Valley of the Damned
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Alternative Universe" – The Uchiha were never slaughtered. They started a civil war during the invasion of Sand/Cloud during Naruto's Chunnin Exams. Mostly cannon up until after Naruto's training trip. Story starts two years after his three yearlong training trip.
"Saucy Summary" – The Uchiha were never one to back down. Their power is vast, steadily growing, and unable to be quelled by diplomacy. There was only one true answer to their situation: War. Welcome to the Valley of the Damned.
Chapter 1
Not Giving In
On the floor laid a young man. His dark silk-like strands of hair laid out about the wooden floor. Blood pooled out underneath him and soaked into all it came into contact with. Nearby a blond headed young man kneeled down on a large pillow facing towards the bleeding dark haired youth. The blond wiped the blood off a short blade and set the blade down in front of him.
The dark haired youth coughed up blood and muttered weakly. For some his muttering would be too low for hearing, but not for the blond headed youth. "Yes. Neither did I, but death suites traitors," The blond headed youth spoke a loud before shutting his eyes. "I will remain here with you, my friend. I will never abandon you," he told the dark haired youth, who coughed up more blood and fought off a spasm.
-[==]-
Naruto kneeled still on his meditation pillow. His thoughts were swirling around in an uncontrollable mess. He focused deeper on chakra control exercises to promote the emotional chakra inside of him to flow smoothly but a smooth stream seemed impossible for him. His chakra clumped up in anger and he would have to disrupt the clump manually to avoid blowing up in frustration. In front of him was a dried puddle of blood that was caked into the wood. Naruto's eyes laid on it with a fierce glare as his thoughts continued to flare violently.
Five years ago the greatest hidden village in the world descended into civil war. The Hidden Leaf Village, contracted by the Fire Country for their defense and offense, split down the middle when several clans defected with the help of outsiders. The cut was uneven, as it always was, but each side fought with lethal force. Naruto could remember when it wasn't always so and at first one side refused to use lethal force. It wasn't until people started dying unnecessarily that they both started using lethal force.
At first there were two distinct factions. The rebels, composed of the Uchiha, Aburame, Kurama, Shimura, and the Inuzuka, and the resistance, composed of the Hyuuga, Nara, Yanamaka, and the Akimichi. At this point the Sarutobi clan was down to only two surviving members, so they could not be counted as a major clan in either side of the war. The same could be said about the Yuri, Hatake, Uzumaki, and Senju clans.
The once famed Konohagakure became a battlefield overnight. Many died within the next week as Danzo's hidden forces began to come out in force. Many of the village's ANBU died protecting the Third Hokage and many more defected to the rebels. The village descended into chaos for the next six months as each side gathered outside allies.
Naruto shut his eyes and took a deep breath. The rippling breath calmed him considerably as he tried to reign in his thoughts. The dark haired youth was none other than Neji, one of his sworn allies and friends. Naruto shook his head in anger before standing up from the cushion and walking out of the room. The door led to a beautiful budding garden, and the house was nestled in a clearing in the vast forests surrounding the Leaf Village.
The house wasn't very large. It was composed of four rooms. Two bedrooms, one kitchen and storeroom, and one dojo dedicated to studying and meditation. This was Naruto's home. Naruto walked down the house's L shaped structure and paced the hallway nervously.
At first Naruto was a part of the resistance. The civil war split his team in half. Sasuke and Sakura defected the village and joined the rebels. Naruto touched the scar on his face as he remembered the day that his two ex-teammates defected. Sasuke had tried to kill him with Sakura hesitating in the background. Naruto barely escaped the Kunai that was meant to impale his brain through his eyes by turning and falling to the ground. His sensei, Kakashi Hatake, was nowhere in sight, no doubt dealing with his own battles against friends.
Naruto was jousted out of his thoughts as one of his clones collided into him and dispelled. Naruto ran to his guest bedroom and slammed the sliding door wide open. There, on the sleeping mat in front of him, laid Neji struggling with breath. Naruto's breath hitched as he realized that Neji was indeed still alive. Last night his friend failed to kill him, but Naruto did not fail in killing him. Neji's eyes were now useless and the seal on his forehead was gone. After Neji died last night Naruto revived him and nursed him back into the living world.
Naruto used several clones to send for his sensei and Tsunade Senju, but he knew that they wouldn't be to his home any time soon. Naruto lived out in the middle of nowhere and very few knew where he lived. Even his master sometimes lost his way out to Naruto's home.
Naruto knelt down beside his friend and took his hand. "How are you feeling?" Naruto asked while his face descended into sadness.
Neji took a deeper breath than normal and wheezed sickly, "W-hy a-m I still." He coughed violently before he started wheezing heavily again. Naruto squeezed his hand to which he squeezed back weakly.
"Alive? I told you. Even though you may betray me, I will never betray you. I will stay by your side until the end," Naruto spoke with fervor and used his other hand to dip a cloth into water and set it on Neji's head.
Neji smiled as he wheezed more, and then coughed out, "Idiot." Naruto created two more clones and they ran off to complete important tasks. Namely, scout for his masters, and to retrieve more herbs for Neji.
-[===]-
Deep within the Hidden Leaf Village a darkly clad man dropped down from the rooftops and into a window of a mansion. This was the Hokage's mansion where each Hokage came to live during and after their time in office. It was protected constantly by the Hokage's guards and no one was allowed in or out, unless someone knew their way around the guards. It was dark out and the time of day was a little past midnight. The Hokage, Tsunade Senju, was dozing peacefully in her study.
Naruto ran silently down the hallways and used a mid-level genjutsu to conceal his shadow and body. Naruto found Tsunade and opened the door slightly. This prompted four of her guards to surround Tsunade in a defensive perimeter and for Tsunade herself to wake up from her light slumber. "Who is there?" Tsunade asked tiredly. Naruto opened the door completely and unclothed his hood. "Oh, Naruto, What brings you to me at such a late hour?" she asked as a yawn escaped her.
"I need to ask you a favor," Naruto said as he walked towards her slowly. Her guards tensed as he approached. Naruto took notice of this, stopped approaching, and sat down cross legged in front of her guards and Tsunade.
"Ah. I see. What might this favor be?" Tsunade asked curiously. Tsunade was one of the leaders of the resistance. Her influence was deep and wide. She controlled almost half the village with the help of the other leaders of the resistance. She took a minute to lift her chilled tea and took a drink of it tiredly.
"I need you to heal a friend," Naruto said without smiling or frowning. His poker face was one that didn't give away any emotion other than eagerness to talk, or fight if it comes down to that.
"Who might your friend be?" Tsunade asked. "If they are a part of the rebellion then I cannot. It would go against the rules," she added on with a smirk. Naruto frowned at this. His poker face was gone. "Yes. We know you have friends in the rebels. It is no secret that you get around quite a bit," she answered his unasked question.
"His name is Neji Hyuuga," Naruto told her, to which she interrupted abruptly.
"Neji! What happened to him? Last I heard he was on a scouting mission!" Tsunade burst out as she set her tea cup down. It wouldn't do to spray tea everywhere.
"He was sent out to assassinate me," Naruto explained as he looked at her angrily. Tsunade frowned at him before sighing and rubbing her temples. At her silence, Naruto continued, "I stabbed him in his liver as he tried to attack me. He's alive but he's lost a lot of blood and his body is poisoning itself." Tsunade frowned further.
"I didn't order this," Tsunade told him.
"I know. I have my suspicions on who did," Naruto replied as guards surrounded him.
"I do as well, however, I cannot help him. I am bound here and you are not allowed within the walls of Kohona. I highly doubt you are even the original Naruto," Tsunade replied before she took another sip of tea. "Naruto. You are a missing ninja. You abandoned us when we needed you. What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked.
Naruto scoffed at her before grinning. "Your guess is right. I am a clone. If you will not help then I'll take my leave. As for your question, even though you may abandon me, I will not abandon you. If you need me then all you have to do is call, but it had better be for a good reason," Naruto replied before the clone popped out of existence. Tsunade sighed and stood up.
"That idiot."
-[===]-
Another clone not far away resumed the search for help. Tsunade was not the only healer in the village. In fact the top three were Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura. A year after the rebellion first started Sakura defected the rebels to join the resistance, where she gained an apprenticeship with Tsunade in learning the healing arts. Even though Sakura returned to the Leaf Village Naruto could never trust her again. She was one of the major reasons why he left the village to begin with, but that is a story for another time.
The clone traveled the village silently and undetected. Shizune was the only remaining healer he trusted enough to help him. He found her in her cottage located in the Nara's land. He silently dropped down in front of her door and knocked politely. Naruto respected Shizune and even looked up to her as a potential mate. She was strong, smart, sexy, and knew how to win hearts without violence if her time spent traveling the country side with Tsunade was any indicator.
The door opened to find Shizune donning a towel around her midriff and a towel wrapped around her head. The Nara land was a dense forest that barely saw any visitors unless they were invading. If they were invaders then they wouldn't bother knocking beforehand. "Naruto?" Shizune asked in confusion and her body tensed. "What brings you here to me?" she asked as she held the towel wrapped around her body tighter.
"I need your help," Naruto said as he removed his hood. Shizune sighed before she stepped to the side to let him in.
"You know that everyone in the resistance is on order to capture you if seen, right?" She asked as he walked into the door. Naruto laughed at her as he stood inside the threshold.
"You wouldn't capture me, would you?" Naruto looked at her with a frown and pouted at her. She scoffed at him and slapped his shoulder lightly.
"I don't think I can to be honest with you. You are to strong and smart for me to keep up with," she told him before she walked to her bedroom. "Give me a minute to get dressed," she told him and shut the door. Naruto wandered around the cottage as she dressed herself and looked at the plain looking décor. There was a picture of herself, Tsunade, and Tonton, her little pet pig. Naruto smiled at the photo. It was from her traveling days. Next there was a photo of herself, Tsunade, Jiraiya, himself, and Tonton. It came from the three years that Naruto travelled abroad with Jiraiya, his master, and the other people in the picture. Of course they only traveled together for a few months until Tsunade finally decided to return to the Leaf Village and take up the mantle of Hokage from the Third Hokage. Jiraiya and Naruto continued on their adventures and training.
Shizune entered the room as Naruto reminisced on simpler times. "So what is it you needed?" Shizune asked which turned Naruto's attention from his thoughts.
"I need you to heal someone for me. His liver is damaged and he's on death's door," Naruto explained to which Shizune nodded.
"I see, and where is he at? Also, who is he?" Shizune asked.
"Neji Hyuuga. He is at my home, well, soon to be abandoned home," Naruto told her. The name seemed to ring a bell in Shizune's mind because her eyes lit up in recognition.
"What is he doing there!? I signed off on a scouting mission last night for him!" Shizune hissed before she ran around the cottage gathering things. Naruto watched her for a few seconds before she stopped in the middle of the room and glared at him. "Do continue!"
"He tried to assassinate me," Naruto told her. She tripped from the trot she was in and landed on the floor hard. Naruto watched her get up as she looked up at him shocked.
"But he was your sworn companion for the war!" Shizune yelled as stuffed her gathered ingredients into a backpack.
"Yes, I know," Naruto frowned and looked away from her. A year after the civil war started the resistance was losing their shinobi at rapid numbers. A war on their home turf fought against their friends, or previous friends, made it almost impossible for resistance shinobi to defend their selves as they slept. In order counter this every shinobi was assigned a partner who watched the other partner as they slept. Once implemented the number of deaths dropped dramatically and the civil war turned into a cold war with great massacres.
"Who is your companion?" Naruto asked curiously. Shizune looked at him before smirking.
"Oh, I don't have one. I was always with Tsunade up until a year ago," Shizune told him. Naruto shook his head and sighed.
"If you come with me then you will be considered a missing ninja," Naruto told her. Shizune faltered. She wasn't thinking along those lines. She was thinking that an ally was hurt and he needed healing, which was the truth, but the politics of the situation made it harder. It was indeed a rule that if you left the village unannounced and without permission then you would become a missing ninja and would be hunted down and killed.
"Does Tsunade know?" Shizune asked.
"She knows that Neji is injured, yes, she does not know that I am asking for your help," Naruto replied.
"I will go ask for her permission to leave immediately," Shizune asked as she slid her backpack on and ran out the door. She ran back a few seconds later, "Stay here!" She ran off again at once.
-[===]-
Shizune plodded into Tsunade's study where she was lightly dozing again. The guard, who knew Shizune well, didn't react to her presence. "Master!" Shizune cried out as she kneeled down in front of Tsunade.
Tsunade stirred from her slumber with a yawn and looked at the fully packed Shizune. "What is it Shizune? Why are you packed?" Tsunade asked in confusion. Shizune wasn't one to leave the village. In fact, Tsunade couldn't remember the last time Shizune left the village since they returned four and a half years ago.
"I am requesting permission to leave with Naruto to heal Neji!" Shizune asked her, but to Tsunade it sounded more like a demand. Tsunade frowned. She wanted to help Neji but Neji was now in the care of Naruto, who was a missing Ninja now. Any talk of working with Naruto would cause the resistance to go into an uproar. Naruto hadn't been a part of the village for almost an entire year now.
Naruto was out traveling with his master for the first three years of the civil war. Upon returning, Naruto was assigned to be Neji's sworn companion, and Neji to Naruto. Everything went swell up until the massacre of the civilians. In this massacre the civilian clans who supported the resistance were killed by the rebels, and in retaliation the resistance led an attack on the civilian clans who supported the rebels in order to even out the odds. This tore Naruto up to see his people and friends dying for petty reasons.
Naruto left after the massacre and wanted nothing to do with the resistance or the rebellion. He took himself out of the solution when the resistance leaders, at the massacre of the civilians, asked Naruto to kill the rebels using the Kyuubi. Naruto refused. Naruto disappeared shortly after and went as far as Iwa fighting off ninja who were trailing him. After the Hunter Ninja who pursued him lost him in Iwa, his trail went cold until now.
"Permission granted," Tsunade replied before adding onto her mission, "I want you to spy on Naruto and to send regular updates on his doings and connections. Do not leave his side. I can trust you with this, can I?"
"Yes Master," Shizune bowed before standing up. "Anything else?"
"No. Be quick. I would hate to see Neji die of blood poisoning," Tsunade replied.
-[===]-
Naruto smiled from Neji's side. Another one of his clones just dispelled and told him that Shizune was on the way to heal his friend. Neji, on the other hand, was not doing well. He was struggling to breath and had a bad fever. Naruto had clones out searching the forest for herbs that will help his symptoms but progress was slow. Neji faced towards Naruto and coughed.
"Why did you leave the village?" Neji asked curiously. One minute they were together, and then Naruto was called to the council meeting. Then he was just gone.
"I left because they asked me to commit genocide," Naruto told him as he replaced the clammy cloth on his forehead. Neji grunted and grabbed Naruto's wrist.
"What? Genocide?" Neji replied as he held Naruto's wrist.
"They wanted me to kill the Uchiha, Inuzuka, and Aburame clan in its entirety," Naruto explained as he used the other hand to lift a bowl of water to Neji's hands. "Sit up. You need to drink," Naruto told him, to which Neji responded by struggling to sit up a bit. He fell back down through the effort and Naruto sighed. "Don't move," Naruto said as he held the bowl up to his lips and tilted it a bit.
Neji took eager sips from the bowl and coughed up whatever didn't go down right. "There is no way they would ask something that impossible of you!" Neji replied slowly. Naruto laughed and shook his head.
"They did. They wanted me to pull the Kyuubi out of the seal and to smite their enemies," Naruto smiled wickedly at the memory. "I left after rejecting them. I refuse to kill our previous allies. They are not beyond saving," Naruto continued before settling down cross-legged beside Neji.
Neji yawned in exhaustion and coughed more. He felt horrible, and what's worse was that he was blind. Neji Hyuuga died, and upon death his Caged Bird Seal destroyed his eyes, but Neji still lived. "I don't know why you are keeping me alive. I am useless," Neji spoke his mind as he leaned his head towards the sound of Naruto's breathing.
Naruto frowned at his words and spoke aloud, "You? No. You are never useless. Don't think that way!"
"I am blind! I am dying! I am a fool!" Neji yelled out before he descended into a coughing fit. Naruto let him calm down before replying.
"You are no fool. I apologize that you are blind, and that you are dying, but those are problems that I am to fix," Naruto told him and laid his hand on his shoulder. After a few seconds Neji's hand rose and gripped Naruto's hand.
"You are the bigger fool. Healing your assassin? Hah," Neji told him as he fought off the coughs.
"You did not choose to be my assassin. You had no choice but to attempt to kill me. It was either this, or death," Naruto said as he pulled his hand away. "I'm not angry at you, Neji. No. I am angry at your Uncle. Hiashi," Naruto told him and stood up.
"I will be back. Shizune is coming from the Village to help heal you back to health. Please do not go anywhere," Naruto said before walking out of the room.
"Hah, not like I could go anywhere anyways," Neji coughed out violently before turning his head the opposite direction Naruto last spoke. "I am blind, you idiot."
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