Greetings once more dear friends! And may I bid you welcome, new readers. I've woven the first chapter with the intro, so there won't be a dedicated 'intro' chapter like in COTS.
Basically, (and im purposely leaving things out, so as not to ruin the story.) Naruto will hear a guy playing music, gets abused by townspeople, guy actually talks to Naruto, they become mates and the guy introduces Naruto to music, he leaves after a while and Naruto meets Tayuya (hit that thing!) for a day, he grows up and bam! The reader gets hit by a bus 'cause he wanted to know too much!
I don't own Naruto, and this is chapter one!
Chapter one – Forever, after and always.
(By the way, I know it's been done heaps before, but I so wanted to start with the finish!)
Naruto treaded towards the edge of the cliff with a dying Tayuya in his arms, as tears fell from his eyes, one of blood and one of salt, he sang softly; the first piece of music that he ever heard:
Can't live!
If living is without you,
I can't live!
I can't give anymore!
I can't live!
If living is without you!
…
A small five year old boy was scared: none of the villagers were beating him, the voice inside him was quiet… he was almost, happy. He couldn't show it though, not even in the slightest, for if he did another mob would be after him.
He was stalking the shadows, scavenging through bins as he went, looking for a meal. He then heard a weird sound; it was like talking, only with something in it, something else, and there were other sounds too! Someone was banging on something like a trashcan, but it was a deep sound, that shook through him, and a twanging sound as well. (Naruto like the word 'twang', the Hokage told him about it once.) The sounds suddenly stopped, and people began clapping, only to be quickly replaced with silence, and a man spoke.
"Thanks for making me welcome everybody! Alright, I'm gonna need some help with this song, a pianist, drummer and a bassist… thank you! Can you folks play "I Can't Live"?" There were three 'okay's' and they started with a slow… what's the word, king of like a tinking sound, and his voice went kind of high and sweet, a few thrum sounds went in as well, before there were a lot of sounds, most of which Naruto couldn't describe. There was one thing that Naruto could describe clearly though: how he felt, he didn't understand most of the words and what they meant, buy the chorus just made him cry:
I can't live,
If living is without you.
I can't live,
I can't give anymore.
I can't live!
If living is without you!
I can't give!
I can't give anymore!
The man's voice softened again, and Naruto would have happily listened for longer when he heard shouting behind him:
"It's the little monster! Let's get him!" The group of four was joined by most of the people inside, who quickly came running out with all manner of weapons. Naruto pulled a trashcan down in the hopes of slowing them down for a moment or two, but to no avail. Two men leapt past the cans and grabbed Naruto.
"Let's kill the little bastard! This demon doesn't deserve to live!" The mob readily agreed and began to beat him severely, but one of them spoke up:
"Wait! We can't do it here, one of the ANBU could tell the Hokage!" the mob simmered and ran him out to the forest, where he tried pleading – even though he knew that it would do nothing.
"Stop! Why are you always hurting me!? I've done nothing to you!" This only proved to incense the mob, the leader stepped forward shouted at Naruto.
"You've done nothing to us!? You nearly destroyed our village! You killed our families! You think you're innocent?! You think you're an angel. Well you know what we do to angels? We spread their wings!" he slammed Naruto against the trunk of a large tree and pulled out two knives.
"Here little angel, spread your wings" he spat. He impaled both of Naruto's hands into the tree trunk, and sent an almighty punch into Naruto's throat, crucifying him and leaving him for dead.
He would have stayed that way if the singer didn't run after the mob.
"What do you think you are doing!? He's a child!" he roared, momentarily stunning the mob, before they reprimanded him harshly.
"Stay out of this stranger, you don't know what he's done to us!"
"It doesn't matter what he's done, he's still a child! Ninja Art: Piercing Shriek!" Quick as a flash he pulled out his violin a played a single, sharp note, they all fell to the ground, writhing painfully before falling unconscious. The last thing Naruto felt, was for the first time ever, the voices disappeared, not just quietened, or stopped for a while, but he felt the presence leave.
Naruto awoke coughing blood, as he always did, and noticed his surroundings: he was in a cloth-like building, it wasn't very big, there were some… faces? On the wall? No, they were made of something, like a building, and-
"Enjoying your stay?" Naruto screamed at the man who seemingly came out of nowhere.
"IM SORRY! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" Naruto didn't have the strength to run so all he could do is plead.
"Why would I hurt you? And what are you sorry for?" the man was simply confused, he brought Naruto here.
"You mean, you're not going to hurt me?" Naruto asked, the man just laughed at him.
"Of course not! Ha-ha, I brought you here, onto something serious though, why were those, those things trying to kill you?" Naruto shook his head.
"I don't know, every time they try I ask, but they just call me a monster and a demon, saying that I killed their families – but even if I did, wouldn't I remember something like that? And how could I? I'm five." Naruto explained, and then it hit the man;
"Wait, you said you were five? I'm gonna take a wild guess and say your birthday is October the tenth, right?" Naruto looked confused, and a little scared.
"How did you know?"
"Like I said, a wild guess. How rude of me! I'm, hmmm…. What can you call me? I'm… Kargoth, nice to meet you." He held out his hand to Naruto, who just stared at it confused.
"I'm Naruto… but what do I do with your hand?"
"It's, it's a handshake, don't you know? Whenever someone holds their hand out like this, you take it in yours and lift it up and down, some people can tell your character just by a handshake, most people just to it as a sign of friendship, or a greeting." Naruto looked confused.
"Character? What does that mean? And greeting too." Kargoth's cheeks went up as though he was going to laugh, but then dropped instantly.
"You're not joking, are you. Tell me, can you read?"
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, Kargoth reached behind him for a book and held it out to Naruto.
"What does this say?" Naruto looked at Kargoth like he was an idiot:
"It's… well, I don't know what it is, but it can't say anything – it doesn't have a mouth."
Over the next few months Kargoth taught Naruto how to read and write, mathematics, taught him all forms of literature and poetry, and most of all, he taught Naruto music. If Naruto was any other child, he would have been astonished, Naruto now had completed the equivalent of primary school – all in six months! Kargoth also knew that he had to attribute Naruto's steep learning curve to the demon inside of him. Naruto stepped out of the tent and approached Kargoth, who was sitting on a stump playing a small harp and vocalising softly, not making words, but simply vibrating his throat – which calmed any listener immensely.
"Morning Kargoth, nice tune – errgh, eehhh, ghhhh." Naruto was seething words through his teeth and holding his head. After a long explanation, Kargoth could now recognise the signs of when the Kyuubi was becoming too much and began overpowering Naruto's mental defences.
"Are the voices at it again, Naruto?" Usually his fits would only last a moment (but were often prolonged if a villager saw this and attacked him, thinking that it was the fox taking over) and so when Naruto didn't respond, Kargoth became a little worried.
"Naruto, can you hear me? Naruto!" The pressure on Naruto's brain was so much that his right eye began to cry blood.
"Fuck! Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Kargoth made a sign as though he was holding a small box before he collapsed – and entered Naruto's mindscape.
"HAHAHAHAHA PATHETIC MORTAL! KILL! MAIM! BURN!" Kargoth landed in a sewer that also produced an eerie yellow glow.
"BURN THE WORLD, BURN THE VILLAGERS TO SILENCE ME, AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Kargoth followed the demonic shrieking, and after ten minutes of running he found it, a monstrously large red demon fox.
"FLAY THOSE WHO'VE DONE YOU ILL, OR I'LL FLAY YOU, AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" The sheer evil that rolled off of the fox sent Kargoth's head reeling – how a five year old could maintain his mentality was beyond comprehension. The sewer water then replaced itself with rivers of blood, the floe drowning Naruto.
"Naruto! Hold on, I'm coming!" Kargoth began wading through the blood trying to reach Naruto, but it was as though the blood was against him.
"WHAT'S THIS? SPEAK YOUR NAME MORTAL!" The fox shouted his demand at Kargoth.
"I am Kargoth; leave this boy alone, he has suffered enough!"
"THERE IS NONE BY THAT NAME! WHAT! IS! YOUR! NAME!" Kargoth just smirked at the fox and put his hands together, as though in prayer. He spun his hands so that they were tip-to-palm and pulled them away, revealing two small cymbals, about 6 centimetres across.
"I'm the last of five, demon; it is time you left this child alone. Ninja Art: Sound Of Silence!" Kargoth struck the two cymbals together, creating an almost imperceptible chime, just at the edge of hearing that reverberated to the fox.
"Of five… that's impossible… what... what have you…done…" The fox fell to the base of its cage and slowly dissipated, the chakra that formed his being was getting released into the atmosphere of Naruto's mindscape.
"There, it'll take at least a year for him to get back together. Naruto, hoe you feeling?" As soon as the fox's concentration was broken, the blood receded and Naruto sputtered some out of his lungs and came to.
"K-Kargoth? Where are we?" his vision was going double and fading, he found it hard to keep his head up. Kargoth placed a hand on his forehead and sent a small amount of chakra into Naruto, sending him into a sleep that was – for the first time ever – not troubled by nightmares.
Upon being ejected from Naruto's mind, Kargoth vomited several times at the sheer evil and wrongness that the fox exuded.
Naruto awoke slowly and brought a hand to his mouth to catch the blood – but found that none was there,
"What? I'm not bleeding? Kargoth, what happened?"
Kargoth explained the fox and what he had to do, also telling him that the voices wouldn't pester him for a long while yet. Naruto seemed just fine with it, not shocked, happy, nor sad, just okay.
Maybe I was wrong to have obliterated the demon, without all of that energy, it's as though he's just become lethargic. Let's just hope that the pros outweigh the cons.
"Tell me, Naruto, why do you always cough up blood?"
"Oh, that. A few days after I was born the Hokage put a seal on my neck – because of my nightmares I would be constantly screaming, so whenever I slept I wouldn't make a sound; no one else can hear my screams, they still happen – the vibrations rip apart my throat but the fox just heals it back up, ready for more screaming." This confused Kargoth, on many occasions Naruto told him how he couldn't remember much of his past.
"How do you know that, I mean…" Naruto looked confused for a moment, before his face returned to that blank state.
"I didn't, your chakra spike triggered part of my brain, I can instantly recall anything now, even from exiting my mother's womb."
He's so… nonchalant about everything, what have I done? It was as though Naruto could read his thoughts; he stared straight into Kargoth's eyes.
"I can guess what you are thinking – have I done the right thing? I can't answer that question; I may have choked on my blood and died for good, I may not have. One thing is sure, this has happened, and we have to live with the consequences, whatever they may be."
"I understand… but what if you were better off with him inside?" Kargoth asked.
"As I said, who knows? Although I can hazard a guess and say that I am better off without a being made of demon chakra inside of me." Naruto said this plainly, but Kargoth could recognise part of a joke; he's still inside somewhere, hopefully he'll be back to normal soon.
Unfortunately for Kargoth, his hopes were not met: over the next year Kargoth stayed with Naruto, teaching him about the world and what was in it, and although he had banished the Nine-tails from Naruto, it seemed that his regenerative and learning powers remained behind –in the past twelve months Naruto had completed enough schooling to be most of the way through high school. Today's lesson was about psychology – particularly emotions, and what they promote one's self to do.
"… This also ties in with the four humour's of the body; Phlegmatic, Melancholic, Choleric and Sanguine; which do you feel is most prominent in you, Naruto?" Kargoth liked lessons that were less teacher-student like maths or science, and more discussion-able, where he could talk to Naruto and get his point of view on things.
"I think… either melancholic, or phlegmatic."
"Oh? How so?"
"I guess I can't say 'or', because I think im both, I see myself as an observer, looking at all points of view about a situation but never taking any direct action upon it – making me phlegmatic. But on the other hand, inside… I'm perpetually sad, not even that, I just feel… nothing, like I'm empty." Coincidentally, the Kyuubi took that moment to make his entrance. Naruto could feel him, but at the same time, couldn't; it was like a shadow out the corner of his eyes, when he turned to see what it was it disappeared. There was no screaming either; he just said one thing before leaving:
"Boy… it's been a while hasn't it? Whether you tell him about me or not: you cannot trust this man… this thing." Kargoth was staring at Naruto and was waving a hand in front of his face.
"… to Naruto, anyone home?" Naruto's eyes immediately locked on Kargoth's, that's new; ever since the Nine-tails has been gone, Naruto hasn't focused on…. Oh crap.
"He's back, but he's not screaming." Naruto's words were abrupt and to the point. Kargoth put both hands in front of him in a box shape in preparation for a mind transfer but Naruto put a hand up to stop him.
"You don't need to, he won't do anything." Kargoth hesitated, but put his hands down, when he saw Naruto's hand.
"Naruto, your hand is shaking – are you sure you're okay?" Naruto looked at his hand, puzzled.
"I… I felt. Not just sadness, but anger, hatred, sorrow, friendship… it's gone now." He flexed his fingers into a fist before releasing – as though he was restoring feeling to a numb muscle.
"Naruto, look at me: are you sure you're okay? You can tell me." Naruto opened his mouth and hesitated, but continued anyway.
"He, also told me not to trust you." Kargoth sighed and shook his head.
"Well he's an evil being made of demon chakra; of course he'll try and turn you against me. We'll I'm getting kind of hungry – I'll make a run into the village, you want anything?" Naruto thought for a moment before shaking his head.
As Kargoth departed Naruto went to their small tent and found his violin – Kargoth had brought him one especially for his birthday. He went fairly high up a tree before laying back and playing his violin. He enjoyed playing the violin because he could feel emotion when he played, sure it was only ever sorrow, and sometimes wrath – but at least he could feel. As he became more relaxed he felt himself become one with nature, as he played he fell in sync with the forest, their hearts beat as one when he played. Because he was relaxed when he played he had his eyes closed, lost in an old memory.
They were hunting him through an old part of the village, he was scared, the villagers were throwing rocks at him and cursing his being as he ran. The wind picked up and their projectiles flew faster, hitting him harder; tears ran down his face as he tripped over and fell. "Why are you doing this? I haven't done anything to you! Just piss off and die!" The ground beneath Naruto burst into flames, but he was the master of them; the villagers ran as his flames struck out at them, turning them to ash. Naruto felt so powerful, like he could burn the world, he screamed at the sky for more wind to feed his flame, it obeyed. "Boy… I knew you had something in you… but even I did not expect this…" Naruto didn't care that the Fox was in his memory, he reached with his mind and began to harness the demons chakra, it laughed at him. "Hahahahaha! You think you are strong enough to control me!?" The flames lashed out at Naruto, burning him as the winds picked up and howled, cutting his face. "You are too weak to control me! Now cry! Cry you pathetic mortal!" For some reason Naruto obeyed, falling to the ground and weeping. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean… no… NO! I am in control!" One of Naruto's tears turned to blood and the flames subsided, the wind died down. The fox was smiling at him evilly; "Yes… rip the power from me… take what you want… the world is yours…"
Naruto opened his eyes to find it pouring down rain, the tree he was laying atop ablaze.
"Naruto! Where are you!" He could hear Kargoth's shouts down below, but he lay still.
"I did this?... How did my memory change?" Naruto stood up with perfect confidence despite the weather and jumped the full twenty metres to the ground without breaking his stride. Kargoth looked at him with relief then confusion.
"Naruto! You're all right! But, how did you…" Naruto just took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He played a few melodic notes that stopped the tree from burning and the wind returned to calm.
"Naruto… do you have any idea what you just did?" Kargoth asked this in a low voice, Naruto went to reply before stopping.
"I… don't, it's just how I felt, I played that and these things happened." Kargoth couldn't believe his luck.
"So the fire… you were angry? And the wind you were scared, right? Well ain't that something. I'll be back soon, I have to talk to someone… sorry about the short notice, but ahh, well, you know that everything's in the tent." Kargoth shunshined away, leaving Naruto to his confusion.
"Hahaha… see what I mean? You can't trust him." The Fox spoke, Naruto went to rebuke him but came up short.
"Exactly! But I'll leave you alone, if you can answer, one, simple, question: how can you trust a man, when you don't know what he looks like?" Naruto wanted to laugh at the Fox's stupidity, but then he felt himself asking: what does he look like?
"But… I talk to him every day… how do I not know how he looks?" Naruto went through his memories trying to conjure up his face, or even his height for that matter… but all he could remember is a haze – he doesn't know what Kargoth looks like!
"But I remember the feelings I had whenever I saw him… I know what he looks like… but." The Fox's soft, deep laughter reverberated through Naruto's mind. Soft laugh? He's changed…
"I've changed? Have I?… don't forget that I am in your head – I hear, see, smell and feel everything that you do. But no, I haven't changed, you have. That being said, I do understand that since we have been separated there is a certain… dependency needed for the both of us if we want to survive. So I'll stop shredding your mind – I'm genuinely surprised that you haven't gone insane already." Naruto was utterly bamboozled – after all this time, the demon is going to just stop?
"What's your game?" The Fox laughed at Naruto.
"My game? Do I have to have one? Are you sure I'm not just doing this from the goodness of my heart?"
"You're a fox – you'll always have a game. And a heart? You're pure chakra, and a will."
"Hahahahahaaaaaaaaa a healthy amount of scepticism, I feel I'm going to enjoy this more than I already will… but yes, there is a 'catch', of sorts. One, is that I know what he is – I'm not even sure if I could call it a 'he'… but at one point he will leave you, and he will give you an instrument, I will siphon some of my chakra into it – I need your assistance for that."
"And the second."
"Hahahahaha! You catch on quick, boy. All I ask, is that I observe – I will anyway – but I want you to know that I will always be watching you, your every step, moment, failure and success; I'll always be watching."
"But… why?" Naruto could almost feel the Fox raise an eyebrow.
"Why? Boy, I am a legendary tailed beast, be grateful that we can come to some terms." Naruto didn't like it that much, but he slowly nodded and acceded to his request.
"Hahaha, things will be interesting, Boy."
Kargoth returned a week later with a package under his arm and found Naruto dozing quietly under the shade of a tree.
"Naruto, I'm back." Naruto opened one eye and then closed it, eventually coming to his feet and gazed at Kargoth – something was off.
"I can see that, what's with the parcel?" Kargoth drummed his fingers on the parcel and smiled.
"That all depends on how you answer my next question." Naruto rubbed his face fully awake and nodded.
"I'm listening." Kargoth took a knee so that he and Naruto were the same height.
"How would you like it to go back to the village? To talk to people other than me? How would you like to be strong? To be able to do what you did with the violin again? As many times as you wanted?" Naruto narrowed his eyes in uncertainty.
"What's the catch? This seems a bit good to be true, well, I would be going to the village much, but it would be nice to talk to people my age."
"Well then – how would you like to become a ninja?" Naruto thought about it; he had learned a bit about them, they were warriors beyond compare, they could assassinate and kill without anyone knowing, have animal companions within their line of work, take on forces that would make one hundred samurai quiver – and live. Most of all, however, they could manipulate chakra and shift the very foundations of the world.
"That doesn't sound too bad, and I get to see what's in there." Kargoth smiled at him and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"But I'm not just going to train you to be any ninja, Naruto, what I'll train you to be… put it this way, after your training you could easily take down a Hokage."
"Damn! What is it? That could topple a Hokage so easily?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Naruto, I'm going to make you a Dread Minstrel."
-(AN: You would not believe the restraint it took me not to finish it there, but I've only done nine pages, so…)
The way in which Kargoth said 'Dread Minstrel' sent shivers down Naruto's spine – both fear and excitement.
"A Dread Minstrel? What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Obviously, a minstrel of dread – never mind, you'll learn as you go – because I couldn't cover that even in a week. First things first though – what you did with your violin, you manipulated chakra, and you didn't even use any jutsu, which for a beginner-"
"What's a 'jutsu'?" Kargoth paused mid-sentence and looked at Naruto.
"You know what? Never mind – baby steps. You, tree, violin – I can get that; the question is how did you jump/fall twenty metres without breaking a leg? Climb the tree and do it again." Naruto nodded, excited that his training would begin immediately.
Well I guess that's a good thing of the Kyuubi being back – he's showing more and more emotion every day, though he still prefers sadness. When Kargoth saw that Naruto reached the top he called up to him.
"You ready!?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright! Now, just do what you did the other day!" Naruto nodded to him and took a deep breath – then stepped off the branch. As soon as both feet left the branch Naruto did something that he did not do last time, one teensy little difference.
"Shhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt ttttttttttttt." The fox was laughing as soon as he was airborne.
Crunch!
"fffffff… fffffffffffffff, holditin holditin holditinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn." For a second there Naruto thought he would be fine – for a second.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKK!" Kargoth just face palmed.
"Baby steps, Kargoth, baby steps."
Three days later, after Naruto's broken legs and ribs were healed, they began his training anew.
"Okay, so I may have started you off a little early, but from now on we're going to take it one step at a time!" Kargoth declared loudly. Naruto would have made a remark about 'steps', but thought better of it.
"And since we're going one step at a time your first assignment is….. reading!" He produced a cardboard box full of books.
"Let's face it – you know next to nothing about ninja, let alone chakra, so ta-da! Here's my first present to you as a teacher." Naruto thought that it was too easy; they both knew that Naruto was an excellent reader, and thanks to the Fox's eidetic memory he only needed to read the books once.
"Oh and, by the way? You're hereby evicted from my tent – you stink." Kargoth shunshined into the tent leaving an annoyed Naruto with a box of books.
The first hurdle Naruto came to was two days later; he had been living in the forest for the past year and a half, so he knew where lakes were for water and he slept in the trees a lot of the time anyway.
Grrrlll (AN: how can you make tummy-grumbling sounds?)
"I need food, sweet delicious-"
Rwrlwrlrr
"-food." He could make a fire and would have speared some fish but he had no way of de-scaling them, he couldn't take on a deer or boar because he was only six and a half, so they could probably step on him and do injury – not to mention the denizen of giant snakes, spiders, centipedes and birds (a few which could sweep him up and fly away with him.)
He had read in one of the books about jutsu that the practitioner would channel their chakra, incant something and do handsigns for a jutsu to work. He had three problems with the easy-three-step-success-for-jutsu guide:
a) He can't channel chakra yet
b) He doesn't know any incantations, and
c) , he couldn't even begin to guess what the handsigns might be.
So in all, he was royally hosed and screwed.
"Wait, I may not be able to channel chakra…" Feeling foolish about actually soliloquising, Naruto continued his thoughts inside his mind.
But the other night when I was angry there was fire, when I was scared it rained… so maybe, if there was a shock of terror… Choosing his course of action, Naruto set out on finding a giant snake – with himself as the bait.
An hour later Naruto was running for his life away from a moderately-giant snake, it was five metres in diameter and twenty metres long. He was also trying to play the violin at the same time, why isn't this working!? Im playing the violin and thinking of scary memories… oh crap, I was relaxed at the time. Naruto tried calming himself down but to no avail, he was still crapping himself and the snake was gaining by the second.
"Foolish Boy, how can you be calm when you are running! Turn and face your foe, only then will you calm your mind." The Fox spat the instructions at Naruto, who – as much as he didn't like to admit it – didn't have any other options.
He spun and faced the rapidly approaching snake and took a deep breath, he did a few experimental notes on his violin and then conjured up a terrific memory, he played three slow bass chords before drawing his bow (AN: the bow on a violin is the stick bit) back and doing a single sharp note.
Little did Naruto know that he was running raw chakra through his violin, the notes acting as amplifiers, creating an even larger effect – a trio of lightning bolts struck the giant snake dead in its path.
"Well would you look at that Fox? I even cooked it!"
With a hot meal in his belly, Naruto resumed reading. He had already read through four of the books so he had a pretty good grasp of what ninja were, what they stood for and what chakra was, the tome he was reading was about how to control the chakra that flowed through all bodies and the air around him.
"So… yeah yeah yeah… ah! When controlling basic chakra for the first time… yatta yatta, there it is: Obtain a calm that brings you at one with the world, yeah I can already do that… turn to the diagram on page 240… by observing the flow of chakra through a heavenly (or human) body we can see how ninja change the flow… jackpot! … to put these theories into practice, have a blade of grass on your palm and exude chakra, too much and the grass blows away, too little and it… yeah I get it, okay!"
Naruto achieved his calm state and began to breathe deeply with a blade of grass in his right hand. He visualised a small blue fountain of chakra coming from his palm lifting the grass up in the air; he opened his eyes to see the grass levitating gently above his hand.
"Alright! I did it!" due to his break in concentration, and unknowingly adding emotion, the chakra flow fluctuated more and more, before shooting sky high.
"Oh come on!" Naruto let himself fall to sitting, hurting his arse in the process, as he was rubbing his bottom he realized how he landed from his jump.
"I used chakra! I didn't even know how though… never mind, okay, let's try this again." He stood back up and relaxed.
"Attempt number one." He fell backwards exactly the same way he did before, but shunted chakra behind him, cushioning his fall. Right before passing out from the exertion, he had one thought: ugh that sounds so wrong – I just shot chakra out of my ass!
Kargoth had left Naruto by himself for two weeks – plenty enough time to read those books and train. When he arrived at Naruto's training ground he was surprised by two things; one was a half-eaten carcass of a giant snake, the other was that the air within a twenty metre radius was thick with chakra.
"How is that even possible? Even with the fox…" he muttered this beneath his breath then swiftly dodged to the right when he heard:
"Look out beloooooooooooooooooooowwwwww!" A humanoid shape fell from the sky at terminal speeds. He watched transfixed as the shape turned into Naruto, do a flip so that he was falling feet-first, see the very air shunt into a small wave before Naruto came to an abrupt halt a foot above ground before dropping the rest of the way.
"Yes! I landed on my feet this time! Hey Kargoth." Naruto brushed him aside and lowered himself, placing his arms out as though he were bracing and was about to jump before Kargoth stopped him.
"Naruto! What are you doing!?" He asked in exclamation, and Naruto had to pause for a moment as though to tell his brain 'don't jump'.
"What am I doing? Jumping I guess – what does it look like?" Kargoth face palmed.
"No, I mean… how are you doing that?"
"Oh! Well I read those books you gave me, and I figured how I landed from twenty metres, the first time that is, I'm doing… that. But I do it by redirecting the chakra flow and then shooting it out of my body, propelling me around." Kargoth nodded as though he understood, using all of his willpower to keep a straight face. How is that even possible? Only the Hyuuga can do that, and even then, only for a short amount of time – and definitely not of this scale… Naruto, you might just be the greatest Dread Minstrel yet…
"I see… that's very quick thinking Naruto, able to do that after only two weeks." It must be the Fox's chakra! Only an immortal being made of, well, practically infinite chakra could do that.
"Can I see you do it?" Naruto's request took him back.
"Me? Uh, maybe some other day, what else can you do?" Naruto smiled crazily and nodded. There it is, more emotion, you might be back to your old self soon enough.
"Alright, now throw a kunai, straight at my heart."
"You want me to-… ooooooooooooookay, nice knowing you Naruto." Kargoth thought about throwing it softly, but thought that a teacher shouldn't give his student any special treatment, so threw it full bore at Naruto. Naruto just smiled and placed a hand up – the kunai stopped! Naruto's brow began to sweat and he grunted with exertion; the kunai swiftly turned around and shot off at Kargoth!
"Move!" Kargoth had to shunshin due to the amount of force propelling it.
"Okay… now try three." Naruto was huffing but swiftly regained to composure, and he took a calming breath for some reason, Kargoth didn't know why. He was hesitant to throw three at Naruto, but he had to see how far he could be pushed. In rapid succession he threw a kunai each at his left hand, right hand and chest. Naruto stopped the first two with only slight difficulty; the third was slowing down when it went past his hands and stopped just a small distance back from them. Naruto began to shake a bit, there was sweat on his brow and his right eye began to cry blood, with several grunts of effort, Naruto spun the kunai, but he was having difficulty shooting them back.
"I…can…do…this!" he grunted the words through his teeth but the kunai only flew a metre before dropping. Kargoth made one step forwards before he was blown back by a massive shockwave of raw chakra.
Kargoth regained consciousness with a throbbing headache, and a branch through his arm. Through gritted teeth Kargoth pulled the two-inch diameter, three foot long branch through his bicep.
"Unnnnghh… that's going to sting in the morning. Shit! Where's Naruto?" It only took him a minute to walk back to ground zero, and he found Naruto – miraculously alive? He had severe burns on his arms and all over his chest, but apart from that, he seemed fine. Kargoth kicked Naruto in the legs to wake him up.
"Hey Naruto? You alive?" Naruto's eyes remained closed but he sighed nonetheless.
"Miraculously, you?"
"It would appear that way, what happened?" Naruto sat up but spoke with his eyes remaining shut; Kargoth now saw that his face was also blackened from the blast.
"Well I told you how I do that – by using the chakra inside me and venting it out? It's easy enough to do that with a hand and have a kunai ten centimetres away, but it's extremely difficult – as I found out – to vent two feet of chakra from my chest, and I'd vent chakra from my pinkie's and thumbs to spin the kunai, well I had to vent chakra from my wrists to spin the kunai. Anyway, I had the full one foot diameter of chakra venting out, but I only wanted to shoot the chakra that was behind the kunai, so I managed to get the three kunai away – somehow – but the remaining chakra had nowhere to go, it centred around my chest and detonated exponentially, the force so great that it vibrated the molecules in my clothes and on my skin and… well you can see the results." Throughout the whole conversation Naruto kept swaying and grunting, trying to stay upright, but he kept his eyes closed.
"Do you have something in your eye's Naruto?" Naruto shook his head.
"Quite the opposite in fact." Naruto opened his eyes and what Kargoth saw made him instantly vomit: Naruto's eyes had burnt to nothing! Blood was gushing out of the two sockets; all that was left was the bloody red eye-stalks.
"Bluughhh, how are you… how, bleearrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh standing?" Kargoth had to help Naruto but actually had to force himself to look at Naruto.
"The Fox instantly took over part of my brain – he severed the nerve connections so that I couldn't feel a thing, he's even making me new eyes." Kargoth shakily wiped the vomit from his face and nodded.
"We'll uh… have to do something about that… Naruto. Cover them, I mean." Naruto nodded, tore up the remains of his shirt and ties them around his eyes.
"Yeah… it'll work for now. Come on." He took Naruto by the shoulder and led him back to the tent (he didn't stink anymore, apparently).
Naruto had slept for four days straight before he finally awoke.
"Kargoth? I'm awake, how long have I been out?" he stumbled around the tent before he gained his bearings. He shuffled his feet around, nudging into things to relocate himself.
"Bed… Kargoth's bed… ow! Table... that means…" he rubbed his shin as he stepped into the morning? No, it must have been noon, or early afternoon sun – judging by its position.
"Kargoth? Are you here?" he wandered around for a few minutes before giving up and stumbling back to the tent.
Each day he would wander around for an hour or so before returning to the tent in vain, thankfully Kargoth hadn't moved the larder and so Naruto knew he had a steady supply of food, and having lived in the forest for such a time he could easily locate fresh water.
He continued searching for Kargoth for a month before the Fox spoke to him:
"Boy, it's clear that he is not returning – he must have thought you were a pathetic pupil after that explosion and gave up on you. Seeing as how I don't want my vessel to be a stumbling fool before I give you eyesight, here." Naruto was confused by the fox's words; that is, until a red tinge overtook everything – he could see! Naruto immediately ran out of the tent only to be blinded again and fall to the ground in pain.
"I have given you a watered-down version of my demonic witch sight Boy, demons don't like the sun. Hahahahaha! Fool!" Naruto painfully crawled into the tent and his sight was instantly perfect, actually, it was better than perfect! He could zoom his eyes into extreme detail and make out even the slightest imperfection on the wooden table, but he was getting a headache from such detail and had to view things as a normal human would. It was at this time that Naruto took in a small box that was on the table.
Naruto, was inscribed on the top. He opened the box to find only a letter and a seal on the bottom of the box.
Naruto, sorry about running out on you but I hope that we may meet again one day, but until that day I sadly cannot call you my pupil anymore – but I assure you that you will be a Dread Minstrel. Apply a small amount of chakra to the seal in the bottom of the box and your training as a Dread Minstrel will commence, but I warn you Naruto, once you are on this path, there is NO going back; after I found you I placed two seals on you and one on the tent, as soon as you apply chakra to the seal on the box, ALL of the denizens in the forest will be able to sense and smell you, the seal on the tent and one of the seals on you will be destroyed. When you finish your training the second seal will disappear and all other people will be able to sense you – how have we been able to hide this long otherwise?
Until the next time, I bid you farewell Naruto.
"What did I tell you? You can't trust him." The Fox's words rang through Naruto's head, he sighed.
"I don't really care that much, Fox; for five years it was just me, I guess now I'll get to share the rest of my years with you. I'm overjoyed really." That feeling – or lack of it – came back to Naruto, he was just lethargic, sorrowful. Although that's partly a lie, although he felt lethargic, he still had the drive to become a Dread Minstrel – he didn't know why… he just had a drive for it.
"So what do you think I should do then?" Naruto's question was met by silence, he didn't really care about what the fox thought, he just wanted to ask. Naruto placed a finger on the seal and directed some chakra into it; he felt a sizzling on the back of his neck and knew that all the animals and insects in the forest could detect him now. A shoebox sized box popped into existence on the table. Inside were several books, a letter and a small shoulder-harp, he read the letter.
Naruto, if you're reading this it means that I've left you – my apologies about that, I'm sure I have a good reason. This also means that you are choosing to become a Dread Minstrel – and so I say good luck to you! Your violin is off limits for the duration of your training (apart from recreational purposes) and you must use the harp supplied, follow the numbers.
"Follow the numbers?" Naruto went through the contents and understood Kargoth's words: on the spine of the books there was a number, ranging from one to nine. He found the first one, entitled:
"My first Harp, an introduction to the gaiety of music? The 'gaiety of music', does he think I'm a gay? Wait, no, gay gay, not gay. And even then, I already know how to play the harp." One winter back Kargoth decided that Naruto needed to know more than one instrument, so he knew the violin, trumpet, harp and cello – but then Naruto noticed that it was a 'ninja edition', rather than a civilian one.
"A 'ninja edition'? That just sounds too cheesy, or fake." To Naruto's surprise the contents covered basic playing, as well as playing with chakra.
"Oh Kargoth, you shouldn't have." As Naruto leafed through the book a rare dark smiled touched his face – while he thought that what he did with the violin was powerful… he was barely even scratching the surface.
Across the next month the people of Konoha found that it rained everyday, and that there was often storm clouds above the Forest Of Death – many a time did people hope and curse that the 'Snake Whore' would be drowned.
Naruto had completely mastered the harp in all its forms within the first week, the flute and piccolo in the second and third weeks, he was having difficulty with the saxophone, however. Naruto was a melancholic soul, only finding happiness in distant memories, and when sorrowful in the rain, he was at peace. It is very difficult to play a saxophone when you are sad – at the least not happy. He finally found the answer when reading one of Kargoth's books:
"Personal temperament has no place in music, we feel we play drums when we are angry, a violin when we are sad, we whistle when we are happy – it doesn't matter how you feel, it is how the instruments feel. Even if we all purchased the exact same instrument, even if we played the exact same chord – they would all be different; as soon as you play an instrument you pass part of yourself into it. You may read this and think that I am contradicting myself but read further; while we do pass part of ourselves into an instrument when we play it, instruments already have an emotion, for example: if someone pointed at a drum set, an organ and a flute and asked you to assign them an emotion, I guarantee that at least 70% of you will say that the drum set is angry or brash, the organ is solemn or sorrowful and the flute was cheeky or upbeat. When playing an instrument it is crucial that you also take into account your current emotional state – although your general emotional state has no place in music, your current one does – if someone has just broken your heart it is difficult to play 'look on the bright side of life', and if someone just accepted a marriage proposal it would be difficult to play Mozart's 'Lacrimosa'. So here is what you should do if you are having difficulty playing a piece that is the opposite of how you are feeling: think of a memory that would be associated with that piece, i.e. If it's sad, have a sad memory, no matter how good or bad it is, even if you really don't want to remember it, just for a moment actually feel the memory, and play. As soon as you are playing with that emotion become part of the music – let the music flow through your soul and entire being and I assure you that you will play well…
Naruto stopped reading, having finally received the message and began to play anew. He really could feel himself becoming one with the music, getting the same feeling as when he played the violin and changed the weather. The people of Konoha were grateful that the sun came out; although when Naruto finished playing the song he couldn't feel the rain anymore he played a particularly sad song.
As life in the village sped on by for it's in habitants, the years dragged on for Naruto. He was nine and a half, he was a master of all woodwind, percussion and string instruments – he could recreate all manners of symphonies and orchestras, just as he could kill his opponents, be it with nature, destroying their minds by trapping them in genjutsu, obliterating their ears and brains via instrumental chakra attacks, or stringing them along in a dance of death. He felt that, while he was an excellent minstrel – dread or otherwise – he was lacking real 'ninja' skills. He had perfected his chakra control, and after jumping he could actually glide around and ride the air currents in mimicry of flight, can vent chakra through all of his chakra points and had a fair grasp of hand-to-hand combat, but that was it. He knew no ninjutsu, gen or taijutsu, he couldn't shunshin and he had no kunai or shuriken to throw; his prayers seemed to have been answered one day when he opened his next seal-box. It contained a letter (as they all did) a dozen or so books, and a bag of twenty-five shuriken.
"Thank you." he spoke to the roof of the tent in prayer, because no matter how much he enjoyed music, it was getting incredibly dull. As always, he read the letter first.
Naruto, you should have covered a good amount of the musical arts by now, and so I feel (well, I would if I was there) that it's time you should begin your ninja training. You will soon notice that I haven't numbered any of the books in this package, that's because how you go about it is up to you – although I suggest that you read 'sealing for beginners' before reading 'advanced sealing techniques'.
The titles of the books greatly interested Naruto: Sealing For Beginners, Advanced Sealing Techniques, the Konoha Ninja Academy Handbook, ANBU: Are You Tough Enough?, Crucial Battles Of The Three Great Ninja Wars (Complete And Unabridged), Grub In The Grass: The Ninja Guide To Healthy Eating, Genjutsu: Is Seeing Really Believing?, The Ultimate Taijutsu Encyclopaedia.
There was also some chakra paper and instructions on one jutsu from each chakra affinity, but a small pink box caught Naruto's eye, he opened it up to find another letter and seal.
Naruto, among many things, I'm also a realist – you're probably nine or ten, right? Well, when a man gets to a certain age Some things may be happening to you that are new, like when you get excited you might This is just weird, even in writing, just open the seal, it explains it all!
Naruto was confused at the crossed out lines – what was Kargoth going on about? But curiosity killed the cat, he unsealed the box to find two things, a fairly thick book entitled: Puberty: What's Happening To Me? As well as a magazine called 'Penthouse'. Suffice to say… Naruto didn't leave the tent for a few days, and he had to air it out after that.
"You ready boss?"
"It seems that way, go!" Sixty Naruto's surrounded the original as they threw two kunai each at the real Naruto. He threw his hands out and vented chakra from everywhere on his body, stopping the kunai in mid-air.
"That's good boss, now angle the vents so you can shoot them back." The real Naruto figured that an enemy wouldn't just stand there, so he spun the kunai to face random directions and fired them off, killing all but one shadow-clone, who had stopped four kunai aimed at him by venting his own chakra.
"Nice work, but that's enough venting for today, we need to work on your jutsu." Naruto nodded and they both went back to the camp site. Along the way, Naruto saw several groups of himself practising a different aspect of the ninja arts:
Tree walking, "I said 'walk' not 'run'! No one is getting dispelled until they can walk all the way up the tree!"
Water walking, "Take as long as you want, we all have our own speeds of doing things. The one thing I want you to remember is to just have fun."
Taijutsu, "Now, strike in time with the beat! Ready? Huh! War! What is it good for? Ab-so-lute-ly nothing!"
Sealing, "WHAT IS THIS?! IS THIS A PAINTING CLASS?! NO! IT'S SEALING! A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH!" "Yeah but-" "BUT WHAT!? GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
And Ninjutsu. "As ninja, we bring quick, silent, death, to our enemies. We all have a wind chakra affinity, so we can be as silent as a breeze and yet as destructive as a hurricane. For example: Wind Style: Wind Of Death Jutsu." Three of the ten shadow clones were caught by surprise as they were decapitated, dying silently as their heads were eviscerated in less than a second. Naruto didn't turn, but he spoke to the lead shadow clone as he walked off.
"Number One, bring the commanders to the tent, dispel the others."
"Rodger that boss." Number One nodded and sped off to gather the clone commanders (AN: hehehe).
With the clone leaders were assembled in front of the tent it would have been easy to mistake the clones for twins; being shadow clones they all had a tiny difference in personality, and when they are never dispelled these personalities flare:
Number One was an excellent leader; he was good for one-on-one training sessions or whole team exercises and stood to attention with his hands clasped behind his back and his legs slightly apart.
Number Two was an angry clone who had high standards and lowered them for no-one; he stood with his arms crossed over his chest.
Number Three was much like Two, he wasn't as angry but he had great expectations of everyone else, if he could do it why couldn't they? They were all clones anyway. He knelt before Naruto, catching his breath after a particular strenuous tree walking exercise.
Number Four was the ninjutsu teacher and a melancholic clone; he slouched with his head down, eyes closed and hands in pockets.
Number Five was a very gung-ho clone, the taijutsu teacher who loved music, he was laying down with his shirt off, tapping out a beat with his feet while catching some rays.
Number Six was a calm, somewhat feminine clone; he was always smiling and encouraging the clones.
Number One waited for Naruto to come out of the tent before turning to the other clones and asking for a report.
"The seal work is shoddy, but with time maybe, maybe it can be good."
"The tree walking is fine, they just need to be able to maintain stationary grip for longer."
"The jutsu are coming along, we can bring death to anyone. The shunshin will take more time."
"We're doing great boss! We've begun to warp the Iron Fist style into our own personal Force Impact! It's gonna be awesome when it's done!"
"The water walking is going just splendidly!" Naruto nodded to the clones in dismissal, they each made a single clone and then dispelled themselves, the clones being sealed into a scroll. Naruto placed a hand to his head to quell the sudden headache due to the new knowledge and memories. He picked up the scroll and walked into the tent, he sat down and in a rare display of anger he slammed his fist down on the table.
"Time! We always need more time! The one thing I am running out of." One of the things the fox had corrupted his thoughts with was fire, specifically burning the world. Naruto had always seen the human existence as a short and pathetic thing – he didn't crave immortality like others who held the same point of view, he just wished his life to be over; but there was two things that stopped him: one was the Fox, he wouldn't have his vessel kill itself, the second was something Naruto couldn't exactly put his finger on. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that he had to find something, he didn't know who what when or where it was – he just had that notion that he had to find it. The reason he was running out of time was because he needed to be strong when he joined the ninja academy; Kargoth had made a note of joining the academy if Naruto wanted, Naruto saw this as a means to an end – he craved revenge against all who hurt him, but not swift revenge, Naruto wanted to watch them fall through the years. He wanted them to feel dread, Naruto felt that it was ironic that he was a 'Dread Minstrel'. When Naruto had these thoughts and emotions he was completely into it, making grand schemes and plans, but when he played his violin and made it rain… it seemed to clear his mind, placing him in a state of bittersweet sadness.
It was a warm summer day, which was unusual for Naruto – for some reason he decided to leave the sun out, he didn't know why, but the Fox told him that he could use this time to stay in the sun and let his false sight adapt. The Nine-Tails had been working fairly hard to create Naruto's new eyes, but he was still not finished, so he had been getting Naruto to stay in the sun for longer so that when his eyes were finally create he wouldn't be blinded by the light.
Naruto was walking along playing his violin to a slowly upbeat song that he enjoyed.
"'Cause it's a bitter-sweet symph-ony that's liiife.
Tryna make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die-ie.
I'll take you down the only, road I've ever been down.
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the things meet, yeah.
No change I can change I can change I can chaange, but im here,
In my mode, I am here, in my mode,
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next,
I can change, my mode, no-no, no no no noooo no no.
Everybody have a good time." He continued to play and sing, he heard a twig snap and thought that it was an animal.
"…I let the mel-ody shine,
let it cleanse my mind, I feel free, now.
But the airwaves are clean,
And there's nobody singing to me now." A flute joined in his song and he continued playing for a few more bars before he stopped and turned. Before him stood a girl with shoulder length red hair, she wore a dirty grey jumper that was a bit large for her and a pair of black ninja trousers. Naruto dismissed her with a thought and began playing a different song.
"Why did you change songs?" Naruto's blood froze in his veins – she could see him?!
"You… you can see me?" She looked at him like he was retarded.
"Of course I can see you, what happened to your eyes?" she cocked her head when she saw his bandages. How can she see me? I haven't been through all of the seal boxes! Naruto discovered when he was seven that the seal on his spine not only concealed his chakra signature, but also himself – he was rather shocked when three chunin nearly walked into him.
"An accident, none of your business anyway. You should go back to the village, your parents are probably worried about you little girl." She stamped her foot and turned angry.
"I'm not a little girl! I'm nearly ten years old! I'm probably older than you, so don't act like a grown-up! Besides… im looking for my dad." Naruto wanted the girl to leave; he was both in fear and in awe of her. Fear, because she could see him – did that mean that the seal wore off earlier than it should? And in awe of her because, well, she could see him!
"Do you, um, do you know where he is?" What is happening? First she can see me, now I'm tripping over my words? What's happening?
"My mum… she…" The girl began to sob and cry; obviously something had happened to her mum. Oh crap, what should I do? Although he was soliloquising in his head, the fox answered. Foolish Boy! She's a girl! Go comfort her! How do I do that?! Are you retarded?! Give her a hug! The Nine-Tails was laughing his arse off in his mind – he understood why Naruto was tripping over his words, he was also laughing because he got to watch every second of Naruto embarrass the crap out of himself.
Naruto walked over to her and gave her a hug, his cheeks flushing red even though he had no idea why, but still the girl cried. What can I do? I know! He let go of her and began whistling, then sang.
I'm laughing,
I'm singing,
I'm happy all day,
Because I'm walking, on the Milky Way.
No raindrops, no stormclouds get in my way,
Because I'm walking, on the Milky Way
Rocket ships and satellites go whizzing by,
Whoopsie-Daisy, I think I got a moonbeam in my eye.
No bad times, no sad times no bad news today.
Because I'm walking, on the Milky Way.
The Fox's laughter boomed in his head, but he ignored it and wiped a tear from her eye. She stopped crying, sniffed and looked at him.
"Wh-what did you do that for?" he smiled at her,
"Because you aren't as pretty when you cry." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! What did I just say!?
"You really think so? But how can you see me? And aren't I just a snot-nosed brat?" Naruto shook his head.
"Yes, I do think that, and… well, it's difficult to explain how I see – and you're not a snot-nosed brat." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Shut up Fox! I'm just saying this… well I don't know why, but someone has to look after her!
"Well, my mum, she… *sniffle*, told me to find my dad out here, can you *sniffle* help me?" Naruto saw the approaching darkness and thought of a better idea.
"Sure I will, but it's starting to get dark; I live around here… you could stay with me, if you want." She couldn't believe her ears! He was going to help her?
"You – you really mean it?" Naruto nodded to her and she hugged him tightly, he grew uncomfortable and red.HAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DOES THE LITTLE BOY HAVE A LITTLE CRUSH? OH HOW SWEET! Shut up Fox! Was I supposed to leave her here by herself?
Naruto sat her down at the small wooden table and fetched her some water.
"So… do you want to talk about your mum?" Naruto asked gently, she sniffed once and nodded her head.
"I was out training one day… and it was time to go home… the house was *sniffle* it was on fire. I screamed and… I ran inside *sniffle* when I got there my mum… she *sniffle* she was bleeding everywhere! Someone murdered her! I ran over to her, and… all she told me was that my dad was in the Leaf forests… and… I tried to get people to help me… but *sniffle* no one would. They said… they said that *sniffle* it's what she gets for… marrying a monster! What did my dad ever do to them?! Then, some of them tried… to kill me! My teacher… he saved me a-and told me to run… they killed him… why! Why did they kill him!" she started to cry again but wiped away her own tears and spoke again.
"He shouted one thing out to me though… I don't even know what it means: "You are next in line! Assemble the five to take out the One!" Do you know what it means?" Naruto shook his head and felt the Fox growling in his head. She's one of them! Mark my words, Boy: she'll be the end of you if you stay near her. What could she do to me? I mean- Foolish Boy!... Ignorance shall be your downfall!The Fox shut up after that and Naruto felt their mental connection sever… the Nine-Tails was still there, but he could only faintly feel his residual presence.
"I-I'm soory for this *sniffle* sob-story, I didn't mean to… to lay it on you like that… it's just… my whole family's gone… My name's Tayuya by the way, what's yours?" She wiped away the rest of her tears and held out her hand.
"I'm Naruto. It's getting pretty late; we'll talk more in the morning… I'm uh, sorry about your family, condolences." She nodded in thanks then looked around the tent.
"So… where will I be sleeping?"
"My bed of course, I'll be sleeping outside." She looked at him, shocked.
"You can't sleep outside! There's heaps of animals out there that could kill you! I'll sleep on the ground, you take your bed." Naruto wouldn't hear of it.
"Nope, trust me Tayuya, I've faced worse, and if I don't stand guard outside, who'll look after you?" Why did I say that!? She blushed at his remark.
"Well, when you put it that way, goodnight Naruto, and… thank you." Naruto bade her goodnight and set up a few shadow clone sentries before laying against a tree and falling asleep.
Naruto awoke from under the tree and opened his phantom eyes, viewing the world as always with a red glare to everything. He checked that Tayuya was still sleeping before unsealing his clone leaders, he explained the situation to them, and so they shouldn't be surprised if a redheaded girl can see them.
"Also, we need to move the schedule forwards, I'm going to triple the amount of clone that I usually give you – the people who are hunting Tayuya could arrive at any time, granted, they might not turn up at all. Shadow Clone Jutsu! Dismissed!" Naruto nodded to number one and they both vented chakra so that they were one hundred metres in the air and gliding, eventually landing at Naruto's private training spot. One turned to Naruto.
"Hey boss, what's up with you?" Naruto was a bit confused,
"What do you mean, One?"
"You seem… happy, chipper, hell I'd use the word alive in this case. Did something happen with Tayuya?" Naruto shook his head and hands 'no'.
"No chance, I just met here, I'm just taking responsibility for her – she's lost her family and everything."
"She was also called a monster and was nearly killed – if only for a day – does that ring any bells?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Look boss, all I'm saying is… well, I'm saying nothing, it's good to see you… not sad. Anyway, today I wanted to have a spar with you – it's all well and good having the knowledge, but let's see you put it into practice." They nodded to each other and took up the Iron Fist stance.
(AN: for those who don't know what the Iron Fist is, it's Rock and Might's fighting style, also AN means Author Note [it took me ages to figure that out])
They sparred for half-hour before Number One stopped the spar. Both fell to the ground panting,
"Okay… boss, it looks…. Like… we'll have to… do this more often, whew!"
"Yeah… I didn't think… that'd take… as much as it did." they eventually regained their breath and stood up, jumped in the air and glided back to the main training ground. Naruto nodded to Number One who went around to each of the groups, seeing what they were doing and joining in on some. Naruto entered the tent to find Tayuya sobbing quietly; she looked up to see him standing there, ran over and embraced him tightly.
"Naruto! I thought *sob* you left me alone. I *sob* don't want to be *sob* alone anymore, please don't leave me*sob* like that again!" Naruto was completely taken aback: he was only gone for a short while.
"It's-It's fine Tayuya, let it all out… I didn't leave, I was just training… I'm… I'm not going to leave you, Tayuya." She took her face out of his chest and looked at – well she couldn't look at his eyes – his face with tears in her eyes.
"Promise me Naruto! Promise me that you won't leave me alone!" Naruto's next words were the first step on the road to his death:
"Of course Tayuya, I promise that I'll never leave you: I'll be with you, forever, always and after."
(AN: I would have ended this chapter right here, but I still have a few hours before I can go online, so on with the fic!)
After their rather passionate moment, Naruto made them breakfast. When they had finished he opened the tent and showed her what he was doing.
"I was just training, see. I had plenty of clones out here you could have talked to." She shook her head.
"But they're not you, they're clones, I could tell the difference." Naruto raised an eyebrow under his bandages.
"How could you tell the difference?" she seemed uncomfortable at the question,
"I… they look different form you… I'm not supposed to tell you…" Naruto let it drop.
"It's okay, you don't have to explain. But, um… I have to train every day, I won't be able to be with you all the time." She grabbed one of his hands and looked at his 'eyes'.
"What if I train with you?"
"Uhhh, I'm not sure… you probably wouldn't get-"
"Get what? It's ninja training; I've been training for years." Naruto's mouth hung agape.
"For years? What were you taught?"
"Lots of things, I can walk on water, walk up trees, I'm not that great at taijutsu but I know a bit, I can attack enemies with jutsu via my instrument-" This caught Naruto's ears, Kargoth had once told him that few people could do it, they could make weapons that utilised sounds and attack with them (AN: Zaku's wind holes and Dosu's Melody Arm) but it was rare that people could use an instrument and attack through it – he also told him that the Dread Minstrels were an ancient order, they had banks, contacts and safe houses all across the world, but there were only ever five actual Dread Minstrels at any one time, and only up to five apprentices at any one time – the most being three, during the second great ninja war. The reason why there were so few Minstrels was because they were persecuted and executed by most people encountered; luckily, the last public Minstrel was killed decades ago, and all knowledge of their existence was eradicated. When Naruto asked why this was so, Kargoth shook his head and said: "People fear what they don't understand – like the Fox."
"Through your instrument? Tayuya – who taught you that?" She slapped her hands over her mouth and then removed them.
"I'm not supposed to tell you –"
"Tayuya, please you have to tell me, it's very important to me and my mentor." She shook her head sadly.
"Naruto, the world isn't ready to know of our existence yet." Naruto immediately smiled – it was one of the last things Kargoth taught him, it was a code used between Minstrels when they did not want to say who they really were, it also had a countersign:
"It must be a sad existence, not having anyone know of you." She looked at him slowly.
"You mean, you… you're a Dread Minstrel?" he smiled in return.
"You bet it, so who were you taught by? I can see why you don't want to be alone though." She was somewhat confused by his statement.
"What do you mean? I was taught by the Keepers, my family helped me as well… what do you mean by understanding me being alone?" It was his turn to be confused,
"The Keepers, who are they? I was taught by one of the Dread Minstrels, well, until he left – but he left me with everything that I would need to become a Dread Minstrel, and… well, I guess you could say that I was kicked out of my village, since I was five I have been living in the forest with my mentor, and I've been by myself since I was six and a half… you're really the third person that I've really talked to." She was shocked by all of what he said, but one thing shocked her above all else:
"You were taught… by a Dread Minstrel?"
"Well yeah, weren't you? Who are the 'Keepers', by the way?" she stood back a bit and let go of his hand, brushed off her jumper and bowed.
"I'm sorry, My Lord, I didn't know who I was speaking to, please forgive me." Naruto quickly stood her up from her bow.
"Whoa! What are you talking about?" She was looking at him like he was telling a bad joke,
"Y-You were taught by a real live Dread Minstrel! You are one of the Chosen, but… how is this possible, there haven't been…" she began mumbling under her breath.
"Hey, what are you talking about? Im a 'Chosen'? What does that even mean? And you still haven't told me who the Keepers are either." She looked up at him and then looked around.
"Can we go inside? People could be listening." Naruto was going to tell her that he had sentries set up all throughout the forest, but thought better of it and nodded instead, opening the flap of the tent and leading her in.
"The Keepers train the apprentice Dread Minstrels, I was the only one they ever taught… there is usually little to no contact between current Dread Minstrels and apprentices, but I thought there were no current Minstrels… tell me, who taught you?"
"He told me to call him Kargoth, but I don't think that was his real name." Tayuya thought for a moment,
"I can recall all past Dread Minstrels, none had the name 'Kargoth', did he give you a number? What was his rank?"
"Oh yeah… he did say once that he was the 'last of five', so maybe he's number five?" Upon saying that, Tayuya began to shake and cry.
"That bastard… that, that fucking bastard! He was here! And he-he taught you!?" she began pounding Naruto's chest as she cried (none too lightly either), Naruto had to hold her wrists so she wouldn't hurt either of them.
"Easy Tayuya! What happened? What's wrong?" she looked at him with venom in her eyes.
"What happened? That fucking bastard killed my dad! That's what happened!" Naruto couldn't rebut her without making her ay angrier so he just chose to hold her, restraining her but hugging her at the same time. Eventually she calmed down enough that Naruto could let her go, which caused her to cry anew.
"I'm sorry! *sob* please, please don't leave *sob* me!" He immediately embraced her again – part of him thought that it was getting rather redundant – and patted her back.
"It's okay Tayuya; I'm not going to leave you."
"But…*sob* but I, I hit you*sob* and-"
"Tayuya, Tayuya look at me. I'm not going to leave you, okay? Just close your eyes…" he began to hum As Time Goes By and due to her tirade of emotions she quickly fell asleep. He held her for a while longer, enjoying her close proximity, the beat of her heat, the warmth of her body… the genuine happiness. He slowly lowered her onto her bed and sat at the table, pulled out one of Kargoth's diaries and began to look for clue as to why he would kill Tayuya's dad.
(AN: Was going to end it here/there, but I've still got a few minutes left – c'mon grand conclusion to first chapter!)
As it turns out – im out of time, but rejoice (if you didn't think that this was a crap chapter), I will have the second chapter posted on Sunday – that's three days for non Aussies.
Apologies to thecreatorofpolides, who was the winner of the instrument-guessing-contest, by the way, he was the only person to PM me, at least he (or she) got it first shot.
One last note before I go, I felt that in COTS I gave Naruto way too much: he was invincible, he had a magic form, he had an even magic-er form, he knew death jutsu, he didn't need handsigns, he had two animals, he had wings, he had an epic scythe, etc. For this one, I'm trying really hard to contain what he can do, and Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Until next time,
Chapter 02 – Broken Promises and Burning Revenge.
No musical quote, apologies again.
