Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Two Worlds, Two Ninja ❯ Seal of Fire ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Yo! I just thought of another possible job I can do… Motivational speech writer. Apart from that, the only thing I have to say up here is I apologise for not updating for so long, especially to those who told me to hurry up because they were bored. To those two or so who did, all I have to say is; do us a favour and sod off. It's hard enough with full time work where I have no access to a computer, but by the time I'm done with seven and a half hours of work to save people's ungrateful lives, I'm usually pretty tired. An especially big sod off to the idiot who told me to hurry up less than 12 hours after the last chapter was uploaded. For the rest of you, I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

 

As a final hint to those who haven't realised, mana equals chakra. They're the same things, which is why I use the terms interchangeably.

 

Thanks again to my beta, Kyuubi no Yoko 9.

 

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/SPELL...”

 

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

 

Two Worlds, Two Ninja:

 

Chapter Two:

 

Fire Seal:

 

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After the Escape:

 

All six people and one animal hastily left the structure behind, blending into the desert dunes and heading back to Triet to discuss their plans. They arrived around midmorning, and took a rest in the inn. They were all in one room as they caught up and decided to discuss what needed to be done. Lloyd smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

 

“Naruto, you were right. There are times I need to fight with my hands and not my swords…”

 

Naruto smirked and put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

 

“Now that you've realised that, do you want to learn how to fight with your body when you can't use weapons?”

 

Lloyd nodded enthusiastically as Naruto looked at him sternly.

 

“Lloyd, my teaching methods are harsh. I've been given 4 teams of people slightly younger than you with more ability to control their mana than you do. All of them failed miserably. Are you sure you want to do this? Genis, I'm talking to you as well.”

 

Lloyd faltered for a moment while Genis was taken aback.

 

“What? But I'm not suited to melee fighting!”

 

Naruto looked at Genis dead panned.

 

“This is the same thing with Lloyd and his swords. What about if an enemy manages to get passed your friends and next to you before you can finish your spell?”

 

Genis had nothing to say in reply to that. Both boys nodded after several moments thought. Lloyd spoke for them.

 

“We have to get stronger… We need to be strong enough to protect our friends and each other…”

 

Naruto smiled.

 

“And that's why all of them failed miserably.”

 

Everyone looked at Naruto for an explanation.

 

“Because they thought that they were strong enough to do everything by themselves, and everyone else was dead weight. I can see that you're going to be very different from them.”

 

Kratos looked out the window as he spoke in an aloof manner.

 

“You sound confident in their abilities.”

 

Naruto turned to Kratos and gave him a piercing stare.

 

“Lloyd and Genis have the potential to surpass nearly everyone in this room. Maybe even myself. Don't let that go to your head, Lloyd. It's big enough as it is.”

 

Lloyd was brought back down from cloud nine and glared at Naruto.

 

“What did you say?”

 

Naruto glared at Lloyd who glared back at him.

 

“I said your ego is big enough as it is.”

 

“Take that back!”

 

Naruto smirked and turned around.

 

“No, Lloyd. Your ego could very well be the death of you. I could educate you the way my Sensei did when he took me and my two team mates on, but I don't think you'd appreciate it.”

 

Lloyd smirked.

 

“Oh? And how did he do that?”

 

Naruto groaned at the memory.

 

“He gave me a super ass poke that made me land nearly 20 meters away.”

 

Every one in the room face faulted. Lloyd recovered first.

 

“What the hell kind of a lesson is that?”

 

Naruto turned around, a glint in his eye that promised pain.

 

“Want to find out?”

 

Lloyd sweat dropped and waved his hands nervously in front of him.

 

“Uh, no it's alright….”

 

Naruto smirked and leant up against the wall.

 

“Good to hear.”

 

Slowly, everyone else recovered. Raine shook her head in disbelief.

 

“I can understand making them hold buckets of water, but prodding their behinds?”

 

Naruto nodded solemnly.

 

“It works wonders for egos. Believe me.”

 

Kratos sighed, making everyone look at him.

 

“If you've finished talking about effective forms of punishment, I suggest we start discussing how we plan to release the seal of fire.”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“Yeah. But I don't think we can do much but plan accordingly once we get inside…”

 

Everyone nodded as Naruto thought about how long it would take to release the seal.

 

“Assuming the seal would take half a day to release, by that stage, it would be nightfall. We would have to camp at the seal.”

 

Raine nodded.

 

“Indeed. Travelling the desert by night is foolhardy. Ultimately, it is up to Colette as to when to release it.”

 

The room focused on the blond girl who piped up at the mention of her name.

 

“Me?”

 

Everyone sweat dropped. Lloyd answered her in a dead panned tone.

 

“Yes you, Colette.”

 

Colette put a finger to her lips while she thought, before smiling widely.

 

“I'll leave it to you, Lloyd.”

 

Everyone sweat dropped again. Lloyd looked around before turning to Naruto.

 

“Naruto, what do you think?”

 

Naruto looked over everyone in the room.

 

“I say we head out tomorrow. After all, I can teach both of you the basics of the tree climbing exercise.”

 

Raine looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Tree climbing exercise?”

 

Naruto nodded and turned around, walking up the wall, much to everyone's amazement.

 

“This is what the tree climbing exercise will enable you to do.”

 

Kratos' eyes narrowed, but he said nothing while Raine gasped.

 

“He's using mana to stick to the wall!”

 

Naruto nodded as he walked upwards and onto the roof, hanging upside down.

 

“This is the very first exercise in chakra, or as you would call it, mana control.”

 

Genis remembered what Naruto had said on the way to Triet.

 

“Didn't you say the second stage was water walking?”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“Yeah. The second stage will teach you how to walk on water. The third stage will teach you how to aid your body's movements with mana, such as jumping onto the rooves of buildings like you saw me do when I met you.”

 

Lloyd turned to the wall, full of determination when Naruto stopped him.

 

“Lloyd, let me make a suggestion to you. If you do it in here, the walls are going to be ruined beyond repair. This is what happens when you release only a little too much mana.”

 

Naruto increased his chakra by the smallest amount, making him drop to the floor. He half flipped and landed on his feet, pointing up to the ceiling. Everyone saw that there was now a small crack in the stone where Naruto's feet had been. Raine looked back at Naruto suspiciously.

 

“Naruto, I have studied many forms of mana applications, but I have never heard of this kind of mana usage even theorised before. Who exactly are you?”

 

Naruto looked at Raine and stayed silent for a moment.

 

“I will tell you exactly who I am when I'm ready. Do not push me for my identity, place of birth or anything about my past. Once I feel I can trust you enough, I will tell you who I am. Not even my closest friends back home know me as well as they think they do.”

 

Everyone digested this information before Naruto sighed, shaking his head.

 

“Sorry Raine. My past is not something to take lightly. You'll see why eventually. I'm surprised I've managed to keep it secret as long as I have…”

 

Kratos nodded slowly.

 

“Some people's pasts are filled with horrors and mistakes that are best left alone.”

 

Naruto nodded in agreement as he walked up to the window and leaned on the windowsill.

 

“I suggest spending the day training and getting an early night's sleep before heading out at day break. The heat should be bearable early in the morning. Anyone who wants to watch us train, feel free to do so. Lloyd, Genis, let's head to the Oasis. We can do both stages there, assuming you can finish the first one before we leave.”

 

Everyone wanted to see how Naruto was going to teach them, so they walked outside and to the Oasis. When Naruto was there, he walked up to a tree and then looked back at them.

 

“Chakra, or mana as you guys call it is one of the main things that keep us alive. Without it, we will die. There are a lot of things we can do with mana, depending on the form we decide to manifest it in. For example, we can manifest it through a weapon in the form of a weapon attack, such as Lloyd's Sonic Thrust or we can use it in the form of healing, such as Kratos' First Aid. However, the uses of mana are essentially limitless. Mana can be used to help us do things we normally couldn't, such as walking up vertical surfaces, walking on water, or even lifting weight we never could before.”

 

Raine put her chin in the crook of her thumb and index finger as she thought, digesting this information.

 

“Lloyd, I think you learn best with your body. Once you start doing it, you'll get the hang of it. Genis on the other had, is better at the theoretical parts of it. Without going into a long boring explanation, you can gather chakra to anywhere in your body. However, for the majority of us, the only places we can manifest chakra is in our hands, or a few of us with our feet.”

 

Raine nodded in agreement.

 

“That is true.”

 

Naruto turned to Genis as he continued the explanation.

 

“Genis, you have a rather small supply of mana, but you have perfect control over it.”

 

Genis's eyes widened but nodded. Naruto turned to Lloyd.

 

“Lloyd, you have a massive supply of mana, far more than someone your age should have, but you can't control it properly, meaning you waste about 3 times as much as you need to in order for you to do something Genis could do.”

 

Genis smirked, while Lloyd looked away. Naruto looked at Genis.

 

“However, if you were both to cast the same spells, both of you would end up casting about the same number before being exhausted. Genis, this exercise will allow you to increase your stamina, which will allow you to slowly building your supplies of mana. Lloyd, this is going to also increase your supplies of mana, as well as teach you how to control it better. With the lesson I gave you on the way here, focus your mana to the soles of you feet. Although these trees are short, they should be a good start. I want you both to run up the tree using only your feet, and get to the top. Once you can do that, I want you to run up and then down again without falling off. If you can do that, I'll move you onto the water walking. Remember, too much mana, and the tree will repel you. Too little, and you'll lose your grip. Go for it.”

 

Lloyd charged at the tree, getting two steps up before the bark crunched under his foot, sending him falling to the ground and hitting his head. Genis focused for a moment before running at the tree, getting all the way to the top before turning around and going back down. Genis smirked.

 

“That was easy.”

 

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

 

“Well, now that you've done that, you have to wait for Lloyd to finish.”

 

Genis saw Lloyd getting to his feet and staring at the tree with a mixture of hatred and determination. He walked back a couple of steps and was about to go in for another attempt when Naruto stopped him.

 

“Lloyd, I suggest focusing your mana first instead of doing it when you get there.”

 

Lloyd nodded and closed his eyes before charging at the tree. He made it right to the top and then realised he was going too fast to turn around and ran right through the leaves and into the air. Everyone looked in horror as Lloyd started plummeting to the ground head first.

 

“LLOYD!”

 

They saw Lloyd several meters away from the ground when Naruto disappeared and reappeared underneath Lloyd and caught him. Lloyd looked surprised for a second as Naruto put him down. Everyone stared at Naruto in shock.

 

“I didn't even see him move…”

 

Kratos' eyes narrowed.

 

“He used no mana to aid those movements, meaning it was natural speed.”

 

Colette looked at Naruto with stars in her eyes.

 

“Wow! Naruto's really strong!”

 

Naruto nodded and pointed to the tree, making sure the subject didn't go down that path again.

 

“Give it another try, Lloyd. Try slowing down near the top so you can turn back around.”

 

Lloyd nodded and focused, before running at the tree. Half way up, he slowed down so that by the time he got to the top, he could turn around. He ran back down the tree and hopped onto the ground looking back up at the tree with a wide smile plastered on his face.

 

“I did it…”

 

By now, several of the villagers had gathered around and were watching in awe. They were about to be shocked beyond belief. Naruto walked the several steps to the pier that led out into the water of the oasis. He turned back to them.

 

“Walking on water is the next stage. To sum it up in a nutshell, you have to release a constant amount of mana out of your feet into the water to displace your body weight. The more you weigh the more mana you have to use. Apart from that, it's just practice.”

 

Naruto focused for a second and stepped out into the water. Everyone expected him to fall in, but gasped when his foot touched it like it was a solid surface. Naruto continued walking out before standing in the middle, looking at them.

 

“And this is the result. This exercise is 10 times more difficult than the tree climbing exercise. If they were available, I would have gotten you to climb 50 meter trees instead of these 4 meter ones, but I had to improvise. Go for it you two.”

 

They nodded and tried. Predictably, both of them fell in. Naruto walked back over to the group. Naruto looked at Raine as he thought of something.

 

“Raine, you've seen how I don't use mana circles, but hand seals to mould mana for spells right?”

 

Raine nodded.

 

“I have. What about it?”

 

“What are the advantages of a mana circle?”

 

Raine answered out of habit, continuing to watch Lloyd and Genis fall in again.

 

“Mana circles allow us to focus mana into the form desired. For upper ranking spells, usually a few choice words are used as well. I assume it's the same as you calling out your spell names. Vocalisation seems to help.”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“Are there any rules you need to follow for a mana circle?”

 

Raine nodded slowly, seeing both boys fall back in a third time.

 

“Mana circles must always have the same design, as well as the colour of their element.”

 

Naruto nodded. Making a mana circle would be far too troublesome, as a lazy friend of his back home would have said. At the sudden remembrance of home, Naruto wondered how they were doing.

 

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Back on Naruto's World:

 

Shikamaru was playing a game of Shougi with Asuma and was lifting his piece to place it in checkmate when he let forth a violent sneeze, making him place it in a legal, but rather stupid move. Shikamaru rubbed his nose.

 

“I wonder who's talking about me now… If it's my mum, I'm not looking forward to going home…”

 

Asuma smirked and placed his piece in a checkmate position, making Shikamaru look at what had happened. He'd just lost his first game of Shougi. He grumbled.

 

“When I find that person, I'll make sure I do something that would normally be too troublesome to do.”

 

Asuma sat back and smiled, silently thanking whoever it was.

 

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At Konoha Hospital:

 

Team Seven had just reported back, suffering moderate injuries. Sakura was still sobbing while Kakashi looked completely dejected. When Tsunade came in, her eyes narrowed at the missing blond.

 

“Kakashi, where is Naruto?”

 

Kakashi shook his head slowly. Tsunade grabbed his jacket, despite the fact he was injured and glared at him.

 

“WHERE IS HE? YOU HAD BETTER TELL ME NOW, OR I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK ON ACTIVE DUTY AGAIN!”

 

Kakashi winced at Tsunade's bellowing and her painful grip on his clothing.

 

“Sasuke was going to stab Naruto through the throat with his Kusanagi, so I used my dimensional transfer Doujutsu on him, but Naruto took the blow for Sasuke…”

 

Tsunade dropped Kakashi and fell back several steps, horror coming over her face.

 

“No… Not again… Not three times…”

 

At that point, a smiling Jiraiya came into the room. He promptly stopped smiling when he saw how everyone was acting, and the lack of everyone's favourite energetic blond. Jiraiya did not restrain his anger, slamming his fist into the wall, completely shattering it. He leaned against what remained of it.

 

“Damn it… I failed… AGAIN!”

 

Jiraiya let lose another punch, breaking away the rest of the wall. At that point, several ANBU and nurses came in to see what the commotion was about. They quickly made the same assessment Jiraiya had. The nurses, who were somewhat relived kept quiet. Part of the Oath they were required to take in order to become a healer was the fact that a life was a life, regardless of what that life had done to others. Naruto was no exception. The ANBU grunted in frustration. While Naruto was annoying, he was the unofficial moral booster of the Hokage, and therefore the entire village. Without him around, Tsunade tended to day dream and shirk her work. If he was dead, they would most likely have to replace her. Jiraiya thought of something and bit his thumb, forming the hand seals for a summon. He slammed his palm onto the ground, summoning a frog he knew Naruto particularly liked that wouldn't crush the entire hospital. Once the smoke cleared, Jiraiya stared at the frog that waved at him casually.

 

“Yo, Jiraiya! If you want me to play, give me a snack!”

 

Jiraiya was very tempted to boot the frog out the window.

 

“Don't give me that!”

 

The frog looked around and saw everyone in a state of dispar, smirking.

 

“What's with you lot? You look like you're at a funeral. Lighten up.”

 

Tsunade went to strangle the frog that waved his hands at her.

 

“Wait a minute! I didn't get to finish!”

 

Tsunade was standing over the frog, flames surrounding her that showed off any anger her rapidly twitching brow failed to show.

 

“Depending on how you finish, I may or may not let you live.”

 

The frog sweat dropped.

 

“Uh, Naruto asked me to give you a message.”

 

Everyone's eyes shot up at that, and focused on the frog. Gamakichi snorted at them.

 

“That got your attention, didn't it?”

 

He was overcome with the feeling of impending doom. The feeling you get when you say something and everyone stares at you, not saying anything or moving a muscle. Gamakichi decided it would be wise to just blurt it out.

 

“Ok, ok jeez. You guys are no fun. Anyway, he said to say he's alive and fine. Apparently, his idiot of a Sensei used his dimensional transferring jutsu on him. He's on another world called… What was it… Sylv… Sylver… Ah that's it! Sylvarant!”

 

Everyone digested this information before Sakura snorted.

 

“Trust Naruto to come up with some hair brained idea like that to make us worry. When I get my hands on him, I'm going to strangle him!”

 

Jiraiya looked at Gamakichi.

 

“Are you lying to us?”

 

Gamakichi glared at Jiraiya.

 

“It's bad enough that we've become messengers, but now we're lying messengers? I really should ask pops to smack you around a bit! Seriously though, I've never seen a world like it. Its plants are very different than ours, they have things called Summon Spirits, and they all have funny names and one crazy woman even tried to make me a research subject!”

 

Gamakichi waved his hands around, exasperated.

 

“It's true! I sware!”

 

Jiraiya looked up at the others and nodded before looking back down at the frog.

 

“Where is this… Sylvarant?”

 

Gamakichi shrugged, which looked somewhat strange when a frog tries.

 

“Beats me. I didn't recognise any constellations, and they called chakra mana. Apparently, there are angels there!”

 

Kakashi looked at Tsunade, in a rather concerned fashion.

 

“Tsunade-Sama, did you happen to put some sort of hallucinogenic in my IV drip? I could have sworn I heard him say there were angels there…”

 

Tsunade smacked her head.

 

“Either we're all drunk on a minuscule amount of Sake, or we did just hear that, Kakashi.”

 

Kakashi turned to Gamakichi, with a perverted blush on his face.

 

“Are they cute?”

 

Sakura smacked Kakashi over the head.

 

“BAKA!”

 

Kakashi rubbed his head gingerly.

 

“Hey, I'm injured here…”

 

Jiraiya hadn't missed a beat, whipping out his `research notebook' and was furiously scribbling down ideas for the latest edition to the Icha Icha series when he felt everyone look at him. Jiraiya slowly put the book away and chuckled nervously.

 

“I have to please the fans somehow…”

 

Tsunade ignored him and turned back to Gamakichi.

 

“Is there any way for Naruto to get back to our world?”

 

Gamakichi snorted and looked away.

 

“You created the problem, fix it yourself.”

 

Jiraiya tried to change the subject so as their only form of communication with Naruto didn't suddenly find itself flying through the air towards the Wind Country.

 

“Can you give him a message for us?”

 

Gamakichi looked up at Jiraiya with a look of pure determination.

 

“Give me a snack, or I won't do it.”

 

Tsunade readied her fist by cracking her knuckles.

 

“What was that?”

 

Gamakichi waved his hands in front of him again, using one of his rare moments of insight to save his own skin.

 

“Hey! If you kill me, how am I supposed to give the message to him?”

 

Tsunade hesitantly backed down as she turned to the ANBU.

 

“You! Get me a snack! Now!”

 

The ANBU looked dumbfounded for a moment before nodding and disappearing out the door, heading for the closest vending machine to buy something. Several moments later, he returned with a packet of chips and handed them to Tsunade, who thrust them at the frog. The frog looked at the chips and then up at her, holding up a hand.

 

“How do you think I'm supposed to open them?”

 

Tsunade shoved the packet of chips to Jiraiya.

 

“He's your summon, do it for him.”

 

Jiraiya grumbled and ripped open the packet of chips, handing them to Gamakichi who looked at them, grabbing one and eating it. He reached for another one, eating it before looking up at them.

 

“Well? What do you want me to tell him?”

 

Jiraiya sighed before looking at the frog. Now that they were ready for the message, what exactly were they going to say to him? Sorry sounded kind of lame in this situation. Telling him to get back here A.S.A.P would be unneeded, as he'd be doing that himself right now. Tsunade looked at the frog, making up her mind.

 

“We're going to look for a way to help him back from this side. I know he's doing the same on his side. And ask him to take care of himself.”

 

Gamakichi nodded, eating another chip.

 

“Sure thing. Anything else?”

 

No one did, so Gamakichi sighed.

 

“Don't get into a habit of summoning me every day. Once a month, and that's it. No compromises.”

 

No one said anything, so Gamakichi looked at Sakura, smirking and holding up his pinkie.

 

“Oh, and Naruto said to ask me to tell his this to have his children. Ja!”

 

Gamakichi poofed out of existence before any physical damage could be done. Sakura screamed out, loud enough for the entire village to hear.

 

“NARUTO! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU SENSLESS! DO YOU HEAR ME? SHANNARO!”

 

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Triet:

 

Everyone had stopped what they were doing; now focusing on Naruto as he let forth the longest, loudest, most rapid fire succession of sneezes they had ever heard. Colette looked worried.

 

“Naruto must be really sick…”

 

Finally, Naruto looked up, panting from the exertion and smiling like an idiot.

 

“They must be really worried about me to mention me that many times.”

 

Naruto decided to summon Gamakichi later on tonight when he was alone, to see if they had left him a message. For now, he focused on training Lloyd and Genis.

 

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That Evening:

 

Lloyd had just finished making Raine's key crest for her Exsphere and wished her good night, making sure to pinch the sleeping Genis' nose, making him flail madly before going to his own room. However, when he left their room, he heard the door to his own room open, both Naruto and Kratos leaving. Naruto indicated with a flick of his head towards the direction of the Oasis. Kratos nodded and they both walked outside, into the night. Lloyd pondered out aloud.

 

“I wonder where they're going at this time of night….”

 

Lloyd was definitely going to follow them; however, he couldn't follow both of them. He badly wanted to know about the ever stoic Kratos, but also about the secretive Naruto. He finally decided to follow Naruto, heading out the door and off to the Oasis, completely oblivious to the fact that Kratos was standing with Noishe not 10 meters away.

 

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At the Oasis:

 

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”

 

Naruto slammed his palm down onto the sand, and was assaulted by a wailing orange frog.

 

“AH! WHAT IS THIS? I'M BURNING UP!”

 

Naruto jerked a thumb to his left.

 

“Water and keep it down.”

 

From the still clearing could of smoke, a steaming orange frog jumped and splashed into the water, leaving behind a bag of chips. Naruto saw them and his eyes widened.

 

“Chips! Sour Cream an Onion too! My favourite!”

 

Naruto ripped the bag of chips off the ground and began shovelling them in. Naruto was about to eat the last one when he heard Gamakichi call out to him.

 

“OI, bimbo! Those are my snacks! If you eat the last one, I won't give you the message!”

 

Naruto considered whether to eat the chip or hear the message. He reluctantly put the chip back in the packet and looked at him.

 

“Alright, let's hear it. How are they?”

 

Gamakichi grumbled.

 

“They were really turning on the waterworks, kid. You should have seen the old pervert's job to the wall. He completely smashed it.”

 

Lloyd was completely taken aback that Naruto had not only summoned this frog again, but was having a conversation with it. IT was then that Naruto detected Lloyd, disappearing and reappearing right behind Lloyd with a kunai to his throat, obviously very angry with him.

 

“Lloyd, let me give you one warning. I consider this a forceful breech of privacy. Next time it happens, I might decide not to let you live. I told you, I will tell you about myself when I am ready. Do you understand?”

 

Lloyd nodded slowly, as Naruto withdrew the kunai and stared at him.

 

“Go to bed. If I leave like this, it's because I want time to myself. Understood?”

 

Lloyd nodded and scrambled off to bed, leaving Naruto alone with Gamakichi. Naruto sighed and sat back down next to the edge of the oasis, trying to continue the conversation.

 

“Isn't that what Tsunade-Obaachan would do?”

 

Gamakichi shrugged.

 

“She wanted to punch me out the window. Anyway, they asked you to try and find a way back. They're doing the same on their side. Oh, and the old hag wanted you to take care of yourself. Now, give me my snack!”

 

Naruto sighed, handing the snack to Gamakichi, who snatched it back, glaring at Naruto. Naruto smiled at Gamakichi.

 

“Next time they talk to you, ask for two. I wouldn't mind a packet now and again.”

 

Gamakichi glared at Naruto, his eyebrow twitching.

 

“It's bad enough us amphibians are reduced to carrying you smelly apes' messages for you, but now you want us to be couriers as well? Get them yourself, bimbo! And don't summon me until next month!”

 

Gamakichi disappeared, making Naruto sigh and turn back to trudge to the inn.

 

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Next Morning, Daybreak:

 

As per normal, Naruto was up as the first rays of light came through his window. He could see Kratos already up, while Lloyd was snoring. Naruto made a slight glare before putting his clothes on. He walked outside, seeing only Kratos there. Not even the receptionist was behind the desk. Naruto's stomach growled, making him grunt and pull out a scroll and pull out 3 cups of ramen. Kratos' eyes narrowed at the cups.

 

“What material are those made from?”

 

Naruto smirked and partially peeled the lids off them.

 

“It's called plastic. Not sure how it's made.”

 

Kratos nodded slowly and went back to leaning against the wall. Naruto walked up to the small kitchenette near the side of the room and saw there was only a cold water tap and a wood stove. He grumbled, wishing Yamamoto was here to create some wood with a Mokuton Jutsu. However, he found some fire wood stacked against the wall behind it, so he shoved it in. The only thing he was lacking now was fire, so he formed several hand seals and whispered his jutsu.

 

“Katon: Housenka no Jutsu…”

 

Kratos' eyes widened as Naruto shot several very small, weak fireballs out of his mouth from between his fingers, making the wood catch fire instantly. Naruto found a rather beat up black kettle, which he filled with water and placed it on the stove. Naruto now had to wait until the water had boiled. Deciding it was time for some `information gathering' of his own kind, he leaned against the wall near Kratos. Naruto had to choose his words very carefully if he wanted to appear casual and not probing. Naruto looked at the sword strapped to Kratos' belt and remembered how he fought.

 

“You've very accomplished for your age with a sword.”

 

Kratos turned away and looked out a window on the far wall.

 

“I've practiced from when I was young.”

 

That wasn't exactly surprising. A lot of ninjas were usually too old for the job once they reached their mid thirties. At that point, the kettle started to boil, so Naruto reached over and pulled it off, taking it the stove by the handle and pouring it quickly into the cups of instant ramen with practiced ease. He pulled the plastic forks off the sides and kept the lids shut with them, waiting until the ramen was ready. Looking up at Kratos, he saw Kratos was very intensely concentrating on the cups. Naruto waited several more moments before peeling the lids off and ripped in.

 

“Itadakimasu!”

 

Kratos watched in morbid fascination as the ramen literally disappeared from the cups. Within 2 minutes, all three cups were empty and Naruto sat back, content.

 

“That hit the spot.”

 

Kratos turned his head away as he spoke.

 

“And where exactly would that `spot' be?”

 

Naruto understood what Kratos had said. He was attempting a dry sense of humour, implying that Naruto was a bottomless pit. From Lloyd's description, Kratos had no sense of humour, so this came as a surprise, making Naruto laugh. Kratos looked at Naruto quizzically.

 

“You understood that?”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“Everyone's said you're all business and no fun; doesn't seem that way.”

 

Kratos half smiled, a rare sight. However, the smile vanished as the door to Genis' and Raine's room opened, revealing Raine awake and pretty much on full alert. She came down the stairs, nodding to both boys, who gave her a nod back. Raine saw the containers and Naruto noticed in horror as Raine's normally ice blue eyes changed to a pale lavender colour when she looked at them.

 

“MARVELOUS! What do you call this?”

 

Naruto and Kratos sweat dropped. This woman was scary.

 

“Plastic…”

 

Raine snatched one off the table and pulled out some sort of object which Naruto suspected was a portable microscope. At that point, Genis came stumbling out of his room and groaned when she saw his older sister studying one of Lloyd's plastic containers. He raced down the stairs and attempted to separate researcher from research. Naruto looked at Raine and then Genis.

 

“Is she always like this?”

 

Genis didn't answer, nor did he listen to Raine's incessant protests, claiming that this could be a `scientific breakthrough'.

 

“Is she?”

 

Everyone turned to see Lloyd staring at Genis and the professor. Genis grumbled, clearly frustrated.

 

“I tried so hard to hide it too…”

 

Naruto locked eyes with Lloyd and glared, making Lloyd look at the ground.

 

“I'm sorry, Naruto…”

 

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at both Lloyd and Naruto, who sat back.

 

“Lloyd, when I said don't push, I meant it. One more episode like last night, and that's the end for you. I will tell you when I'm ready.”

 

Everyone stared at Naruto in shock, while he just sighed.

 

“When I do decide to tell you, judge me then. My past is a very dangerous thing to talk about, even among friends. It was dangerous enough that people strong enough to level cities with ease by themselves wanted to gain my power as well as several others' to summon the king of hell. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.”

 

Everyone digested this tidbit of information. Naruto looked up from his position against the wall at the group.

 

“For our current situation, I suggest you eat breakfast so we can head out.”

 

Kratos agreed with Naruto's suggestion.

 

“Both Naruto and I have eaten. When you have finished, meet us outside.”

 

Both Naruto and Kratos walked to the front door and stepped outside into the temperate early morning heat. Raine sighed and piled through her dangerously full bag for her ration supplies, which she handed to the three children as well as saved some for herself. Lloyd grumbled as he bit into the tasteless cookie.

 

“Professor, why do we have to eat these things? They don't taste like anything and they don't fill you up…”

 

Genis snorted as he took another bite into his own.

 

“Because they give us all the nutrients as well as the energy we'll need for this, Lloyd. These things aren't cheap, you know.”

 

Lloyd grumbled again but continued eating his cookie. After they had finished, they stepped outside, Raine still lugging her overflowing backpack with her. Just outside, they saw both Naruto and Kratos looking out towards the south west, where the seal of fire was located. Naruto snapped back to attention when they stepped outside and looked at Raine, or more specifically, her back pack which she was dragging along the ground.

 

“We are not taking that.”

 

Raine's head shot up, her eyes taking on a scary glint that made all boys shudder.

 

“Are you saying we should leave these priceless research materials here, where they can be stolen?”

 

Naruto sweat dropped, but waved it off.

 

“Fine, take them, but they're going in a scroll.”

 

Colette, Kratos and Raine looked at Naruto suspiciously, while Genis and Lloyd nodded in agreement.

 

“Man, Naruto sealed his lance in a scroll! There was this blue light, and it just disappeared!”

 

Naruto searched through his ninja pouch, finding a blank sealing scroll and motioned Raine to pass the bag over. Raine continued looking at Naruto and the scroll suspiciously.

 

“The weight will still be the same.”

 

Naruto shook his head.

 

“They'll only weight as much as the ink taken to seal them. I'm not going into a long explanation as to how sealing works, but it does. I have about quarter of a ton of items sealed on scrolls fit into this pouch. Even I would be crushed under that weight, mana aid or not. Don't believe me, then check for yourself.”

 

Naruto unclipped the pouch and chucked it at Raine, who shot out her hands, preparing for some ungodly weight to crush her, but finding it weighed at most 5 kilograms. She stared at it in disbelief, and then back up at Naruto.

 

“This shouldn't be possible.”

 

Naruto smirked as he remembered something Gaara had told him about when Sasuke first betrayed Konoha.

 

“Without mana, I can't do much. With it, there is nothing I can't do.”

 

Colette got stars in her eyes, obviously off with the fairies again.

 

“Wow, so can you create water from nothing?”

 

Naruto looked at Colette, wondering if she would ever get a clue.

 

“You can't create something from nothing, nor can you turn something into nothing. You can change it, but not create or destroy. That's what's called a universal law. That will never change. Still, give me enough mana and the knowledge of how to do it, and I can drown this planet in it. I'd most likely die from channelling that much mana through my body, but it'd get the job done.”

 

Naruto took Raine's objects and laid them out on the sand, before looking up at Raine.

 

“Do you want them sealed in the same seal, or separately? The only difference is, if they're all in one seal, when you want it back, you'll get all of them instead of just one.”

 

Raine nodded slowly.

 

“Separately if possible please.”

 

Naruto nodded and rolled the scroll out further before focusing some chakra and slamming his palm on the ground.

 

“Artefact Sealing Method!”

 

Chaka began working it's way out of the seals and engulfing each one of the artefacts, which disappeared and reappeared inside the seals. All of the seals glowed gold for a second before the Kanji for artefact appeared inside each one. Naruto stood up and rolled the scroll back up with practiced ease, tying it up and chucking it to Raine, who caught it and checked it over. Naruto looked up at her and explained the basics.

 

“If you want to retrieve an item, just touch the Kanji for the item you want and pump a little bit of mana into it. For now, let's get moving.”

 

Lloyd pumped his fist, showing his enthusiasm.

 

“Alright! Now things are getting interesting!”

 

Genis snorted and followed Naruto towards the gates.

 

“You're always excited when we do something new…”

 

Kratos sighed and followed Naruto.

 

“I hope you'll be able to maintain that enthusiasm…”

 

All of them agreed with that and walked out of the front gates of the desert town, heading towards the ruins of fire where the seal was located.

 

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

 

Midday, Seal of Fire:

 

Naruto walked up to the obsidian columns that poked haphazardly out of the sand, checking them and seeing many strange runes carved into them. Lloyd stumbled up to Naruto's side, sweating like there was no tomorrow.

 

“Oh man, I am sick of this desert…”

 

Naruto looked back at Lloyd, seeing him leaning up against a column.

 

“You probably should have paced yourself. Those thick clothes aren't helping much either.”

 

Noishe came up beside Lloyd and whined, backing up before running off.

 

“Noishe? Noishe? Where are you going?”

 

Kratos came up beside them and took a glance back at the retreating Noishe.

 

“I would assume he is afraid of the monsters. I don't think it would be a good idea to count on Noishe in these types of situations.”

 

Noishe showed no signs of stopping or slowing down, making Lloyd grumble.

 

“Damn, he's run off again…”

 

Kratos looked over the group of semi weary travellers and sighed.

 

“This is going to be a nuisance…”

 

Lloyd looked up at Kratos.

 

“What was that?”

 

Kratos shook his head quickly, focusing on the situation at hand.

 

“Nothing. Anyway, it would be wise to cover each other's backs from here on.”

 

Colette smiled and tilted her head to the side.

 

“Are you talking about self defence training?”

 

Kratos nodded.

 

“Something like that. Naruto, despite your level of experience, it would be wise to learn as well.”

 

They looked at Naruto who had his back to them.

 

“Kratos, let me show you something.”

 

Naruto pulled out a kunai and pulled up his sleave, making a somewhat deep cut. Colette gasped.

 

“Naruto! Why are you-“

 

Everyone stopped when they saw steam rise off the wound, as it began to heal fast enough for them to see. Naruto looked at them.

 

“I'm not sure of the top limits of my self healing abilities, but I know I can heal things that anyone else would die instantly from.”

 

Raine looked at Naruto deadpanned.

 

“Really?”

 

Naruto nodded.

 

“Trust me; a broken neck hurts a hell of a lot.”

 

Everyone's mouths dropped open as Naruto sighed, shaking his head.

 

“The ability to do that is directly connected to my past. Don't ask.”

 

They slowly nodded and turned back to Kratos, who began going over the basics for a form of short lived mana barrier that deflected most weak to moderate strength attacks. After they had learnt, Lloyd smiled widely.

 

“I really don't get it, but I feel stronger.”

 

Naruto smirked as Genis sighed, shaking his head.

 

“I think you're just imagining things, Lloyd.”

 

“Not necessarily.”

 

Everyone looked at Naruto, waiting for his explanation.

 

“Technically, Lloyd has gotten stronger by learning that, however, that strength will only come when he learns when to use it to maximum effect. A spell used incorrectly or at the wrong time is a spell wasted.”

 

They nodded in agreement as they followed Naruto up the path to the raised alter. In the middle of it was a polished black slab of stone, while to the left was a raised pedestal that had an inscription on in. Naruto looked over the pedestal with interest.

 

“I've never seen this language before…”

 

Raine came up to Naruto's side and nodded.

 

“It's in the angelic language. It reads `Oracle Stone'. These stones were made to identify the chosen. Colette, place your hand here. It should allow is to enter the seal.”

 

Naruto stepped away and let Colette place her hand on it. The black slab grinded into the wall to reveal a staircase leading down into the earth. A hot wind was washing out of it that put the desert to shame. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he felt an unfamiliar feeling wash over him.

 

“Why am I getting the sudden urge to burn everything in sight…”

 

They looked at Naruto.

 

“What was that, Naruto?”

 

Naruto walked to the top of the staircase.

 

“I want to try something. Whatever you do, stay behind me.”

 

They nodded as Naruto walked down the stairwell, with them close behind. Once Naruto got to the bottom, he stopped. The hallway was absolutely massive, stretching almost all the way back up to the surface, while maintaining a width of at least 35 meters. There were crumbling columns everywhere, as well as the occasionally monster.

 

“Ok, stay back.”

 

Naruto found he didn't even have to form hand seals for his jutsu. It just came naturally to him.

 

“Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!”

 

Naruto breathed a massive ball of fire out of his mouth that quickly increased in size to engulf the entire corridor. It roared down the hallway, incinerating and melting everything in its path. Not even the piles of rubble were speared from the fiery death, as they turned into molten slag. Everyone stared in horror while Naruto was wide eyed at what he had just done.

 

“I can't even make one that big on the best of days with 5 times as much mana as I used then, let alone not do any hand seals for it…”

 

Naruto got another idea and stared concentrating on producing a Fuuton jutsu. He found it took four times more chakra to do as if he had tried it outside, as well as a lot more hand seals. Eventually, he got the jutsu to work.

 

“Fuuton: Daitoppa!”

 

Naruto breathed out a moderately strong gust of wind that blew out the remaining fires and semi hardened the molten rock. Naruto smirked.

 

“So that's how it is…”

 

Everyone turned to Naruto for an explanation.

 

“This is the seal of fire. Fire type spells and jutsus require no concentration to produce, and produce far more for less mana. However, wind, which shares a symbolic relationship with water, fire's opposing force is hampered, meaning we have to spend far more mana and take longer to cast it than normal.”

 

Raine shook her head in disagreement.

 

“Actually, ice is fire's polar opposite.”

 

Naruto shook his head.

 

“Ice is a minor element. It's no where near as powerful as the five majors, which are Fire, Earth, Wind, Water and Lightning. All other elements are made from a mixture of those five. For example, Ice is made by mixing wind with water. Wood is made by mixing earth and water, while others like Light are made from mixing lightning and wind and Shadow is made by mixing fire and earth. If you don't believe me, try casting a water spell in here and tell me how far you get.”

 

Raine became enraptured with Naruto's view of the elements and began firing off rapid counter arguments, making everyone but Naruto and Kratos back away from her. Kratos withdrew his sword and pointed down the hall.

 

“It seems your little experiment has brought this whole place onto us, Naruto.”

 

Birds made of fire, strange lumps of flaming rock and other assorted monsters were crowding into the hall to see what had happened. Naruto flicked open one of his jacket scroll pouches and got his lance ready.

 

“We'll just have to fix that then, won't we?”

 

Lloyd looked at Naruto with a none too subtle look of fear coming over his face.

 

“Naruto! Can't you just use another fire ball or something to get rid of them?”

 

Naruto shook his head.

 

“I could, but it seems that just spawns more of them.”

 

Naruto pointed forward where they could see the few monsters charred remains morphing and splitting apart to form twice as many that were present before.

 

“Let's go!”

 

They all nodded and charged forward, led by Naruto to start dealing with the hoards of monsters. Although the monsters were of moderate strength, there were countless lots of them. Naruto looked at Genis and Raine over his shoulder.

 

“Genis! Raine! I need you two to provide long range support! Use anything but fire or earth based spells!”

 

Both of them nodded and started powering up some spells. By the looks of it, Raine was creating a holy type while Genis was doing a wind type. Naruto looked at Colette.

 

“Colette, can you provide us with mid range support?”

 

Colette looked dumbfounded for a second, but nodded.

 

“Sure, Naruto.”

 

Naruto smiled and jumped into the air, bringing his lance to bear against a one eyed humanoid monster that seemed to be made of semi solid magma, carrying a sword of fire. The monster was slow, but very powerful. The blow it unleashed with it's sword against Naruto would have probably severed the top half of his body if he didn't use chakra to reinforce his hold on his lance. Kratos took the advantage of its slow movement and delivered a savage slice to its upper chest, making it bleed lava and let out a roar that sounded more like an explosion than an animal howling in pain. Naruto finished it by carving its head off, making it burst into flames, leaving behind the golden handle of the sword which clattered to the ground. Lloyd was quickly being surrounded by others and backed against the wall. Naruto saw this and charged forward, trying to give Lloyd an opening to get out. Kratos was busy with his own set when Colette came to Lloyd's rescue, cleaving two magma rocks in half with her twin chakrams. Lloyd nodded at Colette in thanks and took the small opening to get out. Raine chose that moment to finish her spell.

 

“Photon!”

 

Naruto saw one monster being surrounded by a sphere of yellow runes that closed inwards and exploded outwards again, injuring several monsters around it. The one in the middle had no chance of survival, but Naruto saw that the monsters next to it were bleeding magma out of their wounds which hardened into new skin. Once that had completed, the monsters began attacking as if they were never hurt. Naruto called out to everyone.

 

“If we don't make sure they're dead, they will heal using the seal's power! Don't move on until you're sure it's dead!”

 

All of them acknowledged as Lloyd used a Sonic Thrust to skewer one of the fire birds through the head and out the back, making it stiffen and then drop to the floor, leaving behind its gold leg bands. Genis then announced his spell.

 

“Alright! Air Thrust!”

 

A much more powerful version of Genis' Wind Blade started ripping through several of the monsters. Lloyd smirked and took advantage of the momentary confusion to launch his own attack.

 

“Demon Fang!”

 

An aura of mana appeared on one of Lloyd's swords as he unleashed it, sending a roughly human sized arc of mana straight towards an enemy, watching it being ripped to shreds as well as the one behind it. Naruto started focusing his chakra into his weapon and used mana to jump upwards and somersault in the air, bringing his lance down at an angle.

 

“Pile Driver!”

 

Naruto's lance impacted the ground, sending up rock chunks that impacted the nearest monsters while a shockwave of chakra took care of several more. The problem was, more monsters were coming through the doorway ahead and the corridors to the left and right. Genis called out as he started another spell.

 

“There's too many of them!”

 

Naruto sighed and jumped back to give himself some room. At this rate, they would be overrun and die. Forming a very familiar hand seal and gathering a massive amount of chakra around himself making everyone and everything in the room stop and look at him, he announced his jutsu.

 

“Tajyuu…”

 

The entire corridor was covered in smoke that made everyone cough who breathed it in. However, when it cleared, they looked speechlessly at the at least one thousand Naruto clones that were absolutely everywhere. On the floor, the walls and the ceiling. The real Naruto finished the jutsu name.

 

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.”

 

The real Naruto pointed at the monsters.

 

“If you want to increase your numbers, then so can we! Get em boys!”

 

The Naruto clones let out a deafening battle cry and charged in, resorting to overwhelming them with numbers and probably suffocating them at the same time. The clones jumped back and pulled out a shuriken each.

 

“Try and dodge this! Shihou Hapou Shuriken!”

 

Like the name suggested, a veritable wall of black metal closed in completely destroying half of them before the clones jumped back and began the next one.

 

“Next! U-“

 

A group of clones kicked several of the remaining monsters up into the air.

 

“-Zu-“

 

Another clone for each monster kicked them further up.

 

“-Ma-“

 

The process was repeated again.

 

“Ki-“

 

The entire army of clones converged on them.

 

“Naruto Nisen Rendan!”

 

The clones gave a punch to each of the air borne monsters, making them disintegrate. There was a perfect number of monsters left to do the one Naruto never got to finish.

 

“Now we'll finish you off with a 4000 hit combo usingour feet!”

 

Naruto and his clones came in, feet first.

 

“NARUTO YONSEN RENDAN!”

 

The remaining monsters were completely destroyed, leaving a group of very happy Naruto and a bunch of floored people. Naruto called out to his clones.

 

“Thanks for your help guys! I might call you out again later!”

 

One clone looked at the real Naruto.

 

“What do you mean call us out again? Haven't we done enough yet?”

 

Another smirked.

 

“At least I have talent, unlike you guys! Did you see mine? That was so awesome!”

 

“What do you mean, `at least you have talent'? You are us! And anyway, yours was nothing compared to mine!”

 

The clones began a mass argument, making the real Naruto sigh.

 

“Sometimes, I regret giving them personalities…”

 

Naruto looked up at them.

 

“You lot! I'm going to need my chakra back! And now!”

 

The clones grumbled, but dispelled themselves, making Naruto slump for a second.

 

“Oh man, that's soooooo tiring….”

 

Naruto was aware of the others staring at him. He looked up smiling sheepishly.

 

“I didn't earn the name on the field, `one man army' for nothing….”

 

Lloyd whistled.

 

“Now that's a combo… what was it, 2000 plus 2000… Uh, it was a lot!”

 

Genis sighed, shaking his head.

 

“It was an 8000 hit combo, Lloyd. I would ask where you learnt that spell, Naruto, but that's part of your past, right?”

 

Naruto nodded as he took out a soldier pill and bit down on it several times and swallowed, feeling his chakra levels come back up to normal. He looked up at them, seeing them bursting to know about it.

 

“I can tell you about the jutsu itself, but not anything else.”

 

Naruto sighed and gave a brief explanation that didn't involve heavy psychology and telepathic linking.

 

“That was a rather large scale version of Kage Bunshin. A Kage Bunshin is a real clone instead of just an illusion that is capable of using their own spells. Usually, I just use them for Taijutsu, as each clone I make I have to share my mana with, meaning that when I dispel them, I get everything back from them they got since they were created, meaning thoughts, knowledge, experiences, and also whatever mana is left over. And yes, that means with 365 of them, I can learn something that it would take a single person an entire year to do so in one day. However, at the end, I'd be very, very tired, possibly even dead if it was strenuous enough.”

 

Everyone took this in when Colette smiled, stars in her eyes yet again.

 

“Wow, so since you just created 2000 clones, you really did all those cool moves by yourself?”

 

Everyone sweat dropped as Naruto answered.

 

“Technically, yes, but at the same time, technically no. I have the memories and the exhaustion as if I did do it all by myself, but it also wasn't me who did every single one of those attacks. Anyway, the theory behind Kage Bunshin is confusing at the best of times, so let's pick up the things we can use or sell and just get on with this.”

 

Kratos agreed, still somewhat shaken by Naruto's new jutsu.

 

“Indeed.”

 

All of them set out to gathering the multitude of pieces of gold and other precious objects, having Naruto seal them and pocket the scrolls. Once they had combed the area, they walked to the end of the corridor where it split off forward, left and right. Through the door in front of them there was a room filled with lava and stone structures. To the left and right, the corridors stretched around the corners, probably leading to other entrances to the room in front of them. Naruto thought about the possibilities before indicating to the left.

 

“Let's try to the left first.”

 

They nodded and followed Naruto around the deserted corridor. When they got to the end, they saw part of the ceiling had collapsed and formed a mound against the wall. Part of the mound was very different to the rest, making Naruto take a look. He pushed the rocks on top of the object off to reveal a yellow gel, which he picked up. Lloyd smiled at the new prize.

 

“Wow a Lemon Gel! Those things are really rare around here!”

 

Naruto pocketed the bottle of Lemon Gel and saw a door to his left, and the others' right. It did indeed lead into the same room as the centre doorway. They walked through and winced at the searing heat. Far above their heads, they could see in the middle of the room on one of the platforms a blue light. Lloyd had an idea and walked towards the wall.

 

“We can use our training to walk up these!”

 

Naruto shook his head.

 

“Lloyd, I'd love for you to do it, but look what's directly below the wall.”

 

Lloyd looked over the edge to see churning bubbling lava and stepped backwards.

 

“Good point…”

 

Naruto jumped upwards and landed on the wall with his feet, starting to walk upwards until he reached the top. Genis noticed something on the wall to the side.

 

“What's this?”

 

Everyone turned to see some sort of unlit hearth in the wall. Looking around, they could see several others dotted around the room. Raine began recounting the legend of Efreet.

 

“Efreet, the Summon Spirit of Fire was said to have demolished this ancient city thousands of years ago with his raging infernos. These hearths might be connected to Efreet. Lloyd, try using the Sorcerer's Ring on it.”

 

Lloyd nodded and pointed the ring at the hearth. The small fireball sprang out and the hearth instantly lit up when the fireball hit it. There was a rumbling sound and one of the lower stone platforms began rising up, grinding against the others on either side of it until it became level with Naruto, who had just reached the top of the wall. Kratos called up to Naruto.

 

“Can you see anything from up there?”

 

Naruto looked around and called back down.

 

“There are a whole lot of what I think are storage boxes as well as something in the middle of the room. It looks like some kind of machine that emits a blue ring of light.”

 

Raine nodded.

 

“That would be the way into the central part of the seal.”

 

Naruto looked at them and then at the boxes.

 

“I'm going to open the boxes and see what's inside them. I'll be back in a moment.”

 

Kratos' eyes widened as Naruto took a flying leap to the platform next to him, unclasping the box's lock and flipping it open to reveal a rather short sword. He took it out and looked over it and shrugged before heading to the next one. Inside, there was a pair of wind elemental swords, much to his shock. They were of slightly better quality than Lloyd's current ones. Searching the rest of the boxes revealed several other bottles of some potions or another, as well as a staff. Naruto came back and called over the side to them.

 

“I've got everything. Kratos, there's a sword here you might want. Lloyd, there's a pair of better swords and Raine, there's a staff here. I have no idea who would leave these things lying around, but I'd say they've been here for quite some time.”

 

Naruto started walking down the wall and jumped the last part of the way onto the platform they were on. He placed the objects on the ground, making Lloyd scratch the back of his head nervously.

 

“Isn't this stealing?”

 

Naruto smirked.

 

“These items are older than most of us are by quite a few centuries. Somehow, I don't think their owners are going to be complaining all that much, especially considering where they left them…”

 

They nodded and picked up the items, checking them before thinking about what to do with there old ones. Naruto chuckled.

 

“Seals; can't live without them.”

 

Naruto took everyone's older items and sealed them in a scroll which he pocketed. Naruto looked at them and had an idea.

 

“I wonder if regular fire would work on the hearths…”

 

No one said anything, so Naruto saw another one close by and launched a single small ball of fire at it, causing it to flare to life and another platform to rise. Naruto smiled and formed the hand seal for Kage Bunshin.

 

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.”

 

Three clones appeared and nodded at each other before disappearing and reappearing near a hearth, lighting them up. Every stone platform that was below `ground' level began rising, creating an intricate connecting path of stone catwalks. Naruto dispelled his Kage Bunshins and came back to the others, seeing a path that led from their level upwards to the top. Raine smiled.

 

“You sure know how to make things easier, don't you Naruto?”

 

Naruto nodded and smiled, leading them upwards in a roughly square pattern which ended at the centre platform. Naruto stopped and took a look around before stepping onto it and to his surprise, his vision began fading and reappearing in another place, giving him vision of two places at once. The view of his friends quickly faded and he was able to focus on the new room. He stepped off the spinning blue pad and his friends followed behind him. Lloyd shook his head trying to fight off the weird sensation.

 

“I'll never get used to that…”

 

Everyone walked forward to the Seal of Fire, which suddenly began hissing and a column of flame shot upwards, making everyone fall backwards. The room flashed red, making the party shield their eyes. When they opened them, they saw three beasts which they could only assume were some kind of heavily modified canines. The middle one, which was the largest of the three and the most powerful was the most canine looking, while the other two looked like they had their midsection cut out and the tails glued back on right behind their front legs. Both of the smaller ones were currently floating in the air. All of them had manes of glass spikes. However, the most startling thing about them was not just that they were drooling lava, but their entire bodies were made of molten rock that continually pulsed in a slow steady heartbeat like rhythm. The centre one roared, shaking the entire room with the volume and began charging at them with its two cronies not far behind. Naruto charged forward and attempted to see just how strong these things were. Lloyd was right beside them as they used their weapons to make a massive gash down each side of the main one. It grunted and magma oozed out of the wounds, instantly solidifying. It charged forward while the two smaller ones went for Naruto and Lloyd. Lloyd looked at it in disbelief.

 

“What? I know I killed it!”

 

Naruto shook his head, dodging to the side as the one going after him spat a massive ball of fire at him.

 

“Doesn't matter! Next time, try and cut off the head!”

 

Lloyd nodded and dodged to the side as the one going for him lowered its head and shot a number of its glass quills at him. The quills hit the wall and shattered into a shower of deadly glass fragments. The ones it had shot regenerated very quickly. Once it had, it charged straight at Lloyd and tried clawing him with its two clawed talons. Lloyd blocked with the flat of his blades. Naruto chanced a look back at the main group to see that Kratos was already bleeding on the left shoulder from a claw mark, while Genis was had been scratched by the glass quills in several places. Naruto's mark took this as a chance and came in, snapping its huge molten jaws at Naruto. Naruto just managed to give it a smack to the bridge of the nose with his lance tip and backed away. However, he felt a massive source of mana coming from the big one, and saw him making the ground around the others explode into a dome of fire. Lloyd called out to the others.

 

“Guys! Hang on!”

 

Naruto jumped back again and hurled the lance straight into the monster's forehead, making it howl and thrash around. This gave Naruto the opportunity he needed to power up his jutsu. Naruto could see that the others were burnt, but alive as they fell to the ground. Kratos and Raine began healing the others until they felt Naruto's mana spiking very high. They turned to see mana spinning in his hand.

 

“Stage one…”

 

Next, the mana increased in volume, turning into a rough spherical shape.

 

“Stage two…”

 

The monster was clawing at its head, trying to get the lance out but having little success. Naruto looked at Lloyd.

 

“Lloyd, finish mine off! I'm going for yours!”

 

Lloyd nodded and charged, gathering mana into his feet like Naruto had trained him and jumping up into the air, doing multiple somersaults and holding his blades above his head as he curled up, turning into a spinning wheel of green and red death.

 

“Tempest!”

 

Lloyd's swords cut straight through the beast's neck, severing it from the body and making it burst into flames, leaving nothing but Naruto's lance. Naruto formed the next level of his jutsu, forming a perfect sphere.

 

“Stage three!”

 

Naruto charged at the other one and shoved his jutsu into the side and let it go.

 

“RASENGAN!”

 

The ball exploded outwards as the beast roared in pain before being engulfed in a blue-white ball of light and blasted across the room, ripping up the ground underneath it before slamming into the wall and exploding, leaving nothing behind. The main monster snarled and lowered its head, preparing to launch its glass spines at the still prone group. Naruto ripped off his flak jacket and threw it to the ground, where it created a decent sized crater. Naruto disappeared and got his lance, disappearing again before falling down on top of the beast and driving the lance through its neck making it howl in pain and stumble. However, this movement caused the glass spines to impale Naruto straight through, making everyone stare in disbelief as he dropped off, letting go of his lance and hitting the ground, staying still. Everyone stayed still for a moment, but for different reasons. The beast was still in a horrendous amount of pain, while the others were staring at their now dead comrade. The monster righted itself slowly and turned to look towards the one who had caused it so much pain. It snarled and charged at Naruto, intending to eat his corpse when Naruto exploded, sending rock and dirt everywhere. The monster copped it full in the face, being blinded in one eye and having several teeth destroyed. It howled again but was cut off when it felt three blades pierce its neck, two long ones and a single shorter one. When the dust cleared, Lloyd and Kratos had impaled the beast through the neck. The beast gurgled and toppled over sideways before catching alight and turning into nothing but several items that were on the floor where its stomach should have been. They looked around to see Naruto checking where the other two monsters had died, picking up several things, including his jacket and pocketing or putting them on before walking over to them. He saw their bewildered expressions and he smiled.

 

“Sorry about that, but I managed to create a Kage Bunshin and replace myself with it just in time. I had it blow up to provide you with some cover to finish it off.”

 

Raine looked at the crater where Naruto's jacket had landed and then back at him.

 

“Naruto, how much does your jacket weigh?”

 

Naruto shrugged.

 

“About 200 kilograms.”

 

Every single person beside Naruto and Colette, including Kratos face faulted. Genis looked up from his position on the ground at Naruto and stared at it in disbelief.

 

“There's no way it could weigh that much! You'd be dead!”

 

Naruto sighed and pulled it off, placing it lightly on the ground.

 

“Don't believe me, then try lifting it.”

 

Lloyd got up and gave it a tug, not even making it budge.

 

“Ugh! What the hell is this! Why would you wear something like this? It's stupid!”

 

Kratos shook his head.

 

“Weight training is a very old fashioned, but effective method of increasing one's speed and stamina. It relies on the fact that you wear the weights almost constantly to get your body slowly used to the new weight. The result is said to be a dramatic increase in power and speed when the weights are taken off. However, I have never heard of anything over 75 kilograms being worn constantly. I assume you are using mana to support yourself?”

 

Naruto shook his head.

 

“No. I worked my way up from a total of 15 kilos to this over 2 years. For a ninja, a lot can happen in two years.”

 

Kratos nodded in agreement.

“That also hold true for other full time fighters, such as mercenaries.”

 

Naruto pulled the jacket back on and started healing the parties remaining injuries with the help of Kratos and Raine. Finally, they stood up and walked over to the seal. It seemed to be surrounded by a ring of metal, from which four partially raised lines of metal shot out, filling the entire raised platform in the direction they went. In the middle was a pool of fiery mana. Once there, they heard a voice from all around them.

“Chosen, offer your prayers at the altar.”

 

Colette nodded and stepped forward.

 

“Yes my Lord. O great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength.”

 

They watched as jets of steam shot out of the middle circle. The jets stopped and the middle circle raised up and rotated as the fiery mana filled the enclosed cage. Naruto could have sworn he caught a glimpse of some sort of being inside for a second before it vanished, leaving behind a floating red mass of mana. The ceiling lit up with a sparkling golden light, which condensed into a ball that came to midway between the ceiling and floor before flashing to reveal a man in very formal green robes and a hat of the same colour. What startled Naruto the most was the flowing white wings he had attached to his shoulder blades. Genis smirked at Naruto.

 

“See, told you angels were real.”

 

Naruto said nothing, but looked at this `angel' carefully. The angel looked at Colette, smiling slightly.

 

“Colette, my dear daughter, you have done well to reach this far. You have defeated the seal's guardian and broken the seal. Efreet will surely awaken soon. We of Cruxis hereby bless this event, and bestow upon you the power of the angels. However, the transformation is not without pain, yet it is but for one night. Hold strong, and endure.”

 

Naruto looked between this angel and Colette. Something was definitely not right here, but he could not work out what. Four orbs of light, coloured red, blue white and green came down from the ceiling and struck Colette, entering her body with a red flash of light. When it cleared, Colette's back began sparkling before a pair of intricate pink and slightly purple mana wings shot out of her back, making everyone look at her in astonishment. However, Naruto was remembering something very different, his fight with Sasuke and how his wings sprouted. Naruto involuntarily shuddered, which was caught only by Kratos and Remiel. Remiel smiled at Colette and started rising towards the roof.

 

“The next seal lies far to the east, across the sea. We shall meet again there, Colette. Do not disappoint me.”

 

Colette nodded.

 

“Yes father.”

 

The angel disappeared, leaving behind a trail of golden feathers that floated slowly to the ground. Naruto turned back and began walking towards the pad that brought them in here. Everyone looked at Naruto's retreating back when Lloyd called out to him.

 

“Naruto? Are you alright?”

 

Naruto sighed and nodded.

 

“Colette's wings reminded me of something. We have to increase our pace.”

 

No one really understood why Naruto was suddenly so cold, but Kratos intervened.

 

“Judging by the way he reacted to Colette's wings manifesting, I would say that it strikes a raw nerve with him. As to why, I do not know. It would be best however, to follow Naruto's advice and leave. There's no telling what might happen here now that Efreet has begun to awaken.”

 

They nodded as Colette made her wings disappear and they followed Naruto out of the seal room, and back towards the surface.

 

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

 

A/N: For those of you who are going to say Naruto's too powerful, I don't care. Naruto's 19 now. I don't care if you think he's too weak for exploding Kage Bunshins, because those who do either don't have a brain or don't use it the way it should be used. For those of you wondering about the first meeting with Sheena, it's coming soon. That's all I'll say.

 

Ja na,

 

Specula.