Naruto: Pride - chapter 1 (Patreon)

“Damn you Greed, have you forgotten you are one of the homunculi?” I cursed as I saw Greed once again betray father, “Where is your honor?”

“So he should just be a good boy like you doing everything his father tells him is that it?!” Edward Elric snorted.

I eyed the pathetic worm for a brief second before replying, “Do you need to ask such a ridiculous question? It’s only natural we should want to obey our father, no matter the order,”

Edward Elric chuckled as he tried to break free from the shadow keeping him in place, “You’re the one that’s ridiculous, so it’s only natural to be a brainwashed punk who doesn’t even try to think for himself!?”

I glared at him, a human judging a superior being, laughable, “Pathetic,” I muttered under my breath, slamming the pitiful human a couple times to the ground with my shadows, each hit being welcomed with a shout of pain from him.

“Explain it to me” Edward muttered, his face laying on the ground, “Why are you so eager to be his willing lap dog?” Me? Father’s lap dog, I was his most loyal son, his most trusted ally, I wasn't his lap dog, I was his son, “He’s wearing you ragged, breaking you down… and he doesn’t even care,” Father didn’t care… this pa-- he did leave me down here… but it doesn’t matter, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, it means he knows I am more than enough to deal with these rats opposing us, and it even if he didn’t care… Why should I care if father doesn’t!

“Why should I care if father doesn’t!” I hissed, why were his words getting me angry, I was pride, no other feeling should surface, I am the one, the first, the prideful, and yet, this little human is infuriating me, was this what wrath always felt?! “I am not a puny weakling like you are, I AM ONE OF THE HOMUNCULI! What do you know, HUMAN!” I growled, punishing my shadows into his body, making him scream in a symphony of pain and agony. This conversation, this fight… there was no point in wasting my time with him anymore, it was time to end his life.

“You bastard!” Edward shouted, blood dripping from where my shadows were invading his body.

This was the destiny of those who opposed the Homunculi, those who opposed father, but I suppose in the end I must grant this pathetic excuse of a life form some gratitude, after all, his body would help me prolong my life, as I was already running low in fuel, ‘This container won’t last much longer,” I sighed, seeing as my current body was slowly undoing itself, and while normally finding an appropiety vessel would take decades, I had what I needed right in front of me, “But don’t worry, like my father… you are a Hohenheim, in a way… we are virtually brothers… so be happy Edward Elric for your life will in the end be worth something,” I smiled at him, much to his dismay, “Your body belongs to me! Edward Elric!”

“What!?!” Edward asked, fighting a futile fight against his end, when all of the sudden, a pain greater than anything I had felt before brought me! Pride to my knees.

“What?!” I hissed, confused… something was happening within my container, but what?!

“I won’t let you have it… pride,” That voice, Kimblee… but how!? “I won’t let you take his body, it’s not a good fit for a homunculus,” he smirked, this didn’t make any sense?! How was he still holding his individuality within the vortex of souls within me?! HOW!?!

“Kimblee! There’s no way… how could you maintain your individuality amongst this tempest of souls!” No human soul was capable of such a thing, no one had the strength nor the resolution to survive such a destructive vortex of madness and agony.

Kimblee snorted, moving through the tornado of souls until he was face to face with me, “You call this a tempest? The bitterness, the pain… the agony all of these souls contain… it soothes me, for me this is a lullaby!”

Once again, I felt the pain of the souls within me not cooperating, and the shadows keeping Edward in place started to weaken, “Why are you interfering! I don’t understand!”

“Child… I was perfectly content by just watching you tear the world apart… but when you decided to throw away you honor… and pride as an Homunculi… the very thing you represented… I had to interfere,” Kimblee chuckled, with each word… each syllabi… forcing the deterioration of my container even further, “You speak of your precious pride, the very thing from which you were made of, but when in great danger…. You do the very thing you boasted to despise, by throwing away your so called pride by trying to use the body of a human, or like you call them… the lower life form on this planet, it’s pathetic!” I… wasn't throwing away my pride! I-I “You’re a disgrace!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Edward cried, ripping the shadows that kept him in place, I was gonna lose…. Edward… he was going to kill me! I didn’t want to die! I wasn't supposed to die!

“Reap what you sow… Homunculi!” Kimblee laughed from within as Edward clapped his hands, before smashing his left palm on face.

“He’ll kill me!” I cried, if only Kimblee stopped interfering, I could survive, if only!

“If you think that… then you still don’t understand Edward Elric at all,” Kimblee scoffed.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Edward screamed, his alchemy tearing my body, my defences apart.

This pain, was this the meaning of mortality, to fear the end! How could I… the first Homunculi be defeated by a mere human! “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” I cried in pain, the force of his attack pushing me back to the center of my philosopher stone, as I felt how Edward one by one tore the souls keeping me together, Kimblee was wrong, I was most definitely going to die.

“Selim!” What… impossible, he wasn't tearing the souls within me… he was using them to turn himself into a philosopher’s stone!

“This can’t be!” I muttered, seeing Edward come into view, “He turned himself into a philosopher stone, and now is forcing his way inside me!”

Extending his hand, Edward grabbed my head, “I caught you! You are mine!” This was it… this was the end… father save me!

“Stop this,” I muttered, as images of Wrath and Mrs Bradley flashed before my eyes, “Stop this!” images of all the fake moments we shared, all the family moments we created as a facade… moment of lies... why was I thinking of them… why was I pride wanting to be saved, “Please STOP!” I begged one more time, before Edward crushed me.

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What is death? That was a question I never actually considered too much, I knew the concept behind it… I knew, it was supposed to be the end of life. The end of a mortal existence, something that didn’t affect us the Homunculi, except for Wrath, none of us actually cared to understand the true meaning of such a trivial thing. Even then, my grasp of death was accurate, I knew that much, once something died… there was no power on earth to bring that thing back to life… death was the end of everything…. That's why I couldn't really understand the humans who kept praying for the souls of those long gone, what was the point? Their lives had ended. What is there to pray for? Death was the end, and nothing could possibly change that.

Which is why, I was beyond confused as to why I was here… in an empty void, with no beginning and no end, nothing but me… “Where am I?” I wondered out loud, moving my shadowy body around the place, had Kimblee been actually right? Had Edward not killed me?

"Hello," a voice called from the direction opposite I was looking in. And I felt powerless, taking a deep breath, I reluctantly turned around. And what I witnessed was... me. But also not me. Like me it was the same shapeless form of shadows, but instead of being black like me, the being in front of me was white.

"Who are you?" I asked, feeling as if at any moment this unknown creature would end me, "Where are we?"

"Who am I? One name you might have for me is the world, or you might call me the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth, I am all and I am one, so of course, this also means that I am you," My strange doppelgänger replied, his shadows pointing at me, “Fear not though, Edward has already paid the price for you boastfulness,” there was no doubt, this was the being Father wanted to absorb… how foolish, to think he was bound to fail from the very beginning.

“What do you mean by Edward Elric paid the price for my boastfulness!” I asked, I had to know… what was happening?!

“Who knows, the Truth is not yours to know… not now,” The Truth chuckled, and before I could process what he said and ask one again, I heard a strange sound behind me. The sound of large gates opening slowly behind me. A second later, hundreds of shadows pulled me, into the gate, dragging me into who knows where.

"Your mistakes are not entirely your own little Homunculi, since you were created with his knowledge and shared his view on things... you were destined to fail…. Not having the freedom humans have since birth to forge their path… which is why I have accepted the exchange Edward the human you despised to the very end offered me…"

What exchange? what is going on?! “What is happening!”

“Unfortunately, this will be the last time we see each other…” The Truth grinned, and the gates that had finally pulled me in, closed.

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[Shikaku Nara - POV]

Fatherhood was bothersome, but it had its ups and downs I guess, I mean one day I would be able to drop all my work into one of my kids, my heir and the one my wife is currently pushing out of her… one to lead the clan and one to help the Hokage, so that I can nap all day long.

“I will kill you!” That threat? That was my wife, but who can blame her, I can’t imagine what it's like to push a human being out of your body, that sounds and looks rather painful, “WHY DID YOU HAVE TO FUCK ME!? WHY?!”

I could very well say, you weren’t complaining at all when we were doing it, but I like to think I am a smart man, one that wants to live another day, “I’m sorry honey,” I offered her my other hand, mostly because she had already broken the one I had given her, the pains of having a Kunoichi as a wife, with the birth of Shikamaru she hospitalized me for a week… maybe getting a vasectomy is the best path to ensure my future survival.

“Keep pushing!” The doctor reminded my wife, bad choice of words though.

“Keep pushing!? Are you being fucking serious!?!” Yoshino laughed, “And what do you think I am doing?! Having a tea party down there?! After I kill this lazy bastard you are next!”

I looked at the doctor, who was looking at me with a look that said is she for real, “Maybe,” I shrugged, feeling my other hand being crushed under her lethal grip, there goes my capability to finish the reports I have due… huh, on second thought, I think this is working out for me.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Yoshino cried, giving one last push.

“It’s a boy!” The doctor declared, but something was wrong… the baby wasn't crying.

“Why isn’t my baby crying?” Yoshino, who had already forgotten she was mad at me and the doctor, asked the medic ninjas worryingly.

“Don’t worry,” The doctor assured us, “While not very common… not all babies cry when born,”

“Give me my baby,” Yoshino demanded, and the doctor did as he was told, smart man, “He’s soo.. Beautiful,” she smiled at our newest fawn.

“He is,” I nodded, intrigued to his silence, oh well… the less tears the best, unless there is something wrong with him… if that’s the case I have to find a way to help him, but how? Maybe Lady Tsunade, I can track her down, and she-- I was brought back to reality as Yoshino tapped me in the nose, “What?”

“The doctor said he’s fine,” Yoshino giggled, “Wanna hold it?”

“I would love too, but… you broke my hands, and I think two ribs… no, no.. three ribs,” I chuckled.

“That I did,” Yoshino nodded, “So… how are we calling our little fawn?”

Names… that was always a difficult topic, with Shikamaru, we had it easy, we knew before even marrying how he was going to be named, because of the clan, but our newest fawn, he was not part of the plan the clan had for us, not that they cared we had another son, they simply assumed we would have one kid and one kid alone, “Hokori,” for some reason that name felt right, the Pride of our clan.

“Hokori Nara,” Yoshino smiled, “I like it,”