A/N: EDIT: Pesky flames. Can't we all just get along?
As ever, the Embers Rule Persists; if folks don't like this; poof, gone, to the void it goes.
Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Poof! Gone! Deleted forever. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that.
That's not a joke.
Sorry, this is shorter than I'd like. Have a dentist appointment early this morning, and its stressing me right out.
That said, I'm angling for a triple update today; this, Best Served Cold, and Not My Doctor.
I've been watching entirely too much Doctor Who, and this idea was inevitably formed from that; then THAT request came, and I simply couldn't help myself.
This idea...well...someone said I didn't have the guts to write a gritty story. I took exception to that.
Alright, I think I've kept you long enough.
Here...we...go!
"Never travel alone, Naruto. When you do, your heart may grow cold.
Never travel alone. When you do, you are no longer bold.
Never travel alone. When you do, you'll feel old.
Promise me, old friend. Never travel alone."
"...I will be if you die! Please! Don't...!"
~?
Never Travel Alone
What happens when you kill a god?
Does the universe collapse? Does reality cease to exist? Does everything just...stop? No. No, it does not. You'd think it might, that it would, but really, killing a god changes remarkably little in the grand scheme of things. Gods. Monsters. People. They're all the same in the end. Some just take a little more time to die. No one lives forever.
No one...except me.
You see, that's my punishment.
I committed a crime that silenced the universe. Failure.
That's right. I faltered when it mattered most. I couldn't save my people. My friends. My world. I burned them all. Long live Naruto! The great exterminator! The man who set his world ablaze! The fool who failed his friends and family! The Last Shinobi! The Lonely God! That's what I am! I watched it happen! I made it happen! I had no choice. I did what had to be done. It was the only way. Kaguya was too powerful. Everything was destroyed. Everyone was gone.
She ripped Sakura's head off.
Tore Kakashi in half like a straw doll.
Blasted a hole in Sasuke's chest and left him to die.
I had to watch them all fall. I couldn't save them. Do you have any idea what that's like? The shame? To hold someone in your arms and watch -beg!- as they choke out their final breaths? To hear their finals words to you and know that you can't do a damn thing to save them? Can you even begin to imagine what that's like?!
Sometimes, I think I've gone mad.
In the end, we damned each other. I cracked open Kaguya's chest and crushed her black heart, leaving her to burn with my world, but not before she completed her bloody work. Not before she marked and cast me from my world with her last gasp. It feels like just yesterday, but its been so long since then. I have lived for over nine thousand years.
His lasts words to me. Don't travel alone. Don't make the mistakes I did.
I don't age. Humans decay. You wither and die. Imagine watching that happen to someone you care about. I can never go back. I can never fix it. Its not fair! I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of watching everything turn to dust. That's right. Tired. I'm tired of losing everyone. Everything. Traveling alone is better. For eons now I've heard nothing but my own voice, my footsteps, and the wind.
Keep walking. Keep running. Never look back.
Never travel alone, he said.
I always will.
(.0.0.0.)
The sun was already down.
With each passing step the shadows grew longer, the darkness stronger ever as the trees pressed in. Each step brought him further and further from civilization; further down the beaten path. Light from a torch cast faint flickering figures across the worn dirt trail, sending faint tethers dancing beneath dirty boots. A dark cloak flared about him, shielding him from worst of the light.
And still he kept walking.
He had to, because he dare not look back. To do so now would show fear; fear that would surely bring the monsters down upon him like a horde of starving vultures. A howl echoed into the night, faint and distant behind. His shoulders stiffened beneath the cloak. A lonely blue iris peaked over his shoulder, waiting for a response. None came. He shook his head once and kept moving.
Glowing red eyes peered out at him in the gloom. Followed by another. Another still. Another.
Whiskered cheeks dimpled in a rueful smile beneath. "Hello, beasties."
They didn't approach.
Their pack numbered nine in all, but not a single one made even the slightest effort to otherwise impede him. If anything they shied away.
"Well?!" A blond brow quirked at them as they threaded their way through the trees. "What are ya waiting for. Here I am!"
The lead wolf emerged first, pawing at the ground like some kind of bull. It was a great and ghastly thing, an Alpha, its bony hide pitted and scarred from countless battles. And yet it shied away from him. Feared him, as mindless creatures should not. Some sixth sense held it at bay. It huffed and snarled at him, refusing to attack.
That wouldn't do.
"C'mon!" he thumped his chest with a free hand. "Come get me! I'm right here!"
A growl was all he received.
He smacked his chest with that same fist. "Face me, damnit!"
In the end, sheer negativity won out; his was a buffet and the creatures couldn't resist for long. The leader lunged...
"Rasengan."
...right into a spiraling azure sphere.
The rest died quickly after that. Too quickly. They fell upon him and he tore them apart like the beasts they were. He stomped down on the leader's skull, rendering it so much ash beneath his boot. That was the problem with Grimm. They always died too quickly. Everything did. No fun. No challenge. No entertainment. How could he lose himself in a fight if there wasn't a good one to be had?
Almost sad, really.
Brushing the last of the ash aside from his worn cloak, the lonely warrior went back to the road and set about making camp for the night. It was as good a place as any. In short order he had his tent pitched. His torch was flung atop a pile of gathered logs, birthing a fire with which to warm himself. A brace of rabbits were caught and summarily skinned in short order, then thrown over the flames to cook.
He polished off the rabbits and left the rest to warm for later as he drank from his canteen.
How long had he been like this? Wandering the wilds, eschewing human contact, killing monsters? He no longer remembered. Perhaps that was for the best. He'd have to return again soon, if only to mend his clothes and boots again. Both were filled with holes.
The faint clatter of hooves caught his ear as he began to eat.
"Just move on," he muttered, taking a bite of his hard won meal. "Nothing to see here."
He tried to ignore them; really, he did. Anyone traveling this late at night wasn't someone he wanted to trifle with. But the noise came closer, then slowed, no doubt noticing his fire. With a put upon sigh, he looked up. A caravan? Those didn't travel after dark. Not if they could help it. Yet still the noise came closer. There could be no denying it now.
He stood with an effort, wincing a little as they came into view.
Five riders, each on a horse of their own. No, wait, he made a mistake. Two cantankerous mules hauled a crude carriage laden with dark bundles, while a sixth rider guided the beasts. They were a motley crew all things considered; clad in patchwork armor, their weapons simple. Even their mounts looked to have seen better days. To say nothing of the one who led him.
Was that a person? It looked like a dumpling had eaten a man!
A particularly rotund fellow led their merry band, sat astride a miserable destrier several sizes too small for his weight. Squat with thick jowls and a-yet-thicker chin, he was most unpleasant to the eyes. His lips parted, revealing a golden tooth among other, missing teeth. Greasy didn't even begin to describe him; his body wrapped in once fine green silks that were now stained with substances his mind would rather not imagine.
"Evening, stranger." he called out to him. "What business brings you out this late?"
The man didn't look up from his food. "Work."
"Funny you should mention that." the rider guffawed. "We're conducting a bit of...business, ourselves. Might I have the pleasure of your name?"
For a moment he considered hiding it, as he'd hidden so many other things. In the end it simply wasn't worth the trouble. It didn't matter in the long run. He'd be forgotten soon enough. After only a moment's hesitation, he tugged back his cowl, exposing an unruly blond mane framed by blue eyes and whiskered cheeks.
...Naruto."
"Strange name, that." the man massaged his chin with a meaty thumb. "I take it you're not from these parts."
The ghost of a smile touched the blond's face. "In a matter of speaking."
"Ah, but where are my manners!" much to his chagrin, the merchant -at least he assumed he was such- flung his arms wide. "I am Gareth the Great, trader of Mistral and son of the Spiders." he took great pride in rolling up a sleeve to expose a strange arachnid tattooed upon a flabby wrist. Well, his girth was certainly great if nothing else.
"Didn't ask for your name."
"So you didn't." Piggish eyes met his, then flickered to his campfire and the food smoldering over it. "Is there room by your fire? My men and I have come a long way."
They reeked. Negativity for days. Rather than answer, the shinobi looked past them, their cart and mules alike.
Something drew his attention. He spied movement near the carriage. "What's back there?"
Gareth scoffed. "Nothing of importance. Just trash."
Naruto leaned out further, eyes narrowing in the gloom. And then he saw it.
He immediately wished he hadn't; because there was a girl hitched to the cart; bound behind the heavy wooden frame by a thick cord or rope. Hands trapped before her, clad in a ragged brown sack. And behind her, a boy. Pale of skin and dark of hair, each were worn down and beaten in every way, all cuts and bruises wherever he looked. Their heads hung low to their chests and they refused to meet his eyes.
A sliver of ice stabbed what passed for his heart these days.
"What's their story?"
"Hmm? Those two?" Gareth grinned, exposing twisted yellow teeth. "Survivors of the Branwen Tribe."
Blue eyes fluttered in a slow blink. "Never heard of them."
"So you haven't. Nor will you, for their kind is no more." his grin grew twisted. "They were wiped out by the Grimm. Blasted bandits. A pox on them!" he turned his head and spat upon the road. "We found these two hiding in the woods." his low leer said what words wouldn't. "They'll fetch a fine price on the market, I think."
Naruto blinked.
An awful silence fell over the camp.
This mustn't register on an emotional level.
But it did. All the levels. Every one of them. Those words, that callous disregard for life, hit every switch on the way down until they boiled in his head. There were some lines that you just didn't cross. Unspoken rules that you didn't break if you knew what was good for you. Take the law of the jungle, for instance. Yet there was another law, one older and far more sacred that all the rules and of the universe put together.
You. Did not. Hurt children.
Naruto exhaled once, expelling a thin cloud of steam into the cold night air. Keen blue eyes narrowed to thin sapphire slits, orbs that slowly began to shimmer into gold as he drew upon the natural energy around him. It filled his veins, flooded his body, pushing away the malaise of lethargy that had plagued him for the last century. He tilted his neck to the side, cracking it just so.
"I thought slavery was outlawed in the kingdoms these days."
The riders before him chuckled to a man.
"Boy, this is Mistral." he received only a scoff for his charity. "Miss Malachite rules here."
Another name he'd never heard of. So much for that. Another avenue of attack, then. He pulled a bulging sack of lien from his pouch, held it out, and gave it a shake for good measure. The faint jingle of cash caught their eyes at once, and they followed it with greed in their hearts.
"How much for them?"
"More than you have, I think." Gareth's grin turned sour. "Now, I tire of this. Depart before my men take you, too."
Naruto frowned. His arm withdrew, stowing the money away. "This is my fire. My food."
"So it is," Gareth growled. "But you have annoyed me, my friend, and wasted my time." his titanic bulk shifted atop his mount. "Thus, it is mine, now."
Naruto placed his empty hands together, forming a simple seal. The fat fool didn't notice, nor did he recognize the long-forgotten art. Few would. Only one person had seen his jutsu and lived to tell the tale. Unfortunately for these men, she was not here. No one batted an eye at it, mistaking his actions for the simple wringing of his hands.
"You'll take it from me, then?"
"Your lien as well." the slaver added almost as an afterthought. "Weapons too, if you have any."
Another seal. "I don't think that's wise."
One of the men saw his twisting hands and urged their mount closer. A sword tickled the underside of his chin.
"I worked hard to build this fire, ya know." Naruto didn't bat an eyelash. Three seals in, now. "There's enough room for you all...so long as you let the kids go."
In his peripheral vision, the girl's head snapped up.
"Oh, I don't care about all." slow though he might be, Gareth rejoinder proved remarkably quick for one of his size. "I only care about us."
His neck craned toward him, uncaring of the blade. "There will be plenty for you after I take my leave."
"Well, perhaps we want it all."
"Yes," he blinked once. "You probably do. Your kind always does."
"I think the forest has left us a little gift, don't you?" Gareth finally gave up the pretense of civility with an ugly sneer. "Put a rope around it. Drag it behind us. Perhaps we can sell it with the others."
"Is that really the best you have?" Naruto took another bite. "You find a stranger in the dead of night, a man minding his own business, call him "it" and decide to kidnap him?" A low growl pierced the night air. "A man you know nothing about, a man who sitting at a fire in the middle of Grimm-infested territory. Alone."
One last seal came and went.
"Hey, ah, boss?" One of his men shrank back. "This guy looks kinda familiar...
"Quiet, Earl. he don't matter anymore." Gareth grinned down at him. "You don't deserve my best. You're just a nobody. Merchandise." he drew a curved sword from his scabbard, flourishing it with clumsy grace. "I'll do with you as I wish. Only I and my friends here matter. You are simply meat."
Naruto laid down his meal. "Meat, is it?
"Precisely. I simply don't care."
So be it. He should've known it would come to this. It always did. He tried, tried, and tried some more, but some people just wouldn't listen.
...I'm so old now."
Gareth blinked. "Beg your pardon?"
"I used to have so much mercy," he continued on, unabated. "You get one warning. That was it." his hands clasped and he inhaled deeply, lungs swelling with chakra. "Do you know what the people call me in these parts?"
The head slaver scoffed. "I suppose you're going to tell me."
Naruto's head rose slowly, exposing bloodshot eyes.
A soft sigh spilled into the night. "Grimmslayer."
Then he exhaled.
Fire.
The first man fell with his horse, shrieking in a pillar of pure napalm. The second died with a knife lodged in his right eye. A third fell gibbering to the earth as a wicked genjutsu took hold of his mind and shattered it into a thousand pieces. A fourth was only just raising his blade when Naruto ripped the staff from his back. He didn't flinch as the curved sword bit into his collarbone. Rather, he simply reached around and squeezed a trigger. Dust rounds barked, blowing a hole through his foe's chest.
His companion was still climbing down from the carriage when an awful clanking sound filled the air.
Metal whirred and shifted as his weapon deployed, turning a seemingly harmless metal rod into a wicked implement of death. Its shadow swelled over the man, forming a curved blade of a different sort; one attached to a navy instrument of the deepest, darkest blue. His wrist twisted, bringing the massive-two handed weapon to bear. Another twist split the weapon at the base, forming not one weapon but two smaller blades. Twin scythes flickered and the driver's head bounced once as it struck the earth.
Gareth's horse squealed and reared, taking the man with it.
"Huntsman!" he howled! "You'll die for this!"
The blades slammed into the earth.
"No." Free hands seized him by the shoulders beast and yanked it down. "Not a huntsman." a flick of his wrist upended Gareth, spilling him into the mud as his horse cantered away. "Something worse. But you...
His shadow fell over the would-be-slaver.
...you like hitting, do you?"
An open palm cracked across Gareth's face, sending him reeling to the dirt.
The fat fop of a fool bridled. "You DaRe strike one such as me-
Slap. Blood sprayed as the pig's left eye was obliterated.
"Fool! You think you can get away with-
Slap. Teeth flew through the air.
"Stop that!"
Slap!
"Why?" the jinchuuriki paused at last and cocked his head. "Is this wrong?"
"Of course it is!" Battered and bruised, Gareth growled up at him. "Who do you think I am? The Malachites will hear of this!"
"I think you're a fool." his eyes strayed past him. "And no, they won't. For pity's sake...beating up a kid." a hand shot down, grabbing him by Now then...I don't think anyone would complain if I killed you." His gaze swept past, and found those of the girl; still bound to the back of the carriage. She saw him and shook her head vigorously.
"Alright. Death it is, then."
"W-w-w-ait!" Gareth stammered out! "Why are you doing this?!"
"You don't know?" Naruto raised his boot. "Even in light of all you've done?"
"I'll pay you!" Clearly not, for he kept babbling. "You're strong, right?! You can work for me!"
His eyes burned with furious fire.
..this is what it means to be unworthy of life!"
A single blistering kick cratered Gareht's ribs, blew through his torso, and smashed him into a tree. What remained of him slumped to the floor. A crimson puddle spread outward from the ruins of his stomach. His legs twitched once and fell still. Naruto lowered his bloody boot, glowering bloody red daggers at what had once been a man.
"Stay there and die."
Only then did he turn to face the children.
The girl he found slumped down on her knees, shielding the boy with her body as she frantically tugged at the ties that bound her. Dirty dark hair hung over her face, obscuring her eyes. She bared her teeth at him in a hiss. Had she gone feral?
"S-Stay back!" she snapped! "Leave me and my brother alone!"
A knife flashed out, severing the rope that bound her to the carriage.
"Relax." He dropped it and raised both palms to show himself unarmed. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Ya got a name?"
She raised her gaze and he found himself gazing into a startling pair of red eyes, brighter than blood itself. A superstitious sort would say those eyes weren't natural. Didn't matter. He'd seen stranger things in his day, and at the end of this, he knew a harmless child when he saw one.
"Raven." she rasped at last. "My name is Raven."
Naruto blinked once. "And the boy?"
"Qrow." came the whisper.
Silence.
...
...
...
And then.
Naruto sighed. "Your parents weren't very clever, were they?"
"Hey!"
In another life, he might have done something more for them. Now?
He picked the girl up and plonked her down on the log, followed by her brother.
The remains of his dinner were pushed into their hands. They set to at once, devouring his hard-won gains.
"There. You can have my food. I've done my good deed for the day." he turned and spoke quickly, not mincing words. "There's a small town not far from here." when he spoke, his voice held more bite than a steel trap. "Pretty sure the rule of law still exists there. I'd move quickly." his gaze swept over them, trying not to linger when he saw the hope there. "The two of you won't survive out here. You are not wolves, and this is a land of wolves now. Finish your food and leave this place."
The girl finished chewing and blinked up at him. "What about you?"
He bent down and retrieved his weapons. "Forget you ever met me."
His peace said, Naruto turned and walked away. Blasted brats followed him almost immediately.
"No, no, no. Stop that." a blue eye glowered over his shoulder. "You can't come with me. Go back. Shoo."
He fixed his gaze forward, ignoring them to the best of his ability, only to hear their little bare feet padding after him. That...he hadn't expected. So he redoubled his pace. Still, they followed. The realization left him gritting his teeth, yet he kept walking. Raven called out after him. Naruto kept walking. Qrow stumbled and fell, unable to match his sister's pace. Naruto kept walking.
Their tears stopped him cold.
In hindsight, he wasn't sure who started crying first; only that they did. He heard a whimper, followed by soft sobs and then the floodgates opened. Little hitching breaths filled the night, punctuated by soft hiccups. It absolutely rent his heart apart. He missed a step. Slowed. Came a stop. Few are the men who can resist the cries of a child. He was not such a man. Not yet.
"Alright, alright!" he flung up his arms and marched back. "Don't cry. I'll take you to the next village myself. But no further!"
Their faces brightened quickly at his return. Almost too quickly. Cheeky brats.
He traveled alone. Or rather, he had. This wouldn't change anything.
How little he knew.
A/N: As ever, the Embers Rule Persists; if folks don't like this; poof, gone, to the void it goes. Poof! Gone! Deleted forever.
So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard!
So In The Immortal Words of Atlas...
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(POTENTIAL Previews)
"I'll take you two to the nearest orphanage."
"You're not staying?"
"No...probably best if I don't...let go of my legs."
Brother and sister alike clung on tight, refusing to release him. "No!"
"I do wish you'd stop killing my Grimm...
He walked through the fire.
That was the terrible thing. He never raised his voice. Not once. Not a word.
His gaze was deep and unknowable, like the endless ocean itself.
It should have terrified Raven. But it didn't.
"Eat."
Raven tore into the meat. Qrow had already downed his portion.
Naruto sighed. "Such greedy kids."
"Enough." Don't you dare lay a hand on them. You invited us here to have a discussion. Is this what you call a discussion?"
"Control your emotions!"
His eyes narrowed. "How am I supposed to do that?"
Just a look was enough; pain incarnate, stopping his breathing.
Urk!
"How am I supposed to quell my rage towards the woman who wants to execute two children?
"You'll kill her!"
"She was ready to kill a person. I'm sure she was prepared to risk her own life, too.
"Show those children. Show them your true self."
"You make them so afraid, so terrified," a pale hand traced his chest, "That no one wants to go near you.
That's what you are to the world. A reminder."
He snarled. "Good!"
R&R~!