I do not own anything.
POISON DOVE & MAELSTROM FOX
Chapter 3 - Armaments
It went without saying that names were important. If you didn't have a name then you might as well have been a ghost, a phantom. As a Heroic Spirit Semiramis knew the importance of names better than anyone, names were things that were to be closely guarded because they offered too much. They were gateways to life stories, some good and some bad, clues to weaknesses and strengths one would have needed to win a battle or survive a close encounter. Being a Servant, guarding her name was second-nature to her and that's how she intended to keep things. And then this fox-faced child came and blew all that out of the water.
She'd revealed her true name to her Master within a day of being summoned, and any sense of formality she'd settled upon had been thrown out the window. Semiramis wanted to be angry with this boy of a Master for making her lower herself to near commoner status, but when she looked into those sky-blue eyes devoid of anything resembling malice or treachery. Personally, she found it…unsettling. Most magi were snakes like her - docile until something caught their interest, causing them to begin to move. Once their prey was in sight, the mind went to work scheming and plotting until the hunger was satisfied in some form or another. To the average, non-magically gifted person that kind of person would have come off as despicable, and apparently that was the kind of Master she'd been stuck with. Naruto wasn't a snake…what he was she was still trying to work out.
With the agreement with Gamabunta still heavily weighing in her mind, she thought now would be a good time to test out her own abilities. So much had happened in the past day she'd had little time to stretch out her own legs. Zelretch had told her this world wasn't as restricting as the one she knew; Semiramis wanted to test that.
Holding out her hand, she called forth her magic and was rewarded with a violet-colored magic circle. A smile came to her lips, feeling the glorious rush power that flooded her body. Mana, chakra, whatever it was called in this world, she could call it to herself as if it were air. A simple inhalation gave her a ready supply of power. Behind her Naruto continued to awe at her short display of magic, she would relish the look that came over his face when she really showed him the scope of her abilities. From the magic circle came several sharpened fangs, each one the size her entire hand and some smaller. The fangs levitated outwards then with Semiramis' mental command, the teeth shot into the ground like arrows. Disappearing into the dark earth, she feed her magic into the dragon teeth as she did over a hundred times in life.
"Um, what were those?" Naruto questioned, squinting his eyes at the holes where the teeth had burrowed into the earth. "They almost looked like teeth, sharp, pointy teeth."
"They were teeth." Semiramis answered drily. "Dragon teeth to be exact." As expected stars appeared in the boy's eyes and his mouth opened to give feedback. Semiramis took his starry eyes as payment enough and promptly cut him off. "Prepare yourself."
"Why?"
"I did promise to aid you in your training, didn't I? As a queen, I am inclined to keep my word." Most of the time. Sensing a change in his demeanor, she turned her head finding an uncommon look of deep thought on his face. "What is it now?"
"U-Uh, oh, nothing."
"Don't 'nothing' me." She hotly spat. "Something is on your mind, out with it now or I'll command the ground to swallow you whole."
Alright, it wasn't her greatest threat, but given the perceived intelligence level of her Master she could get away with it. Besides, it's not like anyone would ever know of what transpires on this green field.
"I-It's just, y-y-you don't seem like the kind of person that does that sort of thing!" Naruto stammered, throwing up his hands. Once the words were out of his mouth seemed to realize how bad it made him said. "N-Not that I'm saying y-y-you're an evil person! I-I-It's just, what I mean is I-I-"
"Enough. I get it." She sighed with a visible tick-mark forming on her forehead. Barely two days in and already she knew this boy was going to test her patience in ways that she couldn't even imagine. For a hot second, she toyed with the idea of destroying her spiritual core simply to save herself the long train of agony that she knew was coming her way. "You're half-right, Naruto, I am not a good person. Were it not for those Command Seals on your hand I…" Semiramis fully intended to follow through with the rest of her statement, but she made the mistake of looking into those blues eyes. Why, why were they so filled with innocence like a newborn? It's almost like he…has complete faith in me. Why? Hasn't this boy ever been betrayed? Hurt? So much as even insulted? Mentally sighing, Semiramis struggled to rearrange her words into something that hopefully wouldn't hurt the child's feelings too much. Not like she should have cared that much. "Look, you're my Master so I have a duty to keep you alive. By any means necessary. What I'm doing will help accomplish that. Now then, as I previously said - prepare yourself."
The ground beneath the pair trembled like the precursor to an earthquake, and not a minute later an almost literal earthquake did occur. Naruto yelped in surprise as he nearly lost his balance while the ground in front of him and the Assassin cracked up, allowing smoke and black-colored lightning to jet upwards. Semiramis couldn't fight back the proud smirk that came to her lips when she saw the first skeletal hand reach out and grab hold of the ground. Dozens more followed until a scene from a horror was playing out before the pair, or at least that's what it looked like to Naruto. The blond trembled behind his Servant in genuine horror as dozens of skeletal warriors emerged from the fissure, their bones are metallic shade of blackish-gray and looking a little too real for comfort. Several of them were missing heads, as in actual human skulls. Instead what they had were jaw bones filled with dozens of needle-like teeth he was ninety-percent sure could tear the flesh from his bones. Almost all of them carried weapons: swords, axes, clubs with nails driven into them, spears, cleavers, and he was pretty sure he spotted one with a hammer.
For Naruto it was impossible to count them all, though he measured them to be at least a dozen. Semiramis on the other hand came up with a perfect headcount.
"Hm, fifty, not bad all. It appears this world is indeed quite fertile with energy for me to use to cast my magic." She remarked while her Master cowered behind her. "Well then, Naruto, have at it."
Hearing those words directed at him seemed to snap him out of his fear induced trembling. "H-H-Huh, w-wh-what do ya' mean have at it?! What the hell are those things?!"
"These," she started, throwing her arm out to the seemingly frozen band of skeletal warriors. "Are beings known as Dragon Tooth Warriors. There are low-ranking familiars, or golems you could say. Simply plant some dragon teeth into the ground and utter the right incantation and you will find yourself leading horde of skeletal warriors ready to fight, kill, and die at your command. Any magician from the Age of the Gods worth their salt known how to summon them, being able to summon at least ten being the bog standard."
"Oh…so…they're…sorta like my…shadow clones." After hearing that explanation, Naruto seemed to gain some courage as he took several steps closer to the collection of warriors. Somewhat tentatively he poked the one closest to him, half-expecting it to lash out and attack him. It did not. A chill ran through him when his finger made contact with the skeletal warriors. They're…cold as ice. No, probably colder than that. It felt like he was touching metal more than bone, not that he ever wanted to touch bone again. His past encounter with Kimimaro was more than enough for him to equate bones with danger. Still a little squeamish he looked upwards, almost wishing these things had actual faces for him to look at. Seeing nothing but a line of teeth only made his heart skip several beats. "So, uh, you said all sorcerers from your world could do this?"
"Only ones from my time. I come from a period of history where use of magic and magecraft was far more widespread and advanced. Though they gained prominence in Greece when I was alive the method to create them was near standard knowledge amongst sorcerers and such." She explained, turning her back to him then walking away. "They're basically cannon fodder, disposable dolls that can overwhelm the average enemy or slow them down long enough for a real battle plan to be conceived. If you're half a decent fighter then you should be able to handle-"
CRANK!
Wide-eyed she wheeled around to find the warrior that Naruto had been examining was now stumbling around, its jawline and half its neck missing. A second passed before the soldier collapsed into a pile of steel-colored bones.
"AAH!" Naruto wailed, boiling over his comically oversized and red right hand with tears at the corner of his eyes. "That hurt! I thought you said these things were supposed to be skeletons!"
Semiramis' eye twitched, rather it was from shock or annoyance she couldn't tell. What she definitely knew was that annoyance was lacing her voice when she spoke. "Did you think that dark coloring was just for show?! Fool! These warriors are strong enough to complete annihilate any two-bit squad of humans with little effort! If you can't even defeat them then what hope do you have of earning the respect of the Chief Toad!"
Motivated by her words, Naruto shook off the pain and lingering fear. The look in his eyes changed while his fingers rose up in a familiar hand sign. Several dozen puffs of smoke followed and they flew away, she was looking at an army of orange-wearing thirteen-year-olds.
"Alright then, so all I gotta do is smash them all to pieces!" They all shouted, holding up their arms in proud displays of force. "Easy as pie!"
Semiramis watched stone-faced as the horde of little blond ninja charged straight for her small army of skeletal warriors. Their pre-set programing kicked in, resulting in the lot of them raising their weapons and meeting the ninja band with equal cries of primal fury. All the fear which colored Naruto before was gone, not one clone looked afraid to punch, kick, and claw at any skeletal warrior that came at them. It was almost comical how instantaneous the transformation was.
Heh, at least I can give the boy credit for bouncing back. Not to mention unlike most men who focus on numbers, he possesses the ability to even numbers out. Naturally, there were some magi who mastered many branches and schools of magecraft and magic but choose one to specialize in. From what she could see, Naruto seemed to specialize in this "Shadow Clone Jutsu". She had to admit, the ability to duplicate himself almost a hundred times over would have been seen as a godsend. Each of the clones had the original's fighting spirit and grit as evident by the fierce fight they gave the Dragon Tooth Warriors. "It seems I may have misjudged this boy." The same magic circle appeared in her hand followed by more dragon teeth. Planting them into the ground, she summoned more skeletal warriors as it was clear at least a quarter of her original batch had been destroyed.
She took a place by the trees to watch the spectacle. It wasn't often she got to watch two small armies go to war with each other. Semiramis summoned a glass of wine for herself then leaned against a nearby tree while the army of clones and bones tore into each other with reckless abandon.
Naruto was not that much of a tactical fighter, that much she was able to discern from where she was. He was courageous and wild, yet at the same time somewhat tricky and sly. Every time a single clone went up in smoke, another was there to take advantage of the window the other had left. Her skeletal warriors, which were normally strong enough to overwhelm human warrior troops, were rapidly decreasing by the second while Naruto was still going strong. The boy was restless, she had to give him that. Though he took several scraps and cuts along the way, his fists never stopped swinging out and his legs never reminded idle for long. He was always active, always fighting like his life depended on it, which in all seriousness it did. At several points the Dragon Tooth Warriors attempted to single the real one out of the dozens of copies, and all those attempts failed miserably. As far as brute strength went, he was stronger than he looked.
It what seemed like no time Naruto had reduced the army of nearly a hundred down to ten. A collection of clone stood behind him. Though his breathing was harder than usual, Semiramis could tell the boy was nowhere near done.
"I must say, you're more durably than I gave you credit. It appears I might have misjudged you, Naruto." Semiramis called.
"Hey, I didn't earn this headband by sitting on my heads and knees. I had to work for it." The real one stated proudly, pointing at the engraved metal wrapped around his forehead. "Ya' know, those things looked kinda scary, but now I've wasted a bunch of them I realized they're nothing to worry about!"
"Hehehe, that's only because you dealt with a small number of them, and the weakest of the lot." The Assyrian queen cackled, killing the blonde's rising spirits. "You think simply because you can lay waste to a small army of bones you're a champion. Boy, that wasn't even a legion." Snapping her fingers, another fissure in the ground opened up from which a new army of Dragon Tooth Warriors rose forth. This batch was noticeable bulkier than the last and carried heavier weapons that scrapped along the ground. All of them turned their invisible glare to the blond ninja who readied himself for another bout. "Now would be a good time for reinforcements, don't you think?"
"Y-You mean that agreement you made with the Chief Toad?"
"No, the one I made with the king of street dogs and flees."
Semiramis ignored his annoyed muttering about "cranky women" in favor of watching him perform the needed hand signs for the summoning jutsu. As she expected his hands had gotten bloody in smashing all the skeletal warriors he could find, providing him a blood offering to perform the summoning. She sensed the slight hesitation when the time came to slam his palm down to complete the summoning. Casting a sideways glance at her Semiramis found herself nodding, encouraging him to go through with it. Happy recognition flashed in his eyes before he slammed his palm down, bringing forth an all-consuming veil of smoke.
After seeing Gamabunta, she'd readied herself for any manner of toad that came forth. Truth be told, a part of her was still in shock such an intelligent massive amphibian existed. As one could have guessed frogs and toads were an extreme rarity in the land of ancient Assyria, and usually were food for bigger and nastier creatures. She'd heard tell of some poisonous frogs and taken an interest in them, but toads were another matter entirely. To her they were food, pure and simple. All of that had changed upon coming face to face with one big enough to tower over buildings and sassy enough she wouldn't mind sharing a moment or two of conversation with.
The toad Naruto had summoned was most definitely not an infant or tadpole, at least not by her standards. Almost twice Naruto's size its skin was a similar shade of rusty red as Gamabunta's, albeit instead of a lightly tanned underbelly this one possessed onyx markings and swirls across its visible body. Of particular notice were a set of swirls on the cheeks that led up to a pair of closed eyes outlined in black. For clothing, the toad wore a black kimono with several red flame-like markings on it. Strapped to the backside of the toad were two katanas, one with a black hilt and the other with a red. If Semiramis had to venture a guess when drawn each blade would measure as long as her entire body, and could probably cut cleanly through it as if she were butter.
Slowly the toad opened its eyes, revealing yellow orbs similar to the Chief Toad's. Those yellow eyes surveyed the landscape like a predator awakening from its slumbering and observing its surroundings.
Its possible prey immediately made itself know.
"I…did it! I did it! I really did it! Finally, an honest-to-God toad! Not a tadpole and not a brat like Gamakichi or Gamatatsu! I finally did it!" proclaimed the blond Master, ignorant of the tension that fell upon his Servant and his newly summoned beast.
Semiramis allowed her slitted eyes to meet those of the toad. Though far from a child, she could tell in one glance that this beast was younger in not just size but in mind as well. He glared at her and she glared back. After a moment or two, the toad turned its attention around to face Naruto. Immediately, the blond shaped up and gave him his ever-bright smile.
"Naruto Uzumaki, thanks for coming!"
The toad stared at the boy with a strange mixture of interest and caution before leaning in closer. To his credit, Naruto didn't retreat in fear or unease.
"Oh, it's you, Whiskers." His voice was nowhere near as deep and booming as Gamabunta's in fact it almost sounded like that of a young adult male, a teenager to be exact. "Eh, guess being summoning by you isn't so bad."
"Whiskers? Do you mean me?"
"Who else, I'm mean it's not like the folks back home talk about a lot of humans." He spoke before yawning. "Besides, Whiskers, you're the guy who gang-pressed Boss Gamabunta into fighting Shukaku the Sand Spirit, your name has started spreading."
Stars once again appeared in Naruto's eyes at hearing those words. "Really! My name! Yes! Yes! I knew it, I am on the path to becoming Hokage for sure!"
"Ahem, boy and amphibian." In unison the pair snapped to attention, the toad looking at her with a little more venom than she expected. Clearly this toad already had a beat on her. "As much I hate to interrupt your…bonding session, toad, show me those blades aren't just for show. Naruto, you want to prove yourself a capable Master, here's your chance." She'd been meaning to try this out for a while and since this toad seemed somewhat battle capable, Semiramis figured why the hell not. Flashing the pair a wicked grin, she held out her arm in the direction of the Dragon Tooth Warriors.
Naruto and the toad watched in silence as an invisible hand took hold of the bony warriors and began to dissemble them piece by piece then fling them into a mighty whirlwind. Both readied themselves as they saw the bones come together and expand in size right before their eyes. The toad's eyes shined with interest, watching the bones group together into a towering fifteen-foot monstrosity that easily towered over the duo. From a pair of invisible lungs came a feral roar that would have chilled the blood of weaker men.
"Can you take on something that big?" Naruto questioned, cracking his knuckles while grinning.
"Heh, you think something like this is enough to get me scared? Whiskers, you've got a lot to learn about us toads." Reaching behind his back, the red-skinned animal drew his two blades. Beside him Naruto summoned another collection of Shadow Clones, catching his attention. "I'll lead, you follow."
As Semiramis expected the toad wasn't just big, it was remarkably fast too. Her superhuman eyes saw every stroke of the silvery blades held tightly in the beast's dry hands. With every flash, Semiramis saw at least ten of her magically created soldiers scatter into powdery fragments. For an amphibian the creature was also quite acrobatic, incorporating countless flips and jumps as it moved in and out of her skeletal legion with all the grace and precision of a veteran combatant. Switching her eyes over to her Master she saw Naruto attempting to tackle her Dragon Giant Warrior, quite literally. One sweep of its mighty blades took out an entire platoon of clones, though one of them managed to made it onto the blade where they began climbing up the arm. Down below, the rest of the clones went to work in attempting to obstruct the giant's movements by grabbing the feet.
Briefly growling, the giant shook its right foot free while swinging its right arm out throwing; though pressured by the wind, Naruto hung tight and maintained his grip on the boney limp. Semiramis saw him reach into his pouch and withdraw something, a kunai with some kind of rectangular sheet of paper attached to it. Rearing back, he stabbed the knife into the arm then jumped backwards as far as he could.
At the resulting explosion, the skeletal warrior roared in discomfort as smoke and fire consumed its right arm. Taking one step backwards, Semiramis noticed the small network of cracks that had appeared on the forearm bones. Ah, explosive tags. As expected of a ninja. I wonder if I can customize some of those to spread poison instead of flames. Still in mid-air she watched as Naruto summoned another set of clones, these ones serving as human torpedoes that flung themselves towards the stumbling warrior. Sensing the attack coming, Semiramis' giant warrior bellowed in anger and lashed out with its left cleaver-blade. Semiramis was slightly disappointed when Naruto's clones went poof they left behind no blood, her inner sadist was hungering for blood while the Servant side of her took stock of the fact her Master at least had a way of keeping himself alive and fooling his enemies.
Due to the fierce gale whipped up by the attack, Naruto flew backwards into the tree while the summoned the toad continued to hack and slash its way through the legion of Dragon Tooth Warriors. The amphibian gave no indication on how it felt with its summoner being sent flying like a sheet of paper in the wind, instead his mind was focused solely on slaying the enemies before it. Semiramis could respect that. She saw the toad's eyes narrow as the giant turned its attention to him next.
The toad met the giant's downward swing with one of the finest parries Semiramis had ever seen. Clearly the beast possessed some skill with the blades he carried; the spectacle made her question how skilled was the Chief Toad with the concealed blade he carried on his person. Now fully focused on the red-skinned amphibian, her giant warrior began attacking it with all the strength it could muster. The giant carried nothing for its smaller and weaker brethren as emotions such as concern or fear were nonexistent to it. Recognizing that the toad continuously fell backwards, resigning itself to a series of parries and close dodges while never truly going on the offensive. It almost felt as if he were…waiting for something.
"Hey! Skull face! You forgot about me, didn't ya'!"
Looking back in the direction he'd been hurled, the ancient Assyrian had something of a double-take. He…really loves that Shadow Clone jutsu. She summarized, seeing what amounted to an almost entire legion of clones all looking ready to take a piece of the Dragon Giant Warrior. Semiramis couldn't count them all using her eyes, nor did she even try to when they all broke out into a mad dash towards the skeletal. Hm, not bad. Clearly he can always turn the numbers to his side, but let's see how you deal with the unexpected, eh, Naruto?
While it wasn't going to be pretty Naruto had a plan to bring down the giant skeleton, one that he was sure would impress Semiramis. Unfortunately, the monarch had other ideas as the ground beneath the army of clones began to tremble once more, causing several of them to stumble. This is turn lead to many of the clones tripping over each other until half of the once charging army was pushing and shoving at each other. Their squabbling came to a quick end as they all heard the familiar growl of Dragon Tooth Warriors clawing their way from out of the Earth.
"Oh, come on! Semi-chan! How many of those things are you gonna make!?" The collective Narutos whined.
"As many of them as I can, as I said, this is a learning experience for me too. And don't call me that!"
Howling like a pack of savage beasts, the newly formed Dragon Tooth Warriors surged forth like a tidal wave. To his credit, Naruto and his army of clones didn't remain idle for long. Drawing kunai knives and cracking their knuckles they met the enemy wave in a sluggish melee, Semiramis found equal parts revolting and amusing.
Lovely, he's a through and through brawler, albeit one that's quick thinking and adaptable. That's good, but he needs a better way to fight, specifically a long-range method of combat.
That wasn't the case for the toad, nor did it rely entirely on the blades it carried to get the job done. Jumping a good fifteen feet or so into the air the toad formed a hand sign, then from its mouth came several cannonball-sized watery bullets. Each bullet carried all the force and power of an artillery shell, blowing scores of the skeleton warriors away while dosing the army of Narutos with water. Seeing his summoner had regained his balance, the toad looked upwards to the giant warrior and began firing. Holding up both blades it blocked the rapid-fire shots, forcing its attention to far away from the young blond. The shortcomings of that mistake became immediately evident.
Throwing aside several of the Dragon Tooth Warriors came four Narutos, two of them holding a palm-sized blue mass of energy in their palms while the others cradled it almost like a candle. Semiramis quickly examined the strange sphere identifying it to be energy, pure unrestrained energy that probably packed a punch once delivered.
"Rasengan!" The pair shouted, surging forth towards the giant's turned legs. Thunderous cracks broke out from the point of contact while blue tendrils wildly lashed out. Screaming in agony, the Dragon Giant Warrior dropped all its weapons before quite literally collapsing onto its knees where its hands were the only things keeping it from completely hitting the dirt. Swiftly bisecting another set of warriors the sword-wielding toad raced towards the downed giant, taking a huge leap upwards when the lashed out with is boney arm. Directly behind it the real Naruto did the same, another blue ball held tightly in his palm.
Despite having known each other for less than half an hour, Naruto and the crimson toad made quite the pair. Semiramis smirked a little watching them come down shoulder to shoulder on top of the Dragon Giant Warrior, the katana driving deep into the bone while the blue energy sphere grinded and tore away. It was over in an instant with a funnel cloud of dust and ashes rising from "blast area". When it settled, Naruto and the toad were kneeling in a circle of gray-colored bone fragments and scattered dirt. That toad's blade was impaled almost to the hilt in the ground. She saw the toad mouth something to Naruto before scouring the surrounding area for any remaining soldiers. Semiramis decided that was enough of a test run and dismissed the few remaining skeletons. Rather or not, Naruto had made the most of them was now entirely on him.
The human and beast rose up and backed away, putting at least three feet of space between them. Surprisingly, Naruto kept his mouth shut in favor of giving the toad a rather passionate and heated stare the amphibian coolly accepted. Obviously, he was trying to seal the deal by keeping his hyperactivity in check.
"They said you were reckless loud-mouthed brat, but one that came through when it mattered." The crimson-skinned toad muttered, sheathing one of the blades while laying his palm atop the other. "Name's Gamatora, guess from now on we're going to be bash brothers, provided you're able to keep up with me."
And just like that, the restraining bolt gave way. "Seriously! Yes! That's awesome! Nice to meet you, Gamatora!" Allowing a chuckle to break through the toad returned Naruto's high-five, muttering something about "blondes" while the boy continuously gushed over his new battle partner. "Hey, Gamatora, what was that move you pulled to help me out with the skeletons, it looked just like the one Chief Toad used."
"That, Whiskers, was Water Style-Liquid Bullet, a routine water jutsu any toad worth their salt should know. You ever do something stupid and get yourself too far out I'll back you up, but don't blame me if you end up getting wet."
"Eh, I can deal with that part." His focus turned to the massive blade planted in the earth a few feet from him. Curiously Naruto reached out and touched the stainless steel, finding it colder than he imagined. "I've been meaning to ask, do all toads use blades? Chief Toad keeps that huge butter knife on him and only brings it out when he gets serious."
Gamatora grunted, whipping out his other sword causing Naruto to step back. "You summon us yet you know so little. Kid, one of these days you're going to have to take a trip to Mount Myōkobu. Every big toad knows how to wield a weapon, we're not some dumb animals that only know how to headbutt and wrestle." It might have been her imagination but Semiramis could have sworn Gamatora shot her a venomous glare. His comment had clearly been aimed at her, though Naruto was completely ignorant. "You on the other hand, seem to be the type who likes to settle things with your fists. Old-school, I can respect that."
"Hey, I can use kunai and shuriken when I want to, I just before the tried and true way of handling things." The genin defended, crossing his arms.
"That line has been uttered by many warriors, and half of them have met their end because of that same attitude." Came the Assyrian's sharp voice. While both males looked at her with annoyance, with Gamatora she detected personal aggression. She would have returned it if it were not for her Master being witness to the whole thing. "Naruto, I've seen many warriors who fight using a variety of weapons and tactics, but I'll admit, that Shadow Clone Jutsu of yours is rather…versatile." When the day was done, she wasn't going to allow him to say she completely shot him down. The proud smile he flashed her was almost enough to get her keep silent, almost. "But your fighting style from what I've seen is also unpolished and sloppy. It's arguably no better than street brawling."
"Oh geez, you too? What's wrong with how I fight? It gets the job done, doesn't it?"
"Perhaps, but it puts you at too much of a risk."
"I've put myself at risk before." He shot back, somewhat heatedly.
Semiramis briefly looked to the amphibian that had gone silent. Though its sideways glare was still strong, she could see it had lessened somewhat. "What will you do when faced with an enemy you can't beat or pummel to death? What then? The Dragon Tooth Warriors I had you battle were among my weakest. If I had summoned a more advanced version of them, you would be lying on the ground in agony while Gamatora and I contemplate why we've become beholden to such an imbecile."
"Imbecile! I clobbered those stupid skeletons easy! You got something tougher to bring out then go right on ahead!" He bellowed with a angry knot already formed on his forehead.
Semiramis snapped her fingers and yet another fissure opened up, this one smaller than the previous one. Naruto visibly recoiled as did Gamatora when their individual noses caught a whiff of the foul smell that arose from the fissure. The boney arm that shot out wasn't dark gray but pitch-black with deep violet smoke coiling off the shiny metallic bones. In seconds a new Dragon Tooth Warrior stood before the pair, one whose entire body was veiled in a nauseating veil of violet smoke. The ground around the soldier decayed and rotted similar to Semiramis whenever she summoned her own poisonous aura. Upon closer examination, at least when they were able to focus the males found the bones were sipping purple and even green-colored liquid that melted the ground it touched.
Crossing her arms, Semiramis took stock of the disturbed and even frightened look that broke out along Naruto's face. As she expected all his bravado was gone in a-
"Fine then! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
After summoning so many clones to deal with two patches of warriors Semiramis believed her Master would be too exhausted to another battle, but she was proved wrong when a new legion of blondes appeared before her and Gamatora. She blinked once in surprise at the sheer number of them.
"Oi, Snake Eyes." Gamatora barked, causing the Assyrian to finally face the toad. Neither made any attempt to hide the animosity they shared for each other. "This kid may be a knucklehead, but he's got guts. Don't underestimate that." With that, Gamatora literally disappeared in a puff of smoke similar to the Chief Toad.
Withdrawing herself so the Narutos could begin their engagement, the Servant pressed her lips into a tight frown. Guts doesn't win battles, and it doesn't keep you alive. I was right, though he may be a battler that toad is still but a child.
Almost immediately, the Naruto army found out the Dragon Toxin Warrior was on another level than the previous constructs. With its every move the boney warrior spread its vile poison, causing the clones who were unfortunate enough to collapse on the ground and convulse before disappearing. Strangely, this didn't detour the next wave who all came charging in wielding kunai and shuriken. The black boned warrior swung its poisoned blade outwards, releasing a wide-sweeping wave of purple gas that instantly disintegrated the metallic projectiles along with a handful of clones. The smarter of the bunch sled beneath the wave and continued their charge until they were within striking distance. Gnashing their teeth and holding their noses, the doppelgangers tackled the skeleton to the ground. What followed was in layman's terms an all-out pile-on the likes of which deeply reminded the Assyrian woman of a wrestling match more than anything.
This boy…he has grit, I'll give him that much.
A series of grunts and shouts preceded a massive pillar of violet miasma rose upwards, dispelling all of the clones. The rest of the legion fell back watching the Dragon Toxin Warrior rise to its feet, the heavy veil of toxicity still lingering around it though slightly smaller than before.
"Well, come on! There's still plenty of us left!" One of the Narutos barked.
Raising its sword, the warrior concentrated its poisonous power into its sword turning it into a purple mass of seeping liquid and swirling wind. Mere seconds before the blade could be brought down the next wave of clones rushed forward, coming upon the magically-constructed warrior in seconds. Just like the previous batch, these clones held their noses as they latched onto the warrior who was forced to halt its forward slash in favor of dealing with its new aggressors. Stabbing downwards it blew them all away, only to find more taking their place.
Chaotic as it was Semiramis took some pleasure in watching the dance of black, violet, and orange. Brief intervals of white interrupted the triple-colored ballet.
"Gotcha!"
Both Semiramis and her creation searched for the source of the voice. The Warrior looked downwards finding a red-eyed Naruto had latched onto its legs, and the clone's legs were being gripped by another, and so forth.
Roaring in a show of masculine effort, the seemingly real McCoy gripped the ankles of his clone and pulled. The human-chain ripped the skeleton warrior form its feet and flung it high into the air, wailing and swinging in futile attempts to get free. It was perhaps one of the most surreal combat moves Semiramis had ever seen, chains she was used to, but human chains were a different matter entirely. Watching her blond Master whirl around her creation like a toy. To the clones' credit they withstand the strain well, almost too well.
Apparently, her poisoned warrior had enough of being toyed with as it finally managed to land a solid hit with its sword. Falling to the ground in a confused heap, the warrior didn't have much time to gather itself as the clone chain adapted quickly. Stomping his foot, Naruto wheeled his clones around then began hurling them as if they were projectiles. The first clone slammed into the Dragon Poison Warrior like a cannonball, then came the second.
Semiramis saw pieces of bone begin to flake off of her creation. Slowly bit by bit, Naruto was wearing it down. He…he can actually turn numbers into a decent advantage, numbers and stamina. She realized, looking back at Naruto who was back to creating another Rasengan. The blue sphere did not go unnoticed by the battered warrior who took notice of the swirling tendrils. Snarling like a feral beast, the warrior finally regained itself. Flaring itself up with a layer of miasma it raced towards the real one, violently slashing and tearing at all the clones that got in its way.
First Semiramis' slitted eyes narrowed watching two clones put themselves in between the real Naruto and the soldier, then they widened seeing one pull out a kunai with an explosive tag on it. Half-decayed, it jabbed the weapon into the armpit of the failing warrior before all them of them vanished in an explosion of fire. Stumbling out of the smoke was the magical construct, now missing an arm and half its jaw while sporting several cracks along its body. The clone beside the real Naruto vanished, leaving him free to charge forward reeling his right arm back.
Readying itself, the skeletal warrior brought down its sword attempting to cleave child from the shoulder down. Naruto on the other hand, had a different idea. With a fierce determination in his eyes, he grabbed the warrior's wrist and held it tight while driving the Rasengan into the ribcage of the skeletal warrior. Immediately the Assyrian smelt and heard the smell of flesh burning and rotting, yet her Master remained firm.
The spiral sphere exploded outwards, completely and utterly shattering the Dragon Poison Warrior. Just barely standing on his two feet, the blond turned to the three-millennia old queen with a look of satisfaction on his face. "So, what's next?"
Semiramis was silent in her walk up to the child until they were within each other's personal space. Then she flattened her right hand and brought it down atop the blonde's head. "Do you have any idea how reckless that was! You could have killed yourself, or worse!"
"Hey! It got the job done, didn't it!"
"That's not the point! Gah, stick out your left hand if you wish to keep it!" Somewhat surprisingly, Semiramis found while the blonde's left hand was indeed turning a deep shade of purple with a few red veins, the color was…fading. Healing factor, so in addition to a large pool of energy the child possesses a healing factor. Wonderful, that means he's truly reckless type. Cradling the limb, Semiramis quietly uttered the incantation needed to neutralize the poison racing through the boy's veins. The whole process took less than a second, earning an awed looked from her Master. "Now then, remove the rest of your clothes."
"Huh?!"
"Do I have to repeat myself, Master?"
Bet you're real happy for those Command Seals now, aren't you brat? Rumbled the nine-tailed demon deep within the blond who began to do as instructed.
It wasn't exactly the first time Naruto had been told to strip in front of a woman, but Semiramis was different. In spite of the lingering pain across his body, he blushed bright red even when Semiramis told him to stop at once his entire upper body was bare.
While Naruto was built exactly as Semiramis expected what immediately caught her interest was his belly button, or specifically the space around it. Getting down on her knees she sensed the same dark, near demonic mass of energy as earlier swirling around it. There it is again. Exactly what is - Her fingers were centimeters from his skin when Semiramis felt the full-body tensing of her Master. Slowly, she glanced upwards to find the nervousness on Naruto's face had turned from comical to something else, something darker.
"You don't like being touched, not even by a woman?"
"N-N-No! I-I mean it's not like I don't like being touched! I-It's just well, I…I…I'm sensitive there." He finally settled, hoping he didn't sound too foolish.
Looking between his stomach and his eyes, Semiramis settled on another day for her investigation. Instead, she placed the tips of her fingers on Naruto's left shoulder and uttered the language of her homeland. The thirteen-year-old visibly winced, feeling something strange and vile rushing through his body. It almost made him begin to gag before he realized it was all over in an instant. Wide-eyed he watched Semiramis withdraw her fingers, a dark green liquid coating her nails.
"That was…kinda gross, but cool."
"Count yourself lucky my patience exceeds your intelligence." She spat, flicking her fingers thus spraying poisonous acid across the ground.
Though he visibly pouted at the remark, Naruto receded. "Thanks, Semi-chan."
"Don't…call me that." The Assassin said slowly, feeling an uncomfortable rumble in her stomach. "You were too reckless out there. Do you always fight like this?"
"Pretty much. Just because I don't know any fancy jutsu or have a kekkei genkai, doesn't mean I'm completely worthless. I can still fight."
Semiramis had no idea what a kekkei genkai was, but from the near defiant look in Naruto's eyes she guessed it was something she was going to have to read up on. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. "I suppose you…may have a point. You're alive, granted without me I'm sure you'd be missing an arm. That needs to change."
"What do you mean change?"
"Hand me two of your kunai."
Wordless he did so and watched as she turned over the elementary ninja tools. "As unsightly as it is, you're a frontal attacker, I fear nothing I can do will change that. So, I'm going to give you an alternative way to do so, if only to keep you alive a little while longer."
Sensing it was best not to ask further questioned, Naruto watched silently as his Servant went to work before his eyes. It was probably the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. Around her appeared a magic circle with lettering he couldn't even begin to make out or decipher. At her side were several vials of dark and brightly colored liquids he was sure weren't meant to be drinken, at least not by him.
"Did you…um, make things in your past life, Semiramis?"
"Poisons, policy, battle plans, fits of architectural wonder. Everything you'd expect of a queen." Shooting him a fierce sideways glare, she coldly asked, "Why? Do you think because I am a queen my only job is sit on a throne, all day ordering executions?"
"No! No! Besides, I've met plenty of princesses who are all sorts of awesome. Out all of them, you're probably the coolest."
For a fraction of a second, Semiramis felt her hands stumble at the praise. All her life she'd been complimented as either a means of flattery or an insult. What Naruto had just told her was…genuine. It had been a long time, almost an entire lifetime since she'd received something like that.
"You…said you always fight barehanded. Do all warriors here do so?"
"Eh, sort of. I mean compared to some of my friends, I'll admit my fighting style is a little rocky. You should really see my friends, Hinata, Neji, and Lee fight! They're awesome, especially Lee when he opens his Inner Gates."
"Hmph, I see. One day maybe I can see these three in battle and judge them as I've judged you. Hold out your arms."
Doing his best to remain calm, Naruto kept from yelping in shock when Semiramis' sharpened nails touched his skin. Where her nails made contact with his skin, there was a violet light that mesmerized the blond. She traced the countless little symbols before ending with drawing a straight line from the back of his head down to his forearm.
Once she was finished Naruto felt pain, the kind that had him biting his cheeks to keep from crying out. Through a few tears, he saw the violet light become blazing orange as the symbols began to emit flame-like embers. Once the pain passed, he allowed his mouth to drop in awe as crimson tendrils materialized around his arms stretching back to the magic circle Semiramis had previously stuck her hands in.
"Flex your fingers." Catching the look of faint worry, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, for Anu's sake, just do it."
Naruto did so and was rewarded with metallic objects appearing in his palms. Nearly jumping up to his feet he frantically looked over the weapons slowly realizing they were his kunai knives, now greatly modified. "Se-Semiramis, what did you do?"
Choosing to ignore the nickname, Semiramis chose to focus instead on her newly crafted creations. "Be proud, Naruto Uzumaki, for you have the honor of receiving blades personally crafted by the Wise Queen of Assyria herself." Calmly getting to her feet, the Servant summoned her own spear-tipped chains which dripped with venomous poison. "Now then, show me what you can do with them."
"Wh-What? You mean you want me to fight with these things?!"
"You think I made them for you just so you could look good?" She frowned. "According to the toads of this Mount Myōkobu you're not the insufferably knucklehead I believe you to be, now show me."
"Wait, did the toads really say, hey-wait!" Just barely dodging the forward chain lashing, Naruto looked down at the heavily modified kunai knives now held in both his arms. A familiar shaded purple liquid dripped from the blade tips onto the ground, causing the grass to sizzle. Looking up, he saw the ice-cold look in his Servant's golden-colored eyes. There was no way out of this. "I can't seriously hurt you with these, can I?"
Semiramis found his concern for her safety equal parts amusing and foolish. "You're talking as if you already know how to use them in order to defeat me. How cute." Or that if I REALLY wanted to, I could rip those blades and your arms off whenever I want.
This chapter contained a fair bit of experimenting as I'm sure you all must have guessed. Since the Narutoverse is nowhere near a restricting as the Nasuverse I figure Semiramis can be a lot more flexible with her abilties and I plan on getting a lot of mileage out of that. No excuses, the chained blades idea came from me playing a bit too much God of War. They'll be more elaboration on them next chapter along with Semiramis further testing what she can and can't do in the Naruto world.