Ch 4, have fun, with your new deed
I do not own Naruto or Lord of the Rings.
It has been well over several months since Naruto became family with Sauron and Kagura no Kyuubi. In that time, they done some major home improvement, though at first you can't really tell. Basically, Sauron and Kyuubi, also with Naruto helping, dug into the mountain of the Hokage Monument and made a forge.
The entrance is right under the stairs to the second floor, you just open up the hatch, walk down twenty or so stairs, and you will find yourself in a small cavern illuminated by some lava flowing to the far right. To the left is the actual forge, that has several anvils and molds to make a variety of items, as well as a furnace to refine and strengthen the materials being used. There was even a hide tanning rack to make leather, and in one corner, you could see a door leading to a closet with the finished materials.
Sauron basically took most of the several months to teach Naruto all about crafting and smithing, everything he knew, and then some. Of coarse, it wasn't easy, with Naruto being such a wily kid and all. So, Sauron constructed a strict training regimen that is as follows:
Get up and eat breakfast, all training should start with nutrition.
Do stretches, push ups, pull ups, crunches, and hit a dummy one hundred times.
Start on a basic obsidian shortsword.
Take a break for some tutoring on the concepts of smithing, crafting, and enchanting.
Eat lunch
Finish the basic shortsword, then start crafting a basic obsidian ring.
Take a break , this will be freetime (Pranks! :D)
Finish the ring and practice enchanting.
Finish practice and eat dinner.
Follow up with some meditation to strengthen the mind.
The problems were:
Naruto is not a morning person, and is practically as lazy a Shikamaru during this time.
Naruto and Kyuubi goofs off too much while exercizing.
Just minor problems that will go away as Naruto advances in skill. Oh, and he almost died of heatstroke once.
Naruto has alot of difficulty paying attention, and is kinda forgetful.
Naruto wants to eat ten bowls of ramen, which is not healthy, nor nutritious. Kyuubi resolved it by threatening him to eat only two bowls and five apples. Naruto usually retaliates, but is instantly put down by Kyuubi's 'akuhei omokage' (Evil face).
When Naruto finally finishes it, he wants to try a different kind of sword, but Sauron still says that he has to perfect the shortsword first before he continues with more advanced things. Same thing with the ring.
Naruto and Kyuubi always pisses off alot of people during this time.
Naruto isn't physically, but mentally exausted by now, and desperately wants to try something new. While enchanting gives him free reighn, he usually comes up with the dumbest things, and with all the chakra he puts in, the effects were lasting, even after Sauron took off the ring. Another problem, for the villagers, not the family, is that Naruto gets more of a pranking arsenal from his practices.
Again, Naruto wants to eat alot of ramen, but is forced not to eat too much (the family also gained a bit of Naruto's ramen addiction).
Either Naruto can't sit still, or he falls asleep halfway through (and then woken up by Kagura in a bit of an ecchi way or by Sauron in a painful way.)
All in all, by the end of those few months, he learned invaluable skills. Also, the Uzumaki's finally got their shop, the deed and everything. Bad news is: It's right by another rival ninja gear shop by the name of 'Tsuinryu Bukigura' (Twin Dragon Armory).
*Flashback*
"So dad, when are we going to get to our new shop? I can't wait to see it!" Naruto said exitedly. "Just hold your horses, it's right around the corner." Naruto, despite his fathers cool headedness, could not contain his exitement and ran ahead.
"Hey, wait for me, outoto!" Yelled Kagura as she ran to join her brother. "Well, she's enjoying herself." Sauron says as he continues his cool walk, getting many dreamy sighs from fawning ladies.
When he turns the corner, he sees his two children just staring ahead of themselves, jaws on the ground. 'What? There is no way that a simple shop could be THAT awe inspiring... could it?' after he thought that, he looked at the shop, a simple two-story building squeezed betweed two other buildings.
Sauron looked at the building, and then at his children. To the building, and then to the kids. Still, he didn't see what was so awe-inspiring, so he walked up to where his children were standing, and looked in the direction that they were looking. It didn't take a second look for his jaw to hit the ground, now he knew why Naruto and Kagura were acting as if they saw Jesus in the flesh.
Right there, right beside their overly-modest store, was this grand, sparkling gem of a weapons shop. The display windows had a wide-arrange of magnificently made ninja gear, from dai-katana's made of shimmering metal, to tanto's that seemed sharp enough to cut through a mountain, and then some! Shurikens and Kunai with wicked edges, kamatachis with chains in a dragon desighn, and all sorts of food pills, soldier pills, and smoke bombs. All were maintained perfectly, if anything, that store was a marvel of all Japanese weapons and armor, not all entirely for ninja!
"D-damn," Kagura starts, "How the hell do we compete with THAT? Not only do the weapons look damn nice, but they also look like they could turn a bijuu into a shish-kabob!"
Naruto gulped, once again using his mind and observation skills, he noticed that the competition had a constant and steady stream of customers, which meant that the weapons HAD to be very effective and useful to make customers come back for more. Then, summoning up all his bravery and inner-strength, he yells out "So what if they make uber-awesome weapons? We'll just have to make armor and weapons that are beyond uber!"
"Naruto's right! I bet that once we really get started, we will wipe out all the competition in Fire Country!" Kagura joined in. Sauron just tilted his sunglasses, burning eyes glowing furiously beneathe them, and says, "Ok then, Uzumaki's. It's time that we kick butt and take names; Let's go wild!"
Naruto points his hands towards the stores sign, an impressive katana with two serpentine dragons slithering up it, and text above it reading 'Tsuinryu bukigura'. "Just you wait, 'twin dragons' the Densetsukyu kengeki kyou yoroi (Legendary nine weapons and armor {help with translation please?}) will crush you!"
As the family went back to get supplies to fix up their shop, with new determination in their minds, the owners of the Tsuinryu Bukigura were having one hell of a sneezing fit.
*Flashback end*
It took no more than a week to finish the improvements to the shop. Sauron and Kagura worked tirelessly on armor and weapons for the shop, as Naruto couldn't because he was still learning. Within that week, they had wicked-looking obsidian weapons of all types, not just of Japanese origen, but of MiddleEarth design as well, same with the armor.
Behind the counter in the far corner of the store, there was a flight of stairs that led to the second floor. Because of the lack of windows and walls, this space was easily modified to become a storage area, and kept safe by a very strong and fortified door that nothing short of a high-powered jutsu could open without the proper key. It has been further enchanted, so that nothing else other than the proper key could open it.
Finally, there was the shop's sign, which had Naruto's own touch. It had a large Uzumaki spiral to the left with nine multi-colored flames hovering around it. To the right, there was text saying: 'Legendary Nine weapons and armor'. The showcase showed some standard armor, daggers, shortsword, longsword, and a few enchanted rings.
Needless to say, that they got little to no customers.
As of now, Naruto was working on yet another shortsword. "I can feel it, I KNOW that I can perfect it this time!" He says with passion burning inside him. Earlier that day, he asked Sauron what was the point in making perfect weapons as long as he makes one that works. Naruto's face was one of awe and wonder, when Sauron made a perfect longsword and cut a boulder the size of a small house in half!
Sauron explained that to do something like that, required one part strength, one part skill, and one good sword. "Without strength, the blade will only go halfway, without skill, you will miss your mark and hit with the wrong part of the sword, without a good sword, the sword itself will break." He explained. "Though I do sometimes prefer a mace."
"Al-most! Just a little more... There!" He took the still red sword and sunk it into some water to cool. Then he lifted it, finished the hilt, cross-guard, and counter-weight, put it to a whetstone fore some fine-tuning, and finally, crafted a spiral with his initials under it.
He then lifted above his head to admire his work. He took off his goggles from his eyes and stood up, a smile of immense accomplishment on his soot-covered face. "Tou-san! I finished it, and I know that this one is perfect!"
Sauron got up from his own workspace and walked over to the enthusiastic blonde. "So, you think you got it down, this time, eh?" He picked up Naruto's latest creation and gave it an experimental swing.
"The balance feels... right, it feels right." He then picked up a rock and tossed it into the air. In Naruto's vision, it seemed as if Sauron's right arm disappeared for just a split second, before the rock split in half. "Hm, and that was obsidian, too. Cutting power and durability is perfect, congrats, Naruto! This is your first perfect short sword!"
"Yatta! I did it! So whats next? Longswords? Some indestructible mace?" His long line of questions was suddenly cut off as Sauron shoved some wood into his hands.
"No, the next step is making a sheathe for the sword." At Naruto's disappointed expression Sauron raised a finger and added: "But don't worry; compared to making perfect weapons, this is a breeze. What? You didn't think that I would make all the sheathes, did you?"
Surprisingly, it took less than a few days for Naruto to master making sheathes.
"Hey, um, dad?" Naruto asks as he and Sauron are resting. "Hm? What is it, Naruto?"
"Can I make a quick trip to Old Man Hokage right quick?" Sauron raises an eyebrow at Naruto's request. "Sure, but why?"
"Well, right before I met you and Kagura-no-kyuubi, Me and Jiji made an agreement that I would be his apprentice for the title of 'Professor' right?" Naruto said, having just remembered his promise. "And you want to go tell him what the inscription on the ring means, right?"
"Well, yea. How'd you know?" Sauron chuckles nonchalantly. "Well, at that time, I was listening, Naruto-kun, so I get the gist of what was going on."
Naruto had a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face; he didn't know rings could listen... -_-'
"Well, can I?" He asks again. "Sure, but we need a cover-story, first. You know, because in normal circumstances, theres no way that a under-educated kid like you could possibly figure out an age-old mystery in no time."
"HEY! I'm not THAT under-educated! I'm doing better in my studies."
"Yes, but my point still stands. We need a cover story." Sauron sternly puts.
Naruto puts on his thinking face, which is something between constipation and stubborness, and mulls the situation over a bit. Sauron doesn't put any thought into it at all, opting to have Naruto use his brain matter to solve a real problem. Then, like a lightbulb, an idea lights up in Naruto's head.
"Hey! Why don't I say that YOU knew the answer from meeting up with a bijuu or something?" Sauron pats Naruto on the head and smiled, "That's not a bad idea, Naruto. Good work!"
To Naruto, receiving praise like that was like finding the holy grail. "Hehe, thanks Dad!" Sauron smiles, also enjoying the moment, and says, "Well, let's get going to the Old Man's office, then, shall we? You got a title to get."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently enjoying the benefits of no paper work. That is, to say, that he was reading a certain small orange book written by one of his students. "Tee hehe, oh Koikoi, how daring!"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"HEY! OLD MAN! YA IN THERE?"
'Sigh, and it was just getting interesting.' Quickly hiding the book, he says "Yes, Naruto, you may come in." The door opens, and Naruto with his father, Sauron enters the room; Sauron having to duck under the door a bit because of his height.
"So, what brings you to my office today, hm?" Sarutobi says as he leans back into his chair. The two of them smile a knowing smile (Identical, by the way) that got the old Kage sitting on the edge of his seat.
"Well, Jiji, we know... what the inscription on that ring means!" This caused his eyes to bug out, and both father and son to laugh out loud from the reaction. "H-how did you figure it out so quickly?"
"Actually, Dad knew it!" At Hiruzen't questioning stare, Sauron elaborates. "I heard it from a bijuu."
"Eh? Wait, wait, wait, A BIJUU?"
"Yes, a bijuu." Sarutobi looked at him like he had grown a second head. "How did you even survive, let alone get information from a bijuu?"
"Well, luckily for me, it was one of the lower-ranked bijuu; a two tailed rat, if I remember right." Sauron cupped his chin and looked into the air, "I led it into a trap and then bluffed to get some special information out of him. Hehe, He told me a whole lot more than I needed to know."
"Wow, that's Dad for ya!" Naruto yelled. Hiruzen, continued to look at Sauron like he was crazy, however, though, not because he didn't beleive him, no. With his enchanting ability, trapping a low-level bijuu shouldn't be too difficult, in The Professor's opinion. What made him think Sauron was a mad-man was that the man actually tried somthing like that, and THEN bluff out information from said bijuu.
"Ok, now that I know where Naruto's guts come from in the family, I would like to know one thing." He said, making Naruto grin. "What?"
"What information did you need from a bijuu?" Sauron got a mischevious grin, akin to Naruto's, that erased all doubt's of him not being related to Naruto. "Well, I wanted information on how to make stronger enchantments that has different effects. Hehehehehehe, let's just say that, when a rat starts talking, he don't ever stop. Though, I may have had help from another enchantment, hehehe."
Sarutobi sighs, 'I gotta get him into my shinobi forces.' "Well, I think that we've stalled enough for now, care to tell me about the inscription?" They all get comfortable, and Sauron coughs, as if to start a speech.
"One ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all,
And in the darkness, bind them."
Sauron lets out a breath that he didn't know he held in. "That was... eerie. Are we completely sure that it is ok to let Naruto wear that ring?"
"Oh, yes completely, I mean, if he was under a curse, the effects should have revealed themselves by now." Sauron said non-chalantly. "Wow, I cannot beleive you said that without flinching."
"Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Besides, he wore that thing before he met me and Kagura, right?" A nod from Sarutobi. "Then, who knows? That ring could be a good luck charm, and also, isn't darkness and shadows a ninja's friend?"
Sarutobi nods, "Well, you do raise some good points."
"Oh, and one more thing, that rat bijuu told me that, that inscription is also part of a bigger poem."
Sarutobi looks at Sauron and says, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but, what's the poem?" Again, Sauron coughs as if to make a speech. The room gets eerily dimmer as he speaks.
"Three rings for the Elven Kings under the sky.
Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their halls of stone.
Nine for the Mortal Men doomed to die.
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne.
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.
One ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all,
And in the darkness bind them.
In Mordor, where the shadows lie."
"... '."
"What?"
"Are you SURE that it is a good idea to let Naruto wear that ring?"
"Well, yes, and if not, I'll do everything in my power to save him. So no worries "
"So, Jiji, can I get that title, now?" Naruto says, completely oblithious to the tension. This made Sarutobi chuckle, "Sure, Naruto, but this doesn't mean that you can slack off. From now on, if you accept the title, you must throw yourself into research in a never ending search for knowledge."
Now, Naruto knew that he wasn't all that smart. Ya, he was reminded of that every day. But this was a once in a life time chance, and if that meant going after more brain-stuff...
"Jiji, I won't let you down! I'll learn a whole bunch of jutsu's and stuff! That's a promise!" His honesty and enthusiasm warmed the hearts of all present. 'The Will of Fire burns strongly in this one.'
"I beleive you, Naruto. From now on, you are "The novice Professor"."
"Eh? Novice?" Naruto asks, scratching his head. "Yes, well, you don't know everything yet!" Sauron says while ruffling up Naruto's hair.
As the heart warming moment continued, a thought just hit him. "What am I going to do for a reward?" That got both of their attention.
"Eh? We're getting an award for that title, Jiji?"
"Yes, don't you remember? I was going to enstate a new system that allows any ninja or civilian who's lucky enough to get a title to register it to me for validation, and to receive a minor reward, depending on the title and how they got it. The only problem is, is that I never thought of what I could use for a reward..."
Sauron tapped his chin, and then went "Aha!" Sarutobi looked at the tall man, and said, "I take it that you have an idea?"
"Yea, while I don't know about civilians, for ninjas, you could allow them a select number of free goods from our store! It would be great publicity to get more customers, AND offer free rewards to hard workers! And I will not take 'no' for an answer; you owe me for giving us a weapon store right by that well-made establishment! As if business wouldn't have been bad with that store in town, period!"
"G-gomen, but I couldn't find any more property space, Konoha is a very cramped town!" Sarutobi says, defending his reasons after Saurons small rant. "But that is a good idea, Sauron-kun, I'll work on it right away, but I may need some of your help."
And so, they worked on the specifics of what would be come to known as "The Konoha title reward system." Now, any humble ninja could become someone in Konoha! Just like L.A.
After a looong paper work session, Sauron and Naruto are now heading towards the family store to tell Kagura of the good news. Although, in the shadows unnoticed, there lurks an impending danger... "Graaaah!" Yells out a figure as she jumps in front of the father and son.
"Whe the hell are you?" Naruto says. The girl, dressed in a chinese dress modified for combat, and brown hair done up in two buns, whom is just a little bit taller than Naruto, unsheathes a simple, yet well made, wakizashi (Japanese short sword).
"Are you the owner of 'The Legendary Nine Swords and Armor?'" She says cooly and coldly. "What? I asked who you were first!" Naruto yells out, annoyed that just some random person jumped out and pointed a weapon at him.
"This is the last time I'll ask nicely! Are you the owner of 'The Legendary Nine Swords and Armor'?" She asks, and flares some killer intent. Naruto just looks at her dumly; compared to his sisters killing intent from her 'Akuhei Omokage' (Evil Face), her killing intent was like an ant's.
"Actually, my Dad's the owner." He says and points to the tall man beside him, who's grinning like a maniac, by the way. The girl shifts her wakizashi so that it is now pointed at Sauron.
"Owner! I challenge you to a duel!" She said, never skipping a beat.
"No." She nearly fell down from the instant answer. "And why not?"
"Why should I?" Sauron answered "Besides, I might just accidentally kill you." Before she could burst out in outrage, he adds, "Fight my son. He's still wet behind the ears when it comes to sword fight'in, but hey, If things get too out of hand, I'll step in. OK?"
As the girl mulls it over, Naruto says "Why are you sending me in to fight?" After a breif moment of thinking, Sauron answers: "Well, obviously she has some beef with us for just setting up shop. Nothing else, and frankly, that annoys me. Ain't you annoyed too?"
"Hell yea!" Naruto says instantly. "Well, let's beat some sense into her, then. I can't fight her because I really may kill her, but I have confidence in your strength. Beleive in me who beleives in you!"
Naruto nods, turns around, and walks towards the bun-haired girl. When they were a couple of feet apart, he said: "Hey! Bun-haired person! I don't know what kind of beef ya got with me, my dad, or my family, but whatever it is, it doesn't give you any right to jump out and point swords at us!"
The girl's face burned red with anger as she yells "YOU! WHAT DO YOU KNOW? I'LL CUT YOU!"
"Oh crap! Dad! Angry girl with sword comin'!" Naruto yelled out as the royally pissed bun-haired girl ran right at him with the intent to kill. Needless to say that he needed something to block with, and fast!
"Naruto, catch." He just barely caught a really familiar looking shortsword. This caused the enraged girl to back off a bit and watch in wonder as Naruto unsheathes the dark, wicked-looking, yet simple blade.
Naruto grins devilishly, sure, he barely knows how to use it, but something is better than nothing. Besides, the weapon that he just aquired is his very first perfect weapon, so if anything, it's a good confidence booster. Looking up out of his reverie, he sees the psychogirl looking on in anticipation.
"So, I see you have a sword, and a weird looking one at that. Maybe this won't be so one-sided after all!" Naruto stared with a maniac grin, confidence never being an issue with him.
A.N.
I'm making this a cliffhanger because I can! ;D
Please reveiw and tell me on areas that I could improve on.
Suggestions are welcome, just don't tell me what to do.
I'll try to get the next chapter done a bit faster than this one as a personal goal.