The Woren of Uzu no Kuni

by Foxcomm

When Naruto turned eight, something began to happen. He changed, growing fur and a tail. 'What do you mean I'm a WOREN' rated T for language.

21. Chapter 20

Three years ago

—oo000oo—

Tobi walked through a ruins looking for something. He had seen it somewhere around here… Akatsuki was a lost cause now. His team of elite ninja couldn't handle a small group of warriors that hadn't even seen combat in a thousand years. It was a matter of time before Uzu no Kuni became familiar with war once again and when they did, nothing would stand against them. So, he decided to look for a power similar to theirs. He saw it once in this ruin, long ago, he just dismissed it as useless superstition. Now, after seeing the Uzumaki fight, he didn't think so. Finding the mural he was looking for, he went up to it and wiped it off. "…Kardis, the goddess…of all destruction and misery," Tobi muttered, reading what he could translate while beginning to grin under his mask. The power of a goddess, that was what he needed.

—oo000oo—

Present

—oo000oo—

It was supposed to be simple, it was just supposed to be a simple border patrol, they weren't actually supposed to find something! A small group of Iwa ninja huddled down inside a stone building, trying their best to hide, trying their best to remain unseen, wanting to disappear. They all flinched as they heard hideous laughing outside somewhere in this destroyed village called Kyoto. Whimpered in fear at a monster screaming her anger. Pinched their eyes shut at the howling cries of another. And shake in terror at the wailing screams of the last. Four of them, that was all there was. Four of them had almost completely destroyed three squads of ninja and were hunting the last of them even now. "HAHAHAHA!"

"Kami, they're going to find us," a genin muttered, tears falling from his eyes. "They aren't human, they're monsters!"

"Quiet," the only chunin told him harshly, trying to hold it together.

"We're going to die," the genin continued.

"Shut up," the chunin hissed.

"But they're…" The two genin and the chunin jumped as something dropped from the ceiling.

It started to rise, showing it was a woman in a banded armor and some kind of headgear that had four tentacles currently wrapped around her body. "Hahahaha," she laughed. "It's so funny," she told them. "People suffering, people hurting, people dying!" She pulled herself up, using the tentacles to hold herself above the ground. "It's so fucking hysterical!" Reflex was the only reason they were able to grab their kunai and hold it in a defensive stance. "Laugh," she ordered. "Laugh with me!" The genin that was losing it started to shake. "Laugh until you DIE!" The second genin couldn't take it and lunged at her. She twisted around, this way and that before diving into the darkness, seeming to retreat. They knew she wasn't.

Tentacles came out or the darkness, grabbing the attacking genin's legs, pulling him from his feet and into the darkness where the other two heard him scream before a great rip was sounded. Then the screams stopped.

"I'm getting the hell out of here," the surviving genin yelled while running outside.

"No you idiot! Don't go into the open," the chunin called, following him to stop him.

The genin got outside into the road and was going to run away when he heard, "CAW!" Another one came frying down from the sky on wings of steel in plate armor, clawed boots and gauntlets held to tear him apart. The woman almost got him when the chunin tackled him out of the way. "Give me your anger," she screamed. "Let it boil to the surface! Let your fury flow freely! Anger begets anger! Come on, show me your rage!" Hovering there above the ground, she glared at them before flapping her wings, throwing daggers from them. Covering the genin, the chunin knocked aside what he could before grabbing the genin and pulling him away.

Ducking into another ruined building, the chunin pulled a dagger from his stomach with a grimace. "We stick together," he nearly shouted. "If we don't, they will pick us off."

"I want to go home," the genin whimpered. "I don't want to be a ninja anymore."

The chunin looked at him with a frown, seeing he was almost completely gone. "You have to get it together," he said, shaking the boy.

"Found you," a low whisper came from behind them. Turning around, he saw a woman partly inside a metal wolf behind them. Though the head of the wolf was hanging down at the moment, it moved from side to side. She pressed herself to the back of the beast and the metal melded over her skin until she was gone and the wolf lifted its head once more. "Cry for me," she howled before jumping on the chunin, jaws spread as they went for his neck.

The genin ran outside even as the cries for help came from his fellow ninja. "Home! I want to go home!"

"Home," one of the women called. Octopus jumped and landed on a building in front of him, making him jump back in fear. "Laughing! Why aren't you laughing?"

"CAW!" Raven landed behind him, still raging and growling.

"Go on," Wolf said, landing to his left. "Let me hear you cry!"

The genin turned around and around, trying to watch them all at once. "Can you hear the screams," a fourth voice asked. "Howl, roar, from the very depths of your soul!" Around him the bodies of those he knew started to get back up and head to him, their weapons in hand once again, moving like puppets.

"Stay back," he cried, holding a kunai in each hand. "Stay away from me!" Hearing a thump behind him, he turned and saw the last of them, a woman that floated in the air, pauldron on each shoulder with three arms, holding a marionette in each hand. A light traveled from one of her puppets to him and he felt odd. In terror, he watched as his hands dropped his weapons as the others got closer and closer. Before they reached him, they stopped.

"Scream," the fourth woman shouted while the puppet reached for something on the ground, making him do the same. It was shards of glass. The genin was helpless as he picked them up and opened his mouth. "SCREAM!" The four of them watch him die.

—oo000oo—

Raikage Ē sighed as he listened to the offer being told to him. Ten magical weapons, swords that would resist dulling, breaking, and would cut sharper than a normal weapon without chakra could and only for the modest fee of a thousand Ryo each. This pitiful deal was actually one of the best he had come across so far. "Yugito missing and now this?" He couldn't let the weapons slip away yet he also couldn't justify the purchase. Moreover, what if they weren't magical at all? Ever since the Chunin exam in Konoha, everyone and their dogs were demanding magical items. But there weren't any! At least, none in the hands of the villages almost. He had heard word that Konoha had a collection and that a few villages had bought them from brokers like he was being offered. And yet…

"Trouble," a man with blue eyes, a suit, and long blond hair asked as he entered.

"Who are you," the weapon's broker demanded.

"Me? No one, someone, everyone," he replied before sitting down in the free chair. "Raikage, I have a riddle for you. You are fighting a battalion of men armed and armored with the greatest gear ever made. You can of course pick a few of them off and steal their equipment but for all intents and purposes, they are unbeatable. Kill one and they replace them with the same level of weaponry as the old."

"You are talking about Uzu," Ē guessed.

"You could call them that, yes. So, what do you do about this equipment?"

"Get to the point," the weapon's dealer growled.

The stranger chuckled and said, "You don't go after the weapons, of course. You go after the weapons maker. These…trinkets are but the lowest level of magic. Still enough to cut through a normal weapon but something like this…I know a mage could turn out this many in an hour or two."

"Interesting proposal," Ē replied. "But can you, or anyone, go through with it?"

The stranger smiled and said, "There are more than just those of Uzu no Kuni that understands magic. How much is he offering for these?"

"They are a thousand each and you won't find a better price," the dealer told him arrogantly.

"Oh? I disagree. Raikage-sama, what would you say if I say I can broker a deal with someone I know that will get you the same number of weapons, in any form you desire, a whole level of power above these for anywhere between the same price to half it."

"…I would say I am interested. I would then say I would have to inspect the man as well as the weapons before paying, bird in the hand and all."

"Oh, I assure you, Raikage-sama, you would not be disappointed. That is, if we are talking about it."

The dealer looked at him angrily and said, "Just who are you and this man you're talking about! You can't just come barging in here trying to undercut me!"

"My associate wishes to remain nameless and so do I for that matter."

"Enough," Ē told them both. "Alright, Nobody, you have my interest and agreement. But if this deal isn't legit or it cost more than what he is offering, I will make you pay."

"Oh, I assure you, sir, you will be satisfied. You've already seen some of his work."

"I have?"

"Yes. The massacre at Kyoto by the Four Beast." Ē nearly turned white at that. He had heard of that alright. Word has it four monsters destroyed a small village, making the civilians watch as they hunted down three teams of ninja. Invisibility, flight, killing people from a hundred yards without a jutsu, even making the dead get up and walk.

"You…are claiming that?"

"Me," Nobody countered almost curiously. "Of course not me. I am a deal broker, I just get people together. Sometimes they get along. Other times…they really don't get along."

"Was that just a demonstration, all those lives lost just to show off?"

Nobody kept on smiling. "I can't say, I didn't handle that deal."

"…Don't believe him, Raikage-sama," the original weapon dealer suddenly exclaimed. "Anyone can claim they did something like that!"

Nobody looked at him lazily before reaching into his coat and pulling out a small, jade spider. "Another example of my associate's work." Raising it to his lips, he blew on it and set it on the arm of his chair. The spider sat there a moment before twitching and jumping on the dealer. From beneath it, eight webs wrapped around him, locking him in place as the spider went to his neck. "The more the fly squirms," Nobody stated, "the more it draws the spider. Raikage-sama, would you like him to die? You could keep his weapons and still take a look at the ones from me."

"No, don…" A glob of web hit his mouth, muzzling him. He screamed into his gag pitifully as Ē thought about it.

"…No, let him live. I have seen his merchandise so he can get more if your offer is false."

"You are as wise as you are powerful," Nobody told him before picking the spider up, raising it to his mouth, and drawing in his breath, returning the spider to a statuette. "When would you like to meet with him and where?"

"A week from now. Would here in my village be acceptable?"

"…Probably not but I shall ask him. At the foot of this mountain is acceptable though."

"Very well."

"And what type of weapons would you like?"

"…I want one like the Four Beast as you called them."

"Whoa now, who said anything like those? This is only the first deal, Raikage-sama! You can't expect something like that already, especially with only a week to make them," Nobody told him. "That takes time, effort, and a significant amount of material. More traditional weapons, please."

Ē thought about it very carefully and smirked when he got it. "The Seven swords of the Seven Swordsmen of Mizugakure, to be precise the Kubikiribōchō. This blade is said to never need tending as it draws the iron from the blood of those it kills into it. If he can bring me a blade, even a dagger, of similar ability, I will not only believe him, I will commission him to make all the weapons and armor of Kumogakure."

Nobody rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Now we're talking." Getting up, he left the room, stopping at the door. "Eye," he said, pointing to his eyes. "Have," clenched his fist. "You," he finished, pointing the two fingers at Ē's eyes. He walked out and quickly left the village, easily losing the ninja sent to follow him.

—oo000oo—

Walking out into a sparring ground the next morning after returning, Naruto was still dressed in his new clothes, daggers at his waist with his saber. "So, think you can take your old man now," Rei asked him, standing across from him.

"Yes, Tousan," Naruto replied while taking hold of his daggers, blades down, and getting into his stance with his offhand forward and strong hand near his chin. The same stance Rei took up.

Walking into the clearing happened Din and Konan, unsurprisingly having another argument. "Listen feathers, I don't care how 'good' that book series is! Vampires don't sparkle and the only 'Team Edward' I will ever join is Team Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the IV!"

"You wouldn't know good literature if it smacked you in the face!"

"I'd rather read about bounty hunters than pretty boy vampires in books several hundred pages long talking about how good they look without a shirt!" Din was stopped from retorting when Konan grabbed her arm and made her look forward. Naruto and Rei were looking at each other with such an intense look that neither of them could believe it.

Suddenly Naruto ran forward, flipping a dagger forward to go for a stab. Rei gave a cross slash with his left, blocking it, while spinning to strike at his open side. Naruto leaned back, the tip just missing his clothes before giving a round house kick, forcing Rei back. Not giving him a chance to get his stance again, Naruto made a series of slashes, meant only to keep him busy. The blades hit several times, sparking with each hit.

Rei had to admit, Alucard did good work. He almost had to take this fight completely serious with Naruto. His blades dancing to block each strike, he wondered when Naruto would make his move and what form it would be.

Naruto gave a wide slash with his left, made a feint with his right before giving a tap to both of Rei's daggers with his left to push them aside. Not expecting him to do that, Rei widened his eyes an instant for he felt the slightest of pokes on his chest. Naruto had, in that moment Rei's guard was down, raised his right blade and made a stab for his heart, pulling back when the tip almost cut flesh. Backing up, Naruto held his blades up still while Rei sheathed a dagger and looked down at his chest, touching the spot in a bit of surprise.

"You've gotten good, Naruto," Rei said with a smile. "I guess I shouldn't underestimate you anymore. Again."

Naruto was still a moment before sheathing his left dagger as well. Crouching a moment, Naruto watched him carefully to see if he would make the first move but Rei waited. So Naruto took that liberty. Suddenly springing up into the air, he caught and came down, his blade in line to cut open Rei's chest. Despite how fast he was, Rei rolled backwards, coming away with only a cut on his cheek as Naruto's knife pushed into the ground. They began to circle, watching for a weakness in the other's stance before Naruto suddenly made a cross slash. Rei leaned back, made one of his own, followed by a stab at the center of his chest.

As Rei was off balanced from his attack, Naruto slashed again and brought the blade around to bring it upward with Rei just leaned back out of it. With a cross cut going the other way, Rei instead held his knife in its path, creating a spark at the daggers pushed against each other. Backing up, they circled once more before Naruto kicked a fallen branch at his grandfather. Rei knocked it aside and found Naruto coming in for another strike. Again blocking it, Rei found it more powerful than the ones before and fell backwards. Rolling to his feet, he saw Naruto also fell forward, do a handstand and flipped to his feet.

"…What all did he teach you down there," Rei asked him. "I don't remember you being this acrobatic." Naruto just smirked in reply but it quickly faded as Rei lunged in this time. Naruto blocked with his knife but found Rei already in another attack followed by three more. Naruto could only block and was caught completely open when after the last, Rei let the dagger go, caught it in his other hand, and slashed Naruto across the chest, drawing a fine line of red there.

Naruto touched it gently and focused on his father again. Coming in, he brought his knife up where Rei twisted to the side, caught Naruto's arm, and spun around to put the limb in a lock. Naruto tossed his knife to his free hand and swung for Rei's open side but Rei caught that arm as well. Pulling his arm free, Naruto spun around him and kicked Rei in the back, knocking him from his feet and losing his dagger. Naruto jumped on his stomach and tried to bring the knife down on his throat only for Rei to catch his arms and…

"Naruto, you baka," Konan said, giving him a kick to the side and throwing him off, rolling on the ground and hit a tree. "Were you trying to kill him!"

"Oi, Konan," Naruto groaned while rubbing his side. "…You don't actually think I would go that far, do you?"

"Sure looked like it," she replied as Rei got up and picked up his knife with a smirk.

"Naruto, you two were really going at it," Din told him, pointing to his clothes at the cut.

Naruto sighed and muttered, "Kuso." Shaking his head, he pulled back his sleeve, showing at least a dozen different spell runes. "Do you know how much pleading Tousan and I had to do to get outside in the open to spar? There is a contingency, tracking, teleportation, regeneration, protection, and a dozen other spells on me that Kaasan wouldn't let me go without! I'm grounded, I'm not about to do anything that'll get me in more trouble."

"He's right ladies," Rei said, wiping off his blade and sheathing it. "I was just checking his skill with a blade is all."

"That was a spar," Din asked incredulously. "You two looked like you were trying to kill each other."

"…Not hardly," Naruto growled. "I still couldn't make him take me seriously!"

"Oh," Rei asked with a smile.

"Don't 'oh' me," Naruto snapped. "No matter how hard I pushed, you always had that smirk you get when's you're toying with someone!"

"Well…you got me there," Rei said with a shrug. "Though you're a lot better than before you left Naruto. For a time, I thought you gave up on knife fighting."

Glancing down at his hands and the calluses gained from wielding Cutter, Naruto sighed. "Just needed a break I guess. Been focusing too much, Alucard-sensei was always teaching me things. Knives, axes, swords, chacrums, quite a few different weapons. Feels like I barely slept at times." Naruto wiped the blood off his chest with a small cloth from his pocket and muttered the magic word to make his clothes mend. "Taught me a few other things as well."

"Like what," Konan asked.

"Hmm, that…is a secret," Naruto told her as he headed home.

"Oh no you…" Konan went into a diving tackle into Naruto and missed but not because her aim was off, for the instant she would have hit, Naruto just wasn't there. "Don't," Konan muttered as she rolled to a stop and looked to him. Fresh sweat matted Naruto's fur from the effort of doing what he just did.

"Not this time, Konan," Naruto told her before pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out at her.

Rei smirked proudly at Naruto while Din gaped. In that moment, she felt Naruto give off a great deal of mana used for transforming one's body. "Naruto, what did he teach you to do," she asked in shock.

"Just a few tricks he learned from his father is all," Naruto told them before walking out of the clearing.

—oo000oo—

That evening, Naruto sat on the roof of his home looking up at the moon. The night was cool and seemed like the perfect time to practice something. Focusing his will, he sent a call out through the Weave. Alucard could do this with a blink, for the damphir, it required no effort to summon any of his many familiars. Naruto, while knowing the spell, couldn't practice it in the Underdark because no of the creatures knew he enough to create the bond. Here in Uzu, that wasn't a problem. Plus, the creature he wanted was special. Alucard's main familiar were bats, and he could transform into a bat. Naruto couldn't.

'Blood is the currency of the soul, Naruto. It carries everything a person is. If I willed it, a single drop of my blood could teach your body to do several things, the patterns to weapons the least of them. It will make you strong enough to survive here in the Underdark. Should you accept it, it will cut your training from years to months but you will never be the same again, Naruto.'

The taste of Alucard's blood came to his tongue once again before Naruto opened his eyes to see a raven land next to him, making him grin. "Hello…Skarmory," Naruto decided to name him. The raven tilted his head and understood that something important just happened. "Well, that's one thing down," Naruto muttered. "Still plenty to go."

—oo000oo—

At the foot of the mountain with a dozen ANBU guard, Raikage Ē stood and waited. It had been a week he couldn't honestly say he wanted over because he doubted that Nobody would come through with what he said. He just grabbed a cigar and put it in his mouth when there was three flashes of light. There stood Nobody with a sword on his back wrapped in bandages and two other men. If the restraints around their hands was anything to judge by, they were certainly not his bodyguards. "Ah, Raikage, right on time," Noboddy said with a smile. Seeing him about to light his cigar, Nobody said, "Please, let me. You never light a cigar with lighter." Snapping his fingers, a flame appeared at the end of his right index finger that he held before the Kumo leader.

Ē looked at him a moment before leaning forward and taking a few puffs. "So, Nobody, I take it that neither of these two are your acquaintance?"

"Course not, he wants to see how this goes first," Nobody replied while snapping his fingers to put the fire out. "This fellow here is Barry, Barry the Butcher. He's from the east, really, really, far-east. Say hello Barry."

"Hello Barry," the restrained man said with a helpless grin.

"Barry is a mass murderer," Nobody continued. "He was to be executed two days ago. I purchased him on the agreement that he still die. The other is Harv. I don't know if I need him just yet. And this is of course the blade you wanted. Since the original is a 'head chopping cleaver', my associate decided to keep the style going." Taking the blade off his back, he pulled off the wraps and showed it to Ē. It was a kitchen knife but this one was the size of a bastard sword. "No name, yet, this blade is of course magical, as if the red glow wasn't a hint. It has exactly what you asked for with a few extras. Obviously the light is one of them. At will, it will dim or brighten." The red light turned as bright as a bonfire before vanishing. "Second it's sharp," Nobody said before stabbing it into a boulder and stopped a foot from the handle. "And lastly, the ability to repair itself." Letting go of the weapon, Nobody did a roundhouse kick to the handle, snapping the blade at the boulder surface. Picking it up, Nobody said, "The magic is found in the hilt so as long as that is whole, the weapon can repair itself. Either by A, putting the pieces back together," Nobody said, putting a hand to the rock, then into the rock, and pulling the blade out a little where he held the two together. The hilt pulled the blade back to it and melded the two pieces back together.

"Impressive but that isn't what I asked," Ē told him.

"I know, just hang on a second," Nobody replied before breaking the blade once again. Walking over to Barry, Nobody said, "And here is option B." Without ceremony, Nobody stabbed the broken blade right into Barry's chest. Before their eyes, Barry began to turn into a mummy from all his blood being sucked out of him as the blade broke out his back. Coming to a tapered end, the sword was fully reformed so Nobody pulled it out, dropping the criminal to the ground. "Satisfactory guaranteed. Looks like I don't need to kill you, Harv, it's your lucky day."

"Not like it matters," the rugged criminal said, not really caring.

"So, Raikage, do we have an accord?"

"…Yes, we do. How much for that blade?"

"Hmm. First there is the supplies needed for it. Ten pounds of steel, half pound of wood, and a few other things, one criminal for the demonstration, time to make and shape and time to enchant. This blade is yours for the modest price of just a hair over five thousand."

"How big a hair," Ē asked.

"Heh, fifty five hundred for this finely crafted, oversized kitchen knife. Fifteen hundred dealer fee, one thousand for Barry, the rest goes to the maker. Oh, and this is non-negotiable," Nobody told him matter-of-factly. "If you want to meet with the man, say so."

"…First, I want to inspect that blade," Ē told him, holding out his hand.

"Of course," Nobody said as he handed it over.

Ē took it and did a quick test of the blade. The balance was rather good for its shape, surprising Ē, and it quickly became apparent that the blade was far from weak. With his regular strength, no chakra, he couldn't bend it, making him once more question just who Nobody was at being able to break it so easily. "Tell me, what's to keep me from keeping this now that I have it?" Nobody smirked and snapped the fingers on his off hand, making the blade reappear back in his hands. "Well now, that is a nifty trick. So are you going to do that after you get your money?"

"Course not," Nobody said before holding up his off hand, showing off a ring made from the same metal as the sword. "The ring and sword are bound together, snap your fingers on the hand wearing it and the sword appears in your hands, so long as it is within a mile. If you find the sword adequate, you need only hand over my money to keep it."

"…It is truly a fine sword," Ē admitted. "I expected nothing its quality from you, I freely admit. Five thousand, five hundred is a good price." Ē nodded to one of his ninja who took out a bag and started counting out money. They nearly didn't have enough to pay him with. Once Nobody collected the money, he kept twenty five hundred for himself and put the rest aside before handing over the sword and ring. "When can I meet the maker?"

"Right now," Nobody said before snapping his fingers once more. A flash of light and a man in a black cloak and an orange spiral mask with a single eye appeared. "Tobi, it is good to see you again. And I have good news, the Raikage absolutely loves your work. Here is your money, I have my money, and now that I've gotten you two together, I'm gone. Remember Raikage. Eye. Have. You." Saying that, Nobody grabbed Harv by the shoulder and vanished in another flash of light.

All of them looked to where Nobody had been for a moment longer before facing each other. "Well, Tobi is very happy to meet you," the masked man said to him. "Shall we talk business?"

—oo000oo—

For a week, Naruto had stayed at home except when given permission to leave and Deis was grateful for that. He did anything he was asked to do and never got upset and Deis was grateful for that too. But what Naruto hadn't done that she was upset about is talked to her about what happened while he was away. She could feel something did happen to him and that it physically changed him. The question was what was it. "Naruto," Deis said, standing at his door.

Naruto opened it, still in those clothes he picked up in the Underdark despite new, fitting clothes he favored before he left being given to him. "Yes, Kaasan?"

"I would like to talk to you about something in my study."

"Yes, Kaasan." Naruto followed her obediently into the room and remained standing while Deis took her seat.

"Go ahead a sit," she said after a moment. When he had, Deis leaned forward a little and voiced her concerns. "Naruto, I have been waiting patiently for you to tell me about what all happened down there in Suldanessellar and yet you have yet to say anything. For most of it, I am willing to continue to be patient but there is just one thing, Naruto, that I will not wait any longer for." Holding up both hands, an orb of shimmering light appeared in both. Visual representations of a person's mana. "I know just about everything that happens within Uzu no Kuni, Naruto. I was able to find the difference within you on that first day. Why has you mana changed from this," she held forward the mostly green orb, "to this?" The other sphere was turquoise with spot more green or blue than the rest of it. Not a significant change, it would have likely changed to that before Naruto reached old age. But that was after decades of his magic evolving.

"…Alucard-sensei helped me learn at a faster pace that just normal so that I could come home sooner."

"How?"

"He gave me a drop of his blood and it merged with my own," Naruto told her straight up. "I am still me, a woren, but a very small part of my blood comes from the lineage of the vampire Dracula."

"…Yes, I am familiar with the spell. Bleu did it with me long ago to jump start my magic. But she wasn't a damphir. What was the outcome?"

"I don't thirst for blood, I don't have any of the strengths or weaknesses of a vampire. I have their skills."

"Such as?"

"Transformations, mostly, I am also show a hand with their summoning familiars."

"What transformations?"

"Similar ones Alucard has. He could turn into a bat, wolf, and poisonous mist. I…can become a tiger, a raven, and mist but I don't have the skill yet to maintain them."

"I see… Alucard is a few thousand years old, I'm not surprise such powerful abilities were carried over with his blood. And beyond those?"

"The true purpose of it, my body learned to fight. As I went through the motions, I learned the moves and stances almost as soon as I made them. It came down to applying them."

"And since he knew an untold number of weapons…" Deis trailed off and Naruto picked it up.

"Alucard had to teach me how and when to use each of them," Naruto finished.

"…Very well. You are going to be busy for a few years, Naruto."

"I am?"

"Yes, he didn't pass unto you spell transformations but innate ones. Which means that I shall have to teach you how to truly withdraw them at will as well correct that summoning you did on the roof a few nights ago. That spell took too long."

"Yes, Kaasan."

"Thank you for telling me," Deis said as she stood up with a smile. Walking around her desk, she pulled him close, kissed him on the forehead, and rested her head on his. "Have I told you how I missed you and was worried?"

"Yes but I won't stop you from doing it again." She just hugged him and remained silent. "Kaasan, could you also show me how you fight? With that sword I mean?"

"Yes. It's been a few years since I've done something like that but I can."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I will get Naruto back to Cutter eventually so don't worry about that. This chapter was more of a buildup to what's coming. The Four Beast will be back, as will Nobody and Tobi.

See ya space cowboy.