(A/N): Thanks for reading that first chapter, everyone! All this actually came to me in a dream, and I just made some tweaks here and there. It's weird to try and put down a dream I had years ago into writing, but here goes. I also just realized that it's been 7 years since the last story I published and I'm feeling incredibly old.
Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Naruto. Hence, I am a pre-med in college, taking a typical route into society.
Chapter 2: Awakening
There is blackness when Naruto wakes. He opens his eyes, but sees only darkness. What's happening? He blinks once, twice, three times. It's no use. He's tired, so he sleeps.
When he awakens again, there is red. Crimson splotches dance across his retinas. Something pricks his arm, and then there is searing pain. He jerks forward and retches, but nothing leaves his system. Writhing, he slams his head back into something hard and goes limp. He sleeps.
The third time he is awake, it is black and he tries to open his mouth and scream. Liquid flows into his lungs. He chokes and tries to cough it out, but more flows in. Swim. Swim away. He swings his arms in strong strokes as if he were in the ocean, but only hits glass. He's drowning.
The next time he comes to, it is peaceful. His body is cushioned, numb. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. Everything is white. He is laying on a bed, tucked underneath a white sheet. Slowly, he rolls over and slides out, somehow managing to land solidly on both feet.
"Finally awake, I see," a deep voice echoes through the room. Naruto startles, spinning around to find a young man in a white lab coat, ashen hair swept out of his face in a ponytail. The man's thin spectacles reflect the bright lights of the room, concealing his eyes. His eyebrows raise in careful delight, "I'll admit we've never observed recovery as fast as yours."
We? Naruto scowls. His chest hurts if he breathes too hard. "Where am I?"
A few memories come rushing back to him. The bleeding sky. The falling flames. The girl—no, the man with the red eyes. What the hell happened? He takes a moment to survey his surroundings. They're standing in a small room, perhaps with a width of only ten steps, with a single bed against one wall. A small rectangular table sits on the other side with a chair pushed in. A pristine white toilet sits in one corner. White sheets, white walls, white table, white chair. He looks at his bare feet, wiggling his toes as he suddenly feels the coolness of the granite seep into him. White granite tiles. There are four walls, but he doesn't see a door. He raises his head and only finds four white LED lights fixed into the ceiling. He spots a camera in the corner of the room and frowns at it.
Deep breaths, Naruto. In. He looks at himself, clad in a white shirt and white sweats. Clean, with no sign of ashes or grit. Out. He clenches his fist. In. And relaxes it. Out.
Left hand slightly trembling, the blonde raises his head to meet the curious gaze of the grey-haired man and repeats, "Where am I? Who are you?"
The man brushes at his crisp white coat nonchalantly and shrugs, "That's not important right now. First, I need you to move this."
Naruto stares dumbly at the man as he draws a glass orb from his lab coat and sets it on the table. The blonde steps forward and reaches out to push—
"No, not like that."
"You told me to move it."
"Yes, move it, but don't touch it."
Frustrated, Naruto jerks up one corner of the table, watching as the ball falls to the tile and shatters. The grey-haired man shakes his head as he retrieves another orb and sets it down on the table again.
"Move it, but don't touch."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
The blonde fixes a wide-eyed stare at the man in front of him. What in the hell does he want? He feels his heartbeat rise. Calm down, Naruto. Breath in, out. In and out. His hands tremble. He tries to stay in place, but that's always been hard for him.
"Move the orb," the grey-haired man repeats, stepping back from the table, closer to the blonde.
Breathe. Breathe. But it's too much. He's stuck in a closed room with a crazed man with no answers. Fire. His grandparents. His neighbors. Kiba. The police. Where is everyone? His breathing becomes rapid, chest heaving with pain and labored breaths.
"You're insane." Naruto lunges for the man, toppling both of them to the ground. He lands on top, one fist grasping the collar of the lab coat and the other in the air, yearning to break the man's crooked spectacles. He brings his fist down. "Fucking insane."
Before his fist makes contact, the wall to his right opens. Three men shuffle in, and one aims his weapon at the blonde. His finger presses the trigger.
A single click is all Naruto hears before his world falls to darkness once again.
"You couldn't fix them more?"
"They'll serve as a reminder not to disobey orders."
"He fell in the glass."
"While trying to hurt me."
"He looks like he has whiskers."
"I think they're a nice touch."
A huff.
"What? If you didn't like them, you should have fixed him yourself."
Naruto slowly lifts his lashes, blinking a few times as his eyes adjust to the harsh light. Two men stand at the foot of his bed, both clad in white lab coats. He recognizes the grey-haired man from earlier, and catches a slight hint of amusement in his dark eyes. The other man wears a patterned orange mask over his face. A red eye glints down at the blonde from the single hole. It briefly reminds him of the man with the red eyes. Naruto tries to sit up, but finds himself restrained to the bed with bands strapped across his arms and legs. He struggles against his bonds, "Let me go! What the hell do you all want?"
"We need you to move the orb," the masked man's deep voice resonates in the room. There's something about him that makes Naruto grow cold.
"I can't move the stupid thing with my mind, you crazy bastards," Naruto spits. "I need answers."
"Well," the grey-haired man raised an eyebrow, "you wouldn't be using your mind, so to speak."
"Use chakra," says the masked man.
"Use what?" Naruto strains against his bonds. "Who are you guys? Where am I?"
"He's uncooperative," the masked man turns around. "Kabuto, take me to see if the others have progressed. We'll deal with him later."
"Others?" Naruto thrashes on the bed, losing his composure again. "What have you done to my friends?"
The two men are already on their way to the exit. The masked man presses his palm against the wall across Naruto's bed, where a lighted outline of his hand appears next to an outline of the door. A part of the wall slides open.
"Wait!" He yells, "Don't touch them!"
The masked man doesn't stop walking as he replies, "A bit late for that, aren't we?"
Naruto freezes, "You son of a—"
There is a pressure deep in his chest. It builds and spreads into his abdomen, into his legs and arms and fingers and toes. Then it seems to flow out of his body in a gush of relief. Suddenly the room is engulfed in wind. It pushes the glass orb off the table. Kabuto, who had felt the gust of wind in his hair, flips around and catches the sphere in his hand before it touches the floor.
Naruto stiffens, finding himself suddenly exhausted. He pants, "What just happened?"
"You used chakra," the grey-haired man straightens up with a satisfied show of teeth. "Well done."
"Wind chakra," the masked man murmurs thoughtfully to himself.
"I need explanations," the blonde says, looking the masked man straight in the eye.
The man sighs, "This one's persistent, isn't he?"
"In the beginning, they all are," says Kabuto.
"I will give him a few words," says the masked man. "You may leave."
"Yes, sir."
Naruto watches as Kabuto leaves through the open door in the wall, noting the fact that the door does not shut until someone exits the room, or perhaps by command. He turns his eyes back to the masked man, who drags the chair from the table over to sit by his bedside. Ruffled black hair peeks out from above the mask. A single crimson eye fixes on him. Naruto wiggles a bit under his bonds, unsettled by the strong gaze.
"Are you the man from that night? When it rained fire?" Naruto asks.
The masked man chuckles, "No. Let's forget that for now." He bends forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together, leaning closer to Naruto. "You are at the Tsukuyomi Corporation, sponsored by the U.S. government. Our scientists have been working incredibly hard, and have been able to awaken your chakra. It was a long and painful process, though I am sure you cannot remember very much."
The blonde stares at him dumbly. He mildly remembers waking up to darkness or pain, but it was all a blur.
"The incident a few moments ago is a result of the release of your chakra. We have people who will help you master it here. In short, the world is in chaos, and we need you to save it."
Naruto nods once, then twice before shaking his head violently, "Look here, Mask Man, I didn't sign up for this and I really really just want to go home. The world was fine to me. Just let me go."
But not really, was it? Remember the fire? The fear in everyone's eyes? The chaos?
The man shakes his head, unkempt hair sway side to side as he speaks, "You are naïve, Naruto. You come from a wealthy background—practically grew up encased in gold. You had everything you could have ever wanted. There is still much you do not understand."
"Then, why me?"
"It was not my choice," the man stands up.
Naruto panics, "What about my friends?"
"They're doing fine."
"You're expecting me to trust your word, just like that? After everything you did to me? Fuck you." Naruto begins to struggle underneath his bonds.
"You don't have any other choice," the man pulls out a dagger, its edge gleaming in the light. He bends over the blonde, who looks him dead in the eye while still angrily jerking against the bed, and with two clean swipes, cuts the straps. "I hope you will cooperate with us."
Naruto stills, slowly sitting up as he watches the man open the door in the wall and exit the room. He rubs at his irritated skin and sighs quietly.
The blonde decides to cooperate with the Tsukuyomi Corporation. After all, if his own government sponsored it, there must be a good reason. For the next two weeks, he spends each day improving his skill with a number of Tsukuyomi workers. He learns that there are different elements to chakra, and that different hand signs "unlock" different modes of his specific chakra. His personal chakra affinity is wind, though it is possible to carry two affinities. There are a total of five affinities, which includes air, fire, water, lightning, and earth.
In the mornings, a breakfast tray containing eggs, oatmeal, and water are dropped on the table. After the blonde eats, a tutor visits him for one hour and educates him about different mastering techniques. He tends to sleep through most of those, to the tutor's disappointment. Kabuto comes in after that to make Naruto push a few glass orbs around. The blonde learns to focus his chakra to specific locations and to aim. A physical examination follows this, and lunch is served. After he eats, he goes back to harnessing his chakra through more experiments. Sometimes, the masked man watches. Other times, there are pulse stickers placed onto his body as he releases focused chakra. He learns to move the orbs a specific distance, to cut paper with a flick of his finger, to shoot a clean hole through cardboard. When he is able to slice a cylindrical piece of wood in half with just his chakra, the masked man returns to speak to the blonde.
"You have done well. Your progress is impeccable and your skills continue to grow," says the masked man. "However, you are also in dire need of a shower."
Naruto looks at himself. Hell, I can't remember the last time I showered. He risks a sniff at his armpit, and takes a few quick steps back at the smell. Oh God.
The door in the wall opens, and for the first time since he had arrived, he is allowed to leave his room. Naruto steps out and is greeted by four security members, clad in white with a large rifle-like weapon strapped onto each. He frowns slightly, but accepts this.
The blonde is escorted through clean, white hallways lined with doors. He takes note of the symbols on each door, seeing that his own is of a circular swirl. I wonder how many rooms there are. Who is on the other side of these doors? He sees some of the other symbols—a circle, a fan, a swirl of smoke. The shower is at the end of the hallway, past a pair of doors. Then, a sign for males and females. Naruto is taken to the one designated for males.
The escorts remain outside, in the hallway. Despite this, Naruto frowns at the lack of privacy in the shower area. Between each shower head is a small divider, not enough to truly create a cubicle. He shrugs, realizing that at this point, he would rather go skinny dipping with Kabuto than wallow in his own stink for another day.
He eyes the room, seeing that there are showers lined along one wall, each one carrying soap. Across from them sit a stack of clean robes on a table. The rectangular opening in the wall next to the table is perhaps the laundry chute. The blonde takes a deep sigh, and strips.
The first blast of hot water is heaven. Sighing, Naruto turns his face into the stream as he lathers his hair with the soap provided. It may not be the luxury Bvlgari shampoo he was used to, but it would still do its job. He silently mourns his shiny, golden locks as he massages his sore muscles.
He stands under the heated stream for over an hour. He is so indulged in this shower that he does not hear the door open, does not hear the soft pat pat pat of another person entering the room. He completely misses the sounds of another shower, a few dividers down, turning on and then off about 20 minutes later.
Naruto sighs happily as he decides that the shower had gone on long enough. He turns off the stream, shaking his head like a dog to get rid of excess water, and turns around to retrieve a clean robe from the table across the room. That's when he notices the other man in the room, standing in a white robe with his back to him.
Outside of his daily training routine, the blonde has not interacted with anyone else in over two weeks. He craved normal—or as normal as he could find in the corporation—interactions with normal people. Normal hello's and normal goodbye's and normal laugh's and normal slaps on the back.
"Hi," Naruto says loudly, sparing an awkward wave. "I'm Naruto."
The man turns around at the greeting, and the blonde drops his arm mid-wave when their eyes meet. There's no mistake. Long, dark hair falls around a delicately angled face. Thin eyebrows frame beautiful, ebony eyes. His pupils are not crimson this time, but the piercing gaze is the same nonetheless.
Naruto swallows nervously as the man crosses his arms over his chest and nods in greeting, "Sasuke."