Bones, Chapter Five: Revelations

Two weeks passed, and each day brought a new mission. The team did everything, from rescuing cats, to pulling weeds, to hunting down a pack of rabid wolves.1

Naruto woke, and pulled on his clothes. He inhaled a cup of instant ramen, and gathered his gear. He’d bought a book on sword making, and had forged two swords. One was a ninja-to that he had presented as a birthday present to Master Iruka. The other he gave to the Hokage. It was a beautiful hand-and-a-half broadsword, with silver inlay in the grips, and the blade engraved to resemble the night sky. He called it Shizuka na Yoru, Silent Night. Naruto grabbed his pack, and the saber he’d learned to use from Brom, and kicked Kyu awake. “Come on, Fox. We’ve got things to do.”2

“I’m coming, Kit. Last night’s jutsu training was painful.”3

“But you can use Henge now, can’t you? And Goukakyu? Now up and at it.” He bounded out the window, and grabbed the sill of a window two floors down. He swung into Brom’s apartment, where his cousin was frying venison in a skillet. “Morning, Brom.”4

“Morning, Naruto. Have a seat; I’ll be ready in a minute.” He walked over to a small pot on the back burner of his stove, and poured a cup. He ran some cold water in over the top of his coffee to settle the grounds, and drank deep. Next he ran into the other room and came back in full gear, his brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, his slicker on, and his swords belted on. He wore a new pair of boots, black leather up to mid-calf, and a deep red shirt. His hitai-ate was around his waist as always. He strode to the stove, turned it off, and speared a hunk of venison out of the skillet with his hunting knife. “This is pretty good, Naruto. Try some.”5

“No, thanks. I had-”6

“Ramen. I know. If a person was truly what he ate, you’d be the world’s biggest bowl of ramen. By the way, how’s the little demon doing?”7

“Kyu’s still peeved about me controlling how much chakra he gets. But he’s starting to settle into the role of pet/teacher.” Brom had known about Kyu for almost a week. He’d stumbled upon them in the woods, and no amount of lying would change the fact that his cousin’s pet fox was copying down passages from The Art of War. Verbatim. So it had come out.8

When they arrived at the training field, Kakashi was talking to two other Jounin, who leapt off as they arrived. Kakashi turned to them. “No training today, but I have something for you. It’s an application for the Chuunin Selection Exams. They’re being held here this year, and I’ve recommended all four of you. The decision is entirely yours, so no pressure.” Brom took his and went over to a tree. He climbed up, sat on a limb, and dug around in his pockets for his makings. Once he found them, he rolled himself a quirley and lit it. He closed his eyes and savored the taste of the smoke on his tongue, and then exhaled, blowing a smoke ring.9

“You know that stuff is bad for you, right?” Brom looked down and saw Sakura and Sasuke.10

“Everybody has a vice. Isn’t that right, Sasuke?”11

“I don’t.”12

“Let me ask you this, then. The day I fought Neji in front of Ichiraku’s, just how sober were you?” Sasuke glared at him. “I saw you lacing your tea. If you hadn’t been so covert, I’d have asked you for a belt.”13

Sakura was speechless. Sasuke tippling? What was the world coming to?14

“So, did One-Eye over there give you the applications?”15

“Uh-huh. He said to turn them in at Room 301 tomorrow at four,” replied Sasuke.16

“Well, then, gents, shall we meet here in the morning? Ta-ta.” And with that, Brom leapt off, to go see a horse about a man.17

“Hey, Daredevil! I need to talk with you!”18

The horse came up to him. “What is it you want, Abraham?”19

“I need to ask you. Do you think I’m ready to draw it again?”20

“Draw the sword? Remember last time? It was-”21

“I know what it was, Devil! Her face still haunts me at night! Do you think that if I draw the Horseman’s sword that I can keep him from taking over?”22

“I don’t know, Abraham. Could the priests at the temple?23

“They couldn’t. The evil is so ingrained that the only way to purify it is to destroy it.”24

“I think that you should only draw my master’s blade in the direst of straits. I honestly don’t know if you can control him.”25

“Thank you for your help, Daredevil.”26

“By the way, Abraham, what’s this word I keep hearing people say, ‘Chuunin’? The whole town’s been abuzz with it.”27

“A chuunin is a journeyman-level ninja, akin to a sergeant in our army. The examinations to determine which of the genin get promoted to chuunin are coming up. They start tomorrow.”28

“Then we’d best be well rested.”29

“Aye, that we should. But I feel like playing, so if you hear violin, it’s me.”30

Abraham went up to his rooms, and found Naruto and his teammates sitting around his apartment. “If I’d known to expect company, I’d have put on a pot of tea. Why are you here?”31

Sasuke answered. “We’re here to learn about you. All we know so far is that you’re bound to a demon, your mother bound another into a sword, and that you’re related to Naruto, the Hyuuga, and the Inuzuka. During this test we will have to be the tightest team possible. And that means no secrets.”32

“Spill everything, cuz.”33

“Alright, but it may take a while, so sit down.” They took up positions around him. “What’s your first question?”34

Naruto looked at him. “When we tracked down the wolves, and before that, that first mission, you fought with such abandon. It’s luck and luck alone that kept you from being killed. Why do you fight like that?”35

“The reason why I fight like I do, with wild abandon and no regard for my own safety, is because I know what will happen after I die.”36

Sakura was puzzled. “What? How do you know what will happen?”37

Brom raised his shirt, and revealed the seal that bound him to Daredevil. “This is a Trinity Seal,” he said, indicating the part where the heart was bound, “and these The Wanderer’s Chains.” He pointed to the three chains encircling his torso. “The Trinity Seal binds me to Daredevil. It also, by virtue of the bond between Devil and me, weakens the Horseman. For what is a horseless Horseman? There was an accident, however. I slowly was overcome by the Horseman’s malignant aura, which I’m sure you can all feel. It’s that slight tingle down your back every time you come near me when I have this sword belted on. I went berserk, and went on a rampage. At least that’s what they said. I blacked out. When I came to I was covered in blood, with my parents looking at me in horror. When I asked what was wrong, they said nothing. Then I smelled it. The faint perfume of lilac and honeysuckle. It was the distinctive perfume of a girl I knew and loved, Anne Marie Maspeth, the daughter of a family friend. I was deeply in love with her. I looked down, and there before me lay a bag.”38

Naruto and Sakura wore identical expressions of horror. “Don’t tell me it-”39

Brom nodded. “It was. Anne’s head was in the bag. My hands are stained with her blood. Mom knew she needed to weaken the Horseman, but she could add no more seals to the sword. So she had to weaken him through me. She removed my shirt, dipped her fingers in Anne’s blood, and smeared three circles around my torso. She performed the jutsu, and the blood became chains. They became The Wanderer’s Chains. They tightened the bond between myself and Daredevil, but at a great expense. The Horseman’s chakra flowed and just before it was cut off, it made the chains unbroken. Mom had left three gaps, one in each chain, so that they would not be complete circles. The Horseman filled in the gaps, and now I am condemned.”40

“How?” asked Sasuke.”41

“How, you ask? A man, when the chains are upon him, is subject to great suffering in his life. But not so much as when the chains lie unbroken upon him. A man who has this jutsu used on him is affected to the very soul, and if the chains upon his body have no gaps, are endless chains, his soul is forever bound to this earth. When I die, and die I shall, I am doomed to walk the earth forever, not going to Heaven or Hell.”42

The others were speechless. Naruto finally spoke up. “I never knew.”43

“After that Mother wrote the letter, and I was sent away. She told me come to Konoha, that perhaps a cure lay here. But I have found no cure, though I have looked. So I only ask to live out my days. As they say, the most ferocious enemy is one who does not fear to die.” He reached behind his couch, and pulled out his violin case. “Do you mind if I play? It helps to pass the time.”44

“No, not at all,” said Sasuke.45

“I agree, play, please,” asked Sakura.46

Brom removed the violin from its case, and brought it to his shoulder. As he drew the bow across the strings, his mind shut down, and he played from the heart. The first song he played was a haunting melody, one that brought him comfort, and pain.47

“This song, it’s so beautiful, yet it sounds so sad,” remarked Sakura.48

“It’s called ‘Star of the County Down’, and it was the song I always played for Anne. It reminds me of her, and comforts me.” As that song ended, Brom flowed smoothly into another, “Roxanna Waltz”, and then a joyful tune, “Miss McLeod’s Reel”. He continued, playing snippets from concertos, and sonatas, two arias, and finally, a song that was so beautiful, yet so haunting, that it stood out from all the rest.49

Naruto asked, “What is that song? It’s beautiful.”50

Brom looked at him sardonically. “It’s called ‘The Devil’s Trill’.”51

“Why that?” inquired Sasuke.52

“There’s a story behind it. They say that it’s cursed. The story goes that once there was a great violinist, who was preparing for his last concert before he retired. The night before the show he was asleep in bed, when in a dream this marvelous piece of music came to him. It was beautiful, and haunting, but the notes were so complicated that few if any could play them without a mistake. When the man woke, he was determined, however, to write it down, and play it at his farewell concert. But try as he might, he couldn’t remember all the notes, all the rests, he just couldn’t. He was tearing out his hair in frustration when he heard a voice. ‘I can help you with this problem of yours, but it will cost you.’ Standing before the violinist was the Devil himself, offering to help the man remember all of the music. The musician asked what was the price, and the Devil explained it to him. ‘When you play this piece tonight, I expect you to hit a sour note, or make some small mistake. If you play the whole piece through without error, then I will leave, and charge you nothing. But should you make but a single mistake, no matter how small, your soul is mine forever.’”53

“Then what happened?”54

“The man agreed, and the music flew onto the paper. The violinist set off with his new piece, and his favorite violin, for the concert hall where he would be performing. He played, all the night he played, until at the stroke of one, he began to play the piece from his dream. He played like the master he was, his fingers like fleas upon the strings, his bow like a flowing wave. He played so beautifully that it is said that statues near the door were moved to tears. He was playing a particularly complex crescendo, when he heard it. A single, tiny, imperceptible sour note. The audience watched as the man quit playing, lowered his violin, and collapsed. He was dead when the doctors arrived. And what is more, the piece that he had never named, the final piece he played, was found with a title, written in a spidery hand that was not the composer's. ‘The Devil’s Trill’. Since then, many have tried to play the song, but none can play it through without mistake. They get close, and then misfortune befalls them. Hands maimed, lives taken. The song is cursed. But who better to play a cursed song than a man who is already cursed?”55

“I understand, Brom,” said Naruto quietly.56

“Of course you do, Naruto. You of all the people in this village know best the meaning of torment.”57

Sakura saw a look pass between the two, and asked, “I understand that Naruto understands suffering, but why the deep look?”58

Brom looked at her. “Do you know why Naruto is so despised throughout the village?”59

A look of puzzlement passed across her face. “Isn’t it obvious? It’s his constant pranks.”60

“No, that isn’t it. The pranks are annoying, but they’re merely an attempt to be recognized, a bid for attention. Think.”61

“I was hated, even as a baby. The people at the orphanage wouldn’t come near me. They bathed me by picking me up with a pair of tongs and dunking me in soapy water. If they bathed me at all.”62

Brom looked at the obviously lost Sakura. “You, of all people, the smartest of your class, can’t figure this out? Naruto was orphaned on what day?”63

“The day that the Kyuubi was killed by the Yondaime Hokage.”64

“Close, but no cigar. How did the Fourth kill the fox?”65

“I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”66

“The truth is, Sakura, the Hokage couldn’t kill it.”67

“But where is it? What happened?”68

“Think.”69

A look of concentration was on Sakura’s face, and then a look of horror, surprise, and then curiosity. She looked at Naruto, who raised his shirt to reveal the seal on his belly. “I was chosen to be the vessel, like a living prison. The Fourth, I heard, wanted me to be thought of as a hero. But I guess he underestimated people’s fear.”70

Brom looked at Naruto. “Do you want to get her up to speed, or should I tell her about the little demon?”71

“I’ll do it. Sakura, do you know how recently I started to carry around a fox kit named Kyu?”72

“Yes. I thought you just wanted companionship from something as mischievous as you. Although I did wonder why you named him Nine.”73

“Let me explain it to you this way. What is currently inside me is the Fox’s chakra. What’s currently curled up in my lap is the Fox.”74

“You mean...?”75

“Yup. I used a jutsu to separate the Kyuubi no Kitsune from my body, and it now is housed in the body of a fox kit I found orphaned in the woods. I think his mom is now around the neck of Kiba’s mom. I intentionally kept the Fox and his chakra apart, so that I can control how much he gets. I don’t want a rampage on my hands now that the fox is out. In twelve years he‘s actually mellowed out a lot.”76

Sasuke looked at the sleeping kit. “Does it know anything?”77

“It knows Henge, Goukakyu, and probably a few more things that I’ve never asked about. He has a thing for Katon jutsus and a sense of humor as dry as a Sunagakure sunrise, so you two would probably get along.”78

“We might,” said Sasuke. “We might.”79

“Well, I suppose that since we’re all here, and in what seems to be a social mood, I ought to provide some refreshments. Anybody got problems with venison and feral hog?”80

“I’m not too fond of deer, actually. Do you have any chicken?” said the fox.81

Everybody stared. Naruto managed to get his mouth working first. “How did you do that? I only thought you could talk to me!”82

“Now that I’m out of your gut, Kit, I can talk to whomever I wish. I just prefer to keep most of my thoughts between me and you.”83

“I think I might have some chicken, Kyu. Light meat or dark?”84

“The whole chicken, rare. And some tea, please.”85

“Alright.”86