Hi! It's-a me! TonicShadow!
This is a start of a new crossover story, with a twist, and also the first Kingdom Keepers and Naruto crossover story as well.
So let's hope this a good start to it.
The Kingdom's Keybearer.
Chapter 1:
If you can Dream it.
Naruto stared at the ceiling and wondered where he went wrong. He couldn't even bring back Sasuke even after suffering not one but TWO chidoris to the chest, a broken hand and a broken leg, but was that enough for him to gain acceptance from the populace of Konoha. Nope. But the worst of the news came just after he woke from his two-day coma.
(Flashback)
The nurse that was tending to him left with a scowl on her face after confirming he was going to be fine. It was quite obvious she had been ordered to take care of him but he didn't care.
Naruto was frowning lost in thought as he failed to bring back Sasuke. He couldn't keep his promise to Sakura to bring him back.
His thoughts were halted with the entry of Tsunade with a soft gaze. She sighs before moving to the bed and sat on it. "It's good that your awake brat, I would say you'll be fully healed by the end of the week."
Naruto smiled lightly, "Thanks Baa-chan." He said softly. Tsunade looked ready to pound him herself for a moment but stopped herself. Her face became down trodden at the implication of what happened.
"Naruto…I have something to tell you." Tsunade began. "The council have gotten word about the failed rescue attempt of Sasuke and you using the Kyuubi's chakra as well, and of just after the meeting I had with then a few hours ago, they…they decided to banish you." By now she was in tears. "I'm so sorry Naruto."
Naruto was silent, his eyes wide. His mouth moved but no sound came out. Eventually he spoke. "But can't you do anything?" He said hopefully.
"I'm sorry, but the council can banish somebody if it's a unanimous decision, I couldn't do anything to stop them. There is nothing I could do."
Naruto closed his eyes to hide the tears building in them. "H-How long do I have to leave?" He asked.
"You have to be gone by the end of the week." Naruto merely nodded in response. Being unable to speak at the time. Tsunade stood and silently walked towards the door. She cast a final look back towards Naruto and walked out the room, closing the door behind her.
(Flashback end)
Now he was just staring at the ceiling. Thinking. Lots of Thinking. No one had come to visit him apart from Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Jiraiya, Tsunade and the rookie nine, but even they could only stay for so long. But hey, Iruka brought him ramen. That was all worth it.
Sighing, he gave up thinking, he was never good at it anyway. He closed his eyes and relaxed in his bed, setting down to sleep.
(Mindscape)
Naruto opened his eyes to the dark, damp sewers of his mind. Sighing he proceeded forward down the tunnels wondering what the damn fox wanted now.
Naruto turned the corner and came up to the gates of the seal. The large fox was lying on his haunches behind it. Naruto looked at it for a short time before starting the conversation. "What is it you want Furball? Want to mock me about my recent failure like all my other pitiful kind?" He drawled.
"Now's not the time for that kit, what I want to know is what the hell is going on here?" The fox asked glaring at the ninja.
Naruto blinks at that before he raises his eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked.
"I'm talking about THAT?!" The fox replied pointing to his right on Naruto's side of the cage.
Naruto follows where the fox was pointing and blinks what he saw…before rubbing his eyes making sure he wasn't seeing things.
It was a door. It was a tall, white double. It was intricate in design. It had elegant grooves and golden studs in the doors. Both of the two doors had stained glass in them that had a multitude of colours. It seemed to lack a knob or handle. The top of the door frame also had stained glass. In the centre of this stained glass piece was a castle.
"The hell…?" Naruto muttered as he took a few steps towards it before turning to the fox. "How long has this been in here?"
"Ever since you fought that Uchiha days ago, it just appeared here." The fox answered. "Not sure why it's here or even where it came from, but it's making me angry because it's been boggling my mind! So can you TELL me what the hell is going on here?!"
"Hey! What makes you think this has anything to do with me?!" Naruto fired back. "This is the first time I've seen this thing!" He then pauses and blinks as a thought came to him, before he turns back to the door with a dumbfounded expression. "Wait…it just appeared? That's it?" He asked getting a look from Kyuubi.
"What more did you expect?"
"I don't know! Maybe a bit more mysterious then just appeared!" He said looking back at the fox.
"It's a DOOR that appeared here that's from who knows where, and it's inside your own HEAD! How more mysterious other than that, can you get?!"
"…good point." He muttered making the fox face palmed. "But other than that I don't know why this thing is here in the first place!"
"…come…"
Both Naruto and the fox snap their heads back to the door with surprises expressions hearing a female voice from the door.
"…"
"…"
"…did you hear that…?" The ninja asked.
"I did." The fox answered before narrowing its eyes at it. 'But why did that voice sound familiar?'
"…come…" The voice called out again.
"This isn't one of your tricks to let you out is it?" Naruto asked giving the fox a suspicious glare.
"If I wanted to trick you into releasing me from this cage, I would do it where the cage is, NOT at the other side of this room!" The fox growled back.
Naruto was about to reply back before he stops as he hears soft music coming from the door…he blinks at hearing that, it was odd because even though he had never heard it before…it felt like he knew it…
'Like Dreamer Do' Instrumental.
Both the fox and Naruto look on towards the door listening to the music, but only one of them felt wired sensation in their chest as if it reminded him of…home…
"…why…why do I know that music…?" Naruto quietly muttered out which the Kyuubi heard.
"What?"
"That music, I…I know I've never heard it before in my life, but…how come I do?" He answered back while still looking at the door.
The Kyuubi rises and eyebrow at that before he does a quick glance at the door before sighing. "Who cares." He replied before he lays down on the floor and closes his eyes. "All I know is that it's got nothing to do with me. This is your problem."
Naruto gives the fox a deadpanned look which said fox ignores before the ninja sighs and turns back to the door…he then decides to do something about it and slowly walks to the door being cautious of it. He stops right at the door and hears the music louder than before, before looking to the door handle.
He hesitantly reaches for the door handle grabbing it. The music stops as he does…he takes a big breath before he slowly pushes the door open. The first thing he notices was that he was outside and it was in the evening, and a lot of lights where on. Stepping out of the doorway, Naruto took a moment to look around at the surrounding area. He stood on a street that looked like it had been torn out of an American town from the turn of the twentieth century and placed it there in front of him.
Naruto blinked realising something. 'Wait…how do I know what an American town is? What the hell is even an American?!' He mentally asked himself.
Looking down the street, he saw that it cut down the middle by a road made of smooth black asphalt, flanked by red brick sidewalks into which black iron lampposts had been placed at regular intervals. Along the street, dozens of colourful buildings sat, their first floors all seemingly storefronts or restaurants of one kind or another while the upper floors were reserved for living spaces. Looking up and down the street, Naruto saw that at both ends, the road curved off, presumably leading to another street behind the houses in front of him. He also noticed a road cutting through the halfway point of the road, running perpendicular through it and out of sight.
While the farther end of the road contained only houses and stores, turning towards the closer end of the street, he saw an old style cinema, the front illuminated by blinking light bulbs that illuminated the billing board which read in big block letters "Now Showing: The Life of Naruto Uzumaki."
The ninja blinks a few times at the sign. "You don't see that every day." He said to himself before he continues to look around before his eyes widening and his jaw going slack at the site in the distance.
Towering above the roofs of the surrounding buildings, sticking out like a sore thumb, was a medieval castle. It seemed to be made up mostly of tall spires and towers, the tallest one in the middle, the other towers growing smaller as they approached the edges of the structure. The walls were coloured such an intense white that they seemed to glow as it reflected the sunlight. The blue shingles that covered the conical roofs of the towers were almost the same shade as the clear sky that surrounded them. As Naruto looked the castle over, he saw the equally strange sight of a large zeppelin apparently moored to the tallest tower. As his eyes looked past the castle, Naruto notices other large structures rising above the surrounding town, from other castles, to lonesome towers to majestic cathedrals to drab factories all the way up to full scale mountains.
"Whoa…" Was all Naruto was able to wheeze out, wonder and shock having impaired his brain from forming any more complicated thoughts before starts to walk towards the castle while taking in the site. "Wha…what is this place?" He said as he looks around in awe as he heads towards the castle.
As he reaches the bridge he notices something amiss and raises an eyebrow and when he crosses it he looks back down the street and realises how quiet it was as he saw nobody around.
"I know this is only in my head and all but…where is everyone?" He muttered to himself as he looks around to see any life.
"There all asleep my boy, it's what happens at this time of evening."
Naruto's eyes widen in surprise hearing the voice coming from behind him and quickly turns to see a man sitting on a bench not far from having a cup of coffee. He was an old man with greying brown hair and a small moustache that covered his upper lip. He was dressed in a smart-looking, dark blue suit with a white shirt and red tie.
"Hello, lovely evening isn't it." The old man replied drinking his coffee.
Naruto blinks a few times seeing the old man. "Um…yeah…?" He muttered while thinking. 'Where did he come from?'
"Would you like to sit down?" The man asked gesturing to the bench.
"…thanks…?" He muttered before he cautiously walks to him and sits down on the bench.
The old man then reaches down the side of the bench and pulls out a bowel of Ramen making Naruto blink before the man gives to him.
"I heard how much you love this stuff." The old man said. "Do you want some?"
"Uh…yeah, thanks…" Naruto said taking the bowel from the old man before giving the old man a glance before he starts to eat the Ramen.
The old man chuckles to himself before taking a sip of his drink before he looks out to the lit up street. "I enjoy these nights here, how the whole kingdom is lit up in the night, how quiet it is…everyone should experience it, you know." H asked as Naruto kept eating while listening to him.
Naruto finishes his bowel. "Well, yeah I guess." He shrugged. "I mean this looks beautiful at night, might even be in the day time too, what else can anyone do to a place like this?"
"A lot of things really, it either be here on Main Street, Adventure Land, Frontier Land, Fantasy Land or Tomorrow Land." The old man replied. "This kingdom will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."
"Seriously?" Naruto blinked at that. "How do you know that? You live here or something-…wait of course you live here-…why else would you be here?" He said realising it.
"You could say that." The old man replied with a chuckle. "I used to live here years ago, I watched this place-…and many others being built in a room above the fire station down there." He said pointing down Main Street. "To me when I watched this beautiful kingdom being built it was like watching the show. The sets being placed in the backdrop, the props placed in the right locations, and the actors all getting ready to play their part. This Kingdom is the star, everything else is in the supporting role." He then looks at Naruto with a soft smile. "Konoha was the same too, except you where the star."
Naruto raises an eyebrow at that. "Me?" He asked. "Why me?"
"Only you know the answer to that my boy." He replied before looking back at the street. "All I know is that big things are happening soon…sooner than anyone may think."
Naruto stares at the old man thinking about what was said before asking. "What's gonna happen here?"
"A lot of things that no one would ever think will happen." The old man replied. "…and I can't do anything to stop it. I brought this place to life-…and even I don't know what will happen." Naruto blinks for a moment before his eye widen realising what the old man just said.
"W-Wait, you…you built this place?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Of course, this kingdom is my greatest achievement." The old man replied. "As well as being my land, but it's also your land too." That made Naruto give him a look. "Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future. This land is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created the world with hope, that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to everyone, both real and fiction…soon a darkness will start to cover this place…" He then turns to the boy with serious expression. " And only you have the power to stop it."
The ninja blinks at that. "Um, yeah…" He said before setting down the empty bowel on the bench and gets off it. "Look I really like this place and all, but I know that this is either a wired dream or I'm just going crazy but I know it's not real. I mean come on, I'm just an orphan, the demon brat and a dead last, and who would want any of that…besides a place where what's real and fiction living together? There's no place like that!"
"You would be surprise, my boy." The old man replied. "It's like I always say to myself, 'If you can Dream it, you can do it.'"
"Yeah? Well my dream was to become Hokage!" Naruto fired back. "But I can't now because thanks to the council I'm banished!" He pauses for a few moments before he sadly sighs. "I'm sorry old man, but…if this place was real then that would be good…but it's not…and I just wish that for once in my life, I had something good come my way…" He then looks back at the old man. "It was nice talking to you though…" He then turns away from him and starts to walk back down the street he came from.
"…you know; you remind me so much of your mother." The man said making Naruto freeze in place after hearing that. "She has the same personality as you do-…even almost the same verbal tic too."
Naruto slowly turns back to the old man with a shock expression on his face after hearing what he just told him. "…my…my Kaa-san?" He asked.
"Mmhm, oh yes, she would always boldly claim that she would do something that no one would think of doing." The old man answered. "And whatever claim she would do, she achieved it. She always has the biggest dreams…but then again, it's the same with you too."
Naruto's widen more as his took a step back from the old man. "How…?" He then narrows his eyes at him. "Who…who are you?"
The old man smiles before he gets off the bench and pats his trousers. "Just an old man looking out for his own family." He replied making the ninja blink.
"Wh-what…?" Naruto mumbled out in shock with wide eyes. 'I-Is this guy…?!"
"Oh! Before I forget." He then takes out something from his pocket. "Here." He throws it to Naruto who catches it. "That should help you out." He then starts to walk away towards the castle.
"H-Hey, wait!" Naruto called out. "What do you mean help me out?! What am I supposed to do with…?!" He looks at what he caught and blink. "A…a key?" Then shakes his head as he looks back to the old man. "Wh-What about you knowing my Kaa-san and family?! Are you my…?!"
The old man stops and look back at the boy with a smile. "I suggest that you check the forest outside of Konoha when you wake up, and when you do follow the fairy that knows the way home." He replied. "And that the mouse, will always point the way." He then carries on towards the castle waving his hand before he fades away like a ghost…
Naruto blinks after seeing that not sure that he saw that before looking down to the key in his hand looking at the detail of it.
It had a silver blade with a crown shaped end, a blue piece near the base of the blade, a golden cross guard that curled on both sides into the pommel, a black leather handle, and a long keychain with a strange symbol at the end of it.
Naruto narrows his eyes at the key lost in thought as he stands there alone.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…!"
…or so he thought.
Naruto eyes widen at the laughter before he turns around to see in the distance a dark green smoke slowly making its way towards him. As the smoke travels towards him, the lights begin to turn off as it went pass them, when they wear close to Naruto they start to circle him and rise before they there twice as big as him.
Naruto looks around at the smoke cariousness of it and taking a kunai out.
"Little boys like you should know that it's not nice to play with knifes." A voice called out from the smoke.
"Yeah?! Well you don't know me!" Naruto fired back while looking at the smoke around him not knowing where the voice was coming from. "And if you think I'd be scared because a voice from smoke, think again!"
"Foolish boy, you have no idea what you are up against." The voice replied. "And soon, once we find the object that we desire, they'll be nothing to stop us."
"Just who the hell are you?!" Naruto called out.
…large glowing yellow eyes pop open in the smoke behind him, a growl makes him pause and slowly turns around to see the eyes.
The eyes then start to rise from the smoke as the smoke follows covering it appearance, forming a long neck.
"…your nightmares." It whispers before it suddenly breaths green fire at him.
(Real World)
"AAAHHH!" Naruto cries out as he suddenly wakes up from the nightmare. He pants as he looks around the room before he sighs. "It was a dream…just a dream…" He muttered. 'But it felt so real…'
He was knocked out of thought as the door opened to show Tsunade and Shizune enter the room with a worried look on their faces. "Naruto, are you alright? We heard you shouting." Tsunade asked.
"Uh…yeah." Naruto replied. "Yeah, it was…just a dream."
Tsunade sigh in relief. "That a relief, we thought something bad happened." She said as both she and Shizune walk to the bad.
"How are you feeling, Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked taking the chart from the end of the bed.
"Better than I did yesterday, but my leg still aches." He replied looking at his leg.
"And your hand?"
"I think it feels a lot better now, it doesn't hurt any more, all I can feel is the bandages and…and…" He trails off and blinks at an odd feeling in his bandaged hand and looks at it with a raised eyebrow at. "The hell?" He muttered getting Tsunade and Shizune's attention.
"What is it?" Tsunade aksed.
"There's something in my hand, something…metal?" He replied getting raised eyebrows at that.
"That can't be right, I did the bandages myself, there shouldn't be anything in there." Shizune told Tsunade who looks at her with a questionable expression.
"Well I'm feeling something in here." Naruto said rubbing his bandaged hand.
"Let me take it off, we can find out what it is then." Tsunade replied and starts to take off the bandages on his hand.
When she was half way done, she stops as she notices something sticking out of Naruto's clenched hand.
Shizune leans forward also seeing it. "Tsunade-sama…?"
Tsunade narrows her eyes seeing it. "There is something there." She replied before carrying on taking off the bandages.
When she finishes Naruto unclenches his hand, what they saw confused both Tsunade and Shizune but Naruto eyes widen in shock at what was in his hand.
'No…no way…!' He mentally shouted.
It was a key…the very same key that he saw in his dream, the one that the old man gave him.
"A key? Where did this key come from?" Tsunade asked bewildered by it before notices she shocked expression on Naruto's face. "Naruto? Naruto, what's wrong?"
"…it's…it's real?" Naruto muttered out getting their attention.
"What do you mean it's real? You know where you got it?" Shizune asked making him look at both her and Tsunade.
"I…I got it from this old man, but…" He started to say before looking back at the key. "But that's impossible…"
"Why?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow getting his attention.
"…because I got it from a dream." He said getting surprised looks from them both.
"A dream?" Shizune said before both her and Tsunade share a look of confusion.
"And I think…I think he was my Jiji." He replied getting shock looks from the two.
"WHAT?!" The two nurses cried out.
Naruto ignores their reaction as he stares at the key in wonder as he thinks back to the dream of the old man and the place he was at.
'What the hell's going on?' He thought as he stares at the key in awe and confusion, while having the strangest feeling that the dream he had…was only just the beginning.
-: To Be Continued :-
And that's the first chapter of 'The Kingdom's Keybearer'.
I hope it good for everyone who reads it.
Please no bad flames.
This is TonicShadow, signing off.