OHMAGAWH . . . I got a chapter out! Celebrate with me, people. I finally found out where my Muse was hiding . . . That and my computer went "Dead as door nail" for a while. It's—well, it's very old. Like, 1995 old. It tends to get sick.
Anyway, you get to meet Kagura (who was mentioned a few chapters back) and she is an OC. She will probably be one of the only ones that I pick for an OC because I foresee something hilarious with her. That and you see a slightly OOC Sasuke because, hello, I having him grow up in this fic . . . with a kick or two from Hinata. Please, no flamers about this. I've made it abundantly clear after I adopted this that it would stay very, very Alternate Universe (AU). Thank you all that have waited patiently! I feel so fuzzy and warm now!
TEAMS:
Ino, Shino, Sasuke - Team 7- Kakashi
Sakura, Choji, Kiba - Team 8 - Kurenai
Hinata, Shikamaru, Naruto - Team 10 - Asuma
Tenten, Lee, Neji - *Team 9?* - Gai
(because the other chapter refuses to correct the text)
KEY:
"Kyuubi talking to Naruto and Hitogoroshi."
"Hitogoroshi talking to Kyuubi and Naruto."
"Naruto talking to Hitogoroshi and Kyuubi."
Naruto Thinking to himself...
"Regular talking."
"Two or More (Hito, Kyuu, and or Naruto) talking at once"
::Akamaru, Kuromaru, or a dog/fox speaking::
1234567890 quote 1234567890
Perfection is but an illusion that man has made to make themselves feel self-important when they themselves are far from the perfection they promote. That is why so many who say they are seek it out so intently.
1234567890 Three days later... 1234567890
"So, you need to transfer the power of a full-fledged demon several millennium old without killing the original vessel or the new couriers? Well, let's see what you have down," Shikamaru said simply, glibly as if this kind of stuff happened everyday. When he received several shocked stares, he rolled his eyes lazily as he picked up the paper Naruto slid his way.
"Here's all that I accounted for. Other than getting enhanced senses and maybe a more instinctive knowledge of the terrain wherever they are, they shouldn't inherit anything else from Kyuu-chan. I've set the seals to release set amounts every thirty or so hours that won't do anything to the recipient . . . at all. So, missions are able to be performed without anything distracting anyone at a critical moment." Shika nodded his head and tapped a pen against the paper.
"Well, here is a small problem, but if you do this—here," he showed Naruto the paper and drew in another squiggle that left everyone else baffled but Naruto nodding rapidly, "and here—then you can get more for less. Better effects from the cause and all that, too."
"So . . . it's okay?" Hinata ventured to ask, since all the boys were acting like scared pansies, and stepped forward. "If so, go ahead and paint me up, brother." Naruto coughed and mumbled under his breath about "needing to be top naked" just loud enough the girl could hear causing her to laugh. "Fine, I'll just get Shikamaru to do it, then."
"I'll do it, I'll do it, just . . . just have a towel or something, please," Naruto pleaded as he started taking off his own shirt. Kiba followed directly afterward and stood still as Shikamaru got to work on him. Naruto led Hinata to the bathroom for one of the most embarrassing moments of his life as he painted convulsing symbols on her skin and . . . and boobs. Ones that he didn't see because he closed his eyes and painted the symbols deftly from memory. Thank you, KAMI, for my photo-graphic memory! Once finished, he handed his sister a towel and went out to the cleared room that he was going to use for the transfer.
Surprisingly, both his pup and Kiba's were painted up too, their fur shaved off and leaving them looking quite a sight without the thick hair to fill them out. Shikamaru had also chucked his shirt and was currently directing Kiba what to paint where before Naruto took over, sighing over the fact that this had to be done in the first place. They'd been fighting for two days, Naruto demanding that this not be done and only to be bashed repeatedly, physically and verbally, for just giving in and letting himself die. He'd conceded when Hinata started actually crying and had given over to their master plan. That didn't mean he actually approved of this, though.
Shino was a surprising mix of too pale skin and bright pink scars from his Kakai without his coat and shirt. Even the mesh was gone for the seal that was already painted on his skin. Naruto had to say he'd been the biggest shocker of this whole ordeal. He didn't have any intimate knowledge of the current situation yet the overly cautious and brooding teen had offered without hesitation.
"Everyone ready?" he received nods before they sat. "Hinata, to the water, Kiba the fire, Shino the earth, Shikamaru the wind. Ichigo and Akamaru, the last point of the star formation for spirit. I'll take the center. Everybody ready for a painful process?" The mutters of positive responses made him slightly tense with the final step in play.
"Do you, Hinata of water, sister of my heart and name, take your place?"
"I do," Hinata sank in the Lotus position with ease, hands resting in her lap.
"Do you, Kiba of fire, bonded brother and partner of Akamaru, take your place?"
"I do," Kiba fell to kneel with his hands palms up.
"Do you, Shino of earth, unexpected ally and master of your Kakai, take your place?"
"I do," the boy mimicked Kiba's pose, hands touching the floor.
"Do you, Shikamaru of wind, teammate and watcher of skies, take you place?"
"I do," Shika folded into the Lotus, tips of his fingers touching to make a steeple.
"Do you, Akamaru the bonded of my brother, and Ichigo the bonded of myself, take your place?"
:We do: the pups lay flat, eyes closed as they made sure they touched from shoulder to hip.
"I, Naruto, brother of heart and name to Hinata, bonded brother of Kiba and Akamaru, unexpected ally to Shino, teammate to Shikamaru, partner of Ichigo, take your oaths and take from you, but only to give back three fold," Naruto stood in the center, hands out in front of him as if cradling something in a cup. A light, red and demonic, gathered there and swirled with raging emotions. "So be it, my brothers and sisters." The light shot out and hit them all, the red making strings from Naruto to the new vessels. The pups were the first ones to start crying out, yipping and whining pitifully. No one could move to comfort them for two reasons. The first and most pressing was that it could kill everyone else or even just Naruto. The second less pressing matter was that the power held them helpless to move.
When the ball in Naruto's hand expanded and started pulsating, they grew concerned. That is, until it released on a pulse and hit them all full in the chest no matter their positions. There was no time to scream or utter an oath before they all, Naruto included, folded in on themselves as the blackness of unconsciousness consumed them utterly.
1234567890
Naruto woke with a screaming migraine and a cotton tongue that assured him he was in desperate need of a drink. He spied a glass of water by his bed and sat up enough to sip it, grimacing at the staleness of the water. At least his tongue felt better.
He stumbled from the bed again feeling deja vu quite strongly. This was becoming too common place for him to be comfortable with it. When he almost tripped going to the door, he saw that there had been a cot set up . . . several in fact, with rumpled bedding and large squishy pillows. Only one was occupied and it just happened to be Shikamaru . . . probably because it was early morning and he wouldn't be up for several hours.
"Naruto! You're awake!" Hinata tackled him to the floor with a hug, her eyes smiling as she cried. "I didn't think you'd wake up! Everyone's been awake for the last four hours but all you did was sleep. It was like you were in a coma," she whispered the last part, burying her face in his neck. "Don't scare me like that again."
"Are you and everyone okay? Did it work?" Naruto checked Hinata over carefully, poking her ribs to see if she was injured or in pain. Hinata giggled and swatted his hands away.
"We're fine, nii-san. Actually, I'm even better than I have been in a long time." She leaned in to whisper in his ear, "It doesn't hurt anymore."
Naruto sat up and hugged Hinata tightly. Her Byakugan had been steadily turning into a problem, the eyes making her go blind for a day afterward or attacking her own nervous system. It had seemed that the eyes were incomplete for some reason and they couldn't just go and ask Hiashi. The old bastard was still quite sore at them. Just because he cast away the pearls, or in this case Hinata, that didn't that others would let them, or Hinata, go to waste. There were those like Naruto's dad and Naruto himself that would take in the girl and treat her as family.
"Well, isn't this cozy. Are the rumors true then?"
Sasuke was standing with Shikamaru, one's eyes twitching and the other rolling his. Naruto groaned and hid his face in Hinata's shoulder. "I thought all those rumors were done. Why would people think that, huh? I'm thirteen for Kami's sake. I don't think of girls like that yet." Naruto wrinkled his nose. "And no offense Hinata, but that would be ew. You're my sis."
Hinata coughed into her hand. "Yeah, well, you being my brother does complicate the whole "they have sex daily" mentality that most people associate with you."
"Okay, ew, subject change."
"Okay, how about this for subject change. How are Kyuu-chan and Hito-kun? Are they alright?"
Naruto pondered. "I haven't heard from either of them yet . . . which is strange. Give me a minute, let me go check," he mumbled as he closed his eyes. He started to Kyuubi's cage, looking at the slightly remodeled sewage pipes and walkways. No water, everything seemed repaired, the walls were a bright sky blue with moving clouds . . . and bubbles that looked to be made of chakra floated by serenely. Okay, the clouds on the walls he could understand, but the bubbles? Come on. He was more manly than that! Hopefully.
The entrance to Kyuubi's lair was much more pronounced, what with there being gilded carving work all around the reshaped door. The door it self was a master piece of engravings of the fox and her nine tails that brushed the curved top of the now Gothic-shaped doors. They were colored in rubies and citrines making the fox on the door seem as if it were moving in an obscure dance. Naruto pulled himself out of the stupor he had been in and pushed the doors wide . . . Wide enough to let him know that adult rated things were happening in the chamber. And that Kyuubi as a woman was very—um, very bouncy up there.
Forget it. He'd talk to them later. Right then, he wanted out . . . now. Naruto opened his eyes and felt the blush take over. "They'll come and get me when their ready and I'm not going back in there without being invited. Ever." Naruto put his hand over Hinata's mouth. "Don't ask. I won't tell."
Hinata pouted. "Fine."
"Up you get," Naruto said as he picked Hinata up and set her to the side. He looked up at the chocking sound coming from the other two—he looked up and spotted Kiba and Shino too—make that four boys. "What?"
Kiba picked his jaw up from the floor. "Since when have you been able to do that, dude?"
"Since forever, but I gotta watch what I do or I could hurt someone." The oblivious blond shrugged.
"You mean," Kiba started with a scowl, "that every fight you've ever fought against us, you held back?"
Naruto shrugged again. "It's that or break you in half. I won't hurt those I'm supposed to protect. Ever. And no, Kiba, I won't go full out against you. The only person I can is Dad." He rolled his eyes at the envious looks. "And don't give me that. I only needed a demon sealed inside, hate and revenge-laden beating from villagers, and, oh yeah, voices in my head. Now, take your pick: the Demon or hard work that is better for you anyway." He pondered this for a moment. "Well, maybe you will get some of the benefits? Hey, Shika, what about that diagram? Let me look it over again."
Shikamaru handed over the folder he had taken with him to bed last night. It was interesting reading Uzamaki Senior's seal theory and scroll summoning. Really, he snorted, Uzamaki. He was Kazuma Arashi without question. Who else had such hair?
Naruto thumbed through the folder, bitting his lip and tilting his head to look at the paper better. The one he'd inserted, anyway. The rest of the others were still more of mystery that he understood just instinctively, but not intellectually. Apparently there was a difference. Whatever, he'd deal with that distinction later. "Well, fuckin' hell, that's going to be complicated. I forgot all about that earlier . . . So, who wants to tell their parents that they're going to be able to see in the dark? Or super strong?"
Hinata squealed in joy. "I'll beat you at your own game now, Naruto! HA! Na,na, nana, NAH!"
Naruto groaned into the folder and hid his face. "Oh, Kami-sama, save me!"
Every let out a startled laugh. Okay, so things were changing. It wasn't the end of the world.
1234567890
"So, you've been unable to get onto the property, not even across the threshold?"
"NO! Sarutobi, I know they've done something big, I felt the backlash at the house. That one storm was not normal." Arashi held his head and sighed. "I'm . . . I'm worried about what those two will do for Naruto. They're genius smart and motivated."
Sarutobi stared at his friend and closed his eyes, puffing away at his pipe. "Then we will have to wait. Less than two days is not an eternity. If neither one shows in three more days, I will go personally to retrieve them."
"Thank you, Sarutobi. I'm sorry about this, but I had to ask." Sarutobi patted his back and smiled around his pipe.
"Think nothing of it, Arashi." The blond man left the office, forgetting his henge in the process, intent on getting home and rushing pass several infuriated clan heads who stood gaping at his leave taking when he shushined away. They all rushed into the room, voices raised in fury that someone would mimic their hero in such a fashion only to be memory justu'ed. Sarutobi sighed into his hands. This day really was starting to suck.
1234567890
Naruto looked at everyone with mild concern. "What do you mean 'every time I try, it blows up' , huh? It shouldn't be any different!"
Hinata growled like Akamaru would and put her face in Naruto's. "What we're saying is that every time we try the academy jutsu requirements, they won't work right. They . . . they look like yours used to!" It was if a light bulb went on. "Well . . . damn. Our chakra is shot to hell and back because we have too much!"
Naruto looked at the faces of his fellow men. Kiba's jaw was on the floor, Shikamaru was imitating a fish, Shino's eyebrows could be seen and Sasuke was wide-eyed. "Okay, those aren't good faces. What's going on in those heads of yours?"
"More chakra? That is why we're having trouble?" Shika had recovered but just barely. Naruto nodded sagely, his eyes shining. Shika sighed and muttered "Troublesome" in a quiet way.
From there, Naruto instructed them to a tree a piece and had them trying to climb the (in Kiba's words, not his) "Sadistic, idiotic, neutered, sunnovabitchin', malformed, shit-eating, pussy-whipped TREES!" for the last hour. Only Hinata and Shino were able to at this point, but Shika wasn't far behind. It was Sasuke and Kiba that were having so much trouble. Naruto couldn't figure out why Sasuke was having so much difficulty, but Kiba's problem was starting to bug him.
"Yo, Nata! Check Kiba right quick. I think Kyuu-chan's power shift was a little unbalanced!"
Hinata nodded distractedly at him before activating her Byakugan quietly. Her soft gasp was confirmation enough. Damn. He really didn't like how this was going. Really, now, what else could go to hell?
"Better to not ask." He grunted and popped his back as he stood up from the log seat. "Time to go make a bigger mess."
Kiba lay on the ground panting, his brow sweaty and his eyes tired. Naruto crouched beside him so as to show light dominance, but nothing else. Dog society so sucked sometimes. "Kiba, mold the chakra like you would for the beast transformation. It's wild chakra and you're wild-blooded. The chakra is reacting to that a lot differently that usual. And the bond from my earlier blunder has made you a prime target for the bestial qualities of Kyuubi's demonic power. Don't hold back. Let it all out at once, and then we'll see."
Kiba growled in annoyance. "Dammit. I hope like hell I don't look like you, ugly."
Naruto swatted him lightly. "Are you sure you're not looking in the mirror? You're butt ugly, ass wipe."
"Says the piss yellow blond."
"Shit-haired dog piss."
"Piss colored fairy."
"Shit-faced princess."
"Fairy."
" 'Fairy' , my ass, Princess."
"Exactly, Piss Fairy princess."
"Shit Princess, cause that's all you do."
Naruto leaned closer, whispering, "Release . . . now!"
Kiba closed his eyes and let his tenuous control over the new chakra go. The instantaneous transformation he under went shocked Naruto a bit, but he probably shouldn't be. Kiba became more like a canine, his face markings deeper, his hair much shaggier and a bit longer. His teeth lengthened into honest fangs, his nails became more pronounced and slightly blackened at the cuticle like that in an animal. But, out of all of that, his height changed a good two inches taller and his scent was unrecognizable now.
"Now this is interesting."
"Huh. Naruto, isn't he like, a dog anyway? Why is he taking on wolf characteristics?"
"He's WHAT?"
"Well . . . That would be my ancestors' fault. One was mated to a damned wolf demon."
"SAY WHAT?"
"Kyuubi! What am I going to say to Tsume-sensei? I just genetically changed her only son to be more like a wolf that the famed dogs of the Inuzuka clan. They're called Inuzuka for a reason, fox!"
Naruto growled lowly to himself making Kiba cringe. "I didn't think it'd be so bad," the dog nin muttered. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"You're not. I'm just having a conference with Kyuu. Ya do know your mom is gonna have my hide for her wall when she finds out you have a 'third' parent, right?"
"Say WHAT?" was yelled in his ear from the still prone brunette.
"That word is so over used."
"Shut it, Kyuubi! I'm extremely worried for my hide right now."
"What do you mean I have a third parent?" Kiba opened his blazing eyes to scowl at Naruto. The blond just forced a weak laugh.
"Eh, heh, heh, yeah. You're genetically altered . . . again," Naruto said with forced cheerfulness. "You know, if we didn't have chakra usage, you would be absolutely fine, but since we can and do use it, well . . . you're getting screwed in a bad way."
Kiba growled. Naruto sighed and stood, offering his hand to his bond brother. "Just look at it this way: you are now a better canine nin. And if you're going through this, so's Akamaru. Fuck! Where are the two pups?"
Kiba was on his feet, Naruto staggering with the force Kiba had used to pull himself up, but turned anyway to search for the tiny puppies. It was the reddish looking fur of Ichigo that finally caught his attention to a hedge bush. He rushed over leaving Kiba to look for Akamaru. The cry of victory told him of Kiba finding his own partner, but how was Naruto's little bonded female doing?
Naruto ducked and picked the little girl from the bush, her fur almost grown fully back . . . and she had changed a bit. Instead of the Wolf Hound-Mastiff half breed puppy, she had transformed too, her fur much thicker now and her skull and muzzle were more like that of a fox. Her pretty little baby fuzz fur was even fluffier than before and her tail was much too bushy. Naruto cradled her to his chest like a babe and hurried to Hinata as she sat against a tree, eyes closed. There he sat by his sister, checking the drowsy puppy from muzzle to tail tip.
Naruto furrowed his brow. "No way," he checked again and groaned. Ichigo now had two tails!
"KYUUBI! You are so going to be in trouble! You are GROUNDED!" he exploded. Everyone looked at him, the puppy, then back at his fuming face.
Hinata palmed her face. "This is too much. Just . . . just too much. Next time we want to do something like this, hit the offending thinker with a big blasting jutsu before we get this far." Naruto seconded her, whacking his head into the tree behind him.
::What has your over fur in a bunch, Alpha-nii-kun?:: Ichigo stretched contentedly in his lap. ::I like having two tails. I'll be the envy of the kennel now!::
::She has a point, Alpha-nii. I've changed, but I don't have two tails. It's almost unfair.:: Kiba had Akamaru trotting beside him, several inches taller already, but still a big fuzz ball like Ichigo. Akamaru had a now decidedly wolfish look, but his coloring remained and his muzzle was just a tad too short to be pure wolf.
"Hold up, since when can I understand you?"
::Since you got me as you partner, Alpha-nii-kun!:: Ichigo cuddled under his shirt and snuffled his stomach. ::Mmmmm . . . Warm and toasty. Kitsune-chan is a good heater.::
Naruto tried not to, he really did, but after every thing today, he started to laugh. The sound was slightly hysterical but it was a cleansing kind of laugh. Kiba in his modified body joined him, falling to the dirt and holding his sides as tears streamed from his eyes. Hinata was giggling and hiccuping. Shikamaru was chuckling from the branch he was lounging on. Shino was shaking with garbled snickers escaping his mouth every once in a while. Sasuke actually laughed, quietly and with a rusty sound, but it was a laugh.
It was a while before they calmed down. Naruto yawned, followed by Hinata. It might have just been after lunch, but he was just too tired to care. Holding the end of his shirt so Ichigo didn't fall out the bottom, he stood shakily. "I'm gonna go sleep. We can work on control later." He waved 'night to them and staggered off. Shikamaru was already asleep in his little tree branch "net" with his head bobbing in time to his breathing as it rested on his chest. Shino stepped off his tree to land silently in the dirt, walking quietly into the house and taking the couch for himself. Kiba yawned and curled up under the tree with Akamaru and his coat for a pillow.
Hinata shook her head and tried to stay awake. It seemed that when Naruto was too tired to really do anything, it transferred over . . . for the moment. This connection was supposed to lessen in the next few days. Sasuke, being courteous for once, held out his hand for her to grab. He pulled her up and helped her to the recliner where she ended up sleeping anyway.
Sasuke sighed and sat in the kitchen, cheek propped on his fist. "Well, this has been interesting." Finally standing up, he grabbed some money and hopped out the window.
Starting at the market place, he combed over everything that he knew all his "guests" would eat before adding some of his own personal favorites. Sealing the food in a scroll, he scoured the clothing stores for something that everyone could wear since all they had was what they were wearing and only he himself could leave. It would be too suspicious if he went to their houses for clothes, now wouldn't it? He sneered at the orange clothing that was set up in the back of one store, jumpsuits that were an eye-watering shade. One that he had seen Naruto wear every once in a while.
While out of the house, he bumped into a little girl, one still academy age with almost lime green hair and brown-sugar skin. She had the prettiest blue eyes, the same color as Naruto's in fact. She smiled sweetly as she dusted her blue dress the same color as her eyes and picked up her bag. "I'm sorry. I seem to run over everything!"
Sasuke looked at her, almost in a trance and her smile wilted. "Are you okay?" She shook his shoulder. "Did I stun you? I keep doing that! I'm so sorry!" She poked his shoulder and a band of static electricity jumped from her finger to his skin. Sasuke yelped without dignity, jumping like a cat on a hot tin roof. "Ah, you're okay now!"
He scowled at the girl. "What the hell?"
She giggled and held out her hand. "Kagura, Tamashii Kagura. I see you with Naruto-nii all the time. Are you one of his friends?"
Sasuke shook her hand warily. "Uchiha Sasuke. Sort-of friend to Uzamaki Naruto and friend to Uzamaki Hinata."
"WOW! From what I heard, I just had more words from you than any of your creepy fan clubs put together. How awesome is that? Hey, want help with the shopping? I'm looking for clothes anyway and you seemed to be going to my aunt's store. Her kimono patterns are awesome!" Sasuke's eyebrows rose. Just who was this little Naruto-attitude-clone? She was . . . strange, to say the least. He might as well be polite, though.
"If it is possible, may I impose upon your time?" The girl giggled and gave a curtsy.
"I would be honored, good sir."
Sasuke ended up being dragged into every clothing shop in town, the bags of cloths growing in great leaps and bounds. Not that he didn't have the money, but this was getting ridiculous. He only had four other guys and one girl in his house, not an army! And why did Kagura insist on getting him clothes?
"Kagura, I must return. It's been two hours already," he said soothingly. Maybe being around Hinata had it's benefits. He really had mellowed out since meeting the bright, sassy girl and especially in the last three-four days.
Kagura pouted, her eyes large and wet and irresistible. "Can I come too? I know Naru-nii-kun is at your house, the orange is a dead giveaway. And Nata-nee-chan is most definitely at her brother's side. I want to see my brother and sister again." Sasuke felt his heart beat funny like before he caved to the look that even Hinata (who had it perfected) would crumble. He breathed out (for Uchiha's did not sigh) and turned, hand barely motioning her to follow . . . or not. She followed, her eyes still large and shiny and cute . . . and Sasuke felt his heart beat oddly again. Maybe he needed to visit the hospital for a quick check-up.
A/N: Okay, the ritual, please, no words on how it shoulda, coulda, woulda been done. It's done. It is a bit of everything that I researched years ago and, yes, it is a bit garbled, but it works with the idea I had going. Wiccan, Druidism, and a little bit of everything else.
When will I update next? I have no idea. I have a life and this is just a hobby that I enjoy. I do write when I get the chance (and when my Muse stays put) but this is not a priority. Sorry, y'all, but that's that.