Heirs of the Forsaken
Warning: Major use of swearing.
His throbbing headache was the first thing that woke him up. He groaned, massaging his temple when a wave of nausea hit him. The taste of alcohol still lingered in his mouth and he twisted his lips, the taste bringing back blurred memories. He hasn't drank in a long time so when his friends convinced him to go out last night for a few drinks, well, a few drinks became bar hopping and he can hardly remember much from there. He opened his eyes, sighing out of relief when he recognized his familiar ceiling—all cracked—and he ruled out that he didn't do anything crazy last night.
He gets up slowly, feeling weak, and he burped up the taste of the many drinks he chugged last night.
"Fuck, I'm never drinking again," he murmured, breathing in deeply.
Surprisingly, the smell of eggs and bacon hit him full force.
His stomach roared for food and, for a second, he almost jumped off his bed to follow the smell. But despite the still haziness in his mind and the instinct to find something to eat, something clicked.
He lives alone.
A panic started to rise within him and it wasn't until he forced his body to turn to get up did he notice a piece of paper taped on his chest. He ripped the paper off, grumbling that this was a prank set up by his friends, and started to read it once he rubbed his eyes.
"The undersigned has sold his soul for magical powers and a familiar." Underneath the paper, in sloppy calligraphy, was his signature.
He blinked. His mind unable to process what exactly he just read. Then, as if to add more confusion, a voice rang out from his kitchen.
"Master, your breakfast is ready!"
"Okay, okay…okay, so you're telling me that I went into an occult shop last night, demanded for the contract, signed the fucking thing, and now I have powers and a familiar?" Naruto stared down the woma—familiar? The creature? Whatever was sitting in front of him, he supposed.
"Yes," the familiar responded politely, her shy smile making her look more human than not.
"Yeah, no. Okay, no. I don't know what jo—guys!" he suddenly screamed, turning wildly to his living room. The familiar followed his sight and looked perplexed. "You guys! This has to be a fucking joke, right?!" he screamed to no one.
Was her master insane?
She cleared her throat and the man, known as Naruto, turned to her quickly.
"Master, it seems you are a bit confused…?" she asked carefully, trying her best not to add " and eccentric".
"No, this has to be a joke, ya know?" He waved his arms around but she couldn't follow his thoughts. "Who set you up?" He finally narrowed his eyes and she was taken aback.
"Master, no one 'set' me up." She furrowed her brows. Does he really not remember?
"This sounds like something supernatural." He shook his head, standing up abruptly. She followed suit. "Look, uh, thanks for the breakfast," he blushed a bit at that—considering what he's about to do—and she smiled, "but you can't stay here. I don't know who you are, what the paper meant, or everything else that's happened so far!" 'I don't even know why I haven't called the police yet,' he mused but he shook his head. "I'm sorry but you have to go…er…what's your name?"
She blinked, surprised by his question. "M-My name?"
"Well, yeah?" He quirked his brow.
"H-Hinata," she finally squeaked out, covering her lips immediately. From the Masters' she used to have, none of them asked her for her name. Her past Masters', as she recalls, only used her for evil. She shivered just recalling it. But this human decided to ask her for her name of all things! He must be different from the rest, she concluded.
"Well, Hinata," he coughed, walking towards his door, "you have to leave."
"But Master, I can't."
He rubbed his temple. Really, why can't she leave?
"Seriously, I am fed up to here with this fucking prank! I have a horrible hang over and I just want to sleep in, eat ramen, do anything else besides this!"
He blinked and, for some odd reason, he wasn't in his living room.
He was in his room.
"Oh, master!" Hinata poked her head in and smiled, seeing Naruto's confused look.
"W-What just happened?!" he shrieked, a sudden wave of nausea hitting him.
"You just used your magic, Master. You have to be careful using it, however." She closed her eyes in thought while he entered a mental breakdown. Was this normal? Why was she talking like this is normal?
"Master, you still don't know your limits of your new power. Maybe we should pay visit to the shop before anything else—" Before she can finish her sentence, however, he ran to the bathroom.
He needed to throw up before he can fully understand what the fuck happened.
Naruto stood outside a store, his heart thundering in his ears. On the windows stood out neon letters spelling out:
ODDOITIES OF THE OTHER WORLD
Well, this was definitely an occult store. He opened the door and gestured for Hinata to walk in first. She looked startled before stepping inside quickly. The weather was chilly outside and she didn't want her Master to freeze to death. He looked around the shop, trying to remember anything about it but he recalls nothing. He peered down an aisle where the register was empty.
"Huh," he said, "looks like no one is—"
"Naruto-boy, right?"
Naruto squealed, nearly topping over if it weren't for Hinata who appeared right behind him, catching him before he fell.
"For fucks sakes, I thought I was going to die! Don't scare me like that, old man!" yelled out Naruto, quickly regaining his posture and straightening his orange jacket like nothing happened. Hinata simply giggled from behind him.
The old man chuckled. "My apologies, Naruto-boy. What brings you back here? Unsatisfied with the contract?"
Naruto took out the now crumbled up paper and shoved it to the old man's hands. "Actually, I don't want to be in it anymore. I was drunk last night, okay? I still don't understand what went down last night and what's happening right now." To prove his point, he gestured around the shop, the dull lights and the jars with inhumane things drove his point home.
"Ah." The old man nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. "Do you not remember anything from last night?" The older man began to walk towards the register, Naruto and Hinata following close behind.
"No, actually I don't." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "I was drunk, old man. I don't remember a damn thing."
"Hiruzen," the older man suddenly spoke, turning around once he reached the register. "My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Uh, sorry, Grandpa Hiruzen." The older man smiled gently and gestured for Naruto to continue. "Like I said…I was drunk. Shouldn't there be a restriction or something since I wasn't in my right mind?"
"But you insisted," sang the old man, a smile still lingering on his face.
"What?" Naruto's jaw went slack. He insisted?!
Hiruzen nodded, pointing to an old television sitting on the other side of the counter. He ducked down and came back up with a vhs tape.
Huh, who knew they still had those.
Hiruzen takes out the current vhs tape and inserts the one he grabbed. The television went static for a second before a black and white version of the shop came up with four different angles. The time it was recorded was at 2:55 am. Naruto stumbled into the shop then and everyone watched with amusement, embarrassment, and curiosity as the young man looked at the shelves with interest before walking towards the register.
Naruto began to ask Hiruzen something but the tape was silent. They watched as Naurto pointed to something behind Hiruzen and the older man shook his head. Naruto slammed his fists on the counter and took out his wallet. He grabbed a thick amount of cash and placed it on the counter. Naruto, once again, pointed at the frame behind Hiruzen and kept nagging for a few seconds. At last, the older man sighed and grabbed the frame. He carefully removed the glass, took out the paper—everyone assumed it was the contract—and grabbed a pen. Naruto eagerly began to sign the paper and he turned to the camera, holding onto it and smiling widely. Naruto walked out of the shop then and Hiruzen can only shake his head and, for a second, a fleeting smile painted his face.
It was 3 am.
"So," Naruto drawled and Hiruzen sighed, his patience thinning to the max, "I can't take it back?"
"No," Hiruzen responded, a blank mask on. His tea has long gone cold and he was getting close to unleashing his own powers to this man.
"But why?!" cried out Naruto, banging his head on the counter.
"I already told you, Naruto-boy." Hiruzen stared at Naruto before glancing up to see Hinata. "You must be the familiar, correct?" She looked oddly familiar.
"Y-Yes!" She didn't expect the sudden attention. "Hinata is my name, Grand Old Wizard."
Naruto's head shot up. "Wait what?! Grand Old what?!"
"Enough!" Hiruzen rubbed his temple. Really, it was already seven in the afternoon and he closed his shop for this! If he knew that the young man was going to be this hysterical, he should have waited till giving Naruto the contract. But, reasoned the wiser and older part of him, its due time for Naruto to make his appearance in the other world. Unfortunately, it had to be presented to him this way.
"You're familiar would explain to you everything—stop, don't ask anything please—that you may have about our world." Hiruzen cleared his throat, suddenly going serious. "If you really want to end the contract, the only way to do so is by entering our realm. Only then can you find the one whose soul you sold to and ask it personally to return it to you."
"It?" asked Naruto, perplexed.
Hiruzen looked between the two before sighing.
"The Kyuubi."
A/N: This was inspired by two posts on tumblr. Unfortunately, I can't post the link because it'll give away the plot of the story. Credits to them!