Chapter 5: Shadowed Promises
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the OCs
Naruto is not an only child. Naruto has two twin siblings and a six-year older "cousin". A twin brother Yato Uzumaki-Namikaze (God of calamity Yato with blond hair) and a twin sister Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze (Mito Jūjō). His older "Cousin" is Erza Uzumaki (Erza Scarlet). Erza is a very distant relative of Kushina to the point where they are only related by the Uzumaki clan Erza is also 9 years older than the twins. Everything else should be explained, if you have any questions just ask and I will try to get to you.
Did you know that Kumo doesn't have civilians in the village and it's only populated by ninjas? At least I'm pretty sure. I couldn't find a clear answer so I'm just going to say they are, but it is much harder to do a 'demon hunting' scene in Kumo than in Konoha since it's easier to escape civilians than a highly trained ninja. Yugito is younger than Cannon and is 2 years older than Naruto in this story, due to her skill she's graduating one year early at 11 years old
Kumogakure no Sato Year 75
'It's cold…how odd I didn't know I could get cold." The young blonde-haired girl thought as she sat on one of the mountain peaks inside Kumogakure's borders.
'Of course, you're cold kitten, while you maybe be a Jinchūriki, you are still human, you should feel cold, hungry, sad, happy, annoyed, and thirsty, feeling these things means you're alive and that's always a good thing kitten.' A tired yet worried voice resounded throughout the head of the 11-year-old child.
'Oh, I didn't know you were awake Mata-chan. Sorry, I wasn't there to greet you in the mindscape this time.' The small girl jumped slightly as she was startled at the soft tranquil sounding voice that suddenly responded to her thoughts
'Fufufufu, It's quite alright kitten you have your graduation test today so I'm sure you need as much time to yourself to prepare as possible. Though, I do wonder what you are doing all the way up here so far away from the academy.' Matatabi, the two-tails, inquired in a confused tone.
'A few of the ninjas seemed upset about my early graduation and seemed like they might end up trying something stupid, so I decided to come up here so I don't end up making a mess and getting in trouble.' The Nibi Jinchūriki stated in an indifferent tone.
'Hah~ you shouldn't view killing people in such a light way Kitten, while I understand where you're coming from considering I've watched you grow up. You need to put more importance on the lives of your fellow shinobi.' Matatbi tried to reason with her Jinchūriki while stretching inside the mindscape.
'Why? If ever given the chance they would all aim for my life without a sliver of hesitation so why should I hesitate in taking their lives when they attack me?' She questioned her feline companion.
'I don't know I'm not human, but you should show a little sympathy when it comes to your fellow humans dying. You are a human being, and a child at that, not a weapon like the village is trying to make you out to be. If you continue with this indifferent, monotonous, unbothered persona that you're using now it will only be like saying the village won and you lost what made you human Kitten." The Nibi explained the best she could in an attempt to help heal her Jinchūriki. 'Besides, even if you do show that on the outside it won't stop the villager from hating you simply because you're my Jinchūriki, so you might as well go ahead and act somewhat similar to Bee and flaunt your pride in being my Jinchūriki after all you always say that you are happy being my Jinchūriki.' Matabi said.
'True, I am proud to be your Jinchūriki but just the thought of walking around like Bee and having everyone's eyes on me is terrifying and nauseating. So while I understand what you are saying I think I will stick to the indifference for now.' The child responded lightly before turning her head to the right to see the sun ascending in the sky. 'Anyways the sun has risen enough that it would be best to head to the academy and prepare for the exam lest the teachers yell at me for being late and keep me from taking the test.' Quickly standing up the Nibi Jinchūriki stretched her back and prepared to head off. She stopped as she felt a familiar chakra signature and heard the accompanying footsteps approach. Turning her head to the side she saw a large man dressed in mostly white clothes with shades over his eyes, on his cheek he had two blue wave-like tattoo lines, and on his shoulder was the kanji for Iron.
"Yo, Yugito-chan was up." The large man asked while approaching the child.
"Good morning Bee. I'm surprised you're not rapping right now." The now-named Yugito answered in a slightly warm tone.
"I was thinking of doing so but I thought since this is such an important day I'll hold off till you graduate," Bee responded sheepishly. "Anyways, I'm guessing you were about to head to the academy for your exam, right?"
"Yes, I was going now so I wouldn't be late," Yugito responded
"Great. I'll go with you and we can chat on the way" Bee said as he picked the Nibi Jinchūriki up and placed her on his shoulder and walked towards the academy while rapping so as to distract the younger of the two Jinchūriki.
Konohagakure no Sato 1 year later Year 76
It had now been one excruciatingly painful year, everything had broken at least once under Ezra's training his bones had broken and shattered, and his organs had more than once been concerningly damaged to the point where Tsunade had become concerned by their training and the lasting effects it might have on his psyche or even his body sadly Erza dismissed the concerns then dragged him back for even more intense training. Other times he would be taken to Tsunade with minor concussions and other injuries that Erza was unable to heal herself nor could the Kyuubi properly direct Naruto's chakra to enhance his regeneration.
But the positives were just as important, in the past year that Naruto had been working on his taijutsu with Erza he had succeeded in 'developing' his own taijutsu style, well at least the beginning parts of it. The taijutsu style was already developed but there was still a lot about it that he needed to learn. The taijutsu style relied primarily on mimicking the opponent in an attempt to predict their next move and have a counter for it, Initially, Naruto thought that the Kyuubi was simply matching his own movements and then predicting what he would do next with millennia of experience, but later the beast explained that the taijutsu style he was teaching to Naruto actually relied on mimicking the shadow of the person you were fighting, which immediately made Naruto think the style would be perfect for the Nara clan if they ever had enough energy to try to learn it. Unfortunately, the Kyuubi had not named the style so he made Naruto name it, and he chose to call it something he thought quite fitting, Shadow Dance.
So far Naruto had only mastered the first of seven steps, from what the Kyuubi told him he would need to learn from fighting others and combine all the other styles to reach the second step and each next step had a certain trick that Naruto would have to learn himself. Now that Naruto had figured out how his style would work, he and Erza were finally going to start working on his elemental affinities… except there was a problem with that, Naruto had all five elements, and unless someone had the rinnegan that was absolutely impossible. So after arguing and strategizing for an entire night Naruto and the Kyuubi had decided to see if they could trust Erza, and if they could then they would tell her the truth about their talks.
'Konoha really is beautiful even during the winter season isn't it Kyuubi?' Naruto
'I prefer fall due to the bountiful colors that you can see while walking through and exploring Hi no Kuni, but yes the pure white does make for a stunning contrast.' The Kyuubi replied to his container, who he had been getting increasingly friendly with.
Right now Naruto was waiting for Erza to arrive so that they could talk about Naruto's secret and to see if he could trust her. In his opinion, she was already worthy of their trust but he wanted to make sure more for his tenant's sake than his own. While at worst for Naruto he would be executed, the Kyuubi would be put inside of an even tighter seal inside of someone that hates him, and to Naruto that seemed like a fate worse than death.
'Do you think this is a good idea, my friend? I'm worried that she won't react well or that we won't be able to trust her completely not to go to Hokage-sama and tell him about us talking.' Naruto thought worriedly to his tenant.
'With your ability to sense negative emotions, you don't have any reason to worry about being unable to trust her. As long as she does not lie about trusting you completely then I doubt she will betray you, in fact, I believe that she already has her suspicions about you and your skills.' The Kyuubi retorted in a bored manner.
'What do you mean she is suspicious of us?' Naruto quickly asked
'You, dumbass, not me after all she doesn't know about me yet.' The Kyuubi replied with an almost visible smirk in his tone, 'Besides you have not always been able to flawlessly lie your way out of certain situations, and the fact that just creating the first step of shadow dance should have taken longer than it did is cause for concern.'
By this time Naruto had already arrived in the clearing and was relaxing in the middle of the clearing waiting for his teacher to arrive, he was quietly fretting over the conversation that was to come. Unlike last time when he got lost in his thoughts, Naruto did not let his sensory ability disappear due to not focusing on it, but instead had it constantly running in the background scanning for any malicious intent being directed at him. Unfortunately, people attempting to sneak up behind him to scare him does not count as malicious intent…so…
"BOOO," Erza yelled as she silently arrived behind Naruto
"ARGHHHH, GOD DAMMIT ERZA STOP DOING THAT." The startled blonde yelled at his teacher as he attempted to calm his currently racing heart. It didn't help that he could hear his eternal companion laughing his furry ass off in the corner of his subconscious that he resided in.
"Hahahaha, I will always enjoy seeing you jump in fear when I appear behind you, it's always so hilarious." Erza forced herself to stop laughing to talk while wiping tears out of the corner of her eyes.
"You are…hoh…As annoying as your antics are Erza, I would prefer it if you would take things a little more seriously, after all, I am pretty sure I let you know just how important this talk will be." Naruto sighed before calming down and shifting to a colder and more tense tone. After doing so he saw the amusement fade from his teacher's eyes before they were replaced by a steely coldness no doubt a perfect reflection of his own apathetic eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the sealing formula spreading out from beneath Erza's feet. Luckily the Kyuubi recognized it and quickly informed him that it was a silencing and view distortion barrier seal.
"Right…you did seem to place quite a bit of importance on the upcoming conversation…Though if you don't mind my asking what exactly will this talk of ours be about?" Erza asked in a tense tone.
"...Before I answer that I would like to ask you a question… What I want to talk about is without a doubt my most important secret…I already trust you the most, behind only one person, so I don't have any problems talking to you about it but I need to be sure about one thing before we start talking, OK?" Naruto asked
"Alright ask your question and I will answer completely truthfully," Erza confirmed for her young charge.
"What I want to talk to you about is very complicated thus I don't want you to ask anything or say anything till the very, and I mean very, end of my explanation, OK?"
"Alright, I can agree to that." She responded
"...Alright the final request and question, No matter what we talk about and how concerning you believe it to be I would like you to promise me that you will not utter a word of this to the hokage unless I agree to it or have already decided to tell him myself. Can you do that?" Naruto asked surprisingly calmly
"...That is a very concerning request…but considering my loyalty is not completely with Minato-sama then I can agree to that request," Erza said.
"Hooh, that is great to hear." Naruto visibly relaxed after hearing those words, Of course, he didn't just trust her words but instead had his negative emotional sensory ability running at full power and being directed solely at Erza, thus he was able to tell there was not a single line in the statement. Though that did make him wonder who Erza was loyal to instead of the Hokage."Well then, we should probably sit down, after all this conversation will take quite a while."
Konohagakure no Sato 3 hours later
"I…I have so many questions" Erza said with a pale and wide-eyed face." But only a few really need to be answered" She sighed while trying to gather her thoughts."First and foremost, how do you know you can trust him."
"...I can't say I completely trust him, the Kyuubi is less malevolent towards me due to the simple fact that there is no reason for me to meet with him. If he still had his chakra and I kept visiting then he would be far more cautious and less kind towards me, but right now he only has his knowledge. The fact of how young I was when I met him boosted his opinion of me due to his view that children are purer than adults and slightly more tolerable, if not for their lack of maturity, age, and common sense. The reason why he is still kind to me is simply because I supposedly remind him of someone, though he has yet to tell me who I remind him of." The blonde calmly explained
"Alright, I think I can just barely understand the logic behind that. Next question, you mentioned you made a deal with the fox but you never specified what exactly that deal was. Mind telling me what it included?" Erza then asked her next question after somewhat understanding the answer to her first one.
"That's a little more complicated than the previous answer. When it comes to the deal I gave him two things and he gave me one, but that one thing that he gave me ended up being more diverse than the two things I gave him. He asked for two simple things, the first was control over the appearance and the objects inside of the mindscape where we talk. The second was access to the world through my five senses." Naruto explained.
"Alright, that doesn't seem anywhere near as bad as it could have ended up being. Now then please do tell me what exactly you got in exchange for those two requests." Erza asked in a tense tone knowing this was the most important part of the conversation.
"That is where it becomes slightly more complicated. From what I learned of the Biju, each one is signified by the number of tails, and that decides the strength and ranking of the Biju, but the Kyuubi told me this wasn't completely true as their tails only signify how much primordial chakra, or the original form of chakra, is stored in their souls. Each Biju's body is made completely of elemental affiliated nature energy. Thus depending on where they are someone like the Ichibi might actually be able to put up a fight against the Kyuubi, if only slightly, whereas it could be completely decimated by the sanbi if in another place. It all depends on what the natural energy in the air is most affiliated with. Kiri is water, Kumo is lightning, and so on. Whereas primordial chakra is the foundation of their souls and can seldom increase or decrease in the total amount. Where the Shinigami took the nature chakra that had been changed by the kyuubi's primordial chakra to create a body for him, and not the primordial chakra which forms his soul, that is why all Jinchūriki are said to have such high potential for the sage arts. What the Kyuubi did in exchange for the two favors, I did not at the time know of primordial chakra or what its use was, he ended up infusing a small bit of his primordial chakra into my own chakra to give me a gift. The gift ended up being, negative emotional sensory, access to the kyuubi's nature affinities, heightened senses, and the ability to mold the pure nature energy around me into what I need it to be." Naruto explained first what primordial chakra was and then shared the benefits of receiving it in what he believed was the simplest way.
"You have ALL FIVE NATURE TRANSFORMATIONS. That's such bullshit, and all you had to do was meet the Kyuubi as a child. Damn, this is so unfair." Of course, Erza being Erza decided to ignore the primordial chakra part and focus on what she considered to be the most important part."Though I don't quite understand what you mean by 'mold the pure nature energy around me into what I need it to be'. Care to elaborate on that point?"
"That's simple, if I were ever stuck in a place like wind country, instead of having to look for a large body of water or have some sealed on me I can simply use my water affinity to change the nature chakras affinity to water and use that in my Jutsu's. I can do it with other elements but that's not really necessary. The other benefits are that I gain a more in-depth understanding of how kekkei Genkai work and can create them myself with the help of the world's energy due to the fact that almost all of them use the most basic form of nature energy manipulation to fuse multiple elements together. I can also use it to coat my weapons in chakra without needing to waste my own energy. Added on top of that, If I ever end up becoming a sage I won't need to sit and concentrate like others but can simply absorb nature energy while moving." Naruto ended up giving a larger explanation than Erza thought he would but due to the explanation, she realized just how much more broken the unassuming ability to mold pure nature energy at will was than having all five nature transformations. Though without a doubt it only showed its true might with the ability to use all transformations.
"T-That's absolutely terrifying in the wrong hands…nevermind it doesn't matter who is using it it's still terrifying."Erza sturted out in fear at the future prospects of what heights Naruto could reach with the power that he was gifted."But why would the Kyuubi so casually give out this power, does he want you to retrieve the chakra the shinigami stole from him? Does he have some sort of revenge that he wants you to carry out? Why did he give you this ability?" Erza asked in a worried tone, not liking the implications this would have for her young charge.
"...Ego, bragging rights, and pride," Naruto responded simply
"...Excuse me?" The tone of Erza's words caused Naruto to feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"The Kyuubi wants me to be stronger than the other two, whoever they are, as well as overwhelmingly stronger than any other Jinchūriki so he gave it to me simply so I won't be a stain on his prideful legacy that he so carefully constructed throughout his long life. He did not want me to tarnish or ruin it while being his soul's host so he wanted me to be as strong as possible. If he still had his nature chakra, as I can't take or even handle primordial chakra, it would be a completely different story due to the fact that in the future I would need to fight him to control his chakra just like every other Jinchūriki, but since he doesn't have the changed chakra there's no reason for us to be at odds. He was sealed in me against his will and suffers from it and I suffered from having him sealed inside me, likewise, I lessened his sentence with my end of the deal and he gave me a way to avoid suffering from being his Jinchūriki." Naruto said
"I see that makes sense if I think about it more deeply," Erza mumbled with a thoughtful look on her face. "Well since we have figured everything out and I believe that this is all we need to talk about it's about time we get to training isn't it." She asked in a subdued yet somewhat excited tone while considering her young student's future strength.
Smiling with glee and amusement while thinking of his own future Naruto stood up and prepared for what would no doubt be an extremely taxing year ahead of him.
There we go that's the end of this chapter.
Anyway, I decided to go more in-depth about how exactly the biju can regenerate and why the Kyuubi was able to gift Naruto abilities despite not having his chakra.
As for the Shadow Dance fighting style, it comes from a novel I'm reading and loving right now called shadow slave. If y'all have time and want a fantastic read I suggest going to read it, it is absolutely phenomenal My ranking of novels is 1) LOTM 2) Shadow Slave 3) Tensura, and tensura come nowhere near LOTM or Shadow Slave in writing they are worlds apart but still my top three and shadow slave my even surpass LOTM depending on the current path the stories on and the other two books for the LOTM series.
I finally got my computer repaired and fixed. I plan to change the update style to post a chapter whenever I have time or finish writing one. School started up as well as me working so it will be slow updates. Please let me know if there are any animes you want me to write about