Pre-word: Ooh boy, I think I messed up talking about pairs at the end of the last chapter, haha.
The genie is out of that bottle now, so I'll try and clarify some of what I meant, cause I think my explanation was just plain bad.
So Naruto x Kaguya will be a type of pairing in this fic and it's probably fine to think of it as the main one. In the first place, this fic was inspired from watching the Bakemonogatari series, in particular Owarimonogatari.
For those that know what that is, it's best to think of Naruto and Kaguya's eventual relationship as like Koyomi and Shinobi. So maybe not traditional, but it's a bond stronger than anything like lovers. Whereas I was also thinking about having a second girl to pair with Naruto who will be like the Hitagi of this story. I haven't committed to go with that idea or not yet.
So either it's just Naruto x Kaguya, or I'll add one more girl in the mix to also give Naruto a normal relationship on top of the life pact he has with Kaguya. Honestly, it will just come down to what's working best for the story and what I think will help Naruto's character develop the best. As for the identity of this second girl, I'm playing that reveal close to my chest right now because I still haven't fully committed to taking the story in that direction.
Pairing talk out of the way, I'll let you get back to the story.
Heart Under Shadow
Student and Teacher
Hatake Kakashi.
Student of the Yondaime Hokage. The hero of Kannabi Bridge. Sharingan warrior that copied over a thousand Jutsu. He was an incredibly accomplished Ninja that held these titles and even more.
He was also what Kaguya would refer to as an oversight.
Such a renowned figure in Konoha's military should have been important information her will had looked into while it still had the chance. Yet it had overlooked him, because while he may have possessed a Sharingan eye, he wasn't actually an Uchiha and as such wasn't a potential reincarnation for Indra.
Apparently sometime during the last war, he had lost an eye and a fallen Uchiha teammate of his had offered his own as a replacement just before his death. That alone made him dangerous enough that he should have been taken into consideration far before now.
That Sharingan of his could potentially be their undoing. Nevermind Indra's current reincarnation that hadn't awakened his own true powers yet, this was the only man in the village with the potential to see Kaguya as she was. What was worse was he had already seen her outside of the shadow just the night before.
Was it a mere coincidence? Kaguya would like to think so, but she couldn't leave that possibility to chance. That was why as soon as Naruto had finished gathering all the necessary information on Kakashi, she had him begin searching the village. They had to find him and get to the bottom of this before it was too late. If it wasn't already.
"I'm telling you this is impossible!" Naruto complained, landing on top of the roof of a wide building. He had been searching for Kakashi for a couple hours already, long enough for the sun to set and the waning moon to replace it in the night sky.
"First of all, I don't know how you expect me to find a single guy in this whole village…" He continued to grumble, walking to the edge of the rooftop, placing his hands on the railings to lean over and scan the busy streets below. Dozens of people passed below every couple seconds. As far as he could tell, none of them were the man he was supposed to be looking for.
"We suppose this is a fool's errand indeed." Kaguya rose out of his shadow, taking her place next to Naruto to scan the surrounding vicinity with her Byakugan. Even the enhanced sight of three-hundred and sixty degrees for fifty meters in every direction wasn't enough to possibly locate him.
The idea had just been to have Naruto go to numerous areas of the village when they were the most busy. In other words, somewhere he had the highest possibility of being if the only thing you considered was general statistics. From there, she would look for him using the all encompassing vision of her Byakugan.
So far that had proved pointless. Either Kakashi wasn't someone to usually come out in public or worse, he didn't want to be found. If the latter was the case then they were already too late.
"So we can finally give up?" Naruto asked, glancing down at Kaguya. She nodded in agreement, the veins pulsating around the side of her head disappearing as she deactivated the Byakugan. "Good, I want to get to learning better control of these Rinnegan." He flexed the eyes in the palms of his hands as he said that.
"Speaking of which," Kaguya also turned slightly to look at his hands. "Thou showed greatly improved control today when fighting thy classmates. When did thou have time to learn such technique?" It was far from perfect, but compared to last night even, Naruto had shown incredible discretion with the use of his eyes. So much so that not even the Hyuga girl who had been watching should have been able to realize what had happened.
Naruto shrugged at the question. "I don't know, really. I just kind of… felt like I could do it, y'know?" It would appear Naruto was somewhat a natural when it came to the use of his eyes, using them purely on feeling alone to such great results. Kaguya couldn't say she was displeased, but it was disconcerting that this was the first real time Naruto showed sudden growth.
She supposed the Rinnegan awakening had also somehow awakened some kind of hidden potential in Naruto that had always lay dormant. Or perhaps he was just a late bloomer? These were the apologetic responses. The more pessimistic train of thought was Naruto's potential had been purposely sabotaged by everyone around him up until now, along with his confidence. Now that he had found himself, he was more easily able to tap into his true potential.
"What other kind of Jutsu can you teach me?" Naruto suddenly asked, slightly surprising Kaguya. She glanced up to see him uncharastically earnest. "I can't rely on Mizuki-sensei or anyone else anymore. I've never even managed to learn a basic clone technique. I can use transformation just fine, but that was about it before now. You must have other awesome things you can show me, right? What about that bone bullet thing you do?"
Kaguya shook her head, despite knowing the disappointed look Naruto would make right after. "Do not misunderstand. We would like to teach you more. It is simply not possible. The Haikotsu is a Kekkei Genkai much like the Byakugan, so it is not something that can be taught. For other techniques… While it is true we are the progenitor of all Chakra, we do not possess the knowledge to teach what you desire."
The number of basic techniques Kaguya knew was nearly zero. Her abilities were so great that there was never any need for her to learn lesser techniques, nevermind that many of them didn't exist when she had been alive. As humanity continued to grow further and further from the source of Chakra they had to create many techniques to supplement the loss in power.
Quantity over quality, as it was.
That was why she needed information from the Nara boy earlier to learn his Jutsu. Shadow manipulation was a fascinating technique and beneficial to her in this weakened form. However, at full power she would have never had the need to create such a technique. This extended to many others abilities, including the clone technique Naruto was now asking to be taught.
"Guess this means I'm back to square zero, huh?" Naruto sighed, but accepted her words as the truth. He knew she had no reason to lie to him about such things. The stronger he got the more beneficial it was for her as well. "I really need to get the Bunshin no Jutsu down before the graduation exam too, otherwise I might fail."
"Well that wouldn't be any good. If possible, I would like you to pass." A third voice from behind interrupted their conversation. A familiar voice that they had both heard for the first time yesterday. They spun around to find Kakashi crouched in the middle of the roof, holding one hand up in greeting. "Yo! I understand that you have been looking for me?"
There was a sudden thunk as a small gray bullet made of bone struck him directly in the Chunin vest. The green material began to crumble and Kakashi leapt backwards, ash falling all around him as the vest turned to ash.
"Tch," Kaguya clicked her teeth. Her bullets were too small and weak to pierce through something designed to withstand kunai slashes and shuriken punctures it would seem. Against civilians who didn't wear such things, a single bullet would be enough, but that wasn't going to be the case against those with more protection.
At full power she would have shot bigger projectiles from the palm of her hand that consisted of bone made from her radius or ulna. As she was, she could only generate a limited number of bones the size of her index finger.
That would be enough. She had already destroyed his protection. With the next one she could finish him off. "Wait-" Kakashi started to say too late. She fired another bone bullet and it sunk into his chest cavity. He started to crumble apart, at least for a moment, before he transformed into a log.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!?" Naruto asked in surprise, simultaneously informing Kaguya of what had just happened.
"Like I was saying-" The real Kakashi was to their left now, in the same crouching position he had been in as before.
"Aruji-sama! Pull him in!" Kaguya wasn't going to wait for him to finish. He was already far too dangerous an existence for them, having snuck up on them while they were speaking. Who knew what he had overheard. That was without mentioning he had known they were looking for him in the first place.
"Bansho Ten'in!" Naruto reacted first, only thinking about it after it was too late. Until now, Kaguya had been the one to kill people. He hadn't helped her with that, she had done it all on her own. If he got involved like this, he could no longer claim innocence. He was about to become complicit in her murders.
"Whoa!" Kakashi once again had his words cut off mid-sentence, Naruto's right palm pulling him towards the young blond like a vortex. He flew through the air, arms and legs flailing behind him as if some invisible force had grabbed him by the chest and was pulling him forward.
Kaguya smirked, shooting three more bone bullets. It was overkill, but she wasn't taking any more chances. Kakashi wasn't a Jonin and considered a legendary Ninja for nothing, however. Even when suddenly faced with a new ability he had never experienced before, he was able to react. His body twisted and turned, adjusting his limbs difficult but possible against the force of Naruto's Bansho Ten'in. It was just enough, allowing him to barely dodge the bullets as they whizzed past him.
He may have dodged the barrage, but he was far from safe just yet. Despite gaining some control over his trajectory, the final destination hadn't changed and he was on a direct collision course with Naruto. In mere moments the two would collide into one another. At least, they should have under normal circumstances.
Naruto's shadow bent and twisted, shooting out halfway to merge with Kakashi's. The moment the two shadows connected and Kakashi's forward momentum was brought to a violent and sudden halt. His whole body jerked to a stop, giving him whiplash and temporarily stunning him.
"This ends now." Kaguya readied her last bullet. Six shots was her limit. It wasn't a matter of a cooldown like Naruto's Rinnegan. She suspected in order to further create more bones she would have to wait for Naruto to intake calcium that she could then convert into her Jutsu. So if this shot missed, they were going to have to find a different way to take Kakashi down.
This was it.
She fired her bullet. Kakashi, still suffering from the effects of whiplash, wasn't able to say or do anything as it pierced his exposed chest. Like before, he began to crumble apart, turning into gray ash. However, unlike before he didn't turn into a log and just continued to fall apart as a human until the very end.
In a matter of moments it was over… and the legendary Copy Ninja was no more.
"That was all really dramatic." At least, that should have been the case. Yet from behind the ashes of the fallen Kakashi, a second one stepped out from the shadows and into the moonlight. "Now then, can we talk? Or did you want to keep going?"
"...How?" Naruto asked the same question Kaguya was thinking. "That couldn't have been the Bunshin no Jutsu. Clones aren't real… they don't have solid form."
"Hmm… well, you aren't wrong about that." Kakashi raised both hands in front of himself, forming a seal of some kind. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" In a burst of smoke, a replica of Kakashi appeared to his left. "These are shadow clones." He held one hand up towards the clone, who returned the gesture, their hands clapping together as they high-fived one another.
"Both of thou?" Kaguya clarified, using her Byakugan to study Kakashi and his clone. There was no perceptual difference between them. They were completely the same, down to the chakra signature. If she hadn't seen him create a clone, she wouldn't have even known which was the original right now. If either one of them even was.
"I thought it might be best to not approach you in person. Considering how trigger happy you are, Ojou-chan." Kakashi answered, confirming her suspicion that neither one of them was the original. Under normal circumstances, Kaguya would call him out on his lack of decorum for not appearing before them himself. His good sense had saved his life, however. "Seeing as how I'm still alive to finally explain that, I would guess you've run out of bullets?" Perceptive too, it would seem.
"Kaguya-chan, what should we do?" Naruto asked, but she didn't have an answer. Kakashi had completely outplayed them. Even if they could continue to fight him, they had no idea where the original truly was. He could be on the other side of the village for all she knew.
"As things are, we have no choice but to hear him out." Kaguya sighed, folding her arms and glaring at the two Kakashi's. "It would seem he came to us with the intention of bargaining for his life."
"It really helps me out if you understand that." Kakashi chuckled humorlessly, inclining his head as if bowing to them. The clone next to him disappeared a moment later. "To be honest, I had no intention of approaching you at all so early, but once I figured out you were looking for me, I didn't exactly have much choice." So he really had been aware of their pursuit. No wonder they couldn't find him, even with her Byakugan.
"So then how does this work from here?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth between Kaguya and Kakashi. He wouldn't ever tell her, but he was happy they had failed to kill Kakashi with that last attack. The number of people who ever helped him was slightly growing, but it was still thin. He would rather not eliminate allies as quickly as he made them.
"Good question…" Kakashi shrugged, turning his attention to Naruto. "I should probably start by saying that I am on your side, Naruto. Or rather, I would like you to be on our side."
"Do not use word-play in an attempt to deceive our Aruji." Kaguya took a couple steps to the side, placing herself directly between Naruto and Kakashi. "It was not mere whim upon which we decided to leave our Aruji's shadow. Thou claim you want him to be thy ally, but we are here because our Aruji has no ally in this village." If there had been even one person before now that tried to save Naruto, she wouldn't have ever come out. It was because no one did that she felt she had to.
"You're right, my bad. I should have started differently, after all." Kakashi continued to look at Naruto from over the top of Kaguya's head. "This is why I apologized the other day, because I haven't been there for you as much as I should have been. However, you have to believe me when I say that I was very busy helping you out in other ways."
He placed his arms by his sides and this time bowed properly before them. "It is a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance, I am Hatake Kakashi and for the past few years it has been my mission to watch over you and report any changes on your condition to Hokage-sama." He returned to an upright position before continuing, "Having said that, I have been feeding the Hokage false information until now. For example, he still does not know about your existence, Ojou-chan. I know you've been there since right around the time of the Uchiha Incident. Rather, I knew something happened to Naruto's shadow at that time. It wasn't until last night I knew it was you."
"Wait, slow down!" Naruto suddenly shouted, taking a couple steps forward. Before he could get too far Kaguya held up an arm, urging him to stay back and not get much closer. "You mean you've been keeping an eye on me all this time for the Hokage? But why? What interest would the Hokage have in someone like me?"
"Thou already know the answer to that." Kaguya was the one who answered. "Kyubi no Yoko. Jinchuriki have infamously been used as weapons of mass destruction in past Ninja wars. So it stands to reason the Hokage would want someone to keep an eye on thou as the host of the strongest of those Biju."
"So you already know about that too, huh?" Kakashi sighed, but nodded in affirmation to Kaguya's words. "That's right… but I can't see Kyubi's chakra mixing with Naruto's anymore. Haven't been able to since about the time Naruto's shadow changed. Even so, I never told Hokage-sama about this. It hasn't been easy. I've had to do a lot to make sure no one else found out about this either, even accidentally. You should be more grateful to me, Ojou-chan."
"Grateful…?" Naruto asked, clenching his teeth so hard it sounded like they might break. "What the hell is there to be grateful to a bastard like you for!? You've seen how much I have been suffering this whole time and you didn't do anything!? You… and the Hokage… none of you ever saw me for anything more than the fox! Isn't that right!?"
"That's wrong!" Kakashi countered, voice quiet but stern. "Maybe for Danzo-sama that is true, but for me it's different. Think about it, I've already known you haven't had the Kyubi for years, but I've continued to protect your secret. I am not your enemy."
"Just because thou are not our enemy does not make thou our ally." Kaguya pointed out to him. "However, perhaps we shall hear you out. Tell us the sequence of events so we may choose for ourselves whether or not to put our trust in thou."
"I guess that's the most I can ask for." Kakashi sighed, but agreed to continue. "Let me start with the Kyubi attack on the night of Naruto's birth. Frankly speaking… We believe Danzo-sama orchestrated that attack to kill the Yondaime Hokage and take his place. As you know, it was mostly successful, the Yondaime dying to place the Kyubi inside an infant Naruto."
"Who is this we that thou speak of?" Kaguya asked for clarification.
"We're a small organization of Anbu members known as Root. It was formerly a division run by Danzo-sama under the Sandaime's tenure, but when he became Hokage, it was disbanded. A couple of us revived it as a now anti-Danzo faction. I probably don't have to say, but its current existence is top secret. So secret he would trust me, its leader, with the mission of keeping an eye on Naruto's condition."
"Why you?" Naruto asked, and to answer that question, Kakashi lifted the left side of his hitai-ate to reveal a Sharingan eye.
"This eye can control the flow of Kyubi's chakra… at least in theory." He placed the hitai-ate back over his eye. "At least, that's the official reason I was chosen. The truth of the matter is I volunteered for this mission. That's because, Naruto. You are a special person from the moment you were born. Not because the Kyubi no Yoko was placed in you, but from before that even.
"Naruto, you are the son of the Yondaime Hokage."
Kaguya understood now. She had indeed thought it odd that Kakashi would have some interest in Naruto if not for the Kyubi, but as a former student of the Yondaime, it made sense he would want to remain close to his son. That was why he continued to protect his secret even after. Despite the fact that Naruto no longer offered any strategic value without the Kyubi.
"I really am sorry I haven't been able to better protect you." Kakashi continued. "Danzo-sama believes that a perfect Jinchuriki is one filled with hatred. This is why he had fake rumors spread about you being the fox incarnate and made laws such as not telling your generation the truth. All to further isolate you and strengthen your own hatred. He hopes to one day use your hate to control the Kyubi… and it's why I couldn't risk jeopardizing my position to help you, no matter how much I might have wanted to."
Naruto had fallen silent, not reacting to any of the things Kakashi had been saying for several moments now. The truth was, he had stopped listening after being told he was the son of a former Hokage. How was he even supposed to react to this news? He didn't know.
Should he be happy? His father had been some amazing existence, the leader of the village, for as short a time as it had been. Or would it be better to get angry? Because despite who his father had been, Naruto had been treated this badly the whole time.
"We understand the basics now." Kaguya said, her voice drawing his attention back down to her. He thought it was odd that he felt nothing, but looking at Kaguya now he knew why. Who his parents were didn't matter anymore. They hadn't been there for him when he needed them, but Kaguya was here now. Nothing else mattered.
"So?" Kaguya continued. "What would thou have us do? Certainly thou would not propose to make our Aruji the Hokage simply for his bloodline?" As she understood it, that wasn't what a military dictatorship valued when picking their leaders. Although she would admit there had been some connection between all the previous leaders.
"No, nothing like that." Kakashi waved his hand as if to dismiss the idea. "First of all, is it alright if I ask what exactly it is that you are, Ojou-chan? I understand you live in Naruto's shadow. It would also seem that you somehow replaced the Kyubi… or perhaps evolved from it? There is also the matter of your Byakugan, same as the Hyuga clan. Honestly, any one of those things by themselves would be surprising, so you're a pretty incredible existence to try and pin down the nature of."
"We will give thou the same answer we gave our Aruji." Kaguya straightened herself out, flicking her long white locks of hair dramatically as she placed both hands on her hips and raised her chin as if to look down on the taller man before them. "We are a mere moon rabbit, come down to this planet to eat demons! Thinking of us as that is enough."
"That so?" Kakashi seemed to want to laugh, but didn't appear to know how in the face of such a serious way of saying something so ridiculous. "Well, I can't say I really get it, but that's good enough for now. As for what we want from Naruto… the plan was to have this conversation after he graduated. I submitted my application to withdraw from the Anbu and become a Jonin-sensei not long ago. I would then take him on my team where I would be able to look after him more carefully. Well… the order got a bit mixed up, but we can still go with that, right?"
"It is not for us to decide." Kaguya turned to Naruto, looking up at him. "Aruji-sama, what would thou have us do? We personally do not see the need to get involved in some power struggle between humans, but if thou desire it, we will abide by thy will."
Naruto continued to stare at Kaguya for several moments, before slowly shifting his gaze to Kakashi. He still didn't like that this guy had abandoned him for all this time, but there was something even more than that he couldn't forget.
"You said this Danzo guy was responsible for the death of my father? Along with my treatment up until now, right?" He clarified, Kakashi nodding to his question. "Then… I guess I got no choice: I'm in." He didn't care about what had to happen to make it happen, but he finally had some kind of path for himself. He had gotten power… and now he had found a purpose for that power.
Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. "That's good-"
"On one condition." Naruto cut him off. "As it is, I might not even be able to graduate. Even if I get strong, it doesn't mean anything if I can't learn to make clones before the final exam. So before then… teach me. Not just the normal Bunshin no Jutsu. I need to be able to really surprise Mizuki-sensei and give him no reason to be able to fail me so…" He inhaled deeply, pointing dramatically at the Copy Ninja.
"Teach me the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Chapter End
Post-word: So while this fic is turning out plenty AU, I do want to retain some of the original Naruto.
More-so than even the Rasengan, I think Shadow Clones are essential to Naruto as a character. So I decided to work that into this. With that too, I've more or less introduced the entire starting skillset I wanted for Naruto to reach here.
As such, next time will have a small time-skip. Look forward to that!
