Naruto: Return From Darkness
"Kyuubi speaking"
Thoughts
"Speaking"
/
3 Years Later
/
/Raikage's Tower/
A reasonably tall, jet black haired, red-eyed man stood in front of the Fourth Raikage.
"Oy, back so soon again I see … zehaha" The Raikage said, barely holding back a laugh.
"Yeah Raikage-sama, this guy was weak, not nearly enough for a bounty that high." The man spoke, kicking the corpses lying on the floor. "But I'll still take the money of course." He continued, a hint of humor in his voice.
The Raikage nodded, still unsure of the sense of humor of man before him, "Of course, of course, I'll have it sent over to you by tomorrow, once we confirm his identity." The Raikage said, very used to these exchanges by now, "And I assume you still wish to decline my offer for jounin in our village, huh?" The Raikage continued, asking while looking intently at the peculiar, if not incredibly powerful man before him. The man who had come into his village three years ago, possessing the skills of a prodigal ninja but only wanted to live as a simple civilian, while being a bounty hunter as a side job. He would take on the most difficult S-ranked criminals and would return without a single scratch on his body.
"Nah, I'm just here to earn some money, and besides I hate working in groups." The man said turning to leave, before pausing for a moment, "They only slow me down." He said, with a look that even gave the Raikage a chill.
The Raikage nodded, content with that answer, "Oh ,I almost forgot, I would like to ask you to accompany me to Konoha, for the Chuunin Exams in a few months." The Raikage said quickly before the mysterious man had a chance to leave.
"Are you that worried?" The man asked without turning around.
"I need other villages to see our strength, and I see no other way to do it." The Raikage finally admitted, smiling a little at the business-like nature of the man.
"Alright… I'll do it, but I'm expecting proper payment, I'm sure you know how expensive my services are by this point." The man said seriously, before turning to walk out of the building, not giving the Raikage a chance to haggle with him.
"That man is such an enigma," The Raikage sighed and smiled slightly, before returning to his paperwork.
As the man was walking down the street on his way home, he stopped for a second as something caught his attention, a faint pounding in the distance along with the occasional shriek.
"Ugh." The man sighed, saying quietly, as he noticed the unmistakable dust cloud rising in the distance.
"Demon-sama! You're finally back!" The mob of fan girls shrieked chasing after the man as he sprinted down the street
"Why does being a loner make all the girls attracted to you?" The man said as he made a hand seal and disappeared, leaving the lusting girls alone.
"Awwww, Demon-sama come back!" the fan girls squealed, looking around in desperation for their "love".
/
Meanwhile the man reappeared safely in his house on the highest peak in the area. Setting down his equipment, he relaxed into his chair overlooking the mountains below.
"Ahh!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, breathing a sigh of relief before removing the scarf wrapped around his mouth and nose and pulling the dual katanas over his head and placing them in their stand.
Oy, you awake in there?The man spoke inwardly.
"Your voice permeates the very walls around me, how could I stay awake with something like that?" A voice responded.
What do you think of me going with the Raikage to Konoha for the Chuunin Exams? The man said, asking for another opinion outside of his own.
"I'm all for getting on his good side, as long as we don't become his lap dog. But I also don't want you to get all sentimental when we go there, all right boy?" The voice sighed, "Just thinking about that place, makes me remember those glares and all the pain you suffered…" The voice said, shivering as it spoke. "If you go there, no one must know of your true identity, ok Hiro?" The voice finished, as Hiro appeared inside the dark sewer in his mind, standing in front of the massive orange nine-tailed fox, known as the Kyuubi.
Thinking back to when he first came here, the man remembered the looks of curiosity when he entered through the gates. Never had he seen looks of something other than fear, from so many. He nearly broke down and started crying, but he pushed himself and approached the Raikage asking for citizenship. His journey allowed him to make a name for himself, his black hair, scarf, and red eyes became iconic. When he had reached Kumo, he had created a small name for himself. The Raikage had thought that the man wanted to enlist for the shinobi forces. The man declined and stated he wanted to live only as a simple citizen and work as a bounty hunter; his wish was granted and purchased a large home high in the mountains, away from it all. He had decided to go by the name "Hiro Tatsumi", and quickly became known as the "Demon of Kumo" due to his immense strength and efficient way of dealing with his opponents. Many times, during his travel towards Kumo had Konoha Anbu came after him, and each time had he sent them scurrying away with a myriad of injuries, all the while growing stronger himself. Just once had the Hokage himself came after him, and Hiro had to lay low for a while, not quite at the level of the legendary man yet. But once he reached Kumo he seemed to have become free; he hadn't seen anyone from Konoha in over two years, probably due to the two villages tense relationship. But with his black hair and red eyes, no one in Kumo had any idea of his true identity, not that anyone would, but he quickly abandoned the name and identity of "Naruto Uzumaki" and devoted himself entirely to his new life. The Kyuubi had begun training him, and he quickly made leaps in bounds in his abilities, becoming a force to be reckoned with in no time at all. And within time, he became somewhat of a celebrity in Kumo, partially due to his aloof nature, but also due to his incredible strength and incredibly results with bounty hunting. But after his most recent conversation with the Raikage had left him feeling… conflicted.
Naruto Uzumaki is dead. Naruto Uzumaki is dead. Naruto Uzumaki is dead. Hiro repeated to himself, trying to stay calm and convince himself that he had moved on, and that he wasn't who he used to be. Eventually, after some time of this rhythmic meditation, Hiro decided to sleep to take his mind off of it.
In his dreams, his mind drifted off to images of Konoha and his old life. Jiji…. Iruka…. Teuchi and Ayame… he just couldn't let go, could he? Even after all this time, all that it took was a simple mention of his old home to throw his mind upside down.
*Tap tap tap *
Hiro awoke to a faint tapping sound at his front door.
Pulling himself out of bed, Hiro made his way slowly to the door, looking through the peep hole and sighing at what he saw.
"Every morning huh?" He whispered to himself, slightly annoyed, but also slightly happy.
Hiro returned to his bedroom and began redressing himself. He wrapped his black scarf around his head, put on his black ninja pants and awakened his eyes, their blood red irises slightly glowing.
"Oy! I'm coming!" Hiro said as he quickened his pace towards his front door. As he opened the door he saw the unmistakable grin plastered across the face of the man before him.
"What do you want Takeshi?" Hiro groaned, not sharing the man's unyielding happiness.
"Hiro… why are you always so serious?" Takeshi chuckled, slapping his "friend" on the back.
"It keeps people away…" Hiro said seriously while staring Takeshi right in the eye, "You know I like my privacy."
"I just wanted to know if you wanted to train with me." Takeshi admitted, "It's been a while and I can't think of anyone in the village stronger than you."
"Sorry, I'm going to train on my own in the forest today, need to figure some things out and I don't think I'll be able to focus with you around." Hiro said looking past Takeshi.
"Ha!" Takeshi laughed, patting Hiro on the shoulder before continuing, "Well don't let me get in your way. I'll see you around Hiro!" Takeshi said, turning around and making his way quickly back down the path to Kumo. Before he got too far he turned around, "Oh I also forgot to mention that I'll be coming to Konoha with the Raikage as well!" He yelled happily.
Hiro sighed and waved goodbye to Takeshi before closing his door and making his way to his back porch, a balcony that overlooked a massive cliff above a beautiful forest, the perfect place to train.
Time to start, Kyuubi, you ready? Hiro shouted in his mind, not even waiting for his resident to answer before diving over his balcony and down the mountain. Landing on the ground, he created a crater the size of an elephant beneath his feet. Shooting chakra into his legs he flew forward through the trees at a brisk pace, until he reached a clearing that was very familiar.
We're far enough away from Kumo, and It's been a while since we've really cut loose, what do you say, old friend?Naruto spoke to his buddy.
"Now I'm excited! You haven't let me out since we massacred all those gangsters!" The Kyuubi laughed gleefully looking intently at his container.
Hiro smiled, Alright fox get ready to- Hiro's thoughts were cut off by screams in the far distance.
Screams? In my forest! Someone's gonna pay for interrupting my peace and quiet.Hiro's eyes narrowed with concentration and anger as he sprinted towards the noise.
/
Two down.
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Dog