Chapter 2 – Who Are You?

See disclaimer on prologue.

Hi! I'm back! Here with another chapter of Obscuro. I want to clarify a few things: First off, this will not be a Godlike!Naruto fic. He will gain new skills, but which ones…that's a secret (hint: non-jutsu), but he won't gain them and then curbstomp EVERYONE. Also, should I do a single pairing or a harem? Also, I need help writing combat scenes. I suck at those. Also, the Uchiha massacre didn't happen yet and the entrance age for the academy is at 8 years old.

I also recommend playing some dark creepy organ music to this fic, like something from Adrian von Ziegler (amazing artist BTW) or MisanthropiK.

" " – human speech

' ' – thought speech

" " – demon speech

Throughout Naruto's admittedly short life of seven years, he has felt a lot of different emotions and sensations. Pain, stuffiness, exhaustion and several other unpleasant sensations. One sensation that he has rarely felt, if at all, now was softness. Coming from a boy who slept on a hard wooden or stone floor daily, this was rather startling. So when Naruto opened his eyes and awoke, he froze for a moment at the sensation of a (relatively) soft bed before the memories of last night hit him full force. "I was saved…someone really saved me…" he muttered in dawning comprehension. This was another cause for Naruto's shock: as the village pariah, he was always on the lookout for any villager that tried to harm him. There were a couple of times when a villager acted nice to Naruto and helped him out, only to lead him to a trap with other villagers and beat the life out of him…again. These instances of "help" usually lasted for no more than an hour or two. Never a full night, and never food or a bed. As Naruto finally shook himself out of his shock, he finally became fully aware to his surroundings.

It was still the room he slept in when he came into the house, but now that light was seeping through the window, it gave it a different sort of glow, a more heart-warming one. In addition, he could make out finer details of the room that he didn't notice beforehand due to the darkness and his exhaustion. The columns that supported the roof of the four-poster bed had intricate swirls carved into them. The underside of the bed's roof had a strange geometrical pattern that he could not seem to figure out.

Naruto got out of the bed and started walking towards the bathroom door. As he passed by the writing desk, he stopped and saw that there were books inside of the bookshelves, as well as a change of clothes on the desk. Now ever since he learned how read and write Naruto knew about the important rule of "knowledge is power". He became fascinated by books and the knowledge that they held, whether it helped his survival in that hellish village or not. But when he took out a random book out of the shelf and opened it, he saw that the book was written in a language that he didn't understand. It looked completely different from the kanji and lettering that he was used to – it was made out of letters that were structured horizontally, sometimes even appearing twice in a row. Frustrated, he put the book on the desk, picked up the spare clothes and walked into the bathroom.

He didn't hope to find much there, but he saw that the dirty porcelain tub was filled with water, even though there was no pipe that could bring it, as well as a dirty mirror that he missed the previous night. "Must be that…person that brought me here" Naruto shrugged as he took of his ripped clothes. Naruto then entered the tub and scrubbed the dirt off him with his hands. When he finished, he put on the fresh clothes – a black t-shirt, a pair of blue short pants and a pair of sandals.

"I'm hungry, where's the food?" Naruto grumbled as he headed out the bedroom and into the living room. As he entered the living room, he looked down on its floor from the balcony that he stood on and noticed the painting on the floor. Although it was faded, he could make out what seemed to be a large pit of sorts that was divided into 10 levels with small figures on each level. At the bottom of the pit, there was a larger figure than the rest, but it was too faded to see (1). Naruto then descended the stairs and walked towards a corridor on the right of the room's entrance side. He walked in and saw a large dining room on the right.

The room was slightly smaller than the living room, with a large table with 10 chairs surrounding it. Naruto then saw on the plate closest to him another apple with a glass of water. He sat down and ate his meal slowly, as if to savour the apple's taste. When he finished, he looked around the room and called "Hello? Are you there sir?" While Naruto didn't call a lot of people "sir" (only the Hokage), he felt like he owed it to this figure who had saved him.

For a minute nothing happened. Then, he felt something hit him on the side of his head. "Hey! What's the big idea?" Naruto yelled. He then saw a crumpled piece of paper sitting near his plate. He glared at the paper like it had committed the worst atrocity in existence, then opened it up and saw a map of the house. He saw that a certain room, behind the living room and presumably the rotting door, was circled. He then grumbled and picked himself up off the chair. "This house is a maze…" he complained as he walked towards the door. He then turned the doorknob and pushed in as the door made a loud CREEEAAAAKKK. When he entered the room, he froze in awe. "I think I really died back there, 'cause this must be heaven".

In it was a large library, filled to brim books. To the left here were shelves filled with said books, all of them in different dark colours. Some of the titles were written in his language, while the rest were written in the language that he saw back in his room. To the right lay an armchair with a small round table, and a large blackboard with some chalk and an eraser. The front of the room had a desk and chair, with a curtained window behind it, the curtain being open. Another bookshelf lay to the right and another armchair to the left. What was most astonishing was that unlike the rest of the house, this room was immaculately clean. No speck of dust, no rubble, no broken windows.

Naruto was gazing at the library room with wonder when he saw out of the corner of his eye that a piece of chalk was starting to float up from the board's shelf. The chalk then wrote on the board: "You are awake. Good. You are Naruto I presume?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and said "Yeah, I'm awake and that's my name. Thanks for the help by the way. Where are we? What is this place? How did you do that thing with the wall? What is that language in the books? What –" before Naruto could continue to ask more, he felt a flick on his forehead and shook his head and looked to the board. He saw the eraser floating up and erasing the words. The new words were: "In order: A hill in the Konoha forest. My house. The shadows. A foreign one". Naruto looked annoyed that he was interrupted but he looked down and mumbled "Sure. Thanks again. I would've died if they got me". The board now said "True. Pitiful creatures, those humans. Blaming one thing on another". Naruto nodded and said "Yeah, but it's not like I can really change their opinion eh?" "True. They are narrow-minded and selfish". Naruto simply nodded again before remembering something and exclaiming "Ah! The masked ninja! They're supposed to be my watchers! They're looking for me now! I have to – ". Another flick on the forehead. The board now said "No need. I sent a note in your name telling them that you found shelter and would like to remain there". Naruto blinked and said "Oh. Okay."

A few moments of silence then passed between the two. He then looked to board and asked in a cautious tone "Why did you save me?" The chalk simply hovered in place for several seconds before writing: "I find you interesting. And I have not seen a real live container before. It would be a shame if you died. So much potential." Naruto then looked at the board with a sceptical look and asked: "Interesting? That not creepy at all…wait, container? What do you mean?" The board now said "You don't know? Well, do you know what happened seven years ago and how it ended?" Naruto replied "Yeah, the Kyuubi attack with the Fourth Hokage killing it, why?" "That last part is a lie. The Fourth didn't kill the demon. He sealed it away into the only thing that could contain it…a new-born". Naruto gazed at the board in dawning comprehension and whispered "Me…it's me isn't it?" At that moment, he understood.

Why he was alone.

Why he was beaten.

Why he was treated like trash.

Why they called him…demon.

Naruto felt like a spear was lodged in his gut. He was about to fall down on his knees when another flick shook out of his stupor. The board read: "Yes. They deem you, the container, to be responsible for the damage and death the beast dealt those seven years ago, but you are the container, not the demon. Your leader, the Hokage, made it a law punishable by death to tell you about this". Naruto read the words on the board and then nodded. "Yeah… I'm not the demon". Naruto then fidgeted in his spot in silence. He looked back up at the board and said "Hey, you didn't really tell me three things: How did you push me through that wall? What is that language? Who…what are you?" he said the last part nervously. The eraser removed the words from the board, and the chalk began to write in slower, more deliberate movements. After what seemed like half an hour, the board read: "I opened up the shadows that the wall made and pushed you through them to the shadow on the other side".

Naruto read the board and whispered "Shadow…?" It made sense. He saw the shadows during his passage, he felt them. He was about to asked more when heard the scribbling of the chalk on the board, which now read "The shadows are everywhere. To most mortals they are a phenomenon they can accept or exploit. But to me, they are a gateway. A gateway that leads to anyplace I wish. They are my place of birth. They are my source of power. They are my connection to this world. They are my grave and my very being". Naruto gazed at the board with a growing headache 'So that's how he got me here. But then how-'. He then saw a new sentence on the board.

"The shadows are my connection to this world. They allow me to interact with it. As long as it has a shadow, I can use it as you would use it. This is how I got you clothes and food. I believe your village has ninjas that can do this to a smaller extent". As Naruto read the last sentence, he remembered that one time when he was running from a mob, when a black shadow that was coming from one of the ninjas stopped him and allowed the mob to reach him. As he winced at that memory, he understood what his host meant.

The chalk and eraser got to work again and wrote a new message "I see you have an inquisitive mind. Good. To answer your second question, the language you saw is an ancient language that was practiced by humans not of this land called Latin. It is rather different than the native language here, although it does share similarities." Naruto looked at the board then turned his head towards the bookshelves "L-Latin? Weird name. Too bad I can't read it. I really wanna see what's in those books…hehehehehe…" at this point he started drooling at the possibility of what he could do with another language. He could write and no one will understand him, he could make codes, he could finally get his hands on all of that…delicious, juicy knowledge...

Just as he was going to sink into his imagination, Naruto felt another forehead flick. "GAH! Stop doing that!" he yelled at the board. The new message said: "It gets your attention. Focus" then a new message was scribbled under "But yes, you are correct. Knowledge over another language, especially in this setting is valuable. It will be one of the things I shall be teaching you". Naruto just scoffed and said "Yeah, of course it's valuable and - wait, did you say 'teaching me'? Are you really gonna teach me!? Why!?" this time the chalk seemed to hover in confusion if it could, before a new message said:

"Like I said, I find you interesting. Do you wish to become strong? To no longer be hurt by those villagers? To even take your revenge if you wish?"

As Naruto gazed upon those words, he remembered every beating that he took. Every time he was shunned by the other kids, every time he was blamed for crimes that he didn't commit. All because the people of that hellish village couldn't tell the difference between a sword and a sheath. "Yeah" he said with conviction "I want to become strong. To never let anyone hurt me again. But revenge? I don't know. We'll see." After he said those words, the young Uzumaki looked to the board and saw a new message "Very well. I shall train and teach you. But I will not teach you the intricacies of the ninja arts; instead I will teach you my arts. The power of the shadows, and more…much, much more…"

After Naruto read that last line, he felt a massive presence around him. As he turned his head in fright, he saw something that made his heart stop; strands of shadow, creeping in from all over the room, from the bookcases, beneath the armchairs and from the curtains all creeping towards a spot besides the board. A swirling vortex of inky blackness came sprouting out of the gathered shadows. Ten seconds later, a gust of wind and shadow forced Naruto to blink and when he opened his eyes; his jaw fell open at what he saw.

In the gathering spot there stood a massive, shadowy shape. It was all black and stood higher than the blackboard, which already twice Naruto's size. It had two arms with razor-sharp claws that seemed to shrink and grow back every second, even though they were still very long. Its "legs" were simply a drape of shadows on the floor. Behind it were two large black wings. Its head though caught the most attention. On it were six horns; two on the left, two on the top and two on the right. Its eyes were a glowing blood red that seemed to devour his very soul. It had a snout with slit nostrils that was filled with what seemed like black razor sharp fangs. (2)

Naruto kept gazing at the figure with a mixture of horror and awe. 'This is what he looks like? No wonder the house felt scary!' he thought while starting to sweat. The figure then raised a hand and picked the piece of chalk with such delicacy that seemed impossible for someone who possessed such claws and wrote a new message: "To answer your third question, I am the Shadow at Night. I am the Messenger of Death. I am He who is Never There. I am one of the last of my kin. I hail from the eternal Void. I am a Shadow Demon, and you can call me Obscuro."

Naruto just looked at the board and thought: 'What did I get myself into?'

-Obscuro-

The shadow demon stood over the boy as he tried comprehending the situation before it. It was always amusing, mortals seeing its form for the first time. It left them utterly speechless or made them scream and beg for mercy. Luckily, it had left the boy the former so it wouldn't have to deal with such an annoyance. As it looked at the gaping boy, its thoughts went back to last night. What it told the boy about the note to his 'watchers' was a bit of a lie. Rather, it told them itself…

Flashback

It had made sure that the boy was asleep before creeping out of the house. If hit wanted to train the boy, it had to make sure that it would get as few interruptions as possible. That meant making the boys watchers won't keep looking for him. It kept searching the forest, trying to feel the ninja's shadows. After a minute of searching, it found them near a small stream. It crept over to them unseen by their eyes. It then materialized behind a large tree and focused.

Over the years of its existence and experience in messing with mortals, it has learnt a great many skills. One of which was changing its shape and casting illusions to make the mortals see what it wants them to see. However, a power which it had personally crafted would need to be used here.

By using the blood of a mortal, it could assume the mortal's form down to the last detail. Voice, mannerisms, memories, facial and body features, even one of those "chakra networks" that these ninjas had. For this case, it even took a sample of the boy's other chakra to fool the mortals even further. The other chakra would assimilate just fine, for they were both demons, and it could adapt. The drawback though was that it lasted only an hour or two before it dissolved back to its original form.

After a few seconds, it saw its…or rather his…hands and body have fully materialized. Peeking behind the tree, he called out to the two ninjas in a meek voice "H-Hello? Weasel-san? Cat-san? Is that you?". The two ninjas turned their heads towards him and seemed to sigh in relief before the cat-masked ninja (a female it seemed) walked over to him and said in a worried tone "Naruto-kun, we were so worried. They didn't harm you right? What were you doing out in the streets?". Obscuro-Naruto looked down at his feet and said in a hurt tone "The people at the orphanage threw me out. I've been on the streets for a while now". Cat seemed to growl in anger before she knelt down and patted his head "we're sorry that we didn't notice it sooner. Come on, we'll tell the Hokage you need a new place to live".

Obscuro-Naruto took a step back and said "But, I like it here. I found a place that I could sleep in. It may be out here, but it's better than back there" he said the last part with some anger in his voice. The two ninjas looked at each other before looking back at him. "Can you show us this place. Or at least just what it looks like?".

At this Obscuro-Naruto started to ponder. Should he show them the house or some other nearby shelter? While the latter would prevent anyone spying on him, it would also require him to be at least partially present there for a good portion of the day, and even he couldn't be at two places at once. On the other hand, if he showed them the house, it would remove some suspicion from him and the boy, and he could create protection – both illusions and defenses – that would prevent the training from being watched or disturbed. Letting them see the house seemed like a good option for now.

He then looked up at Cat and said "it's a bit tricky to find, but follow me". He turned around and started running; knowing that his two followers could catch up with him easily, he subtly used the shadows to travel a bit faster, much like how one would surf on water. After a few minutes, they arrived at the house.

While he couldn't see it on their faces, Obscuro-Naruto felt the slight twinge of fear that passed through their bodies. He inwardly smirked. Good, if this is the effect that the area had on such highly-trained ninjas, then any lesser human would either freeze/tremble on the spot, retreat or faint. He would have to place those defenses soon though. Fear factor alone can only do so much.

He turned to them and gave a smile. "It's big, there's a bed and I can get food from the forest, see?" he pulled out an apple using the shadows, again, unseen. The ninjas looked at each other, then at the house, then at him. Weasel said with a hint of reluctance "very well Naruto-kun, we will inform the Hokage about this". With those words, they vanished on the spot via Body Flicker.

He then turned back towards the house and felt himself slipping back to his original form. If he…it could describe how it felt, it would've felt like melting down, being blown away and then freezing. But it had accomplished what it had set out to do. Now, to see what the future held for both it and the boy…

Flashback end

Obscuro looked down at the boy for several moments before flicking his forehead again (to the boy's squawk of protest) and writing a new message on the board. That little fact was annoying. As a shadow demon, it couldn't speak in a way that was coherent to humans (without sending them into madness), so it had to make do with writing and other means of communication. It wrote "Now that I have your attention, take notice. I will be gone for an hour to set up some things. Until then, stay here. There are some books in your language as you have noticed and you are welcome to read them. Just don't leave the room until I get back. Understood?" The boy looked at the board, rustled his head and said: "Y-yeah, alright. No leaving the room, got it". With those words, the boy hurriedly turned away and went to a bookshelf. Obscuro then dropped the chalk and melted away into the shadows. It had some spying to do.

-Obscuro-

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a sigh as he heard the report from the two ANBU's before him. He knew that the villagers treated Naruto badly, but he had hoped they wouldn't go to such lengths as to permanently scare him away. It just that the boy looked so much like Minato, and he had hoped that Naruto would inherit his father's determination and persevere in the face of such hatred. But it was just that. A hope.

He looked at the ANBU and said "it is a shame that this whole thing happened, but I believe what he said is right. He will be safer there than in this village. But tell me, you said that you felt uneasy when you came to his newfound…house. What did you mean by that?" Weasel replied in a careful tone "well Hokage-sama, when I entered the area, it just felt…wrong in some sense. Like there was this aura of fear around the house, like I was being watched by some unseen predator. More than that, when I looked at Naruto with my Sharingan, there was something…off about him as well".

This caused the Hokage to raise an eyebrow. "Off? What do you mean off? Was it the Kyuubi?". Weasel shook his head "not really Hokage-sama, it was as though his chakra system was…clouded for a lack of a better term. Not in the genjutsu fashion, but it felt like there was something on top of his chakra system or surrounding it. Through my eyes it seemed like there was some sort of…black smoke surrounding his chakra system. That same smoke was surrounding the area of the house, so it could be just a result of him entering it".

The Hokage nodded at this information. He took a deep breath and said in a commanding tone: "When Dog gets back, you three will go check on him routinely every week. I can't have any more incidents like this". The ANBU bowed and replied "Yes, sir!" and disappeared. He looked down at the village from his office and thought to himself 'It seems I have some work to do, and it's not the damn paperwork…"

-Obscuro-

What do you think? Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!

(1) Botticelli's "Map of Hell"

(2) See cover image