Alright! 12th Chapter!
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Sorry about the incredible delay, I've been held up with enough schoolwork to keep me from this. I was also having the best New Year's I've had in 8 years. Right then...nothing else to say...
Disclaimer! I don't own Naruto, Elric, nor anything else I use...I do own all of my little quirks I put in my stories, as well as my DNA...ON WITH THE SHOW!
"Blah"-person speaking...'Blah'-person thinking..."Blah"-Demon speaking...'Blah'-Demon thinking..."Blah"-Memory speaking(they don't think)
Leaves of Steel, Chapter 12
Konoha: 9:38 AM
Naruto walked back to his house with his Albino teacher, staying silent as they walked.
Every time Naruto started to start discussion, Elric quieted him with a, "This is not the place to talk of such things Naruto, people are listening." and continued on.
As they reached Naruto's house, the boy pulled out his house key, and unlocked the door.
When they were inside Elric sealed the door and surrounding environment with one of the best spells he knew. To do this, he let loose a single drop of blood, and brought it to his lips, where he drew a seal upon them, and opened his mouth to the direction of the door, and many more times as he rotated around.
"Naruto, lay the sword on the table, do not touch it!" Elric commanded in a cold tone.
The blonde-haired boy consented, and opened the case, shaking the massive blade onto the table's surface. The blade clattered upon the mahogany table, and rocked until it was straight. Elric examined the rune-sword, noting well the familiar feeling of its aura. He brought his hands slowly to the hilt, before swiftly drawing them back, after remembering the blade's effect upon him.
"Naruto," began the mighty sorcerer, "Do you feel stronger when you touch the blade, and weaker when it leaves your grasp?" he asked to ascertain the new qualities of the god-sword.
Naruto shook his head, to which Elric sighed in relief, that is, until Naruto added, "I don't feel weaker when it leaves me, only stronger when I'm touching it."
Elric gasped at the thought of the boy being unlike him in this sense, before reminding Naruto, "You must learn never to use the sword as a crutch, or it will have power over you. Naruto, you need to train yourself as well, so you don't become weaker than it."
Naruto nodded, "Understood, Elric. Are we going to go and train now?" the boy asked.
Elric gave Naruto a thumbs-up, as well as unsealing the room they were in. The pair left, after Naruto placed Stormbringer back into the case.
Konoha's Training outskirts: 9:55AM
Naruto stopped in his tracks, halted by the barbed-wire fence. He was left speechless as his teacher stopped with a smile on his face at the limits of the forbidden training ground.
"Akagahara..." the boy said slowly, remembering the stories he had heard of this place.
"Yes, I will have you complete a mission here. This is where many Genin became Chunin, including Kakashi. Your mission is to make this place safe again for the training of Academy students. To accomplish this, you must locate and destroy every trap in this vicinity. You may do this by any mean s necessary, and if you succeed, I will teach you the magic of my people." the Albino said with a playful gleam in his eyes.
"Elric, Isn't this mission a bit too much? I mean, Genin back then only had to get though it, not remove all of the traps and stuff." The boy questioned of the Mage.
Elric thought out the best way to answer the boy's question, "Yes, yes it is. But don't you want to prove yourself stronger than the other Genin, and stronger than a Chunin? You DO want to become Hokage, right?"
"YATTA! I'LL DO IT!" shouted the genin as he jumped over the fence.
Konoha-Akagahara: 9:55AM
As Naruto's feet felt the ground underneath him give way, it was too late to react. Naruto's body plummeted into a spike pit, and was pierced by 43 bamboo stakes, still sharp. He was lying at the bottom of the pit, the spikes holding him captive.
Naruto felt no pain from the fall,and simply rose up off of the spikes, his wounds closing. three of the spikes had been crushed by his sword's case. The boy extended his legs, and simply walked out of the pit.
"Elric! How am I supposed to destroy the traps?" the boy called out, brushing off bamboo splinters.
"That is for you to figure out, I'll be reading. Try not to die." Elric said, vaguely reminiscent of the Kyubi.
Naruto crushed and shredded the spikes with a hovering saw, before slowly moving forward, creating Metal clones to help him.
Outside of Akagahara: 10:05AM
Gai walked up to the sitting man, attempting to be stealthy in his bright green jumpsuit. His team slowly followed him, Trying to sneak up on the ruby-eyed wanderer.
"Gai, I know you are there, you may as well come on out. The same goes for you genin. No use sneaking up on me." said the conjurer, closing his book with a bang.
The noble green and azure beasts of Konoha jumped out with a simultaneous cry of, "Dynamic Entry!!!" only to have their bodies suspended in mid-air with seemingly nothing holding onto them.
Elric's eyes shimmered blue, as he lowered the two Taijutsu masters to the ground. Tenten and Neji stepped out from the bushes, and each performed quick bow. They attempted to pick up their sensei, but he jumped up.
"Ah! Elric-sempai! It is good to see the spirit of youth burns in you as hot as ever! Where is your youthful apprentice?" The man with the huge eyebrows asked.
"He is over in the forbidden training grounds, most likely falling victim to the vicious traps that he has to remove. He'll be okay though, why do you ask?" The Albino responded in a bored tone.
Tenten immediately leaped over the fence to help Naruto, without saying a word. Lee began sparing with his shadow, and Neji used his Byakugan to sneak a peek at Elric's book, blushing.
Gai sat down on a stone opposite from Elric, and began to vividly describe to him everything he had been doing for the time Elric had been gone.
Akagahara: 10:10AM
Tenten threw a kunai, blocking a rust-red one spewed by a trap, ricocheting off and effectively blocking all of the others, nailing all of them to a tree before they could hit Naruto.
"Thank you, Tenten! Those rusty Kunai are really hard to find, they blend in so well with the landscape." The blonde said with a grin on his face.
Tenten answered in a sweet smile, "You're welcome, Naruto-kun. Would you like some help with these?"
Naruto paused at her calling him Naruto-kun, but shrugged it off, "Sure, Tenten, I'd rather not play pincushion, eh? The goal is to locate and destroy every trap in this area, so it can be re-used as an academy training ground."
Tenten joined Naruto in his search, not letting a single Kunai or other trap hit Naruto.
'I have to be sure not to reveal my abilities to Tenten, they have to remain a secret..." The boy thought, carefully using concealed methods to disable and deflect traps, while remaining ever the more wary, so as not to let her see any of his metallic powers.
As the duo went through the field, clearing and removing any obstacles they found in their way, they were suddenly assaulted by massive puppets, for Naruto had knocked down a large stone statue on accident.
"Naruto! Watch out!" cried Tenten as she swept over him, beheading a shaggy puppet with a katana she had pulled from a scroll.
Naruto followed suit, and spun over Tenten's back withdrawing Stormbringer from the massive metal case. The large sword was swung one-handed, shattering 4 marionettes in one cleave. Falling into Zabuza's stolen poses, Naruto efficiently began tearing through the forces.
Tenten looked over her shoulder, in what seemed to be slow motion, to espy Naruto launching perfect attacks, one after another, with what appeared to be a giant sword made of metal.
'Naruto-kun, what is that magnificent weapon you are wielding? I can't even see its shape!' the girl thought, throwing several kunai into the foreheads of the puppets, sending them to the ground.
Stormbringer was being swung in massive arches, cutting through each foe in a single strike, as the puppets kept rising. Naruto ran at lightning speed to Tenten, before sheathing his sword, and scooping her off of the ground.
"RUSHING METAL: BURNING WINDS!" shouted the boy, as he fired a massive blast of flaming shrapnel into the defenseless dolls, tearing them to pieces.
The earth finally gave way to a doll of massive proportions, its glowing red eyes the size of tables. The beast gave a shudder, and raised its right arm to the duo, sending numerous blades in their direction.
Tenten couldn't easily move her arms, as they were clamped in the grip of Naruto's left arm, so she couldn't block the weapons.
Naruto remembered he had Tenten in his arm, so he folded his right arm around her, and quietly said, "Phase"
Tenten felt her body melt into shadow, and found the blades spinning through them, but not touching them. The world was as a negative, and only Naruto's eyes stayed their original color, piercing the shadows with their glow. From the distance she was at, Naruto looked like a near-perfect replica of Yondaime's statue, face terse, and eyes focused.
Once the blades had passed, and the pair fell to the ground, Naruto placed Tenten off to the side, and drew his sword again. He rushed up to the marionette, and, as soon as his feet hit the side of the dolls massive legs, the world turned once again to the normal plane.
Naruto ran up the side of the beast, and swung over the top, gaining over 20 vertical feet of air, and re-postioning himself at the back, where he raised a glowing red Stormbringer above his head, and dropped it down with the cry of, "VULPINE CLEAVE!"
The fissure Naruto caused in the structure of the puppet was followed by the weight of his full force upon the sword, driving the blade straight through the puppet, cutting it like a hot knife through butter. When Naruto's sword slipped out from between the legs of the puppet, he fell to the ground, and left a massive crater which shook the marionette apart.
Tenten ran up to the steaming crater as the two halves of the puppet fell to the left and right, its eyes turning a dull brown.
As the girl ran into the crater, She saw Naruto sheath the massive sword again, and close the lid. She grabbed onto him as he fell to the ground exhausted.
Outside of Akagahara: 12:45PM
Tenten returned, carrying a dozing Naruto on her back, too worn out to walk on his own. Elric stood up, and took the boy from her, and laid him down on the ground, while placing glowing hands upon him. The boy soon regained consciousness, and looked at his surroundings.
"Neji, could I trouble you to check the forbidden ground for any remaining traps, and report to me how many are left?" asked Elric, as he nodded a silent, 'thank you' to Tenten.
Neji ran off into the field, and returned quickly, "No traps are left in Akagahara, but the area is heavily damaged, with puppet bodies surrounding a massive destroyed puppet, likely decimated by a large weapon. Nothing further to report." and he sat down.
Gai-esnei eyed the container on Naruto' back, and looked towards His female student, who nodded in affirmation.
Gai then reached towards the case, to investigate the contents when his hand was slapped away by Naruto, "Gai-sensei, I would appreciate it if you didn't attempt to wield my blade, as it is not meant for your hands."
The boy swung the case around his back again, and walked off. Lee and Neji wandered off, while Tenten ran after Naruto. Gai stayed with Elric, and was soon rewarded with the answer.
"Yes Gai, it is that sword. It would be best not to pester him about it, I'm sure he is already having trouble dealing with it. Let Tenten try to connect with him, she is, after all, his own age, so he would be more likely to open up to her about it." Elric pointed out.
Hokage's Monument: 1:15PM
Naruto was sitting on the Fourth's head, watching the noisy city below, when Tenten came to his side, and sat down with him.
"It's okay Naruto-kun, Gai-sensei was just checking it out...May I see it again?" Tenten asked hopefully at the chance of seeing such a cool weapon again.
Naruto nodded, and withdrew the blade from its case. He set it on his lap, but kept both hands over it.
"Tenten, you must not touch the edge nor the handle of the blade. If you do...well, let's not think about that." Naruto warned, before raising his hands off of the blade, and setting it on the stone.
Tenten examined the gleaming sword from many angles, sensing the dark aura that surrounded it. She asked Naruto to turn it over, so she could see the other side, and took up a study of that side as well.
"Naruto-kun...amazing...The blade is so straight, and the edges, even though you tore through those puppets, is not marred at all. Is this sword new? I haven't heard of a blade this size except the swords of the seven swordsmen of the mist." Tenten praised.
Naruto flipped the sword back into his hands, "This sword is a demon-blade, It stole the form of Momochi Zabuza's Zanbato, and altered it after I killed him. That is the truth."
Tenten's mouth gaped open, as she stared at the sword, "YOU killed Momochi Zabuza?" she asked wide-eyed.
Naruto nodded, and pulled out a new edition of the Bingo book, flipping it open to Zabuza's page, where it read, 'Killed along with his apprentice; Haku, by Uzumaki, Naruto, Konoha Ninja, age 12. Zabuza's sword is currently owned by Uzumaki.'
Tenten touched the cold flat of the blade, feeling the sword pulse, causing her to pull her hand back. Naruto sheathed the sword again, and closed the lid.
Tenten smiled, "That is a really cool sword Naruto-kun, does it handle well? It is pretty massive after all, right?"
Naruto stood up, and drew his sword. He spun it is circles, and threw it, tip first, into the bark of a tree, where it split the tree and continued into the rock behind it. Naruto picked the sword up again, pulling it from the rock, and returned it to the sheath.
"Tenten, would you like to go get Ramen with me?" Naruto asked for no real reason.
Tenten jumped up, "Sure."
End of Leaves of Steel, Chapter 12
Finally, I begin to incorporate romance, took me long enough...
If you flame, I flame you with more fire.
-Johnhamsta