Author's Mentions

Welcome, my friends to a brand new fiction which was inspired heftily by an amazing piece of work by, 'Syynistyre'. A huge shoutout to his amazing fiction, 'Sealkeeper: He Who Binds', so for those of you who haven't already read it, it's a really deep fiction which is not for everyone, it has a sway of words and emotions that you do not want to miss out, so feel free to go check that out, it's an epic length story which was updated a week ago I think and it has reached about 309,000 words!

But without futhur ado, let's get on with this.

A Rude Awakening
Chapter: 1
It's Just the Beginning

A young boy no older than 10 showed himself outside the door of an apartment which was seemingly under a tunnel in a dirty locality. As he looked around he noticed the little clumps of garbage and small puddles of sewer water all around the cracks and bumps on the dirty concrete floor. The boy seemed a bit surprised as to why it wasn't cleaned up, it wasn't very normal, the landlord should have got this whole area cleaned out in minutes. This was not something he was accustomed to; for the landlord was very strict about the cleanliness of his apartments, it was merely an attraction, one that many decent people would find alluring, but then again, this wasn't a place for the decent.

As he watched and scanned, his attention shifted towards an gutter pipe connected to the wall and cut open. It was a disaster. It seemed to be a pipe out of the line of flow, it was cut off a long time ago, but what was most peculiar was that instead of the normal dirty water, it seemed as though there was something else in the liquid, something black, small bits of that black thing flowed out with the thin line of water flowing out. The boy narrowed his eyes at it, it gave a foul odour, he didn't like it.

He briefly extended his foot to close the gaping door and leapt towards the pipe a few feet in front of him. He was now standing in a big puddle of water tainted with black clots, and as he futhur inspected them with his hands, they seemed to be part of something deeper, he brought the thing up to his nose and sniffed it, but the smell of the gutter clogged the odour of the object in his hands. His forehead wrinkled: It was foul. He brought the material down and jerked it a few times to get rid of the feces and urine filled water over it to get a small wiff of it's odour, and he tried once again and got a faint smell, for this wasn't something from the gutter, it was a dried clot of blood, and it reeked.

Something was a bit off, the cleaner's should have been done with their work by now and there is no sign of them, nor was there anyone in proximity, not even the baker next door! That jolly old lad was always up and about this time of the day, gathering his bibs and bobs for his shop, but there was none of that today. Something was definitely off, something happened and it felt as though it was all connected. The place he lived was called, 'Red Light District', and that name suggests a cautionary sign to all who wish to enter, this wasn't a place for just anyone. It was infested with thieves, scoundrels, cougars, rapists, muderers, drug lords and every bit of bad you can think of, and that's not even the end of it!

The Red Light District is divided into three sectors labelled as, A, B and C respectively. Each of these three districts have one thing is common: A drug lord. Apart from the regular small time drug dealers, these were the real deal, they had their own mercenaries and some even had long time genins who were paid more than they would have while serving under the Hokage, what they say goes and whatever they want: they get.

Naruto wanted answers, and he knew that the only way to find them is to find the root, and indirectly; the only lead he had, the gutter lines. He gripped the frame of the cylindrical pipe and climbed into it. He covered his nose with his hand a moment later; something reeked, and it wasn't what he already saw. His eyes narrowed and his ears twitched; there was something moving in the gutters, he could hear the growing sounds of flowing water and something grinding and smashing against the walls of the interior.

This was bad news, this was the only place the line ends to and there were no alternatives, and whatever that sound was, it was coming towards him. Feeling the need to defend himself, he pulled out a small double-edged knife out of his pocket: It was sheathed, it was sharp, but more importantly, it was a gift, a precious one from the Hokage himself! And as things seemed to the boy, he was in trouble and that knife was his life-line.

The sound grew louder and louder and louder, until it became softer at a turn, the turn that was the only thing between the invader and the boy; he took a step back in fear, but steeled himself even sooner, poising himself to do what needed to be done in order to survive. And at that second, the source of the noise flowed straight in front of the boy, and it was-!

-a corpse!?

The boy's eyes widened and his heart shook! For in front of him, flowed a dead body of someone very familiar to him. He watched as the large current of water swept the bleeding corpse along the pipeline and then promptly falling down the pipe, with the boy's head moving just as paced as the body's flow, and his eyes just as wide as a fish's and his mouth just as open, in grim shock. He shakily turned his face back to the path in front of him.

"B-Baker Sanji?", he said in a shaky, fear-clad voice. "What the hell is going on?", he asked himself in shock. He quickly ran deeper into the pipeline and followed the bloody path that led him and the tears that slipped past his eyes and mixed in the water of blood and feces.

He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and sooner than later, reached an opening, where his eyes widened even furthur and his heart beat stronger and faster. "No", he whispered in disbelief, "Oh God, no! Please! No!", he yelled as he ran towards the opening and witnessed in front of him an accurate count of 49 dead bodies. But the dead bodies weren't enough, the women amongst them were stripped naked and impaled on iron poles, where blood, urine, semen and feces covered their bodies and their eyes yanked out of their sockets and left to hang on a small attatchment of a muscle.

The boy moved past the impaled corpses around the ground where they were situated, the men from amongst them were stripped and castrated, the wounds on their bodies uncountable and they too were impaled in a state where their stomachs and itestines were spilled onto the ground beneath them and the blood and grime lay in a puddle under each of them. Their throats were cut deep and in their eyes were embeded needles that passed and reached the end of their heads and pierced out.

The boy looked around in terror as he passed them all by. "Lady Kiba? Lady Noshino too? Old man Kinen-", "You're all-", his following words were interrupted by his own cries, "Why?", he said in a low, disappointed voice while he sobbed violently. "What did you all have to die this way!", he yelled with his face towards the heavens. "No, no, no", he gripped and shook his head side to side. "You weren't supposed to die, you were my friends", he justified.

As he once more lifted his head to see the fate that became of the people he cherished, he noticed someone, "Mister Rin-? He- He's not dead", he realized, and so a small sliver of hope ran through him as he ran towards the only body that wasn't impaled, but was still badly injured, and things looked grim, he needed medical attention and there wasn't anyone around for miles to give it to him. The boy's run came to a halt as he sat beside the man and helped him onto his own lap.

The man looked at the boy and smiled, "I- I'm glad you're here-", he said in a choked voice. "-Naruto", he smiled. Naruto simply made a sadder face, "What happened Mister Rin? Who did this to you?", he inquired as his sadness slipped into anger. The man stiffened at his question, but sobered soon after. "It w-as Izuna", he choked out, "The ruler of section C of the Red Light District", he continued. "The goods you stole for us-", he frowned, "He wanted something from that, the jewel, the one with the fire emblem that you kept as your share", he explained.

"It was worth a lot of money, a million pounds he said, enough to worth risking his own safety and using us to get to you". "He has a beef with you now Naruto, you have to go to the Hokage, you're in trouble and the only reason they concocted this entire plan to get you here where you're standing and getting information out of me, it was all set up, they knew everything about you, about your ties and about us, they sent the new genin he hired to nap us, he them took us here-", he said as he held back tears.

"And he did this!", he said as loud as his voice could go. The older man's tears flowed smoothly into Naruto's laps. "Naruto, they want you to come to them-", "-Be smart, run", he urged. Naruto's anger quickly turned into rage brewing inside of him, and he looked at him with conviction, "That bastard will pay for what he did, just you watch, I'll make him suffer a fate worse than death! I will torture him for days and weeks and months and I won't stop until I extract the last exquisite drop of agony from his wretched body and I will enjoy every bit of it", he said, his face full of rage and fury, and hatred towards the man who took it all from him, a man who mutilated his life and as he said: He will pay.

Naruto grabbed Rin by his arm and mustered the strength to pull him up. The wobbly man stood up, gripping the younger boy for support. "Argh, thanks", he said as he took a few deep breaths. "Let's go notify the authorities", he suggested. And Naruto nodded his head to that. They pushed forward to take a step and as they did such, a hurling kunai made it's way towards them unnoticed and before they could even see it, it struck Rin right in between his head and found it's way deep inside, and just as quick as that, the older man fell out of Naruto's hands and landed on the bloody grass face first.

Naruto's eyes widened as he fell and when he did, his head jerked towards the most obvious trigectory: the wall in front, and he was right, a figure dressed in standard shinobi gear and a green vest stood right in front of him, his eyes sinister and his smile manic. Naruto's shock soon turned into a look of hatred, and in his mind he wanted nothing more than to rip him off piece by piece. Naruto, took a run towards him but in midst his run, the figure disappeared, making him stop in his tracks.

He had caught a glimpse of the enemy, and little did he know, he was in the middle of something bigger than he had anticipated, and was about to find out soon enough.

Naruto had soon left the ground full of corpses, and continued onwards on his quest for revenge. Rin said that it was the lord of section C, so that's a big lead, it'll be pretty easy to find once he started conversing around the area but that wasn't enough, a lord was after his life and he needed help, he couldn't hope to do this alone, it would be suicide. All he had on him was academy experience, two years of it, and Izuna had genin under his command, it was gonna make things a lot harder, but that man in the vest, he was definitely not a genin.

It would have been simple to take on a few genin one at a time, he'd just need to play his cards efficiently, but that chunin changed things, he needed to improve and he needed to hide. Naruto had currently found his way back into his apartment where he carefully entered, hoping that no one had searched the place already, but as all expectations lead to pain, this one did as well.

His apartment was in shambles, torn, unhinged, flippped around and much to his glee, the package was still safe with him, Izuna wasn't gonna get this package easy, not when he was his enemy. It was time to change tactics, he had to go investigate and start getting rid of the minor nuisences in Izuna's little force, and he needed to do so immediately, but as things were, he was not at a hundred percent and as such, his efforts would be an utter waste of time and energy, it was best to compose himself and leave for work at night.

Anonymity would be his greatest gift in this endeavor, but if the authorities got involved, mainly the Hokage: He would have to do this time.

He lifted an open closet and pulled out a dark cloak, as black as the night sky, as dark as his thoughts. It was soothing, to know that you go unnoticed when you walk by, and for ninja, it is an essential. But that aside, he needed another means of accomodation, one that wasn't easy to find and even harder to break into, but that would require all the times amount of money he had and money was a blessing for a man in his position. Money speaks, it speaks louder than hearts, this is the sad truth.

'The forest will have to make do, that abandoned treehouse in right in the middle, no fool, not even a genin would go there looking for me', he speculated in his head. And just as quickly; his mind was made up. But before that, he needed clothes, his orange pair of shorts and black shirt made him too recognizable, he needed something darker, something that covered more of him. He needed it desperately and the only place to get it is the main village. And there he continued.

On his way there he thought of many things, and his mind couldn't comprehend how someone so much more in age in his comparison, have a simplistic mind of gathering money, and having protection. But that's human nature I suppose, luxury and safety, if you have that you feel great, but so is arrogance, and it will be Izuna's downfall. He still thinks he's dealing with a kid and he can get that package whenever he wants, he's gonna be lazy about it, maybe even try to recruit him for a long term investment, but he was patient, and he would punish him for every move.

The hidden leaf village makes hundreds of thousands of ryo just on drugs, it wasn't a good business, but it was a nessecary one, for any nation it is important to build a stable economy that doesn't fluctuate, and drugs were a trade that would never fluctuate. A shipment of the cheapest drugs of a tonne would probably cost more than a hundred thousand ryo, and that's how things stand, drugs were a big part of the village's enonomy, and the Hokage was no fool. The citizens wouldn't even know, but just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. The village hidden in the leaves was a great one, but where there is light, there is also darkness, and if it's not allowed to stay, the light will fully succumb to the dark.

Because when you are a people that do not know, your arrogance is your darkness. And an arrogant bunch is not ninja.

Engulfed in his thoughts, he did administer the fact that he was already pacing through the crowded marketplace. And it was set up perfect, all he needed was to find a stall that had what he needed, and soon enough, something caught his detective eyes. A full pair of black, all there in one place, all his wanted eggs in a single basket, it was too easy. He made his way to the side closest to the booth and proceeded towards it and as soon as he reached it he subtly pulled a garment down to shift the populace's attention, but soon after that he shot up his arm to cover his target with the cloak he was clad in, and with his hand he gripped the wanted items and held it under his arm pits while holding together the cloak with his other hand and walking away as though nothing happened.

That's one thing down. 'I could get myself a kunai instead of this knife, but shinobi are a hard people to trick, it's too risky, I can't blow this before it even begins, I'll have to make do for now', he thought as he continued on his path towards the forest. It was getting darker, and he needed his energy for the night, for the tiger hunts at night, where there is sound that no one hears and that is the time the wolves howl, but he wasn't a wolf, he was a lion who had lost his pride.

On the way to the forest, he had to cross red light district once again, and his view shifted towards a group of people, and one of them he knew, it was a friend, an old friend that went by the name of Yuin, he was a thief, much like himself; only older. But just that fact didn't attract his attention, he had a mark on his forearm, it was tatooed, but more importantly, it was a, 'C', but he could also hear whispers of them intending to meet a superior, maybe he could use that to his advantage? Bearing that in mind, he quickly lunged in front of them, still wearing his cloak to shield his identity.

He turned towards the only one in the group he knew, Yuin. "I see you're all here, good, now it's time for inquisition", he said in a commanding tone. From the group in front of him, a tall man stepped forward and stood right in front of the small cloaked figure in front of him. He stared at him for a while but quickly broke the silence, "Really? A little kid? I don't believe it! That's our fearless leader?", he said out of disgust. Soon after his displeasure, he lunged his hand forward into a fist directed at the young cloaked figure, but quicker than he could react, the young cloaked figure gripped his hand tight and jumped up to slide the back of his arm under his chin and pulled it down along with the rest of his body.

And just as quick as that, he ungripped his hand and took out a knife and with several quick and strong slashes at his assailant's neck, he killed him and got blood splattered all over his hood, face and arm. He stood up slowly with indifference and turned his head back to the rest of the group. "Does anyone else want to doubt me?", he questioned. In accordance with his question, they all shook their heads no.

"Good, now to sort out the right from the wrong", he pointed to one of the remaining four men. "You! What's the number of employees hired by Lord Izuna?", he questioned. The man shifted in discomfort, but continued either way, "It's a hundred and twenty, sir!", he said. Naruto began to think for a moment but snapped out of the daze momentarily. "That will have to do, next, you! Name the centre of all forces that Lord Izuna harbours", and just like the man before him he was uncomfortable, "Four blocks north from the baker from red light district", he gave in. But the other two were not convinced, the most prominent of the bunch, Yuin walked up to him and stared at him intently.

"You're no leader, you're a spy, they may not see it, but I do, I'd recognize those shorts anywhere-", he grinned. "Naruto!", he said as he yanked the boy's hood back. Yuin grin grew even more manic, "And now that you know what you do, I can't let you leave here alive", he said as he pulled a dagger out of his side strap and swung it at Naruto's neck.

The boy struck his palm to the larger man's forearm to strike his hand away and inflict a bit of damage onto his good arm. With the few seconds given until the man would timely try and shank him again with his dagger, Naruto brought himself closer to him, forcing him to grab him with his other hand and pulling the dagger close to him before which it would hit the boy he held onto himself. But Naruto just smirked, he pulled his hand up and struck his left arm with a knife, plunging it one way and going out the other, but the man still was close to shanking Naruto until he ducked down and in that effort got a deep cut on his right shoulder, but in positivity, the man above him had plunged the dagger into his own abdomen.

Naruto looked at the horror on the man's face as he held his stomach in shock and pain. He was a bit sick himself, but he steeled himself and stood up quickly and sharply, doing so: he quickly withdrew the dagger in his abdomen and slid it into his chest and seemingly: Heart. The man's screamed echoed in the lonely neighbourhood before a punch to the face shut him up. He was dead, and his comrades watched the beast resonsible in fear. The boy shifted his attention towards them and soon enough lunged towards them and ended their lives swiftly.

Naruto looked at the corpses of the men he slaughtered, "That leaves just a hundred and fifteen left, but that will have to wait, the academy break was till today, tomorrow's another shot at the graduation exams, and I've drained most of my chakra, I think that's a perfect setting for tomorrow, who knows? Maybe I'll even get the clone jutsu right", he smirked as he left for the forest ahead in the darkness of the night.

The real horror has just begun. That day was marked as one that made the best shinobi Konoha had seen since Itachi, and it wouldn't end well for those who opposed him, it seems grim indeed.

To Be Continued ...

Ending Words

Thank you so much for reading through this, I hope you like it and lets aim high! If I can get 50 favorites and 50 follows on this fiction, I'll post a new chapter! I hope you found this interesting and different! Take care, that's it for now.