I do not own naruto or this story It is a story that was removed several years ago and i couldn't find it anywhere else I couldn't find the author if the owner contacts me and provides prof of ownership i will take it down just want people to be able to enjoy this story
Chapter 6 : Demons, Tails and Plots?
Dead silence reigned over the training ground save for the horrible clicking and screeching noise that the demon scorpion was making in victory. Kakashi could hardly believe what he had just seen, his eyes had seen it but his mind didn't want to comprehend it. Sakura next to him had turned white as a sheet and then a bit green as tears streamed from her eyes. She continued to shake her head no in denial as her lips trembled and bile rose in her throat.
Always, known in, all my time
A little left of center now
Reflect as I realise
That all I need is to find the middle pillar
Path to sit like the sun by a
Star in the sky and just be
Sinners, casting stones at me
I...I stand, not crawling, not falling down
I...I bleed the demons that drag me down
I...I stand (For nothing)
Not crawling (The center)
Not falling down (Of calms within the eye)
I...I'll bleed (For no one)
The demons (But myself)
That pull me down (For me and no one else)
Just as Sakura fell to her knees several other groups arrived to see the horror. Sarutobi, Asuma, Gai and Kurenai had all arrived with their teams and stood stock still in shock at the sight of the massive five tailed scorpion that was seemingly gloating to itself. Sarutobi saw the large spattering of blood on the beasts claw and blanched.
"Kakashi-san...whose blood...?" The Hokage asked.
Ino, Tenten and Hinata were now trying to comfort a rather hysterical Sakura who kept crying out for Naruto.
Kakashi began to tremble. "It's...it's Naruto's...he...performed a substitution jutsu and took the blow for myself and Sakura." He choked out.
"Oh kami..." Sarutobi gulped.
The three girls trying to help Sakura were now not doing much better than she was. Hinata had screamed and fainted, Ino looked ready to toss her breakfast and Tenten was shivering in fear. The Jounin were stiff and went ramrod straight when the massive arachnid turned its attention towards the group...happy to see it dinner had grown in size.
"We must stop that Un-Youthful monster Gai-sensei!" Rock Lee cried out.
Gai gritted his teeth. "I agree...but it will be most difficult." He said in his serious voice.
The scorpion eyed the humans until its eight beady eyes rested on four trembling young girls. It began to salivate, after all human female virgins were a delicacy amongst the flesh eating demons and he had four just ripe for the picking. The beast opened its maw wide as four tentacle-like appendages shot out and wrapped around the four Genin Kunoichi causing each of them to scream in terror and the other ninja to blanch.
Goodbye, sunshine, I've put it out again, sad
I'm over, personalities, conflicting
I don't need you, or anyone else, but me
I'll just be, living my own life
I feel I'm glowing center grow, infecting
I feel alive
Shovel dirt over lime
Plant it in myself to sit like a seed under
Covers of Earth and just be
Sinners, pointing fingers at me
I...I stand (For nothing)
Not crawling (By myself)
Not falling down
I...I bleed (For no one)
The demons (But myself)
That drag me down
I...I stand (For nothing)
Not crawling (The center)
Not falling down (Of calms within the eye)
I...I'll bleed (For no one)
The demons (But myself)
That pull me down (For me and no one else)
The Jounin quickly began trying to free the four girls, Gai and Lee using every ounce of their strength to keep the monster from retracting its tongues. Asuma had his trench knives out along with Kakashi wielding two kunai trying to cut their students loose...to no avail. The flesh was as hard as steel. Kurenai bent two Senbon and broke one kunai trying to stab the tongue holding Hinata.
Sarutobi was beginning to panic, without something to seal the demon into the fourths seal jutsu was useless...not to mention as long as it had the girls he couldn't risk using it. Without Naruto...they literately had no options...Jounin and Kage level jutsu would just piss the creature off more than it was.
Sakura, Ino, Hinata...who was forced awake, and Tenten suddenly all cried out for Naruto to help them. The fear in their voices was tearing at the other stunned Genin but they were too terrified to do anything, the killing intent coming off the demon scorpion had frozen them in place.
There was a sudden trembling in the ground as the girls continued to scream and cry out for help. The trembling grew as a sudden massive surge of chakra erupted from below ground followed by an enraged inhuman roar. The earth ripped apart as Naruto, still in Werefox form, tore out of the ground, bloody, beaten but still ready to rip into the demon.
Beast-Naruto saw the situation the girls were in, Sakura the only one realizing who he was began to cry out happily at the sight of him. He jerked around snarling as his feral glowing blue eyes narrowed at the insect...it had gotten a lucky shot the first time...no more Mr. Nice Hanyou. At this point Naruto was nearly in Berserker mode and relying on his primal instincts and fueled by the one thing that made him different than most...his Alpha Male nature.
Come play kill
Refuse my body, refuse my shadow
Stone cold will
Refuse to lead this, refuse to follow
Bitter pills
Refuse to feed this, refuse to swallow
I'm fueled Godless
Come play, come play
Kill
Just be, just be
Just be, just be
Just be, just be
"Release...Friends...NOW!" Naruto roared and slashed up with his blade-like claws.
The four tongues stood no chance against the power of an enraged demon lord and were severed sending out four gouts of rancid looking purple slime-like blood. The scorpion let out a screeching howl of pain as it staggered back from the recoil of losing hold of its prey.
The Werefox took full advantage of this and in less than a second he was on the giant arachnid, his arms around its left pincer appendage. With a savage tug and a loud cracking noise said appendage was ripped off the demons body before being used as a club to shatter the one on the right with another thunderous crack.
Another tail lashed out at the Werefox, its venomous stinger making to pierce the beast's heart. Beast-Naruto caught the offending appendage in his massive clawed hand and clenched down. Another sickening crack sounded off as the stinger and exo-skeleton of the tail shattered under the pressure of the Werefox's grip.
Beast-Naruto hacked up a large amount of blood; the internal damage he suffered wasn't healing as fast due to his heavy use of chakra to heal and had only been worsened by the last blow he took. He needed to end this quickly and he knew just the trick to do it
Leaping up into the air all nine tails spread out behind him and began spinning around in a spiraling manner. The Werefox opened its maw as a large orb of swirling red and blue energy appeared in each clawed hand as another roar sounded off his intent for a killing strike.
"Twin Demonic Bullet Rasengan!" Naruto roared and thrust his clawed hands forward causing both Rasengan to shoot from his palms.
I...I stand (For nothing)
Not crawling (By myself)
Not falling down
I...I bleed (For no one)
The demons (But myself)
That drag me down
I...I stand (For nothing)
Not crawling (The center)
Not falling down (Of calms within the eye)
I...I'll bleed (For no one)
The demons (But myself)
That drag me down (For me and no one else)
Both drilling balls of energy spiraled towards the demon scorpion at the speed of a pistol shot impacting into the demons face and drilling their way through its exo-skeleton. Two seconds later the two Rasengan blew up inside of the demon with enough force to incinerate it.
Before the explosion could reach the other Shinobi, Naruto, appeared in front of them and summoned another massive surge of chakra and created a glowing red barrier around the group letting the shockwave and explosion pass over them harmlessly.
Naruto dropped the barrier and staggered slightly as he turned to look at those gathered. "Friends...s-safe...no...ow..." The last part came out gurgled as blood poured from his mouth, his eyes rolled up and he passed out. His body returning to human form before he even hit the ground, steam pouring from his body as the damage he took from the fight became horribly apparent. The strange part was that his ears remained slightly pointed but otherwise human looking and one of his tails remained out.
Kakashi dropped down and began checking his vitals. "Damn...he's really weak...low pulse, chakra exhaustion and power burnout...if we don't get him help now he'll die."
Kakashi, Kurenai and Sarutobi were the only ones there that knew any kind of medical jutsu so they began working on him feverently. Sakura suddenly remembered the supplies Naruto had gotten her and gave Kakashi two blood, food and soldier pills. Hinata had some of her homemade healing cream with her and tearfully began putting it on some of his wounds. Tenten and Ino grabbed some extra bandages from their supply pouches and began wrapping the treated wounds.
The male Genin finally snapping to decided to help in any way they could. Neji walked over and activated his Byakugan and winced. "Naruto-san seems to have taken allot of damage from some kind of acid. He is healing but slowly. His chakra coils seem to have shattered but are also slowly repairing themselves." He said in his usual monotone.
Once treatments had been done to the best of their abilities Gai picked the now somewhat stabilized Naruto up. "I will get him to the Hospital as fast as I can Hokage-sama." He said and took off so fast only a cloud of dust remained in his wake.
Two hours later...
The entire Rookie Nine except Naruto and Sasuke, Team Gai, the Jounin sensei's and Sarutobi waited outside in the ER waiting area for any news on Naruto. Some rather startling news had been discovered about Sasuke when a complete physical and check up was run on him. They discovered that he had somehow become sterile due to a mishaps with his chakra and it was irreversible...more so was that his Sharingan would remain dormant as his special chakra pockets for the doujutsu had seemingly never developed.
The others had been shocked but there were a few there that thought it for the best, Sarutobi, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and surprisingly Kakashi who had come to believe the Uchiha clan was cursed. To the Jounin's shock none of the females seemed distressed about this, in fact Sakura looked a little smug and so did Hinata. Tenten didn't know him and couldn't care less due to his rather harsh reputation in his treatment of other girls. Ino just looked indifferent, she had lost her interest in him yesterday when he acted like an ass to Naruto. Kiba had snickered along with Chouji. Shikamaru just snoozed and Shino remained stoic as usual, Lee and Neji didn't know the Uchiha so it didn't really matter to them.
Sarutobi and Kakashi then did their best to explain a few things such as Naruto's nine tailed form. It had taken them a little while to explain that as a Hanyou Naruto has two levels of his power that he can unlock if needed in battle and that even though he might look like a monster that he was still in complete control of the transformation. Sakura took it in stride having been the first aside from Kakashi to witness the change and knew that he did it to protect them. Ino thought it was neat...like something she had seen in one of her favorite horror films. Tenten thought he was cute...which caused several of the males to face fault and sweatdrop...Tenten always was one of the odd ones, go figure she would see the Neo-Kyuubi as some sort of big puppy. Hinata didn't voice it but she agreed with Tenten and thought that the form was cute, though she noted it would be cuter if he wasn't using it to tear apart a gigantic five tailed scorpion. The male Genin didn't really have anything to comment on considering Naruto's Werefox form, it had freaked them out a bit at first but his lack of aggression towards them killed any previous fear they might have had.
Finally a doctor came out by the name of Katsuki Yamada.
Sarutobi got up from his seat. "How is he Dr. Yamada?"
The doctor chuckled; he was one of the few who had always treated Naruto in the past when he was brought in after mob attacks.
"If there were more like that kid, I'd be out of a job. Once we got some extra chakra into his system his levels began returning to normal at their usual inhuman pace. The damage done to his insides was extensive but with a little help from us his healing factor had made him good as new again. I'm telling you though...any normal human would have died from the amount of chakra he produced...it was so much that it caused his coils to break and reform into larger ones. Instead of being twice the size of human chakra coils they are now three times the size and stronger than before." Katsuki reported.
"Any clue as to why he kept a tail and his ears pointed out when the rest of him returned to normal?" Kakashi asked curiously.
"Actually yes...when his chakra coils reformed they needed a balancer or limiter to keep his chakra flow going properly. To be honest it appears as if that was the final step in his evolution as a Hanyou. According to his blood work he is now literately a Fox/Human Hybrid. Thankfully his personality wasn't effected by this, his only comment was to chuckle and toss out a few curses at Kami and Shinigami for their bad sense of humor. Any other changes that take place will be of his own doing so no need to worry about him sprouting more tails or fox ears unless he changes forms."
"All in all he is just fine now and his immunity to poisons and venoms has strengthened to the point he has also become immune to acid, his blood can actually turn acid into harmless substance now. He is still suffering from power burnout though and was asleep when we moved him to his private room, but knowing his recovery rate he should be fine in a day or so." Katsuki stated.
"Umm...wh-what is p-power burnout?" Hinata asked in her usual shy tones.
"It is the price the human part of a body pays for using extremely high levels of demonic chakra and powers for any period of time. The effect varies depending on the amount of power, chakra and/or damage taken during a fight. Truth be told...if Naruto were to ever sustain too much damage and expend to much chakra it could kill him but considering his regenerative abilities that risk is quite low. For the most part he would just need to rest a bit to regain his strength." Katsuki answered.
"May we see him?" Sarutobi asked.
The doctor smiled. "Right this way Hokage-sama...are all of you his friends?" He asked the others and they nodded. "Then you may go too, just let him get some sleep for now, he will wake soon enough." He then led the group to a large private room where Naruto could be seen sleeping peacefully in the bed.
The wounds he had sustained from the battle were now nothing more than scars on his body, some had even vanished all together. His face was set in a peaceful if not innocent look though his ears did twitch slightly with the sounds of their foot falls, they were still slightly pointed but no longer long and foxy. Tenten and the other females in the room giggled quietly as they saw his tail sway lazily over the side of his bed.
"That's one hell of a kid we got there eh pops?" Asuma asked his father.
"Aye...he is one of a kind." Sarutobi nodded.
Neji looked at Naruto and frowned. "I can understand everything you've told us so far Hokage-sama but I do not understand why a Five Tailed Demon Scorpion suddenly just showed up."
"It is because it sensed my power and wanted to claim my power or gain rank by killing me." Naruto said in a quiet voice, he sounded rather tired so much so that he couldn't even open his eyes. "Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Ino-chan and Tenten-chan...are they safe?"
Three of the girls blushed at having the suffix added to their names, Sakura was used to it so she just smiled at his concern for their well being.
"Yeah we are...thanks to you Whiskers." Ino said with a giggle.
Naruto chuckled tiredly at the weird nickname. "Good...I was afraid that thing might have hurt one of you. I'm sorry you had to see me change like that...now that I think on it...I probably should have just fought the bastard in my first level form but I didn't want to risk it so I powered up to my nine tail form." It was a partial truth, most of his skills were highly destructive and he didn't want people to see some of them just yet.
"Should we expect anymore attacks like that one?" Sarutobi asked.
"No, Ji-chan, that one was one of the less intelligent tailed demons. Most aren't stupid enough to attack me when I'm in a village because of the chance of other ninja and the fear of being sealed. Besides most of the tailed demon lords act as guardians of their chosen elemental country and aren't really evil...it's the lesser tailed demons we have to be wary of...though I doubt after that any of them will be dumb enough to attack." Naruto stated with a yawn.
"Why's that?" Kurenai asked curiously.
"Because technically and by demon law I am the new Nine Tailed Demon Lord and acting Guardian of Fire Country. By killing that five tailed Scorpion I activated that status by demon laws even though I'm only a Hanyou. Some might still try but it will be rare if they do the title I carry and my power levels are more than enough to scare even some of the dumber ones off." Naruto answered.
While Naruto was explaining things Tenten had become quite enamored with his tail and took to playing with it. So by effect Naruto began to feel some rather odd and pleasant sensations. Despite his body feeling like someone dropped the Hokage tower on it every time she stroked the fur on his tail a certain way it sent a shock of pleasure up his spine...much to his silent horror...another piece of his anatomy was reacting as well.
The adults noticed and began snickering to themselves while Tenten remained blissfully unaware of what she was doing to Naruto. Hinata however did notice and blushed brightly which caught Ino and Sakura's attention...Ino got a nosebleed.
"Tenten..." Naruto let out in a strained/squeaky voice. "Can you stop playing with my tail."
"Aw...but it's so fun...it's all nice and...flu...oh!" She caught on and turned a nice shade of magenta.
Kiba was rolling on the floor at this point. "Things looking up, Naruto?" He asked.
"If I could move right now, Fido, I'd be kicking your ass for that." Naruto grumbled.
"Why can't you move and do you have any idea why you grew a tail?" Kakashi asked taking mercy on him, though he was laughing his ass off in his head.
Naruto was thankful for the conversation change. "I can't move a muscle, not even to open my eyes, because of the damage I took during my fight. It's a side effect of power burnout that basically has the body force rest, to be honest it's taking a great deal of concentration just to move my jaw to talk...it should wear off after a good nights sleep and I'll be back to normal, this only happens after either long battles and/or if I take a lot of physical damage. The tail...I was warned it could happen if I pushed my power levels to hard in my nine tailed form. The result was breaking and reforming my Chakra coils...but the doctor already explained that. The tail is also a symbol of my rank as a Demon Lord, all Tailed Demon Lords have a tail when they take human form, most of them just hide it under a simple Genjutsu or a cloak." Naruto answered. "Might have helped though if my body had been given enough time to properly adjust to my future self and power levels...ah well, what can ya do?" He added mentally.
Sarutobi chuckled. "It's just one thing after another with you isn't it?"
"You have no idea..." Naruto replied dryly.
Naruto woke the next morning feeling his power levels back to their optimum level. Shinigami had been correct when he said that it would take a few days for Naruto's body to properly adjust to his power. He shook his head, allot had happened the past two days...more than he would have liked but there was no going back now. At least he was in top form again.
He frowned a bit as he looked at his new tail, the price of using his nine tailed beast form without letting his body fully adjust to the new power levels that were put in it. Physical changes had been easy to adapt to but when you force a human body from the past to merge with a Hanyou body from the future it takes time for all that power to properly adapt into the system and stabilize. Thankfully from the feel of it he was now at his peak level and could now fully utilize all of his powers and abilities without problems.
Naruto got out of the hospital bed and stretched his stiff muscles, he idly noticed he was clad in only a pair of boxers. On a table next to the bed lay his utility belts, shredded pants, trench coat, Griever and Beowulf. He reached into his scroll pouch and pulled out his clothes storage scroll and seconds later he had another pair of boots, a black tank top and a pair of black ANBU style pants. Quickly donning the clothes he stuck his swords to his back and then went over to the window, opened it and jumped out.
Truth be told he hated hospitals. This was better though, he could move freely again so a leisurely run across Konoha's roof tops was just what he needed to refresh himself...along with a trip to the hot spring to take a good soak and wash up.
Several miles from the fast moving Naruto. Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata along with Anko and Kurenai decided to also take a trip to the hot springs to relax a bit, the stress from the encounter with the demon scorpion was still running through the four girls and they wanted to soak the stress out. Kurenai tagged along because she had just finished training Hinata and Sakura in Genjutsu at Kakashi's request. Anko invited herself since she wanted to find out what had the four Genin Kunoichi so talkative about Naruto.
Shortly after the group of Kunoichi arrived so did Naruto who went to the men's side oblivious to what was going on, on the other side of the divider.
"So...Naruto really beat the crap out of Sasuke for being mean to you!" Ino exclaimed in surprise and a little anger at the raven haired brooder.
Sakura nodded with a light blush. "Naruto-kun took him down in two hits and then did his best to make me feel better. I...almost kissed him." She giggled.
Ino pouted. "No fair...give the rest of us a chance forehead, it's not fair you got on the same team with the two hottest guys in our year."
"You can have Sasuke if you want him, the moment he said I was only useful for reading books and cannon fodder I realized just who he really was...he's a prick." Sakura said crossing her arms.
Ino frowned. "Yeah he is...never thought I'd say that."
Tenten chuckled. "The Uchiha sounds allot like Neji. I tried to get him to date me for almost two years but he has this damn obsession with fate or in his words we are not fated to be together."
Hinata remained silent, she knew her cousin could be mean and hated the main house of her clan but at the moment there was nothing she could do about it or him. She was also a little upset that Sakura and the two other girls were taking so much interest in her Naruto-kun. However that might be moot considering what her father had informed her of last night.
Ino noticed Hinata deep in thought and got curious. "Hey, Hinata, what's on your mind?"
Hinata looked up and gave a small smile to the other girls, at least around them she didn't stutter all the time.
"I was just thinking...about what father told me last night about Naruto-kun." She said.
Tenten blinked curiously. "What'd he say?"
"That, Naruto-kun, was the last of his clan and the holder of a new Kekkei Genkai, though we already knew that...what I found out last night though...was that he is now under the Clan Restoration Act." She informed them.
Sakura's eyes widened. "I've heard about that law!" She exclaimed. "Sasuke was also stuck under it...not that he ever took interest. Anyway...that law forces the last living male heir of a clan who has a Kekkei Genkai to practice Polygamy to restore the clan. This law goes one of three ways. The heir finds and chooses wives on his own, the heir gets forced into arranged marriages or the worst one is that he is imprisoned for acting against the council and genetic samples are taken and given to willing donors."
Hinata nodded. "Yes and according to father Naruto-kun has until he is sixteen to start gathering possible future wives or the council will start forcing arranged marriages on him...a couple might be placed anyways due to his clan status. If he doesn't have any wives by the time he's eighteen...they will follow through with the third option and I really doubt that the council can hold Naruto-kun prisoner for long."
Ino cringed at the thought. "No kidding...we'd have another Kyuubi attack and this time it would be the councils fault. I wonder how many wives he has to have...what are the minimum and maximum numbers..." She trailed off in thought.
"I remember learning a bit about this during my time at the academy...I believe the minimum number is six and as far as I know there is no maximum number." Tenten added and then grinned. "Well...there's four of us...we get two more girls and that makes six."
"But you don't even know him!" Sakura nearly shouted.
"Not yet but I plan on getting to know him better and since I don't really have to worry about competition cause of the laws on him I'm going for it." Tenten said cheekily. Sharing didn't sound too bad to her.
"So am I." Hinata said shyly.
"I almost screwed up with him once before because I misjudged him, I'm not letting this chance pass me up either." Sakura added.
Ino let out a fake sigh. "Well I can't let forehead here drive him nuts so I better join in too, besides I've heard about his insane stamina...think of the fun!"
The three other girls blushed at the lewd implications. "You are such a pervert Ino-pig." Sakura mumbled while fighting off a small nosebleed.
Kurenai continued to watch the four Genin Kunoichi gossip, giggle and scheme about ways to get their Naruto-kun. The Genjutsu Mistress was mildly surprised at how quickly the young Hanyou had gotten the girls attention, though she knew that Hinata had always been interested. She wasn't to surprised thought having talked to him a few times. He was a gentleman, kind and clearly chivalrous. He reminded Kurenai of a younger Asuma mixed with personality traits from the late Arashi Kazama. Bemused she was about to ask her best friend what she thought only to find the twenty year old Snake Mistress no longer sitting next to her but peeking through a hole in the divider.
"Anko! What are you doing over there!" Kurenai asked, she knew her friend was a pervert but she thought that Anko might try to set an example for the Genin.
Anko turned with a shit eating grin on her features. "Oh I was just checking out the scenery and what wonderful scenery it is...our little Foxy-kun decided to take a soak too!"
Cue the sound of music and a record coming to a rather abrupt screeching halt.
Four Genin Kunoichi stopped talking and silence reigned for all of five seconds before the girls looked at each other with a gleam in their eyes and nodded. Tenten produced four kunai...from somewhere...and handed the others one. Four young females took off like a shot and landed next to an amused Anko who had gone back to peeking and poked holes of their own into the divider.
Kurenai sweatdropped...so much for males being the more perverted side of the species...
Naruto had been relaxing and enjoying the feeling of the hot water relaxing his muscles when he was forced into a sneezing fit for a few moments. A sudden shudder went down his spine and caused his tail to bush out.
"If I didn't know better..." Naruto frowned. "...I'd say someone was planning things behind my back."
"Oh well...at least Ero-sennin isn't here." He let out a yawn and stretched himself.
Standing up for a moment he began stretching and flexing his muscles to ensure they were back in proper working order. He smiled when he noticed all previous pain and stiffness was gone. Having a tail now though made it impossible to use a towel to cover his modesty...not that he had anything to be modest about, he was quite large for his age but not disturbingly so...so he kept a towel close by to hold up when he left the bath. It never crossed his mind that he could use his tail to cover himself.
His sensitive hearing picked up some quiet muffled giggles...muffled girly perverted giggles. Naruto blinked twice and looked around he didn't see Jiraiya or Kakashi around, in fact he knew Jiraiya wasn't in the village at the moment. He started wading around in the pool of hot water in hopes of figuring out who was making the noise...if it was some pervert he was going to pummel the man.
"What the hell is going on...?" He sniffed a couple of times and the closer he got to the divider the stronger he could detect the mixed scent of vanilla and honey.
"Grr...if I find out whoever the pervert is around here I'm going to brain him." Naruto said stopping near the divider wall.
A muffled gasp was heard as one of the girls...Ino...got an up close eye full and let out an involuntary chakra spike and promptly fell backwards with a massive nosebleed.
Naruto heard several screams from the other side followed by a few more chakra surges. Growing concerned he dashed over to the locker pulled out a pair of long short and some bandages, which he hastily wrapped around his eyes just in case. Using his enhanced senses he hastily made his way over to the entrance of the female side of the hot springs, his blindfold securely in place.
"I heard screams is everyone alright over here!" Naruto called out, his back turned despite the blind fold.
It had only taken Ino a moment to recover and she along with the other women started at the sound of Naruto's voice. They looked to the entrance to see Naruto standing there clad in nothing but a pair of shorts, his tail's tip flicking about, and with bandages wrapped around his head in a makeshift blindfold...his back to them.
Now there was various ways they could react to this situation but given the fact that Naruto had blindfolded himself and had his back turned with concern in his voice the thoughts of screaming pervert and pummeling him flew out the window. But what to do? They didn't want to admit that they were the ones peeking.
Kurenai flushed slightly and decided to make a discrete retreat through the second entrance after hastily gathering her clothes. The whole thing had grown a little to awkward for her to handle. Anko however got a deliciously devious idea and grinned evilly towards the unsuspecting blonde Hanyou.
Naruto frowned in confusion at the sudden silence, his pointed elf-like ears twitching slightly to pick up sounds as his tail began swaying about as if searching the area around him.
"Umm...ladies...is everything okay?" Naruto asked again...a bit nervous this time because he didn't want to be labeled a pervert.
Anko flash stepped behind Naruto, grabbed his arm and tossed him into the center of the pool before shutting the door and locking it with a predatory grin. She quickly did the same with the other door...now...it was time to have a little fun.
Naruto spluttered a bit and managed to get his bearings as he dropped into a Taijutsu stance thinking he was being attacked. "Show yourself you perverted bastard...if any of the ladies here have been harmed...I'll kill you." He snarled.
This caught all of them, even Anko by surprise. They didn't know that Naruto could sense their presences but since he wasn't very familiar with Anko's signature and he could smell snake he was instantly on guard...they also didn't know that he was good at blind fighting either. Thankfully Sakura spoke up before Naruto could do something he would regret...Hinata had fainted again, her eyes swirling in comical spirals as steam poured from her ears and a trickle of blood from her nose.
"We're fine Naruto-kun." Sakura said in a soothing tone as she placed a hand on his arm. "There's no one here and we are just fine."
"B-but who threw me and why do I smell snake?" Naruto asked still on edge.
Anko frowned a bit. "That would be me." She said losing a lot of her playfulness.
Naruto's ear twitched in Anko's direction and he sniffed again and frowned. "I apologize Anko-san, I am not familiar with your chakra signature and when I sensed your cursed seal I assumed the worst. I should have known better, I guess I'm just a bit jumpy...I'm sorry." He bowed in the direction he smelled her in and frowned. "What the hell? Vanilla and Honey again...coming from five different sources...?"
Anko smiled at the honest tones in his words, besides how could she stay angry at someone so cute?
"I'll let you off this time Foxy-kun, but why did you blindfold yourself?" She asked coyly.
Beads of sweat formed on Naruto's brow and he swallowed hard. "Well...I'm not a pervert; I didn't want to see anyone in here." He stated.
Anko and Ino huffed, their cheeks puffing out slightly. "And what's wrong with us that you wouldn't want to see!" Both asked in unison.
Naruto cringed. "N-no-nothing!" He let out an uncharacteristic squeak and then cleared his throat. "I-it's just that...err...it's not polite and...umm...I didn't want to make anyone mad..." "Shit, Shit, SHIT! I'm gonna die...they are gonna castrate me and pummel me into the ground like Ero-sennin...crapcrapCRAP!" Naruto panicked.
Tenten on the other hand was looking at Naruto's fidgeting tail much like a cat does a new toy. Sakura looked like she wanted to follow Hinata's example but the perverted part of her mind...Inner Sakura...refused to let her. Hinata was slowly coming too...she didn't realize the fastener on her towel had came lose from her frequent fainting spells.
Anko did notice and let an evil grin cross her lips...Ino mimicked it. In one swift move by both. Anko jerked off the blindfold Naruto was wearing as Ino made sure Hinata's towel fell off. Naruto's eyes widened to impossible sizes since the first thing he saw was a very nude Hinata Hyuga...he stiffened...in more ways than one.
"N-Na-Naruto-kun!" Hinata asked in shock, she hadn't realized her towel had slipped off just yet and she unconsciously looked down to see a rather large tent in Naruto's shorts. "Oh!" She squeaked but managed to stay conscious.
With every ounce of will power Naruto possessed he stemmed off a rather forceful nosebleed before it could start, screwed his eyes shut and dropped his hands to cover himself.
"I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean to...I'm not a pervert...please don't hurt me!" He said somewhat pathetically.
Anko frowned...this wasn't the reaction she expected and frankly...it ruined the mood and what fun it was supposed to bring. If she didn't know better she'd almost swear he was scared? Naruto began to shiver and her frown deepened...what on earth could have caused this kind of reaction, she knew he wasn't gay, then she remembered the memories he showed them two days ago in the Hokage's office and mentally kicked herself.
Tenten, Ino and Sakura were very confused. They had just seen him tear apart a five tailed demon the other day and now he was acting terrified of them. Hinata stifled a gasp as she finally noticed her lack of towel and shot Ino a glare through a deep crimson blush. Ino gave the smaller girl a nervous grin and handed back the towel and Hinata covered herself quickly. Sakura touched his shoulder to ask if he was alright and Naruto flinched away from her and gritted his teeth as if waiting for a blow to come.
Anko sighed. "Shit...I should have known better."
"Huh!" Came four surprised voices...Naruto was still silent.
"Naruto...you can open your eyes, none of us are mad at you, we aren't going to hurt you and Hinata-chan is covered again." Anko said in her not a crazy woman tone.
"But..." Naruto started.
"No buts!" Anko said firmly. "You didn't dishonor any of us and we don't think you're a pervert, if anything it's my fault for forcing the situation."
Realization dawned on the girls faces. Naruto's deep rooted sense of honor had him believe that he had dishonored them by seeing them. For all of Naruto's strengths he still had major insecurities when it came to women...he had been afraid that they would hate him now.
Hinata not wanting to see her crush punishing himself for something that really wasn't his fault screwed up her courage and used all of her will not to stutter.
"N-Naruto-kun...it was an accident...I'm not mad." She said, her tone still quiet and shy but with a hint of determination in it.
"Yeah...none of us are mad and I want to say I'm sorry to you and Hinata...I was the one who made sure her towel fell off." Ino said.
Naruto frowned in confusion...wasn't this the part he got castrated and pummeled to death? Forcing his eyes to slowly open he noticed Tenten, Hinata, Sakura and Ino standing closer to him, blushing but not angry.
"I...don't understand." He said confusion thick in his tones.
Before any of them could speak Naruto shook off his previous fear and discomfort but turned stoic as he ruthlessly squashed his emotions while berating himself silently. "I am sorry, I had thought you were in trouble, I should have known better myself...now if you ladies will excuse me I have things to attend to." He lied his voice in monotone and in a swirl of water he vanished.
"Dammit..." Anko cursed.
"What just happened...?" Sakura asked a bit upset at how quickly Naruto could shut off his emotions.
"What I did when I pulled him in here was a mistake. It acted as a shock to his mind...I think he thinks we hate him or should hate him for what happened."
Hinata looked sad. "Is it because of his past?"
Anko winced. "You could say that. There are things about Naruto that I cannot explain to you four, in time he might tell you...but not until he feels the time is right. All I can say is that no matter how powerful someone is...they will still have a weakness. Some fear death for example...Naruto...his fear is hurting and/or losing those precious to him. It doesn't help that his deeper emotional range is very limited...he's afraid of love because anytime he has let himself feel it...it has been taken away from him." Anko said now feeling bad for him.
Ino looked at Anko for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she viewed the slightly older teen. "You like him don't you?" She asked.
Anko shrugged. "What's not to like, he's handsome, considerate and has a body to die for. I'm not in love with him like you girls are though...I don't know him well enough yet." She chuckled as the four girls blushed deeply but was happy to see that none of them denied it. "A word of advice for you girls...if you truly want a place in his heart...find what binds his heart and unlock it slowly...don't make the same mistake I just did, seduction tactics won't work on him until he has warmed up to you all a bit."
With that said Anko left the four Genin Kunoichi to think over what she just said. She herself wanted some time to think to herself about the blonde Hanyou, she usually wasn't so effected by a guy and wanted to figure out why when he was around she felt different...perhaps it was because they were kindred spirits...both having had to suffer prejudices in their lives for things they had no control over.
Several hours later...
Naruto sat alone in one of the old abandoned training grounds. His previous frustration had been taken out on several boulders and old training logs...which were now reduced to rubble and sawdust. He was angry and disappointed in himself. Angry for letting old fears resurface and disappointed for acting on them instead of controlling his emotions like he always did. It was times like this that he missed Kyuubi's presence, she had always helped him remain calm in the past.
The reactions the girls had, had confused him greatly, especially Hinata...he'd seen her nude for Kami's sake and she didn't even scream! Part of him felt like a damn pedophile due to his mental age but he had to remember that physically he was still only thirteen and in the end...age didn't really matter to a Hanyou. But damn...how did a thirteen year old girl get the body of a sixteen year old swimsuit model!
Pushing those thoughts aside Naruto sighed...sleep would not come easy tonight. Sighing he stood up and released the seal holding his Zanbato Requiem so he could train a bit with the massive blade.
In a puff of smoke and a flare of chakra Requiem appeared, forming out of his seal tattoo. From handle to tip it was nearly nine foot long. The blade was a rather wicked looking piece of work. It was jet black and seemed to swallow all light that touched it, eight inches thick and two feet wide. The blade was made so that it could cleave, slice, pierce and rip. Like most Zanbato it was supposed to have a blunt side to it but instead that side was covered with large ripping serrated spikes. The tip was an extended piercing tip much like a kunai blade but as it came back down it turned into a large and long double edged scythe-like hook. The rest of the blade was obviously made for cleaving as it resembled Zabuza's sword the rest of the way back to the handle. The entire blade was made of black adamant, a demonic metal that was completely indestructible, could absorb chakra and store it and worked with all known elemental affinities. It had no fancy hilt or handle, the handle was merely a thinned and rounded area of the blade wrapped with dragon hide for added grip. The butt of the handle however held something truly interesting, a one of a kind jewel known only as a Prism Diamond that was forever locked within the adamant holding it in place. It was about as thick as a golf ball but instead of a rounded off gem it had been cut so that it came out as a piercing sharp point. Its name came from the fact that shimmered with various different colors much like a prism crystal does, but unlike crystal...this was a diamond and unbreakable.
The massive blade hummed as Naruto grasped it as if it was greeting its master. Naruto smiled, Requiem was semi-sentient...no one but him could wield it or lift it for that matter and he could summon it to his hand if separated from it. It was the most powerful sword ever created by an unknown duo of demonic and divine artisans. No being before Naruto had ever been able to claim it as the legend of it had foretold that only the one who was Darkness beyond Blackest Pitch and Radiance beyond Greatest Brilliance, a perfection of two opposing forces could only wield Requiem.
What that meant was only a being with a pure soul who had both the powers of darkness and light in harmony within themselves could master the Requiem.
Naruto ran through various kata he had created for his own personal sword style. The massive blade cutting through the air with grace unheard of for such a sword its size. With each swing of Requiem Naruto's mind eased more and more as the fog of confusion cleared and clarity took its place calming the young Hanyou warrior.
Things may not have started off for Naruto like he had hoped they would but as it was said. Even the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. It didn't matter anymore, Naruto had the power, strength and skills to match any surprise or danger that came his way...besides a few surprises was better than knowing everything that was going to happen...at least he wouldn't be bored in the foreseeable future.