A/N: Edited because I felt that Naruto was being way too edgy when threatening Sakura.
Synopsis: Naruto never asked for this... creature. He never asked to be marked as the vessel of a genocidal beast. What he definitely didn't ask for was to be tormented for a large part of his childhood for something that even he wasn't responsible for. That's why he snapped.
To become a Hokage? That's merely a part of his plan. What he plans is to rid his village of the human filth that tormented him for so long. A reform, where blood shall be plenty, and deaths common.
Disclaimer: I refuse to believe that I will literally get sued for, get this, writing a Naruto fanfic and not plastering a disclaimer. I refuse to! I absolutely refuse to believe that. Although there have been times where my favorite authors just suddenly up and vanished, and coincidentally they never put disclaimers in their stories. Maybe... they did get sued, and were told to abandon their profiles... but if that's true... then I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi... and stuff I dunno.
Chapter 1
The Plan Which Has Been In Effect The Longest Is Bound
To Someday Bear Fruit
"Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance, but later proceed
to feed him the dirt of loss"
-Sun Tzu, Chinese war-time general
::::::-/-\-::::::
Naruto listened intently to the academy instructor, Iruka, as he went through the outline of the final exam one last time, trying his best to prepare the students for the exam lest his teacher's evaluation gets dirtied by any of the classes lowest common multiples.
Naruto, however, wasn't planning on passing the exam with flying colors. He had the plan to follow, and sadly, it involved having him pass barely, just barely, so that he could be put in the same squad as his target.
Uchiha Sasuke.
"And one last time. If you haven't practiced on your Clone Jutsu, you might as well repeat the entire year, alright? It's the heaviest-weighed part of the entire exam!" emphasized the instructor, Iruka. Naruto knew everything there was to know about chakra control, thanks to Kurama. If he knew how to create hundreds of clones, he could definitely create a single corrupt specimen.
Naruto yawned for the fourth time in that hour. He checked the wall clock which read eleven fifty-seven. Only three more minutes until the exam began, and he'd be damned if his plan was stunted by some random factor randomly flown into the equation.
"And don't even think about last minute revision. If you haven't already been studying for the past month, then there's no point in beginning now," he added, dryly. Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew that there'd be at least one or two civilian children who would fail, and it could all be blamed on not being diligent enough.
It's honestly not even a shame. If you can't even ace an exam, you could never become a proper shinobi. That's just common sense. The clock struck, alarming the instructors to hand out the papers. There were three parts of the exam. A written test, a taijutsu practice and the ninjutsu test. Naruto only had to ace the written test and the taijutsu practice and disregard the ninjutsu practice wholly. A single conjured sickly clone and he'll be getting a grade that's barely passable.
The taijutsu practice was an opportunity for Naruto, though. He needed to become known as a strong shinobi. He needed to amass a following early on for him to ever consider himself becoming a Hokage in the future. Among the people that were dedicated to him was the heir to the bestial clan of Inuzuka, Kiba Inuzuka. They both fought once before, a few years back. Naruto beat the boy severely after a disagreement they had. Kiba had expressed his wish to become the strongest shinobi. Naruto overheard him and had promptly corrected him, saying something along the lines of 'that can't be. I'm gonna become the Hokage,'. Kiba took offense to this and had officially declared that they fight, there and then, to which Naruto agreed. Afterward, Naruto defeated the boy almost effortlessly, hardly drawing any power from the nine-tails in the process. Ever since, Kiba's been his close friend, and most likely, the first member of his team.
Others were Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and maybe Hinata Hyuuga. The team, however, hadn't been created yet. Naruto was simply in the process of gathering strong and loyal friends.
His childish aspiration so many years ago hadn't waned, and neither had his thirst for blood and vengeance on the people of Konoha as a whole. Only that his law as a Hokage wouldn't be as bloody as he had wished for it to be so many years ago.
Naruto was an idealist and not the naïve kind that believes that you don't have to break eggs to create an omelet. He knew that the only path to peace was one stained with blood. He wanted a peaceful village filled with love and mutual compassion, and he was willing to kill anyone in his way. Hell, he could even fight the Hokage on equal terms if he draws out the nine-tailed demon spirit's power. That wasn't Naruto's style, though. He needed to ascend peacefully. Can't have anyone question his ways so early on in his career as a Hokage.
Anyhow, the taijutsu examination was a good way to show how he was by leaps and bounds more capable of all of his colleagues. Besides, there were none who have had anything resembling Naruto's ridiculous chakra reserve, courtesy of the nine-tails, in his class anyways. All Naruto had to do was make a flashy show for everyone. Play with his adversaries. Leap and dodge around for a while, before landing a solid hit. Then he'd stand still to parry a hit from his adversary, making it seem as though it was significantly easy. All he had to do was show who was the strongest in the academy, and in doing so, hopefully, attract onlookers.
::::::-/-\-::::::
The written test was of exceptional ease to Naruto. The questions were only what they'd been taught, and Naruto was hardly a slacker. He simply recounted what he'd been taught and applied it as such, thereby most likely acing the exam altogether. He knew he got 100%, full marks. Now it was time for the taijutsu practice.
Up first were Kiba Inuzuka and his dog versus Choji Akimichi. Naruto knew who'd win, and it wouldn't be the overweight foodie. The Inuzuka had the speed, strength, and the tactics to defeat Choji, albeit with effort. Choji wasn't a normal fighter. He was like a mountain. He endured. It was a pain to anyone Kiba's size, but Kiba had the tactics and tenacity. When it came to that matchup, it was only a matter of time before the dog-enthusiast Kiba and his dog won.
The second matchup would be Naruto Uzumaki versus a civilian born student known as Yobirin Suzu. Yobirin was of no real significance, and it was shown as such when Naruto began the match, making his first strike also his last strike. He had made an effort not to put much chakra into it, but just enough to put him to sleep.
The only one that clapped for Naruto's victory was the heir to the Hyuga clan, Hinata. The rest simply acknowledged him while the twin harpies, Ino and Sakura grunted at him. They had both developed a distaste for the boy, and quite frankly, it hardly bothered Naruto. As long as they weren't in his way, he was fine with them.
The next matchup was Shikamaru Nara vs Ino Yamanaka. Although Shikamaru retains a genius like few others, he was hardly any useful in taijutsu practices. Ino, on the other hand, was almost always driven by adrenaline. It didn't take a genius to know that the Yamanaka would mop the floor with Nara's hairstyle.
The fourth matchup excited Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki versus the ever-smooth and suede Sasuke Uchiha of the Uchiha clan, considered number 1 in the class, definitely due to the fact that Naruto had to keep a low profile so that his plan could gear properly, allowing all the cogs to fall into order.
Naruto stepped up, hands in his pockets, and a generally laid-back attitude. Sasuke, however, regarded his adversary with a little more importance. The Uchiha was no fool. He knew that Naruto wasn't someone to underestimate, and because of this, he'd been taking the fight seriously before it even started.
"Begin!" cried the instructor, Mizuki. Sasuke stared Naruto down for a good five seconds before lunging at him with a faint punch. Naruto saw through the charade and charged forward with a linear punch, to which Sasuke dodged in the nick of time. He tried an axe-kick, to which Naruto stopped one of the boy's legs mid-air with one hand, and a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. Sasuke panicked momentarily before using his other leg to push himself off of Naruto, back flipping off of him and landing gracefully, to which the twin harpies in the background gasped.
Sasuke lunged again, now returning with a barrage of punches, kicks, and all sorts of techniques, to which Naruto used his chakra-empowered body to dodge and leap, making it seem as though Sasuke was completely slow.
It was time for the reality-check, now.
The reality-check was a technique he developed, in which he would momentarily boost his speed greatly. The moment an opponent was to hit him, he would side-step before the hit reached him, then step back into the path of the hit. Although it was rather self-destructive as the full brunt of the hit was still received, it served more to prove a point like "I am so fast, I dodged, then returned to the same spot just to let you hit me". So far, he'd only done that once, during a taijutsu practice, but once his sparring partner had refused to continue sparring with him because the blond scared him, he'd simply stopped using it, lest he loses all chances of sparring with anyone.
Sasuke came in for a pretty straightforward punch. Naruto followed the steps. Side-step before the punch had come close, tap on the Uchiha's shoulder to get his attention, then zoom back into the path of the punch. The Uchiha's eyes were priceless as hopelessness washed over him. Naruto still took the punch, sending himself skidding across the floor, but recovering as quickly as he fell. Although most of the class laughed, only Sasuke saw what the blond enigma had pulled off. Naruto dashed forwards before ending the fight in one chakra-enforced punch to the head, careful not to cause permanent damage. And with that, the match was set.
As expected came howls of approval from the young Inuzuka. Choji simply clapped while the twin harpies were simply about to spontaneously combust.
Upon arriving at the area in which the spectators stayed, Naruto was greeted with the fire of the twin harpies, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. Both attempted to punch Naruto side to side, to which he simply stepped forwards, out of the trajectory of each punch, letting the girls hit each other. Naruto then continued on to approach Sasuke who was sitting with an icepack over his head.
"Sasuke..." he said, alerting the young Uchiha of his presence. "It was a fine match, wasn't it?" the boy asked, hoping to gain a positive response from the stoic boy. The Uchiha grunted in approval, almost stubbornly. Naruto didn't have to go completely crazy with the socializing now, as he knew that he'd be on the same team as Sasuke anyhow, due to his poor grades. Although the third member, who would most likely be a Kunoichi, a female ninja. It didn't leave too many options. It would most likely be either Hinata or Sakura. Naruto wouldn't mind Hinata. In fact, he enjoyed that a person like Hinata existed. She was one of the only people in existence that actually, unconditionally enjoyed the boy's company, other than the Hokage. That's it.
The rest of the exam was a breeze. He was told to perform a clone Jutsu, to which he did, but only that the clone was a sickly copy of him, laying slouched on the ground, lifeless and unable to move or breath. He calculated that his score would definitely be passable, but only the bare minimum. He needed to be as low as possible so that Sasuke could be selected in the same team as him.
Naruto needed men. He needed strong and loyal men. The most notable person was Sasuke. He understood Sasuke's pain. The pain of having no one. Of being alone. He also knew that he needed Sasuke in whatever group he planned on starting. Whatever the case, Sasuke wasn't the type to flock the most charismatic and natural leader. He would only swear allegiance to someone he knew and respected on a personal level. Naruto knew this, and he knew that to get to Sasuke the easiest, he'd need to be in the boy's squad, first. Now that the graduation exams were over, he only had to wait for a week before all of the test scores were tallied and the forehead protectors were distributed.
::::::-/-\-::::::
The graduation ceremony had just begun, and as expected, Naruto received a forehead protector. It wasn't as though he was surprised or anything. It was carefully planned by him, anyhow. As planned, he landed a spot with Sasuke... and Sakura. The blond could feel a twinge of annoyance in that he'd be on the same team as her. He had no interest in having her become a follower of his. She was weak, hot-headed, and not suited to even be a kunoichi. All in all, the girl was, in Naruto's eyes, useless. Naruto was about to approach Sasuke, sitting while resting his chin on both his hands, when the white-haired partner of Iruka, Mizuki intercepted the boy. Naruto groaned, but put up with it all the same.
"Ah, Naruto, how are you doing?" asked the silver-haired teacher Mizuki. Naruto looked up at the man's face, analyzing. He could tell that the man had ulterior motives, but chose to simply entertain his charade for the time being. Naruto grinned warmly at the man and replied.
"Good, good, sensei. How are you doing?" he asked. He was still waiting patiently for the man to show his cards.
"Ah, I'm fine, Naruto. Although I'd wager you'd need some... extra credit, right?" he suggested, as he held up Naruto's result sheet. Naruto simply grinned apologetically as he scratched the back of his head.
"Uh, ah, oh that... I've passed, so I guess I can do without it," replied the blond, trying to make the conversation go as normally as possible.
"Ah, I see. Anyhow, I have got an exercise for you, something only you can do, if you'd wish to boost your grade by a few notches," suggested Mizuki. Naruto really wasn't interested, but he was interested in the notion of something only he could do, so he agreed. He decided to follow the man to wherever he suggested during the late hours of the evening, well after the graduation ceremony.
Naruto showed up at eight o' clock, together with a camouflaged Mizuki.
"Alright, Naruto, the plan's simple. Steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, and learn a technique from it. It's located behind the Hokage's office," he stated as he pointed at an area in the map he had laid over the floor. "Are you sure you're able to do this?" asked Mizuki. Naruto quickly caught on to the illicit nature of his test, but hardly showed it.
"W-wait... isn't this... wrong?" asked Naruto, to which Mizuki twitched in annoyance. He shook his head before explaining falsely.
"Of course not. I've gotten the Hokage's approval. You'll be good to go-" his reply was cut short when Naruto interrupted once again.
"Tiger, Bear, Bird! Don't interfere with this. He's mine," yelled Naruto to the greenery, where the three ANBU who'd been guarding him since his early childhood most likely were. "As for you, Mizuki," purposefully omitting the honorific word 'sensei'. "What sort of fool do you take me for?" he asked, neck cracking as he bent it. Mizuki then became on-guard, raising his kunai.
"Oh, I'd thought that picking you would be tough. You're not stupid, but everyone in the village already hates you," he revealed his intention, but Naruto didn't budge. A red shroud covered him as he stood still. "It'd be so easy to pin it all on you, you know. Nobody would have suspected I was lying," he said, trying to make Naruto mad.
"Oh, Mizuki. If only you knew... how many people who are against me... how many who have lied to me... your life has ended," said the boy. From the lower end of his spine seeped three tails. Naruto knew it'd be overkill, but he was too fired up to stop himself. Mizuki could only take on a disgusted facial expression before Naruto dashed forwards, using his fingers, enhanced with claws from the tailed beast chakra, to decapitate Mizuki. Mizuki barely had a single second to react to all of this. A few seconds afterward, Naruto dispelled the red chakra and the three ANBU appeared before him.
Wordlessly, they picked up the chunin's corpse and took off, presumably to cover up the entire affair as an accident. Naruto, however, still needed to cool off. He'd become really agitated just then, and needed a form of stress-relief.
Luckily, he was at the forested outskirts of the leaf village. Moderately sure that there were hardly anyone in the vicinity, he began to let his wrath out on the environment. He began by clawing a log, rooting his claws into it, then proceeded to pull the log up, throwing it into the distance. He dashed towards another tree, ripping it in half as he clawed it horizontally. He did this continuously, effectively managing to clear an entire area of tall trees. He was careful to contain the destruction at a set area, in case he'd come in contact with anyone.
The destruction continued on for about an hour, before a figure appeared closely by, behind him. Naruto didn't need to turn around to know who arrived. Besides, a Hokage's presence didn't require any eyes to sense.
"Whaddya want, gramps?" asked Naruto, the red chakra finally dissipating. The Hokage brought his favorite pipe. Between puffs, he spoke.
"I... heard what happened. Do you wish to talk about it?" he asked. The man had, after that day seven years ago, taken great lengths in making time to interact with the boy. Naruto, however, snorted.
"No," he replied. The Hokage simply nodded as he looked at the ground, thinking. He looked up before continuing.
"You disposed of the traitor, and with no injuries to yourself... it's impressive, my boy, but I know you'd like to talk about it," he persisted. The Hokage was fully briefed and knew what transpired earlier.
"Hn, what's there to talk about? He tried using me, but you know how the old saying goes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me..." he sighed. "...thousands of times... shame on me," he finished. "He was like the rest, you know. Don't get me wrong, he was a traitor, but beyond that, he still saw me as a menace..." he said. The Hokage, with a sage-like patience, sat down as he listened to the boy.
"Oh, and if you came here to stop me from potentially releasing the nine-tails..." he started, before turning around, looking straight at the Hokage. "...I made him my bitch years ago and you know that. I'd never do something that stupid," he assured. The Hokage had to intervene at this point.
"Don't be silly. If anything, at this moment you'd never release the nine-tails. I know you. You'll continue fighting til the break of dawn, and if you must, past even that," encouraged the Hokage. "But... it's just not healthy. You can't just over-encumber yourself with all this emotional stress!" he advised.
"You don't get it, gramps. This village... I'm done putting up with it... I know I've already told you, but I will change this village. Whether I have to become a Hokage or even..." he paused to gather courage. "...kill you! I can't forget the way I was treated. Asking me to do that, its-its like... asking me to throw my identity away," he said. The Hokage paused for half a minute before his reply came.
"You are nobler than you think, Naruto. Your soul... it's so beautiful, so pure. I know I can't change you myself, but please. Heed my words. Discard the hatred from your heart. It'll only worsen over time. Learn to forgive, my son,"
Naruto looked at the ground, eyes wide, and wild. Bad memories and thoughts rushed through his head. His face went numb as there was hardly any blood there in the first place. His hands were completely limp. This was the type of rage he experienced. A type where he seemingly relinquished ownership of his body. He had to focus not to kill the closest person to him, and it was extremely tough. After a short amount of time, he then said one last thing to the Hokage before leaving.
"I'll show you, gramps. I'll turn this fucked up village around. Once I rise to power, there won't be a single fucking ant getting alienated and bullied. I'll make this village the best in the world," he looked up, straight at the Hokage. "And I'm not above disposing trash to make it happen,"
::::::-/-\-::::::
A week had passed, and Naruto had done nothing but study his fellow genin. He had, as planned, received the Forehead Protector, but had graduated as the dead-last. Whatever the case, he was announced to be in Sasuke's squad, along with the pink harpy, Sakura. It was of little consequence. Naruto wasn't above setting Sakura straight lest she attempts any sort of insubordinate behavior. Naruto knew well enough that it would come to that, and honestly, he was waiting for it. He's always had a strong distaste for the Haruno. At any rate, they were still in the academy building, waiting for their jonin sensei, Kakashi Hatake. Naruto had studied most of the old man Lord Third's files and had made himself very familiar with various different and not-to-mention top secret information. Kakashi of the Sharingan, the copy ninja. Famed to have copied around one thousand Jutsu. The old man certainly didn't settle for having a weakling train the boy, and as such, had assigned to him the strongest Jonin he had that was currently available. Naruto wasn't flattered, however.
"Ugh, when is this guy even coming! we've waited for, like, an hour," lamented Sakura. Naruto honestly didn't mind the latency. He was simply sleeping through it all, while Sasuke was in deep thought like he was most of the time. This had piqued Naruto's curiosity a bit and prompted him to investigate.
"Hey, Sasuke. What're ya thinking about?" he asked, not really expecting any kind of real reply, but just tried warming up to his future comrade. Sasuke simply shrugged and grunted in an affirmative tone, completely missing the boy's question, most likely due to his inattention.
"Sasuke-kun has no obligation to answer that to you of all people, Naruto," spat Sakura. Naruto didn't react. He was simply deciding upon the intensity of her conditioning. Through the past week, Naruto, in the event that Sakura was going to become his team member, had researched her family and childhood friends closely, gleaning a ton of information that could be used to scare her. Sakura would be scared shitless of the young boy, and as long as the team could function properly with a non-disturbing weak link, they could get by without much difficulty.
Naruto, however, hardly expected that Sasuke spoke out in honor of him.
"Sakura, you are barely a hundredth of the shinobi that Naruto is. I suggest you shut up until Kakashi-sensei arrives," he said, coldly, to which Sakura simply looked down, almost distraught, similar to his own face, years ago. A twinge of anger rose up inside of the boy, though. Not at Sasuke, for chiding the girl.
It was at Sakura. Naruto could hardly recall the number of times he fell into depression and despair, he barely had the strength to eat or the will to live. Here Sakura sat, sulking over a boy because he simply told her the truth. That face signified emotional trauma. What she experienced can't even be called emotional trauma if it was divisible by a hundred. The more Naruto thought about it, the angrier he got, but he contained it all the same. Right now wasn't Sakura's time.
::::::-/-\-::::::
"Hi, my name is Kakashi Hatake and I'll be the sensei of team 7," he introduced himself gleefully. The looked very enigmatic, only showing his right eye, hiding his left one behind his forehead protector, and he covered his mouth completely. For a jonin, he really didn't care about his general appearance or the way he conducted himself, adopting a rather devil-may-care attitude on life. Naruto supposed that's what happens when one has become completely jaded, having seen all sorts of danger, living through all sorts of horrible things. That still didn't excuse him from coming late.
"You're late," noted both Naruto and Sasuke at the same time.
"I'm so sorry, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take a longer way," he said, using an excuse so stale, it almost made Naruto lose his composure.
"Do you underestimate us, sensei?" asked Naruto, visibly annoyed if his twitching grin was no indication. The jonin thought for a few seconds before replying.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," he said, to which Naruto simply gave up on pursuing the matter any further, realizing that it was a pointless disagreement anyways. The jonin continued on.
"Alright, students. Follow me outside. We'll be introducing ourselves to strengthen our bonds," he explained briefly, and afterward, he simply went outside. The rest followed him. A few minutes later after enduring a cripplingly slow walking pace, they stopped at a few benches where Kakashi sat down.
"Go on, have a seat," he prompted. The students then sat on the bench opposite his own.
"Alright, let's introduce ourselves. Our names, our likes, and dislikes, or wishes for the future," he suggested, to which Sakura went first.
"Oh, I'll go first! My name is Sakura Haruno, I like..." she stopped as she giggled while looking at Sasuke. "I dislike Naruto! And my wish for the future..." she stopped once again and looked at Sasuke while giggling. Sasuke simply scoffed. Naruto went next.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like when my plans go as expected. I dislike this village. And my wish for the future... to change this village. Of course, I'll have to become the Hokage first." he revealed in such a matter-of-fact tone of voice, to which Sasuke opened a single eye, looking at Naruto inquiringly as he crossed his arms. Sasuke was then to introduce himself.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. My likes and dislikes don't matter. I don't have a wish, but an ambition, because I'm going to make it come true. I want to kill a certain man," he revealed, letting an ice-cold chill surround him. Naruto knew who he was talking about. After all, who didn't know of the perpetrator of the Uchiha massacre, Itachi Uchiha? Naruto admired the boy's resolve.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake. My wishes for the future don't matter, and neither do my dislikes. And... none of you are old enough to hear what I like," he revealed, ticking Sakura off with his half-assed introduction.
"Tomorrow will be a team-building examination," announced the teacher, to which Sakura's anger intensified. "Remember not to eat any breakfast... lest you vomit it up," he added. Sakura jumped at the visual.
"Wait... didn't we already pass the graduation exam? Why's there another examination?" she asked, quite puzzled, to which the silver-haired teacher replied.
"Only two-thirds of the people that pass the graduation exam ever become real genin. As a ninja, you are expected to be able to cooperate in groups of three. Failure to do so will give you a one-way ticket back to the academy. No exceptions," he announced, throwing Sakura into a fit.
"I can't cooperate with Naruto! This is... bullshit!" she cursed. Even Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the girl's sudden burst of profanity. Naruto, however, simply ignored her. As the teacher left the premise, Naruto had one last thing to announce to his friends.
"Sakura, Sasuke!" he yelled. Sasuke was hardly that far away, but he made an effort such that Sakura heard him. They both turned around facing him. "Eat your breakfasts! You need to be at your strongest for us to have a chance at passing," he announced. Sasuke grunted in the affirmative. Sakura, however, actually nodded, but had her own reply.
"Well, duh! He was just being sarcastic, Naruto. Honestly, you're slow!" she yelled back.
::::::-/-\-::::::
Team 7 arrived shortly at the training field where the sensei briefed the three on what their mission was. They were to take the bells from the man's waist. There were only two bells, signifying that one was guaranteed to be sent back home. Regardless, Kakashi began the exercise.
Immediately upon beginning, the blond called out for both Sakura and Sasuke, who had rushed to me as quickly as possible.
"Sakura, in case you didn't know. Sensei's employing a ruse to drive a wedge between us. He even said that this exercise was in team building. He has no intention of sending one back, so I suggest that we work together from now and-" Naruto was abruptly cut off by an irate Sakura.
"Naruto, where do you get off thinking that you're the boss of us?! Dammit, if the teacher said one of us are going back, one of us are going back!" she yelled, completely disregarding Naruto's advice, to which he felt his stomach bubble in rage. It was that feeling he commonly got whenever someone looked at him the wrong way. According to some scrolls he once read, it's known as dormant killing intent, and if Naruto had applied chakra into it, he would have produced a legitimate wave of killing intent.
Naruto straightened his back and bent his fingers, cracking all his joints. He was hardly able to contain himself, but Sakura hardly knew better as she still wore that ridiculous hostile attitude. Sasuke, sensing the true fire behind Naruto's glare, intervened.
"Honestly, Sakura, shut up!" he said, to which Sakura again began to sulk, throwing Naruto even further into a pit of rage. Shaking his head a little, he regained some of his composure and had thus begun to formulate the plan once again, from where sakura had cut him off. Sasuke was to act like the main source of offense, blowing as many fireballs as he could at the jonin with his fireball Jutsu. Naruto would attempt to confuse Kakashi with an array of clones while Sakura was to ambush the jonin once he was completely immersed in both the boys' distractions.
As everyone digested the plan, they then deployed it. Kakashi had remained patiently in the central of the training field, reading his erotic novel as he was waiting.
Sasuke ducked out of a tree and began the fire blasts. He could only manage a few per minute due to his limited chakra reserve, so the task of distraction lay largely upon the blond.
Naruto spawned a grand total of fifty clones, which had all began jumping around the jonin, causing him to involuntarily flinch occasionally, but it only went that far. The jonin began hacking through the clones with his kunai, careful of the fireballs which were getting closer and closer, with the amount of Narutos keeping him busy. It was only a few minutes into this diversion tactic before the pink-haired girl had victoriously emerged with the bells, plucked from beneath the man's vision.
"I got it! Sasuke-kun, I got it!" she yelled celebratorily. The silver-haired jonin was surprised that they had managed to take the bells using such a rudimentary strategy.
"Oh, and in case he does send one of us to the academy, here, Sasuke-kun," she said as she gave the boy one of the bells. Although this didn't really bother Naruto, it did bother Sasuke. To the point where he chose to speak up.
"Sakura. Can I see your bell?" he asked, to which Sakura handed it over without a second thought. The boy, however, tossed it back towards Naruto, which he caught mid-air. Sakura was visibly confused as to what was going on.
"Oh, please, Sakura. If there's anyone that deserves to go back to the academy, it's not Naruto," he said. In truth, there was no one in that team that deserved to go back. Everyone served a purpose and helped the team reach their ultimate goal, which was to get the bells.
"You're right, Sasuke. In fact, no one will be sent to the academy. I have passed you all," he said, to which Naruto hardly even reacted. He had it all called beforehand. Sasuke was simply relieved, but Sakura was torn between emotions. She didn't know what to feel and stayed unresponsive for a little while.
"And to think I'd hardly have to go any further than with the bells. This team sure is impressive," he comments. "Alright, we're done here anyways. Team dismissed," he just says, abruptly ending the exercise. Naruto grinned barely. He knew that the team would succeed, but the feeling he gets whenever his plan goes... well, just as planned. He usually likes to liken it to feeling like a god on earth. The team then dispersed, all following their own paths home.
The team then dispersed, all following their own paths home.
Naruto, however, had a task on his hands. Once he knew that he was out of Sakura and the rest of his team's vicinity, he took it upon himself to jump atop of a rooftop. It was late in the afternoon and it was closing into dusk. He'd already memorized Sakura's route home and knew where she'd be going. There was a segment of her route that took her to a somewhat abandoned street that only lasted for a single block. The moment she had passed halfway through that block, Naruto appeared right before her. Sakura tensed immediately, reaching for her kunai, before she realized that it was Naruto, to which she groaned, exasperated.
"Whaddya want, dead-last? Hurry it up, I'm in a bad mood" she warned, condescendingly. Naruto simply walked straight forwards, and when he was around six feet close to her, he pulled out his Kunai and lunged at her, holding it closely to her throat.
"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura... I don't think you understand this situation at all," whispered Naruto. Sakura yelped, careful not to make too much noise, lest she gets injured by the seemingly unstable blonde. "I don't think you know..." he let his sentence hang for a moment. "How much I fucking despise you," he concluded, to which Sakura began sweating profusely.
"L-let... me go," she managed to groan. Naruto simply strengthened his hold of her and brought the kunai closer, forcing her to face upwards lest she got cut.
"I also don't think you understand the gravity of the situation," he added. Naruto was neither grinning nor was he frowning. "Just an errant twitch of my wrist, and you'd be bleeding all over me. Maybe send your thigh to misses Mebuki for her to cook, or send your head to mister Kizashi?" he continued, name-dropping both her parents. "Oh, I'd wager they'd never recover from something that shocking... or-or I'd kill them first, then you, after playing with their corpses, of course," he added. Sakura was devoid of hope, her eyes as open as they could be. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. Naruto wasn't finished yet.
"Sakura Haruno. Do NOT get in my way. And 'Sasuke-kun'? Yeah, don't even sully his reputation. As if he'd ever go out with a try-hard fangirl like you," he stated, to which she simply closed her eyes in horror. "You make me... SICK" he stated once again. He sighed, letting his grip fall. He then raised the girl with a grip to her collar, allowing her to stand. He then patted her back, trying to dust her. Her legs were visibly shivering and she could hardly dare to move.
"Listen, Sakura. I'm not above killing you if I wanted. I'm actually not. Besides," he paused. "What would you expect from an 'orphan who's never had any parents to teach him manners'?" he then said, letting the quote hang. She flinched at it, her face twisting and contorting into the expression of pure fear, topped with despair to make it count.
She had said that to Sasuke earlier about Naruto, while they were waiting for Kakashi. Naruto had gone to relieve himself at the toilet. When he returned, he heard Sakura mouth it off. Naruto endured many things, but anything addressing his lack of parents was a no-flying zone. Eventually, he had calmed himself down, getting rid of all the dormant killing intent.
"Remember, though. Not a single word of this to anyone. And that means anyone. No one is to know of this entire encounter," he said, to which she simply nodded slowly. Naruto sighed again, before continuing. "Dry your eyes. Shake this... experience off. Don't forget anything I've said today, though,". She nodded again, slower.
A job well done, the blond simply used a body flicker technique to warp out of the general area. He was now home-bound. Taking a quick stop at the Konoha park, a hangout he frequented where he met with friends. Using a body flicker technique, he warped atop the nearest roof to the park. From there, he could spot his friends, lying there.
Coincidentally, the Konoha park was Shikamaru Nara's favorite cloud-watching spot, and as the old saying went, where there's a Shikamaru, a Choji was definitely nearby. The two were almost inseparable anyhow. Kiba Inuzuka also frequented the place, usually so he could be around Naruto.
"Oi, Naruto! How was the exercise?" asked Kiba as he spotted Naruto. With a wave of his hand, he replied.
"Ah, no biggie. However, the pink harpy was giving us a hard time," he revealed, to which Kiba started laughing at the nickname that they'd given her a while back. Shikamaru simply snorted, having experienced something similar. Naruto jumped towards Shikamaru, rolling before lying next to him, arms tucked beneath his head.
"Hmph, the yellow harpy wasn't any better, ya know. I'm telling ya that chick just can't function in a team. She's batshit crazy," he replied. Naruto, however, couldn't disagree more. Choji, however, mumbled something about not talking behind people's backs.
"I'd give my left testicle to have Ino in my team. At least she's moderately strong. Sakura has the chakra reserve of an ant," he rebutted, which raised Shikamaru's eyebrow.
"You guys are doing ninjutsu exercises this early?" he asked, to which Naruto was prompted to clarify.
"Nah, it's just that her presence barely registers. Come on, man. Aren't you also a sensor type?" asked Naruto, to which the dark-haired boy clicked his tongue, signifying that the answer was in the negative.
"I ain't good with chakra," he said. "Takes too much training... what a drag," there came his catch-phrase. Naruto casually poked fun at it whenever it appeared.
"Oh, so we're saying 'what a drag' today?" he asked.
"You're too troublesome," he replied.
"Both catch-phrases in one day? Is it my birthday?" he asked sarcastically. It continued that way for the rest of the afternoon. Until Shikamaru had left along with Choji, the Inuzuka had shortly taken his leave, too. Naruto had then gone home but stopped to pick up groceries.
Throughout the years, Naruto had emotionally stabilized. He didn't tend to get moody quickly, nor did the nine-tails torment him anymore. He was nine when he befriended the nine-tails, and since then, the boy's been practically unbeatable to his peers.
Naruto did, occasionally, experience outbursts, where he'd cause serious destruction. Despite his unstable nature and practically godlike power, the deaths he'd inflicted could only be counted on one hand. Either way, whenever he'd come to kill, any rumor would be immediately curbed and the whole situation would be isolated within minutes of it transpiring. Having constant ANBU surveillance definitely helped the situation.
Naruto had already lost remorse for killing the first time he did it. The first time he had invoked the power of the stupendous chakra beast residing within him. He knew that he'd have to spill blood.
This was the first thing that ushered him into a large amount of his time spent inside the Hokage's secret library, learning restricted history and top-secret information regarding the village only a few days after the incident that occurred, which nearly led to the release of the nine-tails yet again. The more he studied, the more he realized how cold the world was. If there was any childlike sense of sunshine left in his soul, it rapidly decreased in magnitude the more the boy began to teach himself the ways of the world.
A world where only the good die young.
A/N: I've decided to keep a glossary in case some of y'all need it (I highly doubt it)
Hokage: (literally meaning:) Fire shadow. The leader of the village hidden in the leaves
Konoha: The leaf village. The general setting of the story
NinJutsu: ninja technique.
Taijutsu: hand to hand combat
Lord Third: The third Hokage, namely Hiruzen Sarutobi (they said that in ultimate ninja storm 3, anyways. I'm just sticking to that since saying 'sandaime' just fucks with the flow of the story.
Also, can I just do a mini-rant? If not, just skip the next linebreak :)
WEEB LANGUAGE! What the feck is with that? Whenever I read a new Naruto story, I find my eyes invaded with cancers that is "Kami dammit!". "Oi sasuke you teme!". "Naruto you're such a dobe!" "USURATONKACHI-BACHI-HEIHACHI SACHI SACHI ARIGATO SUMIMASEN GOMENASAI-SAMALAMADINGDONG" "NARUTO-KUNSANSENPAIII" "OI TEME; NANDESOREYOO, BAKA? OMAE WA MOU SHINDEIRU" It's spiralling into a point where literally half the fucking fic is in de-facto imperial Japanese! Pull out your fucking dictionaries cuz at this rate, we'll actually have to learn Japanese to make sense of this shit.
Honestly, do you see me putting swahili in my fucking fic? Why would I? The fic is mainly in english, so why use different languages?
Come the fuck on, we've got english for a reason! I'm not about to read a story that has no regards for the language it's written in, to top it off, they use the term 'teme' wrong. It's supposed to be used as an insulting form of "you". Kinda like an old man shaking a stick at a bunch of delinquents stepping on his lawn.
"Yewwww". That's when you can use teme.
"Oi, temee". It's not an actual word you can just throw around. Even if, it's still not a word you can use in an english story. And that reminds me. I'm sorry for using the word jutsu here and there. It's just that that word is already so iconic, it might as well be used here, just like the word Hokage, rather than fire shadow, which sounds kinda clunky.
There. I just made a lecture on how to use weeb diction when I expressly told not to use it at all. Damn, I'm being such a(n oxy)moron. BADUM TSSSS (pls laugh)
(Well, the joke is this, rye? An oxymoron is a contradictory statement. The contradictory part was when I taught on how to use weeb language when I was against it. And I'm an oxymoron because if I divide oxymoron in two bits, we get oxy and moron. oxy has no meaning in itself (that i know of) but moron means stupid. I called myself stupid, a contradictory and stupid person) Will you laugh now`?
Anyhow. The new chapter came pretty quickly because of the amount of appreciation I was shown the night before! With only a prologue chapter and this story has already gotten more followers than any other story I've written! You guys are seriously awesome! Don't forget to leave a review and follow the story if you liked it! Much love.
Also, I'm getting to the arcs a bit later. Just don't expect the story to play out the same. We have an overpowered Naruto who's not above killing people. I'm still excited to see where this goes.
-Sherlock D(arui) Holmes
(I'm sorry to have ended this chapter so cancerously with this incoherent A/N. I really am)