Cybernetic Ninja
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Metroid, Stargate, or any other anime, manga, game book, or anything else that might make an appearance in this fic... I own nothing but OCs that will appear later, as well as original techniques, are mine so you can't have them :D
Arc 1 – Origin
Chapter 2: Truth
"Normal talking"
'Normal thinking'
"Demon / Alien / Jutsu"
'Demon or Alien thinking'
"[Synthesized voice] / [AI]"
- (Location: Konoha:Red-light District, Date: NA(Ninja Age) 10-11-1012, 5:30am)-
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage stood with a team of Anbu at an old abandoned building at the westernmost edge of Konoha. The area was unfortunately closest to the Forest of Death, thus the amount of occupants in the area was very light.
It was for this reason that it took several hours after all the fires had been put out for the Anbu Team had finally arrived. However, that was not why the elderly Hokage was standing before the smoldering ashes of all that was now left of the building.
No, his reason for being there was due to the bloodstains that had lead towards the building from one adjacent to it. Kneeling down and looking from the blood to the building it came from, Sarutobi sighed. The Anbu weren't equipped to deal with fires, water users wouldn't have been able to do much without a source of water so the fire had consumed the building entirely. However, they had managed to protect the buildings surrounding it, thus preventing a larger blaze from spreading. But, upon finding the bloodstains an old fear had grown in the Sarutobi, not for himself, but for someone whom he had grown to care for greatly over the years.
"Kakashi, where are those test results on this blood?" Hiruzen demanded while turning to look at the jonin, who amazingly enough wasn't reading his little orange book for once in his life.
"It takes time to analyze something like that, Hokage-Sama. But we should have the results soon enough. Just be a little more patient. I'm sure everything is alright." Kakashi replied and Sarutobi frowned while puffing on his pipe, eyes set in a stern frown before turning to the building.
"What started the fire?" The aged Hokage questioned while looking to the ashes and brick that remained of the old building, glad that at least no life was lost… well… that wasn't confirmed yet but he knew the building was abandoned, and hoped that his fears were unfounded.
"We're not sure, but small traces of Chakra were found in the area suggesting a jutsu was used. But given the amount of Fire-Element Ninja in the village that doesn't help us any." Kakashi replied with a frown under his mask while the Anbu searched the rubble of the building, looking for anything from a survivor's remains to clues to help find the culprit who'd set the building ablaze.
"What about Naruto, what was found at his apartment?" Hiruzen demanded and Kakashi winced under his mask, remaining silent. He honestly didn't want to tell him what was found, the old man was notably soft when it came to Naruto, too much so in many people's opinions, but regardless, Kakashi truly did not want to know how the aged Sandaime would react to what was found. "Kakashi." The Sandaime roared out while turning to the one-eyed man and Kakashi gulped upon seeing his glare.
"Uh… yes Hokage-Sama?" Kakashi asked with a mental gulp and the Sandaime narrowed his eyes onto him dangerously.
"What was found at Naruto-Kun's apartment?" The old man demanded and Kakashi was silent before relenting as the Sandaime's glare increased.
"We found signs of forced entry and a struggle, a broken window and what looks like signs of fire Jutsu being used nearby." Kakashi admitted and then winced when he saw the Sandaime clinch his fists, his jaw set into a stern frown.
"And what about his neighbors, surely someone would've heard the ruckus being made from something like that." The Sandaime growled out and Kakashi reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, sweating lightly under the Sandaime's glare.
"Well… some of his neighbors never really saw Naruto in a favorable light so it seems they ignored the noises. While the other's believed he'd hurt himself preparing for or even setting up a prank and thought better of getting involved with it. Given Naruto's track record you can't blame the latter of them Hokage-Sama." Kakashi explained then noted and the aged Sandaime snorted derisively before puffing on his pipe and mulling over what that told him.
"Sir!" An Anbu cried while appearing next to Kakashi and held up a folder.
"Ah, those test results are finally in Hokage-Sama." Kakashi stated and the old man walked over to the jonin as he took the folder from the Anbu who quickly Shunshin away, greatly worrying Kakashi as it silently told him that whatever results the test had given were not good.
"Well, open it." Sarutobi ordered and Kakashi slowly nodded his head before opening the folder and read the test results before widening his single eye. "What do the results say? Whose blood did that belong to Kakashi?" The Sandaime demanded and Kakashi looked to the Sandaime numbly for a moment.
"Naruto Uzumaki…" Kakashi whispered and then watched as a stunned look crossed the Sandaime's face before he closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. Turning back to the building for a moment, the old man then clenched his fists.
"Too long." He said darkly and Kakashi blinked.
"What?" The silver haired Jonin questioned and the Sarutobi turned to him with a deep scowl on his face.
"Too long, have I've allowed the civilians and even the Shinobi of my village too much leniency for far too long." Hiruzen replied and then turned back to the ashes of the building, the stern look on his face growing grimmer. "If the Shodaime or Nidaime could see this, they would weep. A child murdered, possibly burnt alive, just before the final exams at the Shinobi Academy." Sarutobi stated darkly while Kakashi shook his head and then looked at the report one last time.
"Hokage-Sama, it's still debatable whether or not he's dead. He could still be alive and merely…" Kakashi started to say before hearing a cry from the Anbu. Looking to the Hokage, he ran over, the Sandaime following at a sedated pace behind the Copy-Nin. Coming to the Anbu, Kakashi looked at him and he bowed his head.
"We did some scans for more traces of blood and… well…" The man left off and Kakashi visibly grimaced before sighing as the Sandaime narrowed his eyes.
"As you were saying Kakashi?" Sarutobi grumbled and the man was silent while the aged Hokage looked to the Anbu. "Have you found any sign of the culprit who did this?" He demanded and the Anbu was silent before shook his head, but walking over to some rubble he moved a large wooden plank and pulled out of the ashes what looked like a child's arm
"It's… badly burned but is still contains chakra, Hokage-Sama. It's… it's almost feels like the Kyuubi's…." The Anbu reported and Kakashi shivered visibly, wondering if Naruto had use the demon's chakra and if it had started the fire… while Sarutobi walked over and took the arm. Looking it over for a few moments, he then stopped and allowed the tears he had been holding back to fall from his eyes, using his robes he wiped away some of the tears before a ominous foreboding feeling that sent an intense chill down his spine
"Hokage-Sama, is everything alright?" Kakashi questioned with his hand on the old man's shoulder and Sarutobi was silent for a moment before shaking his head slowly.
"No Kakashi… I fear that something horrible is coming… something worse than even the Kyuubi." The Sandaime replied, not knowing just how true his words really were while the one eyed jonin and Anbu both stared at their Hokage, clearly confused by what he meant…
- (Matrix: Naruto's Mindscape)-
"Oh… my head" Naruto groaned as got off of the floor and look around, he was now in a dank and darkened room that reminded him of a sewer of some kind, in front of him was a colossal gate, nearly twenty times his size and with fairly large steel bars. In the middle was a large piece of paper with the kanji for Fuiin (Seal) on it. Behind the colossal gate was massive sphere of whirling red energy.
"Were the hell am I?" Naruto muttered to himself not really expecting an answers and was surprise to get one.
"We are in the part of the matrix that links your mind to the seal" Naruto looked into the gate were the voice was coming from, he saw a girl that look very much like Azure.
She look about 15 years old and was about five foot nine in height, her skin was a few a shades darker than his, she had deep red hair that reached down to her mid back and spiky bangs, her eyes were a bright crimson red with slit pupils, and lastly she was wearing a red kimono that went down to her feet, with two slits running down the sides, and a V neck-cut in front, showing a little of her C borderline D-cup chest.
"Seal? What seal, and who are you?" Naruto ask of the red head
"That my friend is very complicated… for you to understand I was have to started from the beginning… as you already know before the Sage died he split the soul and power of the Juubi into nine pieces… that would later become the nine Bijus. You also know about how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha fought for control of the village and Kyuubi was present for part of the battle under Madara's control. Hashirama was victorious, and Madara was believed to have died… What you don't know is that as powerful Hashirama was he could not fight Madara and control the Kyuubi at the same time…"
The girl paused and took an deep breath "So his wife, Mito Uzumaki had the Kyuubi sealed within herself in order to keep her from attacking they village and out of Madara control… many years later when Mito was at the end of her life she decide to keep kyuubi seal away and so call her great granddaughter to have to seal into… the granddaughter was name Kushina Uzumaki… and she was your mother…"
Naruto's eyes widen in shock and his mouth fell open, but before he could interrupt the red hair girl continued "We watch her closely through her life, watch her become a ninja, watch her fall in love with Minato Namikaze, the Forth Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash… as well as you father. Not long afterward she became pregnant with a boy… you, but that the end her pregnancy she and your father were attack by a mask-man, who was able to kidnap your mother and extract the Kyuubi from her which he use to attack Konoha.
After breaking the mask-man's control of the Kyuubi your father and mother sacrifice to seal it inside you… they last moments were in each other arms telling you how much they loved you and how much they regret not being able to be they for you…
Naruto stood there for a moment frozen in shock before he broke down and cried, cried for what felt like hours as the red hair girl held him, whispering sweet nothings to him.
Eventually he stop crying and look back at the colossal gate and the massive sphere of whirling red energy inside it, "Is that the Kyuubi? I thought the Kyuubi was supposed to be a giant fox?" the blond ask in confusion, cocking his head to the left.
The red hair girl giggled at how cute he looked "The Kyuubi isn't really an animal nor are any of the biju… they are a semi-sentient mass of energy in the form of an animal" thought she had no idea of how the Gobi and Hachibi came to look-like what they are now "You ask who I was, as you know your father seal the Kyuubi inside you, but before that he did something else, something the Elders tried to do and failed, he was able to separate the dark essence off the Kyuubi before sealing in you…
But the Kyuubi was now no smarter in a normal fox, after Azure rescue you one of organic supercomputer with an artificial intelligences was merge with the Kyuubi… this created me… I am Akane" Akane finish bowing her head.
Naruto stood there looking at her for a long time before walking up to her and held out his hand, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki nice to meet you"
Akane gave him a small smiled and shook his hand.
-(Location: Unknown)-
Azure sighed as she watch Naruto's body as it went through surgery, it had been over six hours since the surgery 2 hours to replace the eye he lost with cybernetic one and another 4 hours to install the automail, an armored prosthetic arm. They were now they were installing a neural-interface in the form of a plug located at the base of the skull, just above where the neck meets the back of the head, this would allowed him full access to the matrix.
The blue hair girl sighed again, the recovery from surgery, including the period of time necessary to fully master the use of automail limb would take some time even with his natural healing and the nanites that she injected in him, maybe up to six months. 'If only I could get into contact with Aurora…' she thought as she looked at a control terminal which the words "NO SIGNAL" on it in large red letters.
Azure frowned as she thought back to what had happed, two weeks ago she got a message from her older "sister" telling her that she had a detected an anomaly in her systems and she might be out of touch for a while. Then three day later Azure got another message from Aurora telling her that the anomaly she had detected was a virus that was corrupting her systems, she also had since her a copy the virus's make up asking her if could make vaccine for it.
She had spent the next week and a half trying to make the vaccine, it was for this reason that Naruto got injured, she was so focus on making the vaccine the that she didn't realize that Naruto was being attack until it was over… and now it look like Aurora as cut off all communication, probably to stop the virus from spreading to her and the other basses through the network. But this left her with a problem, if she did make a vaccine for the virus then it would have to be directly deliver to Aurora, and she didn't have a body to get there nor did she have to necessary equipment to make one for herself.
Azure looked back at Naruto, the surgery would be over soon and then he training could begin.
-(Location: Konoha: Hokage's tower)-
Hiruzen Sarutobi marched into the council chambers with a deep scowl, clutching a folder that contain several files in one hand. Narrowing his eyes, the old man walked forward and took a seat. "Why have you summoned us Hokage-Sama? We're not supposed to convene again for several weeks…" One of the Council noted and the Sarutobi chewed on the end of his pipe with a deep scowl on his face.
"Last night, an unidentified individual or individuals assaulted and most likely killed one Naruto Uzumaki, without any Anbu showing up or anyone noticing before they caused a building to burn down…" Hiruzen replied while deeply scowled when he noticed that several of the civilians looked more than a little happy with that bit of information, however Danzo was actually scowling deeply.
"This is… troubling." Danzo stated aloud and drew the surprised looks of the Civilians onto himself. Grunting in his throat the old man then crossed his arm while leaning back in his seat. "If a group of people, even civilians can kill a child and burn down a building, all without anyone noticing before it was done… this means our security is dangerously lax. Imagine for instance, if they were trying kidnap or kill one of the clan heirs… or even burn down the academy or library." Danzo explained while lacing his fingers together and the civilians instantly realized why this was a very bad thing.
"We need to increase security!" One suddenly shouted and Hiruzen grunted while reaching up to rub his temples.
"That isn't the real problem, the problem isn't that we have little security, but that our Ninja are very lax in temperament. Instead of having a hardened force of Shinobi able to handle any situation, we have genin and chunin who can't catch a single cat for hours, we have young Shinobi and Kunoichi who think they don't have to train to actually pass their exams, and what's even worse is that they actually can!" Sarutobi shouted furiously and the civilians backed up in their seats while the old Hokage growled lowly. "We've allowed the standards of our Shinobi to drop far too much, and I want to know why!" The old man demanded of the council and Hiashi Hyuuga decided he'd be one of the few brave enough, or maybe stupid enough, to do so.
"Hokage-Sama, I believe this occurred after the last war ended and the Kyuubi's attack. Due to the casualties of both, we were in a high need of more Shinobi for more missions to finance the repairs to the village, so much so that you authorized the drop in standards at the Academy so that we could produce more Shinobi. However you made it to where only a third could pass every year, while the council at the time suggested that the rest be retrained for other duties or could attempt to become Shinobi again." Hiashi replied carefully and the Hokage nodded his head before frowning deeply.
"Indeed, now then, can anyone tell me, why, after ten years, we haven't raised the standards back up? We have more than enough Shinobi to send out on missions, we have too many for that matter, and too many who think they can do anything they want just because of the fact they passed the Shinobi exams!" the Sarutobi growled out while glancing around the room and Danzo actually raised a brow. 'Is he finally going to fix the mess he's made out of the village?' The old man wondered to himself, as while he did wish to lead Konoha, he only really wanted to do so because of how far it had fallen, if it were in proper hands, he was sure they'd still be the top village.
"Well sir… it… I mean, it allowed many Civilian children to pass more easily, whereas before the Shinobi roster was packed with nothing but Clan Children." One of the civilian council responded and Sarutobi twitched slightly before growling.
"That's because you civilians never once encouraged them to take being a Shinobi Seriously!" He shouted furiously before leaning forward as several civilians flinched at the normally kindly old man's tone. "Do you know that the majority of casualties in the village are from civilian graduates? Or even that the majority of them are dead before they even make Chunin? So please explain to me, esteemed council, how it is so many civilian Genin have constantly passed, only to end up as little more than cannon fodder?" The Sarutobi demanded furiously and saw them all look nervous and surprised.
"Y-You can't expect us to control how children act Hokage-Sama…" One of the council tried and Hiruzen slammed a hand into his desk, the object nearly buckling under his surprising strength.
"While that is true, what I want to know is why the academy Psyche Evaluations have completely stopped? As I recall, those were necessary to make certain any student who lasted long enough to pass, was mentally prepared for the life of a Shinobi… so explain to me, why they suddenly stopped?" The Sarutobi questioned and saw several nervous glances among the civilian council while several of the Shinobi blinked.
"Wait, hold up. Hokage-Sama's right, I haven't gotten an evaluation for Kiba this year." Tsume Inuzuka noted with a frown before glaring at several of the civilian council members. "And I know for a fact Kiba's ego needs to be taken down a few pegs before he becomes a Shinobi, otherwise he'll just get himself killed!" She growled out while several of the other Clans nodded, all of them noticing their children's faults but had thought they somehow managed to pass their evaluations.
"Well… it's just that…" One of the civilians tried to say before Danzo decided to explain what had happened.
"Actually, that occurred after the Uchiha Massacre last summer, several members of this esteemed Council felt that overly stressing the students and Genin to be perfect would cause them to break mentally as Itachi did." Danzo replied though he, Sarutobi, and the elders all knew that wasn't exactly true… Itachi didn't break due to stress after all.
"Stressing the students, and preparing them for the very real possibility of dying on the field are two different things." Shikaku Nara stated while pinching the bridge of his nose with a frown. "The problem with our current standards is that they're learning only the basics of being a Shinobi, and the problem with the students themselves, is that they don't take being a Shinobi seriously until they've lost a teammate on a mission or nearly die. If we raise the standards and reintroduce the Psyche-Evaluations now we might be able to fix some problems, however the current graduating class would have to be held back, as would several others, to include additional training." Shikaku stated while drumming his fingers on the desk in front of him.
"But if we do that, Sasuke Uchiha will never pass the psyche evaluation! And we need the Uchiha too…" One of them started to say before Danzo scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Lineage and bloodlines have aided many Shinobi, this is admittedly true however very few are worth noting. Sakumo Hatake was a powerful Shinobi without either and was considered to match the Sannin at one time. Minato Namikaze was nothing but an orphan but he became Yondaime Hokage. Neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru of the Sannin are from clans but they are considered great. Out of the Sannin, only Tsunade was ever of a clan, and even then, she couldn't use any of her grandfather's abilities." Danzo retorted while inwardly admitting he did somewhat favor clans, but none of them had truly produced prodigious Ninja, as everyone in a clan had the same overall skills…
"But what about Uchiha Itachi! He was a genius who…" One of the civilians started to say only for Shibi Aburame to cut in.
"Went insane due to stress, and he rarely ever used his Bloodline in battle unless necessary." Shibi responded, shutting several of the civilian council up while Sarutobi chewed on the end of his pipe once more.
"We have also lost our Jinchuriki, while Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri all have two Jinchuriki. And even Suna and Taki has one each. Now, thanks to our lack of security and lack of proper Shinobi, we've not only lost our own, but the son of the Yondaime no less!" Sarutobi barked furiously while glaring at a now fearful civilian council and several members of the clan council frowned deeply.
"Son of the Yondaime?" One Civilian questioned and all the clans looked at him like he was a complete idiot.
"How many other Ninja have hair that blond or eyes that blue?" Tsume demanded incredulously while rubbing her temples and saw several of the civilian council start to shift uncomfortably while Sarutobi scowled.
"Exactly, and if there are any spies in the village, we run the risk of them finding out we've lost our Jinchuriki and that may also cause them to believe that we're weak enough for them to invade." Sarutobi growled out and Shikaku started to consider their options before frowning deeply.
"That… is bad… really bad. Our little "Peace" with the other Shinobi nations is tenuous at best. If they learn we lost our Jinchuriki after we have just the lost Uchiha clan, we might have to worry about an invasion." Shikaku noted with a frown while the civilians seemed confused and even afraid at that tidbit of information.
"B-But what does it matter? We're allied to Suna, and Kiri's in the middle of a Civil war. And Taki, Kumo, and Iwa don't have any spies in Konoha!" A civilian reminded and Danzo couldn't help palming his face at the sheer stupidity of the civilian council. 'Just because we don't know of them doesn't mean they're not here…' He thought to himself while Sarutobi resisted the urge to groan loudly.
"Not that we know of, however given all the confusion during the last Shinobi World War, I wouldn't be surprised if Iwa slipped in a few spies. And the incident with Kumo and the Hyuuga would be a perfect time for them to have left a spy as well. As for the other nations, while we are allied to Suna they have been losing missions to us thanks to their Daimyo, while Taki is currently Neutral and most likely won't bother us unless force, and while Kiri is indeed in the middle of a civil war however I have heard it's starting to shift in favor of the rebels." Sarutobi responded and then leaned back in his seat.
"So what do you suggest we do, Hokage-Sama?" Hiashi questioned of the Sandaime and the old man reached up and stroked his Goatee for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
"The information about Naruto's status as Jinchuriki is safe, at least for the moment, allowing us at least that bit of protection. However I feel that we must still raise the standards at the academy regardless, just in case our enemies do learn of our loss of both the Yondaime's legacy, the last of the Uzumaki Clan, and the loss of the Kyuubi." Sarutobi replied and then pushed himself out of his seat and gave a look to several members of the council.
"See to it that the standards are raised and that the evaluations take place." Sarutobi ordered while turning and walking out of the council chambers, allowing the esteemed council to break into chatter.
Scowling deeply the old man then marched up the length of the tower and entered into his office and looked out of his window overlooking Hidden Leaf Village. He remembered a time long past, when he could look out over his village like this to escape stress caused by problems like war, economy, or Orochimaru's strange behavior. Before the sannin's treachery, before Kyuubi, before all this. He could look out at all of his people, his "children", and feel at peace.
Sadly, now when he looked out, he could only taste bitterness in his mouth and his thoughts didn't change, or worse, ended up more troubled then before. Sarutobi couldn't look out on Konoha without being reminded about something important, something he was reminded of every day.
His failure.
His failure to Naruto, how he was forced into a cruel uncaring orphanage, how he was banned from entering almost every shop in Konoha, how he was cut off from almost any human contact. They were all his fault.
'While I might've fixed some things… I'm too late to save others.' TheSarutobi thought to himself with a slight grimace before scowling deeply 'I'll make certain something like this never happens to any child.' The old Hokage decided to himself.
Never again would he allow the Council to have so much power?
Never again would he allow his village to fall so much?
Never again would he allow a child to suffer.
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned away from his village, as if wishing to hide from his children the tears slowly falling to the floor.
"Naruto… please forgive me.
For last night.
For everything…"
