Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Thirty-Five[XXXV]: Red Monsters - VI

   Uzukaze Naruto sat down in the ankle-deep water with his legs crossed in front of him, arms resting on his thighs and thankful that it wasn't as filthy here as it was elsewhere in his mindscape. The crisscrossing metal pipes across the surface allowing for the constant sound of flowing water to fill his eyes, the occasional drops of water falling from tiny holes in them accompanying it.

   He looked up at Kurama, the fox laying down in the water with his arms resting under his large head, glaring red eyes staring at him from behind the thick, orange bars. "What are you doing here, brat?" Kurama asked, his deep baritone voice echoing eerily through the corridors behind Naruto.

   Naruto was silent for a moment. "Could you allow me access to one more tail of your chakra?"

   Kurama scoffed, teeth pulling back. "I could, but why should I lend you more of my power just because you asked?"

   "I want to be able to control myself if something were to happen," Naruto said plainly. "If I go up against an enemy like the Akatsuki, my skill alone will not be enough to beat them, especially if I'm up against more then one." He looked down at his palm, clenching his fist. "I may be an S-Rank in the bingo book, but I'm on the weaker side of that ranking. I hardly think I could win against someone like Orochimaru without your assistance."

   "You humans are so pathetic," Kurama spat, growling. "Causing wars over meaningless things and killing one another over a matter of power, truly verman worth eraticating, all of you." Naruto didn't deny that statement because it was true. "However, I refuse to have a weak host and be used for whatever things the Akatsuki want me for, and I particularly hate that slimy snake. But, be warned brat, the moment you go over four, I'm going to take over and kill everyone, regardless of what they mean to you."

   Naruto nodded, smiling a little at his fist. "Thank you, Kurama, I'll take you up on that deal."

   "I don't recall giving you permission to call me by that name," Kurama said without any real force, getting comfortable. "Now get out, pest."

   Immediatly after Kurama said those final words, Naruto was back in the real world, the smooth wood under him hard but not too uncomfortable and the scent of musty air, mud and oak filling his nose as he breathed in. He slowly opened his eyes, eyes immediately adjusted to the dull red glow from the illumination seal placed on the wall directly in front of him.

   Yesterday night, which was actually the end of their survival task in this forest he had taken the task of writing out a few dozen illumination seals upon himself to light up their secret base. The seals were very simple, one of the first ten he learned. The main kanji for "illuminate" was in the centre and other two lesser kanji, the ones for "dull" and "bright", were in the single outer layer opposite of each other, two tiny storage seals east and west of the main kanji just big enough for a kunai to fit in it.

   The purpose of the storage seals were very simple; to choose the colour. One would put an object of a certain colour in one or both of the seals depending on the colour intensity desired, then one would activate the lesser kanji they desire and then actually activate the whole seal, very easy. If the object placed in the storage seal had multiple different colours, the seal could actually glow up to five different colours at once.

   Naruto brought his fingers to his stomach and gently placed them where the seal would be, sending chakra into his fingers and stomach to make the array appear. Furrowing his brows in concentration, he slowly twisted clockwise, jaw clenching as his fingers tensed up. He could feel sweat dripping down the side of his face and back as he loosened the seal, the act itself insanely difficult without the key and requiring all of his attention.