Whoo! Thread necromancy!
"Damn it!" Naruto growled, as the jutsu the scroll detailed failed again.
"I'm so close, so why can't I do this right?!"
"NARUTO!!!" Iruka's yell caused the academy student to flinch.
"DAMN IT!!! I WAS SO CLOSE TOO!!!"
"What the hell are you talking about? Were you really trying to escape?"
"What are you talking about Iruka-sensei? I was just doing my extra credit."
"Extra credit?"
"Yeah! Mizuki-sensei said that if I could learn one of these jutsu, I could become a ninja! If I had just ten more minutes, I know I could pull this off!"
"Mizuki?!"
Before Naruto could reply, Iruka tackled him, intercepting the shuriken Mizuki had thrown.
--- --- --- ---
Iruka had ordered him to run, and Naruto, for once in his life, listened to him. He ran through the forest, though no matter how fast he ran he could still hear his teachers behind him.
He heard Mizuki attack Iruka.
He heard Mizuki taunting him.
he heard about the monster inside of him.
And Finally, he heard his teacher defend him, revealing how important Naruto was to him.
"Iruka-sensei..." Naruto murmured to himself, stunned at his teacher's true feelings. Despite everything, Iruka had still cared about him... Clenching his fist, Naruto stood up, prepared to do anything to save his teacher's life. He was still the student who had failed the exam, he had even failed th extra credit assignment, but Naruto would fight anyway. He felt something stirring in his body, something he had never felt before. His will set, Naruto seized the unknown feeling, and everything changed.
Mizuki's attack was halted when both chunin felt an explosion of strange power nearby. Their uncertain expressions turned to shock, as Naruto emerged from the fading nexus.
His clothes had changed. The orange jumpsuit he was always wearing was gone, replaced by a black kimono. At his side hung a sheathed blade, but beyond that Iruka couldn't tell much about it.
The biggest change were his eyes. They were... empty. Not the emptiness of someone who no longer cares about life, nor the void of a hardened killer, but the eyes of one of who had lost consciousness, or the eyes of a dead man.
Mizuki paused as well, just as shocked at the sudden change, before he began to chuckle.
“Really, Naruto? A transformation jutsu's the best you can manage? No wonder you failed the exam three times!â€
Naruto didn't react. Mizuki took that as encouragement to continue.
“Even if that damned fox didn't exist, I should kill you just to put you out of your misery!!!†He cried out, swinging his weapon at his former student.
Naruto still didn't respond to Mizuki's taunts. Iruka stared at him in mild disbelief that the boisterous student would remain silent in the face of such insults, let alone stand and wait for death, but when he looked closer, he saw that Naruto's empty eyes had a hint of awareness in them, like some great predator waiting to strike. A feeling of dread sank into the pit of his stomach
Naruto moved.
He moved faster than Iruka could see, simply appearing behind Mizuki. The rogue chunin jumped away from Naruto, who remained perfectly still.
“Heh, just lucky I guess.†Mizuki muttered to himself. “Let's see if you can be that lucky twice you damn fox!â€
Again, Naruto dodged seemingly without effort, but this time, almost as an afterthought, casually lashed out at the chunin, sending him flying across the forest. Mizuki managed to recover and land safely, though not gracefully, ending up sprawled in the boughs of one of the trees. As he struggled to his feet, he stared at the young blonde who had so casually dealt with him
“What the hell?â€
It was the last coherent thought Mizuki would manage.
Naruto erupted into a flurry of movement, faster than Iruka could see clearly. Mizuki struggled to keep pace, but was outclassed. It was all he could do to defend against the onslaught, and even then, he was still getting injured. At first, it was some light cuts on his arms or legs, but then, Naruto managed to impale his arm. Mizuki managed to avoid the follow up attack, but with only one functioning arm, his defense was crippled. Within seconds, Naruto had scored another strike, then another, and another. Mizuki could only scream in agony as Naruto attacked.
Until it abruptly ceased.
As Iruka stared at Naruto in disbelief, the young blond collapsed unconscious.
---
Naruto woke in a dazed state of mind. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by brilliant whiteness, like one of the hospital lights was shining in his face. As his eyes began the slow process of adjusting, he tried to remember what led to his current state. The last thing he could clearly remember was Mizuki attacking Iruka, and getting angry. Iruka was willing to put his own life on the line for him, and the thought of losing someone willing to go that far was unacceptable. He had reached deep down inside himself, reaching to draw enough chakra to attempt the jutsu one more time. He continued drawing it, until he couldn't pull any more out. It wasn't enough. With a scream, he dug even deeper, pulling out... something.
and then...
Naruto groaned. After that, everything dissolved into a blurry haze. Fortunately, his eyes had adapted to the light, and with another groan of discomfort, he opened them.
A monstrous face hovered above him. Naruo shrieked in surprise, attempting to get away from whatever it was, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to get away. It was like no matter what his body did, it was trapped in the same place.
“SO, THE YOUNG BOY AWAKENS.â€
Naruto froze, gaping in shock at the creature knowing his name. Before he could say anythign of his own, it began speaking again.
“WE HAVE MUCH TO TALK ABOUT.â€
Since the original posts got deleted, and I'm too lazy to go and hunt for them on the old site, I'll give a quick overview of this idea:
Essentially, Naruto draws on the power of his seal, and gains the power of a Shinigami. This has the effect of breaking reality a bit. there was only supposed to be one Shinigami, and suddenly having two has some adverse effects, which effectively changes their afterlife from whatever it is in canon to the Bleach version of the afterlife.
This is still a rough draft, and I'll probably rework it a bit, but I did want to get it back out there, and get some feedback that isn't more than half a decade old.
The reason Naruto suddenly could kick so much ass was he got possessed by the original shinigami for a bit. Going to say so in the next part when I get around to writing it. He's going to have to work his way up to that level through the story.
Planned story arcs:
Prologue (This post)
Training Arc: Naruto is taught the basics of his new powers, enough that he can do his job without screwing up. Anything else he'll have to learn on his own. Probably will explore the afterlife a bit here, since it's an entirely new world now.
Recruitment Arc: Naruto starts finding people/ghosts with spiritual power, and starts training them. Results... vary.
Hollow's Revelation Arc: Naruto learns why he needs to have all of those combat skills, when the first Hollows start to show up. Possibly another recruitment arc, but probably will use the next potential arc instead.
The Other Shinigami Arc: Other souls have developed Shinigami powers, and aren't affiliated with Naruto's faction.
Shinigami Civil War: Not everyone wants to follow some dumb kid, after all, and some of the more skilled Shinigami decide they should be the ones in charge.
