Wow, I finally completed the next chapter… took me long enough ^^" I'm sorry for the delay but I had a lot of tests and I'm working on my driver's license, so I didn't have much time to write.
One important note though, I've put up a poll to decide for the next FF I'll write, I hope you check my profile for it^^
Well, I haven't really got anything else to say, except a 'thank you' for the reviews, I still wished there were more of them though (like most authors do I think XD ). Enjoy the next chapter of 'Alone I Dream'^^
Disclaimer: Kishimoto still didn't hand over the rights of Naruto.
"Demon Speech"
'Demon Thought'
"Speech"
'Thought'
Chapter 4: A Bitter-Sweet Curse
Night was falling over Konoha. But that didn't really matter to the group of Genin that had gathered at the BBQ restaurant, they had planned this event for weeks and had finally got together, there was no way they wouldn't use this to its fullest. The entire Rookie Nine was gathered, the original eight graduates had welcomed Haku with open arms. The young ice user had been surprised to get accepted by them so fast, but he was more than happy about it. It was the first time he had friends. And even Sasuke had joined the group; he even contributed something to the ongoing conversation, what caused two of the female shinobi to look at him with hearts in their eyes. Their inner fangirls might have been destroyed with the friendly help provided by Anko, but that didn't mean they would simply ignore the dream of their sleepless nights.
The Genin teams were only talking about daily stuff though. For the young shinobi this was a chance to escape the daily life of being a ninja and relax for once. Even though they were still young, every one of them had already taken a life. It had happened on their first C-Rank missions, in the case of Team 7 an A-Ranked one: Team 7 on their mission to stop the Sound 5, Team 8 while protecting Tazuna and even Team 10 who had been ordered to take out a bandit camp.
Though none of them had liked it, they knew that they would probably have to do it again. Two weeks had already passed since Team 7 and 8 had returned from their missions, but they were still glad to forget about it for a while and catch up with their old classmates. When the end of the meeting was drawing near, Ino started a topic that had been on her mind for quite a while now, and she wanted to know what the others though or knew about it.
"Hey, listen up everyone; I've got a question for all of you. You know, there's this strange rumour going around lately. It says that a ghost is wandering around in Konoha, have you heard of it before? I don't know too much, only that it seems to be a boy clad in white."
That caught the attention of the young ninjas. They didn't really believe in things like ghosts, on the other hand a fox in the size of a mountain had attacked their village, so there was probably more between heaven and hell that they knew of. Haku was the first to answer.
"Well, I haven't really heard that much about this one, but when I was walking home last week I saw something strange. It was already night time and I couldn't sleep; so I decided to take a walk and look at the moon. And when I was watching the stars, I saw a boy standing on top of a house; it seemed that he was also enjoying the view. I couldn't see much; only that he was blond and wore white clothing; I'd say it looked like what Hinata-san's father is wearing normally. But the strange thing is, I only blinked once and then he was no longer there. I wrote if off as an imagination since I was pretty tired."
"I guess you're not the only one who saw something like this," Shikamaru added. "I've overheard a few persons talking about a blond boy clad in white that no one has seen before. It's strange though, most of them were ninjas. I heard how a Jonin said that he had felt watched; he even detected a chakra source, but only a few seconds later it vanished. He only saw the silhouette of a boy. Strange coincidence I'd say. They began to suspect a spy in Konoha."
The statement of Shikamaru had another effect on Ino besides increasing her curiosity. Unseen by the others Kiba, Shino and Hinata were exchanging glances.
"How the hell did you manage to overhear a Jonin talking about something like this? I can't imagine he was talking about this on the street."
"… Troublesome. If you want to know, I was hiding in a shinobi-only bar; my mother was getting all bossy again. Troublesome woman."
The rest of the Genin nodded. That was Shikamaru, no doubt about it. But still, the fact that both Haku, who had no reason to make up something like this, and Shikamaru, who thought that it was too troublesome to lie, had also seen and heard about the ghost that seemed to wander around in Konoha was more than enough to convince the Genin that there had to be some truth behind it. That was when Kiba decided to talk. He looked to Shino and Hinata to make sure that he should tell the others.
"Guys, there is something you should know. When Hinata, Shino and I came back from Wave country a week ago, something rather strange happened to us. Kurenai-sensei had gone to the Hokage Tower and we had decided to grab something to eat when Hinata noticed, well, what did you call it Hinata?"
"I-it was l-like the chakra w-was fli-flickering, and i-it seemed v-very u-unstable."
"My bugs also reacted to the chakra signature. It wasn't too strong; we were probably the only ones to notice it since we were close by." Shino added to his teammate's statement.
Kiba picked up again: "Right, so we went to the alley where the chakra came from. But when we looked inside, there was nothing. But just when we were about to leave, Hinata noticed that there was someone behind us, apparently the same person whose chakra we had sensed before. And I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but the boy had blond hair and white clothes."
That got everyone's attention to the highest level. If this was the same person, than they knew who the 'ghost of Konoha' actually was. They were all listening intently to Team 8 now. They were so curious that Chouji had even stopped eating. The story went on, but this time it was Shino who told them what he knew of the meeting with the strange boy back in the alley.
"Just when we were about to approach the person, he suddenly started talking, but it wasn't really addressed to anyone, it was more like a monologue. However, I can't recall everything of it, but it mostly was something like: ' Is this real or just another dream? No… this is no dream…' I couldn't really understand much more, especially when he started groaning and clutched his head as if it was about to explode. We tried to talk to him, but he looked at us as if we were ghosts. I remember one more thing he said to us when he saw us. It was like: 'Who are you? No, what are you? Are you illusions created by him?'
If I had to guess I'd say whoever this boy was had a heavy mental trauma, especially since his voice grew more and more desperate. That's why we decided that I'd try to find Kurenai-sensei and Kiba and Hinata would try to help as much as they could. I left afterwards, so I'd be best if someone else would continue."
To everyone's surprise Hinata was the one to continue the story. She even tried as hard as she could to suppress her stuttering.
"W-well there wasn't really that much after that. W-when we tried to get the boy to the hospital; both Kiba and I were pushed away by a chakra wave and knocked out. It was strange though, I didn't notice anyone molding chakra, i-it was simply there. We regained consciousness a few minutes later, but the boy was no longer there. Shortly after that Shino-kun and Kurenai-sensei found us. B-but since there wasn't really anything that proofed that the boy had been there we wrote it off as a prank. But with everyone talking about this ghost lately it seemed k-kinda strange…"
Even more surprising than a none-stutering Hinata was that Sasuke of all people seemed quite interested in this topic.
"So, a ghost is wandering around in Konoha… Hn, finally a new challenge, I was getting bored. I don't believe in such things as ghosts, but any person that can manage to hide himself from a whole village full of ninja is surely someone you can't underestimate. I say we use tomorrow to find this 'ghost' and solve the so called 'mystery', are you in?"
Although he hid it under his usual attitude, the other members of the Genin that would soon be called the Rookie Nine felt that he actually wanted all of them to hang out together and have fun while searching for the ghost. The Uchiha had definitely changed a lot since his days in the academy. He was still a bit cocky sometimes, but he was the strongest of the rookies, if you exclude Haku of course who wasn't really a rookie since there were little Chunin that could hope to beat him.
And so it was settled, the next day was reserved for ghost hunting. Little did they know how much this would change their future. And not only theirs…
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In the basement of the Hokage Tower, one week ago
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The only person who spent more time than the Hokage inside the tower slowly opened his eyes. Last week had been… interesting. It took him a while, but now he had finally mastered his new ability to a certain degree. His initial confusion had subsided, and Naruto had once more returned to his former self. But a little bit of the insecurity remained. Naruto remembered how he had searched for the Kyuubi to explain this. It had been more than just unsettling.
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Flashback
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Once again Naruto stood in front of the mighty Kyuubi no Youko. The fox was nowhere in sight, but Naruto knew he was only hiding himself in the deeper levels of his prison. It had nowhere else to go after all.
"Come out Kyuubi-teme! You've got some explaining to do!"
Naruto yelled in the depths of the sewer. At first nothing happened. And then Naruto was suddenly slammed into the wall at the other end of the large room by an invisible force, courtesy of Kyuubi. The dreaded Demon Fox appeared behind the bars, his eyes burning with malice.
"ONE THING KIT, NEVER PISS ME OFF!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO? I AM THE NINE-TAILED FOX, THE KING OF ALL DEMONS!!! AND I WON'T ALLOW A PATHETIC HUMAN TO TALK TO ME LIKE THIS!
JUST TURNING UP LIKE THIS AND YELLING AT ME, I WAS WAITING FOR A LITTLE 'THANK YOU' HERE! AFTER ALL, HOW DO YOU THINK YOU GOT TO SEE THE OUTSIDE WORLD FOR ONCE?"
Naruto calmed himself down while he got on his feet again. He had forgot that despite the fact that the Kyuubi was sealed inside him he was still a being that could not be tamed by any means. He let his anger get the best of him.
"So I was right, it was your doing. What did you do to me? That pain was worse than that time when I tried to kill myself."
The Kyuubi snorted. Pain was a feeling he had never known, not even the toughest demons in his world had been able to put more than a scratch on him.
"WELL KIT, I SAID I'D GIVE YOU A PRESENT, RIGHT? I CUT DOWN THE BOND CONNECTING YOUR SOUL WITH YOUR BODY. HEY, DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THIS, IT'S NOTHING PERMANENT. I'LL EXPLAIN IT SO THAT EVEN A PATHETIC NINGEN LIKE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT.
YOU SEE, WHEN I SEPARATED YOUR MIND FROM YOUR BODY IT WAS LIKE UNTIEING A BALLOON FROM THE BASE IT WAS TIED TO. THE BALLON FLIES AWAY AND CAN GO WHEREVER IT WANTS UNTIL IT LOST ALL OF ITS HELIUM AND IT SINKS ON THE GROUND AGAIN.
ONLY THAT IN THIS CASE THE BALLOON RETURNS TO ITS BASE. THE SOUL CAN'T BE COMPLETELY SEPERATED FROM THE BODY AS LONG AS THE BODY STILL EXISTS, THE YONDAIME WAS LUCKY I AM A CHAKRA-BEING, OTHERWISE HE COULD NEVER HAVE SEALED ME LIKE THIS."
Naruto digested the information. The demon had been able to separate his soul from the body and he had been unable to do anything against it. What else could that damn thing do?
"Okay, I get that much, but why did you do this? As far as I've understood it only separates my soul since yours is still bound by the seal. And why the hell did it hurt that much? I mean my soul shouldn't be able to feel pain, it lacks the pain receptors to do so."
Inwardly the Kyuubi was thankful that his host wasn't as dumb as it could have turned out. While the Kyuubi was no friend of conversations he was so bored down here that he would do almost anything to pass time. But only almost.
"SINCE I'M FEELING GENEROUS TODAY I'LL EXPLAIN IT TO YOU. THE PAIN WAS BECAUSE CUTTING THE CONNECTION FOR THE FIRST TIME IS SPECIAL, BUT DON'T WORRY, IT'S A ONE-TIME-ONLY-THING. AND FOR WHY I DID IT, YOU SEE; I HAVE ACCESS TO YOU MEMORIES – DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THIS, IT'S NOT LIKE THERE IS THIS MUCH TO SEE, YOU'VE ALMOST SLEPT AS MUCH AS I DID! WHERE WAS I?
AH, YES, YOUR MEMORIES. YOU SEE, WHILE I WAS ASLEEP I SAW MOST OF THEM ALONG WITH YOUR VISIONS LIKE IN A DREAM. I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE DREAMS WITH THE GREAT SHINOBI WAR OR MY ATTACK ON THE VILLAGE, BUT BACK TO TOPIC:
THESE MEMORIES ARE BORING TO ME NOW; THEY LACK THE MEMORY OF YOUR SENSES. WHILE YOU SEE EVERYTHING YOU DON'T FEEL IT. I WANT TO FEEL IT AGAIN! THE FEELING OF WIND BLOWING AROUND YOU, THE WARMTH OF THE SUN, THE SCENT OF FEAR HUMANS PRODUCE WHEN I'M ABOUT TO KILL THEM!!! I WANT TO FEEL ALIVE!!!"
Naruto had to brace himself so that the eruption of Kyuubi's emotions didn't blow him away. Naruto was quite surprised by this. He even felt pity for the Demon King. While Naruto had never known these feelings – especially not the last one – it was much harder for Kyuubi, who could miss these feelings to be locked up like this. But now Naruto remembered. The gentle warmth of the sun when it shone upon his skin, the whisper of the blowing wind…
Although he had only been a soul, he had felt it. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that the giant kitsune had calmed down enough and was about to continue.
"SORRY, I GOT CAUGHT IN THE MOMENT. YOU'RE PROBABLY WONDERING HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO FEEL ANYTHING WHEN YOU WERE ONLY A SPIRIT. YOU SEE, I ALSO ALLOWED YOUR SOULD TO TAKE SOME CHAKRA ON ITS WAY TO MANIFEST PHYSICALLY INTO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
IF I HADN'T DONE THIS YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ANYTHING MORE THAN AN ALMOST INVISIBLE FLOATING GHOST MOST PEOPLE HAD IGNORED. BUT CHAKRA ISN'T MEANT TO BE SOLID, THAT MEANS THE LONGER YOU'RE PHYSICAL THE FASTER YOUR CHAKRA IS CONSUMED. ONCE YOU'RE OUT OF CHAKRA YOU END UP HERE AGAIN.
IN OTHER WORDS YOU CAN SWITCH BETWEEN BEING SOLID AND INTANGIBLE. THIS TIME YOU VANISHED PRETTY FAST SINCE I ONLY PUT A SMALL AMOUNT OF CHAKRA INSIDE YOU WHEN YOU LEFT, THE STRESS OF CUTTING YOUR SOUL CONNECTIONS AND PUTTING YOUR HUGE CHAKRA RESERVES INSIDE YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN INSTANT DEATH.
OKAY THAT'S IT, I'M DONE EXPLAINING! AND NOW GET OUT, AND YOU BETTER GET OUT OF THIS GODDAMN BASEMENT SOMETIMES OR I'LL PROMISE YOU A WORLD FULL OF REAL PAIN!!!"
The Kyuubi turned around and with a huge gust of wind Naruto was blown out of his mindscape once again. While walking back into the darkness, no one could see the maniacal grin of the Nine-Tailed Beast. His chance would come. He chuckled evilly.
'ENJOY IT, PATHETIC NINGEN. YOU'LL WISH YOU'D NEVER LISTENED TO ME ONCE YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE. I THOUGHT YOU'D SHOW SOME INTELLIGENCE, HOW DISAPPOINTING. YOU SHOULD NEVER TRUST A DEMON LORD.'
Kyuubi had his own vision of Konoha's future. And it wasn't a pleasant one.
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Flashback End
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Naruto shuddered when remembered this. He knew that the Kyuubi was dead-serious, and Naruto really didn't want to become a toy so the Demon Lord could pass his time. But still the dreamseer wondered a bit about all of this. The Fox had said he had given this ability to his host for his own well-being. Nonetheless he felt like Kyuubi was hiding something…
Naruto brushed it off. He had enough time to think later. He wanted to see the blue skies of Konoha again… He wanted to feel alive.
The next day
Night came to an end and a new morning began in Konoha. But when the capital of Fire country was still only beginning to wake up (at least the civilian parts) 12 young shinobi had already gathered in the apartment Haku lived in and were prepared to search all of Konoha to find the mysterious 'ghost boy'. They were equipped with headsets that would allow them to stay in contact with Shikamaru who had volunteered to stay behind and coordinate their movements. For the last time the lazy genius explained their plan.
"Okay everybody; listen up because it's too troublesome for me to repeat everything. We're nine people but since I'll stay there'll be eight looking for hints. I'd say we make two teams of four people with one leader each. When someone finds something you contact your group leader, and the leaders will contact me. I can give you new directions depending on the info you gather.
Okay, now for the teams: Haku, Sasuke, Hinata and Chouji are team 'Shadow' while Kiba, Shino, Sakura and Ino are team 'Leaf'. The leaders are Haku and Shino are the leaders. Team 'Leaf' will start in the western city parts and team 'Shadow' will search the east. If you don't find anything we'll meet here again at 1400. Dismissed."
The Genin just gave Shikamaru a silent nod before they took off, spreading across the city. Unknown to them a certain blond boy sat on top of the Hokage monument, staring at the city in front of him with mixed emotions. For the first time on his road of life he had arrived at a crossroad. But which path should he choose?
"So many questions, so little time… "
And Naruto knew what he was talking about when he said 'little time'.
Well, I hope you liked Chapter 4^^ Please remember to review; I'm sure there are things I can do better.
And please remember, I made a poll on my profile to decide which FF I'll start next. Please stop by and choose one^^
Till next time, Faroush
Preview of the next chapter:
In front of them stood a boy who couldn't be older than 12. Yet he looked at them with eyes that had lost their light. The Genin suppressed a shiver. These eyes didn't belong to someone who was still alive.
The blond boy only stared at them with his lifeless eyes. Then, almost unnoticed his lips moved only to form one sentence:
"The time has come."
Next chapter: To seek what is for sure