I do not own Naruto and My HiME as they belong to their respective owners, The only thing that belongs to me is the idea of doing this particular crossover which I feel has a lot of potential, if done right, so onto the next chapter!!! PS: I don't need to explain which speech belongs to who do I?
Fear, anger, confusion and panic. This was all the young blond haired hanyou girl with fox ears could feel as she ran from a danger she could not yet see with her tail waving wildly behind her, this unknown danger which she could instinctively feel pursuing her through the forests of Konoha, hungering for her blood. She just kept running, not daring to look back. Her vision suddenly shifted and the girl was now stumbling and tripping down the side of Death Gorge. Death Gorge was the place was where the Kyubi had been defeated and the body left behind had exploded in a great explosion powerful enough to leave an enormous crater nearly four kilometers wide and a kilometer deep, the body had completely vanished. A forest had grown there in past few years, making it seem to be an enclosed forest, uncut off from the rest of the world as a seemly untouched paradise. The villagers had made a memorial on the lip of the crater in honor of the Yondaime who had also died there but nobody goes there though to pay their respects, as the villagers believe it to a cursed place.
There was a tall spire in the middle of the crater, how it had survived the explosion nobody could fathom a likely reason. The hanyou girl was still running from the danger that was closing in, forcing her to run in the only direction she could. Towards the spire.
Her vision suddenly shifted again and she was leaning against the base of the spire in front of what seemed to be a strange seal which funnily enough had a strange sword embedded in it. There were also what seemed to be eyes on the seal. Six of them.
This strange seal had mysteriously appeared 12 years ago barely a month after the Kyubi had apparently died. Many had come to take a look at the strange site, at least those who could and dared to go down. Some even tried to pull the blade out to see what would happen but none could even budge it a millimeter.
The girl felt her gaze inexorably drawn to the seal despite the danger surrounding her and when she laid eyes on the seal, she seemed to go into a trance, ignoring everything else but the seal. She could feel a great power emerging from the seal and at the same time she could feel a just as great but more wonderful feeling of power welling up inside her that burned like a great fire but warmed and excited her soul. She could hear a great heart beat pounding in he ears and she could feel her own heart synchronizing with the bigger one. The visage of a great white fiery dragon suddenly appeared before her eyes and bowed before her, crooning in a comforting tone (It sounded like whale song), as if promising it would forever serve her and protect her. The girl reached out to touch the great head, when suddenly the unknown danger suddenly reared its head and lunged towards her, claws slashing, and jaws snapping. The girl screamed.
"AAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" screamed Naru, shooting up from her bed, and gasping for air. Naru's sweat soaked body trembled from stress accumulated over the course of the strange dream, her tail that was along side her was all messy and matted. Naru fell back onto her bed panting as if she had run to Suna and back. Naru willed herself to calm down and slowly but surely her body eventually stopped trembling and her panting slowed down.
Naru brought her arm up to cover her eyes before quietly muttering "That bloody dream again, I've been having it every night for the past week, the stress must be getting to me, it is the finals tomorrow……… hey Kyu-Chan do you know what going on?" Naru asked her resident vixen mother/sister figure in her head, looking at her stomach at where the seal would be.
In the seal, Kyu, otherwise known as the Kyubi no Kitsune looked up sleepily from her conjured up bed in Naru's mindscape and sleepily replied "I don't know Kit, but it isn't an ordinary dream, it is just too realistic to be otherwise, and that feeling of power you told me about, a part of your soul and your birthmark are actually responding to the dream so it might all be connected"
Naru just sighed in aggravation "Yeah well, what ever it is, this dream is driving me crazy" Naru's eyes suddenly softened and she held her hands to her chest as if to retain a feeling "Though I must admit, this power that I felt rising up in my chest, it feels very pleasurable, comforting but also very familiar, and it also feels powerful"
Kyubi smiled softly to herself "Whatever you say Kit, now I believe that you have somewhere to be right now? It is getting late"
Naru looked confused for a few seconds before looking over at the old clock on her bedside table and had to stifle a panicked shout "Oh crap! I have to get to the academy!"
The young hanyou leaped out of bed in a frenzy to get ready and all Kyu could do was laugh at the young girl as she worked herself into a higher state pf panic, quickly taking a shower in her dingy bathroom, rushing to get dressed while at the same time trying to eat a bowl of Ramen.
When Naru started brushing and braiding her hair into a pony tail Kyu couldn't help commenting "Remember to groom your tail!" causing Naru to yelp "Hai!" before grabbing another brush for her tail from her dressing table. It took her a few minutes but she was finally ready and was about to leave and lock up to the Ninja Academy when she suddenly spied herself in her old full length mirror and couldn't help pausing to have a look at herself.
A black, tight, skin fitting, sleeveless zip-up full body suit adorned her torso and shoulders and ran down to end at about mid thigh, it had a white collar and a white strip on front that ran down her torso to end at about her hips and her tail stuck out the back stuck through a special hole. A dark red, sleeveless dress with slits on the side up to her hips with white trimmings was worn over the top of the body suit (it was very like Sakura Haruno's), tied with a white sash around her waist, to make sure she at least some sense of modesty. She was also wearing a black jacket tied securely around her hips, just to add too the look.
There were a pair of dark red elbow length, fingerless gloves on her hands coupled with a pair of metal wrist guards for more protection and on her feet she was wearing not the standard ninja sandals but a pair of black ankle length combat boots and she was also wearing special knee length socks or stockings for more protection of her legs.
Naru's eye glimmered with satisfaction; these clothes had been a gift from Kyubi to celebrate her entering the Ninja academy. Kyubi said that it had been an old outfit she used to wear two hundred years ago when she was in human form and that they would be able to protect her body better than any other armor there was, apparently the entire outfit was made of a special breed of Fire Rat fur that felt and breathed like silk, but was twice as strong as the original breed of fire rat and the boots were made of a special type of metal with a name she couldn't pronounce. It actually quite comfortable and it was never to warm or cold during any season of the year. They were charmed to grow or shrink to match the size of the owner; which was just as well as she had had this outfit since she was seven, the outfit allowed her to move freely and the body suit was supporting enough around the chest to provide support for her breasts during battle but not constrict her breathing.
Naru was actually quite developed for a twelve year old a 145 centimeters tall, an hour glass figure, thin waist, rounded hips, and a fair sized bust, most of the girls in the academy were jealous of her figure despite her young age. So over all, with her figure, fox tail and foxy ears on top of her head nestled amongst luxurious blond hair , crystal blue eyes with elongated pupils like a fox and elongated canine teeth and fire rat clothing she was a very cute, beautiful and sexy young Kunoichi.
"The perks of being a Jinchuriki I guess" Naru said with a shrug before turning to the door and walked over before suddenly remembering another very important thing she had to do before leaving. Naru sighed regretfully but did a series of hand seals and dully intoned "Kitsune Henge No Jutsu" causing her to pop in a cloud of smoke which slowly dispersed revealing that her tail and ears had disappeared and canine teeth shortened leaving her looking like an ordinary human.
Naru sighed regretfully before complaining "I hate how I have to hide myself from the villagers, it feels like I'm missing a part of myself when I don't have my tail or ears, I can't wait for the day when I don't have to hide them and just show them the real me!
Not to mention that my abilities are severely limited to that of a normal human!"
"I know Kit, but until that day you have to hide them, it is for your own protection, now let's get going, you're late enough as it is"
"Hai" Naru sung before leaping off to the Academy, making sure stop long enough to lock her door securely
The next day Naru could be seen running through the village on the way to the Academy for the finals. This would have looked like quite a peaceful scene, a child running through town on her way to school, if it wasn't for all the stares that were directed at her. Over the years Naru had learnt the subtle science of stares. There were the stares of villagers who watched her guardedly with amusement and guarded friendly smiles on their faces like they would with any other child but there was also sadness and wretchedness. These people were the ones who were able to see beyond the Kyubi to the lonely child underneath that was suffering but were unable to speak out and defend her or make friends with her because of the other villagers, at a third of the village was like this. Then there were the villagers that stared not at her in hatred but her stomach where the seal was located, these were the villagers that didn't hate the container itself, but were unable to get over the fact that the Kyubi was in her, this made up another third of the village and then there were the villagers that just stared at her outright hatred and intolerance, these were the villagers who thought that she herself was the Kyubi this accounted for the rest of the villagers.
Naru had been receiving these stares for her entire life, so she just grinned back and bore it, knowing that someday, all her hard work would pay off and she would finally be able to achieve her dream of becoming the Hokage and being accepted into the village not as the village pariah but as a an equal, as a Ninja of Konoha.
Naru finally arrived at her usual classroom and took a quick look around and saw that like usual she was one of the last too show up, but unlike most days she had shown up on time. She could see all her friends spread out through the class room doing what it was they usually did. She could see Sasuke who like usual was sitting in his usual window seat doing the whole 'I'm a Teme' Gendo Ikari pose with his hands in front of his face.
Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi were sitting together doing what they usually did. Shikamaru was sleeping on his desk and Chouji was eating a very large bag of chips.
Naru's best friend Hinata Hyuga was sitting at a desk looking very unsure of herself and very shy, Naru made a mental note too cheer her up later. Her somewhat friends Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru the Nin-dog were sitting and playing quietly together. Due to the fact that she was a Kitsune hanyou, she was able to understand other animals quite easily so she got on very well with Akamaru who was quite happy to make friends with the strange smelling girl who like his owner was able to understand him when he barked.
Shino Aburame was sitting impassively like he usually did and barely spoke. Naru was one of the few with whom he spoke with at least semi regularly so when Shino saw Naru come in he took the time to slowly nod at her in acknowledgement to which Naru replied with a short wave. Naru was also one of the few, that due to her enhanced vision she was able to determine different emotions and expressions from the seemingly emotionless boy. The fact that he was literally a walking hive of insects didn't bother her in the least so she was able to be one of the few to call herself one of Shino's friends on his very short list of friends.
Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were like usual arguing who was going sit next to Sasuke who was ignoring them like he usually did. Naru's face twisted into an expression of annoyance and decided she wasn't going to put up with their behavior today and walked over to the arguing duo and plunked herself in the very spot they were arguing over. This grabbed their attention.
"Naru! Move! We were going to sit next to Sasuke-kun" squealed the two girls which caused Naru to eye them in annoyance.
"Give it a rest you two" Naru said in annoyance "This is the final day of school and you are ruining it for us by arguing over who is going to sit next to your precious Sasuke-kun, I mean come on! Act like Kunoichi for once and not obsessed fan girls and focus on the exam"
Ino's and Sakura's blushed in embarrassment and indignation before looking at each other and sighing in resignation and silently went to other seats, conceding victory to the other girl, just this once. Besides they don't have to worry about Naru taking their precious Sasuke-kun, she was one of the few who wasn't interested in him.
Naru suddenly heard talking from outside and looked up just in time to see Iruka-sensei and Mizuki enter through the door. Naru gave Iruka a wave and a grin, who looked up to Naru waving and gave a small wave back before starting the role call. Naru and Iruka got on quite well, almost like a sister brother relationship, Iruka had in fact just treated Naru to Ramen last night. When she was younger Naru had in fact used to have a crush on the young man. Because unlike most of the other teachers in the academy he had been so kind to her and helped her so much to catch up in her studies from years of being held back by other teachers, that she just couldn't help herself. The fact that he was actually quite handsome didn't help matters. But eventually she got over her crush and eventually became good friends with Iruka which of course later down the line, became more of a protective older brother, younger sister relationship, which Naru was quite happy to keep that way. It was one of her few bonds that bound her to her precious people. Of course while in public she called him Iruka-sensei but in private she called him Iruka-niisan
Iruka finally stopped taking the roll call and began speaking "Ok class, it is time for the graduation exams, myself and Mizuki-sensei will be waiting through that door to grade your performance, and the jutsu we will be examining is…" Iruka took a look at the file and couldn't help but wince and take a furtive look at Naru who was eagerly sitting forward on her seat nearly falling off, waiting to hear their topic.
"Bunshin No Jutsu!"
Naru's face twisted in shock and horror and she was mentally screaming in her head "What!!! Bunshin No Jutsu!! That's my worst skill!" Causing Kyubi to wake up from her little fox nap and speak out incoherently "Huh… What? What's going on?"
Iruka and Mizuki turned to go to the next classroom but Iruka couldn't help but turn back to look at Naru who at the moment was banging her head on the desk hard enough to knock an ordinary person out for a couple hours. Iruka just sighed and entered the classroom for the exam, he had a bad feeling about this.
At the same time Kyubi was waking up enough to finally notice what Naru was doing and barked out sharply "Naru Kazama stop that at once before you hurt yourself!"
Which made Naru jerk up and sit still, and if her tail had been exposed all the fur would have standing up straight.
Kyubi nodded once and spoke again "Now tell me, just what happened?"
Naru began to slowly tell Kyubi what had happened, the talking was almost therapeutic and Naru was able to calm down enough so that Kyubi was able to get the gist of it.
"The word crap sums this up nicely" Kyubi drawled sarcastically and Naru was barely able to stifle a giggle.
"Well this is just about what I expected to happen" and all Naru could do was shake her head in agreement.
"This is the third year in a row that this has happened, I mean, it is well known that Bunshin No Jutsu is my worst skill, so what better way to prevent me graduating and becoming more powerful? Make the Bunshin No Jutsu the test"
Kyubi nodded "Indeed, I can smell the council all over this, especially Danzo"
Naru just sighed "What are we going to do Kyu-chan, this is my last chance to graduate, one more fail and I'm booted out of the program"
Kyubi could only sigh "I don't know Kit, but all we can do at the moment is to just try our best, you never know we might get lucky this time, if not, well...we will just have to work something out"
Naru just sagged in her seat and simply nodded, not willing to talk at the moment and Kyubi detecting her present mood sank back into the depths of her mind to wait for Naru to be called.
Naru was sitting quietly when she suddenly heard her name called from the other classroom and she took a deep breath to calm herself down, stood up straight, head held up proudly and walked through the doorway.
When she entered she saw that Iruka and Mizuki were sitting behind a desk on which the coveted Konoha head bands were proudly gleaming. Naru swallowed nervously but proceeded to walk over and stand in front of the two examiners.
Iruka looked up from his writing pad and slowly looked Naru over, looking for signs of nervousness, which if she had any it was well hidden. Iruka gave a small smile hoping to bolster Naru's confidence, but all he got was a weak grin in response causing Iruka to silently sigh before assuming a more professional stance.
"Naru Uzumaki, show me the Bunshin No Jutsu" he commanded, before mouthing 'good luck' knowing that Naru would see it.
Naru just nodded before assuming a stance designed to help focus chakra with her hands in the rat seal. Chakra began welling up in her body, filling her body with untamed and barely controllable power, Naru's expression became more intense as she tried to get just enough chakra to do the jutsu with out blowing it. Kyubi was also watching carefully, and periodically telling Naru to lessen her chakra.
"Less chakra Kit….. a little bit less chakra…. Focus!" Kyubi intoned while also trying to suppress her own chakra from interfering.
Naru continued concentrating to where she felt it would work and with a silent prayer in her heart intoned "Bunshin No Jutsu!" while doing the appropriate seals causing a puff of smoke to appear with a pop.
Naru hesitantly looked over to see what happened with an abated breath and Kyubi was also holding her breath in anticipation, but when they saw the result they both released it with a breath of disappointment.
She had managed to create three bunshin but they look absolutely terrible and useless. Two were mangled looking corpses, and one was a violent shade of green and it frantically ran to the toilet that was just outside where a horrible sounding retching could soon be heard. Three pops were soon heard when the technique finally dispelled.
Naru looked up to see Iruka's reaction and it didn't look good. Iruka had an unhappy looking expression with a twitch of irritation above his eye and Mizuki was looking very amused at Naru in a not so pleasant way.
"You Fail" Iruka dully intoned, hurt and sadness apparent in his voice and Naru couldn't help but wince and hold back some tears that threatened to fall.
Mizuki suddenly looked up "Well, she is a highly gifted athlete and her taijutsu is very good and she did technically do the Bunshin No Jutsu so maybe we could let her pass? She did try so hard you know?"
Both Naru and Kyubi had to narrow their eyes at that, what was he up too? Mizuki had never shown any inclination of helping her before so why now? Not to mention that both Naru and Kyubi didn't think that Mizuki had that type of personality. Though Naru secretly allowed herself to feel some hope
Iruka sadly shook his head in a negative "I wish I could but those bunshin were useless and so I can't let her pass"
Naru just couldn't help herself, tears appeared in her eyes and she turned and fled out the open window into the yard ignoring both Iruka's and Kyubi's cries to come back and in another place altogether, an old man who had been watching through a certain crystal ball sighed in regret and softly murmured "Naru"
Had any of them been paying attention they would have noticed that Mizuki's expression changed from one of amusement, to one of cruel and malicious satisfaction.
Later Naru could be seen slowly swinging on a tree swing that she used often, whenever she was feeling especially depressed. She was watching all the other kids be with their parents who had come to congratulate them on graduating, she watched them be all happy and gleefully accept praise from their proud parents, she watched as a couple of the villagers looked at her and whispered to themselves unknowing that she could hear them perfectly.
"Hey! That kid…" one woman spoke.
"Yeah… She's 'that' kid… I heard that she was the only one to not graduate" another spoke
"Well that's fine… we can't have her becoming a Kunoichi, because she's the…" the other spoke
"Oi! We can't speak of that!" the other interrupted.
Naru sagged a little bit more, feeling her loneliness all the more acutely, when she saw Hinata slowly walking over twiddling with her fingers shyly as she did when she was nervous "Ano… Naru?"
Naru looked up at Hinata "Hey Hinata" she said in a weak attempt of cheerfulness. Kyubi sighed anxiously and just watched quietly hoping that Hinata could break Naru out of her slump, she had a habit of doing that.
Hinata stopped a few feet away and looked down before asking "Naru… Ano… Are you okay?"
Naru took on a pensive expression and leaned forward "Am I ok? I'm not sure Hinata"
Naru's answer caused Hinata to start becoming upset which Naru noticed and quickly began trying cheer her up all the while waving her hands wildly "It doesn't mean that I not going to be okay, I'll be fine, I wont give up right!, you remember don't you? I never give up! So cheer up Hinata, I'll be fine!"
Naru's antics caused Hinata to start giggling shyly and Naru stopped waving and spoke more calmly "Don't worry Hinata, I'll be alright, I'll think of something, I always do"
Hinata nodded but perked up when she heard her father calling and turned to Naru and clasped Naru's hand in both hands "Promise me Naru? That you will be okay?" Naru nodded an affirmative with a thumb's up in the 'good guy pose' causing Hinata to giggle again before running to her father with a wave of goodbye and Naru waved back.
Naru continued waving until Hinata turned around the corner before stopping and looked down at the hand Hinata clasped. Naru stayed like that for almost a minute before her demeanor started changing. Naru's expression firmed up in determination, and she clenched her hand into a fist, reaffirming her promise to never give up, and she murmured to herself "Thank you…. Hinata-chan"
Kyubi sighed in relief and also murmured to herself "Good girl Hinata"
Naru was suddenly startled when she heard a thump beside her and she turned to see who it was only to see the last person she wanted to. Mizuki, Naru looked in askance at the other ninja who correctly interpreted her question and said "Hey Naru, can I talk with you a little bit?"
Naru silently asked why on the inside but on the outside she just nodded and got up to follow the ninja to someplace quiet.
Kyubi watched silently, trusting Naru to make the right choices but she continued observing Mizuki trying to find a reason for what he was doing when she heard Naru speaking to her.
"Hey Kyu-chan?" Naru spoke and Kyubi turned her attention to her somewhat daughter.
"Yes Kit?" Kyubi replied.
Naru frowned while watching Mizuki's back "What do you think is going on?"
Kyubi frowned "I don't know Kit, go along with it for now, but be careful, and be ready to run away if necessary, you can't take him on"
"I can if I really needed to, if I release the henge..." Naru shot back.
Kyubi growled "That is last option only Kit and you know that, so just be careful okay?"
Naru just nodded knowing that Kyubi would understand and continued following Mizuki.
They finally stopped at a balcony where Mizuki motioned to sit down and Naru complied. Mizuki looked pensive for a moment before speaking.
"He wasn't picking on you, you know" he began and Naru just nodded not trusting herself to speak.
"I think he just wants you to be genuinely strong, Naru-chan" Mizuki spoke before being interrupted by Naru.
"NARU! Just Naru please Mizuki-sensei" Naru bit out and Mizuki just shrugged.
Mizuki continued speaking "I know that you wanted to graduate but Iruka was just doing his job as a responsible teacher, not to mention he was looking out for you"
"Yeah I know, but I couldn't help it, I really wanted to graduate and it had to be that bloody bunshin technique!" Mizuki chuckled and the two sat there in a tense silence.
Mizuki suddenly sighed catching Naru's attention "I guess I have no choice then but to let you in on an little secret"
Naru narrowed her eyes 'Secret?' and Kyubi also murmured "Secret?"
Naru could later be seen watching Mizuki jumping off after having escorted her home.
Naru was about to jump off herself when she felt a familiar presence appear in the alley behind her causing her to smile, Naru leant against the wall casually and muttered "haven't seen you round recently, eh, Tessai-ojisan?"
In the alley a man appeared in the corner of her eye. He was quite plain looking actually, long brown hair tied off in a ponytail, wearing plain clothes that didn't make him stand out, wearing plain wire rimed glasses, he looked just like everybody else and everybody ignored him. Everybody, completely and totally, you could almost assume it was a genjutsu, a very subtle genjutsu. Tessai didn't look like much but underneath was a different story altogether. Tessai had in fact been the Yondaime's personal Anbu, used from deep cover spying, to sannin level battles. Tessai was a spy who could find anything, anywhere, with none the wiser, and he was on par with the Sannins in one on one battle.
Of course one else knew of this, except for Naru and Kyubi that is. He said that he had once served her father, and that now he was serving her. She didn't completely understand why such a powerful man would serve her, such as a personal servant would, when she asked once he had only replied that he was repaying a debt that could never be repaid and seeing as her father the Yondaime was dead, he served her instead. He said he had never once regretted his choice to loyally serve the Kazama family as he quite enjoyed doing it, being the Kazama families personal servant that is.
Back in the alley Tessai smiled at Naru's pet name and replied "Hai, Naru-sama"
Naru grimaced but ignored it knowing that she could never get him to stop calling her Naru-sama.
Tessai just smiled knowing all too well how much she hated it.
Naru leaned her head against the cool wall "I presume you heard everything?" and Tessai frowned but replied "I did"
"Is it true?" Naru just had to ask.
"No it isn't, there is no such test" Tessai replied turning into a professional attitude.
Naru frowned "What do you think?"
Tessai didn't bother mincing words "I think he is trying to steal the Scroll of Seals for himself and frame you for stealing it and possibly to kill you and be proclaimed a hero of sorts"
Naru just smirked sadly "Well that's nothing unusual, what do you know about Mizuki?"
Tessai frowned unhappily "Not much I'm afraid, I found the usual folders you would find with any ninja but I did find a report stating that he is under suspicion for murder, though now that I think of it, there was a report last night stating that an imprisoned rouge Oufan went missing, I think that Mizuki might have taken it"
Naru frowned "Mmmm, maybe? and the Scroll of Seals?"
"It is a scroll of forbidden jutsu that the Shodaime wrote and sealed himself saying that they are too dangerous for ordinary ninja" Tessai replied and Naru frowned.
"A scroll of forbidden jutsu that the Shodaime wrote, I can see why Mizuki would want it" Naru pondered quietly, any techniques that the Shodaime deemed too dangerous must be powerful indeed.
Naru thought for a little bit but frowned and motioned to Tessai who came closer to hear better.
"I need to speak to Kyubi, so while I'm doing so I need you to watch out for me okay?"
Tessai nodded and followed Naru into her house who then lay on her bed before closing her eyes.
When next she opened them she was standing in what seemed to be a very expensive mansion, it had once been a dank sewer with an enormous gate that said seal where the Kyubi was once located but Kyubi had taught Naru how to make a home for her tenant in her mind, so she living quite comfortably now. Naru ignored the mansion and followed her senses to the room where Kyubi was at.
When Naru opened the door she was welcomed with the sight of a comfortable looking lounge room and she saw that Kyubi in human form was sitting in an arm chair staring pensively at the fire in the fireplace. Kyubi's human form was actually very beautiful.
She was about 5 feet 9 tall with a body that looked like a movie star's, silky skin, a scandalously sexy and very feminine body, and luxuriously long, healthy fire red hair. She was dressed in a Japanese style kimono that was red with various flowers on it and bound with a sky blue obi which only served to accent her sex appeal and natural beauty. She like Naru had fox ears, elongated canine teeth and nine red fox tails that flowed and lay around her. Kyubi's eyes were also elongated and they blood red.
Kyubi turned to look at Naru with warm welcoming eyes and gave a warm smile to which Naru couldn't help smiling back. Kyubi gestured at an arm chair beside her which Naru couldn't help accept.
They sat together for a few minutes savoring the peace and quiet they hadn't been able to get all day but eventually Naru decided to bring up why she had come.
"I'm just so confused, what should I do? Mizuki wants the Shodaime's for himself, and probably get me killed as well, If I was some naïve, ignorant baka I might have gone for it in hopes that he was right and that I might graduate, but I am not some ignorant baka thanks to you teaching me so I just don't know what to do" Naru spoke with a dejected voice and Kyubi frowned.
"Now don't give me that Naru, weren't you saying that you were not going to give up no matter what only an hour or so ago?" Kyubi spoke in pleasant voice that Naru liked to think that her real mother had possessed.
"Yeah I guess" Naru agreed in a growing voice of confidence.
Kyubi just smiled "Well whatever you decide you know that I will follow you where ever you go, okay" and Naru smiled brightly.
Naru thought about the situation a little to herself before looking up at Kyubi with resolution in her face and Kyubi grinned "Well? we going Kit?"
Naru nodded "I thought about it and it came down to just two things, 'What I could do' and 'What I should do' I may not be ninja by name, but at heart I am a ninja of Konoha, and it is my duty to stop Mizuki's treasonous actions and… and…I cant let him get my fathers scroll!"
Kyubi nodded before asking "What about the missing Oufan?" and Naru hesitated before grinning mischievously.
"Well then we will just have to read the Shodaime's scroll to see if there is anything useful" Naru said with a wide grin and Kyubi just shook her head.
"Honestly I would mistake you for a Kitsune if it weren't for the fact I know you are only a half Kitsune" she said wryly and Naru giggled before closing her eyes once more.
Once again she found herself on her bed feeling quite refreshed, a peculiar side affect of seeing Kyubi in person.
"It must just be my irresistible charisma and boundless energy that does that" Kyubi joked and Naru giggled slightly before turning and seeing that Tessai was sitting at her table eating a bowl of ramen.
Naru looked at the clock and noted that it was about five in the evening, she had been 'sleeping' for about two hours. Naru felt something and looked downwards and noted that she was under her bed covers, her shoes and knee high socks had been taken off her legs, as well as the jacket around her waist and her gloves and wrist guards.
Tessai heard motion behind him and turned around to see Naru looking at her current state of dress. Tessai stood up and bowed and Naru looked at him in askance to which Tessai replied "Naru-sama I apologize for any inconvenience but you didn't look too comfortable so I took the liberty of 'putting you to bed' so to speak" and bowed lower saying "I apologize"
Naru looked at him a little reproachfully before sighing and saying "Thank you Tessai-san, I should have done it in the first place so please stop bowing to me, okay"
Tessai stood up and bowed his head "Thank you Naru-sama" and Naru waved him away saying "Yeah yeah, whatever, just stop calling me Naru-sama!"
Tessai bowed and said "Hai, Naru-sama" and Naru just slapped her head in exasperation.
Tessai suddenly turned serious "I presume you talked to Kyubi-sama, so what have you decided to do" he asked ready to aid her in whichever way he could.
Naru's expression turned into one of determination "I'm going to stop Mizuki, I can't let him continue these treasonous acts or let him even touch fathers scroll" Naru's face suddenly turned grim "however, the only way to get Mizuki to reveal himself and get evidence of his betrayal is to walk into the trap that he has laid"
Tessai balked and spoke "But it is dangerous and there is that oufan to consider"
Naru nodded "Yes it is dangerous but I have to do this, if I am to ever grow in strength as a ninja" Naru suddenly grinned "Besides Mizuki isn't expecting me to know about him, and there is also a scroll of techniques to consider, I might get so curious about what is in it, that I might open it and find a technique that could help, if he does have the missing oufan all I have to do is prevent him from releasing it from the crystal he is carrying it in"
Tessai thought about it, its certainly possible, whenever a ninja is taking his or her oufan partner on a mission, the oufans themselves are carried in a special crystal that maintains them in a deep sleep like state and ready for battle at anytime. Kind of like a poke-ball on that cartoon show Pokemon. So when ever they are needed to combat ninja or wild oufan which were quite common in the wilds around the world, they can just be brought out in a moments notice.
Naru got redressed and got ready to set out. Kunai, shruiken, a few smoke bombs, flash grenades and exploding tags and she was ready.
Naru turned to Tessai "I'm going now, please don't alert the Hokage at least until he has sent out other ninja to find the scroll and me, we can't have Mizuki thinking that there is something wrong, the only one who could find me however would be Iruka-niisan so I can count on him for back up"
Tessai nodded and said "Good luck Naru-sama" Naru nodded and jumped out the window towards the Hokage Tower.
Naru looked around the large clearing in the forest that Mizuki had suggested, there was a little cottage beside it that looked like nobody had occupied it in years and Naru couldn't help whistling, this was a good location for a personal training area. Large clearing, small cottage where one could eat lunch, rest a little bit, or study technique scrolls. If she survived this Naru didn't think that anybody would mind her using it to train in.
Naru checked the time and saw she had time yet before Mizuki said he would show up, so she sat down against the cottage wall and opened the scroll and moaned at the title of the first technique.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!! Why did it have to start with my worst subject!!" Naru was about to go to the next one when Kyubi stopped her.
"Hold on Kit, I know of this technique, and I believe that it will suit you perfectly, so please read on further" Kyubi said eagerly wanting to know more and Naru obliged reading further into scroll about the technique and before long even Naru's face was beaming.
"This really is perfect for me! It is so much more simple for me to use and very much more effective and useful, not to mention that I will probably be the only one to use it to it's full potential!" Naru spoke excitedly.
"Indeed kit, from what I understand of this technique, instead of having to supply an appropriate amount of chakra, which with you is very difficult, all you would be doing is splitting your chakra evenly among the clones which would be much easier than trying to control your chakra enough to do the bunshin, this really is a perfect technique for you, most people under jounin would collapse just trying to make and maintain two kage bunshin, but I think you could literally make hundreds even without my help!"
Naru couldn't help herself and nearly cheered out in excitement before managing to stop herself in favor of learning to do the kage bunshin no jutsu.
Iruka was laying on his bed contemplating his life and how similar Naru's life was to his own, he was also contemplating his current relationship with the young girl, he had just gotten back from a talk with the hokage who talked about how Naru had grown up without her parents much like he had.
He, like everybody else had once been very resentful of the Kyubi container, and he had vowed to never forgive her, when he had gotten word that he was to be the containers teacher during her third round at the academy, he promised himself that he would act like a professional and teach her the bare minimum and not help her at all, this way he could keep his reputation as a fair teacher and not help the container grow strong.
His resolution to do just that died when he first laid eyes on her. She was quite the pretty little thing, but she looked pretty ragged and banged up, her clothes were dirty as if she had been running, her body was covered in old bruises and she had no spark in her eyes, and she looked pretty lonely and sad, as she sat quietly, watching the other children. But what most surprised him was that he could not see any sign of the monster that the villagers had described, she was not feral looking and there was no hate or resentment in her eyes, just a look of deep desire and longing for companionship and comfort.
Later in the year he had done some investigating and what he found horrified him, how could anyone do this to a child? Container regardless! Multiple cases of severe abuse, a police record that to him seemed to be impossible to attribute to the young girl, there were even a few reports of attempted rapes which were fortunately foiled by ANBU guards, she was quite well behaved and didn't seem the type to steal in whatever circumstance. He also found that her years in the academy were not kind to her at all. She had started at least three years before her age group signifying that she had great potential and at first she seemed to be doing quite well, achieving a great deal in class, but then her grades started to slip and she became the dead last in the academy. He found that it was because the teachers were asking her to do things that they wouldn't ask of any other child, like asking her to answer questions that chuunins have difficulty answering, a child her age couldn't possibly have answered them, giving her exams that were beyond her capabilities and thus she became known as dead last.
Iruka had sworn then to help her as much as possible. He started assisting her with her work and she had progressed tremendously in a very short period, showing that she was anything but stupid or a dead last. Naru didn't know this, but he had been very aware of her crush on him, and he had found it very cute and endearing if not a little embarrassing, he had even indulged her crush a couple times, taking her out to Ichiraku's to eat a bowl of ramen together which he could tell she had enjoyed a lot. He had been thankful really when she grew out of her crush and it had developed into their current relationship of brother and sister.
Iruka smiled, she had come long way from that shy young girl that she had once been.
Iruka was suddenly interrupted by a knock his door which he got up to answer and found Mizuki standing impatiently on his door step.
"What is it Mizuki?" Iruka said looking at Mizuki in concern.
"We've got trouble Iruka, we've been summoned by the hokage, Naru has stolen the Scroll of Seals" Mizuki said quickly.
"What!!!" Iruka exclaimed looking dumbfounded at the other ninja.
"I don't know the details myself, all I know is that we have to report to the hokage and that it has something to do with Naru and the Scroll of seals" Mizuki explained quickly.
Iruka was shocked. Naru? Steal the Scroll of Seals? Why would she do that? Naru isn't the type to do something so very foolish like this, something wasn't right! Iruka ran back inside and soon came back out in full ninja gear, he nodded at Mizuki and they jumped off towards the hokage tower, Iruka clenched his fist, "I'm coming Naru! You aren't the type to this! I know your not!"
Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage was not having a good night at all. He had been sitting in his office trying to shrink the pile of paperwork (Papers from the ninth level of hell) on his desk when had heard a muffled bang in his library in the next room, and he had went to investigate the disturbance only to discover a startled looking Naru holding the Scroll Seals in her arms which caused her to panic and make series of seals in a rush and shout "Sexy no jutsu!" and she had puffed into smoke which slowly disappeared to reveal a vision of a scandalously beautiful and downright sexy twenty year blonde woman. The thing was she was wearing nothing but her birthday suit with just enough smoke to conceal certain areas of her anatomy. It was just too much for the Sandaime to handle and his nose had exploded in a fountain of blood, resulting in him fainting from blood loss.
Sarutobi was still turning bright red from just memory of the jutsu and his nose threatened to explode again but he forced it down and kneaded his brow in embarrassment. "What a terrifying jutsu, it should be written down in the forbidden scroll as a kinjutsu, if only to prevent all the male ninja from keeling over from forced blood loss".
Sarutobi looked over the assembled ninja who had come in response to the summons and he sighed restlessly 'This is not a good night' he sighed.
"Hokage-sama, that girl has gone to far this time! She can't get away with this!" One ninja yelled out.
"That Scroll is dangerous! And it was forbidden by the Shodaime! If used in certain ways…." Another spoke out.
"It cannot leave this village Sandaime-sama! We must find the girl as soon as possible!" said another ninja and Sarutobi nodded in agreement.
"Find Naru as soon as possible along with the scroll and bring them to me but do not harm her! Understood!" Sarutobi ordered "Now go!" he ordered again and the gathering of ninja all vanished in search of the wayward Jinchuriki.
Sarutobi turned back to his office in hopes of using his crystal ball to find her, or at least keep an eye on her, she wasn't the type to do things like this after all, unless she has special reason to do so. Sarutobi didn't know how right he was.
A few minutes later Naru could be seen standing leaning on her knees with the scroll on her back, totally exhausted but extremely satisfied.
Naru decided to forgo standing and fell onto her ass in a sitting position still panting ten to the dozen. "Well Kyu-chan I did it!" she said to Kyubi who had been watching and encouraging Naru to keep going.
"Yes you did Kit. You mastered the Kage Bunshin, you're becoming stronger every day, it took you less time than I thought it would take for you to master it, I am very proud Naru, very proud indeed" Naru beamed and she could feel Kyubi giving her a mental version of a hug.
Naru suddenly heard a faint snap behind her and she jumped up and whirled around with a Kunai in hand only to find a pissed off looking Iruka standing behind her.
"NNNAAAARRRUUU….. Just what on earth is going on?" Iruka asked in a barely restrained voice signifying that he was very angry with her but willing to listen.
Naru shivered from the barely suppressed anger in his voice but then noticed he was about to say more so Naru quickly raced up and put her hand over his mouth to silence him.
"I know your angry Ni-san, but let me explain!" Naru yammered out quickly in hopes of sparing herself a long and tedious lecture, not to mention that Mizuki was going to be here soon.
Iruka shoved her hand away and said "You have thirty seconds to explain your actions and it had better be good or so help me…" Naru understood what he wasn't saying all to well and she rushed to explain, Mizuki probably wasn't far away and she would need Iruka's help to capture him.
Naru quickly explained how she had been feeling after her failure to pass for the third time, she explained how Hinata had pulled her out of her funk and help her regain her determination to succeed. She then explained how Mizuki had come up to her with an offer to tell her about another way to pass the genin exam. About how he had told her about the scroll and that in order to pass she had to steal the scroll from under the hokage's nose and give it to Mizuki in this clearing.
Naru had then explained about her suspicions of the obviously treacherous Shinobi and she then told him the reasons that she had decided to got through with it.
Iruka couldn't believe his ears. It was all Mizuki's fault! But would he do it? He is a Shinobi of Konoha! Isn't he?
Both ninja suddenly heard a sound of kunai and shruiken being thrown but only Iruka was quick enough to react. Naru suddenly found herself flying backwards after having been pushed away by Iruka who then took the full assault head on, a few of the shruiken an kunai lodged themselves in various places on his body but none were life threatening but the rest of them pinned him to the wall of the cottage unable to move at all.
Naru got up slowly looking at Iruka in horror but quickly assessed his condition and heaved a sigh of relief when saw that he would be alright. Naru then quickly turned around and located where the attack had come from. Naru's eyes narrowed when she spotted Mizuki crouched in the tree above them casually twirling a large Windmill Shruiken on his hand.
"Good work Naru… Now… Give me the Scroll and you will have passed this test" Mizuki ordered with a demented grin on his face. Naru's face twisted in a peculiar expression of distaste and defiance.
Iruka spoke out then pain clearly showing in his voice "Don't give him the scroll Naru, he is a traitor to Konoha! He only wants it for himself!"
Naru nodded in agreement and shouted out "I am a Kunoichi of Konoha! and I will not give this scroll to a traitor like you Mizuki-teme!"
Mizuki's face twisted in an expression of anger and he looked like he was about to blow when he suddenly gained a glint in his eye and he gained a crazed smirk on his face.
He bent down to look at Naru "Haven't you ever wondered Naru? About why the village hates you?"
Naru quirked an eyebrow, she could see where this was going and she replied "Yeah, so what about it?" barely keeping amusement from showing in her voice.
Mizuki's grin widened in anticipation, knowing that what he was about to reveal would hurt the girl, and he so loved causing her pain.
Iruka also knew where this was going but unlike Mizuki didn't want Naru to get hurt and shouted out "Mizuki! Don't do it! It is forbidden!"
Naru looked at Iruka quickly but turned back to Mizuki unwilling to let him out of her sight.
Mizuki just ignored Iruka's plea and continued on "There was a law created 12 years ago, a law that nobody was to tell you."
Naru was barely able to hold in her mirth and contempt but managed to choke out in what seemed to be a pained voice "What law, what was this law about?"
Iruka yelled out again "Stop Mizuki, she has already been hurt far too much! Please don't do this!"
Naru looked at Iruka again, this time in shock, and she was unable to prevent a smile of gratitude and joy from showing on her face or prevent a few tears flowing down her face "He does care!" Naru cheered to herself and her heart suddenly became much lighter, the pain of loneliness that had haunted her for her whole life had finally started to lift from Iruka's words alone and Kyubi just smiled. It had been a long time since Naru had lowered her mask and shown such a beautiful smile.
Iruka noticed Naru looking at him and turned to look at her and when he saw the young girl he considered his younger sister looking at him with the most beautiful smile of gratitude and joy that he had ever seen he couldn't help blushing bright red and smile tentatively back at her to which Naru responded with an even bigger smile which made Iruka blush even more and look away.
Naru grinned at Iruka's bashful expression and turned to look back at Mizuki with a confident smirk and hefted a kunai in her hand, determination flaring in her heart until Kyubi became sure that it would catch alight.
Mizuki just looked at them in distaste, hate and revulsion apparent on his face. How is it that Iruka could care so much about the girl? She is that bloody demon Kyubi in human form after all!!! He glared at Naru such hate and anger that Naru felt a weak killing intent or Ki aimed at her which she just shrugged off just as easily as moving some stray hairs from her face and merely put her kunai in a ready position. Killing intent is a valuable weapon in any ninja's arsenal as it could cause the enemy to freeze up allowing said ninja to kill his opponent. Being the Kyubi's container Naru had been exposed to various levels of killing intent through out her life and therefore was immune to killing intent, practicing shrugging it off with the strongest demon in history sure helped as well.
Naru looked up at Mizuki with a cocky smirk and said in a bored voice "You call that Ki? I've had far, far worse than that, BBBaaaakkkkkaaaaa" she drawled, voice dripping with derision before asking in a more serious voice "This law you were speaking of? What is it?"
Mizuki's eye twitched at Naru's disrespectful tone and the fact that his Ki attack was totally ineffective but ignored it in favour of telling Naru a bit more.
"Well as you know this law was instated twelve years ago by the Sandaime and that nobody was to tell you this law or anybody of your generation really"
Naru just raised an eyebrow and spoke "And what is it Mizuki-teme"
Mizuki grinned insanely "This law is…. That nobody is to speak about the fact that you…." and Mizuki pointed at Naru "Are the demon fox!! You are the Kyubi no Kitsune that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village, you have been lied to your entire life! How does that make you feel… Demon?"
Another Chapter finally done. I'm sorry if it seems that i am stretching it out but that's just the way I write. I'm hoping to make a really long fic! I will be introducing Kagutsuchi in the next chapter so until then, sayanara!