First chapter got some good reviews, favorites, and follows on it, so here I go with the second one.
*Spoiler*
Expect a fair bit of navel-gazing in this chapter from our main character as Archer is slowly coming to terms with the new life he has in Naruto's world. Things aren't so simple as they had been before and with the necessity of becoming a hero to escape his fate, Archer is wondering if he can remain himself and fulfill such a destiny, or does he need to become someone else to achieve that goal? These are the big issues he (or rather she now) will be facing over the coming chapters. There will be conflict and expect the standard team 7 to be set up as per usual.
Also expect to see a lot more of Kurama than the canon story had. Archer isn't a fool and certainly wouldn't ignore such a creature lurking within his body beside his own soul. he'll want know what he can about the Kyuubi and whether or not it will be an enemy, and if it won't then what can they do as allies?
*End*
So without further ado, on with the chapter.
OoOoOoOoO
The first things I saw when I opened my eyes was not what I was expecting, that was certain. A very wide and very tall tunnel, hewn roughly from some stone surrounded me, the ceiling some forty feet above and the sides at least thirty feet to either side. Looking straight ahead, the tunnel extended into the darkness, but more concerning was the sudden burst of hot breath I felt upon my back.
Turning on my heel, I was met with a barred metal gate that stretched across the entirety of the tunnel, but more concerning were the enormous set of jaws that were even with my face, high above them were a looming pair of burning red eyes, filled with malice.
"You shouldn't be here."
The creature behind the gate growled, its voice a bass rumble that shook the tunnel and made my teeth vibrate.
That it hadn't tried to attack first was enough for me stifle my surprise and speak back to the creature. It wasn't of the same caliber as Gaia's Beast, but it was close enough that I wouldn't want to try and test myself against it if I could help it.
My self recrimination was interrupted as the creature behind the gate spoke again, it's jaws opening and closing as it formed each word.
"Who are you?" it demanded.
I clenched my jaw in a knee-jerk reaction as I replied, managing to keep my voice steady as I said, "You can call me Archer, who are you?"
A fierce growl came from the other side along with a terse response, the voice lowered now, but still producing a trembling within the tunnel.
"I am Kurama, the Kyuubi. Now, what are you?"
"That's the million dollar question, isn't it?" I replied with an intended snort as I folded my arms across my chest. Absentmindedly, I noted that the feeling of my arms against each other and against my chest wasn't right...wasn't normal. A brief downward glance confirmed that note, I was smaller, I was sure of that, my entire form was still very hazy and indistinct, but I could at least see that my skin had settled on a dark tan only a hair lighter than my usual skin.
"Do not joke with me human!" the beast roared from the other side of the gate, quickly recapturing my attention.
Setting my jaw in response, I narrowed my eyes as I replied, "I'm not sure honestly. I used to be human, but now I guess...I guess you would say I'm possibilities. I'm a lot of different possibilities put together. I take it you weren't expecting someone like me?"
The beast didn't speak immediately, but its eyes narrowed and I could practically see the gears turning in its head.
"No...someone so...experienced, much less developed is not what should be inhabiting this body, you should be a baby, nothing more." it eventually replied.
"Yeah, well you can blame the wizard for that. So if there's nothing else to discuss, I'll see you later, I've got some growing up to do after all," I replied as I turned away from the creature, all too aware of its gaze on my back as I walked into the darkness of the tunnel.
OoOoOoOoO
Resting upon an altar, surrounded by naught but destruction and death, a small rust-haired baby fell into a dreamless sleep.
OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO
Ten Years Later.
"Oye, are you even listening to me Jii-san?"
"Yes, yes...Of course I'm listening Naruko," Hiruzen grumbled in reply, not bothering to look up from the paperwork across his desk.
"Then do you mind telling me what it is I asked?" Naruko asked, distinct impatience tinting the words.
Silence met the question before Naruko sighed in frustration and repeated the initial statement, "I asked if you were going to try to stop me from joining the Academy since you put your foot down the last three times.."
There was a pause before the Third Hokage sighed and brought his hands to his face as he looked up at the girl before him, evaluating just how she had grown from the baby he had first seen in the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack. Now she was starting to show the first real signs of maturity physically, if not mentally. As in his personal opinion, she was a terrible child to work with, she was jaded, sarcastic, and even verged on cruel sometimes.
Unfortunately, it wasn't something he could blame her for.
Despite his efforts and in spite of her father's last wish, the people of the village saw her as nothing more than a monster for the Kyuubi sealed within her body. What was odd, was that Naruko had never risen to their bait, nor had she seemed to even acknowledge their cold eyes and blatant hatred. Rather she had put down those who tried to pick on her and responded with a sharp tongue when she was made fun of.
It wasn't the personality an eight year old girl should have, of that he was sure.
"So, Jii-san?" she asked again, he tone becoming clearly impatient.
"Fine." he muttered tiredly in defeat, "You can attend, I'll stop getting in the way."
There it was, he had finally caved in and gotten out of the way of her ambitions, and signaling her victory was that customary smirk across her heavily tanned face, beneath her rust colored hair and pale gold eyes, the expression conveying that she was being entertained by some joke that only she knew. The difference from her parents was startling, if he didn't know her blood had been confirmed to be of the Uzumaki clan, he would have sworn there was no connection between her and Kushina and Minato.
Now that the deed was done though, the girl turned on her heel and left, her hands clasped behind her head, resting on her long red hair which had been pulled into a single ponytail in the back.
OoOoOoOoO
Ten years...a lot had changed in the decade since I had gotten my new body. I hadn't been sure what I would get with the vessel Zelretch had provided me. Since my first days in this world, I had begun to practice my self-reinforcement, something that had been difficult enough when I had been a Counter-Guardian, but now I was dealing with a still growing body, learning the limits I had to deal with all over again. A few experiments I had managed to perform based on my memories of Rin's tutelage had confirmed a suspicion I had that Avalon was still within me, and additional tests told me that my element and origin were still unchanged.
Those facts were a complete relief to me on very basic levels, as I hadn't fancied trying to make use of proper magecraft when I didn't have a teacher. I was well aware it could cause complications down the road but at least I had a basis from which to learn. Better, though, were the discoveries I had made about my magic circuits. Originally I had had only twenty-seven of them, but this new body of mine had added an additional eighty-seven to that number, bringing me up to an impressive one hundred and fourteen.
I was certain Rin would have been furious if she could seen the gifts I had stumbled into.
My former teacher's opinion was irrelevant at this point in time though, and as such I pushed the thoughts and memories of her from my mind as I walked away from the Hokage's office, summoning Kanshou and Bakuya to me hands and idly spinning them about as I considered my next with the weapons, a member of the ANBU stalked past me, likely on his way to report to the Hokage, or something else.
That was the biggest benefit of this world, hands down. The fact that mystical ninja's existed in this world, and regularly practiced fantastic abilities meant that I could get away with open displays of magecraft. The ability to summon the weapons in the first place was unusual, as had been noted on several occasions by select few ninja who tolerated my presence well enough, but I had passed them off as 'chakra constructs' similar to bushins. That had held up well enough in their inspections and my refusal to teach it to anyone had stalled any further prodding.
Approaching a window at the end of the hall, I let Kanshou and Bakuya shatter as I activated more of my circuits, letting my od flood through my body as I reinforced myself as close to my limit as I dared for now before I clambered into and then straight out the window, dropping towards the ground several stories below. Any chance I had at making it away without dealing with any of the other nin went right out the window with me as a familiar figure stepped out from the doorway below my exit.
"Shit!" was all I had time to mutter before I slammed down atop the person in question.
My reinforced body took the drop without a problem, but I was a little worried about the condition of my makeshift cushion as I quickly rolled off to the side to stand, gently rubbing my butt where I had impacted a bit harder than I would have liked.
"Do you ever consider using the doors like normal people Naruko?" the person asked as they rolled over onto their stomach and sat up, a pointed look directed at me.
"Sometimes, Iruka-san," I admitted half-heartedly, the mistake was an amateur one and something I was actually a bit embarrassed about, as evidenced when my left hand came up to scratch at the back of my head in a nervous movement.
"...You should try so more often, Naruko, it might endear you a little more not to land on people," he replied as I offered a hand and helped pull him back to his feet.
"I would, but then I have to deal with everyone else more often. I find it's more pleasant not to deal with their stares and mutterings though, " I replied with a shrug before I changed the subject.
"I'll being joining your class, by the way, Jii-san finally decided to stop getting in the way. Besides, it was getting boring learning jutsus from watching and what scrolls I could get my hands on."
That seemed to make Iruka pause for a moment as he looked me over, raising an eyebrow in..surprise? Yeah I would say so, before he grinned and shook his head when he replied. "Then I will look forward to seeing how well you do, Naruko."
With that expectation, we parted ways, Iruka off to take care of whatever it was he needed to do, me heading back to the rather run down rooftop apartment I had managed to secure for myself.
OoOoOoOoO
Stepping into my apartment a few minutes later, I was greeted by the pleasant scent of the oil I used to keep my blades properly cared for. Given that I had finally gotten Hiruzen to quit blocking my entrance into the Academy, I had decided that a bit of celebration was in order, so instead of the usual instant ramen I was stuck with, I had stopped on the way back to pick up fresh ingredients, and now I was looking forward to a proper, fresh cooked meal made to my standards.
With a pleased sigh as I looked to the kitchen, I set my ingredients down on the counter before heading to the bathroom where I began to wash up in preparation for cooking. Briefly I glanced into the mirror as I washed, taking in note of just how I looked.
Already, even if this body was only ten years old, my skin had darkened significantly from what it had been at birth. The whisker like marks on my cheeks had faded away significantly to just thin pink-white scars, and within my rust colored hair, I could already see the first strands of white beginning to show. Most obvious and unusual were my eyes.
When I had first acquired this body, they had been a brilliant, clear blue, but time and a great deal of practice with my self-reinforcement had seen to it that they had dulled to a flat gray before beginning to shift towards a muted gold. Absently, I considered how I should begin dressing in the future. Would it be right of me to take on the appearance I had borne while in Alaya's service or would it be better for me to take on the form I had born after Ilya had rescued me from myself? Being a woman wasn't something that I had been expected, but i was managing well enough thanks to the knowledge of the routes where I had been saved. Perhaps I would don the clothing I had worn as the eponymous Archer-ko, but that only option made me worry slightly.
Was I really still Emiya Shirou? After hundreds of battles in one time or another, I had a definition of myself as Archer, the Counter-Guardian, but now...now I was Uzumaki Naruko, heiress to two of the most prestigious clans known.
"Am I really still me?" I muttered softly as I looked down at my still dripping hands.
Sighing as I dried my hands, I headed back out to prepare my meal, the doubts I had felt being replaced with anticipation of a good meal.
OoOoOoOoO
Two hours later, after I had finished eating, cleaning up, and showering, I threw myself down on my futon to sleep, my eyes closing in preparation to rest. When I next opened my eyes, I found myself before a familiar gate, standing below a looming pair of eyes.
"Yo, Kurama, been a while hasn't it?" I replied with a rueful grin.
The Kyuubi narrowed its eyes in what I guessed was distaste before it spoke, it's voice the usual rumble that shook the tunnel we were in.
"So you're to become a ninja like your parents were before you. Have you understood what that will mean for you?"
I let out a dry chuckle as I folded my arms across my chest and replied, "Well enough, it's just a means to an end though in any case."
"Explain."
"You don't know my Kurama," I replied cooly, "If you did you would understand my reasoning, but in the end all being a ninja will be is a method through which I can become a Hero and escape my Fate."
There was silence from the Kyuubi for several moments as Kurama narrowed his eyes as if inspecting me before speaking again.
"You're more distinct now."
"I noticed that too, I think its because my possibilities have been narrowed a bit and I becoming closer to what I actually am. Something along the lines of 'the mind is a plaything of the body' as they say."
Kurana was quiet for several moments before beginning to turn away as he said, "Then be careful, I would hate to die from your own foolishness."
There was a ridiculous idea, me being careful? The suggestion was enough that I began to laugh as I walked away into the darkness of the tunnel. Kurama had never gotten to observe me fight so I was quite sure he'd be in for a shock when he eventually got a good look at it.
Regardless, I walked into the depths of the tunnel till I couldn't see any more.
When I could see again, dawn had come and with it, my first class as a ninja.