* AN: This story stub has not been beta-read.
Disclaimer: I DO_NOT own "Naruto" or "Diablo" franchises. No profit is being made.
Naruto & Diablo crossover :: Path of the Light
Sarutobi Hizuren, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato let out a heavy sigh as an eagle-masked ANBU finished his report. Yesterday was October 10th, the fifth anniversary of Kyuubi's attack on the village and a number of drunkards - mostly civilians, but there was a couple of low-ranked shinobi among them as well - decided that it was a good time to take out their rage and grief over that event on an innocent child that just happened to be the living container of the aforementioned Kyuubi no Youko.
They were stopped by ANBU guards before Naruto could come to any harm, of course, and punished according to the laws of the village, but… Hiruzen didn't believe that those wishing harm upon the boy in their false belief that he was an incarnation of the tailed beast rather than its prison were done, even for now. And between Naruto's apartment being damaged in the attack yesternight and Hiruzen's own duties requiring him to leave the village in two days, and thus not being there in person to enforce the law and order, the Hokage couldn't be completely sure that no harm would befall Naruto.
Thus, after much consideration, Hiruzen decided that the best course of action would be to take Naruto with him on his business trip to the Land of Iron to renew a number of contracts for metal trade. He wasn't exactly super friendly with their leader, Mifune, he was sure that the general would not mind him bringing young Uzumaki along.
And thus, five years old Naruto got to step beyond the walls of Konohagakure no Sato for the first time in his life.
~/ *** \~
The journey to the Land of Iron wasn't especially quick, even if everyone was traveling at ninja-speed with Naruto being carried by ANBUs accompanying the Hokage, or sometimes by the old man himself. Had they been moving at a more sedate pace, the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi would probably be bored out of his mind within an hour, but the constantly changing scenery around him - and the promise of being able to learn about the samurai and their impressive sword skills - kept him from causing troubles for the adults.
And when they finally reached their destination, Naruto was given to the local nannies to be taken care of while the Hokage was talking business with general Mifune. Of course, at least one of the ANBU was always there just in case.
So, Naruto finally got to play a little with the kids his age without adults trying to keep him away. The kids were wary of him, of course - he was a new face and a stranger from a different country - but they still welcomed him into their play and kept asking him about life in Konoha. This being the Land of Iron, children were dreaming of growing up into samurai that fearlessly and honorably protected their home, and so they were rather disappointed that there weren't any samurai in Konoha and even swords weren't super popular.
One of the kids, apparently a distant relative of general Mifune himself, even decided that Naruto needed to be shown the light and asked his mother to give the blonde a tour around the 'cool places', such as the samurai school, the forges where the swords were made, and the crypts where the greatest heroes of the Land of Iron were buried.
The tour was actually quite interesting and Naruto certainly gained an appreciation for the blades when the school instructor showed what a true master can do with a sword. It might not be quite as flashy as breathing balls of fire like those red-eyed pricks… Uchi… Uchiha, could do, but it was still an impressive display, especially with the katana being covered in glowing cloak of chakra, making it look like it was made of liquid lightning.
The statues of swordmasters of old were also quite impressive, as were the blades those men once wielded. Each sword was carefully preserved for everyone to see but no one to ever touch again… Except for a single statue that just looked different from everyone else. He was tall and broad, and his eyes and cheeks were of slightly different shape. And unlike other warriors in the crypt, his weapons weren't there on display. Instead, there was a large scroll covered in seals, presumably holding his equipment sealed inside.
The way that 'swordmaster' was different from anyone else in the crypt didn't escape Naruto, and he asked his guide about it. According to them, this warrior, who only ever identified themselves as a crusader, came out of the Western Badlands one day a few centuries ago. And with no place to go, he stayed in the Land of Iron, helping people in need and protecting the weak. He was also looking for an apprentice to carry on his mission to redeem his faith - also quite different from anything seen in the Elemental Nations - but apparently none of the youths he had met had been 'blessed by the Light' to inherit his armor and weapons. Thus, as his time on Earth came to a close, he used what little money he had to his name to hire an Uzumaki seal master to seal his gear until a worthy apprentice eventually claimed them. And, while samurai trainees still come here to try their luck from time to time, the fact that no one actually managed to inherit the crusader's armor and weapons yet meant only a few were willing to try it nowadays.
Naruto being Naruto, of course, decided that he ought to see if he, the future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, was worthy by the standards of this alien warrior. It wasn't like failure would hurt him anyway. And so he reached out and touched the scroll.
Almost immediately the seals on the outer side of the scroll came to life and snaked up Naruto's hand, forming a rather intricate pattern on his skin there. Then they started glowing dull-red as the array became fully active and began judging the newest potential inheritor.
No one who witnessed the process was sure how long it all actually lasted, but eventually the seal stopped glowing and receded back onto the scroll. Then, a few seconds later, there was a clicking sound, like that of a lock opening, and the scroll unrolled itself, revealing a large sealing array.
"Oh." Was all that Naruto could say upon seeing this happen.
While the Land of Iron was actually always intending to eventually find the inheritor of the crusader's legacy, having found one in a foreign guest five-years-old boy still led to quite a political mess. No one actually blamed Naruto for it, of course, but both Hiruzen and Mifune suffered quite a headache as they tried to figure out the best way to move forward.
Eventually, it was decided that Naruto would stay in the Land of Iron in the immediate future, learning from the local swordmasters and the notes left behind by the crusader himself. And since the man's gear was still considered a relic by the Land of Iron, those would remain in the crypt, now properly displayed on their wielder's statue, and Naruto would have to forge his own copies with the guidance of the best masters under Mifune's command. Then, once his training was complete - and shared with those who wish to take up this path over the traditional samurai training - and his armor and weapons were forged, Naruto would be allowed to return to Konoha. Or he could remain in the Land of Iron if he chose to.
And thus, Naruto's journey on the Path of Light began.
~/ *** \~
After almost a decade of hard training, Naruto managed to gain a degree of proficiency in unarmed combat; in armed combat with several types of weapons, including the traditional samurai swords of the Land of Iron and flails like the one the crusader had wielded in his life; in basic chakra manipulation and body enhancement; and in invoking the Power of Light.
In many ways, the Power of Light was like the crusader's version of ninjutsu. It could even be powered by chakra! It was still different enough from the classical ninjutsu that the teachers at the samurai school could do very little to help him. He had to learn it through trial and error with the crusader's own notes as his only guide. If Naruto were asked to explain that difference, the best he could probably do would be saying that invoking the Power of Light was like paying an energy 'tribute' to a maybe-sentient possibly-divine Force in order to achieve a desired effect while traditional ninjutsu was spending chakra to create an effect directly.
The crusader's way was more cumbersome since it involved a middleman of sorts. On the other hand, the Power of Light allowed one to do feats that were unheard of among the shinobi of the world, such as creating passive auras that provided a beneficial effect to the user and their chosen allies.
So far Naruto managed to get two of those auras working for him. One to boost physical attributes, thus allowing one to move swifter and strike harder, while the other to heal minor wounds and extend one's stamina. Both were plenty useful as once he paid the chakra to activate them, he needn't pay them any mind anymore.
And those were just some of the skills he had learned from the crusader's notes. Those same notes also introduced him to the faith the man had carried and his quest to redeem it from the corruption that came to be when less-than-savory people took over a number of temples. And while the core of the faith was good - Naruto had actually been unknowingly following a number of its commandments - the blonde refused to pick up the crusader's quest. Some might think it was a betrayal on his part, but the blonde youth believed that using the powers given to him to do good deeds was enough. And since the likely-sentient Light didn't abandon him, that probably was indeed so.
Anyhow, with his basic training complete, Naruto decided that it was his time to finally return to Konoha. Make no mistake, he had enjoyed his time in the Land of Iron, but it just wasn't his true home. Konoha was.
Thus, Naruto returned the original notes written by the crusader to the 'museum', where the man's armor, shield and flail were already kept: not only using that gear in the light of not accepting the mission to continue seeking the redemption of this Zakarum faith would be disrespectful towards the crusader and his last wishes, but they were simply too big for the teen jinchuuriki to wear. He was using their scaled-down copies made by the weaponsmiths of the Land of Iron instead.
Then, after packing his belongings and saying goodbye to his friends, Naruto hired himself as one of the guards for a trade caravan carrying raw metal and forged weapons to the Land of Fire and, eventually, Konoha.
The first few legs of this rather lengthy journey went quite well with the weather and a few very opportunistic wild beasts being the biggest obstacles for them to overcome. But when they entered the Land of Rivers, things got a bit more interesting as a group of bandits led by three low-level missing-nin decided that the caravan was a profitable target for them to rob.
Of course, a bunch of thugs with crossbows, even backed up by a weak ninja, were no match for half a dozen of well-trained and highly-professional samurai. And had the samurai prioritized chasing and cutting them down to guarding the caravan, those men would've been killed swiftly.
But samurai did prioritize protecting the caravan over going after the highwaymen, which left them a bit unprepared for a pair of ninja sneaking from the other side to steal as much goods as they could carry.
What that pair hadn't accounted for was Naruto, who had been sleeping inside one of the carts when they were doing their reconnaissance. And so the pair is missing-nin weren't prepared for a blonde teen in plate armor, with a big flail in one hand and a towering shield in another. And while all that made Naruto look like a tough nut to crack, his massive gear made it look like he would be barely able to move - something that one of the missing-nin couldn't help but point out:
"And what do we have here? A guy who thinks too much armor and a shield will protect him." The man jeered. "Newsflash, kid. It won't work against us, ninja. Some brat that can't even jog is no match for u-..." He was interrupted by Naruto's shield slamming into him with enough force to send him crashing into a tree several meters back, where he slumped down onto the ground unconscious.
The Kyuubi jinchuuriki quietly shook his head. While it was true that his armor and shield and flail were much heavier than the usual gear worn by the samurai into battle - and shinobi usually used even lighter armor and weapons - it was nowhere near as encumbering as it appeared. Which he had just demonstrated by knocking a missing-nin out with a single shield bash, so swift that the man didn't even get a chance to dodge or kawarimi away.
That certainly made the other missing-nin reevaluate Naruto as a much more serious threat. And so, instead of mocking the strange blonde for his usual choice of combat gear, the man quickly flashed through four hand seals before firing what looked like a bolt of lightning from his fingertips. Naruto quickly raised his shield to intercept it and, much to his surprise, the lightning actually caused the reinforcement array on the inside to flash as it struggled to absorb the blast. For his part, the missing-nin was very surprised that his jutsu, which was capable of piercing right through a standard flak vest, twice, didn't even leave a notable scorch mark on the blonde's shield.
The said blonde, for his part, didn't want to test it whether his shield could take another strike like that so soon, so he charged at the missing-nin while he was still busy voicing his thoughts about the failure of his jutsu to do anything meaningful in a very profane way, and introduced the man's face to his shield. And just like it happened with his partner in crime not a minute earlier, a single shield bash was enough to knock the man unconscious.
Lowering his shield slightly, Naruto looked around, trying to see if there were any more bandits coming from this direction, but it appeared that there were none. Letting out a sigh, her returned his shield and flail to their spots on his back and took a reel of ninja wire from his pouch - even if he wasn't a real shinobi, the thing was really useful - and proceeded to tie up the missing-non he had just defeated. They'll be handed off to the authorities in the next big city.
By the time he was sure the pair wouldn't be able to free themselves from the binds, the samurai fighting the main bandit force had successfully driven the highwaymen away, capturing a number of them in the process. So all that was left for Naruto to do was helping secure the defeated bandits.
The rest of the journey to the capital of the Land of Fire went without much problem. And once the shipment of weapons for the Daimyo's personal guards was delivered, the caravan departed onto the final leg of its journey towards Konoha.
It only took them a little over a week to reach the gate of the Hidden Leaf. And while it was nearly ten years since Naruto had seen it last, the village looked almost the same as he remembered it to be. Even the pair of chuunins guarding the gates had more than a passing resemblance with their predecessors from a decade into the past.
After passing the inspection, the caravan was allowed into the village and immediately headed for the main armory. That wasn't where Naruto needed to go, though, so he bid his comrades a farewell and parted his way with the caravan, making his way to the Hokage tower instead.
It was the time for Naruto Uzumaki to announce his return.
~/ *** \~
Haruno Sakura, one of the Team 7 genin, let out a rather unladylike sigh of utter frustration as she leaned against the chain-fence gates of the training grounds #14. Why did Kakashi-sensei have to schedule a team meeting today, only to be late? Again. As usual. The man's chronic lack of punctuality was very annoying.
At least, it gave her more time to spend with Sasuke-kun!
Well… kind of. Sasuke-kun showed no particular interest in interacting with her, in her feminine beauty or in her company in general. Again. As usual.
Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, Sakura focused her mind on the supposed purpose of today's meeting. According to Kakashi-sensei, they were finally getting a replacement for the teammate they had lost during their disastrous mission to the Land of Waves. The man however had refused to share anything beyond that, deciding to keep the identity of the newest member of Team 7 a surprise.
Hopefully, it won't be a girl, Sakura thought. She didn't need even more competition for Sasuke-kun's heart.
Eventually, after another fifteen minutes of waiting, the chronically-late jounin finally showed up, greeting them cheerfully and nonchalantly, almost as if he hadn't just made them wait for Kami knows how long.
Sakura was so mad at him for being late yet again that it took her almost a minute to finally notice that Kakashi-sensei had actually arrived alone.
"Ano, sensei… Didn't you say that we're getting a new teammate today?" She asked. "Where are they?"
"I'm glad, you've asked." The silver-haired man said. Then he turned his head to the side and called: "You can come out now." And moments later a rather tall teen with spiky blonde hair stepped from behind a tree that should've been far too thin to actually hide him, especially with that full-body metal armor and - was that an actual shield? - other equipment he had on. Sasuke-kun looked equally surprised by that. Meanwhile, Kakashi-sensei continued: "Your awareness needs some work, Sakura, Sasuke. He has been there at least five minutes before the appointed time." The two genins missed an implication that so was their sensei. "Now, please introduce yourself." And after the two original members of Team 7 did so, it was the blonde's turn.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I've recently returned to Konoha after an extended stay in the Land of Iron, where I received my combat training." He didn't deign to tell them his likes or dislikes. "I specialize primarily in heavy offense through armed combat and special techniques and in defense."
"Now then." Kakashi-sensei continued, leading the three teens into the training ground. "Naruto, Hokage-sama has briefed me on your performance during the skill evaluation you had been given, but I would prefer to see what you can do first." The blonde merely nodded. "After that, we can do some team exercises."
Already knowing that they were expected to stay a distance away from their sensei and his current 'sparring' partner, Sakura and Sasuke moved to stand by a large wooden training posts near the edge of a clearing. And as they did so, the pink-haired kunoichi could see her crush activate his sharingan.
Meanwhile Kakashi-sensei and this Naruto guy stood near the center of the center of the aforementioned clearing, facing each other and ready to begin their fight. Well, Naruto was the only one who looked all-ready, now wielding his shield in his left hand and his giant flail in his right. Kakashi-sensei meanwhile looked like his usual relaxed self. Still, he hasn't pulled his smut book out yet, meaning he was actually treating his opponent seriously. That annoyed Sakura a lot since the man was alway reading that trash when sparring with her or even Sasuke-kun.
Sasuke watched the newcomer with some interest. Despite the odd equipment - that shield and flail were definitely NOT normal ninja weapons, and he never saw a ninja wearing full-plate armor either - the other teen was not a weakling. He didn't really think that this guy had any jutsu worth copying, but just in case he did, the young Uchiha made sure to watch him closely with his sharingan active.
He got his first surprise the moment Kakashi-sensei announced the start of the spar. He saw the blonde's chakra flare up for a brief moment, before a strengthening effect took place, but there was nothing in-between. Whatever that was, it wasn't a traditional self-augmentation jutsu, nor was it a crude flooding of one's body with raw chakra to empower it. And sharingan was completely useless in trying to determine what had actually happened.
The two combatants remained in their places for a few more seconds before Kakashi-sensei decided to taunt the fully-armored teen, asking him whether he was coming or not.
The said teen decided to act and flared his chakra once again, much stronger than before. Then he disappeared upwards in a crack of golden lightning. A second later he came crashing down on Kakashi's position, creating an explosion of dust and lightning as he hit the ground. The silver-haired jounin had managed to avoid the attack with a quick substitution, but it was still a pretty close call for him.
And once again, Sasuke's sharingan couldn't decipher how the blond teen's technique worked. As far as he could see, this Naruto guy simply surrendered some of his chakra away, and then things happened. This was annoying, but unfortunately he couldn't do anything about it at all. He still kept his sharingan on - just in case some actual jutsu got used - but it looked like today was not the day he could use the traditional Uchiha way of expanding one's repertoire of techniques…
Meanwhile, Kakashi-sensei threw a handful of shuriken at Naruto, which were easily blocked by the chakra-enhanced shield. The teen then retaliated with a swipe of his flail that sent an arc of golden lightning in the general direction the shuriken had come from.
The jounin wasn't there anymore, though. He had already moved away and was now trying to strike Naruto from behind. But before he could get into melee range, he was forced to jump back as the blonde quickly turned around and nearly slammed his shield onto his feet. Then Kakashi had to jump back again to avoid a surprisingly-swift overhead strike from a flail wreathed in golden lightning.
Kakashi-sensei jumped back again, before unleashing a large fireball. It was a jutsu Sasuke already knew - he was an Uchiha after all - but he definitely couldn't get it that big. Naruto didn't move from his spot and simply raised his shield. The fireball slammed into the shield before exploding, but didn't do any noticeable damage either to the seal-reinforced wall of wood and metal, or the blonde holding it.
And as soon as the explosion of fire started dying down, Naruto raised his hand towards the sky before doing a pulling motion while flaring his chakra. A moment later a fist-shaped cluster of golden lightning came crashing down on Kakashi-sensei's position. The jounin used a quick substitution to get away from this strange attack - which was a complete mystery to the young Uchiha: his sharingan yet again failed to see how this strange attack worked. He still could see no chakra shaping or nature changing taking place.
And it looked like he'll have to wait for another opportunity to decipher these strange techniques the blonde teen used:
"That's enough." Kakashi said. "I believe I've seen enough to get an understanding of your skill level, Naruto. And I must say that your teachers in the Land of Iron did a good job. Welcome to Team Seven."
"Thank you." The shield-bearing 'shinobi' said with a small nod.