To all my loyal fans, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. This idea was burning a hole in my head, and wanted OUT. I will be continuing work on Naruto Chuuten as soon as I fix a problems I've been having with the storyline.
I decided to try out talking as Naruto in first-person. Needless to say, it's a bit of a challange.
Please, enjoy.
Prologue: I Blow Myself Up
Is this thing on? Yeah? Oh good.
Hi, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, former member of the ninja village known as Village Hidden in the Leaves. I suppose I could explain what the Leaf Village is to you; but all you need to know for now is that I learned most of what I know about fighting from there. I'm getting off topic; you're probably more interested in the actual adventure in this story.
Hm, I suppose a good day to begin would probably be the day Pervy Sage decided to try adding a couple of new things to my training regime.
Pervy Sage, otherwise known as Jiraya the Toad Sage, had taken me from the Village Hidden in the Leaves to be trained. Unlike most of my normal training that I would have gotten from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, it was far more hands on, and was far more difficult if your stamina wasn't able to keep up with it. Trust me, even a stamina freak like me continually wound up lying on my bed each night wondering how I had made it back to my room. We were currently in the city of Higurashi; a city a good ways outside of Wave Country.
He actually suggested it early in the morning, over breakfast if I remember right. I was so shocked, I nearly spewed my food on him in a rather comedic fashion. Luckily for me, I was able to swallow my food before I spoke. "You want to try what?"
Pervy Sage sighed. "I think the best shot we have at creating this technique is to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra, in bulk. So we're going to test just how much power you can take and can control later today. It will be a learning experience, for both of us."
I sat back, thinking it over. The technique that Pervy Sage had told me about sounded highly dangerous to use for any normal ninja. But, with the Kyuubi's chakra powering it...it just might work. I grinned at him, a feeling of excitement coming over me. "When do we get started?"
Pervy Sage chuckled, shaking his head. "We'll have to do it later this evening, after your standard training. You seem to draw on the Kyuubi's power best whenever you're a bit more tired from your usual activities. We'll also have to make sure that we make sure to keep our training away from everyone else. Just in case something goes wrong; for their safety and our own."
I nodded to myself. Pervy Sage was still talking for a little bit, explaining the different excersises that we'd be going over. I'm not really sure what half the things were; I was too busy thinking on how I was going to draw out more of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was easy enough when I was asking for 'rent' on any other occasion, but taking more could be potentially dangerous. Of course, don't let it be said that I shy away from a challenge. In fact, I was pretty sure that I was going to have fun trying to figure this out.
It would only be later that I would look back and realize how stupid I am.
As it was, I followed Pervy Sate out of the hotel we were staying at, my eyes quickly taking in my surroundings. Pervy Sage had kept me locked in my room for the past two days and had told me to read some books he had left for me. Since I had been exhausted from the previous months of strenuous activities, I felt that a few days of rest might actually be good for me. I'm sure that my friends would laugh if they heard that. Me, actually doing what a teacher told me to do. And on top of that, reading books for reasons other than for fun would probably end up making them die laughing. As it was, I did actually learn some pretty cool stuff, but why he wanted me to read books on science I don't know.
"Did you read any of the books I left for you?" Pervy Sage as we walked down the street. As I nodded, a small grin crossed his face. "Good. Now follow me."
He turned into a quiet little restaurant, which surprised me a bit. I was half expecting him to drag me off to one of his 'normal' stopping points for 'research'. We walked in, got a table for two, and were quickly seated. Still confused, I gave Pervy Sage a confused look.
He had a serious look on his face, one he only had during serious training and fights. "Naruto, this is an important exercise, so pay close attention."
I leaned forward, waiting expectantly for him to explain what he the training was. However, he remained silent, acting casual as we were asked for our orders. As soon as our waitress had left, he glanced at me. "How many men are currently in the room?"
I blinked. "What?"
"How many men are in the room?" Okay, that's not exactly what I was expecting. Heck, it wasn't even connected to any of the books I had read. I turned around, trying to get a look at the people around us, only to be stopped by Pervy Sage. "Without looking."
I gave him a frustrated look. "How am I supposed to know that without looking?"
Pervy Sage shook his head. "A good ninja takes in his surroundings the moment he enters a room. You can never really know when someone is an enemy in our profession. You have to be cautious, and aware of everything."
My expression turned into one of surprise, I hadn't really thought of anything like that, though that didn't really explain what that had to do with the books I had read. Grumbling to myself, I closed my eyes, trying to remember how many people had been on the room when we came in. Unsure of who was a guy and who was a girl, I threw out a wild guess. "Four?"
Pervy Sage shook his head. "How many employees are working right now?"
"I don't know."
"How many couples?"
"I don't know."
"What color was our waitresses eyes?"
"I don't know!" I was beginning to get frustrated with his questions. It felt like we were just going in circles.
Pervy Sage sighed. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."
-:-
We spent then next half of the day just doing that exercise. I got a bit better, now that I understood what I was supposed to be looking for. I still missed more than half of the questions, but I was certain that I was noticing a lot of the things I hadn't before. Not that I really paid much attention in the first place, but that was besides the point.
Shortly after lunch, we went outside of the village we were staying in for strenuous combat practice. I'd been getting a lot better thanks to Pervy Sages help, not that I planned on telling him that yet. He'd probably believe he hadn't taught me right because we hadn't visited the hot springs enough. Not that I would particularly hate going to the hot springs. After all, they are relaxing...and I'm still a guy.
Finally, as the sun began to fall behind the mountains, Pervy Sage decided that it was time to prepare ourselves. I tried not to cry out in relief. My chakra reserves were drained, and I was pretty sure that if we had continued to train, I wouldn't have been able to go through with the next part of our training. Then again, it was only due to my amazing stamina that I was able to keep moving for a bit.
We moved a bit further away, towards a more barren area. Settling in, we set ourselves up. Within moments, we'd set up a perimeter to help us try to control the Kyuubi's chakra.
As I worked on the perimeter, Pervy Sage had a strange looking frog pop out of his mouth; strange meaning its upper body was a frog, while its lower half was a scroll. I'm not joking, the scroll opened up with words and everything. After a moment of talking to the frog and fiddling with some of the words on it, he turned to me.
"I need to see your necklace."
"Why?" I asked, confused by the request. The necklace he was referring too was the one that used to belong to the First Hokage, and that I had won from Tsunade, the First Hokage's granddaughter. It was my prized possession, and I didn't go anywhere without it. Pervy Sage had never asked me to take it off either, which is why I was confused by his request.
"The necklace is designed to keep the Kyuubi's energy suppressed. Taking it off will help us release the Kyuubi's energy. It should speed up the process, and help us achieve our goal earlier." he stated.
I bit my lip in thought. I didn't really want to take it off, but if it was inhibiting my training...
I didn't think twice as I took it off and handed the necklace to Pervy Sage. I needed to get stronger to bring back Sasuke, and nothing would stop me from fulfilling that promise.
I would later reflect on that moment as the stupidest thing I've ever done (I'm being serious, THE stupidest thing), and that my opinion of being able to make unstoppable promises was wrong. Anything can be stopped; even my unbreakable promises were no match for what was going to happen.
"Are you ready?" I nodded. "Alright, let's try this out."
He placed his hand on my seal, a strange feeling of dread and excitement rushing through me. Something big was coming. He gave it a small twist, like he was partially opening a jar, and took a step back. I looked at myself, waiting for the rush of chakra that I was accustomed too. Nothing happened. I looked at Pervy Sage, unsure of whether or not it had worked. I was just about to ask if I was supposed to feel anything when it happened.
That old, familiar energy began to rush into me.
Now, I've felt the Kyuubi's chakra flow into me before, but this…this was different. Like the difference between a rock and a boulder (bad comparison, but I can better explain the size than the feel). Almost at once, I felt angry, similar to how I usually feel whenever I used the Kyuubi's chakra, only it felt like it was growing. After a second, the chakra actually began to seep out of me and form around me in a fox shape. I was a bit surprised, unaware that this happened when I got a certain amount of chakra, but my attention quickly shifted to another fact.
The energy was still gushing out.
I growled at a second tail of chakra formed. I could feel the Kyuubi's presence growing in the back of my head, but I could also hear Pervy Sage speaking calmly in front of me; his voice just barely getting over the sound of my blood in my ears.
"You're doing great Naruto, just hang on." Easy for him to say; he wasn't the one with an enraged demon sealed in him trying to through him.
Now I've been angry before, I've been pissed off before, but this was more rage than I was usually used too. I was pretty sure that I was seeing a couple of spots in my vision, though that may have just been me feeling tense. I could almost hear the Kyuubi's voice speaking to me now.
And the energy was still coming.
I clawed at the ground in a feral manner as the third tail slowly extended. I wanted to destroy everything. I no longer knew why I felt like that, I just wanted to see its destruction. A part of me knew better, the rational part of me, and tried to reign myself in, but I was pretty much fighting a losing battle. The anger was so satisfying, my hunger for power felt loosened, while at the same time suddenly wanting more of it.
"Naruto, are you still okay?" Despite my enraged state, I managed a nod. "Do you want to continue?" I nodded again. "Alright, be careful."
More power rushed into me.
This time though, the energy wasn't the only thing to come through.
Almost like an itch in the back of my head, I could feel the Kyuubi's presence pushing through. It was so filled with rage, and so much power. I heard it whispering words I couldn't understand; not that I cared at the time. I couldn't really think all that straight due to the fact that I was seeing red, more angry than I had ever felt in my life (though that might just have been the Kyuubi's chakra I was seeing).
Then the Kyuubi decided to take over.
I don't know why I remember what happened next so vividly, but it was something that would change my life as well as haunt me.
I saw through my own eyes, feeling like I was trespassing in someone else's mind and body. I saw Pervy Sage step back, realizing that something was horribly wrong. I wanted to yell at him to run, that he was in danger. But nothing came out; I had lost all control. The Kyuubi looked around, flexing my hands almost experimentally. I felt its nervousness, its…apprehension, which confused me. What on earth could possibly make the Kyuubi apprehensive?
And then it did something I never thought possible, or would have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.
The Kyuubi went through a series of hand seals before slamming its - my - hands on the ground. Watching in surprise and amazement, I watched as a large group of seals spread around myself/the Kyuubi in a manner similar to the summoning technique. Although, the seals were completely off. I mean, since when is there a horseshoe-shaped kanji?
Pervy Sage seemed to think that something was wrong though, because he began going through a series if hand-seals himself. I can only guess what he was trying to do, because I never saw what he did. The Kyuubi's energy disappeared into the sees that were now surrounding me. For a brief second, I thought it was over. Then, the seals rapidly rushed from off the ground and across my skin.
In another split second, a burning sensation came across every place that had a seal on if. It was agonizing, like every part of my body was being jabbed with a hot needle. Then the energy constricted around me, in such a way that I could practically feel the air in and around me being twisted and compressed. I grabbed my throat, trying desperately to breathe.
Then, well…I exploded.
And everything went black.
