"So Grandpa Hiruzen is actually a really powerful wizard who knows a bunch of spells and helped end a war that started a long time ago?" Naruto stared intently to Hinata.

Hinata simply nodded, her cheeks becoming slightly pink. She wasn't used to this attention.

"And he left your realm because he was wanted by someone who now controls almost half of that realm?"

"Yes. Grand Old Wizard Hiruzen was named as one of the most dangerous and influential wizards in our realm. But another person began to rise into power. He spoke of conspiracies and corruption within the higher ups. He slowly began an army of followers and he soon gained control of majority of the realm. Grand Old Wizard Hiruzen had no choice but to flee. Though, fairies—"

"Fairies?!" Naruto's eyes lit up, a wide smile on his face. "Fairies exist?!"

Well, really, why wouldn't they if they're talking about wizards.

"Yes, fairies do exist, master, and they're quite the gossipers." Naruto's face twisted and Hinata blinked. "What's wrong, master?"

"Er, I just don't like it when you call me that."

"Master?"

"Yeah! It sounds like you're below me or somethin', ya' know?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, a blush dusting his cheeks. "When that's not the case."

She cocked her brow, confused beyond belief. Of course she was below him! She was just a familiar and her master was her master. It's written in the contract!

"Of course I'm below you, master. It says so in the contr—"

"Well the contract is bullshit!" His sudden exclamation makes her jump. Her eyes fluttered to the ground, ashamed that maybe she's the reason her master snapped.

"Of course. I'm sorry for speaking my thoughts so mindlessly."

"No, that's not what I meant!" He groaned, the thoughts of fairies and other magical beings thrown out of his mind. "I meant that it's so obvious how you're way stronger than me."

She glanced up. The question was in her tongue but she couldn't say it out loud. She's been noticing she's relaxed around her new master. Speaking her thoughts, questioning his actions, and even questioning herself and everything around her. Maybe her master was really different after all.

He seemed to understand her look because he continued. "Think about it, Hinata. I just got a new power that I don't even know about, much less know how to summon it, and yet you probably have powers that you've known about longer than me. So to some degree you're way stronger than me, right?" She nodded slowly, as if it was hard accepting this reality. "So…don't call me master. Just call me by my name."

That was an odd request. But if her master asked so, then she must.

"I shall, Naurto."

He finally smiled, slumping against his chair.

"I can't believe that was so hard to do."


It's been a few days now and her master has yet to bring up the subject of the contract. He hasn't even tried out his power yet. Hinata felt that he was unease; ignoring the fact that he now has no soul, a magical power, and a familiar. It seemed as if he was trying to get back into things.

Trying to be normal.

"Hey Hinata, so what do you do when I'm not around?"

She looked up from reading a comic book—her master has recently introduced to her these books but they aren't really books, they told stories in drawings, color, and dialogue and she was left fascinated since then—and bit her lip.

"I usually just…wait for you, Naruto."

"Oh," he chewed thoughtfully before speaking up again, "What about going to the nearby theater to watch a movie? I bet you guys don't have theaters over where you are. Maybe you'll like to go to the comic book store? You're really into that comic book I gave you so maybe you'll want more. Or maybe we can go the arcade! Ever been to an arcade? It's pretty fun and we can—"

"Naruto," Hinata cut off, concern in her eyes, "are you okay?"

He stopped, mouth open to say something else ridicules and out of topic, and slowly closed it. Is he okay? Why wouldn't he be okay? He has a power now so, to some degree, he's like the avatar right? There's nothing wrong with that! And he has a badass sidekick! There's nothing wrong with that…

Oh, wait. He doesn't have a soul.

He began to chuckle and she flinched, the pain clearly echoed in his hollow laugh.

Is he okay? The past nights he hasn't been able to sleep. Maybe he was being out of proportion but he can't stop thinking about the fact that he's not normal. That every time he hears someone talking about their day, he can't help but think he can't relate because he has a power he doesn't even know how to use. That he's been thrust into this world that he always thought was fake. That he's still breathing knowing that he doesn't have a fucking soul. What does that mean? That he's not alive? He just can't wrap his head around it.

And usually he'll jump right into a situation that made him uneasy. But this was different. Where can he jump into? Where does he start? He vaguely knows what's happening to begin with.

What is he going to do?

"Naruto." He blinked and Hinata was right in front of him. She had her brows furrow and a frown was on her face. "Breathe."

And so he did. He took a big gulp of air and shuddered out a breath. His heart was racing and only then did he notice he was shaking.

"Why is this bothering me so much?" he whispered out. He felt vulnerable. "Why am I…scared?"

She didn't really know what to do. No, she did know. But did she have permission? "Just call me by my name." He trusted her. He wouldn't shut her down.

So she wrapped her arms around her and he did so as well. He hugged her tightly and he tried his best not to let out tears. He was nervous. She was concerned.

But she had an idea on how to help


Hiruzen sipped his tea and watched as the occasional passerby entered his shop and briefly looked at the items. He wasn't much concerned whether his shop had customers or not. He was already well off. He came into this world hoping to shower humans with the knowledge of his realm. But he soon realized no one blinked an eye at it, except the few die hard magical fans. It became a norm or a hoax to people and, to be frank, no one gave a damn.

So he almost spit out his tea when Hinata and Naruto came in. No, he already knew they were going to come by. One, he didn't expect it to be so soon and two, he wasn't expecting Hinata—one of the best Hyuuga descendents and with a rare power—to be wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt.

Has she become one of them?

"Hey Grandpa Hiruzen." Naruto waved and he looked down. He wasn't his upbeat self.

"Hello Grand Old Wizard Hiruzen." Hinata, as always, nodded at him politely, respect clearly shown in her eyes.

What happened in the last few weeks?


"You're telling me that this whole time you," Hiruzen pointed at Naruto, "wanted to push aside the fact that now you have powers and become normal again and in trying to do so, you had a mental break down because you were too scared to confront the fact you did an incredible, stupid thing while you were drunk?"

"Well when you say it like that…"

Hiruzen sighed, the tea no longer calming his nerves. He closed the shop down immediately once Hinata pulled him to the side.

"He hasn't been well. I think we're going to have to meet with The Kyuubi."

"Hinata, have you told him who The Kyuubi is?"

She shook her head, regret clearly shown.

"I completely forgot about that, ya know?" Naruto tried to laugh it off but stopped when he saw Hiruzen's glare.

"Hinata, please tell Naruto who The Kyuubi is. I'm going to make more tea."

Hinata turned to Naruto, clearly determined to do something.

"Naruto, The Kyuubi is one of nine demons that control some regions of our realm. They're sort of like protectors and watch over their lands. The Nine Demons, otherwise known as The Bijuu's, have the position of powers close to Gods. Nearby villages and clans celebrate their existence and sometimes offer sacrifices as a way of thanking them."

"Like human sacrifices…?"

"Some clans do that, some do not. The Bijuu's have, to some degree, power of their own. They are old and have protected these lands ever since our realm was created. At times, people would travel from the ends of our realm to reach their temples to beg for some kind of power or miracle. The Bijuu's will then look into the heart of that person and decide whether they are worthy of that power or miracle or not. But it's odd from all the Bijuu's, The Kyuubi took your soul."

"Why? Why is it weird?"

"How can I explain this? Contracts are, in a way, like that person going to their temples and specifically asking for some kind of power. A mad wizard found a way to make the contract work and connect to The Bijuu's. They didn't know what to do. They gathered around under a blue moon and discussed whether killing the man or not. But they realized that the mad wizard had already spread out hundreds of these contracts and soon, their requests will reach them. In order to keep the balance, The Bijuu's decided to follow along but with the price of selling their soul.

"Many became wary of it but the fearless ones continued on, lusting for the power given by The Bijuu's. Every time someone signs a contract, all The Bijuu's can look into the person's heart and decide whether they are worthy and who would grant their power. However, some of The Bijuu's became corrupted because in granting people power, their name spreads and in doing so, so does their control and power. The Kyuubi, however, had stopped taking requests because he saw how it corrupted his brother's and sisters."

"So it's odd he was the first one to snatch your soul," said Hiruzen, coming up from behind him.

Naruto slightly jumped and smiled weakly.

"Okay so, this deity or whatever—this God—has my soul. You said he saw the corruption these contracts had so why did he step in? What did he gain from this?"

Hinata shook her head, confused as well.

But Hiruzen kept a stoic face on. He knew the reason why The Kyuubi took his soul. He knew and he couldn't bring himself to tell them. He purposely dragged them into this situation so they can help fix what was breaking in their realm.

A poor attempt to save their world, so to speak.

If only he can tell them. He watched as they both began to strategize on what to do next. He slowly turned and saw a fox staring at him from the front door. The fox's eyes narrowed before disappearing in a blink of an eye.

It was time to visit their realm.