This story was inspired from Kingdom Hearts and A scene from Turn of A Hero.
Should I do this story or A Wandering Fragment? You vote.
"Who am I? Where am I?"
A boy's voice echoed from... nowhere, from the darkness that surrounded him. The emptiness seemed as much inward as it was outward, a loss of self that matched the darkness that coated the world. He wanted to drift alongside it, into the emptiness and be lost forever... his strength waning, it seemed the best option.
"Boy, are you still alive?" A voice said, warm and accepting, and the boy reached towards it.
Somehow he managed to call out, strength just barely returning to his weary frame. "Help... I... help." His voice was odd, smoother than he thought it ought to be. "Please, help me."
There was movement above, and then a massive shifting of rock and the boy saw his Savior. A man, tall and strong, with an oval-shaped head, with a kind but worried smile on his face. "Child... are you alright? I see no injuries, can you walk?"
The boy shook his head. " I am too weak... who am I?"
The man sighed. "You seem to be an experiment of Orochimaru... poor thing, your body is emaciated, no wonder you are so weak." The man lifted him effortlessly. "I am Chiruku, it is honor to meet you. We shall call you... Kibou, it means hope in the old tongue. I am hopeful that you regain your true self."
The boy nodded, curling into the man's body, eager for his warmth, the warmth that chased away the frightening cold of the emptiness he almost feel into with all his soul. "Kibou... I like it. I think...I think that is my name now." Turning away, he looked skyward at the blinding sun, flinching only a little. "I used to have another name... before. I think..." he focused hard, and his mind searched and searched. At some point he stared into Chiruku's eyes, only to flinch at his own reflection. He was small, naked with all of his ribs showing. He looked like a victim of famine and plague, his yellow hair thin and whispy. His blue eyes were weary and worn, void of warmth he knew he should have had.
The man, to his amazement, jumped out of the hole all at once. He walked towards the others, a group of other people like him. They were dressed in grey and blue robes, all well built even the youngest, a blue haired boy with a dark and mean look on his face. Somehow, Kibou knew he could relate to the boy's pain... or that he should be able to. It was confusing.
The man pulled off his top, wrapping Kibou in it. "You will be alright, child. Lord Jiraiya told us about this place, he recently visited it and he said that there may be prisoners of Orochimaru here. It seemed he was right."
Pain exploded in Kibous' heart and head and before he knew it... memories, horrible and choppy, returned to him.
"He's seizing, the boy needs medical care." Chiruku commanded.
You bastard! This is for Sasuke!" A boy and his clones charged his enemy, a massive sludgy looking guy with orange hair and grey skin. He reeked, filling the concrete halls with a horrible scent he could almost taste. "I'm going to kill you, RASENGAN!" A boy screamed, hand stretched out with his clones, thrust the Rasengan out and into the belly of the beast.
Only to be slapped away, smashing painfully into the walls. The world spun as he struggled to stand, the familiar burn of healing washed through him but before he could recover the beast was on him, grasping his throat with cold claws. "REEEEEEEEEEECK!" It screeched, slamming him again and again into the wall, cracks and dust filling the air. After what felt like an eternity it dropped Naruto on his butt.
Then it bit him, and sheer agony exploded through him. Liquid fire washed through his veins, his skin burning cold, his muscles tensing.
Something clicked in his brain at that moment.
'I am going to die'
His heart stopped for a moment... and then something inside of him burned, something deeper than his blood, a familiar roar echoed in his heart... there was a pop, a release of something within him. The world went split, his vision blurry and then he fell and fell, into endless darkness... with only a few notes of knowledge.
The knowledge that slept in his newly formed heart.
'My name..." he thought, his body stalling. "Was Naruto Uzumaki... and I died here. We came here to investigate Orochimaru, Jiraiya and I... but I ran ahead, or rather Naruto did. We... I... he... was attacked and bitten and them I separated from him. I felt it...' With this realization, a thousand new memories came... he saw Sakura and Sasuke and Kakashi, the bell test and the Wave mission. He saw Iruka and tasted Ramen, he saw Mizuki and knew he messed up buying the man's lies. He saw a life of loneliness and hate and abuse...he saw the neglectful eyes of the world and knew he was the container of the Kyuubi.
And yet he knew he wasn't Naruto, some part of him felt it... there was a connection, a link but he was not Naruto. What he was... it was unique and special and he had no idea what that meant for him or his future... he just...
For example, He saw Tsunade and knew he was supposed to love her. He knew orange and ramen and Sakura meant the world to him, that he was meant to want to save Sasuke and become Hokage... and yet none of this felt like his path. None of it anchored his soul like it did Naruto, which begged one question...
Who the hell was he?
He would have to find out.
Who he was... what he was... and all that it meant.
Maybe these people would help him... maybe they would just help him get strong enough to figure it out. Who knew really?
He would have no choice for a while as it was.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was really fun to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.
