Lunar Eclipse
by Random Writer 46
Summary: Three clans, one destiny, and one boy to change it all. (KOF Elements and characters included.)
Chapter 1: The Ninetails Scroll
"Take this." Kyo threw the scroll at the foxboy. Naruto caught it in his arms, looking at it strangely. "Let me ask ask you something. Have you ever felt a strange feeling within you, like something's burning?"
"Y--Yeah..." Naruto stuttered, surprised that somebody he had just met would give him something like this. "But it comes once every three days and it only lasts for a bit, so I don't pay much attention to it." Then Naruto got suspicious. "How do you know all this stuff about me? Who are you? Are you Akatsuki?"
Kyo raised an eyebrow. The boy seemed pretty knowledgeable about the various kinds of missing-nin out there. The Akatsuki were the strongest missing-nins around. None of the other nukenins dared cross their path, well, except for a certain daring few. Kyo had come across them more than once, and it was safe to say that he was lucky he escaped with his life. The Akatsuki disliked missing-nins that weren't their own, after all...
"No, I'm not." Kyo said. It would be hard to phrase the next sentence... He wanted the kid to trust him after all. There would be no way to train the Uzumaki survivor if he didn't trust him. But then, how could he tell the kid about the relationships between their clan, and not get to what happened to them? "I don't know you, but I know about your clan."
Naruto felt as if something had shocked him. It was understandable after all, he couldn't quite believe it. He didn't want to believe, to have his hopes rise just for it to prove a lie. After all, even if it was true... how could some stranger he met in a ramen bar know anything about his clan? It was too coincidental to be true. But there was something in the nukenin's eyes that made him want to believe.
"I have a clan?" The fuzzy-haired genin yelled.
"I'm not surprised you don't know." The brown-haired missing-nin said, gritting his teeth. "Your clan is very protective of their young. If you're here without parents or guardians or even a bodyguard of any kind, I can tell that you don't know anything about it at all. There are people willing to kill to get their hands on your Bloodline." That much was true... and that was the exactly the reason the downfall of the Uzumaki happened.
"I have a Bloodline!" Naruto yelled. It was too good to be true. There were many clans in Konoha, but most of them didn't have Bloodlines at all, and only inherited special traits and skills from their parents. Like the Aburames and the Inuzuka... They couldn't exactly be called Bloodlines, more like family skills passed on generation from generation.
"Yes, and if what I suspect is true, then you should have no problems activating it. How old are you?" Kyo asked. It wasn't exactly a personal question. He needed to know this information if he wanted to train the kid. By the look of the boy he didn't have much time before his chakra stabilized... That would be a bad thing, as the Bloodline had to be activated before the chakra system finishes changing. Otherwise the Bloodline would rip his body apart.
"I have a clan and a Bloodline!"The genin was still in disbelief.
SMACK.
"Yes, you do. Now shut up and answer." Kyo was losing patience. And he was still shaken from finding an Uzumaki survivor, and there was no way he was just going to let this opportunity go. A short-term visit had just turned into a long-term stay... Maybe he could get a job here as a shinobi. The Leaf would be excited to get their hands on a new Bloodline after all, and since he didn't commit any crimes during his time as a nukenin he should be fine...
"Itai---!" The genin whined. His left hand was tightly clutched around the scroll.
"Well? I'm waiting." The nukenin said.
"Alright, alright! I'm twelve!" Naruto yelled. "What's it to you?"
Kyo let out a sigh of relief. That was good. If he was one year older then it would be too late to activate the Magatama, and by the time he hit sixteen years of age he would die as the powerful sacred chakra tries to get out of his body. Perfect.
"Then you're overdue for your Bloodline activation. Read the scroll, it'll tell you everything you know." Ordered Kyo. "That scroll should teach you the basics of your Bloodline, as well as any miscellaneaous information you might want to know."
"Al--Alright..." Naruto said. His mind was still reeling from the information. But could you really blame him?
"Meet me here tomorrow after you've finished reading it. I can tell you have a lot of questions. I'll answer them tomorrow. How does two-thirty in the morning sound?" Kyo asked nonchalantly as Naruto's jaw hit the floor. HE took a look at his watch. Three in the afternoon.
Just then a thought hit Kyo. Where was he going to get the money for food and everything before he was to try and become a Leaf-nin? Damnit... He was going to have to ask the old man for help again...
"What? Why two!"
"Cause its gonna take four hours to activate your Bloodline. And that's the best time window. Not many people will be awake by then, and your Bloodline is weakest during dawn and twilight, so you'll give off the least chakra. Only people looking for the chakra that your family emits will find it. Alright, that's it. You got all that, right?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Good, meet me here tomorrow then."
Kyo turned to leave, and just as he was about to, Naruto called from behind him.
"Wait! Why are you helping me?"
Tons of reasons ran through Kyo's head, chasing each other forwards and backwards. Because it was a way of redeeming his fallen clan? Because what had happened four thousand years ago? Because of the event that had bonded the four clans? Because of the promise that the leader of the Kusanagis had made with the Uzumakis all those years ago?
"I'm just trying to right a wrong, that's all." The nukenin said nonchalantly.
And with that, a flash of heat and light came out of nowhere. The sudden brightness blinded Naruto for a split second. When he had put his arms down, Kyo was gone.
Naruto studied the scroll for a bit more, before splitting his face in a wide grin. He had better get home fast if he wanted to read the scroll through and still get enough time to sleep before meeting that guy again in the morning!
Kyo sat on the branch of a large tree in the forests of Konoha. He sighed. He had been putting this call off for six years, but now he knew there was no choice anymore. He either did this or he got screwed, and all chance of redemption for the clan goes out the window. Of course, there was the chance since this had to do with the honour of the clan that the old man wouldn't make too much of a fuss about it. But then again, the old man was always so damn unpredictable.
He took out a black cellphone from his pocket, and flipped the top open. It was emblazoned with falme designs, and on its back was the insignia of the Kusanagi clan, the sun. Scrolling down the list of numbers, he found the one he wanted and clicked the talk button.
After a series of dial tones, the phone on the other side was picked up and a gruff voice replied.
"Kusanagi residence, who's talking?"
Kyo sighed. Good thing to know that the old man hadn't shuffled off the mortal coil yet.
"Hey, dad." The nukenin nonchalantly said. The voice on the other end sputtered for a bit. Kyo grinned, good to know he could still piss that old bastard off. But then again, what would the old man say after six years of not keeping in touch.
"K-Kyo, is that you?" Saisyu Kusanagi called into the phone, and Kyo had to shy away from the cell phone. Oh well, he knew a surefire way of pissing his old man off. Unless he got over that already. But then again, it wasn't a really good idea to be pissing off a guy you wanted money from, right?
"Yeah, had any other sons when I was away?" Kyo called cheekily into the reciever, and the voice on the other end sputtered again. Actually, that was really amusing. Who knew after years of estrangement he would actually be happy that he was talking to his idiot of a father again?
"You idiot! Stupid brat! Calling your father now after running away for six years!" Saisyu roared into the telephone, and Kyo had to move the cellphone way from his ear again. Talking to his dad was a hazard actually. Who knew? Maybe after ten calls or so he could actually become deaf.
"Quiet down, old man. I wouldn't have if I didn't need to. You know I hate dealing with you and the rest of the clan. There's something urgent going on here, pops." Kyo said. "I found a survivor of the Uzumaki clan."
There was silence on the other end for a while.
"Really...?"
"Yeah, no kidding." Kyo said. "He seems exactly like how you described the clan. Spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, what else."
The old man on the other end seemed to regain his gusto.
"What's his name?" The clan head of the Kusanagis roared. Kyo had been ready for this and had already shifted the position of the cell. This was starting to remind him why exactly he hadn't kept in touch. Oh well.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"N--Naruto?"
"Yeah... Hey, do you know something I don't, pops?"
"Hmph, I guess running away for six years wouldn't have taught you anything about respect to your elders." Saisyu huffed. "And about the Uzumaki kid you found... I'm not going to tell you until I'm sure."
"Whatever. I need some money, old man."
"The first time you call me in six years and you ask for money! I guess it's true what they say about teenagers..."
"Look, dad. I wasn't planning on staying in this place long. But now that I found this kid everything's going to change. So I need some cash."
"Fine, I'll transfer it to your old account. You're still using it, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks, pops." Kyo said, glad that that the old man hadn't made a fuss. "Hope you know I appreciate this."
"You'd better."
"See ya now."
"Wait!"
"Yeah?"
"How am I supposed to contact you? Leave me a cell number or something!"
"Oh, oh yeah." Kyo said his number as Saisyu scribbled it down.
"Alright then, contact me if anything else happens. Where are you?"
"Konoha."
"That place? Are you sure that's right? If I know the Uzumakis..." Saisyu paused. "Actually... You know what? That fits with my theory."
"So, when are you going to tell me about this so-called theory of yours?"
"When it's done, brat. If you're going to teach that kid about the Bloodline... Wait, you are going to do that, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. I haven't abandoned the clan, pops. I've just abandoned the village, that's all."
"Fine. But if you want to teach the kid, you might want to become a Konoha ninja. I can't keep sending you money, you know, and people would get suspicious if you hang around too long."
"Yeah, that's what I was planning."
"I've heard about the Godaime Hokage. She's a terrible gambler--"
"She?"
"Yes, she. Now shut up. Here's a tip. Make a bet with her. I can almost guarantee she'll lose, so don't worry about it if you still have that cursed luck of yours."
"Yeah. Chill, pops."
"Alright, stay in touch."
"No worries."
Kyo snapped the phone shut. That had actually gone better than he had expected. He jumped off the branch and fell to the grassy ground gracefully. He'd wander around a bit more looking at the sights before going to the bank -- the old man wasn't one to be quick no matter how loud he roared.
The moment Naruto did when he got back home was to bypass his deathtrap of a door and into the bedroom, where he promptly plopped down on top of the unmade bed and opened the scroll.
"So, let's see what you've got." The fuzzy-haired genin said to the scroll. Taking a deep breath, he skimmed the page. The scroll had actually been longer than he had thought, and the writing was small, so there was a lot of information contained within it.
This is the Ninetails scroll. If you are reading this, it means you are either a Uzumaki or a Kusanagi. This scroll is meant to hand down precious techniques of the Uzumaki clan in case anything ever happens. In these pages, techniques that are meant to be used with the Uzumaki Bloodline, the sacred flames 'Magatama', will be described.
Naruto skimmed the next few parts, which told of the safety precautions and things that shouldn't be done with the Magatama. Well, most of it was pretty obvious. The 'don't you ever fucking light a light in the middle of a large room full of gunpowder' was a prime example. Well, there were a few that he had to read over twice, such as the 'if you ever start wearing red hats and jackets with a star on the back and spouting bad english commit seppuku'. He was starting to wonder whether this scroll was written by a sane guy before he reached the technique list. It immediately destroyed any disrespect he had for the creator of the scroll.
It was neatly organized in alphabetical order, the amount of chakra consumed was also written, though it was in a type of measurement unfamiliar to him, there were lists of combos, as well as what might be the best time to start trying to learn a move, techniques that worked against particular Bloodlines (it warned him to stay away from the Forest Tentacles Bloodline from the Hidden Grass, though after reading through what they could do Naruto was inclined to agree), there were plenty of fighting styles suggested and even information on where to find more information about his clan.
And so the foxboy read, almost all throughout the night.
"Damnit, where the hell is he!"
Naruto was pissed, he had woken up at exactly two twenty, had panicked when he had realized what time it was, dressed up in record speed, and dashed all the way over here for what! He didn't want his new sensei to turn out to be another Kakashi...
Suddenly, a large snore attracted his attention. Turning to the source of the sound, he saw a tuft of brown hair poking out from a large blanket, and the funny thing was -- the whole thing was on a large branch of a tree. Naruto stood, dumbfounded for a few seconds before a large snore penetrated through the clearing again and snapped the foxboy out of his stupor.
"Hey! Hey!" The blonde genin called. "What the hell are you doing, you lazy sensei?"
"Snnnrk..." The sleeping Kyo rolled over, miraculously not falling off the branch for some reason. Naruto could tell from the way that he breathed and the way that his eyes were closed that he was actually asleep. That was one of the basic things they had taught in the ninja academy.
Curses, the enemy was strong. Well, he was going to have to use some stronger ammunition then.
"Hey! WAKE UP DAMNIT!" The foxboy yelled. The trees in the clearing shook and the earth trembled. Leaves fell from the green tufts above. It was nowhere as strong as Sakura-chan's shriek yet though... But hey, he was still practicing, right? Anyway, the Banshee's Cry no Jutsu was meant to be for females, with their higher voices... For some funny reason the pink-haired girl never thought of using it as an offensive weapon. That was funny, Naruto thought, wasn't it pretty obvious from the Sound-nins that sound could be used as a weapon?
Kyo sat up groggily, rubbing at his eyes. He stared at Naruto, as if he couldn't figure out why exactly the young boy standing in front of him was so pissed, or why he was even there at all. Shaking his head and blinking the sleep away from his eyes, he took a water canteen from inside his jacket and sprayed it on his hands. At Naruto's curious gaze, he quickly mashed it over his face. It seemed to wake him up.
"Alright, alright. No need to be so loud. Why'd you wake me up so early in the morning?" Kyo yawned. Sure, sleeping in rough places had become a habit during his tryst as a nukenin, as well as waking up early in the morning to get away from hunter-nins, but he was having a really good dream, damnit! Now he couldn't even remember what it was about...
"So we can get to the Bloodline awakening thing, hello?" Naruto was in disbelief, what kind of half-assed sensei had he gotten himself? "Remember?"
"Right, right... But why so early in the morning?"
"ARRRGGHH!"
"Just kidding. Alright, then..." Kyo suddenly seemed completely aware. His eyes took on an evil glint that would've sent Itachi and Orochimaru screaming in fear if they had seen it. Oh yeah, he was going to get this kid good for ruining his nap time. "Since you're so ready, I'll give it to you. It might hurt a little bit though."
"Right..." Unluckily, Naruto hadn't caught the glint in his new sensei's eyes. If he did, he might have started seriously thinking about joining the Akatsuki. "Oh yeah, sensei?"
"Hmm?" Kyo replied intelligently. He hadn't had his morning coffee yet, and he was hurriedly trying to remember all the details about the Ritual of Blood Awakening. Oh, it didn't have to be perfect. Luckily the ritual was pretty forgiving compared to other sealing and unsealing rituals. If he made a few handseals wrong or got some of the written work wrong, it still wouldn't matter, the kid would just start out with a lower amount of Magatama chakra, that's all. Didn't matter much, if the kid was going to work under him then he would train the kid's Magatama to its fullest. No question.
Then he found himself in the real world again, listening to the boy talk.
"What should I call you?"
"Well, uh..." The brown-haired nukenin was confused. There hadn't been many people, let alone teachers that he looked up to... Even his old academy teacher had grown tired of his constant disrespect. "I guess Kyo-sensei would do."
"Right! Let's do this, Kyo-sensei!"
Naruto was still blissfully ignorant.
Kyo was demonically happy.
The sealing ring looked awesome, that was the only way that Naruto could describe it. When Kyo-sensei had pulled out a brush and a can of red paint fifteen minutes ago and told him to go play in the woods or something he did not expect to come back to something like this.
On the ground was two circles, and in the middle of the smaller circle was the design of a flame, stylized and curvy. There were lines trailing away from the flame in the center, nine of them, to be exact. Plenty of kanji was inscribed on the tails, though they were arranged in a fashion unlike any that Naruto had ever seen.
Kyo-sensei had seemingly finished, and had stepped back to admire his work.
"Wow... Sensei, that's awesome!" Naruto cried. "Does it look that cool all the time when you do that awakening ritual thing?"
"Huh, this?" Kyo asked, pointing at the stylized flame and the way that the nine lines twisted and turned. They were unbelievably awe-inspiring, and the way they were positioned seemed to give them a sense of motion. As if the flame was really burning, and as if the lines were really moving. "Nah, that's just my inner artist talking."
Naruto was speechless for a second.
"Is it alright to do that!" Naruto cried. "I mean, aren't rituals and stuff supposed to be precise!"
Kyo huffed.
"Alright, think about it this way." The brown-haired nukenin said. "These guys are your ancestors, they designed this ritual. Do you think you could stand doing the same boring thing over and over again? Your clan has always been weird."
"Oh." Naruto said. "Oh yeah, what's those kanji say?"
"These?" Kyo asked, pointing at the symbols. "These aren't kanji, they're hanzi. They're the writing form of an ancient language called Chinese. The language we speak nowadays, Japanese, was derived from it. Not many people know how to speak it or write it now, but it's very important in rituals and stuff."
"Oh, are you going to teach it to me?"
"Maybe, I'll think about it." Kyo laughed, and pointed at the flame symbol that stood in the middle of the rings. "Alright then... Sit down over here, cross-legged. I'm gonna have to do a few things to make sure nothing goes wrong."
Naruto did as he was told. The brown-haired checked the symbols, did a few seals, and used his brush to add a few extra symbols, before he was finally satisfied. Walking up to Naruto's back, he quickly used the brush to swipe a character over the orange fabric. Ignoring Naruto's yelp, he quickly put the brush back in the can, before performing a few seals.
"You ready then? Let's go!"
He slammed his hand ontop of the symbol that he had just created, and Naruto felt himself shake from the impact. the red character seemed to multiply, and the lines that made up the character spread and vanished into nothingness. Suddenly, the red symbols on the ground glowed with an unearthly light, and a sudden wind seemed to blow from the ground. Naruto could feel the power swelling within him.
"Tian shang de shen xian, wo de zu xian, hai yo wo zi ji... zai zhe shi ke qing ni men gei wo li liang! Zai zhe shi ke, qing ni men rang wo ba zhe ge li liang... gei hui ta de zhen zheng de zhu ren! (1)" Kyo cried, in a language that Naruto didn't understand. Suddenly, Naruto could feel flames erupting from inside of him. It engulfed him, and sent shockwaves throughout his body. The ground split and cracked, and the grass that he sat on withered. The atmosphere was ethereal.
"Suo kai! (2)" Kyo cried, and everything blew up. The brown-haired nukenin was blown back by the force of the power that he had unleashed -- and watched, stunned. His father had never told him about this before! The power that the young man had collected and stored inside of him, had burst out into physical form. Flames covered his body.
But the most amazing thing wasn't that.
Nine flaming tails encircled him, each moving in its own way, swishing and swooping through the air, they seemed to protect the boy, allowing nothing to get close to him. Naruto was deep in a trance, his eyes wide awake but seeing nothing, and his mouth slightly open. He was breathing -- that was good to know.
Kyo furrowed his eyesbrows... had he screwed something up?
Brat... Wake up!
Wha... what? Where the hell am I?
Naruto found himself falling, falling through the darkness. There was no end in sight, and the only thing that he could see at all was himself. That was strange. Usually when everything else was hidden in darkness so were you. He kept falling... falling... It was all he could do was to concentrate on that voice talking to him.
It's me!
K... Kyuubi!
Who else could it be! You're inside your mind again. Seems like that ritual the Kyo brat did didn't account for my presence when he did that ritual... Something's going wrong.
What do you mean! Am I going to die?
No, you idiot! This ritual is definitely powerful, and quite dangerous if done wrong, but the brown-haired rat did well. So even though my presence affected it, it's still doing fine. It's just the side-effects that you have to worry about.
Damnit, bastard fox! Explain!
The ritual attempts to pull out a special chakra from within you. This chakra, when given form, is unlike any other chakra in the way that it attempts to mimic the movement and properties of flames, except its heat and power is in a different league from usual flames. I'm familiar with both of your clans, the Kusanagi and the Uzumaki...
What! Why didn't you ever tell me, you bastard!
Because I only made the link a little while ago. I've got millenias of knowledge crammed within my brain, punk. You think I can remember everything clearly all the time!
Aha! So you're senile!
Naruto could imagine the giant fox bristling.
Forget it. Let me get back to my explanation.
Sure.
Thank you. Now, imagine, the ritual is meant to pull out any foreign chakra that hides within your body, and most of the Uzumaki clan members only have one, the Magatama. Now imagine, the ritual finds another, even more foreign chakra in your body, a chakra that had been sealed inside of you since the day you were born, but not a part of you...
Oh my god, it's going to try and suck your chakra out.
Exactly, that's not good.
Why? I thought you would want to get free after being trapped inside of me for so long.
You think it's that easy? Remember, the ritual pulls chakra, not soul. Each person's soul is sustained by their chakra, and that means if my chakra goes, then my soul would usually die and go to heaven or hell. But since this seal is here, instead of going to heaven or hell, it's oblivion for me.
And what do you want me to do? I've wanted you dead for a long time now, 'member?
...I forgot to mention the soul explosion backlash that'll rip your body apart.
Oh look, I'm suddenly motivated. What do you want me to do?
Nothing really, just to warn you. When the next wave of chakra hits, don't tense up. If you do, it'll be the end of us all.
No pressure.
And Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for it. Suddenly, he saw it below him. A pool of red chakra, and he was falling faster and faster. He'd just have to take the fox's word then, oh well, not like the stupid kitsune could actually do anything to harm him, after all. Taking a look up, he saw the same characters he had seen on the ground in the real world.
He closed his eyes, and braced for impact.
No reviews yet? This is making me sad...
(1) Gods above, my ancestors, and myself... in this moment, give me strength! And let me give this power... back to its rightful owner!
(2) Lock open!