Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Stranger ❯ His Life ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Stranger 3

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Naruto smiled as a familiar site came closer. The cities gates. They were quite a ways away, but they could see it in the distance.

"YEAH! I can't wait to get some ramen!" He cheered, punching the air above him victoriously as he and his team-mates walked. Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Oi, Naruto. You really should start eating something besides ramen. It's not that healthy and all." Sakura mumbled. Naruto twitched and looked at her, as if she had grown a second head. He was just about to tell her to go mind her own business when a voice interrupted.

"Oh? What is...Ramen?"

Naruto had nearly died. He turned around slowly to see Njaal with a confused look plastered on his face. He had long ago tucked his scarf under his neck instead of having it over his face, mumbling something about breathing fresh air. Njaal noticed the stare that Naruto was sending him and became slightly nervous under his penetrating gaze.

"Eh? Do I have something on my face?" He said. He tried to look onto his face, crossing his eyes in the process. Kakashi, standing next to Njaal, sweatdropped.

'He reminds me of a younger Naruto..." Kakashi thought, then molded his favorite book to his face once again. Sakura grumbled something and looked at Njaal

"Now you got him started." She sighed out. Njaal scratched the back of his head and was about to ask her what she meant when he noticed Naruto had stopped walking in front of him, making Njaal stop. He also noticed that Naruto had his head down, and was obviously trembling violently. Njaal was about to ask him what was wrong when Naruto's head shot up, rivers of tears flowing down his face as his cheeks puffed out. He looked like someone who was holding their breath for a long time, anxious to breathe in the sweet air. Njaal raised a quizzical eye at the sight and was about to ask what was wrong again, when Naruto yelled.

"RAMEN IS THE GREATEST FOOD THAT YOU WILL EVER TASTE!" He shouted to the world, making Njaal sweatdrop. Naruto reached out snatched Njaal's arm, planning on dragging him to the Ichigaku ramen stand to have him try ramen for the very first time in his life, when Njaal's eyes widened. He kicked Naruto back a good few feet, making Sakura and Kakashi stop and turn around from walking. No more than a second that Naruto was kicked away from him and his grasp left his arm, bones shot out where his hand was like shrapnel out of an explosion, but were still connected with Njaal's arm. Kakashi and his students went wide eyed, staring at the razor sharp points of the spear-like bones protruding out. Sakura blanched noticeably, and Naruto stared with a shocked look plastered onto his face. Njaal sighed and focused some chakra, making the bones disappear back into his arms. He mentally cursed the holes now in the sleeve of his coat, but thanked his clan's ability for the bones not to make holes in the skin.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Njaal stated while looking away. Naruto finally found his voice and managed to talk out.

"W..What was that, Njaal-sama?" He asked, silently thanking Njaal that he had kicked him away just in time. Njaal sighed and lifted his hands up, gazing down at the crevices in them. He wondered when he could put a stop to this...that man...

"It is...a curse...a curse that someone evil put on me when I was young." He stated, hoping his will would push the tears away that were not gathering in his eyes. He clenched his fists and looked at his knuckles.

"Ten years ago..."


(FLASHBACK)

"Njaal-kun! Wait for me!" A feminine voice yelled. The wind blew gently across the land much to Njaal's relief, cooling his skin from the heat of training. He stood ontop of a hill that had a lovely view of his entire village, giving him a chill from the beauty. Today was the best day in his life. He finally had been taught how to manipulate his skeleton frame in the way of the Jata clan. His sensei was surprised that he was able to learn it in only a few weeks, making Njaal's pride rise even higher. And ontop of that, he finally graduated from the Ninja Academy. He sighed happily as he strapped the protector over his forehead and grinned.

Njaal's father knew that his son was unique from the moment he was born. Njaal was, as most people would say, a fighting prodigy. When Njaal was born, he already had a decent amount of chakra available to him, shocking the village. No child was supposed to have chakra until they were AT LEAST eight years old. But Njaal already had it, and a good amount of it too. This, obviously, got him respect from most of the villagers as a few years went by.

As soon as Njaal was four, his father started to train him in the art of Taijutsu, much to the disapproval of his mother. His father ignored her though, and kept training him. Njaal steadily increased his knowledge and fighting abilities as the years grew. He was happy that his father was taking time out of his own day to help him become stronger. His father had enlisted him in the Ninja Academy when he was six, bribing the Sensei into accepting him as a student in his class. Normally a child would have to wait until they're ten to enlist, but the Jata clan was wealthy, and his father knew better than to wait. Besides, Njaal was more than happy to begin a career as a ninja.

On his first day at the Academy, the class was baffled that a six year old was in a ten year old or older class. Njaal ignored them and sat in a seat in one of the middle rows, towards the end of the row by a wall. He noticed that he kept getting stared at by his class mates, and was getting slightly irritated. After a period of time, he relaxed hoping that everyone got their chance to see the six year old. He was listening intently to the sensei when he felt a tap on his back. He turned around to see a cute brunette with hair down to her shoulder. The tone of her tan skin told him that she was born with it, and didn't develop it. Her eyes were big and wide with excitement, and thats when he noticed the color of them. Red. Red like fire. He gazed into them, feeling himself get lost in the inferno. He broke out of his trance when she waved a hand in front of his face and giggled quietly when he jumped in shock.

"Hi, my name is Munoki. Nice to meet you." She whispered. Njaal turned back around slightly to make sure that his sensei was still busy writing on the chalk board before he turned around again.

"I'm Njaal. It's nice to meet you too." He whispered back. She beamed at him and leaned closer.

"How come you're able to be in this class? The sensei said you were six. Everyone else had to wait until they were ten to enlist." Munoki questioned, looking thoughtfully at the kid in front of her. The question made Njaal grin sheepishly and scratch the back of his head.

"I guess it's just because my clan-" He cut off before he was about to say 'is wealthy' and continued, with a big grin, "thinks i'm that good!" Munoki lifted her hand and giggled into it, hoping the sensei wouldn't hear them. This caused Njaal to grin even bigger.

Throughout the class, when the sensei wasn't looking, they'd talk to eachother. They told jokes, much to the others displeasure because they were in class, stories, and information about themselves. Sure, they got weird looks from the other class mates, but they didn't care.

When class was dismissed, they walked together outside. They continued to talk with eachother, street (A/N: no, not our current streets. pathways that villages had back then) until they got to Munoki's house. She thanked him for the wonderful talk with a beaming smile before waving and running to her house. Njaal smiled back at her and ran home, happy as can be. He knew he couldn't tell his father though. He knew what he would say.

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A year went by.
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"Njaal-kun! Wait for me!" Munoki yelled.The sun was beginning to set as Njaal stared towards the horizon. He turned around to Munoki and smiled greatly at her as she approached. Her hair had grown down a little past her shoulders, and she had grown a bit. But her eyes were still filled with an inferno of emotion and color. Munoki was about fifteen feet away before Njaal became a blur and was hugging her before she knew what happened. Once realization dawned on her, she blushed profusely but managed to hug him back.

"I did it Munoki-chan! My clan's ability! I'm able to do some of it now!" He said excitedly. He heard Munoki gasp and felt her lean back to look at him. Njaal saw pure happiness displayed across her face, and she was smiling one of her great smiles.

"That's amazing Njaal-kun! Let me see let me see!" She exclaimed. He nodded and stepped back, and began to focus chakra into his hand. Munoki looked on in anticipation as she saw his fingers curl and uncurl repeatedly. Then suddenly, bones protruded out of his fingers. They werent big, considering his age and he just learned how to do it, but it was impressive. She let out a squeal and clapped. "That's so cooooool!" She said, making him blush and scratch the back of his head with his left hand. She then remembered something and gave another smile. "Congratulations on graduating Njaal-kun! I knew you could do it!" Munoki said. Njaal brightened and noticed her protector around her waist. She was wearing a beautiful white kimono, with red flowers spread over it.

"You too! That's awesome!" They sat down on the hill and talked for awhile, enjoying eachothers company. That is until a voice shouted out.
"Munoki! Time for supper!" Munoki's mother, from what Njaal guessed, rang out. Munoki sighed and stood up.

"I have to go, but we can play together tomorrow, right?" Munoki asked with a hopeful expression on her face. Njaal looked up in surprise and smiled even wider than Munoki usually does.

"Of course! I'll come by and get you." He said. Munoki beamed. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before running toward home with a blush staining her cheeks.

Njaal sat there, absolutely stunned. He slowly reached up and touched the spot on his cheek where he felt her lips. He smiled brightly and began to race home, looking forward to tomorrow.

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Njaal hummed happily to himself as he walked down the road to his house. He silently hoped his father wasn't worried about him being out so late. He visibly brightened when he saw his house appear out of the corner. Njaal was almost to his house when he felt someone grab him from behind, and a thud sounded as the person knocked him unconscious.

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Kuro, Njaal's father, and Mineki, Njaal's mother, gaped at the note he read, which was stuck to the door.

To the Parents of Njaal

We have taken him as a prisoner for his unusual chakra amount. If you want him back alive, collect your clan's most precious heirloom and meet us at the abandoned tower to the west.

You have thirty minutes before he's executed.

Kuro looked at his wife. "Go, gather the amulet and get suited for combat. I fear we don't have enough time to travel to the clan head quarters to alert them. It'll just have to be us." He stated before running off to put on his battle attire.

Mineki fought the tears back in her eyes as she raced towards the armory, suiting herself with her armor and weapons. She then went to the living room and pulled out a chest from behind a painting. With a satisfying click of an unlock, she opened it and gathered the heirloom before throwing the chest to the side. She met with Kuro in front of the door, and they nodded to eachother, before going out into the night, to the west.

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Njaal opened his eyes groggily. The first thing he noticed was someone standing in front of him, but he couldn't see their face because whoever it was had scrolls in front of them. He then noticed that he was hanging on a wall, chains strapped to his wrist from above. He tried, but failed to move his arms. It was like the chains were stuck to the wall. Njaal looked around and noticed it was dark, being lit by a few candles. He looked at the person in front of him and gulped nervously before speaking.

"W-Where am I? Who are y-you?" He stuttered, cursing how weak his voice sounded. He waited a moment, trying to find a response. He was about to ask again when laughter fluttered from the person before him.

"Don't worry about that. You're in...good hands." The, now apparent, man said with an emotionless tone. Njaal wasn't satisfied.

"Tell me what you plan to do with me!" He huffed. "My mom and dad are going to look for me as soon as they noticed i'm gone!"

This caused more laughter to spill forth from the man, the scrolls held in front of him shaking slightly.

"Kid, I told them where you are. They're on their way right now." He said. Njaal smiled at this. "But, you won't be alive to go with them." At this Njaal blanched and his eyes widened considerably. "Well, technically you'll be alive. But your mind won't be. You see, you're going to be my puppet. That chakra of yours is amazing kid. I'm going to use it for my own benefit. You're going to be a killing machine for me." Before Njaal could even speak, the man spoke some words fast, making the scrolls float in the air in front of Njaal. Once they were in place, Njaal heard him doing handsigns.

"Eagle, Fox, Eagle, Ox, Fish, Fox." He finished. He then sighed and spoke again. " Kid, it'll hurt. But it'll make your clan ability have a mind of it's own." (A/N: Dunno if those seals are real or not. lol) He said. The scrolls spun vertically, going faster and faster in front of Njaal. His eyes widened as they came closer to him, and he began to struggle with the chains binding him as tears welled up.

"I-I can't die yet! I don't want to!" He struggled more, tears were now streaming down his face. "MOMMY! DADDY!" His mind flashed to Munoki. His friend. His only real friend. All the others thought he was weird for having chakra at birth, and avoided him most of the time. "I CAN'T DIE! I LOVE MUNOKI-CHAN!" He screamed. The scrolls then stopped suddenly. Njaal, thinking it was over, gasped, being happy.

Suddenly the scrolls shot forth, entering his body through his stomach.

Njaal wanted to die.

The pain. The pain was absolutely unbearable. It felt like someone was cutting through his stomach with a pair of scissors, and were unraveling his insides. He scrunched his eyes shot as tears shot forth. It hurt so bad that he couldn't even make a sound. Not even a whimper.

Footsteps.
The man who activated the scroll turned around to see Kuro and Mineki enter. He put up his hand to signal them to stop before they came any closer. Kuro and Mineki immediately saw their son in obvious anguish. Njaal still had his eyes closed in pain and didn't see them enter.

"The heirloom." The man demanded. Mineki looked to Kuro, who gave a nod, before she reached into her pouch and pulled out the amulet. She tossed it to the man who caught it with ease.

"Give us our son back! Now!" Kuro demanded. He was startled when the man gave a nod. Thinking it was to free their son, both of them relaxed a bit. Wrong choice. Hands wrapped around their waist with a grip of one hundred men. They struggled to get free, kicking or hitting, but to no avail. They didn't hit anything. Hands then reached up and grabbed their wrists and grabbed their ankles, holding them in place. The man who captured Njaal snickered.

"To be captured by my clones. It's a shame." He walked closer to them before stopping a foot away. He sighed. "I'm afraid your son is no longer yours. He's mine now." He reached into his pouch to produce two seals. "It's a shame. I thought that Njaal-kun's parents would at least be able to let me have some fun. Oh well."

Kuro grunted. It was hard, with the grip around his stomach, but he managed to mutter out. "You bastard." The man smirked.

"I'll enjoy this." He put the seals he produced out of his pouch onto the chest of Kuro and Mineki and walked away back to Njaal. He then whispered to him. "Look Njaal. Your parents are here to get you." Njaal's eyes opened widely at those words, and looked to see his parents being held captive by the clones.

"Mommy...Daddy..." He whispered. He saw something attached to them, but he couldn't quite make it out.

A snap of a finger.

The explosive seals started to sizzle. Njaal's eyes widened as he realized what they were. "MOMMY! DADDY!" He looked over at the man beside him. "STOP IT! PLEASE STOP IT!" He screamed.

Kuro looked over at his wife, looking into her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

The seals went off, making a giant explosion. Njaal stopped doing everything at that point. He just watched the smoke, with wide eyes. He couldn't say anything. He couldn't do anything. He could just sit there, and watch as the smoke cleared away, revealing a large crater with nothing remaining. The man spoke to Njaal.

"Starting tonight, your emotions will be erased. Love will be executed. You will never feel the satisfying comfort of someone holding you with their love." The man snorted. "Love. What a thing to get in the way of a shinobi. It's useless." The man stopped speaking as he felt pulses from Njaal's body waver off. He quirked an eyebrow and stepped back a foot.

"I'll kill you..." Njaal whispered out. The man suddenly starting backing up fast. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"GUARDS! GET IN HERE!" The man shouted. No faster than a blink of an eye, a squad of ninja were in front of him, protecting him from Njaal. Suddenly, the scrolls were spit back out of Njaal's skin, flying to the ground. One of the ninja picked it up and took it to the man, who yanked it out of his hand. Upon investigation, his eyes widened. "Impossible...He took it all in, and he isn't mentally dead. His chakra must have refused it..." He shook his head. "This can't be."

"You'll all die." Whispered Njaal.


(END FLASHBACK)


"After I said that, I blacked out. I can't remember anything after that. But when I came to, I was standing in front of countless body parts, gripping my heirloom amulet. I believe whoever it was that captured me escaped, and I can't help but think that i'll never see him again. Like your friend Sasuke, I am what they would call, an Avenger." He was holding the heirloom out, showing that it was a disk attached to a chain which made a necklace. The disk was the size of the middle of someone's palm. In the middle was a circle, and at the top, bottom, left and right, were triangles. The top of the triangle pointing at the circle in the middle.

"No one is able to touch me after what that man did. As you saw earlier when you grabbed me, that is the result. The scrolls made my bones have a subconscious, made to protect me. Much like you and your Kyuubi power, Naruto-kun." Njaal said, tucking his heirloom back into his clothes and turned to look at the group since he had began telling his story.

Sakura was sobbing her eyes out, sitting on the ground on her knees. She couldn't support herself when the sad part of the story came, so she collapsed down and broke down. Naruto had his back turned to Njaal, but Njaal could see the shaking of his shoulders, signaling that he too was sobbing. Kakashi was rooted to his spot, staring at the ground in front of him.

"I..have heard of that story." Kakashi stated, looking at the young man. "The tale of a boy who's life turned so bad, people were beginning to suspect that he would sell his soul to the Death God to have one day of happiness. After that incident, you lived with your grandfather until you were old enough to travel the country." Njaal nodded slowly, and brought his scarf back up to cover the lower part of his face once again. Kakashi then looked him right in the eye and spoke again.

"It was said that the Jata clan had been slaughtered by an unknown force." Sakura and Naruto gasped at this information. Naruto turned around and looked at Njaal as tears fell freely from his face.

Njaal nodded slowly, tears starting to come to his eyes. "I got there too late. I know it was him though. The same man. I heard his voice as I arrived at the burning building of the Jata compound, telling me to seek him once I got more powerful. The only person to survive the attack on the compound was my brother, Jaiken. Even though my brother was strong, Jaiken had deep gashes in his body and he was unconscious on the side of the compound bleeding to death. I managed to get him to a hospital just in time." The tears flowed freely now, and he looked down at the ground.

Suddenly Sakura jumped up and yelled out, still crying.

"How were you able to be so happy when we first met you?! When you helped us with the mission, and when we told you about our stories that night! You seemed happy! How is that possible after what you've gone through!? How is it-"

"Because, he's like me." Naruto interrupted, staring at Njaal. Sakura looked over at Naruto, questioning what he said. "He's like me and Gaara. We think of all the good things that happened to us in our life, and survive on them. We cling to them like a lifeline, hoping that the memories won't perish." He said as the tears started to run down more and more.

Njaal then reached up and brushed away the tears. He looked up and stared at the sky, taking in the blue hue of the beauty, and looked down again at the group.

"Well then, let's make more of those memories so we can enjoy them! I still have to report to the Hokage!" He said, being as cheerful as he can. Sakura was amazed that he could recover from telling his life flashback so fast and be happy. She attempted a smile and nodded, and looked over at Naruto to see that he had somewhat stopped crying, and was smiling too. Kakashi smiled under his mask and looked at his two students.

'They're maturing.' He thought, impressed.

Suddenly Njaal gasped.

"Let's get some ramen to cheer us up!" He shouted, punching the air in front of him. Naruto visibly brightened and even Sakura looked pretty happy. The three raced off, leaving Kakashi walking back to the city, his face once again glued to his book.

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"Halt!" The guard yelled. The group of three stopped in front of him. The guard looked surprised. "Naruto? And Sakura? Who is that behind you?" He asked, pointing at Njaal. Njaal then gave a deep, polite bow and introduced himself.

"Ohayo! I am Njaal, of the Bone Country. I come to tell your Hokage that quite a few shinobi are scanning the country as we speak, looking for enemy ninja." He said. The guard looked at him for a bit before visibly relaxing and let out a sigh.

"Well, that's a relief. Sorry about that, but i've been having to crack down on watch since some sound ninja were spotted near here awhile ago." He said, and suppressed a yawn. He then smiled. "Well, these two can show you to the Hokage tower. Enjoy your stay." He said before going back to his stand on the side of the gates. Naruto motioned Njaal to follow him, and they, with Sakura, raced to the Ichigaku ramen stand. When they arrived, Ayame was cleaning the counters where they ate. She saw Naruto and brightened visually.

"Naruto-kun! Where've you been!? We've been dead for the last couple of days." She pouted. She then noticed Sakura, and someone who she did not know. But, from what she saw of the man, he was very handsome. She was looking at his face when suddenly her eyes locked with his. It only took a second before he looked away, but the image of those dark orbs stuck into her mind. She then noticed his protector, showing an X and representing the Bone Country, and smiled a bit. Naruto didn't notice this exchange and grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

"Gomen, gomen, Ayame-chan. I've been on a mission." He said, breaking her out of her thoughts. She smiled at Naruto and made mer way behind the counter. As Naruto and the others sat down on the chairs, he looked around and noticed something.

"Hey, where's the old man?" He asked. Njaal sighed at Naruto's disrespect, while Sakura giggled slightly. Ayame also giggled a bit.

"Oh, he's at the house. He dropped some silverware and hurt his back trying to pick it up." She sighed. "He's such a hassle at times, but that's what I love about my father!" She grinned. "So, what can I get you three?"

Naruto thought for a moment, and Njaal sweatdropped seeing how much he was concentrating on such a simple thing. "I'll have beef!" He exclaimed. Ayame nodded and looked at Sakura.

"I'll have the same." She said, smiling. Ayame nodded and looked over at the shinobi she didn't know.

"Naruto-kun, who's your friend?"

Naruto looked at her dumbly for a minute, before remembering Njaal.

"Oh! This is Njaal-sama! We met him on our way to our mission when we had quite an encounter with some Sound shinobi." He said. Ayame looked worried, but Naruto spoke again. "BUT, Njaal-sama took them out no problem. Ain't that right?" Naruto grinned and was about to give him a slap on the back to congratulate him before he remembered what happened. He stopped, and slowly turned to face the front of the counter again, a distant look in his eyes. Ayame noticed this and raised an eyebrow. Sakura looked away.
"Sure." Njaal answered behind his scarf, casting his eyes downward. Ayame was about to question what happened, but remembered what they ordered and got to work on it. Awhile passed, the three not saying anything. Then suddenly Njaal remembered something.

"Oi, Naruto, what do you think the chances are of me coming to your team for the Chuunin Exams?" He questioned, earning surprised looks from Naruto.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about them. But I think-" Suddenly Naruto paled. Njaal looked at him curiously.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" He asked. He suddenly saw that Sakura had paled a bit and was pointing at him.

"Y-You defeated five sound ninja, and you're still a GENIN?!" They both asked. Njaal sweatdropped.

"Well, four actually. The fifth uh, ran away." He said, scratching the back of his head and grinning sheepishly under his scarf. "And besides, rank doesn't technically mean your skill." He sighed. "At least I HOPE i'm not at a Genin level. The only reason why i've failed the Chuunin Exams is because my team was caught cheating on the test and so they kicked me out too. They really don't know how to do it secretly." He sighed again. Naruto snapped out of it and shrugged, then looked at Sakura, who shrugged also.

"We could ask the Hokage when we get to her tower after this." Sakura said, giving him reassurance.

"Order up!" The ramen came to them now as Ayame set it on the counter in front of them. "Enjoy it you guys!" She said, giving a smile, before going off back into the back of the stand. Njaal looked down at it, and shoved his scarf down under his neck. He was practically drooling from the smells that came at him.

"Ooh. It looks tasty." He exclaimed, licking his lips. Naruto turned to him and nodded eagerly.

"Of course it does! Try it!" Njaal nodded.
"Itadakimasu!" He said and used his chopsticks to bring some ramen up to his mouth before slurping it in. Almost immediately his eyes widened. He dropped his chopsticks on the counter and visibly shivered

"It's...It's.." He stuttered. Naruto bit his nails in anticipation, wondering how Njaal was going to like ramen for the first time. "IT'S AMAZING!" Njaal yelled loudly, earning some odd looks from a few passing villagers, while he gave a thumbs up to Naruto who was grinning at him.

"ISN'T IT?! NOW YOU CAN SEE WHY I LOVE RAMEN MORE THAN ANYTHING!" Naruto exclaimed, also saying Itadakimasu before chowing down. Sakura stared at the two who were gorging themselves. Her left eye twitched involuntarily, before she said her thanks also and started eating, slower of course than of the two boys.

Njaal, while chowing down, was getting excited from the upcoming Chuunin Exams.


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Hell of a flashback, ain't it?

Also, for those that were wondering how Njaal does that stuff with his bones Kimimaro style, well maybe not Kimimaro style, but still. He can use chakra to lengthen and multiply the bones, so, like Gaara, theres almost an infinite amount. Nerdy explanation I know, but it's alright cause i'm leet.

I really can't wait to start putting in the Chuunin Exams in this story. Please R&R and tell me what you think of it so far.