Chapter 23
Timeskip: 1 month later
Naruto woke to the sound of metal clanking against each other, tools being put into place. His nostrils were filled with the smell of instruments, blood and steel, and he felt tight restraints placed around his body.
He was suspended upside down and strapped to a cold table. He'd been through this familiar scene dozens of times so far. He didn't really know, counting wasn't a luxury.
"Ah, you're up. I'm sure you know the routine by now. Are you going to cooperate today? You can end this now. This doesn't have to continue." The voice said. Naruto's mind was hazy.
They'd constantly been pumping him with poison and drugs to keep his body subdued and to occupy Kurama's chakra. After drugs, they'd place a litany of seals from his eyes to his toes and Kurama's seal.
On top of that he was heavily restrained with chakra suppressant metal littered with more seals. While none of it could hold him alone, together it was more than a problem. As soon as his seigan burned through the seals on his body, kurama would begin to work on purging the poison from his body.
Only then would Naruto have the strength to break free from his bonds but even then it'd take time to mold the chakra to break free. The chakra suppressants restraining him would only slow him down once he reached that point.
Unfortunately it was enough that by the time he's done everything to nearly get free, they're injecting more drugs into him and then replacing the seals and then the suppressant restraints. An endless cycle of struggle.
Truly an aggravating and agonizing process. Especially when they tortured him for information whenever the drugs wore off, just to poison him again. Even some Yamanaka had e been attempting to break into his mind but so far, with Kurama's help, they got nothing.
When Naruto was overwhelmed, Kurama would bring him into the mindscape and shield his mind from the pain of his body as much as he could. When they invaded his mind, If he couldn't combat the assault himself, Kurama would break free from his suppressants and destroy their minds.
Naruto was strong but the process was tiring and slowly breaking him down. He may have even cracked if not for the bijuu. Not maybe, it would've happened. Luckily, he did have Kurama though something needed to change, and soon.
Naruto resisted the urge to flinch, as he'd done countless times before, when a long, thin needle was pushed into another of his joints. Each needle was coated with a toxin to increase sensitivity to pain.
While Naruto wouldn't show pain outwardly, his vivid mindscape allowed him to scream and release those emotions without showing weakness. Kurama was still sealed but Naruto's seigan had just burned through the seal attempting to keep it inactive and would soon work on the seal suppressing kurama.
Until then Naruto had to weather the pain of torture fully. "How do you reproduce your bloodlines," a masked and cloaked man asked as he placed another pin into another one of Naruto's joints and sensitive areas. This continued for how long he'd never know. His sense of time had been shattered.
Naruto was beginning to resemble a pin cushion. "How do you gain access to your compound?" Naruto let loose the lowest of grunts as the man wrapped a small metal string around the last of needles implanted in his body and sent an intense burst or electricity that used all the needles as conduits.
"Where are the Uzumaki seals hidden?" The man continued placing various needles of varying sizes, lengths, and angles into painful places on Naruto's body. Nearly an hour later and Naruto was nearing his breaking point.
There were needles in places too painful for him to think about. He'd blocked out anything his tormentors could say or ask to him in fear of responding to lessen the pain. "Did he break yet?"
A voice asked, Naruto identified as Jiraiya. "No, but despite the silence, I can tell he's getting close." His tormentor responded. "Good, Let's break him down completely. I want him to sing like a songbird. He'd gunna make Minato proud whether he like it or not." Jiraiya responded.
As another Shock wracked his body, he felt his mind slip into the comfort of Kurama's mental embrace. When he opened his eyes, he was back in his mindscape with Kurama looking over him with a worried expression that'd been growing as time went on.
"Kit we've gotta fucking do something. You can't take this for too long. Just, use my chakra, as much as your body will hold, run wild until you get free." Kurama said.
"And We've been over this. If we flood my system with your chakra while I'm still affected by so many drugs, then I won't be able to control it at all and I'll be consumed. While I'm not completely abandoning that option, it'll have to be a last resort. Even you might not be able to stop me from going all 9 tails."
"And fucking when do you think it's finally time for a last resort, Huh, gaki? You can't last much longer. " "Damnit, I have no choice but to, Kurama. And I still need to figure out how to get to your seal's key from Jiraiya before I escape so I can find a way to release you, safely."
"Listen you puny human, I won't let them break you. I won't work with a broken ningin. If you're going to figure it out. Do it now, I won't watch you like this much longer." Kurama snarled
"Alright, Kurama, Alright. Enough. Give me time," Naruto said weakly as the pain his tormentors were putting his body through surged past Kurama's influence. Naruto would forever be grateful for the fox after all the time's he'd saved him from the worst of the pain.
He was laying at the base of the giant tree that was in the center of his mindscape surrounded by Kurama lying down, curled around him. A familiar sight in recent times. He never thought he'd be in this situation. Yet, here he was.
Due to all the time he was forced to spend in the mindscape, he'd scoured his memories for some clue, an answer, or idea of how to get out of his current predicament. Naruto was starting to do the same again in an attempt to take his mind off the excruciating pain he couldn't escape, no matter where his mind went, when he ran into something odd.
There were memories he couldn't see, or at least a place where he felt memories should be, yet he wasn't remembering it. Instead he found memories that were just, off. They were from when he was 8 through about 11 years old. He'd wonder why he hadn't noticed it but he never used to read his own mind like this.
"Kurama do you know anything about these memories," Naruto asked while motioning to a point in the sky where a collection of images were. "No, Actually I don't but I never really paid much attention when you were younger. The seal was so tight back then and your mind was too slow and stupid to make much sense so I stayed asleep."
He wasn't surprised the fox had been sleeping on the job when he was younger, the fox slept all the time. Naruto concentrated on the odd and the missing memories. After a moment, the odd memories shattered in his mindscape while memories that should've always been there began to make themselves clearer.
Naruto walked around kurama and through the giant tree. Even in his mindscape, he could barely make it. They were doing numbers on his body. On the inside of the tree was an empty, wooden room.
He could make anything he needed in his mindscape if he needed anything at all. Naruto walked to the center of the room and had the returning memories appear on the walls all around him so he could reminisce better.
The earliest memories started with Naruto and his sensei Crow, maybe a year before the uchiha massacre.
Flashback* At that time, when Naruto was 8, his sensei didn't have his anbu gear or a mask on, his traditional Uchiha clothing. He didn't remember Itachi showing who he really was until now. They were on a mission, the first of many from the memories that were returning to him.
Itachi had been tasked with leading a team of genin in the recovery of a farm hand's daughter. A local band of bandits, led by a low ranking missing nin, had begun kidnapping women in southern fire country.
Intel suggested they were rounding them up for export to a slave trade ring. Itachi had placed his genin team in a genjutsu before leading them to an old uchiha hideout where they'd stay and take care of themselves until he returned and implanted false memories of the mission.
Itachi wanted to see how Naruto would react and handle himself in such an environment. While the young boy was strong for his age, a mission like the one they were on should've been years beyond his abilities.
Itachi was actually hoping to scare the kid. Out of all the violence and negativity Naruto had been exposed to in his short life, he'd always responded in kind. Itachi was hoping to shake Naruto a bit, just enough to get him to show some resemblance of a kid again.
He didn't want the boy to grow up like he did, cold and indifferent. They were in the brush surrounding the bandit's camp and Itachi was quietly giving their plan of action. "Ok, Naruto. This is your first time in the field. Are you sure you're ready?" Itachi asked.
"Hai, I'm ready sensei." Itachi looked at Naruto and saw no fear. It was more of anticipation, excitement even. "Good, this is what I want you to do. Wait here until I create a distraction. It'll draw their one shinobi and some of the bandits away from the camp. Once that's done, I want you to infiltrate the camp and rescue a girl who looks like this."
He showed Naruto a picture of a young girl with pretty eyes and dark hair. Her eyes were shy but full of kindness and warmth, like Hinata he thought. Naruto memorized what she looked like and Itachi put away the picture before disappearing in a shunshin to complete his task.
Naruto only had a small idea of how to do what he was asked but decided to treat it like a prank. He could sense a clone of his sensei watching so he wasn't completely alone. A fireball impacted something on the far end of the camp, a good distance away.
From his spot in the brush, Naruto activated his seigan and began tracking everyone in the camp. The fastest to move had the most chakra out of all the bandits, it must've been the shinobi. Over a dozen more followed to see who was attacking. Naruto sensed 8 more bandits staying in the camp.
He could just sneak by them but to where. After another moment of looking and sensing around, he noticed one of the bandits disappear into a tent and go underground until Naruto couldn't sense or see his chakra.
Naruto focused in just that direction, faintly feeling multiple chakra signatures. Like he'd done before to prank people who treated him badly, the young Naruto moved quickly and quietly, avoiding everyone before they came too close.
He used the darkness of night and his small stature to hide and climb his way around the camp unnoticed. Once he reached the tent, he slipped in and removed the tanto his sensei had recently given him for graduating his pre-academy training.
Once he jumped down the big hole in the middle of the tent, who knows what he'd find. Better be prepared, he thought. Naruto jumped down into the tunnel that was wide enough for Naruto to stand in.
It led straight down at first before curving and going down at an angle for half a kilometer. As he got closer to a dank cavern opening, he heard the rattling of chains, a man barking orders, and the screams and cries of at least a few girls and his senses were telling him there were a little over a dozen down there.
He could sense their emotions and for a moment was frozen. Their emotions were heart wrenching and he felt sickened himself. Eventually, he inched closer to the opening of the cavern until he could see inside.
There were multiple cages that he wouldn't even have been able to stand in with naked women cowering inside. There were 3 bandits in the room. Naruto felt angry. He didn't even fully understand what he was seeing but he knew it was wrong. Something terrible was happening.
Ten minutes later, when the real Itachi came to find Naruto, he'd already killed all the bandits left in the camp. Naruto was silently watching the women climb out of the tunnel with tears falling down his face.
Itachi was going to ask about the girl they were looking for but saw her huddled up in the corner of the tent with an empty, dead look in her eyes. She had blood splattered on her but she didn't have any injury to suggest it was her own with how much it was.
Itachi's clone dispelled and he saw what Naruto had seen and uchiha had hoped Naruto would run, hoped he would finally reach a point where he couldn't withhold all his emotions and release them. He hoped Naruto wouldn't be able to handle the situation and still be able to see the worst of the world they lived in so he'd be prepared.
Instead, he'd become colder. Itachi could feel it. The boy had repressed even that. He'd scared the boy for nothing. Hindsight caught up to the Uchiha quickly as he watched as Naruto wiped his tears and settled his face into an indifferent expression. He'd handled it incorrectly. He should've done it another way, he thought.
Itachi cursed himself for repeating his father's mistakes but in the end Naruto did need to see the world for what it was. He needed to see what those with power sometimes choose to do. He had to see that others suffered in this world too. He had to see why there needed to be a change for some semblance of peace. Something larger than just killing his enemies.
"I bet you're wondering how something like this could've happened. How people could be this cruel? Why no one protected them. Why did this happen to them?" Naruto said nothing, but his young mind was indeed asking those same questions.
"Is it because they were weak? Because no one cared for them? Because they deserved it?" Naruto pondered the question but didn't know an answer like that. "None of those were true, no. No, it happened because these men were enabled by a shinobi who had the power to do what he wanted, at least until a major shinobi village noticed.
Those with the power to do what they want and further their goals usually tend to do just that and if it's at the cost of other's, it doesn't matter until there's someone able to stop them. And even when there's someone to stop them, no one can be everywhere and know everything at all times.
At some point things will slip through the cracks and those cracks will grow until the foundations are no longer stable. And how would you stop something like this in the future?" Once again a question Naruto knew no answer.
"Everyone here is dead but it won't be long until another group like this shows up. Is this just who we as humans? If not, how do we tell the trash from the rest of us? How would we change them before it's too late? Is it even possible?
How do we protect the innocent and the weak? How far are we willing to go? Is it worth it? Is conflict and atrocities like this simply, inevitable?" Itachi question himself and Naruto.
"I don't know. I don't understand." Naruto replied in a shaky voice. Itachi and Naruto stood there thinking for a moment before Itachi responded. "One day you will, and maybe you'll find a solution where I've failed. Things like this, war, and all kinds of conflict are rampant throughout this world. Whether it's at its worst during a world war or silently just as bad during times of so called peace, something needs to change" *End Flashback*
Naruto made it through a few more hidden memories of missions with his sensei but was distracted by pain most of the time. He always seemed to stumble upon memories of Haku too but they made his pain unbearable so he pushed them to the back of his mind and focused on specific memories.
Itachi had shown him some of the vilest acts of the shinobi world. Even the unfairness of having to kill, sometimes innocent, people to complete a mission. He stressed that to make a difference, Naruto had to be strong; much stronger than anyone he currently knew. He'd have to be smart and see underneath the underneath to truly understand the workings of the shinobi world.
Naruto was wondering how his memories had been hidden and suppressed from him. He was moving onto the rest of his memories with his sensei when he felt a mental intrusion. At the same time, he felt seals being replaced onto his body. He still needed kurama for a bit longer so he focused on removing the bijuu suppressant seal as quickly as possible.
The moment Kurama was free they simultaneously attacked the foreign intruder who hadn't been brave enough to delve as deep in Naruto's mind. Kurama had already terrorized the first Yamanaka that tried to insanity.
After that they always attempted to mind walk him right before or right after Kurama was sealed and it almost worked at first. Naruto had just focused fully on unsealing Kurama before attempting to fight off the mental attack while withstanding the full brunt of his torture.
The first time he tried it, the Yamanaka had been able to get information but Naruto and Kurama had consumed his mind completely. Nothing returned to Yamanaka's body.
Since then he and his captors had been in a delicate struggle. They had to maintain a balance to not shatter naruto's mind or poison him too much, making him unable to respond or worse die with the kyuubi.
Naruto had to strategically choose his battles and which time to act, wait, plan or just do his best to withstand the pain. Especially with the latest Yamanaka. This guy was specifically cunning and without kurama, Naruto would've had his mind raided the first week he showed up.
This guy was patient and very skilled. He was so skilled it took Naruto a while to figure out who it was. He knew that chakra signature but initially couldn't put an identity to it. It was Inoichi.
He was also sure the other guy torturing him physically was Ibiki on occasion. He wouldn't be sure until he saw him in the village again. And he would see him again.
Naruto was constantly at a crossroads. He isn't surprised the village did this. But under whose orders? Was it Hiruzen's, Jiraiya's, the councils? It couldn't have been tsunade's. She never would've allowed it. Or at least he thought.
Could he trust the old woman? Was she really an enemy? No, he couldn't start to question his allies. It'd only make their psychological torture attempts easier. He'd trust who he trusted until he had valid reason to believe otherwise.
Kurama was being suppressed again but this time Naruto focused on nullifying his chakra suppressing bindings. He'd gotten better at removing the chakra from the seals enabling the metal to suppress his own chakra.
Kind of funny when he thought about it. He could feel the Yamanaka prodding and preparing to dive into his mind once assuring it was safe. Naruto would insure that it wasn't. Naruto's tormentor's jumped back at the pulse of chakra that signified Naruto's bindings no longer restraining his chakra.
Naruto let loose a barrage of chains that was pathetic in his opinion but it was good enough to kill anyone reckless around him. Some brave shinobi charged him as he looked helpless while hung upside down, strapped to a metal table. That shinobi died.
He was sure he'd impaled a couplee more but eventually they'd reached him, plunging syringes into his neck and poisoning him heavily, once again. While it was painful and dangerous, it meant that they couldn't torture him anymore for the time being, couldn't mind walk him either.
You couldn't mindwalk a mind that was shut down entirely due to a neurotoxin. Yamanaka's couldn't make the brain work, only jump from brain signal to brain signal, memory to memory. If there was nothing going on due to a poison or jutsu, then there was nothing for them to see.
Naruto woke to the sound of tools being put into place, the smell of instruments, blood and steel, and the feeling of tight restraints. He was suspended upside down and strapped to a cold table. He'd been through this familiar scene dozens of times it felt like. He didn't really know how many.
This time he was laying flat and horizontal. At least he wasn't upside down but he'd still be tortured. Instead of needles, his tormentor, Ibiki himself this time, began breaking specific bones one by one, precisely. Toes, fingers, patella, metatarsal, collar bone, and more.
Naruto Particularly hated this one because the healing process was just as painful. Unfortunately, Inoichi had decided try his hand at the same time so Naruto was purely focused on fighting the mind walk while he took on the full brunt of the pain.
He always asked himself why, but found solace in the knowledge that either he'd die letting kurama kill them all or he'd somehow make it out and make them pay himself. At this point it was more than revenge.
He had a vendetta and no matter what the people responsible say, he'd complete it. No matter how long it took. No matter the innocents who may be affected. His enemies would pay tenfold. Anyone who'd harm him or a member of his clan.
His laugher echoed in his head while he redirected Inoichi into endless circles of the memories from his torture. Something even the seasoned Yamanaka would find daunting. As Ibiki broke naruto's femur in the third place that session, Naruto let loose a barking laugh.
Ibiki hit another and Naruto was laughing hysterically . "Your false bravado isn't fooling anyone, now, Answer me, how do you recreate bloodlines?" Ibiki asked. "Ibiki, hahha ha, Inoichi, hhiihaha, Jiraiya, haha ha, hiruzen haaaha haha, vengeance will be sweet." Naruto said in jest, in his mindscape and out loud.
Ibiki looked at Inoichi and took a deep breath, they used every precaution imaginable to hide their identities from the boy. They themselves were littered with seals to hide their appearance and chakra signature from the boy so that he or the bijuu inside him wouldn't target their people in hate.
Now they absolutely had to extract everything the boy knew and if they couldn't break his spirit completely or find a way to keep him under control. They'd have to kill him and remove the bijuu. There'd be no other way.
Naruto was reaching his breaking point or maybe he'd already passed it. No, he had. Something had snapped in him, yet, he wasn't defeated. He was emboldened, what more could they do to him. It was funny, hilarious even.
He would fight, and fight, and fight until either he or Kurama won. He couldn't lose, their fates were sealed. Naruto laughed in pure joy at the realization. Still, he could use help from his furball to numb his senses.
Problem was, he couldn't focus on helping kurama until he got Inoichi to back off. In a strike of pain induced genius, he tried recreating the feeling of Kurama's malice and chakra to make it seem like it was growing ever closer to Inoichi.
The Yamanaka clan head was trying to make it deeper into his mind. Inoichi noticed but didn't take it seriously until Naruto made him see bubbling red chakra encroach from the ground around him.
It was enough to trigger the man's cautious nature that he withdrew from Naruto's mind to inspect the seal tag that was meant to suppress kurama. He saw that he'd been tricked and started the process to enter Naruto's mind again.
To Naruto, it didn't matter because he had gotten the moment he needed. Inoichi saw the seal placed over the kuubi's begin to burn and a moment later it was gone. They'd lessened the drugs so Naruo could feel more this time which allowed him to unsuppress kurama quicker.
Naruto was drawn back to the mindscape, to his relief. "They keep getting closer, gaki. It's time to fucking do something." Kurama chided. Naruto agreed but he was exhausted. At that point in time, he just didn't have the fight. He just needed to make it through this session.
"I know, kurama. I know," Was Naruto's meek response as he weathered the pain that still reached him. He couldn't help but think about losing Haku. He couldn't even grieve properly. To take his mind off, he went through his memories again. This time he rifled through his returning memories until he came to the last one he had of him and his sensei.
Flashback* Naruto had just turned 9 and was still a piraiya in the academy, they feared him too much. It didn't matter much because he had Hinata but without her, there really wasn't much else.
Not even food but he always knew where and how to steal that. If not, he could always go to ichiraku's or Hinata's family. They'd always feed him. He hadn't seen his sensei in a while and wondered if he was on a long term mission or something.
It was late at night and he'd just stolen some groceries from the local market. He would've paid for them if they'd given him fair prices or edible food but they didn't so he saved his money.
When he got home and dropped off the food, he saw a crow in his apartment. The crow gave naruto a look and naruto somehow knew it wanted him to follow it, so he did. It took him to a training ground that seemed to rarely be used. The grass was overgrown and the training posts didn't have much wear on them.
Once he was in the training grounds for a moment, the crow went away in a puff of smoke, leaving him alone in the clearing. Ten minutes passed before he sensed anything. He felt his sensei in a tree above him. How he'd gotten there Naruto didn't know but he was sure it wasn't for long.
Naruto looked up and could make up a chakra signature hiding in the shadows. "Do you sense anyone else around?" His sensei asked? Naruto focused his senses and scanned the area with his eyes until he was sure no one was around.
"No, it's just us." Naruto responded. Itachi jumped down in front of Naruto and went on one knee before giving the boy a hug, to Naruto's surprise. "I'm sorry Naruto." Itachi said softly, the first time Naruto had seen him show real emotion.
"I won't be here to protect you. I couldn't protect anyone." He continued and refused to make eye contact. "Hey sensei, it's ok. It'll be alright. Where are you going?" Naruto responded confused.
"I have to leave this village, forever. To pay for my sins and keep this village's secrets safe. I have no right to be here, to have a family. Not anymore." Itachi said. He was freshly feeling the pain of almost everyone he knew being killed by his own and another's hand.
He'd even killed the love of his life after they'd lived out 80 years together in a genjutsu world he'd created with his tsukuyomi but he still had to kill her. He'd killed his own parents and grandparents, and cousins, uncles, aunties, friends.
He'd even traumatized his own beloved brother because it was now Sasuke's duty to kill him and rebuild the clan. Something his little brother might not ever be able to accomplish without the proper motivation as horrible as it is.
Now he had to leave his only student, and the kid he saw as a surrogate little brother, alone against the wolves of konoha. "But why, why do you have to go? Take me with you, can't you sensei." Naruto pleaded to not be left behind in the village.
Itachi's heart was tearing the last few strings that held it together seeing the pain in Naruto's eyes at that revelation but what was done was done. "Look Naruto, I don't have much time at all and you need to be back at home before they find out anything so listen closely, understand." Itachi spoke urgently, steeling himself to finish what he started and leave the village before things got tough for him. Naruto nodded and wiped a tear that had just started to fall.
"Naruto, I need you to grow strong. Grow stronger than anyone in the entire world. I believe you can do it. This shinobi world will test you, It'll attempt to break you down. To take everything you love, to use you and discard you when it's done.
Especially in the life of a shinobi, a life you have no choice but to live. That's why you need to be strong. You need to be strong enough to protect yourself and the ones you love. You need to be strong enough that you'll never have to choose between your family and your village.
I need you to be strong enough to fix my mistakes. You are my apprentice afterall. I chose my village over my family and clan because my clan planned to get everyone killed. Not intentionally but that's what would've happened.
I chose the lesser of two evils and was forced to sacrifice everything I loved. At least almost everything. You and sasuke are all I have left and as a favor to me. I want you to keep him safe and watch over the other little uchiha for me. Can you do that for me, Naruto?"
Naruto's tears had welled up despite his attempt to remain stoic like his sensei. He didn't understand it all at the time and was more focused on the fact that it was a goodbye but nodded all the same. "I will sensei." Naruto said.
"Good. Now I have to leave but before I go. I want to give you something. Close your eyes." Naruto did as he was told. And after a moment of waiting he went to speak before something was jammed into his mouth. He opened his eyes to see a crow going down his throat before it disappeared somewhere inside him.
Itachi smiled at Naruto's disgusted look on his face before tapping him on the forehead with two fingers then disappearing via shunshin. As he left, Naruto heard his sensei's disembodied voice, "If you're in dire need, call on crow-kun and He'll be there to help you." And then his presence was gone and Naruto sped back home.
That night the village's alarms went crazy and there were mass searches and activity in the village. It wasn't until the next day that everyone found out that the entire Uchiha clan had been massacred except for 5 kids. Many of the things his sensei had told him and his behavior had made more sense after that piece of knowledge. *Flashback end*
Naruto mentally shuttered when he felt another of his bones shatter. Even with Kurama's help the pain was unbearable. He could even hear Ibiki's questions more clearly than before. It was getting harder and harder to block them out and they knew it.
Naruto found another set of memories that began a few months after the last one he had of itachi. When the memory of a woman's face came back to him, his heart almost skipped a beat. He felt a building pain in his chest but didn't know why.
Whatever it was, it was painful. In fact, he'd remembered seeing flashes of this same face when Haku died. He'd had it appear in his head before then during his battle with Miryo too. Who was it? He was about to find out.
Flashback* It'd been a few months since his sensei had left and Naruto was growing more resentful of the village by the day. If it wasn't for his Hinata-chan, he would've left. He could sneak out, he knew he could.
Only problem was where to go after that. He just didn't know and didn't remember how to get to the places he'd gone with his sensei. Naruto had killed multiple people in defense. At this point the third Hokage hadn't actually decided to do anything to protect Naruto and Naruto had to fight for himself.
It was almost a year prior to the incident that led to the hokage taking action when a jounin tried to assassinate him. Naruto was called to the hokage's office after months of showing no remorse for killing or hurting anyone despite it being in self defense.
His sessions with the Yamanakas and Inoichi supposedly weren't making progress. After a meaningless conversation where Hiruzen tried to wiggle his way into Naruto's life as a grandfather that Naruto easily sensed as bullshit.
Hiruzen brought in a woman dressed modestly. She had grey or silver hair, depending on how much light hit it and soft, warm dark brown eyes. The woman smiled at Naruto gently and introduced herself as Nana Yakushi. She'd be living with and taking care of Naruto from then on.
She said it was because no one should be alone, and her emotions confirmed it but there was some reservation. Part of Naruto was excited at the idea but most of him was skeptical and he vehemently rejected it. In the end he had no choice and begrudgingly went with the woman.
For the next few weeks he was obstinate, stubborn, and distant but Nana never wavered. She'd always gaze at him with understanding eyes that seemed to melt his resolve before he averted his eyes or left her presence outright.
He could sense that she genuinely meant well, although there was still this one feeling he couldn't exactly make out. She did an amazing job concealing it though which made him cautious.
One night he was out walking alone, she was following him but at a distance, so he was sure she was a ninja. He didn't mind because he'd expected it anyway. She wouldn't be there if it wasn't on the Hokage's orders, even if she'd wanted to be for some reason.
Why anyone would want to be there for him he didn't know. He was still trying to figure out why the Hyuga girl stuck by him. A lady hiding in the shadows of a leather salesman's booth popped out and tried to slash Naruto's throat.
He'd already sensed her and her wretched malice. Naruto killed her with a chain through her chest after avoiding the large knife aimed at his neck. He left the body there and the people around him gawking while he continued his walk. She shouldn't have tried to kill him.
Naruto had decided to go home where he found Nana waiting for him. He knew she'd been close enough to see what happened and was expecting to be scolded. Instead, She knelt down to his level and used a cloth to wipe off some blood that'd splattered on his face.
She gave him that understanding look that he was beginning to hate but he couldn't look away. The look pierced right through his tough facade. Even deeper than he himself permitted himself to see. The sorrow his heart felt every time he left the house. The loneliness, the stares, the violence. All of it tore at him at his core and she saw it everytime.
Tears built in his eyes until they fell silently and heavily. Nana pulled Naruto in close and gave him a wasn't like him, he always kept it together but for some reason, he just couldn't under that gaze, Naruto thought.
"I know. Little one. I know. Your life isn't easy. It isn't fair but you're such a strong boy. It'll be ok. Are you alright?" She asked, holding him close. Naruto lost all reserve at the question. He wasn't.
Nana pulled Naruto in tighter as he cried uncontrollably. She patted him back and reassured him it would be ok until he fell asleep. That was the day where he started to trust her fully. She was precious to him. It felt like he'd found the thing he'd always been missing.
The next months after that were full of joyful memories with very few attacks on his life but not zero. Nana always mentioned wanting to meet Hinata but never actually did and as long as Naruto had them both he didn't care.
The memories were so heartwarming, Naruto just knew things didn't last. He hadn't even gotten there to remember it yet but he knew. He was also cursing the ones responsible for stealing these amazing memories from him. At one point, he had what amounted to him as a mother. And they'd stolen her very memory from him, It was unforgivable. His list of enemies was only growing.
Naruto was brought out of his trip down memory lane when the connection to his body and all the pain it was in increased. He found kurama fighting off a mental intrusion and trying to prevent himself from being sealed at the same time.
Naruto was finally at the end of his rope. It was time to escape or die trying. Naruto focused intently on nullifying his restraints with his seigan's ability after burning off the seal covering his eyes.
Instead of fighting his captors this time which would lead to him being poisoned again. Naruto absorbed the bijuu suppressing seal to free up kurama before ripping off his seal completely. His original seal, the one that held Kurama within Naruto.
Naruto only needed his seal's key to safely unlock the portion that controls chakra flow and distribution, he never needed it to break Kurama's seal. He always could've broken the seal fundamentally and now it was time. What happened after, happened.
Ibiki and Inoichi halted their activities when they felt chakra coming from Naruto's eyes. After checking the seal covering them, they found it was useless just like what had happened to many before. They went to replace it when they noticed the tags on the restraints were falling off.
Ibiki quickly asked for more seals and to get Jiraiya to draw up another bijuu suppressant just in case. By the time they checked the bijuu suppressant seal they noticed that it was all happening quicker than usual. Something was off.
Then Naruto's bijuu seal appeared on his stomach. Neither Inoichi or Ibiki were masters or really even proficient in sealing but they could tell what a spiral seal unraveling looked like. Inoichi Immediately alerted the emergency sealing and restraining group they'd kept on standby at all times.
They had a plan in place, just in case it seemed as though the kyuubi had taken over or was about to break out. Jiraiya was close and the ninja's they'd alerted would send for him immediately. They were currently a few kilometers underground in a massive system of caverns. The response team came in and asked the two interrogators to leave and they did.
The team of masked men who looked like anbu with a whole dark green theme including dark green masks and armor though nothing they wore was tight. They pulled out scrolls and from those scrolls, glowing purple chains with countless seals applied. The chains were thrown and wrapped around Naruto and his steel table so tight that it bent the metal.
Naruto didn't care anymore. He'd blocked out all of kurama's objections and ranting about wanting death and the like. He didn't care, they had a deal and he knew the fox would follow it.
The fox would get its revenge and Naruto's if Naruto died while protecting his family or other circumstances. That was there deal made some time ago.. When glowing purple, seal laden chains were wrapped around him, he actually felt like they might work but he remembered what his sensei said and mentally asked crow-kun for help.
He opened his mouth and a crow flew out. The crow flew a few feet above Naruto, catching all the shinobi's attention in the room. The crow spun around and made eye contact with every shinobi.
The crow only had one eye, a large red sharingan. The Sharingan had the shape of a 4 pointed shuriken with curved ends and every shinobi that made eye contact fell to the ground blissfully in a genjutsu.
It allowed Naruto enough time to remove the rest of the seals and his restraints. By then he was leaking so much foul red chakra, the room was tinted red. Naruto could feel his consciousness slipping. The power of all Kurama's chakra at once quickly overwhelming him.
Two tails were already growing as he used the last of his consciousness to sense as much as he could. A, final breath, in a sense. Naruto lost consciousness and woke up in a pile of bodies surrounded by rubble.
Naruto's body began to transform. His skin burned off and a skeletal structure of a fox grew around his body. "Damnit kit, I don't know how to stop this." Was the last thing Naruto heard before he blanked out again.
He came to once again and it couldn't have been long since he'd passed out. He looked all around him and he was in an insanely large crater, literally hundreds of feet below ground level. And it was easily a kilometer wide. "Hurry up kit, get a good look at it, now." Kurama's voice was just an echo but Naruto took heed and focused his attention to what was right in front of him.
Jiraiya was there, bleeding heavily from his midsection and holding a large toad that seemed to double as a scroll. He was breathing haggardly and seemed to be double checking something. Naruto saw the seal on the scroll and instantly copied it with his eyes before Jiraiya turned back to him and saw his eyes on the scroll in alarm.
The toad yelped when it noticed too. Naruto was laying on the ground, it looked like he'd taken on some attack but he wasn't in bad shape beside burns from kurama chakra. His shirt was blown away and his seal was exposed. T
hen he'd realized Kurama had been resealed by using the key. Jiraiya must've gotten to his seal before it was completely released. From the looks of it, Kurama had used his body and put up a magnificent fight.
Naruto sensed people still dying in the rubble and they were pretty deep. He must've been held in an underground base of some sort. It definitely wasn't root, he'd recognize the emotional pattern of root shinobi so it was some other hidden force of konoha's base.
He could sense the Natural energy of trees and how dense they were, suggesting they were in the land of fire but that wouldn't mean much since he already knew his tormentors were from the land of fire.
He could assume he was still in the land of fire although more than likely far from konoha. Just in case what had happened had happened he mused. He'd lost feeling of his body and was soon losing his mind too. No doubt due to drugs. With his last bit of consciousness, Naruto winked at Jiraiya and croaked, "Did Kurama play nice, Haha ah ha-".
He wasn't sure how long he had to recover but it took them at least a couple days to relocate him and secure the location. After that, torture sessions became more brutal, without regard to his longterm or shortterm physical well-being.
They were probably taking into account the kyuubi's ability to heal the worst of injuries Naruto figured. Unfortunately for them, or for Naruto depending on how you looked at it. After copying the key to his seal, Naruto was able to freely release and tighten his seal making it nearly impossible to suppress kurama.
Unless Naruto was nearly brain dead, then neither Inoichi or Ibiki couldn't get anything. His tormentors had begun giving him lethal doses of poison and doing irreparable damage to his body that Kurama could in fact repair and keep him alive from though it took all the bijuu's energy and focus.
That left Naruto to fight off the mental attacks alone and weather the pain he felt on a daily basis. After another eternity of the game of cat and mouse torture. Naruto was once again ready to release Kurama. This time was different though, he'd release him for good. He'd unlock the seal completely and then rip it off.
Kuruama's chakra would be unleashed immediately. Naruto would undoubtedly die a quick and painful death in that situation but he was prepared for that. They were out of options and he refused to give them information, Kurama, or comply with their demands.. They would get nothing and he'd go free to take vengeance or Kurama would give them death. Those were their only two options and Naruto would make sure of it.
While Naruto was giving Kurama all the people wanted dead during a momentary reprieve from his torture, Lumia appeared before him, in his own minscape. Even in his mindscape, she was surrounded by seals as she appeared out of nowhere.
She had a solemn expression but forced a smile. Naruto noticed but still couldn't get over the fact that she was in his mindscape that was currently being treated like a fortress which left Naruto perplexed. He didn't even notice her entry until she was there, in front of him.
Kurama jumped up from his napping but really focusing position and snarled at the woman while Naruto looked at her incredulously. Lumia giggled and waved at Naruto with a smile.
"Lumia-san, what are you doing here? And how are you here?" Naruto asked. He didn't feel the need to fight her because she wasn't trying to dig through his brain, so far. "Well as you know, I have my ways. Hihi. But my real question is, why are you here?" She responded.
"Because, I can't leave. They've been torturing, poisoning, and mind raping me since I fought Sasuke and Orochimaru." Naruto said. "Well, yes, all that is happening but you'd think one with the power to leave would just, Leave." Naruto looked offended.
"And you think I like being subjected to every torture the best in the shinobi Nations could think of? If I had the power to Leave, I'D BE GONE." Naruto finished in a shout that he couldn't help. He couldn't believe the audacity of her to suggest he was just staying here enjoying the time away from his clan.
Lumia didn't waver but did lighten her tone. "Do you remember your fight with Orochimaru? Do you remember how you brought him back after he'd escaped?" "Well, yes but I can't do that anymore. I don't remember how and I can never gather enough focus to do it."
"But you can. You can do it, Naruto-kun." Lumia walked closer to Naruto and put a hand on his cheek. All the pain, sorrow, and suffering he was in just melted away at her was impossible, this wasn't a jutsu, it was sorcery.
At that moment, Naruto was relieved from it all, as if tons of weight was lifted from his shoulders. Lumia looked deep into his eyes. "Yes, those are the eyes I remember. The color is a bit unique to you though.
The man who'd first awakened eyes like that, he had eyes just like yours though they were much lighter, barely blue at all. Almost white or silvery but powerful just the same." Lumia sounded as though she was reminiscing.
"So you have seen a doujutsu like mine before." Naruto asked "Yes, In fact I have. He was the co-founder of the Uzumaki, and my Husband. He had the same doujutsu as yourself. Even more, he gained his red hair much like you did. I've always thought it was peculiar but it seems to fit. You know?"
"Wait what do you mean the same way I got mine. Did he lose someone too?" Lumia knew it was coming, she'd basically given him the question to ask in her reminiscing. "I'll tell you everything but it's a long story. I'm not sure now's the time." Lumia replied.
"Doesn't look like I'm going anywhere anytime soon," Naruto responded, desperate for anything at all other than pain or painful memories. Lumia obliged. "Ok, but I want you to just listen and rest your mind. I've cut off the connection to your body so you should use this time to place your mind at ease." She said and Naruto did just that.
Lumia tells Naruto the story of Kaguya, her two sons, and Hagaromo's three sons. She made sure to emphasize the cycle of hatred that Zetsu continued fueling. She also made sure to mention Zetsu's and the other influences that drove Sasuke but didn't want to challenge any emotions Naruto felt towards the boy at that time.
Lumia only hoped Naruto wouldn't be the latest addition to the cycle of hate plaguing the elemental nations. She really hoped he could even help with the solution if not realize it himself. Admittedly, she had high hopes and standards for Naruto.
Many of them were unrealistic which was a mistake on her part. She should've known he'd be vulnerable and went back for him, especially after sensing another sannin heading his way. Even she didn't think another konoha shinobi would do this to him, though.
The Sannin had hidden him perfectly too. Even Lumia herself who was deemed, 'the watcher,' by generations of Uzumaki, had taken a while to find Naruto. Hopefully her mistake wouldn't be too much of a weight on the boy's shoulders in the long run she thought.
"With that being said, I'm going to help you open up a path, a doorway, or portal if you will. Just like you did before. It'll get you safely home where your allies are waiting."
"And what's in it for you?" Naruto said suspiciously. Lumia looked slightly annoyed. "Nothing. we're family. You're like my great great great great grandson." Lumia giggled. Naruto looked at her skeptically.
"How do I know you're not a genjutsu or a trick?" Naruto got his answer when Lumia mentally bonked him on the head with a dangerously sweet smile that told him to stop fighting her. His instincts told him to listen, just like before, so he did.
"Okay so what do I do?" He asked. "Good, for now I want you to relax your mind or do whatever you've done to endure in your mindscape. I'm going to create a bit of a distraction and when I get back, you'll have the time to get your friend here to heal your body while I remove the restraints and seals, Alrighty? Good.
Be right back. You'll have a little bit so just rest your mind. When you feel your body again it'll be time." And just like that, Lumia was gone just as fast as she'd come. It was such an odd occurrence that Kurama and Naruto looked at each other wondering If it'd really happened. During their torment, multiple genjutsu and mind tricks had been used and they were hoping that wasn't the latest, if so, it was powerful.
The accumulated exhaustion and wear on his mind was taxing but Naruto actually had hope that an end was near. Naruto spent the time resting his mind and reviewing more of his renewed memories with Nana.
It seemed that after a while, they'd become really close. So close that he'd even told her about the tricks he'd play on villagers who were mean to him. They were harmless but very vindictive for a ten year old.
Lumia took an interest in him and had begun to show him how to move silently or cloak his appearance with the shadows around him. She showed him the best ways to infiltrate buildings and how to use chaos to escape or perform daring tasks.
It was honestly one of the funnest times of his life if Naruto's memories had any say. They pull pranks that were funny and deserving while never once getting caught. Soon, all of a sudden, she'd begun getting distant and connected with him less.
In his memories he could sense that emotion that she always hid, that one thing he couldn't understand growing. He noticed the biggest change one day after he'd been to Hiruzen's office with Nana.
The third Hokage had inquired about his excitement to join the academy just for Naruto to express that he didn't really want to become a ninja. Hiruzen attempted to promote the occupation playfully but Naruto showed no interest but rather an aversion to the idea. He was content with enjoying his life while growing strong and protecting Nana and Hinata. He didn't need to work for the village for that.
In the memory Hiruzen had sent questionable looks to Nana which he didn't understand at the time. When Hiruzen had asked to speak to Nana alone, the emotions Naruto was feeling prompted him to stand his ground and refuse to leave her alone until she told him it was alright and to leave.
From that day on, the woman had been more distant and spent less time with him. It tore him apart to think he might lose her. When Nana became distant, Naruto became more brutally responsive to his attackers which made him seem cold blooded.
The Hokage had attempted to build a relationship with him in her absence but Naruto was growing increasingly disgruntled with the man. Seemingly in response, Nana would be gone for weeks at a time.
In his rare moments with the woman, she'd expertly avoid his questions about why and what was going on. Naruto had started refusing to go to the academy and become a konoha shinobi. Instead of answering his questions she'd attempt to encourage him to get along with the Hokage and to go to the academy so he could protect konoha like a valiant shinobi.
Her emotions told him she was conflicted and that there was something going on. He couldn't understand why Nana was acting so oddly at the time but the older Naruto, currently reviewing his memories, was piecing things together. It was Hiruzen.
He'd finally reached the end of the memories that'd been hidden from him. Something told him they weren't ones he'd enjoy but he needed to know what was stolen from him and these last few memories would likely tell him who'd done it as well.
flashback* Naruto was in The third Hokage's office. It was shortly after his tenth birthday and he hadn't attended the academy in a month and had even assaulted a chuunin teacher, Mizuki, when the man had attempted to grab Naruto and bring him back.
Now he was standing before the old man to whom he'd grown very resentful. "Naruto, my boy. I need you to tell me why you haven't been attending the academy." Hiruzen tried a grandfatherly smile but Naruto knew better.
"I don't want to be a Shinobi for this village. I hate this village. Where's Nana?" Hiruzen gave a stern look. "I've told you not to speak that way, boy. And your caretaker is away on business. She'll return soon."
"You always say that and I know you're lying. What'd you do with her?" "Listen, Naruto, you need to go back to the academy." "NO, Where's Nana?" Naruto screamed back.
"Hiruzen stood to scream back but Naruto turned and ran out of the office. An anbu jumped down and looked at Hiruzen to see if he wanted the boy returned but the hokage shook his head and the anbu stood down.
"Bring me Nana Yakushi," the elder kage said, resolving to do what needed to be done. He couldn't allow the jinchuuriki to be loyal to anyone other than him, not even a mother figure. It would be against the best interests of the village, especially to a former spy, he justified.
Naruto ran from the hokage's office steaming in anger. What had they done to his Nana. Was she safe? He had no idea but trusted no one, not anymore. Except for Hinata, he trusted her but if the village did something to her then he'd let the furball go. He hadn't spoken to it in the longest time but he was sure it still wanted to be free. It could tell him how to help it.
He spent the rest of the day slipping anbu details and trying to find Nana. He couldn't find a trace of her and eventually was too tired so he returned home. He fell asleep after the day's exhaustion got to him.
It wasn't long though, before the shadow clone he always made to keep watch while he slept, woke him. Naruto jumped out of bed, just in time to avoid an intruder. A shinobi attempted to finish him with a tanto through the chest.
Naruto sensed this shinobi's malice and hate through his chakra as it fluctuated angrily and somberly. Naruto also sensed the chakra signature and the realization tore him apart. It was Nana and she was at least as strong as the jonin he'd seen around the village.
He couldn't fight Nana. Why was she doing this? He thought desperately. Nana was draped in blacked out anbu gear and a black mask that covered the back of her head where he knew was silvery gray hair.
She lunged at Naruto but he substituted with his night watch clone before jumping out the window and running. Nana was enraged but even in her rage, it was easy to spot the deception and was already onto Naruto's trail.
Naruto had grabbed his katana that was now strapped on his back although he still wore his baggy pants he slept in and no shirt. He jumped from roof to roof until he sensed something coming. He created a large shield that could cover his back by using 4 chains spiraled into a circular form to create his unique defense.
At first, he felt shuriken and kunai deflect off of his shield. He looked back and saw nothing, and when he turned back around, Nana was sending a roundhouse kick to his face.
The hit was harder than anything Naruto had ever felt. Never had he been hit as hard in his spars and his assassins were always at the disadvantage thinking they had the jump on him which left them vulnerable. Naruto's head was reeling from that.
How could Nana, Why, he thought. Naruto flew backwards off the roof and into a nearby wall. He smashed through it but forced himself to his feet. He made a quick hand seal and 50 naruto clones puffed into existence with his short katana brandished in their hands. With teary eyes and screams, they charged.
"You're going to need to do better than this to survive. You have to." Nana said before she made a few hand seals raising 7 mud clones of her own that engaged Naruto's. Naruto was confused because when she spoke she almost sounded pleading and her emotions reflected it. A stark contrast to the malice she was releasing.
Meanwhile Naruto hightailed it towards the only direction he could, the forest. Nana had purposefully blocked the way towards the hokage tower and shinobi clans, and Naruto knew it.
He'd learned tactics and situational awareness under crow sensei and only improved his knowledge with Hinata and Nana. He needed to create distance and he needed to make use of his surroundings. He could do that once he reached the forest.
Once in the forest he staged an ambush point with 20 clones hoping to delay Nana long enough to get away and figure out what was going on. He refused to believe she all of a sudden hated him.
The stunt only bought him a few seconds, and she was soon upon him again with a kunai attempting to slash his neck. Naruto parried with his katana while attacking with a couple chains that the jonin was able to avoid and redirect.
"Naruto, listen to me closely," Nana told him while making him parry a strike that would've ended his life. "You have to kill me. It's the only way. The Jonin continued his assault on naruto slashing and landing devastating kicks while avoiding the chains naruto was using in conjunction.
"But, noo. I can't. I won't." Naruto responded while being knocked off his feet from blocking a kick. She was obviously stalling with him which was evident by the cuts and two shuriken sticking out of Naruto yet he was still breathing.
"Listen!" She said sternly before continuing the fight. "I have no choice but to try and kill you. I've been ordered by the hokage himself. He thinks I've turned your loyalty away from the village and to me." Naruto received a kick to his jaw that sent him high in the air but used a chain to pull him out of further harm's way.
"They have my son. Kabuto Yakushi, and he's a spy. If I don't do what they say, they'll kill him and call him a traitor. They'll kill me too." Naruto began to use 8 chains for defense with only two to attack and even with the chain shields he was still getting nicked and the kicks would still send him backwards and knock him off his feet.
"But how, why. No, I can't kill you. W-we can find him and run away. Just us," he responded. Then, In a daring maneuver, Naruto jumped from an awkward angle off of a tree, flipped to another and lunged at her with his katana, all of his chains following.
"NO! You have to listen to me. I won't lose my boys. I never wanted to leave your side but they made me! The moment I took your caretaker role, you were as good as my son." Nana parried the katana strike and dodged or redirected most of the other chains but two cut her along the left side of her face destroying her mask and scratching her pristine face.
"Yes, good. The only way for you two to live is for me to die. And you have to do it." Knowing the hokage would be watching yet couldn't hear them, she had to push Naruto to end things. She couldn't let the Hokage get his way with her boys and she'd sacrifice everything to ensure it.
Nana jumped back a couple meters and rapidly went through hand seals and said " Earth style: Hardened Punishment." "Naruto, listen to me. You're a kind boy. You're so caring and brilliant. I'm so proud of you but I need you to do this. I know you have it in you."
All around Naruto rocks ranging from the size of his head to the size of Nana's whole body were slowly being raised in the air. Naruto could see the chakra infused in the rapidly multiplying rocks and knew they would be used to crush him. He would die.
"Please, Nana. I don't want this," Naruto said, tears streaming down his eyes. Naruto had multiple broken ribs, a kunai in his back, 2 shuriken in his leg, and had cuts littering his body. He might die anyway but he wasn't ready to hurt Nana, especially after she confirmed she didn't want to hurt him.
"I know Naruto-kun, I know. But, sometimes we have to do things we don't like. I hate that I've had to hurt you. I hate Hiruzen and this village with all my soul, but here I am. Ready to do what needs to be done for my boys, my sons.
We might not share blood but you're my son, I won't see you die. So please. I want you to live and to do that you have to fight. Fight me with everything. Show me the power hidden inside you.
I want you to remember this moment and grow stronger. Become so strong you'll never be in my position. I can't take the two of you and run because I'm too weak. Make sure you protect the ones you love. And if you ever see kabuto, try to get along ok?" Nana spoke with a tone of finality because she wouldn't be saying another word. It'd only prolong the inevitable and she only had so much strength left in her.
Naruto had just realized that her hate and malice wasn't directed at him but at the Hokage. The one who'd put her up to this. Could he really kill her? Would she really kill him? Naruto's world seemed to be falling apart right before his eyes.
He only had a single friend, still didn't know what happened to his sensei and now he was losing the only mother-like figure he'd ever known. Or he was dying. How would he even beat her, she was too strong.
Then, A familiar voice, after years of silence, spoke in his mind, "Kit, I understand your issue but she's right. The only outcome where most of her loved ones live is you killing her here. She's choosing to make this sacrifice for you and her son. Don't be fucking weak.
Forget the pain, forget your sorrow, forget control, and put everything into your chain defense. Use my chakra. make it strong, and then let them rampage. She's giving you your chance right now.
If you care for her, you won't waste it. Time to grow up, kit. Don't disappoint me ningin," kyuubi told him with a raspy voice. Naruto hated his every word but knew he was right. This was the shinobi world and like crow sensei had shown him, It was ugly.
He had to do what he had to do. Nearly destroying his heart in the process, Naruto put every bit of chakra he had into summoning a chain defense. Feeling a rush of chakra from somewhere other than his reserves, he added it to his chain defense and as the rocks stopped raising, his defense began to multiply.
He'd brought out hundreds of chains, all interlocking into dozens of circular chain shields with the bright white comma shaped tips that sparkled with the midnight blue chains. Each chain shield seemed bigger and thicker than the last until Naruto was surrounded by a dome composed of swirling chains.
The rocks converged onto the dome pelting it with hundreds of projectiles large and small. The impact created an explosion sure to draw attention to the clones and massive dome hadn't already.
Debri and dust flew high into the air while Nana hoped Naruto's defense was enough. It was elegant and amazing, she thought. She was proud of him and hated that she had to put up such a fight.
The hokage was most definitely watching on his crystal ball and her son would be dead if she didn't do this. She knew the moment he'd ordered her to kill Naruto that they wanted her dead. Even if she did actually kill him, she'd have to take the fall and they'd kill her without looking back to keep her quiet.
When the dust settled, Nana was surprised to see the dome seemed untouched. It stood firm. It had so many chains, it looked like the night sky with all the dark blues and shiny white tips. She thought it was so pretty.
At that same time an anbu squad had just arrived close enough to see the blue dome and a jonin who had apparently released the a-rank jutsu. Naruto released a breath seeing his defense hold so easily.
Then realizing what he had to do, he hesitated. Unfortunately he didn't have a choice anymore. He couldn't control this many chains and there was too much chakra to simply dispel. His hold on the jutsu was slipping quickly.
Right there and then, he vowed to become the strongest and make those responsible for his pain suffer. In a heart wrenching scream, he let go of control. A moment later, and there was chaos. The dome exploded outward.
Each one of the hundreds of chains shooting into a different direction, swaying, swinging, and lunging. His chains destroyed everything, the trees, the ground, and Nana. Naruto was even sure he'd seen her give him one last smile as she waited for her demise.
She knew he had a finite limit on how many chains he could control, and she'd waited. Even the anbu barely made it away. The chains were on a rampage, Naruto couldn't even reel them in. They wreaked havoc for longer than anyone wanted it to.
Even at a distance dodging projectile debris and random chains lashing out was difficult. Luckily they didn't have the range they could've if he wasn't using hundreds at one time. The rampage had destroyed the landscape and created a new clearing.
It'd lasted so long that much of the village had woken and been able to go outside to see it. Because of the appearance of his chains and the magnitude of their rampage, some described it as seeing chains wrestle with the night sky.. To some it was the night "the demon chained the sky," to the hokage, it was the night he lost his shit.
Hiruzen had ordered her not to say a thing to the boy and to complete her mission. She was supposed to die and he was supposed to fill the void when Hiruzen consoled him over her betrayal and death but she screwed up the whole plan.
He'd had an aburame place a bug on him to track their conversation in the weird bug buzzing way that they did it. He'd sent anbu to finish the woman before she spoke too much but It was too late. They were supposed to bring the boy to him afterwards but he'd disappeared. A whole day ago.
Now Hiruzen was scouring the village with his crystal ball that could see almost anywhere in konoha. His anbu had been searching for him and one had come up dead so he was sure the boy was still in konoha.
His confirmation that the boy was still in konoha were the mysterious deaths of a few people who could be traced back to having a dispute with Nana and Naruto. He was there, and he was dangerous. He even had his own personal anbu guards searching for the boy. He could watch out for himself.
Hiruzen was focusing in on the training grounds Naruto frequented once again when he felt the slightest disturbance. The elder Sarutobi jumped away from his desk the moment before a shinobi slashed where his head had been after coming from the sealing.
The third Hokage was old but surely not old enough for someone to have the audacity to try assassinating him. Someone definitely did and he knew exactly who when his office was filled with chains and an angry jinchuriki trying to kill him with a short katana.
Hiruzen maneuvered his way through the chains and batted the flat side of Naruto's blade. Naruto screamed and released more chains to destroy everything in the whole room. He lost all momentum, though, when Hiruzen hit him in the stomach with five fingers lit with a purple flame and kanji.
Naruto felt his chakra disrupted and the kyuubi's gone completely and almost lost consciousness. The foxes chakra had drained him of energy and wasn't there to sustain him anymore like it had for the last 24 hours.
Naruto lunged at Hiruzen, one more time in a final effort to kill the man. Hiruzen was already behind him and landed a chop on Naruto's neck to make him pass out. *Flashback end*
Naruto was sure this was the moment they'd altered his memories. He didn't seem to remember what'd really happened after his attempted assassination of the hokage. They'd erased and remade memories in his mind to cover up their dirt. The day the demon chained the sky as the villagers called it.
The legendary day where he killed a jonin in spectacular fashion was altered in his mind to seem like just another assassination attempt when in reality. He'd killed the only mother figure he'd ever had. The only woman who'd called him son up until that time.
Naruto felt like he did the very moment he lost her. It was all new and fresh as if it'd just happened. Then he remembered Haku and how their life together was cut so short too. Because he was too slow.
Anger filled Naruto. Pain welled up inside him. Naruto left his mindscape, he was done being held captive. As soon as Naruto left the mindscape, Lumia returned. She looked at Kurama who hadn't known what to say but knew better than to poke fun at that moment.
Kurama looked at lumia and saw fresh tears in her eyes. "Woman, you are much more than you seem to be." He said. "I am, and unfortunately it's not my place to stop these things as they happen because they're crucial.
Still, it pains me greatly to see him suffer the way he has." She responded. "Will you atleast help him use that jutsu like you said you would?" Kurama asked willing to reject her from the mindscape if she didn't.
"If I need to, yes, but I don't think it'll be necessary." "So why are you here," Kurama growled. "I've always watched. I've seen all the suffering he's been forced to go through. Its a terrible thing to see. We uzumaki are a loving and forgiving people but we have a limit. Once crossed, our rage knows no equal.
Naruto will become strong enough to change the world. Or destroy it. I won't stand in the way of his choices. I want him to see that everything in this world isn't forsaken. I'm here to ensure he doesn't lose faith in Humanity. For everyone's sake." Lumia said spitefully which left even Kurama taken aback though he wouldn't show it. He just scoffed. "
Naruto returned to his body from his mindscape and he was once again suspended upside down as strapped to a cold metal table. His eyes had a seal covering them along with his restraints suppressing his chakra.
He heard someone come in, then two more people. Naruto was tired of the anonymity so he burned through the seals on his body and over his eyes with his seigan. Usually, under the poison they had him on , it'd take a while but he'd gotten it done before they finished laying out the tools.
"Don't you think it's about time you made it easy and cooperated. It really doesn't have to be like this. I can even remove these memories and it'll be like it never happened and we can move forward." The voice was modified but Naruto could now sense that it was Inoichi.
In the room with him was Ibiki and Jiraiya. Speaking for the first time in a while Naruto's voice was raspy but he pushed it out loud enough for them to hear clearly "Whatever happens from here on out is out you. You're all going to regret the day you abducted me. So, when the time comes, there'll be no peace talks, no treaties, and no deals. Enjoy your peace, it won't last long. My pain won't go unpunished. I swear upon the Nami-Uzu clan."
"Yeah, Yeah, gaki. We'll see about that. And since you're so talkative today. I'll join in on the fun." Jiraiya stepped forward, in front of Naruto and smirked. Naruto smirked back but his smirk contained an unruly amount of malice. Everyone in the room felt a massive buildup of chakra within naruto.
It shouldn't have been possible with all the precautions and there wasn't enough time for Naruto to get through them, they thought. By the time Naruto had finished his monologue, he'd finished nullifying the seals on his restraints. Somehow, the poison wasn't affecting him as much but he sensed Lumia back in his mindscape so that could explain it if she was working with Kurama.
It was unnerving that she could do such a thing but he didn't care, not at the moment. Naruto's body was overflowing with chakra he'd prepared when Jiraiya drew his hand back to strike him with a suppressant seal.
Before he had the chance, Hundreds if not thousands of Chains exploded from Naruto. the chains buried deep underground, through tunnels and caverns, and even all the way to the surface. He willed them to rampage, and they did. Naruto never waited for the cavern to collapse.
Instead he focused on one thing and one thing only. Hinata's chakra signature. He found it, halfway across firecountry. More than likely at the village. His mind was as clear as it'd been since the sasuke fight and he wouldn't have another chance.
He willed a path to open up to her and disappeared in a cloud of black mist. Naruto reappeared in a cloud of black mist in front of a hospital bed. Before he fell unconscious, he saw Hinata laying in a bed asleep with a bunch of wires around her. Naruto crumpled to the ground.
Shizune, who'd been doing an exam on Hinata, ran to naruto. Hinabi, rukia, and shizuka came running too, they were waiting at the far side of the room to give Shizune space. Shizune picked Naruto up and placed him in another bed. She wasn't sure what'd happened to him, or where he'd been.
She wasn't even sure how he'd gotten back but at least he was safe in the Nami-uzu clan infirmary and protected by the barrier seals now. Shizune summoned a snail before instructing it to discreetly alert and summon tsunade. From the looks of it, a lot of work needed to be done.