A/N: Yeah I had a lot of free time this weekend so I did this. I'll start writing on the next chapter of I'm Evil, Believe it tomorrow but it's chapter is a lot longer than this one so it may be awhile before it's done.
Gift Getting Is Better Than Gift Giving
"Hello? Is anyone there?" asked Naruto sitting up before screaming in pain and falling back down to the bed. Immediately all of the nurses and doctors in the room started yelling at him for stressing himself.
"Enough, enough you'll burst the poor boys eardrums like that." said the Hokage after a few minutes of watching Naruto squirm under the admonishments of the hospital staff. He felt a mixture of relief at seeing Naruto was apparently fine, amusement at how the boy had nearly jumped out of his skin when the doctors had started yelling and joy at seeing he wasn't the only one who cared about Naruto.
"Hai, Hokage-sama." they all said in union before turning to Naruto and yelling in union. "Stay in bed and don't move." Seeing the boy was terrified they all nodded their heads at a job well done and exited the room save for one doctor.
He was a tall black man with a long beard and bald head. He wore a very clean lab coat and a oddly enough lime green pants and shoes.
"If you don't mind Hokage-sama I need to stay nearby incase any sudden difficulties arise, I also need to do a checkup on his systems to make sure he's alright." said the man bowing slightly before setting off examining instruments without even waiting for the elderly mans consent.
"Only if you want to." laughed the Hokage before his mood turned solemn and he turned to Naruto. "Naruto-san I would like to start off by saying that I'm truly sorry for what happened to you today. I never thought in all my years that such an outright attempt at your life would be made."
"It's all right old man but can you get theses bandages off for me?" asked Naruto scratching around his eyes and cursing the bandages for itching so much.
"I'll do it since it seems your not bleeding out of them anymore and can use them to see, you two can keep talking." said the doctor as he started to unwrap Narutos bandages for him.
"That brings me to the point Naruto." said the Hokage sighing deeply. "When you were attacked in the alleyway you lost the use of both your eyes and voice, yet now here we are sitting here talking together and with you seemingly having your lost vision back. I need to know if you can tell me how it happened."
"That's easy old man." said Naruto his mood turning a bit foul when he thought of how this man had kept the worlds biggest secret from him even though it drastically affected his life. "That secret component you forgot to tell me about you know the one in my stomach," the last of the bandages fell away causing the Hokage and doctor to gasp, "helped me out!"
In the place of Narutos formerly blue eyes were two fully blood red orbs that looked frighteningly similar to the Harbingers.
"What's the matter old man something on my face?" asked Naruto examining the looks of shock on their faces.
"Naruto your eyes what happened?!" shouted the Hokage. "What did the Harbinger do?"
"Sacath, that's what it's really called, healed my eyes thank you very much." growled Naruto.
"And what did he want in exchange Naruto power over you? For you to release him?" asked the Hokage angrily.
"THAT IS ENOUGH HOKAGE-SAMA!" yelled the doctor angrily. "What ever this Sacath thing wanted it still healed Naruto and that is all that matters right now!" Seeing them both calm down slightly he nodded and went back to doing checkups.
"Listen old man you have to understand I can't really trust you anymore after you kept all this from me." said Naruto. "As such I can't tell you why Sacath is helping me."
"I didn't want you to get hurt Naruto." said the elderly man hanging his head and letting a single tear fall from his eye.
"I didn't say I won't like you anymore."" admonished Naruto grinning widely at the old man causing the Hokage to look at him in confusion. "We're still friends even if you are keeping stuff from me!"
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The Hokage had simply smiled and apologized to Naruto and thanked him for not hating him before giving the doctor orders to keep the young boy in as long as was needed and to get Naruto some contacts so he wouldn't be feared even more for his… odd eyes.
The contacts itched like hell and Naruto wished he didn't have to wear them.
6 days later
"Finally I'm out of that dump." yelled Naruto in excitement as he stepped out of the hospital after 6 days of eating nothing but that terrible hospital food and doing nothing but staring at the barren white ceiling.
"Just don't let us have to take care of you again." said a tall black skinned doctor fondly patting the young boy on the head. "And start eating right, I don't want to see you in here for malnutrition."
"Alright Siri-sama!" said Naruto affectionately hugging the mans leg. He liked this man, he had been his doctor for the past few days and had been one of the few people in the hospital who actually seemed to care for him.
Not to mention the fact that the man had gone on a rampage across Konoha's grocery stores demanding to know why they would cause a poor boy to starve no matter what the circumstances and then blackmailing them into dropping prices for Naruto.
"I'll come visit you sometime if that's alright with you!" said Naruto desperately hoping the tall man would let him come to visit him. He had friends at this hospital, Siri apparently owned it, and was eager to be able to come back and visit them under far less dire circumstances.
"That would be fine with me!" said Siri giving off a grin that matched Naruto's. "Who knows next time maybe I'll teach you some stuff, you'll need to be able to heal wounds if you're going to be Hokage!"
"Yay Siri-san!" said Naruto pumping his fist in the air. "I'll see you later then!" he said before he rushed off.
"He's still just a kid even through all of the ordeals he's been through." said Siri to himself smiling before he walked into an alleyway near the hospital. "Little Naruto might get another supporter at this rate." he said to himself as he sprouted wings and disappeared in a flash of light. In the wind you could almost still hear his voice as he said, "Prepare for the coming battle as best you can little one, Jisara-hime will be watching."
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The Black Quarter, a testament to the Harbingers power. It was here that the mighty blast from it's mouth struck moments before it died at the hand of the Yondaime. It used to hold many of the more powerful corporations of Konoha and was where both the Yerake and Serishei clans used to reside. Here no life can exist and no mortal can step for fear of the black mist consuming them. To prevent the spread of the mist a wall was put up preventing all entrance.
Unless you were a four year old child following the instructions of an ancient dark creature called Naruto.
'So this is where the gods sent their stuff.' thought Naruto staring at the imposing grey wall in front of him. 'Certainly looks ominous enough what with all the moss and fungus everywhere.' he thought plucking a mushroom of the wall and tossing it away.
He had been here for almost an hour looking for the perfect spot to use the power Sacath had given him to break a hole in the wall so he could enter the Black Quarter and get the gifts.
After a few more minutes and many mushroom tosses later he sound the perfect spot. An area where no one was likely to come by and see him, on the side facing away from the village so the mist wouldn't flow into the village and kill people and it had cracks so he had room for error.
Thinking back Naruto began remembering the instructions to the power he was about to use.
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"TO ENTER THE PLACE WHERE HE WILL FIND HIS GIFTS THE VESSEL WILL NEED TO MAKE A HOLE INTO THE WALL THE SILLY HUMAN THINGS PUT UP AROUND ITS BLACK MIST." said Sacath two days ago after pulling Naruto into the mental sea when the boy had gone to sleep.
"I don't know how you expect me to punch through solid stone I don't have any jutsu yet." Naruto had grumbled when mental images of the area where he needed to go flashed through his mind. 'That's the Black Quarter, they never let anyone in there cause whenever you get touched by the mist to much you disintegrate.'
"IT KNOWS THIS SO IT WILL LET THE VESSEL USE SOME OF ITS POWER." said Sacath as black vapor rose from the sea near it and began floating toward Naruto. When it reach him it surrounded him and lifted him out of the water before flowing into his mouth, nose, and ears.
"That felt horrible." said Naruto coarsely as he was dropped into the water again. "Like breathing in gravel."
"DON'T WHINE PUNY VESSEL IT HAS MADE THE VESSEL STRONGER!" said Sacath proudly gurgling. "WHEN THE TIME COMES IT WILL ENHANCE THE JUTSU THE VESSEL LEARNS WITH THE POWER OF DESTRUCTION BUT FOR NOW THE VESSEL CAN PULL ITS ENERGY FROM THE VESSELS NAVEL IN SMALL DOSES AND THEN FOCUS THAT ENERGY INTO THE VESSELS LIMBS TO POWER THEM UP TEMPORARILY. NOW A PUNCH FROM THE VESSEL WHEN ITS POWER IS USED WILL BE LIKE ONE OF THE HUMAN THINGS EXPLODING TAGS. THE VESSEL MUST BE CAREFUL THOUGH AND NOT SPLURGE WITH ITS ENEGY BECAUSE IT CAN ONLY GIVE THE VESSEL SO MUCH IN A DAY BEFORE THE VESSEL IS LOST TO THE POWER OF DESTRUCTION AND BECOMES PART OF THE MIST."
- - - -- - - - - - - - -- -
'Sacath says right now I am to young to use this technique anymore than once a day so I have to make sure I hit hard!' Focusing like Sacath had told him to Naruto felt the power flowing through his body faintly, focusing on the power flowing from his navel he began pulling that power to his arm and eventually his fist.
Opening his eyes he was surprised to see a black aura surrounding his arm while shooting small lightening bolts out every few seconds.
"Time to test it out!" he yelled in excitement before dashing forward and thrusting his fist into the wall. As soon as the two objects touched there was an explosion that threw rubble everywhere, including into Naruto causing several cuts and lots of bruises.
'Wow that was cool!' thought Naruto in excitement as he grinned at the large hole he had made in the wall. 'Better get going before someone shows up and sees the hole.' he thought jumping through the hole and into the black mist.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"That's scary." said Naruto looking in awe at the destruction laid out before him. Instead of the clean crisp air the normal areas of Konoha held this place had heavy black mist. Naruto did register in the back of his mind, however that the air here seemed to smell, taste and even feel better. He idly remembered that Sacath had assured him that the mist couldn't hurt him due to him technically having lived with a much more intense level of destructive energy his whole life.
Instead of the beautiful stone buildings and giant trees of the rest of Konoha all that was here was rubble and burnt out trunks.
"This is horrible, yet it seems as though I feel at peace here. Maybe it's the lack of all the eyes here scorning me for Sacaths presence." thought Naruto walking up to one of the tree trunks and rubbing it idly.
"There's a hole in the wall here! Hurry and get something to patch it with!" yelled a voice from nearby breaking Naruto out of his revere.
'Damn it! They got here quick.' screamed Naruto mentally as he ran off to find the boxes the gifts where supposed to be in. 'I hope I can find those boxes before anyone finds me.'
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The Epicenter of The Black Quarter
"That's one huge crater." said Naruto bowing his head slightly in honor of the dead before he slid down the walls of the crater that was in the dead center of the Black Quarter. The mist was much thicker in this area and made everything look as though it were night. 'If what Sacath said is true this is where the boxes should be and… ah there they are!'
Running toward the boxes he noticed that they were not alone in the fact that instead of two boxes like he had been told there would be there were actually four boxes and, disturbingly, a massive coffin.
'What's up with this?' he thought running up to the coffin and noting that it had the Kanji for Death on it. 'Did the Shinigami send me something?' Examining the box a bit more he found a small note on the box. Picking it up he had a bit of trouble reading it at first but eventually got it.
To, Naruto
It seemed all the other dark gods decided to send you a gift and so the Shinigami choose to help out as well. As you can see there is a coffin before you. Inside is an undead servant I made for you to protect and help train you as a sparring partner. I must warn you though he is a bit conspicuous seeing as how he is large and made out of dead body parts. The best I could do to remedy this was send a large cloak with him. Also it seems I put that on accident I used the soul of a compulsive gambler to give him life so he has a problem near slot machines. The good news is he seems to be very lucky and has yet to lose any of the games he played in. Good luck with him.
From,
Darius, Manager of Undead Creation
"There's a zombie in here!?" screamed Naruto jumping back and in the process accidentally kicking the lid off the coffin. 'Oh crap and I just got out of the hospital now I'm going to go in for losing my brain.' thought Naruto remembering all the horror comics he had stolen out of trashcans.
If this was the part he remembered then he was going to die.
"Urrr…." slurred a huge shape hidden in the mist as it rose from the coffin. Scrambling back Naruto heard the beast moaning though all he could pick up was, "Brains… Brains."
"Spare me!" yelled Naruto turning and running only to trip over one of the boxes.
"Wha?" grumbled the zombie turning and facing Naruto. "What are you talking about kid? I was just complainin bout how it felt like my brains had been fried." it said before leaping twenty feet in the air and landing in front of the trembling boy who felt ready to lose control of his bladder.
"The names Ira, and you must be Naruto-san." the hulking beast said holding out a giant hand out to Naruto. "And I'm here to protect you in the name of the Shinigami!"
"H-Hi." squeaked Naruto reluctantly taking Ira's hand. Pulling Naruto off the ground Ira smiled revealing he had very bad teeth.
"Seeing as how you're so nervous maybe I should show you how I look now and get it out of the way. Pulling of the cloak he revealed he was very thickly muscled and his skin was green and black. He had an eye patch on one eye and the other one was dark yellow. In the center of his chest his heart was revealed along with his stomach and little wires crisscrossed out of it feeding blood to the rest of his body. Finally he had grey hair hanging down to his waist.
Thinking back some of the gruesome sights Sacath made him look at in preparation for his future first kill Naruto didn't consider this to bad.
"How interesting." he said giving a strained smile. "But no offence can you put the cloak back on?'
"None taken it ain't to pretty is it?" said Ira pulling the worn out grey cloak around him. "I can't complain though they did bring me back to life." laughing a bit at his own joke he walked back over to his coffin and jumped in. "I'm going to get some shut eye for a bit, tell me when you finish with the other boxes." he yelled before pulling the lid back on.
"Uh, sure.' said Naruto a sweat drop forming on his head. 'The Shinigami seems to have an odd sense of gift giving.' he thought moving over to the next box a large and heavy steel box. On it's cover was the Kanji for Weapon. "This must be from Sigis." Naruto deduced opening the box and coughing as smoke came out along with a note. Picking the note up he couldn't help but grin when he read it.
To The Short Orange Wonder
If you're reading this then you must be Naruto! What's up kid? I Sigis have decided to make my deal even better just because you're a prankster like me! (Naruto smirked at that glad that at least someone approved of his pranks. They were funny damn it.) See besides just giving you a summoning contract for my weapon toting angels, you have to sign your name in one of the empty spots with blood then bite your finger and perform the rest of the process outlined on the back of the scroll, I've decided to give you the six lightening rods in the box beside the scroll. They're the same type Sacath used and they should produce the same effect, allowing you to control lightening based attacks without expending as much chakra unfortunately you're much to weak right now to use their shielding function so to bad! And that's not all, I'm giving you one of my greatest gift in exchange for you making sure to commit as many pranks as you can! Promise? I know you did, in the very bottom of this box in a hidden compartment you will find a cool book that will teach you how to make machines. While they're nothing as cool as what I make they can certainly be useful. I know what you're thinking isn't there a god o machines to make machines? Nope, I pulled the lot for that job but I mostly make weapons out them so I'm still called the God of Weapons. Good luck amigo!
From,
The great, wise and totally badass God of Weapons Sigis
"I like this guy already!" yelled Naruto in excitement and wonder that a god could be so cool. Examining the case to make sure all the items where there he shut the case and dragged it over to Ira's coffin before he walked over to the next one.
The next box creped Naruto out. It was very large and was about the size of Ira's coffin. It was made out of black wood that pulsated as though it were alive and carved all over it were faces that seemed to be in extreme pain. On the top was another note that simply read.
To Naruto
My real gift is for later. But for now use this to buy yourself better stuff and move out of that filthy hovel you're in now.
From,
Hades
'I wonder what he put in here?' thought Naruto carefully lifting the lid and almost throwing up his breakfast as he felt the wood pulsating beneath his fingertips.
He forgot about it instantly when he saw that the box was filled to the top with very shiny, very beautiful gold bars.
'I thought being favored was going to suck but this is awesome!' yelled Naruto mentally hugging several of the bars to his chest before shivering as a strange foreboding feeling crawled up his spine. 'What the hell was that?'
Shutting the chest and trying in vain to move it Naruto decided that he would have to get Ira to do it later before he moved on to the next box.
It was a small black box with seals all over it that kept giving off streams of black mist. It gave off pulses of energy that got stronger as Naruto approached it. With trembling hands he opened the box and found that the only thing within was a key that seemed to whisper tidings of old and powerful deities. Resolving to ask Sacath how to use it later he stuck the key back into the box and pocketed it.
Turning and facing the last box that lay on a bunch of rocks a few feet away Naruto idly wondered what god sent this one to him as he had already gotten gifts from all the ones Sacath had mentioned. Walking over he noted with some disgust that this one was leaps and bounds different from the other boxes.
Instead of a dark color like the others this one was neon pink and head, if young Naruto was not mistaken, a smiley face sticker on its center.
'Weird.' thought Naruto approaching the box cautiously and opening it. As soon as the lid opened the boy was sprayed with a horrible smelling pink gas and a note was ejected into his hand. Rubbing his stinging eyes Naruto looked at the note in disdain.
To The Cute Orange Angel
I'm sure you're wondering what my box just sprayed you with but you have to trust me when I say you'll thank me later cutie!
Love,
Jisara
"That's weird." said Naruto deciding he really aught to take this Jisara person's word on it. It couldn't cause him to many problems.
Again he felt that strange feeling crawling up his spine and he shivered Before standing and walking back to Ira's coffin and knocked on the lid.
"Ira-san wake up! I need to go now before someone shows up and gets me in real trouble! If you hurry I might give you a gold bar Hades sent me!" the boy said when the lid didn't move only to be thrown back as the coffin's lid exploded off of it and Ira shot out.
"GOLD BABY!" he yelled before picking Naruto, the coffin and all of the boxes up and jumped out of the crater. "Just point to me where we're going and I'll get there before you can say 'Holy crap he's fast!'"
"Go uh that way! I think that's the way to my apartment! Just jump the wall when you ge, HOLY CRAP!" yelled Naruto as Ira stampeded at what had to be over one hundred miles per hour toward the way Naruto had pointed.
-- - - - - - - - - -- - - - --
"Gold please!" yelled Ira holding out a giant green hand to a equally green Naruto before the boy shot into the bathroom of his small apartment. "Wimp I wasn't going to fast!" yelled Ira looking at the hole in Naruto's wall about the size of a small truck. "And I'll fix your wall I promise!" he added over the sound of Naruto throwing up.
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A/N: Hmm. The next chapter of this one shouldn't take to long and I may be able to get it done next week some time. I MAKE NO PROMISES THOUGH! With that said please review. P.S. If I make any major mistakes like leaving out a word that messes up the lines tell me that tends to happen and I would like to correct those if possible. Thank you good night.