Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy
AN: Someone commented that Bulleta would be 14 at most. Keep in mind that this fic takes place YEARS after the games, anime, and comics. Also keep in mind that darkstalkers, unlike normal humans, tend to age much slower. Also, someone else commented on the Jägermonsters' name. Look up Girl Genius Online as that's where I got them from since I didn't create them.
Atum-Coma: The City Hidden in the Nexus
By Demonabyss
Chapter 14: Mission Assignment
Naruto was sore, both literally and figuratively speaking. He and team 7 had been doing nothing but D rank missions ever since the team had been formed. True said missions wouldn't have been D rank in any other village, more like C rank, but in Atum-Coma they were. The missions ranged from things like round up stray animals in the Wilds, tracking down escaped minor experiments in Clockworks, pest control in Makai, to even helping organize the still expanding Nexus Library. That last one had been weird with Miss Readman. Sure the lady was really nice and friendly, if a bit ditzy and clumsy, but she had one quirk that just was weird, even by Nexus standards. The kitsune had never seen anyone with such a … addiction, for lack of a better term, to anything like that before, to books no less. Sure he himself loved to chow down on mimmoths but this had gone far beyond that. It looked like she was about to pass out in pleasure just from looking at one really old book. It was really creepy. In any case, team 7 was still stuck doing D ranked missions and quite frankly he was sick of it. The fox boy was still trying to get that stench of sewer gunk out of his fur from chasing those damned experiments. They hadn't been dangerous, just really hard to catch. In any case, he was still sore.
After getting dressed, he headed to the kitchen where his mother was making dinner. To others this may seem odd that he was just getting out of bed and it was dinner time, but considering Nexus was on the night shift while other villages were on the day shift, not too much. The catwoman smiled at her son as he sat down. Her nose wrinkled at the smell coming off his fur. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as when he came home from that mission the first time, but the smell was still lingering on his fur. She chuckled to herself he had showered numerous times to get rid of it with only so much success. Oh well, nothing to do about it now. "So Kit, ready for another day?" she asked as she lay breakfast in front of him which consisted of largely of various meat, some milk, fruit, and bread. It was pretty normal for bestial type darkstalkers.
The fox took a big bite of meat and quickly swallowed before answering. "I guess so. I just don't want another sewer mission. I know Anita and Shiva are as annoyed with these missions as I am," he said as he took another bite.
Felicia shrugged. "Not much you can do. By the way your dad already left, said some renegades were planning on a feeding frenzy just outside of Nexus. Your basic idiots," she explained as she took a large bite of sushi. Naruto nodded, knowing what she was talking about. There were a few darkstalkers who didn't like the law stating that no human of Nexus may be fed on to the point of near death or beyond, especially without their permission. Darkstalkers could feed on humans as long as the humans agreed to it and that they didn't kill the human or do it anywhere close to that point. Feeding on humans' energy/chakra/blood/souls was common in Nexus and was actually encouraged. It had a strange side effect on the humans in Nexus. Since the humans who were being drained over and over weren't killed and was allowed to recover, their bodies adapted to it by producing more energy/chakra, having their souls become larger and stronger, and producing more and healthier blood. It was basically the same thing as training your body, you wear it out and test it and eventually it gets used to the strain so that it's not a problem anymore. However, some darkstalkers didn't like the idea of letting humans live thus continued the "tradition" of sucking them dry. True there weren't nearly as many as there were a few years ago when the city was founded, but there were still some running around. So it was Jon's job as head of the Hunter Nin to track and bring them down by any means necessary.
"Okay then, I'll see you later mom," the fox boy said as he left to meet up with his team. He made his way to training area 12 in the Wilds. It was their normal meeting area in a small clearing with various plants and such all around. As usual Anita was there early while he and Shiva arrived on time. Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling would come anywhere from a few minutes early to fifteen minutes late depending on how quickly Mei-Ling could drag her sister out of her coffin. Despite being a former top class hunter of the Dark and being a Kuang-shi for a couple hundred years, she still had a few of her human quirks, such as being partial to sleeping in. "Hey Anita, Shiva, Origami and the Blueberry haven't showed up yet huh?" he asked using his nicknames for their teachers. When he had first seen Mei-Ling become a paper seal to better control her sister's powers and instincts he had lost it and laughed to no end, asking if she was able to become an origami crane in that form. Needless to say, he got pummeled for that. Unfortunately for the sisters, the nicknames stuck but didn't mind them as much anymore, knowing that Naruto meant them only in affectionate terms.
Shiva shook her head as Anita giggled at the nicknames. "I'm sorry to say they have not. I do hope they have a better mission this time. As interesting as that hunt in the sewers was, I hope not to repeat it," she said calmly though both Naruto and Anita knew she meant that she would sooner give up blood sucking then do through that again.
Just as she spoke, said sorceress sisters appeared, both in their usual attire. "Good to see all of you here," Mei-Ling said kindly. "We've been given a C class mission outside of Atum-Coma," she stated plainly knowing it would perk them all up, which it did. "We are to protect and deliver a special message and report to Konoha's Hokage." Naruto's eyes widened at this. None of them said anything for a moment, letting the information sink in before continuing. "Since we'll be traveling, I want all of you to go and pack everything you think you'll need and nothing more. Also, since we will be leaving the city we will need to go in our human forms." All of them groaned, even Hsien-Ko. "We'll meet back here in an hour," she explained simply.
The blue sorceress moaned. "Oh man, I hate being in human form on missions. I always feel so awkward like that!" she complained. It was a common feeling among the group, even Anita who had to tone down her powers to be able to into human cities. Shiva and Mei-Ling didn't mind it as much as succubae disguised themselves as humans all the time and the sorceress basically looked human, but that didn't mean they had to like it. Many, including Naruto and Hsien-Ko would describe it as hiding yourself, your true self … either that or being in a spandex suit a size too small. "Ah crud," she said again causing her sister to chuckle.
The group met later at the Outer Territory not far from the Wilds. They were using a small wagon with a covered tarp and the guise of a merchant family. The less attention they drew the better. Shiva wore simple shirt, pants, and a cloak. Underneath that she wore a tight form fitting black outfit with light weight armor. Anita wore a smaller dark red version of Mei-Ling's battle robes minus the hat, also with a cloak. Mei-Ling would be driving the wagon with Shiva next to her. Hsien-Ko would simply rest in a coffin under a tarp, waiting just in case she was needed. Naruto and Anita would sit in the back to keep an eye both on the message itself and any possible assailants. The cart was pulled by a regular horse which was rare in Atum-Coma given the various machinations of the Sparks. This made the trip almost painfully slow and even worse they were forced to travel in broad daylight, which none of them were completely used to. Add to the fact that they were all forced to appear human and it made them all a little irritable. Shiva snorted at Naruto's unconscious growling. "Would you please desist in that whining of yours, it's giving me a headache," the hybrid said irritably. All she got was a louder growl in return. Anita sighed, despite having a better disposition then most demon nobles, Shiva could get annoyed easily.
Before the argument could continue, Mei-Ling looked up followed closely by the rest of them minus Hsien-Ko who was still resting in the coffin. There was someone nearby. They all stood up gazing at the trees and area around them, looking for what had tripped their senses off. It only took them a second to identify the threat. The yellow clad sorceress made a hand seal and released a pulse of chakra, disabling any Genjutsu in the area, revealing a group of human ninja whose headbands bore a musical note. They seemed to be a group of low class Chunin with a low class Jonin. "Now then, what would Sound ninja want with us?" she asked pleasantly.
The Jonin, a young man about the same height as her dressed in dark clothes with a few furs attached, came forward "That's simple. You see there is very little known about those in Nexus other then the wild rumors that fly around. So naturally people are curious about you like our master. You will be coming with us," he said as he drew a kunai.
Mei-Ling and the three Genin all stood up getting ready to fight. Hsien-Ko remained where she was for the simple fact that she didn't want to reveal herself just yet and she wanted to let the kids have some fun. Each of the Genin went after a different Chunin while Mei-Ling stayed with the Jonin. The sorceress drew a katana blade with strange runes on it. "I doubt we'll be going anywhere with you," she said calmly before she started to chant quietly, causing the blade to give off a strange blue mist. If the Jonin was startled by this he didn't show it as she dashed right at him with her blade poised to strike. He blocked with his kunai, however he immediately let go and jumped away as it became deadly cold, almost giving him instant frostbite. Mei-Ling smirked, while she wasn't a spectacular swordswoman, she knew enough and combined with her spells she could more then hold her own in a fight. This was going to be fun.
Shiva went after one of the Chunin. He was shorter then the Jonin with a strange silver device attached to his right forearm. "Well then little girl, I am Rotan guess I'm the one you'll be playing with," he said smugly.
Shiva snorted. "I've have seen many men in my short time, will you be weak and pathetic like the others?" she said simply before launching a Soul Fist at him. The sound ninja was stunned by the attack but still dodged before it hit, completely obliterating the tree behind him. Shiva smiled as she dashed at him, fighting fast and furious. Rotan barely had time to counter her attacks as she wasn't giving him a chance to do any hand seals. Seeing no other choice, he channeled chakra into the Melody Arm and repulsed her away with a concentrated blast of sound. The blast didn't hurt her at all as she gracefully landed a few feet away, still smiling softly to herself. "So you attack with sound, interesting. Let's see what limits your weapon has shall we?" she said as she discarded her human facade since she had no intention of letting this man live. Large dark purple bat wings erupted from her back with a smaller pair appearing out of the top of her head. Her body also changed, becoming more beautiful and gaining a bit more muscle, not a lot but enough to tell the difference. Her hair changed from a common brown to a pristine purple color that was a few shades darker then her aunt Lillith's.
Rotan backed up in surprise and fear as the seemingly normal Genin in front of him changed into something else. He was no fool, he had seen some pretty wild blood limits here and there but nothing like what this girl just did and he knew it wasn't a genjutsu there wasn't any release of chakra to indicate that. Not wanting to find out what this transformation meant, he sent out another blast of sound. The girl dodged by changing the wings on her back into some kind of rocket or something, he wasn't sure what, and shooting straight up with ease. He sent more blasts, but she bobbed and weaved past them with a dancer's grace, her wings giving her the necessary speed to dodge the waves of sound. "Damn it, what the hell are you?" he asked panicked after seeing how easily she moved in the air. She just smiled as her wings changed again, becoming spear tipped tentacles that shot towards him at a blinding speed. He jumped out of the way as the spears hit, ripping up the earth easily. Just as he got past them, another flaming demon skull came his way. Unable to dodge, he blocked it with his arms, getting blown back by the force of the blast.
Shiva laughed as the human was struck by her Soul Fist. However, just as she flew in low to finish him, he did a number of quick hand seals and then sent an extremely wide blast of sound. Unable to dodge it, she brought her wings up to shield her in mid air as the demoness was blown backwards and into a tree. 'Well, seems this won't be as easy as I had guessed,' she thought as she took to the air again. The sound ninja was now using much wider blasts then before, making it hard for the demoness to dodge and counter. 'Insolent human, I've had it with this game,' she snarled to herself as another sound blast came.
Rotan smiled as the demon bitch kept her distance. Now that he was using Booming Sound Punch she couldn't get close enough to use those damn wings of hers on him. He smiled wider as one of his blasts finally hit, sending her to the ground. She kneeled on the ground, apparently injured from the blast. "Now to take you out bat bitch!" he cried as he cranked his Melody Arm up to full power to rip her insides apart. However, just as he reached the max level, there was a rumbling right below his feet. He looked down in surprise as the same tentacles from before erupted out of the ground, stabbing his legs and arms and immobilizing him quite painfully. His Melody Arm along with his attack was crushed as the rest of the tentacles erupted in a line from the ground going right back to the girl who looked up smiling with glowing dark purple eyes and glistening fangs. "Damn it! You sent them underground when I thought you were injured!" he cried as he was pulled towards the demoness.
Shiva just smiled. "Of course, don't you know the old saying? There's more then one way to skin a human," she said just before she pounced on her helpless prey's neck and began to drain him dry, enjoying the taste of his warrior's blood.
Anita stared down her opponent with her usual emotionless mask. Her cloak had been discarded and her sacred beads were no longer wrapped around her body. They floated in front of her in an intricate circle like pattern and glowing light blue. The Chunin she was facing, having named himself Hysteron, was sending out constant blasts of sound from strange devices implanted in his arms. The man laughed as she was bombarded, unaware of the quiet chanting she was doing due to the sheer noise level of his attacks.
He finally relented after seeing her go to one knee though the strange beads remained in place. "What's the matter girly can't face the music?" he cackled. However, his laugh was cut short as the beads retracted and quickly formed into a strange triangle around the girl, crackling with electricity as they glow neon blue. Immediately a large beast appeared above the girl, same color as the beads, in the shape of a large tiger or lion made out of lightning. The girl's hair became spiked from all the electricity as her eyes blazed with it. She thrust out her hand in an attack as both she and the beast roared, releasing a barrage of lightning bolts. Unable to do anything, Hysteron was struck by multiple lightning strikes, surging through his body and frying him from the inside out. Once the attack was finished, the beast and the glow faded as the beads returned to their normal place wrapped around her body. Anita was breathing hard as that attack took up a lot of chakra, even for someone like her who used spells often. Still, it was worth it to shut that moron up for good.
Naruto stood facing the third sound Chunin, crouched low to the ground and snarling at him. The Chunin in question, Rojas, was frustrated. None of his attacks could hit this kid as he was a lot faster then he appeared. He had been dodging all of his kunai and shuriken and he couldn't land a solid hit on the brat at close range because he was on all fours so much. He had heard of ninjas who took on the characteristics of animals, but usually they had said animals with them while this boy did not. "That does it!" he cried as he started releasing waves of Shuriken Shadow Clone and Kunai Shadow Clone at the boy. He was going to nail this brat even if he had to turn the entire forest into a pin cushion.
The fox boy snarled as he ran to dodge. He immediately went into a Rolling Buckler, moving along the ground as kunai and shuriken flew past. Rojas launched wave after wave as the boy rolled towards him with blinding speed. Once he got close enough he uncurled, planted his feet in the ground, and delivered a powerful kick to the guy's gut. Charging his other foot with chakra he delivered a Climb Razor at point blank range, launching them both into the air. In mid air, Naruto separated from the sound Chunin, twisted around with his foot, still charged with chakra, and slammed it into the exact same spot he had kicked just a second ago. The Chunin went flying back from the force of the kick and crashed into a rock, effectively knocking him down for the count. Naruto just grinned his trademark grin.
Mei-Ling stood over the form of her fallen adversary. The Jonin had tried a number of attacks, most of which weren't nearly as effective as he had thought they'd be for several reasons. One, she was far more experienced and skilled then him, two she was a former hunter thus knew how to counter many different things, and three she was already dead, not much you could do to a dead person unless you knew specifically what would work, which this guy didn't. His body was now pale and lifeless with his soul trapped in a gemstone in her palm. 'Pathetic little man,' she thought as she turned to see her students return with their opponents, or rather what was left of them. Anita's looked like a human lightning rod, Naruto's looked like a slab of tenderized meat, and Shiva's looked like a withered mummy. The yellow clad sorceress sighed to herself. 'Better call in a clean up crew,' she thought with a small smile.
A few days later the cart containing one yellow robed woman, three kids, and some supplies appeared at the gates of Konoha. They were stopped by the guards there. "Halt, state where you're from and your business here," one of the guards stated clearly. The brown haired woman just smiled and handed the guard a scroll.
"We're from Atum-Coma and we're here to see the Hokage," she stated pleasantly. The guards' eyes widened before clearing them to pass. "Thank you." The woman drove the cart into the Village Hidden in the Leaves, leaving two befuddled and slightly worried guards behind her.
DARK TOME: Techniques
Soul Fist: A long range projectile type attack. The user concentrates their power of the Dark into their fist and releases it in the form of a flaming demonic skull. The intensity, power, and even the form of the attack vary from user to user. This attack is mostly used by the demon aristocracy along with many fire based darkstalkers.
Spear of Light: Another long range projectile attack. Instead of using the power of the Dark, the user uses Holy power instead to send out a bolt of Holy energy. Usually used by priests, priestesses, etc.
Kunai Shadow Clone/Shuriken: A ninjutsu technique used in conjunction with shuriken or kunai. This technique creates shadows clones of the thrown weapon in mid air, thus turning one weapon into a barrage. Used by various ninjas.
Climb Razor: A taijutsu move in which the user launches themselves with one foot while charging the other with energy, creating a powerful uppercut kick that has been known to launch opponents skyward given enough power. This move is used by various taijutsu specialists. Note: Should the user have claws on their feet while doing this move, it has been known to literally cut through various substantial and insubstantial things given enough power.
Booming Sound Punch: A sound based attack generated from a Melody Arm. It is long range with a wide area of fire. However, the user must be firmly planted to the ground otherwise the recoil will send them flying backwards. Used mostly by Sound ninjas.
Grand Fireball: A fire style ninjutsu in which the user does a number of hand seals and breathes out a massive ball of fire in a straight blast. Commonly used by ninjas, especially those in Fire country.
Rising Soul Blade: A special type of attack used by magic users who are also adept with weapons. The user slams their hands into the ground, releasing their own mystic energies, be it of the Dark or Divine, while forming them into blades that erupt from the ground in a wave. The more power and control the user has, the larger and more blades there are and the longer the wave. So far the only one who can do this attack is Hsien-Ko since she is the only one with enough power, control, mystical ability, and weapon ability to do it properly. Most other magic users concentrate on magic and do not bother with weapons other then the basics. Others who have tried usually end up with just one small blade rising right under them rather then in front of them. Not pleasant, but good for a laugh.
Chinese Bomb: Another attack that requires both mystic and weapon ability. The user concentrates their mystic energies into a small area, forming it into a bomb. This requires a great amount of control to form it correctly and extensive knowledge. Once the bomb is formed, it can be thrown and moved just like a normal explosive. The energies in the bomb will be the same as the user and thus the effects may be different depending on the user. Again, the only one currently able to do this move is Hsien-Ko.
Summoning: A ninjutsu where the users sacrifices a small bit of blood and chakra to summon a creature to which the user has a contract with. The more power used in the jutsu the more powerful the summoned creature will be. It is also possible to summon multiple creatures at one time given enough control and power. Though uncommon, it is possible for one user to have multiple contracts though this may lead to some problems later if the user is unable to handle them all.
Dream Dust: Not so much a technique as an ability used by jungle and forest type Netherleafs. The Netherleaf sprays out a type of pollen or spore that causes deep sleep to any living non plant creature that breaths it in. It isn't lethal and can be washed away, it will give the victim one hell of headache. This technique is usually used to capture prisoners or prey that gets into a Netherleaf's area.
AN: Sorry it took so long to update. Life and writer's block got in the way plus I'll be moving soon so things are even more hectic. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner. Thanks again for everyone's reviews and support.