Tidbits

by NeolithicMonarch

A collection of my unfinished work, story ideas and anything in-between. Some of it may get finished and some may not, this is just a place for all sorts of stuff my brain comes up with.

4. The World of the Claymore NarutoClaymore

Naruto In the World of the Claymore

My First Naruto/Claymore that I wrote awhile back. It conforms quite closely to the canon storyline. I might make a rewrite of it at a later date.

Chapter I: Enter The Worlds Of The Claymore

Two figures stood facing each other, both standing on statues in a valley housing a mighty river, one waring the standard jonin uniform with spiky yellow hair and blue eyes with a intricate looking katana strapped to his back.

The other was dressed in light blue clothing shirt in the middle and black pants with a intricately tied large purple rope on his back with black hair and a pair of blood red eyes with three comma like marks in them with a sword attached to his waist.

The one with the standard jonin attire, looked at his advisory and chuckled slightly.

"Looks like it ends here for one of us, eh Sasuke" said the 18 year old Naruto Namikaze, jonin of Kohona, his eyes growing steadily colder.

"Of course it does Naruto, it ends now, today you die!" and with a final glare he charged, going at speeds all but the most experienced ninja were unable to see.

'Indeed it does' was Naruto's final thought before he to charged.

The two met in between the statues and even as they fell toward the water they never once let up on their assault.

They both landed gracefully onto the water and continued their struggle.

They continued to throw punches at each other for several more minutes before they both realized they were to evenly matched for there to be any clear victor.

Jumping back they both began to make hand signs at an incredible rate as cries of "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique" and "Water Style: Water Dragon Technique" were heard.

A huge fireball the size of a house and a dragon make entirely of water materialized and charged each other.

They met and exploded in a shower of superheated water, however the two battling figures were not deterred and continued to throw attacks at one another.

As the smoke from the last attack dissipated both were breathing hard and slight burns and cuts marred their bodies.

As their eyes met they both knew what the other was going to do.

Both drawing their swords they clashed, sparks flew as the clanging of metal rang throughout the valley.

Sasuke smirked as he charged his sword with lightning and swung it at the blond.

CLANG!

The two swords impacted midair, one arcing with electricity and the other glowing a peaceful blue.

"What?" Sasuke said as his eyes widened, that should have severed right threw any metal.

It was Naruto's time to smirk now, "This sword is made out of chakra absorbent metal, allowing me to infuse my chakra into the sword itself."

Sasuke jumped back and sneered "It won't matter, even if you have found a way to counter my attacks, at the end of the day you will still be dead."

He suddenly sprouted wings and his skin turned a sickly color as he his eyes began to form into a pinwheel shape.

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly 'So he's resorting to that huh' he mused

'Yo fox' he mentally screamed 'Gimme some chakra'

Naruto hunched his back slightly as a tail of orange malicious energy formed behind him as he held his hand out and chakra slowly spiraled into a typhoon contained in a perfect purple ball with a ring of spiraling wind surrounded it, transforming into a large shuriken.

Then, as if given some kind unseen signal Naruto flicked a kunai behind Sasuke and charged at top speed, the conclusion of this epic battle was nearing.

"What kind of throw was that" Sasuke taunted "You are as weak as ever Naruto."

As they approached each other time seemed to slow as Sasuke's right eye began to bleed.

"Amaterasu " he whispered.

Black fire erupted into the air and sped toward Naruto, nothing was able to escape its destruction.

'I hope this works.' thought Naruto, and before Sasuke's very eyes vanished in a flash of yellow

Naruto threw his arm forward and shouted "Rasen Shuriken " as he landed behind Sasuke, exactly where the kunai was thrown,

A sphere of intense wind surrounded the two figures as the vicious attack collided.

As the energy dissipated you could make out the outline of a person standing.

Upon closer inspection you could make you the blond hair that defined Naruto Namikaze.

Naruto took a step forward and then suddenly started coughing, as he looked at himself he could see his entire torso had burn marks, his uniform was in tatters.

'Shoot' He thought 'I didn't move fast enough, I still haven't mastered that move fully'

As he fell to a knee he looked over at the mangled figure who used to be his former best friend and said "Huh, you never could just give up, eh Sasuke? You could'nt just return to the village after you completed your goal?"

Suddenly the air around Naruto swirled into a single spot as the demonic chakra was let loose into the air and began to pull things into it.

Turning around Naruto was bewildered by this event "What the..." was all he managed to say before he himself was sucked into the vortex.

(In His Mind)

Naruto slowly began to sit up to see himself in front of a large cage with two huge, red, demonic eyes staring at him.

With a barley suppressed groan Naruto looked at the cage and said "Why am I here, what happened."

Naruto relationship with the demon fox was unique to say the least, if one were to describe it they would call it a working relationship.

Once they both realized that they were stuck together they reluctantly came to a truce, where Naruto was allowed to utilize the fox's chakra and his senses were improved while the fox was able to see, hear, smell, feel and taste everything Naruto did.

Being able to have some semblance or awareness seemed to calm to the fox down quite a bit and now civil conversation was possible, they even shared a mental link.

The Kyuubi shook his head and sighed "Well obviously this is your mind but I guess you know that. Anyway, it seems that the chakra surrounding you from your attacks the residual demon chakra had nowhere to go so it entered the air causing it gain density at a tremendous rate which cause a distortion in space time. This rift sucked you across space time and into a new dimension. Now when you were sucked through the rift the demonic chakra had nowhere to go except into you which jump started your regenerative ability to a hyper stimulated state which repaired your body. This is quite interesting, I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of life"

Naruto sat wide eyed as he heard the explanation given to him "So..." he began "How do I get back."

Kyuubi stated and him and quite simply explained "You can't."

"WHAT!" said Naruto frantically "Please tell me I didn't hear you right."

"I'm afraid you heard right, also the fabric of space time isn't stable enough for another attempt to travel across without destroying both realities. Even if you could there are an infinite number of possible realities possible that you could possible land in, one in which humans might not even exist." explained Kyuubi.

Naruto groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose "So I am currently in an unknown world with unknown people with no information at all, do you know anything at all" he asked.

"As a matter of fact I do" said Kyuubi "This is a very interesting world, the are a large amount of lesser demons of various power roaming around the world, they are nowhere near your level but I also sense some others, they are substantial more powerful then the others and would give the average jonin a run for their money. Finally, there are four others, they power far exceeds that of the others, they might even be able to give a few of the Tailed Beasts a run for their money. I wouldn't recommend engaging them in battle unless absolutely necessary."

Naruto stared wide eyed at this, demons, beings who rival the Tailed Beasts in power 'What kind of world did I land myself in' he thought to himself.

"Also" continued the fox "there are some other being who seem to be half demon, I can tell there weren't born like that way, so I can only assume then have somehow interrogated demon parts into their bodies. They will be substantially stronger then a normal human, so be careful if you have to deal with them."

Naruto mentally filed away this information away in his brain "Anything else?" he asked.

"Just a one more" said Kyuubi "The land seems to be made up of various settlements which seem to be independent, in fact there is one to the west a little bit, and one thing there seems to be one of those minor demons there so be wary. One more thing, I would be cautious in your technique usage. Humans in this world have no such abilities and it might bring unwanted attention"

"Okay" said Naruto "Thanks for your help" and with that Naruto left his mind.

(Outside)

Naruto sat up with quickly and taking a look at himself he saw shat while his wound was indeed healed his cloths were still utterly thrashed.

Sighing he bit his finger and swiped some blood onto his seal tattoo on his forearm.

In a poof of smoke a scroll appeared in his hand, opening it he located the seal which housed his clothing and unsealed some new attire.

During his training trip with Jiraya while he was 13 Naruto had tried to learn the art of seal making.

He found he was completely hopeless, the seal tattoo on his arm was put there by Jiraya.

The only application of sealing he was able to accomplish were the Hiraishin seals, and that was only after decades worth of combined experience via Shadow Clones.

Thinking for second he swiped blood on another seal and out popped an couple of gems which he had collected during his travels.

Pocketing them, giving his equipment a once over and making sure his sword was firmly attached, he set off west in search of civilization.

(END)

Chapter II: Meetings

Naruto had been walking for a couple of hours before the village came into sight.

It was nothing spectacular, substantial smaller then the Leaf Village but larger then most of the outlaying villages in Fire Country.

As he walked into the village he heard people talking.

"It's the sixth one already."

"The last one was only three days ago."

"What are we going to do? If this goes on we will..."

Naruto walked up to someone and tapped them of the shoulder.

The man screamed and jumped about a mile in the air.

"Um excuse me" Naruto began "I was wondering if I could find a place to stay."

The man turned around " are you" he stuttered.

"Oh, I'm Naruto Namikaze, I just arrived in town, what's the commotion about anyway?" he asked.

"Well Naruto you might want to leave, there is a monster on the loose its already killed 6 here." he said frighteningly "In fact had already killed the parents and younger brother of a man named Zaki here, he was so traumatized we have only seen him a couple times since." he finshed with a shiver.

As he walked about town Naruto was able to hear voices coming from the building next to him, the most intriguing were the mention of name "Claymore" he heard people say that only they could distinguish a monster from a human.

'Must be half demons' Naruto mused to himself 'It would fit the description Kyuubi gave me.'

As his train of thought finished the Claymore arrived at the village.

Naruto looked at the new arrival and was surprised 'It's a women' he thought surprised.

She was an interesting sight, she wore heavy looking shoulder armor and a metal skirt but the most striking thing was the large double edges sword what was as long as she was, he was surprised she could wield it.

'Then again' Naruto told himself 'Kyuubi did tell me their physical capabilities exceeded all humans here beside myself of course'

"Silver Eyed Witch"

"She is half monster after all'"

"I guess we can only depend on a monster now"

These whisperings followed the Claymore, Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly, this was getting a bit to close to what he experienced in the Leaf Village for his liking.

Making up his mind fairly quickly he followed the Claymore as she strode across the village.

"Wait" shouted the man he had been talking to "what are you doing"

Naruto stopped and replied "I want to find our more about her"

"She'll kill you" he shouted fearfully

"It's my death then" was Naruto's simple reply shrugging as he continued walking.

Following the Claymore was a rather simple affair she was just walking to the other side of the village.

She suddenly turned around, sword in hand and swung it at her follower.

CLANG

Naruto had drawn his sword and was blocking the Claymore strike his arm moved back ever so slightly.

'Huh' he mused 'That hit was stronger then I expected, I guess Kyuubi was correct.'

The Claymore on the other hand was having different thoughts.

'He was able to block that, he didn't even give an inch, and whats up with that sword. I have never seen anything like that before, its small, yet it was able to block my blow.

"Now, Now, its now nice to attack people you don't even know yet." Naruto chided

The Claymore just scuffed, ignored him and kept walking.

'Great another Sasuke' thought a slightly annoyed Naruto

They reached the other side of the Village and the Claymore asked "Is this really the end of the village, the boundary line this small?."

"Yeah, I guess" replied Naruto "I just got here myself but since there is nothing else around I would assume that it is.

"I see" the Claymore replied as she stuck here sword into the ground and sat down, using it as a backrest.

"So what is your name? I'm Naruto" he asked politely as he sat down across from her.

"Claire" was here short reply.

'Not much of a talker then' thought Naruto with a slight sweat drop.

"The town is pretty tense but I guess a people dying would do that to people" Naruto said hoping to ignite conversation.

"Yoma scare people, and the appearance of us just adds to their fear" replied Claire.

"You don't seem frightening to me" said Naruto.

Claire looked at him sharply before a hint of emotion hit here eyes.

'Is that sadness' Naruto thought before the look left as soon as it came.

"You are not afraid?" she asked, slightly guarded.

"I've seen more frightening things" Naruto replied "Besides I can tell a human from a demon"

"I see" she replied, then all of a sudden she stood up and left.

"Brat" spoke Kyuubi through their mind link.

'Yeah' thought Naruto back darkly, 'I felt that too, the demon has made its move.'

With these words Naruto too took off in the direction Claire left in.

In another part of town Claire is battling the Yuma in the middle of the street.

"So thats where you hid eh?" said Claire.

"Ha" said the Yoma "You think that you can defeat me, you are only half Yoma" it laughed.

Suddenly blood spurted from where its arm once was.

"AHHHH" it screamed "Not possible, how can you be this strong"

"Because" replied Claire "within my body resides the blood of a monster which allows me to wield this Claymore and slay Yuma like yourself."

Before Claire could deliver the final blow a door opened to reveal the same man Naruto had been talking to earlier stepping out onto the street.

"Wait, Don't" Yelled Claire but with her lapse in concentration she was batted aside and the Yuma rushed at the human, it hadn't eaten for a while and its instincts were taking over.

Claire could only watch in horror as the Yoma was about to attack the human, knowing she wouldn't be able to do anything.

Suddenly the other arm of the Yoma came flying off.

"Wha.." was all the Yuma was able to say before it was split cleanly in half.

The human stood there frozen in fear as the Yoma fell into two pieces.

"Whew, made it in time" Naruto said as he stepped into the street "You are one lucky man" he said as he looked at the man who was still trembling.

'That yoma had tough skin' Naruto thought 'I had to apply wind chakra in order to slice it'

Claire looked at Naruto with wide eyes 'He managed to slay the Yoma without any difficulty, who is he?'

Regaining her calm she said "A person in black will come to collect the money" and with that she was gone.

'Geez' thought Naruto 'she's a friendly one'.

As people began to fill out onto the streets he noticed the looks of distrust and fear.

He sighed 'I guess I better leave too'

"Well I'm off then" he said and disappeared.

(Four days later)

'Idiot' Naruto screamed at himself for the millionth time.

'How do you, a jonin level ninja get lost in a desert, and worst of all you lost the trail of Claire' he kept berating himself as he stumbled through the desert.

H was preparing to leave the small village to track down the Claymore, to his shame he had gotten sidetracked by his stomach, which was making it known it was running on empty.

When he had finished eating he had lost the trail and trying a random direction didn't help later.

Now, he found himself in the middle of a desert with no sense of direction and he had already used up his supply of food and water hunting Sasuke down throughout the country.

'Shoot' he thought 'I can only stave off dehydration by cycling chakra through by body for so long. I'm still not in top form either'

"Gah" he said as he attempted to cover his face.

'And now the wind is picking up, wonderful' he thought sarcastically.

Sighing he tied a piece of cloth in front of his fact to prevent swallowing several pounds of sand.

'Wait, whats that' he thought as he thought he saw the outline of a person.

Squinting his eyes slightly he saw the outline of a person with a large sword strapped to their back.

"Who are you" he yelled out.

Just as he was about to hear the response another burst of wind picked up a large, nearby rock and it came careening into his head.

'Ah crap' was all Naruto was able to think before he fell in to blissful unconsciousness.

Chapter III: Revelations

Naruto opened his eyes and quickly sat up in the bed he was laying on.

'Wha..' he thought 'I'm in a bed, how did I get here.'

He thought back to the last thing he remembered and recalled being hit in the head by the rock

'Idiot' he scolded himself again 'How could you get yourself knocked out by a rock.'

'Hmm' He thought 'I wonder who brought be here?'

Just then the door opened to reveal a middle aged man smiling kindly.

"Oh, your awake already?" he said "You are very lucky, you almost died out there."

"Here" he said holding our some bread and fruit "You need to regain your strength."

"Thanks" said Naruto taking a bit "I'm afraid I don't have any money though, I have some gems, if you would be willing to trade."

The man puts his hands up "No need young man, the room and food has already been paid for."

"Really?" asked Naruto raising an eyebrow "Who did that."

"It was" here the man paused for a second to add dramatic flair "the Siver Eyed Witch."

"Who would have thought on the them would have saved your life and then paid for your stay" the man continued.

"Excuse me" Naruto said as he interrupted the mans speech "but where can I find this women?"

"Not sure, try looking around town" the man suggested.

"Okay, thanks for the room" he said, finishing off the food he jumped off the bed and took off from the room.

"Kids these days" mumbled the man after Naruto had left "No patience at all."

Naruto ran out of the building and searched all over town and came up empty handed.

'So it had to be Claire there' he mused 'I wonder what she was doing in the desert'

Just as he was about to give up a voice reached his ears.

"You there, the one with the blond hair."

Naruto turned around to see a man slightly older then himself approaching him.

"Yeah" Naruto replied.

"Your that person the Claymore brought in, she's looking for you" he stated.

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly "She's looking for me?" he asked.

"Yeah" the man replied "she went into the forest earlier."

Nodding to the man Naruto gave a quick "thank you" and started toward the forest in question.

Walking through the forest Naruto immediately became tense.

'The foliage is so thick, this is a perfect place for an ambush. Not only that but I sense another one of those Yoma here.'

Keeping his senses on high alert, Naruto came across a clearing and standing there was what appeared to be a Claymore.

'Hmmm its not Claire' Naruto concluded 'Wait a second, that feeling, its the Yoma.'

Keeping his outward appearance calm he approached the "Claymore."

"So you saved me, why?" asked Naruto.

The so called Claymore took a couple of steps closer and said "Oh you know as soon as I laid eyes on you I fell in love."

"Is that so" said Naruto with a small smile.

Then, in a flash he drew his sword and with tremendous speed he swung it at the Claymore impostor.

The Yoma's eyes widened and quickly jumped back but not before Naruto's sword made a shallow cut across its torso.

As its features turned back back to its demonic appearance it snarled "How did you know?"

Naruto smirked slightly and replied "I have my ways."

After regaining some composure the Yoma charged at an impressive speed readying its claws to strike.

Naruto remained calm and prepared to strike.

As the Yoma neared Naruto Claire suddenly emerged from the trees in front of him and took a fist through the stomach.

Taking hold of the Yoma's arm, Claire brought herself and Yoma down the slope into free fall.

Naruto just stood there in shock "Claire" he whispered.

'Why did she do that. I had it under control, she should know I can handle myself.' he thought angrily.

He looked down the slope just in time to see the Yoma's head go flying from its body.

Claire roughly pulled out its severed arm out of here body with a sickly squelching sound.

'Ouch' Naruto winced 'That had to hurt.'

Jumping down he landed a few feet away from the blood spattered women.

Looking at her he couldn't help but whistle slightly, the wound was closing at a rate which shouldn't be possible.

'Impressive regeneration power' Naruto noted 'That would have easily killed a normal person'

"Why did you do that" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Don't misunderstand" Claire explained "I only did that to slay the Yoma, you had nothing to do with it."

Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance and said "I had it under control."

"Maybe but it is my job to slay Yoma" Claire replied "though I am curious as to how you were able to tell that was a Yuma, only one of us should be capable of that" she asked with a piercing stare.

'Shoot' Naruto thought 'Think of a something quick.'

"Well" Naruto began "I didn't see her with a sword like yours and I was pretty sure it was you who brought me here so I assumed that she wasn't a Claymore" he explained.

"I see..." Claire trailed off.

"I suppose I should thank you for saving my life in the desert, I owe you one" said Naruto with a nod.

"That is not necessary, I must be going." and she turned heel and left.

'What a cheerful person' thought an irritated Naruto.

After a day of walking Claire made a fire and stared into it for several seconds before saying "Are you going to continue to follow me" into the trees.

Naruto walked into view "So you noticed me huh." although it was more of a statement than a question.

Claire closed here eyes and said "Of course I did, once again I ask, are you going to continue to follow me?"

Naruto took at seat opposite Claire and chuckled slightly "True enough, I didn't think trying to sneak up on you would be a great idea" he said "As for you question then the answer is yes, I said I owe you a favor and I never go back on my word." he said with a small smirk.

Claire rolled here eyes slightly "Che, Fine then, just don't get into my way."

Naruto gave her a big smile "See was that so hard" he asked light heartily.

Claire began to get up "I will be right back, don't follow."

Naruto raised his eyebrows at this.

'I sense another presence in her direction, Oh well she obviously knows who it is, I won't worry about it.'

(Elsewhere in the forest)

Claire walked into the woods and standing there was a man dressed completely in black, from shoe to hat.

"Why do you have someone with you?" he asked.

"He seems to think he owes me a favor" she relied.

"Be that as it may, he will only interfere with your work." he said condescendingly.

"He seems adamant about following me, he also is capable of slaying Yuma, however I will make sure he stays out of my way." she replied.

"Oh" the man said surprised "he can slay Yuma can he, an interesting individual indeed. Not impossible, but rare one would be able to stand up to one without fear."

"Yes" Clare replied "Did you bring it?" she said abruptly.

"Yes, Yes" the man replied tossing a new uniform to the ground "It's brand new."

Claire undressed and the man inspected the wound.

"Your insane" he said suddenly "even with your super human healing capabilities you can still die with a wound like that."

Claire just ignored him and put her new uniform on.

The man suddenly chuckled softly "I wonder what that man would do if he saw your body" he began "remember curiosity has its limits, if you get to attached you'll just be crushed."

"Ah that's right" he said as if he just remembered "I brought you something" as he held what looked like a letter in between two fingers."

Shock showed on Claire's face "A black letter?" she said, shocked.

"Yes" the man in black said "seems someone has become a tad unreliable, you can read the details."

Throwing here the letter at here the man slowly melded back into the shadows.

(Back with Naruto)

Oblivious to the conversation going on just a couple hundred feet away Naruto was slowly getting bored as he munched on a piece of dried meat he had found in his pocket

'Wait' he thought 'How could I not think this, I could use summons to communicate with back home.'

"Don't bother trying" came the deep demonic voice he had learned years ago to get used to.

'What?' he though astonished 'Why Not? I can tell them what happened to me'

Kyuubi sighed slightly "Look brat it will not work. The summons were allowed to enter your world because there was a unique chakra gateway connecting the two worlds. The summons were able to use this to get to your world and there they created the summoning contracts which the gifted to the people they thought most worthy. In summoning you use blood and chakra as a sacrifice to call upon variously powered animals who then allow you to command them to a certain extent. The chakra used is merely used to activate this gateway and the summoned beast can come forth. Unfortunately there is no such gateway to this world so the technique would do absolutely nothing."

Naruto gritted his teeth 'Is there really no way to even tell then I am alright?'

"Nope" came the reply "Time and space are complicated things, it might even be better off this way, call it a fresh start"

'I guess' was Naruto's slightly sad response.

The rustling of leaves made him turn slightly to see Claire coming into view.

"I am going into the mountains tomorrow, If you plan to keep following me you better be prepared to wake up early." Claire said as she settled onto the ground and feel asleep.

"Okay" was all Naruto said as he to fell into a peaceful slumber.

As the sun rose the next day Naruto stirred from his sleep, stretched quickly and rose.

'Ouch' he thought as various joints cracked and popped 'The ground is killer on the back'

He looked around and saw Claire putting out what remained of the fire, preparing to leave.

She looked up and said "Oh, your up? we are leaving then."

As they trekked up the mountain Naruto became more aware of the feeling of uneasiness washing over him.

'I sense quite a bit of power, its substantially larger then those other Yoma but its fluctuating like someone is trying to hold it back.' Naruto thought with confusion.

"Are we killing a Yoma today" he asked.

"No" was the absent response.

'Hmm... she's not all there, something is on here mind.' he deduced with narrowed eyes.

"So, just going for a morning hike" he said with a smile.

Claire stopped for a second before looking at him.

"No, this mission is to kill what you know as a Claymore." she said without any emotion.

Naruto nearly tripped as he heard this "" he stuttered.

'Kill on of their own' he thought horrified.

"You must understand" Claire said softly "We are half monster, we use the intelligence granted to us by our human half to control the monster half. Simply put we are human in a monsters body. Because of this we are humanity's best weapons against the Yoma. However the thing is, a half Yoma can turn into a monster."

'Become a monster' thought Naruto horrified, that was his worst fear, to lose control and become nothing more than a blood thirsty killer.

"You see" Claire continued "As we fight we draw upon the monsters power. Doing this weakens our human half as the two halves battle for dominance. If the human half losses then monster can take over and you will become a monster. To counter this the organization has a system, this" she said holding up the black letter "is a black letter."

"This" Naruto began looking at the symbol on the letter 'It looks like the symbol on her neck and sword. I merely thought it was the mark of her organization, but it must be a personal identification because this one is slightly different.'

"Yes" Clair responded "When we become what you call Claymore, we are assigned a symbol to identify one another." she paused as the unscrewed the hilt of sword to reveal a rolled black letter "As you see, each of our swords contains a letter. We all know there we come a time when we will lose control so we give the letter to the person we cherished most in so they can kill us while we are still human." she finished.

'So harsh' Naruto thought 'How can the live like this?'

"So then this card is from someone you knew then?" he asked a bit hesitantly.

"Her name is Elena" Claire replied looking down "We joined the organization at around the same time, we cheered when things got tough for each other and helped each other through the pain of becoming half monster and."

She was cut off the the sound of footsteps approaching them.

Naruto swiveled around to see the newcomer, she looked similar to Claire with longer hair and a larger forehead.

He noticed the symbol on here neck and sword and thought 'So that must be Elena then.'

Elena looked at Claire and smiled slightly "Long time no see, Claire" she said.

"Elena" Claire responded "You haven't changed, its just like old times."

"Even if it was a long time ago it still feels like yesterday" said Elena wistfully "Even though I should only remember painful times, when I think of you I cannot help but recall happy times. It's a bit sad though, I started later later than you I seem to have lost my spirit sooner, I'm such a loser. I had always thought that with the power of a monster I could get stronger, but with the power of a monster you must have an equally strong will. So please kill me now while I still have human heart." she finished with a smile as veins started bulging on her face.

Claire looked at her for a second before rushing forward and stabbing her through the heart.

"Thank you" Elena said as she fell forward "for allowing be to die as a human, rather than as a monster."

Claire looked toward Naruto, who was standing there with an unreadable expression on his face.

"For my favor I would like to ask you help be bury here" she requested softly.

Naruto closed his eyes for a second before replying "That doesn't count as a favor, I would have done it anyway."

'Besides' he added mentally 'Traveling with you is interesting.'

With a thud the sword of the deceased Claymore was planted into the ground acting as a headstone.

Claire stood looking at the grave for a few minutes before she began to speak "Elena and I joined the organization at the same time. When things got tough we cheered each other on and when the pain became unbearable we comforted each other. Most importantly for was the fact that she was the first and only friend in my life." she finished still looking at the grave.

Naruto sighed heavily and looked up into the sky "Why" he asked.

Claire looked at him curiously "Why what?"

"Why do you fight?" he asked more specifically "If you didn't, then she would be alive still, why must you fight?"

Claire looked down at the grave again and replied "Because its the reason we exist."

Naruto looked at here and thought 'If asked that same question many ninja would give the same answer, it seems this world is not so dissimilar to my own after all."

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Chapter VI: Into The Holy City

Naruto looked at the city gates, they were indeed impressive circling the entire city at a height of over twenty feet.

'So this is the Holy City of Rabona, seems nice enough' he thought

Looking over to his left he saw Claire, she was wearing a long cloak, which covered her entire body with a large hood.

He had ditched his jonin uniform in favor of an ordinary pair of pants and shirt with a similar cloak and attached to his back was a large wrapped package.

'This mission just screams trouble' he thought.

Thinking back he remembered the conversation he had been apart of a few days ago.

(Flashback)

It was the night after Elena had been buried, they had set up camp when Naruto's sense picked up something.

'That presence, its the same one from a couple of days ago.' he thought.

Out from the darkness a man walked out, Naruto noticed that he wore all black and seemed to be part of the shadows.

"Ah Claire, I was hoping to find you here, and your friend is here also, wonderful." he said cheerfully.

"What do you want Rubel?" Claire asked.

The man, now identified as Rubel chuckled slightly "Now, Now is that anyway to greet a friend?"

He suddenly turned serious "There has been a mission request in the city of Rabona."

Claire looked at him surprised "The Holy City?"

"Correct, they want you to hunt down an Yoma that appeared there." he said with a nod.

Claire however looked confused "But..Rabona."

"Yes, they despise all things they deem unnatural, including half yoma, which is why you will need these." he said tossing here a small pack.

Claire opened the pack and three pills popped out.

Staring at them she looked at Rubel questioningly.

"Ahh, you are unfamiliar with those, well they might not seem like much but they will suppress your powers, allowing your eyes to return to normal color." Rubel explained. "You will be able to blend right in, unfortunately you will also lose all ability to sense yoma. So you'll have to search for it the old fasion way, anything else you need is in the pack."

Claire took all of this in and stated at the pills in here hand.

"In fact" continued Rubel "you can even pretend your friend here is your boyfriend to appease any suspicion."

"What?" Naruto asked, finally getting in of the conversation.

"Was this why I was chosen" Claire asked totally ignoring Naruto "to take advantage of this?"

"We just chose the best person for the job, just try to act like nice young lady." Rubel replied with a smirk.

Naruto never did like being ignored so he had to add in his two cents "Yo, creepy guy in black, does no one care what I think" he said exasperatedly.

Both Claire and Rubel turned and stared at him intently.

"If you wish to leave it is of no consequence to me." Claire stated.

"Yes, Yes," said Rubel "Leave if you like, though it would be unfortunate if Claire would die before she even reached the Yoma."

"Fine, Fine" Naruto grumbled 'If you put it like that.'

"Also" added Rubel "You will need to hide your swords, they do not allow weapons into the city."

(End Flashback)

As they entered the city Naruto noticed the abundance of people roaming about, the city was teaming with life.

'This is unlike any other town I have seen so far' he thought, and indeed it was, Rabona was at least five or six times as large as any other he had seen thus far.

They went into an inn, which from outside, looked ordinary, if not a little rundown.

"Hello" said a man at the counter "Welcome to the cheapest inn in Rabona, would you like a room."

"Yes Please" Naruto said smiling, as he stepped forward "Me and my girlfriend are traveling, so of course we had to stop in the Holy City."

"Oh," said the man surprised, "Okay then, a double room it is."

As he searched for the keys he tried to start up a conversation "So, you are traveling around, it must be tough."

"No, not really" Claire replied "I sell antiques my father left for me"

"Eh, antiques?" asked the man.

"Oh yes" replied Claire "he was quite fond of them, in fact this is the only one left."

Naruto unwrapped the package on his back to show a exquisite statue that showed two statues back to back "Its a statue of Teresa and Claire from the Runoa period by Auguste."

The man's eyebrows rose slightly "It is quite nice, how much?"

Claire smiled and responded "ten million baras."

The mans eyes buldged and he chocked slightly "T. Million?" he asked astonished.

Regaining some composure he said "I think he was having you on young lady."

"Yes" replied Claire smiling softly "My boyfriend said the same thing but since I am selling his things I use the prices he gave."

"Is that so" said the man "I should shut up then."

Handing over an object he said "Here are you room keys, that will be ten baras please."

Claire handed over the money, bowed slightly and thanked the man.

Finding the correct room Naruto opened the doors and was pleasantly surprised.

There were two beds, it had a fireplace and a dresser, all in all very nice.

"It's pretty nice" he remarked.

"Even though they may have hit hard times, its still a Holy City, they have appearances keep up."

Naruto nodded absently while thinking 'Still, they don't seem to be worried, they almost seem in denial about the yoma.'

He gazed over at Claire and saw her staring out the window with a slightly slickly look.

"Are you okay" he asked, concerned.

Claire brought her head up "I'm fine" she assured "my body is just adjusting to the yoma suppressing pills."

"We should head out" she continued "we only don't have much time."

"That's a good idea" replied Naruto "Plus it should be fun to look around."

As the neared the door the exit the building the man who checked them in spotted them.

"Leaving so soon." he asked.

"Yes" Naruto replied quickly "We want to make sure we are able to take in all the sights, you know."

"Is that were we are going" Naruto asked pointed to a large building in the center of town.

"Yes" Claire responded "That is Rabona Cathedral, we need to find Father Vincent."

As they walked through the Cathedral Naruto noticed the abundance of people praying 'Befitting, it is a Holy City' he mused.

As there were about to walk through an archway, a guard barred their path "Ahead is the baptismal hall, it is restricted from the public."

"Its Okay" Claire replied "We came here to be baptized" as she handed the guard a what looked like a pendant.

Taking a look at it the guard replied "This represents that you have completed the Pilgrims Journey, you may continue on."

As they walked into the hall Naruto noticed all of the caskets lining the hallway.

'They keep their dead here? They must have been pretty important' he thought.

'I can sense the presence of a yoma but it had released so much energy it has saturated the entire building, I can't pinpoint it' thought Naruto with a frown 'Plus sensing has never really been my forte.'

"You there" said a voice directed at them.

Naruto turned and saw a man wearing fancy robes.

"If you are here to be baptized, please come here" he said.

"Are you father Vincent?" asked Claire as she knelt down.

"Yes" he said "I baptize you in the name of our lord. What is your name."

"It is Rimuto, I come from the land of Sutafu" replied Claire, not even looking up.

Father Vincent's went wide with realization "Then..You..Are?"

Before he could finished he was interrupted by Claire "Please keep your voice down and continue."

Father Vincent nodded and lowed his mouth closer to Claire's ear and whispered "Let's meet later tonight in the south room in the top tower, there is a curfew so it might be hard for you to make it."

"It is fine, leave it to me." Claire replied.

Father Vincent stood back up as he said "You are now baptized, go forth with the mercy of out lord and forget not the modesty of a child of our lord.:

"Thank you Father Vincent" said Claire as she bowed.

Walking back over to where Naruto was observing she said "Let's go."

Turning their backs they left the cathedral without saying another word.

Night had descended upon Rabona as the door of their room opened to reveal the innkeeper.

"Have you finished your dinner?" he asked.

"Yeah" Naruto replied "It was really good."

"Good, I'm glad I gave you an extra portion." he replied with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks" said Naruto smiling back.

"Now remember" said the man more seriously "there is a curfew enforced so do not go wondering off okay."

"Of course" Naruto responded "We were just getting ready to retire anyway."

As soon as the door closed Claire whipped off her cloak and said "I'm going out. Close the doors and windows and if anyone come in pretend to be asleep."

Before Naruto could say a word the had already jumped out of the window.

'Jeez' Naruto thought 'Lets ask what I want to do why don't you.'

Closing and locking the door he put his hands in a cross like pattern he said.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

In a poof of smoke appeared a perfect copy of himself.

"Close the windows after me and pretend to be asleep" he commanded the copy.

"Yes sir" said the Shadow Clone with a salute.

Without any more deliberation Naruto sped out the window after CLaire.

Following Claire was simple enough, jumping rooftops was second nature to him, Naruto had been doing it for years.

Seeing Claire rope herself in Naruto stealthy evaded past the guards without a problem.

'Sure they are attentive, but they are nowhere near the level of the ANBU back home' he mused.

In no time he arived at the base of the tower he saw Claire enter.

'So all the way up eh' he thought as he looked up.

Applied Chakra to his feet Naruto began the seemingly impossible feat of walking vertically straight up the tower.

Arriving near the window just in time to hear Claire reveal that she was responding for the request sent by Rabona he decided to hide himself.

Catapulting himself over the window ledge and into the shadows he landed without a sound and listened in on the conversation.

'Heh' he thought 'This should be interesting, I should be able to gather some more information too.' he mused.

"The first to die was Father Van" Father Vincent's voice interrupted his thoughts as he saw Claire and Father Vincent sitting down.

Now paying full attention to the pair he heard the next part of the conversation "Since then my colleagues have fallen one by one, and since each had occurred in the cathedral none of this can be made public."

'This yoma must be fairly intelligent' Thought Naruto 'It must have known that if it stayed in the cathedral it would enjoy a level of freedom it wouldn't have anywhere else.'

So engrossed in his thoughts Naruto barley registered the words as she explained that yoma treated all victims equally.

"Please I beg of you" Father Vincent's voice once again brought him out of his thoughts "I don't want to die. I will pay you anything you want but I just do not want to die so horribly like those before me."

"Keep the money" Claire said.

"What?" asked Father Vincent as he looked up.

"After words someone will be sent to collect the money, pay them then, however if I happen to die there will be no reason to pay." finished Claire ominously.

'Dramatic much?' Thought Naruto.

"Even though i'm here I am unable to sense the yoma, chances are I will die here." she concluded.

'I better make myself known' thought Naruto seeing the conversation going south.

Jumping out of the shadows he landed with a thump onto the floor.

Both Claire and Father Vincent jumped out of their feet and turned around as fast as possible.

"Yo" said Naruto lazily.

"No need to worry about dying Claire" he said seriously "I will die before I let that happen."

Claire narrowed her eyes "What are you doing here, I thought I told you to to stay in the room in case someone came looking"

Naruto rolled his eyes slightly "I took care of it don't worry, besides it gets boring without you there."

Claire blinked for a second before she turned around to address Father Vincent but Naruto thought he saw the edge of her cheeks with a slight pink tint.

'Did she just blush' he asked himself, bewildered.

"Fine, if that's all then we will take out leave." bowing slightly she slipped back out the window.

Sighing and with a slight shake of his head Naruto took off after her.

Trailing slightly behind Claire, Naruto ears twitched as he heard the sound of projectiles approaching.

Jumping in front in the path of them, Naruto, using lightning quick moments snatched all three of the knives out of the air and threw two of them back at the assailant.

Hearing a thunk he looked and saw that they had impacted a chimney.

The displacement of air reached his ears, he brought the final knife up and blocked a large sword that was on a course to split him in half.

Looking up Naruto caught sight of the swordsman, he was wearing full plate armor and using a large double edged sword.

"You are breaking curfew wondering you at this time of night." he said, as Naruto jumped back "You can only blame yourself if you are mistaken for yoma."

Chuckles came out from the chimney where Naruto had thrown the knives.

A man was shorter than the first, wearing leather armor, and twirling more knives in his hand came into sight.

"He's good" he remarked "not only did he block your sword, but he actually managed to catch my knives."

'Catching my knives is no small feat though' he thought 'what is he.'

"I try" said Naruto lightheartedly.

With a cry the swordsman starting attacking Naruto again while the other began throwing more knives at Claire.

Swiftly dodging and blocking both Claire and Naruto had no problem with the attack.

'What are they' both the swordsman and the knife thrower thought 'How can they be this strong and quick.'

While in their stupor, Naruto and Claire took the opportunity to take off into the night.

"Wait" the knife thrower shouted as he prepared to give chase.

"Stop" said the other man holding his arm out "Don't bother, didn't you see, they far outclassed us." he finished grimly.

As they raced toward the inn Naruto sent his Shadow Clone a mental command to dispel itself.

Once arriving at the inn Naruto stretched out his arms and gave a sigh.

"That was fun, its good to get the blood flowing" he remarked.

'Still' he thought 'Humans in this world are pitiful.'

"I'm going to bed" he said. "See you in the morning."

Flopping onto the bed he almost immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter V:Yoma Hunting

The sun rose the next day, and Naruto was getting out of bed.

Looking over he saw Claire sitting next to the window.

"Did you even sleep?" he asked.

"A bit" she replied "We only need a couple of hours of sleep."

Taking a closer look Naruto rose his eyebrows slightly "You eye color is back" he said, questioningly.

"Yes" Claire replied "The suppressing pills only last for half a day, so when they wear off I have to take another."

"So" Naruto began "The yoma is in the cathedral."

As Claire was about to respond the doors came crashing open and several soldiers came in.

"Don't Move, we are searching for yoma" the lead soldier shouted.

Naruto glanced over at Claire and saw that she had put her hood down.

"Two mutilated soldiers were found in the cathedral last night" he said. "Come with us."

"Yeah" came another voice "they were about that height"

Naruto looked and saw the two men that attacked them last night

'Shoot' he thought 'I hope they don't recognize us.'

"Didn't you two arrive in town yesterday" he asked.

"Yes we did" Naruto replied "We are traveling and we wished to see the Holy City. Though if this is how you treat guests, I must admit I am less than impressed." he finished growing colder.

"Sid, Galk" another man asked "weren't you two suppose to guard the cathedral last night?"

"Yeah Yeah" said the man who was identified as Sid said "I'm not saying that the two people I saw last night were yoma, but to catch my knives, it would only be possible for a silver eyed witch." and as he finished he tore the hood off of Claire head.

He found himself looking into completely normal eyes.

"Oh" he said surprised.

He grabbed her face and said "Still, we fought a half monster, it wouldn't be surprising if they could change their eye color."

Sid gasped as an intense pressure clamped down in his wrist, the cracking of bones was heard as everyone looked over and saw Naruto with his hand firmly holding on to the wrist.

"You shouldn't touch people without their permission" Naruto said menacingly.

"You" Sid snarled as he reached for knives.

His action was stopped by the other man who had attacked them.

"Galk" Sid said questioningly.

"We are done here" he said firmly "Sorry for taking up your time"

Turning his back, he and the rest of the soldiers left the room, but not without a glare from Sid.

"Well that was interesting" Naruto said dryly.

"Why did you stop him" Claire asked "It didn't endanger out mission so the action was unnecessary."

Naruto rolled his eyes "he needed a lesson in personal space, I wouldn't want someone grabbing my face."

Back in the cathedral Claire was receiving updates from Father Vincent.

"Two gaurds were killed yesterday, that's five this week alone, all of them have had their insides eaten out" he informed.

"Five" Claire repeated surprised "it seems you have a voracious appetite on you hands."

"A voracious appetite?" Father Vincent asked.

"They are older yoma, normally a yoma will only each once every one or two weeks but as it grows older it gains strength and cunning and its appetite increases. They are called voracious eaters" she explained. "It knows only we can see them and we cannot normally enter the Holy City, so it is protected here."

"I need to know who was present in the cathedral for all of the attacks." Claire said.

"That won't be hard" Father Vincent replied "The cathedral has been on lock down, so no could enter."

As he finished listing off the names of those who were present on the inside Claire said "Be careful around those people."

"What" said Father Vincent shocked "surly they cannot be one of them, I trust all of them with my life."

"It matters not" Claire explained "yoma can disguised themselves as family members and no one would be any more aware."

As they were leaving Naruto couldn't help but feel like something wrong.

'There is something else here, I just can't place it.' he thought. 'Something just doesn't feel right.'

Later that night both Naruto and Claire were were jumping of the rooftops on their way back to the cathedral.

Behind a wall two men were standing there and watching the two jump across the rooftops.

"It must be those two" said Sid "lets go get them."

As Naruto and Claire reached another roof top they were once again confronted by the two soldiers.

"Oh" Naruto said "You two again, couldn't just give up after the thrashing we gave you?"

As the wind picked up the hoods of both Naruto and Claire cloaks came flying up.

Both Sid's and Galk's eyes widened as they caught sight of Clare's silver eyes

"Ho Ho" Sid exclaimed "Your eyes are silver now, even your face it different from this morning."

Claire looked down, drew two long curved knives and said "I'm sorry but I don't have time for you, if you get in my way I won't hold back"

Naruto following her example flicked his wrists and two kunai with rope attached to the circular pommel fell into his hand.

"Heh" Sid smirked "You have the aura of a monster even though you are only a half breed, in accordance to the law you and your partner must be eliminated."

As they both charged Naruto smirked and said "I got the knife thrower."

Sid threw three knives and Galk brought his sword down in a vicious slash.

Parrying the knives with ease Naruto threw one of this kunai and it hit its mark in Sid's shoulder.

"AHHH" he yelled as blood spurted out of the wound.

Naruto flicked his wrist and brought the now bloody kunai back into his hand.

"You'll have to try better then that" Naruto taunted.

Claire was having an equally easy time in dispatching here advisory.

Galk gritted his teeth in frustration.

'Nothing I can do works, how can she block so easily.' he thought.

Both Naruto and Claire jumped back further away on the other side of the roof.

"So this" Galk sais fearfully "Is a silver eyed witch, A claymore."

"Sid" he suddenly shouted as he caught sight of his comrade.

"That man" Sid managed to get out through the pain "He is not ordinary, his power and accuracy far exceeds even mine."

"They" he continued "are monsters"

A inhuman scream permeated the night air.

"It's coming from the cathedral" Galk yelled.

By the time he was finished both Naruto and Claire were sprinting off in the direction of the scream.

"Damn" Sid swore "After them."

Both Naruto and Claire sped past the guards amidst cries of "What" and "Who was that" and went deeper into the cathedral.

Claire knelt down next to a fallen solider and said "His insides have been eaten, this is the work of a voracious eater"

"Watch Out" Naruto yelled as the huge figure materialized behind here.

Quickly spinning about and jumping back Claire narrowly avoided being smashed to bits.

"Tt's huge" Naruto muttered, and indeed it was, standing over eight feet tall it towered over both of them.

Three knives suddenly impacted in the yoma shoulder.

"What is that?" a voice rang out.

"Its a yoma" another frantically answered.

Turning around Naruto caught sight of Sid and Galk again.

'Can't those two just give up' he thought frustratingly.

"Get out of here" Claire yelled "You're no match for it."

Unfortunately the warning was to late, the yoma was already charging the two soldiers.

"Shoot" Naruto muttered as he moved in front of them and prepared for the inevitable strike.

'What the' he thought as another figure moved in front of him.

With a huge roar the yoma struck and in a spray of blood a body fell to the floor.

"Claire" Naruto yelled out as he realized who it was.

The yoma charged again, only this time to met a kunai to its right eye.

Naruto flicked his wrist and the kunai returned to his hand.

'Shoot' Naruto thought 'Kunai won't cut it, but I don't want to show my jutsu yet.'

With fast reflexes Naruto kicked away Sid as the yoma punched the ground where he had been standing causing an explosion of debris.

Bringing up his kunai he stabbed at the head of the yoma, only to meet resistance in the form of an arm.

Galk stood up and took a defensive position, sword in hand.

"Stop, shouted Claire "Just get out of here"

With a mere swish of its hand the sword in Galk's hand shattered.

Extending its figures, the yoma aimed the strike at the soldiers face.

Using her remaining knife Claire was able to pin the arm to the floor before the fatal strike to connect.

What she didn't expect was for the other arm to swing around, extending its fingers and spearing her through the chest.

"Claire" Naruto yelled again as he swung his kunai and severed the arm holding here.

The yoma gave a roar and turned its attention to Naruto.

The doors of the room opened suddenly and a dozen or so soldiers came in.

The yoma gave them a look before disappearing back into the darkness.

'Shoot' Naruto thought 'Without my sword and jutsu those things are hard to take out, they are to tough for hand to hand combat but I don't think revealing my abilities yet would be a good idea.'

Turning around Naruto saw the swordsman picking up Claire.

"What do you think you are doing" he asked with narrowed eyes.

Galk looked over at him and replied "I owe her my life, I am just taking her to get treated."

Naruto saw the sincerity in his eyes and nodded, relaxing his guard "I'm coming to then" he said.

Galk nodded and replied "of course."

An hour later Naruto was sitting by Claire's side as she lay in a bed somewhere in the cathedral.

"Will she be alright" he asked Father Vincent.

"I don't know" he replied "I don't know anything about her physiology so all I could do is bandage the wounds."

"I see" Naruto trailed off.

"I don't see why you care" said Sid making himself known "It's just monsters killing monsters."

A second later he found himself pined to a wall with a hand firmly around his throat.

Naruto was holding him off the ground in an impressive display of strength, rage firmly set in his eyes.

"Don't say anything more" he growled in a slightly demonic voice "I don't see you doing anything to eradicate the yoma, she risked here life to save your butt." shoving him into the wall for good measure he let him drop to the floor.

Scrambling to his feet Sid fled the room at top speed.

Sitting down by here side Naruto said softly "Hope you get better soon Claire."

(Two Days Later)

Claire blearily opened her eyes as she took in her surroundings.

"So your up" said Naruto.

Claire turned her head to face him "How long have I been out?" she asked.

"Two days" Naruto replied.

The door opened and Father Vincent walked into the room.

"Good, she's awake" he said.

"Father Vincent" Claire said as she sat up "I am sorry for troubling you."

"No, no trouble" he replied "We are just happy to see you well."

"Naruto here has been waiting two days straight" he said.

"I see" Claire said "Father Vincent, I would like to make a request."

"A request?" he asked.

"Yes" Claire replied "I would like you to gather all people in the cathedral, so I can search for the yoma."

An hour later Claire stood by Father Vincent as he explained to the gathered people their purpose for gathering.

"Yoma" someone exclaimed "You expect me to believe that there is monster here?"

"This is the only thing I can think of" Father Vincent said "You have all noticed the deaths that have been occurring at night, we should have done this when it started."

"But who would recognize one" someone shouted out "No human can sense the monsters."

As if it was her signal Claire stepped forward and lowered her hood.

Gasps were heard throughout the building as muttering of "Silver Eyed Witch" were heard.

"Father Vincent, how could you bring this abomination here" someone yelled.

"I will take full responsibility for my actions, but please just cooperate." he said.

Claire went around the room looking at people trying to determine the identity of the yoma.

As she finished the people she thought 'That only leaves one person.'

She closed in on Farther Vincent and said "I am sorry, but even if you are the one who sent in the request to the organization you are still suspect."

As she concentrated her eyes widened 'He's not the one either, whats going on here.' she thought frantically.

'A yoma can change its shape into any human shape regardless of gender or size. Wait could that also mean a dead body.' she thought wildly.

In the baptismal hall Naruto could be seen wondering about.

'While Claire's plan certainly seems like the logical solution, every time I am in here I don't feel quite right.' he thought.

While he was thinking a mummy came out of a casket behind him.

Swiveling fast Naruto drew his kunai and blocked the arm in a course to his head.

'Shoot' he thought 'So that's why it never felt right here. The yoma was impersonating a dead body but since it was suppose to be dead it cut its energy output to near zero.'

Back flipping he slid into a defensive stance.

As the yoma charged again Naruto took the statue from his back and place it in from of the incoming strike.

As the statue shattered he grabbed hold of something inside and felt the familiar feel of his katana.

'Note to self' he thought 'Never leave home without your sword again'

Naruto heard incoming footsteps and saw Claire running toward them.

"Here" he said tossing her large sword "Looks like the fun begins now."

Claire grabbed the sword and charged the yoma, swinging her sword at the monster, her eyes widened in disbelief as the yoma caught it and punched her aside, reopening her wounds."

'She to impatient' Naruto thought as he blocked an attack which was directed at the downed Claymore.

The yoma extended its fingers and attempted to spear the man who was protecting its prey.

Charging his swords with wind chakra Naruto cleanly cut through the fingers.

The yoma roared with pain as its half of its attack power was cut from its body.

As this was going on Claire was still on the floor.

'Why am I so weak' she thought 'A human is fighting better then myself.'

'I need more power' she mentally shouted.

Naruto stopped his next attack suddenly when he felt a large power strike.

Putting some distance between himself and the yoma he saw the source.

Claire was standing up now, her eyes were a gold color with a slitted pupil and their were bulging veins all over her face.

"You opponent is me" she said "the real yoma hunt begins now."

'What happened' Naruto asked himself 'Thats a lot of demonic energy she's drawing'

In a burst of speed Claire shot at the yoma and with a single swipe split it in half.

'I see' Naruto thought 'The more energy they use the more there physical capabilities are increased. Its much like when I draw upon Kyuubi's chakra.'

Suddenly Claire fell to here knees.

"Ugh" she grunted.

'I've used to much power, can't stop' she thought 'I can't turn back.'

Picking up he sword she held it at here neck.

"Wait" Naruto shouted "what are you doing."

"If we use to much energy, we can't stop the flow" she said "I intend to end my life."

Suddenly the sword was out of her hand.

"What?" she asked.

"I said I won't let you die" said Naruto from behind her, the claymore in his hand.

"Kill me" she shouted "I am turning into a yoma, let me die as a human"

"I see" Naruto mused out loud "You're a coward" he concluded"

"What" Claire gasped out as more and more veins appeared on her body.

"You said that in order for the monster gain control your human side has to weaken. Your to cowardly to fight back" Naruto explained strongly "I promised that I wouldn't let you die, so you either regain control or turn into a monster."

With a cry and a blast of power the ground exploded around her.

As the dust settled, Claire was still there looking normal.

"The power...receded?" she said.

"Of course" Naruto replied "I knew you could do it."

"Thank you." she said softly "I guess that counts as the favor you owe me."

"Yeah, I suppose" Nauto replied.

The next day they were about to leave the city when they were confronted by Father Vincent.

"We owe you our thanks" he said "While the others are not premitted to speak to you, deep down they they are very grateful."

"It's my job" Claire replied "There is no need for thanks"

"So" Claire said looking at Naruto "I guess this is goodbye then since your debt is paid."

Naruto scoffed and said "You think I'm leaving and miss out on all the adventure." and with those words started walking out the city, missing the small smile on Claire's face as she gazed at his retreating back.

Chapter VI: Meeting The Hunters

Naruto sighed as his katana sliced through a yoma body, he had replaced his attire in favor of the the normal jonin uniform.

'This is getting a bit repetitive' he thought, and indeed it was, they had been fighting yoma for the past couple of weeks.

Looking over at his companion he saw that she too had finished off her opponent.

"Weak, aren't they, only two more left" he remarked. "What should we do with the one that ran away?"

"Let it run" she replied "I sense that some of my comrades are nearby, they can take care of it."

A little girl, no older than ten ran up the hill as a figure chased after it.

"Hey, Wait for me" it said "There is no need to run away is there?"

The girl gave a screech as a six foot tall demonic looking figure landed in from of her.

As the yoma was preparing to strike, the tip of a sword sprouted from its face and neatly sliced the head in half.

The girl looked up and saw three women in a loose v formation, all carrying huge swords.

"Your from the Toriro village, what happened there" asked the one in the center, who seemed in charge.

"" the girl stuttered "Yoma, five of them."

"Five" the group leader mused "So its not a voracious eater, rather a group of yoma."

"And another Claymore was fighting them" the girl continued.

"What" the leader said "Come on" she said to the others and they sprinted in direction to the city.

"Our orders were for four of us to search the town, is she the fourth" the Claymore to the left asked.

"I think so" the leader replied "Against five yoma she's virtually defenseless, and a voracious eater may be among them, that's why we were suppose to search together." she finished with gritted teeth.

When they arrived in town their eyes widened as the saw a man dismembering the final yoma and one of the comrades pulling her sword out another.

"What the" said the Claymore to the right "A man capable of defeating yoma, I have never seen something like that, he doesn't even look tired."

"A human possessing the ability to slay yoma isn't to unusual." informed the leader her eyes narrowing "However, I have seen cases where humans have defeated yoma. They all came out severely wounded and and extremely tired, some even commit suicide from the experience, yet he hasn't even worked up a sweat. He is not normal." she concluded.

Naruto looked at the group behind them and said "Huh, you were right, your comrades are here."

The leader stepped forward "I see, you took care of these four, however one got away and nearly killed a girl, what do you have to say for yourself?" she said.

"It was heading in your direction, I was confident that you would be able to take care of it." Claire informed.

"You're pretty confident to take on all four" the leader continued ignoring Claire's response "were you looking for glory of something?"

"No" Claire responded "I merely arrived early and decided to proceed."

The Claymore on the left stepped forward and yelled "You ignored orders and proceeded on your own"

Before she could continue the leader interrupted "One could have been a voracious eater what would you have done then?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter" she finished as she turned tail and left "I will report this to the higher ups, they can decide what to do."

The others followed suit and soon they were out of sight.

"Wow" Naruto remarked sarcastically "they were a cheery bunch, I'm glad your not like that."

Later that night Naruto and Claire sat around the fire they had made around the ruins of a city.

'That presence' Naruto thought 'Seems like Rubel is going to be paying us a visit, curious though, normally Claire just meets him somewhere.'

"Why hello there" Said a voice from behind Naruto.

Turning around and seeing Rubel sitting on a pile of ruble Naruto gave a wave and said "Yo"

"You still traveling with her then are you?" he stated "I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to hear this."

'Hear what?' Naruto thought 'Something is going on'

Before he could respond to this curious action Rubel has already began to address Claire.

"You never change" he said, sounding slightly amused "Always doing things the hard way, what would have happened is one of the yoma had been a voracious eater?"

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly and thought 'What does this have to do with me? Normally he would just meet Claire in the forest .'

"Or maybe" Rubel continued "you were hoping for that."

"The yoma in the cathedral was normal and just needed plenty of energy to transform from is modified state" he mused "After all voracious eater is just a nickname we tell normal people. It really means an Awakened Being, a Claymore who has gone beyond their limits and turned into a monster."

"Oh" he said surprised as he looked at Naruto "You aren't surprised?"

Naruto rolled his eyes "Of course not, after hearing about those black letters, it was easy to deduce that their must be Claymore who become more powerful yoma."

"Impressive" Rubel replied "to have such reasoning abilities, its very impressive."

"Anyways" he continued on "You would have been torn to shreds if you faced an awakened being."

Claire narrowed her eyes and said "If you are done talking, I wish to get some sleep."

"Alright" he said suddenly "There is a request in a town west of here, it is a confirmed awakened being sighting, I will add you to the hit squad."

"Maybe this will allow you to see the limits of your abilities" he said "If you get into trouble I'm sure you boyfriend will protect you."

Naruto's eye twitched as he heard the last part, but before he could respond Rubel has disappeared again.

"Man" Naruto said frustratingly "That guy is weird."

"It is curious though." Claire said frowning "That he would let you hear one of the Organization's secrets."

"Yeah" said Naruto into the air "He must have thought I would have found out anyway."

'Still' Naruto thought 'There is something odd about it, he seems like a person who would keep information to himself until needed, something is planned.'

Two days later Naruto and Claire were walked through another city.

Naruto was looking around and noticed the absence of pointing and whispering which usually followed Claire.

'So' he thought to himself 'They are used to seeing Claymore, this must be either an area with a high level of yoma infestation or a base of some sort.'

As sighted a figure wrapped in black who looked like he was waiting for them.

'So' Naruto thought 'These must be the agents of the organization who handle the Claymore, seems like the all wear black as well.'

"This way" the man said.

He opened a door and beckoned them inside "Your the last one to arrive, now everyone is present."

As the door opened Naruto was able to make out three figures cloaked in shadows.

"Oh, you brought a man with you " said one as she stood up "So, is your boyfriend or something, can he even help us fight."

"He can hold is own in a fight" Claire replied.

"Oh" she said surprised "And here I thought he was just a stray you picked up."

In a flash of movment Clair drew her sword and swung it at the other Claymore who was returning the favor.

Clang!

All four of the Claymore's eyes widened as they took in the sight.

Naruto had drew his sword slightly,crouched to the ground and blocked Claire's attack taking full advantage of the fact that his sword was sheathed across his back, and had gotten the other sword underneath his foot.

The figure in the center narrowed here eyes 'That movement, and strength, its not normal.' she thought.

"Now, Now" Naruto chided "We are all friends here, no need to fight."

Naruto now found himself with a sword at his neck.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings" said a second voice.

The man in black wrappings sighed and exited the door, "I will leave this up to you, Miria."

The women, now identified as Miria sat with her hands crossed over her legs.

"First your to fast, and now you are slow" she said.

Naruto turned his head and caught sight of her.

'Hmmm' he mused 'She was also in charge of that other group, she must be a powerful member'

"Helen, Deneve, put away your swords" she commanded.

Once everyone had returned their weapons to their intended holders she continued.

"Since we are all here now, I can brief you on our objective. The target is south of here in the Pamuro mountains, we will leave at down."

"Now" she continues "I want to know everyone's name and rank, and if you have ever fought a voracious eater before."

"I'm Miria" she introduced herself "I am in command of this party, my rank is number 6 and this is my seventh time fighting a voracious eater."

'So' Naruto thought 'The lower the number the higher the rank huh, so that would mean she's the sixth most powerful in the Organization."

"Why do you call them voracious eaters" Naruto interrupted "I was under the impression they were called awakened beings."

"" said Miria, caught off guard by this surprising question.

She narrowed her eyes at Claire.

"You revealed to him the true origin of awakened beings" she said menacingly "That is forbidden information."

"It wasn't her" Naruto said surprising them all "It was one of those your agents, Rubel was his name."

Miria narrowed her eyes 'Why would one of the Organization's agents tell him such information? It makes no sense.'

"Anyways" she said, trying to shake off her questions "Continue the introductions."

The one who had started the fight spoke next "I'm Helen, number 22 and I have never fought an awakened being before."

"I'm Deneve" the next one spoke out "Number 15, and I've fought an awakened being twice before."

Naruto, not one to be left out went next "Well I am Naruto, though I'm afraid I don't have a fancy number." he said brightly.

Helen rolled her eyes as everyone stared at Claire.

"I am Claire, have no experience with awakened beings and am number 47."

'That's a low number' thought a slightly disappointed Naruto.

This revelation elected some interesting responses.

Both Helen and Deneve both broke out in gales of laughter.

"Did you hear that?" asked Helen, all the while laughing "I can't believe someone as weak as here would be here."

"Thats enough" Naruto said sharply "If we are going to work together you two should shut up before you find yourself missing limbs."

"You obviously don't know what your talking about." said Helen "Each so called Claymore is assigned a region, each number is gets a certin region and that number determines our strength."

"You see" she continued "there are 47 regions, so out of all of us, she is weakest."

"So" Naruto replied,

"" replied Helen confused.

"You think I didn't determine that when I heard Claire's number, but still we have to work together, there is no need to belittle someone because of some predetermined power scale." he said "That will just lower the groups combat abilities."

"And like I said" Naruto said with a dark look "If you do that again you may find yourselves missing some limbs."

Helen couldn't help but feel a shiver down her spine "Whatever" she said.

Still watching this affair was Miria, and her suspicions about the blond were increasing.

'He got Helen to back down, that is definitely not normal, I will find out who he is.' she thought.

Naruto and Claire were in a room they had rented for a night.

"Why did you stand up for me?" she asked.

"I don't know" Naruto said shrugging "I guess its because my parents died when I was an infant, so people would always belittle me, call me a dropout and a failure. Saying I should just go out and die, Now that I can stick up for myself I just can't stand for that kind of behavior."

"I see" Claire trailed off softly. 'You don't seem like such failure to me' she silently added 'In fact, the mystery around around you is growing.'

Splash!

The next day Naruto found himself hiking up a moutain as rain gushed from the sky.

Miria was taking the lead with Helen and Deneve to her right and left respectively and Naruto and Claire trailed slightly behind.

"Wonderful weather" Naruto remarked dryly.

"Heh" Helen scuffed "if you can't handle it maybe you should go back into town and bundle yourself in a nice cozy room."

"Oh no" Naruto said cheerfully "I was merely remarking about the bountiful torrents of water the heavens were providing us."

Everyone rolled their eyes and kept on walking.

"So" Naruto began more seriously "How strong is this awakened being anyway?"

"It killed a warrior if average strength" Miria replied "You don't need to worry, no matter what happens I will be able to handle it."

"A warrior of average strength eh?" Naruto mused, as he turned to Helen "I guess that means someone of you level huh." he said, smirking at her.

Helen narrowed her eyes at him "And what is that suppose to mean?" she asked darkly.

"No need to worry" Naruto said sweetly "After all Miria said she would be able to protect you, and if she can't I'm sure I can spare a couple of seconds to save your butt."

"Why you" she growled out as she reached for her sword.

A hand rested on her arm "Don't bother." Deneve said, still holding her arm.

"And you" she continued turning toward Naruto "provoking someone stronger than you isn't a good idea"

"Stronger than me?" Naruto asked, a grin forming as his hand itched towards his sword "Care to test that theory?"

"Enough" Miria's voice cut them off "If you really want to fight, do it when we set up camp."

"Heh, fine." Naruto said, relaxing.

A couple of hours later they had found a cave.

"We will stay here for the night" Miria said as she and the others sunk their swords into the ground.

"The target is close, so this will be the last opportunity to rest."

"Ah, I'm hungry" remarked Helen "I'll get food, want some?" she asked Deneve who was sitting against a wall.

"No thanks" she replied "I'll just rest."

"What about you" Helen asked Naruto mockingly "Need be to get you something to eat, I hear humans have to eat several times a day, and you haven't eaten yet today, have you?"

"No thanks" said Naruto as he pulled some dried meat out of a vest pocket "Want some" he asked as he offered Helen a piece.

"No" Helen replied sharply "thats all your going to eat?"

"I'm not very hungry." Naruto replied.

'Plus, all ninja are taught to slow down their metabolism when they are walking in order to conserve energy' he added silently

"Fine" Helen replied as she stormed out of the cave.

"Here" Miria's voice rang through the cave.

Naruto turned and saw Claire catch her sword.

"Come with me" Miria said "it won't take long."

As they exited the cave Naruto debated whether or not to follow, shrugging his shoulders, he to got up and followed.

He got out in time to hear Miria address Claire.

"Lets just practice a bit, I need to know everyone's actual level." she informed.

"Are you saying I am inadequate?" Claire asked.

"I'll admit, your rank bothers me." Miria replied "Because when we first met it almost felt like the strongest one was standing before me."

With a quick shout of "Lets go" they charged each other.

The met in a shower of sparks as their blades crossed.

Breaking apart, Claire slashed at Miria's throat, only to have her bend backward to avoid it.

Recovering quickly, Miria stabbed her sword at Claire's head.

Ducking down to avoid the strike, Claire lunged with a slash aimed at Miria's midsection.

Miria back flipped, easily dodging the attack and brought her sword up and block another strike aimed near her head.

While the battle was going on Naruto and Deneve were standing near the entrance of the cave watching.

"Oh Ho" said a voice "They are going at it."

Claire once again swiped at Miria's head, who went into a crouch.

Miria then sliced at Claire head, who blocked by it with the side of her sword.

Left, Right, Up, They traded blows for a couple more minutes, though it was painfully obvious who was the victor.

"She's horrible" Naruto mumbled to himself.

'It seems she really is the weakest among her comrades, those movements are both slow and weak' he thought

"Heh, got that right" replied Helen "She is laughable"

As she finished saying this Claire's sword went flying into the air and landed with a thunk into the air.

"I see" Miria said looked at here "Get some rest, make sure you are at full strength tomorrow." she finished as she walked away.

Breathing hard Claire went to her knees for a second before falling to the ground in unconsciousness.

Sighing Naruto walked out, grabbed her and her sword, and dragged her back into the cave in time to catch the conversation going on.

"Miria" Helen exclaimed "You can't be serious about letting her fight, we should leave without here, and let her boyfriend take care of her."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at this "Hey" he yelled out.

Helen turned to face him "What do you want, human" she said scowling.

Naruto smirked "You promised me a fight, or are you scared."

Helen snarled "Why you. Fine, but don't come crying to be when you get you lose."

"Big words for someone so weak" he taunted as they settled into the same area Miria and Claire had been fighting in earlier.

"He's in for it" said Deneve from the sidelines "No one taunts Helen and leaves unscathed"

"I don't know" replied Miria "There is something about him, he is not normal."

"What" Deneve asked "There is no way he will be able to tough Helen" she said firmly.

"You can attack first" Naruto said lazily, drawing his sword "It's not like your going to do any damage."

Helen had finally reached her breaking point, charging with tremendous speed she swung, intending to slice him in half.

Clang!

Naruto yawned as he held his katana above his head, blocking the blow, "Thats it?" he asked "Feathers have fallen on me with more force than that."

Pulling her sword back Helen tried slashing at Naruto's midsection.

Sparks flew as once again their blades met, Naruto now holding his perpendicular to his body.

"You'll have to do better than that" Naruto said, now smiling "My turn."

With lightning fast moments he kicked up Helen's sword, did a 360 and sliced at her torso.

Helen jumped back trying to avoid the strike, but was only partially successful.

There was now a long shallow cut along here stomach area, nothing major, but would impair her.

'So fast' she thought.

"Damn you" she yelled.

On the sidelines both spectator were watching with wide eyes.

"He hit her" said Deneve in disbelief "No human should be able to so that, I'm number 15 and I could barley track his movements."

'I knew it' thought Miria 'He is not normal, but he's not a yoma or half yoma, so what exactly is he.'

Suddenly Helen did something surprising, her eyes turned yellow and veins started to appear on here face.

"She's using that" Deneve whispered.

"I won't let you win" Helen said menacingly as her arms lengthened.

'What the hell' Naruto thought 'What is that, she can elongate her arms?'

Sliding into a defensive stance in the nick of time Naruto jumped up and barely avoided being sliced through, as the arms circled him.

'I need to end this fast' he thought.

Using a burst of speed Naruto appeared behind Helen and held his sword to her neck.

"Stand down now" he ordered.

'What in the world' Helen thought as her yoma energy disappeared 'I didn't see him move.'

"Good" said Naruto more cheerfully "That was fun, we should do it again sometime."

"Wha" Helen managed to spit out as she saw Naruto walking away into the cave.

"Helen, are you okay" said a frantic Deneve as she checked on her friend.

"Yeah" she replied looking down "I'm fine, but what the hell is he."

Inside the cave Naruto was thinking to himself.

'Did I show to many abilities' he asked himself 'Oh, well, whats done is done and besides, I have a feeling I will have to show more before we are finished with this.'