Outsider Chronicles: Swirling Blades

Ever wondered what it'd be like to be seeing the events of one of those 'Naruto is a hidden badass' stories in person? Well, now I do. Its...interesting. Unfortunately, that also means that Sasuke is a pain in the neck and I have some incredible powers of my own. Aww well, I guess I'll just have to ensure I'm the best I can be.

The main reason I'm doing this is because I wanted to do a story where I can smack Sasuke around. Plus, it'll be interesting to see one of these storylines from the perspective of Naruto's classmates, rather than Naruto himself. Anyway, ONWARDS!

Chapter 1

"What the..?"

I blinked my eyes, but was unable to see anything in the darkness around me.

"Where am I?"

I could feel something surrounding me, pressing in from all sides. Normally such a situation would send me into a panic attack, but for some reason I felt safe and content, as if I was in the embrace of my mother.

"What happened?"

The last thing I remembered I was leaving the Sports Center in the break between rounds to get a drink and then...nothing. At that moment, I was broken from my confusion as my surroundings suddenly compressed, pushing me in the direction my sense of balance told me was down, head first.

"Whats going on?"

The compression hit me again and I caught a glimpse of a flash of light and was suddenly filled with a desire to get out, as well as the familiar indications of a panic attack brought on by claustrophobia, making me even more desperate to get out. It took a while, but a combination of squirming and whatever was pushing me allowed me to finally get out and into the light. At first my vision was a little hazy and I could only make out blurred blobs and my hearing wasn't much better, only able to pick up garbled sounds. My nose was working a little better allowed me to smell that I was in some kind of hospital, although the scent was a little different from what I was used to in medical facilities. Nothing overt, just a very slight difference that indicated that they used something slightly different to sterilize the place.

Then, something impacted my behind, making me cough up liquid I didn't know I had in my lungs.

"Hey, whats the big idea!" I shouted.

Or rather, tried to. Instead the shout came out as a babys wail.

"Oh shit."

I felt someone pick me up, wrap me in something and pass me to another person. I blinked a few times, clearing my vision as best I was able to and looked up at the two gigantic faces looming over me. Well, gigantic for me anyway as I had apparently just be reborn. Well, this is going to take some getting used to.


What...the...fuck. I had finally reached the point where my eyes worked alright and I immediately wished they hadn't. Why? Well, considering the first thing I saw was my new Father cooing over me, it certainly gave me a fright. However, it was more what he was wearing than the fact it was a massive face looming over me. Green flak jacket, dark blue body suit, bandages around the wrist and ankles and finally, a headband with a metal plate carved with a stylized leaf...fuck my life, I'm in the Naruto world!

Well, I guess it...could be worse? I mean, I'm not a Hyuuga or an Uchiha, in fact, my family are mostly Civilians with the only thing we had to our name being a blacksmith and shop that made a killing on Ninja supplies. True, there was a slight headache caused when I found out that my older sister was apparently Tenten, but other than that, I could have completely avoided being put in (too much) danger by completely avoiding the Ninja life and becoming a blacksmith. But...considering what I knew was coming, could I honestly do that without being eaten alive by guilt? The conclusion I came to after having way too long to think about it while being unable to move as a baby was a flat NO!

Just one problem. I had no talent in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Oh, I wasn't like Lee who couldn't use them, but instead I found that I simply couldn't get my head around them. Maybe it was because I was only 4, but Dad taught Tenten and I to access our Chakra pretty early once we made it clear we wanted to be Ninja. After that, it was easy for me to sneak into his, admittedly small, Jutsu library while he was away and Mum was distracted and try to learn some basic Jutsu. Nothing big, just the Clone Jutsu. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get it. I could channel Chakra and even managed to create a passable Clone, but every time I tried, it just felt...wrong for want of a better word, like I was forcing my Chakra to go against it nature.

On the other hand, one thing I was VERY good with was weapons. I could pick up almost any weapon and use it with ease. Hell, I was better at Bukijutsu than Tenten, although to be fair, she was a long way from becoming the badass she was in the Anime. However, the one weapon I excelled at was the bow. In my last life, I had been an avid archer and became so good that my coach was considering putting my name down for a potential spot in the Olympics, but since being reborn, that skill had exploded to the point that I could shoot down a flying hawk.

With the discovery of my talents with weapons, I threw myself into training, not just in weapons, but also in Seals, stealth and speed, making excellent use of our extensive arsenal we had in the garden shed. It was during that time that I discovered my second talent. When I channelled Chakra into something, I found that I could perceive just about everything about it, right down to its atomic makeup and, from there, reinforce it in ways that no other Ninja ever could. I could make a sword sharper and stronger, increase the defencive properties of cloth to the point it was like steel armour and even increase the quality of ingredients put into food to improve the flavor and nourishment it provided. It was actually a lot like Reinforcement Magecraft from Fate.

Anyway, when I was seven, I entered the Academy. At first, it wasn't really that much different than normal school, other than the addition of Tai, Nin and Genjutsu training and the fact the lessons were done from a Ninja's perspective. Since I was only a year younger than Tenten, I was in the same generation as Naruto's class, although the blond himself wasn't in the class yet. He was actually in the same class as my sister, but I knew if he failed, he'd end up with us.

I had never actually met the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, although I had seen him around. While my Parents weren't among those who hated the blonds guts, they were still wary of him, so I was told to keep my distance. Frankly, I was glad to. Call me cold, but I really don't fancy ending up on the Villages bad side considering what they did to Naruto during the Kyuubi Festival. It...wasn't pleasant.

Other than Naruto, my actual Classmates weren't a bad lot. Sasuke was a little annoying, but not as bad as I was expecting. Then again, the Uchiha Clan had not been wiped out yet, so he had no reason to be a brooding Avenger. Sakura was annoyingly loud, but wasn't a fangirl and was still friends with Ino, Hinata was adorably shy, Shino was silent, Shikamaru was lazy, Choji was fa...big boned, Ino was a gossip and so on. Honestly, there's not much to say about them.

I was mostly an average student, with the only areas I excelled in being weapons and Taijutsu, making excellent use of the martial arts training I'd received in my last life to become the best student out of all the non-clan students. People like Kiba and Choji, who's clans excelled in Taijutsu, regularly kicked the crap out of me, although I was actually quite a bit stronger than them, largely thanks to time spent in the Forge.

During our lesson on the basics of Genjutsu, I made a discovery that threw me for a loop. I sucked at Ninjutsu, but Genjutsu came to me as easy as breathing, even more so than weapons. In fact, I was so good that the Genjutsu we were taught (a simple and largely useless technique that created flashing lights and sparks, similar to fireworks) nearly blinded the entire classroom and actually caused physical effects when the sparks landed on people and 'burned' them. Once the Jutsu was canceled, the skin of the areas that had been 'burnt' actually turned red as if they had been hit. Not even Kurenai was capable of using Genjutsu to such a level. Needless to say, I was shifted into a slightly different course dedicated to potential Genjutsu masters after that.

Then, a year after I started at the Academy, the class dynamic suddenly shifted. The cause of the sudden change was the Uchiha massacre. Once Sasuke returned from the (quite understandable) leave of absence he had been afforded, he had changed. He'd gone from a slightly arrogant but friendly boy to a moody avenger who was given just about everything on a silver platter. He became the darling of the teachers and most of the girls, resulting in a landslide of Fangirls who quickly made me realize that beating the arrogant brat in anything wasn't worth the headache after I easily got a better score than him in marksmanship and nearly suffered a ruptured eardrum from Sakura's screeching about how I must have cheated. I didn't make that mistake again.

Other than Sasuke and most of the girls in the class becoming the most annoying things on the planet, nothing much worth talking about happened. Tenten graduated a few years later as Kunoichi of the year and was assigned to Gai's team along with Lee and Neji, who I had the immense misfortune of meeting. Lee was a great guy once I got past the fact that, yes, he really does look like that in real life, but Neji was the most condescending and arrogant bastard I had ever met. I mean, I already knew that, but seeing it in person and being on the receiving end of one of his 'Fate' rants (directed at the fact I was still having trouble with Ninjutsu) really pounded it home.


It was also that year that Naruto entered our class, having failed the year before. Now, while I'm sure that everyone else saw him as nothing more than the Dobe he portrayed himself as, I couldn't help but feel that he was hiding something. It was nothing concrete, but when Iruka had introduced him to us, I noticed that his eyes had momentarily sharpened and scanned the room. It was just for an instant and I thought that I might possibly have imagined it, but it was enough to make me curious.

"Alright Naruto, take a seat next to Shiki," said Iruka, pointing at the empty seat next to me.

"OK!" said Naruto and sprinted up to take the seat.

I eyed him as he sat down, more than a little curious.

"Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he said.

"Nice to meet you," I said, holding out my hand, "Shiki Emiya."

We shook hands and I took the opportunity to scan Naruto. Almost immediately, I knew something was up. Naruto's entire body was covered in seals, seals so complex that I could barely comprehend them. From what I could gather, they were mostly resistant seals, meant to increase the amount of effort required to move. You know, the kind Fanfic authors abuse the hell out of to make Naruto stupid strong? Yeah, those. I could also detect multiple Storage seals, the contents of which I could sense were scrolls of some kind. Oh, and I could also detect the Kyuubi in his gut and, unless I was very much mistaken, that Chakra had a very feminine bent to it. There was also something else present, a seal located on the small of Naruto's back that seemed to be hiding something, although for the life of me I couldn't figure out what. It was incredibly complex, even more so than the Resistance Seals, and the only thing I could grasp about it was that it was supposed to hide something. Exactly what that something was however is anyones guess.

"Emiya...thats Tentens surname," said Naruto as he let go of my hand and broke the connection.

"Thats right, shes my sister," I said, "She told me a bit about you. Apparently you're not a very good Ninja."

Naruto twitched.

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm a great Ninja!" said Naruto.

I chuckled.

"I suppose thats true," I said.

Naruto gave me a sharp look, but before he could say anything, Iruka started the lesson.


Later, I was walking home when I suddenly sensed a presence following me. It was well hidden and, under normal circumstances, I never would have been able to sense it. However, since I had scanned the owner of it just that morning, I was able to detect it. Just. I smirked.

"Alright, lets see if he can keep up," I muttered as I channeled Chakra into my legs and took off at high Genin speed through the streets.

I was easily the fastest student in the class, having long trained my speed to complement my skills with weapons. I even wore weights like Lee, although I'd be replacing them with Resistance Seals as soon as I got the chance thanks to the knowledge I'd gained from scanning Naruto and his Seals. However, it looked like that title may not be mine for long since Naruto was easily keeping up with me.

"Hmm, not bad," I muttered as I glanced over my shoulder, "Alright then, lets go somewhere private for this conversation."

I caught a flagpole and used it to change my direction as I headed in the direction of TG7. A fitting location for a chat if nothing else. I landed in the middle of the training ground and turned around.

"Alright Naruto, you can come out now!" I called.

For a moment, there was silence, before the blond dropped out of a tree, an oddly serious look on his face.

"Impressive," he said, "Not many would be able to detect me. Even a Hyuuga would have trouble spotting me."

"To be honest, if I hadn't scanned you earlier, I wouldn't have had a chance of detecting you," I said.

"Scanned me?"

I smirked.

"I can use my Chakra to scan anything I touch," I said, "It tells me just about everything about an object, from its composition, to its age and even some of its history. In your case, it showed me all of the Seals you have on your body, from the Restriction, which are fricken awesome by the way, to the Genjutsu Seal on your back. I couldn't see through it though, so it must be an incredible piece of work."

Naruto, who had stiffened when I mentioned I could find out everything about him, relaxed when I said I could see past the seal on his back.

"Sounds like an interesting technique," said Naruto, "Where did you learn it?"

"I didn't," I said, "Its just something I can do. I think it has something to do with a unique nature to my Chakra, possibly a latent Kekkei Genkai, but I honestly don't know."

"I see," muttered Naruto, "So, what do you want?"

I blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You came here for a reason, right?" asked Naruto, "Its out of the way and theres no one around, so out with it. What do you want?"

I blinked again before snorting.

"Man, I know we're training to be Ninja, but you are way to paranoid kid," I said, "I don't want anything from you, at least nothing so badly I'd threaten to expose you or anything. Considering how the Villages treat you, I'm not surprised that you're hiding your power."

Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, if they knew how strong I was, they'd try even harder to kill me," he muttered, "But why? If you know everything about me now, surely you know about…"

"The fuzzball? Yeah, I do," I said, "But unlike the idiots in the village, I actually know how Jinchuriki work."

I paused.

"Actually, there is something I could use," I said, making Naruto stiffen again, "Oh calm down, this is just a request and you can say no if you want. You're clearly very good at Seals and I have an interest in them as well. If you're up for it, would you mind teaching me?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to blink in surprise. Then he nodded slowly.

"Alright, lets do it," he said.

I grinned and clasped his hand. This looked to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

And with that I'm done. I'm planning to try and avoid too many overt crossovers this time, but I can't promise anything. These stories have a tendency of taking on a life of their own and the abilities I have planned for Shiki to get later don't help. You can probably guess them from his name.

Hmm, I wonder what the seal on Narutos back could be hiding? Well, I guess we'll be finding out soon enough, hehehe.

Anyway, a nice, short AN this time. Make sure to leave a review!