Last Time:
"We leave in the morning! Get ready Jimmy!" McCool yelled as he sped away to prepare their transportation.
Now:
Kakashi sighed as he stood before the kage. Last night had been the one assigned watch detail over Naruto Uzumaki. But he had been…otherwise distracted. Someone had left a limited edition Icha-Icha Paradise book with an added 5 chapters and a surprise plot twist! Before he knew what had happened, Neko had arrived to his house, claiming the Kage wanted to speak to him ASAP regarding his protection detail over Naruto.
Kakashi looked at the kage as he told him what had happened to Naruto last night along with the fact that if the McDougal family hadn't been with him, Naruto would have been mauled by villagers. Kakashi looked down in shame, knowing his vice had almost cost his sensei's only son his life. "Kakashi, what you did was unacceptable. You almost put Naruto's life in danger. As a result, you will be barred from protection detail over Naruto and will be stripped of your ANBU Captain status. You will return to Chunin and continue your shinobi duties under probation for 6 months." Hiruzen finished.
Everyone stared in shock. "Hokage-Sama, you can't be serious. That's sensei's son. I have to watch over him!" Kakashi pleaded. "If you truly felt that way, you would have been watching over him last night like you were supposed to. Dismissed." Hiruzen said sternly, leaving no room for argument. Kakashi looked down in shame, but left before anything worse happened.
*Village Gates *
Naruto had a sad smile on his face as he saw the McDougal family getting ready to leave the village. "Whatcha crying for, Blondie?!" Gina demanded as she walked past Naruto. "I'm just gonna miss you guys, is all." Naruto replied with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. There was a family that had accepted him for what he was, and what he contained. Where others saw fear, they just saw what he really was. A kid who wanted nothing more than to be accepted and to have a friend. "Cheer up, brat. We'll be back to visit someday!" Jimmy said as he held his cigar.
"And if we can't make it, we'll send Gina to see ya." Cheech finished, getting a punch from Jimmy and a small blush from Gina. "Shut up, ya mook!" Gina yelled as she began slamming Cheech's head into the floor. Naruto smiled, a small genuine smile. "Here kid." Jimmy said as he handed Naruto a small switchblade. "Don't ever let anyone tell you who you are. Show them who you are and if they like it, great. If not, fuck em!" He said with a smile. Naruto nodded as the family said their goodbyes.
"I'll be back someday, blondie!" Gina yelled as McCool reared his horse back. "TO CANADA…WHERE HEALTHCARE IS FREE AND MAPLE SYRUP IS DELICIOUS!" Within a flash, the carriage was gone.
*Back at the house*
Naruto looked at the door knob fearfully as he arrived home. He had told claptrap all he had been told, including the Kyuubi being sealed in his gut. Claptrap nodded and asked Naruto for three books from the local library. They were "The Tailed Beasts", "The Basics of Chakra", and "Sealing for Dummies." Naruto took a deep breath and opened the door, only to see claptrap sitting around the table with a birthday cake for him.
"SURPRISE!"Claptrap began as he started to play horrible dubstep music from his speakers and dancing. "Since we didn't manage to celebrate yesterday, I figured we'd do it today!" Naruto smiled as he took a seat and blew out the candles. "So, claptrap…" Naruto began shyly, "..About yesterday's information.." Naruto began, slightly worried about what he would think. "Oh, hang on!" Claptrap replied as he projected a large screen onto a wall.
It was a video from the vault hunters wishing him a happy birthday and telling him how big he'd gotten. Once the video was over, claptrap turned to Naruto, seeing the kid crying. "Now, what did you want to ask?" Claptrap wondered. Naruto wiped his eyes and asked Claptrap, "What do you think about me…now that you know that there's a demon inside of me? And did they know before making that video? Will they think of me differently?" Naruto asked.
Claptrap looked at Naruto, then began laughing. "Naruto, yes, they know what happened last night. I sent them a video message…And I got chewed out by Lilith." Claptrap admitted. "Why is that, Claptrap?" Naruto asked, wondering why Lilith would get mad at her friend for letting them know about the Demon. "Well, you already have the basics of what a vault hunter is. Well, we did manage to open one of the vaults, but inside of it. There was a guard. A creature of immense power and rage emerged from the vault." Claptrap continued.
"At first, we thought we would encounter treasure and immortality in the vault, but we encountered another challenge. And the more we thought about it, the more we realized that vault was more of a jail. And the guard was the prisoner." Claptrap said as he scratched the back of his head. "So, you're more like that vault, and the Kyuubi is the prisoner." He finished. "We all agreed that you and the beast are two completely different beings. And due to the incident, we will begin your arms training, along with a small taste of what VAULTHUNTER . EXE can do!" Claptrap finished.
Naruto smiled as he ate his cake, happy his one true friend had accepted him despite of everything. And more than that, he was going to be trained to protect himself! The day had been good for Naruto. "Now finish eating and get ready to go training!" Naruto saluted and finished eating.
*KONOHA STREETS*
Naruto smiled as he walked towards an old abandoned training ground, trying to be as stealthy as possible. Of course, that was extremely difficult since he was carrying around Claptrap in box form. "You need a diet, man!" Naruto whispered as he ducked out of the streets and into an alley to avoid being spotted. "Yea, yea, maybe you just need to hit the gym!" Claptrap replied as he was dropped . He deployed his movement wheel and followed Naruto in the back alleys, towards the training grounds.
*ABANDONED TRAINING GROUNDS*
Naruto groaned as he continued with his physical exercises. "WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO DO THIS?!" Naruto demanded as he finished his 12th lap around the training grounds. "Your body needs to be strong enough to handle the physical changes that VAULTHUNTER . EXE brings with it! That and carrying around tons of equipment isn't easy!" Claptrap replied as he drank a fruity drink in the sun. "SO WHY DON'T YOU DO THIS TOO?!" Naruto demanded. "I'm a machine! I can't train, all I can do is upgrade!" claptrap replied as he called Naruto over.
"Alright, now you have a few gun classes to consider. You have Sniper rifles, Handguns, Revolvers, SMG's, LMG's, Shotguns, Rocket Launchers, and a few enhanced tech weapons, but they're E-tech. Variations of the above, but with a lot more power!" Claptrap finished. Naruto nodded as some basic-looking guns were displayed before him. Naruto nodded and reached for one, only to feel a smack on his hand. "Whoa, what are you doing? You can't grab them yet! You need to build up stamina and learn general gun safety!" Claptrap finished. Naruto nodded, but felt a chill up his spine as he saw a flash of evil in Claptrap's eyes. These next few years were going to be tough!
*On a Cliff- Near Hokage Monument*
A graveyard next to a seemingly abandoned house was being searched by a small girl with a shovel. "WAKE THE DEAD!"She yelled as she began digging graves up with her older brother and the butler. She looked out onto the village to see a small boy running around in an abandoned training ground. "Mother, what is that kid doing near our swamps?" She asked her mother. Her mother was a tall woman dressed in black, with extremely pale skin, hair as dark as the night, and brown eyes. "We'll have to find out, dear. But he's not doing any harm. Let's just keep an eye on him." The woman replied as she went to find her husband.
A/N: Yea, now things are getting interesting. I've added a medley of characters, and it will be rather interesting. So, I'll try to continue the updates, but let me know what you think! Now, hit that Review button!
