The world is full of a lot of messed up and un-explainable things. From atrocities to miracles, somethings just can't be quantified.
So when Naruto walked out of his house and into a bustling street, full of fantastic beings seen in only fantasies and fairy tales, he did the only thing one could expect from him.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"
~Relapse~
Namely, draw attention to himself in the most obvious and flashy way possible.
"Okay, Okay. Calm down. Don't freak out. DON'T FREAK OUT!" Naruto said to himself, pacing back and forth. His face was awash in contemplation, trying to think of any explanation for his current state of affairs.
It's not like he just walked to this place in his sleep!
"Breathe. Breathe. Focus like Old Man Toad said...That's it!" Naruto brightened considerably, then flashing through the necessary hand seals, smacked his hand on the ground.
Only for nothing to happen.
No smoke. No toad. Nothing.
Naruto collapsed back, nervousness now taking hold.
This was bad. If someone had managed to block his summoning skills...what other abilities had he lost?
'Oi! You in there Kurama?' Naruto thought in a flash of panic.
Nothing greeted him. No reply.
"Shit!" Naruto immediately sat in a meditative pose and forced himself into a state of calm.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
And then...the drop.
Naruto opened his eyes, and took in the sorry state of his mindscape.
He recalled Ino making more than one joke about his mind, literally being a gutter, with a twitching eyebrow.
Annoyance could wait though!
"Oi! Kurama! You in here! Come on buddy! Hello!" Naruto shouted, his voice echoing through the vast darkness.
"Shut up you damn brat! I'm trying to concentrate!" A deep baritone came back.
Naruto could almost cry! He immediately set off toward the voice's location.
What he came upon...wasn't what he expected.
Kurama was laying out, much like usual. The state of the fox and the gates however...was a much different matter.
Kurama was covered in gashes, blood stained the water and walls. The gates were bent and cracked, wide open.
"Ku...Kurama...What..." Naruto approached slowly. This didn't...this was wrong! Who would, hell who COULD do this?
"Stay back...I can't hold all my power in much longer...you need to...fix the gate." Kurama rasped out. His tone weak and weary. His breathing was labored.
"Sync with me! If you try to contain your power for too long, it'll only hurt you more!" Naruto clasped his hands in a prayer, "I'll use that power to fix the gate! Let's go KURAMA!" The name escaped his lips in a shout, as Kurama brought his own hands together, and Naruto was bathed in the golden power of his life long companion.
In the real world, people across the city looked up, taking in the tower of light that erupted suddenly. Many stared in wonder, others in fear. Some in confusion.
A select few, were a mix of all three. This power...was incredible!
Back in the place between waking and dreams, Naruto focused, forming the chakra as he molded it around the destroyed form of the gate, slowly healing and straightening the bars.
Sweat began to pool along Naruto's brow, this was harder than he thought! How did his old man even finish making this seal!
"Aghh!" With a scream, the door slammed shut. Pristine golden, with a circular pattern acting as a latch.
"huff...huff...Damn...That sucked..." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as Kurama's power ebbed away, retreating into the seal once more.
Naruto in the slowly healing form of his oldest companion, worry and curiosity clear on his face.
Who did this? What monster could hurt Kurama like this?
"Talk later...sleep..." The Fox's voice carried throughout the chamber.
Despite all, Naruto had a slight grin. Same old Fox.
"Get some sleep buddy..." Naruto closed his eyes and faded from his mindscape.
He never noticed the dark figure standing in the back corner of the chamber.
"You wont...break him...*huff huff*..." Kurama spoke lowly, conviction in his tone, even as his eyes remained closed.
"...We will see..." The strange figure spoke.
~Relapse~
There is a saying. "When it rains, it pours."
This is usually used to describe when something goes from bad, to utter shit-storm.
For Naruto, right now it wasn't THAT bad, but coming back from meditation, only to find yourself surrounded by three stooges, was still a bit annoying.
Naruto took in his supposed muggers.
Tall, lanky, with a nasty sneer as ugly as they come? Check.
Muscle bound lug with a 'scary smile' and an odd hair do? Yup.
and...wait..."Are you serious? I'm being mugged by a kid?" Naruto lamented. The last of the tree was a short fellow. Maybe four foot even. Old Man Onoki was taller than this kid! And his hair was just like Bushy Brows!
Unaware of the blond's thoughts, two of the three muggers had to laugh. They loved seeing their compatriot teased about his size.
The "Napoleonic man", just fumed. Anger in his tone. "Can we kill this guy and just take his stuff? STOP LAUGHING!" He added with a shout. His two companions just laughed harder at the short mans misfortune.
Naruto gave a sigh as he clambered to his feet, cracking his neck as he went. "Look guys. I've had a strange, fucked up kinda day. Can we just not do this right now?"
At his core, Naruto was a man of peace. He may like a good fight, but if he didn't have too, he was happy.
The laughter halted immediately, glares from the three stooges gave Naruto an answer.
Another sigh escaped his lips. So much for peaceful resolution.
A tense silence enveloped the four, and Naruto slowly slid into a fighting stance. Unarmed or not, these guys were civilians as far as Naruto could tell. A cake walk.
As one, the three men went to lunge forward, only to grind to a halt as a girl landed in the middle of their formation.
The three men were stunned, did someone come to help this blond smart-ass?
Naruto looked at the slight blond girl that had landed before him, firstly noticing the vert revealing outfit 'bad thoughts Naruto.' A tight black tub top, top by a tan leather vest. Around her neck sat a red scarf. Her tight black pants was missing material on the left leg from the thigh down. A leather belt was secured on her waist. A black bow on her hair, tan gloves on her hands.
Honestly she cut a very eye catching sight.
The only thing that mattered here though..."Are you with him!?" Lanky spoke, pointing a knife at the girl.
She just shot the lanky man a look, before eyes the blond that had blocked her path.
Naruto just stared. At least she wasn't with the idiot squad.
"Not at all. Bye!" The girl said before jumping away once more. Naruto's eyes followed her over the roof.
That was weird.
Suddenly, Naruto was a blur of motion. First disarming the skinny one with a well placed kick, followed by folding the big one with a punch to the gut. A quick about face brought the back of Naruto's hand in to the skinny ones face, launching him into the wall. A bounce, twist in the air, and heel dropped on to the big guys head left him an unconscious mess on the ground.
Naruto glanced to the shivering midget pressed against the alley wall. His eyes were wide with fear.
"Boo." Naruto said with a smirk, wiping his hands hands of imagined dirt. The short one bolted, screaming the whole way.
Naruto chuckled to himself as the midget stumbled over himself to leave the alley. Sometimes, it was good being bad.
The clicking of heels forced Naruto to reopen his eyes, lest he be caught off guard by the new figure entering the alley.
Another girl. This one a sight more beautiful. Silver hair that flowed down her back, Purple eyes that held a hint of blue. On the right side of her head sat a silver flower, secured with a purple string. Her clothes were a matching silver with purple accents. It seemed she had a theme.
She stood a dainty five foot five, and for the most part, was absolutely stunning. The frown that marred her soft features kind of took away from that.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. Why did she look so pissed at him?
"Are you the thief!?" The girl shouted. Naruto just looked around, finally he looked at the girl and pointed at himself, a questioning look on his face.
"Are you talking about me?" Naruto asked.
"Yes! A thief accosted me in the street dressed in orange colors!" The girl shouted, a finger pointing at our favorite blond.
Naruto just hung his head and sighed, shit could never be easy could it?
"Look lady, I, myself, just had an attempted mugging, Do you not see the two idiots on the ground?" Naruto waved his hand, gesturing to the two knocked out criminals. The girl narrowed her eyes, and Naruto felt the atmosphere get a little heavier.
God damnit.
"So you do not deny you stole from me!" The girl held both of her hands up and pointed them in Naruto's direction, and much to Naruto's amazement, a large shard of ice formed before the lasses hand's.
Maybe she was distantly related to Haku?
"Holy shit! You can manipulate ice too?!" Naruto ran up to the girl, completely ignoring the danger she could put him in. The girl for her part was stunned. Did this rouge not realize she was about to attack him?
Naruto marveled at the ice that sat suspended in the air. "How did you form that without seals? Is this a Bloodline? Do you know a guy that looks like a girl named Haku?" He fired off one after the other. The girl just stepped back, letting the ice construct dissipate, he eyes showed her confusion at the rapid fire questioning.
"Oh! My names Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto to be exact. That ice thing was awesome! Can you do it again?" Naruto smiled beatifically. Well the distraction worked at least. Now he was within arms reach if she tried a jutsu again.
Ah good old disarming stupidity. No one ever expected it.
"Ah..um well it...it is one of my spells..I learned to do it from my friend Puck." At the name, a flash of light revealed a small floating cat, and this time Naruto truly was stunned.
"Holy shit!" Naruto got nose to nose with the white and grey feline. He poked it once with his left hand. IT WAS REAL!
"How did you do that!? Is this a summons?" Puck just preened under the soft petting Naruto had unleashed at confirming the creature was actually there.
"Ah...spirit summons...yes..." The girl mumbled as she watched the strange boy pet her companion. Someone being able to physically interact with a spirit was a rare thing. Perhaps he was a spirit user as well.
"Huh, never heard of a spirit summons. I can summon toads. Well could. Something seems to be blocking me." Naruto spoke absentmindedly as he scratched behind the small cats ears. Matatabi always liked it when he did that so maybe this little guy would too.
"For someone so skilled in self-defense, you have very soft hands."
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I try to take care of them because-" Naruto paused. That voice was male. The blond shinobi looked at his hands, the cat gave him a cheshire grin.
"Hi there. I'm Puck." The small cat gave a little wave, only to cock it's head in confusion.
Naruto blinked once. Twice.
"You can talk." Naruto spoke in a deadpan.
"Well yes, must great spirirt summons can." The cat pawed at Naruto's still extended hand, trying to make him resume his petting.
The girl stared on in confusion. The world wasn't making sense to her. Why was Puck being so friendly to this stranger? Why could this stranger pet Puck? Why was she still standing here instead of chasing down that theif?
"The theif!" The girl shouted, breaking Naruto out of his stunned state. He didn't know why he was so shocked really. He knew a fifteen story tall talking cat after all.
"I'm sorry sir! I have to go!" The girl took off past him down the alley, Puck stayed atop Naruto's hand for a moment longer, giving him an apprasing look.
"Will you hell her? She wasn't lying about something important being stolen." Puck scratched his ear. He wasn't too worried about Lia-tan. He could teleport to his housing jewel after all.
"Important? Hmm..." Naruto closed his eyes. He did need to know more about this...where ever he was. And that girl WAS pretty.
Puck floated up from Naruto's hand and patted him on the cheek. "I can tell you are a good person, even with the witches stench on you." The small cat dissapeared in a flash of light.
"Stench?!" Naruto took to smelling himself, trying to smell the wayward odor.
After a few minutes he sighed, he'd have to help that girl. That cat seemed to have an idea of what was going on...plus he was never one to leave a damsal in distress.
"In for a penny, in for a pound I guess." Naruto took to the rooftops in the direction the girl had run off too, he'd need to catch up fast.
'I never did get that girl's name did I?' Naruto mused to himself.