Frozen Sky
Chapter One
People are screaming.
Why?
People are staring with hateful eyes.
Why? Why do they look at me this way? What did I do wrong? I'm just a kid! Please! Leave me alone! I did nothing wrong! Go away!
People are punching.
Please stop!
People are kicking.
Please, it hurts!
People are bleeding.
Why?
People are dying.
What's going on?
Masks are staring.
Who are they?
The world goes black.
Finally…
Naruto hates hospitals. Truly, he does. It's not the first time he woke up here, and it likely won't be the last. He knows that. He really does. He hates that. Why? He's barely six. What did he do to deserve this? Naruto doesn't know. Dull, blue eyes turn away from the ceiling and lock eyes with sad, brown eyes on an aging face.
"I'm sorry."
"I know. You always are." Naruto's words are cold, empty. The old man's face falls with sadness, and he gives a tired sigh. Naruto's gaze turns away from the old man and meets the eyes of a stranger. Younger, but still old eyes meet back, matching dull looks. The man gives a small smile, but it never quite reaches his eyes. They're tired, grieving. For who, Naruto doesn't know.
"Naruto, this is your godfather. Jiraiya. He's one of my students. He's here to take you away from the village.
"Will he hurt me?"
"No. He won't."
"Okay." Naruto sits up in his hospital bed and glances down at the bandages wrapping his body. Strange. Usually they just leave him here. He gets better anyways. He chokes back a sob. Tears well in his eyes, but he refuses to allow them to fall.
"When do we leave?"
Naruto is walking. Besides him is the man with tired, grieving eyes. They're walking along a road through the forests surrounding the village he's only ever known as a lonely, painful place. Naruto feels… nothing. No elation. So sad. Just… numb. He feels nothing for the village at his back. He feels cold. The two of them walk for a long time in silence. The older of the two opens his mouth to speak, hesitates, before closing it with a clack of the teeth. They continue walking. Finally, the silence is broken.
"Will you teach me?"
"What?"
"To protect myself."
"Like, to be a shinobi?"
"If that's what it takes, then yes."
"...Okay. Yes, I will teach you."
"Okay."
A month passes. Jiraiya, as promised, teaches Naruto. If you can call it teaching. Naruto is often left on his own, given a scroll to read, which is pointless as he cannot read, and Jiraiya leaves whenever they come upon a town. However, Naruto is used to this. No one wants him. So, he tries. He asks people where he can learn to read. No one answers him. He keeps asking. Eventually, he's pointed towards a building. Upon entering, hundreds of books and scrolls meet his eyes, and he has to take a moment.
"Hello, young man." A kind voice rings out and Naruto turns to the deck to his left, by the entrance to the building. Sitting behind it is a young woman with light purple hair, silver eyes, and a thin pair of oval glasses resting upon her nose. She smiles towards him. "Are you lost?"
"No. I'm here to learn to read." Naruto states. The young woman blinks, before laughing, stifling it down to a giggle at the annoyed look Naruto gives her.
"Okay, come with me." She stands up and walks, glancing behind to. Naruto follows. The young woman leads Naruto to a small corner in the building and has him sit down, before sitting down across from him.
"I will help you learn to read, how's that sound?" she smiles.
"Okay."
Hours pass, and soon, Naruto must leave. The young woman, who's name he learns is Kasura Unoichi, has taught him a lot. He now understands some of the squiggles he has seen. She says he learns fast. Naruto hopes that's true. Before he goes, he turns to Kasura.
"I don't know how long I will be in this town. I might not be here tomorrow. Sorry." He turns to leave, only for Kasura to tap him on the shoulder. He turns, and there she is, too close to him. He takes a step back, only for her to step closer.
"Naruto, why don't you stay here? With me? I'm sure we can get along, I'll keep teaching you to read. Promise." Her smile is a bit too wide, her eyes too narrow. Naruto has seen things like this before.
"No. My godfather will be arriving soon." He turns to leave, but this time, Kasura grabs his arm in a tight grip, and tugs.
"That's okay. Here, let me take you home. He can pick you up from there, promise! I'll make you something to eat." She then begins to drag him away. Naruto winces from her grip and tries to pull away, only for her to slap him across his head. "Tut, tut, bad Naruto. Be a good boy and come with me." Naruto is dragged out the door of the building, through a back exit, and down an alleyway. Naruto's struggling becomes more frantic, and his eyes widen in opens his mouth to scream.
"Help-!" He's promptly smacked once again, and a hand wraps itself around his mouth.
"Now, now, Naruto, what did I say? Be a good boy, and come with me. Now." Kasura is no longer smiling. Naruto's fear is palpable now, his heart beating rapidly, and he passes out. "Oh dear. Well, this makes things easier."
Naruto wakes up to an alleyway bathed in blood. He's bathed in blood. Kasura lays besides him, a hole in her chest where her heart would lie. Naruto curls into a ball, and sobs. He doesn't know how long he sits there, but soon, arms begin to wrap around him and pick him up. In his panic and delirious state, Naruto thrashes, and kicks, and he hears a grunt as one lands.
"Hey, shh, it's okay. It's me." A voice, familiar yet not, sounds out, but Naruto barely hears it. He does here the sigh, followed by the pain on being hit, before all goes dark once again.
This time, when Naruto wakes up, he finds himself ankle deep in water. Pipes run along the ceiling of wherever he is, and he recognizes it as a sewer. He stands there, eyes dull, and walks forward. He doesn't know where he's going, but he figures he was left in the sewer by his supposed godfather. After all, no one wants him. Kasura did. Shut up. Naruto keeps walking, and eventually, he comes into a massive chamber, and in front of him are a massive stand of metal bars. Like a cage. Resting on the lock is a piece of paper, with more squiggles Naruto is beginning to recognize as words. He walks forward, only to stop as the darkness behind the cage seemingly shifts. He freezes, as massive, red slitted eyes open in the darkness, and lock onto him. Naruto lays still, before a chuckle breaks from his lips.
It starts low, soft, before it begins to rise into a full out bellow, hysterical and insane. He laughs until he cries, and he sinks to his knees. The massive eyes that were watching him begin to shrink, and the massive shape in the shadows changes to that of a being more humanoid. Nine tendrils flow and wave behind it, and it begins to grow closer. Naruto, however, is no longer watching. Instead, he is on his knees, staring blankly towards the ground as tears drip into the stagnant water.
What he does notice is something soft caressing his cheek. He glances up, and meets the ruby red eyes of a small teenage girl smiling tenderly. It was a tail that touched him, one of nine attached along the girl's spine. A fox tail. Naruto isn't dumb. He knows what, or rather, who is in front of him. The tail is extended past the metal bars. The girl's face was sad and lovely, and had dull embers burning in her eyes. Liquid flame descended from her scalp in red, flowing locks, matching the color of the tails. She is a slender, small-breasted girl, who seemed to be used to curling away from attention.
"I'm so sorry, Naruto. I'm so sorry." She says, and all Naruto can do is weep and wrap himself up in the soft embrace she provided.
It takes a while, but eventually Naruto calms down. He dimly realizes that the Kyuubi no Kitsune has him wrapped in her tails, and that she is also a village destroying calamity, a walking force of nature. But more importantly, he feels safe for the first time he can remember. He looks at her, matching her gaze.
"Where am I? Why are you here?"
"We're in your head. I was sealed here."
"Oh. Makes sense." It did not make sense. The girl allows a small smile to grace her lips.
"My name is Kurumi. Basically, I was put inside you. You're my prison cell, and I'm your prisoner." Naruto chokes.
"What? No! How do I let you out?"
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"You'll die."
"So?"
Silence. Kurumi looks like she's been struck and tears well in her eyes. Her tails tighten further around Naruto and pulls him closer to the cell, and she reaches through and hugs him. Naruto stills, unused to being touched in a positive manner.
"You poor, poor boy. No child should've been treated as you've been." For the first time, does Naruto feel cared about.
"No… no this isn't right. I- You… you shouldn't care. Why do you care?" Her hold tightens. "This… isn't normal." Naruto tears up again.
"Please… Naruto, you deserve to be cared about. Let me." Naruto cries more, and he cries and cries. Eventually he stops. He falls asleep.
This time, Naruto wakes up in a bed. Be blinks, staring at the wooden ceiling above him. It's not white. Not a hospital then. He sits up, and realizes he's in a different outfit, and that he's not longer covered in blood. He looks around, and spots his godfather sitting on the edge of his, which is adjacent to his own. He has his head in his hands, but upon hearing Naruto's movement, he glances up, grief and self-loathing riding heavily on his soul.
"Naruto… I'm so sorry. I- I can't keep doing this. I shouldn't be the one caring for you. I'm not… I can't give you what you need. Maybe Kakashi? Or maybe I can ask Mikoto…" he's mumbling now. Naruto remains where he is.
"The Kyuubi no Kitsune." He says. Jiraiya freezes, and looks up in shock and a little bit of fear.
"What?"
"Kyuubi is inside me. I met… her. I spoke to her."
"Oh."
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why me?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"I can't."
"Teach me."
"What?"
"You don't need to be good enough to care. Just be good enough to teach. I can't read."
"I… I can teach you to read."
"Good. Let's start there."
"Okay…"
Naruto is 7 now. He has been traveling with Jiraiya for a while now, and as promised, Jiraiya taught him to read. He also taught him about chakra, mathematics, Shinobi law, and how a true shinobi operates. Deception, lying, assassination, stealth. Naruto feels confident he can defend himself now. He wants more. He needs to be stronger. Jiraiya has begun to teach him Fuinjutsu. He had Naruto learn calligraphy while he was taught to write, and apparently he's good enough to start learning Fuinjutsu.
Jiraiya also taught him about the Bijuu. Naruto learned the term Jinchūriki. He learned that he was a human sacrifice and was supposed to be a weapon. Naruto decided he would be the sharpest weapon. He would not be dull, and no one would hurt him. Jiraiya told him they're going to Yuki no Kuni next week.
Naruto has also been learning from Kurumi while he sleeps, about the world, and the origin of the Bijuu. She told him about how there's other, lesser demons called devils. She explained that some of the most powerful shinobi in the world use something called "Devil fruits." They apparently contain these lesser demons. Devil fruit users are like weaker Jinchūriki. Apparently the first Hokage had a wood devil fruit. Jiraiya ate a toad one. Naruto asked what would happen if he ate a devil fruit. Kurumi said she'd separate the devil and grant him the powers.
Kurumi was also… she was there for him. She helped him reconnect a bit with his emotions. He… Naruto smiled the other day. From a joke. It felt unnatural, and natural. Naruto learned that Jiraiya taught the previous Hokage. He also learned that he's grieving for him. Naruto thinks that Jiraiya is a good person. He's just sad.
Naruto learned that he is valued. That he has worth and that people care about him. He learned how to make friends. Jiraiya and he went to Takigakure, where he met someone like him. Another Jinchūriki. Her name is Fuu. He made a friend. He thinks. Fuu called him weird. He's okay with that.
Naruto wonders what's in Yuki no Kuni.