Story: Make It Count
Summary: One second – that was all it took. One second to destroy all he'd accomplished. One second to lose his senses. A single moment to be accused of attempted assassination on his former teammates.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the plot, or any of its characters.
Claimer: I do own this story and its content.
Key:
- Regular narration
- "Regular dialogue"
- "Flashback dialogue"
[ Prologue ]
After a second had ticked through his life, the rest seemed to follow in quick stride.
He sat in his empty shell, watching everything flash before him. He knew what would come from all this; he was the cause of all this chaos, after all.
He knew what the newly appointed Hokage would do with him before the news even reached Danzo. With no surprise, he found himself now locked away in one of the Fire Country's secure prison cells, located below the grounds of central Konoha. Sometimes, in what he assumed was in the midst of midday, he thought he could hear the local villagers above his head, whether it was their soft footsteps or their traditional loud voices. Or maybe he was just hearing things again…?
His body hacked out a raspy cough, panting from its aftereffects. He had hoped they would rid him of his misery within that morning he was discovered by patrolling ANBU, but nothing seems to go smoothly for him nowadays. Karma could be taking a part in his misery as well, he thought. Simply being killed for his actions wouldn't be enough suffering for him. Not after all the suffering he caused.
His fists clenched behind his back, his wrists growing red from the rope burn of his tightly-bound hands. His ankles had identical ropes binding them together, secured with the strands of Danzo's chakra running through the coils; if he were to even muster the slightest of chakra, it wouldn't go unnoticed by the Sixth Hokage. A sigh coughed through his lips at the thought, knowing how much pleasure the village leader was taking in his current condition. Probably making a mockery of him at this very moment above the surface: stretching the truth, turning his comrades against him, sealing his fate. Not that the now ex-Konoha shinobi minded as far as fate was concerned, but it would help to hurry with that process. He was positive at that moment not a single villager wanted him breathing.
Of course, he didn't want to breathe at that moment either. In fact, he tried several times to suffocate himself the first few hours he was imprisoned, but to his dismay his lungs weren't willing to give on him just yet.
He had lost track of time so long ago, he wasn't sure if a week or year had passed at this point. It couldn't have been too long – the memories were still fresh and burned in his mind. Surely they would've faded with time, right?
It didn't help with the poorly-maintained walls being a constant reminder of it all, seeing trickles of blood stains from previous prisoners coating the isolated cell he sat in. Sometimes the blood appeared to move if he stared at the faded red for too long, forming familiar shapes and events of why he was placed in there. Why he deserved everything he received.
"Hurry!"
Her sudden voice shocked him, paralyzed him. If no one was planning on executing him anytime soon, her faded memory surely would. He threw a quick spasm attack as his feet kicked wildly, pressing his back against the bloody walls. He looked as if he'd just witnessed death, his eyes widened with fear beneath the cover of his bangs. If someone were to stumble upon his prison cell, they surely wouldn't have recognized him with his uncontrollable shaking and gasps for air. This was probably what the Hokage was waiting for: his breaking point before his last breath.
Fresh tears stained his pale cheeks, his throat choking every second on constant sobs.
"What are you waiting for?"
Even he didn't deserve this mind torture. His head fell forward with a hard bang against the cell bars, trying to drown her voice out with the new rings of pain shooting through his skull. As luck would have it, a stream of fresh blood oozed from his hairline and descended down his face, triggering another panic attack through his body.
No, no, no.
She's bleeding, she's bleeding so much. Where is it all coming from? No one bleeds that much. Someone help! Stop her, stop her from bleeding. What's she saying? No, no, no, don't close your eyes! Why is she giving up? Why is he? It doesn't matter anymore, everyone's dead. He made sure of that.
His body collapsed helplessly around the stained floor. He was haunted every second about that day. He would never, could never, forget the sound of her fading pulse against his rapid one. The taste of her blood, stained against his clothes. The feel of his wrath as he destroyed everything in sight – including her. Now no one on his team was breathing. He was in solitude once more.
He didn't move as his ears picked up on the sound of nearing footsteps echoing through the tunnels. Would he finally get to join his teammates? Or are they planning on mocking him further into this abyss?
His dull eyes wearily stole a glance at the powerful ANBU members, three now standing outside his cell front and center. A strand of helpless hope sparked his eyes as the middle ANBU spoke in a firm, direct tone. "It's time."
More like it's about time. The ANBU proceeded to move a couple steps closer to the prisoner, now leering down at him through the bars.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you will now be escorted to your execution. Under the charge of wrongful killer intent against your fellow shinobi, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, your sentence will be carried out by the Hokage himself."
Author's Note: Yay, my first story on here is posted! Well, I had a different account years ago with a few stories, but chose to start fresh; it's a good thing I made this one a few months ago, otherwise I would've had to wait that annoying 48 hours till I could post a new story. I was hit with this mass of an inspiration and had to write this prologue down before I lost it. I hope y'all like it, or are interested enough to see how it turns out. I'd be interested myself, haha!
Quick note – As much as I love hearing remarks about my stories, I ask that you please don't ask on what happened. If it was all told now, that would be no fun, neh?
Other than that, I'd love to hear any reviews, comments, questions, etc! Honestly, I didn't expect this beginning to sound so…depressing. Not how I first pictured it, but it seemed to flow okay. Least to say: the entire story won't be this bad, although I'm proud to manage to pull off this major angst part of the story! I've never written this emotional-draining type before, so that makes me think I'll manage okay through the rest of the story.
Also, my chapters aren't typically this short in length. It's just the prologue after all, so criticism on the length is not needed – I already despise it too.
Tips and feedback are always loved! Tune in next week…or next chapter, whenever I post. I'll hurry~!
Read and review C: