Chapter Four: Passing the Torch


"Ugh, what?" Ben groaned as a call woke him up. He was barely able to get out of bed to see Azmuth was standing there in his doorway with a worrying smile, as the Galvan normally showed two emotions, neither of which were joy. "Can't it wait til morning?"

"He's made his decision, Benjamin."

That was enough for Ben to be wide awake. He was barely dressed as he was hopping out the door to follow Azmuth, not forgetting to grab a briefcase that contained what they had been working on earlier that day.


Naruto watched as Ben and Azmuth came into the office, and he wasn't really surprised to see the sleep in Ben's eyes as he entered. It looked like Ben had just woke up a few minutes earlier, in fact.

"So, Naruto, you've come to a decision?" Azmuth asked, hopping onto the Hokage's desk.

"Yes, Azmuth. I accept."

Ben nearly did a fist pump, but refrained from it. "Excellent," Azmuth replied, looking at Hiruzen. "Is this okay with you, Lord Hokage?"

"It is, when Naruto chooses to do something, he puts all of his heart into it." Hiruzen acknowledged. Azmuth then looked at Ben, who smiled.

"Naruto, go with Benjamin while I have a word with Lord Third about the conditions of your new journey."

Naruto didn't argue and walked with Ben out of the office and into the streets of Konohagakure.

"What made you accept the offer?" Ben asked, knowing how unsure Naruto was just yesterday.

"Someone wanted me to steal a scroll for them. It's a scroll that contains secrets to our village. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, our entire village could be destroyed. Thinking about that, it made me think about how the Omnitrix, it could do that on a larger scale."

"You know, that's pretty smart."

Naruto chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of his head. "So, you wore it before, right?"

"Yeah, sure did. You're looking at a bona fide Omnitrix veteran." Ben gave a thumbs up, and saw how amused that made the kid. "It's a lot, the responsibility of it, but it can be a lot of fun too. I was a couple years younger than you when I first found it."

"You were ten, right?"

"Yep. I was on summer vacation with my Grandpa and my cousin. We were camping when I took a walk. A shooting star appeared in the sky, but... it actually wasn't one. It turned mid-air and came right at me, almost hit me too. After it crashed and the smoke cleared I found a small pod in the crater. It had this watch in it. Craziest looking watch you'd ever see in your life, I'm telling you. I went to touch it and it jumped onto my wrist. Tried getting it off, but it wouldn't."

"That sounds scary."

"It was, especially being a ten year old kid in the middle of the woods. Once I calmed down I ended up accidentally activating it, and transformed into one of the forms in it."

"How many are there?"

"When I first used it, there were ten. However, there's millions of DNA samples in the Omnitrix, from species all over the universe."

"Alright, how many will I have starting off?" Naruto asked, as they approached Ichiraku's.

"Same as I did, ten. It's better for you anyway, so you can get become used to their abilities and master them. You'll get more as time goes on."

Naruto seemed content with that answer and didn't pry more on that subject.

"Am I really going to be protecting the Earth?"

"Hopefully, it never comes to that, but if it comes to it, yes... you will be. That's why I said it's a lot of responsibility. Regardless of what you or anyone else might think, I honestly have faith in you kid."

"Really? Why?"

"Like Azmuth said, you're a lot like me, and I can see it."

Their stroll through the village was peaceful, and Ben had to admit it was kind of nice to see it like this, since he could just roam it for the time being. "So, what does the Omnitrix look like?"

"About what you'd expect of a watch for the most part. The original one I had, it had more of a bulky look to it, if I could describe it that way. Black and grey in color. Had a gray dial in the middle like a watch face. The plate is in the shape of a green hourglass. It's actually the intergalactic peace symbol. Circular tubes on it. I got a couple photos of it from when I was ten, so I'll show it to you sometime. When I was fifteen it recalibrated, and the shape changed to where it looked more traditional. Had a green wristband, slimmer and sleeker shape to it."

"Which one am I getting?"

"A new one. Azmuth made it specifically with you in mind. The Omnitrix actually got destroyed, the original one. Afterwards I had the Ultimatrix, it did everything the original did but it had a function that allowed you to evolve the forms to a more powerful state. Azmuth had been working on a new one and gave it to me, making the Ultimatrix obsolete. I wore that new Omnitrix ever since, until the day I got injured."

Naruto listened intently, unaware of the rest of the world. Hearing about the Omnitrix was fascinating to him, it was something he couldn't get enough of.

They talked for a while, Ben talking about what it meant to wear the Omnitrix, and that Azmuth wasn't normally one to willingly just hand something over without getting proof of them being worthy of it, so that alone should make it clear that Azmuth was a hundred percent serious about this offer.

Naruto felt his stomach growl and knew he was hungry, but had no money on him for Ichiraku's. "Hey, you mind if we swing by my place so I can get something to eat real quick?"

"Sure."

As they got into Naruto's apartment, Ben was appalled by the sight of it, even thinking that any version of the Rust Bucket would be a million times safer to stay in, even if the RV was destroyed.

Ben sat down on the couch as he heard Naruto rummaging through the cupboards, and the sound of water coming out of the faucet followed. A couple minutes later Naruto sat down across from Ben with two cups of noodles, to which he offered one to the man.

"Thanks," Ben took the food, and noticed something seemed to be on Naruto's mind. "What are you thinking about?"

"It's just, what kind of injury did you get that made you stop wearing the Omnitrix?"

Ben pursed his lips, but obliged with the request, showing off the scar on his stomach. Naruto nearly choked on his food, wondering how Ben even managed to survive it. "Whoa..."

"Got it during a fight. I was transformed as one of the aliens I call Four Arms. I underestimated my opponent. They sent their arm right through me, and to add insult to injury one of their abilities were fire, so I think you could figure out what they did afterwards."

This added a level of reality to the Omnitrix. Even with a device that could make you into a powerful alien, you weren't invincible. "Wait, didn't you say that your injuries as an alien didn't go back to you when you turned back?"

"Originally, that was the case. But when it was recalibrated, well... Humongousaur got injured, and when I turned back, I had the same injury. Azmuth was never able to explain why it suddenly changed, but I'm guessing there was some sort of safety filter in the Omnitrix that was taken away when it got updated. Which is why, it's gonna be important that you don't screw around with the Omnitrix. It's a tool, not a toy. I learned that the hard way. It only allows you to be an alien for ten minutes, but it can be a valuable tool that can change the tide of one of your fights."

"So, not a toy, got it." Naruto pouted, rather disappointed he wouldn't get to be some fast alien and prank all of his friends that way, but he got over it pretty quick. "What's the plan, then?"

"Well, when I was your age, I tended to ignore my studies and play the hero a lot more. If I had paid attention to what I was doing, not just in class, but everything, I could have done a lot more."

"Studies? Ugh, I already graduated from the academy and now you're telling me I need to study more?!"

"Just because you graduate from one school doesn't mean you stop learning, Naruto. You say you want to be to recognized by everyone in the village and become the Hokage? That means you need to focus on making yourself better."

"I train."

"You're going to be training on multiple fronts, though. You got your ninja training. Then you need to be spending your free time studying what you already have. Lord Third has seen you training your kunai skills and chakra control, but more so than any other you'll have to study for the Omnitrix, and I'll teach you everything I know about each of the aliens you have at your disposal."

I think I could do that, Naruto thought to himself. His face developed a slight frown, until Ben smiled and motioned at the briefcase he had beside him. "I almost forgot. If you're gonna be the new me, you need something a bit better than whatever the heck that is," Ben mentioned, motioning at Naruto's bright orange outfit.

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Dude, you're a ninja... ninja shouldn't have that flashy of an outfit, no offense. While I don't think changing the colors should be that dramatic, it should be toned down a bit."

Opening the briefcase and turning it to face Naruto, he was greeted by a brand new outfit, one with his clan symbol showing prominently on the back. He had to admit, it was an improvement. "Wanna see how it fits?"


Naruto looked at himself in the mirror. It was a strange change, alright, but it was one he took gladly. The orange jacket and pants were replaced with dark blue cargo pants with multiple pockets, with an orange stripe running down the sides of his legs, and a primarily black jacket with a green stripe running down the left side of his chest. He had on a black shirt, and on the back was his clan symbol. Naruto liked it, but to top it off he wasn't wearing his sandals anymore, but special combat boots that wouldn't affect the flow of chakra through the material. To top it off, Naruto had fingerless gloves he could choose to wear, although to be perfectly honest he would probably just go without them, and he had his hitai-ate.

"What do you think?"

Naruto couldn't help but smile. "I like it!" he knew it was definitely an improvement over his last outfit.

"Good. Now, we better get back to the Hokage's office because Azmuth should be ready with the Omnitrix."

"Wait, so you don't have it?"

"No, you think Azmuth would give up the chance to present the latest Omnitrix to its next user?" Ben asked.

"I suppose not, he seems like he'd be persistent about it."

Ben nodded and the two decided to get going, after finishing their ramen that is.


"Looks like Naruto's taken to the role already," Hiruzen beamed at the sight of Naruto's new outfit as he walked in with Ben to see Azmuth next to a small metal pod.

"Perfect fit, as I suspected," Azmuth mused. Naruto chuckled at the alien's remark.

"It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

Less of an eyesore than that orange jumper. Hiruzen thought to himself, although he shook his head in agreement.

"Alright, Naruto. Are you ready for it?" Azmuth asked, softly, much to Ben's surprise.

"Hey, now you're rubbing it in that you like him more than me," Ben whined lightly gaining a look of amusement from the Galvan. "Oh you sneaky little..."

"Shush, Benjamin. Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head yes, and Azmuth reached into the pod and pulled out a watch. It wasn't much different than Ben's last watch. It had the same squared shape and color scheme, with white and green. The faceplate was black, with the original Omnitrix's hourglass symbol on it rather than the sleek new version. The main difference that showed it was Naruto's own watch was the orange pattern on the bands, and the village symbol etched into the band.

The blond reached out and took the watch from Azmuth, proceeding to strap it onto his wrist. It wasn't a grand moment like Naruto had imagined, but he certainly felt that everything was gonna change.

"Now that it's on, in a moment the Omnitrix will bond to your DNA and recognize you as it's wielder."

The Omnitrix clamped onto his wrist and Naruto watched as the faceplate began glowing green, and all at once a sickening sensation ran through his body. A strange energy seemed to course through him and Naruto's ears rang as a dark voice roared throughout the office.

Naruto held his ears tightly, as sweat rolled down his face and the three looked at him with worry.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" came the monstrous disembodied roar, and Naruto noticed that nobody else seemed to be able to hear the voice.

"Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, as Naruto felt his entire body tense up at once.

"Who, who is that?" Naruto cried out in pain as the Omnitrix shone brightly.

"YOU'RE THE INSIGNIFICANT BRAT THAT'S KEEPING ME PRISONER IN THIS BODY?!"

Naruto's eyes grew wide as he realized what the voice was... it was the Kyuubi.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nine, nine tails... it's, talking to me." Naruto groaned out, not even thinking about what he had just said, and the statement made Hiruzen pale.

As Naruto was about to say something, the pain subsided, but when he opened his eyes he was no longer in the Hokage's office, but rather... he was standing in a giant room leading up to large cell doors with a paper with the kanji for "seal" plastered on the entrance.

"Where am I?"

"So... you can come here," the Kyuubi's dark voice hummed out to him, as Naruto watched the face of the fox appear through the cell bars.

This was so not how he was expecting tonight to go.