Disclaimer: I don't own anything publicly recognizable. Not even that...
AN: I'm glad this story is so well-received, it really makes me happy. And I would like to thank all my readers, in particular those who reviewed. I really love to read them reviews :)
So, now that I've finally finished those setting chapters, I can get to the story proper, and from now on, you'll start to see how much I'm twisting canon.
…
*Insert evil laugh here *
PS: In this chapter there's a big allegorical meaning, let's see if some of you get it. I think you will, it's not that difficult to find :)
Without further ado,
Demonic Changes: Beginning of a legend
The way home was quick and uneventful, nobody talking, everyone assorted in their own thoughts. Sasuke was still extremely excited to have finally awoken his bloodline, and his only thought was about how he could get even stronger, while Naruto was thinking about how many things he could do as a chuunin, which amounted to...
Well, nothing, apart from leading a squad, it didn't really grant any privilege as far as he knew.
Instead Sakura was worried, worried because she had the foresight to understand that from now on the team would never be the same, and she was scared that the fragile bond Team 7 painstakingly formed in the time they were together, would just be forgotten, with each of the boys thinking only about themselves.
Kakashi was simply reading his book, calmly judging his decisions and not blaming himself for having made a choice that could have possibly broken his team. It was necessary, he told himself, because Naruto's skills were too far ahead, and it would be detrimental for the blonde grow as a shinobi to be held back because of useless reasons.
And he had seen the frustrated looks the almost-chuunin sent him when Team 7 trained, as if what they were doing was so far beneath him that he didn't need to apply himself, and his tremendous skills in the fights in their last mission more than cemented his decision.
There was no other way, and who say that Team 7 would be dismantled? It just happened that one of the genin was promoted because he was too strong, but that didn't mean that they the entire team would separate from each other- there was a bond between them that wouldn't permit that, he thought resolutely.
They reached the great wall surrounding Konoha in under a day, in the afternoon, and their entrance was signed by the appearance of an ANBU, who calmly informed, in a emotionless voice, that the Hokage was waiting for them.
Apparently their report was important enough to warrant a official meeting.
Well, it wasn't that difficult to understand, after all, a possible alliance with Mist was not only unprecedented, but also unexpected. The chance of profits were absurdly high, but in the occasion that the bet Konoha made through Naruto didn't work as wanted, the losses could be just as high.
War, it could bring to war.
So, when Team 7 entered the Hokage office, they were greeted by an oppressive atmosphere, produced by the Sandaime, who was sitting on his chair, but facing the window, and not the door.
Sarutobi was a man who had gone through much in his long life, but every time these kind of situations managed to surprise him. He may be called naïve, but the thought of war was one that he preferred to confine in the depths of his mind.
Living through three war, two of which he led, could do that to everyone.
But he was also a strong man, and he wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste just because of his, rather well suppressed, fear.
He turned on his chair, finally facing Team 7, and interlaced his hands on his desk underneath his chin, his gaze serious.
"Tell me everything" He said slowly, taking the time to pronounce each word carefully.
And so they did, straightening their stance as if standing at attention. The most part of the tale was told, as common sense dictate, by Kakashi, as the senior officer, but the Hokage wasn't one for missing details, and he made sure to ask appropriate questions to the three genin, particularly to Naruto, as he was in the center of the action, to get a more complete picture of the situation.
"And then Sasuke used a Katon Jutsu to burn Gatou. The rest of our time in Wave was calm and uneventful, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said respectfully, his throat a little parched from the long talk. That was why he ended the tale so quickly.
"Is that all? Do you three have anything to add?" The Hokage asked serious, but not unkindly.
"No, Hokage-sama" The three genin answered, though Naruto looked reluctant.
"Yes, Naruto? Tell me, every detail is important." Sarutobi asked reading correctly Naruto's face.
"Ah," Naruto flushed a little "It's nothing related to the mission, but..." The Hokage nodded at him to continue "Well, they nominated the bridge after me, isn't that awesome?!" He asked excitedly, which lowered the tension in the room. Chuckles came from a shadow nearby the left wall, but everybody ignored the obviously untrained ANBU, who was then kicked by his co-worker in the shin, which caused him to take an audible gulp of air as he tried not to shout in pain.
"Why, yes it is, even if it's not that impressive, but I guess everyone boast what they can get though..." Sarutobi trailed off with a smirk.
Naruto growled silently, and just as he was raising to the bait, he was shushed by Kakashi.
"Don't argue Naruto, it's true. Now then, if you were talking about beating S-Class ninja at your age, it could be justified, but for such small things, well, I'm not sure what to call you, a peacock or delusional" Kakashi said shaking his head.
"They're ganging up on me, they're... why?" Naruto murmured under his breath.
The Hokage and Kakashi shared a laugh, before the other two genin, who were feeling quite out of the loop, were dismissed. They did so with a confused expression on their face, after customary respectful bows. Naruto on the other hand slowly grew excited, this was it, he could feel it!
"So, about that thing we talked about, do you think it's earned now?" Kakashi asked.
"I don't know, the accord was that it would need exemplary conduct to warrant that and I'm not sure they been reached yet" Sarutobi mused.
"But but, we were able to save a country, finally gave you an excuse to help the Mist Rebels, what more would you need for that! I need it!" Kakashi expression slowly became disturbing.
The Hogake sighed.
"Could you stop that? I...Okay, you'll have what you want." Naruto who had been listening to the conversation half confused and half trying to make sense of what they were saying, eagerly leaned forward, anticipating his promotion.
Sarutobi rummaged in one of the many drawers of his desk, and suddenly made a sound of accomplishment.
"Here it is" He said, extracting his hand from the drawer "Icha Icha Paradise: Makeout Edition 2, signed by Jiraya the Toad Sage and it's not even out in the market yet!"The Hokage made a sound so similar to a squeal that it should have never been uttered by a male, especially an old one. Then he recomposed himself "Of course, seeing as I have no use for it, you may as well take it" He said imperiously.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama" Kakashi extended his arms toward Sarutobi, and the Hokage hesitated before finally placing the revered book in his subordinate hands.
"Well, if that's all, you are-"
"What about me! I thought- and then Kakashi said- I made chuunin!" Naruto rambled nonsensically, almost whining.
Everyone in the room laughed, even the whole ANBU squad in the shadows, because it seems that today was Laugh At Naruto Day. Well, that was the only thing that made sense.
"Oh, you mean that trivial matter!" The Hokage smiled, wiping a tear of mirth off his eye.
Naruto by now had understood that they were making fun of him, so he used his great control over his emotion to plant a mask of coldness on his face.
Yeah, right. He bristled and began tapping the floor with his feet, arms crossed.
This prompted another round of laughter obviously, but this time, when they quieted down, the atmosphere become -finally- serious.
"Naruto Uzumaki, genin of Konohagakure no Sato, number of identification004088, is being forwarded for promotion to chuunin rank for exemplary field performance by jounin Kakashi Hatake. Am I correct?" He asked receiving firm nods "The request has been carefully considered, and a compromise has been reached. You will battle one of our best chuunin in a week, and after that a more thorough examination will let us decide in a clearer way if you are worthy of the chuunin rank. Dismissed" Sarutobi said, receiving a dejected nod from Naruto and a serious one from Kakashi.
The remaining members of team seven then took their leave, with Naruto quickly asking if he could be trained in the time before the test.
Kakashi eye-smiled and nodded, before they departed, both happy.
-Demonic Changes-
The week before the exam was productive for one blonde-haired shinobi.
While he could control perfectly his chakra, a perks from his jinchuuriki status, elemental chakra was a whole other kind of fish. He had to exert his control over every element, and he wanted it to be absolute, not like other shinobis, and while he knew that it was rather difficult, it didn't detract any from his belief that he will one day be capable of mastering every element to the same degree he mastered his chakra.
Or at least, that was the plan.
Then he discovered that he just couldn't master some of his affinities. Earth and Lightning for example. They were noticeably lagging behind and nothing he did seemed to be enough to bring them back on track, while his wind nature instead of becoming more difficult, became simpler and simpler and sometime in the future he was sure that he would be able to be manipulate wind as easily as he breathed. Fire and Water instead, while steadily improving, were still becoming so complicated to manipulate that he could estimate that he won't reach the level he would with his wind chakra.
Personally Naruto thought he was letting himself be dragged down by an incredulous Kakashi, who repeatedly told him that it just wasn't possible for a person to control every element, and after a while Naruto lost interest in becoming a master of everything, leaning more towards just learning that which was easiest to him, wind. Or at least that was what he thought, it didn't mean that it was true naturally.
You could also say that this may have been the excuse he needed to do what he really preferred to do, and that was mastering wind chakra.
It was just so...exhilarating to lose himself in the air around oneself, leaving behind his worries, replacing them with the soft whistle of the spring breeze, letting himself and his thoughts be guided by the gentle currents of the wind that blew in the clearing he was training in, his still form still only in a physical sense, while his thoughts wandered uncharted places.
His nature was in tune with Wind, so it must have been obvious that the unmoving Earth, solid and firm, could have never been part of his self, the two elements were too in contrast. Lightning was strange, but he just shrugged, even if it was a shame that Kakashi wouldn't be able to teach him his favored element.
Still, the gray haired jounin was a big help not only in the strictly Ninjutsu part of his training, which was a given because of his reputation as the man of s thousand jutsu, but also and most importantly in the physical part of his training, and more importantly his Taijutsu, which was rather horrible even if hidden beneath incredible speed and strength for a genin, was set on the way towards improvement, even if progress was incredibly slow, especially because of Naruto, almost subconscious, high disregard toward anything physical.
But he endured, and he was sure that his commitment would sometime in the future bear its fruits. Or so he was told.
He wasn't sure whether to believe Kakashi. The man was unexpectedly sadistic in regards to training, and there was the distinct chance that he was just having fun torturing him.
It was something to muse on as he walked to Training Field 17, where his test was to be held. Just a normal clearing, one of the many in Konoha.
His opponent was a certain Mizuiro Ooda, a rather strange fellow, or so he had heard. He was an average sized fifteen years old chuunin, with long spiky black hair and just as black eyes, his clothing normal for a chuunin expect for the black trench coat with a strange blue lightning motif on each side. Rumor has it that he had a traumatizing experience when he was a child, something involving a beating or a mob or countless other things, the rumors varied on that, and after that, from the cheerful guy he was, he suddenly changed, becoming cold and almost heartless. Well, that may be selling it short, it was more like he had his own set of moralities, and that meant that nobody knew what passed through his head. For some strange reason, he also had his own fan club, and strange voices circulated about his love situation...
But anyway, if there was one thing that was sure about the guy, it was that he was an incredibly good Lightning user, and that he was fearsome with his nodachi. It was also said that he was one of the few chuunin in the run for jounin, so it was obvious why the Hokage chose him, seeing as he said that he would pit Naruto against one of his best Chuunin.
Naruto was still thinking about his sensei as he walked in the aforementioned clearing, finding it not as crowed as he would have liked. He wanted to show off to the whole of Konoha how strong he was, instead there was only his opponent, Kakashi and some of his jounin group, while five girls were talking with Mizuiro, who gave these half-smiles that did not reach his eyes that seemed to make the girls swoon with excitement.
Naruto rolled his eyes at this scene, before grinning.
"Hey you! Naruto Uzumaki is here, and ready to kick your ass!" He shouted, and the jounins sweatdropped, while the girls around Mizuiro became red with anger.
"There's no way you will beat-" One started, before being interrupted by a calm Mizuiro.
"No need for that, you know what they say, the dog that barks the loudest don't bite" He smirked, making the five girls squeal.
"Oh my god! He's so cool!"
"Did you see him smirk?"
"So awesome!"
Naruto slowly sweatdropped. Is this guy for real? And the girls, why would they- bah I don't care. He shrugged.
"Can we just get this over with? I'm already starting to get tired of this" Naruto yawned to make a point. Kakashi smirked and nodded.
The fan girls bristled in silence.
"Yo" Kakashi said rubbing his head "I don't really know the formalities, but you can begin beating each other up whenever you want" He said waving his hand dismissively.
Naruto shook his head, then raised one hand in the air, and brought it down with a challenging smirk. Mizuiro raised to the challenge, and was on him in a instant, pelting him with a series of rapid punches that would have left any genin lying on the ground knocked out.
But Naruto was able to dodge and parry with some difficulties, though failing to gain any ground to press his offensive. Then Mizuiro smirked, and coated his hands in lightning.
Naruto widened his eyes and shunshined out of the way quickly, disappearing in the trees, and then underground, using the only earth jutsu he manged to learn. He still had to do the handseals, so he considered it a failure, but it was useful nonetheless.
His opponent frowned, before he quickly drew his sword and closed his eyes.
Then Naruto escaped the earth from right underneath Mizuiro feet, trying to grasp him, but the teen managed to jump in the air, somersault and land on his feet in a crouch, sword held with the blunt side on his back. Then he sprinted towards Naruto, the sword held to the side as he ran, crackling with electricity.
That was when Naruto decided to use genjutsu, even if he would have preferred to keep it as a trump card.
He ran to the side, leaving illusionary afterimages and real clones behind him, along with simple bunshins. The bunshins and the afterimages disappeared after one hit, while the Shadow Clones tried to take advantage of any over-extension from Mizuiro because of the immaterial clone. There was none. And his smirk was becoming irratating.
Naruto stopped and hurled one shuriken towards Mizuiro, which then became fifty and were propelled forward by a mighty wave of wind. The more experienced chuunin looked worried, but then he stabbed his sword, still crackling with lightning, in the ground, and somehow replicated the legendary effects of the Raijin No Ken, the sword of the Nidaime Hokage, attracting all of the shuriken to the ground in a magnetic wave. His determinated expression was though soon to become shocked, because the wave of wind wasn't stopped any by the magnetic field, and slammed into him with strength, sending him into the forest behind them.
Evidently he hadn't calculated, or even seen, the Wind Jutsu in his equation.
Naruto arrogantly thought it was over, and even turned toward Kakashi, and that cost him, because somehow, the thought-defeated chuunin was up, and in a move too fast to see, kicked the blonde-haired boy in the chin, and this time it was Naruto that was sent flying.
The shocking thing though was the Lightning Armor surrounding Mizuiro, crackling and twisting with blue lightning all around his body.
The fan girls, who had shouted after him in worry just two seconds prior, were now cheering for him.
Meanwhile Naruto cursed himself for his slip of attention. If this was a real fight he knew he would have died. But in a real fight I don't have to impress anybody, he thought, referring to the jounin judges who would decide if he would pass.
He got up, and saw his opponent standing at attention in the place he previously occupied, but what worried him was that lightning that coursed throughout his body. It was a little intimidating to be honest. But he also saw signs that his attack had some effect on the other boy, a busted lips and various scratches were the more glaring examples, and maybe a cracked rib, but he wasn't really sure from this distance.
He couldn't approach Mizuiro directly now, but he could outplay him. So he started to plan.
Then he grinned, as he could see that armor weakness now. It ate chakra like a bitch. So if he just stayed hidden...
-10 minutes later-
Mizuiro finally decided to let his hold on the jutsu fade, but immediately Naruto jumped from cover and with great speed reached him legs extended as if to kick him.
Naturally he jumped, and then he was again in his armor, and he threw a fast kick at Naruto, who only had time to widen his eyes.
Poof.
And then he disappeared, white smoke in his wake.
Mizuiro slowly got more and more frustrated, because as soon as he tried to get some respite and recuperate his chakra reserves, he was forced to activate his Lightning Armor again and again, till he was panting.
Sometimes, the question "Why do I have to activate the jutsu" found his way into his thoughts, before he discarded it as soon as he thought it.
Yeah, genjutsu could do also that, create a simple compulsion, to make someone want something, in this case, Mizuiro had a strange desire to activate his armor every time he saw Naruto, whether he was a copy or the original, who meanwhile had decided to camp it out in the forest, laying and waiting for his plan to come to fruition in a bored fashion.
It took only another five minutes for Mizuiro to understand the situation and dispel the illusion, but by then he was panting and coughing from chakra exhaustion.
"You're good" He said between wheezes "But not good enough!" He shouted, and in a explosion of lightning he took off directly towards where Naruto was hidden, having finally sensed his chakra. He saw with satisfaction that the blonde eyes were surprised and almost fearful, before a strong, lightning charged punch, found his way to Naruto's stomach, who shouted from the pain of being electrocuted.
Then he exploded.
Mizuiro was sent flying into the bark of a tree, slamming into it and letting himself fall into unconsciousness, chakra exhaustion and being bombed finally getting the best of him.
"You planned that far ahead?" Not before giving one last comment though.
"Well, not really, it's just that I like to leave exploding clones laying around the place, you know, just for fun!" Naruto said mockingly. It wasn't really necessary, seeing as Mizuiro was unconscious, though it was satisfying in a way.
Five girls, really? He deserved this beating. And how did he even-? Naruto decided that thinking about this situation was only going to cause him brain-death, though it was so puzzling that he really wanted to understand this mystery some more...
"Just, just don't. Let it be, Naruto" Kurama grunted out, laying his veto on the situation.
"If you say so"
Then Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, scaring Naruto (and secretly Kurama) to death.
"Good job, you passed!" He eye-smiled, gifting Naruto with an rather old and worn chuunin jacket.
Naruto looked at it questioningly.
"It's my jacket from my chuunin days" Kakashi reminisced "I've worn it so many times that I've grown attached to it, ah! How many tears, blood and sweat I poured on this jacket, it's part of my essence, but now I'm a jounin, and it's been just collecting dust for years, so I want to gift it to you, my first student who became a chuunin" He said smiling.
Kakashi hadn't noticed Naruto growing horrified expression, so he was surprised when his gift was quickly pushed away with a hurried "No thank you!"
"What" Kakashi deadpanned.
"It's not like I don't want it, but it's just that I want to be my own person, and I don't think I want to deprive yourself of such an emotionally charged object..." Kakashi stared hard at him "Oh fuck it! Who know what you've done in that jacket, huh Kakashi-sensei? We all know you're not exactly the most, huh, reasonable of people, look at what you read in
public for fuck sake! So, who's to say that other than tears, blood and sweat, which are already bad enough mind you, you didn't also... well you know." Naruto said to an incredulous Kakashi.
"You thought that I..."
"Absolutely"
"I did not do that! On the jacket, why would it even be a place where you do that! And why I'm having this conversation with my thirteen years old student!" Kakashi almost shouted, and he may have been blushing, but who knows.
Just then all of the other jounins come out the woods laughing hysterically, while the five fan girls, almost crying, took their beloved Mizuiro back with them, probably to a hospital, a jounin, who noticeably wasn't from Kakashi's group, going with them.
"You're promoted gaki!" Was the only thing Kakashi said as he ran away in a tactical retreat clutching his precious jacket.
"Now, isn't it suspicious that he took his jacket with him?" Naruto pondered, which prompted another wave of laughter from the jounins.
-Demonic Changes-
Nearly a month had passed since he made chuunin, and he had the -new- jacket to prove it, but other than training and beating Sasuke he didn't really do anything of worth.
The fight wasn't special, if anything it was anticlimatic at its best. While the Sharingan counteracted genjutsu and could foresee his taijutsu, that didn't mean that Sasuke was ready to go against speed levels above his own. His eyes could keep up, if barely, it had only one tomoe after all, but his body couldn't, and it resulted in a quick match that lasted only one minute, in which Naruto tried to lower down his speed to let Sasuke keep up, but he just couldn't. More like wouldn't, to be honest. He really didn't like to downplay his skills.
The dynamics of Team 7 became ever more strained, and Sakura ever more unhappy, she really wanted this team thing to work, and she felt useless every time she couldn't keep them together, or when Sasuke sent hate-filled glares at Naruto, which sometimes changed in curious and burning gazes, his pride the only thing stopping him for asking for the help he desperately wanted.
And so the pink haired kunoichi slowly drifted away from the purely ninja activities, preferring to study medicine and medical ninjutsu, having found her skill in the subject in a period of depression in which she wanted to quit being a ninja. That massacre in front of Gatou mansion had not only opened her eyes, but also made her want to keep them closed, as she didn't want to see that aspect of the ninja career. But in the end she couldn't quit for some reason, there was something in this kind of work that called to her, and when she finally found medical ninjutsu, and her aptitude to it, she knew what allured her, what, almost, forced her on this difficult path of life.
Her gentle nature shined in this area, and she was happy for now, even if she would have liked to be able to heal her Team, and more specifically Sasuke, because she could see he was suffering greatly from whatever happened to him. And she really wanted to help, but she just couldn't find the courage to act on her feelings, it was like there was a repulsive aura around the Uchiha that nobody could get through, and she wasn't an exception.
Meanwhile Naruto had finally reached, in the record time of two months of training, the result in wind chakra that he had hoped to achieve for all of his elemental affinities, a good enough control over wind that he only needed a general idea of a jutsu to copy it or just create a similar new technique. Well, feat of incredible wind manipulation were still a little beyond him, because it was difficult to shape it in forms like those of a dragon or other beasts. He still could do them with handseals, usually, but he didn't think a jutsu was battle ready till he could do them with nary a thought.
That doesn't mean that sometimes he wouldn't use a jutsu he thought wasn't battle ready if the situation called for it.
His studies in the art of Fuuinjutsu had reached a dead end though. There simply weren't enough scrolls or books on the subject beyond those for a beginner, and it seemed like the only way to learn the almost lost art was directly from a Fuuinjutsu Master. And there weren't a lot of those in the world.
Taijutsu was still a pain, he just didn't get why, but he couldn't muster the same enthusiasm for it as he could for genjutsu, ninjutsu or even for fuuinjutsu. It just wasn't there, and the style he had learned was focused on dodging and staying out of the way of the enemy. It could be called a rip off from the Uchiha Interceptor Style, but he learned it from Kakashi and he just didn't care about it.
He spent some time doing missions, usually C-Ranks, which were always uneventful, sometimes with Team 7, some other time with other teams, and even as leader. It was to gain experience, they said, but Naruto personally thought that it was a secret conspiracy to either make missing nin or to make Konoha ninjas more obedient.
That was how he found himself in the Hokage's office with that pompous ass, Mizuiro Ooda, the one he had given a beating to. It was a relief though that he was alright, Naruto will admit that he was a little worried that the explosion was a little overkill.
"This is the scroll of the mission." Hiruzen said pointing to a scroll "The mission is a simple one, the daughter of an influential noble, a certain Ayumi Fuuto, want a photo of the great castle of Tanzaku-gai, and she decided to hire ninja to do the job. Naturally she want beautiful photos, from the outside, the inside and everything in between. Is that clear" The two boys sighed an affirmative.
"The leader of the mission will be-"
"Don't care" The two shinobi said at the same time, not even looking surprised of it.
"Ooda-kun" The Hokage ended with an amused smile "Dismissed, and remember, don't fail"
At this the two shinobi nodded, and then, after coming to an agreement on the meeting hour, they separated to prepare themselves for the mission.
-Demonic Changes-
By now, the two Chuunin had been running for close to an hour, and fatigue was the last thing on their mind. They just wanted to get this mission over with, because just hearing the mission details they were left feeling stupid. Really, some noble daughter wanted photos of a castle? Why? Unfortunately they weren't allowed to question these kind of things. Being "just" shinobi sometimes sucked.
They hopped between trees till, some time later, they landed on the ground and continued to run towards the now visible Tanzaku-gai. It took less then five minutes to reach the city that was barely visible near the horizon.
It was lunch time, so a quick meal ensued before they quickly went to do the useless chore they were assigned, and while the camera was set to take a photo from the outside, they finally started talking.
"So, how is it? I mean, five girls... How do you do it?" Naruto just had to know.
"I love them all equally, and it's not like they're useless object to me, because I shared unique moments with all of them, and it all lead to this situation, which I assure you, I didn't mean at all" Mizuiro laughed sheepishly " And Solid Clones help" He said in a whisper.
Naruto blushed and a little bit of blood escaped his nose, and after that their conversation was more relaxed, slowly feeling as if they've known each other for a lifetime.
"Man, you really got me good at your test! I mean, I've underestimated you a little, but that trick at the end really got me. I should have been serious from the start." Mizuiro said teasingly.
"Tch. I would have beaten you nonetheless. It's easy to see who's the strongest between us, and I can give you a hint, it's not you." Naruto said haughtily.
They both busted out laughing, before they finally packed the camera in a scroll and walked toward the castle, laughing all the way.
The castle was rather abandoned, given the fact that nobody was guarding it, and seemed rather empty, but as they settled in they just continued to speak without concern, too much taken in their conversation. It was letting time run faster, and it took their mind off the uselessness of the job.
Outside clouds were gathering, and they could see that because the roof of the castle...just wasn't there. So as it started to rain they were just happy to have taken all the needed photos, and so they packed the camera and prepared to leave the abandoned castle.
Then lightning struck, a bolt running at immense speed straight from the sky towards them.
"LOOK OUT!" Naruto shouted, but could only remain staring as the bolt landed on Mizuiro right hand. He screamed, and the stench of charred flesh was carried out in the air towards Naruto, who started feeling nauseous.
Mizuiro then fell on the ground, still screaming, spasms coming from him frequently. His right hand was blackened and unrecognizable, but Naruto by now was simply looking around, to identify their attacker, if there even was one. It could have been simply a natural thunder bolt, but he personally doubted that. Coincidence was evidence in the life of a ninja.
"Come on out, I know you're there!" Naruto screamed.
As if to answer his pleas, a man appeared right beside Mizuiro laying form, sword raised high in the air. Naruto ran. The sword flashed, but Mizuiro amazingly dodged.
But it wasn't enough, because the sword was filled with lightning chakra which was directed right into the black haired boy.
A pain filled scream -then nothing.
While Naruto was petrified, the ninja took the time to cut off Mizuiro's head, forever settled in a pain filled expression, and seal it in a scroll, before sighing.
"Ah, another job done. See you later kid!" The unidentified ninja said while walking away, a smirk on his face.
"Youuuuu! Bastard!" Naruto shook himself of his shock and dashed toward the man, launching a kunai which became fifty with but a thought.
But, amazingly, the ninja simply turned, waved his sword in the air, and all the kunai simply dropped.
That was when he understood. Aoi Rokusho, traitor jounin of the leaf, famous for having stolen the Raijin no Ken from right beneath Konoha nose, someone said with the help of a genin. But he wasn't a strong jounin, an average one at best, but still one with a legendary weapon.
And even filled with anger and hate coursing through his being, he couldn't help but admire that finely crafted sword, awe fighting with righteous anger. The anger won, but Naruto also calmed down and stopped his dash. He wouldn't avenge anyone getting killed.
The only problem was that any plan he could come up with, there was at least a way for that sword to counter it in some way, even if he had only guesses regarding what it could really do. Sure, he had seen it in action, but not enough to know everything about it.
So he just used what he already knew, genjutsu and a bit of misdirection. Meanwhile Aoi just looked amused.
He used an illusion that showed him running toward Aoi from the right side, and added also inverted senses to the equation, just to be sure. Then he dashed again toward the missing nin, a kunai in his hand.
But there was something wrong. Aoi wasn't looking at where his illusionary self should be, or even changed his stance. He just stood there, his eyes looking straight at him. That was enough indicator, but when he also sprinted in his direction, Naruto had no doubts. This man had somehow dispelled his genjutsu effortlessly.
Naruto created a cloud of smoke with his Shadow Clone Jutsu, three clones appearing around him, two on each side and one behind him.
Aoi scoffed when he saw the technique used, as it was obvious that the kid was the one in the back, or he would be Kawarimied at the last second. He let his sword do the work for him, waving it once firmly in front of him just as they were about to come into contact, dispelling two clones and shocking the original.
But Naruto persevered through the pain, which was lessened by a layer of wind chakra on his skin, that as everyone knew had the ability to negate lightning, even if Naruto would swear that it did not have that ability, seeing as he was feeling the shocks coursing through his system.
He didn't think about that though, as he charged his kunai with wind chakra, and threw it directly at the man heart.
Aoi, though surprised, was able to twist his body enough that the weapon hit his left shoulder instead, but the wind chakra enhanced it so much that he could feel it had cut almost all the way through the bone. He screamed.
Naruto's clone used the Kawarimi no Jutsu to exchange places with its creator, creating two Blade of Wind as he went, and as he closed in on the injured man, used one to parry the sword he was almost impaled by, and the other to attack him.
The sword traced a shallow line on Aoi's right biceps, before the clone was dispelled by an angry lightning shot. It couldn't even think "I'm sorry".
Meanwhile Naruto laid on the ground, still twitching from the after effect of the lightning.
Aoi, though injured, advanced toward Naruto, because his injured pride would allow no less from him. If he was in his right mind, he would have escaped, seeing as he got his job done and hadn't needed to kill this other brat, but anger clouded his judgment.
"Why?" Naruto's asked, eyes shadowed by his hair.
"HehehehAhahahaahahahahah" Aoi laughed maniacally "You ask me why? Money, brat. It was a mission, and I completed it. I don't even know why they asked me to kill him. I think it was about a jutsu stolen or something like that. But you know what's funny? It was a request that came from high up, one of the Five Great Villages! Don't you see? It's beautiful! They preach and preach about peace between villages, while they use minor villages to do their battle, and meanwhile they continued their silent war, while thinking it's a shadowy affair, that nobody know about it. But we know! Everyone knows! It will just takes a little incident to spark the war that is to come, and it will be glorious! It will be a new age for shinobi, new villages will rise to power, and Rain will be among them! And I'll-"
Wind started to pick up, ruffling the abandoned castle. Stones and gravels rattled against the ground, and Naruto got on his feet. Air gathered around him, visible and almost green around his limbs, making his clothes and hair flutter. Aoi, still in pain, looked around himself and found himself stunned at Naruto's appearance.
"Shut. Up." Naruto glared. "I don't care about your fanatic tendencies. I don't care about your conspiracy plots. I don't care about you. And that's the problem. Right now, whatever you say, to me, it's shit. You killed my friend, without a second thought, and right now I don't care about the philosophy behind it, because you have already said enough for me. And now, you'll die. Kaze no Yoroi (Wind Armor)" He whispered.
The air, previously only around his limbs, slowly formed a rough armor surrounding his body, twisting winds hiding his body from view, but not impairing his eyesight. On his hands the wind sharpened forming almost invisible blades, while on his legs wind circulated in a chaotic manner. His chest was protected but the wind was so compact it couldn't be seen.
A burst of wind propelled him on the right side of the missing nin in a speedy rush, and then Aoi had only the time to widen his eyes as his right arm was dismembered. A fountain of blood and a pained scream followed, but by then Naruto's other arm was coming for a decapitating blow.
It landed.
Aoi didn't scream anymore.
All was silent, outside of the quiet dripping motion of Aoi's blood on the ground.
Then a tear joined the missing nin blood, before, for the first time in his life, Naruto really wept.
AN: I'm such a bastard. But my OC should have been killed, for the simple fact that he didn't exist in canon. Or that's my opinion of OC, either you do a story on them, or you kill them for plot purpose. The purpose was to open Naruto's eyes to the true ugliness of the world he live in, and to write that epic villain monologue, but also for another thing, that I'll keep secret though :P
The timeline is a month before the Chuunin Exam, for the curious.
And if you get what the allegory was about, write it in review or PM, I'll answer you. Even if I don't believe you'll get it :P
PS: If anyone see that I've used idea of some other author, even though I think I didn't, please tell me, so I can not only ask for permission, but also read his story.
