I've been reading the original light novels of Familiar of Zero for inspiration and I'm actually shocked by how much better they are than the anime. Up until now, my story was mostly based on the latter since that's the version of the story I was most familiar with and because I prefer the anime art style more than the light novel's.
I don't have this story actually mapped out entirely, if at all. I have a rough idea of the events that will happen, but I'm mostly flying by the seat of my pants here, which is more fun than anything else.
Also, my original plans for Sasuke are largely discarded, but I still have something for him. I still wanna do something about those original plans, so I might write a one-shot based on that.
Chapter 5
We Need a Sword I
It was the early hours of the morning and Naruto rested on the concrete steps of the tower for a while. Looking up to the purple sky, he picked up several stars.
Without electricity in the land of Halkeginia, there wasn't any form of light pollution, making them easier to push back against the shades of evening. In the distance, trees rustled under the tepid breeze of spring, resembling outlines sketched with charcoal on a purple canvas.
Leaves fluttered down into the grass and near him. Naruto seized one with his hand, a grin fixing itself on his face when he stared at its elliptical shape briefly. They, he decided, were just as green as in Konoha during spring. Such an absurdly obvious observation that was, but he valued the bits of normality he could get to enjoy, no matter how transient.
He came back to the real world, reaching towards his pants' back pockets.
Folded in half there was a photograph there displaying four people: a twelve-year-old version of himself on the farther right side frame with his arms folded, a younger Sasuke on the left with his hands obviously tucked in his pockets (the two making their best 'I can't stand you' faces as they avoided eye contact), then Kakashi—grinning uncomfortably at the photographer—standing in the middle held the two in place so they couldn't tear each other apart, while Sakura down there gave the current him a radiant smile.
While thinking on those calmer days, his smile fell somewhat. How much he wished to find a way to contact them.
"Your friends?" a gentle voice asked.
Naruto turned around, looking somewhat startled. "Good morning, Naruto-san."
He smiled at the way the girl tenderly tilted her head.
"Sup, Siesta," he greeted the maid with a lukewarm smile which she returned in kind, "Yeah. That's us," he flicked at his past self with his fingers, playfully.
"Look at that smug idiot over there," he pointed his thumb at himself, "I've turned real handsome ever since, ain't I?"
"U-Uh! W-Well, y-you've certainly m-matured a-a lot…"
He brought up a hand up to her chin, while he watched with an amused smile at the girl stumbling over her words as her face filled with red as she fidgeted with her fingers.
"Hey…"
The girl shivered despite herself, her cheeks still burning an angry shade of scarlet as she watched Naruto shifting his sitting position somewhat and pointed at the boy dressed in blue with a finger. "See this guy?"
Siesta stopped froze in place, blinking at the explicit nature of his question, before leaning and glancing down at the person in question.
"That's my best friend," he revealed. "Uchiha Sasuke."
"Mm…" Siesta hummed, pensive. "Oh, right. Last night you mentioned him!"
After a brief minute, glancing over the photo, Siesta sweat-dropped. "No offense, but I don't get the impression you two got along very well from this picture…"
Turning to her, Naruto blinked owlishly. Then he brought his hand behind his head, chuckling vigorously.
"Yeah! We used to bicker a lot, you know!" eventually, his smile died down a bit. "Took us a lot to realize how closer we'd grown to each other, and even when that happened in the end, it was a little too late."
Siesta was silent for a moment, sympathy dancing in her blue eyes as she looked at her fellow commoner pursing his lips for a moment, looking like he was grimacing from a particularly traumatic memory, which made her wonder, Whatever could've happened with that Uchiha Sasuke fellow?
It was hard to tell for the maid; she couldn't read emotions as well as Naruto apparently could (Was that another skill that shinobi—what Naruto claimed to be—excelled at?), regardless since the jagged strands of his blond hair blackened his eyes she couldn't really tell how was he feeling.
After a moment, Naruto spoke again. "You're the first person here I've told this, you know?" he said with a smile, though slightly weaker than before, before pointing at the tower with his thumb. "Not even that sluggard knows this."
"Miss Vallière?" Siesta realized in bewilderment. "Why is that? She's your master, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but she never asks me anything about my life before coming here. Also…" Naruto turned to face her. "Because we're buddies, aren't we?"
All Siesta could do is open his mouth, then close it, her eyes widening and stinging ever so slightly as she gaped at the radiant sun that was Uzumaki Naruto with the horizon burning bright besides the faraway mountains. That was the first time someone her age, since she'd started to work here the past year, had earnestly acknowledged her as anything more than just another maid of the bunch.
"Siesta?" Naruto asked with pattern concern.
Lips quivering, she forced out a smile, and wiped the tears that threatened to leak out of her eyes. "It's okay, something got in my eye with all this wind, that's all," she tilted her head. "Thank you so much for the kind words, Naruto-san."
Suddenly, he did some stretches. "I'm gonna train a little bit," he said, flexing his arms, "Can't risk getting too rusty. See you later, Siesta."
The girl nodded, "Mm-hmm! See you later, Naruto-san!"
After glancing at the maid a final time, Naruto dashed towards the castle's peripheral forests throwing his arms to his sides, a yellow and orange blur. Siesta just marveled at how impossibly fast he was, looking to her eyes as though he'd vanished in the blink of an eye. Not even nobles were that fast.
He's always so full of energy, she thought. Ninjas really are amazing. Then she reviewed the attires of the ninja, including the headbands the they wore.
And that symbol. That strange spiral with the triangular shape in the bottom and the bent tip.
Where have I seen that before?
Kirche woke up to the rustling of the wind, and a balmy breeze filling her suite. The girl could tell that by the glare of the sun glinting on the frayed glass of her window, it was just before noon. Another radiant and calm spring day shone over the land of Tristain.
Somewhat sleepy, she strolled over to the window—or what was left of it, anyway, after Flame had blasted it open with his fire last night—and watched out over the scenic countryside. Lush green mountains beneath a deep blue sky spread all around the land. Birds chirped joyfully as they swooped through the placid air surrounding the concrete tower.
After dressing for that Void Day in her regular uniform, Kirche sat on her vanity chair, dabbing on lipstick as she checked herself in the mirror. A cheeky smile worked its way onto her face as she pushed her long scarlet hair down her back.
"How should I seduce Naruto today?"
Suddenly, the sound of a horse neighing out loud soon followed by Uzumaki Naruto's distinctly high-pitched voice rang out from the concrete walls of her suite.
"I think I'm gonna fall!"
"Come on, hold on to me!" Vallière's ever-demanding voice followed soon enough.
Kirche peered out her window one more time, morbidly curious, and spotted the outlandish duo of commoner familiar and world-class washout Louise de la Vallière leaving the academy on horseback, setting off towards the village. As Louise directed her stallion with perfect skill and elegance befitting a noble of her pedigree, the same could not be said for the whiskered commoner who held on to his mistress for dear life.
"Where are you grabbing?!" the petite girl shrilled, her face burning red.
"That wasn't your stomach?!" Naruto shouted back. Since his eyes were screwed shut he couldn't see where he was holding on to.
"That's my chest!"
Naruto snorted, "Well, it's flat enough to be otherwise!"
"Want me to kick you off, dog?!" Louise growled.
"May I suggest anger management?"
"DUMMY!"
"GAH!" Naruto's distant howl suggested Louise had won that argument with a hard smack on her familiar's head.
"What? They're going out today?" Kirche whined, dejected. "Guess I could use the old 'happen to run into each other' pattern…"
The redhead giggled, thrilled at her plan as she headed towards her friend's suite.
"I'll ask Tabitha to help me out!" Kirche said in a lilting voice
As it turns out, the land of Tristain wasn't so much different from the Land of Fire, or the largely unknown countries he had visited in a handful of missions in the past.
Outside the mostly uniform framework of concrete and gravel in contrast to smooth wood and plaster work, the buildings weren't far removed to the standard Naruto was already used to back at home. It was an even more grounded sight to behold compared to the major cities from what he'd roughly dubbed as the Shinobi World. There were comparatively few premises around the area that reached more than two or three stories high. However, the farthest districts, nearly all of them were only a single story tall.
From the layout, Naruto guessed the closer they were to the center of the city, the more affluent people lived there. Given Louise's prestige, it was only reasonable they were heading towards those areas.
Louise hands clutched the reins, two straps that apparently were attached to the horse's bridle as they proceeded up to the north, in direction to the town. In the meantime, she'd briefed him that it allowed her to steer the stallion by giving him subtle cues. With that she could guide and control him, like a speedboat of sorts but on solid ground!
The noblewoman puffed out her chest in pride at her familiar's bewilderment. Though at times it really puzzled her how primitive Naruto seemed at times. Were all commoners like this?
However, when they finally reached their desired destination after a grueling, drawn-out trip, Naruto wasn't looking all that thrilled. As a matter of fact, he was gnashing his teeth while his mistress deposited the campus-loaned horse at the stables at the city's gates.
Once that was over and done with, Louise headed towards the town on foot, followed closely by Naruto, though the latter trudging heavily as he rubbed the lower side of his back.
"My back, my back…" Naruto groused, yet again. "You could've at least told me it'd been sitting on my ass for over three hours, Louise!"
Louise turned to face him, a harsh look of disappointment crossing over her face. "You're so useless, you know that?!" she hissed sharply, fists on her hips, but at this point it barely got a reaction from the commoner due to the amount of times she'd labeled him as such. "Have you never ridden a horse before? Commoners really are something else!"
Whirling around, the girl scoffed snootily at him, stomping on the dirt path ahead. Naruto clicked his tongue behind her back.
"Tch! Of course I haven't!" Naruto shot back. "Us ninja don't move around like this often, you know! That's why I told you to just let me run at my leasure."
"You are a noble's familiar, Uzumaki Naruto," Louise retorted haughtily. "You'll have to become used to our ways of getting around to keep up appearances. I can't just let you run loose like that around the forest." She turned and glared at him "Least of all because I don't want to risk another escape attempt."
Naruto frowned, "I told you already, I won't run off!"
With her nose in the air, Louise whirled around.
"Hmph! That remains to be seen!"
Naruto grunted. "Jeez, look if we're gonna be teammates or whatever, you need to start trusting me a little more…"
"Allow me to repeat myself: you're my familiar," Louise rebuked him. "There's no 'we' in this contract, Naruto."
The further they moved into the avenue, the more Naruto's innate curiosity was piqued by the many stores displaying such exotic things that he would otherwise never have seen elsewhere in his world.
He chuckled vigorously, "They sure sell a lot of cool stuff here!"
Like a hyperactive child, Naruto hunched down and marveled at the jars of what looked like brined eggs—completely different from any he'd seen back in his world; they were bigger than a chicken's eggs, and their shell had vibrant, colorful patterns.
They were laid on top of the wooden stand alongside other equally outlandish items, such as bottled-up flasks or what seemed like a dried, dissected hand with long fingernails.
"Yes, but I don't want you to wander off," Louise nagged at him. "There are lots of pickpockets, so you better watch my wallet and yours."
"Yeah, yeah, relax," Naruto said, "I had to carry Pervy Sage's wallet too during our travels."
Louise arched an eyebrow. "'Pervy Sage'?"
"My late teacher, Jiraiya," Naruto elaborated, with a nostalgic smile.
"And you call him that?"
"Term of endearment," Naruto shrugged. "Good, honest man and also very strong—damn strong—but too much of a sex maniac for his own good."
As she looked ahead, Louise pouted. That should explain why he was wagging his tail all around Zerbst! She nodded angrily, A perverted dog breeds another perverted dog!
Crossing the fourth intersection, Louise slowed down, glancing both ways with a wondering expression.
"I think it was right next to Vietmont's elixir shop…" She perked upon spotting a shop marked by a bronze sign: a silver sword dangling from it. "Oh! There it is!"
"Kinda looks like a kunai," Naruto commented, lightly touching his chin with a pensive look. "So that's the armory, huh?"
"That's right," she nodded.
"Funny. I don't see any kind of label," he pointed out.
"Most commoners are illiterate so they use signs instead," she elaborated. "Hurry it up!" Louise, who already stood by the door, said to Naruto in a snobby manner.
"Yeah, yeah, don't be so stingy…"
As bright as it was outside, that armory was rather dark and gloomy inside. A faint orange light from a gas lamp illuminated the concrete room only intermittently. Both the walls and the shelves were lined with all sorts of weapons that Naruto had never seen even in his wildest dreams. The boy glanced past a set of armor that appeared to be made of somewhat worn and weathered hardware, firmly standing upright and grasping a spear as if guarding the dingy chamber.
Behind the counter, a lanky, hunched-over man with a mouse-like face snapped to attention at Louise's pentagram brooch. Removing his pipe from his mouth, he sported his best 'PR' smile.
"Ah! A noble!" he declared in a lively voice. "I run a legitimate business. Nothing illegal, I swear."
Naruto grabbed the only kunai knife he had left stored in his leg holster, gracefully spinning it by the ring at its handle's rear before placing it down on the man's desk.
"Do you have anything like this?" he asked. "I'd also like some shuriken—throwing four-pointed metal stars—if you have any too."
The older man took a long, thorough glance at the knife before him as did Louise, curiosity swelling in her eyes. As Naruto had pointed out before entering the armory, the blade was almost identical to the sign outside: a blade shaped like a leaf, oddly enough. The metal it was forged from seemed durable. Was it iron or brass?
The retailer was silent for a while, looking baffled at the tool's design and material, then gave Naruto an apologetic look.
"Sorry, kid," he said shaking his head, he gestured at the items behind him. "Only what you see."
Sighing heavily, Naruto couldn't help but hang his head down for a moment. Should've seen that one coming.
"Why don't you just settle with a sword?" Louise asked, her arms folded. "That's what most nobles and knights use."
Naruto gave her a displeased look. "I'm a shinobi, Louise, not a samurai. I've never held up a sword in my life," he then cupped his chin, in a contemplative expression. "But…"
Learning a weapon art as complex as swordsmanship from scratch from the fundamentals for someone as impatient as Naruto seemed impossible. Especially when the art had never caught his eye, even after their little encounter with Zabuza at the Land of Waves.
He would've considered speeding up the process tenfold—hundredfold if possible—by following the regime Kakashi-sensei taught him months ago: organizing the largest possible number of Shadow Clones he could conjure to take care of the hardest task. Doing that would save him months, or even whole years of indoctrination in a single afternoon.
So long as he didn't have to resort to that other option. The logical part of his brain kept reminding him that the thing imprisoned in his gut hadn't forgotten of the Fourth Hokage's meddling the last time it wreaked havoc.
"Some familiars can yield special powers once contracted" Louise said the previous night.
Glancing down at the back of his hand where the strange markings were etched, something else occurred to him, I could use this, maybe.
Judging from that statement and everything that had happened until now, it was only natural to assume that his powers as a familiar were instant mastery of any weapon when the situation required it so. That, Naruto considered, was a handy gift to have, even if he wasn't really drawn to swords in any fashion.
Sasuke was a swordsman. A very talented one at that too; he'd raided an assembly of the world's greatest ninja, including samurai with years of experience, and most of his injuries came after fighting them. So maybe fighting fire with fire was his best bet and whatever magic these runs held were his best shot.
Turns out, being a familiar had its benefits, after all!
As he turned to the man, he grinned. "Old man, we need a sword."
The shopkeeper must've liked the sound of that, because his face immediately lit up. "I think I have just what you need, just give me a second."
When he came back he presented Naruto with the most luxurious weapon he'd ever seen in his entire life: a bejeweled broadsword forged from pure gold, with rubies encrusted on both ends and middle sections of the cross-guard. The broad edge sparkled vividly in the light of the torches. To two people who weren't in the know about swords, something so majestic just told tales of heroes and countless battles.
The gold-platted blade mirrored Naruto's fascinated look. "Woah! This is way past cool!" he snickered clutching the handle. "It's a little lighter than I would've expected a sword like this to be, though," he commented as he held it up and down, swinging it against the air.
"This is the best item we have in our store," the older man went on about. "It was forged by the famoust alchemist and mage, Lord Schvert of Germania; you could even slice through steel like bread with this baby!"
"How much it'll be?" Louise asked.
"Three thousand, if you're using new gold coins," the man held up three fingers.
Louise blanched. "You're kidding, right?!"
"Huh?!" Naruto bellowed, whirling his head towards her. "If you're shocked then that's gotta be a fortune!"
"With that amount of money you could buy a mansion and a garden with a forest!" she told Naruto.
"Good lord, man!" Naruto glanced at the sword. "It looks fancy but it can't be that expensive!"
"A good sword is comparable to a castle," the shopkeeper said, smugly. "It's a good deal if one state will do."
"I only have a hundred," Louise objected.
The man shrugged. "Well, a good claymore average for about two handred. Though look, fellas."
"C'mon old man, there has to be something we can afford for those hundred we have," Naruto said.
"A hundred, you say?" He turned to the right, pacing leisurely towards a large wooden barrel filled with spears of shabbier quality compared to the Germanian blade. Metallic tips clinked as he shuffled them around, looking for something, ostentibly deeper down the cylindrical container, "I might have something just for you, lads."
It was a broadsword, much older and nowhere near as embellished as the previous one. Judging from the corrosion and rust overtaking most of the steel and the ridiculous amount of dust building up around its handle, which actually made Naruto sneeze a few times when he finally held it up, it wouldn't be any shock if this thing had been rotting in that barrel for whole decades.
The blade itself was crafted like a marriage between the swords from the shinobi world and Halkeginia's: a single-edged blade, with a cross-section and handle lengthy enough to pass as a particularly burly and ancient katana from Konoha. But it looked as large as the swords that lined the armory's walls.
However, Naruto couldn't help but wonder, as the smell of humid metal invaded his nostrils. "This hardly looks like it's worth a dime."
"Well, it's a bit old," the man admitted.
"A bit?" Naruto retorted, raising an eyebrow. A tiny spider cam down from the cross-section, which made Louise shiver despite herself and seek refuge behind her familiar. Naruto flicked the arachnid away.
"Okay, very old," he corrected himself. "Don't worry, though. There's still plenty of use in it if you polish it enough."
Naruto grunted. "Well, not like I wanted a sharp sword anyway."
As the two left the store, with Naruto nonchalantly carrying his newly adquired sword both of his shoulders, neither of them noticed the presence of two people watching them from afar: Kirche and Tabitha. While the latter remained unconcerned by the entire thing, Kirche was seething with anger.
"So the little punk thinks she can woo Naruto by buying him a present, huh?" She snorted. "How arrogant, that Zero Louise!"
Meanwhile, Naruto glanced at the blade, pulling it out of its cloth scabbard. He wrinkled his nose a bit.
"This is just great," he groused sarcastically, the natural wastage of time of the metal becoming clear in the light of day as they strolled down the street. "A sword from goodwill. Hope it doesn't snap in half if I swing too hard or something."
He snapped the blade back into its scabbard, before adjusting the belt around his back. It felt rather heavy having a sword on his back, so the best course of action would be getting used as fast as possible. While he was right-handed, he imagined the mark would turn him switch-hitting on cue, so that way he could use it with his left hand for kenjutsu, while keeping his dominant arm for a Rasengan if things got tricky during combat.
"I've had some expenses lately, so I came up short! Quit whining already!" Louise snapped.
Some expenses? What could've it been?
"Miss Vallière ordered a terribly expensive elixir to treat you," Siesta had said.
Ah, of course. She'd spent most of her money on him.
He was taken aback, ever so slightly by the memory, blinking in surprise. Despite barely knowing him at all, she had made that kind of gesture.
Louise turned to face him, her face still harsh.
"It's an entire millennium too early for you to talk back about something your master has given you, got that?" she said.
He just watched at her, his eyes wide for a moment, before chuckling a bit. "Aye, aye, boss," he walked past her, patting her in the head as he did so. "Let's head back."
The girl shrieked, her face burning red like a tomato. "W-W-W-WHAT A-A-ARE YOU DOING, Y-YOU UNRULY DOG?!"
"Nothing, nothing," he flashed his usual smile. "I just thought I saw something in your hair."
Louise, her face still rather red looked away, "I-I'll ignore it this time around, but try that again and I'll whip you good!" she said pouting.
The musty stench of the sword had become so unbearable that Naruto finally decided to give it a good scrubbing at the tower's fountain. While he succeeded in getting most of the years-old build-up of corrosion removed, the sword's blade was still as old and gloomy as it appeared in the store. At least the smell was mostly gone, though.
That, he regarded, was a victory.
The sword, however, didn't appear likely to cut through much of anything. Most other shinobi would have disposed of that sword in a heartbeat. What gain was there in a sword that couldn't even cut down an enemy? Uzumaki Naruto, however, was not like most shinobi. Within the gulf of three long years, back in the Land of Waves, he had ruled out the possibility of blinding a life. If the teachings of Pervy Sage and Nagato had passed on anything to him, it was that murder wasn't an option.
A few hours later, he headed back to Louise's suite after indulging in another dinner cooked by his fellow commoner, expecting a relatively quieter night while he sorted out just how he was going to get home.
Quite unexpectedly, that evening's uneventful calm was shattered when Kirche and Tabitha barged into Louise's suite uninvited, much to the young mage's scandal, with a surprise for the commoner.
"Ohhh, shiny!" Naruto gawked at the golden Germanic sword's blade, as he laughed sitting on the chicken's nest. That dazzling edge gleamed in the orange light of Louise's table, complimenting its colors.
Arms folded under her bust, Kirche grinned in triumph. "Consider it a sign of friendship," she tilted her head.
"Gift gladly accepted," Naruto grinned.
However, Louise remained wary as she leaned on the edge of her bed. With her arms crossed and a frown of disapproval her eyes crinkled as she glared at the redhead.
"What's the meaning of this, Zerbst?" she questioned in an affable, yet tellingly faux tone.
Kirche shrugged, "I just figured Naruto deserved a sword befitting of his strength and courage."
"Uh-huh. So that's why you chose to follow us the whole day, huh?" With contempt, Louise closed her eyes. "Quite a pathetic move, but guess it's befitting for someone of your ilk."
"Pathetic is not even being able to afford a sword this cheap, Vallière."
"Don't give me that rubbish!" Louise stomped her foot against the wooden floorboard, fuming. "That sword was three thousand gold coins expensive!"
"Not if you know a good way to haggle. Some men are surprisingly easy to lure if you play your cards right, you know?" she said emphasizing her ample bosom, further angering her rival. "That sword was forged in the land of Germania, you know? We're known for our swords and women. I doubt a Tristain washboard like you would know that, though."
Grinning stiffly, Louise stood there facing her rival, both hands at her sides. "H-Hmph! I imagine you trifled with so many men in Germania that no one even bothered to deal with you and that's why you were sent here to study abroad in the neighboring country!"
Caught in the spur of the moment, both of them held up their wands, poised to engage in a duel.
"That was quite the elaborate insult, would you mind repeating that to my face, ya little twerp?" Kirche hissed.
"Truth hurts, y'know?" Louise retorted.
"So does fire, want a taste of that?"
"Want me to nuke you, wench?"
Sweat-dropping, Naruto looked at them go as he cowered against the wall. Killing intent exuding from both of them practically crackled in the air. It's like seeing Ino and Sakura-chan fighting all over again.
Before Louise could blast the redhead into the air, however, both of their wands shot out of their hands.
"Huh?" Louise blurted out.
Tabitha brought down her staff. "Indoors," she said flatly.
Both rivals whipped around and zoomed toward Naruto, looking at him with borderline manic anticipation.
"Let's just have Naruto settle this one, shall we?" Kirche said.
As he watched the two of them leaning so close, a shiver went down his spine. Both Louise and Kirche looked on the verge of jumping on each other.
"Huh?" Naruto blurted out. "Me?"
"Of course! This whole issue is over your sword, you idiot!"
Naruto laid both swords on the ground.
"Eeny, meeny, miney, moe…"
"TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, WILL YOU!" The two roared.
"Okay, okay, jeez," Naruto groused. "However…"
He held up both swords again, and stared forward. The two girls glaring at him as though they might just skin him alive certainly wasn't helping his unease.
Yeah, this is definitely not just about swords…
"WHICH IS IT THEN?!"
Naruto pulled back. And he made a decision in the spur of the moment, though more in an attempt to appeal to both of them.
"Uhh… how about both?" He nodded at how clever he thought his choice was. "Yeah, both is good."
Predictably, all it earned him was a double kick right on the nose. Hard.
Kirche's heel particularly hurt.
"Ahh, dammit! I think something broke this time!" Naruto whined, while doubling down.
Both ignored him and continued their bickering.
"I cannot stand you; you know that, Vallière, don't you?" Kirche said, with a twitchy grin.
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Zerbst, because I also despise you quite a lot," Louise said, with a similar look.
The two butted heads. "LET'S DUEL!"
Rubbing his nose, Naruto was about to step in before they did anything foolish. "Hey, can you two idiots calm do—"
And at that, a third voice chimed in.
"Shut the hell up, ya stupid girls!"
Naruto froze at both girls' utterly ghastly cold glare directed at him.
Louise he was already used to, but Kirche's angry stare was so menacing that it would put Orochimaru himself to shame.
"'Stupid…'" Kirche repeated.
"'Women…'" Louise's eyes twitched.
"Hey, wait a minute that wasn't me!" Naruto exclaimed. "It was…"
"The sword," Tabitha finished.
The three of them looked at each other, and then at the rusted-out sword. Indeed, the iron piece on top of the crosspiece moved up and down, simulating a mouth. Despite lacking any lips at all, it was able to utter consonants with no problem at all.
"You woke me up from a nice nap," it said. It had a rather hoarse, casual, rather tipsy tone to it when it spoke. "Though I thank y'all for the nice wash. I couldn't talk due to all the rust building up for who knows how long."
Naruto blinked, at a loss, his mouth hanging open.
"The sword's talking," he said. "The sword… is talking."
"Hey, brat. What's with the cat whiskers? Are you my owner now or something?" it said, chuckling. "No wonder I woke up."
"User?" Naruto asked.
"Now, that's something you don't see every day," Kirche said, then he turned towards Louise. "You sure have a knack for buying outlandish stuff."
"How should've I known!" She fired back. "I'm returning that creepy thing as soon as I get the chance!"
On the other hand, the sword and Naruto engaged in a lively banter as though old acquaintances.
"What year is it? Or better yet, where the fuck am I?" it asked. "Answer me, blondie!"
Naruto grinned in amusement. "Y'know, I think I'll take this one!"
"Ehh?!" Both girls only gaped at him, lost for words, as the pair kept blabbering like dorks.
"I'm Derflinger!" the sword introduced himself. "Nice to meet ya, bro."
"Uzumaki Naruto," he puffed out his chest in pride. "Future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village!"
"Hokage?" the sword repeated. "That's a funny word."
Louise's eyebrows twitched, as she gave up. She didn't even care about whatever the word 'Hokage' meant as much as the sentient tool.
"Why me?"
She sighed. This would be a long night.
This boy, Derflinger considered, was cut from a different cloth.
The moment Uzumaki Naruto first gripped it at the armory, it could feel it: a warm energy like no other. It was the sun itself, so dazzling and all-encompassing it could feel it breathing new life into it after what must've been centuries in its impervious mind. For whatever reason, it enjoyed seeing the blonde knucklehead grinning broadly while he chatted for hours, recapping countless adventures as something he kept on calling 'shinobi' and 'ninja', though the sentient blade eventually realized they were interchangeable.
Regardless of impervious the haze of oblivion was, something about Naruto felt so oddly familiar, despite only meeting the kid now that it almost unsettled him. There's no one that can be this innocent on the inside, no matter how radiant they seem.
Which is why, as soon as the pair of commoner and noble were deep in sleep that night, he opted to do something mildly amusing.
"Let's see what's inside your heart, partner," it said. "I wanna see what you're made of, since you'll be my user from now on."
Of the few skills he recalled having, there was the ability to read someone's soul, or rather their energy. It was hard to explain how it worked, and it could only work with those he'd connect to such an intimate level as he'd done with Uzumaki Naruto. It helped that Naruto had dozed off with his arms wrapped around its metallic body making the process a lot simpler.
The first layer, the outer side most people would show to others, was immaculate light: cheerful memories of camaraderie, trust, and resolution whisked through it. It'd seen so many faces in an instant—Naruto's loved ones from that other world he kept on talking on and on about—but had mostly brushed them off. It was only natural that Naruto's light stemmed from these sorts of positive experiences.
But that light was beginning to flicker just a tad bit. It'd reached what he was looking for: the second layer.
The part most people kept to themselves.
For better or worse, it had found Naruto's dark half.
It was only natural for a blinding light to cast the most dismal shadows, but the deeper it dug, the darker those shadows got.
Derflinger was certain that while humans, no matter how noble they appeared on the outside, they weren't capable to keep the darkness at bay.
Uzumaki Naruto's darkness however was downright unsettling in how much self-loathing it concealed. So many voices echoed through that empty space, most of them sounding like his but warped into a ghastly parody of his usual high-pitched, enthusiastic voice, now sounding apathetic and lifeless.
What else do I have to live for?
The only way I have out is death.
I can't bring Sasuke back. I can't fix anything.
I've failed you all, Nagato, Pervy Sage, Pa, Sakura-chan…
It's all her fault. Why do I have to suffer?
I'm a failure. I failed. Failed. Failed. Failedfailedfailed…
"Partner…"
Those thoughts Naruto had obviously tried his damnedest to suppress, but the fact that they still lingered in his mind, even as specters of thought, must've meant that attempt had failed.
It should've stopped there. It should've gone back to the real world and only talk about this to Naruto when it thought it'd be for the best.
But for whatever reason, it sunk deeper into the boy's subconscious against its better judgement. The little warmth remaining from the world of light began to fade away. Those whispers kept morphing and transforming until they became unfamiliar voices assailing him from each flank.
Just what kind of upbringing had this kid gone through?
It's that boy again…
How many times do I have to tell you not to play with that kid?!
Why does Hokage-sama still allow him in the village? He isn't up to anything good, I tell you.
There's that brat again. He's the only one who failed.
Serves him right!
Just imagine what would've happened if he became a ninja. I mean he's the boy who…
That's why you'll never be accepted in this village! Even your beloved sensei hates your guts!
Because you are…
Eventually, all the voices died away completely. Darkness consumed all light.
It had reached the deepest depths: the iciest abyss there ever was.
But the worst part was yet to come.
All it could hear was dripping coming from below. Uninterrupted and steady, like raindrops dripping from the branches of a tree after a thunderstorm into a stream. An unpleasant, coppery stench spread through the encompassing darkness.
"What is this place?"
That, it soon enough realized, was no longer Naruto's mind anymore. This place wasn't a product of his imagination nor a representation of his mind in the slightest. Derflinger had wandered way too far into the abyss, and it stumbled into a prison.
Prisons aren't the nicest of places. And this certainly wasn't the exception.
Far ahead, where the shadows were thicker and the sloshing water became darker, there was a something… massive. There was the rumbling sound of thunder coming from its bowels.
Or so it seemed.
Something like steam filled the place, along with a sudden heatwave punctuating the bitter cold.
There wasn't any thunder. It was breathing. Something was trapped there.
The shadows shifted heavily, and the water around further ahead in the darkest area sloshed wildly as it did so. Whatever dwelled inside Naruto had awakened, and from the all-consuming miasma of malice and murderous rage it radiated, indicated that it didn't appreciate outsiders around its domains.
Drip…
Drip…
Drip…
out… A low-pitched voice echoed through the darkness. It came like a raspy whisper at first as any sound around the dismal realm had felled silent like a heart between beats.
"Who are you?!" the sword's ethereal form tried to feign courage, but the entity concealed in shadows didn't seem to cower in the slightest.
What's more, it seemed that it had annoyed the titanic entity even more.
get out…
If you stare into the abyss—
A colossal crimson eye tore through the darkness, the white sclera infused with veins of pure rage. A downright lunatic smile full of the sharpest glistening fangs flashed in the pitch-black gloom.
—the abyss will stare back.
The voice spoke again, this time thundering across the escape. Its message was blunt and clear:
GET OUT.
Derflinger cut the connection immediately. It took him everything not to scream itself hoarse at the monster despite only being able to vaguely see its shape. The darkness had been so overwhelming the most he could glimpse were those massive, manic eyes and something else swaying lazily in the darkness.
It couldn't recall anything from his past, but it had never encountered something as wicked as the red-eyed monster.
Like hatred and violence made flesh and bone.
What the hell was that?! the sword rasped.
Naruto slept deeply and peacefully on his pile of hay like nothing had happened. He frowned a bit, before shifting to a more comfortable position. The boy was completely unaware of anything that had happened.
There was no doubt, That demon was imprisoned inside him…
But why would they put something as powerful and malicious as that inside a teenager? What was there to gain with putting that sort of burden on a kid since its birth?
Uzumaki Naruto… Derflinger whispered inwardly. Who exactly are you?
However, in the next morning, the sword decided not to tell this to anyone. Not even Naruto himself. Chances are he wouldn't appreciate it barging into his head like this.
CHAPTER 5 END.
Writing Naruto and Siesta's interactions have been way more fun than I'd expect.