Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Brush Stroke ❯ The Benefactor ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

-----Author’s note: My friends, this story will test the depths of the waters of my imagination, as well as my storytelling ability. I am going to bring together characters from all across existence to compete in a game, with a little bit of a twist. If you’re expecting nothing but mindless fighting, you are mistaken. There will be romance, comedy, drama, a plot, and whatever else I deem worthy.

Now get ready for the introduction to what could be my most massive work, to date.....

There will be a main protagonist from each series I decide to utilize, and you will see the story unfold through their eyes in whichever way I see fit. They will have to learn to interact with each other and even live together. Of course, what the readers want is important to me, too, so don’t be afraid to say what you want. By the fans, for the fans.

I own none of the series or characters portrayed in the story. Enjoy.....-----


A lone man sat at his redwood desk in the center of a bleached white existence. Every last inch of the far-reaching expanse was glowering a blinding luminous light, so that the most that could be made out of the figure at the desk was his outline. In one hand he held a brush, and the other held his chin, his elbow placed casually onto the desk.

Humming softly to himself as he did so, the man’s hand gently dipped the brush into a small bottle of ink. After having the tip of the brush swim around in the midnight black ink for a few seconds, he lifted it out, and positioned it over the scroll before him. A drop of ink fell from the brush’s tip, making a tiny dot on the parchment.

Pulses of energy shook through the shining wasteland, a wind that had not existed a split second ago roaring to life. From the ethereal sky above came color, streaking down like watered down paint on a worldwide canvas. The deep night blues and purples of the heavens above trickled down in mass, evolving to dark emerald greens and aquamarine. The tops of trees formed as the colors continued to cascade down over the nothingness, a world forming around the man at the desk at the simple drop of a spot of ink.

He watched in awed silence as the beauty around him became fuller, more real. A grandiose castle was built before his very eyes, the dripping colors fading to white before reverting back to a variable rainbow of creation. The spires of the structure appeared to puncture the dark sky above, the glimmering stars seemed to move aside to provide the building the room it required. The entire East wing of the castle was formed after the style of the Roman coliseum, chiseled of pure marble, as the rest of the castle was.

The man slowly walked around the newly formed ground beneath his feet, admiring the attractive place he now found himself in. He looked to his left, finding darkly hued mountains which appeared to shimmer in the starlight. He looked to his right, finding several floating islands, water rushing over the sides and spilling down into a gargantuan lake, its crystalline waters clear enough that even at the deepest parts, the bottom was visible. Standing before the newly created castle for several minutes as he gawked at the world which surrounded him, the man eventually found the will to return to his desk, which was now sitting on top of a little grassy hill.

He eased himself into his chair, listening to the sound of the rushing water nearby as he exhaled deeply. Believing it was now ok to talk, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ah, God, that kicked so much ass!”

He picked up the brush, ready to get things rolling. With expert precision, despite his shaking hand, he slid the brush across the parchment to form a perfect line.

-

Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha’s number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja (also pronounced ‘dumb-ass ninja’), threw his arms up in a cheer as Mr. Ichiraku set down another bowl of ramen for him to savage.

“Relax, Naruto. If you have a seizure, I’m not taking you to the hospital,” Sasuke Uchiha, Konoha’s number one cool prodigy ninja (also pronounced ‘bad-ass ninja’) mumbled, hands folded neatly together as his chin rested on them.

“Sasuke-kun’s right, Naruto! Quit being such a spaz!” Sakura Haruna, Konoha’s number one.....wait.....she didn’t particularly excel at anything, never mind.

“Sakura-chan, I’m just happy to eat! Sasuke, you can suck my-”

The blonde was cut off when all three were knocked clean off of their stools and to the ground. Waves of energy pulsed over them, forcing all of their eyes shut. None of them knew what was going on, but they were all terrified.

Mr. Ichiraku turned around, “You’d better not finish that sentence, Naru.....where’d you three go?” He wondered aloud, scratching his head in confusion. Naruto hadn’t even finished his food.....

Sasuke landed on his back with a thud, his eyes hooting open as he was back on his feet in less time than it takes to blink. He looked around, a kunai in both hands as he waited for some sort of surprise attack. Sakura and Naruto got up as well, on either side of their friend as they looked around in wonder at where they were. It appeared to be some sort of coliseum.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.....” Hatake Kakashi groaned, his hands in his pockets as he slowly made his way over to the three new arrivals.

“Kakashi-sensei! What’s going on?” Naruto asked in his outside voice, running towards his teacher.

“Well, that’s what I’m gonna tell you,” The jounin mumbled, taking out his little orange book to hide behind as he spoke, motioning for the other ninjas to follow him, which they did, “You’ve been brought here by the Benefactor. He’s summoning warriors from all across time and the universe to compete in a.....game,” The copy ninja stated this so plainly and blandly, like he was talking about what brand of cereal he had for breakfast. Not the Xtreme brand, either.

“What?” Sakura was the first to get the word out that summed up all three’s thoughts.

“That’s what I said. The Benefactor of the game has asked me to be the.....I don’t want to say ‘host’, but that fits the bill. Anyway, the rules will all be explained when the rest of the guests arrive,” He led them through a dimly lit hall as he spoke, and they soon found themselves in a room full of unfamiliar faces. They quickly integrated themselves in with the people they recognized. A flash of light broke through the room, telling Kakashi that he had more guests to greet.

-Kakashi’s day as host, Pt. 1-

The jounin watched in wonder as a blinding light erupted in the center of the red floored coliseum, sending a group of honest to God people crashing to the ground! Just like the Benefactor had said they would. He could hardly believe it. There was a short one with blonde hair, one in a gigantic suit of armor, and a man with black hair in a blue uniform.

Edward Elric jumped to his feet, swinging his fists around like he was drunk, “WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON?” He roared, picking out a white-haired man in a mask as the one to blame, “What did you do?” He asked, finger aimed at the oddly dressed man.

Sighing, realizing that the day was just going to drag on forever, Kakashi retorted, “Your mom.”

The blonde in red and black scowled, clapping his hands together and slapping them against the red dirt beneath him. Kakashi guessed he had said something he really shouldn’t have. The gigantic wave of dirt coming his way told him he had made a mistake.

-Kakashi’s day as host, Pt. 2-

Yet another explosion of light, followed by another dumping off of people. This time it appeared to be a young boy in a suit, along with nine girls, and an older man. Kakashi eyed them warily, not eager to repeat his mistake of earlier, which was get too close and say something sarcastic.

The group of people warily clambered up to their feet, looking around for some sort of an answer. The first thing they found was a white-haired man wearing a mask.

“E-Excuse me,” Negi Springfield asked, staff in hand just in case the man proved hostile, “What’s going on?”

With a sigh of relief, Kakashi let himself believe that he was gonna come out unscathed, this time. Before he spoke, however, he found a diminutive blonde girl hanging from his arm. It looked like she was biting him. .....Yeah, she was definitely biting him.

“‘Ou ‘e’er ‘alk, or I’ll ‘ill ‘ou!” The girl muffled out into Kakashi’s arm, sucking out blood as she spoke.

“What the hell is she doing?” Kakashi asked, looking to the others for some help.

“Evangeline-san, stop that!” Negi shouted, rushing over to help.

-Kakashi’s day as host, Pt. 3-

One pint of blood less, Kakashi watched as yet another burst of light released several more new people for him to greet. Before he had even taken two steps in approaching the three, a shot rang out, and he felt something collide with his forehead. His head snapped back as the shot sent him crashing to the ground.

“Sousuke!” A female voice shouted, followed by the sound of something slapping something, “What the hell did you do?”

“Not a thing,” A cool and collected voice replied, “I was simply reacting to a hostile third party, and eliminated him. It’s not a problem.”

A blonde man bent down over Kakashi to see if he was alright, which he was. His forehead protector had managed to deflect the bullet, but he was gonna have one hell of a headache later, “Hey, he’s still alive!” Kurtz Webber shouted back to his friend, Sousuke Sagara, who could barely believe he had missed on an instant kill.

-Kakashi’s day as host, Pt. 4-

Kakashi was barely able to hold off the swordswoman’s attacks with his kunai, and having a little tan blonde girl latched onto his back wasn’t helping him, much.

“Can’t you do something?” The jounin called out to the bespectacled twenty-year-old, who was watching them fight.

“Are you kidding me?” Keitaro Urashima asked, a look of complete fear on his face, “You’ll be fine.....I do this almost every day.....”

“God, what are you, immortal?”

“DIE!” Motoko Aoyama shouted, swinging her sword down so hard that waves of energy sent Kakashi flying away, Kaolla Su still clinging to him, laughing maniacally.

-Kakashi’s day as host, Pt. 5-

“Who the hell fights with a boomerang?” Kakashi asked from his position on the ground, a woman’s boot on his chest as he stared up at her.

“Someone who just handed you your ass,” Sango replied, leering down at her defeated enemy, “Now tell us what’s going on, or I’ll get violent.”

“I think I’m in love,” The jounin sighed, feigning happiness.

Miroku growled, but didn’t say anything. Seshoumaru and Inuyasha were, at the moment, trying to kill each other with words while Kagome tried to make sure that words was as far as it got.

-

And that had been Kakashi’s day, up until this point. He was standing in the meeting hall, which was currently filled with all of the people he had greeted over the course of the day. There were hundreds of them.....God, it was incredible. The massive meeting hall was full to capacity, every last person in the room waiting for their questions to be answered.

“Ugh, I can’t see a thing!” Ed growled, trying to pull himself up onto his brother’s shoulders.

Al shrugged his antsy brother off, realizing that referring to Ed as ‘antsy’ was a terrible idea, “There’s nothing to see, brother. Just a bunch of people.”

“Relax, Fullmetal,” Colonel Roy Mustang muttered, casting a little smirk down to the blonde boy he loved to poke fun at, “We’ll find out what’s going on soon enough. We have to be careful, though. Whoever is in charge of this whole thing must have some really advanced alchemy to be able to physically pull us here. I don’t even want to know how he did it.....”

“I don’t know if it was alchemy, at all,” The younger brother Elric stated quietly, “Human transmutation is forbidden, don’t forget. Besides, it didn’t.....it didn’t feel like alchemy.....”

“Al, that’s ridiculous. Of course it was alchemy. We both know there’s no such thing as magic, so-” Ed was cut off as a short boy with scarlet hair and a suit bumped him, trying to get by.

“Oh, excuse me,” The boy apologized, giving a little bow before continuing on his way through the crowd. A middle-aged man and nine girls followed after him, calling after him. Negi was his name, apparently.

“Yeah, so, there’s no such thing as magic, or mages, or whatever the hell else. Don’t go all superstitious on me, Al. We need to keep our wits about us. I-” The older Elric was cut off for the second time when a rather obnoxious white-haired man with dog ears bumped him hard.

“Watch it, you little pipsqueak,” Inuyasha growled, pushing forward. He was pissed as all hell that he was in some oversized garage when he should be hunting down the Shikon jewel shards. To make matters worse, his ass hole of a brother, Seshoumaru, was here with them! This was turning out to be one hell of a shit festival, so far.....

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RUNT SO SMALL HE SHOULD CLIMB BACK INTO MOM AND FINISH BAKING, YOU SON OF A BITCH?” Ed shouted, not tackling Inuyasha only because his brother was holding him back with all of his strength.

“Wow, that was probably the weirdest freak out I have ever seen from you, Fullmetal,” Roy commented, raising a hand to tell Inuyasha to back off.

The half demon smirked at Ed, “Catch you later, kid. In a pickle jar, or something.....”

Ed, fighting off an aneurism, watched as the jerk skulked off, followed shortly after by two girls and a monk. One of the girls apologized for her friend, but the three paid her little attention. Something more interesting was happening, at the moment.

The chuunin, Shikamaru Nara, looked up as the sound of an intercom buzzed to life, followed shortly after by a steady voice pouring through and filling up the expansive structure, “Greetings, my friends! I know you all must be wondering why I have brought you here, and I will now promptly explain in detail.”

Takamichi T. Takahata, dressed up in his typical white suit, lit up a cigarette, letting the shot of nicotine ease his nerves as he listened to the male voice over the intercom, “I’ve gathered you all here as competitors in a game that I’ve devised. Now, before you all try and escape before hearing me out.....”

Murmurs broke out amongst the crowd of people.

“D-Did he say.....escape?” Keitaro groaned, wishing he could just shrink away from the surrounding world as the buzz grew louder.

“Why don’t you grow a pair, Urashima, and quit being such a little girl all the time?” Motoko asked, waiting to catch the actual explanation part of the Benefactor’s talking.

“Don’t worry, Keitaro! I’ll get us out of here!” Su exclaimed, swinging out a rocket launcher.

“HOLY CRAP! Where were you keeping that?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Ma’am, no ma’am!” Keitaro jumped Su, trying to keep the spastic foreigner from shooting off a rocket.

Sousuke pushed Kaname Chidori to the ground rather forcefully, his hand on her head as he pulled out his handgun. He recognized that sound, definitely! It was a 1994 Anza MKII shoulder-fired rocket launcher going off! Kurtz drowned out his overly dramatic friend by listening to the voice over the intercom, “.....You should know that you can’t leave without my consent. I won’t allow it. If you’ll kindly take a look at your left wrists, please.”

Everyone instinctively did as they were told, each one surprised to find a thick white bracelet strapped on. It was made of some sort of rubber, it looked.

“That bracelet is the key to keeping you all in line. Should you try to escape, get too far out of line, or do something else that displeases me, I will administer a shock to you. Until the game is completed, none of you may remove your bracelets. Understood?”

Seshoumaru shook his head a little, using one of his fingernails to slice through the rubbery substance that was the bracelet on his wrist, “Ridiculous. I’ll be leaving, now.” He turned to leave, but was given a shock strong enough to send him stumbling down to a knee. He looked at his wrist, finding that the bracelet was somehow back on.

“Oh, and in case some of you are thinking that you can take a shock better than silver-locks, there, then you would be wrong. I determine the strength of the shock, and will administer it at the level required to stop you. So, like I said, you can’t remove the bracelet without my consent. Why? Because here, in this place, reality is what I want it to be. If I want clothes to cease to exist,” Screams and whistles filled the hall as everyone found themselves naked, “Then clothes do not exist. Should I decide clothes are the way to go,” Everyone found themselves clothed again, “Then clothes are the way to go. I am the Benefactor, and you are going to play by my rules, now.”

“What the hell kind of game are we gonna be playing?” Sango yelled out to the ceiling above them, assuming she would be heard.

“I hope it’s got more non-existing clothes in it,” Miroku drooled, still staring at Sango, his beautiful warrior woman.

“A good question, Sango, how very kind of you to ask. In exactly one month from today, there will be a tournament, in which only thirty-two of you may participate.”

“A month? What are we supposed to do until then?” Naruto shouted at the ceiling, waving a fist in anger.

“That is an integral part of the game, my spastic ramen-eating friend! During this one month period of time before the tournament, you must pick a partner to fight alongside you. Thing is, you MUST choose someone you don’t know. At all. To make things even harder, I will be handing out tasks to individuals as I see fit, and should they fail any task I request of them, they automatically lose the game, and will be returned home.”

“And why should we even listen to you? Er, besides the whole shocking thing?” Sakura asked meekly, worried she was about to get a taste of electricity.

“Because I can get you pretty much anything you want. Be it a certain red stone.....”

Ed’s eyes widened a little bit.

“.....A pretty little jewel.....”

Inuyasha growled, sending an angry glance at his brother.

“.....To become Hokage.....”

Naruto found himself drooling at the simple thought.

“.....The power to get revenge.....”

Sasuke clenched his hands into fists.

“.....A thousand virgins every night for the rest of your life.....”

Miroku fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and suffering convulsions.

“.....Or even just one dirty girl who knows how to turn tricks.....”

Roy stood there for a second, wondering why people were looking at him.

“.....To know where your father is.....”

Asuna Kagurazaka laid her hand on Negi’s shoulder, both of their expressions stern.

“.....Or whatever the hell else you want. For those of you who don’t think I can do it, here’s a little reminder as to what I am capable of:” Everyone’s clothes vanished for a few seconds before they reappeared, “So, yeah. Now if you will all kindly look in your pockets, bras, sleeves, or whatever it is you’ve got.....”

Everyone did as they were told, finding slips of papers with numbers on them.

“Those are your room numbers, which you may find in the castle. No trading. I shook things up a little bit to help get the ball rolling, because after all, you need to choose a complete stranger as your partner before thirty days passes. Be careful of who you choose, though, because if they fail a mission I give them, they will be removed from the game, and you will have to find a new partner. Now, I think that about covers everything, so.....”

“Wait!” Choji Akamichi called out, hands outstretched to the ceiling, “What are we supposed to do about food?”

“The lovely Ayame Ichiraku is running the kitchen in the castle. She and her assistants will be responsible for all three meals, and any snacking that is done in-between. There will be instructions by your beds when you wake up, so don’t worry about not being able to find it. Good? Ok then, I’ll be off.....”

“Wait!” Rock Lee threw his hand up to the ceiling, like so many before him, “Who ARE you?”

“I’m the Benefactor,” The voice replied, the intercom clicking off.

Things were quiet for a few seconds before people started trying to figure out which way to go. Some of them were reluctant to continue with the game, but the rest were caught up in the hype, believing that they had a shot at a wish.

“You into this, or what?” Naruto asked his brooding teammate, who returned the grin with a blank stare.

“This is ridiculous. There’s no way that.....” Sasuke trailed off, staring at the person staring straight back at him.

His brother, Itachi Uchiha, grunted a little, then turned to walk away.

With a roar, Sasuke lunged to attack his brother, but was instantly slammed with an electric shock. He didn’t falter, however, pushing through the jolts to get to his murderer brother. Naruto and Sakura grabbed onto him, holding him back.

“Let go!” The younger Uchiha shouted, his brother getting further and further away as he struggled against his teammates.

“Cut it out, he’ll kill you!” Sakura screamed, pushing herself against him to make it as difficult to move as possible.

The shock got worse, causing his legs to give out from beneath him. He lay there on the cold ground for several seconds before standing up, Naruto and Sakura still holding onto him. He pulled himself free, and walked off in the opposite direction, “I’m in this thing. I’m gonna kill that bastard in this tournament.....” He muttered only just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

The swarms of people dispersed, filtering into the castle to search out their respective rooms. They all had roommates to meet, and the next day they would find themselves looking for a new fighting companion.

-

Ed opened the door to his new room, his mouth falling agape as he saw who was in there. He pointed to the man, and Inuyasha pointed back at him, “Son of a bitch!” The two shouted.


-----Author’s other note: Now that my other mass work was completed, I needed another one to distract me. Here’s an idea that I had not long ago, and thought would be a sweet story, if done right. The potential for couples, rivalries, family drama, and all of the other awesomeness good stories have is unlimited, here.

I don’t usually ask, but please review. I review everything I read, come on.

Anyway, I think this story can kick enough ass that I can rest my weary foot, for a change. Let me know what you think, and I’ll see you around. Thanks for reading.....-----