My first attempt at introducing an OC in the Naruto world. It's a tailed beast with a twist. Once the story kicks off, review and let me know what you think!
o.O.o
Chapter One: The Sealing
He was a very tall man and clad heavily in Steam Armour. Light brown eyes adorned a dark-skinned face, most of which was hidden underneath a white cloth and a metal mask that covered the lower half of his face. A red straw hat sat securely on his head, its colour matching that of his metal armour. He wore an Iwagakure forehead protector set against a black cloth and a black gi was worn over his armour, with the sleeves seemingly torn off and matching black gloves.
This man's name was Han and he was the jinchuriki of the Village Hidden by Rocks.
He bounded through the thick forests in the Land of Fire, hoping to reach Kohonagakure before dark. Why was the jinchuriki of Iwagakure heading to an opposing state without protection from Stone shinobi? Answer: his mission was secret. He hoped to be gone for only a day at most and that would make explaining so much easier.
Word had gone around about how the Akatsuki were becoming bolder with their strikes. Han had learned from the aged Tsuchikage that the band of rogue shinobi known as Akatsuki were after the jinchuriki to extract the tailed beasts from inside them. Now this jinchuriki was fiercely protective of the powers he received from the Five-Tails sealed inside him and had no desire to share them with Akatsuki scoundrels.
So now he was doing what no other jinchuriki dared to do. He was going to find a young host that he would hide his tailed beast within, where it would lay dormant until he returned to take it back. The wait was what worried him. There was a lot of pressure to find a host that was not threatening or ambitious in any way, as such a host could accidentally tap into the power of the Five-Tails and steal what was rightfully his.
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was a perfect place to hide his creature. It was a quiet village and nothing much had happened since the attack of the Nine-Tails five years ago. Han wondered what had happened to the tailed beast, but no one ever found out.
Towers appeared in the distance and Han slowed considerably. If he was spotted by a shinobi now then his mission would fail. All he needed to do was find a child, decide if they were host material and perform the sealing. Such an act would normally be impossible but it was not Han who had suggested it – his tailed beast had come up with the idea. Han narrowed his eyes at the walls surrounding Kohonagakure came into view. He could see shapes moving around, silhouetted in the sunset, and instinctively avoided them.
Heading further around the wall, he kept his eyes and ears alert for any movements. He came across no one. Not one child was playing in the forest. He stopped on a tree branch, panting, and curled his lip in disappointment.
A small voice reached his ears and he immediately leapt towards it silently. He crouched on a lower tree branch and spotted a small brown-haired girl lying on a patch of soft moss and talking to herself. She was very small with a thin, innocent face. Han smiled.
She was perfect.
He jumped down onto the grass in front of her. She stared at him and squeaked in surprise.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"I am Ryou," he lied. "I am a steam spirit from that volcano." He pointed to the mountain where the Hokage faces were carved.
She giggled. "You're silly! That's not a volcano!"
"It was a volcano many years ago." He wasn't sure if that was the truth, but it sounded believable. "I was one of the shinobi that died hundreds of years ago when it erupted. You should have seen it. There were rocks and lava everywhere! We only just managed to get the women and children out in time." He shook his head. "Not all of us made it."
Her eyes were wide as she fell for every detail. "So you're dead?"
"I am. What's your name?"
"Kobayashi Emiko," she said proudly. "Ryou-san, what's it like to be dead?"
He hesitated. This wasn't going as planned. He had his host and now he needed to be quick about sealing the Five-Tails inside of her. First he had to get her guard down. "Well Emiko-chan, it's very warm for me because I'm a steam spirit. Sometimes it's very loud and other times it's quiet. I come here often and no one ever sees me."
To his relief she relaxed back into her reclined position. "Dead doesn't sound fun."
Now. "I have a gift for you, since you're the first to see me."
"Really?" She sat up, excited.
"Stay there and close your eyes. This will only take a second." He moved closer as she obeyed and knelt beside the girl. Then he whipped her shirt up and slammed his hand against her stomach. "Eight Trigram Seal!"
The girl let out a strangled gasp and opened her eyes wide to see a cloud of smoke exit Han and swirl in the air above his head. "Ryou-san!" she cried, struggling against the hand that held her in place. "Ryou-san!"
He shook from the sheer power that coursed through his body, feeling the Five-Tails assisting him in this task. The protective armour around his stomach had burned away to reveal a circular seal. As all the smoke left him, the seal vanished. His hands trembled and he looked up to see the smoke take form of a horse with the head of a dolphin. Then he glanced back at the frightened girl. "You'll remember nothing," he whispered, removing his hand.
The smoke rushed in through her stomach and she was forced back at the impact, slamming against a tree behind her. A matching circle had been burned into her shirt and the seal appeared red and raw on her pale skin. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, steam rising lazily from her body. The seal would disappear after a few minutes as the Five-Tails slipped into his slumber.
Han collapsed with exhaustion. He hoped that the Five-Tails had made the right call, otherwise there would be no way to retrieve the beast from Emiko once the Akatsuki stopped watching the jinchuriki.
With his mission complete, Han turned his back on the unconscious girl and returned to Iwagakure, completely unaware that the sealing had destroyed her mind.