The Death God's Seal
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I know, surprise right. Well, anyway, I would say I own the ideas about the Demon Cloak and stuff, but I'm not making any money off of it, so the point is moot. Enjoy
Sarutobi's face was the picture of calm as Jiraiya looked up from his task, face grim. Only Jiraiya, with his years of familiarity and experience, could read the signs of Sarutobi's stress. The slight tightening of his knuckles along his pipe, the forceful loosening of his eyebrows, the slight pull at the edge of his mouth, seeking to twist his lips into a grimace. Sarutobi's eyes stared calmly at Jiraiya as he began his report.
"This seal is beyond me." Jiraiya took a breath and continued, as Sarutobi's face remained as impassive as ever. "I believe it to be beyond even Minato. This seal is alive. Those shifts you noticed, they are the seal literally shifting to contain whatever is within it."
Sarutobi's face drew pinched at Jiraiya's words. "You sound as if you are not certain what the seal contains."
"It's holding the Kyuubi for certain, I recognize the chakra. However, the level of power in the seal is beyond even the Kyuubi."
Sarutobi's jaw dropped open. He covered it quickly, a bit too quickly, with an exhale of smoke, pulling his pipe away from his mouth. "How is that possible? What could contain more power than the strongest Bijuu?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think it is a single thing, there is conflict within the seal that isn't caused by the constantly shifting pattern. But I was able to examine both Mito-sama's seal, and Kushina's. The power inside of Naruto is almost a magnitude greater than what was in either of theirs."
Sarutobi and Jiraiya both turned to look at Naruto, who was lying, sleeping fitfully on a small table where Jiraiya had been examining him. Sarutobi let out another puff of smoke. "Is it secure?"
Jiraiya nodded. "Whatever else is odd about it, it is secure. Each of those shifts is just another layer of security on top what is already there. It is like a blood seal that constantly changes whose blood is needed, in what amount, how it needs to be applied, what the donor had to have eaten for breakfast..." Sarutobi glanced at Jiraiya bemusedly, and Jiraiya raised his hands. "I swear. I doubt I could break it, even if I wanted to."
Sarutobi chuckled, before slowly, his laughter died away. Taking a fortifying breath, he asked the question both of them knew needed to be asked, despite how they both wanted to deny it. "And if Naruto was to die?"
"Then your village would be right screwed."
The two experienced ninjas acted like the trained killers they were. A dozen kunai between them lashed out at the unexpected voice. A tall figure had appeared next to Naruto's bed, undetected, and it casually batted away the kunai attacking it. Sarutobi's hands flowed, moving through a dozen handseals in under a second, and the layer of dirt hidden under the floorboards of the office for just this purpose rose up, twisting into a thick black stone spike that shot out to pierce through the intruder, while Jiraiya leapt forward, every fiber of his body tensed to get Naruto away from the intruder. Jiraiya froze, however, when he spotted Naruto on the bed.
A thick tendril of red energy flowed out from Naruto's stomach and toward the figure that was twisting away from the spike of stone. Jiraiya's eyes tracked the figure as his hands froze with indecision. Red hair danced atop the figure, whose eyes were squeezed shut, and whose face was twisted into a mocking smirk.
"Kyuubi."
The single word from Jiraiya's mouth halted Sarutobi's assault, though the feeling of his chakra still permeated the air. The figure shook his head, then opened his eyes. Jiraiya's heart skipped a beat, his gut twisting with feelings of both rage and guilt, as a sparkling pair of pure blue eyes stared out at him from underneath the crimson hair.
"HOW DARE YOU!?" Jiraiya tensed, his chakra spiraling into the Rasengan that Minato had just taught him as he prepared to wipe those eyes out of the fox's face. A string of five words stopped him.
"Mocking hollow, the amber fountain"
Jiraiya froze yet again, his chakra still churning in the orb in his hand. "Minato? How..."
Once again, the figure shook his head. "No. I am neither the Nine Tailed Beast of Ruin, nor the Yellow Flash of Konoha. I am but a twisted clone of both, a creation of the living seal marked upon the belly of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."
The two ninja glanced at each other, then shifted back, allowing their chakra to settle, though it was still palpably present. The figure smiled, and then continued. "You may call me Gatekeeper, for that is what I am. The seal upon Naruto was not created by Minato Namikaze, nor does it contain the Kyuubi. It was forged by the Death God, using the body and power of the Kyuubi as a base, and the mind and soul of Minato Namikaze as a template, it was built to imprison legions, which it does."
"Legions of what?" Jiraiya's tone was light, but the hardness behind his words was unmistakable to any of those present.
"Demons." Gatekeeper laughed at the utterly stunned look on both ninjas' faces, and then continued, "Every demon contained within the belly of the Shinigami is now bound behind the Gate of the Seal. From lowly imps that wouldn't give trouble to a civilian, to mighty beasts capable of challenging any of the Bijuu, all are contained by the shifting seal."
"Why?" Why was this happening to Naruto? Why did the Shinigami create the seal now? Why was Minato used? Jiraiya wasn't certain what precisely he meant when he uttered the word, but he just felt the burning need to know...why?
Gatekeeper smiled, but it was thinner, almost melancholy. "Because the Shinigami was dying."
Sarutobi sagged back against his desk, not even bothering to hide his shock. Jiraiya scowled. If he had heard that at any other time, he would have ridiculed whoever said it, perhaps questioning their sanity or how much they had to drink. Now, however, he didn't feel like he could afford to question it, or even the need. Still, there was another one word question that needed to be asked.
"How?"
Gatekeeper paced away from the table with Naruto on it, allowing Jiraiya to relax just a fraction. "The being that you know as the Shinigami is not, in fact, the God of Death. It has no control over the flow of souls, save for its ability to consume them and bind them within its belly. However, that is but a side-effect of its true power, its true purpose. The Shinigami, could best be described as a Demon Eater." Gatekeeper turned to face the two ninja, his eyes meeting directly with theirs. "The Shinigami spends its time hunting down powerful demons, then twisting their power to bind them, trap them in the shell of their own form, before consuming their power and core. A demon's core is the true essence of what they are, and the Shinigami had dozens, hundreds even, bound in chains of demonic power within its belly. In many ways, you could say that the Shinigami is the natural predetor of demons, though there is nothing natural...!"
Without warning, Gatekeeper's form fizzled, like a Genjutsu that was about to break, his entire form blurring. Moments later, his form stabilized, and he shook himself, before grinning, wryly.
"It appears that there are some things that I am not allowed to speak about, a product of being crafted by the Shinigami."
Neither Sarutobi nor Jiraiya glanced at each other, but both absorbed the message hidden behind his words. Sarutobi cleared his throat and then spoke, switching topics, "When you first appeared, you dodged and blocked, but did not counter. You have no chakra of your own, do you?"
Gatekeeper smiled. "Very insightful, o God of Shinobi. Indeed, while the body I have shaped is in peak condition, and the mind of the Yellow Flash grants me great skill, in terms of force, I am simply a well-trained civilian." His form distorted once again, though not as violently as before. "It appears that my time is up." Gatekeeper glanced at Naruto. "My continued manifestation is putting undue pressure on Naruto's coils. We will have to continue our discussion later." And, before either ninja could speak, Gatekeeper dissolved into a red miasma, which quickly flowed back into the center of the seal.
Hours later, Jiraiya and Sarutobi were alone in Sarutobi's office. Naruto was off slumbering in a bunker, under the care of three of Sarutobi's most trusted ANBU operatives, and the two ninja felt safe to discuss what they had learned. The main point, as far as both of them were concerned, was the message that Gatekeeper had given them, either intentionally or not. Personally, Jiraiya liked to think that Minato, buried wherever he was in the seal, had managed to slip the message out: Gatekeeper was made by an unknown entity, for an unknown purpose, which was almost certainly not in line with loyalty to Konoha. Whatever else they decided to do with the info they had recieved, blindly trusting Gatekeeper was not on the table.
Ok, so this is pretty much what is written on the tin: Rather than containing the Kyuubi, Naruto instead contains a multitude of demons. This basic idea has filtered into several other Naruto ideas I've had, but the version shown here is the vanilla version, the only change to canon being a greater number of demons running around, and Naruto being a Multiple Demon Container.
Now, how does this affect Naruto? The first effect is that over 98% of Naruto's Chakra Potential is tied up in the seal. So, Naruto can't toss around Kage Bunshin like they are candy. When he graduates from the Academy, his chakra pool is only slightly larger than Sakura's. However, his Chakra Regeneration rate is not altered, so while he may exhaust himself easily, he is only exhausted for a minute or so, before he is back on his feet.
Due to the above, Naruto's main power revolves around the demon's inside of him, and it divides into two basic areas: The Demon Cloak, and Summing Demons.
The Demon Cloak is pretty much exactly like the fox-shaped aura his canon self gains from the Kyuubi, but much more versatile. It is formed out of the raw demonic energy contained in the seal which isn't bound to any particular demon. This makes it much easier to call on, and it is much less detrimental to Naruto's mental condition. The Demon Cloak has four distinct stages. The first stage, known as the Standard Cloak, takes the form of a red aura around Naruto, which gives the appearance of burning wind flowing around him. It increases his strength, speed, and agility, and acts as a form of armor for him. The other three forms depend on the power of the demons within him.
In this universe, demons take the form of a unique core (which stores their memories, and defines their form and powers) and a body constructed out of demonic energy. Within Naruto's Seal, the demons are essentially free floating cores, with the demonic energy around them being constantly disturbed to keep them from forming a proper body. One of the issues Naruto faces is that, when power is drawn out to form the Demon Cloak, it also draws out the demon cores free floating around. When the amount of power is relatively small, Gatekeeper can block them from coming through, but as it becomes larger, some will slip out. The solution is for Naruto to create pacts with some of the demons, to pull them out when he pulls on the power, rather than some random demons. Once those demons' cores have been pulled free, Naruto can either link them into his cloak, or push them outside of his body and give them power to create their own body.
By the time Naruto graduates, he has formed pacts with a flock of imps, three dire wolves, a succubus, a pair of skeletons, and a swamp beast. While Gatekeeper has tried to teach Naruto how to dominate the demons to his will, Naruto has insisted on trying to befriend them. To Gatekeeper's chagrin, Naruto's method has proven to be extremely effective, balancing out the demon's hatred with friendship, and making them all suprisingly loyal. Thus far, only three of the demons Naruto has attempted to befriend have rebuffed him: A sly kitsune, a insanely bloodthirsy vampire, and a beholder that simply fires death rays at anything that moves, however, he still continues to attempt to connect with them.
As far as power levels go, the imps are the weakest of the lot. Each imp can fly, slowly, and fire out small fire balls. However, an irate housewife with a broom could likely beat most of the imps handily. Next are the pair of skeletons. They don't speak, unlike most of the demons, but are big fans of slapstick humor, knocking each other apart and laughing as they pull themselves together. Next are the dire wolves. The wolves don't possess many powers, beyond an headache inducing howl, and being almost horse-sized wolves. The succubus is the next most powerful, with skill in using hypnotism and illusions, as well as a talent for lightning magic. She is also extremely agile and flexible. The swamp beast is actually the most powerful beast that Naruto has befriended, being capable of standing up to a boss summon if pushed to go full force. However, it is rather lazy, and will usually simply lash out with the vines growing out of its back at anything that annoys it.
Now, while the demons can be manifested with physical forms, Naruto only really powers up when he links them to his Demon Cloak. This boosts the Cloak to its second level, the Shaped Cloak. At this stage, the cloak takes on some of the features of the demons, as well as some of the powers. For those befriended by the time he graduates, the Shaped Cloaks are as follows:
Imps - When only a single Imp is linked, Naruto's fingers gain claws and he gains a pair of tiny bat wings. His agility increases slightly, and he can swipe with the claws, but otherwise the cloak and Naruto are largely unchanged. When the entire flock is linked, Naruto's cloak's arms are bulked up, with massive claws attatched, as are its legs. The Cloak gains a pair of massive bat wings, a pair of straight horns, and a thin whip like tail, and Naruto can generate massive fireballs from his hands. In this form, Naruto can fly (more like jump and glide), and is highly agile.
Skeletons - When either skeleton is fused with Naruto, his cloak in general is unchanged, except for a single skeletal arm that extends from Naruto's back. When both skeletons are fused, two skeletal arms extend from his back like wings. These arms move independantly of Naruto, while somewhat directed by his thoughts. Both arms are highly durable and strong.
Dire Wolves - When a dire wolf fuses with Naruto's Cloak, it causes one of the cloak's hands or its head to morph into a wolf's head, allowing Naruto to use the head as another weapon, or to use the powerful howl of the Dire Wolves. When all three are fused, both hands and the head are transformed.
Succubus - When the succubus fuses with Naruto, his aura becomes highly feminine-shaped, with a hypnotic quality for most men (and some women). Naruto is then able to manipulate the aura to generate some lightning, as well as gaining a minor bit of skill with Genjutsu.
Swamp Beast - When the swamp beast fuses with Naruto's Cloak, the main portion of the cloak expands into a lumpy sphere around Naruto, with multiple tendrils of energy extending out of the sphere. This form is highly defensive, because while it is difficult for Naruto to move, the vine-tendrils are very effective at blocking attacks, and the thick inner sphere forms an effective armor.
The next stage of the Demon Cloak is known as the Blood Cloak. It is similar to the Four-Tailed Cloak that Naruto enters in canon. In the Blood Cloak, Naruto's form is similar to the shape of the Shaped Cloak, but his body is consumed by the red demonic energy as he truly becomes one with the cloak. This form dramatically boosts the power Naruto can use, but it also brings his soul directly in contact with the various Demon cores, which results in the negative aspects of Naruto that resonate with the given demon coming to the forefront and overtaking his mind, unless he can properly supress them or balance them. For the imps, it brings out his mischieveousness, deviousness, and the darker aspects of being a prankster. The skeltons bring out Naruto's hunger, greed, and his desensitization to violence. The Dire Wolves bring out his pride, anger, and also some of his greed. The succubus brings out his desire for companionship and acknowledgement, as well as some of his pride. The swamp beast brings out his lazyness and stubborness.
The only Blood Cloak that takes a different shape from the Shaped Cloaks is the Swamp Beast's. When the Swamp Beast reaches Blood Cloak level, the central sphere unfolds into a bulky, hunched humanoid.
The final stage of the Demon Cloak is known as the Mastery Cloak. At this level, Naruto takes a shape that is a fusion of himself and the demon. At that level, Naruto perfectly fused with an imp can match low level Jounin in power, while beings on the level of the Swamp Beast could cause trouble for a Kage. This stage can only be reached if Naruto fully succumbs to his darker impulses, at which point he would essentially become a demon himself, the seal would dissolve and flood him with energy, and he would transform into a composite entity on par with strength with the Juubi. This is naturally bad, and Gatekeeper works as hard as he can to avoid this, as well as Blood Cloak just to be safe. However, that stage can also be reached if Naruto manages to help the Demon in question to balance their own cores, gaining positive traits and emotions to balance their evil ones, and essentially becoming a true soul. At that point, Naruto and the demon essentially resonate in this form, unleashing the full strength of both of their souls.
When Naruto perfectly fuses with an imp, his Mastery form is essentially himself, with slightly darker skin, black and red streaks in his hair, claws on his hands, and a small pair of bat wings. He can create fire balls in this form, as well as generate a minor fear aura. Naruto can also fuse with the entire imp swarm, which results him becoming much taller, around 7 feet tall, with massively bulked fore arms and wickedly sharp claws, clawed feet, orange and black hair and a pair of thin horns, a pair of wide bat wings with a couple of smaller sets of wings, and a long thin tail ending in a spade. This form can easily manipulate fire, generate terror, and can also teleport.
When Naruto perfectly fuses with a skeleton, he takes the form of a lich-version of himself, being a thin skeleton, with the only sign that he is him is yellow hair, and a pair of blue flames in his eye sockets. In this form, he can freely manipulate his bones to attack at a distance, as well as rebuild himself. When fused with both skeletons, he gains an extra set of arms and bulkier bones, some with spikes. In both types of forms, he can also create bone weapons to attack with.
When Naruto perfectly fuses with a dire wolf, he takes a shape rather like a werewolf, large and bulky, with his howl capable of actually generating physical force. More wolves being fused with will result in extra heads and extra bulk. This fusion also ramps up Naruto's senses to near godlike levels.
When Naruto perfectly fuses with the succubus, he takes the shape of a female version of himself, with blonde and black striped hair, as well as possessing curled horns, a pair of black feathered wings, and several demonic tattoos. In this form, Naruto can generate extremely convincing illusions and Genjutsu, as well as hypnotizing almost anyone to do what he wants. However, he also loses the succubus' lightning abilities. Instead, his wind affinity is extremely enhanced, allowing Naruto to manipulate large-scale winds, as well as create various mists and gases with different effects.
When Naruto perfectly fuses with the swamp beast, he takes the shape of a wooden golem-like creature, hunched over with massively bulky limbs. He is covered in wooden armor, with several thick vines growing from his shoulders and back, as well as yellow leaves forming hair for him. Thick slime oozes out from the wooden armor on him, which can function as a paralytic agent, an acid, or even a healing salve, depending on Naruto's feelings.
Beyond these demons, there are many other demons contained in the seal, ranging from other small level demons, like mandragora or poltergeists, to higher tier demons like a cockatrice or a thunderbird, to top-tier demons like Asmodeus, Orochi, or Fenrir. Each of which can be summoned, or linked to Naruto's cloak once he befriends them.
