To command the Fallen is to become the Fallen.
Only those willing to die can control the dead.
Genma sighed in frustration as soon as he left the Hyuuga compound with Tenten and Neji walking behind him. He had gotten permission from the Hokage to take his team with him on a B-rank mission. It was three months after Team Three's first practice and Genma as well as Hayate felt they were ready. The three of them all came from a superior breed of nin, even if most of the village refused to accept them. The only thing the jonin needed was parental permission. Tenten's father had taken some convincing, but eventually agreed; Neji's, on the other hand, accepted right away. The Hyuuga head then preceded to delay them with a feast and a discussion. Genma hated long winded talkers as much as their long winded dinners.
"Where are we going sensei?" Tenten asked as she carefully stepped over a huge tree root that crossed their path. The path was surrounded by thick vegetation on both sides that grew over the path as well, blocking out most light. The path itself was so steep that Neji was having problems keeping up with the hard pace Genma was setting. The jonin didn't answer, but stepped off of the path and into a group of knurled and dead trees. He led them to the center of the trees and stood in front of the largest, allowing his two charges to accept the sight before them. A tree with wood so dark it was black rose out of the ground and was decorated with skeletons hanging from faded rope on every limb.
"This is where Naruto lives," Genma said before walking up to a bare section of bark and knocking several times. The whole tree shuddered and the skeletons seemed to turn their heads slightly towards them. It was when Tenten shivered and turned away that she noticed what hung from the rest of the trees; villagers in all different stages of decay. One man even opened his eyes and reached towards the shocked duo.
"They attack this home and they hang," a wispy voice said above them. The two genin looked up to see what must have been the oldest skeleton they had ever seen. It's bones were held together by strings of ligaments, it's bones were yellow with age, and it looked ready to crumble to dust. "Every infraction must be punished…" The voice faded as a well hidden door opened to reveal a curious Naruto.
"Naruto, we have been given a B-rank mission by the Hokage. Pack at least two weeks worth of supplies and come with us to the briefing." Tenten stared shocked at her sensei's utter lack of emotion as he spoke. It was as if he was used to such sights around Naruto.
'It's not like Naruto doesn't do some creepy things,' she admitted to herself. Just last week, she had caught Naruto pulling bones out of the ground and creating little mismatched creatures with them. He then animated them into terrifying the academy students they were supposed to be tutoring. Their parents had seen and tried to make him stop, but the one that managed to get in close enough to hit him had broken his hand on Naruto's cheek. Tenten still didn't have an explanation for that one. When Tenten snapped out of her rambling thoughts, she saw that Naruto was back with a pack and Snake draped over his shoulders, Dog and Crow stood just behind them. The trip down the path and to the Hokage Tower was silent; Neji and Tenten were shocked speechless while Genma didn't feel like speaking to a mute.
"This is a serious manner. During this mission you will be delivering this scroll," he indicated a sealed scroll that sat on his desk, "to the Kazekage. You will be allowed into Suna, but you must be careful; any indication that we are unfriendly could spark a war. You're not to open the scroll or speak of its existence to anyone other than the Kazekage. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good. In three days, you will meet with a jonin squad from Suna that will escort you to the city. I cannot stress enough the fact that we must keep in good relations with the Sand. Now go!"
"Why was the Hokage acting like that?" Tenten question from inside her tent. It was dusk now and they had ran the whole time. The trip had been completely silent, only the sound of feet hitting branches proved they were even there. Tenten hated to admit that she found it unnerving.
"I did find it odd as well, I must admit," Neji said from the tent he would be sharing with Genma. The two camouflaged tents were across the fire from one another, giving the camp a cozy feel. Naruto was several feet above them all, laying on a thick branch of a tree with his Watchers. He rarely needed to sleep, so he didn't own a tent. He knew Tenten would share, but he would then have to deal with her talking to him the whole time.
"A higher ranked mission briefing is a far more serious matter than those pathetic C- and D-rank missions you performed so far. Basically: the more serious the mission, the more serious the briefing and debriefing." Genma sat near the middle of the circle of tents, laying on his back and staring at the sky. He tilted his head slightly and was about to say something, but closed his mouth instead and turned back to the slowly setting sun. "Neji, Tenten, if Naruto doesn't wake in time for his turn on watch, get me up instead." The girl looked up the tree in surprise and caught sight of a sleeping Naruto wrapped in startling white bone. She nodded before taking a short nap.
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Naruto hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the cool air and calm dusk was a rarity in his dead house. He had closed his eyes for just a second and his body had shut down. Forcing himself into a highly recuperative sleep cycle, Naruto found himself in his mindscape. A never ending field of short black grass spread out before him, dotted occasionally by large black trees covered in red leaves and long thorns. Relaxing under the largest of these trees was the nine tailed fox, Kyuubi. The Beast King was tethered to the tree, but Naruto didn't want to push the creature; sometimes the fox could be quite helpful. Laying next the great beast, Naruto watched the shifting blue/grey clouds that blocked the normally black sky until Kyuubi spoke.
"The clouds only appear when you are under great stress. What ails you boy?" he asked in a toned down version of his normally booming voice. Shifting his head, Naruto could see that Kyuubi hadn't even open one of his great eyes.
"Why? You have never shown a vested interest in my life, other that keeping me alive." Even if Naruto didn't like to push the beast, he new he wouldn't do anything horrible. He valued his own life after all. Kyuubi chuckled a bit before shifting into a tanned, humanoid male wearing only white ceremonial pants and a blood red sash. The man's long red hair billowed like a lion's mane over his broad shoulders and chest. He opened his crimson eyes to gave at Naruto.
"That hurts, Naru-kun. I have shown a great interest in your life. I helped you create such a mindscape, I awakened your latent abilities, and gave you my intelligence. How can you say I am uncaring?" Kyuubi asked in a mock hurt voice.
"Everything you have ever done was for your own survival. Its not like I won't grow old and die anyway." Naruto moved himself and sat cross-legged before Kyuubi.
"I wouldn't allow it!" Kyuubi could help but chuckled at Naruto's shocked face. "Demonic cells don't have the same fragilities as human cells. They wouldn't break down after several centuries of replications. And as for my inquiry, rain always follows these kinds of clouds. I abhor the rain." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Kyuubi sighed and flopped onto his back, closing his eyes at the same time. "Sing to me boy," he commanded. Naruto complied without complaint; for some odd reason, his voice suffered no damage from nonuse if he used it in his mindscape.
"Dead men lying on the bottom of the grave
Wondering when savior comes, is he gonna be saved?
Maybe you're a sinner into your alternate life
Maybe you're a joker, maybe you deserve to die
They were crying when their sons left, god is wearing black
He's gone so far to find no hope, he's never coming back
They were crying when their sons left, all young men must go
He's come so far to find the truth, he's never going home"
As Naruto sang, skeletons began to pull themselves from the black ground and move towards the two. Most of bone soldiers wore ripped armor and dented helms, but two were clothed as old kings. The army split into two factions, each headed by a king.
"Young men standing on the top of their own graves
Wondering when Savior comes, are they gonna be saved?
Cruelty to the winner, bishop tells the king his lies
Maybe you're a mourner, maybe you deserve to die
They were crying when their sons left, god is wearing black
He's gone so far to find no hope, he's never coming back
They were crying when their sons left, all young men must go
He's come so far to find the truth, he's never going home"
The two armies clashed and fought all around Naruto and Kyuubi, who had opened his eyes to watch the proceedings. The soldiers battered each other with shattered spears and broken spears, but there was no clear winner yet. The two kings battled it out in the center and were nearest to Naruto, who paid no head to them. Their iron swords locked at the hilts in a stalemate.
"Welcome to the soldier side, where there is no one here but me
People all going to die, there is no one here but me"
One king overpowered the other and dumped him onto his back, leveling his sword at his fallen opponent. The grounded king grabbed and abandoned spear and pulled his feet from under him, aim to take his head off with it. By this time, both armies had killed the others off, leaving none to witness spear behead on king and a sword decapitate the other.
"Welcome to the soldier side, there is no one here but me
People on the soldier side, there is no one here but me"
Just as Naruto finished, the ground absorbed the skeletons, leaving no trace of the battle. Kyuubi lifted his gaze to the sky and smiled. The clouds had vanished and a full, blood red moon stood out in contrast to the black sky. The Beast King chuckled again before falling asleep, he wouldn't have to deal with the rain after all.
Three days after their departure found Team 3 on the border of a small neutral country and the Land of Wind. It was here that the scruff of grass and brush dwindled into sand. They had been waiting for an hour before a Suna jonin, wearing bandages and white fabric to hide his face, came into view and walked over to Genma. Though he was a safe distance away, the three genin tensed in preparation of an attack. Genma made a "stand down" gesture with his hands before meeting the jonin at the boarder line.
"You are the ones Kazekage-sama wish to see?" the jonin asked in a deep but even tone. When Genma nodded, the jonin signaled to others hidden in nearby sand dunes. "Can I see some form of identification?" He asked as three children walked up. Two of them, a blonde and one in black clothing, wore Suna headbands but the redhead, who looked to be the youngest, had none.
Genma cast a curious gaze in the three but handed his team's id papers. "I was told a group of jonin were to be our escorts."
The jonin handed the papers back to him before answering. "These three are as good as any jonin." When he saw the other man's incredulous look, he continued. "They know more about fighting in the desert than you. Anyway, you could see it as a sign of trust, the three of them are the Kazekage's children."
The blonde girl walked up to stand in front of Naruto and held out her hand. "Hello, my name is Temari," she said in a friendly manner. Naruto stared at her for a moment before he stepped back a pace and stuck his hands into his trench coat pockets. Three of the four tensed, expecting an attack, but Tenten mover forward.
"He doesn't mean to be rude, Naruto's a mute and anthrohobic; just ignore him." Tenten was so caught up in keeping peace, that she missed Naruto's flinch at her words. "I'm Tenten." She held out her hand and Temari shook it. As Neji stepped forward to introduce himself, Naruto turned and walked the quarter mile to where they left their packs. Dog and Crow were hidden near his pack because Genma didn't want to scare their allies, but Snake had refused to be moved. He stayed under Naruto's trench coat the whole time. He adjusted his pack slightly and sat next to it, allowing the other two Watchers to settle down next to him.
He had just closed his eyes, not to rest but because there was nothing to look at, when he heard the crunch of footsteps and Snake shifted until its head appeared out of the coat. Naruto opened his eyes to see the silent red head standing over him. Naruto held his gaze as the boy raised his hand and clenched his fist closed.
"Sebaku Soso."
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After noticing Gaara's absence, Baki looked around and, to his horror, saw his charge sending his sand to cover the mute boy. The jonin thought the boy wouldn't have been allowed to be a nin if he was born in Suna, but to keep on friendly terms, he needed to be saved. "Temari! Kankuro!" he yelled as he jumped towards Gaara and Naruto. "Stop Gaara!" The whole group began to run towards the two and Baki noticed that the boy didn't even open his eyes as sand overcame him. The Suna nin were surprised when Naruto did open his eyes, they held no fear.
They had almost reached the boys when Baki heard the words he dreaded, "Sebaku Soso." The sand completely covered the boy and imploded. The group stopped dead as Gaara threw the large clump of sand to the side, where a small puddle of blood formed.
"Why Gaara?" Temari asked as the group moved slightly closer. Her brother had never blatantly gone against orders and they had gotten direct orders from their father to not harm the Konoha nin. "He did nothing to you."
Gaara ignored her and started to walk away, only to find that he was unable to do so. Looking down, he saw skeletal hands reaching out of the sand keeping him in place. Gaara used his sand to knock the hands away, but felt more grab him from behind. He was shocked to find that his Suna no Tate was unresponsive to his plight. Skeletons rose from the ground and surrounded Gaara, who couldn't move due to the ones holding him.
The shocked speechless nin watched as the sand coffin shifted and Naruto stood. He had removed his trench coat, exposing a grey shirt and an almost sickly thin body. An animal skull covered his face and head while bone bracers covered his arms. A spine attached to ribs ran down each of his legs, protecting it as well as ANBU armor. All together, he looked like a specter rising from the pits of Hell.
Naruto's eyes had changed from blue to red and became slitted. "I'm just a ghost," he said in a gravely but deadly voice. "So I can't hurt you anymore…" he voice grew louder, causing goose bumps to form on the nin's arms. "So I can't hurt you anymore!" he tipped his head back and yelled into the sky. As he did, the skeletons came together and formed a large bone creature with glowing yellow eyes and a beating heart that could be seen inside the otherwise empty chest cavity. "And now, you wanna see how far I can sink? Let me go!" At Naruto's yell, the creature came alive, stood at a towering nine feet, and roared. "Kuchiyose: Ryu Kokki."
The creature roared again and moved to grab Gaara, who hastily performed Sebaku Taiso. The sand crushed the beast's arm, but the other one swung around to knock Gaara and his Suna no Tate across the land. As the sand settled, Gaara saw a streak of white before a clawed, bone thin hand grabbed his throat and squeezed lightly. The trapped boy looked up to see red eyes and bared fangs. Naruto's demon-possessed face grew closer to Gaara's panicked one until he was close enough to whisper, "I won't deal with your shit, Shukaku. Leave my container alone or I'll kill your's." For emphasis, Kyuubi squeezed Gaara's throat a little tighter before releasing it and stepping away, putting the Ryu Kokki to rest as he did so. Gaara stumbled back and fell, bringing his arm up to cover part of his face.
"Monster…" he mumbled. His voice seemed to snap the onlookers out of their shock. Temari and Kankuro ran over to Gaara and began to check him over while the rest moved towards Naruto. The boy shuttered violently as he gained control of his body.
"Naruto, are you okay?" Genma asked his student. The jonin worried briefly over the seal, and even more briefly over Konoha-Suna relations, before he was just plain worried for his student. He had never heard Naruto speak, let alone yell, or seen him use those moves; it was quite the experience. When Naruto nodded, Genma turned to Baki, who was staring incredulously at Naruto.
Before he could speak, Baki said, "Don't worry, relations with Konoha maybe even better now. I have never met someone strong enough to beat Gaara." He turned his gaze to Genma. "How do you keep control over such a beast?"
"By not calling him a beast," Genma answered in a low tone. "We allow Naruto to keep his skeletons and corpses, his silence, and his dignity. Our village hates him, but our Kage doesn't force him to do things he doesn't wish." He sighed. "The only thing we can do is hope that it is enough."
Baki broke Genma's gaze to look back over to Naruto. The boy did a full body shudder and the bones covering him fell and shifted into his Watchers. Once they were completely formed, the others could see that Naruto was hurt after all. Several scrapes and scratches covered his chest and head, but blood dripped slowly from a thin but deep wound on his side. Baki turned to check on his own charges and saw that Temari had Gaara up, but all three were shooting scared glances at Naruto. "Do you think that it is enough?"
Genma saw Naruto ignore his teammates completely and allow a small, child-sized skeleton to crawl onto his back. He then grabbed his coat from the ground and donned it. His Watchers took their usual spots as Naruto pushed past Tenten and Neji to walk in the direction of Suna. "I very much doubt it."
Well, hope this better than the previous chaps, and hope someone still likes this story! This is for Dark Orb's birthday present! Hope you like it!!!!!