DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or Thor/Marvel. They belong to their respected and awesome owners and this fic is purely for fun and nonprofit.
THUNDERER
Chapter 4
Enter the Ero
Konoha
Downtown
Naruto reappeared on the rooftop of his apartment building, tired. The transformation, using his new powers, and fighting Kabuto had taken a heavy toll on the teen. Combined with the fact that his chakra was still fluctuating out of control and his wounds, it was enough to turn even the insanely-high stamina of the boy to an exhausted mush. With a sigh and shuffle of feet, Naruto trudged down the stairs to his tiny apartment. He walked past the new "Die Demon Die!" graffiti written on his hallway wall without really looking at it. It was nothing new for him; he'd paint over it tomorrow.
Naruto entered his apartment and closed the door behind him. It was a small, unkempt apartment consisting of a bedroom, small living area with a sink and hotplate for a kitchen, and a bathroom barely large enough to stand (or sit) in. Naruto dropped Mjolnir to the ground as he stumbled to his bed. The hammer landed with a heavy thud and splintered several of the floorboards.
I know Thor said it would take time and training before I was as strong as him, but I could really use that godly durability about now. For a guy who was supposed to be able to take punches from gods, Celestials, and other super-powered types, I feel like I just got my ass kicked.
Naruto collapsed face first onto his bed, asleep before his face hit the pillow.
Elsewhere, darkness fell over Konoha. The many participants of the Chunin Exams curled up in their homes or hospital beds, sound asleep after their long and often painful test. Only two participants remained awake: Gaara, the jinchūriki from Suna, and Kabuto. While Gaara was always awake out of fear of losing control to his tenant, Kabuto being awake was very unusual.
Dressed in his purple uniform with a thick black cloak over his shoulders, Kabuto raced across the village rooftops undetected. No longer holding back or hiding his true abilities, Kabuto moved much faster than most Jounin, easily jumping over the long gaps between buildings on his way toward the Hokage Tower. He made the final jump toward the tower and winced as he landed on street level. Beneath his cloak, Kabuto quickly channeled a small amount of healing chakra into his still sore and tender ribs.
If I ever get a hold of Naruto again, I'm going to rip his intestines out through his mouth, jinchūriki or not! Kabuto growled to himself. As the pain faded, Kabuto remembered his mission and donned a white ANBU mask before entering the Tower's main entrance. Moving with the poise and confidence of someone that was supposed to be in the Hokage Tower late at night, Kabuto silently headed up the stairs to the top floor. It was far less blatant taking the stairs than jumping through the Hokage's window to his office, after all.
Kabuto waited in the shadows as the Hokage's young secretary finished her paperwork for the day. He knew that the old Hokage was already resting at home; it wasn't a secret that the Hokage was too old for the job and Kabuto assumed that the trials and length of the Chunin Exams had worn out the elderly Kage. Once the secretary was finished and left for the day, Kabuto stepped out of the shadows and stepped toward the office door. He pulled a set of lock picks out of his cloak and, after a moment's tinkering, popped open the lock. He stepped into the Hokage's office, slightly taken back at the ease of breaking into the most powerful man in Konoha's office.
The office was slightly unkempt with piles of paperwork that hadn't been done during the Chunin Exams. Kabuto sneaked over to the Hokage's desk and began to search. He passed over mission reports and mission requests, ignored Academy scores, and shuffled the Chunin Exam updates around until he found the intel report he was looking for.
It was a report from an unnamed spy of Jiraiya's about an archeological dig near the border of Earth Country. While most of the items found were useless nick-knacks, there was one item of great beauty that was being sent to Konoha for study. Along with its beauty, there seemed to be a chakra of some sort being eminated off the item. The spy reported tales of whispering voices surrounding the item, of heavy equipment being suddenly thrown across the area by an invisible force, and even a story about a man dressed in green walking around the camp, looking for something.
Supersitious junk, Kabuto scoffed at the report, I should be slitting Naruto-gaki's throat for embarrassing me in the exams, not fumbling around in the dark like this.
Complaining aside, Kabuto did his work quickly and diligently. He tucked the spy's report into his cloak pocket—it was a minor report and would be days before anyone knew it was missing—and searched the rest of the room for the small crate the item had been shipped in. He found it buried in the corner beneath a pile of old grievances and complaints from the woman's hot springs about a white-haired peeping tom and a dog-eared copy of Icha Icha Paradise.
Kabuto carefully cracked open the crate's lid to make sure the item was truly inside it. A golden gleam lit up the darkness of the office as he removed the lid. Kabuto couldn't help but smile at the sight. His gaze lingered on the contents of the box for an entire minute and he would have remained fixed on the spot for even longer if a voice in the hallway hadn't startled him out of his daze.
Kabuto quickly replaced the crate's lid and picked it up. The box weighed very little and he held it lightly under his arm. Kabuto stood behind the office door for a moment, listening carefully for the voice. It belonged to Ibiki, the head of Konoha's I & T department, and someone Kabuto definitely did not want to run into. Throwing open the window, Kabuto clutched the box close to his chest, leapt into the night, and raced to deliver the box to his master.
-T-
The world was cold. Nothing but icy cold that ate flesh and cut deep into bone.
There is nothing to see but barren rock and spires of ice across the entire horizon.
Here the darkness reigns eternal. There is no sun, no dawn, just the perpetual gloom of night. The only illumination comes from the veil of stars, carving a wicked path through the angry clouds and reflecting off the ice. In their quiet wake the endless blizzard shreds the sky, unleashing a torrent of hard, icy rain and thick, cruel snow.
There is a storm coming and, from it, there is no escape.
It was their home and his hell.
Naruto woke from the dream in a shiver. From Thor's memories, Naruto knew that the dream was of Jotunheim, the ice world of the Frost Giants. But that world, as well as the rest of the Realm Eternal, save Midgard, was destroyed in Ragnarok.
Just bad memories, Naruto thought. I've got more important things to worry about like training for the Finals!
Naruto stepped out of bed, stubbing his toe on Mjolnir in the process. While he bounced around on one foot, cursing in Norse, he heard a knock on his door.
"Hang on, I'll be right there!" Naruto called out, still grumbling under his breath as he walked to the door. He swung it open and looked up at the wall of ANBU in front of him.
Bear stood nearly as tall as his namesake and easily weighed the same judging from the slabs of muscle barely hid beneath his uniform.
"Hokage-sama wishes to see you as soon as possible," Bear reported. Naruto looked up at him—even with his recent growth spurt he was still significantly shorter than the ANBU—and nodded.
"Thank you. Tell the Hokage I will be there in a few minutes," Naruto said and Bear vanished in a swirl of leaves. Naruto closed the door, turned, and picked Mjolnir off the ground.
"That's the last time I leave you in the middle of the floor," he muttered to the hammer before tossing it on his bed. The hammer landed on the thin mattress with a heavy thump followed by a loud rip and crash as it tore through the mattress and imbedded itself in the floorboards once again. Naruto slapped himself on the forehead with his palm, rolled his eyes, and headed for the shower.
Fifteen minutes later…
Konoha
Hokage Tower
"It's good to see you Naruto-kun," the Hokage greeted as Naruto walked into his office. With a single gesture, he signaled his secretary that he wished to be left alone until further notice. "You put on quite the performance yesterday."
"Thanks, Old Man," Naruto said with a cool smile, though not quite his usual big fox-like grin. Not one to miss much of anything, Sarutobi noticed. He cleared his voice and slightly cast his eyes downward.
"Naruto, I believe I owe you an apology," he said. "When you appeared in here the other day during the Chunin Exam, I was very short with you. I didn't believe your story about Orochimaru or about your new powers. There was no reason for me not to believe you and even less reason for me to be rude to you. Please forgive me."
Naruto shifted uneasily in his chair; he was the one always apologizing to the Hokage, not the other way around. "Er, it's alright, Old Man, really. I was still getting used to everything and probably overreacted a little bit."
"Well," the Hokage said and straightened himself out, "we all make mistakes, Naruto. And I am truly sorry I acted that way. Orochimaru was my student and his betrayal was very difficult for me to get over. It is still a very sore subject and I believe I just didn't want to hear that he had so easily snuck back into the village."
"He's definitely a snake," Naruto agreed. "And what he did to Sasuke-teme is just gross."
"Well, fortunately, Kakashi took care of that little problem before he left to train Sasuke for the finals."
"Ok, that's goo—WHAT DO YOU MEAN KAKASHI-SENSEI LEFT WITH SASUKE? WHO IS GONNA TRAIN ME FOR THE FINALS?" Naruto shouted in shock.
"There's no need to shout, Naruto," Sarutobi said and unplugged his ears. "Kakashi felt that because Sasuke is against Gaara, who clearly has issues, he needed to devote his time in training Sasuke for this month."
"Great! So just because Sasuke is going against that sand guy, he gets special treatment from Kakashi-sensei and the councils. Meanwhile, I'm going against last year's Rookie of the Year, a fate-sucking Prodigy that can turn my insides into jello with a single poke," groaned Naruto and plopped into a chair.
He has a point, the Hokage thought. I know the Council ordered Kakashi to train Sasuke and Sasuke alone. They probably ordered him to teach Sasuke as many jutsu as possible during their trip too. I'm sorry, Naruto. I've let them grow too powerful in the last few years. It isn't right for you to have to pay for my mistakes.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but what's done is done. However, I will make it up to you. What if I found you a replacement teacher to train you for the finals?"
Naruto looked at the Hokage sideways. "It isn't that closet perv Ebisu, is it? Because he couldn't fight his way out of a battle against a bag full of Jotenheim newborn children, let alone keep up with my new powers."
The Hokage paled and quickly faked a cough to hopefully hide it from Naruto. Ebisu had been his first choice to help the boy; Konohamaru and his team were already doing D-Ranked missions and Ebisu had plenty of free time to train Naruto.
"Ahem, no not Ebisu," Sarutobi said, probably a little too quickly. "I have several people in mind, but, um, before I can decide, I need to know what your nature affinity is."
"My what?"
"Your nature affinity," Sarutobi explained, "refers to the natural element of your chakra. For example, I have a very high affinity for Fire and Earth chakra. This allows me to use stronger jutsu and further powers my techniques. Every Shinobi has a different nature affinity; though many in Konoha, like the former Uchiha Clan, have a Fire affinity. So what's yours?"
"I have no idea."
"Kakashi never tested you for nature affinities? Remind me to have him doing D-Ranks for a week after all this," Sarutobi said and dug into his desk. He pulled out a small slip of paper and held it out to Naruto. "This is chakra paper. It reacts to a person's chakra and will show us which affinity you have."
"What's going to happen?" Naruto asked and reached for the paper.
"Focus some chakra into the paper" Sarutobi instructed. "If it splits in half, you have a wind affinity. If it grows wet, water; if it crumbles, lightning; if it ignites, fire; and if it turns to dust, earth."
Naruto nodded and focused his chakra. He wanted to only focus a little, but because of his horrible chakra control, Naruto's chakra burst into the paper like a broken dam. The slip of paper leapt from his hand and hovered in midair. First it crumbled, second, it grew soaking wet, third, it split in half, and lastly, the remains crumbled into fine grains of dust. The dust vanished before it could settle on the Hokage's desk.
Both Naruto and Sarutobi stared at the vanished piece of paper in silence. Neither knew what to say. For Naruto, he had no idea whether or not what happened was supposed to have happened or if he made a mistake. Sarutobi, however, had seen this done dozens of times, but he had never seen anyone with four powerful affinities, no matter how old or how skilled they were.
"Um, sorry, old man. I didn't mean to do that," Naruto nervously broke the silence.
Sarutobi laughed. "My boy, you didn't do anything wrong. In fact, that was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen."
"Huh?"
"Most Jounin only have two affinities, and most of the time one is significantly weaker than the other. You have four: lightning, water, wind, and earth; and each one is incredibly powerful. You have no visibly weaker affinities," Sarutobi explained, amazed. "The lightning, water, and wind affinities I can understand with you being this new god of thunder, but where did this earth affinity come from?"
"Thor was the son of Odin All-Father and Gaea, Mother Earth herself," Naruto explained. "In addition to power of the storm, he could command the earth as well."
"It sounds like your predecessor was quite the person, Naruto," Sarutobi smiled.
"God actually," Naruto chuckled. Sarutobi rolled his eyes and laughed.
"Well, because of your multiple affinities, Kakashi probably would have been the best person to train you," Sarutobi began.
"Figures," Naruto grumbled.
"Only because of his Sharingan and his collection of jutsu," the Hokage finished saying. "Unfortunately, we have very few other Lightning users in the village. Ebisu could help you with Water jutsu…"
Naruto cut the Hokage off by shaking his head.
"My son Asuma is possibly the strongest Wind user in the village, but his entire team requires his attention for the Finals. I'm afraid the only strong Earth users in the village are members of the Hyuuga Main Branch and they won't work with anyone outside of their clan out of paranoia and arrogance."
"So you are basically saying I'm on my own," Naruto said softly.
"I'm afraid so. I wish I could help you Naruto, but as Hokage, it is a conflict of interest for me to help any Shinobi under my command in the finals. The other Kages would see it as trying to heighten our own standing and would create a scandal over it," Sarutobi sighed. "It will be hard enough defending the fact that we have so many Genin in the finals already."
"It's not your fault, Old Man," Naruto said, his bright smile already back on his face. "I have all of Thor's memories; I just need to try things out on my own until I get it right."
"Won't that be dangerous? You don't know the limits of this new power, Naruto."
"Well, now that you mention it," Naruto's face turned into the very picture of innocence, "I could probably use a big, private training ground to train in. Probably should be away from the rest of the village, just in case."
The Hokage rolled his eyes. "You're going to be blowing things up, aren't you?"
"Yep."
"Causing gigantic bolts of lightning to crash down from the heavens?"
"Most definitely."
"Creating hurricane force storms, tsunami-sized waves, and shaking the very pillars of the earth?"
"At least once or twice." Naruto's innocent smile never faltered for a second.
Sarutobi stared at the teen in amazement. He had been joking at first; given Naruto's aptitude for pranks, it wasn't as strange as it sounded for him to be experimenting with different prank ideas and having them blow up in his face. Often literally.
But with Naruto's new powers… shuddered the old Kage. He may really be able to do those things. He's only barely begun to tap into that power and I've already seen him do things that not even I could do in my prime! The way he used that hammer of his in the preliminaries is proof enough of that, not to mention that Lightning teleport he did during the second part of the Exams. I still haven't figured that out yet!
Sarutobi quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. "Do to the nature of your new powers, I believe that giving you your own training field would be the best course of action." He quickly shuffled a few papers aside and looked at a sheet listing all the training fields in Konoha and who was using them.
"A move here, a change there, ah, here we are, Naruto," Sarutobi said and handed Naruto a slip of paper. "Training Ground 99."
"Where the name of the realm eternal is that?"
"Training Ground 99 is a training field used only by ANBU Captains, the Sannin, and the Hokage. It is located on the northern border of Konoha. It is the largest training field the village has access to and contains all types of terrain. It should suit your purposes nicely. I will inform ANBU that it is off-limits for the rest of the month for your privacy."
"This is great! Thanks Old Man," Naruto beamed. "I'm gonna go get started right away!" Before Sarutobi could protest, Naruto slammed his hammer into the ground and vanished in a bolt of lightning.
"DAMN YOU, NARUTO!" the Hokage yelled at the smoking black spot in his floor.
-T-
Naruto reappeared in midair, hovering high above downtown Konoha.
"It's really peaceful up here," he said to himself. "There's no one to bother me, no one glaring or whispering "There's the demon" under their breath at me. I could get used to this."
Meanwhile, down on the ground, people began stopping their day-to-day activities and noticed something, or rather someone, in the sky. They were amazed; even in a shinobi village full of near impossible and incredible things to see, you never saw someone hovering in midair like that.
After a moment, Naruto got his bearings and flew north toward Konoha's border. As he flew, he happened to pass over a large recreation/spa area, complete with dual hot spring baths. Making a note of the place for when he was finished training, Naruto started to fly away when he heard a loud crash followed by an even louder feminine scream.
Pausing and hovering in place, Naruto saw a white blur appear beneath him and quickly grow larger. Before he could do anything, an older man with a spiky mane of white hair crashed into Naruto, knocking him out of the air. The two plummeted back to earth and crashed into Training Ground 99 with Naruto taking the brunt of the impact. While Naruto skipped like a stone several times before being buried half underground, the white haired stranger was cushioned by the new God of Thunder and was barely even bruised.
"Well, that could have been a lot worse," he said as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Thanks for cushioning my fall, stranger. It was lucky for me that you happened to be flying by at the time…"
The man's own words echoed in his head for a moment. Flying by? No one can just be flying by? This must be the one Sensei mentioned in his message. At least I don't have to go hunting for this kid now.
Meanwhile, Mjolnir rose off the ground and flew into Naruto's waiting hand. The blonde picked himself out of the ground and stomped toward the stranger. Sparks of electricity danced off the hammer as he grew closer.
"Oh, there you are," smiled the stranger. "I'm real sorry about that. I'll have to watch where I'm going next time."
"You dare assault the God of Thunder?" Naruto said bluntly.
"Oh no," the stranger stammered. "I didn't mean to hit, I mean, assault you at all. It was an accident."
"Explain thyself."
The stranger looked at Naruto sideways. "Listen kid, I don't know where you learned to talk or who you think you are, but you better check that attitude before it gets you in trouble. Now I said I was sorry, but you're taking this a tad too far."
"I simply wish to know where the crashing noise and woman's screams came from," Naruto replied and returned Mjolnir to his belt. "I believe it is the least thy can do for crashing into me like that."
"Well, if you really must know, I was conducting some…research when one of my subjects became unnecessarily alarmed and completely overreacted."
Naruto sweat dropped. "You were peeping on the woman's hot springs, got caught, and got your ass kicked into the sky, didn't you?"
"Well, I wouldn't quite put it that way…" the stranger said before Naruto cut him off with a backhand to the head.
"PERVERT!"
The blow sent the stranger barreling backwards. He landed upside down against a tree, barely conscious. Naruto wiped his hands and turned back toward the training grounds. He took five steps when he heard the stranger struggle to get up.
"Ya know, that's no way to treat your elders," the stranger muttered as he brushed himself off.
"And that is no way to treat maidens," Naruto shot back.
"Well, I don't think not all of them were what I'd call maidens…" the stranger started to say, but stopped when he saw Naruto's hand drop toward his hammer. "But there's no need to bash a man's skull in for a difference of opinion, am I right?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "If that is all, you should probably leave. This is a private training ground for Shinobi and I need to get started. It would be safer for you back in the village—away from the hot springs!" Naruto said.
"Shinobi training?" the stranger wondered. "Well, you're in luck. I happen to be something of an old Shinobi myself. Maybe I could help you out, teach you a thing or two? Call it repayment for crashing into you earlier."
Naruto gave the stranger a curious look. True, the stranger was tall and strongly built as a Shinobi could be, but was dressed very eccentrically for a shinobi. He wore a dark green short shirt kimono and matching pants; beneath that he wore mesh armor and hand guards. A simple black belt kept his outfit together. But the bright red vest with two yellow circles on it made for poor camouflage for a stealthy ninja. Also, the traditional wooden geta sandals would be almost useless in darting from tree to tree or fighting. He did wear a forehead protector, but his did not have the symbol for Konoha on it. Instead, it had horns and the kanji for "OIL" on it.
Those two red lines going down his face are pretty strange too, thought Naruto, but then again, I am the reincarnation of an ancient god and used to dress in come-kill-me orange.
"Just who are you?" Naruto asked.
"Hahaha! I'll tell you who I am," the stranger shouted and struck a kabuki pose. "I am: the Sage of Mount Myoboku; the free and uninhibited; women want me, men want to be me, and children worship me; evil-doers tremble at my name! I AM THE NOBLE SANNIN! THE GALLANT JIRAIYA!"
"You forgot pervert," Naruto muttered.
"I did?" Jiraiya seemed slightly shocked. "Well, no matter. For I am no ordinary pervert; I AM A SUPER PERVERT!"
Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the impending headache. "Why are you announcing it like that? No wonder women kick your ass into orbit."
"Hmm, that actually isn't a bad idea. My Transparency Jutsu and my Toad Flatness Jutsu would probably work a lot better if I didn't shout and giggle so much," Jiraiya mused. "What's your name, kid: Goldilocks?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Goldilocks," Jiraiya grinned.
Naruto sighed and turned to walk away. "Whatever, have a good life."
"Now wait a second," Jiraiya protested. "I offered to train you! You don't just pass up a lesson from a Sannin!"
"I'm sorry, but what did you say?" Naruto asked, eerily similar to his sensei's famous "hip attitude."
Jiraiya slapped his palm against his forehead. "Fine, gaki. Go play with your hammer. I'll just wait to crash into someone else and teach them the mysteries of the Shinobi universe."
Naruto paused and then turned around. "Do you know anything about chakra control?" Jiraiya looked at him like Naruto just asked him if the sky was blue.
"In the Forest of Death, Orochimaru hit me in the stomach with some kind of jutsu. Since then, my chakra control is absolutely horrible."
Jiraiya frowned and thought back to the Hokage's message. …In addition to these changes in both power and personality, Orochimaru hurt Naruto while in the Forest of Death. I believe he put some kind of seal on top of Minato's seal. If he managed to disrupt Minato's seal, then all of Konoha could be in jeopardy.
"Well, I happen to be an expert in seals and removing them," Jiraiya boasted. "Let me take a look."
Naruto complied, removing his armored top. Jiraiya was shocked by the amount of sheer muscle the teen had. On Naruto's stomach were five, fingertip-sized bruises spread out like an open hand.
"Channel some chakra," Jiraiya instructed. "It should reveal the seal." Naruto did as he was told. He crossed his fingers into the ram seal and tried very hard to focus his chakra. Immediately, Orochimaru's Five Element Seal appeared on Naruto's stomach and, after another second of concentration, the Eight Trigrams Seal appeared.
Thank goodness Orochimaru still doesn't know how to make a decent seal, Jiraiya thought as he inspected them both. His Five Prong Seal is just strong enough to screw with the Eight Trigrams Seal, cutting off several of Naruto's chakra pathways. It isn't strong enough to actually damage Minato's work.
"Is the Kyuubi seal intact?" Naruto asked. He asked, his voice a frightened whisper.
Jiraiya looked him in the eyes and nodded. "The seal is just fine. Orochimaru couldn't damage my student's work on his best day. By putting an odd numbered seal on top of an even, Orochimaru choked off several of your chakra pathways, which is why you don't have access to your normal amount of chakra and why your control stinks."
"You taught the Yondaime?"
"Yep, he was my greatest student," Jiraiya smiled, remembering his days as a Jounin Sensei. "I miss him," he added sadly. "Now, I can get rid of Orochimaru's seal for you, but it's going to hurt a lot."
"I understand," Naruto replied, tightened his abdominal muscles, and braced himself.
"You asked for it," Jiraiya smirked and his fingertips burst into purple flame. "Five Element Unseal!"
Jiraiya slammed his hand onto Orochimaru's seal. The purple flames burned into the bruises and the seal glowed brightly before shattering like glass. Naruto screamed in pain as chakra rushed through his body and he fell face first onto the ground.
Jiraiya stood over Naruto's slightly twitching body, giving the boy a gentle kick with his toe. "I warned you," he muttered before clapping his hands together. "Guess I have some free time on my hands," smiled the pervert as he headed back toward the hot springs.
-T-
Naruto's Mindscape
Naruto woke choking on a few inches of water, lying face down in a sewer tunnel. He scrambled to his feet, sputtering out curses and filthy water.
Guess I'm back, Naruto thought as he instinctively reached for his hammer. He found Mjolnir secure on his belt and gave it a comforting pat. Let's go see what the fox wants this time.
Naruto walked through the dirty tunnels, following the rows of pipes easily this time. As he walked, Naruto heard a faint singing and laughing.
Well that probably isn't good, Naruto thought and sped off toward the Kyuubi's chamber. He twirled Mjolnir over his head and hurled it toward the chamber. Naruto flew in a blonde blur and hovered in the air in front of the singing and laughing Kyuubi. Immediately, Naruto saw why.
The cage was open.
Kyuubi was sitting just outside the cage door, preening its bushy tails, lightly singing a happy tune that Naruto didn't recognize. Not noticing him, Kyuubi shook itself and stood up; its demonic size took up almost the entire chamber.
Well, this is interesting, Naruto thought as he stepped into the chamber. He remembered watching Thor battle Kyuubi before and knew the fox wasn't all powerful and could be defeated. Little did he know that just because the fox was not all powerful; that did not mean it still was not far stronger than he was.
"Enjoying yourself?" he asked. Kyuubi opened its eyes and paused in its preening to acknowledge Naruto's presence.
"Go away, little ningen," Kyuubi growled before going back to cleaning its tails. "Enjoy your last few seconds of existence before I completely take over your body and destroy all that you know and love."
"Thou really believe that I shall let thee take over my body, devour my soul, and destroy all that I hold dear? I say thee nay!" Naruto shouted and flung his hammer at Kyuubi with all his strength. The hammer smashed into Kyuubi's face and knocked the demon into the bars of its cage. The fox picked itself up and snarled as the hammer flew back to Naruto's hand.
"You insolent whelp! How dare you attack me! I am Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed. I am power and fire incarnate, now and forever! Mortals greater than you have looked upon my magnificence and felt nothing but despair! You are nothing compared to me, mortal!"
Kyuubi lashed out with all nine of its tails. Naruto tried to move out of the way, but one of the tails caught him across the chest. Naruto flew backward and crashed into a brace of pipes. Naruto wheezed as he struggled to get up.
One blow and it feels like I just got hit by a mountain, Naruto thought. I don't know how something in my mind could hurt this much.
"Stay down, mortal. Stay down and accept the inevitable hell that awaits you and your world," Kyuubi snapped, licking its jaws.
"I—will—not!" Naruto snarled as he struggled to stand up. He used his hammer as a crutch and stepped forward on shaky legs. "Though I be a shinobi, a warrior born, this battle is far from over. This is my mind, I am in control of thee, not the other way around!"
"You're not the only one with power here," Naruto growled at the Nine-Tails and raised his hammer. The ankle deep water began to swell and rose to cover Naruto's knees. The raised water barely covered the fox's clawed feet.
"That's it? That's the best you could do; raise the water level in this pathetic sewer a few inches?" Kyuubi mocked. "You mortals truly are pathetic."
"And stop calling me a mortal," Naruto growled. "I AM GOD OF THUNDER!"
Kyuubi's eyes grew wide as Naruto slammed his hammer into the ground. A bolt of white lightning arced from the hammer blow, spreading across the sewer water. The electricity spread up the fox's ankles and the fox shuddered from the hundreds of thousands of volts traveling through it.
Naruto slammed the hammer into the ground again and again, driving lightning into the Kyuubi. Kyuubi trembled and shuddered from the force of the lightning. The fox collapsed just outside its cage and Naruto fell to one knee.
"That was impressive for a puny mortal," the fox muttered through its massive teeth.
"Glad you approve," Naruto muttered back. "Next time remember your basic science. Water conducts electricity." He tossed Mjolnir at the open cage gate and managed to close it halfway. The door slapped into Kyuubi's side. The fox growled and swatted the door away with one of its tails.
"Leave it open, I'm not going anywhere," Kyuubi growled.
"What do you mean? Weren't you were all "take over my body and devour my soul" about five minutes ago?"
"I still am," Kyuubi grumbled, "but your attack actually managed to harm me enough for me to need time to recover. It seems you do have a minuscule amount of power here."
"Who would've thought?" Naruto smirked with a foxy growl that Kyuubi actually found slightly amusing.
"Don't let it go to your head. I am still weak from being sealed; if I was at full power, your attack would have been as concerning as a mosquito nipping at one of my tails," Kyuubi growled. "So it seems we are at a bit of an impasse here, wouldn't you say?"
"Looks like," replied Naruto with a huff. "What do you think we should do? Shall we keep fighting or will you listen to my alternative?"
He did actually manage to hurt me, Kyuubi thought for a moment. And he will grow stronger as well. Someday he may even be as strong as the ancestor I fought. I might as well listen to what the little god has to say.
"What do you propose?"
"Call a truce," Naruto said. "From what I see it, we're both in this together. From what I understand, if I die, so do you."
"All the more reason to take over your puny body and escape this idiotic seal," Kyuubi countered.
"And then you and I will continue fighting until we either destroy each other or destroy that "puny body" you want so much."
"As if you could possibly defeat me," Kyuubi sneered.
"It seems I can hurt you well enough," Naruto countered. Kyuubi rolled its large eyes and snorted.
"So what do you propose: that I return to my cage and simply give you access to my limitless chakra as rent? That I bow down to you and submit to you like a slave, start calling you Naruto-sama?"
"Not quite what I had in mind," Naruto replied with an eye roll. "I was going to suggest more of a symbiotic relationship."
"You scratch my back and I'll claw yours?" Kyuubi grinned.
"I'd appreciate you refraining from using the claws, but something like that. You stop trying to harm me by escaping, maybe even help me out a little bit, and I make your stay less horrible until I know enough rune magic to release you without killing me."
Kyuubi pondered for a moment; it wasn't a bad deal considering the damage that the boy was capable of and; since Kyuubi had almost as much access to the boy's mind as he did, Kyuubi just couldn't affect the boy without flooding his system with its chakra and even then it took four full tails of chakra; Kyuubi knew that rune magic was extremely powerful and was its best chance for escape. But of course, the fox couldn't just agree with the boy.
"I could always just take you over and devour your soul," Kyuubi said with a toothy smile.
"I could always just kill myself and drag you to Hel with me," Naruto countered with a fearless grin. "I know Hela always wanted to have a God of Thunder amongst her ranks of the damned and her pale skin would look almost ravishing in a fox-skin coat."
Kyuubi let out a bellowing laugh; Naruto nearly gagged on the rush of foul breath. "I like that," the fox said, "no fear of death, just a warrior's sense of honor. You're becoming more and more like him each day."
"Well, I am the new Thor," Naruto said sheepishly.
"I was referring to your father," Kyuubi growled as it turned back towards its cage. It lumbered in and spun in a tight circle before lying down, its nine tails curled around its body.
"You know who my father was?" Naruto asked. He ran toward the open cage and grabbed hold of the golden bars. "Who was he? How do you know him?"
"I'm amazed you haven't figured it out," Kyuubi muttered sleepily. "After all, how many blondes in Konoha had the skills to seal me away? It's a short list."
"But the Yondaime was the one…" Naruto started to say when it dawned on him.
"That's right kid. The Yondaime Hokage was your daddy," the fox said with no small amount of sick relish in its voice.
Naruto felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Bile built up in his mouth and the room started to spin. The last thing Naruto heard was the fox's laughter before everything went black.
-T-
"—id? Kid? Come on kid, wake up already. I didn't even hit you hard," Jiraiya complained as he shook Naruto, a fresh red handprint adorned his cheek. "Seriously, I've been gone for an hour doing research and you're still out cold."
Naruto let out a groan and shifted on the ground.
"Hey! You're alright!" Jiraiya exclaimed and helped Naruto sit up. "You had me worried for a minute there Naruto; I thought you were tougher than that. You really need the training if a simple unsealing knocks you out like that."
Naruto knocked Jiraiya aside and looked up at the older man. "Give me a moment."
"Sure, sure, take your time," Jiraiya said and stood back.
Naruto ran his hands through his hair and paused for a second to gently touch his whisker marks. My own father…
"You said you taught the Yondaime?" Naruto asked Jiraiya.
"Yep, he was my greatest achievement!" Jiriya boasted. "I'm more proud of him than I am my entire series of books."
"Did you teach my father how to seal the Nine-Tails into me?" Naruto asked in a whisper. Jiraiya's face fell and he crouched down to the young god of thunder's eye level.
"I taught him what I knew; didn't take him long to surpass me though," Jiraiya said seriously. "So you found out huh, fox told you?"
Naruto nodded. "His own son…even Odin was never so cruel."
Jiraiya's lips pursed together in a tight line. "I always thought it was cruel, but at the same time necessary."
"Necessary? How could sealing a monster into your own child's belly and then leaving him alone to fend off mobs for his whole life necessary?" Naruto howled, tears forming in his blue eyes.
"Because you were the only newborn in the village," Jiraiya said. "Because, even if there was another newborn, Minato didn't have the cruelty in him to ask another family to give up what he could not. Because only an Uzumaki could hope to contain the Nine Tails. Because Minato didn't trust anyone but his own flesh and blood to contain the fox. Take your pick."
"He's still a bastard," Naruto growled. "He's a noble bastard, but a bastard none the less."
"I'm inclined to agree with you," Jiraiya answered and stood up with a grunt. "Course if things had gone the way your old man had wanted, who knows what you'd be like now."
"What do you mean?"
"He wanted the village to see you as a hero, a savior even. Instead, they treated you like a scapegoat and went out of their way to ridicule and even attack you. Sarutobi-sensei tried his best to help you whenever he could, but there are too many factions opposing him to make any real progress."
"I know he tried, he was always the only one around for me," Naruto said before his face turned grim and serious. "But they'll all know just what they did. Everyone that ever laughed or spit in my face will know just who they have assaulted for years."
"You're not going to pull an Itachi, are you?" Jiraiya asked nervously. "Because if you are, I may have to put that seal back on you and throw on a few seals of my own design."
"Oh, no, Pervy-Sage," Naruto grinned. "I have something much better in mind. And you're going to help me."
"First of all, don't call me that. Only two people can call me that and they are both long gone. And two, why am I going to help you again?"
"Because you owe me, Pervy-Sage," Naruto said, ignoring Jiraiya's request. "Didn't you offer to teach me the mysteries of the shinobi universe? Well, I need a teacher to help me harness the power of the storm and earth and you volunteered."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto sideways. "You're going to cause a lot of trouble, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Kick a lot of ass?"
"Without a doubt."
"Make the ground tremble at your comings?"
"Definitely."
"Shake the very pillars of heaven to hound those that did you wrong and bring righteous justice to this world?"
"Guaranteed," Naruto said with a foxy grin that promised godly retribution.
Jiraiya thought for a moment. "Not interested."
Naruto fell face first onto the ground.
Jiraiya laughed and helped the large teen up. "However, I do owe you, seeing as you're practically family and all. How would you like to learn some of your dad's jutsu?"
-T-
One Month Later
The sun rose over the Hokage Monument like it did every morning, spreading light over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Already the village was stirring, already feeling the giddy anticipation for the day's events: The Chunin Exam Finals. It was a highly celebrated occasion, for shinobi and civilians alike. The shinobi all felt a certain amount of pride as they rose and dressed for the matchups, although those with family or even children fighting felt a pang of worry with their pride. For the civilians, greedy excitement filled them as the Finals brought in visitors from all over the land, all with pockets full of money and the need to spend it. And for the competitors, each felt very different.
In the Hyuuga Compound, Neji stared hatefully at a photograph of his extended family, his fists clenched in hatred driven by cruel twists of fate.
In the Akimichi household, Choji stuffed his mouth with a stack of western style pancakes, a dozen eggs, four doughnuts, and a large pot of coffee.
Shino Aburame sat quietly in a small greenhouse, listening to his family's hives buzz around him.
Ino stared into a mirror, brushing out her long hair. Her eyes, however, were hollow and haunted. A shiver raced up her spine as she pictured a pair of swirling red eyes.
Rock Lee woke up with a loud yawn, quickly dressed in his green training leotard, strapped on his weights, and raced out of his house to squeeze in one last training session.
A pair of raccoon-blacked eyes blinked in the morning sun. Outside the window a chirping bird was suddenly silenced by a tendril of sand.
In the Nara house, Shikamaru shut off his troublesome alarm clock and rolled back over, struggling to squeeze in a few more moments of sleep.
Dosu sharpened a pair of kunai against his sound bracer, relishing the sound of metal scraping over metal.
Inside the all but abandoned Uchiha District, an untouched bed sat amongst haunted homes.
Naruto Uzumaki stood atop the Hokage Monument, his armor shining with the dawn. He looked down at his village, his sharp eyes able to make out faces even from the peak of the Monument. In his right hand, the Uru hammer, Mjolnir, dangled from its worn leather strap.
Time to introduce the world to the new God of Thunder, Naruto thought with a smile. He raised his hammer toward the sky and vanished in a bolt of bright lightning.
Author's Notes:
Yeah, I know that I haven't updated anything in a few month. Sorry, but I wrote a original novel for National Novel Writing Month and, even though I didn't complete it for the actual competition, I have been working on that pretty hard and am seriously looking to get it published within the next few months.
This is mostly a filler chapter. I wanted to have a little bit of a reconnecting between Naruto and the Hokage and also wanted to introduce Jiraiya differently than in the canon. Jiraiya was always a source of great comic relief and I thought I would try to use him in that sort of capacity. I also hope the interaction between Naruto and the Kyuubi was pretty good. I haven't decided how I am going to be using the Fox in this fic, whether it will be a destructive evil monster, or if it will be an ally with Naruto.
Anyway, next time: THE CHUNIN EXAM FINALS! And no, they will not be anything like the canon!
