Disclaimer: "SPACE POPCORN CHICKEN!"
'That's preposterous!'
"Why?"
'Because! In order to create SPACE POPCORN CHICKEN you must own World of Warcraft and Naruto…AT THE SAME TIME!'
"O NO'S! I don't own either! AT THE SAME TIME!"
'MOTHERFUCK!'
Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!
Sakura yawned, sitting up in bed as the first signs of the orange light of dawn struck her face. The pink-haired kunoichi rubbed both her startlingly green eyes with one hand, using the other to shield her face from the light that was invading through her window.
'Oh good' she thought, her unsaid words laced with sarcasm, 'it's light out this morning…at least I'll be able to see where I'm going this time.'
She was referring to the insane hours that her teacher, the Godaime Hokage of the Hidden Village of the Leaf, Tsunade, made her get up at. The times usually varied, depending on how sober Tsunade planned to stay after Sakura's training finished in the late afternoon. This time, it was around five o'clock; a step up from the previous day's four.
If it had been anyone else, Sakura would have protested the entire time. She hated getting up so early, hell, even Kakashi had made them get up at a more reasonable hour (around seven), added to the fact that he almost never showed up on time, allowing her at least another hour or two of extra sleep.
Tsunade, however, wasn't like that. The Legendary Sennin abhorred tardiness of all sorts, and if Sakura were late in the slightest, the woman would give her a firm chewing out. That didn't bother Sakura, much, as she knew how precious the Hokage's time was. That was the primary reason her training sessions started so early, because the Hokage had other things to attend to, such as running a village. Sakura herself felt herself very privileged just to be able to be taught by the greatest medic-nin in the world.
After getting out of bed, Sakura dressed quickly, and after grabbing some toast, exited her house, stepping into the cool, crisp morning air. She inhaled deeply, smiling a little, before starting off down the road towards the Hokage's tower.
The training sessions in said tower were an experience, to say the least. Tsunade herself presided over the majority of them, never offering help, although Shizune was present more often than not. The younger woman would occasionally slip in a tip or two, which Sakura found grateful.
After all, she found that medic-nin training was so difficult that anyone who was subjected to it might find torture to be a more rewarding experience. She knew she was hyperbolizing, but due to her low chakra reserves and slight body, the process was made many times more difficult. Tsunade rarely gave her exercises for increasing her stamina, simply expecting her to do it on her own. Therefore, Sakura struggled with a lot of the techniques she was taught, not because she found them difficult to perform, just that she found them difficult to maintain.
What good was a medical jutsu if it didn't last long enough to heal a person?
But that was months ago. At this point, Sakura was doing very well in her pursuits, having found an adequate helper in the area of stamina and general physical enhancement. She had made leaps and bounds in that part, so much so that Tsunade, impressed by her rising chakra levels, had begun teaching her the secret of her super-punches, which required tons of chakra in order to use.
There was, of course a downside to all of it.
For one thing… her teacher happened to be one of the creepiest people in the entire village, and didn't stop being creepy the entire time that they trained together.
That wasn't true, really, but she after spending so much time with them she found Rock Lee and Maito Gai to be very much the same person, even if there were two bodies.
She gave a brief shudder…Lee seemed to think that because they were training, they were together. So she was constantly harried by requests for a date after their daily sessions, which began just after her medical training, and ended sometime in the evening.
'He's worse than Naruto was…' she thought, a vein in her pronounced forehead throbbing.
Naruto…
Her heart sunk a little, and she almost cursed herself. She didn't need her day messed up with thoughts of Naruto.
That wasn't to say that she though poorly of the blonde; no, it was quite the contrary. She was worried about him. Terribly worried, even. Whenever she thought of him, now, she either saw his sunny smile and face, covered in bandages, telling her that he'd definitely keep his promise; or pictured him in the heat of battle, covered in blood, his clothes torn, that fierce glare on his face, fighting against a monstrous creature, the creature that he had described in his last message.
It unnerved her to think of where he could be right now. He was not in the Fire Country, nor was he in the Wind, Water, Mist, Rice, Earth, or any other country. He was in an entirely different world…one unknown to shinobi, and entirely unpredictable and unknown.
And no way to get back.
Sakura tried her best not to think of Naruto, because when she did, she thought of Sasuke, as well. That brought an equal sadness to her heart (she didn't know when the thought of Naruto brought a feeling equal to that of Sasuke had started, but it had). This sadness distracted her, and she found it hard to focus when she thought of her two errant teammates.
So she forced them to the back of her mind, for the moment. She didn't think of them, only of their words, disconnected from any face, and the fire that they ignited in her.
'Thank you…Sakura.'
'Sakura-chan…I will definitely bring Sasuke back next time! Promise of a lifetime!'
She clenched her fists. She would not be left behind, not again, and when they next met, she promised herself that she would be able to keep up with them.
Naruto's words from his letters, too, had fed the flame in her spirit. Hearing of Naruto's accomplishments in a world not his own, his victories, his defeats, and everything else had spurred her to increase her training sessions even more. She had begun to experiment, as well. If she were lucky, she'd be able to perfect the new technique she was working on by the time Naruto got back.
'That is…if he ever gets back…' she thought, a slight veil of depression creeping over her thoughts once again.
She shook it off once more. She had training to do…thoughts of the past, of Naruto, and of Sasuke, could wait.
She reached Hokage Tower a few minutes later, the sun having only arisen a small amount. Even at this time of the morning, the tower was buzzing with activity; she saw shinobi handing in mission reports, receiving missions, and giving out missions. She saw shinobi carrying stacks of paper to and fro, only stopping to speak in low, yet friendly tones to each other.
When she entered, several of the employees smiled and waved at her. She returned both gestures as she reached the stairs that would take her up to the Hokage's office. She went up the long staircases, which she dimly noted would be good training in itself.
It didn't take her long to arrive at the Hokage's office, a set of double doors marked simply with "Hokage" on the front. She pushed the door open, a greeting for her master ready on her lips, only to pause when her eyes fell on the scene within.
Tsunade was lying back in her chair, sleeping as soundly as a child. There was a slight tendril of drool sliding from her mouth, and her mouth was open and wide. But it was not that that stopped Sakura in her tracks…it was the fact that her gi was half-open, revealing an obnoxious amount of her bountiful cleavage, so much so that one would only have to walk to the side to see her "assets" in all of their glory.
Which was exactly what Jiraiya, The Legendary Toad Sennin, former teacher of the Fourth Hokage, and then Naruto, was doing. The man, grinning his typical, horridly perverted grin was busily scribbling notes on a small pad of paper, his eyes never leaving the woman's form.
Sakura, at first, was shocked into silence. She could not believe that someone would have the audacity to ogle the Hokage, especially in her own office!
Of course, she was also annoyed by the fact that her master, being a shinobi, and a Hokage no less, was not waking from the audible giggling that was emanating from Jiraiya.
Her shock, however, quickly turned to a seething rage, causing her to clench her fists until they became white, and grit her teeth until she was sure they would crack. It took all of her willpower not to walk over to the man and clobber him in a manner not unlike Tsunade. But she didn't, not only because it would be disrespectful (considering Jiraiya was a Legendary Sennin), but because she believed Tsunade would be able to handle it in a much more appropriate way.
She stamped her foot once, alerting Jiraiya, who had been too caught up in his "research" to notice her before, to her presence. Before the Toad Sennin could say, or do anything, Sakura called out to the sleeping Hokage.
"Tsunade-shishou! PERVERT, JIRAIYA, PEEPING!" the words, despite not forming anything remotely resembling a coherent sentence, and leaving a bad taste in Sakura's mouth due to her poor grammar, had an effect on Tsunade similar to that of the awakening a sleeping dragon.
Jiraiya, halfway through a shout of "stop" froze. He shifted his eyes, ever so slowly, towards Tsunade's sleeping form, as if the slower he moved them, the less chance he would have of being seen.
He met two glowing, honey-brown eyes, filled with such rage that a grown man would be reduced to the mentality of a toddler upon gazing into them. Jiraiya hastily began to say something, but Sakura didn't catch it, having slammed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes, not wanting her innocence to be completely destroyed in watching what would happen.
She shuddered slightly as the screaming began.
It was over in moments, and when Sakura next opened her eyes, there was a sizeable hole in the wall opposite the Hokage's desk, and Tsunade was standing in front of it. One of her hands was covered in blood, and she was breathing heavily. Sakura winced when she heard a heard a gurgling sound from within the hole, that sounded suspiciously like "message from Naruto…"
Tsunade shot a glance at Sakura, who instinctively tensed up upon seeing the woman's savage eyes. They softened slightly, however, making Sakura relax, before Tsunade exited the room through the hole, and retrieved the leaky piece of flesh that Jiraiya had been reduced to.
"Alright, Sakura, you remember how you said you wanted an actual patient to practice on? Well here's one. I've got to get the Rookie Nine and their Jounin senseis in here in the meantime," Tsunade said, dropping Jiraiya on the table and wiping her bloody hand on the man's pants.
Sakura broke her stare of morbid fascination at the half-dead Sennin to look at Tsunade in surprise. "You mean…?"
Tsunade nodded, giving her a half-smile. "Yeah, we've got another message from that brat, Naruto."
Sakura broke into a smile, a feeling of relief overcoming her, in knowing that Naruto was still alive. She nodded to her master, who was already walking towards the door.
"You remember what I told you before, about anesthesia jutsu? Well, that only applies to people other than Jiraiya. Remember to reset the bones into their proper places, or else they won't heal correctly. Have fun," the Godaime called over her shoulder, before disappearing from view.
On the table, Jiraiya let out a small whimper. Sakura cracked her knuckles, planning to take a few years of frustration out on the man who supposedly wrote the perverted books that Kakashi was always reading in her face.
A little later, the Hokage's office was crowded with people. All of the Rookie Nine, as well as Gai's team, had gathered in the room, all eager to hear what Naruto was up to. Many of them (namely Lee, Neji, Hinata, Chouji, and Kiba) were eager to compare their power to that of Naruto's. They in particular had been training the hardest, wanting to live up to the blonde's expectations and not wanting to be outclassed by Naruto when he returned. Others, like Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, and Shino, seemed to be a little peeved that they had been forced to get up at such an hour, only to listen to what Naruto was doing.
Of course, Sakura could see that they were as interested as the others, and were simply better at hiding it.
She saw Hinata, standing by Shino and Kiba, the former listening to the latter boast of his new techniques that would certainly make anything that Naruto did look stupid in comparison. The quiet girl was twiddling her thumbs, looking nervously excited about the news from Naruto.
She had been, to Sakura's knowledge, training as hard, if not harder, than the others, in an effort to bridge the gap that had formed between her and the others. She had gained quite a bit of confidence, too, in all things that didn't involve Naruto.
She spotted Lee, as well, who was busily shouting how much he wanted to hear of Naruto's actions since the blonde's last message to Neji, who stood like a mountain against the hurricane of Lee's words. It was clear, however, that the mountain was soon going to reveal itself to be volcano, unless something distracted Lee from his ravings.
Thankfully, something did, in the form of Tsunade, a heavily bandaged and sour looking Jiraiya behind her.
"Alright, as you guys know, I've called you hear because you guys insisted on being here for every one of Naruto's messages. Since I didn't think you guys would mind getting up so early. I called you as soon as I first heard of it from this perverted bastard," she said, casting a fiery glance at Jiraiya, who shrunk back, looking terrified.
The other Jounin in the room winced, especially Kakashi. The masked Jounin made a mental note never to even think of doing anything remotely perverted in front of Tsunade.
"Sakura was nice enough to repair whatever damage I might have done to Jiraiya, so he should be in perfect shape to summon that blasted toad, right?" she said.
Jiraiya nodded hastily, shooting an equally terrified glance at Sakura, who cracked her knuckles again, smiling warmly at the Sennin.
Kakashi swallowed, adding a small addendum to that mental note to include Sakura, as well.
"I CANNOT WAIT TO HEAR OF NARUTO-KUN'S NEWEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS! IF I AM NOT IMPRESSED BY THEM, THEN I WILL DO A THOUSAND PUSH-UPS UPON A BED OF COALS!" roared Gai, pumping his fists into the air.
"YOSH! AND IF GAI-SENSEI CANNOT COMPLETE THAT TASK, THEN I SHALL GO AROUND KONOHA A THOUSAND TIMES ON JUST MY HANDS, WEARING A NEKO-MIMI OUTFIT!" Lee roared, flames erupting into his eyes.
"OH LEE!"
"OH GAI-SEN–"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" roared Tsunade, a huge vein throbbing in her head. The two Green Beasts of Konoha quickly shut their mouths, but their eyes still glowed with the passionate fire of youth.
Still glaring at the two Bruce Lee knock-offs, Tsunade gestured to Jiraiya to get on with it. The Toad Sennin bit his thumb and preformed the seals necessary for the summoning technique.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Jiraiya mumbled, his voice lacking the usual flair he had when summoning. All of that had spilled out onto the floor thanks to Tsunade's attack.
In a small puff of smoke, the occupants of the Hokage's room caught sight of the familiar orange hide of Gamakichi, who hopped from the floor onto the Hokage's desk.
Sakura inched a little away from it, her fears of frogs returning in full force.
"Yo! Been a long time, hasn't it?" the little toad announced, looking cheerful. His cheer seemed to grow even greater upon seeing Jiraiya. "Oi, looks like I was right, huh? Glad I got out of there before she woke up."
Tsunade twitched, making Gamakichi freeze, and gulp. "Hehehe…I mean, I have no idea what just happened! Yeah, uh… what happened to Jiraiya…cause, I dunno!"
"Just get on with it," grunted Tsunade, glaring at him.
Gamakichi nodded hastily, and his familiar attitude returned. "Well! The brat's sent another tale, and it's a doozy. But I think you guys'll love it!"
And so he began his tale, the tale of Naruto and the pirate captain, Thaddeus Blood.
And he was right, it did take a long time, but only because the little toad was doing his best to recount every action, and all of the feeling that had gone into the events. The group grew steadily more and more shocked by the tale, and Sakura was even surprised when the toad went on to describe the things that Naruto hadn't been there for. He described the fight that involved two people that none of them had ever heard of, until now.
Kira and Kylia, the former being the one who apparently sent Naruto on the journey that he was on at this very moment.
The story concluded, leaving the gathered shinobi once again in a state of shock. It seemed to Sakura less a recounting of what had actually happened, and more like something from an old fantasy novel. She did feel that he had glossed over a few parts, especially the ending when Naruto had finally awoken in the troll village. Nonetheless, it would seem that Naruto had done it again. He had nearly killed himself to save a group of people that he didn't know, and weren't even of his own species!
But what really shocked her was his power. Granted, she had suspicions that either Gamakichi or Naruto had done some embellishment, but even so, it sounded exactly like something Naruto could do.
'That power…' thought Sakura, her eyes wide. The way Gamakichi had described Naruto's actions…using the mysterious red chakra that he had used to defeat Neji, made the blonde seem larger than life. She didn't even know the origin of that chakra. How was it possible for someone to have more than one chakra sources? She knew that Naruto's chakra was not all red, because he had often used the normal blue chakra that everyone possessed; but that still didn't explain what gave the blonde such power. A kekkai genkai? Or was Naruto just entirely different from normal people?
Meanwhile, the rest of the Rookie Nine Plus Three had broken from their shock and were talking up a storm.
"That bastard! Akamaru, we're gonna have to train even harder if we want to keep up with that dumbass!" roared Kiba.
"Incredible, eh Shikamaru? Naruto's really something," said Chouji, grinning fondly at his best friend.
"Hmph…whatever, I wanna go back to bed," muttered Shikamaru.
"A-amazing! N-Naruto-kun…is s-so s-strong…" whispered Hinata, a slight blush coming over her features. She too would have to increase her training, so that when Naruto got back (in her mind, there was no question) he would most certainly notice her.
'Hmm…Naruto is getting ever stronger…' thought Neji, smirking slightly, 'I'd expect nothing less from that guy."
"Hmmm, Naruto certainly has grown," said Kakashi calmly, a visible smile appearing on his masked face. Inwardly, however, he felt a little sad. Naruto was growing by leaps and bounds, and he was not a part of it.
"Che, that brat," smirked Jiraiya, a smug smile on his lips. "He's getting stronger and I'm not the one who's teaching him. Well, it doesn't bother me much, seeing as how I have a lot more time to do my resear–…never mind," he finished, seeing Tsunade's eyes shift towards him.
"YOOOOOSSSSHHHHH! I MUST BEGIN MY ULTRA-SUPER-MEGA-TRAINING IN ORDER TO COMPETE WITH NARUTO-KUN'S GLORIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS! GAI-SENSEI, WE MUST FIND A PEOPLE WHO ARE BEING OPPRESSED, AND SAVE THEM!" thundered Lee, his eyes burning hotter than the sun.
"THAT IS A FANTASTIC IDEA, LEE! WE MUST SHOW THEM THE POWER OF YOUTH, AND IGNITE THEIR SPIRITS AS NARUTO-KUN HAS DONE! HOKAGE-SAMA, MIGHT YOU HAVE A MISSION LIKE THIS?" roared Gai, striking a pose that would have made the Ginyu Force proud.
"No," the woman snapped, rubbing her temples. She, however, was smiling, obviously pleased by Naruto's actions, as well as his progress.
"Ah, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura suddenly said, grabbing the Hokage's attention.
"Hmm, what is it Sakura?" Tsunade said, turning to face her apprentice.
"That power that Naruto was using…the red chakra…what is it?"
The room suddenly became quiet. The teachers looked surprised at first, then downcast. They turned to Tsunade, who had an unreadable look on his face.
The other Genin looked towards the Hokage as well, their thoughts suddenly mirroring Sakura's.
Tsunade looked straight at the pink-haired kunoichi, and sighed.
"It's not my place to say. Naruto wouldn't want me to tell you anything, so I will respect his wishes."
Sakura looked down, sighing. She was annoyed. Annoyed that Naruto didn't trust her enough to tell her about whatever it was that the red chakra was. Her rational side told her that there must have been a good reason for it, however.
Tsunade's gaze lingered a few more seconds on Sakura, before she turned back to the rest of the group. "Alright, that's it, you guys need to leave now; I've got training to do with Sakura."
The group quickly dispersed, Lee and Gai heading the group as they continued to bellow out their typical speeches, which echoed in Sakura's ears long after they had departed the room. Jiraiya limped out after the group, wanting to get as far away as possible from the two demons that had caused him so much pain.
'Geez,' Jiraiya thought, 'you sure know how to pick'em, eh brat?'
Finally, when the room was empty save for Tsunade and Sakura, the woman gestured towards the stacks of scrolls in the corner. Sakura nodded, knowing that she still needed to practice the technique that she had learned the previous day. As she passed Tsunade's desk the woman spoke to her, quietly.
"I won't tell you anything, Sakura…but that doesn't mean that you can't find out for yourself. Just promise me…that it won't change your opinion of him, okay?"
Sakura stood, rooted in place for a moment, before she nodded flashing a smile in Tsunade's direction. She hurried to the scrolls, her energy, and her spirit, renewed.
'Naruto…I swear that when you get back, I will be able to keep up with you."
"C-cold…" Naruto muttered to himself, standing perfectly still in the pitch-black night.
The blonde was dressed in the baggy leather trousers and tunic that he had been since he had awoken, several days before. But it was not his clothes, nor the night air (which was actually quite warm) that were making him cold.
The reason for that would have to be the black markings that were now spread along his arms, and across his neck. There was no particular pattern to the markings, but they covered almost his entire body. Most of which wasn't visible. The markings themselves were made of special, chakra-infused ink that had been permanently grafted to his body. It was an eyesore, most of the time, but thankfully it disappeared when Naruto was not using the Kagesui.
Naruto grunted upon thinking of the technique that Vol'jin was teaching him.
It was, in short, a pain.
It didn't require a lot of chakra, of course, and even though it was a pain to get up so early in the morning, so that Vol'jin could teach him for several hours before he was called back to the duties of his village, and though the feeling that one got when using it, a feeling of being submerged in a cold, clingy substance, was annoying, those were not the reasons why it was such a pain.
The reason was because it was immeasurably frustrating. To Naruto, trying to surround his body in the chakra, which was filtered through the markings and molded into genjutsu, was like trying to keep water from seeping through the cracks in your hands, when trying to pick it up. Each time you try it, you continually lose more, and eventually all of it goes out, regardless of what you do.
'I didn't know you were so eloquent,' a voice interrupted his thoughts, making him frown.
Naruto cast an annoyed look down at the silvery fox that lay a few feet away from him, obviously bored.
"Geez, don't you ever have anything constructive to say?" the boy muttered to the newly christened Tsuwabuki.
The name had come to him after much deliberation, and he thought it fitting. It was a type of plant with a silvery sheen to the leaves that Naruto often saw around Konoha. While one didn't expect him to notice such things, Naruto had a fondness for plants and gardening.
The Kyuubi had accepted it, almost grudgingly, and Tsuwabuki didn't care much either way. She did say, however it had a nice ring to it.
'Constructive? Not really,' the fox said, yawning.
Naruto snorted.
From what he could tell, Tsuwabuki was not an ordinary fox. Both her color and her ability to converse with him made him believe she had to be a more spiritual type. She claimed, however, that she had no special talents of her own. The Kyuubi only reinforced this, saying that she was likely just a stupid, weakling normal fox that just had unique coloring. She did say, however that everyone in her family had grown to much larger sizes, and that Naruto could prepare to have someone much more effective in a fight soon enough. Vol'jin had also mentioned that the spirit link could be used in some way, most likely to transfer chakra, raw or molded, into the silver fox. He'd have to experiment with that.
Aside from the fact that she loved to tease him, Naruto found Tsuwabuki a good companion, and she was fun to talk to, in nothing else.
He then returned to his thoughts, gathering his chakra once more.
Vol'jin had told him that it was to be expected that he would have trouble with the Kagesui. The genjutsu that was created when Naruto molded chakra into the markings was not stable. When Naruto had asked why, the troll chieftain had pointed at his stomach in response.
The seal of the Kyuubi apparently interfered with the Kagesui markings, and so it was impossible to complete them, due to the tattoo on his stomach. Rather than just making the genjutsu weak on that one area, it made the whole process unstable, and combined with Naruto's natural curse of being almost incapable of using genjutsu, the technique was far more difficult than Naruto had ever imagined.
But that didn't stop him from trying, of course. He couldn't use it for tremendous amounts of time, like Vol'jin could. But, after a week of training in it, he could hold it pretty well for almost a minute, which was more than enough time if used in battle. Combining it with the Kazaashi made the technique ten times more deadly, as Vol'jin had demonstrated in their first meeting. And since Naruto wasn't usually one for complete stealth, then he supposed Vol'jin's teaching him how to completely suppress his chakra would make up for that.
Vol'jin had also taught him the Shadow-Walk, another portion of the Shadow style. Because it was more akin to ninjutsu, Naruto grasped it very quickly, and could already make small jumps using the shadows. Once again, his seal made it so that completely submerging his body in the shadow was difficult, but he planned to keep training, even after he had left Vol'jin, so that he could use it effectively in battle.
After all, that was one of Naruto's specialties, using something in effectively in battle that before he had been very bad at.
But that wasn't the only thing that Naruto trained in. Vol'jin only supervised his Shadow-style training for a small portion of the day, but a large portion of the morning, before he went off to manage the affairs of the trolls, in helping rebuild the villages, gathering food, water, and many things of that sort. He forced Naruto to get up very early in the morning, and because Naruto always stayed up late, he got very little sleep all in all. Naruto spent a large portion of that day training in the Shadow-style, but he then branched out, and began perfecting his use of the Kazaashi, which still hurt him slightly to use, and the Kongou, which he still hadn't used enough to make him react instinctively with it, which was what Thrall had said was its real power.
Sometimes he practiced chakra control, too, using some of the techniques that both Jiraiya and Thrall had taught him. But he usually found this boring, so it didn't last long.
That was, until, the Kyuubi had told him he needed to train using the demon's chakra.
'IF YOU THINK YOU CAN GET BY USING IT AS YOU HAVE UNTIL NOW, THEN YOU ARE EVEN STUPIDER THAN I THOUGHT. YOU MUST TRAIN USING IT, ALLOWING YOUR BODY TO GET USED TO ITS EFFECTS, SO THAT YOU CAN LAST FAR LONGER. THE MORE YOU USE IT, THE EASIER IT WILL BECOME FOR YOUR BODY TO HANDLE IT.'
Something about the way the demon had said it threw him off, but he couldn't deny that training to use the chakra would be a good idea. If he encountered someone even stronger than Blood, than he'd need to be able to access the power more readily, and if he could call on even more tails than just the second one, then he'd be set.
But still, Naruto could almost hear his conscience screaming at him that it was a bad idea…but he had no clue why. The Fourth's seal was perfect.
Wasn't it?
So he had spent the last portion of his days training using the beast's chakra. He did this far away from the village, in the middle of the jungle, so that he didn't accidentally go insane and destroy their village. It usually sent him back to the village completely exhausted, aching in every nook and cranny on his body. He did notice a notable difference however, after a few days, of how much easier and less painful it got.
This particular night, however, Naruto had decided to get in some last minute Kagesui training before dinner. The trolls ate quite late, for some reason unknown to the blonde shinobi. They waited until the sun had completely disappeared before they even started.
He had already trained for several hours with the demon's chakra, and because this was his and Kira's last night with the trolls, and Vol'jin was undoubtedly going to test him the following day in the use of both techniques, to see if Naruto's earlier boast had substance to it. He felt quite confident, and although the Shadow-style was certainly not as strong as the other two portions of the Tetra Elemental style that he knew, it was dead useful, and he hoped to be able to truly master it one day.
When he heard the familiar blast of horns, signaling that dinner was served, Naruto released his hold on his chakra, letting it sink back into him. The tattoos quickly disappeared, as Naruto hurried towards the camp, his mouth watering at the thought of food. Tsuwabuki quickly followed him, her own thoughts filled with visions of food. Both of them could already smell it, giving them an even larger incentive to pick up the pace.
Without a doubt, troll food was among the tastiest he had ever consumed in his life. It was a lot like the food in Konoha, but had much more fruit in it, and was filled with types of meats that he had never heard of. The tastiest of the food that the trolls made, however, had to be men'ra, which happened to be Gen'rash's favorite. Men'ra was a lot like ramen, in that it had noodles, many spices, and many different flavors, but it also had several different kinds of fruit in it, and some spices that Naruto didn't recognize.
There was always a bowl of it when Naruto returned from his training, which he and Gen'rash happily served themselves to. Naruto guessed that it was one of the perks of being the blood brother of the village chieftain, something that he still couldn't believe. But he smiled at that thought– he was definitely glad that he finally had someone to call a brother, even if he wasn't truly.
He arrived at the edge of the village quickly, letting the warm light of the fire fill his sense of sight and touch. It was always a welcoming sight for Naruto, who for the past hour or so, had felt like he had been submerged in cold syrup.
"Hey Naruto!" called a voice from his right, as he entered the center of the village. Naruto turned, and grinned when he saw Kira waving him over, Kylia sitting next to her and Gen'rash already helping himself to a heaping bowl of men'ra. The three were sitting around a platter filled with many foods. The only one Naruto really noticed, however, was the men'ra in an extra-large bowl in the center of the platter.
'Don't I get a greeting?' Tsuwabuki muttered, padding alongside Naruto.
Naruto hurried over, ignoring his spirit counterpart, and said a quick greeting to the three before he grabbed his own bowl and began to heap men'ra into it. He then began to eat, using two sticks that he had found earlier in the week as chopsticks. Tsuwabuki took a seat next to him, and snatched a few pieces of meet from the platter.
"So how was training?" asked Kira, starting on her own food as Naruto sat down. Her own training had just finished, as had Kylia's.
The two girls had worked as hard as Naruto, in their respective training areas. Gen'rash had begun to teach Kira a lot about the darker and more powerful techniques that the trolls used, as well as more about the potions and ethers that they used. Kira had begun to learn the more body-based techniques, rather than the mind ones that she used. She had learned the Hex of Weakness, one of Gen'rash's favorite techniques, as well as a few other "hexes". She had learned the Hexes of Darkness, Silence, and pain; she had also learned the Shadowbolt technique that she had seen Gen'rash use against Gerethas, and several more powerful techniques like Mana Burn, and the truly nasty technique called Acid Mist, the effects of which she had never seen, but had heard were quite gruesome.
She had developed a new, burning determination rivaling Naruto's. She was no longer innocent, and so she felt now that she would do anything if it meant seeing her dream come true. She had done her best to learn as much as possible in the short time that she had a teacher, but Gen'rash had promised (or rather, Gen'rash promising through Vol'jin, since the Skullsplitter still didn't really have a good grasp of Orcish) to give her several scrolls that contained other witch-doctor techniques and recipes.
Kylia, on the other hand, had spent much of her time with an axe-thrower named Or'dash, who had taught her to improve her technique in throwing weapons. Or'dash had been quite impressed by the girl's aim, so he merely worked with her on enhancing the power of her throws, using chakra, as well as covering the weapons with chakra. The girl had little experience in using chakra, only to enhance her speed and strength, but quickly grasped the techniques that Or'dash was showing her.
The blonde quickly swallowed the men'ra in his mouth, and grinned at Kira.
"Great! I've got it down, so I told him that I'd get it in a week!" the boy said loudly.
"Dat so? We be findin' out tomorrow, little one," rumbled a voice from behind him, making him jump and Kira snicker.
Vol'jin sat down next to his blood brother, and helped himself to the small platter of food that was in the center of the group. He looked as worn as Naruto, having been out all day with the hunters and gatherers, searching for places to rebuild villages, and gathering all the sorts of things necessary for that.
Naruto slurped up some more men'ra, before flashing Vol'jin a cocky grin. "I'm definitely gonna pass. By the way, how long did it take you to master it?"
Vol'jin rubbed his chin in thought, "Hmm….'bout five months, most o' dem be experimentin'."
Naruto sunk a little; it was not as cool as learning something in a week that supposedly took three years for the developer to master. He opened his mouth to ask the troll chieftain something else, but whatever it was slid from his mind like a greased up deaf guy.
His eyes locked on to a group of troll women returning from a bath, and somehow forgetting to put on their clothes.
Naruto felt a small bubble blood build up in his nasal cavity, before he was ejected forwards by a sharp blow to the back of his head. He smashed right into his bowl of men'ra, submerging his face in hot soup.
He cried out, lifting his face out quickly and trying to wipe the hot liquid off his face. When it finally stopped burning, he turned to Kira, who had a glare on her face. He noticed that it wasn't directed at him, but rather at the troll women behind him.
While he was a little annoyed that she couldn't have done something else, he was grateful. Every time he accidentally spotted a troll woman without something that covered their necessary parts, he found himself passing out. It surprised (and terrified) him that he was so susceptible to the effects of naked troll women. Of course, he had rarely seen naked human women in person that he didn't know were men (such as Konohamaru). However, he promised that he'd get himself under control; he was NOT a pervert.
Gen'rash and Vol'jin seemed to find his reaction hilarious, while Kira and Kylia thought it disgusting. Though Kira seemed to forgive him every time he accidentally spotted a nude troll woman, Kylia seemed to look at him even more suspiciously, as if it were his fault.
'I think she likes you,' Tsuwabuki said sarcastically, licking her chops, having just finished her meal.
Naruto glared at her, giving a silent growl. The silver fox only snickered in reply. The two girls watched Naruto's interaction with the fox with amusement. Kira could occasionally listen in using her mind reading techniques, but found that their conversations consisted of little more than arguing. She still found Tsuwabuki cute, despite the fox's somewhat bratty personality.
After finishing off the men'ra, and eating two more bowls, Naruto decided to head off to bed. He said goodnight to his friends (and now family), and made for the tent that he slept in.
Tomorrow he would return to Orgrimmar, and he would finally get the chance he had been waiting for: to tell Thrall of what he had come to Orgrimmar for.
And, on a lesser note, to learn the last two styles of the Tetra Elemental style.
The day dawned as sunny and bright as the previous. Naruto, giving out another great yawn, stepped out of his tent, Tsuwabuki at his heels. He had been given nine glorious hours of sleep, and so he was ready to tackle anything that his blood brother could throw at him.
He walked out into the center of the village, where he found that almost the entire village had gathered. They stood around the center, so that there was a large space, about twenty-five feet in diameter, where Vol'jin stood.
The troll chieftain watched Naruto approach the makeshift-fighting arena, a pleased smile on his face. The ring of trolls parted, allowing Naruto to walk through, before it closed one more. Naruto stopped a few feet away from Vol'jin his face set. Tsuwabuki remained on the outskirts of the ring, loping over to where Kira and Kylia stood in the circle.
Then, Vol'jin said, "Dis be simple, little one. You must be getting' out o' dis circle without anyone seein' yeh, usin' only de Shadow-Walk and de Kagesui. You have all de time ye need."
Naruto nodded, and prepared to use the Kagesui, when something suddenly struck the ground next to him; an axe, landing so close to his foot that Naruto could almost feel the cold iron of the weapon. He yelped, stepping away, only to have another axe, this one whizzing by his head, slicing off a few hairs, before it was caught by a troll on the opposite side of the ring.
"Ah, I guess I not be mention' dat ye be under attack by everyone who be makin' up de circle," said Vol'jin, his grin growing even larger.
Naruto gave a soft growl, ducking to avoid another axe from his side. He also noticed that the trolls had begun to advance, steadily making the circle smaller. He tried to gather his chakra to use the Kagesui, however, Vol'jin decided at that moment to attack himself, and Naruto was flung backwards by a strong punch to the stomach. He dropped into a roll, coming back to his feet almost a foot away from the slowly advancing wall of trolls. He avoided a couple of swipes from the weapons of the nearest trolls, and leapt away from them, beginning to gather his chakra again. He felt the familiar cold, syrupy feeling drench his body, and he quickly held on to it, making a dash for the small spaces in between the troll wall.
To his surprise, however, his path was blocked, and he was knocked away by a kick to his ribs.
'I forgot that they could still smell me!' he thought, gritting his teeth in annoyance.
Vol'jin, who had been taking his time making his way over to Naruto, suddenly quickened his pace and reached the blonde just as he was recovering. He lashed out with several punches, all of which Naruto was able to dodge or block, his naturally smaller size and build allowing him to avoid being hit. It seemed to Naruto that Vol'jin was forgoing any use of chakra to enhance his techniques, possibly in an effort to make it fairer for the blonde.
Naruto leapt away from Vol'jin, once again coming dangerously close to the edge of the ring, where he had to avoid yet another round of attacks from the trolls that made it up. His only chance, he realized, was the Shadow-walk. On the side of the ring he was currently on, the shadows were outside the ring, so he dashed towards the opposite side.
Unfortunately, the trolls had spotted this, and had begun to back up, moving away from him. He had to dodge three more axes, thrown by two trolls in front and another from the side, before he reached the cluster of shadows that the trolls created. Gathering his chakra once again, his foot began to sink into the ground, only to have Vol'jin suddenly appear, striking him hard in the chest. The blonde managed to stay on his feet, and avoided Vol'jin's next punch, cursing.
'How am I supposed to…? Wait…am I really that stupid?' growling in annoyance with both himself and his situation, Naruto gathered his chakra, encasing himself with it in the form of the Kagesui. It was clear that Vol'jin didn't know exactly where he was, but a few twitches of the trolls nose alerted Naruto to the fact that he was listening. But that didn't matter, for Naruto had already come up with a plan. He dashed to the side, out of Vol'jin's peripheral vision, and then charged straight at him. Vol'jin, whether hearing or smelling Naruto's position, turned to meet him, only to have Naruto duck under his first attack, and gather the chakra necessary for the Shadow-walk. Almost as if he had fallen into a pit, the blonde vanished into Vol'jin's shadow.
He reappeared, seconds later, outside the ring, though he was a little off in where he had wanted to end up. He jumped away from the female troll that he had appeared almost an inch away from, before relaxing.
"Very good, child," rumbled Vol'jin, still inside the ring. The trolls had all turned towards Naruto, the majority of them smiling. Vol'jin walked out, stepping in front of the blonde, his face split in two by a wide grin.
"Heh, told ya' I'd do it," Naruto said, smirking.
Vol'jin nodded in agreement, before saying, "Aye, ye did. But ye took quite a bit longer den most trolls who be learnin' it do. De usually be learnin' it in only six days, and be figurin' it out much easier den you did."
Naruto face-faulted, while Tsuwabuki snickered, Kira and Kylia giggled, and Gen'rash looked confused.
"But you be doin' good, bro'. Go get some food– ye be earnin' it."
Naruto blinked in astonishment, realizing that it was the first time Vol'jin had addressed him as his blood brother. His disappointment vanished, and he grinned cheerily, his heart expanding with pride.
"Common, Naruto, let's eat, we have a long trip, according to Vol'jin," said Kira.
Naruto nodded, "Guess you're right…I'm gonna miss the men'ra."
'I can't believe you haven't gotten to be the size of a zeppelin from eating that stuff. It smells disgusting.'
"Take that back, you stupid fox! It's the best stuff these guys have, as good as ramen!"
'Meat is better, and always will be."
"No it isn't!"
'Yes it is!'
"No it isn't!"
'Yes it is!'
"No it isn–"
"Naruto! Just come and get your food, you sound like a crazy person, arguing with a fox!" shouted Kira, rolling her eyes from where she had Kylia had already sat down.
Naruto pointed accusingly at Tsuwabuki. "She started it!" he cried childishly.
'No I didn't.'
"Yes you did!"
'No I didn't.'
"Yes you did!"
Kira groaned, while her handmaiden giggled.
As they went off to eat, Gen'rash walked over to Vol'jin, and asked quietly, in Trollish, "Why did you say that to him? He learned it remarkably quickly, even if he took longer to pass the test than most, it is truly amazing that he was able to master it, given his handicap."
Vol'jin nodded, grinning. "Indeed, but that boy thrives on his drive to be stronger. If I told him that, he would not work half as hard to improve it."
Gen'rash gave a nod of agreement, and was about to join the group of humans when he felt Vol'jin stiffen beside him.
"The air has changed…" the troll chieftain said in Trollish. "Something is going to happen…very soon."
Thrall sat upon his throne, only half-listening to the reports from the city magistrates. They met with him once a week, and alerted Thrall of everything that was happening in his city, and everything that they needed. He had heard all of it before, so he found it hard to listen when there were so many other things on his mind.
One of which was the situation with Vol'jin and the trolls, as well as Naruto and those two human compatriots of his. He had received a message; carried by a massive bird a few days ago, explaining what had happened, from when Thrall had lost contact with Vol'jin, to after Naruto had arrived and helped defeat the Bloodsail Buccaneers. He knew that he should be impressed by the blonde's display, but he found he couldn't be. Naruto had already demonstrated that he was capable of things that many would consider impossible. His actions didn't surprise Thrall, nor did the news of how strong the human girls were, either.
In his experience, humans were confusing people. They could commit the most terrible of crimes, and at the same time could be the most accepting of all the races. The people who had raised him were examples of the latter, while the terrible Admiral Proudmoore and his army had been examples of the former. But either way, humans were a tenacious, powerful species that Thrall couldn't help but admire for their strength of will, their character, and their potential.
Throughout history they had demonstrated that they could become the strongest of the defenders of the world, or the most terrible of antagonists. In either aspect, the character they had, the power, the will and the spirit; it was impossible not to be impressed by them.
Naruto, especially, was an example of this. He fought for people that he barely knew, under a set of ideals that were of his own devising. He would protect those he cared about, and fight for people he believed needed to be fought for, and inspiring them to fight for themselves.
Thrall could see that in the future, Naruto had the potential to be a great ruler, because of his ability to make allies, and to inspire those who needed to be inspired.
But his thoughts were not entirely on that subject. He was glad that Vol'jin was okay, and that soon the Horde might return to its previous state, before it had broken up, but he had much more pressing matters on his mind.
Rend Blackhand being the most prominent of such matters.
The so-called, "True Warchief" had been doing whatever he could to tear Orgrimmar apart, and he hadn't even attacked once. Many of the citizens of Orgrimmar, as well as a surprisingly large number of soldiers had deserted the ranks of the Horde, and joined the ranks of Blackhand's Horde. They had believed that Thrall was responsible for the Horde's current state, and they needed a leader that they could rely on.
So they had chosen Rend Blackhand, son of a former Warchief, Blackhand the Destroyer, back when the Horde was still under the hand of the Burning Legion, and brother of Maim and Griselda Blackhand, both of whom were dead. Rend, believing that it was his rightful place to be Warchief of the Horde, had launched a campaign against Thrall's position as Warchief even before the Horde had disbanded. When that had occurred, Rend took advantage of the situation by sending moles into Orgrimmar, spreading word of how much better it would be if Rend were Warchief.
To his horror, many had listened to these lies, and soon orcs had begun fleeing the city; leaving on zeppelins that would take them to the Blackrock Mountains, where Rend's base was located. Thrall had, of course, done his best to get rid of the moles, but the damage had already been done, and soon he had begun to hear whispers of doubt in his people, questioning whether he was a competent leader or not.
But he had held firm, and soon the whispers had begun to die away, especially with Naruto's arrival. They had almost disappeared completely when Cairn and the tauren had rejoined the Horde, and Thrall finally believed his position as Warchief was secure for the moment.
But somehow, he couldn't shake off a feeling of uneasiness surrounding the situation. He had heard little of Rend since the tauren had returned to the Horde, and that disturbed him. It made him feel as if Rend was planning something.
Rend was no genius, he knew, but neither was he stupid. He possessed the same Orcish charisma that his father had possessed, and Thrall knew that he even more control over his subjects than Thrall did. It was because Thrall had practiced a policy of clemency towards his enemies, and Rend, as far as he knew, was utterly ruthless; he inspired his people through strength, not through kindness. He catered to the most primordial instincts of the Orcish people, the instinct to fight, and to win.
That's why he knew that if Rend ever chose to attack, it would be an unmitigated disaster.
"Lord Thrall? Is something wrong?" came the deep voice of Nazgrel from beside him. The large orc walked up to the right side of Thrall's throne, his onyx eyes peering calmly at the Warchief.
Thrall shook his head. "No…it is nothing. Is that all?" he asked, gesturing to the magistrates, all of them having finished their reports. Nazgrel nodded, and Thrall dismissed them with a casual wave of his hand.
When the magistrates had departed, Thrall and Nazgrel were left alone, save for the Kor'kron Elites that stood outside the room, in their constant vigil to protect their Warchief.
"Are you sure that nothing is wrong, my lord?" Nazgrel asked again, not taking his piercing gaze off Thrall.
"No…I am not sure," the Warchief admitted. "I feel… uneasy these days. I feel as though something might happen, something that would not bode well for Orgrimmar or its people."
Nazgrel's eyes narrowed slightly, "You refer to the false Warchief?"
Thrall nodded.
Nazgrel shook his head, "Worry not, my lord. You are the true Warchief, and that fool will never compare to your might. Orgrimmar will never be taken with you on the throne."
The words gave Thrall small comfort, but he nodded anyways, giving a small smile of thanks.
"I can only hope that you are correct…I hope this feeling will pass."
His words sounded foolish even to his own ears.
DONE!
Another relatively boring chapter, but I did enjoy writing about Sakura and what was happening in Konoha in more detail. It also gives Sakura an incentive to look for Naruto's secret.
I love righting Gai and Lee scenes…its so much fun.
Thanks for all of you who helped with the name for Tsuwabuki, (I chose this one, mainly because it sounds cool and the person who suggested it, Death Raptor, made a good point that Naruto likes to garden.) I'll know in the future if I need to name anything else to ask you guys.
Hey, look, it's not one, but TWO OMAKES by Tatsu! Let's read them together, shall we?
OMAKE 1 "Fun with Sai (part 2)" by MuhiTatsu
(We once again see Tatsu, now back with Sai in a chair bound and gagged.)
Tatsu: Welcome back everyone to another rousing rendition of Sai's Fitting Punishment! I'm your host, Muhi Tatsu. Let's not dilly-dally though, shall we? Let's go to our mailbag and see what our terrific readers have suggested!
(A mailbag appears as if from nowhere and Tatsu begins looking for something good.)
Tatsu: Let's see… Bill, bill, bill, junk, Love letter to General Grievous… there are a lot of these… 'You may have won ten million dollars'… Ah Ha!
(Tatsu triumphantly holds out a real letter and begins to read it.)
Tatsu: Dear Tatsu and General, please cut Sai's nails and have them force-fed to him… through his eyelids? Huh, don't know how we're going to do that, but I can at least try.
(Apparently, Sai had heard this and his eyes go somewhat wide. Tatsu takes one of his daggers, and rather than merely cutting off the nails with it, he cuts the fingers and toes off one by one, rather impassively as well. However Sai doesn't scream. Tatsu then gains a contemplative look on his face and throws some spare rubbing alcohol on the open wounds, causing Sai to finally scream through the gag. Tatsu then delicately cuts off the nails on the torn appendages, getting the whole nails. Finally he removes the gag while grinding the nails into a fine powder… with his fists.)
Sai: Why? Why are you doing this? No matter how many times you kill me, I'll still be in that manga! It's not my fault; it's Kishimoto's!
Tatsu: I know, but you know what they say… the more of a person you kill off, the less they'll remember of them. Now, open wide, and I don't mean the mouth.
(The viewer hears distant screams, and the camera pans out.)
Tatsu: We'll be back, right after these messages!
Announcer: Are you tired of being weak? Sick and tired of being picked on or beaten to within a bloody inch of your life? Maybe you want quick revenge against someone who killed your clan? Well, than we've got the product for you!
Announcer: Introducing, Devil Fruit! Imported fresh from the Blue Seas, Devil Fruit comes in a variety of all natural fruit powers and flavors including rubber, sand, lightning, wax and even human to name just a few! Eat Devil Fruit and that big bully down the block now comes in both original recipe AND extra crispy!
Announcer: Only 99.99! Order now! Operators are standing by! (Really fast disclaimer) Devil fruit inc. is not responsible for any lives lost or drowning that may result. Devil Fruit only works properly with training, and do not attempt to fight evil pirate warlord gods under any circumstances, void where prohibited, under law.
Announcer: And now for adults, new Smoke Devil Fruit!
Tatsu: Welcome back! Unfortunately we don't have much time left as Sai has now hurled, and we've mostly run out of ideas for now. But, one more thing before we go. DORIS!
(Tatsu whistles and the viewer hears what seems to be a loud stomping coming ever closer.)
Tatsu: This should please fans of Icha Icha Naruto. Redjunko, this was your idea and I thank you for it. I did get your name right, I hope. For those who wish to know about Sai's fate, just read the story! See you later on Sai's fitting punishment!
OMAKE 2 "When Worlds Collide"- By MuhiTatsu
The majestic city of Ironforge, normally peaceful despite that enormous amount of training and forging that went on the city, was not peaceful for once.
The cause, and this was usually the case, lay in the tiny hands of the Gnomish tinkers, several of which had just arrived from Gnomeregan to work on a secret project that supposedly King Magni himself didn't know almost anything about. However, the great din that had arisen from Tinker Town had forced him to act. In fact, the whole area sounded like a war zone. When Magni and several of his best troops had arrived in the area, they were quite shocked at what they saw.
The poor groups of Gnomes were hiding wherever they could get cover as more than several dozen individuals… or creatures; he couldn't be sure which with all of them, who were attacking either each other or trying to attack the Gnomes. He could make out bits of what they were saying.
"The humans insult me even further now by taking me against my will and with short puny ones to boot! Well, eat this! SHARK ON DARTS!" a fishlike one charged.
"This isn't Hogwarts… AHHH! Fish-man charging straight at me! REDUCTO!" a small, dark haired boy let out.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW? RANMA, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"You're going down Umbrella-teme! BAN-KAI!"
"I am the terror… that FLAPS in the night!"
Throughout all this, a single solitary young man leaned against a pillar, resting apparently, with his brow furrowing further and further as the noise increased. The Gnomes then spotted Magni and cried out.
"King Magni! Please, you need to help! An experiment went awry and now all these people have gotten loose! You have to hit the red button on the big black machine and they'll be gone!"
The young man then opened his eyes, which looked somewhat red, and growled out, "That's all I wanted to hear."
With immense speed, he took out a dagger and threw it straight into the machine's red button. Doing so caused a portal to open up in the middle of nowhere, sucking the remaining makers of chaos in. Finally, with a quick motion of the man's hand, the portal closed and he sighed in relief.
"Very impressive young man! Who might you be?" Magni asked after a few seconds of silence.
DIMENSIONAL TRAVELER AND CUNNING FIGHTER
MUHI TATSU
"Just look above. That'll tell you just about everything really, just like in One Piece."
Not getting the reference, Magni and his troops didn't face fault. Normally the Gnomes would have been quite upset over losing a machine that had taken them months to create, but seeing as how the core component of the machine, a bright green pendant was intact, as well as the awe they felt over Tatsu's mysterious power dampened any anger. Magni gave a smile.
"So Mr. Tatsu, would you care to partake of our hospitality? We really must thank you for saving some of our own." Magni said warmly. "You may be able to help us in our endeavors if your title is accurate."
Retrieving his dagger, Tatsu shrugged. "Got any bear or Dragon Brandy? Maybe some Elven Fizz?"
Undrig, who had come along with the king responded confusedly "Well… we've got bear tongue. No Dragon Brandy because we've never heard of it, and we're fresh out of Elven fizz unless the Night Elves come back to us. I'd suggest Blood Elf magic juice if it weren't so similar to cocaine, but I'm guessing you wouldn't want that…"
Tatsu sighed. "What I wouldn't give for some cherry Elven fizz right now." He muttered. "Well, okay, lead the way. And I'd appreciate a comfy bed right away if you don't mind."
"Right away." A Gnome in Magni's guard squeaked.
While the Gnome ran off ahead, Tatsu and Magni's entourage began to head through Tinker Town.
"Just out of curiosity…" Tatsu asked. "How were you able to open that portal? I've been traveling, but I've never seen so many different people at once."
Rurizzle sighed in exhaustion, "A few simple experiments…We weren't even trying to open it…it just did it by itself."
Tatsu nodded, "Guess you've been doing something special…but you could've asked a mage or something to just help you stabilize the portal, as it might've been easier than bringing so many…different people."
The three gnome brothers stared at each other, before proceeding to smash their heads repeatedly against the wall, while Tatsu whistled a catchy tune, smirking a little at their reactions.
Wasn't that fun, kids!
Hehe, seriously, give Tatsu a big hand, he's been a great help and is a very funny and clever guy. You will definitely be seeing more of him in the Omake world.
Now, reviewer mail!
Kaerra- Easily, all big demons have their own WiFi access, and what else would Kyuubi do in the meantime, aside from harass Naruto, of course.
Binnybobarino- Nah, Blood's eye wouldn't work well with anyone else. As for the pairing, let me say that there isn't going to be much in the way of romance for a while, save for hints and peeks. Both Naruto and Kira are not ready for romance, seeing as how both are far too focused on their mission, as of now. They are pleased just being friends, and Naruto has yet to give up on Sakura, because it isn't his nature to give up. Just wait and see what happens, in that area, k? Either way, Sakura is going to play a large part in the fic, later on.
Dan Inverse- Eh? Undead helping Rend? First I've heard of it. The Forsaken help the Horde, and pretty much everyone else hates the Lich King. If you're referring to the shadowed man in the previous chapter, he isn't undead…he's something else entirely. You'll see!
Lutris Arguitiae- Thanks, man, I'm glad that I have reviewers that are so helpful! I'll take your words into consideration, and you'll be added to my list of "people to ask if I need something put into Japanese".
Gaul1- g? What does that even mean? Please don't review unless you have something to say that isn't just a letter of the alphabet…
Oldmagic- There is a reason for that, mind you. I won't say anything yet, but the reason why Naruto is so quick to use the demon's chakra is not just my inability to think of anything else for Naruto to use. As for you last statement, I don't think so, because by the time he is as old as the Naruto in the manga, he will have way more practical experience, and that is a much better tool than simply training exercises.
Tahari- Timeline…eh…I don't really know right now. Probably a little over 4 months, maybe more, since Naruto has arrived? As for the rest of your questions, um…QUICK LOOK OVER THERE! (runs)
Well that's it…chapter should be out by next week, as promised, unless I get sidetracked by something. I didn't start this until late Friday night, having been addicted to replaying Final Fantasy IX and watching Hellsing, as well as playing Guitar Hero (such a cool game!)
Next chapter- The beginning of Rend's plan?
General Grievous
Spellbook-Kagesui- Using special chakra tattoos to pre-mold chakra without the use of seals into a genjutsu which causes the opponent to completely ignore the person, their brain simply glossing over the existence of the user of the technique. However, it only appeals to the sense of sight, and all of their other senses recognize the person.
Shadow-walk- Allows the person to transmit their entire body using the shadows around them. Can only use shadows that are visible.
Cookbook-Men'ra- A Trollish version of ramen- filled with an assortment of jungle meats, fruits and spices that leave a refreshing aftertaste! Also comes in low-fat!