A Sliver of Hope

Summary: During the Chunin Exams, Naruto is saved by the most interesting creature. With the power of the "Slivers" beside him, who can stop him? A new take on the popular MtGxNaruto xover.

Naruto stared up at the night sky, mainly because it was the only thing he could do while incapacitated like he was. Sakura was the only one of the three that wasn't K/Oed and she was trying her best to defend them. Of course, Naruto wasn't actually seeing; it was a dreamstate for his body to cope with the pain of recovery. He felt something slither on his wrist, and his body convulsed with fear.

Whatever that was, it was probably dangerous. It crawled into his sleeve and up his arm, little pincers pulling the small foe closer to his neck. It went past his neck and to his ear without stopping. Naruto tensed. It stopped at his ear (probably thinking about something) before he heard a voice in his ear. "You're dying." It stated, simplistically and bluntly. "You need something to save you." It inched closer to his ear. "I could save you." It whispered. "I could make you into a nest for us. You live with us, and we will live with you." It hissed into his ear.

Naruto tried to toss it off with a shake of his head but his muscles refused to move. It's telling the truth... I'm dying... He tried to answer with a yes but his body wouldnt respond.

"I can save you. I'll make you a hive. You will hold us within you and they will help you. You will need at least one of us with you at all times, but we will be burdenous. We can share our abilities, but we can only give two abilities at a time." The sliver said hurriedly. "I must start to work soon. It will hurt. I'm but one of us." It slithered to his mouth and paused. "This will hurt." It repeated. Then, it pushed its way into his mouth and began tunnelling through Naruto's body starting at the esophagus, creating a third tunnel. The front pincers worked to rip apart the flesh and the back ones quickly knitted the flesh into a weblike pattern to stop bleeding and to rearrange the veins and arteries... all of this while secreeting a toxin that spread an advanced genetic mutator between the cells.

Naruto couldnt decide if this experience was the worst feeling in the world or the most beautiful transformation he has ever gone through. Naruto decided it was the first of the two. The thing was making tunnels throughout his entire body for Pete's sake! Naruto was seeing stars twinkle on the blackness of his eyelids. The sliver had made its way to the palm of his hand and was pinching through the epidermis. Naruto no longer felt the pain; he was in a state of rebirth, and he loved it. He was floating on cloud nine. He was being reborn as something greater than human, for something less than human. He was... evolving. The thing was making his body into a network of tunnels! These tunnels would be able to hold more of them. These things will give him cool powers! These things will make him stronger, but slower, the more he has. It WAS beautiful. It seemed to be almost done. It was tunneling along his spinal cord, and judging by the his movement, he was fixing the spinal support to bear the weight of the slivers.

It was at his brain now, and it paused. It wanted to dig into his brain. He could feel it. Instead, the thing made two sideways crevices behind the brain, and then, in a spiraling twist, submerged itself into Naruto's brain. Its secretion was altering his brain cells to cope with the new tunnels in his body. Naruto snapped up and began screaming a screech that was a sound to attract other of its kind. (Somehow he knew it would, and it seemingly was unhearable by humans.) They came by the masses, dozens of them flocking to him. "I will give you homes," Naruto said, "In exchange for your cooperation. I have become a home for you; another one of you had done this. I wont make you, but If you wish, I will accept you into my body. I have become a home for you." Naruto had the sudden knowledge that slivers enjoy repitition of phrases. A lot of them left, but 4 others crawled up onto him and to his neck.

"You have become a home for us?" one said with wings sprouting from it's back. "I heard you can use us. We can help you; I have wings, and they will become yours."

"You have become a home for us?" one said, bulging muscles covering its exterior. "I heard we can help you. You can us us; I have strength, and they will become yours."

"You have become a home for us?" one said, smooth skin on its exterior. "I heard you can use us. We can help you; I consume others to create new of us, and they will become yours."

"You have become a home for us?" one said, spiderlike qualities playing it's skin. "I heard we can help you. You can use us; I spin webs, and they will become yours."

Naruto frowned, the klacking of their pincers discerned him. He scooped up the slivers and showed them the holes in his palms for their entry. "I will not hurt you. Come in. I will not hurt you."

They obliged, entering the tunnels and familiarizing themselves with the pathways, but the Winged one was the first to find the crevices behind his brain. It cuddled close to his brain and latched on, secreting a fluid that quickly filled the crevice, leaving no entry. Then, he could feel his body change...

Chapter End