RamenKnight Even though I'm almost certain that you're no longer reading this story I'll say this. It sucks to lose a reader, but this story has a vulgar edge to it and it will stay that way. Eventually it will even be bumped up to M rating because of the themes of the story.
Other notes, I'm only partially pleased with this chapter. It was a hard one to write.
CHAPTER 11
Hokage's Office
After explaining everything about Naruto and Rend's predicament to their sensei, he decided to let Kakashi and the Sandaime Hokage know the icing on the cake. "As of right now, the Kid calls Rend his brother and people just run with it because of the fact that Rend's not human. But doing the same would be completely foolish on your parts if you decide to do the same. The bond of companionship is a strong one indeed, merging the two parties' blood be make them true brothers. By accepting the task of being protectors of balance, they have been guaranteed to share their blood as well as their capabilities on a lesser scale. Naruto's great chakra capacity has been proven constantly to be the result of a bloodline, and Rend seems to have mirrored this effect after their bonding. Conversely, Rend's natural ease of control over chakra is due to his own blood and the ability has been given to Naruto. That being said, Naruto's DNA carries an insane disposition to be a chakra powerhouse with great control and Rend's DNA carries insane chakra control with massive chakra reserves. I'm sure you're seeing where I'm going with this Sensei.." Jiraiya said as he concluded his speech. Hiruzen's eyes widened as he thought about the possibilities involving that information. He was well aware of the information given, yet somehow forgot what it could mean for the young men.
"So you're saying that the two of them could and should be quite able to create their own clans, birthing shinobi capable of feats some will never reach?" The Hokage basically stated instead of asking.
"Besides giving the two of them the immunity by clan head status, you KNOW how beneficially great control and high chakra reserves would be at an early age! With Rend naturally being half Celestial being its obvious just how much strength Konoha stands to gain even IF you weren't considering the children's happiness!" Jiraiya countered.
"Wait, you lost me there Jiraiya. What do you mean celestial being?" he said while giving his former pupil a skeptical glance.
"Hokage sama, I'd like to explain to you a few things. Rend is no ordinary wolf by any means, he is one of the fabled Okami."
"But I thought they were simple myths!" the Sandaime nearly shouted.
"Not hardly. But as I was saying, Okami have been balancing the powers of nature since long before the Rikudo Sennin's time and have constantly made sure that our use of jutsu and destructive ways would not be allowed to destroy nature. Rend would eventually have been thrust into this profession in time anyway, but little Naruto here wanted to be with his brother every step of the way so the two of them are now walking the path of the Okami! But the part that was not explained earlier is that in order for Rend to actually take on a human body that would be able to mate with human, the two bould BOTH have to become half-Celestials. That status itself woulf be earned after defeating an avatar of each element."
Hiruzen listened intently, knowing that this information was clearly bigger than the village itself. "And since the two Balance Protectors are from Konoha, I would have to ensure that these two were safe from threats within our own walls... But wait! Where is the catch?"
Jiraiya chuckled and then replied, "The catch is, that no one should accompany the two during their travels to quiet the elements unless they themselves are aware of the task involved. That and the fact that these two are the ones who say yes or no on WHO knows their task and who joins them."
"Fair enough. And to ease your mind, we have a certain genin who is ready to fill any hole in our genin squads so there will alwas be some circulation."
"Jiji... How do you plan on giving me and Rend a clan?"
Jiraiya spoke up with a serious tone of voice before starting. "Clan status is given to those among the Konoha ranks that possess bloodlines, which would no doubt bring power to the Hidden Leaf in exchange for immunity to certain 'treatment' toward the clan head. By no means does that many that a clan head is above the law, but what it does mean is that no one can attempt to harm you without just cause and escape a due punishment." Naruto and Rend soaked the information in intently, knowing exactly why the two men would want them to utilize this option. Hiruzen continued on, "The creation of a clan does however require the Clan head to accept multiple life partners in order to build the numbers of the clan members. In short, multiple wives and more than a few children."
With this, Naruto started to frown slightly and even the lewd Rend seemed a bit uncertain. The two males had a great appreciation for women and were admittedly uncomfortable with the idea of polygamy, mostly due to the potential lack of love involved. Naruto and Rend's experiences with apathy and disdain gave birth to a strong desire to prevent others from said fate, so trapping someone in a marriage to ensure children seemed unacceptable. The Sandaime noticed their expressions and quickly tried to soothe their doubts. "Now know this, we won't force either of you into clan head status OR force you to marry someone you don't love. And no one will pressure you two into having children, especially since the both of you are still young. Law states that you two would have to be age 16 before you can even be officially recognized, so you don't even have to decide yet. I advice you two to do your own research on the Clan Restoration Act before making any decisions." The two boys simply nodded.
"Back to the matter at hand, the mission. For now the two of you will start on the simplest type of mission Okami receive, which is to calm the elemental balance by drawing excess elemental essense from a disturbance point. You two will be heading toward the Land of Valleys, where near the outskirts of the area lies a particularly high amount of fire essense. Due to your brotherhood pact, your eyes will automatically adjust to the sense necessary to see the disturbances. In this case, the air will seem to have mass amounts of embers floating in the air with similar effects from the other elements. The disturbances normally aren't visible to the naked eye unless it nears the amount which can condense into an avatar. Your objective is to draw the essence into yourselves, letting your bodies naturally purify it, and expel said energy. My assigned partner and your sister Mercury shall enlighten the two of you as to how to purify energies. I take up the reigns when she feels that you two can operate well enough. Be ready at the gate by 6 p.m."
The two boys enthusiatically replied and dashed off to prepare, while the three men continued to talk about the duo's mission and status. The young men were given the task to ensure that the elements of nature continued their balance. The wolf that all knew as Rend was not only a being they thought was only a legend, but he had accepted an ordeal to eventually become a halfling and dramatically boost Konoha's military might. Naruto would become half-celestial and in turn, gain the natural ability to cleanse evils. This could become an indefinite solution to the Nine-Tailed Fox's hatred and end all attempts to take over. Jiraiya allowed Kakashi the information behind the Okami Mother's reasoning, the fact that absorbing the elements would boost the chakra capacity and control of them enough to brace the duo for eventually dealing with the avatars themselves. Hiruzen did what any self-respecting leader would do in his position, displayed an almost innocent expression of awe while asking to meet said Honorable mother. The younger two knew better than to laugh at the uncharacteristic display, but made sure to imprint the image into memory. With a promise to inquire further on the request and a nudge toward the Jounin sensei to make sure the other genin can keep up, Jiraiya disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto and Rend's Apartment
The two boys blurred around the rooms, gathering up whatever things they thought they would need on a mission outside of Konoha. Their first mission as Okami. Their first time far outside of the village. The anticipation and the lack of awareness coming from the two young men nearly caused them to have a heartattack. Dropping from the ceiling was a familiar Okami whose markings were a shade of gray that looked near metallic. The tips of her ears were pierced with a small heart shaped charm on both and her tongue flicked across her lips as she landed on Naruto.
"Hey there Cutey...Remember me?" Mercury said, earning a deep frown from her 'prey.'
"I'll be glad to answer that once you get the HELL off of me!"
"Once again, you're no fun Naruto-kun..."
"Why do you like gettin on top of me anyway?" Naruto sighed as he struggled underneath her.
"Would you rather bend me over, Little Man?" She said, attacking his pride using his short stature. "I didn't think we were at that stage yet..."
"Wha..WHAT! I'm not into animals Lady!"
"For that I won't get off of you just yet! And I'll show you just how much of a Woman I am once you two succeed in earning halfling status!" Mercury pouted, annoyed that the young man had effectively countered her comments.
Naruto was a smart one, as he noticed that he finally had the upper hand. "Lookin forward to it, Nee-chan!" he said with a smirk.
Mercury then hopped up with a hmph and stood in front of the two. After a few seconds of concentration, she channeled chakra above her to show an illusion of Naruto. "I'm not here to babysit you two, so I'll get right to my job. Purification lessons. Watch every motion that the illusion does Naruto, and Rend you pay attention to the fundamental reasons behind each action." The illusion Naruto used the handsigns for his Kage Bunshin, but started to draw chakra into his body. With every inhale, chakra that was a tainted blue color in the illusion would become the bright healthy blue that it normally was. "This exercise is called Purifying Breathing and draws in chakra through the nasal passages were it converts it into chakra suited for your own usage. This is only one of many purifying arts, but for a simple mission it will more than suffice. One warning though, do NOT attempt to take the chakras of nature without purifying it. That is a higly advanced technique that will undoubtably kill anyone who does not have the necessary understandings of how to do so. Many young Okami have found themselves destroyed by attempting to tame nature without understanding it. I... don't want to lose you boys too." Mercury said in a serious tone that neither of them had ever heard from her. The two boys focused on learning the basic process of the skill, until about a half hour later they felt ready.
"Yer makin this too easy Sis! We're takin this mission and ALL others by storm!" Rend boasted.
"You're sister Rem nearly died on this same type of mission because of that headstrong thinking."
This affected Naruto more than Rend. "I won't let anything happen to either of us, Mercury Nee."
"I knew I could count on you, Naruto..." she said with all of her normal playfulness gone.
She then started to expel a moderate amount of her chakra into the air. "I won't let either of you take this mission until you can purify some of my chakra." Mercury said, allowing some of her normal playfulness to slip out. The two boys shrugged this off, as well as the fact that the chakra itself came out a rose red color. They hopped into their respective stances, Naruto imitating the illusion and Rend crouching in a ready stance, and started to draw the chakra into themselves. "This will also be your first challenge on expelling elemental chakra... so be prepared!" the woman said, laughing immediately after as if she told the best joke in the world. So lost in their concentration, the boys simply didn't react to the comment at all and cleaned the air of her chakra completely within fifteen minutes. Mercury said her goodbyes as she sent the two off toward their mission, knowing that she started them on two new experiences. "Lets see how you react to a type of chakra most people believe is only a myth..."
Walking toward the gate
Naruto was the first to feel differently after gathering Mercury's chakra. He found himself noticing the women in town a great deal more than usual, watching a few civilian ladies' hips as they walked by. Rend however, didn't quite realize the difference until a familiar timid walk was spotted in the crowd. At that moment as if by instinct, Rend said loud enough for only Naruto to hear, "Eyes of the Hunter no Jutsu!" His normally blue eyes became more feral and became the exact same color as Mercury's chakra as his eyes locked onto the Hyuuga Heiress that he and Naruto liked to notice. After watching her walk for a while and his perverse giggling was done he spoke to Naruto, "If you don't go after Hinata, I might have to take her from you in a few years..."
"Wha..I'm not chasin after Hinata like that! She's just a classmate!"
"A classmate that you've been eyin the past two years!"
Changing the subject, Naruto asked. "And what the hell was that 'Eye of the Hunter' thing about?"
"Somethin in me just clicked and I channeled Mercury's chakra into my eyes. Next thing you know I'm granted a very...pleasing sight." Rend said, trying to stifle his perverted giggling.
Intrigued by the new techinque Naruto did the same. "Eye of the Hunter no Jutsu!" he said as he mirrored the same action as Rend, channeling rose red chakra into his eyes. His eye however, locked onto the very generous bust of a certain redhead. "Oh SHIT!" Naruto said while quickly disappearing. Rend used the perverted jutsu again and quickly saw the reason his brother ran away. While literallly rolling on the floor laughing, he managed to get out, "DANGER!" Eventually, after shaking the lustful woman off their trail the Okami brothers made it to the gate with little time to spare.
Just to give a small hint on the storyline. Purifying elemental disturbances will happen in between the first few arcs. Wave Country Arc. Chunin exams. Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Please feel free to tell me if you think I'm dragging my feet on moving the story forward. Pairings are still undecided.