Ok, so, yeah, new story. I really couldn't resist, I've been having this one on my mind a lot lately, it has to do with my favorite subject after all. Magic.
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With a small smile on his face, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, looked at the small, four-year-old, ball of energy by name of Naruto. Well four today. And the blond child was really excited about his present.
"What is it, old man? Huh, huh? What is it?" Sarutobi chuckled and moved to the side, letting the blond see his present.
"So what is it?" Confusion replaced the previous excitement.
"A mirror, Naruto. It's a mirror." And it was. Almost ten ft. tall and five ft. wide, with intricate gold tracings on its frame. At the very top there was a small circular space.
"Who gives a kid a mirror?" The four-year-old asked.
"Never mind that now." Sarutobi chuckled sheepishly. "I had to get rid of it somehow; it was taking up space at the Closet." He was referring, of course, to the room where all the previous leaders of the village dumped everything they didn't understand. "Just enjoy it."
"Alright, fine. But it's gonna get broken." Naruto muttered lowly.
"Yes, you'd think so, wouldn't you?" The Hokage took out a kunai from under his robes and smashed the blunt end of it against the glass. There was a dull thud, but the mirror didn't even waver. "But I don't think you'll need to worry about that." The child slowly nodded, his eyes wide. "Now I have to get going. Happy Birthday, Naruto." The Hokage patted the boy on the head and left.
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The December of the year after, two months after Naruto's fifth birthday, found the still-young child outside, looking over the shiny, colorful stalls of the travelling merchants that came to the village every year. He especially liked these visits because that was the only time the villagers didn't dear to do anything to him, for fear of driving the merchants away.
So there he was, laughing and enjoying himself like a normal child would, looking at all the weapons, jewels and other sparkly objects, when he bumped into one of the villagers.
"Watch it, brat." The man growled at him, shifting his left arm uncomfortably inside his coat, but didn't do anything else.
"Hey, mister, what's wrong with your hand?"
"Nothing, brat, go away." The man growled, looking behind him.
"Hey, stop that thief!" A plump merchant in colorful garb was running towards them. The man's look turned to panic for a moment and he took off, fleeing from the merchant. Or, rather, he would, had Naruto not acted on impulse and stuck his leg out, tripping the villager.
The moment the thief got ahold of himself and managed to get up the merchant was on him, sqeezing his arm tightly. "Got you. Think you can steal from me, huh? Nice job kid, thanks a lot."
"I won't forget this you little brat." The villager sqeezed out through his teeth.
"Oh shut up. Say, kid, why don't you come with me. I just need to drop this stupid fellow off to the local authorities and I'll show you to my stand. I think you'll find something you like there."
"Thank you, sir, but I don't have any money." Naruto smiled a little at the kind man.
"Don't worry about it. As thanks for helping me, I'll give you one item for free." Naruto's smile widened and he ran after the big man.
The pair dropped off the villager to a random Anbu along the way, and it wasn't long before they got to the stall the merchant was so proud of. He was one of the jewelers that came, maybe even one of the best. Naruto didn't really know how to tell the difference, but all the items he had for sale looked very well made. He took out a necklace with a tear-shaped amethyst on it and put it with the rest.
"So, take a look, tell me what you like." He motioned at the jewelry. Naruto stood on his toes and peered at the table. He scanned over several very beautiful rings made from everything from diamonds to opals, pretty necklaces and pendants, but nothing drew his attention. At least, until he got to the very last item in stock. It was at the far corner of the table, and seemed almost separated from the rest. It was a beautiful golden sphere of about 8 inches in diameter, and engraved with flowing golden vine-like shapes. At the very center of it was a dark sapphire.
"There, I'll take that. Naruto said after only a moment of thought.
"Hm, strange you should choose that. Nobody's ever bought that before. I've had it for at least ten years. But a promise is a promise. You can take it." He thanked the merchant and ran to his house, clutching the sphere to his chest.
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Entering his house, Naruto took a beeline straight to the mirror he had gotten last year. He looked up, at the circle on top, and then at the sphere. From down there it looked like a perfect match, just as he thought it might when he first saw the engravings, but he needed to be up there to see for sure. The mirror was 10 ft. tall. He wasn't even 3 ft. 2. This wasn't going to be easy at all.
An hour later, and several falls from various heights, Naruto managed to climb up to the circle using a bunch of chairs and other implements and, having judged why the hell not, put the sphere he got inside it.
A ripple went through the glass of the mirror, but nothing else significant happened. Sighing in disappointment, Naruto tried to climb down, but his foot caught the chair and the whole construction tumbled forward. The chairs fell in a heap at the foot of the mirror and Naruto's face went straight for the glass. Expecting a solid impact, he was very surprised when the mirror ripped again when he contacted it, and he fell through. The mirror steadied from the final ripple before turning completely solid.
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He did, however, impact a hard, stone floor on the other side. Quite hard, in fact.
"Ugh." Naruto was dazed for a moment, but managed to collect himself and get up from the floor. The room he was in was circular, large and well lit. There were candles burning on the two windows that were on opposite sides of the room. Every other wall was lined with bookshelves, filled with books, scrolls, boxes and many other things. In front of him was a desk with another candelabrum and a very big book. Behind that was a staircase leading down. Behind him was a replica of the mirror he had at his house. Only this one had an emerald at the top.
Naruto tapped the mirror's glass. It was completely solid. So, having nothing else to do, he moved to the desk and looked at the book. It was easily as big as he was, and just as thick. He opened it on the first page, with some trouble.
"Encantus? What's an Encantus?" Naruto muttered to himself. "I'm guessing the book, right?" He said to no one. "The Encantus of Galadrion the Wise, last Archmage of the Academia Arcana. Mage? You've got to be kidding me." No answer. "This is a book of magic? Oh, I'm so glad I can read right now."
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A week later, back at the village, Sarutobi had finally managed to find time to visit the small blond. He was very surprised, however, to find chairs strew all around the big mirror he had given him, but the boy himself nowhere in sight. Acting fast, he organized a search with his best Anbu trackers, but, even after a week of searching the village and surrounding areas, they found no sign of him. And so, with a heavy heart, he had informed the Council of the boy's disappearance. They caused an uproar, demanding he be returned or branded a Missing Nin, but they could do nothing.
Unfortunately for them, this was not the last they would hear of the blond. Not in the least.
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The actual magic part of the story, I thought you'd like to know, will be kind of a mix between the Forgotten Realms magic system and the Sorcerer's Apprentice magic system. The movie. So, there will be schools of magic, but no strict spells to speak of. It's kinda complicated.
Next chapter I will introduce eight people who will be Naruto's apprentices. One for each school. And later, when they get to that level, they will in turn be taking students. The first eight are already picked out, but the others aren't, so I'm open to any suggestions.
