The Knuckleheaded Ninja's Arena
By Ulrich362
"Labrys, are you sure about this?" Naruto asked turning to the silver haired girl next to him. "I know that I need to give her the report but you don't have to explain things, I know they're painful for you."
"I know Naruto, but you did so much to help me, and you're going to do so much more once we find out who was responsible." Labrys said with a smile. "Still, thanks for caring."
"We're friends, that's just what they do." Naruto said happily. "Plus we have something in common so there's no way I'd just leave you alone."
"You're right, with everyone helping out things will work out without anyone getting hurt again." Labrys said looking down sadly.
"You're right, and Labrys it wasn't your fault. You just wanted someone to understand what you went through." Naruto said gently squeezing her hand and giving her a reassuring smile while looking into her red eyes. "Well let's go in."
"Right, well let's get this over." Labrys said nervously opening the door to the Hokage's office.
"Naruto, who is this?" Tsunade asked smirking. "Oh I understand congratulations you two."
The moment Tsunade said that Labrys looked down and blushed faintly.
"Hold on, things are really complicated." Naruto said defensively. "You remember the mission I've been on for the past few months?" (1)
"Of course I do." Tsunade said pulling out a paper from her desk. "There were reports of unusual activity in Inaba last year, and there was evidence that something was happening there again, you were assigned to look into it and report if you found anything unusual."
"You could say I found something unusual, but it's a long story." Naruto said. "It's not over yet though."
With those words Naruto nodded towards Labrys with a supportive smile.
"Lady Tsunade right?" Labrys asked nervously.
"Yes, I'm the hokage of the hidden leaf village." Tsunade said calmly. "Would mind if I asked your name?"
"Well, my name is Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Labrys, but I just go by Labrys since it's easier." Labrys said modestly. "I actually just met Naruto recently but he's helped me a lot in just a few days."
"Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon?" Tsunade asked. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"I'm not a human, I'm a robot that was given a personality so I could fight with my persona, Ariadne." Labrys said. "This axe isn't just for show."
"I see, Naruto I think you should fill me in on what exactly happened during your mission." Tsunade said seriously. "I have a feeling this involves more than you've told me in your brief message."
"Right, well I guess I should start from the beginning." Naruto said. "This might take a while.
"That's fine." Tsunade said calmly.
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"Hey Naruto, do you want to meet up at Junes later to celebrate golden week?" Yosuke asked.
"Sure thing Yosuke." Naruto said glancing towards the brown haired boy. "So am I finally going to get to meet the famous partner of yours that singlehandedly changed the lives of nearly everyone in Inaba?"
"Well, last I heard he'd be here tomorrow so yeah." Yosuke said with a grin. "Oh yeah do you mind letting Kanji know where we're meeting, I need to take care of something at the store."
"No problem, I'll let him know for you." Naruto said. "See you later Yosuke."
"See you Naruto." Yosuke said while putting on the headphones he wore around his neck.
This doesn't make any sense; nobody is doing anything unusual, Naruto thought. "This is getting ridiculous, I might as well just meet this Yu Narukami and then head back to the village. I could be training or doing useful missions."
"Did you say something Naruto?" Yukiko asked.
"Oh nothing Yukiko, just thinking to myself." Naruto said to the girl in front of him. "You know I'm sure people have mentioned this but that red sweater really looks nice on you. Honestly the same thing is true about Chie and her green sweater."
"Wow, you really know how to charm people." Chie said with a smile. "You're going to make some girl very happy."
"I'm just being honest, well I need to go let Kanji know we're meeting at Junes." Naruto said. "See you guys later."
"Alright, see you later Naruto." Yukiko said as he walked out of the classroom.
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"Hey Naruto, what's up?" Kanji asked. "Is someone looking for me or something?"
"No, Yosuke just asked me to let you know that we're going to meet up at Junes to celebrate golden week starting." Naruto said to the taller blonde.
"Gotcha, alright I'm guessing you're heading home Naruto?" Kanji asked.
"Yeah, I should head to the Inn." Naruto said. "I'm just lucky that Yukiko let me stay at her families inn during the school year."
"You've got a point Naruto, well see you later bud." Kanji said with a smile.
"See you later Kanji." Naruto said.
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"Hey did you guys hear about the midnight channel being back?" asked a girl in a Yasogami uniform.
"Yeah, I saw it last night." said another girl. "What was that all about though, our sempai fighting each other?"
"Excuse me, what are you two talking about?" Naruto asked calmly.
"Oh Naruto-sempai, you moved after it ended so you don't know about the midnight channel." said the first girl. "Well last year it was a thing that people watched to find out who their soul mate was, but it stopped airing just before school ended."
"Well, until a few days ago that is." said the second girl. "It's started again, but this time it's just advertising this weird fighting tournament."
"Yeah, you can see it tonight." the first girl said. "Just look into a TV at midnight, even though it's off it should show you the midnight channel."
"Cool, thanks I might take a look." Naruto said thoughtfully. I wonder if this midnight channel is related to what happened here, well I guess there's only one way to find out, he thought while walking back to the Amagi Inn.
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"Oh Naruto-kun, welcome back." said a woman in a kimono.
"Thank you Kasai-san." Naruto said. "I think I'm going to head to my room, I'm feeling tired right now."
"I understand completely, rest up Naruto." Kasai said with a smile.
"Right, don't worry, I'll be alright." Naruto said before walking towards his room. Ok now to see what this midnight channel thing is, he thought calmly.
"Oh Naruto can I ask you something very quickly?" Yukiko asked hesitantly.
"Sure, what's on your mind Yukiko?" Naruto asked.
"Well, I was helping Kasai-san clean the rooms and I noticed this in yours." Yukiko said before holding out Naruto's pouch.
Crap; I thought I hid that where nobody could find it, Naruto thought nervously. "Oh, it's just something from my home. I just brought it so I'd have something from there." he said defensively.
"The bag isn't the problem, it's well can you come with me?" Yukiko asked nervously.
"Sure, is something wrong?" Naruto asked while following Yukiko into her room.
"The bag was full of weapons, very dangerous weapons." Yukiko said gesturing to her desk.
"Oh, yeah those are mine." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry, I know how they work."
"Naruto-kun, you could be arrested for having these." Yukiko said. "You should send them home and just keep the bag."
I can't just send my tools away; I might need them Naruto thought. "Alright, I'll get in touch and let them know I need someone to pick them up." he said. "You shouldn't just put these in a box, some of these can be poisonous."
While saying that, Naruto began putting his ninja tools back in his pouch.
"Naruto, you're hiding something aren't you?" Yukiko asked. "You can trust me."
"I know, and you can trust me. I promise everything will be alright." Naruto said.
"Ok, but just be careful Naruto." Yukiko said calmly.
"Oh yeah, I overheard something on the way here." Naruto said suddenly. "Do you know anything about the midnight channel?"
The moment he said that, Yukiko froze. "Did you say midnight channel?"
"Yeah, some girls from school were talking about seeing it last night." Naruto said. "Do you know anything about it?"
"Just that is stopped airing last year." Yukiko said quickly. "I need to go make a phone call, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Right, see you tomorrow Yukiko." Naruto said just before she walked out of the room. What's she hiding, and what is the midnight channel anyway, he thought, well there's only one way to find out Transform.
Suddenly a cloud of smoke surrounded Naruto and when it faded he was gone.
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"Chie, I need to talk to you about something really important." Yukiko said urgently.
Chie, what could they be talking about, Naruto thought before flying onto the wall. (2)
"No, it's not that." Yukiko said. "Naruto-kun told me that the midnight channel is back, but didn't we get rid of it last year?"
Get rid of it, what does that mean, Naruto thought.
"I know, we should meet up at our special headquarters when he arrives." Yukiko said. "If something is going on there we need to take care of it soon."
Something very strange is going on, I should go with her tomorrow, Naruto thought before flying out of the room.
"Right, see you tomorrow Chie." Yukiko said before hanging up.
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"It's almost time, so let's see just what this midnight channel is." Naruto said calmly.
'Naruto, be careful. Something very dangerous is going to happen.' Kurama said.
"I know, but we can handle this as long as we work together Kurama." Naruto said just before the television began to glow. "Well, this is it."
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"Naruto, this is all well and good but so far nothing seems to be out of the ordinary." Tsunade said calmly. "Apart from a strange advertisement for a fighting competition I don't see how this has anything to do with the reports we received."
"It does, because there's more to the midnight channel." Labrys said quickly. "A lot more."
"She's right, it was a whole different world." Naruto said. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself."
"A different world, are you saying someone is using the television to project a genjutsu?" Tsunade asked.
"No, this is nothing like a genjutsu." Naruto said. "Though after watching the midnight channel I did notice something slightly odd."
"Odd in what way Naruto?" Tsunade asked. "Should the village be informed about this?"
"No, it's just I noticed a figure in the background." Naruto said. "It's a good thing I did too, but that's when things started spinning out of control."
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"Oh Naruto, is something wrong?" Yukiko asked calmly.
"Yeah, it's just we were going to meet up at Junes today remember?" Naruto asked. "I was going to finally meet Yu in person."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure you'll get along." Yukiko said while picking up a bag. "He's the person you just have to like."
"Everyone's been saying that." Naruto said with a grin. "I can't wait to meet him."
"Naruto, why are you carrying that bag with you?" Yukiko asked suddenly.
"You mean my pouch, well I told you that I heard about that midnight channel thing." Naruto said. "I just thought if there's some kind of fighting competition and you all have weapons I should at least have something to defend myself."
"Naruto, those are extremely dangerous." Yukiko said. "I know it's hard to believe but why would I fight Chie, or any of my friends?"
"I don't know, but it's just a safety thing." Naruto said. "Plus if something does happen I can help you guys stop whoever is hosting this tournament."
"It's probably a joke, you don't need to worry Naruto-kun." Yukiko said. "We should get going."
"Right behind you Yukiko." Naruto said politely.
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"There she is, Yukiko we're over here." Chie said. "Oh, Naruto-kun what are you doing here?"
"We planned on meeting up at Junes today remember." Naruto said calmly before noticing a silver haired boy wearing a Yasogami high uniform. "You must be Yu, I've heard quite a bit about you."
"It's nice to meet you, I'm actually detective Dojima's nephew so I'm staying at his house during Golden Week." Yu said calmly. "We were just talking about the midnight channel, is someone trying to make people fight?"
"Well if they are those nicknames were definitely supposed to anger you guys, Captain Ressentiment, the Bloodcurdling Beefcake Emperor, the Carnivore who's discarded Womanhood." Naruto said. "Someone must really want to make you guys furious enough to hurt each other."
"Maybe, still where are the others?" Yu asked calmly. "I would have thought they would be here."
"None of us have heard anything from Teddie, Kanji, or Rise since last night." Yosuke said.
"Plus Naoto-kun is on a case right now but she said she'd try and call if she gets a chance." Yukiko said calmly.
"Right, so are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Chie asked.
"Yeah, Naruto could you do me a huge favor?" Yukiko asked suddenly.
"No, I can tell from his eyes." Yu said before looking at Naruto. "You won't leave this alone until you get answers will you?"
He really is as quick as they said, Naruto thought, I can see why people like him. "You're right, there's something going on and I intend to find out what it is."
"I thought so, alright come on this is something you'll need to see to believe." Yu said calmly.
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"This is it, Naruto you're going to need to hold on tight." Yu said calmly.
"Hold on for what?" Naruto asked. "That's just a TV."
"Watch and learn." Yosuke said before jumping through the TV screen.
"No way, how did he do that?" Naruto asked in shock.
"You wanted to know what's going on, well the answers are in there." Yu said. "Hold on, we're going in."
The moment he said that Yu and Naruto jumped into the television.
"What's going on, it's so bright." Naruto said as a blinding flash of light enveloped him.
(Naruto has met up with the investigation team and joined them inside the TV world. Next chapter Naruto will learn how the TV world works and the P1 Grand Prix will begin. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)
(Author's Note: Naruto moved to Inaba slightly before the school year started and enrolled as a third year, that's how he already knows everyone in town prior to Yu returning for golden week.)
(1) (The events of the P1 Grand Prix have already taken place, the report is in between the P1 Grand Prix and the P1 Climax.)
(2) (Naruto used the transformation jutsu and turned into fly in order to listen to what Yukiko was saying about the midnight channel.)
