Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Atelier Uzumaki ❯ Chapter 9

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Omega X

“Ouch…” Zabuza muttered, looking particularly mad towards his younger companion. “You could be more gentle.”

“Gentler, Zabuza-sama…” the masked figure corrected.

“Shut up, Haku,” the man growled, before gently yelping as he felt another needle poke his body.

“Multiple burns of varying degrees, concussion and impact related wounds, plus the fact your body is in a weakened state after putting you in a near-death state-”

“Which was your fault…”

Haku, the masked figure, sighed. “Please settle down Zabuza-sama. We have to work on you so we could get you back into shape.”

“Hmph…” Zabuza closed his eyes. “Stupid Sharingan… and damn that Alchemist…”

“Alchemist?” Haku looked at the man. “What is an Alchemist, Zabuza-sama? Its… it's the first time I heard of this term.”

“Well…”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back at Tazuna's house, Team Seven, including Kakashi, along with Tazuna and his daughter were eating dinner rather peacefully. For once, Naruto had minded his manners, and only because Kyuubi insisted. After all, poor table manners were, as Kyuubi would put it…

Undignified.

To pass time, Naruto had began to share the fact that he was a fully practicing Alchemist in Konoha. The results… weren't pretty.

“WHAT!?” Sakura shouted, standing up from her place. Everyone in the room had to cover their ears. “LIAR! That's the worse lie since Kakashi told us one when we left!”

“That was uncalled for Sakura,” Kakashi replied, though he was in a very cordial mood. “And actually, it's true. Naruto's mother was an Alchemist, and after some misunderstanding concerning Naruto stealing a Forbidden Scroll and a traitorous teacher, he started his training as one.”

“Wha… LIAR!” Sakura shouted again. “I'm not gullible sensei! The Forbidden Scroll is locked up inside the Hokage Tower, where ANBU guard and where the Hokage lives!”

“Well… most of the ANBU were men… so all it took was a well placed Sexy no Jutsu…” Naruto explained, though was cut when Sakura looked even madder.

“Like they'd fall for that stupid jutsu!”

“I could,” Kakashi declared, earning dirty looks from Naruto and Saki, and if it was possible, Sakura's Level Two Angry Face.

“Okay… even if that's possible, the Academy Teachers are screened so they'd be competent and trustworthy enough to teach!”

“Well… Mizuki did mysteriously disappear after graduation…” Saki interjected.

“Okay… okay…” Sakura looked defeated for a moment, and the young Uchiha smirked inwardly, knowing she just put her in place. “Alright… but even if that was true, Naruto was the dead-last of our class! How the hell does he show aptitude of becoming an Alchemist? He can't even do math!”

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto whined. He could do math! How did she think? That he spent his money so freely?

“Excuse me… but… what's an alchemist?” Tazuna asked. His daughter nodded, indicating she too was curious.

“Alchemy was an ancient study long ago. It's a marriage mix of Science and Magic,” Sakura replied.

“Very text-book answer, Sakura,” Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. “Do you think you can elaborate more than that?”

The pink-haired kunoichi shook her head.

“Alright… what Sakura was saying is right. Alchemy is a study of marriages between Science and Magic, something that permeated in ancient time. Science, is as most of us know, are the studies of everyday life; Math, Biology, Physics, Chemistry. Magic is a tad more complicated thing to explain.”

“Yeah… I was never really iffy about Magic,” Naruto declared, making everyone look at him. “From what I gathered, when the Universe was created, the world was governed by spirits. Those spirits were part of those who created the world. The energy they manipulate is Magical energy.”

“Heh… did you know, Naruto, that the study and theories of chakra manipulation was actually an off-shoot study about Magic?” Kakashi asked, his visible eye smiling. The blonde shook his head. “Your mother told me that.”

“You… you knew my mother? As in personally?” Naruto asked, surprised.

“Oh yeah… she's just like you,” Kakashi smiled. It was true… Uzumaki Kushina acted a lot like Naruto… though his looks were definitely from his father. “I'll tell you more about her back at Konoha. Don't need you distracted.”

“You mean… no one's joking? You're all serious?” Sakura asked, looking as if the world had gone mad, and she was the last san person in the world.

“Well… why not show her, Naruto?” Kakashi asked.

“Sure,” Naruto replied, and Team Seven followed him outside.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes watched them.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Outside, a wee bit away from Tazuna's house, Naruto had extracted his spear out, from thin air. It was the most basic weapon, something Naruto had used when fighting against Kakashi during their Survival Training. Showing them its ability to be dismissed and called easily, also its other more Wind related features like making rushing cuttings winds to assist its actions, he also told Kakashi he had been training hard for the past few weeks in using them.

“Let me see that,” Sakura muttered, extending her arm towards Naruto.

“Um…” the blonde looked at his still invisible Wind Mana partner, Gwendolyn, who just nodded. “Sure…”

Gently handing her the spear, Saki and Kakashi looked at the weapon curiosly… only to step back as Sakura suddenly shouted, and was driven to the ground.

“What the hell! Get it off me! Get it off me!” Sakura yelled, trying to lift her arm away. The spear was in her hand, but seemed to be imbedded on the ground.

“Wha…! Sorry Sakura-chan!” Naruto declared, lifting the spear easily away.

“What the hell was that!?” Sakura demanded, Kakashi helping her up. She pointed an accusing finger towards the blonde. “How the hell can you carry such a heavy thing!?”

“Heavy?” Naruto asked, confused. “It's not heavy at all!” and to prove the point, twirled the weapon around.

“It's insanely heavy!”

“Maa… Sakura, calm down,” Kakashi stated, smiling slightly, holding the pink-haired kunoichi before she did anything drastic… like kicking the blonde's face in.

Saki looked at the spear, and also asked Naruto if she could hold it (in less volume than Sakura's request). The blonde didn't seem comfortable enough to trust her (she was still a psycho to him) with his weapon, but agreed to anyway. Once he handed it to her, she too fell forward, as if she was holding something very heavy.

“Take it!” Saki shouted immediately. Naruto went to it.

“Well, it seems the weapon is definitely an odd one,” Kakashi declared. “I hear some Alchemic weapons won't work unless they are at the hands of worthy handlers or their owners. Good weapon, Naruto… its safe to say no one will be using it against you.”

Once the whole commotion was over, Naruto then introduced his Fate Cards, which was also pretty much known in action as the blonde had also used it in Kakashi's Survival Test. What Naruto showed this time though was a few of its abilities, like making clones (Jade Shift), the ability to stop and control projectiles, and the most interesting bit… control people's movements and location.

“Oh… so that's how it went,” Kakashi said, having a little fun with the Retraction usage of the cards. Without any energy wasted, he found himself teleported all over the place.

“Yeah…” Naruto said. “Although from what I can understand, I can't just pull people easily. If they resist in any way, they'll just get stuck there. So… you're lucky, Kakashi-sensei. If you resisted… you'd have been barbecued.”

“Huh… I'll keep that in mind then,” Kakashi replied, his expression showing nervousness. Then, it transformed back to seriousness. “We can form a lot of formations with this technique. You may not know it, Naruto, but you just made yourself the most important part of the group.”

“What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked.

“Well, in essence, our Naruto here would make himself our key-player. With the ability to make clones, and the ability to change theirs and your positions freely, he could in turn make it that you can attack at blind angles, or make you retreat when you're in trouble,” the jounin explained. “For example… he could instantly send Sasuke here behind enemy lines, and when the enemy approaches him, he could instantly teleport him away.”

“Oh… I never thought of that…” Naruto declared, making both Saki and Sakura hit their palms to their own faces.

“You idiot! We can't depend on you!” the pink-haired kunoichi declared.

“Maa, don't worry,” Kakashi smiled behind his mask. “Once we get home, I'm going to give you lots of scrolls using strategy.”

“Eh? Just give me scrolls with cool jutsus!” Naruto replied.

“If you study them well… maybe,” Kakashi declared, making Naruto whoop up with joy.

“He's… hopeless,” Sakura whispered. “He's definitely hopeless.”

“Alright, Team, early to bed. Tomorrow, we'll be training,” Kakashi declared.

“Training?” Saki asked. Kakashi nodded.

“I have reason to believe that Zabuza is not dead.”

Those words seemed to have a very quieting effect. All the genins suddenly looked at the man as if he was joking, but Kakashi took a grave pose, his face blank yet serious.

“Wha... that's impossible!” Naruto declared. “We all saw it! Some kid in a mask killed him!”

“I thought so too, but I remembered the little fact that Hunter-nins immediately dispose the body of a missing-nin in location, often taking the head as means of proof,” the jounin replied easily. “That particular Hunter-nin forgot that, and just took the body with him.”

“Maybe he just didn't want to do it in front of us?” Sakura reasoned, but Kakashi shook his head.

“The Standard Operating Procedure of any shinobi is followed strictly,” the jounin said. “Plus, senbon needles are an odd choice of weapons for assassins. It's mostly used on medical practitioners. It can be used to hit a certain area to induce a death-like state.”

Saki's eyes widened slightly, registering what the jounin was saying. “No way…”

“Do you think it's like... that?” Naruto asked. “That the eyebrow-less freak's still... alive?”

Kakashi nodded seriously.

“Then... well, let's train tomorrow then!” the blonde declared, now moving back towards the house. Sakura, who took most of the surprising blows today, from finding out Naruto was apparently an Alchemist, Mizuki was probably a traitor, and that Zabuza, the freaky guy, was still alive.

That left Kakashi and Saki alone in the area.

“You know... Saki...”

The youngest Uchiha's eyes narrowed, her killing intent flowing, but the jounin ignored it.

“Oh hush, no one's around,” Kakashi gently admonished. “When I said Teammates don't hide things from each other, I was also talking about you.”

“Hmph... whatever,” Saki began to walk away, following her two teammates. “This team is full of secrets. You with the Sharingan, Naruto being a bloodline Alchemist... what's next? Sakura with schizophrenia?”

Kakashi didn't reply, but grabbed his orange book, opened it, and read it. He giggled as he followed his team.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Team Seven was up in the morning, at sun rise. Kakashi made it a point to do so. For once in Team Seven's career, lazy, always late jounin Kakashi had vanished, leaving a pretty diabolical clone in his wake. If they weren't up when he was telling them to wake up, a cold shower of water would make them.

Sakura and Naruto were two unfortunate victims. The former was too used to the schedule of the Academy. The latter just loved sleeping in. The only dry member of their group was Saki, who had a very strict training regime, and waking up at sunrise was part of it.

“I hate you, sensei,” Sakura muttered as she tried to wipe herself dry.

“The early bird gets the worm,” Kakashi replied easily.

“I'm not a frigging bird…” Naruto mumbled.

“Okay, enough chit-chat, people,” the jounin declared seriously. “Judging from the wounds Zabuza had taken, along with that death-like state would take a heavy toll on his body, we have a week before Zabuza is up and about. We'll use that time to train him.”

“Train with what Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked. “We're… genin. Our enemy's a jounin, and there's that masked-nin.”

“True, but every little bit counts. I'm about to teach all of you to control your chakra.”

“Wha… sensei, we already know how to use chakra!” Sakura complained.

“Wasteful use of chakra, yes,” Kakashi said back. “In truth, none of you are using your chakra properly.”

“Really?” Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. It was one of the rare occurrence that Kakashi was teaching them something that didn't involve team exercises… he was definitely going to listen to this one.

“Naruto, remember your Bunshin no Jutsu?” Kakashi asked.

“Um…” the blonde looked slightly embarrassed. “Yeah. What about it?”

“It failed every time because you put too much chakra in it,” the jounin explained. “If you do not properly control your chakra use, you'll be wasting too much, and in turn, get tired more easily.”

“So… what do we do?” Saki asked.

“Something difficult. Something hard. Something you have never done before,” Kakashi declared, smiling as he built the anticipation. “Tree climbing.”

The three genin made faces.

“Tree climbing…?” Sakura asked, giving Kakashi the patented Haruno `are you serious' look.

“How will that help?” Saki mumbled, disappointed. “I already know how. Hell even Naruto knows how.”

“What the hell was that supposed to mean?” the blonde demanded, only to be ignored.

“Maa, pay attention,” Kakashi ordered. “And yes… tree climbing. But you're not going to use your hands. Here, let me show you…”

Kakashi made a seal, and all the genin felt some chakra being used, but no jutsu appeared. Their teacher then took a step towards one of the taller trees, placed his left foot on the trunk, and steadily, walked up the tree vertically, leaving three impressed genin on the ground.

“Now… do you see?” Kakashi asked, now standing upside down in a branch, looking at his students, his visible eye smiling. “All you have to do is gather chakra at your feet and climb up the tree. Only those who can use chakra well will be able to use this skill easily.”

“Wait a minute… how do we get stronger just by that?” Sakura asked.

“The training has a purpose,” Kakashi replied easily, as he jumped back down. “First, it teaches chakra control, teaching you to bring out just the correct amount of chakra. The chakra required in climbing a tree is small, but it must be exact. And it is said that the bottom of the feet are the most difficult area to gather chakra. Doing the exercise, and mastering it, you can theoretically master any jutsu.

“The second is to build up stamina. Continuous usage of chakra leads to conditioning, which increases your chakra wells inside your body,” the jounin continued. “You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you can't use chakra because you exhausted yourself.”

Kakashi then took out three kunai, and handed them to his students.

“Take these, and go for a running start as its easier,” the jounin said. “Climb a tree. Mark your progress. We'll take a break at lunch. Now… go.”

Saki nodded and immediately went for her tree, and started. She climbed up rather well, until she suddenly felt the wood splinter and gave way, and immediately marked the tree with her kunai before somersaulting down safely.

Sakura had an easier time. Before she knew it, she was already on top of the tree, even exclaiming that the exercise was easy.

“Very nice, Sakura,” Kakashi declared. “Seems your control is pretty good. Now, try going down, and climbing up once more.”

“Um… okay…” Sakura replied, looking slightly at Saki, hoping she had impressed her crush. No luck.

The young Uchiha scoffed slightly. She wasn't going to be beaten by the deluded and infinitely loud fangirl and was about to climb up the tree again, when she spotted Naruto, sitting down, cross-legged watching the whole scene.

“Oi,” Saki called. “What are you doing, sitting down?”

“Oh… nothing, just studying the exercise,” Naruto declared cheerily.

“Studying…?” Saki asked, her temper rising. “If you don't do the exercise, idiot, you wouldn't get it.”

“Maa, leave that Naruto alone, Sasuke,” Kakashi stated, his visible eye smiling once more.

“What do you mean leave him alone…?” and Saki paused, remembering the usage of her sensei's words. “Wait a minute… what do you mean by `that' Naruto…?”

Kakashi just pointed towards another tree, and Saki looked, only to see another Naruto running up the trunk. He didn't reach her's or Sakura's height, but still, getting there. In addition, that wasn't the only thing she noticed… she saw multiple trees having multiple Narutos climbing.

“Hmmm… so far, too little chakra, you don't stick,” the Naruto on the ground commented, looking at one of the fallen Narutos. “Too much chakra… the tree cracks.”

“Oi… Naruto,” Saki called, now curious. She had just spotted two more Narutos on the ground, one wielding a spear, and the other with the Fate Cards, doing katas. “Why are you using clones?”

“Eh… its how I usually train,” the sitting Naruto replied, shrugging. “It's faster that way.”

“Heh, like Kage Bunshin, eh?” Kakashi asked, nodding a bit.

“Kage Bunshin?” Naruto asked.

“It's the more advanced version of the Bunshin,” the jounin replied, and made a cross seal, and POOF! another Kakashi appeared beside the jounin.

“Kage Bunshin uses solid bodies instead of illusions,” Kakashi stated. “Just like your Jade Shift technique… except for one thing…”

The jounin suddenly punched the clone, dispersing it into a cloud.

“All it takes is one solid hit, and they're gone,” Kakashi said. “But here's the best part… all knowledge the clone has obtained in its life, you will receive.”

“Huh… that's nice,” the Naruto on the ground stated, looking impressed. “We are hardier, but… there is that nasty feedback. If one of us gets hurt, Naruto Prime, which is to say the one who formed us, will feel the pain of the injury.”

“Naruto… Prime…?” the jounin asked.

“Eh… don't ask.”

Kakashi studied the Naruto that spoke a bit. “Hmmm… considering your creator will receive the damage you get; does that mean there's seamless sharing of knowledge between you all?”

“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” Naruto replied.

“I think he meant was we all know what we're doing constantly,” one of the Narutos in the tree stated. “Unlike Kage Bunshin, we don't need to disperse for Naruto Prime to gain knowledge.”

“Yeah, what he said,” another Naruto, the one training with the spear said.

“Heh… is it me, or are you clones having a differing personality?” the jounin asked.

“Well… considering we don't even know the true nature of the Jade Shift…” another Naruto replied. “Probably.”

“Meh… who cares, really?” the sitting Naruto muttered. “It's training time. Get to it!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Saki shook her head. The whole display was unnerving her… multiple Naruto's talking amongst themselves, arguing even. Wasn't that a sign of mental problems? Ignoring that, she looked towards her sensei, and asked him.

“Can you teach me Kage Bunshin? It will help me train.”

Kakashi took a moment, studying her for a moment, before he shook his head.

“No, Sasuke, not now,” the jounin replied. “Before you complain, I'm saying this only because you don't have the control, or more importantly, the chakra capacity to make a single clone without exhausting yourself. Kage Bunshin is demanding… very demanding. But tell you what, continue training, and when I see you can make one safely, I'll teach it to you.”

Saki looked at the man for a moment, before she concentrated on her tree. She started dashing up again…

Kakashi had a happy expression, only to realize someone was watching them. He shifted his head a bit, trying to see who it was. It was a kid… the kid from Tazuna's house, to be exact, so he promptly ignored the boy.

“Oi Sakura… now's not the time to rest,” Kakashi ordered, spotting the pink haired kunoichi collapsed on the ground.

“Eh, Kakashi-sensei, give her a break,” one of the Narutos requested.

“Naruto… we need to squeeze all the time we can to train,” Kakashi stated easily. “Sakura's got good control, but now, as you see, she lacks stamina.”

“Still… you can give her-”

Naruto stopped talking. The other Narutos suddenly went alert, making the jounin nervous. The blondes seemed to look around, their faces scrunched up, confused.

“What is it, Naruto?” Kakashi asked.

“I… I have no idea…” he replied honestly.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Noon came, and so far, Sakura was in the lead, having already climbed up the highest point of her tree, but she looked the worst of the lot. Saki had been steadily catching up, but had yet to reach her peak, and Naruto… well… it depended on which Naruto you were talking about. He had many trees, all scratched up.

Both had been climbing up trees for longer periods than Sakura, yet they didn't seemed all that drained, something Sakura was a bit jealous of. Kakashi seemed to be right… she did lack stamina.

Naruto on the other hand was somewhat still nervous. Whatever he had felt, it made him very uncomfortable. It was like an ultra-real scary story he had heard once… misplaced feeling, the wind suddenly dying… he wasn't the only one. Gwendolyn herself looked somewhat spooked.

“The energy around the area seemed… unnatural…” Gwendolyn had whispered. “Like… the Corruption.”

“There's a Mana present?” Naruto whispered back.

“No… there are magical energies… but it was far too weak to be Mana.”

Putting that away from his mind for now, he concentrated what was in front of him for now: food.

Today's lunch was modest, something Team Seven didn't mind. They were hungry, and the rice was delicious. It didn't matter if the grilled fish they had as a meal was paper-thin, nor that it was ramen… it was filling.

There was a new addition to the table, though. A kid, very young, even younger than the three genin, wearing a fisherman's hat, looking at them. His face though, wasn't welcoming. In fact, it was bordering hostile. Still, Team Seven ignored the boy for now, trying to fill themselves.

“I'm glad you're all taking this seriously,” Kakashi smiled behind his mask. “All of you are improving. Especially you, Naruto…”

Naruto had an awkward smile behind his filled mouth, scratching the back-part of his head. Saki didn't pay attention, only continued eating while Sakura looked at the blonde with a doubtful expression.

“At the rate we're going, do you think we can beat those two?” Naruto asked.

Before Kakashi could answer though, the young boy suddenly spoke: “No way.”

“Wha… what!?” Naruto demanded, looking at the boy.

“You're just going to die,” the kid declared.

“Inari!” Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, sternly said to the kid.

“There's no way you can win against Gatou,” Inari, the kid, declared with some finality.

“Hey, you little punk!” Naruto started.

“Naruto! Stop arguing with a kid!” Sakura reasoned, but the blonde ignored her.

“I'm the future Hokage, a future hero! I don't care who stands in my way, I'll beat them all! Gatou is nothing against me!” Naruto declared. His bravado though was largely ignored by the kid, who just snorted.

“Pft. There is no such thing as a hero,” the kid muttered, before standing up. “If you don't want to die… leave,” and with that, he walked away.

When he was gone, Tsunami looked at Team Seven apologetically, apologizing for the rudeness of her son, Inari. While that went on, Naruto heard Kyuubi speak…

He's half-right. There are heroes… except they aren't heroes until they are dead.

What do you mean?

Heroes are nothing more than stamps of appreciation for humans. People tend to do heroic things from time to time, but they aren't without any ulterior motives. Either they did it because its their job, or because of something else… fact is, most people get labeled as heroes but are quickly forgotten, unless, of course, they die doing those said heroic things. That is when they are remembered as heroes… like that stone memorial back at your Hidden Village.

Naruto remembered that one. Kakashi showed it to Team Seven, giving them a brief outlook of the ugly world of shinobi. He fancied himself a hero once… but when he realized what the stone memorial was for, he had toned down a bit.

The brat must have had someone die for his sake… and he hasn't gotten over it. Survivor's guilt. However,let's ignore that for now. I'm more interested in that energy fluctuation we just felt earlier.

Nodding, Naruto then stirred the conversation, trying gather information. Anything that had magical energy was connected to Alchemy, one way or another, and as an Alchemist, he has to investigate.

“Tazuna, I felt something weird when I was training,” the blonde asked the old man. Kakashi, and Saki themselves went quiet, and paid rapt attention.

“Oh…? Where?” Tazuna asked.

“About ten kilometers south-west from your house,” Naruto replied. “The area was pretty dense with trees.”

“Why? Did you feel something?”

“Weak magical energy… I might have thought there could be some stuff related to Alchemy,” Naruto replied easily.

“Well… don't know about Alchemy, but that's one of the areas most of us won't get near to,” the old man explained. “The story is so old, even my grandfather, who had told me about it, heard it from his grandfather. Apparently, there's an abandoned shrine further in that forest, where most of the people here worshipped before.”

“Abandoned?” Sakura asked. “Why?”

“Apparently, one day, a heavy fog had come in… and anyone inside the fog would never be seen again,” Tazuna shrugged. “It was just a story though. I saw the shrine myself… it was located in a steep depression in the deep forest. I guess with the fog coming in, people thought it would be better to not visit and avoid any accidents while traveling there. They probably also told the stories to their kids so they wouldn't go there, tumble and fall.”

“Ah… thanks Tazuna,” the blonde said, then quietly going for his food again.

While they continued on their humble meal, Kakashi took a momentary pause to inform his students that training will commence thirty minutes after eating, so it would be wise not to stuff themselves silly.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Deep in the forest, a couple of Narutos came around, surveying the area. Behind them, a few kilometers away, Team Seven continued to train, along with a few more Narutos. Naruto Prime though wasn't with his team, but accompanying the other blondes on their expedition: to see what the shrine has to offer.

Tazuna was right. Just a few paces, they had come to a very deep depression on the ground. It could fool any innocent traveler thinking they were standing on the edge of a mountain, but it was ridiculous. Wave Country was a flat land, an island contained by a surrounding body of water near the Fire country.

This depression is not natural…

“This depression is not natural…” Gwendolyn declared.

Naruto blinked, feeling an echo sounding in his head.

“What's not natural about it?” he asked.

“Read the wind,” the Wind Mana stated.

Naruto Prime did so, and for some reason, he found nothing wrong. The wind chatted at him, telling him about the deep and wonderful wood life in the forest.

“Nothing's wrong…” Naruto replied.

“Read the wind again, this time, concentrate on the shrine.”

The blonde closed his eyes, once again listening the wind as it chatted how many mango trees were bearing fruits, oddly out of season, or the few wildlife pro-creating somewhere at his west, a few kilometers away. Naruto thought it was rather weird the wind even tried to tell him that.

However, after a while, he did notice what had been bothering Gwendolyn. The winds kept talking about the surrounding forest… but absolutely nothing on the Shrine.

“That is odd…” the blonde muttered.

Let's go down brat. See what's there.

Naruto Prime and his band of wonder blondes jumped down. Being a ninja, plus that cool chakra-in-the-feet bit that he had gotten the hang of was helping him descend on the rather treacherous grounds. Kyuubi had mentioned that the land had unnatural scarring, meaning the depression wasn't made by nature.

“Whoa!” one of the Narutos declared, making everyone look at him. The blonde had been ahead of the pack, a scout of sorts, and he was the first to spot a rather huge boulder, and on the boulder, there was a strange sign.

It looked gibberish, but Naruto had remembered seeing some of its symbols before. Before he could even ask, Gwendolyn and Kyuubi beat him to it.

“A Seal…” the Wind Mana declared. “Alchemic variety.”

From the looks of it… sealing, dispersal, and rejection.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Stupid brat. This Seal has three components. Sealing means it is sealing something inside. Dispersal means it'sdispersing any energy coming in or out, hence why you couldn't hear anything in the wind about the Shrine. And lastly, rejection… because…

“OW!” Narutp Prime shouted immediately as he held his right arm. Another Naruto, a rather foolish one, tried to touch stone, only to feel a sudden magical burst of energy creep up his hand, painfully telling him to let go.

Because it keeps anything from going inside.

Could have warned me…

Shut it brat. You tried and touched it before you could hear my explanation.

It was a clone!

Which is technically you, so don't get cheeky. Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, the boulder is not the only one there. There are a few more stones surrounding the area, and you'll see each have the same seals, forming a barrier. Whatever is inside the Shrine, some people didn't want it out.

So… we leave it alone then?

Normally, but look around you. The whole depression is throwing the Balance off. The ridges on the ground is unnatural. They are forming a spiral, going deeper and deeper to the Earth.

Naruto Prime blinked and looked around. What Kyuubi said was true. It was like the whole Shrine was…

“Looks like the whole Shrine is burrowing itself deeper and deeper,” Gwendolyn finished the blonde's thoughts for him. “It's trying to disrupt the Seal, and its working. Some of its energy leaked out, and that's what we felt earlier.”

“Will… will it break free? Whatever is in that Shrine…?” Naruto asked.

“Yeah… it will,” the Wind Mana replied. “And judging from how deep the depression is, and how much time has passed… whatever is in there has a powerful magical energy. A Mana maybe. Whether it has been Corrupted or not… that is the question.”

“How long before it escapes?”

“Who knows…” Gwendolyn replied. “But if it truly is a corrupted Mana, once it breaks free… it will look for revenge. I would have if I was sealed.”

Naruto shuddered somewhat, remembering that he had a Mana sealed in him. A bastard fox to be exact.

“But you didn't!” Naruto reasoned. “I mean… I'm the only one you attacked… right?”

“Yeah, but only because I was isolated in an area where humans rarely pass by. This area isn't so isolated though. It's an open area, unlike a cave, and just a few kilometers away, there's a human populace. Blood and carnage, I can foresee.”

Which means, brat, as an Alchemist, you have a responsibility here.

You don't have to tell me.

Of course I have to. If I don't the world might implode.

… the whole world will… wha?

Nothing. You're too dumb to get it.

Hey!

Anyway, since this area has been sealed with the use of alchemy, its logical to conclude that what's inside has been related to alchemy. As an Alchemist, you are partly responsible for what happens here now that you have uncovered this little facet.

You want me to break the Seal?

Break it? Goodness no, are you a moron!? If you break it, whatever is in there breaks free! No… we shall modify the seal, make it so that you can enter, and defeat whatever is inside, may it be corrupted Mana or a bad case of gas…

Bad… case of… gas?

Beans. Baked beans.

You seriously lost me now.

Heh. Still got it.

Still got what? Mental instability?

Heh… my alchemist's little vocabulary is growing. Well, whatever is inside this area, we'll have to stop it.

Am… am I ready?

You have me. And you have that Wind Mana. If you are ever in any real trouble, we'll help. But let's get a few things straight. Before you go in, cards shuffling, spear stabbing, bombs exploding, and all those things you do, you need to get up to speed with Seal arts.

Who's gonna teach me though?

I know of one person. A great powerful Mana. Striking, good-looking, dignified, charitable…

Basically, you?

Yes. I have experience in Alchemic Seals, hence why I never even bothered trying to escape from the detestable cage your heroic Yondaime put me in. Your mother helped with the design of the Seal on your stomach after all. Her best work, looking at it objectively.

Oh… okay then. How long do you think I need to modify this Seal then?

Depends on how competent you are on Seals. Hopefully, before we leave… so do take this seriously. Go back with your team, and train. Forget this Shrine for now. Concentrate only in your training.

Yes.

Naruto Prime and his band of blondes took one last look the shrine, before all of them disappeared, trailing back towards Team Seven, only to wait until the time was right. Unknown to them, inside the sealed shrine area, a pair of green glowing eyes watched him as he left, growling slightly.

To Be Continued

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Author's Notes:

Well, nothing much to say. I'm glad someone liked the bombardment technique of Naruto. I'm thinking of a more advanced version, using Wind to fly instead of using a henged spear. Anyway, I got inFAMOUS, almost two days before official street date, and I had a blast with it. Any PS3 owners who like open-world, superhero, and fun games (take a pick), be sure to get a copy!

Later!

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