Crimson hair danced in the breeze. A young boy ran through the foliage contained in the village known as Konohagakure. The boy ducked, dodged, and weaved his way through the dense vegetation. The boy had long red hair that fell to the upper end of his latissimus Doris, three whisker marks on each side of his cheeks, electric blue eyes and a cream pale complexion. The boy's name was Naruto Uzumaki.
"BOOM!" Yelled an excited Naruto. " You should have been better prepared to face me! Naruto Uzumaki, the hero of Konoha!" Proclaimed Naruto to a nonexistent entity. Naruto's fierce gaze bore into a small clearing, where the imaginary adversary stood. Taking a deep breath, he raised his home made wooden replica of a Kunai, exhaled, then he charged, with that the battle had commenced.
The battle was fierce, his opponent was no amateur. Naruto groaned as he took a strike to the solar plexus. "Not bad, not bad at all" Naruto complimented the fictional opponent. "I got something, that'll have you running home to mommy" Naruto then proceeded to complete a random sequence of flawed hand seals at a moderate pace "Fire style: giant ball of fire!" Naruto yelled. "WHOOSH!" Staying true to the imaginary battle, Naruto made his own sound effects for his made up jutsu's he would perform.
Naruto's lips slowly lifted into a satisfied smirk. "Had enough already? If you think I'm going to let you get away your dead wrong!" Naruto reached into his pocket and produced three flat skipping stones. "Take this!" Naruto threw the rocks as if they were Shuriken, which hit a tree and fell to the ground unceremoniously. " oh no your not getting away from me!" Naruto took off after his fleeing foe, deeper into the forest.
After several minutes of chasing his prey, Naruto arrived at a decrepit looking shack about the size of a food stall. 'Wow this place looks old, I wonder if anybody lives here'. Parts of the roof had collapsed, and the wood was infested with termites and showed signs of mold. All in all if the place was inhabited, then the occupants clearly let this place go to hell. Naruto, no longer occupied with his imaginary battle, tentatively entered the run down shack.
"Hello, anybody in here?" Slowly crossing the threshold of the entrance, the only noise to be heard was the creak of the wood under Naruto's feet. Curiosity fueling his actions, Naruto proceeded further into the entrance. Light poured into the dim shack from the late afternoon sun. ' This place is musty as hell, more so than my apartment'.Naruto thought. Proceeding further into the abandoned shack, something grabbed naruto's attention. A wall containing an assortment of interact porcelain masks, not unlike the masks the ANBU use. The masks were aligned to three rows, each row containing nine similar yet different masks. Each mask had horns, though in a different style , none had the same style of horns as the last. The facial expressions differed from mask to mask.
Naruto has felt dread many times in his life and each experience was brought on by many different variables that make up his life. Loneliness being the foremost factor. Naruto being an orphan grew up with a lack of warmth and comfort that loving parents provide, along with guidance and a means to better socialize with peers and adults. Not only is he lacking parents, in his eight years of life,he has yet to make any friends. Perhaps it's his overly energetic personality. Naruto has spent many nights pondering about his errors and where he went wrong, and how he was going to do something else to gain a friend. Trial and error over and over again, failure after failure to make a friend has led Naruto to develop an escapist personality. Naruto has always had an active imagination, it's his way of dealing with his loneliness, by creating an imaginary world where he isn't shunned, has a loving family, and a close circle of people he can call his friends is a world Naruto constantly dreams of, and puts into practice through playing make believe, it's his way of coping with what he lacks. Still though reality has its ways to seep into his imaginary world,one in which he has so carefully crafted. These reality checks remind him of what he lacks, and with it a unsettling feeling in his gut takes hold, it's like his stomach tightens, and twists in the most unpleasant way, similar to serpents wrestling, something he learned by reading a book, people describe as 'despair'. However what he was feeling now in front of these demonic looking masks can only be described as a existential fear.
Naruto took a long inhale to calm his nerves, followed by a elongated exhale.'something about these masks seems to be giving off an otherworldly feel to it, something I've never felt before' Naruto thought. Steeling himself, naruto positioned himself in front of the masks. Minutes go by as electric blue eyes study each mask. Channeling confidence from his imaginary self's alter ego 'the hero of Konoha'. "This isn't so bad, it's just a bunch of creepy old masks in a rundown shack in the middle of the woods, nothing bad at all". Lips upturned into a confident grin" now that I think about it, these masks look waaay cooler than the ones ANBU wear, super intimidating to" giggling to himself " oh man think of all the people I can scare with these bad boys" Naruto started rubbing his hands deviously as he imagined the pranks he could accomplish using theses masks. Maybe he can even scare the piss out of that show off Sasuke, then maybe Sakura would see that Sasuke wasn't as cool as she thought he is. No longer able to contain himself from the appealing future prospects of what he can achieve with these masks, Naruto approaches the far left side of the masks, with his heart already set on a certain mask. " damn your scary looking up close, I'm gonna look so badass wearing this" Naruto spoke with glee. His hand eagerly reaches for the mask in the second row. The mask had yellow horns that protrudes from the top of its brow, a wide smirk with pointed teeth that sent shivers down his neck, a pointed chin and a cream white complexion with heavy dimples accompanying the inhumanly grin.
"Well aren't you a handsome devil" Naruto half joked to himself as he eyed the mask in his hands. Naruto rotated the mask in his hands so that he is facing the interior of the mask. Without another word, Naruto put on the demonic looking mask. The effects were almost instantaneous.
Naruto's vision was engulfed by his own chakra being expelled from his body at a violent rate. "Aggghhhhhhh" Naruto yelled in agony." What the hell is happening to me" losing his balance, Naruto stumbled to the nearest wall. His long hair whipping around in every direction as if caught in some high speed wind storm. The next thing Naruto felt was his limbs moving on their own. His arms fully extended out at his sides. A presence suddenly appeared behind him.
'I can't move, my feet are glued to this spot, and it's as if my arms aren't guided by my commands' Naruto thought. Just as he was thinking of calling out for help, his abdomen began to burn in agonizing pain, it's as if a spectral blade was disemboweling him. "ARGHHHHHHHH" all his thoughts dispersed, and gave way to his guttural scream. A deep wound made its self known on his stomach, blood immediately began to cascade out of the wound, being absorbed by his white t-shirt. Naruto slumped over in unbearable pain, the mask slipping off his face and fell to the ground in front of the writhing red head. Naruto curled up into a twitching heap on the floor.
The presence that Naruto sensed earlier was now gone, leaving him to his fate. Blood began to pool around the small red head." Soooo... cold" Naruto spoke through chattering teeth. The pain started to subside, in its place was a cold numbness spreading dangerously through the young boy's body.
"Mom please save me, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Naruto pleaded for forgiveness from his imaginary mom. ' my vision is starting to fade'. Red chains emerged from his back and wrapped around the writhing boy as if to embrace and comfort the dying child.
It was the first day of the four day weekend away from the academy, and Hinata was Not going to be spending her first few hours of freedom at the compound. She would rather spend it practicing her marksmanship with her short bow, a gift from a recently departed handmaid she was so fond of,Hikari.
Taking account of everything she's gonna need for a two day excursion in the woods for a little field survival, and most importantly being away from her family. "Bow, check. Arrows,check. Fishing line and hook, check. Sleeping mat, check, canteen, check. Wet weather gear, check. Matches, check. Alright everything seems to be there." Hinata began placing her items back into her small ruck sack, when she heard a soft tap at her door." Come in" Hinata said in a quiet voice. The figure on the other side of the door must of heard her, the door began to slide open to reveal her older cousin Neji.
"Looking to do some camping lady Hinata?" Neji questioned while eyeing the half filled ruck sack. " or do you plan on running away from your responsibilities as heiress" Neji said in a passive aggressive manner that some of the branch house are known for doing.
"Neji, you've sought me out for a reason, can you proceed with what it is you want from me cousin" Neji could detect a little bit of spite behind her voice, a slight , nearly unnoticeable smirk made its way on Neji's face. " I've been told to help assist you with your jyuuken training, I thought it would benefit the both of us if I sought you out right away." Neji spoke in an even tone.
"I'm grateful for your proactiveness cousin, but I'm gonna be doing my own training for the next few days" Hinata went back to packing her ruck. "I must object lady Hinata, your Jyuuken needs more 'refinement'. Your father feels your skill has been inadequate lately, and thinks that sparring with someone your own age can help push you in the right direction"
'What a liar, he just wants me to get beat around to show me how inferior I am at Jyuuken' Hinata thought. " well if that's the case then, I say we begin our training sessions two days from now." Hinata suggested with an air of finality to it.
Neji bowed and carefully slid her door closed. Hinata exhaled a deep sigh.' Now that that's over with, it's time to get out of here' strapping her quiver to her outer thigh, she slide on her ruck, and was on her way.
Hinata entered the wood line at the edge of Konohagakure. The sun was high in the air, the perfect time to hunt and work on her archery. Performing the correct hand seals "Byakugan" her field of view immediately morphed into a 360 degree field of vision, capable of seeing through objects. Staying perfectly still, Hinata began scanning her current area. 'There' she thought. Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she gently aligned the nock to the bow string, pulling the string back at a very methodical pace. The target, completely unaware of its mortality, continued to feed on grass. A silent snap of the bow string, signaling its expulsion of the arrow. The arrow sailed at a high velocity, finding its target in the neck of a grown rabbit.
A small smile graced her lips, she has been practicing her archery in her free time, and though it isn't new to her at how well she is, it still comes as a surprise at here exponential growth in a skill.
Walking over to get her arrow, and her spoils. She noticed a flock of birds flying from a deeper part of the woods, followed by a spine chilling guttural scream.
Hinata was not the bravest of her peers, or even the most curious. But, for some reason something had possessed her to rush in the direction of the scream. Byakugan still active,Hinata made her way at a hurried pace through the woods, in search of the origins of the tortured cry.
Several minutes of running through the foliage brought Hinata to a deserted shack, well not exactly deserted according to her Byakugan, inside lay a boy curled in a ball, and what looks like chains made entirely out of chakra wrapped around the boy as if to keep the outside world from reaching him.
Hinata barreled into the desolate shack, and immediately went to the boy.
Hinata immediately recognized the boy from her class."Naruto! Naruto wake up, what happened!" Hinata frantically tried to wake the red head. Upon the frantic inquiry the chains wrapped around Naruto's abdomen subsided and gave way to reveal the grievous injury.
Hinata's Byakugan revealed that the red head was still alive, and that some foreign chakra was rushing towards the injured area to help repair the damaged tissue, but it doesn't seem like it's going to be enough.
Quick on her feet Hinata threw down her ruck next to the dying red head. She immediately began to rummage through the ruck for something to help her classmate.
She pulled out fishing line and a hook attached to it, looking it over, she then glances at the deep wound originating on his belly. Taking a long inhale to calm her nerves. ' I haven't seen this much blood since mother's birth to Hanabi, biting down on her lip to push the bad memory to the side. 'I have to do something! Naruto's life is on the line' following that thought, Hinata exhaled, finding the resolve she needs to perform this task." I'm sorry Naruto, I've never sown a wound shut before so this may be a bit sloppy" Hinata voiced to the unconscious red head.
Electric blue eyes blinked hesitantly, as light obscured his vision. Naruto waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightness.After patiently waiting to adjust to the atmosphere Naruto recognized his surroundings to be the hospital. Looking down he was wearing a mint green hospital gown.
"Wha..what happened to me" Naruto's voice felt like sand paper. Seeing a glass of water next to him on a table, Naruto shakily reaches for it. Downing the drink in four vicious gulps. Naruto noticed his heightened sense, he can sense someone's presence like a sixth sense. Naruto sensed someone making their way to his room. It was odd being able to know everybody's location inside of the hospital, he wasn't sure if he should be excited on his new found ability. At the moment he has to focus on whoever is entering his room.
"Well, look who's finally awake, you know when I first heard you were in the hospital, I thought it was from just another one of your pranks gone wrong" Iruka Umino walked in with a look of relief and joy."They said you wouldn't be awake for another day or two but you always seem to surprise us."
"Heh you know me Iruka Sensei, unpredictable is my middle name!" Naruto spoke with an air of pride behind it. "that's true Naruto, anyways I was gonna drop off some sketch pads for you, seeing as how you always enjoy drawing in class rather than listening to me speak" the scarred Chuunin retorted. " also I'm leaving this textbook here just in case your not able to make it to class tomorrow, we will be discussing seals, Can't have you falling to far behind now can I" Naruto was stunned at his display of kindness, it felt like something his imagination would manufacture to make him feel cared for. Iruka has always made sure that Naruto was keeping up with his peers, and made sure that he can read and write properly, seeing as he was the only student to struggle with basic reading and writing. But to visit him after stepping on deaths door was a kindness Naruto won't soon forget.
Blue eyes shimmered, as tears swelled within them. " I'll do you one better Iruka Sensei, I'll make sure that everything in this textbook belongs to me, I'll be the best student when it comes to seals' believe it"
Iruka placed his hand on Naruto's head, as a sign of pride. " I know you can do it Naruto, next time you come to class, show everyone the dedication I know you can muster" Iruka began making his way to the door. " oh and one more thing, I think you owe Hinata a thank you for lugging you all the way here, she quite possibly saved your life Naruto"
"Hinata.. saved me? The same Hinata from class, the one that doesn't talk?" Naruto questioned. " the very same" Iruka retorted with a gentle smile. The door closed softly, leaving Naruto in his room to ponder previous events.
'I was so close to dying, what the hell even happened, there wasn't anybody else in that shack with me so how the hell did I get flayed like a fish'. Then a horrible thought popped into his head.'wait I did sense something in that shack with me, and what I can tell it appeared out of thin air! I felt its presence right behind me, my legs seemed to stop working and my arms moved on their own, what the hell is capable of appearing out of thin air and can take control of my body like that?' Those thoughts had to wait as he sensed another presence approaching his door. A man with a long leather trench coat appeared, he wore a Jonin flak vest underneath the trench coat, and had long platinum blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a pleasant smile on his face.
"Hello Naruto, my name is Inoichi Yamanaka, I'm here to ask you a series of questions on the events that have led you here"
"Your incompetence has almost lost us our greatest weapon" voiced an older man garbed in bandages accompanied by a loose robe and an arm sling." If you hadn't pulled his ANBU detail then an event such as this would of never happened"
"Danzou, prey tell what do you think caused me to pull his ANBU detail over a year ago, something you orchestrated without my permission" retorted a weary third hokage.
"The loss of the Uchiha was unfortunate, but they made their choice." Danzou said evenly. " they were backed into a corner because of your accusations" the third hokage shot back. "Their resentment was was planted when you chose Minato over Fugaku as your successor." Danzou fired back.
"Enough!" The third boomed." I am not here to get in a pissing match with you Danzou, and to answer why Naruto doesn't have an ANBU guard anymore can be traced back to our lack of manpower with the Uchiha gone." Sarutobi, took a moment to gather his wits." Be that as it may, letting our weapon roam around unsupervised is a slippery slope for other villages to take advantage of" Danzou advised.
Sarutobi slipped further back into his chair, a contemplative look on his aged face. "I agree, I was hoping that by pulling his ANBU detail we could have an extra man running missions for the village, seeing as how this incident with young Naruto could have been avoided with a guard, I'll reinstate his ANBU detail."
"Have you checked the seal, to see if it's been tampered with" Danzou asked. " I've relayed a message to Jiraya to come take a look, fortunately he was in the area. He said the seal is fine, and is investigating any possible foreign ninja that might of been responsible for the attempt on Naruto's life. Sarutobi finished, while lighting his tobacco pipe." And if that's all you need Danzou, I must get back to work" Danzou stood from his chair." That's all for now" taking his leave, Sarutobi went back to his paper work. "Tora" a cat masked Anbu appeared kneeling in front of the third hokage. "Make a roster with the current available Anbu to watch Naruto, make sure Naruto is not made to be in a compromising position he found himself two days prior."Sarutobi ordered. "Understood lord hokage, is there anything else you need" the cat masked Anbu questioned. "No, that will be all" dismissing the Anbu, Sarutobi's attention was brought back to the paperwork on his desk. Taking a long drag from his pipe, he let out a long sigh. 'Another day of monotonous paper work, a hokage's work is never done'.
