I'm baaack! I worked on this chapter through the remained of my weekend when I could be out...having a life...with other people...
Anyways...
In this chapter I'm going into unchartered territory! I will be pretty much creating whatever happens in the time between the four (five) warriors departing and the northern campaign! Be aware that I have never written a story longer then a few pages before and I am by no stretch of the imagination a straight A English student. Hell I'm still in high school! And now, I will answer a few reviews.
Alternate Rouge: This is true and as a matter a fact it did cross my mind, but I decided to go a little simpler for the name. I can try and add humour if it will help, but don't hold your breath too long. You might turn blue. :P
Shihouin Shunshin: -Deadpan face-...you just love to pick my work apart don't you?
Moontear1234: As a matter of fact, there is a level of power in which a man no longer fears a woman's wrath! Its called God. But believe me, Naruto won't be cowed as easily by every woman. He's more badass then that! The Claymore ranks are all women. He needs to be a bit sterner then that!
Frytrix: my story my rules. I already stated that Naruto didn't have as much raw power as Pricilla if you listened. He has more than the other Abyssals but he isn't all-powerful-crush-anything-that-walks. But you are right. Naruto will be smarter and better than most every character in the fic/world
Heh: I will make this clear. Naruto will have his claymore. He just needs to retrieve it from somewhere. Can't tell you everything cause that's spoiling, but I do agree that those stories with one are boring. It wont be in this chapter, but it will be in the next. (:
Fangking2: Naruto doesn't have a unique power persay. My imagination just isn't wide enough to think up one, so what I have done is this. Narutos physical strength and speed are his skill. Pm me if you want details ;)
What I hope to achieve with this story is opening up a new branch of fics for this category. I hate seeing Naruto as a ninja or a warrior as it gets boring to hear after a while. I'm putting him right at the top in terms of power! Makes my life easier and the ideas flowing.
But enough with my blathering...
Let us listen to this pointless ass disclaimer that nobody cares about!
Pointless ass disclaimer that nobody cares about: I do not own Naruto OR claymore. If I did I would not be sitting in my kitchen, writing storys on a site. I would be paying pros to do it for me!
Warning!: There will be a short scene of torture in this chapter! If you do not agree or do not want to read it then simply scroll down to the marked locations. You have been warned...
Go!
(somewhere in a forest)
"Are we there yet?" Naruto whined piteously, "My feet hurt and I'm getting bored!"
Miria's eye twitched rapidly and her hand twitched ever so slightly in response to the Awakened's moans and complaints. Honestly he was like a 5 year old out shopping! She had to deal with this for the next couple months?(1) 'Gods kill me now...' she cried in her mind.
They had been walking for a day and a half, moving towards were Miria's handler would meet up with her for her next assignment. The sun was beginning to set and it would soon be time to hunt for some food and build a fire for the night. It was about another half day if they left the next morning at first light and Miria wanted nothing more than to get to where she need to go.
There was only one problem...
Naruto was pitiful when bored. He seemed to have an innate ability to garner an emotional response from the single digit, who was known to be calm and collect like most claymores. However her patience was becoming thinner with each passing minute. This could be seen by the sound of teeth gritting together and the slightly louder footfalls of the female warrior.
Frankly and bluntly, he was annoying. What's worse is he seemed to know it and was willingly doing it to piss her off.
"Ria? Are we there yet?" Oh yes there it was. His little pet name for her. While somewhat endearing it seemed to have to wrong effect on the warrior at the moment as she finally snapped.
Miria turned to Naruto, annoyance clearly visible on her face before she bit out "Do we look like we are there? Have we stopped walking? No? Then guess what. We are not there yet!" she screamed at him. Naruto seemed to shrink into himself and gained a pitiful look on his face while looking at the younger woman. His eyes wide and fear clearly evident on his face, he looked into the face of fury that Miria had plastered all over her face.
"Now shut up until we arrive before I cut your goddamned leg off and force you to hop the rest of the way!" Miria evidently, was not in a good mood.
Naruto nodded fearfully at the woman, desperate for anything to divert her anger. So he did the man rule books number one trick: When a woman is angry with you, nod and agree with everything they say until they are no longer angry at you.
This seemed to have the desire effect as Miria huffed and turned back to walking at a brisk pace toward the destination. Naruto followed soon after, careful not to do anything to bring the woman wrath down on his head, which he was sure would be removed if he did. And while he was sure he would survive anything the woman could do, he did not want to play 'dodge the woman with the giant sword' for the next few hours. So he quieted down and followed a few feet behind her.
'She wasn't in that great of a mood when I first proposed the idea of going with her in the first place.' Naruto remembered with partial amusement.
(Flashback!)
"WHAT!"
Everyone flinched at the volume of the number sixes voice before looking at her.
Miria was shocked that the idea was even proposed. An Abyssal? Go with her? No way! Not happening! She would not allow it! That was like a sure as hell death sentence for her!
"I believe I don't have to repeat myself but I will say it again. I will be accompanying you on your journeys for the foreseeable future. I hope that is acceptable." Naruto said in a somewhat stoic tone.
Miria looked at him like he was out of his mind. She wasn't far off but still. When he proposed the idea of going with her, Miria's mind seemed to shut down briefly due to shock. The idea was ludicrous even if the reasoning was sound. So Miria's mind was at war with itself. Take him with her and gain a powerful ally and possible death sentence. Or scream no and leave him here to go back to his nap or whatever he could do. And so her mind was trying to come up with ways to find fault in his reasoning.
"B-but I couldn't work! What if another warrior sensed your presence when they came nearby?" Miria asked, desperate for any reason that could pull the Awakened from the course he set.
Naruto destroyed her hope before it even began to grow. "I already have that figured out." He took something out of the pocket of his pants and showed it to the others. In his hand were small brown pills, smaller then a pea.
"Yoki suppressants?" Helen inquired. Naruto nodded in response.
"I generally am decent enough at suppressing my yoki on my own, however it can still be sensed if a claymore gets close enough. This pill solves that problem. I've been using them for years, whenever I went out into a village that had a yoma problem or a claymore passing through it. One of these with the help of my own suppressing and I can wipe my signature off the face of the planet. Unless Teresa of the faint smile touches me and focuses all her willpower on finding it, my yoki is effectively gone. A bonus is if I unsuppress my suppressed yoki I can use it to cleanse my system of the pill and be at full fighting power in seconds. It's a fool-proof plan!"
"You're a fool if you think this will work!" Miria yelled uncharacteristically.
Naruto smiled lightly at her, "Then it's a good thing I made it a fool-proof plan isn't it?" he said amusement clear in his voice. "Face it Miria. I'm coming with you." He said crushing any hopes that she had of him giving up on this crazy idea.
Miria's shoulder slumped in defeat before she looked at the elder former warrior. "Fine...you better not get me in trouble. And try not to be annoying." She said glaring at the Awakened.
"Promise." He said, the picture of pure innocence on his face. Which when you think about it was sooo wrong considering that by some he was considered a demon.
(Flashback end!)
That promise had lasted a few hours max. After making it out of the mountains and into the surrounding forests, Naruto had seemed to be doing everything in his power to make Miria suffer and aneurysm. Worst of all, judging from the size of the tick mark on her head, he was succeeding.
"Miria?" Naruto spoke up after a few minutes timidly, not knowing if the woman's ire was still raised.
Apparently it was as her neck creaked ominously as it turned to look at him with an expression that said 'This better be good'. "What?" she said through her teeth, before noticing his face had gotten quite serious. "Is something wrong?" she asked wondering what could have made him serious all of a sudden.
Naruto looked at her shaking his head. "No nothing is wrong. I simply have a question... I promise it is a serious one this time" he said seeing her hand twitch slightly. Miria looked at him somewhat carefully. He look serious enough. 'Alright, ill bite.' She thought motioning for him to go ahead.
"How far is it to your destination and where exactly is it?" he asked. He suddenly dodged left to avoid being bisected. "Hey, hey, hey! What was that for?" he yelled frantic to get away from the lady wielding the giant ass sword.
Miria was looking at him with anger. Here she was thinking that he finally was going to get serious, and he goes and asks the same question he has been for the past day! "I can't believe I thought you were being serious!" she spoke in frustration. Naruto shook his head frantically before deciding to elaborate on his question.
"No no! I was being serious this time. Honest! I saw that we were going south and I thought I might be able to retrieve something while we were down there! That's all I meant!" he explained hurriedly.
Miria looked surprised by his answer. What could he possibly want to get in the south? Did yoma even keep possessions? So she decided to ask. "What do you want to retrieve? I've never really heard of yoma keeping possessions." She asked previous anger forgotten for now.
Naruto mentally sighed seeing her calm down. Even though he could regenerate from a few limbs cut off, that didn't mean that it wasn't painful as all hell and he wasn't really a defensive to begin with. "It's not really a possession so much as a memento from the past." He said.
Miria had to ask. "What is it?"
"Where is our destination first? I need to know before I even think about retrieving it." Naruto said. Miria nodded slightly at the question before answering.
"I am supposed to meet up with my handler just a kilometre west of the town of Tempar. We will stay the night before moving to the next assignment. Now will you tell me what you are after?" she said truly curious now.
Naruto looked wistfully south. "My old weapon is buried just south of Tempar. I wanted to keep it safe from the organization as it is my last true memory of from when I was a hybrid. Plus I need to sharpen up on my blade work again, and bring myself up to my old strength with a sword."
Miria gaped slightly. She had seen some of his blade work when he was fighting the Awakened in the mountains and from what she saw he was an amazing sword fighter. And he was saying he was rusty? The thought of him full power amazed her slightly and frightened her.
"That works out. I would like to talk to my handler alone and I will meet up with you at the meeting sit around midnight. Sound like a good plan?" she asked. Naruto smirked slightly.
"You're asking me? I thought you would be glad to get away from my...charms." he said a teasing grin on his face. Miria shivered lightly at the memory of the last few hours. That was a hell she did not wish on anyone. Except maybe Ophelia. Yes that would be the perfect way to torture the bitch.
As Miria was having her semi-insane thoughts of torturing and killing a certain braided haired warrior Naruto was watching the road carefully. Why you might ask? Well that was simple. He sensed the presence of some yoma up ahead.
"Miria." He said under his breath, knowing that the warrior could hear him. Miria snapped out of her thoughts quickly hearing his serious tone. She looked at him quickly before asking the problem.
"There are a few yoma up ahead." He informed her. Miria almost slapped herself for not noticing them earlier, before looking at Naruto.
"What do you want to do? There are only a few and they should be easy to handle. I don't see what the look is for." She said clearly not worried about a few stray yoma.
Naruto looked at her and smiled lightly. "Oh I'm not worried. I was more of wondering if you would stay here until I took care of them. I feel like practising my stealth a bit." He said with the smile on his face.
Miria looked somewhat surprised by the answer but nodded nonetheless. "Go ahead. Not like I can really stop you anyway." She said.
Naruto smiled lightly again. "I'll be waiting up the road for you." He said before doing a reasonable duplication of Miria's Phantom technique. Except she couldn't sense any yoki in his, it was pure speed.
"Now I'm jealous..." she muttered under her breath.
While she walked she thought over what she knew of Naruto in her head. He was an amazing fighter, as was to be expected being a former number one. He was insufferably annoying, but somewhat sweet at times. Even though he didn't seem it, he was smart. Very smart. Battle wise he was nothing short of a genius and his skill was nothing to laugh at either. All in all he was very dangerous and very powerful.
Deciding to focus more on her surroundings she sent out her senses to check on the yoma up ahead just as one of the signatures died abruptly. The other four seemed to get curious and went to investigate. The first one to get there seemed to panic judging by the sudden spike in its yoki before once again dying quickly. The other three were cautious now that two of them had been taken out so fast. Spreading out they encircled the area and cautiously moved in to were the two yoma were before. Suddenly all three signatures vanished without a trace, not a speck of the yoki that was previously felt before.
Miria was impressed. To take out 5 yoma at such speeds and in total silence was amazing. Yoma's tended to scream quite a bit when you killed them unless you split them in half, which was a bit of an annoyance for warriors as it told other yoma that they were around. Walking down the road towards the spot where the yoma were supposed to ambush them, Miria caught sight of something that shocked her slightly. Naruto was sitting on an unconscious yoma's body picking him teeth with what looked like a dagger. The strange part was there was not a mark on the yoma's body. Which meant that Naruto had left it alive for a reason.
Catching sight of the claymore, Naruto waved lightly in her, a small smile on his face twirling the dagger in his hand. "Yo! What took you so long?" Naruto said nonchalantly. Miria smirked a bit before responding. "Sorry. Had a small trip down memory lane."
Naruto waved her off with a scoff. "Your too young and beautiful to be stuck in the past."
Blushing lightly at the complement, Miria looked at the unconscious yoma in slight confusion. "You left one alive?"
Naruto nodded before taking on his lecturing tone again. "What is the most important thing in this world, Ria?"He asked. Miria rolled her eyes at his antics before answering. "Information. So are you telling me you want to know something from this yoma?"
Naruto nodded happily, evidently glad that Miria remembered his words. "I'm going to figure out what he was doing here and why there were so many of them. Yoma may travel together, but they will rarely work together. At least, not efficiently." Miria nodded at the explanation.
Naruto leaned over from his seat on the yoma's back before giving the monster light smacks on the cheek to wake it up. "Hey! Wake up. I got some questions for you." The yoma drearily opened its eyes before noticing the man sitting on its back, as well as the claymore standing not ten feet away. Understandable it panicked. Naruto soon stopped its thrashing with a well placed fist in its head, slamming its face on the ground. Disoriented the yoma turned its head to look the man on its back in the eye.
"W-what do y-you want w-with m-me?" it asked piteously. Naruto looked coldly into its eye before answering. "Why were you this close to town? What is your purpose in this area. Tell me now and I will grant you a swift departure into the afterlife." He spoke in a voice that dripped coldness. Miria shivered internally at the sense of death in his voice.
The yoma sneered at the man before him. "As if! Your just going to kill me anyway so why the fuck should I tell you anything!" It screamed in foolish defiance.
Narutos eye narrowed slightly before he turned to Miria. "Take his hands and feet off." He said no room for argument in his voice. Miria nodded before drawing her claymore and moving forward. She swiftly lopped off the hands and feet of the yoma before swinging the blood from her blade and sheathing it. The yoma cried out in pain at the loss of its limbs.
Naruto looked on it indifference as its cries turned to whimpers before dying off. He stood off the yoma and flipped it on its back before standing over it.
"Now we are going to play a little game." His tone spoke that this was not going to be a fun game. "Now I'll tell you the rules. They are very simple. I'm going to ask you a question, and every time you answer it wrong I stab an organ. Now I know that won't kill you so I will ramp up the game a bit. I will ask the same question again after I've stabbed you. Another wrong answer means I will drag to blade down a bit. The game ends when either I have mutilated your whole body or a have the answers to the questions I'm asking. Are we clear?" he asked rhetorically.
Miria was shocked. She had never seen this level of brutality displayed by a person, before remembering that Naruto wasn't technically human anymore. He would do what he needed to get what he needed and if that meant torture then he would do it.
Naruto turned to her abruptly. "If you want to leave then I won't judge you for it. I need the information he has and I don't really want to force these images on you." He said.
As touching as his concern for her wellbeing was, she was a warrior. If she couldn't take a little torture then she was unworthy to hold the title of number 6. She shook her head in response to his question before staring at the yoma before her.
Naruto nodded at her, respecting her decision. He turned back to the yoma. "Last chance before we begin. Answer my question and I will give you a swift death." He said coldly. The yoma replied by spitting a glob of purple blood at him.
Naruto dodged the bloody glob before glaring at the yoma.
"Very well."
TORTURE SCENE! IF YOU DONT WANT TO SEE SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT MARKED OFF POINT!
Naruto plunged his knife into the kidney of the yoma swiftly puncturing the skin and organ. The yoma screamed and thrashed in pain before being punched in the jaw, almost breaking it.
"Shut up! Now answer my question! What were you doing here?" Naruto asked, blade still plunged into the yoma.
"Fuck you!" the yoma screamed at him, before howling with anguish when Naruto cruelly and slowly drug the knife down the yoma's kidney. Naruto then wrenched the blade out quickly and painfully. He stared coldly not even waiting for the yoma's cries to cease before he asked again, "Why were you here?"
The yoma screamed profanity at the much more powerful being before letting loose another scream of pain when the blade was roughly inserted into its stomach.
Miria watched on impassively as Naruto continued to stab the yoma with the knife, asking the same questions again and again in almost a detached manner. This sort of information gathering was not unknown to the warrior as she herself had to torture some yoma to get what she was looking for out of them. In was not a well liked method but it was highly effective as long as the yoma didn't succumb to the wounds it was given. Otherwise it was actually promoted as a good intel source.
Naruto was not having a good time. He hated this type of torture, but he was in a hurry and wanted to get moving soon as possible. So here he was, stabbing the yoma in the large intestine cruelly before once again asking his questions. "Why are you here? What was your purpose?"
The yoma spluttered out pitifully. "W-w-we were just getting some f-food! W-we p-p-planed t-to move n-north after t-this!" it ground out. Then it screamed in pain as Naruto drug the knife down the length of its large intestine. "W-what the hell! I-I w-was telling the t-truth!" It yelled at the Awakened.
"No. I can tell that you were lying. That was not your plan. Tell me the truth!" he yelled before stabbing its liver.
"ALRIGHT!" It yelled in pain. Naruto looked at it expectantly. "Well?" he said in a voice that spoke of pain if it was a lie. The yoma quickly spoke. "We were g-going t-to meet u-up with some o-o-others later on today. O-our plan was t-to sack the town o-of Tempar, half a day south of here. You know, e-easy food." It stuttered out. Naruto pulled the blade out of the beings liver before asking another question. "How many?" he asked.
"Just us 5-ACK!" it lied before screaming as Naruto plunged to blade into its other kidney. "A-a-alright! We w-were going t-t-to meet up w-w-with a larger g-g-group. 20 or 25 at most! With all thirty of us we would storm the town and destroy everything! I swear that's all I know! I swear!" it yelled pitifully. Naruto looked into its eye for the longest time before removing the blade from the yoma. He stood and looked at Miria before nodding and turning away.
TORTURE SCENE OVER!
Miria, glad that it was finally over quickly severed the yoma's head from its body before walking quickly after the Awakened being.
When she caught up with him, she found him leaning against the truck of a tree. He looked sick with himself. He spoke up as she drew close. "People may call me a monster. They may call me a walking nightmare. But I am nothing like that thing." Miria put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort the Awakened being. However his next words confused her. " I hated what I just did, but I needed the information. And it won't go to waste." He said his eyes glowing in anger. Miria looked at him eyes widening a bit as she watched his fangs lengthen and fingernails turn to claws. He was slowly becoming more feral by the second. And then she felt it.
His yoki.
The size alone was enough to drive the breath out of her. But really frightened her is that this was only the tip of his true yoki power. Already his aura was swiftly rising to match her own at full strength and it was still rising. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, eyes glowing fiercely. "I'm going to kill each and every one of those yoma. Nothing will stop me, so don't even try." He growled out. "I will meet you in town tomorrow after you have spoken with your handler. Pray that the town is in one piece when I get there for me. I'm pretty sure god doesn't listen to monsters." He spoke before phasing out of existence and dashing down the road towards Tempar.
Miria stared after him, eyes sorrowful as they watched his form slowly disappear into the distance. Hell was coming to Tempar and one thing could be certain.
There would be blood.
(With Naruto)
Naruto was dashing full speed towards the town, pushing his legs as far as they could into moving him forward. His mind was focused only on getting to the town before the yoma. Petty yoma were no match for him. No matter how powerful they thought they were, they were little more then dirt beneath his feet.
But the towns people... the towns people were no match for the yoma, especially that many of them at once. And although a human could technically kill a yoma, the odds were heavily stacked against them.
But with him there...with him there, there was nothing that could touch them.
And he would save them. He would not have a repeat of the past.
(Flashback- about 1120 years ago.)
Naruto stared shocked at the handler that stood before him. What was he saying? Why? So many question ran through his mind.
Naruto was a young warrior, only 25 by human terms, although he was considered old by many of the warriors of his generation. His track record was flawless. He had never failed a mission and had even been certified as number 1 about three years ago. So why was this mission not to be taken?
"W-what are you saying? I can't go to save them?" he asked shocked at the cruelty of the organization. The man in front of him simply smirked at him and repeated his statement.
"Tenzo village is not to be saved. The yoma are to be given free reign over it. This is their punishment for failing to pay the fee of the organization." He said voice dripping with the man's feeling of power. He was put as the handler of the current number 1 about a year ago and did everything in his power to prove to the warrior that he was on a leash and there was nothing he could do about it.
Naruto was in pure shock. He had never heard of such a thing. To be so cruel as to leave a village to be slaughtered was madness!
"What about the woman? The children? You would sacrifice innocent lives simply for money!" Naruto said disbelieving of the words he was hearing. It went against everything that he lived for. He fought for the safety of the people of these lands. These orders were not the orders of a guardian. They were the orders of a monster!
"They all will be left. Each and every one of them. There will be no survivors. And you have express orders not to interfere! You would do well to remember that, boy!" the handler yelled at him, smug satisfaction evident in his voice.
Narutos eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will not! I refuse to stand by while innocents are dying! I goes against the code and my honour!" he yelled back turning to leave.
The man in black was shocked to hear those words from the dog of the organization. This was not allowed! "If you leave now it will be filed as insubordination! You will be put to death! Your life will be forfeit!" he yelled.
Naruto halted in his tracks before turning to look coldly at the handler terrifying the man. He had forgotten one very important detail. This was Naruto, the slayer of many, scourge of the yoma, and number 1 in the organization. He was not to be trifled with.
"Then let it be forfeit. And they will not have to worry about sending an execution squad. After I'm done here," he said in a deadly tone, eyes narrowing in fury, "I will be coming for Staff. And let it be known that not a single man or woman in that chamber will be among the living when I am through with you all. I will cut through anyone that stands in my way."
After saying his death threat, Naruto turned away and ran towards the direction of the village.
(Flashback end)
Yes Naruto remembered that day clearly. He remembered what he had arrived to when he had gotten to the village as well.
It was a massacre scene.
(Flashback)
Fire danced over the buildings as he walked through the ruined town. Bodies were seen left and right, organs ripped out and blood everywhere.
Off to the side a building finally caved in, finally giving into the stress of the weight of it on its unstable foundation. Naruto didn't even flinch at the sudden noise.
He was paralyzed in horror at the massacre of the town. Such a thing...such a level of death...
Suddenly something caught his attention to his right.
It was a young girl, maybe 15 at most.
She was somehow still alive. She was severely wounded with lacerations all over her body. As Naruto ran closer he saw the rips in her clothing and the blood marring her body. He reached her just in time to catch her as she fell down.
She opened her eyes weakly, straining to see the person that had caught her. Her mouth curled slightly into a ghost of a smile, and she somehow found the strength to chuckle weakly.
"A bit late claymore." She whispered weakly, smile still on her face. Naruto was shocked to hear her speak but spoke quickly.
"Don't speak. I'm going to get you to a doctor. You're going to be ok, you hear me." He said desperately, knowing the words were empty. There was no way he could get her to a doctor in time to save her.
She seemed to see this in his eyes and shook her head lightly, even then with a smile on her face. "No. These wounds are fatal. I will rest soon and I will fear pain no longer." She said weakly, coughing up slight amounts of blood, staining Narutos suit red with the precious life giving liquid.
Naruto shook his head and closed his eyes in anguish, feeling helpless to save this girl who was even younger then him.
"There is one thing though...one thing you can promise me..." She whispered out. Narutos eyes shot up, confusion and helplessness clear in his eyes.
"Anything. I will do anything, promise anything. Name it and it will be done. I swear on my blood." He said resolutely. He would honour this brave young woman's dying wish, not matter the cost.
She smiled softly, looking so at peace with her fate. "Do not become a monster. Even if your body turns grotesque and you can no longer recognize yourself, remain human. Remain the image of the claymore that came to save a dying town. For no matter what people tell you, you only become a monster when you no longer care." She said, surprising the hanyoma with the heartfelt words.
Cutting the edge of his hand on his sheathed Claymore, lifted his hand to his heart. "I swear, no matter the costs, I will uphold this promise unto my dying breath." He swore marking his promise in blood.
The woman smiled lightly at him, satisfied with his answer and oath. Slowly her eyes closed and she breathed her last.
Naruto didn't move for the longest time. His mind in turmoil and his heart clenching. Finally he stood, woman still in his arms.
"I will make one final promise." He whispered to himself. "I will bury you all." He looked off to the east.
"And kill the bastards who allowed this to happen."
(Flashback End)
And he did. He dug and marked every grave in that village and built a small memorial in their honour. Then he turned his sights east and marched on Staff.
Naruto gritted his teeth tightly at the memory before he redoubled his speed, forcing his body to move faster. He was little more than a blur to anything that saw him speeding down the road.
He would make it.
He had too.
(With Miria)
Miria was troubled.
Narutos sudden departure had confused her greatly and made her wonder what could have possibly happened to him that he had reacted so violently to the news of a village being attacked. She wondered if she should go after him or continue on to her handler. If she picked up her pace she could meet up with the man in black and make it to the town by morning.
Mind made up she picked up the pace and headed towards the meeting point.
'Naruto...be careful...'
(with Naruto)
Naruto could see the village over the edge of the cleft he was standing on. He sighed in relief, he wasn't too late. Suddenly something below caught his eye.
Yoma. At least 30 of them, were moving at high speed towards the village. They were maybe ten minute away.
Naruto cursed before leaping off the cleft to the ground below and dashing at full speed towards the village. He would cut the yoma off at the entrance to the village, but he would have to move faster.
Narutos eyes narrowed with new found determination before he quickened his pace to speeds that were inhuman. He would make it, in time. He dashed threw the underbrush single-mindedly moving towards the village. The minutes passed quickly as he neared the village. He watched as the first yoma broke through the tree line and dashed at the closest villager. A young boy no older than 7.
The yoma didn't make it.
Naruto appeared, literally a foot in front of the yoma, startling it and the villagers that were nearby, before he reared back his fist and slammed it into the yoma's chest, literally blowing the beast apart with the strength of the blow. The other yoma and the villagers took in the sight of the appearance of the man.
Naruto turned his head and looked at the young boy sternly. "Go back to your mother, child." He said, voice firm. The child fearfully nodded at the strange man, dropping his toy before running quickly back towards the village.
The yoma looked closely at the man that dared stop their free meal, before some gasped in surprise when they were met with the glowing violet-blue eyes of the Awakened Being. One of them spoke up.
"Why would an Awakened being, a yoma of the highest calibre, defend humans! Are you trying to steal our meal!" it yelled to the gasps of the villagers. This man in front of them was a yoma? Then why was he saving them? He should be eating them with the rest of those monsters.
Narutos eyes narrowed at the gathered yoma in a deathly stare before speaking. "I am here to honour the oath of one long dead. This village is under my protection. Any who make a step toward it will be killed without quarter or mercy." He spoke, his voice cold enough to freeze an open flame.
The villagers gasped in surprise that a yoma was defending them. And to honour a promise no less!
The yoma across from Naruto laughed out loud, making Narutos eyes narrow. "There are 29 of us and only one of you! You have no chance against us, awakened being or not. Face it kid, your outnumbered and outmatched!" the yoma said laughing to itself before stepping forward with the rest of the gathered yoma.
They quickly halted their laughter when a literal storm of yoki blasted from the man, blanketing everyone in the power of it. Then he spoke, his voice cold enough to make the devil flinch.
"I warned each and every one of you to leave. I told you that if you stepped forward, you would die" came the voice of death. Naruto, amidst the typhoon of yoki that surrounded him, was glaring at the yoma's, his eyes glowing in barely restrained fury, claws lengthened, and teeth sharpening. It truly was an intimidating sight to behold. The yoma gulped, stepping back in fear and due to the force of the yoki.
"Now you all die." He spoke, yoki dying down as he vanished in the wind.
The yoma looked frantically around, wondering where the much more powerful being was. That was before one of the yoma in the furthest back suddenly was without a head. Naruto, foot raised was obviously the culprit. Lowering the leg, he reached up and grabbed the arm of a yoma that tried to lash out at him, breaking the offending limb before he threw it at another charging yoma, knocking both to the ground. Naruto quickly appeared above the two frighten monsters and drove his foot through both of them. Yanking his foot free he looked up, death in his eyes.
4 down. 26 to go.
"Who's next?"
(With Miria)
Miria was running towards her destination when she felt the yoki. It was frighteningly dense and shockingly large. She knew instantly that there was only 2 people capable of such powerful yoki, and as far as she knew only one of them was in the general direction of Tempar.
Naruto.
The power he was exuding could be felt even by her, kilometres away from the town, clear as daylight. She was willing to bet anyone within thirty kilometres of the town could easily sense it, no telling how far away it could really be felt.
Miria was now struggling with herself on whether to go to see Naruto or continue on to her handler. On one hand, there was Naruto to worry about. She didn't know if he could take on so many yoma and keep the villagers safe at the same time despite his great strength. On the other hand, she had to go to her handler. It was the rules, plain and simple and despite her plans to betray the organization, she had to play the loyal pawn for now.
Miria made her decision. She was going to have to trust Narutos skills to protect the people and hurry to him as soon as she spoke with her handler. She prayed that everyone was ok when she arrived.
(Back with Naruto)
Naruto had just finished inserting his fist through the chest of a yoma. Twelve of the monsters were dead, thirteen if you count the one hanging off his arm. That left seventeen to go.
He charged into the midst of the yoma, lashing out with deadly punches and kicks that tore into the yoma as easily as a blade. He quickly took off the heads of three yoma with a wide roundhouse kick before turning and ripping his claws through one that was trying to sneak attack him.
13.
He zigzagged in between yoma, lashing out punches that knocked them away like flies, killing some when they hit vital areas. He emerged from the ground and looked on as three more yoma dropped like stones, either bisected or missing important body parts.
10.
The remaining yoma encircled him in an attempt to corner him. Naruto looked on stoically, unimpressed by the yoma's basic tactic. This was a commonly used plan that large groups of yoma used to fight a powerful warrior or yoma. They would encircle the enemy before swarming them in hopes that they would land a lucky blow and kill the warrior.
Childs play.
Sure enough, the yoma charged Naruto, some running on the ground, others jumping in an attempt to attack from all angles. It would have worked if Naruto was a lower ranking warrior. But Naruto was no low ranking warrior.
Stepping forward and placing his hand on the ground, Naruto twisted himself and spun on his hand, landing powerful kicks on all the yoma that ventured too close, knocking the luckier one away, while killing others.
5.
Naruto resumed his stance, flipping back on his feet and taking a casual stance towards the yoma, ready for anything they possibly could think off.
The yoma were terrified. Never had a warrior ripped through their numbers so quickly and brutally. They knew there was no way that they could win and for the first time did a smart thing. They began to back away. But Naruto would have none of that. They signed their own death warrants when they decided to attack this village.
"You're not going anywhere!" he screamed, fury clear in his voice as he vanished from sight. He appeared behind the yoma leg already in motion. The yoma he was kicked by was paralyzed in fear. The fact that he had a foot through its spine might have had to do with that fact too...
Tearing his foot free of the yoma he turned to the remaining four. They charged him in the hope that one of them could catch a lucky blow on the Awakened Being.
There hopes were unfounded as Naruto fazed out of sight and appeared walking towards the village, flinging blood carelessly off his arm as he spoke.
"Begone from this world...scum." he spoke. The yoma's were confused until they suddenly burst into rivets of blood and gore, showering the surrounding area in blood.
Naruto walked towards the village slowly, carefully watching the villagers reactions to his approach. Strangely no one said a word, they just stood back, some hiding from the sight of him, while others looked at him openly in awe. He stopped just short of the entrance to the village before picking something up and brushing off the dirt. He continued walking in the village, not minding the silence as he headed towards his destination. The young boy from before. He was standing next to what looked to be his older brother. The brother was taller than most his age, topping just under 5' 11", with medium length brown hair that came down to the mid-back of his neck. He had hard, dark brown eyes with a black ring around the outside of the iris. He looked no older than 16. He stood protectively in front of his little brother, staring the Abyssal in the eye.
Naruto was impressed that a human could look so brave after seeing him kill so many yoma so quickly. The human knew he could not stop him if he wanted to harm them, but he was willing to place himself in between a great threat and his family. Narutos respect for the boy raised dramatically.
Coming about two feet from the pair, never looking up from his cleaning of the toy, Naruto finally lifted his gaze, before smiling softly at the pair before bending down on a knee. He raised the object in his hand to show the child behind the protective stance of the elder one. It was the kid toy, the one that he had dropped when he ran from the yoma.
Naruto smiled. "This is yours, is it not child?" he said with warmth. The child nodded shyly at him. Naruto held out the toy for him as the kid slowly moved and took the toy from the Awakened's hand before scurrying behind his brother. The elder brothers eyes had never left Narutos form, knowing that Naruto could tear through them, wondering why he didn't.
Naruto stood slowly, not wishing to provoke the retaliation of the human that was staring at him so intently. Naruto looked him in the eye, animalistic violet-blue to black-ringed brown. The teen didn't flinch at the intensity of the stare, merely opting to return the stare evenly.
Naruto finally smiled lightly making the teen tense slightly. "Your village is safe. The yoma are gone and will not be back for a very, very long time if ever after my display here. You all have nothing to fear from me." Naruto spoke sincerity clear in his voice. "Now I will depart. I do not wish to be of burden to your town any longer." He said before turning and walking away.
He was almost at the edge of the village before he heard a loud cry. "Wait!"
He turned; surprised that someone had spoken, before he was hit with the equivalent of a torpedo by a blur of brown. He looked down to see the boy he had rescued latched onto his waist, looking at him with big, innocent blue eyes. "Why are you going?" he asked in an adorable voice.
Naruto couldn't resist. He knelt down and put his hands on the child shoulders before smiling warmly at the young human. "Because I don't belong here child. I just can't stay here and put trouble on your home." He said trying to make the child understand.
The kid tilted his head cutely before asking confused, "Why?"
Narutos smile turned sad. "Because I got very sick and I don't want people to get my sickness. Something bad happened to me to make me what I am, and I can't make people look after me for something I did." He said, lying slightly, wanting to preserve the child's innocence. Better to let him live without the fear of yoma for a while longer than subject him to the cruel harshness of the world.
But his words didn't seem to work as the child merely lite up like the sun before grabbing his hand and dragging him back towards his brother. Naruto allowed it as he watched the small child before him. Once they reached the older brother, the kid looked at Naruto with a smile before pointing to his older brother. "Big brother runs the church in town! He's a good doctor! Maybe he can make you better." The kid said naive to what he just proposed. A yoma sleeping in a human home! Ridiculous!
Naruto looked at the older brother with a pleading look in his eyes, begging the teen to do something about it. To Narutos growing horror, the teen actually looked like he was thinking about it!
"I might." The teen said finally in a gravelly voice. "At the least I can feed and give you drink for your journey tomorrow."
Naruto was in so much shock that he didn't know what to say. He couldn't even think.
He had been offered lodging...by a human? A churchmen too! Naruto almost laughed at the awkwardness of it all and was about to decline when he saw something more evil then any yoma.
The puppy dog eyes.
'Blasted' Naruto cursed in his mind as it took all his willpower to try and resist those eyes. Those big blues that just begged him to take the offer and stay the night.
Naruto stared lasting almost a whole minute, a testament to his massive willpower. But even the Abyssal had to bow his head in defeat when the dreaded quivering-lip came into effect.
"Alright, alright. I'll stay the night and leave first thing tomorrow when my partner arrives. I don't like placing worries on you all." He said now speaking to the gathered villagers.
An elderly man walked up to him and said, "Just don't cause any trouble and you can stay as long as you need, young man."
Naruto laughed uproariously before replying. "I would like to point out the I am probably old enough to be your grandfather, sir. I'm not as young as my looks tend to give me." He said extreme amounts of amusement in his voice.
The rest of the villagers laughed heartily at the comment, while the old man was truly shocked to find someone older then him. "My, my. You must be ancient! And to still show no signs of your age! You must be blessed." The old man said laughing along with everyone else.
Naruto chuckled at the comment. "Well if my sickness has one good point, its my youthful looks!" he said. Suddenly he shivered getting the feeling that he had just said something extremely terrifying.
(Meanwhile- in a separate dimension)
A black bowl-cut haired man looked up from where he was kicking a post into slivers.
"YOSH! SOMEONE IS SPREADING THE YOUTH! TO CELIBRATE THIS WONDEROUS EVENT I WILL DO FOUR THOUSAND SQUATS, WHILE HOLDING A BOLDER ON MY BACK! AND IF I CANT DO THAT I WILL RUN AROUND THE VILLAGE ON MY HANDS A THOUSAND TIMES! AND IF I CANT DO THAT..."
(Back in the claymore universe, were sanity is only slightly better than the others...)
Naruto walked down the streets, following the elder brother, who he learned name was Corman, but most called him Cole, to the church. They were talking about were Naruto would be spending the night.
"There is a spare room in the top floor of the church house if you wish to stay there. There is plenty of room and the bed is comfortable." Cole offered. Naruto swiftly shook his head.
"I will not defile your church with my presence. I am more than capable of sleeping outside. I will sleep on the roof by the bell." Naruto said firmly against entering a church.
Cole shook his head before speaking. "All are welcome in God's house. They only need ask for entrance and it will be granted."(2) he said in a warm tone. Naruto smiled lightly. The young were so naive and so faithful, it was almost touching.
Cole suddenly turned to Naruto. "But before that, let me get you something to eat. Ask for anything and if it is within my power, I will get it for you." He said. Naruto thought for a second before asking his question, grinning slightly.
"Got any prisoners on death row?"
(later)
It was approaching night time and Naruto was laying back on the top of the church, watching the stars roll by. They were truly a fascinating thing the stars. They were so small and distant that you had the longing to see them up close. Yet at the same time they looked so close that you could simply reach out and grab them from the skies.
Cole had led him to the prisons earlier and had told the guards to let him at the death row inmates. Naruto ate swiftly, hating that part of his existence, the forcing to consume human flesh always made him feel slightly sick. But he reasoned with himself; these men were dead anyways. Naruto just gave them a purpose after their deaths.
Today had been very confusing for him. First he is taken in by a town he saves. Then he is offered shelter by the priest of the town. Then said priest provides him with his food source and offers sanction in his church, which Naruto firmly declined.
As Naruto was pondering the day a person was sneaking closer and closer, quietly making sure not to make a noise. As they drew closer their confidence began to grow. They would finally get back at the blasted yoma! Suddenly Naruto spoke up.
"You know I didn't expect you to be here already, Miria. I would have thought it would have taken you till tomorrow at least to get here." He said smirking lightly when he heard the loud huff of the downtrodden warrior. Miria came over and sat beside him.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked. She had had her yoki suppressed to her limit so how could he sense her?
Naruto laughed lightly. "You're a few decades too early to be surprising me, Ria." He teased, using his pet name for her. Miria blushed lightly at the name before looking at him.
"I see you managed to keep the village in one piece. I have to say, I'm impressed." She said.
"All the things I've done so far and only now your impressed? You must have high standards." He teased lightly. Miria smirked before answering.
"Well I do only look for the best when I'm looking for a person." She said, laughing lightly when Naruto chocked lightly before looking at her with wide eyes. She couldn't resist laughing at his face. It was priceless!
"D-did you j-just make a j-j-joke?" he said in mock horror.
Miria frowned before it was replaced with a grin. "Ai! Now bow down in fear for the horror that I shall unleash on you!" she said in a mock evil tone. Naruto, playing along, quickly got on his hands an knees and bowed submissively.
"Please spare me my lady! I have done nothing wrong!" he said in a horrified voice.
Naruto sat up and looked Miria in the eye, face completely stoic, hers looking the same. That lasted a full five seconds before both of them burst out laughing. Miria was leaning on Naruto heaving in laughter. It had been years since she had truly laughed this hard. The organization had stripped their warriors of all childish things like laughter and playfulness. Naruto, however, was able to rekindle her hidden emotions so easily that it was almost frightening.
As she looked at his laughing face she smiled lightly. 'I don't mind too much.' she thought. There were worse people she could be stuck with for the next few months.
After calming down a bit she posed the question. "Do you want to leave this town yet?" she asked. Naruto was silent for the longest time, almost ten minutes, before he answered her question.
"There is one thing I have left to do..."
(In the church)
Cole was cleaning up the altar for tomorrow's prayer. The yoma in town was a funny thought for him. He didn't know what to think about the ancient yoma, but he wasn't worried about him killing everyone in town. The thought made him smile lightly.
Suddenly he heard something hit the floor behind him. His smile didn't even waver. He didn't speak or do anything until he was finished cleaning the altar. He then spoke out loud.
"What are you here for?" he asked smile firmly in place. There was a period of silence in the church room, but Cole knew that he hadn't left. Finally there was a soft thunk and a voice spoke up.
"Forgive me blessed father for I have sinned." Naruto said, head on the floor in a kneeling position.
Cole finally turned around and looked at the kneeling yoma. he looked long and hard at him, looking for any sign of deception in his stance. He finally spoke.
"What are your sins my son?" he asked.
"Too many to count father. I am a monster amongst men. A killer and a murderer. I deserve hell and will accept any punishment given by the divine ruler." Naruto said, head firmly placed on the floor not moving an inch from his position on the floor.
Cole looked at the Awakened Being before walking over to the altar and picking up a cup. He returned over to the man before speaking again. "Rise my son and accept the forgiveness of God." He spoke. Naruto stood, towering slightly over the much younger man. Cole dipped his hand in the water in the cup and made a small cross on Narutos forehead.
After that he spoke again. "Go forth and know that you have the blessings of the Lord." He said making the sign of the cross. He smiled at Naruto, confident that he had done a great deed. As he turned to leave, Naruto grabbed his arm. Looking at the yoma, Coles face showed his confusion. Finally Naruto spoke.
"Cole...Thank you." Naruto said before phasing out of existence. Cole smiled, speaking softly to himself.
"Your welcome...Naruto."
(Meanwhile heading south )
Miria was walking southbound to her next mission, Naruto appeared next to her startling her lightly. She was about to yell at him for startling her before she saw his face. He was smiling. Not one of his usual smiles, that never reached his eyes fully, but a true to life smile.
"What happened to you to make you so happy?" she asked softly, curiosity evident in her voice. Naruto turned his head and looked at her, smile still fresh on his face.
"Not reason"
Done!
I would have posted it on Sunday but fanfiction wasn't being cooperative at the moment. I would like to say that personally I am proud of this chapter. I really am! I am slowly building up Narutos background over the spread of a few chapters.
One of the reviewers brought up a good point. Naruto needs a weapon. I would like to personally ally those thoughts of Naruto beating people with his bare hands all the time. Anyone he has faced so far, have either been low ranking Awakened's or normal yoma, both of which are no match for an Abyssal One like Naruto.
Pairing!
Yes it is a NarutoXMiria pairing. Personally one of the least used pairings in this whole site! I don't see why though... oh well not my fault.
Anyways, I would like to say that the next chapter will be out around the next weekend as I am getting busy with school and what little social life I have(gasp!). I will do my best to bring you more chapters though as is my responsibility as a writer!
OH! Before I forget, I am opening a poll on my profile. Its going to be on what Narutos Awakened form is going to be. I personally have no clue what to do about his fully Awakened form. I have no imagination so I have decided to let you, the readers, do the imagining for me!
The poll will be running until chapter six, so that gives between 8 to 14 days to add your ideas to the poll! I will post the ones I like the most and open a new poll after it, and after tallying the votes, we will hopefully have our winner!
Now on to the author notes!:
(1): Would anyone possibly know how long it is between the Paburo hunting party and the war in the north? The time please. If you know Pm me with the answer please. (: thanks!
(2): let it be known I am not a god fearing man or a religious person by any stretch of the world. I mean no offense to those of faith but thats just how I am. I may have screwed up on the blessings so please forgive me if I did.
And thats a wrap!
See you next time!
Ja ne!