Naruto : Fate

Training Ground Seven, the Next Morning

I stare at Yamato. Yamato stares at me.

"Okay. Here's how this is going to work." I'm ordering a jonin around. What is the world coming to? "I'm experimenting with the Jiongu, Earth Grudge Fear. I don't know how it works exactly. The first time I used it I ended up killing three Sound nin."

"That was you?" Yamato interrupts in surprise. "I saw the battlefield. They were ripped to pieces and their hearts were gone."

"Good, then you know how serious this is. You need to keep a distance from me until I can control it. If there are black threads anywhere, do not go near them. Understand? They may try to do you in like the Sound nin."

"Got it." Yamato takes a few steps away.

"Best go to the other side of the clearing. Just to be safe." He moves away further. "Alright. Now lets read that scroll." I open the scroll up.

Jiongu, also known as the black threads, yadda yadda yadda. I know what it is, I need to know what it does specifically. 

Original wielder, Kakuzu. Can take hearts of other shinobi and gain their chakra affinity. Grants the user additional chakra based on the stolen heart. That means my reserves skyrocketed. 

I can probably use my fire whips now. Grants the user the chakra regeneration speed based off of the stolen hearts. That's useful. I will recover chakra at four times the normal rate right now. Can be used to make minions. I'm going to try that. Later. Definitely later. Baby steps Alvarcus.

Alright. So Orochimaru said that this Jiongu is different from Kakuzu's, that means I shouldn't base everything I know around him. My Jiongu is parasitic, and according to Orochimaru sentient. I can try talking to it? How would I go about that?

"Hello? Jiongu? You there? Well, I know you're there, you're inside me. Can you hear me?" I feel ridiculous.

~Yes.~

"Oh Kami, it can talk. I have a talking thread monster inside of me."

"Oi! Alvarcus!" Yamato calls out to me. "You say something?"

"Yeah!" I yell back to him. "The Jiongu is sentient. I'm trying to talk to it. Now shut up and let me work!"

"Why did I agree to this? This was a terrible idea. 'Teach one of my students Yamato. It'll be a good experience for you.' Kakashi you liar."

I tune out Yamato's rambling. The Jiongu can talk. Disturbing.

"Are you self aware?"

~Yes. The host commands, and I follow.~

"You will obey me? Just like that? I don't have to do some crazy task to win your allegiance? Face my inner evil or something?" It can't be this easy. Can it?

~No. My purpose is to serve. I cannot act alone, only with permission. Only by your will. I can only influence your decisions, never dictate.~

"But the Sound gennin. You killed them."

~I don't understand.~

"The ones you took the hearts from. I didn't tell you to do that."

~You gave me permission.~

"I didn't want you to rip their hearts out and stuff them into my back!"

~You didn't tell me not to. It is my purpose, to serve my host to the best of my abilities so we can survive. Now, with the hearts, you are stronger. Better.~

"I order you to never take another heart without my explicit permission!" Never again. I don't want to do that ever again.

~As you command.~

"Good. Do I have to tell you not to kill everyone I meet?"

~No. I can feel your emotions, hear your thoughts. I will know the difference between enemy and friend.~

"You won't attack Yamato if I start using you?"

~I will only attack those you see as an enemy.~

"Good. How does this work? Do I have to tell you what to do?"

~I can hear your thoughts. I do your will. You've used me before, do it again.~

"And if I want to use chakra strings? Every time I've tried to use them, you come out instead."

~I will... stay if you wish to use your inferior strings.~

"Thank you." I just thanked the Jiongu. I must be crazy.

~You're welcome, host.~

The Jiongu shivers in joy. I feel it throughout my body. It's... oddly pleasant.

"Here we go." I say to no one in particular and draw a kunai. I will a chakra string to attach from my arm to the kunai. It works. No black threads.

"Huh. That was easy. My chakra strings are back." I fling the kunai into a tree. "I'm back baby!" I pull it back to me and holster it. "No need to practice with those then. Wait! My fire whips! I have more chakra now!"

I extend a string out from my finger a meter in length. I set it on fire.

"Impressive." I ignore Yamato.

Longer. I stretch the string out. Last time my maximum distance was seven meters, and that used almost all of my reserves. I'm at ten meters now, I don't even feel a strain. "Awesome! I can do this all day!" I make another string. Another. Pretty soon I have five strings, one for every finger on my right hand.

"Oh man, I am going to destroy in the tournament now."

I start whipping the stings around my body, making a sort of sphere with them.

"This is the best idea ever!" I let the strings fade. I don't feel any strain on my reserves at all. They are recovering faster than I spent my chakra. Fantastic!

"How many can I make?" I can easily handle ten, one per finger. I try to make one out of my back. Nothing happens.

"What? No! That's not right!" I douse the strings from my fingers to focus solely on my back. "Okay, I can make the string just fine still." I try to ignite it, and the string crumbles apart. "But I can't use an elemental switch? Where else can I not make them from?"

After five minutes of experimenting, I determine that I can only make them from my fingers. "What a let down. Still, ten whips of pure fire can't be easy to dodge. I can live with that."

"Kid, that is scary. How long have you been able to do that? The chakra usage must be extreme." Yamato asks from across the training field.

"How long? Just now. I've never been able to set them on fire for that long before. My limit used to be one string, and even then I could only hold it for around thirty seconds."

"I've seen jonin struggle with techniques that complex. You've impressed me. That amount of shape change must take an extreme level of focus."

"Shape change? It's not shape change. I make a chakra string and then do an elemental change." I inform Yamato.

His jaw hits the floor. "You got that idea from chakra strings? Don't tell anyone that. Ever. Let them assume for themselves, it'll give you an edge in a fight. If they think you are capable of shape change to the extreme like I did, then they will wonder what else you can do."

"Good idea. Maybe you do have a use after all."

"That's it! I'm never doing another favor for Kakashi ever again! I don't know if I can take twenty nine more days of this!" Poor Yamato, I haven't even started working on the Jiongu yet.

"Oh be quiet! I'm a dream student. I'm teaching myself, you don't have to do anything."

Yamato huffs in annoyance. Whatever, not my problem.

"Oi. Grumpy! I'm going to try to use the Jiongu now. Fair warning. It said it won't attack you, but I want to be extra safe."

"Go ahead kid. I'll be alright."

I will the Jiongu out of my arms. Black threads stretch away from me, and osculate in the air.

"Alright, lets do some tests." I will it to pick up a rock. I crush it to dust. "Wow. Kiba has no idea how luck he is. That could have been his head." I pull a kunai out. I bring a thread over to me, reach out with the kunai to cut it and

~NO!~

freeze millimeters away from the thread.

"I need to know how durable you are. You can take blunt damage just fine, but what about cutting attacks?"

~Do not hurt me host. Ask, and I will answer. I am more prone to cutting attacks, but it will take a very good blade to do so.~

"Good to know. So I can use you to block most cutting attacks. What happens if I lose a limb? You're inside of me and replaced everything. Would my arm grow back?"

~I can re-attach it to your body. I can exist outside of you for a long time, being cut does not mean I am destroyed. I can fuse back together.~

"That... is really convenient. What can kill me then? You replaced everything. Can I not die?"

~If all of our hearts are destroyed, we will perish.~

"So as long as I have one heart I will survive? Does it have to be my original?"

~Only one heart is needed. It does not matter which.~

"Huh. I'm really hard to kill now. That's good." An idea occurs to me. "Could I use you as my fire whip?" I could spawn it from anywhere on my body that way.

~No. I am not chakra. I am a living being, a parasite. I feast on your chakra to sustain myself.~

That is concerning. "You eat my chakra? Why?"

~It is how I grow.~

"Makes sense. And that explains why I still need to eat even though I don't have a stomach anymore. Oh Kami I don't have a stomach anymore! Where does the food go?"

~I learn from what I devour. I can do everything your organs did, only better. Your eyes adjust quicker, you get more nutrients from food, your muscles never tire.~

"Really? I'm human version 2.0? Everything I do is better?"

~No. I am simply better.~

"I'll give you that one. Say, it says here from this scroll that I can use you to make minions. Will you still listen to me if I separate you from my body?"

~Yes. There is not two of me, only one. Even separate I am still one.~

"Good to know. Well let's give it a shot!" I will threads to pour out of my body and take a form with four limbs. It doesn't work. "It didn't work? It's supposed to work!"

~It must contain a heart.~

"Really? Gross. Okay, lets use a heart this time. How do I know which heart to use?"

~You have four hearts now. One of fire, earth, water and lightning. Will one of them outwards. I will do the rest.~

That means the Sound nin all had different affinities. That is incredibly lucky. I just need wind to complete the set. No! I will not steal another heart!

"Okay. Here we go." I push out the earth heart. Pain! My back splits open, and with a wet plop the heart falls out. Instantly the black threads wrap around it and take on the vague shape of a human with the limbs extending well beyond what is normal. The creature stands at three meters tall and is very imposing. The most striking feature is the still beating heart fused to its chest.

I throw up.

Disgusting. That was in my back. That was in my back! There are two more just like that!

"Alvarcus!" Yamato starts running over to my side.

"NO! Stay away!"

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