Back at it again with an update. This one is rough but it's one of my favorites. Little bit of a sad chapter with some disturbing elements so be advised. I hope you guys enjoy! Special thanks to the reviewers! It really jazzed me up to continue the story! I appreciate everyone who takes the time to give Relentless a look over and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7: Empty (Promises)
*Splash*
By now, as Kiyu had run through the murky streets searching for help, she had lost track of the dead she had encountered. Her feet were caked up to her ankles with a putrid mixture of the mud and blood that had been ever present in the puddles she sprinted through on her way to get help. Desperation was slowly beginning to set its way into her heart.
Rounding a corner, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her through the districts of the Uchiha complex desperately searching for any signs of life.
"I was gone for barely two hours. There's no possible way that Itachi did all this in just two freaking hours!" Kiyu thought to herself. "There has to be someone, somewhere that's hiding or looking for survivors!"
Taking a final turn out of a side street, she came into a hub of sorts in the clan compound. It was a circular patch of compacted dirt that the Uchiha merchants all put their stands up in. While the clan was functioning, it bristled with life, surrounded by a near complete ring of stands offering food, household items, ninja supplies, and even things like toys for children and gifts for loved ones. However, it was now being used for a different purpose.
Kiyu beheld the spectacle that was the marketplace. Bodies lined up side by side filled the entirety of the available earth. It took a measly ten seconds for Kiyu to realize that the dead here were grouped by family descending from top to bottom, right to left in alphabetical order. At that point, even in her traumatized, adrenaline soaked mind she realized.
"He hasn't just gone on a killing spree. He's….wiping out the clan. This is an extermination."
Kiyu, shocked by the revelation, stood numbly as she now considered what options were available to her. She had wasted too much time running at random, trying her best to cover as much ground in an effort to find some form of life. Her thoughts drifted to Naruto and she knew that at this point, even if Itachi had made a mistake and left a survivor, by the time help had arrived it would be useless. Struck by the helplessness of the situation, Kiyu's adrenaline finally ran out and she fell to her knees and began to cry.
From behind her, there was a steady, calm voice that spoke out.
"Has it finally dawned on you yet, cousin?" Itachi gazed at the child with nothing but pity and grief in his eyes. "There is no one left. Our only company here is the ghosts of our inadequate clansmen."
Kiyu whipped around to see the sight she feared the most. Itachi was standing, not ten feet behind her, with an unknowable expression. He seemed to be evaluating her, weighing her every move against a standard only he has privy to. Kiyu wet her lips before speaking.
"If…..if you're here then that means…..is…..is Naruto….." She couldn't force the words out of her mouth.
Itachi answered her unverbalized question. "No cousin, my clone is occupying his time currently. As far as I am aware, the boy is still fighting and very much alive."
"Ah….then I guess that since you're here then….." Kiyu looked over to the organized bodies before finishing her statement. "If you're here then I guess it's my turn isn't it?"
Itachi sighed deeply. He weighed his options in his mind, calculating every path he could take and every action that he had done here today. Opening his mouth to speak, he found the words stuck in his throat. Commands from his Hokage warred with the influence of the kotoamatsukami in his mind. If Kiyu were in her right mind she would clearly be able to see the pain and conflict on his features.
Finally, Itachi spoke. "It is."
Kiyu shuddered out an involuntary sob, but quickly steeled herself. Turning from the dead to view Itachi's face for one final request.
"If you're really going to kill me then I have a request." Kiyu slowly spoke.
Itachi looked down at the young girl almost surprised at the fire he beheld in her eyes.
"If it is reasonable, then I will grant it…..as a parting gift to the Uchiha."
Kiyu closed her eyes, allowing the tears to run freely down her face.
"Naruto had nothing to do with the Uchiha. He was just my friend, my…..only friend. Could you…..could you please spare him?"
Silence broken only by the rain rang through the marketplace for several minutes. Finally, it was broken by the sound of Itachi drawing his tanto for one final time.
"His life for yours. I will spare him this day. It is a worthy request, dear clansman and in return I have one final gift for you, for your worthiness."
Kiyu opened her eyes and looked at Itachi in confusion.
"I cannot grant life or freedom. But I can grant you experience. Behold Kiyu, experience your life in an untainted Konoha with the people you love."
Kiyu looked as Itachi's eyes shifted to the familiar pool of blood associated with the sharingan, then into a pattern she didn't recognize.
"Tsukuyomi"
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
A lone Anbu kneeled before the Hokage. The porcelain mask staring intently down at the feet of his leader Hiruzen, god of shinobi.
"Hokage-sama, Itachi's time slot for the mission is over. If we continue to pull Anbu from their patrols we will incur suspicion. What are your orders?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood facing the window in his office, his pipe lit as he contemplated his options. Putting out his pipe, he sat aside his pipe and addressed the Anbu commander.
"We haven't received any sign indicating that Itachi has completed his duty yet. However, at this time if he hasn't completed his assignment then it is safe to assume that he failed."
Hiruzen turned around gazing sharply into the eyes of the commander's mask.
"Put the word out to the Anbu forces, I want the head of the traitor Itachi Uchiha on my desk within the hour."
The Anbu nodded once then quickly dismissed himself to spread the word. Finally left alone, Hiruzen reached for his jar of tobacco and pipe only to pause. Running down the length of his favorite pipe, a pipe made from the chakra enhanced wood grown in the surrounding Konoha forest, had a crack running down the length of it.
The old man stared in shock for a few moments before speaking out to the empty room.
"I have such a bad feeling about this."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Itachi clone looked at his handiwork with a sense of relief. The glowing berserker child was tied completely immobile to a thick tree. The ninja wire was sharp enough to bite through flesh and cloth, especially with how furiously the boy struggled, but couldn't quite manage to slice through the bone. Naruto was suspended two feet off the ground and, unfortunately for him, the wounds the ninja wire made biting into his flesh had healed over to prevent bleeding while the wire was still tangled around the bones of his various extremities.
The Itachi clone knew he should feel some form of pity or compassion, but as he looked at the absolutely ghoulish sight that he had created, he couldn't help but feel relief. The original Itachi was nearly out of chakra before he had made the clone and fighting a battle with a raging child Jinchūriki who's powers manifested in some twisted form of instant regeneration based immortality while not being able to get hit once wasn't his idea of a good time.
He caught movement in his periphery before he could dispel however and he quickly looked up towards the sky.
"The rain makes it difficult to say how long I've been out here. Is my time out already?"
A kunai piercing through the bushes and flying directly towards his face was his answer. Deflecting the weapon's flight path he addressed the direction the knife had flown from.
"I already knew you were there. You may as well come out and introduce yourself."
A squadron of three Anbu came out from the bushes slowly and took up positions surrounding the Itachi clone. The Anbu who looked like he was leading the excursion drew his tanto before stating in an almost bored fashion.
"Itachi Uchiha, you are wanted for the murder of the entirety of the Uchiha clan, assault on Konoha civilians and/or shinobi, and…." He looked over at the suspiciously still child that was strung to the tree. "Child torture evidently. Come quietly or we will be forced to exterminate you."
The Itachi clone sighed deeply before chuckling to himself.
"Child torture huh? That's going to stick with me for a while." He looked towards the anbu who were beginning their advance and spoke in a calm and slow tone. "Sure sure, I'll come with you. There's just one problem."
The lead Anbu tilted his head to the side inquisitively. "What might that be?"
"I'm out of chakra."
*Poof*
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto woke up in a location he hadn't seen in quite some time. In fact, his last visit to the hospital dated before he had discovered the bunker. This visit was a bit strange though; he couldn't hear a thing in his room. No annoying beeping monitor, no annoying nurse who looked like she'd rather be literally anywhere else, no people running around outside the hall, and no visitors taking up space in his room. Although that last point was admittedly more rare than the others.
He felt hazy, like someone had stuffed a cloud inside his head, so orienting himself to his surroundings was a slow moving process. There was a glass of water sitting on the nightstand beside his bed that he quickly drained once he got his wits together.
"Alright dude, think. Why am I here? The last thing I remember was getting ready to meet…"
Naruto went rigid in his bed. His eyes grew wide and immediately he threw the covers off his bed and leapt to the ground. He didn't see a change in clothes anywhere but after less than a second of consideration he decided he didn't care and made a break for the door. Fingers grasping the doorknob, he desperately turned and pulled with all his might, nearly ripping the door off of its hinges in the process. Only, instead of rushing into the sterile walls and hallways that he remembered, his first two steps had him running headfirst into the sturdy trunk of an adult.
"Woah there boy, I had just stepped out to talk to some of the staff here. You really shouldn't be up on your feet quite yet."
Naruto looked up at the person he had ran into and immediately recognized the Hokage.
"Jiji! Where's Kiyu? Is she ok? Did you stop Itachi?"
Naruto looked up towards the Hokage with desperation in his eyes. Tears gathered in the corners of his vision kept from falling only by the desperate need to insure that his only friend was alive and ok.
"Naruto, calm down for a second my boy. I'll explain everything here in just a moment but…..well…..we have to get you checked over by a professional before we can go anywhere."
Why wasn't the Hokage looking at him? Something felt very wrong to young Naruto. He gazed into the eyes of his only fatherly figure who refused to meet his eyes and nearly shouted.
"There's no time for that! I need to go see Kiyu right now! You have to take me to her Jiji! Please!"
The Hokage looked down, meeting the intense gaze of the young child for the first time before gently speaking.
"Ok Naruto, I'll take you to see her as soon as I can. But we aren't leaving this room until one tiny checkup alright? It won't take but five minutes and I'm worried about you too, you know."
Naruto was startled by the tone in the Hokage's, no…..his Jiji's voice. Not once in his entire life had he ever seen the Hokage be anything but a pillar of calm, serene strength. Now however, there were tears gathering in his eyes and a slight warble in his voice as he spoke.
"Ah….." Naruto succinctly stated. "Ok…..but please Jiji hurry!"
The tired grandfather figure sighed deeply, stepping to the side to reveal that behind him, waiting patiently with a small scowl on his face, was another man.
"Naruto, this is Inoichi Yamanaka…..a good friend of mine. He's…going to be checking you over today."
Naruto looked at the intimidating, scowling man with nothing but determination.
"Come on then! Let's get it over with! I've never been hurt for long and I don't intend to stay down now."
Inoichi looked at the fiery child meeting his gaze and uttered a simple command.
"Go on and sit on the bed Naruto, I've already sent for someone to pick up some clothes for you. We can head out immediately after I'm through with your check up."
Quickly, Naruto scurried over to the bed and hopped up on top of it. He saw Inoichi run through well practiced hand signs and approach him, the older man's hands at the young boy's eye level.
"I'm going to quickly check you over for signs of concussion Naruto. Try to remain as still as you can."
Inoichi made contact with the child's head and with a few passes of the jutsu, Naruto was unconscious.
"Stage one is complete Hokage-sama. Shall I continue with the operation?"
If Inoichi had turned around He would have seen the Hokage facing away from the child with tears rolling down his face.
"Get it over with Inoichi. Leave no trace of the massacre…..of Kiyu."
Inoichi sighed. "It will be done."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto felt as if he were floating in an abyss of nothingness. He was surrounded by a black emptiness where there was no concept of time or space or matter. There was just an infinite blank on all sides.
*Drip*
One small noise broke the trance he had found himself in. A simple drop of water broke the otherwise oppressive silence floating around him.
"I…..what was that?"
Naruto felt an instinctual pull beckoning him in a seemingly arbitrary direction in the darkness.
*Drip*
"That's…..water….."
Grasping out with everything he had, he desperately attempted to follow the pull from within. It was leading him towards the water, towards something that would break the emptiness penetrating his soul. He struggled for what could have been minutes, hours, or even days…..until he found himself touching something. He had made contact with…..the floor?
Suddenly beholden to gravity, Naruto fell forward onto his hands and knees gasping for breath. The air was acrid and burnt his nostrils going in. Coughing slightly, he finally got the chance to look around.
"I'm in…..a sewer?"
The child took a moment to look around. His surroundings were barely illuminated by a soft red glow. Looking for the source of light revealed piped running across the ceiling of the sewer tunnel. Interwoven between standard metal pipes were a different set of pipes that were much thicker than the rest. These pipes glowed as if whatever they were transporting were heating the metal to an orange-red glow. Something….dripped down from these pipes occasionally and as they impacted the ankle deep water he was trudging through the liquid would sputter and hiss violently.
"What the hell is going on?" He wondered to himself.
Staring off into the distance of the tunnel revealed twists, turns, and more glowing red pipes. Keeping his eyes on the pipe system, he followed the dripping red pipes through the seemingly endless sewer until he caught movement from the corner of his eye. Soft giggling was heard as this vaguely humanoid shape passed out of his view down a tunnel. Something about that shape seemed so…..familiar….
"Kiyu!" Naruto called out almost instinctively, his voice working faster than his brain could process.
He took off running after it. Sprinting down the winding tunnels as if his life depended on catching this being. Each corner he would turn revealed nothing but the shadow of the girl he was chasing. He ran until there was no breath left in his lungs and then he ran until his vision grew spots and faded. Finally, oxygen deprived and desperate, he tripped, slipping on the wet stone beneath his feet.
Once more on his hands and knees, he looked up as he caught his breath. He had made it out of the tunnels and had stopped inside of a large cistern. Hundreds of tunnels led off in every direction; They all seemed to culminate here in this room. Scanning his surroundings for the figure he had been chasing revealed nothing but thick, iron bars, similar in shape and size to giant pillars that would support the ceiling and a man. Sitting seiza in front of these pillars was not the girl he had been hoping for, but rather a familiar, older shinobi.
Naruto recognized this man. His name…..what was his name again?
"Inoichi….." Naruto whispered out to the dimly lit room.
In front of the man, behind the pillars, obscured by the darkness, was a vast, bubbling red shape. The shape seemed to be connected to thousands of the glowing red pipes and, as far as Naruto could tell, served as the source for the caustic liquid that pumped throughout the sewer. As quietly as he could, Naruto approached Inoichi.
"How did we get here? Maybe he knows what's going on…." Naruto thought to himself.
Too soon for the young boy's nerves, he was standing behind the sitting man and gazing over his shoulder. On the ground in front of the Shinobi sat a basin, filled with a thick, black, inky liquid. Inoichi cupped the bowl in his hands and was muttering to himself as if in some sort of trance. Taking a chance, Naruto leaned forward and caught a glimpse of what was in the bowl. Scenes played across the surface of the liquid like images from a movie. Memories of Naruto's childhood flashed by like a montage from a picture book.
"What the hell is that….." Naruto breathlessly exclaimed.
Then, Inoichi moved. He dipped his hand into the bowl while a memory was being played, he cupped the ink in his hand and removed a portion of it from the bowl. He moved the liquid over to his side and dipped his hand into the water surrounding his legs. Like oil on water, the color of the memory was dispersed into a rainbow film that dispersed through the cavern.
Naruto was confused for a moment, thinking hard to himself about what had just happened for several moments before realizing something. He couldn't remember what memory was being played. Thinking desperately about the scene before him and the memories leading up to that point, he realized where the progression of memories were at that point. The last memory he had seen was the day just before he had met Kiyu. Terror settled in as he thought as hard as he could back to the day he met Kiyu only to realize; He couldn't remember what had happened. He couldn't remember what had brought them together at all.
"Hehehehe….." A deep voice laughed in the distance, the sound of the laughter rippling the water and rattling his very bones.
"Have you finally figured it out yet child? They're killing you. Bit by bit, memory by memory, do you even remember your own name at this point?"
The voice shook the cistern they were in, causing rubble to fall from the ceiling. A particularly large chunk of rock splashed by Naruto's feet as the laughter ceased. Naruto jumped back and cowered behind the body of Inoichi, quivering in fear.
"It feels just like my nightmares." He thought to himself.
Before he could have time to process what was happening, Inoichi moved again. He reached into the basin and began cupping the water. Suddenly Naruto's mouth went dry. He couldn't forget. He didn't want to forget. His heart raced in his chest beating a hundred times a minute. His eyes cast over to the rock beside his left foot. Then, the voice spoke once more.
"You know what you have to do."
The young child picked up the rock. Hesitating slightly, he hovered over Inoichi. Panic warring with terror inside his mind. While in the bowl, a memory played.
Kiyu and Naruto sat across from each other in the bunker. Pinkies intertwined and determined looks on their faces as they addressed each other.
"I, Kiyu Uchiha, solemnly swear to stay by your side and make sure that we make Konoha the best hidden village in the elemental nations. I promise to keep you safe until you become Hokage. When, not if, you become Hokage, I promise to be your second in command and help you take care of the village, no matter the cost!"
"I, Naruto Uzumaki, solemnly swear to stay by your side until the village falls. I promise to be the very best I can be. I promise to work as hard as I can, by your side, until all the world knows that Konoha and the Uchiha are the strongest and best there is. When, not if, I am Hokage, I promise to trust your judgment as my second in command and take care of both you and the village, no matter the cost!"
Inoichi cupped his hand in the bowl, gathering the liquid. His hand began pulling away from the basin.
"No!" Naruto screamed.
He swung the rock as hard as he could at Inoichi's face. The rock made contact in the area between his eye socket and his nose and the effect was immediate. Blood sprayed from Inoichi's nose and dripped down the kimono he wore. But his hand was still attempting to move. Again and again Naruto swung the rock. Blood covered the front of the hospital gown Naruto had woken up with in this hell. Inoichi's face swelled with each blow and soon he fell backwards into the surrounding water releasing the memory he had grasped. But it wasn't enough. Now surrounded by a red cloak of demonic energy Naruto leapt on top of Inoichi's now struggling body and grabbed him by the throat, pushing his head down into the water and crushing his skull into the stone beneath.
Soon, tears consumed Naruto's vision and he closed his eyes wishing for it all to go away. As the struggling got slower and slower beneath Naruto's fingers, he felt more and more desperate. Soon, he was so completely disconnected from his mind and body that he felt like he was heading back to the void once more, floating aimlessly. As he drifted off, the last thing he heard was the booming voice calling out to him.
"Kukukuku…..don't be a stranger now kid. That was the most fun I've had in decades….."