Naruto sighed in relief, it hadn't exactly been easy but he'd finally convinced that stubborn woman, 'The Great and Sexy Anko Mitarashi' or something to not tell Hokage-jiji about him.
As he was still a civilian he really didn't need to tell the old man about his abilities, hell even when he became a shinobi he had the right to keep his secrets so long as they weren't a danger to the village, everyone knew that much.
Anko hadn't really cared much
Damn stubborn woman.
In the end he'd had to fully explain what he knew of his power to keep her quiet and she could tell if he lied too.
How annoying.
Not to mention he was almost guaranteed to meet her again as she claimed the outer forest to have been her territory for a a few years already, hell she sometimes even slept in the tower, and he certainly wasn't leaving and going back to that village
So yeah, he'd likely be seeing her often if only because she seemed to have taken an interest in him and might seek him out if she got bored.
Well he couldn't really bring himself to care at the moment, arguing with the blasted woman had given him a headache, all he cared about right now was finding a cave and going to sleep, screw waiting for night time.
He found one relatively quickly and wasted no time in webbing the entrance shut and going to bed.
His eyes shot open as he felt a set of fangs sink into his flesh.
'What the hell?!'
He felt several more things latch onto him and sink fangs into him, and he could feel them sucking his blood out.
Luckily he had a healing factor, he'd already lost an otherwise fatal amount, but his body produced as much as it lost.
Stung like a mofo though.
"GAH!"
He practically launched himself to his feet and started ripping them off him only for another to take the place of everyone he ripped off
"Get'em off! Get'em off! Get'em off! Get'em off! Get'em off!"
It probably didn't help that he was halfway panicking and running around in circles.
WAIT!
They were attacking him so that means they could see him somehow right?
The next one he grabbed, rather than throwing it away he squeezed it, it suddenly gained a burst of strength and tried to break free but it wasn't a match for his Herculean Strength he winced at the loud, pained shrieks it gave off as it died and then bit off a chunk of it and swallowed whole.
Ability [Echolocation] learned.
Ability [Pump up] learned.
Ability [Vampirephilia] learned.
He didn't hesitate to send out a pulse of Echolocation.
Bats, very large bats, a whole frickin' colony of them, according to the pulse the cave ran much deeper than he'd thought, the bats had probably been inside when he'd come here and woke up at night to go hunting, but the cave was sealed and a nice meal just so happened to be right there waiting for them.
He couldn't really blame them for attacking him in that case, and it wasn't like it was lethal.
He grimaced as yet another set of fangs sank into him and started draining him.
Just painful.
He spat a wad of acid at the web sealing the cave and covered himself in his exoskeleton, pushing the fangs out, he felt the pressure of the fangs increase from what he now knew to be the bats using that Pump up ability to gain a temporary increase in their strength, it would have probably pierced through before today, but the strength of the queen's exoskeleton had been added to his own.
In the end the bats gave up and all burst out of the cave to feast on the forest creatures.
He sighed in relief before frowning, the cave was clearly their home and they needed to come back later so he couldn't reseal the entrance, and if he left it as is and went to bed the next thing to sink its teeth into him would likely be after meat instead of blood.
Looks like he needed to find a new cave for the night.
He groaned as he started making his way out of the cave before pausing as a sound caught his attention.
What was that? It sounded kind of like one of those bats, but smaller and weaker.
And pained?
He turned his head to the sound and saw one of the bats laying there on the ground, a baby by the look of it, considering its size. It was squeaking weakly and he could make out that one of its wings was bent at an odd angle.
It had probably been one of the bats he'd thrown off and unlike the others its young body hadn't been able to take it, bit why was it by itself? Where was its mo-
The one he'd eaten.
Damn.
It released another pained squeak and he couldn't help but wince, this was his fault, he couldn't just leave it here.
He walked up to it and hesitantly picked it up, careful to not aggravate its wing and cradled it in one arm, he willed away the armor on the other arm and put it to...her, it was female, mouth. He winced as he felt her fangs sink into his forearm and start drinking, well it was better than the whole colony doing it, he got used to it fairly quickly.
He grimaced a bit as he walked out of the cave, he had no clue how to treat her wing, he could only hope that that Anko woman showed up at the forest tomorrow and that she'd be willing to help.
Anko was making her way to the forest the next day with a grin on her face, she'd finally gotten to enjoy some fresh dango from her favorite shop after the hellish, dangoless months of that mission, she was damn near euphoric, and she'd even gotten a to go box too.
It was a good day to be Anko Mitarashi she decided.
She could see the forest coming closer and would have smiled wider if she could.
A box of dango in her forest, what more could a girl ask for.
You know, besides the slow, agonizing death of her bastard ex-sensei.
She saw the gate come up and was about to jump over it when something caught her eye.
There leaning against a tree a bit away from the forest and using a blanket made of webs was the blond gaki from yesterday, huh she thought he said that he slept in caves in the forest.
The kid seemed to somehow notice she was there and turned to look up at her before getting up, the web blanket now acting as a cloak, and starting to wave her over.
She raised a brow and went to see what the brat wanted, when she landed, the blond took a breath and actually bowed, a small one but a bow none the less, she'd known him for less that 2 hours and even she knew that wasn't like him.
"Umm morning, Mitarashi-san"
"Whad'ya want gaki?"
A tick mark appeared on his head and she smirked, wondering how he'd react.
To her disappointment he just took a deep breath and let it go.
"Ano, I kinda need your help" he said then shifted the cloak so she could see him cradling a large, sleeping bat in his arm while still using the cloak to keep it shaded from the sun so it didn't wake, she could tell one of its wings were broken and she raised an eyebrow at the kid
"Do you know how to treat a broken wing?" he asked
In what appeared to be a medical office a young girl, no older than 15 or 16 relaxed into a comfy rotating chair, laying on the floor surrounding her were 3 puppies, well not puppies, they were too old to be puppies yet too young to be dogs, they were still referred to as puppies though, at least by her.
This was Hana Inuzuka, clan heiress of the Inuzuka clan, one of the few Inuzuka in history to ever have not one, not even two, but three ninken partners, though some say it doesn't count because they're triplets but what do those jealous bastards know, a prodigy in the medical arts, especially in relation to animals, being a licensed veterinarian despite her young age, shinobi career and responsibilities as an heiress.
Huh, she might just be a prodigy at time management as well.
She, unlike what one might expect from an Inuzuka, especially the heiress actually didn't display any feral traits, her brown hair rather than wild and untamed was smooth and long, tied in a low ponytail with two bangs framing her face, her black eyes were also round, rather than slit, and she radiated an air of calmness, oh she had the trademark Inuzuka claws and fangs but many ninja sharpened their nails to be used as weapons, and the fangs weren't exactly apparent when her mouth was closed, honestly if it were not for the Inuzuka Fang Tattoos on her face and her trio of ninken partners one would not even recognize her as an Inuzuka, though anyone who's seen her on the battlefield can tell you the Inuzuka blood runs strong in her.
Today, was a good day to be Hana Inuzuka, she didn't have any training with her mother today, or any missions lined up for her, she was attending her vet clinic today, not many went to the vet in a ninja village either so today she could just sit back in her office, with a nice cup of tea and rela-
SLAM!
"HEY HANA-CHAAAN!~"
God dammit Anko.
Hana stared dully at the small child in a cloak made of spiderwebs, cradling what she could tell to be a baby devil bat from the forest of death by its tail, and warily staring down her and her partners as if they were about to attack him at any time, she glanced up at her friend who grinned at her then back at the kid then back at her friend.
"Anko, why is there a devil bat in my office, more importantly, how did a small child acquire a baby bat from the forest of death?" she said calmly. After all the only way for that to happen is if someone gave him something from the forest of death as a pet, the forest of death bats have started flying to the village or he himself was in the forest.
She didn't like any of those possibilities to be honest.
It was Naruto that answered her "Her colony tried to drain me, I killed her mother and accidentally broke her wing, the whole thing was kinda my fault though so I figured I'd watch after her until her wing was fixed."
Hana stopped at that information and stared at him incredulously, was she supposed to believe that not only did this kid apparently survive getting mauled by a colony of giant vampire bats but actually killed one and injured another, even if the injured was a baby? Individually sure, the bats weren't all that strong but even then for a kid this young that would be a stretch, but an entire colony is something even ninja are wary of due to the sheer number.
She glanced at Anko and could tell she was surprised to, though not incredulous, like she didn't know about this before now, so the kid probably hadn't explained much to her, but even now that she did, could believe it possible for him to do, was it something to do with the kid's tenant or something else?
Her curiosity was piqued, but before anything she had her responsibility as a vet to fulfill.
"Alright just give her here and we'll have that wing fixed right up" she said reaching for her
Naruto's eyes shifted warily between her and the bat before he handed her over, and she immediately noticed a change in his posture, where as before he was ready to bolt while defending himself if the need arose, now he was tense to strike at the slightest hint that she would do something to the bat, damn, she knew who he was but he's way too young to be this wary of others, what happened to him. Her eyes briefly met Anko's, who's grin faded just long enough to give an angry look and jerk her head to the village.
Her eyes frosted over for a second.
'What the hell have these people done to an innocent child?!'
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard growling and looked down, looks like the Hainmaru Triplets had registered his change in posture as a threat and were reacting accordingly, now surrounding her and ready to attack, which just made Naruto even more ready for a fight.
"Stop" she said firmly
The three looked up at her inquisitively but she just looked back at them with a firm, authoritative look on her face.
"Stop. Now." She repeated and the three relaxed
Naruto relaxed as well but was still pretty tense, she looked at him seriously
"Listen kid, I know who you are, and you don't have a reason to trust me, but I'm not like the others, I promise you that I don't hate you"
He narrowed his eyes but still didn't relax, she wasn't surprised, she didn't expect him to just take her words at face value after all.
"And even if I did hate you-" her hand glowed green and she brought it to the bat's wing, his eyes widened in shock as the wing seemed to realign itself before his eyes
"As a veterinarian its my job to treat any animal brought to my care regardless of feelings towards the owner" She finished as she reached back and pulled out a splint and some bandages
"I've repaired the bone but it'll be a week or so before she's able to fly again, just keep her wing in the splint and she'll be fine" she said returning the bat to him.
He carefully took the bat and once again cradled her to his chest, he simply stared down at the sleeping bat for a while with a warm smile, amazing how quickly the kid had apparently taken a liking to her, then again she is rather cute Hana admitted to herself watching the curled up baby bat the size of a puppy.
Naruto looked up from the bat to turn a grateful smile to Hana.
"Thank you"
Hana smiled back and pat him on the head, pleased to see that while he did tense and flinch at her touch he didn't seem to be ready for combat anymore, at least not at the moment.
"No problem kid, just remember if you plan on letting her go when her wings are healed pass by once more before you do so I can give a final checkup." she said to Naruto who nodded in response and gave her a small bow before turning to Anko and bowing to her as well.
"And thank you Mitarashi-san" he said to her as a surprised look briefly flashed across her face before returning to her normal exuberant grin.
"Ah think nothing of it brat, speaking of what are you gonna name her anyways."
Naruto tilted his head at that
"a name?" he hadn't thought to give her one, especially since she'd only be with him while she recovered.
It was Hana who answered
"Well you'd need something to call instead of just 'the bat', even if she'll only be with you for a little while" she said
Naruto looked down at the bat with a considering look on his face
"Mayu, would that be a good name?" he considered out loud.
"I think its a good name" said Hana while Anko shrugged "Can't really say how good it is but I wouldn't keel over laughing at someone if they introduced themselves as that"
Naruto nodded, Mayu it was then.
"So uhh, Ok, Mayu here will be fine now will someone please tell me how on earth a small child apparently not only survived a devil bat swarm, but also killed one and injured another." Hana asked
Naruto seemed to think about it for a while before complying
"I went into a cave to sleep and sealed the entrance, there was a colony of them there and since they couldn't get out they latched on to me" he said shuddering at the memory of Kami knows how many fangs piercing into him, its probably only because they were all crowding him that the tails weren't involved as well.
"Wait, a cave? you sleep in caves? and more so, you sleep in the forest of death?!" she yelled at the boy who nodded in response
Hana looked at her friend in disbelief, hoping for it to be a joke, but was disappointed when Anko just nodded in response. Her eyes swirved back to the kid.
"Why?!"
He shrugged "I prefer the forest to this village, by far" the certainty at which he said he preferred a forest with more deadly chakra mutations than normal animals over the village made her want to rip into all the villagers that had driven him to that point.
She shook her head to focus, she'd rage to herself in private later, she was still curious.
"And how exactly did you seal the caves?"
"Same way I made the cloak" he said showing a finger and shooting out a small string from it
"W-wha, you can use jutsu? I've never seen one that makes string be-" she was interrupted by the blond who shook his head
"It's not a jutsu, I can't even use chakra, Jiji won't teach me no matter how much I ask since he said that would be showing favoritism" Hana blinked
"It's not a jutsu, then what the hell was, no, before that what do you mean favoritism? who is this jiji you're talking about?"
"Hokage-jiji"
"..."
Anko burst out laughing at the look on her friend's face.
And to think she'd just been planning on relaxing in her office for most of the day.
God dammit Anko.
Hana sighed to herself as the pair left her office her head coming to rest on her hand while the other brought up her now cold cup of coffee to her lips.
She was a kunoichi, she was used to odd things happening but, this was too much dammit, the kids ability, not even a kekkei genkai since it didn't use chakra, was quite frankly bullshit, it wasn't fair, and that was without chakra backing him up?
Seriously that's bullshit dammit!
She'd agreed to keep it to herself on the terms that as a civilian there was no obligation for his abilities to be known by the Hokage.
Even then she'd been leery of keeping it secret, this could be because of the fox after all, but Anko had apparently known what she was thinking and pulled her to the side saying, that with his chakra still not even unlocked, the fox wouldn't have a means of influencing his body that much, the most it could do in there was increase his Uzumaki healing factor and his chakra, and even that was involuntary given the function of Jinchuuriki seals.
So in the end she'd keep it to herself.
She brought her cup to her lips again but tasted nothing and looked down at her cup.
It was empty.
She glanced over at the coffee machine only to see it was also empty with a note on it.
'Got a bit thirsty while you were talking to the brat, thanks for the coffee Hana-chan~"
At the bottom left corner of the note was a drawing of a chibi Anko giving her a peace sign.
God Dammit Anko.
"What?"
"You heard me brat, be grateful that the Great and Magnificent Anko-Sama, will be taking the time to help you unlock your chakra"
Naruto blinked at that.
Why?!
Seriously why would she just offer to teach him out of the blue like that, it made no sense!
They didn't know eachother, not really anyway, and he hadn't even so much as thought about asking her.
"Um..why?"
"Because you interest and amuse me, and I wanna see what you'd do if you could use it of course!"
Naruto sweat dropped.
That was it?! Seriou- no, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, roll with it.
He needed something to do since he'd be avoiding the FoD for a while as Mayu healed anyways.
Devil Bats: The result of chakra and Yoki mutating common vampire bats, at maximum size they are about 1.7 meters across in wingspan, which is the approximate size of the worlds largest bat, Acerodon jubatus, or the Golden Capped Fruit Bat, considering the three known species of vampire bats can all fit in the palm of a child's hand and are still considered dangerous, yeah, these things are pretty deadly, made even more so my their devil like, arrow headed tails which can be used as a weapon, to whip, slash, stab and constrict prey, their minor control of their own blood, and their pump up ability.
A low D class Mutation by itself, raised to high D Class when attacking as a swarm.
Current abilities list
Absorbtion
Exoskeleton
Spider Thread Creation
Thread Wielding Arts
Herculean Strength
Insect Wing Generation
Aquatic (I won't be counting swim so don't ever expect it on the list)
Venomous Bite
Enlarged Field of Vision
Reinforced Web Creation
Advanced Thread Wielding Arts
Web Bullets
Acid Spit
Spider Sense
Echolation
Pump Up
Vampirephilia