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The one in the front smirked at Naruto. "We've been waiting for you… Prime."
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Chapter 4
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"Huh?" Naruto asked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'Prime'? And you still didn't answer me- who are you guys?" He turned his head from side to side, taking them in, but unable to get a clear view- they were still mostly shrouded in darkness.
One chuckled. "He cannot see us perfectly, yet, can he Kaji?" he said in a rough voice.
Another shook his head. "I guess not." The figure shrugged, then looked around at the others. "Let's make it a bit easier for him, shall we?" And with that, the shadows rescinded.
Naruto's breath caught in his chest. At first, he hadn't noticed on body shape alone, but now… Now, it was like he was looking into a mirror, five mirrors to be exact. For standing right in front of him were what seemed to be five reflections of himself, standing in a semicircle around him- though, as he took them in, they weren't exactly the same person that he was.
The first, all the way to the left, was heavyset, with maybe two inches of height more than the original. His eyes were a deep murky brown, and his hair was streaked with brown and green. Wearing a dark green shirt emblazoned with a symbol of a leaf, along with a pair of black slacks, this version carried himself with near-perfectassurance and toughness. Naruto almost gulped- if he met himself looking like this, he would know to back off.
The next one, all the way to the right, looked completely opposite to the Naruto that the original had just taken in. This one was smaller and thinner than the normal one, with longer limbs and a flexible body. His hair was run through with silver and grey, and his eyes, silver and flecked with purple, glinted mischievously. Smiling cheekily, he wore a white vest; under which was a grey shirt with a black spiral in the Uzumaki crest.
To the side of the first one stood a third Naruto, this one carrying itself tall, yet somewhat sternly. Running through his hair were streaks of blue and purple and his eyes were deep pools of oceans and ice, even deeper than the original's. He wore a simple blue kimono, and just by looking, the original knew that every movement he made would be graceful. Though he looked stern, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The fourth reflection made a much greater impression. Though his hair was the same shockingly bright yellow as the original's, it all stood straight up, waving uncontrollably in all directions. His eyes were bronze and gold, and his grin was more than just a little crazy. Every few moments he would tense and relax, eyes brightening then fading. From the neck down, he wore a bright yellow gi, decorated with bolts of lightning on the sleeves.
The final one, though, was quite clearly the leader. Standing only an inch shorter than the first, he carried himself with utmost confidence and a hint of smugness. His huge smirk reflected the feeling in his eyes, which were burning flames as red as those of the Kyuubi, carrying within them a spark of rebelliousness, as well as a feeling of life. Like the others, his hair was not normal; instead, it was exactly the same as the original, but stained blood-red, with shaggy bangs tugging down the sides of his face. He wore an orange trench coat with flames licking the bottoms and sides.
Everything was quiet, and then, Naruto spoke.
"How…how is this possible? What are you?" His tone was only slightly accusatory; he was honestly confused as to why they were there. The one in the middle sighed loudly and spoke again, once more acting like their leader.
"So you want to know who we are, huh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a self-satisfied smirk.
"Of course I do!" Naruto groaned, irritated. "I've only asked it like three times already!"
"Fine." The response was short and fine cut. "I," the red-haired one said, giving an exaggerated bow. "I am Kaji." The torches on the walls seemed to flare for a moment, but then they settled down.
The brown-clad one moved forward. "I am Tsuchi," he said quietly, and the ground seemed to tremble before he, too, stepped back.
"I'm Kaze!" the silver-haired one said loudly. "Nice to meet'cha!" A breeze blew down through the space, and he grinned widely as it ruffled Naruto's hair.
"Mizu," pronounced the one wearing the blue kimono, and the water level in the hall rose, and then receded. He eyed Naruto warily, though there was a bit of amusement there, too.
"Yo. I'm Raikou!" said the last one excitedly. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine." As if to emphasize his point, a spark of electricity traveled down his fingertips and he grinned maniacally.
"So now you know our names," Kaji said, smirking. "We can get down to business."
"What do you mean, 'business'," Naruto asked suspiciously. "I mean, one minute, I'm asleep in bed, and the next, you just show up out of nowhere?" He shook his head. "Nope. Not buying it."
"We are here for a reason you know," Mizu said harshly. "However, I you really do not understand how we are here, I will provide some… foreplay to our meeting tonight. Kaze!" The small Kaze jumped to attention and waved his hand lazily… and the landscape dissolved.
What the… Naruto thought- and then everything blurred back to being, though the world seemed to exist in monotone, as if in an ethereal tone of semi-existence. Suddenly, a large object flew past him and Naruto jumped to the side on a reflex. His eyes widened- What?- but then he realized what it was: a giant fuuma shuriken, just like the one that Mizuki had used against Iruka-sensei earlier that night.
But how- Naruto was cut off as he caught something else out of the corner of his eye. His breath caught- there was Iruka-sensei, standing up to Mizuki-teme, the traitor still holding a shuriken at the ready. And there, at the bottom of a tree trunk, sat himself, paralyzed with fear and confusion. Naruto gasped again. What's going on? Could it be-?
"Ah, so I see that you've figured it out," Kaji said lazily, appearing next to Naruto to look down on the scene unveiling before them. "You were right: this isn't happening 'now' as you see it; what we're looking at is merely a recoding. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show." He snapped his fingers, and at that moment, Naruto realized why he had been shown this.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Instantly, the clearing was filled with clones, but not just any normal shadow clones. Naruto froze. Staring down at Mizuki with undisguised loathing and disgust, were thousands of Naruto lookalikes, the crowd filled with multitudes of not only Naruto clones, but also ones of Kaji, of Kaze, of Mizu, of Tsuchi, and of Raikou. Blazing with their respective attributes, he watched in near-admiration as they pummeled Mizuki into submission, the real one watching with satisfaction.
The image grayed out into blackness.
"So, Naruto," Kaji said lightly. "Do you realize what you did there, earlier?" The insulting tone was gone, though his voice was still a bit patronizing.
Naruto shot him a glare, but answered anyway. "Fine. Anyway, it was like, instead of just making clones of me, I also somehow… summoned you and made clones of you as well. Does that make any sense?" he finished, looking at Kaji for confirmation.
Kaji chuckled. "Got it in one."
"Now," he said, entirely serious now. "There was another time when you used our power. Can you remember it?" At Naruto's confused expression, Kaji groaned and decided he would have to prod the kid a bit more. "The kidnapping incident?"
Naruto's expression brightened. "Oh, yeah!" he exclaimed. "But… what did you do?"
Kaji's face darkened. "See for yourself."
Darkness.
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Confusion- where was he going?
Pain- why?
Torture- it hurts…
Why?
Consciousness fading, in… and out…
Darkness.
Awake again… moving… flying through the trees…
Fear…
Threat… what?
Danger! Hinata-chan!
NO!
Slicing, blades cutting, falling to pieces, cuts bleeding- FREE!
Need…fast...speed…NOW!
BURN!
Unconscious…
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Naruto groaned and shook his head. He was back in the hallway, with his five reflections staring back at him expectantly. "So… that was you guys?"
Kaji gave a slight nod. "Somewhat. You see, in that high-stress situation, as well as what happened earlier tonight, you are able to draw upon our powers to aid yourself. In time, you might be able to develop these abilities more, but…" He spread out his arms in resignation. "Whatever. So, question of the day: what are these powers that we possess?" Kaji stood there, smirking.
Tsuchi. Big and strong, rock-hard and steadfast…
Kaze. Flighty, small and quick…
Mizu. Tall, flexible, and cold…
Raikou. Energetic and crazy, mischievous…
Kaji. Leader, impassioned, burning eyes of flame…
Naruto's head snapped up. "I've got it," he said.
Mizu raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he questioned, awaiting a response.
"Yeah," said Naruto, at first unsteadily, but then gaining confidence. "You represent the elements, right?" No answer. "Okay, then…"
"Tsuchi," Naruto said. "You're Earth."
"Kaze. Wind."
"Mizu is Water."
"Raikou is probably Lightning."
"And Kaji," Naruto said, finishing it. "You're Fire."
Silence.
Then…
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Good job," Kaji said approvingly. "What gave it away?"
Naruto shrugged. "Pretty much everything, I guess," he said. "Your appearance, your personality, the 'special powers'…" He smirked. "It all just added up."
"Indeed," said Mizu softly. His eyes narrowed. "Kaji," he said. "Will you tell him from where we came?"
The fire spirit gave a snort of derision. "Fine, fine, whatever. Geez." He rolled his eyes at Mizu and Kaze giggled.
"Alright, 'Prime'-"
"Wait!" Naruto interrupted. "I heard you say that before. Why did you call me that and what does it mean?" His voice was inquisitive.
"It means 'center'," Tsuchi said quietly. "When the Kyuubi no Kitsune-"
"Hold it!" Naruto commanded. "What's the fox got to do with this?"
A flicker of annoyance passed over Tsuchi's face. "As I was saying," he went on. "We did not originally exist with you at birth, we were born when the Kyuubi decided it required a strong 'container'. You are familiar with the myths that the Kitsune could raise mountains and create tsunamis, correct?" Naruto nodded.
Raikou continued. "So," he said. "When old fuzzbag decided to help ya out, he gave you a little of his elemental power. He wasn't all muscle, ya know. He couldn't just give you his own chakra, though. Probably were too young to handle it, I guess." He shrugged. "So, he gave you a little of his elemental gift, hoping to get more power for you. Boom, hooray, whatever, and probably 'cause your mind was already fragile, we split from your original soul and became self-aware."
"Now," Kaji went on. "To answer your original question, you were the mold from which we originated. So, you are the Prime, or 'center' of our being. It's pretty much just a title, or label." The fire spirit gave a noncommittal wave of his hand. "That's pretty much it."
"So, you guys are just parts of me?" Naruto questioned. Kaze nodded cheerily while Mizu facepalmed at Naruto's thickness. "And how exactly do you-"
"How exactly do we exist?" Kaji finished for him. When Naruto nodded, the fire spirit went on. "We're independently conscious of you, but we share a common power source; we just use it in different ways. That's what would make it possible for you to learn from us."
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Learn from you guys? You mean-?"
"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Raikou, cutting him off. "Maybe eventually you'll be able to draw on our power independently, but for now you'll just hafta deal with summoning us to do the dirty work for ya."
"How do I do that?" Naruto asked.
Raikou's grin was feral. "You'll see." In a crackle of lightning, he vanished. Naruto thought he heard Tsuchi muttering something about 'damn show-offs', but couldn't be sure.
Kaze was the next to go. "See ya!" he announced happily, and disappeared in a gust of wind.
Mizu gave him a firm nod then vanished in a swirl of water, followed by Tsuchi, who melted into the rocky floor of the hallway.
Kaji spoke up next. "Well, it looks like we're done here, so… adios!" he announced, and Naruto felt himself falling… then everything went black.
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Naruto woke up in his bed, breathing heavily. Was that really…? Then he noticed something sitting on the blanket before him, and his breath caught.
There, lying between his legs, sat his Konoha shinobi headband, his hitai'ate. But it wasn't as he had left it before he went to bed. No, it was markedly different.
In the middle, right where it had originally been, was the symbol for Konohagakure- the symbol of the leaf. But now there were other markings surrounding it, marking Naruto forever, and assuring the blond jinchuuriki that what had just happened was most definitely real.
Surrounding the leaf in a circle were five symbols: a tongue of flame, a teardrop of water, a cracked stone, a bolt of lightning, and a swirl of wind.
Questions moving through his mind, Naruto eventually fell asleep, albeit more confused and apprehensive than he had ever been. There was this to know, however: if there was more to the situation, then he could deal with it tomorrow.
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Blackness.
Drip.
"So whataya think of the brat? He might just do okay, but for now…"
Dim flickering light reflected off of shimmering water, though the rest lay shrouded in shadow and darkness.
Drip.
A growl. "It is of no consequence. He will learn to harness his abilities, or else…"
Drip.
A laugh. "Yeah, whatever. What's got you all worked up?"
"Things are stirring. Things that may not appreciate the steps I have taken in this situation."
"Like what? You mean-" A pause. "Oh, you mean- oh, that's rich!" A snicker. "So the old guys are pissed at you?"
Drip.
"You would do well to hold more respect than that, brat. Suzaku is not to be taken lightly."
"Fine, whatever."
Silence.
Drip.
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