Ill-Fated

Chapter 2

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Come-up

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Naruto had decided it was safest to run through the forests adjacent to his house. He ran and just kept running. But he was 3. His limit came fast, but he pushed far beyond it and pressed on, driven by unfathomable fear and adrenaline. But his exhaustion made him sloppy.

After a miraculous 2 hours of breakneck sprinting through those woods, his jacket had been torn to shreds by being caught on so many branches and thorns. Finally he tripped on an exposed tree branch. It was feeling cold and he could feel darkness closing in. Am I going to die here?

But just before his eyes closed, his blurred vision noticed a shadowy figure approaching.

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4 years later

A 7 year old Naruto lay on a hard, uncomfortable "bed". It was really just a thin blanket lain on a cold, stone floor, in a corner of a cold, stone building with no insulation whatsoever. However, he was perfectly comfortable.

4 long years as a member of the secret VAPOR division of the Kiri ANBU will leave one finding anything comfortable.

It was the four year anniversary of his mother's death. He still remembered every moment with startling detail, up to passing out in the forest. The next thing he knew he was on this very same floor. Nobody had bothered to tell him how he had gotten there, but it wasn't too hard to figure out. Obviously a Kiri ninja had found him back there, brought him here, and they had decided to do the one thing they had told him the one time he had asked why he was there- "You will be sharpened as a weapon for the armory of Kiri."

The very same village that had killed his mother expected him to serve them? They didn't know, of course, much the same way they didn't know the boy was already plotting the destruction of the very ones who trained him. He could not wait for the day to come when he would use the power they had helped him gain to crush them.

Naruto was also smart enough to have discovered his kekkai-genkai, but also not to show it off to his teachers. He had long ago learned of the attitude of Kiri toward them and concluded that this was why they had killed his mother. He was indignant, but very, very patient. And as Kiri would soon find out, there was nothing more dangerous than a patient genius. He would keep gaining power, for he knew that he was on the fast track to becoming incredibly strong, even without his blood limit. So he would wait.

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When Naruto first woke up after the forest, he was immediately led into what looked like a classroom and was pointed to a desk. As he sat down he noticed the other 19 children there with him. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had been collected.

Since they were three when they came in, there wasn't much physical training the ANBU could give to the young "recruits", so they educated them mentally- the sensei started off by teaching them all about chakra, its uses and nature. After a few months of learning the basics, they decided to move on to Fuinjutsu, as this was a very practical and useful ninja art that was neglected by many, with Kiri gathering its foremost seal masters to teach the young charges a more specific field. Meanwhile, all through this time, their keepers drilled them daily on absolute servitude to the village of Kiri, and the true purpose of a shinobi- to be a tool of the kage. Be rid of your emotions, they said. They will only hamper your strength.

At age 5, the physical training began- brutal daily conditioning, as well as exercises in areas like balance, hand-eye coordination and reaction time.

At age 6, without warning, weapons training ensued- kunai, shuriken, but especially kenjutsu. The conditioning they received had been geared around two things: speed and upper body strength to be able to properly wield the otherwise ungainly long katanas they each received. Of course they were smaller than normal ones, proportional to their still very small bodies, but they were still very sharp and very dangerous. As the children grew so would their blades, ensuring a smooth transition. Along with the weapons, they began chakra control exercises.

Throughout the entire process, every stage had aspects in common with one another. The obvious was this- they were all extremely accelerated and incredibly rigorous. These children were enduring training that even normal ANBU found extreme- which was precisely the point. These were to be the ultimate tools of the Mizukage. It was not this, however, that interested Naruto so much as the subtler things that all the stages of training had in common.

Firstly, the masks. The various sensei that the students received wore masks. Always masks. They did not share their names, not even a code name, or show any emotion to them at all. Not even when their students failed did they show any anger or disappointment. After all, this might make the kids think they cared about them or their success. Ice cold demeanors were the only thing that could be picked up on. The sensei also rotated quite often, so the soldiers wouldn't get particularly used to or comfortable with a single one.

Secondly, the sleeping arrangements. They all stayed in a room with three people.

Finally, the learning system. There was no waiting around for those who fell behind. There were no tests or examinations. In the classroom and in the practice arena, you either grasped the material or you didn't.

What were all these implementations geared toward? Fostering strong bonds of friendship among the soldiers.

The lack of any kind of emotion from or familiarity with their teachers forced the kids to fall on each other for support.

The sleeping arrangements created little cliques of friends. Those running the operation knew that an attempt at a communal friendship would fail, as it's simply impossible for 20 people to become equally friendly with one another. It was much safer to make an attempt at forming several small groups of friends.

The learning system reinforced those cliques. As they spent all day every day with each other, the children would develop similar motivation to those in their group. The ensuing rifts in skill level drew each child into a group of those who were at the same level they were. Invariably, these people were the very ones they roomed with.

It didn't take long for Naruto to catch what their masters were trying to do, but even before he did, he was a loner. He didn't have the time or the desire to make friends. He had to get stronger. The fire of his motivation burned infinitely brighter than those of his peers. While they saw this as an imprisonment, he saw it as an invaluable opportunity to gain incredible power incredibly fast. Not only that, but his natural ability was immense, as his (although they would never admit it in any way) impressed teachers were only beginning to truly understand. These two things combined led Naruto to the head of his class- by miles.

The black-haired boy mastered every classroom concept, especially Fuinjutsu. But he was a genius in everything. His calling card in physical training was his sword work. His natural sense of rhythm, his light feet, his graceful footwork- he was a prodigy in the highest sense. He had never failed a conditioning objective, including the hours-long wind sprints and agility drills.

Despite their otherwise even-handed approach to all the recruits, Naruto was an exception. He received extra books on Fuinjutsu for his own study. He received private training in kenjutsu and conditioning after the general training had finished. His ANBU sensei were not good people, but neither were they stupid- they saw the diamond in the rough they had uncovered, and they would treat him as the genius he was. Such potential could not go untapped.

There was one occurrence in particular that cemented the opinions of all his masters that he needed special treatment.

At age 5, every soldier was given a puppy, the cutest, friendliest puppy they could ever possibly have dreamed of. It was arranged for Naruto to have the cutest one- a tiny, fluffy, white Pomsky. (Look it up if you don't know what it is.) For 6 months, the children could be seen thoroughly enjoying their new friends, playing with them almost constantly, and Naruto was no exception. After 6 months had passed, though, the children were all gathered in the arena with their pups and commanded to each kill their own dog with their bare hands. Every one of them grew horrified looks on their faces, and most cried- everyone but Naruto.

The boy simply muttered, "Took you long enough," and walked up and snapped his beloved puppy's neck in the blink of an eye without hesitation or remorse and strolled back to his- private- quarters.

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Naruto recalled all his past experiences in that place as he now stood along with all his comrades. They had all been summoned to the arena and told to come "battle-ready, both physically and mentally". They were all clueless as to what this cryptic message could be suggesting. But Naruto had a guess.

The second all 20 of them were standing in the arena, armed to the teeth with armor, katanas and small weapons, the whistle sounded that signaled that they were to be silent and stand at attention. The announcement was brief.

"You have one hour. All of you are to fight to the death. Only one can survive." And with that the masked man walked out a door and locked it, making sure everyone could hear.

After the initial shock, which lasted more than a few seconds, all the soldiers' ninja intuition kicked in. Instinctively, they all separated into their groups and quickly took positions on the periphery of the circular arena. All except one, of course.

They all watched as the boy with the spiky black hair still stood in the middle. "I hope you guys don't mind, just give me a second."

He knew this would be relatively difficult, since it was likely that all 19 would come for him first since he was the toughest, so he decided to pull his trump card right off the bat. Or at least his secondary trump card.

"Man, I haven't taken these off since I got them, what, two and a half years ago now." He proceeded to lift up the legs of his black pants, revealing…leg weights.

The entire room erupted with laughter. "Leg weights? Seriously? That's the most basic shit I've ever seen!" "This kid is supposed to be the strongest in our class? Come on, he's a joke!"

Naruto simply took them off and with a knowing smile did a spin and heaved them as hard as he could up and away from himself.

When they landed, they created a large crater and a bunch of smoke in the stone floor.

Suddenly the room had become very quiet.

"Well, you guys are certainly talkative all of a sudden," he said cheerily as he smiled the most sarcastic and evil smile any of them had ever seen. "I suppose we should start now. I would hate to keep sensei-sama waiting." His aura stunk of a horrifying, creepy evil, and the fact that he sounded so cheery and was smiling just made it creepier.

In a flash he had disappeared from their vision.

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After about five or six minutes of horrible screaming, then about 30 seconds of silence, the current Kiri ANBU on sensei duty heard a knock on the door. When he opened it he found a smiling boy with black hair looking up at him.

"All done, sensei-sama."

He was shocked to say the least. He looked over to the arena and sure enough, there were 19 bodies, all neatly killed with a concise slice to the jugular. Naruto was soaked in blood. But despite this and having just killed the kids he'd known for 4 years, he was smiling. Who was this kid?

"Did you kill them all?"

"Yep."

The ANBU nodded. He was well beyond impressed.

"Ok, Naruto. You're ready."

"For?"

"First off I'll be honest. Originally the plan had been to wait until you were all 8 to do this, but it was a foregone conclusion that you would win, so we moved it up a year."

"I appreciate you noticing my potential."

"Of course. From now on the formalities can be forgotten. We all know you are true shinobi material, so there's no more need for all that shit. I'm Ansu." He held out his hand and took off his mask with the other. "I'll be your one and only sensei from now on."

Naruto was very surprised. The man seemed very sincere, and he had even gone so far as to remove the mask. Of course, he was far from trusting the man, but he was obviously more than willing to continue his training. He returned the handshake.

"There's one very important thing to know that will be true from here on out. Clearly you didn't find the previous regiment too hard, since you demanded those leg weights, so from now on the training regimen will be much harder than the last."

"Perfect. I'd have it no other way."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm. But I don't think you understand how difficult and demanding this will be."

The boy stood unblinkingly facing his new sensei. "No, I do."

The man shook his head. I have to remember who I'm talking to. "Ok, if you say so. Come on, we have no time to waste," he said as he strolled the boy and into the practice area.

The boy followed with no hesitation.

Finally my training can really start. And start it would.

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5 years later

In a circular arena there stood a man, surrounded by 30 or 40 other men, all eyeing the one in the center with great impatience and bloodthirstiness.

Well, the one in the center wasn't quite a man, but he sure as hell looked like one.

Naruto had become a physical specimen. At 12 years old he measured 5'9", 180 pounds. His muscle was lean and dense, rather than big, flashy and cumbersome, which maximized his speed; after all, quickness was the focal point of all his conditioning.

He wore a long sleeve shirt that was open at the torso, revealing his incredibly well-toned chest. The shirt was black with light blue tsunami motives, with black ninja pants to match, but the motives were only on the right leg; the tsunami motives signified his "allegiance" to Kiri. The outfit was tied together with black ninja sandals and a sizeable gold chain that Naruto had requested because it was, to quote the obsidian-haired boy, "fresh". Surprisingly the chain never interfered with any of his combat. Ansu had voiced his dislike for the jewelry, calling it superfluous, but Naruto had insisted so the ANBU left it at that.

Now here he stood, surrounded by many very eager enemies, about to conduct another test. He quickly wrapped his blindfold around his head this only made his training "partners" even more excited. Now he was ready.

"Shall we?" he spoke calmly. In a flash all his enemies bellowed war cries and ran at him.

"Hidden Mist Jutsu." Suddenly the entire room was enveloped in a thick and entirely opaque fog. The enemies every once in a while would hear a scream and a thud as Naruto began taking prey. He didn't need his sight- he could sense their chakra and smell their fear as clear as day.

After about 15 seconds, a few of them gained their senses. "Futon: Gale Palm." Soon the mist dissipated. They all looked around. In just 15 seconds they had lost 10 men. But where was their foe?

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu." Before many of them knew it, 3 shuriken had turned into 300. Only a few were taken by this initial attack, but a lot more failed to notice the nearly microscopic explosive tags underneath each. This attack in particular devastated the would-be killers. Most only narrowly avoided or blocked the shuriken, so when the small yet potent explosions occurred, many were left without limbs and necks. Now there were only 10 left.

As those remaining jumped back away from their attacker, two suddenly felt a sharp pain in their torsos and looked down to see kunai sticking through their hearts. They turned to see that one of their own had (both literally and metaphorically) stabbed them in the back! Quickly a fourth ninja cut down the traitor, who dispersed into a puddle of water. Amidst the chaos he transformed a water clone to look like one of us so he could catch us by surprise. This guy…

But that had been for more than a couple of cheap kills.

By the time the 7 who were left recovered from their surprise and turned to face their opponent he was gone. The ninja who had disposed of the clone turned all about. Presently his eyes landed on where his teammates had been. But instead of his teammates there were six Narutos.

For whatever reason, none of them were facing him, so he quickly dispatched two with kunai. Now they all turned to face him and they engaged in a sword fight. But before they could get very far the ninja along with the 4 Narutos were violently thrown into the nearest wall by a Suiton: Rushing Rapids Jutsu.

In his last seconds the ninja looked at the Narutos- but he didn't see Naruto. He had been attacking his teammates. It had been a genjutsu.

Naruto wasted no time in finishing his last 5 enemies by following up that water style with a Raiton: Thunder Current Jutsu. All 5 had been caught in the initial jutsu, and were now fried by the amplified electricity. 5 screams and the battle was over. The entire fight had lasted no more than 3 minutes.

Sensing no more chakra signatures, the black-haired boy took off the blindfold. The first thing he saw were all the bodies. He gave himself a mental pat on the back. It had been a good, well-rounded performance. The latter was most important- he could very well have killed all of them with just one technique, but he found it imperative that he diversify and use as many of his skills as possible in training.

Naruto was drawn from his thoughts when he heard the sound of slow clapping.

"Very, very well done, Naruto," Ansu said sincerely and a bit pridefully. "Those were all high level chunin and some jonin, but you made them all look like fresh genin. As always, they were enemy spies, and we told them we'd let them free if they could kill you." He smiled. "I knew there was no chance of that, but I couldn't have possibly dreamed up a more dominant performance."

"Thanks, Ansu-sensei. I suppose I've been taught well," he said with a smile.

His teacher smirked. "I suppose so." He paused. "You know, I still remember that first day, after your, erm, "test" had been completed, when we taught you the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and you made all those clones, how many?"

"25."

Ansu whistled. "25 clones at 7 years old. You have the largest and most powerful chakra I've ever seen by miles."

Naruto simply nodded.

"Well, enough reminiscing. Again, your performance was exemplary. You showcased nearly all the abilities in which you have incredible expertise- ninjutsu, genjustu, a bit of fuinjutsu, kenjutsu, sensory capabilities, and technique in the art of silent killing. The only things you didn't show were your wind style and, of course, your medical ninjutsu, although I suppose you could've used your chakra-enhanced taijutsu."

"I guess, but there were only so many bodies, Ansu-sensei," the boy said with a chuckle.

The ANBU chucked too. "I guess. Alright, Naruto, you've earned yourself a break. Well done."

"We both know I don't take breaks."

"Yeah, but I might as well try."

With that Naruto gave his sensei a pat on the shoulder and walked off to his private training area.

Because Naruto had now been by himself, he could train by himself and therefore have a lot more freedom to practice harnessing his dirty little secret- his Iron Release kekkai-genkai. By now he had a near total understanding of it, although this was only a guess. Every time he thought he had mastered it, a new ability seemed to pop up, but this was far more exciting than frustrating. The more power he had the better.

And now all Naruto needed was a little more power. The tides were changing, the time was coming. Soon he would leave that place and carry out his plan of vengeance.

So the avenger bided his time.

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This chapter actually contained the first battle scene I've ever written, I hope you guys enjoyed that.

I apologize for the dog-killing scene. I seriously considered not putting that in there, but I found it crucial to portray Naruto's personality accurately. If you're confused and think that he has a conflicting personality, good. By the way many of the jutsu I will be using will be original so if you do not know it then I probably made it up.

Please check out the other stories on this account, namely Black Rain Falls, another full length story I'm writing, Curse of the Hatake, a one-shot that was a hit with a lot of people, and Adventures of an ANBU Trainee, which is BarelySage's first story, and I promise you it's absolutely hilarious, especially once you get into the first proper chapter.

Rate and review.