The Midnight flame

The temple's steps shook when a piece of the wall fell.

The night sky lay indifferent, as full of stars as it had been on the night of their wedding.

The temple burned by his hand, and had he managed to bring back his distant mind to the horrible reality of what he had just done, he would have had to hear his wife's screams as the fire consumed her.

He was Indra.

This was who he was. Who he was meant to be, his dreams told him as much.

Except, he knew, this was not the full truth. He was born as Asahi, from no clan.

He was a simple farmer, and had never known his father.

Whenever he had asked his mother about him, back when she was still alive, she had just told him he was a strong ninja from a powerful clan, and someday he'd come back for them.

He never had.

When he had married Yukie, who was the daughter of a rich merchant, he thought that luck was finally smiling upon him.

The dreams had started a long time ago.

Of fires, wars and strife.

Of blood and kinship.

Of a cycle that would not break.

Until he had found Yukie in bed with his own half-brother, he had been ignoring them just fine.

Pain brought him back to himself.

His eyes seemed to be on fire, and he tried to rub at them.

He opened them.

Asahi screamed. It was a scream that came from deep within, something he could not stop.

Liquid fire seemed to course through his veins. His eyes were dripping blood.

And yet he saw more clearly than he ever did.

His eyes fell on the temple.

When he saw the charred body resting upon the altar, and his awakened eyes recognised the burned remains of the necklace he had once offered his wife, his scream made the previous one sound like a whimper.

The air seemed to be set ablaze. The trees burned.

A purple shape rose around him, in the form of a skull.

He was Indra.

Naruto woke up on the floor of the ring.

Iruka-sensei seemed worried, judging by his face. So was Sasuke, behind him.

"Are you alright…?"

"Whazzat?" He answered coherently.

"You got knocked out."

"Wasn't." Why were his thoughts so jumbled up?

"You were." Sasuke said. His own cheek was bruised.

"Wasn't."

"How do you explain waking up on the floor then?"

"I was taking a nap."

"Enough, boys. This is the end for today's practice. Naruto, please stop by the infirmary before you leave." Iruka-sensei said, firmly.

They mumbled their agreement and formed the seal.

It was strange, Sarutobi Hiruzen thought.

Something about Naruto seemed different, since he came back with his face swollen after the academy, weeks ago.

Something seemed to be on his mind.

He hoped this was not about the Adamantine Chains. Sure, he had a hunch that Naruto might have the potential for them, and they would definitely serve him well if such was the case, but there was no certainty here.

Just because Kushina had had them did not mean her son would be able to use them.

But he had figured there would be no harm in trying, as it would help the boy become more familiar with his chakra, and the process to shape it.

Sarutobi sighed.

It was probably the reason Naruto was down.

He decided to try to cheer him up by getting him started with elemental manipulation.

This ought to cheer him up.

"Lightning?" He thought. This made no sense.

Minato had been civilian born, and purely Wind natured, and Kushina had an affinity for both Wind and Water.

Chakra natures very rarely appeared out of nowhere, and certainly not this strong.

It was not unheard of for a weak affinity to pop up in ninja families after a couple generations, sure.

But a Lightning nature this strong had not been seen outside of Kumo since Uchiha Madara.

He had expected Naruto to be Wind natured, with Water as a possible secondary.

Instead, the boy showed a very strong Lightning affinity, as well as a Wind affinity as strong as his parents.

"Is this good, old m-… Sarutobi-sama?" Naruto asked, anxious but excited.

"This is good, yes." Sarutobi recovered. "Both Lightning and Wind are very useful for battle."

Naruto made a face. "And besides this? Is there anything cool I can do with them?"

Sarutobi laughed.

"Yes, they are both very versatile. You could learn to use lightning to move extremely fast, to immobilize someone, augment your reaction time, or shield yourself."

Naruto was interested in most of these. They had started learning what being a ninja really meant in the academy recently.

He could not say he was very fond of the idea of killing people.

His father had been killed, apparently.

He didn't like the idea of doing it to someone else.

If learning how to use Lightning meant he'd become strong enough not to have to kill people…

Then he'd become as good with it as he could.

"What about wind? Is it useful?"

"Definitely. First, you could…"

Three years had passed since Naruto had entered the academy.

It was just as boring as it always had been.

He had made a lot of progress in the last year, since he had learned about his chakra natures.

The main reason he was still there, and never bothered to try to pass the exam early was that he still wasn't sure if he wanted to bother about actually becoming a ninja.

It seemed there were lots of restrictions that came with being one.

Such as basically never being allowed to resign without a valid reason.

Or leaving the village for good. Something about village secrets, he thought.

So he toyed with the idea of dropping out. Sure, Sarutobi-sama would be disappointed, but maybe he wouldn't mind that much…?

His mind was wandering again.

Sarutobi-sama had told him time and again that this lack of focus was the reason he was having trouble with his elemental training.

Well, Sarutobi-sama was great, but he was old school.

Sitting fully still was something he found difficult. Some days especially, there was a restless energy about him, and he wanted to run, run fast.

So he did.

Wind still eluded him, but he was getting very close to being able to use Lightning Release…

Some.

He could produce sparks if he tried hard enough and that was about it, for now.

He ran.

Naruto did speed drills most days, now. Ever since Sarutobi-sama had told him that even if Lightning Release could make him faster, this didn't mean much if his base speed was not high enough.

He was pretty fast, by now.

Probably faster than most genin, but that was just his own humble estimation.

He was daydreaming again. He didn't stop it this time.

Lightning was supposed to be used by converting your chakra to electricity.

The old man had told him the basics of it.

Some sort of electric… cells jumped from particle to particle in some specific material.

This was how he tried to see Lightning today.

A jump from one end to the other.

The pressure he applied on himself to jump would hopefully determine his speed.

He continued to run, and let his chakra flow inside him.

He cycled it. Once. Twice.

He forced himself to go faster.

He pictured himself as the electricity carrier, lightning dancing across his skin.

He imagined himself moving from one point to the other, just like an electric charge through a conductive material.

Naruto ran as hard as he could, now.

He felt his chakra pricking, tingling around him and the smell of ozone in the air.

His chakra tensed in a way he'd never experienced before. He pushed.

The world blurred around Naruto as he jumped forward at a speed he would never have thought possible before this day.

His eyes couldn't follow, and his body seemed to cramp at the height of his jump, but as he fell back towards the ground…

The only thing he felt was an exhilarating freedom.

He would make this his. This, he promised.

Sitting there in his yukata and smiling blandly for their guests, Naruto realized there were a few of the Sarutobi traditions that he did mind.

Their reputation as generalists meant that he probably spent more time making sure he was well-rounded than most of his classmates, but it wasn't too bad.

The old man always said that balance was necessary, and this was the reason he had to learn how to play a musical instrument — he had picked the koto.

The heavy emphasis they put on the Will of Fire was more annoying, he found. He had his own doubts about it but kept this to himself.

Now, the yearly joint parties with the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans…

This, he did mind.

Not that he had anything against Chōji or Shikamaru, he did not mind spending some time with them…

Or even Ino, for the matter, if in smaller doses.

Teasing Asuma about his girlfriend was fun, too. He was surprisingly shy, for a bear.

But spending the whole day here? That was way too long. He could have used the time to practice, to read, to draw… Anything.

Truth be told, he just had trouble with large groups of people, which tended to exhaust him.

Somebody clapped their hands, way too close to his ears.

"Ah! I finally found you, Naruto!"

Apparently, Ino had been looking for him.

"Good evening, Ino-san." He said, nodding.

"Always so stiff… Boring." Ino sighed. "Let's go!"

"Go where?"

"Anywhere!"

Further down the garden, Yamanaka Inoichi shot him a commiserating look. Apparently, he was used to his daughter's bossy ways.

"Why don't you go with Chōji… or Shikamaru even?"

"Pfft." She made a face. "They're the laziest guys ever. I'm sure they're watching the clouds somewhere or eating chips."

This was true. "Why not both?" He asked flatly.

She giggled. "See? You can be funny, too."

"Thanks."

"So?" She waited for his answer, hands on her hips.

"Why me?" There were plenty of clan kids around their age today, and Ino was a popular girl, he figured.

"Eh? Because we're friends, stupid."

Oh. He had never gotten the notice.

Well, this wasn't too bad, anyways. He followed her without really knowing why.

It seemed some of the weight had left his shoulders.

Being Ino's friend meant knowing Sakura.

It also meant hearing in on much more gossip than he'd signed for.

Sasuke had not seemed to know what to make of him since their bout, one year ago. Sometimes he would steal glances at him, wondering what their temporary connection was about.

Naruto did not know either. So they settled for nodding at each other, and sometimes sitting together, silently.

Chōji and Shikamaru would sometimes hang out around him, too.

It also meant Naruto was never really alone anymore.

Two months had passed. Naruto hadn't managed to replicate his feat of performing a Lightning-enhanced jump.

It seemed this had been a stroke of luck.

Progress was scarce, and he was a bit frustrated.

He had wanted to show Sarutobi-sama, who hadn't seemed too surprised by either thing.

"Well…"He said, puffing at his pipe. The old man was really smoking very freely, these days. "Just because it happened once doesn't mean you achieved mastery."

Naruto deflated.

"But it does mean something. You can learn how to do it on command. It's just going to-"

"Take more practice, I know, I know." He grumbled. It seemed that he was spending all of his time practicing something, some days.

"Exactly."

When Sarutobi left, Naruto practiced his Transformation technique instead, frustrated beyond measure.

Transforming into an animal could be helpful some day, so he spent the afternoon bird-watching.

Not because he wanted some rest.

In front of the classroom stood the Fifth Hokage.

He was wearing a pure white cloak over traditional Uchiha fatigues, and the red and white hat sat upon his head.

He gave the impression of a powerful man, if one who didn't sleep enough.

Stern but kind.

Loving but unbending.

He occupied both the role of the Fire Shadow, as well as the head of the Uchiha clan.

Uchiha Fugaku had come to encourage the students before the exam.

It seemed to be working, Naruto thought, looking around him and seeing the hopeful face of his classmates.

Well, probably not on him. He had learned something that there stood an obstacle in his "drop out of the academy and learn about chakra by himself" plan.

There was simply no way to resign from the Academy this late.

He had tried asking the teachers politely, and less politely too.

You either got out before the end of the first year or you were on your way to join the corps.

Which meant he'd only have one option. Sabotage himself. He'd fail the exam and force the teacher's hand.

Which might look suspicious since he usually was a top three student.

"What do you mean, you failed?!" Ino screeched. "This makes no sense at all, you know all three of the academy techniques, I've seen you use them!"

Naruto winced at her volume. Ino really was emotional. At least Biwako would likely not be so loud.

He shrugged. "Guess I must have panicked."

"You're about as anxious as Shikamaru." So not very much.

"You never know when nerves will get you."

"What are you going to do with your life?" She threw her hands in the air.

"Ino-san, I'm eleven."

"…Still."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Well, I thought that maybe… We could have been on a team together, with Sakura. Wouldn't it have been nice?" She seemed shyer than usual, somehow. He wondered why.

"Nah, I think the teachers…" He thought. "Or maybe the Hokage, I don't know who makes the teams. Well, someone had already decided that you'd be on a team with Shikamaru and Chōji. With Asuma as your teacher."

"Pfft." She frowned. "Now it doesn't seem like I have a choice, with you out of the game."

Naruto held back a smile. Now he could finally focus on learning more about chakra, without this pesky ninja thing in the way.

"Don't worry, Ino-san. We'll always be friends."

She blushed and looked away.

"I know, stupid. Who else would want to hang out with someone so stiff anyways?"

"What do you mean, the genin reserve corps?!" Naruto screeched.

Hiruzen winced at his volume. Naruto really was emotional, sometimes.

He continued working on his painting, as if unbothered.

"Well, that's where the people who still manage to fail the exam after six years in the academy go." He shrugged.

"B-but…"

"Wouldn't want to waste all this ninja training, right?" Sarutobi-sama, the traitor, had the audacity to wink at him.

"But I failed. How can I be a ninja if I don't know the basics."

Sarutobi laughed. "Don't think you're the first person trying to bend the rules. Once you enter the academy, you're in."

Seeing Naruto's face, he sobered.

"But I understand your dilemma. Being a ninja is hard, and requires a lot of sacrifices."

Naruto looked up, surprised.

Sarutobi was looking through the window, melancholic.

"We live in a pretty messed up world, don't we. You either remain powerless, at the mercy of anyone stronger…"

Naruto was hanging on to his words. This had been his dilemma.

He had long since realized that no matter what he thought about ninjas, he would have to get stronger if he wanted to be free.

Laws and rules were nice, but they meant nothing in the face of a man with enough power to bend a whole village.

And there were many such people.

"… Or you learn how to protect yourself and the people you hold dear."

Sarutobi-sama was thinking of something else.

"My father was a great ninja. Sarutobi Sasuke, I believe one of your classmates was named after him. But he knew what being a shinobi also meant. The loss of innocence, and the certainty of becoming a killer."

"Why did he let you become a ninja then?" Naruto blurted.

"Because he knew that no one can protect everyone. And while he'd prefer to shelter me from the cruelty of this world forever… It was not his choice. But mine."

He patted his biceps, still strong, even in his old age.

"So he trained me the best he could, before he died. And he made sure I never forgot why I was doing it, either."

This was part of the tragedy of Konoha, and of the ninja system. As long as you had people you cared for, chances were you would take up the headband yourself.

"I know you don't seem to think the Will of Fire is something very… tangible."

Naruto blushed. Sarutobi-sama laughed.

He looked at him, his brown eyes shining with compassion.

"If you want to renounce the shinobi life, you probably will be able to, in a few years, four years or so depending on the contract." This was the only lie he had told him today. A jinchūriki would never be allowed not to fight, but neither he nor the village knew about it yet.

"But the time will come where we might find ourselves at war again. And your friends will be in danger."

Naruto thought of Ino, of Sakura, little Konohamaru. Shikamaru and Chōji.

Even Sasuke, for some reason.

He sighed.

"I get it. I'll be a ninja, old ma-… Sarutobi-sama."

"Well great! Now get back to train some more!" He exclaimed, jovially.

"Wait what?!" Naruto shouted in anger.

"Well, yes…" Sarutobi looked at him slyly. "We wouldn't want the worst ninja to get promoted — on a technicality, at that — to get too far behind!"

"Y-You old…" Naruto fumed.

"Especially one who hasn't managed proper elemental manipulation at what…? Eleven? At your age I was already working on my third." He laughed loudly. Truth be told, it was the second.

Naruto screamed, and left, slamming the door.

He sighed when Naruto was gone.

This was no attempt at manipulating the boy, but even if he had tried, he didn't think he could have done better.

And to think he was not even the Hokage anymore.

It seemed like nobody could really retire from the job alive.