WARNING – This Fanfic is rated M for a reason. It has everything you can expect from your good friends Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch. In later chapters there will be graphical descriptions of - death, murder, blood, gore, drugs, sex, rape, torture, human mutilation, diseases and mutations. Descriptions and/or mention of - mind manipulation, mind breaking, demon possession, religious slander, inhuman demonic rituals, demon sex, tentacle sex, furry sex, futanari, loli, guro and many other things of questionable morality which I can not recall at the moment.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED – If you are under the age of 18 or find any of the above mentioned themes offensive to your tastes - turn back now. I am NOT forcing you to read, it is your conscious choice to do so from this point on. I refuse to hold myself responsible in any shape or form for exposing readers of my 'work' to any and all questionable content for you have been warned beforehand and it was your choice to view such content.
THIS IS AU – lots of things are going to change along the way, but some canonical things will still happen. Expect OOC behaviour and actions at the very least.
THIS FIC USES METRICS – if you don't understand it – google it.
DISCLAIMER: Do I own Naruto? Why yes, yes I do happen to own a couple of rolls, right there on the top shelf of the fridge… Oh… Naruto – Manga… Yeah, middle shelf of the bookcase… Ah! 'Rights' to the Naruto franchise? Well, why didn't you bloody ask that in the first place? No, no I don't and neither do I own the rights to Warhammer/Warhammer40K.
SUMMARY: A man in search of power stumbles onto something that has not been seen on his world for millennia and starts a string of events that will change Naruto-verse as you know it. Watch as the insanity of chaos is unleashed onto an unsuspecting world and as the destinies of men are molded by the subtle manipulations of the dark gods.
GANRE: Adventure/Horror/Humor/Romance
EDIT 02/25/2012: Dont know how, dont know why but some words went missing during conversion. Fixed what I could find. Nothing major, well other than a small snippet from the description of the Blessing of Slaanesh + A/N clarification that this was supposed to be CH3 in the original design but became CH2 instead due to... well, read the A/N. Fixed a few spelling errors that somehow managed to slip through (probably the difference between the British and American spelling, I'm trying to give this Fic a pseudo-brit Black Library feel) Guess its a good thing I decided to re-read it from the website when starting new CH3 instead of reading from the source document.
EDIT 04/20/2012: Fixed a couple of auto-correct fuck ups (around 5 ), added title, and fixed the formatting... again.
On with the story:
CHAPTER 2 - MEET THY MAKERS
Cold. It was so cold. He could feel its prickling caress with every cell of his body. He felt like it has been hours since he had any feeling in his face, hands and feet. At first he could sense all of them going numb accompanied by a feeling of constantly being poked with billions of teeny-tiny needles each. But now they just felt heavy. As if he had an invisible cast placed over his face and extremities. Yet he continued to walk.
Sleep cast its lure hours ago, way before his fingers went numb, lulling him into blissful rest with sweet promises of warmth and safety and rest. 'Just close your eyes and sleep.' Whispered darkness. 'And when you awake – it will be morning. It will be warm.'
Somehow he knew not to trust, not to listen, to stay awake, to keep moving. Of course he did not know of such complex things as hypothermia and frostbite, nor has anyone ever told him that you should never fall asleep in the cold. His instincts simply yelled at him that sleeping right now would be bad. Same instincts that always kept him alive for as long as he could remember. Same instincts that told him to always stay in the direct line of sight of children and to avoid places saturated with adults at all cost. Why? Because they were less likely to do anything in front of their children.
He remembered what happened the last time he did not listen to his instincts. It was bad. Really bad. He would rather not remember. That was the first time he had woken up in the hospital, that he could recall. Though from what he overheard while drifting in and out of consciousness, that was far from the case. He could remember waking up to various hushed voices. Whispering, always whispering. Afraid, disgusted, spiteful – but always hushed, always whispering voices. And rarely, very concerned and pitying. Those almost always belonged to women.
"Gah... That thing is here again."
"Disgusting vermin just refuses to die."
"Oh God... sob... Poor little thing... sob"
"Wish they just finished it this time."
"You lucky I still have a daughter to feed... monster... or I would..."
"How could someone do this to a child?"
He brings his hands closer to his face. He breaths and tries to warm them, tries to get the feeling back into his fingers. It is futile. The steam escapes between the shaking, unbending small fingers. They are already blue from the cold. He breathes again and again, with no result.
Move... Another circle around the orphanage. How many is it now? 100? 1000? Does it matter? His mind is too tired and jumbled to keep track of such trivial things. He glances at the door again and keeps going. There is no use in knocking, shouting and pleading. It will not open. Move... If anything, it will just give sick pleasure to his tormentors. One more step, and then another one... He is not supposed to be aware of such things, but how can he stay ignorant when he can see them leer every time he is hurt. They don't even try to hide it.
Move... Keep putting one foot in front of the other, stumbling over your own legs because their owner can no longer feel them and provide proper coordination. He lost balance and fell onto frost covered grass. Get up. Move. Don't sleep. UP! Gradually, he pulls himself up on shaky legs and walks on. Forward. His eyes feel so heavy. Don't sleep. So cold and so-so heavy. MOVE! He stumbles and falls again. Get up! The frozen earth feels so soft under his cheek... so warm... On your feet! Move! So tired... so cold and heavy... Don't sleep! Get up! So warm... and soft... UP! MOVE! CRAWL! LIVE! ... WAKE UP!
X
(Drip) The sound is hollow. It reverberates through the empty space.
(Drip) It bounces of the walls, echoing through the darkness.
(Drip) It tries to feel in the void, but it's presence is fleeting.
He groans and tries to stand up. He needs to keep moving or something bad will happen. Just like last time. He notices that something is wrong almost instantly. Instead of cold earth and frost covered grass, he is greeted by the sight of a wet, neatly fitted, polished black stone floor underneath his fingers. More importantly, he could actually feel his fingers!
Question after question raced through his addled mind. Did the 'caretakers' bring him in after he collapsed? No. They never did before, why should this time be any different? Besides, the floors in the orphanage were mostly of cheep linoleum, except for the hardwood of the 'visitor area', principal's office, and staff's recreational room.
Groggily he got up on his knees and looked around, drinking in the environment to the smallest detail. This was definitely not the orphanage. He found himself in a large hallway, with floors, walls and even ceiling made of the same jet-black stone. Small drops of water fell from the ceiling and rolled leisurely down the walls, only to seep through the cracks in between the stones of the floor. And further down the hall, the scenery became phantasmagoric, to say the least.
Just a few meters in front of him the orderly fashion of the floor changed to a complete chaos. Slabs of stone were sticking out at seemingly random angles all over the place, some sinking in as deep as several decimetres, others - just lying around in disorderly piles. Further down, the axis of the hall rotated counter-clockwise, and the hallway itself seemed to rise and dip at random. All along the 'walls' of the hallway were strewn doors of different shapes, colours and sizes.
He followed down the hall, climbing over the piles of stone, jumping over the numerous protrusions and indentations, all the while being careful not to slip on the wet surface. As he went further, the stone became rougher; the floor steadily turned first into the right wall, than the ceiling, the left wall, and finally the floor again. All the while the doors moved together with their relative walls, ending up on the floor and ceiling, or upside down at times.
Several times he could swear he heard the voices whispering to turn back and begging him to run away. Yet, perhaps due to childhood naivety, or due to the all-consuming curiosity - he persevered. Slowly, the doors have became more sparse, and than disappeared all together. The hallway deteriorated into random segments of uneven stonework. First to go was the current ceiling - falling apart into a mass of hovering slabs, drifting further and further up as the hall went further. And what he saw through the cracks made him shudder and swear not to look again. At least until he had no other choice.
Thankfully, the deterioration seemed to keep in touch with the general directions of up, down, left and right. The walls were next to go, though they thankfully did not decay to the same extent as the ceiling, leaving the patches of masonry to float between him and what was on the other side. He started to panic when the same thing began happening to the floor, but at this point he was pretty sure that this was just some weird dream. A very lucid weird dream. Because there was no way that what he saw could exist anywhere in real world.
He came to the end of the road. The hallway fell apart completely, leaving just a sparse few blocks of jagged stonework floating in the void, to serve as the path or as a bizarre decor, far to inclined to provide any sort of footing. He was greeted with a marvellously terrifying vista that made him break out in cold sweat, his heart race, his breath caught, and his brain freeze. He stared as a terrified animal would at approaching inescapable doom. A visage beyond understanding of a mere human, no - beyond any sentient being's understanding.
The sight made him sick, yet he could not dare to pull his eyes away. He gazed into the Void itself. It swirled and flowed with countless currents of a thick multicoloured fog that came in all the sickly dark and luminous shades of red, green, blue, black and purple; with occasional discharges of untamed energy flashing in the entanglement of painfully slow and sickeningly rapid warped currents.
It seemed alive, as if possessing an intelligence of its own; just waiting for you to avert your eyes, give in to fear and despair, and it would spring forward - latching onto your flesh and soul, tearing right into them until there is not a shred of your being left. Nothing left but IT. And at the same time, something deep within him kept screaming: 'Wrong. Wrong! WRONG! You are wrooooong! How dare you - with your feeble mortal mind - to even try to perceive the non-existence. How dare you to attempt to visualize the unseen, to comprehend that which is beyond your comprehension, to bring into the material realms the Immaterium!'
The child, a mere speck in the middle of a raging ocean, collapsed to his hands and knees; gasping for air, clenching his eyes shut in a despair until they hurt, feeling every beat of a rapid drumming of heart. He was trying desperately to cling to every known constants of life.
"This way." A whisper thundered through his very being, snapping him out of the spell-like grip of doom. His head snapped in the direction of the voice, spying, until now unnoticed, broken path. It lead away from his current observation platform and to, what seemed like, an enormous building, shaped like a flat five pointed star, with one point broken off half way. He sprang into movement, jumping from platform to platform, glad to have something other than the chaos of the void to concentrate on.
Such was his joy and desire to get away from the expanses of non-existence, that he forsaken all his instincts and jumped inside the building without any care or precaution.
The child landed on a large pentagonal floor of the same polished black stone. Tentatively, he looked around, taking in as much as he could as fast as possible. The inside of the building was spacious, even overly so. What he assumed might have been a five-story building with numerous rooms, was in fact a single store, five room structure. The broken point of the star served as an entrance, the rest were... prison cells. The central pentagon-shaped room was separated from the beams by enormous floor-to-ceiling cage of glimmering black metal bars, with enough space for a grown man to pass sideways in between.
The feeling of dread was once again upon him. The same unearthly horror that radiated from the abyss outside could be felt from all around him now. He made it to the centre of the room, shivering from the primal horror that pierced every cell of his body. The animal part of his being whined and howled in terror, urging him to run as fast and as far as possible without looking back. Whoever or whatever was confined in here was far more dangerous than what was outside.
"Did you enjoy gazing into the eye of Chaos, child?" The same voice that whispered to him before sounded from one of the cells. "I must admit," - it mocked condescendingly - "it is rare for one of your kind to remain sane after staring into an abyss of non-existence even for a moment. Even more so when the Void graces them with its own gaze. Then again, it could be argued whether you have been sane to begin with."
"Who said that?" He span around facing the cell. A combination of too many unknowns and too many shocks has already put his mind on edge. The fight or flight instinct was now firmly stuck on the 'fight' setting. Fear was slowly tempered into anger on the forge of hopelessness.
"That would be me." A raspy dry chuckle escaped the depths of darkness.
Slowly, a slender giant figure slithered out of the shadows. It had vaguely humanoid torso with a long serpentine tail instead of legs and an overextended thin arms, ending in long lithe hands with sharp curved nails at each finger. If normal hands were approximately twice as long as the torso of their wielder, these were at least three times the length of the creature's body. Its head was covered by a giant deformed skull of a raven, with a shaggy plume of black, blue, green and purple feathers cascading from the back. Clusters of short red-brown writhing tentacles decorated the eye-holes, nostrils, and the corners of its beak. Another batch of much thicker tentacles was wrapped around its left shoulder in a semblance of an organic pauldron / half-cloak hybrid. Two slit amethyst eyes stared at the child from the darkness of its eye sockets with an unblinking piercing gaze.
The entire body of the creature was covered in dull iridescent scales in all shades of blue, green and purple. Along the arms, from the back of the hand to the elbow, a thick batch of purple-red fur seemed to sprout directly from under the scales. On the torso, a set of insect-like vestigial extra limbs, five pairs in total, rested on its sides. The top two pairs looked like an atrophied version of the primary arms complete with a set of tiny three fingered hands.
"Welcome to our humble abode, oh our most esteemed jailer - Uzumaki Naruto." The creature behind bars spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice while performing an over-exaggerated mocking bow.
"Who... W-what are you? Where are we? How do you know my name? Wait... why did you call me 'jailer'? You said 'our abode', there's someone else in here? Am I dead? Wha..."
His mind screamed to not stop talking. To keep his thoughts and body occupied unless he wanted the sick sense of horror and wrongness that radiated from the thing in front of him to catch up with his senses, overwhelm his reason and seize his mind and body in a paralysing cold grasp of primal fear of prey facing an ultimate predator. Unfortunately for him the creature had its own plans.
A sound of an open palm slamming into the floor interrupted his tirade.
"SILENCE!" It bellowed. "Our time is short and my curiosity and thirst for knowledge do have their limits, mortal. Your incessant snivelling serves nothing but to diminish those. Now, behave in a dignified manner and perhaps I will answer a few of your insignificant questions."
Naruto gulped. It took every ounce of his mental fortitude not to take a step back, or even run as far as possible , under the scrutinizing, constantly shifting gaze of the slit purple eyes with a golden ring in the centre. Gathering all of his resolve he pushed the fear back. He needed answers.
"Fine. Could you please tell me who, or what are you? It would be rude to address an obviously much more powerful and wise... ehrm... person with a simple 'hey you'." Naruto gave himself a pat on the back. 'That's right, lay in some praise and maybe it will not kill you.'
"You are going to need a lot of work, brat." The creature rubbed at its temples. "But I guess it'll have to do for now."
The oppressive atmosphere faded a bit, allowing Naruto to relax.
"Very well. Allow me to introduce myself. Your kind has given me many names throughout the countless aeons and numerous worlds: Raven Lord, Great Serpent, Changer of Ways, Great Mutator, Lord of Forbidden Knowledge, Great Deceiver, Magus Prince, King of Pagoda of Eternal Knowledge. But to all the races of the multiverse I am known as Tzeentch. Whatever else you choose to attach to that name is up to your individual choice and your perception of me." Another mock bow. "You, mortal, are having a coveted pleasure of being in the presence of one of the Four Daemon Lords of Chaos."
"D-d-d... Daemon?" Naruto was gaping.
"Daemon Lord, yes."
"Then... I am dead."
"No"
"Then how are you here? How did I get here? Where is HERE anyway?" He was splattering now, utterly confused and disoriented.
"One question at the time, remember?" The oppressive air returned in force, and vanished just as fast. "But I guess they are related, so I will cut you some slack. Just don't let it happen again. Do not test my patience, boy."
Tzeentch closed his eyes as if gathering his thoughts and huffed in annoyance.
"HERE, as you put it, is inside your mindscape - the innermost part of your mind and soul, a world created by the sum total of your experiences, ambitions, nightmares and essence. We are confined here, how that happened is a tale for another day, we simply do not have time for it now. This is the reason why I called you our jailer and how I knew your name."
"There you go again, you keep saying 'we' and 'our' but I don't see anyone else. How many more of..." The child shuddered involuntary. The thought of possibly having countless other daemons prowling around was very disturbing. "...your kind, are in here?"
He glanced around before finishing.
"Judging by the number of cages and what you said previously - I would say... Three more?" Naruto prayed to be right.
"Very astute." Daemon gave a slow clap. "Four actually. Three others are indeed the Lords of Chaos just like me. They... do not think that you are currently worth their time. They will show themselves once they think that you have something to offer, once they see that you have some potential in their chosen field. Or once there is no other choice."
"The last one is different from us. It is the focal point of this strange rune prison. It is the entity that was supposed to be imprisoned inside you all along; we just were dragged with it as a... bonus." Tzeentch chuckled. "Worry not about it. Nowadays it serves as the source of our nourishment and occasional stress release. It is our... proverbial whipping boy now. You might know it as Kyuubi."
With that one name the gravity of the situation has finally started to sink in. Until now, Naruto hoped beyond hope that the creature in front of him was but a product of his unstable mind, the so called 'inner daemon' that people often talk about. After all, he has never before heard any of the names and titles that it has claimed as its own. But now... Now he had a confirmation that it was indeed what it claimed to be.
Everyone knew what the Tailed Beasts were. Monsters, staff of legends and bogeyman to little children everywhere. He has heard numerous times the matron use them to terrify unruly kids into obedience. 'Behave, or I'll feed you to a Bijuu.' She always yelled at them. Everyone but him. To him she never spoke, none of them ever did, other than a short barked order or an insult. Daemon and Monster were chief among those. He always wondered why.
And there it stood, an answer to all his questions, Daemon powerful enough to subdue what was thought to be the most powerful daemon in existence. Naruto's tiny malnourished hand rose to his chest and clutched desperately at his tattered oversized shirt in a desperate attempt to quell the painful gallop of his heart. His vision swam with forming tears and throat was squeezed in sharp bitter grip.
"Than... It is true..." He managed to rasp out. "I have Kyuubi and 4 other daemons sealed in me... I am just what they say - a daemon... A monster... Animal... Murderer..."
With every word the volume of his voice kept falling, until the last few words were nothing but a barely audible choked whisper. The next second his fatalistic musings were interrupted by loud and raspy crowing laughter.
"If that is what you wish to see yourself as than by all means, be my guest. But don't you dare to think even for a second that a mere mortal like you can command our power and claim it as his own. The blessings of the Dark Gods have to be earned." The wave of terror was once again upon him. And then it vanished as fast as it appeared. "Oh, and by the way - it is 'Four Daemon Lords of Chaos and some insignificant lesser daemon, not 'Kyuubi plus four.'"
"So... I am not a daemon?" There was so much hope in his voice, it was almost tangible.
"Not even close, child. You still have a long way to go." Naruto could have sworn that the daemon was smiling at him. Just don't ask how a bird skull could 'smile', he just knew that it was. "But it is important to have goals to stride towards, no?"
Naruto was gob smacked. For a second, he couldn't even express his indignation at such a blatant twisting of his words.
"Wha... Bu... No! Wait, that's not what I meant! I don't want to be a daemon! Daemons are hated and feared, that's not what I want. I want to be accepted! I want to be just like old man - a Hokage - strongest and most respected man in the village!"
"Ambition and thirst for power and control. Good, very good. You are already one step closer." Tzeentch chuckled. "Whether you like it or not - we are stuck together for the foreseeable future. You are our vessel, a medium through which our Will will manifest upon this world, our champion. It will be better for all involved if you accept your role as soon as possible."
Upon seeing the child's crestfallen but determined expression, it decided to elaborate. It wouldn't be good if the child decided to be difficult and reject its generosity.
"Besides, you better than anyone should know that not everything people say is true. Blind masses have a tendency to label anything they don't understand and what scares them as Evil. Power beyond their comprehension is what scares people the most, and power is never malicious in itself, it is the intent that drives it that gives it shape and purpose. Evil can be done in the name of Good, and Good in the name of Evil."
"So? What are you getting at?"
"Oh, it is simple, really. We can help each other, child. As I have said before, blessings of the Chaos Gods have to be earned. You can give us means to influence the outside world, and we can give you power to achieve your goals."
Naruto observed the self-proclaimed Daemon God for a few minutes, mauling over everything he knew about daemons in general and what the creature has told him, trying to decide the best course of action. In the end, he had to admit that the offer sounded extremely tempting, and that he knew almost nothing about the daemons outside of 'daemons are bad and evil' dogma. So far he really had no reason to refuse. Unless...
"What exactly do you want from me as a payment? Sacrifice another child in your name under the light of the full moon, or something?"
Tzeentch laughed, a loud, crowing, malicious laughter that sent chills down Naruto's spine.
"Oh no, no, no, no, child. I am the God of Knowledge, and knowledge is what I seek. I have to admit that I have never before seen anything like this." He waved a hand in the direction of the seal. "I find it interesting, but I had five years to study it, and even without any references and any knowledge of the underlying concepts - I am almost done unravelling its every secret. I grow bored and I need something new to research. The rest will state the price of their power if you start delving in their domains. In fact, all of us are bored of this bland environment. We want to see and feel the same things you do. We thirst for heights of your emotions - your pain and pleasure, fear and courage, love and hatred, tranquillity and rage. And in exchange, we have agreed to offer you some minor blessings from all four of us. Consider it a sample of the powers that will be available to you, should you choose to truly serve us. Do you accept the terms so far?"
Naruto gave another minute to careful consideration.
"Yes. I accept."
Four motes of differently coloured light materialized in Tzeentch's outstretched hand. They bobbed and swayed in the non-existent wind, each giving of dull malicious glow.
"First - the Blessing of Nurgle - God of Decay, Disease, Poison and Immortality." A green mote floated from its resting place toward Naruto's stomach. "None that is governed by the Eternal Great-Father shall ever cause you harm. No poison or disease will ever affect you unless you will it so."
The mote sank in, wreaking his body with fever and aches. Bile rose to his mouth and sweat poured from every pore. He folded on the floor, rocking and gasping for breath, desperately trying to get his body under control.
"Next -" Continued the unrelenting voice. "- is the Blessing of Khorne - God of Blood and Battle." Red mote darted forward, impacting into his back. He screamed in agony as his body burned, every muscle tearing and every bone cracking under pressure. "Yours shall be the body perfect for battle. You shall be stronger and faster than anyone. You shall never tire and all your wounds and bruises will heal at the rates never seen before."
He was curled on the floor now, sobbing and whimpering. Never before has he experienced this level of pain. Sure he has been beaten a few times in his short life, couple of times severely enough to end up in the hospital, but never before has he felt so crushed and broken. And yet it hasn't ended yet... He could feel the Daemon's eyes on his wretched form, relishing in the sight. He could swear it was laughing gleefully on the inside.
"Oh, don't be such a crybaby." It crooned. "You are only half way done."
"NEXT ONE!" Tzeentch yelled, its tone full of mirth. "Blessing of Slaanesh - God... Goddess... Thing... Deity of Excess and Pleasures." Pink mote danced its way slowly towards Naruto's crumpled form. "Your form shall be pleasant to eye of beholder, your voice shall lull those who listen, plussomeotherbenefits-butyouaretooyoung-toknowofthoseyet. AKHEM! Anyway, with this people will easily trust you, to the point where you may be able to turn your enemies into your allies with a few well placed and well thought words."
The mote sunk into Naruto's chest. He braced for another wave of pain... And... nothing... A warm wave of pleasure passed through him, easing his muscles and washing away the residual pains and aches of the previous blessing.
"Cwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! You should have seen the look on your face... Priceless! Pure Chaos! Oh I love this job." Honestly, Naruto had to admit that he found the sight of a Daemon God laughing its ass off, slamming its free hand into the floor, and its tail whipping frantically, more disturbing than the sight of the same God angry. "Worry not; there will be no more pain. At least not that much." Yeah, even just him smiling was definitely more disturbing.
"Last but not least - Blessing of Tzeentch - my blessing." Naruto could swear that its green got even wider if that was possible. It twirled a bright blue mote between its fingers and then flicked it at him. The mote impacted with his right eye, sending sharp pain through it. "Be blessed by the God of Knowledge, child. I give you the Eye of Tzeentch. Know, that everything you see and read, from this day forth you will forever remember in every minor detail. While a quick glance at the page of the book will not immediately provide you with all the information contained on it, you will be able to recall it at the later date in its entirety and thus commit it to your memory."
For a few seconds the area around his eye glowed, a mark, shaped vaguely as a wisp of flame appeared around it and then vanished without a trace.
Naruto gathered himself off the floor. Gingerly he rose to his feet, suppressing the weariness and phantom pains of the ordeal.
"So, what now?" He managed to squeeze out.
"Now, my little neophyte, you need to awaken and seek shelter for the remainder of the night. I have flooded your body with the entropic energies, but they will not keep you alive for long."
"Wait! Last question: how do I contact the rest of my... tenants?"
"I am sure you have a lot more questions than that, and all of them will be answered in due time. All you need to know for now is this: seek knowledge outside the realm of common, seek perfection of arts or affection of others, seek glory of battle and blood, and finally, seek knowledge of poisons and plagues. Those will start you on the four paths of Chaos."
With those parting words, Naruto's vision blurred and his form faded from the expanses of mind-scape.
And in the silent darkness of the mind-prison, an entity with the power to bare this world with but a glance laughed, the seeds of its machinations planted, numerous plans waiting to be enacted.
X
He awoke with a start, cold ground painfully pressing into the soft tissue of his cheek. His body was still frozen and stiff but he could feel the energies coursing through him, breaking the stiffness; a silent confirmation that what he just saw and heard was not a delirious nightmare.
With a start, Naruto remembered the Daemon God's recommendation. It was right; he needed warmth and shelter for the remaining scant few hours of the night. He stood up and started walking away from the orphanage. He needed a place where he would be allowed for the night, a place from which he will not be kicked out, a place where no human will enter until the dawn. A warehouse perhaps, or a barn, or...
He stumbled once again, barely managing to keep the balance. Jerked out of his musings, his gaze landed on a large gate with a mark of two long curved red triangles. Naruto smiled. This would do just fine. After all, kennels were a perfect fit for something not human.
He walked along the wall, towards the southern part of the compound. He scaled a nearby tree with practised ease and jumped towards the wall, praying to all the gods to reach the edge of the wall and have enough strength to hold on to it. Imagine his surprise when he launched from the tree like a long range jutsu, overshooting the wall and crashing on the other side in a heap about 5 meters from the wall.
'Note to self: Gods are much closer than they used to be - pray with caution.' He thought, spitting and scraping the dirt out of his mouth.
He continued to the kennels, meeting no patrols - the Inuzuka clan always trusted their animal companions just as much as they would another human of their clan, therefore they always left the defence of the kennels and the nearby portion of the wall to the dogs. And right now, Naruto was extremely grateful for this. The animals were less likely to attack him than humans. True, they did not like him all the same (no cat or dog would ever let him pat it), but at least they never attacked him and were never outright afraid of him. They were just cautious, and now that he knew the truth, he could not blame them.
Cautiously, he made his way to the door, only to find it blocked by a large hound. It was a large, wolfish old dog with black matted fur and white underbelly, with a few grey hair sticking out here and there. One of its eyes was missing and a long jagged scar ran through the cauterized socket. The other eye shone with the inner light of intelligence above that of any normal animal, combined with a demanding stern gaze. It did not need to snarl to be intimidating, it entire demeanour screamed the same message as any battle hardened warrior - your life will end the moment you do anything to provoke me.
Its intent right now was clear - Naruto was an intruder, but he also presented no threat to his kind or humans of the pack - therefore it allowed Naruto to come this far but no further. It started to advance, probably thinking to remove him from the premises or corral him towards its human partners.
"Please..." Naruto managed to squeeze out of his dry throat. "Let me stay the night. I just... It's cold. I don't want to freeze. I'll be gone in the morning. I promise."
The animal stopped shocked, he could swear he saw its brow shoot up for a moment. The next moment its face furrowed in a grimace of rage, and the next it was once again relaxed but stern. After a few moments of hesitation it stepped aside, motioning for the child to go in. Naruto nodded in thanks, a shy grateful smile gracing his face for a few moments, and made his way in.
The moment the child had disappeared inside the kennel, dog's face has once again transformed into a mask of rage and indignation. It clawed at the frozen earth and rumbled menacingly, its malice congealing into a nearly tangible cloud around its frame. It took it a few minutes to rein its emotions back under control, before it too strode inside.
X
In the silent darkness of the mind-prison, an entity with the power to bare this world with but a glance laughed, the seeds of its machinations planted, numerous plans waiting to be enacted.
Three other figures stirred in the inky darkness of their own cells.
"Bravo! Bravo, dear brother!" A melodious female voice sang, full of contempt. "Such artistry, such improvisation, such marvellous little farce! I dare say you deserve an award. But I have to ask, is this really necessary?"
"Oh yes, dear... sister... thing... Considering our situation, I do believe this is the only way."
"RUBBISH!" Roared deep male voice, full of malice and murder. "We have the power plenty to shatter this pathetic prison and grind its shards into a sub-atomic dust! We should have done it from the start and..."
"And WHAT, dear brother Khorne?" Tzeentch snarled, spitting out the word 'brother' like a piece of rotten pestilent meat. "Need I remind you that this world's connection to the Warp is nearly non-existent? This child and this prison are the only things that bind us to this world. Right now, through him, we have a chance to subvert this planet to our influence. We have a rare chance here to expedite our plans. Do not let your brash nature blind you to the big picture."
"Khgu-ghu-ghu-ghu." Another male voice, this one old and raspy and full of mirth, with gurgling undertones, as if he speaks through a throat full of some viscous liquid, interrupted. "Little changeling is right, oh my bloodthirsty friend. Have patience; soon you will once again bathe in your precious blood. Whatever the outcome of this little experiment will be we will at least have some entertainment, and you should know how rare it is for us."
"Perhaps." Khorne grumbled. "But was it necessary for you to shower that whelpling in gifts? And do it in OUR NAME?" An armoured fist collided with the bars, sending out a loud metallic clang.
Tzeentch chuckled softly.
"Ah, I see the intricacies of my genius have once again eluded you, my straightforward, simple-minded brother. Did I really give anything to the child, other than my own blessing? Think about it for a moment. Go on. Just don't strain yourself." He mocked childishly. "All I did was brought to the front his natural talents that he inherited either from his parents or from the beast. I gave him nothing that he would not have developed on his own in due time; other than an eidetic memory and temporary flooding his body with the energies of the Warp. And now the child will think that all he is - is thanks to us and one day he shall come back for more. And we will play a gracious host so that he will spread our influence throughout his home world willingly."
Four unique laughters ripped apart the murky silence of the mind. And only one other entity bore silent witness to the scheming of the Gods.
A/N
Honestly, I have no excuse. Posting first chapter right before the holidays was foolish of me. I couldn't even start editing CH2 until mid January, and then I ran into a snag... What you just read was actually planned as CH3, but CH2 came out to 'dry' for my taste.
Original CH2 was mostly the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack, and an info-dump of the general structure, laws and history of this AU with very little in the way of actions and words. Honestly it was akin to chewing on 5 bags of un-diluted Kool-Aid and trying to wash it down with Tabasco – shit load of 'flavor' but no satisfaction from the experience.
I debated for a week whether to post it as is, rewrite, or scrap it. In the end I've decided to tear it to shreds and use the pieces of its desecrated corpse in the future chapters as flashbacks or inner musings of the characters. Maybe I'll add some of it to the CH1 (I'll post a BIG warning at the start of the new CH if I ever do that).
I am also debating whether to post A/N + Q/A as a Review instead, considering that I already have a 600 words of WARNING per CH and these puppies clock at around additional 1k. Considering that I myself usually judge whether a story is worth a read based on the average # of words per CH I think that it gives an unfair representation of 'possible quality'. Reviews on the other hand are only noticeable when they clock above 1k and are mostly for the sake of the author anyway. Besides, if I get as much as 10 R per CH than 1 additional R is but a drop in a lake, and if I get less – just shows that my Fic ain't worth reviewing anyways (runs away crying).
Q&A: Big THANKS! to everyone who left a review. I appreciate your support and hope not to disappoint you in the future. So far there are no negative reviews, which is... doesn't really tell me anything considering the size and content of the CH1. I haven't given you much to base your opinion on yet. OK, on to the specifics:
19Gaspar90 – yeah it is really disappointing.
Takai153 – guess this chap answered some of you Q.
WorldStrider – is lying to, and shaping views from young age a mind manipulation? Hmmm...
Skelo – meh, maybe. Honestly at that point I was so disappointed with the direction of the manga that I sort of skimmed through the chapters until it gotten to the 4th war.
hkblarg – you haven't seen my profile, have you? There will NEVER be MPreg, as for Yaoi... most likely not, only if cursory mention that a male char is involved with other male char. No graphic scenes or descriptions. I am not against Slash, it's just not my cup-o-tea. Except MPreg, that's just wrong... (shudder)
Creepy Quiet Kid – hope this length is more to your liking, because this is how its gonna go from here on – 5k+
Concerning the update speed: Honestly I can't say anything at this point. I have an average of 1 hour a day of free time and not all of it can be spent on creative writing. So I would say expect to see 1 chapter per month for now, more if I get some extra free time, less if the muse decides to be a total bitch.
PS: Is it really that hard to come up with the start for Naruto that doesn't have "Child is running through the dark streets from the crowd of bloodthirsty foaming at the mouth zealots"? I think 80% of Fics on this site start that way, and in all honesty it has gotten to the point where I want to stop reading the Fic as soon as I see those words or any of its variants.
PPS: Why the fuck does this website fuck with the formatting so much? Is having brackets and repeating characters REALLY that big of a fucking deal?
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