in with zero expectations...and was utterly blown away. Now, I'm rarely one to get so invested in a movie, but there was one scene in particular that really riled me up toward the end-I think you all know what I'm talking about-and from that this inkling was born. For those who are wondering, no this isn't going to distract me from my other projects. I can assure you of that. This story will be short. Five, maybe six chapters at most.
Timeline wise, this is the Naruto directly after the final battle with Sasuke. Missing arm and all. Oh dear, did I say missing arm? Why, I believe I did!
As to how our boy found his way here, well...
...that would be telling now, wouldn't it?
So now, without further adieu...
...An Angel's Ninja.
"What did you do?!"
~?
Prologue
This was not his home.
...waking up!" a man's voice trickled into his ear.
Uzumaki Naruto knew it the moment he opened his eyes to blinding light and a faded ceiling; realized it when he woke to find himself strapped down to an operating table. Shock paralyzed him, dulling what might have otherwise proven an explosive reaction. Even then that brief interlude lasted only a nanosecond. A horrendous heartbeat. Little more.
Time slowed to a crawl, all the colors of the world fading to grey.
His memory offered little in the way of explanation, thought all but wiped from his mind. Mercifully it wasn't amnesia as he'd initially feared; he remembered who he was, where he had been, what he had been doing only minutes before. He clearly recalled fighting Sasuke. Beating him. Blowing both their arms off in their final clash. So much blood. Sakura had scolded him for that, but he'd been so terribly tired that he'd scarcely heard her at all. So tired. Yes, so sleepy, just needed to close his eyes, for a bit, yes just a moment...
...now he opened them to find himself in a world gone wrong.
Just like that, the world snapped back and he found himself cast adrift once more.
A worn visage loomed over him suddenly, grey and wrinkled with age. That bespectacled face should have been comforting. But it didn't register on an emotional level; nothing did. Shock had numbed everything, even the words that the aging-doctor?-droned at him.
"Easy now...you've lost a lot of blood." a steadying hand laid itself to rest upon his shoulder. "When we found you in that alley, you were barely breathing. You're going to be alright now."
Alley?
Doubtless those words had been meant to soothe him. They did not. If anything they only agitated Naruto. How would one react to finding themselves trussed and bound like some kind of lab experiment? Not well, let me tell you. This was not the case of course; nothing could be further from the truth. He was in good hands here, this man wanted nothing more than to help him. Naturally, the whiskered warrior had no way of knowing this, indeed, how could he? He was weak, groggy, and very much not in his right mind.
He couldn't help it; he panicked.
Cold metal seized against his bare back.
With a roar he bucked his back and jerked upright.
Chakra roared to life in his broken body, empowering his remaining limbs tenfold as blue eyes blazed red and skin shone with burnished gold. This time, when Naruto fought back, the leather cords could no longer resist him. Strong hands seized metal and leather alike, shearing them apart with an ease borne of hideous strength, shredding them as though they were little more than plastic. The doctor shrank back, but too slowly; in the time it took him to step back-to realize his own peril-the blond pounced on him, seizing him by the collar of his shirt. With merely a thought, he hauled him off the floor.
"Where am I?!" he growled. "Who are you?!"
Wait a minute. Hands?
Confusion sapped his anger, momentarily distracting him. He only had one hand. Didn't he...? So how was he holding the man up? A flicker of shadow danced in his peripherals, a blot of inky darkness standing out against the shimmering shroud that subsumed his skin. Then he saw it.
His arm.
Red eyes bulged wide.
"Oh, what the hell is this?!"
Initially, his first instinct was to tear the damn thing off altogether and be rid of it; he nearly did at that. Only some vague sense of reason stayed his hand.
His right arm should have been organic for the most part below the shoulder, but that was where flesh ended and metal began. Instead he found himself gawping at a metal limb, an amalgamation of strange steel and cold technology he didn't recognize. Sleek blackened metal polished with a flowing ruby red trim, it was a marvel of engineering. Really-he should've been grateful. He'd all but given up any feasible hope of having a functioning limb the moment he'd seen the ruined wreck of his arm, resigning himself to the grim reality that he'd just have to get by without it.
When he willed it, the fingers curled around the man's shirt, responding ably to his thoughts.
Well.
This would take some getting used to.
On a whim he tried channeling chakra to this new arm, to no avail. That avenue was lost to him. The metal stood apart from the rest of his cloak, cold and uncaring. Chakra flooded his left arm willingly enough, but it did little to soothe his ragged nerves. He found himself adrift again, simultaneously awed and horrified by his new limb-the sudden realization that he'd have to get by without weaving seals-as much as his new surroundings, no more than that, he had no earthly idea where he was, or even how he'd gotten here in the first place! It was all too much to take in at once, too overwhelming.
The man raised his hands in peace then, diverting his attention yet again.
"My name...is Ido. You're in my clinic, son." he soothed, speaking slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you."
After a moment's thought, the blond released him.
An angry finger jabbed into the man's chest. "Don't follow me."
"Wait-!"
Naruto most assuredly did not.
Slamming down the door without thought for its owner, the battered blond nearly found himself blinded by the light that issued forth. With a hiss he flung up an arm to shield his face and nearly ran headlong into a cart; it was only years of honed instinct that saved him. Vaulting over it he collided with a wall and sprang away, sparing no thought for whom he startled; he didn't even see them. He longed only to move; to flee, to run, to get as far away from this strange place as possible. He didn't care where his legs took him, only that it was far from here.
And when his legs finally failed him, when he could run no further, his view of the world was shaken further still.
Alighting upon the nearest roof he could find, Naruto finally took a moment to survey his surroundings.
Aghast, he could only balk at them.
The world that awaited him below was...not what he'd expected. Not at all. He'd thought to find himself underground, in some sort of subterranean base at the very least. Or in the village. Instead the afternoon sun shone freely down upon him, illuminating a world straight out of some eldritch fantasy. People from all walks of life, man and machine alike, others some strange unholy union between the two. Strange machines thundered past, large and small. Spirits, some of them didn't even look human.
And there, looming over them all...
...spirits, what was that thing? A city? In the sky? It was larger than anything he'd ever seen-and he'd seen a sky city before!-a giant discus that dominated both heaven and earth. Just the sight of it filled him with a faint sense of dread, though he couldn't hope to put a name to it. Only that the sight of this strange sky-city set him ill at ease. So too, did the city below. This wasn't home. This wasn't Konoha. Damnit. Panic ignited in his chest and he stubbornly fought it down, to no avail. He didn't know what to do. He could barely think, much less breathe.
Naruto laughed softly then; it was an empty, hollow sound.
...well." he croaked. "I don't think I'm in the Elemental Nations anymore."
If the rusty city below had any answers for him, it was loathe to let them slip away.
Cradling his head in his hands, he dropped to his haunches and waited for reason to come back to him.
Hours flitted by in the blink of an eye, the sky turning dark as the blazing disk of the sun slowly slunk away. Finally, he stood.
In the end, for lack of anything better to do, Uzumaki Naruto eventually wandered back to Ido's clinic. Not out of any real desire to return, but simply because he had nowhere to go. His body remembered the way even if his fractured mind did not. He had questions of course, and the doctor-surprisingly-was all too happy to answer them now that his patient had calmed. Conversation was struck up easily; almost effortlessly in spite of their earlier misunderstanding. A simple act of kindness, one that would throw the world off-kilter.
Neither realized the consequence of their actions.
Neither gave it any pause, any thought.
The next day, they found an angel.
A/N: Ta-da~!
Before anyone asks, yes, this is based on the MOVIE. Not the actual anime, though I may take some cues from it. This story's going to have lots of heart, humor, and action; every bit that the movie had and more.
Seriously, you really should go see it; I promise you won't be disappointed.
So lets clarify some things; Naruto has his chakra. He simply lost his arm-one Ido replaced with a mechanical limb-but he's still very much a threat. Perhaps a bit jaded and confused, but that aside, he's every bit the blond we all know and love.
Alita arrives next chapter, of course. It felt wrong to cram her in here. Fear not, I intend to do her justice, fierce little thing that she is! Small wonder the movie's doing so well; its just so damn easy to empathize with her. She's quite likable and watching her grow wand evolve throughout the story was an absolute treat.
Again, this story won't be terribly long. Five, maybe six chapters at most.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review Would You Kindly?
And enjoy the previews!
Potential ones at that.
(Previews)
"BURN THEM ALL!"
"Please tell me you're still here."
An irritate grunt greeted him. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
In that moment, Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the end he settled for the former.
"Good morning', sunshine~!"
She opened her eyes.
"Aw, what's a meatbag like you doing in a place like-
CRUNCH.
"You were saying?"
A low growl was the hunter's only warning.
Then he flew.
R&R~!