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"Talking!"

'Thinking!'

"Demon!"

What Does Not Kill You Make You Stronger

What does not kill you makes you stronger. Naruto hates that saying with every fiber of his being. He remembers that day that Slade Wilson took him in. Training him. Slade promised Naruto's mother that he would make him into a warrior that the world will fear and have her vengeance. Vengeance; for killing the man that she loved; vengeance for trying to take Naruto away from her; vengeance for forcing her to flee from her home.

"Naruto, I want you to kill all those that did this to us. I want you to make them pay for you just being born as a boy. Show them that you are my son, and with it death."

Naruto remembers how he had to hide from everyone on the island for not just his death, but for his mother's. Slade trained Naruto in the most dangerous way possible. If it wasn't for Naruto's heritage he would of died several times over. The blonde has done things that he isn't proud of, he's done things that he can't forget; that he doesn't want to forget.

-Africa-

Twelve years ago. The sun is out with no clouds for miles. It hasn't rained in two years. The smell of death is still fresh in the air from yesterday's battle. A child no older then eight years old is sitting on top of a burn down jeep. The other child soldiers that he serves along with are striping the dead bodies of clothing, weapons, ammo, and food.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turns his head to see who called him out. Another child soldier runs over to him holding up an AK-47. People seem to think that both boys are brothers, because of their blonde hair, but Naruto can see that his fellow soldier's hair is slowly changing to a different shade.

"Jack, what are you doing? You know you shouldn't run out here like that. A sniper might pick you off," Naruto warns this friend

"I know that, but Slade has returned. He says that he has a gift for you." said Jack.

Jack's parents were killed in Liberia during the Liberian Civil War. In order to survive he joined a military unit called the Small Boy Unit created by a mercenary named George Sears, but otherwise known as Solidus Snake. During the civil war Slade forced his appearance Naruto to fight in the war with no experience of fighting what's so ever. By doing so, Slade forced Naruto to learn that what does not kill you makes you stronger. As the fighting continued both Jack and Naruto showed that they are natural born killers. Jack became known as Jack the Ripper, while Naruto became known as the Golden Devil.

"What plans do you have for after this civil war ends, Slade?" asks George as he lights a cigar

"I intend to take my apprentice to Alaska for winter survival," answered back Slade

"From the hot plains of Africa to the freezing mountains of Alaska. I would say that is cruel, but I don't have a say. May I ask why you sent the boy to me while I was fighting in this civil war?"

"I wanted to see if the boy could kill without hesitation. Given his heritage, killing should come with ease. After all, a mother who wants vengeance can be a very powerful gift of drive for one child."

Jack and Naruto arrived where George and Slade are located. Slade turns to look at Naruto. The merc heard of Naruto's talent in fighting this war. Killing without remorse and showing no mercy to those captured. He would dare say he was proud that the boy could kill like that. The boy even earned a nickname; the Golden Devil for his bright blonde hair that if just catches the light just right it looks like gold.

"Naruto, I've heard of your feats. You're mother would be proud," Slade know that if the boy thought that his mother would be proud of him, then he would do anything, "I must say, you are becoming one excellent soldier." stated Slade.

George saw through what Slade is doing. Using the boy's mother as a drive. A means to make him push for more deaths. It was truly frightening that Slade could do that to a child, but he himself has no room to talk. Sears trained and brainwashed orphans to fight and kill in this civil war for his own gains.

"As you probably know this, the civil here is ending soon with the peace talks. In a few days I'll be taking you from here to truly begin your training as my apprentice." says Slade.

Naruto's face brighten up. For the last two years he'd been fighting in this war. For two years he killed anyone that his rifle was pointed too. Massacring whole villages, targeting supply lines, targeting refuge camps, and killing anyone that doesn't side with them.

"I have an assignment that I must compete. Once I've finish; I will be taking you to further your training. Til then, continue to survive." said Slade before he walks away from everyone.

Night quickly came. Thunder echoes across the plains, then the ground explodes. Dirt, metal, flesh, and fire rains down to the ground. The sirens come to life waking the whole camp. Naruto bolts up from his sleep. The sound of gunfire and flashes of light appear all over camp, then several flares are fired into the night sky bringing light.

Naruto grabs his AK-47 and rushes towards the fighting. Enemy soldiers found the Small Boy Unit campsite and waited for nightfall to attack. The soldiers where given orders to kill all the child soldiers and destroy all evidence that they existed. By using artillery from distance to take them by surprise.

Naruto fires his rifle killing a few of the enemy soldiers before taking cover behind a destroyed tank. A grenade lands next to him. Quickly acting pick up and lop the grenade back. He soon heard the grenade go off. The Golden Devil leaps out from his cover firing his rifle again killing another enemy soldier. He rolls into a ditch. The blonde switches out the magazine for a new one. An enemy soldier jumps into the ditch and hits Naruto in the face with the butt of his rifle. The boy hits the ground. The soldier points and aim his rifle at the child.

Naruto rolls over onto his back and throws his knife at the soldier nailing him in the chest. Naruto quickly gets out of the ditch and dashes towards the parked vehicles not to far from the barracks for the officers. The blonde fires his rifle once more, but the rifle jams. Tossing the rifle and dives on the ground before it rains hot lead. He crawls the rest of the way there to get out of the way. One of the soldiers grab Naruto by his hair.

"I found the Golden Devil!" yelled the soldier before a knife goes into his throat.

Naruto takes the dead soldier's rifle firing it at the in coming soldiers. He finally makes his way to the vehicles. He turns pass a truck when a rifle butt hits him in the face. Sheering pain flares into Naruto's right shoulder.

"You are wealth a lot of money, boy! I'm going to be rich with your head."

Naruto rolls over onto his stomach and gets on his hands and knees. The soldier kicks Naruto in his ribs, forcing the boy to his side. The soldier takes out a machete.

"I'm going to make a pelt out of you hair!"

Naruto's eyes snap open. Everything seem to slow down as he leaps off the ground and onto the soldier. The soldier wasn't expecting the boy to jump on him forces him to fall over. Naruto wasting no time punched the soldier in the face, before he grabs the machete. Raising the blade over his head and swings it down ending the soldiers life. Something in the Golden Devil snaps as he roars before rushing towards in coming soldiers.

Morning came as the fighting ended a few hours ago. The enemy soldiers that attacked last night are searching through the dead bodies of both ally and enemy. Sitting in a tree a mile away from the battle sits Slade looking through a scope.

"You did well last night." says Slade.

Looking down at the base of the tree stands Naruto covered in blood still holding onto the machete. His eyes are unfocused. Just staring at the camp he once saw as his home. Everyone he knew is dead. He wonders if Jack got out or was he killed.

Jumping out of the tree, "Come, we have to leave before we're spotted." said Slade.

Before they arrived at the closest airfield, Slade made Naruto to wash up in a river to clean all the blood off. It took several hours before they arrived at London, England. There they stayed for three days. Slade watched the television with how the Liberian Civil War ended and peace talks came to the end. His last target was a general that didn't want the fighting to end, but Slade didn't care if the war continued or not; so long as he got paid.

As Slade was busy watching the news Naruto is bathing in a bathtub for the very first time with hot water. He never bathed with hot water before. It was always in a river, even when his mother was alive it was always a river. He rises out of the water and stares into the mirror. Never noticing that he was gaining scars from his fights. A stab wound to the ribs, bullet wound in his right shoulder, shrapnel metal from a grenade in his left thigh, and other wounds that became scars. So much pain and fighting.

Slade changed to a different news station that are covering Superman ending a fight with a General Zod from Superman's home world, Krypton.

"Interesting. If these heroes keep going on like this, then I might have to make hit out on them." says Slade.

Then Slade's cellphone rings. He picks it up and answers the call.

"Slade here… Yes, Wintergreen… I know that… Yes, I plan to train the boy in Alaska for several months on survival in the cold winter. Give the boy time off? He needs to be ready for when he wishes for his revenge… Just have the jet ready when we arrive at the airport," Slade ends the call as Naruto walks out of the bathroom, "Took you long enough." says Slade.

-Alaska-

A week later Naruto is marching through knee high snow. It was only a few days ago when Slade left Naruto in Alaska. He was left with only a backpack filled with rations only for five days of food and water, a heavy winter coat, a map, a compose, and a knife.

It was simple, the map is marked with a location that Slide will be waiting for him to arrive at the desire location. Normally Slade would of given Naruto a time limit, but he wanted to see how long it would take the boy to arrive at the desire location.

The snow silently falls from the gray bleak skies above. With each breath shows the coldness that's in the air. With each foot step the snow underneath his feet makes a soft crunch. Naruto has been walking through the snow for the three hours since the sun rose over the mountains.

"Head to the west and a helicopter will be waiting for me." says Naruto.

The wind changes directions as he steps on a twig. Three miles away a wolf's head shoots up. The beast sniffs the air. The wolf then howls into the sky. Naruto stops to listen the wolf howl. Then more howls are heard throughout the forest. Not wanting to stay anymore, Naruto moves on.

The wolves move swiftly and with a purpose. Moving through the snow as fast as Naruto can he runs across an elk. Hearing foot steps through the snow Naruto dives into a snowbank. Slowly peaking out Naruto see ten wolves circle the elk. The elk stands its ground showing no fear to the wolves. The wolves back off from the elk. Holding his breath, Naruto watches and wait to see what will happen. The wolves leave the elk be and run off. Releasing his breath Naruto waits for a few minutes before he he west.

For a few hours Naruto walk through the snow looking over his should every now and then. The boy knows that the wolves are back and are stalking him. He remembers how he stalked enemy soldiers back in Africa. By staying out of eyesight he followed them for days till they came to a camp. Watching the prey for a chance to make a quick death without wasting energy.

Naruto came to a stop. In front of him is a cabin in the middle of nowhere. He wonders if a hunter stayed there. Seeing it as shelter for the night and a chance to sleep without fear of the wolves attacking. He walks over to the front door. Looking over his shoulder he sees one of the wolves stare at him. This wolf is bigger than the others showing that its the Alpha.

Going inside he closes and locks the door. Looking around the room with the remaining sunlight shines through the windows. Inside the cabin is small for one maybe two hunters to stay at a time. There is an old wood stove, and open fire pit for warming the cabin at night, a bed, and a gun rack. On the gun rack is a hunting rifle. Making his way over to the gun rack the blonde picks up the rifle and can tell that it hasn't been cleaned in a long time.

Before night fully came the fire pit was lit to give light and warm the cabin up. While eating the last of his rations Naruto takes the rifle apart and cleans it. He looks at how many bullet are left which is only five. Howls can be heard from outside. Knowing that the wolves are still out there are most likely circling the cabin Naruto stays alert.

During the night one of the wolves leaps through one of the windows. Staying awake Naruto quickly attacked the wolf with his knife. The wolf pins Naruto to the floor snapping at the blonde. The knife past through the wolf's ribs and goes into one of its organ, most likely a lung. The wolf seeing that it'll die tries to rip the boy's throat out. Driving the blade further into the wolf ending its life it falls on top of Naruto.

Morning came with Naruto leaving the cabin with the hunting rifle. He spent most of the night cleaning, cooking, and eating the wolf. The other wolves stay a distance away, but are still in eyesight. What seems like hours walking through the snow the blonde stops to rest. Looking over his shoulder, they're still there.

The Alpha stares at Naruto. Seeing that this prey is stronger then its normal prey knows now that it'll take sometime to kill the prey. The Omega from last night prove that. The Alpha howls causing the other wolves to run towards Naruto.

Naruto hearing the howl along with the sound of the wolves running towards him. He slings the rifle takes aim and ends one of the wolves. Pulling the bolt which ejects the bullet casing and reloads a new round in the chamber. Firing the rifle once more killing another wolf before he runs. The wolves give into the rush and chases Naruto.

While running Naruto ejects the other bullet casing and reloads. Seeing that the trees clear a bit before seeing a canyon fast approaching. Not bothering the slow down or stopping, but continue to run towards the cliff. He leaps over the ledge and lands on the other side. Taking a knee, Naruto aims and fires his rifle killing another wolf. One of the wolves jumped canyon. The blonde didn't have enough time to reload is tackled. Using the rifle to hold the wolf back from ripping his face as Naruto struggles to get free.

Taking his knife out, he stabs the wolf in the stomach repeatedly. Pushing the wolf off of him Naruto breaks a run for it. The blonde runs through the snow as fast as he can, but then there is a sharp pain flares through his left leg, forcing the blonde to his knees. Looking down his foot is caught in a bear trap.

Taking his hands the blonde pulls the bear trap open. The spikes cut into his hands as he did so. Freeing his leg Naruto can see the damage. The wound is just right that he'll have a very difficult time walking and with the wolves after him; it'll be even harder.

Taking off his backpack and rips it, by using the ripped pieces to wrap around his injure. Slowly walking through the snow leaving a trail of blood behind him, making it easier for the wolves to track him. Naruto hates this. This reminds him of the first time he was in Africa. He didn't know what he was doing and almost got killed a few times.

The cold sets in, hunger sets in, tiredness sets in, blood lost sets in. It's not making it any easier. It starts to snow once more. Lost in thought, lost in wondering if he'll live. Naruto stops.

The wolves caught up with him. Circling around the blonde as they forced him into their trap. They forced Naruto towards then den. He looks around at them, then he saw it; the Alpha once more. The Alpha growls at the other wolves. They all leave just leaving Naruto and the Alpha. Naruto takes out his knife and rifle. He knows that he won't get a chance to fire his rifle or the chance to reload; instead he'll use it as a club. The Alpha slowly stalk towards the boy.

Naruto remembers a saying from one of the older soldiers that command the child soldiers he fought along side of.

"Every man has to face a beast that will come at them. The only thing one can do is face it head on."

Knowing full well there is no way out of this; Naruto makes his last stand.

"I will face this beast; for it is the only thing that I can do." says Naruto.

The Alpha stares at Naruto. Knowing that his prey is on its last leg. Knowing that this is the fight that it wants. The Alpha and Naruto leaps towards each other.

Slade stands in front of a helicopter waiting for Naruto to arrive. He looks at his watch. It's been a week since he left Naruto in the wildness. The old man knows that the boy could die out there, but he also knows that he could be still alive. Something catches his eye. Naruto walks out of the treeline wearing wolf fur as a coat.

Smriking, "Now you're true training begins." said Slade.

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