Here's the newest chapter. Sorry, bout the delay, even though I have most of the events planned out for a while, I had trouble coming up with how I wanted the new characters designed. Anyways hope everyone likes it.
I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form, but if I did this is how it would go.
I'M GONNA GET HIM.
Naruto stood there looking at the giant fox. He felt the intense scrutiny of the fox so keenly he could have sworn it was something physical. However he was not about to back down. He gathered his thoughts as quickly as he could and asked his question. "Where did you come from?! What's your story!" He asked loudly. His body was extremely tense now from the scrutiny and he almost fell back as the words came out of his mouth. The fox's scrutiny had vanished in a flash.
Even though the fox lived within Naruto he could not always decipher Naruto's exact thoughts. Naruto's presence in front of him peaked his curiosity and he so wanted to know what the boy was thinking, but the question he posed. It was the least expected thing. Kyubii was totally taken aback by this question. It had been ages, centuries perhaps, since the last time anybody had asked to know something about him. The fox hadn't expected this, but the question moved him. He fell into a thoughtful stage and thought about it. Naruto was shocked by the change he saw in front of him. The fox always so full of rage and contempt was no longer the one sitting in front of him. This fox in front of him was not smiling an evil smile or looking at him with contempt, for the first time his fangs were not bared at him and the fox's red eyes looked off into the distance as if searching for something. Naruto felt as if the fox was no longer aware of him and as Naruto stood there his mind was in awe. The fox once again turned it's attention towards Naruto and looked at him for a while before replying. What Naruto saw in the fox's eyes at that moment made him miss the enraged Kyubii he had grown accustomed to. In the fox's eyes he saw sorrow deeper than any ocean he could ever imagine and intelligence no Kage could ever hope to match. Naruto felt overwhelmed, he didn't think he could take that stare for much longer. Thankfully he didn't have to as the Kyubii once again spoke. This time the growl was missing only a deep clear voice spoke to him this time. "THERE IS NO STORY, BOY. I DO NOT KNOW WHERE I COME FROM. ONLY WHERE I'VE BEEN." The fox said. He began to get up as if he was leaving.
Naruto however wasn't satisfied. "I don't believe you how can't you know? Shukaku knew his story, how can you not know yours?!" Naruto said. Naruto's view of the fox had changed in the past few moments and now he had to have some knowledge about this being that he shared his body with. A point he didn't hesitate in conveying. "You live in my body, I have a right to know something about who I'm living with." Naruto said. For some reason he felt it was somewhat underhanded this last comment, but he knew it was for a bigger purpose.
"FOOL." came back the reply with the growl. However the Kyubii's next words were in the same clear deep voice once again. "TO ASK ME SUCH A FOOLISH QUESTION. YOU SHOULD BE THANKFUL YOU RECEIVED A REPLY AT ALL. DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR BIRTH? OF COURSE NOT, YOU ARE LIKE ME ONLY KNOWING WHERE YOU'VE BEEN. WHERE DO YOU COME FROM?" This last remark was directed at Naruto. The fox waited a few moments daring Naruto to say something and when nothing was forthcoming he continued. "YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT ME? I WILL TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT ME. IN ALL THE WORLD I AM THE ONLY ONE OF ME, THERE WAS NOBODY AROUND TO TEACH ME ABOUT MYSELF OR WHAT I CAN DO. WHEN I WAS A PUP YOUR LANDS HAD NO NAMES. MY STORY, BOY, IS NOT ONE YOU CAN FATHOM." The Kyubii felt weary for some reason. Looking back at his life even briefly could overwhelm even him who had lived through it all. He felt like getting some sleep now. He was about to move when the simple minded boy began to speak again.
Naruto was not satisfied, not only was he unsatisfied. He was also pissed that the fox basically called him a fool. Naruto yelled at the fox. "I'm not a fool, Fox!"
The Kyubii had to admit that the boy was entertaining. The boy's comment registered immediately and howling laughter erupted from his lips. To Naruto this laughter was deafening, he shouted to the fox to shut-up, but was drowned out by the seemingly maniacal laughter. Naruto covered his ears in the hope of drowning out the noise. The laughter was not long in ending and when it did the Kyubii quickly lowered it's head to Naruto's level and looked at him with intense focus through the bars. He spoke in a lower voice now the roughness of it's voice returning in full. "THEN ENLIGHTEN ME WITH YOUR WISDOM." Naruto was caught by surprise, he didn't have a good way to respond. Even though he knew he wasn't a fool he knew he wasn't wise and being put on the spot he couldn't think of anything to say. The fox smiled an evil smile. "NO DEEP EPIPHANIES TO SHARE? NO WISDOM TO IMPART UPON ME? IF YOU AREN'T ONE THING, YOU ARE IT'S OPPOSITE, YOU ARE NOT WISE SO THAT MAKES YOU A FOOL." The fox knew it's goading was uncalled for, but it was bored and since Naruto was presenting the opportunity the fox decided not to turn it down.
Naruto didn't want to listen to the fox anymore. "Shut-up you don't know me, you don't know how much work I've put in to be where I'm at!" Naruto wanted to tell the fox that it was all the fox's fault his life had been so hard, but the emotions welling up inside of him didn't let him voice the last thoughts. He felt his body was tense.
The fox sensed it may have overstepped it's boundaries. Even though most of the time it wouldn't care it saw the benefit of diplomacy here. It let out a sigh and spoke again. He was not used to trying to comfort someone so his words came out more slowly. "DILIGENSE AND WISDOM ARE TWO SEPARATE THING. YOUR ABILITY TO GRASP SUBTLETIES OF SITUATIONS LEAVES TOO MUCH TO BE DESIRED. YOU MENTIONED SHUKAKU EARLIER. WHY WAS THAT? DO YOU BELIEVE OUR CONTRACTS WILL BE ANYTHING ALIKE? YOU SHOULD HAVE NOTICED DIFFERENCES IN YOURS AND SHUKAKU'S VESSELS SITUATION. YET FROM THAT PERPLEXED LOOK ON YOUR FACE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M REFERRING TO." The Kyubii read Naruto's expression perfectly. "THE ONE TAIL IS NOT A TRUE TAILED BEAST. IT'S NOT TIME FOR OUR CONTRACT TO BE MADE, HOWEVER WE CAN MAKE AN INFORMAL CONTRACT RIGHT NOW. ARE YOU INTERESTED?" The fox asked.
Naruto in his eagerness to prove he wasn't a fool jumped at the chance to prove he wasn't going to be taken advantage of. "What are the terms?!" he demanded loudly.
The fox let out a long sigh, had he really become so bored that he would stoop to this level to pass the time. The answer was yes. "THERE IS ONLY ONE THING FOR WHICH I AM WILLING TO MAKE A DEAL FOR, COME WITH WISDOM OF THIS WHEN WE MAKE OUR CONTRACT AND I WILL NEVER CALL YOU A FOOL AGAIN. DOES THAT SOUND FAIR?" The fox inquired.
Naruto thought this over long and hard. Even though he didn't know how he was supposed to accomplish it, he knew he would not fail. "Hai, that sounds fair. I only have one request, you have to give me a lead on this information." Naruto knew the fox would do this or there would be no deal and with this bit of information whatever it was Naruto would have an advantage.
The fox looked at Naruto baffled. That was his request, the fox had to struggle to hold it's laughter in. "IT IS DONE." The fox laid a claw through the bars and said. "TOUCH MY CLAW TO VERIFY THE DEAL AND THEN I WILL GIVE YOU A ... CLUE." He saw Naruto start moving forward and was stunned by the boy's simple mindedness. The fox showed no sign of emotion, he stopped Naruto in his tracks. "HOWEVER, KNOW THAT IF YOU FAIL. YOU LOOSE ALL RIGHTS TO PROTEST WHENEVER I CALL YOU A FOOL." The fox expected a moment of hesitation, a moment where Naruto questioned himself, but that moment never came and Naruto strode forward. The fox smiled at this, he wondered how Naruto would react to his touch.
Naruto heard the fox and knew instantly it was a tactic to make him doubt himself it didn't work though. He reached out with a loose fist and saw it moving closer to the Kyubiis claw. However about an inch away he felt as if his body entered a forcefield and the next instant as his skin came into contact with the Kyubii's claw he felt a tsunami of energy surge through him. It felt like a fire enveloping his every nerve and yet never burning. Naruto felt the fox pull his claw back and for a second did not know whether to be thankful or pissed about it. He staggered momentarily, but recovered quickly. "What the hell was that?" He asked himself.
The fox not caring if the question was directed at him answered anyway. "SUB-CONSCIOUS CHAKRA." The fox stood up then and spoke to Naruto as he began to turn. "YOU ALREADY HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO FULLFILL MY REQUEST." The fox then began laughing loudly as he walked away.
Naruto rushed forward energy coursing all through him and stopped just short of the bars and yelled at the fox. "What the hell kind of clue is that?! That doesn't help me at all!" There was no response forthcoming, only the fox's laughter could be heard on the other side of the bars. Naruto felt extremely frustrated ,but knes that was all he was going to gain from this visit. He decided to return to his chambers. He he returned to his body he was somewhat surprised to find himself sitting up. He guessed that surge of energy from the fox must have caused his body to sit up. He looked around and lay back down. He had a lot on his mind that he needed to sort out.
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Out in the forest the sky was beginning to darken and Jiraiya had set out dinner for everyone. They had all sat down and were now eating. Jiraiaya couldn't shake the feeling that the atmosphere had changed ever so minutely recently. He expected a change like this, but not this soon. He wondered if it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He began to serve himself, but the nagging sensation simply would not leave him alone. He decided it was better safe than sorry. He turned to Hinata and made a request. "Hinata, could you please do a quick scan of the vicinity?" He asked in a conversational tone which hid his concern.
Hinata put down her plate and nodded. "Hai." She quickly activated her blood-limit and began scanning her surrounding areas. She scanned briefly not seeing anything out of the ordinary. She turned off her limit and told Jiraiya her findings. "Nothing out of the ordinary Jiraiya-san." She said thinking nothing of it. Shino on the other hand wasn't so sold on the act. Jiraiya had never made this request and to start now out of the blue and so casually without any forewarning did not sit well with Shino. He too didn't want to raise suspicion so he couldn't release a large quantity of insects, but he did send out a few to see if everything was in fact in order.
Hinata's news did not settle Jiraiya's insecurities either. However he thanked her. "Arigatou, Hinata. Let's dig in." He picked up his plate, acting as if nothing was bothering him. On the inside however his mind was racing with paranoia. He put some food in his mouth as everything clicked and he realized it was already to late. The change in the atmosphere made him suspicious and he should have automatically trusted his instincts, but he had simply been to confident that they wouldn't have to deal with any problems so soon. He should have trusted his gut. They were near and they were aware of team 8s presence, they could probably be watching him right now. Jiraiya let out a sigh as the concoction which had been put in his food began taken effect and quickly. His conscious thoughts slowed to a crawl and the desire to sleep began to overwhelm him. He put down his bowl and hoped they would be able to handle themselves. He knew they hadn't had their food spiked like his because they were still awake and aware. He fought off the sleep and raised his arm to get their attention. They were already looking at him since he put his bowl down. They were actually already going to his aid, but his thoughts were working so slowly now the fact barely registered. He felt himself slowly beginning to slouch and lean back. Damn it he thought to himself he should have began to prepare them for this sooner. He searched his brain for the most important advice he could think of. His mind was working at a snails pace and the only thing he could think was for them to stay together. He voiced this last thought as his back hit the ground. Shino, Kiba, and Hinata were already standing over him as his last conscious words escaped his lips. "Stay... to..ge...ther... is." Barely audible. Shino and Hinata did not hear what he said, they just saw his lips barely move.
Kiba on the other hand heard Jiraiya perfectly. He repeated what he heard for Hinata and Shino, but also to try to make sense of it himself. "Stay together... is? What's that supposed to mean? Is what?" He said in a questioning voice. Akamaru was now right next to him and Kiba had his hand resting on his head.
Hinata quickly checked his vitals and told them her findings. Even though she was not a medical ninja she was well versed in the human body and while she could not identify what was wrong she could identify if anything was wrong. "His heart rate is stable, there's nothing out of the ordinary. He's just... in a deep sleep." She wanted to add that she thought it wasn't self induced, but she noticed Shino getting up at that moment and waited to see what he was about to do.
Shino began walking towards his gourd as he spoke. "It seems that Jiraiya had some foreboding about this happening. I don't know how much, but he told us what he must believe was the most important point. That is that we remain together as a unit against whatever obstacles we are ab-" At that moment he was reaching for his gourd when suddenly he heard a Hinata begin to yell and as he spun around what seemed to be a ten foot wall of ice ran across his vision. As he took a step towards it he noticed a deep mist rising from the ground. He stopped in his tracks noticing that the mist was growing unnaturally thick with incredible speed. In the span of fifteen seconds he was no longer able to see the wall of ice due to the thickness of the mist.
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Half an hour earlier deeper in the same forest two figures were sitting finishing up their meal. One figure stood up, a girl. She had light caramel colored skin and straight pitch black hair that fell loosely to her shoulders, sporadic blond streaks ran through her hair. She stretched out her arms toned, however they were wrapped in white bandages from her underarms to her wrists, under her deltoids she wore a pair of straps containing various weapons among other things. She wore a light thin light brown v-collar vest and a black school uniform skirt that came down to right above her knees. Her legs were very well toned, again however they were covered. She wore thick camouflage stockings that came up under the skirt and on her feet she wore thick leather sandals. She smiled and a dimples appeared on her cheeks. A gleam shone in her shockingly bright gray eyes as she spoke to her companion. "You'll never guess who's nearby." She said as reached down and picked up a vinny and slid it over her head and right down to atop her eyes. On the front it had the plate of the hidden village of the mist.
Her companion a boy with the same complexion and eyes looked up casually and asked. "Who?" This boy sub-consciously reached up towards his face and stopped himself, he has a large band-aid on his nose and one on his cheek. He was also wearing a bandanna that covered his mouth partially and a dark blue vest. Underneath he wore a long sleeve black shirt. He stood up and as he did a loose belt at his waist moved down carried down by the weight of a hilt and a sword. The hilt was dark blue with intricate designs. He too wore camouflage shorts. He wore thick plain sandals.
The girl smiled a mischievous smile and replied. "Jiraiya-san." The girl reached over and ruffled the boys long silky black hair and said. "We gotta go see him!"
The boy became solemn for a moment and then said. "But we're on a mission. We'd be killed if we failed." He stood in deep thought awaiting to see how his companion would react.
She did so promptly. "Pshht, you're to serious Kino. Besides, it's not like we were guaranteed success... let's call this a small detour." She bent over and quickly scooped up her small traveling pack and slung it over her shoulders. Before her companion could react she was swiftly walking towards her destination and yelled back. "Hurry the hell up!" Her companion quickly began gathering his things as well. He slid some goggles over his forehead on the side of the goggles on the thick straps were two mist plates. As he finally made his way after his companion the recurring thought in his head was. Why is this girl so damn impulsive.
Fifteen minutes later they were standing about a hundred yards away from where Jiraiaya and the others were setting up camp. Kino arrived in time to see his companion looking through the binoculars. He stealthily walked up next to her and heard her giggle and say. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna get him." She was very tense as she looked through the binoculars.
Kino's eyes widened slightly and he asked. "Is Naruto with him, Kanu?" He turned toward the direction that Kanu was staring at and scanned the area. He didn't see the familiar blond hair of Naruto. He wondered what it was that Kanu was staring at.
Kanu pulled the binoculars away from her eyes and turned towards Kino. There was a stream of blood flowing from her nose. "What did you say?"
He looked at her and pointed something out to her. "Your nose is bleeding Kanu. Are you okay?" He asked genuinely concerned.
She paid no mind to that as she absently wiped away the blood. "Never mind that." She said enthusiastically. "Here's the plan. First we need to make some of our knockout powder for Jiraiaya and then." She stopped when she saw Kino was looking at her with a perplexed expression on his face. "What, you don't trust me? When have I ever mislead you?" She saw he was about to start thinking and quickly moved on. "I've already analyzed this situation and this is the best course of action. Don't worry if anything goes wrong I'll take full responsibility. So... as I was saying? Oh that's right our course of action. So here we go first..."
As she began explaining her plan Kino couldn't help, but question her motives. He couldn't gather his thoughts however as she was already full flight into the plan. Also, he had no choice as she was his elder sister and when it came to strategies she was much more effective with their intricacies than he was. He only hoped it worked out in their favor.
PREVIEW
Who are these new characters and what is their purpose? How do they know Jiraiya? Naruto's eminent date with the demon fox draws closer, will he find the answers he needs?
Hmmm, I thought I would interject some interaction into this, the first person who can guess what the fox is after can name a character, please no way out there names if you get it because I will use whatever name I'm given.
RSO'S
drkchidragon- Are you serious, can't I just leave it like that? Lol, you don't like cliffhangers? I simply love them. Let's out an evil laugh. Nope same Kyubii, they do have histories previously to being trapped. The story related to the fox was from ancient times. Yup, that was a dream, but I wanted it to trip people up so thanx for letting me know my purpose was fulfilled.
danny- Oh the drama with Hirai is far from over. Yeah, Naruto (Author) does have faith in people lol. Thanx, I'll be exploring them as the story goes on, so hopefully I can satisfy everyones thirst. Thanx, I thought I needed to interject a little bit of humor. Sorry Hinata. Oh, it's not as long as you think now. Thanx for the kind words, I'll try my best.
crakbaby-Thank you, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, don't loose faith in me.
dragonman- Sorry to disappoint, but we'll learn somethings about the Kyubii soon enough.
Vld- Ghaaaaaa!! Stop giving away so many clues! Geez, it's almost like you're trying to make me have to use my imagination to not do what you think is gonna happen.
crazygirlofmanynames- Yup, but will he get them?
narashikamaru- yup,yup. Shame on you. lol, j/k. Man, yeah love is a complicated thing. Oh man poor Naruto is gonna find out just how complicated it can be pretty soon. Muahahahaha.
causeiambetta- thanx alot for the kind words, they really mean alot to me.
sdarian- Sorry, I'll try to do so as soon as I can.
crashboy- Don't feel bad, it's good motivation for me knowing people want to keep reading. Thanx for posting a review.
lightning bob- Soon, soon. Man I know it sounds old after a while, but it should hopefully be soon. Beta as the program or better reader? You can message me with what you mean if you want and I'll see what I can do.
dmitri- I'm so sorry, I know I'm bad with that. So bad with grammar, but I'm trying. Don't give up on me.
yojimbojango- Oh, it's not that bad. Guess I need to work on making my cliffhangers better. Lol. LMAO, I'm sorry, but Naruto and smooth just... I think thats funny. For now. As for the question, no the necklace was for protection.