Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Uzumaki Naruto Ninja Chronicles: The Beggining ❯ Chapter 4

“… nani?” Sakura's mind just went to an abrupt stop. Think of a meteor, about to strike the earth, but suddenly, it stops about 5 inches from the ground. Yup… that kind of stopping. And no one could really blame her for it, really, because… well, it was too darn shocking.

 

“You heard us, Sakura,” Kakashi said with a small smile, hidden beneath his mask. “I have suggested this to Hokage-sama, and she thinks it would be for the best.”

 

Sakura's mouth was just open like a goldfish out of the water… and not just any goldfish… the goldfish with those big foreheads… yes, there are those types of goldfishes. It might be cruel to compare her to those, but what the hell… I like goldfishes.

 

“You… want me to train as a medic-nin… under Tsunade-sama's wing…?” Sakura asked breathlessly. “For… real?”

 

Tsunade smiled. “I have heard a lot about you from your Kakashi-sensei, and I read the mission reports. Of the three members of Team 7 genins, you best your other two teammates in terms of Chakra control. I believe we can mold you to a fine medic-nin.”

 

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Not only was she complimented on something, but she was being told by Tsunade, one of the legendary sennins that she'd make a fine medic-nin! HA! YES! Inner Sakura thought as she raised her hands in victory. She gave a quick, but respective bow to them. “Thank you!”

 

Kakashi's eyes went upwards, and his hand went to his chin. “And… well, this brings us to the bad news…”

 

Sakura's head stayed low during the bow. Bad news? What bad news? Had something happened to Sasuke?! Was he too injured… and died?! NARUTO! If Sasuke dies, I'm gonna kill you!!!

 

Tsunade seemed grave, and nodded to the statement. “Unfortunately… because of present circumstances… we have to break up Team 7.”

 

Eyes widened… thoughts came down crashing to the ground. For the second time ever since her break in to the Hokage's office, she had to say it. “N… nani? Break up Team 7?” Both adults nodded. “Why?!” she asked, maybe a bit louder than usual.

 

“Incapacity of two members…” Tsunade replied.

 

“In…capacity?” Sakura asked.

 

“Correct,” Kakashi replied. “As you know, Sasuke had tried to abandon the village… fortunately, he was returned by Naruto. But still… his actions put him in grave danger of being branded as a traitor. Worst scenario is that he'd be executed… but I think he can escape that fate with some type of detention…”

 

Sakura winced. She wanted to protest, really, on how her Sasuke-kun wouldn't deserve such fate, and that he was just… well… he just… Sakura sighed mentally in defeat. There was no way to defend Sasuke-kun like that, especially against a jounin and a sannin. It might work on kids at her age… but…

 

Sakura's eyes widened as something hit her. “Uh… wait a minute. You said two members are incapacitated… what happened to Naruto?!”

 

Naruto… the blonde annoying, blue eyed… weirdo. But… as much as Sakura liked working with Sasuke and Sasuke alone, Naruto would probably come right behind Sasuke as one of the few people she'd be willing to work with. So… what was wrong with him now?

 

“Nothing is wrong with Naruto… but…” Tsunade looked towards the window, looking at the outside view. The sun was shining… the birds were chirping. “Naruto… is going away after he recovers.”

 

“… Nani…?” Sakura asked again. “Naruto… is going away? Why?!”

 

“He'll be training with someone for the next three years,” Kakashi putted in. “With a teacher who agrees more or less with him… and share a few characteristics.”

 

“Like…?” Sakura asked, curious.

 

“Loud… obnoxious, annoying,” Tsunade smiled, her thoughts on Jiraiya. “Besides… he taught Naruto some of the things he now knows… and he can teach him a lot more.”

 

By the way… where the hell was Jiraiya?

 

(Bullet by Covenant)

 

- The Uzumaki Naruto Ninja Chronicles -

 

- | Fight! Laharl's Legacy!! | -

 

Jiraiya… Many things can be said about a man… his words… actions… accomplishments… Jiraiya, like many other men out there, has a special name in which Naruto would label him as. Sasuke Uchiha was labeled as the bastard, Shino as the creepy weird bug guy… and the Legendary Toad Sannin was affectionately called Ero-sennin.

 

There are many things in which Naruto didn't know about the perverted hermit… one of them was that he didn't know that it was Ero-sennin who had been the student of The Third Hokage. He also didn't know that Tsunade had turned him down at least 67,986 times when he asked for a date during their lifetime. He also didn't know that his rival, and probably who he considered as a close friend, was the snake sannin himself, Orochimaru.

 

What he did know was that… well, one, Jiraiya was perverted. Two, he had more or less connections to that stupid book Kakashi keeps reading. Three, he taught him the Rasengan, and the Summoning technique. Four, he was a super pervert.

 

The mentioned man was now shaking hand with a man in formal clothes, looking serious. Jiraiya finally did it… even after the war, even after searching for Tsunade, even after looking after the brat, he finally did it. He had finally released his new novel of the Icha Icha Paradise world.

 

One of the main things in which why Jiraiya was loaded was one thing. His books. The books with super erotic content backed up with a super suspenseful story made it the best selling book across the world. Almost 80% of adult ninjas had read his books… and he received quite a few impressive feedbacks as well…

 

There was one which had wanted to congratulate him on the very critical book of the Icha Icha world. The plots, sub-plots, the imagery, the symbols… it was a literate masterpiece… Jiraiya had to scratch his head on that. He never wanted the book to be views like that. He just wrote them out of… well… peeping out naked girls. That's all…

 

Oh, and there was one other letter… the best letter yet. It was a girl, who had specifically told him the Icha Icha series had definitely changed her view and wanted to meet him. She described herself as a sexy young buxom from the Wind country… and she had nice sandy blonde hair and even had her measurements in it, and she wanted to meet up with him ASAP.

 

That was years ago… but Jiraiya still kept the letter. He never sought the girl out though, as much as he wanted to. After all, as much as Tsunade or the brat Naruto viewed him, he was still a professional. Playing ding-a-ling with his fans wouldn't be that professional… but he still kept the image of the girl in his heart and his mind, blowing a kiss in the sky, as a sign of thanks to the girl.

 

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

 

Temari sneezed… and looked around. Her eyes narrowed. Someone had been talking… or thinking about her. She sighed. In front of her was the Icha Icha Paradise Movie sign. Her eyes glared at the picture. With a shout, she jumps, and smashes the whole board with her flying kick, causing wood to crack, and the sign to topple over.

 

She sent out a silent curse. She will find the man who ahd ruined her life with the Icha Icha Series… he must be smart, avoiding her like that… but no worries… she will get there…

 

“My ambition… up until now… is to kill a certain person. I shan't rest… until that is fulfilled.”

 

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

 

In the hospital, Naruto was frozen, looking at the figure. The last time he had seem something so mysterious was that Itachi guy who had those Sharingan eyes out. Mysterious things don't bode well for the boy… Trust me, he had lots of turn ins with mysterious people and situations. The prime example was Kyubi… how in the world can she be friendly to him being in a prison for almost 13 years… and stuck with Laharl, to boot! Both had been in each other's throats for like… forever!

 

“W… who are you?!” Naruto demanded towards the hooded figure. “What are you doing here?!”

 

“Hmph… stop procrastinating, Buds, and stand up. Don't tell me you're that injured that you need to be hospitalized,” the hooded figure snorted. “What happened to you? Got your ass handed to the Norns? And what's with the new body?”

 

The hooded figure looked at him from head to toe, his head was the only thing which moved. His eyes were still hidden from view. “And a short one as well… you're a shrimp now, Budsy…”

 

Naruto steamed. Now that was probably the worst insult anyone gave him. After all, he had been belittled of everything by everyone, but after some time, he began to prove them wrong. They said he was incompetent in the use of chakra… and can't do a simple Bunshin. He proved them wrong by using the Kage Bunshin. They said he could never control his chakra. He proved them, yet again, wrong by doing the Rasengan, which probably is the hardest move to do mainly because of the control needed in the chakra.

 

But his height… that hurt him a lot. He tried lots of things… drinking milk everyday, even settled in adding some few protein pills in his diet… but it seemed that no matter what he did, he couldn't grow at least a few inches. What would he give to be taller than the bastard Sasuke…

 

“DON'T CALL ME SHORT!” Naruto shouted, raising his fist. “And why are you calling me BUDSY?! I'm Naruto! NA-RU-TO! Uzumaki Naruto! The next Hokage!”

 

The hooded figure used at him, and looked at him hard. Naruto was finally able to gasp as he was able to see his eyes… there were no eyes. They were hidden in some kind of shades made of reflective glass. The hooded figure removed his hood, and Naruto was finally able to see the features beneath the covers of the hood.

 

He had maroon hair, with a short tail tied behind him, and two bangs arranged in a… well, weird manner. He never has seen anything like it. His bangs were somewhat long in sides, but the front ones were a bit shorter.

 

The figure moved a bit, letting the backpack fall on his right arm. Naruto tensed, and was about to raise his hands and defend himself any way he can when the stranger threw the bag at him.

 

It smacked his face, mainly because he was distracted by the guy's actions. Then again, if that didn't surprise Naruto, the next statement did. “Heh… looks like things didn't go well for Budsy. Here… Buds would have wanted you to have this.”

 

The figure walked towards the open window in Naruto's room, apparently ignoring the boy now that he had given the bag. Naruto blinked. He was more or less confused at what the fuck was happening. “OI! Who are you?! And who the hell is Budsy?! And who is Buds?!”

 

The stranger turned his head around and looked back at him. In a low drawling and bored tone, he replied simply, “Buds and Budsy are the same… a blind man would have seen that. And Buds is… well, you'd probably know him as Laharl.”

 

Naruto's face suddenly went serious, and his eyes narrowed. “Laharl… nichan?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The stranger looked at him, his mouth forming a somewhat twisted frown.

 

“Brother?” he asked, more to himself than the boy. “Well… whatever. He just asked me to leave this to anyone… eh, forget it. Just read the scrolls and whatever.”

 

With that, the stranger jumped and left the building.

 

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

 

Left alone to his own devices, Naruto could only stare at the bag. His hands were nervously twitching, and shivering. This bag… no, the contents inside the bag were from Laharl-nichan. Was this a trap? Naruto began to think…

 

Contrary to popular belief, Naruto wasn't totally dumb. He was actually a decent strategist, a product of his yearly pranks, which he hasn't been doing in a while. He wanted to prank people again, probably make a prank which would make all other adults there so mad that the chase would last for days.

 

But now… everything seemed to drain him. Somehow… Laharl had a friend take care of him even until the end. With his still shaking hand, Naruto slowly opened the bag again… and closed it at once. What if it had a bomb inside?

 

Naruto shook his head. If the guy wanted to kill him, he'd done so earlier, when he was unconscious. Naruto nodded. Yeah… the stranger was a bit creepy, but he didn't seem to be a bad guy. With that, he opened the bag… and black smoke exploded in his face.

 

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

 

The stranger smirked as he watched as black smoke began to escape the open window where he had exited from earlier. He smirked.

 

“Heh… that definitely wasn't Budsy…” he whispered.

 

“Sir… you're food…” a voice came from behind him. The stranger looked forward, and saw the old man giving him the food he had ordered.

 

“Oh… thanks,” he said, and began to eat.

 

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

 

Naruto swore at the top of his voice as he tried to rub his face. The explosion left him unharmed… but with a very black face. He swore, he swore and swore again, using words that he never used but heard Kyubi say it before. The fox girl could only giggle.

 

“Hahahaha… that's a nice touch to your face!”

 

“Ah, shut up!” Naruto declared, glaring at the open air, quite stupidly, I might add. “When see him again, I'm gonna kick his sorry ass so hard that he's going to be shitting on the moon!”

 

“Get over yourself, Naruto. He seems quite powerful… and knows Laharl. You might get to know more by being friends than trying to do anything drastic.”

 

Naruto just kept cursing silently. The man makes fun of his height, and puts some sort of smoke bomb inside a bag which he had opened and it exploded on his face. He was not in the mood!

 

But… when the smoke cleared, Naruto could only look inside the bag… and was surprised to see 5 medium sized scrolls… and a wrapped up package. The blonde boy sat in an Indian position, pondering what to do next. “Eeny… mini… miney… moe…” he pointed at the scrolls, and the wrapped package with his index finger, stopping to each one with every word. Finally, he's line ended and the finger was pointing at the package.

 

“Yosh! Let's see what's in here!” Naruto smiled his foxy smile… the smile you see usually when someone compliments him or acknowledges him. Then, he frowned. “If it's another trick, I'm so kicking his ass…”

 

Unfolding the wrappings, Naruto's eyes stared as hundreds of scalpels suddenly poured in his bed. It took a second to register what was inside the pouch, and suddenly felt faint. What the hell was going on?!

 

He slowly touched the scalpels in their sides, feeling them. They were cold as steel… and seemed dull, but not rusted. He thought a moment why the scalpels are even there in the first place… after all, they seemed pretty useless… when suddenly, they began to glow in red color.

 

Before the boy could do anything, the scalpels suddenly rushed towards Naruto's hand, and suddenly, the dull blades went sharp as they rushed inside. Naruto gasped in pain as multiple of those sharp objects went inside his skin, and somehow began to settle there. After a few seconds, the scalpels stopped rushing in, and Naruto was left there to stare at his hand wildly, trying to figure out what had happened, how the hell it happened, and how to fix it.

 

He was about to scream for help, to take out the scalpels that seem to be inside him (although he cant feel them beneath his skin) when he suddenly hear his sister calmly saying “Wow… that's like… Laharl's weapon, and move. Hiding scalpels inside him. He does that lots of times… especially against me…”

 

“Eh… he does?” Naruto asked, calming down now, ignoring Kyubi's growling and cursing of the purple haired boy. If Laharl did this technique lots of times, it can't be that bad… can it?

 

“Yeah… stupid baka half-ling… But… I guess this means this are really Laharl's stuff… right?”

 

“No!” Naruto shouted, his face contorted with anger and stubbornness… the one you see when Iruka refused to give him the forehead protector. “It doesn't mean anything! I don't trust that bastard! What if he gave this stuff just to make me trust him… and just suddenly humiliate me like he did with the smoke bomb?!”

 

“Brat… don't tell me you'regoing to turn a simple prank into a full blown vendetta?”

 

“… whats a vendetta?” Naruto asked. Kyubi didn't reply, but Naruto did hear her whisper `baka' and he fumed. “Well, excuse me for my ignorance!”

 

“You ain't ignorant, baka. You're just stupid!”

 

Naruto rolled his eyes, and wanted to retort when he saw the scrolls inside. He pulled them out one by one, each one numbered from one to five. He began to think for a bit. Finally, after five minutes of choosing between one to five, he chose number one. Slowly untying the rope which held the scroll closed, and opened the scroll…

 

“… okay, this is a joke…” Naruto murmured, and fumed. The scroll was blank. Was this the idea of the hooded man as a joke? If so, it wasn't funny. At least his pranks had humor in it… “Of all the stupid…” Naruto continued to complain as he fully opened the scroll. “And not to mention that stupid smoke bomb… hey… what's this…?”

 

Naruto spotted a small inscription at the side of the scroll. “What normal eyes can't see, the Demon Eyes can… what the hell does that mean?”

 

“D… demon eyes?”

 

Naruto perked up, and nodded. “Hai… Ne, ne, Kyubi-nechan… what's that?”

 

“Laharl's… special attack… its got to do with his eyes…”

 

“How does he use it…?” Naruto asked.

 

“He just… I don't know… stares at the eyes of his attacker… and… well… I got no idea…”

 

Naruto laughed mockingly. “Baka, kitsune… you're not so great!” he said in a sneering tone.

 

“HEY, FUCK YOU, YOU SHRIMPY BRAT!!! YOU CAN'T BLAME ME FOR MY IGNORANCE!”

 

Naruto smirked. “Baka… you're not ignorant. You're just stupid.” That shut Kyubi up, as she silently fumed and whispered a lot more curses. Naruto left her to her own world as he began to stare at the scroll.

 

If Demon Eyes were something with the eyes… and Laharl just stares at the person who he is aiming it at, then maybe he should focus on his own eyes. Naruto felt weird for a moment. Just a few days ago, the only places he'd usually focus on were his feet and his hands. But now… his eyes. And nothing seemed to be happening. He sighed.

 

He stared at the scroll again. Focus… focus… he was focusing… any time now… Naruto wanted to tap his feet. After a few minutes, he wanted to stand up and start dancing. Staring at the scroll was extremely boring. He stared… stared… and stared some more. Nothing was working.

 

Naruto was about to shout when everything turned black.

 

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

 

The ex-hooded figure with maroon hair was moving around the village, trying to see what was there. If he knew life, and he really knew it at the back of his hand, things never go to plan. Chaos makes Order run. And life is one big chaos.

 

He had been looking around for a bit and was frankly surprised by the many types of ninjas in the village. There was that pupil-less eyes… then those weird dog-like shinobis… then when he thought he'd seen it all, he saw some little weird kid doing a weird technique which transformed him to a naked lady. He heard the little shrimp shout `Sexy no Jutsu!' and poof! Instant pornography.

 

But this takes the cake. He had been walking towards the forest, and he saw two people, one with silver hair, and the leaf forehead protector covering his left eye, and the other guy… was probably the weirdest person he had ever met. I mean… come on… bowl cut? Thick eyebrows? Green spandex?! Amused, he stayed there, low, as not to be detected, watching them both.

 

“Now, my eternal rival Kakashi!” the green spandex wearing weirdo began. “We shall have the ultimate test in strength!”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kakashi replied nonchalantly, earning him a glare from Gai.

 

“You… with such cool attitude! There is no other person who can compete with you!” Gai exclaimed. “Now! Behold! Whoever can throw your elephant the hardest wins! I'll go first!”

 

The maroon haired figure did a double take. Elephants? In the forest? He stared at the elephants, and noticed that none of them were moving, nor were none of them breathing or even blinking. Replicas… very good ones too. Even they seem to be as heavy as elephants.

 

Gai spun around, and kicked the elephant so hard that it flew in a 25 degree angle before landing a few meters away from its original position. The green spandex wearing… eh… jounin looked at Kakashi with a wide sparkling smile. “Beat that!”

 

Kakashi didn't seem to notice as his nose was hidden beneath a book he was reading. Gai twitched again. Of all the people… Kakashi was the only one who acted this way and got away from it.

 

Kakashi, after a few moments, finally looked up. He saw the elephant where it landed. “Eh… nice distance… my turn?” he asked. Gai only nodded. Kakashi seemed to smile, and suddenly formed a tiger seal with his two hands.

 

Gai's eyes narrowed. What good would a Katon technique do here? After all, Tiger Seals were used as part of Katon techniques, which was Fire Country's elemental move. But suddenly, Kakashi dashed towards the elephant… and… poked it hard in its ass.

 

Gai fell down, and the elephant flew away in a 45 degree agnle… and flew towards the sky.

 

“… is that even plausible?” the maroon haired whispered, disbelieved.

 

Somewhere in the village, it was break time kids looked up, pointing at the flying elephant.

 

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

 

Scanning…

 

Boot File found… reading…

 

No traces of tamper. Extracting necessary data… Done.

 

Welcome to the Matrix. Program 1 running.

 

Naruto suddenly was blinded by a sudden bright light, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust with the light, and when he opened his eyes, he saw someone he never expected to see…

 

“Eh… Kyubi-nechan?” Naruto asked, surprised. The fox girl also seemed surprised, staring at Naruto. “What are you doing here?”

 

“… what am I doing here?!” Kyubi asked with even more intensity.

 

“I don't know…” Naruto stated. “I was just… staring at the paper and everything went… black! And Whoom! White again!”

 

“Yeah, well, you have to find out what the hell happened… as much as like being outside the Cage, not knowing how I got out is more dangerous than knowing how…” Kyubi said in a soft voice.

 

“You're not out of your cage, Kyubi-chan,” a voice suddenly called. Kyubi gasped, and looked at her left. Naruto looked at his right, and saw a person they never thought they'd see again. A certain purple haired boy.

 

“La… Laharl-nichan?!” Naruto gasped.

 

“Yo,” Laharl said with a cheery smile.

 

“But… how…?!” Kyubi lost her words. This was impossible. She had seen him disappear. Naruto's fox tails and ears was the final clue and evidence in pointing out that Laharl had merged with Naruto. But… why is he here?! “Who are you?! You're not Laharl! He merged with Naruto!”

 

“I know,” Laharl calmly nodded. “I was aware that one day, I'd have to… which is why I did a backup of me inside the Cage in case that happened.”

 

“Backup?!” Naruto asked, not understanding.

 

“If you both are here, it means that Aaron gave you the scrolls didn't he?” Laharl asked.

 

“Aaron?” Naruto asked.

 

“You know… maroon haired guy…”

 

“An asshole?” Naruto asked with a sneer.

 

Laharl smiled. “Yup, he can be. Guess you did meet him, eh?”

 

Naruto was about to launch a complaint and curses when Kyubi beat him to the punch, and `interrogated' Laharl. “Oi, don't ignore me you bastard!” Kyubi almost shouted. “Who the fuck are you… and if you're really Laharl, how in the freaking hell are you gonna explain why I'm somewhere other than the cage, and you here, alive?!”

 

Laharl looked at Kyubi with narrow eyes, seemingly serious. “You know more or less that I'm not dead, but inside Naruto… somewhere deep inside him that I'm hidden from you both. I merged with him. I am alive inside him. And besides…” Laharl smiled. “I thought you might like being out of the cage.”

 

“… that still doesn't explain anything, Laharl…” Kyubi said softly, her eyes glaring at Laharl's. “Now. Explain.”

 

Laharl just sighed, and nodded. “Alright. You know the scroll which Naruto's been staring, right?” Kyubi nodded. Naruto was still gaping at Laharl to do anything. “Oi, Naruto! Pay attention!”

 

Naruto snapped up, and nodded seriously. “Hai, Laharl-nichan!”

 

Laharl nodded, and continued. “I knew that my combining with Naruto would erase all my memories, so I built a sort of back-up inside my room of the cage. Don't bother trying to find it, I hid it very well,” Laharl said that part seriously. “Now… my back-up is actually useless without a media, which is why Aaron gave you the scrolls.”

 

“Scrolls…?” Naruto asked.

 

“Yeah, those blank scrolls… I made them in case when my combination with my host goes wrong… and it did go wrong. After all… it was the stupid seal which did the merging for me, and it just handed my powers to Naruto,” Laharl explained.

 

“I'm… getting a headache…” Kyubi said, clearly confused.

 

Laharl sighed. “Okay… here goes. I put something like a back-up of me… who has my personality, knowledge of my moves, and some of my memories. But considering on how I made those back-ups, it's worthless without a special medium, which is the scroll which Aaron gave you. Aaron is a good friend of mines, and I gave those scrolls to him in case something bad happens to me, like now.”

 

“You mean… when I suddenly have your powers?” Naruto asked.

 

“But not my memories, yes,” Laharl said. “My powers are kinda useless… especially to you, Naruto, without extensive knowledge on how to use them. Which is why the scrolls are here to help you. Since this is the first scroll, it's the Intro-Pro Scroll, the beginning scroll. It will teach you about the other scrolls, what they have, and some important information that you should know, and further instructions.”

 

“… something tells me that you're not telling everything,” Kyubi said softly, seriously. Laharl could only laugh and nod.

 

“Eh, eh, don't worry,” Laharl whispered. “All answers come in your time. After all, it is the meaning of life.”

 

“… eh?” Naruto asked. Laharl just grinned, and shrugged.

 

“Nevermind. Anyways, lets get this show on the road,” Laharl said. “This is scroll one, basically, where I explain some stuff to you. You want moves and techniques, go for scroll 2, 3 and 4. The fifth scroll is the “Free” scroll, where any questions you want, most can be answered in that scroll. It is also the training scroll.

 

“As you know, I have combined with Naruto. With that, I gave all my powers to him, which includes some… soul curses that I carried…”

 

“Soul curses?” Naruto asked.

 

“Yes. Red slitted eyes… the purple hair… you might not get to have purple hair like mines, but you will see it, even if it's only a bit,” Laharl paused, seemingly thinking what next to say. “You'll also have my abilities, like the scalpel formation and scalpel hiding.”

 

“Naruto experienced that… the hiding I mean,” Kyubi nodded. “Some… don't know… tens of scalpels suddenly went inside him.”

 

“Ah… my secret stash of 5 Grade scalpels. Great for training and getting used to the weapon,” Laharl nodded. “But… I won't teach you how to use them… well, not yet. That's for scroll 2. Now… there are other things… like… well… have any of you heard of the Lust Blood?”

 

Naruto heard someone fall off, and looked towards Kyubi who was now on the ground, staring intently at Laharl. He was about to ask what was wrong with her when she just stood up, grabbed Laharl by the collar of his shirt, and stared at him, her nose just a centimeter away from his, and she spoke in quite a loud voice…

 

“Tell me you don't have that… tell me you just didn't give Naruto the Lust Blood?!” she began to say, twitching.

 

Laharl just raised his hands, sweating a bit. “Hey, hey, it was a part of my soul curse… I can't just not give it to Naruto, you know. I wish I wouldn't give it to him but… hey, come on, Kyubi-chan, let go of me…”

 

“You should have stayed alive… when you just upped and died, you began to make Naruto suffer…” Kyubi raised her fist. “and not only that, but you not only died, but you also infected him with Lust Blood?! You FUCKING INSANE?!” Her hands now had claws in it. She seemed ready to swipe his face off.

 

“Ano sa… ano sa… what's the Lust Blood thingy?” Naruto asked, his right hand raising. It sounded bad… and it seems to be even worse, especially with Kyubi just threatening Laharl like that. “Is… it bad?”

 

Kyubi, still glaring at Laharl, answered. “Imagine this. A demon killer would have blood lust, which makes him enjoy the smell, feeling, taste and sight of blood… that's why he'd keep killing and killing, just to get his satisfaction in blood.”

 

Naruto's eyes widened. “I'm… gonna turn like that?!”

 

“No… you don't have blood lust. You got Lust Blood, which means you're going to be a fucking sex maniac…” Kyubi glared at Laharl evilly, grinning like she wanted to slice him up to little pieces. “You're skin would be very sensitive, making you aroused easily. You can also smell sexual stimulation of the opposite sex more easily, and you wont just get enough of sex… Especially during the Red Moon… where you just transform into a stupid sex monster…”

 

“Okay… that's bad…” Naruto stated a bit calmly. He looked at Kyubi and Laharl, and suddenly began laughing. Kyubi blinked, and Laharl smirked a bit.

 

“Oi… BRAT! What are you laughing about?!” Kyubi demanded.

 

“Hahahaha… you're joking right? Hahaha. Me, turn to someone like that closet perv, or Ero-sennin, or even Kakashi-sensei… ne? ne?” Naruto asked, smiling. Kyubi wasn't smiling back, and Laharl looked… apologetic… “Uh… guys?” Naruto asked.

 

“Sorry, Naruto-kun, its no joke,” Laharl said, he's head bowed. “You might turn to that… but I made sure that wasn't going to happen, so…”

 

Kyubi glared back at Laharl. “Oh? How?! HOW?!” she shouted the last part.

 

“Look, Lust Blood will take time to form, probably in two years,” Laharl said, now looking at Kyubi with serious eyes. “So, don't worry about it now! And even if he did gets the Lust Blood, I already took countermeasures to hold the lust back.”

 

“… counter…measure? Ne, what's that?” Naruto asked.

 

“I knew that I couldn't have Lust Blood Curse, so… I… um, I contacted an old friend of mines,” Laharl scratched the back of his head, remembering the new Overlord Etna. “She was able to bypass the constant lust attacks by placing another curse on me… the Red Moon Child Curse…”

 

Kyubi stared at Laharl, like he was joking. “You're… joking… right? Right?!”

 

“… um, guys… what's this Red Moon Child thing?” Naruto asked, truly lost at the conversation.

 

Kyubi didn't look at Naruto anymore as she explained again. Her eyes were burning with so much rage toward Laharl. “Red Moon Child Curse… in every Full Human Moon, in the demon's eyes, its red. As the name says, every Red Moon, or Full Moon, the person with this curse turns the user into a child. A very young child. This… stupid fool, not only cursed you with the Lust Blood, but also with the Red Moon Child Curse!”

 

“… Laharl-nechan… why?” Naruto asked, looking at Laharl, a bit hurt and sad. What did he do to deserve two curses at him?

 

“Look, Naruto,” Laharl looked at the boy. “It was the only way in which you don't go to a hormonal tidal wave, and begin humping on every female in site. My friend was able to make all the abnormal lust concentrate fully on the red moon, but on the Red Moon, you are turned to a child, whose not affected by lust or anything. Worst that could happen is that you'd get over affectionate…”

 

Kyubi was twitching. She was not hearing this… “You were better off alive. Or better, not be trapped inside Naruto! You know what you have DONE?!”

 

“Hey, Lust Blood was not my idea, okay?!” Laharl shouted angrily. “It was given to me by some bitch who thought it would be fun to turn my blood to Aphrodite! The only way I could have resisted that was to turn back to a child when the Red Moon comes in!” Laharl then suddenly paused, putting a finger in his chin. “Which reminds me… Naruto,” he looked at the boy. “Whatever you do when the Lust Blood has settled… try not to bleed, okay?”

 

“Eh… why?” Naruto asked.

 

Laharl was about to speak once more when he shrugged, and grinned. “Ask me that when you bleed the first time after getting the Lust Blood, okay?” Laharl replied, smiling rather evilly. Naruto swallowed. Kyubi just rolled her eyes.

 

“Like hell I'm going to let that happen,” she glared at Laharl. “You got any other stupid curses you infected on our little brother?!”

 

Laharl just laughed. “Nope… not that I know off…”

 

“Baka,” was all Kyubi said. She let go off Laharl and moved beside Naruto, and put her arms across her chest, waiting for Laharl to continue talking. The boy smiled, and read her mind.

 

“Alright… where were we…? Oh yeah,” Laharl put up three fingers. “I must tell you three important aspects of before you can move further down the scroll numbers. One, practice everything I will teach you on the outside world. As you can guess, we are just really inside your mind, Naruto.”

 

“… we are…?” Naruto asked, surprised. Kyubi just groaned. Laharl just smirked.

 

“Yeah, we are. Now, two, don't waste mental energy in trying to use three scrolls at once,” Laharl said. “Your Demon Eyes is still just developing. You'd probably use at least only twice a day, in low levels. You can train that using the scroll number 2, as it explains the aspect of Demon Eyes and the scalpel usage. That's your basic weaponry and power, okay?”

 

Naruto nodded, understanding a bit. Laharl continued.

 

“Alright. Scroll 3 teaches you the Hiten Mitsurugi Style, a powerful sword fighting style which will prove to be your saving grace especially against almost impossible battles,” Laharl smiled, remembering the ougi (succession technique) of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. “Fourth will be Arnis Ryu, my secondary style, using two batons. Perfect in close combat and against fighting multiple enemies. The Fifth Scroll is the Free Scroll. Anything goes there, so use that scroll lots of times to learn something new, taught by the very special… me!”

 

Kyubi just snorted. “Oh yeah, you're really Laharl alright.”

 

Laharl just jumped, and made a sad mock face. “Oh… is that what you think of me, Kyubi-chan? I'm hurt!”

 

“Ah, shut up, half-ling,” Kyubi snorted, turning her head away from him, annoyed.

 

Laharl just smiled, and continued… “Three… because of our combination, not only will you have my powers, but also my heritage. As you can see, you're part human, part fox…”

 

Kyubi cut in. “Yeah, we know. Its obvious the way the fox ears and fox tail are there,” she said, pointing at Naruto's extra appendages. The boy could only blush. He still wasn't used to that… having a tail.

 

“Good… I also have another heritage, but I'll delve on that when you reach the second scroll,” Laharl said, smiling. “Now… your fox heritage is not only in the spirit level, but also in the physical level. Basically, it means your body should have fox ears and tail as well…”

 

Naruto's eyes widened. “B… but… that cant be good! I mean… I'd… be the laughing stock of everyone! Fox ears and fox tail?! And not to mention the village's hatred towards Kyubi-nichan!!!”

 

Laharl nodded, smiling calmly. “I know, Naruto-kun, which is why I wanted to tell you something. The Demon Eyes will cover that up. You see, the Demon Eyes is a really special power that doesn't just focus primarily on staring at your enemies eyes. In weak power usages, it can trick people in not seeing things there are to see. No one, even with Sharingan or Byakugen can see because its hidden from their mind. Understand?”

 

Naruto shook his head. Everything was so confusing. Laharl just sighed, and nodded.

 

“Alright… Demon Eyes will trick the mind, not the eye, and will tell the people around them that there are no fox ears or fox tail. That notion will be stuck in their heads until either the Demon Eyes falters because you've either run out of energy, or killed,” Laharl explained. “Even if they use special eyes like the Sharingan, they can't exactly see them because they still think that you don't have those ears. It's a…”

 

“Complete Mind Bend…” Kyubi completed it for Laharl. “Very… fascinating. It's definitely the handiwork of the Demon Eyes… the Brain Hacking Optics.”

 

Naruto just scratched his head. “Um… can you explain it one more time?” Kyubi twitched.

 

“YOU'RE REALLY STUPID! BAKA!”

 

“DON'T CALL ME BAKA, STUPID!” Naruto shouted back.

 

“What can't you understand?!” Kyubi glared at Naruto. This was getting tiresome. “Demon Eyes tricks the mind deeply that the people will think nothing is wrong! To them, you got no fox ears or fox tail, but to you, you can clearly see them! What's so hard about that?!”

 

Naruto blinked… and suddenly nodded. “Oooooh… so that's how!”

 

Kyubi twitched. “He's a baka… I am stuck in a Baka's body… a ramen loving baka…”

 

Laharl waved his hand. “Eh, eh, he's got it, right? No more to argue.”

 

Naruto just grinned. Laharl looked at him, smiled for a second, then looked at him seriously.

 

“Naruto.”

 

“Um… hai?” Naruto asked.

 

“You're about to wake up… so I only got two instructions for you,” Laharl said in a serious tone. “Study the second scroll at once. Use your Demon Eyes. You may just take pass the third and fourth scroll, but not the second one, as it is your basic foundation. If you don't know how to use your new powers, you either land in two places. Six feet under because you can't use your powers, or accidentally killing a kid because you couldn't control your powers. Got it?”

 

“Hai…” Naruto nodded, serious. “But… Laharl-nichan, how do I use the Demon Eyes? I just felt like… staring at something… and it just feels weird.”

 

Laharl smiled. “Yeah, its going to take a while to make you use the eyes like a natural. Here is a tip. Find a spot on what you are staring, and keep staring, concentrating on that spot, and it will happen.”

 

“Oh, oh! Kinda like the Rasengan?” Naruto asked, smiling at his smartness.

 

“Yeah, the second step of the move, like that. Yup,” Laharl nodded. “Just do that, and the Eyes will respond. Now… secondly… Naruto… as much as possible, try to remove your mask.”

 

Kyubi's fox ears perked up on that. Naruto's as well, and his face suddenly went from smiling to utter seriousness, something quite uncommon for people who knew Naruto. The boy who always had a smile, always grinning.

 

Probably the only person who knew the face Naruto had now was Iruka, who seen the same face when Naruto had defended him against the traitorous Academy Teacher, Mizuki sensei. The face filled with dead seriousness not even Sasuke could do. It was a face rarely shown… it was also the true face of Uzumaki Naruto.

 

“Laharl-nichan…” Naruto said in a low tone. “Why do you tell me to do that…?”

 

“I never might have a chance to tell you… I don't know. I don't have the necessary data to `remember' but know this…” Laharl closed his eyes. “If you keep that mask on, you're going to keep those emotions bottled up. And one day… it will explode… and with my powers…” he opened his eyes… “You will destroy things… kill people… so… show how you truly feel more often. I'm not telling you to act like Sasuke, but… don't smile when you don't want to.”

 

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

 

To the outside, everything was as is. Only in the mind of Naruto Uzumaki, did everything seemed to change. His eyes opened, blinking, adjusting to the sun. If anyone would have been there, they'd notice that his eyes were red, and turned blue again. He didn't have the usual smile in his face. He looked at the scroll that was opened before him, and smiled slowly.

 

He rolled the scroll, closing it. He took out the second scroll, and focused on it. This is going to take a while.

 

To Be Continued

 

Next: Naruto learns more… and battles out the person who brought him the scrolls. Changes everywhere! Sasuke wakes up! Jiraiya plans on taking Naruto in a training trip! All this, next!

 

Author's Note: Its… kinda slow. ^_^;; But it'll get faster later on. Thanks to all reviewers! See ya next chapter!