Chapter One: You and I; The Strongest amongst All
Darkness is not always scary. In fact, sometimes I think it's really comforting, like when you're sleeping, like what I'm doing now. These days, I'm so lazy on my fat ass (that's what Fuu always say to me anyways), I feel like a full-bellied Manda after a huge frog meal. It doesn't really help either that I have lost the sense of time since I can no longer tell whether it's day or night since I'm stuck in this place, not that I hate it, I'm more than grateful actually but heck, I'm supposed to be sleeping and I'm not that much of a thinker anyway and I should be sleeping right now. Yes, that's right. I snuggle into the sheets, burying my face into the pillows and wait for that drifting feeling into the darkness and beyond before it is robbed from me with two words.
"Get up."
'Buzz off'
Those were the words I want to say at whoever it is that is spoiling my all day slumber session but instead of pitch blackness, there's this redness that's turning into orange and it gets brighter and brighter behind my closed eyelids that I am forced to crack an eye open anyway only to regret it as the room lights stabbed sharply into my eye.
"Turn it down."
Whoever lit up the fire jutsu grunts and the room slowly becomes dimmer. I rub my eyes and push myself up from the comforts of my bed and blink.
Ah, it's Hawk-Face.
Who is Hawk-Face you ask? You see, Hawk-Face is this Anbu guy that watches my makeshift jail with Fox-face. Okay, so they don't really have a hawk beak or a fox snout on their faces but hey, I'm so used to see them with their masks on that those things become their real faces to me.
They would stand at the entrance of my jail for four, five, six hours maybe, gosh, this messed up sense of time for me is really getting annoying. Anyways, after that, these guys will change with another Hawk-Face and Fox-Face. How do I know, you say? It's pretty simple really.
Chakra.
Their chakra gives their identity away even though their faces are unexposed. Here's a little secret I want to tell you. These guys and their upper parts in Konoha's ionosphere thought that there are strong enough chakra seals to suppress my own chakra. Well they can kiss my foot.
My precious blood and heritage, thanks to my dear ancestors, allows me to sense very accurately, much better than that Karin bitch-traitor. And the seals help. By minimising my chakra level, I can lower my chakra shield, not that I need it in the first place since there are bodyguards, ahem, jail guards that watch over the place continuously. Hence I can focus to make out the guards' chakras quite easily instead to my usual task of putting up my chakra shield when I was out there in the wild with my fellow pack mates. My chakra shield usually would put other shinobi immediately off the radar and it would attract the stupid ones, the brave ones and the ones that can't say no to their superiors and their orders into my pack's game. We would have our daily workout and our reputation grow fearsome. It's always a win-win situation for us.
"What's up?" I sit up, mussing my already mussed up hair. This is Hawk-Face Number 4.
"The Hokage is here to you."
"Nice of him to do that. Dear high rank comes down to see poor lil ol' me. Of course we can't be complacent and not check up an S-Rank national criminal in these times of peace."
Hawk-Face No.4 seethes.
I supposed he is entitled to it.
Peace and order has finally been restored to Fire Country and its neighbours. The Fourth Shinobi World War has ended with Uchiha Madara and Akatsuki defeated. Their existence now has become a fascinating muddled source of horror, awe, urban legends, and shinobi history scrolls.
With war also come casualties. Comrades lost and life stolen. Families torn apart and promises were made and kept to see each other in the World Beyond.
Hawk-Face raises a shaking clawed hand to me.
He could have strike me and I would retaliate. Chakra or no chakra, this Anbu doesn't realise who is next on Death's list.
My fingers poise and tingle with my senses awakening, I am ready for the coming blow but it never come.
"Control yourself."
Another figure makes itself known in the room and Hawk-Face's hand immediately dropped at those coolly spoken words.
"Leave." The word is spoken from behind Hawk-Face and the Anbu left through the entrance, leaving me and the newcomer who is not really a newcomer because he actually stands behind Hawk-face for some time.
Bummer, I was thinking of having some workout but oh well. I smirk at the figure that is standing where Hawk-face was before.
"Naruto."
The War might have brought death (Hawk-face must have lost someone or else who won't be that easy to bait) but it has also renewed shinobi pride. It gave birth to new hope and new heroes. Out of all these heroes, two shinobi rose above the others. Like favourites of the weavers of fate, they are young, strong and victorious with an army of followers and admirers.
The first is Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure. Some say he is too young to be Kazekage, too inexperience to lead but the outcome of the war proves them wrong.
The other is...
"Stop playing these games, usuratonkachi."
"Whaddya want, Uchiha?"
... Uchiha Sasuke, the Rokudaime of Konohagakure.