Nightmare Incarnate

Chapter 1: Origins of Terror

Summary: They thought they knew him, but Naruto Uzumaki was far more complex than Konoha believed, and now they will pay the price. With the help of an unbound spirit from ages past, Naruto will show the world of shinobi what it truly means to be "Nightmare Incarnate"

Author's Note: So yeah, this is an idea that my co-author/editor TheMightyMorgoth suggested to me one day while we were discussing ideas for The Witch-King Cometh. It started off as a random suggestion, which later developed into a story layout that just wouldn't leave my mind. While this technically won't be listed as a crossover, this story will borrow some ideas from other fandoms as well as a few traits from other familiar characters. (And maybe a stray character or two from other fandoms) So with that being said, let's get this show on the road! Also for those of you that know about my hatred of clichés in fanfiction, I apologize, but this time it was actually necessary for this story. Please note though that this will not be a regular thing. Also, given what this story will eventually entail, I feel that a warning is necessary for those who are sensitive about these kind of things.

*Warning: The following story will have many things that may offend people. Violence, blood and gore, torture, psychological warfare, and cannibalism. You have been advised. If any of this offends you, the way out is in the arrow button at the top left of the page*

Konohagakure. The "Village Hidden in the Leaves," one of the great and powerful members of the Five Shinobi Nations. Often stated to be one of the more pacifistic nations, always willing to help out the common man, believed to be one of the kinder shinobi villages. Lead by the "Will of Fire" established by the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, people looked up to that village like they were the heroes.

It is often said, that it is all a matter of perspective.

Perspective, when defined at its core, is simply how humans and other species of the world perceive reality to be. Now some might say that all members of humanity perceive the world in the same way. And while some groups of people may have the same views on a subject, in the end there is only one thing to be said. This belief, like all other perspectives, is subjective to the person who believes it.

For example, one man's hero can be another man's worst nightmare. A kind shinobi village to some, yet at the same time tyrants to others. And what the village itself might see as justice or following of one of their deceased Kages, there are few who see them for the monsters they truly are.

Take the position of one Naruto Uzumaki for example. When the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, sealed the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune within the boy on the day of his birth, it was his will that the child be seen as a hero for holding back the terrible beast. Minato Namikaze was naïve, and his will was misinterpreted, or rather ignored.

Fear drove the citizens of the village to do what they began to do. They feared the Kitsune, and therefore they feared the boy who held it. Transferring their fear of the Fox to the boy, that fear later turned to hatred. And in their hatred, their capacity for logic decreased, and thus they concluded that the boy was either the Fox bound to human form, or even that the Yondaime sealed the Fox so that they could kill its vessel and destroy the beast forever. And, while possibly sound logic, they never once considered that they were doubting the skills of their leader, or that he might be looking at them from the afterlife in eternal shame. Shame for the actions of the villagers blinded by fear and hatred, and self-loathing for the burden that he placed upon his only son.

Now normally, this could have been a story about overcoming the odds and proving others wrong. Naruto Uzumaki could have fought hard to show the villagers he mattered, or that he wasn't the beast sealed within him. That he would be loyal, and protect them no matter what they did to him. All because he was being the better man. And in the end, they would have changed their perspectives about the young jinchuriki, growing to accept him as the hero he should have been accepted as from the start, even going so far as to cheer for him when he accomplished his dream and finally became the Hokage.

This is not one of those stories.


This was one of those nights. Naruto could feel it in his bones. He never understood why, but he always seemed to get the feeling that he shouldn't go outside on nights like this.

He still never knew why the villagers seemed to regard him with glares of anger and slight fear. The reason always eluded him. Sure he may not be one of the smartest kids around, but he was by no means a brainless monkey who ran around screaming at the top of his lungs. And while he never showed it or voiced it outright, it bothered him. Naruto was a curious child by nature, and not knowing something annoyed him. Much like the unknown identity of his (presumably) deceased parents.

Naruto did know one thing was for certain. If he stayed inside tonight, then maybe the anger of the villagers wouldn't turn to hatred in an instant, immediately sparking a stereotypical lynch mob hot on his heels.

Outside, lightning cracked across the sky, the bright instant of light illuminating shadows across the walls of Naruto's apartment. For a split second, the shadows of tree branches seemed to appear as monstrous creatures that should only exist in the subconscious of one's mind. Creatures that should only appear in nightmares.

Purging these thoughts from his mind, banishing away his wandering fears and delusions, Naruto curled up on his mattress under a threadbare blanket and did his best to find his so-called "happy place."

It would not save him. Not this time.

A loud bang shook the boy from his tenuous slumber, and the sound of wood splintering and cracking filled his ears before his door fell. And in a crack of lightning, Naruto saw the group of men grinning viciously, the rage and hatred palpable on their faces.

"Get him!" one of the men bellowed, the Konoha forehead protector gleaming on his forehead, his green vest soaked with rain.

The other men he brought with him charged in, all armed with some blunt or bladed object of some sort. Another thing they had in common was the bloodlust evident in their eyes. And their target was right in front of them, trapped in a small apartment with no way out.

Naruto backed up as far as he could, only to find himself alit with despair and terror, for in his panic he had backed up into a corner. And a cornered rat is often disposed of quickly.

First was a man with a cudgel of sorts, littered with nails and other sharp objects stuck into it, who slammed the makeshift weapon across the boy's face. Blood flew from his mouth, splattering the mattress. A second strike smashed into his skull. His vision blurred, and more of the viscous red life essence dripped from Naruto's torn skin. The third hit send him flying out of the corner to slam into his dresser.

Next was another man, this one with an ordinary kitchen knife, who wildly slashed the boy across the back, shredding Naruto's shirt and leaving long gashes that bled profusely. He then wildly raised the knife with a mad gleam in his eyes.

"This is for my wife you monster!"

And with that he brought the blade down and stabbed Naruto right in the stomach, letting loose a howl of agony from the child, while deep within his navel (ironically where he had been stabbed) a certain Kitsune chuckled evilly, drinking in the sound of the boy's suffering, all with a single thought.

"Yes, kill him! KILL HIM! Only then shall I be free!"

All the while Naruto's attackers were unaware of the true thoughts of the Kitsune, they simply kept up with their vicious beating.

By now the third member of the party had pulled out what appeared to be a lead pipe, still adorned with the faucet from a kitchen sink, and began raining down blows across anywhere he could on Naruto's body. Ribcage, jaw, shoulder blades, fingers.

Naruto by this point had almost given up on trying to escape, and was once again attempting to find his so-called "happy place" just to try and ease the pain. Not just the physical pain he was feeling from the attack, but the psychological pain as well. And in a small part of Naruto's brain, the terror he was feeling changed slightly. A small piece of anger, which then morphed into a small piece of hatred, had begun to form before storing itself away. And this change was what in time would ultimately would lead to something far greater and more terrible than the Kyuubi no Kitsune itself.

The three attackers held the boy down as their companion walked forward, lightning outside once again illuminating the forehead protector he wore. He knelt down before the young jinchuriki, smirking all the while.

"You may have thought you could escape justice simply by hiding away in human form," the Chunin said in a low voice. "But your time is up Kyuubi."

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment. He was the Kyuubi? It didn't make any sense to the horribly injured boy, and even through his probable concussion he came to a conclusion that didn't add up with what the shinobi was telling him.

If he was the Kyuubi in human form, then why hadn't he transformed into a gigantic demon fox to destroy this village for all the transgressions against him?

If this was the case then logically Naruto should have turned into the creature of their nightmares and annihilated them all. And with no newborns or Yondaime Hokage, Konoha would have been utterly doomed from the moment Naruto felt his mistreatment and decided to do something about it. Yet this wasn't the case. So Naruto could only realize that he most likely wasn't the Kyuubi in human form.

Baffling isn't it? A young boy no older than seven was able to find a discrepancy in the logic that the villagers had believed to be true for years. A discrepancy that took their belief and completely put it to rest. And it also begged the question: if a seven-year-old boy was able to figure out the truth behind the lies the village believed, then what did that say about their intelligence?

Naruto was abruptly thrust out of his thoughts when the shinobi of the group raised his foot and stomped down on Naruto's arm. There was a resounding CRACK following up with a scream of pain from the jinchuriki.

Fighting to stay conscious, Naruto couldn't help but hear the demonic laughter in the back of his mind, urging the boy to give in to the sleep and set him free. Coughing as blood splattered his chin, Naruto looked up at the shinobi through half-lidded eyes. A smirk made its way to the man's face as he glared down at the beaten vessel.

"Time to die Kyuubi," he said happily, raising a kunai in his hand.

Abruptly the scream of one of his allies stopped his planned blow. He turned so fast that it almost seemed like his neck had popped. What he saw was strange, yet terrifying.

He couldn't see what it was, but somehow something had grabbed ahold of the other man and was slamming him up against the wall over and over and over again, each time punctuated with a slightly larger splatter of blood and an ominous snapping and cracking emanating from the man's body. After smashing him into the wall one last time, he was lowered to the ground and dragged to the opposing side of the apartment before tossed out the window. The lightning strike that illuminated the room showed that nothing was there, yet a strange humanoid shadow was formed on the wall.

Slowly, the shadow morphed into a shapeless cloud as the same cloud-like apparition began to form in the center of the room. The shadow then shifted back to the humanoid figure, yet all the while the cloud stayed the same in shape and form.

The formless mass shot forward and grabbed one of the two remaining civilians and yanked him into the air before slamming him against another wall and dragging him upwards. Seconds later, the man (who was by no means physically fit) was forced through one of the small air vents in the apartment. Even though he would never fit.

Blood gushed out like a fountain, coating the room in red once more.

As the Chunin looked around frantically in an attempt to find the strange entity, he turned to the final member of his party screamed in agony as he floated into the air. His arms stretched out, almost appearing to be crucified in midair. Then his body exploded into a pile of gore and bloody chunks. And it was then that the Chunin saw the creature for the first time.

It was humanoid in shape, yet composed of a strange shadowy substance that had a faint bluish tint. It was lean, yet muscular. It was bald, and had no defining facial features whatsoever. No nose, no mouth, no face. Nothing that could even describe it as human in origin. While it appeared to have skin of sorts from whatever it was formed out of, that simply ended at the wrists and ankles, leaving behind skeletal limbs that added to the hellish looking apparition.

The Chunin found his ability to speak suddenly comprising of only gasps of shock and terror. And based on the current stance of the floating creature, it was finding some sick pleasure in the fear emanating from the shinobi before him.

In an attempt to rid himself of any chance of getting slaughtered like the rest of his group by the obviously malevolent entity, the Chunin held up a single handsign and formed three Bunshin and got into a shaky battle stance. The creature tilted its head to the side before floating forward, slowly and deliberately. It eyed each copy briefly before hissing softly. Then its hand shot out as the copies dispelled.

The Chunin glanced down at his chest, horrified to see that the creatures arm was phasing through him. Yet at the same time he began to feel a tightness in his chest, followed by what felt like a blockage in his throat. Then he felt the fingers crawling out of his mouth and gripping his lower jaw. The creature let out a shrill shriek, and the Chunin knew exactly what it would have said could he understand it.

Scream for me.

And try as he might, he could not scream. The specter gripped his jaw tightly with its bony fingers. Then it pulled down and out.

All Naruto himself could see in his pain-induced blurred vision, was the wraith-like creature tearing something out of the Chunin's body. When it dropped with a sickening splat, Naruto saw its handiwork. A huge section of the chest, neck and lower jaw were brutally ripped away, revealing the torn lungs and heart itself. The creature then ripped out the heart of its victim before crushing it in its hand. Then it turned to him.

Naruto could still feel fear, for this creature had utterly destroyed four fully grown men single-handedly. Yet at the same time, he was almost weary. If this thing was going to kill him, then what better way then after he had passed out from pain?

The creature leaned down and inspected Naruto, taking special care to inspect the seal on his navel. The creature hissed and shrieked once more before placing a hand on the seal and phasing through it.

And as Naruto finally slipped into the realm of unconsciousness, he heard the one word spoken by the creature. The first he had understood to have come from its mouth.

Walrider.


As his mind began to shift from the world of dreams to the world of the living, Naruto was painfully aware that he was not in his apartment.

The bleached white walls, the smell of disinfectant and rubbing alcohol, the faint beeping of machinery and the dripping of an IV. Naruto was in the hospital once again.

He groaned and attempted to sit up, aware of the bandages wrapped around his body and the cast on his broken arm. His ribs were painfully sore, and his head still throbbed from the blows rained down upon it. A patch of gauze or some other white fabric covered one eye, and his stomach burned from where he had been stabbed.

Given the pain that raged throughout his battered body, Naruto abandoned his attempts to sit up and leaned back. As he slowly began to recall the events of the night, he placed a hand on his navel.

What was that thing? Why had it come? And what in the world did the word "Walrider" mean?

His thoughts were abruptly cut off as a searing pain erupted in his navel. Grimacing and gritting his teeth, Naruto watched in fascination as a skeletal black arm phased through his torso, followed by a second arm and then the upper body of the creature from the night before. It rose up from his body, hovering above him and appearing to gaze at him, despite the lack of visible eyes. Naruto gazed back silently before asking his unspoken question.

"What is 'Walrider'?"

The creature hissed before gesturing towards itself.

"Walrider. That's what you are? Or what you're called?"

Another hiss.

"Why did you save me?"

The Walrider tilted its head and let out a rattling intake of air.

Naruto blinked and took in its answer. Chosen. What did he (Naruto assumed, though with a lack of genitalia it was difficult to tell) mean by that?

Any attempt to question the "Walrider" was halted by the door opening. Naruto tensed, awaiting the scream that would most likely pierce the air at the sight of his new "friend" of sorts. Much to his surprise none came, and Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to not even notice the hovering entity.

"Naruto," he said with a kindly smile. "I'm glad to see you are awake."

"Gramps," Naruto said with a smile that quickly became a grimace. "How long was I out?"

Hiruzen sighed. "Several days. I'm afraid you've missed quite a bit of classes at the Academy."

The Walrider, unseen and unheard by the Hokage, let out a warbling shrieking noise that Naruto could only interpret as some form of mocking laughter.

It was at this moment that Naruto remembered the words of the Chunin who attacked him the previous night. Words that even he, in his pain-filled state, was able to see the lie within them. The logic brought on by fear and ignorance. It was then that Naruto asked the question he felt he already knew the Hokage's answer to.

"Why did they attack me? What have I done to deserve their scorn?"

Hiruzen flinched slightly, not noticeably, but enough for the Walrider to let out another bout of laughter as it hovered behind the Hokage.

"I'm sorry Naruto. If I knew I would tell you," Hiruzen said. "But I'm afraid I don't. I'm sorry."

The Walrider's condescending laughter doubled in frenzy and increased in pitch. He looked at Naruto, and for some odd reason Naruto could tell that if it had a mouth it would be grinning like a maniac. Naruto himself fought the urge to hide behind a mask of emptiness.

Hiruzen knew something. He could feel it.

"Now then," Hiruzen said. "You had best be getting some rest Naruto. Sooner you recover, the sooner you can complete all the work you missed. Alright?"

Naruto nodded, a small smile once again on his face. The Hokage then bid him a good day and turned to walk out the door. As the door closed and latched shut, the final word spoken the Walrider stood out in Naruto's mind as it sank back into his navel. A word describing the man that Naruto had seen as a grandfather. A word that Naruto couldn't help but agree with as the smile vanished from his lips.

Liar.


Knowledge. That was what he was searching. Knowledge. Naruto still wasn't sure of exactly why he was doing this, but he hadn't been let down yet. And it wasn't just the suggestion of his newer tenant that drove the boy, no. He himself desired this. He was to eventually become a shinobi after all. And he would need to become stronger if he wished to succeed.

The fact that he could also protect himself if he got attacked again, without relying on the Walrider, was also rather appealing.

Throughout his searching through the library, perusing scrolls and tomes of jutsu and knowledge, Naruto couldn't help but feel disappointed. Ninjutsu were known to be powerful sure, but they were shinobi. Ninja. And the original shinobi were not people with avid access to a powerful store of energy to perform impossible feats, oh no. They were simply ordinary people who trained themselves to be the best. To strike from the shadows, unseen and unstoppable.

Perhaps that was why Naruto was browsing for more subtle arts. He had always been stealthy. After all, who could escape a squadron of ANBU while wearing an orange tracksuit? So it simply made sense to him to go for stealth, despite still wanting some form of recognition.

The Walrider emerged from Naruto's body, this time phasing out of his back like some twisted shadowy doppelganger. It eyed a couple of the books and hissed in satisfaction before grabbing one and handing it to its current host.

Eying the entity's odd behavior for a moment, Naruto glanced at the title.

"Poisons?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Walrider shrieked once more before darting off to phase through one of the shelves, probably going to search once more.

Naruto shook his head before cracking open the book. After some time of having the creature both inside his body and out, he had become used to his antics. That being said, there were times when the Walrider would vanish off somewhere (most likely when his host was sleeping) and go off doing God knows what.

He had no proof, but Naruto had a sinking suspicion that the Walrider had something to do with the missing-person reports that kept popping up.

The Walrider swooped back over, this time with three books in particular. He dropped them on the table in front of Naruto and shrieked, looking as pleased with oneself as a faceless wraith could. Naruto looked at his companion before looking over the other three books. One in particular seemed an odd choice. He held it up for the Walrider to see.

"A gourmet cookbook? Seriously?" Naruto deadpanned.

The entity laughed (or at least gave off the warbling shrieking noise that Naruto had come to associate with the Walrider laughing) before showing the cover of the second book.

"Human Anatomy," Naruto read. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The Walrider gave a low growl that Naruto had come to see as a groan before setting the book down and handing Naruto the final one. As Naruto took the book in his hands, the Walrider darted off again to rifle through the shelves. He looked down and surveyed the title of the Walrider's recent find.

"Known Diseases and their Effects?"

It was times like this that Naruto remembered that he didn't understand much about the entity, other than his name was the "Walrider" and that it was not afraid of killing in spectacularly violent ways. Even though he could understand it to a degree, Naruto still had no idea what went on in the Walrider's mind, or even why he did what he did.

Another book dropped onto the table. Naruto slammed down his own book and glared at the spirit, only to notice the title of the book in question. Picking it up, he looked at the title. Slowly, his irritated frown morphed into a small smirk. Naruto turned to the Walrider.

"Good find," he remarked.

Looking down at the book once more Naruto opened it and started to read. The Walrider hissed happily (or at least Naruto thought) before sinking back into Naruto's body. All that Naruto heard was two lingering words.

Read. Grow.


Dreams were always a strange realm for Naruto, and the previous nights had been no exception.

The details were a bit hazy, as with most dreams recalled then following morning, but there were still things that Naruto remembered. He vaguely recalled what appeared to be some kind of statue of sorts being enclosed into a gigantic sphere of rock, which was then thrown into the sky and taking place as the moon (at least from what he understood) There was also a woman who was seen briefly.

Naruto couldn't tell much about her, other than an unearthly beauty that was unseen in anyone else he knew. There was a lot of white about her, from her hair to her clothing to the paleness of her skin. He also recalled some sort of large ears on her, or maybe they were horns. His mind was still half-asleep, so it was not impossible for him to be mistaking details.

He felt a familiar tugging sensation in his navel as the Walrider emerged and began floating above him.

"Do you know anything about that dream?"

A shriek was his only response.

"Who was she?"

The Walrider was silent.

Naruto scoffed at the entity before pulling on some clothes and striding over to the kitchen. Thankfully with the use of the Henge technique he was at least able to buy quality food without being overcharged like crazy. That and the cookbook the Walrider had found a while back was useful as well. If he hadn't still been dead-set on becoming a shinobi, Naruto felt that he would at least have a possible career as a chef.

Chopping up the thick strips of bacon, he tossed them into a pan and quickly began frying them. While the meat was cooking, Naruto cracked a few eggs into a bowl and began whisking them. The Walrider watched with interest as Naruto then tossed the seared meat into the bowl of eggs, added a dash of salt and pepper, then poured the mixture back into the pan.

A few minutes later Naruto had made himself a passable breakfast. He was by no means a master chef yet, but he was improving. After placing a portion of eggs on his plate, he then molded a strip of bacon into an oval shape, cooked it and then gently stuck it into the finished meal. Nodding in satisfaction, Naruto picked up his fork and began to eat. He glanced back at the Walrider.

"You're being awfully quiet," Naruto remarked. "Usually you're a bit chattier than this."

An indignant hiss sounded from the entity.

Naruto chuckled softly before taking another bite. Chewing thoughtfully, he eyed the strips of bacon. Something seemed off about the meat somehow. Almost more succulent, with a much better flavor than usual.

Come to think of it, he didn't even remember buying bacon on his last grocery run a couple days ago. Naruto turned to the Walrider once again.

"Did you get this meat?"

The entity was silent, but nodded nonetheless.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he plucked the molded strip of bacon from the eggs and took a bite. He chewed slowly before swallowing. His gaze turned to the Walrider.

"Where did you get this meat?"

The Walrider was silent.

Naruto paled slightly. He turned back to his half-eaten breakfast and set down his fork and knife.

"What was this meat originally?"

The Walrider laughed, not as loud as normally, but rather a low warbled chuckling sound as its vapory body shook slightly. Its response chilled Naruto's blood to the core.

Man.

Naruto turned to his plate and stared. Man. He had been eating human meat. All this time, it was human meat. How long… how long had the Walrider been doing this?

To be honest, it all made sense now. The people that went missing whenever the Walrider left in the middle of the night, always having a stocked meat drawer yet never buying meat himself, the more succulent dishes…

He had the feeling that he should be disgusted, should throw up, cast aside the food and halt all contact with the Walrider. Naruto felt that was what a normal person would do, but he was far from a normal person. The insensitivity to violent killing (the attack in which the Walrider saved him from having not been the first, nor the last) his lack of true bonds within the village (his classmates annoyed him due to their childishness, he didn't trust the Hokage because he was a liar, and he disliked the villagers for obvious reasons)

He knew there were many things wrong with him. And to be honest, he didn't care one bit in the slightest.

Naruto eyed the spirit hovering at his side, then picked up the fork and knife. And with that he began to eat his breakfast once more. The Walrider tilted his head in curiosity, only for Naruto to turn and give the entity a small saccharine smile before taking another bite.

After all, when one has so much wrong with you already, what difference does it make if you add one more thing to the list?


Naruto fought back a murmured curse as he slammed a fist down on a large red button, flooding the room he was looking into with a miasma of green gas. Shrill shrieks and clicking noises rang out before falling silent. Naruto lifted his hand off the button, shutting down the gas pumps, and groaned before marking another tally on a piece of paper.

The Walrider, equally annoyed at another failure, phased through the viewing window and grabbed the dead experiment by one of its many legs, dragging it off somewhere. Probably to the boiler room under the empty apartment complex. At least then the bodies of the failures would easily be burned.

While eager to complete his experiment, Naruto was also very cautious, and for good reasons. Some attempts, while mostly successful, had been wild and out of his control. Which lead to them inevitably being put down. Other times it wouldn't even breathe after creation, or it had not enough legs. (Or too many legs) Or it was something that while impressive, didn't come out quite right. The pincers were too large or too small, the carapace not thick or light enough.

Add in the fact that Orika of the Sannin had recently fled the village for illegal experimentation, and Naruto had every right to be cautious.

(Interestingly enough, Orika's apprentice Anko left with her and then returned after she abandoned her and branded her with one of her unique Cursed Seals, which lead to Anko swearing bloody vengeance, and thus she gained the villager's support. This event only reaffirmed Naruto's questioning of their sanity and intelligence, especially after the same thing happened with Sasuke Uchiha (only that involved Itachi).)

Naruto briefly considered the possibility of having some form of OCD before picking up his recorder and hitting the button.

"Experimental log, entry 48, code number 18532804. Test subject number 48 of the Insectoid project. Ran into another complication with subject 48. While closest in design to my original plans, like previous subjects 24 and 31, it could not be controlled properly and would not adhere to any of my commands. Another failure. A failure which ultimately had to be terminated like all others before it."

Naruto cut off the recording and sighed wearily. This was proving to be a much harder task than he had originally believed.

The Walrider phased through the wall, settling down a few feet behind Naruto. It peeked over his shoulder and shrieked. Naruto turned to his companion and looked him in the "eyes."

"I don't know about this anymore. We've had so many failures already, and who knows if I can actually control them should we succeed?"

The Walrider gave a keening wail of sorts and gestured towards Naruto's sketchbook. Naruto gazed at the drawings he had made when beginning the project and looked back at the Walrider.

"I know what you mean. Should we succeed it will be both amazing yet terrifying to behold. But we haven't succeeded yet."

The Walrider snarled and grabbed Naruto and steered him up the stairs to the nearest window. He pointed a skeletal finger at the Hokage Monument and let out a series of hisses and other various noises. Naruto shrugged off the Walrider's arm and sighed.

"Yeah, I know. Konoha wasn't built in a day."

The Walrider nodded and hissed again. Naruto cracked his neck and strode back downstairs. He gazed over at a prototype of his, a weapon of sorts. One of the first experimental creations he had made, even though it was not a living creature. Naruto picked it up, eying the canisters at attached to it, and the small tubes leading up to the four large syringes. Smiling fondly, he set the weapon back down and picked up his recorder once more.

"Experimental log, entry 49…"


He dreamed of the horned woman in white again. The details were much clearer this time, though Naruto distinctly remembered two specific things that weren't in his dreams about her before.

First was a creature of black skin, almost liquid in texture and form, with dull yellow eyes and a fanged grin, slipping out from her sleeve and onto the ground. And the other was a familiar figure of shadowy blue-tinted vapor, lean and muscular with no defining facial features and skeletal limbs, rising up from her back.

Naruto stood from his bed and walked over to the kitchen, unperturbed by the Walrider sealing meat (it looked to be a liver) into a package and storing it in the meat drawer at the top of Naruto's fridge.

"I saw you, last night."

The Walrider paused and turned, shutting the fridge door as he did. He tilted his head and hissed softly.

"The horned woman in white. I saw you with her."

Naruto stepped towards his tenant, a calm expression on his face as per usual. The Walrider hovered closer.

"Who is she?"

One word was the only thing that the Walrider replied with. A single word that raised more questions than answers in Naruto.

Mother.


Naruto eyed the unconscious man with not a single trace of pity in his eyes, nor a trace of emotion on his face.

The man was pretty normal, not really significant in appearance at all. Just a general everyday Joe you'd see on the street and forget about within the same instance. But Naruto knew better.

This man was one of those civilians who happened to lose both a loved one as well as property in the wake of the Kyuubi's attack. His business had also suffered as well, and like many he had blamed Naruto for it. He had never actually attacked him, but he had overcharged Naruto plenty of times when he was younger and the hatred was still fresh in everyone's mind. Granted, said hatred hadn't lessened, but it wasn't overtly seen much except glares and insults.

As of now, the man was slowly returning to the waking world, only to find his confusion replaced with fear when he realized that he was strapped down to a table in a dark room somewhere.

Then his eyes centered on Naruto, and a small flash of anger appeared in his eyes before noticing Naruto's current attire.

Sure he was still wearing everyday clothing, but there was a layer of plastic over top of them. His face was set like stone, not changing in the slightest, except the eyes. They were cold, dead, yet with a small spark of amusement. It was then that the man noticed the jagged blade in Naruto's hand.

"Ah, awake at last," Naruto said mockingly. "I must apologize for the chloroform, but it was actually rather necessary. I hope there's no hard feelings between us."

Naruto crossed over to the table, blade still in hand, with the Walrider watching with great interest.

"You see Yamada-san, I'm afraid I'm at a bit of a loss as to the logic of most people in Konoha. You all inherently fear the Kyuubi, and funny thing is, somehow you don't fear me even though you believe I am the beast."

By now the blonde teen was standing right beside Yamada, looking thoughtfully at the blade in his hand before setting it down on a tray beside him. Yamada looked nervously at the boy, for once actually feeling fear for the first time since that fateful night when the Kyuubi attacked.

Sweat ran down the side of his head as he began to whisper prayers to Kami and the gods, hoping that a devout follower would be saved from Naruto's clutches.

"Kami will not save you now Yamada-san," Naruto remarked. "I'm afraid the gods will never respond to us. Perhaps it is because we are human, and therefore flawed, and unworthy of their attention. Or perhaps it is because there really are no gods, and the throne atop the heavens is vacant like some have feared."

Naruto turned his gaze to the trapped man, the pupils in his cold blue eyes elongating into slits for the briefest of instances.

"You want to know something interesting Yamada-san? I'm not the fox, despite what most believe," Naruto whispered. "I'm worse. MUCH worse."

Naruto turned and picked up two items, a scroll and a kunai. He spun back around and held both up.

"Here's a little Shinobi 101 for you Yamada-san," Naruto said with a small smile that almost looked too sweet and kind. "When one uses Fuinjutsu they seal a kunai into a scroll, like so."

With a puff of smoke, the kunai was gone and a kanji for the same was marked on the previously blank scroll.

"Now, here's a small pop quiz. Does the scroll become the kunai?"

Yamada shook his head nervously.

"No? Well, that's funny," Naruto said with a chuckle. "Cause in another situation, the Kyuubi is the kunai, and I am the scroll. Funny how logic works isn't it?"

He set the scroll down and crossed over to Yamada's other side, the Walrider hovering unseen behind him, letting out his shrieking cackling all the while.

"You see, the way I see it, certain emotions seem to lead to others. Fear can lead to anger. Anger can lead to hatred. Hatred in turn leads to suffering, though not always the suffering of the one wielding said hatred," Naruto remarked dryly.

He picked up the jagged knife again, and began absentmindedly tossing it up and catching it by the handle or tip of the blade. Naruto's eyes never left the trembling man's form all the while, circling the table.

"So you all feared the fox. That fear was transferred to me by association," Naruto murmured softly, yet still heard by the room's sole other human occupant. "Then the fear turned to anger at the fox, then hatred. All of which was transferred to me, as the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. And thus, that lead to my suffering. My pain."

Naruto stopped and caught the knife by the handle, before turning to face Yamada once more.

"And funny thing is, there's an old saying. 'What comes around, goes around.' And that's what's happened. First I feared you all, praying that one day I would get respect by becoming Hokage. Then it became anger. Why should I suffer for the sins of the monster sealed within me? Then it lead to hatred."

A smile formed on his face, a sickly smile that shone with twisted amusement and glee. And in the dim light of the room, Naruto's eyes almost appeared to be a dull red, like that of dried blood.

"After all, you've all taken a pound of flesh from me," he remarked. "It's about time I do the same."

He pulled out a needle and jabbed it into Yamada's neck, then depressed the plunger. Naruto removed the needle and tossed it aside. Much to his amusement, Yamada was now panicking.

"What did you just put in me?!"

"Oh nothing much. Just a little compound I created. All your pain will be amplified tenfold, and the best part? It keeps you alive until I either slit your throat or remove your heart or brain. It took quite a bit of time to get right," Naruto remarked, testing the sharpness of his blade with a small hair from Yamada's head. "After all, I couldn't exactly get HUMAN test subjects that easily after the Orochimaru incident."

Naruto, satisfied with the sharpness of his current tool, lowered it to Yamada's torso and placed the tip right at his stomach, taking glee in the man's pleading and crying. Naruto raised the knife and glanced back at his victim.

"Who's the one who's afraid now Yamada-san?"

A scream pierced through the air as blood spurted from Yamada's body. The screams only intensified as Naruto began sawing.

"Don't worry Yamada-san," Naruto said kindly. "There are silencing seals all over this room. No one will hear your voice, so you are free to scream for me as much as you like. I will not object in the slightest."

All that followed was more screams of agony, pleading and begging for it all to end, the singing of a blade, and the deranged cackling of a twisted spiritual entity.


Naruto hummed a small tune as he used a carving knife to cut up his new meat into smaller pieces for storage. Beside him, the Walrider carefully sealed each piece of meat in plastic and placed it in the meat drawer.

Upon finishing his work, Naruto handed off the last piece of meat (a surprisingly healthy brain, which Naruto had not expected, given the lacking intelligence in said lamb) to the Walrider and removed his slightly bloodstained apron before tossing it aside for cleaning. The Walrider shut the fridge and shrieked proudly. Naruto smirked.

"I'll admit, it is much better to get your meat fresh rather than week-old meat at the grocery," Naruto replied.

A hiss followed, followed by what might have been a raised eyebrow if the entity had one.

"Fine, fine!" Naruto said with a smile. "Getting the meat yourself is much more satisfying than going through the middle-man."

The Walrider hissed in triumph before gesturing towards the large bundle wrapped in a garbage bag sitting near the trashcan.

"Oh, that. Don't worry," Naruto said. "I'll make sure to leave it where someone can find it and not have it linked to me."

With a smile Naruto opened the meat drawer and glanced over its contents. Eying a package in the middle, he smiled and turned back to the Walrider.

"Perhaps some liver tonight?" he asked. "With a side of fava beans. And maybe a nice Chianti."

Naruto licked his lips for the briefest of seconds. The Walrider floated still for a moment before shaking his head slightly. Naruto laughed merrily as he picked up the bundle.

"C'mon. Let's go send a message."

He turned and walked out the door, thankful for once that his apartment building was abandoned due to his living here. Naruto then opened the window, pulled up the black facemask and bandanna and jumped onto the rooftops. As he headed towards his destination, he heard the sound of something tearing. And it wasn't the sound of cloth.

Turning behind him, Naruto noticed the upper portion of Yamada's body sticking out of a hole in the bottom of the bag.

"Hmm," he mused. "Maybe I should have double-bagged."


While Naruto was muttering curses under his breath while trying to keep the body somewhat in the torn bag, a figure watched from an adjacent rooftop.

"So, Konoha finds itself home to a new form of killer then?"

A figure in a black cloak observed the boy carrying the corpse, the solitary Sharingan eye shining with interest from within the singular eye hole of the flame-patterned mask. From the roof to the side of the figure, a Venus-flytrap looking apparatus sprouted from the ground and opened to reveal a two-faced man with green hair: one side white with a mouth, while the other was entirely black with no features excepting the dull yellow eye.

"I'd say he seems pretty confident in himself," the white half remarked. "Though something seems familiar about him…"

"Something in him," the black half replied. "I don't know why but I am sensing a familiar presence in the boy. And it's not the Kyuubi."

"No," the cloaked figure remarked. "Though that is the Kyuubi jinchuriki, whatever else you may be sensing might be just as powerful. Maybe even more so."

"What should we do then?" the white half asked nervously.

"Nothing for the time being," the cloaked figure replied. "Though for now keep a close eye on him Zetsu. I wonder what he'll do next."

Zetsu nodded. "You're the boss Tobi."

"Tobi" nodded and vanished in a swirling vortex originating from the eyehole of the mask. Zetsu turned back to observe the boy stabbing a rather large hook attached to a chain through the body. White Zetsu unconsciously licked his lips, while Black Zetsu stayed silent and contemplated why the energy signature he had sensed seemed so familiar and so similar to his own. Then it hit him.

"So, Walrider's come out to play then?" he mused to himself. "Interesting…"


People were usually accustomed to strange or even disturbing sights when living in a ninja village.

But when a body is found hanging in the middle of the basic "main street" of Konoha, people tended to be pretty shocked. Especially since nothing like this had ever been seen in the history of Konoha.

A familiar grey-haired ANBU in an Inu mask was in charge of the squad intended to keep people away from the crime scene, so as not to taint the evidence. But even for him, it was hard to keep the bile down. And with good reason.

The body was completely nude, and was hanging from a chain via giant hook through the neck. The man (as far as the ANBU could tell with all the mutilations) had been cut open, and most of his organs seemed to have been almost surgically removed. Blood still poured from the open incisions, and the man's face appeared to have been slashed and stabbed repeatedly. At second glance, it almost seemed as if his face was cut off and haphazardly stitched back on. His back was also ripped open, with the ribs splayed out in the form of a "blood eagle"

The cause of death was unknown, but if the expression of his face was anything he died in a horribly terrifying and painful death. And then there was the mark on his forehead. Burnt into the forehead was a black circle, with an upside-down five-pointed star in green.

Inu had no idea who could be ruthless enough to do something like this to someone, but he got the sinking suspicion that this was only the beginning.

Within an hour, all the news stations in Konoha were discussing the meaning behind the killing and even wondering who the identity of the killer might be. Of course, one reporter stated his suspicions of it being the "demon brat" only to be taken away by ANBU at the scene. Most other "Naruto-haters" wisely kept their mouths shut if they didn't want to end up like him.

Naruto watched the proceedings on the television set in his apartment, a small smile on his face. The Walrider watched with interest as well, before sinking into Naruto's body with a few last spoken words. Words which Naruto simply laughed at before repeating as he switched the viewing device off.

"Let the games begin."

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Finally! After who knows how long since I first started writing this, it's done! I apologize for the long time in updating, but as most of you already know, I'm terrible with deadlines. Part of the reason me and TheMightyMorgoth are working together. He helps me with ideas, betas my stories, and also tells me when to get off my ass and finish the chapter in question. Speaking of which, I actually have a message from him for you.

TheMightyMorgoth- Hello readers, I am TheMightyMorgoth. With the combined help of my new friend; The Phantom of Skyrim, we shall bring about a new age of fanfiction that will be remembered throughout the eons (or however long this website shall last). This shall be the Age of Reclamation, and we shall return fanfiction to its former glory. This is only the beginning of our New Age. So let's continue onward, for the Great Journey awaits us.

Thanks for the inspiring speech my friend! Translated from "Prophet-Speak" here's basically what Morgoth is saying. All in all, we are planning to continue to bring quality stories (to the best of our abilities) but we are also trying to break the usage of clichés in fanfiction, or at least using them correctly should we need to use them, as well as taking stories down a darker path under most circumstances. This is Fanfiction. "Unleash your Imagination." And we intend to do that.

Where other stories usually fall under a category that constantly uses clichés or overused elements (especially pairings) this is where we make things different. We will be the ones to use things from Halo, Supernatural, Bleach, LoTR, Naruto, etc. without making it utter crap. (Leave a review if any of you are fanfiction readers/authors and you agree with us on his matter. Also Morgoth wants to know what you thought about his speech, so if you have any thoughts on that leave a review as well)

Alright, all prophetic speeches aside, this is going to be an interesting story! I'll let you guys guess one of the main influences on this version of Naruto personality-wise, and just know that he won't be the last! And for those who can't read this fic due to some things that offend you, I won't judge. Just please don't leave any angry reviews involving the cannibalism, alright? Reviews with honest criticism are fine, but not reviews just raging about Naruto eating people.

Alright, that's all I got right now, leave a like, favorite, review, etc. If you have any questions about this story or others I have that I am working on, drop a PM by me or my partner/editor TheMightyMorgoth. And when he makes reappearances in future Author's Notes, his text will be bold and italicized while mine will be just bold. Or we'll put pen names/initials of pen names when we want to differentiate who is speaking.

See ya on the flip side!

-Phantom

Update: 12/22/2015: Hey guys, it's Phantom with a small update. I am currently working on chapter 2 of Nightmare Incarnate with TheMightyMorgoth, however I noticed that there were discrepancies between our original idea and this chapter. Thus, to prevent a continuity error, I made a few small changes which you may have noticed, specifically the gender of Orochimaru and I decided to remove Anko being ostracized like in so many other fanfictions I've seen on this site.

So, that's basically it. I'll try to have the next chapter up sometime this week. I apologize for the wait, but college has taken up most of my time. I'm trying to be better about this though.

See ya on the flip side!

-Phantom