Kyuu: Oh Kami there was a lot of response to Outcasts.
Naruto: Really, and how well are your other stories doing?
Kyuu: Legends is going strong, but E: AD is slowing down. Ah, it happens.
Naruto: Ok, review time, here's one from kanahime-chan.
Kyuu: The pendant will come more into play later but some abilities will be shown in this chapter.
Naruto: Hey, we got Chewy Cookies asking for more.
Kyuu: more? More? No, Chewy Cookies, there shall be no more cookies for you! But here is more of Outcasts.
Naruto: *sweatdrops* ok. brown phantom is next.
Kyuu: I can understand the Good Danzou, he is kinda hard to see in a good light. But you should know that I try to give names to OCs and Biju that match something with them. Kyuubi is often seen as red/orange, so I go with Akane. It was either that or Yuzuki.
Naruto: now it's the review from Bibliophile1521.
Kyuu: Cool, I passed your O.W.L with Exceeds Expectations! I would have preferred an Outstanding, but oh well, and the seals; well, those won't come into play until the Chuunin Exams. But I will tell you this: the other pieces of armor that Naruto and the others will be wearing have similar seals on them. And it is going to be freaking awesome! And I will see all of my stories through to the end!
Naruto: *bored* Dragon Man 180.
Kyuu: Lighten up you idiota. I can't wait to write it and thanks for the inspiration for that and how to use her 'assets' for a mission if it calls for it.
Naruto: Perv.
Kyuu: hey, one of my philosophies is that everyone in the world is a pervert. Some people are just more in touch with it than others. Just like my philosophy 'the entire world is insane, but I'm the only one who can accept it'. And shut up, you're benefitting from this too.
Naruto: *blushes* Can we move on? JLWafflezMan probably wants to hear a reply.
Kyuu: right you are my man! Ok, I didn't know if I spelled it right cuz I have only seen the word once or twice. As to urban exploration; we'll see.
Naruto: Now it's MetagrossZ.
Kyuu: My original idea for the team was going to be Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Naruto; but after some consideration I changed Kiba for Choji. The reason? Kiba was never picked on or anything. Really the only thing I could remotely stick on him was being a dead-last like Naruto. Then I remembered about Choji's flashback when he was fighting the sound four and how he was picked on for being 'large'. So, I switched them. And there will be a fifth member, but she won't come in for a bit.
Naruto: and lastly is DRARKER.
Kyuu: All I will say about the seals and armor is that the armor is the tip of the ice berg and the seals are the key to the rest. Oh, and Kakashi will be evil in the beginning, so he will get some bashing, but I like his character too much to let him be evil. Oh, and sorry brown phantom, I lied about the bloodline influencing the idea of the Outcasts. I kinda changed my mind. And a shout out to everyone else that reviewed as well!
Disclaimer: If you really give a shit about it, go to chapter 1
Previously on Outcasts:
Hinata entered her room after another brutal training time. She fell over on to her bed and silently cried into her pillow. Feeling something under her pillow, she pulled out a letter and an envelope addressed to her.
She opened it to find a hand written letter and a pendant in the shape of a dragon's scale. Putting the pendant off to the side, she pulled out the letter.
Aburame estate
Shino placed the pendant down and read the letter:
Shino-san
You have been chosen to be apart of a new experiment. You will not be tested on, but rather you will be the tester. The experiment is the creation of a 4 man team of genin that will have Jounin level skills and specialize in a certain area. You will be the tracking specialist.
All teammates of this squad will be spread out through the genin teams, but you will be able to recognize them due to you all wearing similar pendants. If you choose to accept, place one drop of blood on the pendant and send a pulse of chakra into the necklace.
The team leader will be wearing the golden pendant.
Hiruzen Sarutobi
Sandaime Hokage
Shino turned to the pendant and placed it in his hand.
Akimichi estate
Choji pricked his finger on a kunai and let the single droplet fall on to the scale. Wrapping his hand around the pendant, he pulsed his chakra into it. Opening his hand, he was awarded with the sight of now blue and purple scale that was projecting one simple line that changed his life.
Welcome to the Outcasts
Danzou looked over the files. Hiruzen had called him into his office shortly after Naruto presented the Outcasts project. It was actually mildly entertaining to read the files. It had a sort of spice to it that kept him interested. Hey, only those who constantly read mission reports would know what he is talking about. Closing the files, he leveled his gaze at the boy. "Naruto, be honest to me. Who came up with these?"
'Summon me. I can explain it better.'
"Gimme a second." Naruto flipped through hand seals faster than either elderly men could track before placing his hand on the desk and saying, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" before he passed out from chakra exhaustion. (A/N: He may have massive reserves, but summoning someone that was intentionally sealed in his gut is going to take a lot of chakra.)
There was an explosion of smoke and as it cleared, a 16 year old girl in a sunset red and orange kimono appeared. Her eyes were crimson as well as her long hair. 9 fox tails appeared behind her as her fox ears flicked around on top of her head. "Hello, boys. How is dealing with paperwork?"
Sandiame and Danzou blinked.
…
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…
"Yes, the mighty Kyuubi no Yoko is a woman." The fox huffed. "Honestly, why do you think when a woman goes on a rampage, people tend to get out of her way?"
Now that she mentioned it, the females of the Uzumaki clan were semi-legendary for their fiery tempers. Kushina was a hell of an example. Even when she was pregnant Minato was the only one who could calm her.
"You? You came up with these files?" Danzou looked at the vixen in disbelief.
"Hai. Naru-chan and I set up a system. He would observe the person and later at night when he wasn't in the hospital, I would assume control and put together the files. I even made him rehearse what to say to the Old monkey here so that we could pass the idea." She said. "And my name is Akane. No formalities, I hate them."
Sarutobi shook himself from his stupor. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you do this? I mean no offense, but you are a demon."
"There were multiple reasons. One of them being him." She motioned to the sleeping boy being cradled by her tails. "There were other factors affecting the course of that night, FYI. We demons may kill like mass murderers, but name one that didn't care for their family." Akane turned at stared into the Sandaime's eyes. "Among demons, children are revered and protected much like you humans and the phrase 'Women and children first'. I have managed to contact my clan of kitsunes and vixens with Naru-chan's help and could barely keep them from finishing what I started. I started the idea because at time you humans are worse than us demons. It is a way for those who believe that they have no friends in the world to gain friends. With the members, Hinata has barely been outside her compound and has been looked down on for many weeks. She is bullied when her guardian is not around and bullied in her own home. Shino hasn't been able to make friends due to his clan's tradition of sharing their bodies with insects and again, hardly ever leaves his compound. Choji has one sole friend, but when he is not around, the poor boy is picked on because of his clan's genetics. Naruto even witnessed him crying himself to sleep at nights when the teasing was strongest. You both know what Naruto has been through." Both men hung their heads in shame.
"All four of them deserve a little caring in their life other than families, pillows or stuffed foxes like Hinata has." Danzou quirked an eyebrow at this. "She admires Naru-chan for his strength." Akane answered the invisible question. "She noticed some of his facial quirks are fox like, so she uses a stuffed fox to act as him."
After a few minutes of digesting this information, Danzou turned to Hiruzen. "You know, her idea reminds me of that guard that Nidaime formed for a few years before he absolved it."
The Hokage frowned. "The Hokage's Hand? It failed due to internal conflicts and he didn't want the council to hear of it."
"What were their ages?"
"I recall that most of them were jounin. I believe they were around their late 20s or early 30s." Sarutobi thought out loud. "The group was, according to Sensei, above even the council and certain laws at times. They operated solely under the Hokage's command, had special privileges, and had command over jounins and ANBU. What's on your mind, Danzou?" (A/N: Shout out to Delfim the Black kitsune and his story Naruto: Tamer of Foxes for inspiration! Delfim owns the idea of the Hokage's Hand. I am only borrowing the past and abilities. I don't own anything from the story!)
"We create a new group. Many people including myself have under estimated younger people all the time. Look at Hatake and Itachi Uchiha." At the mention of Kakashi, Akane grimaced and tightened her hold on the slumbering Naruto. "This group will be of shinobi candidates that don't fit the norm and are outside the influence of the big social world. In other words, the group will be made up of outcasts." Danzou continued. "We choose a select number of retired shinobi to teach them and train them using the standards you use your group."
Akane's eyes widened. "My group?"
"Certainly. You are the one who came up with the idea. You should be the one who sets the standards."
Hiruzen puffed his pipe. "You're taking this well."
"Yes, but I am also looking at the possibilities. Should the civilian council ever revolt, they can influence the ANBU and other shinobi. The only faction here that isn't bound to them is my ROOT. If we can make a hidden arsenal of shinobi that can take down any enemy," Both the vixen and Hokage's eyes widened at the realization of the idea, "we can effectively manage to take them down. It's a defense for internal affairs."
"The main shinobi force is for defense outside the village." Akane concluded. "ANBU is the main internal defense, while ROOT and Outcasts operate should the ANBU be compromised. Brilliant. How will we choose our members and what not?"
"The Academy teachers, or more specifically Iruka Umino." Sarutobi replied earnestly. "He can pick up on any one being an outcast. Okay," he stood up. "This idea will work, but we need to tread carefully. The main problem will be starting, but with the people that you chose we should be able to make due. Teams will have a minimum of four members and will operate away from the other groups." He turned to face the sleeping village. "If there are others that are outcasts and are the same age as the other members we will add them should we find them but it will be strictly voluntary. Have the others accepted?"
One of Akane's tails snaked its way into Naruto's pocket and pulled out the dragon scale pendant. She flashed a bit of Naruto's chakra and a holographic image appeared. It was divided into three parts and all three parts were green. "Hai."
Danzou looked at the pendant curiously. "What is that?"
"The pendant acts as a communicator for the team. It can be used to telepathically communicate or to visually communicate should it be needed." Akane described as her tail put it back. "There are other uses for it, but we are still testing them."
"Alright, I think that we have had a long evening. When will the first team meeting be?" Hiruzen asked.
"Whenever you want it to be."
"A week. We will wait a week and gather them at ROOT's old headquarters. You do after all have the biggest training grounds." The aged Hokage reasoned.
"That we do." Danzou nodded.
"Alright then." Sarutobi finished. "Is anyone else getting shivers of excitement from this?"
"Kinda."
"Nope, but I'm getting shivers for a different reason." Akane blushed lightly at the thoughts running through her head that would have Jiraiya on the floor suffering from blood loss. "I believe you should be aware that Naruto has a kekkei genkai. As to what it is, I don't know."
One week later, the night before the first team meeting
He stood on a dark and desolate plain. Life was non-existent in the plants. The trees were withered and wilted, sporting no leaves to show that they still grew. 'Where am I?' Naruto thought. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
Twin primal roars echoed in response on the other side of the forest behind him. Turning in the direction that he heard the noise, Naruto did what many people in this situation would not do: he ran to the sound. As he ran, trees cracking and breaking were heard as the roars grew louder and louder. The ground shook from impacts that were thunderous and heavy.
He arrived to a clearing to see a fight. Two larger than average creatures clashed in the center.
One was a crimson and sapphire colored fox. 9 flowing tales whipped around, demolishing trees and targeting the other creature. It wore numerous injuries indicating that this fight had been going on for a long time. Blood seeped from the open wounds as the fox glared at the other animal.
The other was a purple and black dragon with yellow horns. It was in the same condition as the fox; wounds bled out on to the ground and the wings were torn in places as well.
"You will not interfere!" the dragon roared. "It must awaken!"
"I am bound to him for the rest of his natural life!" the fox screamed. "I will stop those who intend to harm him, including it! It failed to protect his family from the scourge! I will not let him suffer the same fate!"
The dragon roared and charged the kitsune, who responded in kind.
Both claws were reared back and about to strike when Naruto appeared between them and cried, "Stop, Why can't you work together!"
Naruto bolted upright. Sweat poured out of his orifices as he gasped for air. That was the second time he had that dream. The first time he just found himself on the plain. This time something was up. He stood up and went over to his bathroom to wash his face. He stood straight and looked at himself in the mirror. He really needed a girlfriend. Writing in a journal was not going to help him with this dream. Somehow, he felt that it was deeper than that.
Little did he know how right he was.
Timeskip: 6 hours; Location: Hyuuga Compound
Hinata rose from her seat. She was outside in her mother's garden, caring for the flowers. As she put the materials away, she absentmindedly touched her pendant, which was now a mixture of white, sapphire blue and amethyst purple as opposed to the pure white color before.
Hiashi had noticed it, but dismissed it. Others just thought she had bought the trinket at a store for encouragement. The first night she had it, she saw a red haired woman who proceeded to tell her not to tell anyone about the letter or where the pendant came from and that all would be explained in a week. And so, she waited. But she was not idle. She walked around town with Ko.
One of the first things that she noticed was that 2 other heirs were chosen like her. Shino just looked at her and nodded as he touched the pendant around his neck and carried on his way. She saw Choji with his and as soon as she caught his eye, she did the same motion to him as Shino did to her. Choji nodded back before continuing with Shikamaru.
But what puzzled her was the fact that she couldn't find the final member. She even ditched Ko to track Naruto down, but she couldn't see any sign of the gold pendant nor of a pendant of any kind. This saddened her, but she hoped he was okay.
Ko walked up beside her. "Hinata-san, Hokage-sama is at the gates asking for a walk with you and the heirs of the Aburame and Akimichi clans."
Hinata perked up at this. She was finally going to get some answers.
Timeskip: Ten minutes later, Location: the top of the Hokage Monument
Hiruzen smiled at the three children before him. "Before I get to what those pendant mean, how have you all been?"
Shino answered first. His pendant clinked on his shirt. (A/N: Does anyone have any clue what his chakra nature is? It could be wind, fire would just kill the bugs unless used right, lightning would fry them but same as fire, maybe earth or water or a combination thereof? *shrugs* I'll let you decide. You have within three days after the posting to decide.) "There is neither here nor there, Hokage-sama."
Choji replied second. "I've been better but I'm not really complaining."
"I-I-I've b-b-b-b-been f-f-fine, Hokage-sama." Everyone's favorite lavender hair kunoichi supplied.
"I see." Sandaime smiled. "Well, according to the letter with those pendants around your necks, you have been chosen for a new program I have high hopes for." He motioned for them to follow him as he entered the tunnels behind his head. "The program is called Outcasts. It is not short for anything, it says what it means. You all will be apart of an elite unit and supporting the Hokage position and only the Hokage position. You will operate outside some of Konoha's laws. Not all of them," he added as an afterthought. "But certain ones. I'll explain after you meet the fourth member." He pushed a button next to an empty wall that opened a door to a small room. He ushered them in and pushed the button labeled T.G. "There will be other groups, but for now you will be the only team."
"What about the Academy?" Shino inquired.
"You will still be attending the Academy, afterwards you will scatter to the winds with your team and Jounin sensei. But should I call on you, you will be in my office within 5 minutes. You will be trained by some one with years under her belt." He scoffed at their looks. "You look as though you have questions."
"W-W-Why us?" Hinata stammered.
"The program is called Outcasts for a reason. You all know what it's like to stand on the outside looking in. Choji, you have been picked on numerous times due to your family's genetics of being well rounded."
"Thank you for not saying fat."
"Not a problem. Shino, you have been barely accepted by society but are still shunned due to your clan's tradition of allowing insects to co-inhabit your bodies."
Shino nodded at this.
"Hinata, you are the black sheep of the Hyuuga. You are constantly put down for your lack of skill in the clan arts and for your kindness to others and your gentleness. You are also shunned outside clan walls due to your clan's arrogance and the proverbial 'stick up their asses' as your fourth member would put it." He chuckled at their looks. "He has a very colorful array of words for you clansmen, Hinata. And don't cry, there's nothing to be sad about. You all can tell at times when something is up due to your being on the outside. Outcasts is an internal defense should ANBU ever fail along with the ANBU division that Danzou runs, ROOT. This team will be your home away from home, a family besides the ones you share blood with, and friends you know you can rely on if your teams are on a mission and you are in a battle."
"Forgive my interruption, Hokage-sama, but it sounds as if this was tried before." Shino asked as the elevator doors opened and the aged leader lead them down the hall.
"It was, but under a different name. It failed due to the members being too old to forget old rivalries and tensions rose. Nidaime cancelled the program and wiped their memories of it. Now we are trying it with a younger group. This way you will all be able to work together." He opened the door to the next room. "Here we are."
Hinata's eyes widened at the sight of Naruto. "N-N-Naruto-kun? W-W-W-What a-are y-y-you d-d-d-doing h-h-h-here?" she mentally cursed her stammering.
He pulled the golden pendant out of his pocket. "I'm the fourth member."
"Naruto has been outside the village longer than all of you know. He has seen and done things that many can't prove was him." Hiruzen explained as they filtered into the room
"The pranks." Choji realized.
"Hai. He earned the title of Prankster King about 2 years ago." Sarutobi grew serious. "Now what I am about to tell you is an S-rank secret. You cannot speak of it outside of this training ground, team meetings, or private settings when you are with each other, understand?"
There was a chorus of "Hai."
"First off, Yondaime did not kill Kyuubi." Three pairs of eyes widened at this new truth. "Kyuubi was and is too powerful. So he did the next best thing; he sealed it and created something that has existed since the time of the Shodai Hokage. He made a jinchuuriki." Hinata's hands rose to cover her mouth as Choji gapped and Shino raised both eyebrows. "Tell me, who do you know of that was born on October 10th?"
Hinata immediately turned and tackled/hugged Naruto while crying "Gomen!" over and over.
Sarutobi nodded. "Yes, Hinata has it right. Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. In order for you to work together as a team, you need to know each other's darkest secrets. That is Naruto's deepest one. There are others, but I am withholding those until after the Academy."
Shino let out a dozen of bugs that flew over to the prone boy. "My insects tell me that they do indeed sense the youki of Kyuubi and that its chakra is eventually fused with yours."
"You're not afraid?" a startled Naruto asked.
"You are like me: shunned for having something since you were born."
"I can see the similarities, but you are you." Choji piped up before pulling out a bag of bar-b-que chips. "Kyuubi is Kyuubi."
"Now comes the biggest shocker for you." The group turned to face the Hokage. "Kyuubi was the one who suggested this."
"Why?" Shino asked.
"Because I want a second chance." Akane opened the door to the training ground. "Naru-chan and all of you deserve to have friends. That is how this project started. Lord Hokage was the one to come up with everything else. Him and Danzou."
"K-K-K-K-Kyuubi?" Hinata stared at the fox.
"Hai. And I prefer Akane." She informed them. "I will also be training you. I am not free, but Naru-chan is able to summon me for training."
"Ah, well, this is where I must take my leave." Sarutobi interjected. "Paperwork is going to kill me yet."
"Two words: Shadow clones." Akane told the Hokage before letting him out. She turned to the children as the God of Shinobi let out a maniacal laugh and took off to tackle the true Juubi of all. She smiled sinisterly at the group. "Time for the torture to begin."
The door clicked shut ominously behind her.
Kyuu: first off, Naruto's hidden bloodline is not the main focus of the story. Hence why I'm not bringing it out and only dropping hints. While he is off being tortured-I mean trained, I'll be filling in.
I'm decided to do a harem fic. Haku, Hinata, and Akane will be in it, but who should the others be? I will flat out refuse Sakura, Ino, Temari and the older women. If there should be anyone else, let me know in your review. Until next time, read and review!
Ja ne!
