Red Eye
Begin Author's Note:
Yo! Back again. Again. Whatever. Now some people are undoubtedly pissed about the wait. I have a story I'd like to tell.
About a month and a half ago, I got a graphics card upgrade. Cost me 464 bucks. About 1 week ago, it screwed up. It screwed up. IT SCREWED THE FUCK UP! Naturally, I'm just ever so slightly pissed off. So I take into Best Buy and pay them 70 dollars of hard earned money to do a "diagnostic". 4 days later, they call me. They tell me it's my graphics card that is the problem. Then they tell me and I quote, "We can get a replacement for 158 dollars." My calm as a coma approach was to light this greasy wop up like a leaking gas pipe. But I got it back and am back to writing. Without my new card, which is being replaced by the manufacturer. On to business. I appeared to have gotten a mixed reaction with the death of Itachi. Some were approving. Nobody came right out and said you were pissed. One reviewer expressed his concern that Itachi died way too fast. Now, it wasn't a flame, fortunately. If so, I would have ignored it. No, this reviewer (I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I don't have my reviews page open at the moment so I have no idea who he is.) expressed his views in a polite, reasonable manner. I'd like to thank him for respecting my wish to leave criticism like he did. Due to his manner of reviewing, I'm going to give a complete answer to his concern. Here is the logical reasoning.
Itachi had just left his village. He had been hunted by ANBU for a while. His adrenaline levels were high, and at that point he'd probably be jumping at shadows. Just when he gets to sleep, BAM! He gets attacked. He's tired and frazzled, and makes mistakes he wouldn't ordinarily make. Reason two: this story isn't about Itachi. It is about Naruto. Many of the first chapters have been preparation, to get everything ready. This chapter, my Ocs start to disappear, and this becomes Naruto's story. Well, after his Mangekyou Sharingan is implanted, anyway. Oh, and no complaining about that. Naruto won't use Amatseru and Tsuyomiki every battle. In fact, I might just have him usually use just the regular 3 tomoe Sharingan. And Naruto won't be all-powerful. He's low jounin level right now. Kakashi could beat him, and Asuma and Kurenai could put up a good fight. At least till he used Mangekyou. He stands almost no chance against Kage or the Sannin.
Pairing votage:
7 for a Naru/Haku/Kurenai/Kyuubi...As soon as I wrote harem I had the premonition of this happening...
5 Naru/Kurenai...These voters will be pleased to know Kurenai is still in the winning category...
2 Naru/Ino... Not looking good for them...
1 Naru/Haku...
2 Naru/Kyuubi.
Wow! NHKK went from one vote to 7 in two chapters. Between this chapter and the next, that is all you have left. Make your votes count...
-----XXXXXX-------XXXXXXX--------XXXXXXXX--------XXXXXXXX--------XXXXXX—
At age fifteen, Naruto had left his childhood long behind. The Akagan was his life, and his passion. His days were filled with training, and sleepless nights spent studying theory and techniques. His icy demeanor remained, but he was more sociable among friends. Right now, however, he was not among friends. He was in a medical lab, off the main Akagan compound. Looking out the window, he was treated to a spectacular view of the frosty village that was his home. Snowflakes swirled on a light breeze to a background of the setting sun, painting the sky with a beautiful combination of blues, yellows, pinks, and reds. The little snow-covered houses clustered around a main chapel to the Kyuubi no Kitsune provided a peaceful image, which allowed him to forget his troubles for a little while. Behind all of this was the best view of the continent he could ask for. He could see the dark cliffs that were home to the Kumo-nin, the sprawling forests of Fire Country, the lowlands of Rice, the harsh western death-pit that was Kaze no Kuni. He could even glimpse the bog that was Water near the Wave atoll. Beyond all these, vast seas stretched, waiting to swallow unwary explorers.
No one in the Akagan knew exactly what waited across those seas. Myths of a Paradise and a Hell traveled with the peddlers who braved the known world. Tales of all sorts of lands pervaded the minds of those who believed in such things. After the Great Cataclysms that had rocked the world and destroyed so much, no one had braved the newly created seas. No one was foolish, or brave enough to.
"Naruto-kun?" a voice shook him from his thoughts. It was the chief medic, a tiny, shifty little man that Naruto didn't like. His eyes were constantly looking from side to side. He was hunched over today, his arms wrapped around a little silver case. Naruto was instantly suspicious.
"What is that?" He asked. The man looked out the window.
"That's the village."
"Yes, I know that's the village. What is that?" This time, he pointed. The man looked down at the box.
"Uh, a box?" Naruto sighed. Now he remembered why he didn't like him. The man was an idiot.
"Forget it." The little man shrugged and motioned to a table.
"Lie down, please." Naruto complied, and the odious medical officer soaked a rag in a strong-smelling liquid, then advanced on Naruto. Naruto had some obvious objections at this questionable course of action.
"What the hell are you doing?" The medic shrank back.
"Uh, Anesthetic?" Naruto rolled his eyes. How was that a question?
"Fine."
He let the medic cover his mouth and nose with the rag, and his vision dissolved into a series of technicolor bubbles.
—XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX-----XXXXXX------XXXXXXX------XXXXXX----XXXX–
The first thing Naruto noticed when he woke was a dull throb around his eyes. He kept them closed and ran through a mental check-list of sensations. Tender skin, faint dizziness, Heightened pulse, ache and pain...
His eyes snapped open. He scanned the room with new vision. Everything seemed to be moving slower than was usual. His eyes seemed sharper as well. He decided on the final test. He levered himself off the bed.
Naruto took one good look in the mirror.
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
Everyone in the village heard an echoing roar.
"SWEET KAMI!"
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
The medic's office was invaded by a shout.
"What the hell?" the man asked the air.
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
Cyrus was chuckling. The boy must have looked in a mirror.
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
Naruto was very, very angry. His eyes were no longer the slit-pupils he was accustomed to seeing. His eyes had been replaced by solid black ones. They worked, true, but cutting his own eyes out and giving him some other guy's was not going to go unpunished. The little bastard soon to be dead medical officer was in for it.
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
Haku and Kimmimaro were heading to the medical office to investigate a strange shout they had heard. Well more appropriately, Haku was investigating and Kimmimaro was coming because she had not left off asking him until he finally relented.
They were walking toward the building when suddenly they heard a familiar voice roar out a familiar technique.
"Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu!" The window shattered, and a screaming medic, in flames, went flying. After fifteen yards, he slammed into the ground. He gained an additional five yards skidding to a stop. The two looked at each other, then the burning medic, then each other again.
Kimmimaro raised an eyebrow.
Haku giggled, then looked back at the busted window. Only one person she knew would do that to a chief medical officer. Sure enough, Naruto stood in the center of it, framed by the shattered edges.
Then she spotted an inconsistency.
Haku had been trained for senbon. She had learned how to sight every detail on a human body. She knew all eight vital points. Her accuracy was 100. She noticed small details.
Like the fact Naruto's eyes were onyx, not red.
"Naruto, what happened to your eyes?" She asked calmly. Perhaps too calmly. Kimmimaro looked at his eyes, then preformed a double take.
"That little bastard cut them out!" Kimmimaro shrugged.
"Perhaps he had a good reason?" Naruto's spluttered in rage, and Haku had to restrain him from killing her white-haired friend as she looked at said friend skeptically.
"A good reason to take out someone's eyes?" Kimmimaro looked at his feet.
"Just throwing it out there..." he muttered.
"Nevertheless, he did have a good reason." The strong and eloquent voice of Cyrus, the leader of the Akagan, announced him as his long strides, which a slight limp did not hamper in the least. The man never went anywhere without a long, hooded cloak that hid him entirely. His life required him to be an unknown man who hid in the shadows. Everything about him reflected that. His power required a great personal sacrifice.
"Good reason? Tell me this 'good' reason then!" Naruto was apparently not amused. Cyrus chuckled.
"Allow us to step indoors, then I will show you. Oh, Haku-chan, Have someone clean that up." He pointed toward the flaming corpse in the snow.
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
Back inside the office, they were arrayed neatly in a room. Kimmimaro was sitting patiently in a chair near the door. Haku was fidgeting with a senbon while seated on a bed. Naruto was staring into a mirror while Cyrus stood next to him He had some advice for them.
"Everyone watch Naruto-kun's eyes. You will not want to miss this." Kimmimaro leaned towards them.
"What exactly are we going to see?" Cyrus chuckled again.
"You shall see, my boy." Kimmimaro stiffened almost imperceptibly. Haku sent him a warning glance. She knew and understood he had issues, for lack of a better word, with his family. He slowly exhaled, then nodded to her. He was in control. Cyrus, if he noticed the exchange, did nothing.
"Naruto-kun, try and focus chakra to your eyes." Naruto frowned, confused, but he did as told. All of them gasped when Naruto's eyes were flooded with red, and swirling black tomoe appeared in them. Haku recognized it first.
"The Sharingan.." Naruto's mouth was dropping open. Cyrus' entire being exuded accomplishment.
"Hai, Haku-chan. I have procured a Sharingan for Naruto-kun. Now we have to test it."
—XXXXX–X-X-X-----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX—
Naruto's team leapt through the trees as he reviewed his 'test' mission specifications. The Akagan, usually very picky about what it would and would not accept, but for the test, it seemed that they were willing to allow a distasteful client for once.
One Gatoh, more pig than man, had asked them to assassinate a Nami no Kuni citizen named Tazuna. Naruto didn't know why, and he didn't care. This Tazuna supposedly had ninja bodyguards. Naruto was eager to test his skill against them, while stealing their best techniques with the Sharingan.
"Haku, ETA?" She checked their surroundings. Then she sighed, and went with her instincts.
"We'll get there when we get there." Naruto and Kimmimaro simultaneously rolled their eyes. He intended to see this to the bitter end.
"Why can't I get a straight answer? Every time we try this stuff, you're always so vauge."
"And you're impaitient!"
"What?"
"You heard me! Don't play innocent!"
"Playing, am I?"
"Yes, you are!" Kimmimaro finally put an eloquent halt to the argument.
"We have arrived."
—XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX----XXX-
A dual Konoha genin team was leading an older man through the forest. There was some spirited conversation between genin and senseis, but all in all, they seemed to have a basic grasp of teamwork. Naruto smirked. His team had been a team for almost all their lives. They knew each other so intimately that entire conversations could take place without a word.
The little children didn't stand a chance. There was just one problem.
To preform this, they had to be ninja. For Gatoh, that was the best grouping of assassins he could think of. The little piggy man had said if they weren't ninja, they weren't hired. So, some loony on the council had come up the with the rather good idea to fake a Hidden Village.
Unfortunately, said loony had come up with the idea of Kagegakure. Who was supposed to run it? The Kagekage? Fools, the lot of them. Sadly, they were powerful fools. So, in the end, Naruto had been talked into wearing a forehead protector that was entirely black. Not even a village symbol on it.
The Konoha-nin were going to have to be very stupid.
Well, most ninja were surprisingly stupid anyway. And, if anything went wrong, no one would leave here alive anyway. Well, except his team. A dark grin adorned his face as he readied a Shunshin no Jutsu.
----XXXXXX-----XXXXX-----XXXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX------XXXXX-----XXXX–
Kakashi and Kurenai were walking at the head of the genin team. Hinata and Sakura were behind them, with Sakura expounding on the decadence on the demon pig, Ino, and Hinata stammering and blushing. Kiba and Shino were walking behind them, and Uchiha Sauske swaggering behind those two. The final one, Shinta, (Who will be totally canon Naruto-esque.) was bringing up the rear. The client, Tazuna, was in the middle of all this.
Something wasn't right. Kakashi could feel the sudden menacing air around him. He confirmed it when Kurenai gave him a slight glance. She was nervous. He was already being very, very wary of his surroundings. His adrenaline levels spiked as he realized he was being watched.
Then someone used a Shunshin to appear in the center of their line. The neatly ordered little formation dissolved into chaos.
He and Kurenai turned quickly to defend their students. Sakura screamed, and Hinata nearly fainted. Sauske leapt away and Kiba and Shino prepared for a fight. Shinta dodged to the side. Kunai were readied on all sides, except Sakura, who gaped at the intruder.
The unknown-nin was standing leisurely at the center of the line, facing Tazuna. A large black cloak concealed everything but a fully black hitai-ate, veil, and onyx eyes. His shoulder length obsidian hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. He raised his head and stared Tazuna in the face.
"Tazuna-san... Surrender yourself." Kakashi angrily shook his head. This man wasn't even paying them any attention. Shinta, unfortunately ruined the element of surprise.
"Hey Teme! You have to beat us to get him!" He then punctuated his sentence with several kunai.
The kuroi-nin disappeared, than appeared again behind Shinta. The boy angrily blustered as he attempted a kick, which was dodged.
"Kuso!" Shinta threw a punch. It was caught. The kuroi-nin held him by the wrist.
"You're annoying." With a viper-quick movement, he broke the boy's wrist. Shinta screamed, and the man whipped around and snatched Kakashi's thrown kunai out of the air. He blocked several more, and made a single seal. There was a poof of smoke, and he reappeared behind Kiba.
Kiba turned.
Too slow. The man lunged forward and slammed a devastating uppercut into Kiba's stomach. He then brought an elbow drop onto the back of his head, and a knee hit the embattled boy's gut. He shoved the genin forward and made another seal. A bunshin of some sort popped into existence and punched the boy backwards. At the same time, he flicked behind Kiba. A Kunai with a blade twice the length of his hand was clenched in his fist.
"Ja Matta." He stabbed Kiba in the back. The poor genin's pained scream echoed through the clearing. Kurenai flinched and Sakura screamed again. Everything was up to him. He threw several more shuriken, and used the moment of distraction to unmask his Sharingan. This seemed to amuse the kuroi-nin. He laughed, and another ninja joined them. This one was unmistakably a woman.
She was tall, and long, midnight tresses fell to the small of her back. She was garbed the same as the man, but there was one crucial difference. Here eyes were a nightmarish red that compared to the horror of the Kyuubi.
"What have we here?" Another nin dropped from the trees. This one had white hair.
"Looks like genin to me." The first nin raised his head. The konoha shinobi gasped in shock.
"So, Sharingan Kakashi, we finally meet. It is good to test mine against yours."
Impossibly, his eyes were a fully developed Sharingan.
----XXXXXX-----XXXXX-----XXXXXX----XXXXX----XXXXXX------XXXXX-----XXXX–
Uh oh. Sauske is going to freak out by next chapter... Kiba is already down, and haku and Kimmimaro haven't even joined the battle. Things aren't looking good for the leaf.