A/N: Have no fear, I'm still working on SE. However, this hit my head recently, and I didn't see anything else like it on the site. So, I decided to throw this together and pop it on out for everyone's enjoyment. Read and review!
Disclaimer: This is a fan-written work of fiction, purely for non-commercial entertainment purposes. All characters and ideas within are righted to their respective owners.
Arabian Ninja
Chapter 1: A Genie?
Naruto, Age 6
To some people, a boy scrounging in the streets for his next meal was a horrible sight. To the citizens of Konoha, it was a show to be enjoyed, in the case of one certain boy, of course. Naruto scrounged throughout the streets, looking for a forgotten scrap or thrown away meal. He had lost his allowance for the week during a fight with some of the older boys, who had cornered him and taunted him until he'd forced his way out. He'd gotten away without any trouble, but he'd spilled his coins and by the time he could sneak back they had been taken. So there he was, looking throughout dumpsters and trashcans in search of something to fill his stomach. He'd all but cleared the street by the time he reached the last bag, and had yet to find a scrap. Ripping it open, he found to his joy an almost perfectly fine apple, with a single worm that he easily picked out. Enjoying his meal, he started to stand back up when his finger caught in the rubbish. Pulling it loose brought with it a strange old lamp, dusty and worn, that caught his eye. Shrugging, since to him one man's trash was another man's treasure, he pocketed it and headed back home.
Opening the door to his apartment, he threw the core of the devoured apple into a heaping trashcan, and set the lamp on his table. He found a container of oil, and poured some in so he could light it. To his dismay, it refused to catch on fire, showing that it truly was a piece of junk. Sighing in dismay, he set it high on a nearby shelf, and promptly forgot about it. Little did he know that that little lamp would one day change his entire life.
XxX
Naruto, Age 12
6 years had passed since that fateful day, and our young hero had grown into a fine young ninja. He'd just returned home after finally receiving his headband, and gave a good stretch as he set it on the table to look at it. "Boy, what a day. Mizuki give me a chance to graduate, and it turns out he just wanted to use me. I'm sure glad Iruka-sensei showed up when he did, otherwise I woulda been a gonner! Still…" Naruto sighed and looked down at his stomach, thinking of the shocking revelation he'd learned that night. Having a demon inside of you was the pits, especially since it explained all the times the villagers had messed with him. He just wished that he didn't have to deal with having to keep the thing contained, or better yet, that he could control the monster in his stomach.
On a shelf high above him, the dusty old lamp rattled slightly, and moved closer to the edge. Naruto looked up from where he was examining his headband, and looked around. "Probably those darn rats again. They better not be in my cabinets, yah!" After his exclamation, which was followed by pounding from below and the old man yelling at him to shut up, Naruto returned his gaze to the headband before him, lost once more in wishes and thoughts. Once more, the lamp rumbled, sliding ever closer to the edge before finally tipping over and falling to the floor with a loud crash. Bolting upright, his gaze swiveled around the room looking for intruders until it came to rest on the lamp on the floor. "Heh, musta slid off, huh?" Naruto walked over and picked it up, looking it over for the first time in six years. "You sure got a little dusty, huh? A good rub will fix that up, for sure!" Walking over to the kitchen sink, Naruto grabbed the nearby drying rag, and proceeded to give the lamp a vigorous rubbing in order to remove the caked on dirt and grime. Looking back on that moment, he would swear he didn't scream like a little girl, no matter what that old man below him said.
Fireworks filled every corner of the room as the sky crackled and rumbled. Naruto landed on his rump with the lamp before him, shuddering as it billowed smoke towards his ceiling. A form began to take shape, and as Naruto watched a giant blue man filled the room. He grabbed a kunai and through it right at the figure just as it began to crack its neck. "OWIE!" It cried, though the kunai just seemed to fly right through it. "Hey pal, what's the big idea, huh?" A blue hand reached down and picked him up, holding his arms tight against his side as he came face to face with the… person? "So little buddy, who the heck are you? And what's with all the stabby stabby, hmm?" Finding himself set down on the floor once more, he cleared his throat, and coughed out the only think he could. "Naruto… my name is Naruto." He looked at the man, fear evident in his eyes.
"Naruto huh? Well Naruto, welcome to the game!" A bright panel lit up next to the genie, displaying Naruto's name in bright flashing letters. "Would ya like me to call you Na? Or how about To? Or ru, y'know like in Rrrrrroooster?" At this, Genie took the shape of a gigantic bird, crowing right into Naruto's face. "Nah, all those seem too… silly. Naruto it is then." In a flash of smoke, Genie returned to his normal appearance. "Well, you're a lot… younger than my last Master, but then again, I'm also a lot older than I was too, hachachacha!" Naruto's head was spinning, at this point. A giant blue man using henge to become a whole lot of different shapes was messing with him in his apartment… and what was with the Master bit? "You… are you a, a demon?"
Genie froze. "Look buddy, what did you just call me? DEMON? Did you rub that lamp? Did you bring me here? Did you not see the smoke and fireworks? Can you not tell that I'm a GENIE? Spell it with me now, G. E. N. I. E.! Who do we all love? GENIE!" A bizarre combination of the man splitting into several cheerleader versions of himself was presented to Naruto, who at this point was pretty sure he'd died, or knocked his head, or been drugged. Maybe that last cup of ramen was bad? Nah, it was Icharaku's, their stuff was never bad! "What's a Genie? If it ain't some kind of demon, how come you're blue? And why did you call me Master?" Naruto wanted to just put his head in his lap and faint, but he was made of sterner stuff, unfortunately.
"Look pal, I don't discriminate against YOUR body color, now do I? It's pretty simple, after all. I'm a genie, an all-powerful cosmic being who can control the very fabric of the universe and bend space and time to my WILL!" This last part had him even larger than before, speaking in a deep and powerful base that rumbled the foundations of the building. "and tied to this little itty bitty lamp." He shrank and appeared in the lamp before Naruto. "Whoever holds the lamp gets three wishes, only three. Count 'em with me now: Uno, dos, quatro!" Genie stared at his fingers, having accidently put 4 out instead of three. "Ahem, I mean, tres. And none of the wishing for more wishes, got it?" Naruto shook his head, amazed at the crazy guy before him. "So I can have three wishes, huh? From an all-powerful 'genie'? Anything I want, well that sounds too good to be true." He gave Genie the hard stare, reflecting on all the times he'd been tricked before. "Weeeeell… There are a few, uh, restrictions." Genie looked slightly shame-faced as Naruto looked back at him. "Well, what are they, I guess.?" He'd known it was too good to be true.
"Alrighty, rule number 1: I can't kill anybody. Sorry, but that's how it is." He mimed the old "head cut" and shrugged. Naruto gave a short laugh, and said "That's fine, if I wanted someone dead I'd get them myself, I am a ninja after all!" Genie gave him a sharp look, and went on. "Rule #2: I can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else." Genie gave Naruto a big smooch, and made bambi eyes at him while he said it. Naruto wiped off the drool, and gave a sharp shrug. "Well that rules out one of them, too bad. Anything else?" Genie gave a smirk. "Rule numero 3: I can't bring people back from the dead. It's not a pretty picture, I DON'T LIKE DOIN IT!" Genie became a zombie and displayed the gross nature as he gave the big closer. Naruto's face fell. He'd hoped to use one of his wishes to bring back his parents, so he could find out who they were and ask them all sorts of questions. Sighing, he turned back to thinking. Three wishes…
xXx
Naruto lay on his bed as he thought, daydreaming as he tried to figure out what to wish for. Genie had returned to his lamp, saying that he'd give him time to think, and now he was all alone as the light of the moon poured over him from his window. He could wish to be the best ninja ever… but that would feel too much like he was being given the title, and if he knew one thing he knew he didn't want to be given everything he asked for, like a certain other Gennin he knew. He could wish for lots of money, or power… but none of those appealed to him either. He just couldn't decide, and his conflicting ideas bounced in his head the whole night. Finally, as the rays of dawn hit the village, he thought of something, and bolted upright. "I've got it! I'll just wish for…" His eyes rolled up in his head, and he fell backwards, dead tired. From inside the lamp, Genie gave a small chuckle at the antics of his new master.
Hours later, Naruto was finally shaken awake by Iruka, who had gotten in with the spare key Naruto lent him. "NARUTO! Why aren't you at the Academy? Did you forget that you were meeting your team today?" A tick mark formed on Iruka's head as Naruto mumbled something about noodles and tried to fall back asleep. He yanked him upright and shook him, forcing him to wake up. "NARUTO. GET. OUT. OF. BED!" Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he looked around until he spotted Iruka standing in front of him, seriously ticked off. "Oh, hi Iruka-sensei! What's going on?" He suddenly recalled last night's events, and his eyes widened. Was he in trouble because he'd found a "genie"?
Iruka sighed and put his head into his hands. "Naruto, you're late. You need to meet your team at the Academy. Pray your sensei still isn't there, 'cause I did not pass you just for you to get sent back, you hear?" Naruto cried out in alarm, moving almost as a blur as he dressed and got ready. As the orange blur shot out of the door, Iruka heard it say "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" as it passed, and gave a quick chuckle. Noticing the banged up lamp on Naruto's floor, he picked it up and put it on the center table, shaking his head as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.
XxX
Naruto returned to the apartment hours later, having met his team and instructor. He'd still gotten there before Kakashi-sensei, even with the hours he'd spent asleep. Grumbling about how he had to deal with the last Uchiha being on his team, he saw the lamp and remembered what he'd thought of right before falling asleep. Quickly making sure no one was around, he gave the lamp a quick rub, and waited for the Genie to appear.
"Phoowhee, it was a long day! So, how'd it go? Were you good on your first day of school, little Naru…?" Genie's appearance this time around was that of a housewife, and Naruto noticed he somehow had acquired a backpack and stack of books, which he quickly threw to the ground. "It wasn't my first day of school, Genie. I was just meeting my teammates and teacher, sheesh!" Genie's face grew bright as a wide smiled stretched across it. "So you're on a team! Oh goody, oh goody, I just can't WAIT to meet them! Well, c'mon, what are they like?"
Naruto launched into a quick explanation of his team's makeup, including his opinions on his teacher and the last Uchiha. "And so I'm not supposed to eat before tomorrow, that's what he said." Naruto finished his long spiel, and took a quick breath. "Well now, that just doesn't sound so smart to me, Naruto, pal. Always have a good full meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, yup!" Genie stuffed Naruto full of food until he expanded, before poofing it all away. "Other than that, sounds like you'll have such a fun time! Though…" he looked down at the ground and scuffed his toe. "I'd like to come too, maybe? Just stick my lamp in your belt loop, maybe?" He sounded hopeful, and Naruto decided to bring Genie with him to the test tomorrow, especially since he might finally see what a ninja really was like.
"Anyways, enough about them. I've finally decided on my first wish!" Naruto thought this would be a good one, and waited as Genie appeared, notepad in hand, for the wish to be delivered. Naruto took a deep breath, and then let it out. "Alright, I wish…"
Inside of Naruto's mind, a sleeping beast cracked an eyelid as something it's host said caught it's attention. At first, it shrugged it off as wishful thinking, before bolting up right as it saw precisely who its host was talking too. The fox had only ever heard of the mystical creatures known as "genies" in tales from a long time before, and shuddered in fear at what was to come. It began to pump it's chakra into the boy in a vain attempt to break free, trying as hard as it could, to no avail. It's time was coming, and it knew it.
"… I wish that I had full control over the demon inside of me." Naruto finished, looking at Genie hopefully. On his part, Genie was puzzled. Demon? "So Naruto, what's your problem? Drinking? Gambling?" Far far away from the two, a blond-haired woman suddenly looked at the sky, and gave a quick sneeze before returning to the card game in front of her. "Or is it just some sort of uncontrollable lust for ramen? I can fix it all!" Genie continued listing options until he noticed Naruto sort of fuming at him. "Not an addiction, huh? What, precisely, do you mean Naruto my boy?" In a poof, Genie sat before him in a large recliner, book in hand with glasses on his face, looking intently at Naruto for an explanation. Naruto tried to calm down, not noticing his red eyes or the slits his pupils had become. As he began to explain in a rough, angry voice, Genie noticed the fangs and whisker marks becoming more pronounced, and realized that Naruto was indeed being serious. "Eh, ah, buddy, you got a little fang action going on, ok? Never fear now, Genie WILL take care of the problem! All it takes is a little preparation, a little elbow grease, a splash of determination, aaand…"
Genie zapped Naruto with a large bolt of magic, putting all of his concentration into the working, until he suddenly found himself becoming smoke, and being sucked into Naruto's gut. "Well, this was unexpected. I guess, as they say, I'll need to beat the sickness from the INSIDE!" The last bit of smoke puffed into Naruto's chest, and he fell unconscious, passed out on his floor as a war began to wage in his mind.
xXx