1.3 First Lesson
Naruto was lost, horribly lost. As soon as he found out the contents of the laboratory he ran as fast as his small legs could take him. The path of tunnels Ina lead him through was one of many lit pathways. He didn’t know if he was running closer to the surface or running closer to death by the hands of the ones he trusted.
He stumbled and fell down a long, gritty, steep slope. Rocks pierced his body and the occasional boulder slowed his descent before gravity dragged him further down. At some point the metal walls ended and rough limestone started. Tears streamed down his face mixing with blood. His hair was matted and brown from a mixture of blood and dirt. He try to stagger away but stopped when he emptied the contents of his stomach.
His vision swarmed, likely a sign of a concussion, as he unsteadily trudged towards a hole. It was barely visible but the perfect size for him. He crawled at the dirt, slowly widening the surface then slide inside. He partially covered himself in excess dirt then lost consciousness, letting his body naturally stitch up his wounds like it always have.
-CoA-
He froze in fear.
He tried to slow his heartbeat.
He held his breath.
Something was there. A creature -a monster- caught his scent and was searching for him. His instincts told him as soon as he woke up. At first all he heard was a sublet clicking sound echoing through the cave. Second he felt something touch him, a sudden coldness enveloped his body as the invisible veil tried to consume him. It sapped something from him. Lastly, he heard it.
“Come Child, Mother requests your blood.” A voice that was equal parts shrill as it was chilling called for him.
He watched as countless carapace covered black legs hovered over his hole. He would have thought it found him if it wasn't for the fact it kept moving away from him and back. It did not know where he was but it would find it soon enough. It was patient with it’s prey. It knew he was somewhere near by as it drained him, consuming his soul. He wondered if Dr. Ina and Kai were referring to this hideous creature when they spoke about the spirit realm.
He mentally prepared himself for death when he heard a shrill, ear-piercing scream.
“NONONONO!!!! YOU! SKYWALKER! Why are you here?! You already built those accursed tunnels, forcing more of our kind deeper into the depths. We starve even more due to your-” The monster voice cut off.
He heard some grunt and a large thud in the distance. Then something grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him out of his hole.
He screamed and struggled in its grasp. “Kai! Ina! Someone help me!”
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“Boy.” It growled.
He paused then noticed it was Kai holding him up. A scowl was etched deep into her face and her fangs were bared. Her arms were covered in black ichor that sizzled his shirt and her mask was placed on the side of head, rather than her waist. Behind her was a huge, horrify body with a white human like mask. In the center of it’s disgusting corpse was a gap that went completely through it.
Relief flooded his system before he remembered why he ran. “You gonna to feed to the monsters anyway!”
The huntress stared at him for a moment then busted out laughing. “Oh child, you are not bright, are you? Why would we kill our heir, our way out?”
She tucked him under her arm then slathered a thick layer of ichor on her -making sure none of it land on the blond- then ran towards the tunnels. Her footing was light and quick, making short work of the unpredictable cave system. Soon she found a metal tunnel.
“Wait, you can’t-” His statement cut off as she sped though the passage. The ichor on her body bubbled and turned to vapor. She ran hard, no longer trying to be agile as each step propelled them through the winding pathways. He could feel the metal resist her movements as her legs tensed. The ichor was burned away faster the farther they went and most of her body was clean of the foul fluid.
Kai barely managed to reach the doors before collapsing and dropping him in the process. He watched as her wild red hair straighten and shined as if cleaned. The hunter’s lithe muscles bulked out and harden, sacrificing speed for strength. Her posture relaxed and she seems less feral. She quickly jumped to her feet and picked him up.
He looked up and noticed a lack of fangs on her face. “Ina?”
The researcher smiled at him then opened the door to her laboratory. “Hey, kiddo! Please never run in the tunnels again unless you have a guide or we fully trained you,”
She raced by the containment units, storage lockers, vibrating electronics and into a sterile room. It contained two beds, a few lamps and all the walls had shelves of neatly organized medical items. She placed him on one of the surprisingly comfortable medical beds then tended to his wounds.
“Ah, Naru-chan.” He looked at Ina as she dabbed his leg with alcohol. Her face had a melancholic expression. “I would never put you in real danger. I rather erased most of your memories and send you back to the village than cause you suffering.”
She rubbed his cheek. “There are somethings we cannot tell you. Yet. You will have to figure it out for yourself. Those creatures... I would have slowly introduced you to the ones in captivity. They are still dangerous but severally weaken and more passive in nature. I tend to use them further my studies on the realms.”
She gently kissed his forehead. “Now rest, child. I will show you more amazing things tomorrow.”
He dumbly nod his head, unused to such kindness, and let his exhaustion take him.
-CoA-
Naruto was fairly surprised when he seen Ina in front of the furnace pounding away at a long tube of metal, trying to shape it into wire. Her arms rippled with strength and precision as every hit thinned the red hot metal. Her hammer was small, plain and scratched yet every hit caused a small quake.
He been watching her for hours. He was curious when she chose iron ores by using a machine that pulsed red energy and how she dipped the ores in a strange slurry of spiritual and physical essence. Soon he was enraptured with the way she smelted them by engulfing them in her spirit, whatever it may be. The style she hammered the ingots and shaped to her will. It was beautiful in a brutal way. From beginning to end, she suppressed the natural properties of the iron. Her method was dominance through power and she would have control, one way or another.
She quenched the thin sword with her spirit, instantly cooling it and it gave the blade a blue tint. The child would have thought she was done but she briskly walked over to a strange desk and used a line of light to burn the blade. He watched her as she used “a laser” to engrave an intricate symbol on the right side. It must have taken her an hour to engrave as she had to work layer under layer until the symbol hollowed through both sides.
She grab his hand and placed his palm on the symbol. “Try to use any energy. You don’t need to control it, just force whatever you have out.”
He was slightly annoyed she thought he not know how to use energy - he knew the rudimentary basics of chakra circulation at least- but he remembered he never shown them that he could channel it either. With that thought he sent a sliver -or what he perceived as a sliver- of chakra into the symbol then pulled his hand away. They watched as the gaps in the sword filled with a slightly murky blue substance. It reminded him of clear water, when he found a nice puddle on the streets.
She examined the blade once more then handed the sword to Naruto.”It’s your new basic sword.”
He examined the blade closer. It was straight with a slight curve at the tip with a fillet style blade and almost as half as long as him, around 45cm (1’6”). It did not have a guard, just a sturdy double grip hilt.
He meekly held the blade his hands. “I-its mine?”
She nodded, proud of her creation. “Yep! Not only will we train you to use it, you will use it for hunting! It’s the first and last thing I will ever make for you. The rest you will learn how to make it.”
He stared at her in awe. “T-thank you, Ina-neesan!”
She gently pulled him into a hug and rubbed his head. “Anytime, kiddo.”