Author's note: A couple days ago I was looking to see if anyone had written a Battle Royale AU fic, and was really disappointed when I couldn't find any that haven't been ditched in years. So I decided to give it a try. This story has warnings for blood, gore, violence, sexual themes, etc etc, you've been warned. Just so you know, everyone in this fanfic is 16 with the exception of Deidra and Sasori who are 17. There's a reason for that ;) The chapters will get longer, I promise. This story is gonna have a lot of flashbacks, but I'll make them all in italics.

Mrs. Tsundae Kenju,

Konoha Prefecture Senior High School, class 2A has been selected as the participants for this year's program. We will send officers to the extraction point on the 13th of April at the designated time. Enclosed below is the complete student roster for Class 2A, if any changes are made before the 13th of April you are to report it immediately. The families of each individual will be notified the day of the extraction. We hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Orochimaru of the Greater Republic of the Land of Fire.

Class 2A

Females:

1. Haruno Sakura

2. Hyuga Hinata

3. Uzumaki Karin

4. Yamanaka Ino

5. Kakemono Tenten

6. Kato Shizune

7. Sand Temari

8. Mitarashi Anko

9. Tsuchi Kin

10. Sunagakure Matsuri

11. Chujitsuna Sari

12. Nohara Rin

13. Kazahana Koyuki

14. Hoshi Hokuto

15. Kamizuru Suzumebachi

16. Mizu Isaribi

17. Hokumon Tayuya

18. Fuma Sasame

19. Terumi Mei

20. Ichiraku Ayame

21. Chomei Fu

Males:

1. Hyuga Neji

2. Lee Rock

3. Aburame Shino

4. Akimichi Choji

5. Uzumaki Naruto

6. Nami Haku

7. Inuzuka Kiba

8. Sand Gaara

9. Nara Shikamaru

10. Uchiha Sasuke

11. Sand Kankuro

12. Abumi Zaku

13. Root Sai

14. Zabuza Momochi

15. Dosu Kinuta

16. Iwagakura Deidra

17. Akasuna Sasori

18. Yakushi Kabuto

19. Hozuki Suigetsu

20. Otogakure Jugo

21. Tomon Kidomaru

"Class, listen up!" A woman yells, slamming her ruler against the desk with enough force to almost break it. Tsundae knew how to get her class's attention, because as soon as the loud crack was heard, every single student sat up a little straighter and the note passing and whispering ceased. No one had ever disobeyed her during class, not even once. Everyone was much too scared of her rumored wrath than to actually risk it.

"I have an announcement to make, tomorrow will be the last field trip of this year. It's very short notice, so I'll need to have your permission slips by tomorrow morning."

Almost everyone in the classroom groaned or rolled their eyes at that statement. It was only April, what about their end of year trip?

"That's not fair!" Kiba shouts from his desk in the back of the room, and several other students yell in agreement. "You promised we were going to have more!"

"I really am sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it now. When the bell rings, come up to my desk and get your slip to take home." Tsundae's voice is a lot gentler than usual, and her tone is laced with sincerity. Today would be her last day with all of these students, so it would feel downright evil not to be a little bit nicer for once. She lets out a small sigh, and the shrill shriek of the afternoon bell interrupts her thoughts.

All at once desks are shoved aside and everyone in the crowded classroom is scrambling to the front of the room, some even pushing and shoving to get to the desk first.

"Deidra, Sasori! No violence today, I don't want to see that kind of behavior," She scolds, glancing at the two boys shoving each other around. Deidra flashes her a confused look, but stops trying to knock Sasori over and takes a paper slip off her desk. She watches each individual student leave, until she sees one in particular. A tall blonde wearing an orange and black tracksuit, who is just about to step out the door.

"Naruto, come here for a moment please.." Her voice is soft, almost too soft for someone as strong and loud and Tsundae. Said boy turns around and flashes her a small smile, turning around to wave his friends off before walking to her desk.

"Am I in trouble or something? Cause if it's about Sasuke I didn't-"

"You're not in trouble. Sit down," She interrupts and points at a lone chair in the corner of the room. He nods and moves the chair closer to hers so they can talk.

"Oh, you wanna sign my permission slip right? That's okay, Jiraiya is home this week, so he can do it," Naruto replies, since it seems like that could be only reason why Tsundae would want to talk. She was by no means his guardian, but she had taken a liking to him a couple years ago when Jiraiya had introduced Naruto as his new godson. Having him in her class this year had been a coincidence, but Tsundae was extremely happy about it. She visited him and Jiraiya often at their small house in town, and she was the closest thing to a grandmother he could have.

"No, it's not about the permission slip. I was wondering if you and Jiraiya would mind some company tonight?" She fidgets slightly in her chair, hoping the question doesn't seem out of place. In all honesty, she doesn't know what to do in this situation except say her goodbyes now.

"Old hag, we're going out for ramen tonight. We probably won't be home till late, and I've gotta pack for the field trip!" He replies with enthusiasm. Unlike the rest of the class, Naruto is excited, even if this is the last trip of the year. According to the permission slip, they'd be gone all day Friday and the weekend! A whole weekend to spend with his best friend Sakura, and a certain someone. He hopes Tsundae doesn't notice when the light blush spreads across his cheeks at the thought of that certain someone.

"Are you sure you can't spare an hour or two? I'm sure Jiraiya would be pleased." She's starting to sound a little desperate, but she can't tell him the truth yet. Naruto is already going to be broken by tomorrow, she can't stand to hurt the only person closest to a grandson she has with this news.

"What's this about, do you wanna go on a date with him or something?" Naruto raises an eyebrow. It really wouldn't surprise him.

"No, idiot! I.. I just wanted to spend some time with you before your trip," Tsundae says in a near shout. Naruto flinches a little at her sudden loudness, slinking down in his chair. She was going to make him deaf someday!

"We'll have plenty of time together when I get back. Besides, the old man already promised me and him were going out tonight." After his first sentence, Tsundae's eyes get a little wide. He doesn't notice. It's not like he doesn't want to spend time with her, but who could turn down on the house ramen? Jiraiya doesn't treat him often, even when he is home. The second bell rings then, signalling the buses are about to leave. "Crap!"

"Naruto wait!" She calls out, but it's too late, he's already grabbed his backpack and made a mad dash outside. Tsundae slumps over the desk and puts her head in her hands. What has she done? Of course she could've refused, there's no chance that would have done any good though. Everyone knew when someone went against the government, they were never heard from again.

Dozens of teachers had went against the program, and all of them had met the same fate in the end. The purpose of the program was to weed out the bad youth, everyone knew that. Her class didn't deserve what they had coming. Sure, Naruto enjoyed being the class clown and pulling pranks every so often, but that didn't make him a bad kid. There were some questionable students, however the government had no proof of that claim.

Tears started to leak from the woman's eyes, and before she knew it, those tears had turned into pitiful sobs. Tsundae's body began to shake as she sobbed, and every bit of makeup she'd put on that morning was washing off. Her eyes were puffy and red, a color she couldn't get off her mind.

Red.

Red, the color Naruto would be covered in as one of his friends betrayed him in that deadly game. Red, the color of the body they'd bring back. Red, the color of the rose she'd left on those two graves years prior. Red, the color of the bottle she was going to down that was an absolute wreck. Every year she'd seen the program broadcasted, and every year she had turned it off.

The winners came back, not even looking like winners at all. Most went insane, they couldn't handle the grief of what they had done. Tsundae and Jiraiya had briefly discussed the program before, without a doubt in their minds that no one they loved would ever have to go through it. One of her students had already had a family member involved, it just wasn't possible. She couldn't lose anyone else. The more she thought about it, the more the tears came.

They fell like a fountain, dripping off her chin and landing one by one on the desk. She knows she's strong, but even the strongest have their moment of weakness.

Konoha's only orphanage was run by a man named Iruka. He had previously been a teacher, but had quit the job to work at the orphanage full time. Most people couldn't handle the job, Iruka was an exception. His experience as a teacher made him amazing with children. The job was tiring he had to admit, but he enjoyed every minute of it.

Every child was special in his eyes. Some of the children had been there for years, one had even been there since before Iruka had taken over. Iruka had taken an interest in Naruto when he first got the job. It was hard not to feel pity for the kid, he'd been there since he was a tiny infant. No one in the city wanted the 'cursed' Uzumaki child. Iruka knew the story about the child's past was a huge puzzle, and it had almost turned into a taboo to speak about it.

Despite the rumors, Naruto was a good child. A feisty one, but still good deep down.

The only thing Iruka didn't like about the boy was that he couldn't make friends. Most of the other kids were younger or older than Naruto, so it wasn't likely they would get along too well. They all teased and made fun of him, but if Iruka caught anyone bullying they were always severely punished. He tried to raise these kids the best he could until they were adopted into new families, many of them had been told about Naruto's past before they were put in the orphanage however, and the damage had already been done.

A couple months ago there had been a new addition, which gave Iruka a little bit of hope. He was 10, just like Naruto. His name was Sasuke Uchiha. That hope for their friendship didn't last very long. After he'd arrived, Sasuke had went straight to his room and didn't say a word. He wouldn't play with any of the other children either. Every day he did his chores and avoided everyone else if possible. Iruka had attempted to introduce the two boys to each other, but Naruto had stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and

they'd avoided each other like the plague ever since.

Iruka sighed just thinking about the whole mess, and went back to washing dishes. From the kitchen he could see what was going on in the other room, and most of the younger kids were chatting or playing quietly, except Naruto who was glued to the tv, and Sasuke who was sitting in the corner with a book.

"Yes! It's finally on!" A voice cheered loudly. "Hell yeah, the ninjas are on!"

"Naruto, watch your language," Iruka said, lifting his sopping wet dish rag as a warning.

"Yeah, be quiet." One of the girls from across the room joined in. Several others nodded or "Yeah"d in agreement. Iruka rubbed his temples and tried to focus on scrubbing a plate. Every weekend Naruto glued himself to the tv, and refused to do anything until his favorite show went off. Thanks to that cartoon, he had a fascination with ninjas. Naruto had nearly hit a neighborhood dog with his fake shuriken once, so Iruka had to cut some of his ninja "missions" short ever since. There was no separating him from the tv though.

"We interrupt this broadcast to announce that this year's program finale will be shown on every network to maximize viewer participation in the event. All broadcasts will be suspended until the event is over. We apologize for any inconvenience," The announcer said blankly, and the upbeat opening song of the cartoon was replaced with a close up of a crowd of photographers and newscasters crowded around a car cruising down the road. Naruto groaned and beat his fists on the floor in frustration.

"What the heck, this is stupid!" he screeched in anger.

"It's a boy! This year's winner is a boy!" The reporter on tv interrupted while Naruto was sulking, sounding more like she was announcing a birth rather than someone who had just killed his entire class. The cameras switched to show a boy who was sitting in the front seat of the car. He looked very thin and tired, and his entire body was coated with dirt and dried blood. Various cuts and bruises were spread out across the skin he was showing, there was no doubt he had more injuries, but he was draped in a black robe so it was hard to tell.

His raven hair was incredibly dirty, and the blood made it cling to his face even more. The cameras were zoomed in close enough that you could see his bloodshot eyes and two scars on either side of his face. None of those things were his oddest feature, what surprised Iruka the most was that he was smiling.

"We're just receiving reports of the winner's name! This year's victor is Itachi Uchiha!" Iruka quickly grabbed the remote and shut the tv off. He didn't even have to look to know that Sasuke had fled the corner and began to weep.

Naruto had woken up bright and early the next morning and walked to school, carrying three large suitcases behind him the entire way there. All of the students were told to wait outside for the buses to arrive, but the only ones there besides Naruto were Kiba and Shino.

"Oy, Kiba," He greeted. Kiba grinned and waved, ditching Shino to walk over to Naruto.

"You think you're bringing enough crap?" Kiba snorted, despite the fact he had brought his guitar and the case along.

"You're one to talk, dumbass," Naruto quipped. He knew Kiba was stupid, but not THIS stupid. They played music at school all the time, but he couldn't hide it all weekend. Everyone knew the kind of music they played was forbidden by the government, it was common sense. Kiba said it was called rock before the Land of Fire outlawed it years ago. It was a strange name, Naruto found it fitting though. When they were younger the two always joked about moving far off and becoming rock stars, like that would ever happen.

"Hey, if they don't like it, who gives a shit. It's not like old lady Tsunade would report us," Kiba shrugged.

"I don't believe Tsunadae will be accompanying us on this trip," Shino spoke up, deciding to join the other two.

"How do you know that?" Kiba inquired. Shino didn't have time to answer, because Shikamaru's father had pulled in the parking lot and dropped him off, which caused Kiba to start waving his arms and hollering.

"Why are you all so excited? It's just a stupid overnight trip," Shikamaru said and rolled his eyes. Of course he had no interest in this. The trip was apparently required, go figure.

"Because, no curfew for two days, no school, girls everywhere!" Kiba shouted in excitement. The curfew was another dumb government rule, it was supposed to keep "troubled youth from getting into trouble". Naruto just grinned in response, he didn't really have the heart to say he didn't like girls. It was his deepest secret, not to mention illegal.

"You and Hinata aren't even going out yet, don't get so cocky," Shikamaru said nonchalantly. This of course made Kiba pissed off.

"Shut up asshole!" Kiba growled. He huffed angrily before speaking again, hurriedly changing the subject from his failed love life to everyone else's. "Say, Naruto. Who have you got your eyes on? I know Shino has never even thought of a boob, and Shikamaru is hopeless, but you could get anyone you wanted." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively just to add to the effect.

"None of your business!" Naruto pouted. He had his eyes on someone, that was no lie. That person just happened to be a boy instead of a girl.

"Um- Sakura?" Kiba guessed. "She's pretty, smart, sometimes nice, she's got it all dude." Kiba kept talking, but Naruto didn't notice as his senses were focused elsewhere. Sasuke was walking up the sidewalk, with his overnight bag slung over his shoulder. As usual, his uniform was perfectly ironed and there wasn't a single flaw. Oh, how Naruto hated him, but at the same time he wanted nothing more than to- never mind.

"Earth to Naruto. Earth to Naruto." Kiba waved his hands around in his best friend's face and began to poke him, only to be pulled back by Shino.

"I see Hinata and Neji," Naruto quickly lied, so he could steal another glance. He expected everyone to get confused, but a black Mercedes Benz was driving up the road, the one that belonged to the rich Hyuga family. For once, something had actually went his way. They weren't the only ones to arrive, the other buses arrived minutes later to let the other students off. Everything after that was a flurry of activity, people getting to school, people loading their stuff on the bus, roll being called, everyone trying to crowd on the bus and the driver telling them to shut up and be quiet. Until finally, they were off.

"Naruto, sit with me!" Sakura called from the back of the bus. Kiba wolf whistled after she said it, but thankfully everyone ignored it. Naruto squeezed through the rows until he reached the very back and plopped down beside her. She smiled, and handed him a small tin that had been sitting in her lap when he sat down.

"I made cookies last night, but don't tell anyone else. I don't want Choji to eat them all," She leaned in and whispered. Naruto grinned and lifted the lid up, immediately stuffing his face with sugar cookies while Sakura daintily ate one at a time.

"Watch out everyone, here comes lord douchebag!" Kiba then yelled at the top of his lungs, yelping soon after due to a punch from Shikamaru. Lord Douchebag happened to be his nickname for Sasuke, who was walking down the aisle silently. He passed by Choji and Ino's seat, then Haku and Zabuza's, which meant only one thing. He was going to sit with Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke didn't say anything until he reached them, he simply dropped his bag in the aisle and gave them his blank glare.

"There aren't any seats left, so I'm stuck with you two. Scoot over," Sasuke said, and Sakura scooted over towards the window to let him enter and sit by Naruto. If God was real, he really was on Naruto's side today.

"Sasuke, you're so mean," He teased, sticking his tongue out playfully. Sasuke didn't return the favor. "Want a cookie?"

"I don't like sweets." Sasuke replied in a bored tone, turning to look out the window. At least they were starting to leave Konoha, even if no one had any idea where they were going. Everyone was talking excitedly already, and Ino had burst into one of those annoying cliche songs that everyone seemed to enjoy on long trips- at the expense of Sasuke's hearing of course. By the time she got to 95 bottles of beer on the wall he was nearly insane.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto spoke up in the midst of everyone else's conversations and off key singing. "You think you're gonna have to room with crazy Ino?" Sakura's face twisted into a combination of terror and disgust.

"We don't even know if we're gonna be staying in a hotel yet, geez. And if we are I hope you not only have to share a room with Sai, but a bed too!" She declared. Sai was probably the most annoying person in the entire class, and a huge flirt to boot. He seemed to be the only person who would dare say they weren't straight, Naruto did have to give him credit for that.

"Where else would we stay? The streets? None of the teachers would even tell us where we're going!" Naruto's voice was incredibly audible, and in Sasuke's opinion it attracted even more unwanted attention. Just like he had predicted, Kiba heard the conversation and jumped out of his seat to voice his opinion too.

"They probably think they're surprising us or something, that's so stupid!"

"I have to agree with you for once," Shikamaru replied. He was looking out the window, and noted that the scenery wasn't familiar. They were out of Konoha, that was for sure. He actually enjoyed looking at nature and clouds, even if Kiba said a bird was going to shit on him someday.

"That makes the trip so much funner," Hinata said softly from beside Kiba. She was always so quiet, it was hard to tell she was there. Kiba sat back down then, there was no way he was going to disagree with her. Naruto and Sakura continued to chat about boring things; school, his music, the baseball game next week, the new mall downtown- until Naruto got bored and decided to get his new digital camera out and take a picture of all three of them to remember the trip by for the sake of memories or something useless like that.

"I dunno if this is possible for you, but smile Sasuke!" he said cheerfully. Naruto always had a permanent smile on his face, and Sakura's lip gloss coated mouth twitched into a fake smile to mirror his. Sasuke glared at the lens and scowled. Naruto snapped the picture anyway, and he and Sakura admired it by themselves. It only felt like seconds later when the bus drove into one of the country's many tunnels, and the entire bus went dark. Sasuke couldn't place the feeling, but a chill ran up his spine. Damn, this place was creepy. Like clockwork, his classmate's eyes began to droop one by one.

Several let out a small yawn before they slumped over in the cheap bus seats, and he saw Karin slip out of her seat and her body fall right in the aisle. Naruto and Sakura had fallen asleep too, and were leaning on each other in their unresponsive state. Sasuke felt his limbs grow weaker and weaker, and he had to grab the front of the seat to stand up. What was wrong with him? It was a struggle for him to stumble forward, and his vision began to spiral into a whirl of blackness and confusion. The last thing he remembered before he went unconscious like the others was that the bus driver spun around to face him, and the man was wearing a military gas mask.

Slowly every person in the room began to stir, and 42 groggy bodies had to force themselves to wake up out of their zombie like states. The room was soon filled with a chorus of groans and "what happeneds?". Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he noticed that everything seemed to hurt or ache, almost like someone had dragged him here. Here, where was here? He noticed he was sitting at a desk, but it was nothing out of the ordinary, in fact it was just like the ones they had back at school.

He looked around to find that there were 41 other desks in the room, and all of his classmates were seated at one just like him. A couple of them still had their heads on their desks and hadn't woke up yet, but the rest were struggling to adjust to the bright lights that were identical to the ones in a classroom. Something wasn't right. Perhaps it was the pressure on his neck- wait, the what? Out of curiosity and fear, Naruto's hands drifted to his neck, where a cold piece of metal was wrapped around it like a necklace. It was no doubt a collar. He tried to pull it off, but the thing wouldn't budge no matter what he did. He tugged, pulled, and tightened his grip as hard as he could, but that thing was impossible to get off!

Sakura was seated at the desk beside him, and he leaned over to shake her awake. It was chilling to see she was wearing the exact same collar around her neck. She moaned and opened her green eyes to look at him, and Naruto saw the same fear in her eyes that was dwelling in his own. Next, he glanced around the room for that familiar black hair that was styled in a way that made it look like a duck's ass. He only had to turn his head to see that Sasuke was right behind him, staring at the blackboard in the front of the room with his stoic face.

"Sasuke, where the hell are we?" Naruto asked, knowing he wouldn't get a good answer out of Sakura if she was still half asleep.

"No clue, I haven't been awake very long." Usually Sasuke didn't speak this much, it was almost a record for him.

"You..You have one too?" It didn't take a genius to know Naruto was referring to the collar/necklaces they were all wearing. The remark was more out of worry than surprise.

"We all do, dumbass."

"What are they?"

"Annoying, that's what they are. Just like you."

"Can I see yours? Y'know, to try and figure them out," Naruto said in an almost whisper, ignoring the insult. He could get a better look at someone else's than his own.

"If you must," Sasuke said flatly, and that was as good as a yes for him. Naruto stood up and pushed his squeaking chair aside to walk over to Sasuke's desk. Silently he wondered if there was going to be a teacher coming in or something, since they were in a classroom. There were so many questions flooding his mind, and none of them had answers. Sasuke tilted his head so Naruto could run his fingers along the cool metal. There was one tiny screen in the center of the collar, for some reason he didn't want to find out what that did. Other than that it there was nothing else that caught his eye, it might have been better not to mess with it. He debated trying to yank it off, eventually giving it a few hard tugs.

"Stop, you might break the thing, whatever it is," Sasuke growled and pushed Naruto's hands away. If he wasn't totally terrified right now, Naruto would be happy they were spending time together without fighting too much.

"3 AM," Sasuke duly noted, when Naruto had backed off and returned to his own desk.

"Huh?" Sasuke pointed to a standard clock hanging on the wall next to the blackboard. Not noticing that made him feel incredibly stupid.

"Learn to read. It's 3 AM, we've been off of the road for quite some time." Naruto couldn't believe that. Things were just getting fishier and fishier. To make it even worse, Hinata was crying. Naruto was about to go comfort her when the door opened and shut with a deafening slam. If anyone was still asleep, they probably weren't now. A man walked to the front of the room, followed by 4 guards wearing The Land of Fire's military uniforms. They all stood in perfect formation while the man took his place next to the blackboard.

He had long greasy black hair that reached his waist, with ends that were splitting and uneven It was apparent he was fairly old, with pale skin that seemed to peel and sag in some places. Besides that, it was creepy how white his skin was, making him seem anything but human. His eyes seemed to have a malicious intent in them, and Naruto couldn't help but look away when their gazes met. The strange man picked up a piece of chalk and began scrawling words across the chalkboard.

When he was finished, several girls (and boys) gasped in shock. No one could believe those words that he had written, they were all too ignorant to believe this would happen to them. Only one student wasn't affected, he was even smiling. Kabuto.

BATTLE ROYALE ACT was written in bold white kanji. Everyone in the room knew exactly what it meant, no one had to say anything to confirm it.

"Listen up, my name is Orochimaru, and from now on you will refer to me as your sensei and nothing lower! Failure to do so will result in your death, do I make myself clear?" Orochimaru said calmly, with a smirk. There were a few gasps again, and upon hearing them Orochimaru's smile faded.

"Now now, you all seem so sad to see me. Cheer up, we haven't gotten to the best part yet."

42 students remaining.