Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail
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By Any Means
Chapter 5 – The Hagoromo Clan
Part 1 - Unmei no Nishi Senkei Tenohira Kogeki
Opening – Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer by One Ok Rock
0o0 Unknown Location 0o0
"You have no clue as to where we are, do you?" Sakura deadpanned at her raven haired teammate.
"Hn." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Sakura as she complained about traveling down the unfamiliar path.
"Lay off him Sakura, I'm sure he's just lost in thought about a certain silver-haired barmaid." Tenten couldn't help chuckling at the male's expense.
"I don't get why you're so scared of her. The more you ignore her, the more she's just going to be mad at you," Sakura sighed. "I bet you don't even know what she's mad about, huh?"
"Remind me again why I team up with the two of you?" Sasuke asked, rather annoyed at the two female's insistence on dragging his love life up whenever they could.
"Because we're the only ones besides Laxus and Erza who can stand your attitude. You would think having Anko and that pervert raising us would change that cold exterior of yours," Tenten placed her hands behind her head as she walked ahead leisurely. "You think those two are ever going to break that sexual tension and just fuck already?"
"They've probably been screwing like rabbits since before the purge. What do you think Sasuke?" Sakura asked but received naught but silence. "Interesting. I think so too." Sakura and Tenten began to giggle as Sasuke's face reddened.
"I still can't believe I keep missing the newcomer. Mira was telling me about her and she sounds like someone really fun to tease." Tenten pouted, imagining all the fun she was missing out on.
"She does get embarrassed rather easily. Just don't go overboard Ten, at least until she understands it isn't a personal attack." Sakura sent a warning look to the brunette to get her point across.
"Ever the spoilsport. Fine, I'll go easy on her. What are we even doing this close to the border anyway? I thought the request was toward the coast?" Tenten once more pouted, this time in annoyance. "I packed for the beach and guys, damn it!"
"Checking on something," Sasuke spoke up sharply, clearly annoyed with Tenten's childish behavior.
"Ever since the Hargeon Massacre a month ago, Sasuke has wanted to check the old Uchiha hawk's nest," Sakura explained. "I told Mira that we'd be gone 3 weeks to give us time to check it out. And yes, we'll still be able to hit the beach or else Sasuke would be six feet under already," Sakura answered before Tenten could ask about their beach trip.
"Why are we even bothering checking this place out? All the safe houses were burned to ashes, which is all we're going to find by the way," Tenten deadpanned, only to flinch at the glare Sasuke directed at her.
"The place we're going to is a place only the Uchiha knew about." The obvious "you should be honored to even be brought along" was omitted.
"Whatever Duckbutt, as long as your ancestors left some pointy things behind for me to take, it could be Hell we're going to for all I care." Tenten began to drool as she remembered the various weapons the Uchiha had been renowned to keeping in their hidden hideaways.
"Stop complaining, Ten. The sooner we get to the hideout, the sooner we can get to the beach," Sakura explained.
"Right-o! Let's get going!" Tenten exclaimed, grabbing Sakura's arm and pulling her ahead.
"Hn," Sasuke uttered. Idiots.
0o0o0 3 Days Later - Outside Masterful Melodies 0o0o0
"Now there's fucking two of you fucking freeloaders!?" Tayuya glared at the blond rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well… at least this way you have… ok yeah, I've got nothing. We're freeloaders."
"Of all the troublesome women…" Kage muttered under his breath.
"Shut it, Nara. Your lazy ass better do some work around here or I'm throwing both of you out," the redhead spat scathingly, to which Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"Why couldn't you just let me be arrested?"
"Like hell I'm going to deal with her by myself." Naruto had no compunctions throwing his companion to the wolves.
"Both of you have 5 fucking seconds..."
"What?"
"4 seconds..."
"Tayuya, come on-"
"3 fucking seconds…"
"It wasn't even my idea to come here!"
"2 seconds, shitheads…"
Defeated, the blond held out a bulging sack of jewels, which the redhead quickly snapped up.
"Touch any of my girls and I'll have your balls on a platter, got it shitheads?"
Heads were never nodded faster.
"Good. Now move it, you're driving away customers." Tayuya stormed inside, leaving the two to make their way to Naruto's room.
As they entered the room Naruto waved for Shika to sit anywhere. "Well might as well get comfortable, after that debacle in Clover the Rune Knights are going to be everywhere." Shedding his black and orange jacket and laying down on the single bed.
"Oh gee, the floor, how considerate of you." Shikamaru took up a spot against the bare wall and began taking off his boots.
"Better than a jail cell."
"And yet still the prisoner," Shika quipped. "I'm still trying to figure everything out. First of all, I'm glad to see you alive. But where the hell have you been all these years?"
"Oh, here and there," Naruto replied with a smile. Shikamaru just kept staring at the blond, eyes boring a hole in the side of his head. Eventually, the blond relented.
"Okay, okay! Geez, can't a guy make a joke around here," he muttered.
"NO YOU CAN'T SHITHEAD!" Tayuya's voice echoed out from the lower floor.
"Goddamnit woman! Leave me alone!" Naruto roared back. Grumbling, he turned back to Shikamaru. "As I was saying… what do you know of Bosco?"
"Only what the rumors say. A group of mages started a revolution just a few months after the fall of Shadow Heart and have been at war with Bosco's government for the last decade or so. Every now and then names get mentioned after a big battle or high profile assassination. Mei Terumi, the rumored leader of the rebels. Sasori of the Red Sands. Mad Bomber Deidara. The Massacre Monster, Kisame. The Demon, Zabuza. And some other guy, what did they call him? Hitori? Hiiroki?"
"It's Hitokiri damnit! And it's a badass name!" Seeing the triumphant smirk on Shika's face, Naruto waved him off. "Don't act so smug. You already knew it was me to begin with, anyways."
Shikamaru conceded the point. "True. But I've really only got names. A lot of actual facts are withheld from the public."
"A lot of it isn't fit to be made public. It's horrible over there." The blond shook his head in dismay.
"Says the guy named 'Manslayer.'" Shika scoffed.
Naruto shrugged. "Not like I gave myself the name. I just got stuck with it."
"How do you even begin to get stuck with a name like that, of all things? Why were you even in Bosco in the first place?"
"Hn." Naruto rolled over, ignoring the questions.
"O-Oi! Don't ignore me!" Shikamaru spluttered.
Shikamaru's complaints fell on deaf ears, as Naruto began to talk of his days in Bosco...
0o0o0 8 Years Ago - Bosco 0o0o0
"Sensei! It's hot!" a black hooded youth whined in the desert heat of Bosco's infinite dunes.
A taller figure whacked the back of the boy's head and continued to march on through the heat.
"What was that for!?"
A short glare from the taller one shut him up. "Training."
Several moments passed by as the tic marks gathered before the boy once more lost his temper. "Why the hell would we train in the middle of the fucking desert!?"
The boy was ignored for silence and the two trudged on through the seemingly endless sand.
"Sensei."
"..."
"Sensei!
"..."
"I think we passed that rock an hour ago."
"..."
"..."
The taller figure whacked the shorter over the head, dispelling an illusion he never even noticed settle upon him.
A large oasis shimmered into view, along with various people milling around a village made of tents.
"Heh, it took you that long to get out of our defensive Genjutsu, you must be pushovers," a brash voice rang out, a similarly cloaked figure appearing. He took a large wrapped bundle off his back and declared, "I'll beat you two black and blue before we wipe your minds and dump you back in the desert."
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Heh, this'll be fun," an extreme tall man with blue skin commented, watching the little confrontation from a distance.
"100 ryo on Kankuro taking care of them in under a minute," a dark haired girl put forth, a cocky smirk stretching across her face.
"Oh? I'll put 200 on the puppeteer," a purplenette cut in, tossing her money into the pot.
"Keh," the blue man smiled, revealing sharpened teeth. "I'll take those odds. Just don't complain when you lose, Kurotsuchi, Yugao."
"...what are you hiding from us?" the brunette queried, squinting at the man in suspicion.
The blue man waved off their concerns, directing their attention back to the brewing fight. "Just watch."
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Teme, what'd you say, 'ttebayo?" Naruto demanded of the pajama wearing boy in front of them. "And why are you wearing pajamas and makeup in the desert?"
"These aren't pajamas! And it's war paint, damnit!" Kankuro felt a vein throbbing in his forehead as he was blatantly insulted.
"That's the shittiest war paint I've ever seen, you look like a dumbass clown!" Naruto retorted angrily.
"I've had enough of you short stack!" Kankuro dropped his shouldered bundle and sprinted forward, fist raised to smash the interloper's face in.
Naruto blocked the obvious hit and countered with an uppercut to Kankuro's jaw. The supposed bandit's head snapped back with a gruesome crack, lolling back and forth, clearly suffering from a broken neck, while the body slumped down into Naruto's arms.
"...Shit… Sensei, I think I broke him."
"..."
A clicking noise drew Naruto's gaze back to the body he was holding up, only to see the dead body's head slowly return to a normal position, revealing a cracked countenance, skin giving way to wood and metal.
"What the fuc-Oof!" the blond grunted out as the body of the thing wrapped itself bonelessly around him, driving the breath from his lungs.
"Heh, it looks like you fell for it," Kankuro's voice came from the discarded bundle that was left on the ground. "Karasu's grip is unbreakable, so don't expect to get away - "
With a yell of exertion, Naruto channeled his chakra throughout his body, invigorating his muscles beyond human limits, and physically pried the construct off of him. "That was annoying…" Naruto was about to continue, when he felt a stinging sensation in his biceps and back, blood slowly pouring out onto his now ripped cloak, revealing the orange jacket and black shirt he wore underneath.
"...You bastard. You can beat me up, you can cut me, you can even burn me...but don't you dare fucking touch the jacket, DATTEBAYO!"
His sensei sighed in defeat, unable to prevent the verbal tick from resurfacing.
"Well it's a good thing it won't matter in 30 seconds since you'll be dead!" Kankuro boasted, slightly unnerved at the blond's strength.
The hostile pajama boy flicked his fingers, a glint of chakra flashing in the sun, as his puppet clacked and raised itself back to an upright position.
"Tch, that's not going to work again," the blond muttered, cracking his knuckles as he prepared for round 2.
With a confident smirk, Kankuro launched Karasu towards the other boy, intent on dicing him up into little pieces.
"Tora-Ushi-Inu-U-Mi gets Futon: Daitoppa!" A raging gale burst forth from Naruto's hands, colliding with and overwhelming the charging puppet, launching it into the distance.
Kankuro's head snapped to the side to watch his puppet fly away. "...Shit." He quickly turned back to the blond, only to see him almost within melee range, a strange chakra distortion in his palm.
"Kankuro!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kankuro's sister, Temari, had been watching the fight, waiting for Kankuro to quickly finish up. Seeing her fellow blonde almost nonchalantly prying the mechanical puppet off with brute strength caused her to worry for a second, but seeing his wounds allayed her nerves.
Confident in her brother's victory, she was unprepared for his foe to utilize a ninjutsu attack. "Ninjutsu? Are they shinobi?"
Seeing Karasu fly off, she felt a block of ice form in her gut. When Kankuro turned to watch his puppet fly, she cursed, seeing the blond rush towards her brother, chakra beginning to gather in his hand.
Temari quickly began to sprint towards the two, trying to intercept the attacker, even though she knew she wouldn't make it in time.
"Kankuro!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Was that a fucking jutsu?" Kurotsuchi demanded with bulging eyes at the sight of the wind attack.
"Hehe, maybe," Kisame chuckled, amused at everyone's reaction.
"It looks like the blond is going in for the finish," Yugao stated, disappointed in her fellow shinobi's failure to fight off the intruders.
"Is that Temari down there?" Kurotsuchi squinted her eyes, trying to determine the new figure's identity.
"Kankuro!"
"Yep, that's her all right."
0o0o0o0o0o0
"...Futon: Daitoppa!" Naruto watched the puppet fly for all of 2 seconds before turning back to his opponent, pushing chakra to his feet to launch himself forward. "Focus on the rotation first." Naruto began to swirl a concentrated amount of chakra counterclockwise around his hand. "Next, up the power." Naruto increased the amount of chakra pouring into his palm, the pure chakra becoming visible as his palm began to glow brighter.
"Kankuro!"
"Unmei no Nishi Senkei Tenohira Kogeki!
"..."
Everyone within hearing distance sweatdropped at hearing the stupidly long name, except Kankuro. He was shitting his pants in fear of the awesome technique bearing down on his face.
Naruto couldn't help the smirk forming on his face after his declaration. In only 5 seconds of having blasted the puppet he was about to successfully use the "Unmei no Nishi Senkei Tenohira Kogeki" in actual combat and slam it into the teme's face. He was mere inches from his open palm connecting with Kankuro's terrified expression when he heard a crack and felt a sharp pain shooting through his wrist, his body slamming into the hot sand.
"I told you to name it something else, baka deshi." Naruto strained his head to see his sensei looming over him.
"YOU BROKE MY WRIST!" Naruto shouted, anger filling his being. "And it's an awesome name!"
"..." Naruto could feel the disapproval radiating from his sensei.
Kankuro stared at the two in disbelief. He was seconds away from becoming a bloodstain on the sand when he felt the wind get knocked out of him and fall flat on his back. Then the blond moron began screaming about his being broken and the other intruder standing between the two of them.
"Kankuro!"
Before he could react, Kankuro found himself being checked over by his older sister. "Temari, I'm fine."
Temari smacked him upside the head as hard as she could. "You stupid idiot! How many times do I have to tell you not to underestimate your opponent? It's fine to be confident, but you almost got killed!"
"Kehehe, that sure was an interesting show you put on," Kisame said, appearing from behind the two groups in a swirl of sand. "By the way, you two owe me 300 ryo." Kisame smirked back at Kurotsuchi and Yugao who appeared in the same fashion as the blue skinned man.
"You fucking knew!" Kurotsuchi rounded on the fishlike man, an intense killing intent emanating from her.
"Our wager aside, we still don't know who the two of you are or why you're here." Yugao kept her gaze on the two intruders.
"Ma, ma, it's all fine you two," Kisame waved off their concerns. "Mei-sama has been expecting them for some time now."
Yugao turned to Kisame. "If you knew, then why did you order Kankuro to deal with them if they broke the genjutsu?"
"I've got to keep myself amused around here somehow." He smiled, his face looking just like that of a shark.
"It's been a long time Kisame." Naruto's sensei finally spoke up, pulling the focus back on him and Naruto.
"Not long enough. Seems you got stuck babysitting," Kisame grinned at Naruto, sending a chill down his spine.
"...At least I only have to deal with one," Naruto's sensei quipped back.
"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, kehehe." Kisame winced at the jab. "Mei-sama will be pleased to know you finally arrived. Not everyday we get someone of your calibre at our door."
Behind Kisame, Yugao and Kurotsuchi huddled together. "Do you know who that guy is? If Mei-sama has been expecting him he has to be someone important," Kurotsuchi whispered.
"I'm unsure myself. He's obviously a shinobi if his student is one, and a powerful one at that. Kisame seems to be friends with him, and he is to have a direct audience with Mei-sama."
"Oi, stop your gossiping over there and get the kiddies back to work. I'll take these two to Mei-sama," Kisame drawled out, causing the two women to straighten up in embarrassment at being caught.
"Hai!" The two saluted before calling the two siblings to head back to camp. "You heard him! Get back to your posts and keep an eye out for anymore intruders!" Kurotsuchi ordered. "And I swear if I hear you complain about being hurt Kankuro you'll be on watch duty for a year!"
The two young shinobi disappeared in a swirl of sand as fast as they could.
"Let's get back ourselves, Kurotsuchi," Yugao said before she was swallowed in her own swirl of sand.
"You owe us an explanation you blue-skinned bastard!" Kurotsuchi followed suit and left.
"They seem better well-mannered than mine." The enigmatic sensei remarked.
"Oi!" Naruto piped up, nursing his broken wrist.
"If only they behaved that well all the time. Let's get going, I'm sure Mei-sama has been notified of your arrival." Kisame turned toward the camp and began the trek back.
"You could've told me we were meeting up with other shinobi, Sensei." Naruto whined as he stood once more.
"..."
"Ow!" The blond once more felt a smack to the back of his head as his sensei left him behind.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Well you certainly know how to make an entrance. I was told Kankuro was nearly killed by your student had you not interfered," the buxom brunette leader Terumi Mei purred, watching the two visitors with an eagle eye.
"...My apologies."
"Oh no, none are necessary. It merely speaks to the skill with which you teach your student," Mei replied silkily.
"... Arigatou Mei-sama. Teaching Naruto has been… an interesting experience."
Naruto grumbled from behind his sensei. "Your a piece of work yourself, sadist."
"And such manners. He's truly adorable." Mei rolled her eyes jokingly. "Reminds me of his mother, but he looks so much like his father."
"He got his naming sense from him as well."
"Oi, my "Unmei no Nishi Senkei Tenohira Kogeki" is an awesome name!" Naruto pouted.
Mei couldn't help the sweatdrop from forming. "My, what an …elaborate… name."
"I told him to call it the Rasenken. Easy, quick, and accurate."
"So you are teaching him Minato's techniques? Although I thought it was called the Rasengan wasn't it?" Mei questioned.
"Hai. The technique is rather… difficult to master. Essentially the Rasenken is an unfinished Rasengan which results in a possible suicidal explosion of chakra. One of the many reasons I stepped in. I'd rather not pick up pieces of my baka deshi in this glaring heat."
"Ultra sadist…" Naruto mumbled.
"It sounds like only those with the utmost chakra control can begin to learn the Rasengan. And here I was hoping we had a new jutsu to disperse among my shinobi. Oh well, perhaps later you can give me a little one on one so I can determine just how difficult it truly is." Mei winked, blatantly flirting.
Naruto stuck his tongue out in disgust.
"... perhaps another time."
"Oh? Do you not have enough time? You've only just arrived." Mei stated
"I have a few pressing matters to deal with, that, unfortunately, I cannot take care of with my apprentice. So…"
"Are you ditching me?" Naruto demanded. "In the middle of the fucking desert with these crazies? Really? Is that the best plan you could come up with?"
"..."
SMACK "Ow! Why do you keep hitting me?"
"...Why do you ask inane questions repetitively?"
Mei couldn't help the small chuckle at the interaction between student and teacher. "It's like watching two brothers fight." This earned her an annoyed glare from both her visitors. "So you wish to leave him here, with us? I'm sure you know of our war against this country's government. If you leave him with us, I can't guarantee he'll be in the same condition as he is now."
"The Hagoromo clan emerged 5 months after Shadow Heart's downfall in Fiore. A culmination of nukenin and those who managed to escape Fiore, the Hagoromo clan formed with the intent to never let what befell Shadow Heart happen again and went to war with the government of Bosco to create the first country run by Shinobi on the continent of Earthland."
"I'm impressed by your information gathering. Though, I assume Jiraiya let loose a few details more than necessary." Mei eyed the man standing opposite her.
"... Hai. He's the one who made the suggestion that Naruto becomes a member of the Hagoromo."
"I see. But why send him here now? It's obvious he's still learning."
"...There's not much else I have left to teach him. He's brash, loud, stubborn, obnoxious, temperamental, and young. But… he's determined. Once he's decided upon something, found something that peaks his interest, he doesn't give up on it until he's mastered it. He's strong and more than capable. All he's really missing is experience."
"And so you're sending a boy to the wolves?" Mei received a blank stare in response. "I'm not running a daycare service. I need trained soldiers, not boys who've yet to know about their morning wood. Perhaps if you wished to join the cause-" a kunai sliced Mei's left cheek, leaving the Hagoromo leader to stare at the young blond in shock. She hadn't sensed a thing or even saw the movement of the throw. Just the sting of metal slicing flesh.
"Don't underestimate me because of my age, granny. It might be the last thing you do." Naruto ground out, an intense glare radiated from his azure eyes as he stared directly into Mei's lime green.
"And don't you ever call me granny again. It might be the last thing you do cutie." Mei whispered from behind Naruto as her lava clone began to melt away, pulling the blond into a binding hug before he poofed out of existence, this time catching the older woman by surprise.
"I'll remember that, 'ttebayo." Naruto spoke as his form melded into reality beside his sensei.
"I trained Naruto in the old ways before the dominance of chakra overtook our culture. Deception, stealth, and patience, the three laws that made the shinobi into demons of the night. Minato-sama tasked me with his training, knowing this is how I would train him. I am not sending a boy to the wolves, I am giving a devil to the sheep who believe themselves to be wolves.
Mei looked at master and student before she cracked a smile. "There are very few people brave enough to say such things to me and even fewer I would let live. But I don't think there are enough people in a hundred miles that could begin to make you break a sweat. I think even Jiraiya is scared of you. I'll take the brat off your hands but you owe the Hagoromo, Uchiha."
"...Hn."
0o0o0o0o0o0
Ending - Heart of Sword - By T.M. Revolution
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So not really any reviews to respond to, most of you guys were just happy that the Lullaby arc finished and we could finally move on.
The next few chapters are going to focus on Naruto and a bit of his past before we move along with Fairy Tail stuff. So we won't really see any Fairy Tail characters for a little while.
For those of you curious, the Hagoromo clan is a canon clan that was aligned with the Uchiha clan during the clan wars before the village system came into place. They integrated into Konoha the same time the Uchiha clan did. While the Hagoromo clan existed in this story any actual clan members died before Naruto joined them 5 years after Shadow Heart was destroyed leaving the clan name to the nukenin and survivors of Shadow Heart.
There are many more Naruto characters a part of the Hagoromo and they will be introduced either in the next few chapters or later on. As for Fairy Tail characters there won't be any. This is a shinobi only group.
As for Naruto's sensei… it's obvious who he is but we're still not ready to out and out say his name yet. Especially since we won't see him for quite a while.
Lord of the Morning and I are working pretty hard at making sure most of the kinks are worked out. So until next time.