Soulfire
03-13-2004, 03:03 PM
Ever had gaps in your memory where you can't remember what you did? This is the result of one of them. I had never even had the idea for this fic before this morning.
---
*18 months ago*
---
'I'm sorry Naruto, but you don't have the qualities neccessary to become a Chuunin.'
---
*1 year ago*
---
'Naruto, you are not what we are looking for in a Chuunin. Perhaps next year.'
---
*6 months ago*
---
'You do not fulfi-'
'SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS CRAP! IF YOU BASTARDS ARE GONNA KEEP PASSING ME OVER TIME AFTER TIME, I DON'T WANT ARE THE BULLSHIT FUCKING EXCUSES!'
'That is only further proof that you are too irrational to become a Chuunin.'
'Irrational, eh? Nonononono, you're the irrational one. Just because I have to keep the damn demon sealed inside me, doesn't mean I AM it! But you bastards seem to take some perverse fucking pleasure in denying me the damn rank each time I take the fucking exam! WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I HAVE TO SUFFER THIS MUCH? THE INSULTS, THE ABUSE, THE SOLITUDE, ALL OF IT JUST BECAUSE SOME FUCKING DEMON DECIDED HE WANTED TO DESTROY THIS FUCKING VILLAGE!'
'Are you quite finished? Now that you've just revealed your secret to all of the Genins present...'
Naruto spun around and looked at the remaining Genins from Konoha. Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Shino and the newest Genin, Konohamaru. All of them looked shocked at what Naruto had just revealed.
'So that's why everyone hates him.' - Sasuke
'Naruto... I never knew...' - Sakura
'Hear that, Akamaru?' - Kiba
'Naruto-kun... such pain...' - Hinata
'Fox-boy is a demon?' - Ino
'I wonder if demons taste nice?' - Chouji
'...' - Shino
'Leader...' - Konohamaru
Naruto ran straight out of the building, ignoring everyone who yelled after him. He ran straight out of the village and disappeared into the wilderness.
---
*Present Day*
---
It was time for the next Chuunin exam. Just being in the same place brought back memories for the Genins who were here before, but the memories of the Konoha Genins had a single event at the forefront: The day which Naruto had left their lives, fleeing their village. Nobody expected to see him again, and search parties had been organised. Sakura and Hinata had given up hope last of all, while Sasuke hadn't even bothered to help find him. Naruto had been gone for so long that he had been classified as a missing-nin.
As usual, the Konoha Genins had got through to the preliminaries quite easily, and their numbers had been worn down quite a lot. Only Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Konohamaru and Shino remained. They were going to face a bunch of virtual unknowns from the other countries. Nothing special.
---
The main matches were going smoothly, until the final match of the second round: Sakura vs Akito. Akito was from the Country of Wind, and specialised in high-speed, low-damage attacks. Sakura had a tough time keeping up with him, but the fight seemed destined to end as a draw. Until, that is, another Chuunin exam was ruining by an invasion. But this time, it wasn't the Sand and Sound who attacked. It was the Void. Nobody had any idea they existed until they attacked. Nobody was ready for them... except for two people who materialised in the middle of the arena.
The attention of the Genins was immediately drawn to these new arrivals. One was tall, with grey hair. The other was fairly short, with blonde hair. The Konoha Genins knew the blonde one instantly.
'Naruto!' - Sakura
'N-naruto-kun!' - Hinata
'Leader!' - Konohamaru
'...' - Shino
'So the demon-boy returns.' - Sasuke
Kakashi materialised behind Sasuke and took a long look at Naruto. He hadn't changed at all, physically. He must have visited some shops somewhere in order to get another jumpsuit. The one he was wearing at the moment looked like it had been recently bought. He had also ditched his forehead protector. Everyone was surprised when Naruto used a volume jutsu and began to talk, his voice amplified.
'Attention everyone!'
All of the Konoha citizens tried to silence him, booing and throwing things into the stadium in an attempt to hit him. Naruto seemed to get angrier with everything that hit the floor. With his voice still amplified by the volume jutsu, he yelled at everyone.
'UNGRATEFUL FUCKING ARSEHOLES!'
The shouting stopped.
'YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE ATTACKED FROM FOREIGN NINJAS, AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS BEING ABUSIVE TO ME?'
From the stands, someone who obviously knew the same jutsu yelled back at him.
'Fuck off and die, demon-spawn!'
Naruto sighed and cancelled the jutsu.
'Looks like they still hate me, pervert-sennin.'
'Don't despair, kid. Anyway, I think you should go talk to the few people who miss you.'
'Like who?'
'Look behind you.'
Naruto turned and saw the Konoha Genins running towards him.. all except for Shino and Sasuke, who were walking slowly. Naruto made Sakura, Hinata and Konohamaru stop in their tracks.
'I presume you're here to kill me.'
'What?' said Sakura.
'I'm a missing-nin. It's your job to kill me if you see me.'
'B-but N-naruto-kun...'
'No buts, Hinata. The villagers hate me. Your job is to kill me. I will not resist.'
Naruto closed his eyes and waited for death to come.
'Come on, give me death already!' he thought, desperate for an end to all this. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt slightly heavier. He opened his eyes to see Sakura and Hinata hugging him as if they actually cared about him. He opened his eyes wider, and saw Konohamaru grin and give him a thumbs-up.
'Good to have you back, Leader!'
Naruto was almost speechless. He turned to the two girls hugging him. Six months ago, he would have thought that this was one of those wet dreams that the pervert-sennin told him about. Now however, he assumed that they were merely making him feel wanted before he had to die. He could see right through their trick... but then something caught his eye. They were crying silently, crying into his shoulders.
'Sakura... Hinata... why? Why are you crying?'
'Because we missed you!' they said in unison.
'You... missed me? Oh, I get it. Sakura, don't play me for a fool. You only missed me because you wanted somebody to insult so that you could be closer to your precious Sasuke-kun. Hinata, I don't know you well enough, but I bet you have an ulterior motive too.'
Naruto glanced up at where Tsunade sat in her chair. She appeared to be speaking to two ANBU members, before dismissing them. One of them seemed to have daggers in the side of his body. As he limped away with a medical specialist, the other ANBU member jumped down into the arena and stood next to Naruto. Coincidentally, he arrived at the same time that Sasuke and Shino did. The ANBU member spoke with anger in his voice.
'Missing-nin Naruto, you should not have returned to this pla- what are you doing?'
Naruto was forming the seals for the volume jutsu once more. He virtually yelled his next sentence anyway.
'THE VOID IS HERE!'
Naruto then cancelled the jutsu once more.
'The Void?' Tsunade looked puzzled. 'Who are th-'
The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a gigantic explosion that shook the entire stadium, churning dust up into the air. When it settled, five figures could be seen standing in front of Naruto. Three men, two women. They had an annoying habit of saying sentences in groups of five, with each person saying one of the sentences.
'We are the Void.'
'Once of each Ninja Country.'
'Missing-nin from each.'
'We are destined to rule.'
'Time to die.'
---
Naruto launched himself at the Void ninjas, and although they were strong, he was stronger. He had evidently been training non-stop these past six months. He took on all five of them at once, holding them off on his own. Everyone was stunned at Naruto's power, speed and skill. He didn't even need Kyuubi's chakra to take care of them. Sakura was busy cheering Naruto on, while Hinata and Konohamaru were hugging each other tightly, nauseated by the damage that Naruto was inflicting.
Crack. Someone's leg was broken and bleeding.
Crunch. Someone else lost half a dozen ribs.
Squelch. A third person was lying face-down in the mud.
That just left two of them. Naruto charged the closest one and broke both of her arms in seconds. It reminded Sakura of what Sasuke did to that Sound ninja. Naruto was advancing on the fifth one with a sadistic grin on his face.
'I surrender! I surrender! Please don't harm me!'
Naruto kept on advancing, and the Void ninja kept backing away until he reached the wall of the arena and sank to the floor, defeated. Sakura had a flashback of what had happened to Sasuke in the Forest of Death, and decided to stop a similar fate befalling Naruto. She ran over to him, determined to stop him at any cost. She was about five feet away from him when she heard him speak.
'Weapons.'
The Void ninja nodded and removed a horde of weapons from his clothing. He paused for a second, before walking over to a group of ANBU members and allowing himself to be taken away. Naruto turned to Sakura, his face emotionless.'You thought I was going to kill him.'
'I should have had more faith in you, Naruto.'
'Nobody has had faith in me. Not even the demon, and he's been with me my whole life. That's the problem. I should go now.'
He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
'Where do you think you're going?'
It was Kakashi.
'I cannot stay here. I'm still hated.'
'Think again. Just listen to the crowd.'
Naruto hadn't given it any thought up until then. Maybe he had gotten used to blocking out the taunts, but he hadn't heard the crowd. When he listened, he noticed something. They were cheering.
'Cheering... because I'm going.'
Sakura grabbed his hand.
'Listen harder.'
Naruto stood there and listened. What he heard amazed him. The crowd were cheering for him. Naruto just stood there, listening to them. He felt tears streaming down his face, and squeezed Sakura's hand. To his surprise, she squeezed back. Naruto wiped his eyes with his free arm and turned to stare at Sakura's face. She was smiling at him.
'Welcome home, Naruto-kun.'
Those words were the final blow against the mental shield that he had created about three months ago. Naruto literally flung himself at Sakura and they hugged tightly. Both of them felt warmness flood through them, giving them a lovely tingly feeling that they didn't want to end. Naruto was shorter than Sakura, and could feel her tears impacting on his head. He looked up at her and smiled before licking her cheek out of impulse. This unforseen act caused them both to blush.Kakashi rolled his eyes at the pair. They sure were taking things slow. An ANBU member whispered in his ear and he coughed.
'Naruto, you have been given the option of being instated as a Konoha Chuunin. Do you accept?'
'So I'm being offered what was denied to me all along, eh? Let me guess why... they don't want someone as powerful and unpredictable as me staying as a missing-nin, and they don't want to see me get pissed off again about this damn exam for fear I may return to being a missing-nin.'
'In a nutshell... yes.'
'Will I get to spend lots of time with Sakura-chan?'
'It can be arranged for you to work closely together. I gather that's a yes, then?'
'I'd better tell the Hokage.'
Sakura smiled and hugged herself as Naruto ran over to speak to Tsunade. He was back, and things were alright once more. Actually, they were better than alright. Jiraiya prodded her in the back.
'He's a good kid, he is. Look after him, will ya?'
THE END...z0r
---
*18 months ago*
---
'I'm sorry Naruto, but you don't have the qualities neccessary to become a Chuunin.'
---
*1 year ago*
---
'Naruto, you are not what we are looking for in a Chuunin. Perhaps next year.'
---
*6 months ago*
---
'You do not fulfi-'
'SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS CRAP! IF YOU BASTARDS ARE GONNA KEEP PASSING ME OVER TIME AFTER TIME, I DON'T WANT ARE THE BULLSHIT FUCKING EXCUSES!'
'That is only further proof that you are too irrational to become a Chuunin.'
'Irrational, eh? Nonononono, you're the irrational one. Just because I have to keep the damn demon sealed inside me, doesn't mean I AM it! But you bastards seem to take some perverse fucking pleasure in denying me the damn rank each time I take the fucking exam! WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I HAVE TO SUFFER THIS MUCH? THE INSULTS, THE ABUSE, THE SOLITUDE, ALL OF IT JUST BECAUSE SOME FUCKING DEMON DECIDED HE WANTED TO DESTROY THIS FUCKING VILLAGE!'
'Are you quite finished? Now that you've just revealed your secret to all of the Genins present...'
Naruto spun around and looked at the remaining Genins from Konoha. Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Shino and the newest Genin, Konohamaru. All of them looked shocked at what Naruto had just revealed.
'So that's why everyone hates him.' - Sasuke
'Naruto... I never knew...' - Sakura
'Hear that, Akamaru?' - Kiba
'Naruto-kun... such pain...' - Hinata
'Fox-boy is a demon?' - Ino
'I wonder if demons taste nice?' - Chouji
'...' - Shino
'Leader...' - Konohamaru
Naruto ran straight out of the building, ignoring everyone who yelled after him. He ran straight out of the village and disappeared into the wilderness.
---
*Present Day*
---
It was time for the next Chuunin exam. Just being in the same place brought back memories for the Genins who were here before, but the memories of the Konoha Genins had a single event at the forefront: The day which Naruto had left their lives, fleeing their village. Nobody expected to see him again, and search parties had been organised. Sakura and Hinata had given up hope last of all, while Sasuke hadn't even bothered to help find him. Naruto had been gone for so long that he had been classified as a missing-nin.
As usual, the Konoha Genins had got through to the preliminaries quite easily, and their numbers had been worn down quite a lot. Only Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Konohamaru and Shino remained. They were going to face a bunch of virtual unknowns from the other countries. Nothing special.
---
The main matches were going smoothly, until the final match of the second round: Sakura vs Akito. Akito was from the Country of Wind, and specialised in high-speed, low-damage attacks. Sakura had a tough time keeping up with him, but the fight seemed destined to end as a draw. Until, that is, another Chuunin exam was ruining by an invasion. But this time, it wasn't the Sand and Sound who attacked. It was the Void. Nobody had any idea they existed until they attacked. Nobody was ready for them... except for two people who materialised in the middle of the arena.
The attention of the Genins was immediately drawn to these new arrivals. One was tall, with grey hair. The other was fairly short, with blonde hair. The Konoha Genins knew the blonde one instantly.
'Naruto!' - Sakura
'N-naruto-kun!' - Hinata
'Leader!' - Konohamaru
'...' - Shino
'So the demon-boy returns.' - Sasuke
Kakashi materialised behind Sasuke and took a long look at Naruto. He hadn't changed at all, physically. He must have visited some shops somewhere in order to get another jumpsuit. The one he was wearing at the moment looked like it had been recently bought. He had also ditched his forehead protector. Everyone was surprised when Naruto used a volume jutsu and began to talk, his voice amplified.
'Attention everyone!'
All of the Konoha citizens tried to silence him, booing and throwing things into the stadium in an attempt to hit him. Naruto seemed to get angrier with everything that hit the floor. With his voice still amplified by the volume jutsu, he yelled at everyone.
'UNGRATEFUL FUCKING ARSEHOLES!'
The shouting stopped.
'YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE ATTACKED FROM FOREIGN NINJAS, AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS BEING ABUSIVE TO ME?'
From the stands, someone who obviously knew the same jutsu yelled back at him.
'Fuck off and die, demon-spawn!'
Naruto sighed and cancelled the jutsu.
'Looks like they still hate me, pervert-sennin.'
'Don't despair, kid. Anyway, I think you should go talk to the few people who miss you.'
'Like who?'
'Look behind you.'
Naruto turned and saw the Konoha Genins running towards him.. all except for Shino and Sasuke, who were walking slowly. Naruto made Sakura, Hinata and Konohamaru stop in their tracks.
'I presume you're here to kill me.'
'What?' said Sakura.
'I'm a missing-nin. It's your job to kill me if you see me.'
'B-but N-naruto-kun...'
'No buts, Hinata. The villagers hate me. Your job is to kill me. I will not resist.'
Naruto closed his eyes and waited for death to come.
'Come on, give me death already!' he thought, desperate for an end to all this. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt slightly heavier. He opened his eyes to see Sakura and Hinata hugging him as if they actually cared about him. He opened his eyes wider, and saw Konohamaru grin and give him a thumbs-up.
'Good to have you back, Leader!'
Naruto was almost speechless. He turned to the two girls hugging him. Six months ago, he would have thought that this was one of those wet dreams that the pervert-sennin told him about. Now however, he assumed that they were merely making him feel wanted before he had to die. He could see right through their trick... but then something caught his eye. They were crying silently, crying into his shoulders.
'Sakura... Hinata... why? Why are you crying?'
'Because we missed you!' they said in unison.
'You... missed me? Oh, I get it. Sakura, don't play me for a fool. You only missed me because you wanted somebody to insult so that you could be closer to your precious Sasuke-kun. Hinata, I don't know you well enough, but I bet you have an ulterior motive too.'
Naruto glanced up at where Tsunade sat in her chair. She appeared to be speaking to two ANBU members, before dismissing them. One of them seemed to have daggers in the side of his body. As he limped away with a medical specialist, the other ANBU member jumped down into the arena and stood next to Naruto. Coincidentally, he arrived at the same time that Sasuke and Shino did. The ANBU member spoke with anger in his voice.
'Missing-nin Naruto, you should not have returned to this pla- what are you doing?'
Naruto was forming the seals for the volume jutsu once more. He virtually yelled his next sentence anyway.
'THE VOID IS HERE!'
Naruto then cancelled the jutsu once more.
'The Void?' Tsunade looked puzzled. 'Who are th-'
The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a gigantic explosion that shook the entire stadium, churning dust up into the air. When it settled, five figures could be seen standing in front of Naruto. Three men, two women. They had an annoying habit of saying sentences in groups of five, with each person saying one of the sentences.
'We are the Void.'
'Once of each Ninja Country.'
'Missing-nin from each.'
'We are destined to rule.'
'Time to die.'
---
Naruto launched himself at the Void ninjas, and although they were strong, he was stronger. He had evidently been training non-stop these past six months. He took on all five of them at once, holding them off on his own. Everyone was stunned at Naruto's power, speed and skill. He didn't even need Kyuubi's chakra to take care of them. Sakura was busy cheering Naruto on, while Hinata and Konohamaru were hugging each other tightly, nauseated by the damage that Naruto was inflicting.
Crack. Someone's leg was broken and bleeding.
Crunch. Someone else lost half a dozen ribs.
Squelch. A third person was lying face-down in the mud.
That just left two of them. Naruto charged the closest one and broke both of her arms in seconds. It reminded Sakura of what Sasuke did to that Sound ninja. Naruto was advancing on the fifth one with a sadistic grin on his face.
'I surrender! I surrender! Please don't harm me!'
Naruto kept on advancing, and the Void ninja kept backing away until he reached the wall of the arena and sank to the floor, defeated. Sakura had a flashback of what had happened to Sasuke in the Forest of Death, and decided to stop a similar fate befalling Naruto. She ran over to him, determined to stop him at any cost. She was about five feet away from him when she heard him speak.
'Weapons.'
The Void ninja nodded and removed a horde of weapons from his clothing. He paused for a second, before walking over to a group of ANBU members and allowing himself to be taken away. Naruto turned to Sakura, his face emotionless.'You thought I was going to kill him.'
'I should have had more faith in you, Naruto.'
'Nobody has had faith in me. Not even the demon, and he's been with me my whole life. That's the problem. I should go now.'
He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
'Where do you think you're going?'
It was Kakashi.
'I cannot stay here. I'm still hated.'
'Think again. Just listen to the crowd.'
Naruto hadn't given it any thought up until then. Maybe he had gotten used to blocking out the taunts, but he hadn't heard the crowd. When he listened, he noticed something. They were cheering.
'Cheering... because I'm going.'
Sakura grabbed his hand.
'Listen harder.'
Naruto stood there and listened. What he heard amazed him. The crowd were cheering for him. Naruto just stood there, listening to them. He felt tears streaming down his face, and squeezed Sakura's hand. To his surprise, she squeezed back. Naruto wiped his eyes with his free arm and turned to stare at Sakura's face. She was smiling at him.
'Welcome home, Naruto-kun.'
Those words were the final blow against the mental shield that he had created about three months ago. Naruto literally flung himself at Sakura and they hugged tightly. Both of them felt warmness flood through them, giving them a lovely tingly feeling that they didn't want to end. Naruto was shorter than Sakura, and could feel her tears impacting on his head. He looked up at her and smiled before licking her cheek out of impulse. This unforseen act caused them both to blush.Kakashi rolled his eyes at the pair. They sure were taking things slow. An ANBU member whispered in his ear and he coughed.
'Naruto, you have been given the option of being instated as a Konoha Chuunin. Do you accept?'
'So I'm being offered what was denied to me all along, eh? Let me guess why... they don't want someone as powerful and unpredictable as me staying as a missing-nin, and they don't want to see me get pissed off again about this damn exam for fear I may return to being a missing-nin.'
'In a nutshell... yes.'
'Will I get to spend lots of time with Sakura-chan?'
'It can be arranged for you to work closely together. I gather that's a yes, then?'
'I'd better tell the Hokage.'
Sakura smiled and hugged herself as Naruto ran over to speak to Tsunade. He was back, and things were alright once more. Actually, they were better than alright. Jiraiya prodded her in the back.
'He's a good kid, he is. Look after him, will ya?'
THE END...z0r