Naruto was eight when he first met the man that would change his life forever.
He was wandering through the outskirts of Konoha, it was the middle of the day and the young blonde boy was strolling through the forest when he saw a flash of bright light through the trees. Thinking it was a pair of training shinobi he eagerly moved to watch. As he peaked around a tree he found his initial assumption to be incorrect.
The two men he saw brawling were in his mind definitely shinobi, but with the ferocity of their attacks there was no way they were training.
One of them was massive, by far the tallest and most broad shouldered man Naruto had ever seen. He had unruly blonde hair, hulking muscles and what looked like black claws on the end of each finger. As Naruto watched the other man punched the larger one in the face, suddenly three claws burst through the blonde one's cheek and jaw and were violently yanked out through the front of the man's face. Blood sprayed and as Naruto watched horror stricken, steam rose and the three huge wounds began to knit themselves together.
The blonde man howled ferociously and pounced atop the other man. Dirt and stone flew into the air and Naruto heard an ominous crack as the pair slammed into the ground. Blood flew into the air as the blonde beast howled and slashed for what seemed like ages. Finally he picked himself up, dusted himself off and turned. "That should keep you down for a while little Logan." the man said. Naruto thought his voice sounded less like a man and more like a growl.
Inhaling deeply the man's face snapped to the side and alighted upon the young boy that had just watched him eviscerate his opponent. Smiling cruelly Naruto began to realize that the victor probably wasn't the good guy in this scenario. Turning around the boy tried to run back to the semi-safety of the village. He heard a crack from behind him, branches snapped and wood splintered as the huge blonde man came crashing down in front of him. In a language Naruto couldn't understand the man spoke. "Where the hell do you think you're going brat?"
Naruto's eyes widened and he took a step back in fear. As the man spoke Naruto realized that his teeth seemed far larger and sharper than any normal man's.
The younger of the two blondes felt an incredible amount of pain as the beast of a man's hand shot forward, spearing his stomach with his black claws. Blood flew out of Naruto's mouth and he tried to scream but the man's other hand clasped over his mouth silencing him.
In desperation Naruto bit down on the man's hand as hard as he could. "GAH!" the man yelled in a mix of pain and anger tearing his hand away from the eight year old's mouth. Warm blood sprayed across Naruto's face as he spat out a chunk of the man's palm.
The pain in Naruto's stomach increased to excruciating as the man picked him up with his left hand. The man raised his right arm high above his head before spearing it towards the boy's face.
Naruto thought he was going to die.
He very well would have if not for the thought to be dead man. The man had jumped in between Naruto and the man's claws, tackling the larger man. The force of the tackle yanked the blonde one's hand from Naruto's stomach and the pair rolled a few feet away in a frenzy, in the end of the roll the black haired man was the one on top and with seven inch claws of bone he began to smash his fists into his opponent's face relentlessly. After a few minutes of slicing through skull and brain matter he began to meticulously dissect his enemy, first severing the man's head before slicing off each of his main limbs. Once he was done he proceeded to dig five holes each about five feet deep, he then shoved each limb and the torso into separate holes, burying them but keeping the head above ground.
As the man did this Naruto sat on the ground trying to process what the hell he had just witnessed.
Finally finished with his self appointed task the black haired man stood, placed the head under his left arm and turned around to walk away, as he did he noticed Naruto and realized that he had forgotten about the dead kid. The man's eyebrow rose as he saw steam rising from the boy's five puncture marks.
'Huh, he's not dead then.' the man thought. Naruto stared up at him. 'Aww shit did I just traumatize him?'
Now that the battle was over Naruto scrutinized the man before him more heavily. He was of average height for a male adult, with long black hair in a sort of mohawk atop his head. He was shirtless and so Naruto could see the large black tattoo that ran from his left pectoral, down his arm and ending at his wrist. Two claws on either hand jutted out from his fists and a third came from the bottom of each wrist, finally the boy's gaze trailed to cerulean blue eyes that seemed to match his own.
Given that he wore no headband Naruto realized that he probably wasn't a konohagakure shinobi, but how else could he do what he had just witnessed?
After an awkward couple minutes of staring, Naruto finally decided to pipe up.
"That was AWESOME!" The man seemed rather surprised by this statement but was clearly trying to not let it get to him. "What?" he asked simply.
"You heard me, that was awesome! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's your name mister?" the blonde boy asked hastily sticking out his hand.
'What the fuck is up with this kid… Ah screw it.'
"I'm Daken, nice to meet you Naruto." Daken replied, clasping the child's hand and giving it a light shake.
The pair of eight year old Jinchuuriki and adult Mutant walked through the streets of Konoha. Naruto had insisted on giving Daken a tour of his home village, initially Daken had protested with the excuse that he had a severed head but Naruto had eventually convinced him after finding a cardboard box to put it in.
The odd duo were on Konoha's central street. Naruto was pointing every which way, loudly explaining what each place was. Daken didn't bother to stop him, he was halfheartedly listening to the small blonde but his focus was more on the people of the village, they either glared at him and the boy or just the kid. 'Reminds me of when I was still a kid.'
After a couple more minutes of walking Naruto came to a halt and Daken almost tripped over him. Pointing up at the cliff face with literal faces on it Naruto exclaimed loudly "That's the Hokage monument, it has the face of each Hokage carved into it. One day my head's gonna go up there too!" The small hand shifted down to point at a red tower at the end of the road. "And that's the Hokage tower, once I become Hokage it's where my office will be. Right now it's where the old man Sandaime works." Daken nodded lightly, a small smile gracing his face. "I'll believe it when I see it squirt."
"HEY!" the tiny finger turned on Daken accusingly and he let out a soft laugh. Undeterred, Naruto's motor mouth went back to it. "And this is the best place in all of Konoha, Ichiraku's Ramen!"
The boy's finger pointed to a small ramen stand that was wafting a delicious scent out onto the street. Daken felt his stomach grumble and he couldn't remember when he had eaten last.
"Naruto, before you drag me in there I've gotta ask you, what kind of money do people use here?" Daken's wallet was full of American dollars, and judging by the fact that everyone here seemed to speak his native tongue he doubted they would accept that. "Ryō, Obviously. What are you, some kind of an idiot or something?"
In a flash Daken had the blonde by the scruff of his neck. "No you brat, I'm just not from around here. I don't have any money so I won't be able to buy you lunch." Daken said lowly, lightly shaking Naruto as he spoke.
Once the shaking ceased and Daken let go of him Naruto spoke. "Don't worry about it, I'll pay for both of us this time but next time it's on you." the boy shrugged.
After a moment of hesitation Daken's stomach rumbled again and he agreed. "Alright."
'What the hell is a kid doing with enough money to feed us both?' Naruto happily pushed a kanji covered flap out of his way before climbing up on a stool and slamming his adorable little hands down onto the counter. "ORDER UP ICHIRAKU-JIJI! I NEED THREE BOWLS OF MISO RAMEN, NARUTO SIZE!" and with that Naruto happily sat himself down on the stool. Daken placed the box with Sabretooth's severed head in it on the ground at his feet as he seated himself.
Behind the counter a young girl, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, and an older man hurriedly began preparing the pair's food. "Who's the third bowl for?" Daken asked. "Me!" the child said happily, a devilish grin making its way onto the eight year old's face.
After a few minutes of waiting they were served and Daken had to stop himself from gaping at the size of the three bowls, Each was easily bigger than his head. 'What in the fuck… How much does this kid eat!?' A sinking feeling settled in his stomach at the thought that he would have to pay for their next meal here.
Naruto and Daken snapped their chopsticks apart. "Itadakimasu." they said. Daken took a moment to savour the smell of the food and the feeling of chopsticks in his hand, something he hadn't experienced in quite a while, he really wasn't a fan of most American versions of the dishes of his homeland. His silent reverie was almost instantly broken however, as Naruto began to eat his food at a pace that floored the Mutant. 'Dear god, this kid's metabolism must be insane.'
With that thought Daken dug into his meal, next to Naruto the pace he was eating seemed slower than a snail, but when compared with any normal person ever it was relatively normal.
As the pair finished their food Daken felt a presence behind him but he didn't react. Drinking the last of the broth he turned around and came face to face with a porcelain mask. "Inu-san!" Naruto exclaimed happily. Daken relaxed a little at Naruto's clear fondness for the man but he remained wary. There were two of them, dressed in identical steel grey armour, the only difference between them was their masks, hair and height. Both were accented with red, the closer of the pair had two curling lines on either cheek of the mask, with red rimming the eyes, his hair was whitish grey and seemed to stand on end, pointing slightly to Daken's right.
The other was much shorter, a triangle came downward from the top of the mask and the inside of its ears were painted, the structure of the mask was slightly different as well, the eyes were much rounder and the face seemed to suggest a weasel rather than a hound. His hair was long and black and was held in a ponytail down his back. 'I assume they're male at least.'
"The Hokage wishes to see you, if you would be so kind as to follow us." Despite the wording it clearly wasn't a question. Pointing at Naruto, Daken asked "Can the kid come?"
The masked pair looked at each other for a moment and their hands flashed through symbols that vaguely reminded Daken of sign language, after a minute or so of this the gray haired one turned back to him and shrugged. "Sure."
Before Daken could reply the masked man grabbed him and their surroundings disappeared in a blur.
They stood in front of a set of oak doors leading into the Hokage's office. Daken wasn't feeling anxious, no matter what they did to him he would survive, but he was on edge. 'As annoying as he is, I kinda like Naruto, I don't think he'd appreciate me slaughtering everybody in here.'
The black haired secretary nodded at them when a green light next to the door flashed on. "You can go in now."
The dog masked man pushed the door open and they proceeded inside. The walls were lined with shelves filled to the brim with scrolls, Daken's dress shoes clacked loudly on the stone tiles that made up the floor. Seated behind the wooden desk was a wizened and wrinkled old man in red a white robes, placed on the desk was a matching triangular hat with the kanji for 'Fire' on it.
The smell of tobacco filled Daken's nose and drew his eyes to the wooden pipe the old man was puffing.
"Sandaime-Jiji! I thought you said smoking was bad!?" Naruto's voice cut through the tension in the room like a hot knife through butter. "It is Naruto-kun." the old man replied lamely.
"So why the heck are you doing it!?" Naruto asked, sounding concerned. "Because my boy, I'm the Hokage and I do what I want."
'Fair enough.' The Hokage's brown eyes settled on Daken. He reminded him of Xavier, except older and with more hair. His eyes were sharp, scrutinizing him intently, he seemed to peer into his soul as if he could see the sins that had stained it. "I don't believe we've met, I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage."
"Akihiro Daken, Naruto speaks fondly of you." as he replied Daken bowed slightly at the hip, it had been made clear to him that however old he seemed the Hokage was the head of the village, and thus was worthy of at least a little respect. "Daken? Who names their child Mongrel?" The Hokage's tone was slight but biting.
"A dead man." he supplied simply. Sarutobi's face softened a little. "My apologies. Please, have a seat." He motioned to a chair against the wall. Daken pulled it over to be slightly to the old man's left. "No need for apologies, I never was fond of him." Daken meant that more than any in the room could ever know. The Hokage put his hat on, in most contexts Daken would have thought it looked ridiculous, but it seemed to add an air of power to the man that he could respect.
"So Akihiro-san, what brings you to the village hidden in the leaves?" Daken pondered how to respond, if he was being honest he had know idea how he had gotten here, but he wasn't sure if that was what he wanted to tell the old man. 'Fuck it, nothing better comes to mind. Besides, something tells me he'll see through any lies like glass.' before he spoke Daken began to pump calming pheromones into the air. "To be quite honest I have no idea how I got here, I was fighting an old enemy of my father's when the pair of us were transported into the woods surrounding your village, that's also when I met Naruto here." 'Aww shit I forgot the box at that ramen shop.'
After a moment of smoking on his pipe the Hokage said "Hmm, I see. Is this true Naruto?" turning his gaze to the rambunctious eight year old. "Yeah, I was walking in the woods and there was this flash! And then I saw Daken-san and this big blonde guy with claws! And they were fighting and I thought he killed Daken-san and I thought he was gonna kill me! He tried to kill me too! But then Daken-san got back up and cut him into pieces and buried them, except the head and… DAKEN WE FORGOT THE BOX WITH THAT BIG ASSHOLE'S HEAD AT ICHIRAKU'S!"
"Language Naruto-kun." The old man paused to rub his temples and take another drag from his pipe before continuing. "So you speak the truth, and you saved my surrogate grandson's life. Commendable indeed. I see no weapon's with you, how did you cut your opponent apart?"
Naruto chose that moment to butt in "Jiji it was so cool, the blonde guy had claws on his fingers but Daken has claws in his hands!" At that statement the old man's eyebrow rose swiftly. "In his hands? May I see them." it wasn't a question. Daken thought about declining but that would only make the old man suspicious, besides, if he was laying his cards on the table he still had an ace in the hole either way. With a soft snikt sound his claws burst forth. Daken savoured the momentary pain he felt as they unsheathed from beneath his flesh.
With a soft "Hmm…" Sarutobi's other eyebrow joined it's comrade in crawling up the man's wrinkled face. "I haven't seen a kekkei genkai like that in many years. Are the Akihiro an offshoot of the Kaguya clan?"
"Who? No, I must admit that even if they were it wouldn't matter, I am an Akihiro in name alone, my abilities come from my father and he's Canadian." The Hokage's eyebrows rose even further, something Daken didn't realise was even possible. "What is… Canadian?"
'Huh!?' "I apologize for answering your question with a question of my own but, what country are we in." Daken almost dreaded the answer. "Hi no Kuni." Sarutobi said flatly. "What continent is this?"
At this Sarutobi looked perplexed but replied a little more than confused. "My boy, you're in the Elemental Nations."
'What. The. Fuck.'
There was a moment of silence throughout the room as each person digested the information. Naruto was extremely confused. Sarutobi though looked as if he was beginning to understand. After a dreadfully long few minutes Daken spoke once more. "I am a lot further from home than I thought." Sarutobi's eyes widened as he began to realize what the young man sitting before him meant. "How far do you think your home is?" he asked quietly.
"Sarutobi-san, I don't think I'm on the same planet I woke up on this morning."
A month and a half later and Daken sat in a chair staring at the head in a glass case. The head of the man that was basically his uncle, sure they weren't related by blood but Victor had always been a dark reflection of his father, they had worked together to torment his father too. The thought made Daken sick. He had done the one thing his father never managed to though, Daken put the Sabretooth down, and he intended to keep it that way.
He knew that Victor was still alive, every once in a while a muscle would twitch, reminding him that this head was his burden. If let out of the glass for too long his healing factor would kick in and there would be a wild animal with the wicked intelligence of a man free to torture a new world free of the Wolverine to stop him.
Daken intended to never let that happen.
A knock at the door broke his one sided staring contest. Two weeks after his arrival in this world Sarutobi had gifted him with a two bedroom apartment, and a ward in the form of Naruto. He couldn't help but wonder what had driven the man to trust him with the young boy, he doubted it was his sincerity. 'Then again, with the way we seem to be constantly watched, maybe he doesn't trust me too much. Yet.'
Daken rose and walked to the door, checking through the peephole he saw the dog masked ANBU. 'Seriously, fucking ninjas.' Checking his clock before he opened the door he saw that it was 4:38 in the morning. 'What the fuck does he want?'
He sighed and opened the door. "What." Daken had gotten the feeling that the dog masked assassin didn't like him very much, that was fine because the feeling was fairly mutual.
"There's a situation, Hokage-sama wishes to see you." The man said curtly.
"At 4:30 in the morning?" Daken didn't really care if he sounded pissed off.
"Yes. The situation is urgent." There was a moment of silence. 'Sarutobi doesn't seem the type to fuck with a man's sleep for no good reason. Even if I wasn't sleeping.'
"Fine." Daken held out his arm. "Take me to him." He felt the younger man's hand wrap around his forearm and everything blurred. In a few rather disconcerting moments he found himself once more standing on the solid stone tiles of the Hokage's office.
"Ahh Daken-san, thank you for coming so promptly." The old man looked serious, there was no hint of the kindly grandfather persona he had displayed in front of Naruto. 'I wonder how real the grandfather act really is?'
"As I've no doubt Inu-san informed you there is a situation." Daken merely nodded in reply. "Approximately ten minutes ago a squad of my shinobi on a routine inspection returned a full two hours early, bringing with them word of a battle in the forest outside of Konoha's walls. They described two beings in red and black ripping and tearing each other to pieces as they zipped from tree to tree on what my men described as webs. Given your self admitted propensity for tracking down and killing things I would like you to accompany a squad of ANBU to verify the claim, and if need be exterminate any threats to Konoha's safety. Are you so willing?"
'This sounds suspiciously like a test.'
"I am Hokage-sama, but aside from repaying my new debt to you, what's in it for me?"
At that the old man smiled. "You of course will be compensated, on top of that depending upon your performance you may be offered the chance to become a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato."
'Definitely a test, I'm game.'
"Do you accept this mission on these terms?" Daken felt his lip begin to pull upwards at the thought of getting paid to rip people apart.
"I accept."
At the massive gates of the village hidden in the leaves the squad of six ANBU waited anxiously for their final member. "Why the hell is Hokage-sama having a civilian come with us Inu-taichou!? He's only gonna slow us down, and probably get himself killed in the process!" Kakashi sighed, before preparing a light verbal beating for the insubordination.
As he went to begin he caught sight of the white robes of the Sandaime Hokage and the blue pants and black shirt clad Daken. Snapping to attention he called out "Hokage-sama, ANBU squad one reporting for duty!" all around him the other members of his squad hastily came to attention. "At ease Inu-san, squad one. This is Akihiro Daken, he will be accompanying you on this mission." The old Hokage's voice was stern and dripped with authority.
Daken was impressed, though he wasn't going to let that show. Running a hand through his hair he walked up to the dog masked ninja who he hadn't realized until now was a commander. "You got something with one of their scents on it?" he asked.
"Actually I do Daken-san." said Sarutobi. Holding out a dagger dripping red with small lines of black spider webbing through it. Taking it gingerly from the old man's outstretched hand Daken brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply, letting the scent permeate. 'Shit.'
"These guys have the best training this place can provide?" He asked nonchalantly. "Only the best make it into ANBU." the old man replied. "Good, they're gonna need it." turning to the dog masked captain he continued. "Are you ready to go?"
"Hai Daken-san. We will be going at full speed though, are you sure you'll be able to keep up?" Daken could hear the challenge in his voice.
"Yeah, I just hope you like the taste of dust." with that he turned and sniffed the air, the wind shifted, heading eastward and he caught a whiff of the scent. 'There you are.' "It's far to the west."
"Then let's go." Said the captain, and with that the seven of them rocketed off. The six ANBU took to the trees, losing sight of the black haired civilian. Itachi piped up from the centre of the squad a few minutes into the forest. "I think he fell behind Taichou." Just then Kakashi stopped and dropped from the trees to the ground, the entire squad following suit.
There, about ten feet in front of them stood Daken. Completely unruffled from having outpaced six ANBU. quietly he whispered "They aren't far." "How can you tell?" one of the less experienced ANBU asked.
"The nose knows."
He shifted. "Fuck. MOVE!" Daken jumped up and kicked Inu-san in the chest with both of his legs just as a red blur swung cackling through where the pair had been standing an instant before. It latched onto a nearby tree branch and swung around it once before perching atop it. A fully red body, covered in black web like veins. A bald head with huge sharp white eyes and a gaping maw filled with razor sharp black teeth. Its black claws dug into the bark of the branch as it's high pitched manic voice rang throughout the trees. "Oh little Wolverine, I see you've brought me snacks."
Daken felt his claws slide out unbidden as he tried to keep calm. "Cassidy, you sick fuck! I heard you were here so I came to put you down like the rabid dog you are!" he snarled. "Well if that's the case, now that I'm done dealing with my stupid progeny and that wannabe spider man, I'm happy to put you and your friends out of your misery!" With that Carnage leapt at Daken.
If this crazy fuck wanted to dance, Daken was only happy to oblige him.