The Grimm Change
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or RWBY
After being congratulated by his mentor on his progression, and having a complimentary meal for the success, he headed out to the large clearing where he had grown use to training. He could have just gone to Wokian's backyard, but he needed some privacy for what he was about to do.
After Naruto arrived in the field, he quickly began forming a flurry of hand seals. His chakra was not quite as regular as it had been, but he only required little concentration to form it, and it was always much easier when he formed hand seals. He ended the seals by brining his thumb up to his mouth, biting it just hard enough to have it release blood, and wiping the bloody thumb against the other hand's palm. He then slammed the bloodied hand down against the ground, while yelling out words that he had nearly forgotten over the past months.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Immediately a burst of smoke filled the clearing, before dissipating just as quickly. The haze died down to reveal a one foot tall toad sitting in front of Naruto. But the blond could not recognise the toad, having never seen it before.
The toad had a marshy green skin, with yellow irises and black, rectangular pupils. Furthermore, it had shaggy white hair sprouting on its face, and donned a grey cloak. It seemed to be almost ancient, as far as toad years went.
Naruto didn't sit quietly, rather almost began shouting at the small toad, demanding answers.
"Hey who the hell are you, and why are you here? I tried to summon Gamakichi, and all I get is an old toad!"
The toad looked at the blond with great surprise, before allowing a small smile to come across his face.
"Well, well, well, you must be Naruto, Jiraiya Boy's student. He always told me that you were on the wild side, but so much ferocity! You need to cool down before your temper gets you killed."
The shinobi merely bristled at these words, as he grew angrier at the animal's condescending words.
"Who the hell are you, and how dare you call the Pervy Sage a little boy? And why are you here, I didn't summon you."
The old toad's only reaction was a small sigh, as he looked at Naruto with a look that seemed to an odd mixture of sadness and pity, as he cleared his throat and thought of a suitable way to handle the situation.
"I am Fukasaku, and I am the one who trained Jiraiya, and I turned him into the great Toad Sage you knew him as. And as to why I'm here, well, you are very very far away from Mt. Myoboku, and the only toads who can be summoned here are those who have existed since the creation of the Toad Summoning, and have a deep connection with the summoners."
The ninja seemed to calm down considerably after hearing Fukasaku's reasoning, although he still seemed fidgety.
"So, does that mean that I can maybe meet Pervy Sage some time, if you took me to him, or brought him along with you."
The small smile on the toad's face vanished, as he looked at the dirt near his feet silently for a moment, before carefully composing a response.
"Well, after you left, the Akatsuki really began to panic, as nobody seemed to be able to find the Nine Tails Jinchuriki. The entire Akatsuki immediately headed towards Konoha, and while we did put up a fight, and were able to take down eight of their members, the leader proved too strong, and in just one attack he destroyed it all. In one second, it was all gone…the village, the shinobi, the civilians, the Hokage…and even Jiraiya."
Naruto fell to his knees as the toad ended his sentence. All of it, all of them, they were all gone, the blond lowered his head, clawing at the dirt, and clenching his jaw as he digested that information. They had all died. Kakashi, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Kiba, Hinata, Chouji, Shino, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino, Kurenai, Asuma, Guy, Tsunade, and even Jiraiya, the strongest person he had ever met, they were all dead. And he knew why.
"It's because of me."
Fukasaku sighed as he heard the blond's whispers. He was afraid of this, which was why he was so apprehensive of telling the boy. It seemed like his fears would be coming true.
"All of it! All the death, all the destruction, all that misery, it's all because of me! Even when I'm not there I'm everyone's biggest problem! And now, everybody had to pay for me, they paid with their lives!"
The teenager began to grow more and more angry, as he began releasing a large amount of his Aura, which did not go unnoticed by the toad. But Fukasaku ignored it for the moment being, and instead leaped into the air, and slapped the Huntsman-in-training with one of his large, webbed hands. The crack of the slap reverberated in the clearing, as it shocked the boy enough to make him forget about all his anger for a moment.
"Don't you dare pervert the sacrifices your friends and guardians made!"
Naruto merely stared at the toad, still speechless due to his actions, with no emotional change upon his face, as the toad continued.
"They died fighting for what they wanted, for what they believed in. They knew what they were doing, and they still did it. That was their choice, and their choice alone. Don't you dare take any undue credit. They could've just easily given up all the information they had on you, but they didn't, and that was their choice, not yours. You can't blame yourself for what happened, and they don't blame you either. They died doing what they wanted to – to protect those who matter the most."
The blond silently took in the words of the toad, as he felt his anger slowly evaporate. Fukasaku was right. They had died protecting their home, and their village. But he still felt a strange load of guilt on his chest. What if he had been in the village? He could have been with Tsunade or Jiraiya in their final moments. He might have been able to protect his friends, with the chakra of the Kyuubi, but he wasn't even there.
"There isn't anything you could have done for them. The Akatsuki, they were just too strong. But during his last moments, Jiraiya left you something. I've been safeguarding it, not even sure if I'd ever meet you, but Jiraiya wanted to make sure that you got it. He left a small chest, and he said that it belonged to you."
Naruto's eyes widened as the old toad mentioned a chest. It must have been the same chest that his mother had spoken of.
"Kid, this might be your chance to learn more about your parents."
The fox spoke from within him, solidifying the blond's next words.
"So, where is the chest?"
The toad was surprised that Naruto had seemed to have understood his words, for according to the picture Jiraiya had painted, the boy was supposed to be rather stubborn and dense. But the child in front of him seemed much more mature than Jiraiya had claimed. Fukasaku took a second to get a good look at the boy. He definitely had his father's hair and eyes. But at that moment the toad noticed something he had overlooked previously. His eyes bulged, as he nearly shrieked in surprise.
"What the hell are those things on top of you're head?! And you have a tail?!"
After living like this for as long as he had, Naruto had more or less stopped noticing his more 'animalistic' features. But he now realised that they must have been quite a shock for someone who had never seen something of the sort before.
"Well, these are my ears, and yeah, that's a tail. It's a really long story."
The toad didn't waver though, as he stood in front of the ninja with a stern look.
"Yeah, well I have the time, and I'm telling you anything more until you explain. For all I know, you might not even be Naruto."
Naruto sighed, before he swept a hand through his hair, as he sighed, and began the tale of how he came to Remnant.
After nearly one whole hour, during which he had to answer a volley of questions, and also had to explain a more or less brief history of Remnant.
The toad now sat with a somewhat satisfied look, although he was still trying to comprehend whether the boy was a Faunus or if his features were a result of the Kyuubi's intervention. The boy himself hadn't been too sure about that one, although he claimed that the fox had put a load of its chakra into him.
"So, now that I've told you about my ears and tail, you have to give me the chest."
Fukasaku grew a little nervous at this, as he seemed to grin sheepishly.
"Well, I don't exactly have the chest with me at the moment. It's currently back on Mt Myoboku, in my home for safe keeping."
"But can't you just go and get it then? Why is that such a huge problem?"
The toad sighed, as he thought of a way to explain this to the boy.
"This place is really far away from Mt Myoboku, and is barely within the range of summoning. Although it might not affect you as much, this really drains me of a lot of energy, and making back to back trips isn't any walk in the park. I can get you the chest, but you will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm afraid it's impossible for me to do this any sooner."
The Huntsman-in-training released a growl of annoyance, before glaring at the toad suspiciously. After a short stare down between the two, the blond relented, and decided to accept the toad's terms.
"Alright, but just be sure to get it tomorrow."
Fukasaku smiled. He knew that the boy wasn't as stubborn as Jiraiya had often told him, and was glad to have broken through his exterior and convince him without the need of any physical violence.
"Well, just summon me tomorrow around noon, alright? I'll be ready by then."
Naruto was forced to agree, knowing that he had no other options at the moment. But before he could ask any further questions, another massive cloud of smoke burst into the clearing, dying away to show a coughing blond, now alone in the field.
The blond slowly got up from the ground where he had been sitting for the past hour or so, and walked towards one of the large wooden posts in the middle of the clearing.
He thought of all his friends, all his precious people back in Konoha, everyone in the entire village, was dead. He thought of the Akatsuki. They didn't have any reason to go after the village, other than the fact that he had been there. And he hadn't even been there to help fight them off. He was supposed to protect those people, and yet he failed. Naruto screamed in anger, before punching the post. Then he punched it again. And again. And again, as the wood began chipping off and his hand grew bloody. He continued screaming in rage, and his volley of punches continued, until he suddenly felt a large boost of energy and rage flow through him. The next punch that he threw at the post broke the entire thing into two, before the upper half flew back and smacked against a tree, causing a reasonable dent in the tree.
The ninja was greatly surprised at this, but he then noticed that he was seeing red, literally. His vision seemed to be tinted a mild shade of crimson, and the anger inside him only grew as he felt the Kyuubi's distinct chakra flow within him.
"Kid, calm down, you're calling too much attention towards yourself. Sooner or later, somebody's going to notice all the malevolence you're releasing. Just take a deep breath and calm down, before you kill someone."
The Huntsman-in-training released a low growl, but knew that the fox was right. He would only be attracting attention to himself if he released too much malevolence, so he slowly focused on calming down. He felt the chakra receding, as the rage suddenly died out completely, replaced with great fatigue. Naruto was only thankful that the grounds were at the edge of the village, and there weren't any guard posts around this part, otherwise he would have definitely been noticed.
After allowing himself to regain a little energy, he decided to head home. He didn't feel like training right now, and just wanted sometime alone, so ramen wasn't an option.
But just as he started walking in the direction of his apartment, he heard a primal growl from behind him. He spun around, expecting to see a stray dog or maybe a Faunus, but instead he saw a large hulking mass, with glowing red eyes and fur that seemed to be as dark as an infinite hole, with no beginning or ending. The creature had white bony armour covering his face and his limbs, as walked forth on all four limbs, as if it were a canine going in for the kill.
Naruto quickly recognised the beast. It was a creature of the Grimm. And he knew that they were especially dangerous creatures, and he would need to keep his wits about him. He slowly pulled his sword off from his back, before, moving back to draw the Grimm further in.
That backfired, as the monster lunged at him, it's paws aimed at his head. The blond raised Galuchat to block the blow, and that was the only thing that saved his head. Still, he was sent flying a few metres, before he used Galuchat to stick to the ground and run back at the Grimm. But what had shocked him was that when he raised his sword to block the the attack, Galuchat did not gain any Aura from the beast. Aura was something that existed in everything that exhibited signs of life, and that Grimm seemed pretty lively.
As the Huntsman-in-training charged, the animal growled again, but much louder this time. Naruto was ready to bet that the growl had sounded throughout the entire village. Great, know he'd have to worry about people panicking. The blond brought his sword down at the beast, but it raised its hand in defence. That was not a wise move, for Galuchat slashed against its front paw, leaving it mutilated and unusable. The Grimm roared in agony, as it began lunging at the boy in pure rage, forcing him to stay on his toes to dodge all the strikes.
Naruto jumped away into a tree, before shooting at the beast with Galuchat. However, the Grimm's thick hide seemed to make it impervious to regular dust bullets, and the blond could not afford the time to load a cartridge right now.
The beast rammed into the tree, and the ninja barely jumped onto another before the previous one fell. This gave Naruto an idea. If he could trap the Grimm under a tree, he'd be able to take it down, no problem. And he had a pretty good idea of how he'd trap it.
The creature began ramming into the tree that Naruto had shifted onto. The blond used chakra to stick himself to the branch, while he saw the trunk growing weaker. At last, with one mighty ram, the Grimm broke the trunk, and tree began careening in the opposite direction.
But before it could go too far, Naruto jumped off the branch with all his force, kicking the entire tree into the direction of the beast. The creature roared as he tried to escape the trunk, but it fell on top of his midsection, trapping him under it. The blond cautiously approached the beast, as it continued roaring and struggling to free itself. The Huntsman-in-training raised his sword, before bringing it down upon the creature, completely severing it's neck, causing it to turn into a black mist before disappearing.
Naruto heaved a sigh of relief, before he placed Galuchat back on its holder on his back. That had not been as easy as he thought it would, especially after the effects of the Kyuubi's chakra.
Suddenly, he heard a clap behind him, quickly followed by more. He turned around, and his eyes widened as he saw a small crowd, composed of the village guard and some civilians, standing there, and cheering him on. As the volume of the cheers escalated, Naruto only thought one thing.
'This was not supposed to happen.'
Author's Note :
Hey guys and gals! Here I am, so much earlier than expected, all ready with a new chapter. I worked on this one, and I hope that you all will enjoy it. I'm just really tired at the moment, so I don't exactly know what to ask of you guys.
I know I promised you guys a chapter without a fight, but I included this to make more sense here, plus I wanted Naruto to have his first actual interaction with the Grimm.
Also, just a bit of a side note here, but there will not be much interaction between Naruto and the shinobi world, if any at all. He'll go to Mt Myoboku a bit, but that's about it.
I guess some of you might want to know a bit more about the fight between Naruto and the Grimm. Now, the Grimm, as I said above, is an old and experienced one, as proven by his bone armour. It will be much stronger than novice fighters such as those that Naruto is facing in the Tournament (at this point). That is why this fight took longer than the previous fights. Plus, the Kyuubi's chakra really does drain Naruto of his juice.
Well, I guess that is a wrap. If you people have any questions or stuff, please leave that either in the reviews, or shoot me a PM. I'll see you guys next time, with another chapter.
Peace Out
Kofukuna Shi No Kami