~~Naruto~~

Naruto opened his eyes, slowly and with a justified sense of fear, and dread. He wasn't surprised to see darkness before him; a darkness framed in an endless, colorless fog. It was a haunting reminder that the world after was nothing more than just that; nothing.

Feeling optimistic even when obviously dead, Naruto moved his head about with groggy and emotionless eyes, only to see more darkness with every turn of his neck.

...

In a snap, Naruto was standing on top of the darkness, the endless drop still present under his equally black sandals. Everything surrounding him was completely white now, a stark contrast to what he just saw below.

The blond swallowed not knowing what this meant.

"You're not dead,"

Naruto stopped his staring and adjusted his eyes hearing his own voice. He gasped and life reentered his eyes seeing a version of himself barely six feet across.

He was a perfect copy. He had the same hair, the same clothes -scarf included-, and somehow, the same leaves that usually guarded him.

The other him smiled, "Or is it we?"

"Who...?-" Naruto stopped, feeling his voice small and hard to use. "Who are you...? I'm not using any clones, so... what...? How...?!"

"I'm you," the other Naruto responded, his Dark eyes, the only difference they shared, squinting in amusement. "I'm everything you are. Your true feelings, your grudge. The hatred, the darkness inside of you."

"Hatred...?" Naruto scowled as he pouted. "I don't have hatred... let alone darkness of all things."

Dark Naruto grinned, "You really enjoy playing blind..." He chuckled to himself seeing the blond narrow his eyes back. "You're basically staring at a mirror, dumbass. You can't hide anything from me. Konoha made us, only I'm the result of being hated and hating back. Even if you won't admit it, believe me, I will... You moralless pricks can all go fuck yourselves for all I care."

Naruto stared back for a second as he reflected on his darkest chapters as a child. He recalled the way Konoha used to ignore his existence like he were nothing more than a pest among them; a pawn serving as a sacrifice, as he was now aware of. It ended up traumatizing him. As a result, he sought acknowledgement to the point of obsession...

...

Naruto protected them, and they hated him for it, giving life... to 'him'. A self-defense mechanism his humanity created to keep him from losing his own mind. It was pitiful in a way.

"Why are you here? What is this place?" Naruto questioned, deciding to ignore his other self's crass words. "Last thing I remember is feeling craaazy strong... Then I lost control literally seconds into whatever the hell that was."

"That," the other blond began, already a bit annoyed. "Was what Orochimaru told us we had. Weren't you listening? It's what we inherited from Hashirama-jiji... If you had payed attention to the man trying to kill us, you might have heard him telling us about it. As for your earlier questions: I'm here to warn you. And this place? Hell, I have no idea... But we aren't dead. Of that I'm sure. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. And you," he pointed down. "Well... you'd probably be down there."

"Down..." Naruto swallowed as his eyes once more found the pit under him, seeing it was infinite in size. He felt like he could fall at any moment. "Ok... So are you like, applying for the job of 'tiny voice in my head' or something? Or is this just a one time thing? 'Cause Kyūbi's already got that job and I happen to think one voice is enough."

"No," Dark Naruto admitted, his glow of confidence slipping a little. "Unfortunately, I have a feeling this will be the first and last time we meet. You may be a weaker version, but you're still me. I don't doubt you'll eventually accept me, in which case... I'll be gone."

"A weaker version of you...?" Naruto's pitiful pride surfaced in the form of a snarl. "You literally just said we were one and the same five seconds ago. Who's the one not listening now?"

Dark Naruto shrugged as he nodded. "Fair enough. But don't misunderstand. I am you, there's no denying that." He glanced at the orbiting leafs. "The only difference is that I've accepted everything we are. Something you've worked hard to stop."

"Everything...?" Naruto was starting to feel uneasy hearing him say that. "What do you mean...?" He actually felt a little scared to ask. "When you say everything...?"

"I mean everything," Dark Naruto whispered, his grin growing again. "Zabuza was right. There's something inside of us. Something that can help us grow exponentially stronger. A philosophy, a curse, if you will... But I don't see it as that. No, I refuse to call something so willing to help us a curse..."

Naruto's eyes widened into two white, comically large saucers. "Like the Uchiha's Curse of Hatred...?! No way... that's bogus, man. I'm a Senju, not a whiny Uchiha!"

Dark Naruto released a thundering laughter hearing that. "Of course we aren't Uchiha, idiot! We are stronger than those emotionally deranged pricks. We have always been stronger... But don't confuse our Curse with theirs. We don't lose ourselves like they do. We aren't that pathetic. Ours is entirely unique to us, though by us, I mean you, Hashirama and me. There's something there... inside of Hashirama-jiji... inside of us... and I'm starting to doubt it all sources from us being Senjus, there has to be more..."

"And you say you're stronger than me because of that?" Naruto asked, bemused. "You aren't even sure what's inside of us, yet you claim you're stronger because of it," he huffed. "I find your ominous bullshit hard to believe... Hell, I'm starting to doubt any of this is real! How could you be stronger just by accepting the Curse? It makes no sense!"

The other blond smiled, kunai in hand. "Is that so...?"

Dark Naruto severed the distance separating them faster than Naruto could blink. The latter could do nothing as his throat was slashed at least three inches, deep enough to sever the jugular vein.

Blood erupted everywhere.

~~Forest of Death~~

It took Tsunade no less than ten seconds after Jiraiya had blasted Orochimaru across the Forest to try and resuscitate Naruto. It was pointless, everybody knew that. But nobody dared to say it. Not when her tears were so real, when her cries made them shudder. At times it felt like the moment would go on forever.

The devastating scene was something Sasuke got a front row seat to. The day had scarred him in a way that would never heal.

After realizing it was no use, she got to work. It didn't seem like she had accepted reality, more like she was keeping it together out of sheer stubbornness. Like something was driving her.

...

As the able Genins rounded up the injured and sat them next to each other, Tsunade went through each individually and started with the ones that needed it most. Hinata was the obvious first candidate, but Neji was a very close second seeing as his organs were battered and bruised; putting it gently. Ino needed some serious stitching that needed attention as well.

The atmosphere in the area was dreadful.

Nobody muttered a word as Tsunade wordlessly came to treat them. Instead, they did what they could to make it easy for her and turned when she asked. Sakura loyally followed after her and served as her assistant, her gaze downcast and avoiding eye contact. Tsunade, unlike Sakura, was bottling up her distress and quickly making sure none of them would die.

She turned to the rest of the Rokies and sighed seeing them so crestfallen; they were far too young. This should have never happened.

Shikamaru had been unconscious for a miniscule three minutes and had woken up to the sight of Naruto on the floor, dead and with Sasuke staring down at him. A simple patch was on his head and a few wraps were around his wrist. It was all he needed after today's battle. It was childish, but Shika felt the caliber of his wounds didn't live up to the situation at hand.

Lifting his still swollen eyes, Shikamaru internally whimpered seeing Naruto's body.

The Nara heir squeezed Ino's shoulder and gave Chōji a brief glance before standing up; the latter stared, worried. He made his way to Naruto and slouched right next to him. He took a moment to check on Sasuke and saw him sitting next to a tree, alone and with his head between his legs.

"I failed..." Shikamaru muttered, his voice cracking. "And pretty badly, too... You ended up having to sacrifice yourself for us..." He placed one hand on Naruto's chest, and removed his friend's headband with the other. "I'd make a pretty lousy Chūnin... don't you think... Naruto...?"

The cheeky retort he secretly enjoyed never came.

Shikamaru grinned remembering the many times Naruto had grinned back. He stared at the reflection given by his headband and couldn't stop the tears from welling in his eyes. A couple fell on the headband, right over the carving representing Konoha.

'Shit...' He gripped the headband in a fierce and powerless vice. 'I... honestly can't believe this is happening...'

A part of him, the naïve side, truly thought Naruto was invincible. That he couldn't be touched without the devil himself acting on it. But as Shikamaru watched the moisture dissipating from Naruto's lips, he was made aware that being invincible was a fairy tail; one with real world consequences. It made Shikamaru realize that the world wasn't as simple as he'd thought.

"I could've done so much more..." Sakura said as she assisted Tsunade with Ino. "If I hadn't been so stubborn, I could've used what you taught me... I could've helped... If they'd been any closer, I would've..."

"Failed to do anything for them," Tsunade finished for her. She smiled despite her harsh honesty. "Whatever you draw from today, Sakura, remember this feeling of powerlessness. I've been there more than enough times to know that it's helped me get to where I am today. Never forget it."

Sakura nodded as she hid her tears and secretly thanked Tsunade for pretending not to see them. "I'm going to become the best damn doctor ever... shannaro..."

Tsunade nodded, "Convince yourself first. The acknowledgement of others usually comes on its own." She retrieved her glowing hands from Ino's stomach. "You'll live. Everyone will. I doubt some of you will be able to participate if preliminaries come your way, but you'll be fine..."

Kiba instantly snapped out of his depressing thoughts, his recently mended arm rustling hearing Tsunade's words. "Preliminaries? For the second exam...? Shit, she did not just say preliminaries..."

"Yes," Shino stared through his cracked glasses and into the suddenly cloudy sky -it was bright and sunny five minutes ago-, his head against the giant root he and Kiba were using for support. "Yes. I believe she just did."

"Then, all of this..." Lee ripped the green grass from under him, his head bandaged but his body otherwise unharmed. "Naruto-kun's sacrifice... everything we went-...!"

"Enough with the weeping," Tsunade coldly cut-off. She stood over Ino having finished her treatment and spoke like a commander addressing her emotionally bankrupted troops. "You're all ninjas now. Death of a loved one is something you will no doubt have to get accustomed to. I've lived long enough to know that."

Silence overwhelmed the small clearing.

The whole group gasped as the surrounding forest suddenly lost its color, taking on a much more dark and lifeless tone. The trees shriveled and browned, until they were darker versions of themselves that looked fed up, and simply wished to die.

Leaves began to fall all around them, most of them looking as if death itself had touched them. Some of them actually took detours in their natural paths, as if influenced by an invisible force nobody could detect.

"What in the world... is this...?" Neji softly asked, his arms serving as support. He activated his Byakugan and half heartedly looked about, hoping to see something in the leaves' movements. His pale eyes widened seeing a pattern. "They're trying... to reach him...!"

The group turned toward the place Neji was staring at. Their breath hitched seeing the leaves acting so strangely. They were looping back and forth as they fell, until only Naruto's spot on the ground wasn't covered in a blanket of leaves. The phenomenon was obviously linked to the blond's death...

In mere seconds, a near perfect circle was where Naruto's body rested, surrounded by shriveled and lifeless leaves

~~Naruto~~

He was caught off guard and in a strange new place; but that was no excuse...

Naruto had never suffered a more serious injury. Nothing could even come close, not even the little training accident he suffered with his grandfather several years ago. That memory quickly paled in comparison within the first few seconds of the injury taking shape. The pain was simply instantaneous.

All he could do was instinctively clamp his eyes shut.

...

Naruto expected the body's natural response to overwhelm him, to make him delirious at least, but nothing happened.

He reopened his eyes prepared for the soaring levels of panic that would surely follow, but noticed that his throat was back; as if it had never been sliced to begin with. It was like the moment had turned into a distant memory. One where little could be recollected. Yet he had no doubt his throat had just been slashed open, despite even his breathing being normal again.

He gingerly massaged his throat and swallowed the bile keeping him from speaking, cold drops of sweat making trails down the sides of his forehead.

Naruto remembered something Tsunade told him a few years ago, back when he still lived in the Daimyō's castle. 'A ninja capable of coming within arm's length undetected is how he shows superiority... absolute, superiority.'

The smile on his other self's face said they had shared the same thought. And that kunai spinning around his finger was making him anxious in ways he never knew possible.

Naruto was starting to feel he should take the guy a bit more seriously.

"Don't confuse me with our little Genin friends," Dark Naruto warned, his eyes flashing a yellow that momentarily flooded his body with Natural Energy. "I may be everything you are, but unlike you, I've accepted the Curse inside of us. In a way, it's turned me into what Orochimaru wishes we were; heart and soul dedicated to getting stronger... I'm what you should be after all of our training and experiences... I am literally yourpotential."

'I've only met a few ninjas that can move faster... and I can count them with one hand...!' Naruto was speechless again; he didn't know he had that much latent potential. "You're saying the Curse is as much a part of us as our Mokuton is, right...? It's the only reason our abilities are this far apart, despite sharing the same body...?" His brow furrowed in confusion. "You can even use Hashirama-jiji's Jutsu... but at our age...?! We barely found out about it, and it's your first time...!"

"I'm only using small surges we've had since our Leaf Shield manifested, it's nowhere near as impressive as a full transformation," Dark Naruto smirked. "But at least I'm aware the surges exist... The Curse has made me more sensitive to Natural Energy than you've ever been. I feel we're still missing a piece from a three piece set though; something is keeping us from full-on Senjutsu..."

"Even if it is only surges you're using," Naruto started. "They're still drops from the same fountain. To be using it so early..."

"Technically, the first time we used it was against Zabuza." Dark Naruto's face sobered up. "Orochimaru's seal was the catalyst; the second piece in our set. Like it or not, that thing destroyed our floodgates and kickstarted our development by forcing us to process large amounts of Natural Energy... we nearly died because of it. Still, it's obvious that snake fucker knows more about Senjus than we ever did."

"So if I accept it..." Naruto wouldn't lie; that amount of power was very tempting. It would no doubt make him the strongest of Konoha's current generation, if not the world. "I'll be able to use that technique?"

Dark Naruto scoffed, amused. "No. Maybe if you trained harder first; your chakra simply isn't strong enough to handle it. Believe me it's not that simple. And even if you did find a way, you will never be able to use it to its full potential. Not until you accept us. Only then will Senju Sennin Mode become your own."

"Senju Sennin Mode..." Naruto disliked the idea of having to accept the Curse, even if it did make him much stronger. "You're this strong... and you took this long to show yourself to me... Why?"

"Negative emotions fuel me, not just individual strength," Dark Naruto turned as he -to Naruto's relief- stored his kunai away, showing his back, where the Senju crest rested. "I came into existence before our Mokuton did, unlike the Curse. Up until then we were the same ability-wise. But when the opportunity to become stronger presented itself, I took it, you didn't. At this point your hatred wasn't anywhere near the amount I needed to make my presence known, even during our absolute hell of a childhood."

He sneered feeling Naruto's body tensing behind him. "But that all changed the moment Orochimaru nearly stomped Hinata's head in. I've never felt more alive... we felt even stronger than in our fight with Zabuza. We were about to peak; one moment away from reaching a milestone in our path to be the greatest. Just a little more... and we would have..." He physically shivered at the thought. "You would have surpassed me, I don't have a gram of doubt..."

Naruto was gawking at a realization, "It was you..." He clenched his teeth. "You were the one upping the balance I had in our fight against Zabuza, you and the Kyūbi...! And with Orochimaru and Neji, that concentration I felt as we fought, it was the Curse influencing me... through you...!"

"We were improving as we fought, and I kept you alive against Zabuza," Dark Naruto claimed, his head snapping back. "If you'd fought as half-assed as you did from the beginning, you would've gotten us all killed. I don't care how strong you think you are, I'm not going to risk Hinata's safety just because you don't have the balls to embrace who we are. The Kyūbi's chakra did what it had to... Yet another difference we share: Kyūbi actually likes me..."

"Kyūbi would like someone as unhinged as you!" Naruto was fuming hearing his words. One thing was messing with him, but an entirely different thing was messing with his friends. "You could've gotten my friends killed!"

Out of anger, Naruto swung his arm and caught a leaf between his fingers.

"Don't blame me for your own weakness," the blond quickly retorted. "It's not my fault your mind was clouded after hearing what our old man did to us... Speaking of which, you haven't spoken to Tsunade-obaa, have you? I wonder why?" He sneered feeling Naruto withdrawing into his shell. "You're scared of what she has to say.