Naruto tightly hugged his frog plushie.
The month was quite draining for Naruto and Iruka. Iruka had to travel two full weeks to fetch this priest that supposedly could help Naruto, and Naruto had to pack up everything - which wasn't much - to leave. Naruto paled at the thought of leaving Leaf for years, let alone leavingat all,but the Hokage told him sternly that his life was literally on the line, and there was no one inany ninja villagesthat could help him. Then he told him another thing that crushed his soul.
Two weeks ago
"Naruto, meet the priest Nanahara Mahito," Hiruzen introduced the tall, old priest who had long, thin blond hair. The priest looked at Naruto briefly, and tutted. "Oh my, a truly magnificent and horrifying power that you have. "
"Is it- is it some kind of curse?" Iruka gulped.
"A curse?" Mahito thinly smiled. "One could see it as a curse, for sure. But for others, it's power that I think any spiritualist would die to get."
"So, do you know what could have caused Naruto to see these...visions?" Hiruzen eyed Naruto with pity. "I must say, I have seen some unearthly things in my long life as a shinobi, but a vision of dead people is new to me."
"I have my...theory, but I will need to do a bit more research.," Mahito kept his gazes on Naruto, "Usually, one is born with visions. It's not often that the power awakens in the middle of their lives. Not unheard of, but a rarity for sure."
"Do-do you see ghosts, too?" Naruto nervously asked, but there were hopes in his eyes. Finally, there was someone that could understand how scared he was.
"Do I see them? Of course I do. In fact, I sometimes tell them to get me some oden or get the hell out of my room," Mahito joked. Naruto giggled weakly. Mahito squinted his eyes more, then looked at Hiruzen. "Hiruzen...I assume you didn't tell him anything yet."
Hiruzen did not answer.
"My friend -"
"I know, Mahito. But he is 8 years old. Can you blame me?" HIruzen sighed. "Naruto, do you know the tale of Kyuubi, the tailed beasts?"
"...Yes?"
"How much?"
"Not a lot, I didn't pay attention in classes..." Naruto blushed. "I remember that the fourth Hokage defeated it a long time ago and sealed it again. Why?"
"That is correct, but you are missing one critical piece of information," Hiruzen rubbed his fingers nervously. "Naruto, the Kyuubi is an immense mass of chakra with its own will. Very malicious, very powerful. Which is why it is nearly impossible to kill it. So the best we can do is to seal it in...a person."
"How can such a thing fit into a person?" The boy tilted his head.
"There is a very delicate, advanced jutsu for that. Just like how we put things in scrolls," Hiruzen explained. "When kyuubi was unsealed by an...accident, the person who held it died, so we could not seal it back to that person. And because..." Hiruzen stopped.
"Because?"
"...because it was an emergency, we had to resort to the last thing we wanted to do: seal it inside a baby. The seal works better when the person is younger. And there was a baby that was born just that day."
Hiruzen stared at Naruto, who simply blinked, waiting for an answer. Then, the answer dawned on him.
"...Me?" Naruto started to shake. "I have the monster inside me? Is that why they call me a monster and a murderer?"
"Naruto, you are not a murderer or anything!" Iruka quickly knelt in front of Naruto and put his hands on the boy's shoulder. "You are not at fault for anything. You are keeping the monster from destroying everything, you are PROTECTING us!"
"Yes, Naruto. You are a hero for us...or it should have been that way,' Hiruzen rubbed his eyes quite subtly. "I am..so sorry Naruto. It was supposed to be kept secret, but it somehow leaked to the public. If there were a jutsu that would make the whole village forget this, I would have done it."
"..." Naruto didn't say anything.
"And another thing is, for some reason the seal that caged Kyuubin inside you...it seemed to have a defect that could only be fixed by releasing the kyuubi, which is just not an option. The defect has permanently damaged your chakra circulation system, Naruto. The damage is too much to fix without an extensive surgery with low odds. "
"So...I can't be a ninja? at all? " Naruto asked, barely audible.
"...No." Hiruzen sadly nodded.
Naruto sobbed into Iruka with shoulders erratically shaking. "They were right, they said I would never amount to anything."
"Who? the other people?"
"Yes...and the ghosts from the cemetery..." Naruto wiped his snots with arms, and Iruka lended tissues. "Sometimes I pass by them and there are ghosts that just stand there and do nothing until I am nearby/They come right at me outside the cemetery gate and scream about how I killed their friends and families. I never get clear looks on them because I look away..."
Iruka hugged Naruto tightly.
"I need to interrupt you because we have to discuss what to do with the boy." Mahito gently intercepted. "Hiruzen, what exactly do you want from me?"
"I want to invoke the favor that you owe me all those years ago," Hiruzen asked with an utter seriousness. Mahito nodded in understanding. "You want me to take care of him?"
"Until he is ready to...or you think he is ready to protect himself and control his power."
"Hiruzen, it would be my honor." Mahito bowed. "But I am afraid that this isn't something that can be fixed quickly. A few years at least..."
"A few years?!" Naruto protested. How would he see Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru ? And Teuchi-san and Iruka sensei?" "I don't want to go!"
"Naruto, as the Hokage of Leaf Village, I have authority over all the citizens and the ninjas, including you," Hiruzen imposed with stern authority. "And I am going to order you to train under Nanahara Mahito, to control your power and protect yourselves (and everyone else). Nobody in this village, or any other ninja villages can help you, but this man can. You are not to return until you are fully prepared, understood?"
"No, jiji please don't send me away," Naruto now begged with big, pearl-like tears. "I will - I will take my eyes out! Then I- I won't swee them!"
" I am afraid that will actually make you a lot more vulnerable, Naruto," Mahito said in a sad tone, "I know some people who tried that in desperation, but it only made the malicious whispers worse. They eventually died." Mahito turned Naruto by his shoulder to face him. "Look at me, boy. I have seen many young children who needed guidance to master their spiritual powers, and I have taught many, many of them. Do you want to learn how to confront the spirits, or do you want to live in fear and hide yourself forever? These spirits will not leave you alone. It is a cruel card dealt by fate for you, but there are those who can help you deal with fate."
Naruto weakly nodded. He may have been just 8 years old and a terrible student, but he knew that there was no other way out. He could not be a hokage, let alone a ninja. However, he could feel some kind of safety around this man just by standing in front of him. He realized that there were no other ghosts in the room - not even the nearby presences. And if Naruto could be like him, he had to take the chance.
Reading Naruto's thoughts on his face, Mahito patted his head. "Good boy."
After two weeks of Hiruzen's surreptitious planning, Naruto was sent away in a "freight" carrier that he had secretly ordered to detour to Madogakure, the village of esoteric powers. The village did not have any ninjas and was isolated from other villages, but there were always rumors of supernatural happenings and miracles in that village. Hiruzen only knew this thanks to a very coincidental encounter with Mahito decades ago - which he never told anyone to this date - where he saved the traveling priests from bandits. He deceived the council and the Roots into thinking that Naruto was sent to Jiraiya's care to control Kyuubi and his power to prevent "unexpected unsealing like 8 years ago." Danzo didn't seem to buy his words, but Hiruzen maintained a "take it or eat shit" stance. Eventually, it worked out.
So here Naruto was, looking outside the carrier in this boring trail to the village that he never knew about. Outside the carriage, he could see some spirits creepily peeking out of the trees. Some were smiling, some were stoic, some looked angry. Mahito, who sat next to him, noticed what occupied Naruto's attention and consoled him. "It will be alright child."
True to his words, no spirits bothered him or just popped out of nowhere with Mahito around. After 12 days of a long, tiresome trip, they reached a grand shrine deep inside a mountain. Mahito said that the mountain was full of sacred clean power that dispelled filthy and corrupting entities. This put Naruto at ease.
"Welcome back, Nanahara sama," a man with a fox mask greeted them at a large, red Tori-i. "And this is the child you mentioned?"
"Yes. He will be our new student, Naruto," Mahiro answered cheerfully.
"Hello, Naruto. please meet you."
Naruto meekly shook hand with this mysterious man with a gentle voice. At least he didn't have unpleasant aura like so, so many leaf village people did..."you said you want the ritual to be done immediately. The set up is ready."
"Excellent, Yasha kun."
They entered into a large room comprising well-polished pine tree floors, big table with two fox statues sitting on each side, five candles were lit. Naruto was instructed to sit inside a white circle with five equidistant points on its circumference. He then was given a bell and a mask.
"Sit here tightly with these bells." Mahito instructed. "We will chant rhymes to bring upon our patron gods to give you a blessing. All you need to do is to ring these bells."
"Okay," Naruto nodded nervously.A god,Naruto he look like a real fox? or a man with fox ears?
Yasha and Mahito slowly chanted rhymes, and Naruto started ringing the bells. The bell sounds and the rhymes resonated within the quiet prayer hall, giving Naruto a sense of peace that he didn't feel for a long time.
The fox statue glowed in yellow.
"Ah, yes, the spirit has come-" Mahito stopped mid-sentence when they saw a large, magnificent golden fox emerge from the statue. The fox had two long ears, eyes with slitted red pupils, and black shimesawaaround its neck with large silver bells. It sported nine tails, just like Kyuubi...but it couldn't be it, right? Naruto was awed by the intimidating and beautiful visage but noticed that Yasha and Mahito were slightly trembling - in fact, Mahito was paler than he already was.
"Hya-Hyakumenkonmo (hundred-faced gold fox)?!" Mahito gasped, fear present in his voice. "But the ladyInari,why isn't she sending one of her messengers?"
The fox whose name was too long for Naruto to memorize on the spot lowered its head to Naruto's height, sniffing him right in front of face as if he were measuring if Naruto were a prey to eat. Naruto did not know anything about spiritual energy, but he swore that this thing was brimming with it swirling around its body. Mahito and Yasha stood firmly. "Naruto, don't move," Mahito whispered just enough for Naruto to listen. But Naruto did not dare move - how could he when the blood red eyes were staring right into his small, insignificant eyes?
"Esteemed Demon fox of hundred faces," Mahito addressed the giant fox, "I, who serve Inari-okami, implore you to spare us. This shrine shall not see any violence or misdeeds."
The fox did not pay him attention. It seemed to be solely interested in Naruto, as it kept staring at him with no movements or sounds. It then rubbed its marked forehead onto Naruto's forehead.
"Naruto!" Yasha shouted. Black and gold energy swirled around Naruto like a whirlwind and sucked into his forehead. The fox then said in a low voice that was barely intelligible.
"10 years."
The monster then dissipated into mists. Naruto fell to the sideways panting, and Yasha and Mahito quickly tended to him. "Naruto, are you feeling okay?"
"Mmng...," Naruto moaned. "I'm not sick, but I'm tired. Did something go wrong?"
"No, Naruto, everything is fine," Mahito lied, "for now." Naruto smiled faintly, and fell asleep, unaware of a red eye sigil on his forehead.