Author Note: Tada…. This is probably my last update for today. It's here. I'm bringing you the first long chapter in this new story, It will turn into a two part story plus the prologue you've already read and a short sequel. It's really dark, at least I think so. It will become darker in the next one. I know because I've already started on it and it's kind of twisted too. I'm not saying anything more in case I spoil to much. Go on read and enjoy it.
Reviews of encouragement, happy words and constructive criticism are welcome but flames are not. I hope that you will know the different between constructive criticism and flames.
Pairings: None and that's final. I want to say that there are NO ROMANTIC FEELINGS in this chapter. I had no thoughts of it when I wrote it but I don't know what others may think. I just wanted to make that clear.
Ranting: I'm not sure because I don't know how this one will turn out but I'm keeping this one on a high setting for safety precaution.
Disclaimer: I think you all know the drill but let's keep tradition, I don't own Naruto.
Upon a Bloody Dream
Written by Monkan and beta-read by Kaara
Chapter 1 - A Fallen Hero, The Path Toward Destruction
Naruto sat wrapped in a blanket under his bedroom window. The morning sun leaked through the window, casting a yellow morning glow on everything. Slowly, Naruto raised his head and with emotionless eyes looked at the now lighted room. Nothing remained of the night that had scared him so much it made him unable to go back to sleep.
The room was chilling but he didn't seem to notice as he sat in a pair of sweat pants under the blanket. He slowly stood up; the blanket fell to his feet. His face was a mask of empty emotions as he walked through the room, the only sign of life in him were eyes that held a clear glint of pain.
He walked to the kitchen and opens the fridge but nothing interested him so he just closed it again and left the kitchen without eating anything. He heard laughter outside and looked through the window to see three kids laughing while they played in the morning mist and sun.
So long ago he had been the same, carefree and innocent. How had it felt again? He could no longer remember such simple thing. The feeling of being needed and cared for. Being free to do whatever he wanted to, ignorant to how bitter betrayal tasted.
The clock ticked on the wall, he didn't move away from the window. It felt as if time had froze, he could stay there for as long as he liked. Nothing would change as long as he stayed there, no one would come for him. Not anymore. Suddenly Naruto's eyes widened. He no longer saw what was outside but a darker world where those empty feelings was no longer there. Time had completely stopped and the sky was as dark as the night despite the sun shining on the sky. An ice erring laughter echoed in the dark.
Naruto blinked once and the scene changed. He was talking to someone he didn't like; frankly he hated that person with all his might. But he couldn't see who it was due to the shadows. He turned around and that person grabbed his arm. Naruto slapped that person hard across it's face. He blinked and found himself walking away in the darkness, all bloody and his clothes were torn. His fists hurt and his breathing was rapid but he felt something, he felt satisfaction and----
A shadow from the side rushed toward him and he saw a fist coming closer to his face. His head snapped to the side and he found himself back in his room. He looked outside again and no longer saw the kids.
His head hurt and so did the side of his jaw. Naruto raised his hand and carefully touched his jaw. If he didn't know better he would say it have almost been broken. It had been a long time since he last broke it but he could still remember how it felt. Sometimes he even missed that feeling. He knew it wasn't right and therefore had never done it. Nothing would be solved if he went as low as hurting himself. Nothing would change because of that, only to drag him deeper down into something he wouldn't be able to escape from.
He walked to his bathroom, pressing a hand against his aching head. When he looked into the mirror, his jaw looked normal. He sighed and turned on the shower. His head hurt even more when the sound of water reached his ears. Naruto grunted and pressed his hand even harder against his skull. If only the pain would go away…
While he was showering, Naruto never noticed the figure that sat outside his apartment on the roof on the other house. Looking into his apartment. A shadow of a smile was on the stranger's lips. Golden eyes closed and he started to hum to a song.
Inside, Naruto suddenly felt dizzy and staggered backwards. His hand pressed against the wall to steady himself. The pain in his head increased and it felt like his head would explode. With his head lowered, the water streamed over it. He fumbled to turn it off. When he finally succeeded, he pressed both his hands against his head. He stumbled out of the shower and crashed out through the door. He fell to the floor, holding his head, twisting and…
The pain made it hard to breath and he struggled for every breath. He chanted in his head to make it stop, begged for it to stop but even that simple thing made the pain even worse. Naruto felt something warm surrounded him and it washed over him in waves. Slowly the pain lessened and he fell into the waves of comfort until he sensed something reaching for him.
His eyes snapped open and he found himself on the floor in his living room. Shaking, he dragged himself up and leaned against the wall. He looked at the window and found that it was completely white. He staggered to it and pressed his hands against the sill. He stared at the window before he dragged a finger right over the glass, leaving a clear line in the middle of the window.
"How the--?" He whispered, but no answer would come even if he....
The clock on the kitchen wall rang and pulled Naruto out of his world. He heard it rung eight times. Slowly he realized what that meant.
"Shit, I'm late!" He exclaimed.
In a hurry, he pulled on some of the clothes he had lying around, not caring if they were dirty. He grabbed the keys to his apartment before running out. He didn't notice when he passed the open bathroom door on his way out, the reflection in the glass. A reflection that didn't belong to anyone because there was no one in front of it and the reflection had burning red eyes and an evil smirk.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Just a few steps in front of the door of the Ramen shop landed Naruto. He didn't waste any time before he entered.
"Good morning!" The old man greeted him as he served a cup of mushroom ramen to a costumer.
"Good morning!" Naruto answered in a forced cheerful voice, grabbing the apron that was hanged on the wall behind the desk.
The owner of the shop looked at Naruto as he started to take orders and cook. "Did something happen?" The old man said with his back to Naruto.
For the fraction of a second, the blond teen froze before he continued working. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"You're paler than usual." The old man pointed out.
Naruto turned around with a smile on his face. "Just didn't get much sleep, that's all." Naruto said in a nonchalant tone. "Nothing to worry 'bout. I can still work like last week and the months before that." He said proudly. Hitting his chest in an enthusiastic manner.
The old man smiled, totally convinced and they went back to work. The others didn't notice the slight drop of cheeriness in Naruto's expression.
Steam from the boiling water reached Naruto's face and he had to wipe away sweet from his forehead. More and more people dropped by and therefore, he hadn't had time for a break but that was ok. It didn't give him time to think about anything else but work.
Sometimes Naruto would look outside when he had the chance, he didn't know why. Was he waiting for someone to come by? No! That wasn't it. He was tense for some reason and he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
When he grabbed two cups, one with ramen and another with just miso soup, he accidentally cast a glance into the blank metal behind his working space. Back stared red eyes with such cruelty in them that they made Naruto shiver and jump back. He dropped the two cups, which shattered when they hit the floor, staining it with soup and vegetables. Everyone in the shop stopped talking and looked up, even some of those that walked by stopped to look what was going on.
Naruto didn't notice them, he forgot about them, all he saw were the red eyes staring back at him. He couldn't quite see the face but it placed a finger over what should be its mouth. A hushing sound echoed in his ears before it was broken when a hand grabbed his shoulder.
Naruto looked to the right and saw the worried face of the old man. Naruto looked back but the face was gone. Shaking his head, Naruto mumbled something that sounded like 'it's nothing'. Everyone went back to their own business.
"Morning."
Naruto almost jumped in shock. He turned around and saw his former sensei, Kakashi standing by the counter. Smirking beneath that mask of his. He was reading his favourite book and his other arm hang casually by his side. He looked up from his book. "How's it going Naruto?"
"Ok, I guess. No reading that book in front of me, I'll burn it and you know it! What are you doing here, Kakashi?"
Naruto had dropped the title sensei long ago but it still felt weird not to hear it. "To eat ramen, of course and for your information, this is the latest copy so it's not the same one from yesterday!" Kakashi said, smiling at him.
"Pork ramen like always?" The old man asked the silver haired shinobi, receiving a nod. "Coming soon!"
Naruto took the order of another costumer that entered. While he was waiting for the noodles to start boiling, he kept his back toward Kakashi.
"I also heard that the rest of your old classmates that are still Chuunin's would soon take the Jounin Exam."
"Ah! I hope they pass. It's much more fun being a Jounin than Chuunin. Did Ino threaten Shikamaru and Chouji to take the exam because I can't think that they would take it willingly. Too troublesome."
The silver haired Jounin nodded again. "Correct. More precisely, she almost beat Shikamaru up before he agreed to take it."
Naruto laughed lightly. "That's Ino!"
Kakashi's face turned serious suddenly. "They worry about you."
Naruto's back tensed but otherwise he didn't show anything. "Oh?"
"You haven't really talked since a year back and frankly it's not like you to do that. The others wanted to come too, especially Sakura, she's one of those that feels most sorry for you and worries most--"
Naruto's words were short and had a dangerous edge. "I don't want to see her. Tell her, thanks but no thanks. She's not needed anymore."
Kakashi sighed, rubbing his head. "Won't you go and see Sasuke when he gets back. He won't say or show anything but he fells guilty about what happen--"
"Good." His blood felt like it was made of lava. "He can keep felling that. I don't give a damn anymore."
"Naruto--" Kakashi tried but was cut short when Naruto slammed a cup of pork ramen in front of him. The old man looked at his now empty hands and where the ramen he had been holding just a moment ago was.
"Eat and shut up." Naruto hissed. His blue eyes shifted to a darker colour out of anger.
Kakashi sighed and took a pair of chopsticks, broke them apart and was about to take down his mask when he saw Naruto watching him. All anger from just a moment ago was gone and he wasn't missing a single move Kakashi did. The copy ninja smiled. "Naruto."
"Yes?" Not changing from his concentration.
"The noodles are boiling too much!"
Naruto cast a quick glance at the stove and to his dread, the noodles was going apart in the boiling water. In a flash, he grabbed the noodles and put them in a cup on the counter. The boiling water burned his hands in the process.
"Ah, thanks for the meal!"
Naruto turned around and stared in shock at the empty cup and Kakashi who bowed slightly with his hands together in a thanking gesture. How fast was he really? Even he wasn't THAT fast.
Kakashi took up his book again and began to read. Naruto gave him a dirty look and between the second that just passed and the next, the blonde teen tried to snatch the book from Kakashi. And failed.
"I see that you haven't lost your touch." He said smiling.
Naruto growled low in his throat. "I'm not as lazy as you!"
"Sorry, but no one gets to touch my book.
"Oh, really?" A voice asked from behind the Jounin.
A cloud of fear laid itself over Kakashi. He slowly turned around and saw Iruka, looking very angry. With a class of students standing behind him.
"I-Iruka!" He said, trying to smile.
Iruka snatched the book away from the Jounin and threw it to Naruto who blushed slightly when he caught the book. He in turn threw it into a trashcan beside him. Kakashi was devastated.
"Naruto will keep it as long as I say he will. I don't want you to have those kinds of books up in front of my class." Iruka turned to his class. "Go ahead and give your orders but remember you only get one cup." The students cheered happily as they pushed each other inside.
Kakashi sulked in the corner, Iruka scolding him. Naruto was busy taking orders from the loud group of students as some of them changed their order and other wanted their food faster. The old man helped him but it was still chaos.
Thanks to Naruto's sense of balance, it went faster than it usually would and at the same time entertained the kids. He balanced five cups on his left arm while he scooped up noodles into them. He turned and gave the old man the five dishes. The old man was halfway through when another five arrived. Naruto saw that they needed to chop more vegetables and meat so he picked up one of the big knifes.
The kids watched in fascination.
"Ne, where did you learn that?" One of them asked.
"I used to be a shinobi." Naruto answered without thinking. He turned around and grabbed the spices and finished the five cups and handed them to the eagerly waiting costumers.
"Used to be? Why did you quit?"
Naruto grabbed two empty cups and filled them with noodles. "I got wounded on a mission. I couldn't continue as a shinobi anymore."
"You got wounded? Then you were a really clumsy shinobi. A shinobi isn't supposed to get hurt, they are the best. My dad is a Chuunin so I know." The boy said proudly. Getting 'wow' from his classmates.
Naruto smiled sadly to him while he served another three cups of ramen. "Mission's doesn't always go as you plan no matter what rank you have. Believe me, I was a Jounin when I got hurt."
"Ne, onii-san. What happen?" A girl asked.
For a fraction of a moment, memories from that fateful night ran through his head. He shook it off but his former teachers still noticed the slight change in him. "It was a decision making." He finally said.
"Decision making?" Another boy asked, not understanding what he meant.
"Yeah. A decision had to be made." Naruto put forth the rest of the orders. Smiling at them. "Dig in!"
All the kids happily ate their food, some of them would still ask Naruto some questions but he evaded them.
When Naruto and Kakashi was waving the kids good bye, Naruto sensed the chakra of someone familiar. His whole face turned into a mask of stone. He watched his former teammate and the girl he had had a crush on for so long walked up to them.
"What do you want, Sakura?" He spat out.
The pink haired girl looked at her old friend. "I came to see how you were. I haven't seen you for so long." Her voice was soft.
"And I would have wanted it to stay that way."
Sakura looked sad. "You can't forgive me, can you? I hoped you would get over it and--" She said slowly.
"Get over it?" Naruto let out a cold snort. "You killed me, Sakura. You took away what was most important to me and now you have the guts to stand here and ask if I can forgive you!"
Tears pricked the corner of her eyes at the sight of her former teammate acting like this. This was completely different from the hyperactive, loudmouthed, naive boy she had known in the past.
Naruto shook his head in disgust, "You make me sick." before turning around and walking back into the shop. Sakura saw his retreating back and without thinking, she ran after him and managed to grab his arm. In the next moment Naruto whirled around and slapped her hard across her cheek. She fell to the ground in a clumpy heap, for she had never ever thought this would happen. Her cheek stung and hurt but it was nothing compare to the pain for her old teammate.
Naruto heard someone clear its throat behind him and he turned back to see the owner of the ramen shop.
"You're fired." The old man said. "I can't have someone like you here anymore."
Naruto's heart skipped a beat. His eyes became very cold and lonely as he took of the apron he had on and handed it over. He felt the material of the apron slip over his fingers before it left him. He walked away without saying a single word.
He didn't know how long he walked but all he heard was those words, 'Someone like you. Someone like you. Someone like you...' repeated over and over again in his head.
He didn't notice when he took a short path through a dark ally. He didn't realize anything before he felt the presence of others surrounding him. He didn't look up as they talked, to lost in his own world. 'Someone like you, someone like you...'
This pissed one of the guy's off; he marched up to the blonde and pushed him against the brick wall behind him. Grabbing the front of his shirt.
'Someone like you....'
His comrades told him that he was taking it too far.
'Someone like you....'
Naruto grabbed the hand holding him, mumbling softly something.
'Someone like....me--'
The guy screamed in pain as most of the bones in his hand was broken. He stumbled back, was caught by him friends as he held his injured hand. No matter how tough he was, he still couldn't stop the tears from appearing in his eyes.
"Someone like me."
This time they heard him. They looked at him strangely. Naruto raised his head and erringly clear red eyes stared at them. A cruel smile split out on his lips as he repeated...
"Someone like you.. that's who I am!"
Naruto attacked them.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The door slammed shut. Naruto staggered into the dark room, not caring to turn on the lights. He held his left arm, blood dripped onto the floor as he moved to his bedroom. Naruto took of his torn and bloody shirt, throwing it to the floor. Not caring if the floor got bloody. He searched himself for any wounds but found none, the only wound he had was his old scar.
The scar was on his side, the painful reminder of how he was betrayed. It was an ugly scar that started from the middle of his abdomen, down over his hip and half way down his thigh. A permanent injury that couldn't heal properly no matter how much treatment he received. A single injury that had taken away everything. Took away his life as a shinobi, took away his chance to prove himself to the village, took away the dream he had lived with for so long. Just looking at the scar brought back those memories. Compared to the memories he had gained from just a little while ago, these were the memories he wanted to destroy. He wanted to erase them; he wanted to erase this scar.
He started to claw at the long scar so that it started to bleed again. He looked at his hands, covered in his own blood. He didn't know that it could be so beautiful. He heard someone whisper in his head. Saying that he wasn't alone, that 'he' would always be with him. They were the same.
Naruto looked into the shadows, his eyes still red. He could feel something coming closer to him. Someone he knew. He wanted to meat this person, this only person that understood him.
Suddenly he felt someone place a hand over his eyes. The hand was warm and calming. The owner of it whispered somewhere deep inside his mind that he could sleep and dream beautiful now. A dream about a destroyed world.
'Sleep tight.............
.........little brother!'
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
A team of four people walked through the huge gate of Konoha. All of them were dirty and tired. Some of them said goodbye to the others before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"Sasuke-kun. Neji-kun."
Sasuke and Neji stopped walking and looked where the voice had come from. They saw Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata and Shino walk toward him. All of them looked worried.
"This isn't just to welcome us home, is it?" Neji asked.
"It's Naruto." Kiba said, standing slightly behind Sakura.
Sasuke's hand twisted slightly at the sound of Naruto's name but he remained just as calm and cold, waiting for them to continue.
"He hasn't come out of his apartment for five days." Kiba continued to explain.
"He got fired from his job five days ago, because he hit Sakura right in front of the shop." Shikamaru lazily added. "It's troublesome to ask this but…" he looked directly at Sasuke with a serious look. "I don't know everything that happened between you two one year ago to make him hate you so much but we need your help to get through to him."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
A few minutes later, they were outside of Naruto's apartment. They knocked but got no answer. Kiba didn't give up so he continued knocking until something crashed into the other side of the door. Scaring everyone standing outside.
"What the--?" Kiba swore as he backed away.
Hinata tugged at Sasuke's arm, asking him to try. The raven-haired shinobi sighed before he walked to the door. He knocked rather hard and shouted.
"Oi, dobe. Come out, we want to talk to you."
Suddenly, the door flung open and there stood he. He looked normal and they couldn't really see much from inside his apartment except for the books that lay by the door. The blonde looked fine, except that his face was twisted in fury.
"You have a death wish if you dare to come face to face with me again, Sa-su-ke-kun." Naruto said in a pissed voice.
Sasuke didn't faze from the words. "What the hell have you been doing? Making everyone worry for you!"
"What I'm doing?" Naruto nearly shouted. "I'm trying to move on but it's hard when people I never want to see again appear before me." This time Sasuke did flinch.
'People he never want to see again, huh?'
"So if you don't mind…" He looked at everyone. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
With that Naruto slammed the door shut, leaving stunned people on the other side.
"We have to talk to the others."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Meanwhile, inside Naruto's apartment. The blonde walked to his bedroom and stopped in the middle of it. He looked into one of the shadows.
"I made them leave." He whispered.
Out of the shadow behind him came another person. "Good, little brother."
Naruto looked down at the floor with sad eyes. "They don't understand me at all. If they really cared they wouldn't have given up so easy."
Naruto could feel the deep red eyes at the back of his neck before he actually felt the hands on his shoulder. "I know." The shadow whispered.
"They really don't care if I go mad from loneliness." Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Hush now, I'm here, little brother and I'm not leaving you." The shadow whispered. Grabbing Naruto's right hand so the shirt fell down, revealing a long scar that had just healed. "As long as you care for me, I'll care for you. No matter what will happen I will always be here with you."
The tears threatened to break through his lids. "Promise?"
"Promise!" The shadow whispered into his ears. Naruto felt his tears finally flow down over his face. The shadow made hushing sounds and placed a hand over the blonde's eyes. The tears still made its way through. "Don't cry. Don't cry."
Slowly the shadow let the hand he was holding Naruto's right arm with slide down and a nail cut the newly healed injury. Blood started to drip from it and Naruto smiled, bittersweet.
"I don't feel anything from it anymore. Am I really so hollow?" He asked.
"As long as you have me, you'll never be truly lonely." The figure said, licking its claws clean from blood.
He rested his head on Naruto's shoulder. Striking blonde hair and whisker marks on his face, he was almost a complete copy of Naruto. Only his eyes were erringly red and he smiled cruelly instead of sadly. One of his hands was around Naruto's waist and the other let go of the bleeding arm just to wrap around Naruto's shoulders.
"If you just give me what I need. I'll never leave you, little brother."
Tbc...
Author Note: Well, now you've finished it. I hope that you liked it and will wait for the next chapter. Unfortunate I have to go now so I can't give a long ending speak but I have to go on celebrating my birthday now. I'm really happy for those that have given me a review on the prologue. Before you leave this page, just sign a few words for me. It can only be one word or it can be a few pages long, I don't mind either. It's fun reading them all! And so I take my good bye for now.
