This is my first naruto fanfic, so go easy on me. Constructive criticisms are accepted, while hardcore flaming will not be tolerated.
In any case, most of my fanfics make use of my OCs, the ancients. This fanfic will be no exception. I try to keep from straying into mary sue/gary stu territory, however some fans may be uncomfortable with my characters.
Simply put, if you like the idea of superhumans being thrust into the middle of everyday situations, then this fic is for you, but if you hate any insertion of original characters, then it is best if you find another fic to read.
Anyway, on with the story!
Somewhere, far misplaced from the rest of the myriad number of universes, lies a pocket realm of artificial origins.
It is here that the last of the ancients, a once proud race of highly advanced and powerful beings, have sought refuge ever since the fall of their once glorious empire.
Deep within the halls of their mighty fortress, the survivors have spent the last several billion years in isolation, venturing out from time to time only to acquire information from the other realms and universes. Sometimes, they tend to have a hand in the affairs of other beings on many different worlds, more often than not shaping the politics of all that exist at large with whatever agenda they may have at the moment.
Within the heart of the fortress the last surviving elder, Tormakir, has recently paid much attention to the events of a certain Konoha gennin. He calls for Shuyin, one of his most trusted lieutenants, and speaks to him of what he has in mind.
Tormakir gestured towards a large well within the center of the room.
"Peer forth into the well of eternity, and tell me what you see."
Shuyin bent over the rim of the well, and gazed upon a young boy, within his early teens. He had a head full of frizzy yellow hair, and funny looking whisker like patterns on his cheeks.
"So? what of it?" Shuyin responded. "A simple boy like that must be of great importance to be able to draw this much attention from you."
Tormakir explained, "That boy has a rather dangerous and powerful demon sealed within him. Already the beast has managed to manifest itself several times within such a short timeframe. Soon it shall be strong enough to escape completely."
He continued, "Such a being could wreak havoc if ever it should be released. It could pose a threat to the order of things. This is why I'd like to observe the boy more closely."
"You mean to personally observe his every move?"
"Exactly, I cannot observe him through the well constantly, since there are other obligations which I have to attend to. Therefore, it would probably be more prudent to examine him for a period of about a week, up close and personal."
"So how does this concern me?" Shuyin asked. "Unless of course you suggest that I myself go down to observe the boy."
"I have more than just that in mind." Tormakir responded with a grin. "I want a team of six ancients to go down there and keep an eye on him."
"But why six, my lord. Wouldn't just one of us be enough to tackle whatever threat we may encounter during the mission?"
"That's the point. You know very well what happens when one of our kind uses too much of his powers during combat. We could very well do more harm to their world than this demon ever could."
"You are afraid that one of us may go overboard and utilize too much power? This demon must be quite strong indeed for us to require such an expenditure of energy in combat against it."
"Indeed so." Tormakir replied. "As you know, the more of you there are in one given location, the less energy you each have available to use in combat. That way, even if you get a little too overconfident in combat, there will be a limit to how much you can actually use."
"Very well then, I get it, no overdoing it." Shuyin agreed. "So, who shall be tagging along with me?"
Tormakir proceeded to list the ancients that would accompany Shuyin on his mission to Konoha.
"For one, I've decided include Akamon. He will act as support if ever you should need it."
"Second, there is Langsendus. I've tasked him to make sure that none of you would bicker over any important decisions."
"Third, there is Shando. He has the most experience in dealing with humans; therefore he is a logical choice for this mission."
"Fourth, there is Sinjo……."
"A lot of use he will be." Shuyin scoffed.
"I understand your concern." Tormakir responded. "However I thought it best to include him. Despite his rather carefree attitude, he is quite a creative thinker, and can easily deal with complex situations."
Tormakir continued, "Lastly, Riuld will be tagging along. Despite his brash and arrogant manner, I figure that in case worst comes to worst; he can lend a helping hand should the team have to resort to combat.
"Is that all?" Shuyin inquired.
"Indeed, that is all. Get yourselves ready. For you will be leaving quite soon."
They instantly materialized in a remote field within the country of fire. Luckily, they would not have been spied upon in so desolate an area. They had donned clothing that was appropriate to the culture of this region. However, if ever they had to commit to combat, they could just as easily summon forth their battle armor instantaneously.
Shuyin looked at his surroundings. They were relatively far from Konoha. Even if they traveled swiftly across the treetops like the ninjas of this world, they would still only reach the village by nightfall.
"Why can't we just materialize within the village itself?" Akamon asked.
Shando answered the question for him, "Because if we did, mon, we would arouse too much suspicion."
"Can't you cut out that annoying accent and manner of speech?" Akamon angrily retorted.
Ever since Shando had visited earth all those millennia ago, he picked up a rather irritating speech pattern from an island country called Jamaica. Up till now he has always spoken that way, greatly annoying all the other ancients.
"Where is your sense of culture, mon. You can't appreciate that which you is most afraid to try, or maybe you is a bit too dense for such a thing, mon."
Akamon's face turned red with rage, "That's it! I'm gonna wring your puny neck if you don't shut up."
"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Shuyin shouted. "I can understand that this team wasn't picked with social harmony in mind, but as long as I'm leading this team we will cooperate. Understood?"
The other's hanged their heads low and nodded in agreement. It was hard to get such diverse individuals to work together, but Tormakir had entrusted both Shuyin and Langsendus with keeping the rest in line.
"We had best continue." Shuyin told them.
They wordlessly followed him towards Konoha. The plan was to present themselves as Jounin from an obscure village in some far off land. They even had the paperwork to prove it.
At best it would take days, and a lot of effort, for Konoha to scrutinize the documents completely. But by then, they will have accomplished their task.
They had arrived at the gates of Konoha later that evening. Now the real work was just starting to begin.
Naruto Uzumaki sighed as he sat waiting for his order at the Ichiraku ramen bar. Jiraiya was constantly off on some sort of "mission" and refused to further Naruto's training.
"He never seems to have any time for me, dattebayo. I'm beginning to wonder if he is just coming up with excuses to avoid having to train me."
Kakashi was sitting right beside him, and took notice of his pupil's glum attitude.
"Listen, Naruto." Kakashi said to him. "You can either let your worries burden you down, or you can do something about it."
"Like what?" his wayward pupil asked.
"Well, for one thing, you could be a bit more serious with the training I have given you. Even with all those advanced techniques you have learned, you still need to work on your basics."
"It's always about the basics with you, isn't it, Kakashi sensei." Naruto sneered.
"You want so badly to train with Jiraiya, yet when I offer to teach you a few things, you never take me seriously. Now, are you going to eat your ramen, or are you going to let it get cold?"
Naruto didn't notice that his ramen order had arrived. He hungrily gulped down the contents of his bowl, and asked for another helping.
"Anyway, I've got to go now." Kakashi told him. "See you tomorrow Naruto."
With that said, Kakashi left. Naruto was busy consuming the next bowl of ramen, when suddenly a rather large group of people sat themselves down around the bar.
"I take it that this bar serves ramen." The brown haired stranger asked.
"That's what the sign says." Replied the owner of the Ichiraku. "What can I get you?"
"Surprise us." The stranger replied. "We're not in a very picky mood right now, and any variety would be just fine with us."
The owner prepared several servings of ramen, and handed it out to each of the strangers. To Naruto's (and everybody else present) surprise, they devoured their meals with much gusto and speed. In fact, only Naruto and Choji were ever known to eat that fast.
Whoever these strangers were, they were definitely quite hungry.
"Mayhaps a second serving would be in order." The stranger requested. Another serving was laid out, and this too was devoured quickly by the strangers.
All told, they each perhaps had eaten ten bowls each worth of ramen in rapid succession by the time they were done. The brown haired stranger plopped down a pile of coins on top of the counter, to pay for the tremendous amount that they had consumed.
Naruto was impressed. Perhaps these strangers had a passion for ramen just like he does. He decided to raise the issue with the strangers.
"I've never seen anyone other than Choji eat that much ramen in just one sitting, dattebayo." Naruto remarked. "You guys must be very fond of Ramen."
Shuyin suddenly realized that the kid they were looking for was right there beside them. This was most fortunate, since the boy seemed to be most appreciative of them. Perhaps this could work to their advantage.
"Why of course, we are quite fond of ramen. It is easily one of the most versatile dishes that have ever been invented."
"So, what are you doing in Konoha?" Naruto asked. "I've never seen you guys around here before."
"We are here to speak with the Hokage." Langsendus explained. "However we have arrived rather late, and now we must wait till morning to speak with her."
"Well that's going to be a problem." The owner of the Ichiraku explained. "The Inn is booked fully, and there is no other place in town that could accommodate you."
"Not to worry, they could stay over at my place, dattebayo." Naruto offered.
Shuyin cracked a smile. Things just kept on getting better and better. Staying with him in his own home would facilitate a much better observation procedure rather than simply following him around.
"We are very grateful for your offer, mister….."
"Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto answered. "Konoha's greatest ninja, and future Hokage, dattebayo."
Shando leaned over to Akamon and whispered, "What's with the freaky speech mannerism, mon."
Akamon just shrugged, "Beats me, but it's nice to see you getting a taste of your own medicine."
He then gave a hearty laugh, and drank down the last of his sake. Shando gave him an annoyed look, and shook his head in comedic wonderment.
They later went to Naruto's house, which was rather messy and unorganized at the moment. Sinjo shook his head in disappointment, and set to work cleaning up the place.
Afterwards, naruto treated them to his stash of cup ramen, for an evening "snack". After one bite, Sinjo nearly spat out his food.
"Goodness. How could you eat this stuff?" He protested. "This is far inferior to what we had at the ramen bar."
Naruto felt a little more than insulted. "Hey now, anybody who appreciates ramen wouldn't mind having a bit of cup ramen every now and then."
Sinjo stood up, and placed both open palms upon the table. "You really think you've tried good ramen, eh?"
"And I suppose you could do better?" Naruto shot back.
Sinjo puffed up his chest in an annoyed bluster. "Just you wait and see. I'll show you what REAL ramen should be like."
With that said, he stomped off to the kitchen, and set to work. Looking around to make sure that he wasn't being observed, he began materializing and shaping raw Aether (an ancient's source of energy) into various cooking utensils and ingredients.
If anything, Sinjo took great pride in his cooking skills. Even though ancients never truly needed to eat, they could appreciate fine cooking and the wonderful feeling of a satisfying dish, and more often than not were capable of devouring food that could feed ten times their number.
He had spent the last several billion years of his impossibly long life having experimented with various recipes. Not so long ago, he stumbled upon an absolutely perfect ramen recipe. The ingredients were rare, but could easily be created on the fly if ever he did not wish to actually search for such items.
Quickly molding and kneading the dough, whilst also making sure that the soup was of the right blend, he worked hard and swiftly. Some time later, he finished his work and carried the bowl over to Naruto.
"Well now, you little upstart. Sink your teeth and dip your tongue into this, and try telling me that you've had better."
Naruto peered cautiously into the bowl of ramen set forth before him. He took a sniff. It smelled absolutely wonderful. He dipped his spoon in and sipped a mouthful of the soup. His taste buds exploded in excitement. He picked up his chopsticks and sampled the noodles. The texture was perfect.
After all this, his brain finally registered it all and came to a conclusion. He began laughing like a complete goofball, and had a funny look on his face. A few seconds later, he literally exploded in praise of the dish.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT SUCH A HEAVENLY RECIPE EXIST, DATTEBAYO!" He yelled out. "Sinjo san, you are truly a master chef. I bow down before your greatness."
Sinjo gave off a satisfied smile, and was beaming proudly that he still had what it takes to be THE best cook there ever was.
Riuld shot him a skeptical and annoyed look. "Show off."
A few moments later, Naruto passed out in front of everyone. He still had that huge grin on his face, and now he was drooling all over the floor.
"Now look at what you've gone and done." Langsendus pointed out. "The poor boy couldn't handle it, and now he's gone and lost consciousness all of a sudden."
"Can I help it if I'm that good?" Sinjo protested.
"We might as well feign some sleep; otherwise we might arouse suspicion if we stay up through the night without any visible signs of fatigue." Shuyin suggested.
The others nodded in agreement. Akamon picked naruto up and placed him on the bed. Riuld pulled out the sleeping mats that they had stored in the back packs that they brought along.
Despite the appearance of them having gone to sleep, they took the opportunity to transfer their consciousness back to the fortress, so that they could report to Tormakir of what they had seen that day.
In the morning, they would continue with their mission. Luckily, things were starting to become far easier than they had imagined.
So there is my first chapter. Please leave a review, since I'm still working on my writing and storytelling technique, and input would be useful.