Chapter 1:
Students attending the Rouen School For Supernatural Entities were required to meet by the hill that marked the boundary of the school grounds on the first day of school. The school didn't care how they got there. If they were unable to find their way, they were clearly not cut out for such a school.
The rental car trundled along the dirt road, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake, as Naruto spotted the hill towering above them.
"Is this the hill?" he asked Iruka loudly, leaning between the two seats to get a better look. Iruka smiled at his excitement.
"Yes, Naruto," he said, wincing as Naruto whooped excitedly near his ear.
"This year is going to be awesome!" he said, "Hey, do you think there will be any cute girls?"
"Girls should be the last thing on your mind, Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka said disapprovingly, "You don't come to a school like this to be an idiot,"
"Hmph," Naruto said sullenly, "But what will I do when I get bored?"
His eyes lit up.
"Don't even think about it," Iruka said sharply, "No pranks. I've heard Tsunade has quite the temper. Stay on her good side and try not to get kicked out,"
"Aww!" Naruto moaned.
"There will be plenty of people your own age attending this year," Iruka informed him, "So you'll definitely have company,"
"Yeah, I guess," Naruto grumbled, "But I was looking forward to picking out the snobbiest bastard and-,"
"Language, Naruto," Iruka said automatically as he adjusted his mirror.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, glancing out the window. It was impossible to see anything beyond vague shapes, as the glass was coated in a thin layer of dust from the road.
"How long does it take to get to one stinking hill?" he asked in a thin, whining voice.
"We're nearly there, Naruto," Iruka said.
"Yeah, but we spotted it a while back!" Naruto pointed out, "You must be going really slow,"
"I'm going at a safe, steady speed," Iruka protested.
"No, you're going slow," Naruto countered with a grin as a vein started to twitch above Iruka's left eye.
"Have you considered the possibility," Iruka said, his teeth clenched so tightly that Naruto could barely understand him, "That the hill is very big, as that's why we spotted it a while back?"
Naruto made a show of putting on a mockingly pensive expression.
"No, you're slow," he concluded with a shrug, "We'd be there already if you'd just let me drive!"
"No way!" Iruka protested hotly, "This car's a rental. I don't trust you. And you're not of a legal driving age in this country, anyway,"
"I'd drive at a safe speed!" Naruto assured him, although it was clear that Iruka wasn't buying it, "What's the speed limit on one of those motorway roads here in England again?"
"Naruto, this is a dirt road!" Iruka told him irritably, "I won't allow you to drive down this road at 70mph! Do you want to kill us both?"
Naruto subsided with grumbled comments about overly-cautious guardians, ramen and, curiously, rabbits' feet. Iruka chose not to ask.
"That's one big-ass hill!" Naruto said with a whistle after two blissful minutes of silence as they drove into its shadow. Iruka was inclined to agree, although that didn't stop him from hitting Naruto with an empty bottle for his language. Iruka parked the car with difficulty- not because the place was crowded with cars, but because the ground at the base of the hill was at a slope, and he worried that the car would careen into a tree. They got out (Naruto rubbing a forming bruise) and began to collect Naruto's luggage from the boot of the car. Around them, people watched curiously. Already, eight or nine people were standing at the base of the hill, their luggage lying close to them as they awkwardly avoided each other's gazes.
Naruto was not a shy person, and scrunched his nose up in dismay.
"You all realise that we're going to the best school in the world, right?" he inquired loudly. He received many identical looks of surprise, a few amused looks, and one or two apathetic looks.
"Well, yeah," a pink haired girl mumbled, her face taking on a bright red hue as everybody turned to look at her. But she smiled at Naruto nervously. He grinned back, and the colour on her cheeks receded somewhat.
"Oh, good," Naruto said, his voice heavy with relief, "Cause I thought I'd walked into a funeral or something,"
The pink haired girl laughed, as did her friend, a young blond girl who was slightly taller and slimmer than her. And, just like that, the tension was gone. Naruto happily walked over to them and motioned for Iruka to join him. Iruka sent him an annoyed glare as he pointedly hauled Naruto's cases out of the boot with great difficulty.
"I'm Naruto. You wouldn't happen to be a furie, by any chance?" Naruto inquired, ignoring his miffed guardian. The pink haired girl nodded brightly.
"Sakura. How did you guess?" she asked, "My wings haven't popped out, have they?"
She twisted to check her back.
"No," Naruto assured her, "I can smell it,"
"Oh!" she said, along with her friend, who had yet to speak, "You're a demon!"
"Yeah," Naruto admitted with a shrug. He, personally, hated the word. It had too many negative connotations, thanks to religions which described them as evil servants of the devil. Naruto Uzumaki served nobody, and he was, in no way, evil. He'd even cried when he'd had to bury his rukh chick when it had died suddenly when he was 4.
"Wow!" Sakura said excitedly, "I've never met a demon before! I'd love to meet a bijuu, but there aren't many that exist,"
"Er...What's a bijuu?" Naruto asked, nonplussed. He scratched his head awkwardly as she looked at him with surprise shining in her green eyes.
"They're tailed demons," the blond girl butted in. Her voice was very melodic, and Naruto knew, with utmost certainty, that she was a siren.
"Oh. I have tails when I'm in demon form," Naruto informed the girls flippantly. Their jaws dropped.
"How many?" Sakura asked, clutching his shoulders in a strong grip. He sent a pointed glance towards her rapidly-lengthening talons, and she let go with an apologetic look.
"Er...9," he said cautiously, carefully stepping out of arm's reach.
"Nine?" they shrieked.
"No, he has 14," a voice butted in sarcastically. The two girls turned on the newcomer furiously, their claws lengthening again. The boy, a shaggy-haired male with sharp fangs and teeth, didn't seem impressed as he sat astride the biggest dog Naruto had ever seen.
"Hey, dude," the boy said, holding out a hand for Naruto to shake, "I'm Kiba,"
"And what are you supposed to be?" the siren girl sneered.
"I'm an adlet, so you'd better watch your mouth, bitch," Kiba snarled. It was only now that Naruto spotted the dog-like features of the boy- the brown ears that jutted from his head, the hair on the backs of his hands, and the tail that waved agitatedly as he confronted the siren girl.
"Like I care," she said, flicking her hair, "I'm a siren. I only have to sing and you'll be at my mercy,"
"That only works on humans, you idiot," Kiba smirked, scratching his dog behind the ears. The dog's foot-long tongue lolled out of its mouth as it panted in pleasure.
"Don't call me an idiot, you mongrel!" the siren shrieked, her wings erupting from the back of her dress.
"No, Ino!" Sakura hissed, attempting to restrain her furiously-struggling friend. Nearby, a brunet with two antlers rising out of his dark head yawned and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Troublesome,"
"I'll rip that bastard's head off!" Ino shrieked, grappling with Sakura. Naruto shuddered. He'd heard that sirens had terrible tempers, but he hadn't quite expected them to explode so easily.
"Ino, please, we're going-,"
The ground fractured, and Sakura forgot what she had been about to say. The group of teenagers stumbled backwards with cries of fear, faces contorted in identical expressions of shock and panic.
Then, from the chasm erupted a fantastic geyser, fifty feet high and twisting, glinting in the afternoon sun. Naruto could see the shapes of sharks, serpents and other monsters in the water, swirling and disintegrating before forming into something else. A megalodon opened its blue maw wide enough to swallow a grown man, before it splashed out of existence, and a writhing, sea-green serpent replaced it, body flickering and showering them with water.
"Holy shit!" Naruto shouted stupidly over the roar of this monstrous display.
"Fresh meat I see!" a deep voice called from above them. Naruto peered up, squinting at the sun which shone dazzlingly near the hilltop, as though it had been stuck there by some giant hand. He couldn't see who it was, but he could make out a silhouette standing comfortably on top of the jet of water.
And then the man jumped, and the geyser disappeared with a splash.
"Holy shit," Naruto said weakly as he was showered.
"He's going to splatter himself everywhere," Kiba said, looking annoyed and, disturbingly, hungry. Then, he sniffed the air. Naruto followed suit.
"Looks like he'll be fine afterall," Kiba sighed, "Fucking demigods,"
Naruto was inclined to agree. Demigods were notorious for surviving situations that would kill an ordinary person (or a mortal supernatural being).
When the man landed, the ground shuddered with the force of the impact. A cloud of dust and rock billowed up, making it difficult to see him. Naruto knew one thing though- this guy was huge.
Coughing, the students wafted the air with their arms as they squinted.
"You failed the first test," the demigod said. Now that the geyser was gone, Naruto could hear his voice properly. It was deep, but sounded perpetually amused. There was also an undertone something slick and sly.
"What test?" Naruto asked as the dust began to clear, "You didn't give us a test!"
"I did," the demigod said, striding out of the crater he had left in the ground.
"That little...performance was a test?" the boy with the antlers asked, "What were we supposed to do to pass?"
"You were supposed to stay calm," the demigod said with a chuckle, "But not many people do manage that, so I'm not sending you packing,"
But Naruto wasn't listening. The wind had blown the last of the dust away, revealing an extremely outlandish man. He was both a shark and a human, wrapped up in one gigantic package. His eyes were pale and lidless and appeared slightly demonic as they stared out from a blue-skinned face. Across his cheeks were slashes that were clearly supposed to represent gills. Whether they actually worked was not clear, and Naruto wasn't going to ask. Despite his shark-like characteristics, this demigod had the shape of a six-and-a-half-foot man, clad in the blue and gold sleeveless robes that identified him as a demigod. When he grinned at them, sharp teeth glinted in his mouth.
"Kisame, son of Poseidon," he introduced himself, and Naruto could see the tiny Greek letter pi on the collar of his robes that specified his parentage, "I don't want to know your names yet. But I thought you might want to know mine,"
"Now wait a minute!" Iruka interjected. He looked irate, and was soaked and muddy. Naruto had forgotten he was there.
"Yes?" Kisame asked impatiently.
"You can't do that to these students!" Iruka told him. At a few inches shy of six feet tall, Iruka looked rather ridiculous as he squared up to the muscular blue behemoth.
"I've been doing that to new students since this school was built," Kisame laughed, "If they can't handle it, they shouldn't be here,"
"And what was the point in this little exercise?" Iruka asked, tapping his foot. Naruto slapped his forehead. Was Iruka their mother now?
"To see what they're made of," Kisame answered with a savage toothy grin.
"Iruka, it's fine," Naruto said as Iruka opened his mouth angrily, raising his finger to lecture the demigod, "I don't want to be treated like a little kid. He's right. We shouldn't be here if we're weak,"
"That's no excuse!" Iruka blustered, "He could have killed you all!"
"We're fine," Naruto repeated seriously. Iruka paused at Naruto's expression. Then, Naruto grinned, "Stop worrying so much. You'll get wrinkly, and people will be like "Hey, is that your grandpa?" And I'll be embarrassed to be seen with you because you look like an old sofa, and-OW!"
"Can it, brat!" Iruka snarled, his fist buried in Naruto's thick blond hair. Naruto whimpered.
"I think we'll be fine," Ino said confidently, although she avoided looking at Kisame. Sakura nodded in agreement. The boy with the antlers muttered the word troublesome, but didn't look too worried. But Naruto did get the impression that he was continually apathetic.
Iruka was not convinced, and kept shooting Naruto fretful glances as he got back in the car and drove away.
"E-Excuse me, Professor Kisame-," Sakura began.
"Just Kisame,"
"Pardon?"
"Don't call me professor. It makes me feel old,"
Naruto found it slightly odd that the demigod who had claimed to have been greeting Rouen students since the middle ages didn't like the thought of feeling old. Sakura appeared to share the sentiment, as she nodded uncertainly before continued.
"Kisame, where are the rest of the students?" she asked. Naruto looked around. He could count 9 people, including himself. Which meant that some were missing.
"They're already inside," Kisame said, "They come from families that know all about Rouen, and Rouen knows all about them. You guys-,"
He inspected them all individually. Even the brash adlet Kiba gulped.
"You guys are fresh meat," he smiled a terrible smile.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, because it was clear that everybody else was too afraid to speak up.
"Exactly what I said," Kisame said enigmatically, hiking an enormous sword further up on his back and securing it more tightly, "Now, let's climb this hill,"
Naruto allowed himself a moment to reflect on Kisame's words before his jaw hit the ground.
"What?" he yelped, "You can't be serious! That's like a sixty degree slope! And what about our luggage?"
"I'm serious," Kisame told him, already starting up the hill and clearly expecting them to follow, "Leave it all here. Someone will come and collect it,"
"But-,"
"Come or stay. It's your choice," Kisame said, turning around. He was already fifteen feet up the slope. Naruto glowered but began the arduous climb, using his hands as often as his feet to get up the side of the treacherous slope. Kisame nodded approvingly and continued to walk. The sound of grunts, complaining, and feet skidding over the grass told Naruto that the other students were following.
"Fucking hell," Naruto swore as he slipped, barely grabbing a tussock of parched grass in time to stop himself from rolling more than fifty feet down the hill. His t-shirt was glued to his back with sweat, the sun's glare was giving him a headache, and his hands were muddy and sore. Needless to say, he wasn't in the best of moods.
"Just stick with it," a voice panted from his left, "It's another test,"
Naruto turned and found himself looking at the boy with the antlers. Up close, he could see that the boy's hair looked like Iruka's, and he had very intelligent eyes. Naruto nodded and forced himself to keep going. He was infuriated by the fact that Kisame wasn't even sweating. Was Naruto really that out of shape?
"This school...had better...be...fucking worth it!" he said, sounded strained. He heard the other students weakly agree with him as they hauled themselves further and further up the hill.
By noon, they were three quarters of the way up. Naruto had been checking his watch at regular intervals for half an hour, and anticipated a break. But, when he slumped down on the hill side, panting, he was yanked to his feet by the arm.
"You can rest and have lunch when you reach the top," Kisame said. Naruto wished he was powerful enough to knock that grin off Kisame's face.
"But-,"
"I hate that fucking word," Kisame said, shocking Naruto dumb for a moment. Surely it was unprofessional of a teacher to use vulgarity...
"Now get your ass to the top of that hill," Kisame continued. Naruto nodded. Groaning, he reluctantly forced himself back up and resumed clambering up the hill.
"So, Kisame," he said, trying to take his mind off the burning in his legs, "What...do you teach?"
"Armed combat," Kisame said with a bloody grin. Naruto grinned back.
"That's awesome!" he whooped, wincing as his excited movements caused his back to crack, "I can't...wait to do that class!"
Kisame didn't look surprised at Naruto's enthusiasm. Afterall, what 16 year old boy wasn't interested in learning to fight with deadly weapons?
"What other...teachers are there? Ow, fuck!" he said, ramming his bleeding thumb into his mouth and labouring onwards.
"You didn't read your letter,"
"Nope," Naruto responded cheerfully, despite his pain, "My guardian...snatched it and...orgasmed over their names, but...I...didn't read the...letter myself,"
"He orgasmed?" Kisame asked.
"Not...literally," Naruto said, noting that the top of the hill was in sight as he panted, "He just started...yelling about...how amazing you...guys all are and...told me what you've all done. He sounded like such a...nerd,"
"You can just meet them at school," Kisame said, to Naruto's disappointment, "They can explain themselves,"
"Yeah, I...guess," Naruto ground out, "I hope they're not boring assholes, though,"
He grumbled a little more at the thought, and then his expression abruptly brightened as he realised that he was nearly there. He ran the last few feet to the top and then collapsed to the ground with his face pressed into the cool grass, lungs aching and legs burning. Dull thuds told him that the other students had also made it to the top, and were resting in similar positions.
"I can't feel my feet," Ino whimpered. Sakura remained silent, aside from her harsh breathing.
"You kids are out of shape," Kisame said, not even sweating. Naruto glowered into the grass.
"It's not our fault you're a leviathan!" Naruto shouted, his voice muffled.
"No, he's my little brother," Kisame answered, his voice amused," I keep him in the lake,"
"Your dad has some freaky fetishes," Naruto informed Kisame.
"You should see my sister," Kisame said, "Let's just say he went back for round two with old Medusa,"
Naruto didn't even think about responding to that one.
"Demigods are so weird," Kiba panted. Naruto looked to the side to find Kiba lying on his back with his tongue lolling out. Naruto turned away from the disgusting sight- the guy was drooling!- and forced himself to his feet.
"Are we going to have lunch now?" he asked.
"I guess," Kisame said, ripping the huge sword from his back and slamming it into the ground so that it stood upright in the grass, "In fact, lunch should be arriving right about now,"
An explosion shook the hill, and the blurry image of a picnic blanket and basket slowly became more and more focussed until they sat on the hill top in solid form.
"Was that sorcery?" Sakura asked, sounding awed.
"Yeah," Kisame confirmed, "Witchcraft couldn't do that,"
"What's the difference?" Naruto piped up curiously.
"Witches and warlocks use potions and spells, sorcerers bend spirits and natural energy to their will," Kisame answered shortly, "Now shut up and eat,"
Naruto obeyed without much thought. He was the first to scramble over to the basket and yank it open. At first, he felt cheated. The basket was like a black hole, and it was freezing cold in one compartment, and warm in the other.
"Hey, where's the food?" Naruto asked petulantly.
"What do you want?" Kisame asked.
"Some ramen would be nice," Naruto said angrily. A greenish-grey hand shot out of the depths of the warm side of the basket, writing glinting and shivering like chains on its skin. In its skeletal fingers was a bowl of hot ramen. Naruto stumbled backwards and fell over with a yelp.
"Wow," Kisame grinned, "I didn't expect that,"
"What is it?" Sakura asked fearfully as the arm awkwardly deposited the bowl on the picnic blanket and disappeared into the basket again.
"Probably a devil," Kisame said, finding her fear amusing, "It won't hurt you. A sorcery expert trapped and enslaved it, afterall,"
"I guess," Sakura said nervously, eyeing the basket as though it was about to eat her.
Feeling both reassured and hungry, Naruto sat down and began to eat quickly. When he had finished, he asked for another bowl, and the devil's arm once again supplied one. Naruto thanked it, although he wasn't quite sure why; everyone knew that devils were souls of people who had forgotten who they were when they died, and, as a result, felt a burning, consuming, envious hatred for all living things. They were real problems for ordinary folk, and the only people who appeared to be able to deal with them were expert sorcerers.
"I don't want to go near it," Ino said warily, "Naruto, could you-?"
"What do you want?"
"Just a tuna salad with dressing," she said. No sooner had she spoken, the hand surfaced, balancing a plate of salad on its greenish palm. Naruto took it and passed it to Ino, who thanked him before tucking in.
"I don't know why you're acting like a scared little kid," Naruto told her as he started on his third bowl of ramen, ignoring her angry glare, "I mean, the guy who trapped it probably works at Rouen, so he'll know what he's doing, right?"
Around him, the students seemed to see the logic in that statement and began to line up to get their food. The majority still flinched as the hand produced their food for them, but they didn't seem ready to run screaming anymore. Only one boy, the one with the antlers, appeared unafraid as he collected a burger with fries and sat down near Naruto. He saw Naruto looking at him curiously and spoke through a mouthful of burger, disgusting Ino, who primly moved away.
"It's like you said," he shrugged, "It's not going to hurt us,"
Naruto grinned at him and lay down, closing his eyes.
"Nymph, right?" he asked.
"Just call me Shikamaru. I hate that word," the boy grumbled, "It makes me sound like a troublesome girl,"
"I'm a demon," Naruto shrugged, "That makes me sound like some evil monster from a horror film,"
They lapsed into silence as people ate in silence around them, still uncomfortable in each others presence.
"Well, time to go," Kisame announced.
"But we're not finished!" a girl protested.
"That's not my problem," Kisame said cheerfully, "If you weren't such fearful weaklings, you'd have gotten your lunch immediately,"
"That thing is scary!" the girl shouted, leaping to her feet.
"That thing was sealed by Itachi Uchiha!" Kisame responded thunderously, his eyes suddenly flashing angrily. Kisame was plainly furious that some student would dare to mistrust the work of his colleague. The girl cowered and didn't answer. Kisame's expression had changed so quickly. Naruto could see the god within him now. Only a god would have such fickle moods.
"If you'd told us-," the girl's friend tried.
"Does it make any difference, so long as it was sealed by an expert?" Kisame countered, "Now, come on. None of you, other than demon kid and antler brat, will be having dinner now. Consider that your punishment for failing the third test,"
"What test?" Sakura asked, eyes wide, as she followed, "And it'll take that long to get to school,"
"You should look out for them," Kisame said, ignoring her second question, "I'm constantly testing you. Most don't pass them, though. Only about three people have ever managed to pass all of them,"
"Who passed all of them?" Naruto said, voice heavy with relief that he would be eating tonight.
"Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and Itachi Uchiha," Kisame reeled off, "Now come on, I want to get there by tonight,"
"All sorcerers," Sakura noted as she followed Kisame as he began his descent down the hill.
"It's not surprising," Shikamaru shrugged, "You have to be the best to become a sorcerer, especially if you're taught here,"
"Yeah, sorcery sounds so cool," Naruto grinned, slipping slightly as he attempted to gain a footing on the grass.
"Don't get excited. Most of you will only be learning the theory," Kisame said, wiping the smile off Naruto's face, "You need a certain amount of sorcerer's blood to be able to pull off the simplest of tasks,"
"How much?" Naruto asked.
"About one-eighth," Kisame said, "If you haven't got that, don't even try,"
"I don't know what I've got," Naruto said, his nose scrunched up in dismay.
"You'll be tested when you get there,"
"More tests?" Naruto groaned, nearly tumbling down the hill as he tripped over a rock.
"You don't need to do anything for that one,"
"Oh, good," Naruto said, skidding the last few feet down the hill, "I hope I do have enough blood, though. I want to be able to trap devils, and make things appear out of thin air,"
"It sounds troublesome," Shikamaru commented.
"Shut up!" Ino snarled, "I want to learn sorcery too,"
"We have wings, Ino," Sakura sighed, wilting slightly, "That means I'm a pure furie, and you're a pure siren. We can still learn witchcraft, though. We just need magical blood for that,"
This did not cheer Ino up, and she continued to look dejected.
"The Black Forest," Kisame announced suddenly. Naruto looked up...and up, and up. The forest was as black as its name promised. The trees were all coniferous, with dark blackish-green needles, and towered above them. They were probably a few hundred feet tall, and the only path through them was a single winding trail that quickly disappeared into the dense darkness.
"Cool," Naruto grinned with awe. Without waiting for Kisame, he walked in. Kisame followed slightly behind, his sword on his enormous shoulder.
"You need to be careful in here," Kisame warned quietly. Naruto felt a little tendril of fear, but quickly pushed it away and ploughed on through the dead wood and toadstools that blanketed the forest floor.
At the sensation of icy fingers on his face, he froze.
"That's not funny, guys," he said.
"What?" Sakura asked, looking at him oddly. Naruto forced a grin onto his face.
"Which one of you just touched my face?" he asked, his heart hammering a little faster as everybody shook their heads in bemusement.
"Come!"
"Who said that?" Naruto asked, looking around for the source of that melodious, lustful voice. Around him, silence fell, and the sound of somebody gulping was audible.
"Who said that?" Sakura said again, a little louder this time.
"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me! For many a game I will play there with thee; on my beach, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold. My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."
The sensation of icy fingers gripped Naruto again, and he gasped, batting at the air near his face. He didn't know whether he was relieved that there was nothing there, or frightened out of his wits. Because something was there alright. It just wasn't corporal. Was it a devil, like the one in the basket? They could assume solid shapes, and dissolve into the mist as quickly as they came.
"Fog's closing in," Shikamaru drawled, glancing around warily. The girls huddled together. Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba stood their ground.
"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there? My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care. My daughters by night on the dance floor you lead, they'll cradle and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."
"Erlkönig!" Shikamaru swore, and terror seized Naruto. One of the girls sobbed. He stood his ground, eyes straining in the mist.
"Where's Kisame?" Kiba asked, his voice awkwardly loud in the silence. They all glanced around wildly. Kisame was no where to be seen, as though he, too, had disappeared into the mist.
"Maybe it got him too!" Ino said suddenly, her wings out protectively. Everybody followed suit, extending claws and teeth. The giant dog Kiba rode whimpered. Naruto's vision turned red as crimson slowly bled across his blue eyes. He didn't bother to transform entirely, because he hated his fox form. His claws lengthened and his teeth grew and sharpened in his mouth as he unfurled nine sleek red tails.
"Don't be stupid," Shikamaru said, although he didn't sound entirely confident, "An erlkönig couldn't get a demigod,"
"Ah, excellent thinking," Kisame's voice said, sounding muffled and terribly far away, "You are correct,"
"Kisame, where are you?" Kiba shouted, "Come on man! It's not funny!"
He started off in the general direction he thought Kisame's voice was coming from. And then a terrible suspicion gripped Naruto.
"No, Kiba!" he said, yanking the adlet back by the arm, "That's not Kisame! He doesn't talk like that!"
The truth penetrated Kiba's frightened brain, and he had the grace to look embarrassed.
"Fuck off!" Naruto shouted, "We're not following you!"
"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy! And if thou aren't willing, then force I'll employ."
Something glistened in the shadows. A black-cowled figure stepped forwards, a tendril of mist winding around it like a snake.
"Run!" Naruto roared. The group didn't have to be told twice. Turning tail, they sprinted in the opposite direction. Naruto clumsily tripped on a tree root and crashed to the ground painfully, skinning his hands and knees.
"Naruto!" Ino and Sakura shrieked in unison. Biting their lips, they turned back to help him up, but Shikamaru and Kiba were already standing in front of him protectively as the cowled figure walked across the wood. It creaked and groaned beneath its invisible feet.
"Shit!" Naruto muttered.
"Back off, you creep!" Sakura growled. Naruto felt the urge to laugh. She was terrified of a sealed devil, but not of an erlkönig?
Naruto screwed his eyes shut. He hadn't even gotten to school yet, and already he was in a predicament like this!
Just as Naruto was about to say his last prayers, there was an explosion of leaves and wood and plant matter, and the erlkönig disappeared into the mist, baring its bloody fangs in an enraged snarl.
"You were right, brat," Kisame said calmly with a grin as he leaned against his giant sword, "That little bastard couldn't take me on,"
"That was another test," Shikamaru stated, glaring at Kisame peevishly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, kid," Kisame said, "Come on, let's go,"
"Then where did you go?" Shikamaru said.
"You went the wrong way," Kisame said, striding back up the path. The students retracted their claws and fangs and followed him through a small opening in the trees that was just off the main trail, panting in an effort to keep up. None of them had spotted the other path.
They found themselves standing on a moor. The ground was blanketed in delicate pink heather. On the horizon, the orange sun hung low, turning the lake a burning orange.
"It's about seven o'clock," Kisame informed them. Naruto blinked. Had he been in that forest for five hours? Around him, he could see identical discomfitted expressions of the other student's faces. Surely that amount of time hadn't passed!
"Dinner time," Kisame said. This time, a two plates piled with pizza appeared. Naruto and Shikamaru dug in ravenously, while the others watched miserably, stomachs growling.
"I was planning on going on a diet anyway," Sakura said sadly, eyeing the pizza. Ino nodded in agreement.
Just as Naruto was finishing the last slice, something peculiar happened. At first, Naruto thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Because the sky never turned that particular shade of blood red on its own. And where had that crimson moon come from?
"Guys, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
When he didn't receive a reply, he looked back.
He was alone.
"Guys, where did you go?" he called, his voice breaking on the last word, "Shikamaru? Kiba? Kisame?"
Still no reply.
"Ino? Sakura?"
Silence.
"Guys, you're scaring me now," Naruto pleaded, feeling very afraid. Kisame wouldn't let them get hurt, right? But, then, they'd had a pretty close shave with that erlkönig...
"Come on, guys!" he shouted, real panic seizing him in its icy grasp.
There. A figure by the lake.
"Shikamaru, is that you? Kisame?"
Naruto didn't stop to think before he ran down towards the shoreline. As he got closer, he realised that it couldn't possibly be Shikamaru or Kisame. It was too tall to be Shikamaru, and Kisame was head and shoulders taller than this figure. He stopped, leaning on his knees to catch his breath.
"Hey, have you seen a giant blue guy, about this tall?" he asked, stretching his hand above his head to indicate Kisame's height. He looked again, and saw the figure stride across the water.
"Hey, come back!" he called, waving his arm. The figure turned and looked at him before leaping into the air. From the surface of the water erupted a giant serpent with a head the size of a yacht. It roared at him, displaying dirty yellow teeth as long as Naruto's body.
"Kisame's little brother," Naruto whimpered to himself, "Right,"
It lowered its ponderous head. He flinched, but it made no move to swallow him. The figure was standing on its head. He or she was now ten feet above Naruto's head.
"Hello, Naruto-kun,"
Male then. And Japanese, by the sounds of it. Or at least fluent in the language.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, "And have you seen a big blue guy?"
"Oh yes," the man murmured, "I have,"
Naruto waited for him to elaborate, but he did not continue.
"Can you tell me where he is?" Naruto tried. His voice sounded oddly tinny, as though he was speaking into a metal cannister.
The man jumped off the serpents head and landed by Naruto's side on the shore. The serpent gave a great sigh, and then its nostrils slammed shut with an almighty concussion before it sank beneath the water like a four hundred foot crocodile.
"Walk with me, Naruto-kun," the man said. Naruto followed reluctantly. Truthfully, he was a little worried about what might happen if he went with this person, but he was more worried about the serpent changing its mind and deciding to make him its dinner.
"Where are we going?" he asked. The man did not answer, and pulled his hood further over his face. His hands looked human. They were slender and elegant, with a single ring on the left ring finger and purple nails.
"Are you taking me to my friends?"
Again, no answer. So Naruto lapsed into a sullen, frightened silence and followed obeidiantly. He glanced around himself, expecting to see something leap out at him. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the man stop, and walked straight into him.
"S-Sorry," he spluttered, red-faced. The man didn't seem offended. But Naruto couldn't see his face, so he couldn't be sure. He looked around again, and shivered out of fear. The lake was no where in sight. They were standing at the bottom of a ravine. Two paths branched out, going up the sides. They were cut into the rock and polished to perfection. Naruto couldn't recall walking down a sheer wall. In fact, he wasn't even sure he was capable of that.
"Where are we?" he asked. The man, as usual, remained silent. He pressed his hands together, as though praying, and then drew them apart. Between them was a glistening, gossamer bubble that grew and grew. And then it was suddenly glass, and the man held it gently in one elegant palm.
"You wish to know your friends' fate?" he asked softly.
"Well, yeah!" Naruto grinned, "Are you going to show me?"
The man blew lightly on the glass orb, and crystals of ice formed on its surface. Then, fire raced over it.
"Hold it to you ear and you will hear their voices," the man said. Naruto did as he was asked.
"Help! Help me! Somebody, please, help!"
A desperate cry. Ino
"Ahhhhhhh!"
A pained scream. Kiba.
"No, stop! Please stop! I can't take it anymore!"
A sobbed plea. Sakura.
"You...bastard,"
A defiant proclaimation, cut off by a sickening gurgle. Shikamaru.
"No, no! I'll do anything!"
"Please, please don't!"
"Help me, somebody!"
"Help, help! Oh, it hurts so much!"
An agonised plea for mercy, from those four girls whose names he did not know.
"No!" Naruto screamed, yanking the glass orb away from his ear. It burned white-hot, and he dropped it with a gasp of pain. When it hit the floor, it popped like a bubble.
"What did you do to them, you bastard?" Naruto growled, pointing accusingly at the man. The man raised one slim finger and pointed to the path on the left.
"This path will lead you to your deepest desire," he intoned softly. Then, he pointed to the right path.
"This one will lead you to suffering. You will lose a finger for every mile you tread, and spikes will gouge your flesh like meat hooks. Your friends are down the path of suffering," he informed Naruto tonelessly. He raised his hand, and, upon his palm was a slowly melting clock. There were thirteen hours on it, and Naruto could see that he didn't have long to get them back if he chose to do so.
"Time ticks away, child. You have till the thirteenth hour to bring them back," the man said, "If, of course, you decide you want to bring them back,"
Naruto tried to imagine what it would feel like to lose a finger, but he couldn't. The closest he'd come to such damage was the time he'd broken a toe as a child, and that had hurt enough. He imagined that losing a finger would be excruciating.
And how would it feel to have meat hooks shredding though his flesh like he was a pig carcus? He shivered at the thought. It would be like getting stabbed, but the wounds would be tugged mercilessly. Could he do it? Could he do it for those people that he had only met today? Could he suffer for them? He was a very compassionate person, but, really, the prospect of losing fingers and getting his flesh torn would make anyone think about it a little before they charged in.
He thought about it. He recalled the way they had all stood in the way of the erlkönig, risking themselves to protect him, and clenched his fists with determination. He was going to do it. And they had better appreciate it when he came for them.
Squaring his shoulders, he took a deep breath and stepped onto the right path. At first, nothing happened, and Naruto began to believe that this was all a hoax.
But then the agony started.
Naruto sank to his knees, screaming, as pain lanced through his limbs and back and face like somebody was holding a white-hot poker to his skin. But he had to keep going. He stumbled to his feet and tried to ignore the blood dripping down his face and arms. He tried to ignore the pain, biting his tongue until it, too, bled, and trudged on.
He reached a sign with a red number 1 on it, and his thumb snapped off. He shrieked, clutching the bleeding stump, and, after a moment of indecisiveness, picked up up with trembling hands and slipped it into his pocket, hoping that he'd somehow be able to reattach it later on. Around him, he could see the black trees of the forest, and he shuddered as he looked around for the erlkönig. Blood matted his hair to his scalp and ran into his eyes and mouth. Blinded and choking, he pressed on. He paused to wipe his face, tears sliding down his cheeks, and his index finger broke off. This time, he was ready. He held out a hand and caught it, putting it into his pocket next to his thumb.
At mile 3, he stumbled and fell to his knees, but caught his middle finger and forced himself to his knees. Trembling with pain and fatigue, he staggered on.
At the fourth mile, his resolve was severely tested. He had difficulty picking up his ring finger with his blood-soaked hands, and sank to the ground with a sob. But then his scrabbling fingers caught it, and he slipped it into his pocket.
He fell again later on, and lurched to his feet in time to lose the last finger on his right hand. He stuffed it into his pocket, his breathing ragged. He paused to drink from a puddle, and grimaced at his bloody reflection. He looked like something from a horror film. He didn't dwell on what he looked like, and kept going, blood sheeting down his body. He didn't know how he hasn't passed out from bloodloss yet.
Two miles later, he was unable to pick his finger up with his hands, and grasped it in his teeth instead as he lay on the floor. Gagging, he dropped it into his shirt pocket on the first try and kept going. He was making constant sobbing noises by this point, and could barely bring himself to continue. But he did. By the ninth finger, he had mastered the hang of getting it from his mouth and into his pocket, although his vision was shifting from black to white to normal constantly. When he reached mile ten, he fell to his knees, whimpering, as his gaze went fuzzy and he lost his last finger.
"I did it, you bastard! he slurred through a mouthful of blood as the sensation of hooks tearing into his body stopped.
"So you did," the man said, sounding pleased, for some odd reason. Naruto blinked as sunlight dazzled his gaze, and looked into a pair of dark eyes. And then they were gone.
"You did great, brat!" Kisame said, hauling Naruto to his feet. Naruto then realised that he wasn't covered in blood, and his fingers were still attached, and the sky was blue shot with violet and yellow, the sun was orange on the horizon as it set, and all was well. The other students were all there, looking fairly shaken but unhurt. He glance up at the towering castle school he stood in front of. When the other students saw him, they rushed over and began to talk all at once.
"What was that?" Naruto asked weakly, ignoring them.
"Sorcery," Kisame said, "It was the fifth test. Congratulations on passing with flying colours,"
"Fifth test?"
"Tsunade will explain,"
"Was it real?" Naruto mumbled.
"No," Kisame said, with a snigger, "Itachi's too nice to actually chop your fingers off,"
"Not nice enough if he'd still torture me, though," Naruto said, "That was Itachi Uchiha?"
"Yeah," Kisame said, grin widening until it was very creepy indeed, "How did you like his work?"
"That,"Naruto declared, "Was the biggest mindfuck in the history of the universe,"
"I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that,"
Naruto rolled his eyes and wiped his face. The tears had been real then. At that moment, there was only one thought going through his head: if that was the entrance exam, what was the actually school going to be like?
Thank you for all of your reviews last time. I hope this chapter is suitably tense and interesting. Sasuke will be introduced in the next chapter. And all will be explained then too.
Please review! The more I get, the more motivated I am to produce new chapters. See how fast I churned this monster out? I can do that again, if you'll just review.
