As I said, I made several changes, one of which is the pairing. I think I'll go with a female Kiba Inuzuka, I still never used it.
You bastard" - demon talking / jutsu
"Let's finish this" - dialogue
" Can it get any worse? " - during flashback/thoughts
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Prototype or whatever I will use and I already used in this or any other story I write, wrote and will write.
Chapter 2: Testing powers.
Somewhere – Time unknown -
White, everything was white, an endless void of whiteness that seemingly went on forever, at least that was what young Naruto was seeing after his operation caused his new Bloodline to go berserk swallowing him whole along with the hospital staff and security detail.
"Where am I?" he asked as his voice echoed around that mysterious non-place.
"Where is a kinda hard question now," a female voice said from behind him making him jump.
"Who are you?!" he asked yelling.
"I see that you are still the beautiful baby I remembered you as." the red-haired woman answered sitting down next to him.
"Baby? Who are you?" he asked.
"Who am I? That's easy, I am your mother!" she said proudly and opening her arms wide, flawlessly catching the boy's tackling hug without problems to return it herself with interests.
"They told me my mom was in Heaven, so I am in heaven too?" the blond boy asked with his face still buried in the woman's bosom to bask in her scent.
"That's a good question, we can say that it will depend on you actually." she answered caressing his hair and covering his forehead in small kisses making him giggle.
"It depends on me? How?"
"When that...thing attacked you, the stuff had started Consuming you, luckily your force of will, your will to live managed to take control just in time to stop the absorption. You are basically in a Limbo, you can chose, if you want you can go back or accept your death," the woman explained.
"Choose? I can stay with you?" he said in disbelief.
"Exactly, Naru-kun, you are now in control, you can Take Over and get back your body or you can just stop fighting and let your bloodline absorb you, killing you in the process. But is this what you want? Just to stay with me?" she asked worried.
"I don't know. But if I go back I won't see you anymore..." Naruto said hugging her tightly and sniffling loudly.
"You would let yourself die just to be with me? What happened to the strong boy I fell in love with as soon as I first hold him in my arms?" she asked with a gentle smile.
"Eh? Y-Y-You love me?" he asked back with watery eyes.
"Of course! I am your mommy, I will always love you! But even if it hurts me, I don't want you to drop everything and die just to be with me, I want you to live your life and be the strong man I know you can be. I will always love you and be with you, even from Heaven." she answered hugging him tight.
"Mom."
"If I go back, what will I do?" the boy asked confused.
"Everything will be fine, those people will take good care of you," she answered.
"And Konoha?" he asked bitter.
"They did what they did, it was wrong and you are right in be angry, but revenge is never the answer."
"Then what?"
"Simple, live your life and be happy, there won't be greatest insult than being happy YOUR WAY instead of theirs, no matter what they say or do, you go forward your way. Never theirs." she answered smirking.
"So no revenge?"
"No revenge, BUUUT! You can still kick their ass and be better than them, no need to go look for them, if you meet them, you just be yourself and do your best, you'll see you will make them angry with how cool you are. You are my son, you take it from me." the woman answered proud making him giggle amused.
"And whenever you are unsure or you feel alone...Look, you can still talk to him." she said pointing at a far away point in the whiteness they were in, there the two could see what looked like a baby fox the size of a couple elephants stacked together looking around worried.
"K-K-Kyuubi?" Naruto said with wide eyes,
"His name is Kurama, even if I never used his name because I never tried befriending him. He apparently regressed to his youth, he is just a baby fox now...Sure he is still huge, but I think you know what I mean." the woman said.
"So I should befriend him? And you know him?" the boy asked in wonder.
"He was sealed inside me before being moved inside you, he is a giant grumpy meanie, but by dying I could finally see that deep inside he is a big softie, try be friends with him, he never had friends so he really needs one."
"So I have to go?"
"For now, but remember, I will always love you." she said.
"Me too mum. But...What's your name? I don't even know that."
"I am Kushina, Naruto-kun. And I was really happy to finally see you again."
"Good-bye, mum." he answered watching her fade away, once dried his eyes from the huge amount of tears he was letting out, he steeled himself and walked towards the tiny Kiuuby kit that was now looking to be extremely distressed.
With Kurama -
"OLD MAN! OLD MAN! Where are you?" the little fox yelled with a worried tone as he kept looking around.
"H-Hi!" Naruto tried saying.
"Who are you?" the fox asked turning to watch the boy get closer with shy steps.
"I am Naruto...You are the Kyuubi sealed in me?" the boy asked.
"I am Kurama, and I am not sealed inside you! The old man was talking to me and my brothers when in an instant I ended up here! Where is he hiding?" Kurama answered still looking around.
"You don't remember anything?" Naruto asked back confused.
"Remember? I...I remember a red haired woman and then another one similar to the first...I-I remember a blond man standing on a frog or a toad...and...And a red spinning eye glaring at me and ordering me to...To destroy a village after tearing me out of the red-haired woman...A crying baby? I don't know, it's all so confused!" Kurama answered with a pained expression on his face as he tried to recall his past.
"Who is the old man you are talking about?"
"The one that created us, he said that we used to be a single entity that he divided in nine, he said that we would have been linked forever and that one day we would have been whole again...But now he and the others are gone! COME BACK, GUYS! THIS IS NOT FUN!" Kurama said before yelling again.
"Why are you screaming so much?"
"I don't like being alone, it feels...Uncomfortable and boring." Kurama said lowering his head to get face-to-face with the boy.
"Hey! I am here, you are not alone! I can keep you company!" Naruto said smiling.
"Are you sure? If I have to believe my memories you didn't had a good life because of me, people treated you badly, right?" Kurama asked curiously.
"So what? Konoha is full of mean people, they said the Fourth Hokage died to seal you in me to save the village (as if to blame me of his death) and my mother died too because she held you inside. You are practically a victim of Konoha as much as I am...From my point of view at least," Naruto said unsure.
"...Thank you..." The Fox muttered.
"So? Friends?" Naruto asked presenting his hand.
"Friends?" Kurama said watching the boy with interest.
"Yeah! You may have been a mean guy before, but you don't remember anything, so we can start from scratches! You hate humans because everyone saw you as a monster or a weapon (I remember you always say this while I was in the Hospital in Konoha) I understand your pain because it was what Konoha wanted from me, so we can understand each other! Just like friends!" Naruto said with an innocent smile.
"Then no, I won't be your friend." Kurama answered huffing.
"Why?" the boy asked looking hurt.
"Because you are weak, I don't need weak friends." the Fox said trying to walk away.
"WEAK?! WE'LL SEE!" Naruto said jumping on the Kyuubi's back.
"HEY! GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Kurama yelled trying to shake the kid from his back.
"LET'S SEE HOW YOU DEFEND YOURSELF FROM THIS!" Naruto said reaching the Fox' ears to start scratching behind them.
"OOOH! You-you won't subdue me liiiiiiiike thaaaat!" Kurama said as the ministration were taking a toll on him.
"Really!?" the boy asked smirking.
"REALLY!" Kurama yelled fiercely.
"Then you give me no choice! BELLY SCRATCH NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled attacking Kurama's belly.
"NOOOO! Not theeere!" Kurama screamed falling on his back, his mind shutting down under the attack making him purr.
"Admit defeat, you lose!" Naruto said triumphantly.
"N-N-Never!" Kurama answered as his tongue rolled out from the assault.
"Then I'll just stop here." the boy said stopping his scratching.
"No! Please a little moore!" Kurama pleaded before taking notice and gaining a discreet blush visible from under the fur.
"Are we friends?" he asked again.
"..." the Fox defiantly looked away.
"Are we friends?" Naruto asked again.
"...Okay." Kurama muttered defeated.
"No, wait! Call me Onii-san!" the boy said grinning.
"B-Brother!?" the fox said in surprise.
"Do it or I won't scratch you anymore,".
"Urrmh! FINE! Now come back scratching my back, there is a point I can't reach!" Kurama said turning on all-four.
"Scratch me...?" Naruto said.
"Please scratch me...onii-san." Kurama said lowering his head in shame.
"YAY! I have a brother!" Naruto yelled before returning on the Fox' back, laughing happily in the meantime.
"Damn it."
Not too far away -
"He has the potential of being great, greater even than you." Kushina, unseen, said in pride.
"Gh!" a blond man tied and gagged next to her replied rolling his eyes.
"You made your bed, you will sleep on it. My baby will rock this world to its core, and not while wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector at that! Does it hurt?" she asked with a feral smile.
"Feh!" the man spat out.
"A pity your dear sensei had always saw things from a purely political point of view, and that you in part followed his footsteps, an Uzumaki does things his way ALWAYS, never bending to others' whims, you'll see how far he will go instead of being a broken toy like the others thought."
"Hushina..."
"Just drop it, Minato-kun. You lost and Konoha lost, in the end he is a child of Uzushioagakure just like me, and WE always win." Kushina answered amused as the tall monstrous Shinigami appeared to drag the Fourth Hokage away.
"Have fun in the beast gut! I know I will have fun watching my baby turn the world upside down!" the woman said waving cheerfully while both faded away.
"Be happy, Naruto-kun...You deserve it, I'll watch over you." were the woman's last words before she left the whiteness for good.
With Naruto and Kurama -
"Can I ride you?" Naruto asked from Kurama's back.
"Hard to say no if you are already up there. Just don't pull my fur, it hurts." Kurama answered annoyed.
"What now?" the boy asked looking around confused.
"Now? Now we move forward, always forward. Until the horizon remains behind us." Kurama said walking forward with his head held high in pride.
"And then?"
"Then we go further more,"
"Sounds kind of complicated." Naruto admitted unsure.
"But also a lot of fun!" the Kyuubi answered smirking.
"True." the small blond boy said with a wide smile making his Biju companion nod pleased at his words.
As they were talking and walking, the room became increasingly brighter, until a blinding light completely enveloped them and the real world reappeared around them.
Three days after the Bloodline Outbreak – Real World – Kumo - Raikage Office -
E the Raikage was sitting behind his desk massaging his temples tiredly while Ay and Killer B stood by his sides groaning and/or scratching their eyes as the boy's answers to their questions were very different from what they expected.
"And here comes my sparkling new headache! I was getting worried it would take too much to get one." E said scratching his eyes once again as the long-awaited migraine made its presence known in his head.
"Look at the bright side, Pops!" B tried saying chuckling.
"Which is? Please enlighten me." the Raikage answered sarcastic.
"Now we have a new, never seen before bloodline in our village and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki ready to learn how to defend Kumo...Everything in one move!" The Enka-Rapper answered with a half-heart thumbs-up.
"I can agree on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki part, but we still don't know a thing about the results of the operation, for all we know we just healed the boy, not created a bloodline." Ay countered unsure and with crossed arms.
"Still, he can now use chakra once again and his Biju is open to collaborate, we dragged him to Kumo to follow your plans, now we can't exactly toss him out..." E answered groaning.
"Nor can we leave him in an orphanage, pops." B added.
"Although..." Ay then muttered with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" his father and brother asked at the same time.
"You confirmed that your mother was Kushina, right?" Ay asked.
"Uh-hu!" the boy answered nodding with a wide smile, he really loved his mom, her red hair were awesome!
"Where are you getting at?" E asked already looking annoyed.
"The details are unknown, but it is said that the Lieutenant of the Uzukage managed to hide their Forbidden Scroll somewhere only a direct descendant of Uzu could reclaim it. His mother was that Uzukage's niece. Do you see what I am getting at?" Ay answered.
"So I am part of a clan? And my mother's Village was called Uzu?" Naruto asked excited.
"You do not know a thing about it?" B asked back surprised.
"No, Jiji...The Hokage said he would have told me more about my parents when I was older." the boy answered unsure.
"Probably as a security measure." B commented shrugging.
"It would still mean that should we find that scroll, our boy here will one day be able to recreate the Uzumaki clan here in Kumo, so he can't exactly take out own Family name." Ay answered.
"Food for thought, but we'll deal with this on a later time down the road. By the way, boy, to answer your question: Yes, you are part of a small clan, coming from the Village of Uzushioagakure, a land that sadly went destroyed down to its roots by several Villages banding together, some say out of envy, others because they were good at Sealing Techniques and others because Uzu never really aligned with the Daimyo system, preferring to rule themselves in their own way." E explained humming.
"You know the secret behind Uzu's fall? Please tell me!" Naruto asked pleading.
"I probably know just one of the many theories, it's a high guarded secret, nobody knows the real reason they were destroyed." E answered gravely.
"Please...I need to know." Naruto said bowing and touching the floor with his forehead.
"Father?" Ay asked unsure.
"If you really need to hear this, then so be it. A month before the attack we received a message, offering me to join the assault on the village with the promise that part of the spoils would have gone to Kumo." E said reclining in his seat with his eyes closed deep in thought.
"A message?" the boy asked curious, expression mimicked by Ay and B that looked at their father in great interest.
"Who was the sender?" Ay asked.
"It wasn't signed, but the crest on it was of a clan of Konoha." the old Raikage answered uncaring.
"Curious, Konoha and Uzu were allies, nobody would have bet they would have stabbed them in the back." Killer B said unsure.
"But if someone could know how to attack them, that would be Konoha itself." Ay countered.
"Konoha again! The Sharingan comes from there! The Attack to Uzu came from there! TRAITORS! ALL OF THEM!" inside the boy's Seal Kurama bellowed angrily making him flinch.
"The Biju's acting up?" B asked with a gentle smile.
"A bit, he is angry." the boy answered.
"It will pass soon."
"But who would do that? The third Hokage is out of the question, he would not risk being recognized as the culprit had the attack failed." E muttered.
"Nor his main detractor, Danzo Shimura, having lost the chance to become Hokage would have been even too much of a proof of his involvement had he orchestrated the betrayal of Uzu as a mean to discredit Sarutobi-san...And he has not a Clan either, to our knowledge." Ay added.
"He was always sure of his being the best choice for Konoha, so one could have said he tried to show his superiority. But I am not convinced, Uzu was famous for their fuinjutsu knowledge and techniques...Maybe somebody of a minor Clan wanted to take those secrets to increase their power and standing, but the thing must have gone out of control with the news of the attack reaching Uzu's ears that then made sure their secret remained well protected." Ey said unsure.
"What happened when you received that letter, Raikage-san?" Naruto asked.
"-Sama." B mouthed smirking at his father's fuming face.
"Raikage-sama?" the boy, he too smirking, corrected himself.
"Tch! At the time I refused to attack. I had few friends there in Uzu, friends that I kept secret due to my being Raikage (Even if my election was just few months old at the time) and my wish to spare myself the whining of my predecessor; my refusal must have been the reason of that plan's failure, without Kumo there were less soldiers than what they had planned...But this doesn't explain where those secrets ended-up hidden." E answered scratching his cheek unsure.
"They were true Seal Masters...Maybe just an Uzumaki can find them?" Ay mussed aloud.
"Like a treasure hunt?" the blond boy said in wonder.
"Pretty much, and I guess you won't share them with us, right?" E answered sighing petulantly.
"Not everything everything?" the boy tried saying with a forced smile.
"Not one to share your toys, eh?" Ay asked amused.
"I remember that once the Hokage said wars happened for Clan's secrets, that can happen in Kumo too?"
"You are a bit too much a smart-ass for being a brat, you know?" E answered with a frown that made the boy giggle instead of looking scared, all to the further annoyance of the Raikage and the GREAT amusement of the old man's sons.
"The fact remains that yes, we can't risk having the news of a young boy having those highly wanted secret with him here in Kumo. So IF we find them, nobody except us four can know. No matter how much you would love to brag about it, father." Ay declared sighing.
"Even if it pains me saying this...You are right, and even then, no Village has laws permitting their Kage to confiscate a Clan's secret unless the clan itself is completely dead...Whatever, we'll try to recover them and see if something can be shared without undermining the Uzumaki Clan own power, Kumo has been strong without them until now and it will still be strong in the future." E conceded bitterly.
"Nice to hear, now, what to do with the boy himself." Ay said as he circled Naruto to look him up from head to toe.
"I know you may hate Konoha for what they did to you, your family and your homeland, but don't make that hate cloud your judgment, they'll use it against you." the man said as he kept studying the boy.
"I-I'll try." the short boy answered.
"Good. While those unlucky doctors were operating on you, we decided to have Killer B here adopt you, we'll say that you are a boy he found during a mission. Like this nobody should ask too many questions since you will be under MY personal care, do you accept?" E asked.
"I-I-I will have a family?" Naruto asked in wonder.
"If you want." B answered shrugging.
"Then yes!"
"Perfect, your new name will be Killer N. We can't use your real name or both your parents' enemies, Uzu's enemies or even Konoha itself will start looking for you. Do you understand?" E said.
"Killer N? Sounds cool, I guess." the blond said unsure.
"Trust me, you will soon learn to ignore the jokes about the 'One Letter Name', me and B went through it when we were your age. It's part of the curse of being related to him." Ay explained while jabbing a thumb towards his father.
"I have you know, you fool, that our family has ALWAYS done this, and look! Manly men! Strong Women! We do not need long-ass names, just a letter! Short, strong, MANLY!" the Raikage answered slamming his fist on the desk leaving a perfect imprint of it on the three-inches-thick slab of white marble covering its surface.
"I pity you, I pity you very very much." Kurama muttered shaking his head.
"Ignoring my father's useless drivel about naming conventions, how will we call the boy's bloodline, if it actually is one? At least ONE of all the ones you have inside must have stuck after all, even just the power of using those tentacles again would be nice." Ay asked curious.
"I was thinking about Kuroi misa (black mass), what about it?" Killer B offered.
"And you even looked troubled while thinking about that's stupid name?" his brother answered with a raised eyebrow.
"HEY!"
"I like it instead, it fits perfectly. Now, if people ask, we will say that the boy kept his old name with the plan for him to recreate his clan here under the protection of our family. He will become the clan-head once reached the age of twenty, okay? Not many people should notice the new Clan using the combined knowledge of Uzu (should God grace us with the miracle of finding it.) by the time N here is old enough to be a Clan Head. All aboard?" E asked.
"Yes, Father/pops!" both brothers answered as one.
"Clear, E-jiji!" N added grinning at E's frown.
"I am not that old! Whatever, what about Kurochi as his Clan name?" E asked.
(Kurochi from Kuroi Chi- black blood)
"COOL!" N said jumping on his seat.
"God, that is even cornier as a name!" Ay grumbled face-palming.
"Killer N Kurochi...Nice, manly and fearsome. Yes, it fits." the Raikage declared pleased.
"With this everything should be settled for now. B, take the boy to one of our training grounds to see how the Kuroi Misa bloodline works, I'll take care of finding a new clan compound and the proper papers for his joining of the academy." E ordered.
"Isn't he too young for training?" B asked.
"I have very high standards if he has to be my grandson, so you better work hard with him. We have four years before the start of the academy to see how and if his bloodline works. Oh! And throw inside some exercises for beginners, may as well have N knowing something already to facilitate his stay in class." E answered.
"I am going, I am going. Come along, little blondie, we have a lot to do apparently." Killer B said walking out of the office with the boy following him closely.
"Bye, grandpa!" Naruto yelled before slamming the door closed.
"Father? Is that a tear I see peaking from your eye? You really like being called grandpa, don't you?" Ay asked smirking evilly.
WHAM!
In answer the people outside could see the big body of Ay being thrown outside the window by a punch covered in a thick layer of lightning, shooting the screaming man down the Raikage Tower like a shrieking comet.
Kumo – training ground 6 -
In the middle of the plain training ground Killer B was watching intently the short boy in complete silence, the two having locked eyes as soon as they arrived and kept standing in complete silence as if waiting for something to happen by itself.
"So..." the boy asked unsure.
"Eh!" Killer B answered scratching his head.
"What should we do?"
"Beats me."
"You have no idea how a Bloodline works?" N asked.
"None whatsoever. Okay, screw it, let's try with something simple! Activate the bloodline!" the Jinchuuriki of Kumo ordered groaning.
"How should I do it?" N asked.
"..." the other fell silent at that
"..."
"..."
"I was hoping YOU would have known." he said after a long pause.
"You others created it in the first place! You are supposed to know!" N answered annoyed.
"How did the clans learn to use their bloodlines?"
"I have no clue. I guess the older generation teach to the young outside the academy, using scrolls and rarely over oral teachings and stuff so to not leave around scrolls and details. I think." B answered.
"But the Kuroi Misa is a new one, meaning that I am the FIRST to be able to use it and so without scrolls." the boy added sighing in defeat.
"True, then try focus chakra in different parts of your body? Maybe using it on the bones will activate the Kaguya bloodline." Killer B said.
"I barely know what chakra is! And just because one day I asked to the Hokage how the ANBU can walk on walls." N answered angrily.
"Ah! I keep forgetting that you are six and that academy usually starts at ten, I guess we will need to work on the basics first." the rapper-wannabe admitted.
"I am ready!" N said nodding.
"Good for you, because the basics are the most boring parts to learn." Killer B answered sighing.
Six weeks later – training ground 6 -
Having asked for help to both Ay and E, Killer B tried to go particularly slow in teaching N how to Tap into his chakra and how to focus it, since they didn't know how and if the bloodline could actually answer to an "overly excited" stimulation they wanted to stay safe and do not have a repeat of what happened at the hospital.
The boy wasn't introduced to the tree walking exercise either, but sticking a leaf on his forehead while held upside-down for ten seconds by his feet showed a deep enough focus on his energy to try and see how their strange creation would react to chakra infusion.
"Okay! Now let's give it a try shall we?" Killer B said unenthusiastic.
"Put a bit more verve in it, B! You can't drone like that!" Ay said amused while he and the Raikage stood in the FAR back while hiding behind a mound of sacks of sand.
"I am not going to blow-up." N muttered pouting.
"We cannot be certain with all the stuff they used." B countered rolling his eyes.
"It is not nice to tell me that, what do I have to do?" the kid asked.
"Do as I taught you and focus your chakra on your eyes, one of the bloodlines was about thermal vision, the ability to see the heat of the human body, it should be something simple enough to not make damages." the man answered.
"Okay, I'll try!" N said closing his eyes.
He was focusing on his core, finding his chakra and moving it towards his eyes with Kurama helping him along from inside the Seal.
"Like this...Let it flow, don't force it, it's still too soon for that kind of movement...Yes, like this! Just give the chakra a direction and it will do the rest by itself." Kurama said with a calm voice to not disrupt the boy's concentration.
As the chakra was moving towards the eyes, N could feel a slight pull coming from his mind, without even noticing, his energy switched target, moving towards his brain and finally reconnecting the mind's ability to the chakra flow, connection that the brain itself severed to the minimum (just enough to work properly-level) in self-preservation.
And the reason for it showed in a terribly painful way.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" with an ear-splitting scream N fell on his knees, grabbing a hand-full of his own hair as he rolled on the floor in agony.
"N!" Both Ay and B yelled reaching him trying to calm they boy down.
"WHAT HAPPENED!?" E asked angry
"I DON'T KNOW!" Killer B answered as he showed troubles pinning the convulsing boy down so he could not hurt himself.
Inside Killer N's mind – At the same time -
Inside the boy's brain there was a veritable storm of voices, Images, places and even Jutsus that were echoing deafeningly in an endless chaos of different voices talking at the same time.
"What the Hell is happening here!?" Kurama said as he too was literally blasted back by the incomprehensible mass of voices and information slamming all around him.
"This is getting nowhere! STOOOP!" Screaming in rage and flaring his chakra the Fox managed to slow down the whole thing to a crawl.
Now voices and images were played at a slower pace, letting whoever was watching them understand what was happening.
"Ah! Another bulls-eye! I am getting good!" A man said proudly at watching as his kunai reach the target with deadly precision.
"And now...I should be able to close the wound..." a doctor said passing a hand coated in green chakra over a wound, closing it without leaving behind even the faintest of scars.
"The most important thing in using a sword is keeping in mind that every move..." a young man was listening as an instructor was giving his speech about swordsmanship while going through slow katas.
"Eh! I have a Lightning affinity and a Wind one...Cool!" a girl said watching as a piece of paper in her hand got sliced in two before crumbling as she focused chakra on it.
"Those are memories, but not of the kid. Can it be? The people he absorbed before! This is what was INSIDE their minds! Abilities, jutsus...Fucking hell! He absorbed even their chakra affinities! That's why he is in pain, too many informations...This looks painful." Kurama said worried as he watched numerous lives were being played inside the boy's mind.
Few second later – training ground -
"He stopped screaming, it's a good start." E said watching as N started calming down.
"How do you feel?" Ay asked.
"I have a headache and I want to puke, the world is spinning...And my mouth tastes...Blue?" The blond whined in displeasure.
"So your first hangover, minus the blue part; I am no doctor so I cannot explain that one." Killer B said patting the boy's head amused, especially by his grimace of agony at the small gesture.
"What happened this time?" Ay asked.
"Kurama said that I have the memories and knowledge of the people that disappeared in the hospital...do...do I eat people?" N asked back in horror.
"In short? Yes." E answered bluntly making his sons' heads snap around to look at him.
"Guh!" and they barely had the time to dodge the boy's puking fit at the image immediately after.
"You should not puke, nor feel disgusted." E explained calmly as he bent down his legs until he was on eye level with the boy.
"W-Why?"
"Because that is what helped you heal, those people died because you could recover, so honour their sacrifice and grow strong instead of whining and crying, let them know their memories and their flesh have not gone to waste, but that created something new and strong. You."
"A-And if I eat more people?" he asked still afraid.
"It will happen again probably, maybe it's how you will heal your wounds. You can still eat normal food, but maybe eating people will heal you and make you stronger. That is what you are, and you cannot be ashamed of what you are. Just like B is not ashamed of being a Jinchuuriki and I am not ashamed of being his father. If you are a man then walk with your head held high like one." The Raikage answered nonplussed.
"Forward, always forward. My own way, never others'." N tried saying.
"Exactly. We'll try to keep your ability to eat people as much hidden as we can, but soon it will come out, and by then, you'll have to be strong, because not everybody will accept it as me, Killer B and Ay did, keep the ones that accept you close. It's what you are, be proud of it."
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
"I prefer, E-jiji. But never tell those two I said that." E whispered making the blond show a tiny, shy smile.
"So not everybody will accept me?"
"Unfortunately not, but few will, and of those few, a couple of them will be your friends and family, cherish them."
"Yes, E-jiji." the boy answered nodding.
"Good boy. I already covered the incident at the Hospital, now everybody believes that a spy from another village tried to attack the hospital to weaken Kumo, the details were hidden with well-placed Katon jutsus to simulate everything."
"And..."
"The families of the ones you absorbed will be helped in both dealing with the loss and economically for the losing of the dead men's allowance until they'll recover, it was not your fault if the Bloodline went berserk before you could calm it down a little. Nobody is blaming you, on the contrary, some of them even asked if you were okay since you too were attacked while in that operating room." the Raikage answered.
"Okay...Kurama says that now the situation should be under control, the stuff I took from them is being slowly absorbed so to not harm me. Maybe the bloodline can steal knowledge and techniques when I eat someone," the boy said.
"So you just ate too much?" B asked curious.
"Brother!" Ay growled scandalized.
"No, i-it's okay. Maybe I ate too ugh! Much." the blond boy answered looking still a bit green at the idea but holding back further puking, unknowingly gaining few extra points from E because of it.
"Good...Tell me, if I ask you to walk on that tree, will you manage?" E asked.
"I don't know." the boy answered.
"Pity...I thought that like that we were already done training you." Killer B said whining.
"Sucks to be you instead. Boy, try again focus your chakra in your eyes after closing them, start with a little quantity and then slowly add more and more, when you feel something changing stop and open your eyes." E explained.
"Okay..." N said closing his eyes.
"Good! Now...Take a deep breath and-" SKRRRRRIP! "AAAAAAAAAAH!" at that a terrible ripping noise filled the training ground followed by a blood-freezing scream of N.
"AAAAAAAAAAH! TAKE THEM AWAY! TAKE THEM AWAY!" N yelled desperately as two six inches long horns of bone surfaced from inside his eyes.
"CUT THE FLOW! CUT THE FLOW OF CHAKRA!" Ay and Killer B yelled trying to reign the boy.
"I think that the bloodlines were mixed into a single ability, instead of activating following where you focus chakra, it follow your Will as you use it, changing with your needs...Or it simply hates when you send chakra to your eyes." E guessed as he watched the chaos unfold.
"YOU DON'T SAY!" both brothers yelled at the same time as they failed to calm the boy down.
Konoha – Several weeks later – Council Room -
The circular room of the Leaf's Council room was now housing a meeting between the Shinobi side, formed by the Clan-heads of the most important clans of the village and the Elders, watching from an elevated position what was happening inside the room from the outer ring of seats they were in.
Everyone was facing the lone table where village Leader, the Hokage, was sitting and the old man Sarutobi was now the center of attention of the room as every councilor was glaring at him as if trying to dig a hole in his head with their eyes.
"What's the meaning of this? Did I heard that right? Uzumaki is not the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki!?" Tsume Inuzuka yelled at Hiruzen as the dog-user Matriarch bared her teeth at the Hokage.
"What I am trying to explain is..." Sarutobi tried saying before being interrupted again.
"I don't know what's more troublesome: the fact that you, Hokage-sama, deliberately lied to us or that for ONCE since I am part of this council I am wondering about the Pro and Cons of using my Clan Shadow Possession Technique as a disciplinary device on the population for their uncontrolled gossiping...We have permitted other Villages to think he was our Jinchuuriki to protect the real one, and while sound as a security measure, the kid was not as protected as you said he was." Shikaku Nara said lacing his patented sleepy tone with annoyance.
"We thought that he died in the hospital fire, instead it was a cover to kidnap him, okay, but what will happen once the news of his NOT being a Jinchuuriki comes out? If they won't kill him he will have every reason to try and kill as much Konoha shinobi he can get his hands on once joined his kidnappers. We cannot permit our list of enemies to get any longer, and sadder yet, the boy will have all the rights to hate us." Shibi Aburame said in a monotone, but even his clan insect were showing their displeasure at hearing the news by hovering menacingly over the man's head.
"That's just the result of your stopping me, Sarutobi! Had you left me train the Jinchuuriki to mold him as our weapon the Uzumaki kid would have been adopted into a family instead of suffering for your schemes! Instead he had to play bait for your little games." Danzo, an old man with half his face and body hidden by bandages said glaring at the Hokage with his only uncovered eye narrowing slightly.
"You old fool! I know what your plans are for the boy...But I will be the one to ensure that he will unlock his true potential under MY guidance!" Danzo thought in anger.
"Sensei..." Jiraiya said glaring at the old man, the heavily burned half of his face twisting his frown into an even creepier mask of betrayal.
"Jiraiya-kun. I did what I thought was the best for the village, we just need to find Naruto and explain everything to him, I am sure he will forgive us, he is a good boy." Hiruzen said.
"We both know what really is behind your choices for "the greater good" of the Village, I just now permitted myself a little bit of forgiveness and this come out...I repeat what I said time ago, I am your spy AND NOTHING MORE! FORGET TRAINING SOMEONE OR THE TOADS!" Jiraiya said before screaming in rage and disappearing with a shunshin.
"He is still angry." Inoichi Yamanaka said in surprise.
"He took Tsunade's accusations really badly, the Toads forbidden him from summoning them with the threat of death if he ever divulge any of their secrets, it's just because of his past with them if Gamabunta didn't kill him." Sarutobi said in grief.
"Hokage-sama?" a cricket-masked ANBU said entering the room.
"Yes?" the Old man answered.
"As per order of the Elders we tried to enter the Namikaze estate..." the Masked man said.
"WHAT!?" Hiruzen yelled before glaring at the others.
"The Fourth Hokage is dead and he had no heirs, we decided that the wealth and secrets inside the compound should be equally divided between the various Clans for the better of Konoha." Koharu answered unfazed.
"HOW DARE YOU! It's just horrible that we permitted to a defenseless pup to be harmed for a burden he didn't even had, and now you hungry pigs try to pillage Minato-sama's home?! You'll have to take everything from the cold hands of my corpse!" Tsume said with a voice bordering the growling.
"IT'S OUR RIGHT AS ELDERS, INUZUKA! DO NOT CHALLENGE US!" Another Elder yelled in rage.
"NO! The whole compound was protected with blood seals, in order to enter one must be an heir or keyed in by a member of the clan, unless of course the last heir died, in that case the protection itself will deactivate automatically!" Danzo yelled hitting the floor with his cane, actually surprising the others at his shooting down the occasion of entering the Fourth Hokage's compound himself.
"Then it means that the last Namikaze died some time ago!" Koharu said triumphantly,
"Actually..." the ANBU said looking down.
"What happened? I don't believe that you or any other forced them open, Minato was a seal master rivaling Jiraiya if not surpassing his talent...So what's wrong?" Hiruzen said glaring at the man with his tone of voice turning ice-cold.
"Actually...The gate was left open...And the house completely empty...Whoever opened it had even took away the furniture...We looked for chakra signatures, but even our best sensors found nothing." the ANBU said quietly, measuring each word in fear.
"Good Job, Tsunade. You did your part flawlessly." Danzo thought while masterfully holding back his need to smile in victory.
"You mean to tell me...That SOMEONE entered Minato's compound, took his secrets AND furniture and probably left the village without being noticed? I remember clearly that I decided to personally PAY a squad of ANBU to watch over the compound 24/7...Where were those men? Did they decide to use the bathroom all at the same time? Because I find this thing hard to believe, sneaking inside can't been so damn easy!" Hiruzen hissed angrily.
"I...I don't know!" the ANBU said whimpering.
"Out of this room! We'll discuss later what to do with you, just take the time for giving the last goodbye to your family...Just in case Ibiki-kun goes overboard." Hiruzen said darkly and pointing at the door.
"Yes...Hokage-sama." the man said sobbing, he was clearly crying under his mask as he walked out.
"This is unacceptable! This situation needs to be dealt with! The Uzumaki boy must be found and brought back, after giving him our public apologies we need to focus on finding who was the theft, along bring back Tsunade, one way or another." Danzo said.
"Why you care so much about the boy's well-being?" Hyuuga Hiashi said looking at the man with his pale eyes narrowing dangerously.
"It's about Konoha's image, Hyuga-san. We need to act fast so to stop this situation from spiraling out of control! If the news of our mistake are not treated cautiously, our very same military force may turn on us just for fear of being assaulted by our enemies just because a villager or another shinobi pointed at him saying 'He is the REAL Jinchuuriki' for a reason or another. The consequences may be catastrophic, leading to Konoha self-destruction! This not considering that the other Villages may start thinking that everyone can just enter and kidnap whoever they please!" Danzo answered glaring back at Hiashi.
"Stop, please stop. We will try to reach Naruto discreetly and talk him into coming back, luckily his being unable to mold chakra is still a secret, if we are lucky whoever kidnapped him won't try anything." Hiruzen said tiredly.
"Hokage-sama? What if the discovered it and..." Shibi said simply, leaving the rest of his phrase hanging in the air.
"I...I don't want to think about it...The meeting is over, you can leave now." Hiruzen said getting up and hastily leaving the room.
"I should have adopted him...Poor pup." Tsume muttered sadly while walking away.
"Me too...Yoshino won't like hearing this, she actually liked the boy," Shikaku said whimpering, his mind already projecting the pain from his wife's anger for this revelation.
Konoha – Hokage's office -
"Who was the one to say that Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi Vessel? I admit that like this he won't be as ignored/mistreated once he comes back, but still, Konoha gains the image of a Village of fools in exchange. I just hope that he won't hate us, maybe I can still propose him the seal array, only with the exception of being without the ability to be turned On and Off...or at least I can tell him that and still add it and the tracing seals, just for his protection." Hiruzen said to himself while watching the village under his window.
Uchiha Clan section – Main house -
While the Gossip Mongers of Konoha were taking their time spreading as much as they could the news about the Village Jinchuuriki being not the blond boy they knew, but a still mysterious kid of unknown gender, a raven haired boy was looking from the roof of his clan compound as groups of people were forming and dispersing to comment about this new detail of the local drama.
"Sasuke, come down, lunch is almost ready." an older version of the boy said coming out from inside the house.
"I'm coming, Itachi!" Sasuke Uchiha said jumping down.
No-one understood why, but a month after Naruto's kidnapping, Sasuke's father, Fugaku Uchiha, tried to move a coup against the Hokage.
It was then a matter of half the clan being guided by the power-hungry clan-head that moved to try and force Hiruzen to abdicate, and find standing on their path the boy's older brother, Itachi Uchiha, taking charge of the other half to stop them and defend Konoha.
While Sasuke and his mother, Mikoto Uchiha, were hiding with other women and children in a secure place the fight had somehow managed to still reach them, and in order to protect her youngest son, Mikoto too joined the fight, moving her sword with grace but accompanied by an unadulterated rage the young Sasuke had never seen on her.
In the end, after the whole night and part of the following day was spent fighting, Fugaku was forced to run away as Missing-Nin using the powers of the Mangekyou Sharingan he unlocked that night, the only survivors were, apart from the Elders that had been 'Mysteriously' absent that night, Sasuke, Mikoto and Itachi, even if the older of the two brothers was still sporting a bandaged leg and several scratches and burning marks on his body.
"The villagers are still wondering about the real identity of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki...Who could they be?" Sasuke asked curious.
"I don't know, dear, I am more worried about the boy that was kidnapped some time ago." Mikoto answered sighing and moving few plates on the table.
"They are foolishly searching for something they can't find, if Hokage-sama don't act quickly they may start pointing fingers blindly, and if the wrong spy hears about it, we'll be in trouble." Itachi said sitting with some difficulty at the table while subtly groaning once succeeding thanks to his wounded leg.
He himself, just like with the VERY FEW people with a working brain in Konoha, knew that Naruto was indeed the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and he also was one of the even fewer people to silently thank him for keeping the beast at bay instead of just taking his sacrifice for granted; he promised himself that he wouldn't tell the truth, but he won't let the Lie destroy the village either for that matter.
"Will you take a Gennin team once back to full health?" Mikoto asked trying to change subject to a lighter one.
"I was thinking about it, but I prefer staying in the ANBU corp for a little while longer, I feel that I am still not ready to guide a team." Itachi answered shaking his head.
"Why not? I would like having you as sensei!" Sasuke whined before Itachi flicked him on the forehead.
"Agk!"
"Foolish little brother...If you want training just ask, you don't need me as your team's sensei to have me to help you." Itachi said with a barely noticeable smile.
"But it's not the same thing!" Sasuke said pouting.
"Come on now! Eat before it gets cold." Mikoto said glaring playfully at the two.
She couldn't help but shudder thinking at what would have happened if either she or Itachi had not survived that night and so leaving Sasuke without someone helping him withstanding the massacre of their whole Clan; her other concern were also the Clan Elders, those people were showing a disturbing interest in Sasuke and she didn't liked it at all.
"Next week I'll take seat as Uchiha clan-head. PLEASE, Try to not demolish the house while I am away for the meetings, okay?" Mikoto asked.
"Yes, mother." the two answered at the same time.
"Good boys." she said smiling tenderly at them.
Konoha – memorial stone -
"Hello, Sensei..." a man with grey hair proudly defying gravity itself, was looking at the stone with a sad expression in the only eye visible from under the mask and Hitai-ate combo covering his face.
"No, sensei...I still can't find him, I even went as far as Kumo, but any time I manage to came close to the Village with the excuse of a mission I fail to discover anything about it." The man sighed as if hearing the answers coming from the stone.
"No...I know that I should have known that Naruto was your son, I was there when Kushina-sama told you the news...You were so happy, you even asked me to be his godfather...I failed you." the silver-haired head lowered down.
"Obito...The majority of your clan must have reached you by now, I can watch over Sasuke if you want, but I fear he will become another victim. The Elders of Konoha are starting to take too much interest in him and I fear they are planning something. They know they can't stop Mikoto-sama and Itachi-kun from doing as they please, but the boy now is frail, easily malleable to their needs...What should I do?"
"I will continue looking for your son, sensei! I will make sure he is safe and happy even if I will be forced to fight the whole shinobi force of a Country in order to take him back in case they are trying to brainwash him or harm him, that's a promise! I will protect both Sasuke and Naruto at the cost of my life! I owe that to the both of you, no matter what I will succeed!" The man said fiercely with fire burning in his eyes.
"Kakashi-san?" a young woman resembling a younger version of Tsume said reaching the masked man.
"Hana-san? Did you need something? How can I help you?" Kakashi asked without moving his eyes from the stone.
"We need to talk." Hana said while stealing glances around them.
"Can you give me five minutes? I wish to give a last salute before going on with the day," Kakashi answered uncaring.
"...It's about Naruto." Hana said in a whisper.
With a speed she wasn't expecting Kakashi was in front of her, his eye staring hard in hers and his hands grasping her shoulders in a painful grip.
"What happened to him? Did the enemy found out he was not the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and killed him!?" Kakashi asked in anger.
When the news started circling around the village he was skeptical at first, being one of the few informed of the boy's burden directly from the Hokage, but then, as the days went on the doubt started eroding his head, as the fact of the boy being Minato's son settled in his mind, nightmares about the broken body of Naruto filled his nights accompanied by the gleefully laugh of a faceless shadow, his kidnappers, laughing while watching the blond broken body from their sadistic punishment for being tricked into kidnapping the wrong boy.
"I was informed just like my mother was. Read this and then burn it. NOBODY must know, not even the Hokage. It's all about Naruto-san's safety, to protect Kushina-sama's legacy." the young woman answered giving Kakashi a short letter before rapidly walking away.
"Too many secrets." Kakashi muttered looking around once uncovered the Sharingan eye hidden under his forehead protector to scan the letter.
"...Kumo then, eh? Should have suspected it, too far away to be the first choice for a hiding spot. Adopted in a new family under the Raikage's protection, that would make recovery more complicated but not fully impossible...Completely Healed? Perfect! At least I will be able to pass on Sensei' Rasengan to him along few other tricks I collected along the way; whoever is doing this did a great job in covering him and keeping tabs on the kid...Good, I'll know where to look at the first traces of trouble, it sure ease my worries some. Now, down to business, I think I will accept Hokage-sama request and re-enter the Jounin roster for a Genin Team, it would be a good excuse to train myself AND try to intercept little Naruto's own Genin Team to see how he is doing." the masked man said looking extremely pleased before incinerating the missive with a small Fire Jutsu.
Inuzuka Clan compound – Tsume's personal training ground -
"So the pup is in Kumo, eh?" Tsume asked to one of her clan members and personal spy.
"Yes, Tsume-sama, he is perfectly healthy now and he is receiving training in the ninja arts, but every time I try to get closer to see with who he is training their ANBU intercept me, it's a miracle if I still was not tracked back here." the spy said from his kneeling position.
"What do you think?" Tsume asked to her dog companion.
"Huff!" the dog simply lifted his head to give a soft growl in answer.
"I guess you are right, for now let's stop here. You will resume your mission on a later date, as for now they will be on high alert so we will wait until the waters are calmer to start probing around again." Tsume ordered simply.
"As you wish, Tsume-sama." the man said getting up.
"And remember, nobody will be informed of this, the two of us are the only ones knowing this." the Clan Head said glaring at him.
"Absolutely, Tsume-sama, not even Hokage-sama or the other members of our Clan shall know of this, you have my word." the man answered before leaving.
Once sure she was really alone, and also using a privacy seal in the room, Tsume started talking to her dog with both showing troubled expressions on their faces.
"Are you still of the idea of Hana and him being mates?" The dog asked curious.
"I was way younger when I had that talk with Kushina, but still, I owe her my life AND the life of Hana since she helped me when I had those complications during my pregnancy. I promised that as a sign of our Clans' friendship, IF our Heirs (Inuzuka and Uzumaki) were of opposite gender, they would have married. And after her sacrifice with the Kyuubi, I am all the more sure I want to do this." Tsume said with a tired sigh.
"He will start academy at ten years of age and he will be put in a Genin Team at Sixteen. If we are lucky he will take the Chuunin exam at Seventeen...But Hana would still be...pardon my words, a bit too old for him."
"I know! But I promised on my honour, and I owe Kushina so much! As she does owe me a couple favours too." Tsume said letting her head fall down in defeat.
"Well, there is still the alternative...You have TWO daughters after all, and both still enter in the definition of 'Heiress' even if Hana will be the one to take your place as Clan Head." Tsume's companion said unsure.
"Kira?" Tsume asked in disbelief.
"They are more or less the same age." the dog answered managing a shrug.
(Kira – Glittering...I am not good at names and leaving KIBA would have been confusing.)
"But! But! She is..."
"Brash? Hot-headed? Wild?"
"Yes?" Tsume answered biting her lips looking troubled.
"Maybe like that she will FINALLY calm down, if the boy will manage to keep up with her."
"He is an Uzumaki, he will do fine, they too are hot-blooded. I am more worried about what kind of litter would come out between them actually." she answered.
"Brrr!" both kunoichi and dog shivered in dread at that.
"Let's try all the same, maybe the two sides will cancel each other out and the kids will be angels."
"Let's hope so." the Inuzuka Clan Head answered sighing in dismay.
Meanwhile - Kumo – Training Ground 6 –
"Okay...Maybe we are starting to have a clue about how this works..." Killer B said looking at N's hands having finally transformed into something different signaling that indeed he possessed a Useful Bloodline.
His closed fist were now fused with the fingers looking like only an outline on the black/red armour they were covered with, from the shoulders down, the arms had transformed into a dull black version of themselves with three spikes on each knuckle of the hands.
"Indeed we are on the right track. How will we call this technique?" Ay, notepad at hand, asked as he was still taking notes.
"Muscle Mass?" the blond boy answered.
"...Yeah, you will fit awesome in the family, you suck at naming stuff." the man replied shaking his head and writing down the technique name.
"Whatever. How do I make it go away?" N asked.
"...Eeeh...Uhm." Killer B muttered scratching his chin deep in thought.
"Try to focus chakra on them while wishing your arms to turn back to normal." Ay proposed shrugging.
"Okay, I guess."
Skriiip! SLING!
"Almost there, at least you got fingers back." Killer B said looking at the new shape the blond's hands took.
"Ha-Ha-ha. Very funny." the boy replied sarcastic as now his arms, from the shoulders down to the hands, had turned into an indefinite mass of jagged protrusions and intertwining hardened veins and pointy horns with three jagged blades pointing upwards on each shoulder and the hands showing three long, shiny blades with jagged back in place of the fingers with a fourth, slightly shorter but thicker blade acting as thumb.
"It's a small step forward nonetheless. Let me guess: 'Claw Form'?" Ay asked jutting down new notes.
"Yes, please." the blond kid answered as he FINALLY managed to return his hands to normal.
"You are going to regret using those silly names, let me tell you." the man muttered chuckling as he complied.
"So, we can now say for certain that Kuroi Misa is de facto a proper Bloodline, a bit on the body horror side, but still, a nice one all the same." E the Raikage announced nodding pleased.
"At least is painless..."
"Don't be a wimp."
"Father, he is a six-years old." Ay said groaning.
"Yeah, at his age I already beheaded my first enemy, but I guess times changed."
"You are the one that is not normal here." the other muttered shaking his head.
"Nothing for the legs?" Killer B asked curious.
"The legs?"
"The legs." the other answered shrugging.
"Fine! Let me try-WHOA!" N answered before yelling in surprise as his body shifted completely, turning into an adult male wearing a medic uniform.
"The fuck is that!?" the Jinchuuriki of Kumo yelled with wide eyes.
"It's one of the medics that were operating on the boy!" E confirmed in surprise.
"How did you do that?" Ay asked.
"I-I don't know! While I was trying to transform my legs I saw again the memories of one of those people I...Consumed. Sorry, 'Eat'sounds bad. When I saw that I felt a pull towards him and I felt my body itching and twisting on itself...and here I am..." N answered using a voice that wasn't his own.
"It doesn't feel like an henge...Have you really turned into someone else?" Killer B asked circling around the man to study him.
"I guess?" the boy answered.
"Uhm, this feels like real skin, and the clothes are made of the same fabric, even that birthmark on the neck looks authentic. I think we can assume you did turn into a perfect replica of him." E confirmed once studied the thing himself.
"So he can take the appearances of the ones he Consumes? This may be the epitome of the powers for the spying missions! By Consuming you become the exact replica of one of the targets and with their memories there is no danger of being busted and since there isn't chakra involved into maintaining the transformation it can't be undone by others!" Ay said grinning.
"But how is it possible?" Naruto asked confused.
"I don't know, it can be one of the artificial bloodline Orochimaru created or a mutation born from the mixture of the ones we infused inside you. We have no way to know which one is the right answer...But I can safely say that Kumo was the land of geniuses that created it!" the Raikage answered with a proud smile.
"It's something that took away a lot of lives," N said finally back to his normal self.
"Not intentionally, but from now on I know you will use the power we gave you for the right things." the old man answered proud.
"Okay, if you say so," the boy answered.
"I said so and that it shall be. Now, enough chatting and let's go back to work, you other's still need to map down what our little jewel can and can't do." E ordered.
"I wonder, Jiji...If I Consume somebody with a Bloodline, will I also copy that?" the boy asked curious.
"Ooooh!" at that the old man answered with a pleased smile and a disturbing moan.
"Good job, brat. Now he is once again day-dreaming." Killer B answered groaning.
"Sorry."
Kumo - Shinobi Academy – four years later, N age:10 -
"N? Kurochi Killer N?...Where is he?" a dark skinned man asked reading the boy's name on the class' register.
"He is late Tohei-sensei" a girl from the first row said lifting her hand.
Sigh! "He is out there pranking again, meaning that he won't be here before..." the teacher said before a blur entered the classroom from the window in a shower of broken glass.
"Here he is, just like Killer B used to do when we both were students." the class sensei groaned in defeat at the third window being broken by the boy.
The blond boy now stood before the teacher, wearing a grey jumpsuit with black details on arms and leg, a white shirt under it, black pants and black sandals; his unruly blond hair were tied in a ponytail reaching barely past his shoulders with two long fringes framing the side of his face giving him a very scary resemblance to the defunct Fourth Hokage.
"Here I am! Sorry if I am late, sensei!" the blond boy said grinning.
"Killer N...only B-sama could give that name to a kid...FINE! Take your place so we can start today's lesson!" Tohei said pointing at the empty seat near a blond girl in the back.
"Hi there, Yugito-chan!" N said sitting near the girl.
"As always you can't stop being so damn dramatic in your entrance, what's next? Going through the wall?" Nii Yugito, vessel of the two-tailed cat, said angrily, but with a barely restrained smirk.
"That could be awesome." N said giving her the thumbs up.
"Matatabi says that he still can't believe that Kurama lost all his memories." the girl whispered.
"He is trying to recover them, in the meantime we are good friends!" N answered proud.
"Tell me the truth...Why are you late?" Yugito asked.
"You'll see, it will be fun!" N answered with an evil gleam in his eyes.
While the lesson was going on about the birth of Kumo a far away explosion was clearly heard from far away, making a thick column of smoke rise from the Village ANBU Headquarters.
"What was that? Are we under attack?" Tohei asked watching out of the window.
Few seconds after he said that an ANBU entered the classroom with his clothes covered in blotches of different colors, he was also scratching his arms and body nonstop with the smell of rotten eggs was following him.
"Where is him?" the masked man asked with a dark, venom-coated voice.
"Who?" the class teacher asked.
"Killer N." the ANBU said glaring at the boy from behind the mask.
"I don't know what happened, but I am happy, whoever did that clearly wanted to avenge me." N said crossing his arms.
"We had an oath! we let you prank the others as long as you don't target us ANBU! Why you did this? IT SMELLS AND I CAN'T GET IT OFF, DAMMIT!" The ANBU yelled in anger.
"It wasn't me." the boy said huffing.
"You are the only one this Evil, I KNOW it was you!" the man answered whining.
"I was here in class, how could I did it?" N asked back.
"...I don't know how, but I know that those explosive seals are your doing!" he answered.
"ANBU-san...I know as well how N-kun loves to prank people, but you are suggesting that a boy at the first year of the academy knows how to make that kind of seals, even timed to detonate while he is in class so to have an alibi...I know N seems to be a good shinobi, but as for now that is FAR beyond his level of knowledge." Tohei said with a calm voice.
"But...but...The paint! The smell!" The ANBU whined.
"I know, I know, try to clean yourself, I'll see to discover if N is really the culprit, you others try to see if someone else may have entered your quarters to plant the bombs." the teacher said guiding the multi-colored man outside.
"I-I know it was him..." the ANBU repeated while leaving the room.
"Let's go on with the lesson, then we'll have a little chat, N." the teacher said resuming his speech.
"Seals are fun to use," N said grinning.
"You made them?" Yugito asked in wonder.
"Nope! It was uncle Ay, I asked him how they are made and then filled them with my special paint bombs." the boy answered smirking.
"And that other jutsu?" Yugito asked.
"The Kage Bunshin? I am getting the hang of it, I don't know who sent me the instructions for it as a birthday present, but I love it! Kurama says it must be a woman since the letter had a very feminine calligraphy." he answered.
"A pity they told you to not share it, it sounds like a cool jutsu." the young girl replied whining.
"I know, but they insisted a lot, what was I supposed to do?" he answered.
"That's true. They made you promise."
Neither them or the rest of the class saw the tiny slug right outside the window nod in approval at his words before dispelling, showing its being a tiny summon returning home to alert its summoner of its mission being a success, once recovered the details about the Kage Bunshin to return to the sender and leaving behind a note explaining with the thing disappeared, just to be sure nobody copied it, of course.
Kumo – Raikage Office – In the meantime -
It was strange still, for the staff of the Tower enter the Office and see Ay himself sit in the Big Chair, as a Raikage in place of his father E, more happy to sit on the couch to the side of the desk to survey the recently appointed new Leader with very critical eyes.
"And...No, request of funding to weaponize Gouda cheese is denied. With this, I can say I am done for today." A said stamping in red the last of the small pile of papers that were on his desk next to him.
"If you say so...Sake and Dango?" E said standing up and cracking his back.
"Yeah. Let's see if B wants to join us, I like being Raikage, father, is not so bad." A said leaving the office with his father behind him.
"Just because we are in a period of relative peace, I know back in the days sitting behind that desk was a nightmare." E answered groaning at the memories.
"Jealous?" Ay said grinning.
A thundering noise shocked the tower as Ay was sent flying out of the window thanks to a lightning-covered fist of E.
"RESPECT YOUR FATHER, BRAT!" E yelled from inside the Tower while looking at the crater the new Raikage created in his landing.
"Some things never change, even with a new Leader." the Raikage's secretary said sighing as she signaled for the repairing squads to bring yet another window to repair the damages.
Omake – And so Hiashi was forced to raise both Hinata and Neji by himself...Bad idea. -
Konoha – Hyuuga compound -
A young boy with long brown hair was entering the bathroom of his room to take a shower with a serious look on his pale eyes as the water started running on his body.
"Hn! The water is cold...Fate must have declared that the plumber would have been called today." Neji muttered while washing himself with clenched teeth.
Once finished he moved towards the sink, only to see the empty tube of toothpaste welcoming him making him growl once again.
"Fate declared that you will use mine, cousin, take it." a girl with blueish hair said handing him a new tube from outside.
"Why are you here, Hinata-sama?" Neji said snarling.
"Father is asking for your presence, wash and present yourself, don't make him wait. That's what Fate dictates to you." Hinata answered with a similar expression.
"Fate will declare me superior, he already has!" Neji said.
"My Fate is to be your better, and I will show it to you." the girl answered glaring at him.
"Maybe they spent too much time together..." Hiashi thought as he could hear the two exchange a Fate speech after another with rising voice and anger from the other side of the house.
"Fortunately you are still too young to talk like that, right Hanabi?" Hiashi said watching another little girl with brown hair waddle towards him.
"...Fate?" the little girl said looking at Hiashi with a curious look in her eyes.
Sigh! "Not her too! It's a curse!" Hiashi whined crying.
Sorry the filler, but I wanted to show Naruto having difficulties with his bloodline since it wouldn't be believable having him being good right away.
Another chapter rewritten, once finished "Fixing" the old ones, I will return writing new ones, sorry about this, but I felt this project needed an overhaul to fit back in in my new "standards of quality"
Thank you for reading this, have a nice day!
Tr230.
