The Loss of Light

Little Uzumaki Naruto silently watched the other children play various games from chasing each other to kicking a ball around, or a mixture of the two. He wanted nothing more then to go and play with them but he knew it wasn’t possible. If he were to go over one of two things would happen, either the parents would pull them away as he neared or if there weren’t any parents around he would be teased about the whisker mark on his cheeks and then the kids would all run off to play something else.

Naruto looked away sadly only to come across a heart wrenching scene, at least for him it was. A small blue haired girl was picking flowers and other small plants with her mother while the giggled about some unknown joke. Naruto was instantly jealous of the girl, having never known either of his parents. The small girl looked up and stared at him, she looked as if she were going to come over but her mother said something else, distracting the pale eyed girl.

Naruto sighed heavily and noticed it was getting dark meaning he should get back to the orphanage before they locked him out, again. He left the park quietly and made his way back to the orphanage, sticking to the deserted alleyways to avoid the crowded main streets of Konohagakure no Sato.

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Hyuuga Hinata looked over to the tree the blonde haired boy was leaning against only to discover that he wasn’t there. She had only looked away for a few seconds but he had disappeared. She looked around the park but couldn’t see him anywhere but none of the adults looked worried at all so there wasn’t anything to worry about. Hinata just assumed he had left with his parents.

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Naruto fell backwards after running into something soft but firm. He looked up as he rubbed his tender buttocks. There was an old man standing in front of him. The old man didn’t look the slightest bit happy; in fact he looked positively enraged. He was sweating up a storm and was so red that Naruto feared for his health.

“I’m sorry sir I should have been watching were I was going.” Naruto apologized to the grumpy old man. The man wobbled a little as he bent down and picked Naruto up by the collar of his jacket.

“So little urchin thinks he can just run into who ever he wants and not be punished does he?” The question was obviously one Naruto wasn’t supposed to answer so he kept his mouth shut. It was then that the man noticed the distinct whisker marks adorning Naruto’s cheeks, causing the man to smirk maliciously. “This is going to hurt you a lot more then its going to hurt me demon brat.”

Now Naruto was in full blown panic mode. He didn’t know what the man was going to do to him but he was most certainly not going to wait around to find out. He wiggled out of his jacket, deciding it was a necessary sacrifice to preserve his well being, and attempted to make a run for it. The man however was too fast, he grabbed Naruto around the neck and slammed him into the stone wall of the alley, breaking some of the small boys ribs as he did so.

“Now, now where do you think you’re going gaki? The fun has only just begun.” Naruto watched the man pull two needle like objects from the pouch strapped to his waist. “Do you know what these are?” He asked, waving the pointy objects in front of Naruto’s face. Naruto furiously shook his head and began struggling even more, all the while pleading for the man to let him go.

“Please just let me go. I am sorry for bumping into you and I am sorry for everything else I did. Please just let me go.” But his pleading fell on deaf ears.

“You want to be a shinobi don’t you?” Naruto nodded as his eyes began to tear up. “Well then here is your first lesson, and most likely your last. These are what we call Senbon needles, they are used to damage the vital points on an enemy nin’s body, effectively disabling them. But these Senbon are different, do you know why?” He once again questioned Naruto, probably taking pleasure in his torture of the small boy.

“No?” He asked when Naruto didn’t answer. “Well then I’ll tell you. These Senbon have a particularly potent corrosive poison, meaning it burns. Even if there was a medic nin here they wouldn’t be able to repair the damage where ever it is I put these, nothing can save you now. I am going to make sure you never become a shinobi.”

Naruto felt a searing pain spread throughout his face. It was so excruciating that he could no longer locate the original source and could not accumulate any coherent thought.

“Wh-What in the world?” Was the last thing Naruto heard before falling into blissful unconsciousness.

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Naruto woke up to muffled voices conversing amongst themselves. He turned his head in the direction the voices were coming from, only to see nothing. He halfheartedly brought his hands up to his face, not really wanting to know what the crazy old man had done to him.

His eyes were covered by some sort of rough material. Before he could inspect further he heard a creaking and scrapping noise that was followed by some footsteps that gradually got louder, he assumed whoever it was was coming to him.

“Oh, I see you are awake Naruto-kun.” Said an old kind voice that could only belong to the aging Sandaime.

“Sarutobi-ojisan?”

“Yes Naruto and I cannot begin to express how sorry I am.” The Hokage’s words were laced with a deep sadness that Naruto was really beginning to worry. “I failed to protect you when you needed me the most.” The old Hokage heaved a great sigh and hung his head in shame. “I am not sure how to break this to you Naruto so I will just come out and say it. He destroyed your eyes Naruto, there was nothing we could do.”

“So you mean…” Naruto trailed off, unsure if he wanted to finish the question but Sarutobi understood anyway.

“Yes, Naruto, you’re blind.” So that was it, everything had been stripped away. His hopes, his dreams and his ambition were all gone.

“W-Wil-Will I ever b-be a shinobi?” There was a brief moment of tense silence as the Hokage thought.

“Yes, there is one way, but it may take years of dedication.” He answered “So are you sure it’s what you want?”

“This changes nothing old man. I will be the best, no matter what stands in my way.” The young blond gifted the Hokage with a huge grin. “It is a promise of a life time!”

“I’m glad Naruto. However we have some other things we need to work out before you begin training. First of all you will not be returning to the orphanage. Instead you will be coming to live with myself and my family. My daughter in law is expecting a child so she will be retiring from the life of a shinobi and I am sure she would love to have you around.”

It was like a dream come true for Naruto, so naturally he celebrated by bouncing up and down on the bed while cheering loud enough for the entire hospital to hear. Sarutobi smiled at the boy’s enthusiasm. There was one advantage to this predicament, he could now take Naruto in without fear of repercussions.

“We can leave now if you want.” Naruto just held his arms out to be carried, a request the Hokage gladly agreed to.

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AN: I noticed that the two most powerful clans of Konoha are Doujutsu clans and they rely a great deal on their eyes. (not really the most startling of revelations.) But it got me thinking about a blind shinobi so here it is.

Ok I know Kyuubi could have probably healed his eyes but for the purpose of this story he didn’t. I tried to make the poison as damaging as possible to make it realistic that Kyuubi couldn’t heal him but oh well. He still has eyes because the Kyuubi could heal that given time, they just don’t work.

I left the pairing relatively open so if you have suggestions then I’m all ears. The only requirement is that they are not Yaoi or NaruSaku anything else is good.

Next Chapter: Family and Foxes.