Chapter 9: Meeting the kitsune clan.
A/N: Listen to 'Monody (ft. Laura Brehm)' by 'TheFatRat' before reading this chapter. Not necessary, but advised.
The world of kitsune. Right after Naruto arrived.
The room was dark (well, duh, it was night). A beautiful kitsune with silvery hair peacefully rested on her bed. Suddenly her emerald green eyes shot open.
"Ah~, you are finally here, Mahiro~" she giggled in anticipation. Then she put a finger on her chin and made a mildly thoughtful expression. "Or should I call you Naruto now?" she giggled again and snuggled into her pillow.
Back with Naruto. A few hours later (about 6 AM).
Despite it's being winter in Konoha, the world of kitsune seemed to be stuck in a perpetual summer.
"The sun just rose, so let's start. Come with me." Ryuujin said to Naruto, that was watching said sunset from the rooftop.
He, followed by Yuuki, led Naruto behind his house. There was about a twelve by eight meter clearing with a small pond on one side and a rock garden on the other. Both of them stood in the middle, naked above the waist.
"First attack me with taijutsu. No chakra," Ryuujin said standing in the middle of the clearing.
"How about sharingan?"
"You have sharingan?! How?" asked quite surprised Ryuujin.
"My father was half Uchiha," Naruto answered with a shrug.
"What's sharingan?" Yuuki incurred from her position on the porch. She was wearing a white yukata that reached to her mid tight with a black flower on it, tied by a simple black belt.
"It's a Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan. It allows us to see chakra and detect even the slightest of muscle movements and copy them perfectly," Naruto said activating his eyes, making Yuuki's mouth in a cute 'O'. "If the body is properly trained, of course," he added as an afterthought.
"Three tomoe already? Impressive…" mused Ryuujin. "However, I want to test your physical ability, unaugmented by anything," the old kitsune said after giving it some thought.
After hanyou deactivated his eyes, both fighters went into their stances. Naruto went into a relaxed praying mantis stance, left leg forward. Everything bent slightly less than in the proper stance, hands in front of his face, ready to attack, deflect or grab at any moment.
Ryuujin, however, went into ginga, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow.
'Sweet, I wander what variation of Capoeira they came up with.'
Capoeira was actually one of Naruto's favorite fighting styles, right next to Tiger and Mantis style Kung – Fu. He was also trying to upgrade Capoeira, making this fight that much more interesting for our hero.
"Are you familiar with our style?" Ryuujin raised an eyebrow of his own.
"In my travels I came across some people, who practiced a style with the same stance. I don't expect all your moves to be the same, however," Naruto smirked.
He has long since discovered that all the different styles in different worlds, practiced by humans (or humanoids) are some variations or combinations of our world styles. Some actually were a carbon copy.
"Watch closely Yuuki. This is where all the practice is put to the test," Ryuujin said, keeping an eye on Naruto.
"You were teaching her?"
"Yes, she showed quite a bit of interest to one of my morning routines and wanted to try it out," older (younger, actually) men answered with a kind smile.
"Well then, let's give her a good show," Naruto said, winking at Yuuki.
Ryuujin didn't waste any time as he quickly closed the distance with a high sweeping kick with his right leg. Naruto managed to duck in time.
'Sweet panty heaven! That would have cracked my skull.' A brief thought raced through hanyou's mind as he, without missing a beat, shot forward and slid his right leg behind both of Ryuujin's, before kitsune's foot hit the ground. Naruto then placed his right elbow and shoulder underneath older looking man's armpit and bent backwards. Somehow he managed to unbalance Ryuujin and throw him on the ground, quickly following with the punch to his windpipe. Before the punch connected, Ryuujin showed off some of his flexibility by throwing his knee in our hero's face. Which was blocked by the same arm… or attempted to, as Naruto flew a good three meters back, barely managing to put his other arm on the ground and flip to his feet.
This whole exchange didn't even take them two seconds.
"Would you consider holding back a little more? I don't feel like mending a broken bone every time I have to block one of your attacks," Naruto said with next to no emotion in his voice, holding his broken arm in place so it would heal faster.
"Sorry, you just surprised me there a bit. Using one of our moves like that…" Ryuujin said, standing up.
"Surprised you my ass, that first kick would have shattered my skull," our hero flexed his already healed arm. Before Ryuujin could counter, Naruto added, "And don't even try to make 'If you couldn't survive that, you have no right to be my granddaughter's summoner' excuse."
To be honest, that kick would have taken any normal civilian's head clean off.
That is when Ryuujin realized, what that heavy feeling in his gut was. He was worried. Worried that this man would harm his granddaughter, the only one left he held dear. The old kitsune was worried that Naruto would teach her inappropriate things or exploit her or consider her a tool. But above all, he was jealous.
Yuuki was lively and cheerful, but it was very hard to gain her trust. It took him quite some time to get to where he was, since he barely kept in touch with his family. Even telling young kitsune that he was her grandfather didn't seem to help very much. Yet here comes this hanyou and Yuuki already treats him as a childhood friend if not a brother. He, of course, knew about the special bond a familiar and a summoner shared. Upon making a contract a mental link is created. Depending on its strength the two could even talk to each other over great distances.
On a side note, that was also the reason why kitsune clan didn't have a summoning contract. Humans formed them with individual kitsune. Humans could form contracts with multiple kitsune; however the mental strain rendered that option highly improbable. The opposite was the same.
Before it was believed, that each kitsune held only one 'contract', that any human could 'sign' by giving them their blood, however, later a special ritual was made that allowed kitsune to form a contract again, without having the previous one broken. The first contract was the strongest, though, since it didn't require a ritual.
But let's back to the story.
Up to this point Ryuujin himself didn't realize what was driving him. It was rather embarrassing for him to admit, but Naruto easily saw through him. The fact, that he was about to make that same excuse hanyou mentioned didn't help his morale either.
"I… I must apologize for my actions," elderly kitsune said with a slight bow and some regret in his voice. However, when he straitened, he continued with steel in his eyes and a threatening undertone to his voice, "However, I must inform you-" but was cut off by a massive wave of KI bringing him to his knees.
"Don't try to play these games with me, kid," Naruto growled out. One could easily figure out that Ryuujin meant to say 'if you harm my granddaughter I will make you suffer' or something along those lines. "There is little more I hate than empty threats," he basically spat out.
Meanwhile Ryuujin had trouble breathing; he'd never seen anything more menacing than the amethyst light that Naruto's eyes emanated at the moment. Even the one covered by his bang could be seen thanks to that light.
But Ryuujin was more concerned about Yuuki. He turned his head to the porch only to find her completely unaffected, looking at him with curiosity in her eyes, wandering why her grandfather was kneeling on the ground. Then the KI faded and with it a dim glow on the perimeter of the training field slowly died down as well, revealing a line of seals.
"I set it up when we first walked in. It blokes everything except light, air and sound," Naruto said walking up to the kitsune and helping him up. Ryuujin already learned his lesson. "*sigh* you didn't even realize that your emotions were impacting your judgment," hanyou said with some disappointment in his voice.
Naruto's last line as well as the tone of his voice sent Ryuujin into a flashback.
(Flashback – 346 years ago.)
A young looking man with spiky black hair fell on his back and slid a few meters on the wooden dojo floor, his training sword stopping to the side of him.
"Again you let your emotions impact your judgment," said Ryuujin's older version, albeit with a Hyuuga style haircut. Younger kitsune could hear a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "You could have easily avoided that strike if you weren't so eager to land a hit of your own."
Only sound coming from Ryuujin as he picked up his sword was a quiet 'tch'.
"*sigh* listen, I'm not telling you to get rid of your emotions, that would only hurt you in the long run. All I'm telling is that you must learn how to separate one from the other. If you don't, it wouldn't only impact your swordsmanship, but might get you in some serious trouble some day."
(Flashback – end).
'Looks like it did come back to bite me in the ass,' Ryuujin briefly thought with a nostalgic smile. Then he remembered what he saw earlier.
'That barrier… It was set up for Yuuki…'
"Yes, yes it was," Naruto confirmed kitsune's thoughts with a grin™.
"You can even read minds!?" Ryuujin took a step back.
"When you this close, like an open book."
Then Naruto turned serious again. "Look I'm not saying that you should trust me (I would be really surprised if you did). But Yuuki is my familiar now and you can't do anything about it. For what it's worth, I swear to not harm her in any way."
"Thank you, Naruto-dono. And I am sorry," kitsune said with a bow, much more sincerely this time. He already realized that Naruto was much more than a simple wandering soul, like he thought originally.
"Apology accepted," Naruto said with a small snicker. "Let us continue with our spar, shall we."
And continue they did.
Kitsune style did resemble Capoeira quite a bit; however it had some moves from Judo as well. Even the occasional bits of Jiu – Jitsu were present, judging by how easily Ryuujin managed to escape or reverse Naruto's pins and joint – locks. But what mostly surprised Naruto is that some break dancing moves were incorporated into the style as well. He was actually trying to do so himself for a while.
But back to the fight.
Naruto attacked him using every bit of experience he had but the power and speed difference was simply too great. It doesn't matter if you fought hundreds of life or death battles, it doesn't matter if you can predict your opponent's every movement, it doesn't matter if you have IQ over 400, if you're fighting against someone, who overpowers you 10:1 in every other aspect the only thing you can do is stall as much as you can. It wasn't a complete beat down; Ryuujin actually suffered some damage. Most of his hits were glancing but he managed to land a few solid blows. After nearly seven minutes of continuous fighting Naruto's HP was dangerously red (10% or below) and Ryuujin's was barely down by 2%.
"So… how did it feel to beat down someone half your size?" Naruto was lying on the ground, panting heavily but grinning™ none the less.
"You're a slippery little fox, I give you that," Ryuujin said with a smile. "I haven't had this good of a fight in ages."
Despite all that Naruto did manage to avoid or escape every lock Ryuujin tried to put on him.
"Mine was a little over fifty years ago."
"Did you win?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" Naruto answered with a small laugh. "That place was either kill or be killed and then try again until you succeed."
"How is that possible?" Ryuujin was confused.
"I'll tell you some other time," Naruto said with a sigh. "We'll have plenty of time to share out war stories."
"Let's rest, then I'll test your kenjutsu."
After they replenished their HP and stamina, Ryuujin led Naruto to the armory. He had a surprisingly large collection of different bladed weapons from both European and Asian countries. There he took a flamberge, which actually surprised Naruto. Our hero, on the other hand decided to go with the flow and made a scaled down version of a long sword.
"What, are my weapons aren't good enough for you?" Ryuujin said half jokingly.
"Actually they are of an amazing quality, but the only thing that would fit me right now is a pair of daggers, and I'm not fighting a flamberge with daggers of all things."
"Then why are not using that ninjato of yours?" kitsune said, indicating a sword lying next to Yuuki.
"I'm simply choosing the same style of weaponry," our hero shrugged.
Ryuujin momentarily frowned, but decided to just roll with it.
"Whatever you are comfortable with."
Naruto stood at one side of the training ground. His sword in front of him in a defensive stance, guard to the right of his face, blade pointing downwards diagonally, shielding him. Ryuujin on the other hand held his flamberge high, guard to the right ear, blade pointing straight up.
All the weapons Ryuujin had were made for combat, not for training. This time the result was just slightly better than the last time. Naruto managed to bring Ryuujin down to 95%.
The kitsune was beyond impressed. He considered his kenjutsu to be leagues above his taijutsu. Apparently the same could be said about Naruto, because Ryuujin found 90% of his blows evaded, 7% parried and only 3% landing and even then leaving nothing more than lightest of wounds.
The fight lasted for slightly more than twenty minutes. Which was beyond ridiculous. Both of them had to take a few breathers to regain their stamina. The fight would have ended sooner if Ryuujin didn't hold back, but he already got a pretty good idea of Naruto's strength and speed and wanted to test out his swordplay.
To give you all an accurate representation of a sword fight, or any other fight in general, since I'm sure you are used to anime fighting, I'll rant here a bit. In real life there are no slow motions, no instant replays or dialogues in the middle of the fight. And there sure as hell is no blade grinding with two dudes looking at each other like they are about to engage in the angriest gay make out session in history. Your classic sword fight consists mostly of calm and calculated movements in preparation for an exchange. Said exchange rarely lasts above five seconds, consisting of one attack, all other blows being counters and counters for counters and counters for countering counters and so on and so forth. By the time one of the fighters disengages both of them are unharmed or one has a wound. And nobody sure as fuck isn't talking, that shit will fuck up your rhythm. As much cliché as it sounds, blades do all the talking.
After they regained their HP Naruto said in a nostalgic voice.
"It's been over two hundred years since I've encountered someone who's as good of a swordsman as you are."
"You flatter me Naruto-dono," kitsune said with a smile.
"What are you talking about, jiji. You won, right?" Yuuki asked from the porch. He was watching them fight and was quite mesmerized by the level of combat they displayed.
"It's true that I'm the winner of this fight, Yuuki. However, that is only thanks to my superior speed and strength. If those parameters were equal, I would be lying on the ground, defeated. In terms of pure skill Naruto-dono has me beat."
"Who's flattering who now," Naruto chuckled, bringing himself to a sitting position, most of the wounds already healed. "Throughout my journey I encountered only three… beings who posses such skill with a sword. You are the fourth. How old are you Ryuujin?"
"I'm 357. I took up a sword when I was 11. From a human's point of view at the time I looked about 18 or so," kitsune in question raised an eyebrow, but answered none the less.
"I'm 1058," Yuuki had to pick up her jaw from the ground. "I took up a sword when I was 112," Naruto continued, after smiling at an amusing sight. "Throughout the years I picked up different swords, different styles and trained under the best swordsmen in their respective worlds. My last teacher was a being that created the first sword and fought with it for millennia. Before humans even knew what fire was. He actually had a flamberge as well," our hero said with another nostalgic smile.
"What happened to him?" Yuuki asked quietly. Weather it was the special connection between master and a familiar, or just her gut, but she knew, that something happened to that… being Naruto was talking about.
"We fought in a duel and I killed him," Naruto simply said and before anyone could speak, added. "We simply ended up on different sides," hanyou shrugged.
"So trust me when I say," Naruto looked Ryuujin in the eye, "you are a master swordsman."
"That brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask. Why do you need my training, since you are just as, if not more skilled than I am?" he asked.
"To broaden my repertoire, of course," Naruto grinned™.
"That is… quite a valid reason actually," Ryuujin rubbed his beard.
"The next question is…" he suddenly grew more serious, "… why?"
Naruto just smirked. He easily understood what Ryuujin meant by that.
"Figured you would catch that…"
"Catch what? I don't get it," Yuuki asked with a pout.
"Catch the fact that I'm not 'one with the sword'," as our hero said that, making air quotes, his familiar made that kawaii as fuck head tilt.
'Curse you, kawaiiness of foxgirl magic!'
Moving on…
"It is said that swordsmiths put a part of their soul into each blade they forge. This gives said blade life and a personality. A true swordsman doesn't use a sword, he… cooperates with it. A sword and a swordsman are partners, not a tool and a user," our favorite Great One started his explanation. "To 'wield a sword', to 'be one with a sword' is to feel its life and be in tune with it," he continued with more air quotes. "That what your grandfather and his sword are – partners," hanyou said, gesturing at Ryuujin. "I, however, see them nothing more than simple yet beautiful tools of war. I do acknowledge that they do 'come alive' in the right hands, but I would never form a close relationship with a weapon," he shrugged. "This, however…"
As Naruto started saying that, he held his hand forward and a black horizontal line appeared in front of it. As it widened some more vertical lines spread out from it. When it was wide enough for hanyou's hand to go through, he stuck his wrist in and pulled out a longsword. It was pitch black, two snakes circled the cross guard and its tip was broken off at about 40° angle. It also had a slightly narrower than normal blade with multiple small and one big chipping in it.
"This is what I call a living blade." As Naruto finished his sentence, the black sword started to heat up. In a matter of seconds it was glowing an angry read, air around it started to shimmer wit heat.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Yuuki asked, eyes glowing with excitement.
"Yes, it's reacting to foreign energies in the air around us. He never felt them before, so he's ready for battle and is alerting me of danger."
"Isn't your hand hurting from the heat," young kitsune asked, concerned.
"No, he doesn't burn its wielder. But be sure that if anyone else touches it, their skin will be scorched instantly. This sword reached the stage of an artifact, when he truly is alive," he said, stroking the sword's guard with his thumb.
Due to Naruto's actions, the sword seemed to calm down. As it did, it started to bend in a snake like motions. It moved its tip towards Ryuujin and then towards Yuuki. Both of them watched the sword move, mesmerized by its motions. Yuuki's hand slowly reached for the blade. Naruto was too preoccupied with calming his sword down and getting it accustomed to his new body, so he wasn't able to act until it was too late.
The sword lashed out at like a whip at the outstretched hand. Naruto noticed the movement and swung it back. Unfortunately it wasn't enough as it managed to leave a cut on Yuuki's palm.
"Fuck!" Naruto swore. The cut was really shallow, barely a scratch, yet it didn't diminish hanyou's concerns in the slightest. He willed the sword back to its original state and drove it into ground. No one noticed or cared that it sunk into hard earth as if it was butter. "Give me your hand!" master ordered and familiar complied without a single thought.
"What's wrong? It's just a scratch…" asked Yuuki. "I had plenty of those," she said as Naruto took her hand between two of his and they became surrounded by a golden light. It was unlike anything they saw before; the light was so bright and pure…
"Oh, trust me, it's not just a scratch," Naruto answered as few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Then he started to sing.
The song wasn't your normal one; it was mostly sounds of a calm, warm summer breeze, birds singing happily, of water running in a clear new spring. It was so light and peaceful that all the tension seemed to leave the listener's bodies. Sometimes they could have sworn they head a quiet yet powerful voices of a chorus singing. Any words that they managed to hear, they couldn't understand. At times they couldn't hear anything, but Naruto's mouth continued moving, signifying that the song continued.
After about two minutes Yuuki felt a tingling sensation in her palm, as if something was moving in it. Both kitsune watched with wide eyes as a tiny black fogy snake the size of a fingernail crawled out of the cut and, rising into the air, disappeared twitching in agony. After that the cut quickly closed without leaving a mark.
Naruto sighted in relief. "*sigh* well, that took half of my life force, 90% of my stamina, a good chunk out of my chakra and-" before he could finish, he was forced to stop by coughing out some blood. "-and a bit of my HP as well.*sigh*"
'And that's precisely why I adapt my body to alien energies every time I come to a new world. Too bad I can't do it until my body is fully grown.'
"Master, are you all right!?" Yuuki asked, taking a step towards our hero.
"She's already calling him that…" mused Ryuujin, absentmindedly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Naruto waved dismissively. "Thank you for your concern, Yuuki," he added with a smile, making her blush.
"What was that?" older kitsune asked.
"The dark or the light?" our hero asked in a laconic matter.
"Both."
"Ok, I'll start with the light then," Naruto said. "It's quicker to explain."
All three walked to the porch and sat there.
"What you saw is a healing jutsu available only to angelic class beings and higher." He started. Naruto decided to replace the word 'spell' with 'jutsu'.
"You are an angelic class being!?" Ryuujin almost jumped in surprise.
"Actually, I'm a step higher," Naruto said, pointing up. Ryuujin just held his head and tried to suppress a whine. "I'll tell you about it later, Yuuki," he added, sensing her confusion.
"Why do you even need me…?" Ryuujin said softly.
"Hey, I need to train up this body, you know. You saw what that simple heal did to me."
"Simple…" Ryuujin whined on the verge of tears.
"Yeah. I always try to recreate all the jutsu I know in every new world I come to. Unfortunately, I can't always do that. So then all that is left for me is to adjust my current body to work with alien energies, since I still want to use all the jutsu I know. This body was simply not used to it and thus the reaction you saw happened."
"Wouldn't it be better if you just got your body adopted to use your old jutsu instead?" asked the older of the two kitsune.
"Actually, the funny thing is that most of my jutsu come out stronger than they were before. Adding a new type of energy to the mix can help me get rid of an annoying side effect, increase my casting speed, or just make the jutsu outright more destructive, as well as giving me more room for experimentation," Naruto stated, grinning™, with his finger up.
"So that black thingy you pulled this sword out of is the one you recreated?" Yuuki asked, still looking at the blade like a five year old at the shiniest toy car ever… with lights… and sounds…
"Actually, it doesn't channel the necessary energy through me. It's more of a gateway to my personal storage dimension that opens on command by a certain ass supervising my actions."
[I heard that!] his voice came from the sky.
"I know you did, that's why I said it in the first place, you ass!" Naruto shouted back up.
[And here I thought I was going to give you some info on the others…] he tried to make his contractor to regret his actions.
"Yeah, right. You never tell me about them," and failed miserably as said contractor just snorted.
[Touché…] the voice faded.
"What was that?" Ryuujin said, shaking slightly.
"Ah, just one of the True Gods," Naruto waved dismissively.
Seeing as how the elderly kitsune is about to have a mental breakdown, he decided to continue with his explanation.
"And now for the dark part," our hero said, walking towards the sword and effortlessly took it out of the ground. "What you saw is the reason why this weapon is the strongest one in my collection."
"As you saw, he is a living entity able of thought and self motion," as soon as the sword was in Naruto's hand, it started to move again. In turn Naruto swung it angrily and it took its straight state again. He moved towards the centre of the training ground, twirling the sword in his hand. The blade slowly shrunk to his size.
"Blocking, parrying and in most cases dodging this blade is useless. He will simply bend and hit you anyway. Not that he needs to, as he can cut through pretty much any armor. Even ethereal one or scales of a dragon part before this blade like paper," as Naruto finished his sentence, he swung the sword again. This time a deep trench was formed in a shape of a three meter circle all around him. "It can also extend up to three meters."
"The smallest of cuts will leave the deadliest of poisons in the wound. It's not a chemical poison, so there is no antidote. Also, it's quite slow acting. On average it will take about five days to kill a normal man. The poison takes a form of a black snake that will grow as it crawls along the blood stream," he said, swinging his sword a bit, getting used to it again. "The wound will never heal and you will feel constant dull, throbbing pain from where the snake is. Once it reaches your heart, you are dead. The only way to cure it is what you have seen me do. So no one in the elemental nations is able to save someone poisoned by this sword." Naruto's motions grew more refined as both partners adjusted to each other.
"He is also a unique artifact, hating light and darkness equally, thus he deals damage to anyone and anything. There, of course, are other artifacts that can do the same thing, but this is the only one created with that exact purpose." Naruto started to fight an invisible enemy.
"Oh, and he didn't lash out at you because he didn't like you or anything. He's simply never been around a being like you before, so he wanted to taste your blood," he said sparing Yuuki a brief glance.
A song started to play in Naruto's mind (the 'Monody'). He didn't move to the beat, instead his movements became much more fluid and seemed to… slow down. Although both kitsune watching didn't think even for a second that he slowed down for their sake. All sharp edges and turns became fluid, flowing motions, perfectly merging into one continuous dance of pure death. The tip of the blade started to heat up again, causing it to leave red traces in the air.
"He is the first sword forged by the forces of light. One day he fell into the hands of the dark side and since then he was reformed countless times, each reforming making him slightly darker. It happened so slowly, that the sword himself didn't notice it. He was a whip, a staff, a dagger, even a ring. In each form he drought death and took many lives. But all those reformings are just a part of a journey. In the end he is and always will be a sword. However, now he is his own opposite… A sword of darkness."
Grandfather and granddaughter couldn't take their eyes of Naruto and his sword. They were completely mesmerized by this dance of the serpent. Meanwhile hanyou continued his story.
"But even now, after becoming his opposite self, he can't stand absolute darkness. Even while we were fighting on the dark side, he couldn't stand lies and betrayal. Odd, but quite common duality…" Naruto's lips were graced by a nostalgic smile, as if he was remembering words spoken to him long ago.
That is when something even Naruto didn't expect happened.
Ryuujin and Yuuki both were sitting on the porch, watching the dance, when Yuuki suddenly stood up and started to sing in a most beautiful voice imaginable. (2:48 in the song)
"Summer in the hills,
Those hazy days I do remember.
We were running still,
Had the whole world at our feet,
Watching seasons change,
Our roads were lined with adventure.
Mountains in the way
Couldn't keep us from the sea.
Here we stand open arms,
This is home where we are,
Ever strong in the world that we made.
I still hear you in the breeze,
See your shadows in the trees,
Holding on, memories never change…"
For the first time in centuries Naruto was caught off guard. Not just by Yuuki, but also by the fact that Machiko sang with her in perfect sync. He was positive that neither of them have ever heard the song before.
'Holly hell…' Naruto was so dumbstruck that he couldn't even come up with a witty 'Holly *insert random words here*' phrase that he usually does.
{"Have you heard this song before?" Naruto asked in a serious tone.
"No, I haven't. This was the first time," answered Machiko, slightly confused as well.
"How did you know what the lyrics are?"
"I don't know. I… just did…?" biju wasn't sure herself.}
The answer, however, seemed to satisfy our hero.
"Uumm, where did the music go? It was so nice~" Yuuki said with a small smile.
"What music, I didn't hear anything," Ryuujin grumbled, slightly annoyed that he had no idea what was going on and why Naruto was so surprised. But the hanyou in question seemed to quickly regain his composure.
"So you actually heard that," Naruto muttered to himself. "How did you know what the lyrics are, Yuuki?" he asked his familiar.
"I… don't know. I… just did…?" Yuuki didn't really understand it as well. Again Naruto was satisfied by her answer.
"Wow, the odds of finding two beings who can listen to the Silver Wind are lower than the odds of this universe collapsing on itself within this millisecond…" our hero sighted.
"Ok, would someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? Why Yuuki was singing and what is the Silver Wind? And did you say two beings?" Ryuujin asked irritably.
"Answering in order. While we were playing around," Naruto said referring to the dance, "I had a song playing in my head. I have perfect memory, so I can recall any event without problem. This song hand only a few lines, which Yuuki sang. They only started more than half way through the song, so that's why she didn't do anything beforehand. As to why…" hanyou sighted. This was going to be a long explanation. "Some works of art are made in a way that sends shivers down your spine. Not in fear or anything like that, but because of how great they are." At that Ryuujin nodded in confirmation. He did indeed encounter such things before. "Those works of art touch your very soul," Naruto continued. "This brings me to your second question. Silver Wind, is the wind that blows in the realm of souls. It is a realm where souls get stripped of their memories before they can be reborn again. Silver Winds travels between souls and remembers everything that touched them. Those who are in tune with the realm of souls can hear the Silver Wind. The beat of music, the lyrics of the songs and poems, the images of paintings and sculptures and other great creations live in the Silver Wind. There currently are only twenty three beings in existence that I know of that can hear it. Three of them being me, Yuuki here and Kyuubi," said Naruto, pointing at his stomach. "Beings like us are extremely rare and just as dangerous. We know what can touch souls and can exploit it," he said with a grin™.
Ryuujin shivered while Yuuki put on a smile that would make Joker hang himself out of jealousy.
"But, more importantly," our hero said, suddenly growing serious, "We are the only ones that can 100% handle immortality."
"What do you mean by that? Aren't there other immortals?" Yuuki asked.
"Sure there are a bunch of immortal beings, but it doesn't mean they will never get tired of living," Naruto shrugged. "Very few beings in existence are actually able to 'survive' immortality. Most immortals are rather childish (trust me, I've met enough of them), and they age rather slowly. But they do mature and some of them will eventually get tired of life," hanyou waved his hand as if swatting away a fly. "And then there are those that can handle living forever. Technically, any being capable of somewhat complicated thought process can have that mentality. Sure I can get bored, or lose my patience, but there will always be something for me to live for…All those, that can hear the Silver Wind have that mentality."
"I'm awesome!" Yuuki exclaimed, jumping up.
"Yes. Yes you are," Naruto said, petting her on the head, earning a happy purr.
New quest: training with Ryuujin
Main objectives:
-Master Kitsune style taijutsu
-Master Kitsune style kenjutsu
-Master Seireijutsu
Bonus objectives:
-Increase trainings effectiveness
-Augment Kitsune taijutsu
-Teach Yuuki what Ryuujin can't.
Rewards:
-300 exp per main objective
-500 exp per bonus objective.
When Yuuki ran back into the house for some breakfast, Naruto stopped the grandfather to ask him something.
"Why was Yuuki alone in the forest, starving to death?"
"Oh, believe me, I tried to find her. But she, despite standing out so much, is nearly impossible to find unless she wants to be. I actually just got back from a five day search when you came," Ryuujin replied politely. "Was she really that bad?" he asked with worry.
"Yeah… her life force was really low. If I hadn't given her some of my blood, she would have died. And I sure as fuck do not regret it." The last part was said with a laugh. "She ran away before?" it was more of a statement than a question, but Ryuujin answered anyway.
"Yes, it was her fifth time since entering the academy. And she would never let me deal with it…"
"She mentioned that she was bullied because of her hair, yet they are quite long (I'm pretty sure uncut, even) and seem to be taken care of quite frequently…" hanyou let the question hang in the air.
"She still remembers how her mother enjoyed brushing it. That is one of her happiest memories, yet she feels like it's the root of her problems at the academy. Odd, but quite common duality…as you've put it," Ryuujin finished with a smile.
Naruto chuckled.
"That is one of the three main reasons why he's still with me. We share the same duality. Other two being that he likes me and respects me."
"Respects?" the kitsune raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Naruto chuckled again, but it was somewhat menacing this time. "After all, I do have a higher kill count than he does…" he let that statement hang in the air for more effect. It worked, as the man could clearly see a shiver running down the kitsune's spine.
While the three were walking towards the main village, the famous kitsune curiosity struck again.
"I was wondering, why would someone with such mentality pick up a sword in a first place?" Ryuujin asked, quite dumbfounded.
"To confuse the shit out of everyone, of course," Naruto said with a grin™. Anticipating their question he added, "This might be unexpected, but I'm really more of a ranged fighter. I don't really like getting close to my enemy. I prefer decimating the battle field with my ridiculously powerful ninjutsu. Sometimes I use a bit of genjutsu as well. Now imagine," he said raising a finger. "A guy pulls off some high level ninjutsu. You would immediately suspect, that he sucks in CC. Then said guy pulls out a sword and slices through everyone that managed to go through his previous attack. The element of surprise is strong with this kind of situation. The opposite also applies."
"What do you mean by that," pale kitsune asked.
"Ok, imagine this situation. You are fighting someone in tai or kenjutsu battle. They clearly see, that you are superior in skill, so they try to gain some distance to use ninjutsu. And that would be the last mistake they make. Nobody expects a CC fighter of that caliber to fire out A and S – rank ninjutsu like they are going out of style," he finished with a grin™. "This is also the reason why I'll be teaching you ninjutsu as well. The primary one being that you'll also need some ranged attacks."
"You'll teach me ninjutsu!?" Yuuki jumped up and down, excited.
"Yes," hanyou chuckled. "But not before you increase your chakra control."
Yuuki pouted. She hated doing control exercises.
"Don't worry; I know a lot of different interesting ones that they don't teach you at the academy."
Yuuki was still a bit skeptical, but decided to trust her master.
"Well, I can definitely see the benefits of your strategy," Ryuujin muttered to himself.
Ryuujin's house was near the side of a mountain range, surrounded by a forest. They had to walk for about half an hour around the mountain to reach the village that was located on the other side. As the trio walked out of the forest, the village came into view. It surrounded half a relatively round lake, taking a shape of a half moon. Naruto could feel some uneasiness from Ryuujin, but none from Yuuki. In fact she seemed quite happy and content with going to the academy again.
"Not worried going back to the academy?" Naruto more stated than asked.
"Why should I after what you told me," she answered with a cheerful smile.
"What did you tell her?" Ryuujin asked, only now picking up Yuuki's unusual behavior.
"Oh, nothing much," he waved a hand in front of his face. "Just a little confidence buster."
As they started nearing towards the academy a few young foxgirls noticed their approach and apparently decided to greet Yuuki.
'A typical cool kid and her posy.' Naruto thought to himself. 'This will be fun…'
"Hey, whitey," The leading kitsune greeted rather arrogantly. To that Yuuki retaliated with a simple wave, smile and just two words.
"Sup, bitches," she said cheerfully.
All the girls plus Ryuujin were left gaping. In the meantime Naruto was trying his hardest to suppress his laughter, wanting to see what will happen next. Machiko, however, didn't have that restriction, if the sounds of laughter accompanied by her fist pounding on the coffee table where any indication.
"Hahaha, I can't believe it, she said the exactly the same thing I did to the girls I didn't like, Hahaha," Machiko managed to say in between laughs.
"Now, now Yuuki," Naruto patted her on the head. "I believe the appropriate word here would be 'vixens' not 'bitches'." Naruto instructed his familiar with a raised finger and barely suppressed laughter. After the words left his mouth he heard a loud 'thump' in his head.
"Did you just fell of the couch..." Naruto sweatdropped.
"Hahaha, that is, haha, word for word, Hahaha," if Machiko was in the real world, she would have probably have already choked on her laughter. "the exact, haha, same thing my father told me, HAHAHA," after finishing her sentence, Machiko just went into 'laughing her ass off' mode.
"Huh, good point," mused Yuuki, making Machiko's hysteria only louder. "Hey, what's wrong," She waved her hand in front of the other girls face.
She received no response. The posy was in similar state.
"I think you broke them," Naruto chuckled. "Oh, well. Let's go to the academy. I want to speak to the principal before classes start," he said, dragging Ryuujin who was in a similar state as the other kitsune present.
After leaving Yuuki at her classroom and receiving a couple of curious glances, Naruto and recovered Ryuujin went to the principal.
The Japanese style building had just one story and was rather spacious. Not surprising, considering the number of kitsune in the village was hardly over two hundred. While they were walking, the elderly kitsune warned our hero.
"The principal can be rather… eccentric at times, so don't be surprised by anything."
Naruto simply nodded, taking his words into account.
Principal's office was in the back middle portion of the academy. There was no nameplate on the door. Only 'Principal's office' was written on it. Ryuujin knocked and a rather upbeat female voice said to come in. Naruto swallowed heavily.
'That voice… No. Fucking. Way.'
Behind the rather fancy table sat emerald eyed, silver haired beauty with her hands resting on her hands.
"Oh, yes fucking way. Naruto-san~," she said in an upbeat voice, clearly ecstatic to see him.
"Nyaruko…"
Omake: curious kitsune.
"What's with all the songs?" Machiko asked one of those days.
Every time Naruto meditated some melody played in the background. With or without lyrics.
"Before I tell you anything, answer me this. What class do you think I am?" Naruto asked, grinning™ as usual.
"Mage," she answered without hesitating even for a second.
"Now, what mages do?"
"Experiment, cast spells," she answered with a shrug.
"And what do spells require?"
"Chants or incantations," Machiko furrowed her brow. "But there is no way music can replace those, each one need its own words. I heard the same song play through multiple different events, each time having a different effect…"
"You are half true. Spells do not need specific words, just a specific way to channel and weave the energy. Chants provide said words for better focusing on a specific weaving. However, if you have enough focus and/or experience, you do not need them."
"Then that brings us to my first question…"
"But… you can never have too much focus. Physical distractions are covered by a thick robe, or a special training to disregard all external stimuli. Sound, however… Sound is more difficult. Sporadic noised of fighting and dying with occasional animals thrown into the mix. All that is really distracting. Human brain has an interesting ability, though. It can filter out constantly repeating sound, no matter how loud."
"Music…" Machiko said in realization, causing her husband to smile.
"Exactly. Music cancels out the unwanted noise and in turn is canceled out by the brain. It gives me nearly perfect focus."
"So that's why you seem so much more over powered when the music is playing." Kitsune said with a smirk.
"Precisely. To be honest, I discovered it by accident," hanyou scratched the back of his head.
"You just wanted to look cool, didn't you," Kyuubi deadpanned.
"Yep," he admitted shamelessly.
Next time: The history of Uzumaki.
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Lvl: 8 (exp – 1400/1500)
Age: 8 years (physical), 1058 years (mental), 4 years (spend in 'Naruto' world)
HP: 2850
CP: 8700
SP: 2196
LF: 2505
VIT: 285
STR: 216
DEX: 111
INT: 870
WIS: 870
INS: 1012
SPD: 141
Perks:
Gamers' contract: you remember all your incarnations, perfect memory, RPGescue GUI in all worlds, granted mental time freeze,
Great one: INS cannot be lower than 1000, WIS cannot be lower than INT, change In form successful 100% of the time, +100% to effectiveness in all sensory abilities, granted ability to consume/enslave souls of lower life forms, ability to reach perfect control of all natures, all physical drawbacks are canceled,
Ashura's chakra: +10 VIT every lvl, +50% to team's morale, +50% to team's exp gain.
Uzumaki – dominant: +100 LF every lvl, +5 VIT every lvl, +5 STR every lvl, +5 INT every lvl, ability to reach absolute mastery in fuinjustu (max lvl 5), chains, +50% to effectiveness in all sensory abilities, red hair,
Namikaze – recessive: +5 SPD every lvl, +1 STR every lvl, +1 DEX every lvl,
Uchiha – recessive: +2 SPD every lvl, +1 STR every lvl, +1 DEX every lvl, Sharingan,
Preteen: LF is stable,
Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko: +100 LF every lvl, +15 VIT every lvl, +15 STR every lvl, +100 INT every lvl, enhanced healing – in combat - 10 HP/s, out of combat – 100 HP/s, total immunity to all genjutsu below A – rank, ability to sense emotion,
Hanyou: got at lvl 3 - +5 VIT per lvl, +5 STR per lvl, +5 DEX per lvl, +5 SPD per lvl, enhanced healing – in combat - 40 HP/s, out of combat – 400 HP/s, 9 tails (they represent how much of Kyuubi's chakra is under your control), sense of smell x1000, night vision, enhanced sight – up to x10, enhanced hearing – up to x10, chance of successful transformation 10% (bonuses – chance of successful transformation 100%).