Wow, long time huh? I've been trying to fix all the spelling errors and such, and what was going to be two chapters became a single entry. Also, I've been working a lot of full day shifts at work and it drains me. Gone were the days when I could relax at home all day, and work on this with a fresh mind whenever I felt like it. I was averaging 5-6 hours … not healthy, but the best I could do.
I'm now back in college and sophomore year has only gotten worse. I get really busy and tired (also had a head cold, and wanted to build up my social life a bit more).
I promise though, I'll never let this story die… even if, God forbid, I'm reduced to ridiculous plot points and crappy spelling, I won't give up. I swore to myself I would before I start my other story ideas.
Well, it's time to introduce Shino, and to see how all of our heroes have improved in two years. There are some…interesting things here. Read closely, or later parts won't make sense.
Let's get it on!
The Dark and Misunderstood
Written By Kylekatarn77
Chapter Eleven
The wait is over. New powers awaken. What is the purpose of this mysterious sage Naruto?
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While there were many islands and continents on the planet, there was one super continent, much larger than the rest. Each country on the world's great continent had one daimyo that, among his official duties, would now and again change the Era title of the country out of superstition. Every country always had a name for their own personal Era, a tradition stretching back generations of time.
Long before the Kyuubi attack upon the village of Konohagakure, a previous Daimyo of Fire Country changed the Reign Title of Fire Country to 'Established Calm'. This decision was later scene as ironic by the future daimyos, as the second and third ninja wars had followed this soon after. However, the name did not change, for it was hoped the name would soon come to pass into reality, and that peace would flourish for longer periods of time.
In addition, when referring to the year on parchment or in conversation, the year revolved around a certain point, the year 0 BC, or 'Before Chakra"- for it was the year Chakra had first been discovered by man. Long before the supposed 'Sage of the Six Paths' was first heard of, Chakra had been discovered, though none knew then how to mold it for jutsu, only how to increase the body's speed and strength with it. Any year after that was known as "After Chakra', or AC. For a long time it was such.
After the attack of Kyuubi upon Konoha, the Daimyo of Fire Country at the time, Kaouza Yamamora, came to the conclusion that the current Reign title was unlucky, as if anything it seemed to bring the opposite of calm. Barely a week after the incident, he changed it to 'Rising Tranquility', in the hopes it would signify peace coming from the troubles of the past era, like a phoenix rising from its own ashes.
Furthermore, to honor the dead of Konohagakure, he officially changed the country's year reference to BK and AK, or 'Before Kyuubi' and 'After Kyuubi', making all rear references rotate around that specific year. BC and AC were only used in documents sent to other countries which did not choose to change their year reference to match.
The following letters were written in the year 12 AK, in the Era of 'Rising Tranquility'…
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Dear Kento,
You lucky son of a bitch. Mom was right, you really are too lucky for your own good. I can't believe I actually have to pay you up on this one. The package to be delivered with this letter contains therein the amount we agreed upon.
Ironically, I didn't even hear any stories about these guys within the week, which was the event we bet upon. I actually saw them! Kiara and I were traveling into town, and were a few miles out when some members of the 'Red Snake' gang showed up. About a dozen of them. They've been a problem around here lately, but the Daimyo's soldiers and the odd Konoha ninja that come here never seem to be able to find them. We didn't have much money on us, and I tossed them everything we had. But they didn't leave. The way they were eying Kiara…it made my blood boil and my spine shiver all at once.
I had only just started thinking about whether or not I could distract them long enough for her to run, when 'they' showed up. They were just as you described- 4 tall figures, 2 in all black with heavy cloaks, one in the same clothing but of an off-white color, and one in a deep blue. Couldn't see their faces or bodies or nothing. Don't know how they kept their faces in shadow like that.
So one of those gang guys runs at em, and swings a dagger at the taller one in black. Thought that one was done for. It actually looked like the blade was touching the neck. I blink-and suddenly the dagger is lodged up to the hilt in the gang member's forehead. Couldn't see it happen. I blink again, and the one in blue is gone. Suddenly I hear screams and some cracking…and they're all dead. Just a few seconds and they're laid out on the ground, twisted and broken. Didn't even see it occur.
The slightly shorter one in black turns to me, and said we were fortunate they had been in the area. Wasn't even rude, just reminding us how lucky we were. Was a guy, but the voice was completely garbled. I think you're right. They must be ninja, because it was perfectly done. No mask for any voice modifier or nothing. Anyway, they didn't ask for money, or favors, or any reward. And they left in a blur-there one second, gone the next, faster than I could even blink.
Never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad you were right. I didn't think these guys, whoever they are, actually existed. Hope they keep saving our asses, because Konoha definitely ain't. All their hype about working with the Daimyo on the bandit problem, and where were they the whole time? Meanwhile, these guys save us by accident!
Your brother,
Kenta
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Danzo-sama,
Per your orders, Operation 'Hidden Dagger' has been implemented. Sai has delivered the ANBU identity folder, as well as given Orochimaru the best positions for the summoning rituals. Both sides are now in full understanding of how the invasion will start.
We successfully infiltrated the village while Orochimaru spoke with Sai. We were not seen. The strength of his forces is average at best. While numerous, a low of number of his ninja are Jonin, or possess skill equal to their rank. Once we turn on them during the invasion, they will fall quickly.
As per your instruction, this scroll was sealed with a vial of your blood, ensuring it will be your eyes only. We left no tracks upon leaving, and neither did Sai. It's just as you planned sir- if it weren't for Sai, it's as if we never even set foot within the Sound village.
Falcon
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Orochimaru-sama,
Things have gone according to schedule. As instructed, Danzo's men who infiltrated Base Alpha saw only the men left after our best shinobi were removed to Base Gamma. They foolishly believe their spy's were undetected, and that we are ignorant of any treachery on their part. After reviewing the copies you sent me, I've concluded that the information they have provided us with is actually genuine. Best estimates indicate they plan to turn on us mid battle, when our forces have supposedly sustained losses…they will never see our double-cross coming. Though the Leaf itself will never see any of this coming. As you predicted, while its shinobi are still numerous and skilled, its security is lax even when on alert, at least compared to their old standards. Still, the recent events around Fire country, of which I need not remind you, seem to be shaking the cobwebs loose. At this rate, things may be a bit trickier than we anticipated. The Hokage himself is starting to condition himself. I admit I am amazed that at his age he can still push himself without possessing a younger body like you do.
The Hokage is also locked within a non-hostile power struggle with Konoha's council. Both the civilian and shinobi members are split, some for him, some for Danzo, and some for themselves. Sarutobi is still as kind and sentimental as you once described him, and works too hard at reaching compromises, sometimes undermining his original motions or intentions. Unfortunately, all of the clan and shinobi seats-with the obvious exception of Danzo- are loyal, and so are the civilian seats. Bribery won't work here. Ending investigation into extra inside help.
Closer investigation of Sasuke Uchiha reveals he is perfect as your next host. Skilled for his age, seemingly hungry to become stronger…and best of all, he has no connection to anyone within the village, practically slapping any attempts away. If it were not against whatever plan you seem to be scheming, I'd suggest we take him now. He seems perfect-I think he might actually survive the Curse Seal's application.
Per beta plan 'Maelstrom', I have finished evaluating the Nine-Tails container Naruto Uzumaki. Despite purposeful sabotage within the academy, he seems to possess an average skill set. He seems to blend in with the other students who don't come from a clan. I was surprised, expecting his skill level to not be worth mentioning, yet it is nothing special. And yet…I feel as if there is more. It seems at times like he is holding back, though I cannot be sure. He will also disappear when not within the academy, or within any official park or eating establishment, only one of which providing him with business. I will admit to being unable to find him.
The boy, while an average fighter, is definitely hiding major skills at stealth and deception. Potential in these areas unknown. It is unknown if these disappearances are related to the demon, and he seems to still be ignorant of the creature or the seal. Still, his social isolation, apart from a few acquaintances that seem to have little real connection with him, makes it apparent that convincing him to abandon Konohagakure is possible. I'll keep tracking him when my duties don't prevent me, and will file a final report before the Chunin exams on whether or not he can be turned to us. Having a Jinchuriki on our side, as a fighter or an experiment, would be a wonderful consolation prize. As before, I would suggest not using him as a vessel, since the seal upon him is a wild factor. Any information the Fourth had on the seal is lost or hidden, and I am unable to find it.
As per your instruction, this scroll was sealed with a vial of your blood, ensuring it will be your eyes only. Soon, everything will come together Orochimaru-sama…I must admit, I tingle with excitement at the thought of what's to come.
Kabuto
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To whom it may concern at Sukahara Shipping,
We appreciate your readiness in keeping our business under the table, as well as not asking for our actual contact information.
In regards to our order, we will be requiring an extra half of all building materials, including lumber, steel, etc. In fact, an extra half of everything we have requested. To make a show of good faith, we have enclosed half of what the new total will come too.
However, the date of delivery has been pushed back. We regret to inform you our plans have changed, and we will require you to hold all materials until a new date can be ascertained. As an apology, an extra 15 percent is enclosed in the second envelope.
As always, we thank you for your discretion and willingness to cooperate.
Sincerely,
Shadow
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Dear Bob,
You suck.
Jay
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To Sarutobi, Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf,
My old friend, it has been too long since we last spoke in person. I eagerly await the upcoming Chunin exams, not only for the exams themselves but the chance to see you again. I'm sure that as always, you have many good stories to tell.
Unfortunately, this letter is not just for a friendly check up. Serious matters have come to my attention, and I am becoming very worried.
Recent reports from your Sannin Jiraiya on this 'Akatsuki' group worry me. My own intelligence network, while not on the level of his own, has found that men in clothes matching their description have been collecting massive amounts of money in bounties across the 5 Nations, mostly at illegal collection stations. However, I'm much more troubled by the idea of all but two of the Jinchuriki being kidnapped, and the recent capture of the remaining unsealed Biju. Kumo has lost both of its container's to this group, and only with the utmost secrecy has kept the new from going too public. I am afraid I must give you a direct order to have Jiraiya dedicate the bulk of his efforts to discovering what this groups plans to do with them. The danger surrounding those demons and the people who contain some of them…it doesn't bode well for any of us. Guard your own container well.
Recently a merchant ship was lost in a storm only to reappear a month later, saying they actually made it onto the Land of Daggers. As you know, no ship or person has set foot there in a long time. It…was a wasteland. The entire inhabitance was slaughtered, and every building and plant was burned to the ground. The island was a bare rock. While we have no official suspects, I'd imagine S-rank ninja like those suspected of being part of Akatsuki could manage this. Still, to have defeated an entire nation bred for war…it frightens me, whatever power did this.
As always, I have no new news on my part concerning Orochimaru, save one piece I will mention shortly.
I have always given great trust and leeway to your village, only because you have always repaid it with loyalty and devotion to your work. You and the shinobi you command. You've brought pride and respect to yourselves and to me. However, recent events, though small in nature, are starting to build into something more troublesome.
For instance, we recently had to detach half of a company ((A.N.: One company is 1,000 soldiers)) to Sea Country when word was sent to us anonymously about a hidden research lab there… one run by Orochimaru. Though he was not present, a subordinate of his named Amachi was, and has been kidnapping civilians for experimentation. Our men broke in to find a tied up Amachi and all the people taken to the island base dead, save a young girl named Isaribi that he was just about to start experimenting on. She is fine, and he is now in custody, though interrogation has revealed nothing save his mutterings about 'the true darkness', whatever that means. While the end of this operation pleases me, I'm concerned, considering the patrol you recently sent to check the area reported no leads concerning the disappearances.
Again, despite your promise that the area was safe, there was recently an attempted coup d'état in the Land of Greens, which the feudal lord only barely survived. An entire Legion ((A.N.: 10,000 soldiers)) was required to ward off any ideas of invasion from other nations. Thankfully the land is safe, and the Feudal Lord even reunited with his daughter after many years.
Meanwhile, similar events have gotten my attention. A takeover in the Land of Birds, which was thankfully stopped, but only after the feudal lord was murdered. A missing-nin who temporarily took over Katabame, and is now on the run. Yet another coup d'état, in the Star Village this time, which resulted in the death of the Sandaime Hoshikage. The leader of this movement, Akahoshi, is now dead and the star destroyed. Half a legion is being stationed there for their protection.
This list goes on a bit my friend. Despite reports from your men on many of the aforementioned areas, I get new reports of corruption and murder. And how are these incidents resolved? Not by my men, or yours, but by an anonymous group the common people have taken to calling 'Shadow'. Fitting really, since catching them is as hard as catching one. They leave no trace, seem to use voice modulators, and wear heavy clothing with hoods. No possible identification, and from what I've been told they haven't even resorted to ninjutsu or genjutsu or kenjutsu, apparently so skilled they take their opponents head on without ever revealing themselves. The only indication so far that they are actually shinobi is their expert use of the Shushin technique you've told me about. Every instance has apparently been reported by them anonymously, and only after solving them. It seems likely the group was involved every time, considering they gave us details only they could know having solved these problems. They have also been spotted al collecting stations, and have collected almost as many bounties as Akatsuki, despite the fact that none of their bounties are of the more honest type.
The people rely on your men and mine for protection Sarutobi. And now all of this… we're being humiliated by an unknown group of four, doing what my armies and your ninja haven't. The talk among the civilian population is that we don't care anymore, or are foolish for not seeing any of this. We're going to become a laughingstock at this rate.
I care not for any vain reputation; you know that to be true. I care for my people, with all of my heart. But this humiliation seems like we're practically asking for trouble from other nations, like Kumo or Iwa. We need to show an appearance of strength and a rock-steady position, to avoid any conflict.
I give you much credit for your work Sarutobi. But my friend, I now question the commitment of your men, something that truly hurts me. For these instances to be missed…I wonder what else is going on without our notice.
As for this group, I wouldn't even mind the work they've done, but they seem to refuse any contact with us, and seem to carry no allegiance. Vigilantism is fine when a purpose is shown and no one is hurt, but they have shown none. A lack of trust is therefore present, and I refuse to give them leeway because of it. I want them brought into custody so their intentions may be found.
My old friend, rarely must I speak to you as a Daimyo, as a ruler to a subject with such a harsh tone, and I much prefer writing as if to a good friend, which you are. But these instances seem ominous somehow, and I can't help but worry. I had hoped changing the Reign Title would bring better fortune, and it has, but our tranquility seems to be getting disrupted. I ask of you to work hard as always, and bring peace of mind, to me and my people. I put our fate in your hands.
Sincerely,
Kaouza Yamamora
P.S.: As always, I hope your clan enjoys the crate of aged bacon that accompanies my letter.
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Takero ran. He couldn't think of any other option. He was a fighting man normally, and preferred the idea of going down swinging. But how could anyone fight those…things? He dodged around trees, breathing hard as his legs pumped. In the back of his mind Takero wondered how things had gone so horribly wrong.
It had been so simple. The five of them had planned yet another ambush on a small road in the Land of Claws, in an area the Feudal Lord didn't even protect. Their gang had hit civilians hundreds of times, without any retaliation. It had gone to perfectly…and then they had shown up. That fucking Shadow group people talked about. One of them had snapped, and called out to seemingly the air…
"Shadows, strike them down. Show the power of your hearts!"
…and then things had gone to Hell. A bunch of black… things had jumped from the trees-fucking black monsters!-, and in less than five seconds had wasted the others. Then the one that called them out looked at him, and said they'd run into them by accident. Accident?! The whole operation, their lives, fucked up by an accident!
Takero just ran, stumbling over tree roots. There was a town up ahead. He'd heard they never showed up in heavily populated places, or at least stayed their long. If he could make it, maybe-
But it wasn't to be. As Takero looked back, he suddenly seemed to hit what felt like a brick wall and fell back onto his ass. He looked up, and froze. It was one of those… things. A giant one, with manacles on its wrists. Takero backed up, and then felt his back hit something. He looked up… and saw one of the group members in black standing there.
"Y-you're with that group 'Shadow', aren't you?" The figure in black cocked his head a bit, and then spoke in the garbled voice Takero had heard about.
"We originally decided not to use that name. You wouldn't understand, but we found it incredibly ironic, and a bit corny. But people have their own ideas it seems, and now we're stuck with it. That'll change someday though… of course, you won't live long enough to understand why." The figure in black held out a white-gloved hand, and with a small flash of light appeared a long spear. Takero couldn't help but marvel at it, even as he almost pissed himself. It had to be six feet long, the shaft a black material that looked sturdy, yet flexible enough to bend. ((A.N.: If you've ever seen the movie 'Hero' or played "Dynasty Warriors 5-6, you know what I mean.)) The blade of the spear was a gleaming white, looking sharp enough to slice steel or rock like butter. It was beautiful…and then it pointed at Takero's throat, reality set back in, and Takero really did piss himself.
"W-wait! Please, don't kill me. We can give you gold, valuables. We have a small cave-"
"About a kilometer north of here. We watched you leave it after recognizing you from civilian description. We've already cleared it out… even found the bodies you guys dumped in the back and that…" The figure paused, and then sound disgusted as he kept speaking. "room, where you took the women you kidnapped before you killed them. By the laws of Fire Country, you'd be sentenced to execution…we'll be doing that." Takero raised his hands in fear and desperate self-defense, causing the figure in black to chuckle. "Oh, I won't be killing you. No, my friends…they've kept my soul free so far from that sin. I know I'll have to someday, in my line of work, but I'd rather keep that day as far off as I can…but here I am rambling. In any case, I just did this because making a guy like you piss yourself was funny as Hell. I'm not making someone like you my first kill. I definitely won't be killing you…"
Takero scooted back in a panic, till he hit something else. He looked up to see the legendary figure in off-white now, holding the strangest sword he'd ever seen. A black half diamond gave way to a short pale white handle. From there it connected into a black and yellow hilt, the outside looking like a cog, yet the inside strangely like a crescent moon. The long, thick gray blade itself emerged from the curve, with more jagged curves running along its side. Each side was covered with three diamond designs, strange lines emerging from them. And instead of a traditional point, the top of the sword melded into a yellow star, all four paint shaped almost like kunai. Attached to it was a seven-pointed blue ornament piece. Beautifully decorative, yet Takero didn't have to be a sword smith to see that it was just as solid and deadly as the rest of the blade.((A.N.: See profile.)) Takero turned back to the man in black, and felt a chill somewhere in his chest as two yellow orbs suddenly shone beneath the black hood.
"But she will."
Takero turned back, barely able to catch sight of the sword in her slender pale hand descending upon him…
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((10 seconds later))
As the newly formed Soldier Heartless vanished from sight along with the Large Body, the man in black turned to his female companion. His spear vanished, as did her sword, and for a minute they looked around, all senses on alert, till they were sure no one was around to hear them. They finally relaxed.
"…We'd better get going. It'll be dark soon, and we'll need some sleep for class tomorrow. Iruka seems a tiny bit suspicious when we all show up tired in his class. He's very intelligent; we should just recruit him now."
"No. Too much is going on at the moment. When things calm down a bit and our position is more secure, I'll be sure to ask him. He's a good man, and will be a great asset. For now, we'll lie just a bit longer." The figure in white sighed. She could admit to that point. Her partner was incredibly intelligent, as she was, but his insight was a bit better than hers sometimes. "Besides, we still need to find a location for our…'special project'. The materials can't stay in storage forever. Once we have a location, building should only take a week at most, thanks to the Heartless."
"Well, alright then." As they turned to leave, she hesitated just a moment, staring up a bit at him. "If…if I hadn't been there, would you have killed him? Could you have?" He stopped, clearly fazed by the question. It took a moment to answer, and it was with a resigned voice at that.
"I don't know. I just thank Kami you've all allowed me to keep myself clean of killing yet… I wonder if I'll ever get over the thought of really taking a life away, no matter the reason or cause."
She sighed and went over to him, taking his hand into hers. She grinned, not needing her special eyes-either sets of them- to know it was making him blush. "You will. You've overcome so much, and you'll make it through this too." The one in black smiled under his hood, and turned to her, squeezing her hand.
"Hinata… how did I ever come to possibly deserve someone like you?" The girl only smiled, and squeezed back tighter.
"By being you, Naruto my love…and that's all I'll ever ask of you."
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Far, far away, two more figures stood out on the open sea. It was a peaceful day really. Not a cloud to behold, a warm summer breeze. Really the day couldn't have been more perfect. Well, except for the waves crashing up and down. And the very loud animalistic roar. And the unfocused but still huge killer intent. All of which was coming from a giant, blue, three-tailed Turtle Biju churning the water…yeah, other than that, it was actually pretty nice out.
"So, this is the three-tails, huh? Those tails look faster than I would have expected. I still can't believe it took so long to find it." "Yup. So, you gonna use Tsukuyomi on it? I've heard you've used it on Kyuubi, but I bet it'd work on a weaker demon just fine…" Zetsu looked to his new partner for a response, and watched the Uchiha stare up at the beast almost… longingly.
"You know…we take so much time planning to use these creatures…did you ever stop and just really LOOK at them?" He stepped forward, and seemed to be tracing along the demon's figure, taking in every minute detail. "So powerful…if it had the intelligence required to control its power, how much more deadly it would be. Truly a marvel of nature. Almost a shame to imprison them. One can only wonder how such creatures came to be, and why there are only nine." He turned, and despite the orange mask Zetsu felt the man was smiling. "Just as I wonder how you discovered my identity so quickly. I truly misjudged you Zetsu…" The plant man almost seemed to bristle at the comment, unsure if it was an insult or a compliment.
"Never doubt the forest Madara. When you know how to speak to them, the plants can see things even beyond your special eyes…" "Yeah, and hear them too. Anyway, let's just hurry up and knock this reptile out. This thing smells to high Kami." Madara only chuckled, taking a few steps toward the creature in front of them. It roared, tails lashing about as it getting ready to charge.
"As for your earlier comment… I suppose Tsukuyomi would work just fine here, but…yes, why not?" Unseen by Zetsu, the tomoe in his eye started spinning, until they formed a most peculiar design… "A beast thriving in water…water water everywhere…hehehehe!" His voice changed with the giggle, sounding again like his 'Tobi' persona. It only lasted a few moments, but it was enough to further what Zetsu thought at times: that his true leader was a few genin short of a squad. "So ironic… that in water, I crush him by fire…"
"Amaterasu."
Black flames suddenly burst into existence, surrounding the mighty Biju. It thrashed, trying to shake of the terrible flame that caused it to hurt so! It dove down, desperate for relief, just barely intelligent to know that fire extinguished water. Deeper and deeper, all the while thrashing and twisting and roaring in agony…
"I think that's a bit overkill…" "Yeah, we wanna knock it out, not barbecue it. Can't seal a dead demon, can we?" Madara just stepped back, gesturing with a hand.
"…Wait for it…wait for it…" Madara watched the water where the demon had dove with silent intensity…then jumped for joy-literally- as the beast finally surfaced, floating on its side even as the flames kept burning, unfazed by the cold ocean. "Ha! Told you. Kami it felt good to use that, haven't had a good reason in a while… now, I believe since I did the work, you drag it back, right?" Madara chuckled, and kept chuckling even as Zetsu lashed ropes to the demon, muttering the whole time. Thanking Kami he'd brought soldier pills, the plant man started slowly…veeery slowly hauling the demon back to shore. It was good they could seal the creature on the beach… both souls in that body were already mumbling about what Madara probably tasted like. The masked Uchiha sighed, and then looked out on the now calm ocean. He removed his mask for a moment, feeling the wind whisper across his skin as the sun kissed his ebony hair.
"Brother…I'm so close. And when it's all over, then my life will truly begin, for both of us. Every smaller continent of this planet, however many there are…I'll find them all. I'll live the life we never would have known, the life that was unfairly denied you…I just need this first. I…I don't know whether you'd approve of what I'm doing. But this need for vengeance…it bores at my mind brother. I yearn for it, and soon I will be satisfied… soon your sacrifice will be made worthwhile, your death truly fulfilled in purpose. I always felt betrayed by our clan…but brother, oh my brother, it was you they truly betrayed."
"When we were young, and we trained, we had seen every environment. Told that to know them was to know the battleground…but we never saw the ocean. We were only told about it…you should be able to see it. Like how you selflessly allowed me to see it…" As Madara set his mask back on he looked out upon the ocean's horizon. And his eyes, his dear brother's eyes, they quivered as if trying to hold back letting tears go at the thought of his departed sibling.
"Good Kami Izuna, I wish you were here to see it…it's more beautiful than words could ever describe…"
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"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" As he sighed, Iruka took a moment to look around at the class as they settled down. If he ever retired as a ninja, he'd probably be able to make a fortune as an author on books for future academy teachers. He'd be able to devote an entire chapter in particular to one simple rule he'd come to find true: when using a subtle genjutsu to make your head look huge while yelling, kids will always go quiet as the grave.
"Now as I was saying, the Genin exam is tomorrow as you already know. I expect you all to give it your best shot, and remember this: even if you fail, I'm proud of the progress you've all made." As the smiles started growing in general, Iruka thought on another chapter for his book, which he would entitle "How to lie to students through your teeth".
True, the class in general had made great progress. Unfortunately, this was offset by the fact that much of it came from the about eight or nine children from clan-families. Those who came from a normal background simply didn't stand out well, and just were not ready mentally ready for such a job. Especially the female students…he wasn't a sexist, but Iruka frowned at the newer generation of Kunoichi, who seemed to be a bit subpar in general. The sole non-clan exception was Sakura. A brilliant girl, no doubt… but physically she hadn't made any substantial progress since the year started. She also fawned constantly over Sasuke Uchiha, and every time he rejected any female advances only for the girls to keep on going, it made him question her intelligence a bit…or at least her common sense. Still, she passed the minimum of academy requirements, so he really couldn't fail her as long as she did well. If she ended up on a team with Sasuke though…Iruka mentally pitied whoever would have to get her to take it seriously then.
Sasuke… another problem child. True, he was definitely gifted for a Genin, and would pass the academy finals easily. But his teamwork and attitude left much to be desired. If it came down to actual teamwork… well, the boy probably wouldn't make it through the Genin Exam itself, whatever Jonin ended up giving it. It would be a tossup between his status within the village, and the common sense of actual shinobi who decided on a ninja's readiness…Iruka was just glad he didn't have to make that decision.
Other than that, everyone else seemed normal.
Save a few mystery children.
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The first, whom was no longer with them, was Lee. The boy had failed the test a few times, and had been in Iruka's class multiple years. The boy was nice enough and incredibly dedicated, and despite his inability to use chakra to even a basic extent, the boy was incredible with Taijutsu for an academy student.
It was only a year ago, after failing the exam a third time, that Lee had caught the attention of Gai Maito. THAT had caused a small stir. Despite having a personality that was…quirky to say the least, Gai was a renowned Jonin and an excellent master of Taijutsu. Apparently he'd been watching the finals the few previous years, and had found Lee's skill to be promising. When the number of graduates had been uneven that year, Gai had used an old shinobi bylaw, claiming a student as an apprentice. He also took Neji Hyuuga and a young weapons expert named Tenten, giving him a three-man team as had been required of him.
Needless to say, Lee had been thrilled by the honor such an action carried. And despite Gai's…over-joyed attitude at his new apprentice, Lee couldn't get enough of the man. He admired Gai's work ethic, and how even a setback was nothing more than a simple obstacle to overcome. From what Iruka had heard, Lee was soon seen using that same 'Flames of Youth' philosophy… though luckily not to an extent that he spouted it off every 5 seconds like his sensei. And he'd kept his volume under control. A blessing really: Gai was a great man no doubt, but one was enough, and he already had Lee wearing one of those skin-tight suits, albeit a black one...
What had pleased Iruka the most was what had happened only a few months after Gai had taken Lee in. Somehow, an uncomfortable discussion had arisen after Lee had been defeated by Neji again. In the process of talking, Gai discovered something he'd never actually known about Lee: that the boy was an orphan. Gai had assumed the child went home to his parents every night, and not an empty apartment. From tales he'd heard, Iruka knew that Gai had always been very fond of the kid, whom he said was just like him at a young age. So it was a happy surprise to Iruka when the news reached him: that Gai had adopted the boy. Iruka had smiled widely when hearing that. Lee was a good kid.
Though living with Gai…Iruka had to give Lee Maito credit. Kami knew what the boy's new father was like in the morning…
What had mystified Iruka about Lee was over one day when he'd seen Lee training alone in the woods. Iruka had wanted to check on his old student after hearing about the adoption. The kid had seemed perfectly fine. But after the practice, Lee had taken off his shirt to put on a clean one. It had only been for a few seconds, but Iruka saw…some kind of tattoo over Lee's chest, right where his heart would be. Not a recognizable gang sign… not any curse mark from any files Iruka knew of… Iruka had been stumped, but let it, go, hoping maybe Gai would solve that mystery one day.
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Next was Shino Aburame, a new student this year. Like many of the boy's clan, Shino had from the start been quiet, reserved, and overly polite, with a vocabulary that puzzled even Iruka sometimes. As protocol, Iruka had taken the children from clans with bloodlines aside in private to test their family's skills. Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, and the others all had the ability. Sasuke's Sharingan had yet to activate, but that was fine. Shino… the boy had refused to demonstrate his Kikai bugs to the class. Iruka had visited the clan that day to see Shino's parents, to see if there was any reason behind such behavior.
The answer had thrown him for a loop. Apparently, when the Kikai had been introduced to Shino as a baby, there had been some unexplainable accident, and they had…well, died. Whether coincidence, or some kind of allergy, whatever the cause it was unexplainable. And since then any attempt to introduce a new colony met with failure, as the bugs seemed determined to keep out of his body. The clan seemed to frown on Shino a bit, even his own father. Not with hate, but disappointment. His father Shibi had met with Iruka and explained the situation. While there was not solid enough evidence, it was believed within the clan-to a slightly irrational extent –that the problem stemmed from Shino's genetic defect. That concept had thrown Iruka for a loop, as nothing seemed wrong with the boy…until Shibi had shown a picture of Shino without his glasses, something that no one at the academy had ever seen. Shino had always insisted on keeping them on no matter what…and now, Iruka could see why.
Shino's eyes were normal, at least in their sense of function. View was normal, no special abilities. Hell, the boy had 20/20 vision. No, what was surprising where the eyeballs themselves. Instead of a normal appearance, the orbs had a completely golden look to them, with no rings or pupils, like two golden balls. Worse yet, there were blacks intersecting lines running all around the solid gold eyes, giving them the segmented look of a bug's eyes. Apparently, most within the clan saw it as a disturbing sign, and at worst some kind of karmic insult to the clan that Shino had been born with. Every glance at them brought up memories of every small prejudice to the clan over their 'disturbing' abilities. Shino almost seemed a damned accident to them. It was surprising really, a clan that prided its logic so much acting on something like karma or signs. Then again, it was a strange thing to say the least.
But, he bore no ill will to them, and while it was a genetic defect he was still 100 human. So, they logically couldn't do anything to the boy, since there was no threat or problem concerning him. But sometimes emotion gets the best of logic. Iruka had kept quiet, but frowned on the reaction to Shino's eyes…and from an entire clan. A shame really. The boy was a hard worker, and excellent with every ninja basic Iruka taught. Still…without his clan's bugs to aid him, he'd be hard pressed to prove himself in general, much less to his clan.
What was also strange was the boy's interaction with other students. Non-existent, save Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki, though the bare interaction Iruka saw suggested only acquaintances… and yet at times the three of them had a strange habit of seemingly spacing out, and then popping back up after a while good as new. Such an action wasn't too strange in of itself, except they did it all at the same time.
And his connection to Lee…as far as Iruka knew, Lee and Shino had never even met. And yet one day, when Shino's sleeve had been cut up a bit during a spar, Iruka could have sworn he'd seen a flash of the same tattoo that he'd seen on Lee's chest…
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Speaking of Hinata, that girl was also a puzzle. A very sweet girl, if a little shy. Brave enough to hold a good conversation yes, and with a steady voice, but the girl just seemed too reserved sometimes. Iruka found it strange, bold yet withdrawn, all in one package. Though he had to admit, the amount of times she'd caught her staring at Naruto was amusing. He knew they had a basic class friendship, though nothing beyond that. It seemed a shame Naruto wasn't giving any signals back.
And then there was her skill set. She was so…average. Like the gray baggy jacket and pants she wore, like she was trying to disappear. She wasn't terrible, or awful. She'd make a fine kunoichi really. But despite her hard work, and her skill, she never made any leaps and bounds. He'd have expected a smart girl like her to be near the top of the class…and yet she only held a bit above the middle, never changing or shifting. Any try at talking to the girl's father had ended in failure. Iruka was miffed though at how little Hiashi seemed to care for his older child's progress. Iruka had also met Hinabi once or twice while meeting with the man…and the girl was becoming an emotional copy. Iruka hoped that maybe he'd be lucky enough not to get that particular girl in his class.
It was strange though. He'd seen Hinata's Byakugan activated, and always smirked at that nice lavender tint that set it apart from the rest of her clan's eyes. But one time, he'd seen her staring at Sasuke Uchiha for a moment, and then shake her head. Iruka had blinked, and then shrugged the moment off. He thought maybe her active Byakugan was messing with his vision, because he'd sworn her eyes were a silvery-gray color, but that was ludicrous…
She also had a strange hand clasp at times. He'd seen Hyuuga branch members practice before, to more properly teach about the history and basics of the style in classes. He'd later seen the same branch members in public and noticed any time they held a kunai, brush, or something similar, it was in a way that their hands resembled the pointed out style of their Jyuken style. How curious then, that Hinata sometimes held similar objects by the blunt end, with the point facing behind her…
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And finally there was Naruto. Iruka could look back with clear and full shame for himself considering the way their teacher-student relationship had started. Prejudice right from the outset, and with nothing to actually back it up…it was a disgrace to himself, both as a shinobi as a person. He didn't like it, though he was glad that he understood it. The scars of pain from his parent's death, which he thought were finally healed, had opened all too quickly upon just seeing the boy. He'd probably have been like that for the good first year he'd met Naruto at least…save for two things.
The first had been Lee. Naruto had joined at the start of the boy's second year, and it seemed like they had known each other a while. At the time, Iruka had the same prejudice that many did, that the demon was just acting, biding its time for whatever reason… but seeing him interact with Lee had lowered Iruka's guard, making it harder for the old wounds to stay open. It was hard to see the boy as demonic…there were limits to how far an 'act' could go, even for a demon.
The second was an incident, though it still involved Lee. The students had been practicing throwing kunai during Lee's third year and Naruto's second. Some student had misthrown a blunted kunai, and Iruka had seen the projectile heading straight for Lee's shoulder. It would have left maybe a small bruise… but apparently Naruto, upon seeing the kunai, suddenly stiffened, and threw himself, in its path, apparently forgetting it was blunted. The other students had laugh, while Lee helped Naruto up as they had laughed it off.
Iruka… had just watched in shock. They'd been told the weapons were blunted, non-lethal, and yet the dem-…Naruto had thrown himself in front of the thing, so concerned for his friend it overrode the part of his brain that knew the weapon was harmless. A demon…a demon wouldn't have done that. Hell, Naruto didn't even seem to have a clue about why people treated him the way they did. A demon like the great Kyuubi couldn't be that tolerant… could it? Nah.
Iruka had gone home early that day, and had taken a long, hard look at himself and his actions to Naruto Uzumaki. In the end, he could only reach one conclusion: he'd been a stupid jackass; no better way to put it. From that day he worked to better himself in his actions to Naruto, despite the slight rift it made between him and the other teachers. Especially Mizuki. Iruka still couldn't see why the guy seemed distant sometimes…
It had been a shame to watch the boys get separated when Gai took Lee on. The boy didn't seem to get along well with the other students. He was likeable enough, but their parent's hatred had in a sense passed down from parent to child, leaving him in a prejudiced isolation. True, Shino and Hinata had entered during Naruto's third year, so the boy had new friends, but he and Lee had had a longer bond. A shame that it was being strained by Lee leaving for missions and team training. Iruka only hoped that the three of them passed together. It would be horrible if they passed and Naruto failed a third time, ruining his bonds with his new friends.
Naruto had a mystery or two going for him as well. Like Lee, Shino, and Hinata, it was hard to find the boy outside of class. All four of them. They never seemed to be locatable out of the academy, and Iruka found himself believing that they had amazing stealth abilities they weren't showing in class. Though the outfit did have something to do with it. Black pants, long black boots, a black long-sleeved shirt (Iruka still was amazed Naruto never looked overheated in it)… if it wasn't for the white t-shirt under the black shirt, the white fingerless gloves, and Naruto's upbeat personality, Iruka would have thought maybe Naruto had emotional troubles.
He'd also seen Naruto looking at Sasuke once, and repeating the same motions Hinata had done. Except he'd sworn Naruto's eyes turned a bright, deep yellow for a moment. Impossible really, since the boy didn't even have a bloodline…
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Indeed, the four of them were separate mysteries, and together one big one. Iruka wasn't the smartest or strongest shinobi-he was modest enough to admit it- but knowing the basics well, committing to his work, and training hard had helped him to notice little quirks and details. He figured it was just a matter of time. Soon he'd see the big missing piece, and then crack the whole thing open.
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"Alright then. Get out of here, and I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Don't be late." Iruka watched the mad scramble to leave. As always, a smirk came to his lips as Naruto left, yapping on to Hinata at his side, who had the faintest blush on her cheeks. Shino walked beside them, hands in his pockets and silent as always. Iruka wondered what Naruto and Hinata might say if they saw Shino's real eyes…meh, the kids were good-natured. They'd probably have a moment of surprise and then get over it.
As Iruka started packing his things up, he vaguely wondered if Naruto and Hinata would ever get together. Ah, young 'love'…they'd definitely make a cute couple.
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Shouting a quick goodbye to Shino, Naruto and Hinata continued walking along, passing through a few training areas till they finally hit the woods. They kept walking, and didn't stop for maybe 10 minutes. Suddenly, Hinata snapped on her Byakugan, searching the surrounding area for anyone that might be following the pair. Satisfied, she flashed her hands through a few seals, mumbled, and seemed to relax as a genjutsu covered the area around them, an area equaling a city block every direction. Grinning, she turned to Naruto and pushed him into a tree, pinning him there. Her hands gripped the bark on either side of his face as the whisker-marked boy grinned back at her, his hands tracing softly along hers.
((A.N.: Warning: Coconut!))
"Why Hinata, I do believe this could be grounds for sexual harassment…" She rolled her eyes, leaning in.
"Oh, stop being a smartass and kiss me already." Her moist lips pressed into his, and Naruto tasted what he liked to call 'pure bliss' as his hands gently ran along the sleeves of her baggy jacket. Hers moved up, encircling his neck as if claiming a prize.
The last few years had been… interesting for them both as a couple. While they kept up an appearance of acquaintances, maybe decent friends at most in public, they took every chance they got to steal away, when not training or living out their lives. At those times, they simple walked along the woods, gripping each other's hand, hugging… all the innocent notions of a new couple. Kissing was rare, as the two didn't need to kiss to remind themselves they were hopelessly in love with the other. And yet every kiss was a wondrous moment, as if stealing a bit of Heaven from their lips.
Still, time marches on, as it did for these two. 9 became 10, 10 became eleven, and eleven became 12. And it was around reaching twelve years of age that something started making itself known.
Thanks to hard training, and a proper diet on both their parts, Naruto and Hinata were maturing very quickly… mentally and physically. To the point where they needed to start researching genjutsu to cast ones elaborate enough to be hidden from those around them, shinobi or otherwise.
As the two kissed, hands gently roaming in safer areas, those illusions fell, revealing two VERY different shinobi.
When under illusion, Naruto appeared to others as having an average build, and just hitting 4'10", a few inches under Sasuke's 5'1". The REAL Naruto, however, hit 5'5", very impressive for his age, and his build was much more defined. It was "perfect" as Hinata often called it, not bulky, but with muscle to spare, a sign of his hard work over the last two years. Plus, it was so hot when those arms stretched against his black shirt. His voice, a tenor under disguise, was in truth a smooth baritone that probably would have made many females his age or older shiver a bit. It definitely hadn't reduced his ability to sing, and he could still move Hinata to tears when he sang for her. His face, devoid of all baby fat, had a lean and older look to it that betrayed his natural age, like the rest of his body. In short, he was... well, hot.
Not that the same couldn't be said for Hinata. Her thin frame and smaller height of 4'11 was in truth a nice 5'3, just right for her to lean up slightly to catch Naruto's lips as she did now. Her build was toned nicely, and yet perfectly curved, with a firm shapely rear, nicely muscled limbs, and… well, a chest. It was apparent to those who saw her- not that any ever did see her like this, but if they could- that Hinata was what some women just called 'lucky'. Her chest was a nice higher range C-cup, and it was thanks to a strong, trained body and the great wonder of a bra that they didn't get in the way during a fight. Instead of the 'duck-butt' the genjutsu made it look like, her hair hung down to her upper back, and her voice… Naruto said if her voice was an angel's only 2 years ago, the sweet yet strong alto was a whole choir of them now.
Naruto and Hinata, before starting to look for genjutsu to cover their appearances, had never given any thought to physical attraction. They cared for each other than anything else and always wanted to. It was as simple as that, and more than enough for them. But eventually, hormones started invading the two love-birds, and they started noticing things.
Like Hinata noticing Naruto's leaner face, or how his muscled would show when stretched against his clothes, or how his deeper voice made her blush, something she'd been getting better at before.
Or Naruto, who started wondering what was wrong when he couldn't help at times but flush at Hinata's wonderful voice, watch his angel's slowly growing rump sway, or her slowly enlarging chest bounce some…
Lee, having been taken in by Gai, was given the talk early on… true, maybe 11 years old was a bit early, but Gai had insisted. And while it had been strange getting a talk on sex from a man who said youth waaaaay too much (surprisingly, Gai wasn't a virgin), and even though it had been an embarrassing time thereafter when he was near women or girls (consequently Naruto thought it was the most hilarious period in their friendship), Lee eventually go over it. And, like it had been with love, he understood the physical attraction Naruto and Hinata felt long before they did. Luckily for Lee, he had already taken into account how much the two were head-over-heels in love, and in doing so he felt it quite easy to talk, spar, and converse with Hinata… even as she matured more. His friendship with the girl, as well as being best friends with Naruto, somehow kept any physical attraction to her from arising. And as far as he knew, it was the same for Shino.
The help for the couple had come in the form of Ayame and Teuchi… again. As if destined to be there for the couple's most troubling times, they'd separately been approached by the two kids, just the same as before the couple had hooked up. The shop-owner and his daughter had kept their mouths shut about the couple, knowing the trouble that might come from the two seeing each other.
Ayame had almost made it public when Naruto, Hinata, and Lee had come in one day some weeks after they had gotten together, and told the ramen-working family the good news. She could barely contain herself, almost wringing Naruto's neck in a bear hug, babbling on about "her little brother falling in love". Naruto had almost started crying softly at the voluntary family relation she seemed to think of him. That had caused Hinata to hug him from behind, softly kissing his cheek, which sent everyone else into a fit of "Awe…".
Teuchi and Ayame really just seemed happy to watch the two kids fall deeper in love… which made the embarrassment about talking about physical attraction and having 'the talk' all the sweeter. Hinata has blushed up a whole hurricane which had sent Ayame into giggles, and after Naruto had fainted, his face as red as Hinata's. Teuchi had revived Naruto with the sounding of his belly-aching laughter.
Afterwards, they both had taken the whole thing well really. They both decided to be mature about it. They didn't love each other for who they were any less. This was…just a new part to it all, and really a kind of nice bonus.
"Very nice…" Hinata thought. She moaned softly, he tongue licking along Naruto's lips, which today seemed to refuse to open, as if he was teasing her. The smile on his face seemed to say so, unless he was enjoying the kiss that much. Naruto's hand moved up, gently brushing her breasts, which in turn made her moan and seemed to make her even more determined to open his lips. Sadly, it was to no avail… even when her slender hands groped his firm ass through his black pants. "Mine."
"Was there ever any doubt?" Naruto pulled back, smiling softly at her gorgeous eyes. "You make yourself appear as the world's cutest 12 year old by the way. Only way that could look more innocent is if you gave yourself a stutter." His hand moved up, gently tracing Hinata's cheek, her eyes close in peaceful bliss. He leaned forward, nuzzling her nose with his. The lovers stood there, enjoying a moment as the world melted away.
"We should probably get back soon. Father will wonder where I am…" Her mouth grimaced, as if saying that pronoun left a bad taste. "We need to find a location soon you know. All the money we collect from those bounties can't keep the materials in storage forever…"
"I know, I know. You know I have the Heartless looking-" He paused as a ball of light appeared beside them. As it faded, a most peculiar Heartless floated there. At the bottom was what would have appeared to be a pale-brown tail. It spun and curved up, thickening as it disappeared into a blue, ragged patch of material. This was covered by a purple shirt which covered the entirety of the torso. On the left ribcage, two thick rings were hooked in, appearing to pierce right into the torso, and covering the entire chest was the seal Naruto put on the Heartless. The sleeves ended in white cuffs, and white gloves…but just the gloves. No actual arm of hand was visible, and yet the glove fingers moved and looked as if filled. And out of the neck appeared a head, a perfect circle the same color as the tail. A ragged grin ran across its face, a jagged line that didn't open, looking for the entire world as if drawn by a 7 year old. And they eyes… two yellow orbs with spiral patterns on them, but while one rested comfortably in one of its too large eye sockets, the other hung out on a chain. A faint yellow light shone from both of them.
"… I still can't imagine how you came up with this one." Hinata shook her head. "Search Ghost indeed…took you 10 tries before their eyes could do what you wanted." Naruto scowled, and then playfully bopped her nose.
"If I recall correctly, I got this right when you still couldn't make any new Nobodies beyond Dusks…" As she flushed pink, Naruto turned to the Heartless, his eyes more serious.
When he'd first created a Search Ghost, Naruto noticed immediately its weak attack power… and then noticed its ability to teleport. No seals, no scrolls… even more incredible than the Legendary Hirashin. The glowing eyes had been just a strange quirk, but between Hinata's Byakugan, their special Visions, and the glow, he'd been inspired to start experimenting with the Darkness, to see if he could fine tune their capabilities. True, there had been a lot of setbacks. No lost Hearts, but every time he had to start back at square one. Still, the end result had been most worth it.
The new Search Ghosts, while unable to see chakra, see over an extreme distance, or have 359 degree vision like a Byakugan eyes, could see through any vision impairing obstacle- dirt, steel, clothes, smoke, water, etc. That, however, was a pittance compared to their true potential.
Naruto had experimented early on with trying to replicate their ability to teleport, even though he was not exactly sure how it worked. In the process, he found the Search Ghosts could actually teleport into things, temporarily displacing matter. While this left them unable to move, their eyes could still see perfectly, and once they teleported away, the object they had resided in was restored of its missing part. Naruto saw a great advantage in this, having the perfect spy, who could hide in places unlooked at by even expert shinobi, and with no chakra to sense. He and Hinata eventually found that by carving their respective seals into the ground, and sealing Darkness or Nothingness, it created an area of effect which they could teleport to, either by short-distance teleportation, or by taking the time to open a portal for long distances. In any case, each seal actually covered a large circumference- it only took maybe a dozen to cover all of Konoha. They were now constantly placing more, expanding their 'territory' within Konoha.
But in experimenting, he'd tried feeding more Darkness into a Search Ghost. Then had come the most interesting discovery- while they couldn't use that Darkness for attacking, these particular Heartless COULD use it to project images from their eyes, like a 3-d image. They could even use the Darkness to cause air-wave vibrations to replicate sound. Any memory- old or recently recorded- could be replayed. Now, they truly were the ultimate spy. He was constantly sending them out, further and further from Konoha, collecting as much intelligence as possible. No better way to find things out… including the news and activities of the group they'd started tracking recently.
Akatsuki would definitely be a problem…
They also had a nice side bonus from the whole experimenting deal. After much trial and error, they'd found that by using the correct seals on each other, they had a basic form of a mental link. The Seals were infused with Darkness and Nothing, but activated by chakra. The seals allowed them, even Shino, to convert memories into electrical impulses. The seals, when activated, caused the other seals to mimic the same electrical impulse, replicating the memory. That had been their goal anyway. Unfortunately, it could only transmit audio. The seals, after receiving a signal from the sender seal, mimicked the impulses as audio. They could hear voices that weren't actually there, and up to an effective range of several miles. While they couldn't replicate picture yet, it was a method of conversation literally impossible to eavesdrop on… because to any listeners, there was literally nothing to hear.
The eyes of this current Search Ghost glowed, and before Naruto and Hinata played an image of a mountainous region.
"That's Kumo territory. The Heartless rarely even look around there since Yugito, the two-tails container, was kidnapped. Why would it-" Naruto cut off, now gaping a bit at a disturbing sight. As the vision warped suddenly to that of solid rock, the rock suddenly faded away. From within the rock, the Search Ghost had apparently witnessed two figures in black cloaks… cloaks with red clouds on them. "Akatsuki? What are they-" He cut himself off again, as the two members stooped to pick up what appeared to be a man, with a flickering cloak of chakra-one that looked like it had eight tails…
"That's… a demonic chakra cloak. Naruto-kun, he's a Jinchuriki!"
"Yeah… and we know they caught Yugito, and we heard about the Three-tailed Turtle disappearing recently… damn, this will make seven. All they need is the one-tails we've heard rumors of living in Suna… and of course any day now they'll come for me." Naruto growled as he watched them leave, and then snapped as the image faded. Another nine Search Ghosts appeared behind the first one. "Go back to where he saw the Akatsuki go, follow the same direction in a fanning out formation, and find where they're taking him. If we're lucky, they'll lead you right to their headquarters. We need to find them figure out what they're doing with the Jinchuriki. We cannot lose this opportunity." As the Heartless warped away, he sighed, sounding very tired. "Kami, I'm only 12 here. Why do I have to get involved in this crap…?" Hinata giggled, hugging Naruto from behind.
"Because you're too good a person for your OWN good… besides, you have me. You can't get that lucky without Karma biting you in the ass." Naruto chuckled, and then held his hand out. A spot of Darkness appeared, swirling bigger and bigger until what seemed a dark portal formed, taller and wider than the two unofficial shinobi. "Let me guess… the alley again?" Naruto only laughed, and gripped her hand as the two walked through the portal of Darkness. As it closed though, a figure stepped out from behind a tree. One who had watched invisible to their trained ninja senses, and even their enhanced eyes…
"You have truly grown Naruto. I must say, I am most impressed…" The figure looked up, fingers rubbing over the 5 large cards in his hand. "But I think it's about time I test you, and see if you are worthy of my blessing." The figure sighed, as if trying to shake old age from his bones.
Anyone watching the treetops from afar would have been surprised to see a white crane suddenly take off…
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(The next day)
"Well, I can't say I'm too surprised. You've all met my expectations, and some of you passed them. All I can say is this one final lesson: embrace your honor as shinobi, and let it guide you… heh. Now go on, get out of my classroom!" Iruka laugh as his graduating class tore out of the room. He turned to Mizuki, who sat next to him at a table now devoid of hiates. "Not bad huh? I think this was the first time in history this academy has seen a class where not even one person failed." Mizuki nodded, a thoughtful look settling into his features.
"Indeed. I was sure a few of the non-clan students would fail… and I was surprised that… thing passed." Iruka bristled. While he hadn't broken the law, Mizuki was treading on dangerous water with that statement.
"Mizuki, you really need to let your eyes open-"
"I'd say the same to you Iruka…" Mizuki stood, giving his teaching partner a cold stare. "None of us can see it. How you can act so friendly and sincerely to that creature. I never sense a genjutsu, and we all know you have some common sense… so we don't have any choice but to believe the unthinkable, that you actually care for that thing." Deciding not to dignify that with a reply, Iruka turned and walked out, leaving Mizuki alone in the classroom. The silver-haired Chunin looked down for a moment, and then started chuckling. "Iruka… what a fool you are. Thinking that demon is as innocent as the show it puts on for us… oh, it may not be as strong as it once was, but under that fake smile it's just as bloodthirsty. He's an animal… like me." Mizuki grinned, and rubbed his neck, where a black mark now resided…
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(Flashback two weeks ago)
"What… what are you saying? That the mark you gave me, the formula, everything… it was a lie?"
Orochimaru sighed, wondering again if choosing this fool Mizuki was still a wise idea. True, the man had enough lack of conscience to betray Konoha, and was foolish enough to do as he asked… but the man seemed a bit too stupid. Oh well. Pawns normally were like that.
"Yes. I admit, what I gave you before was an… experimental version of the Cursed Seal. Very unstable. I imagine that once the power rush wore off, there would have been horrible side-effects. Still, that doesn't matter now. I even removed it as a sign of good faith, didn't I? Now, if you'll just hold your neck out for me, I can give you the perfected version…" Mizuki stepped back, withdrawing a kunai from his pouch and holding to towards the snake Sannin.
"Like Hell I will! Why should I trust you, when you just admitted you as good as set me up to die?!" Mizuki suddenly let the kunai drop, his whole body frozen from Orochimaru's killer intent. Even the four bodyguards behind Orochimaru seemed to shiver.
"Well, for one thing, I can kill you easily, and you know it. But more importantly, it's become necessary. I'm too busy myself, which is why I gave you the original mark in the first place, as incentive to go through with stealing the Sacred Scroll. But with the recent massive amounts of bounties being collected, and the strange events going on throughout the Fire Country, both the Daimyo and the Hokage are beefing up security. Paranoia to be sure, but a justified one. It will be even harder now for you to make the attempt. Therefore you need all the power you can get. After all, it is the same seal I have given to my bodyguards…" Before Mizuki could say anything, the snake summoner stretched his neck out, and sank his fangs in to Mizuki's neck, his poisonous power pumping in. Mizuki fell to the ground, grabbing his neck and crying out in terrible pain. "Unfortunately, it has a one in ten rate of survival, so if you die, this means I'll have to go on without that scroll… permissible, but not favorable." He turned and started walking away. As he passed Tayuya, he handed her a small pill. "The Seishingan. If he survives, he'll need every scrap of power to pull this mission of. So, if he does make it…" Tayuya nodded in understanding. The Sound Four crowded around Mizuki, watching him scream in agony as their master took his leave…
(Flashback End)
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"Pain before pleasure… oh yes, that power brings much pleasure. Iruka… I'll show you, show you just how much stronger I am." Still, while he was much more powerful, security around the Tower would be tight. Sarutobi would probably be inspecting the village walls, as he did at times (No one yet could figure out what had the Hokage so paranoid) but the ANBU would be a problem. He could lead them away under genjutsu, but would then be unable to steal the Sacred Scroll. Mizuki needed a pawn, someone to take it.
And he knew just the one...
"Hey Naruto, I need to talk to you in private for the moment…"
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(Flashback close to a year ago at the start of the academy year)
He stood alone, in a field of flowers outside of Konoha's walls. A small forest area, one that was unnoticed by the village. Not even the healers noticed it when looking for ingredients to medicine.
Shino noticed it.
He sat back, resting on a bare patch of grass in the middle of the flowers. His hand drew along them, letting the soft petals caress his skin. A large, orange butterfly, fluttered down, resting on his palm as he stopped. Shino stared at the bug, wishing he could speak to it.
The ability to converse with bugs wasn't something the Aburame clan was born with after all. It took a lot of study and practice to speak with bugs in general, but especially them. Shino's clan had many hours for its children that were dedicated to studying. The main factor though was having the Kikai inside of you. Constantly talking to them was the main part of learning to talk to insects, like a clumsily-talking foreigner chatting to a local till he finally parsed the language apart and got it right.
Shino of course had no such opportunity for Kikai in him, and therefore no time had ever been spared for him, since the clan's teachers found it illogical to teach something he wouldn't 'never need'. Even his own attempts to learn on his own were fruitless. Despite being quite intelligent, logical, and analyzing, it seemed insect communication was something that had to be taught before learned.
So here he was. A clan student who had at best the future potential of a non-clan child. Who would never learn the secret techniques of the Aburame. Who blended in so perfectly with everyone but those who were clan-related that he might as well not even exist. Who in his first few weeks had destroyed all chances at real friends with his emotionless facade.
Was this it? Doomed to a life of normality and light shunning? Where no one would ever see-or want to see- his eyes? Separated from his own clan even?
"I… am a homo sapien. I know this. Genetically I am no different than my parents, my uncles, from anyone in this village… so why do I feel so dissimilar? So singular? So… inhuman?" Shino raised a hand and gently removed his glasses, his insectoid eyes staring at the creature on him hand. Even without pupils or any normal human eye appearance, even when they appeared so bug like, segmented and being of one solid color, it was easy to see the lonely pain in them. "Do you know? I know I am unable to understand you, or communicate with you, but what… what am I?"
…
"Oh man…those eyes are so cool!" The butterfly flew from his hand as Shino jerked up, hands flying to put his dark glasses back. His head swiveled as he tore out a kunai, but the clearing seemed devoid of human life save him. Shino blushed faintly, glad for his collar. It was exceptional for someone to shock him, and no one had ever gotten him to show emotion other than the slightest surprise. Yet something in that tone of voice just now…what about it had awoken that sensation in him?
"Who is there? Reveal yourself."
"Alright, alright. Man, you have to lighten up…" The air in front of him seemed to shiver, and a mostly black blur started to clear up, revealing the darkly-clad form of Naruto Uzumaki. Shino's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. He was vaguely familiar with the fair-haired student, but had never made attempts to converse with him in class. More importantly, he knew that Uzumaki was all around an average student, though lacking some in genjutsu. The fact Naruto had just hid himself for however long he'd been there was impressive. If only he'd had his bugs, it wouldn't have even happened. Shino's thoughts were broken as Naruto raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "Come on. I know we don't really talk much in class, but don't act so hostile. I'm not armed after all." Shino stared a moment more, then set the kunai back in his pouch.
"What are you doing here Uzumaki? I was uninformed anyone else from the village ever visited here."
"Oh, I know a lot of nice places like this. Great for going to when ya need some peace and quiet, am I right?" Seeing Shino's unresponsiveness, Naruto sigh and scratched the back o his head. "Knew I should have thought this out before hand. No idea what to say… anyway. Shino, I've been watching you for a while in class. You're an incredible shinobi for a student. Heck, you've mastered the basics long before some of the other clan kids, and that's all without any Kikai bugs in you-" Shino's eyes widened, and before he knew what he'd done, he had crossed the short distance between them, his hands gripping Naruto's collar. They had a slight twitch in them.
"How… how do you have that information? It is known only by my clan, the Hokage, and Iruka-sensei." Shino tightened his grip a bit, aware that his hands were still twitching. For him, these ever so slight differences in his movements were the equivalent of an emotional outburst. How was Naruto doing this? Genjutsu?
"Let's just say we have a way of knowing things around here. We-"
"Again you say we. I only observe you."
"I'll get to that later. You see, we've been watching you for a while and… you interest us." Naruto's smile then faded a bit, as he looked at Shino seriously. "It hurts, doesn't it? Feeling so alone, so unwanted…" Shino let go, take slow steps back, those words ringing in his ears. Something about Naruto's voice locked the words inside, not letting them go, only making them louder. They reverberated back and forth in his mind, and with every bounce through his thoughts his anger grew, until finally Shino did something he had never done: he gave in wholly to emotion. He reared his fist back and slugged Naruto hard, his face twisted practically into a snarl, his shoulders rising and falling from every suddenly angry breath he took.
"What… what the Hell would you understand about it?! To feel like everyone around you either doesn't know you, or doesn't want you? You don't know it. How it feels to be a disgrace to your own family, to never even let anyone see your eyes, for fear they'll think you're a monster!" He reached up, ripping his glasses away, his insectoid eyes tight and burning in an actual rage. "Look at them! Who could ever look at these eyes and not cringe, or cry out, or spit at them in hate? I'm human, but these eyes… they make a monster of me! I feel the distrust, the disappointment, and from my own clan, my own father! The isolation my clan's reputation gives me, one that would only worsen if they saw these eyes. There is nothing special about these eyes Naruto, no abilities, unless you count that they'll doom me to a life of loneliness!"
Shino would have expected a lot of things of Naruto right then. That he would suddenly sneer, and reveal it was all a trick. That he hated him as much as Shino believed, and that he would tell everyone. That he'd actually attack Shino over those eyes. Shino expected a good deal of things to happen right then.
Naruto simply standing, and giving him a sad smile was not one of them.
"You're wrong. I do know that specific kind of pain… guys, come on out." Beside Naruto, two figures suddenly blurred into existence. Shino recognized them- Lee Maito, and Hinata Hyuuga. Perfect, as if one person knowing wasn't enough. Naruto stepped forward, gently laying a hand on Shino's shoulder.
"Remove your hand Naruto Uzumaki." Shino's voice was strained, angered over his own outburst, Naruto's strange ability to cause it, and the fact that now more people knew about his eyes. "Though you are an adequate student, I have analyzed your performance. I am superior in hand-to-hand combat, as well as having an advantage in strength… well? Remove that appendage, or I shall be required to-" Whatever Shino might have threatened to do was made mute, as he suddenly fell onto his ass, the ground seeming to disappear below him. He shook his head to clear the disorientation, before looking around. The three of them were still standing around Shino… all of them at the center of a deep, deep crater maybe 50 meters across. A crater that left the clearing mostly decimated… and that most certainly hadn't been there before. His golden eyes widened in shock… he hadn't even seen it happen. If that had been aimed at him… his thoughts were interrupted as Naruto and the others sat on the ground next to him. Naruto smiled, but Shino could sense the hesitation in that grin.
"Shino, we're going to tell you a kind of long story. We can even show proof to our story. You can either accept our offer once it's done, or walk away from this and forget it, and we forget about your eyes and everything else. Just please, listen first…" Hoping maybe this would keep them from alerting more people to his condition, Shino nodded slowly. "Great. Well, this story starts years ago, when I was being chased one night…"
(30 Minutes later)
As Naruto and Lee's yellow eyes faded back to normal, and the few Heartless and Nobodies surrounding them disappeared, Shino removed his glasses again, as if taking them off would suddenly make it all disappear. Not that he necessarily wanted to, but it was all so unreal, what he'd just learned… to incredible to be true. But it stayed the same: Hinata still had her Nothingness vision turned on, and Shih was still snuggling in Naruto's lap and tossing a ball up and down almost childishly. ((A.N.: Awe, ain't Heartless Itachi adorable?))
"Incredible… I'd at least partly believe that story without the proof, it's too incredible to make up, but after seeing all of that… this is all real, isn't it?"
"Yup. All of it. And Shino, we want you to be part of this little story." Shino's head snapped up in shock. Here were three kids his age, each of whom he'd just found out were already maybe low Jonin in strength, skill and power…and they wanted him? "We've been watching our class for a while, looking for any good recruits. People with a lot of potential… but more than that, people with good Hearts, people we feel we could trust, and people we feel we can be great friends with." Naruto grinned widely. "There are a few, but you seemed the best choice. Lot of potential. You're extremely intelligent and logical, meaning we'd have someone who'd be great with planning and strategy. But… more than all of that, you've felt pain and rejection from people and in a sense are a stronger person for it. We really admire that. So… what do you say?" Shino couldn't answer. In the back of his head, he'd registered almost every reason they gave, and the fact that such a group of powerful individuals wanted HIM to join, thinking he had potential to be in their group, meaning they thought he could equal them, even with all their special abilities. But the main thing that kept going through his head was the last requirement they had wanted… someone they could be friends with.
They… they wanted him as a friend?
Shino sadly realized not only did the word seem such a foreign concept to him, that he seemed so desperate for the possibility. He had never even realized how lonely he was, even in his saddened thinking. Shino looked around at them, and they could easily see the tears just beginning to form suddenly in his eyes.
"I… accept your generous offer-"
"Great!" And with that, Naruto leapt forward, tackling Shino in a tight hug. Before Shino could even respond, or think of how to respond. Lee and Hinata grinned and leapt to hug him too. The three of them laughed, gripping Shino tightly… until they felt him shake ever so slightly. They pulled back, and smiled sadly as they watched tears fall slowly and softly from his eyes.
"… My clan prides itself on not only logic, but our emotional control. I've… become very good at it, and even more so because of how detached I am from peers my own age…" Shino looked up at Naruto, his mouth set in a very small smile… they were the first to ever see him consciously smile. "Naruto… how? How are you making me… feel so much?" Before the blonde could answer, Hinata wrapped her arms round her love and grinned.
"Because he has a strong Heart, and a strong Heart is capable of many great things, including bringing out the best in people, and changing their lives…"
"Oh, is that the only reason you love me?" Naruto leaned back, capturing Hinata's lips as the two fell back onto the ground in a slightly passionate kiss, more loving than lusting. Lee sighed, and turned to Shino.
"They get like this. But hey, that's what happens when you're in love and the power of Youth is flowing through you…" Shino, cocked his head, and was about to ask about that youth bit, when Naruto and Hinata lost their concentration to the kiss, and the genjutsu fell. It was then that Shino recognized two things.
He'd always felt a subconscious satisfaction from being the tallest in class. At 5'3, he was a few inches over Sasuke Uchiha, a boy he most certainly hoped to never be required to work with. But seeing Naruto now, he realized thing one: Naruto was in fact 2 inches taller than him, and in addition to having much more chakra was just plain well built. He sincerely hoped whatever training these three put him through would help build him up some…he actually felt a little puny, and serious male-to-male jealousy for the first time.
Hopefully that would be rectified when he started going through puberty soon. He might even be starting now. He was thinking that because of the second thing he realized: Hinata was… hot. Shino turned away, and as the others noticed him looking away they broke down into uproarious laughter. He finally turned back, the pink in his cheeks about faded.
"…Lucky bastard." Naruto looked at the others, just as shocked as them by his statement. They'd NEVER heard Shino swear… and then they got yet another first from Shino, in addition to a first outburst, first tears, and first smile… a first chuckle. It wasn't laughing really, but they could tell he was chuckling at both them, and himself. Naruto grinned, and threw an arm round Shino's shoulder, hugging tightly.
"Shino, I think we're all gonna be great friends here."
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Shino sighed, shaking his head to clear the memories of that special day. It was incredible that it had been so long, and yet it seemed only yesterday had they opened him up to so much.
Truly he had improved. While his pure physical strength wasn't as impressive as Lee's, Shino had pushed himself hard to become strong, to become worthy of the new friends he now had. There was also to no doubt among them that, when it came to both strategy, and the more general shinobi skills, Shino was the best. At this point, his skill level was probably Jonin. To have reached that level in one year was nothing more than a miraculous feat. He made his worth to his friends known every time they travelled out of Konoha to collect new bounties and test their skill.
And yet… it wasn't enough. With their natural skill and special abilities, Hinata and Lee were most likely ANUB level. And Naruto? Shino had stopped trying to gauge Naruto's level long ago. The boy was probably matched with the level of Kage by now. His chakra level certainly matched that, as did his skill. His mastery over Darkness only helped prove how dangerous the boy was.
And Shino? What did he have? Nothing special. No mastery over his clan's Kikai…he didn't even have any. No special powers or abilities. Even his mind, a weapon deadlier than any of his friend's minds, would not always win in a matter of a much more powerful opponent. The more Shino thought about it, the more he knew the logical truth.
One day, they would outpace him by far, and he would be unable to keep up.
It scared Shino. While he knew his friends stayed with him because they considered him a great friend, they had also originally chosen him because they said he had potential. What would happen when they far outpaced him? Would they simply leave him behind while they took on danger without him? Would he… would he become useless to them?
Shino shook the thought away, hoping he wouldn't need to deal with it till another day. He looked up… and the smallest smile graced his lips as he witnessed his friends approach. He stood, making his way to them, hands snug within the pockets of his large gray coat. Despite their attempts to wear something with a bit more color, he liked the bland clothing. It beat the dark blue robe he wore when bounty hunting. He still didn't comprehend why they chose that color. If only they ordered those after choosing him, so he could have gotten gray instead…
"I was apprehensive you would be behind schedule. From the look upon your face, I imagine some excellent news has surfaced?" Shino's smile thinned out into a thoughtful look as Naruto proceeded to tell of his meeting with Mizuki. About a 'special trial' given to students chosen by a random lottery, about sneaking into a high security area…
"Before we address that, I must enquire to the new clothes we have been waiting for. Is the special order almost ready? And… will mine be the right color this time?"
"Yup. Should arrive in a month or two. I can't wait; it's all going to look incredible. So, what do you think of all of this?"
"Preposterous. He is going on the assumption that you will trust him as a teacher, and that you don't understand security. That scroll, from what my father has told me, contains jutsu that are in some cases forbidden, or simply too dangerous to use unless one is at least a Jonin. The ANBU would detain you on sight, if not kill you outright… either he wants to try and eliminate Konoha's 'demon', or he has a way to divert the ANBU while Sarutobi is making his rounds. If it's the latter, his plan is logically to kill you and then take the scroll for whatever purpose he has in mind. Hmm… from the layout we have of that Hokage's tower that your Search Ghosts provided, it is theoretically possible for a Genin to make it to the scroll, since the main defense is the large number of ANBU. He'll most likely divert them through Genjutsu… I wonder how he thinks he can make one strong enough to fool them…" Naruto grinned at his newest friend, glad as always for having someone who could work out a situation so completely. No stupid ideas.
"So, we rat him out right?"
"On the contrary, I believe stealing it is in our best interest."
Well, maybe some stupid ideas…
"Wait, what? Shino, you yourself said we'd get killed for attempting to take it. What's up? You go crazy, or sitting next to Kiba and his wet dog smell finally get to you?" Shino shook his head, though his nose wrinkled as if he could smell it right then.
"Thankfully no, on both counts. If you take the scroll-which we both know you can easily do- you can't be found in error because the truth is on your side. Mizuki, a teacher and official Chunin shinobi lied to you. At most, they'll reevaluate their teaching program, but you can't be faulted for taking orders from a superior. You'll get off scot free, and that turncoat Mizuki will receive his due… and all the while, there's the added bonus of us gaining access to a scroll filled with forbidden seals and jutsu. I imagine most things in there are suicidal or unethical, but there should be a good amount of jutsu to learn that aren't. All in all, if planned right this will be a win-win situation for us." Shino looked around at his friends/partners, waiting for a reply. He almost smirked at their slightly gaping expressions as the plan worked its way through their minds. Finally, Naruto grinned widely, giving him thumbs up.
"Figures. Only Shino is smart enough to find a good reason to steal a scroll of forbidden techniques, a way to get away with it, AND for me to come out looking like a good guy. All right then, I'll do it. Sounds like an awesome plan."
"I agree. It speaks with the wisdom of Youth and your intellect Shino!"
"I like the plan as well."
"As do I…" The four members of Shadow turned. For that last voice, old and regal as it was, hadn't belonged to any of them. It belonged to an old man, who stepped out slowly from behind a tree, a very slight limp in his left leg, and five large, red cards in his hand, covered in unfamiliar symbols. ((A.N.: Description is way too long. See pic in my Bio, search on YouTube for voice.))
Shih, who had darted out in front of them protectively when the voice first was heard, now rushed at the old man and leapt, claws reared back to slash. However, the five cards in his had suddenly gone rigid and flew from his hand. They positioned themselves in front of their user, and as Shih came down his claws reflected off of them, not even leaving a scratch. Every attack he made was blocked like it was nothing, every angle intercepted.
"I'd advise stopping that, little Shadow… unless you want me to tell them who you used to be…" Frightened at the certainty in the old man's voice- he knew, oh Kami he KNEW! - Shih made a quick retreat, taking shelter behind Naruto's legs, looking out nervously at the intruder. "That's better. I hope you four don't mind me interrupting, but I wanted to get a chance to meet you all." Taking hold of his cards again, the old man approached them, and shook hands with them one by one. Hinata, Lee, and Shino were too stunned to even feel it. This geezer hand snuck up on them by surprise, and warded off an assault by Shih, whose power and skill were probably low to mid Chunin. Coupled with those unknown cards and his apparent mastery of stealth… they had no clue what he was capable of. They snapped out of it as they realized the old man had reached the groups only blonde.
"Naruto Uzumaki… a pleasure, I must tell you. I've wanted to meet you face to face for a long time. Years really, when I first started looking into you… but look at me, jabbering away like a man my age. My name is Zuo Ci ((Chi)), and it's an honor to make your acquaintance." Naruto stared, vaguely aware that the old man was shaking his hand.
"Yeah… that's nice and all... but how did you sneak up on us?" Naruto stepped back, hand reaching for his kunai pouch. Noting that, Zuo Ci started to chuckle.
"Nervous are we? I'm not surprised. And yet even with your skill, and those special eyes, you'd never see me coming."
"That's another thing. You mentioned Heartless and Darkness already… how do you know about them?"
"My boy, I know more about you four than you know yourselves. But that matters not. I'll explain everything when we reach the place I've prepared for the trial."
"Trail? Zuo Ci, or whoever you are, just what the Hell are you-" Naruto's tirade was cut off as the old man suddenly waved his cards towards them. A sparkling blue light surrounded the five of them, along with Shih. It grew brighter and brighter, seemingly blinding them from everything. As the light reached its brightest, Naruto heard Zuo Ci's voice again, speaking with a more mystic tone, somehow sounding louder and booming in the light. He heard the spoken words just before the six of them disappeared in a flash.
"It is time to test you… you and your virtuous Heart."
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The clearing was now devoid of life. The wind passed through it, rustling a few trees a bit. A few minutes later, life did pass into it; as a lone ANBU landed in a crouch, head swiveling as he looked around… nothing.
It drove him crazy. For the last couple years, he'd kept having these weird feelings about certain spot within the village's far boundaries, or areas outside of the village walls. Again and again he would arrive, unable to sense any chakra, and movement or sound, nothing… and yet every time it seemed he had missed something.
He was getting old. Or he assumed he was anyway. Old age must have been coming early, caused by stress, which produced these weird feelings. He'd be glad when his term finally ended, and Tenzo would take over as ANBU captain. With the Hokage getting more active, the weird crap all over Fire Country and out of it, and that Shadow group people whispered about… he needed a vacation.
In the mean time, he had work to return too. Kensik Hiruhan stood, and started off back to Konoha. He needed to get his worked finished soon… he had a feeling that, like every other time he had gotten these weird feelings about places, sake was required.
Hmm… maybe the feelings just meant he should go and drink sake…
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"So it's confirmed?"
"Hai Hokage-sama. Your eyes only from the Raikage himself."
"Good. Return to your post." As the ninja who had delivered the message left, Sarutobi sat down, wincing a bit. Old age truly was getting to him.
It could have been worse. Sarutobi could honestly admit he was getting on in years. But normally, the last two years would have shown a progression of his physical condition. The increased activity of Akatsuki that Jiraiya reported, the bounties being collected left and right, the increased news of rebellion and coups happening under his nose had all forced him to accept that things were not as peaceful as he would have preferred.
So, he'd spent the last 2 years starting to get more into physically acceptable combat conditioning. He wasn't young again, that much was certain, but he felt a lot better than he did years ago. He even felt less fatigue after dealing with paperwork… definitely a reason to grin in his opinion.
As Sarutobi opened the message and read, however, he sagged back into the chair, feeling for a moment like he was 20 years older. Another Jinchuriki captured by Akatsuki… between that, and the Three-tails going missing, it was clear that things would reach a boiling point soon. Naruto was in Konoha, and from what he'd heard the Sand village would be sending their container to the Chunin exams in a few months. The rumors he'd heard about that boy, Gaara… it was a dangerous combination, and also a perfect time for this terrorist group to take that last two targets at once. All nine Biju under their command. The idea was frightening. He'd forbid their entry entirely if not for the scandal, embarrassment, and tension it could bring.
He'd have to discuss this with his council, despite the fact they still didn't know enough to make a plan of action. Though probably…no, definitely only with the Shinobi half. The civilian council members didn't need to know about a terrorist group controlling super-demons. The panic it would bring if they told the populace would be disastrous. No, Jiraiya would have to give him enough information to form an effective counter plan. A plan of inaction technically, but his best one.
"I'm really getting to old for this shit…" Sarutobi sighed, and then reached under his desk, pulling out a small plastic container next to his newest edition of Icha-Icha. He lifted the lid, and sighed in content at the smell that came from within. A smell that pleased him more than his smoking, even more than porn. For the treat within was strong enough to temporarily wipe away his worries about the dark and trying days to come. And as he lifted out a long, thin object, still hot from being sealed away in the airtight container, he grinned.
"Ah… nothing beats bacon."
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"It is official then?"
"Indeed Orochimaru-sama. Danzo's information had validated our spies' reports. The Hokage has upped security, and is also getting back into a more physically battle-ready condition. The events around and out of Fire Country, which you of course know of, have made him and the Fire Daimyo paranoid. The longer we wait, the more he will be prepared for an attack, surprise or not. We should be ready to strike as soon as possible after the second exam of the Chunin selections, especially if there are enough Genin to require a preliminary round. To wait an entire month after the second exam, when security will be even tighter, will make the attack much closer to the realm of impossibility. The longer we wait, the harder this battle will be to win efficiently. We-… Orochimaru-sama?" For the Snake Sannin had arose from his seated position, making his way over to the lieutenant who had been speaking to him. The purple-clad Jonin shook nervously, remembering how he'd seen some of his predecessors die by his master's hand. Kami, he shouldn't have spoken so much, shouldn't have sounded so commanding. Crap, he was gonna die, he was gonna die, gonna-
…get light applause?
Orochimaru brought his hands up, clapping softly and slowly.
"Indeed, you are correct. Much smarter than some of those who held this position before you. I am truly impressed. Hmm… I thought Kabuto's last message was simply driven by over cautiousness, but it seems I'll have to move operations up. Still, it makes no difference in the end. My old village will burn, no matter when we light the fire. Good work." Orochimaru then grinned, stepping forward to the Jonin. "Still you talked to me as if giving orders… I hate being ordered…" And with that Kusanagi lurched from the Sannin's mouth, piercing through the other side of the man's throat. The Jonin gurgled in horror for a moment, before death released him from the agony. Orochimaru smiled as the blade slid back between his lips.
"Sarutobi, Danzo, Akatsuki… one by one my enemies will fall. I have slithered unnoticed by them, even when they believe they can see me clearly. I will only need one strike, and they will fall…" Orochimaru roared with cruel laughter, which bounced along the corridor's of his lair, shivering the spines of even his hardened Jonin.
"Still, the Sound Four will definitely meet stronger opposition than anticipated. I had best make sure they have backup…" The old Sannin then flared his killer intent lightly. Immediately the Four appeared. Sakon looked up hesitantly.
"What is your command, Lord Orochimaru-sama?" Even syllable was laced with respect and reverence, but not a little fear. One did not look a snake in the eye boldly without knowing they were untouchable… and to Orochimaru, none of them were so.
"While it will be a long trip, I need you to go fetch a few pawns of mine from different bases. Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu. You'll need them and their unique abilities as backup… now go." As the four of them left, Orochimaru sighed. Gathering those three was a good insurance policy, but it would take at least a few weeks to gather them. Still, by the time it had been done, there would only be another week or two till the Chunin Exam.
Now to deal with the Sand. The Kazekage had previously accepted Orochimaru's offer of a joint attack on Konoha, but the Sannin knew the Sand village's leader would most likely get nervous over the heightened security. The nervousness could lead eventually to a decision to break the alliance… a low chance of that happening, but something Orochimaru couldn't leave to chance. The Sand's forces, as well as their Demon container, were too precious a resource. He needed them… he knew what to do. It would require some acting on his part, but Orochimaru had enough experience in deception. And to see the look on his old sensei's face… he smirked as he went off to write a letter to the Kazekage, requesting an 'emergency' meeting…
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"It's going to start soon brother." Shinigami looked up, giving a nod to Kami's statement before looking back to the chess board. His black king floated forward, landing in front of a white knight, the two pieces directly facing each other.
"Indeed. Zuo Ci is finally making his move. Our entertainment is about to begin… I wonder if this game will end before our entertainment ends."
"Who knows? But it's been going for about… 254,353,453,664 millennia, I'm sure it can't last that much longer…"
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As the flash ended, Naruto started blinking rapidly, trying to clear his vision so he could figure out what the Hell the old man had done. Naruto had expected some kind of attack… he hadn't expected to be in a whole new place.
This certainly wasn't the clearing that Shadow had been meeting in. Instead his vision perceived an enclosed chamber, a smooth stone ceiling overhead. It was no quick or messy job, looking brand new and very finely constructed. The torches hung all around, shedding light on the large chamber. It had to have been the size of Konoha's Chunin Exam stadium. And in the middle of all that was Naruto, standing within a stone circle, as if it was a battle arena…
"Impressive, isn't it?" Naruto turn his sharply, and saw Zuo Ci standing in front of his friends, all of whom had that same light fading from them. "I would not advise trying to leave; we are very far from where I took you all from…" A blur of motion made their heads turn, and they all watched Lee fall back onto his ass. He had tried to rush towards the old man, only to hit some kind of barrier. It flashed blue where he hit, and then faded, unseen but still there. Followed by Hinata and Shino, he ran around the perimeter of the underground chamber, but no matter where the three of the tried, the barrier kept them from getting to the old man or Naruto. Naruto himself walked towards Zuo Ci, a hand held out.
A small ball of Darkness quickly formed in his hand. Having experimented with his special power over the last two years, Naruto had found that he unlike Hinata's favor to using her power in a more refined manner, he preferred to use Darkness to directly overpower a target… usually resulting in a large explosion. The ball shot from his hand… only to explode from contact with a second barrier, separating the stone circle from Zuo Ci's area. His friends, along with Shih, stood outside the chamber and looked in. "Forgive me, but this test is for you alone. If you're friends promise to behave, they can join me for a closer seating.
Naruto looked to his friends and love, who nodded hesitantly. There was another flash, and suddenly they, along with Shih, stood behind Zuo Ci, shaking disorientation from their eyes.
"How… you're not even using any hand signs, and I can't sense any chakra. Do you… have any power like we do?" Zuo Ci smiled, before starting to walk slowly around the circle Naruto was in. His fingers ran gently over the strange card-weapons in his hand.
"Long ago, I was a practitioner of Daoism, or Taoism, which is an old philosophy dedicated to finding the Way. The Way cannot be expressed, but it can be known and it principals can be followed. The Way is like water: clear, colorless, unremarkable. And yet all beings depend on it for life. It flows smoothly, yet roughly. No obstacle can prevent its course. It moves around any blocking object, and even the hardest stone cannot stand in its way forever. To practice the Tao is to know its Three Jewels: compassion, moderation, and humility… oh, and forgive my lecture. I simply thought it might be good for you to have a little back story here."
"In my world-"
"Wait, your world?" Naruto chuckled, giving the old man an unbelieving stare. 'I think you might be going senile there-"
"I will prove everything soon enough, my little Heartless master. Just be patient. Now, where was I…oh, yes. During my studies, I went up to the top of a mountain know as Emei, a holy Daoist sanctuary. I studied and prayed there for thirty years, until one day I heard my name called out from the wall of my cell. I thought I might have gone mad; the very rock was calling to me. It called my name the next day as well and again and again for many days. Then one day the rock exploded outward with a roar like thunder, and as the dust settled I saw a sacred book in three volumes called 'The Book of Concealing Method'. The first volume was named 'Concealing Heaven', the second was the 'Concealing Earth', and the third was named 'Concealing Human'. From the first volume I learned to ascend to the clouds astride the wind. I found the secrets of how to sail up into the great void itself, to travel space and witness the very stars in their wonder. From the second volume I discerned how to pass through mountains and penetrate rocks. From the third, I found how to float light as vapor over the seas, to become invisible at will or change my shape, to fling swords and project daggers so as to decapitate a man from a distance. In my time since then I have learned many other things, and my power only grew." The old mystic paused there, and gestured with his cards. A torrent of flame suddenly burst from the torches, rushing overhead. Zuo Ci stuck his hand into the flames, and yet removed it without even a singed hair. His head cocked to the side, and suddenly a torrent of water appeared out of nowhere, gushing forth against the flames. He waved his cards again, and the water, fire, and steam that had all formed disappeared. Naruto's eyes were wide, and stayed so even as he turned to Hinata, her Byakugan active and her eyes glowing silver with Nothingness. She turned to Naruto, not a little fear etched in her features.
"It… wasn't a Genjutsu. Nor any kind of illusion I can identify. The flames… the heat from them was real. Naruto-kun, I think he's really capable of what he claims here." The old sage nodded, and then his hand opened. The cards soared from his hand, carving gouges in the solid rock. Lightning suddenly flashed from the symbols, tearing more cracks in the wall. They flew back neatly into his hand, as the other occupants in the room looked on in awe. The rocky debris suddenly vanished, and the walls seemed to rebuild themselves as if someone was filling in the cracks with rock. Soon the room was whole again, with not even a crack to show what had just transpired.
"At the time, my country was torn in three by a horrible war. The land was divided into three kingdoms: Wu, a large country with a great Navy. It was controlled by Sun Quan of the Sun family, who sought to rule the whole country in the name of his family. Wei, another large province that also included the country's capital. Its ruler, Tsao Tsao, acted as a general and a honorary Prince of the Emperor, though in truth he was a calculating, sometimes cruel individual. He wanted to do away with the Emperor, not so replace him, but because he thought the country could survive without one. He wanted to remake the land itself… and yet he was absolute in holding not his power, and taking it away from his two rivals. And lastly was Liu Bei, the ruler of the large province of Shu. The Liu family had included the Emperors of the Han Dynasty, which had lasted centuries before my time. Though not a direct heir to the throne, he wished to restore control of the country to the Han, under whom there had been much prosperity."
"I sought once to convince Tsao Tsao to give up his quest, to retire and take up Daoism. But he was unwilling, even after I displayed the wonders I was capable of. And so war continued for decades. I watched, hoping for Liu Bei's victory. He… was one man in a million. Not for his strength, or his intelligence, or his tenacity… but for his virtue. Many times in his earlier years, he was nearly killed or defeated many times because of both his refusal to take advantage of family, and his love for the people, though in the end he had to even fight against family to gain a foothold and further his quest. His honest and virtuous nature drew many great warriors and strategists, until he stood poised to retake the country, and bring peace to the people once more…" At this Zuo Ci closed his eyes and sighed, as if remembering the man.
"So… what happened to him?"
"… One of his two sworn brothers, a warrior named Guan Yu, was so skilled that men called him the God of War. But he was betrayed during an attack by a temporary alliance of Wu and Wei. He was captured, and killed when he refused to betray his lord. Liu Bei was so stricken with grief and anger that he for the first time, he put himself before the people. He felt his revenge was more important than his dreams of reuniting the land. He ignored the words of his advisors, and led a rash attack on Wu. While initially successful, it was a disaster. While the loss of men was not that great, he was afterwards torn with guilt over his actions, which were in contrast to the values he'd led for his life and military career. He was already ill, and sixty-three at the time. It was too much, and he passed away."
"After that, things took their course. His heir, Liu Shan, held none of the great values that his father had, and as time passed the best warriors and advisors died, and he gave way to lavish pleasure and inaction. Shu was soon conquered by Wei, who in turn gave way to a new usurping Dynasty called Jin, who in turn conquered Wu. There was peace once more…but the land still did not have the great ruler required to bring them true peace and happiness." Naruto nodded slowly, having taken everything in. He had to believe it all… as crazy as it sounded. Zuo CI had shown his power already, proving at least some validity. But something seemed off…
"Well… you have all this power. Even without the amount you have now, you could have solved everything back then, couldn't you?" At that, Zuo Ci started to chuckle, as if laughing at a joke only he could understand.
"This power… it comes at a price. Something I first read when opened the volumes. To take this power, it gives me extraordinary abilities, as well as prolongs my life indefinitely… but it stated that when one willingly took the power, they were forbidden from directly affecting the events of a world. Yes, I could talk to men, try and frighten them into changing their ways… but to kill influential leaders or wipe out whole armies, while in my power, was forbidden. I wasn't sure how that worked… but the power was real, so I took no chance in testing that out. The point is I failed. And so, I left my country and traveled far and wide. I returned many times to my country, over the course of 2,000 years-"
"2000?" Shino pushed his glasses up, and had one been able to see his face, they would have seen his eyes raised slightly in a disbelieving fashion. "Sir, you give the impression of being about 70. A human body cannot possibly sustain itself for that long…"
"After my demonstration, you still doubt? This power has greatly sustained me. My life has been a long one. In any case, after those two millennia, I came to a realization, that if there was one worthy of Liu Bei's legacy they no longer existed on my world. That it would be on another world that I would find one like Liu Bei, who could bring pace to many peoples in the same virtuous way Liu Bei almost did. I left my world, and journeyed in search of others… Naruto, you must understand. I have been to hundreds of worlds, and after thousands of years, I have never found a person like him. Not to the same degree. And while I have forever to look… I am tired of looking. Living that long wearies the soul Naruto Uzumaki. Though I am not dead, I am not fully alive anymore, a living corpse only able to watch time go by. Some men stop looking for love after years of searching when they grow tired of failure… I have spent hundreds of long lifetimes looking for a special kind of person. That virtuous hero…"
"Well, what exactly are you looking for? I'm not stupid here. You talk about all this stuff, after taking me to an underground chamber… what, you think I'm the one you're looking for? I'm not that special, at least compared to this Liu Bei guy. I don't even get what the Hell you mean by 'inherit his legacy'." Zuo Ci just smiled and waved his cards.
"You will, should you pass my test. But it is time to start." "Across from Naruto in the circle another flash of light appeared. This time however, it was not one of them being moved within the room, but the appearance of another. As the light faded, everyone within the room save Zuo Ci gasped, and Naruto stepped back… not in fear, but in awe.
The figure that stood before them seemed something out of the erethreal. He was a tall man, his figure strong but not bulky, something out of a warrior's dream of perfection. His whole body was incased in solid silver armor, with deep blue thigh guards hanging to the side like large scales. Even his hands were covered in the armor, with black leather covering his palms, thighs, and underarms. A large sheet of blue-green armor wrapped around his torso, held in place by a blue sash and a brown belt over that. Here and there, his armor was covered in strange symbols like those on Zuo Ci's cards, or designs of dragons. A long light blue sash encased his neck and hung behind him. His handsome face was topped by a silver headband, circling back around into his jet-black hair, long enough that a wrapped ponytail hung behind him to his middle back.
But while they all stared in awe at the strange warrior's appearance, Naruto's eyes drifted towards the spear gripped tightly in the right hand. Naruto thought of his own spear; compared to this… this masterpiece, his was a toy, a junk scrap. A pointed end, gold and silver, gave way to a thick brown shaft, a foot longer than his own spear. At the head was a thick wad of hanging material, most like to absorb blood so the handle didn't lose grip Naruto assumed it had once been blue, for a few blue strands were scattered here and there- the rest was a deep blood red. And at the top of that was the blade of the spear, almost a foot of silver and blue steel. Naruto could remember those he had scared or disarmed in combat staring at his spear in awe. That was how he felt. This weapon, it didn't slay men, or even armies… it was made to slay Gods.
The new warrior suddenly started to twirl the weapon around him, slashing and whipping at the air as if the weapon was a mere extension of his body. He finally stopped, holding the spear out towards Naruto in an offensive fashion, left arm held out straight to the side.
"My name is Zhao Zilong. You may call me Zhao Yun." Zhao Yun turned his head looking towards Zuo Ci. "He is the one?" ((A.N.: Awesome picture in profile, search YouTube for his Dynasty Warrior 6 voice and appearance. Watch him in action!))
"Indeed." Zuo Ci turned to Naruto's companions, all of whom continued to gape at this awe-inspiring figure. "Zhao Yun was an extremely famous general under Liu Bei. While Guan Yu was the 'God of War', Zhao Yun was the 'Dragon of Changshan'. An honorable man who was a match for any warrior. Despite his skill and strength, he sought only to find a noble lord to serve, one who could save the people. He proved himself many times. He once rode through an entire enemy army, only to save his lord's child and carry him out safely."
"Liu Shan?"
"Indeed. And on that journey he slew not only numerable soldiers, but some 50 odd generals, all of great renown. Not the best, but more than a match for any man, and Zhao Yun defeated them all. Even in old age, when he reached 70, his skill and strength was such that he defeated four generals one after another. At his age, it was an unheard of marvel. When he died, it was said that Shu had lost its great beam. When he died, I took his spirit with me, in order to aid me in my search." Naruto stared at the man in awe. This Zhao Yun guy…it was like he was one of those incredible perfect warriors people talked about in stories.
"I have watched you for a long time, alongside Master Zuo Ci. You are quite skilled with a spear, and you have a good heart. You are powerful, even for this world. Few could match you. But it is time to see if you are of the same stock as my master… now, raise your spear!"
"Wait, what?" Naruto turned to the others, as if it was a bad joke, but Zuo Ci only smiled.
"This will be one on one spear combat. No jutsu, no special powers. A fight to the finish. Being only a spirit, Zhao Yun will of course give up if a killing blow is made. If he kills you… well, it only means I have misjudged you, as I did to others."
"Wait, I don't want kill him! I mean, I guess I can't, but-" Naruto stammered, trying to explain his unease with actually killing someone, or making such a blow. However, Zhao Yun rushed forward, gripping his spear in both hands as he slashed down. Naruto's hands flew up, his own spear gripped tightly as it blocked. He stepped back, already twirling the weapon to block Yun's next strike.
Their weapons blurred, Naruto's slight hesitancy keeping him on defense with only a few offensive moves of his own. In the back of his mind, Naruto was assessing the battle as he fought. His own physical strength was a little greater, even without his chakra or Darkness, and the time his body had endured the Demon Fox had given him incredible stamina… but Zhao Yun had a literal lifetime of experience over Naruto, and it showed. While Naruto's spear work was incredibly smooth and skilled, Zhao Yun moved like an angel in combat, his skills seemingly beyond this world. Naruto only grimaced and kept it up. He slashed at his opponent's legs, but Yun flipped over the attack, using his weapon as a vault. As he landed, the spear was pulled out and twisted into a wide killing arc, missing Naruto's head as it ducked at the last second. They continued to fight, slashing and thrusting in a dance of wood and steel, their weapons blurs.
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Outside of the combat arena, the remaining occupants of the chamber watched. Shih was the only one not rooted to the spot, still continuously attacking the barrier at different points, searching for an opening. Lee watched the combat, amazed by both fighters. Shino looked on, inwardly calculating who would win this. Hinata just worried. Worried for her love making out of this alive, and how he would cope with having to kill someone, even thought it wouldn't necessarily be a kill. She turned to the old sage, worry etched in her features as she asked, "Is this… truly necessary? To pit them against each other?"
"Indeed. They must… it is a good fight, is it not?" Shino nodded hesitantly.
"That is an accurate estimation. Their skill levels are both high, and while Zhao Yun's is somewhat higher, Naruto has inhuman stamina, and great physical strength. Either Naruto will be outmaneuvered, or he will outlast…assuming that this spirit gets tired."
"Oh he can. I want this to be realistic, so my 'Dragon' has limits… but now it's time to see…"
"See what?" The old sage ignored Lee and only raised his cards, which glowed ever so slightly…
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Naruto flipped back, only to block yet another fluid strike from his opponent. He drove his spear into the ground and leapt over another slash. He used his momentum to swing around as he gripped his dug in spear, his booted feet catching Zhao Yun in the face. Naruto leapt back, bringing his spear in front of him, preparing for the next assault. Never had he been pushed like this, not by Shino, Lee, Hinata-chan, Shih, anyone.
"Tell me Naruto Uzumaki. You defeat me, you return to Konoha. And then what? We know what you have planned. Do you believe it will work?"
"Nothing is certain. I only know we're going to give it our all, and the result will come from our effort, be it success or failure."
"And have you really thought about the cost of your failure?" Naruto paused there, those words touching something deep inside his mind. "The people that could die if you fail… you are ok with their lives spent for your dream?"
"N-no, that's not it at all. You're twisting it around…" Naruto gripped his spear tightly as Zhao Yun suddenly sprung forward again. Once again Naruto kept up the fight, but now his spear seemed slightly awkward in his hands, his limbs feeling a bit heavy…
"Am I? People die in the kinds of plans like what you are going to enact. You know this, and yet you go ahead with it. What will happen if others try to stop you…if Konoha tries to stop you? Can you fight them? Can you take on Sarutobi, a man who cares about you, and kill him if necessary?"
"That… that's not going to happen!" Naruto brought his weapon up to block, but this time Zhao Yun's spear made his own vibrate some, and Naruto struggled to black the next strike.
"But it can, and you know this. And what will people do when they discover your special powers? Will they think you a monster? Will they think the same of Lee, or your love?"
"Shut up!"
"You're getting angry… that Darkness of yours works with your heart, which can be prone to emotion, including anger. Will you hurt those close to you, if it ever gets to strong?"
Naruto only blocked the next strike. But while he was wordless, his mind kept flashing through every horrid possibility Yun's words had brought up. His spear felt so heavy, his slashes and blocks clumsy…
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"What did you do?" Lee turned to the old sage, his eyes glowing yellow, his calling onto the Darkness within him unconscious. "You lifted those cards, and suddenly he is not fighting with the same Youth that he has. Tell us what you've done to him!" When Zuo Ci only stayed silent, watching the battle within the circle, Lee rushed forward, aiming a strong kick at the old man… but as it was about to pass through his chest, it seemingly broke apart into millions of particles, like scattered dust… all of which reformed instantly after Lee's foot went through. Lee launched a slew of punches and kicks, but the result was the same every time.
"If you must know, I suppose I just started the actual test. Within that circle, his skill and strength are being affected by himself."
"What? That makes no sense?" Zuo Ci only sighed and looked back to the fight.
"If Naruto emerges the victor, all will be made clear.
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"What will you do? Will you sacrifice your friends and love for people, or sacrifice people for them?"
"Stop it!" Naruto clumsily stepped back. It was like before he met Lee; his whole body felt weak and clumsy when it came to fighting. He couldn't help it. Every scenario Zhao Yun brought up… more and more he found himself thinking of every horror his plans could bring. The possible death, the suffering… was he really so noble in what he was planning? Any better than any common dictator or tyrant?
Zhao Yun's spear rose up, and Naruto's weapon was broken from his grasp. It spun back, finally landing several yards away with a loud echo that reverberated across the chamber. Naruto's companions gasped, but he didn't hear it. He only saw Zhao Yun hold his spear out, slowly walking towards him.
"It seems you aren't the one we sought… a pity. Liu Bei was an exceptional man. It appears one worthy of his legacy of virtue may never appear…"
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Naruto barely heard him. He only could think of his actions… he'd thought his plans would do people good, that he could start something new and great… how foolish he'd been. He'd led his friends, his love, and all those Hearts and Souls along on a fool's selfish journey.
Shih, who had been the first to offer his service, to stand by Naruto.
Lee, who had given Naruto his friendship, something worth so much.
Shino, whom Naruto had recruited by using his similar pain caused by loneliness and irrational hate.
Hinata…
His angel. She gave him her love, truly and unconditionally. And who was Naruto Uzumaki? He was someone who had such seemingly noble dreams, but still would put other's lives on the line or to an end for them. How could he ever think to assume he was like someone like Liu Bei, who had been such a selfless hero? Who had never sacrificed people?
…
…
…Wait. Hadn't he? People still died in battles. They'd fought for him, because he gave them hope. Gave them a choice to fight for a better future. They hadn't been stupid. They must have known they could die. And Liu Bei… he must have know that people would die while fighting for him. If he was really the type of person Zuo Ci had described him as, being so virtuous, he would have cared about all of them… and yet…
He did it anyway. Liu Bei accepted this, but fought anyway, risked himself and them…because they all wanted that peace, and were willing to fight for it. He even led men against his own family… he must have felt so guilty, so conflicted. Must have thought the same thoughts Naruto was thinking.
But he went through every trial, every challenge. And it had put him in a position to selflessly better the lives of so many people.
Could he do the same as this great man?
…Yes. He had to. Had to fight, kill, battle, and even make war if necessary. Because there were people putting their faith and hopes into him, knowing the risks. And if plans went as hoped, many more would. He would have to deal with it… suffer as Liu Bei did, for the good and betterment of others.
This… this feeling… maybe this was what Zuo Ci meant by virtue. To selflessly work for others, to do right whether big or small, to make sacrifices despite how one felt as long as it was for others…
He wasn't sure. Naruto was only sure of one thing right then.
He couldn't die. He'd allowed too much to rest on his actions, and he couldn't stop that now…
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"Naruto, rise up!"
"Naruto, please get up!"
"NARUTO-KUN!"
The three of the, the ever silent Shih, and Zuo Ci watched as Zhao Yun raised his spear, and brought it down upon Naruto…
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"My my brother, this is entertaining. You were right about this world, it's quite fun to watch."
"Indeed Shinigami. This Naruto is very fun to watch…"
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Naruto's hand suddenly shot up, catching the spear just under the silver-blue blade. The onlooker's outside the barrier gasped.
And on both Zhao Yun and Zuo Ci, the tiniest smile upturned the corners of their lips.
Naruto pushed the weapon up, and flipped back to his feet. His quickly ran backwards, stooping to retrieve his weapon. He brought it back up, the awkwardness and weakness gone. If anything, he'd never felt so sure of the spear in his hand. He sprinted towards the 'Dragon of Changshan', this time attacking instead of defending. And while Zhao Yun was as skilled as before, it was suddenly as if Naruto was faster, stronger, and despite his superior skill Zhao Yun began to back up, having to work harder and harder with each passing second to parry Naruto's thrusts and swipes.
He brought up his spear to block, but the blow was a feint. Naruto's foot lashed out, kicking his leg out. As Zhao Yun attempted to right himself and balance out, Naruto slashed, and knocked his opponent's spear away, just as it had been done to him before. Naruto's spear came down, poised at Zhao Yun's neck.
"…I win-"
"Not yet. You must finish me off."
"What? Look, it isn't necessary-"
"Of course it is." Naruto paused. Something about that voice… despite his young appearance, something in his voice and eyes betrayed the true age of this man. This warrior, who'd seen a lifetime of war Naruto couldn't begin to fathom. 'It has nothing to do with me, you just don't want to kill. I never enjoyed taking life either. But I knew that in a land torn by war, it was unfortunately necessary. Was it right? I do not know… but I truly believed that to defeat the enemies of my old Lord Liu Bei could bring peace to the land. You will have to kill as well, for not every enemy will truly surrender. Some out of fear, some from anger… and some because they will be like you, believing in their causes and ideals with all of their mind and body. You must be willing to take their life, because otherwise those you care for will remain at risk… now, do it. Strike me down!"
Naruto's knuckles whitened from the grip on the shaft of his spear, those words swirling through his mind as he processed such an awful truth… and finally, acceptingly, his spear came down, the blade aimed at Zhao Yun's chest…
And it passed through. No blur, no dust-like trick like with Zuo Ci. As if he wasn't there. Naruto slowly backed up, his eye twitching.
"He… really is a ghost… but I kicked him before…" Zhao Yun stood and held his hand out, his spear suddenly reappearing. "Again? But, I won, didn't I?"
"Indeed you did Naruto…" As they all turned to Zuo Ci, he waved his cards and the barrier appeared, shining blue before it suddenly fell away. They all rushed from the old man's side to arrive at Naruto's. Shih leapt to latch onto his neck from behind, and Lee and Shino gripped his shoulders as if to confirm it was real, that he was ok. And Hinata just kissed him, so happy he was alive, that she wouldn't have to consider yet the possibility of life without her love…
"Very good Naruto," Zuo Ci smiled, looking for all the world as if he'd been the one to win that fight. "I imagine you're wondering what happened in there. That circle was special you see. Once it powered up, your strength and skill were tied into… well, your state of mind would be the easiest way to describe it. Everything Zhao Yun said was planned beforehand, scripted after years of consideration. I needed to know. Needed to see if you could sacrifice not just yourself, but at times your principals. If you were willing to do things at times that were against your Heart's will, because you care for others more. And I am pleased to say you passed."
"Well… how do you know that it'll be the same down the road? That my virtue- which I guess I possess since I passed this whole test- will remain a major factor in deciding how I do everything. I mean… what, can you see into the future too?"
"Oh no. If I could, this whole test would be unnecessary… I mean, I still don't even know if you're actually worthy." Naruto stared wide-eyed at the old sage, and his companions did the same, those eyes all seemingly asking "Are you serious?"
"Naruto, I have always looked for people worthy of Liu Bei's special legacy of virtue. But use your common sense. Do you really believe that in over five thousand years I never found anyone before you worthy of this test? There have been others. Not many admittedly, but they were tested the same as you. Most failed, unwilling to sacrifice principals for others, or without the ambition despite being able to. The few that passed… I still could not choose them. They were people that had not too long to live, or in the world they lived on did not have the power required. I needed someone young, who had the strength to carry those dreams out, the power to make better things for his people a reality." Zuo Ci smiled, placing a wrinkled hand on Naruto's shoulder, gripping with surprising force. "Naruto, you are that person. The virtue lies in you, and you have that power. And you also have innocence to you that not even people your age possess, and the determination to keep a promise and never strive away from your dreams. Great qualities in a leader who follows virtue. Still, you may change in time. That Darkness is strong because you have a strong Heart, but I've seen others with Hearts as strong as you who became corrupted, not by power but their own emotions when they overtook common sense, logic, and judgment. Even after all of this, you may still not be the one… however, I am tired of searching. I am human you know, and we all feel the strain of a long search that continuously fails. But after 5,000 years, you seem like the greatest hope for that virtuous dream, and so I leave you… his legacy." Naruto gulped, made a bit nervous by that whole speech. Still, he was excepting something incredible here, and was willing for it. He stood there, waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting…
"Um… is that it?" Zuo Ci just let out a hard laugh.
"Oh, my apologies. The way I kept describing legacy, it probably sounded like I was giving you some kind of power or weapon, didn't I?" Naruto nodded, resisting the urge to face plant as he realized after all that all he got was an honorable charge… incredible to be sure, but was that it? "Well, I'm not going to be giving you one…" The old sage waved his cards. Naruto's spear suddenly shot up from his hand, and then while in midair seemed to dissolve in to dust, as if time itself was quickly eroding it to nothing. Before Naruto could utter a word of protest, Zuo CI pointed past him. "He will." Naruto turned, and gasped softly as Zhao Yun held out HIS spear to Naruto.
"This is Dragon Spike. I used it long ago to clear a path for Lord Liu Bei's dream for the people… may it clear your path as it let me do for my lord. I will not deny that this path you are on is long, and will involve loss and pain. I have seen it before. But if within your Heart you still care, then your duty is to fight for the people." Naruto seemed to be frozen… before he gave the warrior a solemn nod, and grasped the spear, his fist above Zhao Yun's. Zhao Yun had to keep himself from gasping; at that moment, the feeling he got from this boy, that smile, that same position of gripping the spear, it reminded him of a moment long ago, one of many he wouldn't forget… and it seemed like he could hear his Lord's voice rising from the earth, though that world was so far away…
Yes Zhao Yun, yes. Thank you...
Naruto stepped back, experimentally twirling the weapon. As when he looked at it first, he felt like it was a weapon beyond this realm, a God-killer. Zhao Yun smiled widely, looking at this boy who had inherited the struggle of a long dead friend.
"I will watch you from the Heaven's Naruto. Though my soul goes to a different place than souls here do, I will always watch over you." Naruto looked to him with a wide smile, before suddenly frowning at the comment.
"Wait, what do you mean by-" But before he could finish, Zhao Yun's for suddenly start to look transparent, before finally fading away. Zuo Ci walked to where he stood, smiling.
"He came with me, willing to be pulled away from the Heavens where his friends and Lord reside. He truly cares for others, as his Lord did… he has earned his rest." He then waved his cards, and a light surrounded them all as they vanished from the chamber…
Only to reappear in the clearing. As they looked around, they suddenly realized it was dark.
"What is this?" Shino looked towards the old man in confusion. "We were there maybe a half hour at the maximum. How can it be night already?"
"Well… when I first took you away from this clearing, we didn't go immediately to the underground chamber, even though it seemed that way to you all. I have been watching you after all, and saw your exchange with that Mizuki fellow. I know it will take some time to fully absorb all of this, no matter where your Heart lies. Better to deal with this now, than to try after you've thought on all of this more and are too distracted. Besides… he'll be a fine test for your new blade." The old sage walked up to Naruto, placing a hand on his head. "I never expected to find my goal in the form of a child… I know great things will come from you Naruto, for better or worse. Stay true to your Heart, and I think you'll be alright. Oh, and just so you don't have to rush anywhere…" The old sage again waved his cards, and again they vanished…
This time reappearing within a smaller clearing in the woods. Naruto knew the area; Mizuki had told him to meet him there. It wasn't too surprising. What WAS surprising was that the Sacred scroll was already there, leaning against a tree.
"He already led the ANBU on a chase. I guess that they'll wonder how a 'Genin' managed to take it. Either way, he will arrive in ten minutes. I suggest you start recording everything that's of value, and then clear out so Naruto can handle this alone…"
"Wait. I wanted to ask you. What did Zhao Yun mean before about his soul being different? You told me he was dead, but if that was his soul… it's just that it seemed to have emotion. Nobodies don't have any…"
"I have seen Nobodies before on other worlds who can 'show emotion'. Nobodies can retain their original form if their Soul is strong enough, by using the power of Nothingness to give life back to the body. Most Souls are not that strong, and so they use Nothingness instead to transform their body into a new form, like what Miss Hyuuga can do to Souls she finds. Those are Souls too weak to even change their body, and so they wander as Hearts do, until they are no longer capable of sustaining themselves, and fade away. Hearts, while they do not fade away, follow the same laws, either able to create a body of Darkness, create one that duplicates their original form, or simply float around indefinitely. In the case of Nobodies, their emotion is an act, either to fool others or from a sad attempt to mimic the emotions they once felt. But in Zhao Yun's case, on his world when one dies their soul simply goes to the Heaven's if they were good in life. Their world didn't have Hearts, not in the sense you know."
"It doesn't matter. In any case, you have a long road ahead. I hope you find happiness at the end of it, all of you." He smiled at them, and then turned to Shih, his face more serious now. "You'll have to tell them who you are someday, and accept what has happened."
Shih shuddered, and the group looked at him for a moment, wondering what that was about…
Zuo Ci then walked away from them. He seemed to shimmer for a moment, and suddenly in his place stood a beautiful crane, getting into position to fly away. Naruto smiled and waved at the crane sage.
"I'll make sure to do my best, ok old man? I'll make sure you have a good show to watch!" The crane's head turned, and for a moment something in Zuo Ci's eyes gave Naruto pause. Even though the peak he now possessed couldn't smile, it was as if Zuo CI was giving a sad one…
But then that moment ended. Zuo Ci suddenly gave a flap of his wings and lifted from the ground, as if lighter than air. He drifted lazily upward, flapping off towards the moon. And as he did, his form suddenly took on the appearance of gas and cloud in the shape of that crane. It drifted apart, and then was blown away by a sudden wind…
"…Wow. I mean…just, wow." Naruto looked down at the spear held his hand. Dragon spike gleamed in the moonlight, shining…like the future Naruto hoped for…
"I am at loathe to break up such an incredible moment…" Shino said, stepping towards the scroll. "But we now have only nine minutes before Mizuki's arrival. We should take what we can."
"…Right. Well everyone, let's get to work, and then scatter. Shih, you stay nearby, just in case…"
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Mizuki grinned wildly as he leapt through the trees. It was incredible; this wonderful power Orochimaru had given him. The ANBU probably couldn't even sense the Genjutsu he used, since they never tried to dispel any during the chase, something they were more than capable of. Still, they had been fast. The clever ninja wire traps he'd set were the only reason he'd gotten away without using too much of this power and giving himself away. Now he just had to get to the clearing, and hope the demon brat could pull it off.
As he landed in a branch overlooking the meeting place, his grin widened more. The kid stood there, looking so pleased with himself for the theft. Mizuki dropped down, assuming the guise of the proud teacher one last time…
"Well Naruto, I admit I am surprised. I knew you had good Genin skills, but this was very impressive. The Hokage will be proud." Mizuki grinned. It was perfect. The brat hadn't even questioned the two huge Fuma shuriken on his back. "Now just hand me the scroll and I'll take it back-"
"Mizuki-sensei, do you think I'm a loyal shinobi?" Mizuki paused, nonplussed. What kind of question was that?
"Well… yes Naruto, I believe so…"
"Tell me then…" Naruto's grin suddenly dropped, and apparently a genjutsu did as well-when did the brat learn to do them well?- because suddenly a very deadly looking spear was laying on the ground. Naruto picked it up, and began spinning and twirling it like an expert. "Why would I give the scroll to a traitor?"
"Traitor? Naruto, I don't-"
"Don't think to fool me Mizuki. I knew this was all a lie. I mean, this was locked up in a special room within Hokage Tower. Do you take me for a fool? I only did this to flush you out… and to get a nice peek inside it of course." Mizuki's grin fell away, replaced by a grimace of anger. He looked around, wondering where the ANBU would probably come from. Damn the boy-
"Oh, there's no shinobi there. I set this up alone."
"So... wait, you actually plan to take me on yourself?" As the blonde nodded, Mizuki roared with laughter, to the point it threatened to bring him to his knees. "Get real! You're a Genin. AN impressive one, but I'm a Chunin. Do you really think you're skill level and power is above mine?"
"Well… if it was, I don't think I could do this little jutsu."
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Hundreds of pops could be heard, as that many clouds of smoke obscured Mizuki's vision. As it cleared he looked around… and gaped. The ground, trees… they were filled with the brat's clones. Hundreds of them, all with that same spear! One smirked, punched the tree it stood on, and the bark splintered. Kami, they were real! All of them! Impossible. It was a Jonin technique, forbidden, and yet he did it!
"Impossible. Unless…" Mizuki grinned, and decided to try a card he had been thinking of. This might unnerve the boy, wreck the clone's concentration, and then he'd grab the scroll and run. "This is incredible Naruto. It wouldn't be possible though, without that special secret about you-"
"Oh, you mean Kyuubi?" Naruto could only grin at Mizuki's gaping face, as another clone started speaking in order to keep the real Naruto's location hidden. "I've known for years asshole. You don't even truly understand the situation…"
"Oh, I understand perfectly about your little act. You ARE the demon, and anyone who believes otherwise is foolish and blind. So, the fox reveals his power at last. It makes no difference. The ANBU probably are informing the Hokage of this as we speak. They won't even notice the scroll missing till it's too late. By the time they find you, you'll be a corpse!" Mizuki then started to laugh as a strange symbol on his neck, which Naruto hadn't noticed before, suddenly began to glow. Black symbols spread over his skin, and Naruto stiffened a bit as he felt the power being given off… nothing on his own power, but it was so dark.
"Like my cursed seal demon fox? It's a gift from a powerful man, the Snake Sannin Orochimaru himself. With this scroll as a gift, he'll make take me to his side and give me even more power. I'll crush you. I won't even need level two for this." Mizuki suddenly leapt into the trees, and began to engage the clones head on. His enhanced power let him quickly begin to tear through them.
So focused was Mizuki on tearing into them, he didn't notice that they seemed to be holding back…
Soon the clones had all been dispersed, and only one Naruto stood standing, an eyebrow raised at Mizuki's display. With a cry of "You're mine!" he lunged, pulling a shuriken from his back and swiping it at the demon's damned smirking face… only for it to disperse as well. He landed and looked around, eyes searching for where the Hell the brat was. The scroll was still there, so where-
His thoughts were interrupted as a booted foot caught the side of his face, knocking him into the tree. As the shuriken fell from his hand, the boy suddenly appeared, and proceeded to launch a slew of punches and elbows into Mizuki's form, all with only one arm while the other held the spear. He couldn't understand it. Demon or not, the brat wasn't this strong! How did it hurt so much?!
Naruto's finally pulled his fist back, and slugged Mizuki hard enough to force him through the tree and into the ground. Naruto leapt down, scanning the dust to see if Mizuki would stand again…
"Damn you… you fucking monster… I'll kill you! I'll use the second level of this seal and crush you!" The disturbing power Naruto had felt before intensified, pushing the dust apart. What stood before him did not look human any longer. It looked like someone had taken Mizuki and fused him with a tiger. His whole body rippled with muscle, and a black-looking chakra rolled off of him. "Like it demon? This power Orochimaru gave me goes only to his best servants. He gave it to me as a sign of faith, and of the power I can gain by serving him. Now, let me take the scroll, and your death will be quick." Naruto only sighed, and lifted his sleeve, revealing a seemingly familiar marking, though Mizuki couldn't place it…
"I want to show you something really quick. First, this summoning tattoo. Some people use them so that animals summons won't require the whole range of required seals. It's how I kept my old spear and this new one hidden." The symbol glowed, and suddenly the brat's spear vanished. "The second thing is this." Naruto's hand rose, and Darkness covered it, building quickly. It… frighten Mizuki. It wasn't Chakra, but there was such power in it… what was it?
"This… this is some trick. You damn fox, what are you doing?!"
"…You will die without knowing, traitor." The power in that hand suddenly seemed to collapse in on itself for a moment, before unleashing a beam of destruction. The Darkness tore a gouge in the earth, before meeting Mizuki's body.
His hand's came up in defense as channeled all of his new power into blocking… whatever the Hell the fox was doing. But the beam of that black stuff, whatever it was, pushed him back, and he found his power draining as he tried to hold it back. His new 'fur' signed and started to smoke as he seemed to roar in pain.
"D-damn you! What is this power? What are you doing Kyuubi?!"
"… That's Naruto Uzumaki, dumbass." The beam intensified, and Mizuki screamed as the power surged forward, overtaking him. His form was completely hidden by the torrent of darkness, which curved up as to avoid leaving too large a path of destruction and gain too much attention. I spiraled into the air above the trees, the night hiding the dark beam of power. As Naruto finally let up on the attack, the beam dissipated… Mizuki's body was lying on the ground, burned horribly all over, his breath hard and strained.
"This… can't be… you can't overcome-cough- my power. Y-you monster…" Naruto's spear shot out, the blade piercing through his throat. Injured and drained as he was, Mizuki suffered only a few moments before death took him.
Naruto sighed, knowing he'd have at least one nightmare about this… his first kill. As Shih slipped out beside Naruto from wherever he'd been hiding, Naruto motioned with a hand, and a few Red Nocturnes appeared at his side. Without even having to say it, they knew what to do. A few fireballs later, Mizuki was roasting. Naruto waited till the body was ashes and then dismissed the Heartless, who had kept the flames from spreading to the trees. A small tendril of Darkness twisted from his hand, wrapping around Mizuki's heart. Soon a Shadow stood where his body had been. Naruto motioned, and it seemed to melt into the floor, this time disappearing to wherever the Heartless were when Naruto didn't summon them.
"Well, this whose curse seal thing Orochimaru has is going to be a pain. I think we need to step up the Search Ghosts looking for him, as well as Akatsuki." Naruto sighed, and then turned to grin at Shih. "I can always count on you Shih. In a way you're the first real friend I ever made. You always have my back, and I'm thankful for it…" Shih seemed to look up at Naruto and then took a few steps closer. His claws motioned up, pointing to Naruto, then his eyes… and then down at Shih's body. Naruto grimaced, thinking back to what Zuo Ci had said before. "Shih... you know I like respecting your privacy. Same with all of the Heartless. You sure about that?"
Shih nodded. Naruto sighed and sat on the ground next to Shih, his hand gently touching the little Shadow's 'body'. His eyes opened, the yellow of Darkness Vision glowing in the dark. His brow creased as the memories quickly passed, one by one. He gasped as Shih's former identity was revealed… as we his last actions and death. When Naruto finally reached the memory of their first meeting years ago, he pulled his hand back, the appendage shaking. His eyes returned to their deep blue but now were filled with worry.
"Shit… your Nobody, who's strong enough to retain his original body which apparently can fuel a hyped-up version of the Sharingan with Nothingness… Madara Uchiha, thought dead, who has a hyped-up version of that same Mangekyo Sharingan and is the secret leader of a dangerous terrorist group… they'll probably come after Sasuke for his eyes, and me for 'Kyuubi'… heh, this doesn't get easy, does it?" Naruto's attempt to liven such depressing news seemed to fail, as Shih/Itachi fell back against a tree head bent and shaking as if struggling to cry tears he could no longer produce. Naruto sighed, and hugged Shih to his chest. "It's ok Itachi… Shih… Shih I guess, you seem to like that name. Look, it's all right… I know it may not mean much, but for what it's worth, I forgive you." Shih looked up, and then clutched tighter. Naruto sighed, rubbing the little Shadow's back.
Suddenly, without thinking about it, Naruto's hand glowed with Darkness, flowing into Shih. Many times before they had tried feeding the Heartless more, but always his Heart had a natural limit that only grew slowly with time. But now, maybe from the weight lifted by Naruto's statement, Shih suddenly started sucking the black-colored power in like a sponge. Naruto scooted back, watching Shih's form seem to blur, the limbs and head being absorbed back into the chest, as the ball of darkness grew only bigger and bigger. It suddenly burst apart, the massive amount of Darkness circling around the Heart in the middle, and as it rushed back to the Heart, for a moment Naruto swore he could see a transparent image of Itachi, with his Heart at the center. He was smiling, looking so happy and at peace…
And then it came back together, the Darkness shaping into something… new. Naruto slowly stood, gasping at what stood before him.
"… Itachi? …Shih? Is that you?" The new Heartless for him nodded, and Naruto could only utter softly.
"Badass…"
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Hinata stepped out of the portal of Nothingness she'd made, Lee by her side. They'd both felt that rush of Darkness that Naruto had apparently unleashed, and figured it was all over… only to feel another one soon after. As they looked around they found Naruto, standing alone and uninjured.
"Naruto-kun what happened? Where is Mizuki? And why is Shih still hiding?"
"Well, Mizuki is now a Shadow. Guess his Heart wasn't that strong, though apparently a little gift made him stronger chakra-wise. We… have a couple new developments to discuss. Things have gotten more dangerous."
"Alright, but where is Shih? Is he ok?" Hinata grimaced, concerned for her love's little bodyguard.
"Better than ok… we'll discuss it later. It involves getting his consent on a few things. We need to look at this and come with a plan. Shino, this is going to- um…where is Shino?" The two other humans in that clearing looked to each other, and then around before looking back to the blonde.
"Er… when we split up, he took a different path than us. I assumed he decided to cover a different area, instead of lumping us all together like we planned. But he should be here by now. His Youth has always kept him no time…"
"Someday I'll figure out how that makes sense. In the meantime let's go look for him. Shino can't be far…"
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(Five Minutes Ago)
Shino followed behind Hinata and Lee, glad they were busy chatting. They couldn't hear his sigh.
Once again, Naruto takes on an adversary alone. If it isn't that, it's executed as a group. Never just you. You are unable to do anything they can. Can't even utilize the bugs you're relatives is famous for… what are you doing here Shino?
Shino shook the thoughts from his head. Naruto still wanted him around. He'd continue to serve Naruto's cause and ambition, as long as he was still useful…however short a time that would probably be…
Do you think so little of your friends?
Shino's head snapped up. That voice… it was in his head, like when the group used their 'silent' communication though the seals. But he'd felt no reaction from the seal, no use of his chakra… so how could there be a voice in his head? It wasn't even his own voice.
Shino, I need you to come to me. 5 miles due Southwest.
Shino snorted softly. Whoever this was, however they were doing this, they were foolish to think he'd follow a strange voice in his head. He started to prepare a message to send to Lee and Hinata-
For all you're worry about becoming useless to them, you are very quick to call for their aid. I will be able to hear what you say, seals or not…
Shino froze, his body moving with barely any notice on his part. How did someone know? Had he messed up already, slipped at some moment and exposed Shadow?
All will be revealed. Simply come to me Shino. I was sent here to aid you. You're secrets will remain so…
Shino swore silently, and then changed direction, shunting as much chakra as he could into his legs without getting his teammates attention. He sped through the trees, figuring the sooner he figured this out, the sooner he could formulate a plan…
Down there.
Shino dropped down to the forest floor, swiveling around to look for whoever was calling to him. There was nothing, nothing but a large blue crystal resting against a few trees.
Approach it Shino… good. Shino, I know you fear becoming useless to your friends, a tool for them to cast aside. They are good people Shino. They value you and the friendship you offer, and you know it.
"I know, but… they're my friends. My first friends. My ONLY friends. I want to make myself worthy of their love. But their abilities are beyond most Shinobi, beyond most human limits. I can't keep up with them at this rate."
…I can give you that power. I was sent to do so. Ask not of me who sent me, for it does not matter. This power will require no cost, no compromising conditions. me bond with you… and you shall know my power and its wonder…
"… Alright then." Shino removed his glasses, and the moon reflected in those insectoid eyes. He looked up, a resolute grimace on his face. "Whoever you are, whatever you are, I agree. I submit to you. For my friends, to prove myself worthy of them… I accept the risk of this strange deal. I ignore every logical warning before my eyes. Take me… I submit!"
Shino... how wrong you have it…
The blue crystal in front of Shino suddenly splintered, light pouring from the cracks. They widened, and as the light started to become blinding, realization flashed through Shino's mind.
Kami… it's not a crystal, it's an egg!
It broke apart, the intense blue light forcing Shino's eyes to shut tightly. As it faded, and his vision cleared, Shino looked up…and froze. Before him floated… something. It was maybe a bit larger than his arm, though only a little longer than from finger to elbow. It seemed a segmented, deep blue crystal. At one end, the segment had a rounded spike emerging from the top, and there were two of them on the larger segment. The lager segment also curved down, looking like a guard for knuckles. Two yellow 'horns' protruded from the front of it, and below them were two crystals of a lighter shade of blue, looking like deep, shining eyes. The bottom of the guard-like part was curved into what seemed like a mouth, two more crystals like the eyes pointing down like fangs. ((A.N.: Pic in profile))
"Incredible… are you some type of demon? I find it a bit difficult to believe a demon would give me power with no gain of its own…" And then he heard the voice speak again, and suddenly it was like there was a peaceful force in his mind. The world melted away, till it was only him and this strange being…
You still don't understand Shino… I was sent here not to control you…but for you to use my power. We will be as one, but your mind will remain your own. I swear it on my being as a Ra-seru. I will give you my power Shino, and with it you will roar like thunder, a great lightning bolt cutting across the sky… I sense you still do not wish to open your mind to me. Open to me, and I'll open mine to you. Shino… I was chosen to aid you, and I approved of this choice. As you have submitted to me, I am entrusting you with my destiny…never forget it. I am giving myself to you, because of what you strive towards with your friends…
Shino looked at the strange creature for a good while. He then raised his arm, his hand reaching out towards this strange being.
"Who are you… what are you? What is a Ra-seru"
I will explain when your friends join us… but my name, you may know now… I am Ra-seru Ozma.
"Alright then Ozma… I accept your offer. Give me the strength… to protect those precious to me…" Ozma suddenly floated downward, and slid perfectly onto Shino's arm, the 'face'-like part indeed covering his knuckles. The crystal-like, segmented body seemed to grip onto Shino's arm. And then, without warning, Shino felt a torrent of power course through him… electrical power. It crackled along Shino's arm, along Ozma, and into his body. He was tricked, he was going to die-
And then it exploded outward, bolts of electrical power striking the ground and trees around him in a display of incredible power. It started to die down, and soon stopped completely. Shino stared in wonder, and then back down to the strange being that offered him such power.
If you're Heart stays true, then I will stay true to you. What you saw now was only a fraction of the power of Ozma, the Ra-seru of thunder. With hard work, you will gain power beyond your dreams. I will explain more tomorrow, for your friends will be here soon. Know this. You need but wield me, and work together with me, and my lightning will destroy any obstacle in your path. You can prove yourself to your friends, but more importantly to yourself.
We will thunder together Shino… and together, your enemies will see our power…
Your strength…
My wonders…
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And from another place, Kami smiled.
"I chose well it seemed. Ozma... you and Shino will be quite fun to watch. Not as entertaining as Naruto Uzumaki, but still fun..."
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Preview:
Naruto: Great, a stuck up prick, a banshee that can't take this seriously, and a tardy pervert. Is there ANY upside to this?
Shino: Logically… I see none.
Lee: Yup.
Hinata: Ditto.
Naruto: Perfect. Well, time to see if we can work together at all. I think I'll give this Kakashi guy a little scare, see how good he is at reading people…
Next Time: A Team Destined to Fail. Team 7 is going to be a headache Naruto!
Shino: The ally we've recently recruited has given us a most opportune recruitment possibility, involving an old 'teammate' of his…
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Wow. This really got fucking long. I'm really tired. It's Midnight, and the same day I wrote that chapter to explain the long period since the last chapter.
I feel bad. I had this scene in a chapter or two that would dramatize Naruto's first kill, and be kind of like the scene from "Ruroni Kenshin" with Jinei when Kenshin kills him, but somehow Mizuki ended up as his first. And screw all of you that want to say in your reviews "Man that doesn't sound right." You're the ones thinking of pairing Mizuki with Naruto ya pervs… though I kinda just that image just now… oh well. I'll work my nice philosophical fight in some other time. Maybe
Well, I'm gonna need a week before I start the next one, to make sure I stay caught up with my life. This thing has cost me a lot of sleep, mostly from walking around in circles to figure out how I wanted it all to work.
SEMI-IMPORTANT: When searching You Tube for Zuo Ci, include the game 'Dynasty Warriors 5" in your search. But for Zhao Yun, it's 'Dynasty warriors 6'. Also, to get a frontal view of the Ra-seru known as Ozma, go to You Tube and type in Legaia part 23. It's at the end of the clip in the last few minutes, not hard to find. 'Legend of Legaia' was an incredible RPG game for the Playstation, with a gaming system mostly based on 'Final Fantasy'. For those who never played it, I will in the next chapter explain to the best of my ability how Ozma works, what he is, and a basic overview of the game so you don't scratch your heads in confusion.
It is, as always, good to get actual reviews, and not your awkward philosophical opinions. Save those for a forum board.
IMPORTANT: I ask you all who read my explanations in the last chapter: PLEASE do not send me condolences about my Grandmother in your reviews. If you REALLY have to send them, do it in private messages… but I don't like getting them in general. I told you all about that even thought it was a personal thing about my life. I didn't do it for pity where she is concerned, just to explain that something serious made me stop typing for a while.
And as always, it's great to work on this story. Even though I don't do it enough, I thank Kamikon Wolf profusely for the philosophical online chat so long ago that inspired this story. It wouldn't be here without you, so thank you- and keep writing 'Blood Chakra'!
Well, enough with the philosophical stuff for now. Next chapter should help transition into some more action and power development, as well as some plot development. I can't wait.
Ja ne!
