DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any other series that I might use for inspiration.
CHAPTER 2
Battle Between Monsters
At the centre of Konohagakure no saito stood a tall building with the kanji for fire painted on the outside. Inside the tower, behind a desk in an office on the top floor, sat a 68 year old man with grey/white, spiky hair with a small, white goatee, he has numerous wrinkles and a few liver spots on his face, and is dressed in a long, white robe with the kanji for fire shadow at the back with black ninja sandals.
"How goes your investigation, Itachi kun, Shisui kun?" Asked the old man, who is also known by the name Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no saito.
"Hokage sama, we have some disturbing news..." Said the 11 year old Uchiha Itachi, a boy with dark eyes and black hair that frames his face and the rest held in a relatively short ponytail with long, pronounced tear troughs that run under his eyes. He is dressed in a black T-shirt that has a high, turtleneck collar with the standard, white A.N.B.U armour above, arm guards that protect his forearms and black A.N.B.U pants with black ninja sandals.
"What did you find?" Asked Hiruzen wearily, his eyes narrowed with a troubled frown on his features.
"Our genjutsu assessment was inconclusive, our deceaced comrades it appears had already been dead for two weeks when their bodies were discovered, the decaying process of the corpses had already reached a level where it would be impossible for us to physically determine whether they were under such effects prior to their deaths, demo..." Said the older looking Uchiha Shisui, a 14 year old boy with dark, short, and unkept hair with a relatively broad nose and dark eyes with markings around his eyes that are turned upwards at each end. He is wearing an identical outfit to his partner Itachi except with a dark blue turtleneck shirt as opposed to Itachi's black and without arm guards.
"What is it Shisui kun?" Asked the Hokage, his troubled expression making him look even older then he was.
"Hokage sama, we discovered something much more troubling, the stab wounds on the victims were not a match for any weapon that we have in Konohagakure no saito except for one...Yondaime Hokage sama's Hirashin Kunai!" Replied Shisui neutrally, having already had more then enough time to get over his shock of the discovery.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was the third of the four Hokages in Konoha's history and the longest serving member of the four, and thus attaining the most experience. He was hailed as The God Of All Shinobi for his diverse and powerful skill set and seen everything there was to be seen in the ninja world, he was also the student of the first and second Hokages and had stared death right in the face more times then he could even count. Yet nothing, nothing he had ever heard or encountered before had ever made him feel the kind of that the little boy of the Uchiha clan was able to make him feel with just a few words, nothing!
"I'm sorry Shisu kun, but could you repeat yourself for me, and kindly explain yourself?" Asked Hiruzen in slight disbelief, unable to bring himself to believe that his own successor could possibly still be alive and become an enemy to his home village, or worse, that an enemy shinobi had been able to replicate something that not even he or the Yondaime's own sensei could. Either possibilty was not welcome, this is the same technique that was able to shed light for Konoha against the strong Iwagakure, a single man pushing back a whole ninja village on his own.
"Hokage sama, all of the deceased where stabbed through the back, the position of the wounds and the nature of the attacks suggest that they were unable to react to the culprit's movements. With an inconclusive genjutsu assessment, the only other two possiblities are that either a very powerful speed technique or an instant transportation technique was used, two things that Yondaime sama was renouned for. The wounds were definately a result of the use of Yondaime sama's Kunai." Explained Shisui, leaving the Hokage to come to his own conclusions about the information presented.
"I see... And what of the sweeper? Why did she not report that the four that were assigned to the Kurama Heiress were diceased for over two weeks? Why would she report that everything was normal when it clearly wasn't? Is she a traitor?" Asked Hiruzen with narrowed eyes.
"No she isn't. She was under a powerful genjutsu, a genjutsu that could rival mine and even Shisui senpei's genjutsu. We believe that the jutsu was cast by the Kurama heiress herself to buy time to cover both hers and her accomplice's tracks, in other words, this wasn't a kidnapping, but a well planned and executed escape." Explained Itachi.
'What is going on here? I saw Minato kun die in front of my own eyes and I even held his corpse. Yet here I am, presented with near irrefutable eveidence that he is not only alive but a possible enemy to Konoha. It is unlikely that he would be alive, but at the same time impossible for an enemy to replicate Minato kun's technique. What am I supposed to think here? Assuming that Minato kun were alive, or someone with the knowledge of his techniques, what would they possibly want the most..." Thought Hiruzen before widening his eyes in shock and fear.
"What is the matter, Hokage sama!" Exclaimed the two Uchiha prodigies simulataneously, their hands already firmly placed on their tantos strapped on their backs. The duo watched intently as their Hokage pulled out a crystal ball from the drawer under his desk, his hand hovering over the ball and without even molding any hand seals channeling his chakra into the technique. The image that appeared on the ball was that of a little six year old boy with spiky blond hair and three whisker like lines on each of his cheeks, a blue and mostly neon orange jumpsuit with blue sandals. The boy was sitting on a swing, watching the other kids play with a sad expression on his face that he was trying to hide. The Hokage released a loud sigh of relief, seing that his so called surogate grand son was still safe within the walls of Konoha.
'So that's what he was worried about...not unexpected, with the Kurama heiresses disapearance and the kind of evidence that was collected, the boy could and should be a possible target for the enemy.' Thought Shisui.
"Shisui, Itachi!" Said the Hokage with authority, foresaking the kun suffixes to their names as a sign of the seriousness of the situation.
"Hai, Hokage sama!" Saluted the duo rigidly.
"The information obtained will from now on become an S ranked secrete, you are not to disclose this information to anyone who doesn't already know about it under the penalty of death, understood!" Asked Hiruzen rhetorically.
"Hai!" Replied the duo in sync.
"Good! Now, your next mission is an S class mission of the highest importance, you are to watch over and protect the Kyubi jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto at all times of the day but you are not to make contact or even be seen by either him or anyone else he associates with. You will take turns in watching over him, Itachi you take the day shift, Shisui, you take the night shift, this mission will begin immediately and refusal of the mission is not an option, understood?" Said Hiruzen with a deadly stare, one that made him not recognisable as the kind old man, but as the Hokage, and the Kami no Shinobi.
"Hai, Hokage sama!" Replied the Uchiha prodigies.
"Good! Dismissed!" Said Hiruzen, watching the two boys disappear with a silent shunshin.
'Those boys are two of the best that I have in my ranks, if they can't protect him, then no one can. I need to make contact with Jiraiya kun, he will need to hear all about this. Sigh...I'm getting too old for this job, I need to find another successor soon.' Thought Hiruzen.
Otogakure no saito...
"Kukuku! Welcome back Naruto kun, I was starting to think that you weren't going to return to usss?" Hissed Orochimaru, a man wearing plain grey garbs with black pants and a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back and blue tamoe shaped earings. He is wearing a black polo neck under his outfit. He has pale white skin with waist length black hair, amber eyes with slits in his pupils and purple like markings around his eyes, making him look more like a snake that has taken the form of a human.
"Mnnnn..." Mumbled Naruto, unable to speak properly, reason being that his body was floating inside a cylindrical glass container full of liquid with an oxygen mask attached to his face and a numerous amount of chord like syringes impaling him all over his body.
"Kukuku, I'm sorry Naruto kun but you are going to have to work on your vocabulary if you we are going to communicate properly with each other Kukuku!" Laughed Orochimaru theotrically, unable to hold back his amusement seeing the incredulous expression on his newest subbordinate.
"Come on now Orochimaru sama, you shouldn't antagonize Naruto kun, he has already contributed so much to our scientific knowledge, he is after all, a living, and breathing scientific miracle." Said Kabuto, a ten year old boy who has black eyes with grey hair kept in a ponytail and wears circular glasses. He is also wearing a dark purple shirt with a white undershirt and a white obi around his waist worn at an angle, dark purple pants, blue sandals, and a shuriken holster on his right leg. An Otogakure forehead protector is worn around his forehead and dark purple gloves with open fingers covering his hands.
'What is this...this feeling? I can feel their essence?' Thought the blond Uzumaki.
"Relax Naru chan, you are merely sensing their chakra, this is no doubt a result of the experiment, one of the main qualities of the implanted material was chakra sensing, remember?" Said the kyubi from inside the blond's mind.
"So that is how it is, what a useful ability, I can even tell the nature and feeling of their chakra. This is good!" Replied the blonde with a little excitement.
Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when Kabuto released the water from the glass cylinder he was contained in. The oxygen mask and the syringes dislodged themselves with a ram hand sign and a small flare of chakra from Kabuto, causin the blond to fall face first into the ground.
"My my Naruto kun, a little clumsy aren't we, if this is your level then I am afraid you don't have what it takes to be able to join my elite shinobi." Said Orochimaru, mocking the blond with a mischievious glint in his eyes, an attempt to test the limits of the boy's temperament.
"Damn it! Kaa chan, what is wrong with my body?" Asked Naruto with a little panic in his voice.
"It took a great amount of energy from the both of us in order to not only keep you alive, but to assimilate the foreign DNA material into you. Plus, you haven't moved at all in just over two weeks now, you just need a little time to get re-aquinted with your body and regain some energy that's all. Don't worry about anything , I won't let anything bad happen to you." Said the great demoness motherly.
"H-Hai, arigatou Kaa chan!" Replied Naruto, slowly getting up to his feet.
A tick mark appeared on Orochimaru's forehead at Naruto's complete disregard of his insulting attempts. Kabuto only smirked to himself silently, successfully restraining his laughter for fear of Orochimaru sama's wrath.
"How do you feel Naruto kun?" Asked Kabuto with his trademark smirk on display, pushing up his glasses with his index and middle finger.
"Tired and drained, but fine." Was Naruto's simple answer.
"Hn, I see, but what I meant was, do you feel any different, something related to the DNA implants?" Asked Kabuto.
"I can feel your life force, your chakra, I can sense it, its nature, and I can somewhat discern your emotions, or rather, your character...somewhat." Replied Naruto.
"So I was right afterall, chakra sensing would have had to be a quality attained from the experiment, given the offensive abilities that you might also gain. Demo, what did you mean when you said you could discern our character by sensing our chakra?" Asked Kabuto.
"Orochimaru sama's chakra feels cold and sinister, yours just feels cold. The chakra is an extension of the life force of a human, with the soul being the source, that being said, if your chakra feels cold and sinister, then you are most likely a cold and sinsiter person." Said Naruto, his words making Orochimaru narrow his eyes at Naruto, blasting him with his full kIlling intent.
"O...Orochimaru sama..." Sputtered Kabuto, hoping to stop his master from killing his favorite ally but failing to supress his fear long enough to take any action.
"Tell me Naruto kun, what are you going to do now that you have this power, do you not trust us anymore because of our cold and sinister character as you say? Are you planning to betray me?" Asked Orochimaru, taking slow and deliberate steps towards the blond for the intimidating effect.
"Our agreement was never about trust, we have an agreement that is mutually beneficial, that's all there is to it. The nature of your chakra doesn't concern me, Kaa chan's chakra has a million times more malice in it then yours, but I trust her." Said the blond.
'W-why isn't he affected by Orochimaru sama's killing intent? Surely even he couldn't have that much resistence could he?' Thought Kabuto, eyes widening slightly in shock.
"Kaa chan? What are you talking about? Who is your kaa chan?" Asked Orochimaru in confusion, now regretting not having spoken more to the boy before subjecting him to his experiments, although just thinking about it, there was no way he could have held back his scientific curiosity any longer then he did even if time were to be reversed.
"My kaa chan, well...most people know her as the Kyubi no Kitsune." Explained Naruto, confirming what the snrwith black sclera in the eyes and a black stripe running from the middle of his forehead and down the bridge iake sannin already suspected.p
'So, he has already made contact with the kyubi, and it has already sunken its claws into him. This is more complicated then I thought, I can't pretend around him, not with his chakra sensing abilities and definately not with the kyubi as his ally, he'll see right through me. I won't be able to turn Naruto kun into my loyal pawn it seems, manipulating him is near impossible. But there is no reason for him not to be my ally, we share the same loathing for Konoha and Sarutobi sensei and he has shown a great interest in science. He also seems to have a bond with Kabuto, everything will be fine.' Thought Orochimaru, lamenting the fact that he wouldn't be able to take over the boy's body when he completed his rebirth jutsu.
"I see, one more question though, why are you unaffected by my killing intent, strong and elite jounins have trembled before me, yet you, a mere child are able to stand before my presense so casually? Why is that so?" Asked Orochimaru off handedly.
'This boy is shrouded in mystery, I can't afford to let my guard down around him, although, he doesn't seem like the type to betray someone without a just cause.' Thought Orochimaru.
"A human's killing intent, no matter how strong said human may be, is but a drop in an ocean compared to kaa chan's killing intent, what do you think would happen if a person was exposed to that kind of pressure on a daily basis? Wouldn't that person be able to develop a higher then normal tolerance to killing intent?" Asked the boy rhetorically.
"Hmmm...makes sense, I'm embarrassed that I never even considered that possibility. In any case, go and find little Yakumo chan, she has a little surprise that she's been waiting for a week now to show you, use your new sensing powers to track her, it will be good practise for your upcoming test and it will help you to quickly learn the layout of our base ." Ordered Orochimaru.
"Test?" Asked Naruto.
"Kukuku, off course Naruto kun, it is customery for us to test and confirm the success of an experiment by pitting the subject against a powerful opponent in a controlled environment. Be sure to prepare yourself physically and mentally, you only have at most an hour before we begin testing." Said Orochimaru.
"That makes sense, what are the rules?" Asked Naruto
"No seals or barriers, no weapons, no demon chakra and no genjutsu, everything else is allowed, except for killing, make sure you don't kill your opponent, he is a very important part of our plans." Warned Orochimaru.
"Hai, I will prepare accordingly. Um...may I be excused now...Orochimaru sama?" Asked Naruto respectfully.
"Kukuku, can't wait to see little Yakumo chan can you Naruto kun, she's a lucky one to have a protector with so much potential. Don't mind us Naruto kun, go along, your dear friend is waiting for you...oh...and be careful, the others might not take an instant liking to you, they'll want you to prove yourself to them..." Warned Orochimaru.
"Hai Orochimaru sama!" Replied the blond, running out of the heavy lab door with barely contained excitement and anticipation.
"Kabuto...?" Said Orochimaru with a deadly tone, his usual amused expression vacant from his features.
"How may I help you, Orochimaru sama?" Asked Kabuto a little too cheerfully.
"That boy, is he trust worthy?" Asked the sannin.
"Hehehe! Orochimaru sama, don't you get it? It isn't about his current worth as an ally, but his potential worth. Yakumo chan, without Naruto kun to fuss over her over the last two weeks was forced to make new friends during Naruto kun's absence, in fact, she, Karin, and Tayuya have become really close in the last week and a half or so, you know, being one of the few girls in oto's shinobi and academy ranks..."
"Kukuku, what a sly dog you are Kabuto kun, those girls all have horrible pasts, no, rather, all those kids have horrible pasts even at such tender ages, you're counting on Naruto kun and Yakumo chan to form powerful bonds with those kids because of their similar pasts aren't you?" Asked Orochimaru, an amused smirk returning to his features.
"My my Orochimaru sama, you know me too well for my own good." Said Kabuto with equal amusement, pushing up his glasses with a trademark smirk hidden behind his hand.
"Kukuku, very well, we shall see how things develop very soon.I've been thinking though, how exactly did that girl escape Sarutobi sensei's watch? It couldn't have been easy to get her out, even for you?" Asked Orochimaru curiously.
"Heh...you give me too much credit Orochimaru sama, I'm not that skilled yet you know. In any case, I didn't have to do anything actually, they did everything themselves, all I had to do was guide them to this location." Explained Kabuto, taking pride in being the one to put the gobsmacked expression that his master was currently wearing.
"Don't play games with me Kabuto! You expect me to believe that two six year old kids could ever be capable of such a feat no matter how talented they are?" Asked Orochimaru menacingly, no longer amused anymore.
"Hehehe! You don't understand Orochimaru sama, this isn't about whether you believe it or not, the situation will not change simply because you decide not to believe in it. The facts will remain the same regardless... Orochimaru sama!" Said Kabuto with a sinister smirk.
"Don't patronize me Kabuto! Tell me exactly what happened or become Manda's next meal! Your choice!" Hissed Orochimaru impatiently.
"Well...that would be a terrible fate. Very well, I will tell you. You see, Naruto kun, for some unknown reason appears to have come into the possesion of one of the Yondaime Hokage Hirashin no Jutsu Kunai..." Said Kabuto, taking a breathe for dramatic effect, taking in Orochimaru's fish eyed expression with glee.
"Impossible! He couldn't have..." Trailed off Orochimaru in disbelief.
"Hehehe! Don't be hasty in your conclusions Orochimaru sama, Naruto kun doesn't know that technique. You see, Yakumo chan was able to set up a powerful genjutsu on her watchers, in fact, it could be said that they were almost constantly under her genjutsu without them even knowing for the better part of a year now. Anyway, the jutsu is an instinct supressing genjutsu, they could sense Naruto kun coming behind them somewhat but their intincts, survival instincts included were not allowing them to react until it was too late." Explained Kabuto.
"No one would expect four A.N.B.U level shinobi to die without a fight unless they came up against an opponent with powerful genjutsu, great speed, or instant transportation like Minato kun. Naruto kun using a Hirashin kunai to do the killing gives me the impression that they wanted to make it look like the Yondaime Hokage or at least, someone who knows his technique was responsible for the crime, demo, Konoha has quality medical shinobi and the best genjutsu users from the Uchiha clan, there is no way they wouldn't have been able to detect any signs of the deceased being under the influence of genjutsu just before they died. It was a good idea but poorly executed because of their lack of experience." Said Orochimaru almost dismissively.
"Eh...don't you think you're underestimating them just a tad bit too much Orochimaru sama?" Asked Kabuto casually.
"No, what would make you think that?" Asked Orochimaru curiously.
"Well...I never did say that the plan ended there. You see, Naruto kun was able to replace Yakumo chan's watchers with his shadow doppelgangers, that jutsu, together with Yakumo chan's genjutsu and knowledge of her watchers' behaviour and mannerisms, gave Naruto kun the ability and information needed to impersonate her observers for just over two weeks. By that time that Konoha discovers the bodies, it will have already been too late to succesfully conduct a genjutsu test and analysis on the decaying bodies. This in turn, means that they have virtually no choice but to assume that the person responsible must have used the Yondaime Hokage's jutsu, or...that the culprit was in fact the Yondaime Hokage himself."
"Kukukuku! What an amazing child, no, I should rather say, what amazing children Naruto kun and Yakumo chan are! They are going to make powerful additions to my elite army, kukuku!" Laughed Orochimaru maniacly.
"You know Kabuto, you didn't say how exactly it was that Naruto kun covered his own tracks, I would have thought that Sarutobi sensei would have paid special attention to Minato's son, he was after all, Konoha's ultimate weapon?" Asked Orochimaru.
"Hn, Naruto kun is still in Konoha, as far as the Hokage and the rest of Konoha are aware that is." Replied Kabuto cryptically.
"Do I need to make you elaborate on that Kabuto kun?" Said Orochimaru a little too cheerfully, fed up of the boy's elusive manner of answering questions, it might have been amusing to play his little game at the beginning but now it was just plain annoying.
"Hn, off course not Orochimaru sama, that won't be neccessary. You see, Naruto kun's blood clone is still living in Konoha as his double and unaware secrete agent. Naruto kun was somehow able to replicate the Yondaime Hokage's Four Symbols Seal and seal away what he said to be six tails worth of youki inside the blood clone, furthermore, he was able to recreate the memory blocks that the sandaime Hokage had placed on him before thanks to his um...Kaa chan. He also set up a memory block that would seal away the clone's knowledge of the kyubi's existence and the knowledge that it was a blood clone and not a real human to begin with. This way, not only was Naruto kun able to escape without detection, but he also has a sleeper agent in the village in the form of his blood clone for as long as is neccessary." Said Kabuto
'The blood clone is an Uzumaki clan technique, even the forbidden shadow clone jutsu of Konoha was originally an Uzumaki clan jutsu. And now the boy was able to recreate such an advanced seal and use it effectively to create a perfect double. Something is strange here, how is a six year old boy able to achieve these feats? Wait a second...what am I stupid, off course! The kyubi was at some point sealed inside two powerful Uzumaki women, it would obviously have some knowledge on the Uzumaki clan techniques.' Thought Orochimaru.
"Come with me Kabuto, we have to go and retrieve Naruto kun's opponent for the examination. You know how troublesome he can be at times." Said Orochimaru with Kabuto in tow.
0000000000000
"Naruto kun!" Exclaimed Yakumo with excitement, running herself into the blond's arms, Naruto, caught off guard not only by her mobility, but her strength too fell flat on his back with the Kurama clan heiress snuggled on top of him.
"Yakumo chan." Was all the blonde said, wrapping his arms around the petite girl in a loving hug.
"Naruto kun, I'm so glad you're okay, I was so worried! I thought you were never going to wake up!" Cried Yakumo with her face burried at the crook of the blonde's neck.
"Hehe! You worry too much about me Yakumo chan, but I'm glad that you're safe, I was worried sick about you." Said Naruto with a kind smile while brushing the cute little girl's hair away from her face.
"Really?" Asked Yakumo with a her best puppy eyes face.
"Hai, I couldn't stop panicking until I confirmed that you were truly safe with my own eyes. Even though I could sense through your chakra that you were okay, I still needed to confirm it with my eyes." Said Naruto, his right hand cupping and caressing her face lovingly.
"Oh Naruto kun...sniff...that's so...unmanly of you! I never thought you were such a softy, hehehe!" Laughed Yakumo uncontrollably, pressing her index finger into his chest in a teasing gesture.
"S-shut up! I'm not a softy!" Shouted Naruto, blushing furiously from embarrassment.
"Hehehe! Ahahaha! Sure Naruto kun, I like totally believe you hehehe!" Laughed Yakumo, she couldn't help it, he was so easy to tease sometimes and besides, he was so cute when he was flustered, her cute little fox.
"Why you, I'll show you soft!" Shouted Naruto before flipping the girl over on her back and then initiating a devastating tickling attack on her vulnerable body parts.
"Aw ahahahaha! Please hahaha stop! Alright I'm sorry I'm sorry ahahaha!" Apologised Yakumo in between a fit of giggles curtesy of her best friends unrelenting attack on her.
"Hehehe! Who's a softy now huh...Yakumo chaaan!" Said Naruto, streching the last syllable of his sentence teasingly.
Their fun reunion was halted prematurely by a devastating surprise attack, but Naruto, with his sensing abilities was able to react just in time, completely avoiding the giant metal club that would have completely crushed them, a huge creator remaining where they used to be.
Naruto, from his position standing on the wall with Yakumo in his arms, stared at the giant grotesque figure that was responsible for the attack, amazed by the sheer size and power of the humanoid creature if it could create such a huge creator from just one swing of that club.
It looked like a male figure with a dark green full-body suit with long hair that covers its entire head and face, also covering its ears and eyes with its mouth sewn shut. The metal club seemed to be carried with its right hand.
'I can't believe that I let my guard down like that, even if I was just happy to see Yakumo chan, it was no excuse, if it wasn't for my new sensor abilities, we might have both been dead now. And what on earth is that thing?' Thought Naruto.
"Tayuya, what the hell are you doing you baka! You almost killed Yakumo chan!" Screamed Karin angrily, angry that one of her closest friends had just attacked her newest friend with the intent to kill for no reason at all. Karin has red eyes, matching hair colour, and an unusual hairstyle: her hair is short, pointy, and unkempt on the right side, while it is long, pin-straight and combed on her left side. She wears brown glasses and her outfit consists of a lavender uniform common for Orochimaru's subordinates, short black shorts, and long black thigh high stockings with black sandals.
"Shut the fuck up you fucking slut! That fool was trying to do something strange to her, I was trying to save her from that sick shit eating cum stain!" Replied Tayuya with equal intensity. She has brown eyes and long untamed, and red hair with a black hat at the top with bandages wrapped around the sides. She is wearing a tan tunic with black spandex shorts and standard black shinobi sandals.
"You stupid bitch! She was in direct line of your attack and was pinned to the floor! There was no way she could have escaped that!" Screamed Karin furiously, her face red hot from anger, it almost looked like steam was going to get blown out of her ears.
"Tche...I'm sure she could have escaped..." Said Tayuya casually, not willing to admit her mistake.
"Arg! I hate you!" Said Karin, pointing a shaky finger at her friend.
"Well...fuck you too you whore!" Replied Tayuya heatedly.
'So she was aiming to kill me and not Yakumo after all, then...she is the one controlling that thing?' Thought Naruto.
"Did you hear the music just before the attack? I think she is using chakra enhanced sound waves to control it, look at the flute in her hand, it is the only tool on her person, that is the secrete to her technique, I'm sure of it." Said the great demoness.
'I see, in that case, I should be able to eventually predict her attack patterns by studying the chakra in the sound frequencies using my sensor ablities.' Thought the blond.
"You almost killed my reason for existing, I'm going to have to kill you for that" Said Naruto coldly.
"Give it your best shot dick cheese!" Replied the 7 year old Tayuya, placing her flute on her lips in preparation for battle.
'I can only summon one doki at a time with my current chakra reserves, but that shit aint a problem, I only need one to take care of this shithead!' Thought Tayuya.
"You have already lost, I already know how to counter your technique. You need chakra to use and direct the sound vibrations and frequencies from the music in your flute in order to gain control of your monster. I, who can sense the chakra frequencies in your jutsu can never lose to you, I will always know what move you are going to make before you strike." Said Naruto nonchalantly, trying to weaken the foul mouthed girl's resolve.
'Impossible! Someone else with that kind of ability can't possibly exist, could he be a sensor type of the same level as Karin?' Thought Tayuya with wide eyes.
'No! What am I afraid off! I am one of Orochimaru sama's elite desciples, one of the few chosen to be trained explicitly to become his body guards, I can never lose to this trash! Besides, he won't be able to anticipate the initial attacks even with his chakra sensing, he needs to at least have seen the movement at least once before he can anticipate an attack, all I have to do is end the battle with the initial attacks, that's all there is to it!' Thought Tayuya.
"You'll have to deal with me too then, you won't defeat the both of us no matter how strong you think you are!" Said Karin with determination shining in her eyes.
"All of you stop it now or I will put you all under the worst genjutsu that you can think off!" Shouted Yakumo furiously. Everyone gulped nervously at Yakumo's threat. They all knew better then to take her threat lightly, her genjutsus were close to unbreakable, and what made matters worse was that her genjutsu could take physical manifestations because of her ability to confuse the brain and make it believe that the effects in the illusion were really happening to the body. For example, if she were to put you in an illusion were your skin was burning, then your real skin would suffer the real effects as if it were literally on fire.
"Naruto kun, these are my new friends, they kept me company while you were um...asleep. Tayuya, Karin, this Naruto kun, he's the one I told you guys about, the one that saved me from Konoha, my best friend." Explained Yakumo, trying to break the tension between the two parties. Tayuya and Karin's eyes widened from shock, struggling to believe that they had tried to kill him without even knowing it. They knew almost everything there was to know about him, Yakumo had talked about her Naruto kun non stop, they felt like they knew him already, to think that they were about to kill him, or try to kill him.
"New friends? When did this happen?" Asked Naruto curiously.
"I...um...well I was lonely and Orochimaru sama wouldn't allow anyone to see you during your experiment. Tayuya and Karin tried to cheer me up and um...we ended up getting close um...we became friends." Answered Yakumo nervously, feeling like she had done something wrong for some reason she couldn't understand, or maybe she felt like she had betrayed Naruto kun by having other friends that were not him.
"I see, were they good to you? Do you think you can trust them?" Asked Naruto, speaking about the two girls as if they were not there at all.
"H-hai, I trust them...um...Naruto kun, you're not mad at me are you?" Asked Yakumo.
"Huh...uh...no, I can never be mad at you." Said Naruto with a smile, his deep blue eyes captivating Yakumo so much that she had to avert her eyes from him to hide her embarrassment.
"Um...Naruto kun, could you please put me down now?" Asked Yakumo shyly. She had just been so happy to see him back and so pre-ocupied that she hadn't noticed how close he was holding her against his body, it made it worse that he was holding her bridal style against his naked torso.
"Huh...oh! Gomenassai!" Said Naruto hastily, jumping on to the floor and releasing her from his bridal style embrace with great haste, a small red hue forming around his whisker markings.
"Ehehehe so um...why don't you properly introduce me to your friends?" Asked Naruto, scratching the back of his head to hide his embarrassment.
"Okay um...well, the one with the foul mouth is Tayuya chan of the North Gate, she is one of Orochimaru sama's sound four elite trainees and the one with the glasses is Karin chan, she is Kabuto sama's apprentice." Said Yakumo.
"Oh okay, um...ohayo Tayuya chan, Karin chan, I'm Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, it is nice to meet you!" Said Naruto with his hand stretched out for a handshake.
"Did you say Namikaze? But isn't that the name of the Fourth Hokage? Are you related to him?" Asked Karin with wide eyes, Tayuya's mouth on her side was hanging agape after that, she didn't know that was the name of the Fourth Hokage, damn she should have paid more attention on her history lessons.
"Hai, I am his biological son." Said Naruto, shocking the duo even more, sure Karin had already figured out that they were related, but she didn't expect them to be father and son.
"S-sugoi! No wonder Yakumo chan and Kabuto sensei speak so highly of you! Um...is it okay if I um...feel you?" Asked Karin with a light blush on her face.
"Sure why not, if it will prove to you that I am real then I don't see the problem." Said Naruto, placing Karin's hand on his chest. The girl blushed furiously, not having expected something like that, she had just wanted to feel out his chakra with her Mind's Kagura Of the Eye, not this.
"Get your paws off her you pervert!" Shouted Tayuya, smacking the blond's hand away with her flute.
"Hey, I'm not a pervert!" Shouted the blonde indignantly.
"Sure, you could have fooled me, like I didn't see how you were groping Yakumo earlier! Now you're trying to do the same to karin, I won't allow it!" Shouted Tayuya, pointing at the blond with her flute.
"What the hell are you talking about? I wasn't groping anyone, you're starting to sound like a paranoid, insecure, and jealous wife!" Countered the blonde.
"Why you! How dare you insult me you shithead! All she asked you was if she could feel your chakra, not your body you cum stained wanking pervert!" Shouted Tayuya.
"I...I...how was I supposed to know that!" Said Naruto, blushing slightly from embarrassment.
"I don't know...how about asking what she meant like a normal person instead of sticking your head into the gutter?" Asked Tayuya mockingly.
"Hey shithead! Did you hear me, hey!" Shouted Tayuya, angry at being ignored like that, not realising that Naruto was having an internal conversation with his inner beast.
"Hey kaa chan, I'm going to block our connection for a while, she'll freak out if she senses you without prior knowledge of your existence!" Said Naruto.
"That is a good idea, do it."
Said Kyubi with a lazy yawn.
"Alright thanks, I promise this will not happen again, I will tell them about you, I'm not ashamed of you, I love you...kaa chan!" Said the blonde.
A small tight knot formed on the demoness's stomach from the blonde's declaration, with an invisible blush on her cheeks she returned and meant the gesture.
"Um...I love you too sochi kun." Replied Kyubi, feeling a strange but happy feeling in her chest area where her heart should be.
"Karin chan, are you okay?" Asked Naruto, breaking Karin from her concentration. She blushed a little at the chan suffix, they barely knew each other and he was already using such an affectionate suffix with her name.
"Hai, I'm okay, w-why?" Asked Karin.
"Well, you were making strange faces, at first you seemed happy and content, and then concerned, and after that a little freaked out and then happy again and so on! Was there something wrong with my chakra?" Asked Naruto.
"H-hai, your chakra is strange, it has three different tones to it, one bright and warm like the sun itself and the other two both sinister, with one being more sinister then the other. Also, I couldn't go as deep as I wanted to go, it was like something was blocking me away, like you were trying to hide some part of yourself." Said Karin
'I see, the three tones of my chakra represent my normal chakra, the second part that is affected by Kaa chan's chakra that is cyphoned into my chakra system by tou san's seal and the third one must be a result of the implanted dna material.' Thought Naruto.
"I knew you couldn't be fucking trusted, what the fuck were you trying hide huh shithead?" Asked Tayuya, boring her eyes straight through the blonde's head with her intense stare, her face so close to his that their lips were almost touching.
"Shut up! Naruto kun doesn't have to tell you anything!" Shouted Yakumo.
"No...its okay Yakumo chan. You said that they could be trusted, and that they were your friends, I see no need to keep it a secrete from them." Said Naruto.
"But...!"
"Did you tell them about yours, Yakumo chan?" Asked Naruto.
"H-hai." Replied Yakumo.
"And did they accept you?" Asked Naruto.
"Hai!" Said Yakumo.
"Then don't worry, they should accept me too." Said Naruto.
"No way! You have the Ido demon too?" Asked Tayuya, pointing a shaky finger at the blonde.
"No, I have the Kyubi no Kitsune sealed inside of me by the Yondaime Hokage." Said the blonde, shocking the two prospective kunoichi.
"No way! Your own father sealed a demon inside of you! Is that why you were hated in Konoha?" Asked Karin with wide teary eyes.
"Yes." Was all Naruto said.
"Man that is terrible, I would have killed my dad if he did something like that to me!" Said a male voice from behind the trio.
Naruto turned around to see three boys that didn't look more then a year or two older then him.
"Nobody asked you Kidomaru baka!" Shouted Karin at the source of the voice.
"Tche, like I care what you think four eyes!" Said Kidomaru, a dark skinned, black haired, and black eyed seven year old looking boy wearing a black sleeveless top and black spandex shorts with a tan tunic over the top that bears a symbol for the sound four and a rope belt tied around his waist. He is also wearing arm warmers and has bandages wrappped around his legs with black ninja sandals, the most unique traits about him though are the two extra pairs of arms situated on the sides of his torso.
"I can't kill him, he is already dead. You look like you could be good at taijutsu though." Replied the blonde.
"Huh...actually, I'm more of a long range type, what made you think I was a taijutsu based type of fighter though?" Asked Kidomaru curiously.
"It is not that I thought you were a taijutsu type, I was just thinking, that with four extra limbs, you could create a very powerful and unpredictable taijutsu style, after all, nobody trains or practises to fight against someone with that many arms, it could be a great advantage for you." Said Naruto analytically.
"Hn, hehehehe, I like you, I think you and I will get along pretty well, you should hang out with the boys sometime." Offered Kidomaru, offering the blonde a handshake with one of his six arms.
"Sure, why not!" Replied Naruto with a smile on his face, sealing the deal with a firm handshake.
"Tche, whatever you do just make sure you don't offer to buy fat shit Jirobo any food or you'll be broke for months!" Said Tayuya.
"You shouldn't curse so much Tayuya chan, it is unbefitting of a lady to speak like that! " Chastised Jirobo, a tall, chubby seven year old boy with brown eyes and an orange coloured mawhawk with orange tufts of hair behind his ears. He is however not just fat as there are signs of muscle mass beneath his chubby appearance and is wearing the black spandex shorts with black shinobi sandals and a tan sleeveless tunic with a purple rope belt tied around his waist.
"Yeh since you know so much about being a lady why don't you start acting like one at the dinner table fatso! And stop fucking using affectionate suffixes with my name!" Replied Tayuya irritably.
"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that and invite our new comrade to come and share a meal with us, how about it, Namikaze san?" Asked Jirobo.
"Sure, that would be cool, my treat ne?" Offered Naruto.
"Sure, why not." Replied Jirobo with a sinister glint in his eyes.
"Uh...that won't be neccessary, you're the new member of our super squad, why don't you just let us treat you instead, consider it a welcome gesture!" Said Sakon hastily, a seven your old boy with dark grey hair with one bang that covers his right eye. Sakon seems to be wearing turquoise lipstcik and brown eye-liner, making his appearance seem more feminine. He is also wearing a brown tunic with long black wrist bands, black skin tight shorts and a purple rope belt around his waist with black ninja sandals. The boy is also wearing a dark red bead-like necklace around his neck and has a a giant scroll attached to his back. The most perculiar thing about his appearance though is the second head that seems to be sticking out of his upper back.
"Na that's okay, I insist!" Said Naruto.
'What a fool, can't he see that I was trying to save him from Jirobo? Oh well, aint my problem anymore, at least I tried.' Thought Sakon.
"Alright then, your treat it is." Said Sakon with an amused smirk.
"Kukuku! I see you have already made some friends Naruto kun, you work really fast don't you." Said Orochimaru with a hissing serpent like voice.
"Just trying to settle in to my new home as quickly as possible, Orochimaru sama." Replied Naruto, unlike the others, he, Yakumo, and Karin were not shocked by his sudden appearance, having already sensed him coming quite a while ago.
"Kukuku! So it seems Naruto kun, so it seems..." Said Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru sama!" Greeted the sound four simulataneously, each of them dropping down to one knee and bowing their heads in respect for their master.
"Is it time for the test already? Damn, time flies fast, I didn't even get a chance to warm up." Said Naruto, shaking his head dramatically.
"I'm afraid so Naruto kun, come, walk with me." Ordered Orochimaru, turning around to walk out of the large training ground, not waiting for the blond to reply.
"Hai!" Saluted Naruto running up behind the snake sannin.
"Wait! Um...is it okay if we can also observe the test, Orochimaru sama?" Asked Yakumo. The Snake Sannin stopped for a few seconds to consider it before giving a firm nod in confirmation.
"Off course, in fact, I insist that you all come and watch, it should be a good show." Replied Orochimaru.
0000000000000000
"If its a boy, I won't kill him, if its a girl, I will kill her!"
'What the hell is wrong with him? Has he gone mad?' Thought Naruto.
He was inside a large hall that looked like it was some kind of training room or battle area. In the middle of the room was a four by four metre square cube made out of what looked like fibre glass. In the centre of the cube was an orange haired boy that did not look much older then he was, although significantly taller. The boy has spiky orange hair and similar coloured eyes. He is a well built 8 year old boy and the only item of clothing on him are black knee length shorts.
'It seems like he hasn't noticed my presence yet, maybe this is some kind of surveilance box, like the ones used for interogation, he cannot see what is on the outside but people on the outside can see what is happening inside. It would make sense, given his apparent violent personality.' Thought Naruto, watching the glass cube sink back into the ground, except this time not taking boy with it.
"No, I have changed my mind! If it is a girl, I won't kill her, yes, the boy, I'll kill him if it is a boy!" Shouted the boy hysterically with an expression that has the word insanity written all over it.
"What is your name?" Asked Naruto, staring at the boy with a rigid, battle ready posture, realising the danger he might be in with the boy no longer safely contained.
"My name...is Jugo! Jet Booster Jump!" Screamed the boy now identified as Jugo. Jugo, with incredible speed launched himself at his next victim, creating three jet-like appendages on his back and blasting himself forward at incredible speeds.
Jugo, in mid air, altered his arm into a piston before blasting a large concentration of chakra from the jet booster attached to his elbow to increase the velocity and power behind his attack.
"Die! Piston Fist!" Shouted Jugo, swinging his arm violently at the blond.
Naruto, not having expected an attack of that speed was unable to dodge in time and received a heavy punch that blasted him into the wall.
"Hahahahaha! Ahahahaha! I killed him, I killed the boy! Ahahahaha!" Laughed Jugo maniacly.
Meanwhile in a different room sat eight individuals watching the battle through an overhead projector seal. The battle arena was full of re-enforcement seals and most importantly, at least for the spectators, serveilance seals. The serveilance seals were linked to the overhead projector seal that projected the battle on the wall in six different angles to make sure that they didn't miss a single thing in the battle.
"Naruto kun!" Cried Yakumo with her hand covering her mouth in shock.
"N-no way, he...it can't be...he can't be dead!" Said Karin, tears threatening to spill from her eyes too. She hadn't spent that much time with the blonde, but Yakumo had told her so much about him and his painful past over the last two weeks that she might as well have known him that well. He was also kind and loving towards his friends from what she had seen of him.
"Hn, I wouldn't write off Naruto kun so soon if I were you Karin chan." Said Kabuto with a trademark upwards push of his classes, not excluding the smirk etched on his face.
"W-what do you mean, Kabuto sensei?" Asked the six year old Karin.
"Jugo's attack should have caused a lot more damage to the wall then that. Just watch, take a closer a look and you'll see what I mean." Said Kabuto cryptically.
'I'm still alive? What is this? These scales on my body? Oh...Orochimaru sama will be pleased, it seems like I have been able to manifest the scales of the great Samehada, the experiment was a success!' Thought Naruto.
Jugo stared at the, for lack of a better word, monster in front him. No longer was there any blonde hair or even human skin on his opponent's body, just large, thick scales covering everything, even the top of his head was now turned into spiky scales, though they still resembled the shape of his hair. The deep blue eyes were still visible and he had what looked like gills on his neck.
"What happened, why did my attack lose power! No one has ever successfully blocked my piston fist before?" Asked Jugo, the cursed markings spreading even more across his face, his left eye was already monster looking, with black sclere and golden irises.
"Your chakra, I ate your chakra from your attack, it was so...delicious! I'm going to shave you into pieces!" Shouted Naruto, swinging his scale covered arm against the orange haired boy's face.
"Too slow! Destroying Axe Fist!" Shouted Jugo, forming a massive axe on the back of his forearm and intercepting the blonde's attack.
BOOM!
A massive booming shockwave destroyed parts of the arena upon impact, creating a massive creator below the two boys. The wall on Naruto's back, where some of his scales had projected into started cracking from the impact despite the re-enforcement seals placed on them.
"Hahahahaha! You're stronger then others! I'm going to enjoy killing you even more, Piston Fist: Style One!" Screamed Jugo, creating two more jet-like appendages on his right elbow.
"Too slow!" Said Naruto in a manner not too different from the one Jugo used to mock him just moments ago. Naruto, with quick thinking, channelled as much chakra as he could into his legs and pushed himself off of the wall behind him to gain momentum, delivering a powerful punch on Jugo's torso that sent him sailing into the other side before he could excecute his own deadly attack. Naruto absorbed so much chakra from him that all the chakra Jugo had gathered in his pistons diappeared completely.
Jugo landed harshly on his back and his body dug a long trench into the ground, such was the power behind the attack.
'My body has gotten stronger somehow, there is no way the force of my legs should have propelled me with that much speed and strength. And there is no way that I should have been able to withstand the force of his attacks even with the scales to protect me, I should have been sent flying and the pressure on my joints should have been too much to withstand. In any case this battle is over, there is no way he should be able to fight after that, I took a lot of chakra from him and shaved chunks off of his torso, he's definately out cold.' Thought the blonde just before his eyes widened in shock, watching the orange haired Jugo get up on his feet despite his injuries, albeit with sluggish movements.
"Hehehe! Ehehehe! Hahahahahahaha! I was right, you're much more fun then the others! I am going to enjoy killing you, I'll destroy you!" Shouted Jugo, completely submitting to his killing tensencies. His skin turned a completely darker shade with black sclera in the eyes and a black stripe running from the middle of his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. A number of cannon like appendages grew on his back, contributing to his more then intimidating appearance and the injuries on his torso regenerated rapidly.
'How can he still have this much chakra after I absorbed so much of it? What kind of monster is he? This form looks too dangerous for my liking, I don't think I can keep up with him in a taijutsu battle anymore, he was already too fast in his previous form, I don't want to have to see what kind of surprises he has for me in this form, I'll have to change tactics.' Thought Naruto before going through rapid hand seals.
"Water Element: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" Shouted the blond before spitting out a ridiculous amount of water from his mouth, filling up the whole battle arena to the brim.
Naruto's body, now submerged underwater went through another change. His scales receded back into his body but only for his body to transform again. His skin turned a darkish blue colour, his teeth sharpened and became shark like and a relatively long, shark like tail grew on his back. His face completely turned shark like and gills formed on his neck and shoulders with shark fins growing at the upper back of his arms with an even bigger pointed fin growing on his spine.
'So, this is why the DNA source was refered to as the great shark skin sword, interesting, let us see what I can do in this form' Thought Naruto.
'This guy...he also had another transformation level in store. I have no choice, I have to use that technique and end the battle in an instant, otherwise I'll just drown to death!' Thought Jugo.
Jugo, with the intent to kill his foe manipulated the chakra cannons on his back to face directly towards the location of his opponent, adding even more canons in the process.
'This is it, he won't be fast enough to escape this, even if he absorbs the chakra, he'll still die before he can absorb it all. And even if he dodges it, the wall behind him will be destroyed and the water will leak out, I'll be able to breathe again. Cursed Seal Chakra Blast!' Said Jugo mentally, firing numerous chakra blasts from his cannons to form a devastating technique.
'I can't afford to get hit by that!' Thought the blonde, swimming away from the danger at super fast speeds, so much so that Jugo didn't even see him move.
Boom!
The power behind Jugo's attack was immense, but so was the power of the re-enforcement seals protecting the walls of the arena. As a result, the damage to the walls from Jugo's attack was no where near the level that he had expected, but the plan was succesful nonetheless, a small hole could be seen on the heavily damaged wall where the water was slowly leaking out.
'I can't believe the wall was strong enough to withstand that, but one more shot will do it! One more shot before I kill this pest!' Thought Jugo furiously before something hard, fast, and painfull knocked him to the side at incredible speed. Jugo instantly noticed how his attack was immediately cancelled upon impact, his chakra disappearing from his cannons.
Before he could crash againt the far wall on the right, he was knocked to his left again, and again, and again and again, until it got to the point where he just couldn't defend himself at all. He wasn't a bad swimmer, but against this kind of opponent, he might as well have been, he couldn't even follow the guy's movements at all and not only did the attacks hurt him badly, but his chakra was being devoured very rapidly.
'The absorbtion process is harder and slower when I have to suck out the chakra directly from his chakra coils, but still, any normal person should have been out of chakra by now, if I didn't know better I could have sworn that I was fighting against a jinchuuriki. Nevertheless I have the advantage here, he'll be knocked out in no time at all.' Thought Naruto, swimming into the mad boy's back and delivering a devastating, chakra draining head butt.
'Kuso! The water level is dropping too slow...I...I don't think I can...hold on any longer...' Were Jugo's last thoughts before he passed out from chakra exhaustion, his skin receding back to its normal colour and texture.
End Chapter
Alright that's it for now. Hope yaw enjoyed it somewhat.
Until next time.