Cus was a wreck.
"Ah ha ha...Gone!...It's...Ahhh ha ha ha... all gone. All of it's gone! Bye-bye! Whoo! See ya! Ahhhh ha ha ha ha!" the female angel laughed, tears in her eyes as she hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. "Alone...all alone...nothing left...heheheeheheeeh!"
After Universe 10 was erased, taking with it the trillions of lives in that universe, including her superiors and comrades following Universe 10's defeat in the Tournament of Power, the loss of those whom she respected, cared about, and was emotionally attached to; gods, mortals, and all of the Universe she had been assigned to, despite her own life being spared and leaving her the sole surviving inhabitant left of Universe 10; the sadness, grief and remorse had started to drive her insane.
Her father, the Great Priest; and her siblings Awamo, Sour, Campari, Cognac, Cukatail, Vados, Whis, Korn, Mojito, Marcarita, and Martinu all found it somewhat revolting. Angels were supposed to be indifferent to practically everything for a reason, after all.
"She always was lacking in the apathy necessary to serve as an attendant to a God of Destruction. No wonder she can't handle her entire universe being erased like it had." Mojito sniffed dispassionately.
"You say that like it's a bad thing." a new voice said and the angels whipped around to see a transparent individual.
A spirit, one of a tall and pale-skinned man with hairless brow ridges and white waist-length hair. His bangs were short hung to left side of his face with a chin-length lock which hung from the right side of his face. He also had small, horn-like protrusions on his forehead and large, white eyes that lacked a iris or pupils, so he looked like he was blind. He wore a light, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar and dark pants. He had his sword in its sheath strapped to his left hip. He also had a dark crescent-moon mark in his left palm.
"Hamura Ōtsutsuki, at your service. And as a person that has seen the harm caused when those that are powerful embrace apathy, I say again: you say she lacks apathy as if it were a bad thing." The horned man said, both as introduction and as an explanation for his earlier comment.
The angels frowned. At last, Whis sighed. "Our apologies. It's just...we serve as the attendants to Gods of Destruction. We have to numb ourselves to the things our duties incline so you have to understand, we're required to work with deities who destroy planets, races or threats that pose risk to the development of their respective universes, as opposed to the Supreme Kais, the Gods of Creation, who create and fill planets with life, in order to maintain the balance of creation and destruction in the universe. Apathy is an unfortunate requirement on our part."
Hamura frowned. He understood it...but in no way at all did he like it. Looking over at Cus, he shook his head. Poor girl...he went over and crouched in front of her so their gazes were level. "You going to be all right?" he asked, already having an idea as to her answer.
"No...Everyone and everything I knew is gone! What am I supposed to do, go back to where Universe 10 was and just float around aimlessly in a void?! I HAVE NOTHING LEFT!"
Hamura sighed. First thing was first, had to repair her mind to where she was at least coherent and cogent enough to where she at least understood what was going on around her before he did what he came here for. Placing the fingertips of his left hand into her head, making use of how he lacked a corporeal constitution, the spirit sent some of of his energy into her.
As it entered her, the fractured look left her eyes and she gasped, jerking away. That proved a mistake as the sudden action left her disoriented and her head started throbbing.
"Ready to go?" Hamura questioned.
"Go where?" Cus asked, still woozy.
"The universe I'm from. Might do you some good. Think of it as a vacation." the moon-marked specter replied.
"What about this...other universe's...assigned gods, then? And I highly doubt Zen-oh-sama will permit this, so what's to stop him from erasing this place?" the attendant of Zen-Oh asked.
"No Gods were assigned to this one. This "Omni King" of yours has no authority there." The Ōtsutsuki replied with a shrug.
As the majority of his children gasped in sheer shock at that, the Great Priest frowned deeply, his eyes narrowing. Universes beyond Zen-oh's authority?! That could just not be allowed.
Shaking off her discomfort, Cus, by contrast to the rest of her family, openly perked up. A place Zen-oh couldn't take away away?! Oh...that sounded like it was just what she needed!
"Can we go there now!?" She said, almost begging.
The nod she got in return made her cheer.
Placing a hand as close to being on the surface of her shoulder as he could without his hand slipping through her, Hamura channeled energy into it so he could at least simulate touch. Then, with a swell of his power, both of them were enveloped in a blue aura and vanished, Cus waving good-bye to her siblings and father as they did so.
Reappearing, Cus found herself floating in the air of an Earth-like planet, though they seemed to be located somewhere in the country, if the dirt road and how rural the area was.
Turning to her brought her here, Cus yelped as she turned to look at Hamura. He'd changed, aged! His appearance was very frail, his ribcage was slightly visible, his brows became more prominent, and he had deep wrinkles in his face and his once white hair had turned grey.
"Hmm...seems I used too much power..." the horned man said with a frown, holding up a hand to his face and clenching and unclenching it, not sounding surprised.
"Wha...then this is my fault!" Cus gasped, horrified.
"Don't worry yourself. On extended time anyway. So this was bound to happen sooner or later regardless." he assured her. Then he looked up, veins suddenly bulging around his eyes. "Seems we aren't alone here. Good thing people tend not to look up. And one of them is...well..." he trailed off, chuckling, "...that's interesting indeed." he turned to Cus, "Young lady, as much as I wish otherwise, I'm afraid here we must part. Don't worry...seeing who's coming, I can rest assured you'll be in good hands."
Confused, Cus followed his gaze as she saw two people app. One was a tall and well-built man in the later stages of adulthood with fair skin. He had a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he had tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes, going all the way to the bottom. His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that was visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He carried a large scroll on his back, and he wore a headband on his forehead with a horned, metal plate attached to it and had the kanji for "oil" engraved on it.
The other was much younger man, at least in his teens, if she guessed right. This person was tall with nicely tanned skin, marks on his cheeks that resembled three whisker marks on each cheek, and bright yellow hair that was spiky and stuck up in all directions like the spines of a sea urchin. He had on a slim, form fitting orange tracksuit outfit with black on the upper shoulders area and the color extending from around the neck and shoulders, down the front and sleeves, as well as around the waist, a white swirl on the left side, a red swirl crest on the back, orange pants, but his sandals that covered the instep and ankles, yet left his toes and heels exposed and the pouches at his waist and thigh were black. So was the headband he had on around his forehead with a metal plate and swirled arrow symbol of some sort, this one lacking horns.
The angel blinked. What were those two humans doing here? Turning to Hamura, she nodded and he smiled. "One last thing, angel: If you should discover a reason to do so, do not let the world my elder brother created come to an end." he said before fading away.
Curious as to what the one had brought her here had meant with all his comments when those two mortals arrived, she suppressed her energy so they couldn't sense her and decided to eavesdrop from on high.
"Oi, Ero-Sennin! Why're we way out here?" The young blond asked.
"Well, brat we're going to try using Kyuubi's chakra again...brought you out here if you were to loose it again after getting you to transform by loosening the seal." the old man said.
Cus' eyes widened. Was that old man insane?! You couldn't forcibly manipulate a transformation like that!
"Say WHAT?! Ero-Sennin, are you NUTS!? Last time...!" The blond said in sheer alarm, unknowingly agreeing with her.
"I know what happened last time, Naruto, but this'll be different. I have a safety measure." the 'Ero-Sennin' said. Then he smacked the young man in the forehead with a piece of paper, the paper tag appeared to be stuck on the boy's forehead and he screamed as his energy suddenly spiked.
As it did, the old man spun on his heels and bolted.
Cus stared. He ran?! THAT was the old guy's "safety measure"?!
Cus tore her eyes away from the trailing dust cloud left in the man's wake as the blond boy, Naruto, gave a thundering yell of both anger and pain as his skin started tearing off his body and the blood gushing out from the resulting wounds that mixed with the swirling dark red, nearly black, layer of energy underneath, tainting the entirety of his body as it enveloped him in a crimson shade that served to make the appearance of fur but the consistency looked almost liquid in nature. The skin burnt up like lit scarps of paper as soon as it left his body and the energy formed a purple dome around him, like an eggshell or a chrysalis, then a beam of red energy shot upward and with it the orb violently exploded in fractured black disks of energy, white on the insides that dissipated into the air, leaving nothing behind and exposing the entity generated by the metamorphosis to the world.
Were the once orange-clad boy once was, stood a humanoid-shaped, fox-like creature made from a chaotic red energy. The nearly-black energy covering his body entirely in a tight, intense shroud that sleekly took the form of a beast around a human body. Four swirling tails weaved behind him lazily, like in a trance, while long, almost rabbit-like ears came from his head, and the nails of his hands and feet had become claws. His eyes had turned ghastly, glowing, pure white whilst his mouth transformed into a cruel, glasglow, jack-o-lantern maw, rigged with knife-like teeth the inside of that glowing white as well.
Sensing his energy, Cus winced. This...this was horrible! Whatever that old man's stupidity had forced the boy to become, it had to be stopped or who knew how many innocents would die!
With that thought in mind, the angel steeled herself and lowered to the ground. Firing a basic ki blast, she wasn't surprised when it was bat away by one of the transformed boy's tails almost casually. But the blast did it's job and got his attention since the beast turned to her.
"Glad I have your attention now," Cus spoke up to the bestial Naruto. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry if what I do hurts you, but I can't let you go on a rampage that could harm others."
Naruto roared at her before he kicked off the ground, cratering where his hind legs pushed off as he made a furious swipe of his claws at Cus. She levitated a couple of inches off the ground as soon as he kicked off, floating backwards to avoid him while also leading him further away from other energy sources she could sense. Based on their low levels, she deduced that they had no way to defend themselves and would die easily if Naruto's uncontrolled state targeted them.
As Naruto's arm swung at her, the pressure of his aura washed from it like a tidal wave, mixing with the kinetic motion of his limb, resulting in a shockwave being sent outwards.
Cus zipped up in the air as the shockwave passed under her and she went back down, knowing she had to keep Naruto's attention fixated on her so she had to stay directly in his sights. Sure, it went against everything she knew as someone that had served as a martial arts teacher to Gods, but if he wasn't occupied, he could just rampage until innocent people were caught up in his power overload-induced frenzy.
She frowned sadly at him, comparing his current form to something that only needed to be aimed; not controlled. It labeled him as a weapon, and she could never view a living creature in that manner.
If she was really going to have another chance at aiding a different universe, then she was going to put her all into it. And to start that, she needed to get Naruto to calm down.
His four tails of bloody red energy made to spear her all at once, but she batted them aside with her staff. Her somber frown remained as she used her hand to easily bat away another claw swipe before her eyes widened and she ducked beneath a copy of his upper body that spawned from the outstretched limb and attacked her as well.
"Limbs able to stretch and grow, but it seems to put extra stress on his body..." Cus noted as the duplicate retracted and Naruto withdrew his arm as she peppered him with ki blasts while back-pedalling from him as they bounced off the energy carapace.
"Protective red aura, too; but it shortens your lifespan by means of constantly damaging and healing your body in a cycle...how awful. Poor thing...this form hurts you, doesn't it?" she whispered sadly, looking upon him with pity. "You never wanted this power, did you? I'm so sorry…"
Naruto snarled before he let out yet another savage roar, but this time as he did so, several orbs of what appeared to be energy separated from his body and melded into a gigantic dark sphere in the sky.
Cus stared at the ball floating. The orb was so dense that it was even casting a shadow on everything below it. Then, the sphere started turning smaller and smaller, compressing the energy even further every time, until it could fit in the palm of a hand. Once it stopped shrinking, the small ball slowly descended towards Naruto and he promptly swallowed it.
For a moment it looked like nothing was going to happen until the boy's whole body bloated like a balloon before he opened his mouth and released all the condensed power stored inside, shooting it towards Cus in a straight line.
She held out her staff as the orb on the end glowed. As the beam Naruto had fired zoomed at her, it came into contact with the orb on the end of the staff, but rather than it being destroyed, the staff seemed to suck in the blast in until the attack dissipated completely and the orb stopped glowing.
Sheesh...that technique was no joke. Good thing that among the several other very handy features, there was a pocket dimension that an Angel could use to pull any kind of being into, whether fellow gods or mortals, when they so choose to inside the orb of the staff.
"Powerful move...but from what I can tell, the prep time is an issue, and you have to remain stationary to use it. Not to mention that while the energy is forced out of your body and while you're condensing it, you're vulnerable. Swallowing that mass of energy could damage your internal organs, not to mention forcing it back up can't help in that regard, either. Also, the ratio is an issue...energies need a certain ration for it or else it can backfire."
Having seen enough of him attacking her like a wild animal, she blurred into existence right in front of his face, placing her palm against his forehead. She ignored how his energies attempted to corrode her skin and energy, focusing her attention on his eyes to convey her desire to help him.
"Rest now," she spoke softly, spreading her power through him to quell his raging energy and sooth his berserker mentality. He screamed as the energy started to recede back into a marking on his stomach.
Once the malevolent aura was completely gone, Naruto slumped forward, unconscious from the exhaustion and the damage that using that power had caused. He would have hit the ground if not for Cus catching him and easing him onto the ground. With his head in her lap, she ran her fingers through his hair to help ease him into a more comfortable rest; a small smile present the whole time.
The boy had returned to normal, save for his raw pink flesh, as his skin had not fully regrown yet, so she set to work on fixing that. She smiled as her power started working and his natural form restored itself. Good thing she had decided on learning to heal others from even the most grievous wounds using her ki. Why her siblings refrained from doing likewise, she didn't know.
"Hmm...all in all, I grade you at a B. You're control's lousy, but you're at least aware of that and want to avoid using more than you know you can handle of that power." Cus mused. "Have so much power, you always try to stay unblooded by making sure not to kill anyone, and you're aware of the danger someone with your power getting used to having to numb out the feelings that come with taking life. Strong enough to be a God of Destruction, but moral enough to keep from just running rampant with your power...gotta confess, for an angel attendant like me, the fact that you're aware of that is actually a very good thing."
Studying him as he finished healing, the angel bit her lip. It was very tempting to pet those cute whisker marks on his face...she shook her head to dispel those thoughts...there'd be time for that later! He was still hurt, after all. With that fact in mind, she continued to use her ki to tend to him. She was NOT going to allow this boy to die. She'd lost too much as it was.
She winced at that. Those thoughts reminded her of those whom the two Zen-Ohs had taken away from her.
Rumsshi-sama...Gowasu-sama...Murichim...Lilibeu...Jirasen...Methiop...Napapa...Rubalt...Jilcol...Obuni...Jium...All of Universe 10...
It HURT remembering that! Damn the Omni-kings! Zen-oh and his "future" self! Damn them both! And damn that chimp-teme from Universe 7, Son Goku, too! The turnoment was his idea! Wait...should she damn him? After all, Goku had ended up giving the universes a chance to survive with the tournament...
Shaking her head, Cus realized she was getting caught up again in the feelings that had started to push her to insanity. Sure the Ōtsutsuki had pushed those things back, but there was no telling just how thorough his repairing her sanity had actually been, and those feelings were still there. If she wasn't careful, they could sneak up on her again and shatter her.
Realizing she needed something to distract herself from the unwanted path her thoughts were treading, Cus turned back to her patient. What she saw next and what it would mean she'd have to do wasn't going to be nice. Not only had the sheer heat from the power he'd used bleached his clothes, but the blood had been speed-dried by the aura he'd been enveloped in, super-heated it, thus bleaching, and nearly fusing of what had once been fabric to his body.
She shook her head...oh, poor Naruto. This wasn't going to be pretty. Channeling ki into a fingertip, she trailed it along what had once been his clothing, cutting into it like a super heated scalpel. Now came the worse part...
Still unconscious, Naruto yelped out in pain as Cus pealed the super heated pieces of his former attire off of his body, inflaming nerves still raw from his need to regrow his skin With fresh waves of pain she wished she didn't inflict. Cus continued removing another portion of the now ruined clothing. Cus winced at seeing Naruto gritting his teeth as another piece was pealed off of him. Grimacing, Cus bit her lip as she had pulled yet another piece off of him, and continued to do so until he was completely bare (something which caused Cus to heat up in the face). A quick application of materialization fixed that with a pair of orange boxers to hide his modesty from view, along with gauze wrappings around most of his body.
Tapping the butt of her staff against the ground, she took the materialization a step further, causing Naruto's bandaged form to suddenly be clad in an outfit that consisted of a dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar, and a tattered grey-blue cape emblazoned with the emblem of a mandala comprised of nine reddish-brown circles of varying sizes atop a larger green-grey circle. Along with that was a fighter's gi that consisted of a sleeveless dark grey uwagi that had a large symbol of a light green circle, surrounding another circle but it was a slightly darker green, and on top of the darker green circle, were three lines that looked like stretched out "M" shapes above each other on the back and on the front-left was a smaller version of the same symbol; a long-sleeved black undershirt with a turtleneck, a red sash, black pants, fingerless opera-length black gloves wrapped in studded red-brown leather straps, and red-brown boots with dark red toe caps, held on using high-quality velcro strap fastenings. Finally, as a finishing touch, over his face was a white kitsune noh mask with three ringed eyes that were colored red.
Looking at it, Cus nodded in satisfaction.
It was a duplicate of the outfit that sanctimonious fallen Shinjin, Zamasu, used after stealing Goku's body and started calling himself "Goku Black".
Where she got the idea for the white kitsune mask, dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar and tattered grey-blue cape emblazoned with an emblem of a mandala comprised of nine reddish-brown circles of varying sizes atop a larger green-grey circle. Or the fingerless opera-length black gloves wrapped in studded red-brown leather straps... she didn't know. But she felt it was a cool-looking addition to the outfit, and who knew, maybe in some mirror universe, Naruto or someone he Knew would have worn something similar.
As for the red boots with dark red toe caps, those were based off of ones she'd seen that had been created by Whis for Son Goku during and after his training under her brother as part of a gi he had worn during the Universes 6 and 7 Gods of Destruction Selection Martial Arts Competition (yes, she'd seen the video of that on GodTube), just a different color.
And that symbol of a light green circle, surrounding another circle but it was a slightly darker green, and on top of the darker green circle, were three lines that looked like stretched out "M" shapes above each other on his gi? Easy...that was the symbol of Universe 10.
That done, Cus held one of the pieces of his former attire up, staring at it contemplating just how much power he had. That question in mind, Cus reached out with her senses, she took a second to get a feel for his power and what she felt stunned her, for along with a much less savage power that she assumed was him in his normal state, there was also that heavy energy from before and it felt like it was not his; but alongside that was a bright sliver of power that was deeply linked to the blond. 'What is that?'
Frowning, Cus picked up her attendant's staff, she decided to get to the bottom of that by making use of the staff's function to project images from both the past and present. Zoning in on that sliver of power and tracing the feel of it through time by backtracking, her eyes widened in alarm.
WHAT IN THE...?! How far back did that power she was focused on go?! It was far too long to be only a single mortal lifetime.
But then...that would mean that he was part of some kind of reincarnation cycle! If that was true, then the sheer potential that Naruto had at his disposal was enormous; especially if he could tap into the abilities, skills, and memories of the lives prior to his own!
With that in mind, the angel eagerly dove back into her observations, backtracking as far as possible. When she stopped at the very first flicker of that power she sensed in him, she began to watch what she assumed was his first lifetime. As she did so, her eyes brightened with excitment.
Asura, huh? Well, that was interesting...
Being angels, Cus and her siblings had usually kept up on the various pantheons mortals had. As well as having an eye out for anyone with the potential to be a new God of Destruction.
Despite their immense power and longevity, Gods of Destruction were known to be capable of dying. Due to this, their angel attendants would seek out and train potential replacements. The candidates did not have to be of a divine race as mortals were selected as candidates if they possess adequate power. Because of that, unlike Angels and the Supreme Kais, whom they work alongside and with, and whom were all members of the same species, respectively, both being naturally divine, the Gods of Destruction vary widely in species, and were actually mortal-turned-divine individuals from naturally mortal species.
So it caught her attention that the young man with the cute whisker marks was the reincarnation of someone that could turn into one.
After all, "Asura", was still often used as an adjective meaning "powerful" or "mighty", and for justifiable reason, as the asuras were originally just, good, virtuous, their nature had gradually changed. The asuras (which were sometimes referred to as "anti-gods") were depicted to have become proud, vain, to have stopped performing sacrifices, to violate sacred laws, not visit holy places, not cleanse themselves from sin, to be envious of devas, torturous of living beings, creating confusion in everything and to challenge the devas and it was significant that it was not for their sins that the Asura anti-gods had to be destroyed, but because of their power, their virtue, their knowledge, which threatened that of the gods.
The rivalry of Indra and Asura and their respective descendants in this universe feuding seemed almost derived from Hindu and Buddhist religions where the Gods, led by Indra, were in constant battle against the Asuras. In the teachings, Asuras were malevolent and Indra was benevolent. In this case, however, the brothers' roles were reversed; Asura was good and Indra was bad.
When Cus saw that Indra had vowed to destroy this world no matter how many lifetimes it took and how Asura swore to prevent that, the angel's eyes widened in shock. So that what Hamura had meant! Oh, she could see that while he and his following incarnations leading up to Naruto had done things that made it so they could never be called saints, it was mainly due to situation and circumstances that those negitive events occured, and at his core—their core—Asura and his successive incarnations held true to wanting to make this world one where no one had to suffer.
She liked that.
Looking at the boy with her smile still in place, she nodded. Well...no wonder Hamura was so assured she wouldn't have anything to worry about with Naruto around.
Like them, he could become the strongest warrior of his entire generation; from his home village and beyond. Not to mention, his power could grow to Destroyer God levels while his heart would keep him from falling into the standard of Destroyer Gods. Instead of taking life on a whim, he would fight for life and risk his own being to save the lives of others. That alone, even if he didn't reach their level, made him a more favorable candidate.
A smile grew on her face as she imagined the possibilities that laid in store for her and Naruto. "Thank you, Hamura," she whispered aloud, grateful to the deceased man for bringing her to this universe and helping her find such a gem in the blond man before her.
Now all she had to do was wait for him to wake up.
For the benefit of those that have never been rendered unconscious, it is a very strange sensation to say the least. Before you even open your eyes the first thing that comes back to you is the ability to hear. Where before it would be some kind of droning white noise, the noise begins to clear and become more and more coherent and less echoey until it is fully restored.
From that point your sense of feeling comes back and you try to move. It is only at that point when you try and fail due to the recent rebooting of your motor skills that you become aware that your eyes are fully open and that the reason you could not see was because you were readjusting to the light.
This was the fate that met Naruto upon his reawakening. His whole body hurt. Didn't help that he felt so tender at the moment...he tried sitting up and almost blacked out.
"Here. These should work." A voice said before he practically yelped as a hand was placed on his back and a second later, a warm sensation akin to the feel of medical chakra spread through him, as it did so, Naruto's dizziness passed.
The first thing he was immediately aware of was something on his face.
What the...what was he wearing? Reaching up, he removed whatever it was and looked down at himself and at what he'd removed.
"Whoa..." he said. What was with this outfit?! Then he broke out coughing, his throat raw.
His head was carefully lifted up and a sudden glass of water was put to his lips. He drank thankfully. When the glass was empty, it was pulled away.
"Easy...you just had your skin grow back, your nerves are pretty tender at the moment." a female voice said, making him turn to see a short girl with pale blue skin, violet eyes, and white hair which she wore as a single braided side pigtail and her hair combed in a 80/20 ratio. She had a light blue ring hung around her neck like a hoop or a halo. Her attire consisted of purple robes, a black cuirass, and a pink sash, along with black high-heeled shoes with white spats.
Laying next to her was a pink staff that had a gold-tipped top and bottom and a floating black sphere floating above the top with a light blue ring floating vertically around it.
Naruto blinked, "Who are you?" he asked. The girl looked strange, but then again, maybe it was just a certain clan she was from? If that was the case, no need not to be cordial. He'd seen odd things enough to be ok with that. For heck's sake, he had a demon living I his guts, so why should he find her appearance strange? Besides, the girl was cute.
The girl smiled, "I'm Cus. Nice to meet you."
"Naruto...Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato." he replied.
The girl, Cus, nodded.
Seeing he was laying on the grass, Naruto growled, recalling Jiraiya's actions. Damn pervert! When Naruto got his hands on him...! He tried getting up, but the blue girl held him down with a single finger.
"I wouldn't do that, your body's still recovering from that transformation. Stay and rest." Cus said.
Naruto stiffened and went wide-eyed, whipping around, nearly throwing up because of it, Naruto stared as her.
"...You saw...?!"
Cus nodded, catching him as he fell backwards and easing him onto the ground. With his head in her lap, she ran her fingers through his hair to help try and sooth him into a more comfortable state.
"You don't need to hurt anymore…I'll help you get stronger in a better way." she said, then the blond's current hostess lightly tapped on the tape and it felt like a protective shell, "That is, unless you enjoy having to put three pounds of tape around your body just to protect yourself after getting your skin peeled off."
Naruto felt just how thick the medical wrappings he had on were. Yeah, loosing his skin like this was not something he wanted to go through again. Besides, he couldn't control himself with that power overload, and he didn't want to hurt or kill anyone while rampaging around as a mindless beast like that.
Still...he looked at Cus skeptically...she didn't seem like a fighter to him. Then again, he recalled Kakashi-sensei once telling him that in the ninja world, it was possible for kids younger that at least twelve to be stronger than a jonin during the mission to Wave. Maybe it was like that this time?
"No offense...but you don't...well...you want to help me?" he asked.
"I can, if you want." the girl replied.
Groaning, Naruto mentally considered his options. On one hand, he was stuck with the most worthless one out of the three of the Sannin, the one who got by on reputation alone, since the lecher had the nerve to only show him the basics and then he was off gallivanting with some prostitute or peeping on some poor hot spring in whatever village they happened to be staying in...ah well, not like he expected any different from a lecherous old man who stays at home watching porno twenty-four-seven with the disposition of a child with an overly-eccentric and boisterous personality to compensate for still being a virgin, anyway. Thus Naruto was forced to train himself and/or depend utterly on the Kyuubi.
Or there was this girl he had just now met and knew nothing about.
This was a no-brainer. "Fine. Show me what you can do later when I'm feeling better, then." Naruto said.
The martial arts teacher and attendant to the deities of the former Universe 10 and the strongest being from there smiled. Extending a hand, the girl helped him up and they shook on it.
"Ready to start whenever you are, my little seito!" Cus chirped.