I don't own Naruto…
'thoughts'
'flashbacks'
"dialog"
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Chapter 1: Assault
'…where are you?' wondered the Sandaime running through the dense forests. "How far!?" he asked loudly, turning his head to the right.
"Not far sir… another half an hour!" answered one of the 4 ANBU that were behind him.
'Damn it! Damn it!!!' cursed the Hokage.
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Hiruzen was standing in his office with his hands underneath his chin, his eyes hardened and ferocity on his face. For three weeks now, he had been waiting for information.
"Sir, we have just received a message from Hirroi!!!" barged in woman with a small letter in her hands.
"Finally! Give it to me!" he ordered, getting up in a flash and opening his hand to receive the information.
She gave the letter to the man who opened it without hesitation.
"I have found the target. He is in a hidden underground bunker 10 miles of the North Gate. Follow the markers on the trees. Target's current condition remains unknown. Assailant's identity remains unknown." finished Hiruzen.
He turned to his desk and punched it hard enough to leave marks on it.
Turning around to the woman. "…Get me Raven's team! …"
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"Hokage-sama!" called one of the ANBU.
"Hm, what is it?"
"I still think that you should let us handle this…" he proposed.
"Oh? You think I can't keep up?" asked the Hokage focusing back on the trees.
"No, sir but…"
"Are you suggesting that you think your Hokage is weak or too old?" asked Hiruzen calmly but with a sharp tinge to it.
"Of course not, Hokage-sama!!" answered the man shocked and scared that he might have insulted his leader.
"Then what are you suggesting?" asked the Sandaime.
"It's just that… this is more of an ANBU standard mission… Sandaime-sama shouldn't bother himself with this…" he answered.
"… The target is of importance to the village… and to me… I can only do this much at the moment…" concluded the old war hero.
"… I understand sir. Please forgive me." Finished the ANBU.
"It's nothing. I also have an ulterior motive…" returned the Hokage catching everyone's attention. "… I plan to make the one responsible pay… with my own hands…" finished the Hokage with killing intent emanating from his very presence.
All the other ANBU unconsciously swallowed the lump that had formed in their necks.
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In the bunker a figure was walking down the hall to another room. Reaching it, he went to the central control where a woman was looking over some monitors.
"What is his status?"
The woman was slightly surprised at his sudden appearance.
"OH! His vitals show normal but he is still in a coma."
"And the operation?" he asked again.
"It went better then expected… optimum results… you were right sir, he was one of the handful that could survive." She responded.
"… as expected."
"… there is one more thing sir…" she continued.
"Oh? What is it?"
"His brain patterns have changed sir, he is still showing awareness but the patterns have altered slightly. It could be the effects of the genjutsu placed on him…" she finished.
"His mental state is of no concern to me!" he returned.
"…I understand…" she finished afraid.
"Good… we will be having company soon. We are packing up to leave, get everything you need and destroy the rest…."
"…Yes sir, what about the patient sir?" asked the woman slightly surprised.
"I have already arranged him to be moved… we can't leave him behind now, can we?"
They turned to the glass and stared on the table that in the middle. On it was the body of a young boy with needles and a breather on his mouth. He was naked except for a pair of dark gray short pants. His hands were held in place by straps. His face covered with a cloth. The body didn't move but the boy's mind briefly had a few flashbacks.
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"Hello there, little guy, how is it going?"
"Hello, sir."
"You look lonely… mind if I sit with you?"
"I-I guess not…" answered the boy feeling nervous at the response.
"Why so nervous all of a sudden?"
"It's just that… not a lot of people want to talk to me so openly…"
"Oh? Why is that?" asked the stranger.
"I don't know… it just is." answered the boy, wondering for a minute.
"I see… well, I'm sure that they have a reason. After all, nothing happens without a reason…"
"Reason? What kind of reason?" wondered the boy.
"Well, everything that is has a reason or a purpose…" spoke the man looking at the child.
"Oh… so… is my purpose to be a freak? ... or a monster?" asked the boy.
"Of course not, you aren't a monster or a freak… you're something… different… special…" finished the man with a smile. "… and people can decide for themselves what they want to be… you can be anything you want, be anyone you want to be…"
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"Finally." They finally reached the entrance. "Okay, let's look for Hirroi…"
"There will be no need for that sir…" finished an ANBU pointing at a tree.
There, lying on the ground, was the body of another ANBU in a bloody heap with three kunai visibly stabbed in the back.
"Hirroi… damn it! Okay we infiltrate the bunker and search around in two groups… don't separate!" he ordered angry that their enemy could be a potential threat.
The group infiltrated the bunker blowing the entrance with explosive tags. Once inside they were met with little resistance, only in the form of a few traps.
In this time the Hokage had a brief flashback.
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Sandaime was standing on the Hokage Mountain with a young boy standing at the edge.
The Hokage signed feeling exhausted from the lecture he was about to give. "You're in trouble again… you know that right…"
The boy frowned feeling the lecture coming a mile away. "I know… and I know what you're going to say… so don't bother thinking of anything cool to say…"
"… I guess I don't need to tell you again do I? Why do you do this? Do you hate the village that much?" asked the old man taking a seat close to him.
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The group finally got out of the traps, but they were now met with a maze of tunnels, five to be exact.
"Okay… Raven! Hawk! Take the far left tunnel, Kamu! Reza you're with me!"
"Hai!!" the shinobi answered following his lead.
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"Hate it? I don't hate it…" answered the boy looking over the village. "It's just that… everything I do, they ignore, they sneer at me… like looking at a rotten apple…" answered the boy.
"… some people are not as kind as others… " offered the man trying to reason with him.
"Not like that… I do what I do because I want them to take notice of me… to remember me…" he answered looking at the sun set.
The old man chuckled. "Well, I can promise you that all those people at the restaurant will remember you. Honestly, putting fake rubber worms in the soup, that' something very memorable…" smiled the old man chuckling.
The boy laughed loudly "yeah, that was a good one. That will teach them that they shouldn't pick on the small people. Besides that soup needed more spices, I just wanted to help out…" he offered with an innocent smile.
That Hokage laughed loudly at his remark "jeez, you'll never change, will you? I don't know if that's good a thing or the death of me…"
They both laughed loudly.
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On another side of the bunker five people were talking.
"What!? We are under attack!!?" asked one alarmed.
"Yes, we are evacuating from the alternate exit." Answered another looking at the four henchmen.
"Then, we have to get out of here too." Suggested another.
"Not yet. You four are to take Subject number 11 with you, then meet up at Karachira town at the border…" ordered the leader.
"Subject 11!?" asked one of the four in awe
"That's right, he is in a coma right now, so four of you shouldn't have any problems." Returned the leader.
"Hai!" answered the four already turning to leave.
"One more thing... he is very important, if you loose him… you forfeit your lives…" finished the leader leaving.
The four left although slightly quivering.
There was silence among the four people. There were three men and one woman. They ran at a normal pace to the room.
"Subject 11? Who is he? I never heard of him?" asked the woman puzzled.
"Ehh? You never heard of him? That's hard to believe… there are rumors all around here about him." Spoke one of the men.
"So what's so big about him?" she asked.
"Well, I heard that they braught him here three weeks ago and that since then he went through a lot of experiments…"
"So? That happens here…"
"Yeah, but not like him… they say that his were beyond anything humanly possible. That the experiments he was put through could have killed a normal man..."
"Oh?" she asked getting fascinated.
"Yeah, and though he is only a kid, he is a demon who doesn't die."
"R-really?" she asked getting scared by the information.
"Yeah, but the boss can tell you more. He saw him." answered the lackey again pointing at the man in front.
"Y-you do?" she asked.
After a slight pause "… yeah, I know something."
"… well? what is it? Why him? Why a kid?"
"… they said it was to make a perfect weapon, or that they wanted to surpass the limits of human beings, but… I believe… that they just wanted to make... a monster…" he finished.
The rest of the journey was silent and they finally reached the room. Getting inside they saw a doctor that was looking over some of the data.
"We've been compromised… we are leaving and taking him with us…" said the lead henchman.
"Leaving!? And letting all this research go to waste?! That's out of the question!!" responded the doctor.
The four made their way to the table and the doctor.
"Sorry, not my call. We are to leave… are you coming or going?" responded the man.
While they were arguing, the woman was looking at the patient, the same one she heard about. She moved her hand along his body and noticed that the muscles were tight for a child and he was unmoving… until… "AAAahhhh!" she screamed moving two steps back
"What? What is it, Merra?" asked the leader.
"He-he moved… I saw him move his hand!!!" she spoke rather trembling.
"That's impossible!!" responded the doctor. "He is in a coma and his vitals are showing that he is not waking up anytime soon!!"
"I'm telling you I saw him move!" she returned angrily.
One of the other two tried to intervene "Hey… take it easy… it's been a long day… it was probably just your imagination…"
"I am not seeing things! I just saw him…" she tried but was interrupted.
"Cut the bullshit!!" he called getting tired of the waste of time. He approached the fourth, silent, member of his team and took the cigarette he had been smoking into his hand. He then approached the body put out the cigarette with a sizzling hiss in the boy's chest, seeing no reaction he turned to her. "See? No reaction… he is like a corpse, dead all over. Now stop wasting time and get moving!" he barked at them.
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Sarutobi and the ANBU were having a hard time. They finally found the right path after checking the others. The rooms were only full of empty beds or empty storage rooms. They had yet to encounter any real resistance.
"Shit, it looks like they expected us, they have already evacuated or destroyed most of everything!" cursed Raven running behind the Hokage.
"… I can see that… keep up! We can't let them take the target!!" he ordered behind.
"Hai!"
Turning to a corner, they entered a huge room with support beams holding the roof. On the other end of the room stood 10 ninja, without headbands, guarding the path.
"You're journey ends here…" spoke one of the enemies.
"I disagree… Let us pass. We are going in past you… or through you…" spoke Raven pulling out a nodaichi.
Everyone tensed, already guessing that continuing will not occur without battle.
They all engaged in a fierce battle. But while Hiruzen, drawing his staff, already in battle armor, was preparing to fight, he couldn't help but blame himself for this incident leaving his mind to drift again.
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"Old man…"
"What is it?"
"Why am I treated different?" asked the boy.
"Not everyone is treated the same." He answered the boy.
"Why?" asked the boy curiously.
"Because, people see you first not for who you are, but how they want to see you. That's why taking actions, doing things, making a name for yourself can influence people." Responded the old man sagely.
"Oh… then… did I do something to make them be mean to me?" asked the boy.
The Hokage was taken back by this question; he didn't know how to respond "…it's not a matter of what you yourself did, more like a matter of what you are…"
"Then… am I a freak?"
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The four were already preparing to move the patient along with the doctor who was gathering the documents. Two of them unbuckled the straps that were holding him from the bed and the needles from his body.
The doctor came back and saw looked at the patient with amazement.
"Hey doc…" called one of the thugs.
"What is it?"
"Can you tell us something about this guy? I mean we heard a lot about him but most were rumors." He asked again.
"Oh? Looks like we have to take care of some rats…" he spoke sharply, making the others frown. "But, I guess it can't do any more damage now." He answered beginning to pull the breather and the needles out himself. "What you are seeing here is the next era of living weapons… He will become the best at what ninja do… we have upgraded his healing powers. His strength surpasses a jounin's chakra enhanced punch… He can run for hours without tiring… His agility is better then a feline's… So you can understand why he is so important to us…" answered the doctor finishing removing the needles.
The young woman was awed by the information "…then we are going to see a lot like him aren't we?"
"(Sigh) Unfortunately, not in a long time…" he answered.
"Eh? Why?" she asked.
"Because guys, like him, are hard to come by. He was a special case, anyone else would have died before half of the procedure was done…" he answered.
"I don't think he liked it too much…" spoke the silent member of the group.
"Oh… no he didn't. He screamed in pain for a long time… but I can't blame him…"
"Wow… if it were me, I'd kill everyone that did that to me…" spoke his partner.
The doctor smiled at them to ease their tension. "Thankfully we won't have to worry about that… he is in a coma and the genjutsu he is under is keeping him under control."
"Alright! Enough with the science lesson! In case you morons forgot, we are invaded and have to get out of here!!" screamed the leader of the four pulling them out of their conversation.
In a blink they caught on and got back to work.
The doctor looked at a tray for a second and blinked in surprise. He looked around and then bent down to his knees and looked under the bed.
"Doc, what's up?" asked one of henchmen.
"Hm… one of my scalpels is missing… I can't find it anywhere…" he answered.
"Forget about it… we got to move!" ordered the leader getting more impatient.
"Alright, just let me give him a shot to sedate him in case he could wake up…" the doctor answered after getting up again and pulled a vile with a syringe. He pulled the cloth off his face, and then lifted the patient's left arm, he pushed the needle in was about to empty the contents but a something caught his hand in a firm grip before he could. "Ack…" he hissed in pain, looking at what caught him he saw the extended right hand of the patient. He was shocked and scared. "You… how long… have you been…" he managed to mumble.
The patient opened his eyes for the first time, shocking the doctor even more. "…Kami-sama, what are you?…" asked the doctor looking into the boy's red eyes with fear.
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Konoha's team finally killed all the resistance and even though some were sporting small cuts, they kept going. They finally reached a corridor of doors at the right and left.
"Split up! Search them all!" Sandaime ordered.
They all complied and started searching.
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"Of course you're not a freak!!"
"Then… what am I?"
"I wish I could tell you now… but it will only make things more complicated… for me and you…" answered the Hokage.
"Jeez… you always do this… when we talk you just give a hint or two and say cryptic line…" sighed the boy in exasperation.
"I'll say this though…"
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"AAaaahhhh!!" screamed one of the ANBU in surprise, after opening a door. He took a few steps back in shock and fell on his ass.
"What is it!!?" asked Sandaime.
"O-o-over here… inside…" he managed to spit out in stutter.
Hiruzen and the others started walking to the said door.
"What is it?" asked the boy.
"You are… special" answered the Hokage
"Special, how?"
"You just are… and some people will fear you… while others will hurt you because of it…"
"Then, what can I do?"
"You'll know in the right time… but don't let anyone ever tell you what you are… You are who you want to be…"
Hiruzen and the others reached the room and gasped. Inside there were five bloody bodies on the floor with scalpels and medic tool in them… in the middle there was a boy standing with blood covering his body. The boy dropped a bloody scalpel from his hand and looked at the new people.
"N-Naruto… is that… you?"
TBU( to be updated) leave a review at the end…