A/N: Wow, it's been a long time since I tried my hand at writing. Not impressed with how this turned out, but satisfied in a weird sense, so I guess I'm doing something right. Please read and review, because I really need some criticism at this point! Enjoy~!
Chapter 1: The Beginning
It was Wave, as these stories always are. Stories of glamor and glory, of pride and freedom, of happiness and joy. Stories of the oppressed being oppressed no longer, of celebrating a symbol of courage and freedom and being the absolute representation of Truth that one country can rely on. This is the story of a flame that burned brightly, but silently. independently, and, above all, with strength and compassion. This is the tale of Uzumaki Naruto as it could have been. This is the tale of the origin of the Mute Swarm of Konoha.
The tale begins with the death of Haku, the opposition. This tale begins with the blooding of Naruto's own hands, as he kills a friend with them. Once upon a time, Naruto wouldn't have been able to silence Haku's blue flames of life in time for the androgynous shinobi to react to his master's near death. This was not that time.
"Haku...I truly regret this. I shall treasure the memories we shared together forever." Down went the knife, clean and glinting in the suppressed sun; down went the eyes of Haku, fake hunter-nin and tool to the missing nin Zabuza, perpetually and without issue. The sound of birds chirping alerted the blond's attention, as he watched the immobile Zabuza be impaled by his teacher, Kakashi's, blue-encased hand. The death of Zabuza cleared his chakra-fueled mist faster than a gust of wind would have, and revealed a large force of men of various sizes wielding various weapons and looking, in a general, impartial sense, not very friendly.
Kakashi grimaced; Naruto stared, shocked; Sakura rushed to the inert body of Sasuke with a shriek; and Sasuke woke up.
'Just in time, huh? Gato's got a beautiful sense of timing,' thought Kakashi dryly. He covered his Sharingan eye and called to the only battle-ready member of his team left.
"Naruto. Make ten shadow clones and get ready for the fight of your life," Kakashi barked. His student stared at him, but complied.
Suddenly, a harsh, high-pitched laugh echoed from the other end of the bridge. "Ohohoho? What's this? Zabuza and his little pet were finished? Ah, what a shame. I was hoping Zabuza would have at least have taken out one of you! Oh well. This is of no matter to me."
Naruto and Kakashi braced themselves for combat; the mercenaries opposite them mirrored the action.
Gato stepped back. "Remember men, whoever gets the last kill gets the most cash! If you die, don't expect me to pay you!" With a flourish, he turned his back and began to walk away.
Kakashi palmed a kunai and it soared. There was a wet sound unique to metal piercing grey matter, and the fighting began.
Tearing, twisting, slashing, blocking, throwing. 'Sword! Aim for the knuckles, slit the throat. Axe, maneuver around and slit the throat. Bow, aim and fire.' Ten Naruto clones and one Naruto original gave themselves over to instinct as the enemies closed in, killing and disabling without regard to self nor enemy.
Weary enemies make more mistakes than angry ones. The mercenaries were angry at the loss of pay, yes, but Kakashi was three minutes away from chakra exhaustion and Naruto was just tired from a day of fighting. The mercenaries were unskilled by comparison, dying by the tens between the twelve ninja, but there came a point where luck and cunning came into play.
As the numbers diminished, one mercenary decided to play dead. As the numbers disappeared, and he was the only living one left, and Naruto dispelled his clones and Kakashi collapsed from exhaustion, and the villagers arrived to a bridge full of corpses, one rose. With the slash of a sword, Naruto's neck was slit. No reaction time was given for the downed ninja, but as the mercenary stared in shock; 'I just killed a ninja!', and the villagers stared in shock; 'He just killed a ninja!', a lone crossbow bolt and a cry of anger and despair rent the silence and killed the mercenary.
The villagers changed the focus of their stare to the wielder of said crossbow bolt; the son of the hero Kaiza, Inari.
The villagers burst into action then. The only doctor in Wave began running to try to aid Naruto; the villagers themselves began running to go mourn him; Inari ran to the bushes to vomit as the reality of his actions hit him; and, unnoticed amongst all the hustle and bustle of panic and despair, sat the other two members of Team 7.
Sakura sat, motionless. Sasuke sat, also motionless, but with a distinct spiral design in his eyes. Both sat, thinking of their limited use in this situation and bemoaning their uselessness.
Both sat, mourning the loss of a friend.
And, unbeknownst to all, red shifted, and in the darkness, it grinned.