Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?
A mysterious place
"Interesting" said Orochimaru as he finished hearing Kabuto's report "Very interesting."
"How would you like to proceed Orochimaru-sama?" asked Kabuto.
The report Orochimaru had heard from Kabuto explained everything that happened on the day of the tournament, it was certainly surprising Orochimaru had never expected something like that to happen.
"I've never seen or heard someone do something like what you describe" said Orochimaru thinking about his next move "Tell me Kabuto does the test subject he took away, know about you?"
"We never crossed paths while she was in Manda's familia so I believe she doesn't know about me." answered Kabuto curious in what Orochimaru was thinking.
Orochimaru smiled "Good" said Orochimaru "I want you to get close to this adventurer and learn more about that red cloak you mention. It might be what I've been looking for all this time."
"I understand. I met him back in Suna so getting close will not be hard" said Kabuto "I'll report again once I have more information."
"I only need the boy so if the girl becomes a problem you are free to eliminate her in a way you find convenient" said Orochimaru.
"Understood" said Kabuto turning around and heading outside to prepare for his mission.
"A red cloak that appeared mysteriously and gave him enough strength to defeat the troll effortlessly" said Orochimaru to himself as he went over the report again in his mind with a growing smile "Naruto Uzumaki. You might hold the answer I was searching for."
Gyuki's office
Gyuki had waited patiently for Kurama to calm down before he continued; after all he wasn't done explaining the red cloak to Kurama.
After half an hour Kurama finally calmed down and Gyuki continued.
"Do you want me to continue with my explanation on the cloak?" asked Gyuki just too make sure Kurama still wanted to hear what he was saying.
"Yes I want to know what that is and what it does, if it happens again I don't want Naruto to be in the dark." said Kurama returning to normal.
"Ok then, now I'll explain the second appearance of the cloak" said Gyuki as he proceeded to explain the events on the suna tournament all the way to the troll attack on the street that made the red cloak appear.
"Right as the troll approached and Naruto jumped in front of you a light appeared form both of you and then it enveloped Naruto turning into the red cloak" said Gyuki.
"A light came out of me?" asked Kurama not remembering any of that.
"Yes I believe the moment the light came out is when you felt unconscious" said Gyuki "In any case, this led me to believe that the red cloak cannot be achieve alone"
"What do you mean?" asked Kurama not understanding.
"I thought you would have gotten it by now" sighted Gyuki "The light that came from you is what makes the cloak possible."
"OH! I get it" said Kurama understanding "Then you need a god and an adventurer to get the cloak."
"At least in theory" said Gyuki "I'm still studying that. It has also appeared only on situation where both the god and the adventurer are in danger that might also be something that's needed but I'm not sure."
"So what do you know about the cloak?" asked Kurama seeing that this didn't gave her much information.
"Well the red cloak grants a huge power boost to an adventurer for a short amount of time, with it even a level 1 adventurer can defeat really strong monsters without much effort" explained Gyuki "But it seems to have a cost, every time the cloak has been used the user falls unconscious as soon as the cloaks disappears."
"And Naruto stayed unconscious for two days" said Kurama "If that were to happen in the dungeon he would be as good as dead."
"Maybe but I have another theory" said Gyuki catching Kurama's attention "Mito didn't stayed unconscious for as long as Naruto, so I think there might be something else in effect."
"Mito didn't fought the troll head on until she had the cloak, Naruto got hit multiple times by the troll that could be it" said Kurama.
"Maybe, but who knows I would need to see it again to know for sure." said Gyuki.
"In any case that's all I know about the cloak" said Gyuki "Got any questions?"
"No I don't think I have any questions" said Kurama "It was really helpful I think I understand this thing a little bit more. But there is one thing; we need to name it something 'red cloak' just sounds dumb."
Gyuki sighted as he had expected Kurama to say something different but he had to admit that she was somewhat right.
"Well since it seems to need a god to function and the only one that has made it appear until now is you, how about 'Bijuu cloak' for the name?" asked Gyuki
"I would have liked Kurama cloak better" complained Kurama "But I guess Bijuu cloak is good enough."
Gyuki laughed a little bit at Kurama's comment and then continued speaking "Now that we seem to have finished talking about the cloak let's move to other matters."
"Like what?" asked Kurama not knowing what else Gyuki wanted to talk about.
"That sword is not free" said Gyuki pointing at the sword.
"What but you said you would give it to me so that I could give it to Naruto on Suna" said Kurama surprised.
"No I said I would give you a discount" said Gyuki "A really generous one by the way."
"How much is it?" Asked Kurama deflated.
"A normal sword bill instead of a special one so it will only be 50000 Ryo" said Gyuki "Or you could do me another favor."
Kurama's ears perked up when she heard she could get out of paying "What favor?" she asked.
"Is really simple" said Gyuki opening one of his cabinets on his desk and taking out silver bracelet with some markings on it "take this and wear it for a while"
"Only that?" asked Kurama surprised that it was this simple "There must be something else in this."
"Yes, there is" said Gyuki not even making an effort to hide it "I'm studying magical items and I'm studying this particular seal that might be able to make a protective barrier of some kind, but I don't want any of my members to wear it until I know it's safe and won't harm them."
Magical items were dangerous things to play with; if they were made correctly they could be even strong enough to kill a floor boss in one hit. But if they were just slightly defective anything could happen. The most common effect from a defective magic item was that it just didn't work at all it was just a normal item with some strange markings that did nothing.
But that was the calmer of the effect a defective magic item had. Some could amplify damage on the wearer or have a totally different effect that was not expected. It could even explode and depending of the size of the explosion hurt or kill the wearer.
For this reasons any new magic item was tested a lot before being used in the dungeon.
"So you are making me test it" said Kurama understanding where this was going.
"Exactly, I'm glad you could understand" said Gyuki with a huge smile on his face. For some reason, that smile only made Kurama think that he knew it wasn't safe and that it would hurt her in some way but she didn't have the money to pay for the sword and she didn't want to use Naruto's money since she wanted this to be some kind of gift so she had no choice.
But being a goddess the worse that could happen was that it hurt a lot for a while and then she would be fine, even if it exploded.
"Fine, I'll wear it" said Kurama "How long do I have to wear it?"
"Until something happens, it could be anything" said Gyuki "Maybe a huge bolder flies out of nowhere and the bracelet activates and it protects you or maybe the bracelet activates on its own while you are home and explodes, who knows"
"That didn't do anything to make me feel more comfortable with this" said Kurama taking the bracelet.
"Don't worry, the chances of it exploding are almost none. I know what I'm doing so I think it works perfectly but I still want to test it" said Gyuki "Anyways as soon something happens come to report back to me."
"Ok then is that all?" asked Kurama.
"I believe that's all you can leave if you want" said Gyuki grabbing some papers that were on his desk that he had ignored for some time.
"I'll head back home then" said Kurama standing up and heading for the door with the sword in her hand "By the way, thanks for everything you've really helped me a lot"
Gyuki looked up to respond but Kurama was already gone. He waited a little while to make sure she was gone for sure and then he placed the papers back down.
"Luckily Kurama knows nothing about magic items or else she might have noticed that the bracelet was not what I told her it was" said Gyuki to himself "But I was honest on one thing, it does needs testing and I hope it works, if it does it'll open a new door in the exploration of the dungeon."
Meanwhile - Ichiraku's pub
Naruto and Hanabi decided to stop to eat before going back to report to Kurama-sama about the day in the dungeon, Naruto had to admit that he wasn't particularly excited to tell her that they almost died… again.
They had been lucky that Haku and Zabuza passed through there and saved them, who knows what, would have happened if they hadn't been there.
"We should probably not say anything about today to my sister" said Hanabi "she would just worry more."
"I think you're right" said Naruto "But we do have to tell Kurama-sama and that's not going to be fun."
"Luckily you have to take care about that" said Hanabi smiling which didn't amused Naruto.
Soon enough they were at the working place of Hinata, the Ichiraku pub. Naruto kinda missed this place while they had been in Suna he was glad that they could come here today.
Once they entered they found out the pub was full it was apparently the busiest time of the day, right now most adventurers were coming out of the dungeon and this pub's proximity to the guild made it a great place to hang out after reporting.
With a little effort Naruto and Hanabi managed to find a table and it didn't take long for Hinata to come and take their orders.
"I'm so glad to see you two today, but I'm a little busy right now so I can't stop and chat for long" said Hinata "Sorry."
"I can see" said Naruto seeing around "Don't worry we just came to eat"
"We can talk later anyways" said Hanabi.
"So the regular?" asked Hinata to which both Hanabi and Naruto nodded "Ok be right back." And with that Hinata went back to her work.
While Naruto was looking around he noticed a familiar face that was walking towards them, it was Kiba. Naruto wondered if he was here for the bet, after all it was still not decided who won.
"Good to see you're doing alright" said Kiba sitting in the same table Naruto and Hanabi were "The last time I saw you, you were in the hospital."
"That troll back in Suna was rough" said Naruto "I'm just glad I didn't die."
"You have to tell me who you did that" said Kiba "You killed a rock troll despite being level 1. The rumor has spread like while fire."
"I've heard" said Naruto "I heard something I cheated somehow or I made all that happen just to look cool or something, but both Kurama-sama and myself were almost killed, I would have never done something like that."
"I know you wouldn't, you were barely a rookie you could have never come up with something like that" said Kiba. "And I was there as well, I saw you both almost die, I don't believe you would have done that yourself."
"Good to know someone else believes me" said Naruto smiling a little bit "even if you call me a rookie at the same time."
"So will you tell me how you did that?" asked Kiba excited "Who you defeated a rock troll being level 1?"
"I don't really know" said Naruto slowly "It just happened, I don't even remember much of what happened yet."
"Come on you must at least know a little bit, you got covered in that red cloak after all" insisted Kiba.
"Naruto-sama really doesn't know anything" interrupted Hanabi "not even Kurama-sama knew anything of what happened."
"Have you tried asking your familia god, he might know something of what happened" said Naruto.
"Nah Enma-sama doesn't know either; all he said was that he vaguely remembered something similar happen in the past, but he couldn't remember exactly when."
"Well no point in continuing talking about it then" said Kiba standing up and pointing towards Naruto "Also don't forget about the bet we made, this time it stayed undecided but I'm sure we'll resolve this someday, Naruto."
With that Kiba walked out of the pub probably heading back home.
"I think that's the first time he doesn't call me rookie" said Naruto thinking about it for a little while.
Later that day – Kurama's apartment
Even though Kurama had spent most of her day on Gyuki's forge and office she had managed to arrive at her apartment before Naruto. She came to the conclusion that this probably was because the exploration on the dungeon took longer and longer each time Naruto went deeper into the dungeon. From what she knew getting to the boss floor took almost 22 hours and that was just reaching him, which was why must adventurers that are heading to the boss floor make sure to go well prepare.
That was one of the problems with exploring the dungeon, it took too much time. That was the main reason the books that have information on the started having less information the lower you got, no one that went that low did it for investigation proposes. The gods had tried finding a solution to the problem, from trying to dig direct paths down the dungeon, to even trying to make some kind of teleportation magic but nothing worked.
The holes they dug just repaired themselves over night and no safe way of teleportation had been discovered yet, the closest they got was a jutsu that allowed them to move a small object to somewhere around 10 meters from where it started.
"I hadn't thought about it but if Naruto keeps getting stronger and stronger he will go deeper and deeper into the dungeon and soon enough I won't see him for several days" said Kurama at loud to herself "I wonder how Hashirama made to floor 80, that may have taken months, how did he carried all the supplies he needed?"
"That's one of the unsolved mysteries about Hashirama" said Hanabi from behind Kurama "No one really knows how he did it."
Kurama jumped and turned around surprised not having heard Hanabi enter, when she looked behind her she noticed Naruto had also entered without she knowing.
"When did you two get in here!?" asked Kurama surprised.
"Just a second ago, we didn't want to interrupt you while you were talking so we waited a little bit" said Hanabi.
"And don't worry Kurama-sama I'm still not strong enough to go really deep into the dungeon, we learned that today" said Naruto.
"That's a relief" said Kurama until she thought about it a little bit "Wait what do you mean you learned that today? Did you almost die again!?"
"Well you see…." said Naruto nervously "We headed to the new floors we can access now that I'm level 2 and we weren't prepared at all."
"We almost died to some hellhounds" said Hanabi bluntly.
"But we did kill a Minotaur" added Naruto quickly before Kurama could say anything.
"How many times do I have to tell you to be careful Naruto!" said Kurama angrily "You worry me too much!"
Naruto looked down in defeat, he didn't wanted to keep getting in near death situations since he always made Kurama worried, he had also promised to not die until he accomplished his dream of becoming the greatest adventure. Maybe going to the dungeon blind was not the best idea if he wanted to keep that promise.
Kurama sighted and then spoke again "It's partially my fault this keeps happening I shouldn't be so hard on you" said Kurama.
"It isn't your fault Kurama-sama, I just go way to fast without knowing what's forward" said Naruto.
"No it is my fault, I told you to focus on armor and to not get a weapon yet just because I wanted to be a little selfish and give you this present as your first weapon" said Kurama taking out the sword she and Gyuki made and showing it to Naruto and Hanabi.
It took Naruto a few seconds to process the situation since it he hadn't expected anything like that to happen.
"You got me a sword as a present?" asked Naruto a little shocked looking at the sword.
"Yes, it's something I've been working on for some time now" said Kurama embarrassed.
"That design" said Hanabi as she examined the sword in Kurama's hands "That wasn't made by any old blacksmith was it?"
"No, it was not, I asked Gyuki for help" admitted Kurama "After some convincing he finally agreed to make a sword for Naruto."
Kurama then extended her arms showing the sword to Naruto who looked at it for some time and then looked up at Kurama's face, Kurama just smiled and motioned for him to grab it.
"That must have cost a fortune" said Hanabi as Naruto grabbed the sword and held it in the air as he examined it.
"That's the best part, Gyuki gave me a huge deal and I basically got it for free" said Kurama with a huge smile in her face as she clapped her hands "All he asked was that I had to help make the sword."
"You made this sword Kurama-sama?" asked Naruto surprised.
"I only helped; Gyuki did most of the work. He already had several things prepared and we just finished it today" said Kurama.
Kurama had actually been surprised when they had entered the forge; Gyuki had prepared a lot of different things they would have needed to make any kind of weapon beforehand. He had even made prepared several blades for all kinds of weapons, which had been the main reason they had finished the sword in a day, that and that chakra helped a lot in the making of weapons and god chakra was a lot better. With god chakra you could make any kind of weapon in no time and it would be at least of decent quality, as long as the person making it knew what he was doing and Gyuki really knows what he's doing when he's making a weapon.
"I'll hold this sword close to me then, I won't let your effort be in vain Kurama-sama" said Naruto.
"I'm telling you I only helped. Gyuki did all the work to be honest." said Kurama embarrassed.
"What's important is that you were involved in the making of this sword" said Naruto "And that's important to me."
"In a-any case" said Kurama blushing a little and turning around "I don't want to hear that you got almost killed again. Now that you are level 2, have a jutsu and you have that sword, you should have no problems for a while."
"Now I'm sure we won't have any problems" said Naruto looking at the sword in his hand "I can't wait to try this tomorrow."
The next day – Konoha dungeon floor 12
Today the dungeon felt a lot easier than normal, Naruto attributed that to the new sword he had. He was still learning how to use it since he had grown accustomed to the knife because of that they had agreed to stop at floor 12 but since they had reached it faster than expected they had stop there for a while and just wandered around the floor looking for monsters to kill.
"This is so much easier with this sword!" said Naruto to Hanabi as they defeated their third Orc that day.
"It should be now you have more range and it's also sharper than what that knife would have ever been." said Hanabi.
"I'm still learning to use it and I already feel a lot stronger than before" said Naruto swing the sword in front of him "Just wait till I learn to use it for real"
"If you wanted to accelerate the processes you could look for someone to teach you to use a sword" suggested Hanabi "Maybe that guy Sasuke he looked like he could handle a sword."
"I'm not asking Sasuke to teach me, it would admitting I'm a rookie to him and Kiba" said Naruto "I'm going to show them that I'll be the greatest adventurer and that I don't need their help to survive."
"But maybe looking for someone to teach me isn't a bad idea" added Naruto "After all that could be really helpful. Maybe I should also read a little bit about the next floors, it would help us survive easier."
Hanabi stopped immediately after Naruto said that with a dumbfounded look on her face, she then tried pinching her arm.
"Am I dreaming?" asked Hanabi "Naruto-sama just said that he would read about the next floors and not wait until we're there."
"What!?" said Naruto a little offended "Is just that I don't want to break my promise to Kurama-sama and get killed. So I thought that maybe I should be a little bit more informed."
"Yep I'm definitely dreaming" said Hanabi turning around and walking the way they came from.
"Hey Hanabi…. Where are you going?" asked Naruto running behind her "Wait for me, don't go around alone, you'll get in trouble!"
Decided to end it there, tell me what you thought. Sorry for the delay but I still don't have much time to write.