The Empty Vessel of Konoha
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Final Fantasy XI. Please don't sue me!
Author's Note: I have many rules when it comes to writing things. Whether it is a paper for school or a fan fiction on this website. Of these rules I have only consciously broken one, don't write songfics. I've written two and, as of now, I don't plan on writing anymore.
Today I break my second rule of fan fiction, never write a crossover. The reason I say this is because I have rarely seen crossover fics that are well written and seem to mostly be there for a person to place their favorite character from one thing in another world to hook up with their other favorite character. However, the other day I was searching for Blue Mage FFXI fics and came across two fics that crossed Naruto and FFXI. They were such complete abominations that I was forced, in a temporary insanity, to write this test chapter.
The only, only, reason I have decided to write this out was because the very concept of a Blue Mage from FFXI rings true with Naruto's own situation.
(My most important rule is no self-insert. Can't stand those.)
And so I apologize in advance for this. Thank you and forgive me.
Prologue: Arrival
Location Unknown
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
'Ugh…What's that sound?'
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
A young man slowly opened his eyes as the steady sound brought him to consciousness.
"Wha…Where am I?" he gasped as he looked around. Strange…machines surrounded him in an unfamiliar room.
"Is this Bastok?" He whispered. 'No it can't be. These machines are far more advanced than even those Bastokans could develop.' He rubbed his forehead, noticing it was covered in bandages, as he tried to come to terms with what he was seeing. To remember how he even got here. Glancing down he noticed wires hanging off of him and a needle stuck in his arm connected to some sort of bag.
"A potion perhaps?" He furrowed his brow. 'No that's not right. That fluid is clear. Potions are…'
Suddenly a well-endowed Hume woman in a white outfit burst into the room. "彼は目を覚ましている!"
He blinked at the woman as she began checking him over and looking at the machine that made the strange noise. 'Altana…I wish she'd shut that thing off.'
"あなたの名前は何ですか?" She…asked him? He paled as he realized he couldn't understand the Hume. Where was he that he couldn't understand the language? He just shook his head at her.
"I don't understand you." He said. She looked at him in confusion for a second before realizing what was happening.
Placing a hand on her chest she said, "Tsu…na…de." The she pointed at him. "あなたの名前は何ですか"Quick on the uptake he smiled at her, hopefully in a non-threatening way, and placed a hand on his chest.
"Jatiro." He said simply. She nodded again and scribbled something, probably his name, down on a sheet of parchment. A moment later several more Humes in similar white outfits came in and began poking and prodding him. 'A hospital then.'
The doctors began conducting more tests, drew a vial of blood which surprised them with its blue tint, and otherwise made him as uncomfortable as possible. He endured it with good grace as these people, despite their strange language and outlandish machines, may have saved his life.
And then a new man walked in. Jatiro sized the man up and was impressed. The man was probably a bit shorter than him with bright blond hair and striking blue eyes. He had an air of power about him. Something that demanded obedience from those around him, and yet there was also kindness and compassion in his eyes. The man fixed Jatiro with a piercing gaze of his own.
"さて、誰が、彼は何ですか? 忍者? 彼はから何を国来るのですか?"The man asked of the people around him. The first Hume he spoke with, Tsunade, came over and began talking with him.
"彼の名前はJatiroです。それ以外に我々は何を知っている。彼は言語を話すことはありません。" The man looked from Jatiro to Tsunade and back. Sighing, he gave the group of doctors a dismissive wave. They hesitated for a moment, worried about their patient, but quickly left as he fixed them with a look that demanded they obey. When they were alone, the man knelt down beside Jatiro's bed and looked him straight in the eye.
"ようこそ木の葉、見知らぬ人に。私はMinato Namikaze しています。この村の火影。私たちの言語の高速学ぶ私はあなたのために多くの質問があるからです。"Nodding, the Hume left the room without a second glance back. Jatiro shook his head and grinned.
'Hope what he said wasn't too important.' Shortly after the man left the doctors and nurse returned and began working on him again. Faces grimmer now than when he first woke up. 'That can't be good.' Jatiro thought leaning back and letting the good doctors do their work.
Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure
As Minato walked away from the newcomer's room he could only shake his head. He'd only met a couple people in his life who didn't speak the language of the Elemental Countries in his life. And one of them was a ninja whose brain was addled when he fell during a mission and cracked his skull open.
And that wasn't the most confusing thing about him. The man was clearly a warrior, evidenced by the fact that he was found wearing a strange blue and white armor and holding an oddly curved sword the likes of which he had never seen. The blade was curved somewhat like a katana though quite a bit wider and the handle curved in the opposite direction. Stranger still he learned before he entered the room that the man was completely devoid of chakra.
It wasn't unknown for a child to enter the academy only to find that they were completely unable to manipulate their chakra, it was often caused by an extremely rare genetic defect. But this man… he would have doctors talking for decades! Chakra was a person's life energy; even those who couldn't physically manipulate it still had it! And this man had none…he should be dead.
'Who…what are you…Jatiro?' Minato thought.
A scream erupted behind him in Jatiro's room. Swiftly drawing his three-point kunai he rushed back toward the room as doctors and nurses began stumbling out of the room.
"Move!" he shouted as he pushed his way into the room. Once inside his eyes widened at way he saw.
Jatiro saw in his bed with his eyes closed. His forehead bandages had been removed revealing the nasty looking wound that he had been found with days earlier. The man himself had his arms out in front of him with his palms face down one over the other. Blue streaks of light were streaming into the man before him.
Minato had no idea what kind of jutsu the man was casting but he didn't think he had time to stop it. He grimaced as he braced for impact.
"Polen."
Jatiro opened his eyes and swung his arms in a loose circle before sharply bringing them back together one over the other and parallel to one another. A bright light emitted from the center of his chest.
Minato held his position for a second…then another. Then the scent of flowers assaulted his nose and caused his eyes to widen. Right before his very eyes the man's gashed open head sealed itself up and looked as though he had never been injured.
Without taking notice of Minato, the man reached up and gently touched his forehead, checking for the wound. Nodding when he found none, he suddenly noticed Minato. He smiled and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
Minato shot him a confused look until he realized he still had the kunai in his hand with the business end towards Jatiro.
"Fácil. Fácil ahora. No hay necesidad de violencia." Jatiro said, smiling. Minato lowered his kunai and looked at him.
'I thought he was devoid of chakra!' he said to himself silently. There was no use asking Jatiro the question so he turned and stomped outside to grab the nearest doctor.
"I thought you said he had no chakra!" Minato said, his heart still pounding with adrenaline, to the closest doctor he could find.
"Lord Hokage! He didn't…doesn't! We checked him not twenty minutes ago!" Minato pulled him into the room and pointed at Jatiro, who threw his hands up in surrender.
"Then explain how he did that!" The doctor looked at his patient and was stunned. His head was completely healed. Not even he could have done such a good job. Acting quickly, the doctor pulled a small needle out of a nearby drawer and a slip of paper.
"Everyone, regardless of whether or not they can manipulate their chakra, has an elemental affinity." The doctor said grabbing Jatiro's hand as his did so. "This slip of paper reacts to chakra in a person's blood to determine that affinity when they are unable to use regular chakra paper for some reason, such as during an interrogation."
The doctor pricked Jatiro's finger and wiped some of the blood onto the slip. "It is otherwise just like chakra paper. And see, no reaction. In a normal person that would mean they have been long since dead and all residual chakra dissipated."
Minato took the slip from the doctor. "Maybe it's a faulty piece?"
"We would have thought so too, but that was the eleventh test we have conducted since his arrival!"
"Very well. I want you to call in for two Anbu Black Ops to come and guard this man. I also want someone to come and teach our language to him. No one is to have access to his room except for his doctors and nurses, his teacher, and myself. Most importantly no one is to know of his condition or ability. Not until we know more about him." Minato said.
The doctor, also a member of the Ninja Medic Corps, nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
Minato left the doctor to his work.
Two months later
Jatiro sighed as he look out the window of his room/cell. He had spent one more day in the hospital under observation before they moved him into this room where he had spent most of everyday learning the language, and once he'd become fairly proficient, being interrogated by the humans, as he had learned they called themselves. Functionally and anatomically they appeared to be the same race as Jatiro but he couldn't be sure.
There was a good chance he could have escaped, despite his well armed and highly trained…'Anbu guards?' he thought as he recalled the elite warriors stationed outside his room. But to be honest, he knew nothing of the land he was in and only recently learned the language with any proficiency.
'Even if I escape where would I go?' he thought.
A light rain began to descend over Konoha as he watched a funeral procession move along in the street below. Apparently this country had been at war with its neighbors and though it had recently swung in Konoha's favor, their enemies weren't ready to give up yet.
Thoughts of the war here quickly turned to thoughts of the situation back at home. Al Zahbi, the capital of The Empire of Aht Urhgan was in a perpetual state of war. Every few days the Mamool Ja, a collection of beastmen who have banded together, or the Lamia, a group of snakewomen, or one of the other creatures that infested the areas outside the city's gates would launch a strike against the unprotected commoner's ward. The Empress had to resort to recruiting mercenaries to help fill in the gaps where her army couldn't.
A gap made wider by his disappearance. The Empress was going to have his hide when he returned to Al Zahbi.
'If I return to Al Zahbi…' he thought as he recalled the day his personal items, minus the weapons, had been returned to him. He had opened the small blue bag that held his teleport crystals. He had hoped that if even one of them was intact he could find a way to activate one and return to Vana'diel. To his dismay, they had crumbled into black dust, beyond repair.
A small break in the clouds revealed that the sun had begun rising, soon an interrogator would arrive to continue their daily sessions.
'I suppose I should be happy they haven't resorted to torture.' He thought absently. They didn't keep him in chains, yet anyway, but if they discovered he was using his blue magic to coat himself in a damage resistant skin they might change their tune.
A light knocking on the door caused Jatiro to look back. The door opened the reveal the leader of Konoha, Minato Namikaze. Jatiro glanced at the man he hadn't seen since he awoke in the hospital two months ago. He looked exhausted. There were bags under his eyes attesting to his lack of sleep, his white coat was torn up badly and bandages had been applied to his cheek. Despite this he still had an air of command and determination around him.
"Good morning." Minato greeted.
"Good Morning, Lord…uh…Hokaze." Jatiro said, causing Minato to grin.
"Ho…ka…ge. I'm the Hokage, not the Hokaze. Not bad though, seems you are quick to learn." Minato praised.
"Maldito…thank you though, I am trying. What can I do for you, Lord Hokage?"
"I come with an offer. From what my subordinates have reported you seem to be a fairly powerful warrior from another country…which you claim isn't even from this world. Is that correct?" Minato asked. Jatiro looked at him with exasperation.
"I've told your men this over and over. I'm not sure. I suspect though because my teleport crystals have crumbled. I believe this is because they are cut off from their source of power."
"I see. What are the prospects of you returning to your homeland?"
"I can already see where this is going. My answer is no. I am already beholden to another. My life belongs to my Empress and the Empire of Aht Urhgan." Jatiro said standing up, a fire in his eyes.
"And what will you do if you can't return to your country? Will you stay and rot here forever? At least by serving me you can make a difference here! We need every scrap of power we can get if we are to win this war. If we lose it means even your life is forfeit!"Minato shouted, angry at Jatiro's refusal.
"I'm sorry! But as soon as I can I must find a way to return to my…" Jatiro said before being interrupted by Minato's raised hand.
"A compromise then, serve me. Serve me until you find a way home and if that time comes you may depart from us on good terms."
Jatiro was about to refuse, but held his tongue a moment.
'If I refuse I may be a prisoner here indefinitely. At least by helping him I can be free to find a way home…not to mention I might be able to gain more power by battling here…'
Jatiro sighed.
"It seems I am at your mercy. Very well, I shall serve you until such a time as I can find a way home." Minato's face brightened.
"Thank you, Jatiro. To start, I want to test you against some of my Jonin to see where…"
"No." Jatiro said, interrupting.
"What? What do you mean no? You said you'd serve me. I have to know where to place you in the village's command structure." Minato said.
"I will not fight anyone unless I have to. Blue mages fight for much higher stakes than other warriors. We have no choice. That is why we do not spar. Anyone. For fear that we might cause irreparable damage." Jatiro said, looking down at his lap. Minato rubbed his head in frustration.
"Very well. Would joining me and my team on a mission suit you better? There is likely to be combat and while I hate to put you or my students at risk, this is a vital mission." Minato offered. Jatiro nodded in response.
"That is acceptable. Are your student's capable?" Jatiro asked.
"I'm insulted. Do you really think that the students of the most powerful ninja of this village would be weak?" Minato said with a grin. "I'm more worried about you than them!"
5 years later
The mission had proved beyond successful and Jatiro had been fully accepted into the village's military. With the added power Jatiro brought to the Minato's team, they had easily been able to destroy the bridge and escape without being caught. Within the year the war was quickly brought to an end. Afterwards Jatiro became a bit of a recluse, only leaving his apartment for missions and the occasional get-together with Minato and his new wife, Kushina. Despite his intentions otherwise, Jatiro had become good friends with them.
Jatiro sighed as he looked into the night sky.
'Five years and absolutely no progress.' Jatiro thought as he leaned on the balcony of his apartment. Despite the many technical advances the Land of Fire had over his home world, it still didn't have the one thing he needed; A way home.
'Maybe it's time I stopped looking and started settling down…' The thought… was a tempting one. After five years without progress and seeing the budding relationship between his first friends in this world he was becoming a bit envious. They even had a child on the way.
"Heh. If he inherits his mother's personality this village is in for some trouble." The very idea nearly made him giddy. After all the trouble he had been put through by Minato and his attempts to get him to settle down he deserved a bit of karmic payback.
Constantly introducing him to women, forcing him to go to formal parties and other social get-togethers…not that it wasn't fun and the women were plenty interesting and very pretty, but it was all a distraction.
A distraction from a goal that seemed more fantasy than possibility with each passing day.
Before he could continue on the circular path of self-doubt, a sudden sense of wrongness pervaded the air around him bringing him to full alert. Jatiro turned on his heel and ran inside, quickly pulling his Magus gear on and grabbing his scimitar.
Without bothering to lock his door he took off into the night to find his friend and leader.
Outside Konohagakure
"Dying to make a better life for his son is the kind of thing you let a father handle." Minato said as he crouched before his wife, his son in his arms. Minato then handed little Naruto off to Kushina and spun to face the Nine-tailed fox. The purple hand of the Death God, who had been summoned by Minato's Reaper Death Seal, erupted from his chest and flew out to latch onto the Nine-tailed fox's soul. An instant before his could complete the seal however a fist planted itself in Minato's face, disrupting the jutsu completely and causing Minato to land in a heap a few feet away.
"What the hell are you doing!" Minato yelled at the newcomer. "That beast is going to destroy everything now! It can't be left unchecked!"
The man glowered at him from behind his facecloth, his face shone metallic in the moonlight.
"By sacrificing yourself?" Jatiro replied, "Do you know what that would do to the village? To the child in your wife's arms?"
"What good does it do for me to survive if everyone else dies!"
"There is always another way!" Jatiro spun and fixed Kushina with his Blank Gaze. Her eyes widened as she suddenly felt her barrier destroyed. An instant later Jatiro swung his arms out, casting another spell.
"Jettatura!" He casted as the Nine-tails roared in defiance and begun to attack. A cloud of purple energy and streams of darkness surrounded the beast for a moment. It suddenly flinched back, surprised at its own sudden feeling of terror.
"Minato!" another voice called out, The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had arrived. Minato slammed his hand to the ground and summoned a small shrine next to his wife.
The instant of terror that had gripped the Nine-tailed fox passed and in its rage swung a claw at Kushina and her child, intending to prevent the humans from resealing it. In desperation Minato threw himself between the claw and his wife and child.
Minato grimaced as he waited for the claw to pierce him. After a moment passed he looked back in amazement. Jatiro had intercepted the attack with his blade and was holding the mighty beast back, if only just.
"I told you…you aren't… dying today." Jatiro panted as his body shook with the massive effort he exerted to hold back the beast.
"INSOLENT WHELP!" The Nine-Tailed Fox roared as it opened its mouth. Dark energy gathered mere inches from its teeth. "DIE!" Jatiro pushed the claw back and drew in his energy, casting one of his most familiar spells in an instant.
"Cocoon!"
The dark energy erupted from the beast's mouth scorching everything within a few feet of the shrine Minato had summoned.
"No!" The Third yelled as his student, wife, child, and friend all disappeared in the beam of energy and ensuing cloud of dust.
The Fox roared in triumph as nothing could have survived the blast.
However, as the smoke cleared, it was revealed that it had celebrated too soon. Minato held his wife protectively, both with their bodies placed between the Fox and their child. Between them and the Fox stood Jatiro.
A round barrier surrounded all four of them and was covered in cracks. An instant later it shattered and evaporated as the magic that created it failed. The man who cast the spell collapsed to one knee as the magic that coated his skin also evaporated.
"Damn it…" Jatiro groaned as he suddenly coughed up blood. "That thing is unreal…"
The Third glanced from the Fox to the family plus one and back to the fox again. He knew what needed to be done.
Snake-Boar-Ram-Rabbit-Dog-Rat-Bird-Horse-Snake
"Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal!" The Third yelled as he unleashed the jutsu. In a flash the Death God, invisible to all but Sarutobi appeared. His soul erupted from his back and the Death God, eager to get the prey he had been denied moments ago, reached through Sarutobi's soul and once more grabbed the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Jatiro gasped for air as he tried to stand up but couldn't and only barely managed to stay in a kneeling position. The Fox had turned his gaze away from him for the moment, but he couldn't care why. His body was littered with cuts, bruises, and a myriad of other injuries. The Fox's power had cut straight through his stoneskin and completely destroyed his shielding.
The world began fading and for a moment he wondered if he was about to pass out. Then came the exhilaration mixed with fear as a familiar scenario began playing itself out. Everything became black until there was nothing left but The Fox, himself, and strangely the Third Hokage and some weird purple demon.
The Third looked surprised as the world changed as did the Fox, while the Death God remained focused on its task.
A hissing laughter erupted from the shadowed world as time slowed for each of the people trapped in the moment.
A blue blur suddenly shot forward out of nowhere and leapt toward the soul being pulled out of the Fox. The thing sunk huge fangs into the soul and ripped out a chunk, now catching the attention and surprise of the Reaper. The thing hit the ground in front of Jatiro and greedily began consuming the chunk of soul.
The Reaper seemed to consider the creature before dismissing it, and the tiny chunk of soul it had stolen as irrelevant and returned to its task.
Once the creature had finished its unusual meal it stood and looked at Jatiro, hunger in its eyes.
Jatiro gasped as he felt an incredible rush of energy. He pushed himself to his feet and looked at the creature before him.
The creature wore identical clothing to Jatiro's except for the missing face mask. Physically the two could have been twins…except for two things. The creature's mouth dominated most of its face and couldn't even contain the horrible, dagger like fangs within. And it had eyes blacker than the darkest night.
Jatiro schooled his face into a blank mask, despite how much he wanted to grimace. The creature was the representation of his soul. As a blue mage he had consumed and fused the very souls of many of the enemies he had fought over the years into his own, their power became his and their essences tainted and warped his soul.
The creature roared as power from the soul it had consumed filled it with energy, its muscles became more defined; its teeth grew a little longer and sharper. It fixed its terrible black eyes on Jatiro and grinned. It flexed its muscles and began to take a step towards Jatiro.
In a blur Jatiro launched himself forward and backhanded the creature, flinging it to the ground several feet away. It hit the ground hard but quickly rolled onto all fours. It hissed angrily, but backed away into the shadows once more.
"Young man…what was that." Sarutobi asked through grit teeth.
"That…was my true self. One day it will grow powerful enough to defeat me. Just before it does my body will look very close to that creature. And when it consumes me I will become a terrible creature of death and destruction and will have to be killed. Such is the price we Blue Mages pay and the reason we hide our faces. We fear that our comrades might see our true face in battle and kill us out of fear." Jatiro said quietly. The old man looked at Jatiro with pity in his eyes for but an instant and then the moment was over and the world returned.
Jatiro opened his eyes and saw that he was still kneeling. He turned his head as Sarutobi groaned, the seal completed. The Fox roared as it shrunk to less than a third of its size, still not dead. Jatiro couldn't help but groan. He felt a bit better thanks to the energy he absorbed but it wasn't enough to stop that thing.
He could only watch as Sarutobi leapt over to where Minato stood in shock. The man whispered something to Minato before picking up baby Naruto and facing the Fox. Without jumbling the baby, he formed more hand signs, threw a hand out towards the fox, who vanished in a flash of light, sealed within the child.
Minato managed to catch him and the baby before they hit the ground. Jatiro pushed himself to his feet and stumbled over to Kushina as the other two men exchanged a few last words.
"I…I wish I could have seen him grow up…" She whispered to Jatiro as she grabbed one of his hands in her own, tears flowing down her face." There are things I wanted to tell him as he grew. About life and love. Skills I wanted to teach him." She turned her head and coughed up blood. "Please…help Minato take care of him?" she begged.
Jatiro shook his head and reached up and undid the clasp on his face mask. "Sorry Kushina. I'm not really a suitable substitute for a mother." He said with a grin. She looked at him in disbelief, shocked at his unkind words. "You'll just have make do with doing it yourself."
Jatiro brought his hands together and began drawing up the last dregs of power he had left.
"Magic Fruit!" He whispered as sweat poured down his face. A small red fruit came into existence in his palm. Kushina's eyes widened as she watched.
"A…strawberry?" She whispered as he pressed the fruit to her mouth. "What is wrong with…?"
"Eat!" He urged her. Too tired to argue she took a small bite, chewed, and swallowed. A moan escaped from her lips as the fruit began working its healing magic on her. Jatiro placed the fruit up to her mouth again and she took another, bigger bite. Another bite saw the end of the fruit.
Kushina started weeping again as she sat up and hugged the Blue Mage. She raised her eyes a moment later and saw her husband walking towards them and carrying their child. She wasted no time running to and embracing them.
Jatiro allowed himself a small grin as he slipped away quietly to get some help for the couple, their child, and the former leader of the village.
Translations: see google translate.
Blue Magic: The ability of a Blue Mage to take on the power of their enemies.
Polen: Pollen(english) is a minor healing ability learned from members of the Bee family.
Jettatura: A spell from the Bird family that causes terror in the targets by showing them the Evil Eye.
Cocoon: A spell from the Crawler family that creates a shielding effect around the caster. (Slightly modified for story purposes when compared with in-game version)
Metallic Body(Unnamed in text): A layer of magic coats the caster and absorbs damage. From the Crab Family.
Magic Fruit: A powerful healing ability from the Beast Family. Able to be cast on party members.
Jutsu:
Reaper Death Seal: Seals the target and caster's souls in the belly of the death god.
