Saints and Suffering: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 11- Ritual

Sasuke looked on as Naruto made his preparations.

Naruto had claimed that he could change the two of their names, but Sasuke was still doubtful. During his extensive "vacation" in the timeless dimension, he had performed all sorts of chakra manipulations and even invented new ones. Sasuke could see no way to perform what Naruto claimed he was able to do with the use of chakra, but his friend had claimed that he will do it with life energy instead, so Sasuke was content to observe patiently.

Naruto sat down and meditated for a few minutes to clear his mind. He would need absolute focus for this; he had never practiced, and he only had enough life energy for one attempt. During Naruto's meeditation prior to their time travel, he had theorized about using life energy like this, but he still had the smallest shadow of doubt.

Naruto opened his eyes and stood up. His eyes were clear and focused. A look of concentration and determination came over his face.

Wordlessly, he clapped his hands together in prayer before bringing them back apart. Naruto created a pair of mudras with his hands. In his left hand, Naruto brought his thumb and index finger together, with the other three outstretched. He brought to left hand down to waist level with his palm facing forward and fingers pointing down.

In his right hand, he half curled his middle through pinky fingers and left his thumb and index finger extended. He raised his right hand to face level, palm also facing outward. His right index finger started to glow with a gentle golden light.

Naruto bent down and started drawing on the ground. As his finger traced the rock of the cliff they were on, a glittering path was left that sparkled with a similar shade of the golden light on his finger, but a tad more subdued.

The first shape Naruto drew were two connected circles. He started from there, and slowly made with way out, drawing complex and intersecting lines around the two. He started to speak as he drew.

  "Similar to your time travel jutsu Sasuke, the amount of energy and time this requires is greatly reduced by the aid of a fuin.

  You and I will sit in either of these interior circles, and I will activate the jutsu.

  When I do, I predict we will feel a burning and itching sensation. We probably won't be able to feel where the sensation is coming from, only that its coming from somewhere very important.

  For lack of a better term, we can call that area a soul, which is where the jutsu is affecting.

  The name is written into the soul, and I am using this to overwrite it. It will not be a pleasant experience."

The pattern was finished with 30 minutes, and on the top of the cliff, near the edge, a five meter wide fuin was drawn. Inside it were two circles, tangent at one point. From the two interior circles, complex fractals spiralled outwards until they reached the border of the circle.

At the border of the circle, there was a 6 inch wide band surrounding the fractals, and inside the band were the written characters for Yama and Shijin, repeating over and over, in an endless loop around the circle.

Naruto gestured to Sasuke.

  "You sit in that circle. and prepare yourself."

Sasuke complied and Naruto sat down in the other interior circle. Naruto continued.

  "Kurama, you don't want to get caught in this one."

The fox silently dismounted from Naruto's head and waited outside the edge of the glowing golden circle. It looked on with a hint of mild curiosity.