AN: so here we go with a second installment of A Different Result, A New Beginning. I was surprised with the amount of feedback I got on the first day, while not many of you reviewed, I was still impressed with all of the alerts I got about people following/favoriting (yea I know that's not a word, I don't care, wanna fight about it?) the story. So I thank everyone that checked out my story and decided to stick around for more.
Disclaimer: I own nothing nor will I ever own anything other than my OC's like Tatsumaki and the others that I will be introducing throughout the story.
Reedited on 7/27/13
(Earthland X780)
Tatsumaki was amazed at how Naruto could absorb knowledge. He couldn't have asked for a better Dragon Slayer to pass on what he knew.
Before he started teaching Naruto any magic, he felt that it was necessary to teach him the history of Earthland to give him a better understanding of the world he now resided in. He didn't go any farther back then the beginning of the Great Dragon Empire because in his honest opinion, the time before the empire was one of brutes and savages.
The founding of the empire began shortly after the first dragon had unlocked the secret of absorbing Eternano from the air into his body. The body naturally produced enough Eternano for one to survive and function but for those that wished to use magic, they needed to be able to absorb Eternano from the atmosphere to increase their own reserves.
The reason why only 10% of the human population could use magic was because most of the human's Eternano containers were damaged at birth and are unable to draw in any extra magic. Dragons never had this biological flaw.
The first dragon began teaching other dragons how to use magic and various branches of magic started forming through experimentation. While it's true that anyone could learn any kind of magic with proper instruction, certain people were geared towards certain kinds of magic.
That held true even more so for dragons. Many of the dragons that learned how to use magic created Elemental magic due to dragons naturally strong bond with nature. Amongst all of the elemental magic that was created, fire seemed to be the primary element that dragons developed. This common trait among dragons soon turned into a human myth that all dragons could breathe fire.
While nearly 60% of the dragon population had a natural affinity for fire, the other forms of magic didn't have anywhere near the same level of conformity. All sorts of elements and sub elements formed during the experimentation stage of the dragons. Lightning, Earth, Water, Wind, Metal, Ice, Lava, and Sky were all types of elemental magic that was created during that time; though some of the most feared magic was created by the dragons that didn't just try to form magic from their natural affinity.
These dragons mixed their natural affinity with their own knowledge of the world to form very powerful types of magic. There were four main branches of these dangerous magic's, Time, Dimensional, Memory and Chaos. The dragons that developed these types of magic found that they had a massive advantage in battle due to the fact that their magic didn't really conform to any one element and thus the attacks of the elemental dragons weren't nearly as effective as their own magic was on them.
While these four types of magic were powerful, they weren't the most powerful forms of magic that the dragons invented. Over these forms of magic was what became known as Holy Dragon Magic. Light and Darkness, one could not exist without the other. The dragons understood this and didn't consider the darkness to be evil nor did they consider that the light was purely good, both had their strengths and weaknesses and their creators were fallible like any other dragon.
The last form of magic that was invented during this time enabled its creator to unite all of the dragons to form what became known as The Great Dragon Empire, where he announced himself to be the first Dragon King.
He created what became known as Supreme Dragon magic. No dragon could possibly compete with him because he was able to take parts of all the other forms of dragon magic and combine them into one. Each form of dragon magic was susceptible to another form and thus no one could truly get an advantage over one another.
Supreme Dragon magic had no known weakness. It took all of the strengths of the other dragon's magic and yet none of their weaknesses. He could also absorb all other forms of magic and any of the elements to sustain and refuel himself, which gave him a never ending source of power.
After the establishment of his dominance over the other dragons, he gathered them together to form a great empire that easily over took all of Earthland. The Empire quickly became something that the world had never seen nor will probably ever see for at least 1000 years.
To ensure that the empire would pass the test of time, the Dragon King has assigned each of the different dragon type's specific roles within the empire that matched best with their strengths.
Because the fire dragons were the most abundant, they made up the majority of the standing army, which was why the myth about all dragons being able to breathe fire came into existence since most confrontations with dragons were of the fire variety.
Lightning dragons were given the task to power the empire so that all could enjoy the uses of electricity. It was another myth among men that dragons were mindless beasts that dwelled in caves and destroyed all those that would dare climb on their mountain. This couldn't have been farther from the truth.
Earthland was riddled with high mountain ranges that provided the dragons with an unusual advantage over the other species. Since very few creatures could reach such heights at the time, let alone survive there, the tops of the mountains became the ideal spot to build a civilization.
The dragons utilized their powerful magic to build sprawling cities across the globe. Due to the larger mountains, some of the cities even stretched above the clouds themselves.
The myth about them being cave dwelling creatures was actually a carefully engineered plan by the Dragon King. He had the military set up multiple defensive caves near the bases of mountains in which a city stood at its peak. Whenever anyone, human or otherwise came to far up the mountain a dragon would go and protect it's 'territory' and drive off or kill the offender.
After it became common knowledge that a dragon had taken up a roast on a mountain very few dared to even settle near it, let alone explore it.
Thus the dragons built the most powerful civilization in the world and no one even knew it existed.
Because of the fact that the empire didn't have any enemies to speak of, they were able to put all of their resources into other things, such as the arts and science.
With the use of their reinforced steel, the Metal dragons were able to undertake massive engineering projects that allowed them to build spiraling cities on the mountain tops.
In a combined effort, the Water and Earth dragons produced all of the agricultural needs of the empire. Even though dragons primarily hunted for their food, once the empire had grown too large a greatly increased demand for food caused the erupt change in the diets of many dragons.
The dragons of ice and lava had a very unique task. The Dragon King was incredibly paranoid when it came to anything discovering his empire and as such took further precautions to ensure the secrecy of their major cities. Because of that, the Lava and Ice dragons had the task of making the mountains containing the more populated cities inhabitable after a certain altitude. Be it freezing conditions or random downfall of molten rock, both effectively stopped any living thing to come near the mountains.
Sky dragons were an oddity among the dragon race. Instead of focusing on the destructive force that their magic was capable of they decided to work on the art of healing. Before the establishment of the empire, dragons would have confrontations over territories and it soon became common practice to befriend a Sky dragon to help guard the territory.
It was beneficial agreement for both dragons. The Sky dragon was guaranteed a home to stay and was shielded from the direct fighting while at the same time the dragon offering their territory would have the benefit of being healed during conflicts as well as having the aid of the Sky dragons support magic.
Due to this practice, when the time came for roles to be distributed among the dragons it wasn't hard to predict that the Sky dragons were selected to be the healers of the great nation.
The other job that the Sky dragons held was a joint effort with the Wind dragons to control the weather around their numerous cities to ensure the easiest possibility for sustainability.
Other than aiding the Sky dragons with maintaining the weather they were designated as the keepers of knowledge. Many within the kingdom didn't understand why the Wind dragons were assigned such a job when it would make more sense to have either the dragons of Time or Memory to hold such a position.
Those that thought that way had a valid point and some of those dragons did just that but the Wind dragons knew something that the others didn't. The air in the world had always been there, since the creation of the planet. The air that those dragons were breathing was the very same air that the first creatures of the world breathed thousands of years ago.
To the Wind dragons, the air itself was a treasure trove of information on anything that dealt with the world. Nothing was out of their grasp when it came to learning the secrets of the world if they could master their magic to a certain degree and thus they were unparalleled in gathering and maintaining knowledge.
Then there were the more dominant if not lesser in number dragons. Those of Time, Dimension, Memory and Chaos felt that they should serve a higher purpose within the kingdom instead of doing a specialized task. During the Great Warring Days they had completely outclassed the other dragons and in their arrogance they had become withdrawn from the majority of their brethren.
The Dragon King had fully agreed with them and decided to make all those that fell into that category advisors within the Royal Dragon Court and effectively cut them off from the rest of the empire. There were a few that felt that their talents would be put to better use throughout the kingdom and thus took up positions and key centers of activity to better supervise and keep the order, though most stayed within the dragon capitol of Draconis.
There was a select group of dragons that didn't want anything to do with governing and the inner workings of the empire. The Holy Dragons truly believed that their brand of magic was meant to serve a higher purpose than the Dragon King. Thus they broke away from the empire and set upon the world on a holy mission to keep the balance of the world.
The dragons of light and darkness had always been cynical creatures but it became ever so clear when they had set up their order. They didn't try to eliminate all of the evil in the world or vice versa. Nor did they favor one race over another. Their only goal was to keep the balance of good and evil throughout the world as best they could, nothing more.
It was an odd way to approach things for most but few questioned them because very few had the power to. The Dragon King was the only one that was above them in sheer power and even with the backing of an entire nation of dragons the casualties would've been too high for the Dragon King to risk open conflict; as long as they didn't target his kingdom.
So they brought forth their divine judgment on the world and kept the balance of Earthland. That would normally be seen as fine by many, and it was. Those that knew of their methods however had a very different opinion of the 'Holy Dragons'.
If something seemed out of place in their quest for balance then they would not hesitate to completely eradicate the problem. There was no warning, no hint that an offending race had caused a disruption, just complete annihilation.
Peace had followed the solidation of the Great Dragon Empire for nearly 300 years until the point in time where the dragons had begun interacting with humans. Tatsumaki explained in great detail exactly why the civil war had occurred and why such a thing should be avoided at all costs in the future. The key to that avoidance was simple, understanding.
Naruto had taken in everything the old dragon had taught him and after much encouragement by his master, had formulated his own opinions on the matter. For Naruto, the only topic that he actually cared about was Acnologia. It wasn't that Naruto didn't care about the history of dragons; he actually found it quite interesting. The problem was that his curiosity was drowned in his outrage over Acnologia's actions.
It had been drilled into Naruto's head since a young age that you stand with and protect your comrades, even if it means death. To forsake that sacred bond and kill your friends and allies was one of the most heinous crimes in Naruto's eyes.
It had taken Naruto a while to get over Acnologia's actions but even so, Tatsumaki continued with his lessons, the most pressing what had happened to the few remaining dragons. Most of them had been incredibly young, all under 100 years old besides three of them.
Since so many were so young very few understood why the massacres had happened. They couldn't grasp why sharing knowledge would lead to such events. In their confusion and grief, they separated to escape all of the horrible memories. All of the dragons and gone their separate ways, all but two.
Grandeeney was the last Sky dragon and yet she hadn't known anything about the magic she was blessed with. The Sky dragons had been early targets for both sides during the conflict because the prevailing thought was that if the enemy's support was killed off then the war would end in a decisive manner.
That left Grandeeney without anyone to teach her early on. She was far too young during the war to be a target and because of that she was spared the horrors of being directly involved in the war. It turned from a blessing into a curse shortly after the wars end.
She was the last of her kind, the only one that could carry on the dragon art of healing and she only knew the absolute basics. Alone and confused, Grandeeney wondered the many ruins of the old empire in search of anything that could benefit her.
Watching the young dragon had broken Tatsumaki's indifferent exterior and allowed him to take pity on her. He had told her that he only took her in so that her magic wouldn't be lost forever but she never believed him for a second.
Tatsumaki's Archive magic had been invaluable in teaching the dragoness Sky magic. While he didn't have every technique stored within his mass amount of knowledge he had more than enough to give her a large repertoire and a greater understanding of the core principles of her magic.
Their relationship of master and student had lasted for 200 years before they finally parted ways once he had nothing left to offer. It wasn't that she was using him and once his usefulness had ended she left. It was simply that she had grown into a mature dragon and for the most part dragons were solitary creatures. Tatsumaki would never admit it but he had truly enjoyed his time with the younger dragon.
Without the dragon's overwhelming presence, humans had begun to take full control over Earthland as the dominant species. From the ashes of the fallen Byzantine Empire rose a new empire to take its place, the Kingdom of Fiore.
The Fiore Kingdom had established itself as a prominent world leader early during the humans rise to power and surrounding kingdoms had adopted the same manner of structure as Fiore.
At the head sat the king, his word was law and power unquestionable. Under the king were two separate branches of power. One was the Magic Council which regulated all things magical with the kingdom. The other body of power was the Council of Knights which doubled as a police force and standing army of the nation.
The next form of authority wasn't by design but was adopted out of convenience. Multiple guilds had sprung up throughout the country which attracted mages of all sorts to fill their halls. The Guild League was established by the Magic Council in an attempt to reign back in some of the wilder mages by giving the guild masters more power and thus structure. As long as the guild masters and by proxy their guilds followed the laws set forth by the Magic Council then they were allowed to do as they pleased.
From that point Tatsumaki had broadened the base of what Naruto would learn. He covered all subjects from the various forms of magic he would encounter, all of the different wildlife and sentient creatures that roamed Earthland. He also covered the laws and customs of the most prominent countries in the world, including Fiore and much more. Anything that Tatsumaki thought was relevant was pounded into the blond's head.
What amazed Tatsumaki the most wasn't the fact that he was able to learn all of this; it was the fact that he was able to retain all of this information in only 6 months. That was very strange for a human, even those that were considered geniuses among their race. When confronted about it, all Naruto said was that he was actually really good at learning things when he wanted to; it was just when he was younger he was discouraged from learning due to the ignorance of his own people.
The very thought made the dragon scoff at the stupidity of Naruto's home village. Humans, no matter the world, were so easy to scare and once fear was able to set in, irrationality took root and the potential of a young child had been stunted as the result.
Jostling the young boy from his independent studies, the old dragon motioned for Naruto to follow him.
"Naruto, I believe it's finally time to begin teaching you Dragon Slaying Magic."
Tatsumaki had been holding back on teaching Naruto Dragon Slaying Magic for a multitude of reasons. The first was because he truly felt that the boy needed a better understanding of the world that he was currently in and all the magic power in the world wouldn't do a lick of good if he went and got himself killed because he did something reckless like eat a poisonous plant.
The second reason was what had been bothering Tatsumaki for some time. During the first week that Naruto had arrived, Tatsumaki came across the discovery that would make it very difficult for Naruto to learn Dragon Slaying Magic. That discovery was the simple fact that Naruto didn't have anything to contain Eternano in.
Tatsumaki had hoped that this chakra of his would be interchangeable with magic, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Chakra was far more unstable than magic, so much so that for Naruto to attempt to use any of Tatsumaki's magic, he would need considerable control over his chakra, which was something that the boy just didn't have. While a setback, Tatsumaki wasn't deterred from having his Dragon Slayer. After 6 months of searching for what he was looking for, he finally was able to find what would solve his problem.
"Yatta! It's about damn tim…" Naruto's rant stopped dead in its tracks when he noticed the stern glare from the elder dragon. "I mean, yes master."
He may have added a little too much with the slight bow at the end but this was how they interacted; Tatsumaki had his overwhelming need to be formal in everything and Naruto had his brash and uncaring nature for civil conversation. It caused for some rather interesting confrontations.
Continuing to give his disciple a stern look, the dragon kept moving forward. "Do you know why I waited so long to teach you how to use magic?"
When Naruto shook his head in the negative, Tatsumaki elaborated. "You aren't from this world, because of that, your body doesn't have a natural way to absorb and store Eternano, thus, making you unable to learn how to use my magic."
This put a frown on Naruto's face. If what Tatsumaki said was true, then how could he possibly become a Dragon Slayer? There had to be more to this because the old dragon had to have known about this shortly after they met. There was no way that he would string him along like this to just tell him that he couldn't learn magic, Tatsumaki just wasn't that kind of guy, blunt to the point where it hurt, but he would never mislead someone purposely.
"Do you remember what a lacrima is Naruto?"
"Yea, a lacrima is a container that can store different kinds of magic; they can be used for all kinds of different things."
Slowly nodding his head at his apprentice's broad answer, he led Naruto through a small passage into a room that the shinobi hadn't seen before. The room itself looked much like the rest of the cave expect for what appeared to be a large table sitting in the middle of the room. "Yes, that is correct. One use for lacrima is that it can be implanted into someone that can't gather Eternano naturally, which would enable them to be able to use magic."
The gears slowly began to turn inside the blond's head before a grin threaten to split his face. "That's awesome! I'll still be able to learn magic! Wait a second, if that's all it was, why did you wait so freaking long to tell me that?"
The dragon merely grunted at the boy's outburst, of course he would find something to complain about, no matter how small or insignificant. "While lacrima themselves are relatively easy to find, it is difficult to find a lacrima that's strong enough to hold the amount of magic power that I need to put into it so it can work."
Giving his master a confused look, Naruto voiced his confusion. "What do mean? Why couldn't you just put any lacrima in me and I could work from there."
Honestly, it couldn't be that hard, Tatsumaki himself said that mages increase their power by training, even if he had a smaller than average lacrima to start off with, he would just work his ass off to make it into something useable.
A deep sigh escaped the dragon's maw at Naruto's naïve question. "Even after everything I have taught you, you're still as hard headed as the day I met you. When you put a lacrima into someone's body, it fuses with the body and becomes that body's natural container for magical power. Your body already has an internal power source, if I would introduce a lacrima that was dwarfed in power by your original reserves, then the magic would be swallowed up by your chakra and you would be back to square one, and that's not even considering the demon's power."
The process for giving Naruto magic was actually far more complicated than that. Tatsumaki was using educated guesses at best when he came to this conclusion. The only thing that he had to base this on was a past precedent where a powerful mage tried implanting a lacrima of a different type of magic as a way to boast his own power. The lacrima he used was too small and his own power just consumed the foreign object. Naruto had a massive amount of chakra, thus the difficulty in finding a lacrima that could match his reserves.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense." It really didn't to him but Tatsumaki was usually right when it came to things that involved magic, so who was he to say otherwise?
The mighty dragon let out a heavy sigh, he could tell by the way Naruto tilted his head to the left and the way he squinted his eyes that the boy didn't understand what he was talking about. Maybe a simpler explanation would do the job?
"Think of it this way, if you have a large predator in a forest and you introduce a smaller predator into the same environment, the larger animal will eat the smaller one. To prevent this, you have to introduce a predator of the same size and power to ensure that one doesn't overtake the other, understand?"
"Oh, that makes sense, why didn't you just say that right away? You know for being the "smartest" dragon alive, you don't do everything the smartest way, do you?"
That was kind of a low blow, even for Naruto, but it had been at least a week since he'd gotten a good insult off on the old dragon and he would be damned if he let that one slip away from him.
Over the course of the six months that Tatsumaki had spent with Naruto, he would get urges to devour the little loud mouth; this was one of those times. He had been around for nearly millennia where almost no one had been able to get under his scales and yet this little brat had figured out how to do it in less than a week. Somehow, it didn't bother the dragon that much though, there was almost something endearing about how they would insult each other. On the other hand, he would be dead and buried before he let the brat know that.
"It's not that I didn't choose the smartest way to do something, it was the fact that you're too stupid to understand the meaning of my words."
A tick mark formed on Naruto's forehead at the fact that the overgrown lizard had just not so subtly called him stupid. He always had to have the last word. Normally Naruto would continue the argument until Tatsumaki hit him with his tail, not today though, he wanted to start learning how to use magic as soon as possible and being knocked unconscious by a grumpy old dragon wasn't the best way to do that.
"So you found a lacrima that wouldn't get eaten up by my chakra?"
"Yes, it wasn't easy to find either, but I've finished imbuing it with both my Wind Dragon Slaying Magic as well as my Archive Magic. Naturally, we'll be focusing on training you to use Dragon Slaying Magic, but you'll hopefully be able to use the most basic forms of Archive, even with your pathetic brain capacity."
That damn dragon was smirking at him, at least he thought he was smirking at him, it's hard to tell what emotion a dragon was feeling by looking at their face.
"Fuck you, you sack of scales, I'll not only be the best Dragon Slayer, but I'll also master Archive!"
"I don't think that even I'll be able to live long enough to see that day."
It was so much fun pushing this human's buttons. He was actually turning red with anger, how adorable. Anymore and he would probably burst. Unfortunately, he had to get this show on the road. The process for imbuing a lacrima into a human body was a long and sometimes dangerous one.
His voice turning serious, "Naruto, you need to understand that the process for imbuing a lacrima takes at least 8 hours to complete and that's if everything goes according to plan. There could be complications along the way and you could die from this operation. Are you willing to undertake this process?"
After living with Naruto for 6 months, he already knew what the blond would say but he had to make it clear just what he was getting himself into; he would feel guilty about not warning him if things went south.
"Piff, who do you think I am? I am Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage, I'm not going to let some stupid operation get in the way of me achieving my dream, dattebayo!"
There was that fire, the drive that made Tatsumaki believe that this child would actually follow through on his word. Again, can't let him know that.
"You could've just said yes, now shut up and lay down while I begin the procedure."
A mumbled "ass" could be heard leaving Naruto's lips but he complied regardless and laid down in the middle of the table.
"Oh, and this might hurt just a bit." He mentioned as an afterthought right before he began implanting the lacrima into Naruto.
"Oi, what do you mea-ARRRGGGHHH!" and so the implanting process started. The unfortunate part of the process was that Naruto wouldn't be able fall into sweet unconsciousness because the process of implanting a lacrima into a person involved adding something that was never there. It required not only moving organs to make room for the lacrima, but it also required reconnecting everything to the nervous system, which meant that Naruto's brain was being bombarded by thousands of pain signals.
The easy part was actually making room for the lacrima and implanting it. From there things became complicated. The fact that Naruto didn't have an Eternano container also meant that he didn't have any pathways for the Eternano to travel through. That led to the problem of how to exactly create those pathways.
Tatsumaki had entertained the idea of trying to use the chakra pathways for the Eternano to travel in but had discarded the idea. His limited knowledge on chakra and the anatomy of human's from Naruto's world led him to avoid damaging the current pathways. So instead he decided to make completely different pathways all together.
This of course led to another problem. Creating multiple pathways for the magic to flow through wouldn't be easy. There was no precedent for it because everyone that had a lacrima put in them had pathways for the Eternano to flow through, they just weren't used. The best Tatsumaki could do was look at how to repair damaged pathways and try to recreate them from there.
That was easier said than done but he had managed. The entire surgery took a little over 9 hours to complete but the stubborn brat took it like a champ. It didn't take him more than 5 seconds to pass out once the operation had finished.
Looking down at his exhausted student, Tatsumaki let a rare smile come to his face. "You've done well Naruto, there are few in this world that would've survived such an ordeal. You made me proud to be your sensei today.
(Tatsumaki's Cave, Post Operation)
"Ugh, my head."
That had to have been the most painful thing that he had ever went through, not even being stabbed through the chest by Sasuke hurt as much.
"It seems that you've finally awoken"
Still slightly dazed from the experience, Naruto turned towards the voice and saw the blurry image of his master. "Yea, how long was I out for?"
"Only a day, it seems that your regenerative abilities are as strong as ever, most people would be out for a week if they managed to survive that operation."
"Hehe, I guess I'm just that awesome huh?"
"If anything, you're incredibly lucky, the procedure went as well as I could have hoped. You should be able to feel it now, Eternano circulating throughout your body."
And he did, it felt so weird to have another power source running throughout his body. Eternano felt so much calmer than chakra. It was like a lighter, faster version of chakra.
"As you may have noticed, you have more magic in your system than you do chakra, during the operation; I noticed that even though you had the same amount of chakra as Eternano, your chakra was still overpowering it. I miscalculated just how potent your chakra was and I acted accordingly."
"So does that mean that everything is good now? I don't have to worry about my chakra overwhelming my magic? I didn't go through all that shit for nothing you know."
Seriously though, that was the most painful thing that he had ever endured, if it was all for nothing he might just snap and attempt to kill the dragon.
"Who do you take me for? Of course I balanced your two power sources. While it was difficult to achieve it, the benefits will far outweigh the price you paid. Not only will you be able use magic in conjuncture with your chakra, but as you train with one, the other will grow as well to meet equilibrium. Of course that doesn't mean you should focus on one over the other, while your reserves will grow, your control will only get worse if left unattended."
For Naruto, that didn't really change anything. Once Tatsumaki had finally taught him to use magic he had planned on training both his magic as well as his jutsu. While Dragon Slaying Magic seemed powerful, he didn't want to become reliant on it. Once he returned home it would be a good ace in the hole but he would still need to able to use his jutsu, what kind of Hokage would he be if he couldn't use jutsu?
"Heh, that's fine, so when are we going to start training me how to use magic?"
"Not for another week, you need time for the lacrima in you to become a permanent part of your body, right now it's only a placeholder, eventually it will be fully incorporated into your body as if it was always there."
(Six Months Later)
It had been six months since Naruto had begun his Dragon Slayer training and he loved every second of it. It just felt natural to control the wind like he could now.
Over the last six months, Naruto started learning how to channel and control his new found power. Control had always been an issue for Naruto when it came to chakra and magic wasn't any different. While magic wasn't nearly as potent as chakra was, the problem came from the fact that he had more magic than he knew what to do with.
Learning the beginner spells was really easy for Naruto because unlike the academy jutsu, the techniques he was learning now didn't explode in his face if he overpowered them. The Wind Dragon's Roar was a prime example of that. He could pump as much power into it as he wanted and he would still get a useable attack.
The down side to this was that he would burn a ton of magic on a couple attacks. He could literally burn through his entire magic reserve with five roars. Even Naruto knew that just wasn't acceptable. So for six long months Naruto spent his time training his control over his magic. While he obviously hadn't mastered his control, he had progressed far enough to where he could last pretty long in a fight with only his magic.
After long last it was finally time to move past the basics. Tatsumaki had been unmovable on the subject of teaching him anything new until he could properly control the basics. While annoying, Naruto understood the reasoning behind it, after all, how many times had a well-timed substitution or transformation changed the tide of a battle?
"Naruto, you've spent enough time on the basics, it's time for you to learn the true nature of your magic."
"What do you mean by true nature?"
Wind Dragon Slaying Magic seemed pretty straight forward to the shinobi. One could either use the blunt force of a blast of wind to attack opponents from afar or you could increase your physical traits by incasing parts of your body with wind. Obviously the more advanced techniques would require a little more than that but what else could wind really do? It was just wind.
"What is wind to you? Do you truly understand what it means to control the very essence of wind?"
The old dragon honestly wanted to know what Naruto thought about the magic that he had been teaching him. It was never Tatsumaki's style of teaching to just outright tell someone what he was trying to teach them. He found that people tend to learn and retain knowledge more if you force them to think about it prior to having it taught to them.
Also, it was amusing to the dragon to watch the boy struggle with a response. He may be quick to pick up a lesson but if you ask him anything that he wasn't taught before, he'll just look at you with the stupidest look on his face
"Well, you hit them with it. Kind of like blunt force impact. If you make the attack move fast enough and compact the air enough you can cause a decent amount of damage."
"Is that all you believe your magic is capable of?"
"Well I… I guess I haven't really thought about it. I've been too busy training with my current techniques as well as trying to keep up with Jutsu. You also haven't let up on any of the lessons about this world and kami knows whatever else you feel that I need to know. When the hell am I ever going to use advanced mathematics anyway?"
"Being educated will not only help you think more clearly on the battlefield but it was also allow you to be a civil member of society. I will not have my Dragon Slayer be an imbecile that cannot even solve the most basic of math problems. You should be thanking me for all the effort I put into getting that information into that thick skull of yours."
"Whatever… I still don't see how being able to find a derivative will help me."
"Irrelevant, now for your magic. What makes wind based magic truly dangerous isn't the blunt force trauma that can be inflicted by impact, no, what makes wind truly dangerous is its ability to cut."
Naruto had forgotten about that. That Sand chick used wind based Jutsu and she cut up everything. In her fight with TenTen she cut her up pretty badly. Her fight with Shikamaru was even worse, while she didn't actually get him; she got just about everything else and dug some pretty deep groves in the ground and the stadium walls.
"How do you make wind cut though?
"How do you cut anything? What determines if something is sharp? The answer? Physics. To cut something you need to apply enough pressure to break through whatever surface you're trying to cut. To apply more pressure, compact the air and have the point of impact be small to apply a larger force."
From the look on Naruto's face, he wasn't getting this at all. He may have been glad that he had chosen Naruto to be his Dragon Slayer but the kid's dense head could be aggravating at times.
"Think of it this way, if you hit something with a hammer, you won't be able to cut through the surface unless you add a massive amount of force behind it due to the large impact area of the hammer. Now, if you apply a smaller force but use a sword instead, you'll be able to break through the surface relatively easily because the point of impact is much smaller. It's all about where you apply the force of your attack."
"Oh, yea that makes sense. Why do you always get all technical when you explain things like that? It would just be a lot easier to explain things the way you did the second time, don't you think?"
Naruto knew why Tatsumaki always explained things the way he did. He also knew just how much it bothered him when he would make fun of the way he taught. He actually understood the first explanation; it was just more fun to bug the dragon. It drove the dragon up the wall and that alone was worth acting like an idiot sometimes.
An angry tick appeared over Tatsumaki's face at the brat's insolence. However, getting angry over it would only let the brat know that he had won. He had learned a while ago that Naruto loved messing with him and it soon became a game to see who could get under each other's skin more.
"My apologies, I find it difficult to stupefy simple subjects to the point that even your mediocre brain can handle it."
"Ok, you win this time you old lizard." "So you're telling me that the real use for my magic is the ability to cut?"
"Well, yes and no, for the most part you will be focusing on the cutting element of your wind magic. There are more advanced uses for it but at your current level, you aren't ready for that."
"Heh, this is great, I can't wait to get this down, when I get back to the Elemental Nations, Granny Tsunade won't have any other choice but give me that hat."
"The boy is determined, that's good. He'll need that determination if he plans to survive in this world, let alone make it back to his own dimension."
The boy had the potential and the drive to do great things, that Tatsumaki had no doubt. His goal on the other hand was anything but easy. If anyone could do it, Naruto could. All he needed was for someone to push him in the right direction. How could he fail? After all, he has an amazing sensei to teach him.
"I remember that you told me about how you have elemental techniques from your world. Perhaps you could try incorporating your wind magic with your other techniques. It may be something worth experimenting with."
Naruto hadn't actually thought of that. This entire time he had been working with the Jutsu that he already knew. Experimenting with different ways to use shadow clones, trying to get a one handed rasengan down. The only other techniques he had were the basic academy Jutsu (which he had down pat) and summoning.
The summoning Jutsu really bothered him. He had tried summoning a toad a couple days after he had first recovered and no matter how much chakra he poured into the technique, he couldn't summon a toad. When he explained the issue to Tatsumaki, the old dragon told him that the technique involved bringing a being from another dimension and thus he wouldn't be able to summon anything unless he had enough power to rip a whole through the dimensional walls.
The only silver lining was that if he could generate the power to summon something, than he might be able to find his way back home.
"You mean like using my Dragon Slaying Magic with my other techniques?"
"Not quite, most of your abilities are supplementary techniques that wouldn't gain anything from adding your magic too. What I'm talking about is developing your chakra's elemental affinity. You already have an understanding of how to control wind through your magic, it shouldn't be that much harder to gain a wind affinity with your chakra. Like you yourself told me earlier, you don't want to become dependent on your magic, thus you must continue your shinobi techniques. This seems like the logical next step, don't you agree?"
"Yea, that makes sense. Where do you think I should start?"
"Where ever your imagination takes you. I'm not going to hold your hand. You already have a basic understanding of how to control wind; do you expect me to do everything for you?"
There was the stupid smirk that Naruto hated so much. Even when Tatsumaki was helping he came off as an arrogant prick. Still, as annoying as Tatsumaki was, he was equally as helpful, if not more so.
"Whatever, I really don't need your help anyway, I was just asking so you could feel useful. Give me 3 months and I'll have everything down pat and creating my own awesome techniques. Maybe if you're lucky you'll learn something.
"Pfft, the day I learn something from you is the day I die."
(One Year Later)
Naruto had grown out of his old jumpsuit and was now wearing what clothes he could find in Tatsumaki's collection. Why Tatsumaki had any human clothing at all was something he wouldn't comment on but Naruto wasn't going to push the issue.
Naruto was now clad in a pure white shirt and pants combination. The shirt had two buttons, one towards top of his shirt in the middle and another towards the bottom left of his shirt. Underneath that he was wearing form fitting chain mail for added protection. Naruto was able to modify a pair of what he assumed were military boats into a pair of shinobi sandals. He still proudly wore his headband on his forehead.
It had been over two years since Naruto had arrived in Earthland. He had spent those two years training both his body and mind to lengths that even surprised him.
When he was a kid, all he did was image himself being a badass ninja with a bunch of different awesome moves. Those of course were just delusions of grandeur of a child. Now, he had the abilities that he always dreamed of having. By no means was he at his peak but he had come quite a ways from his 14 year old self.
Thinking back on it, Naruto wouldn't have changed a thing about what happened. Yea, he may have had to fight his best friend in a death match, been transported into a completely different dimension and he might not have seen any of his friends in over two years. Still, even after all of that Naruto was happy with what had happened. If Sasuke hadn't defected, then Naruto wouldn't have met Tatsumaki.
Naruto and Tatsumaki had a strange relationship, if anyone would watch them, it would seem like they could barely stand each other's presence. That statement couldn't be any less true. While they fought every day, they truly enjoyed being around each other.
For Naruto, Tatsumaki was like the grandfather that he never had. While it was true that the old man Hiruzen acted like a grandfather when Naruto was a kid, the man was barely around. Being Hokage didn't exactly give someone a ton a free time to go check on orphans. Naruto was lucky to see the old man once a month.
Naruto imagined this is what it would be like if he would've trained with Jiraiya. Naruto had learned so much under Tatsumaki that he couldn't begin to thank him for everything he had done because there wasn't anything that he could do to show just how much he appreciated him.
For Tatsumaki, things were a bit different. Before Tatsumaki had met Naruto, he was an old, bitter and regretful dragon. He had seen so many things that he wished he hadn't and it changed him for the worse. After the Great Dragon Civil War, he had become withdrawn from everyone, even Grandeeney. The only reason he put up with her was because he felt that it was his duty to pass on the knowledge of Sky Dragon Slaying Magic. Looking back on it, perhaps he shouldn't have been so crass with her.
When Naruto had arrived, something changed within Tatsumaki. If you had asked Tatsumaki at any point in his life if he would take on a Dragon Slayer, he would've laughed in your face at the absurdity of the statement. Something about the blond just drew you in and made you like him. Because of that, he had given the kid a shot and he was surprised by what he had seen.
Every challenge that Tatsumaki handed Naruto was overcome. He had half expected the operation that gave him magic would kill him. He easily pulled through that and had taken to using magic like a fish takes to water. He had mastered the basics and even most of the higher level techniques, all in less than two years. Only a few of the more powerful Dragon Slaying techniques eluded him and with time he would master those as well.
What really surprised Tatsumaki was the will that the boy possessed. He wouldn't give up on anything. He always pushed himself to exhaustion and even then he wouldn't give in. It saved him a few times during their training. His demon had tried taking over once during a more intensive training session and he had suppressed it on his own.
After that event, they made sure to spend more time trying to control the demon's power so something like that wouldn't happen again. It also didn't hurt to have another ace in the hole. Naruto had been reluctant to try and use the fox's chakra the way Tatsumaki wanted him to but he eventually gave in.
Tatsumaki explained that from what he could discern from the seal was that he was supposed to be able to use the demon's power; otherwise it wouldn't be so easy for the demon to pump him full of chakra when he was tired or really angry.
Tatsumaki had grown quite fond of Naruto. The boy was growing stronger every day and it made Tatsumaki proud to see him flourish under his tutelage. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. While Naruto hadn't said anything, Tatsumaki knew that he was preparing to leave. They both knew that this was coming. There wasn't anything else that Tatsumaki could teach him that he couldn't learn while exploring Earthland.
Naruto had to leave the dragon's den eventually. He had been there for two years honing his skills and mind. There was only so much someone could learn in a sterile environment. Naruto had to go out and discover this world for himself, not only that, but he still had to find a way home and he sure as hell wasn't going to find that in the cave.
"Naruto, you've grown stronger in these last two years. There isn't much left that I can teach you. You are by no means as strong as you could be but the only way you're going to become stronger is by figuring things out on your own."
Naruto had figured as much. Tatsumaki hadn't taught him anything new in over a month. All he had been told was to continue working on his control and to try and make new techniques on his own. It was a clear a sign as any that their time together was coming to a close.
"Yea, I figured as much. I was planning on leaving soon anyways. It's not that I don't appreciate everything, but I need to get out there and start looking for a way home."
"I agree, but before you go, there is one more thing that I can teach you, something that trumps even your Wind Drive."
Something that could trump his Wind Drive? That had to be something in a whole different league because when Naruto had been taught Wind Drive a month ago, he thought that was the pinnacle of Dragon Slaying Magic.
"Well, I guess I could stay around for a while longer, I'm not in any rush after all. Hehe."
And why wouldn't he stay? He may want to get going but if you give him a chance to become stronger, you bet your ass he'll take it.
"Don't worry, you'll be on your way soon enough. You only get one shot at this training."
"Tch, that's fine, I only need one shot!"
"Always the confident one, aren't you? Be careful, one day that overconfidence will get you or someone else killed."
"That won't happen; you beat that arrogance out of me a year ago. I won't let any of my comrades' die."
The old dragon gave him a knowing look before turning towards the multiple of connected tunnels within the mountain. "Don't make statements like that, sometimes things are out of your control. Enough wasting time, follow me."
"What's up with him? Usually he isn't this serious."
Naruto followed the old dragon to a very large opening inside of the mountain. The room was large enough that even Tatsumaki had enough room to freely move around in.
"Woah, this place is huge; this would've been a great place to train in. Why didn't you show me this place sooner?"
"Because I created this room for your last test. Trust me when I say that you'll need all of the room. This is the room where you'll unlock the power of Dragon Force."
"Dragon Force?" The questioned rolled off his tongue in a quiet manner but the room had a strong echo effect which allowed the dragon to easily hear it.
"Dragon Force is the ultimate form of Dragon Slaying Magic. Once mastered, you will be able to channel the full power of a dragon. You must be careful though, the power can be overwhelming. If you can't control it, it will control you. You will lose yourself to your instincts and attack everything, much like when you use too much of your demon's power."
Wow, being able to use the full force of a dragon was really something else. Tatsumaki had shown him what a dragon at full power could do and it was frightening.
"Don't worry, I'm learning on how to control the Fox's chakra, I'll learn how to control this too, that's a promise."
Tatsumaki didn't say anything after that. He just stared at Naruto, as if looking for something. What that was, Naruto had no idea. It was kind of freaking Naruto out, Tatsumaki was never the quiet one, he may not be very loud but he never was the silent one.
"Soooo, how are we going to do this?"
That seemed to knock Tatsumaki back into reality. His eyes refocused on Naruto's face and regarded him for another second before responding.
"We fight; the only way to unlock this power is for you to be pushed to your limits. Be warned, if you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you'll fail."
Kill? There was no way he was going to try and kill the old dragon. Oh, he had no problem trying to beat the shit out of the lizard, but to try and kill him?
"I see the hesitation in your eyes, know this Naruto, I will be coming at you with the intent to kill. This test is pass fail because if you fail, you'll be dead."
Naruto was in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His response was a very intelligible "what?"
"No more talking, show me the fruits of your training!"
Was he actually serious? Did he honestly expect a death match? Had he lost his mind? This had to be some kind of messed up test. What did Kakashi-sensei always say? Look underneath the underneath?
"You're hesitating, I see you don't understand. Allow me to make it perfectly clear to you."
"Wind Dragons Roar!"
While Tatsumaki may be old, he was still capable of generating a massive amount of power. If Naruto didn't wake up soon, he would be a smear on the wall very quickly. The attack hit a surprised Naruto which resulted in a massive explosion that shook the cave.
As the smoke cleared, Tatsumaki could see that Naruto had indeed survived the attack and was now trying to pry himself out of the wall.
Pant* pant* "You're seriously trying to kill me…"
It was said softly but the realization of the situation was evident in how he said it. That attack had hit him dead on and had sent him flying across the room into the wall. If he hadn't fired off his own roar right before Tatsumaki's landed, then he would just be a red stain on the floor right now. He didn't get away unscathed either considering the trail of blood that was flowing down the side of his face.
"Now do you understand the situation you're in?"
"Yea…"
There was nothing else that needed to be said. If Tatsumaki wanted a death match, he'll get one. He said that this was just a way to unlock his Dragon Force. They wouldn't actually kill each other, right?
The real problem Naruto had was that he had no idea as to how he could fight a dragon. He couldn't get in close and use hand to hand, Tatsumaki was just way too big for that. Guess it was time to see if Dragon Slaying Magic lived up to its name.
He would start with something small. He had never truly sparred with Tatsumaki so he didn't have a clear idea of what could hurt him. Tatsumaki had shown him just how durable dragons were but he hadn't used his magic on any living being so he wasn't too keen on using it on a friend at full power.
Raising both his hands into the air, Naruto pumped his magic into his arms before making a multitude of slashes into the air in front of him which resulted in multiple blades of wind to soar at the elder dragon.
"Wind Dragon's Cyclonic Blades!"
Naruto modeled this technique after Temari's wind Jutsu. In actuality, it was the same move, just with magic instead of chakra.
Tatsumaki saw the attack coming. He was impressed when Naruto had first invented the technique. Now however, he was less than pleased. It seemed that Naruto didn't believe that Tatsumaki could take a beating if he opened with such a low level technique. That wind wouldn't even cut through his softest scales. It was time to show this whelp just how strong this old dragon was.
All Tatsumaki did was cover the front of his body with his wings and forced the wind blades to the side. The look of shock and then anger on Naruto's face brought a smile to Tatsumaki. He would enjoy this battle for the most part, granted, only if it didn't end with killing Naruto, which would be unfortunate to say the least.
"It'll take more than those weak blades to cut through my scales boy. I thought that you were going to take this more seriously? Or is this the extent of your power?"
That's it, he was going down. Let it be known that while Naruto's temper had gotten much better over the years, insulting his pride was a sure fire way to get him riled up. If the dragon wanted an ass kicking that badly, who was he to say no?
Unfortunately, Tatsumaki had a point. Those wind blades didn't even scratch him. While he wasn't expecting much from the technique, he at least expected to leave some kind of mark. If he wanted to pass this test, he was going to have to break out the big guns and quickly, otherwise he was going to be in a world of hurt.
He also couldn't just sit there and try to come up with a plan. Tatsumaki may like to play the waiting game from time to time but even his patience would run out and Naruto knew just how painful it was when Tatsumaki's patience ran out. With that thought in mind, Naruto decided that he needed to buy himself some time to come up with something that would actually work on the old reptile.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Creating twenty clones, they split apart before all charging the dragon at the same time in an effort to swarm him. Tatsumaki wasn't amused with the not so subtle diversion and released a wave of wind that blanketed the area and wiped out all of the clones. Not even the smoke signaling the clone's untimely demise remained.
Tatsumaki wasn't surprised to find that Naruto was gone once the smoke cleared. He was a shinobi first and foremost. He was hardwired to fight from the shadows. He could be a very terrifying opponent if he was in an area that offered a lot of cover. Unfortunately for the blond, Tatsumaki was well aware of this fact and had made this room with that thought in mind. The room was completely bare of anything that Naruto could take advantage of, it was a completely open room meant to test his abilities as a Dragon Slayer.
"Now where did you go?"
As Tatsumaki scanned the room, he started to hear a whirling noise that he had associated with the brat's rasengan as he called it. Where was it coming from? It was almost as if it was coming from… above!
"Odama Rasengan!"
Naruto's attacked landed dead center on Tatsumaki's back. The power behind the attack forced Tatsumaki's knees to bend before being slammed into the floor. The ground below Tatsumaki was cracked with spider webs from the impact of the technique. Naruto stood triumphantly on top of the dragons back with a shit eating grin on his face.
Now that was what Naruto called getting the drop on someone. While Tatsumaki was busy with his clones, Naruto had made his way to the ceiling. The roof of this chamber had massive jagged spikes protruding from it, which gave Naruto some much needed cover so he could get in position to make a clone and form the larger version of his rasengan.
"Hehe how was that? Ready to give up yet?"
Tatsumaki wasn't amused; the original version of that technique packed a punch by itself. The more advanced version had a substantial amount of more power behind it. He had actually been able to break the spikes on his back and blew through his scales.
While a devastating attack, it took a lot more to bring down a dragon. In response to Naruto's question, Tatsumaki lifted his tail and swatted him off of his back like a fly.
"Hardly"
Turning in midair, Naruto rolled with his landing before coming to a sliding stop in a crouched position a few feet away from where he hit the ground.
Ok, that hurt. Note to self; avoid being hit with that massive tail, it was like getting hit with a giant steel pole. Even so, Tatsumaki was one tough bastard. Even though he hadn't used the Odama Rasengan on anyone, he knew it was one of his finishers. He had scored a direct hit with one of his strongest attacks and Tatsumaki just swatted him away and stood right up like nothing happened.
At least Naruto knew that he hurt him. He could see blood pooling around the spot that the attack landed, not to mention the blood that was on Naruto's hand to begin with. Well, no one said that this was going to be easy.
"My turn"
With that statement, Tatsumaki began flapping his wings which caused a massive amount of wind to be stirred up. He kept doing that for over a minute. Naruto had no idea what the dragon was up to. He also couldn't stop him because the only reason he hadn't been picked up and thrown around the room like a rag doll was because he was sticking himself to the floor with his chakra.
"Wind Dragon's Tornado!"
True to the attacks name, a small tornado had formed in the middle of the chamber. That was bad, like really bad. Naruto didn't know how to counter a freaking natural disaster. Normally he would just absorb the wind and that would put a stop to that right there. Too bad he couldn't do that with Tatsumaki's magic.
A common misunderstanding with Slayer type magic was that they could absorb any kind of magic of the same element. While mostly true, there were exceptions. One was that when mages that use the same type of Slaying magic fight, they can't absorb the other's magic but they can be hurt by their own element.
That was one of the reasons that Naruto was getting concerned. He could see the smaller wind blades that resided inside of the tornado. If he got swept up in that he wasn't sure what would kill him first, the blades shredding him or the impact of when he would land from being thrown from that thing.
He was about to find out because his chakra anchor had just been broken.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Naruto had to think fast, he had about 4 seconds before he got dragged into that artificial force of nature. Wasn't there anything that he had that could prevent what appeared to be a very painful end?
Tatsumaki watched impassionedly as Naruto was dragged into his attack. Honestly, he had expected more out of Naruto. After two full years of training he was taken out by his third attack? It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. After letting him ride the whirlwind sort to speak, Tatsumaki threw Naruto out of the tornado with his control over it and canceled the technique. Again, Naruto flew into one of the walls of the room. The difference about this time was that he didn't have any chance to dampen the attack beforehand.
Tatsumaki walked up to the crater that was formed when Naruto's body crashed into it. Hopefully the boy wasn't dead. While he said that he would be dead if he didn't succeed, he didn't actually want to kill the boy.
"Wind Dragon's Roar!"
The sudden attack caught Tatsumaki off guard and it hit him directly in the face. What really surprised him was the fact that it was strong enough to actually force him back several yards.
"Did you seriously think that I would die that easily you old lizard?"
The moment that Naruto entered the tornado he activated his Wind Drive as a last resort. He did this for two reasons. The first reason was that he thought of it a second before he entered the death trap. The second reason was because he wanted to catch Tatsumaki off guard.
Wind Drive was different than the other Dragon Slayer's drive magic because it wasn't very noticeable. The reason for that was because wind was transparent. If he was standing still, one would be able to tell that he had wind wrapping around his form but when he was in a vortex of wind, no one would be able to notice that.
Tatsumaki had become overconfident in his own abilities. The very thing that he had warned Naruto about in the beginning of the fight came back to bite him in the ass, or face in this case.
Shaking his head to attempt to get rid of the ringing in his ears, Tatsumaki regarded his student with a slightly dazed expression. So the brat had managed to survive, not only that but he managed to get in another clean hit because of his own arrogance. However, it didn't come without cost to Naruto. He had only been training on controlling his drive form for a little over a month.
As he was, Naruto could only use his drive form once a day. Other than his demonic chakra cloak, this was Naruto's only trump card. He had only about one or two more attacks left in him in that form and then he would be out of gas. It was just a matter of time now.
Naruto didn't want to use his Wind Drive so early in the fight but drastic times called for drastic measures. That was a do or die moment for Naruto and because of it his hand was forced. Now he had to finish this fight in the next couple of attacks or he might actually fail this test. Luckily for Naruto, he already had a plan.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto created another swarm of clones, but instead of rushing the dragon, they all took out a kunai and wrapped an explosive tag on it. Then they coated the kunai in wind chakra and threw the knives at the old dragon.
Tatsumaki saw Naruto create the clones and he also saw that they threw those knives at him. Even if those kunai were enhanced with wind, Tatsumaki wasn't concerned with them because at best, they would just get slightly stuck in his scales. What Tatsumaki missed was the explosive notes that were attached to the knives. Granted, he was still a little dazed from taking a roar to the face at point blank range.
Much like he expected, the kunai were only slightly embedded in his scales. He didn't understand why Naruto would waste the chakra to create those clones just to pepper him with knives that hardly left a scratch. He was about to mock Naruto for his idiocy when the notes went off.
The explosion did exactly what Naruto wanted. It lifted the old dragon into the air and exposed Tatsumaki's softer underbelly. While the scales were still hard on his stomach, they were considerably softer than the ones on his back. This was Naruto's aim when he sprinted underneath Tatsumaki.
"Iron Fist of the Wind Dragon!"
Normally this attack wouldn't faze Tatsumaki, much like Naruto's first attack. There were two major differences in this situation and the ladder. The first difference was the fact that Tatsumaki was still being lifted into the air by the force of the explosion. The second difference was that this time Naruto's abilities were being enhanced by his Wind Drive.
Tatsumaki ended up being blown back quite a distance from the attack and was still pretty concussed from the explosion. That was quite a little plan that Naruto came up with on the spot. It also did quite a bit of damage as well. Still, dragons weren't legendary for nothing. As Tatsumaki started getting up he could feel his bones and muscles fighting against him. Curse his old age, if he would've been in his prime he would've shaken that combo off and shown Naruto what a true iron fist felt like.
A strained smile was present on Naruto's lips as he saw his master rise from his last onslaught. He had really hoped that had worked. Unfortunately, Tatsumaki was as stubborn as Naruto was when it came to fighting and he was getting back up. He didn't want to do what he was going to do next but Tatsumaki didn't leave him many options left.
He wasted his Wind Drive too early in the fight and now he was drained. He still had a lot of chakra left but nothing short of another Odama Rasengan would do any damage and he doubted that Tatsumaki would let him get close enough to use it again. So with that thought, he uttered a single word.
"Boom."
Tatsumaki's eyes widened as he heard an explosion go off above him. When had he set up explosives on the roof? Looking up, his worst fears were confirmed. The giant stone spears that made up the ceiling were falling right for him. He had enough time to dodge them; at least he would've if his body wouldn't have stopped working. He couldn't dodge them at this point; he just wasn't as young as he used to be. The least he could do was minimize the damage.
Naruto waited while the dust had cleared. He had set up those explosives in the beginning of the fight when he was getting ready to hit Tatsumaki with his Odama Rasengan. He really didn't want to use those explosives but Naruto didn't see any other way of actually beating the old lizard. If Naruto learned anything from this fight, it was that Tatsumaki could take a serious beating.
When the dust cleared, Naruto's eyes widen with shock. He hadn't expected this, he had no idea this would happen. The cause of Naruto's shock was the fact that multiple of the rock spears had pierced Tatsumaki's body. He had one spear in each of his wings, effectively pinning him to the ground. He also had multiple other spears sticking out from different parts of his body. The most noticeable was the one that had dug in halfway due to it hitting the spot where the scales had been blown off previously.
Naruto couldn't find words for the image that met his eyes. This was his fault, he set off those explosives! He didn't know what to do. He just continued to stand there like an idiot. Eventually Naruto approached the severely wounded dragon. He was still breathing, that was good. Other than that Naruto couldn't say anything positive.
"Tatsumaki, I… I-"
"Save me your apologies child, I told you to fight me with the intent to kill and you clearly were."
"And that's supposed to make it OK!? Look at you! You're bleeding everywhere, you have giant spears pinning you to the ground, you're… you're…-"
"Going to die?"
And that knocked the wind right out of Naruto's lungs. Did he just say that he was going to die? He seemed so calm about it, no fear, no regret, just calm acceptance. Tatsumaki was on death's door and for what? Unlocking some powerful technique that Naruto obviously hadn't even unlocked?
"Don't feel guilty about this Naruto; believe it or not, you did me a favor by fighting me like this."
"What? A favor? What the hell are you talking about! I damn near killed you for some stupid power up! I would've never done this if I would've known something like this would've happened!"
"Exactly, your value of life is something to be admired, even more so the life of those that you consider friends. Trust me when I say this, this was the best possible scenario."
"How? Just how could this be the best possible scenario?"
Naruto wasn't angry anymore; he was numb more than anything else. He honestly wanted to know how this was in any way, good.
"How old do you think I am Naruto? I'm nearly millennia old. I'm ancient, even by dragon standards. When dragons get as old as I do, we develop an incurable disease that destroys us from the inside out. I was dying before I even met you. It's a slow and painful process. Not only are you allowing me to avoid a bed ridden death, you also allowed me to enjoy one last battle with my Dragon Slayer and let me tell you, I couldn't have been prouder of your performance."
Naruto didn't say anything for a while. He was too absorbed in his own thoughts to think about talking. To think that Tatsumaki was suffering this entire time. How could he have missed it? Was he just that blind to that kind of thing? He never acted like he was in pain. Just how strong was Tatsumaki to be able to put up with that kind of disease and not let it show for over two years?
"So this is it? You're just going to die here and I'm supposed to leave? Just like that?"
Naruto voice was somber at this point. The only death he had dealt with was the Third Hokage's. That had hit Naruto hard but not nearly as hard as this was hitting him. It was taking everything he had not to break down and start crying.
Through ragged breaths, Tatsumaki fought through the pain, he still had something to teach his student, his last lesson.
"Not quite, you still need to unlock your Dragon Force. The only way for a Dragon Slayer to truly unlock this power is for them to slay a dragon. Once you do that, you'll be able to use the ultimate form of dragon slaying. I ask only one thing, by my bed there is a storage lacrima with all of my knowledge inside. I want you to find a scholar that you trust to give that knowledge to. It would be a shame if my knowledge died with me. Now, finish our fight Naruto and know that I'm truly happy I met you, I know you'll achieve your goals, I have faith in you."
Hiccup* "Thank you for everything, I'll make you proud, this I swear. I promise I'll find someone to entrust your knowledge to." Rising to stand by his master's head, Naruto began building the last of his magic. "Goodbye, master."
"Dragon Slaying Secret Art: Wind Dragon's Guillotine!"
With that, the blade of wind cut through Tatsumaki's neck and ended his incredibly long life. Even though he was in pain till the very end, Tatsumaki died with a smile on his face.
Naruto, well Naruto did the only thing left to do. He dropped to his knees and cried.
AN: Ok, first of all I'd like to apologize for not updating for a month. Trust me when I say that it was not my intention to leave you all high and dry like that. I hate it when authors do that. There wasn't much I could do though. First I had finals and final papers to write and then I had to help my aunt move Christmas week. Who honestly picks Christmas week to move anyway?
With all that said, my goal from now on is to update every 2-3 weeks. I'm giving myself that amount of time because I'm taking a winter course as well as the fact that I just got a job so that'll take away from my writing time. Rest assured I plan on finishing this story no matter how long it takes.
As for the pairing, I responded to most of you that asked but I'll say this for everyone, as of right now they're undecided and I don't know if this will be a harem or not. If it is it won't be a large one but it might be a single pairing. My whole goal for this story is to make it realistic according to how Mashima set up the universe.
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and like always, if you have questions don't be afraid to ask. Also please leave a review; it really helps me write more when I know there are people that want to read it.
