First of all, sorry for taking so long. I work two jobs and go to school, so it get a little hard to update you guys. As an apology, I made the next chapter extra long. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/Big Trouble in Little China nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto or John Carpenter.
Date: 07/15/10
Summary: At the age of 5, Uzumaki Naruto world is turn upside down with the arrival of a power that makes the Kyuubi look like a stuffed animal. What do these new arrivals desire and how does Naruto fit in? With a completely different sensei and techniques, can Naruto finally put an end to a war that transends the ninja world, itself?
Big Trouble in Little Konoha
Chapter 5: The Protector
As Naruto stepped outside, his eyes when wide. "What the hell is going on here!"
"What are you blabbering about now, kid?" asked Egg Shen.
"You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about! What the hell are the Wing Kong doing here!"
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY, YOU LITTLE BRAT! said the apparent leader of said group of shinobi.
"Kid, they are not of the Wing Kong. These shinobi before you are known as the Chang Sings. They are the most hated enemies of the Wing Kong. They were fighting the Wing Kong long before you were even born. Unfortunately, they are still in mourning, due to the assassination of their leader, at the hands of the Wing Kong. Kid, what you just did...you couldn't have insulted them more if you tried."
"I..I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know? They kinda look alike." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"That's because you haven't been looking close enough. Besides the obvious fact that the Wing Kong wear red sashes and headband and the Chang Sings wear yellow ones, you should be able to tell the difference simply by looking into their eyes.
True enough, Naruto instantly noticed the look in the Chang Sings eyes. They held a look of honor and loyalty, something that he never saw in any Wing Kong that he had ever seen.
"Let's go get something to eat before you get yourself into even more trouble than you already have." said Egg Shen.
The entire group of Chang Sings just glared at Naruto's retreating form. Once Naruto was completely out of sight, the Chang Sings went back to training, as if nothing had even happened.
Naruto followed Egg Shen around what could only be describe as a slum, in comparison to Lo Pan's domain. Even the restaurant, expertly named the 'Dragon of the Black Pool', seemed to be just a rundown shack.
After grabbing some seats and ordering some food, Naruto ordering the pork ramen, Egg Shen began thinking of ways to explain to Naruto the truth about Lo Pan.
"So...where should I start?" asked Egg Shen, with a bored expression.
"How about I tell you what I think I know and you fill me in from there?"
"Alright, kid, shoot."
Naruto began to tell Egg Shen about what was told to him by Lo Pan, then what Egg Shen had told him. Egg Shen then went into detail about where Lo Pan had twisted the truth to put himself in a favorable light. Even Naruto had to admit that Lo Pan was a genius of deception to create such an elaborate scheme. However, Naruto was not exactly sold on Egg Shen yet. Though he felt a completely different type of aura coming from the old man, he refused to be as gullible as he had been with Lo Pan.
"What about you, old...Egg Shen-san? I don't know anything about you. Who the hell are you?"
Egg Shen sighed. This was going to be a long conversation, indeed.
"Ok, kid. I shall tell you of my origin..."
"I was born seven years before the battle of Lo Pan and the Rikudo Sennin..." Egg Shen started, but was cut off by a skeptical Naruto.
"I thought you said that Lo Pan and the Rikudo Sennin's battle took place before Konoha was even founded. I can tell your old, but not even you couldn't be that old..."
*SMACK*
Naruto rubbed his head, while glaring at the old man.
"Now, like I was saying, I was born seven years before the battle of Lopan and the Rikudo Sennin. It was a time of constant war and death. My parents were killed a year after my birth, and I was taken in by the Rikudo Sennin. You see, my parents fought against Lopan and his army along with the Rikudo Sennin. When Lopan obtained the power of the Juubi, he used it's power to slaughter both my parents and numerous other allies of the Rikudo Sennin."
"The Rikudo Sennin, being the man that he was, took it upon himself to raise me himself, since he considered my parents to be his best friends. He raised me as one of his own, teaching me the ways of the six paths. Once I had grown old enough to seek my own path, I left the Rikudo Sennin with his wife and new born child."
"Unfortunately, the Rikudo Sennin's victory against Lopan had come at a very high cost. The Juubi is not a power that can be contained in a human vessel without sacrifice. The Rikudo Sennin's sacrifice was the shortening of his life span."
"When I heard of the Rikudo Sennin turning gravely ill during my travels, I immediately headed towards his home. Little did I know that my life would be forever changed."
Sprinting to the front door of the Rikudo Sennin's home, a much younger Egg Shen reaches for the door knob, but the door opens before he manages to even touch the door. As the door opens, Egg Shen is greeted by the Rikudo Sennin's eldest son.
"Well if it isn't the dirty drifter. I would have thought that you were sleeping under a bridge somewhere." said the arrogant elder brother.
Egg Shen just ignored the elder brother and tried to walk past him, but his path was blocked once more by the elder brother.
"Sorry, drifter, but this is a FAMILY affair. Since you are not family, you are not permitted to see Father."
Just as Egg Shen was starting to lose patience, the younger brother step out of the house.
"What are you talking about, brother?" he said in a calm and collected tone. "Egg Shen-niisan is just as much of a son to Father as we are, you know this."
Egg Shen did not miss the glare that the elder brother sent to the younger one. The tension between the two seemed to be that of mortal enemies, but these two were brothers. There was no way that there could be that much animosity between two brothers, could there?
The elder brother finally broke the silence, speaking with hatred laced within his voice. "I don't care what father said, don't think that you can speak to me that way. You are far from my superior, brother." he spat, disgust clearly showing in his facial features. After spitting at Egg Shen's feet and glaring at his younger brother, he turned and stormed out of the property.
"Well, he seems as arrogant as ever." said Egg Shen
Sighing at his older brother's distaste for his father's wisdom, the younger brother spoke to Egg Shen. "It is good to see you again, nii-san."
"It's good to see you as well. You've grown quite a bit since I last saw you two." said Egg Shen, immediately forgetting about the elder brother's remarks when confronted by the infectious smile of the younger brother.
"Well, I'm sure I did grow since you last saw me, considering that it was ten years ago." the younger brother deadpanned. "You really should try to stop by more often, Egg Shen-niisan."
Scratching the back of his head, with an embarrassed smile on his face Egg Shen replied "Yeah, sorry about that. Well, at least I'm here now, right?"
"Yeah, and Father has been waiting for you. He didn't say he was, but I could tell. You know that Father cared about you just as much as us. He wouldn't pass on without seeing you first." said the younger brother, with a thoughtful look.
"Well, let me go see the old bastard. I'm sure he's noticed my presence and is getting impatient. The old bastard never really did have much patience for others, if I remember correctly." Egg Shen said.
"EGG SHEN, I HEARD THAT YOU LITTLE PRICK! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE, NOW!" shouted the Rikudo Sennin.
"I thought he was supposed to be sick! He sounds like he did the last time I saw him!" Egg Shen said, shivering at the thought of his last meeting with surrogate father. His hair had finally grown back from the last time he pissed the Rikudo Sennin off, now he might have to start from scratch.
The younger brother shook his head, clearly happy that he was not in Egg Shen's shoes at the moment.
Walking through the door, Egg Shen had to dodge random objects being thrown at him by an upset Rikudo Sennin. "No patience, huh! Old bastard, huh! I'll teach you a thing or two about respect!"
After running out of things to throw, the Rikudo Sennin calmed down and smirk at the terrified Egg Shen. "Looks like I taught you well. Didn't even manage to hit you once. Either that, or this sickness is taking it's toll on my body."
"I'd say it's the latter. There's no way that I would be able to escape unscathed if you were at full strength." said Egg Shen, walking over to the old man's bed.
"Whoa, you mean to tell me that you grew out of your little, arrogant, asshole stage! I'm impressed." said the Rikudo Sennin, with a mock suprise on his face.
"I was never arrogant. I just acted that way in front of you to piss you off a little bit." Egg Shen countered, with an evil grin.
"Still haven't gotten pass the little, wise, asshole stage though." said the Rikudo Sennin.
"Hehehe." was Egg Shen's only reply.
"Okay. Now on to some serious business. As I'm sure you know by now, I haven't got much time left. The Juubi is trying to make his move as we speak. He knows that the seal is weakening. If he succeeds...well, I don't I need to remind you of what that means." Egg Shen stared back into the Rikudo Sennin's eyes, showing that he did remember the havoc caused by the Juubi when he was a child.
"Don't look so worried, Egg Shen. I have devised a plan to handle the Juubi. I will split his power into nine different entities and spread them across the Earth, so that the Juubi will never see the light of day."
At this, Egg Shen breathed a sigh of relief. However, things were never that simple when concerning power of that magnitude.
"However, there is still the chance that Lo Pan, or some other person seeking power, will eventually seek to join these nine entities into one. Because of this, I have chosen you as the protector of this Earth. I have already chosen my youngest son as my successor of peace."
"Unlike his elder brother, he chooses love as a catalyst for peace instead of might, like brother. However, peace will take a long time to achieve. I'm disappointed that my eldest son was not as supportive of his brother as I would have hoped for. My wish is for my eldest son to get over his own selfishness, however I am not naive enough to believe that everything will be as I wish it to be."
"For that reason, I will entrust in you with my knowledge and power. There will be some trying times ahead of you, but I trust that you will be able to handle them until your own time has come. Until that time, I want you to protect this world from Lopan and his subordinates; and whoever else threatens this world." said the Rikudo Sennin.
"B-but a transfer of power like that will surely weaken you to the point that the Juubi will surely break your seal! Your too old to be-"
*SMACK*
"You moron. I was planning on dealing with the juubi prior to giving you the remainder of my power. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't be able to survive long after the separating of the juubi anyway. However, you will live a very, very long life. Now that I've explained everything to you, I'm going to start the extraction and separation of the juubi."
"H-hai, Rikudo Sennin-sensei." Egg Shen said, in a respectful tone.
With that, the Rikudo Sennin's chakra started to spike. He closed his eyes and started focusing his chakra to a single point on his body, which just happened to be where the seal was located at.
After an hour of concentration, the Rikudo Sennin's eyes shot open. His seal contorting and jerking under his skin, he slammed his hands together and shouted in a booming voice that threatened to blow the doors of the house off the henges, "KAI!"
In an explosion of light, the roof of the house exploded. Out of the roof came a thick bleam of multi-spectral light. The light shot far into the sky, stopping over 500 feet in the air. After five seconds of hovering, the light shot off in nine separate direction at high speed.(Think Dragonballs)
"It is done! Now, hurry! I don't have much time! Grab my hand!" shouted the Rikudo Sennin, in obvious pain.
"Hai, sensei!" Egg Shen said, grabbing the old man's hand.
"Brace yourself!" the Rikudo Sennin warned.
Before Egg Shen could even reply, he felt like his entire being explode in a combination fire and ice; dark and light. It was as if he was being overtaken by a combination of two opposing forces. Though only a couple of minutes went by, it felt like an eternity to Egg Shen.
Finally, the Rikudo Sennin broke his grip on Egg Shen and they both collapsed on the floor. The Rikudo Sennin turned his head to face Egg Shen, who was barely even conscious. "I've gifted you with my remaining power, Egg Shen. When the time comes, you'll know what to do. Until that time, make me and your parents proud. I love you...my son."
Egg Shen now had tears running down his face. The man that had raised him and acknowledged him as one of his own sons had just passed away before his eyes.
Suddenly, Egg Shen heard footsteps closing in on him. Before he could see who it was, he passed out from the strain on his body, due to the Rikudo Sennin's power.
A day later, Egg Shen found himself in an unfamiliar home, lying in an unfamiliar bed. He jumped to his feet, but was immediately calmed by the sound of a familiar voice. "Hey, take it easily, nii-san. You've been out for an entire day."
"Where am I?" asked Egg Shen, holding his head due to the massive headache he had acquired by jumping up so fast, after being asleep for so long.
"This is my house, of course. Then again, you'd know that if you visited more often." deadpanned the younger brother.
"Yea, yea." Egg Shen said.
Suddenly, Egg Shen had remembered what had happened prior to him falling unconscious. "Where is Sensei?" asked a serious Egg Shen.
"He passed away around the time that you fell unconscious."
Egg Shen nodded in understanding.
"But I figured that he would once you got here and he bestowed upon you the remainder of the power within himself."
"How'd you know?" asked a surprised Egg Shen.
The younger brother deadpanned once more. "As I said before, Father thought of you as a son. Of course he would leave his power to you, considering that you didn't inherit his power at birth, like his other two sons. Unfortunately, you can't simply be given Father's eyes. They have to be transplanted, and the success rate is very low because it isn't everyday that you get to see someone in need of an eye transplant, and have another set of eyes to spare."
"However, I could try to arrange to have Father's eyes transplanted into you, if you want. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, afterall, your one of his sons as well. If not, I would have to destroy them to keep them from falling into the wrong hands."
"Why don't you just implant them into yourself?" asked Egg Shen.
"Simple. Because I have already been given a gift from Father. His eyes would do nothing for me, other than make me even more powerful. That will not help in my quest for peace, it would only waste time."
"I agree. I, as well, am quite happy with the gifts that he has bestowed upon me. If he had wanted me to have his eyes, I think that he would have told me so."
"I agree."
With that, they both decided to destroy the body, as well as the eyes, after paying their respects to the deceased Rikudo Sennin. After that was done, they both said their goodbyes and set off to fulfill the missions given to them by the Rikudo Sennin.
"After that, I never saw them again, though I heard that the eldest brother eventually brought war upon his younger sibling, all because he was not chosen as the successor of the peace, which he thought was he was entitled to. Ironic how the search for peace can bring about war, huh?" asked Egg Shen.
"Is that why you saved me from Lo Pan?" asked Naruto, who was completed captivated by the story of Egg Shen's life.
"Yes and no." Egg Shen said, cryptically. "Don't worry about that right now. Just eat your food before it gets cold. Besides, we have more pressing matters to discuss." said Egg Shen.
After serving their food, the cook of the broken down restaurant had sat down with Naruto and Egg Shen to listen to the story as well.
"One of those matters being Konoha. It will become very troublesome for you if you continue to ditch your classes."
"Shit! They'll detain me indefinitely when they find out that I tried to kidnap that pink haired banshee in my class!"
"Don't worry about it. Some medical jutsu and a little genjutsu and she was fine."
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.
"However, you will need to start attending your classes to keep an eye on that girl. If Lo Pan gets ahold of her, it could mean the return of a power that has not been seen since before your village was even created. I will also be overseeing your new training. If your going to be of any use to me, you'll need to be strong enough to take care of any problems that may come for the girl, or yourself for that matter."
"But I thought that you said that you wanted me to attend the academy, so as to not arouse any suspection." asked Naruto.
"Which is why you'll be sending kage bushin in your place, while you train here with me. Now about your training, we'll need to focus on four main components. The first one would be your taijutsu."
"My taijutsu is pretty good already." Naruto said.
"Oh, is it? Because I could've sworn that I kicked your ass a little while ago. And I'm not gonna mention that ass kicking you got from Lo Pan's subordinates."
Naruto clenched his jaws, grinding his teeth at the mention of Lo Pan and the 'Three Storms'.
"Besides, how can you fight them using a style that they taught you, baka?"
The cook of the restaurant was actually an ally of Egg Shen and the Chang Sings and had a pretty vast knowledge of combat, though he was far too old to apply it, so decided to add his input. "Excuse me, Egg Shen-sama, but shouldn't you just start all of his training over from scratch? If it is as you say, he would be at a disadvantage with the ninjutsu, taijutsu, and tactic he uses; at least when it comes to Lo Pan and the 'Storms'."
Not even looking up from his food, Egg Shen replied to the old cook. "No. This is the life of a shinobi. Him learning from Lo Pan is actually an advantage for him. There will always be someone more talented in a certain area, but we always look for another advantage. In this case, what he can use against them, we strengthen. What he can't use against them, we saved for later or get rid of altogether."
"Ohhhhh. I think I see what you mean. What may not work on Lo Pan and his subordinates may work on another unforeseen foe. So all we have to do is get rid of the garbage that Lo Pan filled his mind with, right?" asked the cook.
"We take what we want and leave the rest, like your salad bar." Egg Shen replied, nonchalantly. The cook snorted at the jab.
Turning to Naruto, he continued to go over the training program that he would set for Naruto. "I will be teaching you a new taijutsu form, if you could call it a 'form', to go with the forms that you already know. It will be up to you to figure out how to implement them into your own styles."
"We will also be working on your bojutsu. This will give you an advantage over your opponents, but we'll go into detail about that later on. Next will be your fuuinjutsu training. Though it is somewhat of a lost art, it can be very powerful when used correctly. It will take time and dedication, but the benefits could be very substantial for you."
"Next, we'll work on getting you a summoning contract. From there, you'll train with your summon, to learn how to fight with your summon. This could not only help you coordinate your attack with your summon, but it can also give you experience in teamwork, which will be a necessity for you in the future; whether that be with your Konoha teammates that you'll eventually be working with or with us."
"Lastly, we'll have to have work on your stealth. Your were far too easy to find when you kidnapped that girl. You have to learn how to hide any signs of your presence, from the your footprints to your chakra signature. Any sign of your presence that you leave behind can and will be tracked. Your just lucky that I returned the girl before anyone higher than a genin noticed her missing."
"As I'm sure you know by now, that Kage Bushin jutsu of yours can be pretty handy with regards to training. You will be using Kage Bushin to help you improve at a faster pace. Now, after you've finished eating, we will begin."
"Hai!" Naruto said, with determination in his eyes.
"That's the spirit, kid!"
'I have to be ready for them. Especially you...nii-san.' Naruto thought to himself.
Ten minutes later...
"OK, Naruto. First, you will be going back to Konoha, which would take you about two months to reach on foot."
"Two months! How am I supposed to explain that? They'll know that I've left the village!"
"Shut up, kid. I was just getting to that. Anyway, I have a plan that will be able to get you back to your village within seconds."
"How?" Naruto asked.
"Simple. I will let you sign my summoning scroll. Then, one of my summons will be able to summon you to Konoha. I already have one in Konoha, so it will work out perfectly. You'll be there in time to make it to the remainder of your class today."
"They can do that!" asked an excited Naruto.
"Of course. Now, first you'll need to sign this contract in blood." said Egg Shen, as a giant scroll appeared on his shoulder, through a cloud of smoke.
After unrolling the scroll, Naruto noticed that Egg Shen and another name , signed prior to Egg Shen, were the only names on said scroll. Following the examples of the two, Naruto drew blood from his thumb, signed his name and put his fingerprint on the scroll. After signing it, Egg Shen rolled the scroll back up and showed Naruto the necessary handseals.
After Naruto practiced the handseals for a couple of minutes, Egg Shen told him to add chakra to it seals. Doing as Egg Shen said, Naruto added a little of his chakra to the seals. When he finished the seals, he slammed his hand to the ground. There was a puff of smoke that obstructed Naruto's sight. Once the smoke died down, Naruto stared, wide eyed, at an seven foot tall praying mantis. Naruto took a couple of steps back and prepared himself to fight the very dangerous looking praying mantis.
"Ah! Egg Shen-sama! How can I be of assistance to you?" The mantis said in a excited voice, reminiscent of a gitty teenager.
"Hello, Kamachii. (Got the name from the name for the japanese praying mantis, which is called Kamakiri; which means 'sickle cut'. Learn something new everyday, huh?) How's your old man?"
"As crazy as ever. He's been training me nonstop for the last ten years. I barely get any time to myself anymore. I'm just thankful that you summoned me. Dad can get a little aggressive when we spar. I was out for a week the last time we did."
"Same old Kamachuun, huh? Anyway, I was not the one to summon you. My new apprentice, Uzumaki Naruto, summoned you. You are actually his first summon."
"Uzumaki-sama, it is a pleasure to make your aquintance. My name is Kamachii."
"Just call me Naruto. And I am equally honored to meet you, Kamachii."
"Alright! Be sure to summon me as much as you can. It will give me an excuse to get away from dad's training."
"I'll see what I can do, although Egg Shen will have me training hard as well. He even told me that I'd be training with you eventually."
"Old bastards...they never let up, do they?"
"Ok, Kamachii, that's enough small talk. I need you to summon Naruto back here two minutes after he is disappears, got it?"
"No problem. If he's signed the mantis contract, it shouldn't be a problem at all."
"Naruto, I want you to make two bushin when you get to Konoha. One to take your place and the other to update you on what's going on in Konoha. We'll have to replace them every couple of days, but it will be much easier if you have a bushin there." explained Egg Shen.
"Wait. How am I supposed to get to-" Naruto said before disappearing.
In Konoha...
"Konoha?" finished Naruto, within a cloud of smoke.
After looking around, Naruto noticed the fairly normal-sized praying mantis at his feet. "Hey, did you summon me?"
"Do you see anything other mantis' out here, kid?" said the little mantis.
"Well, thank you."
"Don't worry about it, kid."
As the mantis went back to relaxing in the grass, Naruto made two kage bushin and sent them to the academy; assigning one to fill in for him and the other to observe. As soon as the kage bushin left, Naruto vanished in another cloud of smoke.
Once the smoke cleared, a cloaked figure, wearing a blank mask stepped from behind a tree. "I should report this to Danzo-sama. No academy student should be able to do that." he said, to no one in particular, before vanishing in a whirl of leaves.
A/N: That's the end of this one. Again, sorry for the delay. Next chapter should be the choosing of the teams and introduction of Haku. Also, there will be the introduction of Danzo, the elders, and the council. Expect the new chapter next week.