Hunted or Busted: A Side Story

Dusted 21: Naruto Character Short

When we last left our whiskered Faunus friend he was doing some hardcore camping! The kid thought he could test his skills but was finding himself having a pretty hard time! Kids these days can't go a day without their conveniences.

Well let's see how he likes being in the forest! Alone! In winter! Without a Scroll! Surrounded by Grimm! Who are super riled up with the end of the world! And everyone he knows and loves think he's dead!

That'll teach him!

So what can I say about the man and the show that I haven't said before? Well, for one thing, have any of you noticed a resurgence in people watching? Like there's a new set of people that have never seen Naruto before finally reacting and watching it for themselves. Watching back from the beginning and seeing all the cool bits through fresh eyes, you almost completely forget about the not so great parts. Like, I'm so glad you love the Chūnin exam, but I can't wait for you to reach the filler or War arc.

Also I get a huge laugh out of their reactions. "Oh man, Obito has to be the best Uchiha so far! God, mad respect to this boy!"

Followed by, "Geez, who is this fuck-boi? Tobi? Sounds like an idiot. Fuck this guy!"

Such bliss.

Here we go!

((((((((Hunted))))))))

"Do you remember how your mother and I would compete when we trained you?"

Naruto looked at his dad as they walked back through the halls of Beacon and towards his room. The younger blond titled his head in thought before lightly laughing, "Oh my god, I remember those times. You two could be so competitive."

"Yeah," His father sheepishly laughed as he remembered his less-than-dignified interactions with his mother years ago, "We really tried to one-up each other back then."

"Stuck between two people fighting to be mentors and the only student in their grasp." He mumbled in a forlorn manner to himself. When he asked his mother for assistance in learning how to fight with wires and increasing range with his kodachi, he had been expecting tough lessons and training to develop his skills to the utmost ability.

Which he had gotten...along with his mother's smug smile and gentle prodding of his father.

Turns out they were both super competitive and taking their spirit for victory out through him.

When his father was teaching him forms and techniques, he had to prove how much he learned during spars. And when his mother taught him how to fight at long-range and use length to his advantage, he showed the results against targets at a distance.

When he was done with both lessons they would take the results and compare them together. Whoever had the more successful lesson...really only got bragging rights for the day. It was actually pretty childish, but Naruto got stronger and honestly he loved seeing his parents be so animated and fun.

"Yeah it was a bit silly of us." Minato admitted with a small grin as he scratched his cheek, "We were just so set on making a competition out of it."

"To see who was the better teacher?"

"Nope. To see who had the bigger hand in making the best Huntsman in history."

One set of Naruto's ear flickered while the other started burning red. He stuttered, "S-Shut up with that."

"I'm serious, we both knew it was going to happen. We just wanted to make sure that when you got famous, people could point out how you did it and one of us would know that was our teaching."

"Heh, it sounded a lot more meaningful when I didn't know that part."

"Sorry." Minato chuckled and Naruto joined in along before they arrived at his office. His father stepped up to the door and took the handle before looking back at him one more time, "I think she'll be watching you during the tournament."

Naruto blinked, "Who?"

"Your mother." Minato solemnly answered, and Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that if he made it through the tournament, it would be broadcasted around the whole world. Which meant somewhere, wherever his mother was currently being held, she would be able to see it as well. That thought brought a different kind of warmth to his chest that startled him, "I don't know where she is but if you're on the screen then she'll definitely see you."

His ears flickered back and forth as Naruto scratched his neck, "You don't...you don't think she'll just turn off the stream the moment she sees me? She won't be mad that I left?" Even if she was the one that told him to go, he was the one that chose to run and abandon her, "What could seeing me possibly do for her?"

"She's been with those people for a long time now. And if I know her, being with them has caused her more pain than anyone should be able to handle." Naruto's stomach filled with ice hearing him talk, "She might not feel like there's much to hold on to right now."

"Then-"

"Which is why she needs to see you out there, fighting and winning and being brilliant." Minato smiled, "Go out there in the tournament and show her that you're going to make it. Show her that all the work you, me, and your mother put in is something to look forward to. Show her...what the greatest Huntsman in the world looks like."

His eyes started to well up but Naruto took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He grinned and pounded his chest, "Just watch me. I'll show everyone just what kind of Huntsman I've become."

((((((((Hunted))))))))

The empty, abandoned rural roads of Anima's forests were surprisingly bustling and filled with screams. As he walked along the dirt roads, people ran past him in a frenetic panic. Groups and families ran away together while motorized carts and trolleys carrying whatever belongings they could pack. He watched them run along with an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Kid, don't just stand there! Run!" One man yelled at him from across the road as a group of retreating civilians passed between them, "You can't go to the village! It's already overrun with Grimm! Get away from here while you still can!"

He looked over the road and saw just how big this sudden conclave of people really was. They were soon to be refugees escaping with their lives and whatever they could carry. Because of course the Grimm would come in and destroy their lives when they were happy and content.

A village overrun and people desperately in need of help. A creeping sense of nostalgia and dread filled his stomach as he weighed his options. Self-preservation and whatever still remained of his sense of duty warred with each other as he stood still and considered what to do.

A noise from below garnered his attention next, and with a sigh he made his choice. Walking down the street and ignoring the calls of everyone he walked past that said he should stop, he moved towards the overrun village.

As he walked in, he realized there were no more people evacuating or running away. They were either already gone or, if the stray splotches of blood on the ground was any indicators, already dead. This hadn't been a stampede that they had prepared for or knew was coming. This was a sudden shock that had tore through their peaceful world.

Beowolves were the first ones he noticed, the most prominent and recognizable killers on Remnant. As he watched one slowly crawl across the street and leave its prints in the dirt, several more walked along behind it. Where there was one, there were at least a dozen nearby that were drawing closer.

Terrible memories of outrunning one Beowolf only to look back and find himself pursued by a pack in the snow and ice haunted him. A chill and shake came up his back and down his arms as he forced the trained reaction to run away down and stood his ground instead.

They looked his way and growled.

He'd been spotted! Find cover! Find ground!

The instincts cried out and screamed in his head for him not to fight these things again. To run and hide and pick his fights like he did while he was surviving in the wild. He was lucky that he had made it this far after what he'd been through. It was best not to test himself and pick fights without-

Shadows stepped up to his side, playfully joking around and drawing their weapons to fight alongside him.

And then they vanished. Never to return.

"GAAAAOOOOWWW!"

Naruto forced those lingering thoughts away as one of the Beowolves howled and started charging towards him. As it approached the young Faunus covered his right arm in his orange Aura all the way up to his elbow. After he did, he reached for his waist and grabbed the hilt of his weapon.

The Beowolf lunged for him and swiped at his body. He leapt over its claw and hung over its head, drawing his weapon and spinning it in his grasp. He swung his machete down into the Grimm's skull and embedded it into the monster's face and snout before it dropped to the ground. Naruto grunted and yanked his blade out with a spray of black before the monster started to fade away.

The other Grimm took the death of their pack mate as a shock and charged at him next. He dashed forward and slid under the swing of the closest monster before slicing open its chest with a slash. With a quick side step he slipped into another monstrosity's flank and sliced through it with a swing.

He repeated this method with each beast that came his way. With every swing of his blade he cleaved through flesh and bone and meat. It would either dig itself into a Beowolf's head or rend its claws and arms from it body. With each step forward Naruto reduced the size of the pack one by one.

Until his machete missed the neck he was aiming for and instead embedded itself into a Beowolf's shoulder. The canine monster screeched and roared in agony before snarling down and drooling as Naruto was in its reach. As he was stuck there, another Beowolf charged at his back and was poised to tear through his spine.

Fortunately he was used to them attacking like this.

His right leg snapped out, covered in orange Aura all the way to the knee, and stretched out to slam into the Grimm's mouth. It was carried back all the way into a concrete wall where its skull was crushed and reduced to bits. Naruto other hand reached out, stretching his Aura out to curl around the Beowolf's head and squeezed until it shattered. As it went limp and evaporated, he pulled his machete back and spun its handle in his hand.

The Grimm watched him warily, careful of every move he made after he had carved through an entire pack of Beowolves. Naruto stood to face the greater horde of Grimm across from him. He took a deep breath in and exhaled, letting his Semblance form as Aura covered both arms and legs up to the joints. The fox Faunus gently bounced on his feet as he felt power swell in his body.

He ran forward and disappeared like a blur to the Grimm. With a leap he flew through the air, flying over the heads of the monsters and raining down on them enlarged punches and kicks that reduced them to puddles. Landing in a crouch, he spun around and spiked his machete out into the body of a stunned Ursa. As it dropped back dead, his hand extended out and retrieved his weapon before swinging it out like a whip to carve through the other monsters around him.

"C'mon!" Naruto roared and egged on the monsters around him to follow. With a mighty jump he landed on top of some houses and started running over the rooftops. The monsters, enraged and ready for a meal, chased after him along the streets. Some of the more anxious beasts dove through the walls of houses and tried to topple them while he stood on the roof. If he kept jumping from house to house, there would be no village left for these people to return to once the Grimm had cleared.

So he leapt off the roof and dropped down to the center of the horde. He stretched out his feet, extending them to the street and crushing every Grimm beneath him in order to create a clearing in the horde. Once he landed in the middle of everything, he spun around and forced his Aura to stretch out while holding onto the machete.

The blade carved through Grimm after Grimm in a line. Like a maelstrom of chaos and death, Naruto's Aura and weapon reduced the collection of monsters around him to nothing but meat. The bladed orange spiral came to a slow stop and Naruto pulled his Aura back in and took his blade back in hand. He looked down at his feet and found the Grimm pieces piled up around him after their decimation.

As he caught his breath he looked over the flattened dirt paths that made the streets and all the homes along them. No more Grimm were stalking their way through and the ones caught in the blender were already fading away. It should all be finished...

So why was he still so uneasy?

His ears twitched as he heard something drop through the air above him.

The sound of wind rushing over something as it drew closer.

Naruto leapt to the side and avoided the two giants crashing into the ground where he stood.

He lifted himself back up and looked up at the two mighty beasts that towered over him. Two winged monsters, similar in build but with distinct differences. They were feline in body but with black wings, one slender and with a serpent on its tail while the other was bulkier with a stinger.

A Sphinx and a Manticore.

These monsters were supposed to be a little further north if he remembered Anima's geography lessons correctly, but after the change Beacon caused they must have migrated south to find prey. And now he was the only one that could be considered as prey in their sights.

Both monsters reeled back and launched fireballs in his direction, the Manticore's a little larger and more intense. Naruto quickly reacted and threw a kick, extended and enlarging it to hit both fireballs and cause them to erupt. As a wave of fire rushed over the street he dove behind a couple of houses.

The fires started to settle along the street and the two winged Grimm looked around to find him. He snuck his way along a house and looked around the corner as he spotted both monsters, the Sphinx closest to him with the Manticore on the other side.

They were larger beasts than he was expecting to deal with. He came here ready to fight off a horde of manageable Grimm, but now there were two big monsters that could fly. And there might be even more around to come and join them.

No! They had to be cleared out! Now!

Naruto rounded the corner and sprinted into the street and towards the Grimm. The Sphinx spotted him first and breathed in before releasing a massive fireball towards him. The blond fox growled and roared, leaping up and vaulting over the ball of flames before careening back towards the winged Grimm.

He landed on the monster's back and stabbed his machete into the space between the wings. It howled in pain and bucked forward before flying down the street in a panic. As it flew it bounced off the houses in its way and spiraled - doing whatever it could to knock Naruto off its back. He persisted and stayed on despite how roughly the monster tried to shirk him off-

"Hsssssssssss."

Naruto's ears picked up the faint hissing around him and he jerked back as the white snake on the Sphinx's tail lunged for his neck. Dodging side to side he avoided the snapping maw of the serpent tail. With its last lunge he grabbed it by the neck before it could reach him and sliced off the head with a slash of his machete.

The Sphinx must have felt the loss of its tail for it reared its head back and howled in pain. Naruto took the reprieve of sudden movement and used it to attack. He leapt forward and stabbed his weapon into the top of the Grimm's head. With a twist he yanked down and pulled the machete through the monster's head until there was nothing holding it back.

The beast toppled over with a dying gurgle and fell like a heap at his feet. Naruto caught his breath and wiped his cheek as the Sphinx started to dissipate into black smoke.

And from that smoke another giant charged through.

The Manticore rushed through the dying remains of its fellow Grimm and barreled directly into Naruto's chest. The young Faunus gagged as the air rushed out of his lungs and he was knocked off his feet. The Manticore stopped flying and Naruto was propelled down the street and bounced off the dirt. He slid to a stop and spat up the bile filling his throat before he looked up at the monster attacking him.

His machete was sticking out of the Manticore's neck - embedded far enough that it wouldn't fall out but not deep enough to kill it. Even his attack during the monster's strike hadn't been enough to do any damage. And now his Aura had taken a serious hit.

He scrambled to his feet in time to avoid the fireballs raining down on him from the Manticore's mouth. They exploded one after another in a mighty eruption of flame and power. As he kept avoiding their path the flames started to catch on the houses and rise up until they were reduced to kindling.

Naruto stopped in the dirt and looked up as he saw the raging flames and damages the Manticore caused. Watching the fluttering shadows and rising fires reminded him of his last day in Beacon.

A failure. Another failure.

"They just did what they had to do to survive. Can't fault them for that, can you?"

He can't do this. Not by himself.

"Our heroes! Hooray!"

He wasn't made for this anymore. He wasn't...

"I guess if nothing else I should be proud you learned a little something from me, huh?"

Why couldn't he...why was he-

"WWRRRAAAAHHHHHHH!" Naruto let out a primal, furious roar before he leapt off the ground and in a mad sprint directly at the Manticore. The Grimm saw his approach and started firing attacks at him again.

He weaved around the balls of fire as they exploded on the ground. Jumping side to side and covering the last of the distance with one long lunge, Naruto slid under the Manticore as it tried to stomp on his body. Sliding under the monster's belly and coming out the other side Naruto immediately extended his Aura and forced it to wrap around the Manticore like a snake. It covered the entire Grimm's body like a coil as the beast let out an angry roar of defiance.

His Aura reached out over the monster until his hand landed on his machete and gripped the handle.

And with a strained roar he dragged the machete back along as he pulled his Aura back to his arm.

His machete and Aura returned to his hand and faded to normal as the Manticore was carved and skinned to death.

Naruto fell back on his butt and gasped for air as the rush of adrenaline left his system with only exhaustion in its place. The pieces of the Manticore that hadn't been severed while he was dragging his blade through its body were already dissipating. There didn't seem to be anymore Grimm but he wasn't going to release his Aura just yet.

With a grunt of effort Naruto picked himself up and ran over to the village's entrance. He spotted his bag and threw it over his shoulder as he ran back into the village. Some homes had been burnt down from the surrounding flames but most had gotten out of the mess still standing, with only a few breaks and broken walls to take notice off.

He stared at one of those broken walls for a moment before he slipped through to get inside. Looking around he noticed that the house was very nice and filled with pictures of the family. There was a moment staring at one of the pictures that he remembered a similar one he had taken years ago; his mother fumbling with getting the button hit while his father stood beside her and Naruto laughed by their chests. She had gotten so agitated and annoyed that she just kept hitting the button and taking photos. The one of them all laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation had been in his father's house the last time he was there.

Would it still be there? Or would it be in a box labeled 'Previous Occupant's Belongings'?

He shook his head and focused back on what mattered right now. He ran to the kitchen and yanked every cupboard or pantry door he could find open. Preservatives. Fresh foods. Stuff that could be cooked while on the road. Things he needed immediately and things that could last him a long time. Whatever he could get his hands on, he took.

Would the people who owned this home come back? Were they some of the unlucky ones that didn't escape? If they did come home, would they need this precious food to survive?

Those thoughts threatened to fill his mind but he pushed them down immediately. He focused only on filling up his bag with whatever he could carry. There was a chance that it was threatening someone else's security...but he couldn't think about that now.

He wasn't the Huntsman he inspired to be anymore...he couldn't be anymore.

((((((((Hunted))))))))

Done

Yeah so...so things have happened to our blond buddy.

I think one of the most interesting aspects about writing a Naruto fanfic is seeing how different circumstances could possibly change him in these different settings.

What would he be like if he had people around him? What would he be like if he didn't have anyone? What about him could be considered nature or nurture?

That's one of the aspects I went into writing Devil with. He had everything, then lost it all and ended up by himself, and tentatively accepts that these new people around him could fill that loss.

However this Naruto is totally different. Unlike the canon or most others, he's had something his whole life. He had his parents. He had his mother while he was in the White Fang. He found his first friend in Sasuke. And then steadily built up a group of family, friends, and people around him that he had never had before.

But now for the first time in his life he is by all means completely alone. He has no one around and no one to fight for while facing these struggles. We are forged by the people we meet and the events we live through, and unfortunately not all of those things can be good and positive.

And the things he went through...are bad. You all are probably gonna hate me for putting our buddy through the ringer. Like I'm just imagining how to write it and it hurts.

And it all starts tomorrow. See you then.

ReadxReview

Thank You and Bye