A/N: Hi! I finally found the time to upload. My schedule is stuffed, so expect an update in like 3 weeks... or more... I know I promised an update every Wednesday a long time ago, but… yeah… time management issues.
So, just to get things straight. The war never happened. ITACHI LIVES… at the cost of Sasuke's life. Sorry Sasuke fans… Not NaruIta. I hate yaoi. Naruto and everyone else is somewhere around 21 years-old. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: The following is not a fan-based parody of a fan-based parody. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. Please support the official release.
The disclaimer above is from Ninjabridge's Naruto Abridged Series. Yes, I watched it. Yes, episode 3 was very disturbing.
PROLOUGE
I can hardly breathe. My lungs persevere to inhale the air - air that is contaminated with the nauseating stench of blood... my blood. I tried to breathe even with the abundance of the crimson liquid lurking in the back of my throat. But, there was always one thing that almost kept me from taking the tiniest of breaths... pain. All I could feel was pain. As I struggle to breathe, a shudder of pain racks my body. I could feel something trickling down my forehead. Sweat? No. I haven't drank enough to sweat. It must be blood. I've already lost a lot of blood. I can feel myself slowly slipping away. Yet, I can still feel him holding me gently, like he always does. Blood keeps falling to the ground, forming crimson raindrops. The clearest thing I can hear is the sound of my blood dripping towards the ground. Still, I can hear the vague sound of an argument going on behind me, but all I could hear are muffled yells. Even when that's the case, I knew what they were arguing about…
me…
"What the hell did you do?"
"She got caught in an explosion! We done nothing to her!"
"You promised you wouldn't let her get hurt!"
I feel completely stupid. While they bicker about whose fault it was for my injuries, I know that I'm the one who really is to blame. If I hadn't hurtled towards the enemy so recklessly, this wouldn't have happened.
Unexpectedly , I could feel a nauseating pain in my chest. I started coughing up blood on his clothes. The orange fabric beneath me transformed into a dark red mess. I can hear him calling my name, shaking me and beseeching me to promise that I wouldn't leave him. However, it was a promise I couldn't keep.
"Hinata! Hinata! Dammit... look at me! You're gonna be alright, okay? Don't leave me, please..."
I slowly lift my head to see small teardrops glistening in his bright, blue eyes. My mouth moves, but no words come out. After choking on my own blood for a few minutes, I can finally manage a small whisper.
"...I'm... s-so... sorry... Na- Naruto... kun..."
As I closed my eyes, I can feel his tears descending down to my cheeks. But, I can sense something else as my world slowly goes black. I can sense something inside him that was unusually out of place. The warmth in his heart is no longer there. Instead, it is replaced by dark thoughts. Thoughts of revenge, hate and anger. Thoughts only the unforgiving could feel. He's not the same. He's not the same man I used to love. The same man who I would always long to come home to. No. This man had turned to an avenger. The real him is locked away inside of him, somewhere. But, now that I'm on the brink of death, all I can do now is hope that he'll change, sooner or later.
Unless, even in the state of a ghost, there's something I can do to bring him back.
CHAPTER 1: The Offer
"Konoha, long time, no see."
A cloaked figure was perched in a neighbouring tree, close enough to contemplate what lies behind Konoha's gates. From where he stood, he could see the Hokage Monument. The most respected landmark in Konoha. He mostly paid attention to the only female face sculpted into the monument's rock.
"She's still here," he noted to himself, "Interesting..."
He wore a black hooded coat with red clouds littered all over the black fabric. The man's hood overshadowed his face, hindering anyone to take even a glimpse of it. In his hand was a scroll. It held intel that was gathered by Hoshigaki Kisame, the shark-man of Akatsuki, who impersonated a merchant from Kirigakure.
Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu – Konoha's Gate Guards: Easily fooled by Henge no Jutsu...
He laughed at how stupid Konoha's most trusted security are. He had dominated the world's most feared criminal organization. He had overthrown four of the five Kage and had transmuted their villages into nothing but rubble and had put their people in a state of despair and misery. How could he call such a foolish place - the home of the weakest of the weak - his hometown?
'Tsunade must have been drunk. Trusting these two as gate guards,' he laughed.
After this thought, he started thinking about one particular girl dying before his eyes. She had midnight blue hair and pale lavender eyes. And, she had executed this surreal look perfectly. She was his world, the one person who stole his heart. He never wanted her to get hurt. Yet, he had entrusted her to her teammate and got her caught in an explosion.
'I must have been drunk as well…'
"Leader-sama," a voice said. "Remember why we are here. We should transform."
The other man, Uchiha Itachi, appeared above him on a higher branch. He wore the same cloak, except his didn't have a hood. Itachi possessed the great Mangyekou Sharingan, which he used to end the life of his little brother, Uchiha Sasuke.
"No," the hooded man replied, "These two 'gate guards' are weak. And I want them to know we're here."
"No. We must not underestimate them," Itachi suggested, "We are facing Konoha. Home of some the strongest ninja."
"Fine, then," the hooded man said, blankly, "I'll prove it to you." After saying this, he jumped off the branch and sauntered towards the gate.
Itachi nodded and jumped off the tree after him. They approached the large gates of Konoha, only to be stopped by Izumo and Kotetsu, who had been informed of how the Akatsuki had wiped out four of the five great villages. And, there was something eerie about the fact that they were saving Konoha for last.
"If you think we're gonna let you in so that you can blow up our village, then you're wrong!" Kotetsu announced.
"No, you're wrong," the hooded member threatened them, walking towards the two, "You're going to let us in and we will let you live. Hesitate and you can say 'hello' to the four Kage I killed."
The two guards didn't move, however, you could tell they were frightened. Anyone in their shoes would be as frightened as they were, too. The man made the shape of a one-handed seal.* The two men began to feel their limbs move on their own. Their arms jerked backwards in an unnatural position. Their legs cracked so that their ankles were touching their dislocated shoulders. They wailed in pain as they continued to endure the discomforting torture.
"Let us through..." he spoke. Izumo and Kotetsu began to feel pressure on their necks. "... or else."
"N- never..." Izumo spat.
The hooded man let one 'hn' slip from his lips. A trademark saying of Itachi's deceased brother. When the man blinked, the two guards' necks turned 360 degrees, killing them.
The two criminals walked over the dislocated bodies of the two men and proceeded towards the Hokage Tower.
"I told you they were weak, Itachi."
"Tsunade-sama!"
A loud bang of the door followed by a horrendous screech echoed throughout the small office. Standing in front of the wooden desk was a young woman with pink hair that reached her shoulders. She wore a dark red headband and had parted her hair to the left with two red clips. She wore a red dress with white trimmings and a thick belt around her waist.
Sitting in front of a desk, was a woman at the age of 55, yet, maintains the appearance of a woman in her twenties. She has blonde hair which was tied into two loose pigtails. The woman wore a grass green haori that had the kanji: kake** on the back. Underneath, she wears a grey sleeveless kimono-style blouse which is held closed by an obi that matches her pants. This woman was known as Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage.
"What is it, Sakura?" the Hokage asked.
"The Akatsuki are here!" the younger woman blurted.
If Tsunade had been drinking coffee or sake or anything she prefers, she would have spat it out. The Hokage had heard about how the Akatsuki had taken out Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Iwagakure. And, Konohagakure was next.
"Call all of the shinobi and take the villagers out of here! This is an emergency!" Tsunade commanded. "Leave now!"
"Hai!" the kunoichi exclaimed. But, before she could leave, she was immediately stopped by two men in black cloaks with red clouds.
Sakura stumbled back a few steps before going into a fighting stance.
"No. We're not here to fight," the Uchiha stated, "We're here to make an offer."
The young medic-nin rose slowly from her stance as she asked them, "What offer? And, who are you?"
The man chuckled before saying in a playful voice, "Did Sakura-chan forget about me?" His voice... it was a voice that was similar to the voice he used five years ago.
The two kunoichi wore an expression of shock on their faces.
"N- Na- Naruto... ?" the Hokage asked.
'That stutter...'
Soon after, Naruto pulled down his hood, revealing that he was smirking at them. Shock turned to anger when a younger voice started to chime in.
"Why are you doing this, baka?" she screamed. "What happened to you? Are you crazy? Kiba didn't mean to get Hinata killed, okay? This isn't..."
Naruto used the same seal* that he used on Izumo and Kotetsu. Sakura's right arm jerked backwards, dislocating her shoulder.
"Now, if you want answers, you'll be quiet or I'll dislocate your other shoulder!" he scolded. "Hinata's death wasn't the only reason why I left. I left because of the ultimate disrespect I earned from the villagers. I left because I wanted power. And, I left because I can't stand you."
The pain in her shoulders was nothing compared to the overwhelming hurt that she felt after he said that. He had stopped chasing her around, hungry for love. Instead, he went to Hinata and formed a relationship. Ever since then, she realized she wanted more of Naruto's attention and tried to take it by force. Sakura could feel tears threatening to fall.
"I've put up with this village long enough! For all my life, the villagers had disrespected me, hated me and tried to kill me! And, when all I wanted was for you to recognize me, you just hurt me, called me names or just ignored me. It hurt!" Sakura's left arm twisted and jerked backwards and then upwards, effectively causing a large amount of physical pain. "And, this village tried to keep me from power. That was why I was weak. If I had power, I would have controlled Kyuubi's chakra. If I had power, I wouldn't have failed the Sasuke Retrieval mission. I would have beaten him to a bloody pulp and carried his half-dead body back to Konoha!"
"Enough!" Tsunade yelled. "What's the offer?"
Naruto smirked. "You will have yourself publicly executed tomorrow or you can watch as Konohagakure is reduced to nothing but ash and dust. Either way, you still die." As he left, Sakura's arms were released. She fell to the ground, trembling in pain. "Think about it. It could save your village."
A/N: So how was it? Was it good? Bad? Tell me! Say anything you want. I can take it. I won't update until I get about 3-5 reviews. It's not much...
*If anyone can tell me the name of this seal, I'll give you a cookie. It's the seal Neiji and Hinata use to activate their Byakugan. The one handed one that's half of the Tiger Seal. Answer while the cookie is still hot!
**Kake means gamble for anyone wondering. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just gonna put another cookie in the microwave.
R&R!