Espadara Uchiha
Active member
Naruto brushed the sweat off of his head as he finally entered Sunagakure, and marveled at the buildings that looked as if they were made of sand. The villagers would walk around him, gazing interestedly at Banryu slung over his back. Jakotsutō was hidden inside his jacket, ready to be drawn at a moments notice, and Naruto was happy to say his control over the whip blade had improved steadily over the past two days, and his strikes could finally strike his targets. It was nowhere near the precision of Jakotsu, who could slice the jugular vein of fifty men from thirty feet away, but it was definitely an improvement.
A wind blew gently across the village, gently caressing Naruto's face. There was a peculiar smell carried by the wind, however, one that made is presence known to Naruto's sense of smell. He knew it well. Carrying a recently deceased child up to ones room in the dead of night would familiarize any to the odor.
The smell of blood.
The villagers noticed this as well, and began walking ever so slightly faster than they had before. Whatever carried that smell scared the villagers enough for them to begin closing themselves within their houses, locking their doors and closing their blinds. Naruto looked around in slight confusion, admittedly amazed at the speed at which they did so. The smell was becoming stronger, and Naruto shivered as something inside him seemed to thirst for the source of the blood. He rose one hand to grab the hilt of Banryu, somehow finding a source of comfort within the murderous blade. Another gust of wind blew into the village, as the source of blood came ever so closer...
Naruto swung Banryu onto the ground, stopping a stream of what appeared to be sand from reaching up his leg. He jumped back, sweeping Banryu up and pointing it at the strange boy before him. The boy stared at him with a murderous, dead look in his eyes, which looked as though he had not slept in years. The redheaded boy had a gourd strapped to his back, which the sand was slowly leaking out of. Naruto could feel the sheer murderous intent stemming from the boy, and the chakra washing over him felt familiar...
Naruto's eyes widened as he finally realized what the chakra reminded him of. 'That chakra...this boy is a Jinchuuriki.' He thought to himself, narrowing his eyes. Banryu seemed to throb in excitement at this revelation, and Naruto could feel as some of the weight of the massive blade seemed to vanish, even as Banryu expanded slightly. The redhead glared at the Namikaze, and spoke in a gritty voice. "...Who are you?" He demanded, sand beginning to swirl faster around him.
Naruto smirked, swinging Banryu by its Halberd. "Heh...I'm Naruto Namikaze. You?" He said confidently, pleased by the fact someone had already asked for his name. Gaara merely looked at the blond, speaking a few minutes later. "I am Gaara, of the Sand...and Mother wants your blood." This statement was followed by a torrent of sand shooting over his shoulder aiming straight for the blond Namikaze. Naruto drew Banryu to block the torrent, slowly being forced back by the sheer amount of sand being sent at him by the Sunagakure Jinchuuriki. Naruto swung Banryu in an arc, slicing through the approaching torrent of sand as he began racing towards Gaara. "Think that can stop me, ya little shit?!"
Naruto brought Banryu straight down over Gaara's head, feeling his head become cloudy at the aura excreting from the Shichinintai blade. He smirked as the Zanbato was about to slice through the Ichibi's host, only to scowl as sand came up and blocked the strike. Naruto jumped back as sand shot from the ground, slicing through his black shirt.
"Shit...that sand is a nice defense, and faster than Banryu..." He muttered to himself, swinging Banryu back over his back. Ignoring the cries of lust that seemed to come from the blade, his grabbed the hilt of Jakotsutō. "Guess I'll need something faster..." said Naruto, swinging Jakotsutō in a coursing pattern at Gaara. His idea seemed to have worked, slicing through the few grains of sand that rose to meet him. 'Now...its my win!' He thought victoriously, only for Jakotsutō to impact against a wall of sand that rose to meet it as it almost reached Gaara. Naruto pulled his wrist sharply back, and Jakotsutō returned to its normal form.
'The sand...it seems to defend him automatically.' Naruto placed a hand on the gourd at his waist, bringing it to his lips. Pouring a small amount of oil in his mouth, Naruto placed Jakotsutō at his side and slammed his palms together. 'Toad Style! Great Burning Oil!' He roared in his mind, spitting fire out of his mouth in a roaming motion, spreading the flames around the street. As the flames sputtered out, Naruto looked across the charred sand, and scowled at the large dome of sand obviously protecting his opponent.
Unfortunately, Naruto was too focused on the dome of sand to notice the sand beginning to swirl around his feet. A slight rumbling was only warning as the sand began surrounding him, and Naruto reacted quickly, not wanting to see what would happen were he to be encased in the very material his opponent controls. Grabbing Jakotsutō from his side, he moved his right hand to force the blade to wrap around a nearby pole. Using all of his strength before the sand fully encased him, he began pulling himself out.
Gaara held his hand up, slowly crushing his open hand into a fist. No one had ever survived his Sand Burial...The son of the Kazekage gave a grin as he fully closed his fist. 'Sand Burial!'
The sand crushed itself quickly, as Naruto forced most of his body out the hole formed by Jakotsutō. He felt the sand wrap around his left arm all the way up to his elbow, and then a pain unlike anything he'd ever felt. He collapsed on the ground outside of the sand coffin, blood pouring out of his crushed arm. His gourd was broken, the blood and the oil mixing together with the sand. Naruto stumbled back, his vision turning blurry as he could feel blood-loss beginning to take effect.
Naruto placed Jakotsutō on his side, and grabbed Banryu. 'Dammit! That kid...My Arm!' He roared mentally, racing forward towards Gaara again, swinging Banryu wildly as he felt himself beginning to give in to the will of the Zanbato. Gaara blocked everything Naruto threw at him, but Naruto could tell the boy was excited, having crushed his opponents arm. Naruto roared in anger at the expressionless look on the boy. He knew the boy enjoyed this, so why not show it?!
It happened in the blink of an eye; Gaara rose one of his hands, and sand shot forth from the ground like a spear. Naruto twisted to the side, feeling the sand cut through his chest, as he forced Banryu into Gaara's guard, successfully slicing Gaara's cheek. A wave of sand knocked Naruto back into a wall, and he cried out in pain from the impact.
Gaara felt his cheek with the hand, and when he brought it away, he could see blood. He stared at the blood for a few minutes, Naruto slowly getting back up, before screaming. "BLOOD! THAT'S MY BLOOD!"
Sand began forming another dome around the unstable Jinchuuriki, before packing tightly together. Naruto could feel the demonic chakra beginning to rise again, as Banryu began throbbing within his grasp. The Jinchuuriki was beginning to release the Ichibi...Naruto narrowed his eyes, until he caught sight of how the dome of sand seemed to be darker than before.
'How did it change color? Unless...The oil from the gourd?' He wondered, placing Banryu on his back and trying to ignore the pain in his crushed arm as much as possible. He withdrew a single explosive note from his pocket, and fingered it gently in the palm of his right hand. "Oy, Gaara! I know you can hear me!" He shouted, channeling chakra to the note. "I just wanted to thank you...for making your own grave." As Naruto said this, he tossed the activated explosive tag at Gaara's ultimate defense.
The effect was instantaneous, the flames from the explosion lighting the oil mixed in with the sand to create a massive burning ball of sand. Naruto could hear Gaara screaming in pain as he was burned, but he merely leaned back against the wall before collapsing on the ground, watching as the dome fell apart to show the burned, but still living body, of Gaara.
'Looks like...I got one Jinchuuriki down...' Naruto thought, before letting his vision waver, and falling into unconsciousness.
"Rasengan!"
The sound of the spiraling sphere was heard briefly in the forest clearing before a small tree collapsed from the force of the Yondaime's technique. Natsuki was panting in the middle of the clearing, giant slash marks in the ground and some of the trees, charred grass, soaking wet leaves, rocks dug up from beneath the earth, and rotating marks left gouged into tree and rock alike.
Natsuki brushed the sweat off of her forehead as she held her arm out again, trying to get as much of the Kyuubi's chakra into it as she could. For a brief moment, red chakra mixed within the blue Rasengan, but disappeared as quickly as it came. Natsuki slammed the Rasengan into a large rock, trying to increase the duration of the powerful technique. She held it there for three minutes, before finally allowing the Rasengan to fade.
"You're training mighty hard, aren't cha?" Asked the amused voice of her new sensei, Kakashi. Kakashi strode lazily into the clearing, watching as Natsuki finished her last attack and turned to him. He could tell that she was hurting from the death of her brother, and Kakashi was too. He regretted that he only focused on Natsuki, but that was Minato-sensei's last wish; for Natsuki to be the hero of the village.
Natsuki leaned against a tree, moving her red hair so it covered the burns across her neck. "I have to train, Kakashi-sensei." She said. She gave no reason, though it was obvious from the pain and anger in her eyes, that it was for Naruto.
Kakashi gave a smile. "Well, maybe I can help you. Faster you learn the jutsus, than the more jutsu you can learn."
Natsuki looked interested at this statement. "What do you mean?"
The ex-Anbu pulled out a small scroll. "Ever heard of Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
Naruto opened his eyes, taking notice of the strange absence of the pain in his arm, and the fact he was no longer lying against a wall but in a comfortable bed. He looked around the strange room he was in, taking notice of the multiple beds like his own; the hospital, than.
The door opened, and the last person Naruto wanted to see walked in. Jiraiya sat down next to Naruto's bed, a stern look on his face. "I finally found you..." He said, his voice full of something Naruto couldn't quite identify.
"Jiraiya-sensei..." Naruto began, wanting to explain, at least to try and say something.
Jiraiya held up a hand, stopping him. "Why did you leave the village, Naruto." He asked sternly, and Naruto tried to look anywhere but his sensei. He could still feel Jiraiya's gaze on him, and Naruto sighed.
"I...I left, because they only care about Natsuki! The village always gives her stuff, while I'm shafted off to the sidelines, like I'm not important at all! I was supposed to pass! But, no they decided that their precious hero had to be a ****ing prodigy too!" He yelled out, finally letting his worries be heard. "I don't even know what's so heroic about her anyway! Just cause dad chose her to be the Jinchuuriki doesn't mean she should she praised!"
Jiraiya stayed silent as Naruto ranted, before closing his eyes. "Fine."
Naruto froze, and looked at Jiraiya. "What?" He asked, confused.
Jiraiya opened his eyes, and stood up. "I said fine. Continue your journey. You should be able to handle whatever is thrown at you, since you defeated the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. Just make sure you keep in touch, alright?" Jiraiya said, looking a Naruto. Naruto let a grin cross his face, as he nodded. "You got it, Jiraiya-sensei!"
Jiraiya smiled, leaving the room and leaving Naruto to his own thoughts. The door opened sometime later, admitting an old woman into the room. "Ah, so you're the one who fought Gaara? My name is Chiyo."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. "How is he, anyway?" He asked. Sure, Gaara had crushed his left arm, but Naruto felt it was only polite to ask, considering this was the Jinchuuriki's village anyway. Chiyo waved off Naruto's concern.
"He's already recovered. You've been sleeping for two days, so the Kazekage decided to give you something out of gratitude." She said, and pointed at Naruto's left arm. Naruto raised it, and instead of seeing a stump or a bandaged mess, it looked good as new. "It's a puppet arm," Chiyo explained, "Which you can store items inside. Kazekage-Sama wanted me to thank you for defeating Gaara. The boy was losing control to Shukaku, and was becoming addicted to killing. You defeating him seemed to have caused a small change in his personality, and one for the better."
Naruto marveled at his new arm, feeling the subtle grooves and compartments within. He could fit poisons, or maybe firecrackers within his new arm. "It's magnificent...Thank you, Chiyo-san." He said, sincerely meaning it.
Chiyo just smiled. "It was no trouble at all. Now, your wounds have been dressed and healed, and since Jiraiya already left, I'm assuming you are on your own. You may leave when you're ready." She stated, before leaving as well. Naruto barely noticed this, a smile still on his face.
He had lost an arm, true; but he had also defeated a Jinchuuriki by himself. 'One step closer...Natsuki...'
A wind blew gently across the village, gently caressing Naruto's face. There was a peculiar smell carried by the wind, however, one that made is presence known to Naruto's sense of smell. He knew it well. Carrying a recently deceased child up to ones room in the dead of night would familiarize any to the odor.
The smell of blood.
The villagers noticed this as well, and began walking ever so slightly faster than they had before. Whatever carried that smell scared the villagers enough for them to begin closing themselves within their houses, locking their doors and closing their blinds. Naruto looked around in slight confusion, admittedly amazed at the speed at which they did so. The smell was becoming stronger, and Naruto shivered as something inside him seemed to thirst for the source of the blood. He rose one hand to grab the hilt of Banryu, somehow finding a source of comfort within the murderous blade. Another gust of wind blew into the village, as the source of blood came ever so closer...
Naruto swung Banryu onto the ground, stopping a stream of what appeared to be sand from reaching up his leg. He jumped back, sweeping Banryu up and pointing it at the strange boy before him. The boy stared at him with a murderous, dead look in his eyes, which looked as though he had not slept in years. The redheaded boy had a gourd strapped to his back, which the sand was slowly leaking out of. Naruto could feel the sheer murderous intent stemming from the boy, and the chakra washing over him felt familiar...
Naruto's eyes widened as he finally realized what the chakra reminded him of. 'That chakra...this boy is a Jinchuuriki.' He thought to himself, narrowing his eyes. Banryu seemed to throb in excitement at this revelation, and Naruto could feel as some of the weight of the massive blade seemed to vanish, even as Banryu expanded slightly. The redhead glared at the Namikaze, and spoke in a gritty voice. "...Who are you?" He demanded, sand beginning to swirl faster around him.
Naruto smirked, swinging Banryu by its Halberd. "Heh...I'm Naruto Namikaze. You?" He said confidently, pleased by the fact someone had already asked for his name. Gaara merely looked at the blond, speaking a few minutes later. "I am Gaara, of the Sand...and Mother wants your blood." This statement was followed by a torrent of sand shooting over his shoulder aiming straight for the blond Namikaze. Naruto drew Banryu to block the torrent, slowly being forced back by the sheer amount of sand being sent at him by the Sunagakure Jinchuuriki. Naruto swung Banryu in an arc, slicing through the approaching torrent of sand as he began racing towards Gaara. "Think that can stop me, ya little shit?!"
Naruto brought Banryu straight down over Gaara's head, feeling his head become cloudy at the aura excreting from the Shichinintai blade. He smirked as the Zanbato was about to slice through the Ichibi's host, only to scowl as sand came up and blocked the strike. Naruto jumped back as sand shot from the ground, slicing through his black shirt.
"Shit...that sand is a nice defense, and faster than Banryu..." He muttered to himself, swinging Banryu back over his back. Ignoring the cries of lust that seemed to come from the blade, his grabbed the hilt of Jakotsutō. "Guess I'll need something faster..." said Naruto, swinging Jakotsutō in a coursing pattern at Gaara. His idea seemed to have worked, slicing through the few grains of sand that rose to meet him. 'Now...its my win!' He thought victoriously, only for Jakotsutō to impact against a wall of sand that rose to meet it as it almost reached Gaara. Naruto pulled his wrist sharply back, and Jakotsutō returned to its normal form.
'The sand...it seems to defend him automatically.' Naruto placed a hand on the gourd at his waist, bringing it to his lips. Pouring a small amount of oil in his mouth, Naruto placed Jakotsutō at his side and slammed his palms together. 'Toad Style! Great Burning Oil!' He roared in his mind, spitting fire out of his mouth in a roaming motion, spreading the flames around the street. As the flames sputtered out, Naruto looked across the charred sand, and scowled at the large dome of sand obviously protecting his opponent.
Unfortunately, Naruto was too focused on the dome of sand to notice the sand beginning to swirl around his feet. A slight rumbling was only warning as the sand began surrounding him, and Naruto reacted quickly, not wanting to see what would happen were he to be encased in the very material his opponent controls. Grabbing Jakotsutō from his side, he moved his right hand to force the blade to wrap around a nearby pole. Using all of his strength before the sand fully encased him, he began pulling himself out.
Gaara held his hand up, slowly crushing his open hand into a fist. No one had ever survived his Sand Burial...The son of the Kazekage gave a grin as he fully closed his fist. 'Sand Burial!'
The sand crushed itself quickly, as Naruto forced most of his body out the hole formed by Jakotsutō. He felt the sand wrap around his left arm all the way up to his elbow, and then a pain unlike anything he'd ever felt. He collapsed on the ground outside of the sand coffin, blood pouring out of his crushed arm. His gourd was broken, the blood and the oil mixing together with the sand. Naruto stumbled back, his vision turning blurry as he could feel blood-loss beginning to take effect.
Naruto placed Jakotsutō on his side, and grabbed Banryu. 'Dammit! That kid...My Arm!' He roared mentally, racing forward towards Gaara again, swinging Banryu wildly as he felt himself beginning to give in to the will of the Zanbato. Gaara blocked everything Naruto threw at him, but Naruto could tell the boy was excited, having crushed his opponents arm. Naruto roared in anger at the expressionless look on the boy. He knew the boy enjoyed this, so why not show it?!
It happened in the blink of an eye; Gaara rose one of his hands, and sand shot forth from the ground like a spear. Naruto twisted to the side, feeling the sand cut through his chest, as he forced Banryu into Gaara's guard, successfully slicing Gaara's cheek. A wave of sand knocked Naruto back into a wall, and he cried out in pain from the impact.
Gaara felt his cheek with the hand, and when he brought it away, he could see blood. He stared at the blood for a few minutes, Naruto slowly getting back up, before screaming. "BLOOD! THAT'S MY BLOOD!"
Sand began forming another dome around the unstable Jinchuuriki, before packing tightly together. Naruto could feel the demonic chakra beginning to rise again, as Banryu began throbbing within his grasp. The Jinchuuriki was beginning to release the Ichibi...Naruto narrowed his eyes, until he caught sight of how the dome of sand seemed to be darker than before.
'How did it change color? Unless...The oil from the gourd?' He wondered, placing Banryu on his back and trying to ignore the pain in his crushed arm as much as possible. He withdrew a single explosive note from his pocket, and fingered it gently in the palm of his right hand. "Oy, Gaara! I know you can hear me!" He shouted, channeling chakra to the note. "I just wanted to thank you...for making your own grave." As Naruto said this, he tossed the activated explosive tag at Gaara's ultimate defense.
The effect was instantaneous, the flames from the explosion lighting the oil mixed in with the sand to create a massive burning ball of sand. Naruto could hear Gaara screaming in pain as he was burned, but he merely leaned back against the wall before collapsing on the ground, watching as the dome fell apart to show the burned, but still living body, of Gaara.
'Looks like...I got one Jinchuuriki down...' Naruto thought, before letting his vision waver, and falling into unconsciousness.
***
"Rasengan!"
The sound of the spiraling sphere was heard briefly in the forest clearing before a small tree collapsed from the force of the Yondaime's technique. Natsuki was panting in the middle of the clearing, giant slash marks in the ground and some of the trees, charred grass, soaking wet leaves, rocks dug up from beneath the earth, and rotating marks left gouged into tree and rock alike.
Natsuki brushed the sweat off of her forehead as she held her arm out again, trying to get as much of the Kyuubi's chakra into it as she could. For a brief moment, red chakra mixed within the blue Rasengan, but disappeared as quickly as it came. Natsuki slammed the Rasengan into a large rock, trying to increase the duration of the powerful technique. She held it there for three minutes, before finally allowing the Rasengan to fade.
"You're training mighty hard, aren't cha?" Asked the amused voice of her new sensei, Kakashi. Kakashi strode lazily into the clearing, watching as Natsuki finished her last attack and turned to him. He could tell that she was hurting from the death of her brother, and Kakashi was too. He regretted that he only focused on Natsuki, but that was Minato-sensei's last wish; for Natsuki to be the hero of the village.
Natsuki leaned against a tree, moving her red hair so it covered the burns across her neck. "I have to train, Kakashi-sensei." She said. She gave no reason, though it was obvious from the pain and anger in her eyes, that it was for Naruto.
Kakashi gave a smile. "Well, maybe I can help you. Faster you learn the jutsus, than the more jutsu you can learn."
Natsuki looked interested at this statement. "What do you mean?"
The ex-Anbu pulled out a small scroll. "Ever heard of Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
***
Naruto opened his eyes, taking notice of the strange absence of the pain in his arm, and the fact he was no longer lying against a wall but in a comfortable bed. He looked around the strange room he was in, taking notice of the multiple beds like his own; the hospital, than.
The door opened, and the last person Naruto wanted to see walked in. Jiraiya sat down next to Naruto's bed, a stern look on his face. "I finally found you..." He said, his voice full of something Naruto couldn't quite identify.
"Jiraiya-sensei..." Naruto began, wanting to explain, at least to try and say something.
Jiraiya held up a hand, stopping him. "Why did you leave the village, Naruto." He asked sternly, and Naruto tried to look anywhere but his sensei. He could still feel Jiraiya's gaze on him, and Naruto sighed.
"I...I left, because they only care about Natsuki! The village always gives her stuff, while I'm shafted off to the sidelines, like I'm not important at all! I was supposed to pass! But, no they decided that their precious hero had to be a ****ing prodigy too!" He yelled out, finally letting his worries be heard. "I don't even know what's so heroic about her anyway! Just cause dad chose her to be the Jinchuuriki doesn't mean she should she praised!"
Jiraiya stayed silent as Naruto ranted, before closing his eyes. "Fine."
Naruto froze, and looked at Jiraiya. "What?" He asked, confused.
Jiraiya opened his eyes, and stood up. "I said fine. Continue your journey. You should be able to handle whatever is thrown at you, since you defeated the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. Just make sure you keep in touch, alright?" Jiraiya said, looking a Naruto. Naruto let a grin cross his face, as he nodded. "You got it, Jiraiya-sensei!"
Jiraiya smiled, leaving the room and leaving Naruto to his own thoughts. The door opened sometime later, admitting an old woman into the room. "Ah, so you're the one who fought Gaara? My name is Chiyo."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. "How is he, anyway?" He asked. Sure, Gaara had crushed his left arm, but Naruto felt it was only polite to ask, considering this was the Jinchuuriki's village anyway. Chiyo waved off Naruto's concern.
"He's already recovered. You've been sleeping for two days, so the Kazekage decided to give you something out of gratitude." She said, and pointed at Naruto's left arm. Naruto raised it, and instead of seeing a stump or a bandaged mess, it looked good as new. "It's a puppet arm," Chiyo explained, "Which you can store items inside. Kazekage-Sama wanted me to thank you for defeating Gaara. The boy was losing control to Shukaku, and was becoming addicted to killing. You defeating him seemed to have caused a small change in his personality, and one for the better."
Naruto marveled at his new arm, feeling the subtle grooves and compartments within. He could fit poisons, or maybe firecrackers within his new arm. "It's magnificent...Thank you, Chiyo-san." He said, sincerely meaning it.
Chiyo just smiled. "It was no trouble at all. Now, your wounds have been dressed and healed, and since Jiraiya already left, I'm assuming you are on your own. You may leave when you're ready." She stated, before leaving as well. Naruto barely noticed this, a smile still on his face.
He had lost an arm, true; but he had also defeated a Jinchuuriki by himself. 'One step closer...Natsuki...'