Naruto: Archer and Loner

Here is another chapter. The last two were a bit of filler chapters while I got my muse fed and going. Now it'll get interesting. As usual, neither Naruto nor Bleach belongs to me.

Warning: The beginning of this chapter has Mature Content depicting gore and blood. If you wish to skip it, please scroll down to the next line! You have been warned!

Chapter 26: Nightmares are Real

Bodies lined the streets. Hanging from windows, implanted into walls. Intestines hung like macabre banners. Blood flowed like a river, it pooled into the low areas of the streets. The smell was overwhelming. It hung like a miasma. Choking the air, making it impossible to breathe. The Hokage mountain still stood. The faces covered in blood to the point it looked like the Hokages of old were crying tears of blood. Walking slowly through the streets, all Naruto could do is stare in shock. What had happened? How did it come to this? Who destroyed the village? The Hokage tower was gone. It no longer stood proud in the center of the village. Replacing the nerve center of the village now was a huge pile of bodies. A dark, hooded figure stood at the pinnacle of the pile. Naruto felt his answers laid with the figure. He made his way towards the imposing figure. Carefully stepping around the bodies that littered the ground. Here and there he saw faces he knew. Both civilians and ninja. He saw the mangled face of Kakashi impaled upon a lamppost. Gingerly, he climbed the mountain of bodies. Inching closer and closer to the dark figure.

"This is what happens to those who defy me, Naruto," the figure whispered. "You have a choice of either submitting to me or…

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he sat up suddenly in his bed. Breathing heavily, a scream barely contained by his lips. Sweat poured off him, soaking his sheets. His heart hammered in his chest, almost feeling like it was about to burst through his breastbone. 'What the hell was that,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Was it a dream? A portent?' Taking slow, deep breaths, Naruto slowly calmed down. He made his way into his bathroom. Turning on the shower, Naruto quickly got under the cold water. Hoping to wash the dream away just like the sweat was being washed away by the water. As the dregs of sleep finally washed away, Naruto's dream started fading away like a bad memory. He got out of the shower and prepared for the day.

"You think that was a dream, meat-bag," the Kyubi asked from within his mind.

'You mean it wasn't a dream,' Naruto asked back.

"It is what the future may be for you if you fail," Kyubi responds.

'Fail? Fail at what,' Naruto asks.

"If you fail to control your power. If you fail to contain HIM! That is what the world will look like. He holds no reason. No remorse. No feeling for humanity. He was beaten once, by your ancestor. If you fail, you will destroy everything your ancestor tried to save," the Kyubi said gravely.

'I won't fail. He won't win and neither will you,' Naruto shouts back in his mind.

"We shall see, meat-bag. We shall see,' the Kyubi rumbled.

Uzumaki Training ground

Naruto sat in the training grounds shirtless, feeling the cool air and the sun slowly warming his body. He had the Seele Schneider in his hands, pulsing his spiritual chakra into and out of it causing the spectral blade to fade in and out of existence. Suddenly, he stood up and flared his spiritual chakra causing the blade to blaze to life and settle at exactly two feet in length.

'Finally,' Naruto thought to himself. 'I've finally made it to two feet. Now I need to start training in kenjutsu. And also lessening how much of my spiritual chakra the blade needs to manifest.' Naruto started swinging the Seele Schneider slowly. Getting a feel for how it felt to move it as a blade. As he turned and brought the blade down to the ground, his blade was stopped by another Seele Schneider. Following the hand holding the blade, he met the face of Kiski.

"Hello, Kiski-sensei," Naruto says with a smile. "I finally got the blade to two feet."

"I see that, Naruto-sama," Kiski replies back. "Now it is time for you to learn your family's kenjutsu, The Dance of the Surging Tides.*"

"I'm ready, sensei," Naruto says with conviction.

Uzumaki Clan Hot Springs

Naruto slowly floated in the middle of the hot springs. His muscles screamed at him even now as the hot water slowly eased the tension in his body. 'I hurt in places I never thought I had,' Naruto thought to himself as he floated there. 'Kiski-sensei is a sadist. Drilling me in only one stance over and over and over until I made no mistake.'

"Ah, there you are, young Naruto," a voice says causing Naruto to open his eyes. He sees Himsha easing his elderly body into the water. "Ahhhh, that feels better," he says as he settles himself.

"Hello, Himsha," Naruto greets. "I'm having a good, long soak after the brutal training I was put through today."

"I hear you there, Naruto. When I was a child, my father drilled me relentlessly. I also did the same with my children and I know Hiashi also did the same with his daughters," Himsha replied. "Something I learned a long time ago may help you, young Naruto."

"What is that," Naruto questioned.

"Pain is a teacher of its own. It tells us that we are learning new things and in order to succeed, we must push past the pain," Himsha says. "When your body no longer feels pain from the training, it means you have truly learned what you set out to learn."

"It still sucks though," Naruto replied.

"That it does, Naruto. That it does," Himsha says while chuckling. "What are your plans for the rest of the week? Other than training?"

"It depends on me being able to move," Naruto replies.

"Might I suggest you spend some time with the other people who are living here in the compound," Himsha says. "Hinata and Neji have both been training constantly and haven't seen much of you since you've been focusing on training so much."

"That is true," Naruto replies. "I was planning on having a 'family dinner' last month. Maybe I can do something like that soon. I'll talk with Kiski-sensei to see about him going easy on me so I can actually have the energy to speak to everyone."

"Good luck with that, Naruto. If he's anything like my father or the sensei I had as a genin, he might not go easy on you," Himsha said. "I'll leave you to continue your soak, Naruto. Don't stay too long or you'll end up looking like me sooner rather than later."

Uzumaki clan Dining Room

Naruto sat at the head of the table waiting for everyone to join him. Kiski didn't train him today, so Naruto felt lucky and full of energy for once. Naruto knew in his bones that the next day would probably be worse in training. 'At least I have energy today to enjoy a meal with everyone. It'll be nice to catch up and just hang out without worrying about training for once,' Naruto thought to himself. He sat up in his chair as he heard the sound of people walking towards the dining room. The door opened revealing Zabuza, Haku, Neji, Hinata, Ko and Himsha. They all made their way to a seat at the table that was overladen with food.

"This looks good, runt," Zabuza says as he sits down. "Did you make all this? I thought the only thing you ate was ramen?"

"I do eat other things, Zabuza. I just thought it'd be nice for me to make a meal for you all. It has been a while since we all gathered together. We've all been busy with training. A break is good every now and then," Naruto replied.

"Kiski forget to train you today, Naruto," Neji asked.

"Possibly," Naruto mumbles. The words barely heard by the group.

"Neji-niisan, stop picking on Naruto. He's been so busy with clan affairs and training we hardly see him. It is usually as he runs out on business. Thank you, Naruto for cooking a meal for all of us," Hinata says, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.

"You are welcome, Hinata," Naruto replied. "Everyone dig in! I made a lot of food for everyone. The hardest thing was figuring out something each one of you might enjoy."

Everyone dug in at those words. The sounds of plates being filled with food and mumbles of 'this is good' were prominent. Soon, everyone ate their fill. Sitting back and enjoying the company of the people around them. Naruto smiled and felt content at the moment.

'This won't last, Meat-bag. If you don't continue to train, all of this will be just a memory in the nightmare that will be your life,' the Kyubi rumbles from within his mind.

'And I thought I was having a good night. Why couldn't you just leave me alone for one night,' Naruto shouts back.

'And miss tormenting you? I, the great Kyubi, could never pass up the opportunity,' the Kyubi says.

'I wish you'd just go away,' Naruto thinks ruefully.

'I'm stuck with you, Meat-bag. Without me here, HE would already be in control,' the Kyubi replied.

'What do you mean,' Naruto asks. 'Do you mean you are helping me? A lowly 'meat-bag?' Why?'

'Nothing you need to concern yourself over at the moment, Meat-bag. Pay attention to your friends for now,' the Kyubi mutters and then goes silent.

"-ruto? Naruto! Hey, kid, you alright," Zabuza says as Naruto's eyes come back into focus. "You drifted off there for a moment."

"Yeah. I'm ok. Just a lot on my mind. I feel I have to come clean to everyone here," Naruto said dejectedly. "Please allow me to explain before asking any questions. 13 years ago, the Kyubi attacked our village. The Fourth Hokage fought tooth and nail with it. He tried everything in his might to stop the Kyubi. Everyone here knows the story. It is said that he killed the Kyubi. This is a lie. He couldn't kill it. The Kyubi is a being of pure chakra. So, the Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyubi into a child who had been born that night. That child is me. The Fourth Hokage hoped the people of the village would see me as a hero for containing the Kyubi. His hopes were in vain though. For 13 years, I've faced scorn and hatred. People blamed me and assumed I was the Kyubi. When you see me space off like I did, it is usually because the Kyubi is interrupting my life by deciding to talk to me." Naruto looked down as he finished talking. Afraid to meet the eyes of the people around him. Silence reigned at the revelation of his words.

"Naruto, is the Kyubi escaping," Himsha asked.

"No, Himsha," Naruto replied. "The only way the Kyubi can escape is if I let it out. And I do not intend to do that."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, Naruto," Neji said. "We're your friends and soon your family. You opened your heart and home to us and only asked us to treat everyone with respect. That includes you. You are not the Kyubi. You bear a seal that you didn't ask for. You protect everyone in the village." Naruto looked up at hearing Neji's caring words and saw everyone nodding in agreement.

"You really mean that," Naruto asked.

"We mean every word Neji-niisan said," Hinata said standing up and moving over to Naruto. Placing her hand on his shoulder, Naruto looked into her eyes. "Nothing will ever change how we think and feel about you, Naruto. I will still become your wife. Not for honor, but because I care for you." Naruto saw tears starting to form in Hinata's eyes.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered. He gently reached a hand up and wiped the tears from Hinata's eyes. "It means a lot to know I have people standing with me."

"Gaki, you're unique. I have a promise to fulfil and I'm not one to break a promise," Zabuza says. "Now, enough with the pity party. Let's go play some games and just enjoy the night together!" Everyone stands up in agreement and heads out the doors.

'Naruto, you're stronger than you realize,' Kiski thinks to himself as he drops down from the ceiling. 'I know you'll defeat the evil that dwells in your blood. And you'll defeat the Kyubi. I have faith in you and so do all your friends.'

Yay! Another chapter done. Yes, this one started out a bit bloody, but I wanted to portray Yhwach as something more evil than anything possible. The Juubi may have been hard for the Sage to beat, but he beat it. I wanted something more. Something that screamed 'OMG! Run, run, run!' Lol. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. As always, criticism is always welcome and thank you all for sticking around and being patient for my muse to come back!

A/N: I don't know of any fanfiction that has used this name for a kenjutsu style. I've seen a few that were called, Dance of the Whirling Tides (Or Pools). So I went with something similar. And the reason I've called it a dance is because if you ever see a master swordsman (Or woman) go through a flawless kata, it is like a dance. Poetry in motion almost.