Just the start of something meant to keep the boredom away. I'm not sure how long this will turn out to be, but in my mind it is a pretty comprehensive story. It will likely mix up events and time lines in the Rosario Universe a good deal, but ultimately hold true to the overlying themes. Writing a canon story with a non canon character is just not appealing. Besides, this is a Naruto-centric story.
I hope you all enjoy the story. I appreciate reviews, and offers to beta other works.
Notes at the end.
The Path between Humans and Demons
Chapter 1: The Choice
Updated: 12/20/2011
It didn't matter how deep his dreams would go. His memories hunted him down, tearing at him when he was his most vulnerable.
He could see fire. Burning forests. Homes lying as ash in the streets he swore to protect.
Cries of the dead rang in his ears. The silence of the dead weighing on him.
Pain. His pain. Their pain. His body's pain after striking down his opponent. His heart's pain at seeing everyone he cared for dead.
He had sealed himself so that he could rest. Hidden so none could seek what was trapped within him.
All that he had left were the dreams.
Yet something was calling to him. Something like Chakra, yet warmer. For the first time in centuries he felt loved. And as he felt it weakening, he felt as if he remembered something important.
Even if it was only for a moment, he wanted to stand up and protect something precious again.
Tsukune was moving before he had fully thought on what he was doing. Moka-san was about to land another blow on the defenseless Kurumu-chan, and he couldn't bear to watch the fighting anymore. He had seen the power this inner Moka-san possessed, and he truly believed it was enough to break the other girl.
Before he had made it halfway though, the world suddenly grew tense. A force so heavy it stole his breath away had entered the clearing. For a moment he could imagine his death flashing before his eyes. Images of claws, teeth, fire, and tempests filled his mind. The shock of it sent him to his hands and knees. Whatever this power, it made Moka-san's look paltry and weak.
Then it was gone. As if it had never existed, leaving a void in its wake. It was as if the color had been drained from world. Leaving it gray and lifeless.
Looking up, he was greeted with the sight of a smiling blonde boy only a few years his senior. Judging by his demeanor, he didn't appear concerned by the fight he had landed in the middle of. Though, with the power he held that seemed hardly surprising. In fact, all he was doing was looking around curiously at everything in sight.
Still, something about the boy sent his hair to standing on end. Even with his youki hidden, he looked dangerous. Outwardly he seemed harmless enough. The sun kissed blonde hair and blue eyes, signs of foreign blood, seemed to give him a cheery look. He even had a set of whisker marks that, while a little strange looking, helped to sell the appearance of someone friendly. But it was everything else that had him on edge.
Tsukune was not a fighter by any means, but he could tell this stranger was strong. His build, well over six feet, was lean and muscled. And he held himself in a way that looked like he was ready for a fight, even if he gave the impression of being nonchalant.
"Now why would two cute girls be out here fighting?" The stranger angled himself to more fully cover Kurumu-chan, and placed his hands behind his head, smiling at the vampire.
Moka-san crossed her arms, scowling as she tossed her silver hair back with a flick of the head. "My quarrel isn't with you. So unless you want to get hurt, move."
The mysterious teenager cocked his head to one side, looking at the Vampire oddly before he looked over his shoulder at Kurumu-chan. Turning around fully, he knelt down next to the succubus. "Was that mean old lady back there picking on your? Is that what happened?"
Moka-san's eye twitched once, and her voice got especially cold. "What was that?"
"Seems her hearing is going too," he sighed. "Are you all right? Let me guess what happened. The old lady got jealous that you're way cuter than she is. Am I right?" Despite her obvious confusion, the blue haired girl looked slightly flushed at his praise. Before Kurumu-chan could say anything, Moka-san ran at the boy, drawing back a leg to kick him.
The only thing she hit was a rotten log, destroying it in a shower of splinters.
"Woah, dangerous lady there. Say. You're going gray, have a huge chest, AND you have super strength? Your clan name wouldn't happen to be Senju by any chance, would it?" Above them, the blonde was standing on the highest branch of the tree while holding Kurumu-chan bridal style. The demon girl seemed to finally shake off her shock, though, and jumped away from the blonde, using her wings to touch lightly upon the ground. At all this, the boy just pouted. "Look. You scared devil-chan away."
His opponent growled, jumping high to deliver one of her signature round house kicks in an attempt to shut him up. Tsukune gaped as the man only leaned back far enough to let the kick just miss his nose. Continuing with her momentum, Moka-san continued to try and pummel on the blonde, only to keep missing as he dodged each strike. The man wasn't even faster than Moka-san. If anything he appeared to be moving like an ordinary human, yet he was dodging each strike as if he had known where she would be attacking from.
With a final roar, Moka-san tried one last hay-maker punch, forgoing her refined style of fighting for a rage fueled attack. Smirking, the man palmed her bicep, halting the attack as he stepped inside of her guard. Placing his other hand on her forehead, he pushed the vampire off the branch they were standing on. Moving quickly, Tsukune ran to catch her, collapsing under her body weight, but at least preventing her from being hurt.
Looking down at the normally inflappable inner Moka, he was surprised to see her looking stunned and at a loss for words. In a violent move, she grabbed the Rosario and reattached it to her collar. In a way, the action made Tsukune think she had wanted to sulk in private.
He looked up at the sound of a slap, and was surprised to see Kurumu-chan's hand raised and the blonde's cheek turning red. "What is wrong with you?" The succubus was raging now, leaning in close to the blonde's face. "You could have killed her!"
Tsukune blinked. He wondered if this was a good time to remind the girl why they had originally come to this clearing. Still, the man looked calm enough in the face of the angry demon. Instead he just took to scratching the back of his head and looked at Tsukune. "So...mind explaining what the hell is going on here?"
Naruto sighed.
He always did seem to land himself in the largest mess possible. He had hoped that after a thousand years he would be cured of that little problem, but it seemed some god was still counting on him to provide morbid entertainment. What was worse was that he couldn't remember what it was that had convinced him to wake up.
Somehow he woke up to a school full of monsters. In the middle of a fight between a vampire and a demon.
At times like these, he understood why Baa-chan had started to drink.
Still, in a way it was good to stretch his muscles again. Now that he was awake, there wasn't much he could do about it. It seemed there were problems brewing in this new world, and all knowledge of what he once was would have faded into obscurity. It would be safe to stay here so long as he was careful not to call attention to the power he held inside.
And there was always the silver haired girl vampire. She reminded him of some of the clan members he had known back in the day, and aside from her wanting his blood, pun intended, she had made for a good time.
"So, let me get this straight," Naruto said, pacing back and forth along the front of the abandoned classroom they were using. "This is a school for monsters. And the whole point of it is to teach them how to interact with humans without being discovered. Which I totally don't buy since most of the monsters I knew would rather eat a human than play dress up as one. And that girl over there," here he pointed at the unconscious brunette, "is a vampire. And the one I saved is a succubus."
The Tsukune kid nodded solemnly. "That's right."
Naruto laughed. "Right. And I thought I had a hell of a time at school. You really got the short end of the stick, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?" The average looking boy was looking too nervous, and Naruto rolled his eyes. Boy couldn't out bluff Tsunade in a game of poker with that face.
"What I mean is that you're clearly a human. What has a human all mixed up with monsters like these? They put you on the lunch menu?"
The boy looked scared half to death, looking around wildly as he put a finger to his mouth in a gesture to keep quiet. "Shh! I'm not supposed to be here. I have no clue how I ended up getting admitted to this place. If I'm found out, though, I am as good as dead. So please, don't tell anyone." Tsukune pointed at the girl resting behind him. The vampire was still asleep, and looked far kinder for it. "Moka-san here is the only other person who knows. But aside from her, this has to stay a secret. I'm begging you."
Naruto scratched his nose. "Wasn't like I was going to tell. I'm human too, and I'm not looking to bring too much trouble down on my head either. Though it makes you wonder what kind of school would teach its students to get along with humans, then kill one if they ever screwed up enough to let one in." He chuckled, "Not like it worries me, of course. Monster or not, the Rokudaime Hokage is no easy target."
"You're human too?" Tsukune looked confused. "But what about that youki before? And the fighting. I've never seen a human who could hope to take on Moka-san and survive."
Chuckling, Naruto walked over and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder. "It's called chakra. Something that all human's can do. At least, I think so. I never did pay close attention to the theory in school. And as for the fighting, well, I was already fighting people that make her seem like a harmless puppy when I was 15."
"What do you mean? You look hardly older than 18. And what kind of enemies could be so strong that -" Tsukune looked ready to go on, but Naruto held his palm up, silencing the boy. A moment later the devil girl, Kurumu-chan if he remembered correctly, entered the room. With a large smile and a skip, she latched herself onto Tsukune's arm before turning to glare at Naruto.
"All right you! Move away from Tsukune before you hurt him too. I already asked the teachers, and they don't know any student that matches your description. So you better be ready to get kicked out when they find you here."
"Umm, Kurumu-chan," Tsukune interrupted, looking down at where she was hugging his arm to her chest. "It's not that I don't appreciate your worry, but, about earlier, um..."
Naruto smiled at the succubus. "What he means," he said in a chipper voice meant to annoy her, "is that you just tried to kill him and his friend. Which begs the question why you're clinging to him now." The other boy nodded. "And besides, you're so mean devil-chan. I come out of nowhere like a good hero, save you, and you were the bad guy all along. Shouldn't I be the one getting thanked?"
Naruto pouted after casually leaning back to avoid a swipe of her tail.
Kurumu nuzzled her head into Tsukune's shoulder. "Well, I was wrong. I saw you moving to save me, which shows how brave you are. Just like how you saved Moka-san. I think I could fall for a guy like you, Tsukune."
The boy was saved an awkward situation when a groan from Moka caught all their attentions. Sitting up, legs straight out in front of her while she rubbed her eyes, she looked like a little child waking from a nap. "What's going on," she murmured.
Tsukune carefully pried himself away from Kurumu, going over and kneeling next to the vampire. Placing a hand lightly between her shoulder blades, he turned her just enough so she was facing Naruto. "We're in school, talking to Naruto-san here. He helped us outside when things got a little heated, and made sure that none of us got hurt. Isn't that right, Kurumu-chan?"
The succubus crossed her arms and turned away from Naruto. She gave a grudging grunt of agreement, and Naruto beamed at her, which only caused her to turn further away. Turning to the other boy, he gave Tsukune a thumbs up before walking over to kneel in front of Moka. "Nice to meet you Moka-chan. I have to say you're a lot less scary when that old hag is in that necklace of yours."
Moka looked confused, but bless her innocent heart, hid it well. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Naruto-san." Moka bowed her head, "I'm sorry if we inconvenienced you."
Naruto waved it off. "Don't worry about me." Leaning closer, he stage whispered so everyone else could hear, "Though, if you could get Kurumu-chan to stop being so mean to me, I'd be grateful."
Without looking in their direction, Kurumu's heel came down on his instep, causing Naruto to let you large tears. "See what I mean? Won't you make her stop before I lose my toes?"
"Kurumu-chan, please stop hurting Naruto-san," Moka sighed.
The blue haired girl gave Naruto one last glare at Naruto before storming to the door. "Fine. But remember, if you want to be such good friends with this idiot, then it will be all that much easier for me to win Tsukune's heart." Opening the door quickly, she stepped forward without looking, her face smashing itself into that of an older woman with long dreadlocks. Next to her stood another lady whose hair was styled in a manner resembling cat ears. And both of them were staring at Naruto intently.
Sighing, Naruto stood up and moved slightly away from the teachers. "Seems like you guys finally decided to stop hovering in the hallway. Which means that your superior wants the inevitable meeting with me where he makes veiled threats against my person. And just when I thought Kurumu-chan here was about to go get some ramen with me."
"In your dreams, blondie."
"Now now Kurumu-chan. We can discuss my dreams and the part you will play in them later. First, I have to run." With a salute, Naruto gathered some chakra, and before the teachers could close the distance to them, he teleported out of the room. Going to the place where he felt the least chakra or energy at all, he ended up in a large underground chamber. He groaned. It always had to be an underground chamber.
Still, it would work.
He had every intention of going to see that headmaster. Eventually. If he had faced a student with a low jounin's ability, he wasn't sure what he would be facing when he met the person who ran this school. And he had his secrets to keep. While he could hide his chakra well, there was no guarantee his control wouldn't slip soon and give up the game. He already knew he could handle himself in a fight with only a small amount of chakra. The people of this time didn't appear to be as adept with the combat arts as he was used to. True, he had only faced a student, but from the sound of it, a vampire was a big deal. If he could take down one of those, he should be alright against most opponents.
Calling on a handful of clones, he got to work.
In a deserted location like this, the seals he would place to mask all the energy within his body would go unnoticed. No one would be the wiser when he sealed his powers.
At the cardinal points of the room, he began to scribe the intricate seals required. North, beseeching the gods of air and sky for their wisdom. East came the cleansing fires. South was the purity of the seas, the ability to mold the energy into the correct form. And finally earth to the west to stabilize the elements, and bring its form.
Kanji began to cover the floor, until it left a small circle for him to sit within. Four clones stood at the key seals, ready to activate it with a flare of chakra. Taking a deep breath, he sat in the middle of the design, and gave a single nod to his clones.
The chamber filled with a bright blue light as his seals came to life, the symbols and shapes forging the energy into something new, something meant to trap his powers under many strong barriers. He would only be able to access them in the most dire of circumstances now, and none would be the wiser. He refused to have another mad man chase him down for the being living inside of him.
A few moments later it was over. The chamber was quiet. Empty of all the seals and all other life. Sitting there panting, he clenched his fist, sensing the amount of energy within him. He had about the same energy a chuunin would have had in his day. That allowed him the use of all but his most powerful jutsu, only he would have to use them more sparingly from now on.
There was one way to remove the seal, but he hoped it would never come to that.
Suddenly, he twisted around as the sound of a footstep drew his attention.
Stepping out from behind a rock was a strange man. One with his face hidden in shadows, and nothing but a soft gleam coming from his eyes. He wore a strange white pair of robes, and it put him on edge to know this man had gotten the drop on him. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"
"I believe that is my line. No matter. I am the headmaster at this school, and I walked." Naruto kept his eyes on the man as he walked towards where a cardinal kanji had been. The man inspected the ground for a second before turning to face him again. "Interesting youjutsu you just used, young man. Would you mind telling me what it was you were doing?"
Naruto crossed his arms, using the motion to hide the fact his hand had gone to a hidden kunai kept in the folds of his vest. "Depends. Are you going to answer my second question or not?"
The man grinned, showing off teeth that were just a touch too white to be normal. "A suspicious mind. Wonderful. I'm not sure what sort of magic you were using, but when it blocked off the feeling of youki from this place, I knew something was wrong. There was so much strange energy in the air, it was easy to enter unnoticed. I also must ask what happened to your dopplegangers. I've never seen a technique quite like it, and they disappeared before I could get a good look."
Silently cursing himself, Naruto relaxed his senses for a moment. It was true. The chamber was not filled with chakra, which he had been looking for, but it seemed to be filled with some other type of energy. Clearly it was the energy that these monsters seemed to favor.
Naruto smiled. "It's a secret, you know. I thought I wasn't supposed to give away what sort of monster I was. Are you testing me headmaster? I admit, I should have come to you first about enrolling, but I got distracted and before I knew it, had to take care of a few things."
"Oh ho? Really now?"
Clearly the man didn't believe Naruto's story, but he had him in a corner. His own rules said that he was to keep his 'monster form' a secret. Unless he wanted to break that rule and force Naruto's hand, he wouldn't be allowed to pry anymore. At least, he hoped so.
"You're certainly right," the headmaster began, "excuse my prying ways. Whatever your ritual was for, I can no longer sense your inner beast, and so I cannot complain. A most excellent disguise." Naruto felt a drop of sweat collect on his brow, wondering how much the man knew already. "Ahh, but look at me rattle on. If you could just give me a name, I'll make sure to have your student registration taken care of right away."
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Nodding, the headmaster began to leave the chamber. As he reached the door, he stopped for a moment, not bothering to turn around. "Welcome to the Youkai Academi, Uzumaki-san. I do look forward to seeing what you and Mr. Aono will accomplish." And with that, the man was gone.
Naruto stood there, waiting to make sure the man was truly gone. He let out a shaky breath before he began to gather his sealing equipment. He had a feeling that his desire to avoid conflict in this new time had just abandoned him with the headmaster.
Notes:
- I hardly follow any manga and anime anymore, so bear with me if I make mistakes. The last time I read Naruto manga was years ago, and I am not exactly up to date with Rosario, either. That being said, some things will not be mistakes, but deliberate changes.
- In terms of power, I must admit, it isn't overly important. I include this because I know there will be inevitable arguments about power, though. So as a general guide, the rough demon to ninja power scale is:
Genin = Average monster. Strong enough that they can take out humans easily enough, but nothing too special.
Chuunin = Most of Tsukune's harem. Kurumu, Mizore, etc., would be about equal to an average chuunin. A cut above the rest, but still rough and unrefined.
Jounin = Inner Moka is a low level jounin. Still quite strong, and heads above the average demon, but still only Jounin. Akua would likely rate as a high level jounin.
Kage = Akasha Bloodriver. Probably Touhou Fuhai when he was in his prime, though I imagine him still being something of a "low level" kage, if you will. More like a sannin.
Now, why would I do this? Because while the demon world is vicious, it still doesn't train it's people to fight in the same way that Naruto's world did. Most people are not warriors, and rely solely on their demon blood to carry them through a fight. Those that are warriors, are correspondingly higher. If Inner-Moka trained more, she could easily use the power granted to her at a higher level.
Naruto is very much a chuunin in terms of power right now. He has sealed his chakra so he has only the reserves of a chuunin. And ultimately, he is still human. In a straight up contest of physical prowess, he would lose to a demon. But given his fight training, it more than makes up for it against the vast majority of untrained fighters.
I hope that avoids any flames about making anyone too weak!
Peace out!
~Ryl