Guardian Angel
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Summon/Bijuu/Inner Speech"
'Summon/Bijuu/inner thought'
A/N: Hey all! Sorry this took so long but I got sidetracked with other stories and such… So! Let's get cracking on this story eh?
"Remember, water beats fire, fire beats wind, wind beats lightning, lightning beats earth, and earth beats water," Iruka told his class as he lectured them on elemental affinities. All of them were studying taking notes and memorizing what their instructor said… well most of them were.
Naruto was barely paying attention as his head rested on his arms that were lying on top of his desk. 'So bored…' thought the blonde. He idly watched as his teacher droned on about something or other, something to do with chakra? He didn't really know. 'Jeez, been three years and we've still got another what? Another three before we graduate? Gah! This chakra stuff hurts my head!' he mentally complained. He gave a slight groan and buried his head in his arms, fully intent on falling asleep right then and there.
Before he could however something started poking his side. Annoyed, the blonde lifted his head and saw Kiki looking at him with a slight frown. "Don't you dare fall asleep again," she whispered.
Glancing to make sure Iruka was busy, Naruto gave his best friend a pitiful look, "Buuut Kiki-chaaaaan! I'm booooored," he whined quietly, "And learning about chakra hurts my head, dattebayo," stated Naruto.
Kiki turned to face the boy and Naruto's breath heart sped up a little when she did. While physically and clothing wise, the two had not changed much at all except for growing taller and more fit, emotion wise, Naruto viewed Kikioko differently then when they were eight.
He still saw her as his best friend in the world, make no mistake. She had stuck with him even when the other girls (sans Hinata and, surprisingly enough, Ino) started to tease and ostracize her. She still didn't know about his demon or why the villagers all glared at him, but she didn't care and still stayed as his friend. It was because this that Naruto developed a crush on the girl.
"So sit up and pay attention or I'll tell Fredrick-Jiijii you've been slacking in your academics," Kiki told him, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts. He paled when he registered what his friend just said.
"You wouldn't dare," he whispered. Kiki just turned to smirk at him, her only visible eye gleaming with mischief. "Try me Whiskers-kun," she whispered.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Kikioko Atezuiryo! Stop flirting and pay attention!" Iruka yelled at the two, inwardly smirking as the two blushed deep red and yelled their usual response in perfect unison. 'Serves em right for their last escapade, still don't know how they did it' mentally thought Iruka. 'Seriously, how did they catch all those squirrels and where does a person get that much tapioca pudding?'
As the day rolled on, clouds started to cover the sky, dark grey ones that seemed heavy with rain. When it came round to lunch, the clouds had finally burst and the falling rain was accompanied by distant sounds of thunder. As such, the students ate inside.
Sasuke immediately left to find a quiet place to eat, meaning, he went to find somewhere to hide so his fan club wouldn't find or follow him. Unfortunately for him, Ino and Sakura went straight after Sasuke along with almost every other girl in the class. Soon, the room was empty except for Naruto, Kiki, Hinata, Shino, Kiba and his dog, Chouji and Shikamaru.
Over the three years, this group of ninja in training became a pretty good group of friends. It was mostly due to Kiki though. She was the one who had invited both Shino and Kiba to eat with them, while Naruto had noticed Hinata all alone and invited her. Kiki befriending Chouji eventually brought in Shikamaru because the two were already close friends.
"Ah! Time to eat! I'm starved, ttebayo!" Naruto declared, "Ne, ne, Kiki-chan can I have my food now?" he asked.
The red head merely rolled her eyes and smiled at him, "Ok, ok, but I don't understand why you're so excited," she laughed as she reached for her backpack under the desk. "It's just the same thing everyday anyway," she said as she brought out a bowl of nice hot ramen.
"Yeah, but ramen is the best thing in the world!" he declared while grabbing the bowl and chopsticks, putting his hands together he gave a jubilant "Itadakimasu!" before breaking his chopsticks apart and devouring the ramen. In all reality he had slowed and learned some etiquette, but he still devoured ramen at a pace that left people amazed.
Shaking her head Kiki reached back into her bag and withdrew her own food, a bento box of rice, sushi and dumplings. Muttering the same prayer as Naruto, she too started to eat but at a much slower pace than her friend. "Besides, didn't Echo-sensei tell you to eat something else besides ramen?" she asked.
Naruto merely rolled his eyes at her and stopped eating, a noodle hanging out the side of his mouth. "I'll eat something other than ramen when he drinks something other than that root beer stuff of his, ttebayo," with that he sucked the noodle hanging from his mouth and said, "Besides, there's no way I'm listening to the advice of a guy I don't even know," he stated.
"You still have no idea who he is and you've been training with him for like what? Three years now?" Kiba asked as he took another bite from his jerky. "Shouldn't you at least know something about the guy by now?"
"It's obvious this Echo guy doesn't want people to know about him, so why bother?" spoke up Shikamaru.
"Aw come on Shika, don't tell me you're not at least a little curious?" spoke up Chouji. The black haired boy merely mumbled "troublesome," before continuing to eat his bento.
"It is most curious," Shino stated simply.
"Aw come on Whiskers-kun, Echo-sensei isn't that bad," Kiki said.
"Yeah but in the three years we've known him what have we learned?" asked Naruto,
Kiki tilted her head to the side, put a finger to her chin, and let her eyes stare upwards in what Naruto had dubbed the 'Kiki contemplation pose' "Welll…" she started, "He constantly drinks that root beer stuff, he always wears that red zip-up sweatshirt, he always has that shovel with him and he's not that social," Kiki finished with a cute smile and closed eyes.
"A-Ano, he, he also se-seems quite, um, tired," Hinata spoke up.
"What do you mean tired?" asked Kiba, "Like, Shikamaru tired or... what?"
"No, sensei can be lazy but, only when he doesn't have anything to do," Kiki stated.
"Dad usually says he's a pretty hard worker," Chouji stated, "But he said he seems um… world weary?"
""Whats world weary mean?" asked Naruto, long since finished with his first bowl and looking at Kiki with wide pleading eyes. She just giggled and handed him another bowl from her bag.
"It means tired of life," Shikamaru explained. "My dad said the same thing, he also said that he's either normally that way or something really bad happened in his life."
"The question is what? What could cause such a reaction in a person?" stated Shino.
Before they could answer the bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. Naruto groaned, "Great! More work!" The others chuckled, before heading back to their seats. Soon the rest of the class had joined, but instead of Iruka, only Mizuki, their silver haired assistant teacher walked in.
"Sorry guys, but Iruka got called away so I'll be taking over for the rest of the day," said the grey haired man with a grin. The students shrugged as they got back to work, but once again Naruto drifted off and found himself thinking about the last three years, well, he started thinking about what he had learned.
Naruto had learned a lot, but he still hadn't learned what he wanted to learn which meant he hadn't learned any super cool flashy jutsu. However, he did learn some good practical skills from Fredrick, Echo and even Goza.
From Fredrick, Naruto learned academics, etiquette and, this Naruto found odd, 'thief techniques' as Fredrick called them. Naruto had laughed when he learned that he of all people would teach him how to be a thief, but he stopped laughing when Fredrick swiped his wallet Gama-chan while he had been laughing. The blonde later realized that 'thief techniques' involved breaking into homes, picking pockets, stealth and even picking locks.
Naruto remembered when he asked how Huxley knew all this.
Flashback, three years ago in Naruto's Apartment
"Hey, Fredrick-jiji," Naruto asked, "How come you know so much about being a thief?"
The undead man chuckled and replied, "Believe it or not, I was Britain's greatest thief," he stated. "Back in my day, i stole some of the most priceless paintings and jewels of all time and I was never caught until my nosy neighbor snooped her way into my trophy room," Fredrick finished with a grumble. "Bloody she-hag turned me in not even five minutes later,"
"Wow! Wait, how long did you go to jail for?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Ha! I wish I had gone to jail, but when you've stolen both the king's crown from on top of his and the queen's undergarments, they don't send you to jail," Huxley laughed.
"What did they do then?" asked Naruto.
"They strung me up from the Gallows of course, made me dance the dead man's jig while, had me where the hangman's necktie! They hung me mah boy, and in front of everyone," Huxley exclaimed with over exaggerated movements, "They even tried to make me give a formal apology but instead, I just stared at the man, an the next thing he knew, his wallet is in my dead hands,"
"You stole his wallet when he was about t hang you?" asked Naruto in disbelief.
"With a smile on my face, my boy," Huxley declared proudly.
End Flashback
Who knew the pish posh Reaper was a master thief and a pervert to boot when he was alive? Guess death changes people… or maybe a thousand years of straight work? Eh, either way, Fredrick wasn't a pervert anymore. Still, he thought it was weird how the scholar was teaching him to be a thief. Then again, he was just as surprised when he learned what Echo was going to teach him
Flashback, The Boneyard
"You're going to teach me what?" exclaimed Naruto as he sat across from his sensei who winced slightly at the volume.
"I said I'm teaching you strategy and tactics, some chakra control exercises and some basic reaper techniques," Echo said calmly.
"But how the hell can you teach me reaper techniques? You're not a reaper!" Naruto accused.
Echo just stared at Naruto and sighed before snapping hid fingers. Immediately, the man was enveloped in a grey cloak that seemed to materialize on his body. It was ragged and torn n all edges with a black tattered scarf around his neck. Naruto couldn't see his face as it was shrouded with darkness, but what really caught his eyes were the steel chains that erupted from the earth and wrapped around his sensei.
They dangled from his arms and wrapped around his chest in an X formation while two more wrapped around his middle, acting as belts. There were two more chains, one coming out of each sleeve of his tattered gray robe.
In one hand, the figure carried the shovel Naruto was familiar with, only it seemed years older. In the other hand, he carried a black lantern that held an eerie grayish white glow.
"Now do you believe me?" asked the voice of Echo but it sounded far away and thrummed with a power that completely befuddled the blonde child. Naruto stared in awe for a moment before a feeling overcame him, one that still unnerved him and would continue to do so for years to come.
As Naruto stared at Echo, he felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness! There was no hope, no despair, nothing! Just silence, apathy and grief, that was all he could feel! If anyone haad asked him what went through his mind while in this overwhelming presence, Naruto would have said it was like being in a graveyard. Nothing but silence and a sense of despair while in the back of your mind, you knew you'd be joining them one day, buried in grave with only a slab with your name written on it to denote any kind of individuality, but it would be lost among so many others that no one would give it anything but a passing glance.
Just as quickly as the feeling came, it vanished in an instant. Blinking, Naruto saw that Echo had reverted back to his regular form.
"I know you're a little unnerved right now but-" Echgo was interrupted by Naruto's outburst of, "UNNERVED? TRY SCARED OUT OF MY GOD DAMN ORANGE PANTS! WHAT IN KAMI'S NAME WAS THAT? IT SCARED THE RAMEN OUT OF ME, DATTEBAYO!" screamed the blonde angrily, fear shining in his eyes.
Echo merely sighed and gave Naruto a serious look, "I apologize, but what you just saw was my reaper form, or Shinigami form if you prefer and as your sensei, I am ordering you to tell NO ONE what you just saw," he commanded.
Naruto blinked at that, "No one? Not even Kiki-chan?" NAruto asked confused.
"ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!" roared Echo in the most furious voice Naruto had ever heard. He noticed how a grey fire seemed to ignite behind his hazel eyes as he glared at Naruto. Taking a deep breath, his sensei calmed himself before looking back at him with the same serious look, "Just keep it to yourself and lets start, O.K?" suggested Echo. Naruto merely nodded.
End Flashback
Naruto shuddered slightly at the thought, that form still scared him, he'd even had nightmares about that thing burying him alive or even stalking him in some thick fog.
Sighinng, the blonde let his waner over to his best friend Kiki who was writing something down with one hand, while her other was fiddling with a butterfly knife under the desk. If it was anyone else besides Kiki, Naruto would have been freaking out, but he could only stare in amazement as the girl flipped and twirled the knife in her hand, snapping it open and closed with flourishes and flicks of her wrist. It was amazing to watch her play with those knives, but he shouldn't have been surprised seeing as she lived with Goza, the one who was teaching him about weapons. Course, Goza didn't realy teach Naruto that much, mostly because he was teaching Kiki, but every once in a while Goza would come around and give him a couple tips and tricks on how he could throw better and where to aim on a human target to get definite kills. He wasn't really a sensei, but the guy was nice enough and had even offered Naruto some odd jobs to do around the shop to earn some extra cash.
The blonde had immediately agreed and was both surprised and scared of the people he met at the shop, in other words, the other employees.
Before he could reminisce about it though, the bell rang, indicating the end of school. "Alright guys, be sure to have your homework finished and ready for tomorrow, and remember to study for the quiz Thursday!" Mizuki told the class before dismissing them.
Immediately the class exited the building, Mizuki following them. Naruto grumbled as Kikioko was still busy gathering up her things. "Come on Kiki-chan! I want to get to the shop already," Naruto whined.
Kiki merely huffed, "Oh you just want money from Goza so you can go pig out at Ichiraku's," Kiki stated as she shoved the last of her stuff into her bag. However, a square piece of paper escaped her bag and floated into one of the forward rows. 'Darn it!' she cursed, heading over to retrieve the object quickly, glancing at Naruto to see if he noticed. Thankfully he didn't.
"Course I do, ramen is great and Ichiraku's has the best and you know it, ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto. He then blinked when he noticed his friend in the front row, grabbing something from the floor, "Oi, what are you grabbing?" he asked curiously.
Kiki stiffened and quickly shoved the piece of paper into her dress pocket. "Nothing! Just dropped a pencil is all," she chuckled nervously, a red blush forming on her face. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto stepped closer and looked intently at her face, pushing his head forward till they were mere inches apart. "Naruto? W-What are you doing?" Kiki asked, her blush intensifying as he just continued to stare at her.
Her heart was beating at a fast pace, her face was burning and her breath hitched slightly as Naruto got closer. She noticed him shift and bring his hand up, she could just see it out of her peripheral vision, while he main focus were the gorgeous blue eyes that stared into her very soul. 'Is he- Would he really-? Is he going to… to..' Kiki thought but it was interrupted when she felt something against her head. Blinking she noticed it was Naruto's hand against her forehead and the blonde had a concerned look on his face.
"Are you okay Kiki-chan? Your face is really red," Naruto stated as he checked her temperature.
The red head didn't know whether to sigh, attack or laugh at her friend's obliviousness, "I'm fine Whiskers-kun, lets just get out of here, ok?" she stated. Naruto grinned and walked with her to the entrance of the school. Outside, the two could see the rain was coming down pretty hard and students and adults alike were quickly going home to escape the rain. It wasn't truly storming yet, and no one wanted to be outside when it started to.
"Aw man! We're gonna get soaked if we go out there!" Naruto whined, "Ne, ne, Kiki-chan you wouldn't happen to have an umbrella in your bag would you?" asked Naruto.
Kiki shook her head, "Sorry Whiskers, but I didn't think it would rain any time soon, you know since this place is Hi no Kuni and all," she shrugged, "Who knew the supposed Land of Fire would have thunderstorms like this?"
"Hey you two, what are you guys still doing hanging around?" asked a voice. Surprised the two turned their heads to see the smiling face of their assistant teacher Mizuki.
"Oh hey Mizuki-sensei!" Kikioko greeted brightly, "We were actually just getting ready to leave," she said.
"Yeah and without an umbrella or raincoats," Naruto grumbled.
Mizuki laughed at that. "Well if you guys want I could walk you home," offered the teacher as he pulled out his umbrella, "I've got an umbrella and I'm pretty sure it can cover all three of us," he grinned. The two children immediately agreed and smiled at their sensei, neither noticed the malicious look that entered the man's yes as they walked out of the academy.
The trio had been walking for a bit, chatting with each other happily, but Naruto felt unease throughout the entire trip. He'd felt like this before, when he was alone and being chased, but the villagers were all inside, so why was he feeling like he was in danger? He didn't like this, more so because Kiki was near him.
The last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt because of his condition.
The three continued to walk and were just passing an alley when a wicked grin came over Mizuki's face. The chuunin let forth three sharp whistles before grabbing Naruto by the scruff of his collar and throwing him into the alley.
"WHAA!" NAruto cried as he flew into the waiting hands of a hidden mob that threw him against the back of the alley, revealing it to be a dead end.
"We've got you now, demon!" jeered a mob member.
"No one's here to save you this time, monster!" shouted a woman.
"What the hell is this? Didn't you guys learn the last time you tried this, Fredrick will be here to reap you like he did last time!" Naruto shouted in annoyance.
"That would be unwise," said a voice. Surprised, Naruto watched as Mizuki made his way through the crowd, but what scared him was who he had with him.
In front of Mizuki, one hand holding the umbrella, and another holding a kunai to her throat, was Kikioko.
Naruto stared in horror at the sight in front of him. "Now, if you try and call that reaper, she dies," Mizuki stated with a smile on his face.
Kikioko was trembling in fear, her one visible eye wide and water, "N-Naruto, wh-whats going on?" she asked in a shaky voice.
Naruto only stood stock still, too shocked to move or reply. It was then that one of the mob members got impatient and struck the boy with a two by four upside the head. Thus the beating began, and it was one of the most horribles ones Naruto would ever experience.
Kiki watched in horror as these people attacked and beat Naruto, with bottles, knives, pipes, wooden planks and their own hands and feet. Kiki was crying as she watched it, but she was too terrified to cry out. She continued to watch as a man proceeded to stomp on Naruto's back. She stopped breathing when Naruto raised his head and stared at her, his face bloody and bruised.
Naruto stared into Kki's crying face and, to the shock and horror of Kiki, he smiled. He gave her his famous foxy grin and opened his mouth to speak, "Don't cry Kiki-chan," he croaked out, "I'll be fine, dattebayo,"
"Shut up you god damned demon!" screamed a mobster, striking Naruto hard across the face. Naruto merely turned defiant eyes on his assailant and continued to grin. "Why the hell are you smiling? Wipe that grin off your face!" cried a man as he picked up the child by his collar and proceeded to strike him repeatedly across the face with his fist.
"Naruto…" whispered Kiki, tears flowing down her face freely as she watched him continue to smile through what had to be tremendous pain. "Please… stop," she breathed quietly. They continued to hurt him, and e continued to grin. Mizuki just grinned through this entire thing, but it turned to a frown when he looked down to see Kiki's crying face.
"Why the hell are you crying for a monster like that thing?" Mizuki sneered, catching Kikioko's attention. She only glanced at him though before her eyes went back to the morbid spectacle in front of her. She winced as she saw a knife be jammed into Naruto's shoulder. "That thing doesn't deserve your tears, so stop crying and enjoy the show," he said with sadistic pleasure. Kiki stayed silent and continued watching. "Course, you don't know what it is, right? Course you don't, I forget you weren't born here," Mizuki mused. "I suppose as a teacher I should educate you," Mizuki said.
"You see, about eleven years ago, a demon attacked this village," Mizuki began, his head leaned forward and talking into her right ear. Naruto gave a grunt as another person smacked his face with an iron pipe. Coughing, the blonde spat out some blood but continued to smile.
"This demon was the most powerful of its kind, most powerful of the Bijuu, its nine tales capable of destroying mountains and causing tsunamis with a single wave with any one of it's tails,"
Kiki winced as they jabbed a kunai into Naruto's thigh, but still, the blonde knucklehead continued to smile, despite the blood leaking from his mouth. She didn't want to watch this, but she couldn't look away, nor could she plug her ears of everything she heard, which included Mizuki's voice and tale.
"It killed hundreds of shinobi, and even more civilians. It was so powerful that even the fourth could not kill the beast," Mizuki chuckled slightly as Naruto was thrown against the wall, but frowned upon seeing that the blonde was still smiling, "Even though you were told that it was killed, that nwas a lie to keep the future generation from finding out the truth, there was even a law established by the third that anyone who spoke of the truth would be killed, executed on the spot,"
"Truth is, the Kyuubi couldn't be killed, not by mortals like us anyway, so instead they sealed it," Naruto was still smiling, "However, no ordinary container could be used, no, it could only be sealed in a human, one newly born," Kiki continued to cry, "There was only one baby born that day though and that baby,"
Naruto was slumped against the wall now, the villagers trying to decide how to finish him as he looked up and smiled at Kiki.
"Was Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki finished. Kiki stiffened at those words, "You get it now, that boy is no boy, but a demon in human's skin! He is the Kyuubi reborn and we need to kill him before he regains the power that was sealed away," Mizuki said, pulling the kunai away and walking up to Naruto. Kikioko just stood there too shocked to move. Even her tears had stopped, but it was hard to tell with the rain now pouring down her face. She just watched as Mizuki approached Naruto's slumped form, kunai in his hand.
"This is the night we kill the demon!" Mizuki stated as he raised the black knife high. The crowd erupted into cheers, while Naruto merely stared at Mizuki, his face now blank. Mizuki gave a crazed grin at Naruto and said, "Time to die, Kyuubi!" with that he brought the knife down.
And stabbed Kikioko Atezuiryo in the back, for at the last second, she had jumped in front of the knife her front facing Naruto and her arms spread out. Mizuki was shocked as was Naruto. Confused, the blonde stared up at Kiki and asked "Kiki-chan… Why?"
The red head gave him a gentle smile and looked at him with fresh tears streaming down her face, "Because… Like I said on my first day at the academy," she said gently, slowly falling to her knees till she was in front of him, "You're my friend no matter what anyone says, and besides," here she held out her hand and extended her pinky finger towards him. "We're friends till the end," she said smiling.
Naruto could only stare in shock at her before he slowly smiled, but the moment was not to last as Mizuki snarled, "You demon loving whore!" he snarled before he yanked the kunai out of her back and smacked her in the back of the head with the iron ring.
"Kiki-chan!" Naruto cried as he caught the girl in his arms, wincing as he moved to cradle her unconscious body in his arms. The boy glared at Mizuki and said, "What the hell is wrong with you? She did nothing wrong!" Naruto shouted, tears now in his eyes as he held her body close.
"She tried defending a demon!" shouted a villager.
"This village doesn't need demons or demon lovers like your little whore!" screeched a woman's voice.
"So now, you're both going to be killed!" Mizuki said, raising the kunai high as lightning flashed across the sky. "Say goodbye, monsters!" he roared. However he froze when a killing intent like no other flooded the area. Before Mizuki could even utter a word, a loud bang filled the air which was almost instantly followed by Mizuki's head blowing apart. For a moment it stood there, spewing blood before falling to the ground. The mob stared in fear as a figure dropped onto the body of Mizuki. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the familiar red sweatshirt and shovel.
"I don't like to fight," muttered the man, "And I abhor killing people, but," here he leveled a glare at the mobsters and they gasped as they saw his eyes glowing an eerie gray. "I'm going to kill all of you," he said in a dead voice.
It wasn't a threat… it was a statement.
Slowly, the grey cloak started to materialize on Echo, the rags coming up to create a hood and shroud his face in darkness while the black scarf wrapped around his neck. The cloak spread, and covered his body when suddenly, chains shot from the earth and wrapped themselves around Echo in the same fashion that Naruto had seen them do so long ago. Only this time he noticed the chains didn't seem to break through the earth, they acted as if they emerged from water a rippling effect over the ground wherever they touched, like water. Finally, the lantern appeared in his hand, the flame inside of it thrashing wildly within it's confines.
Slowly, he raised his lantern and said, "Ushinawa reta tamashi no kiri (Fog of lost souls)" Immediately, the lantern filled with smoke and opened, covering the alley in a dense grey fog.
'I can't see anything' Naruto said as he looked into the dense bank of cloud. Oddly enough, the fog did not move with the wind, nor did it seemed disturbed by the rain as it fell onto it. For a while, the blonde heard nothing but the study thrum of rain. Slowly his eyes started to close and Naruto realized how hurt and tired he was. It was strange that he hadn't passed out earlier, but now his wounds were finally starting to take affect.
As he slowly succumbed to darkness, the last thing Naruto saw was a light emerging from the fog, held aloft by the hand of his sensei whose shovel was slung across his shoulder and dripping blood. 'I think… I think… I'm done' was the last conscious thought he had.
A/N: And done! Ok all be sure to read and review! I'm leaving ya with a little cliffy because I'm mean like that :3
Ja ne!