Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail
**Some Notes Before You Read**And YES YOU SHOULD READ THIS**
Ok so Lord of the Morning is going to kill me, and rightly so, for posting this but hey what's done is done. This is only half-ish of what's going to be posted more than likely at the end of the month. We have to make some changes to one part of the chapter, which is not included in this preview, and write about two more major sections of Naruto's flashback to his time in Bosco and being among the Hagoromo.
Essentially this is a belated Christmas gift as both Lord and I planned on finishing this chapter before the 25th of December but life kept us from working and the usual excuses. This preview will be taken down when the full chapter is ready and good to go. We did debate on cutting it in half and we decided against it wanting Naruto's flashback to only consist of two chapters rather than three. So enjoy this, although I know some of you are going to gripe and complain about getting a preview and not the full thing but hey, content. And also this is a present to you guys who keep reading and enjoy this story and want to read more. That is literally my only justification. Without Christmas passing, I wouldn't even be conflicted about this. But sadly we missed the holidays in posting anything and I want to show my thanks to all of you, however late it is.
Review responses will be placed in chapter 6, the first true chapter into the first arc, that way we can keep the preview and full chapter reviews together as answers may be given when the full chapter is posted.
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By Any Means
Chapter 5 – The Hagoromo Clan
Part 2 - The Manslayer
Opening – Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer by One Ok Rock
0o0o0 6 Months Later With the Hagoromo 0o0o0
"I can't believe this bullshit," Naruto grumbled as he shifted the pole across his shoulders,trying not to spill any water from the buckets hanging on either end. "6 months and all they have me doing is delivering water to a freakin frog! And the damned thing just has to live on the tallest mountain this side of the capital!"
Giving a deep sigh, Naruto took to tree-hopping once more, eager to finish his daily delivery and get to his self training.
0o0o0 5 Hours Later 0o0o0
"Stupid water, stupid buckets hanging from the stupid pole, stupid mountain, stupid frog... Stupid frog living on the stupid mountain wanting the stupid water in the stupid buckets hanging from the stupid pole," the blond bitched as he closed in on the hermit's home. "Oi geezer, I've got the water you wanted!" he called out, dropping the buckets.
"YOU'RE 3 HOURS LATE! My plants are dying of thirst!" A small, hunched figure limped out of the run down temple that occupied the mountain's summit. His green skin blended into the surrounding vegetation, but an unruly shock of white hair on the top of his head caused him to stand out.
"THEN YOU SHOULDN'T LIVE ON A DAMN MOUNTAIN YOU SENILE OLD FROG!" Naruto yelled back, pointing angrily at the hermit.
"DON'T CALL ME A FROG!"
SMACK! "OW! Goddamn geezer, I swear one day…"
SMACK! "Oh, it's on now you wrinkled piece of green shit!" Naruto dropped into a fighting stance, his chakra fluctuating with his agitation. The wind surrounding them began to pick up, blowing loose vegetation around.
"Hmm...Yes, yes," the hermit mumbled while stroking his goatee. "Well, are you going to stand there all day? My plants aren't going to water themselves.".
Vein throbbing in his forehead at the blatant dismissal, Naruto growled and pounced on the smaller figure, aiming to smash his face in with his fist.
The green hermit caught the incoming fist with ease, flipping the young boy onto his back before releasing his arm and bouncing back a few steps. "Good, good. Try again."
Naruto clenched his teeth as he stood up, "How the hell did the geezer move so fast? I was almost moving at top speed and I could barely see it. Even Kisame has trouble blocking my attacks without his sword." Naruto glared before charging head on. "I'm going to fertilize your face with my fist!"
Charging his chakra and beginning to rotate it, Naruto called out his strongest attack. "Unmei no Nishi Senkei Tenohira Kogeki!"
"...Spiralling Palm Attack of Doom? Really? …I can see you're going to need a lot of work," the hermit deadpanned.
"It's a good name damn it!" Naruto yelled as he thrust his palm forward, only to miss as the toad dodged out of the way, watching as the blond smashed the ground creating a small crater. "Stop moving!"
"...Hmm, no. Boy, where did you learn that attack?" the diminutive toad asked.
"None of your damn business, you geezer frog!"
Being called a frog once again, the hermit decided to stop playing around. "Because boyo, this is how you do it!" the toad raised his right arm and began to channel chakra into his outstretched palm, his hand glowing with a bright blue spiral, before jumping up and slamming it into the ground.
The earth shook as a giant crater 20 feet wide was formed, a spiral marked carved out along the bottom.
"... The fuck? ...Did you just copy my awesomely named attack you old fucking frog!" Naruto screamed after a stunned silence.
A sweat drop formed on the toad's head. "That's what he's concerned about?" After a few seconds, the toad started laughing, "I can't believe it! You're even stupider than Jiraiya-chan!"
"Woah woah woah woah! Hold the fuck up you old frog. You know Ero-sennin!?" Naruto stared blankly at the toad who merely began to laugh harder at the given title.
"Hahaha! Ero-sennin? That's a perfect name for that perverted brat!"
"Brat? He's practically 80! Have you seen those wrinkles on his face? If you're calling him a brat you must be like over a hundred!"
" ...Well you wouldn't be that far off," the toad whispered to himself. "So, you going to tell me how you learned that attack now?"
"If you really gotta know, I based it off one of my dad's attacks, the Rasengan. My teacher keeps telling me to change the name though. Wants me to call it the Rasenken or something."
"I see. And did Jiraiya teach your father?"
"From what I've heard yeah. Why are you asking all these questions you geezer frog?" A rock impacted off the blond's face. "Sonavabitch!"
"I see. Do you know what you're doing wrong with your attack?"
"How should I know?! I keep spinning it like you're supposed to but it always just wants to explode!"
"And which way are you spinning it?"
"...what?"
"Are you telling me you never even considered the direction of the spin in correlation with the force of the chakra flow?"
"...what?"
"...Haah. Okay then." The hermit picked up a leaf on the ground and hobbled over to Naruto and handed it to him. "Put the leaf on your palm and channel chakra into it until the leaf is floating an inch above your palm."
"...Okay?" Naruto did as instructed, placing the leaf on his right palm and channeled chakra until the leaf began to spin counter-clockwise. "Hey! That's new."
"See? Your chakra naturally spins counter-clockwise. You were trying to perform the technique by forcing your chakra to flow clockwise, causing it to clash with itself, thus producing the explosion."
"Huh… So if I do it like this then…" Naruto performed his technique once again, this time spinning his chakra in the proper direction. His hand lit up with a smooth blue spiral, glowing with the force of the chakra. Taking a second to marvel at the feel of his chakra not fighting back for once, he proceeded to slam his palm into the ground, duplicating the crater the hermit had made earlier.
"Woah." Naruto stared at the crater in amazement. "It didn't try to rip my arm off for once!"
"Much stupider than Jiraiya…"
"Oi!" Naruto glared at the frog before a thought crossed his mind. "By the way… do you have a name or are you just a geezer frog?" Another rock sailed through the air and beaned him across the face.
"Much, much stupider than Jiraiya. I am a toad, you disrespectful brat, and my name is Fukasaku." The newly named Fukasaku harrumphed. "And from this point on you'll be calling me Master Fukasaku."
"Say what now?"
0o0o0 1 Year Later (1 Year 6 Months with Hagoromo) 0o0o0
Sweat poured down his forehead.
Deep, slow breaths helped him keep from plummeting to his death, balanced as he was on a rock spire.
"That's good Naruto-chan. You've improved much in this last year. Your ability to gather the Eternano in the air has increased, and you're making headway into merging it with your chakra."
Naruto continued his breathing, not breaking his zen meditation.
"I believe it's time for you to learn the fighting style developed for senjutsu users. By the time I'm done with you, we'll have another full blown sage walking the world."
0o0o0 1 Year 6 Months Later (3 Years with Hagoromo) 0o0o0
"I'm back bitches!" Naruto yelled as he dropped his pack, gaining the attention of everyone at the Oasis.
"Naruto?" Temari asked as she stared at the now taller blond.
Long gone was the short, idiotic, quick to react, would-sooner-start-a-fight-than-talk-things-out blond. Standing before them all was a tall blond wearing an open beige desert cloak, showing off his black and orange jacket and beige pants tucked into his open toed black sandals.
"If it ain't the little fishcake come to say hi from his mountaintop, kehehe," Kisame chuckled, looking over the blond. "Have fun with old toad face?"
"That damn frog is a slave-driver!"
A rock sailed out of nowhere and smacked him across the head while the wind seemed to whisper, "I'm a toad!"
"FUCK YOU, YOU SENILE FROG!"
The Hagoromo shinobi could only sweatdrop at Naruto's antics.
"Man, this twerp is the one who beat Kankuro? So not cool," a busty blonde said, followed by two dark skinned twins, one redhead and one with white hair..
"Eh? Who're you?" Naruto asked as he looked at the new blonde and companions he didn't remember from before his time with Fukasaku.
"Some new recruits we picked up after the toad picked you up, kehehe." Kisame snickered as the three walked up to introduce themselves.
"We heard about you. Apparently you're supposed to be some hotshot apprentice from the old Shadow Heart group," the redhead spoke pointedly, unimpressed by the blond so far. "I bet I could beat you."
"But what if he's actually really strong, Karui?" the one with white hair interjected. "What if he beats you up? And then decides to beat us up for being associated with you? And then we get kicked out for being weak? And- "
"Shut up Omoi!" Karui bit out.
Naruto stared at Omoi blinking a few times before pointing at him. "Is he always this depressing?"
"You have no idea," the blonde said under her breath, watching the twins bickering. "I'm Samui, by the way. Those two, as you've heard, are Karui and Omoi."
"Hn… Naruto. And to make it fair, I'll take all three of you on at once." Naruto smirked as he outright declared himself superior to the three.
"WHAT WAS THAT YOU PRICK?!" Karui screeched at the top of her lungs, causing everyone to cover their ears in agony.
"Ow… and you heard me. I can take all three of you at once."
"Oh you're going down!" Karui seethed as she unsheathed her katana from her back. Omoi followed suit unsheathing his katana while Samui reached for her tanto strapped to her lower back.
"This is going to be fun." Naruto smirked, clapping his hands together as if praying and closed his eyes.
"Hah! Already praying for mommy?!" Karui mocked as she charged in sneering, her sword arm pulling back, aiming to take the blond's head off in a single blow.
A tick mark formed on Naruto's forehead, but he didn't move from his position. "Blah blah blah, is all you can do bitch?"
"Shut the fuck up, you pansy ass momma's boy!" Karui screamed as she swung down with all her might, Naruto making no move to defend himself. Right before impact, she noticed strange red markings appear on Naruto's face.
*Clang*
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Well now, that's interesting isn't it?" Kisame said with his usual shark toothed grin, causing Temari to look up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What are you going on about? He's just standing there praying."
Kisame's grin widened. "You certainly picked an interesting student, that's for sure. Even got the old toad to get up off his ass, kehehe."
Temari merely looked up at the sharkman, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Sage Mode," a rough voice from behind said, causing the blonde fan wielder to spin around.
"Baki-sensei, you're back!" Temari smiled as she saw her sensei for the first time in months. "And what's Sage Mode?"
"Sage Mode is an ancient form of combining both ninjutsu and magic. It predates both Shinobi and Mages. A very risky technique, seeing as you turn to stone if you fail to grasp the secrets behind it," Baki explained, looking on as Karui swung her weapon.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Karui looked on, flabbergasted as the motionless blond stood there with her sword resting against his neck, not an injury to be seen.
"But-what-how-you-?!"
Samui and Omoi both stared at Naruto with widened eyes, Omoi nearly dropping his katana in shock. "Oh no. Now he's going to beat Karui up, then beat us up, and we'll be kicked out, and-" Samui hit the back of his head as she narrowed her eyes at the blond.
"He must've used a jutsu, that's the only explanation. Not cool. But what? Even Bee-sensei wouldn't just take that strike head on. And what's with the facepaint?"
Karui jumped back, ready to strike once more. "I don't know how you stopped my attack, but don't think it'll work again! Kumo-ryuu: Omotegiri!"
Naruto lazily opened his eyes, now glowing a brilliant cobalt, starkly contrasting against the red marks underneath his eyes and down his cheeks*, giving her a blank stare as she once more charged in. He slowly shifted into a defensive stance, waiting until her blade was almost upon him. At the last second, his open palm shot out in a counter, causing Karui's instincts to scream at her to dodge.
Aborting her attack, the redhead dove away from Naruto, just barely avoiding his palm. About to smirk at having dodged successfully, she was unprepared for the force that collided with her chest, launching her back at her teammates and driving the breath from her lungs.
Seeing her teammate sent flying, Samui signaled Omoi and together the two charged forward, intent on extracting revenge against the blond.
As the two charged Naruto, Omoi began to mumble. "We're going to get beat up, I know it. Then we're going to be kicked out. Then we'll be trapped in the desert, and then -"
Omoi was cut off as Naruto seemed to teleport right in front of him. "Fuck, don't you ever have anything positive to say?" the blond complained as he sucker punched Omoi, driving him face first into the ground.
Samui skidded to a halt as she witnessed Omoi get punched into the ground. Jumping back, she rapidly went through one-handed handseals. I-Hitsuji-Mi-Uma-Tatsu. "Raiton: Jibashi!" she called out, a wave of lightning shooting from her hand towards her fellow blond.
Naruto watched the wave of lightning fly towards him with a confident smirk. "We're moving on to ninjutsu huh?" U-Mi. "Senpou-Fuuton: Daitoppa!"
The world seemed to pause as the air stilled. Samui's face had a despairing look on it as she realized she was in over her head. Just as the lightning attack was about to reach Naruto, the world screamed into motion, a veritable hurricane of wind blasting forth from his outstretched hands. It easily overwhelmed the Raiton attack and barreled toward the kunoichi, who didn't have enough time to move out of the way. The Daitoppa collided with Samui's position throwing up a huge dust cloud, obscuring the combatants from view.
"Samui!" her teammates cried out, fearing for their friend and squad leader. The dust slowly cleared, revealing a tall shadow standing where Samui was.
"Oi, gaki, don't you think that was a bit overkill?" Kisame swung his bandaged sword, dispelling the lingering cloud, revealing Samui on all fours behind him, trying to cough out all the dust she'd inhaled.
The lines adorning Naruto's face had faded with his last attack. "...Oops?" He shrugged. "She started it, throwing a potentially lethal jutsu at me."
Kisame's face broke out into a wide grin. " ...Kehehe. Alright gaki." His eyes took on a cruel and familiar gleam, one that caused Naruto to pale in fear. "Time for some special training."
"Oh shit-!" The blond turned on a dime and tried to get away, but the shark like man was faster.
"Run little fishcake!" the shark cackled as he used his sword to launch Naruto out into the surrounding dunes, following the disappearing figure.
"I hate you!" the boy screamed as he flew out of sight.
0o0o0 1 Year Later (4 Years with Hagoromo) 0o0o0
"Ah! Nar~uto, it's good to have you back," Mei greeted, a smile on her face.
"Hai, Mei-sama." Naruto resolutely stared above her head, otherwise he'd be distracted by the way she was leaning over her desk.
"Mou, why won't you look at me?" she pouted, crossing her arms underneath her bosom, doing...interesting things to her breasts.
Naruto couldn't help the red tint flushing his cheeks as he stood at attention. "Ah… Kisame said you had an urgent mission to send me on."
"Do you think I would look better in blue or white?" Naruto just stared on in confusion.
Sighing at Naruto's lack of interest, Mei quickly moved on. "Ever since your return from Fukasaku-sama, your growth," Mei's mouth watered as she mentally undressed the sixteen year old, "has been tremendous. Your recent success of missions has caught the attention of many of our supporters in this… cold war. Very soon we'll be in full blown war against Bosco and before that happens we must take one final step or be forced to fight against our own."
Naruto remained silent, waiting for Mei to continue.
"You've no doubt heard about the new Minister of War, Archduke Franz Ferdinand?"
"Hai. The Archduke is infamous for his anti-Elemental policies. However, I don't see any reason he could pose a great threat to us at the moment. He doesn't have overwhelming force, nor does he have total approval, even among his own allies."
"Correct. The Archduke isn't very well liked but his recent activities and dealings have landed him a great deal of power that could very well be our downfall. Our spies in the Boscoan government tipped us off to a meeting between the Archduke and a shinobi I'm sure you know of…"
Naruto got the hint as Mei remained silent. He sighed before playing along. "...Who?"
"Shadow Heart's greatest bounty hunter: Kakuzu."
Naruto snorted. "Of course that old bag of bones is alive. Even if you killed him, he wouldn't stay dead. 'There's always money to be made,' was his motto, or so I've heard."
"So his reputation goes. Without the loyalty he had to Shadow Heart, Kakuzu has spent the last 9 years traveling Earthland taking on any mission that paid it's weight in gold. We tried to buy his services but he refused. We now know why."
"So you want me to take on a living legend because he chose the opposition?" Naruto gave her an incredulous look.
"No. The meeting that took place between Kakuzu and the Archduke was nothing more than a formality and conditions of terms. Kakuzu has yet to be paid. And it presents us with a unique opportunity." Mei leaned forward, completely serious.
"Beyond stealing the Archduke's wealth so he can't pay, I can't see a unique opportunity," Naruto stated, mulling the situation over in his head.
"We're going to send a message to those dogs of the aristocracy. If they want to play hardball, then we'll just have to show them what we're really capable of." A savage grin split Mei's face. "And you'll be the opening act."
Naruto mirrored her grin. Finally, a chance to actually make an impact in this war. "What's the plan, boss-lady?"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Everything had gone perfectly.
The last 2 weeks had been devoted to learning blueprints, guard details, habits and daily routines. The Archduke was a very overconfident man, not believing anyone would ever make a move against him, ally or foe alike. His guards were competent, but lax in their duties and far too few in number. Much of the Archduke's time was spent either hunting or politicking the day away. Family time left much to the imagination, only spending time with his pregnant wife Sophia and their young daughter Sophie for dinner before he would retire to his office until the late hours of the night.
It was on night's, much like this one, that he would retire to bed a full hour before his wife after a long day of hunting.
Everything had gone perfectly.
Naruto had already cased the Archduke's mansion several times, finding the best entry point and escape route. Slipping by the guards had been child's play and the Archduke was all by himself. Sophie would often spend this time reading children's stories to her daughter and unborn child. He would be gone, long after the deed was done.
It had been 4 years since he'd last truly used the infiltration skills taught to him by Uchiha-sensei. It felt as if not even a day had passed since the last time the sadistic bastard had trained him. The guards, maids, chefs, and personal guests were all easy to trick into believing they weren't being stalked, watched, analyzed. That their little world of peace was far removed from the consequences of their luxury.
Naruto stared down at the sleeping face of his enemy and felt no remorse for what he was about to do. This was a man of war, and, as such, he should have been prepared for it to end like this.
Naruto clutched the kunai that would spark a civil war. Such a simple tool, originally used by monks and gardeners. And yet now it brings about such dire consequences. He tightened his grip on the kunai, placed his hand over the Archduke's mouth, and swiftly thrust the blade into the man's heart.
Everything had gone perfectly.
And then the door opened. Sophia let out an ear piercing scream as she witnessed her husband's murderer snap around to face her, clear shock reflecting in his eyes, the only visible part of his face.
With a muffled curse, Naruto sprang from the corpse and out the window, latching onto the wall with chakra as he sprinted for his exit route. Alarms began to blare and men shout, looking for him.
In his haste to escape, the blond was blindsided by a kick. It seemed as though the Archduke had other shinobi under his employ, other than Kakuzu. Growling at this oversight, he quickly righted himself and faced his new opponent.
The two didn't exchange words. None were needed. Both understood what the other intended and that they would stand in each other's way to the death. It was the way of the Shinobi, their way.
Naruto made the first move, his top priority to escape. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Several copies of the masked blond appeared. Using the smoke of their appearance for cover, he quickly switched places with one of his clones before they all split up, making a break for it.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if his opponent was used to dealing with multiple enemies. Kunai and shuriken killed his clones, and forced him to abandon his escape plan.
Escape seemingly closed off, Naruto rushed in, hoping to quickly dispatch his foe. The enemy shinobi countered by using their superior reach to quickly put the blond on the defensive. "Dammit, if only I had time to get into Sage mode…" His enemy quickly drove their fight back into the compound, whereupon Naruto was surrounded by the late Archduke's guards.
The Shinobi saw the signal to back off and disappeared into the surrounding shadows. Naruto took a breath before exhaling and surveying his new opponents. While not as dangerous as the creeping shinobi, they were all rather gifted mages each hand picked for their unique magic.
The head of the Archduke's guard stepped forward. "Surrender yourself, shinobi and I promise you'll receive a fair trial. Cooperate and you may even walk away from this alive. We know you're merely a tool sent by your Hagoromo masters. They will not come to your aid. Your loyalty to them has been misplaced."
Naruto couldn't help the hidden smile. "You really don't understand shinobi, do you? We never give up, even if it means death. My escape may have been stopped, but my mission is complete. I can die knowing I succeeded where you failed."
Closing his eyes for a few moments, Naruto grinned. "Having said that, I don't plan on dying here." Red tribal markings began to appear across his face.
"Stop him!" the unknown shinobi cried out, leaping from the shadows, kunai in hand. Naruto opened his now glowing blue eyes.
"Too late."
Everything had gone perfectly.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Ending – In My World – Rookiez is Punk'd
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Well this is roughly half of what we were going to post but it was just taking us so long that we decided to cut this chapter and leave you guys with a cliff hanger. This wasn't originally our intent but its been about 3 weeks since we seriously worked on the story and it's probably going to takes us just as long to finish up.
Make sure to review/favorite/follow and we'll see you all very soon.
TheRevolutionaryRonin & Lord of the Morning