[FFML] [Naruto/Slayers][XOVer][formated]Hurricane Magic Prologue

[Oberon]

The condensed version is that Naruto learns a fewSlayers verse spells and now everyone thinks he'sa genius hiding as an idiot. Of course, you canimagine Sasuke's response to that. If you readS'tarkon's Legacy of the Resengan then this isjust the opposite. Legacy had everyone thinkingNaruto is an idiot while he's an genius. This haseverything thinking he's a genius while he'sactually an idiot.Unlike "Legacy", there will actually be changesbecause of Naruto's action. You'll see deviationfrom canon early on, minor at first but they'llbuild up to a climax much differently than canonNaruto. (Legacy had major changes early on thatresulted in minor deviations later in the story)Standard disclaimer:  I don't own Naruto orSlayers.  All characters are the property of theoriginal author.  All use of said character andsimilar situation falls under the fan fictioncategory and is unintended for profit.I'm looking for a beta for this story so if you'reinterested, please drop me a line atffml_use at hotmail.comYou can also see rougher version which I will postat the Rokudaime forumshttp://z7.invisionfree.com/Rokudaime/Enjoy and please reviewNaruto Uzumaki saw the only man that noticed himbleed from an injury meant for someone else.'Why, Iruka-sensei, why did you save me?' Thehyperactive dropout saw the life wane from Iruka.The man gave Naruto a weak smile, with greateffort he pushed himself to stand using the treehe leaned on as support."Close your eyes, Naruto." Iruka told him gently,a smile on Chunin's face marred by pain.A moment later Iruka told Naruto he cold open hiseyes.  "Congratulation, Naruto.  You passed...'. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hurricane MagicBy OberonPrologue. . . . . . . . . . . .. .Naruto put another X on his busty bikini-cladcenterfold calendar.  Just two more weeks untilOctober 15, just two more weeks until he officialgraduate into life as a ninja. The hyperactiveblond couldn't wait.  Naruto instinctively reachedfor the Leaf headband on the dresser but stoppedhimself."I'll wait until it's officially," the hand thathovered over the Leaf headband traveled to thefamiliar set of green goggles.Naruto's face turned into a foxy grin.  Today hewould pull one last prank, his greatest, one theywould surely record into Leaf Village history.Technically, he wasn't a ninja yet, so pranks werestill ok, Naruto rationalized.  "Bwuahahahaha,they'll remember this one for sure."First off, he'll need to collect firewood from theforest.  Why?  It would be a distraction for thefoxhunters when he set fires around village.That'll keep his pursuers so distracted theywouldn't know to look before Naruto had his faceon the Hokage monument.Naruto locked his apartment behind him, just as aprecaution.  He didn't own anything of value butit got bothersome to find the few he did owntrashed and his apartment turned upside down.  Hecaught the adults with dirty look in their eyeswhen they thought Naruto wasn't looking.Sometimes they would even do it when Naruto lookedright at them.  He didn't blame them; instead hetried to ignore the looks as best he could.  Itwasn't fair and the thought of their hatred of himonly stroked his desire to become Hokage.Naruto walked passed an old woman that reacted tohim immediately.  She acted like a nice old ladyat first but her expression turned to hatred andher hands shivered, clasping the broom she heldtightly before she raised it over her head.Naruto made a run outside the reach of her broomjust in time to avoid the swipe and gave the haghis widest grin.The blond thought he got away but then came asplash to his face from a mother of two living inthe house next to the old lady.  He was drenchedand the lady next door had shut the window andspared Naruto a glimpse before the blinds drewtogether from the inside."Hey, watch it!" Naruto yelled to the lady just asa metal pot used his head for a landing site."What the..." Naruto looked up just when a red-hotkettle came down from the second story window.Thankfully, Naruto got out of the way and onlyheard the kettle bounce off the curb.  Theexplosion of boiling hot water missed himcompletely.Just when it looked safe for Naruto, a trap netsprang from nowhere and pinned the blond to theconcrete.  Several Leaf Village Chunins jumpedNaruto from their hiding place."Wha... what do you bastards want?" Naruto yelledat the Chunins, loudly and with a feral growl.  Heknew these bastards well.  They spend a lot ofquality time together every time Naruto pulls oneof his masterpieces of art.The lead Chunin smirked as he stood over Naruto."Well, you see brat, after hearing that you failedthe exam yesterday we figured you'll try to pullone of your pranks again.  So instead of spendingthe whole day chasing you around the Leaf Village,we decided to strike first."  The Chunin only gothappier when Naruto futilely wrestled with thenet.Naruto can still use his arms.  He hasn't lostyet, not by a long shot.  "Oh yeah!" The blondpre-Genin challenged the Chunins with a suddenflurry of motion and maneuvered his arms intoposition.  "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!""What the..."  The lead Chunin reflexively steppedback when Naruto exploded in ninja smoke.All Naruto needed was that ninja's moment ofhesitation.  When the smoke cleared, threeidentical copies of Naruto held up the realhyperactive blond ninja over their cloned heads.Naruto's captors looked around, confused by themultiple Narutos who had the real one, stillwarped in the net, hoisted over their heads andhalfway down the street."Get him!" The lead Chunin commanded."Bwuahahahaahha!" The real Naruto laughedmaniacally then formed the seal to summon moreclones.  Eight more clones of Naruto appeared inanother puff of ninja smoke - two pairs of three,each trio holding a fourth trapped clone overtheir heads.  The three groups of Naruto split upin different directions.  One group went down analleyway.   The second group barreling down themain street while the real Naruto's group crossthe road almost trampling a pair of civilians inthe middle.Wordlessly, the four Chunins that attacked Narutosplit into three groups with one pair of Chuninsafter the clones down Main Street.  The leadChunin somehow trailed the real Naruto into theside roads."I'm going to get you, BRAT!" The angry Chuninjumped with the force of Chakra enhanced strengthpumped through his legs.  The Chunin flipped inmidair and landed on the rooftop in front ofNaruto.  He breathed heavily while his effortsbarely winded Naruto in the chase. 'Damn, the brathas stamina' he muttered under his breath.  'Andhe used a Jonin level jutsu so many times withouttiring.'Naruto kept running only once again summoned hisclones.  "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" The smoke clearedand now four more clones ran along the original."Ah, man, not again." The Chunin sighed when thetwo groups of Naruto once again took off indifferent directions.  "That's it, I give up."The lead Chunin sighed once more, this time indefeat.  "YOU BETTER NOT LET ME CATCH YOU PULLINGANOTHER PRANK!"His only reply was the maniac laughter of the9tail-brat from several blocks away.. . . . . . . . . . .Slowly, the buildings thinned out as Naruto leftcivilization behind him.  The forest tree provideda few patches of shades, protection from themorning sun.One arm perpendicular to the other, Naruto'sfingers formed a cross, the hand seal required forthis jutsu.  "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"In a puff of white smoke, five exact replicas ofNaruto appeared beside the real hyperactivetrickster.  Mere shadows of the original, createdby Chakra but nonetheless able to interactphysically with the environment.  They disappearwith the slightest trauma, only one hit, butthey're perfectly fine for what Naruto had inmind."Alright, team Naruto!  You know what you got todo.  Commence operation: Ultimate Prank!""Yeah!" All the clones shouted in unison.  All theclones eagerly rushed into the forest with highspirits.Naruto could barely contain himself.  The bestpart, he'll do it right under the foxhunters'noise.  Consumed by the thrill of anticipation,the real Naruto failed to notice a pair of legssticking out from the bushes."Almost got enough," the blond wiped the sweatfrom just below his goggles, smirking andimagining the look on all the villager's faces astwigs and broken branches piling up in his arms.Then suddenly, in a most comedian manner, Narutotripped on someone's legs.  The firewood hecollected flew from his grasp and Naruto foundhimself spawned indignantly on the ground with hisnose pressed into the dirt.  "EEEKK..."The hyperactive blond shot up like a rocket, hisblue eyes searched the forest for the offendingobject that tripped him.  When the Naruto finallysaw the person mostly hidden in the bushes, heautomatically jumped to a conclusion.Overtime, Naruto had seen many drunks passed outin the middle of the street.  They were a commonsight in the part of town where he lived.  Everyso often, the blond couldn't resist theopportunity to prank them, they were fair gameafter all and most of them deserved it.  Hisvictims had given Naruto the evil eye and whenNaruto found them drunk, the unlucky victimusually woke up the next morning with their facespainted like a kabuki."Well... maybe just one more..." Naruto couldn'thelp himself.  He thought the man was just anotherdrunk that wandered into the forest before he fellover.  Earlier, Naruto had promised himself thisbig prank was the last but just one more wouldn'thurt.The blond in orange hastily parted the bushes andhoped it was Ichiro.  That guy overcharged him fordeodorant every time.  Naruto's hands suddenlyfroze; the man in the bushes was not Ichiro."Hey, mister, are you ok?" The boy nudged the mangently only to find his own hands covered inblood.  Naruto backed away, stumbled and fell onhis ass.  He trembled; the man had invoked thesame feeling in the blond as last night when hethought Mizuki had killed Iruka-sensei.  Shaking,the boy nearly turned around and ran in panic."No, wait..." a weak voice stopped Naruto beforehe could run."You're-you're not dead...""Water... I need water..." weakly, the man sat uprevealing a bloody gash across his chest.  Bloodhad soaked through most of his tunic and the cloakon his back while a hood hid his eyes and a highcollar hid the bottom half of his face.Naruto shot up like a rocket.  "You can count onme!" He proclaimed loudly then took off to thenearest stream.  He turned around moments later."Believe it!" He ran off, never realized the mangroaned when he shouted his trademark catchphrase.Naruto also didn't hear the man muttered somethingabout "rather die if he spouted the hammer ofjustice."Naruto returned with a canteen and found the manhad dragged himself next to a tree, which kepthimself upright.  Naruto handed the stranger hiscanteen who gulped it down hurriedly only to chokeand cough up most of the first sip.  After severalsmaller sips, the man finally relaxed and breathednormally."Thanks, kid."  The man's voice was neutral as ifhe masked his emotions.  He gave Naruto back hiscanteen then placed one hand over the wound on hischest.Naruto's eyes bulged at the sight of the man'shands.  They were like rocks.  To be more precise,the skin had rocks grew into patches but did notcover the dark blue surface of the skincompletely.The stranger ignored Naruto and focused hisattention on the wound.  "Healing power, followingwhite..."  A globe of light formed in thestranger's hand over the wound, mending andrepairing the damage underneath.To Naruto's astonishment, the man's weird skinclosed around the gapping chest wound in just afew seconds.  "Wow, that's so cool." The blondexclaimed.  Curious, he tried to poke the skinwhere the wound used to be but had his handslapped away."Do you mind?""Hey, hey, how did you do that?" Naruto crouchedand pointed to the man's exposed stone skin underthe rip in the tunic.  "That's one cool jutsu.""Yeah, I suppose you can call it that."  He saidcasually while he still used the tree for support.He reached into his pocket and tossed severalcoins to Naruto.  "If it's too much trouble,please use this money to get me some food fromtown."Naruto caught the coins in his hands clumsily."Wow," the coins were larger and heavier than theYin, which minted its coins from copper or nickel.These were gold."Yes there a problem?" The man asked Naruto with acontrolled expression after he saw that Naruto'samazement.Naruto nodded vigorously.  "It's just that I don'tknow anyone that would take these.""What about your parents?"Naruto looked away.  The boy's eyes radiated shameor perhaps just loneness.  "I don't have any," hefinally said with a solemn face.  Briefly, hismind wondered back to the many times the adultshad ignored him and the envy he felt for thechildren at their side.Perhaps the man felt his loneness or saw it inNaruto's eyes.  "Stop that," the man shoutedharshly, almost angry with the boy.  "Nothing isever going to change if you just wallow in self-pity."At the man's harsh words, Naruto suddenlybrightened into a wide smile.  "One day... one dayI'll make them recognize me, for sure!"The stranger couldn't help but let Naruto'senthusiasm infect him.  Beneath that mask ofcoolness and cloth, he cracked a smile, just alittle one.  "Listen, do you know any place intown that sells jewelry?"Naruto scratched his head.  "Well, there is thatplace all the girls go and spend hours lookingthrough the store window like they're seeingSasuke-bastard or something... but the ownersdon't like me very much.""Forget it...," the man mumbled.  "...Look, canyou just get me some food?""Well, if it's just food you want, why didn't youjust say so?  I'll bring you so ramen.""Ramen?"Naruto beamed and got all excited.  "Yup, ramen,the best food in the world."The stranger groaned.  "Just don't let Lina hearyou say that." He muttered under his mask."Wha-what did you say?""Nothing," said quickly so Naruto missed the partwhere he insulted his favorite food.  "Ramen isfine, please just hurry."The blond suddenly shot up as if on crack.  "Bythe way my name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokageof the Leaf Village!"  His depression all butdisappeared as he declared himself.  "Believe it!""My name is Zelgadis Greywords, pleased to meetyou Naruto."A bright smile found its way to Naruto's face ashe ran back into town.. . . . . . . . . . . . .The next day, Naruto returned to the spot in theforest where he first found the injured stranger.Zelgadis had liked the instant ramen Narutobrought him yesterday.  The man gulped it downalmost as fast Naruto on his most famished days.This morning, Naruto brought him more ramen, thistime from Ichiroku's with a coupon.  The blondjust hoped Zelgadis liked fried eggs.  Of course,the soon-to-be ninja would gladly eat a secondbreakfast if Zelgadis didn't want it."Hey, Mr. Zelgadis," the boy shouted so loudly thebirds flew off from their perches. "What are youdoing up there?"  He found the man with thestrange skin not far where they first met, sittingon a tree branch staring up at the sky with hisface in deep contemplation.  "I brought you ramen.Get it while it's hot."Zelgadis slapped his head as he suddenly felt aheadache creep up on him.Naruto held up the wooden takeout box withIchiroku's mark.  "I hope you like fried eggs."For a while, Naruto watched silently as the manate the ramen."You know Naruto.  You don't have to keep bringingme ramen anymore.  I'm strong enough to find myown food now." Zelgadis sipped the last drops ofsoup from the large bow then placed it back intothe takeout box.  Instantly, he regretted hiswords as he felt the waves of depression radiatefrom the boy a few feet away.Naruto played with his fingers awkwardly, jabbingtwo index fingers together in nervous tension.  "Ilike hanging around with you... you listen to me.No one else sees me for me.""Don't you have any friends Naruto?"Naruto looked off into the distance.  "For thelongest time I wondered why everyone hated me.Why they looked at me with such cold eyes.  I wasalways alone.  All those people, happy people withtheir mothers... fathers... friends...all aroundme, yet I was alone in a crowd."  Naruto couldn'thelp it, tears rolled down his eyes as he talked."Then, two days ago.  I learned the truth."Naruto wiped the snot from his noise andcontinued.  "Thirteen years ago, our village wasattack by a nine-tailed demon fox.  Many shinobidied; mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters,friends... in the end, the Fourth Hokage, theperson I worshipped as a hero, defeated the demonfox.  All my life we were told the Fourth killedthe demon but my hero only managed to seal it...into me.  When the villagers look at me, theydon't see Naruto Uzumaki, they see the monsterthat took away their precious person.  Yet, it wasmy destiny to bear the burden of protecting them."Naruto shivered as he talked, his arms wrappedaround his shoulders.  "I didn't want this!  Ididn't ask for this responsibility!"For a long moment, the two sat in silence thenfinally Zelgadis pulled his hood down, revealinghis face at last.  His face was just like otherpart of his body, a monstrosity of stone andsandpaper except for a pair of deeply thoughtfuleyes."This is the reason I couldn't go into the villagefor help.  When people see me, all they see is amonster.  You see, the two of us are not thatdifferent.""How-how, do you live with it?  How can you standbeing alone all the time?"Zelgadis remembered his precious friends and lettheir laughter prevail over the dark mood.  "I wasalone at first.  Then I met my friends andsuddenly the loneness just disappeared.  Sincethen, we traveled the world together, fightingside by side."  'Lina, Gourry, and Amelia...'Zelgadis regarded the young shinobi with one ofhis rare smiles.  "You'll find like-minded peopletoo, someday.  You don't need the whole world toaccept you, as long as there's one person outthere that understands you then you aren't alone.""Just one person..." Naruto repeated Zelgadis'words.  'Did Iruka count?' He thought silently.Indeed, he never felt the sting of loneness whenhe talked to Iruka.  'Is that enough?  What aboutmy dream?'Naruto grinned and gave Zelgadis the thumbs up."I have Iruka-sensei and now I have you, Mr.Zelgadis.  But I wouldn't give up my dream.  Iwill become Hokage someday and make everyoneunderstand me.  Believe it!"Zelgadis only shock his head in amazement.  Narutocompletely missed the point.  The stone-skinnedman felt another headache on its way."Look Naruto, what do you have to do to becomethis Hokage of yours?"  This Hokage businesssounds like a job for suckers.  If he can't talkNaruto out of it, the least he can do is help theboy realize his dream."The Hokage is the strongest man in the villageand he protects everyone there," Naruto stoppedand looked confused.  "Well, I don't know how youbecome Hokage exactly... but I bet it involves mekicking Sasuke-bastard's ass at some point."'I was right.  This job really is for the birds.'Zelgadis didn't let Naruto know what he thought ofhis dream.  "Well, Naruto, I don't know if thereis anything I can do for you but if you want toget stronger.  That is something I can help youwith."The blond ninja beamed and grinned from ear toear.  "Really?" He asked excitedly unable to keepstill and jumped straight from a crutch position."You see that pile of twigs over there?" Zelgadispointed to the pile Naruto had gathered yesterdaybut forgot about after the two met."Yeah, yeah?" Naruto replied anxiously."Source of all power, light which burns beyondcrimson," as Zelgadis began the chant, wisps offire appeared and streaked toward the palm of theman's hand.  "Let thy power gather in my hand."The wisps of ember formed into a ball no biggerthan a chicken egg just above the surface of thepalm."Fireball" Zelgadis threw the ball at the twigsand watched it explode on impact.  The wood caughton fire immediately but the initial forcescattered some.  They burned with brilliant amber,raining down during the afternoon sun.Naruto said nothing for a second.  "Well, it'sneat and all... but it's kinda lame don't youthink?"Zelgadis glared at the blond.  "Well excuse me fornot wanting to blow up a section of the forest andcalling attention from everyone in the village.""Oh you mean you can make it stronger?""Idiot..." the stone man muttered.  "You can takeout an entire city block with that spell.""Alright!"  Naruto jumped again, higher thanbefore.  Clearly, he missed the part about thisbeing a spell.  "I'll kick Sasuke's ass for sure!""Well, I suppose we should start with sometheories first.". . . . . . . . . . . . . .Later"...There are three parts to every spell.  TheChaos words, the incantation and the name of thespell.  You don't need all three once you havemastered a particular spell but it will always bemore powerful if you used all three."  Zelgadislectured on while Naruto nodded after everysentence.  "You understand, Naruto?""Eh..." Naruto's expression turned fromunderstanding to clueless, like a flip of aswitch.  "No.  Not really."Zelgadis racked his brain for any other way toexplain this.  He clearly remembered how easily ithe learned it the first time so many years ago.Maybe his explanation was bad.  "Ok, I'll explainit this way.  Every word that you know has ameaning behind it.  The incantations are nodifferent.  To cast a spell, you need to know themeaning behind the words.  We call that meaning,Chaos words.  The last step is to call out thename of the spell.  Do you get it now?""Nope, can't say that I do." Naruto still lookedconfused, enlisting another groan from Zelgadis."What did I get myself into...". . . . . . . . . . . . .Much later, like 3 days laterNaruto focused all his attention on the words andthe meaning behind them.  He scowled as beads ofsweat rolled down his bangs.  The words finallycame to him, not clear, muddled but he knew them.Something was different this time.  The blond knewthis was it."Light of life, brighter than flame, Let thy powergather in my hand." This was going to work."Lighting!"A pale blue light appeared in his hand, a perfectglobe that mirrored the color of the sky.  In themorning October sun though, the sphere barelycaught Zelgadis' eye."Look, Zelgadis-sensei, I did it!" The globeflickered, gone in an instant as Naruto'sexcitement accidentally stopped the flow of magic."Well, I had it."Zelgadis, who kept an eye on his progress from hisplace high on the treetop, only muttered one word."Finally". . . . . . . .. . . . ."Alright Naruto, now that you can do the Lightingspell, we can start working on the real thing."Clearly, Zelgadis didn't look forward to thispart.But Naruto was all excitement.  The blond held uphis fist to the sky.  "Bring it!  I learnedLighting in three days.  I'll get this next partdown in no time."The stone man bopped the blond on his blond headwith a solid fist.  "You idiot!" He shouted overthe blond's head.  "Most beginning sorcerers cando that spell by the end of their first day.". . . . . . . . . . . . .Another three days laterBit more than a week until Naruto official becamea Genin and the Leaf Village was in the mostpeaceful state it had been for the last fouryears.  Everyday, the blond hyperactive ninjaheaded into the forest early in the morning andreappear late at night.  The morning ofOctober11th was no different."Source of all power, light which burns beyondcrimson, let thy power gather in my hand.FIREBALL!"  Nothing, but Naruto at leastremembered all the words this time."Try again," Zelgadis slashed his sword across thesky.  A second later, the single log he tossed upcame down as four separate pieces of lumber cutalong the length of the log.  The stone mansheathed his sword before he lost to temptation.It would be so easy to ram his sword into theblond's stomach.  Now he knew how Lina must havefelt around Gourry.Naruto started the chant at Zelgadis' request."Source of all power, light which burns beyondcrimson," This time a thin trail of ember sparksspiraled into existence.  "...Let thy power gatherin my hand." The embers coalesced into a ball andNaruto soured with excitement.  'Yes!  I'm doingit!'"FIREBALL!" The spell whiffed and burnout just asNaruto pulled back his arm to throw the ball.Naruto tore at his blond spikes in frustration."ARRG, I'm never going to get this."  He jumped upand down, stomped his feet and got ready foranother try even though ferocious anger cloudedhis mind.  "How about some tips, Zelgadis-sensei?""You already know everything you need to cast thisspell but here's a tip.  USE YOUR HEAD, MORON.". . .. . . . . . . . . . .Yet two more days gone by"FIREBALL!" Finally, Naruto's efforts paid off asa speck of ember burned across the path fromNaruto's outstretched hand only to whiff outbefore contact with the target: a sun-baked rockin the middle of the forest.Behind the blond, Zelgadis clapped his hand."Well, that was lame." The same words Naruto usedto describe the first time Zelgadis showed thisspell.It took Naruto a second to register what he haddone.  "Hey, I did it.  I did it!" He shouted thesecond time rather loudly.Already the end of their ninth day together andthe night grew dark and cold while the animalswent out to roam."Good job, Naruto.  I think that's enough fortoday."The blond gave his sensei the thumbs up and a widesmile.  "I'm not tired.  I can still practice alittle longer.""Good for you but you're scaring away my dinner."Naruto sniffed around and indeed the forestcreatures were nowhere near.  "Hey, Zelgadis-sensei, why don't you come into town with me?  Youcan buy me ramen."  He grinned at the man with thehope of a free meal.Zelgadis went to check on one of the traps he setnearby not knowing Naruto had already sniffed thearea around them and found nothing.  "I'm sorryNaruto.  Have you forgotten what I look like?  Ican't go into the village with my face.  They'llchase me out with pitchforks."  That wasn't anexaggeration, it had actually happened to Zelgadisin the past."Zelgadis-sensei, you never told me how you got tolook like that." Naruto sat down next to the man,the roaring fire of their campsite reflected offhis hair combined with his whisker marks, theeffects made him truly appeared as a demon fox.Zelgadis glared at the boy but his eyes softened."When I was younger, a boy about your age, eventhen we were very much alike.  Like you, I wantedto get stronger to prove myself." Zelgadis stillremember the boy in the woods, swinging his sword."Power, that was all I wanted and one day thegreatest sage of our time walked into my life.  Hewas Rezzo, the Red Priest, my grandfather and aman known for performing great miracles ofhealing.  I asked him to give me power, to make mestrong...""And, and?" Naruto asked anxiously."Oh, he gave me power alright.  And this accursedform; part human, part golem and part demon," withone rap of Rezzo's staff, Zelgadis' life changedforever.  "...A chimera... but that was not all.He made me serve him and his reckless plan whichalmost destroyed the world.""Destroy the world?" The thought scared the teeneven though he couldn't wrap his mind around theconcept of 'the world'.  To Naruto, the LeafVillage was everything.  There were other landsand other counties but they always seemed so faraway."Don't worry about it.  Rezzo's dead now."It took Naruto a moment to digest what Zelgadishad said.  "So, you have a demon in you too.  Justlike me." Silently, his hands went to his bellywhere the seal of the Fourth jailed the 9taileddemon fox."You see, Naruto.  No matter how dumb you thinkyou are, you can never be as stupid as I was backthen.  I asked for this and regretted it eversince.". . . . .. . . . . .. . .The next morning, Naruto arrived at Zelgadis' campas usual."Zel-" the blond called his sensei but suddenly ashadow from the bushes placed a hand on his mouthand pulled him in.  Naruto panicked and bit downon the hand that grabbed him only to regret itinstantly.  It was like biting on rocks.  'Rocks?Zelgadis-sensei?'"Quiet, Naruto." Zelgadis' familiar voicewhispered into Naruto's ear.  "Someone is outthere."Naruto also opened his mouth to tell the chimerait was the villagers when several Ninjas appearedfrom the shadows."Sir, we couldn't find him," said one of theninja."He must be nearby," the head ninja pointed totheir campsite.  "The tinder is still warm.""What do we do once we find him?" A third ninja, akunoichi with dark hair matted down and her bangstrapped by her headband, asked the second ninja."The guy took down three of our best squads in amatter of minutes plus he has our forbiddentechnique."The first ninja just smirked.  "Now, now, there'sno need to keep up that charade since we're so farfrom the Hidden Cloud Village.  We know ourvillage has no such forbidden technique as the onehe used."The lead ninja glared at the speaker.  "Quiet,Pensuke.   If the Raikage decided that jutsubelongs to us then it is not our place to questionhis judgment."Naruto couldn't keep quiet anymore and popped outfrom behind their hiding place.  "You guys arejust a bunch of thieves!" He shouted at the top ofhis lungs while his finger pointed at themaccusingly.Meanwhile, Zelgadis rolled his eyes.The lead kumonin found a goggle on Naruto's headinstead of a headband.  "It's just a brat.  Getrid of him.  We can't let the Leaf know we're sodeep in their territory."The kunoichi just placed a hand on their leader'sshoulder.  "Roketto, I'll handle this." She gaveNaruto a smile, a seductive smile with all hercharm as a trained kunoichi.  "Hey kid, we're notgoing to hurt you.  We just want to know if youhave seen any strange person nearby.""Even if I know something, I'm not going to tellyou." Naruto bravely declared.  His emotionsboiling over the surface as he remembered the manytimes the villagers accused him of thievery.  Noway would he let Zelgadis-sensei's name dirtied bythese guys."Take him," Roketto commanded.  "He knowssomething."Naruto growled at them defiantly.  "Take this!Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"  The blond created an armyof clones around them, on the ground and on thetrees.  He surrounded the kumonin with an army oforange clad hyperactive ninja."Defensive positions," the lead kumonin orderedjust as the Naruto army came at them.  The threekumonins stood back to back, their faces towardthe incoming orange storm.The clones on the ground went for a straightcharge at the enemy shinobi just as the ones oftreetops dove headfirst with their fists raised.Their collective battle cry rang loud enough thevillagers in the Leaf Village heard them.  Thegroup from above reached their targets first whilethe group on the ground still had 4-7 seconds toget within melee range.The kumonin responded as one, their blocks andcounterattacks decimated the first wave of aerialattackers in less than 4 seconds.  One of the lastclones in the air caught the kunoichi off balancebut she twisted around for an overextended kick tothe clone's midsection.  However, Narutounbalanced her and blinded her with the puff ofsmoke so close to her face.  The last clone flewthrough the smoke his fist just inches from amassive hit to the Kunochi when, out of nowhere,Pensuke grabbed the clone's hand just before thehit connected.Pensuke redirected the clone's flight path with agrunt and tossed the clone to the nearest groundtarget.  Both clones fell back and disappeared ina ninja smoke.  By this time, the kunoichi hadrecovered just as several clones tried to piledive Pensuke's back after he threw the last clone.The kunoichi chopped the neck of a clone as itwent by then quickly redirected her next blow tothe head of the next clone headed straight at her.Meanwhile, Roketto had several clones gang up onhim at once.  The first clone went for a straightjump kick to his head but the leader blocked witha forearm only to move quickly and avoid the nextclone that attacked his midsection with a shouldertackle.  "You're dead brat!" He yelled just as hedispatched the entire group that had attacked himfrom various direction with a whirlwind of slashesand hacks.All the clones had their asses kicked in less thanthirty seconds while the real Naruto took a solidhit to the jaw.  The punch had enough force tosend the blond to the other side of the area.The kunoichi took a step toward Naruto with herkunai raised but the leaders stopped her.  "No,he's mine" he told her.Zelgadis saw everything but he couldn't interfereuntil now.  Naruto got in the way."You'll have to deal with me now," the chimerasaid softly as he unsheathed his sword.  Beforethe kumonins could turn around and face him,Zelgadis called out his first spell."Bogardic Elm!" With that, the ground beneath thekumonins softened into a semi-liquid that sunk thethree ninjas into the ground-turned-swamp.The three reacted quickly and jumped away beforethe ground swallowed them.  But Zelgadis hadanticipated their action and leaped at thekunoichi just as her feet left the ground.  Thechimera brought his sword for a slash that leftthe kunoichi with just enough time to pull a kunaifrom her holster.  The kunoichi managed to blockZelgadis' powerful slash with her kunai but theforce of the impact send her tumbling out ofcontrol and into the trees.  She hit the treestill twisting from the force of the blow.  With aloud crack, she came to a sudden stop."One down," Zelgadis counted just as the other twoninja finished their hand seals.Pensuke flashed through the hand seals just asZelgadis landed from his attack on the kunoichi.In his hand was three shuriken charged withlightning chakra.  The kumonin threw all threeshuriken at once then immediately repositionedhimself so he wouldn't be a target of acounterattack.Calling on the power of wind, Zelgadis used theWind Brid to scatter the incoming shuriken.  Thewaves of compressed air knocked the three throwingstars from midair into random directions but onegot really near its owner.Pensuke evaded his own electric shuriken just ashis cell leader jumped their target with the fullbody shock armor active.  This technique couldstun anyone that touched the leader's body.Zelgadis ducked under the first punch from theleader with a narrow margin.  Already he had aspell ready to knock the ninja back.  The chimerasaw the second attack coming from the ninja'slegs, coming in for a sweep or knee to the kidney."Air Valm!" Zelgadis released his spell in timewith the leader's move.  The sudden wall of high-pressurized air that appeared between them hadenough force to knock Roketto back just as hiselectrified knee came within inches of connecting.Pensuke attacked again, this time from Zelgadis'right.  The ninja charged up two hands full ofShuriken.  "Got you," before Pensuke could throwthem, Zelgadis swung his sword at him even thoughthere were several feet of distance between them.As he swung his sword, the chimera knew he had todisrupt the ninja's aim.  He was too close andZelgadis knew he couldn't avoid the shuriken anddodge the other ninja's physical attacks."Blade Haut!" Zelgadis swing so fast the groundliterally shock beneath his blade as it came down.The sudden earthquake messed up Pensuke's aim justas the shurikens left his hand.  They missedZelgadis but one found the path to the ninjaleader who took a step back to avoid the throwingstar.Zelgadis took the opportunity and leaped back,putting some distance between him and the leader.Before he got his feet on the ground, the leaderhad a kunai out in mid-flight toward Zelgadis'position.  This was just a normal kunai, used as atactic that would have forced the chimera into adefensive stance rather actually hurt him.  Thechimera smirk and let the kunai hit him square onthe chest.  The throwing weapon bounced off hisskin with a clank, doing no damage to the partgolem chimera with skin as hard as diamond.The leader had already charged Zelgadis with achakra-enhanced sprint before he even saw thekunai hit, he had expected Zelgadis to block itbut then his momentum made sudden stopsimpossible.  He saw Zelgadis swung his swordacross the ground, confused because he knewZelgadis wouldn't dare hit his electric armorbody.  The sword dug a deep trench, kicking dirtand gravel into the leader's eyes.  Blinding himfor the second, it took Zelgadis that long toready another spell but the leader hadinstinctively dove aside to avoid what he thoughtwas a point-blank attack.The kumonin leader had accidentally jumped towardPensuke.  Zelgadis grinned wickedly when he sawthe mistake.  He had enough of this and now theyclustered themselves, he'll finish both off withone spell.  The chimera's eyes locked on the patchof forest soil beneath the two kumonins."This is it!  Mega Brand!" The earth beneath theninja exploded upwards.  The power of earthsuddenly turned against the two ninja, sendingthem into the sky with a torrent of jaggedpiercing rocks and crushing stones."Team Roketto blasting off again..." their screamsdisappeared into the distance.. . . . . . . . . . . . .The first thing Naruto heard when he woke up withthe maniac laughter of the Kunochi that smackedhim around.  His jaw still hurt for god's sake.Naruto thought that girl must be as strong asSakura when she thought the blond acted out."Fu Fu Fu Fu, I have you trapped in my electricspider web jutsu, Mr. Rockman." Indeed, thekunoichi surrounded the chimera in an intricateweb of chakra strings anchored to the forest floorby a number of kunai while she held the other end.She chuckled and let her long legs dangled fromthe tree branch that she sat on comfortably whilethe boys got their asses kicked."We'll see about that," Zelgadis tried to cut thestrings with his sword but immediately a jolt ofelectricity shocked his system.  He almost droppedhis sword from the pain."Don't move a muscle, else I'll electrocute youbefore you can blink." The kunoichi was deadlyserious and just to prove it she gave Zelgadis amild shock from one of the wires.Zelgadis glared at the kunoichi venomously but allthe while, his calm mind worked over how to escapethe trap.  Zelgadis knew he couldn't aim anyspells properly trapped like this.  'I'll justhave to use a spell big enough to get her fromhere.'Naruto stood up while he let loose a deepanimalistic growl.  "Get away from him."The kunoichi's attention turned to Naruto.  "Oh,it's the munchkin again.  Go away.  This isbetween us grown-ups."'That's it, while she's distracted.' Zelgadisprepared the spell just as Naruto charged thekunoichi.  "No, don't get in the way!"Naruto ran straight for the tree the kunoichi saton.  "Get away from him.  NOW!" He yelled as hejumped to meet the kunoichi on the branch.  Theblond raised his fist, pulled back and puteverything he had into one swing aimed for thekunoichi's face.While the kumokunoichi held the chakra strings onone hand, her other hand was free to smack Narutoacross the jaw.  She smiled with satisfaction asthe blond once again skit across the ground.The pre-Genin pulled himself up with all hiswillpower.  He bled from one corner of his mouth,covered in dirt and many cuts on his face whileblood mingled with gravel.  'I can't get to herand I'm out of Chakra.  That just leaves that oneother jutsu to try.'  The boy closed his eyes,cleared his thoughts and allowed the anger toleave him.  "Source of all power," the chant beganslowly at first, quietly mumbled by the blond."...Light which burns beyond crimson," Naruto'seyes snapped open, locking unblinkingly with thekunoichi's eyes.  'Focus, Naruto.  Focus.  You cando this.' He told himself all the whileenvisioning the chaos words, which actually cameto him clearly for once.  The air around his handburst into streaks of amber flame.  "...Let thypower gather in my hand."  During the incantation,Naruto's voice grew louder and stronger to reflecthis confidence.  The fire spiraled into his palm,forming a ball of maelstrom.  The boy reeled backthe hand with the fireball as sweat rolled off himfrom the intense heat and his own effort took atoll on him."FIREBALL!"The kumokunoichi watched helpless as what seemedlike a powerful fire-jutsu.  She was powerless tostop the jutsu for she had used all her throwingweapons to pin Zelgadis.  The speed of the jutsuwas incredible.  "So fast..."When the smoke cleared, only rubble remainedaround the site of the explosion.  Naruto stoodalone, his head held high in triumph.  Only tohave his high spirit crushed a moment later whenZelgadis bopped him on the head with a viciouspunch."Idiot, what part of 'Don't get in the way' didyou not understand?" The chimera glared at theboy.  He had holes on his cloak thanks to that.The blond only grinned like a fool.  "Look,Zelgadis-sensei, I did it." . . . . . . . . . . . ..
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