Arc 1: Bridge Hidden in the Mist

Chapter 1

You can slaughter everyone if you like. Or...use this power to show off Earth shattering might. With it...you will never be in want of anything again. Money, power...or friends.

The last option was what drew him nearer. The young boy stood in front of the gate, water up to his heels, looking up at the large yellow eyes that stared back in the darkness behind the bars. Naruto had this same dream many times a week, the voice always resonating with him in a way no other did.

The eyes were not so much terrifying as inviting, like beacons that drew him near to a treasure he could never see in any other place. The eyes called him forth, causing him to start walking forward as Naruto couldn’t look away from the eyes, reaching his hand forward to touch the beast behind the cage.

Yes… The voice said. That’s it. Take it. Take my power.

Even without seeing it, Naruto could sense the monster behind the cage grinning.

You’re almost there… The beast said as his hand was little more than an inch away from touching the face of the creature. Use it to exert your might. Punish them for not accepting you. Use the power you so rightly were given and wipe clean this world of your enemies...then place yourself on the throne of this place as Hokage. Who can deny you any request if you become a leader of such power?

Even with the titillating offer that he secretly desired, Naruto stopped himself. He struggled to keep himself from moving forward, almost as if it wasn’t him in control of his own body. At first he thought that this was the monster’s influence but Naruto knew from experience it was his own desire. He wanted so badly to unleash the power given to him by whatever was behind that cage and show up everybody but...but he knew what would happen if he did.

I’ll be under the demon’s control if I unleash more of his energy. Naruto thought. If I touch him and take his power for myself...he will corrupt me.

There was no way to prove this but he could feel it. In this state, the fifteen-year-old knew that the power came with the cost of partial control of his body and mind being lost. And while the beast behind the cage did in fact emanate power, it also emanated evil. Naruto had to stop himself from reaching out any further, an act that felt like stopping a boulder from moving.

As he stopped himself, he could see images of Sasuke standing over him after winning in fights, Sakura slapping him when Naruto handed her a flower, Kakashi shaking his head in disappointment at the sight of failing class again, Hiruzen shouting at him for another prank gone wrong and the sight of himself standing apart from the crowd as dozens of parents smiled at their children for becoming genin. Naruto knew from experience that this was the demon behind the cage doing this, throwing the worst memories from Naruto’s life back at him just to convince him to gain more power. It was just another temptation that he’d grown used to.

What’s wrong? The demon asked as it lowered its eyes to look at him from a slightly lower angle. Are you afraid of the power I will give you?

N-n-n- Naruto tried to say as even talking felt hard. No...I...I-I-I know that...that you’ll destroy...everything...if I let you...

He was putting every ounce of willpower into not touching the monster within the cage. The more he resisted however, the more his body began to bleed. As Naruto struggled against the temptation to touch the demon, he began bleeding from his fingernails, his gums and even inside his chest. He could feel himself drowning in blood. In the world he was in while he dreamt, the exertion to fight temptation was draining him physically.

Come now. The demon said as its influence continued to choke the life out of him. Don’t be so obstinate. If you gain my power, not only will you grow stronger, but you will also be free of the pain you’re in. Come Naruto...give in to the sweet delight.

As his mouth began to turn red with blood, he then looked up at the eyes with hatred rather than bedazzlement, lifting his fist to the monster and gritting his teeth.

“I will become Hokage,” he said aloud, rather than the mental speech they used with one another. “But I will never use such violent and wicked means to attain the title. I will prove to everyone I’m not the monster they see me as and make them acknowledge me nonetheless...that is my nindo...MY NINJA WAY!”

He forced himself to lower his arm as he continued to glare down the beast, feeling weak. The demon’s yellow eyes were full of hatred, looking like it would prefer nothing more than to kill Naruto. Then they relaxed and a horrid laugh emerged from behind the cage.

“Excellent,” he said.

He could see something that vaguely looked like a snout emerge from the shadows.

“Your will has weakened so much that you’ve gone to the very edge of my temptation,” the demon said.

Naruto wanted to refute what the beast was saying but simply talking anymore than he already did would make him fall over. In this world, one’s stamina wasn’t determined by physical strength but by mental fortitude. Almost every night from the time Naruto was old enough to be actively conscious, he could remember the demon constantly tempting him with the promise of immense power at the cost of control over his mind and body. And over the years, his willpower to resist had grown weaker.

Almost each night his hand had inched closer to the demon’s face. This night he had come the closest he’d ever come to actually touching the demon, like the night before that. And the night before that. Naruto knew that, eventually, he would touch the demon and unleash its horrid power upon the world around him. And he couldn’t live with that thought.

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“You-” he said as he mustered the strength to speak. “You’re wrong. The future Hokage...would never do something like that.”

“Whatever you say,” the demon said aloud. His voice was strong enough to feel like a piercing wind that both tore into his skin and threatened to knock Naruto over. “You abandoned little bastard.”

The demon laughed at the nickname to remind Naruto how he was one of the few children in the Leaf Village who had no family to speak of.

“You have so little of my chakra already,” he said, the voice making Naruto’s skin bleed. “I can just keep depriving you of it forever. But no...one day you’ll realize it...the temptation to take what’s yours will grow too strong and suddenly, one day...you’ll reach out in fear and take it before…you feel it’s too late to make everyone acknowledge you…”

And he suddenly woke up. He opened his eyes to see moonlight filtering out of his window. He looked down at his arms, noticing blood flowing from it as the scars given to him by the demon’s voice were painfully real. Naruto sat up, looking at it to be reminded that the demon that lived inside him was always attracted to the moonlight for some reason. For whatever reason, the full moon fueled the demon’s rage.

He dreaded the thought of waking up tomorrow. It was the day that his class at the academy would be tested for their ability to manipulate chakra enough to create a clone of themselves. And Naruto knew he’d be seen as a joke if he failed again.

How long until I can’t take it anymore? Naruto thought. How long until I lose all control?

His vision began to blur with tears. Normally he wouldn’t allow himself to cry but this was the real turning point for Naruto. This was the closest he had actually ever come to unleashing the monster that plagued his nightmares. His only thought was the fear he would eventually take the demon’s offer. Because he was right.

I do want that power. He thought in panic. I do want to show them all up…I do want to show them how much power I really have…that I am destined for great things. If I could access just a little more power from the demon I’d…I’D LOSE CONTROL.

The kind of crying Naruto experienced was the type he was bitterly aware of. Tears were strolling down his cheeks but there was no sobbing. He had learned not to attract attention by being sad. Naruto didn’t want to upset anyone by making others feel bad about his poor condition.

He shoved the covers partially stained with both fresh blood from tonight and dried blood from previous nights before getting up. Naruto stood up and walked toward the table at the other end of his room. Wiping the tears from his face he could see the pot of Hyuga ointment. He took the lid off the container before applying some to his hands, a gesture he had become painfully familiar with.

Hinata…He thought. You noticed my scars…when everyone else looked away. Why…why do you seem to care…when no one else does?

He’d often thought about asking her why she paid him no attention when no one else did but Hinata always blushed when he tried to. Her parents obviously didn’t like seeing them together because whenever Hinata’s father, the head of the Hyuga, watched his daughter approaching Naruto he’d immediately scold her. He would then threaten to have Naruto killed. So it was apparently a big risk for Hinata to slip him some of her clan’s secret ointment.

Hinata…He wanted to tell her. Don’t…do that again. I’m not worth it. I wonder…as much as the other villagers hate me…do they just think I’m some loser or…do they know my secret? Do they know about the monster…the monster I am?

He clenched his fists, something that hurt after so recently applying the healing salve. After wincing in pain he averted his eyes to the rows of books on the table. Some were laying open, some closed while others were somewhere in between. The titles ranged from “Chakra Moulding for Chunin Vol. 3” to “Techniques of the Masters: Jonin Edition” and “Secrets of Chakra Types, Part 2”.

Some books were strewn across parts of the floor, the young man not having anyone to tell him to pick up after himself evident. Walking back to bed he accidentally stepped on a copy of “Geography’s Effect on the History of the Land of Lightning”, a book he had only finished two thirds of the way before finding other textbooks had taught him the majority of what was in it. After pushing it away with his foot, he laid back in bed.

When Naruto was alone, which was often, he was usually reading. The range of subject matter from history of the world to learning to use his chakra better. His insistent hunger for knowledge that would give him the edge over Sasuke was maddening.

Sasuke…He thought, the boy’s name infuriating him. Why…why am I given nothing…while you have everything?

After lying his head down on the pillow he could vaguely see the title of the last book he was obsessing over in the dark: “Creating Your Own Ninjutsu!”. The book was written by Jiraiya and given to him as a birthday present when he turned 10 as his godfather had given him many of the textbooks he read daily. Naruto had been reading it insistently for over five years now, practicing everything it taught.

He remembered that Jiraiya was up front that Naruto would not be able to create his Personal Jutsu overnight, even if his godfather had explicitly written it for genin who wished to leap ahead to advanced techniques. One had to complete the requirements of chakra moulding before creating a Personal Jutsu, usually up to the level of chunin. He didn’t see Jiraiya often but when he did, the pervy sage always stirred his drive to become Hokage. The books Jiraiya gave him told him of some of the darker actions of the Hidden Leaf, a thing that his godfather said meant he couldn’t show the books to anyone else.

The history the Leaf Village shows you is not their true history. He said. For that reason…do not share the information I have imparted you with to anyone else.

While that might have been impossible for someone like Naruto who had not even taken the chunin exam yet, he didn’t have such a problem. He tightened his fists, gritting through the pain of his still healing wounds. Anger surged through him.

I’ve practiced ninjutsu for almost a decade now, since I was six. Naruto thought. Avoided all the time, mocked for my lack of chakra…I’ll show them all. Once this defective child becomes Hokage…they’ll be ashamed.

With everyone avoiding him and having the least amount of chakra of his whole class, Naruto spent all his free time practicing chakra moulding. Up to eight hours a day he would spend at the edge of the Hidden Leaf, training half to death. That had been his routine for nine years, staying so long in the forest honing his ninjutsu that Iruka would find him drowning in sweat and unable to move he had exerted his body so badly.

Naruto was scolded by Iruka nearly every day for trying too hard but it didn’t matter to him. He had gone from the lowest ranked academy student to the second highest rated Genin only through nearly killing himself with intense practice. Ninjutsu practice was hard for beginners but Naruto had long since passed the stage of beginners. He now only thought of tomorrow, when Naruto could potentially surpass the number 1 academy student for the first time ever.

While the exams tomorrow were held to see which genin were strong enough to become chunin, some exceptionally talented students could become jonin. And that was what Naruto was aiming for, to become a jonin at the age of fifteen. He then turned over, the idea of ascending to the leader of the Hidden Leaf allowing him to relax enough to rest.

Tomorrow I’ll prove to everyone I’m no failure. He thought. Even you will acknowledge me, Sasuke. Even you will.