Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't even own any fish cakes. Frowny-face.

TSUKUMOGAMI: THE LIVING SEALS

Chapter 2

"You can count on it! Dattebayo!"

-= 3 WEEKS LATER =-

"Alright class, I think that about wraps it up for 'Intro to Chakra'. There's not much more we can do until you each can mold chakra yourselves, so we're all going to go outside in order to perform a special exercise. Follow Suzume-sensei out the back doors to the yard and she'll explain it to you." Daikoku-sensei had an attentive smile on his face, but Naruto noticed his fingers gently drumming the hardcover of a familiar orange book sitting on his desk. Naruto wasn't certain, but he thought he'd seen other people reading that book around town. He remembered because he thought it was odd for an adult ninja to walk down the street giggling and blushing at a book. So uncool.

Now that he'd finished his calligraphy exercises, youma-sensei had him working on his observation skills. She said that a seal master needs to able to notice a flaw in a seal within seconds if they ever hope to be useful on the battlefield. With her intangibility there were only so many exercises she could set up for him, so she had him count the knots in the walls and floors of the temple, track a mouse back to its den, and polish the masks in the temple.

All except the scariest one.

To be honest, he suspected it was more about keeping the temple clean than actual training, and he figured it wouldn't be long until she had him working on fixing the patio and doors.

Naruto followed his classmates out the door and joined the crowd walking behind their female instructor to the tree line. Her black, curly hair covered poofed out even more than his own and she was dressed more like a civilian than a chunin. He personally hadn't met her before, but the girls in the class had apparently already had a number of classes with her, though they wouldn't tell him what the classes were about.

Once the noise of the upper classmen in the throwing range died down, Suzume-sensei stopped and directed the students to sit in a big circle around her. Naruto plopped down crosslegged onto the dirt and was shortly followed by his new friend, Rock Lee, sitting to his right.

"Hi, Naruto-kun! Thank you again for sparring with me yesterday! We must do it again!" The energy that came off the slightly older boy could power the village. The boy's round eyes and black eyebrows gave him a serious, if odd, demeanor, but Naruto liked him.

"Hey, Lee! Yeah, that sounds great! Um… I don't think I'll be available after class today, though." Lee looked heartbroken. Naruto hastily continued, "but we can do it this weekend!"

Just as quickly as before, the black-haired boy's face brightened. "Yosh! I will meet you on the friendly field of battle this weekend then, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto grinned back brightly. This past Sunday, youma-sensei had him work out in a clearing outside of the official training grounds. While he was punching the air, the bushy-browed classmate walked up to him and asked if he could train with him. They each only knew the basic kata from the academy, so it quickly devolved into a friendly fist fight that lasted a good half hour. Naruto was definitely looking forward to round two.

"Kawanishi-san, Shiranui-san, please be quiet." Suzume-sensei scolded the bickering pair at the other side of the circle. Zaji Kawanishi was a bully, as Naruto could personally attest, but not like Neji Hyuuga who would insult and provoke you. Zaji could make you want to punch him in the face and not even know why. Naruto just tried to keep his distance, but Tenten Shiranui was his favorite target. The girl always talked about how she was going to be a great kunoichi one day. She would prove that girls were just as good as boys at being ninja. With youma-sensei as a teacher, he couldn't disagree, but Zaji could make anything you said sound stupid, even if you were right.

"Now, students, what is the difference between a soldier and a ninja?"

"Ninjas are awesome! Dattebayo!"

"Anyone else?" Suzume-sensei scanned the group of students patiently.

"Ninjas use chakra." The quiet voice of Shiho Hisajima came from just behind the teacher.

The chunin instructor spun and smiled. "That's right, Hisajima-san. Ninjas use chakra to do things that other people can't. Today we're going to learn how to unlock your chakra so that you can become ninja." The crowd of students whispered excitedly to each other before she hushed them again. "First, I want you all to get comfortable. We're going to be meditating for a while."

Naruto was really excited now. Youma-sensei had taught him a lot about chakra already, and he was hoping that having chakra would mean he could start on actual ninja-stuff instead of writing practice.

"Now I want you to put your hands into the Ram seal, as Daikoku-sensei showed you. Good. Now close your eyes and imagine your body is filled with fireflies. They're buzzing around inside you. I want you to push them into your hands without moving your body. If you don't get it right away, that's okay. Just keep trying to visualize it."

Picturing fireflies inside of him was definitely the easy part. Naruto always felt like there was something buzzing under his skin. Not uncomfortably, but always present. Thinking of that feeling as fireflies was kind of fun, though. Pushing them anywhere, now that was harder. Could fireflies push back?

After several minutes, Naruto opened his eyes. There were a couple gaps in the circle and he could see Suzume-sensei crouched down next to Makaro Akimichi with a hand hovering over his hands in the ram seal. When he opened his eyes, she nodded at the rotund boy and gesturing for him to head over toward the academy building. Glancing over his shoulder, Naruto could see Neji doing katas in the yard and Janine Shimura sitting against a tree.

Closing his eyes tightly, Naruto redoubled his efforts. He was gonna show those fireflies who was boss!

Well, he was light-headed now, did that count? It felt like hours had passed but, if anything, the only detectable change was that his face tingled far more than usual. His hands felt stubbornly unchanged.

"Alright, students, open your eyes." A couple more gaps were in the circle, but he didn't recognize who was missing. Lee was still sitting next to him, tense as a spring. He could hear the grinding of teeth from Tenten and noticed that Zaji was missing. "Now, don't be discouraged that some of your peers succeeded before you. Many of them are from clans that have undergone similar training before they came to the academy. We will continue this exercise for the rest of the week if necessary. Just be prepared to try again tomorrow. Now, go ahead and make your way back to your home room so your sensei can teach you about what you can do once you've unlocked it."

Aside from Lee's grim determination and Tenten's angry muttering, most of the students made their way back sedately. Naruto was looking everywhere for a clock. Youma-sensei will help.

-=oOo=-

Naruto flung his jacket into the corner of the mask chamber and swiped the feminine mask from the table. Briefly touching it to his face, he set it back down and prepared to deploy his puppy dog eyes.

"What has you so energized today, Naruto-chan?" The red-haired apparition sat calmly at the table and studied the boy.

"Youma-sensei! You'll help me, right?!"

"Calm down, boy. What do you need help with?" Mito couldn't help but wonder if anything serious had happened.

"Unlocking my chakra! My class did a thing where we tried to unlock our chakra, but I couldn't get anywhere. A bunch of the others got it right away and I can't fall behind!"

The urgency on the boy's face was heartbreaking, even if he was overreacting. Still, she could only imagine the stress of thinking he was failing at something so important. "Not to worry. You've been making excellent progress with your calligraphy, so I think we can take a day off to address this. Now, what did your teacher tell you to do."

"Suzume-sensei told us to imagine fireflies and make them go to our hands."

Mito nodded. It sounded like variation of a method she'd heard before. "Alright, and what happened when you tried to do that?"

Naruto bit his lip uncharacteristically. "Uh… nothing. I guess I got a little light headed? My face got more tingly."

The woman closed her eyes and sighed. Tingly. She suspected she knew what was going on. "Naruto-chan, do you often feel tingly?"

"I guess. This was a lot more tingly than normal though."

She cast a brief glance at her imprint mask sitting on the table. Had the mask forcibly unlocked the tenketsu in the boy's face? With the volume of chakra he contained as a jinchuuriki, it was certainly possible. Not exactly a safe place to gather chakra when you lacked the proper control, but it would be a start. "Alright, Naruto-chan, please take a seat. Have you learned the Ram seal? Good, make that handseal now. Now you can go ahead and imagine those fireflies again, but this time I want you to push them to your face."

"It got tingly again!"

"Good, but we don't want to leave them there. Now that you have them all gathered together, imagine capturing them in a net. Do you have them? Good. Now move the net to your belly. Don't worry if some of them escape. Where is the tingling sensation now?"

"In my belly. It feels stronger too."

"That's fine. Now move that net full of fireflies to your shoulder. And now to your arms. Your forearms. And finally, your hands. How do your hands feel?"

"Tingly. And warm!" To the naked eye, Naruto's hands were glowing blue. Visible chakra was very difficult to do, though no one was likely to attempt to do that intentionally. That boy could already make a faint glow with freshly unblocked tenketsu points expressed just how much chakra the boy had. Too much it seemed.

"Naruto-chan, you can stop. I believe we have successfully unlocked your chakra. You should be able to show your teacher tomorrow at school. In the meantime, practice sending the fireflies to every part of your body."

"Thanks youma-sensei! You're the best!" Naruto grinned excitedly and looked ready to go back to meditation just to play with his chakra more, until Mito stopped him.

"Before you get carried away, I would like to try something."

"Sure, anything you want, youma-sensei!"

Mito smiled. The boy was turning out to be a better student than one would expect with his hyperactive nature. "I want you to remove your shirt and lay on the ground. On your back." She was very thankful Naruto wasn't old enough to get the wrong idea about this. "Good, now make the ram seal again, and channel your chakra into your belly. We call that area your core. Excellent. That was very quick. Now hold it there as long as you can. Okay?"

"Yes sensei!"

With the chakra being channeled to his core, black marks appeared to rise to the surface of his skin. A pair of unlinked four symbol seals. Not dissimilar from what she used to seal the Kyuubi into herself long ago. There were a great many modifications, however. Subtle things that would be difficult to pick out if you weren't experienced with the Uzumaki style. A ward protecting the throughput adjustment. She would have to ask Hiruzen about the location of the key for the ward. Hmm… Interesting. Two stored chakra imprints. A clever idea. She wished she'd thought of it, frankly. No projection element, so they're likely only accessible through some sort of mindscape. His parents?

Abruptly the seal disappeared.

"Um… the fireflies escaped." The boy was blushing with his hand scratching the back of his neck.

"Quite alright, Naruto-chan. You did well. Go ahead and put your shirt back on. We'll move on to something else."

He slipped the black shirt back over his head and sat down at the table again. He glanced at the brush and inkpot a little uncomfortably.

"No, we're done practicing your calligraphy for now. I want your full attention for what we're going to discuss next." That certainly got his attention. She was always pushing him to maintain awareness of his environment while working. This was new.

Mito paced slowly back and forth in front of the wall of masks. "We've talked a great deal about how basic sealing works. How chakra flow is regulated." At Naruto's guilty look, she amended, "And no, I don't expect that you've picked it all up the first time. That was an overview so that we could dive into specifics later. But before we get to that, we have one last subject to discuss."

Stopping in front of the table she asked, "Do you remember why the Uzumaki clan was feared?"

"Because of seals?"

"That's right, but seals aren't exclusive to us. Other people can and do learn them. Why were we so special?" Naruto opened his mouth, but she raised a hand to let him know it was a rhetorical question. "The Uzumaki clan did something with sealing that no one else had, or to my knowledge has, ever done. We made seals that can grow."

Naruto tipped his head to side at that. That didn't seem very impressive. He'd already learned about seals that could get bigger when they needed to. Was he missing something?

"When a boy becomes a man, do you think it only because he grew taller?"

"Uh… no?"

"Life experience helps us become greater than we were when we started. No kage was born with the strength and ability to lead a hidden village. That was the power of the Uzumaki forbidden fuinjutsu, the Tsukumogami. Seals that behaved like living things. Seals that could mature into something new. We made them like you would make a tool, but with careful supervision, the tool could become just as versatile as a living ninja, except that they lacked many of a normal human's vulnerabilities. They could also be made from nearly anything and, theoretically, they would live forever."

"Traditionally, in our clan, you would not be recognized as a seal master until you had created your own Tsukumogami. The quality of the seal you created was a source of pride and played a rather large role in a new seal masters position within the village. Impress and you might one day become clan leader. Disappoint and it would be difficult live it down."

Seeing that he wasn't following everything, she decided to take a different tack. "Perhaps some examples will help. When I first introduced myself, I told you I was an Uzumaki Seal Master. What did I need to do to claim that title?"

"Uh… make one of those special seal things?"

"A Tsukumogami, yes. And I did. You've already seen it a number of times. Do you think you know what it might be?"

He gave her a blank look for a moment before glancing around the room. It didn't take long for him to suggest the "scary mask".

Mito smiled in response. She had worked with the mask for so long it would be impossible to think of it in those terms, but she understood how someone would think that. "That's right. That is the Mask of the Shinigami. My masterpiece. The ultimate storage seal you could say. However, to make it work requires the user to sacrifice their life. I believe the Yondaime used that mask to defeat the Kyuubi."

If Naruto's attention was wavering from the complexity she was raining down on him, that tidbit gave him a laser focus. He stared hard at the mask in question. Sure it was scary, but it was a weapon? A weapon strong enough to save the village?

"There have been many others as well. Not all of them were made to deal with problems as big as a biju. Some were quite simple, or at least they started that way. Atsuo Uzumaki created the Wanshou no Seijou. The band of normalcy. Any idea what it did?"

Naruto shook his head. It sounded like it didn't do anything at all, frankly.

"The band use a genjutsu to make anything the wearer did seem normal. Not invisible, just normal. So he could walk into a bank and take all the ryo he wanted and no one would stop him. Why?"

"Because it was normal…" Naruto responded in awe.

"That's right. I won't go into detail, but I should say that things didn't go very well for Atsuo and the Wanshou no Seijou was eventually destroyed. If you could make a Tsukumogami, would you like to make something like that?"

Naruto thought about that hard. It seemed incredibly useful. He imagined the pranks he could pull with something like that, though it seemed an awful lot like cheating. In fact, nothing you did would seem special. To anyone. Too easy for yourself, too normal for other people. What a way to ruin a good thing. "No. I want people to acknowledge me. Not ignore me."

Mito smiled broadly. "Then maybe you'd like to make a neverending bowl of ramen?"

Naruto leapt to his feet immediately. "Yatta! Yep, that's the one! Let's get started!"

She laughed and directed him to take his seat. "Hold your horses, I'm afraid to tell you that someone already made one, or at least a bowl that could supply various foods in ready form once they had been introduced to the artifact. And no, I don't know where it is." The boy instantly deflated again. "There are many fascinating Tsukumogami in the clan's history. Some have become legends, others cautionary tales. Yoshi Uzumaki made a dancing sword that could fly at his whim and fight his enemies. Until the day he grew angry at his wife and it ran her through before he could stop it. Aiko Uzumaki made a cloak of fire that allowed her incredible control over fire ninjutsu. Her own and that of others, wresting control of the flames and redirecting attacks back at her opponents. The cloak grew to love the flames more than its master, however, and she was burned alive. Needless to say, both of those Tsukumogami were also destroyed."

At this point, Naruto was definitely some shade of green. The idea of creating his own Tsukumogami may need some thought after all. "Are there any left? I mean, besides your mask. And hopefully the bowl." A boyish grin erupted as his good mood returned.

"Yes. After the fall of our village, several of our relics reappeared in the hands of our attackers. Some believe that rather than fear driving them to destroy us, it was greed. They wanted our Tsukumogami. One of Kirigakure's seven swordsmen, a Fuguki Suikazan, wields a massive chakra absorbing sword called Samehada, or Shark Skin. I don't know if the man ever unlocked the sword's true potential. Yoshi Uzumaki was a brilliant man, and he was so proud of that sword. It has likely grown since then as well."

"Has anyone tried to take them back?"

"With what army?" Mito replied a bit sharply. "I'm sorry, Naruto-chan. It's been discussed and dismissed before. No one cares about them as much as the Uzumaki do, and unfortunately we are not in great supply. I suspect there are other survivors out there, but they were understandably laid very low since the fall of the village."

"I'll get them back, youma-sensei." Mito was taken aback by the fire in Naruto's eyes.

"That… that is an admirable goal, but please do not get yourself killed over it. The Tsukumogami were dear to our clan, but they are not more dear than family, and we are family."

Naruto positively glowed at the announcement, but the fire hadn't diminished.

Mito smiled down at him, enjoying the moment, but it was not to last. She took a deep breath. "There is one more thing we need to talk about today, Naruto-chan." She decided she would have to simply dive in. There was no proper way to give news like this.

"What do you know about the Kyuubi?"

-=oOo=-

The door cracked open and an exhausted blonde-haired boy walked into the empty apartment. Naruto plodded to the kitchen to boil some water. Youma-sensei had made him promise to eat a larger variety of food, but he was certain today would count as an exception. Feeling a little guilty, he pulled some green onions and carrots out of the refrigerator.

At least everything made sense now. The Kyuubi no Kitsune. Sealed inside of him. He always thought people didn't like him, but youma-sensei assured him that it was what he represented that they didn't like. After all, they didn't even know him. He supposed he could see where they were coming from. The accounts he'd heard about the Kyuubi's rampage through the village were terrifying. A monster for campfire stories.

Sealed inside his belly.

He absently chopped the carrots on his new cutting board. Youma-sensei had given him the brilliant idea to buy most of his things from foreign merchants, as they would treat him fairly. Now he really knew why. They didn't know the secret.

He couldn't help but wonder how many people knew about it. She said it was a secret, classified by the Hokage under pain of death. She'd laughed when Naruto asked her if she would get in trouble for telling him and remembered that she was already dead. Still, would Hokage-jiji stop him from seeing her anymore? Did he know she'd told him?

The water was bubbling away, so Naruto quickly dumped the fried noodles, chopped veggies and a pinch of salt into the waiting broth. Ayame-neechan was a very good teacher. He hadn't been sure what would happen when youma-sensei told him to find someone to teach him how to cook for himself. Now that he knew some of the basics, he found the process to be relaxing. At least, when he was making ramen.

Naruto couldn't imagine what he would do without youma-sensei. It was nothing short of luck that brought him to the mask temple.

And now he knew what to do in return for her help too. The Uzumaki clan artifacts, the Tsukumogami. His family was destroyed so that their enemies could steal them. Hell if he was going to let those bastards keep them.

But she didn't even know where they were. Well, except one, but he didn't think he was quite up for taking anything from a famous swordsman. Yet.

The noodles looked soft enough. He pulled a few strands up with his chopsticks and took a nibble. Perfect. He smiled and poured the noodles, veggies, and broth into one of his new bowls. A little fish sauce and it was ready. When he sat down at the table he slid over one of his calligraphy practice scrolls and flipped it in order to write on the back.

The Shinigami's Mask, location known. Sharktail(?), location known. Neverending Ramen Bowl, location unknown. Were there any others? He'd have to check with youma-sensei again tomorrow.

Naruto looked down at the list. This is something he could do. No one else would try if he didn't. He would get them back.

He lifted his chopsticks reverently over the fragrant bowl of ramen before him. "Itadakimasu!"

-= LATER THAT WEEK =-

Naruto moved his hands away from his body slowly, turning his right wrist and bending his elbow while stepping back with his left foot. He wasn't sure about the practical application, but the teacher said that these katas teach your body basic movements and youma-sensei had insisted that he work on them.

He couldn't help but glance over his shoulder down the path under the trees. Where earlier that week he'd been struggling to unlock his chakra along with his classmates, only one student remained.

From this distance it seemed as if he could see the beads of sweat dripping off of Rock Lee's bushy brow. Naruto ached to see if he could help his new friend, but when Suzume-sensei dismissed them back to their home classroom, Lee wasn't with them.

It wasn't until lunch time that Naruto saw Lee again, looking despondent as he sat on a bench up against the outside of the academy building.

"Hey Lee, how's it going?"

The black-haired boy started and turned to the blonde. "Oh, hi Naruto-kun! I am looking forward to our spar this weekend!" Naruto wasn't sure how to ask what he wanted, and the awkward silence dimmed Lee's too-big smile a bit.

"Lee, um… so did you have any luck with the chakra exercise?"

Lee's smile dimmed further and seemed even more forced. "I tried to picture the fireflies in a net, as you advised, but ultimately I could not move them. They performed some tests at the hospital and say that I lack the ability to actively mold chakra. However, that will not stop me from being a great ninja!"

Naruto was stunned by the announcement. Could you be a ninja if you couldn't mold chakra? Well, why not? Being a ninja was a job. Different ninja did those jobs differently, so maybe? Well, if anyone could, it would be Lee. Firming his resolve and clapped a hand on Lee's shoulder. "That's right! We'll both be great ninja."

The smile came back full force with the encouragement. "Yosh!" Lee leapt to his feet. "We will become great ninjas of the village." He held his hand out and the two boys clasped each other's wrists.

"Dattebayo!"

-= GRADUATION DAY =-

*Bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt CRASH*

With a whimper, the ten year old boy rolled out of bed, thumping on the floor rather than trying to push aside the blankets. After laying on the floor a few more seconds he rolled and levered himself to his knees and finally to his feet, bracing himself on the bedpost, giving out a throaty groan for good measure.

Where am I? What day is it?

… Right. Okay, so it's his apartment, that one was easy. However, it took him a few moments staring at the calendar before everything clicked.

"Ah! Right! Okay, everything's fine… I just need to… to…" He looked around the room and took a sniff at one of his armpits. "Take a shower. Right. Let's start with that."

Five minutes later, Naruto pulled out a fresh set of clothes from the closet. Burnt orange tactical-length pants and a black t-shirt with a red Uzumaki swirl on the chest. He hopped into the kitchen putting on the second black sandal and set a pot of water to boil. Breakfast before the graduation exam seemed like a great excuse to eat ramen in the morning. Youma-sensei wouldn't mind.

Keeping an ear open for the sound of bubbling, he dug through the scrolls, inkwells, and paper tags clogging up the dining room table. Most of these were rejects, so it didn't matter if they got messy. His finished seals were tucked away in his hip pouch or the pockets on the inside of his jacket. Speaking of which, Naruto swiped the olive short-sleeved jacket, with the ubiquitous orange trim, off of the coat rack and slipped it on. He patted the empty breast pocket and cursed.

Where was it?

On his hands and knees, the boy scrabbled across the cluttered apartment floor until he found a small bound book beside the couch. The brown hardcover had no title, only the red and black swirl that represented the official symbol of the Uzumaki clan. He flipped open the book at random and skimmed it over.

Entry 27: Sukerutonki, The Skeleton Key

Creator: Yakou Uzumaki

Appearance: A two bladed key made of bronze with a handle like what you'd find on a blade. At the pommel, a silver ball painted on four sides with a light blue Uzumaki swirl.

Abilities: Unlocks or unravels anything it comes in contact with. Unknown if it can lock or reassemble what it has once unlocked.

Danger: Unknown, assumed high risk to personal seal.

Location: Unknown

Notes: Rumors of a legendary burglar in the Land of Rivers. Said to be able to break through any defenses without leaving a trace of his presence and has no village affiliation. Common wisdom assumes a new ninjutsu.

Naruto flipped the book closed again. His Tsukumogami Bingo Book was his pride and joy. While he was diligent with his sealing lessons, he knew he probably spent too much time with this thing. He'd gotten pretty good at coaxing this kind of information out of people, but he had very few concrete facts.

It took him a moment to realize that the sound he was hearing was his water boiling.

Another ten minutes later and he was running down the street toward the academy. His mouth was a little scorched from eating his breakfast before it could cool, but that wasn't anything unusual. All he could think about was getting his hitai-ite.

"Watch out! I'm gonna be a great ninja, dattebayo!"

Some bystanders looked at the boy with fear at his announcement, but most assumed he'd simply gone nuts. He wouldn't be the first ninja to do so. Naruto ignored it all and kicked up dust on his way to meet destiny.

-=oOo=-

Author's Notes:

There we are. An introduction to the whole premise of the story. I went back and forth a lot on how to handle Lee, but ultimately I couldn't imagine how a boy without the ability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu could pass the academy without being incredibly driven even before Gai-sensei. I avoided all references to "youth", but that will rear it's ugly head later. Maybe as early as the next chapter!

On Tsukumogami:

I will note that I have designs for a couple major original artifacts, but I'm interested to hear any ideas for major or minor Tsukumogami. Comment with your suggestions. I'm perfectly willing to play around with humor suggestions, though I'll have trouble working in anything too cracky or similar to existing techniques.

Whatever they are, try to make the mechanism consistent. Like a pair of shoes that make the person dance, so all of its power would have to be related to controlling movements, rhythm, music, etc. Maybe if could help the user dance out of danger, or maybe it just messes with the person's head so everything they think about happens at a particular rhythm.