A/N: Recently I received a review claiming that I plagiarized some of my story. Now, if this is a flame, GTFO, if it is honest criticism, then I happily accept it. Thinking on this review, I looked over my story and tried to compare each part to any stories I have read before. I only managed to pick out 3 things: The scene with Rin reading Naruto the book, Naruto and Minami sparring, and Naruto getting his arm injured. Let's dissect, shall we?
Firstly: The scene with Rin. I fully admit that most of the inspiration for this scene comes from "The Namikaze Prodigy" and I credited the original author for the idea when I first posted the chapter. It is not plagiarism if the original content is credited. The fact that I used Rin is actually important, as the Tsunade Retrieval Arc will happen in this story.
Secondly: Naruto and Minami sparring. The entire battle sequence and the idea of using a spar to injure Naruto is original. I understand several stories such as "Madara's Grandson" use this idea of Naruto and his sister in a spar and his sister hurts him badly, but I can easily say that those stories were not in my mind when I wrote that scene. That scene is completely my own.
Lastly: Naruto's arm being injured. I'm sure some of you think that I "stole" this from any "Host of the Devil's Arm" fanfics that litter this site. Now for one, the circumstances at which Naruto injured his arm are completely different: In this story, he injured his arm through a spar; in the other stories, he injured his arm through a seal. And secondly, I plan to take this story in a different direction that those other ones.
If you still think I am plagiarizing, please tell me and point out where this spot is, and what story I accidently referenced, and I will gladly change it as best I can, or credit the original author. If you don't have evidence of plagiarizing and simply say that I did, I will just count you as a flamer. It also doesn't help that the person who pointed this supposed plagiarism did so from a Guest account.
Last on the agenda: Thank you Lily's Ashes for pointing out the unrealistic reactions of Minato and Kushina to the spar. I will try to change it as best I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.
Key
"Summons and Biju speaking"
'Summons and Biju thinking'
"Human Speech"
'Human Thought'
Jutsu
The Other Side of the Coin
Chapter 4: Deal with the Devil
"He's awake!"
Minato's eyes snapped open. Quickly standing up, Kushina's head falling off his shoulders, waking her, he ran to his son's hospital room, Kushina following. Flinging the door open, he saw the back of his child's head.
Naruto had awoken, almost pain-free and had taken instantly taken in his surroundings before the memories of yesterday slammed into his head.
Groaning slightly he stared out the window. Hearing footsteps, he heard the door slam open. He turned.
"Naruto…are you-"
"I'm fine." Was his curt reply. Taking in his father and mother's disheveled appearance, he correctly guessed that they spent the night at the hospital.
"Sochi-kun I'm so sorry, I thought you were-"
"That I was what!?" Naruto's voice had risen at his mother's apology. "That I was okay? That I was completely fine after getting my arm ripped apart by a Biju-possesed girl? That I was fine after my own sister nearly killed me!? What kind of parents are you! You completely neglect one child over another, treating one better!" Years upon years of rage and sadness exploded out of Naruto. "You could care less about me, and the only reason you even knew that I was hurt was because they carted me past Minami's room! Don't even try lying to me, I was awake! I saw your face!"
"N-Naruto, I-" Minato managed to stutter out.
"Oh shut up! You don't even deserve to look at me, much less apologize! Get out of my sight, I never want to see you AGAIN!"
At this, Kushina's motherly instincts flared up. "Naruto! Don't talk like that to your fathe-"
Naruto's temper erupted. "THAT NEGLECTFUL ASSHOLE IS NOT MY FATHER! AND YOU'RE NO BETTER! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU OR MY FATHER HAVE TO SAY TO ME, YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Naruto swung his cast, stained with dried blood. "I UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY WELL WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS KIND OF INJURY MEAN FOR MY FUTURE, THE DOCTORS TOLD ME! NOW GET. OUT. OF. MY. ROOM!"
Minato flinched at his son's words. Gathering up his almost broken wife, tears running down her face, he flashed out of the hospital. Arriving at his room, he sat down on the bed and held his wife as she cried, whispering words of comfort the whole time. He knew he messed up, and badly.
"Mi-Minato," Kushina sniffed. "It's all our fault!" At this she broke down into tears all over again.
"I know Kushi-chan, I know."
"No you don't! If we had just trained him, this would never have happened!"
Minato looked down at his wife and realized she had fallen asleep. Tucking her into the bed he turned and wondered to just what extent he had neglected his son; it couldn't truly be the bad could it?
Minami yawned and stretched. She had just woken up in a comfy hospital bed. Looking out the window, she saw it was raining. Upon realizing she was in a hospital she tried to remember how she got there. She frowned as she remembered the spar. She had gotten her tooth knocked out. That really hurt! That spar was supposed to be friendly, her nii-san shouldn't have-
Her eyes widened.
'Nii-san.'
Quickly throwing off the covers, she ran to the receptionist in the lobby, having been to the hospital many times before. The memory of a bubbling red claw reflected in her brother's frightened eyes pounded through her head.
"Mrs. Haruno!" she shouted as she skid to a stop in front of the desk.
"Oh Minami!" exclaimed the now named Mrs. Haruno. "What can I do for you?"
"Do you know where my brother is?"
"Oh he just walked outside a few seconds ago." She pointed at the door.
Yelling a quick thanks, she ran outside into the pouring rain. Making out her brother's shirt with the famed Uzumaki spiral on it, she maneuvered her way through the crowds and followed her brother to a training ground. Running after him, she stopped 2 meters away from him. The training ground was completely empty; no ninja felt like training on such a stormy day.
"…Nii-san?" came the quiet words of Minami.
"What?" Naruto spoke without turning around.
"Are…are you okay?" Her eyes widened when her brother finally turned. Blood leaked out of the cast, dripping on the ground and was rapidly being washed away by the rain.
"Does it look like I'm okay?"
"Nii-san, I-"
"Save it."
Spinning on his heel, Naruto vanished in a whirlwind of leaves. He had long since mastered the jutsu before the spar, not even needing hand signs for it.
Minami collapsed onto her knees, the rain hiding her tears and her guilt.
Time Skip: 4 Years Later (Graduation Day)
Naruto wandered into the class room, his arm still in a sling. Sitting at his desk and groaning slightly, thankful he was the first one there, he thought back on how he managed to continue being a ninja in-training.
Flashback
"Hokage-sama."
Minato flinched. He turned and looked at the staircase, reminded of that day he gave his son the book on chakra so long ago. Cringing a little at the cold stare of his child he waited for his follow-up.
"I wish to continue to be a ninja."
Minato's eyes widened. His son…no…not his son, he lost the right to call him that several days ago… He wanted to continue being a ninja? How would he even make it past the genin exam? With one arm no less?
"Naruto… I'm not sure you totally understand the extent of your injury-"
"Oh I understand perfectly Hokage-sama" Naruto hissed. "I want to become a ninja, and I will. This little injury," he held up his cast. "Won't make a difference. Believe me."
Pondering on Naruto's words he hatched an idea. He didn't want his son getting hurt and experiencing pain any more than he already had. If he let his son continue in the program, he might start to forgive him a little. He doubted he would make it past his first few missions, and would probably drop out of the program due to the complications of his injury. His son would be safe, and he might be a bit warmer towards the family. It was a win-win situation in Minato's book.
"Very well Naruto. If that is what you want, you can continue being a ninja in-training."
"Thank you Hokage-sama." Was the quiet reply of his son as he walked back upstairs. Minato sat down on the sofa, his face in his hands. If one looked closely, one would see a single tear falling between his fingers.
Flashback End
He smirked a bit the memory. When he came to class with the cast, the details of his injury had already spread throughout the whole village. He could feel the pity rolling off the villagers in droves. He hated it. He didn't need the pity of the village. He would show them all up. He would become Hokage to prove to everyone that he didn't need their pity, their training, or their false condolences. He would become Hokage not because he wanted to rule the village, but for the sheer fact that he could rub it in his father's face that despite all the shit he was put through, he managed to come out on top. He thought back to his first day back at school after the incident. He admitted he enjoyed that day very much.
Flashback
The door creaked and all chatter stopped. Everyone's eyes turned to the hunched figure walking down the steps to his seat, his cast in full view. Naruto sat down at his desk. Kiba was the first to break the silence. He walked in front of Naruto's desk.
"Heh, look at you dead-last! Got in a little accident? What did you do to get back in here? Did you beg your daddy to be let back in to the program?" Kiba sneered. "I bet he pitied you, I bet he-"
Kiba's little rant was interrupted by his own scream. The whole class gasped, for Naruto had taken out a kunai, spun it on its ring, and stabbed Kiba's hand, pinning it to the desk. Grabbing Kiba's coat, he brought him to his face.
"What's the matter runt, can't handle a little pain?" Naruto growled. "I thought that you were the alpha male of this class."
Unpinning Kiba, he watched as Kiba toppled backwards, landing on his ass and cradling his hand, staring at Naruto in horror. At this moment, Iruka walked in. Noticing the commotion, but not noticing Kiba's injury, for Kiba had covered it up, he sent everyone back to their seats and began roll call. Kiba wouldn't ever actually tell anyone about this incident, and he prompted others to do so as well. He considered it a blow to his pride to be injured by the dead-last, and he didn't want it becoming public.
Flashback End
Even today, Kiba still stayed away from him. Naruto wondered why he didn't threaten Kiba earlier.
At this point, Naruto had managed to reach a strong mid to high chunin level. Surprisingly, this was based not on taijutsu but ninjutsu.
Flashback
Naruto stared at the scroll in his hands. He couldn't believe it. This was the key to solving all of his problems. One-handed hand signs. This scroll was a great discovery; he had found it while sneaking around in his father's office. It seemed to be the thing Minato was currently trying to learn. It apparently required amazing chakra control, but then again, what doesn't?
The scroll described chakra as a river, flowing down towards its destination jutsu. The problem with simply channeling chakra into a jutsu is simple: the chakra isn't molded correctly. The scroll then described a series of tunnels which turned the temperature of the river colder, as well as changing the color of the water. The chakra would flow through several of these gates and reach the destination, which was jutsu. To do these one-handed hand signs, the user would have to be able to change the color or the temperature of the river himself, for the one-handed hand signs only did one of either of them, rather than both, as a full hand sign would.
From that point on, Naruto was determined to raise his chakra control to such a level that he could even potentially master Tsunade's strength technique.
By year's end, Naruto had managed to raise his control to a high enough level (A/N: Slightly above Haku's Level, which is about a quarter of Tsunade's) that he could perform most of his jutsu again. This was mostly accomplished through kunai balancing and other assorted practices. This kind of control and the ability to do one-handed hand seals alone would easily place him at mid-chunin, given that he could fight with one hand occupied. His level was balanced out by his other skills. Since he couldn't use his arm anymore, he stopped learning his taijutsu style of the Goken, which was from a scroll he found lying around in the library. It was written by some crazy guy who advised that after performing 100 of each kata, the reader should do 500 laps around Konoha with 100 pound weights to celebrate. Clearly crazy. He decided to turn to a different style, one that primarily uses his legs to fight. After hours of searching, he found one that more often than not, used legs to fight. It was apparently written by a famous chef by the name of Kurotsami Ichiraku. He claimed that a chef must never dirty their hands when fighting, as that was what they used to prepare food, as food was sacred, and should never be dirtied. In fact, Kurotsami often mentioned how one of his ancestors fought a man who used ramen as a weapon. He apparently claimed it was a disgrace to use food in such a way. Naruto decided to incorporate some of the style into his own variant of street brawler, replacing the main base of his style, the Goken, with it.
(A/N: I do not own One Piece. Check the bottom for more details on what I plan to do with this.)
Naruto also had delved into fuinjutsu with a ferocity that amazed Hiruzen, his teacher after so many months. He sympathized with Naruto's situation and was originally planning on not teaching Naruto fuinjutsu, until Naruto claimed that he would use it to find a way to possibly fix his arm, if not replace it altogether. The incident with his arm had actually fueled his dream to become special, just like his sister; although now he wanted to become special for an entirely different reason, than for his parents' love and attention. He was happy to note that he had become a Level 5 Seal Master, after having finally passed the test set down by his beloved jiji. The Sandaime had actually given him access to his private library, which let him research more on the Shiki Fujin. His parents were both Level 9 Seal Masters, with Kushina slightly eclipsing Minato in terms of creativity and application of seals, and he strived to surpass them both.
Flashback End
Naruto was shook out of his thoughts as the bell rung. He realized while he was deep in thought, everyone had already filtered into the classroom. He took a second to look around. His sister, like always, was staring at him. Honestly, it slightly unnerved him. The big emo bastard of the classroom, Sasuke Uchiha was sitting on the far right, brooding. The Uchiha Massacre had occurred about a month after he first got injured. Snapping back to attention, he realized that Iruka had already gotten through his introduction and was calling out the names of the teams.
"…Team 5 will be Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Minami Namikaze. Their sensei will be Kushina Namikaze. Team 6 is still in circulation. Team 7 will be Naruto Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, and Sasuke Uchiha. Their sensei will be Kakashi Hatake…"
At this point he zoned out and retreated into his thoughts. Kakashi as his sensei? He supposed Minato wanted the scarecrow to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't get hurt on his first real mission. Maybe Minato wanted him to drop out once he saw how apparently useless he was? Snapping back into reality, he realized Iruka was nearing the end of his listings.
"…and Team 16 is still in circulation. You will meet your sensei here, a week from now. Take a break until that time, you've earned it. I expect you all to make Konoha proud."
Naruto stood and walked out of the classroom, the rest of the class taking his actions as a prompt to go home.
Naruto made his way through the village to Training Ground 34. A plain and flat area, with little to no trees whatsoever. It was completely devoid of life at this time, as no one ever really came here. Naruto took out a scroll and laid it on the ground next to him. Re-reading its contents, he took out a paintbrush and began to meticulously paint symbols on the ground with his left hand. It actually took him several months of hard work to get his left hand functional and become ambidextrous. Once he was finished, he stood in front of the circle he painted, facing away from it, And practiced his hand signs one last time. Once he was satisfied, he began to channel his chakra.
Just like 12 years ago, the sky darkened. The ground shook slightly, and the air temperature dropped to the point where Naruto could actually see his breath. The wind blew and a small blue fire flickered into existence in the center of the circle. The fire grew before vanishing, revealing a towering figure in a long white robe, a knife held between its black teeth. The Shinigami. The god then tried to create an effigy of its castor but it couldn't. It could barely move. Runes and Kanji glowed blue on the edges of its vision. The death god grew angry. It could always dispel, but then that would be a stain upon its honor, someone managing to summon itself without paying its price. Its eyes then looked down and noticed a small human standing at the edge of the circle. The human turned and locked eyes with the god.
"Shinigami-sama, I would like to strike a deal with you."
A/N: Well that is Chapter 4. I hope you enjoyed reading. Now onto more pressing issues: Naruto's taijutsu: He won't be entirely adopting the Black Leg style of fighting, and he most definitely won't be shouting out things related to food. I just used this as an excuse to have Naruto be able to use a decent taijutsu style that circled around his legs.
Next: See the first A/N note of this chapter if you haven't already.
Lastly: The Summons. I actually was surprised by the results. To tell the truth, I was actually kind of rooting for Salamanders, as I have a whole thing planned out for them. The votes are as follows:
Dragons (10 votes)
The Shijin (7 votes)
Salamanders (13 votes)
Popular Request: Menma's Masked Creatures (6 votes)
And finally the most random ass Popular Request that I never saw coming:
Scorpions (8 votes)
For the Scorpions: I find this acceptable and I would actually love to write for them. I even had a whole thing planned out for their summons when I first read the 8 suggestions I got. I am also formally dropping the Horses from Toriko and Phoenixes at this point, as they got few votes compared to the others. That is all for now. Please remember to review and tell me and criticisms you may have. Flamers will be ignored.