Naruto's Butterfly
Summary: While on his training trip with Jiraiya Naruto decides to do a summoning. While he does this summoning something causes it to go wrong resulting in something unexpected.
"Normal person speaking"
"This means someone is thinking these lines."
Flashbacks will have a break before and after.
Name no jutsu: this is for jutsus obviously no breaks for them if they are mentioned in flashbacks they will appear as so: name no jutsu, or the English names.
Demons or 'higher beings' along with inners talk and think like this.
A/N: Yes it is another crossover not usually looked at but I thought to give it a try anyways. Also I don't own Naruto or Alice: Madness Returns. Oh yah another thing there are spoilers in these parts! And it is Mature rated, if anyone knows about American McGee's Alice I don't think they would be too surprised. Rated M for Adult situations, detailed fights and because of a little bit of naughtiness thrown in some later chapters and relationships taking their eventual natural healthy course.
Chapter 1: The Butterfly's Arrival
Naruto was alone in a forested clearing near a town where Jiraiya, his Sensei, was 'Gather information'. He sighed to himself, the trip has been helpful but he still didn't like his Sensei's perverseness. Naruto himself was a bit perverted, typical for any guy at the age of 15 years old; still he didn't go around thrusting it in everyone's face like his sensei. He would keep it mostly controlled. Maybe once he finally found a girl he loved who also loved him back and she didn't mind he would let it take over a bit. He blushed at the thought cursing his hormones.
He decided he would summon Gamakichi to either train or just hang out. Given the toad's nature it would probably be just to hang out. He liked the Orange toad and they had become good friends. This being the case he was okay with just chilling with him. He nicked his thumb and started going through the signs quickly when suddenly he heard a loud earth shaking. KABOOM! Mostly unnoticed to him he messed up the last sign very slightly, but enough to change the jutsu and its effect.
"Huh? Wonder what that was? Ero-sannin must have been sighted spying on the women bathing again." Said the blonde to no one in particular as he finished the jutsu. "Summoning no Jutsu!" he then slammed a hand on the ground.
The results from the jutsu seemed to act different a little bit. Sky blue eyes watched questioningly. The strangeness didn't stop there however, instead of the usual pop and light grey almost white smoke; there was a silence with a bluish smoke and multi colored butterflies. Before he could see the full result of his botched summoning, two unknown missing-nin charged him from the brush. They ignored the strange summoning figuring their quarry messed it up.
Naruto quickly jumped back and brought out two kunai and immediately went on the defense. He was ducking and dodging kunai and shuriken coming at him. "Damn. Where the hell is Jiraiya?!" he thought to himself. These two where good, and caught him by surprise.
Naruto jumped back and managed to summon a few shadow clones to help him. They put the missing-nin on the defense. Naruto quickly made hand seals and shouted, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough". The jutsu shot a lot of wind at the enemy ninja in front of him.
Before the technique made its way to the missing-nins, one of the enemy ninja with green half spiked hair made a few hand signs and used a strong fire jutsu thus canceling the wind jutsu and managed to catch some of the shadow clones Naruto sent to fight him. Naruto took advantage of the resulting collision and attacked the half shaved black haired ninja. Right when he was inches away from landing a blow he saw a kunai with an explosive tag on it heading his way. "Damn it a third one?!" thought Naruto as he jumped back getting ready for an even tougher fight now hoping that Jiraiya would soon show up. It seemed that these three had decent enough teamwork and numbers on their side, not to mention a fire user that could negate all of his wind attacks.
He had his Rasengan but he had yet gotten it down enough to do it without the aide of his clones. With three coming after him and his clones, skillfully he wouldn't have enough time to make it. "Damn it all to hell! I won't lose to them I have yet to become Hokage!" Naruto thought to himself frustrated as he charged at the new comer and continued the tough fight.
{-} {-} {-}
None of the ninja fighting in the clearing noticed that in place of the blue smoke and butterflies now stood a beautiful 17 year old girl closing in on 18 with pale skin, dark hair, a slim figure and entrancing green eyes looking around wondering how she got to this place and what was going on. "Well this isn't some place I have been before. I wonder what brought me here and where here is exactly." Said the young woman with a British accent.
"Hmmm. You always do seem to find yourself in the strangest of places Alice… And bring me along as well, I might add." Said an emaciated, large cat that looked very frightening with a deep baritone voice that would cause many women to swoon and maybe even some men.
"Yes it seems I can never be rid of you and your useless advice, cat." Said Alice with minor irritation.
"I wonder why that is, Little Alice?" Said the cat with his ever present seemingly knowing grin.
Alice was standing there watching the fight with her arms folded across her chest. She found the sight before her a bit curious. They all seemed to be moving really fast yet she could follow their movements with ease.
The cat gave his signature grin before once again speaking, "Well then, here is some useful advice. Why not help the orange and black outfitted guy over there. Maybe he will be grateful and give you some answers. This place has a similar air to Wonderland. Maybe you can still use your skills of combat to aide him."
Alice gave the cat a raised eye brow and said with minor amusement, "That has got to be the most forthcoming you have ever been with advice. I think you may be right, Cheshire. Besides despite his ability to duplicate himself the odds seem against him."
The Cheshire cat gave a low and rumbling chuckle as he replied, "You seem almost grateful, Alice."
Alice didn't say anything as she rushed in at an even faster speed than she had in Wonderland with her trusty blade in hand.
{-} {-} {-}
Naruto had been doing well so far but he was starting to breathe heavily. The three ninja in front of him were very good and their skills complimented each other perfectly it seemed. The newcomer had a shaved head and seemed to be an Earth user. He hit hard and provided good cover for his teammates. The first one that attacked was good with weapons and knew a variety of jutsus. The three had him surrounded and he was getting low on chakra. He wouldn't be able to make any more clones it seemed. The three ninja smirked at him.
The weapon user said in a condescending voice, "Well brat you are good, and gave us a bit of sweat but it ends now. You're lucky we want you alive as bait for your Sensei."
Naruto growled at him and said, "I am far from done here. Who are you people and why do you want Ero-sannin?" It was a bluff, the botched summoning seemed to have drained him significantly, and being taken by surprise and fighting off these three while using lots of clones wasn't an easy task. Especially after all the hard training he had done earlier in the day. He heard the Earth user in the back say something but he was more focused on the strange blue blur approaching from behind him where that disaster of a summoning took place. He was a bit shocked at its speed.
The earth user laughed as he said, "Ha! Looks like he knows his end is near." Then the bald man heard the steps coming from behind him quickly and turned around and raised a kunai barely in time to block. Alice's blade seemed to sing through the air as it sliced through the Earth user's kunai. "What the? Who the hell are you, bitch?" He managed to say as he brought up another kunai reinforced with his Earth chakra making it tougher.
Alice's blade sang again as she continued to attack. This time the guy's Kunai managed to divert her attack, but he also dropped his guard and before he could do anything to respond Alice flipped her blade and sliced back this time slitting the man's throat diagonally.
As he choked on his blood and uselessly tried to stop the bleeding with his hand, Alice quickly sliced him vertically across his chest and abdomen. He collapsed to the ground dying as fierce vibrant green eyes glared at him, and the petite girl said, "None of your concern, foul mouthed brute."
She then slung the excess blood from her blade and charged the fire user. The green haired man snapped out of his daze as the girl sped towards him really fast. He managed to use a fire jutsu that was aimed right at her. However before the attack made contact she exploded into blue and black butterflies and reappeared right in front of his face as she slashed his throat and then sliced an X on his chest and stomach faster than he thought possible.
The weapon user threw kunai and shuriken at the girl, but she seemed to have sensed them coming as she once again exploded in to butterflies and appeared away from him and his attacks hit the fire user thus ending his life faster.
Naruto took advantage of the confusion and made two clones that helped him quickly form a Rasengan that he then hit the weapon user with square in the chest as one of the clones sent a strong kick in the man's back forcing him into the blue energy sphere. Naruto then kept his guard up as he looked over the young woman in front of him. "She looks maybe two years older than me, maybe not even a full two years." The blonde thought to himself.
"What do you want?' He asked in a cautious voice ready to fight if she turned hostel. Though seeing how she handled those two so quick he wasn't sure about his chances of success.
Alice frowned. This didn't seem to be going well, "I am not here to fight you. Whoever you are. Besides I did just save you. Why would I want to attack you?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow not sure if she was being truthful. After all Kunoichi were very good at manipulation when need be.
Alice let out a sigh, "Might as well get this over with." She said to herself before raising her voice a bit, "Where am I? And how did I get here? Last time I checked I had just paid one final visit to The Good Doctor Bumby." She said the last part with venomous sarcasm.
After that, Naruto heard a deep voice say, "Yes, we would very much like to know. After all we would, if possible, like to return to our home in London, though there isn't too much there for us."
A cat with a wider grin than the blonde shinobi had ever seen materialized by the girl's side. The sight of the cat unsettled Naruto's nerves, despite his sophisticated and non-threatening words. Naruto finally managed to speak again, "Who are you? Sorry I didn't catch a name."
Alice gave him a half frown as she said, "You didn't catch a name because I haven't given you one. I am Alice Liddell. This cat here is Cheshire. He is only sometimes useful and appears when he wishes, whether it is an opportune time or not."
Cheshire gave her a grin and said in a bored tone, "Awww…. Alice your words hurt, honestly they do. Though nowhere near as much as your blade or my claws."
Alice shrugged her shoulders, "If you say so, cat. Now I believe it is your turn to introduce yourself. It is only polite to do so when meeting people for the first time."
Naruto relaxed. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he could tell Alice wasn't going to attack him despite her seemingly terse tone. He gave his big fake grin that he always did, and replied, "Ahhh. Sorry about that, Alice-san. I am Naruto Uzumaki. Just call me Naruto. I'm not big on formalities."
Alice gave him a curious look over and said, "No worries I supposed my sudden appearance would catch many people off guard. Perhaps I was a little forceful with my tone. For that I am sorry. It is just that I suddenly find myself in some new place not knowing how I got here. I felt some odd pull before arriving here. At first I thought I would be in my Wonderland again… Clearly that is not the case."
She approached him and looked at him closely, causing Naruto to feel a bit nervous. He wasn't used to people getting real close to him, especially pretty girls, without a reason.
He shifted uncomfortably as Alice placed a finger to her red lips in thought. She seemed to have realized that he was uncomfortable with her closeness since she backed away.
"Are those whisker marks real? Not that there is anything wrong with them. I just have never seen someone with them before. Anyways sorry I got a little close there. It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable. However, you shouldn't fake grin like that, Naruto. It is very unbecoming of a person." She said to him.
Naruto was shocked and dropped his grin. No one he could think of saw through his fake grins so quickly before in his life. "Ummm… Sorry about that. Heh heh. It's just something I've done in the past for people. It's kind of instinctual I guess."
Alice sighed and her eyes softened a bit. She had seen similar things before during her time from her fellow asylum 'guests' at Rutledge. The sad truth being it was often a last ditch effort to just grin and bear it once they had given up on fighting.
Thankfully that didn't seem to be the case with Naruto entirely. "It is alright." She said to him. There was no pity or sadness in her voice. She knew that the last thing someone wants is pity.
"Alice, I believe your curiosity has once again side tracked you form the matter at hand." Yawned Cheshire from a branch in a tree above them. Naruto didn't remember seeing him climb up there or anything though.
"Sorry about that, Cheshire. You know how I do like interesting things and curiosities. Naruto, do you know what might have happened and how we got here? I mean this is your home right? Or well land." Said Alice, her green eyes gazing at the blonde before her looking him over with apparent interest.
He was about the same height as her, though a bit taller, with bright blonde hair and a light peach tan and sky blue eyes. She guessed he would be considered attractive and the whisker marks did add a certain charm to him.
Still she was not one to fawn over guys like others; she had seen too much to be that way. Also Bumby's plans for her left a rather foul taste in her mouth that she still hadn't gotten rid of yet. However that was no reason not to be at least civil to others.
Naruto started thinking while looking her over as well. She was wearing a nice blue dress trimmed with white lace at the skirt's base and a white apron on the front with some strange signs on the pockets. The apron was tied in a bow with what looked disturbingly like a skull right by her waist on her back.
She had black and white stripped stockings and black knee-high boots with silver buckles. She also had a necklace with what looked like an omega sign. If you looked closer you could see what looked like another necklace safely tucked away under her dress
Her dark hair went just past her shoulders and she had dark eye shadow with light pink eye liner. This combined with her green eyes made her rather stunning in appearance. She also had a slim figure with a decent sized bust.
"Stop staring at her like that. You love Sakura. Don't you? … Damn Hormones." Thought Naruto to himself and he could have sworn he heard the Kyuubi laughing from inside his cage. All in all her appearance would be rather innocent, if it wasn't for the knife she was holding and the blood stains on her apron. The scary looking cat near her didn't help either.
He sighed still thinking. She clearly wasn't from here yet they could speak to each other and he had never seen nor heard of her before. Her name was also strange to him not like anything in the elemental countries. He thought for a bit then remembered her battle. It impressed him again. She was strong and fast and came from where he messed up his summoning.
His eyes shot open as realization dawned on him. It made sense after all it was the reason why summons could talk and understand others. Somehow when a summon is brought here or you go to them there is an effect on you that lets you understand language and sometimes writing as universal. He sweated a bit. She might get angry at him for what he did. He looked away and scratched the back of his head nervously.
Alice couldn't help but find Naruto's actions and expressions interesting. He was different from anyone else she had met so far, yet not strange like the inhabitants of Wonderland. He looked nervous and she guessed he thought of something but was scared to tell her. "Well what is it, Naruto? I can tell you have figured out something. I won't get angry at you I promise."
Naruto gulped, despite what she said he knew lots of girls would react violently after saying a line like that. He figured he might as well get it over with. "I might have accidentally summoned you here. There was an explosion nearby that caused me to mess up the last sign when it broke my concentration for casting the summoning jutsu."
He braced himself ready to dodge her attacks. She seemed more dangerous than Sakura especially with that large knife of hers that she handled so casually outside of combat. Plus he didn't really know her like he did Sakura.
Alice's face soured, "Just great…. I will never understand why these things happen to me…. If Wonderland summoning me wasn't bad enough now other people I don't even know can as well? Is this some kind of habit of mine to be summoned places? As if following white creatures wasn't bad enough…" Alice seemed livid. Naruto was ready for anything. Cheshire just laughed to himself from his branch above them.
Alice saw Naruto tense and she took in a deep breath and let it out. "You have no need to worry, Naruto. I only attack those that deserve it. Accidentally summoning me, though problematic, is hardly just reason for me to take action against you."
Naruto let out a breath and relaxed again, "Sorry about that it's just that usually girls get really angry when they are told things like that and react violently." This Alice girl was different thought Naruto. He wasn't sure if this was bad or good though.
Alice looked appalled, "You mean to say that women here lash out at others even for doing things accidentally that are genuine in nature?"
Naruto looked puzzled and asked, "Genuine? What do you mean?"
Alice answered casually, "I meant that they weren't done with sinister motives. Or I guess were pure? Meaning you didn't do it with any ill will and despite my situation no harm was actually done."
Naruto just went "Ohhhh…" He had decided that Alice definitely was a talker, though he kind of liked that trait.
Cheshire looked thoughtful for a minute before saying, "This summoning thing. It seems you are familiar with it. That being the case is there a way to dismiss us? Send us back home?"
Alice looked a bit hopeful though deep down she had a feeling that there was probably some other reason she was accidentally summoned. Be it fate or perhaps destiny or consequence for her actions. Things usually didn't happen to her without some kind of reason.
Naruto thought for a bit and then decided that he would try the dismiss technique he learned. It wouldn't work on hostile summons but he knew that she wasn't hostile or well not yet at least. He still feared she might be overcome by anger and lash out like most girls he knew. "I can try something. But I am not sure if it will work and it requires contact. Nothing bad just need to touch your arm or something."
"Oh that sounds good! Just touch my arm and if it works then try it on Cheshire afterwards. Though since he is always following me around maybe he won't need to be dismissed as well." Alice said as she once again placed a finger on lips in thought.
Naruto came up and touched her arm. It was nice and warm; she also had a pleasant smell to her despite the underlying scent of blood. "Stop you need to focus. Damn Fox giving me enhanced senses…" Naruto mentally cursed himself.
Once he regained his focus he formed the required hand sign with his free hand and concentrated on dismissing Alice. He then said in a forceful and powerful voice, "Dismiss!"
Nothing happened. He tried again thinking he messed up his concentration and once again he said, "Dismiss!" Still nothing happened. He sighed and tried dismissing her like she was a toad he had summoned. That didn't work either.
Alice sighed and said to Naruto. "You can let go, Naruto. It doesn't seem to be working. Thanks for trying, but it seems that I was right in thinking there is probably some reason I was accidentally summoned here and not something happening entirely on pure accident." She looked down and away from Naruto as she frowned. The area around them seemed to get darker as Alice was saddened.
Naruto felt a bit uneasy with how things got darker around the area and Alice seemed sad. He said, "Sorry, Alice-san. I will try to think of something or at least be there for you while you are here."
The area stopped getting darker for a bit as Alice looked up at him and asked in soft voice, "Really? Do you promise, Naruto?" She hid it, but the truth was she was terrified of the prospect of being stuck in a place she knew nothing about at all and alone.
Naruto thought for a bit and made up his mind. "Yah I do. I'm at least partly responsible for this mess you are in so, the least I can do is try to make things a bit easier for you. Besides, I promised you and I never go back on my promises." He then gave a big smile, but not the fake kind of one; it was mostly his version of the 'nice guy pose' as bushy brow called it.
The area seemed to get lighter and better after that and Alice gave a small smile. "Ok, Naruto. While I am here I will help you how I can in return."
Naruto thought it was weird how Alice's mood seemed to have affected reality or maybe something just changed with the weather strangely. "Probably just a coincidence." He thought to himself.
Cheshire however had different thoughts, "Well Alice it seems you are even more interesting then I originally thought. We aren't in Wonderland yet you still make things suit yourself to an extent. I wonder what will happen once you control this talent of yours." The cat disappeared leaving only his grin for a bit. He was going to look into some things.
Alice sighed and then she glanced in a seemingly random direction. She glared and said in an offended tone, "It really is rude to ease drop on others' conversations. You have been there for a while show yourself or else. I gave you plenty of opportunity to leave on your own."
Naruto was confused at what she was talking about.
{-} {-} {-}
Zetsu listened to all of this and wasn't sure what to make of it all. After a while when the petite girl glared at him and called him out he was surprised, people never noticed him if he didn't want them to at least. He decided to make his escape.
"Oh no you don't. Not that easily!" Before he knew it she had burst into butterflies.
"Foolish little girl you can't reach this far with that shushin of yours." Thought the black half to himself.
"Now now. At least she was entertaining to watch no need to call her names." Thought the white half in response. Before they could make their escape though to their surprise the young woman appeared before them and almost managed to slash them with her knife. She did manage to cut part of their cloak though.
"Well don't you have spirit! Sorry but we really need to get going." Taunted the white Zetsu with a cheery tone while he backed up a bit to give him room for his escape technique. However he didn't expect the girl to summon a rather horrifying weapon and charge him. It looked like some strange skeletal unicorn with antlers and fiery purple eyes.
Alice managed to land a hit on him and he flew into the clearing. He felt as if her weapon damaged his very life force itself. Both halves knew they had to find a way to escape quickly. They weren't meant for close range fighting.
Naruto recognized the cloak the strange man was wearing and got ready to attack. Zetsu was ready this time though and was able to dodge both attackers with some difficulty and he even took some small hits to his dismay as the kept fighting him. Finally he used a clone substitution to get some distance and then make his escape.
He wasn't supposed to do anything but spy on the kid after all. He didn't know what the boss wanted from this but he was loyalish to the leader. Now that he was discovered his mission was over. He had some information, though he didn't know what to make of it all.
Once he was gone, the clone burst into smoke and leaving Naruto and Alice facing each other in fighting stances. Both realized they would still need training. Naruto did because he saw the difference between himself and a member of Akatsuki. Alice did since she was going to stay awhile and help out Naruto, especially if the blonde had people like that following him normally.
Zetsu found it a bit tougher recovering after that attack than he ever had before. Both halves agreed that Alice was someone to be very wary of. "We have never seen someone with a weapon that actually damages one's life force directly before." Said black Zetsu.
"Yeah if she is with the nine tails, things might get more difficult." Said white Zetsu, his carefree persona breaking for once. Zetsu then headed back to HQ wondering what information he should share if any apart from the minimum.
{-} {-} {-}
Jiraiya was not happy, not only was his information gathering ruined, but then this missing-nin group showed up and challenged him. Their teamwork made the fight tough. He managed to take out a few of them, but they still put up a good fight and it wasn't easy for him.
They weren't Akatsuki that much he knew right away, but their teamwork was almost flawless. Quite the accomplishment for a bunch of missing-ninjas. He shuddered at the thought of Akatsuki being that good, he knew they worked together but they didn't trust or even like each other in some cases. However this group was different. What he heard one of them say next really worried him.
"Think boss' team got the kid yet?" Said one with a mask and red shirt.
"I hope so we need the bargaining chip after all…. Oh I think he heard us." Mocked the one with a black shirt with a red symbol for power on the front.
Jiraiya quickly dealt with those two and managed to scare off the remaining ones. He was sure that if he got to Naruto in time to save him he wouldn't hear from this group again hopefully.
He was close to the clearing when he heard sounds of battle and then what sounded like a clone dispelling. "Hmmm… good job, brat. You seem to have even more talent than I thought holding off a team this long on your own." The sannin thought as he raced towards the noise.
He arrived to see Naruto facing off a very beautiful girl. "Well, I never thought a beauty would lead a group of missing-nin. Too bad I have to stop her." He said to himself, not happy to fight such a beauty, but he was capable of it nonetheless.
{-} {-} {-}
Alice and Naruto were about to relax when a white haired man suddenly came from the forest really fast straight for Alice. The man threw a punch at her and was surprised when he hit nothing but air and saw Butterflies fly off and then reform in the shape of the girl a few feet away.
"I must say. Is everyone here this rude, Naruto? If so, it will really try my patience. And I am not known for being very patient to those that are rude and try to attack me." Alice said with narrowed green eyes, and scowled at the white haired man who tried to attack her.
Jiraiya looked confused. She called Naruto by his name in a rather friendly way. He wasn't sure what was going on. She sure was beautiful though. He had to shake his head to focus.
She had a pleasant voice with an interesting accent he had never heard before. He stared at her with narrowed eyes with his own. As he said in a low voice to his apprentice, "What is going on here, Naruto?"
Naruto sighed and said, "She saved my life. I was attacked by three missing-nin with good teamwork and I was exhausted from training, so they were winning. She came and quickly killed two of them and I took care of the third one."
Jiraiya relaxed but kept his guard up as the blonde continued, "We talked about a few things and then she spotted a weird plant guy wearing an Akatsuki robe. He was half white and half black. Alice-san here hit him with some really crazy weapon and then we fought him together. We got a few small hits on him, but he used a clone and managed to escape."
Naruto grinned. They may have lost to him, but they managed to hit an Akatsuki member. This was progress he thought.
Jiraiya didn't believe this. He looked at Naruto and saw that he was telling the truth. He lowered his guard and Alice's weapon disappeared from her hand.
She butterflied back next to Naruto and looked at Jiraiya as she said, "I am Alice Liddell. To whom am I making my acquaintance?" She followed this with a small curtsey.
She was told to be polite when first meeting adults. She didn't always follow this rule, but figured since this man seemed to be with Naruto and they were traveling together it would be best to make as good of an impression as she could.
Jiraiya wasn't sure what to make of her very formal very polite greeting. He decided that he should try to be formal. He bowed and said, "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Alice. I am one of the great sannin, a loyal ninja to Konoha, the toad sage, great author and number one super pervert Jiraiya. Nice to meet you."
He immediately regretted how he ended his introduction. He meant to be polite and formal in return, but she completely threw him off his game with her introduction and as a result he got caught up in his usual greeting. He sighed and bracing himself for what was to come. All women hit him really hard once he said he was a super pervert. Alice was different though.
Alice frowned in disappointment and said, "Is that so? Well then Mr. Super Pervert. I warn you now. I do not take kindly to perverts that flaunt it, especially if they try anything with me. Since you are with Naruto and he seems respectable enough. I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that you can behave yourself when you want. Don't try anything with me or get too carried away in my presence and we shall hopefully get along."
Jiraiya was shocked she didn't lash out at him. Yet for some reason her disappointment seemed to affect him more. He just met her and it was already like this. "Who is she really?" he couldn't help but think.
Then he noticed what she said and had to clarify, "Wait…. So if you aren't around then it doesn't matter?" He said in complete and udder confusion.
Alice sighed, "I can hardly do anything if I am not there, now can I? I would hope that you can behave yourself on your own though. You are hardly a child. But if you try something with me I might be tempted to take a leaf from the Queen of Heart's book." Alice gave a sinister and slightly crazed smile with that last sentence.
Jiraiya stared for a bit and then said, "Okay then…. Naruto lets go."
{-} {-} {-}
Jiraiya and Naruto set out and to his surprise so did Alice. She seemed to be following them. He didn't think at the time what she said meant she had invited herself along. He wasn't going to do anything about it right now though, because the kid seemed to like her.
Besides the main concern right now was to make their way out unnoticed and causally. If they ran it might get them suspicion from casual observers which could provide a trail for others to follow. Once they were a bit away from everyone, they would speed up and he doubted the girl would keep up then even if she had that butterfly thing.
After half an hour or so, Naruto and Alice started talking with each other. It wasn't much it was just small things to try and get to know each other better. Jiraiya didn't see any harm in it.
Naruto was always friendly with others. In fact it often played into his favor. He made some unlikely, but true and powerful friends that would come in handy later. However hearing the two talking happily to each other seemed to start to grate on his nerves for some reason.
After a couple of hours, he decided that it was time to put the girl through the paces. If nothing else he would see how long she can keep up. He suddenly increased his speed not by much, but the increase was apparent.
Twenty minutes later and Alice seemed to be keeping up just fine. "Let's see how she does this?" he thought to himself.
She was still keeping up so maybe she wasn't half bad, but still he increased his speed. Truth was if she planned on hanging around them she needed to pull her own weight and be ready for a fast break if needed.
Alice easily matched their pace and Jiraiya noticed Naruto frown at him. "Seems the brat knows what I'm doing." The toad sage thought a bit impressed the kid figured it out quickly. After increasing their speed little by little, he jumped to the highest speed he dare go. Any higher and even Naruto would have had problems keeping up.
The sannin looked back and saw Naruto looking at him angrily. Jiraiya was a bit sad seeing the kid angry at him, but he now thought he had lost the girl. "Sorry Naruto. But if she couldn't keep up at this speed then she would have been a liability."
He looked back and saw Naruto give him a mischievous grin. Jiraiya knew that something was up once he saw that grin. He still almost jumped when he heard the young woman's voice next to him not even sounding fatigued.
"I know having this group of powerful missing-nin chasing Naruto may require a fast escape while on this journey, so I can understand you testing my abilities. However, if you were doing this with the intent of losing me it won't work. Naruto is fast, but I am faster than him even if only by a bit when he is rested." Alice said this knowingly while giving the white haired man a disapproving look.
Jiraiya sighed he knew he had lost his little challenge. He slowed his pace down a bit, but they were still going pretty fast. They really did need to make some good distance.
{-} {-} {-}
After a few more hours, they stopped to make camp for the night. While doing this, Naruto approached his Sensei with a frown and said, "I know what you were doing and while Alice seems to be tolerant of it I am not, Jiraiya-sensei. She saved my life and I promised to help her while she is here, and she plans on helping me back as well. So try to at least tolerate her. Besides trying to lose her is pointless."
Jiraiya looked at his apprentice and said with a smile, "I will, Naruto. Don't worry she proved that she can keep up with us at top speeds. She won't be slowing us down. What do you mean by trying to lose her is pointless?"
Alice was off collecting some firewood intent on not being a burden on Naruto and Jiraiya. So the toad sage didn't feel the need to hold his questions back. Naruto just grinned and did the hand seals for a summoning jutsu but the last one was off. He finished and said aloud, "Summoning no Jutsu!"
Once he finished the summoning jutsu, instead of the usual sound and cloud of smoke. There was only a light blue smoke and multicolored butterflies encircling the smoke before it cleared revealing Alice, holding a good sized stack of firewood.
"Oh? So you figured out how you accidentally summoned me to this world, Naruto and you can use it? That might be handy, though you shouldn't abuse it. I guess this won't help in finding out how to dismiss me back to my world though, right?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head and said apologetically, "Sorry, Alice-san."
"No worries, and just call me Alice will you? After all you asked me to call you Naruto. Besides the fact that you can summon me to you at your own convenience and I can't fight it, I think puts us pass that whole formal titles stuff you were talking about, Naruto."
Naruto nodded and gave a smile blushing a little bit. It was a kind of hot being able to summon a beautiful girl whenever you wanted.
Jiraiya then suddenly touched Alice's arm and tried the same dismiss technique that Naruto tried earlier. The white haired man didn't give up until after the seventh try.
Alice shook her head and said to him, "Do you honestly think Naruto didn't try that earlier? Honestly, you people can be strange; though that isn't such a bad thing I can deal with strange. At least there are plenty of interesting things to learn about in this place. Naruto, will you please help me out there?"
Naruto smiled and nodded his 'ok' taking the statement for face value. However Jiraiya gave a perverted giggle and then scratched something on a notepad. Naruto glared and twitched an eye brow as he shouted at the older man, "Ero-sannin, don't you dare use Alice-chan for your books!… I mean Alice." Naruto blushed, Jiraiya giggled and scribbled more fiercely.
Alice wasn't sure what the -chan meant at the end of her name so she didn't give any hint at awkwardness. She might have to ask about that later though the girl decided.
Naruto shouted again and Jiraiya seemed to give up but whined, "Awww…. Come on Naruto she gives me such inspiration! I mean come on… beautiful girl that can be summoned at will! Wanting you to teach her about interesting things?! How are you not thinking about this as well, Naruto?"
Naruto blushed more and even Alice blushed getting the meaning of the super pervert's words. She warned him though she wouldn't take nice to such things being said about her.
Naruto wanted to do something but didn't act fast enough. Soon Jiraiya went flying and hit a tree before lying on the ground in a heap and questioning, "What was that for?!"
"I did warn you Mr. Super Pervert. You are lucky I wouldn't want to permanently dispose of you since you are Naruto's teacher." She frowned at him and finished, "It isn't that bad anyways I just used my level one Hobby Horse. Not like I used the Knightmare on you."
Naruto laughed a bit hearing that and Jiraiya decided that he didn't want to know what the Knightmare was.
He recovered instantly and questioned Alice "So what else can you do?"
She turned to give him a look over and noticed he was now serious. He gave a smile and said, "I mean to help us on our journey. We still have a couple more months before we return to Konoha. I just want to know so we can divide up camp duties efficiently and handle other threats."
She turned back and said, "Well I guess I can help with watching and things like that. I have a few other skills, though I can't really think how they will benefit us as a group."
Jiraiya smiled hopefully as he asked something that he wanted to know ever sense he accepted she was coming with them one way or another. "Can you cook?"
Alice grimaced a small bit but they didn't notice. It wasn't because she couldn't or anything, she just didn't like that she did for her previous job and 'training' Bumby gave her. "Yes I can cook and I can also clean."
Jiraiya grinned and Naruto did as well. The older man spoke, "Good because the brat here can't cook anything but instant ramen worth a damn."
Naruto frowned and added, "Neither can Jiraiya cook anything either. Everything he touches becomes charcoal black."
Alice gave a small giggle, "Probably because he is too busy thinking of what a woman would feel like."
The white haired man frowned and said defiantly, "Hey! Just because I am a super pervert doesn't mean I haven't been with women before. After all part of my information gathering requires such things." Naruto was laughing while holding himself up. He found it humorous that Ero-sannin got defensive so quickly.
Alice laughed a little more before turning to them, "Truthfully I am by no means a superb cook, but others don't seem to hate it. However, I don't know what is edible here and what isn't. That being the case, I will agree to cook if you two help with ingredients."
"Otherwise I would just gather lots of mushrooms to eat. I have never had a mushroom that made me ill before. Sometimes they have caused me to grow several meters tall other times shrink me to size of a mouse or smaller, but never have they made me sick. However, I can't say the same for you two, since I do not know how they affect you." Alice finished.
Naruto asked, "What do you mean by the growing thing, Alice?" He was careful not to add chan to her name this time. He liked her, but didn't think he should call her that yet. He usually called girls –chan because he knew girls usually liked being called that. For some reason, calling Alice that made it seem like it would have to be much more personal and meaningful to him first.
Alice answered clearly, "In my Wonderland, I had a mushroom once that made me grow to the size of a house. I was very distraught at the time. Any young girl would be. Another time I had a mushroom that made me shrink to the size of a mouse. I was delighted at first because I could get through small keyholes that way, but I didn't know how to grow back which worried me."
Jiraiya voiced his thoughts, "That actually sounds useful. Can you still do that?"
Alice pursed her lips and then said, "I haven't actually tried that yet. Truth be told, I have yet to test my limits in this place. I did just get here after all. Though if I have my wonderland abilities here in full effect, then I can shrink at will and grow back to normal size. But I can't grow to the size of a house without some special cake. I will have to find some time to try that out I guess."
Jiraiya said to himself but Naruto heard him none the less, "You seem to be very much an open book when asked questions, Alice."
Naruto answered him, "She doesn't see a need to keep many things to herself if she is asked politely."
Jiraiya then sighed and said louder than he wanted, "Makes me wonder if she can keep a secret."
Alice looked at him and answered sternly, "I am not some gossiping house wife that thrives on knowing others secrets, just to say them out loud in some self-gratifying manner. I can be very tight lipped and stubborn when need be. I will not go around telling things I know shouldn't be told." Jiraiya's words made her remember bitterly the gossiping hens that always went on and on about her situation in public, even when they had no way of knowing the truth.
Jiraiya was actually a bit relieved, though he didn't show it, by her response. "Okay Okay, Alice I didn't mean to offend you. Anyways we can take you up on that deal. You cook from now on and we will gather ingredients. I will tell you what I know about them until you learn them yourself."
The toad sage stood up and approached the cooking fire and said, "Anyways it is my turn to cook tonight. I don't think we have the time for you to get your first lesson tonight, Alice."
Naruto gave a grimace and Alice seemed intrigued but also a bit worried. Jiraiya frowned. He knew he wasn't a good cook, that's why he asked if Alice could, but really they didn't need to rub it in his face.
{-} {-} {-}
Naruto suffered through his supper that night. Glad that after this Alice would be cooking. He didn't know how skilled she was but anyone would be better than Jiraiya. "So Alice what do you think of Sensei's cooking?" He asked.
Alice took another bite and analyzed it. Before answering, "It is burnt like you said it was. However compared to the sorry excuse for food we had at Rutledge, this is an ever so minor improvement. If this is what you have been eating all this time then it is no wonder Jiraiya-san... Would that be the correct term? …Was so hopeful when asking if I knew how to cook."
Naruto smiled that alone meant it would be a change for the better, which he would take anytime. "I think the proper term would be –sama for him. He is revered in our village even if he is an open pervert, but I guess –san, could work as well in your case."
Jiraiya heard their conversation and thought to himself, "Wow! She has had something worse tasting than my cooking before? I feel a bit sorry for the poor girl."
Jiraiya was very aware of his horrible cooking. He even used it once to torture a very difficult traitor into giving them his secrets. The traitor easily took everything Anko and Ibiki gave him with no sign of breaking. He was then called in and after one bite of his food the traitor broke and told them everything about the village he was working for, all of the secrets he had passed and the abilities they knew.
Needless to say once the village attacked they were easily defeated. Jiraiya remembered how Ibki actually felt sorry the traitor had to suffer his cooking. Naruto didn't like it at first but once Jiraiya told him this story the boy put up with it knowing that it would make him stronger and more resistant to eat his foul tasting food. He was thinking in the vein of, if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger.
After supper, the toad sage decided that he would have a little talk with Naruto about a few things regarding Alice. Actually, it was just one thing that he wanted to know. As he sat down next to Naruto looking over to Alice seeing she was trying to figure out how he had made the food this bad, he was guessing, he asked the blonde shinobi. "Why did you tell her about Akatsuki?"
Naruto stared into the fire for a moment before answering, "I told her because she is stuck here and really wanted to be helpful. Also considering she took one on with me I decided that it was best she know what they were doing. Or as much as I know about what they are doing without telling her about my reluctant resident."
Jiraiya nodded in understanding. He knew when Naruto told someone about his inmate it was his biggest sign of trust. As far as he knew, Naruto had yet to tell anyone that didn't already know it except maybe his fellow Jinchuriki Gaara. He didn't count since he felt it when they first met.
Some ninja Naruto's age had figured it out on their own he knew. Fortunately, those that had knew the difference between the demon and its container. "Seems Sensei's plan worked, though not as perfectly as he wanted." Jiraiya thought to himself thinking about the order the third Hokage gave about the matter after the Kyuubi was first sealed in Naruto.
The order was to keep what happened that night an S-class secret. This meant you can't talk about it with other people or you would die. This was done with the hope that people would eventually lay off it or at the least those Naruto's age would give the boy a chance.
It was a good idea, but being a ninja village the residents knew how to draw a very fine line and not cross it. The civilians also found other ways to alienate the boy and made the kid's life a living hell. The worst part was Naruto didn't even know why they did this until he heard about it form a traitor to their village.
Alice finished the meal and couldn't figure out how it had gone so horribly wrong. All she knew was if she hadn't spent time in Rutledge she might have chosen not to eat tonight. It wouldn't be the first time she went without a meal for a night. "I still don't see how this was once a fish." Alice thought out loud.
Jiraiya sighed before saying, "Don't worry, Alice. I don't know how I do it either."
Alice actually looked a little bashful as she said, "Sorry, Jiraiya-san. I didn't mean to say that out loud. If it is any consolation my cooking will more than make up for this."
Jiraiya smiled only a little perversely as he envisioned Alice cooking with just an apron on. He really wanted to add to his notes, but he chose not to. He figured if he did then he might see first-hand what this Knightmare she spoke about earlier was.
He said to her, "That is what I was hoping for. Sorry to force you into cooking like that, but it really was the best way you can help us out. Anyways time for bed everyone. Alice are you a morning person?"
Alice placed a single beautiful finger on her lips as she thought for a second while Jiraiya cursed his luck. "She is such a gold mine of research! Why can't I use her as inspiration?!"
The young woman then answered, "Yes I am though sometimes I do prefer a bit of a lie in. However, when on the move that is not a preferable thing to do."
Jiraiya nodded this was even more perfect. He and Naruto weren't morning people. "This seems like quite a blessing from Kami. Maybe things will be better for Naruto with her around." Jiraiya thought to himself.
He gave her a smile and said, "Perfect! Naruto you take first watch. At midnight, wake me up. At four in the morning, I will wake you up, Alice. Then once it gets to 7am make sure we are both up. Sound good?"
Alice thought for a bit then responded, "I guess so. That is a bit earlier than I am used to getting up but I can do it. Besides worst case scenario sleepless nights aren't a foreign concept to me."
Jiraiya wanted to ask what that was about, but decided that this was something Alice would keep to herself so he left it alone. "Alright sounds good. Remember brat wake me up at midnight."
Naruto gave a half-hearted sigh of irritation before agreeing. Jiraiya went to bed after that.
{-} {-} {-}
For the first time, Night watch wasn't so bad. Alice stayed up a bit longer since she wouldn't be watching until later and talked to him for an hour. After she went to sleep, Naruto couldn't help but realize how beautiful she was sleeping there lightly breathing.
For the first time, he found himself thinking of someone in a loving light other than Sakura. Sure he had only known Alice for one day, but somehow he could tell that they would be very close. He still couldn't get over how amazing it was that she saw through his 'idiot' smile so quickly.
He would wait for a while, but he had a feeling deep down that Alice would easily accept him when he told her about the Kyuubi. "I know this is more than just my hormones acting too. I know she has things she hasn't talked about, but I do hope maybe sometime she will tell me about them." He said to himself. His eyes gazed at her for a bit while he still paid attention to his surroundings.
Once Midnight arrived, he went and woke up Jiraiya. The old pervert said aloud, "I'm sorry Alice-chan not the Knightmare!" He snapped up blinking around and heard Naruto laughing.
Naruto then said, "Wow… she really did pound some sense into you. Didn't she, Ero-sannin?"
"Stop calling me that! I would like to see how you handle that hit and the fact that she said it was the lowest strength of that weapon really says something. Besides… nothing called Knigthmare can be good."
Naruto stopped laughing and looked at his sensei seriously before saying, "It really does look creepy. Even Zetsu seemed a bit panicked after being hit by it. Or maybe it was the fact that she knew he was there all along." Naruto paused and thought for a bit about the day's events and continued, "I hope that I can get strong enough to help her like I promised, Jiraiya-sensei."
Jiraiya eyes widened before saying, "We still have time before we head back, Naruto. I will help you anyway I can until then. This may have happened by accident, but part of me thinks there is more to it than just that."
Naruto frowned a bit and said, "She said something similar. She said something like that to me. She said part of the reason why she was sent here is because there is something for her to do. She claimed that things never happened without some form of rhyme or reason."
Jiraiya just said, "Get to bed, Naruto. Get your rest." Naruto nodded and then went to bed while leaving Jiraiya to his thoughts.
"She seems a lot more perceptive and mature than one would think from her appearance. It is frightening in a way but not something unusual. I hope this is for the best. She has already befriended Naruto even quicker than usual. Sometime I should confront her and speak to her alone."
The toad sage sighed feeling saddened. It was unfortunate that young people had to grow up so fast. Despite being only 17 Alice seemed to have seen more horrors than those twice her age. She didn't let it show but those that knew the signs could tell.
Naruto had also experienced more darkness from others than anyone should. He thought it a miracle that the boy hadn't turned out like Gaara at first except more powerful and rage filled. Alice he did not know much about, but even with the hints of some form of madness, mostly subtle, she seemed to be better off than she should be.
As the night went on, Jiraiya had no difficulty keeping watch. He had to admit that they might have escaped danger for the time being. He figured if they made some good distance tomorrow. He could give Naruto some more advice and training.
The kid still had a short temper and got frustrated easily with training, but he was learning faster than he thought possible. "It seems when given even the smallest bit of personal attention he flourishes." Thought the sannin.
Once it got to be about 4ish, Jiraiya woke up Alice for the morning and final watch. Alice didn't really do much during her watch. She found it rather boring, so she started playing with her knife. At about 6 she stopped when she saw Naruto waking up.
After waking up, Naruto talked to her for an hour before she went and woke up Jiraiya while Naruto went to get stuff for breakfast. Once he returned, she didn't have to actually do anything for breakfast, since he got some fruit for them to eat.
She was a bit relieved by this. She wasn't ready to cook quite yet. She wanted to be able to take her time for the first meal she cooked for them, so she could make a good impression. Breakfast was not ideal since Jiraiya was all about leaving the camp quickly.
After they finished, cleaned up and broke camp, they headed out once again to continue their journey. For Alice, it was the start of a new adventure that would last a really long time. She didn't mind this though. She was entering a world full of curious things and new discoveries.
A/N: I took some liberty in making Alice 17 closing in on 18 in this one. Meaning the events of the first game took place a couple of years sooner thus making the second game also a couple of years sooner. I am having Naruto 15 and getting to 16. I am not sure of the exact timeline of Shippuden meaning what month and day it starts out at so forgive me if this offends anyone. I do this because I didn't want their ages to be too far apart.
I have always been fascinated with American Mcgee's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. Some call it the 'Goth' Alice, I disagree with that. Her clothing choice and the game's atmosphere are actually fitting of the Victorian era during the later parts of the Industrial Revolution. It is a darker look at Alice, but that is about as 'Goth' as it gets. Honestly, I don't think anyone else could fare much better given her circumstances.
Sorry about the length but by this point people following me should know of my long chapters. Anyways tell me what you all think so far. This story will be a bit more mature and more serious in tone than my other story. For those that have read my other story, this shouldn't be much of a surprise.
I will admit that this idea came to me while I read 'Butterfly Genjutsu' by Erisah Mae. However, that one starts back during the first part of Naruto after the Sound and Sand Invasion.
I first started writing this story when I hit a bit of a road block during the wave mission in 'Naruto and the Unconventional Sealing'. I just got the idea in my head and I am sure you all know how 'plot bunnies' are. You can hardly ignore them when they pop-up and stare you in the eyes.
PM me with questions and feel free to review and constructively criticize if you want. I do read reviews and sometimes learn from them. If I ever use an idea someone gives me in a review I will give them credit.