Author Notes: The genres for this story is Mystery and Romance and the two main characters are Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto.
To you, whose death left a deep scar in me…
To you, whose words are forever inked in my soul…
To you, from whom I failed to keep my promise, that of protecting you…
To you, whom I had to see die in helplessness…
To you, from whom I couldn't save from the darkness…
"Never again," I promised myself…
Alas, I only know how to make mistakes…
Again and again, the same patterns repeat themselves…
To you, whose disappearance almost made me lose hope…
On my life, I swear to save you from these demons that haunt you.
I will never allow anyone to hurt you ever again.
"Never again," I promised one last time.
The Seraph Project - Solitude
Chapter I
Shadows in the Night
The night shelters the blackest of darkness where undulate the shadows enslaved by the light. Since the human eye is unable to pierce this far too gloomy veil, dimness creates waking nightmares. Fear and paranoia distort reality and invent demons wandering into the most abstract, spooky corners. Like Chinese shadows, the blind eye hallucinates entities waiting for the perfect moment to pounce, snatch the life until they are swept away by the light. Humankind has always feared the night lulled by shadows, convinced of being spied on by a predator that the brain imagined on its own to justify its terror of finding itself in the oppressive darkness.
Of course, this all goes back to times long forgotten. Humanity has conquered the darkness and has become the ultimate predator; the master of day and night. Through the use of chakra, the shinobis and kunoichis of this world are at the top. Nothing can outclass this established order and it's inconceivable to believe that there is a worse predator than the king of predators itself.
I am also at the top, maybe even more. I am a legendary ninja; a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village whose name marked the five great countries of his exploits.
And my name is Hatake Kakashi, more commonly known as "Kakashi of the Sharingan."
Perhaps it's the dark night, camouflaged by clouds that erased this still young star in the sky, that made me dither on disturbing but interesting ideologies? I cannot say, although it's a habit I have when I'm about to finish one of the volumes of Make-Out Paradise. I know the end by heart; I would be able to recite the dialogues perfectly. And yet, I always delay reading the epilogue that closes my favourite novel, this masterpiece of unequalled and delicious eroticism for the eyes and the creative mind.
While continuing to wander nonchalantly, I take a deep breath to empty myself and forget everything to then tackle the last chapter, as if I were reading it for the first time. However, familiar voices pull my nose from my book.
I recognize my precious students, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura, walking in my direction. In their company, there's Sai, the orphan of the root who replaced the darkest of the three, Uchiha Sasuke, whom I couldn't save three years ago. Of course, there's also Tenzō—aka Yamato, my junior, who leads Team 7 in my place. Thanks to his abilities inherited from the cells of the First Hokage, he's able to control the nefarious essence of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed in the most brainless of my disciples, Naruto.
To see the backpacks and the fatigue in their faces, not to mention that I hadn't seen them for quite a while, they're coming back from a mission. Because of this, I notice that this is the first time that Naruto has left the village since Jiraiya died several weeks ago. Needless to say, it came as a shock to him; Jiraiya was a father figure in his eyes. Just after defeating the so-called immortal Akatsuki duo, the news had fallen. The teenager had stayed at home most of the time in order to mourn; he didn't show it, but his heart was torn in pieces.
I was saddened to learn that Master Jiraiya, one of the three legendary Sannin, had fallen in battle during an infiltration mission. He was investigating a group just as dangerous as the Akatsuki, I was told. Unfortunately, he took with him in his death the information he had collected about them. We have no idea as to the nature of his research…
Sakura is the first one to notice me. She hastens to sweep her arm obviously to greet me and thus capture my attention.
"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei! Good evening!" she exclaims, a smile on her lips.
Mechanically, we come to meet the other.
"Yo!" I greet them with a wave of my hand. "You just came back from a mission, right?"
They nod.
"From the Land of Tea to be more precise," Yamato wearily sighs, placing a friendly hand on Naruto's shoulder. "As usual, Naruto did as he pleased and nearly failed the mission."
"That ain't true! It was that guy's fault!" explains the sapphire-eyed boy, pushing away the unwanted hand before putting his owns in his pockets.
"If you had kept your cool and not responded to his provocations, the customer wouldn't have been hurt," Sai retorts calmly.
"I didn't ask your opinion as I know!" Naruto hisses between his teeth, annoyed.
'An escort mission, I see,' I guess as the girl sighs, exasperated.
"If you hadn't frozen like that, the mission would have gone off without a hitch," Sakura adds disapprovingly.
To my surprise, Naruto remains silent and directs his gaze to the ground. Only now do I notice that something seems to be bothering my student. His face suddenly darkened. Obviously, something happened…
"Well, it doesn't matter now," Yamato sneers, easing the somewhat heavy tension. "The most important is the success of the mission despite this small slippage. I invite you all to Ichiraku's once the report has been submitted if that okay with you?"
"No thanks. Not hungry."
Naruto's affirmative response takes us by surprise, and the mood drops suddenly. His refusal to eat at his favourite restaurant drives me to silence.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sakura curtly asks, arching an eyebrow.
"Nothing! I'm just exhausted, y'know. You can go without me to Grandma Tsunade. I'll go home."
Without even greeting us, the teenager separates from the group to—as he has just said—go home. Stunned, I blink a few times before questioning the others about his unusual behaviour. "Did something happen?"
They exchange a brief gaze.
"During the mission, we faced some shinobis. One of them was the perfect Sasuke look-alike," Sai explains. "This disturbed him so much that he petrified on the spot."
"If I hadn't rescued him, he would have been seriously injured," Sakura continues with a sigh.
"I see," I sigh, glancing in the direction the blond has taken. "Mah, there's not too much to worry about. He'll probably be back to the good old smiling Naruto that we know from the first light of the day tomorrow."
In heart, they nod and we give each other a goodbye. Without further ado, they set off for the offices of Godaime to give their report. As for me, I stay where I am for a few moments before wandering again, deeply immersed in my thoughts, to the point of staring blankly at the pages adorned with intelligible scribbles. My own words… I hardly believed them myself. To say that I am serene would be a lie; I am a little worried about Naruto. It's not like him to turn down so abruptly such a tantalizing invitation for his noodle-obsessed taste buds.
Nevertheless, if what they said is true, I understand that Naruto mustn't be on his plate. Despite leaving Konohagakure, thus becoming a rogue ninja, Sasuke holds a very special place in his heart. Sometimes, I suspect it's more than friendship or that unacknowledged brotherly bond they share. Naruto is still just as determined to knock some sense into him, bring him back to the village and save him from the claws of Orochimaru who wants to appropriate his body to satisfy their thirst for power. Although Sasuke refuses to be rescued, I believe in my student. Naruto is clumsy, a complete fool, but his convictions and his determination surpass those of the other ninjas, by far.
After all, he's not the most eccentric shinobi in the whole country for nothing.
Lost in my thoughts, I find after an unspeakable time that I've been going back to the same place, more precisely in the neighbouring street of where Naruto lives. Likewise, I can see his apartment when I look up. Is it concern that pushes me to unconsciously return to this street, as if fate were trying to tell me something of great importance?
Unsure, I observe with insistence his residence. I wonder if I should go check on him to make sure he's okay and thus, quiet my torments at the same time. I hesitate. The idea of inviting him myself to Ichiraku crosses my mind. He clearly expressed his refusal, of course, but knowing his voracious and obsessive appetite for ramen, he could well change his mind. Moreover, I almost never treat him; feeding him is expensive and my money always takes a hit. Mah, it's still less damaging than the late Asuma when he invited his students to a good barbecue.
I stand there for a long time, debating with myself. Then I shake my head and continue on my way.
It can wait until tomorrow.
Naruto surely needs to be alone.
There is no fire at the lake, after all.
Sweeping these unnecessary little anxieties into a corner of my mind, I focus on the object of my desire. I chuckle at the thought of rereading these golden pages born of a true literary genius. With excitement, I read meticulously, each sentence with excruciating slowness, as if it were a gastronomic alcohol that had to be savoured with eternal patience…
Unfortunately for me, when I reach the last page, all my senses are on red alert.
"Ahh… I wanted to savour it in one go," I sigh in disappointment, closing my book wearily.
In a fraction of a second, I grab a kunai and parry the one of my opponent who was about to assassinate me. Immediately, the enemy throws other mortal blows that I block with ease and finesse. As soon as an opening presents itself, I kick his abdomen, propelling him a few feet away from me. Without flinching, without making the slightest complaint of pain, the individual stands up on his two feet, the weapon brandished. I use this moment to put away my book while analyzing the assassin.
Dressed entirely in black up to his irises and his short hair, I notice a shinobi headband tied on his forehead… However, I don't recognize the engraving; this is the first time I've seen this symbol looking like three intertwined triangles, and it's not scratched. So he's not a rogue ninja either. I'm on the edge. I don't know why there's a shinobi out of nowhere trying to kill me. There must be a bounty on my head or something. Plus, his blank eyes and expressionless face send chills down my spine. I feel as if he were in a trance or completely possessed…
I don't have time to finish my analysis that he relaunches his deadly assault on me, attacking me with two kunais this time. Furiously, he tries to reach my throat or touch my vital points. To my dark eye, his movements are slow. Without the slightest effort, I dodge each of his blows and I counter-attack by slicing his pecs with my bladed weapon. The blood spurts, but once again, he doesn't react to the pain which should make him wince for a breath at the very least. This short destabilization of such a realization allows him to graze me, tearing the sleeve of my clothes in the process. With a well-placed blow, I disarm him before imposing a distance, in order to perform a series of hand seals to shorten this battle won in advance so I can finish my book…
I am about to compose the last seal that the man becomes completely petrified. Blood flows from his eyes, followed closely by his nostrils and mouth. Perplexed, I catch sight of his glassy, extinguished gaze before he falls to the ground with a thud. Suspicious, I remain on my guard, sweeping the surroundings. I wait in case it's a way or a technique to launch a surprise attack in my blind spot. However, nothing happens after a while. Silence, and I no longer perceive the slightest presence. Strange.
I jump on him to carefully place two fingers on his carotid artery.
Nothing. No beat.
There can be no doubt.
His heart stopped.
I frown. What does that mean? After only a few kunai exchanges, he dropped dead. The blood escaping from his orifices, including his ears, suggests that he have been poisoned, yet I don't use poison. An ephemeral image comes back to memory, thus explaining the cause of his death; an almost imperceptible tongue movement before his teeth crunched and shattered something that was already in his mouth cavity. In the heat of the moment, I hadn't noticed. Considering the state of his swollen skin, of the bloody pool created by the many crimson and incessant flows, it must have been a drug … at first glance quite powerful, terrifying and immediate.
I scan the surroundings once again; I sniff the air with my sensitive nostrils. No soul around. Despite our brief fight, the noise didn't attract anyone and yet, although it's late and the sky is completely black, we are only a few tens of metres from the nearest dwellings. If they had planned to assassinate me, why send this weakling shinobi incapable to match me? It doesn't make sense. I suspect there's something else at stake and that he's not alone—rather, I am certain of that. I don't know what the mission of this ninja or this group is, but having to resort to suicide without the slightest hesitation in order not to be captured, it's of absolute discretion.
The most disturbing is how the enemy managed to enter Konohagakure without the alert being given. Since I seem to be the only one in action and no one came to help me, these ninjas bypassed our security system. How? I don't know; I have no leads in mind. All in all, the immediate thing is to warn Godaime of this alarming invasion…
As I am about to leave, something catches my attention. In one of the pockets of the lifeless body, the tiny corner of a scrap of paper briefly sticks out. If it had not been for my sharp gaze, I probably wouldn't have noticed. It seems to be a vulgar parchment without interest, but given the strangeness and the severity of the situation, I take the paper in question bent over backwards. I unfold it to discover its mystery…
A missing beat, a dark anguish and a cold sweat.
It's the drawing of a person and my eye widens when I recognize the portrait of my student.
Their target is Naruto.
No time to lose; it's only a matter of time before they find him. I have a very bad feeling, and I fear the worst. Although I have to warn Lord Hokage immediately, I prioritize the blond not far from where I am.
I leave the inert body of the individual behind, and I rush to Naruto's apartment. At high speed, I jump from roof to roof. My intuition tells me to hasten and increase the pace. My heart is in the middle of a raging marathon. Nonetheless, I still keep my cool.
If this group managed to stealthily infiltrate the village, considering Naruto's upset state earlier, I sincerely dread what will happen if these ninjas find him before me. It's very likely that I have faced small fry, and that they are much more talented than this loser; I suspect that they are specialists in silent assassination…
- XXX -
'What are you thinking, Sasuke?' Naruto wondered, lying nonchalantly in his bed, while staring at the black sky.
Although it was late and his body was mentally and physically exhausted, the sapphire-eyed boy was unable to sink; he hadn't even bothered to change before reaching the sheets of his bed. His backpack was still on the floor of his bedroom, which—for once—wasn't a mess. He had just returned from a mundane B-rank mission as interesting as ramen without pasta or meat. The customer was hateful; a spoiled rotten rich man who treated him and his companions like garbage. If Naruto had blindly listened to himself, he would have given him the worst beating of his life.
However, his pout and his melancholy were linked to the fact that they had met a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist who was the perfect Sasuke look-alike. Due to the disturbing and morbid resemblance to the latter, Naruto had petrified on the spot, unable to react to anything. He would have been seriously injured if Sakura hadn't come to his rescue; more fear than harm. Even though the teenager pretended that everything was fine, he was somewhat upset to the point of refusing the invitation to Ichiraku. Normally, he would have jumped like a child expressing his exuberant joy. But this time, he needed to be alone. All his thoughts were about his best friend who had left an unlivable void in his heart. He had sworn to save him and bring him back to the village.
It was a promise and a promise was sacred to him.
Completely obsessed with this time when Team 7 was whole, the blond stared at the sky. Overwhelmed by this blank tapestry of glowing ornaments, Naruto didn't notice the strange shadow behind him. Slowly, in the darkness, the blackish figure came out of the floor in a sinister and absolute silence. It took on the appearance of a man in ebony clothes, only his orange eyes contrasting; a mask of the same black covered the lower part of his face and he wore a headband tied on his forehead with the engraving of three intertwined triangles.
Once tangible, his left hand armed itself with fine needles whose lack of lustre made them invisible in the dark. In an icy breath that wrung a shiver of dread from the teenager, his whispers were those of a voice from beyond the grave. "Found you."
Naruto felt his hair stand up on the back of his neck. No sooner did he turn his head than the needles were thrown straight at him at close range. Five identical sounds resounded when the projectiles reached the pierced window; the glass cracked all the way. The blond had skilfully dodged them with a kunai which he had used to deflect them despite the metre that was separating the two ninjas…
However, under his mask, the man sported an evil grin on his lips.
One of them hit and grazed the sapphire-eyed boy's cheek. A thin, insignificant cut made a scarlet drop appear.
"Who the heck are you?!" Naruto growled, frowning as he glared at the enemy.
The mysterious individual ignored his prey and chuckled—something that enraged Naruto.
"Can I know what makes you laugh?!"
Again, the intruder turned a deaf ear. Despite the first assault, he wasn't doing anything. The difference was that he had stopped sneering and seemed to be waiting now. His amber irises stared at the blue ones in front of him.
Grinding his teeth, Naruto leaped forward, kunai in hand. However, the weapon passed through the enemy as if he did not exist. Strangest of all, the man disappeared like an undulating shadow blending into the darkness.
'A genjutsu?' Naruto wondered as he passed through.
In his fall, Naruto was preparing to land on his feet to take a combat or riposte posture … but he fell on his left shoulder which took the shock of his own weight—tearing from him a complaint of pain. As he struggled to get up, his body was in constant tremor. His now heavy limbs grew numb further to the point of being unable to stand except on all fours. Any movement requested an immeasurable effort.
His breath jerking and his heart racing, Naruto could not understand what was happening to him. His thoughts became more and more muddled and thinking was just as hard as not collapsing to the ground. The more seconds passed, the more difficult it was to breathe; his lungs were pushing out more air than they were taking in.
As Naruto painfully looked behind him, he saw the shadowy intruder materialize back into his true form. He stretched an arm out the window and—in ways just as mysterious as his abilities—drew the previously thrown needles to his palm to absorb them and make them disappear.
"The more you resist, the more the pain will increase," the man explained in a whisper before slowly approaching his prey, one step at a time, staggering right then left. "My venom is already flowing through your veins. You are at my mercy."
Naruto swore to himself. He kept telling his body to get up, his legs to stop shaking, but that did not change anything. He crawled miserably one arm at a time in front of him to maintain distance. He could not breathe and his organs were burning in agony.
Naruto reached the wall at the same time as the shinobi who roughly grabbed him by his golden mane, at the root. The man forced him to look at his amber eyes which shone in the dimness; strange shapes were drawn on the irises, betraying that the eyes were equipped with an unknown dōjutsu.
Naruto froze and his eyelids became excruciatingly heavy.
Unable to resist, Naruto fell unconscious.
Along with the dark abyss came a short thought.
'Stay awake and fight.'