I don't own Bayonetta or Naruto just my ideas and whatever I can't be sued for.
Dark fog in a swirling abyss. Naruto found himself surrounded by beasts. It was too dark to tell what kind but they kept repeating something.
"Your time is coming." They said in echoing voices.
Suddenly they flew up into the inky heavens, figures obscured by shadow. They joined into a much larger figure, Naruto narrowly avoided the creatures rapid descent. When it landed Naruto was greeted to the same roar he heard five years ago.
This was the demon from his first step. The cold spiked and wind began to pick up speed further obscuring the demon's image."When should I prepare the ceremony?!" Naruto shouted.
The Demon flapped it's wings and began to take off."63 days from now! Once the time comes we will form a pact." The demon said in an echoing voice.
A thought suddenly occurred to Naruto but he'd woken up before he could act on it. It was a great sign for any member of the Ink faction to converse with their future demonic partners. Naruto was prepared to do the ceremony after the exams this year for the academy, sometime in spring. He walked over to the calendar in his bedroom. "Two weeks from now…Uzumaki sealing assignments, two days after that Kenshin's Whirlpool ceremony. Kyō's birthday 28 days for then, ok so that's 44 days from now." Naruto said tracing his finger along the dates. There was nothing else for the next 18 days and then. "AHA! Day 63 October 10th. Wait…isn't that… my birthday???! AWESOME IM GONNA GET SO MUCH FOOD, BELIEVE IT!" He shouted hopping up and down, fist pumped in the air.
"NARUTOOO!!! If I hear one more peep out of you it'll be extra lessons on the history of storage seals and no ramen for a MONTH!" Kushina yelled out from her room.
Naruto ceased any and all sound and keeps back to his bed for the night. If there was anything Naruto learned in life, it was to never cross his mother and that anything Uzumaki was going to require all the energy he could muster. So with that in mind he went to sleep imaging the look on his family's face when they heard the news.
The morning came in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Naruto got started on his morning routine. Teeth, shower, toilet, clothes and hair. After steps 1-3 Naruto went to put on a white shirt with the Uzumaki symbol on the back, it had sorta been his uniform for a while now. He reached for a gray shirt instead and paired it with his blue nagori jacket with the boro print. Next was black shinobi style pants and black shoes.
He went the mirror satisfied with what he saw and started brushing his now just past shoulder length hair. It was funny to think about his straight blonde hair and blue eyes would be permanently altered on the coming months. He grabbed a hair clip with his family symbol and gathered his hair into a messy ponytail. Naruto excitedly went down the stairs and set the table.
"Woah Naruto, good morning what's up with the new look" he heard. Naruto look over his shoulder at the voices source.
"Oh, hey Kakashi I thought you'd be back from your mission tomorrow. I'll get another plate." He said making his way over to the cabinet.
"No need. I'm just stopping by before you know who spots me." Kakashi said with a sigh.
"That's no way to talk about your friend or your eternal rival Kakashi" the heard from the staircase.
"Ah Uzumaki sama I hope you don't mind my intrusion." Kakashi said head bowed slightly.
"Oh please, your bow's as lazy as the rest of you. Drop the formalities or I might have to throw you out." Kushina said with a yawn. They ate and talked about Kakashi's mission in Kiri, the stuff that wasn't classified at least. After that he left for the Hokage's tower where Kushina said he could find Minato.
Naruto took that as his cue and activated the privacy seals in the room. "Kaa san I have something to tell you." Kushina stood up from her seat with a serious expression.
"What's going on son?" The Uzumaki matriarch asked.
"Last night a vision came to me and the demon from my first step gave me the date!" Naruto told her.
"Wait, so you mean you've heard it's voice?! You can already understand it?" she asked.
Naruto nodded, "Voices, I think?" He said sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"I guess you really have been getting your faction training done. I hope the same goes for your fuinjutsu, even though it's not exactly your main focus every Uzumaki should be masterful in the art." Naruto nodded his heads at the words and deactivated the privacy seals not sensing any new or foreign chakra.
"I have been especially been. Can't lead the clan if I'm not determined to get stronger." He said.
"Okay then we'll see during the U.S.A.s in 13 days. Speaking of Days when's the date, Kenshin's ceremony is in coming soon and it'll e good to know how fast we should prepare and how much." Kushina told him.
"They said October 10th." Naruto informed her with glee.
"Oh that's great saves me the trouble of buying so much food on separate occasions. And, you and Kenshin can start up with combat training soon. Kyō passed his smithing test during the summer so he can get started on your weapons once the two of you correctly identify your demonic partners."
Naruto stepped out the front door and met up with his friends. It seemed he wasn't the only one to change up his style. Kyō's all green attire had now switched to a dark green trench coat, brown shinobi pants, and mustard yellow shirt with blue shoes. Karin had a purple vest, white shirt and black shorts. There were bandages on her legs down to her black shoes. Kenshin was the most surprising one. He usually wore simple clothes so he wouldn't stand out. Now he wore black shinobi style pants and a tan kimono with the Uzumaki symbol on the back. His green obi with white spiral patterns matched his green shoes, then there was the biggest shock of all.
"YOU CUT YOUR HAIR?!!" Naruto exclaimed. Pointing at his friends new bob.
"Well, we figured after the ceremony that me and Karin would look a little too similar. So we did this last night! Why, does it look bad?" Kenshin said sheepishly.
"You look great, I'm made sure of that. Now let's get going we have weapons training and spars today." His sister said.
"Like we need it! You've got that crossbow Karin and I have my Tachi. Not to mention Naruto and Kenshin have been staying well rounded for after their ceremonies." Kyō said. It was interesting to see Kyō as he was now. Since he never took the first step, some members of the clan thought he would become a delusional quack who chased after what only the Eddy faction could achieve naturally.
He surprised everyone with his excellent skills in alchemy and smithing. It was with those skill he made his green tachi. He was no joke with it either having earned the title of prodigy when it came to Uzumaki kenjutsu.
"We still need experience against other people. We're not the only clan kids in class remember? We shouldn't expect anyone to hold back." Karin said.
"Or show off what they've learned recently. The spar rules are simply not to maim or kill, you already know that Duck butt and Dog breath are going to put everything out there to 'show whose top dog' or whatever." Naruto added.
They turned the corner and ran into a familiar trio. Walking just a head of the Uzumaki quartet we're the girls many of the fangirls and civilians kids had nicknamed the 'Ice princesses'. Very cold, very strong girls that made up the better portion of their classes top five kunoichi.
Rio Kaguya, heiress of the Kaguya clan had inherited the clans kekkei genkai full force. She didn't fit the blood thirsty stereotype (outside of battle) but somehow that made her scarier. Then there was Yakumo Kurama, who was rumored to have done the impossible and merged with her Ido. Further strengthening her kekkei genkai because of it. This with the fact that people who crossed her usually had bad luck afterwards was the cause for her status as an outcast. Finally there was the group head,Hinata Hyuga. She'd change a lot from there early years in the academy. She exuded a cool confidence and strength that landed her the 2nd best spot in the class and 2nd for kunoichi.
"Hey ladies, looking forward to the spars today?" Naruto to said.
"Hello Naruto. I hope you're not expecting that to be our only task today." Rio said.
"It'll be the most fun though!" Yakumo added. The groups chatted about what they had planned for after school and decided to meet up at Ichiraku's. The group split up to takes there usual seats. The ice princess in the top right corner, the twins in the bottom right, Kyō in the left middle row (next to Ino and choji) and finally Naruto in the center next to Shikamaru and Shino.
"Naruto! You have to get up now!" Naruto heard from behind him. When he looked up he saw Sakura Haruno glaring at him. "My Sasuke kun HAS to sit there so I can watch him learning." She said with a sigh.
"Don't let Ino here that." The heard to the left of them. The boy was new to the class having only joined this year when his parents saved up enough money.
"Mizu Hagihara right? Duck in about 10 seconds." Naruto advised. The boy looked confused but did as instructed. Lucky for him he did as Sakura threw a punch right where his face had been.
"SHUT UP LOSER THAT PIG CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO ME!!!" This encouraged Ino to get up and start a yelling match with the girl over who Sasuke really belonged to.
"YOU GOT NO CHANCE WITH HIM BILLBOARD BROW! SASUKES GONNA PICK ME AND WHEN HE DOES ILL BE SURE TO BRING HIM AROUND ALL THE TIME AND WATCH YOUR 5HEAD WRINKLE UP IN ANGER." She shouted.
Sakura bit back with"AS IF MY SASUKE KUN WOULD PICK AN OLD HAG LIKE YOU, INO PIG!!" This went on for quite a while and none of the other fangirls dared to speak up knowing that the combined wrath of the two self proclaimed number one Sasuke fans would wipe them from the face of the earth.
Sasuke, the topic of their argument had went off to brood in the corner of class without drawing much attention to himself. This gave further incentive to not interrupt the bickering girls. Iruka their teacher for the next year was getting a little fed up and decided to use his big head no jutsu.
"ENOUGH!! Return to your seats so we can start todays lesson." Iruka said. The teacher turned around to start writing on the chalkboard with he felt a spitball hit the back of his neck. He looked back to find the culprit but didn't see anybody suspicious.
Turning back around he quickly wrote todays discussion of the day. Turning back around he relaxed and thought, surely they wouldn't be so bold as to hit me when I can see them. "Todays lesson will be on Kekkei Genkai and Hidden Jutsu-" he was pelted with a dozen spit balls to the face.
"Booooo, you said we'd be sparring today." Mizu said. Iruka wiped his face off and proceeded to scold Mizu on his pranks and lack of tact.
"IF you let me continue you'd have known that I'm ALLOWING the use of Hidden Justu and Kekkei Genkai. Some of which we will cover before the fighting begins. An opportunity you won't have in a real fight." Iruka explained.
"Iruka sensei will you be having us demonstrate these abilities?" Hinata asked.
"I think it'll be best as some of your Jōnin senseis will potentially demonstrate these abilities and as I said before you may encounter them out on missions." The teacher said. They wrote down notes on the difference between Hidden jutsu and Kekkei Genkai then had some of the students demonstrate the abilities covered.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, Karin unleashed her Adamantine Sealing Chains, and Kiba showed off his beast clone. Since Konoha didn't have many elemental kekkei genkai if any they were the lighter part of the discussion. The did however mention that Hidden Jutsu and elemental Kekkei Genkai (the combination of to elemental chakras) were constantly trying to be replicated outside those specific clans and were the cause of many battles in the warring clans era and some unprovoked attacks today.
"Now that we're done with that we can move on to ranged weapons training and spars." The class lined up and made its way to the field. Kunai decorated the wooden targets. Iruka quickly graded the students individually and began the spars knowing he'd shared the same fate if he didn't move his ass. The sloppiest and shorter fights came from the civilian kids of the class. Naruto wasn't one to judge, nor should the others with his father(a civilian born ninja) as Hokage but he had to admit these kids didn't have that same genius pushing them along.
"Rio Kaguya vs Ino Yamanaka. Remember the rules no naming or killing and you can use whatever you think will win you the match." Iruka said. They began the battle with taijutsu a dance that lasted shortly as Rio's hard bones and partial exoskeleton jutsu made her tough to hit. Ino went straight to clan techniques and tried to swap minds with her opponent only to be shot in the forehead with a distal falando in the forehead giving Rio the opportunity to run up on a distraught Ino and push her off the platform."Winner, Rio Kaguya."
The next match was Kiba vs Choji. Choji was on the defensive for most of his attacks until his opponent made the mistake of calling him fat and slow, which resulted in a massive fist to Kiba's face launching him off the platform."Yakumo Kurama vs Sakura Haruno " Iruka announced.
"Your genjutsu won't work on me Ice Princess. I'm gonna win and Sasuke will be mine, cha!" Yakumo for her part just grinned. Sakura took note of it and decided she was being manipulated into thinking she was under a genjutsu and punched Yakumo right in the face. At least she tried to.
The pinkettes hand had phased right through her opponent's head. when she turned around she was surrounded by clones holding up the same hand sign still bearing that toothy grin. One of them's the real one, I can figure it out I'm sure of it. She looked to her left and saw one clone take a step before the rest. THERE! She pounced the girl and fell face first on the ground the clones gathered around her and started kicking her around in a circle. It was then she realized that Yakumo had placed her under a genjutsu.
"KAI!" She said but only some of the clones disappeared and suddenly Sakura was turned around to face a very real Yakumo who pushed her off the platform winning the match. All with the same sadistic grin she started with.
"Winner Yakumo Kurama!" The kids whispered their thoughts on the match murmuring about who the true genius of genjutsu was and how Sakura was so high in the class rankings after that.
"Ok whos next…Karin Uzumaki vs Naruto Uzumaki! Ready?" The two Uzumakis nodded heads. "Hajime!"
Karin let her chains loose and they lashed at Naruto. "Fuinjutsu: whirling barrier!" A spiral pattern spread from Naruto's feet and chakra spun around him in a dome. When the justus met Karin's chains were deflected and set back toward her.
Knowing how long Naruto could keep the jutsu going she decided to switch to taijutsu. The kids watched as Naruto's dome fell and the two clansmen charged each other. Karin attempted an upper cut only to be met with the sole of Naruto's shoe. She jumped back and threw a few shuriken, all but one deflected by the boy's kunai. They rushed back at each other Karin jumped on the air just as Naruto went to sweep her legs."Suiton: water bullet" a ball of water shot out of Karin's mouth.
"Nice try! Uzumaki style: vortex palm!" Spiraling wind erupted for Naruto's palm dispersing his opponent's jutsu. Karin for her part launched more and more water bullets in an attempt to overwhelm her kin. "Get ready to lose! Vortex palm: vacuuming tendrils!!" The spiraling wind in Naruto's hand crept up toward the sky where his opponent was pulling in her attacks and dispersing them until finally the two hand held tornadoes sucked in Karin's leg.
Naruto displaying excellent control over his winds turned around and whipped the girl out of his jutsu and off the platform. "Winner Naruto Uzumaki!" Their sensei announced. Naruto and Karin formed the seal of reconciliation and rejoined their kin.
"When did you learn that?! Naruto I knew we were working on suiton jutsus together but that was a A rank jutsu! We aren't even supposed to touch scrolls like that till we're Chūnin at least." Karin said.
"Yeah Naruto I've only seen the elders use stuff like that." Kyō exclaimed.
"It was really impressive!" Kenshin added.
"Well I have been working on suiton but last year my parents had a sorta competition on who could teach me better and since that's the only element they have in common…let's just say I learned enough to figure it out." Naruto answerd a bit embarrassed.
"Right and next you'll be figuring out how to pull water from thin air and doing hyoton justus." Kyō said causineg the twins to sigh.
"Next match…Shino Aburame vs Kyō Uzumaki!" The two made their way to the platform. "Ready? Hajime!" Both boys stayed motionless for a bit until a swarm of bugs erupted from the Aburame.
Kyō unsealed his tachi and some candy?"Uzumaki style: bladed torrent." Kyō raised her bald until the bugs got closer when it came back down the Uzumaki had moved and half the swarm was in pieces. Shino tries to throw kunai at his opponent but his moves were slow and his aim was too off for the attack to be considered anything more than a minor inconvenience for the other boy. "Suiton: water bullet." A ball of water hit Shino in the face before had time to react. Kyō sealed away his tachi and rushed Shino ended the match with a left hook. "Yes!" Kyō cheered. He went back to his friends with a smile on his face. "Looks like you're gonna be paying for the food Karin!" Kyō laughed out.
"I might not be alone Kenshin hasn't gone and Hinata was in on the bet too!" She replied.
"Shikamaru Nara vs Kenshin Uzumaki." Iruka said.
"Sensei I forfeit." Shikamaru said almost immediately. "Before you say I've got no reason let me explain. The Uzumaki quartet over there has been showing some pretty wild stuff even against each other. A rank jutsu and insane levels of chakra, I wouldn't last three minutes as I am now. This is especially true sense you had us demonstrate or abilities earlier today Iruka Sensei." Shikamaru said when Iruka started to open his mouth. "Plus I can take a nap." He added quietly. Kenshin giggled off to the side not at his victory but his sisters defeated look.
"Alright then…the final match! Hinata Hyuga vs Sasuke Uchiha vs Mizu Hagihara!!" Iruka announced. A three way battle huh I wonder if we should up the stakes on our bet then. The Uzumaki quartet and Ice Princesses thought collectively. "Ready…Hajime!" the three started circling like wild dogs. Vigilant and defensive.
Sasuke was the one to break the pattern leaping at Hinata in a round house kick. She parried off his heel and let the momentum of his attack bring him closer to her waiting palm."8 trigrams 24 palms." Hinata said in a chilling expressionless tone. Sasuke tried his best to escape the attack but couldn't stop his descent. When she stopped her assault Sasuke was allowed to meet the floor face first the victory was yet to be savored though as Mizu shouted "Hey don't ignore me! Katon: mist covering technique!" The platform was wafted in gas.
It was obvious that the gas was flammable in nature so Hinata jumped into the air and threw a kunai attached to a primed explosion tag. The ones in the academy only sparked a bit but thanks to Mizu that would be enough. Sasuke who was regaining consciousness was greeted by searing pain and lunched off the platform once again returning to his unconscious state. Mizu seemed to be surprised by her tactic as he was going to force her to surrender but instead got blown off the platform by his own technique.
"Winner Hinata Hyuga! All of the injured make your way to the infirmary." The teacher was suddenly reminded of his unconscious student. "Would someone volunteer to take Sasuke?" With those words a new battle began all of the fangirl's energy restored they dog piled his body trying to claim him as there own. It was however short lived as a battered Ino and Sakura stepped on the scene. They practically laid out the red carpet for them, clearing a path to their precious Sasuke kun's helpless body. There was a moment of silence in which a temporary truce was made and then they took his body away.
They were let out for school and the Uzumaki quartet and Ice Princesses gathered in Ichirakus as planned. The afternoon was filled with laughter and ramen. As the evening came to a close, one could see tears coming from a now terribly broke Karin. "Hinata and Naruto should you ever have a child the whole village may starve." She said solemnly. Naruto to laughed at the joke but the rest of the group laughed at the Hyuga princess's scarlet blush despite her stoic face.
Two weeks later
"Today you will take the Uzumaki Sealing Assessment or U.S.A.s as you've come to know them. This test will take you from the rank of Journeymen to Foremen." Said the proctor of the exam. "For the written portion of the test I, Nagato Uzumaki, will be your proctor. The only two rules are thus: finish within the hour and activate the seal on the back when you're done. From there those who pass this stage will be taken to the next test room. Those who fail will have to wait for next year and miss out on the ceremonies coming up and their accompanied feasts so they can revise. Every test taker felt their will strengthen tenfold.
"Begin!"
Just like that, ink met paper and answers in the dozens were filled out. The tricky part came win they finished the test. People simply applying chakra or using blood to activate the seal. It would glow blue and the test taker was escorted out. Many thought this was the way but couldn't tell which was right that is until the first red lights went off. Kenshin and Naruto finished and checked the seal before activating it correcting a few mistakes before applying chakra.
To most it seemed like they failed as instead of being escorted to the other test site. Fifteen more Uzumaki red beacons later and the test was over.when those still testing were told to stop and escorted to the same room as the blue lighters. It was at that moment they realized they failed.
"For those of you who've made it congratulations, half of your peers are currently being escorted home. The second part of exam is practical application. Shingo Uzumaki will be your next proctor." Nagato said before stepping of the platform.
"You're dad's really embracing the whole test thing, huh Kyō? I've never seen him act like this before." Naruto chuckled.
"You should see him on game night and hey Karin and Kenshin's dad are going at it now maybe it's not just mine that's acting all weird." Kyō said. The twins were praying in the corner for that to be wrong as he was usually very silly and while that made training the younger kids easier, it wouldn't due in a serious situation.
"LISTEN UP KIDDOS!! The practical exam will has already started. By correcting the seal on the back of your written tests you proved capable of passing this test. From here on the road only gets more difficult, so get ready! You have 30 minutes." Shingo said.
In front of the 17 participants was a obstacle course that stretched out for what seemed like miles. Naruto took off with Karin following his lead. The pair left the rest of the participants stunned at their blatant cheating.
"Foremen level sealing master are required to master situational combat fuinjutsu encase of an attack on the village so our clan can provide support. Thus, the obstacle course and all its many workings, like the primed bombs you currently find yourself standing on or the barrier that will activate if you fail to make it out with in the time limit which is now down to 25 minutes!" The second exam proctor chuckled.
"Dang it dad! It was all in the words come on Kyō we need to catch up." Kenshin said grabbing Kyō and taking off. The ground beneath their previous position exploded, launching them and a few others forward. The the short haired members of the Uzumaki quartet slowed there pace as they came to a chasm. The two looked around for a seal or a sign of how Naruto and Karin made it passed the obstacle.
"I have an idea." Kyō said. Taking out a kunai he drew a seal into the dirt and once chakra was the chasm closed up, as if it never existed.
"I see, so it was a lower level space time fuinjutsu." Kenshin said.
Kyō nodded his head "Sort of, I'll tell you on the way." He said starting to run again. Once they got half a mile away the chasm opened up again, claiming two victims in its wake.
"The chasm isn't natural, it's just a bigger version of the zipper pocket seal. If we fell in someone would have to come by and unseal us knowing we were there which in this case would be your dad or mine." Kyō explained.
"Ok but what did you do to stop it?" Kenshin asked.
"Well we're Uzumaki so a lot of our fuinjutsu is circular, to recreate a balanced chakra flow in the sealing formula like there is in the body. Seals like that just need something to get in the way of its 'flow' to have it stall. In this case it was a lower level chakra storage seal powered by the chakra the other seal was using which until it was full, disrupted the affects of the other seal." Kyō said. The sword wielding Uzumaki stepped forward and did some hand signs suddenly a barrier fell and the two kept running.
"Some of these seals may have an effect on magic so we can't risk going into purgatorio or slowing down time. Make sure to use it like a real combat scenario life and death only to keep the clans secrets safe." Kenshin said. They found themselves in a grove barley peeking through the canopy of this new obstacle. An arrow was shot at them nearly taking out Kenshin who entered witch time.
Kyō stayed graded when Kenshin said he'd scoped the area and they needed to put a barrier. The gathering of trees was littered with trip wires and arrows could come from any direction. " It'll totally overwhelm us if we don't. How these traps are set up the trees aren't reliable cover. I don't know any mobile barrier seals…so…could you like… do something about that? Kyō…??" He looked at the sword wielding Uzumaki in earnest.
"Oh sorry it's a tall order. Only weaker barriers have qualities like that, but even then they're not mobile they're size can be easily manipulated. So…well use the wall of reflection fuinjutsu. We just have to extend it with chakra as we run. Yeah that'll work! The only problems are that by redirecting the arrows we may trigger even more attacks and the seal doesn't cover our heads or feet for that matter." Kyō said deep in thought. Kenshin trusted him on this fully he may be a little goofy but barriers were a specialty in his family all the way back to Tsunado.
"I'll take those odds we don't have time to do much more anyways." They started on their plan and dodged the arrows with much less effort than before. The made it out of the grove and into a clearing where Naruto and Karin sat. Karin said something to Naruto and he turned his head to face the pair.
"Finally! Now we can get started on the plan. Kyō, you stand at Karin's left Kenshin you stand-" Kyō suddenly had a hand to Naruto's face.
"Woah woah the plan is what to face the four cardinal directions and invoke a spirit??? You two take off with no words to us and suddenly have this plan that can't work without us?" Kyō interrupted. Kenshin hadn't thought of these things at all. The words, even if they held weight to them, were harsh and unnecessary to use on their friend and his own sister. So Kenshin came to their defense, starting an argument between the two which grew to the four.
"Look whatever this is I want no parts. Kenshin you said you trust me, I'm telling you that you need do get back from these two." To emphasize his point he tossed a nearby rock okay the spot he was instructed to go to. The rock was suddenly in a dark barrier that quickly drilled its way into the ground. A similar sealing array to the one sealed the rock was by Kenshin. The to looked at each other and flared their chakra, breaking the genjutsu that lead them to believe they were safe. A cloaked man stood there in place of Naruto. The boys pushed him into the seal activating it and sounding a buzzer? " participants you have five minutes left. The duo sprinted on a rough trail they hoped led to the way out. There was another learning yet again with Naruto and Karin sitting there. The pair were excited to see them not in the robotic manner they showed in the genjutsu which drove them to push harder. Just then three other kids emerged from the trees. The forest and all its contents were then trapped in a dome like barrier.
Nagato emerged from the barrier and greeted the seven remaining finalists."Congratulations on passing this portion. Some of you have been lead to believe that this is the final portion however the council has decided to add an extra challenge for this year's talent. The penalty for failure will be a solitary in depth reorganization session of the clan library on Uzu every night for three months along with a diet seal that will restrict you from eating anything but vegan meals for the same amount of time." He said in his informative tone. He ran through some handseals and the group found themselves back in the testing room from the written exam. " Here you all answered 384 questions about fuinjutsu. Your final challenge will be kind of theory. As Foremen level fuinjutsu users you can now dabble in the idea of creating a seal, so attempt to make your proposed seal a reality. If successful or at least very close you will have passed the U.S.A.s, good luck. You have thirty minutes." And with that, the proctor vanished.
The clock was ticking and two of the participants had decided to take the loss. Thirty minutes to create a brand new seal that was a bit much even for a master of Uzumaki fuinjutsu. Kyō for his part began to work on a portable barrier seal. Kenshin was racking his brain for a way to make a seal that could not only detect lies but genjutsu as well. Karin had chosen to challenge herself with a lower functioning hundred healings seal, the clans alchemist usually had stuff for quick recovery but since the twin maelstroms nobody had managed to make something extremely powerful.
Of course Naruto, who primarily thought of ninjutsu and magic, was a little stumped. After about five precious minutes he and the quartet had all started working on their experimental seals. The two quitters were consulting their friends seal and the theory on it. They had decided that the formula would be to complicated for whatever he was planning and one of them decided they should write an essay on the potential fuinjutsu. For 20 minutes this was the scene in the U.S.A. testing room, chatter and the sound crumbled up papers filled the room.
In those final five minutes everyone seemed weather confident and when the time came and Nagato escorted them to the room the failures from the first exam went there was a spark of determination in everyone's eyes. There sitting in the room were some members of the council, the second proctor Shingo and the clan head. Nagato took a sweat next to his fellow proctor and motioned for the participants to do the same.
"Today you have made the largest pool of finalists in over half a century, so no matter what the results, be proud of that and yourselves." Kushina Uzumaki said in a sagely way. It was seemingly short lived as she broke into a familiar foxy grin and said,"Now let's get to it, ya know!"
The three kids from before all stood and presented there theory and explained why it seemed impossible for them to create the seal with their skill set. They showed lots of evidence that it was likely impossible anyone could do it. The idea for the seal in question was to convert chakra to magic with out the aid of a demon and reap similar benefits to that of the Ink faction in combat. " I see well I know I can speak for everyone when I say it was a wrather bold idea. The problem is that you have no seal to show your attempt despite having an Ink faction member in this trio of yours. We have decided that you will be given a probationary title of Formen but only if you three work together and get authorization before doing anything in that titles jurisdiction. You will all share in the punishment as you all take credit for this research. I look forward to hearing more your ideas in the future. You are dismissed." The trio had the diet seals placed on them and were sent home.
Next Kyō stepped forward, he said he hadn't named his seal exactly but felt that it explained itself. By using the formula that made the wall of reflection seal as the base He was able to create a malleable barrier that became the first ever portable barrier. An explanation informed the council that it would be extremely weak if expanded beyond four feet from the user. The barrier formed a ball around the user that limited there movement to leaning which was how the ball could move.
"It will need to be tested further to see if it has any more limitations. This is a great achievement for the clan you have made something ground breaking, Tsunado would be proud."Kushina said. Kyō went to the T.I. department to tell his mother that he'd passed after being permitted to go.
Kenshin had been short with his explanation but said that he'd altered the chakra capacity seal and had secondary properties of absorbing chakra if applied to someone who's showed the chemical signs of lying. To test this he had Nagato attempt to place him under several genjutsus and had a council member try lying and made sure to show the seals gauge for how much chakra had been taken and that the limit could be adjusted. "The first combat fuinjutsu users that trained under Satomi all those years ago were seen as a terrible threat on the battle field since they could completely neutralize their enemies ninjutsu. It's with these circumstances clans decided to take on new arts; creating the art you have now neutralized, genjutsu. Well done, Kenshin." Kenshin stepped off to the side and watched his sister approach the council.
The female twin spoke about the excellence of Mito and her sister Chikara specifically their great healing abilities(only because she had to stayed composed). Her seal had a flaw due to the purposeful limitations out in the sealing formula. "By taking some of the patients own energy, conversion of chakra into purified healing chakra can begin. To speed up this process the user need just apply a steady amount of chakra. If the amount is to great or erratic, the seal will preform faster than the body can handle. In theory the body would be stripped of all its energy but look perfectly healthy, despite its being a corpse." Karin explained.
She had the council discussing things for a bit. Then they turned to her and spoke. "This is a great seal Karin, so great in fact we want it to be an optional part of Eddy faction training. This seal can never be learned outside the clan and the original work will be stored in Uzu. I trust you've put it to memory?" One of the elders said. She nodded her head and departed with her brother, matching smiles on their faces. Naruto was smiling happy for his friends they'd all passed the test. Now that it was his turn he felt even more happy.
"I have made own combat fuinjutsu. You have to channel two different elemental chakras to use it but the results are worth the hard work it may require to learn. The user throws out the seal after it's been charged and can activate it remotely like an explosion tag. The victim of this attack will be sucked into a tornado that drains their chakra into the seal for the user to make use of later. Simultaneously a maelstrom spreads out from the seal pulling in whole bodies and storing them in a different part of the seal. This of course is best used for large groups and ambushes." Naruto said excitedly.
His mother looked giddy, muttering about the destructive capabilities and how she likely would've made it her signature attack. This greatly disturbed the rest of the assembled council who recalled how far she'd gone with Uzumaki fuinjutsu and kenjutsu that she'd nearly been a one woman army.
The rest of the council asked him how he managed the feat with the elemental chakra aspect. To which he replied a simple "It wasn't that tricky after I worked out how to properly channel both those elements separately. The seal just regulates the reaction and unleashes that specific attack. It does require a lot of chakra if you want to make the best use of the seal but other than that it's great, ya know!" Uzumakis saying they needed a lot of chakra for something meant that it was already a forbidden technique, to the masses that is.
This could be a great way to display the power of the clan while warding off lesser copies of the seal. "It's quite obvious you've passed Naruto, but something just caught my attention. When describing the seals limitations you leave out the need for a body of water. Though it may just be obvious I can't help but wonder if…there's more to it maybe?" One of the elders asked. Naruto was confused and voiced to his family that much.
"Why would I need a body of water? You can use suiton like you use futon…from the air?? Ya know?" He said.
This was a true shock even making Kushina stop her daydreaming and act as her role of clan head instead of mother. "Naruto, son, could you demonstrate please? " She asked. Naruto nodded and began to concentrate like he would during his training. When he opened his eyes he had a spinning orb of water hovering over his hand. He then made it dissipate into the air. He was congratulated once more then sent home. It was there he rested and prepared for the coming ceremony.
Uzu had long been sealed away from the outside world accessible only to her people who had there most sacred practices take place on her islands. It was on a full moon that such an occurrence would be happening on her largest island. The Uzumakis had gathered, those attending set up a grand alter and wrote up a seal that had changed the history of the family that once housed her. The lingering demonic energy was always pulled toward The lands defense and so over the years rituals had added and expanded the whirlpools that kept the Uzumakis ancestral home safe something the land had hardly been affected by. Some plants grew here that aided the Ink faction in alchemy, metals for demonic empowered weapons could be easily used here and with more rituals there was more resources with the same properties. Uzu had always managed to provided even now centuries after Satomi's time.
Karin look around the island her twin would be holding his ceremony. Things would be changing soon him and Naruto would be able to wield unparalleled power. She wasn't jealous, in fact Karin was rather well of herself. The Ink faction required one to willingly give up parts of themselves. Even if you didn't take the first step you'd be pushed in a direction by knowledge you didn't completely understand.
No Karin wasn't jealous, she felt bad for some of them. She loved the stories of the Twin Maelstroms but she always thought about one part of the sisters tale. After Chikaras ceremony the Mito claimed she'd gone through a change in personality that left her questioning if her sister was still there. She studied it and had notes the altered personality to be permanent and were more severe depending on how close the demon and Uzumaki were. Satomi proved this with her partner Kraken, who confirmed that a greater bond made way for more powerful techniques and a melding of human and demon minds respectively.
She was unclear on how her brother would change and to what degree. Part of her was scared they wouldn't be able to come back stronger together or come back at all. She looked at the moonlit altar where she may loose her brother and tried to gather herself.
"Hey don't worry about it. Family is stronger than anything, Kenshin will be fine…and so will you." Naruto said from behind her. She nodded and took one last look at the moon before leaving the area with her friend. The two walked in silence for a while both for different reasons. Naruto not wanting to upset the girl and Karin not knowing what to say.
The rest of the clan(those that could make it) were here to witness the sacred tradition. Kyō spotted Naruto and Karin and walked over with a smile. "Come on guys, your gonna miss out on all the fo-" he stopped once he got close enough to see Karin's worried expression. "Hey what's up? You can't seriously be upset right now! THIS IS IT, you and Kenshin are gonna be the next Twin Maelstroms just like you guys said. S rank in the bingo book, never approach alone, come on you have to be excited about this! At least try to be…I know Kenshin is." Kyō said reassuringly. Karin looked up at him and tried to smile but was interrupted by bells marking the hour. Thank god Karin thought, she still wasn't sure even though her friends had tried to help.
The altar floor was decorated to resemble the strange moonlike symbol Satomi had seen on the book all those years ago. In the center an Uzumaki seal used to restrain the demon to the mind in case things went sour a precaution they rarely had to make use of. Kenshin was walking out of the makeshift cave they used for the ceremony and he looked to be locked in conversation staring into nothing with gray intensity.
When he reached the center of the altar he kneeled and let out a magical burst of energy. This activated the seal and erected mirrors reflecting the moonlight onto him from all angles. The family could see him from there place above the pit the Ink faction boy found himself in. There were whispers of promises and goals then silence a heavy silence that would be broken by more whispering and the cycle continued all the while the seal glowed brighter and the moon itself seems to gain more light. Brown hair bled into Uzumaki red, a sign of a returning demon or a powerful one. Then he stood and the walls fell he walked up the side of the pit which due to his less than stellar chakra control was only possible with the moon. He reached his clan and opened his eyes to reveal orbs once red were now a royal purple. Not much had changed beyond that the eyes remained pupilless, it was still Kenshin, but the clan still waited in painful silence for the last part of this tradition.
"I Kenshin Uzumaki, have formed a pact with the Harbinger of Finality, MALPHAS!" There were cheers from all attending Malphas hadn't seen since the Second Shinobi War and Kenshin was his third contractor. The kids who didn't really care about all that stuff(Uzumaki quartet included) went of to get first dibs on the feast. It had mostly been made up of Kenshins favorites BBQ, daifuku, okonomiyaki to name a few. Kenshin and his sister were at the head of the table there parents Shingo and Kimiko on either side of them. When their parents went to get more food and brag on the case of their father; their friends filled the empty space.
They chatted about silly things, like if Naruto would take look as good as Kenshin after he entered his whirlpool or if Kenshin would get a hoard of fangirls with his new look. "Hahaha oh I hope not. I think I'd be a doormat all over again, tonight was hard enough so many people, I even yelled ugh." The recently enhanced Uzumaki said. He shared a loo with Naruto and Kyō who went off to find their parents and see if there was any daifuku left. "I can't believe it's finally happening, now all that's left is to end up on the same team and become the next Twin Maelstroms." He chuckled. "Look I now what's been worrying you but we'll be fine. I promise, no matter what happens we'll handle it t-together." He said.
Karin smirked. "Still stuttering after making a legendary pact. I guess something's never change" she said with a sigh.
Twenty-eight days later and the Uzumaki clan gathered once again for Kyō's birthday. His mother Junko made an appearance something that became increasingly rare as her promotion neared. Kyō received many tools for portable smithing and alchemy/concocting uses. Kyō even had a gift of his own telling the clan he'd invented a way to use the alchemy in more practical forms. The elixirs and the like were great but according to Kyō, "Candy will never go out of style!" Even better the formulas for said elixirs were improved upon with the lollipops creation. He could still make them with lesser effects like the elixirs for the public. For this he was promised a royalty from all the profits and allowed to take his master smithing test at the end of the school year. Something the quartet was very happy to hear. Even after all the doubt the clan had when they were kids Kyō proved to be just fine without the more advanced part of the ink faction.
Kenshin and Naruto had him locked in a conversation about weapons. "You boys know that you wouldn't even be able to use them in public until we're shinobi right? It's nice and all but-" Karin stopped when she realized the group of boys had turned around and continued the conversation without listening to her at all! "Hey! It's not even possible right now, even if he makes a weapon it may be unsuitable for the demon and we still don't know what demon wants to form a pact with Naruto." This got the boys attention though not how she expected. They all laughed at her.
"I've got 19 days left until the ceremony and once I enter my whirlpool I'll be another step closer to being the most awesome clan head in history! Weapons will be a must for me and my partner, believe it!!" Naruto said excitedly.
The group giggled at his antics and chatted some more about Kyō's test and how he'd be able to use the infernal metal on Uzu regularly like he did with the herbs in the Uzumaki elixirs. It was a fun party and a perfect day as far as the Uzumaki quartet were concerned their parents though…they seemed a bit preoccupied with other thoughts.
"Should we tell him he'll have to dye his hair for the foreseeable future?" Shingo asked. He was swiftly answered by Junko that Kushina had found a way to make a more permanent henge.
"It's like a mask, it seals away features that would make the clans 'traditions' seem weak to the outsiders or potential enemies. It's the one thing about us Uzumaki that is predictable, red hair!" Junko explained to Kenshin after the party.
"We'll I still have the same eyes?" Her son asked looking in the mirror at his emerald irises.
"If that's what you'll look just like your mother when we were kids" Nagato said from his place at the table. Kyō looked at his parents with a happy expression.
"Ok then, as long as I get to be myself and still help out this is fine." His mother nodded and gave him the instructions to get started. He would have to do this every year on his birthday for the rest of his life. Well…it's better than having to change myself forever. That's the part he wouldn't do. He too had been excited once, about taking his first step but coming from a purely Eddy faction line he wasn't confident in his path. He didn't have other Ink faction members to look up to or have a clue of what his demonic partner would be. He was scared so he decided to change the way he did things. He looked to the civilian Ink faction members and made his choice. Kyō looked in the mirror at his deep red hair and put his thoughts to rest. He looked fine and he was still the same person;he'd be his strongest without any examples. He would because this was his way of life second only to the Uzumaki value of staying unpredictable. Something he embraced every day since not taking his first step and still choosing to become a shinobi.
"Tonight under the bleeding moon, you shall learn my name. We will form a pact stronger than all who came before!" The demons voice echoed in the Uzumaki heirs head. The demon had brought up an interesting event. Naruto recalled what he's learned with the the seal and knew that to have a pact formed on a blood moon was special indeed something he himself hadn't heard of ever. He played with his long blond hair;a sign he was overthinking. The cave he was in thankfully was not an empty one.
His mother looked at him with reassurance while she applied the seal. "Satomi's blessing won't prepare you for what entering your whirlpool feels like. It's an experience unique to us. Things were only ironed out after Satomi's initial transformation. You have everything you need and more. I didn't get to experience this myself and your father doesn't get to know so it's up to you to figure things out. Even if it's a bit different or hard you can only rely on yourself during this. I know you'll make us proud." She said before leaving him to check the seals outside. Naruto had pretty much the same clothes as Kenshin when he had his ceremony but with more red instead of black. Normally the heir only had a few changes to the alter but with the blood moon everything had to be by the book or the knowledge seal in this case. The others wore robes of their own a lighter red with no black at all.
"The moon peaks, go now! " The demon roared in Naruto's head.
"Alright let's do this thing! " Naruto thought back thought back. He stepped out of the cave and as soon as the moonlight hit him he fell into a trance. The world faded away swirling into a new image a great maelstrom in front of him books red, and calling him forward.
"Enter your whirlpool and become my partner." The demon called from the whirlpool. It was so realistic Naruto wasn't sure if all of this was on the mind or not, he sank into the depths and saw the infernal in all they're glory. A giant beats with five mouths. The main one on the head and and the others where paws would be. The demon had giant bat like wings and a bladed tail, two crescents on either side of the tails tip. They're spider like eyes on the main head drew attention from the rocky looking mane. Naruto was in awe but slightly confused. This demon hadn't been anything like the ones he'd read about allying with the clan and the seal would only tell him what he could do on a limited scale sense he hadn't finished his ritual.
"Who are you and how do you want to do this thing. I need this if I wanna get stronger so come on!" He said.
"Display your magical ability " the Infernal growled out. Naruto not knowing what else to do released a burst of magic like they did in faction training before learning 'witch time'. "Why should I enter this pact with you, if all that happens is your growth then what am I here for? " Naruto found himself offended?
"What do you mean, 'what am I here for', I need to do this so I can lead and if you don't wanna help me fine I can adapt a good leader needs to. I'm here now because a want to be stronger for my family and friends. You can grow with me or rot in hell for all I care but I WILL get stronger. I know we can do great things together, my every battle will be yours to boast on and my faults will be ours to face together. So what is it? Will you quit or are we gonna form a pact now?" Naruto held his breath because even if he meant every word he was still very aware that he could be rejected by this demon or worse die. The infernal growled and the air grew extremely chill; in a burst of smoke Naruto was being circled by a pride of demonic cats. Glowing eyes of different colors boring into his soul. "Quit playing around and ANSWER THE QUESTION YA KNOW!!" The cats sat in their spots and reconfigured.
"Hmph this may be more interesting than I thought. I accept, partner. I know of your clans ancestral wisdom and respect your patience. I am The Destroyer of Fates, Labolas!!" The demon roared.
Naruto shocked the clan with his announcement. First the rare reappearance of Malphas and now a demon that had never been contracted with an Uzumaki before. "I knew you'd do us proud but this is the best we could've hoped for." Kushina said. She hugged her son and announced the feast could begin. He found his friends and was tackled to the ground by the rest of the quartet. Kyō was so excited for his friend he almost dropped all the food he'd managed to grab in the chaos of the feast. Kenshin congratulated him on his success in the ceremony while Karin got out a mirror.
His hair was now a bright red a few shades lighter than the Uzumaki red he was surrounded by and as a representation of his new partner was now much spikier than before. His ocean eyes now shone heliotrope purple almost icy or pink depending on the lighting. "You look good, not as good as the natural redhead of course but you can hope." Karin said earning a laugh from her brother and a daifuku to the face from Kyō.
He couldn't wait to start the next chapter in his life. With his new pact and his family to provide him strength he felt stronger than ever. Since it was his birthday and he was going to graduate the academy next year he decided to give a few words. "Thank you all for coming on this special night. Missions and schedules be damned I know the food is really what convinced most of you." The clan laughed at the joke and let him continue with the speech. "I don't want to miss out on it too so I just want to say thank you for being my strength, as clan head my victory will be our victories. If you put your trust in me like I do for all you then tomorrow's be mine! BELIEVE IT!!" Naruto finished erupting a cheer from his guests and a roar he could hear from Labolas.