Chapter 1- Naruto's Inheritance
Naruto was running down a corridor, poorly lit and ankle-deep in water. Father and farther he ran, until he came upon a huge gate, which reached from the floor to the ceiling, sealed only by a small slip of paper. Naruto peered into the darkness, and made out a huge furry form from behind the bars. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could make out nine massive tails waving in an irritated fashion behind the creature. One bright red eye opened, level with where he was standing. The creature's mouth opened, and he could see gleaming white rows of teeth. It spoke.
"Hello, kit. What do you want?"
Naruto stared at the Kyuubi. He cleared his throat, blue eyes staring in curiosity.
"Who are you?"
---------------------------
It has been a few years since Uzumaki Naruto had first made contact with the Kyuubi. He learned many things from the fox demon, including attempts at chakra control, about the Fourth Hokage, and demonic matters that he did not understand but listened to nevertheless.
Naruto remembered the first time he tapped into the Kyuubi's power. The overwhelming adrenaline, the pure ecstasy. Yet, painful. He couldn't control it very well, and if too much was released, he lost himself. Naruto was the only human that the Kyuubi no Kitsune had ever formed a bond with.
He remembered the final battle with Sasuke, when the Kyuubi surged so much power into him that he actually took on a one-tailed form of the demon, a cloak if you will. Naruto remembers all of this well.
-------------------------
"Hey." a female voice said.
"Oh, hey Sakura. Where's Sai?" he asked.
"Sai? He's off drawing a picture of the waterfall. Did you need him?" she asked.
"No, just wondering. Look, about Sasuke, I'm sor--"
He was cut off by Sakura putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Naruto. You did everything you could. It's been a couple years now, stop beating yourself up over it."
She punched his shoulder playfully, but when she pulled her hand away, she got caught on the string that hangs off his shoulder. She held the small object in her hand, and for the first time, wondered what it was.
"Sakura? What are you doing?" Naruto asked her.
"Naruto? What is this thing?" She asked him.
"What thing? Oh, that? I'm not sure. It's been a part of my clothes since I got them. It was there when I got my first orange jumpsuit, which was the only thing I had from my parents. That's why I wear orange, not because I have a passion for the color. But back to your question, I'm not really sure."
"Well let's take a look, it doesn't look like it's just some decoration, it seems to somehow open."
"Oh really?" Naruto slid off his jacket and took a look at the small object dangling from the left shoulder.
"You know, I've always wondered how this thing never managed to get ripped off in fights." he said.
They examined the object. It appeared to have some kind of lid on it, but tiny seals were engraved into it. Sakura brought it close to her face so she could examine it.
"Hey guys. What are you doing?" Sakura and Naruto jumped, they had forgotten about Sai.
"Oh, Sai. You scared us." said Sakura.
Sai stared blankly, then put on that fake smile. He whipped out his handy dandy book and flipped open to the desired page.
"Let's see…when a friend is frightened, you should put a hand on their shoulder and comfort them, and tell them not to be afraid."
Sai snapped the book shut, and put it back in his bag. He walked between Naruto and Sakura, and crouched down so he was on the same level. Without looking at either, just staring straight ahead, he linked his arms around their necks and pulled both bodies to him.
"It's alright. You don't have to be frig--ARGH!"
Naruto and Sakura both punched the top of Sai's head, digging his face in the ground. Both of their faces were twitching.
"Anyway, where were we?" Naruto asked after that was over.
Sai got up and rubbed his head, then put his fake smile back on. That didn't stop the drop of sweat from forming on the back of his head. Well…that didn't work like the book said it would. Oh well. It never does.
"What are you doing?" Sai asked again.
"There's something with this, er, for lack of a better word, thing, that hangs off Naruto's shoulder. It seems to open, but there are tiny seals carved into it."
Sai took hold of the object and brought it up to his face. Using the little bit of sealing knowledge he gained from ROOT, he tried to make heads or tails of it.
"It seems to be some kind of sealing technique. It's different from any I've seen, but similar enough for me to figure it out. You see this one?" Sai pointed out one of the tiny figures. "This one means "seal." That means that there is something sealed inside this little object." Sai returned to his usual blank face and dropped the object, letting it dangle off of the shoulder.
"Hey, Naruto? Wasn't your teacher, Jiraiya, talented in seals?" Sakura asked him.
"What? Pervy-sage? Oh yeah, I guess he was. Let's go talk to the Hokage."
The three ninja gathered their belongings to go visit the Hokage.
--------------
Tsunade was sitting behind her desk, rubbing her temples. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. And to top it off, Shizune had found another hiding place for her sake. Not to mention she was sitting in the room, staring at her. Tsunade groaned and pulled a paper off of the top of the stack.
Raccoons have moved into the old abandoned Uchiha Complex.
She sighed in disbelief. Half this paperwork was on stupid crap. Oh, well, she could always use it for beginning genin.
She was about to reach for another paper when three ninja suddenly appeared in her office.
"What is it, Naruto?" she groaned.
Then she noticed that Sai and Sakura were also present, and then she got genuinely curious.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
"No, not really. We were just wonde--"
"Is the Pervy-sage in town?" Naruto cut Sakura off, then dodged a swing aimed at his head.
"Jiraiya? What do you need him for?" Tsunade asked.
Since Naruto and Sakura were squabbling, Sai took the initiative to answer.
"We need him to help us with seals. It seems that the decoration on Naruto's shoulder is actually a small container, it has seals carved around the top to keep it closed. The only one I could decipher was the one that read "seal.""
"Let me see."
Sai grabbed Naruto's arm and shoved him into the Hokage, much to the orange ninja's dislike. But he shut up as soon as he realized that Tsunade was examining the object.
"Hmmm…..I don't recognize anything more than you do. Yes, it just so happens that Jiraiya is in town. You'll probably find him by the hot springs."
Tsunade released Naruto and returned to her paperwork. She didn't even look up when they left. She did, however, feel a vein in her forehead when Naruto said, "See you later, Granny!"
--------------
They reached the hot springs in record time. As promised, the Toad Sage was there, peeking in the women's bath. Sakura stormed up and punched him.
"Hey! What was that for! I'm doing very important re--"
"Cut the crap, Pervy-sage. You were just peeking, and we know it. Now, we need your help."
"I'm busy." he said.
"But, Master Jiraiya! You are the only one who knows enough about seals to help us."
"Fine, have it your way, Pinky. As long as you don't hit me again."
Sai stood there, smiling.
"Is that kid always so creepy?" Jiraiya asked them.
"Yup," Naruto answered.
Jiraiya jumped down from the toad he was on, and it poofed away.
"Alright, what is it you need?" he asked.
Naruto shrugged off his jacket and held up the left shoulder, holding up the decoration.
"There are seals on this thing. WE think that there is something inside. It might be something from my parents! We can't understand them, so we were hoping you could. Will you look, Pervy-sage?"
"I told you not to call me that! But yes, I'll have a look."
Jiraiya too the jacket from the boy and examined the seals carved into the tiny object. As his eyes passed over the writing, recognition filled his face.
"I--I don't believe it. This is…."
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Ah, cliffy. Don't you love those? Review!
