This is the official chapter one of the story. I hope that you enjoy it. I do not own Naruto or any of it characters. Without further ado, unto the chapter~
Sasuke Uchiha was absolutely livid. He had lost. Even with all the power that he gained from Orochimaru, even after finally unlocking his third tomoe, even after ramming a FUCKING CHIDORI THROUGH HIS CHEST! That bastard! After everything, all that he did to gain that power, Naruto still WON!
From what the nurses said when he was up, he was comatosed for a month, but he couldn't care. All that ran in his mind during that moment was the blinding flash of light that emerged when his chidori struck the rasengan, and then the subsequent feeling of his fingers bending unnaturally as the chakra orb slammed into his chest.
"How? How was it possible? How could a loser like him grow so fast? How did he have so much power? What is he doing that I'm not? How does he keep surpassing me?!"
These thoughts and more passed through the uchiha's mind as he tried his best to calm himself. There was not much more that he could do as he was wrapped in bandages, the slightest move causing him to wince in pain. Not to mention the feeling of his chakra reserves on minimum, making him unable to even activate his eyes. For the raven haired uchiha, this truly was a nightmare.
"Pathetic." A voice rang out through the room as Sasuke tried to identify its location.
"Who's there?" The boy asked but did not get a reply. "Answer me!" The boy all but shouted. He didn't like the situation that he was in, and whoever this was could kill him without much fuss with the state he was in.
"Why did you try to leave the village?" A figure from the far corner of the room stated.
"Who are you?" The boy in turn asked, only to get a senbon in his shoulder for his troubles. A scream came from his mouth as he looked towards the needle embedded into his arm. Just what the hell was happening?
"I ask the questions here boy." The figure spoke again, this time holding his face in Sasuke's field of view. Two very prominent scars ran along the man's face and a bandana covered his head with the symbol of a leaf nin on his forehead.
"I remember you," Sasuke said as he managed to get a good look. "You were the first examiner for the chunin exams."
"Glad that you remember me." The man said "But-" and without hesitation yanked the senbon out of the wound, earning another scream, this one slightly muffled, from the last 'loyal' uchiha. "I remember asking you a question. Why did you try to leave the village?"
Blinking away the spots from his eyes. The boy finally understood what was going on. This was an interrogation. Since he left the village, he was technically a missing nin. One that was just brought back to be questioned, incarcerated and in some cases killed. Like that would ever happen. He was the last uchiha, he had the blood of the strongest clan in his veins. If they even thought about killing him, the civilian council would swoop in to save him. As much as he disliked them, they had their moments when he could use them for his benefit.
"I won't ask again." This time, it was his finger that entered the wound. Gritting his teeth, the uchiha stared back with rage. This pain was nothing to him, he felt it before when he fought Haku. When he jumped in the way to try and further his sharingan prowess, but ended up getting a death like state instead. If this man thought that he couldn't endure this, then he was mistaken.
A kick to his ribs erased that thought as he fell from the hospital bed in a heap. He groaned as he felt the already cracked bones being bruised once more. A fist connected with his face as stars came to his view. This beating lasted for a whole hour, until Sasuke's cries started to fill the room. Kunais and senbon started to fill the non-vital areas of his body, only to be yanked out a second later. Ibiki no longer cared if he spoke, he didn't give the boy a chance to. The only option was to endure the onslaught and try to survive this maniac.
After the hour was over, Ibiki simply took his things and walked out. Leaving the bruised and bloodied uchiha by himself to wallow in agony. If before he felt a mild discomfort, now it felt like his body was on fire, and without the ability to move, he would continue to stay in this uncomfortable position until someone came to check on him.
3 weeks earlier- Training ground Gamma
"Naruto is...gone?" A bewildered Haruno Sakura stated as tried to understand just exactly what her sensei was trying to tell her. But…why? How? Wasn't he the one pulling all those pranks a few days ago? First Sasuke and now this? Why were her teammates running away from her? Why were they trying to leave her alone?
"I thought you had to know sooner or later." Sakura broke herself from her thoughts as Tsunade spoke. When the girl had come to her asking to train under the sannin, she turned the child away. Only to hear her words of determination about not being left behind and constant pleading for the next three hours, she decided that not only would it help to keep her mind off the Naruto incident, but would also help the girl be ready for the news as well.
"I can't believe it." Sakura said as she shook her head in dismay. After all that they went through, how could he just abandon them like that? Was Kakashi-sensei's word just null and void to him? Did he truly decide to be lower than trash?
"Why can't you? Your other teammate did it." Tsunade said as the words hit her like bricks. She winced as if some sort of phantom pain had hit her heart. She remembered when Sasuke knocked her out. How she pleaded to Naruto with tears in her eyes to bring him back. The orange clad boy did not say a word to her, but brought him back nonetheless. She was going to thank him until she saw the state that Sasuke was in. It made her furious. She wanted him back alive and well not inches away from death, and then when she lashed out at the blonde boy, he simply walked away. The nerve!
"By the way Tsunade-sensei, how is Sasuke's treatment coming along?" She asked quite cheerily, seeming to forget all about Naruto's defection from the leaf, or at least putting it on a back-burner for now. After all if Sasuke was back then they could both track Naruto down together once she got strong enough. Its not like he could get that far right?
Elsewhere Kakashi Hatake stood at the monument dedicated to the fallen ninja of the village. He heard the news about Naruto and finally realized that something had to be wrong with him. First Obito, then Rin, his sensei and Kushina, and now he couldn't even keep track of his own students.
He thought back to the very first day of meeting them. The brooding Uchiha, cheerful Uzumaki and the genious of a Haruno were all his, with the only mission from the Hokage to keep both the Nine Tails in check and the Uchiha from leaving the village . What a mess that turned out to be.
How could you blame him? After years of mental stress and PTSD, he's suddenly called out of ANBU to train a group that looked so familiar to his own. Not to mention the fact that he never trained anyone but ANBU class officers, who at least had something for him to work with. Even Sasuke was a challenge to teach and he had the sharingan. Sakura and Naruto did not have that luxury and between the horrible control and small amount of chakra, he didn't think that he could do anything to help them.
Sasuke was even worse. The boy felt like everything was entitled to him. The moment he got the sharingan he demanded to learn all the jutsu that Kakashi had in his repetoir, and when he taught the boy anything he immediately came back for more. Then when he tried to have a heart to heart with him, Sasuke upps and leaves like nothing mattered.
He already knew that he would make a bad sensei. What was he supposed to do? No one gave him any pointers on how to train genin, not to mention that these were the most emotionally and socially unstable children that he had met. How was he supposed to help them when he could barely pull himself out of his own depression?
"Here once again my dear rival?" A jonin completely clad in green spandex enquired as he looked upon the man he called his friend.
"Gai." Kakashi didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Whenever Gai saw that the silver haired jonin would stay at the grave-site for longer than an hour, he'd reach out and find someway to cheer him up, not that he always followed, but it did help.
"I heard about your student. Naruto was always such a bright and cheerful boy. I remember he even helped me and Lee once." Nothing came out of the copycat ninja's mouth as Gain continued to speak. "Face it Kakashi, he's gone and you failed, but that doesn't mean you can't make it right."
"How? How do you expect me to do that? My whole team hates me. One is on the verge of running away while the other is God knows where at the moment. What exactly do you expect me to do Gai?" The man asked as Gai could see the exterior shell start to crack from the constant pain that his friend went through. Whatever he said in this moment would either make or break the Hatake for good.
"Kakashi, whether you like it or not, the past can't be changed. It's already set no matter what you do. What can change however, is your future, the choices that you make along the way define who you are. Life isn't over because you feel down or because something horrible happened, even as someone takes in their last breath life continues around them. That is why I am always in the springtime of my youth. Because until the day I die, I'll keep moving along with life. And even then, my hopes and will can be passed down to another person, and theirs can move on to another's. My life will continue to prosper as long as there is someone to live for me, and one of those people, is you Kakashi." Said man stared up at his friend as he was met with a thumbs up and a sparkling grin. "So if you need to be strong for anyone right now, then be strong for me."
A small chuckle escaped the silver haired man as he continued to look at Gai. "That sounds…troublesome." Gai deflated. "But I'll give it a try as long as you can help guide me in the right direction." The smile returned in full force as Gai beamed at his friend. They both had some serious training to do.
Ibiki returned without so much of a whisper. He looked around to find Sasuke in the same position that he left him, using what little chakra he had to try his best and flare it for help. No one would be coming for him.
"Ready to answer now brat?" The scarred man questioned as Sasuke stared into the eyes of the T&I department's number one. This man was no joke. He didn't come to pet him, or thank some deity for bringing him back to the village safely with his almighty doujutsu. This man was here to take any form of information out of the boy and would go through any means to do so.
"By the end of this I'm going to know your every thought. What you eat, drink, the amount of times you shit and piss during the day. Not even your dreams are going to be safe from me, you understand?" Ibiki asked as he leaned in closer. He saw and felt the fear from the broken boy as he smirked viciously.
"Good, then we'll get along just fine."
The Kubikiribocho lay flat against the desk of the rebel leader of Kirigakure. Mei Terumi stood perplexed as the young boy in front of her looked on with a serious gaze. Not only did this "Toaru" carry with him one of the seven legendary blades, but he did so alone. No entourage of jonin trying to claim a bounty. The boy only asked for one request.
"Let me fight in this war. When it's over I'll leave with it."
This boy was no Kiri nin. Not only was the shade of his skin way darker than the usual pale hue that they usually possessed, they found him wandering around in the mist like he was completely lost. When asked what he was doing, the simple reply of 'searching for a faction' came to their ears, and now he was surprising them with the sword of Zabuza Momochi.
It didn't look like he had an agenda, yet still one does not just offer the sword of the now deceased 'Demon Of The Mist'. She knew that the only way anyone could take the blade would be from Zabuza's cold hard fingers.
She flared a bit of killer intent at the boy, who flinched and immediately took out a kunai, his other hand in a half horse seal. At least she wasn't sending a fully inexperienced brat to his death. He looked at least half of a good ninja, now if only she could find someone to train him up.
Looking over the room, she spotted the new wielder of the Hiramekarei on the far end of it. A thought crossed her mind as she looked between him and the Toaru boy. They could make a good team, and if the boy learned how to wield Kubikiribocho, they would make a damn good duo. The fact that it might make Chojuro open up more with someone his age made the idea cement itself in her mind.
"Alright brat." The phrase made Toaru relax his grip on the kunai as he continued to look at the woman. "I'll let you help us fight, on two conditions." His face started to contort as he heard what the woman had to say. "One; The Kubikiribocho stays with you until you leave this village. And two; Chojuro will be your teammate for as long as you two live." The blue haired boy choked as he looked at his leader. Surely Miss Terumi was joking, she couldn't expect to put him with, with.
"Fine by me." The words rang out like a bell through Chojuro's ears as he looked towards the other boy in shock. How was he ok with this? Getting paired up with someone you barely know would mean death on the battlefield. How was he supposed to trust this guy with his life if he barely even knew who he was?
"Great!" Mei said in a cheery manner. "Chojuro, be a dear and show your new partner the sleeping quarters. And start training him by tomorrow, I want you two ready to be sent out in three weeks."
His skin ran pale as he heard those words. He was going to die for sure. No one would send a complete beginner on swords into battle with just three weeks of experience. Not to mention this was a war for the fate of Kiri, and with the way things looked right now every single member counted, regardless of how much they wanted to die.
"Yes ma'am." Chojuro said as a tear streaked from his eye. He was going to die for sure.
The Hokage sat in her office with a shogi board on the table. She had to admit that the game was fun, and a lot more relaxing than drinking sakè. Something that she was starting to do a lot less due to both Shikaku's lessons and Shizune constantly stealing her stash. Maybe she would end up giving up drinking completely…..Nah.
"Tsunade!" The shout came from nowhere as she was suddenly pinned to the wall. Long white hair came along with a snarling face as her teammate stared right into her eyes. Fierce black orbs met unwavering brown as Jiraiya was surrounded by Tsunade's personal ANBU, as futile as it was going up against a sannin, they would not go down without a fight.
"I told the old man that letting him stay in the village was a stupid idea, now look at what's happened. WHERE IS MY GODSON!"
"If you don't want the entire village after you Jiraiya, then I suggest you release me and take a seat." Tsunade said calmly as she stared at the toad sage, who complied after a secondof waiting. Leaving the ANBU to go back into the shadows, but still keeping a wary eye on the sannin.
"Now I understand that you're upset, but there is nothing I can do to help." The rage started to build in Jiraiya as he tried his best not to leap over the table and tear the woman apart. "The village is in a state of rebuilding after the incident with the sand and sound. Konoha can not and will not spare its ninja to look for a single missing nin."
"He's the jinchuriki for crying out loud. Minato's son!"
"And with him leaving makes it even worse for our state of power. The village needs to be rebuilt. I'm sorry Jiraiya but I can't spare anyone right now."
He wanted to say something, anything to try and change her mind, but looking in her eyes showed him that nothing he said would get through. The Godaime stood before him, and her will was unshakable.
"Then I'll search for him." He said as he got up and moved towards the door.
"I'm afraid you can't do that." Tsunade rebutted as she stopped her teammate.
"And why not?" Jiraiya said as he looked at the Kage.
"Because I need information. Not only is Orochimaru out there but so is the Akatsuki. And since news about Naruto's escape hasn't reached the outside world the Leaf is still in danger. I not only need someone to gather information but I need someone I can trust. I need you Jiraiya."
If this was any other time, The sage would be floating over the moon hearing those words. But he couldn't just leave his godson to die out there. He left him once because of this same reason, and it made him renounce the leaf headband. Now it felt like he was at a crossroads again, and he couldn't let either side down this time.
"One year." He stated. "I'll get all the information I can in a year. It should be enough to get this village prepared for anything, but after that you're on your own. I won't leave my godson alone this time, and when I drag his ass back to Konoha, I want this entire village asking for his forgiveness, understand?"
"Yes." Was all Tsunade said as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Elsewhere Jiraiya sighed as he stared at a picture of Minato and a pregnant Kushina.
"I can't fail you two again."
Chojuro stood baffled as over three hundred physical clones stood before him, all holding Kubikiribochos as they started to rush him. It had been two weeks and Toaru was almost at his level when handling a sword. Not that they were masters, but they could hold their own in a fight. Not to mention the boy's almost godlike proficiency with suiton jutsu. The boy took to it with legendary speed, learning things that took him months in just a day or two.
The next thing was the boy's stamina. He barely slept but yet no bags appeared under his eyes. No matter the task that Chojuro gave to the boy he would complete it without fail.
It even became a little competition to see how outlandish the exercises could get, with Toaru making his jaw drop at the sheer quantity the kid could do.
As he sliced through a bunch of clones with his blade, a grin formed on his face, showing off his shark-like teeth as he continued to slice and dice his foe(s). They barely spoke, but they were friends, rivals even. He was enthused by Toaru's work ethic and the boy was attracted to the Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu that Chojuro had available. They both had an understanding with one another. And that was all the two needed.
As the last clone dispelled. Chojuro stood there panting as the real Toaru stood before him. The blade glowing with chakra as he swore it roared at him. He pushed chakra to his own as it split in two, both halves letting off sounds of their own.
Without so much of a start the two rushed one another. Toaru took a swing at Chojuro as the blue haired boy parried with a blade, bringing down the next one to cleave the other boy in two. A quick substitution brought Toaru out of that predicament as he rushed the boy again, this time aiming towards his heel. When Chojuro side stepped this however, Toaru used his sword as a springboard and threw a kick to his face, leaving the other to use both of his blades to block the impact that never came.
A sweep brought the surprised boy to the ground as the tip of Toaru's blade touched his neck. Hiramekarei's wielder didn't know how the other did it but he managed to beat him for the first time since they started sparring. In just two and a half weeks, this boy managed to outclass him in skill.
"I didn't win. It was genjutsu." Toaru said as he helped his comrade up. "I wanted to see if it would work, but it left me completely drained. We can just call that one a draw for now." Chojuro was shocked. A genjutsu with reserves as massive as the boy had was almost impossible, but yet this boy had managed to do it. He was done underestimating this kid. He earned his respect a long time ago but now?
Now he earned his loyalty.
Words- 3756
Pages-8
I don't understand how the hell someone writes 15000-word chapters, I can barely find the time to write these as is but there it is. I'll try to make them longer in due time.
Naruto has genjutsu. As of now it is highly impractical and its just to show that he could. But not only does it take way too much concentration and chakra, it also is very hard to maintain.
Naruto will now be Toaru until his identity gets revealed. I think you realized from the sheer number of clones produced.
How did he get the Kubikiribocho? The grave is in Wave. It wouldn't take long just to go grab it before the boat arrives.
And finally thank you to all those who have followed and favorited this story so far. Glad to see that you enjoy and want to see it continue.
That's all for now~