CM is back with chapter 3 of NTFAO! I plan to do something that I don't think anyone else has ever done this chapter. It might get hard to write but I will perceiver! This also will be much longer of a chapter due to the amount of things that I plan to happen in it.
Reviews response!:
Shihouin Shunshin: thanks for noticing that! I'll be more careful about my spell check from now on. =)
JAKdaRIPPER: Yup! I'm the first ever to make Naruto into an Awakened being! I have never understood way it wasn't used before...
Fangking2: Read and find out ;)
Alternate Rouge: I get the funny feeling that you will be hard to impress... I hope I meet your expectations! Any help you could give would be fantastic! =)
I'm a bit iffy on how I should do this chapter but I'm going to play it by ear, hopefully from the end of this arc and into the northern campaign arc. I will continue after there so don't worry about me stopping there. I'm following the manga not the anime which in my opinion sucked! I mean seriously! Even I could see that there was still more that you could have done with the anime! But no! They ruined it by almost killing Pricilla when she I supposed to be the badest of the bad!
But once again, I'm rambling...
In this chapter I plan to get a bit of Narutos background out of the way. I might do a short filler chapter or something like that but it won't be for a while.
And now the petty disclaimer that no one likes to do but must so we don't get sued!
Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or claymore; however I do own any OC characters that I create!
On with the story!
(Last time)
"W-w-who a-are you?" the Awakened Being asked frightened out of its mind at the monster in front of it!
The blonde actually stopped and was silent for a moment. Then he began to laugh. Not a hollow laugh, but a true hearty, mirth-filled laugh as if he had done something stupid and was just noticing it now.
"By the Gods! I haven't even introduced myself yet! Here I am using your face to wipe the canyon wall and I haven't even had the common decency to introduce myself! I fill like a fool!" the blonde exclaimed while laughing.
Everyone looked at the blonde as if he was out of his mind, which, within reason, was not a bad guess. Finally the blondes snicker quieted down and he finally looked up at his opponent when he finally spoke.
"Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Naruto, and I am formerly number 1 in the organization." The newly named Naruto said with a Cheshire grin.
(Present)
(Paburo Mountains)
Silence. Pure, unadulterated silence pervaded the canyon. Nothing moved. Nobody dared to even breathe. The announcement that was made oh-so-casually in front of them had caught them by surprise and had sent most present into shock, as well as reasonably horrifying them beyond all reason.
An Abyssal One...a FUCKING Abyssal One was here! Miria just about had a heart attack from the thought alone.
How? Why? What? These were all questions running through miria's mind as she struggled to wrap her mind around the fact that one of the most powerful beings to walk the earth was standing not 30 feet away from her. The sheer thought of how easily this man, this Naruto, could destroy them was a terrifying thought in upon itself. Perish the thought that the hunting party was getting out of here in one piece, if at all. All this went through mirias mind at warp speed, putting her fear to an all time high.
Helen was afraid. Not even the thought of what happened before the newly proclaimed former number 1 arrived, even came close to the hell that he could unleash upon them all. Long story short, in Helen's mind, they were fucked. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. There was no way in hell they could defeat a former number 1. Hell there was no chance in hell they could beat the current number 1!
Clare was confused and somewhat scared. The being in front of her had announced himself as an Awakened number 1 which was a terrifying thought, but she still could not understand why the other 2 conscious warriors looked so terrified. Then a though struck her. Teresa of the faint smile was a number 1 of the organization and she could clearly remember the raw power hat she held. And this being in front of her was said to be stronger? The thought mortified her beyond a reasonable doubt.
The six armed Awakened Being in front of them however had a different expression on his face. It was almost like...awe. Or maybe amazement. Either way that expression still held the fear that the proclamation held.
Naruto observed their reactions to the news to his status with barely veiled amusement. He was slightly disappointed to see fear on the faces of the female claymores but it was to be expected. He was after all their greatest natural enemy, and one of the strongest at that. The Awakened's expression, however, amused and confused him at the same time. On one hand he looked scared shitless that an Abyssal was right in front of him, but on the other hand there was a look of awe and amazement on his face.
Seeing that, Naruto asked the obvious question, "You know me?"
Shaking his head the Awakened replied "No. But I have heard of you. Former number 1 of the fourth generation of the male claymores, Naruto the slaughterer."
Miria's eyes widened dramatically and she had a stunned look spread across her face. "But that means..." she trailed off in stunned disbelief.
Naruto scowled deeply at the mention of the title. "I hate that name."
Helen looked confused, "Who is this guy? I've never heard of him in my life!"
Miria was surprisingly the one who answered her. "I honestly would be surprised if you did know who he was. The organization would rather forget about him. He's one of their darkest secrets."
Helen's curiosity won over her common sense and she had to ask the question. "What did he possibly do to make it such a secret?"
Miria's gaze never left the back of the blonde Awakened one as she answered, "Tell me Helen, do you know what happened to the fourth generation of warriors?"
"Can't say I do. Never did listen to the history of our ranks all that much. Tell me."
"Back in the time of male and female claymores, times were getting hard. Males were becoming less and less dependable and were Awakening far too fast to even be close to being efficient. However there was one thing that the males had at the time that was the pride of the organization. Naruto, the current ranked one claymore at the time. He was powerful, even by today's standards he would still trump any warrior. Every enemy he faced was struck down swiftly and without mercy. He was the perfect weapon. The strongest claymore to ever be created." Miria told, watching the Abyssal for any sign that he was angered by the story. Seeing no visual reaction, she continued her story. "One day however he turned unexpectedly on the organization, and marched on Staff on his own. Anticipating his arrival, the organization recalled and rallied every single warrior of the generation to defend the stronghold."
Clare was astonished. She stared at the Awakened in amazement at his power. Helen was amazed too, and was slightly more vocal about it, "Every warrior! How strong is this guy?"
The enemy Awakened was the one to answer the question. "He is the single strongest being to walk the lands, only matched by that one horned woman that sprung up a few years ago. Feel honoured little claymores. You get to see a true monster in action right in front of your eyes!" the Awakened laughed cruelly, insanity in its eyes, so sure he was dead that he didn't even fear for his own life anymore.
Naruto flinched slightly at the 'monster' comment but besides that simply settled for glaring a hole through the Awakened in front of him. Miria continued her story although slightly curious about the flinch. She had a lot of questions that needed answering after this was over.
"As I was saying, when he arrived he faced down with the full might of the organizations warriors. What happened wasn't a battle...it was a massacre. Rank, age, skill, it all matter very little. He slew everyone that stood in his way, making his way towards the chief's chambers. He cut down dozens of warriors and trainees that the organization threw at him. Finally after hours of fighting, he made it into the chief's chambers. No one entered or exited the room for the longest time, and no one knows what went on while he was in there. However just before exiting, an transcendently massive burst of yoki was felt throughout the surrounding area before he burst out of the room and dashed away from Staff. The organization sent their remaining warriors to put an end to him... Only one of the warriors returned from the hunt alive. She was missing an arm and had many other injuries but managed to return to the organization. It was quite obvious she had brain damage as she couldn't remember anything from the fight. She died soon after, and it was presumed that Naruto was dead." Miria's eyes narrowed slightly. "Apparently they were wrong."
Naruto chuckled humourlessly, "You are quite knowledgeable number 6. Far too knowledgeable for it to be normal. From what I gather that information is not exactly common knowledge" he said, looking over his unoccupied shoulder at Miria sending slight shivers down her spine at his gaze. He then turned his attention back to the Awakened Being in front of him and lifted the claymore off his shoulder, wielding the massive blade as if it was a toy, and pointed it towards the ground tip first.
"You spoke of true despair. Let me show you...how it feels...to be utterly outclassed in every way." He said all humour and playfulness gone from his face.
Suddenly he slammed the blade, tip first into the rock under his feet, and in a feat of amazing strength split the rock and caused great chucks to rise up on either side.(1)
The Awakened Beings eyes widened in disbelief at the monstrous display of strength and hastily jumped back as an explosion of rock erupted in front of it. Looking down its eyes widened again to see Naruto standing, sword in the ground in a downward slash. Then, faster than the eye could follow, Naruto was behind him flicking blood of his blade.
"Feel fear..." Naruto said. Everyone was confused at his words before blood sprayed from the shoulders of all the Awakened Beings arms, which then proceeded to fall off. The Awakened fell to his knees, waiting for death when a voice that could freeze hellfire was heard.
"Get up scum. I will make you suffer before I tear your head from your body for your deeds."
There was no need for added threat. The Awakened focused on healing at least one or two of his arms. Naruto patiently waited, swinging the blood of his blade.
After regenerating his arms the Awakened attacked with blistering speed, striking out as fast as it could trying to land a blow on the older Awakened. But for Naruto, it was child's play to dodge the strikes, as he continued to dodge and block each and every one of the attacks with ease. Seeing this the Awakened jumped back and swiftly struck out, extending his fingers in an attempt at a long ranged attack.
Naruto weaved through the attacks with expert grace and precision, moving around each and every one of the attacks. He quickly got bored of the game and swiftly severed the tentacle-like fingers, forcing the Awakened to retract them.
Sticking the claymore in the ground and leaving it there, Naruto swiftly charged towards the Awakened at high speeds. Ducking under a swipe at his head, he leaped up into the younger yoma's face and delivered an earth-shattering punch in the face, and by the sound, breaking a few bones as well.
The Awakened flew backwards carving a groove in the earth from the force of the punch, before coming to a stop at the base of the canyon wall. But Naruto wasn't finished yet. Leaping in the air, he came down with a powerful axe kick to the center of the chest caving in the area with the mighty blow. The Awakened screamed in pain and from the force of the kick, feeling ribs strain and break under the intense pressure.
As Naruto tore the Awakened down, the claymores watched in amazement as the elder former warrior did what they had been trying, and failing, to do all this time. And Naruto was doing it with pure strength, not even using a hint of yoki against his opponent, and yet still outclassed the Awakened.
"Wow! Look at him go!" Helen exclaimed in awe, "He's totally brutalizing a male Awakened Being with his bare hands! I can't believe it!"
Miria was mesmerized by the battle, watching closely to every attack (that she could see anyway) and every counter attack made by the two yoma. Naruto was obviously dominating the fight. He had yet to even receive a scratch from the younger Awakened being as he brought the Awakened to its knees with his bare hands.
'Amazing...' she thought, 'So this is the power of a former number 1?'
Clare was not much better off than the other two. She could hardly believe her eyes as she witnessed Naruto punt the Awakened in the chin, hard. It was almost terrifying to see a power like that at work.
Naruto stood over the downed body of the Awakened Being that he had just finished brutalizing. It wasn't that pretty of a sight, although in hindsight the Awakened was that pretty a sight to begin with anyway. The Awakened was missing 5 of his 6 arms and the last one was broken in so many places that it was impossible for it to move. Its face was caved in and one of its eyes was swollen closed, as well as missing one of the horns on its head. Its chest looked like a forger had taken a hammer to it like a piece of steel. Every rib was broken and the chest bone was caved in. One of its legs were missing and the other was folded forward so far that it touched its waist. Being broken at the kneecap would do that to you. In total, there was no way this Awakened was getting up again.
Naruto looked down at the Awakened, violet-blue eyes cold as ice, held no sympathy for the beast beneath him. Looking the younger yoma in the one working eye, he nodded once before swiftly and unceremoniously tearing off its head and tossing it away.
Silence entered the clearing as the Awakened's head rolled away from its body.
Miria was in shock.
Clare's eyes looked like dinner plates.
Helen looked like she was trying to do her best impression of a fish.
Naruto turned and began walking back over to the group, making his way over to Miria first. Sudden fear gripped Miria for a split second. 'Is he going to kill us now?' she thought in a slight panic. This thought was dashed from her mind as he simply smiled lightly at her and handed her her claymore, hilt first.
"I believe I promised to give this back when I was finished with it. I do honour my promises." He said a gentle smile on his face. This soon turned to a slightly teasing grin as he turned to Helen and said, "Close your mouth Helen, before flies get in."
Helen closed her mouth with an audible click, before glaring at the Abyssal one.
Naruto chuckled lightly at the scene before becoming a bit more serious. "Are any of you seriously wounded?"
Miria shook her head, her wound having almost healed over the duration of the fight. Clare shook her head as well, having healed her injuries relatively quickly. Helen nodded slightly, her back was still bad, but it was healing and would be fine shortly. Helens eyes widened as she remembered something.
"Devene! She still hurt!" she said, turning to her friend. Devene was still seriously wounded from the hole in her stomach that the Awakened Being had put in her. Naruto went to step forward, but found a sword blade at his neck before he even took a step.
Clare was standing, eyes locked on the former warriors, sword to his throat preventing him from moving forward.
"Don't move. You may have saved our lives but you are still a yoma and we are still enemies." Clare said voice monotonous as she spoke to the Awakened. Naruto looked her in the eye, feature hardening into those of a veteran warriors, one that had seen more battles then anything, which let's face it, that's what he was.
"Do you really need me as an enemy, now of all times, little girl?" Naruto asked coldly.
Clare shivered and shrunk back from the Abyssal one a bit before standing her ground. She poised herself in between the yoma and the others, hoping to whatever god, being, or divine figure that was out there that the blonde didn't attack her.
To her surprise and immense relief, Naruto simply turned around, walked to a nearby rock and sat down, smiling lightly at the warrior before leaning back and closing his eyes, almost looking as though he was asleep. Clare relaxed slightly but remained wary of the Awakened, still not seeing his motives for helping them.
Helen on the other hand, was worried for Devene. So much so that she didn't even notice the exchange between the two. "How is she, Miria?" she asked, hopeful for good news.
Miria shook her head lightly. "Not good. She used all her yoki regenerating her arm that her stomach is not healing. It all depends on her own strength and will to survive now."
Helen growled slightly at that answer, before turning to Clare. "So why aren't you hurt worse? You took more hits than any of us."
Naruto answered that question surprisingly, "Any hits she took were non-vital. Your friend here has a rare ability to sense yoki to an extremely fine degree, making it possible for her to dodge the otherwise lethal blows." He said without even opening his eyes. Helen looked a bit startled to hear him answer her before narrowing her eyes.
"And you! Who are you? Why did you save us? Why-" Helen was cut off by Miria.
"Helen that is enough. We will have our questions for him in a bit. A least wait until Devene wakes up." Helen huffed, clearly unhappy but unwilling to go against the orders of her commanding officer.
Miria spoke up again, directing the question at the two of them. "There is something I need to ask you. Its extremely important to us all, so try and answer as truthfully as possible." All three conscious members were looking at Miria, even Naruto had an eye open, curious to her question.
"Has there ever been a time where you have almost Awakened?" Miria asked.
Naruto piped up, "Yup! And I didn't almost Awaken, I did Awaken!" he said cheerfully with a smile on his face.
Miria had a small tick mark on her head. "Not you! It's obvious that you've Awakened!" Miria said, slightly irked by the Awakened Beings antics. Naruto simply smiled and chuckled at her, as did the other two, never having seen the number 6 so frustrated.
"Returning to my question, have any of you, besides the obvious one" she said with a small glare at Naruto, who snickered softly at her, "ever come close to Awakening?"
There was a long pause before anyone answered. Surprisingly it was Clare who spoke up first. "Ok yes I did. It happened in a Rabona cathedral when fighting a yoma. I used up all my strength and misjudged my limits."
Helen looked surprised at the low-ranking, Miria however did not look too surprised.
"All I felt" Clare continued, "was a rush of suffering and ecstasy. Somehow I was able to pull myself back."
Helen looked sort of frustrated before answering. "Oh...same with me. I was just like the males." Ignoring a offended "Hey!" from Naruto. "I got carried away and went over my limits. The impulse was just too strong for me. Somehow I managed to revert, but only just."
Miria nodded at the explanation. "And Devene?"
"Yeah. She did too, only in her case she did it willingly while trying to find her limits." Helen replied.
Miria nodded again before asking, "When was that?"
"Around the same time as me." Came the reply.
Miria pondered the new information over in her head a bit. She paced a little bit while thinking. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Naruto staring at her with the one eye that he had open. Suddenly he smirked as if knowing what her line of thinking was. Turning back to the other two she posed another question. "Then tell me this. Have either of you ever caused problems for clients or other folk?"
Helen looked kind caught off guard by the question but answered nonetheless. "Well due to the Code I haven't taken a life, but I have come close."
"And Devene?"
"Little miss perfect? No she's never caused trouble for clients, although she has been in plenty of arguments with other warriors."
Miria hummed in response before turning to Clare. "And that leaves our low-ranking warrior who disobeys orders and runs wild from time to time. Every warrior gathered here is a troublemaker who has come close to Awakening."
Helen perked up, "Wait what are you saying? That there is something behind all this?"
Naruto finally spoke up, opening both eyes and levelling them on the warriors. "What was your first clue? You four are warriors that cause troubles for the organization and as a response were sent to fight an Awakened being far too powerful for you to defeat. Face it. You were set up for a job that could kill you easily, and if I hadn't shown up, it very well might have."
Helen growled raising her blade threateningly towards the yoma. "You shut up! I am still not even sure why we aren't trying to kill each other right now, but until we get answers you will be quiet!" she yelled at the Abyssal.
Narutos eyes narrowed dangerously at the threat. "Are you trying to threaten me, child? Rest assured the only true reason I stand here is curiosity and the kindness in my heart. Do. Not. Push. Me." He growled out coldly, eyes glowing slightly violet-blue, reminding each of them that they were absolutely no match for the Abyssal one. If he wanted them dead, they were dead. Period.
Miria stepped between the two, "That's enough! I would think that you had more sense than this Helen! We are in no position to be starting fights with an Abyssal One!" Helen backed down suitably cowed. Miria turned to Naruto "And we do still need some answers from you as well before we do anything else. So in the mean time, sit down and be a bit patient!" surprisingly shrunk into his seat, a slight amount of fear on his face(2).
Nodding, satisfied with his reaction, Miria turned back to the others. Clare spoke up however, cutting of whatever she needed to say. "What about you? You don't seem the troublemaking type, or an Awakened Being, so how do you fit in all this?"
Miria turned to Clare, "I almost awakened as well. It was on my third hunt, when I realized I was hunting an old friend. I hacked off its arms and legs before realizing it was her. She hadn't said a word, or reverted to show her face until then." Miria looked down, her mind far away, "That day, I swore to take revenge on those that did this to me." mirias eyes gained a far off look, as if looking at something very far away.
"Then...you didn't Awaken?" Helen asked
"...so it seems. I knew I had lost control of my yoma power, but I tried desperately to suppress it. I think what truly drove me was that thought of not giving her the satisfaction."
Helens curiosity was perked. "Her?" she questioned.
"Ah...anyway. As I was saying," she continued trying to cover her slip up. She wasn't completely successful however as Naruto was staring at her with his eyes narrowed a bit. "after that I plotted my revenge on the organization. I won't forgive them for what they did to my body, and then treating us like we are expendable. I did my best to look like the perfect pawn, but behind the scenes I was looking for anything that I could use against them."
"Information is the gold of the world." Naruto mused almost to himself. Miria inclined her head in his direction slightly.
"True. Anyways, after months of searching, I found out the organization greatest secret." She said somewhat ominously.
"What do you mean its 'greatest secret'?" Helen asked.
Miria turned her head to look at her before replying, "Some things are better left unsaid." Helen huffed in slight frustration.
"So you found this so-called great secret, and now you think the organization is trying to get rid of you?" Clare asked. The thought of a secret that important that the organization would go as far as to kill a single digit warrior was a troubling thought.
"Like I said it is only speculation. But we all have one thing in common." Miria said.
"I have one more thing to ask you." Clare said. "Has anything changed in us since our brush with awakening?"
Miria looked at Naruto slightly before turning to answer Clare. However the elder yoma beat her to the punch. "You must have felt some things differently. Awakening is a process that changes the body due to the high amounts of yoki running through it. In its attempt to adjust itself to the influx of power, it changes on a structural level. The yoki contracts and compresses, making it more potent and slowly removes the limits it once had. That is one of the reasons Awakened Beings go crazy. The power I simply too much for their minds to take." Naruto said eyes locked on the three who were listening intently. After all due to Awakening himself, he probably had the most knowledge on the matter.
"Even your bodies urges are different. I'm willing to bet that you feel hungry at times when you normally wouldn't in the past. In addition the abilities that you show are far too strong to be normal. Let's take Helens arms for example. Most warriors have to almost Awaken to use that sort of ability as freely as she does. Even Devene's regeneration would be damn impressive on the standards of an Awakened Being." Naruto continued. Miria nodded at the information before speaking up
"Isn't it obvious? We have already Awakened." She said shocking the two warriors.
(in the forests on the edge of the mountains)
At the edge of the forest two people were staring towards the mountains. One was seated, robed all in black except for his eyes, which could be seen through a small opening in the face cloth.
The second was a claymore. She was beautiful, with extremely long, straight, flowing blonde hair. She was tall, extremely so. She bored the trade mark silver eyes that all claymores have. Her face was concentrated on the mountains as if staring at something only she could see.
"Well? What do you sense?" the man in black asked.
"I sense four...no. Five presences. One is strong and quite large, possible the single digit. Another is average. One is pitifully weak. A very low rank at best. Another is extremely small, possibly due to unconsciousness or death. The last one however is difficult to read..."
This interested the man in black. There was very little that this warrior could not sense, so to find something was very rare. "Explain." It was not a question.
"The yoki I'm sensing is heavily suppressed. Right now it is quite small, almost unnoticeable. But beneath that is power. How much I'm not sure, but I do know it is a lot." The woman replied. "If I moved closer...I think I would be able to tell for sure."
The handler shook his head. "Any closer and they would notice you. You were summoned because you are the only one who can sense yoki energy from this distance."
The warrior was quiet for a moment before speaking. "What is this about? Of what importance is the fate of a few warriors on a hunt for an Awakened Being?"
"Think of it as an old man's concern from a parent to a child. Don't fret about it." The organization member said. The warrior heavily doubted his words, but she was in no place to be asking questions. Instead she focused on the mountain, trying to get a clear picture on what was happening.
Her head perked up as something interesting happened. The man in black(3) noticed and ask, "What is it?"
"The strong one just said something that made the average and weak ones uneasy. What is interesting however is the suppressed one reaction, or lack of one. Either it already knew the thing said or was unbothered by it." The warrior said. "The average one is the most uneasy. She is gesturing, arguing with the strong one with her hands and body. The weak one and suppressed one are listening calmly...wait. No that's wrong, the weak one is equally disturbed, she just isn't showing it outwardly like the other. Something happened in her past. Whatever it was it locked away her emotions internally."
The man in black was inwardly impressed. 'It's amazing... she can even sense that much detail from this distance?' he thought in slight awe.
The warrior perked up once again, "The last one has regained consciousness." The man in black was surprised by that. "Good. That means that all of them have survived and will come back alive." She said smiling lightly at the handler.
"I see." He said "In that case, memorize their auras... Because," he said standing and turning to leave, "someday you may have to cross blades with them." If the warrior was surprised, she didn't show it and turned to leave with the handler.
(Back with the others)
"You're not serious!" Helen yelled indignantly. "Don't lump me together with those monsters!" Naruto growled lightly at the comment, but otherwise did nothing. "We aren't like that! I have no desire to eat humans!"
Miria opened her mouth but was cut off. "Oh settle down. Believe me when I say you're not Awakened. I can sense that from here." Naruto said, somewhat annoyed by Helens indirect description of him.
"Oh I'm sorry. It's just I don't like affiliating myself with monsters!" Helen yelled back angrily. "And if you're so knowledgeable on the subject then you explain it!"
"Well if only because you oh so nicely asked!" Naruto said somewhat irked. "Listen closely cause I will not be repeating myself! Awakening is normally a single step process, going from hybrid to fully Awakened in a single moment. However you all somehow managed to stop partway in this step." He said. Seeing the lack of understanding from the three, 'Now four' he thought sensing Devene was awake, he decided to explain it a little better. "Think of Awakening as falling off a cleft. Normally you are safely back away from the edge. The more and more yoma power you use, the more steps you take to the edge. Awakening would symbolize falling over the edge. What you four managed to do was grab onto the edge and hang on for dear life. So in a sense, you are half-awakened."
Helen opened her mouth to argue his words, but was cut off before she even spoke by the Abyssals exasperated sigh, "I wasn't finished! Think about it! Limb expansion and the regeneration that Devene displays should only be possible once you approach your limits. I bet they got easier after you almost awakened didn't it?" Naruto said, the question rhetorical as everyone knew the answer.
Miria nodded at his explanation and continued where he left off. "Once you've crossed over, return should be impossible." Helen and Clare looked panicked at the information.
"Then," Devene said, opening her eyes, flinching from the pain in her stomach, and surprising everyone present, sans Naruto, "what will happen to us? Are we to sit back... and watch ourselves awaken?"
"Devene!" Helen cried out, happy to see her friend conscious, if in pain.
Miria turned away from the others. "I'm sorry," she said answering Devene. "that is all I know. We may have avoided awakening or be slowly moving towards it."
Naruto snorted lightly, causing everyone to look at him. Seeing their stares he spoke. "No one can escape awakening. The only way to escape, is to die. Rest assured, or unassured as it is, that you all can still awaken." He said small amounts of amusement in his voice.
There was a pause at those words. They seemed to confirm their worst fear. Slowly, Devene stood before moving to her hands and knees. "Alright then." She said confusing everyone, Naruto included.
"I'll be the test subject." She said, before releasing her yoki.
(in the forest)
The woman turned, sensing the mass of yoki being released from the mountains.
"What is it?" the man in black asked.
The warrior stared hard at the mountain before replying, "One of the five has Awakened."(4)
The handler was surprised. "What?"
"It appears she went beyond her limits and Awakened of her own free will. But why?" she said, honestly confused.
"She must have been injured and misjudged her limits. A pity." He didn't sound sad in the slightest. The warrior however wasn't surprised at his reaction.
"I thought you said you thought of them as your own children." She said ever so slightly mocking.
"I do not recall creating a monster." The handler replied with a hint of bite.
(back with the five)
All hell broke loose.
Miria was stunned at the action. Helen was screaming at her friend to not be foolish. Clare was also stunned, more so then Miria. Naruto however, stood to his feet and moved towards the group.
As he drew closer the three still standing warriors raised their blades at him. However he took little heed in the threats and walked forward. When he reached them he disappeared from their sight and reappeared in front of Devene. Helen quickly swung at the Awakened Being aiming to cut off his head. However Naruto simply raised his hand and caught the blade, shocking everyone present. He turned his eyes to look at her before ripping the blade from her hands. Clare swung too, aiming to cleave him in two. Using his elbow, Naruto smashed the blade from her grip, before kicking it away. Miria was the final to swing, aiming to bisect the blonde. He once again grabbed the blade, before pushing her back a few feet.
"Stand down!" Naruto yelled a hard look in his eye as he spoke in a commanding voice. "I mean her no harm. Wait and watch."
Seeing them comply, if unwillingly, and watched the former warrior carefully as he knelt in front of Devene. "Devene! Look at me!" he yelled over the sound of the released yoki. Devene slowly looked up and met his eyes. Naruto looked sternly into the young hanyomas eyes before speaking. "Focus. Focus every part of your being on healing! Don't move you focus! Once you've done that, focus on my face! I will do the rest! Do you understand!" he yelled.
Devene nodded slowly at him, before focusing. The raging yoki got even greater as she focused all of it into healing her gut wound. As the wound began to heal, Naruto brought his hand to her face and brought her eyes to his, patiently waiting for the wound to heal.
The moment to wound healed Devene moved her head slightly indicating that she was done. Naruto nodded and began to concentrate, his eyes never leaving hers. Slowly the raging yoki became more and more controlled before slowly reverting back into Devene's body. The healing process took about a minute in all and the suppression was nearly instantaneous.
When the yoki had all regressed into her body, Naruto removed his hands from her face and stood to his feet. He turned to the others before walking back to his previous seat where he, once again, sat down.
Helen rushed forward, eager to confirm her friend was ok. Miria however turned to Naruto and posed a question. "What did you do?"
Naruto chuckled lightly at the question. "I did something somewhat similar to what your friend Clare does. Except in my case instead of sensing a beings yoki, I control it." The gathered claymores gasped at the information. That could be a deadly advantage in battle. "However there is one drawback. I must be in physical contact with a person to control their yoki. In addition if ones yoki is higher than my own then I cannot control it. However this is near moot point as my yoki is just about the strongest on this continent. Only the one horned woman has more yoki than me, and even then it's not but much." He stated. Miria mulled that ability over in her head, thinking of all the strategies that could benefit from such a skill. Being able to instantly suppress an opponent's yoki by a mere touch. The thought was amazing.
She finally returned her thoughts back to those present. "Enough of this madness. You may have came back, but that might not have been the case if Naruto wasn't here."
Helen spoke up, "Speaking of Naruto I think he can answer all our questions right about now. I think we deserve a few answers after all the hell we've been through."
Devene nodded, not even knowing who the stranger was, having been unconscious at the time of his arrival. "Yes I believe we do deserve answers. However first off I want to know who this is and how he was able to help. Secondly what happened to the Awakened being?"
Naruto smiled and shook his head lightly. "Well seeing as it would be rude to not, I will introduce myself...again." he stood and turned to face the group he smirked at Devene before answering. "My name is Naruto. Former number 1 of the fourth generation of organization warriors." He said with a low bow for dramatic effect.
Devene, to her credit, took the news a lot better than the others. All she did was blink at the introduction and nod lightly somewhat stunned by his age.
"As for your other question, I was the one who killed the Awakened Being. His corpse is over there...and over there...and over there...well let's just say he's spread a bit thin." Naruto said pointing to each individual piece of the Awakened that he killed.
"Third question. Why did you save us?" Clare asked, having been the thought of everyone present.
"Fair enough question. After all it's not every day that you are saved by an Awakened Being." He said tapping his chin in thought. "In fact I've never heard of a claymore being saved by an Awakened being. Hmmm I guess I'm unique."
"Get on with it!" Helen said annoyed at the lack of answers.
Naruto looked at Helen before remembering the question. "Oh yeah. Well to put it simply, you all woke me up."
"We...woke...you...up?" Miria asked, surprised at the simple answer.
"Yup!" Naruto said cheerfully. "I was fast asleep when you all walked into this area. I caught wind of your yoki and it woke me up. So I went to investigate."
Devene suddenly remembered something. "So it was you I felt that time in the forest?"
"That it was! I was watching you all, trying to determine what you were doing here." Naruto replied still cheerful. His face went slightly serious though, "In truth I was a bit worried." The gathered warriors were shocked. Devene asked the obvious question.
"What were you worried about? Surely you couldn't have been scared that we were going to kill you. You could slaughter us with ease." She said somewhat confused at the Beings statment.
Naruto looked at her, before a small smile came to his face. "I said I was worried, not afraid. And as a matter of fact, I was worried that you were here to kill me for that very reason. I would have had to kill you all." He said once again shocking the warriors. He was worried...for their safety? The idea itself was ludicrous.
"B-but why? We are enemies! Your supposed to kill us, just as we kill you!" Miria said shocked at the Abyssals statement.
Naruto looked her in the eye. "Do you remember what I said about what Awakening does to the mind?" he asked.
Miria pondered the question for a moment before shaking her head, hating not knowing something.
Naruto took on a lecturing tone, "Awakening is a process that puts the mind and the body under immense stress. The process puts out a person's full power to the max and forces it to change the person's body to suit the needs that they need to possess the amount of yoki. The whole reason that Awakened beings are mindless in most cases are because they are not used to the flux of power and as such are corrupted by the affects. The only ones exempt from that rule to an extent are the Abyssals of the north, west and south. They have been in their awakened form for a long time and have masterful control over them. However even they are influenced by their instincts. There, as of this moment to my knowledge, are only two beings on this continent that have full control over their urges and complete control over their power are the Abyssal of the north... and me." He finished studying the reactions of those present.
Miria mulled the information over before speaking. "So...what your saying is that over time, any Awakened being could have full control over their actions?"
Naruto shook his head. "No. No Awakened being under the ranking of former number 1, or 2 possibly, have any chance of fully regaining their true state of mind. They just simply don't have the will power to overcome their instincts and focus their mind. You would be terrified by how hard it is..." he finished eyes distant.
Helen then posed a question. "H-how old are you really?" she asked almost wary of the answer.
Naruto put on a fake angry look."You know Helen it isn't nice to ask peoples age. They might get angry at you." He said, causing a ripple of amusement and an embarrassed Helen. Narutos angry look faded into a small smile. "But I'm not one of those people. Now let me see here...i believe I am around 1370 years old, give or take a few centuries."
Everyone was shocked.
"Holy shit your old!" Helen said bluntly. Naruto muttered something about no respect under his breath before looking Helen in the face. "It would be wise to never say that to an Awakened. Most will kill you just out of being offended." He warned before looking to the ground.
Clare suddenly stiffened and whirled around quickly, grasping her claymore as she turned.
"What is it?" Miria asked.
"So you sense them too?" Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Sense who? What is it Clare?" Devene asked.
Naruto and Clare answered at the same time. "We are being watched." They said.
"Impossible. I checked the area between here and the mountains. No one is around, and even if someone was beyond that point there would be no way they could sense us."
(off in the woods)
'Ah' the warrior thought 'So they sensed me even from this distance. However they don't seem to be able to gauge me. How interesting... In any case the one that had Awakened seemed to have calmed down. Is such a thing even possible?'
She focused in on the fifth member of the party, the 'mystery guest' as she went too name it. She focused hard on its presence before something happened.
The previously suppressed aura, released itself, freely moving through the males, as she now knew, body. But that wasn't the surprising part. No, the surprising part was the sheer overwhelming amount and potency of the yoki! There was more then all three of the others combined and doubled! It was truly frightening!
"What is it? Did something happen?" the handler asked curious to what could have stopped her.
"...No. The warrior that I thought had Awakened has not. I must have been mistaken." She said smiling lightly to the man.
"You? Wrong? That's unusual." The man said truly surprised at the mistake.
"As I said before, the distance is great and it is hard to get an accurate reading. But I suppose even your parental concern has its limits too." She said smirking lightly at the organization operative.
"Hmph. Come on. Let's go, Galatea." He said gruffly, wanting to move on.
Before following Galatea took one last look at the mountain. 'We may cross swords one day perhaps...I can only hope that I do not fight the fifth member of the party...' she thought before following after the man in black.
(back with the others)
Everyone was preparing to depart. The mission was over and they had to leave before the organization got suspicious of the amount of time it took for them to leave. This was further re-enforced by the fact that they had been watched.
"We will part for now. Return to your regions and posts. We may have been misinformed about this job, but it has been completed. That is all that happened." Miria said looking at the three warriors. Naruto was standing a few meters away watching the conversation.
"It would be dangerous for us to go against the organization, so we will act as if we know nothing and suspect nothing. In the meantime, try to keep a low profile. Stamp out your records as troublemakers, follow orders to the letter. They are in no hurry to get rid of us. Except me that is." She said looking at the three.
"But what will you do Miria?" Clare asked, somewhat worried for mirias safety.
"I am past the point of no return. I will keep investigating the organization. Our partial-Awakening does not leave us much time, so I will let you know when I find something. Don't do anything until you hear from me." She said trying to gauge their reactions.
"Don't be too worried. Your power is stronger so you should be fine in the unlikely event that you have to fight another warrior. You are each roughly around single digit strength. You can get a small estimate of the power of some single digits after seeing me, number 6. Facing any of the lower single digits you should be fine." Miria continued.
"You're kidding!" Helen said, surprised at the increase in strength.
Naruto spoke up finally, "The problem for all of you is not the single digits 6 and below, but the warriors ranked 5 and above." He said
"What do you mean? How much stronger could the number 5 be from Miria? Or the others for that matter? They can't be too strong."
Naruto looked her in the eye when he answered, "Helen. When I was number 1 I took on the full might of the organization and ended up brutalizing them to the point of almost destruction. Do not underestimate the power of the number 1 through 5. Any of them alone could have destroyed the Awakened being that was here, easily."
Miria drew here sword and began carving into the rock. When she finished, 5 symbols were indented in the rock face. "These are the marks of the top 5. Remember them well."
Starting with the farthest right side one "number 5, Rafaela. Beside that is number 4, Ophelia. Number 3, Galatea. Number 2, Beth. And number 1, Alicia."
Miria looked at them each, "Avoid all five as much as possible. Each of them is a monster."
Naruto spoke up too. "I would like to add some names to that list. Listen well and avoid fighting all five of these beings if at all possible, for they will destroy you in a fight. First off, myself, but you have nothing to fear from me. Second off the Abyssals. They are pure power incarnate. They are as follows. In the north, Isley the silver king. In the west, Riful mistress of the blades. And in the south, Luciela the twin tailed monster cat. Finally avoid this one at all costs, mission be damned. Pricilla, the one-horned monster. She is in a whole new class of her own. Each of these five would slaughter you without the slightest of trouble." He warned. Each of the warriors nodded in affirmative.
Helen spoke up, thinking of something. "What about you Naruto? What are you going to do? I doubt you are just going to go back to sleep again." She said chuckling slightly at the end.
Naruto laughed loudly at the question. "Oh don't worry. I'll be going with one of you." The warriors gasped out loud. That hadn't crossed their minds!
See their reactions he decided to elaborate. "I have a bit of a grudge against the organization, so I think ill tag along."
"But who will you go with?" asked Clare. The idea had a great chance of backfiring on them if it went wrong.
"Well that's easy. I can't go with you, as you already have someone with you. Another would look suspicious. I can't go with Helen or Devene because their districts are far too close to the organization. And I refuse to be caught by them." He said
He turned towards Miria finally and looked her straight in the eye. "There is only one person left for me to go with. And it might as well be the one with nothing to lose in the first place." He said, realization dawning on the others as they looked at him.
"I'll be going with Miria."
There you have it folks! Chapter 3! I'm honestly surprised I got it out so fast. Must be because its a weekend...
Anyway...
I would like to take the time to thank all those that review my story. I would like to give special thanks to those that gave me advice on how to write better! I am happy to say I have taken the advice to heart.
Speaking of advice, here are the author notes:
(1): think of what ulquiorra does in the fight with ichigo! That was a awe inspiring moment of strength and I just had to put it in here.
(2) Even an Abyssal one knows not to fuck with a pissed off woman! Smart man...
(3)Anyone else think that sounds like a bad sci-fi name for people? I do...
(4) Naruto isn't the greatest in suppressing his aura, kind like ninja Naruto is good at controlling his chakra. Except my Abyssal Naruto is faaaaar better then ninja Naruto!
Well thats all for now. Please don't expect me to put out chapters as fast as I am now. It is going to get hard after this chapter and I'm hoping to put out the next chapter in a few days, a week at most.
Until then, review, favorite and Pm me if you have any advice about how I should write this. If its good advice, I will take it into consideration. If not, it will be ignored. =)
Later!