A/N: Hey folks, I bet you weren't expecting me back huh? I apologize for anyone who waited around for a new chapter of Naruto: Gods and Demons only to find out I cancelled it but hopefully the quality of this chapter will help to make up for said disappointment, after all this is essentially the spiritual successor to said work.
Anyways I would like to point out something, there's one subtle but significant thing that's different than the canon Naruto series. However don't think I just forgot about putting it in, it's absent for a reason that will be explained later in the story. Now with that said dear readers if you don't mind let's get back to the new chapter where we're going to get introduced to some other significant players in this story's plot as well as have some new questions emerge. So with that said, let us begin...
Chapter 1: Mysteries
Naruto Uzumaki; for various reasons this young child was quite noteable as far any five going on six years old orphan goes, even ignoring his unique circumstances. He was one of the few blonds currently in the village of Konoha outside of the Yamanaka clan, he had a set of distinctive whisker birthmarks on his cheeks and he was both the resident town pariah and well on his way of becoming the town prankster.
However on a more personal level very little information could be found about him that wasn't in some way warped by the bias held by the majority of Konoha's population. After some work getting past said bias though, there were a few bits of info that seemed to be genuine: he was always shouting about wanting to become Hokage, he was a Ramen addict, and he supposedly had a close relationship with the third Hokage... and yet even that little bit of information upon close examination would be revealed as a vast oversimplifications of the truth.
The truth was though on friendly terms with the man, Naruto wasn't that close to the Hokage. All things considered yeah, as far as Naruto was concerned the old man running the village was okay since he wasn't outright mean to him (outside of when he reprimanded Naruto for a prank or two), but outside of his paying for Naruto's bill at Ichiraku Ramen on a few occasions Naruto didn't really know the man that well at this point in his life.
Speaking of ramen, the fact of his supposed ramen addiction also needs to be addressed. Yes it's true that Naruto did in fact like Ichiraku ramen a lot, but it's also true he wouldn't eat there quite as much as he did if not for the fact it was relatively cheap and for the fact that the owner of the local Ramen stand Teuchi and his daughter Ayame treated him just like he was any other customer.
Lastly about that supposed dream about being Hokage...well the real reason Naruto wanted to be Hokage was that in his mind he didn't haven't any other choice if he was going to live a halfway decent life in Konoha.
Confused? Well let's try and clear that up. See Naruto had realized quite a while ago that even if he did somehow leave Konoha and the crappy life associated with it he'd be completely lost as to where to go, hence leaving wasn't really a viable option. Therefor since Naruto couldn't leave and since he decided that while he was here in Konoha he didn't want to be looked down on, the best course of action in his mind was to try for a position in the village that everyone had to answer to and acknowledge, namely the position of Hokage.
So now with a much clearer picture of our protagonist in mind we once more turn our attention to young Naruto himself, who was currently awakening in his bed and thinking what he had experienced before was all a crazy dream...at least until he realized his clothes were caked in mud and the rotting remains of forest underbrush.
'But how did I...?' he began thinking only to stop when upon shifting his weight he noticed he was laying on something. He moved and found that what he was laying on was the same book from his supposed dream.
It was a strange book, no...a tome would be a better description given its substantial size. It was bound in some strange black material that was supple to the touch and resembled high quality leather. On the surface of said covering was some kind of strange inlaid pattern of incomprehensible design that seemed to shift depending on how the light hit it. Lastly the whole thing was held shut by a grey metal clasp with a keyhole in it. At first Naruto thought he was going to have difficulty looking within the tome, but that turned out to not be the case as he only had to touch the clasp and it suddenly popped open.
Overlooking the obvious security issues with a book whose clasp would apparently just open with a touch Naruto cracked open the tome and began examining it. Its exterior upon examination was not the only thing that was strange about the object. Its interior was made of something resembling parchment...but there was something wrong with it: it had an odd tint to it, it felt too smooth to the touch, and were it not for the fact it lacked stiffness he would have thought the parchment had been somehow laminated given how the light shined off it like clear plastic wrapping.
The strangest thing of all was in the way the pages were connected to the book cover. Typically books either come in thread binding for older books or are glued onto the backing for newer mass produced books. Yet close examination revealed there was no evidence of either glue or even thread. No the most disturbing thing about the book was in the fact that the pages seemed attached to the book covering like an ear would be attached to a human head, as though the pages had simply grown out of the backing.
Despite this rather disturbing feature of the book's construction Naruto for some reason felt compelled to look at the book's contents. However his curiosity almost instantly changed to confusion when upon looking at what should have been the first page all he found was what looked like a single rune made of something like silver in the place of words. And so he turned to the next page...only to find the same thing, and again on the one after that, and the one after that. No matter how much he searched all he found was the same thing seemingly repeated for the entirety of the book.
Upon seeing this, Naruto's confusion turned to frustration and then anger with every new page. However, just as his anger was about to reach the boiling point and he was going to hurl the damn book out his apartment window it happened...
As he reached to turn the page he felt as though his desire to see something in the book surged forth and moments later transformed itself into a tangible spark of power that ran across the page. Then suddenly as that spark travelled along the page the silver symbol on the page seemed to leak a black liquid, as though it were bleeding. It then began to flow downwards first forming some strange and incomprehensible runic script and then changing into an archaic but recognizable version of Naruto's native language. On that page was written:
Regardless of whom thou art, know what ye hold in thy hands is my tome of power. To what ends dear reader thine use for this power is I care not, for mine interest is solely the pursuit of knowledge and the knowing of what should be unknowable. Mine only request for thee before ye head forth on whatever path either providence or choice has brought thee to, is that ye should remember the one maxim which in mine own life I failed to understand:
Pride always cometh before the fall.
And just as quickly as it came, the words written by an unseen author faded away as they were seemingly absorbed by the page leaving it blank. This was short lived though, as soon afterwards something began to appear as though being drawn by some invisible hand as Naruto watched.
It started with a semi-circle pointing up and then one line after another and another began to be added. Gradually to what ends this act was intended became clear as an image began to emerge. It was as it turns out a mask, which to Naruto looked like a human equivalent of the animal masks worn by the so called anbu corps, but to one from another world would be thought of as resembling the Greek masks of comedy and drama. However unlike those masks the image's eye holes were closed and its mouth was nonexistent.
Naruto unsure of what to make of this just stared confusingly at image of the blank mask. And then as if the whole apparently magic book and drawing situation wasn't already screwed up enough, the mask as though sensing Naruto's confusion decided to ramp up the horror factor by moving. And not in the way one would expect a drawing would move like in an animated t.v show, no that would be incorrect. In truth the mask seemed to sort of float on the page as though the page it was on was not flat but part of a 3 dimensional plane. It was as though the surface of the page was the edge of the glass of an aquarium while the mask was like a fish in the water looking at the visitors through the glass.
And speaking of contained creatures looking at people, it was at this point that the masks eyes suddenly decided to snap open...sideways. Beneath were a set of horrible bloodshot eyes with slit pupils which were bulging outwards from the eye socket they were placed in, as though the mask had been forcibly clamped onto a head that was too big for it and was crushing the face beneath. And then just to further add to Naruto's growing horror, the mask's eyes suddenly looked upwards to meet his own. There was an unspoken silent staring contest between the impassive image and a fear paralyzed Naruto, before it was finally broken when the face on the page seemed to convulse before being quite literally split by a shark toothed Glasgow grin...
Outside, the village of Konoha was having what seemed to be yet another wonderful day. The sky above was bright blue without a cloud in sight. There was no threat of attack by an enemy village in sight and everything was going like clockwork. Yep nothing could ruin this day...
"AAAHHHH! FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI SOMEONE HELP ME!"
Not even the screams of abject terror emanating from within the government subsidized apartment complex near the city's infamous red light district.
We return to find the hero of our tale in no way living up to said title what with him having leaped onto the nightstand near his bed to stare at the tome and cower in fear like a woman in an old cartoon would upon seeing a mouse. As for the apparently living tome, it was just looking at him with the same warped looking face on the page as before. Thankfully for Naruto before he could get a chance to pass out from screaming induced oxygen deprivation he "heard" a familiar voice in his mind.
'Not that I don't enjoy the site of a mortal cowering in terror at me...but frankly this is just getting kind of ridiculous. Seriously kid get down from there your only embarrassing yourself!'
'That voice...' he thought to himself. "H-Hey" Naruto began hesitantly while staring at the book "Y-your..."
'The voice from the forest?' Said the voice cutting him off all the while the evil image seemed to erase and replace itself with one of a featureless white mask. 'Yes I apologize for scaring you, it's just been a long time since I was wielded by anyone who didn't at least have some knowledge of what I am or could do and I figured I could have a little fun.'
"B-but how can you be talking? Your a..." began Naruto only to get cut off again
'Well' it began in a lecturing sort of voice despite the image's mouth never moving 'technically speaking I'm not talking, I'm using telepathy. It means that I can communicate with you young one by either sending thoughts to you or receiving them from you ...well so long as you consciously allow it. It's a rather useful ability actually as it keeps my wielder from looking like an insane nut-job for talking to something that should be an inanimate object. Sadly the man who commissioned my vessel's construction (may he rot in hell) also put a compulsion that forces me to tell you that so long as you were not in some way forced or coerced into doing so I can be just handed over to someone else, though (not to toot my own horn or anything) I consider it kind of a waste to do so given what I can offer you...'
"Um I'm sorry" Interrupted Naruto still terrified "This is nice and all, but I'd like to point out that there's still the question of how the hell are you talking to me!"
'And I'd like to point out that there's still that question of whether your deaf or just plain retarded! The book fired back.
'Seriously kid I just finished saying I'm telepathic, that this only my container, and how wonderful it is that you don't have to talk to said container aloud and make it look like your a freaking nutter-bar and your response is to scream your freaking head off! Did your parents drop you on your head at birth or something? As it stands given how you were screaming bloody murder before it's a miracle people haven't broken down the door to find out what's going on in here! Whoever raised you must be incompetent as hell to let their ward be this...'
However whatever train of thought the entity within the book was following before was derailed when it saw its supposed wielder's face lose the terror on his expression and had it replaced with sorrow of all things. As the tears fell from Naruto's eyes the entity could only stare confused for a time before the book snapped itself shut. A scant few seconds later the book began to glow slightly before it literally floated over to place itself right in front of Naruto's face. Opening itself to a blank page the same odd phenomenon of drawing began again only this time the drawing just looked like a normal white drama mask the addition of drawn on eyebrows and also what approximated a confused expression.
'Um...' Began the entity not use to taking up the role of a comforting presence. 'You okay kid?'
At this Naruto's response was to turn away and clutch his hands to his face.
"Great" muttered Naruto softly to himself "I'm completely alone, I'm talking to a book which means I must be going crazy, and even though I know all this I can't even...dammit what's that word for things you imagine are there?..." he stumbled trying to recall the term he remembered the Hokage saying.
'Hallucinations?'
"Thank you, I can't even cook up hallucinations that are nice to me!" with that, a fresh bout of tears started to fill his eyes.
God only knows how long the kid would have kept on crying but it was at this point Naruto felt something strange on his face. He looked over to see something unexpected, it was as though whatever was in the book had pressed against the parchment of the page next to the one with the mask, stretching and warping it like cheap saran wrap until it reached Naruto's face. It took him a moment but he eventually realized what it was doing. Somehow the parchment had warped itself into a facsimile of a human arm and hand that set about the process of wiping the tears from his face away.
'If I were a hallucination," It began. 'Would you be able to feel me?...Well actually the mind's capable of cooking up some pretty realistic hallucinations and I recall a drug addled wielder who claimed they could feel things crawling in their skin and...' At the now confused look Naruto was shooting through his tear stained eyes the book retracted its "arm" and could almost be felt releasing a mental sigh.
'Damn, I'm not good at this comforting crap now am I? Okay note to self never insult people for trying to console others again cause I clearly suck at it...listen kid...I'm...sorry for upsetting you with what I said before...now with that said don't expect to hear those words every time you cry. See the thing is I've got some ground rules you've got to follow if you're going to wield my power; one of which is that my wielder must avoid seeming weak. Now normally this would mean I would slap some sense into you for bawling your eyes out, but...just this once I'm going to let it slide but only because we just met and your still...young and all. But yeah, from now on no more crying because now I'm going to be around to ensure you don't. Okay?'
The whole previous statement was rather awkward in how it was done and incredibly weird given it's source...and yet to Naruto, the fact that this being was actually going out of its way to try and help him despite barely having met him had an amazing effect of consoling him if for no other reason that this was one of the few sincere things anyone had done for him till now, even when taking the Hokage into consideration. Taking that and adding in the fact that to an emotionally stunted and lonely 5 year old child with no friends or real confidants even the slightest bit of perceived kindness was like a drug that would keep him coming back, was it any wonder that the boy now liked the very thing that had once terrified him not moments before? Interestingly, it should be noted that while in another time and place it was kindness like this given by some of the few decent villagers that would have led to Naruto walking the path of the protector of Konoha, in this case...well let's just say things were going to get bad for those that had screwed with the kid and move on...
Getting back on track...a moment had passed in silence all the while the expression on Naruto's face was unreadable. Then just as the entity was wondering what it had done wrong this time...
"THANK YOU!"
...It found itself slammed shut and in the death grip of the little hyperactive blond following a sudden tackle and an unexpected attack of hugging.
"Thank you! thank you! thank y-"
'Enough already! You're going to break my spine if you keep this up! And what did I tell you about talking aloud!'
"Oh! Sor..." Naruto started only to get a look at the now frustrated looking image in the self-opened book in his hands which caused him to correct himself.
'Um sorry about that...um...what was your name again? I mean you do have a name right?'
The image changed again this time to a mask with a thoughtful expression.
'Hm...well this is an unexpected but welcome change of pace. Usually no one bothers to ask me if I have a name...okay...huh that's funny. Now that I really stop and think about it...I don't think I actually have a name. I mean the people who wielded my power gave me various names and titles but none of them were any good in my opinion. And as for the bastard who placed me in this book and wrote that saying before (may he rot in hell), he just addressed me as "my tome". Though I suppose to make communication easier I guess you could call me by the name of the being from whence I once was a part of, Xy. Not his true name but seeing as it's the closest thing to it without you growing 2 additional tongues and sets of vocal chords, it'll do.'
Hearing this...rather odd explanation, Naruto could only stare at Xy blankly, before finally answering.
'A-alright Xy, I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Um, I gotta ask what do you mean by the being you were a part of? Or that thing about being placed in this book? I thought you were the book?'
'Heh, well damn and here I thought I'd actually have a completely original experience this time around and here I go and get questions I've gotten more times then I dare to count. Oh well the originality was fun while it lasted...okay well to put it simply I was once part of the consciousness of a very powerful individual. He was (as you have probably already figured out by my earlier comment about his name) not a human, and certain events led to the end of his existence and the creation of mine. More than that though I won't say, at least not until we get to know each other a bit more. Now as to answering your other question, while my existence is dependent on this tome of power and its survival, and I can somewhat manipulate it physically like you saw before, I am not the tome itself. I was actually trapped in here by a particularly powerful individual who I shall not dignify by naming. All you need to know is that by doing so he tied me to the tome, to serve both as a librarian to organize the knowledge it contains and a guide to any subsequent wielders. In this case that would be you since you became its wielder by being the first to touch the tome after my awakening in creator only knows how precisely long. As for what I mean by guide, in that regard my job is primarily showing you how to effectively wield the piece of my power sealed in here with me as well as whatever power you already posses.'
'Wow that's so cool! Naruto fired back excitedly 'I mean if you can talk tel...tele...talk with your brain and float and stuff then I can only imagine what I could do...Oh that reminds me, what could I do thanks to you? Could I float like you? Or shoot lightning...wait ninjas can do that last one so...
'Sorry to interrupt' Xy said abruptly 'but I would like to point out that while I can't look into your memories or look too deeply into your conscious mind without your permission, I can somewhat sense certain ingrained subconscious thoughts and impulses as well. Like for instance the fact that you're forgetting something you usually tend to do at this time?'
Naruto paused at this. Though he still had questions to ask Xy (like what the hell kind of creature was he previously if he had a name that needed more than one tongue to be spoken right?) he put them aside to try and figure out what Xy meant. He looked around the room briefly trying to get a clue but didn't seem to find anything...that is until by chance he happened to look at the clock he had knocked off the the nightstand in his earlier attempt to get away from Xy.
7:45AM
…
…
"O-oh no! I got class in 15 minutes!"
Running like the devil was on his heels Naruto proceeded to change his clothes, throw all his books in his school bag, and ram a stale cereal bar in his mouth all in the span of about 5 minutes before running out the door. In the process of doing all this though, he made one error by accidentally shoving Xy into his book-bag. As later events would show though, while not intended it was actually a good thing he did that...
"Inuzuka Kiba?"
"Here"
"Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Here"
"Uzumaki Naruto?
…
"Uzumaki Naruto?" the confused voice of the teacher doing roll call asked again. A quick glance around the classroom didn't seem to reveal the distinctive blond mop of Naruto.
"Okay I guess he's not..."
"HERE!" Screamed the desperate voice of Naruto who came crashing through the classroom door. However due to his speed he couldn't stop in time to avoid a book-bag that someone had callously thrown on the ground and Naruto ended up tripping and falling flat on his face.
Of course his classmates response was the usual jeers and taunts one would expect from a bunch of immature kids. A brief flash of hurt crossed Naruto's image before he once again tried to hide it under the mask of someone going for laughs.
"Hah! Hey everyone how's it going?" Naruto said putting on his usual million watt smile and reveling in his classmates' laughter.
"Just take your seat Uzumaki" said his disgruntled looking sensei.
Quickly doing just as the teacher said Naruto headed to his desk in the back corner of the classroom.
As he took out his books for the day Naruto of course noticed Xy's presence in his book-bag but not wanting to let anyone know about him Naruto initially just left him there. However as the teacher droned on with a history lesson about how the first hokage and the clans organized Konoha after its founding, Naruto eventually lost interest and his 5 year old mind decided that getting some more answers out of Xy would be more interesting.
So with that Naruto discreetly reached into his book-bag to bring the self proclaimed tome of power out to chat. As he did so though, Naruto noticed something interesting happening; a subtle pulse of energy rippled across the book's surface mere moments after Naruto's fingers came into contact with it. When it finally finished whatever it was doing what remained in its place was the cover of a normal looking black leather bound journal with regular pages and stitched on backing instead of the unnatural grown looking book that held Xy before.
Concerned that someone might have noticed the sudden transformation, Naruto looked around the classroom but since no one seemed to be looking his way he allowed himself to relax. Still Naruto didn't know what to make of this, and concerned that this was just another sign that the whole talking tome thing was actually all in his head and he was in fact losing his mind, he decided to test it the only way he could think up...
'Xy? You there?' he mentally asked hesitantly, only to leap back in his chair in terror as a rather pissed off looking evil visage appeared in the book's open page and a sharp response echoed in his mind.
'Yes! Yes! Of course I am! No offense kid but where the hell else would I go? I'm trapped in a freaking tome for crying out loud!'
The sound of Naruto's chair sliding back from his sudden shift in weight instantly drew the attention of the entire class. However one awkward laugh on his part and a glare from the teacher later and everybody in the room quickly lost interest in him. With that done Naruto turned to glare at Xy for what just happened. Thankfully Xy upon realizing what had occurred at least had the decency to seem apologetic over his actions.
'Whoops, sorry bout that bout of pissyness kid...' echoed Xy's voice sheepishly. 'Being shoved in your book-bag kinda made me have flashbacks of being trapped alone in that damn dark hole of a temple for all those years. Ahem...but getting back on track, what's up? Shouldn't you be listening to your teacher and all?'
Naruto's prompt response was to mentally scoff at Xy's comment.
'It's not that big of a deal and I'm more curious about what just happened to your book? Besides why should I care what dumb stuff the teacher says? Nobody has ever bothered answering my question about how something that happened a hundred years ago could still be useful now. So in my mind that just means this stuff isn't that important and they're just making us learn it so they can keep us here and make money like that older guy said'
At this statement Xy's image warped into something resembling disappointment.
'Dammit Naruto...you know if we weren't in public I'd smack you. I told you before I can manipulate the book to an extent so is me being able to disguise it really that surprising? Now about whether or not all this stuff is useful...I'll admit given your youth and how poor the teacher is at making this seem important I can understand why you'd think that this subject isn't useful, but history is the means by which one can see into the mind of leaders and the people who served under them. You learn their best qualities and their worst ones and you also get to see their actions and how they effected people thus gaining insight as to why people consider them great leaders or great fools. And you also learn what the historical circumstances were that allowed them to come to power in the first place. And since history has a habit of repeating itself, one with a good grasp on history can pick up on these trends and exploit them for their own gains.'
Naruto's response to this was a look of awe at the intelligence of what Xy said, that is until Xy's image suddenly changed to one of curiosity.
'Now with that said I have to ask, who the hell is this older guy you mentioned giving you advice? And what's this about teachers not answering your questions?'
At this Naruto shifted almost uncomfortably as though by telling Xy he was being a rat.
'Well, it's just that most of the teachers tend to send me out of the classroom if I ask too many questions, and when I ask them why they did that after class ends they always tend to tell me the same thing. They always say that they don't have time to answer all my dumb questions otherwise none of the other kids will get a chance to get their good questions answered and we'll all be in the academy for even longer than we all need to be. It's the same thing when I ask them for help. So after a while of getting the same answer I just sort of stopped asking for anything. Especially after that guy gave me that advice. He told me he knew school was all nonsense because he was my main sensei's brother, and I know it was true because I overheard him talking to sensei a few days later and laughing about how dumb people have to be to believe what they're told at face value.
Xy was left stunned, though not originally a human himself he had enough experience with them over the years to know that what Naruto told him was not a normal thing for a teacher to say. It was also clear to Xy that Naruto was too naive to realize the true meaning of what the teacher had said. It was amazing to Xy, he had barely been with Naruto a day and already he was running into one mystery after another. From the moment he sensed his strange presence in the forest, to his apparently living alone in an apartment with no supervision, and now finding out what seemed to be active sabotage by a teacher. This was turning out to be something else.
'What the hell did this kid do to deserve this?' He thought to himself.
However before Xy could even contemplate asking Naruto about this he was interrupted by another teacher entering the classroom and announcing it was time for them to go outside and practice their shuriken throwing, causing Naruto to let out a whoop of joy and take off leaving Xy behind. Xy was just about to send out a psychic message to get Naruto to come back and answer some questions, but something unexpected happened to change all that.
As Naruto left the classroom another individual chose to enter it at the same time. He was a civilian judging by the lack of a headband but at the same time, despite having a bit of a limp, the sure way he carried himself in spite of it indicated that he was probably an ex-shinobi. Unlike the skinny chunin with the brown hair Naruto had as a teacher up till now, the other man was pudgy and his hair while also brown was streaked with grey. In addition to this Xy couldn't help but notice two things about the man entering the room: the fact he looked a lot like the man who taught Naruto, and the look of contempt the man threw Naruto's way as he passed him by. Intrigued Xy chose at this point to play possum, his image staying perfectly still so as to imitate the doodling one might find in most children's notebooks.
As expected the teacher and the other individual carried on their conversation without ever noticing Xy's presence.
"Well, well, Mr. Hiroshi catching up on all the paperwork you forgot to do while gallivanting around town? He-he! But seriously Takeshi" began the graying haired fellow as he closed the door behind him "how's things?"
"Fine Hiro" began Takeshi from where he was looking over some papers on his desk. At the same time beneath the desk Takeshi discreetly made a gesture which a shinobi could easily recognize as a hand seal for a jutsu. There was a subtle bluish glow both from his hand and at several points in the room. When the glow finally subsided Takeshi nodded and let out a breath he had been holding, before turning to Hiro.
"I gotta love these anti-sound barriers" Began Takeshi "not only do they keep the sound from the other classrooms out, but keeps the brats in the halls from listening in to our conversations."
"Yeah I can definitely see the appeal of them. Though I can also understand why the school's getting rid of them given they're such a surprising bitch to maintain. Which is why we should get the most out of them while we can, am I right? Hahaha! Oh man...ahem...anyway, if they weren't so expensive to install in the first place, I would definitely get some for my own home maintenance fees be damned. If only I got the same discount teacher's got for ordering them then maybe I'd...wait I got it! Takeshi, any chance when the guys come to remove the seals you can send them over to my place?"
"Oh I see where your going with this, smooth Hiro, real smooth. Normally I'd tell you to take a hike but...well, I suppose this one time I could spot you. After all I still haven't properly thanked you for helping out with the blond gaki. Thanks again for that by the way, that little line of crap you sold him finally got him to stop pestering me for help."
"Hey" began Hiro mock-dismissively "I don't want you do that just because you feel obligated. You know what I say, what else are brothers for if not for helping you out when you need them?"
"Even if it means going against what our hero said to do?" A bitter chuckle echoed from Takeshi's lips causing Hiro to frown and his demeanour to change to a serious one.
"You know I couldn't refuse helping you out on the hard stuff man, your my brother. And would you relax already Takeshi. We've been over this already, you know I looked up to the Fourth back during the day too, but I can't just forget mom and the others we lost that night. As far as I'm concerned your doing the right thing concerning…him...honestly why can't people figure out that letting him get too strong is bad news? Hell in my opinion just letting him near the other kids when he barely has control of his own chakra is bad enough. As far as I'm concern the Hokage should have given the little shit over to Danzo-dono so he could learn control like the civilians were saying to, but no! The old man and his bleeding heart just had to act up. Dammit! Can't the old man see what kind of a risk he really is! You heard the horror stories coming from the merchants out of Sunagakure! That kid over there is only a little older than that annoying midget is and he nearly leveled his whole village by himself! And what he had in him was a hell of a lot weaker than what..."
"Enough!" interrupted Takeshi "Anti-sound barrier or not, I don't want to risk saying that aloud. Hell even with the barriers we're already pushing our luck as is...you know the Third hokage's decree 5 years ago as well as I do. And seeing that neither one of us wants our heads removed from our shoulders this discussion is over!"
A moment passed in awkward silence following that rather stern declaration before Takeshi finally stood up from his desk and began speaking again.
"Now if you'll excuse me Nii-san, I got to go make sure no one got themselves killed out there." And with that last statement Takeshi made one more hand seal and a subtle ripple of energy seemed to pass through the air. Once it passed the two men headed out the door together chatting all the while about other inane things.
On the desk where he lay Xy stirred once more the image of the face on the page now resembling one of contemplation.
'Curiouser and curiouser' he thought to himself 'What on earth happened to you little Naruto? What did you do to deserve such hate?'And with that Xy, lost in his thoughts, settled in to wait for his wielder to return.
Some time later Naruto along with the rest of the class did return as expected. Upon reaching his desk, Naruto tried to "talk" to Xy however Xy's only response was a rather odd one.
'We'll talk later' he said dismissively 'I have some things to mull over first. Just do me a favor, focus on the lecture your teachers are giving today. I know you think they're boring but if there's one thing I share with the being I used to be a part of, it's that I find those who pass up an opportunity to learn to be...well not the sort of people I like being friendly with'
Hearing that and not wanting to lose the attention of one of the few beings to acknowledge him besides as the pariah or village clown, Naruto quickly consented and began to do just that. Needless to say, the fact Naruto actually seemed to be quietly paying attention in a class he usually either blew off or slept through was noticed and had the effect of unnerving both the teacher and students alike, though none of them had the guts to approach him and ask why he was doing just that.
Come late afternoon the kids bid the teacher farewell as always though this time as they left some of the kids that new him or thought they did shot Naruto more than a few unusual looks. Naruto however didn't notice any of this being more concerned with trying to get Xy to respond to him only to be met with silence. Not feeling particularly in the mood to train given the hot weather and the long (at least to Naruto) school day, Naruto was left rather confused as to what to do. His confusion though was short lived as it was quickly eclipsed by the rumbling of his stomach. However knowing that he was short on cash and not being in the mood to try and mooch a meal off someone, Naruto decided that he would head home all the while clutching Xy under his arm. After putting Xy on the table Naruto went to get something to eat. He had just put some leftovers to reheat when feeling uncomfortable from wearing his sweat soaked clothing, he decided to change all the while grumbling about all the clothes he was going to have to wash this week.
It was actually there as Naruto was in the midst of changing his clothes that Xy (after floating himself over to Naruto's position) decided to finally speak.
'Naruto may I ask you something?'
'Gah!...What the...? Oh Xy its just you. Seriously man is a little warning before you sneak up on someone too much to ask?
'Actually yes it is, as a potential ninja you have to be aware of your surroundings. Consider yourself lucky, if I had been an enemy ninja ...well you get where I'm going with this I presume?' At the nervous nod Naruto gave, Xy warped his image into a smile before continuing. Well now since that is out of the way...I was just wondering about something I overheard one of the teacher's say when you left me in that classroom...'
'Oh yeah that reminds me' Naruto interrupted 'Sorry about leaving you in the classroom before Xy I just got overly excited and...'
'Yes, yes, you're forgiven now please don't interrupt me again this is important.' Xy chimed in tersely causing Naruto to clam up.
'Naruto I know you didn't really like paying attention in class, but did you perchance hear about something important that happened say...about 5 years ago? Something involving a Fourth something or other?'
At this Naruto's face gained an expression of disbelief.
'Uh, yeah of course something happened, how do you not...?'
'Hole in ground...' he answered simply causing Naruto to look sheepish at having completely forgotten Xy's comment about being trapped in the temple, so of course he wouldn't know.
'Oh right, sorry I completely forgot. But yeah a little over 5 years ago the 4th hokage died killing the Kyuubi'
'Really? Xy answered rather impressed 'Huh, he must have been pretty powerful to do that...too bad he's not still around cause your going to need him'
'What?' Naruto asked confusedly 'why do you say that?'
'Well because as I learned before being trapped in that temple, when it comes to the kyuubi death is only a temporary thing under normal circumstances. Given enough time kyuubi will be reborn and when that happens this whole little town of yours is screwed as it'll probably come back for revenge.'
'S-seriously? Naruto asked in a terrified manner. When his only response from Xy was that of dead silence Naruto responded in a manner that confused the hell out of Xy.
'Oh great it's probably going to do like those horror movie monsters and show up to take revenge on the anniversary of its defeat! As if my birthday couldn't get any worse...'
'Wait, wait, wait, back up! What does your birthday have to do with this?' interrupted Xy
'Because I was born on October 10th! The same day that Kyuubi was killed! Oh great as if the lack of presents and the weird looks I get every year wasn't bad enough now I have to worry about this...'
'Um Naruto' Xy once again interrupted 'not that I don't find your little pity party amusing but I think you need to stop for a moment and check on your meal...it's... well it's kind of smoking...'
'What are yo-Oh CRAP NO!' he cursed upon realizing the truth of Xy's statement. As Naruto was attempting to save the remnants of his meal Xy could only stare on with a contemplative look on his drawn face.
'Could it be?' Xy thought to himself while scanning the image of his wielder. 'The hatred, the whisker birthmarks, the birthday on the same day of the attack...it all seems to fit. Hm, only one way to be sure though...' and with that thought Xy knew what he had to do...
Following a botched attempt to salvage what was left of his dinner (and a successful attempt at keeping his apartment from burning down), Naruto found himself silently eating cereal for what seemed to be one too many times for his taste all the while mentally going over what would happen if Kyuubi were to show up. While doing so he had also attempted to pry some more info out of Xy about either himself or Kyuubi, but for some reason Xy had once again reverted to refusing to answer Naruto's questions and had actually gone so far as to float himself out of the room to avoid talking to Naruto. Naruto under normal circumstances probably would have chased Xy down and kept trying at this route until either Xy finally answered, or doomsday arrived. However already exhausted from the long day and wanting to put this whole mess of a day out of his mind Naruto decided, (after finishing his rather unappetizing meal) that it was time to turn in for the day.
He did his usual routine for getting set for bed and was about to turn in when he decided in his childish innocence that despite his strange nature and rather rude exit from the room, Xy at least deserved to have someone say goodnight to him. And so Naruto was about do just that when he happened upon a scene that just seemed quite fantastic...
There in the living room was Xy floating in midair while being surrounded by all of Naruto's academy textbooks. As they did so the words of said textbooks seeming to be peeling themselves off the page before being sucked into what looked like a small vortex on one of the tome's pages.
'What the heck are you doing you crazy freaking book?!' Naruto mentally screamed.
At this the strange phenomenon in the room momentarily stopped while the textbooks clattered to the floor. Abruptly the portal on the tome's pages vanished with Xy's strange face/mask replacing it before he turned around to face Naruto.
'Oh hey kid, didn't know you were still up' Xy answered quite calmly 'I was just reading is all. For future reference one of my little abilities is to absorb knowledge from any book, scroll, or tome I encounter'
Naruto could only stare blankly at Xy, maybe if he had been less tired he might have started screaming something about how the hell was he going to explain his now mysteriously blank textbooks to his teachers...however Naruto's brain had already reached its daily allocation of weirdness absorption so the only response he gave was to just nod his head at Xy's explanation; a response which was so off from the initial impression Xy had of him that Xy just had to comment on it.
'That's it? No more screaming or questioning until my mental ears start to bleed?'
'Too tired...need sleep'
'Ah...I see then. Well since this will probably keep you from screaming your lungs out and annoying me on account of a bad dream, I thought I should tell you that the thing I said about Kyuubi being out their plotting revenge might not necessarily be true.'
'Really?' Naruto questioned sleepiness momentarily forgotten.
'Oh yes,' Xy responded 'however I have to look up one more thing before I can say for certain, fortunately I believe the knowledge I seek is right here in this very home. So yes by all means, you turn in for the day and I'll tell you tomorrow if I've found what I'm looking for okay?'
'Okay cool...' Naruto commented in a tired but pleased tone 'well in that case goodnight Xy'
'Goodnight Naruto'
And with that the two parted ways, Naruto leaving Xy in the living room while unknown to the boy the face in the book kept glancing at his retreating form.
It was in the middle of the night as Naruto's scrawny 5 year old form lay sleeping in bed, that Xy finally decided to confirm his suspicions in the quickest way he could. Silently the tome of power floated itself to just over Naruto's head. Once there the tome opened itself to a blank page the image of Xy appearing once more but this time with a strange unreadable expression.
Xy had not been lying to Naruto when he said he could only read Naruto's conscious thoughts if he allowed it...the key word here being conscious. If Naruto were to be unconscious though...well that opened up a whole new set of possibilities especially seeing as mental barriers were at their weakest when a person slept.
'Now then young one, open your mind to me!' he mentally ordered the young boy's sleeping mind. A moment later he felt it, the pull of a mental link and in that moment the tome holding Xy seemingly vanished from existence...
His eyes snapped open and within moments XY began to examine what was around him. A moment of confusion quickly came and went as Xy tried to figure out where the hell he was, the tome in which he was in spinning around wildly as he tried to take in any and all clues as to his location. The dingy and dank corridors threw him off for a while but after a few more moments he finally understood where he was. The boy's subconscious mind was truly a miserable place, something which given his youth should not have been the case. It was just one long dark and dank flooded hallway after another with the water dripping down probably being a mental representation of the boy's misery. There were also what seemed to be new things added to the hallways, light fixtures of some sort, only half-installed.
Thinking about what he knew about his wielder and his actions in the academy Xy could only assume these lights were the boy's attempts to bring light to his dark life. In other words they were a manifestation of the clown persona Xy had briefly glimpsed while in the academy. As for the lights half installed state, it probably meant this nature hadn't fully established itself and there was time to snap Naruto out of that nonsense. A damn good thing too as Xy had a reputation to protect and he'd be damned if the kid sullied it with his damn childish antics!
There were 2 other things that caught Xy's eyes: one was that the hallways were lined with doorways which Xy could only assume behind which lay the boy's memories. Xy knew though that what he was looking for was not something the boy would recall though. If his hunch was correct than the seed of the boy's misery had been planted long before the mechanisms for memory retention had truly begun to take hold. The other thing he noticed was the wallpaper on the walls, it was brand new in contrast to the decrepit state of everything and it was lined with...glowing runes?
'What the hell is this?' Xy thought to himself. Actually it should be made clear that it wasn't so much the runes that unnerved him, no he had seen them enough times in other mindscapes to know that they were in fact a manifestation of the bond between the tome and the boy. However the runes this time seemed to be linked by long silver line like circuitry to some unseen place. And the glowing with strange power part? Yeah that was certainly new and served to encourage Xy to find what he was looking for that much faster so he could investigate this further.
He looked around trying to find a sign as to which corridor to take while simultaneously making a mental map of the place.
'It looks like a sewer or...a boiler room!' Xy thought to himself upon sensing the energy flowing through the pipes overhead. Now that he knew what he was looking at he knew what to look for. He just had to look for the right kind of energy and...
'There you are!' he mentally cheered with triumph as he sensed the pipe filled with some bubbling red caustic looking energy. Now all he had to do was follow it back to the proverbial boiler and the fun could really begin!
Deep within the same mindscape something else was up and about, and it was as pissed off!
The Kyuubi no Yoko was beyond furious. He had felt the boy's life-force leave his young body before as well as the subsequent failure of the seal and had been thrilled! Sure Kyuubi knew then that death would also soon approaching for him as well but he also knew that unlike his host's death, for Kyuubi his death was really only an inconvenience as he would soon be reborn, albeit somewhat feral until his mind caught up with the rest of his state. So knowing that he had to ask... WHY THE FUCK WAS HE BACK INSIDE THE SEAL AGAIN?!
No correction, this was not the same seal as before.
The old seal was a cage of sorts with the pipes running overhead being conduits through which its power would flow. Said cage was kept shut via a gate of sorts held together with a deceptively simple slip of paper on which written in kanji was the word for 'seal' and which actually hid the true mechanism behind its imprisonment. Though the paper tag could either out of desperation or despair on the boy's parts part be ripped off, it was veritable suicide for his host to do so as the sudden surge of Kyuubi's power would instantly kill his host (not that Kyuubi cared so long as he got to be free again). There was a proper way to open the seal safely using a certain key array...but now kyuubi wasn't so sure that it mattered anymore. Something had happened out there to alter the seal and kyuubi knew it. Whereas before the old seal had allowed him to at least see and hear what his host was doing outside, now all he could do was sense the boy's emotional state.
About the only thing that looked the same as before were the pipes overhead. The brass looking cage from before was replaced with a new cage made out of glowing gold and silver looking metals he had never seen before, further there was also what looked like a medallion with an eastern style dragon head in the place of the old seal and on the bars of the cage were engraved tiny glowing circuit like runes that led to others lining the entire room and led down the hallway to the outside. Actually, now that he started to think about it though, other than the glowing part the runes DID look kind of familiar...almost like the ones used by...
'...oh fuck!' he mentally screamed
"Boy get your scrawny blonde ass down here right now!" He suddenly screamed in horror. "Boy I know you can hear me! And you better..."
'He has a name you know' echoed a horrifyingly familiar voice in Kyuubi's mind 'His name is Uzumaki Naruto. But then again...when a person chooses to throw away their own name, how could anyone presume they would have respect for the names of others?'
A sudden feeling of dread forced kyuubi to turn his head. And there at the edge of the room that held the cage floated the only being that had ever terrified him...with a shark-toothed Cheshire grin spread across said being's imprisoned visage...
'Isn't that right Kyuubi...or should I say Kurama?' asked the floating visage of Xy...
AN: Well people there you have it! My latest chapter all for you to read! My apology dear readers for leaving you on a cliffhanger but I'm just trying to ensure you all will come back sometime in the future. So now we have some mysteries before us as the chapter's title said. What is the connection between Xy and Kurama? And what is Xy's true nature given that he not only bent the truth about his abilities but also seems to terrify even Kurama? All this and more will be answered in the upcoming chapters, in the meantime I ask that you all please do me a favor and review the story. I have a busy life and while I love writing, I'm not going to spend as much time writing this if I don't think anyone is interested. So if you want to get more story that much sooner please review. And with that I bid you all a good day!
