The Demon Within

Summary: In a more familiar universe, Naruto and co were Konoha ninjas, devoted to the promotion of peace and justice in a more serene, idyllic world. But this world is far from serene. A corrupt totalitarian regime rules over the people of the Fire Country with an iron fist. Those who resist this oppression face swift retribution from the shadow warriors of Konoha, the regime's shadowy secret police. Using advanced technology and dedicated training, Konoha hunts down all those who would resist.

Zealous from years of careful propaganda bombardment, nine youths eagerly join the secret police to serve flag and country. But doing the dirty work for the Party leaders reveals the truth hidden behind the lies. Will their humanity prevail, or will the demon within consume them?

Chapter One: The Shadow Warriors

AN: Obviously, I don't own the Naruto franchise. That aside, all references towards the history of 20th century totalitarianism are not purely coincidental. In fact, mad propz to you the reader if you can find them all. Think of it as a literary scavenger hunt

Anyway, I've been thinking about this fic for a little while now. It's the ninja action of Naruto in a dystopian cyberpunk world. Splashes of V for Vendetta, and the Spanish Revolution will be thrown in for good measure. I hope you enjoy this rather interesting concoction that I've brewed. Revised and edited as of June 11th.


"If you want to imagine the future, imagine a boot stepping on a human face—forever." –George Orwell

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, casting its bright glow over the dim squalor of Unity City's slums. The day begins anew once more, just like it has since the beginning of time. Mighty Sol cares not for the affairs of the mortal world below, yet humanity has found it convenient to arbitrarily mark moments of importance by the sun's trek through the sky. The megalomaniacal rulers of the Fire Country have found it fitting to name this day for such importance. Today marked the 60th anniversary of the New Order, as the ruling Guardian Party has styled its rise to power. For the past sixty years, the Party oligarchy has held an iron grip on the Fire Country, outlawing all opposition.

Today, the military will hold a massive parade through the streets of Unity City in honor of Kami-sama, Party and Fatherland. Columns of soldiers, dressed in their finest dress uniforms, will goosestep down Central Avenue, flanked by an impressive display of military might: hundreds of tanks, armored troop carriers, rocket batteries and even a few tactical nuclear missile launchers will join in the display, just for good measure. This year's New Order Parade will be no different than the past fifty-nine except in scale. Half of Unity City's population will show up to enthusiastically cheer on the military regime, and other half will arrive solely to keep up 

appearances, not willing to risk an unpleasant middle-of-the-night house call by Konoha for their lack of patriotism.

Uzumaki Naruto would have been in the enthusiastic crowd this year had something more important not come up. The eighteen year old energetic blond would have never dreamed of missing New Order Parade until recently. Until just yesterday he had planned on attending the parade. That was until he learned that he had been selected to take the Konoha entrance exams.

As a young orphan boy, he'd seen the "exploits" of the Konoha organization, and had wanted to join ever since. He worked hard all through school, joining the Guardian Youth junior paramilitary as soon as he entered high school. He devoted his entire life to military training of the Guardian Youth, and soon became a junior squad leader, dazzling his teachers with his dedication. Now it had all paid off. He quickly rushed through his morning routine, donned his black and orange squad leader's uniform, and dashed out the door of his guardian's apartment. He ran to the corner subway station as fast as he could, acceptance letter in hand. Naruto hurriedly paid the subway toll, and dashed down to the vacant platform. He quickly found a vacant bench, and sat down to read his acceptance letter once more.

Uchiha Sasuke also found himself missing the patriotic festivities of the day. He too had been summoned to take the Konoha entrance exam. Today was the day he had waited for all his life; today he'd get the chance to join the organization that was dedicated to hunting down traitors and enemies of the state. Traitors like his brother, the terrorist Uchiha Itachi, who had betrayed not only his country and the Party, but his family as well. Itachi had wiped out everyone in his family but Sasuke during the ultimately failed coup d'état attempt by his terrorist organization, Akatsuki. To Sasuke, such traitors and enemies of the state deserved no mercy.

This of course made him the perfect recruit for the secret police. Sasuke walked casually into the subway station, barely noticing anyone around him. He had his mission, and wasn't going to let anything or anyone distract him from it. He sat down right next to Naruto, hardly even noticing the spunky blond-haired man even existed. He pulled out his acceptance letter, and thumbed through it one more time, making doubly sure he knew the instructions by heart.

Sasuke let out a long sigh. For the first time since the murder of his family, he actually had something to look forward to and be anxious about. He inattentively shoved the acceptance letter back into his backpack, catching the attention of the young man sitting next to him

As quick as a flash, Naruto yanked the slightly crumpled acceptance letter out Sasuke's hands. "Hey, you're joining Konoha too!" he exclaimed as he glanced at the letter. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours?"

"None of your damn business!" Sasuke barked as he quickly snatched the letter back. He carefully folded it up this time, and swiftly returned it to his backpack, which he carefully placed out of reach of Naruto.

"Damn you're a surly little prick," Naruto sighed, "I was just trying to be friendly…"

"Rifling through other people's things is not friendly, dumbass!" Sasuke snapped back.

"Jeesh, chill out dickwad!" Naruto retorted.

"God fucking damnit! Just sod off and leave me the fuck alone!"

As their verbal fight escalated into a brawl, a pink haired young woman arrived on the bullet train platform, casually humming a nondescript tune. As she caught notice of Naruto balling up his fist to punch Sasuke, her cheery demeanor quickly transformed into one of pure murderous intent. "Leave Sasuke-kun alone you fuckhead or so help me I'll--!" she barked, not caring whether her sentence was finished or not.

Naruto instantly froze upon hearing this. He cautiously turned to the new voice, fist still hovering, ready to strike. She eyed him with a stare that seemed to signal the coming apocalypse. While her eyes began boring holes through him, he cried, "Listen bitch, stay out of this."

She cracked her knuckles menacingly. "Listen, dead man," she threatened in an uncharacteristically low tone, "I'm going to give you three seconds to leave Sasuke-kun alone. After that, it's dental record time!"

Naruto swallowed, nearly shrinking with fear for a second. Her threats to kill him and mutilate his body were definitely serious. Regaining his masculine composure, he retorted, "Wait a sec, you know this asshole?"

"Of course I do!" she shot back, "We were in the same Guardian Youth unit. Not that it matters, dumbass."

"I'm so sorry then," Naruto stabbed with a fox-like grin.

She ignored his jab, instead turning to the raven haired young man. "Sasuke-kun, was this dumbass bothering you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Sasuke replied, "But I don't need your help dealing with an annoying pipsqueak like him, Sakura." He quickly returned to ignoring the world, unable to decide what was worse; dealing with that abrasive dropout Naruto, or the slavish admiration of Sakura.

Sakura sat down in between Naruto and Sasuke. In an instant, she switched modes from harbinger of doom to seductive charmer. "So Sasuke-kun," she asked, "I take it you're joining Konoha as well?" She fiddled with a lock of her pink hair as she waited for his response.

Sasuke turned to her, exasperated. "Sakura, you really are annoying. Leave me alone!" He got up, and moved to the next bench over, leaving Sakura and Naruto sitting in awkward silence.

Sakura sat in stunned silence for several minutes. Even with all obstacles out of the way she still couldn't impress Sasuke about anything. Naruto soon decided to break the silence before she started scheming to kill him in his sleep. "So…" he fished, "you're joining Konoha too? That's really impress—"

"I don't want have anything to do with a dumbass like you!" she barked, proving irrefutably that shit does in fact roll down hill.

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice! What's so special about that prick anyway?"

"If you can't see that then there is no hope for you," she snapped back.

Naruto never really had any luck with women, but this Sakura character was epic. "Fine, I'll stop trying to be nice," he retorted. But there was a lingering uncertainty in his voice. This girl seemed strangely familiar, like he'd known her before. He searched through his memories for the name Sakura, just in case he'd remember it. Unfortunately, no such luck. But he couldn't shake that feeling of familiarity. As abrasive as she had been, there was something oddly alluring about her. Perhaps it was just him being a glutton for punishment. Either way, Freud would have a field day.

The subway train soon arrived, and the three silently filed onto the subway car. Naruto was in the lead, and Sasuke was careful to stay at least ten feet behind Naruto, while Sakura followed closely behind Sasuke. The car wasn't too crowded, and Naruto saw a couple of familiar faces. Naruto quickly recognized Hyuuga Hinata, the mousy brunette who always seemed act strange around him, and Inuzuka Kiba, the feral, boisterous young lad he'd been in many a fight with. Recognizing Aburame Shino, however, took a little longer.

The rest, however, were strangers to him. A rather attractive blond haired girl in purple attire quickly caught his attention. She was shouting something unintelligible towards an unkempt 

looking dark gray-haired young man, who was doing his best to try to shrug it off. During the inquisition he would turn to his portly companion, who'd nod in agreement in between snacking on chips. "Apparently they're having issues too," Naruto thought. He quickly found his seat.

Sasuke came in next. He apparently recognized those three, rolling his eyes as soon as he caught sight of them. He sat down as far away from Naruto as he could. Sakura soon followed in. When she saw the blond woman, she instantly froze. "Ino…" she muttered.

Ino quickly halted her assault on scruffy looking man, and replied "Oh, I didn't know you were coming along, forehead girl."

"Listen Ino-pig, I didn't come here to fight with you!" Sakura snapped back.

"That's right, Sakura. You came here to fail at sweeping Sasuke-kun off his feet." Ino turned to Sasuke and cheered, "Hey Sasuke-kun! How's it going? Is this stalker giving you a hard time?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes in disgust and ignored her. Not one, but two of those annoying women were applying to join Konoha. There was a good chance that he'd end up having to put up with at least one of them for a long, long time.

Sakura continued her verbal sparring with Ino as the train began rolling forward. The conductor verified that all nine candidates were on board, and the bullet train began rocketing out of the city.

The train ride was fairly long and mostly uneventful. Everyone's travelling permits were in order, and the only major disturbance was Ino and Sakura's constant bickering. After an hour of fighting, Sakura decided she had enough, and sat down as far away from Ino as she could, grudgingly picking the seat next to Naruto if only for the peace and quiet it would provide.

The security precautions had started to bug Naruto. The windows had been painted over, denying the occupants of the train any view of the country side. All that could be seen through them was the faint glow of sunlight, revealing only one fact: that they were no longer in the city. Nondescript plain clothes men soon arrived, and one by one pulled each applicant aside to do a thorough search of their person. They were clearly taking no risks; everyone had already been searched at least once before getting onto the train platform. When it was Naruto's turn to be frisked, he caught the glimpse of shoulder holster and pistol concealed under one of the searcher's coats. They were definitely Konoha shadow warriors.

When the searches were finally over, boredom returned. Rather than face the bleak monotony, he decided to break the boredom. He turned to Sakura, and meekly asked, "Umm…what's up with you and that Ino bitch?"

She rolled her eyes and whispered, "If you must know, Ino and I used to be best friends, but we've, well, drifted apart."

He cocked his eyebrow. "Drifted apart? How did that happen?" To him, their fighting seemed like more than just "drifting apart."

"We both fell in love with Sasuke-kun," she replied matter-of-factly, "Before we knew it, we were competing over him. Soon we were at each other's throats. Our friendship just self-destructed then."

"Jeesh," Naruto thought to himself, "no man is worth that, especially that bastard Sasuke." Of course, he knew that such thoughts he'd best keep to himself, despite the urge to disturb Sakura's idyllic dreams of love. "Wow, that's pretty heavy," he replied to her. "Listen, about earlier," he segued, "I'm sorry that I snapped at you. I don't think clearly when I'm angry."

"You're still an annoying dumbass," she accused.

Stab, twist. "Why do I put up with shit like this?" he wondered.

The train ride continued through another hour of tortured silence before finally coming to a halt at a military airbase. The nine applicants were then ushered out of the bullet train, and escorted under armed guard to another security checkpoint. There they were strip-searched, much to their chagrin, and were then given standard issue military fatigues before being escorted to an unmarked black transport helicopter. After a loud and turbulent hour-long helicopter flight, the recruits found themselves on a helipad in the middle of a forest clearing. They were strip searched again, photographed, and bioscanned. They were issued ID cards, and then ushered into what they presumed to be an underground training compound.

They were led into a dark auditorium that held about thirty seats. Armed guards stood at the two exits of the room. The recruits were filed in, and were quickly assigned seats. Naruto found himself sitting on the end of a row, with Sakura at his right. Sasuke, much to his chagrin, was sandwiched between Sakura and Ino. Ino's two companions, Shikamaru and Chouji, as Naruto had learned, sat next to her. And finally, the trio of Hinata, Shino and Kiba were at the other end of the row.

Soon, eighteen more young adults filed into the auditorium and were assigned seats. In all, there were twenty-seven applicants in this class. Within a few minutes of everyone being seated, a distinguished looking white haired old man walked onto the dais. He carried the air of experience as he prepared to address the recruits. "As you all know, you've been summoned her to take the entrance exam to join Section Three of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs. Konoha, as the PCIA is more often referred to, as you are well aware, is this nation's first line of defense against enemies, both foreign and domestic. Section Three is the tip of the sword, so to speak."

He began pacing back and forth across the stage as he spoke. "Section Three has the glorious task of bringing the enemies of the state to justice. We root out traitors in the military and bureaucracy, and aggressively hunt down terrorists and foreign spies. You will soon get a chance to become one of the elite few, a shadow warrior of Section Three.

"But, the road before you is far from easy. Only one third of you will pass the exam. Those of you who wash out will either be relegated to the normal police work of Section One, or the intelligence service of Section Two."

There was a small gasp from the audience. They knew the competition would be tough, but most hadn't figured that only a third would make it. The old man continued unimpeded. "I, as you have probably already guessed, am the man known as Hokage. I am in command of Konoha. I am the third man to hold this shadowy post. Perform well, work hard, and rise through the ranks, and someday you too might hold this post. But, for now, we need to see if you have what it takes."

The Hokage motioned to a line of nine experienced shadow warriors. They walked out onto the stage, standing at attention behind the Hokage. "These soldiers are from the Jounin corps, the highest ranking line soldiers of Konoha. They will be your mentors and examiners. Each Jounin will be assigned a team of three recruits. They will then run you through the examination. If you pass, they will be your sensei and commanding officer."

The Hokage pulled a datapad out of his pocket, and began reading off the team lists. Naruto soon found himself in Team Seven, along with Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. While he really didn't mind the chance to get to know Sakura better in spite of her hostility, he absolutely loathed the idea of being on a team with Sasuke. The feeling, of course, was mutual. Sakura quietly gloated to herself about love prevailing while Ino fumed with frustration. Hinata, Kiba and Shino were together on Team Eight, and Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji were on Team Ten.

The teams were soon separated by Chunin handlers, and led each to their own small meeting room. There they waited patiently for their sensei to arrive. Naruto desperately fought off the 

urge to strangle the brooding Uchiha prick, while Sakura reveled in her luck. Sasuke was almost ready to slash his wrists with an odd pencil he'd found in the room.

After a half hour wait, a gray haired man finally walked in their meeting room, bearing the twin gold bars of a Captain on his beret. He wore a head band crooked over his face, covering up his left eye. He had a slovenly manner to himself; for being a highly trained shadow warrior, he was awfully apathetic. He quickly introduced himself as Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi could immediately tell that his group was made of all the wrong stuff. The blond punk was ready to kill the raven haired snob. The pink haired sycophant slavishly admired the raven haired snob, and was going to kill the blond punk. And to top it off, the raven haired snob was pompous egomaniacal fatalist. Good times were ahead.

"So, I guess I'm supposed to be your sensei," Kakashi remarked. As they hung on his every word, he continued, "Well, my first impression of you is…I hate you." They were clearly not impressed.

He motioned for them to follow, saying, "Follow me. We're heading to the Simulation room so we can get this exam over with." As the three recruits followed him out of the room, they all wondered why exactly they'd gone through so much for this.