Chapter 16 The Meaning of the Stars
"R'lyeh?", questions Naruto.
"Yes, was Look to the Stars the request the avatar gave you", asks Xel.
Naruto nods.
"Then it is afraid, as should you be. R'lyeh is the home of Cthulhu, where he waits in his death like slumber. I told you before that The Great Old Ones exist in all universes simultaneously. Cthulhu is a Great Old One. While I doubt that R'lyeh is going to rise now, it will rise soon", says Xel.
"Cthulhu is going to awaken. We have to stop him. How do we kill him", asks Naruto.
Xel laughs. It is a low cackling laugh.
"You cannot kill Cthulhu, he is a god. Even if you were to use every bit of the Necronomicon's power you would not even reach a small percentage of his power", says Xel.
"There has to be a way to stop him, how long do we have", asks Naruto.
"R'lyeh rises every 50,000 years. I do not know when it was last raised here. If you let me read from the Necronomicon to see what the formation of stars will be at the time I can guess", says Xel.
Naruto walks to his window. He can see no colors of sound emerge from the trees Indicating the ANBU. No doubt following his clone.
"It's still to dangerous to use it now, the ANBU will take it. At least if they barge in, I can just dispel you. I cannot do that with the book, but they are gone now. If I don't see anything after a while then we take out the book", says Naruto.
"Then let us hope that after we have the time to spare", says Xel.
"Ok fine, but is there a way to stop Cthulhu", asks Naruto.
"In a way. R'lyeh will rise when the Stars are Right. Once they are no longer right the city will sink. Should Cthulhu be within the city he will fall back into his slumber. Even if you succeed you only break even. Water blocks the telepathic powers of Cthulhu. Once that is no more, all his dreams will seep into the minds of mortals. Many will die, more will go insane, and Cthulhu will be known to your world. Cults will spring up that worship Cthulhu and forbidden knowledge will be revealed. Make no mistake my lord, the best you can do is break even. This is not a fight you can truly win, and one day Cthulhu will rise. One day he will succeed. He only has to win once", says Xel.
"Maybe, but if I fail then we are doomed. If I succeed at least the human race will still live", says Naruto.
"You speak like it will be simple. The city will rise, and the moment it does the world will forever change, this will be true no matter the result. In the end your world will come out of it for the worst", says Xel.
Naruto takes a deep breath.
"Then I will become a great ninja, I will master the Necronomicon, I will get every ally I can. I will do all I could and if it is not enough, I will make sure the human race goes down fighting", says Naruto.
"Why, I have seen how they treat you. You owe them nothing, if not for you this village you hold dear would perish under the power of nine tails. You are far removed from humanity anyway. You cannot even be called human", says Xel.
"That may be so", says Naruto as he turns to the picture of his parents on the wall.
"But I will not let them fade into oblivion, not without trying. I only need time", says Naruto.
"Time may be something you do not have. Regardless the summons are at your command. None of us can match Cthulhu but we do have one thing that will help you", says Xel.
"And what would that be", asks Naruto.
Xel smiles.
"Tell me my lord. Have you ever wondered what the Boss Summons are for your Contract", asked Xel.
Naruto allows that information to sink in before he smiles.
"I'm listening", says Naruto.
"It is my father and Mother", says Xel.
Naruto falls to the Ground as he begins to laugh.
"I can Summon Dagon and Hydra", Says Naruto through his laughs.
"Indeed, the Son and Daughter of Cthulhu, oldest of the Deep Ones. Infinitely weaker, and yet they know more on him than any other creature alive. Excluding the Outer Gods of course", says Xel.
"Well it's not much of they are infinitely weaker, but it's a start. Ok now then Lets see how much time we got", says Naruto.
He walks over to the floor boards. Lifting it to see the familiar book he had not read from in years. Reaching in he removes the book and brushes the dust and grime from its cover. He hands it to Xel.
"In all my long life I never though I would hold this book. An infinite number of pages of forbidden lore and power. To fall into your hands, it has never really sunk in until now", says Xel.
He opens the book carefully. Flipping through the pages he stops mid way. He begins to read from it silently. After a few minutes he closes the book.
"The stars are close but we do have time. At the moment it seems as if we have ten years. It is more time than I had ever expected, but what's done is done. This will give us the time for you to master your Eldritch Mode. We should be done with that when you reach the age of sixteen. That leaves us six more years to prepare. It will be close, but it might just be enough to slow down Cthulhu", says Xel.
"Ten years id more than enough time. Graduation is soon and I think we can pull this off. Let's just hope that everything works out", says Naruto.
"You have been lucky up to now. You still have your sanity, the village is none the wiser to your abilities, and we have the Necronomicon. I hope your luck does not run out", says Xel.
Naruto nods.
"Alright now lets see what we can get from the book before my clone has to come back", says Naruto.
Xel hands Naruto the Book. He reads from it going through pages as fast as he can. Xel reads it with him.
"You are going to need every advantage you can get. The reagent is a good place to start. Also there are schematics for Yithian weaponry we can use. Building the power source will be time consuming, but it will be worth it", says Xel.
"We need some place to work on all this. Somewhere better than my home", says Naruto.
"Leave that to me. I can swim through the lakes and rivers to find something. A good sized cave maybe. Either way once you graduate you can use your clones to speed the process. You can do your ninja training while creating and experimenting. I recommend that once you become a ninja, keep an eye out for missions to wave. We need the Devine flower to stabilize the reagent", says Xel.
"I'll keep that in mind. Ok go see what you can find as far as bases go. I'm going to hide the Necronomicon", says Naruto.
"It is day my lord how do you propose I do that", asks Xel.
"Remember when I said I was going to kick your ass Xel", asks Naruto.
Xel looks at Naruto confused.
"Yes I do lord I fail to see how that is relevant", says Xel.
"I changed my mind, I have a better idea. You can leave Konoha through the sewer", says Naruto.
Xel backs away from Naruto.
"The sewer, with the filth", asks Xel.
"Yep", says Naruto.
Xel looks to the window for a moment before looking back at Naruto almost angry.
"As you wish, my lord", says Xel as he quickly leaps outside.
Quickly he picks up a manhole and jumps into the sewer replacing it as he does. Naruto leans back and laughs as he begins to imagine what it must look like down there.
Hours pass when Naruto's clone arrives home.
"So how did the transformation go", asks the clone.
"Well enough, dispel and lets see what we did today", asks Naruto.
The clone immediately dispels. Images of the class and students flow through Naruto's mind. It appeared as if no one was aware of the clone. Then there was a low knock at the door. Appearances can be deceiving. Naruto opens the door to find Hinata.
"Hello Hinata how may I help you", asks Naruto.
"W-well. I. I was", Hinata blushes to nervous to say anything more.
Naruto sighs.
"Come in", says Naruto.
As she does Naruto walks over to the wall taking the picture of his parents down.
"W-what Is t-that N-naruto-kun", asks Hinata.
"Nothing", says Naruto as he puts the picture in a nearby drawer.
Naruto motions for Hinata to follow him.
"Would you like some tea", asks Naruto.
Hinata nods her head.
Naruto begins to set up the tea kettle. As he does Hinata silently activates her Byakugan. She focuses on the drawer Naruto was just at. As she notices the picture she lets out a tiny shriek. Naruto turns around and sees the veins in her temples bulge.
"Couldn't resist could you", says Naruto.
"I-i-i-i'm s-s-s-so s-s-s-sor-r-ry", says Hinata stuttering more than usual.
"Figures even when I hide it someone has to see it. Well now you know, I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage. Now listen to me Hinata this is a secret ok. No one and I mean no one can know about this. The only ones who know are me, the Hokage, the Clan Heads, and a few ANBU. Also Sakura but that was by accident. You cannot tell anyone got it", says Naruto.
Hinata nods again.
"Good, now I doubt you cane over here to spy on me. So what is it you want",, asks Naruto.
Hinata blushes again.
"I-I was j-just. W-well I. I mean I", Hinata stops and takes a deep breath.
"I was w-wondering why y-you had so l-little chakra today in class. I-I realized it w-was a c-clone. It i-is not like you t-to miss class", says Hinata.
"I see, Byakugan. Well I was feeling ill, so I used a clone so I would not miss the academy. I must have used to little chakra if you could tell it was just a clone", says Naruto.
"I-I was i-impressed that y-you know the Shadow C-clone", says Hinata before blushing at her words.
"Well with my the Eyes of Azathoth I can't see illusions so I can't see normal clones. The Hokage showed me how to do the shadow clone so I could pass. It was a risk but it worked out fine", said Naruto.
The tea kettle whistles. Naruto walks back to it and begins to prepare the drink. He pours two cups, handing one to Hinata.
"T-thank you", she says as she begins to drink.
"Don't worry about it. Now tell me is there any other reason you came", asks Naruto.
Noting the deepening blush on Hinata's face as she shakes her head he shrugs and drinks from his own cup.
"Ok then, anything else you want to talk about. My parents, or something. I'm sure you have a lot of questions", asks Naruto.
"A-are you ok. I-if you are s-still feeling s-sick I mean", Says Hinata before Naruto cuts her off.
"No no I am fine, I just needed some rest", says Naruto.
He finds it strange that was her first question. Taking another drink of tea Naruto puts down his cup.
"You know you never did answer my question before. When you were following me I mean I asked you what it was you wanted to ask me I said you didn't have to answer me now, but I still find myself curious as to what it is. If you are feeling brave to it you can ask now", says Naruto.
Hinata promptly faints. Naruto raises an eyebrow at this.
"That is the second time a girl has fainted in my house. I might be able to go for a record at this rate", says Naruto as he walks to his cupboard to grab another packet of smelling salts.
Placing the open packet under her nose Hinata immediately awakens.
"I lov...", what ever else was to be said was stopped when Hinata looked up at Naruto.
Blushing some more and nearly fainting again she looks as he analyses her sentence before a look of realization hits. Seeing as she is looking down Naruto pretends not to have heard her.
"Oh, well. Ummm. You know, you should probably get home. I'm sure they miss you and. You know what I think I should get back to bed, I think I still need some rest and I wouldn't wasn't you to get sick you're already fainting and that can't be good", says Naruto nervously.
Hinata looks up and nods. As Naruto caries her to the door noticing her current inability to stand straight he waits next to her nervously as she steadies herself.
"See you around Hinata. I'm going to get a bit of rest you should do the same", says Naruto.
Hinata smiles a bit as she walks off blushing as she does. Naruto closes the door.
"Ok, now then. Lets look at this differently, my life is going to hell, I have to slow down an alien god, and there is a girl who is with a crush on me who happens to be the next heir of the most powerful clan in Konoha. Analyzing that all together the only conclusion I get is I'm going to die of stress before I hit twenty, alright good now that that's settled I'm going to take a nap", says Naruto as he faints.