This chapter took longer than I thought to come out. My bad.
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The concept of a Shinobi is a strange thing.
Someone who is born inside a warrior village, trained as a child to take lives. Honing their skills to protect their place of birth, to be used as a weapon. To never ask questions. To always fulfill their duties.
Only to die a miserable death, creating the foundations for the next generation to get caught in the same vicious cycle of meaningless slaughter.
War has been ever present since the dawn of time. When Chakra was given to humans, it was immediately turned against one another for their own personal gains. As a weapon meant to kill. One, two, three world wars, even before that during the clan wars, and again during the time of the Sage.
Ever since humans came to be, they have learned to love and protect. But with that selfish desire came war and conflict. To protect what you hold dear to you, one must cast aside what is needed to create "peace". Yet they hold on to their feeble hopes that one day, things will change, that people will finally understand one another. Yet nobody ever takes action. Because deep down they know. They know that peace is nothing more than an unattainable dream. As long as humans had the luxury of 'independent thinking', then differences of opinions will arise. And with those come the need for conflict.
But Shinobi continue to kill each other without even knowing why. Not many even know the reason for the first wars, yet they still follow into their progenitors' footsteps. Why? Because it was programmed into them. From the moment they are born, they are told who's good and who's bad, not understanding that the enemies that they are ordered to kill are merely told the same thing, fighting to protect their village and families. Talking about peace while Shinobi still existed with divided villages, clamoring for the blood of their enemies was an oxymoron in on itself. Fighting fire with fire only made the flames burn brighter after all.
Was this all there was to life? An otiose struggle to just stay alive. To wake up, to train your body, to fight, to kill, to do it all over again and again and again like a never-ending nightmare, hoping, yearning for a different world, for a change.
But nothing ever changed. It was always just the same old war.
People could have so many reasons to kill; for their own perverse desires, to prevent more deaths, for personal gain, revenge or to achieve a goal. But when did it become justifiable? Was one human life worth more than another? In the end, it was still a human life, the same as any other one.
Why should humans be given the power to decide whether someone deserved to live or die?
There was no way that he was the only one tired of this violence and this lack of empathy.
Why do Shinobi continue to live this futile life?
What was the point of it all?
Was life really so unfair?
"-which is why a daily maintenance of your tools is crucial for a ninja. A checkup of your items is important at the start of each mission, make sure you have everything you'll need. At the end of every mission, it is fundamental to stock back up on your consumables, such as your kunai, shuriken, paper bombs and steel wires to name a few. A ninja is only as strong as the tools at his disposal, and survivability is only assured through how much you've planned ahead beforehand. An emergency med-kit is always required-"
Naruto breathed a quiet sigh as his head rested on his palm. This has been a week of pure boredom. Two years and fifty-one more weeks? He didn't think he had it in him to sit through all of that. He hadn't been able to train consistently since he'd began the academy, so maybe he could afford to send a clone in in his stead?
"Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of your actions."
Naruto nearly jumped as the nine tail's voice rumbled in his head. 'Kyuubi?'
The fox didn't reply, making him blink and hold a hand to his head. Had he imagined that? Kyuubi had never willingly spoken to him before, especially not from outside the seal.
Maybe the lectures were making him go crazy.
The doors to the hospital swung open, allowing the blond to slowly walk in and through the lobby of the hospital. Making his way towards the receptionist, he stopped in front of her desk and waited for the lady behind the counter to look up from her computer screen.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
Naruto looked around the building, his discomfort clearly visible on his face. "…I'm looking for Sho Ito's room."
"Certainly." She sorted through her files and pulled a slip of paper out. "Room 245"
He made his way to the room in question. Staring at the door, he balled his hands into fists and shook his head, before knocking and opening it.
Inside, the resident of the room started in surprise at the person that had just walked in.
"Naruto?"
The blond took a moment to take in the scene in front of him. Gone were the tubes and machinery used to keep his teammate alive. He was awake and conscious, out of bed by the window of his room. His skin was healthier, almost back to his regular tanned complexion. In fact, besides the slight loss of weight, Sho looked just as good as he did a few months ago.
He'd almost thought he was back to full health, were it not for the wheelchair he was sitting in.
Sho placed his hands on the wheels of his chair and turned them around before slowly rolling himself a bit closer to his teammate. "What's wrong? Tora got your tongue?" He said with a small smirk.
Naruto bit his lip and looked to the ground, avoiding his teammate's eyes. Why was he smiling at him? Why was he acting like nothing was wrong? He should be yelling at him, cursing him for putting him in this situation.
"…Sho…I'm sorry…"
Sho observed the boy carefully. Something seemed different about him. No matter how hard he looked, he could not find any traces of the happy yet socially awkward teammate that he'd grown to know over the past year. Was this because of what happened with Orochimaru?
With a sigh, Sho shook his head. "Look Naruto, you have nothing to apologize about." He stared down at his lap, a small frown marring his face. "I wasn't myself You did what you had to do. As for that request I asked from you…That was wrong of me to ask. I shouldn't have expected you to take on such a burden."
Naruto nodded, seemingly uncomfortable with the topic.
"How are you feeling?" the Jinchūriki asked the older boy.
"Good as can be I guess, considering…" He replied, making Naruto wince. "What about you? Did Orochimaru do anything to you?"
"I don't have a seal on me, if that's what you're asking."
Sho brought a hand up and covered the black mark on his neck. "That's a relief…I was worried that he got you too with that."
"What…What is that?" He asked curiously, making Sho shrug.
"I dunno. The doctors say it's some kind of weird seal. But uh…Some people messed around with it while I was sedated and put barriers around it."
Naruto nodded, and the room fell into silence once more.
"Naruto, they won't tell me anything in here so I've been wanting to know," Sho said suddenly. "What happened to the rest of our team?"
"Oh…That." Naruto started in a quiet voice. "We had a funeral for Sensei."
"…I see…" The brunette replied. "So Tomoda-sensei really is…" He fell silent after those words. "What about Yuna?"
"She's…Missing."
"Missing?"
The blond nodded. "A tracking team went back to the site, but they didn't find her anywhere."
"Do you think that she ran away…? Or..." He paused. "Or that Orochimaru took her?"
Naruto shook his head, making Sho look down in worry. "If that's true, then who knows what she's going through right now, or what's happening to her…Dammit!" He shouted, making Naruto jump a little. "I hate feeling so powerless…"
"Don't worry." Naruto said, making Sho look back up at him. "Yuna is strong. You know that."
Sho took a breath before offering him a weak smile in return.
"You're right…Wherever she is, I bet she's giving them hell."
The statement brought a small smile to Naruto's face, making his posture relax slightly. Taking a seat on one of the chairs, the two continued partaking in small talk.
The Uchiha landed in a crouch on a tree overlooking the training grounds. Frowning, he scanned the large area before his eyes settled on a lone figure, sitting cross legged under a tree.
'There he is.'
He'd been tailing him ever since the academy ended for the day, his curiosity for the blond had grown with every passing day.
Hopping down the tree, he slowly began walking towards his target. But doubt soon began to cloud his judgement. What was his plan here? He'd definitely never done anything like this before, and the blond child didn't seem like the type to enjoy idle chit chat.
But he just had to do this. This boy, he was the same age as him yet carried himself like a Shinobi.
He looked down at the ground and shook his head. No, that wasn't just it. The blond was powerful, sure, but there was something else there. He didn't care. He didn't care about his lineage. He didn't care that he was one of the last Uchiha. He didn't care that he was basically royalty. He hadn't given him any special treatment because of his status. And frankly, that was just what he needed. Someone that didn't pull his punches.
His feet suddenly came to a stop once he realized that he was already next to the meditating blond. Damn, he still didn't know what to say to him.
"…"
"…"
Sasuke stood next to him for a few moments, waiting for anything to happen. But when his classmate made no indication to move or acknowledge his existence, he brought his fist to his mouth and coughed into it.
"Um…Hey."
At last, a reaction. The boy sitting in front of him slowly opened his eyes before looking up at him with an impassive stare.
Well…Not much of a reaction, but one nonetheless.
The two stared at each other for what felt like eternity to the Uchiha. "This is kind of sudden but…Can you fight me?"
"…"
Sasuke began to grow nervous as the blond continued to stare at him. Eventually though, he stood up, and walked right past him.
Sasuke whipped around and stared at the blond's retreating back. He expected a lot of answers, but he definitely didn't expect to be outright ignored.
"Hey, wait-"
The Uchiha boy extended his hand to place it on the blond's shoulder. Before he could even register it though, Naruto's fingers reached out and interlocked with his, pulling him forward and drove his fist into his guts. Sasuke's eyes opened wide as spit was forced out of his mouth and was sent back several meters.
The boy coughed and rolled onto his side clutching his stomach in pain. Naruto spared him one more look before walking away from the downed Uchiha.
Sasuke took a minute to catch his breath, before sluggishly pushing himself back up into a sitting position. Rubbing the spot that had been struck, he looked up at his classmate that had gone back to practicing his katas.
His style was…Unlike anything he'd ever seen before. It was like it had no consistency. Sometimes his strikes were loose, sometimes they were tight, and sometimes they were…Wild. He couldn't find any other way to describe it. It was like his form was constantly changing and adapting to some unseen situation.
No…Now that he watched closer, it wasn't inconsistent. Unpredictable would be a better way to describe it.
'At first glance it looks like it has no real form, but I can see that he's following some kind of pattern...'
He watched him practice some kind of combination a bit longer before pushing himself to his feet. 'Fine then, if he won't pay me any attention, then I'll just have to make him.'
Naruto stopped his kata mid-motion and turned to face the sound of approaching footsteps. The Uchiha stopped a few paces away, his determined eyes meeting the blond's blank gaze.
'The last two times he caught me off guard, but I'll be ready this time…' Sasuke got into his intercepting fist, frowning even more when Naruto still made no move to change his stance. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek as the seconds went by with no movement.
A small gust of wind blew a leaf towards their direction. It gently glided down, slowly floating to and fro, before finally touching the ground. As soon as the leaf hit the floor, Sasuke shot forward, pulling his arm back and winding up for an attack. He saw the blond tilt slightly to the side, anticipating the hit and Sasuke unexpectedly shifted his stance in a feint, suddenly going low for a sweep kick. Naruto backflipped out of harm's way, skidding to a stop and immediately slid to the left as the Uchiha threw a handful of Shuriken towards him.
The metal stars missed their mark and sunk into the trees behind. Sasuke ran forward once more, faster than Naruto expected and jumped up, twisting and landing a high kick aimed at his face. Naruto crossed his arms protectively and skidded back, catching his ankle before Sasuke could pull it away. The Uchiha attempted to aim a strong punch at his face, which was caught with his other hand.
"…"
In an impressive display of flexibility, Sasuke contorted his body to the side and aimed even higher with his free leg while his body was still airborne, forcing Naruto to let go of Sasuke's fist to block the second kick instead. Sasuke's hand landed on the ground, which he used to propel himself out of harm's way of the blond. As soon as he landed though, he shot forward, once more engaging in close quarters. Naruto dodged a punch, blocked an elbow and deflected a kick before countering with a kick of his own to drive his opponent back. Sasuke recovered in midair and landed gracefully. Glaring at the blond with determined eyes, he exhaled a slow breath to steady his heartbeat before flying through hand signs.
'Fire style: Fireball jutsu!'
Naruto's eyes widened slightly for a fraction of a moment as a ball of fire made its way towards him, not expecting a second year Academy student to know elemental jutsu yet. He used the body flicker to propel himself back, out of reach from the fire that burnt the grass and scorched the earth. Suddenly, from within the smoke came Sasuke, his fist extended as it made contact with the blond's cheek.
Sasuke's eyes widened as his punch landed, forcing the blond's head to the side, but Naruto's feet didn't budge an inch from their position much to his dismay. Quickly putting some distance between the two of them, Sasuke panted softly and caught his breath as he anxiously watched his opponent.
Naruto's head slowly rotated forward. His eyes, unfazed, stared back at him, before suddenly growing colder as the blond shifted his stance.
'Are you finally taking me seriously?' Sasuke thought in anticipation.
Naruto's body lowered slightly and his dominant foot slid back. Before Sasuke could react, the blond ran forward, much faster than before and delivered a right hook that snapped his head to the side and nearly knocked him unconscious. He stumbled back, but forced himself to remain standing upright. Naruto appeared in front of him once more, and Sasuke attempted to throw a punch, but Naruto dodged it at the last second and drove his knee into his stomach. Sasuke keeled over, and Naruto struck him on the back of his head, sending him flying away and impacting against the training post.
He cursed and pushed himself up to a knee, one eye closed in pain. Standing back up, he weaved through hand signs again but failed to complete them as Naruto was upon him once more. Gasping in surprise, he interrupted his jutsu to send a fast side kick, but was shocked when the blond seemed to disappear from in front of him and reappear right behind him in a burst of pure speed. Naruto used the momentum of the movement to deliver a devastating spinning kick to Sasuke's mid-section.
"Gah!"
Pain flared up at the point of impact as the Uchiha crashed into the ground. Panting, he opened his eyes when the blond walked towards him. He grunted in frustration and tried to push himself back up, but was forced back down by his opponent's foot.
"Learn when to give up." Naruto said, in the same apathetic tone as always, making Sasuke grit his teeth.
"Tch."
The blond ignored Sasuke's scoff and removed his foot off of him before walking back to his training post. He took a deep breath before once more getting into his stance and repeating the same movements that the Uchiha had seen him do when he first arrived.
"How did you get so strong anyway?" Sasuke asked, one hand clutching his side as he watched him training.
Naruto didn't reply, but Sasuke didn't really expect one anyway. Dusting his clothes off, he jumped to his feet and glanced to the side at a second training post a few ways away. He looked at Naruto, then back at the training post, then back to Naruto once more.
"Hey, I'm gonna practice here as well from now on." The brunette said.
The Jinchūriki didn't even spare him a look. "Do what you want."
The window to Naruto's living room slowly opened, allowing a tall figure to jump inside. The man looked around the place before scratching his silver hair and closing the window behind him.
The masked man looked around the dark room in puzzlement. Placing a hand on the wall, he slid it around haphazardly until he found the switch and flipped it on. The light was dim, nearing the end of its life and would soon need to be replaced.
The place was messy. Dust covered most surfaces. Boxes and ninja tools were left lying on the floor, dirty dishes were stacked near the sink -who knows how long those had been sitting there-. Books and scrolls were strewn over a small table.
Kakashi walked to the kitchen and frowned when he opened the fridge. That smell…Most of the content inside were rotten, or getting close to it. He closed it and opened the pantry. Nothing was rotten in there, but it was filled with canned goods and other unopened non-perishables.
He let the pantry door click shut and gave the room another once over. Walking into the bathroom, he observed the state of it. Mold was forming in the corners. More apparently, the mirror fixed onto the wall had shattered. He squinted as he inspected the reflecting surface closer. That did not look like an accident.
"What are you doing here?"
Kakashi turned to the source of the voice in surprise. "Oh, you scared me." He barely heard him arriving, that kid was getting sneakier and sneakier.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I scared you? You're the one that broke in."
The man chuckled and looked around the room once more, before looking back at the boy. His eyes were dark and droopy, from a lack of sleep he assumed.
"Why don't we go for a walk?"
The two walked along streets, enjoying the night life as children and merchants alike ran around. Konoha had always been lively around this time. Kakashi glanced away from his book to the boy next to him, hands behind his head while absently staring up at the dimming sky.
"So…What have you been up to lately?"
"Training." Replied the blond.
"Hm." Kakashi said. "How's the academy going?"
"It's boring."
"Yeah. I didn't spend that much time there myself, but that's how I remember it as well." He paused for a second. "You are going, right?"
Naruto tore his eyes away from the sky to look at him. "Yeah?"
"Good."
The two continued walking until Kakashi stopped next to one of the many food vendors selling some kind of fried meat.
"You want anything?" The masked man asked after signaling to the vendor to get a plate ready for him.
"Yeah, ramen."
Kakashi looked back at Naruto with an unimpressed look on his face. "It's a barbecue stand. They have barbecue."
Naruto looked at the stand in question with a small frown. "Okay. No."
Kakashi shrugged and ordered himself a meat skewer, which the merchant gladly gave to him. As they kept walking, Naruto looked at his teacher only to see that the skewer had already been consumed.
"How are you doing that?"
"Hm?" Kakashi hummed, pretending to not have heard him. Naruto's eye twitched, but he held his tongue. He wasn't in the mood to play that game with Kakashi.
"Commander!"
An ANBU dropped down from a nearby rooftop, a frantic air emanating from him. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and turned to face him, Naruto stopping as well a few paces ahead.
"What is it Bear?"
"There's been another breach…" The ANBU continued in a hushed whisper too low for Naruto to pick up, but whatever it was it made Kakashi frown.
"Iwa again? Really?" The copy-nin muttered. He gave a furtive look towards Naruto, who had already lost interest in the conversation and was now absently staring up at the sky.
The ANBU member exchanged a few more words with Kakashi before nodding and disappearing into the night.
Kakashi stood there, mulling over the information he'd just received before continuing on to catch up with his student. "Naruto." He said, but was confused when he received no reply. Walking closer to him, he noticed that he was staring up at…Something. But when he looked up as well, he failed to see anything out of the ordinary.
"Naruto? You alright?" He said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto blinked and snapped out of his daze, before holding a hand up to his head in pain.
"Ungh…Yeah, just a headache." He said dismissively. Opening his eyes, he looked back at his teacher. "Anyway, what was that about?"
"It's nothing for you to worry about. More importantly, I heard that you met with Jiraiya-sama the other day. How'd that go?"
"It went fine."
"Really?" Kakashi asked curiously. "That's it?"
"Hm…"
—
"Hey, kid."
Naruto stared back at the taller man. "Hello."
Jiraiya scratched at his head. "It's uh…It's been a while."
The blond tilted his head and watched the man closely. He seemed nervous. What did a man so powerful have to be worried about?
"How've you been?"
Naruto blinked. "I've been alright."
"Good, good." Jiraiya replied. The awkwardness was nearly enough to drown him. Here he was, talking to his student's traumatized son, after having rescued him from his ex-psychotic teammate. What a strange world they lived in.
"Listen…There's something I need to tell you." He turned towards the boy. "It's about your teammate, Yuna."
He saw his eyes widen slightly at that. "As soon as we rescued you on that day, I sent a messenger bird back to Konoha requesting a tracking team to try to find your teammate. Unfortunately, that place is a bit…Weird. The chakra coming from there makes the Aburame bugs act all crazy-like, and the following rain made it a near impossible task to pick up anything. They searched the entire facility as well, quite a few rooms were protected by privacy seals that the Byakugan couldn't see through, but all of them were eventually dispelled."
"…And?"
The man shook his head. "Nothing. We weren't able to find neither hide nor hair of her. It's like she just vanished."
Naruto squeezed his fist tight in frustration. "Do you think she's…"
The Sannin shook his head. "It's hard to tell. We didn't find her corpse anywhere, so who knows what could have happened.
He watched as the boy's demeanor fell, a sigh escaping his lips. "Sometimes, no news can be good news. So don't lose hope, she's probably still out there, fighting."
'Sounds like Yuna alright.'
"…That guy used to be your teammate, right?"
One of Jiraiya's eyebrows rose in curiosity. "That's right."
"Sorry but next time I see him, I'll kill him."
The man fell silent. What his teammate had done, what they'd found in that lab, it was all so unforgivable, and it pained him to see what the man he once considered his friend had become.
"I can't blame you kid. Though…You might have to train a bit more first." He said with a small smile in an attempt to make a joke. It soon fell though when he received no reaction from the Uzumaki. Silence fell upon them again, and both sat watching the citizens walk by.
"Orochimaru wasn't always like this, you know…" Jiraiya said, gaining Naruto's attention. "Sure, he always looked weird, and he had his faults, but he used to be a kid just like everybody."
"…"
"Orochimaru went through a profound change after both his parents were killed. And that's when he became obsessed with forbidden jutsu. I don't know if he was trying to resurrect his parents or to wreak vengeance on the village that he held responsible for their death. My parents weren't killed, so…" He trailed off.
Naruto frowned. He wasn't really all that interested about the man that had abducted him and his team. Regardless, he continued to listen anyway.
"I was accused of not being able to understand anything about him or his feelings. Perhaps he was right, and I didn't understand a thing about him after all."
Jiraiya paused and looked up at the sky, a pensive look marring his face.
"Even I can see, that there is entirely too much hate in this shinobi world of ours."
"…Too much hate?" Naruto repeated.
"Ah…I've wanted to do something about all this hatred. I'm just not quite sure how to go about it as of yet. But I truly believe, that eventually the day will come when all people will understand one another and live in harmony."
"…"
"…That's stupid."
Jiraiya gave a boisterous laugh, catching the blond off guard. "Hahaha! Well, that might be true. It does sound like a fool's errand, doesn't it?"
Jiraiya smiled and looked down at the ground. "Though, I'd be interested to hear why you think it's stupid."
"Hatred is…Well…It's just something we have. We can't do anything about that."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You want everybody to be united, to understand one another. But no matter what we do, there'll always be people with different values, different religions or different visions. Your idea of peace might be different than someone else's."
Jiraiya nodded, agreeing with the words of the blond youth. "That's right."
"As long as those differences still exist, hatred exists as well and this peace will never be achievable unless you force it on them, but then would that still be considered 'peace'?"
Jiraiya chuckled. "Heh. You know, you're pretty smart for your age." Despite that, his smile remained on his face as he looked over to the Hokage monument. "But you're not wrong. In fact, I've thought the same thing many times."
"If you know it's impossible, then why are you still trying?"
"Because if I don't try, who will?"
Naruto had trouble seeing the logic behind that, but he did find it admirable to see how passionate that man was about his dream.
"Welp!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he clapped his hands once and stood up. "I think I'm gonna go hit up the bath-houses. Wanna come with?"
"…"
"Right." The white-haired man chuckled at the boy's deadpan. He jumped up, clacked his sandals together and landed atop a toad twice the size of a human. "And with that, Jiraiya the gallant makes his exit!"
Naruto watched the toad hop away with wide eyes.
"What the fu-"
—
"Yeah."
"Oh, well I guess that's alright. You know, he might seem like an old lecher, but that man is very wise Naruto, and he is one of the strongest Shinobi of Konoha. I know how you are when it comes to meeting new people, but try to keep an open mind alright?"
"Sure…" Naruto replied, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"He's written quite a few books as well."
The blond made a face. "You mean those weird ones you keep reading?"
Kakashi chuckled at that. "Well, I can't dispute that. But he's also written a very interesting novel that I think you'd like."
"Really?" Naruto asked, surprised. "What's it called?"
The masked man put a hand to his chin.
"Hm…What was it called?...
Oh, that's right. It's called…"
—
The tale of the utterly gutsy ninja.
You will be happy to know that this is the last chapter before we finally start getting into canon. The next chapter will have a three year time-skip!
Me and TheOrangeSpark (author of "A Bet of Lifetime") made a discord server together. It was created a day ago as of the 10th of August 2022 and it's still under works, but it will be awesome if you guys joined. It will give you an opportunity to talk to me, TheOrangeSpark and other members of the community!
Here is the link (Make sure to copy and paste this into a URL and to remove the spaces)
disc ord.g g/j7cr uwQ Q9E