The Grimm Change
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY
'Unhh...Did I fall down another cliff?'
Naruto opened his eyes with a groan, only to wince and shut them when they were hit by the bright light that seemed to be coming from all directions. After blinking a few times, he finally got used to it and sat up. He looked around himself and noticed that he was in a large room. The floor and walls were all white, except for a door knob that had an intricate black outline to it. At first, Naruto began to freak out a little.
"Ahh...Where am I? I know I got hit by those rocks in the valley after I beat Sasuke. Does this mean I'm dead? Am I in heaven or hell?"
Before Naruto could think on the matter any further, the door on the other side of the room began to open, as evidenced by the creaking noise.
"Well, not like I have anything better to do."
With those words Naruto began to walk towards the door. When he got to it, he slowly pushed it open, years of ninja training having jumped in. Once he made sure that there didnt seem to be any immediate danger, he stepped into the darkness on the other side of the door.
Immediately he was engulfed in darkness. He turned back towards the door he just came through, only to discover that there was nothing but darkness behind him.
Steeling his nerves, Naruto took a step forward. When nothing happened, Naruto took another. And another. And another. Gradually, Naruto began walking in the direction he assumed to be north.
After what seemed like hours of walking, he noticed that there seemed to be an ethereal glow coming from his surroundings. This encouraged him to start running, and after another half an hour or so, he noticed that his shoes were creating little splashes on the floor. This led him to believe that wherever he was heading towards was wet.
After another unmeasured length of time, the glow had brightened enough for him to discern that he was in a sewer of some sort. He could now see that the light was being produced by flame like fluids that were moving in a network of pipes throughout the sewerage system, each having seperate pipes. There were three types of fluids, a purple one that seemed to move at a moderate pace, a pale blue one that was moving quiye rapidly, and a red one that seemed to be rushing through the pipe network. None of this discouraged Naruto from going on ahead, on fact he was now quite curious to find out what these flame like substances were.
After another half hour of running at a sedate pace, Naruto arrived at a dead end, the water now reaching up to his ankles. In front of him was a grid of metal pillars and bars that seemed to form a cage of sorts. Looking sideways, Naruto determined that the cage streched on for an extremely long way.
"Annhh...What the hell! I walked all this way here for nothing, now what do I do?" Naruto's annoyed whines bounced off the walls.
Not expecting a reply, Naruto nearly jumped in fright when he heard a loud chuckle echo through the room. The chuckle seemed to be one of amusement, but it was hollow.
Naruto turned around to look at the fence behind him, and nearly jumped out of his skin.
Within the cage was the silhouette of a large creature. It had rabbit like ears, a long snout covered in burnt orange fur, and a pair of crimson eyes. Its eyes held amusement and a small amount of bloodlust, not unlike what he had seen in the eyes of Gaara and Shukaku. Behind the creature, further down the cage there seemed to be some swishing movement, and the large beast smirked when Naruto turned to face it. The sight of its sharp white canines made Naruto shiver, but he was Naruto Uzumaki, and he wouldn't get scared of an overgrown rat.
"Who the hell are you? And where am I?" Naruto's voice rang out.
The fox leveled a calculative gaze at the blond boy, who began to shift uncomfortably in the silence.
"Can you understand me?" The queation was asked in a quieter tone, but it was as fearless as the first two.
After another few moments of staring, the beast opened its maw, and Naruto, who had expected unintelligent barking, was surprised when the animal spoke.
"Well, well, well. It seems not all of your kind are cowardly mongrels who prefer to hide and run rather than face their obstacles. You intrigue me, human. Perhaps it is a side effect of being the descendant of two of my previous hosts, or perhaps it just runs in your Uzumaki blood."Naruto would later swear to tell no one that he had shuddered while hearing the beast speak.
"What are you?" Naruto repeated his question, albeit this time there was a fearful tone to his words.
The creature allowed another chuckle to escape its maw, before speaking in a regal tone.
"Before I tell inform you of who I am, I must ask, what do you know of the Bijuu?"
"Well, I know that their are nine Bijuu in the Elemental Nations, and that the Shodaime was the one who subdued them with his Mokuton, before distributing them to the five major villages, in an attempt to spread peace. Many of the Bijuu were able to escape the villages and live in the wild or be caught again, and about twelve years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, but was killed by the Yondaime who also passed away of battle wounds."
"Well at least you are partially correct. The Bijuu are massive bodies of concentrated chakra, thus immortal. They cannot be killed, and the only way to best them is by sealing them into a human, known as a Jinchuriki. Your Yondaime, while a respectable warrior, could never hope to even injure one. No, he sealed a portion of its chakra into himself and a portion into another. That other was a newborn child, a being whose chakra coils were underdeveloped enough to not immediately be destroyed by the sudden influx of demonic chakra. That baby was you. And the Bijuu was me, the Kyuubi no Kitsune."
By now, tears had begun to stream down his cheeks, a single chain of thoughts runnin through his mind.
'Why me, didn't my parents object, did my parents even care, is that why the whole village hated me?'
"Hey brat, before you burst a vein overthinking about it, yes your parents did love you. They didn't want to do it but you were the only available newborn. Besides, could a father ask another to give them their child for the sealing when he couldn't do it to his own."
The Kyuubi saw the cogs turning in the blond's head, before he looked up towards the chakra mass with a look of realisation.
"The Yondaime...He was my father, wasn't he?" The words came across as more of a statement than a question, the Kyuubi's serious look the only answer Naruto needed.
The young boy was now being torn apart, one side wanting to be angry at his father for sealing the demon inside of him, while the other felt like jumping with joy and telling the world that he was the son of his idol.
Thinking of everyone back at home and how they would react to this news. Thise thoughts reminded Naruto of his current dillema. Pushing all thoughts of his heritage to the back of his mind, the blond beseeched the large fox.
"Where am I right now? Am I in hell?"
"You seem to be taking the news of being a Jinchuriki and the son of the Yondaime pretty well. Most would at the very least be extremely angry and upset to find out that their father had sealed a demonic chakra mass within them upon birth "
"If there is one thing I learned growing up, its that things happen, whether you like them or not. You just gotta make the best of what you have."
"Your words are wise for one of such an idiotic race. Now, to answer your questions, no you aren't dead, we are within the seal placed upon your abdomen. And before you ask, no, we cannot return to Konoha."
"What! But why, can't I just leave the seal?"
"Of course you can, but if you do so you will find yourself existing within limbo, a dimension where time and space have no rules or bounds, and will be trapped there for eternity. Now before you begin to whine once again, I must inform you of something of dire importance. During your skirmish with your rival, you were critically injured, to such an extent that even I was having trouble healing you. You had used up nearly every single drop of your chakra, leaving only the basic amount needed for survival. Usually I am able to combine my demonic chakra and your normal chakra, both having a high potency and your chakra protecting you from chakra burns while mine healed you. But as I couldn't use yours, I began to absorb ambient chakra from around me.
By doing so, I found a large source of chakra within the seal that was not mine. I discovered that it was the chakra used to seal two shadow clones of each of your parents in here. I absorbed the chakra of the seal, thus prematurely releasing the shadow clones."
Naruto was stunned to learn that fragments of his parents had been living within him ever since he was a newborn. He was so engrossed by this information that he inly noticed the room around him changing when the water evaporated and grass grew up to his shins. He looked up but there was no sign of the Kyuubi or its cage on the grassy plain he was now in.
Before he could move, he was tackled in the back by a large blur of green and red. He felt a pair of slender arms wrap around him and was pulled to the ground by the weight that now rested on his back. He felt warm droplets falling on to his neck, and his eyes widened when he heard the words he had longed to hear his entire life.
"I'm so proud of you, Sochi-kun." The figure's voice was obviously feminine and she seemed to be on the brink of tears.
Naruto felt his own eyes grow wet as he turned around to look into the violet eyes of a beautiful young woman. Her scarlet tresses fell down to the end of her back and her porcelain skin made her seem fragile like a china statuette. She wore a white, ankle length kimono that was covered by the green apron she had on, which went down to her shins. The bangs on the left side of her face were held back by a green hairpin.
Naruto wrapped his arms around the woman and clutched onto her as if his life depended upon it. At the moment he didn't care if she was his mother or not, she had been the first to say those words that he had always desired to hear, and that too as sincerely as she did.
After a few minutes of holding each other, Naruto wiped the tears out of his eyes to the best of his abilities before looking at the woman he was still holding.
"I-is it really you?" His question was met by a fresh wave of tears from the redhead, followed by many mumbled apologies.
"I-I'm so so-sorry. I tried t-to convince him *sniffle* b-but Minato wouldn't take a-another child. Please forgive me."
Naruto tightened his hold of the woman to reassure her.
"Shh Kaa-san, it's alright now, it's all gonna be okay." He choked up at this point, the shock of meeting the woman finally setting in.
It was now the woman's turn to placate the crying Naruto. She wrapped her arms around his stomach and pulled him close.
"Now now, don't cry Sochi-kun, you're a big badass ninja, and ninjas don't cry!"
Her words seemed to have an immediate effect on Naruto, and he had wiped away any evidence of his tears within moments.
"Is it really you, Kaa-san?" Naruto's question was occasionally interrupted by a sniffle or two. That is until he recieved a hard smack to the head.
"Of course it is. Red hair, violet eyes, the name Kushina Uzumaki, ting any bells. I thought that my own son would be able to see the similarities between a photo and a person. I know I haven't aged a single day since the time we took the picture that was in the inheritance scroll."
Hearing these words caused Naruto's smile to turn into a slight frown as his eyebrows knitted and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Umm...which inheritance scroll, Kaa-san?"
"You know, the one Jiraiya gave you when you became a genin." The woman replied in her usual exuberance manner, before noticing the look on her son's face.
"The scroll you obviously never got. When I see that pervert I am going to do what Tsunade hasn't for all these years." Kushina began to smirk in a way that reminded Naruto of Kyuubi. There was a glint in her eyes as her hair rose into nine tresses, tresses that seemed quite a lot like tails.
Naruto may not have shown it, but he had come to see the Toad Sage as a grandfather, threfore he felt it necessary to stand up for his sensei.
"Umm, Kaa-san, I know Ero-Sennin wasn't the best teacher or anything, but you should cut him some slack. He is the one who taught me summoning jutsus and the rasengan."
Hearing this, Kushina's face softened, if only a little bit.
"Well, there is some good found in this. Seems like I'll be able to teach you all about our clan techniques and your heritage, and whatever else was in that scroll, since you won't be going back."
Naruto was overjoyed to learn that he would be spending more time with his mother, but a knot tightened in his stomach at the last part.
"Kaa-san, what do you mean, won't be going back? Not going back to where?" Naruto's voice grew frantic, part of him already knowing the answer.
"I thought Kyuubi would have told you. Seems like I'm the only responsible one here. You see Naruto, once a person dies, the chakra within him is divided, the physical energy remains within his body while the spiritual energy goes on with his soul. Now, because we were only shadow clones that had been sealed into you, our chakra was divided into the two different energies, and Kyuubi used them to heal you. But the problem is due to us using seperated chakra to heal you, and you having near to no chakra at the moment, your chakra coils adapted and to the new energies, and instead of replenoshing chakra, gave you an entire new chakra system in your body where there are seperate coils for spiritual and physical energy."
Kushina looked at Naruto to make sure that he was following, before beginning once again.
"But now that your chakra network has been seperated, it cannot become one again."
"What! Does that mean I can't use chakra anymore? What about the rasengan, the shadow clones or the summoning jutsus, can I use them?"
Kushina sighed, expecting such a response.
"Yes you can still use your jutsu, but you'd have to focus on recombining equal amounts of the physical and spiritual energies, at least until you have enough pratice to be able to do it subconsciously. The reason you cannot return to Konoha is that all the residents of the Elemental Nations have a chakra system, however small or large, to protect them from the pressure exerted by the ambient chakra. You are unable to do that, and that is why you wouldn't be able to survive in Konoha. But that doesn't mean you will be trapped in here forever. Due to the nature of chakra system, you were attracted towards a world where everyone has a similar chakra system.
Now, this new world is very different compared to Konoha and the Elemental Nations, so Kyuubi will be your guide of sorts in that world. Relax, it won't kill you, because if you die, so does he because of the seal."
"Yeah, about that, why is it that the Kyuubi seems, well, nice? I mean it nearly destroyed Konoha and is a demon."
"The thing is, the Kyuubi never attacked Konoha, not intentionally at least."
"Then why is it that the textbooks said that the Kyuubi destroyed most of Konoha."
"It did, but as I said, it was unintentional. You see, I was the previous Jinchuriki before you, and when a Jinchuriki is about to give birth, her seal weakens. The night that I went into labor, a man wearing a black cloak and an orange mask appeared. He took you hostage to distract your father, and then broke the Kyuubi's seal. I watched as he used his Sharingan to control Kyuubi and forced it to attack the village. Eventually, Minato was able to defeat the man with the mask, but by then the Kyuubi had already destroyed quite a bit of the village. He used his Hiraishin to move the Kyuubi out to the forest, before he sealed it away into you. Sadly, he ws unable to avoid a fatal blow from Kyuubi's claws, and I had already been dying due to having my Bijuu extracted from me."
The atmosphere seemed to turn sombre, and Naruto realized that he had been so shocked and overjoyed by the sight of his mother that he had completely forgotten about the other important thing.
"Kaa-san, where's Tou-san's shadow clone? Kyuubi said that both your shadow clones had been unsealed prematurely."
A slight frown crept onto the redhead's face, as she recalled her husband's decision.
"Due to both clones being unsealed prematurely, there was a backlash of chakra that drained us of a lot of chakra. Minato's clone transferred whatever chakra it had left into me, so I could stay here for longer. Well, we don't have much time left, so I might as well make use of it. Now, let me tell you what you would've learned earlier on when you became a ninja if Jiraiya had given you your inheritance.
We Uzumaki used to make up an entire clan, and we also had our own village, Uzushiogakure no Sato. It was a small island that was surrounded by violent whirlpools and was protected by many fuinjutsu barriers. We had been allies of Konoha, and we were actually considered to be Konoha's founders, along with the Uchiha and Senju Clans. In fact, my great aunt, Mito Uzumaki, actually married the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
The alliance between our villages was strong, in fact, the Leaf Ninja's forehead symbol and uniform usually have the Uzumaki Clan crest on it, a swirling circle. Both villages were prospering due to the alliance, but that all changed in the Second Great Shinobi War. As the Uzumaki were allies with Konoha, we were percieved as threats by Kiri, Iwa and Kumo, who were Konoha's opponents. The three villages joined togehter multiple platoons to form a army of 40,000 ninja, and attacked Uzushiogakure. We had an advantage because of the natural terrain and our fuinjutsu, but there were only 500 Uzumakis, and although we fell, the enemy only had 1000 men left, and by that time our allies were able to appear and defeat them. Fortunately, I had been visiting my cousins Tsunade and Nawaki, and was the lone survivor of the Uzumaki Clan."
Kushina saw the look on Naruto's face and knew that he was going through some inner turmoil. On one side he was shocked and angry at the fact that Jiraiya never rold him about his family and their valiant sacrifice, on the other hand he was amazed that his kinsmen were able to defeat an entire army that outnumbered them. He was broken out of his thoughts by Kushina's voice.
"Well, we don't have much time before my chakra runs out, so there are other things I must tell you about. Now as an Uzumaki, your chakra is naturally extremely large in quantity and dense, this only being augmented by the fact that you are a Jinchuriki. That will be extremely helpful later on when you try to activate the Uzumaki Clan bloodline."
Kushina demonstrated by summoning ling chains made if golden chakra from her back. The chains extended outwards and then impaled the ground, before Kushina pushed herself into the air with the help of the chains. By now Naruto's jaw was hanging open, threatening to fall down to the ground. Kushina giggled at his reaction before settling herself back on the grassy ground. Naruto watched in amazement as the chains receded into her back.
"That was the physical form of concentrated chakra. Before you ask me, the bloodline differs for everyone according to their chakra, so I don't what form your chakra might take. And it isn't as easy as you might think, it requires lots of concentration and will power."
These words only stoked the inferno known as Naruto's determination, as he quickly promised himself to figure out the secret to his clan bloodline as soon as possible.
"We Uzumaki were also known for our ability to wield almost any weapon, and our incredible fuinjutsu skills, of course our water ninjutsu was nothing to laugh at. Sadly, my chakra is running low and I cannot teach you any of this, but on the bright side, Kyuubi lived in two of the strongest Uzumaki for over a century, and saw all of our techniques as well as how we learnt them, so he would be more than capable to train you in these arts."
Naruto seemed excited at the prospect of learning cool and powerful jutsu, his face split in a wide grin as he chuckled to himself.
"Minato was also well versed in fuinjutsu, and had been able to use it to create his most dangerous jutsu, the Hiraishin. It is a master level seal, with an extremely complex sealing array, so do not try to understand it until Kyuubi says you're at the intermediate level of sealing skills, alright?
At Naruto's hesitant nod, Kushina continued.
"It might take you a while before you are able to form chakra again, but once you've done that, make clones from half of your chakra, and have them pratice the rasengan, both alone and with assistance from other clones. This is because the rasengan requires good chakra control and chakra shaoe manipulation, and this will help you get used to using chakra very quickly. The reason I asked you to use shadow clones is that when a shadow clone is dispelled, it transfers all its knowledge and experience to the original, thus multiplying your experience."
"Alright. Umm, Kaa-san, what is happening to your dress?"
Kushina looked down in surprise only to see that her feet and the bottom of her apron were slowly fading away. She hugged Naruto one more time before holding him at an arm's length and looking at him with a bittersweet smile.
"Seems my time is running up, Sochi-kun. Now remember, you may be going to a new world, but you are still the same Naruto. Be careful about who you divulge this information to, as people may experiment on you for your ability to use chakra. Never dare to go near a brothel or some place the old toad told you about. Live life happily, don't worry about the people back in Konoha. Grow strong, save the world and maybe settle down with a girl, or two if you grow up to be anything like your father. But always remember, me and Minato love you very much, and we are both very proud of you. Never forget that, no matter what."
Kushina softly pressed her lips against Naruto's forehead, a lot like Tsunade had. She gave him a final hug and spoke with tears in her eyes.
"And make sure you eat your veggies."
With those final words, the clone dispersed into the air and vanished as if it had never been there, leaving a curled up Naruto who had wet eyes in its wake.
Author's Note:
Hello guys, sorry for the somewhat cliche chapter, but this seemed like the best and most logical way of revealing Naruto's heritage and explaining what would happen to the remnant chakra of his parents that resides within him.
I made this chapter a little longer than my previous one, abd hope to continue with this pattern, but I warn you, updates will not be this frequent. I just had a lot of time on my hands and settled for doing this, so that's that.
Well, all things aside, I hope you leave a review and you like my story, because whenever I get a notification on my phone or laptop that i have a new favorite/follower/reviewer, I get a surge of passion and inspiration to continue the story.
I would also like to tell you people, I have not, nor will I ever, see Vol. 4 of RWBY. But I will add an OC plot after the events of Vol. 3.
Peace out
Kofukuna Shi no Kami