Chapter 3: Changes and Training Begins
It's been a month since Naruto (Dyre) was released from the hospital. During this time he went around the village, getting himself as closely acquainted with it as possible. During said trips he noticed the many looks, the many hidden sneers and whispers and the few looks of fear and unfiltered hatred they hold for Naruto. Naruto himself made no move to show any difference from what they were used to seeing after the yearly mob hunts.
Just as the old man said he would, the day Naruto was released he went with the boy around the village to collect his various effects. It was also during this month that he noticed some changes in his body. For some reason, apparently his body was starting to change in varying pigments to match how his body currently looked in the mindscape. At first he ignored it thinking that he was just seeing things but after a while he saw direct changes that he had to consult with the fox about.
-Flashback-
October 20- Apartment
Five days after waking up and four days after moving into his new apartment. It was on this day that Naruto saw the undistinguishable change of his eyes taking on a silver-ish tint when he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. At first he thought he was seeing things until he remembered the new look his body took when he was last in the mindscape. Feeling that this was not normal, even for his 'situation,' he decided to go pay the fox a visit. So he quickly did his morning routine of brushing his teeth and a quick shower before going to the living room and taking up a meditative state of sitting with his legs crossed with his eyes closed, as well as slowing down his breathing before he felt his mind being pulled and his thoughts going blank.
Mindscape- Forest
As he appeared in the mindscape he allowed his thoughts to wander as he took in the sights since he was last here. It seems the forest he left the fox last time was something he had thought up based on some books he read while he was still on Earth, so he allowed himself a few minutes to look at his creation before he went to look for the fox. After about 20 or so minutes he managed to find the fox asleep under a giant tree, oak if he was not mistaken. Seeing the fox like that, he allowed it another 10 minutes of sleep before he went over and awoke it from its slumber.
"What are you doing here?" the fox asked groggily as it was just roused from its sleep.
"Nothing much, just came to talk about a few things, most notably my physical appearance changing in reality," replied the boy coolly while wondering why the hell he didn't take note of the fox's size or the sheer volume of its voice while he was last here. Oh right, he was pissed the last time he was here and mortality wasn't really on his mind since he was somewhat sure he was dead at the time.
"Wait, what? You appearance is changing in reality?" the fox asked shocked as this was news to it.
"That's right. My physical appearance in reality is changing. At first I thought it was just my mind or you playing tricks on me but this morning I noticed the silver tint in my eyes and I know that's not something the kid had as I saw his face objectively while we were still somewhat separate. I'm positive the kid had ocean blue eyes and it was then I remembered the new form our personalities took after we fused and here we are," said the boy.
"Hmm, give me a minute to check your body. If I'm right, it has something to do with the seal that is holding me at the moment," said the fox before it closed its eyes and took up what looked like a fox's thinking pose. After a good 10 minutes or so, the giant fox opened its eyes and stared at Naruto with what looked like a wry smile for a fox before it opened its mouth.
"Well I've got good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"Lay the bad news on me first so I'll have something to actually look forward to afterwards," replied the boy.
"Ok then. The bad news is that part of the seal is damaged and that is why your physical appearance is changing in reality," said the fox with a wry smile. Here it was, part of the seal holding it captive was damaged and it wasn't celebrating or jumping in happiness, but instead showing a wry smile like it was in a reluctant situation.
"What part of the seal is damaged and why you aren't happy about such a thing happening," asked the boy with a hint of curiosity.
"Here's how the seal works. It originally has three functions: to keep me sealed within you," the fox looked at Naruto, "to purify my chakra before sending it to your chakra reserves, increasing them as you age," the fox points to some large pools in the distance that seem to have streams connected to them, "and to make sure I die with you, as long as you died of old age," the fox said with a grim smile while looking at Naruto.
"Well shit," cursed Naruto under his breath before he noticed something missing with that explanation. He then looked up at the giant fox before asking, "Obviously the third function is a bust, but that doesn't explain my appearance changing so what's causing that?"
The fox nodded before opening its mouth and saying, "Well if that was the only damaged part of the seal, then there would not be much to worry about, but let's just say that there is more. Follow me and I'll show you."
The giant fox started walking away in the direction of the chakra pools from earlier with Naruto following behind wondering just how bad this change would be. As they got closer to the chakra pools, Naruto noticed that instead of two which would signify his and his tenant's, he saw three. Well, two pools and an ocean that stretches into the distance. Seeing the unspoken question on his face, the fox sighed before speaking.
"The big pool signifies the chakra that originally belongs to your body while the ocean represents my vast amount of chakra. The third pool is the result of the damage to the seal. At first I wasn't sure why it would even form, until I remembered your situation."
It was then realization dawned on Naruto, albeit barely as he still wasn't sure exactly what was going on but he had a hunch. Seeing that he had a gist of the idea, it was then the fox decide to add more to his explanation.
"Basically, this new pool represents a new ability of yours, or should I say, a new bloodline of sorts based on my chakra and your characteristics due to the seal damage. And that is the good news; you've got a new, never before seen bloodline. What it fully does, I won't tell you yet, but we can already tell one of its abilities, which is…." the fox left hanging there.
"The change in my physical appearance," the boy said as he slapped his hands together in understanding. It was then a question popped into his head that he couldn't answer himself, so he turned to his resident millennia old tenant and voiced his question, "By the way Kurama, what do you mean by bloodline. By your explanation earlier, I know there exists multiple types, so what is the general definition of a bloodline?"
"Hmm," the fox thought to himself before he went with an idea he got from seeing Dyre's memories that would fit this scenario. "Think of bloodlines as special abilities passed down within certain clans in this world. Some gain a doujutsu like the Uchihas and the Hyugas while others get physical types that allow transformations in their bodies, whether partially or fully depending on clan. Most, however, come out as the ability to mix certain chakra natures to create a new sub nature much easier than others. An example of this is the Senjus bloodline which allows them to create and use the wood release ability, a variation of earth and water manipulation, that hasn't been replicated since the First Hokage, which makes many think that his bloodline was further mutated than a normal Senju, or like the Kaguya clan which possesses the dead bone pulse, allowing them to use bone based techniques. Long story short, bloodlines are abilities passed down in families that are unique to them. In some cases when two persons with different bloodlines procreate, there is a chance of either creating a new bloodline from the previous two or enhancing each respective bloodline in future generations," the fox finished his longwinded speech.
"Going by what you said, these abilities are pretty rare to find outside of clans, with the odds of one being created from two others procreating being in the realm of possibility but not an absolute. And by the way you said it, is it safe to assume there are many exceptions to this rule, considering mine was created from a malfunctioning seal hold you, a great demon, prisoner?" asked the boy after summing up his thoughts on the subject.
"That's exactly right. There are many exceptions to the rule. Hell, one of the bastards from this village at one point tried transplanting bloodlines from clans into ordinary people. He mostly failed but he still managed to transplant one, though much weaker than the original, into an ordinary person, so this proves that what I originally said is not the absolute. Your new bloodline is also proof of that as it originated from a malfunctioning seal which mixed both our chakra's together creating what you have now," replied the fox as he nodded his head sagely at his young jailor. He also took notice of the slight interest shown in his jailor's eyes as he was listening to its explanations.
"Hmm, very interesting. Not that I'm not satisfied with what I already know, but is changing color the only effect of my bloodline or is there more? Not originally being a human of this world, I don't have much understanding about how to check out bloodlines nor do I want to ask any adult member of this village, knowing that I developed a bloodline might raise some red flags and cause them to mess with the plans I have for this village before it could even start," the boy asked calmly before sounding slightly dark near the end.
"Wise decision human. As for your question, it does come with something else. But before I tell you that, I should probably clear up the misunderstanding you are currently having. The first part of your bloodline isn't just changing colors, it's a physical transformation, kind of like the transformation jutsu shinobi use except yours does not dispel with a hit, but is instead permanent as long as you will it while you chakra allows it. At the moment you have just started scratching the surface, so the only thing you can do is just change your color but later on you will be able to do full transformations with less chakra as you gain better chakra control and better used to your bloodline. As for the other ability your bloodline comes with, it's easier manipulation over a few elemental natures. As you have literally zero chakra control over either of our chakra, I won't tell you what they are just yet. Think of it as something to look forward to in a few years. Also, without mastering the body transformation, the element nature manipulation will be too hard for you to pull off as it would drain the new pool too fast."
"That's fair. No chewing off more than I can manage at any given time. I'll take a month to get used to the bloodline to see if I can go beyond just changing my colors. This ability seems like it will be handy in some of my future plans," Naruto said as he turned to leave.
Before he could go though, the giant fox stopped him in his tracks by asking, "Since this is a new bloodline and it belongs solely to you at the moment, any suggests for the name?"
This caused Naruto to stop and think for a bit before he remembered a certain blue woman from a famous American comic book series from Dyre's memories. He smiled before turning to the fox and answered, "Since this ability allows one to transform as they see fit, I'll call the bloodline the Shapeshifter. Let's just say the why is because it reminded me of a person with this ability from a comic book series I used to read."
Naruto fazed out of the mindscape after he said that, leaving the fox intrigued. The fox decided he would search for that memory later, after a nice long nap under the giant oak tree.
-Flashback End-
Since then, while keeping himself scarce from the villagers as much as he could while roaming around the village as a six year old child could, he was indeed practicing the use of his new bloodline. It originally took him a week to get the control needed for the technique to change the colors to his bidding at will, though he needed time to concentrate. It wasn't until two weeks later that he was finally able to change the colors based on a thought in less than a second. Even though he was this proficient in his control, it took him another week to finally decide to test if anyone would recognize him if he changed the color of his hair, eyes and skin. He also applied gel to his hair so that it stayed down instead of having its usually spiky form. By the time he was done, he was a white haired youth with dark skin, which seemed to easily hide his whisker marks unless someone was less than 1 inch from his face and violet eyes that made anyone that saw them think they were precious amethyst gems. To further hide his appearance from what the villagers are used to seeing, instead of bright orange (shivers in disgust knowing he'll have to wear it for a few more years in order to fool the populace) he wore a grey T-shirt with a chameleon design on the back (looks away and whistles innocently), black shorts that went just under the knee caps and a pair of shoes suited for a child. Looking over his choice of attire, he smiled to himself before walking out the door and into the village.
Konohagakure- Market area
Just as planned, Naruto left home and went to the best place in the village to check if his disguise would truly work the market area. Over the years, this has been the one place where he always ran into trouble with the villagers as they either showered him with ugly looks as soon as they saw him or vendors would refuse to sell him anything, or overcharge anything they do sell him which just so happened to be the worst products they had at the time. As he walked he looked around and noticed no one was paying any attention to him, and the ones that did actually smiled at him with actual warmth befitting an adult looking towards a child.
This display had given him mixed feelings on the matter. On one hand he was glad that his training with his bloodline had worked perfectly and he was truly able to conceal himself within the village now. On the other he was sickened to his stomach about the hypocrisy on the matter as if he showed up looking like the original child he was sure those looks of warmth would instead be looks of disgust and hatred. Shaking his head free of these thoughts, he continued walking through the market, interacting with the many vendors and buying a few items.
Some vendors even made it a point to give him extra stuff just because his current appearance looked 'cute' to them. It was times like these when he had to grit his teeth in order to prevent himself from attacking these hypocrites. After leaving those stalls, all he could do was shake his head in disappointment and disgust at these people as it was truly trying his patience to not let his anger at them show.
By the time he was done it was already 3pm, so he decided to swing by his apartment to drop off the items before he officially started his training. It has been a month since he was released from the hospital and it was just the right amount of time needed for rest before he truly started the training he would need to build his body. According to the fox, he was ready to start training weeks prior but Naruto gave himself the extra time to become familiar with the areas he could train in secret and collect the items needed to start 'his' style of training since he wasn't going to be relying on anyone else to train him unless absolutely necessary. And that was only for things outside of body building and taijutsu as he knew martial arts from his previous life and knew ways to train in them, even as a young child so it won't stunt his growth, not that having a giant demon fox sealed into his gut, granting him increased regeneration would allow his growth to be stunted in the first place but he had to pace himself until his body was ready.
Konohagakure- Hidden training field
After arriving at the hidden training field in the training grounds he was introduced to in the previous month, Naruto started a series of stretches to limber up his body before he started running around the training ground. Sometimes he ran at full strength while at other times he went as slow as a jog, but no matter what he kept running. At first it seemed like a funny play for the fox as he watched the boy running weirdly like that but he decided to wait before he made his thoughts known. After running what looked like twenty laps around the training ground, Naruto finally collapsed in a pile. Seeing that the boy was free, if only to catch a breather, the fox decided to make his thoughts known.
"Boy, what was the point of running like that? From the looks of it, it seemed like you were having a spasm as you ran," queried the fox from the boy's mind.
"It's to build my stamina. As it stands, even though I have you supplementing most if not all my physical abilities, I need to be able to most as fast and as strong even if, by some chance, someone manages to cut off your chakra from my system. That way, I won't be left helpless like they think. While we're on that topic, do you, by chance, know any way for me to limit if not cut off your chakra from my system so that I'm able to train my physical abilities even better? I mean, no offense to you, but all it takes is someone who knows how and a lucky shot to seal your chakra and I don't want to be left helpless and unable to move as fast if such a situation hits me," replied the boy with questions of his own as he stood up, ready to perform other exercises for the little remaining daylight he had left.
"Quite an interesting plan you have there. You are probably the first person I've met who decides to train his body without relying on his demon to supplement him. And as for your question, there is a way to do it. I can think of three methods at the moment, though two of them will require some form of training to be able to do."
"Don't leave me in suspense. What are they?"
"The first method is just me withdrawing the majority of my chakra within your system. This will leave you weak for a while with reduced healing from injuries but it will allow you to train your body as you want. The only downside to this method is that since I've been boosting your healing for so long, your body has become dependent on it, so any serious or life threatening injury might just kill you if I'm not fast enough in re-activating it again."
At this Naruto nodded his head in understanding as he was sure that this body grew dependent on the healing abilities of the fox from all the physical abuse it has faced over the years before the original owners death.
"The second method involves you learning to control my chakra itself." This caused Naruto to quirk an eyebrow. "As a jinchuriki, you will become able to wield the power of the demon sealed inside of you. This can be done either through training, or by the demon possessing its host and using said powers. The only downside to this method at the moment is that my chakra is too potent for you to use without doing serious damage to yourself. Which is why in order to use it, you will need to go through extensive physical training to be able to withstand its power. Training with my chakra flowing through your veins like it is now would speed the process up by a few years, but doing it without would make sure it's much easier to do when you do finally start trying to control my chakra."
This got Naruto thinking for a bit deciding which would be better for him to try, as he started doing some more stretches to keep his body warm and limber for the next part of his training. He knew he would have to start training with it anyways since he was almost sure sooner or later someone would get the crazy idea in their head that they can use such a power to take over the world and he doesn't want to be caught without a plan. It was then he remembered the fox stating there were three methods, so he looked up and the fox and said, "The first method is linked directly with my ability to train and heal from the crazy training I have in mind, while the second method is not something I can try now as my body is nowhere near strong, neither by yours nor my standards. That being the case, what's the third method you mentioned earlier?"
At this the fox gave a wry smile before answer, "The third method is by using seals to suppress my chakra within your system while keeping it connected to your healing ability enabling you to go as crazy as you want in training without worrying about long term healing. The only downside to this method is that you would either have to ask someone to apply said seal on you," at this Naruto cringed and frowned as he did not trust ANYONE in this village to put a seal on him, besides the old man but even then he wasn't going to ask him, "or you would have to learn the art of sealing yourself and create the seal needed to do just that. My suggestion to you is to go with the third method as the art of sealing itself has a lot of interesting uses, depending on the ideas the seal users comes up with."
The boy nodded his head as he made his decision on the matter before he started doing some pushups. After doing thirty pushups, the boy went through a set of thirty for sit-ups, lunges, crunches and a set of twenty fifty meter sprints with a five minute break in between each set. After going through each set, he allowed himself a ten minute break before repeated each set two more times, ending when it was around 6:30pm that evening. When he finished the last set, he allowed himself to sit under a tree and watch the sun set, thinking to himself that even in a messed up village like this, such a site was still beautiful to see.
Seeing that the sun had finally set, Naruto got up and decided to head home. After walking to the entrance of the hidden training field that he noticed that his appearance had reverted back to how the original body is supposed to look. It seems that the intensive training had tired him more than he realized. He was about to reapply his new look when he noticed a ninja on top of a building looking around for something or someone. Not wanting to get involved in anything, Naruto slowly turned around and walked back into the training ground. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough as before he could finish his turn, he noticed a kunai fly past his cheek. He didn't even need to look back to know that it was the ninja from before that threw the kunai at him, nor why he did it anyways as he heard said ninja calling out to others saying 'I found him.' Naruto immediately took off into a sprint through the entrance of the training ground, dodging the ninja originally on the rooftop that jumped down to try and block him but failed miserably.
Konohagakure-Main street commercial district
He managed to run a few blocks before he turned his head and noticed the mob chasing him. Cursing under his breath he decided to try and lose the mob by ducking into some dark alleys he remembered from his month of thorough search of the village. He managed to lose most of the original members of the mob, sans the shinobis that could keep tract of him only to have more join in later at odd points in the chase when he was looking to duck out and change his appearance while hiding. During most of the chase, many civilians and shinobi alike made their hate for him known by throwing making objects at him, ranging from everyday items to ninja weapons, with some actually nicking his clothes, damaging them. Getting tired of the chase while running low on stamina as this chase was going on for half an hour, he decided to put some distance between him and the mob, making them lose sight of him for a few seconds. These few seconds were long enough as he managed to duck into an alley and hide behind a dumpster and apply his change him appearance. It wasn't until the mob had passed that he allowed himself to release the breath he was holding. He was about to head out in his new appearance when he noticed a flaw; he was still in the same clothes that he was seen in when the chase was going on. He might be able to fool the civilians into thinking he was a different child but the shinobis would most likely realize it was him due to the dirt on his clothes from running and the nicks caused by the near missed thrown items. And what was worse was that it was at this moment the mob decided to circle back and check the alley Naruto just coincidentally happened to be in.
Feeling that he seriously didn't have to put up with this crap and that this could be considered self-defense, he decided to get ready to defend himself the moment anyone decided to attack him. Unbeknownst to him though was that he was subconsciously channeling his bloodline into his clothes, changing them from the T-shirt and shorts he left home in into what he used to wear when he was at the gym back in his previous life when he was about to have a serious spar, a full black martial arts gi with silver stripes running down the sides of his sleeves and pants feet. He currently had the appearance he has when he's in the mindscape wearing that gi right now in a stance where his legs were shoulder width apart with his left leg in front with his wait on his back leg, making it easier for him to push off with. As for his hands, they were currently wrapped up in what looked like white tape with right next to his chin while the left half extended out.
When the mob passed by the dumpster, they noticed a boy in a getup they had never seen before, not knowing this was the boy they were chasing not three minutes ago. Most of the mob was stunned when they saw him while the rest were busy looking for the 'demon brat.' Among those stunned were the shinobi that were chasing the boy from earlier. They could genuinely feel a bit of killing intent radiating off the boy but for the life of them they don't know why. As they were about to approach the boy, the members of the mob that weren't stunned called out to them about continuing the chase for the demon, making the shinobi forget their previous thought and resumed the chase. It wasn't until after the mob left that these shinobi fully forgot about the boy and completely focused and finding the demon.
It wasn't until five minutes after the mob left that Naruto finally eased out of his fighting stance and started looking around before walking out of the alley. Naruto wasn't an idiot so he was questioning what made the mob decide to walk away from him and continue their chase of the 'demon brat' when said boy was standing in front of them. He wasn't going to believe that a change in hair and skin color was all it took to fool ninja from 'this' village when they were so dead set on killing him, even if they weren't in their right minds. It was then that he looked at his hands and noticed they were wrapped up in white tape. Not just that, he looked down and noticed he was wearing a strangely familiar black gi, so he ran to the nearest store with a glass window and looked at his appearance. It was then he noticed that he was currently dressed in his battle attire from his former life with the appearance he has in his mindscape. It was then it clicked to him. He realized that this appearance was completely different from what they were looking for which made them ignore him. It was also here he realized that he was channeling minute amounts of chakra into his clothing, which game him his current appearance. Looking around to make sure no one was watching him, he walked into an alley near said store and checked again to make sure he was out of unwanted eyes before he cut the chakra to his clothes, having them revert back into what he wore that morning and changing his appearance to match it. This discovery was quite intriguing to him, enough so that he was actually less angry at the mob for chasing him. He was still pissed at them, mind you, but at least now instead of wanting to completely maim each and everyone in the mob, he would settle for just break a few limbs, causing them to stay in bed for a few weeks.
After making sure there was nothing out of place, he walked out of the alley and made his way home. He never noticed the two pairs of black eyes that coincidently landed on him as soon as he left the alley, nor did he notice concern the older one had on her face as she noticed the tears on his clothes as they looked like they were recently attacked by a mob of people using sharp object on them. The pair continued on their way home to the clan district thinking about what they just saw while carrying home their last minute groceries.
While making his trip home, Naruto decided to consult his resident fox about what he just experienced. Looking straight ahead, he said in his mind, "Yo fox, did you know I could use my bloodline on clothes?"
"No I did not, but that is quite interesting. How did you find out about such a thing?" queried the fox groggily as it looks like he just woke up from a nap.
"Check my memories and you'll see how. I'm sure you'll find it almost as interesting as me if not more so."
The fox did just that and when it saw the series of events leading up to it and finally the result, it was indeed intrigued, sans the anger it felt at the villagers for chasing and trying to kill his container. It took a few minutes to think about what it just witnessed before it continued the conversation, this time when Naruto was nearly home.
"Knowing your personality, even if it did lead to the discovery of a new part of your bloodline, I doubt you're about take what just happened lying down, are you?" asked the fox with a knowing smile.
"What can I say? The brat would have gotten revenge by pranking them if it was him. I, on the other hand, can be malicious when I get revenge, and that is what I shall do. The only difference between me and the brat is that I won't get caught, nor will I let anyone know it was me. At least not now. It's quite generous considering I was originally going to maim them but this made me lower it to just giving them a few weeks of forced rest. Even if they figure it out, which I doubt they could, they won't have any evidence and if they have any form of self-preservation instinct, they will know that if they try to get revenge, then next time it won't be forced rest on a bed, but instead a dirt nap," chuckled Naruto darkly as he got to his front door.
He entered and spent a few hours practicing the recently discovered ability of his bloodline before heading to bed to get some quality rest as he had a day filled with revenge to go through tomorrow. And revenge he did go through as for the next week, every person who was in the mob that wasn't a ninja that got sent away from the village did get pranked, quite maliciously I might add as everyone suffered some form of injury. And what was worse was that no one was able to figure out who did it. Some wanted to say it was the 'demon brat' did it but there was no proof. And said victims also realized something, that this was just a warning. In many of those incidents investigators noted that the injuries they received were light in comparison to the damage that could have taken place. When they told this to the victims, all of them quietened down about it being the fox boy as if this was, they feared him actually going through with it next time and no one wanted to face the true wrath of the monster they had unleashed. No one involved in these injuries talked about it to anyone else and kept to themselves for the next few months as they were quite fearful of facing a prank that could end them. For all those that managed to escape the initial spree of pranks faced them when they returned to the village and also kept quiet about it as they didn't want to suffer even worse pranks. Though many investigators initially wanted to pin these 'pranks' on Naruto, they completely dropped that thought when they noticed the victims didn't seem to know who their attackers were. Some people in management were able to figure it out and the hidden meaning behind it, but they kept it to themselves as this was something long time coming and they supported it. This also caused them to reprimand anyone they caught with thoughts of attacking the boy whenever they found them, as they wanted to keep the populace from angering someone they shouldn't and paying for it later when they would be needed for important work.
Author's Note: Welp, here's chap 3 after a month of lollygagging and wasting time. Feel free to leave a review if you're up to it. i know many mistakes were made in this fic so far, some on purpose and others cuz i'm new to this but i'll let you guys decide which is which. will try to update as often and as fast as i can so dont worry about me just suddenly dropping this out of nowhere before it reaches a decent enough plot point, like say the chunin exams or the sasuke retrieval mission. that's it from me people, PEACE!