original

Alternate Host (Naruto)

Tác giả: I_Exist

Chương 1: Prologue

Year 7 AK(After Kyubi), night, Konohagakure.

Atop Hokage Rock is a seven year old boy, leaning against a tree. His hair is black at the roots, but it quickly fades into a dark green, the same color as his eyes. He wears a baggy black sweater with the hood down, turquoise shorts, and sandals. The boy has a mostly expressionless face. His glare filled with contempt, directed at the distant village fireworks, is the only thing keeping him from appearing like a robot.

He pulls out a small bag from his hoodie's pocket and opens it, the tearing of plastic disrupting the silence of the night. He flinches, freezing for a second, before pouring the contents of the bag into his mouth—chocolates crushed to crumbs. They rapidly melt inside of his mouth, saving him the trouble of chewing. He gathers the chocolate stuck in the corners of his mouth into his tongue, then swallows it all down.

Tasteless.

He tosses the plastic bag to the side, then begins to run across the 4th Hokage's sculpted stone hair. The feelings of fear and worry get stronger the closer he gets to the edge. However, as he slams his foot down onto the ledge, his body suddenly feels weightless. All of his feelings disappear—both the negative, and the few positive. The lights of Konoha, with an endless variety of colors, suddenly seem grey. Everything does.

Without worry, hesitation, or even fear, he presses his foot even harder into the ground, before finally jumping forward.

———————

"Sheesh...what's the point of setting off fireworks on a depressing day like this?!"

A 6 year old girl resides in the 4th Hokage's sculpted head. More specifically, inside of his nose, laying on a hammock. The girl's brows are furrowed, her eyelids covering her light blue eyes. Her arm, which is dangerously hanging off the edge of the hammock, moves to pull her violet hair so that it covers her face.

The day she so despises is the anniversary of the Kyuubi's Attack, and its defeat.

Exactly seven years from current, the Kyuubi, or, the Nine-Tailed Fox, attacked the village of Konohagakure. It would have destroyed every structure, and killed every person, if it weren't for the 4th Hokage sealing it away.

He died as a result of this action, and so the citizens of the village celebrate the day. It was the day their Hokage protected them, their friends, their family, and their descendants. It was the day that Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, the 4th Hokage, protected the village.

He proved his love for it by willingly sacrificing his life to save it. The citizens celebrate this day, as it is the day their late Hokage proved his resolve, and because they believe the amazing feat of defeating a tailed beast is worth celebrating.

The girl doesn't understand any of this, however.

In her eyes, the 4th Hokage's sacrifice was meaningless. Why die for temporary safety? You can find, just by reading a history book in the public library, that tailed beasts don't die. They revive just several years after they supposedly "die." They always come back.

People don't.

Should he not have survived to live another day, to protect the village again and again? Why settle for protecting it from the Kyuubi just once? Why is meaningless sacrifice worth celebrating? He didn't have to die. He was the Yellow Flash, there was no way the Kyuubi could keep up with his speed. You celebrate his victory when it cost him his life, with you being the reason for his sacrifice?

It frustrates her. The only one who could answer her questions is, of course, Minato Namikaze himself. But he'll never come back, so she will hold these questions in her head until she, too, dies a meaningless death. Fighting for the village she has barely any respect for, all because her parents put her in that dumb Academy.

She has no way out, now. She'll always be put right back into The Academy, no matter how elaborate her escape plan is. By the time she gets good enough to avoid the battlefield, doing so would be treason.

Why didn't they at least ask her opinion on it?

Why should she have to listen to her parents? Just because they "own" her? Why can't she put herself up for adoption? Why can't she get new parents, parents that actually care about what she does? Why don't her current parents care about what she does? Her accomplishments, her work? Is she not good enough? Says who? Why isn't she? Who gives them the right to decide who is and isn't worthy of praise or love? Them? And why is that?! Why do they have the right to give themselves the right to tell other's THEIR rights!?

Why!? Why "Can't I live a life worth living?"

The girl finds herself saying her thoughts aloud. Her hand, still holding her hair over her eyes, feels the individual strands that have absorbed her tears.

Am I...am I that worthless?

———————

"Naruto." Sarutobi Hiruzen, the 3rd Hokage, says to the blonde child with blue eyes. The child wears a plain orange shirt with black shorts, and is currently barefoot.

When Minato passed, it was decided that Sarutobi would temporarily take the position of Hokage once again. Until they found someone to fill in permanently.

"I'd like you to meet your new guardian, Uchiha Mikoto. You will be in her care from now on." He moves to the side, getting a tad further from Naruto so Mikoto can get a clear view of him.

Behind her is her youngest, Uchiha Sasuke, who has seemed to inherit his mother's almost black irises and black hair. He and Naruto exchange glances, filled with a mix of various emotions. The two are best friends, who both attend The Academy.

They always began to naturally chat whenever they came across one another, almost as if they had been friends their entire lives. And, considering the current span of their lives, they might as well have.

But, the current circumstance is different. The atmosphere feels like it is for the adults, and the two mutually agreed to stay out of it.

"Naruto..." She steps toward him, crouching down so as to not look down on him. Her eyes show a gentleness that makes Naruto's worries slightly wither away. "If you don't feel...comfortable, or alright with this, I won't force you."

For her, it felt like an eternity. Naruto just stared at her, slightly bewildered. It was a new experience for him. An adult has never really cared for his opinion before.

He was the 4th Hokage's son, and that's all he is. The adults made him train with a special Jonin, who existed just to train "elites." Naruto didn't have a choice, and he couldn't refuse anything they made him do. At this point, he knew when the adults were actually asking him, and when they were trying to be polite. Which is impressive, as they never truly ask him about anything, aside from things like what food he wanted.

Having the decision for something which affected his life is new.

Naruto, still somewhat bewildered from the sudden options given to him, simply walks towards her. When he finally reaches her with his short legs, he briefly pauses. Then, he hugs her.