Naruto: Shadowed Light

By Stone Shield

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters involved, though I wish I did, as funny as it is.

Hello/Normal Speech

Hello/Thought

Hello/Demon or Summon Speech

Chapter 1

"Aaaargh!" Screams filled the air, screams of pain and terror. It took a few seconds to realize he was the one screaming. Dark laughs answering his screams. "Haha, what's this? The Demon can't take a little pain?" "Kukuku, fool, stand back. I want to see what makes the little gaki tick", another voice, a cold voice spoke up. The scene faded as he blacked out from the pain, his body finally surrendering to unconsciousness. He woke up in a cold sweat, jerking into an upright position. The sounds of his jack-hammering heart and labored breathing filled his ears. Even after several years the nightmare still occurred. It had been three years since he'd been found after what the council considered an "unfortunate accident". Eight years old, he'd attended his first day of class at the academy, and then vanished for days. Later, he'd been found by the Hokage and his ANBU. Though nothing could be proven, he and the Hokage believed the ANBU guard assigned to him had been lax in his duties on purpose, allowing him to go missing. He'd heard that Iruka was one of the ones who had found him. The Hokage himself mentioned the horrified look on his face. After being discovered in an unused classroom, he remained comatose for a whole month, locked away in his mind from what the old man surmised to be days of torture. The truly horrific part being that when they found him he was opened up like a dissected lab specimen. It was only by the Hokage's protection that the village council was stopped from performing what they called "the humane thing to do", meaning they wanted to kill him.

But even though he'd awoken from his unconscious state, he still bore scars, mental ones as all his physical ones had healed. The only thing that saved his sanity from shattering was a presence from within, shielding him. In his mind, a young woman comforted him through his pain. During the month long coma, he and the mysterious woman spent a great deal of time together. She revealed herself as Kyubi, who told him of the events involving the attack on Konoha. From a mind consuming rage brought on by the one who'd summoned her, an Uchiha, to the sealing, revealing the relation he shared with the one who'd sealed her within him, the Yondaime. That he was his son. At first, he didn't trust her, but sensing her sorrow at what was being done to him, in time he regarded her as the family he never had, as a sister.

When he finally had awoken, he'd been surprised and relieved to find the old man standing beside his bed. It was only through years of knowing him that his trust in the old man remained true. After initial talk of how he was glad the blonde was alright, he'd asked what had happened. Unfortunately, nothing he said could help to identify his attackers. It was after the old man, Sarutobi, had remarked on how he still seemed so mentally okay that Naruto told him of his "big sister" and revealed what he'd learned. It had taken some explaining before he calmed down. Revealing how she'd protected him and what she had said about her attacking Konoha had earned her a little trust from the old man. "Naruto, for now, I'm withdrawing you from the Academy." Naruto's eyes widened in shock then returned to a more neutral expression as he asked quietly, "But why, oji-san? You know I've always wanted to be a ninja." Sarutobi raised his hand as a signal to quiet the boy. "Listen first, my boy. I want you to withdraw for now. But you will still become a shinobi." "But how?" The old Hokage's wisened features cracked into a small smile, "I can't train you myself, thanks to our friends on the council. But I can provide you with an itinerary, a guide for your training so that you may better defend yourself." And so he trained for three years, only now, a year before graduation, rejoining the Academy.

The training regime the Hokage had provided for him proved to be a meat grinder, even for someone with his high levels of chakra and stamina. Even worse, from his perspective, his sister would participate, sometimes training him while his body slept. Every day he was driven into the ground by extensive hours of chakra control and physical exercises. Unfortunately, due to his extremely large reservoirs of chakra, for even the slightest improvement in his control he had to train himself relentlessly. With no one and nothing else to spend his time with, his whole day, every day, he would train. The Hokage had actually come by to watch a few times, always remarking at the amazing "coincidence" of meeting him there, when he went on a lunch break. But he saw through the deceptive talk, recognizing that he was just checking on him and his progress. It was when he was around that he did his best to show his improvement, to make the old man proud of him.

And the dietary guide had nearly eliminated his Ramen eating. He was still allowed to eat it but either had extra helpings of vegetables added or ate it less often. Though with his metabolism, it couldn't be helped that he always ate a lot, no matter what the food was. A year into his training, the old man had taken him to a small barbeque restaurant and stared in awe as the boy ate…and ate…and ate. It was always his habit of muttering that he must have Akimichi blood as he paid the bill.

His relentless training eventually paid off, as the old man came to him after three years, telling him he would be reentering the Academy in its' graduating class. He felt the blonde was more than strong enough to look after himself. No one ever saw anything in the boy, but he recognized that he was overflowing with raw potential. Still, the scars of his torture remained and he'd adopted a mask, this time a literal one, to hide behind. It always worried him how he was so isolated. The once hyperactive and attention seeking blonde had changed after the attack. Instead of seeking out human contact, he dove into his training and studies, hardly saying anything to anyone but him. When he'd first seen the boy's ANBU-like mask, the Hokage had looked shocked, but seemed to understand and said nothing. He could sense the pain hidden within the boy but it was his hope that the Academy, and its' students in particular, could heal him. He'd all but suppressed his emotions, becoming more closed off and solitary. And here he was awaking up from his usual nightmare on the first day back at the Academy. Leaning back onto the icy, sweat-soaked sheets, he let sleep reclaim him for the few hours of night he had left.

Iruka gave a sad smile as he read the note from the Hokage. "So he's returned," he whispered under his breath. He'd only met the boy that one day when he first entered the Academy, and at the time he'd still been filled with anger towards the Kyubi for killing his parents. But finding the boy, a lifeless shell, opened up on a teacher's desk, had caused him to rethinks his views on the child. Clearing his throat to get the attention of all the students, "Ahem, good morning class. It's nice to see so many familiar faces. This year you will take the graduation exam to become full-fledged genin." There was a chorus of cheers and yells. "I would also like to announce the return of a student from your first year. You can come in now." Everyone turned to see the door open and a figure in a cloak and mask walk in. There were many whispered comments about his attire but that wasn't too strange, as he looked a little like a mini ANBU. "Would you like to introduce yourself?", Iruka asked, kindly. With a slight bow, he murmured "Naruto Uzumaki", before moving to a vacant desk in the back corner of the classroom. He overheard a pair of girls whom he recognized as Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno muttering between them. "Thinks he's so cool." "Not as cool as my Sasuke-kun!" "No, he's my Sasuke-kun, Ino-PIG!" The fight escalated until Iruka told them to stop, much to Naruto's thanks. "Annoying", he thought. His sister adding her two cents, "I hate fangirls!" she growled.

There were really only a few class members that he found interesting. The first, Shino Aburame. From what he'd found out, the boy was fairly intelligent, but refrained from flaunting his brains. Another exceedingly smart student, Shikamaru Nara. Except, unlike Shino, he was just too lazy to apply himself. And Choji Akimichi, he seemed like a kind soul, even if he never stopped eating. Finally, Hinata Hyuga, the ever shy girl in next row. In truth, he'd only met them in the briefest period of time but he still felt like he knew them, as if they were kindred spirits. The others though… Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, fangirls. Kiba and Akamaru, his nin-ken, rough and rowdy but understandable. Sasuke Uchiha, someone who gave him chills. There just always seemed to be something off about him, like he was unstable. Though, with his past, it was easy to see why. "Be careful around that one, Kit. He reeks of darkness," his sister whispered to him. "I know, I can sense it too." The rest of the morning was spent reviewing shinobi history, laws, jutsu trivia, and a medley of theoretical combat scenarios. Finally though, "alright, let's break for lunch." While the class emptied out, except for a handful of students, Naruto munched on an apple. "So, sis…think you can beat me?", he spoke quietly. He didn't challenge her as often anymore, lately becoming engrossed in trying to create jutsus of his own. "Hehehe, you're on, otouto!", she snickered. Setting up the Go board, it wasn't long before he found himself losing to the crafty fox. "What is that, Kit? 200 to me and 11 to you?", she asked her little brother, his right eye twitching in annoyance beneath the mask. He was broken from his thoughts by an introspective voice. "Interesting." Looking up, he found Shikamaru leaning over the board, examining the completed board. "Yes?", Naruto asked in a neutral tone. "Oh, just interesting is all. I've never seen such complex moves", he said, pointing out Kyubi's pieces. Fortunately, before he was asked to explain the moves in the game, Iruka reentered the room. "Okay, class, let's go outside and see how you've all improved over the summer." Shikamaru, groaning, shuffled off.

First up was a timed jog around the Academy training area to test their speed and stamina. The old man had suggested he not reveal his real strength yet, so he kept to a steady pace, coming in fourth, though pretended to be winded. He was surprised at how slow they all moved. "They haven't trained as much as you have", his nechan supplied, "And they haven't been trained by me". As expected, Ino, Sakura, Choji, and Shikamaru were last, the latter two only because one was too lazy and the other was built for strength not speed. The two girls though, seemed to almost have no stamina whatsoever as they finished, puffing loudly, out of breath, proof they spent more time doing fangirlish things instead of training.

Next was kunai and shuriken accuracy. The object was to hit bullzeyes on a person-shaped target. Though he only got 6 out of 10 bullzeyes, no one noticed he intentionally threw four of them to miss, so as to not look too good.

The sparring sessions made him nervous. His attacks were somewhat instinctual, and he'd even been working on creating his own style, but he would have to use basic Academy level taijutsu to hide his strength, and pray he didn't slip up. He wasn't afraid of losing; he just wasn't ready to reveal he was near Chunin level in skill. Iruka and Mizuki paired the students up. Soon, Naruto found himself facing Sakura Haruno, the class' pink-haired kunoichi to be. "I must keep it basic, simple…" he thought to himself. His sisters' chuckle filled his mind, "Nechan?" "Simple? Just do as I tell you, otouto" she said and informed him of her idea. Sidestepping her blatantly obvious charge, his arm shot out, chopping the back of her neck at the base of her skull, rendering her unconscious. "Simple, quick…though I don't think she was expecting such a simple attack. Thanks, nechan", he muttered internally. "She's a fangirl; you weren't expecting her to be tough were you?" Kyubi asked. "No, not really". Iruka sighed, "Technically, you're supposed to show what you can do". Naruto shrugged, before sitting down, back to a tree, waiting for the other matches to end.

So the months flew by. Shikamaru had joined the ranks of those that could crush him at Go. He began to associate with Shino Aburame as well, a silent understanding of each other between them. But Naruto remained as reclusive as ever. Sometimes, he still wished he were still his old boisterous self, able to laugh and be so confident and care free. Though he had begun to notice his old feelings swell in his chest when he was around Hinata Hyuga. After a time, he realized her gentle, kind nature was always what came to mind. But, for the life of him, he couldn't make heads or tails of his feelings so just kept it to himself, trying to ignore it, and sinking even further into silent seclusion.

A few months before the graduation exam, there was an incident where he couldn't hide his strength. Some bullies had cornered Hinata Hyuga. He didn't doubt that she could handle them, but their constant rebukes had caught her off guard and she'd retreated into her shell of insecurity.

Flashback

Hinata felt like she was a shadow shrinking in the light. Every insult and curse tore into her. "You're one of the oh-so-great Hyuga? I've never seen such a pathetic ninja!" one jeered. A shorter thug snickered, "Yeah, she'll probably die on her first mission, as weak as she is". Before she knew it she had her head bowed, trying as best she could to hide her tears. "Little bitch, who could ever be frightened of you?" the leader sneered, spitting at her. "But you should be afraid" a cold voice spoke up. Hinata raised her head to see her classmate Naruto Uzumaki appear out of the shadows, his white mask looking ghost-like as pale light fell on it. "Hmph, beat it you little punk. You don't want any of this", the leader spoke, he and the gang turning back to the hunched over figure of Hinata. "On the contrary", the genin to be spoke up. "Six against one…hardly honorable odds". The gang leader's jaw clenched in anger at the insult, "What was that you bastard?" "Simply a statement of how you are all too weak and cowardly to face her one on one, as she would easily mop the floor with you", Naruto responded. Hinata's ducked head concealed a bright blush from his statement. "Get him!" the leader of the gang shouted as they ran at him. Fearing the outcome, Hinata clenched her eyes shut. For almost a minute the fight filled the small alley behind the Academy. Finally, there was only silence, and the sound of her crying for the boy who'd tried to help her. "Are you alright?" a quiet voice asked. "Huh?" opening her eyes she looked up to see the masked face of Naruto Uzumaki, with an offered hand. "But how-", pulled gently to her feet, she looked wide-eyed, to find the gang of bullies littering the ground, unconscious. "They gave me little recourse", the blonde said quietly. "But still, are you alright?" Fighting her shock, she nodded. "I-I'm fine. Thank you, Na-Naruto-kun", she stuttered out. Giving a small bow, he turned and walked away. Just before he disappeared, she heard a whispered, "You are more than welcome, Hinata-san", and then he was gone. She blushed at the warmth she'd felt from his last words.

End Flashback

From then on, the Hyuga heiress found herself fascinated in her savior. She did all she could to learn as much about him as possible. She began to notice that though he seemed to know things, he only applied himself enough to barely pass. A big question was why he'd only now rejoined the Academy, and why he'd joined the graduating class? He hardly ever talked. In fact, the only time she'd ever heard his voice was when he'd first introduced himself and at the fight where he'd helped her. The major question was who was he? No one had ever seen his face or what he looked like without the mask and cloak. So, to find out, she began to follow him. For weeks, her "research" had proven to be a waste, until one day, a week before the graduation exam.

As usual, he walked to the farthest training ground on the east end of the village. It was far enough away that no one could simply stumble onto his practice. Following him, she began to notice how the villagers and a few shinobi treated him, spitting, cursing, and sometimes throwing things. "Why?" she wondered.

She followed him to the training area he frequented, prepared for another fruitless afternoon of watching the blonde train relentlessly. Not that she minded watching him train, even if her eyes watched his body more than his moves. Part of her wanted more than anything to train alongside him, but she just couldn't get her body to move. She was always shocked at how long and hard he would train, and this time was no different, though it was. She watched as he, swaying slightly, shuffled to the edge of the stream. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers when she saw him reach for his mask. Removing it, she stared in fascination at a face that burned itself into her mind and heart. Blonde, spiky hair cascaded limply over deep blue eyes. His skin was tanned nice and even, unnaturally even. He bore a trio of lines on either cheek, almost like whiskers. But it was his eyes that captured her. So many things she saw in those blue pools, deep as the ocean. She saw warmth, kindness, but also sadness and loneliness, strength and goodness. "Beautiful", she whispered. She bolted when his head twitch in her direction.

"Hmm…I thought I heard something", he whispered. Taking a quick drink from the cool water, splashing some on his face, he wiped it off and slid his mask back down over his face. Pulling himself up from his kneeling position beside the stream, he climbed tiredly to his feet. "Still distracted? Thinking about that girl?" snickered Kyubi, earning a twitch from the blonde. "It's strange…I feel…odd, whenever I'm around her. I can't really explain it". Kyubi sighed and shook her head; her brother was an idiot when it came to girls. She wouldn't say anything, but she knew all about her little otouto's "stalker", and that she was the one he'd just sensed. "You'll figure it out. Now, let's go home, you need to rest". Sighing, he cast a look towards the horizon and the setting sun before turning and dragging himself toward his shamble of an apartment, hoping for a night free of nightmares. A wish that never seemed to come true.

AN: Thanks for reading! I write for the fun of it as well as the therapeautic release from stressfull times. However, I am open to suggestions about future events in the story. And I'm sorry if some of my grammar or spelling is off. Though I like to write, I don't usually let others see what I write. Aren't you the lucky one(s)! But please leave feedback, positive and negative.

Some Jutsus are original. Some combos are ideas taken from the series that I haven't seen but wondered about the possibilty. Ex. Combining multiple Water Dragon Jutsus (done with Shadow Clones) and the Water Gathering Jutsu, making the Water Hydra Jutsu. As indicated by the name, a huge ball of watr with multiple Water Dragon heads sticking out of it.