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Act I - Beyond The Horizon
Chapter 13 - Beyond the Horizon
When Naruto woke up, all he could feel was pain.
Were the white-coats rough on him again? Had they tried some kind of experimental, foreign extract again? The last time, it felt funny in the beginning but then grew into torturous agony. Or maybe he'd made a foolish comment and drawn the Master's ire? That didn't seem right. He'd always made it a point to remain quiet, staying away from others, never calling attention to himself. Otherwiseā otherwiseā
He twitched. It had been a long time since he could remember hurting this much.
With a slight cough, Naruto opened his eyes. He was lying flat on a hard table, his wrists and legs bound on either end with metallic bands. Then, he registered the girl standing next to himā girls. Tayuya. And Karin.
But wasn't Karin justā¦ a dream?
Or maybe it wasn't.
"Naruto," Tayuya murmured, her voice broken and reeking of desperation. Though her clothes were fresh, she looked like she'd crawled for hours through hell. Had she taken a bath? Changed? Her usual perfume was missing, so no bath then.
He met her gaze and felt the soft touch of her fingers on his arm.
SCHEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PREY
NAME TAYUYA
SEX FEMALE
[Discerning Chakra Pathway Systemā¦]
[Preliminary Scan: Complete]
RESULTS
Current Yin Chakra Content 247
Current Yang Chakra Content 76
YIN RELEASE
Sound 45%
Genjutsu 23%
NATURE TRANSFORMATION
Fire 0%
Wind 0%
Lightning 0%
Earth 0%
Water 0%
Thatā¦ is comprehensive.
Naruto paused, taking a moment to realize that he shouldn't have, in fact, been able to see any of that information in the first place. Not because it was an invasion of his friend's personal privacy, but because it should have been impossible. He never knew of these numbers before.
And yet, the information was floating in front of his eyes, in the form of a semi-translucent scroll.
So why wasn't Tayuya snatching it from the air and tearing it to shreds for revealing all that to him?
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked instead.
"There's something in front of my face," he replied slowly. "It looks like a scroll."
"A scroll?"
"A scroll," Naruto asserted. He made a motion to raise his hand, but stopped as he strained against the manacles holding his wrists. "Um, can someone get me out of this."
"Just a secā"
"No!" Karin forcefully interjected. Naruto frowned, wondering what made the girl who'd practically draped herself all over him suspicious all of a sudden. She then shoved Tayuya out of the way, placing herself between them.
During the motion, her nails absentmindedly brushed against him, and a new scroll replaced the first one.
SCHEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PREY
NAME KARIN UZUMAKI
SEX FEMALE
[Discerning Chakra Pathway Systemā¦]
[Preliminary Scan: Complete]
RESULTS
Current Yin Chakra Content 247
Current Yang Chakra Content 552
YIN RELEASE
[Uncertain] 75%
Genjutsu 3%
NATURE TRANSFORMATION
Fire 0%
Wind 0%
Lightning 0%
Earth 2%
Water 7%
Just what was causing this? His eyes strayed down to the new elaborate seal on his stomach.
Ryujin.
Orochimaru had described it as his masterpiece. His pathway to becoming God. The answer to all his problems. Was it this new seal that could discern all this information and display it in the form of these scrolls?
A mere glancing blow was enough to acquire information that would normally require multiple chakra-papers and tests to confirm. And such precise quantification and percentages? It was mind-boggling. He'd read about ocular techniques performed by clan members of certain bloodlines that could perceive chakra differentlyā the Sharingan of the Uchiha, the Byakugan of the Hyuga, the Ketsuryugan of the extinct Chinoike.
Did Orochimaru construct his seal on similar lines?
ā¦
Was it odd that he wanted to thank the Master for this gift, however unwillingly imparted upon him?
Karin made a throaty sound that broke him from his reveries. She was staring at him calculatively, while Tayuya was glaring at her fellow redhead, looking like she wanted nothing more than to violently wring her little neck.
"Listen you fuckingā" Tayuya began, only to stop midway as she peeked at Naruto.
"We don't know if that's truly him," Karin reasoned. "The Blackā I mean, Orochimaru was inside the seal and he wanted to take over Blā Naruto. You saw the amount of power that entered his body. How do we know for sure that it's him and not Orochimaru?"
Naruto's eyes widened. So it hadn't been a dream after all. The Master had bit him on the neck, and he'd met that strange woman who actually turned out to be the Nine-Tailed Fox in disguise. He could remember allowing the Fox's chakra to saturate his very being, allowing him to have Power at his very fingertips, along with the profound joy that came from annihilating theā
He lightly shivered. No, he did not want to think like that.
Ever.
But, if all that was real, thenā
Naruto glanced around the room. Almost everything had either been burnt black or turned to ash. Or both. There was a twisted mass of flesh and bone lying on one side, a putrid stench emanating from it. Several other bodies lay on the other side, and one of them looked feminine based on the body structure.
He paused as the memories violently returned to his mind.
It was that womanā Kapura? Sakura? Pakura? Yes, that was itā Pakura. She was the one that Mastā Orochimaru had respected. The one with that rare bloodline, Scorch Release.
What was that again?
SCORCH RELEASE
Net Quantity ā 8%
A bloodline Nature Transformation obtained through Voluntary Retractile Grappler Activation. Generates an explosive amount of heat on a small surface area with superior dessicator properties.
Augments Fire Release by 3%
Augments Wind Release by 3%
Another scroll. Only this time, it provided information based on what he was thinking about. Perhaps it was similar in function to a self-inflicted genjutsu, such that only he could see and interact with it.
"Naruto?" Tayuya asked again. "Is itā is it really you?"
Karin rolled her eyes. "That's your bright idea on how to identify him properly?"
Tayuya growled. "Fine. Naruto, tell me something about me only you would know."
Something only he would know? "The last time we met, I asked you to run away with me."
"See?" Tayuya looked at Karin, victory in her eyes and a rosy blush on her cheeks. "It is him."
"That's assuming Orochimaru doesn't have access to his memories," Karin shot back, unwilling to back down.
"Yeah, because Lord Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, has nothing better to do than dip his head into the memories of a boy, just so he could fool you into believing he was Naruto instead of someone else. If it was really the snake fucker, he'd have casted a jutsu, or better yet, sliced your throat before you could say the word 'unfair'."
"Maybe," Karin relented, "but those aren't ordinary manacles." She pointed to the ones tying him to the table. "Those have a Five-Element Seal inscribed onto each one, and suppress the person wearing them from using any chakra at all. Maybe that's why he wants us to remove them."
"And why would Orochiā"
"It's just better to be safe than soā"
"Um," Naruto interjected, "if all you want is proofā"
"Shut up, Naruto!" they both snapped at him.
He wisely decided to keep quiet as the two girls then proceeded to give each other a death stare, as if blaming the other for repeating what they themselves had said.
"Karin," he tried again, "you told me earlier that you could sense me, right? So sense me. Tell me if I'm me."
The girl in question bit her lip, uncertain. "I did. I'm still doing it, too. You're still you, and there's a lot of blue in you, but there's also black. Lots of black. Not a dark black, but sort of a purple-black. It's hungry, and it wants to come out and feed. I'mā I'm not sure how much of that is you and how much isā"
"Orochimaru," Naruto finished with a defeated sigh.
"Wait, what about the fire?" Tayuya asked. "It was raw and corrosive. That was the Kyuubi's chakra, right?"
Karin frowned, but nodded. "If the Kyuubi's chakra was able to escape from him, thenā" She glared at the manacles, as if they were the cause of all her problems. "Fine, we'll let him loose. But if he turns out to be Orochimaru hidden in Naruto's body and I end up dying, I'm blaming you."
With an unladylike snort, Tayuya moved ahead and unclasped the manacles. As soon as his left arm was free, Naruto felt something powerful shift and contort with him, like it wasā
Retractile Grapplers set to [Active].
"Tayuya, get back!" he called out, panicking. "Somethingā something's happening!"
She yelped in slight fear, but leapt back instantly. Karin, on the other hand, had four pairs of crimson chains erupt out of her and stand guard. Naruto clenched his fists, anxiety gripping him. His left arm slowly began to change.
"Something isā trying toā ughh!"
His left hand exploded into dozens of black ribbons that flailed around like tentacles. They danced in the air as they dashed toward Tayuya, but she instantly leapt further to the right as Naruto pulled his arm to the left, away from her. The ribbons smashed into a nearby wall, before crumbling into motes of energy.
Retractile Grapplers missed Prey.
"She's not prey! Stop attacking her!"
Retractile Grapplers set to [Standby].
Naruto blinked. He hadn't actually expected that to work. Did this Ryujin seal take his own judgment into account? It wasn't a far leap if it could anticipate his thoughts and respond accordingly.
"Narutoā"
"Hang on a second," he replied, before focusing on the scroll. "Don't attack anyone like that unless I say so."
Retractile Grapplers set to [Voluntary] by BASE.
What the hell was BASE?
BASE Identity: NARUTO UZUMAKI
"Oh. Uh, thanks."
The mysterious scroll didn't answer him. Instead, his left arm was back to being what it was supposed to be. Fingers and everything.
"What the fuck was that?" Tayuya demanded.
Naruto exhaled with relief. "It's under control. You can open the other one."
"Hold on, who were you talking to?" Karin suspiciously asked. "And you still haven't told us what that was. I don't think opening the other manacle is the right thing to do without knowing what might happen."
He pursed his lips. "You won't believe me even if I told you."
"Try me!" Karin challenged.
Tayuya just looked at him, concerned and afraid in equal measure.
Naruto shrugged, and looked Karin dead in the eyes. "Would you believe me if I told you that the seal on my stomach turns my body into chakra-draining tentacles and shows me various results and statistics in a scroll that only I can see?"
Karin frowned. "Of course not."
"Well, the seal on my stomach turns my body into chakra-draining tentacles and shows me various results and statistics in a scroll that only I can see."
I am free. He thought, sipping at the cup of water, trying to organize his muddled memories. Reddish afternoon sunlight shone through the window, lighting the room. Naruto set the cup aside, checking the new seal on his stomach. He had experimented quite a bit with the mysterious scrolls while sitting down and was beginning to think he had a pretty good idea about how it worked.
Show me my chakra chart.
SCHEMATIC ANALYSIS OF BASE
Total Yin Chakra Capacity 28
Yin Chakra Production Rate 5 / hour
Genjutsu Transformation Efficiency 0%
Total Yang Chakra Capacity 1865
Yang Chakra Production Rate 87 / hour
Nature Transformation Efficiency 11%
NATURE TRANSFORMATION EFFICIENCY EXTENDED VALUES NET EFFICIENCY
Fire 0% +3% from Scorch Release 3%
Wind 17% +3% from Scorch Release 20%
Lightning 5% - 5%
Earth 2% - 2%
Water 0% - 0%
Scorch Release 8% - 8%
A quick reference told him that apart from his unusually high Yang Chakra Capacity, he was almost scraping at the bottom, compared to both Tayuya and Karin. While the former left an empty sheet in Nature Transformation, she was probably a Master in Yin Release, with her skills based on Sound and Genjutsu. Karin on the other hand was a little more well-rounded, with exorbitant values in both Yin and Yang. Compared to himself, both girls were quite literally BOMBS in girl clothing.
Naruto was no shinobi but he was a diligent student. Mr. Yakushi had taught him the importance of history and taught him basic arithmetic. But a System that quantized everything and kept grabbing for more chakra would obviously intend to increase the current values, which meant sooner or later, he'd rise to a comparable level to be of some use to the girls.
Till thenā¦.
Till then he could always use those grapplers to drain chakra out of anyone that tried to harm the girls and gain more values. That much he could always do. It would make him feel horrible and foul and he'd probably want to scratch his own skin off, but if push came to shove, he'd do it.
For Tayuya.
And for Karin.
Speaking of them, Tayuya had gotten him a shirt and a pair of trousers to wear. Apparently, they had found him lying on the table, naked as the day he was born, with a cocoon of viscous energy surrounding him. Between the time they spent watching him and waiting for him to wake up, all their embarrassment at finding him nude had evaporated.
Not that he was going to question it further or anything. Life as a lab rat had given him very little experience about decency and societal norms and traditions. And Tayuya had never really been one to emphasize over societal norms in the first place.
"Oh," Tayuya's voice broke his reverie. Naruto lifted his head and found her walking up to him, "you're sitting here. Think you're ready to leave?"
"Uhā¦ yes, I am," Naruto replied. Honestly, he had never really thought farther than the idea of escaping this place. What they'd do after such a thing came to pass had never troubled his mind.
Hell, it still felt like a dream.
"Where are we going? And how?"
"Land of Waves,' Tayuya explained. "It's an island nation to the south. It's pretty small and I've been there before."
"What if we find other shinobi there?"
Tayuya shook her head. "It doesn't have a shinobi village. And.. It's close to both Konoha and Kiri. Depending on how it turns out, we might go either direction."
Naruto bobbed his head. What did he know about living as an independent outside this place? At least Tayuyaā¦ and even Karin had lived before they had come here. They'd know better.
"Okay," he shrugged. "When do we leave?"
Tayuya scowled and sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulders, "The bimā Karin is scouring for clothes and stuff. The fire burned through half the place so I doubt she'll get anything substantial."
"What about the others?"
Tayuya looked at him. "What others?"
"Guren?"
For a second, a look of terrible frightening rage passed over her face, but then, it faded, and she seemed as affable as ever. "She tried to kill me. I taught her better." She regarded him speculatively, "While your Uzumaki was gathering clothes, I blew up the floor that leads to the dungeons below."
Naruto coughed. "You did what?"
"I blew up the floor that leads to the dungeons below. All those prisoners, including the queen bāGuren is down there. Dying. Maybe even dead. Don't care."
Naruto tried his best to look indifferent instead of appalled. He had seen Anko down there in the dungeon onceā just onceā and even to this date, he refused to see her affable persona as nothing but a mask that she wore to pretend to be normal. He knew that Tayuya was one of the Sound Fourā the ones that Orochimaru had sent for his most difficult missions, so there was always a chance that his best friend was also the same kind of monster he painted Anko to be.
Then his mind brought back images to what he himself had done to Pakuraā intentionally or otherwise. Seeing the woman convulse in agony, with urine and other body fluids gushing out of her while those black ribbons kept feeding upon her chakra reserves like a hungry animalā
He shut his eyes. Yeah, he wasn't going to forget that moment anytime soon. Besides, given everything that had transpired, he was probably a bigger monster than Tayuya and Anko together.
"Whatā¦ will we do now?" He asked.
Tayuya snuggled deeper into his neck and chest. "The Land of Waves has some good ports. Lots of work. I have someone on the inside that has promised me a good offer. If it doesn't work out, I can hire myself out as a mercenary. Theā Karin is supposedly good at healing. She can get a job as a healer or something. You don't need to worry about her."
Naruto casually wondered if Tayuya would maintain her presumptions about the other girl if she knew her stats like he did. He'd probably have to tell her about them sometime.
"I have to worry. You look after me. I look after you. That's how it works. Even for Karin. "
Tayuya scowled. "Why does she have to join us? She's free now, she can go die in a ditch for all I care."
"She helped me earlier," Naruto replied, "and she's kin. Family. An Uzumaki, like my mother."
That got her attention. She lifted her head and cupped his cheeks. "You know who your parents are?"
"Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki," He answered, "I know theā Orochimaru was originally a Konoha shinobi before becoming a missing-nin. Mr. Yakushi told me that. The Nine-Tailed Fox apparently attacked Konoha too. Maybeā¦ maybe my parents were from there as weā what?"
Tayuya was literally staring at his face, her eyes bulged out and her expression filled with shock and appraisal. "What did you say?"
"I said maybe my parents were fromā"
"Not that, the names."
"Oh, MInato Namikaze," He repeated, feeling a little dumb. "And Kushina Uzumaki."
Her face had gone pale, like she had suddenly seen a ghost. That was when he realized it. "Youā you know those names, don't you?"
Tayuya nodded mutely.
"...who are they? Do youā"
But Tayuya had already gotten up and began searching through her requisitioned items. "Where is it? Where isā I know it should be effing someā here," she grabbed something large and thick and way too heavy and slammed it against the table where he was sitting.
"Bingo Book?" He read off the cover. He had heard of these publications before. Apparently they listed the most dangerous ninjas of the Shinobi World and listed them according to the bounties placed upon them, as well as cited any relevant information that could be found on said ninjas.
It was also the reason why most shinobi preferred to kill off witnesses, just in case any of them turned out to be a spy, sending information on them in return for cash to the Bingo Book Makers.
"Not just a Bingo Book," Tayuya repeated with a wild grin. "This is the Bingo Book. The century edition. Has info on all Bingo Book candidates in the past century."
"And what good is that thing apart from being a murder weapon?" Naruto asked, before he quickly caught on, "Wait, are you telling me my parents were in the Bingo Book?"
Tayuya's grin only confirmed his doubts. Then again, he told himself. Someone that Orochimaru respected would naturally be someone great and monstrous.
"Right," he drawled, "let's see what kind of monsters my parents were."
Tayuya's grin became wider. "I know what kind of monsters they were, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you so might as well read it yourself. I thought you were some Namikaze out there but to think you were his sonā"
"Tayuyaā" He tried but the girl was too deep into her hasty search, scouring through pages. "Aha! Here it is," She turned the book in his direction and pointed it with a finger.
"READ!" She replied, her smile brimming with accomplishment.
"What isā¦." Naruto trailed off, as he began reading the contents.
MINATO NAMIKAZE
Yondaime Hokage.
Statusā Deceased.
Infamous for his wiping out a thousand Iwa ninja at the Battle of Kannabi Bridge during the Third Shinobi World War, Minato Namikaze was considered one of the most powerful shinobi in history. During the Third Shinobi World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they encounter him, a moniker shared by one other shinobi in historyā Madara Uchiha, also from Konoha. Namikaze's most spectacular feat was his victory over the Nine-Tailed Fox, following its Sealing into the jinchuuriki Sora, an event that caused his death.
Known Signature Abilities : Hiraishin, Rasengan, Sage Arts.
ā¦
ā¦
"Well?" Tayuya demanded.
Naruto just sat there, stunned. His father wasā¦ a kage? The Fourth Hokage of Konoha? Everything he had read about the Kages of old made them appear like monstrosities that only looked human. People with powers on the level of some minor deities, and capable of wiping out a population of a hundred as easily as they would swat a fly off.
"My fatherā¦ was the Fourth Hokage?"
But then that meantā
"He sealed the Fox in me."
Tayuya nodded. "He did. For whatever reason he did it, he sealed the Fox in you. Though Konoha pretends it has another Nine-Tails jinchuuriki which makes no sense."
"They are lying?"
Tayuya shook her head. "People have seen it. Hell, I have seen it. Sora. The jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails. Terribly powerful. Konoha literally forced Suna to agree to the Trade agreements by demonstrating its power."
Naruto felt his body go numb. Konoha was using its jinchuurikiā fake or notā to strong-arm other nations. Just like the Master was trying to use him to get his Ryujin working. Was this his fate? To be tossed around and be used by people greater than him to serve their purposes? He had thought that escaping the island and this place would have been enough, but now it seemed he was just exchanging one prison with another.
His Dad... Minato Namikaze felt like a powerful man to have sealed the Fox into him. And powerful men were dangerous. His own life experience had taught him that. The history books agreed with that thought as well. If he went to Konoha, would he be used again?
His composure was buckling. Anxiety was gripping him again. Naruto swallowed and took a deep breath but it didn't work. All he could do was wonder what kind of fucked-up world he was about to enter.
"Do youā¦ do you think it'd be a good idea to go to Konoha?"
Tayuya frowned. "I doubt it. I think we should get to the Land of Waves first. Get a grip of everything. Have a place to call home. We will see where it goes from there."
He licked his lips. They felt parched and dry. "When do we leave?"
Tayuya beamed. "Right now."
There was a small dock at the shore of the island's one of two beaches, the one nearest the opening in the stone reefs surrounding the island. Apparently there used to be a small community that lived on the hillside up above the beach maybe a century before, but it had been abandoned after its residents had apparently been driven slowly bonkers by all the dark energy around the hideous energy arising from the core of the island.
Which was kind of why Orochimaru had selected this place for his hidden laboratory.
How did he know? It was one of the few things Guren had told him during the bare moments when she had tolerated his presence and decided to teach him lessons on the Master's greatness.
The ruins of the town were still there, half swallowed by the forest, a corpse being slowly devoured by fungus and moss. Naruto had at times wondered how long he could stay on the damned island before he was bonkers, too.
At least, he'd not have to find that out. For he was leaving this place.
Right now.
"This is how we're going to escape?" Karin asked, skepticism filling her tone. "This thing looks like it'll fall apart if I push it too hard."
The 'thing' in question referred to a small fishing boat, mostly brown with lots of spattered chrome thrown in. It was anchored to the beach and gently moved around in the calm waters around it. It looked old with lots of broken ridges and the walls were chipping off.
It looked exactly like the sort of thing Orochimaru would give someone to make him suffer.
"That's all we have," Tayuya replied, "I can just run across the sea till we get to the other side, and I don't have the time or the energy to teach you two water-walking. So Naruto's gonna sit there and you're gonna use your shibari set to row the boat. I will run along and keep an eye if things run south."
And right then, something stirred beneath the ocean floors and strong waves began to lash against each other. The little boat tossed and turned and hit one of its sides against something tough and developed a thin fracture.
Karin shook her head and sighed. "We're doomed."
Naruto couldn't help himself. He laughed.
"Do you have a better idea?" Tayuya challenged.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Karin gave her an evil smirk, and began to rummage through her bag. After a series of 'oh's' and 'ughs' and 'where did I keep it?', she finally pulled out what seemed like a scroll, with seals drawn upon it. She spread the scroll wide open for them to see.
"That's aā" Tayuya began.
"Summoning contract," Karin explained, "I found this one, and a couple others, when I was ransacking the place."
"And your grand idea is toā¦ what? Try establishing a summons-pact and then pray to the beast to take us out of this place?"
Karin smiled saccharinely. "No, I have already established the contract. I was doing that while you were being all mushy with him."
"Then this boatā" Naruto began.
"I was just trying to make her feel better about herself. I knew she'd come up with a stupid plan so I prepared an alternative."
Yeah. Naruto mused. Between the two of them, things are going to be a real handful.
"Less insults, more action," Tayuya crossed her arms and cocked her head. "Go on. I want to see how this goes. Show us your summon."
Karin smirked and quickly performed the required hand-seals. It was so fast he could barely follow her movements and then BAM! ā
One moment there was nothing. The next, there was a thunderous clap in the air as something appeared out of nowhere. The creature spread its gigantic wings and soared into the sky, leaving a roaring sound in its wake. It did two wide somersaults before diving head-on towards the ground, only to extend its wings out and pause its descent, raising a gale of wind by its actions.
"A hawk," Naruto observed, hiding his head under his hands.
"Garuda," Karin asserted with a smile, "and he's very good at what he does. Garuda, we need a ride out of here."
The hawk let out an ear-splitting screech and slowly descended down to the ground. Naruto could see the bright blobs of dirty yellow atop the background brown fur, giving a very patchy appearance. The creature was easily the size of a horse, its wings easily spanning over twenty feet on either side. It stared at the three of them with its large, beady eyes but Naruto could see a glimmer of familiarity as it glanced at Karin and meted out a soft screech.
"How's that?" Karin demanded, her hands on her hips, her face filled with smugly anticipation.
Naruto eyed Tayuya who rolled her eyes and looked away towards the setting sun, sinking way beyond the horizon. Now that he thought of it, he had always watched the sunrise from the cliff, but never the sunset, believing it as just another omen for the oncoming darkness. But now, it seemed the exact opposite.
The end of the day.
The end of a life as a captive.
There was uncertainty ahead, like the night that was about to come. But like all things, it would perish, and soon, a new sunrise would herald a new day. A new start. A new world awaited them on the other side of the horizon. A beginningā¦
Of a new end.
Editor: Solo Starfish, the best goddamn starfish the world has ever seen.
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