Last time, on Darkness of the Heart…
Upon awakening the curse of his father and great-grandfather, Naruto tortured Haku and killed Gato's samurai army using dark sorcery, but once he returned to normal the day after, was unable to remember the carnage he'd created.
Chapter Three: A Deal with Darkness
Waking up, Naruto remembered that the Hokage had asked him for a personal, private debriefing on the Wave mission later that day.
For now, though, he simply got dressed in a pair of black slacks and a red short-sleeved shirt—the orange jumpsuit was at the cleaners today.
Sighing, Naruto wondered why it couldn't have been orange.
'Because orange screams "Kill me," you dolt.'
Turning around as he drew a kunai, Naruto demanded, "Who's there?!"
When the strange voice didn't answer, Naruto decided that he must have been hearing things.
But for the rest of the day, he heard dark whispers that made him uneasy…
_______
Walking into the Hokage's office in the afternoon, he was surprised to find that Iruka-sensei and his girlfriend Anko Mitarashi were also present.
"But old man, I thought you said this was private."
Lighting his pipe, Hiruzen replied, "Well, it is, but seeing how close you are to Iruka-kun and Anko-chan, I felt it proper to include them—since we might learn more than we think today."
Choosing not to dwell on the riddle, Naruto simply recounted how the mission to Wave had progressed.
"And when I was in Haku's Demon Ice Mirrors, I was about to die when the Kyuubi's power activated, healing me. Then, I punched and broke one of the mirrors, and after that, I felt something… bad."
Concerned, the Sandaime asked, "Naruto, could you please explain? What was bad about what you felt?"
Shivering, Naruto answered.
"Everything, sort of. I felt kind of sick to my stomach for a few seconds, and then it felt really good—like I didn't have a care in the world, like I was on top of the universe. But at the same time, it felt so… wrong. I remember something… bad running through my body, like it was in my blood, and then… everything's a blur."
Looking up at the Hokage, Naruto asked, "Is the seal breaking down? Because I think the Kyuubi possessed me—even Sasuke-san said that I tortured Haku-san and killed over a hundred samurai without even flinching."
Looking like he'd had a heart attack, Sarutobi said, "No Naruto—that wasn't the work o the Kyuubi. What I am about to tell you is something even more important than anything; important enough that by comparison, telling people about the Kyuubi is mere trivia.
"Naruto… your father was the Fourth Hokage."
Gripping his head and kneeling on the ground, Naruto appeared to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. His father was the Fourth Hokage?!
Before he could speak, Hiruzen gave him a scroll as he said, "Please read this immediately and remember what it says before you ask any questions, Naruto-kun. It's a letter from your father—one of the last things he ever did before he died."
His shaking hands unsealing the scroll, Naruto read it—and the contents shocked him to the core.
'My son, if you're reading this, then one of two things has happened. In the first case, you've turned fifteen and are a chunin, and if that's so, then I congratulate you. In the other case, however… I am so, so sorry that you have inherited my curse.
Before I explain, I should make certain you know the whole story.
A prophetess warned my grandfather of the Nine-Tail's attack six months before it actually happened. He came and told me, and we immediately began searching for a way to defeat it. Notice that I say 'defeat' rather than 'kill' or 'destroy' because Demons such as the Kyuubi are immortal.
The only method I could find to protect Konoha was a Forbidden Fuinjutsu known as the Reaper Death Seal. It could seal even a creature as mighty as the Kyuubi, but with two conditions: that the vessel be a newborn human child, and that whoever seals the monster give up his soul to the Reaper. And understand that I do not refer to the lesser Reapers, known as Shinigami, but the true Reaper—Death itself. Allowing such a creature to have my soul would've meant losing all chance of an afterlife, as my soul would be devoured—a fate I was not keen on suffering.
My grandfather and I eventually went to see a witch doctor, to see if he would be able to give us another way to stop the Fox. He told us that there was another way, but demanded payment for the information: he wanted the first three children born each year for the next decade to be his slaves.
Compared with selling my people into servitude like that, damnation and the end of existence were all too appealing. I told him that the price was too high, and apologized for wasting his time. Sadly, he thought that "sorry" didn't cut it, and cursed us with what he called "Kuragari no Kokoro" or "Darkness of the Heart". If you are reading this letter before you've turned fifteen AND become chunin, then my worst fear has come to pass—you have inherited the Darkness of the Heart.
So that you won't be unprepared, I'm going to tell you exactly what the effects are.
First, you must understand that it grants you considerable power—and in many ways. While it is active, you become stronger, faster, resistant to injury, and all of your senses are enhanced tenfold. Furthermore, it causes you to be able to copy any Kekkei Genkai or Clan secret jutsu—but not unless you use the Darkness. If you want, you could think of the Darkness as a kind of suped-up Sharingan while it's active.
In addition, you gain several new abilities such as Dark Elementalism, a number of psionic powers, and the inherent power to use the Dark Summoning. However, using any of these—indeed, using the Darkness at all will shorten your lifespan in a proportion equal to the amount of time spent 'corrupted'. Worse still is that over time, the Darkness will eat away at your soul, just as if you were being devoured by the Reaper.
I can only pray that you never have to use the Darkness, but I know that there will always be someone stronger—some threat who's targeted you because of either the Kyuubi, or simply because of the Darkness itself (in the latter case, they're just looking for a fight, I'm afraid).
Either way, it's almost certain that you will be forced to use the Darkness at least once in your life, so I'm going to tell you how to perform Dark Summoning—the rest, I fear, will come to you without help.
The hand-signs are simple, and there are only four: Dog, Snake, Tiger, and Dragon.
My only regret is that I was too cowardly to simply accept my fate at the beginning, so that I would never have asked that witch doctor.
I must leave now, to seal the Kyuubi into your body. I am so sorry.
And know that no matter what has or will happen, I love you and your mother with all my heart.
Always remember that, my son.
Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato
Alias the Yellow Flash'
"No… it can't' be true…"
With that, Naruto blacked out.
_______
Unsure of his surroundings, Naruto found that he was in what appeared to be some sort of wasteland. Looking around, he saw that the barren, lifeless soul reached for miles, seemingly without end.
That's when a voice startled him.
"It's about time we met, Naruto."
Realizing it as the same voice that he'd heard that morning, Naruto swiveled around to face the threat, and almost wished he hadn't.
"What's the matter, boy? Don't you like what you see?"
It looked exactly like Naruto did, but with black hair that covered his right eye, paler complexion, and his visible eye was yellow. He also had bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for months.
"What are you?!"
With a hollow laugh, the Dark-Naruto recited some lyrics:
"I'm inside, open your eyes—I'm you!"
As Naruto backed away, mentally screaming in denial, Dark-Naruto finished, "Sad, but true…"
"No, you're not me! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and you're—you're something else entirely!"
Sighing, Dark-Naruto said, "No you fool, we are the same person, to an extent. You are you, and I am a part of you. All the misery and neglect you've suffered in your life—I am your worst nightmare! I am your sadism, that part of you that wants only to hurt, to destroy, to take vengeance! All of the emotions you try so hard to repress—your anger and fear, your hatred and lust, all given form! I am the darkness in your heart made real! Every time someone hurts you, every time you're neglected—hell, every time Sakura tells you to fuck off—makes me that much stronger."
"What—what do you want?!"
With a hollow laugh, Dark-Naruto said, "What do I want—I want to live, damn you! We share the same body, yet neither can live while the other survives. I will live, even if doing means killing you—a feat which will ensure my own demise in the end."
Naruto crouched over, gripping his head—seemingly in the throes of another mental breakdown.
The pain from inside was tearing away at him, threatening to destroy his sanity. He was remembering everything he'd ever suffered—it was maddening.
The Darkness was attempting to tear him apart from the inside out.
"Stop! I don't care, JUST STOP!!"
As the Dark-Naruto tilted his head, the agony—the soul-wrenching, mind-breaking agony—was over.
"Why should I?"
Desperate not to have to feel that pain again, Naruto said, "Look, you want to live, even if it means killing me—and I want to live just as badly, so where does that leave us?"
As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Dark-Naruto said, "At conflict with each other until either one or both of us is dead."
"But it doesn't have to be that way! I'm willing to deal with you, if you'll listen."
Frowning, Dark-Naruto said, "I fucking hate compromise—but if it means I'll live longer than Plan A allows in the long run, then I suppose I'll hear you out… for now."
Releasing a breath at the fact that—apparently—he wouldn't have to hurt anymore, Naruto made his case.
"I'm willing to let you take control—not permanently, but for a few hours a day, and in a fight if I'll die otherwise. I was thinking… about four hours a day for you. So long as you don't kill, steal from, rape, assault, or... do anything else bad like that, then we're good. And in a fight, IF you were given control, then you wouldn't be allowed to attack my friends. You have to protect my friends, and anyone close to me."
"But what if they betray you, like your little Haku-chan?" he used the honorific as if it were a curse word.
"I can cross that bridge when we come to it, Kage—"
Grabbing Naruto by the throat, Dark-Naruto said, "You will not call me that! I am far more than just a shadow of you—I am more than half of what you are! I have a name, you bastard—it's Alastor!"
With that, Alastor threw Naruto to the barren ground. Getting up, he said, "Fine then. I didn't know if you had an actual name, so I said the first thing that came to mind. I'll remember to call you Alastor from now on."
Still in a bit of a fury, Alastor shouted, "And while I am fighting, you'd better not make me have to abide by some damned code of honor!"
Realizing that this could make or break his best chance of living with even relative sanity, Naruto said, "I won't. If I need you to fight, Alastor…."
Naruto nearly horrified himself with his next declaration.
"Then as long as you don't go crazy on my friends or comrades, and only attack the enemy, you can cut loose entirely."
Eyes widening, Alastor inquired, "Then… if we'd had this deal prior to Wave, if you'd run out of choices, you'd have let me do anything I wanted with Zabuza and Haku?"
Suddenly knowing that Naruto had underestimated just how crazy his Doppelgänger was, he was stuck between breaking the deal or damning God knows how many people to suffering beyond even NARUTO'S vivid imagination.
Wondering if it made him just as bad as the nightmare in front of him, Naruto replied, "Yes. You could have dealt with them in any way you wanted."
With that, Naruto put out his hand and asked, "Do we have a deal?"
And as Alastor grinned, shook Naruto's hand, and said, "Yes, we do. It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Naruto," said Jinchuuriki felt more agony as Darkness flowed into his body from Alastor's hand.
__________
For the last five minutes, Naruto's body had been convulsing rapidly, shifting between its normal and Corrupted forms. (Note: whenever something normal about Naruto is changed to the Darkness-induced state, it will be referred to as "Corrupted".)
When he suddenly shot up, it seemed that the Darkness had triumphed.
As Hiruzen and the others started moving to act, Naruto stopped them by saying, "Hold it right there. I'm still Naruto, you fools. I'm just stronger, Darker—better in every way."
If 'better' meant more powerful, then that was certainly true. However, Hiruzen and Iruka didn't judge like that—and since she'd been dating Iruka, neither did Anko.
Noticing the incredulous looks they were giving him, Naruto said, "What's the matter, old man? A twelve year-old kid whom you think of as a grandson has one bad day, and you don't trust him anymore? That's just sad. Like firing an ANBU Captain for failing to capture the Fire Daimyo's pet cat or something."
Still wary, Hiruzen said, "If you're really Naruto, then prove it."
Shaking his finger and going tsk, tsk at the Hokage, he said, "The only way to do that would be to revert, and I don't feel like doing that right now. So you'll just have to take me at my word—is that too much to ask, coming from the Village pariah?"
Getting to his feet, Naruto started walking towards the window.
"Naruto, I'm not done talking with you yet!"
Looking over his shoulder, Naruto smirked and said, "I'll bear that in mind next time you hide something as important as my father's name from me, Sarutobi-dono." As before, the honorific was spat like a curse.
Then, he walked into the window and passed right through it as he now stood at a right angle to the ground. Then, with a sarcastic salute everyone knew was an insult, Naruto dropped out of their sight.
____________
I'm going to keep telling you to vote in DR's poll for the Summon Boss, but it seems that since Alucard is gaining votes much more quickly than Nightmare/Soul Edge, you should go and vote for him instead. I repeat: VOTE FOR ALUCARD. NOT SEPHIROTH.
Done voting yet? Good.
No, I'm not cheating the system. I'm simply REALLY fucking dedicated to my favorite incarnation of terror.
If you liked this story, then I humbly suggest that you also read the rest of my stories.