Jyuugobi: Riptide Naruto
A/N: Okay, I know I said my next plot bijuu was going to "A Different Kind of Sound Invasion," but I've been enamoured with Slivers lately, so I'm writing up this instead. I realize there's, like, five other Naruto/Sliver fics out there, but this is a bit of a unique take on it.
I've also realized that trying to capture the plot bijuu in a particular order is not going to work very well, so I'm not going to make many promises as to what's coming next.
It hadn't been too hard for Naruto to get the Forbidden Scroll, thanks to paralyzing the Hokage with his Oiroke no Jutsu. It had been a minor challenge to get past the Jonin and ANBU guards without being detected, but as he could dodge them for hours after being caught in broad daylight in a bright orange jumpsuit, being extra stealthy at night was easy.
He made it out to one of his many refuges around the village, an abandoned shack in the woods not too far from the academy. As he opened the scroll, another, smaller, scroll rolled out. He ignored it at the moment in favour of the jutsu he spotted upon unfurling the scroll: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He knew he sucked at the normal Bunshin, so maybe a different version would work out for him? He set to work trying to decipher the kanji that described how to perform the technique, before finally giving up and using the pictures accompanying the kanji to try and learn it.
It took him half an hour to figure out how he had to mold his chakra to complete the technique, and not long after, ten copies of himself suddenly poofed into existence.
"It worked?" all of him chorused. They grinned and jumped into the air. "Yatta! Now I've got a clone technique, so they'll have to pass me!" The Narutos then frowned at hearing their voice in surround sound, but before any of them could do something about it, one picked up the scroll that had fallen out of the Forbidden Scroll.
"Hey, what's this?" he asked. The other Narutos crowded around him.
"Looks like a scroll," commented one.
"We can see that," replied another.
"Open it up!" spoke a fourth.
"Alright, I'm getting' to it!" The first Naruto, who was holding the scroll, opened it up. Emblazoned on the scroll, right next to the title, was a strange spiral symbol that seemed more like an extended half-circle. Naruto (one of him, anyways) cocked his head to the side as he read the kana that accompanied spiral-like symbol.
"Su-ri-ba?" he tested. Another scrunched up his face and tried to say it another way.
"Su-ri-va?" Soon all the Narutos were trying to figure out how to say the strange word.
"Sri-ba?"
"No, it's gotta be a 'va' sound!"
"Well, what about the second part?"
"'Ri' doesn't quite sound right... But what about 'li?'"
"Su-li-va?"
"Silent 'u?'"
"Okay, let's try that? Sliva!"
"Sliva... still doesn't seem quite right."
"Oh, let's just go with that for now. What's the rest of the scroll say?"
Giving each end to a Naruto, the eight remaining Narutos attempted to read the scroll. From what they figured, it was a summon scroll of some kind for some creature not native to the Konoha area. There was something about many being one, which sounded to Naruto like the shadow clone technique they were currently using, a name (Orochimaru, whoever that was), and phrase that was repeated throughout the whole thing: "Riptide Project." Strangely, there were instructions at the bottom of the scroll on how to use it, involving a hand print of blood and a series of hand signs.
Each of them tried to prick their fingers for the blood, causing all the shadow clones to pop, and the real one to remain behind with a bloodied finger and new memories of the nine other perspectives of that particular meeting. As he went to activate the scroll, however, he heard someone coming, and tucked it away before rolling up the Forbidden Scroll, tripping on an exposed root as Iruka came onto the scene.
Naruto would forget about the "Sliva" scroll until a couple days later, as he struggled to get loose from the log Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura left him tied to.
"Umph!" He grunted, getting one arm free. "You'd think I'd be, nngh, better at this sort of thing." He mutter to himself as he worked on freeing his other arm. As he shifted around, he bumped the pocket where he had placed the summon scroll he found and it fell out, clattering to the ground. He stared at it for a couple seconds, before remembering where it came from. His struggles doubled as he attempted to extricate himself and finish what he had started two days ago.
Finally, he did it and he picked up the scroll. Hiding away in the woods again, this time at a different location, he pricked his thumb and smeared it across his hand, before placing the bloody palm on the parchment. Almost immediately, the hand print glowed and he snapped off the hand signs before the glowing could stop, pumping as much chakra as he could into the jutsu before he smacked the ground.
And in a puff of smoke, three large and sinewy... things appeared. To his right was the longest of the three, easily able to coil itself around the Hokage Tower ten times and still have some left over. Its large, pointed head glanced around as its pray mantis-style claws waved.
To his left was a more stocky creature, but this one had what appeared to be four pointed heads and three claws, all of which were pointed in a different direction.
And directly in front of him was the creepiest of them all. It seemed to be made up of thousands of writhing serpentine bodies, the pointed heads and claws moving almost non-stop as the each kept watch of their surroundings. It was this one that noticed him first. The creature(s?) seemed to turn towards the other two and a series of several simultaneous sharp clicking sounds emanated from the mass, drawing their attention onto Naruto as well.
The one to his left spoke to him first. "Are you the being that brought us here?" it asked him mentally, leaving Naruto with the impression that it was known as an "Overlord."
"Y-yes!" he stuttered, in awe of the monsters he had summoned.
"Do you know what we are?" asked the right-hand monster, leaving the distinct feeling of a "Queen."
"If I read the word right, you are called 'Sliva's?" Naruto hazarded.
"It is a close approximation of our name," said a hundred voices from the one in front of him. "We are the Slivers. We are Legion." Naruto got the feeling that not only was the Legion talking about itself, but about Slivers in general.
"Prove to us that you are worthy of us," said the Overlord.
"And you may call on our power," continued the Queen.
"And if we are satisfied, you might be part of us as well," finished the Legion.
Naruto blinked. Part of them? He didn't want to turn into one of these Sliver creatures. "What do you mean 'be part of you?'"
"All Slivers share power," explained Overlord. "If we make you part of us, you will have that power, too."
"But will I still look like me?"
"You will look as you will look because you choose to look it," answered Queen.
"...I'll take that as a yes, dattebayo... What must I do to prove myself worthy?"
"Show us you can be one and many, and show us your strength," continued Legion. Naruto was beginning to sense a pattern here... But prove that he could be one and many? That was obvious!
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto performed the final seal of the jutsu, not even bothering to think about the rest and using a jonin-level technique without even realizing it. Instantly, ten Narutos appeared lined up behind him, to prevent any confusion as to which was the original.
Queen circled around the eleven Narutos, impressing upon him its great length. "You are all the same, but not one. Prove yourselves."
Naruto sent one of his clones to ask Overlord for a number or something similar without telling anyone else. After receiving it, the clone walked away and dispelled, allowing Naruto to turn to the three and repeating the information.
"A flawed legion," commented Legion. "But a legion nonetheless."
"Now we shall test your power. Perform this summon." commanded Overlord. Naruto suddenly felt his chakra being molded for him, and he quickly performed the hand seals for the summoning jutsu, not knowing that most summon sequences require a blood sacrifice to work.
After slapping his hand on the ground, there was a puff of smoke and a small, thin, light green Sliver appeared in front of him. Looking at the newcomer confusedly, he turned to look at Legion.
"We are Quick," spoke the new Sliver. Naruto felt Overlord mold his chakra again, and two new Slivers appeared without him having to use handsigns. One was the brown of tree bark and thickly muscled, a set of spines coming out of its back. The instant it appeared, Naruto could see Quick and the other new one get bulkier. The other was a paler brown and had only one claw, but its skin seemed to writhe sickeningly. Its appearance made the other two's skin crawl as well.
"We are Might and Brood," the newest members introduced themselves. "Fight us." And with that, Might leapt forward, striking one of Naruto's clones, which promptly disappeared. Naruto found himself having to dodge as Quick and Brood attacked him and his clones as well.
It was a long and difficult fight, especially when it turned out that every time one of the Slivers nicked him with its claws, an new Sliver would burst out of it, quickly taking on the characteristics of the other three as it did so. He spammed his clone technique, taking out several of the new Slivers, and concentrated his forces on taking out the Might Sliver.
When he managed to kill it, every Sliver in the area, including Overlord, Queen, and Legion, became slightly less bulky and muscled, but they lost none of the other characteristics they had gained. Noticing how Slivers were still being produced from when he would get hit, he then concentrated on taking out Brood, figuring that it must be the reason for that ability. As he managed to get in a lucky shot with one of his clones, the fighting abruptly stopped, several new Slivers still in the circle created by the Sliver Queen's coils.
"You have done well," commented Legion.
"You are permitted to summon us at your leisure," added Overlord.
"Quick shall remain to teach you of Slivers," finished Queen, before they and the newly born Slivers vanished in a puff.
A/N: And that's my idea so far. Basically, the Slivers were an experiment by Orochimaru in his attempts to create the impure resurrection technique. He found the records of the Riptide Project of a hundred thousand years ago and has been attempting to replicate their success in reviving dead tissue. Somehow (use your imaginations), he managed to revive the Sliver Queen, but it escaped before he could learn anything from it. After Orochimaru's exile, the Yondaime tried to capture the Slivers, but only managed to seal them away in another dimension as a set of summons.
From there, the Sliver's history is as normal for the Magic the Gathering universe, though the Sliver Queen, Sliver Overlord, and Sliver Legion currently coexist and, being all of the same hive-mind, rule over the Sliver Hive as one being.
Anything the Sliver cards would state as requiring mana to perform can instead be done using their summoner's chakra.
Have fun.