Naruto no Rei

Ch. 2 – To see a Hollow…

-=-

"Hatake Kakashi, returning from assistance on my student's mission." Kakashi said to the gate guards, the guards waving him past. He saw that Sakura was right inside the gates waiting on him, seeing the delighted look when she saw Sasuke in Kakashi's arms. Kakashi set Sasuke down and turned to Pakkun. "Ok, we're in Konoha now Pakkun, we're safe, now what in the hell was that thing? How did Naruto turn into it?"

Sakura looked at Kakashi confused, Pakkun looking back at him. "That thing… that monster… it's an evil beast, known as a hollow, signified by the mask and a hole somewhere on their body that goes all the way through their body. They are the deceased spirits in the world that either died and wasn't passed to the afterlife before becoming resentful of those still alive, died with great feelings of negativity, or had something called the chain of fate broken by force, usually connected to the body in cases where the subject is very near death and has been jarred out of their body into their spirit form. In rare cases, a combination of the last to can cause an almost instantaneous transformation from a deceased spirit into a hollow. The story goes on, but I can't explain it since I don't know it, the rest is a summons boss secret.

"What I can continue to say is that Hollows are cruel creatures who almost never have any compassion for the living. In cases where the hollow became a hollow from powerful negative emotions, it will attack all sources of those emotions and anything that has something to do with those emotions that it encounters will be attacked as well. Hollows… hollows eat the souls of the deceased. However, due to circumstances I don't know, no hollows have come into existence for millennia. The only explanation for Naruto transforming into a hollow so quickly would have to be Sasuke killing him, Naruto thought of Sasuke as a brother from what I've seen, and the sense of betrayal would cause Sasuke killing him to add to his quick hollow transformation. And as we've learned from you even seeing him, the Sharingan seems to allow people to see the spirits of the dead. Sasuke was out for power through killing Naruto, and if he saw his soul and attacked his soul, he could've accidentally broken Naruto's chain of fate and caused Naruto to end up transforming into a Hollow within, maybe, ten minutes if he was feeling the sense of betrayal I think he was." Pakkun explained, Sakura looking on in shock at what the little dog was saying. Kakashi looked at Sasuke, glaring daggers at the unconcious boy. "Because of how quickly the Shinigami pass on the souls of the deceased, and Naruto's pointed interest in you and Sasuke, I imagine we don't even have a day before Naruto starts feeding on humans. And with you and Sasuke, and maybe the Hyuuga, being the only ones who can even see Naruto, this is a disaster waiting to happen when he picks up the chakra trails your shunshin's left behind."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! You're saying Naruto, dumb as a doorknob strong as a fly, has turned into some kind of incredibly evil terribly strong monster that feeds on the souls of dead people? And that he'll start eating people who are still alive within a day?" Sakura asked, looking at the tiny dog before bursting out laughing. "That's so stupid! As if he could become strong in anyway, he'd need to be as strong as the Kyuubi to be any kind of threat!"

The instant she said that, Pakkun and Kakashi looked at each other with worry evident in their eyes. Pakkun jumped on Kakashi's shoulder as Kakashi grabbed Sakura and Sasuke, using Shunshin to head toward the Hokage's office.

--

"You mean to tell me that because of some arrogant Uchiha on a power-trip, we now have to deal with something even worse than the second-coming of the Kyuubi no Kitsune?!" The enraged voice of Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage rang out, Sakura sitting in shock at the revelation of Naruto having Kyuubi inside him.

"Well, there is still a chance. If we can kill Naruto again, then he will be sent back to the world where the rest of the hollows dwell. Once there, he won't be able to get out unless he gains an incredible amount of strength, which right now is impossible since hollows lose their individuality after awhile." Pakkun explained, Tsunade getting even angrier.

"So you're asking me to kill the only thing keeping me from bashing in the skulls of every idiot in this village?!" Tsunade asked, Pakkun raising his voice to match her own.

"It's better than Naruto coming in here, invisible to the naked eye, with a murderous grudge on every one who's ever done him wrong! We either lose him, or ninety-nine percent of Konoha's population! And he'll only get stronger with each person he devours! We have to send him to the Hollow world!" Pakkun shouted, Tsunade gritting her teeth.

"… fine…" Tsunade said, pain apparent on her face. "Gather the Hyuuga and the next-in-line for death-row at the prison so we can test the Byakugan against the Sharingan's ability to see spirits."

--

Akashi watched as his wife split into two pieces, a jagged slash visible through her body. He saw her body vanish as if some invisible entity was eating her. He felt a massive feeling of dread, hatred and pain. He also felt a massive pressure on his body.

He watched as his quivering children vanished as if swallowed, their blood spurting out of the air. He saw beast-like footprints drifting toward him. And then, his world went dark.

An unnatural, evil roar rang out, only certain people able to hear it. In Konoha, Hyuuga Neji, Haruno Sakura, and every shinobi of rank above genin turned in the direction the evil roar originated from.

--

"K-k-kakashi-sensei, w-what was that?" Sakura asked, Kakashi looking to Pakkun.

"How were we able to hear him when we didn't have a Sharingan ready?" Kakashi asked, Pakkun looking back up at him.

"Because, any being that has seen death is already more spiritually connected than someone who hasn't, meaning, if you've seen death or killed, you can hear Hollows, but it requires a doujutsu or an unnaturally high amount of spiritual power to see spirits." Pakkun explained, turning to Tsunade. "You'd better put a double on that gathering. Naruto's hunger is growing. That means he'll seek out more helpless victims, and continue to gain strength."

"Right, ANBU!" Tsunade called, a cat-masked ANBU appearing. "Put a double on my earlier request. We're running out of time. Call a council meeting with the Hyuuga at the chuunin stadium so we can include the council and conduct our test."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

--

"Many of you may have heard a loud, unnaturally evil roar not too long ago." Tsunade began, a small bit of murmuring rising. "That roar, was from an evil creature called a Hollow. Generally, spoken of only in legend. This Hollow, is especially dangerous. It is the deceased and corrupted spirit of Uzumaki Naruto."

The murmuring grew into small roars of outrage. "After feeling a great sense of betrayal from his murder at the hand of Uchiha Sasuke, the closest thing Naruto had to a family member, his soul became corrupted both by his strong sense of betrayal as well as the whisperings of his inner-demon so to speak. And for sake of understanding of our desperate situation, I am lifting the Sandaime's law. Elders, explain the situation to the youths in our audience."

The small roars became elders talking over each other. After roughly ten minutes, the audience had a fair general idea of Kyuubi and Naruto's relationship to one another. "Now, Uzumaki Naruto has transformed into an unnaturally powerful monster that has an incredible hunger for souls and humans. You Hyuuga are here to test your Byakugan against being able to see souls with the Sharingan's ability to reveal souls to the user as discovered by Hatake Kakashi. That is why we took next-in-line over there from death row."

Hyuuga Hiashi stood from his place, and gave a motion for Tsunade to continue. At his side, Hinata was on the verge of breaking, her mind literally about to shatter. Tsunade took a kunai and threw it into the death-row inmate's head. Hiashi activated his Byakugan, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

He saw the exact person who'd just been killed, with a chain attached to his chest. A second later, what looked like a samurai in a black hakama appeared behind him and tapped the back of the inmate's head with the pommel of their katana's handle. "H-how could something like this have escaped the notice of the entire Hyuuga clan for so long? This makes no sense!"

"So, I take it you can see the spirit?" Tsunade asked, Hiashi nodding as he watched the spirit turn into white sparkles and float to the heavens as the samurai vanished without a trace.

--

The samurai from in the chuunin stadium appeared before Naruto who was slowly making his way to Konoha by way of the forest.

"It's been awhile since I've seen a Hollow. Too bad, you don't even seem to be enough to give me a decent challenge." The samurai said.

"S-s-samu-raiii… out- outta my w-way…" Naruto said as if struggling to remain sane. The next instant, Naruto was behind the samurai, slashing down on it. The samurai appeared behind Naruto with his sword raised, the dark-haired samurai clearly male.

"Sorry, no typical samurai would be able to see you. I'm a Shinigami. And you're dead." The man, the Shinigami, said. He slashed down, only to feel himself be stabbed through the chest.

"If you're a shi- shi- shi-ni-ga-mi, then this will b-be easier than- I could've guessed…" Naruto said, the Shinigami looking at him in shock as Naruto's tail wiggled around in the Shinigami's chest.

"H-hollows aren't supposed to retain their, m-m-minds. They're supposed to b-be m-mindless m-m-monsters…" The Shinigami said in confusion, staring at his opened chest.

"T-too bad for y-you… Shi-ni-ga-mi!" Naruto said, removing his tail as he turned and began to devour the Shinigami. After he finished, he felt himself grow in power. His current tail split into two, one red line being removed from the original tail and moving to spiraling around the new tail. The remaining eight lines spiraled around the first tail slightly. Naruto gave a louder, almost eager roar.

\-/

Chapter End

Any who are confused on how Naruto, a simple hollow, killed the Shinigami so easily, keep in mind that only incredibly powerful hollows retain their ability to think, much less their ability to remember as Naruto has. As for Naruto having Dante's sword from DMC, well, that comes later. Much later.

In case you're wondering, Hinata will end up playing a huge part in the story. This random extra story will end updating and go Hiatus once this first "Arc" ends. You'll know when it's over.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying it, and I apologize for my terrible habit of rushing my plot lines.