Chapter One: A Dark Beginning

Konahagakure no sato. The most powerful village in the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

It was night, the full moon hung in the sky, surrounded by stars, of many colors, red, blue, white, and yellow. All was at peace.

It was never meant to last.

A being of unfathomable power attacked. It's form was of a great fox, nine tails swayed in a hypnotic yet terrifying manner. The fox assaulted the village mercilessly, entire blocks fell to the swings of its strangely human-like arms, it would grab and either crush those unfortunate enough to be caught in its grasp to red paste and crunched bone. It made no distinction between man or woman. The old and sick. Not even children were spared.

The village leader. The Yondaime Hokage would soon save the village, everyone hoped, everyone pleaded. But the village would not be saved without a sacrifice. That of his child. It's very humanity, even its soul would be sacrificed to protect Konoha. That was the price of the Shinigami. And yet, Death was not without a sense of mercy. Ancient and eldritch it was, it pitied the child. And would bestow upon him/her a gift, from another reality entirely. All it needed to do was acquire the gift.

(?)

Alexandra (Alex) Mercer aka Zeus knew that this day was coming. No...not Alex Mercer. She died a week and a half ago. She was just a creation of Mercer. She was simply an eldritch abomination. Neither living nor dead. She did not bleed. Bullets merely passed through her or bounced off her form entirely. Not even the clothes on her back were real. Just biomass molded and shaped to resemble clothing. It'd be more accurate to call her an It. She looked to a mirror on the helicopter's dashboard, a gray hood concealed a majority of her head. She could see dark brown hair under the hood. Blue-silver eyes stared back at her. They weren't even truly her eyes

She looked away, back towards the aircraft carrier, where she had just consumed both of her greatest enemies yet. The Supreme Hunter, the evolved form of the parasite that once plagued her. It once referred to itself as an "intelligent cancer". Then, the leader of Blackwatch, General Peter Randall. She smirked then, an odd sight for someone like her. Consuming someone granted her their memories, skills, everything that made them was stripped from their very soul. Though she might be exaggerating about the soul part considering she was essentially just a colony of Blacklight cells formed into a single entity.

Randall, in a last-ditch effort to eliminate the virus that very nearly overtook Manhattan, had obtained a thermonuclear device, and had planned to detonate it in the heart of the city. Everything would be annihilated. Including Dana. Her sister (or was she?) the one thing that tied her to the life she once thought the led. She had helped her so much... Then the original Mercer committed an atrocity that would never be forgiven. She released the Blacklight virus. A bio-weapon capable of horrifying damage. A nuke might reduce a few mile radius of land to an inhospitable crater and spread radiation around for a few more miles.

But a virus? It could spread. It could traverse entire continents with the advent of worldwide air travel. A single infected host could potentially spread it to a major population center. And the bodies would pile up. Blacklight was unique in that it was entirely impossible to create a vaccine for. Mercer had spliced the genetic code that offered the common cold it's immunity to every attempt to cure or vaccinate, into the Blacklight virus. With no vaccine or cure option available, the armed forces would be forced to euthanize infected. Obviously, some people would be opposed to that, dissent would blossom into existence, eventually metamorphosing into outright hostility and violence, the military would fighting a two front war, killing any infected in an attempt to prevent any more spread of the disease, and then there would be the resistance effort, the soldiers would likely break under the duress of being forced to kill their own countrymen, and eventually, society would collapse entirely, anarchy would reign. And the virus would spread further still. Until nothing remained but corpses. Genius.

But it was not meant to be. The virus was released on domestic soil. And nearly everyone in Manhattan would die because of it. She was the virus. When Mercer had broken the vial containing the Blacklight virus in Penn Station, it entered her body through the bullet wounds in her chest. Mercer's fresh corpse was consumed nearly instantly, every cell, every tissue, even the bones were broken down into their basest components, Biomass.

But there was no more time to reminiscence about the past, she had arrived. The plan was simplicity itself. Drop the nuke into the Atlantic Ocean a few miles off the coast, then get the fuck back to Manhattan and hopefully, she would get to watch the fireworks. She gently pulled back on the control stick, until the helicopter came to a stop. She glanced down at a small lever, with a blinking light above it. "CARGO RELEASE" was written underneath it in a rather annoying shade of bright orange.

She thumbed the lever, and the nuke was dropped into the sea below.

'Time to get the hell out of here.'

Thought Alex.

She jerked the stick and the helicopter was immediately turned away from the nuke, and he headed with full speed back towards Manhattan. She glanced down at her wrist, she had taken a digital stopwatch from one of the many dead soldiers back at the carrier. It read "00:36". 36 seconds left until detonation. She could see the carrier on the horizon. 22 seconds. The Empire State Building was visible now. It's spire light blinked red, slicing through the dense fog. 12 seconds. She wouldn't make it to a safe distance. 5. She would die here. 4. She'd never get to see Dana again. 3. No...it didn't matter. She'd never accept her for what she is. 2. She is a monster. 1. She deserved to die. 0.

All Mercer knew then, was a bright light, an unbearable heat, and the strange sensation of feeling her entire body liquefy under all the force of the sun.

Manhattan, Battery Park

The mushroom cloud was visible to all in Manhattan. The fireball lit up the night, brighter than the sun, the moon, and all the other stars in the sky combined. A reporter hurriedly snapped a photo of the cloud, it would make for an excellent front page photo! A mother and her children stared, awed by the light, and the sound. A priest looked to the cloud and uttered a fearful prayer for all souls in Manhattan.

Elsewhere, the helicopter had crash landed near Battery Park. Mercer was no more. Just a few bits and pieces of black and red biomass. A crow landed near a larger puddle. In another world, the crow would be consumed and Mercer would be reborn. But not here. Death had other plans. The Shinigami appeared above the crow. It's baleful yellow eyes glared at it. The crow didn't stand a chance. It dropped dead before it could attempt to make a meal of the puddle. The Shinigami's hand, an inhuman pale gray, made contact with the puddle. It was swiftly turned into a simple black and red orb. It resembled a marble in appearance, with an odd red aura surrounding it. The Shinigami placed the orb into its vestments and made off to the Shinobi World. Mercer in tow.

Hi no Kuni, Konahagakure no sato

"Minato, don't!" Kushina's desperate cries for her child were not heeded. Minato had her child, her precious little baby, in hand and was planning to seal the Kyuubi into him/her.

'No!'

Try as she might, she was far too exhausted, her body too damaged by the forceful removal of the Kyuubi, she was effectively paralyzed from the waist down. She was powerless to stop this. She could do nothing but watch in mute horror, as Minato summoned the Shinigami. It's form hung over him, his soul in its grasp.

"SHIKI FUJIN!"

The Kyuubi was robbed of its Yin chakra, and it was made evident by its sudden decrease in size. The Sharingan, once dominating it's eyes had vanished shortly after the Shinigami appeared. Fear was now evident in its crimson gaze.

"FUIN!"

The Shinigami's hand impaled Minato then, depositing the Yin chakra in his body. It then rushed towards the Kyuubi. Minato slumped forward, his soul ripped from his body. His face was skeletal, his skin morphing into a pallor, that one would find on a months old corpse. The soul was then consumed by the Shinigami, a noticeable blue light, shining through its throat.

The hand grasped the Kyuubi fully then, a seal coming into existence on Naruto's stomach, and the dark red Yang chakra of the Kyuubi was now being siphoned into it. But the fox would not go down without a fight. It raised a paw, and a claw was extended towards the newborn. It would not be sealed again! It would have its freedom!

Kushina would not stand for it. A burst of adrenaline surged through her veins, and she leaped into the path of the claw. Pain. Agony. A spray of crimson decorated the grass, as well as Naruto. Its eyes opened then. And Kushina saw an intelligence, a comprehension that was entirely unsuited for a newborn. It looked towards her.

Those blue-silver eyes... that hair that matched ashes. Kushina so desperately wanted to say her last words to him/her. A mother's loving words. But it was not meant to be. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker, her vision dimming more and more. She was released from the claw, for it was no longer there. The Kyuubi was sealed into the boy. Her last vision was of the Shinigami lowering its hand to Naruto, a strange black and red orb in its grasp, before darkness overcame her. And then a piercing light.

It was a few years after the Kyuubi attacked Konahagakure, the damage had been repaired... mostly. There were still areas around the village closed off to the public because of the Kyuubi's poisonous chakra having contaminated the area. They weren't difficult to locate, signs stating that the area was unsafe for human beings. A more physical sign was the dozens of dead trees dotting the contaminated areas, there were even what appeared to be charred skeletons strewn about the landscape as well, so corroded they were now almost entirely unrecognizable.

But the village itself was thankfully left untouched by the toxic energy, only the surrounding forests were affected. The populace was not so lucky unfortunately. Expecting mothers were horrified to see their children born with a multitude of deformities or were outright stillborn. Young children suffered from debilitating conditions, like chronic arthritis, sclerosis, and their immune systems were crippled from the fox's chakra permeating their developing bodies, rendering them far more vulnerable to disease and infection.

The amount of villagers and shinobi killed in the initial attack paled in comparison to the death toll not a few months later. Nearly 25% of the civilian population either died, or left permanently disabled. 5% of the shinobi forces were left permanently disabled. It was the singular worst tragedy to strike the village since it's founding. Combine a spike in suicides, and nearly 7% of the over 50,000 people living in Konoha died in the following year.

In an effort to calm the civilians, the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, spoke to the entire village in a monumental speech, stating that the fact that Konoha still stood was a testament to the strength of the village as a whole, and eventually life returned to at least a semblance of normal. And then the information about the Kyuubi's true fate was leaked to the public. The leaker was never found, however a man presumed to be the leaker was found dead in his apartment within the wealthy district of Konoha, with a suicide note beside him, making mentions of the "demon child" and how the people of Konoha needed to band together to eliminate the Kyuubi once and for all, by killing it's "reincarnation", Naruto Uzumaki.

However, fear overruled the civilian's fury, and people were far too afraid to attack Naruto en masse. A few brave individuals would attempt to take his life, but they would mysteriously disappear. No body would be found, just a copious amount of blood, roughly equating to the total amount of blood within the human body. These disappearances stank heavily of foul play, but no suspect would ever be found.

Naruto was now four and a half years old.

Konohagakure, Red light district

Naruto never knew happiness. Not in his short life. Almost everyone in the village hated him. And those who became violent, he...ate them. He didn't know how else to describe it. He would somehow shove his tiny arms through their chest or merely make contact with them, and then...tendrils would emerge from the point of contact, penetrate the skin, and begin to break down the cells that made up the body, until they were reduced to simple organic molecules, and the tendrils, now fattened would return to his body. He would feel strangely satiated, and then came the memories. Memories that weren't his. Memories that belonged to the people he killed. It was how he was so intelligent. How he managed to avoid any further attempts on his life. He had gained a complete understanding of human psychology as well. He could predict a person's actions and thoughts very easily. He had first killed a half year ago. His body count numbered somewhere in the 30s by now. And he knew why he was hated so. Apparently he was the Kyuubi reincarnate, the fox that had attacked the village the day he was born. He knew this was not true, but he had a theory as to what connected him to the fox.

He was its Jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice. The Kyuubi was sealed into his body, his very soul, by the former leader of the village.

Minato Namikaze.

Just thinking of the man was enough to spark a horrid rage within himself, a desire to destroy, to kill. And it scared him. What if he lost control? He didn't care much about human life, callously ending those who threatened him. But he killed them because they were a threat. Could he really kill an innocent person in cold blood? He already knew the answer to that question.

YES. And it was as horrifying a thought as it was also attractive. He knew that with the more people he killed, and consumed, the stronger he became. The more intelligent he became.

But he did more than kill didn't he? Yes, he did more than consume the body. The very soul was prey as well. He had a glimpse of this when he discovered the odd ability to see the souls of the living, and the spirits of the dead. Ah, yes... another ability afforded to him. He postulated it was due to his status as a border being. Something not quite alive, nor dead. He had glimpsed the man's soul, a bright blue light, with a pinprick of darkness in its core. He witnessed how, what he believed to be his own soul, entirely black, had actually reached out and absorbed the man's soul.

And that opened up an entirely new can of worms. What had happened to his soul? Was it twisted by the presence of the Kyuubi? Or was it changed by the very nature of his body? He didn't have an answer. He wasn't sure he wanted one.

'At least people are too afraid of me to attack me now...' Naruto thought, 'It was annoying how they never seemed to learn to leave me alone.'

He had gained an apartment, graciously given to him by the Sandaime, he never knew why the old man was so kind to him... was it all a ruse? An attempt to get him to trust the old monkey, so he may have access to the nigh-infinite strength of the Kyuubi? He hoped not. The old man was frankly the only reason he hadn't outright left the village entirely. If he was deceiving him... he feared for the old man.

He idly glanced around his surroundings, the apartment was rundown, paint flaking off the walls. Occasionally a cockroach or some other vermin would make itself known. They were good snacks. There was a little kitchen area off in the corner, a stove, refrigerator, and a few cupboards. All had seen better days, what with the rust, grime, and overall disrepair they were in. It wasn't like he needed or used them though.

He never got hungry, or physically tired. He didn't need to breath, nor did he require warmth. His skin was cold to the touch, and very pale. Almost like a corpse. It helped intimidate potential threats. He idly ran a hand through his hair, knocking a few grey strands in front of his eyes. He headed towards the bathroom then, and pushed the door open, the knob was missing entirely. He stepped in and looked towards the mirror. Blue-silver eyes stared back. Devoid of recognizable emotion yet extremely beautiful. He did feel, just not in the same way a human would. The processes behind emotion were like night and day in that respect.

He wore a simple white hooded jacket, intentionally large for his young age in order to hide his body's features, as well a black bubble vest his lower attire consisted of black jeans, as well as simple black urban loafers. He turned, back facing the mirror, his head was oriented towards the mirror. A strange symbol decorated the space on his jacket, spreading from shoulder to shoulder. It was a pair of vaguely wing like shapes, that glowed a sinister red.

Because of his physical features it was extremely difficult to tell if he was really a boy or a girl, although he identifies himself as a boy.

Having admired himself long enough, he stepped out of the bathroom. He had a meeting with the Hokage today... The old man tried so very hard to keep him innocent. To preserve his childhood. It failed, of course. But at least the elderly kage tried. That was a hell of a lot better than most people he knew.

He moved towards the door that would lead to the hallway, and eventually descended down the stairs. He lived on the top floor, the center room. The entire complex was abandoned, ever since he moved in, it's former residents all signed out once they found out they were sharing living space with the demon child. Naruto often fantasized about hanging them with their still warm intestines.

He exited the apartment building. And immediately headed towards a manhole. He opened it, the heavy cast iron disk weighed nothing to him. He dropped down and summoned a few tendrils to close the manhole.

The sewers were like a second home to him. No one ever dared to descend here. The smell was nauseating, and it all too easy to slip and take an unwilling bath in at least a few feet of human waste. And it was dark, there was no artificial lighting, leaving the tunnels practically pitch black. The smell didn't affect him in the least. And he can see beyond the spectrum of visible light. He felt the structure of his eyes change, and the darkness was soon replaced by a vision of blue and red. Infrared. He thrived in environments like this, where his prey had no hope of ever seeing him coming. A few red blobs darted in and out of sight in the distance. Rats. It took less than five minutes to get to his destination. He climbed the ladder, lifted the manhole cover, and crawled out. He replaced the cover.

He could see the Hokage Tower now. He had a preferred method of entry...

Hokage's Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently battling his most tenacious foe. Something more powerful than all the Bijuu combined. Something more intelligent than the entirety of the Nara Clan. Something more resilient than all the mountains in the world. This eldritch foe's name? Paperwork. He signed and stamped at a blistering pace, little more than a blur to the average human's eyes. Yet no matter how he tried, no matter how valiantly he fought, the stack grew and grew in size. He wouldn't last for much longer. An idea came to mind.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Four identical copies of the Sandaime poofed into existence in a cloud of white smoke, together they would defeat this enemy of all kages! In less than a few minutes all the paperwork was vanquished. The clones disappeared, and Hiruzen raised a hand to his forehead momentarily, in an effort to alleviate the slight headache produced by the memory feedback.

And then he realized, with a horrified and dumbstruck expression, that more paperwork was on his desk.

'HOW!?'

His elderly mind screamed.

How had that damn paperwork sneak up on him?!

He was torn from his misery by a sudden thud near the window. He immediately leaped into action, taking a taijutsu stance before the intruder could surprise him. He never noticed Naruto until it was too late.

"Boo."

A girlish scream tore its way from Hiruzen's throat, as he whirled behind him. Naruto's ever stoic face was there to greet him. He screamed again. And proceeded to trip on his feet. His head roughly bounced off the hardwood floor.

Naruto's face made itself known again, he was kneeling over his fallen body.

"Are you alright old man?"

"Owwwww..."

"Should I get a medic-nin?"

"Urrrrrggggghhhh..."

"Damn. How am I going to get him up?"

"Oh wait, there is that weird orange book he hides in his desk."

Naruto picked up the strange book, and read the cover.

"Icha-Icha Paradise? Co-Ed loving?"

Curiosity overtook him, and he opened the book up. He was not pleased at what he saw. Far from it.

'Who the hell reads this crap? It's just pure smut. Where's the story? Where's the romance, the drama, the tragedy? Wait, who the hell wrote this anyway?'

He turned the book around and glanced at where the writer's name was.

"Jiraiya?"

At that Hiruzen stirred. Naruto looked back at him. He had managed to get back on his feet, though he was now nursing a bump on the back of his head. He looked towards Naruto and his face twisted into a rather comical expression of anger.

"NARUTO, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO SNEAK UP ON ME?!"

The shout was powerful enough to actually shake the Tower. Many secretaries and chunin were convinced that an earthquake had just happened.

Naruto idly stuck his pinky finger into his ear, wiggled it around, and eventually took it back out, wiping it off on his jacket.

"Let's see, to date... around 468 times."

"I didn't mean literally!"

"You know how bad I am with sayings."

"That's not the point!"

"Meh. 'Sides it was funny seeing such a great and powerful shinobi scream like a pre-pubescent school girl."

Hiruzen's cheeks flushed then.

"Anyway, I believe you called me here?"

Hiruzen blinked. The blush died down. He sat down, steepled his fingers together, and adopted a serious expression on his face.

"Yes, I did Naruto. I want to discuss the possibility of you joining the shinobi forces."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched once.

"Again with this? Wouldn't I be unfit for service, what with my sociopathy, violent tendencies, and overall low sanity?"

Hiruzen sighed then.

"Naruto, you're not insane, your just troubled."

Naruto frowned.

"Yes, of course. Because butchering and eating people only counts as 'troubled.'"

Hiruzen adopted a sad expression then. He had failed in keeping Naruto a child. And what a failure it was indeed. Here was a child, with all the issues a war veteran suffering from PTSD would have. It wasn't right. The guilt often kept him up at night.

"Naruto..."

Naruto sighed.

"Old man, I can't be fixed. You know that. And I don't blame you. You tried your very best. Even risked your position once. I can't ever thank you enough for at least trying. I'll join."

Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"W-What? Just like that?"

Naruto's eyes suddenly narrowed then. His faintly glowing blue eyes rooted Hiruzen in place.

"On one condition. You tell me everything about my past. My parents, why everyone hates me, everything."

Hiruzen's eyes widened even further. They resembled two sake saucers.

"Naruto... are you sure? I kept your past secret from you, so I could protect you. So I could prevent any more damage to you. The truth... it may very well scar you for life."

He was obviously worried. He was willing to tell Naruto.

Naruto's gaze hardened.

"How can I be scarred any further? I'm made of scars now."

Hiruzen winced none too subtly.

"Okay... I'll tell you. But not now.."

Naruto gained an expression of slight anger.

"When?"

"Once you graduate."

Naruto calmed.

"Alright. I can deal with that. How long will Academy last?"

"You'll be sixteen when you graduate. Assuming you don't fail."

"Okay. I'll wait until then. But you are going to tell me everything."

Naruto turned on his heel and walked towards the window. Opening it and leaping towards his apartment.

"I'm getting far too old for this shit."

Hiruzen grumbled once, then proceeded to grab the Icha-Icha book. He opened it, having dog-eared a page. Perverted giggling filled the office.

"Hohohoho... Aya... your a naughty girl."

Author's Notes

Hello everyone!

I had asked erenia0324 if I could adopt his/her story 'Viral Maelstrom' and he/she said yes!

So this fic will more or less be the same though certain plot points/arcs will be changed and it will eventually deviate from his/her plot.

This fic will have elements of Resident Evil, Marvel (specifically the Spider-man series) & Cthulhu Mythos.

Yes I genderbended Alex Mercer. Why? Because I wanted to that's why!

Oh yes Kushina is dead but that doesn't mean she'll stay dead for long.

I intentionally left Naruto's true gender hidden. It's to reflect his state of being.

Anyway till next time! ;)