The God of Wind:
Hey everyone, hope you are well. This is the sixth chapter, and the bow on the Beginnings arc. It's rather short, but that seemed fitting since I wanted to solely tackle some of the origins of Naruto's bloodline.
Arc I: Beginnings:
Chapter 6: The Mysterious Bloodline
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– 988 A.S., Hidden Leaf Hospital –
Naruto screamed in terror. His arm tingled and stung. Though more disturbing were the gleaming metal blades that jutted from his forearm like the needles of a porcupine. People were talking to him, but Naruto couldn't understand them. There words were distant and nonsensical. His head spun and the only thing he could look at was his arm. It was as if he was frozen in fear. Why were there blades sticking from his skin? And why wasn't there any blood? None of it made any sense.
He was sitting on a platform bed with metal rails and crisp white sheet, in a plain room with cream-colored walls and cabinets stuffed to the brim with medical supplies.. Around him people in the hospitals tan scrubs of the hospital tried to help, but they couldn't do much.
The day had been going so well. He'd gone to practice his chakra control. After all, he wanted to be as prepared as possible, which was why he'd done that tree climbing exercise like old man Hokage suggested! It was going well to. He'd managed to get halfway up the tree. Then he'd made a mistake and his chakra ran wild and he lost his footing. In a single instant he'd found himself grasping at the trunk. The next there was a burst of discomfort and the blades had emerged from his skin and dug into the bark. That was just enough to slow his descent.
Naruto wasn't exactly sure what happened next. He'd only been vaguely aware of someone in an odd animal mask showing up and carrying him away.
Suddenly, he found himself jerked back to reality by a gentle touch on his shoulder. Wide scared blue eyes snapped up to see the face of a kindly old man. He wore a set of regal white and red robes. Perched on his head was an odd-diamond shaped hat. Naruto knew him well. The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Leader of their village, and a kind old man who always had time to help Naruto out.
"Naruto, you need to calm down. Take deep breaths, then channel your chakra into your arm and focus on the blades disappearing." Hiruzen said.
Naruto did as the Hokage told him. Taking two deep, shaky breaths, Naruto tried to focus like he was told. The harsh scent of antiseptic made him slightly woozy, but he pushed through it. The base of the blades started to glow with blue light where they met his skin and ever so slowly began to recede. He let out a sigh of relief when they were finally gone. Only smooth, peachy skin remained behind. Naruto stared at his arm in wonder.
"Amazing … I'd never thought to see it again." He heard the Hokage mutter.
"See it again? Does that mean you know what happened Gramps?" Naruto asked.
The old man gave Naruto a strange look. It was like he was looking for something. He must have found it, whatever it was.
"Yes, I do." Hiruzen said with a nod. "You've awakened a rather rare kekkei genkai–bloodline limit–called the Tamashi no Ken, or Soul Blade Forge. With it you can create blades of all shapes with a power unique to yourself. It is, or rather was only seen in a few members of the Amakuni Clan from the former Land of Whirlpools," He explained.
Naruto's head spun. They'd learned about the lands in the Academy. He'd never heard of a Land of Whirlpools. Still what the old man said, was he saying Naruto was part of a clan?
"I had hoped to wait until you were older to explain this. Unfortunately, my hand has been forced. In the past you've asked me whether I knew who your parents were, and I told you I didn't that was a lie." Naruto's chest grew tight, like a giant was squeezing him in its grasp. Naruto felt betrayed. The old man had lied to him. A lump formed in his throat. Tears welled in his eyes and threatened to spill over. He'd thought the old man was the one adult he could depend on. The old man continued to speak, an unbelievable weight behind his words. "The truth is, I've kept your parents identities a secret. You see Naruto, you are the grandson of the Second Hokage. It's from your grandmother that you've received this bloodline."
Naruto opened his mouth, a question on the tip of his tongue. But Hiruzen wasn't finished.
"You are also the son of the Fourth Hokage, and there are many more things you must know about your family." Hiruzen said.
What followed was a long, long conversation about his family's history. One that Naruto was eternally grateful for getting to have. It had changed his life forever.
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– Present Day –
Naruto shook his head. It had been forever since he thought of that day. Hiruzen had told him all about his family. How his mother was a jinchuriki before him, and how his father's own heritage was hidden to protect the future of the Senju Clan. Afterwards, Hiruzen had taken Naruto in and adopted him, providing him with tutors to get a handle on his bloodline and learn to protect himself. The sound of squelching sandals drug Naruto out of his thoughts of the past and into the present.
He and his teammates were walking down a forested path towards the main village. The ground was still soggy from the rain and there was an earthen, fresh smell to the air. All the plants seemed extra vibrant amidst the dreary sky. Neither Sakura nor Sasuke had said anything, though both were constantly giving him odd looks. Every time he looked Sakura's way she averted her gaze as if afraid to get caught staring. He could tell they were curious–most likely about his bloodline–but were afraid to ask.
"Something you wanna know?" He enquired, looking at Sakura specifically.
Sakura hesitated, but eventually it was too hard to contain her curiosity. "Um yeah, that thing you did, creating the sword, what is it? Kakashi-sensei mentioned something about a bloodline."
Though he didn't say anything, Sasuke was clearly waiting intently for his answer. Naruto hummed in thought. There wasn't really any point in not telling them. As much as it galled him, he and Sasuke were teammates. It didn't do him any good trying to keep his bloodline secret when it was such an intricate part of his fighting style.
"You remember our lessons on bloodlines?" He responded with a question of his own. A pair of nods is what he got in return. "Well, that's what it was. Tamashi no Ken, the Blade of the Soul. It's a rare bloodline I get from my grandmother on my father's side. It lets someone make pretty much any weapon they can imagine with an ability specific to the person. Me for instance, I can use Tempest Style, an advanced element that makes wind flow like water."
It was certainly a useful bloodline, one feared by those few that knew of it. Naruto was fairly surprised Kakashi was one of those. For all the power of their bloodline, the Amakuni clan were overshadowed in history by his mothers clan due to the rarity of the Soul Blade Forge. 'Not that it did much good, Kakashi still kicked our butts. I gotta do more training!' He thought privately. He wasn't dumb. Naruto knew that despite his intelligence and advanced skill, there were a lot of people out there like Kakashi that outclassed him. The road to his goal, becoming Hokage and protecting his family's legacy like his grandfather and father had, was a long one. But Naruto was never one to shy away from a good challenge.
"Whoa, you can create your own weapons. That's unreal!" Sakura exclaimed.
Even Sasuke seemed impressed. "It does seem useful." He admitted grudgingly. It seemed to physically pain the Uchiha to give Naruto a compliment of any kind. For once he didn't rub it in.
"Eh, it has its drawbacks too. There's a lot I still don't understand about it and creating them is really taxing. If I'm not careful I can drain my chakra pretty quickly. Besides, it's still a bit of a mystery to me. The Amakuni were pretty secretive, so I'm basically working on second-hand information to master it." Naruto explained.
A cold drop of water landed on Naruto's face. He glanced up at the sky. It was filled with anvil-like clouds a deep, dark grey. It wouldn't do to get caught up in the storm that was surely coming. Besides, Konohamaru would be eager to hear how his first day went.
"I guess that's our que to get going. I'll see you two tomorrow." He said quickly. Naruto sped up. There was a hot bath and a dry set of clothes with his name on it and he was eager to get to them. Thoughts of the future could wait for later.
"Yeah, I don't like the looks of it either." Sakura agreed, casting a worried gaze to the clouds.
Sasuke grunted his agreement and followed as well. Together they dashed towards the village, thoughts of bloodlines and the future driven straight from their minds.
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So we finally learn the origins of Naruto's blade creation bloodline! What other secrets could it hold?
As always I want to give a shoutout to my patrons. Chapter 34 of Uchiha Chronicles, the second in the Chunin Exam arc, is out now on Pa treon. If you're interested in getting access to chapters early you can find it by entering the Pa treon web domain into your search bar and adding /rinnetaicho Memberships start as low as $1.
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Anyways, that's all for now.
Until Next Time,
RinneTaicho, Signing Off!
