Ninja of Oblivion
The official entry of Eternal Thief for Kraken's Ghost's 2008 fanfiction challenge.
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Chapter 1: Into Oblivion
Over fifteen millennia ago, the Nine Bijuu of Hell descended upon the land of Shinobi. They ravaged across the land pillaging and destroying everything that they found. They came from the peaks of the mountains of what is now Iwa. Like Heaven, Hell is kept in the sky. The Bijuu descended and used the mountains like ladders. They quickly began pushing their way East, determined to continue until they had reached what is now known as Sea Country. They encountered little resistance in the West as the shinobi were unsuspecting. But, word spread to the Shinobi in the East of this impending force. Word had also spread of the Bijuu's unique abilities over Nature.
The Shinobi, who were determined not to let the Bijuu destroy everything that they had built. Although they were primitive warriors, their lack of techniques had made them incredibly fierce masters of chakra. These Chakra wielding Shinobi gathered in the one area where only one element was truly present, the great deserts of present day Suna. They gathered there, and they waited. The Shinobi waited for eight days and eight nights. And on the morning of the ninth day, the enormous Bijuu broke over the horizon.
The Bijuu quickly engaged the Shinobi in a fierce battle. Although the Bijuu were much larger, and much stronger, they lacked most of their elements. Only the weakest of the nine, Shukaku, was truly in his element, and even then, the chakra masters had so thoroughly saturated it with their chakra it was hard for Shukaku to control the sand. Even with these disadvantages, the Bijuu were far from helpless.
The battle between them raged on for nine days and nine nights. Until one day, a group of the nine most powerful Chakra Masters came to face the Bijuu. Concentrating their simply enormous chakra stores to force the Bijuu back into Hell. This chaotic swirl created masses of incredibly dense chakra, floating throughout the area. The stress of such a move killed the Nine Chakra Masters. So, the Shinobi went about their business.
Several years later the Bijuu ripped back through the rifts between worlds. Although, this time they used the area from which they had been forced back, as it was already weak. The resulting mix of dense chakra and youkai tore a rip in the fabric of dimension all across the deserts of Suna. The Bijuu, not wanting another defeat, hid in various areas as they waited for the Shinobi to weaken.
Roughly Fifteen Millennia later, the Bijuu were all sealed or deep in hiding. Their most powerful leader, the Kyuubi, had just been imprisoned. Those hiding lost their will to fight and so condemned themselves to the rest of eternity in solitude. However, the tear in reality that the Bijuu had created did not heal. Reality was not ever changing. Continuously progressing and adding yes, but repairing, no. More realities would continuously appear, and many would eventually end, but they could not, would not, heal. The tear would be there till the reality ceased to exist.
As such, the Broken Lands as they have come to be known are a nether of chaos. They always swirl and twist and bend and consume whatever happens to enter into their realm. Those that enter are said to never return. And those that have been said to have returned, return with fuddled minds and warped bodies. Bringing unknown diseases infecting their bodies, unknown conditions affecting their minds, strange wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding, strange languages they couldn't understand, strange clothes made of unnatural things, even strange devices that seemed to be able to communicate over long distances. Some of these technologies were taken and eventually replicated. Several important items such as headsets, walkie-talkies, even refrigerators, came from the strange worlds beyond.
However, in almost every instance, the person died, or was slaughtered. No one ever survived long enough to explain the wonders they'd seen. None lived to explain small pox, malaria, guns, bullets, bombs that could level entire cities, synthetic fibers, the languages such as English, Chinese, Swahili, Swedish, German. Nor did they live to explain any number of the strange horrors that seemed to sprout from the minds of the demented.
Zombies overrunning cities, strange green creatures assaulting a city, a small boy with a ring, a fat guy and a giant turtle, huge screaming metal birds that fired their talons and destroyed giant armored, colored beetles, with long snouts that fired shells of death. Strange men being followed by colored little plant people, and perhaps, strangest of all, one shinobi claimed to have been rolled up into a giant ball of some sort, and spoken with a miniscule "Prince," claiming he was re-building the stars, constellations, and even the Moon! The shinobi had obviously been insane, and was killed. Oh how the shinobi who killed him would have stared if they had seen what that man had!
Many of these instances were spaced out by decades upon decades of time! However, there have been several recorded instances of Shinobi disappearing for years. One happened to be the case of an unnamed shinobi from the Village of the Gods. The village was short lived as it was quickly attacked by the other villages after they claimed to have the power of Kami on their side. However, this shinobi appeared alongside one from Iwa. The man from Iwa had disappeared only minutes before, and came out old and grayed, perhaps somewhere over the age of sixty. The man from the Village of the Gods came out just like the day he went in, only he had disappeared over four millennia ago. To the worlds beyond the tear, time was of no object.
Now, these Broken Lands were uninhabited by anyone. Only a few ever willingly entered. Most were Missing Nins driven to the edge of doom, and were seeking an escape. They dove head first into the nether that consumed the Broken Lands. Hunter-Nin never pursued them any further. If a Missing Nin DID go into the Broken Lands, their status was changed from whatever it happened to be in the Bingo Books, to a large red, B. This B stood for Broken. The ninja would never be a problem ever again.
Now, no one has ever pursued anyone into the Broken Lands for any reason. It has been considered too dangerous. And until this point, no one has ever been ordered to enter the Broken Lands. But these basic, unspoken Laws, were about to be broken.
Konoha, Office of the Hokage, Present Day.
One Uzumaki Naruto stood in front of Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. Her head was buried in her hands as she pondered the next course of action. Naruto had just slain over a hundred and fifty 'loyal' Konoha Shinobi. Now, these Shinobi were technically traitors, choosing to follow the usurper, Danzo, rather than Tsunade. However, the Council was going to twist this into a reason for the 'demon' to be slain.
"Naruto… I'm sorry but I just don't think there's anything I can do…"
Naruto just sighed and rocked back on his heels. "Maybe… maybe you don't need to do anything." Tsunade just gave Naruto a strange look. She obviously felt the need the need to help her surrogate younger brother.
"What are you talking about Naruto…? There's no way I can get you out of this! If it was any other shinobi… maybe… but now that the council will be pushing for your execution, even though every single one of those bastards was a traitor! They may have been traitorous followers of Danzo, but the Council will only view it as the slaughter of a hundred fifty 'loyal' Konoha Shinobi. However much I hate it, I CAN'T do anything!" Tsunade slammed her hand against the desk in anger nearly breaking it in half..
"Tsunade, don't you remember the Appropriate Exchange Probation Reinstatement Act?" Tsunade blinked.
"How did you…" Tsunade had no idea how Naruto had come across that law. It had been decades since it was used. It was never repealed since no one even remembered it, much less even tried to use it! "Remind me again, what does the Appropriate Exchange Probation Reinstatement Act say?"
"The AEPRA says, that any shinobi convicted of a crime high enough to warrant expulsion from their village, and addition to the list of missing-nins, if they can bring in the head of a High ranking Missing nin from the village of their origin, they may be reinstated as active ninja, on a period of probation, varying in length according to the offence!" Tsunade just stared. It was a wonder that it was never repealed. The whole law was bat-shit crazy!
"Naruto… this kind of crime would require the heads of at least two separate, S-class, Konoha Missing-Nin! Where do you plan do find them?"
"Well, both Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi have been spotted nearby each other. It's the perfect opportunity! I'll just go in, retrieve their heads and come back!" Naruto stared down the much older shinobi who also happened to be his superior.
"You avoided the question." Tsunade sat up coming to a sudden realization of where exactly he meant to go. "No. I will not let you go there! I can't… it wouldn't be right…" Naruto just stared at Tsunade.
"I'm sorry Tsunade, but I no longer need your permission to leave. Whether you want me to or not, I'm heading to the Broken Lands. When I return I'll be carrying both Orochimaru's and Itachi's heads!" Naruto leaped out the window, shattering the glass as he broke through it. He flipped into a spin, before focusing chakra into his feet and launching off the edge of the tower towards the edge of the tower. Tsunade just rubbed her temples and grabbed a bottle of her strongest sake.
"Not enough Sake in the world to handle that brat…" Tsunade simply leaned her head back, and began the process of drinking herself into a stupor.
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Suna, Uninhabited Desert, Several Weeks Later
Naruto collapsed onto the hot sand. It was high noon and there was little to nothing around him. He had been walking for days. He hadn't seen anyone in that time. He knew however, that Hunter-nin were fast on his tail. Naruto pushed himself up and continued walking. He would find Itachi and Orochimaru, and he would kill them. He had to. He just had to. He had a promise to fulfill. He had nearly failed before, but this time, he wouldn't fail.
Several Hours Later…
Naruto was almost literally dieing of thirst. He was becoming bleary-eyed and weak. He lifted his head to look ahead, when he saw it.
It was beautiful and terrifying in the same instant. It was absolutely nothing, yet it held more substance then anything he had ever seen. It was an ugly twisted being, yet it held unmatched beauty. It struck faster then lightning, yet it crawled along just like a snail. It walked on the ground, yet it flew into the sky. It spoke to him in hushed tones, yet it lacked a voice. All this and more was beheld when Naruto first encountered the Broken Souls.
The Broken Souls is technically a culmination of all the different realities colliding. They strike out into one another, forming large arrays of beautiful, colorful light. However, most people believe them to be made of the souls lost in the Broken Lands. However, none of this made any difference to Naruto as a voice came from behind him.
"Well, well, well! Imagine that, the rumors of Konoha's first ever Double-S Class Missing-Nin heading for the Broken Lands were true! And he's in pretty bad shape! Oh what a lucky day for me. I'll be receiving quite a bonus for this!" Naruto only noticed the white porcelain mask before he made his decision. He didn't even take into account how entirely insane this man sounded. Nor how giddy he appeared. He only knew, this man's mission was to erase his existence. He had worked too hard for that to happen.
He had two objectives at the moment. First and foremost, escape this deranged Hunter-Nin. Secondly, find Orochimaru and Itachi. Naruto knew that his targets were in the Broken Lands. As was his only avenue of escape. Making a split second decision, Naruto mustered up what strength he had, and hurled himself into the light.
The Hunter-Nin watched as Naruto threw himself into the light. "Oh Poo. Now I won't be able to get that new chair!" The Hunter-nin seemed disappointed, but that made no difference to him as the realities struck out at him, disturbed by Naruto's entrance, and cut the Hunter-Nin in half.
Within the Broken Souls Naruto watched the colors swirl past. It was a terrifying yet somewhat calming experience. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling of something shifting, breaking, and departing from his body, leaving behind something large and bulky. Like someone in a hurry to catch a plane leaving behind their luggage. The person went, but not what they carried. He watched in fascination as a blurry picture of a forest rapidly approached his face. He closed his eyes as he began to lose consciousness. The image of a man wearing a black hood leaning over his body, with several strange, things, in the background, was the last thing he saw before he succumbed to darkness.
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Edited: September 4th, 2008