Words: 1,558

Last Edit: 08/26/2011

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Mindscape

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A pair of crimson boots partially hid white bandages. Red and white jean shorts were rolled up below a set of knees. A snug, black T-Shirt went from just below a collarbone to just above a toned stomach, was pressed against a pair of C-cup breasts, and was covered by an open crimson and black vest- of which had a hood. Red hair was pulled into a ponytail, with two bangs framing a beautiful female face. A red and black fleur-de-lis emblem hung loosely off her neck, and a colorless version was engraved into metal plates on red and black fingerless gloves. She looked at Naruto with beautiful, crimson eyes.

"So, you've chosen Reigen-chan as a main, huh? Well, then I guess I can't train you in here…" she mused, closing her eyes and putting her right hand to her mouth, her left arm going across her navel. "If you had chosen me as a main, then we could start right away. But now it seems we have to wait for the test…"

Her eyes sprung open and she gazed eerily at Naruto, she then walked to the back end of the platform, where it was deceivingly dark. She waved her hand and like a curtain, the darkness separated and a twenty-foot tall metal cage appeared. Darkness was present in the cage, until the strange girl took out a sword and pressed it to the bars. She scraped the sword against the metal, creating a loud screeching sound. Two blood-red eyes, about the size of Naruto, opened up a five feet. The eyes rose to ten feet and peered down at the girl. A tension derived of bloodlust filled the air.

"What the hell do you want now, Eiki?" a voice emanated from within the cage, most likely coming from the eyes. The girl- apparently named Eiki- pointed at Naruto.

"Your container's here. You should say hi or something…" she stated in a slightly bored tone. The eyes widened then closed again. A female figure stepped out of the shadows. She was wearing a crimson kimono that covered her DD-cup bust- yet still left some cleavage visible- and ended mid-thigh. Her blood-red hair went to the small of her back, her spiky bangs covering her left eye- her right eye being crimson and having a black slit for a pupil.

"So my container has come to visit me…" she stated, and Naruto finally took note of her fox ears and nine red tails.

"…The Kyubi, huh? So that's why everyone hates me," he simply states, looking impassively at the Kitsune lady.

"Just call me Akane..." she says, looking at the impassive boy. "Maybe you can do me a favor…" she points at the seal ten feet up on the bars of the cage. "Can you tear that off for me please?" She asked.

He looked at her as if she were insane. "How about… no." Akane looked outraged while Eiki took out her sword.

"If you don't do it willingly, we'll just force you to take it off…" She simply stated before her eyes glowed. Both redheads were engulfed in a crimson aura, and Eiki's canines lengthened. She charged sword first and Naruto, with widened eyes, barely dodged her blow. She came at him again and he put his arms up by habit. In a flash of darkness the claws he chose earlier appeared and he was able to block the swords. Another blow broke his locked hands, and a third smashed him into the back wall of darkness. Eiki leveled her sword at Naruto's chest and attempted to lunge…

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Mindscape- Dark Corridors

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Complete darkness inhabited the room. There was one soul here, but it had rested for four years and had not yet awakened…

A pair of eyes snapped open, yellow irises peering into the darkness. A female voice emanated from everywhere, yet from that one pair of eyes…

"Seems I have to help him… and yet, I will be also helping myself…"

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Mindscape- Pedestal

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The dark wall that Naruto was on sprouted shadows and surrounded the boy, putting him in a cocoon of darkness. The sword glided right off of it. The cocoon opened and Naruto was there, replenished, unscathed, and had black hair.

…Black hair?

He opened his eyes which were now yellow instead of his normal blue, and his shirt and shorts were now black, the heartless symbol adorning the center of his shirt and each leg of his shorts. He raised his clawed hands and began to gather dark energy within them. Unconsciously, he began to summon Shadows, the aforementioned Heartless coming out of the shadows.

"Dark…Fire…" the boy intoned, jabbing his arms forward and a jet of pitch-black flames shooting out of his hands. Eiki dodged to the left, but she wasn't able to react fast enough, and her left arm was caught by the flame. She groaned in pain and held her now burnt arm with her right hand. The Shadows attempted to close in on Eiki but were quickly dispatched by an obsidian shield on her forearm, which adorned a crimson dot in the center of it. Kyubi's chakra- which was the cloak of energy around her body- finished healing Eiki's arm. She glared at Naruto then saw another Shadow trying to attack her. She jumped on its head then did a High Jump to the balcony.

Crouching low on the balcony, she did another High Jump. Coming back down with her sword high above her head she swung down onto Naruto, attempting to hit him over the head. He flicked his hand up and conjured a translucent, glowing barrier. The sword hit the barrier- a Reflect spell- and, with the force of the hit she was going to hit him with, she was thrown painfully into the bars of the cage, right where the seal was. Seeing Naruto charge her, then jumping at her to get a strike, she twisted her body to the right, falling from the bars, but Naruto's momentum caused his claws to sink into the seal. Without thinking, he ripped his claw free, and Kyubi's malevolent yokai flowed forth, overwhelming the platform. Eiki was ejected from the platform, while Akane remained.

Darkness retained on Naruto's body, mixing with the yokai and turning Naruto into something else…

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Kasei Base

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The cloak on the boy's body fluctuated, and dark energy flowed within it. Reigen, being the most knowledgeable about darkness, stepped closer to examine the shroud. And that's when the shroud expanded. It over took the couch and for three seconds, darkness and red energy flowed dangerously. Then it stopped, the shroud receded and there were two people on the couch.

The first looked exactly like Naruto, only his hair was longer, less spiky, was crimson and had jet black bangs going six inches into his hairline. The second…

"Eiki-chan!" That was Oodume, and the second person was indeed Eiki. The redhead was currently unconscious, and four pairs of eyes were glued to her prone form. Eichi took a staff- three and a half feet of oak with metal rings in the center- and channeled mana into it, making the tip glow blue. She waved it over Eiki's head, and the tip glowed green.

"It's her, alright." Eichi confirmed lazily before putting the staff away and going to the other side of the room, leaning on the wall again.

Eiki opened her eyes, her red orbs flickering around the room. They landed on each of her sisters, and finally settled on the black-and-red haired boy next to her. Rage filled her eyes as she looked at the Jinchuriki, and she stuck out her right hand. Another one of those strange swords appeared in her hands.

The handle was a simple grey rod. The blade was yellow orange at its base and slowly darkened to red as it neared the tip. The blade fanned out near the tip, which was flat at the top and slanted. The teeth of the blade were comprised of several spikes shaped like those of the Nobody sigil, all of which slanted upward slightly. The guard was black and did not connect to the base of the blade, and it sported two black spikes on either side. The chain token is a red-orange color. (Keyblade: Maverick Flare)

Taking the blade, she attempted to lunge at Naruto when inky dark energy erupted from his chest in tendrils. Half of the tendrils wrapped around the sword and pulled it away, while the other half pushed Eiki away from Naruto. The tendrils then sunk back into the boy's body, leaving the five to wonder what just happened.

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400 hours

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Naruto woke up in the forest, about two kilometers away from the gates of the village. His clothes were back to normal, as was his hair with the exception of red highlights. He traversed the forest's path, entering the village while its security was under lax security. He went to his little alley gutter- one of his many hideaways- and went back to sleep.

What he failed to notice was the pair of yellow beady eyes belonging to the teenager-sized shadow stalking him at every turn.