Disclaimer: See the prologue
A/N: Wow, only three weeks since the last chapter!
This has gotta be a record for you...
Actually, it is.
No comment.
Also, I messed up. The Ichiraku owner is only 43. Bleh, no matter. I'll just give him an extra 20 years!
Teuchi: "WHA-A-AT?!"
Don't bother. There's nothing you can do about it.
Teuchi: ::mumbling to himself:: "No respect, that's what you get. No repect..."
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Code-o-rama:
Blah: narration
Blah: emphasis
"Blah": speaking
'Blah': thoughts / mental speech
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All was still within the target's house. Everyone else was already out. 'Perfect!' The kunnoichi thought. Her victim would never know what hit him! She crept along the hall that led to the sleeping quarters, staying within the shadows. There was the door to the target's room. 'Careful, now. Careful...' She reminded herself, slowly sliding the shogi screen aside. Her objective was fast asleep, having surprisingly not moved during his sleep. 'Guess that's why he's so restless when awake...' She mused silently. No matter. Five feet to go now... Four... Three... As she neared her objective, she readied her weapon. Two... One...
"WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD!"
With a yelp, Naruto fell out of bed.
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"Sheesh, Aya-nee! Why'd you have to wake me up like that?" asked Naruto, once he was seated at the breakfast table. Since coming to Hidden Root, he'd been given a much more traditional fare than his usual ramen. In this instance, steamed fish, natto(1)—though why they still bothered trying to get him to eat the foul thing was beyond him—and jook(2).
Ayame, seated across from him, grinned. "I just love teasing my favourite cousin!"
"Shyeah, right. I'm your only cousin, and a second cousin at that," the blonde youth grumbled.
"So? You're still my cousin, and it's my duty as older foster-sibling to make your life a living hell!" The girl that used to pass herself off as a waitress stated imperiously.
'Why the hell did I want a family, again?' Naruto wondered to himself. As he had just finished his meal—natto not-withstanding—and was taking his plates to the sink, Ayame caught him in a brief, yet tender hug as he passed her by. 'Oh, yeah...' He thought as a soft smile came to his lips, 'that's why...'
"C'mon, Naruto! Nanami-baa-san's waiting for us, and you don't want her mad at you for this training..."
The tousle-haired boy shivered at the thought of displeasing his grandmother.
When he had first been introduced to the Tsukikage, leader of Hidden Root Village, he'd approached the situation in his usual manner. Namely, making a pest of himself so people couldn't ignore him. Therefore, the first and most logical step was irreverence towards the figure of authority; in this case, the aged woman in light blue Kage robes sitting at the desk across from him. Thus he'd started things out by not adressing her, but rather the Ichiraku owner who stood at his side, asking him who the 'Baa-san' was. When the old woman opened her mouth, he'd expected an angry statement concerning his impudence, yet instead got:
"Exactly that, Naruto-kun."
"Eh?"
"I am your grandmother, on your mother's side."
It had gone on downhill from there.
His mother, Nakami, had been the Lady Tsukikage's only child. Like a few of the shinobi from Hidden Root, she had elected to join the ranks of the ANBU that was common to both Hidden Leaf and Hidden Root (though the Hokage and those ANBU were the only ones amongst the 'Sun-Siders' that were in the know). There, she had grown close to a fellow ANBU squad-member, Kazama Arashi(3). Eventually, it turned into a mutual love, and with the blessings from their respective leaders, they married, and Nakami was soon with child.
That happiness was short-lived, though, as Kyubi soon started attacking Konoha just as Nakami's pregnancy was coming to turn. On the night of the final defeat of the fox demon, Kazama was killed while helping the yondaime perform the jutsu that eliminated the vulpine menace. Nakami, deep in the throes of labor at the time, weakened drastically upon receiving news of her beloved's death and subsequently died giving birth to Naruto.
When he had questioned his new-found ancestress on the matter of the 'Sun-Siders'' ill-feelings towards him, he had been told that it was not a good idea to be fed all the information at once, and that for the time being he should ponder on what he had already been told. When he came to terms with that, she would pick up the narrative again.
"Naruto-nii-chan!"
He was abruptly brought out of his thoughts as two seven year-olds barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. It was the twins, Yoake and Yuugure, Ayame's younger brothers.
"Come play with us!" They demanded of him in perfect sync.
"Aww, guys!" Naruto whined, "I can't today. I've got special training with granny, and if you keep this up I'm gonna be late!"
The two brown-haired boys gasped in appropriately frightened awe, and hurriedly got off their foster-brother. While a mild-mannered and patient woman at (nearly) all times, when angered Nanami Uzumaki was a force to be reckoned with.
Divested of his two impromptu training weights, Naruto got up, and leaned down towards his two youngest relatives. "Tell you what, though. Soon as we're done, I'll be back home to help you practice your shuriken throwing, OK?"
"Pinkie Promise?" The two younger boys asked, in stereo as always, holding aforementioned digits.
"Pinkie Promise," Naruto assured them, shaking each hand in turn, "Now you two better run back home, and fast!"
"Why?" Was the Dolby Surround question.
"Cuz' I can see your instructor approaching, and he doesn't look too happy with his new hairsty..." Naruto didn't bother finishing as the two pranksters, with a chorused 'eep', had left in a cloud of dust towards the Uzumaki Mansion.
He had to snort at that last. Imagine! Here in Hidden Root, the Uzumaki Clan was one of the most ancient and respected ones, having produced two of the village's three TsukiKage, his grandmother being the one currently in office. When walking the streets of the village, instead of the angry glare that he garnered daily on the surface, here in the bowels of the Earth he got seasy smiles and polite nods of greeting.
Six months of this treatment had done wonders for his diposition. So much so that it had only been a week till he stopped complaining at the exclusively physical training Aya-nee dispensed him with. In retrospect, he had to admit that the training had done wonders for his physical prowess, his Taijutsu and Shuriken and Kunai handling skills now on a par with his foster-sister's. And she was a Special Jounin!
And today, his grandmother would induct him into the use of Hidden Root's special brand of Jutsus, the thought-legendary 'Night' jutsus.
The blonde boy grinned happily as he raced down the street after his foster-sister, towards the TsukiKage's tower.
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"Ready Naruto?" his grandmother asked him seriously.
"Ready." He assured her in a similar tone of voice.
His grand mother nodded to her two companions, her brother Teuchi and his granddaughter Ayame. The three were in a triangle around Naruto, the only illumination in the room coming from the lit candelabra that were disposed behind each of them so their shadows bissected over Naruto's feet.
In perfect synchronisation, the three performed the same set of hand-seals, including the secret 'Bat' seal, known only to this village, and shouted in unison "Kage Yougo!(4)"
Slowly, their feet sunk within their own shadows, as did Naruto's. He was calm though, for he had already been briefed on the process. They would enter the Yami Sekai(5), the only place where you could be formally taught the Night Jutsus, as, in essence, they all relied upon what that world was made of. And to use it, you had to become one with it first...
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(1): Fermented soy beans, and an element of the traditional japanese breakfast. Though nowadays very few japanese actually like the thing.
(2): This one is from North China and Mongolia. Basically, it's rice that has been cooked for so long it has become a homogenous paste. Though the texture is rather odd, it's pretty good. ( Don't ask us how it's pronounced, as we haven't the foggiest. )
(3): I think that's the supposed name of the Yondaime Hokage.
(4): Shadow Merge
(5): Dark World
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Fun Name Facts: 'Ayame' is 'iris' (the flower). 'Nanami' means 'seven seas'. 'Nakami' should mean 'inland sea'. 'Yoake' means 'dawn', while 'Yuugure' stands for 'dusk'.
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Answers to reviews:
Stonebridge: Thanks! I'll try!
Kimba: Aw, gee! You're making me blush! Concerning the yaoi thing: as much as I am a fan of the genre, somehow I find trying to include any kind of pairings in the Naruto universe rather futile. They're only 12 after all! Slight crushes, yes; full-blown sex, I find hard to believe. Besides, it would impede the flow of this particular story!
Nonengel: Well, it wasn't exactly soon, but at least I updated, ne? 'Bout time, too...
Snag: Right smack dab(sp?) beneath Hidden Leaf. It's hidden beneath the roots of those selfsame trees the leaves of which hide Konoha.
Chief316: I'm afraid I'll pick back up on the Naruto continuity in one-and-a-half virtual year's time. I'll try not to be just rewriting the mange from that point on, but I won't promise anything. The original point was to have Naruto go through his adventures, but with a new peculiar jutsu arsenal and a mellowed personality. We'll see how it goes...
Izumi: Ask, and ye shall receive! Albeit with a slight delay.
Dragonsrose4: And here's your update! A fellow fanfic author friend of mine has got this thing for bringing the 'underappreciated secondary characters' into the spotlight, and I guess whatever bug she's got bit me in turn. Not that I'm complaining, I think it's fun!
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Well, that's it for chapter one! Some of Naruto's genealogy revealed-
Though you've probably all already guessed at the other half.
-and the beginning of Naruto's formal training. This chapter was mostly to establish Naruto's familial situation, as well as a little on his life in his new village, which will account for a gradual shift in personnality.
You've said too much, dimwit!
Bah, no-one reads those end-notes anyway!
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See that 'Go' button down there? Press it, and see what happens why dontcha?