Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any related copyrights, trademarks, properties, or characters. I am in no way profiting from this literary venture except from the comments and reviews that I receive, which will only help me improve my writing. I don't own anything to do with the Black Library or GamesWorkshop either.
Claimer: I own the Nikuton. So please, don't rip it off. Or I will find you. Unless you ask for my express permission first, then it might be okay. To reiterate, the concept belongs to me.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
"Non-human speech"
"Non-human thoughts"
Konoha: Training Ground Forty-Four, 12:00, Regular Time
At the sound of the claxon's wail, Team Seven dashed in to the forest and immediately ascended in to the dense canopy. They jumped through the tree limbs as a unit, running and leaping for three straight hours before Sakura called a stop.
"I saw something move in that clearing beneath us." She said as she produced a spyglass from her weapon pouch. She extended the telescope then peered through it. "I see footprints. Three sets, all fresh and leading in to the underbrush surrounding the clearing."
"Hn. An obvious trap." Sasuke said, looking down into the clearing with disdain.
"I say we take the bait." Naruto said, slyly. "I'll drop down into the clearing. You two strike when they come at me. Get the ones that come up behind me." He grinned, and drew the hammer from its loop, letting the head rest behind his shoulder, his right hand wrapped firmly around the haft.
With his hammer in hand, Naruto dropped in to the clearing. He sat in the clearing, ostensibly resting while scouting ahead of his team. He shut his eyes, and drove the point of the Hammer in to the ground. He sharpened his hearing, and waited for the sound of the three genin that Sakura had seen.
Minutes later, likely after they had decided that Naruto was merely waiting on his team, and not the bait for another trap, they strode into the clearing. They were Ame genin, one with his eyes bare, another with bandages covering one, and the last with both covered. They all wore re-breather masks and identical, cream colored bodysuits.
The lead Ame-nin stopped two meters in front of Naruto, then cleared his throat. "I don't understand the hype, Uzumaki. What's so terrifying about you?" He pulled a kunai, and held it ready to throw, his teammates likely doing the same as they moved to surround him.
"If you hand over your scroll, I'll let you live." Naruto deadpanned to the Ame genin standing in front of him. "If you resist, I'll have to kill you."
"We'll see about that!" He shouted, dashing at Naruto, his kunai poised to strike. Naruto tore the hammer from the ground, and caught the oncoming blade on its haft. Simultaneously, Sakura and Sasuke dropped out of the trees above, and caught the other two Ame-nin by surprise, killing them both instantly with a hail of kunai and shuriken in the back.
Naruto reached out and plucked the kunai knife from the Ame-nin's hand. "Your scroll." He demanded, holding out his hand. The genin's eyes widened, and then he nodded and placed it in Naruto's outstretched hand. Naruto grinned, then flipped the hammer and slammed the point in to the Ame-nin's eye. He turned to his teammates. "Collect your weapons. Check the bodies for anything useful. They had another Earth scroll. At least we have a spare now, and if we're lucky we might find a friendly team willing to trade."
His teammates nodded, and collected everything useful from the two genin they'd just ended. They pocketed their own weapons after cleaning the blood off of them, and then Team Seven gathered in the center of the clearing.
"I'll take the lead for now." Sasuke said, as they ascended back in to the trees.
Konoha: TG44: Elsewhere, 16:44, Regular Time
The Sand Siblings opted to move along the ground instead of through the trees. They were already close to the tower, and were merely searching for a team to take an Earth scroll from. They approached the bank of a river and found a team from Amegakure resting beneath a tree. The Suna team quickly and stealthily jumped in to the canopy and positioned themselves above the unsuspecting team from Ame. "Kankuro-nii, senbon with paralysis poison. Knock them out." Gaara ordered.
Kankuro nodded, then launched a hail of poisoned senbon at the Ame team below them using the launcher strapped to his wrist. He scored multiple hits on each of the shinobi below them, and soon they were all unconscious. The three of them dropped down to the ground, and then Gaara used his sand to restrain the Ame-nin.
"Temari-nee, Kankuro-nii, find the scroll. We'll leave them here; if they're lucky they'll wake up before something hungry comes along." Gaara directed his teammates. Temari rifled through the pouches on the shortest one, while Kankuro searched the bare-headed genin.
"Got it." Temari said, holding up a Heaven scroll. "Another Heaven scroll though." She handed it to Gaara, before she heard three light thuds, and looked over to see the three Kunoichi from Kumo drop in to the clearing.
"We'll trade you an Earth scroll for one of your heaven scrolls." Yugito shouted, holding up an Earth scroll. "Any takers?" Gaara nodded his head, and chucked the second Heaven scroll at the Kumo-nin, while a tendril of sand snatched their Earth scroll out of Yugito's hand.
"Thanks!" Temari shouted, before the Sand Siblings dashed out of the clearing in the direction of the tower.
"Yugito-chan, we need an Earth scroll now." Samui said.
"Yeah. Why did you give those Suna-nin our scroll?" Karui asked, sharply.
"Don't worry." Yugito purred as she sashayed in to the underbrush, "I have a plan."
Her two teammates just shook their heads as they followed their de facto leader.
Konoha: TG44: Three Kilometers NE of the Tower, 18:00, Regular Time
It had been thirty hours since Team Seven had entered The Forest of Death, and, excluding the Ame-nin, they had yet to run in to another team. They had settled in to a clearing for the night, and Naruto took the first watch.
"You two get some rest." Naruto said as he jumped in to the trees. He stood firm, listening for any suspicious activities while he waited for the end of his shift. After nearly an hour of nothing, Naruto was growing suspicious. Some sort of animal should have at least attempted to cross the perimeter and enter the camp, but there had been absolutely no activity, in fact there hadn't even been any bird noises.
He heard the soft thud of shinobi sandals striking wood, and then, much louder a feminine voice called out a technique. "Futon: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)!" A gust of wind came rushing towards Naruto, and though he braced himself by latching on to the tree he was in using chakra, he was still carried away by the unnaturally strong gale.
He hurtled through the tree tops, smashing through a great deal of branches until he struck the trunk of a tree and slid to the ground, bruised and bloodied but nowhere near dead. He climbed to his feet to face a Kusa-nin riding on top of a giant snake. The shinobi jumped down, and walked up to Naruto, bending over and offering a hand. "Everything we do…" He trailed off.
"Is done in The Mind's service. The Right Hand greets The Left." Naruto finished, accepting the proffered hand and climbing to his feet. "You look… different."
"Yes, the mind has cast me as the villain for this particular act of our charade, but when everything comes to a head next month my name will be cleared." Orochimaru said, then he pulled a heaven scroll from the sleeve of his robe-like shirt. "This is for you, I don't need it." He handed the scroll to Naruto. "Now comes the part you won't like."
"What won't I like about it?" Naruto asked, though in eyeing the snake, he thought he might have the answer to that question. "That snake is going to eat me, isn't it?"
"Correct." The Sannin said, then he waved the snake forward.
"I'll get free easily enough. Will it harm the snake?" Naruto asked, genuinely concerned for his co-conspirators summon.
"No. It will heal." Orochimaru said, "Remember: when next we meet we will be adversaries. Play your part well, Naruto-kun." He offered his hand.
"And you too, Orochimaru-sama." Naruto said. He grasped Orochimaru's hand and shook it. When they broke their handshake, Orochimaru shunshined away and the snake snapped forward and swallowed Naruto.
Naruto waited ten minutes before performing a set of hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shouted as he plunged his hand in to the wall of the snake's digestive tract.
"You sssummoned thisss one, Naruto-kun?" The creature asked.
"Yes Kagashi-san. I need you to burn us a way out of here." Naruto said with a grin.
Sasuke had assumed a defensive position in front of Sakura, while she attempted to devise an escape strategy. It was obvious that they couldn't defeat the Kusa-nin that was currently assaulting them, and they needed to make a break for it before things got any worse.
Naruto was missing, and that severely restricted their options for an exit strategy because he was the rear guard in most every one of their plans for a fighting retreat. "Where in hell is Naruto!?" She shouted in frustration.
"He'll get here. I'm almost certain he wouldn't leave us to die." Sasuke said, though his voice wavered a little. He threw a few kunai at the shinobi who was attacking them, and fervently hoped that Naruto would return before this monster killed them.
With a set of hand seals too fast to follow, and a whispered technique name too low to hear, the Kusa-nin sent a massive fireball hurtling towards the two Konoha genin. "Sakura-san!" Sasuke yelled as the ball of flames rapidly nearer.
"Right!" She said, then she flashed through some hand signs before pressing her hands against the ground. "Doton: Doryuheki (Wall of Earth)!" With the execution of her technique, a massive wall of earth exploded from the ground, blocking the fireball.
"Into the tree." Sasuke said quietly, as he grabbed Sakura's hand and almost drug her up the trunk towards the canopy. "That should give us some breathing room to devise some sort of plan to fight this guy."
"Ah! I see that the prey is attempting to flee." Orochimaru said, spotting the two genin as they ran up the tree. "Rather disappointing really. There is no thrill in hunting the weak and uncreative." He flung a few kunai at them to draw their attention away from him, and then he flashed through a few hand signs and seemed to disappear.
Sakura and Sasuke had rushed the rest of the way up in to the canopy, and were now panting a little from the exertion. Sasuke leaned down to check if the Kusa-nin was still in the clearing, and was not surprised to see that he wasn't. "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, Sakura-san." He felt a droplet of a warm liquid strike his neck, and turned to see Sakura pull a kunai from the head of an exceedingly large snake. After a few moments, it seemed to melt away, and then their aggressor reappeared on the ground.
The branch they were on snapped, and they hurtled towards the forest floor, only for Sasuke to be caught on the Kusa-nin's knee. He flashed through some hand signs, and then maliciously laughed. "Juinjutsu: Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven)." His neck elongated a bit, and he bit Sasuke on the juncture between his neck and left shoulder.
Sasuke screamed in pain, and Sakura looked on, horrified, as her teammate and the object of her affection seemed to be in terrible pain. "Come seek me out if it is power that you desire." The Kusa-nin said before he threw Sasuke to the ground and turned to Sakura, looking as if he intended to harm her.
"Kagashi-san, grab him!" Naruto's voice came as a long, muscular reptilian tail wrapped around the Kusa-nin, effectively restraining him. "Now, you know the drill!" Naruto began a sequence of hand seals as small tongues of flame licked out of the large… dragon's nose. "Nikuton: Shiki Tsuiho (Corpse Gas Expulsion)!" His lips cracked and bleeding, Naruto exhaled a large cloud of noxious green gas on the Kusa-nin, right as the dragon expelled a mass of white flame from its mouth.
The Kusa-nin went up like a matchstick, and then, a few moments later, crumbled to dust. Naruto picked up Sasuke and laid him across Kagashi's back. "Come on, Sakura-san. We have to go by ground to the tower, Kagashi-san will carry Sasuke."
"Ku ku ku. A bloodline I know nothing about, and a summoned creature that I've only read about in ancient histories." Orochimaru said as he rose out of the ground a few meters from the charred remains of… a snake. "Naruto-kun, you are interesting."
"As much as I'd like to chat, Orochimaru-san, we really must go." Naruto said, before he flashed through a few hand signs. "Nikuton: Chikirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Bloody Mist Technique)." Naruto exhaled a pink mist that stank of blood, and coughed up a considerable amount along with it before leaning against his summon. As he and Kagashi moved out of the clearing, he looped and arm around Sakura's shoulder and allowed her to support some of his weight. "Towards the tower. Now."
As soon as the four of them left the clearing, Sasuke out cold on Kagashi's back and Sakura supporting Naruto, the group fled away from the bloody cloud and towards the tower in the near distance. They progressed towards the tower without incident, until Sakura let out a loud sigh.
"Yes, Sakura-san?" Naruto asked, glancing at his pink-haired teammate. He gave her a slight grin hoping to reassure her.
"Well, I was just wondering where you got this… dragon." She said, slightly embarrassed that she was unaware of one of her teammates capabilities. "I mean it seems really powerful, and I was surprised you hadn't let Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei, and myself know about it."
"Thisss one isss not a mindless dragon. He isss a noble Drayk of clan Ryu sssworn to the ssservice of clan Uzumaki." Kagashi said, his scales bristling at the perceived slight.
"Sakura-san was unaware of your existence, Kagashi-san." Naruto said, attempting to allay his summons ire. He turned back to his teammate. "The reason I haven't told anyone is because the Drayks were, and technically still are, barred summons."
"Barred?" She asked.
"Yes. Remember when I disappeared for about a month?" Naruto asked.
Exceedingly Long Flashback
"Anko-nee!" Naruto shouted, as he entered his house. "Training Ground 44. I've got some vacation time, you said you wanted to take me there to train. Let's go!"
Anko looked up from a magazine she was reading on the couch. "Yeah okay. I've got to go put in for a few days leave before we go. Pack for three days." She stood up from the couch, topless as she normally was when she was home alone. Her breasts bounced as she jogged up the stairs.
Naruto fished his keys out of his duster and unlocked his basement. He flipped a light switch and descended in to the impeccably clean, dust free armory. "Let's see, so a tent, a sleeping bag, spare clothes, kunai, shuriken, then… something more utilitarian… ah! This will work." He grabbed a tanto from one of the many worktables in his basement, and then glanced around some more. "Soldier pills. Poisons. Water purification tablets. A firestarting kit. Alright. Looks about right."
He sealed most of the assembled gear in to scrolls, but made sure to place the more important things like soldier pills, the tanto, and some of the more choice poisons in a few of the storage seals tattooed on his body. With everything that he had packed, he should be able to get by for at least a week in The Forest of Death.
Before leaving his basement, Naruto removed the five skulls tethered to his coat, and left them stacked in a neat pile in the corner, each facing the same direction so their empty eye sockets seemed to keep watch over the room. With that done, Naruto ascended the stairs to the first floor and prepared a quick meal so that they could eat before they left. He made two plates, then waited for Anko.
Once she descended the stairs, clothed her in usual fashion and appearing suitably prepared, they sat down, quickly ate their meal, then locked up and shunshined to the Hokage's Office so Anko could request her leave of absence. The Hokage granted Anko a few days leave without much hassle, and the two then made their way to the wonderfully dangerous training ground designed to sharpen a shinobi's survival skills.
Arriving at one of the gates, Anko unlocked it so they could proceed inside. "We'll set up camp at the river near the waterfall, so we have easy access to food and water." Anko said, leading Naruto towards her pre-determined destination. "Once there, we'll begin your training for the next few days."
She cracked a sadistic grin, and Naruto shuddered in recognition. "I look forward to what you have planned for me." Naruto said, excited despite his knowledge that she would likely work him well past the point of exhaustion. "What do you have planned?"
"Well seeing as Kakashi has been working on your speed, we'll work on that, and we'll be working on your survival skills. Beyond that, I'll make it up as we go along." Anko said, with a chuckle. They continued to jump through the treetops, travelling for a few hours before the low rumble of falling water could be heard in the distance.
As they pressed on, the sound of falling water grew from a low rumble to a deafening roar. The trees grew thinner until they spotted a wide rushing over the edge of a cliff, the rushing water rendering the area excessively humid. Anko stopped on a limb above the bank. "We'll make camp by the bank of the river half a kilometer north of the waterfall. Then you will go fishing while I set up perimeter defenses for the camp." She instructed, turning in the direction she had specified.
They moved upriver until Anko chose a suitable location to make camp, and then they pitched their tents and built a firepit. With camp made, Anko sent Naruto out to catch their dinner. "Be careful, the currents is incredibly fast near the waterfall. If you slip below the surface, you'll be swept down the waterfall and in to the S-rank region of the forest." She said, the tiniest hint of worry coloring her voice. "You get stuck down there, you either find your own way out or die. No one will go in after you."
"I'll make sure to be careful, Anko-nee." Naruto said as he took off his coat, shirt, and rig. He sealed his clothing in a storage scroll, and then moved to leave camp. "If I'm not back in an hour, go ahead and worry." His voice held a rare genial lilt as he struck out downriver.
Naruto trudged along the river bank, looking for a suitable spot to fish at. He spotted a large number of fish jumping out of the water about fifty meters from the falls. "This spot looks good." He thought as he walked out on to the surface of the river. He reached the center of the river, the place where the current ran the fastest, and stood stock still, waiting for a fish to jump so he could spear it with a kunai.
After twenty minutes of catching small fish Naruto was about to make his way back to shore; he heard a massive splash behind him, and turned around just in time to be struck in the abdomen by a massive koi fish. Losing his balance, he slipped under the water; the rapid current immediately and inexorably sweeping him towards the waterfall and the most dangerous region of training ground forty-four.
When Naruto crawled out of the river at the bottom of the falls, he was soaked to the bone but still warm thanks to a constant aura of Niku chakra that he had used to maintain his body temperature. He achieved a suitable distance from the raging flow of water, then rolled over onto his back to catch his breath.
He laid there for an indeterminate amount of time, catching his breath and using his chakra to stay warm until he heard a twig snap behind him. He bounded to his feet, and found himself staring in to a pair of glowing yellow feline eyes. He drew his thumbnail across the seal on his back that held his tanto, snatching it out of the air as soon as it materialized. He slowly brought his right hand around, and drew the blade free, then brought it forward in a defensive stance.
He backed away from the tree line where the jungle cat hid, and it stalked out after him. It looked ready to pounce, and Naruto channeled chakra to the soles of his feet to attach himself to the ground. He reversed the grip on his knife, and dropped the scabbard, freeing his left hand to take advantage of any openings the beast might present.
The tiger circled Naruto and he followed it, tense and ready to strike as soon as it made a move towards him. The two predators continued to size each other up, evaluating each other until, with only the barest hint of a warning, the orange and black cat jumped.
Naruto ducked a moment late and the cat's front claws raked across his back. His left hand snapped up while the cat was passing over him, and he grabbed its hind leg in a vice-like grip. He slammed the beast in to the ground, and then shoved his tanto up underneath its ribs. The tiger continued to struggle, snapping at Naruto, and wrapping its jaws around his left wrist. As his blood began to flow in to the cat's mouth Naruto stabbed his blade in to its eye, forcing it to release his wrist.
With the gaping wound in its chest, and one eye blinded, the cat descended in to shock. As its struggles came to an end, Naruto drew his blade across its throat, ending its life. Naruto didn't waste any time catching his breath, and immediately set about skinning the beast. He flashed through the hand signs for Nikuton: Hifu no Jokyo (Removing of Skin), and performed the technique on the corpse. After a few minutes, he lifted away the tiger's pelt, completely clean of blood or flesh, and he wrapped it around his shoulders.
He tore the cat's skull from its body, and placed it in the seal previously occupied by his tanto. With that done, he set out in the direction of the waterfall hoping to find a path up the cliff, or at least an alcove to shelter under.
After a few hours of searching, Naruto found a large boulder set in to the side of the cliff. The bolder wasn't composed of the same composite rock that made up the rest of the cliff; it was a massive orb of granite. This aroused Naruto's suspicion, and so he set about attempting to shift the boulder. He attempted to roll it to one side and then the other, and found that it was pretty solidly lodged in place.
Backing off, Naruto sat down to contemplate the implications of this boulder. It was blatantly obvious that it had been deliberately placed to seal some sort of cave or passage. Naruto wondered what could merit such a massive piece of granite, even after being hidden away in the most dangerous and secure place in Konohagakure. It must be extremely valuable or dangerous. Or both. With his sense of adventure nagging at him, and with no apparent path to the top of the cliff, Naruto decided that his best option was to find a way through the chunk of granite, and in to the cavity that it sealed.
Naruto unsealed the Hammer and wrapped both hands around the haft. He flipped it around so the point was facing the offending rock, and then channeled chakra to his arms to enhance the strength of his swings. He sent the point hurtling into the rock like a pickaxe and it lodged itself inside. Naruto spent the next ten minutes struggling to work his tool out of the rock, and then he heard a rustle from behind him.
He wrenched his hammer free of the rock, and turned to confront whatever it was that had attempted to sneak up on him. He laughed when he saw that it was only a piglet. "Well you're cute." Naruto said, as he shooed the pig away. "Why don't you run along and leave me be." He sent a half-hearted kick in the small swine's direction, and it squealed sharply and loudly before scampering off in to the bushes.
Naruto simply chuckled, and then turned back to his task to examine the hole he'd punched in the boulder. It was a respectable gouge, about six centimeters deep and four wide at the surface. He smiled, and then returned to work, gradually widening the hole until visible fissures radiated from the initial point of impact. Rock dust clung to the sweat pouring from Naruto's skin, and he was red in the face. Though he had made visible progress, the boulder still seemed just as solid as it had been hours ago.
He was beginning to tire from the continuous exertion, though his pride wouldn't let him give up the endeavor. As he stood before the offending outcrop, he tried to figure out how he could destroy the mass of granite. His current approach would definitely work, but there was no telling how long it might take. Of course he could also use an exploding tag or a technique of some sort, but both of those approaches could damage whatever it was behind the boulder.
He faced down his current adversary, and decided he'd try a slightly different approach. He launched himself in to the air above the boulder, then used his downward momentum to drive into the rock, finally destroying it in a shower of dust. With the obstruction removed, Naruto cautiously entered the faintly glowing opening.
As he proceeded in to the cave, Naruto observed that the faint glow he'd seen from the entrance was coming from large, pale blue crystal spires. Delving deeper in to the cavern, he emerged in to a large hollow crowded with the pale, luminous crystals. The stones in here varied in size, from a few centimeters to multiple meters in height, and they seemed to converge at the center of the room.
Walking through the softly glowing forest of faceted stone, Naruto gravitated towards the center of the cavern. He hoped that whatever he found there was worth the time he'd spent demolishing that chunk of granite, and if not, well at least he'd found someplace out of the open to rest for a while.
The forest of crystals came to a jarring halt three meters from a large, circular pedestal; it appeared to be the focus that the crystals had directed him to. Naruto moved in to the rocky clearing and spotted a very large, ancient looking scroll with a seal tag that read 'barred' keeping it closed. "This looks like a summoning contract. A very old, apparently barred summoning contract." Naruto thought as he pulled the scroll to the edge of the stone altar on which it rested. He moved to tear the seal tag away and open the scroll, then hesitated. "Wait. Maybe this isn't such a good idea
"You came all this way, kid. It would be a waste to ignore something that has been shunned and isolated." The fox said, "It is your duty to your fellow pariahs, and I haven't heard of any summons being barred since before your village was established; it must be a powerful contract." It was obvious that the sequestered contract had roused the Kyuubi's curiosity.
"I see you're point. It would be less than enterprising if I ignored an opportunity such as this." Naruto said in reply. He tore the seal free, and opened the contract. He was disappointed when he couldn't ascertain the creature that this contract allowed the signee to summon; whatever had been written in this scroll before had faded to the point of illegibility. He glanced down, noting that each illegible signature bore two faded handprints above them; to his knowledge, summoning contracts only required a single handprint: that of the hand that you intended to use to summon the creature. The fact that this faded, barred contracted required both only further excited his curiosity.
He unrolled the scroll until he arrived at a suitably blank space. "Here goes nothing." He said to himself, then he took his tanto and drew it across both his palms. He rubbed his hands together, suitably coating both of them in blood, then pressed his palms on to the vellum of the contract. Smearing blood on his right index finger, Naruto signed his name beneath the pair of bloody handprints.
He sat back and allowed his wounds to close, then, feeling the fatigue of the hours he'd spent chipping away at the boulder blocking the entrance, Naruto unsealed his soldier pills from a seal on his right wrist just below the one where he kept the Hammer. He popped the pill and felt his energy and chakra return in a rush. He ran through the necessary hand signs, took his feet, performed them, and then slammed his right hand in to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
His technique was met by a loud poof and an explosion of smoke. He peered in to the cloud, meeting the gaze of a pair of glowing, slit-pupiled, sickly green eyes. "Who hasss sssummoned thisss one? It hass been quite sssssome time. Have the humanssss finally labelled ussss unbarred?" Came a quiet hissing voice, full of power and not a little irritation.
The smoke cleared, revealing a large, draconic lizard with green scales, four legs, a long tail, and a pale underbelly. It was fairly tall, and its forelegs ended in dexterous looking hand-like appendages. Naruto made these observations in a matter of seconds, then spoke. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I summoned you here." He said respectfully
"Uzumaki? Our lassst sssssummoner bore the name Uzumaki." The dragon-like creature said. "It hasss been many hundredssss of yearssss ssssince the time of our lassst sssummoner. Our contract wasss declared 'Barred' becaussse we are too intelligent and prone to independent action. We are the Drayksss, and before we were hidden away, we were sssworn to clan Uzumaki."
"That's an interesting piece of information." Naruto mused. It seemed he had just discovered an ancient piece of his clan's legacy. It required further investigation, but first he needed to prove himself to the contracts' boss. "I would like to know the name of the Drayk I've summoned."
"Thisss one isss called Kagassshi, though you cannot call yourssself our sssummoner until you have proven your worth to Rhakkusss." Kagashi said with a derisive chuckle. "We might be sssworn to your clan, but we ssshall tessst your mettle all the sssame." He cracked an approximation of a smile, revealing his sharp teeth.
Naruto nodded, and then grinned. "Kagashi-san, I would be in your debt if you were to convey a message to Rhakkus-sama." Naruto said, hoping that he had been suitably respectful to the summoned Drayk.
"And what would that be, young one?" Kagashi asked with only passing curiosity.
"I would like you to inform Rhakkus-sama that an Uzumaki has signed the contract and wishes to take his test to prove his worth as his summoner." Naruto said with a glint in his eye and determination in his voice.
"Your courage amusesss thisss one. He will convey your message." Kagashi hissed, before dispelling in a cloud of smoke and a burst of flame.
Naruto nodded, then, before sitting down to meditate, he broke off a couple off the smaller crystal spires and tucked them in to his pocket. He lowered himself to the ground and began to meditate, entering his mindscape.
"This was your idea. I need to use some of your chakra to summon the contracts' boss." Naruto said to the fox, who was situated in a comfortable position behind the grate that was his seal.
"You didn't have to listen to me boy, if you can't summon this creature by your own merit, then perhaps you are undeserving." The Kyuubi snickered, but was slightly proud when the look of determination remained in his container's eyes.
"Look fox, I can make life miserable for the both of us, and, realistically speaking, I could die down here. Becoming the recognized summoner of the Drayks could get US out of here." Naruto said, using logic to attempt to convince the Kyuubi. He knew that the fox would likely lend him his chakra, but this was a ritualistic process he had to go through. "Give me some chakra. You've got plenty to spare."
The fox grumbled, and muttered something about troublesome containers demanding his chakra. "What are you going to do for me?"
"Live." Naruto said in triumph.
The fox nodded, then grinned. "Very well, you may use my chakra to summon this Rhakkus."
Naruto smiled, then opened his eyes in the real word. He felt the rush of the Kyuubi's youki, then flashed through the same set of hand signs. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He slammed his hand in to the ground, and then felt the world tilt, shift, and then swirl before reality resolved itself and he found himself in the middle of a cloud of smoke. The dense cloud of smoke made him cough, and he held his breath for a few seconds while he waited for it to dissipate.
Surveying his surroundings, Naruto found himself in a large cave, surrounded by gems and precious stones and metals as well as a few ornate weapons and suits of armor. Buried in this veritable hoard of treasure was a massive, white Drayk with piercing blue eyes. As Naruto moved closer to the giant, pale lizard, the temperature in the room fell appreciably, and he had to devote some his chakra to maintaining his body temperature.
"Who daresss ssstand before Rhakkusss?" The massive white Drayk rumbled.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, of Konohagakure. I wish to prove myself worthy to summon the Drayks." Naruto said, meeting Rhakkus' unblinking gaze without flinching.
"You wisssh to sssummon this one, morsssel?" Rhakkus asked incredulously. "Very well, bring thisss one a flawlesssss sssapphire, and he ssshall accept you in to hisss clan. Fail and he ssshall eat you."
"That sounds simple enough." Naruto said, with a hint of disappointment.
Rhakkus' laughter shook the whole cavern. "Thisss one believesss that the morsssel will not be disssappointed by the difficulty of itsss tasssk." The massive lizard turned its head towards a corridor set at one side of the cavern. "Kagassshi ssshall accompany you, morsssel. You have a month before Kagassshi bringsss you back, and thisss one devoursss you."
"Very well." Naruto said, confidently. "Where do I need to go?"
"Follow thisss one." Kagashi said, turning towards a low opening much too small for Rhakkus to fit through. Kagashi squirmed through, and then Naruto ducked after him.
"What do you think my odds are of completing this task?" Naruto asked the familiar Drayk who was acting as his guide.
"Exssseptionally good. Thisss one believesss that Rhakkusss gave you an exssseedingly easy tasssk becaussse it hasss been ssso long sssince the Drayksss have had a sssummoner." Kagashi said, with his approximation of a grin. "Thisss one believesss you will sssucceed. The flawlessss sssapphiresss are easy to find, they are just extremely deep inssside the tunnelsss."
"Ah. Thank you for the vote of confidence." Naruto said, favoring his guide with a grin. "Lead on."
After two weeks of living on rats slow roasted by Kagashi's fire breath and drinking water harvested from the occasional spring, the summoner and the Drayk arrived at a massive deposit of precious stones, including the sapphires Naruto had been sent after. "Thisss one will wait while you retrieve Rhakusss' gem." Kagashi said, as it settled down and curled into a comfortable pile.
Naruto nodded, and released the hammer, then he approached a wall housing a surface deposit of gem quality sapphires. He flipped the hammer, and set to breaking the section of wall free without damaging the beautiful blue stones. He worked at it for the majority of the day, until finally a large deposit of the valuable rocks worked free. He gathered them and placed them in his pockets, then he noticed a rather large rock set in the wall.
He tentatively struck it, and it rang hollowly. Naruto nodded. "A geode." He thought. "Its likely to contain the best quality stones I'll find. Let's wrestle it out of the wall as well." He drew a kunai and began to chip away at the rocks surrounding the the crystal filled stone. After much effort and a few more hours of work, it gave free and Naruto caught it, though he almost dropped it thanks to its weight.
"I think at least one of these should be satisfactory." Naruto said, the sounds of stones clacking together in his pockets audible. "Shall we head back?"
"Yesss, thisss one will bring you back to the sssurface." Kagashi said.
Naruto nodded, and followed Kagashi back to Rhakkus' cavern.
After another ten days of eating roasted rats and drinking cave water, the duo finally arrived in Rhakkus' cavern. Naruto picked himself up, standing up straight and proud, then walked in front of the boss of the Drayks. "Rhakkus-sama, I have returned with your sapphires." Naruto said, holding out the individual stones he'd collected as well as the intact geode. He placed the gems on the ground, and then struck the geode along a visible fault line. It split in to two halves, revealing hundreds of radiantly blue, perfectly formed sapphires.
"Thisss one findsss your offering mossst sssatisssfactory. I accept you in to my clan; you may now sssummon usss when you are in need. Kagassshi will act as your persssonal sssummon." Rhakkus hissed, his pride and anticipation audible. "Thisss one looksss forward to the day his clawsss will once more tear the flesssh of men. Now be gone; return to your realm." The icy Drayk returned Naruto to the cavern where he'd found the scroll with the touch of a claw on his abdomen.
He gathered up the summoning contract that was now safely back in the custody of the Uzumaki clan, and then exited the cavern. Once more he flashed through the familiar set of handsigns. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He called out as he pressed his hand against the ground.
"Naruto-sssan, why have you sssummoned thisss one?" Kagashi demanded, not sensing any immediate threats.
"Yeah, I was wondering if you could help me get up this cliff…"
End Flashback
"And that is why I can summon Kagashi-san and any other Drayk." Naruto finished recounting his tale as Team Seven and the summoned Drayk emerged in to a clearing. They had been walking for a couple of hours, and Kagashi's presence had deterred any animals that might have attacked them.
They stopped to rest in the clearing, Kagashi curling up comfortably in the center while Sakura attended to Sasuke. He seemed to have stabilized, though he was sweating profusely and running a fever. They needed to reach the tower so they could get him medical attention as quickly as possible. Naruto had already attended to his physical injuries, but it hadn't done anything to help with his fever; that was what they needed additional assistance with.
With naught else to do, Naruto reclined against Kagashi's scaly back and relaxed a bit, trusting in the massive reptile's danger sense. They sat like that for a period of time, until Kagashi lifted an eyelid and whispered. "Thisss one sssensssesss interlopersss above usss."
Naruto glanced up, then scanned the canopy above them. If Kagashi could sense them, they must be there. "Stay here. I'll find them." Naruto whispered, as he stood. He feigned a yawn, then walked out of the clearing a ways. Once he was suitably far away, he made use of his incredible stealth skills to sneak through the treetops until he found the team that was following them. "It would be her." Naruto thought as he crouched on the tree limb above Yugito. He dropped down behind her, and then, as if he was ethereal, he got right behind her and whispered in her ear. "Yugito-san, what business do you have with my team?"
She jumped and bristled like a cat. "Naruto-kun! What a pleasant surprise!" Yugito purred, attempting to hide her shock and surprise. She looked to either side, checking to make sure her teammates were unharmed, then looked at the young fox in front of her. "We were just following you to the tower. I noticed the Uchiha was unconscious and I thought we might be able to strike a deal."
"What kind of deal?" Naruto asked, slow to trust foreign ninja, especially in this setting.
"We know you have two Earth scrolls. We'll escort your team to the tower if you give us one of them." Yugito said, a cheshire grin splitting her face. "And if you don't want to agree, I suppose I could just take it from you." She set her feet in a ready stance, though her upper body was still arranged in a rather pleasant manner.
Naruto reached in to his coat and wrapped his left hand around one of his chakra blades. "Take us in. Once both our teams are inside the tower, I give you my second Earth scroll." Naruto said sternly. "If you or your teammates try anything stupid, I'll feed you to Rhakkus." A massive grin split his face; he was clearly amused by his threat.
"Who's Rhakkus?" Yugito asked, with cat-like curiosity.
Naruto's grin grew wider. "If you ever find out, you'd best hope you're firmly allied with me, or else you won't enjoy the introduction." His face returned to its relaxed state, which looked a lot like slightly angry, and then he continued. "Gather your teammates and come down in to the clearing. We'll leave for the tower as soon as I inform Sakura."
Konoha: TG44: The Tower, 22:36, Regular Time
Team Seven and Team KK entered the tower after only another hour of travel, and Naruto handed over the second Earth scroll as he had agreed. "Thank you for the escort." Naruto said, "I suppose we should open the scrolls now." He took his team's Heaven and Earth scrolls and opened them at the same time as Yugito opened hers. He took a look at the interior of the scroll. "Summoning matrix." He said as he threw the opened scrolls on the ground together.
There was a poof of smoke, followed by another as Yugito threw her scrolls to activate their summoning matrix. When it cleared, Haku stood over Team Seven's scrolls while Iruka stood over Team KK's. "Team Seven. I'm glad to see that you've passed the second exam." Haku said, with a wide smile.
Iruka looked at the Kumo team in front of him, kind of sad that he didn't get Team Seven. "Well it seems you have passed the second exam as well. Congratulations, and good luck going forward." Iruka said with his normal smile. "Does anyone need medical attention?"
"Actually yes." Naruto said, pointing at the unconscious Sasuke supported between him and Sakura. "Sasuke needs treatment. We were attacked by Orochimaru during the exam; he placed some kind of seal on him." They brought the unconscious dark haired genin forward, and Naruto pointed out the pattern of three tomoes on his neck.
"Orochimaru!? Hokage-sama must be informed!" Iruka exclaimed. "Kohai, I'll take care of Team Seven. Why don't you escort these young ladies to their temporary quarters?" He gestured to the arrangement of foreign shinobi in front of him.
Haku looked at Iruka, then looked over at Naruto. "I suppose I'll see you later, Naruto-kun." Haku said with a smile. "Ladies, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to where you'll be staying for the next couple days." She motioned for the three Kumo-nin to follow her, and headed for a set of double doors in the rear left corner of the entryway.
Iruka gathered Team Seven and led them towards the infirmary. "Report. What exactly happened out there?" He asked, sounding slightly frantic as he led the team of genin to the medical facilities. "Naruto-kun?"
Naruto shook his head, and then launched into the events as he thought he should report them. He told Iruka how he had been carried out of the clearing by a powerful wind jutsu, and how he had then been eaten by a large snake. He described, though he was less than eager, how he had escaped the belly of the beast that had swallowed him including his summon, though he did not explain how he came to possess the contract. He explained how he had returned to his teammates just as Orochimaru had used a strange jutsu on Sasuke, and he had used a combination technique with his summon to drive off Orochimaru. He also added that he thought it had been too easy, as if Orochimaru had stopped being serious once he had used his technique on Sasuke.
By the time Naruto had finished telling his revised version of events, they had arrived in the infirmary. They laid Sasuke down on a bed, and the medic-nin in the room immediately set to treating him. Iruka took the two back out of the room, and brought them up a set of stairs. "Sakura-chan?"
Sakura told her version of events, confirming that Naruto had been absent from the clearing at the time that they were set upon by Orochimaru, who was, at the time, masquerading as a genin from Kusagakure. With Naruto missing they had been reluctant to leave before he managed to find his way back; his absence had also hamstrung most of their exit strategies. She and Sasuke were able shinobi, but they both knew that when it came down to the wire, Naruto was the only one who could guarantee their unit's safety in a fighting retreat. This was all the more true, considering how vastly they were outmatched by the false Kusa-nin. She described the events leading up to Naruto's return, how they had evaded his Katon technique and attempted to escape in to the trees, and then how Orochimaru had destroyed the branch they'd taken refuge on. At this point, she gave her description of the technique Orochimaru had performed on Sasuke, and then she described Naruto's entrance, and then Orochimaru's subsequent flight from the clearing.
They came to a room near the top of the tower, and then Iruka turned to the two genin from Team Seven. "Momochi-san is in the next room. Tell him exactly what you told me, then he will decide what needs to be done."
At this, Sakura was aghast. "What's going to happen?" She sounded mortified, as if she thought they might suffer for being attacked by an S-ranked missing-nin, and, perhaps, the greatest traitor to Konohagakure since Uchiha Madara. "This doesn't change the fact that we passed the second exam, does it?"
"Sakura-chan, I have no idea what Hokage-sama will decide to do, but I'm almost certain that Team Seven won't be effected by it." Iruka reassured her. He looked over to Naruto, who seemed much less shaken by this whole fiasco then his teammate. "Do you have any concerns, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto merely shook his head, and looked on at the door. "At this point, I can no longer affect the situation. I will lay this at the feet of my superiors and follow their directives." He stated calmly. Looking at Iruka, he gestured at the door. "Iruka-sensei?"
"No sense in putting it off; the sooner you report to Momochi-san, the sooner some sort of solution will be reached." The scarred chuunin knocked on the door, and then called out. "Momochi-san, I have urgent news about the exam that demands your immediate attention."
Iruka's words were met by heavy footsteps approaching the door. Zabuza opened it and looked out at his visitors, appearing mildly annoyed by the unexpected visitors. "What's this urgent news you've got for me?" He demanded as he took in the genin that Iruka had brought up with him. He motioned them inside the room, and then looked at them expectantly. "Well?"
"Team Seven was attacked by Orochimaru during the second exam." Iruka began, "I felt that you should be made aware of this development, Momochi-san."
Zabuza looked at Naruto and Sakura, then sighed. "This has become much more complicated than I had been led to expect." He sat down in one of the many chairs in the room, and motioned for everyone else to sit as well. "Tell me what you told Iruka-san." He ordered, and then sat back to listen to the two genin's accounts.
Konoha: Residential District, 00:34, Regular Time
The elderly man awoke to a tap on his shoulder, he shooed whoever was trying to wake him away with his bare arm. His subordinates knew not to wake him, even if he had fallen asleep in his study. Then he thought for a moment. They also knew they were only to enter his residence if it was an absolute state of emergency. With that in mind, he sat up, and opened his good eye. "What is it?"
"Shimura-sama, The Hokage has called an emergency council meeting." The man was dressed like a normal ANBU operative, except his mask was plain white porcelain and bore no resemblance to any animal. A ROOT-nin, of course. His shadow division of ANBU Black Ops was still intact, despite Hiruzen ordering the department's destruction ages ago.
The aged shinobi simply sighed as he used his cane to stand up. "Very well. Did Hiruzen deign to inform you why this meeting has been called?" He stood there, his gaze locked on the masked operative in front of him. His single visible eye demanded an answer, and the set of his mouth showed he had little patience.
"He merely declared that the village was in a state of emergency and that the council must be assembled immediately." The impassive, blank masked ANBU simply seemed to stare at a point above Danzo's head as he made his report. It sounded as if he didn't even care, and with all the brain-washing and mental conditioning that ROOT-nin went through, he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
"You are dismissed. Return to your duties." The masked shinobi merely nodded, before both shinobi disappeared in their own respective shunshins; one heading towards the Hokage Tower, the other towards the outskirts of the village.
Once there, there was a poof of smoke as a henge around the ANBU was dispelled revealing… Naruto. Or more accurately, a Naruto that smelled of rotting meat. It merely grinned, before dispelling and leaving a pile of greenish, moldering, stinking meat on the ground.
Konoha: Council Chambers, 00:50, Regular Time
"Hokage-sama. My clone just dispelled. It carried out its assigned task admirably." Naruto whispered in to the Hokage's ear, reporting what his clone had done. "Things will be much simpler going forward now, yes?"
"Yes they will, Naruto-kun. The Mind will be quite satisfied with your performance." Hiruzen cleared his throat, then turned to the opening door. "The council members are arriving. We'll speak of your next task later." His face quickly drifted in to a strained and tired smile, his characteristic expression in times of emergency.
As the civilian and shinobi council members filtered in, many noticed Naruto standing at the Hokage's side and wondered what he was doing there. Though none of the civilians spoke out against him anymore, they were much too terrified of him to speak out of turn in his presence, many still harbored an intense dislike for him because of what he contained. The Shinobi Council members, however, had the utmost respect for the young genin; his team had an impeccable mission record, even before they began to work together so efficiently. Kakashi was doing a fine job with his team, and before him, Ibiki and Anko did a wonderful job preparing him for the lifestyle he was forced in to.
That aside, soon after all the members had arrived, many looking tired and disheveled; despite their appearances, most of the shinobi seemed fully alert. A few of civilians were still in pajamas, but most of them seemed cogent. Of course Naruto had made all these observations in the moments the council members had spent filtering in; now he had resumed an impassive, aloof appearance. He really didn't like council meetings; he'd been to more than a few, taking notes for Ibiki or because they'd summoned him for some reason or another. Right now was no different, though he was actually there for a legitimate reason, and not on the cruel whim of one of the civilian councilors.
The councilors were chattering, mostly speculating on the purpose of the meeting, when Hiruzen stood up. He raised his hands, calling the meeting to order and abruptly ending the extraneous conversations flitting about the room. He cleared his throat, and then spoke, sounding like a tired old man who wanted to be there even less than everyone else in the room.
"I called this emergency council meeting because Orochimaru assaulted one of our genin teams during the second segment of the Chuunin Exams." This brought a wide variety of responses: from the bowel loosening terror of a bespectacled civilian, to a nonchalant grunt from Hyuuga Hiashi, to a barely perceptible but notably sharp intake of breath from one Shimura Danzo. That was one reaction that The Hokage had been expecting, considering the circumstances. "Measures must be taken to protect the village, however the exams must continue or else we run the risk of an international incident, as well as appearing weak in front of the other villages."
A rather panicked looking civilian stood up, and looked at the assembled council members. "What, exactly, are we going to do about this? What if he is attempting to enact vengeance on the village?" The man's eyes were darting back and forth and he looked rather terrified, as if he was staring death in the face.
"How can you be sure it was Orochimaru?" Danzo queried. His bandaged face was now the picture of aloof composure, and none but perhaps Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura could tell that he was distressed. "What makes you so willing to trust a genin's account?"
"Naruto has the Konoha Bingo Book memorized as part of his duties as an apprentice interrogator. He says that it was Orochimaru, I'm inclined to believe him. Especially since he saw him perform the Juinjutsu you brought to my attention, Shimura-san." The Hokage's voice held a chiding tone as he rebuked Danzo. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, and the Jinchuuriki stepped forward. "Naruto-kun, if you would relay your account to the council."
The young man nodded, and then launched in to his narrative once again, glazing over his barred summoning contract as well as a few other details, and then came to the actual confrontation with Orochimaru. He described the man's appearance as well as his identifying technique, which earned nods from a few of the Shinobi Councilors. When he finished his tale, not even Danzo could question whether or not it was Orochimaru. The Kusa-nin fit the Konoha missing-nin's description to a 'T' and any and all doubts had been dispelled.
"Now, since I have justified this meeting, I'll tell you the measures that will be put to a vote: for starters, I propose increased security and a curfew…"
Konoha: TG44: The Tower, 03:06, Regular Time
Naruto finally arrived back in the tower after sitting through two hours of debates, against his will, over what to do about Orochimaru; after ninety minutes they'd finally decided to just go with The Hokage's proposals. Then there was thirty minutes of closing statements and concerns before he'd finally been escorted back to the tower by a squad of ANBU.
His night had been, in a word, hectic. Full of making reports and justifying his actions, as well as being cross-examined by some of the councilors that still acted hatefully towards him. It was annoying and irritating, and he was well and truly exhausted. Wandering through the halls of the tower, he found the room that was assigned to Team Seven. Opening the door, he walked in, noting that Sakura was out cold on one of the three beds in the room.
He trudged over to a bed against the wall, and sat down. He shrugged out of his coat, letting it fall heavily onto a chair, the dangling skulls clanking together; the resultant cacophony caused Sakura to stir, but the young pink-haired Kunoichi merely rolled over and slipped back in to a sound sleep. He sighed and kicked off his sandals, then undid the buckles that secured the system of belts on his upper body, shrugging out of it, and then gently laying it on top of his coat. Finally, he allowed himself to fall into bed, and soon slipped into a decidedly restless sleep.
A Dream, Early Morning
Knee deep in half-congealed gore, Naruto trudged through a long, dimly lit hallway, the smell of blood flooding his nose. The walls were lined with strange glyphs, and runnels of blood flowed down from the ceiling, occasionally dripping into the odd writing. As he pressed forward, the blood flooding the hallway grew gradually deeper, soon reaching the height of his groin.
He stopped to examine the glyphs on the wall, only to turn away almost immediately because focusing on them caused a stabbing pain in the back of his head. They seemed to be radiating some kind of sickly violet light. He shook his head, and then trudged on. As he progressed, the blood grew deeper and the hall grew wider; when the vile, thick liquid reached mid-chest height, the space suddenly opened up into an expansive, cavern like area.
In the center of the room a dimly illuminated figure stood on an island of piled, broken bones. Progressing towards the center of the cavernous space, Naruto was forced to swim by the depth of the life-sustaining liquid. After struggling to swim through the thick liquid, Naruto finally climbed from the grotesque lake of gore on to the island of mounded bones, and examined the woman as she seemed to do the same to him.
She was tall, exceedingly so for a woman. She stood at least ten centimeters taller than Naruto, though he had yet to finish growing. Her silvery blonde hair hung in a long braid bound with a small golden ring, and fell down her back to her knees, with small lengths of polished bone woven in at regular intervals. Bright, blue-grey eyes stared out at him from beneath a fringe of fine silvery hair, regarding him with great interest. Her pale face was all hard angles, though not unattractive; her cheekbones were highly defined, and she had full lips, though her mouth was pulled up in a cruel smirk. Her ears were small, and hugged the sides of her head. She wore a brown jerkin of hardened leather over a black tunic that looked to be made of linen, though it did little to hide her considerable bust. Her hands were ensconced in a pair of unadorned metal gauntlets that ended in wicked looking talons, and her fingers seemed to be clenching and unclenching as if she were anticipating something. Her bare arms were just bulky enough to evidence that she was fit and powerful, and yet lean enough not to encumber her movements. She wore similarly undecorated greaves over a pair of comfortable looking riding pants, and her outfit was completed by a pair of boots with wicked metal spikes jutting out of the toes. A Katzbalger hung at her left hip and a matched dirk was tucked into her belt on her right side. Her skin and apparel were covered in irregular spatters of crimson, giving Naruto the impression that this woman had just returned from a particularly brutal battle.
A grin split her face, and she stepped forward, enfolding Naruto in a warm embrace. She pressed him against her body, completely ignoring the blood covering him. "You've finally come to me, Naruto-kun." She pushed him away, and looked him over, her approval apparent.
"And just who are you?" Naruto asked, more than a little confused by this blood-covered woman. Though he was covered in blood as well, so he didn't have much room to criticize her on that point. He tried to pull away from her, but she only brought him back in.
A grin that was eerily similar to one that he often wore split her face. "I am Helveynia, an embodiment of violence, rage and passion." She paused to let that sink in, releasing Naruto and turning around, causing her fine silvery hair to glimmer in the dull reddish light of the cavernous room.
"I'm not dreaming. I've never seen anyone that looks like you before." Naruto mused aloud as he stepped forward to stand next to the recently identified spirit. "Where are we?"
"Your mindscape." Came the booming voice of Naruto's pre-eminent tenant. A pair of torches lit on the far wall revealing the Kyuubi's cage, raised up above the lake of gore. Based off of its ready reaction, and calm, if imposing, tone of voice, the fox knew exactly what was happening, and had likely orchestrated this meeting. "I admit, this is significantly more interesting than that sewer, though the smell is a tad overbearing. I blame the woman for that."
"Why is she here?" Naruto asked. He glanced over at the warrior-woman-spirit, "No offense intended."
"None taken. Though I would like to know why this beast saw fit to wrest me from my comfortable container, only to deposit me here." Helveynia said, directing a pointed glare at the massive fox in the cage in front of her.
"You still dwell within that hammer, Helveynia. The boy has enough problems with his own rage without your constant influence hanging over him." The Kyuubi paused, as if giving his next words a significant amount of thought, "I am merely testing a hypothesis, and it seems as if I was correct."
Konoha: TG44: The Tower, 06:00, Regular Time
Naruto awoke to an intense burning sensation centered on his sternum. A faint glow illuminated the room, though Naruto couldn't readily identify the source, until he glanced down. The pendant, that inscrutable chunk of metal that he'd worn around his neck since it had been given to him, was glowing. Glowing with heat. Glowing because the metal had been heated to an absurd temperature and looked like it was ready to melt, yet it was still maintaining its shape somehow.
Naruto wrapped his gloved hand around the enigmatic piece of jewelry and pulled it away from his chest, tearing free the top layers of skin with it. He the burn on his chest, noting that he was visibly healing thanks to the Kyuubi and one of the benefits of his constant cloak of flesh chakra. He considered himself quite lucky that he'd discovered that particular inconsistency in his bloodline, because his near constant secretion of flesh chakra through all his tenketsu allowed him to maintain his body temperature as well as accelerate and enhance his own prodigious healing abilities without the painful repercussion and requirements of his various healing techniques.
He glanced up from his burn, and was surprised to see that the offending object had already cooled and there was no sign of wear, not even any deformation, in the metal. Filing that away, he turned his thoughts inward. "I'm assuming you've made some sort of breakthrough with this most persistently puzzling piece of jewelry that adorns my neck?" Naruto asked his tenant, making no effort to mask his irritation with his equally inscrutable tenant.
"In fact I have, you ungrateful—" The Kyuubi began only to be cut off by another voice that joined in Naruto's internal conversation.
"Naruto-kun! Can you hear me?" Came the lilting yet still deeply violent voice of Helveynia. Well this was interesting! Now there was yet another voice in his head that would likely tell him to do things, predominately killing people in all likelihood.
"What did you do?" Naruto asked, directing his thoughts at his resident bijuu.
"I merely facilitated a meeting between you and your sentient weapon. Now Helveynia will be able to communicate with you in much the same way that I do." Came his reply, though, oddly enough, he sounded as if he was attempting to placate Naruto. "Worry not boy. The extent of her influence is limited to communication as long as she remains in her storage seal."
"What influence!?" Naruto demanded. He didn't need some self-proclaimed embodiment of rage screwing with his control. He had a firm grasp on his emotions, but it took a great deal of work to gain his current level of control over them, and the very thought of all that effort going to waste irritated him to know end.
"I will teach you to harness your rage and use it as a weapon on the field of battle, Naruto-kun. Then you'll be able to make your own way in life just like you want to." Helveynia said, though there was a subtle hint of malice to her words. Naruto had a feeling that this was another powerful being that didn't necessarily have his best interests at heart.
"You'll do no such thing. I've spent years conditioning him to resist that particular temptation in combat. You will not ruin my container with your foul influence no matter how compatible you are with his bloodline." The Kyuubi sounded rather irritated with his new house guest. "He is my Jinchuuriki. He is mine to do with as I see fit."
"Bah. He wields me in combat. It's my duty as his weapon to make him an unstoppable terror on the battlefield. Is that not in your best interests as well?" Helveynia replied in kind, apparently not at all intimidated by the massive fox whom she was engaged in a heated debate with.
"Don't I get a say in this?" Naruto queried. He was becoming rather irritated with his near constant companion, and this Helveynia… spirit wasn't exactly making a good impression. "I mean it is my body."
"No." Came the replies of the two arguing entities in unison.
"Whatever. Warn me next time you decide to do something like this." Naruto stated before blocking out the two arguing voices and getting out of bed wander the tower in the hopes of finding a hot meal.
Having arrived at the tower well before the end of the first day, and because he never slept, Gaara was already quite familiar with the layout of the tower. He ran into a few of the other exam participants in his time there, and he endeavored to maintain a civil attitude towards his fellow contestants. There was no point in scaring them; they didn't need any indication of how dangerous he could be when he so desired.
He'd endured the early morning, patiently awaiting an hour that those who slept would consider and then made his way to the tower cafeteria. He was hungry; not only was he sleep deprived, he was also a Jinchuuriki. He had an appetite more suited to a swarm of locusts than a any sort of person. So he walked through the tables towards the serving area, welcoming the sounds and smells of cooking food.
He approached the spread, glad that they'd set out a wide variety of foods, and used his sand to support a tray which he piled high with various fruits, vegetables, and pastries as well as meats and eggs and such breakfast type foods. When all was said and done, he had more than enough food to feed eight shinobi all for himself. He sat down at a corner table, sitting against the wall out of habit, and then proceeded to eat his breakfast.
As he usually did when eating, he focused on his meal and trusted Shukaku to manipulate his sand if it needed to leap to his defense. Thoroughly engrossed in his meal, he didn't notice that he'd been joined at his table until he heard someone clear their throat. He glanced up and favored his guest with a polite nod. "Naruto-san."
"Gaara-san. Good morning." Naruto replied in kind, sitting down to a smaller yet still abnormally large breakfast. Gaara returned to his breakfast when it became apparent that his fellow Jinchuuriki had no hostile intentions. After a few silent minutes, Naruto looked up. "Has your tenant ever done anything that you'd consider exceedingly irritating?"
Gaara looked thoughtful as he finished chewing his mouthful of food. "Exceedingly irritating?" Gaara asked. Naruto confirmed that that was his question with a nod. "The Ichibi no Tanuki is certifiably insane. I'm incapable of sleeping because if I do he'll wrest control of my body from me and manifest himself. I suppose that could be considered irritating."
Naruto merely nodded. His problem with his perfectly sane, highly intelligent, cunning, scheming, and conniving bijuu paled in comparison to that. "I suppose so." Naruto said. A thoughtful expression crossed for a moment, as he considered his next words. "Is the Ichibi capable of manipulating anything outside of your seal?"
"Yes." That was all Gaara said. That was all Naruto needed.
"Thanks. So it's not just the fuzzy bastard. That's good to hear. That means nothing is wrong with my seal." Naruto said, returning to his meal. They ate in silence for another few minutes, neither of them feeling the need to speak up.
They both finished their respective meals without uttering another word; what common ground that they were aware of having been exhausted, they had naught to speak over. Leaving, they set off in different directions. There was no hostility between the two of them, merely ambivalence and the anticipation of coming conflict.
End Chapter Ten
AN: Well shit. This was long overdue. Sorry folks. I was taking a critical thinking and argumentation writing class. Five weeks. I should get back to a mostly regular update schedule for the time being, but as soon as my fall term starts I can make no guarantees.
NOW! Everybody thank kitsuneswiftpaw and, for this chapter, Digitize27. He helped too.
So I have people to thank for favorites and follows because I've been busy and neglected to pm them. So there is 2209Fan, ytygr, The-AU-enthusiast, gadzooks11, Supreme-Commander-Anime, crazyreaderduh, Toam, jubbimaster, gulinard, skg1991, and weaver666. Thank you all for reading Inside Out, Upside Down. I do pay attention to my notifications, and I attempt to dialogue with my readers that grant me a means to do so.
Now here is something you might appreciate: I'm going to be writing a short side story, probably about 30k to 40k words tops, called IOUD: Orochimaru's Stake. This will give some background and flesh out just why Oro isn't a bad guy even though he still puts cursed seals on people, as well as how he was exiled because it is, to be a frank, a markedly different set of circumstances. So you're free to ask questions about Orochimaru, but if I intend to answer those questions in Orochimaru's Stake, I'll just tell you it's going to be answered there. I'm realizing that there are a lot of instances of poor planning on my part, which is not a bad thing since this is my first big project. That will probably be the first of many side stories that will start filling in the bigger picture for you guys.
Speaking of big projects, there are two more on the table now. KSP and I maintain a healthy dialogue, which has given rise to many ideas for potentially hilarious Omakes. I'll likely establish a separate story for Omakes involving the characters as they are in IOUD, so I'll let you guys know when that goes up. However it doesn't stop there. My illustrious beta has issued me a challenge: I am to try my hand at a cannibal Naruto fic. So I'll be working on that as well.
Those of you who enjoy my writing have a few things to look forward to in the future! Please review!
Thank you and have a great day,
E E Merica