I'm back and no there probably won't be set update times until I get in a groove of things and with skyrim coming out next month… Yeah that's going to be a while. Anyway I'm here to bring you the next installment complete with all the trimmings.
Also because I forgot to mention it this story is rated m for eventual blood violence swearing and any other m-rated things that may or may not happen later.
Note I wanted to just get this chapter out there already so there may be some spelling and grammar errors just a heads up.
So enjoy!
I do not own Nuraihyon or Naru! If I did things would be epic!
Fear the New Age
Chapter 2-0
Oh things they are a changing
Things had changed.
That was the simple way of putting it.
At least to one Yuuhi Kurenai waking up with the mother of all hangovers this morning as she just felt well different. She felt stronger, faster like she could take on a whole squad of ANBU with no trouble at all.
To sum it up she felt great.
Surprising considering what had happened last night.
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Flashback
Kurenai woke up in her room with a massive headache that threatened to split her head apart. Slowly she tried to piece together the events of what had happened before all the gears clicked in her head. She jumped up almost immediately still lying on the ground.
'Those eyes' she thought.
Kurenai shivered to herself and tried to stand up.
Before realizing she couldn't.
That was not good.
She looked down at where she was lying to find something she would have found odd under normal circumstances. She was chained to the floor by a chain that went from her wrist to a link on the floor. The strangest thing was that around her there had been a circle painted in with various runes and other things Kurenai couldn't decipher and standing just outside the circle adding more to it was one Nuraihyon Naru.
So yes under normal circumstances that would be a little strange.
But under these circumstances it absolutely terrified her.
Naru looked up finishing whatever it was she was doing "so you're awake?" Naru asked in a tone that somebody would when talking about the weather. "I'm sorry to say that this will only make things harder for you." Naru stated almost sadly.
Almost.
Kurenai tried to shout out at her to let her go only to find that a gag was stopping her from shouting much of anything.
Naru noticed this and decided to explain things to her. Inwardly thinking that it probably wasn't going to calm the genjutsu mistress. "That gags there to stop you from biting your own tongue." Naru started to explain "What you're about to go through is painful it will change you it will unlock your full potential and raise you to a high status in our ranks." Naru talked as if she was being given a great honor. "You will become a half youkai somewhat like me… only weaker but still considerably stronger than you are now." Kurenai could only wonder what exactly she was talking about what was this about being a half demon? "You will cast away part of your humanity and join us." Naru paused before continuing "You will become loyal and serve only me and my descendants becoming immortal to serve our clan." Kurenais eyes shot open in slight fear Naru stopped again as if thinking. "I will give you a choice…-the choice to accept or refuse…now which do you choose?" Naru asked. Kurenai just being grateful she actually had a way out of this situation started to frantically shake her head no. Naru made a chain of seals before stopping on one and grinning a grin that would have made Hagoromo run away in fear. For it was the one she used before she tortured Hagoromo in the worst ways possible when she was pissed off. The one where she was stuck in a chair in front of a room full of TV's all set to play each and every episode of Barney continuously. Therefore it was entirely unsurprising that Hagoromo retreated to the farthest corners of Naru's mind at that point.
For Kurenai however this grin meant something entirely different.
"I said I would give you a choice" Naru's tone was almost sadistically happy much like Anko when she went out for dango. (It Rhymes!) "That doesn't mean I would listen to it." And before Kurenai could even start to protest Naru finished the seal and the circle started to glow a deep blood red before Kurenai screeched out like a banshee from the pain and promptly blacked out.
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Flashback end
Kurenai was interrupted from her musings by the sound of the door sliding open to reveal Naru in her youkai form. Kurenai couldn't shake this feeling she got around her it felt like no matter what she should always do whatever this demon in front of her commanded. As if part of her was unwaveringly loyal to her new comrade. "Good your awake." Naru said happily as she quickly hid the bucket of water she had planned on using as a wake up call and through it off in a random direction smiling the whole time before Kurenai could see it. There was a slight pause before Naru asked "So how do you feel?" Kurenai was a bit dumbstruck as she realized that this was one of the first times Naru had actually shown any sort of kindness to her whatsoever.
"Uh great I guess" Kurenai said hesitantly unsure of how to respond. Naru just watched her for a second longer before responding.
"Good, good I wouldn't want my new advisor and general down on the job." Naru stated almost like she was a happy child.
"A-a-advisor? G-g-general?" Kurenai asked dumbfounded.
"But of course!" Naru said enthusiastically "You didn't think I just randomly asked for you because you were there. You were the perfect fit! And I needed officers badly!" Naru started muttering something about the evils of paperwork and how to go about its destruction.
Kurenai then decided to figure out exactly what was going on sure she had heard Naru's statement about being part youkai but what was all this other stuff about? "Uh what exactly happened?" Kurenai asked and then added "And why are you being so nice to me all of the sudden?"
Naru just stared at her blankly before speaking up "Why Kuri-san why would I ever not be nice to one who can help me fight off the evils of paperwork?" Naru asked in a sickly sweet tone. She seemed to chuckle evilly to herself for a second before calming. "And as for what happened well I already told you, you became a half youkai and are officially recognized as a member of our clan. With all the rights that come with it like power, respect, fear and best of all paperwork!" Naru shouted that last bit enthusiastically.
Kurenai sweat dropped at this for all her tactical skills, power and wisdom beyond her age Naru was at heart still a 13 year old girl when she wanted to be.
"But what's this about me being a general?" Kurenai asked
"Oh well you see once I saw you in the Hokages office I knew you were one of the ones I was looking for somebody with enough spirit to well… bring back another spirit. Because of this you were granted its abilities you'll stay mostly the same and develop a few youkai like features depending on whose spirit you got like your new eyes for example." Kurenai was shocked by this and Naru wisely pulled out a mirror from somewhere and gave it to Kurenai.
Kurenai stared at her reflection for a few seconds noting that her eyes had become slitted red with everything else being pitch black. "You can hide these features if you want to but around here you won't have to worry about them if anything you'll be accepted more into the family by showing that your one of us." Naru stated knowing she had struck a chord with the young genjutsu mistress.
Kurenai didn't know what to say this whole turn of events had changed her life so dramatically and in some ways it looked to be for the better in Konoha she had never really been excepted because she didn't agree with some of the villager's actions a chance to start a new with a clean slate… it was more then she could ask for.
Suddenly Kurenais heart ached as she realized that she was leaving behind some good things to mainly her longtime friend Anko. She hoped Anko would be all right and wouldn't hate her for leaving.
Naru chose then to speak up.
"Walk with me" she said in a tone that left no room for argument.
Strangely like before Kurenai felt compelled to do what had been asked as if the very thought of not doing as asked was blasphemy. So Kurenai started to follow Naru as they walked out of her room and outside to a nearby courtyard passing several youkai who all seemed to have a look of admiration and respect on their face as they saw Kurenai. Kurenai wasn't used to this behavior but decided she could get used to it. It was a lot better than those cold stares she had gotten in Konoha. Continuing to follow Naru who was heading in the direction of that sakura tree she seemed to love so much.
"So" Naru said speaking up "where to begin…" she paused and put her hand in a thinking pose "Ah why not at the beginning" Naru stated which caused Kurenai to immediately sweat drop. "You see I was once just as human as you were until my 8th birthday…" Naru continued on explaining her life to Kurenai again leaving out the part about Hagoromo living in her gut. She paused and then looked at Kurenai dead serious "So that brings us to you and your new duties; First and foremost if you learn of any potential threats to me or the clan you are to inform me immediately, second if we head into battle you are to be there no excuses unless I send you on another assignment. You will remain in the clan home and not leave unless given permission to do so or have work outside or in Konoha, and lastly you will be taking over as head of the administration department its over there!" she pointed over to what appeared to be a small shack "good luck!" she said those last bits fast before running off in a hurry and jumping into her sakura tree for some much needed R&R. She waited a few seconds before opening one of her eyes slightly and watching as Kurenai opened the door to receive paperwork's most notorious technique.
Death by 1,000 Paper Cuts no Jutsu!
Kurenai didn't stand a chance even with her newly acquired demonic powers.
Seeing Kurenai buried under a massive pile of paperwork Naru decided that was her cue and promptly fell asleep to the sounds of someone screaming her name in rage.
Thankfully for Naru all those loyalty seals and the eternal thanks of what was now half of Kurenais soul she was not horribly maimed that day.
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Waking up in her mental world Naru sighed apparently Hagoromo wanted out.
Now this would worry some people without the right context.
Hagoromo didn't want out of her mind oh no.
She simply wanted out of that chair.
Naru walked into a room that contained the new bane of Hagoromo's existence.
There sitting in a modified barber's chair was Hagoromo dressed in her usual attire her eyes being forced open by two clamps and unable to move as a certain purple dinosaur danced along one of the many screens in front of her.
Hagoromo had earned this for trying to mess with Naru's mind in her spare time and although the seal prevented big changes small little ones could occur slowly. Some part of Naru already expected that this had happened and not wanting to take any chances she placed steps that would stop anyone from invading and planting thoughts within her. So here Hagoromo was crying to herself as she watched the most genius torture device ever created by man.
Naru's ancestors would be so proud.
Hagoromo noticed her and tilted her head back as much as possible to stare at her prison.
Inside her eyes Naru could see a whole range of emotions varying from anger to pleading to be let out of this horrible contraption. Naru sighed and picked up the remote before shutting off the TV's to which Hagoromo sighed in relief.
Being the evil, manipulative and cruel entity that Naru was she quickly turned it back on as soon as Hagoromo relaxed.
Oh how cruel.
This all seemed to be one big message to Hagoromo that was "you did this."
'By kami' Hagoromo thought'what have I created?'
Naru soon let her out of the chair and laughed at seeing her immediately go up to the screens and destroy all of them ruthlessly.
"Now, now Hag-chan" Naru said playfully "We all know that I love you and you love me" Hagoromo paled both at the nickname and the words after it.
"Now then" Naru asked "Why did you want to see me besides that of course."
Hagoromo just stared swearing to kill the girl in front of her if she got the chance.
"I just wanted to warn you about that sword you picked up." Hagoromo muttered out between her grit teeth.
"Oh…what about it?" Naru asked clueless.
"It seems to have set up shop in a small corner of your mind. I would have looked myself but…" she motioned to the room around her obviously not all that happy right now.
"But now that you're here you can just go check it out for yourself." Hagoromo stated.
"And what will you be doing in the meantime then?" Naru asked.
Hagoromo suddenly had an evil glint in her eyes before she started tearing apart the room she had been stuck in for the last 3 hours.
Naru walked out of the room laughing at Hagoromo the whole time as she tried to destroy the chair only for it to immediately appear again restored.
Calming herself Naru checked around her mind before seeing a small section of it had in fact changed.
Well the rest of her mind was the usual picture of the restored Nura clan home this area looked to be the complete opposite.
The grass was either pitch black or dying a sickly yellow the sky inexplicably changed from a bright sunny day to a violent storm in the blink of an eye as Naru approached it.
Now that Naru looked at the area it seemed like an exact replica of where she usually entered her mind with both the sakura tree and pond.
The differences being that here the pond seemed to be more of a tar like substance that was bubbling, and the sakura tree looked pitch black with black petals and black flames rising along the roots.
Approaching it Naru had the sudden impulse to touch the tree so after a moment's hesitation… she did.
"You must be the one I have been searching for." A soft yet powerful voice came out of nowhere.
"Where are you?" Naru questioned looking around.
"Oh excuse me it must be a little odd for you to be talking to a tree even in your own mind." The voice said again but this time with humor in its voice. Suddenly the winds kicked up around Naru forming what looked to be an exact copy of her. From the red hair at the impossible angle all the way to her outfit she was exactly the same as Naru.
"There is that better?" the voice said again this time sounding almost like Naru but still there was that almost whisper like quality to it making her sound the same yet different.
"So you're the sword?" Naru asked figuring that it was really all this could be.
"Right and yet so wrong" the voice said surprising Naru so if she wasn't the sword then just what was she? "I'm not the sword per say I'm more a part of you then it. But I'm…-well I guess you could say that I am all the things the sword liked about you rolled into one being." The imposter Naru paused before continuing "I was created from you because the sword needed a way to talk to you. I guess you could call me a duplicate of you just without some of the things it hates about you so in a way…I guess I'm just better than you!" The fake Naru shouted out in an all too happy voice and tone that made Naru cringe. 'Am I really like that?' Naru thought before banishing the thought from her head with a resounding 'no.'
Kurenai and quite a few others would have a bit to say about that if they knew.
"And why does the sword need to talk to me?" Naru asked hoping to get some answers out of what Naru would now call her more annoying half. The other Naru seemed to pause and put a hand up to her head in a thinking pose as if having a discussion with herself before snapping her fingers in a 'ah ha' kind of way.
"For your training of course!" The all too excited duplicate of Naru yelled out. "You don't even know half of the things we can do together!" She stopped as if thinking again "Well it and us actually." The duplicate stated in a more serious tone.
"Okay I guess that makes some sense." Naru drawled out the okay bit as if trying to figure it out before she finished her sentence. "And I could use some training in kendo." She paused as if wondering something "So what do I call you then?" Naru asked.
"Call me…" the other Naru stopped for a second. "Call me Narukage."
'She wants to be known as my shadow?' Naru thought knowing there had to be more to that choice of a name but decided to let it go for now.
Naru realized that she needed to get up and leave her mental world so she went on back to that sakura tree that seemed to put her in a trance and sat in one of branches thinking about the conversation she had just had…with herself. 'And what an odd part of me to…maybe she'll bother Hagoromo for me when I'm not around?' Despite everything though Naru had to wonder.
'Of all my qualities why those? Who would have guessed it liked those parts of me? especially coming from a sword that's name is Tenshiki.'
Fear the New Age
Chapter 2-1
Temporary alliance
"Pleased to meet you miss…" the secretary drawled off trying to get an answer.
"Shuruki" the woman answered only seeming to be paying the slightest of attention to the secretary at the hokages office.
"Ok then well you can head right in he's not busy at the moment."
"Thank you" the woman stated politely before opening the doors and walking right into the hokages office.
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Hiruzen Sarutobi was having one of those days.
The council had declared that they could not afford to fail their precious Uchiha so under no circumstances was he to fail the gennin exam meaning that no matter what the team he was on and Sasuke himself would pass even if they weren't ready for it.
Something told him that he would have a lot more headaches in the days to come.
Poor, poor Sarutobi he had no idea.
Suddenly the door opened interrupting him from his musings.
Sarutobi looked up to see his visitor only to find that it was currently ANBU's most wanted after all sneaking into the hokages office undetected and taking out the guards stationed there would put just about anyone up there.
Standing in front of him was one Nuraihyon Uzumaki Naru.
The door closed shut behind her and she walked up to the hokages desk very casually.
With the press of a button Sarutobi had the ANBU stationed around him shunshin into the room nearly overflowing the office with over forty of them. After that last visit Sarutobi decided that he couldn't be too careful. The ANBU tensed seeing the intruders face and realizing that she slipped past them again.
After all fool me once shame on me, fool me twice… I'm a dead man. At least that was the shinobi saying anyway.
"I would like to say I was surprised by the reaction but…not really." Naru stated in a casual tone.
"And I would like to say it was nice to see you after you basically kidnap one of my kunoichi…but then I would be lying" Sarutobi responded in a venomous tone. Sure he had practically sent Kurenai there under orders with a reconnaissance mission but she didn't need to know that little detail.
"It's not like I forced her I just forced you and honestly I'm still surprised you gave into my demand. You must really want to keep the peace don't you?" Naru asked curious.
"What do you want this time?" The aged hokage asked tiredly as he really wished he was still in retirement.
"See you already know me so well hokage-san I can already tell that this is going to be a great partnership." Naru sarcastically remarked.
"Partnership?" Sarutobi stated incredulously "what partnership?"
"Simple" Naru stated "my clan wants to become a part of Konoha."
"And why would you want to be a part of Konoha?" Sarutobi asked cautiously trying to puzzle out the enigma in front of him. 'She sneaks into my office attacks Konoha ninja takes one of them and now she wants to become a part of it?' He might have been the professor and god among shinobi but even the wisest man in the world would have some serious trouble trying to figure this all out with just that amount of information.
"Let's just say you left a good impression on me." Naru sated which caused the Sandaime to stare at her not buying it for a second. "Ok, ok we want to join up with Konoha now so we don't end up killing each other later. My clan simply wishes to have a bit of breathing room and the only way to do that is to ally with you." Sarutobi looked in her eyes for a few moments before deciding that what she said was the truth or at least part of it.
"And what does Konoha get from this?" The hokage asked causing just about everybody in the room to perk up wondering that themselves.
"Besides another clan joining up with you and a chance to replenish your forces lost from the thrashing the Kyuubi gave you?" At this Hagoromo was grinning happily inside her hosts head as if remembering good times. "We can provide you with extra security in the forests surrounding Konoha. Along with any Intel you might need from our spy networks and before you ask they are good." If any of Narus forces had been around to hear that they probably would have fainted from the compliment that was given out by her as they were that rare.
"I see" Sarutobi stated before asking "so what are your terms exactly?" This caused Naru to grin.
"Our clan will not be moving into Konoha as we do like our privacy. Our clan will be welcomed into Konoha at any time and should we need aid or help with defending ourselves we would like Konoha's support in the matter. We also want a clan seat and some autonomy from prying eyes in other words our clan will be only loosely governed by Konoha we will follow missions given and join up with others on them. But when it comes to clan matters it will be solely our clan that deals with them." Naru listed off her demands and well most sounded reasonable the aged hokage could see that Naru was trying to make sure that there clan could not be completely controlled and governed by Konoha.
The hokage considered his position here if this offer had been made 14 years ago he would have refused almost immediately when that level of anatomy was brought up after all he didn't want another hyuuga clan one was bad enough.
But now… Naru was right they might act strong but in truth they really needed more forces to replenish their losses. They had to send gennin out on B-class missions for kami's sake. In the end he couldn't refuse.
"I agree on one term." The hokage stated seriously.
"Oh?" Naru asked already having a good idea of what that term was.
"I want the return of my ANBU unharmed and allowed to return to active service." Sarutobi spoke unwaveringly. This caused a certain snake masked ANBU in the room to get excited at the chance of seeing her only friend again.
"Of course" was all Naru said in response causing Sarutobi to do a double take.
"Just like that you're going to let her go after threatening to burn the village down to get her?" Sarutobi asked not believing this.
"Yes she can return to active service however I ask that she be given all the rights of someone in our clan and the ability to come and go from our clan home to Konoha freely." Naru stopped here as if thinking out her next words carefully. "I guess you could say she became an honorary member."
"Honorary member?" the hokage asked in confusion as he had never heard of a clan doing something like that before.
"I guess you could say she found something in the clan she liked and joined. Our clan is not strict though she can come and go as needed I simply ask that she be given the opportunity to stay with my clan if she wishes it."
Sarutobi was a little off put by all this if what Naru said was true what exactly had Kurenai been doing? As he hadn't even received a single report from her yet. "Very well" he said "By the power invested in me as the sandaime hokage of Konoha under charter 6 section 13 hereby invoke the right to absorb your clan into Konoha under the conditions that have been proposed previously I will have the documents written up for you to sign."
"Thank you hokage-san Kurenai will be happy to hear this. I will come by to sign the documents tomorrow and discuss future plans." And with that Naru walked off before dissolving in her usual way heading back to the Nura clan home leaving everyone in the room with a single thought.
'Why isn't my exit that awesome?'
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To say that Kurenai was happy was an understatement she had been silently dreading the thought of having to spy on either side of the conflict between what she now considered her new and old homes sure Konoha had some good people in it but she just felt like she belonged with the Nura clan. So the thought of getting both and seeing Anko again after not believing they'd see each other for years was nice. Maybe she could convince Naru to adopt Anko into the clan to? Of course that raised some questions why had she been brought in herself? To her understanding it seemed as though it was just random but there had to be some reason right?
She would have to ask Naru about that later…
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To be the winner of every fight one must know there enemy and one must know themselves. To know both and to always be one step ahead well…Victory is assured. The question is how well do you actually know yourself and just what can you do?...Okay maybe sun-Tzu said something similar but I said it too all right?
-6th heir of the clan of Nuraihyon
Putting aside the fact that it seemed that entire quote was just stolen Naru thought about it causing questions to be brought up in Narus mind for although she made a habit to know everything about her enemies and allies that last part of the question always nagged her. Well others saw of her wasn't exactly what she was…if she was going to fulfill her dreams then she must get stronger and right now that one phrase was her ticket.
Naru like many others knew absolutely nothing about herself. As honestly what drove her and how she would react to situations could only be told through time. But this quote raised another question that could be answered.
Just what were her abilities?
Sure she knew her strengths and weaknesses and she hadn't even began to truly understand what she could do with Tenshiki according to her shadow anyway. But in all her 13 years of life Naru could not think of a single moment where she had to truly test herself everything just seemed so easy. Perhaps it was just part of being a demon that she would never truly 'learn and grow' in that sense honestly she didn't know.
So she was at an impasse.
Of course this had one reaction from Naru.
Throwing the scroll she was currently reading off the table in anger before storming out of the clan library.
It would be a truly terrifying day for any random youkai that passed her in the halls.
Then she met up with Shuruki and Mazuki.
Stopping her rage for a moment she looked at the duo that was almost always inseparable. Though they would never admit it the two were perfect for each other. Of course they were as blind as bats to the others feelings on the matter. Often creating the arguments that a deaf person could tell showed that they were made for each other.
"Mazuki, Shuruki I need you to go into Konoha for me and bring Kurenai with you I'm sure she would like to head back as soon as possible." Narus voice seemed agitated at first but seemed to calm down through the sentence.
"What for mistress?" Mazuki asked curious.
"I need a place to set up shop in Konoha I'm trusting you with the clan's funds on this I need you to buy a bar or restaurant or something that we can use as a hideout and base of operations in Konoha. A home away from home if you will." Naru spoke the whole time grinning.
This caused Shuruki and Mazuki to grin as well before bowing and saying a customary "it will be done."
With that small detail out of the way Naru now had to find something else to do…
Meh pestering Hagoromo was always a good fallback maybe she could get her shadow to join her?
Fear the New Age
Chapter 2-2
Anko meet new friends, new friends… meet Anko
'Dango!'
That was one of the sole thoughts that ran through Anko's head that day as she exited the newly restored Ichirakus ramen which now to the benefit of a certain snake mistress happened to serve dango. Mentally Anko was going over just how great a day it had been.
4:00 A.M woke up started training.
6:00 A.M went to work.
6:05 A.M accidently chop off the left hand of some jerk at work who stole her dango.
7:30 A.M tortured some random Iwa nin.
7:36 A.M killed some random Iwa nin.
9:00 A.M pranked Ibiki well he was trying to extract info from a prisoner see hot glue gun and wig.
10:00 A.M still running from Ibiki.
12:00 P.M got some dango.
All in all it had been a good day for Anko and it was about to get better.
Out in front a small building that used to be a deserted club before it was shut down for safety reasons (And being too close to the Uchiha district that happened to control the police at the time.) Stood one person Anko was more than happy to see.
Of course she frowned a bit seeing that she was with other people that weren't her.
But she could change that.
Grinning a grin that had most of the Konoha populace running in fear Anko approached her friend as quietly as she could preparing to get the drop on her and her new friends.
Kurenai however being the perceptive Kunoichi that she was immediately called her out.
In Kurenais mental checklist that was a plus one for demonic powers that included hearing and smell. It was rather easy to know the one person in Konoha who smelt like both snakes and dango.
"Anko-chan I know you're out there." Kurenai said as she turned to were Anko was walking up behind her.
"You're getting better Kuri-chan soon I won't be able to sneak up on you at all…" That was right before a kunai shot through the air from some random apartment building and landing behind Kurenai before being kawairmed (spelling?) with Anko herself complete with another kunai poised at Kurenais neck. It may have been hard to do but it was technically possible to kawairmi with just about any other object depending on your skill level with the technique and chakra reserves.
"But not today" Anko finished.
It was then that Anko got a good look at the two standing next to her friend.
Anko was really possessive.
The man looked rugged as if he hadn't shaved in weeks but managed to pull off a certain style with it wearing a white shirt and black vest rugged brown hair, eyes and cargo pants completed the picture giving him the appearance of somebody you didn't want to mess with.
The woman next to him had that same kind of air to her but it seemed more focused and precise as if you could cut something with it. She wore simple black robes with the hood currently down and had green eyes and silver hair.
"And you are?" asked the man half looking over at her well seeming to care more about the building in front of him.
His partner looked over as well and the two remained surprisingly calm in seeing a kunai pressed up against Kurenais neck.
"I assume you know Kurenai-san than?" The robed woman spoke up. Kurenai chose then to speak up.
"Anko as happy as I am to see you right now I would be even happier to be able to move." She said her eyes falling in the general direction of the kunai poised at her neck.
"Oh sorry about that Kuri-chan I guess I just got a little carried away…" This caused Kurenai to immediately sweat drop this was a little?
"So what are you doing out here anyway?" Anko asked a bit more sanely as if another more rational part of her brain had kicked in and suddenly realized how bizarre this whole situation was.
This caused Kurenai to hesitate and look over at the other two as if silently asking a question. Obviously this had not gone unnoticed by Anko. "What's wrong Kurenai?" Anko asked this time dropping the chan to let her friend know she was hurt that she wasn't telling her anything and that she was even a little angry.
Mentally Kurenai paled when she saw the face Anko had been giving off and had been trying to avoid her while they were here as she had yet to come up with even a semi-believable reason that she was staying with the clan and therefore less able to see Anko on a day to day basis.
You can see the problems of trying to tell Anko something like this right?
So here Kurenai was speaking the first things that she could come up with on the spot to a somewhat insane woman with serious trust issues.
Did I mention she could control snakes?
Not good.
"Well-"Kurenai began trying to explain her situation before Anko grabbed her tossed a smoke bomb and shunshined (again spelling?) out of the street taking Kurenai with her.
Poor, poor Kurenai.
Once the smoke cleared Mazuki and Shuruki just sighed figuring that whatever just happened didn't really affect them all that much to care about at least not yet anyway.
"Do you think we should help her?" Shuruki asked her partner.
"Nah" Mazuki shrugged off the question and went back to his current favorite pastime of staring at the abandoned club in front of him. "They were obviously friends and she obviously didn't want us as part of the conversation." He continued.
"Shame I kind of liked her." Shuruki said in a serious tone that caused Mazuki to sweat drop 'great I just need more insane people in my life first her then Naru now that snake lady who's next a weasel?' Mazuki continued down this line of thought before he felt the unmistakable pain of his skull breaking and looked over at the source.
Namely Shuruki
"Ow! What was that for!" Mazuki shouted out worried about his own mental state if he kept getting blows to the head like that.
"That was for ignoring me and probably insulting me in your thoughts!" Shuruki shouted out.
A few Nara women passed the scene watching Mazuki with the sort of expression that said ' oh no not another one…' before they all decided that they would do everything in their power to help this young woman out.
Shuruki didn't know it at the time but she had just gained a powerful ally along with the Naras famed weapon of mass destruction dubbed "the frying pan" (trademark pending.)
"So do you think this building will do?" Shuruki asked.
"It should its big enough and with a little work we could have a headquarters here in Konoha all we need to do now is buy it." Mazuki said taking out the clan credit card Naru had loaned to him and walked up to the owner's apartment.
10 minutes later…
"You didn't even haggle!" Shuruki screamed at the brown haired idiot next to her.
"760,000 is a fair price" was all he said in return "besides I wanted to get out of there." He said.
"Yeah maybe for a fully working and restored club but for the state it's in now…" Shuruki trailed off as if lost in thought. "You know Narus going to kill you now right?"
Mazuki stopped and paled for a second before trying to regain his composure.
"Maybe she'll reconsider when she sees all the upgrades we bought for it looks even better than it did before." Mazuki was starting to get nervous and that was his last olive branch that could possibly defuse the situation.
"Oh yes spending another 300,000 on a swimming pool is just going to make her thrilled really just how idiotic could you be?" Shuruki responded the whole time trying to get away from him. When Naru found out she would most likely kill whoever was around her out of pure rage.
This caused Mazuki to pale seriously and shudder at the thought of what the 13 year old demonic red head would do to him when she realized he practically bankrupted the clan with his laziness.
Mazuki had to find a hiding place and fast.
Maybe he could hide out in Kurenais old home?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
One Uzumaki Nuraihyon Naru was furious.
No scratch that she was murderous.
It's not every day you can go from wealthy to poor in the span of minutes and thanks to one brown haired idiot she was actually now in debt. When she told him to buy a building she did not expect it to cost her over one million ryu! It would be years before they could recover from the costs! The amount of work they would have to do for Konoha just to pay it off…
That was probably the worst part of this situation. The contract that she had just signed stated that they could not hire themselves out to anyone outside the village. Meaning that they had just lost a huge source of income.
Rest assured someone was paying for it… And he most likely had brown hair.
I'm too afraid to go into details about the event that followed those words as it would most likely scar veterans for the rest of their lives….Needless to say….You don't need to know.
6 hours, three cats, a lawnmower, two rabbit's, three hundred rusty kunais, a fire and several excruciating images of a pale man who liked children later…
Yeah you get my point yet?
"- And then I…" Naru continued before being stopped by Kurenai who was way too afraid to find out what came after setting a modified lawnmower on a collision course with over three hundred kunai in a small apartment building. Apparently it could get worse.
Much worse.
Naru was currently to the best of her abilities trying to explain why Kurenai could not go back to her apartment to get a few things she might need.
From the story she had just heard she would be surprised if there was an apartment left.
Apparently Mazuki survived somehow though albeit with a few hundred more scars and missing his right eye.
He would be in the hospital for a few more days.
Hell the only reason Naru stopped there was because some passing ANBU had been alerted by neighbors of noise complaints that sounded like a little girl screaming.
Interestingly it hadn't been those of terror but it almost sounded like it could have been a miniature copy of Anko if one witness report was to be believed.
"So what have you been doing then?" Naru asked curious.
"Interrogated."
"And by that you mean…."
"Tortured."
"Ah…why?"
"Friend."
"Oh"
Naru with her large I.Q had already figured out what happened.
Most likely they had meant up with Anko who was suspicious of Kurenais behavior so kidnapped her to make sure she wasn't some sort of imposter or being controlled.
Well she wasn't an imposter.
And she wouldn't go so far as controlled, controlled was a harsh word maybe something more like subtly manipulated?
Yeah that was better.
She was about to talk more to Kurenai before the conversation to be was interrupted by a suddenly appearing ANBU saying that the Hokage had a mission for them and that they should report to the tower immediately.
Said ANBU was ready to disappear into the winds in the usual ANBU fashion to stun the crowds before Naru grabbed Kurenai by the shoulder and disappeared in black flames.
'Just once! Just once I want to have the only cool exit!' he thought disappointed as this was his first day in the ranks and he found his exit to immediately get crushed by there's.
After all if there's one thing you learn in the ANBU ranks it this.
Sure you can kill a man in a hundred different ways…But can you do it with style?
Fear the New Age
Chapter 2-3
Stylish
Black flames erupted and dissipated inside the Hokages office leaving him sighing and wondering why he had a door in the first place? Surely he could just have four walls a roof and a floor and be done with it. It's not like that would hamper anyone's entry just his damnable secretary who always brought the horrors of paperwork with her.
He'd have the builders get right on it anything to get away from the paperwork.
His thoughts on how to defeat his greatest enemy however were cut short as Naru and Kurenai appeared from earlier said flames that had scorched the rather expensive rug that they had landed on.
Honestly it was worse than having to pick up all the leaves when his ninja left!
"You wanted to see us?" Naru asked standing in her usual attire her hair sticking out at that impossible angle yet again.
Kurenai was just amazed at what happened as she had just been a part of what had to be the coolest method of travel ever.
Who needs leaves anyway? Going out in flames is much more in these days.
"Yes and before I start it's good to see you again Kurenai-san I hope they've been treating you well." This seemingly innocent question earned him a glare from Naru who seemed to be insulted.
"Of course we've been treating her well! She is now a member of our clan after all." Naru responded her voice obviously showing that she was insulted deeply. This caused Kurenais respect for Naru to grow a bit as she had always been the one to stand up for others and now having someone else to do it for her. It was simply a new experience.
Wisely the aged Hokage decided to just drop the subject and get on to the reason he had called for them anyway there would be more time to talk to Kurenai later he was sure.
It was time to see what the newest recruits to Konoha could do.
"Ah yes well I need to get rankings for you and the clan members you will be sending to work for Konoha."
"I see so you obviously want to start with me before I send the others your way." To this the Hokage nodded.
"Yes were heading to a remote ANBU training ground near the forest of death There I have some opponents lined up so we can get a sample of your abilities and what missions you will be going on you may be a clan head yourself but I still need to know in case a situation arises." He responded
"Okay then I guess we should get going." Naru spoke in a somewhat bored tone.
20 minutes later ANBU training sight…
The field was a training instructors paradise framed by trees there was a little of everything from a creak cutting through the field at an angle to sand pits framing around it there was no doubt that this place had been manufactured to help train with elements that were rare around most training areas in Konoha.
Naru stepped out onto the field waiting for her opponent to get there already going through her head were many strategies and counters filing each one away for just the right moment she waited glancing over at the hokage. This was to be a three on one match unlike a normal test the Hokage really wanted to see what Naru could do going all out when she didn't have the element of surprise or at least not by as much as usual.
That's when they appeared in what they probably thought was the most epic entrance ever. Appearing as a group back to back in a triangle formation as if this was how they always went into battle.
And it was pretty obvious these guys never went into battle together. In fact this was probably going to be the first time they all fought as a team. They were all protecting each other's strengths, not their weaknesses and all three were on edge each preparing to defend in the same manner as the others. Their eyes scanned each other's fields and it seemed they weren't all too confident in the others abilities.
Details swam through Narus eyes about everything she could take in about the three in front of her there posture stances clothes accessories anything that might point to a strength or weakness.
She had surmised that the three in front of her were not picked because they would be a great match up against her. Not like the Hokage knew who to match her up with in the first place. No these were either picked because they had some sort of grudge against her or because they were the first people the Hokage could find.
Probably both.
Standing in front of her she saw Kakashi Hatake, Anko Mitirashi and surprisingly one Yuuhi Kurenai who looked far more alert then the other two and far more worried all in all it seemed she had been press ganged into this by the Hokage apparently this was a test for her too.
Naru stood there watching her 'enemy' for a few minutes longer strategies already in motion a few traps already laid.
Despite the odd matchup Naru smirked 'This was going to be fun.'
On the other side of the clearing…
All three of them were a little unnerved seeing the grin on their opponents face Anko absently wondering if this was how it felt to be one of her enemies. Silently in a mixture of whispers and hand signals they hoped would through Naru off a bit they discussed their plan and what they should do in the upcoming battle.
Kakashi signaled first "Ok I want to get her back for that punch you two flank form the sides and prepare to set up your strongest you have to take her down quickly Kurenai I need you to set up several genjutsu around the field. Anko just…" Kakashi had to stop and think about Anko for a moment "do whatever you do best and distract her from fighting me with any luck while end this before she knows what's happening. In the meantime while we hold her off Kurenai you'll be preparing the best genjutsu you got to make sure she regrets punching me through half a building and basically kidnapping you ok?"
(Amazing what you can say with a bit of improve and hand signals these days.)
He got one quick "Hai" back and after a few seconds somehow seemed to get a more hesitant one.
During all of this Kurenai was worried, why? Because not only was she fighting Naru who she knew to be a skilled opponent but it felt like half of her body was ready to commit suicide if she did.
Nervously she took her first steps along with the rest of the team to meet up with Naru for the match.
"Kurenai" Naru said in a tone as if she was joking "You don't have to be so nervous about hurting me just don't kill me Ok? I'm still a little too young for that."
This caught Kurenais attention as she read between the lines and realized that she was actually giving her permission to fight her in a form that wouldn't come off as anything more than some inside joke or a taunt. Immediately Kurenai felt her resolve harden and actually felt like she could go into battle.
Still didn't feel like she could win though…
It was around that moment that Kurenai realized just how clever Naru really was and how ingenious she really must be to give her both orders and permission to fight in such a roundabout way. And for the first time she wondered what she had gotten into because of the demonic red head in front of her.
Just what were Narus goals anyway?
Throwing that thought aside for the moment she prepared for the fight to come.
Not that it would do much good anyway…
The three charged at the one Kakashis sharingan exposed as he charged forward the whole time making hand signs.
Doton 100 spears of earth!
Just as he said spears of earth charged up ahead of him as he leaped to the top of one and continued on his way to his enemy already preparing another Jutsu. Naru in a grand display of coordination and acrobatics did a backflip up above the incoming spikes and landed on the top of one herself. Kakashi however had already completed his next Jutsu
Suiton current reversal!
And with another shout water sprang forth from the creak flooding the earth below the two fighters as if it was now a fearsome river covering most of the ground. Naru cursed as a few of the traps she could have used would have been destroyed by that attack. She wondered where the other two had gone at a time like this as she couldn't find them anywhere.
Then it hit her.
And I mean that as literally as possible, a huge snake had just jumped from the water and devoured her whole.
It would be a few seconds of stunned silence before the others remembered seeing a few black wisps escape from its mouth.
That would be a few seconds too late.
Cursing herself for not seeing it Naru literally forced the genjutsu around her to bend to her will and sent it right back at those she had been fighting.
Realizing that things had not quite gone to plan with her genjutsu Kurenai dispelled it revealing Anko and herself on trees above them. Quickly they all scanned for any sign of Naru only to find that she was in the air coming down at them in a dive like a kunai shot from hell.
Do you want to know the best part?
She had a sword in her hand.
Naru went through the motions her shadow displayed in her mind slicing the sword through the air a few moments before she would have hit the ground.
Surprisingly right before she hit strong gusts of hurricane force winds hit the ground around her with twinges of black outlining them these stopped her momentum and she landed softly on the ground before plunging her blade into the ground.
This cause tremors knocking Kurenai and Anko out of the trees and into the water below. Soon wisps of black erupted from the ground and with a roar that seemed to signify the earth itself was waking large shadowy tendrils erupted from the ground each the size of Anko's snake summon from earlier. Draining the newly created 'river' and attacking the three each of which had only one thought going through their heads.
'Do not want to get hit by those!'
Kakashi started yelling out Katon Jutsus like it was the Kyuubi festival trying to find a weakness and starting with the logical choice of fire and having some success at getting rid of some of the tendrils. Anko ran up a tree having one of her rather large summoned snakes protecting her by blocking one of the tendrils. Oddly with each hit the snake seemed to get weaker as though physical contact itself was draining the beasts strength. Inversely the shadow only seemed to get stronger as the battle roared on.
Kurenai had been trapped by the creature as it coiled around her like a snake. She mostly focused on illusionary techniques so she didn't have a big enough offensive Jutsu in her arsenal to even try and bat away the thing.
Suddenly overhead they all noticed that it had gotten a lot darker and it seemed storm clouds had moved in. blocking out the sun and causing the shadowy tendrils around them to strengthen.
Fierce winds began to blow and lightning and rain came down strangely the three fighters noticed that the rain seemed to be weighing them down and that the wind and water surrounding them had tinges of black giving them a sort of impure and malicious feeling.
The wind scattered the sand from the pits blowing it around in mini tornadoes and sending it into the eyes of those who were fighting.
Then Naru seemed to return to the fight engaging Kakashi as Anko was still fending off the tendrils.
Like the rest of the fight before it there were no words exchanged between tem as if they all knew that this was more than a friendly spar. No this was a chance for all of them to get stronger and they were all taking it.
Only the drenched forms of Naru and Kakashi stared each other down in a fight between Kunai and sword there glances at towards the other showing more than words.
This was a fight for honor and pride and it was a great one.
Kakashi could do little but parry the strikes coming from Narus sword it was obvious she wasn't a master there were mistakes to her form but without a katana himself and being constantly pushed back Kakashi could do little to capitalize on them.
Eventually the weight of the water got to him and his movements became more slow and sluggish allowing Naru to disarm him with one strong blow.
For a while nothing moved and nothing made a sound the entirety of nature had come to see the fight and had been awed it seemed. No birds chirped no gales blew through.
Nothing.
"Told you it would work." The voice echoed through the emptiness of Narus mind and even Hagoromo was speechless at what she had just seen.
The storm stopped and dissipated the tendrils returned to the earth leaving gaping holes in the once pristine arena. Spikes of earth still jetting from the ground although some it seemed had broken under the malicious forces of nature. The creak had been drained albeit slowly turning into a waterfall into a pit from one of the tendrils entrances.
Sand had blown everywhere during the storm and the sand pits were no more.
"-Now you might feel a tad bit tire…"
That was an understatement as Naru collapsed onto her knees but dissolved into black flames before hitting the ground.
And like that she was gone leaving the other fighters and spectators speechless before Kurenai sped off in a hurry obviously knowing something the others didn't.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For a brief moment Naru was aware of herself lying in her favorite spot on the sakura tree before fading into unconsciousness and waking in her mental world.
Oddly enough the world didn't seem to fit right together as if chunks had been torn up and thrown in the air.
Where they stayed.
Naru realized that her entire mind seemed to be floating as if disconnected and decided to find the one creature that could give her answers.
Her shadow.
After searching around her mind for what seemed like hours and slowly watching her mind mend itself as it pieced itself together bit by bit she finally found the part of herself she was looking for.
"A bit tired?" she asked as if that was the stupidest thing she could say.
To be honest she felt like she had just carried 800 pounds in weight through a hurricane and then jumped off a cliff.
It did not feel good.
(Understatement of the year.)
"Well I didn't expect you to collapse obviously your weaker than we thought and you're going to need more training if you don't want to feel this way every time you use the swords powers."
Naru couldn't even imagine the mind numbing training required to go through that and not be phased.
"So why is my mind look like this?" she asked gesturing to some of the still floating pieces that were slowly coming back together.
"Using all that power didn't just put a strain on your body but on your mind as well you didn't think making shadows physically manifest themselves required physical energy did you?" The doppelganger asked forgoing her usual humor obviously prepared for the question. "Now to heal up faster you need to sleep otherwise you could be out for weeks instead of days…-"
"Days!" Naru shouted out obviously enraged.
"Like I said will work on it and for now you should just sleep Hag-chan is currently doing her best to fix you up in the physical sense not much she can do for the mind though-"
"I Know."
"Oh what great irony! You know if she could affect your mind you would be up in hours!"
"I Know" Naru was starting to get annoyed.
Naru didn't want to hear any more so she just left leaving the section of her mind that housed her shadow and moved towards the Sakura tree.
If she wanted to get up then she would have to start sleeping.
Fear the New Age
Chapter 2 End
So did you like it? I patted myself on the back for the fight scene but I need to know if you guys thought it was any good. Again I ask you all to review and please share your words of wisdom to me and yes I already know you all think pirates are better than ninjas…But what about Demon Ninjas? Oh what now? Beat that! (Don't you dare go with demon pirates uncreative lousy…) Do you like Narukage I'm kind of proud for thinking her up as I was thinking about the sword Tenshiki (roughly translated=Angel cutter) And wanted to make it sentient but a sentient sword seemed so cliché so I added a twist! It's now a somewhat sentient sword! And little Narus shadow will have a big part to play in time…
Again tell me what you think I really want to know!
Thanks to ddcj1990, Yami Arashi, Ken28, Narfan, X-x-Kag-Xion-Uchiha-x-X, Eirdaru and Adele365 for the reviews and feedback!
Also to Eirdaru the Ninjas simply don't know how to fight her yet those ways have been forgotten, but over time they might just remember a few… And yes Gaara will have a role MUHAHAHAHHAHA!
And Yami – Itachi will also play a role and if you really need a hint think about his ANBU mask.
Yeah I'm helpful aren't I?
So again review its like my lifeblood and hey you get mentioned and get your questions answered. So if you're wondering something then simply ask and I'll answer.
Simply put review and you get credited with helping what I hope to be one awesome story.
Unless you're a flamer.
With regards Isee.