The Heir of the Septim
Crossovers: Elder Scrolls, Ninjago, Fable, etc.
Arc 0: Chapter 1
Growing alone and practically being isolated, due to reasons unknown to him. Naruto would sometimes find himself traveling alone. Due to the reasonless disdain towards Naruto, essentially turning him into a pariah, Naruto would be distrustful around most adults. Fearing the absolute worst in them; an ironic twist to think about.
Because of this, Naruto had little trust in the shops and grocery stores. It did not help that Naruto's stipend given to him by the Hokage was limited to basic utilities and food. Just recently, Naruto had run away from a ramen stand despite how warm it felt and how tasty the food smelled. He ran away because he saw the stall owner raise his hand and thought the man was going to shoo him away.
Naruto would soon learn that the man's intentions were welcoming and friendly. For now, Naruto traveled around the forest looking for any edible looking mushrooms. Risky and dangerous, yet that would be a last resort if he could not gather enough fresh fish at a nearby lake.
However, being a child that is easily distracted and having few survivor skills. Naruto was lost in the darkness and found himself traversing some difficult shrubbery. It would not be too long before he realized he was somewhere where he was not supposed to be. In fact, that should have been obvious as he had no recollection of the lake where he fishes would be anywhere near the mountain where the Hokage's faces would be.
Being behind the mountain, Naruto realized that he was lost. Before he could find a way back to the lake. He saw a strange carving of a bearded man on the wall.
"That's an ugly decoration. No wonder the trees and bushes hide it." Naruto said out loud.
Just then, much to Naruto's horror, the stone face came to life and sprouted out. The carving transformed into a face capable of facial expression and yawned as if had just awakened from a long slumber.
"Who are you calling ugly, boy?" The stone face asked.
"AHHH!" Naruto screamed in fright.
"First you mock my appearance and now you scream just after I have awakened." The face said.
"Monster!" Naruto yelled as he threw rocks at the face.
"Stop that you juvenile! I am an artist, you have not even heard any of my literary works." The door said.
"Monster faces can't paint!" Naruto yelled.
"I am not a monster!" The stone face exclaimed. "I was once a great writer and to this day, I still find a sense of inspiration to this day." He said.
Naruto gave the statue a blank face, "Then how did you become a statue?" He asked.
The statue sighed, "I rather not think about that. Much less speak of it." He said. "Oh what is the point!? My days are behind me! I cannot write anymore, much less find an audience." He cries with anguish.
"That's sad." Naruto commented, feeling somewhat sympathetic. "Do you know any good stories?" He asked.
The statue looked curious, "Would you care to listen, young man? Just a short story, one I've been compiling." He asked.
Naruto looked unsure but shrugged, "I have time." He said as he sat on a log.
The statue smiled at having an audience. Someone genuinely wants to listen to his art! He cleared his throat and told his tale.
"Listen carefully child, I will regale you with the tale of, "The Ham Sandwich", a mixture of tragedy and comedy." The statue said as Naruto nodded. "Hark! Bear witness to the tragic futility that is man. Oh how it doth sear my senses to see paradise and yet to be barred." He started off.
A few minutes of seemingly sad tales with awkward moments of comedy popping out of nowhere
Naruto clapped by the end, "I like the part with the lemonade. It feels uh… related." He said.
"Yes! Quite relatable! So young and yet so understanding!" The statue exclaimed happily. "You may pass boy! You have fulfilled my pleas!" He said before splitting in half and revealing a giant portal.
Naruto was now scared again, "What the? Mr. Statue man? Where did you go?" He asked.
Naruto started to shake, the sentient statue could not be heard anymore. Naruto looked around and wondered if the statue was hiding or something. All that was left was what he assumed to be a wormhole between worlds. A slash in between space and time. A literal tear in the fabric of reality. Naruto was not completely sure what it was, all he knew was that it was there but it wasn't supposed to be! This portal is unnatural and it scares the poor 7 year old boy! What should he do?
"I'll throw a rock at it." Naruto said as he threw a pebble.
Then nothing happened, the rock just disappeared. So when nothing happened, Naruto decided to poke the portal with a stick. The boy almost fell inside of the portal as the portal had a small vacuum like gravity that pulled the stick inside of the portal. Naruto nervously grabbed another stick as he wondered if he could pull it back, he could see if the portal was really harmful. Either way, Naruto would have to report this to the Hokage or at least another high ranking official.
Tears in the space time continuum are not believable but they are indeed dangerous. Unfortunately, Naruto was filled with a mix of curiosity and anxiety. Which lead him to repeatedly testing the portal until the foolish naive boy got pulled in. It was silent after that, no screams, no crying, merely the loss of a boy into an unknown dimension behind what was once a statue.
Behind the Portal
Naruto's face planted onto the sand. Sand, rather different from dirt but it wasn't much better. It didn't help that it was late at night, because Naruto was in the desert and for some reason these forsaken places were always cold at night while they were always hot in the morning. Naruto quickly scrambled back and was excited to see that the portal was still there.
Without hesitation, Naruto jumped through the portal and found himself back in Konoha again. Despite his anxieties, it appeared that curiosity took the better of him and he ended up jumping back into the desert. He looked back at the portal and could see that it would remain open by a giant stone archway.
"That better not close." Naruto said as he looked around.
Then again, there was likely no purpose in visiting this desert. With the little bit that Naruto could see, all there was to see were a bunch of ships. Most of them are buried and possibly broken beyond repair. Not that it mattered, Naruto had no plans to go sailing around the world and it would be impossible to go sailing in the sands. Unless he somehow converted the ships to function like giant snowboards but on sand.
Still, Naruto looked around as he walked up to one ship that looked mostly intact. It was just about a couple dozen meters away from him. The masts were shattered and the deck was split, but the lower half seemed to be sunk under the sand. After slapping the ship a few times to check for how sturdy it was, Naruto decided to jump aboard and was glad to see it wasn't old enough to break apart yet.
"If it was less broken, this would be an awesome hideout." Naruto said as he cautiously looked around.
There was not much to see upon first glance other than broken objects, a dirty mess of the rooms and no resources worth looting. However, Naruto did get his hopes up as he saw a treasure chest. Had he been a trained shinobi who graduated at his age like in the previous generation, he would have likely gone through several methods to check for traps. However, all Naruto had to worry about was being able to pry the lid open as it was too heavy.
With all of his strength, the blond boy lifted the chest's lid open and tried to peek inside. Though like the ship itself, it wasn't a whole lot at first glance. A couple of books, some old necklaces and some coins. The little boy decided to try and pull out the contents of the box to get a better look. Naruto wasn't a fan of the books since he could hardly read the titles and the coins seemed foreign, but possibly worth something at a pawnshop. Maybe the necklace too, but Naruto's only worry was being accused of stealing these objects.
The necklace had an odd design where the chain connecting to the strap looked like a serpent's head. The coins themselves had the face of a man he didn't recognize and the back looked like a dragon or a winged creature of some kind.
"Maybe I should tell Hokage jiji tomorrow." Naruto said as he grabbed the coins and put on the necklace.
With that, Naruto ran out the destroyed ship and back through the portal. Hoping that he wouldn't draw any suspicion.
The next day, after the academy
After finishing another dull day filled with lectures. Naruto started making his way back towards the forest where found the secret door. There wasn't much there, but Naruto wanted to explore some more and see if there was anything cool. At the very least the necklace he took seemed nice. However, it seems like that would take a while as Naruto took a different route across the village.
He already had a vague memory of where to go to find the door. It didn't help that Naruto accidentally tripped and fell as he ran across the streets.
"Are you okay young man?" Asked an old slightly scratchy voice.
Naruto looked up to see an old woman approaching him, "I'm fine." He answered.
Naruto thought this woman was just going to be mean or outright ignore him once she realized who he is. Instead, the elderly woman helped him stand up.
"You may be young, but you still have to be cautious. Otherwise, you may have back pains like us old folks." The old woman said as a joke.
"Okay ma'am." Naruto said, preparing to leave.
"One more thing young man, where did you get that necklace?" The old woman asked.
Naruto mentally cursed as he realized that his necklace was now exposed. He tried coming up with a lie so as to not be accused of theft.
"I found it in a box near my house." Naruto lied.
The old woman knew it was a lie, "I suppose people really like to throw anything out." She said as she scratched her head. "What were you doing running so quickly young man?" She asked.
Naruto had to lie again, "The forest, I'm from the academy and wanted to train." He said before finding a discrepancy in his own words. "The usual dojo at the academy is closed right now." He said.
"Oh I see." The old woman said, feigning ignorance. "If you happen to see some jazbay, think about passing by." She said.
"What's jazbay?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.
"It's a type of grape. I blend it into a tea that gives energy." The old woman answered.
"So what does it look like?" Naruto asked, wondering if he might see any.
The old woman quickly went inside to grab a small sketch and a small grape. She gave the sketch to Naruto and let him hang onto the jazbay grape.
"The drawing is when it's fully bloomed and the grape itself is so you don't confuse the smell." The old woman explained. "It's fine if you cannot find it. I just thought it would be nice to share some wisdom" she said.
Naruto smiled and nodded, "Okay oba-san, I'll keep an eye out." He said as he left.
"My name is Mystake! Be careful now!" Mystake shouts as Naruto leaves. 'How that boy found an amulet of Akatosh, I may never know. Though, it may be a longshot, but he may smell that Jazbay from a kilometer away.' She thought as she entered her tea shop.
A while later
As Naruto made his way towards the portal leading to the desert landscape. Naruto decided to take a sniff at the grapes. Maybe just humor the old woman and keep an eye out for the grapes.
"I probably won't find anything." Naruto said, but now he could only smell jazbay. "Ah man, this is going to mess with my senses. Now it feels stronger this way." He said, changing direction.
Walking absentmindedly towards another direction, Naruto ended up finding a bush full of grapes. Naruto looked at the bush carefully and studied the photo and the grape he currently had. After a few minutes of studying, Naruto decided to take a chance and placed the grapes in the pocket of the jacket he was wearing. Hoping that they really were jazbay and that if they are, he doesn't fall down and accidentally squish them into paste.
"Okay, I think the weird door is this way." Naruto said as he took another route in hopes of finding the portal.
Once again, Naruto's young underdeveloped mind was not the sharpest. As his poor sense of direction was added by the jazbay still messing with sense of smell. Naruto decided to take a shortcut through a nearby cave he found. Since it appeared fairly small outside, he thought he saw a light inside of the cave. Allowing him to think that the cave had two entrances and that it could work as a random path. Naruto didn't question the strange stone structure as he didn't care for natural science.
He didn't want to question how caves are formed or why this one looks weird. However, he did question what he found inside and it definitely wasn't a bear or some other animal.
It started with a loud yawn, "What do I see here? A boy?" The statue of a face asked.
"Hey, it's you! Remember me?" Naruto asked.
"I would remember a child. Now, why do you bother me? Do you not know that I am heartbroken?" The statue asked.
"Because no one else has heard your writing?" Naruto asked.
"I feel as if you are confusing me with someone else." The statue said.
"We literally met last night, but somewhere else! How do you forget about me!?" Naruto asked.
The statue looked contemplative, "Boy, you have clearly confused me with another demon door. That one clearly has issues of his own." It said.
"You're a demon?" Naruto asked.
"It's more of a title, I'm not quite sure myself. We were all once normal men, with normal lives, some unfortunate such as my own." The statue said with a sigh. "For me, I was heartbroken. I have lost all sense of love." He said sadly.
"Poor guy." Naruto said.
"Boy, you may be too young to have experienced love, but can you tell me this? Do you know what would make a good gift to a lover?" The demon door asked.
Naruto shrugged, "Candy?" He asked.
The demon door considered his suggestion, "Chocolates do tend to be seen as a sign of affection, but no. That's not good." He said.
"Toys? Money? Oh! Maybe jewels like a necklace?" Naruto asked.
"All fine, but not just right." The demon door said.
"Then what do you think? A pretty flower?" Naruto asked, sounding frustrated.
"Yes! A flower! A type of flower that would be good to give to a loved one, but not any ordinary flower!" The demon door said.
Naruto groaned, "Whatever, I'm already confused. This place is surprising, but I'm already bored." He said.
"Love is not entertainment boy! It's passion! True happiness! Something unending!" The demon door said.
Naruto scoffed, "What would you know? You're in a stinky cave and there's chicken scratch written on this wall behind me." He said as he turned around and pointed.
The demon door continued to talk about his philosophy as Naruto looked at the chicken scratch. However, as Naruto glimpsed at the strange writing, he felt as if the markings had come to life and printed themselves into his eyes. It was strange to explain this phenomenon as Naruto felt like he could read the terrible writing. Where the scratches started looking a lot like basic characters. When a new phrase suddenly came to Naruto's mind as he continued staring at the writing.
"Volg Peyt."
"What?" Naruto asked himself.
Then the words rearranged themselves into his language.
"Wild Rose."
"Wild Rose? What's a Wild Rose?" Naruto asked.
"Wild Rose! The perfect flower to gift to a lover!" The demon door exclaimed.
"What are you talking about, crazy door statue face guy?" Naruto asked before hearing the stone face splitting. "Again?" He asked.
Like the previous door, a portal appeared behind the statue of the face. Revealing the possibility of another realm behind the doorway. Naruto sighed as he decided to try and see what was behind.
"It better be another empty desert and not a room full of rabid wolves!" Naruto said as he walked right through.
Behind the Demon Door
Naruto caught himself as he almost tripped during the jump between lands. This time, Naruto was surprised to find himself in a grassy field with a lot of open space. In the near distance, Naruto saw what appeared to be a small house nearby. Naruto looked around for a bit but saw no one else was nearby. Not so much as a bird or other small animal was nearby.
By now, Naruto assumed that the demon doors were able to transport him to some foreign land. With that in mind, Naruto decided to check out the house and see if anyone was inside. Hopefully they don't freak out about some kid suddenly showing up out of nowhere.
"Then I can ask them about the weird portal behind me." Naruto said, having a counter argument.
As he approached the door, Naruto looked over the window and found a clean and neatly organized kitchen and living room. Though both seemed to be empty of any life. The boy could see that it was clearly furnished, so that meant that someone lives here right?
"Hello!" Naruto said as he knocked on the door a few times. "Hey! I found this portal! Anyone home?" He asked.
Naruto continued knocking and calling out to any potential inhabitants for a few more minutes. Before deciding to look around the house and see through the windows. Again, he saw that there was no one inside despite how clean and well maintained the house is. Naruto had concluded that no one was home right now but wanted to check by trying to open the door.
"If it wasn't for the statue guy, I think these guys would have been robbed already." Naruto said as he went inside. "Hello! Your door is open! I'm not a robber or anything!" He said.
He realized he sounded too suspicious.
"I'm a little kid, I can barely fight." Naruto said out loud.
As Naruto was sure that no one was home, he noticed there wasn't any real sign of inhabitants. It was strange, the house was clearly ready for someone to live in but there was no photographs, personal belongings like clocks and there wasn't even electricity as the ceiling fans and lights couldn't be turned on when flicking the switches.
"I guess this house is ready for sale." Naruto said as he went up the stairs. "I hope no one bought this place. This place is much better than my apartment." He said as he looked around the second floor.
That's where he found an empty room full of open shelves and empty tables with a couch. As nice as this place was, it was ruined by more chicken scratch written on the walls. Someone sure loved to tag their marks no matter where they were. It was definitely safe to say that no one lived here by this point.
"Who even drew this?" Naruto asked as he looked at the markings again.
Once again, it transcribed into a foreign language with strange pronunciations. The next thing Naruto knew, he could see something he could actually read out loud. Though not without trouble as his vocabulary was a bit of a mess.
All praise glorious Miraak
Most power(ful) servant of all
Dragon Priests, whose strength (was) granted
by (the) gardener of mankind.
Naruto shook his head as he felt a small migraine. Feeling a bit uneasy, Naruto decided to walk back downstairs. It was at this point that he found more markings on another wall under a candlelight. Naruto sighed as he felt annoyed by the constant marks.
"I'm getting pranked aren't I? This chicken scratch is hurting my head and somehow I'm suddenly able to read it? Is it some kind of message?" Naruto asked as he kicked the wall.
Out of sudden frustration from finding all of these markings. Naruto once again saw the words translate into a new phrase for him to read.
"Pull the candlelight holder to open."
Naruto sighed, "Might as well, the place already has a lot of graffiti. Breaking stuff won't matter." He said as he struggled to reach the candlelight holder.
Naruto heard a loud piece of machinery open and saw the wall push back. Naruto placed his hand on the wall and pushed it. Revealing a secret room underneath the house that immediately lit up. Naruto suspiciously looked down the stairs as he found a target dummy wearing some rusty old armor.
"Okay, maybe someone moved out." Naruto said as he looked around the room.
Naruto then moved to the back of the room where he saw a bearded man with fair skin wearing gold armor. Naruto was mesmerized by the painting, feeling as if was looking at the image of a monarch. Unlike the photographs of the previous Hokages and their paintings, this one looked like a painter had wanted to capture the image off this man.
It was difficult to put into words, but this still image leaves it to the imagination. Unlike Konoha's works of art, this leaves the viewer to make their own opinion of this man. The Hokages looked like powerful warriors and charitable men, but this man in the golden armor could be anything. It could also be attributed to Naruto not knowing who this man is while kids in his generation know the Hokages and what they've done. Naruto could assume the armored man is a hero and in reality, could be a monster who tormented civilians.
Yet, whoever this man in the painting is, Naruto could not take his eyes off it. It was truly up to the artist to depict the man in his mind, rather than just paint what he's told to paint. The painting is as Naruto sees it, but that leaves him trying to think about how he feels about this individual.
"Who is this guy?" Naruto asked before finding a name on the portrait.
General Talos Stormcrown
"That's a weird name." Naruto muttered before noticing a strange statue nearby.
The statue was tricky to describe, but that's when Naruto realized something. The statue was very similar to the necklace he was wearing. Upon closer examination, Naruto noticed that the snake head was actually a dragon with wings and it was devouring a sword as was the statue. Both the idol and the necklace looked almost identical. Did Naruto pick up a religious idol?
That's when Naruto, his ignorance in effect, touched the statue. When a strange glowing light had exited the idol and entered his body. Almost as if the very essence of the statue entered his body.
(Skyrim OST - Dovahkiin)
"I think I already messed with too much stuff." Naruto said as he walked backwards and hit a door. "Might as well see what's in here too." He said as he opened the door.
There he found a dusty old room with a bunch of empty racks. Almost empty actually, Naruto saw an iron short sword on one side of the racks as well as a knife hanging on a wall. Naruto nodded at how clean and clear the weapons looked to him. Naruto gently rubbed his finger on the flattened as to avoid accidentally cutting himself.
"It looks good. I wonder if I can train with these." Naruto said as he tried picking up the sword. Though it wasn't without some struggle, "Wow, this is more heavy and sturdy than kunai." He said.
That much was obvious as a kunai is a lot smaller compared to a sword. Even a short sword had more heft and the larger size required more balance to hold the weapon. With that, Naruto had to adjust his grip and mobility. If he wanted to be remotely serious about using a weapon more effective than a kunai, he had to build both muscle and muscle memory.
"I wonder if I can use the dummy as practice." Naruto said to himself.
That's when he heard some mechanical noises as when he tampered with the secret door. As Naruto listened closely to the odd sounds, he heard a heavy stone drop. Where he noticed some sort of door collapse onto the ground. Before he could question this strange house, he saw something coming out of the path where the door fell from.
That's when this mystery house became a house of horrors. Because a literal skeleton came stumbling out and snarled at him.
Naruto already had phasmophobia, so the sight of a skeleton coming to life was much worse in his opinion. With that in mind, Naruto let out a panicked scream and started swinging the sword wildly.
"Back away monster!" Naruto yelled as he kept swinging the sword.
Luckily, the lack of organs for the undead monster meant that it lost all common sense and reasoning. That is a good thing because it has no brain and cannot think. Which is why the skeleton was destroyed when it tried to run at Naruto with no attempt to block his wild attack.
Naruto kept swinging at the skeleton wildly to make sure it died. Only now the boy was left with a bunch of shattered bones on the ground. Naruto stopped and tried catching his breath from that sudden jumpscare.
"That was crazy, I better get out now. I like the desert better." Naruto said as he stumbled out of the weapon room. Where he saw more skeletons break out from more secret areas, "You have to be kidding me!" He yelled as he started swinging his sword again.
Using his lack of experience again, Naruto was able to shatter a couple more skeletons before being forced to get tactical. As he nearly found himself being cut by a skeleton who came up behind him. Naruto raised up his sword and stumbled as he blocked the wild strikes. Despite lacking real skill, the skeleton still had more brute force and quicker strikes. However, Naruto decided to aim for the exposed parts of the skeleton and shattered it when he slashed the skeleton's spine.
"I'm almost out." Naruto said as he saw three skeletons left.
The next skeleton swung too low at Naruto who jumped back. Just as the skeleton raised up its sword too high, Naruto slashed at the legs and shattered the undead. The one after it charged at Naruto and sent him into the wall and tripped right after. Naruto ignored the pain and slammed his weapon down on the skeleton's back, killing it as well.
"Come on you clumsy monster!" Naruto yelled at the final skeleton.
The skeleton proceeded to chase Naruto up the stairs and to outside the house. Where the boy had already taken cover by the side of the door. Like its counterparts, the skeleton wasn't too smart or skilled but dangerous nonetheless. However, that didn't stop Naruto from tackling the undead monster onto the ground. Allowing Naruto to deal the final blow by ramming his sword into the skeleton's ribcage several times until it broke apart.
Making sure it didn't come back, Naruto proceeded to grab the skull and a few other bones and threw them into the distance. Although his intention was for the bones to stay separated, the young boy realized that the house was a few meters away from a nearby cliff. Only realizing this once he started throwing away more skulls out of fear of the undead rebuilding themselves.
"Wait, this thing was built by a cliff? Who does that? What if there's an earthquake or something? The house is going to fall!" Naruto said, sounding concerned.
With all that craziness finally out of the way, Naruto sat down on a rock and tried to catch his breath. The boy wiped away his sweat drenched face while thinking about surviving his first real fight. Though those skeletons were no stronger than some untrained bandits, he didn't come out unscathed as the boy noticed a large cut down his arm.
"Maybe there's a bandage inside." Naruto said before finding the strength to walk back onto the house.
A few minutes of searching later, Naruto wrapped a bandage around his arm to stop the blood from leaking. Hopefully those old swords that the skeletons had carried weren't covered in poison or that some bacterial infection hasn't made its way to his wound. Naruto knew only the bare basics, so it's not like he knew about disinfecting wounds before applying a bandage.
As Naruto finished up, he decided to check his jacket pocket for the jazbay berries.
"Hm, those things survived. Maybe I should bring these back to oba-chan." Naruto said as he started walking out.
However, that's when he really wanted to cry. Because he heard something coming from a nearby shed. Naruto started turning his head towards the portal where he came from but would not reach it because something worse than a skeleton came out. Rather, an armored zombie looking monster with a giant battle ax that roared at him.
"I think the world hates me." Naruto said as he tried running towards the portal.
"Fos-Ra!" The zombified armored warrior shouted.
The zombie's voice had somehow released a powerful sonic wave that made Naruto go flying across the field. Naruto quickly got up and started looking for cover and decided to hide inside of what appeared to be a horse stable. However, things got worse at it appeared that the zombie was a lot more intelligent than the skeletons and had started firing arrows at him.
"Aw come on! That's not fair!" Naruto yelled as the zombie kept firing arrows at him.
Naruto quickly looked around for something to fight back. His only options were a bunch of tools and a giant piece of wood that was loose. Naruto groaned as he decided to raise up the wooden board and use it like a shield. Naruto started running towards the hill in an attempt to trick the zombie into moving close to the edge.
The wood managed to hold up as the zombie continued to fire more and more arrows at the board. Luckily, the zombie did not catch onto Naruto's plan and turned it's back away from the cliff's edge.
"Fos-Ra!" The zombie yelled, making Naruto hit the wall.
Naruto gritted his teeth in pain as he continued to push back against the zombie. By the time he came close enough, Naruto rammed the wooden board against the zombie. By this point, the zombie pulled out it's ax again and slammed the blade against the wooden board, shattering it as a result. This came at a cost as the weapon's sharp end was now stuck to a fragment of the board. Giving Naruto a chance to stab his sword into the zombie's abdomen.
The creature snarled in anger before Naruto pulled out his sword and brought it down again. Only to get the weapon stuck on the zombie's shoulder.
"Uh oh." Naruto said before being swatted into the ground.
Naruto proceeded to crawl backwards as the zombie pulled out the sword and started stomping towards the boy. Naruto looked around and started throwing rocks at the zombie in an attempt to slow it down. Before grabbing a larger rock and using all of his strength to throw it right at the undead's face. Making it stagger a bit, giving Naruto a chance to rethink his methods.
Naruto had to be smart as his foe was much more powerful than he could comprehend. This zombie was clearly more versatile and skilled in different forms of weaponry. As Naruto wished he had more strength and skill, his mind wandered back to the writing on the wall of the second floor of the house. Specifically a single word that was stuck in the boy's head as the zombie slowly came towards him.
"Mul (Strength)!" Naruto shouts.
Suddenly, Naruto is enveloped with a strange orange and blue aura. The aura started to create strange ethereal patterns in the form of chest armor and sharpened spaulders. That's when Naruto's mind had felt a bit more clear and the environment around him felt less heavy.
"Fos-Ra!" The zombie shouted, but Naruto rolled away in time.
Naruto then ran towards his sword and the large rock. Not realizing how his new appearance had affected his body, Naruto grabbed the large rock with only one hand without much difficulty and threw it straight at the zombie's head, making fall onto it's butt. Allowing Naruto to charge straight towards the zombie and dealing a heavy downward slash at the undead monster while it was downed/
Naruto repeatedly hacked at the zombie in an attempt to kill it for good. However, the zombie started to sound annoyed as it back handed Naruto into the grass. Naruto managed to find the strength to stand up quickly and pick up his sword again. As he avoided the zombie's shout, Naruto ran straight towards the zombie again. Where he slid down on his knee to avoid being decapitated by the zombie's ax. Where Naruto returned the favor by slashing at the monster's legs.
With enough force, the monster collapsed onto its face and left it's back exposed. Naruto took this chance and brought down his sword into its back. Where he repeatedly stabbed it again and again and ignored the screaming pain that was released from the monster's voice.
"Just die already!" Naruto yelled as he repeatedly impaled the creature.
With one last stab, the zombie stood up and lifted Naruto up by the jacket and slammed him into the ground. Before kicking him across the grass, causing the boy to hold back his tears in pain. As Naruto struggled to stand, he noticed his sword was still stuck inside of the zombie's torso as it still had some strength left to go after him. Even worse, Naruto noticed that the oddly colored aura was starting to fade away.
With the last bit of energy left in him, Naruto ran around the zombie and picked up the ax that it dropped. Where he proceeded to spin around with the ax before letting go and causing the heavy bladed weapon to pierce the zombie in the chest. The monster screamed as it collapsed on it's back. Digging the sword even further through it's stomach.
Using the last seconds remaining in his enhanced state. Naruto ripped out the axe and brought it down one last time onto the zombie. This time, embedding the ax into the throat of the zombie and decapitating it as a result.
"It's over." Naruto muttered as he fell to his knees.
The little boy had finally killed the beast and could now rest. He looked at the monster staying dead for good, he saw the lights of it's eyes literally flicker away from it's severed head. Leaving Naruto to catch his breath before lifting it up by the helmet and tossing it into the water over the ciff. Without second thought, Naruto pulled out the weapons from the corpse and proceeded to dump the body down as well as to avoid any potential resurrections.
"I almost died, but what was that power?" Naruto asked himself before falling onto his back. "There's no way I can tell anyone about this. They wouldn't believe me." He said between pants.
For now, Naruto could only rest and worry about getting back. Hopefully those jazbay grapes were still in good condition when he brings them back to Mystake.
Later that afternoon
Mystake gave Naruto a concerned look, "Young man, you need a doctor." She said.
"I'm fine oba-san." Naruto said, looking tired and badly hurt.
"Did a wild animal attack you?" Mystake asked.
"Something like that, I swear it was a monster." Naruto said, trying to make it sound like a joke.
"I should whip you up a special brew of tea. At the very least to thank you." Mystake said as she got to work. "These old bones can't move like they used to. At least they can still brew something to cleanse the body and soul." She explained.
"Thank you oba-san." Naruto said as he accepted the drink once it was ready.
Unknown to Naruto, the brew had a special ingredient not meant for traditional tea. It wasn't anything bad, rather it was actually very good. Despite what the boy contained, Naruto still felt a lot of pain and would take some time to heal. For the blend of tea he had engulfed had slowly started reducing the pain and damage internally and externally.
"I think I overdid it with the training. I'll see you later oba-san." Naruto said.
"You're always welcome for tea or for a talk young man." Mystake said, sounding friendly as ever. Though her face quickly turned sour, "That was no wild animal he fought was it?" She asked as another old woman appeared in the background.
"A draugr deathlord." The other old woman said.
Mystake looked shocked, "What?" Shea asked.
"That boy opened the demon door leading to the homestead. The only way to open it is to correctly guess the password or read the writing on the wall." The woman explained.
"And how did something that strong appear there Chang? He's only a child." Mystake said.
Chang shook her head, "He's clearly Dragonborn, no ordinary human can read the writing. He even used the shout that was left behind in the homestead." She explained as she raised a crystal ball. "I saw him utilize it and gain the strength to battle something that only an experienced chunin should be able to defeat." She added.
Mystake didn't like this, "A dragonborn, no one in this country knows about the words of power. I doubt someone as isolated at Uzumaki could have learned it on his own." She said.
"Preciscely, which is why I intend to watch over him." Chang said.
"Just don't break him Chang. That boy has been through enough with his condition." Mystake said.
Chang smirked, "You sound overly caring, considering your original purpose in this world." She said before leaving the store.
"I like this world, well most of it. What's wrong with that?" Mystake asked herself.
The next day after that
Naruto groaned as his body felt sore. The draugr deathlord was a powerful foe and would have likely given an experienced genin a difficult time. Someone like a chunin or a jounin probably would have had an easier time since that monster had only a few abilities.
"Maybe I should study up on jutsus and weapons. It would help if the teacher did less lectures and more stuff with actions." Naruto said as the school bored him.
Today, Naruto decided to try and find the demon door leading to the desert. He hoped that there weren't any more dangerous threats hidden amongst that dune. Otherwise, Naruto might find something useful on the other damaged ships. Luckily there weren't any adults that cared or watched out for him and the Sandaime was very busy lately to see him. So this gave Naruto the opportunity to find the demon door.
"Here it is!" Naruto said as he made his way past the shrubbery.
The demon door was closed upon Naruto's arrival. Yet, it immediately opened up once he was close enough to the door. The statue head didn't even acknowledge him and just skipped straight to presenting the portal to the desert realm.
Naruto then took a deep breath, "Hopefully a giant worm or something doesn't appear." He said as he jumped right through.
A few seconds later, something swiftly made its way through the portal behind Naruto.
The desert realm
Naruto looked around as he arrived, "Nothing bad so far. I wonder how that one ship is looking." He said as he made his way to the damaged ship.
Unknown to Naruto, the mysterious figure that followed him had made its way near the sand mountain where the broken ship was. As Naruto did a well detailed search on the ship in an attempt to find hidden areas as with the house behind the other demon door. The figure started pushing a chest down the slippery sand. As the ship that Naruto was running around in was creaky and shaking with every heavy step he took. The boy would never have guessed that the chest was suddenly conjured into existence.
As he noticed it once he heard the chest hit the bottom of the sand. Naruto immediately jumped down and went to investigate the mysterious container.
"Maybe it fell off from somewhere on the ship." Naruto said, thinking that he somehow dropped the chest.
It took what felt like an eternity for Naruto to pry open the chest. It wasn't a traditional lock that held it, but a strange puzzle. It didn't appear to require tools, but merely some thinking and imagination. Naruto's only clue to the puzzle were four carvings in the shape of animals.
The actual lock itself had these strange animal symbols that matched the carvings. Similar to a combination lock, the chest could only be opened by putting in the correct animals in the correct spots. Unlike a traditional combination lock, the buttons were spread out and for some odd reason. Some buttons would move with others. For example, the top right button would make the top left button move as well. Thus destroying the pattern as a result.
But that did not stop Naruto as he found the perfect method of moving the locks. As not every button would manipulate the positioning of the other buttons. To where he could predict which button would appear with the corresponding animal. That's when Naruto felt the satisfaction of hearing the locking mechanism open.
"Yes!" Naruto said as he pulled open the lid.
From there, Naruto found an old dragon statue that appeared to be for decoration. Naruto gently put that down beside his leg and continued pulling out more objects. Including a black puzzle box of sorts.
The figure continued watching from a distance as Naruto kept pulling out other objects. From the looks of things, there were a few old artifacts and documents. The figure looked at the boy suspiciously as he tried reading some of the documents.
"This person is a fool." Naruto said out loud.
'Yes, that is the best way to describe Quanish.' The figure thought as Naruto kept rummaging through the chest.
When Naruto finished, he proceeded to carry back the various equipment, documents and the strange puzzle box. The figure carefully watched as Naruto tinkered with the mysterious box for a long time. Naruto was initially frustrated by the strange box and even tried using blunt force like any annoyed child wood. At one point, he tried cutting it open with the golden sword only to cause a fire.
The figure was about to step in to avoid the spread of the flames when they noticed Naruto started to control the flames. From the looks of things, Naruto attempted to calm down the situation as the fire started from the sword after the boy attempted to break open the box. Now, it seems that Naruto is slowly learning how to control the wavelength of the fire in order to avoid the spread. Naruto was very cautious as he appeared to have some grasp over the fire but struggled as if his control were as sensitive as a thin thread.
However, that's when Naruto started figuring out the puzzle box's secret method of being opened. The boy accidentally made the fire move to the box but instead of just setting it on fire. The flames started to be absorbed by the box until markings on the exterior started to glow. They immediately turned off once the fire was gone, leaving Naruto in a panicked state until he accidentally caused another fire. This lead to another struggle of control.
Nearly an hour had passed until Naruto had a fair amount of control over the flames with the golden sword. By then, Naruto was able to generate a fair amount of fire without much issue and let it absorb into the box while generating more until he started making the glowing marks appear again. Leaving Naruto to use his head and try to think about how to unlock the secret device. That's when he noticed the markings starting to look more like the basic alphabet.
"It's like that weird writing on those walls." Naruto said to himself as he started messing with the box's markings. "Maybe if I can get it to spell out a message. I can open it." He said.
Remaining quiet and patient, the figure continued to watch as Naruto overcame the struggles of the puzzle box. Before eventually finding the proper scripture and causing the exterior armor around the box to break apart.
"Sweet! I wonder what's inside!" Naruto exclaimed as he quickly opened the rings
Feeling lucky, Naruto pulled out what was inside with great excitement where he found three rings. All three appear to be beautifully crafted with three different gemstone colors: white, red and blue. Naruto grinned and tried to contain his excitement before stuffing the rings in his jacket pocket before double checking the box. Only to find a worn out sheet of paper with images of the three rings he took out.
"Are they magic or something? They better not be cursed." Naruto said as he pocketed the note as well.
That's when the figure revealed themselves, "That was an impressive display child. I admit, the box itself is the only thing I could not open." They said.
Naruto turned around and raised his sword, "Who are you?" He asked as Chang revealed herself.
Chang raised her hand, "I am Chang, a councilor from this village. I've seen your progress with the box and the day before, with the homestead." She explained.
"Home what?" Naruto asked.
"The homestead, the house with the undead skeletons." Chang answered.
"You set that up?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, but there was no intention for anyone to find their way inside. Especially a child who turned out to be as gifted as you are." Chang said, flattering him.
Naruto lowered his sword a bit, "But why?" He asked.
"That homestead may have been empty, but there were rumors of a "special" person in this country. There is no way for a normal person to read those scriptures on the second floor." Chang explained.
Naruto did remember those strange markings, but they were on the wall of the cave and that secret passage. Chang was onto something, but it did not make him any less nervous about the fact that this woman has been following her. Though he decided to take a risk since it sounded like this woman was still a part of the government despite explaining what her mission is. Perhaps Chang is a member of the government?
It's hard to say for Naruto, he just assumed that "councilor" is a high ranking title as he didn't know all the powers and duties of everyone besides the Hokage. The boy only knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi has the supreme authority over the village but everyone has a job and the Sandaime can't do it all by himself.
"So why me? What makes me special?" Naruto asked, for he needed details.
Chang placed a finger against her chin, "How do I explain this?" She asked herself. "Firstly, let's start with this." She said as she approached a wall.
Naruto watched as Chang stared at the wall for only a second. Before she let out a strange scream that must have created an intense amount of pressure. Because it left a giant glowing mess of chicken scratch on the wall.
"You wrote the chicken scratch?" Naruto asked as he looked at the wall.
"Not chicken scratch child. This is the Thu'um, the masculine breath, storm voice or simply the vice. Very few people outside of those with the blood of dragons can use these abilities." Chang explained as Naruto carefully watched the letters change.
Wuld = Whirlwind
"Can you try shouting the word?" Chang asked, knowing Naruto learned this word.
Naruto hesitantly looked at the open space in front of him. Before trying to remember the strange word that appeared before his eyes.
"Wuld!" Naruto shouted as he moved about a whole meter away without moving his legs. "Woah! What was that?" He asked.
"When you learn these words, they become shouts. As I already said, they are powerful abilities and there are many unique ones." Chang explained. "Though there are a few that can become stronger." She said.
"So I have this power because I'm a dragon?" Naruto asked, sounding confused and in disbelief.
"Not quite, you have the blood of a dragon. Though that will take more time to explain." Chang said as she tried to garner more interest. "Wouldn't you like to learn more? A shinobi has to keep secrets, but always be prepared for anything." She said.
Chang did have a point, "Will you teach me Chang-san?" Naruto asked.
"I do not see why not. Though you will have to keep these powers a secret as well as take that statue with you." Chang said as she points at the stone dragon.
Naruto picked up, "Is this a shrine idol?" He asked.
"Not quite." Chang answered before pulling out a gong. "Awaken Mushu." She said as she hit the gong.
Suddenly, the statue started to shake and shattered once a mini red dragon came out. Naruto stumbled backwards in surprise as he saw the dragon move around very quickly.
"Oh yeah! Mushu is back! This sacred guardian is here to the rescue!" The dragon said.
Chang grabbed Mushu and forced him to stop, "Enough games Mushu, meet your new companion." She said as she presented Naruto.
"Aw man! You gotta be kidding me! I'm a sacred guardian! A mighty dragon and you called me to babysit!?" Mushu asked.
"He's a Dovahkiin." Chang answered.
Mushu burst out laughing, "You gotta be pranking me or something Lady Chang. The years caught up with you?" He asked, not believing her words.
"Show him boy." Chang said.
"Wuld!" Naruto shouted as he moved quickly from one spot to another.
"Uh? Okay, some kid learned a dragon shout. I will not lie, that is indeed interesting." Mushu said after he stopped laughing. "But come on! He's just a brat!" He tried to argue.
"No arguments, you will be his familiar and stand by his side." Chang said.
"This sucks, I'm descended from the Glorious Akatosh and now I gotta babysit some kid who has a bit of grandad's power inside of him." Mushu said as he sat on Naruto's shoulder. "Listen up kid! You better be tough! Because now you got a dragon on your side! I ain't nothing wimpy like a butterfly or a bumblebee or a weasel!" He exclaimed.
"Nice to meet you Mushu. I'm Naruto." Naruto said in an attempt to be friendly.
"Okay, you are a good kid with basic manners. I guess that's less bad, but still!" Mushu continued to complain.
Chang rolled her eyes, "This is going to be quite troublesome." She said.
A month later
Naruto had officially started his training under the guidance of councilor Chang. Formerly a shinobi that Hiruzen personally knew in his past as well as having earned her title by being one of the councilors speaking on the behalf of civilian born ninja and nearly extinct lesser clans. In other words, speaking on the behalf of the village's "unmentionables" who are often ignored.
Still, despite her old age, Chang is still quite experienced and wasn't going to let Naruto have it easy despite being a child. That's where Mushu would come in and help supervise the boy's training. Mostly making him go through physical exercises before working on chakra control in order to better handle his future armament of techniques. Being a "Dovahkiin" as he's told, Naruto was expected to learn how to harness great power that would potentially surpass even the elite members of the clans in Konoha.
"Come on kid! Keep going! You gotta be a man!" Mushu yelled as he made Naruto climb a tree without his arms.
That tree was well over twenty meters tall and would likely get Naruto injured if he fell. It was pretty overkill by this point in time despite Naruto grasping some level of endurance.
"Be a man! You gotta be swift like the coursing river!" Mushu shouted as Naruto struggled to move past the halfway point. "With all the force of a great typhoon!" He added.
"You're not helping!" Naruto shouted back.
"With all the force of a great typhoon!" Mushu continued to shout.
"This is killing me!" Naruto shouted it was a mix of getting tired of walking and controlling his massive chakra reserves.
"With all the strength of a raging fire!" Mushu added. "Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!" He said.
"I'm done." Naruto said as he let go.
As Naruto began to plummet over ten meters from the ground. He started to release a heavy amount of wind from his body. The wind was shaky and chaotic bad had enough force to make Naruto land safely onto the ground. With the boy secure, Mushu sighed as he started writing on a clip board that he pulled out from behind his back.
"That's C- for today." Mushu said. "Come on, we still got work on cardio." He said as he pulled out some sweatbands.
Naruto sighed, "Okay, just a quick run right?" He asked.
"It's quick if you get it done and don't complain." Mushu said before running ahead.
Naruto groaned as he ran after Mushu to do their usual route. Hopefully they could stop by Mystake's tea shop and get some nice soothing tea. Apparently, the elder woman had some brewing style that created a special type of tea to relieve exhaustion. Something that Naruto would look quite forward to.
As they ran for over a half hour, Mushu stopped and jogged in place as they stopped by some old building. It was out in the old housing areas of Konoha from a couple of decades ago.
"What's this creepy place? I don't remember this being here." Mushu said.
"I don't know, I think the Hokage condemned it or something. He's super old so maybe people don't live here anymore." Naruto explained.
"Creepy… let's go inside!" Mushu suggested.
"No way!" Naruto exclaimed.
"What? Are you scared of ghosts?" Mushu asked as he saw Naruto look away. "Oh my goodness! You are scared of ghosts!" He said as he laughed.
"Shut up you dumb lizard." Naruto said.
"No way, this is too good to pass up." Mushu said as he started pushing Naruto inside. "Come on! Test of bravery!' He said.
"No!" Naruto argued.
"Let's go! We check inside, find anything of value and you get over your fear of ghosts, easy!" Mushu said.
"I don't wanna!" Naruto yelled.
"Fine!" Mushu said as he relented. "I'm gonna go inside and find me some treasure!" He said as he ran inside of the building.
Mushu said that just to prank Naruto. In reality, he was going to look around and hide in a corner to scare the kid. Maybe help increase Naruto's bravery since magical creatures would be a common thing in his life from now on.
"Mushu get out!" Naruto yelled.
"Ooh! The ghosts have taken Mushu! Mushu is gone now!" Mushu said while mimicking a wraith's voice.
"Not funny Mushu!" Naruto shouted as he stomps his foot.
"There are no jokes, child, ooh! Your dragon friend is gone! Too bad too, he was quite handsome!" Mushu said, continuing his prank.
"I'm gonna tell Chang that you were slacking off again." Naruto said.
"Tattletale, ooh!" Mushu continued.
"Fine, I'm leaving!" Naruto said.
Mushu held back his laugh before feeling his flesh turn cold. That's when he felt something pull on his body and drag him to the back of the old building.
"AHHH! NARUTO HELP!" Mushu screamed.
"Not listening!" Naruto said as he denied Mushu's pleads as genuine.
"A REAL GHOST GOT ME!" Mushu yelled.
"That's not funny Mushu!" Naruto responded.
"IT'S NOT A JOKE! IT'S REAL! I SWEAR!" Mushu continued to scream. "NO! THEY'RE TURNING ME INTO A BUNNY RABBIT!" He yelled.
Naruto ignored the screams and pleaded until Mushu went completely silent. Naruto waited outside for a few minutes in hopes that Mushu would give up and come out. He still thought it was a prank when Mushu went silent and stopped taunting him. However, that's when he heard Mushu again.
"This creepy old man wants to cook me and turn me into dinner! A little be appreciated!" Mushu shouted.
Naruto groaned as he walked inside, "You better not be messing with me Mushu!" He said as he entered the abandoned building to retrieve his dragon.
That's when Naruto found himself going through a long corridor and felt like the room was starting to curve. Had rollercoasters existed in this world, Naruto would feel like he's going through a series of loops that he didn't fully question before feeling that he had come down with vertigo. Along with potential hot flashes as he felt like he was being blinded by bright lights that made him nauseous.
Mushu really screwed up this time.
Beyond the corridor
Naruto stumbled out of the corridor and found himself in some grassy plane. Nearby, he saw an old man sitting at a big table filled with lots of food. Naruto cautiously approached the table before hearing Mushu's voice again.
"Help! This crazy old man wants to cook me up!" Mushu yelled.
"Be quiet you! Lizard scales aren't edible, they're like toenails, but rabbits. Rabbits are more succulent." The old man said.
"Naruto! Help me!" Mushu pleaded as Naruto ran up to the table.
"Mushu!" Naruto yelled.
The old man faced Naruto, "What's this? Who left their child here?" He asked.
"I'm Naruto and you're hurting my friend Mushu." Naruto said as he pointed at the dragon who was now a rabbit.
"Oh this is your pet then? I hope you don't mind sharing the meat." The old man said.
"Mushu is not food!" Naruto argued.
"Not yet at least." The old man said.
"Give him back!" Naruto demanded.
The old man sighed, "So rude, back in my day we respected our elders and started conversing by introducing ourselves." He said.
"I did introduce myself, I said I'm Naruto and sort of introduced Mushu." Naruto countered.
"Oh… so I'm the rude one. Let us try this again." The old man said looking slightly surprised. "I am Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness. In a way we should have already met, there's a bit of madness inside of all of you." He said.
"What is daedric?" Naruto asked.
Sheogorath looked bored, "Ask your elders, but if you want to know about madness itself. Well just know that it's not a curse, more of a blessing in disguise, maybe a bit of an act of mercy. Bitter mercy, but mercy nonetheless." He explained.
"Okay… so can I have Mushu back?" Naruto asked.
"No, he's my dinner." Sheogorath answered. "Some meat of this rarity is hard to come by. Unless you have something worth trading?" He asked.
"Do you accept beets?" Naruto asked as he pulled out beets.
"Why do you carry beets with you?" Mushu asked.
Sheogorath shook his head, "No boy, deep down I have one thing that all men even in my age desire." He said.
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
Sheogorath suddenly lifted the boy into the sky, "Laughter boy! Laughter!" He exclaimed. "The world, it's so dull now! Everyone is scared, everyone is serious, everyone is concerned with meaningless existence.." He said as he dropped Naruto.
"Ouch!" Naruto complained as he landed to hard.
"I hunger for something to satisfy my funny bone." Sheogorath said as he pulled out an actual bone from his body. "Look, look how depressed it is." He said.
Naruto recoiled in fear, "So what? You want to see something funny?" He asked.
"Exactly!" Sheogorath answered. "Give it to me boy. I can't live without it. I need the laugh. I need it!" He complained.
"Do you have a pair of rubber gloves you can loan me?" Naruto asked as Mushu pleaded in the background.
In the center of the village
Naruto stood on top of a soap box while wearing a wig and glasses, "Greetings all! I am the Doctor who creates the most fabulous people!" He announced as a crowd formed up.
Everyone wondered what the crazy boy was up to as he pulled out a toolbox and started putting on some rubber gloves as if he were about to start working.
"Step right up! If you are hideous, I will make you fabulous! People will envy you! People will want to be you! You will be the expectation of what the common human wants to achieve!" Naruto exclaimed.
Suddenly a less than fair looking man with a big nose came forward, "I wouldn't mind looking more pleasant." The man said as people cringed at his appearance.
"Come forward, good sir!" Naruto said as he presented a chair for the man to sit.
The man took his seat and Naruto proceeded to pull out a chisel and a hammer as well as some hedge trimmers for bushes. After a few minutes of anxiously waiting, Naruto finished with the man and he looked slightly more presentable. Though it just looked like Naruto groomed him and somehow got rid of some bad acne he was growing. The man sighed as Naruto gave him a mirror to look at.
"I don't get it, I just look cleaner." The man with the big nose said.
"But are you still hideous compared to this man?" Naruto asked as he pointed at a curtain.
When the curtain opened, everyone was presented with the side of a man with the head of a duck and a cat's tail. The duck man looked panicked and started running away in terror while everyone in attendance recoiled in horror. They all looked back at the groomed and cleaned man who suddenly looked like a supermodel compared to the duck man.
"I guess that helps my self esteem." The man with the big nose said. "In fact, I think my random body aches are also gone." He said.
Suddenly, the man was swarmed by lovely women as he left his chair. Despite Naruto doing nothing but potentially harming another man by giving him the head of a duck. The crowd clapped as if a miracle was performed before their very own eyes. That's when a middle aged woman with lots of wrinkles and discolored hair step forward.
"Do you think I can at least look nice enough for work?" The woman asked.
"Ma'am, everyone will think you are the executive director when I am finished." Naruto said as the woman took her seat.
Naruto grabbed his chisel, a slice of ham and a sickle before starting to work. A few minutes passed and the woman looked like she had regained an entire decade of her life. Though she just looked like a generic person with relatively good health.
"I guess I look somewhat better." The woman said in a displeased tone.
"But would you say you are greater than this?" Naruto asked, pulling on a second curtain.
Revealing another woman who was on all fours with the head of a toad. The strange woman started croaking before hopping away in the distance.
"I think I'll take a free cleanup over that." The woman said.
"Splendid work wouldn't you say?" Naruto asked before the woman was swarmed by business executives looking for a new manager. "Who else wishes to end their road of misfortune?" He asked.
Before anyone else could wish to look slightly better. Some pompous looking individual passed through the crowd. The pompous looking individual appeared to be someone of great stature and obesity to match it. They looked down at Naruto and saw him as some lesser creature that had to obey them.
"Oi boy, how about you do me a favor? My stylist has canceled on me because of renovations or whatever. How about I give you the opportunity to work on me?" The rich individual offered.
"Sure thing my good man… lady… mountain… whatever you are!" Naruto responded.
"I am a gentleman!" The man claimed.
"Sure! You get the gentleman's special!" Naruto said he pulled out a pickaxe.
Everyone took cover as Naruto could be heard hitting the rich individual with the pickaxe at insane speeds. That training with Mushu really worked out as Naruto started sounding like a woodpecker with all that noise he made. Followed by a lot of work with a rusty saw and duct tape to add to the finishing touch.
The was horrified by the final result as the rude rich man had turned into a humanoid-turtle hybrid.
"I made them as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside." Naruto said as the turtle hybrid looked angry.
However, before they could complan, they collapsed onto their back. Where Naruto proceeded to kick it across the street.
"No refunds!" Naruto shouted. "Those will only meet the level of beauty they deserve! Now who's next?" He asked.
Unknown to anyone, but the other monstrous creatures he created were just another blights of society. The flashy types who waste money on stupid things such as gambling and host clubs. Really just corrupt individuals like that entitled rich jerk who just shoved through everyone.
"Seriously, who wants to look good on the outside like they do on the inside?" Naruto asked.
Metaphorically speaking, good people will look presentable while the bad will only appear worse. Thanks to Sheogorath's gloves, Naruto could overdo his pranking on the public. Though he did make the lives of a few people much more pleasant when compared to his other "customers" who are not as satisfied.
With the God of Madness
Sheogorath saw Naruto's actions through the television and burst out laughing.
"What is that? Did he somehow go to medical school when he left? The boy is a master of plastic surgery, hahaha!" Sheogorath laughed.
"You had your laughs, now can I go?" Mushu asked.
"Be quiet you! The boy is working on something else now!" Sheogorath said as he grabbed his popcorn.
Back with Naruto
After a lot of discreet sneaking that somehow did not build suspicion from the local civilians and shinobi. Naruto managed to sneak into the back of a perfume store and stole a few bottles where he proceeded to mix them with some chemicals he found in a janitor's closet.
"Either this does nothing or lots of rats will come out of the sewer." Naruto said as he finished mixing the chemicals.
Naruto then proceeded to sneak around the roofs and started loading the perfume bottles into a homemade catapult. Using the catapult, Naruto started launching the bottles into various stores he didn't like. In a way, this was vengeance considering that most of them treated him like vermin. Especially that one guy who threw him out of a mask shop when the boy tried to buy a mask with the money he had.
'It was honest pay! I am just a kid, but I know more customers means more money!' Naruto angrily thought as he spammed several bottles into that very same mask store.
A few minutes passed by after Naruto had run out of bottles to launch. From the looks of things, everyone acted like random acts of vandalism occurred. There was no property damage to report but there were lots of people complaining about bad odors and broken glass all over their front entrances. Naruto took cover as he watched the events unfold.
At first, customers left the stores while complaining about the same odors. When out of nowhere, the sewer lids slowly started to move. Naruto went wide eyed as one of his predictions came true. With that in mind, the boy put on a face mask in order to protect his mouth while staying on the roof for his own safety. Because an army of rodents had come out of the sewers and swarmed the entire shopping district.
'Rats. It's always rats.' Naruto thought. 'Still better than snakes and maybe snapping turtles.' He thought as the rats started to enter the buildings.
That's when Naruto saw that same mask store owner come running out of his own store.
"Someone call an exterminator!" The store owner yelled.
"Sir, don't open your mouth!" A random shinobi yelled.
"I am being swarmed by vermin! I don't need that kind of disrespect!" The store owner replied but saw what the shinobi meant.
Because a dozen rats jumped into his mouth. The sheer amount and weight of the rodents had then caused the man to collapse onto the ground. Where the rats proceeded to trample over him as they continued to invade the shopping district. Soon enough, more shinobi had arrived in an attempt to contain the insanity.
Along with Chang who looked very annoyed and confused.
"Oh crap." Naruto said as he ran away.
"What happened here? Where was the ANBU to contain this mess?" Chang asked as everyone was trying to contain the rat attacks. "So help me, a lot of you will be facing demotions!" Chang angrily said as she formed the hand seals for an earth jutsu to trap a lot of rats.
While this next issue wasn't technically Naruto's fault. One of the pet stores was invaded as well and accidentally released a particular animal. One that was quite dangerous and really shouldn't be purchased with the intention of becoming a pet.
"Snapping turtles!" A random shinobi yelled as he ran away from the pet store.
"Snapping turtles? Who is selling snapping turtles!?" Chang asked as she saw an army of baby snapping turtles running out onto the streets.
However, that's whent he real insanity began. Being an experienced woman who lived through the second and third shinobi wars. Chang was horrified by what happened once the rats and snapping turtles noticed each other.
Both sides lined up against each other and raised flags for their respective groups. It was now time for war.
"You have to be kidding me." Chang said the rats and turtles charged at each other.
Like all wars, there would be friendly fire and civilian casualties. Sure, no one died during this mess but no one was left unharmed at the same time.
*HISS/SCREECH*
Both animal armies went to war for control over the shopping district and proceeded to smash thousands of ryos in property damage. Leaving behind a battlefield that none of the younger generation had been prepared to witness. Luckily the older folks were able to assess the situation and ran to safety before the mess had begun.
In a span of an our, there dead snapping turtles and rats littered all over the shopping district. Chang stepped around the bodies as she signaled for ANBU to begin clean up while she looked for evidence. For a while it was abnormal for rats and turtles to suddenly go to war like humans would. Her main concern was finding out what caused this mess.
It wouldn't be too long before Chang would find out who caused this mess and have a long lecture to give.
Meanwhile, Mystake was passing by and struggled to contain her laughter from the sight of things. Sure it was horrific at first, but the absolute chaos and mess caused had been something quite funny to think about. She already had a good idea that Naruto was up to this as the boy had played some practical jokes in the middle of the public before.
With Sheogorath
The deadric prince continued to laugh as he replayed the various horrific scenes of the rats attacking the crowd along with the snapping turtles. Where he watched the war between both animals unfold yet again as if it were the climactic final battle in a fantasy film.
"Who says that war has no winners? I sure feel happy." Sheogorath said.
"That district is going to be in a heep of debt." Mushu muttered.
Sheogorath scoffed, "Cheap perfume and sundries won't be missed." He said as he waved his hand.
That's when Naruto arrived, "How was that?" He asked.
"Quite marvelous boy, you have outdone yourself and your art is quite exquisite." Sheogorath said.
"Cool, I guess I didn't need to set those paint bucket traps in the council room." Naruto said.
Sheogorath grinned, "I am going to patiently wait for the outcome of that." He said. "Anyways, now for the end of our bargain." He said before snapping his fingers.
Mushu returned to being a dragon and ran to Naruto for safety. Before they could leave, Sheogorath gave them a staff and transformed Naruto's clothes into a finer yet simple set of clothes fit for an adventurer. With calfskin boots, a fine hat, a cape with many pockets and even a nice sweater.
"There you go boy, remember to never stray from your path of righteousness and never forget yourself. Otherwise, you will literally be lost, hahaha!" Sheogorath said.
"Sure thing crazy old guy." Naruto said. "Also, what's this staff?" He asked.
"The Wabbajack! I would tell you about it, but I'll let you tinker with it." Sheogorath said while internally laughing.
"Okay, thanks I guess." Naruto said before the daedric prince sent the boy and dragon away.
"How long has it been since I enjoyed myself? From the descendant of a Septim too." Sheogorath said as he scratched his head. "Oh well, let's see what the boy did with all of that pink paint." He said as he proceeded to patiently wait for the next council meeting.
Seemingly forgetting that the shopping district was attacked because of Naruto's rat prank. Meaning the civilians and elders would have a meeting without the clan heads since this involves financial and security related affairs. So unless they prove this was an enemy attack, the shinobi side will not be needed as much.
"I wonder how the buzzards will look with a new hair color." Sheogorath said before witnessing the civilian council walk in. When one of them trickered a trap, "What is this here?" He asked before buckets of paint came out and exploded.
Had this been a war, it would be horrific to see so many explosions. Instead, Sheogorath witnessed a bunch of politicians and advisors being doused in pink paint. Which was followed by glitter, then by animal hair that landed on them and finally a random fountain spraying a mystery liquid came spinning from the center of the room and spilled it's mystery contents onto the councilors.
"I see the boy gave them a message." Sheogorath said with a nod.
Outside the building
Naruto came walking out of the abandoned building while looking back. The boy smiled as he was happy to have made it out alive. He also feels like he had a good time with those pranks.
"What was that guy? He could control everything in that tiny dimension." Mushu asked.
"He said he was a deadric prince. Does that mean anything to you?" Naruto asked.
"Daedric prince, that sounds familiar but I don't know why. Though we should leave, like right now." Mushu said, not wanting to be turned into a rabbit again.
As Naruto started moving, he checked out his strange outfit. Where he found all the strange pockets sewn into his cape. Where he found a strange little ability with the pockets as well as finding something inside of one of them.
"How did this big egg fit in there?" Naruto asked as he pulled out a large purple egg.
Mushu looked wide eyed as he crawled up to Naruto's shoulder, "Is that a dragon egg? Did that crazy old man give you a dragon egg? Its mother is on the way to murder us isn't it?" He asked with a lot of paranoia in his voice.
"We'll ask Chang or Mystake oba-san." Naruto said as they left the wood. "Shoot, I never told the old man about what I did in that shinobi bar." He said.
"There's a bar only for shinobi?" Mushu asked.
"No but I heard a lot of older ninja go there to complain about their sucky lives or something." Naruto answered as he studies the egg.
At the "Shinobi" bar
A particular civilian who was hoping to enjoy some drinks was currently looking at the mess. From the looks of things, the various jounin and chunin were becoming the image of alcohol abuse. Because everyone was either angry, depressed or romantically passionate. So the civilian looked over to the bartender who ignored the craziness.
"Excuse me, is it okay if I can have whatever they're having?" The civilian asked, thinking it looked fun.
"I don't know what it is, but the most popular drinks are Rose Thorns (wine), Sensai (cold sake) and Ox Kick (hard whiskey)." The bartender said.
"I'll take Sensai." The civilian said.
The bartender decided to ask his own questions as he grabbed a cup for the sake.
"Are you from around here? You look different." The bartender asked.
"Yes, I'm a traveler and a lover of fine drinks. Just call me Sam." Sam answered.
"A foreigner, I see." The bartender said as he gave Sam his drinks.
'You would have a more difficult time saying my real name. Sam is easier than Sanguine.' The "civilian" thought as he saw the jounin go crazy.
"I am not fast enough! I need to do more push ups!" Might Guy said as he was doing a hundred push ups a minute.
Meanwhile Kurenai Yuhi was yelling at a deer head decoration, "You bastard! You cheated on me! You worthless pig!" She yelled as she proceeded to punch the decoration.
"It's so cold!" Anko complained after having stripped down to her underwear.
For some reason, Asuma Sarutobi was rapidly eating peanuts, shell included. He was just sitting there, pretending that nothing else was going on around him and that his sole purpose was to eat those peanuts.
'I wonder if that blond kid who was sneaking around had anything to do with this.' Sanguine thought as he felt something odd in his drink.
Elsewhere, on the other side of the Elemental Nations
(Kingdom Hearts OST - Villains of a Sort)
By now, it was obvious that dragons exist but with very few knowing about this. However, as Chang had mentioned to Naruto when she confronted him in the sand dimension. There was someone who sent her and by extension, had sent Mystake to fire country and eventually Konoha. That individual is a mighty dragon and one that oversees a future where humanity becomes subservient to creatures believed to be only of myths and folktales.
"A descendant of Tiber Septim. A boy with a fragment of my grandfather's power coursing through." The dragon said. The dragon let a plume of black flames, "Someone send for my eldest child." He said, commanding a few hidden shadowy figures.
A few minutes later, a young girl no older than nine years old with black hair and a wooden katana entered the room. The young girl's hardened expression focused on the black dragon that looked down at her. With it's immense power, the girl felt like an aunt to the superior creature.
"Satsuki." The dragon said.
Satsuki proceeded to prostrate herself before the dragon, "You have called for me father?" She asked.
"Yes, within half a decade you will be tested. There will be no more coddling you or Ryuko anymore." The dragon said as Satsuki's eyes widened. "A Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, has been found." He said.
"You wish for me to seek them." Satsuki said.
"Not right now Satsuki. Prepare yourself, no doubt that boy will grow strong as well." The dragon said.
"Should I perceive him as a threat father?" Satsuki asked while raising her head.
"No, a Dovahkiin is so rare and beneficial. I want you to test him and yourself, Satsuki." The dragon answered. "Consider this a true test of your pedigree. Do not falter during these incoming years." He said.
"I will not sully your name father." Satsuki said.
"Good, that is all you needed to know. Now move along, child, you are progressing ever so greatly." The dragon said as Satsuki stood up and bowed before leaving.
As Satsuki left, a gorgeous woman with pale skin and white hair came walking in. The woman looked like someone coming fresh out of a magazine shoot. Upon closer examination, one could notice that the woman looks like an older Satsuki with a different hairstyle.
"You sure are specific on your instructions darling." The woman said.
"My methods are not to be questioned Ragyo." The dragon told her.
"I am not questioning darling, I feel that there are many missing details. It sounds as if you are sending poor Satsuki on a fruitless expedition." Ragyo replied.
The dragon narrowed his eyes at his mate, "Satsuki will have to seek answers for herself and if there is more worth sharing. Our daughter will now." He said.
Ragyo giggled, "Ever so serious dear. You sound very stressed." She points out.
"I am a fine woman, unless you wish to be treated as a stress reliever." The dragon replied.
Ragyo feigned embarrassment, "Oh dear, not in your throne room. Besides, this is a very expensive and delicate dress I personally made." She said.
"I will peel you out very slowly if I need to." The dragon said as he was shrouded in darkness.
"Someone feels as excited as I am. A good thing the other ladies are out for the day." Ragyo said as she started loosening her dress.
For the rest of the day, the dragon would put aside his plan to watch over Naruto's progress and what he could become in the future.
TO BE CONTINUED…