Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Chances Missed ❯ Graduation & the First Stage Two Seal ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Sorry guys, but this is going to be a really long A/N because I haven't updated in a while for very serious reasons. Apologies, but there are a few things I want to cover. Apologies also to those who asked me to translate stuff and I didn't. The only downside to this `uber' translator of mine is that it regularly dies on me for about a week at a time. The translator is now back up and I will translate the things you asked me for now. As a hint from now on, please give me the context of each word you want translated. Unlike with English, Japanese uses different variations of the word in different contexts.

 

Rather Important Note: I've created a topic on the NarutoFan forums devoted to my fics. It's not so much a plug as just a way of informing you guys if something like this happens again or just a topic to generally chat with you guys. Anyways, reading the first post of the topic will make sense about exactly what it's for. The link to the topic is in my profile under the links section.

 

I'm disturbed about something… I've always known that the majority of Fan Fiction consists of Yaoi in some form or another. I decided to brush the surface just to see how much of it really was. Out of 1523 pages of fics in the Naruto section, 83 of those alone are fics with the main pairing of NaruxSasu under the romance filter. 19 are an `Uchihacest' or SasuxItac. 10 or so of them were an Orochimaru x another male pairing. 6 were a NaruxGaar. 4 were NaruxNeji. Are you getting the point? It's disgusting, not to mention that even a large portion of `het' fics practically or implicitly imply that Orochimaru used Sasuke as a play toy or some other Yaoi pairing as a minor one. I really don't want to go through the rest of the Yaoi pairings just to prove the point. Even NaruxHina only has 29 pages of romance fics… I can take a guess that the `Yaoi' pairing stories are in the `minority', but a large portion of the `het' fics will allude to Yaoi or Yuri at some point, and leave a small portion of true het fics. Not that I have anything against Homosexuals, but like I said before, I have an extreme problem with the majority of males from all sources of fiction being implied as gay when there is zero probability it would happen in canon.

 

I just thought of something else. Since Naruto is now with the Sound, a hell of a lot of things are going to change. Inari is always going to be a drama queen, Gaara will always be a psychotic maniac, the majority of your favourite characters will die, the Suna/Oto invasion will be reduced to the Oto invasion because they have their own Jinchuriki, only Jiroubou would have lost his battle with one of the Konoha Nins and Konoha would be far more messed up than it was in canon after the invasion. Tsunade would never have become Hokage and Orochimaru would have had his hands healed. In short, this story is going to be very different from canon. Oto is going to rule the world all because of Naruto and unless I have Naruto defect back to Konoha now, there's nothing I can do about it.

 

I'm also aware that you don't think they could say those kinds of thing at four years old. However, how many of you could claim to use the kind of intelligence they had at 12 when you were even 17? I doubt any of you could, so it's not stretching the imagination that far at all. Kids at my school were making jokes involving toilet humour and implied smut from the day they entered preschool, so 4 really isn't pushing it.

 

I've know Naruto is going downhill for quite a while now. Now, I have proof positive. What is it? They're recycling characters. In the latest Anime filler, the old carpenter/shinobi's land lady was Sasuke's aunt. Yes, right down to her voice. They even replaced the opening and closing themes with cuts from the third movie, and although I only got a brief second to look, one of the enemy shinobi is that fat Snow Nin from the first movie. Same eyes, same body weight. Don't know about his voice though.

 

Disclaimer: I am so not going to say what I said last chapter here again…

 

Legend:

 

'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...'

 

'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...'

 

“...Human or Lesser Summon Talking...”

 

“...Demon or Summon Boss Talking...”

 

“...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU...”

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&a mp;&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&&& amp;&

 

Chances Missed:

 

Chapter Two:

 

Graduation and the First Stage Two Seal:

 

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At the End of the Month:

 

At the end of that month, they were given a practical assessment by several instructors. The first test was a Taijutsu test. Each of the five had to land a single hit on a Jounin while he was attacking them. Cursed Seals were allowed. The instructor looked up at Jiroubou.

 

“You're first, Jiroubou.”

 

Jiroubou got up and stepped in front of the others, taking his stance. The Jounin told him to go when ready. Jiroubou charged forward and the Jounin disappeared, reappearing behind him and giving him a palm to the back of the head before reappearing behind him once he'd turned around to see what had hit him. Jiroubou wasn't exactly the fastest one of the group, as he relied on power more than anything. Jiroubou sighed and activated his cursed seal, gaining slightly more speed and a lot more power. Jiroubou punched the ground in front of him and sent chakra through the ground towards the Jounin that resulted in a wall of spikes heading directly for him. He jumped out of the way as the earthen spikes impaled the air he was in less than a second ago, only to find Jiroubou next to him. The man was shocked and unable to react due to the fact he was still in midair when Jiroubou gave him a punch to the gut, making the Jounin double over. Jiroubou's seal returned to normal and the Jounin coughed as he tried to regain his breath. He nodded at Jiroubou.

 

“That's fine.”

 

Jiroubou nodded and walked back to the others. The Jounin shook his head in disbelief. If a kid that age could land a punch like that with only the first level, he'd hate to see him when he released level two. He straightened and motioned them forward, one by one. Each of them noticed that the Jounin was going hard on them until they released their seals, at which point he seemed to slacken slightly. Almost as if the aim of this assessment was not to test their abilities, but their seals. After they passed their Taijutsu test, they were subjected to a Nin and Genjutsu test. After they finished the last one, the Jounin nodded and handed them a purple rope sash each. They looked at it with disdain. They'd seen Orochimaru wearing one, as well as that white haired freak called Kimimaro, but all of them agreed it looked incredibly tacky. Tayuya looked at the Jounin.

 

“What the hell is this?”

 

The Jounin sweat dropped.

 

“It's a sash-“

 

“I know that you piece of shit, but the hell you're going to see me wearing this.”

 

They heard a chucking at the door and turned to see Orochimaru standing in the doorway, cast in shadow. He walked in; smiling at them as he held his hands out in front like a mother would to her children when she diffused a situation.

 

“Don't say that, Tayuya-Chan. It's a sign that you're one of Otos' elite.”

 

Tayuya huffed and Naruto looked at Orochimaru.

 

“Orochimaru-Sama, couldn't we wear something less… Boring?”

 

The others smirked, excluding the Jounin who sweat dropped while Orochimaru chuckled.

 

“My my, that was rather blunt, Naruto-Kun… I had planned on giving you each something special when I came, but it seems that you don't want-“

 

Orochimaru didn't get to finish his sentence as the others sweat dropped. Naruto had put the sash on three quarters of the way through the sentence and was looking eagerly at Orochimaru. Tayuya whacked him over the head with her Genjutsu flute she had acquired recently.

 

“You're an idiot.”

 

Naruto smiled at her while the others followed suit and put their sashes on, much to Orochimaru's pleasure. He turned back around, smiling widely.

 

“Seems you do want to be one of Oto's elites after all. Very well, come with me. I will allow you access to my library of Jutsus. You may choose two each.”

 

They followed Orochimaru eagerly towards a very well protected room that contained the library of jutsu scrolls. Orochimaru smiled at them.

 

“The last room is off limits. However, you may choose from the rest.”

 

The children smiled widely as they looked at the rows and rows of scrolls. There had to be thousands of Jutsus here. Most of them went straight passed the lower level jutsus and straight to the A and S ranked jutsus. Orochimaru smiled.

 

`So predictable…'

 

Naruto stopped at the rack of Kinjutsu and browsed the contents. Tayuya called out to them.

 

“Hey, Octopus. I think there's one here that would suit you.”

 

Kidoumaru looked up from the rows of scrolls he was looking at and copped the scroll in the face. Naruto smirked as Kidoumaru looked at the scroll and his eyes lit up.

 

“Spider Summons?”

 

Kidoumaru smiled. Tayuya was right. This did suit him. He pocketed the scroll and went looking for his last one. The others went back to searching for theirs. Naruto saw one of interest. He opened it, read the description and smiled. He took it and walked over to Tayuya.

 

“Hey, Tayuya, this one would suit you.”

 

Tayuya looked at the scroll and then booted Naruto into a rack of scrolls.

 

“What the hell do you mean, `this would suit me'? Idiot!”

 

Naruto got up clutching his head.

 

“Read it.”

 

Tayuya opened the scroll and began smiling. It was a demon summoning contract that required sound to control the demons. Naruto looked on the ground to see a rather interesting scroll. Bending down, he picked it up.

 

“Rasengan?”

 

The others looked at him as he opened the scroll and began reading it. A swirling mass of chakra capable of blowing someone through several walls and ripping their abdomen to pieces as well? He was definitely going to take this one. By the end, everyone had two jutsus except Naruto, who still had one. There wasn't anything he thought would actually suit him. The others were looking at him in an annoyed fashion.

 

“Oi, fox boy, what the hell's taking so long?”

 

“I can't find another good one…”

 

The five of them standing at the door sweat dropped. Out of the 4000 or so Jutsus here, he couldn't find two `good ones'? Orochimaru smiled as he stepped inside, thinking up a rather devious idea.

 

“Naruto-Kun, I may have a special one that you might like…”

 

Naruto followed Orochimaru to the back section and opened the door. Inside were jutsus like `Edo Tensei' `Cursed Seal' and other highly forbidden jutsus. Orochimaru stopped in front of one and pulled it off the rack.

 

“Hiraishin no Jutsu?”

 

Orochimaru smiled.

 

“Indeed. It was a jutsu exclusive to Yondaime; however, I managed to… Borrow the scroll and one of the implements used to perform it.”

 

It wouldn't be too hard to explain having the Yellow Flash reborn. He had performed experiments with Shodaime's cells that he had gained through Edo Tensei in an attempt to clone him. He'd recently heard of a Tokubetsu Jounin in Konoha who could use Mokuton Jutsus. Orochimaru had a suspicion that one of his many subjects survived while the others died from their own DNA rejecting the foreign DNA of the Shodaime. Naruto took the scroll and the three tipped kunai. Naruto smiled at his Sensei and leader.

 

“Thanks, Orochimaru-Sama!”

 

Orochimaru smiled at Naruto.

 

“No problems, Naruto-Kun.”

 

Orochimaru led Naruto out of the room and resealed the door behind them. He began thinking over the implications of giving Naruto these two Jutsus. If he played his cards right, he may be able to get the entire populace of Konoha to bend to his will simply by getting Naruto a slight change in clothing and speak a few choice words to them. Oh yes, life was indeed good. He chuckled at the thoughts, restraining from full blown maniacal laughter as they walked out of the jutsu room. Orochimaru turned and smiled at them.

 

“From now on, you five will be my personal body guards. I have rather large plans for all of you, especially you, Naruto-Kun.”

 

Everyone looked at Naruto who raised both eyebrows in shock.

 

“Me, Orochimaru-Sama?”

 

Orochimaru smiled as the thoughts of exactly what Naruto was going to be doing to the populace of Konoha in just over half a decade's time.

 

“Yes, Naruto-Kun. You will see what I have in mind for you soon enough.”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“Hai, Orochimaru-Sama.”

 

However, `soon enough' was open to interpretation. Soon enough for someone who could technically live forever may be in the next decade, while soon enough for someone who might not live to be twenty could mean in the next few days, it was all based on personal opinion and experience. Orochimaru broke out of his musings and looked at his newly assembled Sound Five.

 

“However, now that you are my personal body guards, you will not be training in regular Nin, Gen, Tai or even Kinjutsu. You will be training mainly in Fuuinjutsu and variations of Fuuinjutsu.”

 

They nodded, eager to learn. Orochimaru smiled at this eagerness.

 

`Such trusting pawns…'

 

In the end, all that mattered was that they were nothing but human shields in all senses of the word. Completely willing human shields.

 

“Most of the time, you will be training directly underneath me. The jutsus you have chosen will require more chakra than even you can use in your current states with the seals active.”

 

They nodded and listened, taking in every word of their leader and in some cases, idol. Jiroubou spoke up, voicing the thoughts on all of their minds.

 

“Orochimaru-Sama, if we can't use them with our cursed seals active, how will we get enough chakra to ever use them?”

 

Orochimaru smiled as he chuckled lightly.

 

“Perhaps you should have chosen some easier jutsus… But there may be a way…”

 

Orochimaru let the possibility hang in the air. The children were taking it hook line and sinker.

 

“How, Orochimaru-Sama?”

 

Orochimaru smiled. Now to make sure that it was a physical impossibility for them to betray him even if they wanted to.

 

“The cursed seal has a second stage.”

 

Naruto gave Orochimaru a blank look.

 

“Second stage?”

 

Orochimaru's smile widened. This was easier than taking candy from a baby.

 

“A second stage that grants you far more power than the first, power that will let you use those jutsus as long as the second stage is active.”

 

“How do we get this second stage, Orochimaru-Sama?”

He turned to Sakon who had asked the question. He had a feeling that the question would have come from him, considering he was always trying to prove he was the strongest of the five.

 

“Sakon-Kun, if you use the first stage of the seal enough, it will eventually awaken. There is a much quicker method, however, you will not survive it until your friends have become able to use Fuuinjutsu well.”

 

“What do our friends have to do with it?”

 

Orochimaru glanced casually at Tayuya.

 

“This method will require you to commit suicide.”

 

That got their attention as Orochimaru pulled out a small glass bottle filled with black pills, shaking it much like a test tube in front of them. Needless to say, none of them were in any hurry to kill themselves if their facial expressions were anything to go by. Orochimaru put the bottle away when Naruto called out.

 

“Wait.”

 

Everyone looked at him in shock. Naruto had a calculated expression on his face. He thought about the options. He'd survived a particularly nasty brawl with an Oto Jounin who had broken his back by lodging a kunai into his upper spine after a rather… Intense argument that resulted in the man becoming a live sacrifice to Manda. Within several days, Naruto had fully recovered. According to Orochimaru, the Kyuubi had healed him, saying that he may even be able to possibly regenerate lost limbs in the most extreme circumstances. Orochimaru smiled at Naruto.

 

“Is there something you want, Naruto-Kun?”

 

Naruto looked at his leader and role model in pure determination.

 

“How does the pill `kill' you?”

 

Orochimaru smiled as he pulled the bottle back out.

 

“Much like a deadly poison would. It will destroy your body's cells.”

 

Naruto smiled. Destroyed cells were nothing. If a kunai through the chest could heal in a matter of seconds once it was removed, this should be nothing to worry about.

 

“I'll take the pill.”

 

The other four practically died from shock. Tayuya punched him over the head several times.

 

“You complete idiot! You heard what Orochimaru-Sama said! You take it you die! What the hell are you thinking?”

 

Naruto smiled as he got up, no fear or uncertainty in his voice.

 

“I can regenerate damage to my body quickly. You've seen what happens.”

 

All of them tried to take turns convincing him to stop, but he didn't pay any attention. He was going on the fact that Kyuubi would heal him. He didn't doubt it would be draining for even the Kyuubi, but it was worth a shot. Orochimaru smiled as he walked up to him, popping the lid off the bottle.

 

“Are you sure about this, Naruto-Kun? Even as a Jinchuriki, you may not survive.”

 

Naruto shook his head.

 

“I don't care. I'll prove I can do it.”

 

Orochimaru sighed as he pulled out a single pill. If he did survive this, not only would he gain level two cursed seal, and be completely under his control, he might even be able to spread rumours about having an invincible warrior who could survive any injury. Indeed, Naruto would become a major piece in his plans. Not a pawn, more of a Rook. Orochimaru handed the pill to Naruto who looked at carefully. Tayuya may not say it directly, but Naruto was definitely the only person she could relate to. Having pasts where they were scorned and called `demons' by everyone around them, he was able to understand her and she him. If anything, she almost dared to call him a friend. She looked at him with nothing but pure concern in her eyes.

 

“Naruto, if you god damn eat that pill, I'll kill you!”

 

Everyone looked at her in surprise and interest. Sakon smirked.

 

“Since when did you start calling Naruto by his real name?”

 

She shot him a withering glare and a small amount of killer intent which Orochimaru had insisted they had all learn young.

 

“Shut it you two headed freak.”

 

Kidoumaru smiled widely.

 

“Just admit it, you'll fell better.”

 

Tayuya launched at him and began having a scuffle. Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to listen to this again and knew if he waiting until they finished, they would physically stop him from eating the pill. He threw the pill into his mouth and swallowed it. Only Orochimaru had noticed this and smiled. Naruto's eyes widened as he fell to his knees and clutched his stomach and began moaning, effectively stopping everyone from either fighting or watching the fighting. He felt like his stomach was trying to rip itself apart, and the sensation spread out from there to cover his entire body. Tayuya got off Kidoumaru and ran to Naruto's side, putting an arm on his shoulder.

 

“You idiot, Naruto! If you die, I'm going to summon you back from hell and kill you myself! IDIOT!”

 

Naruto smiled weakly at her as another spasm of pain went through his body.

 

“I'll be fine… Believe it… Tayuya-Chan…”

 

With that Naruto howled out in pain and dropped to the floor, unconscious. If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto was on the floor dying, the others would have laughed at the suffix Naruto had attached to her name and never let either of them live it down. However, the fact that their friend was now on the verge of death and there was nothing they could do about it was far more concerning. Kabuto chose that time to come around the corner and sighed as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

 

“What's with all this noise?”

 

Kabuto then saw Naruto on the floor and his eyes narrowed he ran over to the boy and checked his vitals. They were faint and erratic and getting worse by the second. Orochimaru smiled at his right hand man.

 

“Kabuto, take Naruto to the infirmary and watch him closely.”

 

Kabuto nodded and picked Naruto up.

 

“Hai, Orochimaru-Sama.”

 

The others looked at Naruto's limp form in pure fear while Orochimaru walked away, very interested in the results of this.

 

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Two Days Later:

 

The other four of the Sound Five had been worried. Very worried. No word on Naruto's condition had been heard by anyone. After the second day of Naruto's `death', they were in their rooms, lost in their own thoughts when a feeling of pure bloodlust, insanity and an urge to kill like no other washed over them. They froze as the walls and ceiling started crumbling under the intense chakra infused emotions. After a few seconds, it stopped. All of them ran out of their rooms to see what had happened, seeing Oto Nins running everywhere in a panic. Obviously, they hadn't been wrong about that feeling. Jiroubou looked at Naruto's door, or more specifically, underneath it.

 

“What's with the mist?”

 

They looked where Jiroubou was indicating and saw a pitch black mist oozing out from under Naruto's door. Tayuya, being the closest to his door ran and ripped it open only to be covered in the black mist. She chocked and spluttered as the arid mist invaded her mouth and burnt her throat. Once it cleared, she saw Naruto standing on what might have been the remains of his bed. However, Naruto had partially released the first level of the cursed seal to cover the bottom part of his face. His eyes were the most startling change however. The whites were now pitch black and his irises were blood red, his pupils slitted. He was looking at her with a confident smirk on his face.

 

“Believe it.”

 

Tayuya hid her own emotions of joy and worry for her friend by charging at him and smashing him over the head with her fist.

 

“You prize idiot! What the-“

 

Tayuya stopped there and noticed something. Naruto hadn't even moved a muscle when she's smashed him over the head. He looked at her with nothing more than mock annoyance on his face.

 

“Really now, Tayuya-Chan, is that anyone to treat a friend who's come back from the dead?”

 

Naruto had also noticed the others at the door. He took his eyes off Tayuya for a moment and looked at them, a slight smile touching his lips.

 

“Hey guys. Hope you didn't miss me too much.”

 

Naruto grimaced in pain as his flame tattoos reactivated and retreated to the seal on his navel. The others saw his eyes returning to the normal vibrant blue on white. He returned looked over each of them and broke into a wide smile.

 

“You guys seriously have to get to level two.”

 

All of them smiled and walked in, happy that their friend was alive. Jiroubou put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

 

“You had us all worried, Naruto.”

 

Naruto chuckled.

 

“I won't die. I can't die. Not until I achieve my dream.”

 

Naruto looked over Jiroubou's shoulder from his raised position on the bed to see Orochimaru standing there.

 

“And what would that dream be, Naruto-Kun?”

 

Naruto smiled with a heavy dose of sadism.

 

“To help you kill those bastards in Konoha and watch it burn to the ground for what they did to me, Orochimaru-Sama.”

 

Orochimaru couldn't be more pleased. Orochimaru had long ago found out that removing free will from a living being was physically impossible; however, animated corpses had no free will. After a while, Orochimaru combined his research to create some sort of power amplification seal with his removal of free will and ended up with the cursed seal. The more the seal was used, the more it killed the barer. The line was not clear cut to anyone but Orochimaru as to when the person `died'. Yes, their heart kept beating, they continued breathing and had all of the other regular functions of a human, but they were not really living passed a certain point. And that point was when the seal achieved the second level. Somehow, the Kyuubi had interfered in the process, gaining the second level without actually dieing, meaning all of the power and free will as well. However, Orochimaru could tell that Naruto was not lying to him. Being surrounded by people who would betray him at the first opportunity they got meant it was essential to be able to read one's true intentions at all times, and Naruto was not lying in the slightest.

 

“Excellent, Naruto-Kun. I have yet to see the appearance of a stage two seal…”

 

Naruto smiled. So he was the first person to ever achieve stage two. He focused on activating the first level and then began to engage the second level. To the others, it seemed as if the black flames lit up again, but instead of retreating, they grew in size and turned his entire body black before softening into a sickly brown colour. Naruto's blonde spikes turned jet black and grew in length to turn into a mane of sunlight absorbing hair. His finger and toe nails lengthened as did his canines. The triple slashes on his cheeks widened and darkened. The most shocking initial change of all was that Naruto's ears turned into elongated appendages covered in his hair that belonged to the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Naruto opened his eyes to reveal his whites were black and his irises were red. Naruto groaned in pain as they heard the sound of morphing flesh and bone. They heard a ripping noise as a tail of the same colour as his skin shot out behind him. The others stumbled back, not just because of the physical changes but because they were literally forced back by the black chakra he was giving off in copious amounts. Naruto continued to groan as tail after tail continued to sprout from his tailbone. Finally, the ninth tail appeared and Naruto growled, releasing a massive spike of killer intent that even slightly affected Orochimaru. Orochimaru recovered and smiled at his `creation'. He really should get his hands on more Jinchurikis and give them cursed seals. This was the epitome of his research. Orochimaru smiled and approached Naruto who grinned ferally at him.

 

“I must say, Naruto-Kun, you do look quite frightening.”

 

Naruto shuddered as a particularly violent spasm of pain went through his body. Unable to hold the form anymore without severe repercussions, Naruto released it and returned to normal. Orochimaru grinned widely. If Naruto was even able to survive the sped up corruption caused by the seal, let alone activate it for even a single minute at this age, this was a good indication that Naruto would become very powerful in the not too distant future. Naruto gasped for breath before he fell over unconscious from the strain. The others rushed to his side to see if he was ok while Orochimaru beamed at his `subject'.

 

“It's to be expected. It was highly unlikely that Naruto-Kun would have even survived the pill's effects, let alone be able to activate his second level so soon…”

 

The others looked at him in astonishment.

 

“Then why did you give it to him, Orochimaru-Sama?”

 

Orochimaru smiled and chuckled softly.

 

“To see if he was his father's child…”

 

That drew blank looks from the four other conscious people in the room as Orochimaru gave them a sigh and turned to leave.

 

“I had my suspicions that Naruto-Kun was of royal lineage in Konoha…”

 

Kidoumaru, being the brains of the group got whiff of what Orochimaru was hinting at and his eyes practically popped out of his head when he put two and two together from his history lessons and that single sentence.

 

“No… No way…”

 

Everyone turned to Kidoumaru as he was trembling. Tayuya was getting pissed off, as she usually did.

 

“If you know what he's talking about, then fill us in idiot!”

 

Kidoumaru looked back at Naruto and confirmed his suspicions.

 

“Machigainai… Naruto's the son of the Yondaime Hokage…”

 

The other three froze as this sunk in while Orochimaru smiled widely at Kidoumaru in that creepy fashion he was so famous for.

 

“You were always the perceptive one, Kidoumaru-Kun…”

 

Jiroubou frowned at Orochimaru.

 

“Orochimaru-Sama, if he's the son of the Yondaime Hokage… Why did the people of his village hate him?”

 

Orochimaru sighed as he looked at Naruto in mock sympathy.

 

“Yondaime used his only son as the Kyuubi's vessel, but the fools of Konoha convinced themselves that he was the reincarnation of the Kyuubi, not a human…”

 

The others looked more shocked than should be possible. Naruto had saved them against his will and they treated him like that? This was a lot to take in. Tayuya smirked.

 

“I am so going to kill those shit heads. Demon my ass.”

 

The others smirked at her. Sakon grinned in an almost accusing fashion at her.

 

“You're really getting close to him, aren't you?”

 

To their surprise, Tayuya didn't deny it with a tirade of verbal abuse like normal. In fact, she was seething, much to the shock of others. She had said that as much for herself as for Naruto.

 

“That's not it you two headed freak. I hate all people who call others demons, even if it's not me. You better believe when I get my hands on them, I'll castrate them, the pieces of shit.”

 

The boys in the room winced. That was harsh and they felt a momentary pang of sympathy for any male who her anger was directed at. Orochimaru took that moment to leave. Turning around and taking several steps, he called over his shoulder.

 

“I'm expecting a lot from you five. Do not disappoint me.”

 

The four that were still conscious nodded and watched Orochimaru meld into the shadows of the dimly lit hallway, leaving them to their own devices. Little known to them, Naruto was not having a dreamless `sleep'. Or not in all senses of the word. He was currently standing in front of a very familiar cage with a slip of paper holding it shut that simply said `seal'. However, what was currently of interest to the blond was not the cage, but what it imprisoned. Naruto smirked at the nine tailed fox spirit.

 

“Bet you liked that, baka Kitsune.”

 

The Kitsune was far too exhausted to bite back with a witty reply. He'd been to hell and back just to make sure his jailor had survived the dreaded pill he was given.

 

“When I get out of here, I will particularly enjoy killing you and those pathetic apes you call `friends'.”

 

Naruto smiled at the fox. Naruto had quickly found out when he had started visiting the damn oversized fur ball that if he died, so did it. Naruto had worked out that the fox, if not all demons in general, valued their life above all else. So, as payment for making his early life a living hell, he enjoyed finding ways to severely injure himself. Even trapped in the cage, knowing he would die eventually, the fox still tried to live the last few decades of his unnatural life, no matter the cost. The fox couldn't believe he was bowing to the whims of a mortal, and the son of the ape who put him in this predicament no less. It was demeaning, to say the least. However, what the filthy ape of a container said next caught him off guard.

 

“Teach me something cool.”

 

The fox may be old by mortal standards, but its' mind showed no signs of aging, perhaps apart from the fact that he had not expected this of all things he might say.

 

“What did you say, brat?”

 

“You heard me you overgrown ball of fur. Teach me something cool.”

 

The king of the demons started a small chuckle. The chuckle turned into giggles which in turn became full blown laughter. Ever heard a hundred metre tall fox laughing at you from the distance of less than 25 metres? In one word, it was deafening. Naruto gritted and put up with the noise as the Kyuubi slowly stopped and looked at boy.

 

“Even by human standards, you're exceedingly dense.”

 

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

 

“And what makes you say that, oh great lord of all knowledge?”

 

The sarcasm dripping off the sentence was impossible to miss.

 

“The fact that you think I'm going to teach you anything.”

 

Naruto smiled. This was his mindscape. He could do anything here. He materialised a kunai and brought it to his own neck, much to the dismay of the Kyuubi.

 

“How many times are we going to do this? Teach me something cool, or else.”

 

To illustrate his point, Naruto touched the kunai tip to his neck and just for show, grossly exaggerated the trickle of blood to make a geyser of blood spray out from his neck.

 

“Oh, the agony…”

 

The Kyuubi sweat dropped. This boy was really unusual. In public, he was completely different than in his mind. He had his own theories that all humans were like this but did not expect the differences between his public and private personalities to be so… Blatant. He'd never encountered a human like him. Not in his 10,000 or so years of existence. Then again, he'd never gotten to know a human this well. Still, he decided to indulge the strange boy, if only to prevent him from any more of these… episodes.

 

“Listen up, gaki. Regardless of the fact that you want me to teach you something, which I would assume would be one of the things you humans refer to as `jutsus', there comes a point when jutsus become nothing but concentrated blasts of chakra. There is no need for giving them names.”

 

Naruto looked at the spirit of the Kitsune with a deadpanned expression.

 

“That's… Boring…”

 

The Kyuubi looked at the boy, mirroring the deadpanned expression. What was it with these god damn humans and having to name everything? A blast of chakra is a blast of chakra, no matter its' shape, size, power or appearance.

 

“You really are dense…”

 

Naruto looked up at the Kitsune. One of the other changes he'd been shocked to find after taking the pill and visiting the Kitsune was that his fur was no longer red. He was completely black. It probably had something to do with the fact that three rather large pulsating purple pipes had appeared and were leading from the network of pipes in the roof directly inside the Kitsune's cage. It would definitely explain why his chakra when activating the cursed seal was black instead of red. Naruto immediately thought of something that could prove useful.

 

“Is there a Kitsune Summoning Contract?”

 

The king of demons raised an eyebrow, or the fur covered skin above the eye in his case.

 

“Demon Summoning Contracts are not a simple as regular ones.”

 

Naruto slapped his forehead. Demons had to be difficult, didn't they?

 

“Let me guess. One can only sign the contract if they undergo some sort of trial right?”

 

The Kitsune nodded slightly.

 

“Like all demons, they will only listen to those who are stronger than they and only if they are constantly held in check. Unless you feel like taking over my position as king of demons full time and force the temporary Kitsune leader into submission and make sure they stay there, don't even bother, brat.”

 

Naruto did not particularly feel like pulling out nine tails worth of chakra just to earn the right to sign a contract that he would never be able to use because of the fact he would be dead before the fight ended. Orochimaru wouldn't let him sign the snake contract and he couldn't get his hands on any other type. So in short, no summoned minions for him. It would be interesting to have a black nine tailed Kitsune smashing things to pieces under his command. From what he'd heard, Jinchurikis were able to take on their tenant's appearances in not only form but height and power as well. The one downside was that this was really only feasible for the first 3 tailed beasts. Any more than that and they would end up killing themselves and releasing their tenants before they attained their `true' form. The best he could come up with was a rather large scale Henge no Jutsu when he was in the second stage of the cursed seal. Once he was old enough to be able to withstand four tails of power, he should be able to level a rather large portion of Konoha in a single blast of chakra. Not to mention he should be pretty much invincible, if what his tenant had said was true. Only problem was, it would be so much power that blood would literally be ripped from his pores and even if he survived, his lifespan would be shortened. Nothing in this world was truly free… Naruto shook himself from the train of thought and looked back up at the Kitsune who was looking at him with a bland expression on his face.

 

“Get out of here. I've had enough of you.”

 

Naruto smirked as he returned back to the realm of the living. When he came to, he saw that his room looked like an exploding tag had hit it. Naruto sweat dropped.

 

`I'm really going to have to stop releasing my seal inside the compound…'

 

Naruto looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 5 am. He'd been out for a while… Naruto heard a sigh from his doorway and looked up to see Kabuto standing there, surveying the blast zone that was formally Naruto's room with a look that expressed mild amusement as well as slight annoyance.

 

“Naruto-Kun, I wish you would stop doing this. This is the second time I've had to have your room repaired.”

 

Naruto looked somewhat sheepish. As long as you were in Kabuto's good books, he wasn't that bad a guy. He tended to have a dry sense of humour and was fairly easy going. New members of the Oto ninja sometimes made the mistake of calling him a lazy bum or some such. Occasionally, Kabuto would let it slide, but the particular Oto Nin usually disappeared fairly quickly, leaving no traces of his existence behind. When Kabuto did deal with it at the time, he would be smiling at them before they started hacking up blood and died a rather painful death. Less experienced ninjas didn't even see him move, while the upper Chuunin and Jounins saw that he used a chakra scalpel to do some rather serious damage in under a second. People quickly stopped pestering him or insulting him unless they had a death wish. Snapping back to the present, Naruto looked around the room and then back at Kabuto.

 

“If Orochimaru-Sama's reaction was anything to go by, it's a small price to pay.”

 

Kabuto nodded slightly in agreement.

 

“I don't think anyone in Oto didn't feel that chakra, Naruto-Kun. As for now, take a spare room down the hall until I can have this fixed.”

 

Naruto nodded and smiled slightly at Kabuto.

 

“Arigato, Kabuto-San.”

 

Kabuto sighed and waved Naruto off. Truthfully, Orochimaru, Kabuto and Naruto all had a somewhat unusual relationship. All of them were Konoha Nukenins who shared a loathing for the damn village and its' people. Naruto looked up to Kabuto as somewhat of a mentor and older brother. Although Kabuto had seen Naruto initially as nothing more than a tool that should be used to serve it's purpose, after a while he'd seen that Naruto was more than just a pawn and shared a lot of Kabuto's own personal beliefs. Also, Naruto's attitude just seemed to have an effect on people. Most of the time, the ninjas of Oto were either scared of slipping up lest they incur the wrath of one of their superiors or they just didn't care, as long as they were paid. The closest term that could apply to Naruto was a mixture between moral booster, comic relief and leader. He didn't kill people because they stepped out of line. Instead, he just activated the first level of the cursed seal and smiled ferally at them, usually with a rather sadistic comment thrown in to boot before retuning to normal and smiling sweetly at them. The response he got was surprisingly similar to what Mitarashi Anko got in Konoha from what Kabuto saw during his spy missions. Naruto walked down the hall way to the next available room, leaving Kabuto and several Oto Nins to clean up the mess.

 

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&a mp;&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&a mp;&&&

 

A/N: Well, I'm glad I finally got that out of the way. Anyways, if you want to chat to me, check out the link in my profile to the topic I created on the NarutoFan Forums. It's pretty much just a way I can keep in touch with you guys and tell all of you if something's come up or whatnot. I'll catch you round!

 

Ja na,

 

Specula.