What Lies Within

By Rorac the Dragon Knight

"speaking"

"Thinking"

"demon speaking"

"demon thinking"

I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR PROTOTYPE

Inside Naruto's Mind scape

Naruto looked at the man in front of him and all he could think about was where the hell did he come from and where had he taken him? Just looking at where he was made him wonder. He was in a park, a really big park that looked like it could hold four or five clan compounds with some room left over. Surrounding the park he saw a city with buildings that looked like they were taller than the hokage mountain all made of glass and metal.

"What the hell is this place?"

Gawking at the city, Naruto couldn't help but wondering what kind of people could build a place like this.

"Impressed by my home town are ya? I can understand that, what with there being nothing like it on the whole planet."

His head snapped in the direction of the voice letting him see the slight smirk on his companions face.

"What do you mean there's nothing like it on earth, and where the hell are we, god damn it?"

The man in front of him, Alex if he remembered right, chuckled lowly amused at his reaction.

"What I mean is that this city and all the others like it were destroyed and forgotten long ago. What your seeing here is a memory of how I saw it when I lived here way back when."

The only intelligent answer that Naruto could come up with was,"Huh?"

Alex sighed, "Well, this is about as good a place as any to start."

"What I'm saying is that I lived a very long time and have seen and done a lot of things. But that's not why I am here right now. I'm here to tell you what is happening to you, why your going through it, and how you deal with it. All that I ask is that you save any questions that you have until I finish, got it?"

Scowling at some weird guy he didn't know telling him what to do, but let it pass knowing that it would be easier to find out what he wanted if he kept his mouth shut. Sighing, he nodded his head deciding to let the man talk.

Relieved that he would have to fight so that the kid would listen he smiled and stood up walking up to the boy that he had given his legacy to.

"There is a lot that you need to know. A lot that you will find hard to understand, and even though time moves slower in your mind than the outside world, it would be a pain in the ass to tell you everything while making you understand what I'm telling you. Because of that I think I'll just show you."

Before he could ask what he meant by that Alex put his hand on his head and held on.

"By the way this will hurt, a lot."

All at once fire seemed to rush from his hand into Naruto's brain. With it came images, memories, and knowledge that he never had before, of things and and places he had never seen. Later he would look back on the knowledge he obtained and marvel at the great things that mankind had done and the things that had long since disappeared. Now though, all he could focus on was the pain as all of this was pushed into his mind and the eyes of the man that was doing this to him. Eyes filled with sorrow, remorse, and an unbreakable will.

Naruto's Hospital Room

Yugao sat alone by her son's bed, looking down at his face as he slept. Everyone else had other things that the had to take care of, leaving her to watch over her son. Anko had to get cleaned up and return to work, the Hokage was need in his office, and the doctor that had first seen him was off trying to make heads or tails of the scans that had been taken, leaving her alone with him except the infrequent nurse that came in to check for any change in his condition.

It had been hours since that had first brought him here and he had only settled down with in the last thirty to forty-five minutes.

Yugao sighed worried, 'He's so still. Looks so wrong, he's never like this.' Placing a hand on his face she couldn't help the bitter-sweet smile that appeared. 'At least the pain's gone'

Thinking back on the look of pain that had been on his face made her eye's shimmer as tears tried to escape. As she fought them she was brought back to the last time she had felt like this, back to when her parents had died. She had been a chunin slated for ANBU training when the Fox appeared. She had seen how her mother and father an elite jounin and ANBU commander respectively had been vaporized as its foul chakra had washed over them. She remembered how she had just lain there unable believe what she had seen, how unbelievable the sight she had just seen was. Lastly she remembered how, mercifully, consciousness left her as a result of the wounds she had sustained.

She woke up in the hospital a week later to find her world had changed. The village in shambles, so many dead, and those left behind trying to pick up the live that had been shattered in just under an hour.

Once released and wanting to forget the pain or bury it so she wouldn't have to face it, she accepted the commission to the ANBU and threw herself into training quickly being recognized as a capable and and talented individual.

After the announcement of Naruto as the Fox's jailor she couldn't help but be disgusted by the others in the village, and made it known to those in her squad. Instead of being thankful that he had saved their live just by being born at the right time, they let the fear and hate of what they couldn't understand take over.

It was for this reason the Third had made her and others his watcher. They took turns keeping him safe from the shadows. She was the one that had found him neglected in the orphanage, allowing him to move into his own apartment, and it was her that was responsible for all of the times he would find food and fresh drink in his fridge when he would have gone without.

It was also her that had, in her mind, failed him the most. On the night he gained the power that put him in the situation he was in now he nearly died. She had been keeping careful track of him. With it being only a week until the anniversary of the foxes defeat she had to keep an eye on him so that the drunks wouldn't get any ideas. She watched as he started to run off unnerved by the looks he was getting from the crowd around him. Intending to follow she was caught off guard by a loud explosion. Looking to the source she sound, she found that some children had set off a large number of fireworks and caused a fire.

Seeing a number of Ninja quickly move into contain the blaze, she turned back to find that Naruto had disappeared into the crowd. Cursing in her mind and fighting down the panic that threatened to rise she started tracking him down. When she found him the guilt was almost crushing.

He had blood all over him, cuts of varying severity, and a handful of broken bones. Taking him into her arms she rushed to the hospital and brought him to the doctor that was charged with his care. After making sure he was in good hands, she went to the Hokage to make her report. After she had given her report he had relived her of duty and ordered her home telling her to remain there until he called for her.

Looking back she couldn't help but laugh at how dumb she had been. Arriving home she prepared for the punishment she thought she would receive. She agonized over until the call came and the Hokage told her what he wanted of her.

She laughed at herself unable to believe she had been so foolish. He hadn't sent her home to await punishment, but to give her time to calm herself. He explained how he could see how she cared for the boy even as she claimed it was only her doing her duty. After accepting what she was given and seeing it as a chance to redeem herself.

Breaking from her memories Yugao couldn't help but run her fingers over his whisker marks as a warm loving smile made it's way onto her face. All thoughts of redemption had changed to love and heartfelt joy the first time he called her mom. It was also the day that all the pain she carried started to fade away. The love and attention he lavished on her eased the ache she felt from her lose and started to heal the scares left on her heart.

These thoughts left her as she saw Naruto's face start to twitch.

'He's waking up! He's finally waking up.'

This hopeful thought was ripped to shreds when he started to scowl and thrash around in his bed.

'Oh god,'was the thought that ran through her mind at what she was witnessing. Thinking that he was having an episode like the one earlier in the day she ran to the door to call for help. Ripping the door open she was relieved to see a nurse on the other side with her hand out looking like she was about to grab the door handle.

"Please, help my son. I think he's having another episode."

Eyes wide in surprise the nurse ran over to Naruto's bedside. Looking him over she cursed under her breath seeing that his thrashing had gotten violent and he needed to be restrained.

"Hold him down, I need to alert the rest of the team."

As Yugao moved to hold her son down, the nurse ran to the intercom. Keying it she leaned close to the speaker to talk.

"Emergency, all med-team zero personnel report to station immediately. I repeat, all med-team zero personnel report to station immediately."

With the call made the nurse quickly made her way back to check on her patient. What she found when she got there was that Yugao was struggling to hold her son down even while using chakra to enhance her strength. Rushing to the other side of the bed shes tarted helping her hold him down.

'Damn, how the hell is he so strong. We're both using chakra and we still can't keep him still.'

Not even a minute later med-team zero arrived and were shocked to see the to trying, and failing, to hold the boy down. Seeing them just standing there stunned the nurse growled and started yelling out orders.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, HELP. We need the level three restraints, some HELP holding him down, and a scanning team ready to find whats wrong with this kid."

Seeing them, still, standing around her temper got the better of her.

"MOVE YOUR ASSES, NOW!"

Finally shaken from there stupor the medics went to work gathering what they needed, and moving to replace the two tired women holding the boy down.

"Holly shit, this kid is strong."

"Grab his arm, don't let it just it flail around."

"Where are those restraints."

"Is the scanning team ready to go?"

"Yes they're just outside."

Frantically the medics rushed to gain some control of the situation. Naruto was being restrained by four medics as two others secured level three restraints to the bed. These restrains were usually saved for those with strength enhancing bloodlines or techniques like the Akamichi or the Inuzuka.

After getting him secured, the scanning team moved in to examine him. They were alarmed to find that his skin was turning black in places, and were growing larger as time went by. Shaking off the shock the went to work. Trying to figure out what was wrong only to be distracted by a frantic cry from Yugao as she tried to get to her son.

"Please, someone, tell me what's wrong with my son."

"Ma'am, please, we need you to leave."

"No, I can't leave his side."

"Ma'am the doctors need you to leave so they can heal your son. Your being here will just interfere and delay his recovery."

Looking at who had spoken, she found herself being held back by the nurse from before. Knowing the truth in what she was saying she allowed herself to be lead from the room. Once outside she was grateful when the nurse pulled her into a hug as she cried, babbling about how she couldn't lose him, how he was her son, and he was all she had left.

After about five minutes she pulled back and thanked the nurse who shuck it off. As she was about to lead her to the waiting area the Hokage appeared before them.

"Shuzuka, report."

The now named Shuzuka launched into a report of the things she had seen. Everything from the wild thrashing and enhanced strength to the elevated body temperature and change in skin pigmentation.

After hearing the report pondered what to do with the limited information that he had. Sighing he turned to Yugao, "I'm going to have to ask you to -"

Only to be interrupted by a howl of pain coming from the room. A howl that sounded as if someone was was being tormented by the minions of hell.

Hearing the voice of her son in torment, Yugao lunged at the door in an attempt to get to her son only to fall short as the Hokage and Shuzuka struggled to keep the panicked mother in place.

"Let me go, let me go," she wailed, frantically thrashing in there grip tears flowing down her face. Her heart was breaking, her mind was in turmoil and her instincts screamed for her to get to her son.

"Yugao, you need to calm down. The medics are doing their best to help him, but they won't be able to if rush in there."

The Hokage was doing his best to keep a hold of Yugao. Her fear and motherly instincts giving her strength well beyond the norm.

"I don't care you old fool, let me go. He needs me, now let go of me, let g-"

Only for all of the to freeze as they felt a massive build up of chakra within the room. Baffling them on what was causing it."

"What in the name of-"

The Hokage was once again interrupted, but this time by a wall of chakra that exploded out of the room ripping the door off of its hinges and throwing the three of them into the wall. Getting to her feet faster than her aching body told her she should, Yugao raced into the room, all thoughts on her son.

Stopping at the sight before her, she couldn't help but be amazed at the damage done to the room. The floor had cracks all over it from the pressure, the walls were dented in places, the windows had been blown out, everything not nailed down was thrown into the wall along with the medics that had been inside. Finally the bed had collapsed under the pressure and the restraints were torn to shreds.

Rushing to the bed she couldn't help but gasp at the changes that came over her son. His hair had turned a silver gray almost looking like stone in color, his skin was black all over but had intermittent patches on his arms that glowed with an inner power, and his face had thinned out that when paired with his glowing whisker marks enhanced the fox look he already had.

The new look not fazing her she pulled him into her arms. She cried as she begged him to wake up and open his eyes, to not leave her alone again.

"Mom, don't cry"

Surprised she pulled back to look at him only to be met with another surprise. His eyes, which had once been the color of the sea were now the deepest shade of crimson she had ever seen and they drew her into them just as just as his blue had.

Smiling at the look on her face, he reached up with his left hand to wipe her tears away. As he did so his new features started to fade and return to normal.

"Mom, its over. I'm alright, just tired, so don't...cry...any...more."

With that he slumped forward into his mother and she held him gingerly. Teary eyed but smiling all the same she held thanking all the gods for not taking him away.

Hours later Hokage's Office

Looking over the reports of the incident the old ninja couldn't help but sigh and tiredly rub his hands on his face.

Looking at the scans that were taken he couldn't help but be amazed that the only thing wrong with the boy was the fact that he showed sighs of every type of exhaustion they knew of. What surprised him more was that he was already healing from his ordeal.

Switching to the follow up that had taken place, he couldn't help but go deep into thought. All parts of his body strengthened beyond belief with out seals chakra or surgery. Heightened metabolism, an astounding resistance to poisons and other chemicals, regenerative healing, nerve conduction velocity that was insanely fast, and...

The Hokage frowned. It was the last thing they noticed that gave him pause. His cells seemed at first to be unstable, when a closer look was taken that notion was replaced with adaptable.

The closest analogy that the doctors could come up with was that they were like clay waiting to be molded. They now seemed to have a potential to change themselves into what ever they need to be at a moments notice. When one of the doctors had tried to take a tissue sample his skin had changed appearance and texture, and they had been unable to get the sample they were after. After they had moved away it had changed back only to return to the armored state when they tried again. This occurred where ever they tried. Whats more on further examination they had found that every cell in his body was linked to his mind, making them think that if he was aware of this he could control the make up of his body.

Seeing this the Hokage smiled, glad that something was going was going right for once. The plan he had started on the night Naruto first changed could now be put into play. That thought made him chuckle at the thought of getting back at all those who had persecuted him out of hate or fear, or those who had used said hate and fear as a way to gain power and influence.

Moving to look out over the village that had been in his care and couldn't help but smirk at the thought that came to mind

'The winds of change are blowing through the village. I can't help but think that it's going to be one hell of a ride.'

I'm back after a long old time. it felt good to get this out. i have been working on this a while and would have had it sooner if i had had the time motivation and inspiration to write it all at once. without those things my muse is dead and i get nothing. anywho i hope you enjoy it. heads up this is still going to read as if prototype 2 never happened but i will steal elements from it like some of you might have noticed. so anyway review if you wish. all advice will be graciously accepted and all flames criticisms and bad mouthing will be either ignored or scathingly insulted. with that said take care now bye bye than. cookie if you can tell me where that's from