I do not own Naruto or Steven Universe.
"Believe in Steven!" normal speech
"Believe in Steven!" thought/mind speak
"Believe in Steven!" demon speak
Chapter 9: Crossing Swords
*Beach City; Town Hall*
Naruto was sitting on one of the chairs that was set up for another one of Mayor Bill Dewey's Re-Election Speeches and he was seriously nervous. I'm feeling really sick about this, Naruto thought as the red-haired man wearing a black suit and shades was sitting next to him. "Take it easy, Kid," the red-haired man said with a cool, collected voice, "This place actually seems too nice to be like Konoha." You should know better than that, 'Agent' Kurama, Naruto thought as he looked at the crowd and saw Steven and the others wave towards him, At least there are some people here who accept me.
"People of Beach City," Mayor Dewey addressed, "I have gathered you here for a very important announcement: Today with us we have a small boy who has had a terrible past that the good people of Beach City just cannot accept to have happened to him." The Mayor waved towards Naruto before continuing, "The young boy with us is Naruto Uzumaki and he has suffered trauma that our veterans, bless them wherever they may be, would never have imagined happened to such a nice child. With me to explain what is going on with the boy is Agent Kurama Inari. Mr. Inari, if you please." Kurama got up and approached the podium as Mayor Dewey gave him the spotlight.
"People of Beach City," Kurama spoke with absolute professionalism, "what I am about to explain may seem farfetched and unbelievable, but what I speak is the truth: young Naruto Uzumaki is from a far off land that seems like another world compared to our own that has unique abilities that make comic books look bland compared to the natives of that land." The possessed clone performed a weak Rasengan and let it dissipate as he saw the people murmur to each other before he continued, "Unfortunately in that land, demons do exist and the natives have found a way to seal such beasts in their own kind, mostly infants." That got their attention, Kurama thought as even the birds were in complete silence at the piece of information. "This poor child," Kurama said as he pointed to Naruto, "was cursed on the day he was born when the leader of his village seal a dangerous and all-powerful demon known as the Kyuubi, in your language the beast would be known as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, that nearly destroyed the boy's home. It is unknown why this man would do such a thing to an infant, but because of his actions, Naruto had been through things that even demons would be confused as to who are the real monsters are. I will allow the boy to tell you his history, but please understand that he is a walking prison with the Kyuubi as his prisoner and is to be seen as the boy he is…unlike those disgraceful villagers who have done more than just torment the boy." Kurama turned towards Naruto and said, "They're all yours, Mr. Uzumaki."
Naruto nervously got to the podium and saw all of the people there staring at him…watching him…getting ready to judge him. "H-Hello," Naruto began with his heart racing, "as you have been told, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm not from around here. I am also carrying a dangerous demon inside of me due to my…I mean, the leader of the village where I was originally from." Kurama hid a cringe as Naruto had nearly revealed a bit of the truth of who was the one responsible for the blonde's plight back at the village. "In all honesty, I never really had much of a childhood once I was kicked out of the orphanage at the age of five," Naruto said as a collection of gasps was heard from the audience, "I had to face numerous beatings, teachers sabotaging my education, and parents keeping their children away from me because they believed me to be the monster that attacked our village on the day I was born." Naruto darkly chuckled as he then said, "While some of you have had many happy birthdays, mine where nothing but fear, sadness…and even thoughts that might shock some of you, and while I'm still afraid of my birthday, October 10, I had actually found some people who see me for me." An image of his close friends appeared in the blonde's mind before he continued, "Unfortunately it was never enough as the council of the village where I'm from decided to send me into exile after I kept their 'golden boy' away from a sick psychopath who had…questionable eyes for the boy. They even had a ship that would take me to a faraway island prepared for me, too bad they didn't expect a really bad storm to cause the ship and its crew to be lost at sea. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there was a celebration held by those who despised me back home due to my death while my real friends held a wake for me."
Blinking the tears out of his face, Naruto gave the crowd a small smile, "I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I washed up here in Beach City, but thankfully I have found some people who can see me for who I am and also…be truly happy that I have finally gotten what an orphan always wants: a mom." The blonde looked and saw the proud and happy smile on Garnet's face and felt the love behind it. "I hope that I can live a nice life here in Beach City since I'm starting over in a way," Naruto finished with a small smile, "I think I'll let the mayor wrap things up. I hope that I could at least be a good friend to some of you."
Naruto walked back towards his seat as Mayor Dewey stood back up at the podium. "What a good child, folks," said the mayor with actually an honest smile on his face, "that is why if I'm re-elected, I will have a unique division set up with the help of Agent Kurama that will help Naruto keep his condition under control." He's already trying to buy their votes already, Kurama thought as his eyebrow twitched in agitation, Politicians, the only ones who CAN lie just to get anything to go their way. Everyone clapped in support of the mayor with a photographer getting a picture of Mayor Dewey posed with Naruto and the 'agent' as to boost publicity.
Backstage, Naruto had walked towards where Garnet and the others were waiting for him. "You alright, Naruto?" Garnet asked as Gamatatsu was sitting onto of her afro. "I felt really sick during that whole speech," the blonde admitted with a nervous chuckle, "Hopefully I can have a good life here." Kurama approached the group and said, "I could feel the tension from where I was sitting, but you did great Naruto."
"Naruto," said a new voice as the blonde turned to see a man with a curly blonde beard wearing a yellow raincoat and hat waving towards him with Onion next to him. "I'll be back you guys," said Naruto as he walked towards the man, "Can…can I help you?" The man nodded and said, "Indeed. People around me call me Yellowtail and I have heard about my son's…behavior." Sensing the blonde's nervousness, Yellowtail then said, "Don't worry as I have heard about what my son has been doing before you even arrived here. Onion has told me about how you were an orphan before Ms. Gemm decided to adopt you and I can easily see that the boy looks to you like a brother. We sailors are a superstitious bunch, but I can see the good in ya that I can trust you with my boy." Yellowtail gave his son a smile as he then said, "I would really like it if you became like a brother to my son as I wish I could spend more time with him, I honestly do, but the life of a sailor is never easy as we could only be home for a few seconds; I consider myself lucky if I even get a whole hour. If it's not too much, I'd like for ya to keep an eye on Onion as my wife would kill me if anything bad were to happen to our son." Naruto smiled as he said, "You can count on me, Yellowtail-san."
Naruto soon returned to Garnet and the others while Onion and his father left. "It looks like it might rain," said Pearl as she looked at the numerous dark clouds in the sky, "We better head back to the temple." Gamakitchi soon appeared in a cloud of smoke and said, "I'm back and I told Pops about what's going on." Naruto picked up the Toad and said, "Could you explain it on the way to the temple? We need to beat the storm." The red toad nodded as he hopped onto Naruto's head and told them what had happened…
Flashback
*Mount Myoboku*
Gamakitchi arrived in a cloud of smoke as Gamabunta saw his son and noticed that Gamatatsu was missing. "Where's your brother?" Gamabunta asked as his son hopped towards him. "He's with Naruto and yes, we have found him!" Gamakitchi said with joy, "That wave of energy was Naruto as he finally found someone to call his mother." The giant Toad was surprised and he chuckled at how lucky Naruto was at not only surviving the ship wreck, but finding a good mother that will be there for him. "So," Gamabunta asked his son, "where is the gaki? I haven't seen him in quite some time."
"Well, you see Pops," Gamakitchi said with slight regret, "Naruto had asked me to tell you not to reverse summon him as he loves it at Beach City where he's living at now. He also had a close called with death because of his new power." Gamabunta's eyes widened and said, "What happened?" Gamakitchi then began to explain to Gamabunta about Naruto now being a Crystal Gem after the Kyuubi had restored the blonde's arm in exchange to possess a Shadow Clone every now and then. "Interesting," Gamabunta said as he let the information soak into his skull, "Alright, I'll let Naruto stay at his new home and you and Gamatatsu can stay with him. Just come home when I summon you for your training." Gamakitchi smiled as he gets to stay with his good buddy when Gamabunta then said, "When you get back, tell Naruto that I'm very happy for him finally getting a mother that he wanted." The red Toad nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke as the giant Toad had a smile on his face at the news about Naruto.
Flashback End
*Beach City; Crystal Temple*
"So Gamabunta's letting me stay here?" Naruto asked with hope in his voice as he and the others had just beaten the rain. "Yep," said Gamakitchi as he was still sitting on top of Naruto's head, "He's even letting us stay with ya as long as we come home and train. My Pops wouldn't dare think about separatin' ya from your new family, Naruto." Naruto pumped his fist in victory as he gets to stay with his new friends.
"Who's up for a movie?" Steven asked as he held up a small case that had the title of Lonely Blade IV. "Sure," said Garnet as everyone else nodded, "I'll go make some popcorn." Gamakitchi turn towards the Gem and said, "Better make an extra bag or two for Gamatatsu as he'll probably focus more on the snacks as usual." Time had passed as everyone was watching the movie of a young samurai warrior trying to get revenge against the one responsible for his family's death. "This is pretty good," Naruto said he sat close to Pearl, "It reminds me of a mission that I had once to the Land of Snow/Spring. Hehe, good times."
Naruto had zoned out a bit as he walked down memory lane, not listening to what Pearl was saying until he heard his name being called. "Come on Naruto," Steven said as Naruto blinked back into reality, "Pearl's going to show us some cool sword fighting!" Naruto followed the others until they had reached a small temple-like area that was surrounded by many clouds. "Alright," said Pearl as she held two swords in her hands, "in order to demonstrate proper sword fighting, I'm going to need a volunteer." Steven was about to raise his hand when Garnet had stopped him before giving Naruto a look that told him to stay put. "Luckily I now the perfect partner," said Pearl as she projected a holographic image of herself and sliced the projecting light with a sword. "DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT?" asked the holographic Pearl with a robotic voice. "Cool," said Steven with stars in his eyes, "Holo-Pearl!"
Pearl tossed a sword to the holographic doppelganger as Holo-Pearl caught the blade. In a quick moment, both Pearls charged each other and began fighting as sparks flew from the clashing blades. "Damn, Naruto," said Gamakitchi as he watched the fight, "you sure know how to pick your ladies, but are you sure she's not going to be like Sakura?" Naruto scowled at the question and said, "Sakura couldn't even get close to Pearl-hime even if my Beautiful Gem held back." Pearl hid a blush as she then gotten into a pushing battle with Holo-Pearl. "Go Pearl!" Steven cheered with excitement. "Go Holo-Pearl!" Amethyst cheered from the cloud she was laying on. Pearl scowled at Amethyst cheering for her opponent, but she then heard Naruto say, "Come on Pearl! I believe in you! You can do it!" Pearl smiled at Naruto's words on encouragement as she had somehow felt stronger.
"OPENING DETECTED!" said Holo-Pearl as the real Pearl lost her balance while her sword was lost from her grip. Get yourself together, Pearl! Pearl mentally scolded herself, Naruto's watching so you have to make this good! The Gem quickly bounced onto her feet and charged towards Holo-Pearl before sliding to avoid a slash. Pearl had gotten her blade back and launched her holographic duplicate with a powerful slash, defeating the double. Pearl held the blade towards her fallen opponent to ensure victory while she heard the others cheer for her with Naruto's being the loudest.
"There you have it," said Pearl as she cheering died down while Steven and Naruto approached her. "That was so cool!" said Steven as stars were visible in his eyes, "Could you show me how to do that!" I think it would be good to learn how to use a sword, Naruto thought as he watched Holo-Pearl get back up when Pearl had set it to training mode. "Now watch how I do it," said Pearl as she and her duplicate traded a series of attacks, blocks, and parries. "Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!" Steven chanted in excitement as Naruto rolled his eyes. "I don't think anything like that were to be that simple," said Naruto as he kept an eye on the demonstration, "and besides, most of that is just Hollywood Magic as without a way to get that sword back that weapon could be lost forever." Naruto couldn't help but see Holo-Pearl gaining the advantage without his girlfriend noticing.
"Naruto's right, Steven," Pearl said as she continued to demonstrate while lecturing Steven, "These are actual sword techniques, not those moves from those silly movies. It's about waiting carefully for the right moment to-"
"Pearl-hime," said Naruto as he shoved Pearl out of the way.
"THRUST!"
*sherk!*
"Urgh!" Naruto choked out as he froze and his pupils shrank. Everyone present froze at what they saw as the blonde stumbled back as he turned around, sword in his stomach. Naruto saw the horrified look as Amethyst and Garnet carefully approached him. "Hehe…um…ow," said Naruto as he nervously smiled, "D-don't worry about this; I'm going to be fi-"
*FOOM!*
Everyone saw Naruto explode into mist as the sword fell to the ground along with two square amber gems. "Naruto…" said Pearl as her holographic double just stood there in emotionless victory. Tears were welling up in her eyes as Naruto had just took a fatal stab for her…because of her recklessness. No…no, no, NO! Pearl screamed in her mind as he ran off while tears fell off of her face while the others, save for Steven, called out to her.
"I…I…" Steven said as tears formed in the corner of his eyes as he held the two amber stones in his hands. "R-relax, Steven," Amethyst said as she jumped off her cloud, "Naruto's going to be just fine." I hope, the purple Gem mentally whispered to herself as this had never happened to a Half-Gem. "Steven," Garnet said as her glasses hid the tears welling in her eyes, "sometimes when our bodies are badly damaged, we release our physical forms and retreat inside of our gems to regenerate." Steven sniffled a bit as he said, "So Naruto's going to okay?"
Garnet nodded as Amethyst sat next to Steven and said, "Don't worry, bud, this kind of thing just happens sometimes, usually to me." Hiding her sadness, Garnet forced a small smile and said, "Always to you." Amethyst chuckled and said, "Hey, I'm scrappy; what do you want?" Feeling a little better, Steven chuckled and asked, "So how long will it take him to regenerate? Five minutes? Ten Minutes?"
Two weeks had passed and Steven was laying on the couch as he waited for Pearl to come out of her room with Naruto at her side. After the incident, Pearl had locked herself in the deepest parts of her room and she was completely miserable. When Garnet entered Pearl's room a few days after the incident, the woman had found the normal poised and collected Pearl a complete mess of tears. Garnet had agreed that until Naruto had recovered, Pearl would hold onto to the two amber gems as a means of comforting the poor girl. Pearl had kicked Steven and Amethyst out of her room a good few times while Pearl had allowed Garnet to be next to her, seeing how Naruto was her son.
The teleporter flashed as Garnet and Amethyst, who was riding a cloud, arrived. "Waddup?" Amethyst greeted a very bored and distant Steven. "Hey," said the small boy with not much life as Gamakitchi and Gamatatsu were away training. "She's still hasn't come out?" Amethyst asked in shock as she looked at the door, "Man, I thought Naruto would have been done by now!" Amethyst turned around and saw Steven's portion of the temple a complete mess as she then said, "Gotta tell you though, I love what you done with the place!" Steven looked around and said, "Pearl usually helps me tidy up." Shrugging her shoulders, Amethyst said, "I say leave it."
"Hey," said Steven as he had an idea, "if real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thing!" Amethyst watched as Steven ran over towards a figure covered in a bed sheet and he pulled the sheet off to reveal Holo-Pearl. "DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT?" Holo-Pearl asked as it held a sword in its hand. Oh boy, Amethyst thought as she slowly floated towards Steven and Holo-Pearl, I wonder if Pearl remembers that she forgot to get rid of that creepy thing?
Garnet had arrived in Pearl's room and traveled to some of the deeper parts past the waterfalls. There, Garnet saw Pearl sitting at a desk with her upper body leaning over it and upon further inspection it was soon discovered that Pearl must have fallen asleep some time ago with two square amber gems resting against her tear stained face. If one were to listen closely, you could hear Pearl whisper apologies and requests to be forgiven. Pearl, Garnet thought as it was actually strange and frightening to see the normal poised Gem so, dare she think it, broken.
Careful as to not wake Pearl, Garnet picked up the two amber gems and gently wrapped her fingers around them. "I'm not sure if you can hear me," Garnet whispered to the two amber gems in her hands, "but Mama loves you and we all miss you. You don't know how much Pearl has beaten herself up over that incident. We do not want to rush your recovery, but please come back; not only for me…but for Pearl." After giving both of the ambers a loving kiss, Garnet placed them back on the desk near Pearl's face and pulled out a blanket before covering the sleeping Gem. Pearl lightly groan before she tiredly said, "Naru…to…so…rry." Rest easy, Pearl, Garnet thought as she headed towards the door, hoping to get some fresh air, but as she headed out, Garnet couldn't help but recall a certain conversation with Kurama about Naruto…
Flashback
Garnet watched Steven head towards the beach after finishing his tree climbing exercise when she looked over towards Kurama. "Kurama," Garnet asked as she grabbed the clone's attention, "have there been times when Naruto…had gotten close to death before that birthday incident?" Kurama sighed as he said, "If you subtract the numerous assassination attempts, the more severe beatings, and the occasional poisoning, I'd…probably say about…three. The first time was when he was tossed into a deep, and I mean DEEP, crevasse." Garnet hid her anger as she felt like giving whoever had done that to her boy a piece of her mind. "Then there was the time his former comrade shoved that Chidori into the kit's chest," said Kurama as he moved the shirt to reveal the massive scar on the clone's chest, "and the most recent one was when that shipwreck had happened, although he got lucky with that actually and didn't even need my help. Why did you ask?"
"I asked because we Crystal Gems can lose our physical forms when our bodies are badly damaged," Garnet answered, "From there, we retreat into our gems to regenerate." Getting an idea of where this was going, Kurama asked, "You're wondering if Naruto may go through the same thing since he's now a Gem?" Getting a nod from Garnet, the possessed clone brought a hand to his chin and said, "I'm not actually sure…but I think I may have a theory of what might happen: Naruto's Gem Power may mix with the unique abilities he possesses as a jinchuriki. All jinchuriki possess unique abilities depending on what is sealed inside of them, for example sand manipulation from Shukaku and increased healing rate from myself. While not making him a full Gem, Naruto might possess abilities of a full-blooded Gem despite being a Half-Gem." Garnet raised an eyebrow at this as Kurama then said, "But like I said, it's just a theory…one that I'd rather not find out if it's true."
Flashback End
"Hey Garnet!" said Amethyst, snapping said Gem back into reality while holding a small, bunched up cloud, "I'm gonna do it!" I guess it won't hurt to relax a bit and stop worrying, Garnet thought as she looked at the purple Gem and said, "Go on then." Amethyst ate the small cloud and swallowed it with pride before her body expanded and began to float. Garnet grabbed Amethyst's ankle before Steven arrived with Holo-Pearl and said, "What are you rascals doing?"
"Steven," Amethyst said as Holo-Pearl got into a fighting stance while holding an umbrella like a sword, "What are you doing?" Amethyst belched as a small puff of the cloud she ate was soon floating up into the sky. "Aw," said Steven as he felt disappointed, "I just miss Pearl and Naruto so badly." Garnet smiled a bit as she said, "Don't worry, Naruto will come back to us soon and things will be alright." The Gem then looked at Holo-Pearl with slight disgust and said, "And stop hanging out with that thing; it creepy." Hearing Amethyst floating away, Garnet saw that she had accidentally let go of Amethyst and hummed in annoyance…and embarrassment.
Back inside the temple, Pearl had woken up in fright as her heart was now racing. She just had a terrible nightmare where she saw the whole incident happen, but it was Pearl who had stabbed Naruto instead of her hologram. The look on his face, Pearl thought as she ran a hand through her hair as she remembered the look of pain and betrayal on the blonde's face. She then looked at the two amber gems as her eyes were starting to burn from all the crying she had done. "Naruto," Pearl said weakly as she picked up the two gems, "I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you."
A loud crash outside her room had alerted Pearl that Steven might be in danger, so she rushed out to only find her hologram slicing into Steven. "STEVEN!" Pearl cried out at the sight before she saw a stuffed walrus that was sliced in twain fall where Steven once was. "Boomerang!" Steven shouted as he threw a boomerang, unknowingly using chakra at the time, to only see the projectile zoom past Holo-Pearl before embedding itself into a wall. Seeing the real Pearl, Steven called out, "Help! Holo-Pearl's gone out of control!"
"Steven, get to safety," Pearl said as she was about to charge in, but two golden chains had wrapped themselves around the Gem and held her in place, "What the…what is this? I can't move!" Steven noticed how Pearl couldn't help him with that chain holding her so he had to jump over counter for better protection. "STEVEN!" Pearl cried once more before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Pearl didn't notice a magic aura changing Pearl's out as she was now wearing a light blue tunic with a kimono-like sash, orange shorts, pink socks, and light blue ballerina shoes as she looked to see a woman with long red hair wearing a green dress.
"Who are you?" Pearl asked as she tried to wrestle out of the chains, "Did you tie me up?" The woman nodded as she then said, "Steven-chan needs to gain experience himself as while learning from mentors can help him, nothing beats learning like first-hand experience." Pearl looked at where Holo-Pearl was attacking before she turned her attention back to the woman and asked, "Who are you?" The woman lifted an arm to move some of her hair, revealing a square amber gem in her arm. "Na…Naruto?" Pearl asked with curiosity and the woman chuckled. "No, but I am the woman who gave birth to my little maelstrom," the woman said as Pearl's eyes widened, "I'm Kushina Uzumaki…I'm Naruto's birth mother."
"Boomerang Blade!" Steven shouted as a mop was then impaled into Holo-Pearl, stopping the intense fight as the hologram was now standing at attention. "CHALLENGER WINS!" said Holo-Pearl with the same emotionless eyes, "DO YOU WISH TO-"
*ching!**ching!**chi-chi-ching!*
The hologram was sliced into many small particles as the red-haired woman as use a kitchen knife in her hand to destroy the hologram. "That's enough fighting for one night," said the woman before she turned her attention to Steven. The young boy looked at the woman before he saw the amber gems on the woman's arms and said, "Naruto? Is…is that you?" Kushina released Pearl as the Gem walked towards her before turning her attention back to Steven and with a smile, she said, "No, but I am someone who is very close to him. I'm his birth mother, Kushina Uzumaki, and I'm honored to meet one of my little maelstrom's friends." Kushina then looked at Pearl and said, "It's great to meet my little boy's girlfriend and please, do not worry about what had happened; it was an accident and he forgives you. I hope I can meet you all again sometime." Before Steven or Pearl could speak, the woman was covered in a flash of light before revealing an unconscious Naruto on the floor wearing black jeans, a black shirt with red anthropomorphic fox dressed as a ninja, and an orange vest.
"Steven," said Garnet as she ran through the door, holding on to a string, "We heard fighting!" With a quick tug, Amethyst, who was still bloated from the cloud she had ate, was pulled in. "Ow!" Amethyst grunted as she had hit her head before she began to float above Garnet, "Are you and Pearl alright? What's going on?" Thinking quickly, Steven said, "Oh, just mopping, as Pearl was starting to feel better." Steven saw a small amount of Holo-Pearl's particles reforming before smacking them with the mop to continue acting like he was cleaning. "You know," Steven continued as he was 'mopping' the area, "I might have missed Naruto and Pearl a whole lot, but sometimes, you have to accept the way things are before trying to replace what you miss."
Pearl then kneeled next to Steven and said, "Steven, I'm really sorry if I had worried you when I wasn't acting like myself. Think you can forgive me?" Steven hugged Pearl as the Gem then looked at the state of Steven's room. "Uh, Steven, what happened to your room?" Pearl asked as she then saw Garnet holding a string that was connected to an inflated Amethyst in her other hand, "I don't even want to know what happened to you." With a smile on her face, Amethyst proudly said, "I got hit by an airplane!" Seeing the state of the room and Amethyst belching out a small cloud, Pearl sighed and said, "I can't leave you guys for a second." Sometimes Pearl just wonders just what would happen without her around and not knowing what had happened during her absence.
Now that we discovered that Naruto can indeed retreat into his gem like a full-blooded Gem, but why did Kushina appear before Naruto reappeared? Don't forget to rate and review!
Ja ne.
