In This Godforsaken Land

disclaimer: i obviously don't own this series. if i did, why the hell would i be here?

warning: This fic is eventually going to contain shounen-ai/yaoi (boy-boy relationship). If you disapprove of this, DON'T READ. It's that simple. Flamers will be scoffed and laughed at for being illiterate.

This fic is set in an alternate world with advance technologies. So there will be no ninja, normal buildings, etc. However, there are some points that are shared with the manga and no original characters so no worries :D!

Prologue

It was another gray and rainy day. But the rain here doesn't seem to be the usual kind. They look like overly large pine needles and seem to glow while in the sky. When they hit one's skin, it stings. Strangely enough, this kind of rain only appear around this area. This soundless prison.

Naruto glanced out of his cell window. Oh, how he would love to walk in that rain and forget. But reality is cruel as always and things of his kind are kept here, away from human populace.

Are we not human? No. . .we were once human. . .

Naruto smiled at that thought. Strange, smiling at nothing in particular. "Oi, Gaara!" In the cell right of Naruto lay a teenage boy with mahogany hair and dark-rimmed turquiose eyes. He had a kanji that read "ai" tattoed to the side of his forehead too. When Naruto first saw him, he laughed at the boy for being eyebrow-less, but thought it cool of Gaara to have that tattoo.

Gaara glanced at Naruto through the semi-transparent wall. The whole area within that part of the prison consists of semi-transparent walls with a greenish glow to them. Each of these walls separated adjacent cells from each other. Perhaps the makers of the prison felt pity for those bad enough to land in there, thus making the walls transparent enough for others to see through. The cells were clean, albeit a bit too clean for Naruto's liking. It gave him a creepy feeling like he's in some horror movie awaiting his own death. He glanced at Gaara who stared right back at him.

"Have you heard the news? Some of us are gonna be sent to a new facility where people would 'check' on us to make sure we have nothing wrong and then release us. It's crazy don't ya think? Labeling us as insane is a bit too far for them! Most of us here are as normal as any other person!"

During this whole rant, Gaara just calmly stared at Naruto.

He's always so cheerful. . . even during the war.

"Do you want to go?" Gaara asked suddenly, cutting Naruto off. Naruto grinned that foxy look of his.

"Nah, what's the point? I'd rather stay here with you anyways. At least life wouldn't be too boring with ya!" A small smile fought to surface upon Gaara's face, but instead he settled with a small smirk.

"Go back to sleep Naruto, there's nothing to do now anyways." Gaara turned his back to the wall upon finishing the sentence.

"But I'm not tired and it's not even late!"

"Just go back to sleep." There was no room for argument, plus Naruto would probably kill himself due to boredom if he stay up anyways. So Naruto flopped himself onto his bed, pouting.

I hope that they will serve ramen tomorrow. . .hmmm, tasty ramen.

Those were Naruto's last thought before he drifted off to dreamland.

There were screams. Pleas and cries for mercy as soldiers entered into civilian homes. And he, a "street rat," or so those people said, felt a strong sympathy for them. He was a street rat; he had no home, no family, nothing. Yet while on the streets, he found many other unfortunate ones just like him. They all formed a group, a surrogate family of sorts for each other. He took the responsibilities onto his own shoulders to see to that everyone within the group have food in their stomachs everyday. He also made sure that they were at least decently clothed for the upcoming cold weather. He would steal, lie, bite, or fight. Anything to get the job done and see to that everyone is alright. Those people were never nice to them anyways. Some were, but they were never around for long.

But. . . he still felt sympathy for these people that had scowled and spat at him.

Now, being a street rat is never a good thing, but in times like these, the lack of any relations and home IS a good thing. You can run and hide much faster compared to those that had a nice home and a family. Tough enough to look after yourself, mobile enough to escape death. Ah, what a benefit to have in times of war. But then, it's not like that anymore. The city's been under seige for some time, and he just HAD to be soft and rescue some orphans whose parents got killed while defending their home. Now, they had a large group --- 'round 8, including Naruto.

"Psst, Naruto-nichan!" A ball of spiky black hair scurried to his side. Naruto smiled to himself. Ah, another ball of energy just like him. Konohamaru was one of the few he found while on the streets. He turned and headed back, looking around the dark, dank, and dilapidated place that suited them as a temporary shelter. Out of all the people, Konohamaru, Haku, and Shikamaru were the ones he met while on the streets. The other were rescued orphans by Naruto. One of them was a shy and quiet girl named Hinata who always stuttered when Naruto talked to her. Another one is Inari, a little boy who acted like a brat at first, but somehow developed a nicer side. He fights with Konohamaru a lot, but they both seem to idolicize Naruto. The sixth is Shino, although it is more like an encounter than rescue. Shino met them and just followed since. Next up is the doggie lover, Kiba. He and his dog were actually fighting with a soldier when Naruto saw them. Naruto had to throw the smoke bombs he found to get Kiba and his dog away from the danger.

"Shikamaru, how are we on the rations?" Naruto asked with a grave look.

"We should be able to get through the week, although we are running out. . ." replied Shikamaru, looking rather annoyed.

"Shit. . .we gotta go find more now but food is one of the hardest to find!" Naruto couldn't help but begin pacing back and forth, worry etched into his features.

"I can take Akamaru with me and search for safe zones that we can go into and maybe search for some food" Kiba cut in, looking hopeful.

". . .Haku, Hinata, what do you guys think?"

Both Haku and Hinata were about to answer when a voice came out of nowhere.

Naruto!

. . .Naruto!

NARUTO!


Naruto suddenly jumped out of his bed, landing ungracefully onto the cold floor. He looked up irritably only to see Kakashi, one of the warden, there with an amused look.

"What's your problem? If you got something, spit it out and go away!"

Kakashi, still holding that amused look, replied calmly. "Uzumaki Naruto, ID 00795211, you are now free of this place."

"What? You mean, I can just walk out here right now and be on my own?"

"Not quite, but you are leaving here."

". . .I am leaving here, but I am not free."

"Exactly." And with that, Kakashi unlocked the cell with what looked like a grin underneath his black partial face mask. Naruto could only glance quizzically at Gaara, only to find him staring back with a face devoid of any emotion.

"Off you go Naruto."

AN:

Ah, so here's the prologue of the fic I've had in my head for such a long time. The setting for it is a bit sci-fi, imagine it sort of like the Xenosaga setting for those of you who've played it. Advance technologies and all that comes with it. It may seem confusing now, but this is only the prologue. All I can say is that Naruto was an orphan when he was young but was grabbed away along with many others to be. . .trained. I'm intending this story to be somewhat sad though. Rest assured that future chapters will be longer.