Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Trinity Chronicles: Rewind ❯ Chapter 3

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

By: Omega X

The Uzumaki Brothers and the Kyubi's Lair

Naruto looked towards the numerous gate guards with a glare. Their looming size, arms crossed around their chest blocked him and his brothers from exiting the hidden village.

“Steady men… steady…” Buds muttered as he looked at the line formation… formation of Naruto clones, each armed with different weapons.

In the middle of the hidden village of Fire Country, Konoha was under war-like situation. The streets were abandoned, all villagers staying in their homes… ninjas, ranging from Chunin to Jounin ranks were waiting beside the gates, looking on as a massive orange army was holding its position on the town square. The blonde hair from such an amassing group of forces reflected the sun as it passed overhead…

Laharl looked towards the high grounds, the ceilings of one particular building, to see Naruto looking beyond their position, towards the gates. He then looked towards Buds who was inspecting the army, keeping morale, and calm.

Suddenly, the warning horn sounded.

“General Laharl, a Konoha ninja is coming in!” a worried sounding Naruto clone declared from another ceiling. “He's carrying a neutral flag!”

“Probably a negotiator,” Laharl muttered.

Naruto jumped towards the ground, joining his squinty-eyed brother, while at the same time, Buds also joined in. The three then walked forward, meeting the incoming shinobi.

--------------------------

Asuma Sarutobi sighed as he waved the flag while wondering what the hell was going on. He had been preparing his final test with the genin team he was going to be assigned with when this pops out of nowhere.

It started at yesterday at 1200 hours, where there was a certain incident involving Uzumakis wanting to go out of the village. According to the rules of Konoha, unless they were given permission, or under a watchful eye of a guardian, no genin or young civilians were allowed to go explore out on their own.

Most of the jounin heard the incident, as Naruto Uzumaki, the Prankster, seemed to make a scene out of it, insulting the guards, and threatened to castrate them with a rusted kunai, while Laharl, the Trickster, told them they were about to experience what it felt like to be a Prinny.

Whatever that meant.

Of course, the guards looked on the puny twelve year olds with faint interest, and just rejected their passage. However, that wasn't the end of it. At 1300 hours of that day, the two Uzumaki troublemakers went towards the Hokage, who asked him free passage. Asked why they want to leave the village, Naruto declared…

“I have to do something important.”

When asked what was that important thing, he just replied…

“Something really important.”

Hokage, shaking his head, rejected their offer, and made them leave his office. Now… next day, at 0600 hours, a massive group of Narutos marching towards the town square surprised the whole village into hiding. Most wondered what was going on, pondering what scheme did those demon brats have now. The younger ones, the ones in Naruto's class, though, were more or less sleeping at their homes, enjoying their vacation before Orientation Day.

The Hokage, hearing the army inside the village, quickly amassed a large amount of guards to safeguard the gates, and now, back to the present, this is where everyone was standing. Asuma was sent as a negotiator, asked to convince the Uzumaki brothers to stop this… silliness.

Naruto, front and center, wore his orange jumpsuit, and odd facial camouflage… his face was painted white and accentuated with red stripes going around his face towards his nose, the very same design he used in his picture for the Ninja Registration Form.

Laharl was on his left, wearing what Asuma could only describe as a nice looking piece of leather armor, accented in purple colors, and with a red scarf.

Buds was on the right, wearing a hakama, loosened somewhat on the sleeves, his wooden sword hanging from his waist; his hair tied at the back, forming a small pigtail. He looked like some samurai.

The two parties looked at each other, greeting each other with a slight nod.

“Uzumakis,” Asuma began slowly, wondering what to say next. “Hokage-sama is asking you withdraw. He doesn't want to make an incident out of this… just get back to your apartment, and just wait until your orientation and form the three-man team. Then you can go out as you need…”

“Jounin-san,” Naruto declared suddenly, cutting the older man off. “I am General Naruto. I demand safe passage to the outside. Do as I say, and I shall spare your men. If not… all of you will die.”

Asuma blinked.

“Uh…” he muttered a bit, trying to find his voice. “You do know that disobeying the Hokage will have its consequences, right?”

“Heh,” Laharl muttered, then suddenly laughed. “Hokage? You are talking to an Overlord! What puny human would have authority over me!?”

Asuma shook his head. Seemed it was pointless to talk to them… he was about to turn and go when he heard the third Uzumaki suddenly speak to him.

“Before you go, you must tell the representative of your guards that before he can accept our terms, he must come forth and present himself to our army,” Buds muttered. “He will then bend his head to his knees… and kiss his own ass.”

Asuma's eyes narrowed, and a wrought smile was brought on his face. He performed a seal with his hand, and disappeared on wisp of smoke, leaving the three Uzumaki brothers to walk back towards their army of clones.

--------------------------

Ebisu, the appointed leader of the gate guardian force welcomed Asuma as he came back from negotiations.

“Well… how did it go?” the special jounin asked the other.

“Well… the Uzumakis say give up, and he'll spare us,” Asuma related. “If you don't… he'll kill us.”

The ninjas around then chuckled loudly and appreciatively. How would three genins think of trying to get past them? Sure, they were using Kage Bunshin, but even then, those were relatively useless as they would die after getting hit once.

“Idiots…” Ebisu growled. He was still sore about Naruto using the Harem no Jutsu against him yesterday after he had found his care, Konohomaru, the Third Hokage's grandson, in the demon boy's company.

“They also said that once we decide to give up… you, Ebisu, would have to walk in front of their army, put your head between your legs, and kiss your own ass.”

Ebisu growled. Those bastards!

--------------------------

Back at Naruto's camp, the self-named Generals, Naruto, Laharl, and Buds got to their positions, and watched as the group of ninjas in front of them seemed to tense up. They could imagine in there, Ebisu, who they saw was leading the whole group, steaming and cursing.

“UZUMAKIS!” Naruto shouted, calling attention towards the clones, who gave him their full attention. “I see in all of you, the very same fear that would take the heart of me… some of you will live… most, and probably all of you will die…

“But know this!” he continued passionately. “There will be an age where the courage of men fail, but it is not this day! There will also be a time where ramen will be terrible, its broth losing its flavor and its noodles losing its texture… but it is not this day! Today will be the day, where your children, and your children's children will look back, and they will not see cowards who tucked tail and run, but men, of valor!”

“Of HONOR!” Buds declared as well, raising his wooden sword.

“And of Strength!” Naruto nodded as he continued. “They may take our lives… but… they'll never take… OUR FREEDOM!”

“HOO! HOO! HOO! HOO!”

The village was shaking as the army of Narutos began to psyche themselves out, stomping their right foot down in synchrony.

“Keep your eyes on the prize, boys,” Laharl declared, grabbing out a few daggers. “Tonight… we will dine… IN HELL!”

All of them shouted, and all at once, charged in, running, shouting towards the gates. In front, the three Uzumaki brothers, led the thousand clone army against the might of the more experienced, and better skilled ninjas.

All of them fought like warriors. All of them fought like Uzumakis.

--------------------------

Laharl was breathing deeply, his hand shaking as he had lost grip of one of his daggers. Behind him were Naruto, who was still standing strong, while Buds keeled, being supported by his wooden sword.

“Bastards…” he muttered as he spat on the ground.

The jounins and chunins that surrounded them looked with rather grim smiles. All of them were dirty, somewhat beaten, and tired. They had to use almost all of their energy just to stop what seemed like endless numbers of Narutos who just came charging in without hesitation. The numbers were almost too overwhelming, even though dispatched easily… and all that was left was the three `Generals'.

“Hehe… this is tough,” Naruto muttered, his hand going for his kunai. He looked towards his other brother, struggling to get up. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” Buds muttered as he stood up. He raised his sword to his level, and looked towards the ninjas surrounding them. “How are you two?”

“Fine…” Laharl answered.

“Doing better than expected,” Naruto replied as well. “Heh… heh… Laharl… Buds… it's been an honor to meet you.”

The two nodded… and once again, without pause, charged towards their enemies. Ebisu looked from the frontlines, watched as Naruto charged towards his unit, and signaled all of them to prepare kunais to throw. They weren't ordered to kill the Uzumakis, but they were ordered to stop them in any means possible.

“FIRE!” he barked the order, and the jounins and chunins suddenly threw their kunais.

Laharl shouted as he was the one that was hit first, on the arm, and to everyone's surprise, he exploded into a puff of smoke. Naruto was hit next, and also disappeared to a puff of smoke. Buds, who somehow managed to deflect most of the kunais with his wooden sword was the last one to get hit… and the last one to blow in a puff of smoke, leaving everyone around the area confused to what was going on.

--------------------------

Naruto suddenly looked up blankly, clutching his head. He moaned slightly as the memories of the Thousand Uzumakis battled against the Jounins. The last of all of the clones finally fell.

Laharl and Buds looked back at him, wondering why he suddenly stopped moving.

“Ugh... never doing that again,” the blonde muttered as his brain suddenly began to experience thousands of deaths in almost an instant.

“Never do again, what?” Buds asked.

“Nothing,” Naruto smiled nervously, and caught up with the two. “Just... uh... excited! Yup! We can finally see Kyubi-nesan's home!”

Trinity Master, who is Naruto, Laharl and Buds sharing one core body had never came to be if it wasn't for one most significant person in Naruto's life. During his early years, as written in the Uzumaki Naruto Ninja Chronicles, there were two beings who had supported the blonde ninja during his growth... Buds, his brother, and the other was Kyubi, who he lovingly called sister.

Those who are wondering where Laharl was... well... it's complicated.

Naruto was excited when he found out about this place because of one thing... he had never seen his Fox sister for a very long time. The moment the Trinity Master was finally born, Kyubi had moved on out of the cage, giving Naruto only a tearful goodbye.

She never appeared again.

The blonde ninja had fervently been hopeful for the first five years of the Rewind to see his sister once again. However, no matter how much he meditated, no matter how deep he tried to delve in his mind and soul, all he could see inside him was a cage, where inside, was three spheres of light spinning round and round.

He wasn't the only one though. Buds also claimed that he could see the very same cage and three spheres as well, though his moved into a triangle. Laharl claimed that his was just bouncing around the cage, and sometimes exploding like fireworks, only to reform and bounce away.

What would they find in Kyubi's lair? The anticipation was building as the three continued on their journey, one jump at a time.

“You sure ol' man Hokage agreed we could go out?” Buds asked suddenly.

Naruto and Laharl looked at each other worriedly.

“Of course!” Naruto lied convincingly.

“He was quite agreeable about it too,” Laharl stated.

Yes, if telling the two, point-blank, that he had no time to waste with silly requests was agreeable, then sure.

Buds was never told of the whole `Army of Uzumaki' ploy because he would never have agreed to it. He would have either asked the two brothers to think of something else, or would just tell them to wait until they got into their teams.

Naruto wouldn't hear of it.

Probably the hardest part was trying to get out with Buds still doubtful that they were given permission. Thanks to the army at town square gunning for the main South Gate, almost all the guards and ninjas assigned to stop the army have, under Ebisu's leadership, grouped most of them together to stop anyone from getting through there. Because of that, the East Gate was free from any roaming guards, save from one Chunin who was fed earlier with a drug that induced loose bowel movement.

What greeted the three Uzumakis in the East Gate were wide-open spaces, where they hurried out to Konoha, and towards Kyubi's Lair.

According to the map, it was two days travel, though those calculations were geared towards civilians, or escorts with wagons. Naruto knew that he and his two brothers would have made the trip there and back in a less than a day, or at most, a full one if they take consideration the time they'd use to explore the lair.

They had been following a road, going East of Konoha, but as the approached the area where the map indicated, it slowly dwindled until all that was left was forestry. Thankfully, there were no hostiles, and so it was smooth sailing until they finally arrived into...

“Kyubi's Lair...” Naruto stated in awe as he stopped to take a look at it.

It was a rather large cave at the base of a mountain, sealed off with a rope in the entrance, tied with papers written in Blood Seals. Naruto looked towards his brothers, who were still in amazement of what they saw.

“I forgot how... big... she actually was...” Buds muttered.

Buds had seen her mostly in her human form, as he originally, sealed and trapped inside Naruto, alone with the Kyubi. Their first encounter wasn't that great... she tried to bash his head in only to realize it was futile as he never really got hurt. His last memory of her was when he overpowered the seal, took over Naruto's body, and beat the crap out of Sasuke, who had been, at that time, escaping to get to Orochimaru. (1)

“Well...?” Laharl muttered, looking annoyed. “We going or what?”

“Uh... well...” Naruto looked carefully at the Blood Seals. It seemed like a simple sealing technique, but neither really specializing on that branch of ninjutsu, he had no idea what else it was supposed to do. “I have no idea what Seals were used here for... other than sealing... but sealing against what?”

“Trespassers, maybe?” Laharl asked, only to suddenly be punted from behind, pushing him towards the entrance, and his legs tripping over the rope.

Naruto chuckled appreciatively when he saw his brother's extended foot. “Nice,” he declared.

“Well, he was in a hurry,” Buds replied back with his own grin, only to find two sandals kicking his face, sending him to a tree.

Laharl had a somewhat evil grin as he landed to the ground from his attack. Buds himself looked somewhat shaken, but relatively unharmed.

“Ow... ow... ow... damnit! That was overboard!” Buds shouted.

“What's the matter? Little Tenshin can't take a hit?” Laharl mocked with a laugh.

“I'm gonna kick your ass you little...”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Naruto came between them. “This isn't the time!”

“Tch,” Buds muttered, still seething that Laharl had called him in that name. “Well... at least we know we can enter and exit without problem...”

“Yeah,” Laharl growled. He supposed that Buds did them a favor when he kicked him over the entrance, confirming that they could indeed enter and exit through the blood seals. It didn't make him feel better that he was used as a guinea pig. Overlords are never used as guinea pigs!

“Alright... now that it's over... lets go!” Naruto declared loudly and the three Uzumakis nodded, and entered the entrance of the cave, not spotting a sign that was earlier hidden in the shrubbery. When the wind kicked in, it read:

Warning! Do not Enter!

--------------------------

The whole place was pitch black, and if it wasn't for Buds, who had made the three brothers prepare at least something that would help them explore anything in the ruins. He packed three bags containing some chakra torches (which one end would ignite with a small fire when given enough chakra), rations, rope, numerous small glass spheres and even a compass.

Naruto, as much as he appreciated his brother's boy-scout like tendency, was wondering why Buds then began to tell him to wear a wide brimmed fedora hat, and hold on to a ten-foot bullwhip. While the hat was comfortable enough, and the bullwhip wouldn't be much of a hassle, but he still wondered what the heck his brother was thinking.

He also began to hum a rather odd but catchy tune during the entire trip, grating a few nerves. It wasn't until Laharl demanded what the hell he was humming did Buds look at them like they were a bunch of idiots.

“You guys never seen Indiana Jones?” he asked. When they shook their heads, Buds could only sigh. “I don't know you two anymore.”

Everything was dropped as the three Uzumakis then began their exploration of the dark labyrinth of the cave. Even with their extra light source, darkness seemed to enclose around them, and each area was very much similar to the next.

It was as if they were not even moving at all.

Thankfully, the glass spheres came useful as they dropped them, and was going to be used as a guide to lead them back to the exit, especially when the path suddenly began to curl around like a snake.

When there were forks on the road, Naruto would send his Kage Bunshins to other paths, while the Uzumaki brothers would continue on their quest to explore the lair. Sometimes, they would meet Naruto's clones, surprised that the paths interconnected somehow.

“Maybe the paths are just an illusion... and all goes to one place?” Laharl suggested.

“No... some of my clones had landed on dead-ends,” Naruto tapped his head. “Told them to kill themselves if they reached one.”

“Nice thinking,” Buds stated appreciatively.

“Do we do the same if we, ourselves, get to a dead end?” Laharl asked with a small sneer.

“Don't jinx it, please...” Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes.

Buds chuckled, but stopped when he saw what was up ahead... and groaned. “Too late... he jinxed it.”

Naruto groaned himself as the three brothers found them selves at a dead-end. He shone the light at the surroundings, trying to see if they missed a small passage or a way up in their paths, but no luck. All they had was a wall of rock, and, strangely, a pink teddy bear.

“Heh... cute,” Naruto declared as he approached the stuffed toy. “Kinda odd to find something like this here, in Kyubi's lair.”

“Wouldn't be surprised if by some odd taste that this doll was Kyubi's until she grew out of it,” Laharl smirked.

The image of the foxy and well endowed Kyubi in her human form, now shrunken, flat-chested, wearing a sunny smile as she carried a stuffed teddy bear made Naruto and Buds laugh out so loud that Laharl looked surprised at the reaction.

“Hahahahaha! Kyubi's Bear!” Buds declared.

“Oh, she'd kill us if she knew we were laughing!” Naruto stated, also laughing hard.

“You think Kyubi was ever that... young?”

The two snorted once again, breaking to laughter, much to Laharl's annoyance.

“What? Let me in on the joke already,” he demanded.

The two may or may not have filled the ex-Overlord in, but a creepy feeling had crept into the area. The three Uzumakis became alert as they heard a somewhat creepy giggle echoing around the cavern.

Then… a female voice called from the dark.

“Have you come to play with me?”

Alert, nervous, and surprised, the Uzumaki brothers suddenly formed a small triangle, their backs facing each other, touching, forming a triangular defensive position.

“Who's there!?” Naruto demanded, his mind going somewhat blank. He couldn't feel anyone's presence here. From what he could tell, Buds and Laharl was also trying to feel their way around, trying to detect where the voice was coming from.

There was another giggle.

“Don't be afraid...”

“Where are you!?” Laharl demanded.

“Here...”

Naruto, Laharl, and Buds' eyes went wide, as the whisper came right behind them. They looked over their shoulder... between their formation, there was a transparent girl with long purple hair looking at them.

She giggled.

They screamed.

--------------------------

In the labyrinth, the darkness of the cave walls were illuminated when the three Uzumaki brothers ran like chickens about to lose their heads, their mouths gaped open, screaming. Following them was a pink teddy bear, seemingly walking towards them with rather surprising speed.

“Ghosts!” Naruto declared after he gave out his final scream.

“Yeah, we know, Mr. Obvious!” Buds declared with impatience, trying to keep up with the other two. “Now just shut up and run!”

Laharl stayed quiet, obviously very embarrassed to be in this predicament. Normally, he wouldn't be afraid of such weak immaterial beings. Back then, the Trinity Master would just use their fists or their scalpels to take care of such... weaklings. But they were now humans; no demonic blood in their veins, no spiritually charged scalpels, no anything.

Laharl looked behind him and his face went straight as he saw the teddy bear now running at them. His legs then began moving faster than they ever did before, leaving the other two brothers to look at him from behind.

“Come baaack...”

Buds and Nartuo ran faster, catching up with their overtaking brother soon enough, more panicky than ever.

“Damnit, you two!” Laharl exclaimed. “Can't you guys think of anything!?”

“You're the great Overlord! You tell us!” Naruto countered.

“Well, if you haven't noticed... I'm in a stinking human body!” Laharl declared back. “There must be some jutsu you know that can harm some ghost!”

“No need...” Buds suddenly declared. The two looked at him as the calm brother slowed his pace until he completely stopped to his tracks, and turned his back on his brothers and faced where the bear was.

“Buds...?” Naruto asked, confused, and was about to go to him when he shoved his hands, motioning them to stop approaching him.

“Naruto, Laharl... go,” Buds muttered in a serious tone. “I'll try to stop her... go!”

Question of his plans were squashed when Laharl grabbed Naruto's hand and forced the blonde Uzumaki to run. Protests fell on the ex-Overlord's deaf ears.

“Laharl! Let me go!” the blonde glowered. He tried to pry his hand away from the squinty-eyed Uzumaki, but to no avail. His grip was amazingly strong.

“Shut it...” Laharl muttered seriously. “Do you want his sacrifice to be in vain?”

That quieted Naruto. He looked somewhat abashed, realizing what Laharl meant. How stupid was he? The squinty-eyed Uzumaki probably felt as bad as he was right now, leaving Buds behind. After all, they had spent some considerable time together. No matter how Laharl acted with disregard against the other two, deep down...

“You wouldn't catch me dead by some stupid ghost...” Laharl muttered. “Thank Buds' stupidity and his `noble'-ness to do something stupid like self-sacrifice...”

Naruto looked at the purple-headed Uzumaki with a withered glare.

“You're an asshole,” he growled.

--------------------------

Buds didn't pause as he felt his brothers run, and grabbed his bag, and grabbed out the water canteen. He then made the sign of the cross, and began to mumble a prayer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the pink teddy bear coming at him. He finished his prayer with a strong grunt, and straightened, and opened the canteen.

“STOP! I HAVE THE ALMIGHTY AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE HIM!” he shouted towards the bear, which slowed its pace.

“Hah! Got you there, didn't I? Impure spirit... taste the holy wrath of the gods!” he shouted, throwing the whole content towards the bear.

The water splashed the bear, stopping it on its tracks. For a wild moment, Buds looked in surprise, wondering if he had indeed blessed the water, and purified the ghost, only to stumble back when he heard a rather frightful angry scream emanating from the bear.

“GYAAH! You meanie! You wet Kuma-chan!”

Buds found his eyes widening as big as platters as the bear suddenly grew five times bigger its original size, its hands were now sporting some very large and very sharp-looking claws that made the Uzumaki turn tail, and run faster than he ever did.

“WAIT UP!” he shouted, hoping to call on his brothers. That was the last time he'll play hero! Or even try to think he could bless drinking water!

--------------------------

Far away from Buds was the other two Uzumaki, Naruto and Laharl, who had heard their brother scream.

“What was that?” Naruto asked.

“It's his blood-curling scream... his final moments...” Laharl looked up. “Rest in peace.”

“Don't kill him too early!” Naruto screamed exasperatedly.

“Face facts, Naruto... heroes die first!” Laharl declared, and then pointed a finger to himself. “Unlike me, a badass Overlord, you won't see me dying in this stup...”

He didn't get to finish as his left foot landed on... nothing. Laharl's arms flayed as his eyes widened when he realized that they had run into a pitfall and if it wasn't for Naruto's impeccable timing, who grabbed the ex-Overlord by the collar of his dark purple jacket, he'd have fallen into the abyss.

“Yes... badass overlord dying by falling into a pit-fall...” Naruto muttered, his lips forming a wry smile as he dug his legs and bent his knees to drag the squinty-eyed Uzumaki back to solid ground.

“Shut up!” Laharl declared, though the blonde knew that he was embarrassed about the situation. “Pull me over! I'm tipping!”

“Yeah... sure...” Naruto grunted as he struggled pulling his brother back. “You need to lose some weight.”

“Idiot! You're just weak!”

“This isn't the time to for your pride, Overlord brat,” the blonde threatened. “Its time for you to kiss my ass.”

Whether Laharl was about to reply to that was not heard as the shouting of Buds came nearer and nearer. The two looked behind them, wondering what was going on, only to see their brother running blindly at them.

“Whoa... whoa... WHOA!” Naruto shouted the last part as Buds just slammed into him so hard, the three fell off the cliff.

“Buds... you stupid MORON!” Laharl shouted before he joined his other two brothers in the scream-fest.

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Naruto didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he found himself staring at the slightly lit cavern ceiling as he opened his eyes. Groggily, he wondered what happened to him, only to hear a mumble at his side.

Laharl groaned as he felt his whole body felt like it was on fire, and feeling a heavy Buds on top of him was not making it easier. He growled as he tried to shove the offending body away.

“Geroff me you moron! Idiot!” Laharl continued to berate, still feeling sore that they had to fall into the abyss... they were extremely lucky not to be dead.

“Hmmm... Hinata...” Buds whispered.

A twitch developed in Laharl's head, and with all his power, he slammed his fist to Buds' head, who immediately sat up in grimaced pain.

“Wha… uh… wha?” the brown haired Uzumaki muttered, standing up.

“You landed on me you moron!” Laharl growled as he flipped to a stand, wiping off the dust in his clothes. He looked around for the blonde Uzumaki, who was a few paces beside him, shaking his head.

“Hey… you guys okay?” Naruto asked rather worriedly, still shaking his head, trying to stamp out the cobwebs.

“Yeah… no thanks to this moron…” Laharl muttered before he gave the still dizzy Buds a swift kick on the back. “Where are we?”

Naruto paused, and looked around. The place… was lit by something. Their torches were lost during the fall, and without being fed with chakra, they should have been dead… but the whole place seemed to have an ethereal glow to it.

“Uh… guys… look at this…” Buds called from his downed position, pointing towards a rather large pile of… oddities.

Laharl and Naruto dashed immediately towards the mound, and found themselves looking at rather exotic items. Some, they could recognize, some, looked only somewhat familiar. It wasn't until they dove deeply enough in it to realize what they were.

“It's like some armory,” Buds muttered, now joining his two brothers. “Look… handguns? Is that a rocket launcher?”

Laharl nodded, though when he handled them, they were relatively useless. The guns had no bullets, and the rocket launcher seemed used. But there was one thing that caught his attention… a crimson sheathed straight-sword, emanating rather powerful dark energy.

Buds was on another place, his eyes widening at the odd looking rings. He knew what they were, as they were stocked with magical powers. They magical rings that acted like magical wands, something he had been looking for quite some time to stabilize his magics. Having his own spells blow up in his face wasn't something he'd care to repeat… and as a bonus, the ring wouldn't even be in conflict to his fighting styles.

Naruto, on the other hand, drifted more towards the ninja-looking tools. He found a collection of kunai he had never seen before, and even a weapon that looked like a cross of kunai and a throwing star. However… his interest was solely more on a rather interesting scroll that was titled Dummy's Guide to Blood Seals.

“Impossible…” Laharl muttered as he took hold of the sword and easily read the demonic runes that were etched on its sheath. “The Shadow Blade…!?”

“What's that?” Buds asked as he took a rather handsome brown with black designed ring, and wore it on his finger, feeling his magics suddenly channeling towards the ring, awaiting to be unleashed.

Naruto joined Naruto, with the scroll now safely tucked in his bag.

“This is a demonic war artifact… Shadow Blade,” Laharl muttered. He tried to unsheathe it, only to find it stuck, and growled. “Won't let me use it unless I fulfill its contract…”

“What contract?” Naruto asked.

Laharl didn't answer, and just growled, trying to unsheathe it once more. He didn't get far, as there was suddenly a loud exploding sound that shook the cavern they were in. Alert, the brothers gasped as they felt the chill on their backs again, and in the empty air, that voice came in again…

“Ahaha… I found youuuu!”

Something was coming at them. Naruto and Laharl's eyes widened when they saw what it was; a gigantic teddy bear with huge claws on each hand, looking at them with glowing eyes. The two took a step back, wondering what the hell they were going to do.

Buds took a step forward, his eyes closed. He smirked as he finally had a means to fight against ghosts. With the chakra torch armed in one hand, and the ring in the ring finger of his other, he began to chant.

“Omega Del Atla!” he called, speaking his starting incantation, feeling his magics finally roving around his body. He then began to speak in Latin, focusing all those magical energy into his words. “Mother Earth, I call on your rage to throttle my enemies! Stone Punch!”

The cavern wall suddenly seemed to twist as under the large pink bear, a form of a giant fist came forth and hit it with a force it was forced on its back, landing on the floor rather hard, making the whole cavern wall shake.

Buds looked back at his brothers. “Well?” he asked. “Let's go!”

“No need to tell us twice!” Naruto declared as he followed his brother. Laharl followed, grinning as he spotted the fallen teddy bear.

“Hey, stupid,” the squinty-eyed Uzumaki called towards the bear. “You aren't even worth as a PC Level One Boss!”

“MEANIE!”

The voice shook the cavern walls, making Naruto look back towards Laharl with an ugly frown. “What are you, nuts!?” he demanded.

“Oh come on! The stupid ghost's beaten!” Laharl laughed out rather nastily. “No fear from there!”

The cavern walls shook again, and the bear who had been knocked down now turned on its belly, and glaring at the running figures. It suddenly stood up again, and roared as it suddenly began chasing them again.

Laharl's eyes widened to platters as he saw this, and looked back at front, and received the death glares of both Buds and Naruto.

“Uh… oops?” the squinty-eyed Uzumaki declared.

“IDIOT!” the other two Uzumaki's shouted as they ran faster.

“You bullies!”

The bear began to run faster, much to the Uzumakis' chagrin, and ran faster, going left and rights of the tunnels without really much afterthought… the only concern they had was escaping this ghost before she crushes them, or whatever!

“Wait…!” Naruto noticed something as they turned into another path in the cavern. “Isn't… isn't that the glass spheres we were throwing?”

Buds' eyes widened, and relief suddenly overcame him. “COME ON! WE'RE GETTING OUTTA HERE!” he shouted.

In the haze of their exhaustion from their continuous running, the three Uzumaki forced themselves to look far ahead, and the when they saw a small fleeting source of light that wasn't from the chakra torch that was in Buds' hand, they ran even faster.

“WE'RE THERE!” Buds declared, panting. “FASTER! FASTER!”

“WH… F… F… F… FREEDOM!” Naruto declared as the three brothers exited the cave, the rope coming off as the force of the three Uzumakis hit it with a force, and they jumped as they felt a powerful explosion behind them.

Dust was raised, and the explosion made them almost deaf, but otherwise, the three boys were relatively unhurt. The three looked at each other from their position, smiling. Exhausted, the three sat up looking back at the damage that was caused, only to stop cold when in front of them, they saw the pink teddy bear, though now in normal size, being carried by the very same girl they had seen earlier.

Naruto immediately got ready, as well as Buds and Laharl, the second ready to chant if the ghost was about to attack them… but she didn't. Her eyes weren't focused on them, but on her surroundings, and when she did face them, her purple eyes, almost similar, if not darker, color of her hair was moist, as tears seemed to flow from them.

“I… I am free…” she stated, though still somewhat eerie, was less scarier sounding than it was on the cave. “I… I thank you…”

And her form then turned transparent, her tears still flowing. The three Uzumaki brothers looked at the scene with different emotions: Naruto found himself feeling somewhat sad and melancholic… while Buds looked somewhat relieved, now that probably she wasn't out to get them. Laharl, lastly, felt annoyed that such a simple ghost made him run that much.

Her form finally disappeared from their view, and the teddy bear fell down to the ground. The three Uzumaki looked at the stuffed toy for a moment before Naruto deemed it safe enough to approach, though Buds and Laharl had been somewhat defensive. When the blonde finally picked the bear up, did they all breath easier.

“She attained peace, eh?” Buds guessed.

“Moved on…” Naruto looked up in the sky, with the sun setting towards the horizon. He smiled. “I… I feel happy for her.”

“Che…” Laharl muttered in annoyance. He looked towards Naruto, and frowned. “What next?”

Naruto gently hugged the teddy bear, carrying with him as he walked back towards the forest, away from Kyubi's Lair. Sure, he hadn't gotten a clue on how to see his sister, but at least he was able to see where she had lived before he was born, and he was satisfied with that for now.

His hand went over the bag he had been dragging for a while, and felt the scroll he had found in the caverns, and his eyes roamed towards Buds who was now looking at his new ring with satisfaction, while Laharl was still holding the blade he had found, studying it even more closely.

Naruto then spotted the fedora hat that Buds had given him earlier on the ground ahead of him… it must have blown out of his head when he jumped. Grabbing it, he wore it, and turned to smile at his brothers.

“Lets go home!”

“Alright!” Buds stated with relief. He felt well enough to continue, his fatigue from constant running disappeared on him. Judging by the way the other two were acting they seemed ready for the trip home as well.

“Yeah, yeah…” Laharl muttered.

The three Uzumaki boys, now armed with tools to help them on their lives, jumped towards the trees, and dashed back home, one branch at a time.

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“Uh… Naruto…” Buds called as the three boys entered through the East Gate, greeted by a large group of angry looking jounins, and a rather pissed off looking Hokage, staring at them with a small concentration of killing intent. “They looked pissed…”

“U-zu-makis…” the Hokage had muttered, his voice shaking.

Naruto and Laharl looked at each other with worried eyes and frowns, and were about to turn to run when more jounins appeared behind them.

It seems they were in deep trouble.

Very deep trouble.

To Be Continued…

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Additional Notes:

(1) - Read Uzumaki Naruto Ninja Chronicles, Chapter 1: Sacrifice! Naruto's New Powers!

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Next:

Its Orientation Day… and finally the day Buds will finally receive his long awaited answer from one Hyuga Hinata. Plus, assigned to teams, who will the three Uzumaki's be teamed up with!?

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Author's Notes:

Longest chapter I have ever written… always wondered whether to cut the clone war battle… but I liked it too much to do so. Enjoy guys!