Edit, 5/12/12: Hey new readers! This won't bother you, but I'm editing Dark Angel, starting today. Not much plot-wise (not that experienced yet, haha) but those small irritating grammar errors or sentences that bother me and probably you too. I'll keep my author's notes for sentimental reasons (but I don't like them, I was so childish back then xD) I'll add names for the chapter titles too, just because it's something I've always wanted to do :) So if you see some chapters with names and some without, know I'm going to get there eventually. And anyone who spots a mistake I've missed, please tell me! See you later and have fun reading!
Edit, 7/4/12: A/Ns will be removed for every single chapter, unless they aren't horribly annoying. Even if they aren't horribly annoying, I might remove them anyway as I edit. xD Some A/Ns at the bottom will be kept because they're necessary. Of course, even though the A/Ns are gone, that doesn't mean you can't review. REVIEWS ARE NICE. :)
Disclaimer for whole fic: I don't own Naruto, to my chagrin.
Please note: This splits from canon-storyline quite a bit. Characters become massively OOC (cough Naruto cough) later, as his personality basically goes from happy to cold. Yeah. I write in Japanese-style, meaning last names come first and I'll be using more of the Japanese versions of things versus English. Also, Madara is Tobi/Tobidara in this, because when I wrote it I didn't know that Kishimoto would pull a massive troll over us and reveal Tobi was not, in fact, Madara. Oops, spoiler. :P
Everything finally said... Please enjoy Dark Angel! ^_^
Dark Angel: Prologue
Even after all I did for you, this is how you repay me… By forgetting me. –Naruto, in Dark Angel
You say if you could fly, you'd never come back. –Lyrics from Bluebird, by Ikimono Gakari
Other than the nearly soundless wisp of wind blowing past the wreckage, Konoha was utterly and eerily silent.
Never had it ever been this quiet, not even at the dead of night. And never had Konoha been blasted to this range of destruction. It was as if the mighty village had never even existed.
Uzumaki Naruto stared in complete shock at his former home.
He was standing on a chunk of what had used to be the great wall surrounding the village. Now, it was nothing more than rubble and debris. His gaze traveled blankly over the splinters of cracked houses, shingles of broken roofs, but tried to avoid the pitiful tiny bodies of the children and larger forms of the adults.
What had happened while he was gone?
Why hadn't anyone come and fetched him? It's wasn't like he was turning into half-toads on the stupid mountain eating bugsfor fun! It was so he could prevent precisely this from happening, because Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew what—or rather who—had arrived looking for the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki.
Pein. Akatsuki.
And he had completely decimated Konohagakure.
Naruto began running, hardly aware of what he was doing. Even when his feet carried him within an inch of the crumpled figures lying on the ground, not one stirred. In a panic, he ran faster and faster toward the center of the village, marred by a giant crater. And then—
He stopped dead in his tracks.
No. Please, don't let that be who he thought it was. No, no, no, NO! Fists trembling, Naruto couldn't stop himself from stepping closer…and closer. Even when he stood right in front of the corpse, it was laughable. Kakashi, dead? Please! The great Copy-Ninja couldn't just up and die! But, that was exactly what it looked like.
Naruto spoke for the first time since he'd come back. "K…Kakashi-sensei?"
No answer.
Louder. "Kakashi-sensei!" No answer. Naruto knelt in front of the masked, gray-haired man, and reached out to shake his shoulders. Wedged between two large rocks, the corpse didn't move much. He knew the instant his hands met cold flesh that his sensei was dead, but that didn't mean he had to acknowledge it. "Kakashi-sensei! Wake up! Please?"
A while later, Naruto became aware of a sharp knife-like pain in his chest, and the hot tears that were running down his cheeks. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he spoke again, head bowed. "First Jiraiya-sensei, now Kakashi-sensei. Will all my teachers be taken away?" His hand was pressed to his chest, right above his heart. Naruto could feel it thumping erratically beneath the thick orange cloth. A voice whispered somewhere in his head: Now you know the feeling of losing bonds…
Like Sasuke.
Naruto jerked, his eyes opening wide. "Sasuke…" he mumbled. He stumbled to his feet and backed away from Kakashi. Something caught his eye, and he turned his head to see Chouji lying on the ground, immobile.
"Augh!" he cried. Another one? However, when he looked closer, he could see the slight differences between this man and Chouji—it was his dad. Who else hadn't survived?
Wind rushed in Naruto's ears as he leaped over the carnage. Escape was the only thing on his mind. No more! No more! I don't want to lose any more! I don't want to ever have this feeling again!
But when he caught a flash of pink in the corner of his vision, Naruto fought the urge to run and run and run forever. Sakura-chan! the logical part of his mind urged. Check on Sakura-chan! Then an unfamiliar, growling voice intruded.
Weak.
That was it. That was the only thing the voice said, but Naruto cringed like he'd been punched.
You're weak. How can you ever save anyone like this? How can you ever bring Sasuke back when you're…so weak? A low, spine-crawling laugh.That's it. You can't. If you stay, you'll just lose more precious people- not that I know what 'precious people' are. Bonds are weak. Hatred makes you strong. Look at Sasuke. He's an avenger, fueled by pain and blood.
Naruto gritted his teeth. Damn Kyuubi for picking this moment to appear! The fox knew his weak moments entirely too well, and seized every chance it could to escape. The voice rang on in his mind, and he could picture all too well the giant orange fox baring its dagger-teeth in laughter. You know what, I'll make a deal with you.
He couldn't help but listen, because somewhere deep inside him he felt that the Kyuubi really did intend to do something to help Naruto. Question was: should he take the gamble? Do you want to lose more people? The logical voice had long since been crushed away, and the sniveling voice was back—the one that had said, "Now you know the feeling of losing bonds…"
What? Naruto asked the kitsune.
Leave Konoha.
Huh? Naruto blinked quickly for a few seconds before snarling in his head, Are you crazy? Why would I do that? Konoha is my home!
You will be able to protect Konoha if you leave.
That doesn't make any sense!
You wanted to know. Nobody said you had to accept it. Of course, I've lived a long time, child, and I know what is best. The growly voice lowered to something that resembled a throaty purr. This only requires two things that are relatively easy to accomplish. One, you must become a missing-nin. Two, you must never associate with any of your precious people again!Naruto's eyes widened as the Kyuubi's words hit home, his mouth opening. Don't interrupt until I'm done! Hasn't anyone taught you manners? Oh wait... right, you're an orphan. How could I have forgotten?
Anger blazed across his face. Are you done?!
The voice gave a chuckle. Patience is a virtue… The fox was making fun of him! The fox was making fun of him! Something you obviously don't have, along with a brain. Why couldn't I have been stuck in the Uchiha? Stop running! I'm talking, aren't I?
Then freaking talk already!
If you agree with the two conditions, all that's left is the fun part. Naruto could feel the Nine-Tails grinning madly. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to see into the demon's mind. But only sometimes.
All that's left is picking off the Akatsuki and the missing-nin. See? This way, child—get a new nickname, Naruto thought, but the fox ignored him—you're protecting Konoha by preventing any further—disaster zones. And then you might become strong enough to bring Sasuke back. There was a delirious snort, and then Naruto could just barely feel the Kyuubi muttering something along the lines of "Not that the villagers would welcome you…"
Naruto stared at his hands. The fox was asking him to become a missing-nin and leave everyone behind, just so…
So no one else died.
Well? Do we have a deal?
Fukasaku strained his aging eyes and tried to make out what he was seeing.
Just because the eyes saw it didn't mean the brain processed it.
It appeared to the Great Sage Toad that the dark form in a red coat with black flames was Naruto…
…and he was going away from the village.
"Naruto!" he shouted. "Where are you going?"
But Naruto didn't stop, and kept going until he vanished among the trees. "Naruto!" he shouted again, starting to hop after him, when his wife said softly:
"Let him go. We've trained him hard enough now.
"From now on, it's Naruto's choice which path he walks on."
Night fell in silent swoops of raven's wings, enveloping Naruto as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch.
I am a missing-nin now.
I can never go back.
I…
Am gone.
The peaceful silence was broken abruptly.
Now, don't think like that...
Shut up! You're not the one leaving. You're not the one who's losing friendships! You're just a monster who has nothing to lose and everything to gain! Naruto snarled in his head, and felt faintly surprised when the Nine-Tails actually shut up and seemed to vanish into his cage again.
That aside, Naruto fell back into his melancholy state.
Hours later, when the moon was high but the sky hadn't yet started to brighten, Naruto finally sat down to rest. He still was acting the way a robot would, jerky but responsive, and the Kyuubi hadn't tried to talk again. Leaning his head back against the rough bark of the tree, Naruto couldn't help but feel incredibly lonely as he set to the task that would ultimately cut the ties that bound him to Konoha.
This is all for you. The 'King' that Shikamaru was always talking about. The unborn children of the village. I am protecting the village, honoring my promises. He had to repeat those words like a mantra so he wouldn't forget his new dream in life. The Hokage one was long discarded in the ashes of despair and pain.
Naruto walked through the corridors of his mind. It wasn't in the dreary watery sewer pipes that lead to the fox's cage, but a pure black tiled passage. Soon, he came to a room that had a soaring roof, and what seemed to be a tiny skylight far, far away. All around the room were gilded silver cages.
No one could say Naruto didn't have an active imagination.
This was the room where Naruto kept all his precious people- all the memories, good and bad.
And now it was time to set them free, if he really wanted to be…the perfect killer.
"This is good-bye," Naruto told the people in the cages. They never stood still, but fluctuated in between all the various memories he'd had of them.
There was pink-haired Sakura-chan, his first love. Ino-'pig', Sakura's best friend and rival. Lazy Shikamaru, Konoha's resident genius, and Chouji, who always had a bag of chips. The memories floated, as if in a current, up and out the white skylight. Naruto continued along the front of the room, making sure to lock the cages so the memories couldn't return.
Dog-breath Kiba and his not-so-small puppy Akamaru; creepy bug-dude Shino (and I never did get to see his eyes); shy, bashful Hinata who, for some reason, always turned red around him… Youthful Lee, with his crazy goals; stoic Neji who no longer believed in destiny; the weapons' mistress Tenten. Konohamaru, his own 'rival', named after Konohagakure.
I guess you'll become the Rokudaime Hokage after all, Naruto thought as he watched the black-haired boy run up and out. Even crazy Sai was there, but in time he too was let free of his cage, just like everyone else: the Sand's Kazekage, Gaara, who thought no one would ever love him. His siblings, Temari and Kankuro, the wind user and puppet master. Gai-sensei, Lee's insane teacher. Kurenai-sensei, the red-eyed beauty, Tsunade-baa-chan, who had so fondly tucked him under her wing and even gifted him with her prized necklace. Yamato-taichou, their replacement sensei. Shizune, Tsunade's assistant.
And Iruka-sensei, the first to accept Naruto.
Finally, Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's own rival and best friend. The one who'd tried to kill him, the one who had been willing to die for him, the one who Naruto still believed was his friend despite everything between them. Sasuke stared wordlessly, eyes as opaque as ever, when Naruto silently opened the door. Still without speaking, he left. "I'll bring you back," Naruto whispered… but there was no heart, no conviction, in his words. Somehow, they both knew that when this was all over, Naruto would be a very different person from who he was now.
All the living people were gone. Naruto moved silently to the dead's section, hidden far back in the room, almost overshadowed by the brilliance of the living. But when one approached, they could see the gleaming bars that always looked freshly polished, proving Naruto still remembered them, because he knew how lonely it was to be forgotten.
There was Lady Chiyo, who'd given her life to bring Gaara back. Asuma-sensei, Team 10's teacher, who'd died facing Hidan and Kakuzu. The Third Hokage, who had too taken care of Naruto. And Jiraiya-sensei, still loud and pervy even in the memories. Naruto felt an ache in his chest, and quickly opened the cage. The ache didn't go away, however, because the next cage belonged to Kakashi. Kakashi, in the current memory, was just reading a book. He glanced up when Naruto reached his cage, and said, "Ah, Naruto."
Naruto smiled sadly.
"I guess it's time for me to go then. Promise you'll protect the village no matter what?" When Naruto nodded, having no voice, Kakashi smiled his curving-eye smile. "Good." Kakashi began to leave, still holding his Icha Icha Paradise book. And then, when he was almost so far away Naruto couldn't hear, he called (one last goodbye), "Remember! Those who don't follow the rules are scum…but those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum."
Naruto stared after his sensei, even though Kakashi was gone. Head lowering, he went to the next and last cage, and stared at himself.
It was a younger Naruto, the resentful one who'd been rejected entirely by the villagers. By everyone. Then the image flickered to the Naruto who'd been loved by friends, who'd known the meaning of 'bonds' for the first time. Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Neji, Lee, Gaara; they all couldn't be completely released until younger Naruto was gone.
The last image was the Naruto coming back, coming home, after three years. Matured, but still the moron. With unreadable, indescribably blue eyes, the one in the cage observed the newest Naruto before him, the soon-to-be 'protector' of Konoha.
Naruto smiled again.
"Ja."
A few weeks later, Uzumaki Naruto was officially declared a missing-nin.