"The world doesn't change in front of your eyes, it changes behind your back."
-Terry Hayes
Naruto did his usual routine when he woke up; washed his face, brushed his teeth, and get dressed. The first thing he wanted to do when he saw Sage was ask how to make his own clothes since the stores here won't sell him any, he also needed to make meals for himself too. With a sigh he walked out of his apartment complex heading out to the village not caring what the civilians or shinobi had to say to him right now or in the future. After he learned about everything there was no reason for him to try and be civil towards the people here because it was a waste of time and right now he didn't have time to waste. He forgot to mention to his new mentor yesterday about his super strength but he'll talk about it today when they meet up again today.
"Good morning…"
He stopped in his tracks having heard something inhuman greet him as he walked down the street, peeking his head down an alley way he saw what appeared to be a woman with long black hair that looked wavy, wearing a white kimono. Her eyes were covered by her hair so he couldn't see them but he did see her give him a creepy smile as she waved at him. Smiling back he greeted her in the same way, "Good morning."
She smiled even wider as he walked away after greeting the Yōkai. He noticed it yesterday too, when he came back from the 'other side' he started seeing yokai now too. He met one on his way home, it was a very friendly yokai that warned him of some suspicious people heading his way so the yokai gave him a different way to get home safely. As soon as he opened the door he was met with another Yōkai with a child-like appearance. He had long pale yellow hair, blue eyes, wearing an orange kimono. The little guy was really too cute, the little yokai made tea as they talked about random things like friends are supposed to. It was fun.
He let a smile show on his face at the memory, he really did enjoy talking with another yokai even if he had to leave. Another reason he was so happy was because he was going to be moving into a new home that was out of the village and into the forest, he couldn't be happier. The added bonus to this was the fact he could now spend more time with his friends away from unwanted eyes. He could get used to this.
It didn't take long for him to arrive at the Uzumaki temple, which has now become his new favorite place to hang out. This temple rightfully belongs to him seeing as how he's an Uzumaki, even those red swirls on the jackets of those shinobi belong to his clan. He should steal those jackets and rip his clan symbol off of them.
"You have a scary look on your face."
Naruto turned to his mentor, "Sage-oji-san!"
"I'm here, are you ready to begin your training?"
"Yeah!"
"Good, now we won't be training on this side but the other side instead."
"I get to see Ariel-nee-san and Eden-jiji again?!" Naruto smiled.
"Of course, besides they love you anyway." Sage commented taking the boy's hand as they walked through the seam that goes to the other side. It didn't take long for Naruto to leave the man's side as he ran over to the elder deer.
"Eden-jiji!" he hugged the deer's head rubbing his face against it.
Eden gave an elder chuckle as closed his eyes, "Welcome back Naruto, you appear to be feeling much better today."
Naruto looked into the deer's eyes and smiled, "I feel much better. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"It is quite alright little sage. Letting out your emotions is good for the soul." He told the boy.
"Okay."
"Hey old man, we came here to start the boy's training so I'm afraid we can't waste time right now." Sage told the deer.
"I understand. I will leave you to it then." He said getting up off the ground before walking away to check on the little ones.
"So what are we doing?" the blonde asked.
"Before we do anything we need to figure out what your chakra affinity is." The man said.
"Chakra affinity?"
"There's a theory that every person's chakra has an affinity towards one of the five basic nature transformations, which are Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. Affinities can sometimes be genetic or at least common to a clan, take the Uchiha clan for example, they have an affinity towards Fire nature," he took out a piece of paper, "This paper is known as Chakra Induction Paper, one's affinity can be determined using this piece of paper. Once chakra is fed to this piece of paper it will react according to the chakra's latent element. If your affinity is Fire it will ignite and turn to ash, if its Wind the paper will split in two, if its Lightning it will wrinkle, if its Earth it will turn to dirt and crumble away, and if its Water it will become damp." He explained.
"Wow, sounds pretty cool."
"It's very cool, here try adding your chakra to this paper so we can see what your element is." He said.
Naruto took the paper and focused some of his chakra into the piece of paper, he saw blue energy surround the paper before it split in two.
"I have a wind affinity…"
"That you do, now that we know what your affinity is we can begin working on it in the near future for now we need to work on something a little more serious." He said.
"Uh, before that I need to tell you something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Well," the blonde shuffled his feet a little, "Can I show you…?"
"If you want."
Looking around the area Naruto found a pretty big rock from where they were standing. Approaching the inanimate object he lifted it up with both hands, turning to his mentor he saw the man smile.
"Naruto I already know about your super strength abilities."
"You do? But how?" the blonde exclaimed putting the giant rock down.
"Technically that super strength of yours is credit due to the fact that you have Senjutsu chakra so early on in your life. It's impressive really."
"Thanks I guess. When I first used it at the orphanage the other kids seemed to really like it. Hey, what's Senjutsu?"
"Senjutsu allows the user to sense and gather natural energy. Practitioners of Senjutsu learn to draw the energy of nature to them, blending it with their own chakra. This adds a new dimension of power to their chakra resulting in the creation of Senjutsu chakra. Also, those who are able to absorb and use Senjutsu chakra are known as Sages. Senjutsu chakra can't be used by those who are untrained in Senjutsu, but those who are enter a form known as Sennin Mōdo (Sage Mode)."
"Sage mode…"
"Entering Sage mode increases one's physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, perception, and durability for as long as the mode is active. Learning Sage Mode does come with risks, but since you've been able to use it early on in your life whether it by accident or not you can use about half of your Senjutsu chakra which is still impressive for someone your age with no training experience." He complimented.
Naruto blushed after being complimented.
"Its also a good thing you haven't been absorbing a lot of energy otherwise you would have turned to stone." He added.
The blonde flinched before going pale, "S-S-Stone-!"
"Now, now, calm down. From what I can tell you haven't been absorbing that much energy, just enough to keep yourself protected." He assured.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now," Sage sat down on the ground lotus style, "Let's talk about Yōkai and other supernatural entities."
Naruto sat down lotus style the same way as Sage, "I want to know."
"Very well, Yōkai are supernatural creatures as you've clearly seen for yourself. The word combination, (Yō) means attractive, bewitching, calamity, and (Kai) means, mystery and wonder.
"Oh…"
"Yōkai can also include ghosts, transformed humans and animals, spirit possession, urban legends, and other strange phenomena." He lectured.
"Then, where do Yōkai come from?" Naruto asked.
"No one really knows for sure, but in my opinion I believe they have always been here watching us for a very long time." He said.
"Watching us for a very long time…" Naruto said.
Sage nodded.
"In the past there have been those who were able to see them, communicate with them, and connect with them, but as you know the were met with scorn and prejudice." He said seriously.
Naruto looked down, 'Just like me.' He thought, "What happened to them?"
Sage looked out afar, "Some of them ended up having happy endings, while those that didn't…died of loneliness and sorrow."
Naruto clenched his fists, "Why did they have to suffer so much? They didn't do anything wrong!"
"I know that, Naruto. However, people fear what they cannot understand and react violently towards it out of fear. Its unpleasant I know, but that's just how humans are. They cannot accept what they don't understand, while those that do understand are rejected harshly. Its like a double-edged sword."
"Double-edged sword?"
"Its used as a metaphor, if two sides of the same blade are sharp, it cuts both ways. Meaning that something can have both favorable and unfavorable consequences." He explained.
"And that's what happened to the people that could see Yōkai?" Naruto asked.
"Yes that's exactly right, while being able to see Yōkai and communicate with them can be favorable it can also lead to rejection by others which is unfavorable." He stated.
Naruto looked down seemingly thinking about something, "Sage-oji-san, what else are you going to teach me?"
"The first would be to teach you about all different forms of Yōkai that are out there as well as some Kami, ghosts, spirits, and other things. But more importantly I'm going to teach you how to use your Yin chakra as well as Yang." He explained.
"Yin and Yang chakra?"
"Yin is based on spiritual energy that governs imagination and is created by altering the ratio of spiritual and physical energy in favor of spiritual energy a lot more, while Yang is based on physical energy that governs vitality and is created by altering the ratio of spiritual and physical energy in favor of physical energy a lot more." He explained as best he could.
"That sounds really cool!" Naruto said.
"I know it does, now then let's begin training." He smiled.
"Yeah!" the blonde grinned.
Hiruzen was in his office looking over reports concerning Naruto Uzumaki who according to these reports has been acting very strange as of late. The first thing that came to him was when the boy was throwing his ball at some invisible force in the park where multiple people there saw it happen. He passed the ball to some invisible force that passed it right back to him and this went on until it stopped, another report was him going back to the park the next day talking to someone on the bench that wasn't really there. After that he left the park then disappeared into the forest probably heading towards the outskirts of the village for whatever reason where he just suddenly disappeared. That worried him until Naruto reappeared but something changed, he could see it in the boy's eyes that something had changed, at one time when he was grinning like a maniac it was now a blank expression. He would occasionally turn his attention elsewhere seemingly speaking with someone that wasn't even there before casually walking along to wherever he needed to go.
This was troubling.
Its obvious the boy had created some sort of imaginary friend to escape the loneness he felt around the village due to the cold indifference of the villagers, this was not good. The boy needed to interact with people but that was hard when no one would acknowledge your presence or even go near you because of human ignorance. At this rate Naruto would lose his touch with reality drawing himself further away from people without making any sort of bond within the village. He needed to talk to the boy about this.
Meanwhile Naruto felt like he was on cloud nine copying his mentor's fighting style. Before they do any kind of sparring his mentor wanted to show him his Taijutsu style. Naruto was starting to get the hang of it little by little, his mentor told him that one must always be patient in everything they do, so that's what he was doing.
"You've almost got it down, here move your arm like this." He instructed moving Naruto's leg up a little higher keeping a firm grip on the boy making sure he didn't fall backwards.
"L-Like this?"
"Yep, just like that. Now let's do it again."
"Yeah!"
For the past two hours Naruto practiced his kata by following his mentor, throwing air punches, and kicks were the only thing he was allowed to practice for today. After that was done it was time to read up on some Yōkai. There were many different Yōkai species out there just like his mentor said, not only that but different gods and sprites and other supernatural creatures too! He was so interested in what he was reading that Sage had to literally take the book away form him so they could eat something. Ariel came out of nowhere with some food for them to eat, and since Naruto hadn't had breakfast yet he ate a lot making sure his stomach was nice and full. Ariel said his eating habit was really cute making him pout a little bit but that only made her squeal like a school girl and almost suffocating him with her hugs.
Wiggling out of the hug he decided to ask his mentor something important, "Hey, Sage-oji-san?"
"What is it?"
"Can everyone use Senjutsu if they train hard enough?" the blonde asked.
"No, not everyone. Civilians have low chakra reserves to even attempt using Senjutsu, and only a few shinobi can try to achieve it. I'll give you an example, there are two shinobi who have tried to master Senjutsu but only one of them managed to get the hang of it." He said.
"Who are they?"
"The first would be Jiraiya one of the Legendary Sannin that was trained by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage."
Naruto frowned when the old man's name was mentioned but otherwise said nothing.
"Until now Senjutsu was only known to be taught in two places, Mount Myōboku (Mysterious/Exquisite Tree Mountain), and at Ryūchi Cave (Dragon Ground Cave)."
"Cool names."
"I agree, anyway the first place I told you about belongs to the toads while the second place is used by the snakes. The toads use a similar method to what I just taught you in order to teach their summoners Sage Mode."
"Summoners?"
"The toads at Mount Myōboku are summoning animals and are said to be the strongest but that's still debatable. The toads use several tools to make learning Senjutsu easier, by applying special oil the user's body will passively taking in natural energy. They also have a special staff that knocks out all of the natural energy the user gathers into their body to reverse any transformations or preventing the user from turning to stone. As for the snakes, one must be bitten by the White Snake Sage who injects them with natural energy. It is said that if one's body is strong enough to withstand this snake transformation it will accept the power, thus granting the user of using Sage Mode. The two shinobi who have went to these places are Jiraiya as I've already told you and Orochimaru another pupil of the Sandaime Hokage." He revealed.
"Jiraiya and Orochimaru…"
"Known fact about Jiraiya, he's actually unable to use Sage Mode on his own because he cannot do it himself while on the move, and as for Orochimaru while he was able to mold Senjutsu chakra he wasn't able to use Sage Transformation allowing him to enter Sage Mode." He revealed.
Naruto blinked, "How do you know all of this?"
"I have a lot of free-time on my hands, that's how." He stated.
"Right…but what about me? I didn't do the Sage transformation thingy." Naruto said.
"As I've said before it's because you were born with Senjutsu chakra and the only noticeable transformation it did to you was enhance your strength and possibly endurance. You just need one final push to enter Sage Mode and you have thanks to this world."
"Wait, so this world can also teach someone to go into Sage Mode?"
"Yep, and since not all humans can see Yōkai only those who have the ability to see them can come over to this side and learn how to enter Sage Mode, but out of those who have been able to see Yōkai there have only been two humans known to have come here though." He said.
"Really, who?"
He pointed to himself, "Me," then pointed at Naruto, "And you."
"Really? No one else but us?"
"That's right, aren't we special?" he smiled.
Naruto grinned then dropped it just as quickly, "Was there another one?"
"Hm?" Sage said.
"The Legendary Sannin, was there another one?"
"As a matter of fact there is, her name is Tsunade Senju."
"Tsunade Senju…um, her last name sounds familiar."
"It should since she's the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju the Shodaime Hokage." He said.
"Eh? She's his granddaughter?"
"That she is little sage, but she hasn't been seen in this village for a very long time. For you see she left the village after having lost her brother and lover during the Second World War so you weren't even born yet when she left." He explained.
"So she doesn't want to come back to Konoha?"
"No, I'm afraid not. But I can assure you that the Sandaime would try to get her back here either by force or through manipulation of her emotions which works on some people." He shrugged.
Naruto frowned at this. Was the old man manipulating him too? Putting on that smile of his telling him that 'things will get better' or 'they will eventually come around.' He was probably being manipulated the whole time without even realizing it, well not this time. No one will manipulate his emotions ever again.
"By the way, we have a surprise for you."
"What is it?"
"If I tell you then it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it?"
The blonde pouted but otherwise said nothing and continued eating his food. He wondered what the surprise was, hopefully something really good.
"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked.
"Almost, just be patient."
The two of them were currently walking through the forest away from the village, but Naruto couldn't tell seeing as how he had a blindfold wrapped around his eyes as his mentor guided him to wherever it was they were going.
"Stop. We're here, take your blindfold off." He told the blonde.
Naruto took the blindfold off opening his eyes slowly to adjust to the sunlight, what he saw made his eyes widen and causing a grin to spread across his face. Right before his very eyes was a giant mansion like house where pretty flowers were growing everywhere, there were even hedges and a mini lake.
"Wow! Its soo big!" Naruto exclaimed instantly running around to get a better feel of the house.
Sage chuckled, "He appears to like it."
"I should say so yes." Eden agreed having appeared out of nowhere.
"When did you get here?"
"Just now, I was curious to see how he would like what we have provided for him." Eden explained.
"Well given his reaction I'd say he absolutely loves it."
"Ariel has a hand to play in this herself. She wouldn't let anyone rest until the house was finished. Quite the slave driver that woman is." Eden sighed.
"My condolences." The red head chuckled.
"Hey, hey! Can we see the inside, too?!" Naruto came running back bouncing on his feet with excitement.
"Why of course we can." Sage said.
"Awesome! Come on, Eden-jiji!" Naruto ushered the deer to follow him.
"Very well, I shall accompany you." Eden said following after the boy then stopped suddenly, "How will you handle the Hokage? We didn't get everything."
"Like this," the red head began to shrink to the size of a child, his hair becoming a spiky blonde color and his eyes became blue, "Remember I can change my appearance to look like others or of my own creation."
"So you will confront him using Naruto's form then? A wise decision." Eden complimented.
"I guess, take care of him while I'm out getting the last thing."
"Understood."
Sage/Naruto left through the barrier that was not created by chakra but spiritual power, he would be teaching Naruto about that too. Leaving the forest area he went into the village instantly noticing the yokai that gathered here already wanting to see Naruto.
'He's already become this popular? The spirits must be talking about him.' he thought as he already reached the blonde's apartment. He also felt the Hokage coming in on him fast making him smirk, "Time to have some fun with this." Leaving the door open he walked inside and noticed the bed was gone so that couldn't have been it, so what…ah, over there. Walking over to the counter he picked up a stuffed animal that one of the employees gave him for his 4th birthday. It was in the shape of a fox ironically but she didn't give it to him out of spite, in fact she told him that he looked cute with it and also told him to hide it so no one would try to take it away from him. Such a sweet one she is.
Picking up the stuffed animal he hid it quickly as he sensed the Sandaime quickly appeared in the doorway, he could tell what kind of emotions were going through the man right now, confusion and desperation. So he's desperate to keep the boy in the village is he? Well too bad, things don't always go the way you want them to and he needs to know that, like right now.
"Naruto." The old man called out.
"Sandaime." He replied back neutrally.
Hiruzen's blood ran cold. Sandaime? When did Naruto start calling him that? No, that wasn't important right now, "What are you doing?"
"I'm moving out. I'll be living out into the forest from now on, there's less noise out there." Sage/Naruto stated still not looking at him.
"But…why?"
"I just told you," Sage/Naruto turned around finally walking towards the old man, "I like it better when its quiet plus I don't have to put up with all the stares, it's annoying." He walked past the old man not even giving him a second glance, 'This is fun. Its been soo long since I've impersonated someone. What will you do now I wonder, Hiruzen Sarutobi?'
"Wait! What brought this on all of a sudden?!" Hiruzen wondered as he followed behind the blonde.
"Nothing really, I just wanna be left alone." Sage/Naruto said eyeing a yokai that was hiding in the alley waving at him, he winked at it and continued walking.
"Naruto, I promise you things will get better in the village and-" the elder Hokage was cut off.
"That's what you said last time and nothing's changed," Sage/Naruto interrupted, "The people here ignore me anyway, so I don't care anymore."
"Naruto-" Hiruzen protested.
"Sandaime, you can't force people to change. I don't know if they'll ever change and I'm not getting my hopes up anymore." Sage/Naruto stated walking into the forest part of Konoha leaving Hiruzen just standing there wondering where he went wrong? What if Naruto tries to leave the village because of the people here? What should he do?
Sage reverted back to his original self as he arrived at Naruto's new home with a small sadistic smile on his face, "I think I've been living with the yokai on the other side for too long, I think I've come to enjoy seeing someone look so desperate." Walking to the back of the house he spotted Naruto resting on Eden who didn't look all that bothered by it.
Eden turned in his direction, "Judging by your expression am I to understand that it went well?"
"He was soo desperate to keep Naruto inside the village that he didn't even notice I wasn't him. He was also spouting nonsense about how things will get better. Obviously he said those words to Naruto before, but from what I've observed nothing has changed. The boy made the right choice when he decided to live out here instead of inside the village, he's much safer out here anyway." Sage said.
"I agree with your assessment." Eden said.
Naruto groaned before opening his eyes rubbing them softly then smiled seeing Sage was here, "Sage-oji-san, where did you go?"
"I went to tell the Hokage that you no longer live in the village and instead out here in the forest now." The told him.
Naruto frowned, "What did he say?"
"He tried to explain that things will get better-" the red head was cut off.
"Why does he keep saying that?!" Naruto yelled.
"Calm down, little sage. You may have to walk around the village from time to time, but always remember that the yokai are always watching over you. Like that lady in the alley that always waves at you." He said.
"Alley lady? I like her, she said, 'good morning' to me today." Naruto smiled.
Sage chuckled, "Since you've relaxed enough its time to start up training again with your new Taijutsu, do you want to know the name of it?"
"Yeah."
"I call it…Jūnishi no Ken (Fist of the Twelve Zodiacs)."
"Jūnishi no Ken?"
"Have you ever heard of the Twelve Zodiacs? There's Nezumi (Rat), Ushi (Ox), Tora (Tiger), Usagi (Rabbit), Tatsu (Dragon), Hebi (Snake), Uma (Horse), Hitsuji (Goat), Saru (Monkey), Niwatori (Rooster), Inu (Dog), and Inoshishi (Boar). Out of all of these the only known fighting styles are, Monkey, Tiger, Dragon, and Snake, but I've added fighting styles to the ones that don't have any and now I'm going to teach it to you. Are you prepared? I'm going to let you know now I will not show you mercy when it comes to training, the same could be said for when we start sparring. Well? Do you think you can handle it?" His eyes narrowed.
Naruto felt pure intensity in the man's stare enough to know he wasn't joking around. His heart was beating fast in his chest, his palms felt sweaty, a feeling of excitement burned within his very soul. He already made his decision.
"I…want to get stronger!" Naruto said.
Sage smirked, "By the time I'm done with you…you'll be begging for mercy."
"Bring it!"
Eden was interested to see how the child would do under Sage's tutelage; the man had never taken up a student before so this should interesting to see.
"Go to the front of the house and wait for me there while I talk to Eden for a little bit." Sage said.
"Okay." He walked off leaving the two of them alone to talk things out.
"What is it that you wanted to discuss with me?" Eden wondered.
"Naruto's chakra, what have you noticed about it?"
"Aside from the Kyūbi's chakra mixing with his own, his Yin and Yang chakra are perfectly balanced out, but I sense another source of chakra within him as well. Could it be…" he trailed off.
"Then my theory of him being born with Senjutsu chakra wasn't as observed as I originally thought." He explained.
"Looks that way." Eden said.
"The two components of chakra are "physical" and "spiritual" energy. The Physical energy is one's stamina that is collected from each and every one of the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience. Senjutsu chakra falls into the category of natural energy allowing the user to sense and gather natural energy, so now you three components of chakra. Physical, spiritual, and natural energy." He explained.
"I see, in other words Naruto has three types of chakra. Physical, spiritual, and natural energy. It's a wonder no one in the village has noticed." Eden commented.
"That's because they didn't care to notice, but that works out for me because I will train him in using his Senjutsu chakra, as well as his Yin and Yang chakra. When he become 10 years of age, I will help him achieve Sage Mode." Sage said seriously.
"If that is what you so desire then I will give you my full support. You should go to your student now, keep him waiting any longer and he'll get bored." Eden told him.
"Yeah, yeah, feel free to stay and watch, old man." Sage teased.
Eden huffed in amusement.
10 Hours Later
Naruto panted his body feeling heavy and completely sore from the warm ups, to the sparring and the repeat of it all. Before the blonde could ever learn the Taijutsu, Sage wanted to teach him he explained Naruto needed to work out his body first so he could know what the feel of training feels like. The blonde didn't complain and did what he was told, to start off he was told to run 10 laps around the house to strengthen the muscles in his legs, once that was done it was time to do 10 sit-ups. He didn't give Naruto anytime to rest so he had to do the sit-ups right after he was done running his 10 laps. After that was sparring for 20 minutes, he didn't understand why he had to spar 20 minutes instead of 10 but once again he didn't complain. Needless to say the spar between the two clearly showed the blonde needed more work with his reflexes as well as reaction times, but more importantly he needed to see how his opponent could use a feint so he can spot it and be prepared for it. Having gotten his butt handed to him they only took a 8 minute breather before it was time to get back to training, he repeated the same thing as before only this time instead of doing sit-ups the blonde did push-ups instead.
Instead of sparring this time his mentor began to teach him one of the Jūnishi no Ken techniques, starting off with Saru no Ken (Monkey Fist). According to his mentor the style has various difficult acrobatic movements, like flipping sideways in the air, front flips, back flips, hand stands, walking on the hands, forward and backwards lunges, spinning on the butt and back, and finally many kicks and strikes. Naruto was eager to learn it, he followed his mentors movements as they slowly did the style together. His mentor also told him that this style mostly goes after the throat, knees, groin area, eyes, and hand strikes can be either open palm or claw like. The blonde said he would rather do the open palm strike because it just seemed to fit better. Naruto was aware his little body wouldn't be able to last much longer but he still persisted and refused to stop until he could no longer move his arms or legs and his body refused to move anymore. Well after about 10 hours of doing this training session all three things happened at the same time, his arms felt limp, his legs felt like led, and his body was sore and tired all over. In other words he hit his limit.
"Well done, Naruto. Though to be honest I wasn't expecting you to last this long actually, but you've proved me wrong. Good job." The red head smiled.
Naruto's heavy breathing was his only response.
"Now before you pass out eat something first, okay?"
"Guh…"
Sage lifted the blonde into his arms carrying him inside to get something to eat. Naruto's eyes were only half way open so he couldn't see what the inside of the house looked like because he was too tired to keep them open. Everything else felt like a blur to him as he was soon settled into a comfy bed and closed his eyes instantly refusing to open them until morning.
'He's looks quite adorable sleeping like that.' Sage commented inside his head.
Leaving the room he was met with Eden, "He's sleeping soundly and the barrier can only be broken by the same spiritual energy I use instead of chakra, so we don't have to worry about the Hokage sending someone here to forcibly take Naruto away."
"That puts your mind at ease no doubt."
"It does." He walked away.
"Are you leaving again?"
"I'll be back by morning, don't worry I'll leave one of my Shikigami here to watch over him." Sage said.
"Be careful."
"You don't have to tell me."
It was a giggle that woke him up the next morning, well the sunlight contributed to wakening him up too, but it was the constant giggling that did the trick. Cracking one eye open he felt he wasn't on a comfy bed anymore, instead he felt as though he was floating in water, which was weird. Finally managing to open his eyes fully he saw what appeared to be some sort of little person with wings floating right above his head, wait-there was more than one actually.
"Oh, you're awake!"
"Good morning, little sage!"
"Yes, good morning!"
"Awww, he's soo cute~!"
Naruto was still a little out of it to say anything back to the floating little people as he called them and simply stared off into space until he realized he really was floating in water but it smelled really good and oh yeah…he was also naked! Sitting up suddenly he looked around to see he was in what appeared to be some sort of giant bath with pink flowers floating all around him, "Where…?"
"Don't worry, this water is guaranteed to help with sore muscles even make you feel refreshed. You feel it now don't you?"the little one with long pink hair said.
Naruto just now noticed he wasn't sore anymore, not only that but he didn't feel all that tired compared to yesterday either.
"I feel…fine." He commented looking over at himself before looking at one of the little people that landed on his shoulder.
"That's good." She smiled.
"Uh, who are you?"
"For not saying, "what are you?" we'll tell you because you're such a sweet boy. My name is Opal, we are known as a type of race that are related to fairies, but you may refer to us as "Gem Fairies." Opal grinned. She had short hair that was the same color as her name.
"My turn, my turn! My name is Amethyst!" the one with long purple hair that was in a low ponytail introduced.
"I'm Emerald." The one with green hair and two pigtails grinned as she introduced herself.
"I'm the last one! My names Corundum!" the one with long pink hair introduced herself last.
Naruto smiled, "Pretty names."
"Awww, you are just such a sweetie. We should just kidnap you and have you all to ourselves." Corundum cooed as she rubbed against his cheek.
"Um, you said you were gem fairies. Does that mean you're named after gems?" Naruto asked.
They busted out giggling finding his question to be highly amusing, "Oh no little sage, we Gem Fairies created the gem's you humans use now. The gems were in fact named after us since we are their creators, do you understand?"
Naruto nodded, "I understand, Opal-san."
"You can call me Opal-chan!"Opal grinned.
"Hey no fair!"Emerald pouted.
"Yeah, he should be calling you 'obā-san' instead of 'chan,' right?"Amethyst teased.
Corundum snickered.
"What was that?" Opal growled.
The door suddenly opened, "My it sure is noisy in here." Sage said.
"Oji-san!" Naruto smiled.
"Hey there, how are you feeling?"
"I feel great! What are we doing today?" Naruto asked.
"Actually some new yokai and sprites want to meet you so they've been popping up in the village trying to find you, why don't you go and greet them?" Sage told the boy.
"Go inside the village…" Naruto looked down as he thought about going back into the village but then shook his head, "Okay!" the four gem fairies got him a towel so he could cover his lower half, once he did that he left the bathroom to get dressed.
"Sage! Why are you allowing him to walk around in that cesspool of garbage?!" Opal growled getting in his face.
"He'll be fine, I gave him something that will protect him from any negativity on both sides. There's a bracelet with the new clothes I got for him he'll see it and put it on." Sage explained calmly.
"That's not the point! Why do we have to share him with those humans?!" Emerald spat.
"You four need to relax," he sighed, "I promise you he'll be fine."
"I say we drag some unsuspecting humans over to the other side never to be seen or heard from ever again." Amethyst suggested.
"I agree to that." Corundum was all for the idea.
Sage rubbed his temples, 'They love him way too much, and they've just met him.'
Naruto was in his room that was large and he loved it. Being in this new house and room didn't feel lonely because he had friends that were always watching over him from the shadows. Putting on his red kimono shirt with yellow butterfly patterns on it, along with some black pants and boots he noticed a bracelet that had an orange gem in the center of it, picking it up he place it on his right wrist before leaving his room. He never noticed it glow as soon as he put it on.
Sage spotted him in the hallway, "I knew that would look good on you, do you like it?" he was taken off guard when the blond hugged him tightly.
"Thank you…" Naruto muttered.
Sage rubbed his head, "You're welcome, are you ready to go?"
Naruto removed himself before nodding. The two of them the house before departing to the forest, the blonde asked where Eden-jiji went off to, Sage just said the old man went to go check up on his grandchildren that's all. Satisfied Naruto didn't ask anymore questions as they almost neared the village, Sage suddenly stopped them as he bent down until he was making eye contact with Naruto, "Now Naruto, I can only watch over you from a distance. Will you be alright without me?"
Naruto gave him a determined nod, "I'll be okay. If anything happens I'll be able to take care of it, I promise."
Sage seemed satisfied with the answer and allowed the blonde to walk forward as Sage became red mist intending to watch the boy closely as he went around the village.
Naruto was looking around to see if he could spot any new yokai or spirits that came here to see him, so far he hadn't seen any yet but he did say hello to those he already knew, like the Alley lady who complimented him on his new clothes and a Yatagarasu, which was a three-legged crow that greeted him as well. The crow gave Naruto some new information about what was going on in the village, according to the crow there were indeed some new yokai that arrived and were very eager to meet him. The crow also gave his displeasure on the humans that were spreading false and vicious rumors about him being a demon in human skin, normally hearing such things would sadden Naruto but now he didn't really care what they thought. Thanking the crow he was off on his search again looking around for about 2 minutes before he finally noticed something interesting. There stood a woman with long curly dark blue hair holding a blue umbrella, sporting a black kimono. She looked utterly disgusted with her surroundings too, figuring she was the new yokai in the area he approached her, "Hi."
She was startled that the boy suddenly greeted her with a friendly smile, "Y-You! You can see me?!"
"Yeah, my names Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?" Naruto greeted.
The woman blinked not knowing what to say but spoke anyway, "I-I'm Ame-onna, the rain woman. Wait a minute, Naruto Uzumaki! You're the child that can see and speak to us!"
"Mm, I heard there were new yokai and spirits here so I wanted to see you. You're really pretty, too." Naruto said honestly.
She blushed, 'He-He think's I'm pretty?'
"You looked mad earlier, did someone make you mad?" he asked.
She scowled again, "Its these humans, I just can't stand their attitudes!"
"Me neither." Naruto frowned.
"Have they been bullying you child?" she asked.
"No…but they say mean things about me all the time and I didn't even do anything wrong. But it's okay because I have all of you with me now, so I'm not lonely anymore." He smiled.
Ame gave the boy a hug making him blink but he let her hug him, "Ignore those worthless fools, and if they ever do anything to you or say another bad thing about you, we'll deal with them, that's a promise."
Naruto nodded his head, "Hey Ame-san, do you know where the other new yokai are?"
She broke the hug and scowled again, "I know where the rest are, but I don't like them."
"Eh?"
"But…I'll take you to them even if it means I have to see that bony hag again." Ame complained as she and Naruto walked together, meanwhile the blonde was trying to figure out who this 'bony hag' was. As they walked around Naruto noticed they were entering another part of the village that had women wearing kimonos and the place looked really different too.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Kabukichō," Ame shuddered with disgust, "Honestly, why does that deplorable woman insist on mingling here of all places with these damn humans."
"Because I like it."
Naruto turned around and saw a very pretty lady with black hair that was tied up in a high bun, she was wearing a beautiful red kimono with beautiful patterns on them, she also had pretty silver eyes.
"Pretty…" he stared in awe.
The woman covered her mouth with her sleeve in amusement, "Ara, why thank you dear."
Ame covered his eyes, "Don't be fooled by her! She may look beautiful but she's a real demon waiting to pounce on you at any moment!"
A tick mark appeared on the woman's head and her eyebrow started twitching, "As unpleasant as always."
"As shameless as always." Ame countered.
"Oh?" the black haired woman snarled.
"Um…" Naruto said starting to get uncomfortable.
"Ara, I'm sorry about that dearie. Where are my manners? I am Hone-Onna, the bone woman but you can call me Hone-chan though." Hone smiled.
"In that case you can call me Ame-chan!" Ame told the boy.
"Y-Yes, nice to meet you Hone-chan. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto greeted.
"I know, we've heard about you." Hone leaned down showing him something he'll never forget, half of her skin started rotting showing her boned skin, "Does it scare you?"
Naruto did something she didn't expect him to do, he placed both hands on each side of her face giving her a sad look, "Does it hurt?"
She couldn't suppress a smile that showed on her face, placing her hands over his she responded, "Not anymore."
"That's good." He smiled.
Hone hugged him tightly, "You really are a sweet boy, I may just keep you to myself."
Ame yanked Naruto way quickly, "Not on your life, you hag." She growled.
"Ara, and who do you think you're calling 'hag" little girl?" Hone sneered.
"Little girl?!" there's nothing little about me, you hag!" Ame yelled.
"Are you sure about that?"
"I will drown you!"
"Be my guest."
Naruto had absolutely no idea what was going on but all he knew now was that he made two new friends, Ame-Onna and Hone-Onna. Today was becoming a good day.
After the whole Hone and Ame argument was over Naruto told the two female yokai that he was wanted to find the rest of new yokai all on his own. He assured them that he would be very careful but they still looked worried, but he would be okay. Walking around the village became surprisingly pleasant actually, probably because his mind was elsewhere and not so focused on the people here. Since he didn't see anymore yokai in the village anywhere he decided to head out in the forest area hoping he would see some out there, but no such luck. Maybe they were playing hide-and-seek? Do yokai even do that? The very thought of playing hide-and-seek with them sounds fun.
Walking by a tree he stopped dead in his tracks spotting something that caught his eye. It was a butterfly, but in his opinion it was the prettiest butterfly he had ever seen! The butterfly was yellow with four black tiger stripes on each forewing, he didn't now why but there was just something about this butterfly that drew him towards it. Lifting up his finger the yellow butterfly left the tree in favor of its new spot on the blonde's finger. The way it moved its wings kept him captivated for some reason, while he had seen a dragonfly before it didn't keep him this interested as this butterfly did.
"Hey, would you like to be my friend, too?" Naruto asked as the butterfly merely moved its wings, but he took that response as a 'yes' making him smile, "Then…stay with me forever." The butterfly began to glow the same beautiful yellow color keeping Naruto even more interested. It was such a soft and warm glow that felt so familiar to him, where had he felt this before? His attention was brought back to the butterfly as it seemed to make more, the other glowing butterflies surrounded him creating a beautiful light as they did. Naruto couldn't stop the smile forming on his face as he watched the butterflies dance around him, it made him happy.
"So many…"
The butterflies continued to dance around him until they merged back with the butterfly still perched on his finger that soon moved to his right shoulder, "Guess that means you'll be with me forever." He grinned.
Watching from the shadows Sage smiled as he saw the boy create his very first familiar even though it was by pure luck, but that might be part of the blonde's charisma.
"But still…to create his very first familiar and all on his own no less. I couldn't be more proud." Sage smiled.
Naruto sighed as he started getting hungry and went back into the village to head home, well that was the plan anyway but a smell he'd never smelled before assaulted his nose. Turning to the source he noticed a place called Ichiraku Ramen that was creating such a delicious smell, though hesitant at first he walked inside the eatery noticing no one was here.
"Oh, welcome."
The greeting took him by surprise as he stared into the eyes of a man wearing chief's hat sporting a smile on his face, "H-Hi…" he stuttered.
"What would you like to have today? Its on the house." The man told him.
"On the house?"
"Meaning you don't have to pay for it." He elaborated.
Naruto looked skeptical but sat down in one of the chairs and ordered pork-flavored ramen to start off with. He waited patiently for the ramen to be done while he waited he took the time to look around the place having never set foot in here before.
'Its small, but the old man seems really nice.' He thought.
"Here you go!" the man placed to bowl of ramen before the boy.
Naruto stared at it for a few minutes before slowly taking his first bite of the dish known as ramen, there was a jolt that went through his body as he felt his taste buds explode from the taste. Without saying a word he proceeded to eat more of his ramen all the while never seeing the gentle smile the man gave him as he ate. When he finished he turned his attention to the man, "That was really good."
"Glad you like it." The man grinned, "You'll never find another place that sells good ramen like we do!"
"Yeah, hey mister what's your name?" Naruto asked.
"Names Teuchi!" Teuchi introduced.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, thanks for letting me eat here." He thanked the nice man.
"You're welcome, please come again Naruto." He said.
Naruto got down from the seat, "I will, bye." He left the ramen place feeling a little bit happier than before having spoken to a person and not having them say anything mean to him, maybe he will come back again some other time.
"I wonder if there are any other yokai around here." He wondered. The butterfly on his shoulder suddenly took off in a different direction prompting the blonde to follow it wondering where the butterfly was going. The yellow butterfly soon took them to another part of the forest that he had never seen before; there was a sign on a post too.
"What's this say? "Forty-Third Training Ground," are there yokai in there?" Naruto asked the butterfly that perched back on his shoulder but it didn't speak only moved its wings, "Guess that's another 'yes,' huh?" before the boy could step foot in there though he heard a voice.
"Don't come in here, child of man."
He didn't move an inch, the voice sounded feminine but it didn't sound menacing as she was probably trying to sound.
"Are you a yokai?" Naruto asked.
"I am. You cannot come in here yet; when I deem you are ready you may enter into my territory. Until then, stay away."
He nodded, "Okay, I won't try to enter. I'll come back again soon." He promised walking away from the area to head off elsewhere.
"Do as you please…"
Hearing it he smiled, "I'll definitely come back again." He whispered as he continued his way without looking back, "Guess I'll head back home." He said seeing no real reason to stay in the village, about 2 minutes later he suddenly felt something sinister that was heading right for him.
Naruto looked around, "What is this feeling? So dark…" before he knew what hit him something black appeared behind him about to take his head off but the butterfly on his shoulder stood before them creating a barrier that prevented the blonde from getting hurt. The black thing backed off allowing Naruto to get a better look at it; it looked like some kind of sludge with red eyes.
"What is this thing? A yokai?" he stared then jumped back as it tried to get at him with one of its claws again, "Why are you attacking me?! What kind of yokai are you?!" he demanded.
The black sludge didn't respond as it attacked the blonde again who would jump back or out of the way to avoid getting hit, "It won't respond no matter what I say to it, what now?" he looked at his hand balling it into a fist, "Maybe…" his attention was back on the mystery black thing as it came at him again, moving to the right he brought up his fist punching it as hard as he could resulting in it slamming into several trees as it landed on its back.
"No way…" he stared at his hand, "I can actually hit it? And it went down." Looking back he saw it didn't get back up and wondered what he should do now.
"Naruto."
"Sage-oji-san!"
"Listen to me closely, you need to seal it back to where it came from." Sage told him.
"H-How am I supposed to do that?" Naruto questioned.
"You have to say an incantation, something unique only to you. I know you can do it so just calm down and focus." He instructed.
Naruto looked back at the unconscious thing before him, 'Something unique only to me? Like what?' he thought really hard about what sort of incantation he should use to seal it away, and just like a bolt of lightning it hit him.
"Creation of black, The world of black.
Howling Wind.
God of the Wind Seal
Fūjin!"
Naruto howled sending a fierce blue wind towards the creature covering its body before it dissipated into pure light vanishing without a trace. Naruto sighed as he felt Sage stand before him, "What was that thing?"
"A Bakemono." Sage simply said.
Naruto gave him a surprised look, "Bakemono…"
Sage sighed, "Yes. I figured they'd find out about your existence soon enough but not this soon. You're very lucky to have survived your very first confrontation with one, let alone defeat one at such a young age. Some credit should also go to that familiar of yours."
"Familiar?"
"Magical creatures that usually take the forms of animals or humanoid creatures, but they serve those who create them," Sage explained, "In this case you just created your very first familiar in a rather…interesting form."
Naruto stared at the yellow butterfly that decided to take to the air before landing on his finger making him smile, "You saved me, thank you." The yellow butterfly came closer to his face before it glowed dimly near his left eye merging with his face. Opening his left eye he wondered just what happened because Sage looked amused for some reason. The man brought out a mini mirror showing the blonde child that the yellow butterfly merged with the left side of his face creating a yellow butterfly tattoo. It looked pretty cool actually.
"Pretty…" Naruto said in awe.
"I bet, lets get you home now. You look tired." Sage told him.
As if to prove his point the boy yawned a little and didn't hesitate to take the man's hand as they walked home which was in the forest away from the village and the noise. Today was fun; he got to meet other yokai, talk to Teuchi and eat at his place and got his very own familiar. Yep, today was a good day.
Naruto winced as he pricked his finger on the needle again. This was the fourth time he did that; with a sigh he tried again making sure not to prick his finger this time. Even as he said this in his head he knew he would do it again, the reason he kept pricking his finger with the needle was because Sage told him that it would be beneficial for him to make his own clothes. The blonde didn't disagree with him and found it to be fun so here he was now making a shirt and so far it was coming out well despite him stabbing himself in the finger from time to time. It was a yellow colored long-sleeved shirt with black butterfly patterns on it, he got the idea to use butterflies from his very first familiar who he finally named.
Chō (Butterfly).
It might seem stupid but he couldn't really think of another name to give to the pretty insect, which was steadily becoming his favorite. He didn't really mind other insects like caterpillars, spiders, dragonflies, etc. with one final stich his shirt was complete. He held it before him letting the sun's ray's shine light upon the shirt with a satisfied smile on his face. Standing up from his seated position from outside his house in the backyard he walked back inside and went upstairs to his bedroom. Putting his shirt on that went well with the black pants he was wearing along with black boots he looked at himself in the mirror to see how it looked. His new look went really well with the bracelets on his wrists.
So far, so good.
"Heh, that looks good on you." Opal complimented appearing out of nowhere sitting on his shoulder.
"You think so, too?" Naruto said.
Opal giggled, "Oh most definitely! You look soo handsome!"
"Thank you, Opal." He smiled.
With that done he went downstairs heading towards the kitchen and saw Sage was making breakfast for the two of them, "Good morning, Sage-oji-san."
"Morning, squirt." Sage greeted.
Naruto took a seat with Opal still perched on his shoulder, "What are you making?"
Sage put a finger to his lips, "It's a secret."
Naruto pouted making Opal giggle at the close relationship the two share, "What do you plan on doing today, Naruto?" she asked.
"I'm going to hang out with Hone-Onna today," he said, "I wanted to talk with her some more then maybe I'll go and hang out with the other Yokai in the area."
"Oh? Just make sure you be careful and watch out for those pesky Bakemono too." Opal scowled remembering how the boy was attacked yesterday.
"Don't worry, if anything happens I've got Chō with me." Naruto assured her as the butterfly flapped its wings while still merged on the left side of the blonde's face. The butterfly was his first familiar and through it he could summon more butterflies.
"Speaking of which," Sage spoke up placing two plates down on the table, "You'll need to learn how to create a Shikigami."
"Shikigami?" Naruto questioned.
"They are servant spirits that obey the person that creates them, while also acting as protectors as well as spies." Sage explained, "Its best you make them sooner than later, so before you go and greet Hone-Onna I want you to try and create your first Shikigami."
"Can I really?" Naruto asked his eyes brimming with excitement.
Sage nodded, "We'll start right after you finish your meal."
Naruto ate normally but he was still very excited to start creating his very own Shikigami. Sage told him yesterday before he went to sleep that he would help him work on channeling his Spiritual Energy. According to his uncle all humans possess it but those with a higher amount can see spirits or posses other supernatural abilities. Sage stated that Naruto's was higher than the average human which explains why he can see yokai and spirits. He was also told that the sealing art he did was connected to the wind god Fūjin. Sage called it, "Genso no Fū (Elemental Seal)." Meaning the blonde can now call upon the power of the wind god to seal off Bakemono returning them to whatever realm they came from. Sage explained that there are four elemental seals: Fire Seal-Hi Fū (火 封), Wind Seal-Kaze Fū (風 封), Water Seal-Mizu Fū (水 封), and Earth Seal-Tsuchi Fū (土 封). Out of those seals each god governs them, the God of Fire-Kagu-tsuchi, the God of Wind-Fūjin, the God of Water-Suijin, and the God of the Earth-Ōkuninushi. Naruto was able to call upon the wind god Fūjin's seal and use it to seal away that Bakemono from yesterday, still not understanding how he did it.
"Hey, Sage-oji-san?" Naruto called the man's name suddenly.
"Hm?"
"I still don't get how I was able to use the elemental seal of the wind god yesterday." Naruto said.
Sage sported a thoughtful look, "I believe its because the wind god found you worthy of using his seal."
"Worthy?"
"Yep. Look at you, not even in your teen years and you've already got one of the elemental gods to bestow their seal onto you." Sage teased.
Naruto blushed, "I-I didn't really do anything..."
"Don't be so modest, Naruto. To be given the seal of one of the elemental gods shows they trust you." Opal smiled.
"But they've ever met me." Naruto said.
Sage snorted, "Trust me squirt, they don't need to meet you in person to now everything about you."
"Really?" Naruto looked over at Opal.
"Yep, though I've never met any of them before, so I can't tell you what they're like." Opal said.
"Oh."
Sage clapped his hands, "Enough of that now, time to get you started on creating your own Shikigami."
Naruto looked excited, "I'm getting excited."
"Me too." Opal grinned.
The three were outside in the backyard with Sage standing before Naruto, Opal on the blondes shoulder eager to see a Shikigami herself.
"Since you've already created a familiar on your very first try, which is a good thing. A shikigami can be good protectors as well," he took out a piece of paper that was shaped like a person, "This paper is used to create shikigami's, they can take any form their creator wishes them too, be it a person or an animal. Plus they don't need chakra to be created but Spiritual Energy." Sage explained.
"Wow..." Naruto said in awe.
"I see, so that's how a Shikigami is created." Opal said.
"Do you have one of your own?" Naruto asked.
"I have several actually, but I'll show them to you next time. Right now, lets focus on creating yours." Sage said.
"Okay."
Sage gave the paper over to the blonde, "Now just concentrate your Spiritual Energy on the paper, then imagine what form you want your Shikigami to take."
Naruto nodded and closed his eyes doing his best to concentrate into what he wanted his Shikigami to look like. He just needed to imagine something, from an animal, to a person, or an insect.
Well...he did like butterflies, so...
"Open your eyes, Naruto." Sage said.
Opening his eyes, he stared into the face of a woman with long blue hair that was tied in a low ponytail, hanging over her left shoulder. Her kimono was sky blue, with blue butterfly patterns on them, silver eyes, wearing dark blue lipstick, one bang covered her right eye.
Naruto blinked, "Wha...?"
Opal flew over to the still woman wanting to get a better look, "Very impressive, she has the appearance of a human but you can clearly sense her spiritual aura. Nicely done, Naruto."
Naruto stared at the woman in awe, "I really created her?"
"That you did, kiddo. Now you have to give her a name." Sage said.
"A name?" Naruto questioned.
"That's right, you can't just have a Shikigami and not give it a name." The man said.
Naruto thought about what to name his new Shikigami but didn't have to think for very long because he thought of the perfect name for her.
"Chiharu."
Opal smiled, "One thousand springs," good choice. You're putting that book to good use."
Sage raised a brow, "What book?"
"A book of girl names we gave him," Opal snickered, "He'll need it in the near future."
The red head rubbed his temples, "You...he's still a child."
"Not too early to think of a name for a future child." Opal grinned.
"You lot are too damn nosy."
Opal rolled her eyes, "Pot calling the kettle black?"
"Touché."
"Naturally."
Naruto ignored the two as he kept his gaze on his new Shikigami, "Do you like your new name, Chiharu?"
Chiharu smiled as she kneeled before the blonde, "I am here to serve you, Naruto-sama."
The blonde blushed not used to being referred to in a respectful manner, "Th-Thanks, but you can just call me Naruto."
"Yes." She said.
Sage chuckled, "He's so cute sometimes."
Opal nodded in agreement.
Hone smiled as her little blonde became surrounded by the human women of her brothel. Back when she was still alive the role of the working girl used to be her, but now she was the madam of her own brothel, as well as one of the 'Heads' of the yokai. Despite her appearance the woman was strong and fierce, especially in her full body form which is rare for her to use unless it was absolutely necessary. Her inner thoughts vanished as she turned her attention back towards Naruto who was settled in one of her girls lap, having his head rubbed as though he were a little animal, which when taking one good look at him one would naturally think that.
With a chuckle she decided to save the boy from becoming their new plaything, "All right girl that's enough, time to get to work!" She ordered.
"Eh~?" Was their response.
"Don't "eh~" me," Hone chided, "You can play with him later, work comes first."
The girl all pouted but went to work as they were ordered to, but not without giving the cute little blonde a kiss on the cheek making his whole face turn red having not expected it.
Hone though found it amusing, "Looks like you've become their new favorite male. You look cute blushing by the way."
Naruto pouted, "It's not my fault I blushed, the females in the village hate my guts and won't evenkids my cheek. I'm not used to it."
Hone rolled her eyes, "Who cares about those close-minded fools, by the way interesting shikigami you've created." She eyed the woman was sitting next to Naruto looking calm and well behaved.
"I just made her today, this is Chiharu." Naruto introduced.
Chiharu bowed politely to Hone-Onna, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hone-sama."
"Likewise little butterfly, speaking of nice little addition." Hone complimented the butterfly tatto on the side of the boy's face that was actually his familiar.
"I created after I was attacked by a Bakemono," Naruto recalled what happened at the time, "It took me by surprise! I wasn't expecting to make a familiar even if it was an accident."
"So I see, now then why else are you here for, Naruto?" Hone asked.
"I came here to give you a name." he said.
"A name? Me?" she said sounding confused.
"Yeah, I know you used to have a human name before you became a yokai but you probably can't even remember it anymore, so I found the perfect name to give you." Naruto said.
"Oh really, what is it?" Hone raised a brow.
"Katsumi."
"Katsumi...hmmm, I have to admit I like the name very much." Katsumi smiled.
"Yep."
He got up off the couch, "I should get going now, but I'll see you again real soon."
"Before you go I have something to give you, as a thank you gift for the lovely name you gave me." she smiled.
Naruto was currently back at his house after he left the Forest of Death's gate after he gave spider woman her name, which was Ran, as for Ame-Onna he gave her the name Miyuki. The two had different reactions, Miyuki was bragging how her name sounded better than the 'old hag's,' while Ran simply said it was acceptable, but he knew she liked it. After that was done he went back home to practice his sowing and just finished making another robe.
"That looks good." Sage complimented as he leaned against the door of the room.
"Thanks, but I still have a long way to go before they look good enough." Naruto said.
"Don't rush, things like sowing take time to get right." Sage told him.
"I know..." Naruto said.
Sage leaned off the door frame, "Naruto, how would you feel about adding weapons training tomorrow along with other things?"
Naruto thought about the offer, learning how to use a variety of weapons such as, katana's spear, bow and arrows would be very useful actually.
"Okay."
"Also, I plan on teaching you some spiritual abilities that will no doubt help you in the near future." Sage said.
"Spiritual abilities...I want to learn as much as I can. Please don't go easy on me." Naruto didn't know it but he would soon egret those very words.
Sage smirked, "Then I won't.
Next Time: Kyūbi