Dar1us is Back. Hope you guys like the Chapte. I spent time on it and had a friend look over it.
The sun glinted off of the Blades edge, instead of looking beautiful it only caused the fragile hearted man to feel more pain. His heart ached in fear of the onrushing grief that was destined to break him. His heart pained along all the scars, scars that were healed by the man in front of him. Those fragile scars would only rip further with the fading of his personal stitching. His student had helped him come to terms with the losses he had faced but with the passing of his student no one would be there to help him carry on.
"Jiraiya, Don't fear the future. You don't have to fear. That's why I'm going out with a bang, to protect future generations from the curses I bear and the problems that follow."
Jiraiya, the broken man looked to his blond student.
"Well then I'll humor a hero. Tell me your story Naruto; what price do you have to pay for your power?" Naruto looked at his sensei and smiled a rueful smile.
"It all began with a five year olds Dream…"
A five year old me trudged through the forests, glumly recalling the events of earlier. I had opened his fridge to find it empty, I wasn't used to having to look out for myself because I had only been living by myself for the last month and the Third was only due to stop by in a week with supplies. I always wondered why even though I was hungry and hadn't eaten that I never died or got really thin like the street kids I often saw. I had attempted to get food with the meager amount of money I was given and I was just given cold looks and charged huge amounts of money for simple groceries. Why was life soo unfair? Why did me, a five year old kid, have to look out for myself? Well "what ever", I thought, I'll survive and prove to everyone that I am strong. I had the dream to be Hokage.
With this statement I had broken through the foliage to find myself at the bass of a large cliff. It towered over me. So high I could not make out the top, its surface was rocky with no vegetation. Not even moss. The only thing marring its surface was a gigantic sword embedded at head height. As any curious boy would, I approached it and reached out to touch it 'This power comes with a price.'
I jerked awake confused and unsure, 'what did that mean' I had thought.
"That was the first time I laid eyes on this sword" Naruto threw the sword into the ground burying it two thirds of the way hiding the inscription.
"That is what it looked like to me when I was five. It was all I thought about for the rest of my youth. I would return to that cliff often in my dreams and it continued so for most of my youth…
Eight year old me was adept at living alone. I had grown accustomed to the burdens of being an orphan and looked foreword to joining the academy. I had been approached the week prior by the Hokage to enroll me in the academy. I had felt so powerful, being picked personally by the Hokage to join the academy. I had gone out to buy things for academy. But had been unsuccessful in procuring any of the necessities and so was resigned to ask the hokage when next I saw him. That night I planned to sleep well in preparation for the Academy. Night found me once again returning to the cliff, but this time with a mission. I would draw the sword, I needed a weapon for the academy to impress the kids and hopefully win myself some friends. See eight year old me whilst being adept at 'living' alone was not capable of surviving alone. The nights tore at my courage, the bangs and threats instilled fear. I knew they would not come true but no child enjoys threats. I had no friends besides the old man and some of the street kids and the street kids only tolerated me until I gave them food. I found myself in front of the Blade. Slowly I reached out to grasp the hilt, upon touching I was once again subject to the message, 'This power comes with a price, free the power!' I had hoped not to wake up but did anyway.
"Academy days were rough. I was slow, un-coordinated and above all else starving for attention. I flunked many a time not due to stupidity but because I was too intent on gaining attention to pay attention to my sensei's. The only teacher who had time for me was Iruka and it was solely because of him that I managed to get to my final year with people my age, this was barring the fact that I started earlier than the rest of my age group. My final year of academy was highly eventful and lead me down the path I now tread with trepidation…
I spent my Academy time at the back of class partaking in my favorite hobby of that time, imagining and sketching what I thought the Blade embedded in the cliff would look like. The sketches grew more and more absurd and eventually totally unbelievable. Most kids by now had labeled me the weird obnoxious kid. At twelve I was below average in height and stature, but ten times as annoying as anyone my age. I always seemed behind the other boys in development. They were all faster stronger and bigger than me. But I made up for my lack in stature during Taijutsu practice with single minded determination. If and when I won it was merely due to my endurance and tenacity, not any skill. Rated last in the grade there was little to no hope for me passing and yet still I preserved. While other kids did moderate academy gengutsu's I struggled with the basics. All my Ninjutsus turned out horrible; I practiced them daily to improve, but never could keep up. That day was the day of the final tests and I had fallen asleep while I waited.
I had found myself in front of that cliff again, this time dejected, fearing the outcome of the exams. I had thought that with enough practice I could pass, but the closer I got to writing, the more in turmoil I felt. That time in front of the blade I had decided to accept the power so that I could use it to pass, how I wish now I hadn't made that decision. As I touched it I was given the message 'This power comes with a price. Free the power and free the beast!' that message had perplexed me I had been unsure of what the Beast was. Now I know.
"NARUTO, Stop dreaming and get up here. It's your turn." Iruka had shouted at me. I had sauntered into the testing room, dreading the test. I knew I was not ready and suspected that I never would be.
"All you need to do is pass this Ninjutsu test. Your Taijutsu marks weren't to bad and you Failed the written test, but as you know two out of three is a pass." Iruka had read off of the chart.
"For this test you just have to perform the Bunshin Jutsu." Theses words made my heart sink, Bunshin was the Jutsu I was the worst at, but I didn't care, I would try my hardest.
"Bunshin No-Jutsu" I remember bellowing, trying my hardest to do it as I was taught in class. When the smoke cleared there were two of me, but the one was so insubstantial you could not even call it an apparition.
"Naruto… I'm really sorry, but I have to fail-"
'DAMMIT, No I won't fail, DAMMIT not again.' I remember thinking. "Watch me sensei I'll get it right."
"Bunshin No-Jutsu"
"Bunshin No-Jutsu"
"Bunshin No-Jutsu"
"Bunshin No-Jutsu"
"Bunshin No-Jutsu" I carried on performing the Jutsu each one progressively worse than the prior. Eventually I broke down and had shouted, DAMMIT and Ran out of the room.
"That was possibly one of the worst points in my life, So many times I had failed but those prior times were nothing like this time. I think because deep down I realized that if I failed I would not be with my own age group. That was just too hard a truth to accept." Naruto kicked the stones at his feet the memory obviously troubling him. The blade in his hands seemed so harmless, but Jiraiya knew better. That blade had taken many lives and not all of them justified.
"But that, as you know, is definitely not the end of my story…
Mizuki had caught me about an hour later and had told me of an alternate way of passing, something about stealing a scroll, at that point I had been so desperate I had accepted it as truth and had planned to go through with it. Later that night on my way to steal the scroll I had been intercepted by Iruka, I remember the look of compassion he had given me when he saw me packed up. He had thought I was running away, the compassion he had shown me was something I had only experienced with the Hokage. He told me that he'd personally help me pass the next year. Finally I thought things were looking up. That was at least until Mizuki showed up. I remember it clearly.
"Dammit, Iruka, do always have to fuck everything up. I was going to get the Demon to steal the forbidden scroll, but as always, you stuffed it up." I remember Mizuki's gloating attitude. He was so sure he could beat us, had fate not intervened he probably would have. Not because Iruka was weak, but because I would have slowed him down. As it went I still slowed Iruka down. Mizuki had made use of a Fuuma shuriken to split us apart and once apart he began goading us,
"Oh Naruto, how naive. Did you really think Iruka gave a shit, I mean you are the one who made him an orphan. Do you know why he is nice to you? It's cause he wants to kill you. You are a demon that deserves to be wiped from this earth."
His words cut me deep because even at 12 I knew that that did happen. It had happened to me often enough. Small gifts and nice words to draw me into a shop where I thought I was getting a good deal but was in fact being ripped off completely. I for a second believed he was telling the truth, until I realized all the times Iruka had me all alone with him.
I retorted,
"There is no way I killed Iruka's parents. I wouldn't do that, and even if I had, I would remember it." Oh how Mizuki's next words had destroyed the little haven in my mind. Never would I have as many moments of peace, as I was always left to ponder my circumstances.
"Naruto, you know the Kyuubi attacked Konoha 12 years ago. What date was it, huh? Your Birthday wasn't it. Did you ever wonder why there was a seal on your belly? Its cause YOU ARE THE KYUUBI" those words as absurd as they sounded actually made sense. It put my whole life into perspective. I suddenly realized that all the times that I was mistreated, the cold looks, the angry retorts, the being take advantage of. All of it was because they thought I was the Kyuubi incarnate. My dream to be Hokage wasn't enough. I came to the conclusion that I had to break the hatred that oppressed me. I had to cut my way to their hearts and change them. My dream changed from becoming Hokage to overcoming people's misconceptions of me.
Iruka had been the first to accept me for me.
"Naruto don't listen to Mizuki, you know who you are and you know you are not a demon. To me you are not a demon or a murderer. You are my Student and a hero who is holding the demon at bay. Don't let the Fourth's sacrifice go to waste by assuming you are the Demon. You are a Human." Iruka had pleaded. It was at this point that mizuki had thrown the distracted Iruka into a tree. He than pulled out a Kunai and slowly stalked up to Iruka. I had felt soo completely useless, but did the only thing I could. I ran to intercept. Time seemed to slow as I attempted to push my body past its natural limits. I didn't care if it cost my life to save Iruka, at that point I didn't care. All I cared about was saving Iruka as I ran it seemed to take forever as I reached the three quarter mark I realized I probably wouldn't reach him in time but still I carried on. Suddenly the world around me shook and in my way of Saving Iruka was the Giant cliff. Looking at it I realized there was no way around or over it. The only thing I could do was draw the sword. I didn't have time for that so in a moment of absolute genius or stupidity (You can decide, Jiraiya) I made the decision to break though the cliff as I ran I cocked back my Fist and Punched the wall. Cracks had spread but still I pressed on running at the wall I then slammed my head against the wall and the whole cliff had shattered. I remember it clearly, the rocks falling round me, the Blade rotating as it fell down towards me. It was the biggest weapon I had ever seen, a humongous Blade. The hilt; a two handed grip. The sword was gigantic. It was my height and the Blade was wider than my head. Later I would find out that it was a Buster sword. Something not seen in Konoha. As I had run I had reached out and grabbed the Hilt, forgetting the warning I had accepted the power just so that I could save. The world had returned and I had lashed out with the Blade, Thinking back now I never did understand how I wielded that sword so easily that time. The Blade had cut Mizuki's Kunai in half and before I thought more I was swinging at him bellowing
"Don't you dare attack my sensei! I will protect him no matter the cost to me. You can kill him but I still won't let you hurt him anymore." I will remember that moment forever. I never can forget Mizuki's face; No matter how many times I had tried I could never forget that face. My Lashes had forced him back. Any weapon he used to block was just cut straight through. Any attempt at stopping my hands only left him stumbling. His fear filled face is the last thing I remember before my final lash had hit his stomach. You would think the blade would have stopped. It didn't. It went right through. As I realized what I had done my grip had loosened and the Blade had flown into the ground buried up to the hilt. That was the first time I killed.
The price I paid for saving my sensei was the loss of someone's life. I tried justifying it by saying he was evil. It helped a little, but I still could not stop thinking about those he left behind. I could not forgive myself. I still can't. I carry with me all the lives I've taken; I will only be able to let them go when I can find a way to stop fights and wars. I'm hoping that my planned actions will accomplish that.
We were later found by Anbu who had traced the Massive chakra outputI had apparently used when fighting Mizuki. They came across me sitting on my Haunches crying and Iruka trying his Best to comfort me. We were taken to see the Third and he had helped me get over what I had done with some choice words. Later it was decided to promote me to Genin as they felt I could not be left untrained with the potential I held. Not only would I be a welcome swordsman later in life, but I needed to be taught to handle death and my new power.
"Naruto, here is the Proof of your Graduation, A Konoha Forehead protector. While we were meeting I sent Your Blade to Genma, He has returned and wants to speak to you." The Hokage had kindly said. That forehead protector did more for my heart then any words, when I put it on I realized that I would have to take lives to save my village but I made the decision to carry each of those I killed with me.
Genma was a strange fellow. He looked so sickly, I remember his constant coughing. He was a good man.
"Hello Naruto, My name is Genma and I am Konoha's resident sword user. I have never before seen a Buster Blade but this is definitely one. It is perfectly sized for you, but I doubt you can use it. The Hokage has said I must teach you basic swordsmanship. I have made you a holster to hold the blade because we don't have any sheathes big enough. I know the blade will be heavy but the first training I'm giving you is, to always keep the blade on you. That's all for now I will see you tomorrow evening for practice."
That night I slept well.
"At that time, while I beat myself up over taking a life, I was still happy because I had a new teacher, I had someone who believed in me and I was a genin." Naruto looked at Jiraiya
"You remember that forehead protector, I still have the actual protector, the cloth however did not survive our training."
Naruto turned to look out over the forest as he contemplated all he had been through, "The price I paid at that time for the power was the loss of innocence that comes from taking a life."
Hope you liked it. Please review with your thoughts and suggestions. Would you like non-Cannon teams? Sensei's included. I am leaning towards cannon teams though. Please review.