NARUTO
The Art of Appropriation
I Am Uzumaki
Three weeks later…
Naruto was sweating bullets and panting like he had just run a marathon thrice over and then some, his body hunched over and looking ragged. Bringing his hand up, he ran it through his wet hair and glared across at the woman he was currently having it out with. By association, she was also the one responsible for his present state and appearance.
So far, his long-winded training regime with his newly made friend had taken on many surprising turns.
Over the past few days he had been put through a series of drills and challenges by his teacher. The raven haired martial arts master made sure she was absolutely thorough in her approach, instructing him on the techniques and form of the style she used and expected him to learn.
"This style combines both defense and attack. You attack and fight to defeat your opponent as quickly as possible."
Simultaneous defense and attack; this was all a part of the first lecture Naruto was given before he was immediately put through hands on material of the arts. He didn't have any books to follow on, save for the illustrations and poses his teacher used through her body. She showed him exactly what techniques were involved and gently instructed him to apply it.
The first step he had to perform was to set aside everything he already knew about martial arts and start from scratch, practicing the types of punches and kicks that were associated with the Spring Chant. For example, the basic jab that was adopted for the style was quite unconventional, nothing like the loaded punches he used for the taijutsu he already knew about. No. It was straight-out attacks from the guard position for the quick uncorking and execution of each strike.
The form and basic stance was also much different from the Soft Style and Internal Style he had seen in action. At first he couldn't see it when he tried it out for himself, but after several sessions and through intense practices of what was involved, he eventually got the hang of it. His body's natural structure took to it well, even though muscle memory of past styles used in his training took a bit more effort to overcome.
He managed to surpass this obstacle over time.
The first couple of days was spent learning the attacks used in conjunction with the defenses. He copied his teacher's movements on the introductory sessions and she helped him at every stage she could, fixing up the positions of his hands and feet correctly for each phase.
It was a matter of going through the motions; that was what was involved in the second step.
In order to accelerate his memorization and naturalization of the style, Naruto used his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to assist him during the longer, more important aspects of the training. With knowledge of this jutsu, which he kept note of to find out who the author was to thank later, he was easily able to speed up the amount of learning time required for the fighting style he was being taught.
He did this by having at least two dozen clones lined up on his lawn to follow-through with the techniques he was shown beforehand.
Yim observed his progress intently, mimicking the Chunin instructors Naruto had witnessed back at Training Field 2, practicing in their formations.
The whole teaching experience started off normally for the wandering martial artist, as she helped and nurtured an incredibly devoted pupil. The routine remained as such right up until the point Naruto started accelerating his learning with clones that she was caught completely by surprise. She had rarely seen a person duplicate themselves back in her land, let alone increase the speed of their information absorption capabilities through use of it.
The numbers he also created were phenomenal and this made her wonder about his more latent capabilities.
To Yim, it was an entirely new episode for her as much as it was for him.
Presently, the Naruto clones were assembled, in formation, and following the instructions given to them. Yim on the other hand was pacing back-and-forth down the rows on the outside of the square mass they formed, watching them work.
The platoon of doppelgangers fluently went through the motions of technique and form, practicing striking and blocking repeatedly, pacing across the wide-open lawn and utilizing the space provided for greater effect. From a distance, it was like watching an entire class working together in perfect sync, and every so often you could see one or two of them differ ever so slightly from the rest with a slight quiver or error in their stances or execution.
Though in reality Yim was really training only one student, she treated the multitude of one person as a group made up of completely different individuals. Each clone was a part of the original and each of them had a particular slice of his personality. Though they were exact doubles, there was always that one tiny aspect that made them slightly different from the others, ultimately defining the identity of the original.
Hands behind her back and a focused stare in play, the teacher kept careful watch of everyone, noting the minor lapses in timing and concentration in the particulars.
After seeing them reverse, proceed down a different line, and restart the patterns, she swiftly raised a hand. This queue was enough to have the entire platoon stop dead in their tracks.
As soon as the shadow clones froze, Yim weaved her way through the group of youngsters to the one she had singled out in the middle of the pack. Looking over his form once, the raven haired woman then physically, but gently, adjusted his position; bringing his arm up because it was set too low and nudging one foot back to better balance his stance.
Through these simple actions, she effortlessly fixed the noticeable error in his style.
Smiling at the correction, Yim nodded and stepped back. "Continue!"
"Yosh!" the entire enclave shouted.
The session resumed, the clones once again going through the exact same steps of combinations, only this time focusing them in a different direction. Yim nudged her way through the equivalent of an entire classroom till she made it to the outside, where she then focused her attention on the other groups of clones set to work in the backyard.
While the original Naruto was working on strength application through technique at the wooden dummy set up at one side of the lawn, there was another group situated close to the rose garden on the left hand side. A team of about a dozen were all arranged into a wide circle, all of them cross-legged, and facing each other with their hands held out in front of them around their core.
Their hand positions almost looked as though they were holding an invisible bowl just above their laps, but it was much more serious then that.
Almost meditative, each clone had incredibly concentrative expressions in play as they glared at the space between their open palms. The task was odd, not to mention way too different to what they were normally used to, but Yim expected them to get it right.
The woman smiled and crouched down beside one of the clones. This particular Naruto was sweating and looking quite aggravated, his arms and upper body trembling as the muscles in his appendages tightened. It was like he was trying to force something into his open palms through his pores, but was having no such luck at accomplishing the task through that means.
Yim giggled. "No, no. You have to relax your muscles." The clone ceased his shaky performance and looked up inquisitively at his instructor. The raven haired woman took a seat beside him and held her hands up, mimicking the others. "Remember, chi is the tangible energy living in the center of one's body; your life force. Every person can tap into their chi to a certain degree, but for those who wish to excel in controlling it, it cannot be brought out through sheer force. You must be relaxed and focused in order to do so. To harness your chi and to manipulate it in conjunction with your style, you have to bring it out, feel it, and work on manipulating it through that sensation. Once you have control over it, you will be able to perform various different techniques with it."
The clone watched on carefully as Yim held her hands out in demonstration. Silence fell amongst the Naruto copies formed into the circle, with the atmosphere becoming tense and the wind literally stilling.
A second later, with breath held and tongue clamped down, the clone looked on in awe as a yellow, transparent sphere appeared right in between Yim's hands. The ball of pure life energy hovered within the woman's grasp and flickered brightly, seemingly creating its own sunlight at its intensity.
She held it up towards the clone, which he leaned in for a better look.
"Every energy signature is different. It can either be small and meek, barely a speck in the dimmest of nights, or it can be large and radiating with intense confidence, generated from years of practice. But whether small or big, everybody will be able to find it within them," Yim exclaimed gently, seeing the Naruto-clone's eyes shimmer in her projected chi's aura. After some time of watching and waiting, the raven haired woman allowed her energy to dissipate and lowered her hands. "Remember: relaxed and focused. When you are, you will be able to listen to the very center of your body and feel your life force. If you can control your life, nobody will be able to take it away from you."
Upon hearing this, the clone nodded and returned to his task. This time, he properly relaxed himself. The shadow clones in the circle reciprocated his actions and restarted a new. They calmed their trembling bodies, allowing them to better attempt to tap into their latent energies.
Yim then proceeded on, leaving the copies to it.
While the legion worked out, the circle meditated and the original worked the dummy over, there was another group of clones on the porch doing their own thing. While the majority of the dozen in this part were working on controlling their chakra in order to stick to trees and surfaces, as prescribed in the 'handouts' from the library, one solitary clone was still reading.
This one had peeled off from the herd to continue looking into the vast assortment of fighting material detailed in the almanac the original so loved.
The Naruto-clone smiled as he turned the pages, moving from one fighting style to the next. It was an incredibly compelling read and he had barely scratched the surface of it. Most of the fighting styles he had looked up in here were solely Konoha based taijutsu and he had barely even gotten into the known fighting styles outside of the Land of Fire. There was so much to take in.
Forget about the history, a lot of the techniques recorded and described were somewhat tricky and untraditional, something he'd have to work around when the time came.
After a certain period was spent flipping from page to page, mostly drinking in the summaries of the important stuff, the clone then noticed something odd.
It wasn't really an immediate revelation, but he was brought around to it no less.
Frowning, the Naruto-copy flicked backwards through the pages, furrowing his brow as he reacquainted himself with the most well renowned taijutsu styles of Konohagakure. He was easily able to distinguish the branched styles with the parent styles based solely on the illustrations, and with every one he crossed over he was able to trace back to their sources.
Mad Dog Attack, Dog Tooth Fist and Hounding Claw could be rerouted back to Inuzuka Style taijutsu. The Internal and Soft approaches, though they could be practiced as complete, separate and individual styles on their own, coupled to form the Gentle Fist Style of combat, which was a major part of the Hyuuga branch of martial arts. Hard Fist Style originated from the Wood Blocking Fist first employed by Hashirama Senju about a hundred years ago, who also created the Senju Style and Leaf Cutter. The foundation Uchiha Style utilized aggressive, direct movement and technique in order to overcome an opponent through precise, brute force and overbearing speed. However, though their style was one solely focusing blunt power upon an adversary, their rival Senju Style instead used confident, fluent movement and motion to produce power.
Depending on the practitioner, any one master of any of these styles could overwhelm even a seasoned shinobi who was also in the practice of ninjutsu and genjutsu.
However, despite the great potential behind such knowledge, the information categorized so conveniently before the clone seemed to strike a different chord with him.
Naruto's brow furrowed as he looked from one page to another, back and forth. His frustration grew more by the second.
Damn. It didn't seem to matter that much in the beginning, but after three weeks of doing nothing but working on close combat, it suddenly started to dawn on him the actual significance of the topic in question.
Every known clan had a fighting style. Hell, if you were to put the existing clan totals into whole numbers, a great majority of Konohagakure would probably have been taught in the ways of the big-name taijutsu styles listed in the book. That's not even counting those who were trained in just the basics and advancements of other signature styles.
Everybody had a name to live up to in terms of this inspiring art.
The Uchiha, the Inuzuka, the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi... the whole list of last names and people he knew that had them, started to grind against the jinchuriki's mental state till it was flaming red.
Even though he was just a wily shadow clone, his thoughts, dreams, memories, aspirations and appearances were all the same Naruto. So it made perfect sense that he acted and took to the information in the same way the original would if he were in the same position.
"They are all famous… everybody knows them… all because of their last names…" the Naruto clone blinked and scowled at the next page. "D-Do I belong to a famous name?"
He tried searching for any signs of Uzumaki within the book, turning to the Index to narrow down his search. However, to his dismay, no matter what parent style he pursued, no matter what branch he referenced, he could not find a single style bearing his name.
Frowning some more, he then shut the book and turned it over to the spine.
Continental Martial Arts Dictionary Volume III
It was thick. Like; several hundred pages thick. Despite of this, it was Pocket Addition. Even though it weighed like a son-of-a-bitch it still said Pocket Addition at the very top of the front cover.
So much for light reading material.
Nevertheless, despite its vast collection of documented fighting styles of the period, Naruto was still left utterly baffled. There were no signs of his last name anywhere to be seen. Even when he looked under 'U' in the index, he found not only a shit-ton of Uchiha branch styles that were pretty much extinct, but he even found his teacher's style. The Umino Leaf Cutter, which was derived from the old Senju concepts taught from the academy and crafted by the shinobi members of the family.
Sure, it was a small, not too well known style completely localized to within the village, but there was really only one Umino in the entire village! And there were more! Many more!
However, after taking some time to think the whole thing over, it eventually made sense to the jinchuriki.
Iruka had a family at one point in his life. He said so himself on the night when he brought him up to the observation balcony for the first time.
But what about himself?
The clone considered his copies training on the lawn with Yim pacing circles around them. He then considered the original training by the wooden man.
The sight had a bit of an eerie to it, as the real Naruto looked so alone and confined to that one space. If you were to dim out his surroundings and negate the presence of the shadow clones, the young Uzumaki was completely alone.
No brothers or sisters. No aunts or uncles. No cousins. No mother or father.
The clone's face fell.
All this frustration and fussing over not having a family fighting style unintentionally led him to the greatest, most illusive fact in his young life that he had never attempted to find out before; that he had no idea who his family was or who his parents were.
All his time spent trying to become a shinobi, working hard towards his dream of becoming Hokage, overcoming the various hardships and heartbreaks of his loneliness, and his segregation from society by the greater populace, completely eclipsed the fact that he had nobody waiting at home for him at the end of each day.
That realization cut him deeper then any kunai ever could.
Quickly considering the opportunity presented to him, the solitary clone made up its mind and, setting the almanac down on the table, leapt to his feet and soundlessly dashed out of the backyard. He literally hurdled over the fences dividing the property from its surrounding neighbors, leaving the makeshift training field to its current occupants.
The Naruto clone was safe for sure.
The original would not dismiss his technique till the end of the day.
XXX
"I'll drop in to see Shiho-chan. Maybe she can help me," the shadow clone exclaimed in his head as he dashed down the road.
He was extremely careful to avoid hitting people and obstacles in his way. One careless move and he would be dispelled before he could even get to the heart of the matter at hand. Shadow clones were independent spirits of their own after all. He had a sense not to interrupt the original from his training till the very end.
After ducking and dodging crossroad traffic and alike, the rogue Naruto doppelganger used the engraved map inside of his head to help navigate himself through the village. He wasn't going to waste valuable time discovering new shortcuts or taking to the rooftops to cover more ground. Those routes of thinking would attract trouble he was certain he was not in any condition to fight off. The clone was aware that he had to keep his life extended for as long as he could.
However, while he was jogging down one of the main roads he knew ran right by the Dango Shop on route to the library, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed something peculiar going on right in the middle of the boulevard.
Villagers were paying little attention to the obstruction laid out in their path and simply sauntered on by it, ignoring what looked to be a grown man lying sprawled out in the center of the dusty street. A blink later and a gradual approach towards the hindrance quickly confirmed the Naruto-clone's suspicions that a person was, in a words, passed out on the footpath.
It was also quite obscene from his point of view.
Out of the dozens of people that were marching passed the unfortunate soul, only one person had taken genuine interest and concern in the fallen civilian's predicament.
That added some comfort to Naruto's conscious that there was at least one other person out there other than Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, the Third and himself that cared.
The doppelganger marched to a stop a couple of feet away, from where he was able to make out the person squatting right beside the unconscious stranger and was gently trying to shake them away. The Good Samaritan turned out to be a girl roughly around his age and a shinobi from the looks of it, if the hitai-ate she wore around her forehead was any inclination. She had brown hair tied up into buns, some of which hung over her headband in a fringe, and was wearing a pink, sleeveless blouse and dark green pants.
The girl was looking quite worried for the safety and wellbeing of the individual as she tried shaking him again, this time with a bit more effort.
"S-Sir? Are you okay? Sir?" The kunoichi huffed when she got no answer. Begrudgingly, she placed her elbow on her thigh and propped her chin on her hand, giving the body a quirked stare. "Geez, he's not getting up, is he?"
"Uhh… are you alright?" 'Naruto' asked, approaching with an inquisitive and apprehensive expression of his own. The girl turned towards the boy, to which he acknowledged her attention with a pointed gesture. "Is uhh… is he alright?"
"Beats me," the teen replied and redirected her focus back towards the lump in the road. "I nearly stepped on him on my way back to my family's shop. I've been here for ten minutes already and to be quite frank, I'm a little bit worried."
"Is he… like… dead?"
"No. Alive." Deciding to change tactics, the teen started poking the person in the shoulder… repeatedly. "How a fully grown man can continue to sleep through this ruckus on top of an uncomfortable bedspread is beyond me. He's literally eating dirt right now." The person's nose was a nail to the floor; it was quite obvious what he must be experiencing if he had lost all capabilities of movement. Naruto thought it to be quite unpleasant, since he'd been in that position more then once.
Since they were splayed out on their stomach, it was hard to tell who the person was. All Naruto and the girl who he was accompanying could see was that the man was incredibly tall, had long brown haired tied back into a long ponytail with a light purple ribbon. They also wore a traditional samurai hakama, with a white kimono and close-to-black, dark blue, umanori style pants. The man also wore a pair of tabi and traveling sandals.
There was also something else that caught Naruto's eyes. "Hey, the guy has a sword with him."
The young girl, being brought about from her patient state and uneasy stare glanced over the torso of the unconscious traveler to see a katana sheathed in a red scabbard at the person's belt. The sight only meant one thing to her.
"Oh. He's a samurai."
"Don't samurai like… have two swords or something?" the Naruto clone asked curiously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Traditionally… yes. But this guy only has one weapon," the teen smiled up at the blonde, who stood attentively beside her. "That means he's either an armed traveler or a samurai who's pretty much lost his way, so to speak. You would think for an adventurer they would come more prepared, but instead they end up passed out from whatever, in the middle of a busy highway and in our village no less!"
The girl was both amused and doubtful, mostly towards the individual's supposed life skills that were meant to be a soul part of a samurai's development.
Maybe it was just for show.
"What a way to go," Naruto exclaimed.
"Moud mou muys mmum mmm…"
"Huh?" Both Naruto and company blinked in surprise when they heard the sounds of mumbling emitted from the person. Glancing at one another, they both then knelt down and leaned forward, ear first just so to confirm their suspicions.
"Sir? Could you repeat that?"
"Mister?" Naruto murmured, placing a hand on the person's back and shaking them gently.
This last gesture seemed to coax whatever life was left swimming inside the stranger's body out of them, whose head rolled over to the side and allowed the curious duo a glance of the person's eyes glaring up at them. Covered in dirt and dust, the uncharacteristically gentle face of a warrior took in the troublesome brats fretting over her 'corpse'.
"I said… would you guys shut up…?" the stranger replied in a weak, annoyed tone. "Can't you see that I'm trying to die here? At least send me off peacefully."
Naruto and his temporary companion stared back at the reawakened traveler. They took their time processing the information being addressed to them from the stranger and blinked several times at his tonnage. They gave him a once over from head to toe, before refocusing their attention on his face.
It was peculiar.
A traveling samurai, dressed in traditional samurai robes, but bearing only one sword.
Surprisingly long, silky smooth hair…
A gentle face with more prominent eyes and eyelashes then most…
Very pronounced facial definitions, almost close to that of an angel if you concentrated hard enou-
"HOLY CRAP, YOU'RE A WOMAN!" Naruto leapt away in shock, only to fall onto his backside. The revelation also startled the girl next to him.
It didn't occur to either of them that they were prodding a woman samurai, let alone one at all. She didn't look it from her angle to them, but after looking past her condition and the dust smeared across her face, she was actually quite pretty. This had the blonde blush a bit at his bluntness on the situation and made a note to himself to check before assuming next time.
Clearing his throat and recomposing himself, Naruto got back up onto his knees and crawled over, looking down at the barely conscious traveler.
"Why are you bothering me again?" the samurai murmured questioningly.
The bun haired girl smiled weakly in return. "You're lying in the middle of the road, miss. You're disrupting some of the local traffic." Though people didn't seem to really care, her presence did drive something of a grove in between the flowing stream of villagers. It was quite noticeable from a birds-eye-view.
The woman stared back at the girl talking to her for a little while longer, expression blank and eyes slightly glazed. However, after taking in the teen's overall appearance and attitude, the samurai furrowed her brow. "Meow… is that you…?"
"Huh?"
"You changed your outfit… not much of an improvement there… but I like your hair. Keep the sideburns." A little bit out of it, the woman's eyes fluttered shut a moment after her 'admirable' comment.
The Genin scowled and placed her hands over her ears. Though the words from the samurai did assure her she would live, the teenager was still quite taken aback by how the woman so freely and openly commented on her appearance. The Naruto clone was promptly looking at the flustered girl with inquisitiveness upon hearing the samurai woman's words of wisdom.
"What is she talking about? I don't have sideburns!" the girl turned to the blonde nearby, showing him the side of her head and raising her fringe. "D-Do I?"
Naruto tilted his head and rubbed his chin in thought. Though he didn't normally judge a person based on their hair, he had to admit that the girl in front of him had exceptionally excellent locks.
"No. Your hair looks really nice to me." He saw her breathe a sigh of relief and smile kindly at him.
"Thanks."
Just as the pair were about to inquire more into the traveler, just to make sure she didn't go wandering off into the land of surrealism again, the sound of a low, hollow growl filled the air. The noise caught the pair completely off guard, who looked around momentarily before narrowing the fading grumblings and complaints down to the stomach of the person lying on the ground before them.
The samurai woman, close to unconsciousness, cracked an eye and stared up at them, "So… hungry…" The growling got a little louder. "Silly tummy… you're the stomach of a samurai… you must be vigilant…"
"Oh! So that's it!" Naruto exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The two girls looked in his direction, one in surprise the other one lazily. The chipper blonde grinned down at the traveler, being quite abrupt and forward in his presentation. "I know just what you need!"
XXX
Half an hour later…
Naruto and the young kunoichi he had come to associate with, watched on in bewilderment as the samurai woman they were assisting sat beside them on the bench just outside of the Dango Shop, devouring what they calculated to be her twentieth plate of dango, along with her third bottle of sake.
One by one the kebabs became empty skewers on an ever-growing stack of plates, with the waitress of the store frequently running back and forth between the counter and the table to restock on the woman's orders. Unlike every other day, the servicewoman had never had to work so hard in her life, which was saying a lot about the wanderer's eating habits.
Swallowing another mouthful, the samurai sighed excitedly. "Delicious! I haven't had dango like this in ages!" She spun around and waved towards the service counter in sight of the trio, where both the chef and the exasperated waitress stood, gawking at her. "Yo! Five more plates and two more bottles of your finest sake please!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!"
"Oh… so good!" The happy traveler plucked another dango from her dish. Holding it at a good angle, she took yet another bite out of it and devoured all three dumplings in one go. She chewed, giggled in delight and swallowed with much satisfaction to be expressed, "Simply exquisite!"
"Holy hell, how much of that stuff can you put away?" the bun haired girl asked, seeing yet another order placed before her, which the samurai immediately became acquainted to. When the woman started drinking the bottle of sake like it was a bottle of water, instead of taking it in shots, the girl raised an eyebrow. "We did say that the food was on us, but there's no need to go all gungho on it. Show a little restraint, why don't you?"
"Well… you see, I haven't eaten for quite a while… about three days to be exact, and I was truly dying of starvation. I only wish to eat my fill, express my sincerest thanks and delight for the meal, and be on my way, if that is okay with the two of you," the woman replied happily, pausing long enough in her gorging of the food next to her to speak eye to eye with them. "As a beautiful, honorable drifter, I am simply taking you guys up on your generous offer."
"B-But…" the girl attempted to interject.
"And do not worry. I always make good on my debts, even to people who I have only known for the briefest of moments in my life. I will pay you back as soon as I am able, but I cannot say for sure when that will be. For now, I will convey my utmost gratitude to the both of you as best as I can."
She tipped her bottle to the youngsters and downed the whole of its alcoholic contents. As soon as she did so, she lowered it, let out an appreciative gasp of delight and smiled at the ones paying on her behalf. While the girl seemed a tad bit irked, not to mentioned astounded at her ability to consume so much sake and not even feel a little bit tipsy, the blonde haired boy on the other hand was still staring at her in great interest.
When she locked onto the children for a second time, the samurai bowed to them gratefully, setting aside her empty bottle of sake to acknowledge the kindness they have given her properly. "You two saved my life today. Thank you."
Naruto smiled at her and nodded, deciding to speak up now then never, "That's okay. I understand where you're comin' from. When you gotta eat, you gotta eat! It's something that a person has to do."
"Of course." The samurai smiled more widely at the boy, taking some interest in him. "You are very perceptive and welcoming; a character who acts on good intentions."
"Really?" the boy grinned sheepishly. "Nah, I'm not. I just like helping people who are in trouble. It's no biggy."
The kunoichi next to him looked at him with a smile. She nudged him in the side in a good natured gesture, "She's still thanking you, dummy. Just accept her appreciation."
The boy looked at the Genin addressing him, his eyes shifting between them, "O-Okay. Do you really mean that, miss?"
"It's the truth. You went out of your way to pay for a meal for a complete, unfortunate stranger, even going so far as to run all the way back home to get money. To some, your actions may make you seem too trusting of others that they may take advantage of you. Not to mention that they may trick you into misconduct. But you are indeed selfless and kind," the samurai exclaimed, nodding to him and then looking at the girl. "You may only be children, but you are both compassionate and considerate. Please, tell me your names so that I may remember you."
"Naruto!" the clone stated, thumping himself in the chest.
"Tenten," the girl with the buns in her hair replied, giving the woman a small smile and running a hand over her ear to brush some stray hair away. "What's your name?"
"Me?" the samurai replied while picking up the last bottle of sake from the bench. She pulled out a flask from pocket and began filling it up. "I'm merely just a beautiful drifter, who lives for the joys, pleasures and tastes of good sake. Unfortunately, I have long since forgotten my real name." Once the flask was full, she tied it up and put it away. When she looked back at the two teenagers, she saw them staring at her oddly, which prompted yet another smile from her. "You may call me Ran."
"It's nice to meet you, Ran!" Naruto exclaimed.
"And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances," the samurai replied with a kind nod.
Pleasantries between the three didn't last too long from that point though. Before any more conversation could be exchanged between them, Naruto unexpectedly leapt to his feet. Both women turned to him in surprise as he stood before them and bowed in an excited manner.
He shared with them his characteristic grin, directing one from Ran to the other nice girl he had been sitting with, "I enjoyed talking with you and it was nice to meet you, Tenten."
The kunoichi smiled at him, tilting her head curiously. "Where are you scampering off to in such a hurry? Clan stuff?"
"Sort of," Naruto straightened up and shrugged, hands on his hips. "Well… close. Not really sure. I… sort of have questions to ask for a friend… important questions. If I don't hurry along I might miss her."
"Oh. I see," Tenten smiled. "By the way, thanks for helping me out… I… I wouldn't have been able to drag her all the way to the other side of the road on my own. I really appreciate you stopping by." Unknowingly, the young kunoichi missed the dirty look thrown at her by the samurai lady sitting beside her, one which held surprise and bother in one mask.
"Is this brat implying that I am overweight?"
Naruto waved her thanks away, but treasured her words no less. He had already received enough flattery to last him for quite a while. He didn't want to feel too good for just some little things otherwise it would spoil his lunch.
"Don't worry about it. I'll take simple thanks above favors any day of the week. Heh. It's been fun, gotta go!" Taking his queue, he turned heel and began rushing down the street, smiling back at the pair, "I'll see you two around some time."
Tenten waved after him, watching the odd youngster duck through traffic before disappearing altogether. It was from simply judging his exit the girl was brought around to an interesting characteristic trait she saw in the boy. Even though she was surrounded by weirdness day in and day out, she could safely say this…
The boy appeared with a smile and left with a smile. He didn't bother with many questions, nor did he insist for something in return.
"He's a very happy person, Naruto," Tenten exclaimed, rolling her shoulders a bit as she continued to stare off after the jinchuriki, "A little odd and straightforward, but a down-to-earth human being no less."
The samurai beside her was sharing the exact same thoughts, while also staring after the boy with a curious gleam in her eyes.
XXX
Konoha Library…
"It's great for you to visit me again so soon, Naruto-kun," Shiho exclaimed, sliding down her ladder and stopping at the bottom, grinning widely at her beaming visitor. "How are those books I lent you? Been helping you along?"
"They've been great!" the jinchuriki exclaimed, walking around when she hopped off of her post to approach him in kind. "I'm really enjoying that clone book you let me borrow. It's given me tons of stuff to think about and even cooler stuff to learn! I'm really coming along."
"Glad to hear that. I knew I made the right choice," Shiho replied, pushing her glasses up her nose. Rounding on the shelves, she strolled over to them and casually ran a finger along the row of spines, while looking back at the boy following after her. "A book may look rundown, shabby and out of place from the rest of them. However, it is not what's on the outside that matters; it's what's inside that counts. There is so much more you can learn by studying the whole contents of the article then just the first few pages." She then shrugged. "Although… I do have to admit that it sometimes helps to have an appealing cover to attract an audience. But that's from a marketing perspective. The main point is; you can't judge a book by its cover."
"Oh yeah… definitely," Naruto agreed wholeheartedly.
"If you're aspiring to become a shinobi, you've got to throw your hand into everything you can, not just ninjutsu. If you want, I can find you some material on genjutsu… stuff that you can use to your advantage," Shiho smiled at him and gave him a once over. "You don't look like the type that digs genjutsu, so I'll give you something to help you break the stuff. Don't have to know genjutsu intimately to be able to utilize its aspects in the field. If you can master certain techniques you'll be a real winner when the time comes around."
"T-That would be great… t-thanks… Shiho-chan," Naruto spoke up, watching her lead him down the isle. However, not wanting to lose his current train of thought he hurried after her with his topic on hand. "I…uhh… umm… Sh-Shiho-chan!"
"Yeah!"
"T-There's… there's uhh… there's something else…"
The library girl quickly noticed something off about his speech patterns and turned to him. When she did, she saw a look of anxiousness on his face and blinked in surprise.
If Naruto could see behind her glasses he would be able to tell how concerned she looked right at that moment, "What is it?"
"I-It's something important," Naruto fidgeted. He shuffled on the spot a few times, shrugged his shoulders, doing whatever he could to bottle the nerves. "It's about the book on taijutsu?"
"Is there something wrong with it?" Shiho asked, stepping towards him and gesturing over her shoulder. "If it's a problem with the actual book, I could have the manager check it out for y-"
"N-N-No… no… it's not what's wrong with what I'm reading, it's just," the clone sighed restlessly and balled his fists, hitting his knuckles together a few times to convey his distress. "I noticed in the book of taijutsu that almost every family in Konoha… the big ones like the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and Inuzuka… hell… even the small ones like the Umino, Haruno and Yuhi… they all have their own brand of taijutsu. Signature taijutsu… stuff that only their families know."
"Y-Yeah…" Shiho started to feel a little on edge herself. There was no telling where the boy was going with this.
"I just wanted to know… w-well… if it isn't too much trouble for you," He rubbed his neck, wondering whether this was really such a good idea. Then again, he did come all this way to ask a friend, so what harm was there from pursuing the truth? "I… I want to find out… whether or not I have a family like theirs," the Naruto clone finished, throwing his hands out to the sides and letting them drop.
The thud of his arms hitting his sides was the last bit of noise for the next few seconds, as both teens stared at each other. One side waited patiently for an answer, any answer, while the other one stood planted to the floor with her mouth dropped open slightly to communicate her small measure of astonishment. It took a bit for the information to actually sink into Shiho, whose fingers started to clench and unclench repeatedly.
"I know I never asked this question openly before… but… after seeing that everybody else has something from their parents to carry on with them, it got me thinking," Naruto reasoned, bravely holding his ground, "Do I have something to carry on as well? D-Did I even have a family to begin with…?"
Shiho averted her gaze in thought. However, after brief deliberation of his words she then furrowed her brow and looked up at him. Her hand promptly followed suit and took his in hers, which she then began pulling down the isles.
"Come with me."
Naruto didn't argue or fight against forcefully being pulled around like a shopping cart. He made his friend's job easier for her by keeping foot with her, as she pulled him down the rows and rows of shelves containing the collective knowledge of centuries of research. He tried to discern exactly where she was taking him, but lost track after about a minute before he was pulled into an isle somewhere at the far side of the building. Upon arriving at the center, Shiho stopped him and went to scanning the racks of books alongside them.
Skimming a finger up and down, the library girl then pulled a hardback copy somewhere out from the section marked 'U' and approached her friend hastily. Brushing the article down, she smiled weakly at the jinchuriki and handed him the almanac, which he took with great care.
"This is one of the only copies that we have that contains any information on the Uzumaki family that isn't restricted to the public," Shiho stated, seeing the academy student run his hands over the book curiously. "It was donated by a kind soul from this village, but by whom exactly I don't know… and whether he's still around or not I'm uncertain."
Naruto rubbed his fingers over the simple symbol that was on the front cover of the almanac. There was no title to be seen or any indication of who the book previously belonged to. But the character that was on the cover was the very same one he recognized from the back of the jacket he was wearing and on the backs of the vests he had seen on many of the shinobi around Konohagakure.
It was a swirl pattern formed within a perfect circle, almost like a whirlpool.
The boy opened up the book to the first pages, expecting some history or basic knowledge. However, the moment he accessed the volume's contents he was immediately hit with a truckload of information. To him, it felt like being hit by an actual truck.
The academy student nearly stumbled back at the stuff he saw. He was quite literally blown away the moment his eyes drank in the first sentences on the page.
"T-The Uzumaki Clan… m-my clan…" Naruto gulped and looked up at Shiho, who he saw was looking at him with deep consideration. "I… I have a clan… I have a family. A-And the… they have their own village? They have their own Hidden Village! Uzushiogakure!"
"Y-Yeah…?"
Naruto grinned and looked back down at the article, flipping wildly through more and more of the pages.
Though the exact location of his family's home village wasn't disclosed to him, he was still thrilled to learn that he actually had a genuine family and a place where he could also call home. However, this information still wasn't enough for him to settle his excitement as he hurried through more pages, at the same time backing up until he hit one of the shelves behind him.
He leaned against it for support, turning another page. "L-Look at this! This is amazing, Shiho-chan!" The boy animatedly held up the double page spread and showed her a photograph on the page, pointing at the men standing side by side under two different banners. "A lot of these guys have the same hair color as me! Golden blonde! My hair color! Well… not just blonde, but red hair as well… and their outfits are awesome! Wa-how!"
Naruto was speaking quite loudly now, but at least he wasn't shushed. He was grateful for that.
Laughing some more, he continued turning pages, looking from one seemingly familiar face to another. All the while Shiho continued watching from the side, hands in front of her and, though she wore a small smile, still looked saddened. Unfortunately, the happy jinchuriki didn't notice her expression as he was so engrossed in the book.
"Look! Look! Konoha shinobi standing beside Uzushio shinobi! Sweet! They look so cool together!" Naruto laughed, flipping through the pages again. "Man! This is great! Konoha must be allies with them! I mean… why would a big village like this one be so friendly with another, smaller village somewhere else? Unless they're allies, there's no other explanation. My people are friendly! AWESOME!"
"N-Naruto-kun…"
"And there's so much more!" Naruto grinned, slamming a finger down on a specialty exclusive chapter of the book. "Look! Fuinjutsu! My people's specialty is sealing techniques! It says here…" He scrutinized the paper some and read off of it, his grin growing wider. "That, 'the Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure specializes in the art of fuinjutsu, a practice that requires a high amount of discipline, experience and understanding. Renowned for their mastery behind the concepts of sealing, the Uzumaki Clan taught it not as a means of fighting but as a means of understanding the principles and secrets behind chakra, space, matter and time. However, these unique abilities make them quite fearful as shinobi in battle, establishing them as one of the most powerful, smaller neighboring villages of the Land of Fire!"
The boy giggled happily and looked up at the girl. "I can't believe it! Not only do I have my own clan, I have my own clan symbol, my own village, and my own brand of fighting feared by everybody else! T-This is… this is…t-this… is…" He noticed Shiho was giving him a very grave look, making him confused and suppressing his mirth. Looking between the book and his friend a couple of times, he wondered what could be earning such a downhearted stare.
The jinchuriki stepped towards her, "W-What's wrong… Shiho-chan?"
"N-Naruto-kun…" The library girl shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, not sure what to say to him to answer his question. However, since he was already in possession of the book, the chances were that he was bound to find out sooner or later, so in an effort to help him along as best as she could, Shiho nodded towards the article in his hand. "F-Find the last page…"
Blinking in confusion, Naruto did as he was asked and turned back to the almanac, turning the pages over till arriving at what he immediately deduced was the end. Before the book's contents even reached the very end of the book, which was its back cover, there were several pages left blank and unfilled.
The academy student became bewildered at the sight and moved through the end pages that still had writing on it. He found a whole lot less here then what he had been previously delving through beforehand, which was surprising considering the amount of depth the book had covered on the Uzumaki clan at the beginning.
When arriving at the last page of the very last chapter, he flipped the page over several times, noticing that the writing stopped a little bit over on the other side.
He looked up in question. "I… I don't… I don't understand…"
"Read it…"
Shiho persisted, mostly for the boy's own betterment. If he was to discover the truth that was slowly approaching him then he needed to face it himself.
The jinchuriki looked back at the last recorded pages in the book.
He read through them slowly, making sure to drink in every word. As much as it had been a compelling read for him in the opening, the rest of the book was nothing compared to what came up next.
It didn't take the clone long to get to the end of the final statements and notes written down, by which time he suddenly stepped back and collapsed to the floor, using the shelves behind him to slide down. Bringing his legs up to his chest, he dropped the book and looked down at it sadly.
His response was immediate.
The look he wore greatly resembled the exact same expression he wore back in the days when he was upset and would sit on the swing behind the academy for hours on end.
As of that moment, he couldn't completely describe what he was feeling.
All he knew, was that he felt more alone now then ever before.
"They're gone…" Naruto murmured and shut his eyes. "The village… my clan… all of it… there's nothing left…"
Shiho swooped down in an effort to console him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him close to her. She felt the jinchuriki respond to her reassuring gesture by leaning into her hug, but was unwilling to do anything beyond that. All energy in him seemed to just vanish, "I'm sorry."
Her embrace did the upset clone some comfort and he was grateful for it. Of course, being the stubborn brat that he was, he didn't cry.
"I… your clan… I… (sigh)…" Shiho hesitated. She didn't know what to say to him.
She had no idea what the boy could possibly be feeling; knowing that the people who were pretty much his brethren and blood, the people who he belonged to were wiped off of the face of the earth before he even knew he belonged to them.
"I-It's alright," Naruto wiped his eye against his shoulder and jacket, before looking up at Shiho with a small smile. "It may not be what I was expecting to find here today… but at least I now know that I did have a clan… a family. Heh. An honest-to-goodness family! Just like Shikamaru's, that baka Kiba's and even Sasuke's! It's… even better then what I was hoping for…"
Shiho gave him a weak smile in return before picking up the book he had dropped, sliding it into his lap. "You were hoping to find something else?"
"Yeah… something about my parents," Naruto sniffed, wiping his tearless eyes out of reflex for a second time. "But the writing in the book stops at a date years before I was even born. It's like… the person who wrote it was actually there, right at the time when the village came to… its… end…?"
…
He planned to continue, to express his deep interest and the significance of the book's contents and its value to him…
However, there was a sudden moment of pause in his sentences, which left him staring at the book's cover in his lap.
The emergence of the topic he had consciously brought up got the boy pondering over the blanks in that area. It just occurred to him that it didn't appear at the end of the chapter he had quickly run through and there certainly was no mention of a final conflict whatsoever.
After some careful consideration he looked back up at the girl with an inquisitive look on his face, "H-How did Uzushiogakure fall? What happened to it?"
Shiho left the almanac in his hands and moved away an inch. She withdrew her arms and folded them over her knees when she brought them up to her chest.
That particular question was quite the troublesome one.
What happened to Uzushiogakure?
From her understanding of shinobi history, there were many periods in the past that the village could have been classified as deserted or uninhabited. The Third Great Shinobi War, unaccountable or possible civil wars that had been waged secretly within the village's walls, foreign invaders from the Western countries carting off the village's resources or even invaders from the neighboring shinobi nations; they were all possibilities. Even plagues or famine could have been contributing factors to the village's disappearance from the map!
However, after culminating everything she did know into one, logical explanation, she was able to place the time of Uzushiogakure's ultimate destruction between some twenty or so years ago to today.
"I don't really know, Naruto-kun. There were very turbulent times back then. So many events took place back in those days that it's… it's really hard to say for sure what actually happened to the village. A lot of the stories nowadays are told differently by anyone who knows anything about Uzushiogakure, and even then they are mostly mere tales based off of myths and legends. It's a real mystery," Shiho replied, seeing her companion blink. "But… I do know this. It is near impossible for an entire civilization to be completely wiped out. There are bound to be survivors."
"Survivors?" Naruto blinked, earning an encouraging nod from his friend.
"Yes, even villagers who left Uzushiogakure before it collapsed. Who knows, maybe a lot of your people scattered themselves all across the mainland when they moved out or migrated across the seas. There is even a high possibility that descendants of your clan are still around today, maybe even hidden here in Konoha." Though this was just a blind assumption, she didn't regret it. It was a big village and an even bigger world out there. She was sure she was right.
"Y-Yeah!" Naruto grinned up at her, happiness slowly returning to him at the uplifting words Shiho was sharing with him. "Y-You're right. They couldn't have all been killed. There are always survivors. Otherwise… who would be left to tell the tales of what happened inside the village? This is proof!" The blonde held up the closed book and jabbed at its cover. "Their history is in here; history other people should be allowed to recognize and know. I just can't let that all disappear, not now. I can't let my clan's name be forgotten. I have to do something about it!"
"Really?" Shiho's smile reappeared at his steadily growing excitement. She was glad to see him beaming again, "What are you going to do?"
"Well… become Hokage of course!" Naruto grinned and thumped himself in the chest. Same course of action; it all pretty much tied together. Things were bound to happen on this journey. He knew that as fact. "By becoming the leader of Konoha, I'll get people to acknowledge not just my name, but the name Uzumaki! What better way to let people know that you can kick ass and are a part of one of the most respected clans in history by becoming the strongest shinobi in the village?"
"Heh. I see. The new plan is the old plan then," Shiho placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You'd better keep working hard then, Naruto-kun. This village and its people weren't made in a day you know. Practice, practice, practice! That's the key!"
"Yeah!" the Naruto clone shouted, taking the book he was given into two hands and looking down at his front. "I'll get there eventually. I will become Hokage some day… not just for me… but for them; for my family and my friends. Believe it!"
The boy admired the uniqueness behind the symbol representing his people engraved upon the book. There was just something to be said about libraries.
Libraries were awesome.
With this article he was able to find through a friend, he could learn everything there was about where he came from and maybe even find out who his parents were. Of course, he'll do all of that on top of making the Uzushiogakure symbol his trademark logo next to the Konohagakure headband.
Boy was he looking forward to graduating this year.
While he continued to marvel the book, Shiho watched him from the sidelines with a giggle and a smile.
However, the glasses concealing her eyes hid a small case of deep afterthought and concern.
In spite of knowing that Uzushiogakure fell under mixed circumstances, the truth behind it all was still shrouded in darkness. A lot of the senior shinobi of Konohagakure knew this fact within the tale as it was told by others and revered it. Being a part of one of the largest collections of knowledge in the entire Land of Fire, Shiho was also aware of this.
She just couldn't break to Naruto how deep the kunai actually went.
"Hopefully… you won't find out what really happened to your village… Naruto-kun…" Shiho thought. "It's best that nobody finds out. There's nothing to gain from such sadness…"
XXX
Meanwhile…
Thousands of Miles Away…
A lot of people say that 'it's a big, wide world out there'; a world that holds an infinite number of possibilities, destinies and chances.
Now, when somebody says this, a skeptical person would immediately assume that that is not necessarily a good thing. They would say that it was a death trap, a sewage system, and an unpredictable pile of excrement.
True, it was unfamiliar. However, in spite of this view, you cannot deny the fact that it is still a wild and random world out there, one that an adventurous person could easily subtract from as equally as they could draw out the negative values.
Across the oceans from the Land of Fire, towards the east, beyond the warring, desolate island nations, and beyond the treacherous channels and oceans, there lies yet another large continent.
Very few people from either place have had the privilege of traveling between each other, but the existence of either continent was still well known to the other. Those in the Shinobi Nations viewed these strange places, these so called Americas and Europeans, as the Western Worlds, much like how the people from the Western Worlds viewed the Shinobi Nations as a series of backwater, primitive places one wouldn't think twice of settling in.
Well, that was some of their views.
This far off continent was much larger then the one the shinobi and samurai hailed from and was just as diverse. It was a world where one could dream big and become great… if only for a moment.
Vast megacities, advanced villages and towns built upon sophisticated building materials, unique wildlife and habitats, and infinite numbers of social groups. It was a very strange world indeed.
Within one of the larger cities established along the coast, there sat a popular port town used as a medium between the different worlds. The port was set up close to the mouth of a wide canal, complete with suspension bridges, architecturally sound buildings made of brick, skyscrapers, ships constructed of iron and wood, and was bustling with hundreds of civilians. Rich and poor, old and young, clean and dirty, it was quite literally a place where cultures clashed and engaged with each other.
Rich came in on either mechanized contraptions run on coal, horse-drawn carriages or elegant ocean liners sailing in from distant countries. The poor and middle-class worked for these 'aristocrats' and 'masters' of the world, operating the machines, off-loading or loading up the cargo, and serving the patrons at the various stores and restaurants lining the peer. The sounds of seagulls cackled incessantly, horns of ships blared, and people were rambling and shouting among moving crowds.
Overall, the entire atmosphere reeked of oil, smog and ocean, but dammit, in spite of it being the armpit of the Western World, it was still home to those who lived and breathed here.
At the far end of the large port closest to the entrance there sat a large, steel monstrosity of grand proportions. It was a ship, enormous compared to a lot of the other vessels within its presence; a pre-dreadnaught class battleship with masts, central structures, funnels and guns fixed, but muffled for in-port checking and safety.
Judging from the number of crew already strafing the decks, with the resupplying of the vessel by cranes and hands nearing completion, she was just about seaworthy. There was still the matter of handling the clients and traders seeking transport to the other world who needed to be tended to.
Ships rarely visited the Shinobi Worlds from this continent due to the sheer length of the journey, so people were literally jumping at any chance they could to get there.
The name of the presently docked vessel was written at both sides at the bow end;
Mikasa
Not a normal name to give to a ship, but suitable nonetheless.
Naval personnel were hurrying about their duties and assignments, mingling and mixing in with the passengers already present on deck. Those who weren't crew were situated at the railings and sides of the ship with their baggage in hand, scattered and tending to their own devices. While the ship's staff hustled along and got everything organized, the commander of the freelance military group also occupying the vessel was firmly set at his station at the base of the boarding ramp, overseeing the final preparations.
Arms folded, the man kept his eyes on the peer, watching the last of the supplies get moved on by able men and cranes.
This commander, in contrast to the rest of the battleship's crew in view, wore a bright red military uniform with golden epaulettes, buttons fastening the top together, and decorated with all sorts of white and golden trim, distinguishing him as an officer. He wore white pants, brown, knee-high boots and a bandoleer, but instead of a sidearm had fingerless gloves with brass knuckles fixed to them at his side. His physical appearance was that of a large, muscular man with a chiseled jaw, a very serious glare adorned as a casual expression, and slicked-back, dark brown hair.
He stood steadfast alongside his lieutenant, a young woman with light brown hair tied into two braided pigtails, had soft brown eyes, and was wearing a similar uniform to her superior's, only with a red beret and less noticeable traits on her uniform. In addition to her outfit, she also wore strange, black gloves with thick, high-impact gauntlets around the armbands.
They pretty much stuck out from the beige crowd, which continued to pass them by without notice. This was military business, nothing for the commoners to get all excited about; in spite of the glances people were giving the ship.
Above the bustling of the port, the officer in charge of the proceedings sighed and looked up towards the deck of the vessel behind him. From his angle he was able to get a good view of the entire length of the ship and its armaments.
"Captain!"
"Yes sir?" A man dressed in a white, naval officer's uniform, complete with hat and brown beard, replied. The individual leant over the railings and down towards the docks, giving the utmost attention to the man who had called for him.
"How soon till we are able?"
"Approximately one hour, Colonel Corbett. I'd recommend that you call your men into formation for a head count soon, before we set off," The captain tipped his hat to the officer below before disappearing back over the side, probably to continue attending to the comings and goings aboard his ship.
His news however drew a rather disgruntled groan from the commander.
"An hour. Brilliant." The colonel turned back around and, pulling a brass box out from his pocket, drew a cigarette. Lighting the death sticks, he breathed it in deeply and exhaled a plume of smoke, before glancing up towards the city in front of him. His lieutenant looked over at him in response to the small efforts he took to relax himself. "Our client is expecting us at the port within a week and at the rate we're going, we'll be lucky to make it there in two."
"A voyage such as this one requires a certain amount of time and preparation, sir," the other officer replied, earning a hard yet curious stare from her taller superior. "From what I've heard, these distant 'shinobi countries' are home to large populations of dangerous warriors, hideous creatures, and enormous beasts and alike; a society that is just as well versed in the ways of war as us."
"And… what else?" the Colonel murmured with a raised eyebrow. "Tactics? Weaponry?"
"Underdeveloped and local, sir. They are much like the Far East countries, trained in the disciplines of close combat and martial arts," the lieutenant replied, her expression unchanging. "People who have originated from these lands have even said that their shinobi's combat prowess far exceeds the talent of experienced fighters such as us."
"Pft. I'll be the judge of that," Colonel Corbett scoffed, looking away in disbelief while slipping his right hand into his pocket. He removed his cigarette from his mouth and blew out another ring of smoke. "Nevertheless, if what you say is true, that a great majority of their population is comprised of highly skilled warriors, then it is understandable why the head of Gato Shipping and Transport himself requested our services. He's so concerned about the presence of these 'shinobi' that he even went so far as to buy out a whole battleship, complete with crew, from the royal navy and commission an entire company of soldiers to protect his shipping lanes in… in…"
James Corbett paused in midsentence when his memories left him prematurely. After a few moments of muttering, during which time his mind was unable to recall the more important details of the mission specs, he looked down at his right hand man, "What did he call this country?"
"The Land of Waves, sir."
"Right… Land of Waves," the Colonel sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Why did I ever agree to this assignment? I could be going for the heavy-weight championships in Britannia this year…"
Seeing the man leer behind his palm the lieutenant smiled softly and placed a hand on his shoulder, getting him to look down at her again. "The head of an international corporation asked for the two of us personally to strong arm his forces at this country. After this job is done, you and I won't have to work ever again. We will be able to concentrate on our fighting careers…"
Blinking, the officer considered his companion's reasoning. He responded to it quite well. So well in fact, that he actually spared her a rare smile. But then he returned to his usual, stoic self and shrugged away her grip. "At ease, Lieutenant Fairclough. Just because we are kindred spirits doesn't mean we can break routine."
The woman smirked at him and reassumed her normal standing position, feet spread at shoulder-width and hands behind her back, "Whatever you say, darling." The tonnage was sarcastic.
While the colonel was offering his lieutenant a cigarette, he suddenly noticed a strangely dressed person appear from out of the crowds in front of him and paused. The two soldiers looked up to see an individual dressed in outlandish, dark robes marching towards them with a sack tied to an enormous scroll on his back, and a straw hat worn over his head. He also had two swords at his side, which the pair recognized distinctly as katana.
Flipping his lighter shut, the colonel stepped forward and stopped before the shadowy stranger, who also stopped before him at his gesture.
"Passenger?"
While the figure under the odd headwear looked up towards the battleship, James was able to get a good look over of the individual before him. The equally tall man wore dark blue kimono robes and dark grey baggy pants, complete with a red sash. On the front of his kimono written in white was the name Sengo. Though his face was mostly hidden by the straw hat, Corbett saw a thin jaw line with matching mouth and a piece of straw wedged between the lips.
He certainly didn't carry much weight, just the swords and his peculiar backpack.
"Sir…?" the colonel inquired again when not receiving an immediate response.
The stranger looked back and smiled. "By any chance, would this vessel happen to be heading towards the Feudal Countries to the West?" His voice was smooth, calm, yet cold in a very indistinctive way. The tone he conveyed literally sent chills down both the battle hardened officers' spines.
"Come again?"
"The shinobi nations…?"
"Shino… oh, right. Yes. Yes, of course. This vessel is bound for the Land of Waves. We're currently undergoing final boarding preparations," the colonel informed and placed the cigarette back into his mouth.
He gave the odd gentleman a final look over. A once or twice over of his appearance eventually brought him back towards the swords, which Corbett then pointed at lazily. "Have you been through clearance checks with those?"
"Yes, of course," the man replied slyly, turning a bit to emphasize the items in question.
Corbett extended a hand, "Just to be on the safe side, I'll need to inspect them." The officer approached, all the while being watched over by his trusted aid for any suspicious activities. Any sudden movements would trigger immediate action from her.
Of course, there was no hassle made whatsoever by the traveler, who permitted his weapons to be temporarily relieved and examined by the officer, who took great interest in the craftsmanship of the handles and sheaths.
"Impressive artwork," the colonel exclaimed, rubbing a thumb over the engraved images on the scabbard, which he followed up to where the hilt and the ring met. "Gold encrusted?"
"Only the finest," the stranger replied gracefully with a sly smile, "I see that you have a keen eye for weapons?"
"What can I say, I'm a fighter? I can't help being impressed," Corbett smiled up at the man and took the larger of the two swords by the handle, pulling it from its sheath. "Really, it's the first time I've seen a katana up cl-ARGH! Jesus!" The colonel suddenly yelled out in shock and leapt back, waving his stinging hand while at the same time dropping the swords.
Just before the sheathed weapons hit the ground, the stranger's foot swiftly struck out and caught them on the groove of his ankle. With poise, he then flicked them into the air, grabbed them, and carefully placed them at his side once again. Making sure that they weren't damaged and were secured, he then returned his attention back to the colonel gripping his hand, as well as the bewildered female officer immediately standing at his side.
"W-What the hell?" Corbett hissed.
"My apologies." The stranger bowed to them, expressing his utmost sincerity toward the injured one. Noticeably, one of his hands continued to grip the swords at his side, almost protectively. "I'm afraid that my blades are a lot sharper then I had earlier anticipated. It was poor judgment. I should have warned you earlier to handle them with care."
The colonel and the lieutenant looked at the man in bafflement and confusion. He was still unusually calm and uncomfortably polite. They had no idea what it was, but the vibes they were subconsciously receiving from him were making them feel uneasy around him.
Nevertheless, after glancing at one another in a brief, silent word exchange, Corbett then looked back up towards the stranger and waved the man on. "Present your ticket or payment to the officer at the top of the ramp. We'll assign you to your quarters as soon as we depart."
The traveler bowed once more, before turning heel and heading off as directed. While he was still in sight but well out of earshot, Corbett returned to nursing his wounded hand while Fairclough attempted to assess the damages for herself. However, her insistence had her shooed away by her superior.
"S-Sir?"
"I'm fine, Polly. Leave me be," Corbett murmured and pulled a cloth out of his pocket. After wiping away the blood and running the material over the wound several times, he then glared down at his palm to see a scar carved into his flesh. The wound was a minute fresh and blood was still seeping out, but it was nothing some disinfectant, a few bandages and some healing time couldn't fix. "God dammit!"
"D-Did you cut yourself on the blade, sir?" Fairclough asked in concern, quickly looking towards their new passenger currently walking up the ramp and back towards her superior. It was a perplexing situation, but she was certain her partner had not gone about his actions carefully enough. It was he who was at fault. Men were clumsy after all. "I warned you many times before, you know. Don't try to act so rash on your duties and be careful around sharp objects."
"No. I didn't even touch the damn blade! My hand was placed firmly on the handle. I just pulled it out a bit to see if it was genuine, but then I felt a sharp sting across my hand and then… and then…" Corbett, still firmly clutching his wrist, glared down at his open palm. The direction of the scar was slightly angled and based on his acute observational skills, he was certain that he didn't even come close to the sharp end of the sword.
It was ridiculous.
Hissing away the pain and forcefully being treated by Fairclough, who decided his 'bawling' had carried on long enough under its own steam, the colonel then glared up in the direction of the ship's boarding ramp. From where he stood, he was able to see the stranger with the unusual swords check in with the officer up top, and after a moment of negotiations, was permitted access.
Though he was a young soldier who had had plenty of conflicting experiences in his life, the colonel still had this sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach that there was something more about that man. It was far above his knowledge and comprehension of where the individual actually came from, but something was going to go down at their destination, and he could feel it.
This stranger was, by any stretch of the imagination, beyond normal.
XXX
Back on deck, the samurai from parts unknown took his first steps across the bow of the magnificent vessel, while at the same time looking over the crew and passengers walking around him. He was able to make out the presence of tradesmen, mercenaries, families, and people from the shinobi nations who were returning to their place of origin. They were all mixed groups, but the greater majority was military.
After a brief inspection of his surroundings, he then approached the very front end of the battleship. Taking his place at the very apex of the bow where the railings intersected, he focused his eyes towards the entrance of the busy port, beyond the suspension bridge and its horizon, and sighed.
Upon settings his sights on the ocean and the lands he knew were waiting for him thousands of miles away, a sinister grin then spread across his face. This smirk was kept hidden and out of sight of any potential onlookers, for if any person saw it they would immediately be able to recognize the clear signs of bloody, malicious intent drawn from the pits of his very soul.
His sneer perfectly matched the narrowed eyes hidden underneath the shadows of his straw hat.
"It's been a long time… since I last saw home…" He sniffed the air, from which he was able to distinguish the blood that had been drawn by his sword. "Ahh, how I miss them so, Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure… Uzushiogakure… oh… wait a moment…"
His grin seemed to widen as he recalled the most relieving moments of yesteryear. Of course, how could one forget about those days? It was this knowledge alone that beckoned him back to his place of birth.
"That's right… I killed all of them…silly me…"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: Naruto continues his training. I'm drawing nearer to the graduation date, but bare with me. This is where the story gets interesting.
I figured that during Naruto's training and looking into particular clan styles he would eventually begin questioning his own origins. This would prompt him to then invest time into asking one of his closest friends about where he came from. Since Yim is his teacher and wouldn't really know about his clan, because she's from a different continent, he would then consult Shiho, being the closest person to his age he would logically approach and because she's helped him out so much already. Iruka and the Third will be next in line for interrogation, but later.
He also meets Tenten here. Since in first meetings thus far in the series the conversations have been brief, I figured a prompt presentation was suitable. This is where they first meet and he makes his first impact, despite being a clone.
Naruto is also learning, not just chakra control but chi control (inspired ki training from DBZ), which he will use in conjunction with his taijutsu. (No ridiculous flying or stupid energy beams, that'll just be over the top)
There are also a lot of characters making their play here, as I'm still establishing the story. Once again, the characters are historic or cameo, assigned to similar or fictional roles within the story. I'm also putting in more cultural diversity, where the rift within the Naruto world is considerably loosened, allowing characters from different backgrounds and origins to emerge.
The ones in this chapter are as follows:
Ran Tsukikage – The main protagonist from the series Carried by the Wind, Ran is a sake-loving ronin who goes 'wherever the wind takes her'. She is a samurai trained in a very unique kenjutsu style where she uses only one hand to wield her sword, her skill of which making her unbeatable and invincible. She's strong, as she will be in my story, and plays an important part in it in the future.
Note: wherever she goes, I can guarantee that Meow from the same series is not far behind… lol
James J. Corbett – Also known as James John 'Gentleman Jim' Corbett, was an Irish-American heavy-weight boxing champion, born in September 1st 1866, and is best known for his victory over John L. Sullivan, another heavyweight boxing champion.
In order to introduce him into the story, I had him pursue a career in the military and has been hired by Gato to strong arm the forces in the Land of Wave (or eloquently, Wave).
I think you can predict where this is leading up to…
Polly Fairclough – She was a famous boxer from Britain back in the 19th Century, who was not only versed in boxing but also Greco-Roman wrestling. She holds the distinction of being the first female boxer to fight at London's National Sporting Club, where she challenged men to bouts. She even had an exhibition match against heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in Dublin.
She's Corbett's partner, since they come from roughly around the same era
Both Corbett and Fairclough are HISTORIC characters, while Ran is a CAMEO character
The pre-dreadnaught class battleship that is featured is also a historic article, a vessel named Mikasa, which used to be a battleship for the Japanese navy and is today a museum ship; the only pre-dreadnaught class battleship still around today. If you want, you can look her up.
Then there's the established villain responsible for destroying Uzushiogakure. This man is famous in Japanese samurai legends, much like Mifune whose name has been used for countless heroic samurai from various other movies, and will become one of the major antagonists of the story
Hope you enjoyed this chapter…