Naruto stared at the assembled council members, keen eyes taking in every face and detail. They all looked so familiar. Faces and names going together like jigsaw pieces.
The silence in the room was palpable. Not a soul spoke.
Why did he know them?
How come they had never interacted before if he did?
"Welcome back Naruto. I see you didn't get in to trouble while exploring." A disinterested nod was Shukaku's reply, the blond still focused on the other seven in the room.
"So you're the one Shukaku has been raving about? Tiny thing aren't cha?" A slightly giggly voice spoke. Naruto cast his eyes to the strange man with his feet propped on the table.
You couldn't tell his height, but he looked slim, almost wiry in nature. A wide smile split his face, one that unnerved Naruto. It was almost predatory. Bright orange eyes shone in the low light of the chamber, and his skin held an odd green hue.
Chōmei, it came to him.
Known to the rest of the council as "Lucky Seven." To the rest of the world in the know as the Beatle Shield Soldier. A master Lancer and brilliant tactician. Known to pull enemies in with his happy-go-lucky attitude and blind siding them with lighting fast strikes. Fast, deadly, insane.
"My name is Naruto!" The blond retorted. This was suppose to be some kind of council, they could at least use his name!
"Oh yes. Of that we have been assured. Multiple times." The orange eyed man spoke with a slight chuckle, casting his eyes to Shukaku. "I can see what you mean. This boy is very...fierce. Same kind of fire."
Naruto tilted his head at those words, but before he could question what Chōmei meant, something wet and slimy dragged across his foot.
He reacted the way any child would.
"AHH!"
Naruto was now kneeling on the table, unheading of the bemused smiles on a number of council members face's.
"What the hell was that!"
"Naruto! Language!" Aijo shouted from the other side of the chamber.
"To hell with that! Something just went over my foot!"
"Over here blondie." Chōmei spoke, now holding up what could amount to a small child.
It was a boy. Looking between eight or nine. A robe was wrapped around him, and his hair was cut short, but still allowed his bangs to cover his eyes. A finger was pressed to his chin, a thoughtful look across his face, not caring of his odd position
"His taste is similar. Earthy. Wholesome." Mumbled out the boy.
Isobu. The premier poison user of the yokai faction. Concoctions powerful enough to kill even a god it was said.
Also one of the leading members of the magical community the world over. If it was a spell or ruin, Isobu was said to know it.
"Did you really have to do that?" Chōmei asked the gray haired boy, his orange eyes looking into the red on red of the boy he held above the ground, now turned toward himself.
A silent nod was his only reply, which caused the Lancer to drop the boy with a sigh.
Naruto watched the young boy amble back to a seat and plop down, silent the whole trip.
Okay, now he was weirded out.
"D-don't mind them young man.." a shy voice spoke from Naruto's left, causing the boy once more to jump. This time it was a girl.
Blinding white hair, even in the low light, with dark blue-green eyes. She appeared in her early teens. Wrapped in a off tan colored kimono.
Kokuō, Emissary of the Council of Nine, and declared by popular vote as the most adorable supernatural being in all of Kyoto.
She held a certain level of hesitance in her manners, but she was still as deadly as they came.
The sudden motion of the blond had made the girl flinch and immediately Naruto felt bad. "I- I'm sorry! You...surprised me." The blond tried to excuse his knee jerk reaction.
A simple wave of the hand and a shy smile was his reward.
"I-it's fine...no harm done." She spoke with a soft smile.
Naruto turned on the spot, taking in the eight faces before him. Something about this whole set up felt weirdly familiar, but he couldn't place it.
"Hold up! You guys are the Council of Nine right? Why is there only eight of you?" The blond asked, tilting his head.
While anyone else would ask why they were here, of course Naruto touched on the subject no one else would think of first.
"Ah...that is a discussion for another time Naruto. For now, the council would like to speak with you." Shukaku forestalled any arguments or reaction to Naruto's question.
The council knew the truth, some still under it's influence even. Naruto would know in due time.
"That rat is right." Gyūki spoke gruffly. He was still annoyed at this whole situation, and was adamantly against any of this farce being real. "You told Shukaku your name is Naruto, right?"
"Ah...yeah?" Naruto replied nervously. What was wrong with his name?
"You must see it Brother? Who else could he be?" Shukaku once more asserted. Why was Gyūki being so difficult about this.
"It could be anyone else! So the kid is a fox Yokai, big deal. That does not make him, Him!"
"Be reasonable Gyu-kun. You have to admit, it is a compelling argument. The resemblance is uncanny and, hello, fox?" Saiken chimed. While she wasn't completely convinced, it was a bit of an oddity in her opinion.
There was no other nine-tailed yokai. Period. For this boy to be one raised a hell of a lot of questions.
"Yes. Fox. Fox Yokai. The man we knew, the man we remember was HUMAN. To even suggest this boy is anything like him is an insult and I will not stand by while you bastardize his memory on some child!" The bull roared, slamming a hand in the table top and spiderwedding it.
Naruto flinched back from his place and cast his eyes in the floor. They were talking about him. That much he could gather, but he didn't know what had angered The eight tails so.
"That seemed a little unnecessary." The bland voice of Isobu resounded off the chamber walls.
All eyes turned to the diminutive yokai, it wasn't often the three tails spoke, so when he did, others listened.
"I have already told you. He tastes the same. His chakra is a match. Should that not be enough for you?" The boy continued, his eyes peeking out from beneath his hair.
"We have seen this sort of thing in the past Isobu. How can you be so certain that he is who he claims?" Gyūki shot back. It wouldn't be the first time a chakra imprint was detected on someone of no relation to the original. This world had an odd way of throwing logic and reason out the window.
"What's that suppose to mean! I haven't claimed to be anyone but myself!" Naruto suddenly shouted, drawing the bulls sharp gaze back to himself.
He didn't flinch in the slightest. Something screamed at him to defy the council Chair. Something instinctual.
"Hahahah Well, he certainly glares like the man we knew. Holds that same passion as well." Son spoke up, a roguish grin on his face.
It was impossible not to see it in the boy. That defiance. That unbreakable will that had shocked him so much the first time Son had met the blond.
Perhaps it wasn't the exact same man, but there was an alternative...
"Naruto-san...do you know who we are?" Matatabi spoke softly, leaning against the table. Her eyes searching for something.
Naruto looked at the woman, a sense of familiarity passing through him. It was the same with all of them. He...he knew these people. He just didn't know how.
"Some council...Shukaku said you were some big council for the yokai people." The blond replied hesitantly, assuming that was the question being asked.
It wasn't.
Matatabi laughed softly, shaking her head. "No Naruto-kun. Not our titles. Do you know who we are?"
Naruto stared back, his eyes bouncing from face to face, he parted his lips slowly.
"Familiar. All of you. I...I know each and everyone of you and I don't know why." The words tumbled out, bringing a harsh silence to the chamber.
Shukaku looked relieved as he watch Matatabi relax at the words. She had been under so much stress and pressure, that was the first time he had seen her relax in days.
"I believe you might Naruto-kun." The two tailed replied, a soft smile on her face. This week had been...hell. Pure unbridled hell. She had lost all forms of family, but maybe, possibly, hopefully, she had found someone lost once long ago.
"Matatabi! You can't seriou-"
"I do." The two tail cut off the bullheaded council leader. She could see the honesty in the boy, and his soul sang with pure unadulterated truth. He knew them. He recognized them, and not even as the council.
As something more. Something intimate.
Matatabi believed him. He may not be the exact same Naruto, but part of the unruly blond was there, buried in the boy. She was always gifted in the art of spiritual awareness. This boy...something spoke out to her about him.
"Gyūki...there has to be someway to make you see this isn't a trick or some false hope. He's here." Shukaku spoke softly. Everyone else seemed more or less on board with the idea. Gyūki was the only hold out.
As usual.
"What is your problem with me anyway Octo-pops?" Naruto asked, his eyes shutting slightly in annoyance. That guy had seemed against his very existence from the moment he walked in! Jerk.
Utter, deafening silence washed over the chamber, something that shocked and concerned Aijo and Kunou immensely. Kunou has never seen the council in this much of a tizzy, and it threw her. She was pretty sure she'd never seen them all together in the first place!
Aijo was more worried than anything. These people could very well kill Naruto, without much of a thought.
And the boy had gone and called one of the strongest there such a name!
"W...what did you just call me?" Gyūki sat down slowly, a longing, reminiscing look on his face.
Gyūki was a no nonsense kind of person. He didn't believe in coincidence or happenstance. He believed what he could see, shape, and mold. Anything aside from that, anything open to interpretation, was left for the birds.
But that name. That damn name.
"Eh? Octopops. Ya know, old dude that has octopus tentacles? I think it's pretty clever. Much better than how you called Shukaku. He's not a rat!" The blond started out slow, but quickly gained steam. No one insults his friends and of this jerk was gonna make a nickname for Shukaku well he was gonna get one right back!
Everyone else waited on baited breath. The council knew what that name meant to Gyūki, he had often talked about how their Naruto addressed his former host when they first got here. His death and their subsequent freedom left them dazed, and for weeks they simply camped out by his grave and reminisced what little they could.
Octopops.
A name that would never leave Gyūki, a name connected to the person that originally changed him for the better. His first friend.
Bee.
"I think it's pretty clear what this all is, when you think about it." Saiken spoke after a moment, leaning in her chair.
"So you were of the same thought? I was wondering if it struck anyone else." Son spoke, following along the same tangent.
"Well of course? What else could it be. Yeah, the man we knew died. That much is obvious, blatant even. But so have Isobu and Kokuō." Saiken replied like it wasn't a big deal.
Back in the Elemental Nations, they had never really feared death. Living for hundreds of years, each of them had learned that death wasn't something final for them.
They live, they die, the reform.
It seemed that carried over into this world as well.
"What you talkin' 'bout lady? Isobu is right there." Naruto pointed to the small boy, getting a wave.
"Yes he is, but I also remember him being killed in a conflict in northern Japan some years ago." Saiken replied, a knowing smile on her face.
"Yes. Perhaps eight or so years now hasn't it been?" Isobu replied, a thoughtful look on his face once more.
"But if you died...how are you here?" Naruto asked, confusion clear on his face.
The council all crossed eyes, each weighing if they should tell the boy or not.
That decision was swiftly taken from them.
"Think of it, as a form of reincarnation." Gyūki spoke, eyes still on the table. "When a member of the council dies, after a few years, the chakra we embody re-coalesces and the member is reborn."
Naruto felt his eyes widen at that. So...these guys were effectively immortal!
"That's awesome!" The blond shouted in excitement.
Several amused expressions met his outburst.
"Perhaps. Maybe for some it is amazing. For us, it is more an inconvenience. We are not reborn as we were. We are reborn anew. Growing, learning, struggling. We must age and grow before our memories come back to us. Two years for each tail." Isobu explained. He looked at Naruto calcultively, wondering if the blond understood his words.
"That...actually that kinda sounds like it sucks. What happens if you learn to be someone different as you grow?" Naruto spoke softly as the idea sank in.
What if you were treated poorly as you grew? Or weren't around the people who knew you? What if someone evil began teaching the higher level memebrs of the council throughout their 'childhood'?
Would they receive their memories and be different people?
Or would all that hate and anger over shadow the life they now remembered?
"Exactly. What if the other council members aren't around to help with the transition? What if one of the most powerful beings in the world is subject to cruelty and hate as they grow, and upon unlocking their powers, decided to slaughter their tormentors?" Shukaku spoke softly, eyes strictly focused on Gyūki.
The bull needed to understand that Naruto could possibly be a danger unless they helped shape him!
Because he believed Naruto, for whatever reason, after so many centuries, had been reincarnated as well.
"That's...awful..." Naruto spoke softly his eyes down cast. A heavy silence descended on the room, and for a moment, everyone just became lost in their thoughts.
"I'll do it then." Naruto spoke suddenly, his fierce blue eyes catching the Council off guard.
"Do...what exactly?" Shukaku asked, honestly confused at the strange outburst.
"I'll help you find your lost member! No one should be forced to be away from their family, and if they are raised by someone bad, you'll have to fight them right? That's not fair!" Naruto spoke forcefully. His answers would come in time, the blond rationalized to himself, family should come first!
The council looked at one another carefully. What was this kid talking about?
"That...is why you brought me here isn't it? The last member has to be a nine-tails like Yasaka-sama, Konou and me right? You want me to help find them and bring them home!" Naruto folded his arms resolutely, a firm nod leaving him.
To him, it made sense. While he might not be directly related to whoever the council memeber was, he was sure he could help in some way.
Laughter left Gyūki before he could stop it. A soft chuckle at first, that slowly built to a loud bellow.
Naruto seemed to take offense if his indigent expression was anything to go by.
"What's so funny Old Man! I just said I'd help you!" The boy yelled, a finger pointed at the Octobull in human form.
Gyūki took a moment to calm himself, soft chuckles still escaping him. He crossed eyes with Shukaku, and that was all it took for the One tail to understand.
"That's not why you were brought here Naruto-san." Gyūki started. "Though we do appreciate the help. We already have the Ninth member under our protection and are just waiting till they regain their memories."
"Oh...huh..." The blond replied stupidly. Not that he could be blamed. What did they want with him then??
"Tell me Naruto-kun. Have you every heard the legend of the Old Man of the Mountain?" Matatabi asked, a soft smile taking her face as she noticed the tension leave the defacto leader of their little group.
"Uh...not really the Old Lady didn't tell me many fairy tales. She said I should focus on important stuff like math and history." Naruto made a face here, lightly glaring at Aijo in the corner.
"And I was right! You're grades are still terrible!" The woman shouted from her place, shaking a fist at the blond. She growled lowly when Naruto stuck his tongue out at her.
"Be that as it may," Shukaku interrupted, "The Old Man of the Mountain isn't mearly a fairy tale. It is a vital piece of history for the Yokai people. It's the tale of how we all came to be."
"Every sect, every people, have their own origin stories. Yokai are just the same. It all started with a kind man, and the lovely view he thought Mount Fiji provided." Chōmei spoke, an easy smile on his face. Far and away better than the slightly mad one before.
"He breathed life into us from his power, and from us, the Yokai came to be. His strength and skill, his passion and kindness helped birth a whole new race, a strong, independent people." Son spoke passionately.
"And all too soon, he was gone from us. He who we could have called father, fading to the wind like a ghosting breeze. Taken by one who would see us abused for our power." Isobu spoke, melancholy clear and proudly displayed.
"But we never forgot the ideals he passed to us. The kindness he showed us, or the sacrifice he made for us." Saiken carried on, her chin resting in her hands, eyes shining brightly.
"We have tried to pass these teachings onto the next generations, preaching peace where we can, but strength in action when violence is the only resort." Gyūki spoke firmly.
"Yasaka is a direct descendant of that power. That kindness, just as her daughter after her. The Ninth member of our council was the one closest to the Old Man, and from that, she gained his ability to grant life and all of its forms." Kokuō spoke after, a soft gentle voice carrying throughout the room.
"She loved him. Wept for days at his passing. They were like lovers in their understanding of one another and she wanted nothing more than to express that love. Yasaka is the first, and only, pure Yokai born of that power and emotion. She is the culmination of heartache and sorrow, and she is the leader of Yokai because of it." Matatabi said, a small, sad smile on her face.
They were embellishing the story to all hell, but it was better this way. Too much for the boy too soon would possibly scare him away.
"We have dedicated our lives, our families, our friends to seeing peace be kept in the name of our Ninth and our Father. To the understanding they both strived so hard for. Our Ninth gave her life, saving this world from a mighty cataclysm. Until recently, she has been lost from this world." Shukaku continued, his eyes betraying nothing.
"I asked you here, because we want your help in protecting her. Protecting this world. Because on you, we see our father." Shukaku dropped the bomb.
Naruto stood stock still, a shocked expression etched into his features. This...this...
Konuo looked on in disbelief. She had never heard this tale told so heavily. So full of emotion and hope.
And they saw such a great man in this boy?
Why?
What made him so amazing?
Why did they all seem so sure?
"But...but that doesn't make any sense! I'm an orphan! A no body! How could I be related to...to a god?!" The blond boy shouted, not grasping what was being put before him.
Several chuckles met his declaration. "He wasn't a god Naruto-kun. He was a man. An orphan. And for a very long time, he was a no body." Matatabi smiled encouragingly.
"My Brother brought you here because he saw it first, but even I can see it now." Gyūki spoke up once more, leaning back in his chair. "You cast aside your own reasons for storming this chamber, all under the pretense one of our family was lost in the world." The tall man gave a rumbling laugh. "Only one other man has ever had the same compassion."
"Will you stay with us Naruto? Learn our ways. Learn our skills. Help guide our people as we have fought, and bleed, and killed to do?" Son asked imploringly.
Naruto cast his eyes around the chamber, and the only eyes that didn't looked determined to convince him were Aijo's if only because of her concern for him.
He didn't understand...he was no one. A kid in an orphanage...why was he being given this opportunity.
'Take it..' a voice ghosted through his mind, and sent a shiver down his spine.
'But...what if I mess it up? What if I do something wrong?' He asked himself back. This was so much, so much more than he could have ever expected.
It wasn't the answers he was looking for, but it was answers none the less.
'Have faith, just as they do in you.'
Naruto felt his body relax at the soft words, a firm look entering his eyes.
These people were asking for his help. For him to help them.
Of course he would say yes.
Naruto looked at the gathered council, a determined smile setting on his face. For the first time in minutes, he spoke.
"When do we start?"
The council couldn't have been happier.
-NGD-
A.N. Yo! Chapter is live obviously. Now I know a lot of people will find this whole chapter super fucky and disorganized.
I meant for it to be that way.
I want to express the chaotic nature of the situation, so I bounced around a LOT. I hope I didn't over do it though.
Next chapter will focus on the fanon events of the Neko-massacre. And Koneko and trope are introduced, so yay! After that, this story will completely veer off from where the other story went. I reworked the ENTIRE story line after that point, so yay?
Pairing is a little easy to guess, and internet cookie for any guesses on Kurama's identity AND how it ties into the story. Good luck with that, the identity should be easy to figure, anything else plot related will keep a good bit of you scratching your heads.
Again, that's intentional.
I think that's everything...any questions, just ask or comment!
DarkStar, Out.