The Tragedy of Naruto Uzumaki: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 19: Plague

Naruto sat in an open field, the Byakugan active, his eyes closed as ice crystals formed on the ground beneath him, causing the grass that was blowing in the wind to freeze mid-breeze, the pulse on the Curse Mark that was imprinted upon the side of his neck causing his eyebrows to narrow before the pulsing stopped, and a long and slow sarcastic clap echoed throughout the field. 

He could see a person, no, two people looking at him. They must've used the Shushin to get there, or else he would've seen them coming. He opened his eyes and saw Orochimaru and the redhead girl from the forest, dubbed Tayuya. 

He stood up, immediately ready to attack, but was stopped when Orochimaru raised his hands above his head, chuckling slightly. 

"Ku ku ku, I'm not here to fight, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said smoothly as Tayuya and him approached slowly, seeing as how Naruto didn't stop glaring at them. "I want to make you a proposition," He began, making Naruto's Byakugan-Enhanced eyes to narrow at the Snake Sannin. 

"And what is that?" This was good, the boy was actually hearing him out. "I doubt you'd have anything to do with seeing as how I killed your groupies, except for her of course." Tayuyga shrugged. 

"Because I'm not a complete moron like those guys, the moment I saw the Curse Mark appear I was out." She explained helpfully, not that Naruto cared in the slightest. 

"What do you want?" He asked again, this time a small spark of electricity going across his body, ready to use Godspeed at a moments notice. Orochimaru chuckled again. 

"An alliance, of course, you see, I want the Third Hokage to die, you want the Third Hokage to die. I want you to join me so I can increase your training and give you power, and you will be able to kill Itachi in order to satisfy your revenge." He said, grinning like a madman the entire time. "We each have what we want, why don't we help each other?" 

"I would never betray my village!" Naruto shouted angrily as if he were trying to convince himself. 

"Betray your village or your Team?" Orochimaru spoke as Naruto immediately froze, making Orochimaru's grin to widen. He had hit the head right on the nail. "Besides, you'll be able to complete your dream and kill Itachi Uchiha and avenge your sensei, Shisui Uchiha!" Naruto felt his teeth lengthen, the Kyuubi's chakra entering his own chakra pool, an anger on the edge of exploding. 

"Don't you dare put my sensei's name in your filthy mouth, Orochimaru!" He shouted. "You aren't worthy to speak his name!" Orochimaru shrugged. 

"Perhaps, but, isn't one of your goals surpassing Shisui of the Flash Step? The man who took down entire Anbu Squadrons by himself? I can give you that power, the power of the Curse Mark is only a taste of what is to come if you accept!" He hissed seductively, making Naruto falter before the blonde shook his head.

"No, I don't want revenge anymore! I just want to protect my friends and be happy!" Orochimaru frowned as he rose an eyebrow, straightening his posture. 

"You do realize that Itachi is part of a group that is hunting after you, right? He won't hesitate to kill those who get in their way, that includes your silly little village," Suddenly, the picture of Itachi standing over a decapitated Sakura and a Sasuke whose neck was broken flashed in his mind, causing his eyes to widen, the Byakugan deactivating. 

"Don't you want to protect them from that monster? Don't you want the strength to protect Sasuke and Sakura from any threat? Do you want their deaths to be on your hands? Remember, if you were strong enough, you could've saved Kakashi," Naruto's eyes turned into a bright red as a single vertical line crossed through it, his pupils gone. 

"Shut up!" He shouted, clutching his head slightly. 

"If you had the power, then you could've saved Kakashi, and if you had power," Orochimaru was behind Naruto now, his mouth right by the blonde's ear. "Then you could've saved Shisui," He whispered as Naruto suddenly collapsed to his knees, unable to hold himself up as he saw Kakashi dying in his head over and over again, as well as Shisui, both being impaled by either Zabuza's blade or Shisui's Anbu sword.