A new project, idk how I'm going to continue the other and thought about this one... and thus, voila~
shivered a little bit every times I write about the ghost though, so tell me whether you guys got a shiver too or not haha xD
Disclaimer:
Naruto isn't mine, it never be.
Chapter 1, A ghost boy
Xxx (Start) xxX
To him, it was normal.
Seeing small, hovering spirits is as easy as breathing for him since his childhood.
They're his friends when he's alone, his guide when he's lost.
But…
To normal people… he's a freak.
Then again, it is a normal response because he realized that most people just can't see spirits like him.
The one who seems to believe his story is only that old man with a strange hat who sometimes visited him in the orphanage.
Not that he'll meet that old man anymore though, considering he has been kicked out of the orphanage a year ago.
But at the very least, he still has his friends to teach him stuff.
.
..
.
-x-
-Somewhere-
Deep inside the most dangerous forest, the forest of death, a boy around six years old is currently crouching near a river like how a cat would.
His face etches in a rather adorable but focused state as his cerulean eyes turn into slits.
"Nya~"
Beside the boy, a small spirit of a cat, white and somewhat transparent in color, is currently mimicking the boy.
No…
It was the boy who learned this from the cat spirit.
And thus, he waits…
.
.
Splat
And not long after that, a fish jumped from the river, which was caught almost instantly by the boy with his experienced hands.
And wasting no time, he ate the fish raw.
This is his usual breakfast to start the day.
Burp
"I'm full… what's my score just now?"
'Nyao~'
The cat spirit simply said with a rather disappointed tone, and hearing this, the boy merely smiled rather wryly.
There's no satisfying his fish hunting teacher.
Can't help it then.
As the boy walks through the forest, his appearance can be seen.
Hair as golden as the sun with few streaks of shining silver lining in some strands.
An eye as blue as the sea on his left socket and as red as blood on his right.
And skin as pale as that of a legendary night creature.
He is Naruto, and yes… he lives in this forest of death with the other animals that treat this place as their own home.
Blood is spilled every day because just as the name implies, this forest is full of predators that can easily kill any grown man with nothing but a claw.
Naruto?
He mostly ignores them, and the spirits always tell him when there's a wild beast or human around.
And yes, he dodges human interaction too.
Considering why he lives here in the first place, Naruto believes he has made a good decision to refuse any meeting with humans.
He doesn't want something like half a year ago to happen again, after all.
.
..
It took him about half an hour to reach his house, a large, run-down house made of wood with the door being locked as tight as possible.
In front of the said door, a few leaves are scattered, where Naruto slept last night.
And yes, he sleeps on the outside, because for some reason, all of his 'friends' forbid him from entering the house without proper preparation.
What preparation, he doesn't know, and his friend also is yet to tell him about it.
"Nya, can you tell the earth to rise for me?"
"Nya"
Once Naruto said that the spirit of a cat on his shoulder jumped to the large clearing in front of his house.
And with a few meows, the earth soon rises, creating a few thick boulders.
And thus, Naruto slipped through those boulders until he is standing in the middle of the group of boulders around him.
Inhale
Exhale
Gently, Naruto let nature soothe his weary body as he tries to connect himself deeper into the spiritual world.
And as he doing this, the silver streak on his hair starts to glow mysteriously.
Also, for reason unknown, every time he does this, his friends start to get as much distance as they can from him as if his very presence spook them on a deeper level.
But maybe… the reason is behind him…
'Who… are you?'
As his spiritual energy starts to rise, Naruto can see it a little.
Hands.
Each clad in white, beautiful gloves is on his shoulders, caressing the part as loving as possible.
Of course, Naruto can't feel it.
Hell, it is hard enough to see those hands, and Naruto would need to give so much focus on his eyes to see the glimpse of transparent appendages.
Whoever those hands belong to, they're very powerful, considering his friends kept reminding him the moment he become stronger, it would be easy for him to see higher-class spirits and ghosts and vice-versa.
Those hands… belong to a ghost, considering Nya immediately run the moment they appear.
Spirit is a natural phenomenon created by the very nature itself, with the power to harness the elemental power they are born with.
Ghost…
Ghost has two types, one is regretful ghosts, which is the ghosts of people or animal that had deep regret in the last moment of their dying breath.
As for the other ghost…
It was the ghost who are haunting him.
A vile ghost, a ghost who died with lingering regret and a high amount of extra ingredient.
What kind of ingredient, you ask?
Wrath, sadness, greed, pride, or even love.
Whatever it is, his friends said that all kind of vile ghosts is dangerous and he needs to tread carefully if he were to meet one.
Exhale
"Please guide me…"
As Naruto feels his spiritual energy reaches a nice amount of pressure, he went into his kata and whispered that as soft as he can.
"Khehehe~"
Like the very essence of darkness itself being poured into his core, Naruto feels immense coldness as the limbs on his shoulders start to multiply like a mirage until there are three pairs of hands clad in white gloves.
Two went to his palms, two to his legs, and the last two to his chest.
Thus, they start to correct his stance. His hands move slightly a little bit, narrowing, same with his legs while his chest is being forced to straighten.
And when everything's finished and done, Naruto left panting from the remnant of the vile energy coursed through his coil.
"Thank you…"
"Khehehe~"
Ignoring the chilling laugh of the unknown vile ghost, Naruto let calmness cover his whole body as the multi-limbs started to fuse and back to his shoulders to caress said parts.
"Let's get to it"
As the feeling of dread slowly disappears, Naruto starts his training regime.
It is just a normal day for one Naruto Uzumaki.
-Later-
As the sun began to come down, Naruto let the spiritual energy on his body be released and become the food of ghosts and spirits around him, be it the ones that he can see or those he can't.
Sigh
With the last sigh, Naruto let out the last bit of energy, effectively making the glow on his hair turn off and his eyes no longer able to see some of the more powerful spirits and ghosts.
"Let's eat something before I go to sleep"
Walking to the nearest bush of flowers, Naruto start to eat those flowers one by one, ignoring the bitter taste they left as he chew.
As a medium ( most spirit calls him that) Naruto needs few foods and drinks, as his body automatically absorbs the spiritual energy from the air and transforms it into energy to use.
However, flowers seem to increase the speed of the process by a rather nice margin, which means larger coils for him to use by tomorrow.
Of course, he's sick of it.
This kind of life… is not supposedly the life he or anyone could handle.
But Naruto hold on, knowing with greater power, he would be able to go out from this place sooner or later without any fear of getting himself bullied.
Demon!
Die!
Your face sickens me!
Don't you dare enter my shop!
Demon!
Demon!
Demon!
Naruto let out a small smile here.
Such nice memories he has…
His smile is empty, but his heart?
Unknown to Naruto, around him, the vile ghost behind him starts to multiple its hands once again, feeling the deep hatred and longing for love he has.
Two become four.
Four become eight.
Eight become sixteen.
And not long after that, Naruto is already deep in the middle of hundreds of vile ghosts' hands, each caressing him hauntingly. like a touch of a lover.
Then again, he is not able to see them.
Not yet.
But when he can… no one can expect what would happen to Naruto.
- a few years later-
"How's your expedition end up, dragon?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage asked that with a tone filled with melancholy as an ANBU with a dragon mask appear beside him.
The man is his long-time friend, now becoming a true shadow for him, and him only.
"The boy is alright… I was only able to get a glimpse of him before I got myself kicked out"
Dragon snorted.
Calling he got kicked out is a rather underestimation of his part.
After all, in that forest of death, he has lost his right arm ( and would be his life too if not for him quickly flickered off to somewhere safe).
"… I'm sorry to order you to do that"
Hiruzen said with regret in his words.
Nonetheless, Dragon merely shook his head, uncaring about something as simple as losing one arm to an invisible apparition.
Yes, it was the hand that killed hundreds or thousands of his enemy, but to him, a successful mission is always worth a hand.
"As I said, don't mind it… So, do you have any plan?"
As Dragon leans his back against the wall, he stares at Hiruzen that starts to rub away his headache.
Then again, Dragon can't fault the man.
Ninja and Samurai are a norm in these days and ages, but evil spirits that can hurt you?
Now that's new.
"I… don't know. From all the books I have read, I only know that the ghost who's haunting Naruto-kun is a woman that died several hundred years ago and was treated like a deity in some villages, as for her trait, I know nothing"
"Hmm…"
Dragon soon rubs his mask in confusion.
This is a new experience for him, after all.
Nonetheless, several minutes later, he snapped his fingers.
"Those villages that treat this ghost as a deity, how did they pray?"
Seeing where his friend coming to, Hiruzen took a rather large and thick book from his shelf and flipped several unneeded pages, and went to the page he remembers.
The page that told him about the ritual prayer.
.
..
"Here, it only says that those who want to pray need to don the traditional kimono, that's all"
As the Hokage put the book on the table, Dragon walked to it and read it, his lone hand rubbing his chin in a rather calm manner despite losing a hand.
What? He's a veteran.
Losing a hand means nothing to him.
After all, he still has his other hand, his two feet, and hell, he also still has his teeth to bite someone to death!
So yeah, losing a hand is nothing to someone of Dragon's caliber.
"Worth a try… is the Jonins free?"
He said in the end with a carefree shrug of his shoulders, which got him a deadpan from his best friend who is also his boss.
"Jonins, yeah, they should be free until next Monday"
After all, the next genins team will be paired with their Jonin teacher next Monday, and thus, those Jonins won't go anywhere and currently have some free time.
So yes, they're free.
"Good~, summon them tomorrow for a short S-rank, ciao~"
"Wai-"
Before Hiruzen can say anything, his friend already flickered off to somewhere unknown.
Geez, what a great shadow he has, Hiruzen thought to himself while smoking his tobacco.
"Minato…"
For a small second, Hiruzen's eyes held a deep regret as he stares into the picture of the fourth Hokage, the father of the boy currently trapped inside a forest.
Trapped, not by beasts, not by ghosts…
'But by my inability to protect him'
Hiruzen doesn't really care about the boy being Jinchuriki or anything like that.
But now that years have passed, he only wants to let the boy know…
Know that Konoha will no longer see him as a monster, no longer they will talk behind his back, refusing to sell their goods to him.
If they still do?
Well, Hiruzen will show them the reason he's called a god of shinobi back in the day.
-Tomorrow-
"Alright, men and woman! Today we're going to do an S-rank mission!"
Walking like how a general should, Dragon now dons a rather lax kimono for attire, while his lone hand holding a lone incense.
Of course, across from him, four elite Jonins of Konoha are present, donning their kimono and holding an incense in their right hand.
Though, their eyes show confusion.
Except for Gai.
"YOSH! You look dashing in your kimono, my rival! After this mission, I shall run one thousand times across Konoha and then one t-"
BAM!
Ruthlessly, Dragon flickered to Gai and grabbed the man by the head and doing a good deed to earth by planting a rare tree called 'Gai'.
"Alright! As I said before…"
Completely uncaring about the planted man's condition, Dragon then pointed his index finger to Kakashi, which make the masked man blink several times in confusion…
"Kakashi! You shall be our front guard, keep your Sharingan active and don't cover it, if you sense any kind of hostility, back away, and if you can't, sacrifice yourself so that we can run"
"A-ahaha, yes sir"
As a former ANBU, Kakashi knew of Dragon's sometimes strange antics and isn't that surprised by his words.
But his teammates?
They're looking at Dragon as if he's having a second and third head.
"Sir, question"
"Not allowed! I believe Hiruzen has told you four about this mission, right? So, no question!"
If glare could kill, the Dragon would've died by now from the glare sent at him by Asuma. But because they can't, Asuma merely inhaled a sharp amount of air through his teeth to calm his anger.
Beside him, Kurenai let out a small titter.
"Sir, a question please"
"Of course! Anything for a beautiful lady!"
Kakashi would have laughed by now when Dragon become a puppy once Kurenai decides that she needs some questions answered before they advance to this strange mission.
The only reason he didn't laugh is simply that he know that Asuma's anger will go to him if he did.
Beside the woman, Asuma is gritting his smoke in incoming anger.
"This mission, it's a simple escort mission, right? So, why four of us?"
"… That bastard Hiruzen didn't tell you four anything?"
Hearing the question from Kurenai, Dragon's antics change into that of serious, getting the four across of him shivered in fear by his tone alone.
Of course, said four also widen their eyes when they heard the man calling the reigning Hokage 'bastard'.
That's new.
Before any of them can reprimand the man, Dragon sits down with crossing legs.
"Alright, let me explain the short story"
.
..
.
"So… ghost?"
"Deity actually… believe me, I have fought vile ghosts back in the days I got a mission in demon Country, and I still survive. This one, the deity that protects Naruto is a vile ghost of the highest degree that she can no longer be called as a simple vile ghost anymore, she has been worshiped for hundreds of years for protection in some rural villages… I don't know why she chooses to protect Naruto privately, but whatever the reason is, I don't want to lose my other hand to her"
Serious.
The aura of Dragon is full of seriousness that none of the Jonins can become disbelief.
But still, many strange things happened in the world every single day… but ghosts?
This takes the cake.
"Alright, then what should we do, sir?"
Only the elite Jonins are invited to this mission. Not because they have the power to fight the enemy, but because they have enough power to run just in case their enemy becomes antagonistic.
This is what the four realize after Dragon finished his explanation.
"We're going to walk… no kunai, no tree jumping, no using chakra, but just walk, once we there, we're going to give our respect to this deity before we talk to Naruto… of course, just I said before, if you sense any kind of hostility, run, not as if your life depends on it, but because your life really depends on it, understand?"
"But sir… you said I should activate Sharingan"
"That was a joke, Kakashi, if all of you understand now, then let's go"
And thus, the five start their slow walks into the forest of death with Dragon leading them.
"My rival, for once… I'm kinda scared"
Gai said without his usual confidence. Though, his large grin is still on his face.
"Yeah, me too"
Kakashi answered, knowing where his childhood friend coming from.
As a Taijutsu specialist, Gai would be a sitting duck if he meet a ghost, simply because ghosts cannot be hit by anything physical.
As for him, he's a ninjutsu specialist, so he sho-
"Oh, I forgot to say another thing… vile ghosts are immune to all attacks except holy prayers, so I'll repeat what I said before. If you sense hostility, run"
Okay…
Shit.
And thus, Kakashi widens his lone eye while his body also starts to tremble from fear.
Fucking shit.
He should have come late in this mission.
-With Naruto-
"Naruuu~ I sense humans"
A boy looks at most twelve in age from his body, but eyes like that of a war veteran stop his kata when his best friend whispered that to his ear.
"Is that so? Ninjas?"
"I don't knooow~ I'm sorry po~"
"It's alright… let's just watch for now"
If his friend can't decide what are they, then those people are probably civilians, or ninjas posing as civilians.
Whichever it is, for now, he's going to watch.
After all, if he were to send his friend, those people will die, no but and no if about that.
She's just that sadistic when it came to other humans except him, ninja or not.
Exhale
A large amount of air exhaled from Naruto's lips as he close his eyes and relaxed his body.
And as he does this, behind him, a shadowy figure of a very tall humanoid can be seen.
A pure white dress clad her large, imposing, but beautiful figure while her arms are clad by long, soft-looking white gloves.
On her head, a large sun hat is resting, totally shadowing her eyes to her nose.
The only thing visible is her long hair that reaches her waist and the large, evil grin etched on her lips.
"Po… po… po… po~"
Of course, after Naruto released all of his pent-up spiritual energy, he let his friend snack on them as he merely took a seat right in front of the run-down house where he has lived for years.
The house, no… the shrine is now no longer looks run-down and seems like a proper shrine now ever since Naruto knows just who is behind those doors.
Another friend of his, but let's not talk about it right now.
For now…
Let's see just where are those humans coming to.
"Hachi-chan... don't attack them if they come here, okay?"
"Poooo~"
His friend grumbled, nonetheless, she nodded and gave him an evil smile, probably because of her full stomach.
Well, it would look evil to most people.
But to Naruto?
Her smile is beautiful.
"Thank you"
After he said that, Naruto closed his eyes and ignored Hachishaku that took a seat behind him and places him on her lap as if he was some kind of baby.
Once she did this, Hachi start to do her usual routine.
Which is to grope him from behind using her large hands clad in silky gloves.
Oh well… he has been used to this routine of them since a long, long time ago.
-With team Dragon-
"Sir, I wonder if you can tell us about this Deity"
"True, what do you want to know?"
As the team of five walks down the narrow path of the forest with Dragon as their guide, Kurenai can't help but ask.
She has a feeling that their path will still be long before they arrive at their destination.
"Uh, her identity?"
From what she can conclude from Dragon's previous explanation, the Deity seems to be a woman, and thus, she called it with her suffix to not offend said Deity.
After all, from what she knows of myth, most Deity is Omnipresent.
"Hachishaku-sama…"
Dragon started, his eyes never stopping to look around as he said this.
This forest is home to many wild and dangerous beasts, not only vile ghosts, so he needs to keep his eyes always looking.
"… from the legends, she is a woman about eight feet in height, thus her name derived from. At first, she was like most vile ghosts, albeit more vicious that the others. she killed people, left and right, until in the end, holy men and women were called"
Here, Dragon paused, seemingly confused for a small second about which turn he should take.
Though, not a second later, he took the left side.
"But those holy men and women were killed brutally in a single night. And having no choice, the villagers in the end decide to create a shrine for Hachishaku-sama and gave her sacrifices, which successfully drove her away. Thus, most villages at that time start following suit and creates their shrines for Hachishaku-sama and prayed to her"
Again, Dragon paused on his walks when the path split.
Though this time, he decides to take the right path.
Who would have thought that walking was so hard?
Then again, this is probably because he was used to jumping on trees to go from point a to point b.
"So, she is evil?"
"Evil or good is not always a good question, my dear. After all, humans have their rules, and so do ghosts, vile or not"
Here, none of the Jonins understand what the hell Dragon was saying.
Though, before they can ask about it, Dragon cut them off.
"We're here… be on your best behavior and just follow what I'm going to do"
Gulp
At the same time, the four Jonins gulped down their saliva in a mix of fear and nervousness.
"Yes sir"
.
..
…
They see him.
The moment they reach a rather large clearing with a few large boulders sticking in the middle, they see the boy.
Naruto.
The boy is meditating, or at the very least, he looks like someone who is meditating.
And he… is hovering!
Isn't that the Jutsu of second and third Tsuchikage!?
"Lower your heads"
Though, when their leader hissed at them, the four quickly lower their gazes and start to follow the man once again.
He is walking at a very slow pace toward Naruto…
No, not to Naruto, but the stone slab beside the boy.
A grave.
They realized when they see some burned-out incenses sticking out in the small jar in front of the grave.
"I pay respect to you, the lord, and may I be permitted to talk a little bit with the boy"
There is huge pressure coming out from Naruto's direction after Dragon said this.
No, not Naruto.
Something… something behind him.
And this terrifies the four Jonins.
They're terrified, greatly.
"…"
Ignoring this, Dragon merely burns his incense and places it in the small jar.
Clap
With a small clap, Dragon finished his prayer, then walked and took a seat across of hovering boy in a polite manner.
And thus, one by one, the Jonins start to repeat the prayer and follow their leader's example.
In the end, all five are sitting in front of Naruto in seiza positions, though the Jonins are slightly behind Dragon, as they choose to let him talk in their place.
They don't want to unknowingly offend something that they can't see or attack.
"You five are daring, I'll give you that"
Naruto let out a small smile as he opens his eyes.
Kindness can be seen inside those mismatched eyes of his, and cannot be hidden even with the huge, dark pressures coming from his back.
And seeing this, the four Jonins slightly relaxed their guards.
"Heh, anyway… I am sent by lord third to escort you out from here, Naruto-san"
Their request is only to talk with Naruto a little.
Time is their essence here.
So no beating around the bush for them.
Suddenly, the boy moves his right arm and grabs something in the air, all the way, his eyes never leaving their direction.
"I can see that from your mask… and no, don't cut him, Hachi"
The second sentence is said to no one, but every normal human there can feel how the pressures behind Naruto start to multiply.
Whatever deity behind the boy… she is getting angry.
"You don't mind, do you? I mean, you've been here for six years alrea-"
"Six in your years, but twelve for me"
Here, Naruto let out a small grin of happiness as he touched his stomach using the hand that grabbed the air just seconds ago.
The said hand then rests on his thigh once again.
… They don't know what the gesture means.
Then again, they can't see what he can.
"… Twelve?"
"Yeah, there's a huge doom of holy seal surrounding this place. And the seal is strong enough that the time itself becomes slower in here, twice. So, yeah, I actually reached eighteen a few months ago"
The boy then laughed in a carefree manner a little after that.
To them, he looks happy to talk with them, the only living beings he sees after a long, twelve years.
And this put small, melancholy smiles on their faces.
"I see, congratulation for reaching adulthood then"
"Heh, thanks"
Silent.
Both the five and Naruto become silent after that, though the silence is rather comforting if one ignores the building angered pressure coming from Naruto's back.
"…"
"So, how is it?"
Dragon asked once he saw that Naruto kind of doesn't want to answer his question.
And once Dragon said this, Naruto let out a small, sad smile.
"Sure… but I'm going to say my farewell to another friend of mine first… and it's alright Hachi, you're coming with me, so stop your anger"
The second sentence is pointed to the deity behind him, and thus, both Dragon and his team merely let out a small sigh of relief after they heard that he is indeed coming with them.
"Of course, when are you going to say your farewell?"
To the four Jonins, they're kind of curious about the reason their captain suddenly getting a little bit pushy.
For some reason, Naruto looks understood and merely lets out a small smile.
"When the moon is high in the sky… because right now, the door is yet to open"
Naruto said mysteriously, which make the four Jonins raise one of their eyebrows in confusion.
"Door? What kind of door, Uzumaki-san?"
Kakashi asks, getting a questioning look from Naruto.
"Huh, the door to the shrine of course"
The boy calmly pointed to something behind him using his thumb.
And when they look at the clearing behind him… they shiver.
There's nothing there except a normal-looking clearing.
"Uzumaki-san… there's nothing there"
"Huh, seriously?"
For the first time since the group of five meet Naruto, they saw him widen his eyes in pure shock.
And after he looked to his back for a small second, he return his attention to them with a wry smile.
"I lived here for twelve years, and it is a ghost house all this time… Geez, and I spent months renovating it"
They… don't know what to say to answer that.
Nonetheless, they nodded.
It must be vexing.
Did any of you got shiver?
xD
I hope so, because I did hahaha
anyway...
love it?
hate it?
the plan is having a harem of female monster and yokai from any kind of genre (anime, game, hentai manga etc, etc)
if any of you have any woman you wanna put, just do it, I'll see whether she can be put inside or not.
that's all from me
Ciao~z