AN: hello and happy holloween everybody, this honestly was a harder to write chapter than i thought it would be... I am going to be honest, this chapter is a bit of an info dump and set up chapter. Though this will be the last chapter before the start of the Canon Timeline. I hope you enjoy, reviews are good and CONSTRUCTIVE criticsism is appreciated.
Chapter 4
Naruto blinked blearily trying to clear his vision as he woke up. Sitting up and yawning the blond looked around at his surroundings to see that he was in a lavish bedroom. The room was large, almost three times as large as the entirety of the rundown apartment that the Third Hokage had given him. The bed he was in was at least a queen size with rich looking dark sheets and comforter that was softer than anything he had felt before. Turning to his right he could see large double doors that showed a balcony overlooking the dark landscape outside Salem's castle. Turning his head he noticed some furniture in the room, a few chairs and a coffee table made a small sitting area for guests, then an ornate door that Naruto assumed led to the halls of the castle. Then finishing his lookover of the room, on the left side of the room was a large fireplace with a low burning fire already in it giving off a soft warmth in the room. Finally there were two adjacent doors, both were open, one showing a lavish bathroom, and the other a large walk-in closet.
Deciding to leave and look for his host, Naruto shifted out of the bed onto the soft carpeted floor. Enjoying the feeling of the warm carpet for a moment, Naruto shook himself to break his distraction before walking over to the closet to find his shoes. As the boy walked into the closet a soft violet light began to emit from a collection of crystals embedded in the ceiling, looking around Naruto could see a large assortment of different clothing and footwear.
Looking at the various clothing options, Naruto noticed that the farther into the closet the larger the outfits were. Shrugging off the oddity of this, Naruto picked up his cloak and boots from the front of the closet and walked back out. Quickly putting on his boots and cloak, the blond opened the door to the hall… only to be nearly scared half to death by the floating crystal ball with tentacles that was outside said door.
Sitting on the ground after jumping back and taking deep breaths to bring his racing heartrate down, Naruto felt a bit of irritation at being surprised like that. Kipping up to his feet and grumbling, Naruto walked up to the floating oddity and spoke out to it hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself.
"Umm… Hey there, could you maybe lead me to Salem?" Instead of answering him, the orb seemed to just bob lightly in the air and gently floated down the dimly lit hall.
Just shrugging at the lack of response, Naruto followed the orb. Looking around, the blond noted again how… lonely the castle seemed to be. While the halls they passed were richly decorated, there was next to no personal touches, no photos, paintings, or plants. This place seemed to embody the idea of the loneliness of opulence, and Naruto wondered how long it had been since Salem had someone that she could just have a normal conversation with? Before he could go too far down that rabbit hole, Naruto looked up to notice that the orb had brought him back to the doors of the throne room.
Stepping up to the doors, the blond Jinchuriki looked over at the still floating and silent orb and gave the thing a quick 'thanks' before opening the door. Walking into the throne room, Naruto could see Salem sitting on her throne once more giving him an amused smile… and another of the orbs floating by her side. It took a moment to realize that the orbs must be some type of drone that likely could show the user what happed on either end of the connection. An embarrassed flush grew on the young Uzumaki's face at that realization, which was proven when Salem's slight smile broadened, and a light of mirth filled her eyes. Before the blond could fold in on himself in embarrassment, the melodic sound of Salem's voice brought him out of it.
"Ahh, welcome back to the world of the living Naruto. I must say that I am quite glad that you passed the tests of the Brothers. To be honest, you had me quite worried when the Brother of Darkness's trial had taken over three hours-" a slight frown of worry replaced her smile for a moment… until it brightened with a light smile, "but you came back in the end, that's all that matters. Now due to you passing the trials-" The pale Grimm woman clapped her hands and in a golden flash of light a familiar scroll appeared in front of Naruto. Salem opened the scroll showing multiple blank spaces with a square below each, before the boy could even ask Salem spoke with a tone not dissimilar to a teacher.
"All you will have to do now is come and sign the scroll and place a handprint below your signature." Nodding, Naruto walked up to the dais, taking the unfurled scroll from Salem's hands and placing it on the ground. After placing the scroll down, the blond looked around the room and gave a confused look at the Grimm Queen.
"Um… Salem, where is the ink for the signing?" The pale woman just gave a sly smile that sent a shiver of nerves down the blonds' back.
"Oh Naruto, I thought you knew how one signs one of these contracts? You don't just sign in ink, no, you must write your name and place your handprint in blood so as to complete your bond to our contract." Naruto gulped and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Salem was about to speak up again when Naruto in a single movement materialized a chained kunai from his arm. Grabbing the handle base of the kunai tip, Naruto swiped the blade across the palm of his hand drawing blood. With quick, deft movements, Naruto wrote his name in neat calligraphy, the wound in his palm closing quickly. After finishing his signature, Naruto then used the remaining blood in his open palm to place a clear full handprint on the square. As soon as his hand left the scroll, Salem snapped her fingers once more causing the scroll to rise and roll up before vanishing in another flash. Giving Naruto another smile, this one much kinder than the last, Salem spoke up with pride in her voice.
"Well done young one, now we will have to begin your training immediately if we are to prepare you for the future." Salem began walking down the steps, not noticing the look that Naruto was giving her. "Now first we will be working on your connection to magic for the first year or so, then we can begin to incorporate-" Salem was suddenly interrupted by the raised voice of the blond behind her.
"Wait, wait, wait… why does it sound like you are planning on keeping me here for however long?" Salem turned around and looked upon the confused boy that hadn't moved from his previous spot. Realizing that there had likely been some sort of misunderstanding, the queen of Grimm walked up to Naruto to explain the situation.
"Naruto, you need to understand that you will need quite a bit of training to master your new powers… not only that but you will need to familiarize yourself with the powers of the Grimm summons." To prove her point, Salem waved her hand and multiple black portals opened around the throne room.
Out of the portals walked a menagerie of different beasts. The only similarity between them all being the white bone and pitch-black bodies denoting them as Creatures of Grimm. Naruto looked around at the beasts around him, some were more dark parodies of natural animals such as boars, birds, and tigers. Others though were creatures seeming to be made from the darkest nightmares of humanity, a major example being the demonic horse-man-imp thing or the zombie-like group that released an aura feeling of despair and something else that seemed to drain the color from the world. Naruto was knocked out of his reverie by the voice of Salem.
"You see Naruto, these are only some of the most basic members of the Creatures of Grimm. The Grimm are some of the most varied species in any world, this means that it will take an equally large amount of time for you to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of their uses, strengths, and weaknesses." Naruto was now giving the creatures around him a more thoughtful look as he took in Salem's words. The Grimm Queen could almost see the thoughts rushing through the young blonds' mind as he attempted to determine each of the different Grimm's abilities just from their looks and builds. While this impressed the former human, Salem had to fight down her impatience.
Salem knew that she had never been a very patient person, in fact most of her greatest defeats had been due to her rushing in without thought. Two times of note were her prideful attempt at tricking the Brother God of Darkness to try and bring Ozma back from death, then when that didn't work and she had been cursed with immortality, Salem had in her petty hubris convinced a group of foolish rulers to lead their armies against both Brothers. This had gone about as well as anyone could expect… with the destruction of everything and everyone, except her and the Grimm. Looking back, Salem can say without a doubt that the thousands of years she spent on her own had driven her a little crazy (especially when she had the great idea of jumping into the Grimm pools). Truthfully her final chance at redemption was likely the day she attacked the reincarnated Ozma and had killed their four daughters in the crossfire. When she lost not only her love, but her family as well… she no longer wanted to be a part of the world of Remnant, and the only way she could think of to escape her torment was to bring the destruction of the entire world to ensure her demise.
'And how did that turn out in the end?' Salem had to fight back a depressed sigh at that thought. In the end, even though she had succeeded in capturing the relics and summoning the Brother Gods, they didn't end her existence as she had hoped. No, instead they did something else…
Shaking her head slowly to fight back the dark memories, Salem looked back at Naruto to see that he was staring at him as if waiting for an answer. Raising her brow, it suddenly hit Salem that Naruto had asked her something that she had missed due to her traversing down memory lane. Giving the young boy a soft smile, Salem spoke hoping that the boy wouldn't give her grief for her distraction.
"I'm sorry Naruto, I was lost in thought for a moment there, what did you say?" Naruto narrowed his eyes to slits as he gave Salem a look of childish annoyance. Salem had to fight off a moment of fancy at how cute the blond looked with that look, so similar to a fox when combined with those whisker marks. It wouldn't do for the Queen of Grimm to squeal like a teenage girl and glomp the poor boy. Naruto mumbled something about 'annoying Inu-faced ANBU' before speaking up to the pale woman again.
"I was trying to ask how long this training would take, I can't leave the village for too long or else the old man Hokage Jiji will flip out in worry." Salem gave an 'Ah' of realization at the point Naruto had made. She realized that even though there were few who would worry for the boy in his home, that those who would miss him were rather high up in the echelons of the village.
"Hmm… I see, well there is a simple solution to that I believe-" Naruto gave Salem an expectant look waiting for her answer. "I will just have one of my best agents go and let this Hokage know the situation. Now, for your original question… I won't lie to you Naruto; it will take quite some time for you to even reach an intermediate level with all of the abilities you have gained from the Brothers. In all likelihood it would take up to eight years for you to reach this point at a minimum, ten at max."
Naruto's jaw dropped at the time needed for him to train, though it took no time at all for him to speak out his surprise.
"What the heck!? That's way too long… if I were to stay for that long I wouldn't be able to become a shinobi, I'd be too old to join the forces!" Confusion filled Salem at the dismay that filled the boy, if Naruto were to excel in his studies and training then he would be ready to fight at an acceptable level when he was seventeen, if her calculation was correct. An odd feeling began to well up when a thought came to her, hoping she was wrong at the implication, Salem spoke up with a light trepidation in her voice.
"Naruto… when exactly does one become able to join the shinobi ranks in your village?"
Naruto didn't notice the tone in the woman's voice as he seemed to be thinking for a moment before answering.
"Well… to be honest the time when one is able to graduate from the academy to become a Genin varies depending on whether we are in wartime. From what I read from the libraries history section; before the Shinobi villages were founded there was an era of constant war called the Warring Clans Era. Back then it was common for clans to field children as young as five or six years old if they were talented or strong enough-" Shock and disgust ran through the Grimm Queen at the words Naruto spoke of his people's past. Though she felt that things would not be improving as the blond continued.
"From what our villages records show, the Warring Clans Era was brought to an end by the founding of Konohagakure by the newly allied Senju and Uchiha clans; under the leadership of the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju and his best friend Madara Uchiha." Naruto seemed to be caught up recalling the information from all the nights he had spent in the Konoha Library, "After the founding of the village an academy was founded with the help of the brightest minds of the time, led by Hashirama's younger brother, the future Nidaime Hokage; Tobirama Senju. Tobirama explained to the people at the time that the Academy would help forge connections and bring the separate clans together with civilian born shinobi to make Konoha stronger as a whole."
"During the First, Second, and Third Great Shinobi Wars the average age of fresh Genin was around ten to eleven years old, though those who showed great promise or talent would often graduate even earlier. Excellent examples of these individuals would be Hatake Kakashi; son of the White Fang, who graduated at age five and was considered one of the greatest combatants of the Third Shinobi War, and Itachi Uchiha who graduated six months after joining the academy after the war."
Salem was shocked and sickened by what she was hearing, from what Naruto was explaining his people were basically born and bred to fight as young as possible. Even in Remnant, the youngest huntsman or huntress would only fight at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Even towards the end of Ozma and Her's war, the only young huntress of note was Ruby Rose who was fifteen, and even then she didn't really join in the larger battles until she was almost seventeen. While shock continued to roll through the woman, Naruto was not done with his explanation.
"Nowadays, under the reinstated Sandaime Hokage; Hiruzen Sarutobi, there are few if any shinobi that graduate before the age of twelve or thirteen. The Hokage's explanation for the change was that due to the time of peace that we have been in since the end of the Third Shinobi War and the Kyūbi Attack nine years ago, the village can take the time to ensure that our shinobi are adequately prepared for the challenges they will experience in the field."
Finally finished with his explanation, Naruto looked up at Salem to see that she was wearing an odd blank look on her face. Worried that she may have been upset with him, the blond walked up to the stock still woman and reached out to her hand to get her attention. Clasping her cold hand in his, Salem was shocked at the contact, looking down at the worried eyes of Naruto, Salem's eyes softened as she squeezed his hand back slightly. Feeling her response and seeing the warmth in Salem's eyes, Naruto gave a slight grin to the woman and spoke once more.
"So you see Salem, I am currently a first year academy student, and if I do not graduate when I am supposed to… then the people that are against me in the civilian and elder councils can petition to Hokage Jiji to have me removed from the shinobi program completely." A dull look came to the boy's eyes at this bringing worry to the Grimm Queen, "If I am removed from the program, Hokage Jiji will have no control over me anymore, and I will be placed under the direct supervision of the civilian council… and I think that if that happens, then I will not likely survive more than a few months at most before I 'disappear' or have an unfortunate 'accident' if you get my drift."
Salem could feel the helplessness fill the young boy due to her passive ability to sense negativity due to the Grimm pool. Fury began to course through the woman's body at how callous and heartless these people must be for Naruto to be so convinced that he would die if he had no protection. Before she could speak, Naruto gave her the brightest 'fake' smile he could and spoke with a false cheer that sent a shiver down her spine at how unnatural it was.
"Now, I need to get back to the village, since it has been at least three or four days since I came here, the old man must be tearing down the village looking for me." Raising her brow, Salem suddenly got a look of smiling realization that confused Naruto.
"Ah Naruto, I believe there is something you should know-" Seeing his expression, Salem's smile deepened, "-before you woke up I sent one of my stealth Grimm, a Geist, to your village to check the situation. From what the Geist reported back it is still currently the early morning hours of October eleventh." Naruto's eyes bulged with that information. He knew without a doubt that he had been in the Grimmlands for around four days. If it was only early morning in Konoha the day after his birthday then…
"Time moves slower here?"
"Well yes and no, see we are currently in a separate reality made by the Brothers of Light and Darkness. It is technically connected to your world only through space because of the contract. Time here in this dimension moves at about one to four here." Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face, Salem sighed and explained.
"This means that for every day you are gone from your home, about four or five days will pass here." A look of realization flitted across the now beaming boy's face as a bright smile split Naruto's face and he exclaimed.
"Then that means I could finish that training and make it back in time for my graduation-" a frown crossed his face as he realized something, "but… how would I explain this to the old man… and won't I age faster due to this?"
"It doesn't quite work that way Naruto. While yes you will be here training, you are still connected to your world through your soul, and you will only age according to your worlds time. So while you would be mentally eight or ten years older mentally, physically you would be the same age as your peers."
Another look of confusion came over Naruto's face as he tried to understand the mechanics of how that would work. Steam began to rise from Naruto's head as he overheated trying to understand metaphysics and temporal theory… then he gave up and just shrugged it off. Deciding that he would be better off not questioning the insanity that was his life, Naruto looked back towards the pale queen.
"Ne Salem, you said that you would be sending a message to the old man…" Seeing the Grimm queen nod, Naruto continued, "How do you plan on doing that? I mean most of the Grimm from what I have seen are not exactly… subtle… in fact they would likely cause a panic if they were seen in the village."
Smiling at the forethought the boy was showing, Salem decided to share her plan with the young blond.
"Well Naruto, since you asked so kindly-" Snapping her fingers another portal opened and a small shape flew and landed on Salem's shoulder. "This is one the most… accomplished of my forces." Gesturing to the figure on her shoulder, Naruto could see that the figure was a bird like Grimm in the shape of a crow or raven. What separated this bird from its common counterparts was the armored mask that covered its head and beak. The bird like Grimm held itself with an inherent pride unlike its more simple fellows Naruto had observed at the Dark Brother's altar. Salem turning to the bird spoke with a tone of command that brokered no argument.
"Now, I have a job for you, you will go to our new summoners home and find the one known as the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. When you find him you will deliver a message stating that Naruto will now be in my care and receive training from myself until his age group is set to graduate from their academy." The Grimm tilted its head in consideration of the orders for a moment before cawing out what seemed a question, not that Naruto understood. Unlike the blond, Salem seemed to understand what the creature was trying to convey and wasted no time to respond, looking to Naruto the pale woman spoke.
"Naruto if you would kindly-" waving her hand a piece of paper and an ornate pen appeared and landed in the boy's hand. "-could you please write a message to the Hokage explaining the events leading up to your arrival to these lands." Nodding, Naruto took the paper and pen and walked to the large meeting table in the middle of the room, taking a seat he began to write out the events of the night; of his chase to Training Ground Forty-four by the mob and how he had found the summoning contract, the young blond didn't explain to much about the trials he had passed to become a summoner, only that he had passed. In the letter he reassured the old man that he would be back and would become strong enough to take the hat from him in no time. Signing the letter in his own way, Naruto waved the paper to ensure that the ink was dried and folded it before handing it to Salem.
While Naruto had been writing his letter, Salem continued to speak quietly to the Grimm bird.
"You understand what your orders are right?" the masked bird nodded slightly, while moving from the woman's shoulder and landing on a proffered arm. "Right one more time; you are to go to Konoha and deliver the message that Naruto gives to you to the Sandaime Hokage, I will give you a message to give him as well requesting teaching materials for Naruto's shinobi education he will need for his final examination." The bird cawed once again, though what the Grimm Queen heard was different.
"If the man requires proof, you can take any action other than bodily or psychological harm to prove the truth of our abilities. Also if you can please find out if the Hokage could supply any techniques to help the boy learn faster, I wish for the boy to become as strong as possible in the time he is with us. I have a feeling that when he returns things will become quickly chaotic."
Before Salem could say or think of anything else to tell the Grimm, Naruto came up to the two and held up the folded paper to the pale woman 'To the Old Man' written across the front of the paper. Smiling once again at the action of the boy, Salem gently took the paper from the blond and with care, tied the paper to the bird's leg that was held out. Once the letter was secured the Grimm let out a caw and flapped its wings, circling the room once then flying towards one of the windows. Worried for a moment that the bird was about to hit the window, Naruto almost ran forward, before a red and black portal opened in front of the bird Grimm, swallowing it in a moment.
Eyes wide, Naruto gave a soft "Whoa" before the light laughter of Salem reached his ears. Blushing in embarrassment, Naruto turned back to the Grimm queen and spoke out with a smile while fighting down his embarrassed blush.
"Well, where do we start now?" Giving the blond a smile that sent shivers of fear down his spine, Salem's laughter turned maniacal… looking back on his training Naruto would honestly say that, while the results were fantastic, he wouldn't wish it on his greatest enemy.
-Line Break-
Konohagakure no Sato, Hokage Tower:
Sitting in his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as the Sandaime Hokage, the second longest reigning Kage behind that old fence-sitter Ōnoki the Sandaime Tsuchikage. The elderly leader also held other illustrious titles such as 'The Professor' or even 'God of Shinobi' like his own teacher the Shodai Hokage. Now one might be wondering what such an illustrious member and leader of one of the most powerful shinobi villages was doing at this early hour… well currently said powerful shinobi was fighting his one true nemesis, the only enemy to beat all but one of the known Kage in all of history. This enemy had driven many a powerful men and women to insanity at its power and sheer tenacity. A few of his best ANBU members even speculated that it was due to this enemy that most if not all of the most troublesome Nukenin (Rouge Shinobi) had abandoned their homes to become criminals.
What could this horrifying enemy be you may ask? Well, this enemy had one name… Paperwork. That's right the one thing that pretty much every Kage level shinobi, Rogue or not, could agree on was that paperwork was the work of some dark deity. One that reveled in the suffering of the many peoples of the world. While some would say that the old Kage was just being dramatic and that it was just paper, then those people were likely traitors working to kill said old Kage via paperwork and were immediately sent to Ibiki Morino and Anko Mitarashi in TI to find out their devious plans…
Anyways… It had been a quiet morning all things said for the Hokage, Hiruzen had arrived at his office at around five in the morning to finish some of his remaining pile of paperwork from the previous day. Leaving instructions with the ANBU to keep an eye on Naruto during the Kyūbi Festival the previous evening, Hiruzen was happy to receive no reports that the young blond had been accosted again by the villagers. Though the fact he had yet to receive a report from the team should have been a red flag to the older man, he was just too trusting that nothing was amiss if it wasn't brought to his attention immediately. It was only after another four hours of constantly growing piles of paperwork, most with inane attempts at having the Hokage declare Naruto a risk to the village, having him executed, or banished from the village entirely. Shaking his head sadly at the fate of his successor's son and feeling a deep disappointment fill him at the bigotry of his people, Hiruzen had the requesters flagged to be sent to TI to speak with Ibiki for an… attitude adjustment.
It was now just before noon and Hiruzen was beginning to get worried, he still hadn't received a report from the ANBU squad that was in charge of watching Naruto last night and he hadn't seen hide or hair of the happy-go-lucky blond. Just before he was going to summon his ANBU to start searching for the boy, a tapping was heard from the window behind him. Turning fast to the window in case of an attack, Hiruzen was surprised to see an odd raven with a strange mask on its head and glowing red eyes. Eyes narrowed at the strange animal, wondering if this was one of Itachi's summons, the Hokage approached cautiously and opened the window. The raven wasting no time flew into the room and landed lightly on the chair facing the Hokage's paper filled desk. Turning around to face the bird, Hiruzen raised an eyebrow when the bird raised its claw showing a letter attached to its leg. The Professor was about to speak out and question what or who sent the bird until he saw the familiar script on the front of the paper.
Reaching forward, the old man carefully untied the note from the raven and opened it to find the neat writing of his surrogate grandson. Quickly reading through the note, Hiruzen was at first enraged at what happened to Naruto last night, unconsciously the old Kage released his KI mixed with his still sizable chakra reserves, cracking the ground and shattering the windows behind him. Outside the office, the Hokage's secretary and the hidden ANBU almost all collapsed from the sheer intensity that their aged leader was releasing. One of the ANBU, wearing an Inu mask and having silver, gravity defying grey hair, moved to the door and opened it with caution, showing their enraged leader. The opening door catching the old man's attention, Hiruzen looked up seeing that his receptionist, a former Jonin, had passed out from his KI. Reeling in his anger and KI, slowly the feeling of death left the building letting those still conscious let out a breath of relief. Inu seeing that his leader had calmed down decided to get some answers of what could cause the man to respond as he did to the note in hands. Giving the aged leader a salute and kneeling, Inu spoke out to his leader.
"Hokage-sama, what has happened?" Being reminded of what had made him so angry, Hiruzen wasted no time responding to his most trusted ANBU captain.
"Inu-san, I need you to find the team that was responsible for looking after Naruto-kun last night. I just received a note from the boy that he was attacked by a mob again last night and no one was there to protect him. In fact from what the boy said, there were actually shinobi mixed in with the mob this time. From what Naruto-kun says in the letter, the mob had chased him across most of the village before driving the boy into the Forest of Death where he was able to escape from them." With every word the Hokage spoke, Inu could feel his heart clench and his fist beginning to tighten almost enough to pop the knuckles painfully, but the elderly leader was not done yet.
"Naruto-kun, While hurt and bleeding, was then chased by some of the predators of the forest until he fell into a ravine that went deep into the earth. The boy explained that the only way he survived was by activating his Uzumaki bloodline and creating his mother's Adamantine Chakra Chains. After taking a moment to recover from his near death experience, Naruto found himself trapped with no way of reaching the village, while searching the area he found an ancient temple and an unknown scroll on a pedestal. Feeling compelled to, Naruto placed his bloody palm upon the scroll and was immediately reverse summoned to a summoning realm called the Grimm Lands." Eyes widened at what had happened to his god-brother Inu began to freak out internally at the peril his sensei's son had been placed in. It was a known fact that some of the more… violent summons had a very steep price if one didn't pass one of their summoning tests, such as the snake clan devouring those who didn't pass their tests, and to hear that Naruto had gained a contract with a clan calling its home the 'Grimm Lands' did not print a happy picture.
"Now rest assured Inu, Naruto-kun did indeed pass the trials for his summons and is now safe with them for the time being." Hiruzen returned to his seat and after sitting down placed his hands together in front of his face and tilting his head down covering his eyes in the shadow of his Hokage hat, the sigil for 'Fire' standing prominent in the ANBU commander's vision. Inu stiffened at the Hokage's position, recognizing it as the position his leader took when he was channeling his 'God of Shinobi' persona. Much to the ANBU's expectation, Hiruzen spoke with a tone of control and power that sent a shiver of fear down the young man's back.
"Inu, these are your orders; I want you and your team to go and find the team that was supposed to look after Naruto-" Hiruzen then tilted his head up showing his hard charcoal eyes to his subordinate to convey how thin his patience was. "If and when you find them, if the team is not dead you will bring them directly to Ibiki and Anko, telling them to… have fun with the traitors." Sweat was rolling down the young man's back at the ice in the older man's tone, there was only one response he knew his leader wanted to hear.
"Hai Hokage-sama! Your will be done." Bowing in a stiff ninety degree angle to his leader, Inu raised a single hand sign and disappeared in a swirl of leaves to gather his team to begin their mission. Hiruzen seeing Inu leave in a shunshin, breathed in slowly to try and calm himself. After three minutes the aged Kage was finally able to reign in his temper, picking up Naruto's letter again and reading through it once more, Hiruzen remembered the odd raven that was likely one of these Grimm summons Naruto spoke of. looking around his office to try and find the avian, Hiruzen decided to call out to it, hoping that it was still there.
"Ehem, excuse me summon-san, are you still here and could you explain a few things for me?" The room was silent for a bit making Hiruzen feel like a fool for expecting a response from the creature that resembled an avian. Only to be surprised by a soft, sultry female voice to be heard from one of the few dark corners of his office.
"Oh, So you finally remembered little old me eh. I almost thought you had forgotten that I was even here. Well to be honest my lady had ordered me to answer a few of your questions and maybe request items for Naruto-sama's shinobi education."
Coming from the shadows… was not a raven… no the figure that was now walking out of the shadows of his office with a stride reminiscent of a predator, was what looked like a woman. Tall with a figure that reminded the older man of his female student Tsunade Senju, the unknown woman wore an odd outfit; a shallow cut black and red dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets. She wears an object that looks to be made from feathers hanging from the right side of her skirt and detached black leggings cover her shapely legs, leading to black combat boots with silver buckles, red high heels and soles. Over her head a more human version of the mask the Grimm wore covers her face; a fearsome, full-face mask that has four eye slits, giving her an inhuman appearance. Coming out from the back of the mask is a long mane of black hair with highlights of red spread among the waves of black. One other distinctive observation Hiruzen made note of was the odd sheath at her waist containing multiple colored blades but only one handle resembling a katana or odachi.
Swallowing at the intimidating but attractive form of the woman in front of him, Hiruzen collected himself and spoke up hoping the woman hadn't noticed his less than polite look over her frame. Unknown to the elder Hokage, the woman did notice and below her mask a light sneer rested on her face at his looking at her body but controlled herself from attacking the old man with the back of her sword. Clearing his throat and gesturing to the open seat in front of his desk, Hiruzen spoke while trying to retain his dignity.
"Well I can assume you are the Grimm that had delivered Naruto-kun's letter to me, and I must thank you for that, but if I could ask a few questions, if that is okay?" receiving a nod from the still masked woman, Hiruzen continued. "First I wish to know if Naruto-kun is okay-" The woman gave a simple nod to the elderly Kage. "-alright, second, you said that your mistress requested material for Naruto's Shinobi education-" Another nod and Hiruzen continued, "That shouldn't be a problem, I will have one of my most trusted ANBU collect the necessary materials for him," a sudden flash of inspiration hit Hiruzen, and a small grin appeared on his face. "In fact I think there are a few things I could put together that should interest the boy immensely and maybe help accelerate his training."
Standing up and walking to one of the walls of his office holding the photos of all of the Hokage, past and present, Hiruzen made a few quick hand-signs and bit his thumb until it drew blood. Swiping the bloodied digit under the fourth photo, the woman felt a pulse in the air and from one moment to the next a safe door replaced the wall. Quickly inputting a combination and opening the safe, Hiruzen reached into the surprisingly deep safe and pulled out two scrolls; one large scroll with a black swirl pattern and a smaller one with the leaf insignia emblazoned on it. Turning back to his desk, Hiruzen placed both scrolls among the piles of paperwork on his desk. Taking his seat once again, Hiruzen made a hand gesture summoning one of his personal ANBU guards. In a blur of motion a woman with long purple hair and wearing an ANBU styled cat mask appeared kneeling in front of her leader. Nodding to the kneeling ANBU Hiruzen spoke with authority pouring from his voice.
"Neko, I need you to go to the academy and get copies of the entire curriculum and seal it in a scroll for Naruto-kun." Giving a silent nod to her leader, Neko stood and similarly to Inu disappeared in a swirl of wind.
The still un-named woman-summon just gave an impressed eyebrow raise under her mask at the technique that these people used to travel at high speeds. In some ways this method reminded her of a certain hyperactive huntress in red from the past. Before she could be dragged back through her memories, a polite cough brought the woman's attention back to the aged leader of her summoner's village. Seeing that he had gotten the masked woman's attention, Hiruzen spoke up to explain the scrolls contents in front of him.
"Now then, the two items in front of me are a few things that I think will help young Naruto-kun immensely." Placing a hand over the smaller scroll Hiruzen continued, "In this scroll is the written explanation of one of my second sensei's most prized jutsu; the Shadow Clone Jutsu. This jutsu, unlike other clone jutsu, is neither an illusion nor elemental manipulation. Instead this Jutsu creates solid copies of the user that are capable of thinking and learning on their own. Now this by itself would already make the Shadow Clone one of the most versatile clone jutsu-" A smirk spread across Hiruzen's aged face capturing the masked woman's attention, "-but in fact my sensei had developed it, not for combat, but to create the ultimate scout."
"Instead of risking soldiers to spy behind enemy lines, one with the requisite chakra levels, could create a Shadow Clone and send it on reconnaissance. Then when the clone completed its task it would dispel, after dispelling all remaining chakra, as well as the clones memories would be sent back to the user." Beneath her mask the woman's eyes were wide at the use of such a technique, but something was bothering her about the utility of such an overpowered technique.
"If what you are saying is true then why do you not have all of your shinobi using this technique?" giving a slow nod to the woman at her question, Hiruzen wasted no time answering the question.
"Ah yes, you see the main problem is the sheer cost of using the jutsu. To make just one Shadow Clone splits the users available chakra pool in half, now this means that if someone uses this technique without at least high Jonin chakra reserves, then the person would likely suffer from chakra exhaustion at best or death at worst." The woman only gave a nod of understanding at the older man's words but spoke up once more.
"If that is the case, then is this safe for young Naruto?"
"Usually you would be right that a child as young as Naruto normally wouldn't have high enough reserves to use the Shadow Clone, but due to his bloodline, lineage, and another factor, Naruto has more than enough chakra to use the clones as a sort of supplementary learning tool. Just be sure that when Naruto uses the technique to not dispel more than ten clones at a time to avoid memory backlash." Hiruzen then placed his hand over the larger scroll, a small sad smile spread over the older man's face causing the masked woman to raise a hidden brow at the gesture.
"And this… *sigh* this is the clan teachings of Naruto's mother Kushina Uzumaki. While I do not know everything that resides within this scroll, from what Kushina had told me, this scroll contains the Uzumaki combat style, along with family jutsu and the entirety of their fuinjutsu teachings." The woman was impressed by what she had heard, but something stuck out to her that she wasted no time bringing up.
"Hokage-san, why did you keep this from the boy until now?" Hiruzen seemed to age three decades as her question was spoken. Placing his elbows back on his desk and clasping his hands, the Hokage spoke with a tone of exhaustion pervading him entirety.
"I… can admit that I have made many mistakes when comes to the care of Naruto-kun. It is also a fact that I have hidden things from the young man… but I have only kept these things from him so as to protect him. In the case of his mother's scroll, well to be honest it was just too dangerous for Naruto to have access to it before now." Leaning back in his seat, Hiruzen reached down into one of the drawers in his desk before pulling out a well worn and cared for tobacco pipe. The old Kage pulled out a package of smoking tobacco and after filling his pipe, used an E-Rank Katon jutsu to light it. The masked woman was suddenly feeling an intense desire to smack the pipe from the old man's hand and tell him to get to the point… only for said old man to begin speaking again unknowingly cutting off the woman.
"You see, in our world there are many different countries, and many of these countries have some sort of shinobi or samurai force that work to protect their borders and Daimyo or nobles. Out of all these countries there are five that stand above the rest and are considered the 'Five Great Shinobi Nations.' These Nations are Tsuchi no Kuni (Land of Earth) and their hidden village; Iwagakure (Village Hidden in Stone), Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning) and Kumogakure (Village Hidden in Clouds), Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water) with Kirigakure (Village Hidden in Mist), Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) protected by Sunagakure (Village Hidden in Sand), and finally us Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) with the first village to be founded Konohagakure (Village Hidden in Leaves)." Not really interested in the impromptu history lesson she was receiving the woman gestured with her hand for the Hokage to continue with his point. Coughing into his fist to clear his throat, Hiruzen continued his tale.
"What isn't talked about much nowadays is that there was once a village that was on the verge of becoming the sixth great nation. This country was smaller than most only consisting of a few large islands in the oceans between Mizu no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni, its name was Uzu no Kuni (Land of Whirlpools) and was protected by Uzushiogakure (Village Hidden by Whirling Tides)." The woman's brow furrowed at the name of this nation, before a sudden connection hit her. Seeing the tensing of the woman in front of him, Hiruzen gave a slight nod.
"I assume you figured it out; the ruling clan of Uzushio were in fact the Uzumaki Clan. The Uzumaki's were known for a great many things; their straight, flowing red hair, their prodigious ability with Fuinjutsu, and their long lifespans were the most well known traits of their clansmen and women." Giving a slight chuckle at something he had remembered Hiruzen continued, "as a matter of fact, it was thanks to the Uzumaki's notoriously long lives that the village received another name; Chōju no Sato (The Village of Longevity)." All levity then left the older man.
"It was these reasons that eventually led to the fall of Uzu. After the end of the First Shinobi War, when talks of raising Uzushio up to the position of the sixth great nation, The entire land was set upon by an ambush force from Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo. The reason… the three countries didn't want to change the status quo and they felt that Uzushio, especially the Uzumaki Clan with their connection to Konoha via Mito Uzumaki's marriage to the Shodai Hokage; Hashirama Senju, were too much of a threat. When word of the invasion reached Konoha a force was sent out to reinforce our stoutest allies. It took the force a total of four day at Jonin speeds to reach the closest shores of Uzu…" Hiruzen's countenance darkened at the memories he was experiencing.
"Unfortunately we didn't make it in time, as our forces arrived all they could see were the retreating remnants of the allied force and the ruins of the once peaceful village…" a single tear trekked a line down the Kage's face memories of the friends he had lost with the fall of the greatest of Konoha's allies. "fortunately, Naruto's mother, Kushina, had already moved to Konoha at the behest of her great aunt Mito. Unfortunately this would be the spark that ignited the Second Great Shinobi War. After the war and when I had assumed the role of Sandaime Hokage, I had Kushina and a group of trusted Jonin and ANBU go to Uzushio to give the people proper burials, as well as find any hidden clan records or scrolls for Kushina."
Hiruzen could remember when the young Kushina had returned from that mission. The fiery woman had been inconsolable for months at all of the family she had lost due to the greed and paranoia of a few. It was only due to Minato and her best friends, Mikoto Uchiha and Hisa Hyuga, that Kushina was eventually able to recover from the loss of almost her entire clan. The still unnamed woman sat and absorbed what she had been told about her new summoner. The room remained silent for a few minutes as the two were lost in thought… until Neko returned via shunshin holding another medium sized sealing scroll with the characters for 'Academy' written across it.
Neko went to kneel and report her successful mission until she noticed the odd masked woman standing in the room. In a fluid motion, Neko dropped the scroll and unsheathed a katana on her back, pointing the blade at the unknown. Realizing the problem, Hiruzen yelled out to keep his subordinate from making a mistake.
"Neko, stand down!" the ANBU froze at her leaders words until she re-sheathed her weapon and bowed to her leader with a quick 'Hai Hokage-sama.' Sighing at the growing headache from todays events, Hiruzen rubbed the bridge of his nose and gestured for the scroll to be placed on his desk. After the scroll was placed, the Hokage dismissed Neko back to her position. Turning back to the masked woman, Hiruzen pushed forward the three scrolls to her. Walking forward and accepting the scrolls, the woman secured them to her person before turning around. Hiruzen realizing that the woman was likely leaving called out.
"Wait!" a quick pause and look over her shoulder pushed the Hokage to continue. "I just have two more questions… one, when will Naruto-kun be back?… and two what do I call you in the future?"
Turning her head back to the front, the woman reached to her side and unsheathed her weapon in one motion making a cut in the air in front of her. In place of the cut a portal, glowing an ominous black and red, appeared. Mouth agape, Hiruzen almost missed the words that came from the woman before she walked through, the portal closing behind her.
"Naruto-sama should be back around two months before his age group graduates from the academy, so around four years… and my name-" The woman reached up to her mask, pressing some hidden switches causing the mask to retract, took off the mask revealing her face to the elderly Kage.
The woman… was beautiful, in a predatory way, though her skin was pale, not unhealthily so, but it was her eyes that called to the Hokage. The woman's eyes were a luminous red, an even deeper shade of red than any of the Sharingan in the Uchiha clan. In fact the only person to share a similar shade of red to this woman was one of his Genin, a Yuhi Kurenai. Besides her iris the whites of her eyes… were not white but black as pitch with crack like black veins on the surrounding skin.
"You can call me… Raven." Without another word, Raven walked into the portal.