Chapter Two – Explanations
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Naruto opened his eyes and almost screamed as he found himself staring at a masked figure that was regarding him quizzically. After a few near-panicked seconds, recognition dawned and he relaxed.
"Inu."
The figure nodded and handed over a bowl of ramen. Naruto's mouth watered and with a heartfelt "thanks!" he grabbed the bowl.
It exploded.
Both Inu and Naruto froze as the ramen splattered them both and the crushed remains of the bowl dropped to the ground. Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.
Or tried to.
When he pushed against the ground, he found himself soaring into the air, arcing across the street and landing with a thud on the roof of the building opposite.
"What the..?"
'Kit, you remember when I was trying to boost your strength and you got rid of the seal? well...'
The kyuubi sounded embarrassed and Naruto frowned.
"What happened?"
'Just think your questions. You don't want anyone over-hearing, they wouldn't understand.'
'What happened?'
'The seal was resisting the strength boost and I kind of... put too much power into it. When you broke the seal, the power rushed out before I could pull it back and... it kind of made you far stronger than I intended. I managed to alter your skeleton, ligaments, skin and other important things so you won't tear yourself apart using your strength, but... sorry.'
'Why are you sorry?' Naruto gasped, grinning madly. "That was awesome!"
"How did you do that?"
Naruto looked round to see Inu crouched next to him.
"Oh, Hi, Inu!"
'Kit, don't tell him about what we did! Say you don't know what happened.'
"How did you do that, Naruto? And why do you have some blood in your hair"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I was trying to get to my feet. And the blood, no clue. Um, help?"
Inu took the proffered arm and carefully pulled as Naruto remained as still as possible. Once he was vertical, Naruto smiled.
"Thanks, Inu. Ummm, can you take me to see Jiji? I don't know if I dare to move at the moment..."
The silver-haired masked ninja nodded and picked Naruto up. Tucking him under his arm, he leapt off the roof towards the Hokage's tower.
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Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, had seen many odd things in his life. He had fought against ninja with Kekkai Genkai that allowed them to reshape the battlefield, mow down hundreds of enemies in a single move or even predict the future. He had seen his pupils summon creatures larger than buildings and had witnessed the greatest jutsus of the age, the Rasengan and the Hiraishin.
None of that had prepared him for the sight of his favourite orphan effortlessly knocking down a wall and looking embarrassed.
"Sorry, Jiji. I was just trying to lean against the wall. I wasn't sure I could sit down without destroying the chair."
"That's quite alright, Naruto. I was thinking of expanding the office, anyway." Hiruzen said calmly. "I must say, though, that you've become very strong. Any idea how or why?"
'Tell him that a man threw a stone at you last night, and when you woke up you were strong.' the Kyuubi whispered. 'Let him think it's a new bloodline limit. In fact, it is, I tweaked it to make it one after you left.'
"I got hit by a stone last night and woke up strong." Naruto grinned with a shrug. "I don't know why, but it's pretty cool. Except for all the breaky stuff, that is."
Inu and Hiruzen exchanged a long look, then their attention returned to Naruto.
"What were you doing out last night, anyway?" Hiruzen asked gently.
"Ah, the orphanage threw me out." Naruto pouted, missing the sudden flare of anger in Hiruzen's eyes. "The nasty lady in charge said I was a monster and shouldn't be around real kids."
"I... see." Hiruzen said slowly, ignoring the crushed remains of his pipe in his hand. "Normally, I'd try to find a better orphanage, but with your new strength... you're going to need help controlling it. Otherwise you'll be unable to even feed yourself."
"I know." Naruto sighed, rubbing his stomach. "I saw what happened when I grabbed the bowl of ramen. How do I learn control?"
"That, I'm not sure about." Hiruzen admitted. "But you'll need some specialised equipment at the very least. Your clothing, for instance, you need new things to wear."
"Can they be orange?"
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The ripping noise echoed through the shop, followed a moment later by an embarrassed chuckle.
"Ummmm, Jiji..."
Sarutobi lowered his head into his cupped hands, then gave a pleading look to the shopkeeper.
"Do you have anything stronger?" he sighed as the tailor gaped at Narotu and the shredded item of clothing now being dropped onto the pile of similar items. Like the other items, it hadn't been the seam that had split.
"That... that was leather! Double-thick reinforced!" he gasped. "I... I don't have anything stronger than that here!"
"No choice." Sarutobi said, standing up with a hidden wince. "I guess that we're going to ANBU HQ to see what they have that'll stand up to you. Oh, send me the bill for those items."
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"This is SO COOL!"
Naruto almost leapt out of the changing cubicle, only remembering at the last instant that such an action would probably launch him through the ceiling. Even normal walking tended to cause him to take unplanned arcs through the air, so he carefully shuffled out, placing each foot as lightly as he could.
"That does look good." Sarutobi nodded. "Reinforced chainmail with leather backing makes a great choice of clothing fabrics for you, as long as you don't try to pull it on too fast."
Naruto blushed slightly at the reminder, then turned to admire himself in the mirror. Due to the cost of the material, he was clad only in loose trousers and a sleeveless tunic made of chainmail, sandals made from metal with a thick leather lining and a belt comprised of reinforced metal links with an oversized buckle that he could undo without inadvertantly crushing it (as he had done with the previous three belts). Metal plates surmounted his shoulders with the Uzumaki spiral on the left one.
"You look fine, Naruto." Sarutobi said, tapping Naruto's arm to break his fascination with his reflection. "Now come on, we need to find you somewhere to live, and get someone to watch over you."
Naruto nodded and reached for the bag containing the other, almost identical outfits, then he paused just before touching it.
"Jiji, is the bag strong enough?"
"I don't see why it shouldn't be. Now come on."
Naruto slowly placed the bag over his shoulder and edged to the door that the Hokage had gone through. Reaching out, he gave it a slight push.
As the Professor God of Shinobi, Hiruzen's reflexes had only slightly dulled with age, so he was able to easily dodge the door that sliced through the air, embedding itself in the wall of the building opposite.
"Ooops... sorry."
"It's okay, Naruto." He sighed without even bothering to look round. "Just remember to check to see which direction the door opens next time. That one opens inwards... or it did, anyway."
"Sorry."
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Naruto paused before sliding the door open as gently as he could. Sarutobi winced as the door slammed against the frame, and shattered.
"Ummm, maybe a normal apartment isn't such a good idea... I know. Come with me."
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"This bunker dates back to the founding of Konoha, but when Konoha expanded, it became surplus to requirements, but was too well-built to knock down. Well, what do you think?"
Naruto stepped into the abandoned hill-side bunker and looked around. Although well-hidden from the outside, slit windows allowed enough light in that lamps would not be needed during the day. The entry hall led to a large room which had a spiral staircase leading both up and down.
"The stairs lead up to a half-dozen observation rooms and a quartet of windowless barracks, you might want to use one of the observation rooms as your bedroom. There's also a hatchway that leads to an open area at the top, originally intended as a training area." Sarutobi said. "There is a small washroom through there, but you should be very careful while using it, and there's two communal bathrooms upstairs. The kitchen and dining hall's over there, it's designed to be used for ten squads of ninja, so it'll be more than big enough for you. Down there are more storage rooms and a couple of large sparring chambers, as well as an archway into a natural cavern that has a lake in it, giving you plenty of water. There's also an armoury, but it was emptied out several decades back. As you grow older, you may want to use it to store your weapons and scrolls."
"This has to be the most awesome place ever!" Naruto said with a grin, heading for the roof access. A gentle tap slammed it open and Naruto stepped through and whooped with excitement.
"I have a garden! I can grow flowers and vegetables and fruits... hey, jiji, is there such a thing as a ramen plant?"
"Ummm, not to my knowledge." Sarutobi said, joining his near-grandson in the yard. He glanced round, seeing the rich soil and the tree growing at the back, the petals on it promising a good crop of cherries.
"I love it!" Naruto laughed, bouncing round, then remembering about his tendency to acheive high-arc trajectories and standing still. "Is it really mine now?"
"Yes, yes it is." Sarutobi smiled at the obviously-overjoyed young boy. "From today, this bunk… er… I mean house is yours. Please try not to break it. Now, I'll get a mattress delivered for you, as well as some shelves, I'm not sure that anything with doors is a good idea yet, and tomorrow we'll have your new strength checked and see about training for you."
"Great! Ummm, I'm hungry. Can we have ramen?"
Sarutobi paused.
"Ah. I'm not sure that the chopsticks would be able to stand up to your newfound strength, Naruto. Maybe some takeaway barbeque with dango to follow."
"Ah man." Naruto moaned, looking depressed for the first time that day. "Strength sucks."
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"Boar, you have a report?"
The Anbu who had just appeared bowed, but something about him seemed... off. Had Sarutobi not known about the high levels of professionalism that Anbu held themselves to, he would have sworn that Boar was... smirking... under his mask.
"Naruto is fast asleep, Tora is currently watching over him. On his way home from your meal with him, a group of civilians, fifteen of them, tried to attack him. The results were... amusing."
Sarutobi blinked, then he started to massage his forehead.
"What happened?"
"Before we could move in, Naruto started to throw the civilians who were attacking him into the air. He was rather gentle about it, but we had our work cut out catching them as they came down... two blocks away. The rest of them ran after one of them hit him with a club... and it shattered. We don't think he even noticed it."
Hiruzen slowly put his pipe down and continued to massage his head.
"How long before the council..."
"Sarutobi, have you heard what that beast has done!" Counciller Haruno howled as she burst through the doorway, followed by almost half a dozen other members of the civilian council. "He went on a rampage and attacked a hundred people without warning! It was a massacre! He needs to die!"
Sarutobi continued to massage his forehead.
Why was it that over ninety percent of his problems revolved around one small child?
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'You forgot to grab the dagger I made for you.'
For a moment, Naruto blinked without understanding, then a specific memory reappeared and he swore underneath his breath.
"Ah! I forgot with Inu there! I'll go get it now!"
'No need. Just hold out your right hand, picture the Fang in your mind, and say "come".'
Naruto stared blankly at the wall for a moment, then did as he was instructed.
"Come!"
As if out of nowhere, the Fang materialised in his hand and Naruto gasped.
"Wow! Thanks Kyuubi! You're really amazing! It's incredible, and it looks really sharp."
'It is sharp, so sharp it can cut through anything. The blade is thinner than a piece of parchment, yet stronger than the strongest steel. And the reason for that is that it is not made of anything other than pure Youkai.'
"Youkai?"
'It is a form of Chakra unique to demons and Biju. The Fang is comprised of the bits of Youkai that get through the seal and it absorbs those bits to remain solid. As you grow, you will be able to use the Fang, you will be able to change its size and appearance, but that will not happen for many years. Now, place it on your right leg so the point of the blade is near your knee... that's good. The Fang will remain there until you choose to use it. And you need not worry about anyone else using it against you. For anyone else, except those you give it to, it will be intangible. They will be unable to pick it up, to even touch it.'
Naruto admired the dagger in the fading light.
'Thanks, Kyuubi, this is the best thing anyone has ever given me!'
'You're welcome, kit. Now get some sleep. I think tomorrow will be a busy day...'
"Okay." Naruto yawned as he sat down on the futon. Reaching down, he grabbed the thick canvas blanket and pulled it up as he settled down.
"Good-night, Kyuubi-sama."
'Good-night, kit.'
