A New Life Chapter Twenty-One
A/N: And here is the next chapter of A New Life. Unfortunately, there is not much action. The action will come in the next few chapters, so please be patient. By the way, while this story has been getting an increasing number of story alerts, the number of reviews have dropped =( At chapter 15, i was getting like 50 reviews but chapter 20 only got 30. Come on, people. If it's getting bad or boring, at least tell me where to change it!
Alright, enough bitching, time for the story. Enjoy!
When Naruto and his companions emerged from the tower where he had undergone Seiryuu's trial, he saw that it was already night. It had been early afternoon when they had arrived at the shrine. This was testament to the toughness of the dragon's trial. Never before had Naruto taken so long to complete anything since he had arrived at this new world.
After some time, Naruto decided to accept the Shrine Maidens' invitation to stay the night at the shrine. For some reason, when he entered the shrine, he had felt a sense of security. The feeling of being spied on had disappeared. The same thing had happened when he had entered the shrine dedicated to him. But back then, he supposed it was due to the energies directed towards empowering him.
Ever since he had rescued Kidara from Team Trauma, he had felt as though someone was watching him from afar, observing every one of his movements. Initially dismissing it as mere paranoia left behind from the war, Naruto revised his opinion when the feeling only grew stronger with each passing day.
He had thus spent his days and nights devising seals to safeguard his house, the only safe haven that he had in this world. Never one to do things half-assed, he had also started to hold back in his fights. He knew that as long as he was not in his house, that unknown person could continue to spy on him. Therefore, it was never a good thing to reveal all of his abilities. However, that did not mean that he was supposed to conceal everything.
On the contrary, he made sure to reveal something every fight, to keep his observer on his or her feet. He made it such that he was never an opponent that his observer could fully prepare against. Of course, there was another reason for that. This was a world dominated by Pokegirls. He never knew when he might encounter something that would actually push him past his limits. Therefore, his back-up plan was his Pokegirls, to make them even stronger than he was. By constantly flaunting anew ability, he kept the attention focused on him as the most dangerous enemy. This allowed him to power up his Pokegirls under the radar.
Looking at his Pokegirls, he could not help but sigh mentally. His Pokegirls had been growing at a frighteningly fast pace. However, it was still not enough. If they could not even take him on when there were four of them, how were they supposed to survive when he was gone? He could sense that his remaining time on this world was slowly lessening. He could only hope that before whatever was supposed to happen to him happened, he would manage to get rid of this threat for his Pokegirls.
Oh well, he still had time. Until he got to the Dark Continent, he still had time to power his Pokegirls up. Speaking of powering and training, it was time for Fumiko to do some training. He had a new and exciting training regiment to test out on the Shrine Priestess. He grinned wickedly under his mask as he called out for his new Pokegirl in a sing-song manner. "Oh, Fumiko~ Time for your training~"
The old-timers immediately shuddered when they heard that tone in their Tamer's voice. Whenever Naruto was happy about training or excited about it, it generally resulted in a lot of pain and anguish. However, poor, ignorant Fumiko knew nothing of that and ran excitedly to her god, anxious to begin training.
"And that was the last the world ever saw of the naïve Shrine Priestess. Amen." Yuffie said as Fumiko rounded the corner and disappeared from view.
"Oh it won't be that bad. She'll still live…I think…" Vinslet replied before breaking into laughter. "I am so thankful I joined Naruto early and had a much easier time with the pace."
"I'm here, Kyuubi-sama." Fumiko said as she stopped in front of her god, eager to begin training and to please her god.
"Good. Now, take off your robe." Naruto said as he held out his hand, waiting for the robe to be placed in it. Fumiko blushed deep red immediately.
'Oh my. Kyuubi-sama is so straight forward. We are going to that already?' The Shrine Priestess thought as she blushed even deeper than before. So deep in thought was she that she had totally forgotten about Naruto's previous orders.
"Fumiko, we do not have forever. Now, hurry up." Naruto said as he beckoned her forward. After some minor hesitation, Fumiko shyly slid her robe off and handed it to her new Tamer, blushing all the while.
To her surprise, Naruto did not advance on her. Instead, he moved over to a desk and summoned forth a pot of ink and a brush and began scribbling rapidly on the Shrine Priestess' robes. While he was working, he questioned Fumiko on some matters to make sure that his plan would work.
"Fumiko, do your healing powers allow you to knit back torn muscles instantly after they are torn?" The Shrine Priestess answered in the positive.
"Can you then do it rapidly?" The Shrine Priestess answered in the positive once more, only this time she added some elaboration. "I can do it. However, that would take a lot of energy and I would not be able to do it for a long time."
Naruto simply nodded at that answer, leaving the Shrine Priestess wondering the purpose of those strange and seemingly random answers. Finally, after what seemed like forever standing in the buff, Naruto returned Fumiko her robe. The Shrine Priestess put it on, wondering what her god had done to it since it felt no different than before.
Naruto caught sight of his Pokegirl's wondering look but said nothing, only choosing to smile in glee at the shock that his Pokegirl would receive later. When Fumiko had finished putting on her robe, Naruto put his hands together in a strange hand seal that the Shrine Priestess had never seen before.
All of a sudden, it felt like she was being crushed, just like an ant being stomped on. She dropped down onto the ground, the force creating a huge impact. She was under so much pressure that she could not even grunt out in pain as her lungs were already working overtime trying to keep oxygen flowing through her body.
"What I have just done is to apply gravity seals on your clothing. In order to speed up the process a little, I placed twenty times of Earth's normal gravity on your clothes instead of the ten times that I normally start out with so you might be feeling a little uncomfortable.
Fumiko's' eyes widened in disbelief at her god's words. A little uncomfortable? It felt like she was going to die any moment!
"I know that you were wondering why I was asking you those questions just now so I shall answer you know. Muscle is built up when it is stretched and torn, and then rebuilt stronger than before. Therefore, if one were to speed up the recovery process, it stands to reason that it would take a shorter time to grow stronger. Do you get my drift now?" Naruto said as he looked down at his Pokegirl with 'n's for eyes, pleased with his intelligence.
Fumiko understood what Naruto wanted her to do and started healing the muscles in her body, knitting them together once more, never giving up even though the muscles were torn almost immediately after she was done healing them. After some time though, her vision started getting hazy, a sign that she was running low on energy. She was about to point this out to her Tamer when he spoke up.
"Oh and if you are worried about running out of energy, have no fear." Naruto said as he snapped his finger and a red aura flared into life around him. "With me around, you'll never run out of energy." Even though his face could not be seen, it was obvious that he was smirking from the smugness in his voice.
They continued in this manner for hours, with Fumiko getting stronger every second. Naruto was pleased at this. Unfortunately, this was a training technique that could only work with Fumiko. While it might be possible for Fumiko to heal another Pokegirl while they were working out, Fumiko could not replenish their physical energy, which meant that the exercise would still be short-lived in the end.
He could not even use this training method, only a modified version of it. He could perhaps heal some wounds, but never something as delicate as knitting muscles back, especially not when under the stress of gravity seals. Therefore, what he had done was channeling Kyuubi's chakra continuously throughout his body back, allowing the Youki to hasten the rebuilding of his muscles.
Forming another hand seal, Naruto released the gravity seal on Fumiko, causing her to suddenly shoot into the air due to the force that she had been exerting. Of course, what goes must come down. Fumiko was no exception to this rule. She was about to reunite with the ground painfully again when Naruto caught her in her arms. She flushed once more at the close contact. Naruto's hands were dangerously close to her posterior and she could not muffle the squeak that emerged from her mouth when Naruto tightened his grip on her to prevent her from dropping onto the ground.
When she regained her composure though, she remembered the question that she had wanted to ask her Tamer. "Why did you stop the training? With the continuous energy that you were giving me, we could have lasted all the way to the morning." Fumiko asked.
"My chakra can indeed replenish your physical energy. However, it cannot replenish your mental energy. To be battle-fit, there must be a balance of mental and physical energy. God knows, I've learnt that lesson in a very hard way. In addition, at the rate that I was channeling chakra into you, you were going to burn out sooner or later. You might be made to take more of my Youki but you are not immune to it. Hell, even I am no immune to it."
Naruto then started to walk up the stairs, cradling the Shrine Priestess protectively in his arms. "You'll feel extremely sore tomorrow. It won't be from your body, but from your chakra coils so I recommend a lot of rest. You have done very well tonight." Naruto said. By now, they were already in the room that Naruto had set aside for his new Pokegirl. Placing her on the bed gently, he tucked her in and pecked her on the forehead.
"Good night, Fumiko." Naruto whispered as he left the room quietly. Moments later, Fumiko fell asleep with a warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest, a content smile on her face.
When Fumiko woke up the next morning, it was as Naruto had predicted, except much, much worse. Her tamer really had a propensity for understating matters. He had said that she would be a little sore. Right now, she felt as though someone had stuck embers under her skin. Her whole body was burning up and there was nothing that she could do.
In addition to that, her head felt heavy and it was like she was moving through a swamp. She yawned widely as she sat down at the dinner table and waited for Naruto to serve them their breakfast.
The Pokegirls present grinned at the Shrine Priestess' state. They had all been through what she had been through and it delighted them to no end watching the newbie struggle through the hell that Naruto called training.
"Oh look. She survived!" Yuffie laughed as she dug into the breakfast that one of Naruto's clones had laid down in front of her.
"Aye, a true miracle it is, considering how happy Naruto was last night. There are miracles in this world." Vinslet stated with an air of wonder, causing the girls to crack up once more.
"Oh just shut up would you?" Fumiko snapped, still grumpy from the lack of sleep and the fact that her Harem sisters did not see fit to warn her of what was to come. "Fine comrades the lots of you are, not even giving me a warning."
"Now, how could you say that?" Rylai said as she put her hand over her heart, pretending to be hurt by Fumiko's words. "As an Alpha, it is my duty to ensure the psychological well-being of my Harem sisters as well. How could I bear to shatter the hope and happiness that you had?"
As if on cue, Vinslet and Yuffie stood up and pranced around the room. "Oh Kyuubi-sama!" They simpered in a mock imitation of Fumiko. The Shrine Priestess bowed her head, her cheeks flushed with shame. It seemed like she would never be able to live this down.
Someone patted her on the back then and she looked up to see the Samurai speaking to her. "Do not worry about them. This is just their way of welcoming you."
Fumiko nodded in understanding. "I know, but it still does not make it any less embarrassing." Fumiko said as she gestured at Yuffie who had used a Henge to turn into Naruto and was ordering Vinslet (who was under a Genjutsu to look like Fumiko) to spank her own ass. Vinslet immediately, making sounds of pleasure which sent them into fits of laughter again.
"Ignore those idiots. Here, have some of this ham. It is rather good." Kireina said as she placed a slice of ham on Fumiko's plate. The Shrine Priestess decided right there and then that she liked the Samurai.
Fumiko glanced then at the Evangelion who was quietly eating her own meal. The blue-haired Pokegirl found Kidara to be extremely stoic, rarely speaking and even then, in very little words. However, despite her silence, she did not come across as being cold or snobbish. Rather, she had a dependant and reliable feel.
Sensing that she was being watched, Kidara looked up from her meal and saw Fumiko looking at her. Kidara nodded at the Shrine Priestess and smiled briefly, her way of showing her support. Fumiko smiled and ducked her head in thanks, grateful for the support. It would be tough making through this alone, she thought, as she watched Yuffie make a particularly crude joke at her expense.
After they were done with breakfast, the group gathered at the gates of the shrine and bade farewell to the Shrine Maidens who had been such hospitable hosts. Once they were far enough from the shrine, Naruto released Kidara from her Pokeball, after which Vinslet cast her invisibility jutsu once more. Fumiko summoned Vanesse again and then they were good to go.
As Fumiko moved to mount Vanesse, the Rapitaur noticed the exhaustion that her summoner was displaying. Worried about the Shrine Priestess, Vanesse questioned Fumiko as to the reasons of her current exhaustion.
"I was up all night." Fumiko said as she leapt up onto her summoned Pokegirl's back.
"Oh? You sure work fast." Vanesse replied as she sprinted off after the human and his Pokegirl. Anything less than a sprint and she would not even be able to see the dust cloud from that they left behind form their speed. Fumiko simply blinked uncomprehendingly at Vanesse's statement until she finally understood the Rapitaur's innuendo.
"I do not think of him like that!" Fumiko protested as her cheeks grew hot.
"Oh? I never would have thought of it with the way you constantly moon over him." Vanesse teased. That statement set the Shrine Priestess thinking. Had she truly been that obvious?
"Hey Vanesse, can you keep a secret?" The Rapitaur blinked slightly at that. What secret did the Shrine Priestess have that was so confidential, and yet so huge that she just had to tell someone? She had to admit, she was piqued.
"Of course I can. How long have you known me for?"
"Okay, here goes. That masked Tamer is actually Kyuubi-sama!" Fumiko said.
'Kyuubi…why did that sound so familiar?' Vanesse wondered as she scratched her had. After some thought, she finally remembered where she had that before and stopped suddenly in the middle of her sprint, causing Fumiko to nearly fall over from where she was seated.
"Wait a minute. Kyuubi… as in the god that you serve?" Vanesse asked incredulously. Fumiko simply nodded. "Now do you see why I follow him and why it has to be kept a secret?"
This time it was the Rapitaur's turn to nod as she continued her sprint that she had stopped out of shock. All throughout the journey though, all she could think was, 'Wow…a god, a real god…'
That night, they rested in Naruto's house once more seeing as they had not arrived at their location. The shrines were located at the furthest corners of the continent, thus making travel extremely hard. They had to cross rivers, forests, mountains and many other obstacles just to get from one shrine to another. Their next destination was the shrine in the south, Suzaku's shrine. Naruto planned to proceed in a clockwise manner, ending with Genbu's shrine and then proceeding to the hill where Susanoo was reputed to have killed the Yamata no Orochi.
During dinner, Naruto finally took off his mask, allowing Fumiko to see his face for the first time. He had a mane of unruly blonde hair which strangely complimented his azure blue eyes. For some reason, when he took off his mask, his eyes seemed brighter, livelier. A playful grin presented itself in between strange whiskers marks.
Naruto noticed that she was looking at him strangely. "Ah, right. This is the first time that you have seen me unmasked. Well, drink in the sights of this gift from heaven!" Naruto declared before he was smacked by Rylai for being too noisy. Dinner that night was exceptionally rowdy, with Naruto constantly cracking jokes and engaging everyone in a conversation. It was a total contrast to the Naruto that the Shrine Priestess had been used to seeing. It was like he was a totally different person when he had his mask on.
After dinner, it was time for Fumiko's training to resume. They returned once more to training with the gravity seals. Naruto refused to go on to anything else until his Pokegirl was 'in shape', a sentiment that Fumiko was highly opposed to, seeing as it implied that she was out of shape. That night, Fumiko managed to stand up fully and even managed to walk around slightly, even though it was extremely tough on her. Naruto could not be any prouder. His new training method had worked far beyond his expectations.
It was for this reason that Naruto started his own version of a victory dance. There was a cloud of smoke, after which several of his clones appeared in a clothed version of his Oiroke no Jutsu. They held pom-poms in their hands and started dancing and chanting while Naruto stood in the middle of the room in a totally ridiculous room.
"Who's the man?" he cried out while he thrust one his of arms in the air.
"Naruto's the man! He's so smart, he's so cool, he'll leave you in your poo!" the clones chanted as they danced.
Naruto froze in the middle of his dance, and looked at his clones. "Leave you in your poo?" He questioned.
His clones just shrugged in return. "Couldn't find anything else to rhyme with."
"Oh well." Naruto said, pretending he had never heard his clones say such a stupid thing. He swept his Pokegirl up in his arms then, and proceeded to twirl her around despite her protests.
"Oh come on, lighten up a little!" He laughed as he tossed her up into the air and caught her when she dropped back down.
Fumiko eventually relented, going along with her god's wackiness. She had truly gotten herself mixed with a bunch of crazy whackos. However, she would not trade this for anything in the world. Laughing along with her god, Fumiko felt the warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest return.
The next morning, they set off early again, with Naruto in high spirits. It had felt extremely good to just let loose once in a while. He had been so tense recently with all of the events that he had never taken the time to relax. Now that he had done so, he felt a lot better.
Fumiko was also in high spirits that morning, with a smile constantly on her face. When Vanesse asked her why she was so happy, the Shrine Priestess related the events that had happened the previous night.
"Well, for my point of view, it seems like you are rather taken by this Tamer, Kyuubi or not." Vanesse teased.
"I already told you, he's my god. There is no way I can feel that way for him, ever." Fumiko replied tiredly. Her summon had been teasing her constantly about behaving like a young girl in love. There was just no way for her to fall in love with Naruto. He was her god. Nothing more, nothing less. That should have settled matters but for some reason, Fumiko felt a strange unease, as though her conscience was nagging at her about something.
At the base of the mountain where the shrine of Suzaku was located, Naruto saw teams of Tamers with Pokegirls that he had never seen before hauling carts of hewn timber up the mountain.
The Pokegirls, just like Vanesse, were human from the torso up, but from the waist down, possessed legs that looked akin to a horse's. Their skin was grey, with black hair and they were extremely big. Curious as to what these Pokegirls were and why they were hauling wood up the mountain, Naruto approached one of the Tamers while he flipped his Pokedex open and scanned the Pokegirl.
RHYNODAME, the Rhino Pokegirl
Type: Centauroid, nonhumanoid
Element: Rock
Frequency: Rare
Diet: vegetarian
Role: construction, hauling
Libido: Low
Strong Vs: Bug, Electric, Fire, Flying, Ice, Poison, Rock
Weak Vs: Fighting, Ground, Plant, Steel, Water
Attacks: Body Slam, Crushing Punch, Horny Attack, Quake, Rock Throw, Stomp
Enhancements: Enhanced Strength (x14), Extreme high density (x10), armored skin, altered digestive system, reinforced musculoskeletal system, low feral
Evolves: None
Evolves From: Rhynowhore (normal)
Rhynodames are large centauroid Pokégirls, standing on average at least 9ft tall with thick muscular bodies. They have grey skin, black hair and speak in deep gravelly voices. They also have a thick, sharp horn growing out of their foreheads pointing upwards.
In a charge a Rhynodame will bend down to bring this horn level to the ground.
Since unlike other centauroid Pokégirls they are not metamorphs, and thus lack a humanoid taming form most Rhynodames don't wear clothing, although some, mostly threshold cases, wear a T-shirt over their humanoid torsos to cover their small breasts.
However many tamers fit their Rhynodames with sturdy harnesses to which packs can be attached, and also in many cases to allow them to tow carts and other vehicles.
Rhynodames are very difficult to tame since their thick skin means that they have a very limited sense of touch. This combined with the difficulties that their centauroid form produce means that most tamers resort to toys rather than the personal approach when taming a Rhynodame, at least after their initial taming. Even if a tamer is prepared to personally tame a Rhynodame, special equipment is necessary not only because of her centauroid form but also because her great strength can make a fatal taming accident a possibility.
Rhynodames are very strong, being able to easily lift even a full grown Snorlass over their heads, but they are slow and thus have great difficulty in fighting a fast Pokegirl. In combat they use the horns on their foreheads to deliver devastating attacks, since even though they are not fast their great mass means that in a charge their horns can easily penetrate armor plating. This combined with strikes from the sturdy hooves on the end of their legs means that a Rhynodame could easily destroy a tank in combat.
However Rhynodames were not created by Sukebe with combat as their primary role, their ability to haul heavy loads saw them used as the logistics corps for the Pokegirl armies. They have continued this role into the modern era with many Rhynodames being used to haul the carts and barges which provide the main means of transporting most goods around local areas. They are also popular on farms where they are used to haul farm equipment around and in the construction industry where their great strength is an asset.
Rhynodames have a low feral state in which they lose the ability to speak and become passive and easily led. This has resulted in some owners of Rhynodames allowing them to go feral rather than going through the trouble of taming them, since they are still capable of hauling carts, ploughs and other machinery in their feral state. In the wild feral Rhynodames are loners and much less dangerous than Rhynowhores, although they will still fight back if they are attacked.
Threshold Rhynodames are very rare and aside from the normal psychological problems that most threshold Pokégirls go through, they also have great difficulty in adapting to the great differences in their new body.
The Tamer was naturally shocked when Naruto seemingly popped out of nowhere and greeted him casually. However, he calmed down when he learnt that Naruto had been under an illusion cast by his Pokegirl and not some kind of evil spirit wandering the lands.
Naruto had to roll his eyes at that. What kind of ghost popped up in the middle of the day anyway? Some people's stupidity amazed him to no end. He did learn in the end, though, that these Tamers had been hired by the Shrine Maidens tending the shrine of Suzaku. Apparently, the Legendary Pokegirl had once landed in the nearby vicinity, torching the nearby area due to the huge amount of heat that she gave off.
A shrine had then been built here, centered on Moltits' flames. Therefore, these Tamers lugged wood up to the shrine everyday so as to feed Moltits' flames ensuring that it would never be extinguished. Naruto was naturally intrigued by this. He supposed that the people could have easily mistaken Moltits for Suzaku back then. However, he had no doubt that a real Suzaku existed, just like how he met Seiryuu at the end of the trials. He wondered then why Suzaku deigned to reside in a shrine that was centered on something that did not belong to it.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders then. He would find out later when he met Suzaku. After all, he was pretty confident of passing the trial. He might struggle, but it was highly unlikely that he would actually fail. Naruto then offered to accompany the Tamer that he had accosted, motioning discreetly behind his back for the rest of his companions to follow him. After all, seeing as he was a local, he probably knew the shortest way to reach Suzaku's shrine.
Naruto's eyes widened as he stood in front of the tunnel that would lead him to Suzaku. Even though the tunnel was said to go on for quite a long distance, the heat was already so tremendous that he was sweating slightly. His Pokegirls had also felt the tremendous, as evidenced by the discomfort that they were showing.
"I think I'll stay out here." Yuffie as she backed away from the tunnel, sweat matting her body. "I doubt I will be much use in there with my fur trapping all the heat within my body."
'I'll go keep her company." Vinslet said quickly, following after the Kunimitsu. Always eager to escape unnecessary hard work or sweat, the Vampire had come up with an excuse almost immediately. Even the sun was better than that accursed heat.
Naruto turned to his Alpha then. "I think it would be better for you to stay out here as well. Your body is not made for this kind of climate." Rylai wanted to protest, but knew that what Naruto said was true. Being an Ice-Type Pokegirl, she was able to endure some heat, but never the burning inferno that the tunnel was.
"Well then, it looks like only the four of us are left." Naruto said, gesturing at himself, Kireina, Fumiko and Kidara.
"Let us set off then!" With that, the four of them entered the tunnels.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, the heat began to get unbearable. They had already perspired so much that it seemed like they had recently jumped into a body of water. Their clothes were totally soaked and stuck to their skin unbearably. However, they pushed aside their discomfort and continued on their hike.
Another fifteen minutes and they were beginning to get parched. It seemed as though the heat had sucked any moisture out from the air, leaving only hot air that burned their throats when they breathed in. It was then that Naruto called for a water break. The cool water that Naruto kept sealed felt extremely good as the group hydrated themselves before they pushed on.
They continued travelling and soon it became so hot that they could feel the heat on the floor even through the thick soles and seals that their footwear possessed. Blisters formed on their skin and popped. Naruto then decided to return his Pokegirls to their Pokeballs. They did not have a healing factor like he did. Besides, he could create a thin chakra covering around his skin to insulate the heat a little. His Pokegirls could not.
After that seemed like an eternity of torture, the tunnel came to an end and Naruto was presented with a sight that caused him to widen his eyes in shock. Before him was a gigantic chamber that was filled with white-hot flames. They covered the room entirely, even reaching up to the ceiling of the chamber, rendering an aerial approach impossible. At the corners of the ceiling were metallic chutes that pointed downwards. Naruto deduced that the chutes were what delivered the timber to feed the flames. Right in the centre of the room was a statue of a phoenix, which Naruto supposed was the place where he was supposed to reach.
The problem was; how the hell could cross this sea of flames? After some though, Naruto decided to see if he could extinguish the flames using a water jutsu. For this though, Naruto decided he would have to use hand seals to provide the control while he concentrated on pouring in power.
As he flipped through the seals with ease, Naruto was surprised by how hard it was to form the jutsu. It was like Moltits' flames had totally dried up the surrounding area, leaving barely any moisture in the air for him to manipulate. In the end, he was forced to use water-natured chakra to substitute as water.
"Suiton: Bakusui Shouha! (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Waves!)" A torrent of water was spewed out of Naruto's mouth as he tried to clear a path for himself. However, to his utter dismay and surprise, the water evaporated before it had even touched the flames. Naruto was totally taken aback by that. This was the true power of a Legendary Pokegirl. Naruto thought back to the fight with Infernus. Her flames were like a candle's in comparison to the flames that he was facing now.
Naruto snorted. It seemed like despite all of their technology, Team Trauma's clones were a pale imitation of the real thing. While he was glad that Team Trauma had not managed to fully harness a Legendary's powers, it still did not solve the dilemma before him. If water, the element that was fire's weakness, could not help him, what could?
Naruto struggled to think of a solution. However, the heat was affecting him too much, causing him to be unable to concentrate. This was almost as powerful as the Amateratsu technique used only by wielders of the Mangekyou Sharingan!
Wait a minute…The word 'Amateratsu' had triggered a memory of Naruto's. His mind flashed to his final encounter with Madara, where the founder of the Uchiha clan had attempted to stall them through the use of Amateratsu. He had managed to get through the flames then using the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. This would hopefully work for him.
Naruto bent down, right foot in front of his left while his body was turned slightly to his left. His right hand gripped the hilt of the sword and when he was ready, surged forward, his sword just a blur of silver light. Naruto grinned as the flames before him split, creating a small path for him. However, before he could take advantage of that small window of time, the flames had converged once more, turning back into an impenetrable wall of flame.
Naruto was stumped by this. It was as though it was impossible to create a safe path through the flames. Did Suzaku truly want him to just walk into the flames? Naruto doubted it. The trials were supposed to be difficult, not suicidal! Just now, he managed to create a path for himself, no matter how short the length of time was. The problem now was to keep the path open and prevent the flames from converging again.
After some though, Naruto thought of a possible method for him to get pass the flames. It would take everything he had and maybe even more but he would not know till he tried. With a snap of his fingers, two Kage Bunshins appeared next to him.
At a nod from him, the Kage Bunshin on his left got into the beginning stance for the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. The Kage Bunshin on his right then activated the Jikoku no Shintai (Instant movement). His body turned yellow as lighting surged through his body, a few stray streams dancing on his skin. The real Naruto then began to infuse his chakra into the air around him, gaining absolute control of the wind element.
When he has done, Naruto nodded once more, signaling for the Kage Bunshin on his left to initiate the plan that he had concocted. The Kage Bunshin immediately unleashed the Ougi of the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, causing the flames to be split once more. The real Naruto then thrust his arms forward, sending the wind that he controlled rushing down the path that his Kage Bunshin had created.
The flames started to converge once more but Naruto was having none of that. He twisted his hands such that the backs of his hands were facing each other, as though he was about to pry something about. Naruto grunted in exertion as he wrenched his hands apart, causing the wind that he controlled to follow his actions, pushing the flames back.
"Go!" Naruto shouted at the last clone now that he had succeeded in keeping the path open. The Kage Bunshin spared a nod and then shot down the temporary path straight towards the statue of the phoenix.
Naruto gritted his teeth as he felt the flames resisting him, trying to close off the path. Red bled into his pupils while they turned slit. A red aura flickered into life around Naruto. The masked Tamer let out a guttural roar then as he thrust his arms out to either side of himself. The flames were in turn pushed to the edge of the chamber. He grinned savagely under his mask. There was a reason why he his nickname had consisted of Uzumaki of all things.
In the meantime, the clone had arrived at the statue but was unable to find any gem reminiscent of the sapphire that he had gotten from Seiryuu's trial. After a brief moment of thought, the clone remembered the legends of the phoenix. According to the legends, a phoenix was supposed to be reborn from the ashes in which it had made its nest. He supposed then that the gem was probably hidden somewhere under the statue of the phoenix.
Not knowing how long the original could keep up with his chakra-taxing task, the clone decided to ignore all risks and formed a Rasengan in his hand which he used to blow up the podium that the phoenix was perched on.
Naruto's copy grinned as he spied a giant ruby nestled among the debris of the podium. Reaching forward, the clone made to pick the ruby up when his hand was suddenly gripped by something. Looking up, he saw the statue of the phoenix looking down at it, with burning red rubies for eyes.
"Well, well." Suzaku said as it looked down on the human that it had caught.
"I never thought that there would be someone who could pass through by actually splitting the flames." It said as it chuckled out loud, apparently amused by the idea.
The clone was confused by the god's words. "Do you mean to say that there was another method of passing the trial?"
"Of course. You were meant to simply walk through the flames." The phoenix replied.
Naruto's jaws opened so wide that his chin actually touched the ground. "WHAT?"
The phoenix laughed then, a deep rumbling noise that shook the whole cavern.
"The flames were there not to actually you, but to burn away the darkness within you. It would hurt, seeing as a part of your soul would be seared away. That would then be your rebirth, to be reborn into a new being with less darkness within you." The phoenix paused then. "However, you have managed to get your hands on the ruby, even though you did not do it in the orthodox manner. According to the rules, you pass."
The clone sighed in relief. He had been worried that they had failed the trial and might have to re-do it. He looked up then as the phoenix grinned and spoke to him. "I know that you are doing this as a task set by Rod. Perform well, we will be watching over your fight. It will be one that is sure to be remembered for centuries."
The clone nodded and sped off back towards the original, the ruby grasped tightly in his arms.
After Naruto had sealed the ruby into one of his many seals, he released his control over the wind and slumped down to the ground in exhaustion. He never wanted to do that again. Dismissing the clone, he went through the memories of the clone and went perfectly still when he went over Suzaku's speech.
He remained in that position for five minutes, unable to believe what he had missed. When his brain had finally rebooted from the shock, he shook his ruefully as he stood up. It seemed like he still had not fully learnt his lesson from Seiryuu's trials.
Naruto decided to stay the night in Suzaku's shrine. Once again, once he had entered the shrine of a god, the feeling of being watched had immediately disappeared, allowing him to unveil his abilities with no worry of being spied on.
Training resumed once more that night. Although Fumiko did not know it, Naruto's other Pokegirls were busy training as well. They had seen how fast Fumiko's training had been advancing and started feeling guilty for slacking all this while. In addition, there was no way they could let a 'newbie' show them up so quickly.
Fumiko was currently doing sprints from one corner of the room to another to aid in her maneuverability as well as her speed. As she continued in her exercise, she noticed Naruto crouched in one corner scribbling on paper with ink and brush again. Curious as to what he was doing, she peeked over his shoulder and saw an indecipherable mess of lines, circles and god knows what else.
"What is that?" Fumiko asked.
"Oh this? I am trying to reinforce the seals for the barriers around the house." Naruto then started going through the basic of sealing while he kept drawing up new designs.
"This design in the center is made to 'protect'. However, just the word 'protect' alone is very vague and makes the seal weak. That is why I need to add more seals to specify 'what' to protect." Naruto pointed at several seals. After that, he pointed at another seal which overlapped the previous seals that he had talked about.
"This seal denotes how long the overall design is supposed to last. Normally, the lifespan of a seal depends on how much chakra you pump into it at the designing stage. However, I modified the seal to live 'as long it has energy.'"
Naruto then gestured towards another seal that overlapped the 'life seal'. "I said that I modified it to live as long it has energy. However, that would be rather risky seeing as I cannot pump in an infinite amount of chakra to allow it to live forever. Therefore, this seal sets the design to 'draw energy from another source'."
Naruto moved his finger to point at the seal beside it. This one looked familiar to Fumiko. "Now this seal tells the 'energy link' 'where' to draw energy from. Because it is a one-word command just like the 'what' command, both designs look very similar."
Naruto then pointed at another complicated mess. "In essence, this tells the seal how to draw energy from my main power seal in the house." By now, Fumiko's head was spinning with all of the complicated details. She had heard of Shrine Priestesses that had delved into sealing but had chosen to focus on perfecting her summoning. She never knew sealing was this difficult.
She would be lying though if she said that she was not interested. From what she had gleaned from Naruto's explanations, if done properly, seals could do almost anything!
"Neh, Kyuubi-sama. Could you teach me Fuinjutsu as well?" Fumiko asked.
"Of course I could!" Naruto exclaimed as he grinned broadly. He had been trying for ages to make his Pokegirls interested in sealing but they had been put off the moment they saw how mentally taxing it was. They claimed that their bodies were tortured enough and they did not need additional mental torture.
Naruto sniffed. 'They do not know what they are missing out on.' Naruto thought as he proceeded to teach his newest Pokegirl the intricacies of Fuinjutsu. "Now this is a 'destroy' command and this is a 'contain' command." The lesson continued well into the night, with Fumiko working out while absorbing Fuinjutsu knowledge at the same time.
The next night, Fumiko had been about to approach Naruto for more lessons on Fuinjutsu as well as using him as a battery to help further her training. However, she had not even stood up fully from her seat before the blonde was suddenly whisked away by the FrostWyrm.
"Sorry Fumiko, but you've had him long enough. The dry spell has been way too long for me." Rylai said as she looked apologetically over her shoulder, leaving Fumiko speechless while her face burned bright red at the implications.
Fumiko sighed as she made her way to her usual training room. For some reason that she could not decipher, she felt strangely desolate and empty within her. Why did she feel this way? She already knew before joining that her god's other Pokegirls would have higher priority than her, seeing as they had been through thick and thin with him.
Shaking her head to clear her mind of such useless thoughts, Fumiko decided to practice the few basic commands that Naruto had thought her the previous day. She wanted to make sure that she could draw one instinctively and instantaneously without having to refer to the basic guide that Naruto had compiled for her.
After an hour of hard work, Fumiko finally managed to complete a 'basic' exploding tag. Of course, Naruto's idea of basic was extremely skewed. Where normal exploding seals simply had the command 'explode' and a 'timer seal' joined together, Naruto wanted to reinforce the tag, adding in a 'how' command after which many other seals were needed to detail how the tag was supposed to explode. The tag could explode normally, simply doing an area of effect damage, or it could have staggered explosions, causing several explosions with each explosion consuming a smaller seal and lesser chakra. Alternatively, she could focus all the explosive energy to erupt in only one direction.
This time, she had created a 'focus fire' exploding tag. Setting it on the wall of the room, Fumiko directed the tag towards several training dummies. Stepping back so that she was at a safe distance from the blast radius, Fumiko channeled the energy within her that Naruto had termed as chakra.
She grinned happily as the seal worked perfectly, demolishing the training dummies in an instant. She was about to start work on another seal that Naruto had taught her when someone suddenly spoke up from behind her.
"Good job, Fumiko."
The Shrine Priestess spun around, her mouth opening in surprise as she was met with the sight of her Tamer. "Kyuubi-sama? Weren't you uhh…doing… you know, being busy with Rylai?" She stuttered, unable to form a coherent thought as her mind kept flashing to images of Naruto being totally naked.
"Well, the real 'me' is, at least. Unfortunately, the 'me' you're seeing now is just a Kage Bunshin. I couldn't just leave you alone. I might not be able to help you as much with your physical training today. However, I can still help you with Fuinjutsu. Besides, with the gravity seals on, just sleeping would be training your muscles, although at a slower pace. So, shall we proceed?"
Fumiko nodded eagerly, happy that even Naruto was undoubtedly getting in on some good action; he still spared enough consideration to create a Kage Bunshin for her.
The group arrived at Byakko's shrine the next day. Thankfully, it was, for once, not located on a mountain. Naruto had to shake his head at the tendency for people to build shrines on mountains. Didn't they know how much additional time it took to climb a mountain while keeping their cover as 'normal people' on?
It seemed like Naruto had been expected though, as the shrine maiden led him to the basement under the shrine, where Naruto was met with a wall of steel.
Seeing Naruto's uncomprehending look, the Shrine Maiden proceeded to explain the details' of Byakko's trial.
"Byakko-sama is represented by the white tiger, a symbol of strength. In addition to that, he is aligned with the element of 'metal'. Therefore, before you is a thick wall of pure titanium that goes on for a very long distance. At the other end of the wall, Byakko-sama will be waiting for you. Your goal is to destroy the wall and proceed forward. That is all."
The Shrine Maiden then started to head back towards the exit of the basement, probably to continue with her previous duties. However, Naruto stopped her as he had a question that he had been dying to know.
"Hey, Rod completed this trial before, right?"
The Shrine Maiden nodded in answer to Naruto's question.
"How long did he take to complete the trial then?" Naruto asked.
The Shrine Maiden in turn held up five fingers.
"So, five hours huh. Well, this should not take that long then." Naruto said as he prepared himself to demolish the wall before him. However, he stopped when the Shrine Maiden shook her head.
"He did not take five hours. He took five whole weeks." She smirked then, her first show of emotion. "With such simplicity in concept, do you truly think that Byakko-sama would make things even easier for the one undergoing the trial?"
She headed for the stairs then, but not before throwing a parting remark at Naruto and his Pokegirls. "But don't worry; food will be provided so you can concentrate on the trial." Naruto could not hold back his snarl then. The last comment was obviously a jab at him thinking that the trial would not last that long.
"I'll show her…" he muttered as he thought about his plan of action. He would obviously have to pace himself, not knowing how thick the damn wall in front of him was. Therefore, any instant explosion jutsus were out of question. He felt disappointment welling up within him. He had been dying to try out his Gokouseitan'i no Chouwa (Harmony of the Five Elements).
Naruto then went over the jutsus in his mind that were effective in destroying things and could be churned out continuously. He had his Katon jutsus which could melt the metal, his Raiton jutsus that would just destroy anything and his wind jutsus that could shred the metal into itty bits. Or he could use a Rasengan and use to grind the wall into dust.
Naruto scratched his head at his dilemma. So many choices, which one to pick? After some time, he decided to eliminate Katon and Raiton jutsus. He might use them efficiently, but he was just not as in tune with them as with his wind jutsus and the Rasengan, which had sort of become his trademark. That left him the choices of his wind jutsus and the Rasengan.
He debated momentarily the idea of using the Rasenshuriken but tossed that idea aside. It took too much energy to avoid being mutilated by his own creation. While he had a lot of chakra, he did not have an infinite amount of chakra and he wished to rely on his Youki as little as possible, aware of the adverse effects to his psyche.
Naruto decided in the end to go with his wind jutsus. Thrusting out his arms, the wall in front of him was suddenly filled with a large hole. Moving forward, Naruto continued to mow down the wall with the use of his wind.
An hour later, Naruto was still continuing to mow down the wall and the blonde shinobi was getting extremely irritated. "How the hell do they create so much space to just dump a block of metal anyway? There is no way there can be this much space beneath the shrine!" Naruto ranted, conveniently forgetting the fact that he had done the same with his own portable home.
Three hours after he had begun the trial, Naruto was still moving down the path that he had created. It was getting extremely tiring to keep his chakra flowing out endlessly. He estimated that about three-quarters of his natural chakra had been used, Youki not withstanding.
Two hours later, making it five hours after he had begun the trial, Naruto was on the last dregs of his chakra. He cursed then as the end was still nowhere in sight even though he had expended almost all of his chakra. Unwilling to give up just yet, Naruto channeled a little of his Youki to bolster his flagging chakra reserves.
More time passed, and still the end seemed to elude Naruto. The little Youki that he had been channeling had been gradually increasing, up till the point where he now had one ephemeral tail floating behind him. Naruto stopped in his tracks then, panting heavily as the tail behind him faded out and disappeared totally. He had been extremely close to pulling out two-tail's worth of chakra, which was when the effect on his mind and instinct would be more obvious.
He decided to not risk it just for a trial like this. "Sorry girls but I have to take a break for some time." He said as she smiled apologetically at them.
"Well then, it seems like it's our turn to shine!" Yuffie declared as she moved to stand in front of her Tamer.
"Don't forget that the trial is meant to be taken by the Tamer and his Pokegirls. You just rest and recover your chakra while we do the rest." Yuffie said while she concentrated on mixing the wind and fire chakra within her body, flipping through the required hand seals for her jutsu to work.
"Here goes. Goukaton: Karyuu no Houkou! (Grand flame release: Roar of the salamander!) A gout of white flames surged from her lips, melting the titanium in front of them easily. Yuffie kept it going while moving forward, continuously pumping chakra into her jutsu to keep the flame going.
However, her chakra reserves were far from as huge as Naruto's. As a result, she could not sustain her jutsu for longer than half an hour, and even that was pushing her to the edge of chakra exhaustion.
Rylai took over next, transforming into her dragon form. Opening her maw, Rylai charged up a Hyper Beam that went on for miles. While she was recharging her Hyper Beam, Kireina took over, using the Zantetsuken part of the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu to dice up the walls, creating a path for the group. When Rylai was done charging up, Kireina would leap up to the FrostWyrm's head, taking a minor break and then returning to her task when the Alpha started charging her attack again.
Rylai eventually tired out and Kidara took over her position as the powerhouse burrower. One charge of her Ominous Blast took out kilometers of titanium wall easily. Kireina soon began to tire and Vinslet took her place. The Vampire activated her Mugengan and called into existence lasers that seared away the titanium wall while Kidara continued charging up her Ominous Blasts.
Unfortunately, even Legendary Pokegirls tire out eventually and Kidara was no exception. She had to stop after some time lest she drop herself into a coma. Vinslet followed soon after.
Naruto checked his watch then. A total of ten hours had passed since they had started the trial, and a total of five hours had passed since he had started resting. He figured that even if he was still not up to his full capabilities, he should be able to last another two hours or so. By now, Naruto was gauging their progress by time and not by distance. They had covered so much distance that Naruto had lost track hours ago.
Ordering his Pokegirls to stand behind him, Naruto was about to start mowing through the walls again when Fumiko spoke up.
"Ano…Kyuubi-sama, I think I can help with this, if you have two bunches of bananas." The Shrine Priestess said, causing everyone's eyebrows to rise at her strange request. Naruto simply went along, unperturbed by her request. He had once requested ramen to be his mission pay, so asking for a bunch of bananas was not that far off.
After running through numerous seals, Naruto finally found two bunches of bananas that he handed to Fumiko. The Shrine Priestess nodded and thanked him before she set the bananas on the floor. She then bit her thumb hard enough for it to bleed and flipped through numerous hand seals, slamming her hands on the ground when she was done. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Belias! (Summoning Technique: Belias!) Fumiko cried out as a strange-looking Pokegirl emerged from the cloud of smoke.
She looked like a primate, with light tan fur. She also had fiery red hair but the most noticeable fact about her was that she possessed two heads. Picking up the bananas, Fumiko handed a bunch of bananas to each head. When the primate was done with her meal, her two heads turned towards Fumiko and smiled brightly at her.
"We thank you for the nice bananas!"
"What do you require of us?"
"We will be glad to serve."
Naruto's Pokegirls were having a hard time turning their heads fast enough every time the Pokegirl spoke. The two heads' sentences flowed so smoothly that it seemed as though there was only one head speaking.
Fumiko bowed low to her summon. "I require this wall in front of us to be melted away so that we may proceed. Can you aid us in our endeavor?"
"Why of course!"
"It is our pleasure"
Belias held one of her arms to the side just as a long copper priestess staff rose out from the ground. When it had fully emerged from the ground, the primate Pokegirl grasped it tightly and spun it around her before she leveled it at the wall in front of them causing gout of flames to spew forth, melting the titanium instantly.
While the Pokegirl was helping them with their work, Naruto scanned the primate, finding her to be an Esper.
ESPER, the Aeon Pokegirl
Type: varies
Element: Magic/varies
Frequency: Very Rare (All Leagues)
Diet: varies
Role: varies
Libido: varies
Strong Vs: varies
Weak Vs: varies
Attacks: varies
Enhancements: varies
Evolves: None
Evolves From: None
Espers were supposed to be Sukebe's ultimate weapon, seconded only by the Legendaries. Thirteen were created at first, each one of a different elemental type, some differing from the normal Pokegirl classifications. But for some reason, they rebelled against Sukebe's forces and left for another dimension near the end of the War. They left no trace behind, no means of following them to wherever it was they had gone.
They were thought to be lost at first, but a few years later, a powerful Pokegirl was seen speaking to a Shrine Maiden. Shrine Maiden's Tamer, a young man named Incaros, scanned the Pokegirl, which registered as an Esper. Soon after, the Esper appeared again, summoned by the Shrine Maiden via the contract that she had made with her. This was the first recorded instance of a Shrine Maiden's summoning ability.
Espers are among the most chaotically arrayed Pokegirl types ever, capable of having nearly any elemental type possible. (There was even one rather ridiculous incidence of an Esper whose magical powers were based entirely on food.) Very few Espers have been recorded as being native to this dimension throughout history, those that remain being mistaken constantly for other Pokegirl types. Fewer still have occurred through threshold, no more than 1% of all Espers occurring from it. Some Espers have been known to take advantage of this fact, acting in a manner similar to Farfuck'ds, pretending to be delusional to hide their identities.
No one knows if Espers will return en masse to Earth one day, as they left on very bad terms with their fellow Pokégirls. There is a growing belief that they may return to Earth one day, should Parity become a reality.
Not satisfied with just this much information, Naruto delved deeper into the world government's vault of information, eventually finding out the information that he had been looking for.
Name: Belias
Pokegirl Species: Esper
Element: Fire
Four Main Attacks: Napalm, Flamethrower, Flame Scythe, Hellfire
Pre-Requisites For Summoning: Perform a silly-looking dance within a ring of fire. The steps are listed on a scroll that is available at most shrines where summoning is taught. The dance lets Belias know that someone is interested in summoning her, and allows her to touch the aura of the person doing the dance, giving her a chance to read what kind of person they are…
Summoning Fee: Two bunches of bananas.
Distinguishing Marks: Like all Espers, their appearances vary wildly. Belias herself is a gray-skinned, primate-like Pokegirl with bright red hair, light tan fur, thickly muscled legs, a long, prehensile tail, four arms, D-Cup breasts, and two heads, one mounted above the other. Her weapon of choice is a copper priestess staff.
Summoning Warnings: Belias is friendly towards most everyone, but she is over-excitable and tends to shoot flames everywhere for no reason. Also, while her heads tend to be on the same page most of the time, they will sometimes disagree and Belias will start fighting herself.
Background: Belias was the fourth Esper to awaken, and the first to awaken in the magic dimension where the majority of Espers live today. She quickly became famous amongst her sisters for her pleasant, cheerful nature. When Zodiark regained her ability to travel between the Esper realm and Earth, Belias was first in line to be taught the ability, as well as being one of the first ones to agree to be summoned. She likes having fun, and loves dancing. She will come without need of her fee to a summoner who has a Diva, Moogal, or Bardess in their harem so long as she gets to dance with them.
Interesting Notes: Belias LOVES ice type Pokégirls. She considers 'warming' them to be an excellent challenge, with great rewards.
Hellfire is an attack exclusive to her, and is a combination Ground and Fire element attack. It involves slamming her staff down and creating a massive column of flame to entrap the opponent, launching him/her into the air. She then throws a pair of fireballs, turning the column into a massive, floating orb of heat and flame. She then tears up a chunk of ground and throws it at the orb of fire, shattering it and sending the opponent flying away.
Now, this gave him information that allowed him to accurately gauge not only the Esper's power, but also the Shrine Priestess' power. After all, in other to summon a strong being, you had to be pretty strong yourself. Naruto made a mental note to get Fumiko to reveal all of the summoning contracts that she possessed. It would not do for him to not know his Pokegirl's full capability. In addition to that, he might be able to glean how the summoning contracts worked in this world and hopefully retain control of the frog contract. He had been busy with getting the Shrine Priestess physically ready, thus placing additional things like summoning on the back burner.
Belias lasted for around one and a half hours before she slumped onto to the floor, too weary to do anything else.
"We are sorry Fumiko, we must rest."
"We will be fit to continue in an hour or so."
Fumiko dismissed their worries, thanking them for all the help that the Pokegirl had provided for her and her companions.
"There is no need to wait." Naruto said as he moved forward and created a Kage Bunshin that picked the Esper up. "I am sufficiently recovered for us to return."
The masked Tamer glanced around, taking in the exhausted state of his Pokegirls. "It would be better for the lot of you to rest in your Pokeballs but I suppose you'll refuse to, hmm?" Naruto received nods and chuckles as reply to his question.
"Very well then. Stand back." With that, he swept his arms forward, instantly creating a path for them to continue on.
"Holy-"
"-hell"
That was all the Esper could say as she witnessed the power of her summoner's Tamer.
Three hours later, the group finally saw the end of the accursed walls. That made it a total of fourteen and a half hours since the group had begun the trial. They emerged into yet another chamber just like the one at Suzaku and Seiryuu's shrines. In the middle of the room was a statue of Byakko, with an emerald embedded in the middle of its forehead.
As per all the trials, the statue of the god in the shrine came to life, speaking to those that had passed its trial.
Its eyes twinkled brightly as it spoke to Naruto. "Well, well. This has to be a record. No one has ever passed my trial is just half a day."
"I try my best." Naruto said as he smirked cockily.
"Before I hand over this emerald, I must ask you one last question. What is true power?"
Naruto answered the question easily. After all, it had been drilled into him from the first that he had been a Genin. "True power is obtained only when you work together with others. If my Pokegirls and I had not worked together, we would have taken a much longer to reach you."
Byakko nodded. "Your answer is satisfactory. This emerald is yours." With that, the emerald detached itself from the tiger's head and floated down into Naruto's waiting arms. Naruto was about to turn and leave when he remembered something.
"Hey Byakko."
The god was about to leave the statue that represented itself when the Tamer stopped him. "What is it that you require of me?"
"Well, see…your trial took a really long time and it's a very far distance to the exit. My Pokegirls and I are all exhausted so I was wondering if we could rest in this chamber for the night."
Byakko nodded in response to Naruto's question. "I give you permission to stay the night. Rest well."
Naruto thanked him and when the god was fully gone, unsealed several sleeping bags.
"Well, seems like we have to rough it out tonight. Fumiko, there shall be no training tonight. I know that you're tired from summoning Belias and I'm also low on chakra anyway. Take this as a chance to rest."
The Shrine Priestess nodded, thankful for the break. While she appreciated Naruto's efforts to make her stronger, he was a real slave driver and there was only so much that she could take.
They set off early the next morning and although they covered a great distance, Naruto and his Pokegirls still could not manage to make it to Genbu's shrine in time. Therefore, they camped out in the wilderness once more. Only…camping seems like the wrong word when the girls had access to great food and hot showers only with comfortable beds.
That night, Fumiko was once again deprived of physical training time as Naruto was snatched by Yuffie and Vinslet this time, causing very vivid images to pop up in the Shrine Priestess' mind. Wiping away the trickle of blood dripping from her nose, Fumiko started on Fuinjutsu once more. She was lucky to have moved fast enough, as Naruto's Kage Bunshin appeared just after she had wiped her nosebleed away.
Studies continued well into the night, with Naruto carrying his Pokegirl to her bed as she eventually dozed off when her mind could not take it any longer.
The next morning, Fumiko noticed that Vinslet and Yuffie were in extremely high spirits. She could easily guess the reason, as Naruto looked rather wan this morning and he seemed pretty tense too. Whatever those two had done to him was obviously rather extreme. The Shrine Priestess' imagination ran wild, causing her face to flush immediately.
After breakfast, Yuffie took Fumiko to one side, a fact which distressed the blue haired Pokegirl a little. She was not really sure if being alone with the Kunimitsu was safe.
"Hey, have you done it with him?" Yuffie asked. She noticed that the Shrine Priestess did not seem as close-knit to their Tamer as the other Pokegirls were, which was weird seeing as the bond that was created tended to be quite strong
"Done what?" Fumiko asked curiously, truly having no idea as to what her Harem sister was talking about.
The Kunimitsu palmed her face in exasperation. How thick was this girl? "I'm talking about Taming, sex. Have you fucked him yet?" She finally said.
"Uhh…uhh…no?" The Shrine Priestess squeaked, overwhelmed by the sudden coarse language.
"Well why the hell not?" Yuffie asked bluntly. "If you ask me, it's strange as hell not to demand for sex and you've been hanging around Naruto for so many nights now."
Fumiko resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that. Apparently, the Kunimitsu did not understand that not everyone was a nymphomaniac who lived only for sex.
"Well, that's because Kyuubi-sama is my god and there is no way I could do such a thing with him. Besides, even if I wanted, my body could not possibly do so."
Yuffie was curious about this. "Why couldn't you do it?"
"Well, as you know, a Shrine Priestess' libido is based on her activeness. The busier a Shrine Priestess is, the less her libido gets and vice-versa. You've known Kyuubi-sama for a much longer time than I have. Do you truly think that he would give me time to relax to actually get my libido up?"
Yuffie had to chuckle at that. "Aye, he is quite a slave-driver." She placed her hands on the Shrine Priestess' shoulders then and looked at her seriously.
"I know that Naruto is your god and everything but try and remove that ideal. Naruto is as much a mortal as the rest of us, only with a much heavier burden that the rest of us cannot even begin to fathom."
She patted the Shrine Priestess' head then before she walked away. "What Naruto needs is not worship, but love. Those two are very different things.
They arrived at Genbu's shrine that day and Naruto easily passed the god's trial. The key had been in understanding that in order to attain longevity, which was what the turtle represented; one had to understand how precious life was, and to possess an undying will to live.
Naruto had learnt that lesson a long time ago, on the day that he had killed his sensei. Even now, his heart still hurt when he thought of his father figure. However, he had learnt to share his pain, finding solace in the company of his Pokegirls.
Viewing the four jewels that he possessed, Naruto headed towards his next destination, the hill where Susanoo was supposed to have killed the Yamata no Orochi.
"Rod, I am coming for you!" Naruto thought as he grinned savagely, blood boiling at the thought of the thrilling battle ahead.
A/N: And thus the chapter ends. If you look carefully just after this A/N, there is a big button smack in the middle courtesy of the FF community. Click on it and review would ya?
Btw, now that all of the Pokegirls have been revealed. I would like to know which of them is your favourite Note: Only those in Naruto's Harem can be included.
Now for the Pokegirl stats.
Naruto's Harem: Rylai, Level 100 FrostWyrm
Vinslet, Level 100 Vampire
Kireina, Level 100 Samurai
Yuffie, Level 100 Kunimitsu
Kidara, Level 100 Evangelion
Fumiko, Level 86 Shrine Priestess