CHAPTER ONE
Dreams are a terrible thing, Naruto thought to himself, they show you what you want most in life and at the end it vanishes. These were his thoughts as he laid on the hospital bed. A knock was heard from the Oak door; the silver knob twisted and the door opened with a creak. "Patient name is Naruto Uzumaki, date of birth is October 10, age currently is eight, wounds inflicted upon the patient involve broken ribs, a stab wound to the arm, excoriated skin, and a vast amount of blood loss. Well you're in luck kid; your skin was brought back to normal while you slept, your bones were already mended but you can't put too much strain on them, and your blood will take a day or two to replenish," the nurse said, her brown eyes held sadness and her usual straight brown hair was tangled in a mess from the work she had to do.
"Thank you," Naruto said in response. The nurse nodded her head and walked out the door, shutting it behind her. He lifted his frail arm up and ruffled his hair, his fingers undid any knots in it. He brought his hand down and grazed his bangs; he felt the hardened blood on the bangs and wondered if it would stay there for the rest of his life. Probably not, he thought to himself.
He laid on the bed, thinking about his life and everything that has happened in the spam of a few short years. Everyone hates me, no one cares about me, and no one loves me. What's stopping me from making one jump from a high place or swallowing a whole dose of poison? If I did this no one would notice and those who would notice would leap out in joy. He said in his mind. "Who am I kidding, I want freedom but not like that," he blurted out loud. His right arm grabbed hold of the narrow tube that was inserted into his arm and gave it a strong jerk. The blood in the IV pack poured out as he got up out of the bed. His feet touched the cold, rough ground of the hospital and they recoiled from it. He placed his feet back down and forced his feet to stay firmly planted on the ground. He used his arms to push himself off the bed so that he stood at his full height, four foot two.
Naruto lifted his hands up and grasped the cold fabric of his hospital gown and lifted it up. The large gown separated from his small body with ease and left him in his underwear. His whole body shivered as the cold seeped into his body. His arm snatched the pair of blue jeans and blue long sleeve shirt on top of a drawer near the hospital bed. His body wasted no time and promptly put the clothes on with ease. He gripped the ends of the drawer and shifted it away from the hospital bed. He kicked it hard and it slammed into the far right wall, right below a window. He walked up to the drawer and jumped onto it; his arms lifted to the lock of the window and fumbled a bit until it was unlocked. The window slid open with ease and a cold breeze swept through the air into the room. His arms lifted up and his hands clasped onto the window seal and he lifted himself up and over the ledge. He let go and his bare feet touched the cold ground in discomfort; his leg muscles tensed a little and he sprinted towards an open alleyway. Darkness encompassed him as he ran down the alleys; he ran down them as if he knew them like the back of hand.
He came to an abrupt stop in front of a massive gate that was attached to a fence that surrounded a few acres of land. He bit his thumb and wiped his blood against the massive seal on the gate, expecting it to open or unlock. It stayed there as if nothing happened, he grasped the bars and pushed on it but it didn't budge. "Changed the seal this month and forgot to get me in, how typical of them," Naruto muttered to himself in utter distaste. He let go of the gate and walked to his right where a forest stood. His feet crumpled the leaves and frost with a crunch sound as he entered the forest; His legs followed an invisible path in the forest. The canopy of the trees blocked out any sunlight from entering the forest but Naruto still walked even though he was blind to the darkness. A splash was heard and cold liquid embraced his foot. The river, he thought to himself and his tiny feet travelled down the path he paved himself years ago; his foot would graze a certain rock or would discern the large logs he placed in the river. A light, it was faint but could be seen from miles away in the darkness. His legs moved swiftly in the water and he increased his pace. His pupils widened from the sunlight hitting his eyes and he was introduced to the site of a small lake with a worn down house at the opposite end.
Naruto sprinted toward the lake and dived into its clear water, the cold seeping into his bones but the feeling of being alive was warming his innards. The water, Naruto thought, it always has a strange way of making me feel alive. His arms scooped into the water and his legs kicked into the water, he was swimming. Faster than any fish in the sea he swam towards the house and before he knew it he was nearing the shallow end. His hand scraped a rock and he stood up; he took off like a speeding bullet to the house. His feet felt water, then sand, then snow, and then wood.
He placed his hand on the wooden door and pushed; the door opened with an unearthly creak. He slammed it behind him as soon as he entered the house. The inside was a single room with a stone fireplace at the far back, a stack of animal furs by the fire place, an oak table and chairs, and a large cooler on the side. He walked across the floorboard, avoiding every hole in it and went to the fireplace. His scrawny arms went up to the Shelf that hung above the fireplace and he grabbed a small box of matches. He opened it and pulled a match out; he fiddled with it for a few seconds before a small flame emerged from the top. He threw it into the fire place and it lit up in fire. The logs were already set in there before.
Naruto sat down on a fur rug next to the fire and embraced its warmth. His eyes gazed into the fire as it flickered and images of his past seemed to materialize from the flames. His eyes grew droopy and the images became more intense; his eyes closed and he fell backwards, asleep. The image he last saw was a fox.
Where am I? Naruto thought to himself. His body was not his own for he was taller, thicker, and stronger. The body moved on its own to a blue sphere that pulsed with energy. Naruto could feel what the real owner of the body felt; fear, hate, sacrifice, and confidence in whoever he is leaving. The arm lifted up and touched the sphere of energy and a blue mist surfaced from his body and shot into the air as if it was a beacon. Pain, immense pain travelled through the body before it fell down dead.
Huh? Naruto thought to himself as the world seemed to turn white and he was in another body; broader, more agile, and more masculine then the one before. Cotton adorned him in a coat of sorts and a hood covered his head and the shadow covered his eyes. A tomahawk was gripped firmly in his hand as he fought off men in red outfits; the numbers were that of a small army but the body did not stop, it fought as if it was natural, moved like an eagle, and killed like a wolf. "Compromise, that's what everyone has insisted upon. And so I have learned it, but different than most I think. I realize now that it will take time. That the road ahead is long and shrouded in darkness. It is a road that will not always take me where I wish to go. And I doubt I will live to see its end, but I will travel down it none the less. For at my side walks hope, in the face of all that insists I turn back, I carry on. This, this is my compromise." Naruto could hear the inner thoughts of the man as he fought. His voice was deep, filled with age and experience. The world shifted white again and he was in a new body.
The new body was different then the last two; it was skinnier than the last one, stronger than the first, and felt more deceiving. He wore heavy clothing made of leather and cotton, adding to the weight were two swords strapped to his waist and four strange devices, two on his waist and two on his chest. A red flower was in his hands as he walked across the wooden dock. Thoughts of worry plagued the body's mind. A ship was stationary and a board was laid out from the deck to the dock. A small girl wearing a blue and white dress walked down the board timidly. She clutched the doll in her arms a little tighter as she walked down the board. The body was on one knee so that he was on eye level with the little girl; he put arm out so that the hand with the red flowers were in front of the girl. The girl accepted them and the body's emotion was acceptance and relief; father and daughter were united.
"Huh?" Naruto said out loud as he sat up. The fire died long ago and only ashes remain of the once roaring fire. The moon was out and its light beamed through the windows of the old house giving it light. Naruto's eyes started to burn and the world shifted colors from ordinary until it was all blue. "What is this?" Naruto asked as he looked around the room. Something shined gold, it was near the fireplace. He walked over to the gold light that beckoned him; his arm touch the stone brick that made the fire place and pulled it out with all his might. The stone slid out with ease; the stone stopped glowing gold and looking inside the hole something glowed gold. His hand reached into the hole and grabbed onto something old and leathery, he pulled out the item and his eyes burned again. The world shifted back to normal and in his hand was a book, dust settled over it a long time ago and it only kept gaining more.
Naruto leaned his head closer to it and blew on the journal. The dust flew off and scattered in all directions. He had a good look at the journal now, it was brown and it had a strange symbol on it. It looked like a capital A but it didn't have the line going through the middle and there was a slightly curved line under it. Naruto flipped the book open and read the first page. "Tenants of the creed. Stay your blade from the flesh of innocent, hide in plain sight, never compromise the Brotherhood." Naruto read out loud to himself, he flipped to the next page. "Lesson one is stealth. Stealth is the fundamental way of the assassin. You must blend with the shadows, sneak within the crowd, and know your enemy. Not knowing any of these will lead you to failing your mission or worse, death. Always stay silent and use your surroundings to your advantage. If you are near a bush or a hay barrel then hide in them, if you are in a city use the roofs to your advantage. There are many more lessons to stealth that only experience can give you so use every waking moment to harness your skills in stealth, combat, or anything." Naruto finished reading the first page of the small journal. He flipped the next page and read it fully, then the next page and the next page and the next page. He read all through the night reading lesson one until he fell asleep again.
(THE NEXT DAY)
It was a dark day in Konoha but the people went around their normal routine. People were selling and buying in the market area and kids were playing in the park. All were oblivious to the figure who walked in the shadows of the alleyways or sat down with the beggars to blend in. Naruto was this figure and he was making his way to the house where his "family" lived. Minutes became hours as he traveled from one side of Konoha from the other. The morning he left the house with the journal in his pocket and walked to the gate entrance of Konoha to practice the techniques that the journal gave him and so far they've worked out fine.
He zeroed in on the gates of the house and the bushes on the sides of the main gate. They were regular garden bushes that his mother planted long before he was born and he assumed that he loved those bushes more than him. He didn't feel remorse as he shuffled his way into the bushes from the backside so that he could be hidden. Hours passed when the gate opened, his "family" walked up to it and his "godfather" was with them.
"Well it's been good seeing you and your family, Minato," the old pervert said to his prize student.
"You're welcome to visit anytime Jiraiya," Minato said to his old sensei. They walked out the gate and said their final goodbyes to each other. No one noticed Naruto jump out of the bushes and sprint through the gate and to the house. The house was two stories tall and fairly large. The outside paint was completely white and the roofs sides came together to form a ridge at the top, a hip top. There were four windows on each side of the house and the door was a beautiful oak design. He didn't aim for the door, he ran at the wall jumped up so that his right foot landed on the first floor window seal. His left hand grabbed the top of the frame and he kicked up with his foot and pushed up with his left hand. He was sent in the air and grabbed the still of the window with his right hand. His left hand lifted up the sash of the window and he crawled into the room.
The room was mostly empty. There was a single bed with a single pillow and blanket on it, an oak closet, and a desk filled with dusty papers. "That was close, good thing that they didn't sense my chakra," Naruto said to himself, he was relieved that they let their guards down for a few minutes. He slipped the journal he found out of his pocket and sat down on the bed. He flipped through the pages and started reading once again. "Lesson two hand-to-hand combat. An assassin without a weapon is still a dangerous foe. Your body size and weight depends on whether you are an agile eagle or a monstrous bear. When you fight you must not think your body as something fragile and weak, you must think of it as a well-honed blade and a mighty shield. Your joints will work together as you fight and you must know your style by heart. A beginning style that most recruits use is the basic eagle style because it can fit for anybody." Naruto read out loud. He glanced at the sketch at the bottom of the page of what he assumed was the Eagle style.
Naruto got out of the bed and placed the book on his desk. He returned to the bed and closed his eyes as a peaceful melody played in his head while he fell asleep. "Training begins tomorrow," He muttered out as he fell to sleep.
AUTHORS NOTE
Hey guys, sorry for how short the chapter was. I was sick for the past two weeks and makeup work for school was a pain in the rear. I've barely had time to write so I promise the next chapter will be longer. In case you guys and gals didn't know, there is a poll for who Naruto should be more like: Connor Kenway or Edward Kenway. I personally prefer Connor but I'll listen to the people. If you don't want to vote on the pole then leave a review or PM who you want Naruto to be more like. I do not own Naruto or Assassin's creed, hope you have a wonderful day.