AN: Considering how rare it is to find someone who knows about Huntik, this story has been doing rather well for viewers. To that end, I thank you, my readers, for at least giving this a shot.
Now, I've been asked if there will be lemons in this story... I don't know yet, but it's somewhat doubtful. Please don't try to force the issue, if you do I'm liable to simply say no just to annoy you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Huntik. I could wish otherwise, but if wishes were horses, beggars would eat well. ... Hey, horse meat may be salty, but it's still tasty!
Chapter 04: Now What?!
Naruto's group made it to the beach without further incident, and once again took shelter within the cave hideout Zabuza had set up. Hinata took up position at the small fire they made for cooking and light, as Haku retreated into the back of the cave. What she was doing back there none of the others really knew, but they respected her obvious wish for privacy, even if Naruto could take a guess. He knew of only three things in the farther reaches of the caves; the first was a small hotspring and fresh-water spring chamber, the second was an emergency exit that was trapped with dozens of explosive tags. But Naruto was fairly certain Haku was engaging herself with the third option: Zabuza's armory stash, filled with scrolls, kunai, shuriken, senbon, and pretty much everything he found useful but couldn't lug around.
Zabuza was surprisingly a very thorough person when wished to be. Or rather, when it came to survival. However, this merely underscored just how little most people knew of the man who claimed the title Demon of the Bloody Mist. Most people simply assumed he cast the Kirigakure no Jutsu and silently killed his targets with his enormous sword, and while many times this was probably true, if that was all he did he probably wouldn't have risen to his rank of jonin, or lived as long as he did.
Naruto just plopped down on a small stool by the fire and took out the second tome that Haku managed to find. This one was labeled quite clearly in that same archaic version of today's tongue, stating 'Powers of Seekers, Volume One". From what he learned from Arc, because he was now her bearer, and a holder for yet another Titan, he could conceivably access the power of a Seeker, a type of magic she called "The Power of Will". There was no way in Hell Naruto was going to call it that in public, but it would give him a secondary source of strength to call on.
Or so he assumed until he read the first few lines of the book and discovered his power would grow like chakra did, through constant use and practice. Meaning if he got tired, his Will would falter, and he'd be just as screwed as he would be without chakra. Oh well, so long as it worked, the important thing seemed to be that Will spells needed no handsigns, so as long as he could focus and call forth the power, he could use those spells in combat fairly easily.
"Hm, let's see.. Beginner Assault and Utility Spells, is this a Table of Contents? Alright then, first spell in the Beginner category... Augerfrost? Frost... An ice-type ability? Not sure if I wanna steal Haku's thunder, but it would be a shock to an enemy. Maybe I should check the B list first... Boltflare, combat spell with a utility use? Sounds good!"
He settled in and began reading in earnest, Kurenai silently reading over his shoulder. She too was interested in the possible abilities she could wield as one of these "Seekers", so it made sense to read about them. This Boltflare seemed fairly straight forward and simple as well, it just required a bit of focus and one should be capable of bringing forth a sphere of magical lightning that cast light like fire would.
Simple in theory, a fair bit more difficult in practice... for Naruto. To his great chagrin Kurenai managed to get it on her first attempt, then spent the next hour honing it to the point where she could control just how big her Boltflare was and how fast she could launch it. To further annoy him Hinata watched Kurenai go through it and managed to achieve her own on her second attempt, before returning to cooking dinner.
Control. If it wasn't chakra control, now it was magic control. Naruto seemed doomed to forever be a technique tank, with his lack of control. Thankfully they had thought about the possibility of being seen from the outside, so they had put up a small genjutsu over the cave entrance to look like solid rock. So they were unlikely to be found by hostiles just because they were technically playing with fire.
At the end of that hour of practice, Naruto finally managing to get the damned spell to work properly, Haku emerged from the back carrying a small box in in her hands. Crossing over to sit in seiza beside Naruto, she placed the box down on the cave floor in front of her. She then just sat there, staring at him, as if waiting for his recognition of her presence.
So as to not disappoint her, Naruto turned to face her. "Yes, Haku? I assume there is something you wanted?"
The girl nodded, and slid the box a little closer to him, "this contains a few objects that Zabuza-san couldn't place a true value on. At the time I thought them little more than trinkets, but with what's been happening lately, I can't help but note a resemblance."
Slightly confused, Naruto opened the box. And stared in abject amazement. Laying within were several, no than maybe eight, objects that could only be the amulets of Titans! Zabuza had these all this time, and none of them bonded to him? Wait, something seemed off about that.
Once more making eye contact with Haku, Naruto took a deep breath. "Haku, I'm going to ask because I need to. Did Zabuza ever carry one of these wherever he went?"
It was extremely unlikely that not even one of the amulets had bonded to Zabuza. not impossible, certainly, but the chances were so low that they might as well have not existed. Though, if he didn't know what he had, those chances rose from nearly non-existent to about ten percent.
It looked like Zabuza hit that ten percent, however, as Haku just shook her head. "He thought about it, but then figured it would just detract from the 'Demon' persona if he was caught wearing any kind of jewelry."
Naruto exhaled a breath in relief, "I'm glad. This means we don't have to potentially do any grave robbing." Zabuza wasn't a bad man in Naruto's book, he simply lost his way. Easy enough to do with all the pressure of a life on the run as a Missing-nin, but Naruto still didn't feel like opening the man's grave just to retrieve an amulet. It would be beyond disrespectful to a man he had come to admire a little.
The blonde picked one of the amulets up, purposefully forcing himself not to bond with it, he simply looked it over. It didn't look special, just an odd mask-like configuration around a solid green gem.* His thoughts turned to just which titan could be within this particular amulet, and wondered if there was a way to tell without bonding. Shrugging, Naruto placed the amulet back with the others, and closed the lid.
"We can take a look at those in more detail later, I'm sure. Obviously I'm not going to take them, with Zabuza's death they belong to you now, Haku, as his only partner." Naruto said, his face softening with a small smile for the girl, who's face lit up with a pleased flush.
"I-I, I w-want to sh-share them, Naruto-sama." Haku tried to speak, but in her joyful moment, it came out a little stuttered. This reaction had Naruto blinking in surprise. Since when did Haku stutter?!
Naruto grew concerned on the instant, quickly placing one hand reversed against her forehead. "You alright, Haku? you don't feel like you have a fever, but you never stutter..."
The girl blinked and sat up straighter, unconsciously raising her right hand to her lips, "I don't know what you mean, Naruto-sama. I'm not sick, I was just a little happy."
But Naruto noticed it. That one incongruous thing that was off. Haku wasn't wearing Behemoth's ring.
He frowned and tackled the girl to the floor, quickly pinning her arms above her head. "Who are you?! What have you done with Haku?! ANSWER ME!"
Hinata and Kurenai started in surprise, but it was Hinata that voiced their shared question, "What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto simply shook the girl under him again, "if you are Haku, then where is Behemoth's amulet?"
This brought the other's attention to Haku's hands as well, and finally they too saw that the ring was missing. Haku never removed that ring, none of them did. Each of the women saw those rings as part of their link and bond with Naruto, and as such refused to remove them.
The dark haired girl underneath Naruto started to shiver, as if in fear. "I don't know what you're talking about, Naruto-sama! Who is Behemoth-san? You're scaring me."
That little question cemented it in everyone's minds. There was no way that Haku wouldn't know Behemoth, he was her Legendary Titan after all. The two were bonded, much like Naruto and Arc, or Hinata and Tao, and Kurenai and Araknos. So that left one possible answer: someone had entered the cave, likely from the emergency exit, captured Haku, took her appearance, and tried to get them while their guards were down.
Naruto just made a half-ram sign with his right hand and pulsed his chakra that would dispel any low-to-mid-ranked genjutsu. A puff of smoke surrounded the girl beneath him, dispersing to reveal..
"INO?!"
XXXXXXXX- Break -XXXXXXXX
"Ma, sorry about that, but we found Haku-san outside that exit of yours, and thought we'd see if you could tell if one of you wasn't who she claimed to be."
This explanation was courtesy of one Hatake Kakashi, Naruto's jonin-sensei. The man was still lazier than shit, and his teaching ability stank worse, but he was a true comrade to any who bore the sign of the Leaf. And apparently he'd had the completely asinine idea to "test" Naruto on his ability to tell his friends from potential enemies.
Yeah, the guy was dick like that sometimes.
Naruto just glared at the man, trying to light him on fire with his stare. It wasn't working. So Naruto pointed one finger in the older man's direction.
"Boltflare!"
A small orb of orange-colored lightning flew past Kakashi's head to impact with the wall, startling the man in question. Kakashi's head swung from the point of impact on the wall, which now had a small hole corresponding with the size of the sphere, to Naruto's finger, his one visible eye wide. However, despite his surprise he never moved from his cross-legged position.
"What was that?!" Ino shouted, voicing the question of everyone who had just arrived, which consisted of herself, Kakashi, Shino, Choji, and Neji. Each had wide eyes, for it wasn't supposed to be possible for Naruto to have a jutsu like that.
Assuming it was a jutsu, which Neji doubted as he viewed the hole in the wall with an active byakugan. Every jutsu left trace amounts of chakra behind, but that hole had nothing. Not a single trace of chakra, it wasn't supposed to be possible.
'Of course, this is Naruto. Since when did the idea of "impossible" matter to him?' Neji thought with a wry grin. A short-lived grin, though, he couldn't let it be known that he actually had a sense of humor. Naruto would never let him live it down.
Naruto, in no mood at the moment to explain, gestured to Kurenai, who was quick to do so for him. "It's a technique called Boltflare. As you can see it's not truly elemental in nature, or at least not in chakra nature. It's a Beginner's ability that Naruto discovered in one of the tomes we retrieved from Uzushio."
Kakashi perked up, "did you say 'tomes'? True tomes? Those haven't been seen in centuries, and you found more than one?"
Kurenai nodded, holding up the first one with the riddle in it. "Yes, this is one of them. I wouldn't bother trying to read it Kakashi, most of it is in a long-ago language that we'll need to have translated by the cryptography department. The only reason I'm even bothering to look at it is to see if I can do any prior analysis to aid the department."
Well, that and apparently Araknos could read the ancient tongue, and was fully willing to translate for her. She just had to keep that quiet for the time being, as the Titan didn't want his ability to be known about to just anyone. Kurenai would tell Naruto and her fellow servants later, but they were liable to be the only ones she told.
Kakashi, who had indeed been reaching for the book, just sat back down heavily. "It's not every day such treasures are found."
"You said that was a beginner technique, right?" Ino asked Kurenai, who responded with a nod, "then he should give all those books and things to Sasuke-kun! He'll need the power more than Naruto-baka!"
Another Boltflare flew past Ino's head, close enough for her to feel the small amount of heat it created. Following the trail, everyone saw Naruto with his hand still outstretched. "Ino. For the sake of of our years together at the Academy, I'll overlook just how stupid you sounded just now. These are Uzumaki Clan secrets, and I refuse to give them to someone who is not only not affiliated with the Uzumaki, but a traitor! The only way Sasuke will get these secrets from me is over my cold, dead, and decayed corpse!"
"B-but, he needs it more than you do! You're just a worthless orphan! No one cares about you! Maybe giving this all to Sasuke will make him want to come back!" The blonde girl protested.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto. I had parents, Ino, they just died the night of my birth. An orphan, Yamanaka Ino, is simply one who has no parents or family to take care of them. In case you didn't know, that would drop your precious 'Sasuke-kun' in this category as well, since his elder brother is a Nuke-nin." He paused to take a breath and make certain he had the girl's attention, "The next point I will address is that Sasuke left of his own free will. Should he ever try to return he will be tried as a criminal, a traitor, because that's what he is. He betrayed Konoha for power, and cannot be trusted. Not even the Council can save him from receiving the Hokage's Judgment. Finally, as for no one caring about me... well , there you are wrong again. KUNOICHI!"
From within the amulet around his neck, directly next to the pendant he won from Tsunade, came a light that coalesced into the form of a lightly-armored woman with long sky-blue hair. She stood proudly, the four glowing red eye slots of her mask looking around at the assembled ninja as if seeking potential trouble. Seeing none she turned to Naruto and kneeled.
"Kunoichi, I need you to keep a look out for anyone not bearing the leaf emblem. Should you tire first, return." The titan nodded and swiftly left the cave, never bothering to take note of the utterly gobsmacked expressions on the five new additions. Naruto just nodded in satisfaction as he took up a seat beside the real Haku who had emerged from the back of the cave with the rest of Kakashi's group.
Together the two of them looked over the collection of amulets that Zabuza had stored in that small box. Naruto had asked her if Zabuza had kept an amulet on him, and she had reassured him that the man had not. Which was probably a good thing, if the man had possessed his own titan he'd have likely used it against them at the bridge all those months ago.
Ino meanwhile just sat there with her mouth open, unable to process what just happened. Shikamaru was marginally better off, he wasn't even trying. Shino raised an eyebrow, but no one really noticed so it didn't matter. Neji didn't care, he just figured it was one of Naruto's Kage Bunshin in a Henge. And Kakashi... Kakashi was out cold on his back in shock. It didn't last long, but for a few moments there was blissful quiet.
"When Blood calls to Blood," the words left Kakashi's mouth before he could stop them, instantly snapping Naruto's focus to the man. Of all the things he could expect from Kakashi, the opening line from the riddle he solved the previous day was not one of them.
"Where did you hear those words?!" Naruto hissed, fully glaring at he silver-haired man, his sudden standing posture one of pure hostility. It was improbable that Kakashi had heard those words before, so what was his jonin-sensei hiding?
Kakashi almost seemed to squirm under the hostile gazes of Naruto, Hinata, Haku, and Kurenai. He hadn't meant to let that little bit slip out, it simply had. With a heavy sigh, he finally capitulated.
"From your mother. She told me once that it was something the Uzumaki would teach their children. I always thought it meant that when one Uzumaki calls, the others would answer and defend them. But that, what did you call her? Kunoichi?" Receiving a terse nod in response, "that Kunoichi, I swear I saw Kushina's likeness shadowing her." The older man stopped and looked Naruto in the eye, "so you tell me, Naruto. What does it really mean?"
The boy just shook his head, the hostility draining from him as he sat back down. "I cannot tell you, Kakashi. Despite your time knowing my mother, you are not affiliated directly with the Uzumaki. But, if you must know something, then know this: Kunoichi is filled with the determination and will of Uzumaki Kushina."
Kakashi just nodded his head, obviously thinking about what was said, and all the possible connotations therein. There were many ways to take that phrase, and he doubted if most of them were correct. It was too bad that without Naruto's permission he couldn't take a look through those books. Clan secrets, and the possible theft of such, were not the kind of things taken lightly. The fact that Naruto was taking his own so seriously, made Kakashi both proud and worried. But he understood better than most, having been keeping his own clan's secrets his entire life, that there were some things you simply did not allow others to know.
The man was surprised then, when Naruto tossed him one of the strange objects from within that box he and Haku had been looking at. He was even more shocked to feel something bond to his heart from within the object. Unthinkingly Kakashi called out in a strident tone, "Bulregard!"
Following this call, coming forth from the amulet was a light that coalesced into the form a medium-sized dog, wearing a black and red tabbard with yellow outlining and a spiked red collar. The creature just looked at Kakashi, who couldn't help but look back. This stare-off continued until the dog decided enough was enough, and licked the man's face with a long slobbering tongue.
Kakashi could only sit there in stunned shock, drool dripping from his face even as the dog lay down in his lap contently. The man had not expected anything like this. He had expected to be shunned and left in the dark, but instead Naruto had thrown him one of the amulets within that box and awakened within him a new power, one Kakashi could already feel was going to need to be trained if he didn't want it to accidentally give him away. He was a jonin, and his natural experience in battle gave him an edge a genin wouldn't possess in the accumulation of power.
Kakashi didn't even notice his hand raising itself to scratch the dog behind the ears.
Naruto's snickers eventually pulled the man from his ruminations, "there you go, Kakashi. You can never say I didn't give you something useful. Bulregard is a bit lax for a Titan, but he's a powerful ally when his master's in trouble. I'd suggest getting to know him more."
Shikamaru's ears perked up, "Titan? I don't suppose that's a topic you can tell us about?"
Naruto blinked, and seemed to think about it for a moment, though he was actually asking permission from Arc. "No, no I can't actually. Not unless you also possess one."
The other boy shrugged his shoulders, "you mean like this thing?" He held up a dark gray amulet that looked a little like a fox head with a large blue stone.
Blinking again, Naruto felt the need to ask incredulously, "where did you get that?!"
Shikamaru yawned, "Dad gave it to me just before graduation. Said something about it being useful in tight situations."
"Have you bonded?" The blonde boy asked.
"If you mean, do I know it's name like Kakashi knows his, then yes."
Naruto just gave him an unbelieving stare. "Prove it."
Shikamaru sighed, "come out, Springer!"
The resulting titan looked a little like what Naruto suspected the offspring of a cat and a squirrel would, if either had two tails.* Gray fur covered it's body and the tips of it's otherwise white tails. Large eyes held a sense of extreme curiosity, and it's twitching tails indicated it sorely wanted to do something.
The pineapple-haired boy shrugged, "I play shogi and go against him when I need a real opponent who isn't my Dad. Little bugger hasn't lost yet, from what Dad's told me."
Naruto just sighed. It figured that the arguably smartest kid in his class knew about titans before he did. That just wasn't fair! Naruto almost died before Arc came to him, and Shikamaru already knew about them! Wait a second..
"If you already bonded with him, why do you need to know more?"
"Because he doesn't talk, Naruto. I'm hoping you know more."
"Oh." Naruto paused for a bit, his eyes blanking out as he talked things over with Arc. Coming out of his inner dialogue, Naruto started explaining what little Arc told him. "Springer, Meso-Titan* scout. Attack, One; Defense, One. A master of tricks and traps of all varieties. That's all I can say in the presence of those who do not bear their own."
He cast a significant glance at Ino who was eying Springer with stars in her eyes. The girl looked like she was just barely holding herself back from trying pet the poor thing to oblivion and was obviously not bothering to listen to what Naruto was saying. Springer, upon taking note of Ino's expression, squeaked in fear and quickly returned to his amulet. There was no way he would allow himself to be molested simply because the girl found him somewhat cute.
Shikamaru snorted as he received a silent feeling from Springer to that same effect. "By the way, if you're bent out of shape 'cause I've got one, you should see Choji's."
Naruto's palm found his face, "do I even want to know it's name?"
"Undergolem."
Choji's reply had Naruto sinking to the ground in defeat as he began conversing with Arc again. She was incredibly useful with the amount of information she had on titans, as it was with her help he was able to discern that Bulregard was safe to give to Kakashi. Hell, she was able to tell him exactly what was all in that box, he just didn't feel like thinking about it right now. He was doing his friends a favor telling them what they held, and later would let the two of them peruse the lower-level spells just to let them round out their abilities, if only because Naruto felt it was the right thing to do.
Uzumaki Clan secret, the books may be, but these two were his friends, and if not for them Naruto knew his early life would have been a much more lonely experience. It was only right that he share something with them after Shikamaru's mom had taught him his numbers and mathematics, and Choji's mom had taught him to cook.
"Undergolem, Litho-titan* warrior. Attack, Four; Defense, Four. Special Ability, Stone Form. Slow, but powerful, this titan is unrelenting in it's attack on an enemy, or in it's defense of an ally." Naruto's voice came out almost robotically.
Coming to from his talk with Arc, he saw Ino was pouting. "Why do you guys have one of those Titan things, and I don't? Daddy's never even hinted at having something like them."
"Maybe it's because he knew you'd go straight to Sasuke and show it off instead of keeping it quiet like we're probably supposed to? Seriously, Ino, that's why Choji and I never mentioned them before," Shikamaru drawled. He knew his team mate well, and thus knew that that was exactly what she would have done. And if Sasuke had even hinted at wanting such a thing, Ino would have just handed hers over without a fuss, she was that far gone.
Her pout seemed to increase in attempted cuteness. Unfortunately for Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were used to it from growing up with her, the jonin didn't care, Hinata and Haku were girls and thus immune, Neji was with the jonin in simply not caring, and Naruto thought it looked funny. As such he started to laugh at her expression, causing it to vanish in the wake of embarrassed anger.
With said anger, Ino stood and began to stomp over to Naruto, only to suddenly stop as the atmosphere chilled rapidly. Feeling a sudden outpouring of Killing Intent, she saw Hinata, Haku, and Kurenai giving her the coldest glares that side of the arctic, with ice crystals forming in the air around Haku. Swiftly, Ino turned around hid behind Choji, which allowed the temperature to rise back to normal.
"Okay, note to self: no attempting to beat on Naruto for making me look stupid. gonna have to tell Forehead that her favorite punching bag is off limits now.' The girl thought while still shivering with the after effects of receiving that much KI. 'Oh, who am I kidding? I'll enjoy watching Sakura get taken down by those three.'
Hinata's voice reached Ino's ears like the ice Haku manipulated, "Ino, as Naruto-kun said, for the years together in the Academy I'll let one slide. But, never attempt it again."
From her place behind Choji's bulk, Ino's head could be seen nodding vigorously. She didn't know where this new side of Hinata came from, but it honestly terrified her. Add that to what was coming off the other two, and Ino was well and truly cowed.
"Troublesome," Naruto muttered.
"Hey, that's my line."
XXXXXXXX- Break -XXXXXXXX
Later that night, near dawn to be more specific, Kunoichi finally returned, her power running low, and thus needing to return to her amulet. Her return awoke the few who had managed to find sleep, and since they were going to move out at dawn anyway, they merely stayed awake. It would take several hours before Naruto would be able to summon her again, but he was certain that there were no enemies nearby. Kunoichi had assured him of that before dissipating.
That was something of a relief, even as Hinata summoned Shinobi to take Kunoichi's guard job. Unfortunately Neji saw the ghostly form of his father within the Titan, and reacted badly. Thinking it was once more the Main House subjugating the Branch, he immediately demanded to know why Hinata was disturbing his father's rest. Apparently he hadn't been listening earlier when Naruto gave Kakashi that small explanation about Kunoichi and the "will and determination to protect".
Either that, or in his sudden anger he dismissed the thought entirely. Which was completely within the realm of possibility. Thus Hinata was forced to bring Neji aside so as not reveal the nature of her true relationship with him to Ino, who was still Konoha's "Gossip Princess". The only reason the blonde girl wasn't the "Queen" was because that was her mother's position, and Hinata shuddered at the impact the truth of her mother's relationship with Hizashi would cause throughout Konoha. While she had no care about the Hyuuga Main House in general, she would refuse to besmirch her mother's reputation.
For his part Neji was beyond shocked that his father had that kind of relationship with the deceased matriarch, and that Hinata was actually his younger sister. He instantly found the humor in the truth of the "nii-san" she had been attaching to his name for all those years. To say Hinata was shocked at seeing the brief smile of amusement on Neji's face would be an understatement.
Hanabi was another story, however, as she truly was her father's daughter. That piece of information had saddened Hinata for a time, but she knew there wouldn't have been a way for Hanabi and her to share the same father, as Hizashi had died two years prior to Hanabi's birth. Still, a half-sister was a sister, and Hinata still loved the younger girl. Even if she was a stuck-up little brat.
That was just how Hinata was, and Neji found it within himself to finally respect that kindness. For the longest time he had seen it as weakness or her being condescending, and only now realizing the she just did not have the ability to do talk down to others. She could, however, scare the crap out of him with one of those smiles when someone badmouthed Naruto, even before this little mission of hers.
People of the Clan found out the hard way that you simply do not insult Uzumaki Naruto within Hinata's hearing range, as she demonstrated in those moments a mastery of Juuken that was rarely seen. Otherwise, she was a meek little thing, that simply wanted her family to be whole. Such a terrifying ability. It was one of the lesser known reasons for why the Elder Council wanted to kill the girl, she simply scared them.
Go figure.
The remainder of the night passed quickly and quietly. Naruto and Hinata had spent their time helping Haku store as many things as they could within the Sealing Scrolls found in the armory section of the cave. If they were to leave, and conceivably not return for some time, it would behoove them to remove as much evidence of human presence as they possibly could. To this end the smaller, filled scrolls were then sealed within one giant scroll Naruto managed to find.
He found a few other interesting things, but those he would leave for another time. Mostly because he couldn't use them as things stood.
Honestly, Zabuza had actually acquired someone's Summoning Scroll, and he never signed it! Now Naruto had two problems with this item, the first being that he was already bound to the Toads, and he wasn't willing to give them up after the amount of help they'd already given him. The second being that he had no idea what this scroll summoned, as the images along the border that would normally tell him were so faded they might as well not be there.
Come to think of it, that might be why Zabuza never tried signing the thing. If you didn't know what you were getting, why bother signing yourself into a contract that you might not be able to get out of? While you could always hope for the best, the chances of getting a creature you could work with easily weren't really anywhere near decent.*
Naruto shook his head to clear it, even as his hand brushed against a new amulet that hung from his belt loop, a golden shield-like thing with a green stone. That was something else he had done, he and Haku had indeed split the amulets from that box among their own little group, more specifically they each picked up one of four identical amulets, while Haku and Kurenai had picked up a second amulet for themselves to even things up at three amulets apiece. That left one in the box that Naruto sealed up in that giant scroll.
When they finished, there was surprisingly only a few trophies left over from Zabuza's sordid career, and none of them were usable in either combat or to gain reputation. The items were either broken beyond repair, or simply a curio that the man had thought interesting and was unrecognizable as any one person's possession. Quite frankly Naruto had to suppress a laugh at the thought of Zabuza being such an enormous pack rat.
'The things you learn about some people.'
XXXXXXXX- Ending Notes -XXXXXXXX
*Yes, that is how Bulregard is spelled. That Titan is definitely a kind of bulldog in appearance, so when thought of that way the spelling makes a certain amount of sense. Bulregard is a Gaia-Titan, based on Celtic legend.
*Seriously, look him up. Springer looks like a squirrel and a cat had a kid. Even though he's apparently the kind of Titan that sprouted the Japanese legends of kitsune. Or at least, that's what he's supposed to be based on.
*Meso-Titan: tend to be the basis for the Native American legends of North and Central America and are often based upon spiritual powers and animals.
*Litho-Titan: tend to be the colossal Titans, forming the basis for the various golems around the world including those of European, Norse, and even Greco-Roman legends.
*Yes, I'm making a new Summoning Scroll, and no, Naruto will not be signing it. It is not going to be overpowered, and I'm not even certain what I might make it yet. I'll probably just make up a list of random creatures and then roll a die. As to what I'd consider decent odds on an unknown Summoning Scroll... 5% or better.