Title: The Child of Darkness
Rated: T (most likely going to be changed)
Category: Naruto
Pairings: None
Summary: He wasn't as idiotic and weak as they thought. No… in fact he was strong, raised by the darkness they left him in.
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Chapter 2: A Friend
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He shut the door to his apartment, sighing tiredly as he dragged himself to the kitchen. Grabbing a cup of ramen, he popped it in the microwave after filling it with water, and sat down at the table. God were his arms and legs sore. 'Sasuke really is a slave driver.' He slipped down out of the chair and took a kunai from his collection in his room. Looking around for a target, he saw a squirrel outside his window, on the wood pole. He opened the window and took a stance before flinging the kunai at the animal. The squirrel jumped a mile high when the knife buried itself into the wood next to its tail and scurried away. Naruto smirked, happy with the accuracy of his throw. The microwave dinged and he closed the window, stalking back into the kitchen. He grabbed the Styrofoam cup out the microwave, and sat down at the table.
'Maybe I'll go do some more training later.' He finished off his breakfast and threw away the cup before grabbing a couple more kunai and a few shuriken. Putting them in a pouch, he put that pouch in the big pocket of his hooded jacket and popped his hood over his head before leaving the apartment, locking the door behind him. He got to the training grounds relatively fast by taking the alleyways, and went deep into the trees of one of the training grounds. He used one of his kunai to carve a target into a tree and stood a little ways back from it before flicking his wrist and sending the knife soaring. It hit the third ring from the center. He flicked another. This one hit half way between the second and third ring. He flung his last kunai at the tree as well, and this hit the second ring. "Alright! I'm getting better." He walked up to his makeshift target and pried the three kunai out and carved a target on another tree, continuing his practice.
About an hour into his kunai training, he heard a rustle in the bushes. He put one of his kunai in his pocket, keeping the other two to throw. There was another rustle but he ignored it. On the outside he was calm but on the inside he was panicking slightly. If it was a ninja out to get him he couldn't run away. He didn't know this training ground well enough to get into the streets where he could make a scene so they wouldn't attack him. He frowned and started throwing his two kunai again, his accuracy off as his mind was elsewhere. The bushes rustled one last time before a kunai flew towards him. He whipped the kunai out of his pocket and threw it as hard as he could towards the other. The two deflected off of each other and the blond swore. 'I shouldn't have done that. Now I can't defend myself.'
He stood perfectly still waiting for the next wave of kunai. The bushes rustled yet again and his training partner from earlier that day stood before him, smirking. "It's a bad idea to throw your only weapon," the raven said. Naruto frowned.
"What's the meaning of this?" he asked, still tense. Sasuke shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"I heard someone throwing kunai and decided to investigate. Just so happens that it was you over here." The blond didn't let up, still tense. "Calm down, you act like I'm going to jump and kill you." Naruto froze and forced himself to relax, finally realizing how high the moon was in the sky.
"It's getting late – shouldn't you be home right about now? Your parents will start to worry." Sasuke's smirk fell some.
"My Tou-san is too busy gloating about my brother's promotion to ANBU to care about me. And I know my mother is worried but my father thinks that if I die or get kidnapped out here, I wasn't 'Uchiha' enough to live," Sasuke said, making air quotes. The blond nodded mutely, noting the hurt the young raven's voice. He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly and went to collect his kunai, putting them back in his pouch.
"Well, Sasuke, I have to get home so I can take a shower and get some sleep. Don't want to be tired tomorrow, you know." The raven nodded and he turned away, waving over his shoulder, fully aware of dark eyes boring into his back. 'Hm… odd.'
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Old tired brown eyes watched the dark Jinchuuriki through his crystal ball, observing how motionless the blond was he sat through his lessons – what happened to the bubbly blond from a few months ago? He sighed, stopping his chakra from flowing to the crystal ball. He noticed a dark turn in Naruto's behavior ever since his birthday. He seemed to not care about what people said to him and always made a comment back, like he was annoyed with the fact they thought he'd stay quiet. 'Maybe it's the influence of the Kyuubi.' If that was the case…
He made a hand motion and an ANBU appeared before him, on one knee. "Collect Uzumaki Naruto from his class and escort him here. I am sure you are aware of his tendency to misbehave?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Dismissed." The elite shinobi disappeared in blur and Sarutobi turned to the window and stood up, hand clasped behind his back. He looked out into the village. 'Minato-kun,' he thought. 'He's drifting…' He was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on the door. "Come in." He glanced behind himself before completely turning around. "Ah Homura, Koharu – to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"We need to discuss something with you," Homura said, taking a seat next to Koharu. "It's about Uzumaki Naruto."
"Ah," Sarutobi mused. "Yes, Naruto. What about him?"
"I'm sure you've noticed his… change, have you not Hiruzen?" Koharu asked. "We know the boy is Minato's legacy but we need to do something about his attitude before the civilian council steps in."
"Very true, very true indeed. I just summoned one of my ANBU to fetch the boy so we could have a talk."
"If you could," Homura started. "You should summon Jiraiya back here so he can check the seal. It could be that the seal is not as strong as it should and that is affecting the boy's mood and attitude – the Kyuubi's influence if you may."
"While normal, I would agree with you," Hiruzen said, turning his chair sideways, "I have a feeling it's not Kyuubi but rather how he actually feels." Homura and Koharu shared a look before looked back at him, expecting an explanation. "The boy has been hated all his life for something he neither knows of or can control. Image how frustrating that would be. On top of that, everyday on his birthday, a handful of civilians a few Genin and Chunin always seem to slip pass me and they do very unpleasant things that a child should never go through to Naruto. While we are worried about his attitude change, we should be glad he hasn't snapped." He sighed and faced his two former teammates. "I've come to this conclusion for one reason – ever since his birthday a few years ago, his personality has changed every time. However, each of those times, he was still bubbly and happy-go-lucky. This time, however, it seems as though he just stopped caring all together." Koharu and Homura nodded in agreement. "As long as we don't turn him over to Danzo, he still will remain essentially himself." There was a knock at the door and Hiruzen instantly realized the chakra signatures. "Well, Homura, Koharu, it's been nice talking but as you know I am a busy man."
"We understand Sarutobi. Ignite the will of fire in him," Koharu said before the two left, leaving the door open for Naruto who stood alone at the door, the ANBU having disappeared after knocking. The blond entered the room, shutting the door behind.
"Ah, Naruto. It's a pleasure to see you. Please, have a seat." Naruto did as he was told, keeping his hood on his head and his hands in his pockets. "How have you been, my boy?"
"Fine." The Jinchuuriki's voice was quiet and monotone, a drastic change from how loud and obnoxious he usually was. "I'm getting better in the Academy." Sarutobi smiled and nodded.
"That you have Naruto-kun! I'm very proud of you." Naruto nodded but frowned.
"What did you call me here for? I know you wouldn't just pull me out of class to know how I'm doing." Hiruzen smirked – the boy was sharp, he'd give him that.
"Ah, very clever Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said. "I've noticed you change in attitude and clothing… Are you feeling okay?" The blond nodded.
"Thanks to my 'fellow villagers', I've decided to act myself, regardless of how they feel about me. I've been trying for too long to please them. Now it's time I do something for myself." Hiruzen smiled to himself.
'It doesn't seem like the Kyuubi has corrupted him. However, I can never be too sure. That fox is clever,' he thought. "Naruto, do you the story of the Kyuubi?" He could see confusion bud in blue eyes and smiled. 'He's still good old Naruto, just not as loud.' Naruto nodded.
"Yeah. The Yondiame killed it. Right?"
"Now Naruto, the tailed beasts are just large amounts of chakra compressed together to form a being with a personality and cognitive thinking. With that being said, if you can't kill a Bijou, then what can you do with it? And what does that have to do with you?" Naruto frowned, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "I don't want you to answer now. When you figure it out, I want you to come back to me. It is then when we will start your training." Naruto's eyes widened and he let a small grin bloom on his face. "I'll have an ANBU escort you back to the academy." The blond mock saluted and walked out the door, waving. Sarutobi shook his head before going back to his paperwork.
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And that's the second chapter of Child of Darkness. By the time this chapter is up, I'll be half way through the third. I'm just that awesome. Anyway, keep reviewing and favoriting and all that good stuff. It's appreciated.