Abhi Namikaze
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*Tell me what you guys think. I don't have time to update much but I want to see if you guys like it or not.*
Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens
Chapter One: Awakening
o.0.O.O.0.o —
Naruto rubbed his aching head as he came to, climbing to his feet shakily, "What—?"
The memory came back in a flash, distorted by a distinct crimson haze.
"Hmm," the Grass shinobi mused quietly, Naruto in her grasp. "It seems the Kyûbi brat is still alive. Oh!"
The ninja looked amused as she studied the intricate seal on the boy's stomach, "When you use the beast's Chakra, the seal becomes visible."
The Kusagakure kunoichi moved her right hand behind herself, a mini purple fire lighting up on each fingertip. Naruto thrashed in her grasp, trying desperately to free himself. The ninja's amazingly long tongue, however, would not relinquish him from its grasp.
"Hey!" he shouted, wriggling as much as the foreign appendage would allow. "Let me go!"
The super powerful Grass ninja, who was actually Orochimaru in disguise, thrust his flaming fingers into Naruto's unprotected abdomen, crying, "Gogyo Fuin!"
Naruto's face contorted into a silent scream as the Hebi Sennin's agile digits dug into his stomach, clenching around the soft flesh. The red bled from his irises as the Kyūbi's Chakra disappeared, returning his eyes to their natural blue. His canine teeth shrunk to their original size and his nails were once more blunt and soft. Then, without warning, the blonde boy slumped, unconscious.
"Ugh," he groaned softly. "What did that snake freak do to me?"
He looked around, his expression dazed, "Where—?"
Frozen tundra is what he saw, with snowy banks that stretched for miles, far beyond his human line of sight. Several trees, barren of any sign of life and covered by a thick layer of ice, littered the rolling slopes. Something soft and small landed on his nose, quickly melting into water as it dribbled down his face.
He reached out, catching petite, white fuzz in his palm. It was snowing, he realized, though with the blankets of the stuff that covered the ground, it was difficult to distinguish the tiny flakes falling from the sky. The slate gray clouds didn't make it any easier, either, as they blocked out the sun and left only a miniscule bit of light for him to see with.
Despite the abominable weather, however, he didn't feel cold at all.
His eyes widened, surprise and confusion in their sapphire depths, "Where am I?"
Last he remembered, he'd been in the Forest of Death during the second part of the Chûnin Selection Exams and he had fought against an impossibly strong Kusagakure ninja. He had been surrounded by trees and roots, each of which was easily three times the size of normal foliage.
So where was he now? The only place that had snow, according to what he'd been taught, was the frigid Yuki no Kuni, the Land of Snow. Even Yuki no Kuni, however, had never been reported to have trees covered in ice. If he wasn't in the Land of Snow, one of the only places that suffered through winter, then where could he be?
'On this plain of never-ending ice and snow,' the blonde thought in a rare philosophical moment, "did I die?"
"So," a deep voice, like the rolling thunder, spoke. Nearly jumping out of his skin, Naruto turned at near light speed, coming face to face with a huge blue dragon, "you're finally here."
Its scales were smooth and slick and reflected the miniscule light perfectly, which gave them an ice-like shine. Atop its head was a crown of spikes, each of which jutted backwards like shards of broken glass. Its nostrils were thin and narrow, almost serpentine, but its breath did not leave clouds of condensation behind.
"Tell me. Can you hear my name?" the dragon moved closer, its glowing red eyes boring into his own, "Can you call out to me, to Hyôrinmaru?"
"Is that you?" Naruto asked, voice low and quavering with fear and awe. His eyes were wide and his breathing came out in shaky rasps. His heart thumped loudly. "Are you Hyôrinmaru?"
The dragon seemed to grin, baring two rows of shiny, carnivorous teeth, "So, you can hear."
A burst of warm breath came from its nostrils, "After years of having your ears plugged by the Nine-tailed Fox, you can finally hear me."
"The fox?" Naruto parroted, his features quickly contorting into rage. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Do not be so quick to hate, child," a second burst of breath came, knocking Naruto off his feet. He fell on his butt with a soft grunt. "If it were not for that beast, you would likely have failed to survive your rough childhood. Blocked me from you, he may have, but kept you alive, he did, even if it was in self-interest."
"What?" Naruto looked shocked. "But how?"
"He protected you when I could not," the dragon responded. "He healed you when others would have waned away into nothing. He soothed you when sleep would not come to your young mind."
"But that was all his fault to begin with!" Naruto protested loudly. "If he hadn't attacked Konoha, then he wouldn't have gotten his fuzzy butt sealed, and I would have had a normal life!"
"Do not be so quick to judge," Hyôrinmaru purred. "The fault of the Nine-tails' attack lies in the Uchiha and their accursed bloodline. The one called Madara…"
The dragon's eyes flashed, "Were it not for that evil man, the beast would not be where he is."
Naruto looked confused, "What does the Uchiha clan—?"
"That, I cannot answer," the serpentine beast interrupted, anticipating his question. "I only know what information I can glean from the beast and his mutterings."
"Oh," Naruto said lamely. He glanced around, somewhat unnerved by the dragon's unblinking stare. "So…what are you?"
There was huff from the creature in front of him, almost like an amused chuckle, but Naruto dared not imagine he was right. Despite this, the dragon's tone was serious when it responded, "I am the piece of your soul dedicated to fighting. I am the part of you that never gives up, even when your body is frail and defeated."
There was something powerful in the beast's voice as it continued, its pitch rising, "I am the Wrath of Heaven, the instrument with which you slay your foes. I am the lord of ice and snow, the master of all things water! I am the frigid bite of death! I am your sword and your shield, and I shall protect you until the bitter end!" — its voice rose to a roar — "I am HYÔRINMARU!"
It bowed its head submissively, startling Naruto with the foreign gesture, "Now command me, and raze your enemies to the ground!"
A sudden feeling of power rushed through his body, and he felt like he could do anything, beat anyone, and overcome any obstacle. It was like molten lava flowing through his veins and with nothing but confidence, he reached out to touch the spiked crown of Hyôrinmaru's head.
The strange world disappeared in a flash of bright light.
o.0.O.O.0.o —
Naruto woke with a gasp, his head aching and his stomach sore. It felt as though he'd been run through with a katana, as though the metal had pierced the flesh of his belly and been left there to bleed him out.
"…ha!" there was a loud thud, as of meat hitting the ground. Sakura's voice cried out in a soft shout, a vicious crack renting the air; a crack like that of bones breaking, shattered by the blunt force of the unforgiving earth. Naruto's mind was hazy, as though clouded by a thick fog he had no way of escaping.
'Ugh. What's that noise?'
"Kin, out of the way!" the words were thick and seemed shrouded in a heavy mist. A blast of wind leapt to life, sprinkling his body with a cool breeze. There were three sharp clunks and a soft explosion sound, one that Naruto recognized as belonging to a Kawarimi.
'It's so noisy! God, my head is pounding.' His skull pulsed with pain, as if someone had drilled several holes in his head. He let out a soft hiss through his teeth.
"…useless!" Another rush of wind, this time closer than before, showered him with harsh air that whipped his skin raw. His ears twitched at the dark scoff that followed.
'Shut up! You're so annoying!'
"…you're not fooling anyone!" Three more thunks, followed once more by the soft explosion of the Body Replacement Technique. Naruto's brow furrowed in annoyance, his lips twisted into a scowl.
'Shut up! One more time, and I'll…!'
"...get serious!" another thud, this time heavier, followed by a surprised gasp and the smell of blood leaking from fresh wounds. There was a muffled cry of pain, feminine in nature, and several loud whacks as someone hit something repeatedly. Then, a thud as something or someone was thrown bodily to the ground.
'That's it! THAT'S IT! Someone's gonna die!'
Blue eyes snapped open, a harsh voice whispering, "No more Mister Nice Guy."
He stood in one fluid motion, fingers wrapping around the hilt of a sword that he'd never had before, but one that sent a satisfied rush through his veins. The world halted before his frigid gaze, his sapphire eyes sweeping the forest around him, narrowed in cold fury he'd never felt before. His grasp on his sword tightened.
"Naru…to," Sakura whispered dully from her spot on the ground, one eye already swelling shut. She looked surprised to see him, like he was some phantom specter back from the dead.
"What the?" the ninja with spiky black hair asked confusedly. "Weren't you out cold a few seconds ago?"
Naruto focused his icy gaze on the Sound Genin, words tumbling past his lips before he knew what he was saying, "Sôten ni zase, Hyôrinmaru." (Sit upon the Frozen Heavens, Ice Ring)
Everyone waited for something to happen, but nothing did, and the spiky haired Genin smirked, a cocky gleam in his eye. He scoffed, "Was something supposed to happen?"
"Zaku!" the bandaged one scolded, wary of this new opponent. This was not the Uzumaki Naruto they had been told to expect.
In a blur, Naruto had moved to stand in front of the one identified as Zaku, already in mid swing. Startled, Zaku stumbled backwards in a clumsy effort to dodge. Steel glinted and several locks of black hair fell to the ground as the Sound Genin landed on his butt. Zaku, shocked at the pure speed of his enemy, could only stare.
Instantly, Naruto was upon him again, both hands grasping the hilt as his blade came down in a graceful arc. Zaku yelped, rolling backward over his shoulder only to land straight on his feet, crouched defensively. He looked like a frightened animal too scared to move.
As Naruto moved to continue his assault, Zaku channeled Chakra into his legs and leapt as far away as his enhanced limbs would allow, preparing his own attack as he went. Air compressed, Chakra funneled, and Zaku aimed, "Zankuuha!"
A gale of tightly packed wind rushed from Zaku's palms, targeting the motionless Naruto, whose icy gaze had not wavered. Zaku grinned, knowing that there was no way the blonde boy could dodge at this range.
Naruto jumped. It wasn't a small jump, like a hop, but a full-blown leap that carried him at least two dozen feet into the air, where gravity seemed to lose its hold on him as he once more swung his sword. Zaku nearly palmed his face, wondering what kind of idiot swung at nothing during a life or death battle.
From the downward arc of the blade, a winding, icy blue Japanese dragon soared, its eyes red and its jaw wide. It was headed straight for him and he was too surprised to even think of dodging. It was like something had frozen him to his spot and no matter how much he told himself to move, he couldn't.
"Zaku!" at the last second, Dosu called out his name and Zaku finally responded, vaulting from his spot as the sapphire beast closed in on him. He felt a frigid chill nick his left arm, but paid it no attention.
A gasp from his female teammate caught his attention and he looked back to where he'd previously been standing, his eyes widening. Behind him, there was a patch of ice easily a meter in diameter. The grass formed into tiny rigid spikes that he could tell would pierce straight through his sandals.
He moved his arms in an effort to push himself up, but his left one was heavy and cumbersome. He glanced down and couldn't help the gasp of air the left his lungs, a horrified glint in his eyes. His left arm, from the elbow down, was covered in a thick block of ice.
A soft thump announced Naruto landing next to him and Zaku channeled more chakra, flinging out his good arm, "Zankuuha!"
With a flick of his wrist, Naruto deflected the attack with his sword, despite how impossible such an act was. Eyebrow twitching, he spun on his heel, blocking the attack from Zaku's male teammate, Dosu. Metal clashed and sparks flew, Dosu's gauntlet pushing against Hyôrinmaru.
Ice crept from the point of contact, slowly consuming Dosu's arm in a heavy layer of crystallized water. Surprised, Dosu tried to get away, but Naruto's left hand sneaked out and locked his elbow in a grasp as strong as steel. He wriggled, but Naruto's grip was firm and unwavering.
Once the gauntlet was completely frozen over, Naruto let go of Dosu and brought his sword up as his enemy stumbled. With all of his strength, he slammed the butt of his sword's hilt into the metal glove, smashing it to pieces mercilessly.
Dosu yowled as he fell backwards, clutching at his severely injured right arm. Several scratches decorated the lacerated skin and the bone felt like it had broken at the point of impact. Spikes of pain lanced up and down the entirety of his arm, his pulse pounding against the flesh.
"Leave your scroll and go," Dosu's head jerked up at the icy intonation, his mind taking forever to process what his ears were telling him. After all of this, the broken arm and gauntlet, Zaku's frozen limb, and a show of power so unreal that he felt as though he was dreaming, this boy was letting them leave?
"Leave your scroll and go," Naruto repeated coldly, his eyes more frigid than Yuki no Kuni. Dosu could only nod dumbly. With his good arm, he reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a scroll decorated with the kanji for earth. Setting it down slowly, he motioned to his teammates silently. They left without another word.
As soon as the team of Sound Genin had vanished, Naruto picked up the scroll, turning to show it off. He grinned, displaying it proudly, "Look, Sakura-san! I got us a scroll!"
Sakura blinked, absentmindedly wondering what had happened to Sakura-chan, then nodded slowly. Questions zipped through her head at blinding speeds, leaving her to wonder just what she had witnessed not more than a minute before.
That sword, where had Naruto gotten it? She took a closer look at it. The hilt was wrapped in azure cloth and the cap at the bottom appeared to be made of some sort of bronze, or perhaps even gold. The hand guard just beneath the blade was made in the design of a four-pointed star, also appearing to be composed of gold.
The blade itself was an oddity as well. The metal gleamed with a soft silver glint that belied its true purpose and the steel appeared to be as smooth as glass. Unlike the standard ninja sword, like a kodachi or a ninjato, the blade had majestic curve to it and was quite long. It seemed to be the size of an ordinary katana, which was a big sword for someone of Naruto's stature.
She shivered. The edge was what grabbed her attention the most. She knew, without even testing it, that the blade's edge was sharp enough to cut through most targets. She almost wanted to see if it could slice a shuriken in half, just to get a more accurate judge of its abilities.
Abilities. That's the word. Even more unusual than the weapon's composition was the abilities it had revealed. She wondered if it was the actual sword or if Naruto was simply channeling Jutsu through it. After all, what blade can fire a dragon of ice at the wielder's opponent? What sword can freeze an enemy simply by contact?
Sakura jerked at the sound of scraping metal, looking over at her blond teammate. A navy blue sheath was slung over his right shoulder, tied there by a strand of iron ninja wire, and he was easing his sword into it delicately. He grinned at her and she could only smile awkwardly. That just brought up more questions.
Where had the sheath come from? Naruto hadn't been carrying it with him when the exam had started. He hadn't been carrying the sword, either. He didn't know anything about sealing weapons. So what did that leave? Where had the sword and sheath come from?
The whole thing was giving her a headache.
"Hey!" Naruto looked over as a girl jumped down from the trees, her brown hair tied up in two buns on the top of her head. Her white-eyed teammate frowned. "That's a nice sword you have."
"Yeah," Naruto chuckled. "He's great, ain't he?"
"I'll say," she whistled. "The hilt is amazing in and of itself, but the blade! I've never seen something of this quality before!"
She giggled, "So, 'he'?"
"Yeah," Naruto grinned. "His name's Hyôrinmaru. He's the best sword you'll ever see!"
"I can see that," she too grinned, "and his owner isn't anything to sneeze at either. I've seen quite a few blades, but this one is something else. I didn't know it was possible to channel Jutsu through weapons like that! Even the White Fang's sword couldn't manage something so advanced!"
She let her eyes rove over the hilt, taking in its splendor, "So, did your Jônin sensei teach you that?"
Naruto blinked, cocking his head to the side, "Teach me what?"
She resisted the urge to arch an eyebrow, "You know, that…dragon thing."
He looked her oddly. She motioned with her arms as if swinging a sword, saying, "Where you just swing and this dragon comes out and attacks your enemies?"
"Oh that," recognition lit up in Naruto's eyes. "That's Hyôrinmaru."
"But…I thought Hyôrinmaru was the sword," she stated lamely, confusedly.
"He's both," Naruto told her matter-of-factly. "He's the dragon and the sword."
"But…that means…"she started, scrunching her face up as she put together the implications that statement brought. If this Hyôrinmaru was both the sword and the dragon, that meant that, "you have a dragon sealed inside of that sword?"
"Something like that," Naruto admitted sheepishly. Truth be told, he wasn't sure himself. All he knew was that Hyôrinmaru was both his sword and the dragon, and so long as that didn't interfere with anything, he was going to leave well enough alone. As long as it worked, he didn't care about the how.
She opened her mouth and closed it several times, but nothing came out. Finally, she decided upon an excited grin, giggling girlishly. She turned to leave, throwing a wave over her shoulder, "You're an interesting guy! So let's meet again, Naruto-san! Don't lose, okay?"
Leaping into the trees, she and her team disappeared into the dense foliage.
Naruto couldn't help the grin that threatened to split his face. That girl was quite an interesting one. She was kind of strange, he had to admit, because it wasn't everyday you found a girl so obsessed with weapons. He didn't really care, though, because she was interested in him as a person and that made her okay in his book.
That teammate of hers, though, Neji, was someone that Naruto figured he better watch out for. Lee had told him that Neji was the strongest Genin in the entire village of Konoha, and Lee himself had easily beaten Naruto. If Neji was even stronger than Lee, that meant that Naruto would definitely have to keep an eye on the Taijutsu prodigy, Hyuga Neji.
His thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's excited cry of, "Sasuke-kun!"
o.0.O.O.0.o —
Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens
Chapter One: Awakening
o.0.O.O.0.o —
Naruto rubbed his aching head as he came to, climbing to his feet shakily, "What—?"
The memory came back in a flash, distorted by a distinct crimson haze.
"Hmm," the Grass shinobi mused quietly, Naruto in her grasp. "It seems the Kyûbi brat is still alive. Oh!"
The ninja looked amused as she studied the intricate seal on the boy's stomach, "When you use the beast's Chakra, the seal becomes visible."
The Kusagakure kunoichi moved her right hand behind herself, a mini purple fire lighting up on each fingertip. Naruto thrashed in her grasp, trying desperately to free himself. The ninja's amazingly long tongue, however, would not relinquish him from its grasp.
"Hey!" he shouted, wriggling as much as the foreign appendage would allow. "Let me go!"
The super powerful Grass ninja, who was actually Orochimaru in disguise, thrust his flaming fingers into Naruto's unprotected abdomen, crying, "Gogyo Fuin!"
Naruto's face contorted into a silent scream as the Hebi Sennin's agile digits dug into his stomach, clenching around the soft flesh. The red bled from his irises as the Kyūbi's Chakra disappeared, returning his eyes to their natural blue. His canine teeth shrunk to their original size and his nails were once more blunt and soft. Then, without warning, the blonde boy slumped, unconscious.
"Ugh," he groaned softly. "What did that snake freak do to me?"
He looked around, his expression dazed, "Where—?"
Frozen tundra is what he saw, with snowy banks that stretched for miles, far beyond his human line of sight. Several trees, barren of any sign of life and covered by a thick layer of ice, littered the rolling slopes. Something soft and small landed on his nose, quickly melting into water as it dribbled down his face.
He reached out, catching petite, white fuzz in his palm. It was snowing, he realized, though with the blankets of the stuff that covered the ground, it was difficult to distinguish the tiny flakes falling from the sky. The slate gray clouds didn't make it any easier, either, as they blocked out the sun and left only a miniscule bit of light for him to see with.
Despite the abominable weather, however, he didn't feel cold at all.
His eyes widened, surprise and confusion in their sapphire depths, "Where am I?"
Last he remembered, he'd been in the Forest of Death during the second part of the Chûnin Selection Exams and he had fought against an impossibly strong Kusagakure ninja. He had been surrounded by trees and roots, each of which was easily three times the size of normal foliage.
So where was he now? The only place that had snow, according to what he'd been taught, was the frigid Yuki no Kuni, the Land of Snow. Even Yuki no Kuni, however, had never been reported to have trees covered in ice. If he wasn't in the Land of Snow, one of the only places that suffered through winter, then where could he be?
'On this plain of never-ending ice and snow,' the blonde thought in a rare philosophical moment, "did I die?"
"So," a deep voice, like the rolling thunder, spoke. Nearly jumping out of his skin, Naruto turned at near light speed, coming face to face with a huge blue dragon, "you're finally here."
Its scales were smooth and slick and reflected the miniscule light perfectly, which gave them an ice-like shine. Atop its head was a crown of spikes, each of which jutted backwards like shards of broken glass. Its nostrils were thin and narrow, almost serpentine, but its breath did not leave clouds of condensation behind.
"Tell me. Can you hear my name?" the dragon moved closer, its glowing red eyes boring into his own, "Can you call out to me, to Hyôrinmaru?"
"Is that you?" Naruto asked, voice low and quavering with fear and awe. His eyes were wide and his breathing came out in shaky rasps. His heart thumped loudly. "Are you Hyôrinmaru?"
The dragon seemed to grin, baring two rows of shiny, carnivorous teeth, "So, you can hear."
A burst of warm breath came from its nostrils, "After years of having your ears plugged by the Nine-tailed Fox, you can finally hear me."
"The fox?" Naruto parroted, his features quickly contorting into rage. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Do not be so quick to hate, child," a second burst of breath came, knocking Naruto off his feet. He fell on his butt with a soft grunt. "If it were not for that beast, you would likely have failed to survive your rough childhood. Blocked me from you, he may have, but kept you alive, he did, even if it was in self-interest."
"What?" Naruto looked shocked. "But how?"
"He protected you when I could not," the dragon responded. "He healed you when others would have waned away into nothing. He soothed you when sleep would not come to your young mind."
"But that was all his fault to begin with!" Naruto protested loudly. "If he hadn't attacked Konoha, then he wouldn't have gotten his fuzzy butt sealed, and I would have had a normal life!"
"Do not be so quick to judge," Hyôrinmaru purred. "The fault of the Nine-tails' attack lies in the Uchiha and their accursed bloodline. The one called Madara…"
The dragon's eyes flashed, "Were it not for that evil man, the beast would not be where he is."
Naruto looked confused, "What does the Uchiha clan—?"
"That, I cannot answer," the serpentine beast interrupted, anticipating his question. "I only know what information I can glean from the beast and his mutterings."
"Oh," Naruto said lamely. He glanced around, somewhat unnerved by the dragon's unblinking stare. "So…what are you?"
There was huff from the creature in front of him, almost like an amused chuckle, but Naruto dared not imagine he was right. Despite this, the dragon's tone was serious when it responded, "I am the piece of your soul dedicated to fighting. I am the part of you that never gives up, even when your body is frail and defeated."
There was something powerful in the beast's voice as it continued, its pitch rising, "I am the Wrath of Heaven, the instrument with which you slay your foes. I am the lord of ice and snow, the master of all things water! I am the frigid bite of death! I am your sword and your shield, and I shall protect you until the bitter end!" — its voice rose to a roar — "I am HYÔRINMARU!"
It bowed its head submissively, startling Naruto with the foreign gesture, "Now command me, and raze your enemies to the ground!"
A sudden feeling of power rushed through his body, and he felt like he could do anything, beat anyone, and overcome any obstacle. It was like molten lava flowing through his veins and with nothing but confidence, he reached out to touch the spiked crown of Hyôrinmaru's head.
The strange world disappeared in a flash of bright light.
o.0.O.O.0.o —
Naruto woke with a gasp, his head aching and his stomach sore. It felt as though he'd been run through with a katana, as though the metal had pierced the flesh of his belly and been left there to bleed him out.
"…ha!" there was a loud thud, as of meat hitting the ground. Sakura's voice cried out in a soft shout, a vicious crack renting the air; a crack like that of bones breaking, shattered by the blunt force of the unforgiving earth. Naruto's mind was hazy, as though clouded by a thick fog he had no way of escaping.
'Ugh. What's that noise?'
"Kin, out of the way!" the words were thick and seemed shrouded in a heavy mist. A blast of wind leapt to life, sprinkling his body with a cool breeze. There were three sharp clunks and a soft explosion sound, one that Naruto recognized as belonging to a Kawarimi.
'It's so noisy! God, my head is pounding.' His skull pulsed with pain, as if someone had drilled several holes in his head. He let out a soft hiss through his teeth.
"…useless!" Another rush of wind, this time closer than before, showered him with harsh air that whipped his skin raw. His ears twitched at the dark scoff that followed.
'Shut up! You're so annoying!'
"…you're not fooling anyone!" Three more thunks, followed once more by the soft explosion of the Body Replacement Technique. Naruto's brow furrowed in annoyance, his lips twisted into a scowl.
'Shut up! One more time, and I'll…!'
"...get serious!" another thud, this time heavier, followed by a surprised gasp and the smell of blood leaking from fresh wounds. There was a muffled cry of pain, feminine in nature, and several loud whacks as someone hit something repeatedly. Then, a thud as something or someone was thrown bodily to the ground.
'That's it! THAT'S IT! Someone's gonna die!'
Blue eyes snapped open, a harsh voice whispering, "No more Mister Nice Guy."
He stood in one fluid motion, fingers wrapping around the hilt of a sword that he'd never had before, but one that sent a satisfied rush through his veins. The world halted before his frigid gaze, his sapphire eyes sweeping the forest around him, narrowed in cold fury he'd never felt before. His grasp on his sword tightened.
"Naru…to," Sakura whispered dully from her spot on the ground, one eye already swelling shut. She looked surprised to see him, like he was some phantom specter back from the dead.
"What the?" the ninja with spiky black hair asked confusedly. "Weren't you out cold a few seconds ago?"
Naruto focused his icy gaze on the Sound Genin, words tumbling past his lips before he knew what he was saying, "Sôten ni zase, Hyôrinmaru." (Sit upon the Frozen Heavens, Ice Ring)
Everyone waited for something to happen, but nothing did, and the spiky haired Genin smirked, a cocky gleam in his eye. He scoffed, "Was something supposed to happen?"
"Zaku!" the bandaged one scolded, wary of this new opponent. This was not the Uzumaki Naruto they had been told to expect.
In a blur, Naruto had moved to stand in front of the one identified as Zaku, already in mid swing. Startled, Zaku stumbled backwards in a clumsy effort to dodge. Steel glinted and several locks of black hair fell to the ground as the Sound Genin landed on his butt. Zaku, shocked at the pure speed of his enemy, could only stare.
Instantly, Naruto was upon him again, both hands grasping the hilt as his blade came down in a graceful arc. Zaku yelped, rolling backward over his shoulder only to land straight on his feet, crouched defensively. He looked like a frightened animal too scared to move.
As Naruto moved to continue his assault, Zaku channeled Chakra into his legs and leapt as far away as his enhanced limbs would allow, preparing his own attack as he went. Air compressed, Chakra funneled, and Zaku aimed, "Zankuuha!"
A gale of tightly packed wind rushed from Zaku's palms, targeting the motionless Naruto, whose icy gaze had not wavered. Zaku grinned, knowing that there was no way the blonde boy could dodge at this range.
Naruto jumped. It wasn't a small jump, like a hop, but a full-blown leap that carried him at least two dozen feet into the air, where gravity seemed to lose its hold on him as he once more swung his sword. Zaku nearly palmed his face, wondering what kind of idiot swung at nothing during a life or death battle.
From the downward arc of the blade, a winding, icy blue Japanese dragon soared, its eyes red and its jaw wide. It was headed straight for him and he was too surprised to even think of dodging. It was like something had frozen him to his spot and no matter how much he told himself to move, he couldn't.
"Zaku!" at the last second, Dosu called out his name and Zaku finally responded, vaulting from his spot as the sapphire beast closed in on him. He felt a frigid chill nick his left arm, but paid it no attention.
A gasp from his female teammate caught his attention and he looked back to where he'd previously been standing, his eyes widening. Behind him, there was a patch of ice easily a meter in diameter. The grass formed into tiny rigid spikes that he could tell would pierce straight through his sandals.
He moved his arms in an effort to push himself up, but his left one was heavy and cumbersome. He glanced down and couldn't help the gasp of air the left his lungs, a horrified glint in his eyes. His left arm, from the elbow down, was covered in a thick block of ice.
A soft thump announced Naruto landing next to him and Zaku channeled more chakra, flinging out his good arm, "Zankuuha!"
With a flick of his wrist, Naruto deflected the attack with his sword, despite how impossible such an act was. Eyebrow twitching, he spun on his heel, blocking the attack from Zaku's male teammate, Dosu. Metal clashed and sparks flew, Dosu's gauntlet pushing against Hyôrinmaru.
Ice crept from the point of contact, slowly consuming Dosu's arm in a heavy layer of crystallized water. Surprised, Dosu tried to get away, but Naruto's left hand sneaked out and locked his elbow in a grasp as strong as steel. He wriggled, but Naruto's grip was firm and unwavering.
Once the gauntlet was completely frozen over, Naruto let go of Dosu and brought his sword up as his enemy stumbled. With all of his strength, he slammed the butt of his sword's hilt into the metal glove, smashing it to pieces mercilessly.
Dosu yowled as he fell backwards, clutching at his severely injured right arm. Several scratches decorated the lacerated skin and the bone felt like it had broken at the point of impact. Spikes of pain lanced up and down the entirety of his arm, his pulse pounding against the flesh.
"Leave your scroll and go," Dosu's head jerked up at the icy intonation, his mind taking forever to process what his ears were telling him. After all of this, the broken arm and gauntlet, Zaku's frozen limb, and a show of power so unreal that he felt as though he was dreaming, this boy was letting them leave?
"Leave your scroll and go," Naruto repeated coldly, his eyes more frigid than Yuki no Kuni. Dosu could only nod dumbly. With his good arm, he reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a scroll decorated with the kanji for earth. Setting it down slowly, he motioned to his teammates silently. They left without another word.
As soon as the team of Sound Genin had vanished, Naruto picked up the scroll, turning to show it off. He grinned, displaying it proudly, "Look, Sakura-san! I got us a scroll!"
Sakura blinked, absentmindedly wondering what had happened to Sakura-chan, then nodded slowly. Questions zipped through her head at blinding speeds, leaving her to wonder just what she had witnessed not more than a minute before.
That sword, where had Naruto gotten it? She took a closer look at it. The hilt was wrapped in azure cloth and the cap at the bottom appeared to be made of some sort of bronze, or perhaps even gold. The hand guard just beneath the blade was made in the design of a four-pointed star, also appearing to be composed of gold.
The blade itself was an oddity as well. The metal gleamed with a soft silver glint that belied its true purpose and the steel appeared to be as smooth as glass. Unlike the standard ninja sword, like a kodachi or a ninjato, the blade had majestic curve to it and was quite long. It seemed to be the size of an ordinary katana, which was a big sword for someone of Naruto's stature.
She shivered. The edge was what grabbed her attention the most. She knew, without even testing it, that the blade's edge was sharp enough to cut through most targets. She almost wanted to see if it could slice a shuriken in half, just to get a more accurate judge of its abilities.
Abilities. That's the word. Even more unusual than the weapon's composition was the abilities it had revealed. She wondered if it was the actual sword or if Naruto was simply channeling Jutsu through it. After all, what blade can fire a dragon of ice at the wielder's opponent? What sword can freeze an enemy simply by contact?
Sakura jerked at the sound of scraping metal, looking over at her blond teammate. A navy blue sheath was slung over his right shoulder, tied there by a strand of iron ninja wire, and he was easing his sword into it delicately. He grinned at her and she could only smile awkwardly. That just brought up more questions.
Where had the sheath come from? Naruto hadn't been carrying it with him when the exam had started. He hadn't been carrying the sword, either. He didn't know anything about sealing weapons. So what did that leave? Where had the sword and sheath come from?
The whole thing was giving her a headache.
"Hey!" Naruto looked over as a girl jumped down from the trees, her brown hair tied up in two buns on the top of her head. Her white-eyed teammate frowned. "That's a nice sword you have."
"Yeah," Naruto chuckled. "He's great, ain't he?"
"I'll say," she whistled. "The hilt is amazing in and of itself, but the blade! I've never seen something of this quality before!"
She giggled, "So, 'he'?"
"Yeah," Naruto grinned. "His name's Hyôrinmaru. He's the best sword you'll ever see!"
"I can see that," she too grinned, "and his owner isn't anything to sneeze at either. I've seen quite a few blades, but this one is something else. I didn't know it was possible to channel Jutsu through weapons like that! Even the White Fang's sword couldn't manage something so advanced!"
She let her eyes rove over the hilt, taking in its splendor, "So, did your Jônin sensei teach you that?"
Naruto blinked, cocking his head to the side, "Teach me what?"
She resisted the urge to arch an eyebrow, "You know, that…dragon thing."
He looked her oddly. She motioned with her arms as if swinging a sword, saying, "Where you just swing and this dragon comes out and attacks your enemies?"
"Oh that," recognition lit up in Naruto's eyes. "That's Hyôrinmaru."
"But…I thought Hyôrinmaru was the sword," she stated lamely, confusedly.
"He's both," Naruto told her matter-of-factly. "He's the dragon and the sword."
"But…that means…"she started, scrunching her face up as she put together the implications that statement brought. If this Hyôrinmaru was both the sword and the dragon, that meant that, "you have a dragon sealed inside of that sword?"
"Something like that," Naruto admitted sheepishly. Truth be told, he wasn't sure himself. All he knew was that Hyôrinmaru was both his sword and the dragon, and so long as that didn't interfere with anything, he was going to leave well enough alone. As long as it worked, he didn't care about the how.
She opened her mouth and closed it several times, but nothing came out. Finally, she decided upon an excited grin, giggling girlishly. She turned to leave, throwing a wave over her shoulder, "You're an interesting guy! So let's meet again, Naruto-san! Don't lose, okay?"
Leaping into the trees, she and her team disappeared into the dense foliage.
Naruto couldn't help the grin that threatened to split his face. That girl was quite an interesting one. She was kind of strange, he had to admit, because it wasn't everyday you found a girl so obsessed with weapons. He didn't really care, though, because she was interested in him as a person and that made her okay in his book.
That teammate of hers, though, Neji, was someone that Naruto figured he better watch out for. Lee had told him that Neji was the strongest Genin in the entire village of Konoha, and Lee himself had easily beaten Naruto. If Neji was even stronger than Lee, that meant that Naruto would definitely have to keep an eye on the Taijutsu prodigy, Hyuga Neji.
His thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's excited cry of, "Sasuke-kun!"
o.0.O.O.0.o —
