Kuro Awai CHPT 4
The arena was dead silent after the sudden proclamation, the fight they had just witnessed the battle of monsters, the one tailed Tanuki spirit vs a giant demonic sea serpent, the skill and teamwork they displayed, and he was FORFEITING? People all over the stadium were staring in bewilderment as the reporters from the N.C.V.C were babbling wildly into their mikes, while the camera's tried to get a view on both Genin's faces, at the same time as capturing the reactions of the crowds. In the Kage's booth the most recognised powerful men and women and their bodyguards, powerful in their own right, had their jaws hung open in disbelief. One however, was chuckling merrily to herself.
"Care to run that by me again kid?" Genma asked incredulously.
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, hereby withdraw my participation from the Chunin exam selection, under the reason, that I no longer represent Konoha, but the whole of Hi no Kuni. I think I've more then demonstrated the strength and integrity of Ozai-Sama's land. Therein, I give the honour of representing Konoha to my former teammate and loyal Genin, Uchiha Sasuke and my fellow Genin!" he explained, flourishing the Leviathan blade and pointing it towards Sasuke, at that, the gathered crowd went absolutely ballistic, the cheers the audience gave shook the thick walls of the stadium. Our young hero then looked back at the gigantic sea serpent floating in the air behind him. "I thank you for your aid, mighty Leviathan. Your display of power here shall return you glory to tales of the sea, after all, how many sea-monsters can boast taking down a Bijuu with ease? Stories of your might shall be told for centuries to come!"
The Leviathan nodded its draconic head only once, before rearing back its head and letting out an earth rending roar, its body beginning to shatter into billions of crystalline flakes, floating down to the ground. As the roar finished the Leviathan had disappeared, the flakes swirling back as if caught in a vortex back into the crystal like blade before that too seemed to flake away.
With a dramatic and deliberate gait, he walked off the field, a solemn look plastered on his face. The bladeless hilt of the Leviathan tugged snugly into his belt. As soon as he entered the participants stairwell, and felt all eyes, camera's and expectations off him. The solemn face morphed slowly into a mischievous grin as his body shook, before he let out a victorious cackle.
Feeling a pair of eyes land on his back, he turned back to see Sasuke there, his finger pointed accusingly, his eye twitching and his mouth wide open to accuse him of a thousand and one things. "Shut yer yap Teme, you'll catch flies," the Uzumaki shot out.
The Uchiha closed his mouth, dropped the accusatory finger and shook his head. Raising an inquisitive brow he stared at the teen in front of him, who just a few short months ago, was a talentless imbecile in his eyes. "What the hell was that out there Dobe?" he shot out the question with no real venom or bite.
"That?" Naruto asked incredulously. "I summon a creature who basically man handled a bloody Bijuu, and you're wondering about me forfeiting?!" the Uzumaki heir demanded incredulously. At the Uchiha's nod, Naruto just rolled his eyes. "Mission control," he said simply.
"Ah," was the Uchiha's reply.
Many missions came to and from a hidden village, while the mission system was ranked D through S, it was also sorted out into three main categories, light, grey and black. Light missions always…always painted a hidden village in a good light, while grey missions were undertaken if the pay was right. Black missions were taken in back allies, where Jonin and Anbu took missions that hadn't been approved by the Hokage, were the dark stains in the ledgers of all the hidden village's pages, and were looked down upon by all when they reared their dirty heads even if every village did them. What Naruto had done by forfeiting however, was paint Konohagakure a literal shining gold in the eyes of clients, a selfless act to give comrades a chance to show their potential in his stead, if that wasn't a money maker, he just didn't know what was.
"You're one sneaky bastard, you know that right Dobe?" Sasuke shot at Naruto, who just grinned back viscously.
"I don't work here anymore, but I do have friends here. Gotta look out for them when I'm working out in the gutters of the world, doing my job… and my parents were happily married I'll have you know!" Naruto shot back. "So, what're your plans? For after the exams I mean. We both know I'm gonna be kickin' ass and bringing hell."
"If I get my jacket, resign. Maybe join you out in the world killing demons."
"Sasuke brother… you would not last ten minutes in where I was in Ya no Oni without me, let alone any of the territories," Naruto said in a dead serious tone.
Sasuke noted the dull serious voice his 'rival' had used. There were few situations the Uzumaki was serious for, must've been bad he'd noted. "Territories?" he asked, trying to get past the serious Naruto, if anyone were to ask him, he'd tell them he honestly preferred the headstrong, cocksure idiot he'd come to know as the Jinchuriki over the serious, calculating and cold one any day.
"Territories are where specific demon species converge. Believe me… you do not wanna be forced into a vampire horde, when you're bleeding from every limb. It is not fun…" the blond muttered, before he watched as Shino passed them, his fist raised slightly as he walked towards them. Naruto just chuckled and bumped his fist against the Kikaichu user. "Good luck Bugs, kick his cross dressing Pajama'd ass."
"I shall endeavour to do just that, Uzumaki."
The Genin and demon slayer passed the bug user without much else, climbing the stairs and leaning on the rail. "He freaks me out sometimes. Ya know?" Naruto asked quietly, staring at the two down in the field.
"Why, because of the bugs?" feeling a brow raise at the supposed hypocrisy of that concept.
"Hell no, because of all the big words," Naruto mumbled out.
"Naruto… you're an idiot."
"And Damn proud of it!"
-Down on the field-
"Sabuku no Kankuro Vs. Aburame Shino, Hajime!" Genma shouted, hopping back out of the way. (I'm too lazy to come up with one, so I'll leave it to canon for this one, except in the arena...)
"Since neither participant can go on, this fight is a Draw! Now Medics!" he yelled, ninja in white scrubs ran onto the field, loaded both boys onto stretchers, before running back off the field. "Our next Match: Sabuku no Temari Vs Nara Shikamaru. Front and centre!" He called, Temari, in a flourish drew her fan, jumping over the railing and glided down. Shikamaru however, just put his arms lazily over the railing. Debating to himself whether or not to go down. Finally, he spoke up.
"I Forf-HEY!" Shikamaru exclaimed, sailing through the air towards the centre of the field, courtesy of air Uzumaki. He crashed into the ground unceremoniously, sliding through the ground for a few feet before he stopped and got up piteously, glaring up at a certain grinning blond. Standing up, he walked over to stand in front of Temari, one hand hovering over his kunai pouch, while the Suna-Nin had her fan out. A ninja jumped down behind Genma, and leaned into his ear, whispering instructions. Genma just raised an eyebrow.
Sasuke and the newly re-emerged, lightly bandaged duo of Suna-Nin stared curiously at the grinning blond, his foot still in the air from impacting with the Nara's lazy rear.
"What?...Are you supposed to be out of the infirmary you two?" He asked both Gaara and Kankuro in an awkwardly concerned tone.
"The medics protested…But I convinced them I was well enough to travel. Kankuro just tagged along with me," was all the explanation Gaara gave. Baring some bandages around his head where the flat of Leviathans blade had struck him, and plasters lining here and there, the boy looked no worse for wear a testament to Jinchuriki healing rates. Does that mean a light breeze would not knock him over? Hell no!
"And you puppet boy, you just got swarmed. Are you sure you're not better off, I don't know…On a freaking bed?!" Naruto exclaimed at the puppet wielding boy.
"While I could hear that walking bug hive was buzzing not four feet from me? Not fucking likely!" Kankuro exclaimed, resting heavily on the railing. He was covered in a light layer of specialized bandages, for those who had Kikaichu related chakra exhaustion.
"…" neither Sasuke nor Naruto could find fault in that statement.
"I do believe though, Uzumaki-san…that you have not answered as to why, you threw the pineapple to meet his fate by my…sister."
"Oh, that? I wanted the excuse to make a bet," Naruto waved dismissively. "Any takers?"
"Terms?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. Making bets where Uzumaki Naruto was concerned was like betting with the devil…Where you Tsunade Senju…Who had just brought a house of mirrors to the ground, shattering all the mirrors inside because she couldn't find the way out.
"Let's see…" he muttered, squinting down at the field as the match raged on below, and by raged, he meant, Temari furiously trying to brain his lazy if not genius acquaintance, while also trying not to let his shadow touch hers. "Shikamaru wins the fight, but Temari advances to fight our dear duck-butt here."
"…I thought we were trying to be civil here Dobe?" Sasuke commented dryly. His instincts screaming at him 'ALERT! ALERT! Suckers bet! Do not take! Repeat, Do, Not, Take!'
"I'll take that bet! I say Temari creams the lazy bum, then goes onto fight with 'duck-butt'!" Kankuro counter bet eagerly, though Sasuke levelled an annoyed glare at the blond. "If I win, I get that awesome sword of yours!" he pushed, eyeing the hilt tucked away in his belt.
Naruto's hand instantly went to his belt. Gripping the hilt warily, he could feel the Leviathan vibrate in displeasure. "Fine, but if I win…then…Then Temari has to go out for a date with Sasuke!" he countered, not even giving his former teammate a choice in the matter.
"What?!" both Sasuke and Kankuro exclaimed in shock, glaring at the blond. Gaara just tilted his head, not understanding why Temari would bring the Uchiha boy out into the public for dates, sure they were sweet, but they were just fruits, right?
"Sasuke, face it, you don't have much choice in women here that aren't fangirls, don't look down on you as a child, or just have no interest in you. Do you really want pink and platinum harping over you until they finally manage to corner you and either rape or wrangle a date from you?" Naruto presses, causing Sasuke to release a shudder of horror. "Look at it this way, if I win, and you play your cards right thereafter, you get an absolutely kickass, damn attractive desert flower, that is also a wind affinitied Kunoichi. I know the scarecrow probably told you how the elemental circle worked. And my last but most prevalent point…A strong betrothed to be would more than likely cut your fangirl numbers into little itty bitty little pieces."
"Naruto, has anyone ever told you how undeniably annoying it is when you prove a point?"
"Um…You, the Scarecrow, Shino, Iruka-sensei and Saru-Jiji," he said, counting his fingers off and chuckling at each memory, painting the Hokage monument still fresh in his mind.
"You… are incorrigible…Fine, I'm in, and you should really be considering legal counsel, Naruto. If Demon hunting doesn't work out, you're very good at pushing people where they don't wanna be," Sasuke said glaring at the blond.
"So, Deal?"
Kankuro was on edge about what he wanted on this bargain. On the one hand, he get that sweet ass sword/summon combo that even Gaara would be wary of. On the other hand however, if Temari found out he had made a bet on and about her without her permission…again, she would beat him to within an inch of his life, find someone to heal him, beat him to within a millimetre, heal him again, then smash him so hard there wouldn't even be enough to measure with a microscope… but the thought of that sword won out over survival instincts.
"Deal!" Kankuro Said, shaking the blonds hand and pumping once, salivating over the image of him swinging around that badass sword in one hand, his puppet crow slicing through Nin in the other hand. His musings, were cut short, when a proclamation from the field filled him with dread.
"Kagemane no Jutsu, success…Finally" Kankuro had a glimmer of hope, maybe Temari would break out of it, and he wouldn't be dead. "I forfeit… This has been a drag, I'm nearly out of chakra, and probably could hold it for another minute" came the lazy drawl.
'…Temari is going to kill me…'
Sasuke noticed the Livid look on Temari's face, and could only imagine how she'd react when she learned of the bet. "You Dobe, are one evil, heartless Son of a Bitch."
Naruto just smirked, and made his way off the Kage's booth. Giving a half hearted 'good luck' as he disappeared in a swirl of black and red tendrils.
-Kage's booth-
Naruto appeared beside Kushina's before heading out to lean on the railing. Feeling eyes on him, he groaned. "Yeah, I gave Shikamaru a little push. Don't judge me…" he mumbled as he looked down and rubbed the back of his head, discreetly changing his eyes into the Sharingan eyes he'd acquired and having the blacklight swirl around his eyes, effectively hiding the Doujutsu from all but Kushina, before staring towards the Kazekage and making eye-contact. The glance lasted for only a second, but it was all Naruto needed.
"Don't speak, I shall say this only once. You set me free from my own stupidity so I'm giving you this chance. Screw this invasion and your plans to kill Saru-Jiji. You're up against three Kage, two fully trained Jinchuriki, and whatever other levels these body guards are, most likely high Jonin. I'm out of here and I'm taking my mom with me. If we here even a din that is anything snake like and not the crowds cheering, I will personally hunt you down, and in doing so, so will my mother. This is your only warning. I have not had ramen all month and I Will Break You, so feel free to join us as I go demolish Ichiraku's supply storage."
"Hey Kaa-chan, 're you hungry? Cause I'm craving some Ramen!" Naruto said, grinning goofily.
As soon as the syllable 'Ram' had left his lips, Kushina was up from her chair and was speeding towards the door, her son speeding after her but not before leaning his head back in, looking at one of the few non upturned trees, and letting out a shrill whistle. The large Palulukan that was Shomaru bounded from the tree, the cloaked Moui perched on his back, arms outstretched in a very 'TAH-DAH!' like fashion, much to many males enjoyment.
The Kage's all chuckled, A especially as he saw his two bodyguards licking their lips and eyeing the door way.
Jinchuriki craved wheat and wheat based by-product foods. Bee was especially fond of a foreign food known as Pizza. Yugito tried to deny it, but she was far fonder of one known as Pasta. "Go on you two. I'm sure I'll manage if boredom forbid something were to happen to…me." The two Jinchuriki were gone like a shot before he'd even finished.
Orochimaru was sweating on the inside, he didn't know how the brat had placed a Genjutsu message in his head without him realising it. Now that he looked at the odds, they were stacked heavily OUT of his favour, admittedly, if Naruto hadn't taken his mother out of the box, he may literally, have shit his pants as he stared down an angry mother. If he'd tried to play it sly, revealing what the Sandaime and Elder council had planned for her son, Kushina would have ripped him a brand new orifice, while stretching out his ass, shoving a caber up it, and then used him as a maul on Sarutobi, and quite possibly the other Kage, while at the same time doting upon the brat in that infuriating and Horrifyingly scary way mothers have. On the other hand, if he just cut his losses, and activated those special summoning seals he had bought on the way out, he'd get maybe an ounce of flesh, and cause Sarutobi sensei a one way ticket to the hell known as paperwork.
"Now that it is mentioned, I am quite peckish, perhaps a bowl or two of ramen when my Temari wins this match will do me good," the 'Kazekage' announced, discreetly signalling for Kabuto to call off the invasion.
The white haired traitor was confused, but acquiesced to the request non the less. With a subtle, rhythmic pulse of his chakra, the message was sent, whether or not it was heard however, he shrugged internally. 'Meh, it's not my problem anymore,' as he headed out of the stadium himself.
-Ichiraku's Ramen stand-
Tuechi was in financial heaven, if not a little nervous, seeing the demon eating a very Large carcass just outside the flaps of his stands, but other than that, he had five customers, eating stacks upon stacks of his ramen, nearly faster then he could make it. He had ryo signs replacing his eyes as his expert hands kneaded the dough, making the noodles as only he could, beside him, in naught but an apron and her cloak, the 'young' Moui was working beside him, or else he would never be able to keep up with the bottomless pits in front of him. Currently, Kushina had the highest bowl count, racking up thirty two bowl high tower, while still looking every bit as dignified as she could…no that was not a noodle moustache… it was… a telepathic earthworm trying to make it up to her ear!
Naruto and Bee were neck and neck at twenty eight bowls a piece, chowing down like no tomorrow, drips of soup splashing here and there, while Yugito, was at twenty five bowls, the very definition of poise and grace *Belch*…never-mind.
"So, Tuechi, how much money did you make on my son?" Kushina asked nonchalantly, noticing the noo ...telepathic earthworm and slurping it happily, looking inquisitively at her old friend. The others had stopped their own eat-a-thon and were now staring conspiratorially over their bowls at the old chef.
"Let me see…" he paused, counting off on his fingers back and forth. "…Enough for me to retire, live an absurdly luxurious lifestyle, for Ayame to continue that and maybe her great grandchild to continue on that fashion… probably more." The six stared at him, then at Naruto.
"Were my odds that bad?" he asked incredulously.
"Worse."
"Damn." The other inhabitants of the diner nodded sagely.
"Well then Yo! Lend yo ears to the Mighty Killer Bee as he has a toast to bring to the little Nine-o!" Kirabi said clearing his throat and raising his bottle of Sake. The others raised their glasses of assorted Tea, Wine, Cola and Random assorted Juicy organ. Tuechi just stared blankly at Shomaru like that. "Give it up for the little Jinchuriki, who absolutely slew that pompous little Hyuuga, the Ichibi and will neva eva be better than me, The Mighty Hachibi Jinchuriki, Killer Bee! Please never take out a job gunning for me or kitty!" he raised his ceramic bottle. "To Nine-o!" "To Naruto!" the rest of the diner chimed, before taking a swig of their respective drinks, Shomaru swallowing his what looked to be a liver whole, making Tuechi sweat once more.
Just then, several large thuds, accompanying booms, crashes and screams filled the air, the ninja as one, leaned their heads out of the diner, looking to see several monstrous demonic Worm like creatures and things that couldn't be categorised as animals, and from the sound of it, a horde of lesser demons. The four leaned back, their heads coming in through the flaps to ignoring the rising plume of smoke.
'I've gotta hand it to the pale fucker, he sure knows how to exploit a loophole…' Naruto thought as he was torn between the feeling of sheer annoyance and grudging respect as he stared at the serpentine body of the worm.
His eyebrow settled on annoyance, twitching mechanically.
"Well Mr. Demon Hunter, I Believe you have a job to do," Kushina said, going back to her Ramen, Bee and Yugito following her lead.
"…Thanks," he said flatly, pulling a large clinking sack from his shirt, and planting it on the counter in front of Tuechi. "That should cover our snack," He said, before pulling out the blue sheath of the Leviathan, unsealing the blade with a bit of effort, he placed it on his back, before reaching up to the tattoo. "Shomaru, time to go! Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Kedemono Sora No Ken!" he said, pulling away another hilt. This one was grey, and wrapped in silver wire like the leviathan's hilt, only instead of stone augments, this one the highlighting features on the hilt were silver and black, and all in all was a foot and a half long. Bringing the tip to his fingers, he closed his eyes and reached his will inside the hilt.
"Awaken from your Mountain nest, Sigwe!" whipping his hand away, golden light spreading from there. The blade was fairly thick, rounding out on itself in a giant wing shape, a dark grey, the "feathers", strikes of golden lightning arcing across the wing like blade giving it a shimmering look. Feeling his arm strain against the weight of the blade, he hefted the flat of it against his shoulder. "Ready bud?" he asked Shomaru before vaulting on top of the Palulukan, the two Dashing towards the horde.
When they had reached the summoning site 'How does one man summon so many bloody Chimera?!' he thought in irritation before placing both feet on the back of Shomaru and leaping at the horde, chakra channelled into his arm muscles. The people who hadn't died watched with awe as the once hated demon descended into the fore of the raging chimera, before with a spin and a flourish, the street had cleared, his eyes were clear and focused. The crystalline blade of the leviathan shimmering as he held it at his side, and the golden wing of Sigwe gleamed in the light were both pointing at the horde, before the chimera that were pushed back either shredded themselves, or were cut into chunks. On the outside, he was composed, his eyes were glowing blue, while his jaw was chiselled from Granite. On the inside however… 'Goddamn! That must have looked Awesome! How'd I do that?!' all he received was a squawking and hissing chuckle from both his blades. Looking back sharply as the chimera snarled, hissed and clicked at him. One brave chimera, tried charging him as he was looking back at the crowd, it had the legs of a dear, but instead of hooves, were giant stakes, the body of a vaguely humanoid form and wings like an insect, it's head was some sort of fish with large curved needle like teeth, it would have hit him, but a shadow from above it was the last thing it saw before Shomaru's powerful jaws wrapped around its neck. Naruto regarded the crowd for a moment before he uttered a soft. "Get out of here." before rushing into the mass of monsters, his two swords flashing as Naruto and Shomaru slowly moved down the street, where the giant demons had decided they would kill try kill each other, to claim this as their territory.
'Wait, this street is…familiar…' Naruto thought, as he paused slashing through one chimera long enough for him observe the street. His eyes widened in horror as with a roar, his arms were now covered in thick but flexible plates. The street was one he had wandered out many a time in his childhood, and was nicknamed "orphan row"... he pushed himself faster, the blacklight pulsing in response inside him despite his low chakra. His heart pumped faster inside his chest, soon becoming a hum, and then he heard it. It set his blood on fire, as Kaikoku's chakra flared from his belly.
The cries of children.
With a more primal roar, one that sent the Chimera tumbling back from the concussive force as his form began to blur, his movements heightened by the potent mixture of Youki and Blacklight straining his body, burning at his already tired reserves. His arms ached, his eyesight beginning to blur. Nearly there, slice, Kawarimi, flick, stab, crush, Dai Kawarimi with another chimera, eviscerate the two, repeat… must summon…
"You will not be able to release me again, young one. Not for some time…" He heard the Leviathan warn him silkily. "Releasing Sigwe would take all you have and more, even with the child inside you feeding your strength," Naruto felt the Kaikoku bristle at being called a child, but she said nothing, for that is what she was when compared to the Leviathan.
Parrying one chimera's claws over his shoulder, he spun around bisecting the creature, before falling to his knees, his breath ragged and sweat dripping down his face. Shomaru glanced back at him for a moment, before planting his for claws into the sands and growling menacingly at the chimera, daring them to advance.
Naruto panted in exhaustion, swallowing a lump in his throat, he saw the chimera were starting to surround them, advancing slowly as they parted around Shomaru. 'Damnit, I need more…I won't…' darkness began creeping in on his vision as he started to sag.
"Is this it child?" he heard a rich and cultured proud voice within his head ask, similar to the voice of the Leviathan, put primaly different "You fight one measly demon possessed boy, and a few ants and you are done? I should have stayed asleep if this is the limit of your strength!" the Sigwe's voice boomed through his exhaustion.
Stabbing Leviathans blade into the ground, with an effort, he began to push himself up slowly, his back hunched over. He could feel the black light in him straining as he pushed. With a groan, it erupted out of his back, thick tendrils of black and red writhing through its length, they coiled for a moment, before shooting out, impaling through many of the chimera who were trying to surround he and Shomaru, and one, seemed to split, wrapping around Shomaru's petal antennae. The chimera seemed to shrivel pathetically, before they were absorbed by the tendrils, and in extension, to Naruto and Shomaru. Naruto took a breath, as the tendrils were reabsorbed into his body. Looking back, most of his shirt was shredded. Perfect… rolling his eyes, he straightened up slowly, his hand reaching to his opposite shoulder before ripping the tattered fabric from his chest.
Naruto grinned menacingly at the crowd of quivering chimera as he joined Shomaru at the Palulukan's side. Leviathan now attached to his back as he held Sigwe, staring at the blade…he wasn't quite 100% but he was better. "You talk to me like that again, even with the amount of respect I have for you as one of the seven, I'll fill your mountain to the brim with Barney and the Tellitubbies!" he growled menacingly, hearing a startled "Meep," from inside the blade. His stare moved to the chimera, as his hands came up in a familiar cross seal. "Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" the street lined with copies of him, each brandished either leviathan or Sigwe. "Charrrrrrrge!" the original roared, him and Shomaru pounced on the line of chimera, the clones running at the horde. What happened next could be described as akin to pushing a stick of blooded meat through the propeller of a helicopter. As Naruto, his clones and Shomaru cleared the street, various ninja were clearing the building, holding two or three children in their arms as they high tailed it out of there, the children in their arms looked back to see a sight that would inspire them for years to come. Not to become ninja…
But demon hunters!
As Naruto drew closer to the battling behemoths, he let his clones take his place, trusting them to continue to hold the line as he went toe to toe with the titanic demons. Feeling the beast nod from within the blade, he grinned murderously, tossing leviathan into the air. Then taking the Sigwe in both hands, he started spinning it, the weight was disconcerting at first, throwing off the spins, but once he got it going, the hum of the blade the tan circle of energy released a piercing birds cry. The clouds above him began to darken once more, the wind howling over the street as his eyes began to glow a golden hue. Lightning began to strike around him, as he pulled his sword away from the tan energy, with a grunt of exertion; he thrust the blade into the centre of the disc.
The disk shattered, the shards spreading out, before stopping. Glyphs and ideograms spun around in a large whirlpool above the building tops, leviathans blade finally falling, before he caught it out of the air just after
Emerging from the whirl, an armoured bronze beak pushed through the void. Feathers of shimmering turbulent grey came next as the clawed wings Pushed off the edge of the whirlpool, propelling the titanic bird into the air above blue skin from the legs attached to glimmering black talons. Sigwe flapped his wings once, sending him high above Konoha and pushing the demons tumbling back. With a piercing cry, it dove at one of the worm like demons, the behemoth's startled howl intensifying as Sigwe's talons drove into the flesh into its side and dragging it up into the stormy sky with not but two flaps of its mighty wings. Lightning flashed in the sky as the shadow of the Thunderbird pierced the chest plate of the worm, its beak ripping out the demons heart and swallowing it in a gulp. The worms body plummeted to the ground, amazingly, its body conforming with the street, it's hulking body crushing all the chimera who could not get out of the way. Those that did, soon found themselves shredded under the onslaught of Naruto, his clones and the ferocious mass of terror that was Shomaru. Looking back up into the air, he saw the thunderbird enshrouded in lightning, making short work of the other two behemoths. He grinned, pressing his forehead onto the flat of the wing-like blade, pushing the feelings of his thanks through their mental link.
"You are welcome, hatchling," came Sigwe's cultured voice, a vicious enjoyment emanating within it, as the thunderbird ripped the throat out of one of the behemoths with its beak, it's talons foot holding down another behemoth as it dug it's beak into the back of the monstrosity's neck. The pinned behemoth gave a short spasm, before with a last shuddering breath, lost it's cling to life.
Naruto groaned in exhaustion, leaning back getting a multitude of cracks from his back in protest. Shomaru padded up to him, his muzzle dripping with demon blood, his claws somehow though, were immaculate. "Hey Sho…" he sighed tiredly, watching Sigwe finish snacking on the behemoths, rising in the air, he dismissed in a massive tower of lightning, his wing like blade folding in on itself in a sucking pop. With Sigwe's disappearance, the demons it had made meals of seemed to spark, disappearing slowly, to wherever the Thunderbird had gone.
In one smooth movement, Shomaru lay down and started licking his forepaws. Looking up, he licked around his maw. "We'd better be getting paid for this shit."
"Agreed, and worse than that… we gotta find what could hold three titan class crystal worms and a small army of Chimera… if the Eldar Council get word of that humans can summon demons… all hell is gonna break loose," Naruto said seriously, pacing through the decimated path to the ruined west wall of Konoha.
"Phobus and Balor will have a field day when they push to have the Ningen who witnessed the summoning slaughtered, can only imagine how that will go over with the others."
The council of the Eldar were made up of the ruler of each of the territories. They were constantly at war, seeking to expand their own lands. Originally, there were twelve tyrants, but through conquest, assassinations and age, only seven were left. That was both good and bad. Good, in the fact there were only seven of them… bad in the fact, that on a scale of destruction, each of them was comparable to a higher tier Bijuu in terms of destructive capability.
'Balor the piercing eye', ruled the Clopsian territories, he was a mighty Triclopse standing at 12 foot, when his third eye opened, everything it set it's gaze on went up in flames.
'Phobus the feared' ruled the wraiths with a fist of ethereal iron. Ghosts, Spectors, Banshees, Phantoms and Poltergeist… all made their sanctuaries within his territories. He was a cloaked figure hunched and shrouded in a black mist. a wave of his skeletal hands had entire legions choking on their fears
'Kali the Eternal one' became the mother of all Vampires, the different breeds all flocking under her ever midnight Territory. She was a blue skinned, with red eyes and prominent cheek bones. Rumour had it she could draw out all the blood your body with a quirk of her eyebrow
'Cailleach the Hag' was made ruler of the Fae. Her domain was fractured in time. Unless you went a specific route, you could end up a thousand years ago, or two minutes into the future. She was as her name suggested, a Hag. but her age had only made her power stronger.
'Coatlicue the snake Goddess' ruled the snake bred demons like Moui's race the Gorgon, Naga, Basilisk, anything snake like was part of her domain. She had a snake head allegedly tattooed onto either eye, their bodies coiling down either side of her face. Her Venom could melt through a mountain.
Then finally comes the big two, 'Chaos-bringer Eris' and 'Hathor the web-weaver'. The two were in a constant state of war each having taken two other Eldar, while the fifth had simply faded.
While all seven of the remaining Eldar wanted his territory, the faded Eldar hadn't faded into death, but into the land, his essence protecting all but the natural order of his slice of Ya no Oni.
Once every 3 lunar cycles, (that's 81 odd days to the non-pagan or astrological interested people) they converged, putting aside politics to talk "peace", threats to territory, alliances, feuds, trading rights which clan is giving up to the slaughter and blah, blah, blah. How'd he know all this?
Blame the Chaos-bringer.
-Flashback-
Shomaru was sprinting full speed through the plains before the forest of Konoha met the arid wasteland that was the surroundings of Ya no Oni. They had gone half way through, when Shomaru just stopped, and Newton's third law was just ignored… no forward exchange of motion or centrifugal force. Not so much as a breeze out of place.
If that wasn't enough to get Naruto on edge, the colour surrounding them suddenly inverting around them more than did the trick. From the treeline, just ahead, a rich husky dual toned voice spoke out.
"Well, well, well, look what decided to stop by my favourite napping spot, a Palulukan, a Gorgon and My word? A human-demon hybrid. And here we thought you were some kind of Hanyou," one tone of the voice spoke of confidence and sanity, with a hint of promise. The other tone spoke of plague, destruction, and missing left socks.
There in the treeline, on a hammock of…some sort of skin, laid an ashen skinned woman, her shapely body covered by a form fitting purple sleeveless dress, yellow sclera'd eyes staring them down as a pair of orange lips grinned at them. Her black hair seemed to sway this way and that as if it had a mind of it's own. Finally, she was drinking from the skull of a…
"Is that a Dodo?" Naruto questioned, ignoring the scared bowing of Shomaru and Moui. Slipping off Shomaru's back, ignoring the growl of warning the hexaped let out.
"Why yes. That's a very good eye you have," she said taking a sip from the stray in the skull. "So what are you?" she said from behind his ear. He spun around, his arm half way through transforming into the wave breaker, but she was already gone.
"A ninja," was his curt reply, one eye raised warily. "And yourself?"
"Oh, just an average, arrogant Discordia Elemental," she said, examining thick black talons nonchalantly. Opening out her hand, she blew very gently on her palm. Naruto coughed out blood, his pupils small as pin pricks as 5 new holes exploded from his back. His eyes shakily tracked back to Eris's outstretched hand, 5 new talons growing slowly from the nail beds. "Or maybe I'm just that good…Hmmm, healing factor is too strong to be a normal ninja…Jinchuriki right?"
Naruto just let out a shaky nod, standing back up, clutching at his chest as they closed back up. Fucking ow! He narrowed his eyes at her, healing those had taken up a good chunk of his chakra reserves, before the black light had even responded to heal him.
"Those holes weren't meant to close up for another day. Not just your average Jinchuriki then," she deduced, stalking around the three.
Naruto just let out a shuddering breath. "That really hurt," he said, spitting out a wad of blood, carefully Out of her stalking path. "Is there anything I can do for you then, Ms Elemental?"
"Oh, such a sweetheart!" she cooed, before smirking again. "Just keep coming up in the Council meetings and you and I will get along just fine," she purred. "Have a nice day," she said, snapping her fingers and disappearing into whisps.
And with that, they returned to the speed they were travelling at, while unprepared and therefore, tumbled and skidded right headfirst into the trees.
"Okay," Naruto said, pulling his head out of a tree trunk and pulled some splintered bark out of his hair. "Who did I piss off this time?"
"We'll explain on the way," Shomaru explained cautiously. Sniffing the air one last time warily, before he hunched slightly so Naruto could vault onto him. With his blond partner securely on, he took off with all the speed of a bat out of hell, all the while he and Moui explained to him the stances and threat that was the Council of the Eldar.
-Flashback End-
Naruto sat on a chunk of upturned building his hand idly scratching Shomaru's neck, a ragged length of cloth wrapped around his torso, covering his chest in place of a shirt. He watched Genin and Chunin alike run back and forth, clearing debris and working to repair the ruined buildings. Feeling a whoosh behind him, he saw a large man crouching beside him, a green gi with a fishnet under shirt, a red hoari and geta, with long spikey white hair and a horned Hitai-ate like his wrapped around his forehead. Oh joy, another one of the Sannin deal with.
"That was some very nice work kid," he boomed, giving the street a once over. "And there I was about to jump in and take those over sized fish bait myself!" he boasted, letting out a loud laugh before giving Naruto a serious look. "Those are some mighty powerful summons you have there…" he said, putting a pointed stair at the two hilts tucked into his belt.
"Jiraiya-san, you've got it backwards. The swords are the summons."
Now that got the Sages attention. "You mean the swords are like Jinchuriki?" he guessed. Not right, but not far off the mark.
"Close," Naruto sighed, feeling no resistance from the spirits within the weapons, he pushed on. "implying they were Jinchuriki means they would be sealed via Fuuinjutsu, by human means. Made specifically as weapons of war…" here, he pulled out Leviathans hilt, it's blue scale like grip shimmering in the light. "These hilts were made by the gods of each period. Made to be used as a prison for creatures not even they could permanently put down. Each uses the creatures own power to sustain it, and thus, has a blade that reflects each," he said, gripping the hilt in his hand. "However, not just anyone can use these, it takes a strong mind, and a stronger will to even hold the hilt, without releasing the blade," here he sighed.
Jiraiya stared at the hilt blankly, remembering how easily the great sea serpent seemed to hand the Shukaku its' tail. Then, when he was about to step in with one of the heavier assault toads to deal with those worms, a giant eagle of some kind rose out of a swilling abyss like the Leviathan, making swift meals of the worms, while keeping collateral to a minimum. Something he was sure his toads could not.
"So, why are they still out if the hilts are the summons? Surely they must be nearly out of chakra by now."
"I'm not able to dismiss them. They're not actually summons. Taking them out doesn't cost me much Chakra… but putting them in? ... How to put this...Think of the most Chakra intensive Jutsu you can imagine… now Magnify that by a factor of ten, and apply that to my reserves," he looked at the old veterans face. "That's how much chakra it takes to seal just one of these away."
Jiraiya gaped as he ran the calculations through his head. That amount alone would put him into the hospital with chakra exhaustion for at least a week. "And letting them out to play?"
Here, the blond just chuckled sheepishly, before tucking the hilt back into his belt. "Bout the same, Actually."
Jiraiya just shook his head as he stared at the tired grin. It reminded him so much of his father the first aftermath of his Hiraishin being unveiled. He watched the blond hop onto his… partner, and eyed the beast warily. He remembered tales of beasts rumoured to be like them, rampaging through towns unlucky enough to be situated near Ya no Oni.
Naruto sat perched on Shomaru. "If you Excuse me Jiraiya-san, I have to eat my weight cubed in Ramen after that fiasco! Haigh ho Shomaru, AWAAAAAAaaaaaayyy!" and with that, the hexaped galloped off into the sunset, the cloth covering the boys chest rippling in the wind as he tore down the streets towards Ichiraku's, leaving the Sennin to gape at the incredulity of the situation.
-Three weeks later-
Konoha was once again back to pristine appearance. The decimated Orphans Row had now been renovated, thanks to the generous donations of Konoha's new richest man, Ichiraku Tsuchi.
The Sandaime looked down over the village and let out a dramatic sigh. 'Maybe it would have been easier if Orochimaru had attacked…' he thought bitterly, before turning back reluctantly to his paperwork. The current form on his was a request to add courses about a demons physiology and in general, how to deal with one was from the civilian And Elder council. Pinching his nose wearily, there was maybe two or three Nins in his force that were both able to patrol Ya no Oni to fall back. with holding them, that just left him with just his currant major headache.
His villages Former Jinchuriki. just the thought steamed his beard, oh well, it would take some political finagling, but he was certain he could wrangle the Taki Jinchuriki from the little brat that had just been handed the role of village leader. stuffing some tobacco into his pipe, he sat down in a totally non petulant way, and lit the pipe with a small application of fire from his thumb and started to write out a formal... request to the fire Daimyo to have Naruto teach an occasional seminar on Demon slaying. the whole document left a sour taste in his mouth.
'Maybe it's time I hand down this damn hat and settle down,' the thought had merit, it meant he wouldn't sit in this damn chair, while it did have Lombard support, and by rights, it was very comfy... but there was a permanent imprint of his ass worn into the comfortable leather. That's how much bloody time he spent in this Kami-forsaken chair, it was the first thing he felt when he sat down every morning.
He'd figure out how to get Tsunade back into the village to take the damn seat. He'd be damned if he let Danzo take the seat, and giving the hat to Jiraiya the hat would be asking every Kunoichi in the village to rebel. He let out a loud suffering sigh. Retirement sounded really good right now.
-Faded Ones Sector_ Crystal Plains-
Naruto's fist went through a wraiths cloaked body, the chakra blades of his wave breakers shredding through the wraiths skeletal body, before it disappeared, a cloth swayed to the ground was all that was left of it.
"Why is it that whenever you FUCKERS enter my gardens, that my shirt gets ripped to hell?" he asked the pile of empty cloaks. He now had a pair of black shorts and his sandals. A kunai pouch was on either leg and bandages wrapped around each ankle.
"Maybe you should try a cloak or a poncho," Shomaru suggested, padding up to him, wisps of the wraith cloaks hanging from his maw. "I forgot how much I hated the taste of spectre blood. Too much ethirium."
"Might as well put these cloaks to some use…" he grumbled collecting the cloaks, picking the scraps from Shomaru's teeth.
He blinked, as he heard a wet squelching. It wasn't a menacing sound, it was kinda rhythmic… looking back, he saw a small orange toad with a blue jacket hopping it's was to him. "Uh, you alright there…little guy?" he asked awkwardly.
"Are you that Naruto guy?" it asked, it's voice pitched in annoyance. "And I'm not little! I'm the biggest of the toad bosses kids!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. So, what brings you to my humble garden… Nothing tried to eat you right?" he asked, noticing the odd nick in the small toads jacket.
The small orange toad looked kind of embarrassed. "A chicken with a wolfs head tried to make a snack of me, but I torched the fucker… it smelled kinda like Salmon though, which I really don't get," it mused reaching around inside it's cloak.
"Ah, that was a Wooster… and I don't get why they smell like that either."
"A-ha! The pervert said this was from the old monkey." and with that, the toad brought out a scroll in his webbed hand...foot...paw...Thing! and handed it to Naruto.
Breaking the seal on the scroll, his eyes ran back and forth over the text, before one eyebrow quirked high.
"You know anything about this?"
"Not a clue, all i know is Jiraiya said they had to be ready. even us summons know you don't fuck with the things in this place... shouldn't there be more demons here?"
"Nah, the Forgotten one keeps the bigger more...Well, he keeps the worst of the demons out. Something to do with the residual energy reacting to large Youki presences, or large groups of demons with specific intentions. Think of it as a net, and the bigger fish can't get through."
"Ah...That makes sense… I think."
"So, Konoha wants me to teach a crash course on Demons..." He said rolling his eyes at the over simplification. "What'da you think Gama?"
"It can't hurt to give them a fighting chance," the little toad smiled.
"That's what the sage of six paths said when he was spreading the chakra through the land." Naruto deadpanned.
"Yeeeaaah... I've got no comeback to that."
Naruto Just sighed. "Guess I gotta let Kaa-chan I'll be taking a trip to Konoha..." He said, turning on his heel, Gamakichi hopping onto Shomaru, to catch a lift, instead of popping back home. Shomaru turned a golden eye to the little toad, wondering idly how much trouble it'd cause to make a snack of the slimy little basterd.
-done-
I'm ALIIIIVE!
And I Have good ish news, I'm in collage. With most of my projects done, so i'll be posting over the summer. Already got the second chapter of my revised Twilight Shinobi, as well as more of Beasts of Pandora.
Avatar of the Gate, the Breakthrough and Winged Fox are still jumbled in my head, so meh.
Thanks for reading. Slan Leit guys!