章節 2: Blackout

Root Blacksite

Narrow, an infamous assassin who was granted a new lease on life because of cosmic bureaucrats' mistakes, entered his new world with a bang.

Imagine waking up to excruciating distress, confused and weak inside of a body that didn't have your old body's fortitude and strength to endure. It's jarring and extremely uncomfortable.

System Installing…

'Endure,' he said as memories of what was occurring assailed him.

As his soul and mental pathways were expanding and adjusting to the world-renowned assassin's new container, two individuals dragged him across the ground, his bare feet scraping a groove in the hard-packed dirt path to their destination.

On his end, all he could make out were unintelligible words that sounded like archaic Japanese if his new ears were to be believed.

He was unceremoniously strapped to a table, and a blurry figure in a lab coat fussed over him. He screamed in horrendous pain as he was prodded and operated on for what seemed like hours as he readjusted to a constantly harmed body.

Anyone else would have succumbed to the anguish, but not Narrow. He had endured a lot in his past life for the sake of. His mind came to a jarring halt.

'For the sake of?' He felt a sense of loss, but it was drowned out by the sound medical instruments and solutions that burned his skin off his flesh.

He had been returned to his cell. He barely could move but felt solace in the freedom from pain and horrors of no anesthesia. He hadn't fought with consciousness and let the soothing darkness of oblivion take him.

Days turned into weeks as he slowly acclimated himself to his body. He had been subjected to numerous rounds of experimentation. As the nine-tail host, his captors had wanted to exploit his Demon Chakra, but he sensed something else was stirring underneath all the tests.

The next stretch of days had been more relaxed; he managed to catch his breath and heal from the trauma being inflicted on him. His hated enemy, the man in the white coat, had been missing in action.

The jailers had no interest in him like they did the captured women; he still shuddered at their whimpering in the surrounding cells, outside of the daily challenges he and others in the same predicament were forced to face.

Suddenly, a palm slammed into his stomach, and he vacated what little sustenance he managed to keep from his mouth. He rolled over and panted, his vision blurring as he stared into the large owl-like white eyes.

'Fuck. A Hyuga in Root?'

Narrow had learned a lot in those days, and one of those was that he was a captor of his village, which Root held at the behest of Danzo Shimura.

"That will stop that nasty chakra leakage." His Hyuga tormentor sneered.

The other still didn't know their names, but at least he knew who to murder once he escaped. He laughed and said while peering down at him.

"Can't have you cheating now, can we?"

He was pushed into a room, more like an arena; he stumbled before landing on his raw hands and knees, old wounds opened, and he did all he could not cry out.

"Winner gets food, loser gets whatever, or you can accept your situation and join root."

His stomach grumbled at the mention of food, his mind raced as his eyes danced around his opponents, and begrudgingly, he slipped into an old stance.

"Look at what we got here; demon fox got some spunk today."

Narrow looked over his shoulder and noticed a man not wearing a mask. When their eyes met, the man sneered.

"Also, whoever knocks out our illustrious Fourth Hokage son gets freshly captured rabbit added to their slop."

Hungry-crazed Eyes focused on me.

'Bastards.' Narrow thought irritably to himself.

Immediately, three kunoichi's dropped to their knees in defeat.

He observed the masked ninjas emerge and take the women away; a man also submitted, and three others looked defiant.

Before he could raise his arms to defend himself, he dropped to his knees and heard a buzzing sound.

A slender shinobi exploded toward him, shocked at the man-speed playing across his battered face before the trained shinobi knee slammed into Narrow's unprotected face; he felt an explosion of pain as he flopped to the ground.

He had understood what occurred almost immediately; the other was an Aburame clan member.

Blackness once again consumed him.

"He's awake; that's some recovery. I wonder if it's the Uzumaki genes or the Nine-Tails?" said the masked root ninja holding his arm.

On the opposite side, another added.

"I heard about Uzumaki's constitution, but that was a nasty blow to the head; if the medic-nin didn't heal him, I'm not sure he would have survived."

"Ah. We don't want that. The leader allows us to test the hopefuls, but the outright kill isn't ours to hand out. Also, the research team has had a breakthrough, and we will be able to break the seal and partake in the nine-tail chakra, and Root will be unstoppable."

He recalled the memories that initiated his capture and subsequent arrival at this black site of hidden lead. They disparaged the snake for his proclivities.

The child thought he was getting special training to become an Anbu, but the third traded him to his friend because of political suppression from the civilians and noble clans that held a grudge against the fox.

Flashback, Hokage Office

Naruto pointed at Sarutobi with a huge grin and shouted to the heavens that he would Hokage one day. The reactions were noticeable, but all seemed uncomfortable. The old man's features sunk, and his pipe fell from his mouth at the declaration.

'Like father, like son, such an utter fool.'

Present

The two continued to talk, uncaring and exposing sensitive secrets. Narrow listened intently, as loose lips were the only way he could learn how much he had screwed up the shinobi world.

'A new village was forming in the land of Tea. The formation infuriated the War hawk. That explains the fewer guards here.' He peered at his jailers under swollen eyelids.

'Genin?' He had to assume the worst was left behind while those noble clan members were off sabotaging the world,

His wishes were great, but that meant nothing when you were a prisoner of Danzo.

He burned the memory of old man Hokage calling him to his office and allowing Root to take him.

He gritted his teeth.

His newly acquired body drug across a hard cobbled path and tossed harshly into a cell. He looked around, inspecting others in the same situation as him. Some he recognized weren't important or belonged to other villages. His back slammed against the moist walls of the cell. He cried in pain. He hated this young, untrained body, but it was what he had to work with.

Bang.

His jailers slammed the door, and it locked behind them.

"See you soon, Naruto. Get some rest. I heard the boss will be by to inspect you."

Had his system not finished installing? He needed to escape, and he knew there wasn't a way for him to do that as an untrained academy-age student; even with the nine-tails chakra, most would knock him unconscious before he had any chance of taking chakra from the demon fox.

The sick bastard drew pleasure from breaking and remolding his shinobis into emotionless killers who followed his commands only.

He twitched as his muscled spasms became too much, and he blacked out.

He awoke suddenly, a coughing fit overtaking him, blood splattering the ground.

He gripped his stomach as scripts flashed menacingly around his naval.

The former assassin rolled over, pulled his tattered shirt up to his chest, and exposed his stomach.

His memories were weird; the first years of his life seemed like yesterday, which he was sure was spot on as he had taken the place of Naruto, whose torture and mistreatment had broken, and there was this odd spot where he knew something but couldn't recall it.

'Must be what they have been doing to me. Did they know Danzo was attempting to extract nine-tail chakra?

He didn't doubt it. Danzo hadn't ever gotten his hands on the nine-tails in the manga, but he had always sought power, and what was more power than the nine-tails?'

He coughed again as he hissed as his body contorted again, the burning pulsating Fuinjutsu seal churned as nine-tail chakra continuously healed his battered body.

If a Yamanaka would search his mind, nothing would be amiss.

Naruto wasn't deceased; he was Narrow, and Narrow was him.

He coughed, hacking phlegm that had been lodged in his throat. It was dark; a single torchlight flickered through the bars of his jail.

The air was damp and foul.

He gagged and coughed, causing his weak, young, malnourished body to writhe in concentrated pain.

Naruto groaned in his attempts to stand, causing himself to shiver in excruciating pain.

He blacked out almost immediately.

He had no recollection of how long he lost consciousness.

"Thank the lord for Uzumaki Physique."

He lamented, still on his back, staring through the bars above his head.

He chuckled at his predicament.

The colossal moon far above glared at him almost disapprovingly through the barred hole. He raised his dirty hand, grabbing the moon as if he could hold it.

His hand dropped to his side, the exertion exhausting his little stamina. He lay there for a while, acclimating to the pain. The pain was good; pain meant he was amongst the living.

"Okay, future Hokage," he joked aloud as he managed to stand. His legs were wobbly. He was bruised all over. His face scrunched at that as he recalled the torturous beatings he had received.

He stumbled, his exertion catching up with him quite fast as his back slammed against the damp wall, causing a pained bestial yip to cascade from his parched lips.

He winced, his brain fraying on the edges of overloads as black spots populated his recently awarded sight.

Torches were snuffed out as a masked shinobi emerged to check on the prisoners and deliver food.

He had been skipped over.

The new dark world twisted and turned like an assassin's blade. He stared through the bars, practically willing them away.

He tilted over, his wobbly limbs giving out as he fell to his knees, relinquishing the contents of his stomach.

He wiped his mouth and muttered words he knew were his salvation.

"System, help me."