"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback - "Talking"/ 'Thinking'
Chapter 15:
As soon as Naruto and Tayuya left the underground stairways of the Uzukage Tower, Naruto went and checked out on the people who were currently leaving in the ruins of Whirlpool.
They spent a while, talking and making plans for the future, and how they are going to be rebuilding Whirlpool.
Naruto gave a scroll full of money, to Tayuya, and told her to use the money to start with the rebuilding. He also told her that, while he is out there searching for the Fuinjutsu books and scrolls, he leaves her as a second in charge of everything, with the blood clone he plans to make, being the first in charge.
Once the starting plans were made, Naruto created a blood clone, which he tasked with cleaning up the ruins of Whirlpool, as well as with burying all the remaining corpses which belonged to the Uzumaki Clan, and all the other minor clans, who lived in Whirlpool. The blood clone will also have to take care of the corpses and the cleaning in all the other locations all over the Land of Whirlpools which have been inhabited during the siege.
With that taken care of, Naruto left the Land of Whirlpools and went back to traveling, during which, he plans to not only search for the Fuinjutsu he will learn, but to also obtain new forms of power, if possible, as well as to obtain more money for the rebuilding of Whirlpool. Another task he has set for himself, is to find trustworthy people, who have building skills, so that he can send them to Whirlpool to start with the rebuilding, once the who place has been stripped of the rubble.
Before he left, Naruto has decided to bring Saeko with him. He picked only her, because Tayuya was left to help his blood clone with the cleaning of the Whirlpool and to teach him Fuinjutsu, while Suzumebachi was left behind so she can train and improve her skills. Naruto thought that it would be better for her to train in one place, then to travel with him and only train when they make a stop.
Taya was left behind so that she can also train herself in her hollow powers, but to also help Suzumebachi with her hollow powers. She is also to help Fūma Clan members to increase her skills in battle, as she is currently the second strongest being in the Land of Whirlpools, right after the blood clone Naruto, who won't have the time to train anyone.
Saeko on the other hand, is stronger the Suzumebachi, and isn't in that much need of training, though, she is weaker then both Taya and Tayuya, who have both awakened their special hollow powers. Saeko also wasn't turned into human/hollow hybrid, and Naruto wanted her around him for a little while longer, before he turns her, and then starts to train her.
XXX
For the next two years, Naruto went all over the EN, earning as much money as possible, while at the same time, searching for any surviving Uzumaki, as well as Fuinjutsu scrolls and books.
He was very successful at his quest, and has managed to find few Uzumaki Clan members, who weren't affiliated with any village, and were leaving in the shadows of the EN, so that they wouldn't be found. Naruto was able to find them, though he found all of them by pure dumb luck. It didn't take him long to convince them to join him, as they were all for it as soon as they heard that Naruto plans to rebuild the Land of Whirlpool's.
Now, while Naruto did find few Uzumaki Clan members, all of them were the descendants of those who survived Whirlpool's downfall, which means that none of them could help him in his quest to learn Fuinjutsu, nor could they help him with finding books and scrolls, as they knew none and had none.
During his journey, Naruto was able to acquire himself some more lands to rule. Those lands were the Land of Sea, the Land of Keys, the Land of Noodles, the Land of Haze the Land of Silence, the Land of Demons, the Land of Neck and finally, the Land of Swamps. Except the Land of Sea, the other seven lands, are some of the most eastern lands of the EN, while the Land of Sea is south of the EN mainland.
The Lands of Keys, Haze, Silence and Noodles are very small, unlike the Land of Demons, which is the biggest country on the eastern EN continent. Because of that, Naruto left his Blood Clone, transformed into Grimmjow to rule over the Land of Demons along with the Priestess Shion, and told him to annex the other four small Lands into the Land of Demons, so instead of there being four small countries and one big, there is only one big country, ruled by Shion and Grimmjow.
There was another country, called the Land of Death. It is the country which is bordering the Land of Demons on the south-east and the Lands of Keys and Noodles on the east. That country was a barren wasteland where no one lived for centuries, ever since the Warring Era, where the Land was used as a neutral battle ground for the battels between all the Lands eastern of the Land of Water, which is about a dozen lands. The place was razed to the ground in those wars, and is polluted with death to the point that, once the Warring Era wars were over, and the hidden villages were founded, that small land was left alone by everyone, as no one wanted to bother to clean up the place of corpses. The name, Land of Death, was given to that Land, after the wars. The name from before… is unknown.
While the Land of Death is uninhabitable, and has no value as it is right now, that might change if the place is cleaned up, which is why the original Naruto tasked his Blood Clone, Grimmjow, to clean up the place, and annex it into the Land of Demons.
After all those small nations were annexed by the Land of Demons, the new land of Demons become big enough to take about 40% of the entire eastern continent of the EN.
Then there are the Land of Neck and the Land of Swamps.
The Land of Neck is divided from the Land of Demons by the Land of Fang, while the Lands of Fang and Claw stand in between the Lands of Demons and Swamps. Lands of Neck and Swamps, though, have a border, which is why the Blood Clone left in the Land of Neck, annexed the Land of Swamps, into the Land of Neck. It wasn't hard, as the Land of Swamps didn't have a daimyo, and the Land of Neck's daimyo was disposed of, and since he didn't have any family, it wasn't hard to replace him. The blood Clone which took over the Land of Neck and the former Land of Swamps, was transformed to look like Nnoitora.
The only lands left in that part of the EN, are the Lands of Fang, Claw, Honey, Bean Jam, Woods and Forests. Naruto left the conquering of those lands to Grimmjow and Nnoitora, with Lands of Claw and Fang being conquered by Grimmjow, while the other four by Nnoitora.
By getting his hands on those lands, and adding the Lands of Rivers, Birds and Vegetables, Naruto was able to acquire a lot of resources for the rebuilding of the Land of Whirlpools, and according to his calculations, the Land of Whirlpools will be completely rebuild in the next year or two.
While getting his hands on the lands, Naruto was also able to get more people to join him in the Land of Whirlpools. Most of those people are those who have run away from the Land of Water, during the blood war in that country. While they were on the run, Naruto run into several groups of them, and offered them a place to join. A place where they won't be persecuted for their powers, and where they will be able to live in peace.
The best thing about those people, is that they are all ninja, and they all have bloodlines, which means that with them joining Naruto, the Land of Whirlpools, was becoming stronger and stronger by the day.
Except the clans from the Land of Water, several other individuals have joined Naruto, and by joining him, they have become a part of the Land of Whirlpools.
One of those individuals was a girl named, Isaribi. She was a 25 year-old woman from the Land of the Sea, who looked like a teenage girl, because of the experiment done on her by the man named Amachi.
Naruto saved her from Amachi and offered her a place in his country. He even cured her and made the scales she had on her body, disappear. Naruto was able to do this, by giving her hollow powers, and turning her into a human/hollow hybrid.
Unlike with the other girls who Naruto turned into human/hollow hybrids, Isaribi awakened her special powers right away. It turned out that her special powers are the advance form of the powers she gained from Amachi's experiments. Naruto noticed as soon as he saw her powers, that Isaribi's hollow powers are very much like Harribel's were, which gave her an unbelievable control over water, as well as the ability to breath under water even when she looks completely like human.
Isaribi joined Naruto right away, and with a big smile on her face.
After that, Naruto created a blood clone, and sent him to take over the Land of Sea.
This all happened several weeks after Naruto and Saeko left the Land of Whirlpools and started the journey, which is why Saeko was still with him when Isaribi joined.
Even though she has been traveling with Naruto for a while at that point, Saeko still wasn't turned into human/hollow hybrid, but after Naruto turned Isaribi, he decided that it is time for Saeko to receive her own new powers.
Unfortunately for Saeko, she didn't awaken her special hollow powers, like Isaribi did. It will take her a while to awaken them, just like it did for Taya and Tayuya. Regardless, she was grateful to Naruto for making her stronger, and was happy because of that. All she now has to hope, is that her knew powers are something which will help her in become the greatest samurai ever.
Many other things have happened during those two years. Many new locations have been visited by Naruto, and whoever was accompanying him at that time. Many new people have been met, new comrades were found, and occasional enemy was met and disposed of.
One thing that Naruto made sure to avoid, is the attention of the Great Nations and their hidden villages. He didn't do that because he was afraid of them, but because he didn't want to potentially draw attention to the fact that he is rebuilding the Land of Whirlpools. He has decided a while ago, that his priority is the rebuilding of his mother country, and only after that was done, he will start his revenge against all those who have wronged his country and him personally. At the far end of his plans, is his search for the potential love interest with whom he can settle down and enjoy the long life that awaits him.
XXX
Naruto is water walking on his way toward the Land of Whirlpools.
It has been about two years since he left along with Saeko, and since then, he traveled all over the EN, but has never returned to the Whirlpool, as he didn't see any reason, since there was a blood clone of his, who can take care of everything as good as he could.
On Naruto's right side, walks a really beautiful girl, with long blue hair, partly covered by a Russian-style hat. She looks to be around 17 years of age, has dark blue eyes, and is around 165cm tall. She wears long blue skirt, cut on both sides up to her hips, which shows the thighs, of her long milky-white legs. On her legs, she wears long, light brow boots. On her upper body, she wears a long-sleeved, blue and white blouse, with golden buttons on the front, white area of the blouse. Under the blouse, a green shirt was seen on her lower abdomen. Finally, she has a green bow around her neck.
The girls name is Hōzuki Juvia, and she is one of the only few remaining Hōzuki Clan members. Naruto ran into her few months ago while he was going through the Water Country, and after they met and talked, Naruto offered her to join his village. (Juvia looks like she does during the war against Alvarez Empire.)
Juvia thought about it, and in the end, she accepted, as there is nothing better to do. She could have gone back to the Kirigakure, but that place brings her a lot of bad memories, so she decided not to go there, even if the civil war in the country was over a while ago.
Since then, they have traveled through the Land of Water, before Naruto finally decided to return to the Land of Whirlpools, and see with his own eyes, how the rebuilding is progressing.
"Juvia can't wait to see the Land of Whirlpools," Juvia said with a slight smile on her face.
"Yea, neither can I," Naruto agreed. "It's been two years since I've seen it, and back then, it was only ruins. From the reports I've been receiving, the rebuilding is progressing great, but I can't wait to see it with my own eyes."
"Do you think Juvia will be accepted by all the people who live in there?" Juvia asked while looking downward at the water under her, while also having a gloomy look on her face.
Naruto looked at her, and seeing a look on her face, he gave her a small smile, and said. "I wouldn't worry, Juvia. People there are really nice, and there are a lot of people with bloodlines and other special powers, so I'm 100% sure that they will accept you as one of their own."
As soon as she heard this, the smile returned on Juvia's face, and she nodded at Naruto.
From there, they continued the travel to the Land of Whirlpools, in silence.
Naruto and Juvia were not the only people in the group, though. There is another person with them.
On Naruto's left side, walks a petite, tan-skinned girl, who had a bone-white head mask over her whole head, covering everything from the neck up, except her orange colored eyes. There are two horns, coming from her mask, where her temples are. The outfit she is wearing, is designed by Naruto. He based it on the outfit worn by one of Tier's Fracción, Emilou Apacci. (It looks pretty much the same).
The girl's name, is Fū, and she is the former jinchūriki of the seven-tailed Biju.
Flashback: Seven months ago
Naruto was walking through the Land of Rivers, while on his way to check out remains of the Village of the Artisans, which was the village where Taya was from.
That village is all but gone, for a while now, and no one lives in it anymore, but Naruto hopes to find something interesting in it, maybe some blueprints for some weapons, if not weapons themselves.
As he was walking through the forests of the Land of Rivers, Naruto felt something familiar coming from about half-a-mile to the west, so he went to check it out.
It didn't take him long to get to where he was heading, and the moment he arrived, he realized why it was familiar what he felt earlier.
Right there, several dozen meters from him, lied a corpse of a green haired girl.
Now, Naruto is too far to actually see the hair color of a person, or even the gender for that matter, so how does he know that it is a girl, and a green haired at that. Well, it might have something to do with the fact that there is a soul of a green haired girl hovering above the corpse.
Naruto approached slowly to the corpse, refusing to look at the soul of the girl, since it's not normal for humans to see souls. Naturally, the girl doesn't know that he is not a human, so she will probably say something while thinking that he can't see and hear her, which will give him a chance to… 'Judge her'… so to say.
Once he was standing right next to the corpse, Naruto kneeled down, and started to look it over, trying to find out how long the girl has been dead, and how she has died.
Of course, the girl's soul noticed Naruto before he even came next to her, and was watching him with narrowed eyes.
When he started to touch the corpse, and turn her around, the girl freaked out, and started to yell at Naruto. "What the hell are you doing," she yelled? "Stop that! You might break whatever connection I have left to that body, and I'll disappear!"
Naruto pretended not to hear her, and continued to examine the body.
This of course, enraged the girl, who seemed to have forgotten that she is dead, and as such, her soul couldn't be seen nor heard by human.
For the next few minutes, Naruto examined the body, trying to find any clue for the reason this LOUDMOUTH girl, died… but he couldn't find anything. Of course, her constant shouting was not helping him in any way.
Finally, Naruto snapped. "Will you just cut it out," he yelled, scaring the hell out of the girl, especially when he looked at her, with his glowing eyes! "Dear Godt! My head feels like it's going to explode from all the shouting!"
Fū and Naruto looked at one another for a minute, not saying anything, before the girls face turned into a scowl, and she started raging at Naruto.
"Don't give me that shit," she yelled! "You've been molesting my body for several minutes now, and you didn't pay any attention to what I was saying to you!"
"I wasn't molesting your body, I was checking to see what happened to you," Naruto growled. "Also, did you not notice that you are dead? How do you expect anyone to see and hear you, when the only thing left of you is your soul?"
Fū looked at Naruto with a shocked look on her face. Yes, she knew she was dead, as there was no other explanation for her soul to be hovering above her body, but she completely failed to remember that humans can't see souls. Then again, this brings the question as to, how could Naruto see and hear her.
"How can you see and her me, if humans can't interact with the souls?" Fū asked. "And why didn't you say anything as soon as you arrived, if you could have seen me?"
"I'm not normal human," Naruto said, shocking Fū with his words. "And I didn't say anything, since I wanted to check out what happened to you first, before I said anything."
Fū was quiet for a minute, while Naruto used his Reiryoku on Fū's corpse, so that he can see what happened to her. Yes, he could have simply asked her, but he wanted to find out for himself first, before he asks her, as she might end up lying to him. Not that she would have a reason to lie, since she is… well, dead, but then again, you never know.
After few more minutes, Naruto gave up, as he couldn't find out the cause of Fū's death, so he decided to just ask her.
"What happened to you," Naruto asked? "How did you die?"
Fū heard the question, and immediately her eyes went downward, as she looked toward the ground. She had a sad look on her face, and looked like she was barely able to hold back her tears.
Fū was quiet for a minutes, before she took a deep breath (unneeded, as she is dead), before she started to speak.
"I just finished Chūnin Exams in the Sand Village, and was on my way back to the Hidden Waterfall, when my team and I were intercepted by two guys," Fū spoke. "I recognized one of them as Kakuzu, the missing-nin from the Waterfall, who stole some forbidden jutsu decades ago and then made a run for it. I had no idea who the other was.
"Anyway, apparently, they are from some organization… Akatsuki, I think they said," this immediately made Naruto even more curious, though now he was pretty sure he knew how Fū died. "After that, there was a battle, and both of my teammates were killed.
"I can't say I was sorry, because I wasn't. They didn't like me, just like almost everyone in Waterfall didn't like me. When they died, though, I realized that I'm in deep trouble, so I went all out, and used my Biju's power," Fū stopped for a moment, and observed Naruto's reaction, to her reveal that she was a Jinchūriki. There was none, which surprised her and made her wonder if he even knows about Biju and jinchūriki.
Not getting any reaction from Naruto, but seeing that he was listening, Fū continued. "In the end, it still wasn't enough, and I passed out. The next thing I know is, my soul leaving my body, and I was in a completely different place then where the battle was. In fact, I don't even know where I am, except that the scenery is different than where the battle took place."
Once Fū finished, Naruto was quiet for a few minutes, and he appeared to be thinking about everything he has just heard, and about what he can do now.
He finally spoke after few minutes. "We are in the Land of Rivers, not far from where the Village of the Artisans used to be," Naruto said, making Fū's eyes widen.
"So we are still in the Land of Rivers," she said. "But that village is quite a bit away from where I battled those two. I wonder, why did they kill me and brought me here of all places."
"Well… they didn't exactly kill you… per say," Naruto said, drawing Fū's narrowed eyes on him. "It is more like, you died as a result of what they did to you."
Naruto stopped speaking and looked back at Fū's body. She grew annoyed at the silence, and growled. "Explain!"
"Tell me, did those two guys who attacked you wear black cloaks with red clouds on them?" Naruto asked, and Fu's eyes instantly widened, before they narrowed back at Naruto.
"How did you know that?" She asked.
"I'll take that as a yes," Naruto said. "Anyway, those two are a part of the organization called, Akatsuki, which you already know as they told you. What I don't think you know, is that they are a group, which, for whatever reason, is targeting jinchūriki in order to get their Biju. Once they get the jinchūriki, they then go and extract the Biju.
"That's what happened to you. After you passed out, they took you somewhere, where they extracted your Biju, which led to your death, since jinchūriki dies after their Biju is extracted. With the Biju extracted, they no longer had any use of you, so they simply disposed of your corpse."
"I see," Fū said after a few minutes of silence. She then sighed and looked at her body, lying on the ground, lifeless. "So what now? If I'm dead, then why am I still here? Shouldn't my soul go to heaven, or hell, or, wherever the souls go after death?"
Naruto looked at Fū's soul form, and sighed. "If I had to guess, then I would say that you are still here because you died so suddenly, and simply weren't ready to die. You probably have some regrets in life, which I can understand, considering that you were a jinchūriki and I know how they are treated. All that, is what's keeping you from moving on.
"As for what you are going to do now… well, I could tell you that there is no point in lingering back, and that you should just move on," Naruto said, "but then again, I don't think you want that. Do you?" Fū shock her head, signaling that she is not ready to move on, and that she probably wants her life back so she can have revenge.
"There might be a way to give you another chance," Naruto said, and the moment he did, Fū's soul form moved right in front of his face, that she was literally an inch away from kissing him with how close their lips were to each other.
"HOW!" She shouted.
"I said MIGHT," Naruto said. "You need to understand that, I'm not sure that this will work, as I have never tried it on a dead person. At best, there is a 50% chance that it will work, but if it fail… your soul will most likely be destroyed, and then the only thing awaiting you, will be nothingness. No heaven, no hell, all there will be is complete, nothingness."
Fū heard Naruto's warning, and then moved away from him, and started thinking about, what she should do now.
On one hand, if, whatever Naruto plans to do, works, she will have another chance in life.
On the other hand, if it fails, she is done for. This time, for good.
Fū spent the next 10 minutes, thinking about what to do, while Naruto was simply seating there next to her corpse, and waiting to hear her decision.
Finally, Fū looked at Naruto and asked. "If I refuse your offer… what will happen to me then?"
Naruto looked at her for a few moments, before he said. "I don't know. At best, you will simply resign yourself, and move on. But if you don't do that, then you will stay here until you end up becoming a hollow. If you become a hollow, then trust me when I say that the misery that awaits you will make what you went through so far in life, look like nothing.
"W-What's a hollow?" Fū managed to ask, not liking what Naruto just told her.
"Human souls who don't move on to the Soul Society, or heaven, as people seem to think it's called, usually get dragged to hell," Naruto said. "But if that doesn't happen either, then they linger around for a while, before they become Hollows, and end up in a place called Hueco Mundo.
"Basically, Hollows are a race of creatures which are born from Human souls who, for various reasons, do not cross over to Soul Society nor Hell after their death and stay in the Human World for too long. They are corrupt spirits with supernatural powers which devour the souls of both living and deceased Humans. Hollows settle in Hueco Mundo, as I said, but can cross over to the Human World and Soul Society. Potentially, human soul can become a hollow right after death and then end up in Hueco Mundo, but that's rear, and has happened only few times."
When she heard Naruto's explanation on what Hollows are, Fū was shocked to her core by the fact that such things exist, and that if she doesn't move on, she will become one such creature and end up feasting on the souls on other humans and monsters.
It didn't take her long to ask. "And what do you plan to do to me, in order for me to get another chance?"
Naruto sighed. "I plan to turn you into a Hollow." Naruto said.
When she heard what Naruto said, Fū looked at him for a full minute, without saying anything. After a minute, she asked. "Are you kidding me?"
Naruto shocked his head. "No." He said, then made a small pause, before he decided to explain few more things to Fū.
"If you become a Hollow, naturally, then you will become the lowest level of Hollow," Naruto started his explanation. "From there, you will have to spend centauries, leaving in a desert wasteland, with other hollows, feast on them and human souls you find when he cross to the human world. It will take forever for your power to increase, so you could transforms into higher forms, and even then, it's not certain that you will succeed, as you might get eaten by other hollows.
"The highest level of a hollow, is called Arrancar, but a hollow can't become Arrancar without external help. Now, I have turned several people so far into human/hollow hybrids, and their hollow powers are similar to those of Arrancar.
"If what I plan to do works, then you will become a human/Arrancar class hollow hybrid. The problem might be in the fact that, all those I turned so far, have been alive, and you are not. I don't know how that fact might affect the transformation, nor do I know if you will survive or not. But, that's the best option you have right now."
Fū started thinking about this once again, and in the end, after minutes of thinking, she realized that she most likely has better chances of surviving if she accepts Naruto's offer, instead of becoming a hollow, naturally and then spend centauries, rising in power.
"I guess it's not much of a choice, now is it," Fū sighed, and said. "Fine, I accept your offer."
"Are you sure about that," Naruto asked? "If this fails… you will die… permanently."
"I still have higher chance of survival if I go with your offer, then if I stay like this," Fū said. "Just… just come on. Get it over with."
Naruto looked at Fū for a few moments, before he sighed. "Fine." He said, and then he bit his right thumb, drawing blood. Naruto looked at Fū, and asked. "What's your name?"
Fū rose her eyebrows at the question, but then she smiled and introduced herself. "If something goes wrong," Naruto started to say, while looking at Fū's eyes. "Then know that I'm sorry, and that I'll make sure that you receive a proper burial in the place where no one will be able to disturb you."
Naruto then looked back at the corpse, missing a small smile on Fū's face, before he let a drop of his blood, fall into the mouth of Fū's corpse.
Fū looked in wander, as the drop of Naruto's blood fell into the mouth of her corpse. For the next few moments, both of them were silent, as they waited to see what will happen.
When after about half-a-minute, nothing happened, Fū was about to say something, but she was interrupted when her corpse was surrounded in dark green color, and then the next moment, Fū started to scream as she felt the worst pain in her life.
Flashback end
As he was walking on the water, Naruto looked at Fū, and remembered how she ended up as she is right now.
He remembered that she was able to survive the reconstruction, but not everything went as he was planning.
After the reconstruction, Fū didn't end up as a human/Arrancar class hollow, as he was thinking it would happen. That's what happened with all the others he turned, but they were all alive, while Fū was dead.
Instead, Fū has become a Vasto Lorde Class Hollow, which means that she has a full mask, unlike the Arrancar's. She is also not a hybrid, but a full hollow.
When the reconstruction started, Fū's soul was pulled back into her body, and then remade into the hollow body, which is why she felt pain. But, her souls being pulled back, is the good thing, in the end, since if that didn't happen, and only her soul was turned into a hollow, while her body was left behind, then she wouldn't have been able to interact with anyone except Naruto and those he turns into human/hollow hybrids. Since her whole body was turned into a hollow, she can be seen and heard by anyone.
Unfortunately, at this point, she is not a hybrid, and her body only acts as something similar to a gigai, which Shinigami use when they come to the human world, and want to interact with humans, only in Fū's case, her soul cannot leave her body, unlike with the normal gigai.
So basically, Fū is a full Vasto Lorde Class hollow, and not a human/hollow hybrid. She has all of Hollow powers, but also still has a mask, which she could lose one day when she becomes an Arrancar, since the fact that she was turned while dead, has cost her a direct transformation into an Arrancar from the start.
Naruto doesn't know how long it will take her to become an Arrancar. He also doesn't know if she will be a full Arrancar, or will she be a hybrid like he and the others are. He can only hope that she becomes a hybrid upon reaching Arrancar form, since, as she is now, she is not really alive, and on top of that, she has a hollow hole on her upped abdomen, which she keeps hidden with bandages tied around her abdomen and kept under her Arrancar-like jacket.
Naruto stopped thinking about Fū, when he noticed that the three of them have almost arrived in the Land of Whirlpools, which he can see in the distance.
Seeing the Land of Whirlpools in the distance, Naruto smiled slightly and though. 'It's good to be back home.'