Author's note:
Hey guys, AsianNameless here with a new story! This one has been in the works for quite a few years now, and am excited to share it with you guys. It is technically a crossover with The Darkness, but is AU enough to be considered as a regular Naruto story, as it takes place in the Elemental Nations. You guys may recognize me from the now on-hiatus The Duty of a Hunter. The reason why I have left it alone for so long is because I am currently on the process of completely changing some of the main aspects of the story. Some of the changes may include important plot devices. Don't give up on it, as I will now be creating and changing content as well, so keep an eye out for it! I also recognize that TDoaH's chapters are poorly written, and because of that I'm focusing on improving the writing before adding new chapters/content. Since my last story, I've been minoring in English at college, so I promise that I will do an even better job at putting out content with better quality. Without further adieu, enjoy!
"My fellow friends and partners." A deep, regal voice declared in an umbrous room. The voice came from an old, withered throat. From a man who'd seen powers rise and fall like waves, whose life comprised of fire and steel. His words were practised, snaking out from his wrinkled mouth and sweeping across the hollow room in a flood of bewitchment. But the man who owned the voice was not alone. Ten ghostly figures sat around him in a circular, metal table, awaiting his next words. He eyed each wraith from his chair.
"This great empire that we've built over the course of a few short years has truly expanded faster than we ever thought possible. It's because of our efforts that Fire Country has become the most powerful country among the nations." He waited once more while his generals clapped politely. Their ghostly rapping drowned his sanguine laughter.
"However, much is still to be done. We have yet to cement our grasp upon these dying nations. Our enemies seek to destroy us in every front, and our enemies' blades poise our throats even inside our very walls! As you all know, we have traitors in our midst." Then he stood, bellowing, "They mock us, rebel against us. They gather silently in houses and cause chaos in the streets. They think their selves lords. They question our ways. I ask you, who is your lord?"
"Lord Danzou!" Ten voices chanted.
"And what is the punishment for treason?"
"Death!" Most of the shaded figures stood up from their seats.
Danzou sat back down and waited until his ethereal guests seated as well.
He coughed. "Good, good. We have achieved success not because of our power, but because of our ways. Our laws. See to it that all who oppose my rule are removed. This empire that we've built over the short span five years, this empire that we've built on the blood of our enemies, will not have any weaknesses in any front. This empire, which we've cemented as the greatest, will not have any blemishes, any chinks in its armor. Have your most trusted men sweep through every stronghold, every building under our domain so that we may destroy the rebels once and for all!"
Each of the ten men and women saluted and disappeared from Danzou's dark room without a trace, blinking away as if they were a figment of his thoughts.
All except one, who had remained quiet all throughout the meeting. He was the only one among them who did not chant, did not applaud, did not stand.
He quietly floated around the table to Danzou's side and kneeled. The lord Hokage didn't shift to meet his subordinate's gaze, but continued to stare ahead in contemplation.
"Do you have the report that I asked for, Kabuto?"
"Yes, Lord Danzou." The grey-haired jounin, whose ghostly visage was wrapped with black, ROOT vestments, stood up and blankly looked at his ruthless lord's decrepit hand. "I am happy to report that-"
"You are what, Kabuto?" Danzou's eyebrow raised in discontentment.
"I am... Pleased to report that we have successfully taken Star village, the country of Wave, and the country of Snow in one fell swoop. None of the countries and villages has showed us signs of diplomacy or submission. Our forces invaded each point yesterday at twilight and the battles stopped momentarily for rest this morning. We allowed enemy forces in all fronts to collect their dead, only to fall for our traps, which decimated through additional forces."
"Good. And our research and development teams?"
"It is going well, Lord Danzou. Our scientists in Sound Country thank you for the generous amount of supplies you have sent despite our growing needs due to the war effort."
"There is plenty to go around." Danzou nodded. "However, I want to know specifically how well the project I tasked you in is going along."
"Project Fox Hunt is making leaps and bounds, my lord. We have tracked his presence three months into his disappearance since his escape four months ago. It appears his skills have been dulled for his presence to be so easily traceable."
"Or he is purposely letting you find him. Have you found out his motives? Do you see him as a threat to my empire?"
"Possibly, my lord." Kabuto's furrowed brows betrayed the stoic facade that ROOT assimilated into him. "The fox's presence has been displaced throughout every country across the nations. His presence has even disappeared completely from the nations twice within this month. Our best sensors cannot track his movements completely, possibly due to a time-space technique. But the fact that we have finally caught sight of him is definitely a step forward. In every area that we believed him to be, we found large craters in the ground. Almost as if he'd been training."
"As if he'd been preparing." Danzou concluded. "Well done, Kabuto. Do you have any pictures of these craters?"
"I do, my lord."
Kabuto made a sign and, despite his intangibility, summoned a folder full of notes and paper. He handed the papers to Danzou who scanned through it, skimming through pictures of craters that made titanic dents in the earth's surface.
While his lord, his master, was reading he spoke. "All the craters are two leagues in diameter, one league in depth. My scientists speculate it has all been done with the same technique, though we do not know what the technique is. We do know that this particular technique is impossible to simulate. Our tests indicate that, at a molecular level, none of the craters were caused by any element. Nor were they chakra-induced. I tasked the research team in Snow Country to recreate the devastation using explosive seals and other ballistics."
When the elderly warlord cast him a questioning stare, the young man replied, "No success."
The papers fell through Danzou's fingers like sand and landed weightlessly on the floor. "That is not possible..."
"It is, my lord. The last time our forces interacted with the fox, the last time we analyzed the battlefield after his battle - The effects are the exact same as they are in these craters. Whatever power the fox used to descimate our forces four months ago is the very same power he has been training. Regardless if this power came from him or from another hostile party. We believe that he is planning to use these powers against you and your forces, my lord."
Danzou frowned, his skin pale and glistening in sweat. "I will not let that happen. You will not let that happen."
"Yes, sir." Kabuto picked up the papers and summoned them away.
"What can you tell me about his powers?"
"We do not yet know if they're his powers. But we have found that, whatever they are, they are similar to that of the Nara clan's jutsus. No sign of wildlife anywhere near the craters, as well, almost as if it were the aftermath of a natural disaster. These powers, with their magnitude, can level even mountains, my lord."
Danzou snaked his fingers together in thought, a sobered look on his face. He spoke when he made his decision. "That is all, Kabuto. Dig into our database and see if these powers match with, or at least are related to, anyone in the elemental countries. Not just ninjas. Citizens and clans, as well. Assemble the specialized forces to keep a look out for the fox. Ensure that any of the Empire's ninjas, who are rank jounin and below, are reminded of the correct procedure should they encounter the fox and these new powers."
"You mean run, sir?"
The distressed warlord did not motion a reply. When Kabuto dissipated, Danzou stood up from his throne and made a sign with his single usable hand. Immediately, torches that hugged the far corners lit aflame, billowing mutinously against the darkness - but to no avail. After staring at the flames for a few seconds, he lifted the privacy seals and walked out of the council room, towards his office. For the first time in the five years that he'd attained the mantle of Hokage, he had no answers. As he exited the room, he noticed one of the torches snuff out, but paid it no heed.
A lone man stalked up the side of a hill in Sound country. Camouflage hugged his skin while he trekked low and hugged the countryside's unkempt flora. Strapped to his back was a package, wrapped in black velvet, the shape and the size of a thin door. It was oiled to prevent moisture and flora from sticking and giving away his position. He crept like a beetle towards dense foliage, his icy eyes boring into the treeline far ahead, to avoid sudden exposure. The trees were blackened and smelled of rot due. The grass was patchy due to the toxicity levels in the ground. And the man knew why.
On the other side of the tall hill, just west of his position, was a Root fortress. The intruder noticed that the sky above him was filled with a dense, dark smog that threatened to consume the horizon. He sneered in disgust, his cold, grey eyes transfixed on the equally grey buildings. With the sun sinking just behind him, he knew that he had just a sliver of a chance to use the sun's harsh glare to bypass patrols and successfully infiltrate the black fortress. He waited in the hill until the sun dipped low enough to kiss the horizon behind him to make his play. But before he could even reach the treeline, he spotted a figure ahead him, retreating past the peak of the hill towards the black fortress.
He unbuckled the clasps that held the package to his back and let it hit the ground in a loud clang, knowing quite well that the sound might have alerted the patroller that he was chasing. But he didn't care. He was already exposed. As soon as the package dropped completely off his back, he vanished.
The scout spotted the man at the same time the man spotted him. They were a quarter mile apart, but, judging by the intruder's speed and gait, he was much faster than him. A fully trained scout.
He felt the man's chakra blaze out in a wave of heat, threatening to burn his lungs inside out. Procedure dictated him to run back to the facility, and so he did. As he neared the peak of the grassy hill, he looked back to identify the man, but he didn't see him. The intruder was nowhere to be found. The patroller turned his head back towards the ROOT facility, but his head met the hard end of the intruder's palm instead.
The intruder soundlessly kneed the scout in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. The man in camouflage quickly jabbed a fist filled with wind chakra - the dense vapour flowing wildly between his fingers - and knocked the scout out cold. He peered down the hill and found the facility, a building formerly belonging to Orochimaru, but had changed tenants once Danzou became the Hokage.
After dragging the scout's body back towards the ruined foliage, he took the scout's clothes and wore it on top of his own. As he finished placing the ROOT vest over his chest, he made his way back towards the facility, ignoring the black, tiny hands that dragged the scout's naked body deeper into the thick brush. He left the package beside the body. He'd be back later. The intruder ignored again the tiny vile chattering that surrounded the knocked out body of the scout, hungry for the man's flesh.
The man spotted a chink in the facility's patrol and dove behind a shed adjacent to a wall that was not surveyed. A blind spot. He meticulously produced just enough chakra to bore a small hole in the wall of the facility. Small sparks flew as wind chakra met a foot-thick steal alloy wall. The process took nearly an hour before the intruder found himself inside a narrow corridor, lit only by a single floodlight. He patched up the wall with small genjutsu before making his way into the deepest recesses of the black site.
The man moved like a shadow in the hallways of the ROOT facility, familiar with the building's layout. Under Orochimaru's rule, the research facility was a single building, built underground to suit the great snake's needs. The new facility, under the young ROOT Empire's rule, was built up as well as down. The tunnels, whose walls were previously made of dense stone, became modernized; New, metallic hallways ran down the ground until it reached the large aquifer that Sound country sat on, supplying the entire facility with fresh, clean water. Those tunnels were the service tunnels where most of the security forces were. His destination was up, where the laboratories would be.
The intruder disguised in ROOT clothing scoured the ground level looking for stairs, but found none. He heard footsteps behind him. They were quiet and calculated, so he knew he needed to lose them. Just as he was about to make the corner, he heard someone yell for him to stop. He did.
"Turn and face me, operative." A smooth voice demanded stoically. The intruder complied. The voice came from a tall, elegant woman, garbed in a white lab coat. She wore her hair in a tight ponytail and her face was framed with thin, square-framed glasses. "Why are you wandering these halls when you should be below or outside patrolling?"
"I'm going up to do a medical. One of the researchers said I might have suffered after-affects from a drug they dosed me with." He lied.
"Which researcher?" The woman threw her black locks over her shoulder, sizing up the man for falsehood.
The man paused a moment before answering. "Kabuto."
She whistled. "I'm assuming you're new. Fresh from Konoha."
"Yes."
"I'll escort. Get you tested, myself."
She grabbed him by the sleeve of his elbow and dragged him around the corner. She rounded towards the first door to their left and touched a metal panel on the wall beside the door. The panel shifted and revealed a hidden keypad. She then tapped on numbers on the keypad, still holding onto his arm. After a few seconds the door made a hitching noise before it was unlocked. The door led to a spiral staircase that led both downstairs and upstairs.
The man waited for the door to close and lock itself before grabbing onto the arm that she dragged him by without. He locked her arm by holding on her triceps, placing her forearm on his shoulder, so that she couldn't turn around to strike him. He rammed her face into a nearby wall causing her glasses to fall to her feet. Her ebony locks spilled out of her ponytail and veiled her face like a waterfall. She tried kicking him but he sliced a tendon using his wind chakra. The numbness forced her to calm down.
"What do you want?" She questioned with a slight tone of betrayal, her eyes like a cornered animal's.
"The Landshark."
"What?"
"The Landshark." He repeated. "Where is it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He knew she was lying.
"Tell me or I'll slice up the rest of your body!"
"Go ahead. The cameras have seen your face. Lord Danzou will find you."
"He's already trying." He summoned a small, spinning ball of wind chakra at his fingertip. He pressed it behind her kneecap, shredding it. She tried to scream, but he covered her mouth with his other hand. "He won't succeed. The cameras are taken care of. According to men monitoring the cameras, I'm just a shadow."
The woman screamed into his hand, trying to land a dirty blow on the intruder.
"Just so you know," he pressed his lips next to her ears and gripped her mouth even tighter, "I can do the same technique with my other hand, so don't try to bite it. Do you know what I just did to your leg? I'll try to speak more your language: My wind chakra, at a cellular level, ruptured each and every tissue cell, muscle cell, nerve cell, and skeletal cell adjacent to the point of trauma. You won't be able to use that leg again. Knowing you scientists, you'll probably just operate on it and attach a prosthetic limb. But I can do the same thing with the rest of your body. If you don't answer me, you won't be able to serve Danzou anymore. You'll no longer be his tool."
After a long hesitation, she answered. "Fine. Project Landshark is being kept downstairs."
"Liar." He applied more pressure to his arm lock, her isolated muscles tugged at her spine like strings.
"Okay! It is being kept upstairs!"
"I know that. You're going to lead me to it."
"How? You tore my kneecap!"
He chuckled darkly. "I lied. I have complete control of my powers. It'll only hurt like hell if you walk. However, if you make a move or sound, I'll kill you."
He had enough confidence in his abilities, and a quick analysis of hers, to let her lean on his shoulders as she painfully lead him up the stairs. After several flights, they reached the tenth, top floor.
"We're here." She gasped out in pain, tears and sweat streaming down her angular face.
"Good." He said before chopping the back of her neck with the blade of his hand. He caught her just before she could slump down and fall down the ten flights of stairs that they'd just climbed. He dragged her to a dark corner. He touched the edge of the shadow with his fingertips and slowly pulled on it like a blanket, making the shadow expand until it was roughly the size of the woman before he stuffed her inside and closed it. He looked towards the door and found a metal panel which, presumably, covered a panel similar to the one that the woman unlocked for him. He still remembered the sequence of numbers that she entered.
He ignored, once again, the sounds of chattering teeth and vile laughter as he made his way to the terminal. He entered the sequence and heard a familiar hitching sound that indicated the door was unlocked. But before he could open it, he noticed that the knob was turning. Someone was about to open it.
He cursed to himself. He should've taken the woman's lab coat. He quickly stepped behind the door. Once the door opened by about a foot, he tackled it, knocking back whoever tried to come out.
The scientist who'd been knocked back recovered quickly and kicked open the door to reveal whatever asshole knocked him back.
"Who's there!" He demanded.
No one.
Perplexed, the scientist's ninja instincts told him to avoid the stairwell and find help. He knew that the intruder was probably still in the stairwell, so he closed the door and typed the locking sequence that would prevent anyone from entering the level. A loud, metallic boom signalled that the heavy, steel door was locked. He turned around and sprinted towards his office, past a hallway adorned with low, neat shelves full of test tubes, beakers, and notebooks. He ran towards the end of the hallway, reaching a similar steel door leading towards the testing lab. He closed it from the other side and locked it with the same locking sequence. His eyes darted around the room - from the lab benches containing human specimens, to large tubs of drugs that seemed to have gathered dust over the few years that the lab was built. His eyes finally reached his office, at the other end of the room. He immediately darted towards it.
Once he reached his office, he locked the doors there too. Wherever the intruder was he was either in the stairs or in the bottom floors. There was no way that the intruder could have reached him, or his precious research, with three locked steel doors between them.
As his mind calmed, he closed the gap between him and his desk and reached underneath until he felt a button. He pressed it. All of the sudden, a siren in the middle of the roof wailed and beams of yellow, cautionary light tumbled around the room in circles. He reached further under his desk and grabbed a standard Chokuto blade and pulled it from its straps. Fully armed, he awaited confrontation.
And it came to him in a laugh. "You're not 'gonna need that." Said a voice.
"Who's there?"
"Me. Your shadow." Said the voice, amused.
"Liar! You're the man who knocked me away from the door!" He looked around but all he could see was his room, filled with the glare of emergency lights. All he could hear was the crying of the siren and the disembodied voice's laughter. "Where are you?"
"Look down."
He did so, but found only his shadow. However, it had begun to grow until it was roughly the same height as him. And, like a vision from his nightmare, a man's leg stepped out, followed by a body clothed in a ROOT uniform. But before the scientist could question the intruder, a shadowy tendril snaked out of the man's back and struck the emergency lights, engulfing the room in total darkness. The wailing of the siren ceased.
The scientist felt a tendril wrap around his neck and slam him towards the ceiling. He was able to breathe, thankfully, but the tendril of darkness immobilized him. He focused his chakra to his eyes to get a good look at the intruder's face. A strong jaw. Dark, spiky hair. Eyes so grey that it resembled smoke.
"W-who are you?" The scientist struggled. "What do you want?"
The intruder ignored him. "The Landshark. It doesn't seem to be here, but I know you know where it is. A woman lied to me, saying it was here. She probably thought she was leading me to a trap. If the trap she tried to set on me was you, then I am greatly disappointed."
The intruder's eyes were fixed on the scientist, cold as the moon.
"Hakatsu? What did you do to her?"
"Answer my question: Where is Project Landshark?"
"You'll never find it! The rest of the ROOT forces will be up here!"
"No they won't. At least, not for a while. You locked us in, remember? Three times."
The intruder summoned a black portal and reached an arm inside. He pulled out the unconscious woman, Hakatsu, before the portal closed once more. Blood stained her shoulder as it appeared that some sort of animal attempted to gnaw at it. "Tell you what. If you relinquish me the place where the Landshark is kept, I might not kill her."
"Kill her, then." The scientist shouted coldly. "She won't die in vain, unlike you."
"What?"
"Look around."
The intruder looked past the windows of the scientist's office and into the laboratory. He saw ROOT ninjas seep through the locked metal door, through the floor, through the ceilings and the walls. The ROOT agents were entering the lab and were heading towards the office. They were quickly surrounded. Within moments, they were already conjuring high-caliber jutsus to blast open the steel door.
"You're going to die." Laughed the scientist.
"Not before them." The man whispered.
Tendrils of darkness erupted from his back and from the very shadows of the office. He pointed an open palm towards the laboratory, making the shadowy projections pierce through the shatterproof windows of the scientist's office and strike all the lights that kept the entire floor lit. Within seconds, there was complete darkness.
"What are you doing?" Asked the scientist, fear evident in his voice despite his ROOT training.
"I'm not doing anything. They are." Knowing that the scientist was focusing chakra to see in the dark, the intruder pointed toward the laboratory.
Tiny, yellow eyes filled the room. And soon, sounds of crying, yelling, and ripping flesh did as well. The scientist was too shocked to focus; but he could hear, on the other side of the wall, numerous creatures tearing apart his backup. Tearing apart ROOT's elite.
"I repeat: Where is the Landshark?" He tightened his tendril's hold on the scientist's stomach. "I can save all these men and women. Just tell me where it is."
"E-east!" The scientist yelled. "The east base. The eastern ROOT facility here in Sound country."
"How far is it?"
"A day away. You have what you came for. Leave!"
The intruder nodded and dropped the snivelling scientist. The scientist closed his eyes, sensing that he was either going to get knocked out or killed. However, the pain didn't come.
When he opened his eyes, the lights in the entire level were lit up again. The creatures with the yellow eyes were gone, and so were the ROOT ninjas. And so were the shadows. The scientist looked around and found the siren lights still spinning around the room, the glass on his shatterproof windows still intact. He searched the room for the intruder, but he was gone as well. It was as if the intruder was never there.
"An illusion? No, Hakatsu is still here..." He saw her rigid form splayed on the cold floor, bloody and shallowly breathing. "And it didn't feel like a genjutsu or a bloodline technique..."
B-O-O-M!
The heavy, steel door leading from the hallway into the laboratory shattered in an explosion. A full platoon of ROOT soldiers entered the lab and then the office, as the scientist unlocked the final door that led to his office. The scientist managed to walk towards his desk, while clutching his stomach in pain, and reversed the emergency lights and siren.
"What is the problem?" A ROOT captain bowed before the scientist.
The scientist was visibly shaken. "There was an intruder. He extracted information from me about the whereabouts of the Landshark. Have someone teleport to lord Danzou to report that the western ROOT facilities have been compromised. Then, have someone teleport to the east research facility to warn them that an intruder is on his way to the Landshark. Send everyone we have to intercept him. Now!"
"Sir, the troops will be on their way. But, we only have enough chakra to teleport a single person today. Where should we connect the teleporter to?"
"The east research facility. Send our fastest messenger operative to lord Danzou. Protecting Project Landshark is our highest priority!"
"Yes, sir." The captain stood and disappeared in smoke, as did all the others, leaving the lone scientist behind. He took Hakatsu's unconscious form - a testament of the intruder's presence - and laid her on his table. He rotated a set of dials, and suddenly a cold array of lights washed over her.
The scientist clicked on a recording device and said aloud, "Fox has breached the laboratory, as forewarned by operative, Kabuto. I've lead him to a trap set up in the eastern ROOT facility which holds project Landshark. I've failed my intended mission of analyzing the source of fox's powers. They are neither chakra, nor natural energy-based. I have recovered Hakatsu's unconscious body with the hopes identifying fox's true power. However, the failure of my mission is punishable only by death," He muttered solemnly before producing a vial filled with a black substance and drinking it. His body shook as his throat met the putrid substance.
He continued. "It is my wish that Hakatsu recovers and that the next head of research discovers the source of fox's powers before it destroys lord Danzou's empire."
"Something dark is approaching us." He shakily said to the beautiful woman's unconscious form. "Something evil. And we're all to pay."
The man slowly fell to the floor as black liquid dripped from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Quietly, he died.
The man discarded the ROOT garments, revealing once again his camouflage suit. He'd gone back and retrieved the package wrapped in black velvet and strapped it on his back before heading east. He had noticed the body of the scout that he'd knocked out, reduced to a skeleton. He rolled his cold, grey eyes in disgust.
He was in the polluted forests of Sound country, now on his way to the Landshark. He didn't have much to go on other than the facility's name: The east research facility. Going on just that, he'd been travelling east now for two and a half days without rest. He didn't find any hint of a lie in the scientist's voice or his eyes, which unsettled him, as he still hadn't reached the facility. As he jumped from tree to tree, he felt a chakra signature behind him. A familiar one.
He stopped in his tracks and plummeted to the ground, face first. He spread his arms forward and rolled into a landing. He stood, turned around and yelled, "Why are you here?"
A shadow emerged from the ground, growing until it formed the Nara clan leader. He looked at his former friend in the eye - despite the growing feeling of disgust that welled up in his stomach - out of respect. "That isn't something you say to an old acquaintance, you know."
Shikamaru walked towards the man, a cigarette smoldering in his mouth. He wore a fishnet shirt and an aloof expression. But, those were the only things about himself that he kept. The man noticed that Shikamaru let his hair down now, windswept to the sides. The Nara clan leader wore a grey utility vest and a black pair of cargo pants with brown combat boots. The man also noticed that the clan leader had a wedding band. Black, onyx-made.
Before the man could move or talk, Shikamaru spoke, mostly to himself, aloud. "You've changed so much. No, not since I last saw you - The last time I saw you was four months ago, back when you still worked for that pig, Danzou. I'm talking about how much you've changed since the time when I tried to help you rescue Sasuke from Orochimaru. From the time you rescued Konoha from Pein. From the time when Danzou brought Sasuke back from Akatsuki. You've changed so much since then... Naruto."
"You don't know you're talking about."
"Asshole." Shikamaru frowned. "I know it's you, Naruto. I know what ROOT did to you, what they trained you to become. Your hair is different, your eyes are different, and so is your facial structure. They made you into a chameleon. Even though I didn't see your face directly during that day four months ago, I knew it was you, I knew that they changed what you looked like. Changed who you are."
"How did you know it was me?" Naruto wondered.
"Because they did the same to me, you dumbass. Because no one else has the strength you do. I know you lead the team that killed my father, Naruto. And I know that you're the one who infiltrating the western ROOT research facility, just three days ago."
Naruto poised his hands towards Shikamaru's throat, his fingers laced with wind chakra. But the Nara didn't flinch.
"I have my informants." Shikamaru answered the silent question. "But you already know about that, don't you?"
"Why are you telling me this? What do you want?" Naruto eyed his former comrade with cold fury, his cloudy orbs staring into Shikamaru's own, threatening the Nara to choose his words carefully.
It was then that Shikamaru walked towards the brown-haired ninja, sucked deeply into his cigarette and grabbed him by the collar of his camouflage suit and slammed him into the tree. He then exhaled, blowing imposing clouds into the rogue ninja's face. The entire time, Naruto didn't break eye contact.
"You see, this is what I hate about you, Naruto. You fought for the wrong side for five long years, and after finding out you were wrong, you don't apologize! Even when you kill my father. Even when you killed Hinata."
"So why don't you kill me." Naruto muttered coldly. He easily broke off the Nara's grip with a slap of his hand. "What's stopping you?"
Shikamaru eyed his old friend hard, his nostrils flaring in resentment. The embers of his smoke quickly receded and landed on the polluted ground like tiny meteors. He looked away and chuckled bitterly while lighting himself another drag. "'Cos I'm still your 'fuckin friend, moron. Look. We both know that I want you dead. But that would make Danzou's life much easier. We both want to take him down, so why not become allies once again?"
"Touching offer. But I refuse."
"Bullshit. I know you want in, you're just too damn ashamed to join us."
"That's a lie-"
"No, a lie is you saying you didn't kill my father."
"How did you..."
"I saw the fucking reports!" Shikamaru exclaimed. "I saw them! And I saw you doing it with my own eyes, Naruto. A lie is saying that you didn't kill Hinata when all evidence points that you did. That speaks volumes of how much you've degraded into a pig just like Danzou. But if there's any trace of guilt in that dumb head of yours, if there's any part of you that wants redemption, you'll join me. You'll join the Resistance."
"What makes you think I want to join you?" Naruto shifted away from Shikamaru, who was now trying to get himself together. "Or your little club?"
"I know where you're headed and I know what you're after. I also know what the hell is strapped to your back. And I also know how dangerous the road ahead is for you. Only an idiot like you wouldn't accept my offer. Now tell me, are you still an idiot, or have you truly changed?"
Naruto waited a long time. He stared at Shikamaru, who defaulted on trying to keep his cigarette lit from Naruto's wind chakra. However, before he could make his decision, he sensed chakra signatures. Hundreds of them. "We have company. Did you set me up?"
It was then that Shikamaru noticed them too. His eyes widened. "Shit, of course not. They're after you."
A drop of sweat streamed down his cheek bone before looking back at Naruto. "What do you have planned?"
"I'm not big on plans, remember? I suppose I'll fight them. You?" Naruto's wind chakra extended from his fingers like claws, invisible daggers carving the very air itself. Shikamaru had to brace himself from the sheer density of chakra from Naruto's technique, as the air-devouring claws made the air immensely shallower.
"Does it look like I could take on a couple hundred ROOT elites?" Shikamaru armed himself with Asuna's chakra blades and charged it with shadow chakra - Long, ebony tendrils emerged from the fine blades, coiling in the air like vipers.
"Well, you're going to have to try."
"Troublesome."
"At least you haven't changed."
"Whatever."
Naruto waited until he saw them. Through his sage eyes. He felt each of their presences. There was no anger or malice. No emotion, only focus. He'd been like that once before, when he'd worked for them. "So, who's the unlucky girl?"
"Like I'll tell you." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, his shadow blades fixed at a high, defensive stance.
The first sign of attack they received was a flogging of kunai. Hundreds of blades raining on them from above, so much that the sheer quantity blotted out the sun like a cloud - which was just what Naruto wanted. With a single wave of his hand, a dark dome-shaped shield swept over them from the shadows, protecting them from wave after wave of kunai. Shikamaru looked at his former friend as if he'd been robbed, while the taller man set the velvet package down against a nearby tree.
"Just what exactly did you do to piss them off?" Shikamaru yelled in between bombardments.
"I only mind-fucked their leader." Naruto said as he looked off to the side.
"Only? Did you at least get his number first?" The Nara joked, an incredulous expression plastered on his face, wondering what his friend had meant.
Naruto ignored the Nara, who he knew was far more interested in his powers than his own plight. When the bombardments were over, Naruto looked towards the sky and cursed. There were still some hints of sunlight. He sighed, focusing his chakra to maintain a balance with his surroundings.
"I'll take care of this." Naruto waved for Shikamaru to stay back.
"Fuck that. When have I ever left you behind?" Shikamaru's question remained unanswered.
With one hand, Naruto summoned a rasenshuriken, its spinning blades cutting through the air like butter and reverberating like thunder. He throttled it in front of him, using its rotating saws as a shield to block several wind and fire jutsus. The result caused the shuriken to grow in size, yet becoming even harder to control. However, he pumped even more nature chakra to gain stability. He threw the shuriken towards the hidden ROOT soldiers, sawing through trees along the way. The rasenshuriken's blades moaned as it exploded; wind rushing outward, nearly lifting Shikamaru from his feet. A harmony of screams could be heard as the monstrous technique took out dozens of elite soldiers.
"You'd have to do better than that," said Shikamaru, who decided to stand next to Naruto.
"Changed your mind about fighting?"
The Nara rolled his eyes in a frown, "Tell that to my wife."
"Any chance you'd tell me who she is?" Naruto queried while keeping his eyes on the sky and in the trees.
"Not unless you join me."
Shikamaru made a hand sign, black beginning to engulf his eyes. He, too, reached perfect clarity. "So that's where they've been hiding?"
Hearing noises from the trees above, Naruto offered, "Like the old days, huh?"
Shikamaru didn't answer as he'd already darted off, and so did Naruto, both brandishing their weapons.
Naruto immediately jumped into the thick canopy, meeting dozens of soldiers who began surrounded them. The first ROOT agent met Naruto's hard fist, a hard crunch audible throughout the kunai-ridden battlefield. Naruto jumped from tree-to-tree, parrying and countering plenty of close-range techniques sent his way. An ice-infused fist went through his guard and plunged into his lung. Within a moment, the entire branch that he and his pursuers stood on exploded in a cloud of flame. All of the sudden, dozens of copies of Naruto's riddled the decaying canopy, each clone grunting out techniques of their own.
The Nara held his own, as well, immobilizing and killing a group of ten with a single "Ninja art: Shadow Weaving" as swaths of shadowy claws erupted from the shadows of the rotting foliage, then pinning and burying the surrounding ninjas in the ground. Gallons of blood erupted around the two shadow-wielding shinobi, painting the blackened ground red like an artist's palette.
Suddenly, a trio of burly men erupted from the ground with great speed, attempting to catch the Nara off-guard as he was busy maintaining a hand seal.
Naruto cursed, "Wind release: Rasenshield!"
A cloud of smoke escaped the side of Shikamaru's shoulder, a clone appearing to have attached itself and hid on the confused Nara's shoulder. It quickly sucked in air, and then swells of wind chakra suddenly expelled from his torso like waves, rebuking the three attackers and their jutsus that lunged towards him. Then, the wind chakra began to spin around them like a maelstrom, like a rasengan, reaching the diameter of a small house. The force of the giant rasengan easily uprooted trees, kicking up rocks and ninjas alike, whipping around the Nara and the clone like a spherical hurricane. The forces of the technique ripped open the earth and their enemies' flesh like stale paper and continued to do so until no one was left alive.
When the technique died off, what was once a thick forest became a field of limbs, torsos, kicked up rocks and uprooted trees. Blood stained every inch of the field. A pervasive, musty smell of human fluids flooded the air as a small shadow grew larger in size and two men were spat out.
As Shikamaru warily got up, he stared at his former comrade, trying to recount the quick battle. What was once a numbers disadvantage became an easy victory. From his days serving ROOT, he recounted the blonde-turned brunette being good, but not that good. These strange, new powers that were so similar to Shikamaru's own - and yet were so different - allowed them to turn an impossible situation into child's play.
The two ninjas had no time to exchange words as even more chakra signatures made their selves known beyond the site of the battlefield. They immediately took to higher ground, leaping up to the trees that weren't already felled from Naruto's technique. Naruto eyed Shikamaru's sweaty form, tattoos formed across the Nara's face - tattoos that Naruto knew were a sign of a sort of sage form, if the natural energy radiating from Shikamaru's form wasn't evidence enough.
Shikamaru eyed Naruto as well; both surprise and fright invaded his thoughts as the taller ninja had undergone a transformation himself. Naruto's face was also covered in sage tattoos – this, the Nara was familiar of. However, Naruto's eyes were clouded with pure black. And what appeared to be two, black vipers erupted from his shoulder blades. The two, bloodthirsty snakes eyed the Nara hungrily, their red eyes and rows of jagged teeth brandished threateningly. The Nara admitted that he'd seen crazy things, but nothing as otherworldly as this. This version of Naruto, who right now seemed so foreign to him, was truly not the same. And he had to know why.
A pungent smell made its way to Naruto's nostrils. He sniffed the air before catching a hand that held a poisoned kunai that tried to make its way towards his stomach from the ground below. Naruto yanked the offending ROOT agent's arm up until he was able to look offending agent in the face, only to see a pair of terrified eyes. Naruto filled his other hand with wind chakra and blasted the agent into the darkening sky. One of the vipers that stretched from his back yanked the man who sailed mid-air and consumed him. The insatiable snake spat the kunai, which dripped with a black, toxic substance, back at Naruto who caught it effortlessly.
Another agent came from above, shooting herself from a higher branch with a fiery sword aimed at Naruto's heart. With a blast of wind, Naruto shot the poisoned kunai towards her shoulder. The impact stopped her midair and she fell onto a branch before fading into black as she fell below the canopy of leaves. The other viper eagerly dived below, slithering down the trees until a sickening crunch could be heard, followed by grotesque screams of pain.
The next three attackers surrounded him; Naruto's sage eyes revealed one crouching low below him, a snake getting ready to strike, and two perching above him. Naruto growled a sound that seemed to make even the trees shudder in pain as wind chakra pulled all three agents towards the tall ninja. Black matter erupted from his skin and spiraled around his forearms and unto his hands, forming blades shaped like daggers on his fingers. As the invaders were throttled towards him by his technique, he spun, flourishing his keen, umbrous blades like a dervish reciting a deadly dance. The bodies fell one by one far below into the forest floor. He stopped his movements and listened.
Naruto heard more coming. He looked towards the sky and smiled. The sun was going down, the sky bleeding black as the day slowly turned to night. He immediately jumped back down towards the ground while his attackers tried to re-orientate themselves after the surprise of his form. He let the forest's shadows touch him, engulfing him until he was covered with a black, skin-tight membrane that reached all the way up to his neck, leaving only his head exposed. A line of black mist oozed from his eyes like a black smoke, frightening even the hardest of veterans. He raised his hand in the air and the shadows materialized in his hand into a black, straight-edged saber. In a dark plume of smoke, he whisked himself away and became one with the night, killing many with his sword. Shouts permeated the forest as thick waves of his tainted chakra slowly seeped its way between every blade of grass, under every upturned rock in hopes of seizing life. He allowed the black matter's influence to slowly seep into his subconscious as small grin seized his features. With a wave of his hand, the immediate area was covered in pitch black. Not a single shred of light was allowed to pass through and everything was now under his domain.
Shikamaru summoned shadowy tendrils from every dark orifice of the forest, stabbing any moving life form that threatened him with either a jutsu or a weapon. He sprinted across the forest floor, scouting for life, while tendrils continued to impale those behind him in a wave of destruction. Several attacks came close to harming him, but he found a spherical shield that effectively shielded him from harm. He smiled with relief as his own jutsu saved his life while at the same time impaling everyone in the immediate vicinity. He ignored the various screams of combat and focused on surviving. Though the two shadow users had annihilated the brunt of the ROOT forces that ambushed them, smaller cells of attackers continued to fight them. As the Nara defeated each soldier using his clan's jutsus, he swore he felt small, yellow eyes sneering at him from behind the shade of the surrounding forest. Some even intervened in his fights, possibly out of a whim, and helped him kill some of his attackers. This, he had to assume, was Naruto's doing.
He looked towards Naruto, who slashed away at the resisting forces with his shadowy blade. Projections of darkness continued to erupt from his back and batted away ROOT agents trying to mount a surprise attack. The tendrils grabbed at the endless supply of ninjas, either whipping their bodies at each other or feeding them to the two tireless vipers that hung on the ninja's shoulders - seemingly with minds of their own. Shikamaru focused once more at his own enemies, slicing at them with shadowy blades of his own.
ROOT forces continued to spill down the hills and trees towards the battlefield in a desperate attempt to kill the two shadow-users. Many had felt true fear for the first time and found it to be a heavy blanket that anchored their hearts and immobilizing their bodies. Eventually, the last of the attackers surround both Naruto and Shikamaru, whose backs faced one another. Both men, despite their power, grew tired due to hours of fighting.
Naruto quickly spotted their commander who wore a red-horned mask. Naruto gripped his sword and purged it into the ground. And then the forest floor erupted. Tiny, little hands reached out from pockets of darkness that surrounded the ROOT agents and pulled themselves out of the ground. Shikamaru gasped as small, black humanoids with yellow eyes and jagged teeth grasped onto the elite soldiers pull them down into the darkness, where sounds of dismemberment and chittering laughter could be heard. A single, black humanoid was left on the battlefield and clumsily shambled beside Shikamaru, who poised his shadow blades at it. The little goblin pointed at the Nara while sending Naruto a questioning look.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru demanded. "Tell it I'm with you!"
"You're not." Naruto stated simply, his voice distorted by his own power. Needlessly, Naruto shook his head and the small goblin-like creature chuckled, and then saluted him before receding back into the shadow of darkness. The two of them were now alone, all their attackers either dead or dragged into the abyss by forces unknown to the Nara. The two ex-comrades reverted back to their regular forms, if a bit disheveled.
"What the hell was that?" Shikamaru shakily inquired, trying to sound coherent. "And your powers. What the hell happened to you, Naruto?"
"It's been four months since I last saw you, Shikamaru." Naruto stated as he found the velvet package he previously carried and set it on his back. "It's been four months since I last contacted anyone. A lot can happen in that time."
Shikamaru sent him a pleading. "Let me in, Naruto. It doesn't have to be like this!"
"It does." Naruto ignored the Nara, turned around and looked at the sky once again. Stars had begun to peek out from the darkness that threatened to oppress the night sky. He started walking east once more, but the Nara stopped rounded and blocked his way.
"No it doesn't. I don't care how powerful you've gotten. You still can't do this alone. You need us."
Suddenly, Naruto winced as pain shot in his head. He fell to one knee as a familiar voice snaked in his thoughts.
You don't need him!
Shut up! Naruto willed the pain to end.
Kill him! Rip hisss Flesssssh apart!
Naruto spotted a single humanoid quietly creep up behind Shikamaru, an insatiable hunger on its black features.
No! He willed it to disappear, and suddenly the pain and the creature and the foreign voice ceased to be.
"What are you looking at?" Shikamaru looked behind himself, but found nothing. Naruto slowly stood back up.
"Nothing. The rest of Danzou's forces will be here within a few hours, this time in thousands. They'll find this place and their scientists and researchers will no doubt realize that this all has been done by a shadow user, by you, since our powers are awfully similar. They'll be pinning this on you, which will further endanger you and your wife, whoever she may be. Knowing that, do you still want me on your side?"
Shikamaru nodded. "If anything, it makes me want your assistance even more. Fire country needs you, Naruto. As well as the entirety of the elemental nations. What do you say?"
"I doubt I'll be needing you."
"I already told you, you can't beat Danzou on your own, as powerful as you've gotten. You'll need my help. I'll also need yours."
"I refuse to help an old enemy." Naruto said adamantly.
"The moment you turned your back on Danzou, you became my ally." Shikamaru crossed his arms but breathed a sigh of defeat. "When you're done finding what you're looking for, when you've found Landshark, remember my offer. You know where to find me."
Naruto stood motionless, his grey eyes on the night sky. He made no indication of his thoughts. Soundlessly, he departed eastward, giving his former comrade no hint of a reply.
Shikamaru eyed the eastward horizon, and found that there were no stars in that direction. He bowed his head in annoyance as he slowly sunk into the depths of the shadows.
Jutsu List:
Rasenshuriken - A technique Naruto developed in his teens that I decided should be carried into this story. It's power level and effects in this story is pretty much the same as in the cannon Naruto universe.
Rasenshield - A technique I picked up in one of the other stories (I forgot which one) that is similar to the Oodama Rasengan in size. But instead of being produced from Naruto's hands, it is produced from his lungs, and is expelled outward to create a Rasengan large enough to act as a shield, among other things.
Unnamed wind technique #1 - The one that pulled enemies towards Naruto. Will be named at a later chapter.
Unnamed wind technique #2 - The one where Naruto blasted wind chakra at the ROOT agents. Will be named at a later chapter
Author's note #2 (Final thoughts):
Although I do like how most stories have characters name their techniques out loud during combat (It certainly adds a sense of immersion in the story), it is not my writing style to do so. I feel like although Kishimoto's version of ninjas is really unique, it doesn't fit with my perception of how they should be - which is that of a sneaky, stealthy assassin. Therefore, I won't usually have the characters name their techniques in battle, at least in this story.
Well, I hoped you guys enjoyed this story, is this has been in my head for years! Please Review your thoughts on it and feel free to ask questions! I'll try to answer them without spoiling any future chapters. And hopefully, If there are enough reviews I may even put out another chapter before Christmas. Speaking of which, happy holidays!