Background Information
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Naruto
Canon: AU, Post-Apocalyptic
Age: 23
Timeline: 300 years after a world-wide apocalypse left few survivors to restore civilization as best they could.
World Information: In the 300 years that have passed since the apocalypse, the few survivors tried their best to restore society. Uchiha Madara and Senjuu Hashirama formed an alliance to found a utopia, Konoha, where everyone could live peacefully. But the Uchiha discovered a mind-control device they dubbed Sharingan, which had been left over by previous generations from before the war. Using this power to brainwash people into fulfilling his demands, Madara rose to power.
The Senjuu, who began to ask too many questions, were cast out of the utopia they helped to create and were left to live like animals in small towns and villages, and occasionally even under the earth. Over time, they began to create a resistance effort. Resources were monopolized by the Uchiha victors who were running the world as a dictatorship. Having been tipped off, the Uchiha began to search for the traitors, raiding, killing, and controlling them, capturing and returning their children to their families with ticking time bombs in their clothes or programming them with Sharingan to kill their parents.
After 40 years of bloodshed, it was believed the Uchihas had put down the opposition, but the resistance, small and beaten, began to rise once more.
History: Naruto grew up as a member of the resistance.
As a boy, his father, Namikaze Minato, was scavenging through rubble when he found a photo album that contained the torn, faded pictures of a family that had lived there before madness shook the world. Falling in love with such peace, he made a decision to find and join the resistance. As a member of the group, he rose quickly through the ranks, becoming known for his speed and quick thinking, and was given the codename “The Yellow Flash.” He was most famous for regularly raiding the Uchiha camps and rescuing captured villagers. He met another member, “The Red Kyuubi,” Uzumaki Kushina, who shared his dream of peace for the whole world. She was an energetic woman who wore nine braids in her hair, each with a feather at the tip, and she was just as passionate about freeing their people from the iron grip of the Uchiha.
Thus, they were married and Naruto was born. He was given the codename “Little Fox,” and he grew up training under his father and their extended family to aid the resistance.
One day, when Naruto was seven-years-old, his father brought home a young, nameless boy about his age. Minato had saved the boy along with a group of village children, but as the child had lost his memory, he had no way of telling them where he belonged. Minato and Kushina decided to adopt the boy, and he was given the codename Taka.
The boys became adopted brothers. They did everything together, but they were opposites in every way, and after five years of living together, they still couldn’t stand each other. When Naruto and Taka were twelve, Naruto left with his godfather, Jiraiya, to do some special training--or so he was told. They returned to find Minato and Kushina dead, and their camp site covered in blood. Confused and upset, Naruto turned to his godfather for answers, but the older man didn’t look confused at all. “Taka was Sasuke,” he had said to him, “The second son of the main Uchiha branch. Your father knew this, had always known this, and he wanted to have a word with him alone. But...Sasuke...must have betrayed them.” Naruto would always remember his godfather’s words, and afterward, he made it his mission to find and kill Sasuke. His whole life, his parents had marked his face with red lines--war paint for his little warrior, Minato had called it. To honor his mother and father, Naruto gave himself three scars on either side of his face using a dagger, and ever since then, each time he went into battle, he would trace them with red mud to gain their blessings and guidance.
As a teenager, Naruto became infamous amongst the Uchiha army. They called him “The Uzumaki Fox,” a nightmare combining the stealth of the Yellow Flash and the rage of the Red Kyuubi. He ruined Uchiha plans, damaged their property, and wreaked havoc, as well as stirring up the supposedly “controlled” public. He was a threat, and the Uchiha were searching for him.
And as he grew up, his grudge against Ta--Sasuke grew with him, until years later he was finally captured by the Uchiha. Naruto was brought before an Uchiha interrogator, and when he looked up, there was his number one foe, the killer of his parents. Sasuke had him taken to a cell and arranged to question him alone, but when he arrived, much to Naruto’s surprise, Sasuke admitted that he was a spy, the mole who had been leaking information to Naruto all along. He had been hidden amongst the Uchiha by Naruto’s father and was working for the resistance.
Together, they escaped the Uchiha compound, and over time, Naruto came to understand that Sasuke hadn’t killed his parents. Minato had known that the Uchiha were coming for their missing son, and in an effort to protect both Naruto and the resistance, he had sent Naruto away. The Uchiha had taken Sasuke and killed Minato and Kushina, but not before Minato had given Sasuke a final set of instructions: to aid the resistance by becoming a spy. It was the role he had been grooming him for ever since discovering Sasuke’s true identity.
Once all of the facts were out, Naruto learned to trust Sasuke. Together they led the resistance in infiltrating and fighting their way into Konoha, and they were just at the brink of winning the final battle when Naruto was sucked out of his world.
Personality: Regardless of the harsh environment he was raised in, Naruto believes life should be celebrated. He is loud and energetic. His godfather, Jiraiya, and his team leader, Kakashi, both taught him the value of laughter and teamwork. He likes watching children play freely, dreaming of the future he wishes to bring them, hoping the world will laugh as carefree as the children do when they play. His favorite food is ramen, when freshly prepared. He is flirty and funny around girls, but he’s in love with Sakura, one of the medics who aids the resistance, though she doesn’t return his feelings and actually falls for Sasuke. He often steals and sneaks around, likes to pull pranks, and he likes to tease and smile a lot. He tries to focus on the positive things in life.
Naruto always carries a picture of how the world used to be, taken from the photo album left to him by his father, and he often looks at it to remind himself of what they’re fighting for. He carries a flask of red powder, which he mixes with mud when preparing for battle before spreading it over his scars in honor of his fallen loved ones. He also wears his mother’s feathers and carries his father’s knife. Naruto uses a small flute that makes the yipping sound of a fox to signal his comrades, and they reply with their own flutes, shaped to make wolf, deer, cricket, frog, or barking dog sounds. He wears a bracelet with knickknacks and charms on it given to him by people in the various towns he has visited while trying to bring them hope and reminding them that the people shouldn't fear their government.
He can’t stand anything fake and corporate, since everything manufactured is owned by the Uchiha. He hates the idea that “ideal beauty” is fair skin, black hair, and dark eyes just like the Uchiha and how everyone in his world tries to look like them.
And he is terrified of ghosts.
Abilities/Additional Notes: Naruto is talented at sneaking around and going unnoticed. As a child, this aided his pranks, and as an adult, it’s made him very good at spying and sabotage. While he’s very skilled in hand-to-hand and close combat and the use of small blades, he’s weak in the use of long-range weapons, such as guns. He often wears a gas mask and goggles into a fight to avoid the tear and nerve gas used by the Uchiha. Unlike canon Naruto, this Naruto doesn’t have access to ninja chakra.
Third-Person Sample: “Ahhhhh!” Naruto punched the ground with full force. “Ahh...fuck...” He ripped off the gas mask covering his face and shook his hand to alleviate the pain. “Son of a bitch!” The soldier he had expected to hit had vanished.
Where the hell were the explosions? The gas grenades? The--”Oh shit!” The gas mask smacked his face hard as he slammed it over his nose and mouth. Why had he taken it off to begin with? The Uchiha were always throwing tear gas into a fight.
The red-scarred warrior looked around. All he could see were deteriorating buildings. Everything had gone silent; the cries of war, the screams of battle, and the guns that had been firing were all gone.
“Where the hell am I?” He dug inside his pocket and pulled out the flute he had inherited from his father. Tentatively, he lowered the mask from his face and took a shallow breath, testing the air. When he realized it wasn’t poisoned, he took a long, deep breath and let it out loudly, enjoying its freshness. “Well, the scenery might be shitty, but the air sure feels good.”
He gripped the flute in his palm, pressed it to his lips, and blew. “YIP, YIP, YIP, YIIIP!” The flute’s fox-like sounds filled the air. He waited, but there was no response. “YIP, YIP, YIP, YIIIP!” He waited once more, but there was nothing. No wolf, no frog, no cricket, nothing. He licked his lips and was about to blow again when he caught sight of something. A window in one of the crumbled buildings was reflecting what he thought might be someone’s hiding spot. He was sure he had seen something move.
“Hello?!” Naruto took off towards the building, trying to find out where the person had gone. He looked left and right. Again! He saw the reflection of something moving in the distance. “Hello!” He tried chasing it. He could hear the faint steps in front of him. “Sasuke?!” He ran.
He passed by the mistreated buildings and ignored how nature had reclaimed the areas by growing through them. “Sasuke, is that you?!” He tried his best to hear the quickly fainting footsteps. He ran past stairs, signs, streets, opened windows and trees, but he couldn’t locate the person. All he could do was follow the sound.
The sound brought him to the library, where the last thing he heard was “Shhhh....” before it disappeared. He wandered inside, still searching, but his eyes went wide at the sight of so many books in one place. The only books he had ever held were those Jiraiya had used to teach him to read and the photo album his father had given him years ago. Here there were rows and rows of them, all covered in dust.
He took one of the books from a shelf and flipped the pages, noticing the pictures in it. They belonged to the city. They were pictures of what it used to be. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded picture, opening it beside the book and comparing the two. He looked at the landscape and the cared-for buildings. Though the areas were different, they were very much the same. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He smiled. “I dunno where the hell I am, but it used to be nice.” He grinned dreamily, imagining how great it must have been. But the pictures had also reminded him that he had a mission, and he didn’t have time to slack off. Returning the book to the shelf, Naruto turned and made his way back out the way he had come.
“Where the hell are Sasuke and Kakashi. The old man. Anyone!” Determined to find his comrades, Naruto searched for them. He passed by trees and broken down buildings, occasionally blowing his flute in hopes of getting a response. Moments after crossing an obviously abandoned road, he noticed a few gray stones ahead. Usually, stones like those were code for a rebel house lurking in the shadows, hiding from the dictatorship his people were under. With the hopes of having found allies, Naruto’s excitement had him running toward them. “Sweet!”
As he made his way, he noticed the stones were well-shaped and had names as well as dates on them. Like...gravestones...
“Fuck!”
Naruto stumbled and fell into an empty spot that had been waiting for a body. Shakily, he pulled out a couple of knives and began climbing his way up. As he climbed, he wondered if he had died. During battle, did someone suddenly shoot him in the head, and from the heat of it all, he hadn’t noticed? “So...am I in hell?”
His hands were trembling as he reached the top and lifted himself up. The frustrated fox looked up to the gray sky and screamed, “Where the FUCK am I?!”
He heard children laughing and quickly turned toward the sound. Nothing. “Oh, c’mon!”
But the laughter was still there.
This time, he watched his step as he followed it all the way to a deserted amusement park. “Okay... this is just...wrong...”
He looked at the deserted go carts and found himself staring at a child that suddenly disappeared. “Oh shit!” His heart raced. He stopped and held a hand to his chest. “Calm down, Naruto...it’s all in your head.” His body was shaking. Ghosts were never his thing, and if he could have it his way, he would wish for a life where he was so dense, he would just never notice them.
“No...it wasn’t a--” Naruto walked close to the cart and looked inside of it. Nothing. The child clearly hid inside there. Maybe there was a trick to the cart that only he knew. Naruto tried moving it, hitting the front and back of the cart. “But I just saw--”
Laughter again. This time it was to his left.
He spun around and came face-to-face with a grinning clown ride that looked like a deformed caterpillar. Its mocking happiness made him feel dizzy, and he could have sworn he saw its eyebrows knit in mischief. For whatever reason, it reminded him of his parents’ dead bodies. He could see them vividly lying there with a river of blood draped all over their clothes.
The lost warrior doubled over and began to throw up. “Fuck...” He used the side of his arm to wipe his mouth. Despite the possibility of being completely alone, he decided to look for others. “I’m sure I’m not the only damned soul in this creepy place.”