Hey average Naruto story enjoyers! Thank you so much for stepping by! This is the first of many short stories I had in mind; focusing on the numerous interesting side characters the Narutoverse has to offer (and who certainly could use and deserve a little filling up) without extending these stories into huge plots - as I did (and still doing) in my other two stories were I explore the adventures of Fuuka and Fubuki. These stories should not reach more than five chapters though. Not sure whether I will work on them simultanously or not but the next characters in planning are Zabuza, Temujin (including the tales of Ranke, Kamira and Fugai) as well as Kujaku. If you have any character in mind you want to know more about - and if you have faith in my writing skills to give them a history that feels organic and sensible - you can DM me or name your wish in the review section. Reviews in general are highly appreciated!

Enjoy!

Two Fates - The Story of Ni

Grey

"And now... the real fight begins!" - Ni

She opened her grey eyes. She looked around. It was grey - all grey.

There was almost nothing but grey. The room she was in was relatively large, but apart from a small chest of drawers to her right, the room was practically empty. She felt small, puny, insignificant - enclosed by the barren, grey concrete of the four windowless walls that held her captive. Cold, white light shone down on her from the low ceiling, adding to the oppressive, bleak atmosphere. She looked at the dresser, which was made of grey metal. On it was a transparent glass filled with grey water. The water seemed unnatural, artificial to her. It did not move a bit. She resisted the urge to drink from it, although her lips felt as dry as if they had never been in contact with water before. She was warm. She was sweating. She straightened up a little, bracing herself with both hands on the grey frame of her bed to get a better view.

Where am I?

Her surroundings were completely alien to her.

How did I get here?

She tried to recall her memories. She mentally focused on the last events she could remember - but she couldn't recall anything. No struggle, no event that could explain her current situation. She delved deeper into her memory to search for possible answers, but there was... nothing. Nothing at all. It was getting warmer, the drops of sweat on her skin multiplied. She became restless. She did not understand.

Why can't I remember?

She was finding it harder and harder to concentrate, to keep her focus, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manage to remember. She couldn't manage to recall a single moment from her past. There was nothing but crushing emptiness. A vacuum that swallowed her up. She was in danger of losing herself in it. She bit her lip. Then she felt something moist, first on her lower lip, until that feeling shifted to her skin. She grabbed her chin. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as her senses perceived impressions that seemed completely new and strange to her. Her hand had a strange colour, but it was not only her hand. A large part of her body seemed to be covered by a tight suit of the same colour, including her arms. Her right arm was completely covered, while on her left arm she wore a loose, long sleeve that reached to her upper arm. Her left hand was adorned with a glove in the same colour as the rest of the outfit that clung tightly to her pale skin.

What colour is that?

She tried to determine the colour of the overall she wore, but she couldn't. She could not compare the colour, put it in relation to other colours, distinguish it from each other. She knew some other colours, like green, or blue, or turquoise, but apparently only by name. Her brain told her the words, but not the sensations that went with them. She could not form a picture of the other colours in her mind, which is why she could not classify the colour of her suit. The only thing she could say with certainty was that it was not grey. But there was something else that neither matched the colour of her suit nor could be grey. She held her covered left hand in front of her face. She recognised something liquid on it; it was blood. She knew that blood was red. The sensation she had just felt was the blood that had oozed from her lower lip after she had bitten it. She then concentrated on her lips. Then she felt something else. Something pulsating that claimed her full attention. Something that could not simply be ignored and pushed all other sensory perceptions and feelings to the cognitive sidelines; pain. Suddenly she felt dizzy, her vision spongy. Her body reacted to it with such vehemence, as if it was the first time she had hurt herself. Her eyes began to water. Her senses became hazy until her surroundings finally contracted more and more into an all-encompassing, absorbing grey blob that seemed to become more and more agitated, more and more threatening, like a viscous, grey puddle on which raindrops fell, causing the puddle to grow larger and larger until, in no time at all, it had accumulated so much mass that the puddle became a grey ocean. She was in danger of drowning in it. She struggled for oxygen, but no more air reached her lungs. She flailed her arms, hoping that somehow she would make it back up, but the pale light from the overhead lamp grew dimmer and dimmer as she sank deeper into the grey of the infinite depths. Shadows closed in around her. Slowly her eyelids closed and she was in danger of losing consciousness. It seemed as if she wanted to resign herself to it. As if she had accepted her fate. She knew that people told themselves that just before a person dies, ones whole life passes before ones eyes like a flip-book. All the experiences, both positive and negative, the deeds one looked back to with pride, the decisions one regretted, the mistakes one had made. But there was nothing in her case - there was no flip-book of memories for her to read.

But then suddenly there was a bang and she tore her eyes open. It took several moments before her vision became clear again. She saw only grey. But this grey was calm and steady. After a few seconds, she realised it was a floor. Apparently she had fallen off the bed on which she had been lying before. The grey chest of drawers was lying flat on the floor - just like herself - apparently she had knocked it over while flailing her arms. Moisture soaked into her left glove. The water from the now broken glass wiped away the bloodstains on it until the liquid was absorbed by a grey mob. No, not a mob. It was hair. Her long grey hair was also on the floor. Suddenly she felt nauseous. She gasped, coughed and retched as her stomach contracted and her eyes narrowed. She wanted to throw up, but she couldn't. There was nothing - her stomach was completely empty, as if she had never eaten or drunk anything. She opened her eyes again, and caught sight of a shard of glass to her left, larger than the others. She reached for it - accepting that she might hurt herself. She didn't care. She held the transparent, angular object in front of her face. Her grey eyes and long black eyelashes were reflected on it.

Who am I?

The wind was cold and fierce that evening. They were on the highest level of this rugged landscape, which is why it was even colder and the wind blew even stronger than if they had been further down. Her revealing purple-red jumpsuit ensured that she could feel the strong wind and the cold air directly on her skin. Her long hair, tangled in itself, blew in the opposite direction from where the wind was coming from. Her hair was heavy and it pulled her back, but this was nothing new for Ni. Her footing was rock solid nonetheless, just like the mountains around her. Ichi and San were on her right and left respectively. The gazes of their grey eyes were all directed in the same direction - the same direction from which the wind came. But it was not the wind that made their hair vibrate that interested them; from the same direction came the enemy rushing towards them. They were already expecting him. It was foolish of them to assume that Master Hiruko was unaware of their presence. But since Master Hiruko had not yet revealed himself, or his intentions, to the shinobi world, their recklessness was quite understandable: One could not prepare for an opponent one did not expect, or know. But Ni knew from her own experience that her opponents would not have the opportunity to regret their mistake and learn from it. Master Hiruko did not do things by halves - the consequences of his decisions were entirely absolute - and usually fatal. Nothing was left to chance. Ichi raised his deep, calm voice.

"Are there Anbu from the Leaf?"

The Hidden Leaf Village - Master Hiruko's home. Ni wondered if that fact should make a difference to her master, but she confessed that she already knew the answer to that question; It made no difference. As she understood her master, he had already cut all ties to his past, to his former self. Now he was someone else. Now he had made new bonds. He had a new family - they were his family. She looked at her siblings; Ichi and San. She felt the bond that existed between them - and she was sure they could feel it too.

„Don't worry; there are no Ninja who could stand against us."

Hiruko's voice has something almost innocent on it. But even if his voice is not intimidating, his abilities are certainly. She turned her attention to the intruders - there were three people. They had dark cloaks on, their identities protected by ornate white masks they wore in front of their faces. But even if their identities were protected; they themselves were not. She heard the air behind her begin to crackle even before she heard the characteristic sound of Master Hiruko's powerful Jutsu. The technique hit the three Anbu immediately - and completely unprepared. They had been unable to protect themselves from the unannounced attack. They were stopped halfway and remained motionless on the spot. Ni's rosy lips formed into a smile as the souls of the enemy trio were absorbed by Master Hiruko. After consuming their power, he sent the spent souls back into their original vessels. Ni knew that they were now completely powerless.

"That's it? You possess only ordinary Earth-Style techniques!?"

Master Hiruko was about to use ther own technique against the Anbu themselves. She was almost a little saddened by this - not because her enemies were about to be crushed, but because she was being denied the opportunity to smash the enemy trio herself. She knew Ichi and San were thinking the same thing, but Ni wanted to prove her worth to Hiruko before anyone else. To do so, she took every opportunity that came her way. This time, however, their leader himself demonstrated his immense power; Ni marvelled at his might. In her eyes, it was only logical, natural and self-explanatory that Master Hiruko had the right to command not only herself, but the whole world. To be a tool, one of Master Hiruko's instruments, was an honour to her - it filled her with pride. The earth beneath her feet began to shake, but her footing was still rock solid. The helpless Ninja from Konoha were flung into the air before the mass of rock around them contracted and their bodies were crushed by masses of stone. Master Hiruko laughed - satisfied that the first steps of his final plan were being taken – approaching his ultimate goal. They had been working towards this moment for a long time.

"The time has come.", he said.

Master Hiruko was not a ordinary man; he was a god. He had created her out of nothing, just as he had created Ichi and San so that they could serve him together. She would make sure he took his rightful place in this world - even if it took everything she had. Even if she had to sacrifice herself for it.

It is confirmed that Ni - as well as Ichi and San - were created by Hiruko. They're human androids, which also explains there names being numeric. That will certainly have an affect on Ni's self-image and psyche, right? We'll see how that goes in the next chapter!