I have to apologize, the site used to read what I used as a section-separator and break the story up, it hasn't been doing so anymore. I know use this "-0-" to separate my sections. Sorry if it messed up anyone's reading flow.
-0-
Model Number Twenty One
Ch 4 – Why Did Popo Apologize?
"Hmph, I thought you were supposed to be off world training, freak." Vegeta said, announcing Naruto's presence as he and Broly arrived atop the lookout. Naruto scoffed at Vegeta, gesturing to Broly.
"Well excuse me Prince of Saiyans, I thought you might actually give a damn about my locating another Saiyan. You could at least try not to be a child." Naruto said, finding his patience for Vegeta's antics quite thin in the face of what could be either a great friend or brutal enemy. "His name is Broly, doesn't trust people, has good reason to kill you; listening yet?"
Broly looked to Naruto, managing to connect the dots between Vegeta and his early life as Naruto spoke. "This… is the son of King Vegeta? This whelp?" Broly asked, having always imagined the Saiyan Royalty as being of incredible power who sought to kill him. He knew from Naruto's affirmation that his Father hadn't lied about King Vegeta wanting Broly dead… but it also seemed that he exaggerated the man's strength.
Vegeta bristled at the large man's words, before Naruto stepped toward him. "Vegeta… I'm not about to let you do anything because you feel like you should have respect. I'm trying to convince Broly that not everyone is a selfish bastard who wants to kill him, I don't need you fucking my efforts up again. Am I being clear?"
"You're being clearly foolish, freak! I don't answer to either of you!" Vegeta shouted, only to be shouted back at louder from within the lookout's building.
"VEGETA YOU IDIOT, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY PUTTING YOUR OWN SON IN DANGER?!" Out walked a blue-haired woman carrying an infant child with Purple hair, Naruto looking over with surprise. It was at that point the former ninja became quite confused, but allowed things to carry on. As Vegeta seemed to suddenly become worried, Broly was keenly interested in how the woman's simple words turned Vegeta's mood so far. He began to sweat, he seemed nervous and it looked as though he were trying to think of something to say. "YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE AND GET BACK HERE IF YOU STILL WANT A PLACE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT!"
Vegeta glared harshly at Naruto, crossing his arms and walking over to the blue-haired woman in a huff. As Naruto turned to see Broly looking intently, Naruto smirked to himself and thought to ask about it. "Hey, what's got you so interested? That's Bulma, she's that friend of Kakarot's I showed you from my memories; Vegeta's the father of her child and she's pretty possessive of him. Heh, seems that includes getting pissed at him when he risks his life for a fight; we agree on that part being a flaw I guess."
"She has no power, no physical strength; it's clear why she wanted him to listen but why did he care?" Broly asked, looking down and confusedly into Naruto's eyes. "Naruto… what is the strange power this woman holds over Vegeta?" This made Naruto laugh, raising his hands to his head while shrugging sheepishly.
"That's just how men react to women, Broly; I'd bet you weren't allowed to ever explore your own interests given the shit you had on when I found you. My goal here is to show you destruction isn't the best way to live your life, that kind of thing is what I'm talking about. If you kill everyone there's no ladies left to help you be happy!" Naruto couldn't help but embody his old would-be sensei Jiraiya, giving a big grin and a thumbs-up while encouraging the continued existence of womankind. He even got his teeth to glint in his grin like the old pervert's used to.
"He seemed more afraid than happy, Naruto… I'm not sure we're observing the same event."
"He wasn't afraid of her is what I'm saying… he was afraid of losing her. Mind you this was just, like, she doesn't want to be around him anymore rather than being killed, but it's still enough to make a man in love go against his own wishes for the woman." Naruto said, fumbling a little on the last part as he had trouble finding the right words for what he was trying to say. Broly seemed to understand, a look of realization appearing on his face.
"So… they're a weakness you don't want to get rid of? Doesn't that mean a fighter should try their best to avoid that?" Broly asked, Naruto smiling comfortably with a confident answer.
"Contrary, actually; the desire to defend a loved one pushes people to do incredible things. You saw how weak I was during that Chuunin Exam, but you also saw me take down Gaara when he threatened my loved ones; it's actually one of the best things that can happen to anyone." Naruto explained, Broly gaining a contemplative look as the complex nature of the situation made him perplexed and thoroughly intrigued.
'So people obtain a person they love, and although losing them is their greatest weakness, having them is their greatest strength? And a powerless weakling overcame a monstrous giant… just because he had someone he needed to protect? Hmm… perhaps it's good that no one remains to teach the old Saiyan ways of life…' Broly, deep in thought, began to quickly progress mentally as a person. As Naruto watched the man thinking, he held a soft smile while feeling quite pleased with himself. If Broly had remained angry after Naruto removed his bounds… if it had been Goku in front of him when his mind returned to his own? The whole galaxy could've been a crater because of that…
At this time, Naruto saw Piccolo walk out from deeper within the lookout. He waved his latest sensei over toward himself, gesturing to Broly as the green man grew near. "This is Broly, Piccolo; I want you and Popo to help me teach him self control. Right now we just had a talk about women… he's processing the info. Take a look at the trip I just took if you need background info." Naruto said, treating his recent memories like a mission report to be handed in. Piccolo's palm touched Naruto's forehead, the events leading to the present rolling out before the man.
"I see… you're playing with fire Naruto, I hope you know what you're doing."
"Trust me, Sensei… Broly's a lot like a friend of mine, he deserves a chance to live for himself."
-0-
Mr. Popo had been requested to help Naruto and Broly practice to train their minds and spirits as he'd helped Goku to do many years before, Popo having remarked that he wasn't sure it would help Naruto at all. Naruto reassured that he had his own mental training to work own, but also asserted that the primary purpose was to help Broly develop into an actual person. At that, Popo decided that using himself as a plateau to reach above wouldn't work; he would need to give Broly a more personal incentive for looking, a better metaphor for him to contemplate upon to reach his answers.
Like Goku, a child confident in his own strength believing everything was a fight, became worldly and learned to hold himself back and think. Broly was here to learn to be a person, able to hold great power without it owning him, able to be happy for his own wants. And so, the words came clearly to Popo as he sent Naruto and Broly to a mountain range neither were familiar with. His words, however, served to shock Naruto a bit.
"I do hope you will forgive me, Naruto… but this training is for the both of you. Now, you two must reach the top of the mountain without flying and without using any form of energy attack. You must reach the Old Sage of your own strength, and you cannot return to this world until he allows you to. Broly, do you accept this mission for the sake of learning how to know what you want?" Popo asked, Broly nodding without hesitation and a look of inspired curiosity in his eyes. "Naruto, do you accept this mission for the sake of finding yourself?"
"Kinda what my training was for, but I'll do yours if you want… you know I can run up walls without flying right?" Naruto asked, Popo shaking his head.
"Then don't. Are you both ready?" The three stood within an odd room, the visage of the mountain's landscape upon screens throughout the circumference of the room while an odd multi-armed contraption stood behind Popo. As the both nodded, Popo gained the oddest grin Naruto had ever seen… and then suddenly, instead of Popo and the machine surrounded by mountain-showing screens; Popo, the machine, the floor, the ceiling and the gaps between each screen all vanished and the two instructed to learn fell about a meter to stand on the ground of the mountain itself.
Naruto looked around, the energy gleaned from Kurama reacting almost agitatedly in its place within Naruto. This made him wary, and he immediately regretted not asking Popo a crucial question. 'He knew I wanted to train… so why did he apologize for it first?' The answer became clear as a toad landed before the two of them… and then spoke.
"Hey, how did you guys get here? There's not supposed to be any way to do that without permission from the Boss!" Naruto's jaw slowly dropped, reeling his energies into himself by training with Piccolo. He immediately shot into the air at the literal speed of light, the friction of it burning even his Frost Demon Hybrid hide off and needing it to regenerate as he tried to break through what he hoped was illusion. As he made it passed a Galaxy that didn't even exist in the world he learned to fly in, he grimaced and flew back down to Broly with an angry look on his face before howling above himself.
"NICE FUCKING WARNING, POPO!"
-0-
"Mr. Popo… you put him in a different dimension and I still heard him shout… what did you do?" Piccolo asked, Popo smiling creepily again.
"I should have asked like you and Goku do… but I always was more like Roshi than Kami when it came to mind-reading." Piccolo's eyes widened, his face almost shouting 'You didn't!' at the genie. "Naruto… is where he needs to be right now. You know the capabilities of this lookout… all I did was call to the Guardian of his Home when I saw his memories. His request… was most troubling."
"… Naruto isn't going to be back very soon, is he?" Trunks asked, having been wondering about the shout himself.
"He could be, but he'll tell you all about that when he returns." Popo answered, turning and walking away with the creepy grin ever present as the good-willed genie relished the chance to be important again. 'But Naruto, please… don't do anything rash.'
Through the machine room, that that played to the both of Naruto and Broly through a loudspeaker, but the small toad was of the world they'd been sent to and couldn't resonate with the machine's speaker. The simple answer being, since the two seekers had been in that room before they could hear the speaker, but not anyone nor anything else around them.
"My name is Broly, this is my… friend, Naruto. We were sent here by a man in the heavens called Mr. Popo to learn about… life." Broly said, his understanding of their mission basic beyond that he was to learn what life meant. The toad seemed satisfied with the answer, his question turning different.
"Fair enough, although we did ask him to tell the Boss before doing this. But…" The toad looked briefly to Naruto, thinking itself sly while not knowing Naruto saw the glance, "I can see why he decided to send you two through here. What were the conditions he gave you? The both of you are strong, what aren't you allowed to do in your time here?"
"We aren't allowed to fly, or use energy attacks. We… essentially, we have to fight like-"
"Ninjas." Naruto cut Broly off, bitter about where Popo had sent them. However, it wasn't as bad as he thought; this was a place Naruto didn't know. As far as he could recall… that could only be a good thing. "It seems I'll be teaching you some combat skills, Broly; Popo mandated we only use traditional martial artist skills. And in this place… that means ninja skills. Welcome, Broly… this is the world where Konoha exists." The toad sighed, Broly looking at Naruto in surprise.
"But… don't you hate it here? Aren't you… aren't you angry about this?" Broly asked, Naruto nodding.
"Yeah, oh hell yes I'm pissed; but Popo isn't a fool. He sent me back here for a reason… and he sent you with me for a reason. That must mean… that must mean something's wrong here. Isn't that right, little Gama?" Naruto asked, the toad looking surprised all of a sudden. "I signed the contract, and I spoke with the Fox a few times… I've never been here, and I know nothing about this place, but I can definitely feel all the spirits of the Toad Clan around us. We can only be… upon Mt. Myouboku, the Sacred Mountain of the Toads."
Broly looked around, feeling a sense of wonder at the brilliantly shining sunlight across the magnificent rainforest-like area. Only minutes before it was a barren mountain range, and the moment after the toad spoke the terrain shifted beyond Broly's notice. 'This world, this world that did such horror… can be so beautiful? Can I… be like this?'
"So, I don't know your name. You surely know me… I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Under the Boss's word, I'm one of this Clan; I request audience with him." Naruto said, Piccolo's own discipline training having involved learning manners. The toad seemed to smile, hopping up to Naruto's shoulder.
"Broly-san, please hold Naruto-san's shoulder." Naruto groaned, forgetting the language differences.
"Good god, honorifics… Broly, I'll translate for you. San means mister here." Broly still seemed perplexed, but accepted the answer as he clasped his friend's shoulder while they both vanished.
-0-
The next moment, they were outside of a massive hot spring with two individuals present. One was a very tiny green toad, while the other was an extremely large re- wait, no… it wasn't Gamabunta, even though he was the same height; this toad was orange. "Hey, what's the big idea kid?! I asked you to bring me to the Boss, where's Bunta-Ojii?!"
"Bunta-Ojii? Me and my little brother are the only ones who ever called Tou-san that name!" The great orange toad bellowed, speaking in a voice that Naruto knew well; a voice that shocked him.
"G-Gamakichi?! What the hell is going on here?!" Naruto shouted, Broly looking even more confused than Naruto sounded.
"Wait… I thought Gamakichi was a tiny orange toad that loves candy and thi-"
"Well now I'm a BIG orange toad that loves candy! Naruto, I should've recognized you! For the long and unwarranted silence between us, you owe me twenty pounds of chocolate candies." Naruto's jaw dropped once more, his eyes going blank with disbelief at his near-brother friend from a few gene-splicings ago. "Now… why is it that you tread upon Myouboku? The only reason you are permitted is your status on the scroll, you must explain yourself in order to justify your friend's presence here."
"He's… like Gaara. Not like… not like how Gaara's like me, like, he's hurt and confused. The easy explanation… he needs a friend who knows where he's at, like me. And actually, I could introduce you to Gaara!" This is where the tiny green toad coughed loudly, making it obvious he meant to interject.
"You speak of Godaime Kazekage-dono, correct? Sabaku no Gaara of Sungakure?" The toad asked, all those words confusing Broly while making Naruto stop and look disbelievingly at him. "He has gone into hiding with the rest of the Go-Kage Alliance; They are being overwhelmed by Madara's onslaught."
Next came a reaction Broly had once experience himself, but instead of his own rage and green power it was Naruto's laden in crimson energy.
"Madara!" Emotions from over three centuries flowed forth from deep within Naruto, his hair pressing straight up and losing all color to bleach white. His energy aura became pure glowing red, the armor-plates once blue now being a glowing purple color as red energy came off of him like steam. "He… he has caused EVERY problem with his damn power lust! His ambition IS the revenge that kept Kurama's hate burning! HE is why all these innocent lives were RUINED!"
Broly was shocked, seeing Naruto's form shift in a way he had done himself… whatever the reason for his transformation being red, Naruto had become a Super Saiyan in the incredible fury this 'Madara' evoked. And from what it sounded like… the torment of Naruto in Konoha that Broly witness may have been Madara's fault somehow. That being… if the Kyuubi attack was his fault as well. And the only name Naruto had for it was Kurama…
'Kurama attacks… Kurama gives Naruto his power and knowledge… but Naruto feels like he was used. It's like he feels like it's all his fault…' Broly then remembered another thing he witnessed, relevant to the transformation and things Naruto thought just after re awakening as Model Twenty One. Kurama's power is red, Naruto's current power; while before and presently, his personal strength was blue. And as he awoke… he said it was Kurama's revenge was for him to carry out for the being, as though Kurama himself were lost. 'When he came here, the vortex was ripping him apart because he was human. Naruto is alive… because Kurama merged with him when they were about to die. Naruto's mortal personality was the template, but he's grown up all but instantly… grown smarter… Naruto and Kurama are BOTH Naruto now… and Madara is the source of everything that ever went wrong with Kurama's life…'
"Naruto, stop it. You're… acting like me." Broly said, Naruto turning and showing Broly glowing violet eyes. "Please… you're the only one who's willing to understand my place right now, and I've felt more than I did ever before just by learning with you. Don't be like the thing you saved me from becoming." Broly looked to Naruto, a glimmer of green energy appearing. "I know I can… I'll stop you until you calm down if you won't listen. Please… be the kid who made me his friend, not the fox who was taken advantage of. You need to be the good kid that helps everyone to beat the one who ruined everything."
Naruto found himself surprised at how Broly was speaking to him, especially at seeing the actual emotions in the man's eyes. Naruto's red aura calmed, while his eyes and hair stayed the same indicating the transformed state. "You… you are right, anyway. That won't help much… but I need to stop this now. You said 'Madara's Onslaught'… that makes me feel like he's winning whatever conflict is going on, correct?"
Now came the bits of strategy gleaned from Gero's pod… if the foe was confident, and you had the strength then you could cripple a whole army by eliminating key necessary officers.
"Uchiha Madara has been resurrected, and through the acquisition of Eight out of the Nine Bijuu he has attained most of the power of the Juubi, having partially resurrected it and sealing it into himself to hold onto its powers. All he lacks is the Kyuubi's powers… this is why his power has been enough to enslave the world through force, over permanent Genjutsu." The small toad answered, Naruto nodding his head.
"I'll just have to kill him then. Hagoromo… Rikudou Sennin… all this effort just to have a dimensional accident settle the fight… Still. This is Kurama's word to you… Madara will be stopped and peace WILL reign on this earth." Naruto had been carrying a good deal of weight from the Demon Fox that saved his life, and the remnant powers he'd left kept Naruto alive and well when he truly needed it. Now, it was time to fulfill Kurama's promise.
It was time to exterminate Uchiha Madara.
"So… what do we do Naruto? We're supposed to climb the mountain without using our powers. Is that not what we're going on to do right now?" Broly asked, Naruto shaking his head.
"That was a farce to make it look like we were getting a similar training to Goku. No… no Popo needed a way to send us here without my objection. We won't get out of here without Old Gama-Sennin in the Oracle Bath letting us go, and that won't happen with a tyrant ruling the world through Military obliteration. Nah… Broly, today you're learning what playing the Hero really feels like. This world's counting on us, and if we don't do it no one can. Let's go save the world!"
After the short monologue, Naruto forewent Popo's restrictions and ran out of the Hot Springs til he found open air, flying out and away from the mountain with Broly following behind. While Naruto had a determined scowl on his face as he shouldered all the hatred for Madara, Broly held an excited smile as he actually felt good about using his strength for once. He didn't ever believe it could, but he was now completely blown away at how amazing it felt to use his powers for something he felt was right.
Even if it was only the thought of doing so driving him onward thus far.
-0-
Konoha had been devastated. Iwa had been a long-standing stronghold. Suna had been snuffed out with a vicious sandstorm. Kumo had been destroyed by rocking lightning from all sides. No one was certain of what happened to Kiri, but the whole edge of the continent was fifty meters lower than before, completely underwater. All remaining settlements bended to whim, and all pockets of resistance were sought out by the Zetsu Squads of Uchiha Madara, prime ruler of the Elemental Nations.
Within an Iwa basement, many former Konoha kunoichi hid out with women of multiple other origins. In exchange for a situational accepted request, all women could have refuge in Iwa. This was because Madara intended to allow Iwa to resist futilely… by eliminating ALL women and children. If a woman felt willing to look for a boyfriend, and were willing to move the physical end of the relationship along quickly, they were given refuge. And against many women's worst fears, none were kicked out if they frequently refused boyfriends as long as they DID consider. However, given that many nation took refuge in Iwa most women found more than acceptable boyfriends, suitably preferable in many cases. But there were a few amongst the Konoha and Kiri refugees that were both mentally and emotionally damaged to the point they couldn't accept JUST anyone… and in four cases they could each only accept one.
Senju Tsunade had been given refuge for her skills, not per contract; this was simply because she refused to bother lying, she was up front about the fact that her personally considered true love was dead and that she no longer cared for anything remotely romantic, nor sexual. Yamanaka Ino believed she was capable of moving on from what she'd seen, but she had witness both of her best friends die in front of her, and they were like brothers to her. She now felt like any man she held would die, just because she cared for them, and began experiencing profound anxiety episodes toward the third or fourth date of any potential boyfriend.
Haruno Sakura pushed herself fairly hard to forgive her childish natures earlier in life, but refuse to accept that her mistakes weren't purely her own fault and thereby never let go of these mistakes. This causes her to compare everyone she feels amazed by with Sasuke and feeling unfair for doing so, and comparing anyone she felt a fault with to Naruto and feeling shame for doing so. Between these reactions, she rarely managed to do more than flirt and have friendly visits at mostly-male parties. Unfortunately for such circumstance, she couldn't bring herself to simply have children for the population. Every night she had issues handling herself, let alone a child who would need a mother.
Hyuuga Hinata had become relatively established as a productive member of society, but several of the immigration regulatory board were frustrated with her as she was an example of EXACTLY what they didn't want. She was a moderately skilled ninja, from Konoha allowed in on promise of basic situational acceptable proposal like all other refugee women. However, she did two things. She only accepted dates from men refuged in Iwa under the Military Futility Act, the idea that any man seeking refuge faced death anyway, and thereby had to immediately become militarily active. This allowed her to possibly have her appearance socially as a person who never had kids because her boyfriends are brave and keep dying.
The second thing was that she never dated anyone beyond three times, and by those who remained to answer on the topic all attested that she treated it like a business formality. And by the way the law was written, there was absolutely no way to bother even trying to handle it. It seemed to the officials like she was simply playing their system for safe asylum, and to their credit… Hinata herself agreed with that idea.
While it ashamed her, holding little solace in the lack of remaining family to judge her, she needed to survive. She had fallen for a boy of incredible moral standing and personal strength, and due to her fierce desire for him, her perception of men all fell based on him. One wasn't brave enough, another wasn't confident enough, one could be brave but too smart, another could be brilliant but hold no confidence; her personal perception was all completely centered on a man she could never truly believe vanished when they were nearly half their current age.
Ten years earlier, very nearly eleven, a boy she admired so thoroughly she fell in love had completely vanished. Since then, she'd romanticized who he was back then into her perfect traits. This held her back thoroughly, and it served poorly for her standing socially. However, holding out hope that someone would be more like him, Hinata ignored them and simply resigned herself to continue searching for boyfriends.
This was until the day Madara grew impatient with his searches for the last Bijuu, deciding to simply eliminate any pockets of resistance. He decided the central hub would be the only place he'd avoided attacking, Iwagakure. As Madara floated above the city with his Rin'negan glaring, he chuckled with no personal ability to sense the energy approaching him. With his back to the red and green orbs flying toward him, Hyuuga Hinata also missed the two approaching warriors that Madara couldn't see while she jumped to the top of the great Wall of Iwa. Erected and multiple times improved against Madara's Zetsu hordes, she stood two kilometers above the ground while he flew only five meters higher at twenty from her.
"You've been ruining the entirety of this world… whether I die or not, this was the last day I ever lived hiding from the likes of you!" With this, Hinata lunged at Madara, who used his powers to push her away with an unseen barrier of force. The next moment, Hinata was lifted and her vision blurred into a mixture of colors, a red column surrounding this blur of color.
"Well… I didn't expect to see you after so long, Hinata." On instinct, Hinata blushed and grew annoyed with the closeness of a non-honorific name.
"That's Hinata-san, now who the hell- are… you…" As she tried to complain about the name closeness, Hinata's eyes began to recognize the slightly tanned face under newly white and upward-forced hair. "B-b-but… no, no… oh god, now I need more therapy with Yoshino-hakase don't I?!" Hinata seemed to believe she was delusional, a massive blush appearing over her face. "Screw it, it's been too long since I even imagined you; Naruto-kun!" Hinata pulled the man into a kiss, the very-real man shocked at the woman who thought she was hallucinating.
After pulling his mouth away, Naruto stopped flying and questioned in shock. "Hinata, what the hell?! I thought you were just a shy little girl, since when have you had a thing for me?!" This was when Hinata focused more, looking more closely and seeing Naruto fore-arms and eyes. She was a bit shocked, but she reached her hand out the feel his cheek; it was exactly the same, but the whiskers were gone. There were vertical lines now, on contact being thin divots through his face.
"N-N-Naruto?!" Hinata was shocked, the blond nodding his head as she was dumbstruck by his random and odd new appearance. She would've inquired further, but his and her own eyes were drawn to Broly as he became a Super Saiyan with a grunt, his form a normally appearing Super Saiyan as opposed to before in his mind control devices. "What's happening?! How much did I drink last night?!"
"Hinata, you drink? You were the most innocent girl I ever met! It was cute!" Naruto said, Hinata's instincts over recent years acting before her crush for Naruto did.
"Cute girls are allowed to get drunk too, ass!" Hinata shouted, Naruto getting sheepish before he remembered Madara. It would've been a non-issue given Broly's presence and intent to give Naruto a little time… but Broly had been knocked to the ground by Madara. However futile… it proved to Naruto the monster-man was stronger than he'd thought.
Naruto calmed himself looking to Hinata as he set her onto her own feet. "We need to catch up afterward… but this guy's why I'm back here. My Sensei sent me here to learn about myself… now I'm seeing everything he meant about that. I promise I'll be back before I leave, promise to hear me out?" Naruto asked, his face pleading yet serious as he begged Hinata enough time to talk later. She looked at him, thought to her core, and then smiled with a sigh.
"Of course… but come back alive, ok?" She said, leaning forward and kissing Naruto rather tenderly. While his eyes bulged, Hinata's whole form relaxed at the huge amount of personal stress she'd put on her desire to kiss the man. "Otherwise you won't get to ask why I did that." With that, Hinata heeded his request and retreated as fast as she could. Naruto was dazed a moment, chuckling to himself as he regained his composure.
'Well then… guess that explains 'Weird Little Hinata' pretty clearly, huh?' With this, Naruto flew off to where Madara had been gloating over Broly. With all pieces in place, all powers in play, and all players in the fight, Naruto prepared to end the source of all his life's misdeeds.
It was finally time for Kurama's revenge to be made.