Naruto smiled as he sat down with his older brother. He giggled as he Aniki made a beard out of whipped cream, shaking his face all about and getting the creamy substance on Naruto's shirt. (AN: Okay, I probably should've used different words there. I'm sorry. (I'm too lazy to change it, but not too lazy to type this all out…)) Both boys looked up as the door opened loudly, a tall woman clad in a standard military uniform. Long red hair shadowed her face slightly, and a long sword was held tightly in her right hand.
"Ah, Mother. I was just enjoying time with little Naruto before planning on heading out to the Cafe. I didn't expect the invasion to end so quickly. A single year… Must've been easy huh?" Questioned the older boy, standing up to approach his mother. The Red Haired woman stopped, slowly lifting her head to reveal a cheshire grin, brilliant white teeth shining in the light coming from the windows. "Yes, it was rather… Simple to invade the Southern Tribes. Hah, those prehistoric peasants couldn't withstand the might of the Empire! My Team just rushed in and tore through their villages along with the rest of the Army! Hahahaha! Wanna see how!?" Shouted the Red Headed Woman, raising her sword and pointing it at the eldest son.
Naruto watched as his mother raised a sword to his Aniki, greatly confusing the boy. He watched as the older blonde narrowed his eyes, looking into his Mother's Violet eyes. "So, the Empire's cruelty has broken you… Mother. Please. Put the sword down. You can join the Revolutionary Army. I can get you a spot. Please, just try to work through this." Naruto listened to his Aniki's words, confused by their meaning. It was too much for his young 5 year old mind to understand.
"Ah! So my own son is a traitor to the Empire? How Cruel! Does Kami care!? Heheh, I guess I shall send you to the Shinigami to beg for Mercy!" Shouted the Woman, suddenly rushing forward and attempting to run the sword through the eldest son's chest. Said Blonde dashed to his left, avoiding the strike and watched as the woman stumbled forward and ran the sword through the wall, all the way to the hilt. As she tried to pry it out of the wall, the blonde rushed over to Naruto and picked the boy up, running further into the house with Naruto in his arms.
"Ahahaha! I'm coming, you traitorous SCUM!" Shouted the woman, prying the sword from the wall with a mighty heave and rushing the two blondes. She gained speed, catching up to the pair and attempting a slash. The elder brother leaned forward, narrowly dodging the slash. The woman's sword continued it's path, obliterating a pot to its left and slashing the wall. "Hahahaah! Yes! Run! Just like the Children!" The Red Headed Woman's insane yells echoed within Naruto's mind, numbing his thoughts. Could he mother really be this crazed maniac? The loving woman from the prior year?
Naruto's thoughts were cut off as his Aniki received a Diagonal slash between his shoulder blades, running down to his hip. The blonde dropped Naruto and fell to the ground, the younger blonde landing on his back and the eldest landing on his stomach. The blonde woman stalked into the room, the master bedroom, and brutally stepped onto the eldest's back. She held the blade to his neck, grinning maniacally. "Before you die, I'd like to educate you on the Empire's strength. When we first invaded the South, there was determination and hope in their eyes. And then we raided the first village in the dead of night, my superiors instructing us to allow the women and children to run for a mile, inspiring hope in their eyes, before hunting them down like Dogs! Ha! It was glorious!" Shouted the Red Haired Woman, gripping her head with the free hand and drooling from her face-splitting grin.
Naruto backed up until his head hit the wall. His ears began ringing loudly until he couldn't decipher what the woman was saying anymore, and he just watched as her figure distorted into that of a red haired demon. Its entire body was black, shadows rolling off of its figure until they touched the floor, becoming blood that began to stretch closer and closer to Naruto. The Blood began to crawl up Naruto's legs once it made contact, long red lines flowing ahead of a sea of blood. Suddenly, the vision vanished as Naruto's eyes gained inhuman clarity, watching as his mother stabbed his brother through the chest in slow-motion. His eyes looked up to catch her eyes, hoping to see a shard of regret. He found nothing but insane glee. Joy. The woman was ecstatic.
Something broke within Naruto at that moment. The boy stood up slowly, eyes hazed over as the woman twisted the blade in his brother's back, the blonde boy howling in pain. Naruto looked to his left, seeing a small celebrational dagger in a glass case. Naruto walked over, slowly lifting up the glass cover and reaching in to grab the dagger. It was made of silver, and gleamed in the sunlight. Naruto ran his left hand over the blade, his face twitching slightly when it cut into his index finger, the crimson blood slowly leaking down the blade until it gathered at the hilt, dripping to the floor. Naruto turned around, watching his mother wrench and twist the blade within his brother's back, the screams growing weaker and weaker.
Without warning, Naruto shot forward, his small legs carrying him into a sprint. Naruto's vision was clear, and his actions were meaningful. He placed his right foot behind his mother's left, and leaned in with his torso, stabbing his mother in the stomach with his right hand, and shoving the woman with his left shoulder. The Red Haired woman stumbled back, hitting Naruto's foot and falling onto her back. She howled in pain as blood red began to seep through her uniform. Naruto dropped down, straddling the woman and using his weight to pin her arms, though she seemed content to just howl in pain, seemingly not even noticing the boy.
Naruto sat there for what felt like an eternity, just staring at his mother's face. He thought nothing, heard nothing, only saw his mother's howling face. The image split into two, one of the woman's insane, maniacal grin, and the other, the caring, loving face that would wake him every morning the year prior. Then, the caring face distorted and rippled into that of the demon's from Naruto's vision, and Naruto's eyes steeled over. With precision Naruto had not wielded at any point previously in his life, Naruto flipped the dagger in his right hand, snatching it out of the air into a reverse grip, before he lowed it to his mother's neck. For a whole minute, Naruto just sat and stared into his mother's eyes, an insane gleam in them as she stared at him, the knife still at her neck. She did not acknowledge the knife, only looked at Naruto.
"You should've been there, Naru-chan. The little children reminded me of you!" The woman giggled happily, stopping and smiling softly at her son. Without warning, she grabbed Naruto's wrist and forcefully moved it horizontally, the dagger digging into her throat and cutting her jugular. Naruto watched as the blood poured over his hands, staining them forever as the woman began to cough up blood, the soft smile never leaving her face. "I love you Sochi-kun… May you forgive me in the After Life…" The woman whispered, though Naruto's ears clearly heard it. Naruto's eyes teared as he watched the life drain from her eyes, before he body went limp beneath Naruto.
The blonde's shoulders slumped, as he turned around and looked at his Aniki, tears dripping as he noticed the older blonde wasn't breathing. Naruto, the young 5 year old blonde, cried clear tears that fell and mixed in with the blood of his family, pooling around the boy and staining his skin for eternity.
Present.
Naruto slowly walked over to Kurome, eyes cold and emotionless as he felt the cold blood drip off of his body through his clothing. Naruto did not react to seeing Kurome in such a state, merely dropping to his knees and gently rolling the girl over, ignoring her moan of pain and reaching behind his back, retrieving a sheathed Shihaaku. Unsheathing the blade slowly, Naruto stabbed the blade into the roof, gripping onto the blade and allowing the familiar feeling of life essence travel to the blade. He turned around, watching as Zank's white light traveled from the air around him to the blade, channeling into the grip and into Naruto's hand.
Naruto guided it through his body with his right arm, two fingers pointed at himself as he did so. Eventually, he had guided it to his other hand, which began to glow a soft green. Naruto let go of the blade, leaning down and ghosting the hand over Kurome's cheek. "Kurome-hime… Don't worry. The pain will be gone shortly. Just calm down." Naruto's soft voice called out, prompting Kurome to slowly open her eyes, locking gazes with Naruto's sapphire eyes. "N-Naru-kun?" Questioned Kurome, flinching slightly and rubbing her arms over her wound.
Naruto palmed her cheek, rubbing away a stray tear. "It's okay Kurome. Just let me touch it." Naruto softly commanded, satisfied when Kurome slowly took her arms away from her stomach, revealing the torn cloth and the bleeding stab wound. Naruto slowly eased his glowing hand onto the wound, watching in happiness as Kurome's face relaxed, the pain fading from her wound. Naruto pulled his hand away, revealing the perfect, pale skin of Kurome's stomach.
"There. Feel better now, Kurome-hime?" Naruto's soft voice called out, causing Kurome to nod slightly. Naruto smiled softly, before scooping the girl up and placing her on his back, going to turn around until he suddenly looked behind him, having heard a footstep. Naruto's Sapphire eyes locked onto the Ruby eyes of Akame's, the two just standing and staring at each other. "Akame-chan…"
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