Naruto: The Scourged Mist

He felt so tired… how could he not fall asleep at such a crucial time like this? In just five hours he would be graduating from high school.

*Sigh*

"Damn it, It's already three in the morning!"

He angrily pouted to himself well hitting his mattress. Its padding making the hard thud, sound like nothing more then a soft whimper.

Just clear your mind and relax, try to think of sitting by a nice lake on a windy night. The boy thought to himself, well twisting his bed covers every which way to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

"Ya, that's sounds nice.."

As the night slowly lingered the man slowly drifted off into a state of unconsciousness.

.

"Wake up itaru, we don't have much time before the entrance exams begin!" A high pitched voice yelled incessantly.

"What?" Itaru said in a daze, his eyes starting to open.

"How could you sleep in on a day like this! You know the consequences if we don't show up on time, come on let's go!" The boy said well pulling the groggy man out of bed.

"Where am I!" Shouted the man, beginning to panic

"Why are you acting stupid, We have to go now!" The boy said well pulling harder on him.

Where am I and who is this boy? Why is this child in my room! Hundreds of questions began rushing into his mind.

The boy who was pulling him looked no older then six, he had a youthful appearance fitting of a child with bright brown hair and blue eyes.

"Let go of me kid!" He yelled well shoving the young boy.

The young boy stumbled back before catching his footing.

"What are you doing Itaru, this is not the time to be messing around!" The boy's voice squeaked.

"Why are you calling me Itaru kid, get the hell out of my house!" Roared

the man angrily.

The young boy looking dejected, did not approach him again rather keeping his distance.

"Your Itaru stupid, get dressed i'll meet you in line." Said the young boy before running off.

As the man began to get his bearings, he looked around the room he was in.

It was massive with hundreds of cots lined up next to each other, with just as many children running around and yelling.

It was disorienting with the voices of hundreds of children echoing off the walls of the room, The only light being a small sunroof which let in a beam of sun.

The man jumped to his feet, standing up on his cot. Confusingly trying to figure out the situation he was in.

The cot next to his had a young girl on it who was frantically getting dressed.

"What is happening right now?" The man asked confusedly.

"What you don't know?" The girl looked at him shocked.

"It's admissions day for the academy, were us orphans get placed into our respective academy class based on exam results? how don't you know this?" Asked the girl, now even more confused that he was.

"Oh, yeah I forgot.." Said the boy unconvincingly.

"Ha with that stupidity, I know I don't have to worry about you taking my spot." Said the girl before going back to getting dressed.

The man having bigger problems then the insult, began to look around his cot, finding neatly folded clothes under it.

I don't know what this academy is or where I am, but I should probably get dressed quickly. That one boy that was talking to me earlier. Seemed very concerned for me to get dressed.

As the man began to frantically change his clothes into the plain white t-shirt and black pants he found, he noticed that his body was young, to young…

It was the body of a young boy the same age as all the other kids in the room from what he had seen.

"This can't be happening to me!" He yelled in disbelief.

"Shut up!" A boy's voice shouted back at him from the sea of kids around him.

Is this why that young boy called me Itaru, am I a child now! Itaru thought to himself in disbelief.

"Silence!" Shouted a booming gritty voice which echoed throughout the large dormitory.

Itaru's body froze up at the mere sound of the voice, which seemed to happen to the other kids as well. As there was not a single sound that permeated out of anyone after the command.

The entirety of the complex went quiet and of the hundreds of kids there was not one who took another step.

"All of you low cast trash line up in rows of fifty, if I find a single one of you are out of line, you all will be severely punished!" The imposing man's voice echoed throughout the room.

The man was large, no more then just large, he was a giant! His body was covered with muscles and deep scars that showed a history of long, hard fought battles.

The man wore a gray armored vest with a black tanktop. Which showed off his massive triceps, but the most visibly striking part of his appearance was a large broadsword that was the same size as him.

Itaru couldn't even comprehend the words the man said, as his body was to scared of the man's aura to think of anything, but of how easily he could be kill by him.

"Well, you peasants, start moving!" The man said impatiently.

With that, all the children seemed to be broken out of their temporary paralysis. Quickly moving towards the center of the room to get in lines of fifty.

It was almost ominous how quiet it was, the once lively room turned to eerie bleakness.

Itaru followed suit, nervously stepping toward the front of the room with a crowd of other orphans.

In all after about two minutes there where exactly ten lines of kids. All different sizes and shapes, but they were all wearing the same plain white tshirt and black pants.

"Good, now all of you fallow suit. If anyone steps out of their line for even an instant, you will be severely reprimanded." The giant roared.

With that each line fallowed after each other quietly and quickly, moving as if all the five hundred kids where one entity.

"Where are they taking us?" Itaru nervously whispered to the kid in front of him.

"Stop talking to me before we both get a beating." The boy angrily grunted back quietly.

This is bad really bad, I don't know where I am and where we're going. Also I can't get any information out of anyone, these kids seem to scared to even talk right now.

But that man, he can't be human right? I mean what kind of monster is that big! I doubt I could land a hit on that guy even if I was a master martial artist, much less in this child's body.

Damn it, damn it, how did this happen! Is this a dream, this has to be a dream right? Yea, one horrible nightmare that I need to get out of!

Itaru's eyes where darting around like a scared deer trying to escape from a predator.

His body was sweating excessively, his mind was racing with thoughts. It felt like at any moment he would pass out from the sheer incomprehensibility of the situation.

*Thud!*

A quick kick slammed into Itaru's frail body like a truck, its force knocking him to the ground.

"We told you to stay in your damn lines, how hard is it for you to keep your feet straight!" A young man in the same gray vest as the giant, roared at Itaru.

It was so quick, so strong, I couldn't even react, what just happened? Thought Itaru well holding his now bruised side, trying to catch his breath.

I must have stepped out of line on accident while I was freaking out? That must be the punishment they were talking about.

Ugh, I can't stand up it hurts so bad. How did this young man no older then fourteen kick me so hard?

"Get up now boy!" The young man yelled, his voice getting more irritated the longer Itaru sat on the ground.

"Yes, sir I'm sorry" Itaru said quietly.

"Don't speak trash!" The young man said mockingly back to him.

With that the journey continued, each child walking methodically through the mist.

As the orphans continued walking the more Shinobi appeared around them, closely observing every child, waiting for one of them to slip up and step out of line.

The longer they walked the thicker the mist got and the more screams of pain Itaru could hear behind him.

Why are they doing this to us? What did these kids do to deserve this? This must be some kind of mental and physical test, but who would do this type of test on mere kids? Thought Itaru as he held his side, the pain slowly subsiding.

But that damn kid that kicked me, he couldn't have been older then fourteen. Yet he wore the same vest as that man who is leading us, what kind of places is this?

What type of society has fourteen year old kids and grown men doing the same job?

But this environment is so odd, I have never seen mist so densely concentrated before. I can't even see that giant man who was instructing us before, did he leave the front of the line or is the mist just that dense?

It's also strange that more of these guys in gray vest are appearing around us, I count six watching us right now. Could they be the reason this fog is so dense, hard to say as I don't know this region and it's usual weather patterns.

After about twenty five minutes of walking through the dense mist, the booming giant man's voice echoed across all five hundred kids.

"My name is Fujiwara Ryota but you will call me master Ryota, I have the misfortune of proctoring your academy exam."

"You low cast scum are what us ninjas call meat shields, you're measly lives have only been kept alive to serve Kirigakure!"

"We have sheltered you orphans for six long years, for six years the people of these lands have paid for you wretched parasites to eat!"

"And as compensation for that, you will live and die for this village. You will likely die on some foreign nations soil, alone and pathetic! Like the low cast scum you are, who have no right to be called ninjas!"

"But hey maybe if you show some meager skill you might not be another meat shield for us superior ninjas!"

"As you all know you are one of many orphanage's in Kirigakure, each having just as many low cast scum as yourselfs. That means you are replaceable, we have thousands of third cast children entering the academy each year."

"This is not to mention the other thousand plus first and second cast citizens who will be entering the ninja academy this year."

"In other words, you are just another soldier!"

"No one will cry for you, no one will remember you! The only record of you third cast trash, is the file we keep of you!"

"You are only alive to keep the economy of this glorious nation afloat!"

"Now let the academy exams begin!"

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"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭

Thank you for reading the first chapter of this very, very long book!