Chapter 5: The Tables Have Turned
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
Endbanner has something to say: I just remembered that Naruto was a bit OP here.
Shriii!
The moment the blade of the kunai touched my skin, I understood what it means to be cruel. The kunai was not sharp, like a dull knife trying to cut an onion.
"AHHHHH!"
It was painful. Every moment was an eternity. Seconds turned into years. Each instant that passed, I could feel the cold blade tearing my skin apart, like a child pulling a teddy bear's body and head at the same time, tearing it in half.
I screamed and screamed, but it was like no one cared. The villagers passed by the narrow alley without even a glance. Then, perhaps exhilarated from hearing my screams, the ninja's hand slowed down, dragging on the agonizing pain. Soon, the cold blade reached and pierced my heart, and then there was nothing. I fell into the abyss of the subconscious.
"ROAAAR!"
Suddenly, a monstrous roar echoed throughout Konoha. The air became arid, vile chakra contaminated the wind. The civilians froze, their minds turning blank. For a moment, the entire Konoha was like a painting, frozen and unmoving. There was only one thing on the civilians' minds. 'The Kyuubi!'
"AHHH!"
"The Kyuubi! The Kyuubi is attacking again!"
"Son! My son! Where are you?!"
"Waaa! Papa! Papa!"
Like a domino being pushed down, after one civilian screamed in terror, the rest of the civilians followed and in an instant, the village was thrown into pandemonium. Some civilians fainted on the spot, their eyes still wide from terror. Some ran as fast as they could. Some hid in their homes.
"Help! Please, stop! Ahh!"
"Help me! Help me!"
"Sob— Mama! Sob!"
Panicked, the civilians formed a stampede. The weak would fall and be trampled, while the strong would run away without caring for the people they stepped on. It was human selfishness at its finest.
A frown formed on Hiruzen's face. Not a moment later after the malicious chakra was released, he shot up from his chair and donned his battle armor. He was ready for battle.
Whoosh!
"Sir!"
One after another, like bees storming out of their hive after being provoked, dozens of ANBU landed in front of Hiruzen. All of them knelt, awaiting his orders.
"What happened? Why is the Kyuubi's chakra rampaging in the village?" Hiruzen asked. He was savoring the moment of freedom after he finished his paperwork, but now this happened.
"Sir, a ROOT ninja provoked the jinchuriki and tried to kill him." An ANBU at the front spoke up. He needn't say anything else. Hiruzen understood everything from that sentence alone.
"Okay. Follow me to the jinchuriki's location. Alert all the chunin and genin to evacuate the civilians. Inform the jonin to guard the jinchuriki's location and stand by for backup!"
"Understood, sir!" Then, they all turned into shadows and rushed to Naruto's direction.
"Nine-tails! Have you finally awoken?!"
Wooo—woosh!
The wind raged around Naruto and the ROOT ninja, but the latter only laughed when facing a natural calamity. His brown eyes glowed in ecstasy as he watched the bubbling red chakra cover Naruto's body. His mask cracked as the wind blew in his direction, but he didn't bother putting any protection. He didn't even care about his own safety, why would he care about the safety of the civilians around them? His intention was never to kill Naruto, he only wanted the Kyuubi to manifest once more.
"ROAAAR!"
"Ha-ha-ha!" Crack—crack!
His laughter became louder as his mask erode from the Kyuubi's chakra. Glaring at him, Naruto charged at the ROOT ninja and punched his face.
Bang! Spliiiick—!
In one attack, the man's head burst open, his brain became mush and his skull shattered, splashing and sticking into the walls around him. Naruto was covered in blood and gore, but he didn't seem to notice it.
"ROAAAAAR!"
Seeing the ROOT ninja die in one move, Naruto roared at the ROOT ninja's body. The shockwave generated from his roar tore the man's body into pieces, splattering all over his body, the ground, and the civilians around him.
"B-blood!"
"Monster!"
The civilians who were covered in blood were horrified, their eyes widening in terror. They didn't dare to breathe for fear of smelling blood, and they didn't dare to speak for fear of tasting the ground-up human flesh and guts that covered their faces.
"ROAAAR!"
Naruto roared, turning his head to the civilians who were left behind. Seeing Naruto's feral face that failed to match his age, the civilians fainted all at once.
"Kyuubi!"
BANG!
Before he could do anything else, Naruto was hit by staff as hard as a diamond and was pushed back. It was Hiruzen wielding his adamantine staff, monkey king Enma!
Seeing the Kyuubi's chakra around Naruto, Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
"Seal the Kyuubi away! Force it back into the seal," Hiruzen ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
"Sealing team one, follow me!"
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Before Naruto could react, Naruto found himself surrounded by four masked ANBU carrying scrolls as big as their bodies.
"Fuuin!"
Shouting simultaneously, the four ninjas opened their scrolls and complex symbols crawled from the scroll and rushed toward Naruto. Seeing the sealing symbols rush to his body, Naruto tried to jump away, but he was a second late. The seals had already touched him, pinning him in place.
"Monkey, I'll remember this! You're lucky. If only the seal isn't tight…"
After leaving ominous words, Naruto fainted when his entire body was covered in seals.
"ANBU!"
Hearing Hiruzen's call, three ANBU flickered beside him and knelt, "sir!"
"Bring Naruto back to his apartment. Have someone guard him and don't let him leave!"
"Understood, sir!"
Flickering next to Naruto, an ANBU picked up his unconscious body and used Body Flicker Technique to bring Naruto back to his apartment. After the ANBU left, Hiruzen rubbed his temple and dispelled his summoning technique
"Sigh. ANBU team four, give me a detailed report about what happened."
Four ANBU flickered next to Hiruzen and knelt.
"Yes, sir."
Drip… Drip… Drip…
My eyes felt itchy as I opened them. 'What happened?' I thought. Looking around, I realized I was in an unfamiliar place. It was like a maze. The halls were filled with pipes, some were dripping with water, while some were simply broken.
There were several paths in front of me. Not knowing where he was nor where the tunnels led to, I simply walked into the nearest hallway.
"Where am I?"
"Is anyone there?"
My voice echoed in the hallways. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was alone.
'Am I dead?'
Step… step… step…
I walked around for hours. After so much time, I analyzed everything that happened before I fainted. The masked ninja stabbed me in the heart, so I should be dead. And then, there was a burning sensation in my abdomen.
"Is this the afterlife? It looks… gloomy…"
Maybe it was because I already accepted my death, but I was relaxed. Without anything else to do, I checked my wounds.
I took off my shirt.
'None…'
There was no wound. Much less a hole in my chest, there wasn't even a scar or blood near my chest. There was only a spiraling symbol on my abdomen.
"What's this weird symbol?"
Tilting my head in confusion, I kept walking. 'A symbol. I don't recall anyone putting a tattoo on my abdomen,' suddenly, my feet halted.
A book with a red cover appeared in my mind.
Flip… flip… flip–flip–flip…
Then, the pages flipped on their own, pages crisp and brand new. I couldn't move my head, my eyes glued to the pages and the words inside those pages. My own mind forced me to read what was written on the pages.
'Seals can be used to seal away objects and living beings. There are cases where seals are used to seal a person or a living being into another person.'
My eyes widened in horror. And then, like a cruel joke, a scene played on my mind to remind me exactly what I wanted to avoid.
'Hey, stay away from him. Don't play with him, okay? He's dangerous.'
'Come on, let's go. That monster would only hurt you. Don't go near him in the future.'
'He's not human. Stay away from him.'
Everything clicked. Everything began to make sense. Why the villagers hated me. Why they avoided me.
'This is no tattoo.'
Tears flowed from my eyes as realization dawned upon me. 'This is a seal! Someone sealed something inside me! Someone sealed the- t-the…'
I couldn't bear to finish that thought. I refuse to believe it! There's no way…
'No. No! The fourth hokage defeated the nine-tailed fox! He killed the nine-tailed fox!'
Splash!
My knees felt weak and I fell to the floor. The water splashed, and I was soaked in water, but I didn't care. Tears flowed from my eyes like a waterfall, but I didn't care. There was only one thing on my mind.
'Why? Why?! Why me?!'
"Ah… ARGHHH!"
I screamed for who knew how long. By the time I regained my calm, my eyes were bloodshot and my throat was parched. My face was covered in tears and snot, but I ignored it. Looking around, I realized that the maze filled with pipes was no more. Now, the hallways were covered in thorns and rotting roots.
I don't know when or how these thorns and roots appeared, but my gut instincts were screaming at me. Telling me that something was wrong. I stood up. Now that I've stood up, I realized that the water on the floor was no more. The floor was now rough earth, like that of a cave.
"Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox. I don't care if you're sealed inside me. I've decided. From now on, I won't let anyone decide my fate!"
"I will control the way I live and the way I die. No one gets to decide which road I take, because I will pave my own path, even if it leads to a dead end."
"The Naruto of yesterday is dead. I have been reborn. I will show the world that I am no weakling who bows to the strong. I am someone who fights against fate, I am someone who molds my own destiny! I am Uzumaki Naruto!"
BOOM! Vriii…
As I declared to myself and to the world, the thorns and rotting roots in the hallways fell off and turned into dust, merging with the floor. The ground shook, but my feet were stable. The world was shaking, but I was firmly on the ground, never wavering.
I watched in satisfaction as the walls, ceiling, and floor changed into smooth steel. There were no more deviations in the halls, there was only one path and it led forward. After one minute of walking, I reached a large room. The room was big enough to fit an entire mountain. In the middle of the room was a humongous cage, like the ones used to house dogs, cats, and other pets.
Inside the cage was a massive fox with nine tails, its eyes following each of my steps.
"How?"
Hearing the voice, I stopped walking and faced the fox.
"How did you do it?"
Then, the nine-tailed fox tried to stand but to no avail. The cage was too small for it to stand up.
'How is this possible?' The nine-tailed fox thought. Just moments ago, he had a massive cage and he could move around as much as he wanted. Hell, the gaps between the cage bars were wide enough for his nails to slip through. Now, he couldn't even stand! The cage was so small that he could only lie down!
"If you are here, then this place must be inside of my mind. What is this place called?" I asked.
"Humph! Why should I answer a weakling like you?" The nine tails retorted, but deep inside he was horrified and amazed at the same time. Changing the mindscape was not unheard of, but changing it in a matter of minutes? Now that's unheard of! Furthermore, he was shocked that Naruto's spiritual power, aka his mind or mental energy, was strong enough to restrain him that he couldn't even stand! 'This is absurd! This willpower… this spiritual power is stronger than Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina combined! It reminds me of his son…'
"You don't have to answer. I can hear your thoughts. So, this place is called the 'mindscape'?" Naruto mused and looked around, ignoring the wide-eyed fox.
"WHAT?!"
BANG! Hearing what Naruto said, the nine tails stood up in shock but his body hit the cage instead, creating a loud sound.
Oh, how the tables have turned.