Greetings one and all! This is the one and only world debut of Kage no Naruto chapter eleven! You can throw a wild party later, in the meantime enjoy the chapter and review at the end. I've got nothing more so let the excellence continue! By the way, there will be a bit of a timeskip in the beginning.
And as you may have imagined, the fact that I have posted this chapter means that my other story has finally made its presence known in the world of fanfiction. If any of you like Blood Plus and Death Note, feel free to check it out in my profile, the title is 'Of Black Death and Blue Roses', it is barely beginning but promises to be awesome. Okay enough of the advertisements let the chapter begin.
Disclaimer: Haven't we been over this like three times already?
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Summary of the last chapter
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Naruto released Perona the Ghost Princess and upon restoration of a physical body has gotten her to agree to help him in his goals. That was basically the chapter so let this one begin. The return to Konoha is nigh!
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Konoha Main Gate
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It was finally time for Naruto to return to hell on earth, in other words, Konohagakure. To some it was the place of nightmares, to others the place of their dreams. One full year had passed since Naruto left the village under the pretenses of a training trip on his own. All the while he was supposed to be watched by ANBU, though what the ANBU were truly watching was his shadow given physical form and specific orders not to do anything suspicious. While he had spent the first few months recruiting members to his budding organization, each with a specific purpose in mind, he had never really planned much after finding Perona; he had never thought that he would find the Three Enigmas so quickly. That was all thanks to Yukino-Chan and her unique abilities. As a result he had spent the remaining months training in the caves of the Hogake Mountain and the last few months traveling in Rai no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, killing the reasonably strong in order to provide Hogback with the most powerful people to transform into marionettes for General Zombies, and obtaining shadows in order to animate the completed creations of the ancient doctor.
The results of it all was that his growing army of undead had grown from around fifty Soldier Class zombies and one General Class zombie, along with Rei and Hildon, who were not meant for combat, to around one hundred Soldier Class zombies and five General Class zombies. He had also rented out some of his Soldier Class zombies to people like Gatou for a large sum of money each month, going from poor orphan with a large building in his name to an orphan with an extremely large amount of money stored in various dummy accounts in several different banks. His creations were generally used rarely by those he rented them to, and they had the sense to not let anyone see them and live. They could not die and had the skills of powerful ninja, so they were powerful warriors.
He had underestimated his creatures' true abilities since he had forgotten that the zombie retained the abilities of the one whose shadow he possessed. As a result his original fifty which had the shadows of caught ANBU, mostly from the 'Ne' division, had the tactics and jutsu of Ne ANBU. The newer ones had shadows of similar people, ninja that he had encountered and subdued in various countries. The Generals had the shadows of powerful A or B-Class ninja that had stood out among their peers, Zaraki Kenpachi, Rokushou Aoi, Kurosuki Raiga, Fuuma Kamakiri, and Fuuma Jigumo. Those were the five whose shadows he had used to bring his strongest creations to life.
Two of them were members of the Seven Swordsmen, on encountered in Kiri, one encountered on the road and captured after killing the boy who attempted to assist him. Rokushou Aoi, who had been made a Jounin of Amegakure after defecting from Konoha, wielder of the Niidaime Hokage's Raijin sword, defeated and allowed to keep the sword that he had grown used to using now that he was no longer living. The last two were Jounin of the once great Fuuma Clan, defeated together by himself and his allies. Their third teammate, Fuuma Kagerou, would have joined them if she had not used a jutsu that ended up killing her in an attempt to save them. As a result, she joined the ranks of the zombies as a body, a marionette, rather than an animating shadow. The beautiful girl now served as Hogback's assistant and is the third zombie not made for combat. Yes, his army had grown.
Even more impressive were the bodies that had been constructed for them. Some of them were an amalgam of parts, specifically the three that had gone to Aoi and the Fuuma clan members. The two that went to the shadows of the Seven Swordsmen were much more powerful. The body that he had animated with the shadow of Kurosuki Raiga was in fact the body of the Niidaime Hokage that he had stolen and replaced. He did the same with the Shodaime Hokage, but he had not found a shadow for that body yet. The Yondaime Hokage's body remained in the Hokage's tomb; he didn't want anything to do with the man, or his corpse.
The genius of the placement of Raiga's shadow was in the fact that the Niidaime was a master of water techniques, and that carried on even in death. Combined with Raiga's mastery of lightning, the pairing of body and shadow was extremely potent in this case, more powerful than the Niidaime had been in his prime since, although he had to relearn his water abilities, his body had been strengthened beforehand by Hogback. By surgically making the body more powerful, more durable, and more resistant to damage, stronger and faster, he had enabled the new zombie to surpass the Niidaime's human limits. The immensely powerful Suiton jutsu of the Niidaime Hokage combined with the immense Raiton abilities of Kurosuki Raiga, Kiri's Lightning Fang, and armed with Raiga's swords, it was an extremely powerful warrior, albeit with morbid tendencies and a love of funerals.
The body that was animated by Zaraki Kenpachi however, was as good a match-up. Hogback had not left Thriller Bark with nothing. When he fled the immense boat with Absalom and the unconscious Moria, he had taken several things, his lab equipment and the most powerful zombies that he could find and pack in. The Soldier Zombies weren't worth bothering with, but he had taken two of the more powerful zombies with them. Specifically the bodies of the samurai Ryuuma, and the body of Perona's favorite zombie and the closes thing she had to a General zombie under her control, the teddy bear looking creature which she called Bearsy. The thing was actually a doll she had as a child, sized up and given immense strength and speed, it wasn't to be underestimated.
That creature aside, the body of the samurai was more important. It had been badly damaged but over time Hogback had made it useful again it was quite simple, the thing was not the most powerful of the General Zombies for nothing. He had even retrieved his original sword from the grave of Roranora Zoro, the black blade Shuusui, which was a blade of immense quality, surpassing most modern day blades such as the Kusanagi or the Raijin. That was the body he had granted Zaraki Kenpachi. The insane mind and incredible style, jutsu and insanity of Zaraki Kenpachi, combined with the immensely powerful body of the legendary samurai Ryuuma, and wielding the black sword Shuusui which was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, sword in the world. It was definitely the most powerful sword in the Elemental Countries. All of that added up to an absolute badass rivaling the Raiga Niidaime combo. He had some great fun training with him, with all of the General Zombies.
However, all good things come to an end. In the last month before his return he had made accommodations for his group during his absence. Absalom lived in the mountains with Hogback, assisting him in the creation of the zombies with his insight into what tactical value certain things would have in a fight. Yukino and Haruka had to go into hiding since they were too vital to send wandering around. As a result he had them join the two members of the Three Enigmas in the mountain caves, and he had increased the rations in the caves to mirror the growing population. Perona however would be living with him in Konoha. She wouldn't be seen by anyone, he would make sure of that. Normally he wouldn't allow it, but she was quite possessive of him, always calling him Naruto-kun and always acting strangely when he was around. Quite frankly, he was afraid of being raped one day by the girl. She absolutely refused to stay in the caves so he had to let her stay with him. When he told her that she was absolutely overjoyed.
In the last week before his return, he had gone to the cave where he was supposed to be all this time and had returned his shadow to its normal place. It had been training a lot in the last year, studiously reading the scrolls that he had obtained and training its body, even though its strength could not be increased through such methods. His shadow grew stronger as he grew stronger, not the other way around. He DID however learn what it learned, and it had read about a hundred pounds worth of books and scrolls on all things ninja. It was a lot like releasing about ten thousand Kage Bunshin at once. Normally this experience would blow his mind more effectively than a fifty caliber bullet at point blank range, but thank god he had Kyuubi. She could slow the intake of the memories so that he could absorb them at a survivable and comfortable rate, a little each day. He wouldn't absorb the entire thing for about six months, but that was better than becoming a vegetable or worse. He had spent the time before his return resting and meditating in the cave to help speed up the process.
Now the day had come, his return to the days of pretending to be what he was not, an innocent careless boy with some amazing abilities. Mind you, he could act quite a bit colder than he had before. A year of training in solitude would naturally force one to grow more contemplative and wary so he could drop the idiot persona around the old man and adopt a more mature one instead, no longer rushing through things with reckless abandon when the goat was around and slowly let the methodical genius peek through. Not the evil though, no that would be well hidden but he no longer had to play the fool, now he could play the much more enjoyable role of the detached, serious, and skilled. He wouldn't be an emo by any means, he did have a sense of humor, albeit twisted, he could be enjoyable to be around, but you wouldn't hear him screaming something like 'dattebayo' in this lifetime.
When he passed through the gates, the gatekeepers looked at him with scorn, not that he cared; he just flashed the letter the Sandaime had given him to allow him back into the village on this specific day, and went to the library to return copies of the books and scrolls that he had borrowed. The real manuscripts he was keeping in the caves. The ones he stole from the ninja only libraries were in the caves as well. He made his way to the Hokage tower, steadying himself to not kill the old goat when he saw that smiling face that he wanted nothing more than to beat to a no longer living pulp. It wouldn't do well to break cover now, the hidden knife kills the foe, not the one they saw coming.
When he made his way to the Hokage tower he got plenty of mutters from the assembled crowd. 'Damn, I thought he was dead' 'Why did he have to come back, can't he tell he isn't wanted?' and other such things were heard if you listened hard enough. Only one guy had the balls to come forward and yell "Why the hell did you have to come back you hell spawn?" Naruto just continued onward, giving him the bird and saying "Love you too, but I love your daughter even more." As he continued into the building. The man in question would be irritable and humiliated for the rest of the day as his daughter, well she wasn't what you would call a pure virgin.
He got more or less the same treatment from the people inside the building, including the secretary, who attempted to bar his access to the Hogake's office. He just tossed the letter saying that he should come straight to the old man's office when he returned on the woman's desk and pushed past her without giving her a second glance. He knocked once on the door and continued in when he heard the aged ninja say in a voice that sounded like he was bored to tears 'enter'.
Naruto entered the decent sized office and saw the Sandaime at his desk furiously combating a tower of paperwork as high as he was tall sitting on his desk. A more caring or empathetic person would have told the old man the possible benefits of Kage Bunshin in such a situation but he just really couldn't be bothered. He watched the man fight the flat white menace that threatened all things useful and efficient. Eventually the man noticed that it was Naruto in his office instead of the usual Chuunin there to assist his hated enemy, and immediately rose to greet the boy. "Naruto-kun! How have you been my boy? I was expecting you to be here a little earlier."
Naruto just looked at him and let a small, if fake, smile grace his lips before saying "I'm great Ojii-san! I've gotten a lot stronger than I was when I left. I have also gained a lot of control over my abilities, and a lot of insight into how the world works. I've never felt better!"
Old Sarutobi sat down again and smiled at the boy. He was a bit colder than he expected but the innocence that the boy once brimmed with could not truly co-exist with experience; it was one or the other. He sounded a lot more confident and he had grown a bit too and not just in body. Unsurprising since he was now nine years old, and had been fending for himself for quite a while. The Academy started the year yesterday and Naruto was finally old enough to enroll, albeit a little late. He would have started last year, at eight, but he wanted to leave for that trip and the Sandaime, seeing how the teachers would probably treat him, had to agree that training on his own would be best. Now he knew how to train himself and any corrupt teachers wouldn't be able to sabotage the delicate early education that, if denied him, would probably ruin his career before it really began. He would be a little older than his peers, but that was okay.
He told the boy "I am glad that you are okay Naruto, I worried a bit about what kind of things you might find out there, but my worries had no basis it seems." Naruto just nodded and he continued on "So, the Academy started up yesterday, so you will have a little catching up to do under normal circumstances, but I think you learned more than what they already know during the last year. You might even teach them a few things, Naruto-kun. Here, take this and give it to the woman at the Academy's front desk tomorrow at 8 AM, when classes start. Make me proud my boy!"
Naruto took the paper that the aged ninja offered him and smiled saying "I will Ojii-san!" before leaving the room. He looked at the paper that he was given. I had the address of the Academy on it and the notice that he was to join a specific class, nothing special. He got out of the tower, inwardly gagging from the tone and the smile he had used in that accursed old man's presence.
The Sandaime smiled as the boy left. He would make a good ninja, and maybe, one day, a fine successor to his father. In the meantime, he had THIS monstrosity to face. He sat down and took up a pen and the topmost file of the pile of paperwork that had grown a few inches while he wasn't looking. He put pen to paper before blaring at the large stack and said "Bring it on motherfucker, round two!"
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Naruto's home AKA Demon House AKA Lair of the Beast and all sorts of other good names given by the kind populace of Konoha, those loving souls
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Naruto finally got to his house and found it in much better condition than he had left it. The rotting wood was no more, the broken windows were replaced, the lawn was trimmed, and the place looked livable. The only thing that turned it away from the populace was the fact that he lived there and the incinerating barrier around the fence. When he got to the front gate he found a large pile of ash in front of it, most likely the remains of at least three people who had walked into the field of deadly energy. 'Dumb bastards' Naruto muttered to himself as he dispelled the barrier in front of the gate and stepped through, blowing the ash away with a small Fuuton jutsu.
He walked up to the door and walked in, closing the door behind him and looked around. The place was in pristine condition. The portraits were newly polished and the place was in better shape than it had been in decades. Naruto looked through several rooms, empty but well cleaned. His own room was creepy as ever, no windows, large king size bed, pictures of horrible atrocities, same as he left it. The only question was where the hell all the zombies were. No one ever came to his house unless they were the Sandaime, or they were there to kill him. As a result they usually roamed the halls, looking to sate their boredom, but he hadn't seen hide or hair of the undead since he got there, except the portrait zombies, they were still there. He descended to the basement, looking for his creations, and he inevitably found them.
They were all in the basement, hopelessly drunk. Even if they were undead, they could still get absolutely sloshed apparently. He noticed that Hildon had a bottle of red wine almost as big as he was strapped to his back. Something told him he would see that bottle of wine a lot more often. Rei was sleeping in her lingerie near the back, and they were all passed out. 'Oh well' he thought 'at least they didn't make a mess.'
Naruto examined his basement freezers and laboratories. They were all in spotless condition. He decided that he would send some of the bodies to Hogback later, he was running out of them since it took several human corpses to create one Soldier Zombie, and dozens more to create a General Zombie, unless the base was of great power, such as the Niidaime's or the Shodaime's were.
Naruto stepped into a nearby shadow and entered the caves via a Kage Hokou. When he returned a minute later he had Perona and the recently resurrected Bearsy with him. Perona loved the thing, and he could kind of understand that. A six foot tall awkward looking teddy bear with an immense hat, a doctor's mask, eyes out of the Simpson's, and devil's horns, completely lovable.
She was currently hanging onto Naruto's left arm. "Umm, you can let go now Perona-chan."
She rubbed against his arm and said "Oh, but I don't want to, Naruto-kun is so warm, I could stay here all day."
'Oh jeez' He put a hand on Perona's chin and lifted her head up to meet his eyes and said to her "Now, now Perona-chan, we can't pick out your room if you're clinging to me like this, besides I kind of like circulation in that arm."
She sighed dramatically and reluctantly let go. "Okay Naruto-kun, you win this time. Let's go pick out my room then, shall we?" He nodded and she went upstairs, looking around, and the silent Bearsy following her. She apparently really liked the portraits.
Perona was a rather strange person in Naruto's opinion. She was one of the more dangerous people alive in a fight given time to get going, yet can be incredibly childish. She had been alive for centuries and was obsessed by things that were, in her opinion, 'cute'. She acted exactly like she did way back during the age of pirates, when she assisted in the running of Thriller Bark, despite centuries having passed since then. She was also very strict with those placed under her and a harsh disciplinarian to the same. She would have been a good sensei for that one Jounin, Hatake Kakashi; she wouldn't have let him be late, ever.
However, despite her looks, she had never had a boyfriend before, or a significant other. She lived alone for most of her life, especially once consuming one of the Devil Fruits and gaining her powers. Ever since then she lived alone until she was eleven when she met Moria and helped establish Thriller Bark. After their defeat at the hands of the Straw Hat pirates she lived as a spirit. As a result she had very little experience in such a relationship, although it was not a relationship. She basically relied on him for emotional comfort, and was very clingy, never letting him be alone with another woman if she could prevent it.
He had no doubt that this would eventually grow into something more⦠physical once he had aged sufficiently, but he couldn't complain. Her body would never age from its current beauty and perfection, and her abilities were terrifying since her ghosts made anyone a living target, could decimate rock and buildings, and she could see, hear, and communicate using them. She was a scout and a demolitionist all in one. He would live for a very long time, and he didn't mind her being at his side. She wouldn't be the only one and she knew it. When she found out she confronted him on it and her exact words were 'I don't care if you're somebody else's too, but you are still MY Naruto-kun.' She was a real paradox, childish at one moment, mature and serious the next. She was willing to share him with others, but more than willing to make it hard as hell for any woman to get that close. It was a strange thing.
Regardless of his current affairs regarding women, he had work to do. He went up to his room and prepared a few things. He had the Academy in the morning.
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The next morning
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Naruto awoke in his King sized bed under the black quilt on blood red silk sheets. The reason was his own biological clock waking him at exactly 8 AM. There was however a strange lump under the bedspread. 'Don't tell me' He thought as he looked under the covers and saw none other than the Ghost Princess grabbing him around the midsection, sound asleep and wearing nothing more than a pink silk nightgown. This was actually the first time he had seen her without her crown, which was odd since she had slept with it before. It couldn't have been far. He looked up and saw it there on the bedside table next to his top hat.
He tried to break away from her vice grip, but she just held on tighter. 'I'm going to have to get used to this aren't I?' he thought and as thought she could read his thoughts, Perona's head nodded once despite being totally out of it. He sighed and got to work on extricating himself from the bear hug.
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Thirty minutes later, the ninja Academy
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Naruto was walking down the hall to his class. He had managed to somehow escape Perona's grasp, despite her warmth and lack of clothing under her nightgown. After that he had shunshined to the academy and after giving the note to the Kyuubi hating bitch of a secretary, he had gone to the room she directed him to. He idly thought 'my emo senses are tingling' as he neared the appropriate door. He entered the room and saw the rather rotund man teaching the class.
The man saw him and said "Ah, this must be the new student I told you all about. Come in and introduce yourself."
Naruto stepped in front of the room and said "My name is Uzumaki Naruto; I would say that it was nice to meet you all and it will be pleasant learning with you, but it would be a horrific lie."
About three quarters of the class erupted into laughter. Naruto focused on those who didn't, they were the ones who would be making it to Gennin more likely than not. There were a few but three in particular stood out. One of them was a girl with her hair in two buns, the second was a strange looking boy with large eyebrows and eyes that were a male version of Perona's and the third was a long-haired Hyuuga in the back that reeked of angst, arrogance, and other things that would likely be beaten out of him eventually, with any luck.
The man who was teaching the class stopped chuckling and said "Very funny, Uzumaki-san. Just sit wherever you want. I am Funeno Daikoku by the way, Daikoku-sensei to you."
Naruto nodded and took a seat near the back, yet away from the rest and rested his head on one hand. This was going to be a boring three years, good thing he brought plenty of chocolate.
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That will be the end of the chapter. Now then, I have some explaining to do don't I? The reason I placed Naruto in the same class as Neji, Tenten, and Lee is simple. It is because of a particular time ambiguity that many authors on this sight have overlooked. Naruto failed the Gennin exam twice and passed the third time right? Now then since he failed twice, doesn't that mean that he is in fact two years older than Sasuke, Sakura and the rest and one year older than Neji, Lee and Team Gai? Going by that logic, one year late would be in the same class that Team Gai was in, and that is my reason.
Right, I have nothing more to say here except to review my story, review my new story, and enjoy your lives if you do both of these.
Until the next update,
Artful Lounger
