Naruto Namikaze

By SpectreShepard

Melting Crystal Hearts

Hi no Kuni – Nearly a Year Later

Everything in the world can be accomplished as long as a person has certain things. What is this miracle mixture of things that turn the impossible into possible you ask? First, a person must have some kind of drive. You can accomplish the small things easily, but without something that makes you keep trying no matter what happens, the hard things will be nigh on impossible.

However, drive alone will not get you through some of the greatest challenges. The second thing a person needs is time. One of the biggest detriments towards the achievement of goals is a lack of sufficient time. Another requirement is resources, although through creativity and ingenuity, that requirement can be circumvented to a certain degree.

Last, but not least, is patience. Even the smallest of tasks can be ruined if one forsakes patience. This, of course, is the one thing that Orochimaru normally found himself with an abundance of. Only, in his latest endeavor, his never ending supply of patience seemed to have finally found its limits. This endeavor is of course becoming immortal.

Many years ago, Orochimaru had stumbled upon tomes that detailed an incomplete kinjutsu of a sorts that would allow one a form of immortality. After years of tireless dedication and a small fortune spent, Orochimaru had finally completed the kinjutsu and had utilized it for the first time. However, he would soon find out that the Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation), like with every other kinjutsu, had a few drawbacks.

First, was the fact that after his soul had taken residence inside a new body, he was forced to fight a war of wills to actually take control of the new body. Second, after this war of wills, the new body was left in a state of pure exhaustion where he would be weak and vulnerable. Last, but not least, was the fact that after three years the body would begin to reject his soul and he would be forced to find another body and begin the process once again.

Now, although the first two problems could literally end with him dying, it was the third problem that got to Orochimaru the most. It was the tediousness of having to switch bodies every three years. It was also the fact that he had to subject himself to the very real chance of dying again and again. However, no matter what he tried, he could not figure out what to do to make a body not reject his soul.

So, because of these three drawbacks, Orochimaru was forced to make certain decisions. One of these decisions was that he could no longer afford to be a simple rogue ninja. He could no longer afford to be completely alone. He had to have people willing to protect him at his weakest moments in case someone attacked him while he was vulnerable. Also, it was very difficult to find bodies that would be a suitable candidate for later use.

So, when he heard of a young girl in a remote village that had developed the Shōton (Crystal Release) Kekkai Genkai, he made certain plans to turn her into not only a loyal follower, but also a willing candidate for the Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation). Guren was the first.

Then there was the young spy that he had helped train as a member of ROOT. He had helped Danzo take the boy away from the orphanage that he had lived at and had created one of the greatest spies alive. However, Danzo and ROOT had decided that the boy had become too much of a risk and had deemed him a threat to Konoha no Sato. Helping the young spy fake his death and setting him upon the path of finding his true self, Orochimaru had gained his second and his most loyal follower.

It was through the use of his spy that he had found out about the attack on Konoha no Sato fast enough to arrive at the tail end of it and he was able to gain the one thing he could never get his hands on before. He was finally able to get his hands on an Uzumaki.

After years of contemplation, he had decided that the only body that would strong enough to hold his soul for an indefinite time was that of an Uzumaki. However, he had only known of one such person and obviously he didn't fancy a fight with the Kyūbi's jinchuriki. Let's not even consider the fact that he would have had to fight the Fourth Hokage as well.

He had been surprised to learn that Kushina had been pregnant. He had only gone there in the hopes of infiltrating the village so that he could gather some of his earlier research that he had been forced to leave behind when he went rogue. Imagine the pure glee he had felt when he realized that he could finally achieve his goal of immortality.

However, he didn't want to be merely immortal. He wanted to be able to use all ninjutsu in the world and that took something more than hard work and dedication. That is of course why he had originally come up with the idea of taking certain bodies that contained Kekkai Genkai. Now, however, he had an entirely different idea on his mind.

It was an experiment that he had dabbled in earlier in his life before he had been forced to leave Konoha no Sato. It was also an experiment that he had never been able to have success with. DNA transfusion was after all considered by many to be impossible. However, Orochimaru knew better as he was a firm believer in the fact that anything and everything is possible.

As a reward for his patience, he had finally succeeded in transfusing DNA into another living being nearly six months ago. In fact, he had been able to transfuse DNA into young Naruto's body twice without killing the boy. Orochimaru smiled in glee as he thought back on the procedure where he had mixed Uzumaki DNA with that of Madara Uchiha's and Hashirama Senju's DNA.

However, his smile ended there as he thought on his observation of the young boy. He had kept Naruto under constant observation for the last six months and he was quietly seething at the lack of change in the boy. There were no visible changes to the boy's body and when he drew blood weeks after the procedure, all traces of the foreign DNA had completely disappeared.

For the life of him, Orochimaru couldn't understand what was going on. Obviously, when dabbling in such unknown areas of science, nothing was known or guaranteed, however he figured there would have been at least some change. In the end, after no changes whatsoever, he merely decided to give up on the DNA transfusion project and find some other way to learn all jutsu in the world. In the end, Naruto would still make a good body for him to use.

That's why he was recalling Guren from a mission he had sent her on several weeks ago. Rumors had crept up about the disappearance of the Mizukage and he decided he needed to go and check out the situation in Kirigakure no Sato personally. While he was gone, he needed someone of great skill to remain behind and safeguard his promising future that took the form of a year old blond boy.

Biting his thumb and flipping his hands through a few seals, Orochimaru brought his hand down upon the desk he was sitting at and a small plume of smoke puffed into existence before disappearing to reveal a small grey snake. After handing a tiny scroll to the snake, which was subsequently swallowed, Orochimaru touched a seal on his forearm and fed a little chakra into the complex array. Nearly thirty seconds later the small snake disappeared in a small plume of smoke.

Kaminari no Kuni

Miles into the territory known as Kaminari no Kuni, or the Land of Lightning, a lone kunoichi was leaping from tree to tree when she suddenly began to shiver violently. She felt as if she had just been dunked into a tub of ice water and seconds later a complex sealing array on her forearm began to glow an eerie purple color.

Stopping on a sturdy branch that could hold her weight without strain, Guren fished a vial out of her pack and subsequently dabbed her finger in its contents. Smearing the crimson liquid upon the seal on her forearm, Guren flashed through some hand seals and slammed her hand down upon the branch.

After the small cloud of smoke disappeared, a small snake flicked its forked tongue in her direction before its neck muscles bulged and it divulged the tiny scroll it had been trusted with delivering to the blue haired kunoichi. With another puff of smoke, the snake disappeared back to the realm where it came from, and Guren quickly opened the scroll before letting out a quiet sigh of exasperation.

"Babysitting? Well, that's a first. Guren quietly mumbled to herself in disbelief at her orders before turning around and heading back towards Orochimaru's main base.

Hi no Kuni – Nearly a Week Later

Guren was an elite kunoichi.

A young girl born with the incredible gift to create and manipulate crystal, she had gained the curiosity and interest of one Orochimaru of the Sannin. After her entire village had been wiped out in an attack, the young girl had been taken in by the Sannin and had begun training almost immediately.

Within several years she had become a kunoichi of almost unrivalled skill. Employing her kekkai genkai, Guren was able to create weapons sharper and stronger than steel as well as the ability to turn almost any ninjutsu targeting her into crystal within seconds. If push turned to shove and she found herself backed into a corner, her trump card was the ability to trap almost any enemy in an unbreakable crystalline prison.

As a direct result of her incredible abilities she had been sent on many different types of missions. She had infiltrated strongholds, stolen from banks, assassinated a daimyo, as well as many other things. However, in all of the years she had been working for Orochimaru, she had never had a more tiring and troublesome mission than the one she was on now.

Babysitting.

In fact, Guren was beginning to believe that the rumors surrounding the Mizukage's disappearance were merely a smokescreen created by Orochimaru to give himself an excuse to leave the compound for an indefinite amount of time. Although she didn't know of the Kyūbi's existence within her charge she still thought that the little blond boy was a demon sent from hell. After all, in her opinion, only a demon could cause her as much headache as that little boy had been causing her.

First, the little blond boy somehow was able to sneak away from her almost every single day. Whenever she looked away from the boy for a few seconds he would disappear from the room before she could turn her head back around. It was truly amazing just how difficult it was to track a tiny one year old blond boy down when he got loose.

There were many other things that the baby boy did that earned him the image of a demon in Guren's mind, but the worst was when it came time to change his diapers. Oh, the foul memories that found their way to the surface of her mind every time she looked at the boy's diaper. Of course, not all of them were entirely bad memories.

The first time she changed the boy's diaper she probably took nearly a full liter of pee to the face before she was able to snap out of her shocked state and hurriedly put a new diaper on the boy. The second time she had to change his diaper, she had leaped backwards after taking off his old diaper only for nothing to happen. Thinking that Naruto merely didn't have to pee anymore, she quickly closed the distance and was about to start putting on the new diaper when he giggled. That little giggle was the only warning she got before her face was once again soaked in pee.

It soon became a challenge of agility and dexterity to avoid the small yet strong stream of pee the little blond boy would send her way every time she had to change his diaper. More often than not, she was able to avoid the kid's foul projectile, but every once and a while he would prove himself too quick to avoid.

Three months had come and gone and before she knew it the relationship she was developing with the boy had begun to tug painfully on her heart. She had always had a soft spot for the young and innocent, but she prided herself on always being able to remain emotionally independent of the mission. It soon became apparent to her that she was no longer able to stay that way towards the little blond bundle of joy that somehow lightened her mood and made her smile every time she looked at him.

She knew what this existence held for the boy. She had chosen it herself a long time ago, but only because she had no other choices. She knew that the boy had other choices though and that if given the choice he would take them. So it didn't take her long to make up her mind about what she was going to do. Rolling up the small scroll she had just written a letter in, she quickly flipped through some hand signs before a crystal mirror appeared in front of her and clone of herself stepped out of it. The clone silently accepted the scroll before making its way out of the base.

"Please hurry Jiraiya. You don't have much time." Guren mumbled to herself before looking down at a scroll she had received via a snake messenger earlier today.

Orochimaru would be back in two weeks.

Hi no Kuni – Nearly a Week Later

Jiraiya of the Sannin, one of three legendary ninja bestowed with the honorable title solely for surviving contact with Hanzo of the Salamander, master in the lost art of fuinjutsu, holder of the legendary Toad Summoning contract, and one of the greatest spies the Elemental Nations had ever seen. He's also the biggest pervert known to ninja kind.

At least, that's what was going through Guren's crystal clone's mind as it walked up to the old lecher that was practically drooling over some young woman as she danced for the entertainment of nearly twenty old and lecherous men. It had unfortunately taken a long time to track down Jiraiya and because of that her nerves were practically shot. Because of her nerves she forgot that she was wearing Orochimaru's particular attire and that the old fool was bound to immediately recognize it for what it was; and recognize her attire he did. Within seconds, Jiraiya went from lecherous old fool to Sannin and immediately set upon her with a wild array of punches and kicks.

Kawazu Kumite, or Frog Kata, is one of the strongest forms of taijutsu known to the elemental nations. With acrobatic maneuvers and stone shattering strikes, it's a form that not many ninja have seen, and even fewer have lived to tell about. In fact, one of the only other forms that can come close in comparison to it is the Hebi and Jiraiya could see the direct training of that treacherous snake behind her stances. Showing his skill with ninjutsu, Jiraiya created a shadow clone without the use of hand seals and had it come into existence directly behind the wily shinobi that was somehow able to dodge a good majority of his strikes. The Guren clone only had a second to register the fact that she had been caught in the grasp of the clone's powerful vice-like grip before its vision suddenly went black.

Jiraiya sprung from tree branch to tree branch as he pushed his body to the limit to reach the base the crystal clone had told him about. The clone hadn't regained consciousness for a full two days and then he hadn't believed the damn thing until she had mentioned how Naruto had away with people. He could change the heart of almost anyone if given the chance and Jiraiya had immediately thought back to Minato. His late apprentice had a very similar way with others.

Unfortunately, Jiraiya was running very short on time as the deadline for Orochimaru's arrival was two days away and he still had a good portion of Hi no Kuni to travel. Thinking back on how he had failed to stop Orochimaru from taking Naruto in the first place made Jiraiya's blood boil and he began pumping more chakra into his legs to lengthen his leaps even more.

"I will not fail again! I'm coming Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted as he launched himself from one tree branch and landed on another, leaving a trail of shattered tree branches that had splintered into shards from the power of his leaps.