Impstar: You called it, bro.
kenegi: If you're talking about that Bijuu from that one movie, that's not actually canon.
AbbaSalama: I know, I'm trying, but I really can't stress enough just how difficult this story to write to my liking. Amenaza is just so much easier, that I just gravitate towards updating that one more, no matter how much I hate that. It's a shame because I think this one has a lot more potential than Amenaza could ever have.
Chapter 6: The Tailless Lizard
My name is Namikaze Naruto, and I am a monster...
I don't say this because because I have done some truly evil action in the past that I regret wholeheartedly. In actuality, I have done nothing wrong except live my life, but maybe that is the reason God is punishing me.
I call myself a monster, because I literally am a monster. Almost eleven years ago, I had an unfortunate accident, and ended up becoming a Bijuu, one of the now ten giant chakra monsters living in the world.
And, to add insult to injury, I was sealed away in my youngest sister by the hands of my own mother, where to this day I remain impaled along the walls and floor of this tiny chamber, never being able to move. Always impaled, always dank, and always very, very lonely. Even if my vocal chords have adjusted to allow human speech again, it was of no use, as there was no one to talk to.
I have come to terms with the fact that I am a Bijuu, and that I will never be able to go back to my previous form or lifestyle. I guess you could say I accepted this about six years into my imprisonment, where I discovered I could take on a more "human" form. Despite this however, this "human" form is still completely recognizable as something inhuman. Even if I escape and live the rest of my life in this human form, I would forever be shunned as an outcast and as a monster. This I know to be true.
But, even still, I long to be free from this place. I can never again enjoy the company of a human, but being a Bijuu has granted me a bizarre appreciation for the simpler things in life. For the longest time, I have yearned to simply run free throughout the world and be unworried about worldly desires, despite my lack of companionship. Nothing would make me happier at this time.
However, I have not lost all of my human feelings, and most of them remain intact. I would be lying if I said that this decade long imprisonment has not made me bitter and jaded. I have a boiling pot of hate deep within my body. Hate towards my family, hate towards the power that be, and hate towards the ninja system. But most importantly, I hated the events that lead to this. To the events that lead me to be imprisoned.
But, that's enough about that. My inane ramblings about my miserable life don't matter to anyone, because I'll be lucky to ever be able to see the light of day ever again...
In the village of Konoha, the first thing anyone would notice as they started their day was the orange and black paint that coated the four faces on the Hokage monument. It was vandalism at its finest, and while most everyone was staring with indignation at the action, the perpetrator was currently laughing her ass off.
A pair of Chuunin rushed around the village, desperately searching for the culprit of the admittedly ingenious prank. She laughed at their feeble attempts to stop her before she turned around and bumped straight into a larger body.
There, a man in his early-mid 30's stood in front of her, an annoyed expression on his scarred, tanned face. His right eye seemed to twitching a bit, and the culprit of the prank rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Heh Heh. Hi, Iruka-sensei..." she greeted, trying to appease the authority figure in front of her, though how well it was working was anyone's guess.
"Yukiko! Not again! What are you doing during class!" he screamed at her, causing the youngest Namikaze to grin awkwardly. Iruka just glared at her intensely, before he produced a length of rope from God knows where. Yukiko just barely realized what was going to happen before she was tied up and dragged back to the academy.
Five minutes later, she was sitting tied up on the floor of the academy. Iruka was clearly mad at her, but the rest of class only seemed amused at the girl's predicament. There was no trace of true mocking or dislike on any of their faces. In fact, many of them were actually very amused with the pranks that she had been known to pull.
She smiled back at the crowd, causing the students to laugh quietly at her. Iruka sensed this and glared at the class before turning back to the red-haired Namikaze. Although he was mad on the outside, Iruka was happy for her. She reminded him vaguely of himself while in the academy, though unlike him, she wasn't considered annoying by everyone in her class. She was actually very good friends with Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. It was... . heartwarming to say the least. They all knew about the thing that resided within her body, but they had chosen to accept her regardless, mostly on part of the Yondaime and their parent's efforts.
Still, he knew in the end that she had to be punished for her latest prank.
"We're going to review the Henge technique. Those who have already passed need to do it as well..." he said, drawing groans and protests from the crowd. Okay, now the class could afford to be slightly annoyed with Yukiko.
A few kids went before her, but when it was her turn she sauntered up to the middle of the room like nothing was happening. A cocky smirk appeared on her face, before she clasped her hands into a seal and yelled.
"Henge!"
Her girlish voice reverberated throughout the room, a cloud of smoke appeared, and there was a perfect copy of Iruka himself standing where Yukiko once was.
The fake Iruka changed back into the red-haired eleven year old, before she smirked at her now-approving teacher. She wasn't the top of the class for nothing after all, a fact she oh so graciously owed to the being inside her.
Her face brightened as her teacher complimented her on her performance, but it blanched and became an annoyed frown with his next words.
"But, that still doesn't mean you're not going to be scrubbing the Hokage mountain later!" he yelled. Her ear twitched as she heard some light chuckling from the line of students. She turned around to glare at them halfheartedly, before she walked back to her seat, muttering something about how today was gonna suck.
She continued her muttering as she got to work on the Hokage monument, scrubbing the paint off her father's face, which had really been hit the hardest. Iruka sat on top of the mountain, always keeping a reproachful eye on her work.
He narrowed his eyes as he caught her murmuring something about "stupid teachers", before he adopted a thoughtful look.
"Hey... Yukiko," he said cautiously, as the girl in question turned upwards and gave him an unamused stare.
"Well, I was thinking... if you do a good job... maybe I could take you out for some ramen tonight," the Chuunin said. Yukiko's face brightened at that immediately, and she immediately began working with a zeal previously absent. It was a little known fact that she was the biggest ramen fanatic in her family, and that was really saying something.
Later that night, after she was all done with her cleaning, Yukiko sat with her admittedly favorite teacher, gobbling up ramen faster than the eye could see. Iruka could only watch as bowl after bowl disappeared into the bottomless pit that was her belly. He could already hear his wallet screaming in pain.
"Yukiko, why would you deface the Hokage monument like that? Don't you know who the Hokages are?" Iruka asked. Yukiko slurped up her eleventh bowl, before setting it down on the counter and facing her sensei.
"Of course I do! My own dad is one, remember! The Hokages are the strongest in the village, and legends among ninjas. Not to mention, Dad saved this village from a monster fox and a monster lizard! I wanna follow in my dad's footsteps, and become greater than them all!" she exclaimed, pointing her chopsticks at Iruka.
However, despite her praise for the Hokages, her mood suddenly darkened, as a thought came over her.
"Hey. . . sensei. Can I ask you something?" she barely whispered, catching Iruka off-guard by the subdued tone of voice.
"You've been a sensei for a really long time, right? And... I've heard several times that you taught my sister while she was in the academy... So..." she trailed off, and it felt like a stone dropped into Iruka's stomach.
"D-Does that mean... you also taught... him?" she asked, her voice even meeker than it was seconds earlier. Iruka's breath hitched in his throat at the question. Yukiko's brother Naruto... the oldest Namikaze kid... and the one who had died during the field trip supervised by him. A great wave of sadness washed over him, before he looked over at Yukiko.
The ways her eyes shone right now reminded Iruka so much of the small, shy little boy who had awkwardly shown up at the academy in his class. But, that seemed to be where the similarities ended.
Yukiko wasn't small like her brother was. She wasn't exactly tall for her age like her sister was, but she had a very healthy build. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her long red hair ran down to her mid-back. She had her mother's wide face and button nose, but her blue eyes were all from her father. She wore a simple white t-shirt with a red spiral on it, and normal black shinobi pants.
"Yes, Yukiko. I taught him." he said simply. He didn't feel that any more words would be necessary; she didn't need to know that he was killed by the very thing that now lived inside her. However, he got the feeling that she already knew.
"He was killed by the Reibi inside me, wasn't he Iruka-sensei?" It wasn't a question. Iruka half-expected this sentence, but it didn't hurt any less to tell her the truth.
"...yes."
The girl lifted up her shirt and rubbed her belly, tracing her fingers across her belly button, where the currently invisible seal was.
"I had a feeling that it was the Reibi that killed him. The day he died matches up completely with the day that the stupid lizard appeared and attacked Konoha. Still, it's very possible that he's alive out there somewhere; they never found a body after all. All of us like to believe that he's out there somewhere, whether it's because it gives us comfort, I don't know. I just know that once I become Hokage, I will devote everything in my power to finding him. I bet you think I'm stupid, right Iruka-sensei? And that there's no way that he's still alive, right? M-Maybe you're right, b-but this is fine, right? It isn't wrong for a girl to want to meet her brother, is it?" Yukiko found words to be more difficult to say as she reached the end of her monologue, and Iruka could tell that she was close to tears.
Iruka said nothing, but he got off of his stool and walked over to Yukiko, and before she could react, the teacher had pulled her into a hug. The red-haired girl was taken aback for a second, before she let a few tears fall from her eyes, and returned the hug.
"I don't think you're stupid, Yukiko. I think that's a wonderful mindset, and very admirable. And you're right, we have no way of knowing that Naruto is dead. He could just be out there somewhere, biding his time..." He released Yukiko from the hug, and she seemed to feel a little bit better.
"T-Thanks Iruka-sensei, but I don't think that's right. Dad has looked for him tirelessly for over a decade, and we've up with no clues, no leads to suggest that he's still alive. But, I think he was killed by the Reibi. Y'know, I could hate being a Jinchuuriki, and having that thing stuck inside me... but I don't. My parents were just trying to make me have a happy life, and the Reibi will help me on the path of being a ninja. I don't blame them for sealing it in me, especially since my sister's life was enhanced by it..." she said softly, and Iruka figured there was more to this than she let on.
"Yukiko... I..." Iruka tried to say, but he was cut off before he could get anything out.
"There you are, Yukiko... I figured you would be here." a calm feminine voice said, as the flaps to the ramen stand folded, and a new individual entered the restaurant.
"Oh, Haruki-nee..." she said, as she finally noticed her older sister enter the stand.
Whereas Yukiko was almost the spitting image of her mother, Haruki was the opposite, taking mostly after her father. A complete bombshell of a woman, Haruki definitely had the attention of the males in the village. She kept her blonde hair in a ponytail that reached her upper-back, and her face was much more angular and pronounced, though she had similar eyes to her sister. She was very tall, clocking in at around 5'8"or 5'9", and somewhat slender, having very long legs and a curvy build. Her breasts were very large, being the same size as her best friend Hinata's, if not even bigger, which Yukiko noted with envy. Some even said they would be as big as Tsunade's legendary ones in a couple of years, though that was likely an exaggeration.
Her outfit was very... provocative, to say the least. Fishnet stockings rode up her legs into her navy blue shinobi shorts, which hugged her figure nicely. Her shirt consisted of a sleeveless white tank-top that revealed quite a bit of sizable cleavage, and it was cut off several inches above her belly button, exposing her toned stomach.
Yukiko was... jealous of her sister, to say the least. She wished she could wear those type of outfits, as well as have her body. She hoped with all her heart that she could be just as attractive when she got older. Though, with a handsome father and beautiful mother, she had all the genetics in her favor, so she doubted she would have to worry about that.
But, her sister wasn't just beautiful. She was a genius, as well. Starting out her training early, Haruki made it to Genin at the age of seven, and now at the tender age of sixteen, she was an ANBU Captain, and probably the fourth or fifth strongest ninja in the village. She seemed destined to take the mantle of Hokage from her father, and that brought her into conflict with Yukiko, who was aiming to become Hokage in her own right.
Still, her sister had issues. Yukiko wasn't sure, but she could swear that the environment got ten degrees colder just from being in her presence. Something had stirred her into a cold and arrogant human being. Not to mention, the pampered life she had lived made her downright spoiled, and despite her coldness, she loved being the center of attention. The presence of the Kyuubi, the strongest of the tailed beasts almost gave her a God complex, and she expected everything to be handed to her on a silver platter, just like what had happened all her life.
"Dad heard about your most recent stunt, and he wasn't pleased about it. But..." she looked back outside over to the Hokage monument.
"It seems your sensei has taken the liberty of having you clean it spotless. However, I don't approve of you being allowed to partake in ramen after just being punished. We're heading home... now. Dad wants to have a word with you." she said.
"Wait, Haruki. Don't you think that's little hard on her?" asked Iruka, coming to Yukiko's rescue. The girl in question smiled at her sensei, before turning back towards her sister with pleading eyes.
"With all due respect Iruka, I believe you were far too easy on her. Remember that I outrank you, and this is a matter that will be decided within by the Hokage himself... Let's go, Yukiko."
Yukiko mumbled something to herself before rising from her stool and walking out of the stand. Iruka looked like he had wanted to say something, but he let both sisters go.
Yukiko walked with her posture completely slumped, almost afraid to look up at her older sister. While in some ways she was hyperactive and happy, in others she completely lacked confidence and self-esteem. Just being around her sister seemed to awaken those feelings within her. She was treated like a hero around the village for holding the Reibi, something she was grateful for (and slightly embarrassed by), but it would be a lie to say that she was more revered than her sister.
Kyuubi was by far a bigger threat than the Reibi was, and it had done far more damage to the village, in comparison to the lizard who was unable to even breach the village gates.
She was also more talented than the younger girl was, and her work ethic was something to be admired. She was the perfect image of everything the Namikaze family ever wanted in a child.
Even now, as they wandered throughout the village, she could see boys ogling her, and nearly all of the surrounding villages were whispering in reverence for her, rather than the hate that could've been expected.
However, Yukiko cocked her ear when she thought she heard a sullen-faced man walk past and speak.
"Fucking Mary-Sue bitch... You'll have a deconstruction some day..." she thought she heard the man whisper. She turned away to see the sullen-faced man, but he was silently walking down the road. She took her eyes off him as he walked into a store and leaned on the fourth wall of the building. Bewildered by the experience, she didn't even notice that they had reached the front gate to the compound where she had lived all these years.
The two ANBU guards bowed as both girls took off their sandals and entered the main mansion, where both of their parents would surely be at this time of day.
They heard the clanging of plates in the kitchen, and realized that one of their servants was likely finishing up the dishes. Haruki picked up on idle conversation coming from the main living room, and recognized the voices immediately due to her advanced hearing.
She lead her younger sister into the living room, where both of their parents were seating on the couch, talking in slightly hushed voices about what was likely Yukiko's latest stunt.
Her mother seemed somewhat upset, and she glared lightly at her younger daughter as she entered the room. But, that was to be expected. Her mother was still as beautiful as ever, but she seemed a lot older because of the sheer bitter expression that seemed to be on her face half the time. Her father was physically showing more signs of age, but he seemed younger than her since he had always seemed somewhat cheery, or at least as cheery as you could get after losing a child.
Kushina was about to speak, but Minato beat her to it.
"Yukiko, please sit. We've got something important to tell the both of you..." It was strange, but her father really didn't seem that upset about the vandalized Hokage monument. And, from the looks of it, neither did her mother. In fact, they seemed to be somewhat proud.
"Dad, aren't you going to punish her for what she pulled today?" said Haruki indignantly, allowing emotion for the first time since she saw her sister today. Yukiko winced, thinking that her parents would be reminded to punish her.
"Haruki, I know that Iruka made her clean the monument from top to bottom. That's enough punishment for one day. What's important know is that your sister's final exam is tomorrow. It's a very momentous occasion, and we have much more important things to announce than a prank..." Minato retaliated, his voice leaving room for no arguments.
Haruki looked like she was about to talk back, say something about how she had graduated five years early instead of just one. However, despite her sentiments about the occasion, she kept her mouth shut and stalked over to sit on the couch with the others. Minato sighed heavily as she sat down, in a slightly brooding mood.
"Well, Yukiko, I'm sure you're aware what resides in you, right?" he began lightly, after Kushina had given him the approval to continue. Yukiko seemed to know what was going on already, and she nodded her confidently, which eased Minato's concerns a little bit.
"Okay, then you're likely aware that Kushina put on a specific seal when she sealed the Reibi inside of you. This seal allows you to draw upon the chakra of the beast, and use it as your own power. When you graduate tomorrow, we think it's about time for you to tap into that reservoir of power. It will surely grant you great strength, as well as protect you in times of crisis..."
Yukiko smiled slightly, having come to the conclusion that this was all about. It was wiped off her face when her father adopted a completely serious look.
"But, Yukiko. I hope you realize that harnessing the power of a Bijuu is no laughing matter. It's not going to be easy, and if you lose control of it, you could end up hurting your allies or the ones you love. That's why we've prepared for this situation beforehand. . ." he said, looking over at Haruki, and then over to Yukiko.
"You know by now that your sister has gone through similar training with the Kyuubi for almost five years. She can control up to seven tails of the beast's chakra without losing herself, but the Reibi is a comparatively weaker Bijuu, and won't take nearly as much effort to master the usage of its power. However, Haruki is still very experienced with controlling her Bijuu. Over the past year, the three of us have worked on a technique that will allow the two of you to link mindscapes, allowing you and your sister to both subjugate and control the Reibi. It will be a battle of willpower, though with Haruki at your side, there's no doubt in my mind you'll be able to subdue the beast. . ." Minato explained.
Haruki seemed to forget about her previous problems with Yukiko's pranks, and she flashed a reassuring smile to Haruki, who seemed to be getting slightly nervous. It was a rare occurrence to see her smile like that, to say the least.
"We hope that you will be able to subjugate him easily. Starting tomorrow, we will begin your training on how to harness the chakra of the Reibi, and when you're capable of it, you will be ready to subjugate your Bijuu. But for now, you need to get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow..." finished Minato, the light tone of his voice returning as he smiled at his youngest.
Yukiko almost felt like arguing, but regardless of her opinion, she wandered up the stairs to her bedroom after a quick "Good night."
Yukiko winced when her father pulled her into a one-armed hug. She had successfully called upon the Bijuu's chakra, but she had to train herself to the bone in order to activate it willingly. Her father had mentioned something about it activating subconsciously during times of high stress or anger, but she at least seemed to be able to use it willingly now. It was merely three days after her graduation; she hadn't even been assigned her team yet, and she was already capable of calling on the chakra. Her father was stunned when she activated it for the first time, claiming that no one had ever been able to learn something so advanced in such a short period of time.
Her mother and sister stood off towards the side, having a soft smile and an arrogant smirk on their faces, respectively. She walked up towards them slowly, too tired to even speak.
She then promptly collapsed onto the dirt out of sheer exhaustion. Her father laughed at that.
"Seems likes you've tuckered yourself out today, Yukiko, so I guess we'll hold off the mind synchronization until tomorrow. However, both of you girls need to be prepared for it..." he said, addressing both of his daughters. Haruki nodded stoically, but Yukiko simply smiled, proud of herself for being able to do accomplish something in less amount of time than Haruki.
The next day, Yukiko walked out into personal training field to find the center of it covered in a large black marking that was about twenty feet in diameter. Come to think of it, she felt like she had seen it somewhere before. Then again, it was a spiral, and there were spirals all over the place in her life.
Her father was the one who was drawing the thing, as he was putting the finishing touches to the ink seal when she had walked out into the yard. His paintbrush drew with perfect finesse and precision, and she felt at ease seeing his skillful handiwork.
He barely acknowledged her presence, as he produced two slips of paper from his pocket, and in seconds had drawn identical seals to each of the slips. He tied the paper to a pair of kunai, and stabbed the blades into the ground, at opposite ends of the seal.
With his task finished, he walked up to the girl, clutching her shoulders gently as if to relax her.
"Alright, Yukiko. The seal's all set, and we're ready for the procedure to occur. If you would, please stand in the center while I go get your mother and sister so we can activate it."
Trembling just a little bit, the girl took her place in the center of the seal, while in under a minute her father had brought both of the other ladies of the house out towards the training field.
Sparing no words, Haruki marched right up towards the center of the seal and stood next to her sister. Kushina followed behind, and using her patented chakra chains, connected both Haruki's seal and Yukiko's seal to one another.
After she had finished, she went and took her position at one of the kunai, while Minato looked after the other one. Haruki wasn't really sure what happened next though. Having her seal connected to Haruki's had made her somewhat dizzy and delirious, and her sister didn't seem to be faring any better.
She thought she vaguely saw both her parents channeling chakra into the kunai, and heard them shout something very muffled that she couldn't make out. She looked down blearily, noticing that the seal and the chakra chains were glowing a bright blue. And then, she blacked out.
When she came to, she was face up in about six inches of murky water. She was staring at a dimly lit stone ceiling, and to her left was a dark corridor that was basically warning her to not go that way. In the opposite direction was, well. . .
"Is that? Is that... it can't be..." she thought, as fear wormed its way into her stomach. There, to the right of her, was an enormous golden cage, with a flimsy piece of paper that read "Seal" on it. She couldn't see past it at all, as it was covered in darkness.
Getting to her feet, she cautiously edged closer towards the cage, trying to get a glimpse into the darkness. She didn't know what to do, her sister was nowhere to be found, and wasn't this supposed to be a mental link? She strained her eyes, and she thought she could feel some slight rustling from beyond the cage, and all of a sudden, two enormous reptilian eyes snapped open in the darkness, its attention drawn to the new arrival.
Naruto almost growled as he surveyed the small, human girl who stood shakily outside of his cage. That was Yukiko, wasn't it? His youngest sister, who seemed to be a Konoha ninja now, if the forehead protector was anything to go by. It was the first time he had seen her in over a decade. While he could occasionally sense her emotions, this was the first time he had seen her face-to-face.
But, he knew why she was here. He had noticed that his chakra seemed to be getting sapped from him these past few days, and he knew that she had been forcibly taking his power. Now, she was likely here so she could subdue him.
"You... What are YOU doing here?" asked Naruto, prompting to play dumb about the entire reason she was here. Yukiko backpedaled at the sound of his voice, and the deep anger that seemed to resonate within it.
Naruto's golden yellow chakra flared up across his body for the first time, illuminated the dark chamber in the back to where Yukiko could see him for the first time. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, and the stakes that were impaling his limbs and chest to the floor. He grinned viciously, showing a full mouth of serrated teeth.
"Speechless, are you? Trust me, I'm not fond of conversing with a brain-dead kid that doesn't even know her purpose in coming here." he jabbed at the human girl.
Well, that did it. She seemed to take affront to the insults, and her temper boiled over as she finally realized just who she was talking to.
"Hey, I'm not a brain-dead kid, you dumb lizard. You're taking up residence within my body, so you're going to have to pay rent by giving me control of all your chakra!" she said.
"In case you didn't realize, I didn't ask to be put in this place, so I owe you nothing. Get that through your thick skull and maybe we could be a bit more civil..." the Bijuu retaliated.
"Hey, your scaly ass deserves to be in here after what you did... Y-You..." the girl was shaking with rage now, her voice as venomous as the reptile within the cage.
"Y-You killed my brother, you monster! I hate you, I hate you!" she screamed, all her emotions about the situation spilling out towards the source of her problem.
Naruto seemed taken aback for a moment at this confession, before he reared back and gave a full-blown belly laughter that echoed throughout the chamber, though it seemed to be filled with mirth and anger, as much as it was amusement. Yukiko shook at Naruto's laughter, tears forming in her eyes as she stared at the beast hatefully.
"You think- Oh that's rich! Listen here, little girl. I-" he began, but he was cut off by a low rumbling that shook the entire room, almost like an earthquake had happened. Yukiko looked frantically over her shoulder, noticing that the hallway behind her was beginning to fade, and something new was taking its place. It was a room almost identical to the one she was in, down to the six-inch deep water she was standing in. The room materialized into existence, the point where the water in her room ended met with the area where the water started in the other. On the far end of the connecting rooms, a large cage similar to the one behind her appeared.
It was almost identical, golden and with piece of paper on it, though it lacked the strange chains that ran across the ceiling in her room into Naruto's cage. At the base of the cage, a tall blonde-haired girl stumbled forward towards Haruki, and the earthquake didn't stop. As Haruki got closer, Yukiko felt a sudden nausea overcome her, and she felt shaky.
She ran forward to catch her collapsing sister, though she ended up falling as well.
"H-Haruki-nee, what h-happened?" she asked weakly, breathing heavily.
"It... was too exhausting to m-maintain the mental link. We've unexpectedly exhausted all our chakra linking up our minds. We can't maintain a presence in the linked mindscape. W-We need to release the technique and go back to reality. Our minds will be s-separated in about ten minutes. Hold on to m-me, and I'll take us back," she said.
Yukiko nodded weakly, pulling herself to her feet. She wrapped her arms around her sister's bare midriff, as the older ANBU Captain placed her hands in a Ram seal.
"K-Kai..." she shouted weakly, releasing her chakra and dispelling the technique. The two girls disappeared from the linked mindscape, though the mind in question remained connected for a little while longer...
"Was that Haruki? What was she doing in Yukiko's mindscape?" Naruto asked, blinking as he strained his neck just in time to see his blonde-haired sibling disappear with the other one.
However, even as the girls disappeared, he noticed that there was an addition to the normal chamber in which he resided. It was sort of like looking in a mirror, see the additional water and a cage similar to his at the end. However, it gave itself away as not a reflection, due to the fact that there were no chains running out from the cage.
"Wait, I know what's over there..." he told himself, as reddish-orange chakra began leaking out of the cage and into the water. Naruto recognized the type of chakra immediately. An almost identical feel to his, a hell of a lot more potent that his, and showing up immediately after Haruki. Oh, yes.
It was the Kyuubi, and he knew it.
The red chakra illuminated a massive red fox, about the same size as himself. The much stronger Bijuu was grinning mischievously at him, and Naruto felt he couldn't feel muster up that much force to respond.
"Well, isn't this a nice surprise, Reibi-san..." the fox boomed from his cage. Its voice was even deeper and more menacing than Naruto's, though even Naruto could tell that the voice was mocking him.
"You know me, Kyuubi?" asked Naruto cautiously. The fox laughed, before his voice devolved into making a bastardized version of baby talk, which irked Naruto greatly.
"Of course I know who you are. We all know about that piece of ourselves that never became a Bijuu. The one that always resided deep within that forest without a consciousness, pathetically waiting for the day when it could capture its own suitable host. From what I can tell, you were originally some unfortunate little animal that the chakra was enough to assimilate, or a human who stumbled across the failed Bijuu, and it decided to use your consciousness for the body... am I right?" the Kyuubi smirked.
Naruto turned his head away from the Kyuubi, not wanted to listen to the fox's taunting anymore.
"Well, it doesn't really matter what you were originally, because you're now one-hundred percent Bijuu, whether you like it or not. However, you are a strange anomaly, even for us. I'm not sure whether to envy you or pity you..." the great beast sighed, but his comment had stirred Naruto's interest.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there is a very interesting difference between you, and the rest of us Bijuu. You see, there are the nine successful Bijuu, whose power was enough to grant us a consciousness on our own, without any sort of medium. And, then there's you, the Bijuu who failed to take on a form without gathering a human's soul..."
"And that, in and of itself, is your greatest strength. Your human consciousness grants you much more potential than any of the other Bijuu. That's because, the human mind always has the capacity to grow, to add chakra to its reservoir. The original nine Bijuu, we're not like that. We're stuck, to put it bluntly. There is no other way that I know of for us to gain any more power..." the fox said somewhat somberly.
"But you can, Reibi. The fact that you have a human consciousness and a Bijuu body means that our chakra will be drawn to yours. Effectively, you could absorb an entire other Bijuu, and take its power, its rank for your own. For example, if you absorb the Ichibi, you'll gain a tail. If you absorb Nibi, you'll gain another. If you absorb me after Nibi... you'll gain seven more. The Rikudou Sennin who made us was very organized. Every single Bijuu is at the same level of power as all the Bijuu combined that came before him or her. Why do you think I'm so coveted by the ninja nations..."
Naruto would've raised an eyebrow if he could.
"Is there any particular reason you're telling me all this? I don't care about gaining power at this point. All I want to do is be able to run free from this place..." Naruto said. The Kyuubi laughed.
"That's funny, you think you'll be able to just do as you please if you manage to get out of here. If you escape, the entire ninja world will be on you, looking to put you back into a seal. Not to mention, that absorbing trick of yours I mentioned, well it works in reverse as well. You are the only Bijuu able to absorb, and be absorbed as well. Not only will the humans be after you, the Bijuu that are in the wild will go after you as well, looking to add to their power and upset the balance the Rikudou Sennin and Shodai Hokage made. If it wasn't for this cage right now, I already would've absorbed you..."
"So what do you want me to do?" Naruto asked, still not completely trusting of the Kyuubi.
"Me, I don't want anything. My seal is a lot stronger than yours, and it's very likely you'll be released from this seal someday, maybe even soon. But, if you want to survive out there in the real world, if you want to be truly free of all your hardships, then you are going to need power. Lots of power. You are coveted by both the ninja world and the Bijuu. Absorb all the other eight Bijuu, and then challenge and defeat me. Only then will you be able to be truly free..." Kyuubi said slyly.
The entire room began to rumble more, as more dirt and dust fell from the ceiling. The water and the cage to the opposite of Naruto was beginning to fade, and they both realized what was happening.
"Well, Reibi-san, it seems our time together is almost done. I hope you'll take what I said to heart; I am no liar after all. But, I guess even if you don't take my word for it, you'll see for yourself. If you get out of your seal, you'll see just how hard it is to survive in this world as a weak Bijuu..." Kyuubi said, his final words hanging on the air as Haruki's mindscape disappeared from Naruto's view.
Naruto turned his head back towards the wall, looking at his impaled hind leg. A troubled look passed through his face for a moment, before he settled back into his own thoughts.
Over in Haruki's mindscape, the Kyuubi grinned evilly.
Chapter done, guys.
I quite like this Chapter, as we're finally getting some exposition on what's going to happen. So please review, and tell me what you thought of this Chapter, if you would.
I'm also struggling over whether or not I want to put Naruto's dialogue in bold or not. I've done it so far with the Kyuubi and Gamabunta, but not Naruto. On one hand, he's the main character, and it would get annoying to see nothing but bold text from him all the time. On the other hand, maybe giving him bold text would really give off the feel that he truly is a Bijuu. I just don't know what to decide on.
So long,
Alban55