This is Ryu Kotei saying that we only have a short few days to stop SOPA! I'm starting this new story in hopes of not just finding ideas for my other fics, but to spread the word about the evils of SOPA! I know that I have other works to, but they will never come to fruition if SOPA is passed! We have to stop SOPA! Freedom for the writers! Freedom for those with YouTube accounts! Freedom. For. EVERYONE!
On a final note, I do not own Naruto or Steven Universe.
"Believe in Steven!" normal speech
"Believe in Steven!" thought/mind speak
"Believe in Steven!" demon speech
Chapter 1: Shining New Start
*Mindscape*
Naruto awoke to find himself in the sewers that made up his mind and saw himself lying right in front of the fox's cage. "What…" said Naruto as he tried to pick up his body, only for the stubs on his arms to give out, "What happened?" A shadow inside the cage stirred to reveal the two giant red eyes of the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. "You should remember what had happened kit," said the Kyuubi in agitation, as Naruto finally moved himself to a sitting position and thought back to what all had happen…
Flashblack
*Konohagakure*
Naruto and Kakashi saw the gates with the jonin carrying the unconscious Sasuke. "I am still impressed, Naruto," said the cycloptic ninja with an eye smile, "I never would have thought that someone like you to defeat Sasuke as well as the both of you surviving such a massive collision." Naruto gave his sensei a wide smile and said, "Hey, I made a promise to Sakura-chan to bring back Sasuke and I would rather die than go back on my word! That is NOT what Naruto Uzumaki would do!"
"NARUTO!" shouted Sakura as she rushed towards the duo. "See Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said without noticing the look of pure murder on Sakura's face. "Things are looking up from he-" Sakura gave the blonde a punch hard enough to break his jaw and send him flying into a nearby tree. Naruto fell from the tree and was about to ask Sakura what had happened before he got a kick to the face from the girl. "What the HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO SASUKE-KUN!?" screeched Sakura as she began to stomp on Naruto's body, "YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULD BRING SASUKE-KUN BACK AND YOU ONLY BRING HIM BACK BEATEN AND BROKEN! NOW I'M GOING TO DO THE SAME TO YOU FOR BREAKING THAT PROMISE!" Sakura then grabbed a nearby rock and gripped it hard enough to give the stone a small crack before a look of vengeful bloodlust in her eyes. "I'll make sure you can never hurt Sasuke-kun ever again," said Sakura as she raised the stone up high, "you no good piece of trash MONSTER!" Kakashi could stare in horror at Sakura smashing Naruto's arms as the blonde's screams paralyzed his body.
The jonin finally snapped himself free from his fear as the two chunin at the gate approach and gave Sasuke to the two before going towards Sakura. "Sakura stop!" ordered Kakashi as he tried to wrestle Sakura back, "Stop it now!" The jonin saw that he had no choice as to knock Sakura out with a quick chop to the neck. Naruto looked up to see that his arms were completely smashed some inches below the elbow as jagged pieces of bone were sticking out and blood oozing from the bruises that have been torn open. "Sakura-chan…" Naruto said weakly as darkness began to envelop his vision, "…why…" The blonde never saw the others arriving as darkness finally enveloped him.
Flashback End
*Mindscape*
Sakura…why? Naruto thought to himself as he looked at the stubs of what remained of his arms. "I'm truly sorry about your arms kit," said the Kyuubi with a stoic tone, "but even if I had the chance, your arms would have never been able to heal properly and would have taken months to fully heal; even MY power is limited." Naruto didn't even hear the fox as he remembered what Tsunade had told him at the hospital…
Flashback
*Konohagakure*
Naruto slowly awoke to find himself at the hospital with Tsunade sitting next to his bed with a saddened look on her face. "Baa-chan?" asked Naruto as he pushed himself up with his elbows before he felt something different about his arms. "Naruto!" said Tsunade with shock on her tear stained face before her voice had softened, "Naruto…before you ask, Sasuke is doing alright as he is recovering in a different room with Jiraiya looking at that Curse Mark on his neck. I…I have some bad news though…" Naruto removed both arms from his side to see a horrific sight: bandages covering his arms where the rest should have been. "My…my hands!" said the blonde with pure horror in his eyes as he stared at the bandaged stubs, "Where the hell are my hands?!" Tsunade quickly hugged Naruto as she said, "There was nothing we could have done to save them, Naruto; even he must have seen how impossible it would have been. I'm sorry…I'm sorry."
Flashback End
*Mindscape*
Naruto could remember the look of horror on everyone's faces as they saw his bandaged stumps; there was a mixture of horror, sadness, and worst of all…pity. "I still can't believe Sakura had the gall to do that to me," Naruto said as he hung his head at knowing his career as a ninja would be finished for the rest of his life. Naruto then remembered how the Council had exiled him and had a chunin escort him to a waiting ship at the docks that would transport him to the island far from Hi no Kuni…but even that didn't go as planned…
Flashback
Naruto and his chunin escort had made it to where the ship that was to take him to his new home since he can never return to his home. "Well," said the chunin escort, "end of the line." Naruto nodded and climbed the stairs, but before he boarded the ship, the young blonde turned and faced the man. "I know that you're one of the ninja back at the village that hated my guts," asked Naruto, "but is it possible for me to ask for your name?" The man nodded and said, "My name is Odori, Naruto-san and to be honest, I never did hate you. In fact, I have respected you for holding the Kyuubi at bay and the Uchiha was always a power hungry brat; the Council has made their greatest error with this. I'll never forget you and I shall always honor you, Uzumaki-sama." Naruto smiled and got on the ship, waving good-bye to the last person from Konohagakure he will ever see before hours later a large group of storm clouds rolled towards the ship.
Flashback End
Naruto rubbed a stump on the side of his face as the last thing he remembered was a beautiful pale face with orange hair. "Whoever that person is," Naruto said as he smiled at the memory, "they have my eternal gratitude…too bad I can't do anything with my hands." The Kyuubi smirked and said, "Ever since I've been trapped inside of your body, I've been bored as Hell and one time I decided to look through your blood and I've made a shocking discovery: there is more to the Uzumaki bloodline than anyone realized." The blonde looked at the giant fox like the beast had grown another head in the blink of an eye. "Please tell me!" said Naruto with desperate excitement, "Please tell me that I have some cool Kekkei Genkai that is WAY better than Sasuke-teme's!"
"SHUT IT!" roared the Kyuubi before calming down, "What I have discovered is the secret behind the Uzumaki Clan's longevity." Naruto tilted his head in confusion as the giant fox then said, "Yes, Kit, you had a clan that can actually outlive three generations, four if they were not a ninja and lived a very healthy lifestyle and five or six for you. Anyway, it seems like there is another part of the Uzumaki blood…something mystical infused inside the blood and it is through this that grants Uzumaki's their increased life span. Unfortunately there are impurities in the blood that block it, mostly the different blood ties within the blood from both sides of your family. If I get rid of some of the impurities, it is possible to reawaken this hidden power inside of you thus releasing not only the true Uzumaki Bloodline but whatever else that mystical piece hides in your blood." Naruto smiled and said, "Well what are you waiting for; bring out my true power!"
Silence echoed throughout the sewer as Naruto looked at the Kyubi with a questioning look. "What's going on Kyuubi?" asked Naruto as an uncomforting aura hung in the air. "If I'm going to do this," said the giant fox with a stern look in his eyes, "I want something in return; I want some freedom." Naruto angrily pointed a stub at the fox and said, "There is no way in HELL am I going to let you loose on innocent people! I'd rather have no arms than knowing that I let loose one of the most dangerous demons on the world!" The Kyuubi let out a sigh and said, "I never said that I wanted complete freedom, just some freedom. All I am asking is to just walk around and feel everything that I'm missing out on as all I get is what you see and the emotions and pain you feel. I never get the chance to and the last time I could only remember is when I was controlled; I don't even remember half the things during those times! Again, all I am asking for is to possess a Shadow Clone every now and then, I'm not leaving an untrained pipsqueak alone with my chakra! I'll even restore your arms!" Naruto scowled and said, "You said you couldn't heal them so how are you going to do that!?" The fox slammed its hand-like paw and said, "I said that I couldn't heal your arms at that time as the damage was too extensive, but by restoring your arms using that mystical part in your blood, it will be like the that whole removal of your previous arms never happened as you will grow those arms back. So what do you say; deal or no deal?"
Naruto considered his options; he could let the Kyuubi tamper with his blood and not only get something cool out of it but get his arms back, or just live the rest of his life without hands and unable to truly repay his savior. Should he choose to let the Kyuubi tamper with his blood, Naruto just has to let it possess a Kage Bushin and after thinking about it, it would be like having a friend from Konoha…one that will literally be with him till he dies. What should I choose? Naruto thought as he sat down and crossed his arms, I want to continue my career but I can't do that without hands, but can I really grant the Kyuubi that kind of freedom. I wish I had something to help me with this choice.
"Follow your heart…"
Naruto looked around to find the voice, but only saw himself and the Kyuubi. "Well Kit, I'm waiting," said the giant fox getting impatient, "If you don't make a choice, I'll make it for you!"
"Listen to the voice inside your heart…" said the mysterious voice, "You can make whatever choice you want, just follow your heart child." Naruto closed his eyes and let the voice's wisdom seep in. "Okay Kyuubi, I've made my decision," said Naruto with fire in his eyes as he stared down the fox, "give me back my arms!" The fox nodded and said, "Better prepare yourself because the amount of pain you'll feel will make that Chidori you took feel like a bee sting compare to this!"
*Crystal Temple; Steven's Room*
Pearl was sitting near the couch where the boy she saved on the beach was laying. She was trying to help Steven with summoning his Gem's power when the two of them saw a patch of orange in the ocean and when the orange patch drifted onto shore, she and Steven discovered that it was a young boy with blonde hair. To their horror, the boy wasn't breathing so Pearl had Steven run and get help while she performed CPR on the blonde with hope of saving his life. She continued on until the boy coughed up water and looked at her with beautiful ocean blue eyes as the boy thanked her before passing out.
A medic had arrived and examined the blonde to find that the boy will live and just needed some rest, but said that if the group needed anything else to contact the hospital. After that, Garnet had carried the boy into their home and laid him on the couch where the child could rest. No one could ignore the stubs on his arms where the boy's hands once were and could only imagine what could have happened. Pearl continued to watch the boy as the others continued on with their day, knowing that the perfectionist would make sure that the boy was safe and well taken care of.
"What could have happened to someone like you?" said Pearl as she looked at the stubs with tears forming in her eyes, "How could you have been robbed of your hands as a child?" The Crystal Gem gently ran a hand on the whisker-like marks on the boy's face and she couldn't help but think how they give a certain roguish charm to the blonde. Those marks make him look cute, Pearl thought to herself before she shook her head, Come on Pearl, he's probably around Steven's age, maybe a little older, and you're old enough to be his great-great grandmother…then again, Rose was A LOT older when she married Greg, but they're adults and you're a teenager while the boy is just a pre-teen!
A scream woke Pearl from her thoughts as she then saw the boy writhing in pain as a red aura enveloped him. The Crystal Gem fell off the chair as the others entered to only hear a painful scream escape from the blonde. Steven walked next to Pearl and said, "Pearl what happened, what's wrong with him?!" Pearl got to her feet and said, "I don't know Steven; I was just watching him and then he started screaming."
Amethyst was about to place a hand on the blonde's forehead until another hand stopped her. That hand belonged to Garnet, the leader of the Crystal Gems. "Don't touch him, Amethyst," said the woman as she brought out a frozen hotdog and placed it on the aura. Much to the shock of everyone, the aura enveloped the hotdog and began to dissolve it right before their eyes. "Whoa," said Steven as he watched the last of the hotdog be eaten away in the air, "it's like acid." Pearl looked at the tall woman and asked, "What should we do Garnet? Should we call the hospital?"
Before anyone could act, another scream from the boy gained their attention to reveal that the stubs have now blown open with bone and flesh growing from it. "I'm gonna be sick," said Amethyst as she tried to hold back her nausea as she watched hands beginning to form. It was a sickening sight as the new hands finished growing fingernails from the cuticles, then something else happened. Just above the boy's wrists, two orange square gems formed in a blinding light. "He's...he's a Crystal Gem!" said Pearl as she looked at the two gems on the boy's arms, "Those are amber gems!"
Everything was silent until the blonde began to move and slowly sat up. "He's coming to," said Pearl as the blonde slowly opened his eyes to reveal his shiny blue eyes. The boy put his head in one of his hands before pulling it back and smiled before saying, "He did it…he actually did it! My hands are back!" The blonde flexed the fingers on his two new hands before he saw the two gemstones embedded into his arms. "What the…" said the boy with confusion on his face as he examined the gems.
"Are you alright?" asked Pearl as she gently placed her hand on the boy's shoulder, "You gave us quite a scare when your arms grew back." The blonde turned to face Pearl and stared at her for a few seconds before hugging her thin frame and giving her a barrage of thanks. The Crystal Gem was taken by surprise, but she then enveloped the boy in a loving hug and gently rubbed his back.
After calming down, the boy let go of Pearl and said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, former shinobi of Konohagakure and I wish to thank you for saving my life!" Pearl smiled a bit and said, "Hello Naruto, I'm Pearl and these are my friends, Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven. We are the Crystal Gems, and apparently you're one too." Naruto raised an eyebrow until he saw the large pearl embedded in the thin girl's forehead before looking at the gems on his arms. "Crystal Gems are guardians of Earth who rely on the mystical powers of their gems," said Garnet as she revealed the two garnets embedded into her palms, "Our powers involve from simple shape shifting to even summoning weapons that are unique to each one." Garnet's hand glowed briefly before two large, red gauntlets with two large, golden stars near the knuckles appeared out of thin air on her hands. "Cool," said Naruto as his eyes shone with excitement at the sight, "So all of you can summon really cool weapons!"
"All but Steven here," said Amethyst as she lightly jabbed Steven with her elbow, "he's still working on getting his to work for him, but with you around he's not going to be alone." Pearl gave the Crystal Gem a look and said, "We can't have him join us after we just pulled him from the ocean and saved him from drowning! He could still go into shock and needs time to recover from whatever happened!" Pearl then felt a hand on her shoulder to see Naruto looking at her with a stern face and eyes full of confidence. "I'll join you seeing how I'm now an exiled ninja," said Naruto as he got confused looks from the others around him, "but first I have a of promise to keep up. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In a large plume of smoke, another Naruto appeared next to him before this Naruto's looks began to change: his spikey, blonde hair smoothed out and became blood-red, the whisker-like marks on his face became more pronounced and curved, and when he opened his eyes, gone were the sparkling blue eyes as cold, blood-red eyes with slits in them. "Thanks for keeping your end of the deal Kit," said the Naruto copy with a cool, chilling voice, "but to save us some trouble in the future, my name's Kurama; Kyuubi is just a title you humans have given me."
"Kyuubi?" said Garnet with wonder, "As in, the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Kurama looked at the Crystal Gems and said, "Yes…that Kyuubi." Garnet nodded as Steven asked, "You know him?" Amethyst raised an eyebrow and asked, "The same Kyuubi that Rose told us about when she told us about Mito Uzumaki?" Kurama chuckled and said, "She was my first jinchuriki and she and my previous jinchuriki before the boy never gave me any form of freedom as the mental link is just a given; I'm trapped inside of them with only hearing and seeing from their perspective and I only feel pain and emotions from them, I actually wanted to feel a cool forest breeze on my fur and the dirt underneath my paws…but all I get is that I'm nothing but an evil monster when the real monster is that UCHIHA BASTARD!" Breathing heavily after venting some anger, Kurama let out a sigh and said, "Just what the doctor ordered; good to let out some anger and know that it was all me."
"Now that that's out of the way," said Amethyst as she moved some of her hair behind her head, "What were you doing in the middle of the ocean?" A small frown formed on Naruto's face as he looked at Kurama for a bit of guidance. "Go ahead and tell them," said Kurama as he knew about the blonde's trust issues, "I'll fill in what blanks I can and we'll just see from there." Letting out a sigh, Naruto began telling the Crystal Gems where he was from, some of the people he had met, and eventually telling them about his whole life while Kurama stepped in to provide some important details that Naruto missed out. After hearing about Naruto's life, the Gems were both amazed at how a young boy could survive such a life and appalled at how others have treated the boy; even Garnet was clenching her fists tightly in boiling anger. "How could people treat a small child like that for something out of their control!?" ranted Amethyst as she was tempted to find Naruto's abusers and giving them a piece of her mind. Steven was appalled at how a girl Naruto once liked had done something so heartbreaking after the blonde had kept his promise. Pearl on the other hand had tears rolling down her face at the thought of the boy being so alone and in pain for so long.
Naruto then shut his eyes tightly, expecting the Crystal Gems to reject him and begin to chase him away, but he was surprised at the feeling of loving warmth wrapped around him. The blonde opened his eyes to see the Gems hugging him with tears on their faces. "What…" asked Naruto in confusion, "What are you doing? Don't you want to beat me or chase me out?" The Gems let go and backed up a bit as Pearl said, "We would never do such horrid things to such a person like you, Naruto; you deserve so much love after what you had been put through." Amethyst placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "Yeah, that Sakura…girl doesn't know what a great friend she had just lost because she was kissing some boy's ass." Taken aback, Pearl gave Amethyst a scolding look and said, "Not in front of Steven and Naruto!" Garnet walked by the two Gems and placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders before enveloping the blonde into a hug as Naruto heard something that he had only dreamed of hearing before getting kicked out of the orphanage.
"Welcome to our family, Naruto."
How will Steven's adventures be affected with Naruto now a member of the Crystal Gems? A slight note about the Crystal Gems' ages is that I'm having Garnet as an adult while Pearl and Amethyst are teenagers while Steven will be twelve years old as his age hasn't been mentioned yet. Don't forget to rate and review!
Ja ne
P.S.: STOP SOPA!