I doubted that I would be able to get a chapter up this month with all the exams I've had over the past five weeks, but luckily I worked on this chapter every weekend for a few hours at a time and was able to create something. Not to jinx myself, but I honestly think this will be the year I actually get at least one update up every month like I originally wanted to do when I started writing…3 years ago. Oh well, better late than never, right? In any case, I will hopefully be able to put up more chapters next month after I finish my last round of exams (more seriously?) and finally get a break.
In any case, enjoy the chapter and as usual, if you have any questions, concerns, comments, want to tell me how good I am at writing or simply to get stuffed, please do so and I will be happy to read and answer, (less so if you say to get stuffed), or explain anything not directly related to the plot.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
'Heavily demonic voice'
'Fox or Death talking'
"Fox or Death thinking"
*expression*
Jutsu
Flashback
Chapter 3 – Biting the hand that once fed you
A small tear in space appeared in a valley currently shrouded in mist. The tear widened and lengthened until it was two metres in diameter at which point a blond-haired boy; wearing a black cloak with a mask in the motif of a demon strapped to his waist stepped out of it. The boy had no shirt on, despite the cool conditions and only had tattered dark brown shorts on, in addition to the cloak. Wrapped around his torso were two separate layers of material, made of various separate pieces of clothing stitched together crudely, strapped diagonally to his body, forming a large cross shape on his back. A scythe rested on the intersection of the cross with a third strap of material holding it in place which wrapped over the boy's stomach, just above his navel.
As the boy stepped out of the tear in space, it slowly disappeared, leaving him in the misty terrain.
'It is time.' Said Naruto, as he strapped his mask on.
The act of doing so was not only symbolic, but served another purpose as well. Naruto knew from the very beginning, that his hands would be heavily stained in blood, in order for him to achieve his goals, lofty as they may be. For this reason, once Naruto donned the mask, he was no longer Naruto, but rather, he was the will of the Uzumaki, and nothing would stop him. No man, woman or child would ever stop the will of the Uzumaki.
Naruto walked through the mist, not sure where he was going, but followed his instincts. His scythe seemed to know where to go in any case, as it subtly tugged him without him realising. One hundred souls would meet death today and the scythe knew it. Naruto walked in silence, his footsteps as silent as the grave thanks to years of needing to sneak around for whatever reason; be it stealing or leaving a scene discretely.
The mist started to form shapes, people were now visible, or at least their silhouettes were. Naruto's keen eyes picked out the form of two adults; one appeared to be male while the other was female. Naruto ghosted through the mist, slowly approaching them as they walked, not making a single sound when the male suddenly pulled out a kunai. Naruto reached back and gripped his scythe preparing for a fight, but instead was surprised when the man stabbed, who Naruto perceived to be his comrade, in the back over her stomach and held the blade in place.
'Your village thinks that by giving us your head we won't get in their way, but this is only a small piece of our hatred, your village is foolish.' Said the man, before jumping back as the woman slumped to the ground, just as hundreds of kunai and shuriken rained down from the sky on her position.
"Is this… how it ends?" Thought the woman, before hearing lots of clanging of metal on metal, instead of feeling sharp steel pierce her body, before her vision started to blur.
'I already had something against all of you due to your part in the destruction of my clan; however, you now just gave me a reason to make you my first hundred.' Said a soft-spoken voice.
'Who are you, some snot nosed brat?' Snorted the man, who had previously stabbed the woman, who was currently semi-conscious, able to listen in, but unable to move.
'I. I am not a person. I am the will of the Uzumaki and as of today, your reaper.' Said Naruto, as he disappeared in a burst of speed and tried to bisect the man from the head down.
The man, wearing a Mist forehead protector raised two kunai and crossed them over his head blocking the scythe, but was shocked when he felt something sharp stab through his left lung. Shakily looking up he saw he had only blocked the pole while the blade had slipped under his overhead guard.
'H-how?' Gasped the man, knowing he was finished, the serrated blade which had plunged into his lungs made every breath agonisingly painful.
'This scythe is no ordinary scythe.' Said Naruto, as the blade glowed a bright white, before going pitch black, after which it returned to its normal silver state.
The man's eyes were a glassy white once the glowing stopped and Naruto kicked his body of his scythe, before giving his scythe a swift twirl, causing its blade to be unblemished once again.
'Ninety nine to go.' Mumbled Naruto, before twelve ninja jumped down from the surrounding valley outcrop.
The twelve charged in a single line at Naruto before breaking off into groups of three surrounding him.
'Water Style: Water Trumpet.' Cried twelve different voices from around Naruto.
Having no other choice, all the while knowing how disadvantageous it would be, Naruto jumped high, but kept his scythe held down to reduce his height and allow him some manoeuvrability. Two new ninja jumped at him, each brandishing a kunai, looking to rend Naruto's head from his body. Naruto slackened his grip on the scythe letting it pick up some speed as it started to fall, before grasping it once again resulting in him being pulled down, allowing him to avoid the two kunai which then clashed against one another. Taking the chance, Naruto used the falling momentum to spin around and ripped through both ninja from the groin up, going through a full revolution and covering himself in blood and innards.
'Three.' Uttered Naruto emotionlessly, before four of the group of twelve went through hand-signs while the other eight launched a multitude of shuriken.
The four clapped their hands together and a gale of wind burst out and sped up the shuriken, which tore into Naruto, sending viscera and blood everywhere. As the body started to fall, it was replaced by the torso of the first ninja Naruto took out.
The four wind users simultaneously fell to the ground, as the heads slipped off their shoulders with a dull thud.
'Seven.' Said Naruto before charging the remaining eight.
During his charge, twelve more ninja dropped down to reinforce the remaining eight, but Naruto continued charging undeterred. In a move none of the ninja were expecting Naruto took his right hand off the scythe and reached into his coat, before throwing four senbon at the group of twenty. The group scattered, six jumped to the right and fourteen to the left but the six suddenly dropped to the ground, frothing at the mouth, as they had missed the fact that the four Naruto threw initially were to get their attention so they wouldn't see the ten he threw off to the right.
Naruto internally lamented the fact that they didn't split evenly, as this meant he wasted four needles.
'Thirteen.' Said Naruto darkly, before he seemingly shimmered out of view and suddenly appeared behind the group of fourteen.
'Twenty-seven.' Said Naruto panting, just before he dropped to his knees and gasped while clutching his left leg, which he slightly overextended during his last move, still, the fourteen couldn't capitalise on this moment of weakness, as they all suddenly found their heads missing.
Naruto stayed down, clutching his leg, when three more ninja dropped down.
'What the hell, this brat almost took out the whole platoon?' Ranted one of the three, who looked clearly agitated.
'Well he looks tired now, what do you think we should do with him?' Asked one of them sinisterly, as the three were finally within half a metre of Naruto.
'Thirty.' Said Naruto, before slumping to the ground, as he slammed a vial on the ground, which released a pale white gas, almost identical to the mist surrounding the area.
'Heh, must have been a dud, nothing happened.' Said the first man, before walking over to Naruto and kicking him across the ground.
'Ha, not so tough now, are you kid?' He sneered.
Naruto suddenly sat up straight at the waist before looking straight at the man.
'You lose.' Said Naruto, before the man knew no more.
Three headless bodies slumped to the floor in reality, while Naruto took his time getting up, coughing heavily as he tried to do so. While Kushina was brutal on him at times, having to fight thirty is nothing like fighting one. It was only Naruto's luck that they were only Genin with a few lucky, or in this case unlucky, Chunin. It seemed they had planned the ambush from the beginning and the woman was taken unawares. Luckily for Naruto though, since thirty Jounin would have easily crushed him, even three would have done the deed easily.
Naruto strapped his scythe to his back and slowly walked over to the still bleeding out woman, checking her over she seemed to be from a different village than those thirty Naruto had just taken out, her clothes being a rather large indicator, since they were clearly suited for warmer climates. Upon closer inspection, she seemed to be bleeding out very slowly. Luckily, the kunai was still wedged in her back and thus her blood loss was somewhat mitigated. Nonetheless she seemed to have bled out already, roughly a quarter of a litre, not a life-threatening amount, but definitely enough to weaken someone and possibly knock them out.
'Now tell me, why should I not make you number thirty-one?' Asked Naruto coldly, as he placed the scythe blade very close to her head.
'Help…you, I.' Wheezed the woman tiredly.
'What do you have of interest?' Asked Naruto uncaringly.
'Scorch release.' Said the woman, before passing out.
'Hmm, that is indeed a rare ability.' Said Naruto aloud to himself, as the woman was now well and truly unconscious.
'I guess it is your lucky day then.' Said Naruto, taking off his mask and strapping it back to his waist before he bent over the woman, plucked the kunai from her back and cleaned and dressed her wound.
After the initial management of the wound was taken care of, Naruto hefted her onto his shoulder, finding that she was quite lighter than she appeared, possibly due to the blood loss. Naruto walked out of the valley and found a small dry area under a few trees to set her down, being exhausted after his ordeal, Naruto sat back against another tree and closed his eyes to rest.
-line break-
After a couple hours or so Naruto opened his eyes wide in surprise feeling a hand pressed against his mouth and a kunai against his throat. He gazed impassively into the light brown eyes of his would be assassin.
'I should kill you right now, the only reason I'm not is because you are a child and you did somewhat look after my wound, now tell me: who you are and what village you belong to as well as what you are doing here? No one was supposed to know of this meeting outside of Sand and Mist and since I've never seen you before and you just butchered a platoon of Mist shinobi, you clearly don't belong to either.' Said Pakura in a low tone of voice, almost whispering the callous threat before removing her hand.
'Who I am? I am Naruto Uzumaki, I belong to no village, I am a civilian.' Said Naruto before feeling the blade pressed deeper into his throat.
'Don't, lie. No civilian can butcher that many ninja and not react at all, in fact, most civilian would be dead before they even knew it if they tried to take out a group of ninja. Now tell me the truth!' Demanded Pakura harshly.
'Fascinating.' Said Naruto in awe confusing Pakura.
'What do you mean?' Questioned Pakura.
Naruto leant forward pressing the blade further into his throat drawing a small drop of blood.
'Your eyes, still full of pride and a sense of duty for your village, the same village which very clearly just set you up to die, fascinating, that you are still loyal to them.' Said Naruto in slight amusement, with a small grin.
'I am a shinobi; my life is dedicated to my village.' Said Pakura quietly.
'You don't believe that, you fear death, you don't want to die. It is not for selfish reasons though, you honestly still want to serve your village in some way, by trying to find out who I am, even if you don't realise it. You believe you are doing this for yourself, but you are not.' Said Naruto darkly, as he grasped the blade against his throat.
'You don't want to kill me, you are angry at your village for throwing your life away and lashing out accordingly.' Said Naruto, as he tried to pull the blade off his neck, only to be met with resistance.
'Did I say you could move?' Questioned Pakura darkly.
'Very well, kill me then, kill the person who saved your life.' Prompted the blond, as he took his hands off the blade.
'I don't fear death, do you? Clearly you do, since your near death experience has shaken you.' Continued the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki.
'I can make you fear death, I am skilled at torture and I can have you grovelling at my feet in minutes.' Threatened Pakura.
'So you don't want to know?' Questioned Naruto disinterestedly.
'Know what?' Asked Pakura.
'The answer to your question of course, you cut me off after all.' Replied Naruto cheekily.
'What?' Replied Pakura with narrowed eyes.
'You wanted to know what I was doing here correct?' Probed Naruto.
'Indeed, what are you doing out here?' Asked Pakura pulling herself together.
'I am here to kill one hundred people, regardless of who they may be.' Said Naruto coldly.
'Why?' Asked Pakura with a raised eyebrow.
'Do I need a reason? Wars have been started for petty reasons, at the very least, doing this is an act not motivated by material gain or some other trivial reward.' Said Naruto offhandedly.
'So you just decided to kill one hundred people for no reason? That's insanity.' Commented Pakura dryly.
'No, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I on the other hand am not expecting any results; I am doing it for the sake of doing it.' Replied Naruto coolly.
'How old are you anyway? Seven? Eight?' Questioned Pakura with narrowed eyes.
'Does it matter? I am the reason you are alive now and to repay my kindness you interrogate me.' Said Naruto.
'I heard what you said before I passed out, if I didn't reveal that I had scorch release, you would have killed me too.' Retorted Pakura.
'Ah, I suppose you got me there, but I didn't, did I? Doesn't that at least earn me the right to be able to speak without a blade to my throat?' Questioned Naruto.
'What is to stop you from trying to kill me if I do?' Asked Pakura mockingly.
'Why would I want to harm someone just like me? Betrayed by your village, set up to die and merely a pawn to be sacrificed in the end. The hand which once fed you has signed your death warrant, after all, those butchered ninja, they were certainly not what your village wanted of you, no, they wanted you to obediently walk to your death and die like a weak dog. Why would I kill someone with no reason to live, it would be pointless?' Said Naruto rhetorically, before pushing the blade off his throat, standing up, and walking back in the direction of his kills.
'I'm not stopping for you princess, so if you don't want to be left here alone with nowhere to go, you better hurry up.' Said Naruto, as he continued leisurely walking away.
'Tch jackass.' Mumbled Pakura.
-line break-
'Where are you going now anyway?' Asked Pakura, as they walked closer to the ravine, after catching up to Naruto and walking in silence for some time.
'That's easy, to get seventy more sets of blood on my hands.' Said Naruto flatly.
'And you still won't say why?' Asked Pakura in confusion.
'I already told you why, but you didn't understand, so drop it, you don't have to follow me after all. You can always go back to the village that betrayed you, the village you are at war with, the village that will breed you for your bloodline, the village that tried to kill you for petty revenge and also hates bloodline holders, or the village of ultimate hypocrites, your choice.' Said Naruto coldly.
'So, you are from the Leaf then?' Asked Pakura, slowly piecing together what Naruto said.
'Your smarter than I gave you credit for, but yes, I was born in that despicable village, but I am not…from there. I may have had to grow up there for years, but I will never associate myself with that cancer of humanity.' Said Naruto angrily.
Pakura went silent, not knowing what to say and honestly, didn't care too much, it was his life after all.
'So what are you going to do now anyway?' Asked Naruto.
'I am following you.' Replied Pakura with a small smirk.
'Funny.' Said Naruto, with a small smile of his own as he two continued walking.
'What is your name anyway?' Asked Naruto offhandedly.
'Why?' Asked Pakura suspiciously.
'Unlike the people I plan to kill, I prefer to know the names of the people I spare, so I will know in the future if I made a mistake and change my ways accordingly.' Said the Uzumaki.
'Pakura of the Sand.' Said Pakura.
'Interesting, you are still aligning yourself with the very same village that tried to kill you.' Said Naruto slowly.
Pakura went to say something, before Naruto raised his hand.
'I would prefer if you stay here for now, outside this small grove is something I must handle alone.' Said Naruto, as he strapped his mask back on before dashing off.
'There is something not right with that kid.' Muttered Pakura to herself, opting to stay where she was, seeing no need to get involved in Naruto's business.
"Although, he did make a good point; where am I going to go now, all my options look bleak at best, the Leaf seems like the best choice, but based on that kid, maybe they aren't all that." Thought Pakura, before hearing the clash of metal on metal and a loud cry of pain and looked to see what was happening.
-line break-
Eight Mist ninja on border patrol had just stumbled upon the gruesome sight of thirty fellow Mist shinobi butchered or beheaded, it looked like whatever killed them changed how it killed them every few seconds.
'This is horrible.' Said a Genin.
'This is war; harden your heart because if this isn't happening to us, we will be the ones doing this.' Said a Jounin.
'You mean we will have to butcher our enemies without remorse like a monster?' Questioned a female kunoichi, who was slightly hysterical.
'Oh, I wouldn't call myself a monster.' Said a voice from seemingly all around the Mist ninja.
'Show yourself!' Demanded the other Jounin.
'If you insist.' Said the voice before a small child of six years or so walked out into the open.
'It's just a kid. Look, that was pretty scary and all, but go home before you get hurt, this isn't a place for children.' Said one of the Genin with a laugh, as he walked over to Naruto.
'I know.' Said Naruto, before a rapid series of movements occurred in a few seconds.
First, Naruto swung his scythe from its position on his back with his right hand, sweeping it across his body to the left. Next the first Jounin who spoke appeared to the right of the Genin and tried to pull him back while drawing a kunai. Then Naruto's scythe met the blade of the Jounin, the Genin now lacking his left hand, which had just been sliced off in between the two blades.
'AUGH!' Cried the Genin, giving a bloodcurdling scream of pain.
'Shit, run all of you, he needs medical aid. The two of us will take care of this kid, but in the meantime, you six go and get help now, if you get there fast enough, you might be able to save the hand, now go!' Said the Jounin, barking orders to everyone.
Another Genin quickly grabbed the dismembered hand and slung the distressed boy's unharmed arm over his shoulder before taking off with the rest following.
'Two Jounin. I'm not sure whether that makes me lucky or unlucky.' Said Naruto conversationally, as he jumped back.
'You are no normal kid, Yagura will like you.' Said the other Jounin, as he came to stand next his partner.
Both Jounin wore the standard Mist shinobi Jounin uniform, except the one who just spoke had a sword strapped to his back, a small tanto. The sword wielder had dark blue hair while the other had brown hair.
'Sorry, but I've had enough Kage try to manipulate me in my lifetime to last me for a while.' Said Naruto, before charging the pair.
The sword-wielding member of the duo pulled his tanto off his back and met Naruto's blade head on and easily overpowered him.
'Heh, no matter how good you might be with a scythe, your brute strength can't compare.' Said the Jounin, before kicking Naruto in the face, sending him up in the air.
While this clash occurred, the other Jounin was not idle and launched a multitude of shuriken at the airborne Naruto and all around him. Not having enough time to substitute Naruto curled up into a ball and protected his face and vital organs and took the full brunt of the attack on his arms, which stung in pain at having chunks of metal forcefully shoved into them.
Naruto flipped in the air and landed outside of the range of the shuriken scattered on the ground and quickly pulled out two kunai which he launched at his adversaries. The two Jounin didn't even blink and batted the blades away before converging on Naruto's position. In the time it took for them to bat the kunai away and charge Naruto, Naruto pulled out the shuriken embedded in his arms and threw them back at their original senders, before charging the one who had kicked him in the face with his scythe.
Naruto swung downwards aiming to dismember the swordsmen, but found his attack blocked by an upwards block. After blocking, the Mist ninja swung both his sword and Naruto's scythe to the side, and opened up Naruto's guard, before kicking him in the left side of his ribs. The second ninja was waiting for an opening and launched a few small bullets of water at Naruto, which caused him to cough up blood, as they painfully struck his right side. Naruto slumped to the ground, dropping to one knee, as the pair charged him once again
Naruto gripped his scythe and prepared to defend himself, when an overwhelming heat surrounded him, causing him to close his eyes lest he be blinded. When he looked again, he saw two smouldering corpses, which looked severely dehydrated.
'You're not bad kid, but you are still just a kid, consider us even now.' Said Pakura, as she stepped in his line of vision.
'I didn't need your help; I was perfectly fine on my own.' Said Naruto, inwardly thinking he was always alone as he took his mask off.
'Besides I'm fine.' Said Naruto raising his arms to show Pakura, as steam came off the puncture wounds.
'Arrogant, aren't you? A child really should know his limits, rapid healing or not, if I wasn't here just now, you would be dead.' Said Pakura, as her gaze bore into Naruto's skull.
'The same could be said for you.' Replied Naruto, starring back at Pakura.
'In any case, I repaid you for saving my life; you're on your own from this point.' Said Pakura, as she turned around and walked away.
'And you're not?' Asked Naruto, halting her in her tracks and causing her to look over her shoulder at him.
'No, while the major five are out of the option, there are many other villages I could join which would be happy to have me and not try to exploit me, on the other hand, I am a well-seasoned Jounin and can take care of myself if need be.' Said Pakura, before facing forward and walking away once again.
'Fine, we're even.' Said Naruto sharply, before dashing off in the direction that the Mist Genin had fled.
-line break-
"Damn what was I thinking, getting attached to someone. I should know by now, I can't trust anyone, no one." Thought Naruto harshly, as he followed the weak scent of the Genin before abruptly stopping.
Naruto looked a little off to his left, in the distance was a medium sized building; however that is not what was important, no, the building bore a striking resemblance in structure to that of the Ninja Academy back in his old village.
"It couldn't be, could it?" Thought Naruto with a laugh, as he changed his path to get closer to the building.
The building was still heavily shrouded in mist, but it was clear that the various rooms inside it were classrooms. Naruto gave a hollow chuckle, before taking a deep breath and strapping his mask on once again.
'It is time.' The soon to be appointed Avatar of Death said, before disappearing and starting the bloodshed.
Now I recently had a thought; what is a good way to productively improve fanfiction while simultaneously getting the things that annoy me the most off my chest?
My answer, Kyuubi's corner, where I take anything that is constantly done incorrectly, like anatomical info, honorific use, and general things like that and tear it to shreds.
Today's/Tonight's issue is: The cliché gastric acid torture scene.
Now first thing is first, almost everyone knows our stomachs contain gastric acid which digests what we eat right?
Well that is 100% true, however what people DO NOT know is that our stomach only secretes gastric acid, when we ACTUALLY BLOODY EAT SOMETHING!
Do people really think we walk around 24/7 with acid at a pH of 1, which could chew through a standard soft drink can in about an hour or so, inside our fleshy stomachs?
It really annoys me when I read something like this.
Naruto plunged his claws into Danzo's stomach before quickly pulling them out while the red corrosive chakra cauterised the wound allowing the gastric acid in his stomach to eat away at him from the inside until there was a gaping hole in his stomach killing him.
When it will not happen!
I mean really, if we walked around with copious amounts of strong acid in our stomach we would be in agonising pain, a couple drops of hydrochloric acid would burn your tongue severely, (DO NOT TRY THIS!) so just imagine what a stomach full would do to our insides.
That wraps up the first ever edition of Kyuubi's corner, let me know what you thought about this and/or the chapter and what you liked or hated.
Until next time, this is SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan out.