Plague: Here we go, here we go, satellite radi-*BONK*
Roamer: ...Taking temporary control until Plague gets the lyrics of Boom Boom Pow out of her immediate attention...even if this is HER project...
Thank you for those who had enough interest to read the story, especially those who have set story alerts and reviewed.
...
That's pretty much it...seeing as its just the FIRST chapter...
...
Why do I even bother reading Plague's emergency script...
Disclaimer: Plague does not own House of the Dead (Sega's) or Naruto (Kishimoto's).
Roamer: ...Nothing else...so roll tape. *drags Plague off-screen*
"Text" Normal speech
'Text' Thoughts/Mental communication
"Text" Goldman speech
'Text' Goldman mental communication
"Text" Demon/Arcana speech
'Text' Demon/Arcana mental communication
Chapter 2: The Pantheon
An hour later, Naruto was lying on his bed in his apartment, staring up at the ceiling. Currently his mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts, all based around the events that happened previously, and ESPECIALLY around the Arcana. What had managed to disturb him significantly was Chariot's eager question of decapitation. Maybe there was something in the scroll that could help?
Taking it out of his pocket, he unrolled it to see the same slots and design from earlier. However, there was no indication of anything else.
'Wait a minute, didn't that Goldman guy say something about the scroll having special seals? And didn't he also say that we would talk more 'later'? Maybe I can find something to contact him...who WAS that Goldman guy anyway?!?!'
'I actually prefer being referred to in the present tense, child.'
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!"
Unable to hold in his immense shock, he let out a large startled scream and shot off the bed, dropping the scroll in the process.
'G-G-Goldman?!'
No response came this time however.
'Wait...did I imagine that? Hang on...'
Naruto suddenly cast a wary eye on the black scroll, 'innocently' resting on the bed after he dropped it.
'I was holding that when he suddenly spoke...Maybe?'
He inched closer to the bed, before climbing back on and tentatively taking the opened scroll.
'...Goldman?'
'Greetings, child. Good work, by the way, for figuring out what happened just now.'
'Errr...thanks? Oh yeah, earlier you said we would speak about more 'later'?'
There was no response, except a sudden feeling of-
"GAH!"
In an instant, Naruto's vision was again filled with the black expanses of what apparently was his mind.
"My apologies, child, for not giving you forewarning. It is better however if we had spoken face to face."
Whirling around, he was once again faced with Goldman sitting in his office chair. There was a hint of a smile on his otherwise passive face.
"Alright, can you PLEASE give me some warning then in future?"
"You have my word. Now, I believe you are curious for more information about the summoning contract."
Giving Goldman a nod, Naruto moved to make himself comfortable on the ground, until Goldman shook his head.
"This is your mind, child. You do not need to resort to sitting on the ground if you wished to."
"Wait, you mean I could just...think of a chair or something to sit on, and it'll appear?"
Goldman simply shrugged in reply.
"It's your mind. Or at least, to be more precise, a part of it."
Giving Goldman an inquisitive look, Naruto decided to focus on a simple stool, before jumping slightly in surprise as one just 'phased' into existence next to him. Getting over it, he then sat on it before facing Goldman again, who had a quirked eyebrow.
"A stool?" Naruto shrugged in response.
"It works."
Goldman's face had another hint of a smile, before it disappeared again.
"Now then, I should perhaps start on what exactly are the Arcana, shouldn't I?"
Goldman waited for a response, which he received with an earnest nod.
"First, I must make this very clear; shinobi were not the first incarnation of humans on this world."
Almost immediately, Goldman could see the multiplying question marks hovering over Naruto's head, who had a dumbstruck look on his face.
"Allow me to explain. Humans are such a destructive species. In the past, great technological leaps and bounds were made. At the same time, however, destructive technologies were developed at the same time, and in every incarnation, they have succeeded in destroying themselves one way or another, resetting the natural balance of this world, letting the world recover as the next incarnation reforms themselves.
"The Arcana were the cause of one such renewal. I will not go into reasons, but they had...'a change of heart' so to speak, and now this contract facilitates their...attempt to reconcile with humanity."
Naruto was still puzzling slightly over the explanation until he came across a startling conclusion. If Goldman was in the contract with them...
"W-wait wait, then does that mean...Y-YOU'RE A GHOST?!?!"
"'Memory' is a better word. The original Goldman is as dead as the past incarnations are." Goldman replied nonchalantly, almost causing Naruto to sweatdrop if not for the reality behind the Goldman in front of him.
"What is interesting for this incarnation of humans, however, is that it nearly experienced an early renewal-"
"EEEHHHHHH!?!?!?"
Goldman sent an exasperated look in Naruto's direction, who had fallen off his stool in the immense shock of what he just heard.
"I DID say the word 'nearly', child."
"B-but, what happened then?!"
To Naruto's surprise, Goldman took off his glasses and started rubbing the bridge of his nose. When he was done, Naruto was again surprised as Goldman faced him, with what appeared to be akin to a look of sadness.
"It is an old tale, which for the most part is true. In the distant past, there were no shinobi, only humans waring against each other. Then, a figure known only as the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths) was said to be the first who knew the truth of chakra, and essentially was the first ever shinobi. Overtime, he spread his ideas and religion, which eventually became modern ninjutsu.
"A creature, known as the Jūbi (Ten-Tailed Beast), threatened the world, nearly causing another renewal. However, the Rikudō Sennin managed to subdue it, sealing its chakra into himself, its remains into a gargantuan stone prison, before sending the prison heavenwards, creating the moon.
"THIS, however," Naruto jumped at the sudden dangerous edge Goldman's voice took, "was FALSE. The moon had long since existed before this incarnation of humanity. What truly happened was, yes he had sealed the remains into a stone prison, but it was not large enough to form the moon. Instead it had impacted against the real moon, before being fused with it through some unknown part of the Rikudō Sennin's power."
The look of sadness returned to Goldman's face.
"This had unexpected side-effects. Of all of the Arcana, The Moon possessed the greatest link with what she was named after. When the Jūbi's remains fused with the real moon, the Arcana Moon lapsed into unconsciousness, most likely due to the corruption of the real moon. Since then, The Moon has been unresponsive, and we are unsure if she would ever regain consciousness."
A moment of silence seemed to pass between the two, before Naruto quietly spoke up.
"I'm...sorry to hear about that..."
"Don't be, child. It has happened, but we have both accepted it and also are trying to reverse the effects. Thank you however, for your concern."
Silence continued to reign between them, until Naruto suddenly recalled something about the scroll. The design in it had twenty-two circles, three of which were burned out. If one of them was The Moon, then the other two...
"Goldman? What happened to the other two Arcana who's circles were burned out?"
"...I will tell you about them at another time...If you wish to access information about the Arcana, apply chakra to their respective circles. The scroll has a unique property which you will find out when you do so."
"...Thanks...say Goldman? How do I go back?"
"Concentrate on returning to your body. It helps at first if you imagined a picture of it in your mind when doing so. Overtime you'll get more used to doing it and as such do not require the image."
Naruto nodded his head in thanks, before getting off his stool. He stood there momentarily before tiling his head back at Goldman.
"Say Goldman?"
"Mmm? Yes child?"
"If there was a Jūbi, then that means its related to the Kyūbi no Yōko, right?"
"In a way. The Rikudō Sennin realized the possible danger keeping the Jūbi's chakra sealed within him, therefore he split the chakra into nine entities and scattered them across the world. The Kyūbi is one of these. Why do you ask?"
"Oh because...when I was a baby, the Yondaime Hokage sealed it within me to save the village. Anyway thanks, see ya!"
Naruto turned about, completely missing Goldman's profound look of shock, and, after concentrating, managed to fade away. Goldman remained in place, shock still written all over his face.
"...This was unprecedented...the Arcana must be informed."
Naruto slowly opened his eyes, the sight of the ceiling of his apartment filling his vision. Slowly he sat up, before looking down at the black scroll in front of him, specifically at the design, with its three burned out circles.
'Man...having someone familiar to them in a comatose state...and not knowing what to do...'
Naruto shivered slightly at the thought, imagining Iruka-sensei in a coma.
'If it happened to me...I'd be really worried as well...'
Naruto suddenly stifled a yawn, as he blinked his eyes rapidly in an attempt to stay awake.
'...I'm exhausted...maybe I should take a look at the scroll tomorrow...'
Placing the scroll within a 'secret spot' (underneath a loose floorboard), he let out a loud yawn, before falling asleep on his bed.
Within the scroll, Goldman stood within a dark room with very dim lighting, several silhouetted figures standing around him, all arguing over the matter Goldman presented to them.
"This...is unprecedented, Goldman...The Kyūbi, a fragment of the Jūbi, within our summoner..." A childish voice resounded through the room, the source coming from a small impish shadow, resting on a large headless figure carrying a massive axe, which groaned in agreed response.
"With the Kyūbi within the child, perhaps it is possible that we can at last revive The Moon from her coma!" This was put forward by a guttural voice, the figure crouching between its legs, a trident grasped in its hand, while its chest shifted from time to time.
"We do not know what would happen to the child if we did so, nor if we would even be successful in doing so." This was refuted by an echoing voice, from a horned figure floating above the 'floor', part of its limbs pulsing like exposed muscles.
"Bah! I say we simply kill the boy. That way, the Kyūbi would die as well, and there would be no chance that what happened to The Moon would happen to another one of us again!" A hostile tone filled the voice, the hulking figure carrying a massive chainsaw. The word 'BLAME' could be barely seen etched into the side of the weapon. At this sentence, varying murmurs of consent or protest arose.
"Think thissssss through, you imbecile! The boy sssssshould not have to die jusssssst because of the Kyūbi within him. We are ssssssupposed to try and reconcile humanity through thissssss incarnation damnit!" A sibilant voice rebutted instantly, the large slender figure resting upon four coiled smaller figures. This statement caused the room's occupants to burst into loud argument and chatter. Goldman simply stood in the middle of it, having already taken off his glasses and was rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Then, a loud booming voice resounded: "ENOUGH..." Instantly, the figures stopped their loud argument and turned their attention to the largest figure amongst them, obviously the leader of the Arcana.
"WE SHALL FIRST WATCH THE BOY...HE IS OUR ONLY LINK TO THIS INCARNATION OF HUMANITY...WE MUST NOT DO ANYTHING TO ENDANGER IT...THE KYŪBI SHALL BE DEALT WITH IN TIME...SO SAYS THE WORLD..." With that the figure faded away from the room.
"So says The World..." The other figures repeated in chorus, before they separately faded away as well.
Goldman sighed as he returned to rubbing the bridge of his nose. He knew that some of the Arcana would react in the way that they had, but the fact was there: The Kyūbi, being a part of the Jūbi, could possibly be used to revive The Moon from her comatose state.
"Sometimes I wish that the original Goldman should not have left his memory in this...It would spare me the pain of the Arcana being what they are..."
Goldman turned around before walking off, slowly fading away from the room...
Plague: Alright I'm conscious now! Hope you guys liked that. Not much action, but it does help set the scene, as well as explaining The Moon. I know, the moon in the Naruto-verse was created as was mentioned, but if there were earlier incarnations of humanity, the moon is present there as well. Therefore, I had to make it that the stone prison for the Jūbi's body fused with the moon instead of BECOMING the moon.
Yup, the Arcana now know of the Kyūbi in Naruto, and are now planning/plotting/whatever-else on what to do with that piece of information. Of course, they will be VERY interested eventually when the Akatsuki appear, and what they plan to do (as in 'gathering the Tailed Beasts', prior to Madara revealing his Eye of the Moon plan thingy, that's in Shippuden if I ever get that far).
Next we'll have the second of the three Arcana available to Naruto making an appearance, but that's all I'm going to say. Now then, reviews are GREATLY appreciated ^ ^