Hello! Ever-faithful readers, I have returned. In case any of you care, my finals went alright (except for Calculus. Calculus and I are hostiles. Relations are tense and stress filled at best, but we have just declared open war. Calc won the first battle, but I will vanquish my enemy.)
. . . okay.
Moving on. New chappie is up! Everyone cheer. We're getting to the culmination of the Inside the Shinigami Arc. Finally, then we can get to the good stuff.
Chapter 9
"Let me go with you," the First Hokage demanded. "I can help you fight."
Kyuubi and Naruto shook their heads, almost in tandem. "No way," Kyuubi insisted. "We don't know how long this is going to take. You've already been here too long. You may not be able to tell, you probably can't, but this place has affected you a lot."
The Shodai sighed heavily. He didn't want to admit it, but the demon was right. The Shinigami's stomach—Naruto and Kyuubi had explained that was where he was—was affecting him. "You two are saying it isn't safe for me to stay here anymore."
They nodded, again synchronized. He figured it was from sharing a body for sixteen years, but the two of them often shared the same mannerisms.
"Look, I'll create some clones that'll look for the other three. One will go with you and get you out," Naruto explained.
The Shodai frowned at Naruto. "Just how many clones can you create safely?"
Naruto grinned. "A ton. Don't worry about it."
"Actually, he won't be making that many, it's not safe to split the chakra up that much. And we'll be creating them together," Kyuubi amended. "Because I give the brat the chakra boost to make all those clones."
Naruto made a face at him, but nodded. "Yeah, you just follow our clone and he'll get you out."
"How do you even know how to make Shadow clones?" he asked, eyeing Naruto shrewdly. "That is a forbidden Jounin-level technique."
"Ah, haha, well," Naruto scratched the back of his head. He wanted to brag about learning it in an hour when he was twelve, but, well . . .
He had stolen the man's scroll.
Kyuubi grinned, seeing Naruto's predicament. "The brat broke into the Hokage's library and stole the Scroll of Sealing. He snuck off to the woods and learned the technique before his Academy sensei found him."
The Shodai opened and closed his mouth several times. His dark eyes settled on Naruto, and the blond got the feeling he was being dissected. He shifted uncomfortably, but the Hokage only chuckled after a moment. "There is more to you than meets the eye."
Naruto blinked, he wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Kyuubi laughed and nodded. "Yeah, the kit's an enigma, alright."
Naruto puffed out his cheeks at the fox; he knew that was an insult. Kyuubi pulled off sarcasm like no other. "Whatever, don't listen to furball. We gotta get you out of here."
"The kit has a point," Kyuubi agreed.
"How are we going to do this?" Naruto asked. "It's one thing when you're in my body. I can just grab some of your chakra."
Kyuubi stood and motioned for Naruto to do the same. "Just go through the motions you usually do to make shadow clones. Leave the chakra to me."
Naruto was skeptical. "Are you sure, Kyuubi? How are you going to do anything?"
Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "Just trust me, okay?"
"Yeah, trust you," Naruto muttered, giving the fox a sideways look, but he brought his hands up anyway. They slid easily into the familiar sign. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto saw the chakra come out of him, and his eyes widened as it began to form three shapes. He fought the urge to shudder as the chakra was pulled from him. Then, red chakra came from Kyuubi and merged with his. Naruto steadied again and three clones had formed. Blue eyes blinked blankly. "How'd you do that?"
Kyuubi grinned. "Look, little human, there are more ways to manipulate chakra and energy than are dreamed of in your philosophy, and I've learned most of them." He turned to the clones. "You all know what to do. One of you go with the First Hokage and get him out. The other two will do tracking spells to find the Second and Third Hokages, got it?"
"Why is he giving my clones orders?" Naruto muttered, kicking sulkily at the dirt.
Kyuubi's response was a snicker, but the clones still had Naruto's personality. "Yeah," one of them agreed. "We'll only take orders from him."
The other two folded their arms and nodded their heads enthusiastically. Kyuubi rolled his eyes and looked to the original. "Well, Naruto?"
". . . do what he said."
I swear my eyes are going to fall out, Kyuubi thought as he rolled his eyes yet again.
"Naruto, Kyuubi, good luck," the first Hokage said. "I hope to see you soon."
With that, the Hokage followed one of Naruto's clones and they began to run back to the entrance place.
"So, kits," Kyuubi started, turning to the remaining three Narutos. "Ready to do some spells?
Ino leaned back in her chair, arms folded. Her father had performed the mind jutsu yesterday and she'd been puzzling over the mystery that Naruto had become since then. She'd decided on a course of action late last night, unfortunately not able to tap into Shikamaru's genius.
Her father's library contained many of the Yamanaka's clan's scrolls. Of course, when she was little, he'd rarely let her in, for fear she'd open up a scroll with something sealed in it, or get into his weapons chest. Now that she was a fully qualified Chuunin, however, she had almost full access.
Access to certain jutsus, like the one her father had used.
Instead of trying to learn it in the library, where either of her parents could walk in at any moment, she'd taken it to the hospital, where she'd have a bit more privacy from prying eyes.
Ino went over the scroll in her hands one more time. The jutsu was complex, but she'd mastered others just as hard before. Feeling confident, she stood and closed her eyes. Ino calmed her mind and gathered her chakra. Concentrating, she performed each hand sign slowly and meticulously. Finishing her hands moved into the circle. She held them out in front of her, looking through them at Naruto.
Her chakra flared and her mind slid out of her body. Ino shuddered and fought the urge to close her eyes. Doing so before the mind reached its target was dangerous; older members of the clan had warned against it, telling her horror stories of soulless ninjas who'd closed their eyes.
Everything went black for a moment, and then Ino was standing in a long corridor.
"Ugh!" she cried. There was at least six inches of water covering the floor. Ino lifted one of her feet out of it and sneered. It didn't smell bad, but, still. Naruto's mind was a sewer.
With a sigh, Ino began to wander down the halls, looking for whatever had scared her father so much. There were pipes running through the corridors above her head and all the walls were made of solid, thick bricks. She walked quickly, not wanting to spend longer in here than necessary.
Ino shivered; it was too quiet in here. Knowing how loud Naruto could be, she'd unconsciously expected his mind to be as clamorous and jumpy as the boy himself. The silence and stillness was creepy.
The young blonde turned down a corridor and came upon a huge chamber. She stared around, fascinated and awed by the size of it. Ino soon got bored because there was nothing to see in here. She'd expected something a bit more interesting, since she was in Naruto's brain. He did have a love affair with the color orange after all.
With a sigh, she turned to leave, only to find the entrance she'd come in through gone. Ino frowned, reaching out and pressing against the wall. It was solid.
She looked around, searching for where the entrance had gone. All she could see, as far as her eye could reach, were rough stone walls. Ino began to run down one side. There had to be some way out. All she found was another wall.
She ran down that way, as well. Again, only a wall was there to greet her. Ino began to panic as she ran in squares.
"Okay, okay, calm down, Ino," she whispered, eventually slumping against a wall. "You can get out of this. You know you can. Just end the jutsu."
Ino closed her eyes and cut her chakra. She opened them again, expecting to see Naruto lying in the bed in the hospital.
There was only stone.
Sasuke waited until a nurse found Ino and tried to wake her up. When she was unsuccessful, the woman called for help. More nurses rushed in and looked at Ino. After a time, they carried her out, telling everyone to call for Tsunade.
He slid inside through the window, having left the ANBU outside under a genjutsu. Not the same one he'd used on Ino, though. He'd just changed the handseals on her scroll, made her see the signs for a jutsu that trapped her in her own mind.
After a while, the genjutsu would wear off and she would wake up, but until then, the entire hospital would be focused on Ino, who had apparently fallen under the same spell Naruto had.
It would be plenty of time for him to get the information he needed.
The three Narutos finished the spells at exactly the same times.
The first clone, who had the honor of searching for the Old Man, felt a tug around his navel, leading back the way they'd come. He grimaced, but sprinted off in that direction anyway.
"Of course, I have to pass right by the old bag of Bones," he muttered unhappily. The clone veered off to the left, intent on avoiding the trapped monstrosity. He sighed, the spell was still pointed directly at it.
The spell the Narutos had chosen to use was designed for a moving target. It created an invisible tether between the seeker and the object, though the object couldn't feel it. The tether was pulled in the direction of the target, in this case Sarutobi.
"What is he, standing right next to the thing?" the clone growled. It certainly felt that way.
The clone continued to run forward, and the spell continued to direct him to the wooden box that Bones was in. He kept on the path to run around it, but either Sarutobi was always on the exact opposite of the box, or he was actually standing right next to it.
Resigned, the clone turned and headed for the last known location of Bones. Unfortunately, the spell told him that was the right way to go. He saw the ugly wooden prison, glowing red with chakra, but what really caught his interest was the figure standing near it. He was wearing all black, with a greenish gray helmet and arm guards. His hitae-ate was on a really long cloth, so that the ends trailed to the ground.
The clone frowned. Was this the old man? Why wasn't he wearing his Hokage robes?
Still, the spell was telling him this was Sarutobi. The clone slowed to a cautious walk as he approached the black-clad figure. He was certainly short enough to be the Old Man.
"Hey, Old Man Hokage?" the clone asked, slowly walking up to the man. "Is that you?"
Sarutobi straightened and turned to the clone. "Let me see, blond hair, blue eyes and utter disrespect. It really is you, then Naruto."
The clone grinned. "That's right, Old Man. The one and only—well, the great and magnificent Naruto is here to save you!"
Sarutobi chuckled. "Really? And just how do you intend to do that?"
"Come with me and I'll show you!" the clone chirped.
The two of them were running along a tall ridge when Sarutobi spoke again. "Who was the person with you? It looked like . . . someone who—"
"It was Kyuubi," the clone answered.
Sarutobi shot him a sharp look. "Is that so? How exactly—"
"I'd love to explain," the clone interrupted. "But we need to get you out of here, okay, Old Man?"
Sarutobi nodded in understanding. "I trust you know where you are going?"
The clone nodded. "Yeah, we can get you out of here."
"I know you weren't aware of this," Sarutobi said. "But during the war with Sound and Sand, Orochimaru summoned the First and Second Hokages."
The clone nodded again. "Yeah, I know. We already found the First. He's on his way out with another of the clones. There's one more looking for the Second, and the original Naruto and Kyuubi are searching for t—the Fourth."
Sarutobi shot a look to the clone. He'd heard the slight stutter in the clone's voice, and knew that the clones reflected the attitude and feelings of the original.
"Have you found out the truth, Naruto?" he asked. The pair veered off, leaping over a shallow ravine.
The clone was silent for a while. "You mean about my parents?"
"Yes, about Minato and Meara."
The clone nodded again. "Yeah, I know who my father was."
"And will be," Sarutobi reminded him.
The clone didn't respond.
The second clone set off after the second Hokage. His task was a heck of a lot harder, in his opinion. He didn't even know the Second Hokage, so how was he supposed to get the man to come with him? The clone figured he could just try talking to the man. He should be reasonable, having been a Hokage and all. And he was the one to found the Ninja Academy.
The clone wasn't sure how that affected his argument, but it was good to know.
He ran as quickly as he could—considering the fact that he was made entirely of Naruto and Kyuubi's chakra and at least three big bads in this place would be trying to eat him.
Why me?
The First Hokage followed one of Naruto's clones across the dark plains of the Shinigami's stomach. According to the two who had found him, it had been nearly four years since his 'death.' Four years stuck in this place, he marveled that he hadn't gone mad.
He had also become extremely worried about the fact that Minato—as he'd learned his name was—had been here four times that long. He hadn't seen the man in, well, in a while, but last time he had, the man hadn't been doing so well. He had been twitchy and distant, zombie-like. Based on what he could gather from Kyuubi, the Shinigami's stomach waged war on its 'inhabitants,' trying to turn them, or digest them as it were. It seemed that it was doing well on winning that war with Minato.
By the gods, he looked like Naruto, though. The two were practically identical. The First hoped that his son would be enough to bring Minato back to humanity.
It looked like he would be, thankfully. Sneaking into the Hokage's library, stealing the Scroll of Sealing, and learning a technique from it in a matter of hours. When the boy was in the Academy, no less. The First let a small smile creep on his face. Something told him that the blond would be able to save his father.
I really hope they find him soon.
They started to run up an incline. "We're almost there," the clone called over his shoulder.
"Where?"
"Samuru told Kyuubi and the original Naruto that when they were ready to get out, they should go to the place they came in and say some special phrase, and they'd come out," the clone explained.
"What exactly is this special phrase?" the Hokage wondered. He shifted his balance forward. The small mountain they were scaling was becoming steeper.
"Keep up," the clone encouraged, helping the Shodai up the mountain. "We're almost there."
The mountain leveled off, with a plateau of about ten feet in diameter. The clone looked up, grinning. "We're here."
The Shodai Hokage nodded. "Okay then. Now what?"
"Pull my finger."
" . . ."
The clone laughed. "Okay, seriously, now, grab my hand. You have to be holding on to me for this to work."
With a sigh, and a look that promised death if the clone pulled anything, the First Hokage reached out and grabbed his hand.
"There's no place like home."
The clone and the Hokage were nearly thrown to the ground as it shook. "Is this supposed to happen?" the latter asked.
Naruto's duplicate shrugged. "How should I know?"
The ground continued to shake, and it came to their knowledge that it was sinking, in a small circle, directly around Naruto's clone. "Oh, don't tell me we're getting out of the Shinigami's stomach the natural way," the clone begged.
A grimace stole over the Hokage's face as he imagined it. He really didn't want to be the god's excrement. The ground stopped moving. Just as suddenly, it shot upwards. The two were propelled straight at the 'sky' of the Shinigami's belly.
Kagami made a face and put her hand on her stomach. Something, or someone rather, was coming up. She shifted back into the huge, towering form that frightened little children and opened her mouth.
Two figured came up and out of her mouth. They tumbled to the floor, rolling carefully to absorb the impact better.
The gods murmured. Had the boy succeeded?
The blonde stood up and dusted himself off. "Wow! I can't believe I didn't disintegrate with that!"
The Shodai Hokage stood more slowly, looking around. The assembled gods were all staring at him. Hokage though he was, it was a bit unnerving.
Kagami morphed back into the woman form. She stepped forward, circling and inspecting the two humans. Her face turned into a frown.
"Who is this human? And where is Kyuubi?" she demanded.
The clone scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well, that's a long story. You really won't believe it . . ."
Kagami rushed forward and stopped an inch from the blond's face. She bared her teeth at him and he cringed.
"Try me."
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So that's it. I will put in more with Sarutobi, like why he didn't approach Naruto and Kyuubi when he was watching them earlier.
Oh, I also threw in a rather butchered, but still relatively recognizable, Shakespeare quote. Can anyone find it?
(You get a cookie if you can! This includes play and speaker, as well as of course what line in the chapter it was.)