Chapter 1: An Intervention
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy
Author's Notes:
While I was rewriting this I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the festival I wrote about and The Vytal Festival from RWBY. Funny considering when I wrote this chapter Volume 3 wasn't even close to coming out yet.
Anyways, for those of you reading for the first time, this story is currently undergoing extensive renovation. So. while going further won't hurt the overarching plot, don't be surprised if you end up running into inconsistencies.
-Cocoon: Unknown Facility-
In a room illuminated solely by an array of televisions two men sat as still as death. From the emblems on their uniforms to the style of their weaponry their appearance screamed military. On an active day the two may have emanated waves of authority or even fear - but on this specific day, with matching glazed stares decorating their faces- that statement couldn't have been further away from the truth.
It was only after several failed attempts to keep the drool from slipping from his mouth did one of the guards muster up enough courage to rouse a conversation out of his equally bored companion.
"Hey," he verbally nudged in a voice just loud enough to steer away his fellow guard from slumber.
"Yeah," the other guard yawned out.
"Do you even wonder why we're here?" He offered.
"It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here?" The man then raised his hand to his eyes as if they held the key to universe in their grasps.
"I mean...are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God? Watching over everything, you know? With a plan for us and stuff." His voice slowed to a disturbed crawl. "I dunno man. But it keeps me up at night…"
The one who initiated the conversation turned back to his co-worker with an incredulous stare. A pen fell off the desk and on to the floor. The noise it generated set off an explosion in the following silence.
"What?!"
" ...um"
"I meant, why are we in here? In this room?"
"Oh...I...uhhhh yeah," the soldier muttered out as he tried to squeeze as much of his flustered expression under the brim of his military cap as humanly possible.
"What was all that stuff about God?"
"Uhhh...hm, nothing." He said trying to sweep away his existential crisis under the rug as fast as possible.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"But seriously though why are in here? As far as I can tell this place is just an unmarked building in the middle of Bodhum, with almost no way in or out."
"Um hm."
"I mean the only reason why we built a facility here is because they decided to all go to sleep here." He stated while pointing the camera feed depicting a room filled to the brim with crystallized, human shaped figurines in disdain. In his outrage the soldier hardly noticed the electrical show beginning to flicker into the screens.
"Right, because we're meant to help them just in case they wake up."
"Will they though?"
"Well…" This time the soldier decided to only offer the slightest of answers to rouse an explanation. There was no way that he was going to show someone his guts again without being one hundred percent sure that he knew where the conversation was headed.
"I mean we hardly know what how becoming a l'cie works. The only thing we're sure about is that they're made to fulfill a Focus then turn to crystal when their done. No one said anything about them coming back." He finished, finally slumping back into his chair.
"What's up with that anyways? I mean I joined PSICOM to fight Pulse but here I am sitting all day in some no name building, watching a bunch of statues. Talk about a waste of resources; we should be going down there you know, take the fight to them."
"Yeah no shit. That's why they should put us in-"
"-n trying to make me Give Up!" Without warning a broken declaration blared across through the audio of the camera feed. With just hearing the audio they could register the conviction of the powerful voice that was filled with purpose, enough so to send a shiver down the pair of military grunts' spines despite having no idea what it was talking about.
"Who the hell was that?" One of the guards said before snapping to attention toward the cameras, scrambling to find the source of the intruder's voice. The other guard immediately followed his co-worker's example.
After some effort the two manage to trace back the voice to a storage room adjacent to the hall that contained the facility's batch of Cocoon l'cie that had completed their focus.
"What is that?" Inside the room, nestled in between the room's assorted collection of boxes, sat a single pulsating orb of light that steadily grew brighter as the seconds went by.
Before either of the guards could offer any impute as what exactly they were looking at the shining orb suddenly flashed brighter than rays of the Phoenix, rendering the two into piles of crying excuses for men as well as frying the camera along with every electronic device inside the building.
Inside the Hall of L'cie a single teenage boy stood in a slightly crouched stance encircled by the glowing masses of crystal. From his position, along with the gaping hole behind him, one could deduce that he was the culprit behind the destruction. But when given closer inspection-with his lean build, orange clothes, and bright blond hair – he hardly looked like the type capable of wreaking havoc worthy of a Behemoth. And yet there he stood alone among the rumble, hand outstretched as if he plowed through a twenty inch thick wall of pure concrete with brute strength alone. Uzumaki Naruto truly was a terrifying sight.
"Eh? What's going on? Could this be another one of Pein's techniques?" He muttered to himself, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings with a vacant stare.
One thing that he learned while fighting the man with a fetish for piercings is that the Rinnegan was a powerful tool. So powerful in fact that it could be considered cheating worthy of a rank of its own amongst all the other cheating bloodlines that plagued the ninja world. Slap on a pair of diseased looking eyes on a normal human being and all of a sudden they could control gravity, manipulate six bodies at once, and shoot rockets out of their torsos. And that wasn't even all of them! The amount of broken, non-ocular related powers that dojutsu(eye technique)users seemed to pull out their asses these days was bullshit.
That being said, despite all of the gifts that the Rinnegan bestowed up its wielder not a single one of them was tailored toward genjutsu. Granted, even if Pein did know any he seemed are from the type to bother with deception considering his zealotry and destructive nature. With how much that guy's god complex went, he probably considered illusions far too "human" to bother with or maybe he wasn't that good at it.
A grimace formed on the blonds face at the unfruitful thoughts as he took the time to take a closer look at the strange crystal statues.
At the mere mention of "fruit" the boy collapsed to a knee. A sudden sharp pain stabbed into his navel stronger than any jutsu. It was so agonizing that he barely managed to catch his fall on one of the statue's legs. His vision swam with colors, mind blank. The feverish aura of a wounded animal marred his whiskered features before he screamed at the top of his lungs-
"GOD DAMN IT, I'M SO HUNGRY!"
"…"
"I was fighting on an empty stomach for HOURS! Oh, sure I was serious during that fight!"
"..."
"So serious in fact that I probably looked like a badass without ever trying! But that doesn't stop the fact that I didn't even get to have a single bite to eat before the guy decided to level EVERYTHING!"
"..."
"I had to stop my own stomach from growling in the middle of a fight where the lives of literally everyone were on the line! Do you know how hard it is in stopping a body function from happening, when it's the only thing your body can think about!?"
"..."
"I mean it's bad enough that chakra exhaustion causes hunger but I had to train for WEEKS on that god damned mountain with only BUGS for food! FU-CKING BUGS!"
"..."
Naruto was so engrossed in his rant that he hardly registered the images of titanic machines, falling moon worlds or glowy god-things flashing before his vision with a sense of purpose. And if he was ignoring important events happening in his own mind's eye you'd better believe that he completely oblivious to the stupid amount of soldiers that had filled the room while he was lost in his insanity.
It was when the boy began to retch in between sobs that sounded remotely of "cricket stew" that one of the men decided to voice his concerns, "Hey."
"Yeah," one of his fellow squad mates answered back, his gun still remain ramrod at the target, tracing every overly dramatic motion with as much vigor as a cat to a laser pointer.
"Shouldn't we, you know? Arrest him? He did kind of break into a military base and all." He said with an eager undertone. The urgency was more for him than for the well-being of their assets. The boy hardly seemed like a threat and his arms were starting to cramp up bad.
"We should but the sarge hasn't given the order yet." The two glanced over at the only one out of them wearing a different outfit. It was a miracle that he was able to stand there looking so professional in this given situation.
"Why not?" His stance slacked, an event that repeated with several of his squad mates scattered across the room. "We've had plenty of time to engage. The idiot's been going on about bugs and wanting food for over five minutes." Unbeknownst to the two the "idiot's" eyes had flashed red at the mere mention of food. At speeds faster than any of the troops could register the previously hysterical blond crossed the gap between the center of the room and the soldier.
A feat that the unlucky soldier had no time to marvel at given the single steel tight grip hoisting him up by his collar.
"Do. You. Have. Ramen?" Any traces of the silly boy had left entirely; the vibrant blue eyes peering straight through the man's helmet were that of a predator.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see his sergeant signaling the rest of the forces to hold their fire. If they opened fire right now they could seriously risk hitting him.
"Wha-What?" The private managed to croak out, trying to keep the perpetrator busy while he reached for the stun baton in his back pocket.
"You mentioned food. Ramen. It's my favorite. Do you have any?" The pressure of the boy's presence made it harder to breathe than it already was, let alone speak. Even so, no matter how difficult it was, he had to keep the boy talking to create an opening for his squad mates. If he answered poorly the situation could go even further south than it already was. He had to keep it simple, something that wouldn't press any buttons.
"Ra-men? Wha-What's that?"
The air chilled to freezing.
The sound of his sweat crashed on the metal floor louder than any bullet.
He could see something inside those crazed, blue eyes snap.
"Don't." The fingers began to tighten to the point that he could hear the metal in the teen's hands warping in his grip. "You dare." The one literary holding his life in their hand began to raise him higher. "Fuck with me!" Before tossing the man with all his might at one of the other soldiers.
As the soldier's helmet crashed into the torso of one of his comrades a single thought rung in his mind. "Yup, definitely the wrong answer…"
-Outside of the Facility-
Yaag Rosch, a tall man with a lean build with silver hair that was sported in a pony-tail, was not having a good day. After months of continuous efforts to The Sanctum the newly minted officer had managed to secure a few days of vacation time to visit the seaside city of Bodhum. He had even planned ahead of time to ensure that he would be able to afford missing these days exactly.
Why all the effort you ask?
Bodhum was a beautiful city bearing a grocery list of attractions that tourist flocked to like insects to fly paper. From white sandy beaches to the factory in possessing of the Fal'cie: Kujata in charge of supplying Cocoon with power Bodhum seemed to have a little of everything for all walks of life. But Rosch was not such a frivolous man to fall for such obvious Gill sinks. No, what motivated him to go so far to secure these past few days was not Bodhum itself but rather what was happening at this time of year in this city specifically.
The Festival of New Light.
A celebration honoring those willing to give up their lives for the sake of the citizens of Cocoon. Every year a new city would be selected at random to host the festivities. During these next few days the streets of the host city would be choked with food stalls, vendors and street performer meant to entertain the masses. But these were only the side dishes.
The main event took place in a massive, circular ship that traveled with the festival from city to city each year. There the top students of Cocoon's military academies would compete for prestige and glory.
And he was missing the semi-finals because PSICOM apparently didn't trust the idiots in charge of their little pet projects enough to go without inspection.
"Can't say I blame them though," he thought as he moved to input the pass code to the only door leading in or out of the building. It was kind of hard for an Anti-Pulse task force to get any action when the last conflict with Pulse had taken place centuries ago. A large part of their force was so inexperienced that they wouldn't even stand a chance against the students participating in the festival.
As the door flung open a red glow splashed over his sharp features accompanied by the tell-tale cry of an alarm. Operatives of the facility were racing down the halls haphazardly, with clumps of uncertain men and women following those who had an inkling of confidence with as much grace as a horde of toddlers with two left feet. Oh sure, they were following protocol but they were doing so badly that it might have actually been more effective for everyone to just run around the building at random until something happened.
Calmly, he approached one of the more competent looking soldiers, the likes of which saluted the moment their visor caught sight of the commendations decorating his jacket.
"Corporal, status report.." Rosch ordered smoothly while making a gesture to drop the salute.
"At 1500 hours we received word from technical of abnormal energy signature in the L'cie Containment Ward. Shortly after some kind of...pulse traveled through the building that momentarily shut down every piece of technology in our possession."
"A pulse you say. An EMP perhaps?" It wouldn't be the first instance of radicals striking back at figures of powers. However, the number of cases involving anything more grand than the occasional vandalized wall could be counted on a single hand. The credibility of which barely surpassed the sightings of Palumpolum's sea monster, Lessie.
"That's what we suspected at first too but the blackout only lasted for about twenty minutes."
"Interesting…" He almost blew off the problem as an instance of faulty wiring before letting his assumptions slip his mind. Even the greenest of recruits wouldn't panic like the ones before him over something so simple. "Please continue."
"As a safety precaution Sargent Gibbons gathered Alpha and Beta Squadron to investigate." A little excessive but if it did turn out to be terrorism then two full squads should be more than enough to apprehend those responsible. "At 1530 hours we lost contact with the investigation team."
"I see–Wait! What did you just say!?" The Inspection Officer's calm disposition took a full one eighty faster than a Chocobo to Gysahl Greens. A standard squad of PSICOM troops consist of no less than four soldiers. Meaning that those responsible for the breach in security had to be numerous enough or formidable enough to take down two full squads of trained soldiers. And that wasn't even including those in the team trained to handle monsters. "Were the security teams at least able to identify the enemy?"
"Negative, Sir. The investigation team went down prior to surveillance reestablishing a visual." Twenty minutes, that's how long the electronic had been offline. In that amount of time an unknown force had been able to infiltrate a heavily guarded facility, eliminate at least nine men, and then slip off the radar entirely. Sensing his commanding officer's unease the soldier decided to add on to his report. "For what it's worth Sir, the medical team was able to determine that the squads who engaged the enemy suffered no lasting damage."
Yaag Rosch could see what the soldier was trying to do. He was trying to comfort him. Unfortunately, that last bit of information had the opposite effect. Contrary to popular belief, it actually took much more skill to take down a foe without killing them than it was to use lethal force. Meaning that whoever was responsible was an even greater threat than he previously thought. Seeing how unsure the Corporal's other squad mates seemed it would look like it was up to him to take action.
"You!" The silver haired man barked suddenly, startling the one debriefing him.
"Yes!"
"Radio everyone. I want all active PSICOM forces here at once."
"Everyone sir?"
Seeing the questionable stance that the soldier's body language took, Rosch decided to explain, "Our enemy is a formidable one but no matter how skilled they are they will still have to leave once their objective is complete."
The soldier nodded in understanding, "And since this is the only entrance they will have to come in leave through here as well."
"Precisely, with our men shielding the exit; the intruders will have no way to escape."
"Freedom!" At that moment an orange blur rushed past through the door that he had neglected to seal in his shock toward the disheveled state that he had found the facility in.
"...Corporal."
"Yes, Sir?"
"What was that?"
"It would appear that that was the intruder..uh Sir."
"He was wearing orange...and had bright blond hair."
"I do recall the medical teams mentioning the downed soldiers muttering that."
Rosch brought a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Blonde hair, orange clothing, and a teenager from what his eyes were able to catch of his build. That was the person who sent a building of Cocoon's elite Special Forces into panic. It was enough to almost make him sick.
"Cancel that last order Corporal."
"But sir he's heading toward the city. Shouldn't we conjure up a force to apprehend him?" One of the other soldiers under the Corporal's command finally decided to make himself known.
"The Festival of New Light is well underway. Currently there are more civilians in Bodhum then there will ever be in decades. Such a blatant display of military force will only cause panic."
"But-"
"The matter was out of our jurisdiction the second he stepped foot outside of this building. All we can do is alert the Guardian Corps that a criminal is at large. It shouldn't take them that long considering his outlandish appearance." The soldiers finally seemed to let the matter drop before carrying on with their duties prior to the scare.
The PSICOM Officer let out an exasperated sigh as the last of the squad disappeared around the corner. While his words seemed to have worked on the troops they did little to soothe his own nerves. Even with the boy's less than intimidating appearance that didn't change the fact that he single-handedly took down two whole squadrons in record time. He was banking the safety of thousands on the hunch that, from the way he incapacitated the guards, that he had no real intentions to hurt anyone. Even if he was right that did little to settle the matter.
After all there are more ways to spread terror than just killing people.
-The Stadium of New Light-
The world was chaos. The blaring music of the tournament doing little to drown out the chorus of drunken laughter and cheering parents. Noise makers seemed more like a requirement in this atmosphere rather than a calling card of a few ravenous fans.
It was in the middle of this hurricane of celebration that a single pink haired girl stood out from her fellow attendees. Like the eye of storm she sat silently while those around her seemed intent on finding out how far the human eardrum could go. Though, even with her quiet disposition not a single person would be able to call the girl cold. The manner that she carried herself emanated a warmth and gentleness not unlike that of a mother. In fact the, only factor that could be considered off putting about her was the furious manner that she wrote in her tablet.
This girl, who looked more like a fairy in comparison to the hulking fans to her left and right, was none other than Serah Farron – a simple girl of thirteen years with a knack for school work. A passion that managed to worm its way into even the most ridiculous of situations, the report on her tablet being a testament to that. Her work ethic only wavered when the booming voice of the announcer decided to add even more noise to the equation.
"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to The Festival of New Light: Tournament Semi-Finals!" The airship turned stadium shook in approval. "For those of you just tuning in, today's students will be battling it out to determine who has the right to move on to the main event!"
"That's right Jon whoever comes out on top today will get the opportunity to elect one of their members to move on to the Singles Rounds where we will find out just which one of Cocoon's fabulous academies is truly the best choice out there for your own budding little soldiers."
"Now without further a due let's introduce our combatants."
A massive floating television suddenly appeared before the tournament attendees. "In the blue corner, the ones who have been Decimating the competition in every trial that they been in these past few days – You know 'em, You love 'em: Team Rygdea of Nautilus!" At the cue the screen lit up the four students wearing blue uniforms like giants, the team's scruffy leader beaming like a maniac as the arena erupted in praise. An act that Serah took no part in. It was the next team that would make her heart skip a beat.
"Their opponents have had all odds against them from the very beginning but proved themselves to be more than a match for the competition. The red corner's Underdogs of the Underdogs: Team Lightning of Bodhum!" A grand majority of the crowd cheered even louder for the team representing their home town.
"YEAH! YOU GO SIS!" The school girl's normally timid nature jumped up along with its owner, her outburst loud enough to surprise even the beast of a man sitting beside her. The face of red team's leader held a look of pure concentration as she stared down her foes, only shifting to a ghost of a smile when she spotted a spot of pink similar to her own in the sea of bodies.
Serah couldn't stop smiling. It may have been the fifth day of the tournament but every single time the sight of her sister there in the arena never got old. To even qualify for a position in the festival a student had to be in the top ten in the whole school. Lightning had done all that and more, scoring the leadership position on the Bodhum Military Academy team as a first year! A feat that had been completely unheard of up until now.
The thought of her older sister's work ethic caused her grin to slip a little bit. Lightning the name was still hard for her to say despite her sister using the moniker for over a year now.
As a student of one of Cocoon's most prestigious academies her sister was already being paid to go to school. Adding up the bonuses to being one of top ten as well as her school being sponsored by The Sanctum meant that Lightning was making more money a month as a student than many did working full time. Food and lodging were paid for by the school and finishing all three years even guaranteed an officer position straight out of graduation.
It wasn't easy though.
Going to a prestigious school herself Serah already had quite the workload. But that is nothing compared to the amount of school work that Lightning has to maintain just to stay in! That combined with the entire fitness requirement that each student is forced to undergo causes military academies to have the highest turnover rate for dropouts/failures of all the schools.
And it was all being done...for her.
-Festival Grounds-
With fresh air in his system and food in his belly, our blond finally felt comfortable enough to sit back and focus on things a little less...primal. The main question being: Where he was? And the second being: How did he get here?
These were the thoughts that plagued the blonde's mind as he fiddled with a couple of the plastic cards that went for money around here in the pocket of his new coat. "Borrowing" the likes of which had a cinch with his previous life experiences; much more so with how many people seemed to be spamming the things like no tomorrow.
The place was chalk full of tall buildings and narrow alley ways-perfect for slipping into after "relieving" someone of a card or two. When he had first seen them after escaping the facility he almost assumed the worst and had been sent to Rain Country by some unknown member of Akatsuki. Thankfully, his stupid food-deprived brain was still smart enough to realize that it wasn't raining before causing a ruckus.
Now that option A was out of the picture, what else did he have? Spring Country had plenty of cool tech that he couldn't make sense of but all of them thought he was too awesome to even think about harming him. In fact, the only thing that'd hurt while in Spring would be a sore wrist from signing so many autographs.
Not that knocking those two off the list particularly helped. If anything all it did was provide more questions than answers. He needed more information.
Wordlessly, Naruto slipped away from the crowd and into an area away from prying eyes. There his hands autonomously transitioned into the well-practiced cross seal that everyone (especially his enemies) knew and loved. Soon after, a pillar of smoke erupted from the floor; revealing the forms of three individuals of identical likeness to-
Wait three? He swore he'd used enough chakra to make at least ten clones. That last battle must have taken a lot more out of him then he thought. Oh well, no use dwelling on it too much. There were more important things to worry about.
"Spread out and cover as much ground as you can. I don't want you guys dispelling until you've used up all your chakra." Their orders received, the three flashed their creator a salute then proceeded to make themselves scarce.
After surveying to see if anyone had caught wind of the brief engagement Naruto stepped out of the alley way and back into the public.
Blue eyes swiveled in their sockets. The sheer scope of this place was ridiculous. Never in all his travels had he been to a place with such a densely packed amount of people. When compared to the modest dirt paths back home the virtual sea of bodies was almost uncomfortable.
That feeling only increased as the light shifted with the passing time. The new angle causing the crowd to bleed into darkness. A Goliath of a building lording over the streets; huge and menacing like some kind of primordial god ready to wreak havoc on the populace. Calling the obstruction intimidating would be an understatement as the blond tried to wrap his mind around the innumerable amount of man hours that must have gone into creating such an impressive structure. If this place had huge buildings like this all over then perhaps it would be best if he gave his clones a hand in the reconnaissance department.
Fighting his way against the flow of traffic, the blond combed the streets for one of the more friendly looking citizens to talk to. He finally settled on a white haired woman leading along a small boy of similar likeness.
"Hello!" He called out, making sure to raise his voice beyond the volume of his surroundings.
"Hi there! You lost?" The woman blurted out as if she'd just read his mind.
"A little bit! How'd you know?" Naruto responded sheepishly.
"The look on your face," She answered. "It's like you're having trouble taking it all in." His cheeks turned painted red as her expression took on what he presumed was what he looked like. It wasn't exactly the most dashing of looks. "Haha, no need to be embarrassed. Everyone's like that for their first festival."
So there was a festival going on right now. That would explain why there were so many people running around with pockets just begging to be picked.
"Well since you're such a hot shot, do you think you can help me find my way around?"
"I'm not exactly from around here personally so I won't be of much help. But if there's a place you want to get to cities always keep directories around for people just like you." She informed as if she hadn't even heard his snide comment. "I'm pretty sure we passed by one not too far back." Her thumb motioned the direction she came. "Big, flashy things; you can't really miss 'em."
Naruto took her hand, shaking it in gratitude. "Wow, thanks for the help."
"Don't mention it." A smile gracing her features where others would leap back at having their personal space violated. "If you ever find yourself in Palumpolum be sure to stop by my shop: Cats n Lilies. I'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the town."
Naruto's unoccupied hand automatically found itself drawn to the back of his head. Even if he didn't know what she was talking about the kindness behind the gesture didn't go over his head.
"I'll be sure to do that...um..." The blond just becoming aware of the crucial bit of information that he lacked in not knowing his helpers name.
"It's Nora. Nora Estheim." The newly identified Nora punctuated by taking control of the blond's erratic shaking.
"Uzu-...uh...Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto quickly corrected himself, allowing Nora to smooth over his eagerness into a much more sedated pace.
"Naruto, huh? Never heard a name like that one in Cocoon."
"I get that a lot." Naruto said, playing it off as just another person who'd been born with an unusual name.
Cocoon: so that's where he was. Whether it was the name of the city itself or something on a grander scale was still uncertain. There was also the way people introduced themselves around here. Up until now he'd always thought everyone in the Elemental Nations positioned their family name in front of their given name. Whatever (or whoever) interfered with his fight must have dropped him somewhere really remote. That is, assuming that he was still on the same continent.
On the bright-side, he could start calling it something other than "town with big buildings and lots of people".
He turned his gaze over the child by her side. The likes of which swept into the shadows behind his mother the moment the blond had laid eyes on him.
"Sorry about Hope. He's not very good with people." Nora advised just in case her son's behavior had created a bad impression.
Naruto simply let off a shrug in response. He'd gotten worse reactions in the past. "Well, either way it was nice meeting you."
"Likewise, I hope you find what you're looking for."
"We'll see about that!" Naruto shouted as the distance between them grew.
Once the mother had disappeared into the scenery a feeling of satisfaction swelled into him. People back home were usually too stricken with the whole jinchuuriki thing to pay him any mind. Even the conversations with his friends tended to skew more toward business related things. He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked with a total stranger so casually. It was nice being able to connect with someone you don't have any history with.
When Nora had told him about a directory he'd imagined an information kiosk or a place he could pick up a brochure. The last thing he'd anticipated was a giant, gaudy sheet of light depicting a map of the city so detailed that it even showed the paths of fair attendees traversing the streets in real time.
This kind of stuff is common place around here? Just this made everything he'd used up until now look like they were made out of rocks and sticks by comparison. He was lucky to have a row of people in between him and the new...whatever the hell it was. If there hadn't been anyone else to learn from he would have probably just used it like a plain old map and miss out on all the other cool (and informative) features he saw others use.
A couple peeled away from the glorified map giggling in each others arms. The moment of reckoning had finally come!
At a snail's pace, Naruto made his way over to the floating screen. His hand shook with hesitation as he reached for the wall a light. A childish wonder etching across his features as he watched the limb phase through its surface. Fingers traveled back and forth across the map. More angles were crossed upon its holographic, none material surface. A second set of fingers came into play; poking and prodding in the same manner a cat would with a common household. Completely enamored by the existence of something painfully mundane.
The teen would have gone for longer if it weren't for the feeling of judging eyes washing over his body.
Did he dare to look back after such a display?
...No. No he did not.
Clearing his throat to cut through the awkwardness, Naruto reached over for a button he'd seen a previous fair attendee use; taking on an air of completely professionalism as if to banish memories of what had transpired seconds ago. Completely ignorant to possibility that someone may have just recorded his actions to post on the Internet later. The name "Bodhum" along with indicators over popular points of interest overlaid upon the existing topography. A quick swipe here and a button press there later and the majority of icons had disappeared sans areas of historical significance, government installations and the like.
The blond hadn't even touched on a fourth of the existing tabs when a rush of unfamiliar memories played within his mind. A clone had just dispelled. But why? Not even ten minutes had passed there was no way it could have run out of chakra even if he was exhausted.
It only took a minor amount of sifting to come across the message that the doppelganger had sacrificed his brief existence to tell him.
"You seem to be taking quiet along time with that map there. What's wrong, having trouble finding your way around?"
"Well crap..." No better words could have summed up the shinobi's thoughts as he turned to take in the sight of man wearing armor similar to the men that he destroyed in his moment of idiocy.
The conversation that the clone had overheard flaring like a siren. "To all available Guardians be on the lookout for a blond adolescent around mid-teens wearing a long, black coat." Blue orbs shifted from the soldier over to the black cloak he had on right now. It didn't look like this particular officer recognized him.
"Uuuuuhhh...Y-Yeaaaaah! I have absolutelyyyyy no idea where I'm goingggg."
"Why are you talking like that?" The officer asked while scratching at the metal piece covering his neck.
Nnnnoooo...[cough]...No reason..." The blond corrected before he accidentally ended up turning this encounter into a musical.
"O-kay...Well maybe I could help?"
"S-Sure! That! Would be...great!" Naruto punctuated with a finger pointed upward.
"Uh-huh, so where are you headed?" The Guardian blew off the weirdness to just the nerves that people get when speaking to a man of the law.
"Huh? Oh yeah, location...right." His gaze ran over the icons on the map, desperately searching for the key to his salvation. "Do. You know. Where...the~...Bodhum Armed Forces Museum is?
"Ah, so you're those kids. I bet you could recite the make and model of every scope, muzzle and grip of this assault rifle here by heart." The man said while holding up his weapon; unaware that, up to this point, the blond had been ignorant of what an assault rifle was - let alone how any of those things were related.
Naruto just rolled with it. "...Yeah. Yeah of course!"
"Haha, boys and their toys as they say. Anyways if you're trying to get to the museum just head down this street until you reach first street then-" The Guardian turned away from the blond to begin giving directions.
An internal sigh of relief came from the Uzumaki; thankful that the man hadn't pried into his "knowledge" on weaponry. He needed to make himself scarce and fast before anyone else showed up.
Seeing as that the soldier was thoroughly indisposed Naruto began to slink away into the crowd only for his head to run into a pillar of metal.
It was another soldier. His mind instantly wandered over to one of the few lessons in The Academy that'd actually stuck. Particularly, one about the Uchiha Police Force. And the very specific detail about them working in pairs.
"Aren't you the guy that was spotted defacing public property?" And~ apparently this one actually paid attention to his comms.
"Defacing public property though? Is that what they call beating the snot out of a bunch of soldiers and breaking out of a highly guarded military base out here?"
Naruto didn't bother finding out and instead throttled it in the opposite direction.
"Hey! Get back here!" He called out as he gave chase, passing his partner along the way.
"-When you reach the restaurant with shiny, red rooster on it you make a left. After that you cut through an alley and-
Further down the road a smirk cracked Naruto's expression. The wind in his hair, the thrill in his heart-he lived for these moments. The cockiness on his face slowly creased into a genuine smile. It reminded him of his childhood and the times he'd spent with his Oji-san and Iruka-sensei after a good prank.
"Just like old times," He sighed to himself wistfully. "Right, guys!?" He suddenly called out behind him.
"Shut up Brat!" Was the reply he got from the man leading the group of steadily growing armored heads.
"Yup, definitely just like old times!" Naruto laughed out as he sank his torso down forward, giving himself a more streamlined form counterbalanced by the arms dangling behind him. The technique seemed to do the trick as the teen's speed suddenly jumped to even greater heights, causing a few of the pursuing group to peel off so that they could catch their breath.
Those that were left, however, didn't seemed all that impressed and actually began to close the distance steadily. The way the team ran after their prey was almost like a group of cyclist glued to the slipstream of the leader. An idea suddenly formed as he took note of the sight of two burly men hefting a massive crate of fruits across the festival grounds.
Without even a grunt of effort the blond leapt over the package, garnering a look of wonder from the two men. The squads of Guardians, on the other hand, were not allowed the luxury. Those who were paying attention slid under or past the obstruction mechanically. The few unlucky enough to have reflexes a millisecond slower were met with a wall of muscle and plant matter.
Naruto winced as the dull thump of bodies falling over reached his sensitive ears. "Those guys are gonna be feeling that in the morning." He muttered to himself before vaulting over a particularly dense crowd of people. While in the center he gracefully bent back on to his knees, unknowingly sliding under a street performer mid-flip which induced a roar of approval from the surrounding crowd. Naruto being the attention starved boy that he was, took in the praise full swing-bowing to the crowd flamboyantly before adding his own set of ninja induced flips for style.
His antics earned him an even greater response from then the last but a the commanding call of, "Stop right there criminal!," interrupted him sooner than he could inflate his own ego.
Putting his battle hardened mind to use the blond slipped out of the cloak that he had been using to lay low – calling over two kids from the crowd. He promptly gave one end of the cloak to each of the children before advising them to, "Stretch it as much as you can." Once they had done that Naruto, without any momentum, did a forward handspring over the kids in the center and past the crowd, garnering another round of applause that was immediately silenced as a group of Guardians charged through an opening in the wall of bodies. Their eagerness blinded them of the children in the center of the circle, snagging their legs on the still outstretched cloak-turning the once respected squad of officers into a blob of tangled limbs.
"Well that turned out better than I expected," Naruto stated proudly as he wiped of the imaginary dust from his person. Much to his chagrin, his success was short lived as the sight of metal helms came peeling out of the crowd like nightmares from the darkness. "I get the feeling that this is what it's like to fight me." The blond thought to himself with frustration regarding their determination as he bolted off once more.
After that last stunt he could feel the anger emanating from his pursuers in waves. While their numbers were smaller than when the chase began the ones remaining were leagues beyond the rest in terms of skill and were able to navigate through the throngs of people effortlessly while still being able to keep speed with him. It also helped that they were also really, really pissed.
He was about to increase his pace once more but had to readjust himself midway as the sight of a blockade came into view. The whiskered teen cursed under his breath. Using footwork more tailored for a dancer than a warrior Naruto was able to turn on a dime into the alleyway of an adjacent set of buildings. Nevertheless, the display was later revealed to be a total waste as the pathway began came to an abrupt halt. It was a dead end.
Unperturbed by the impasse of metal the knucklehead did what most wouldn't do in this situation and sped up. Utilizing skills that he had gathered from his late sensei Naruto sent chakra to his feet, allowing him to scale the wall without the use of his hands. Imagine his shock when half way up the building's surface the grip on his sandals gave way, causing him to plummet down head first on to the concrete below.
The young ninja wasn't idle for long, shooting up seconds after the impact to let out a string of curses. Pain was good though, "FUCK!" It meant that he wasn't in a genjutsu and he was alive to boot. Speaking of which the sound of boots following him had stopped.
Only for it to be replace by a chorus of [cick-chuck].
With his hands raised behind his head in submission the blond turned around to be greeted by the sight of at least two dozen barrels pointed at his face. "Uh...hey guys, nice weather we're having, huh?" Naruto laughed out nervously, trying with all his might to hide the exhaustion. Given the fact that he had fought a man powerful enough to back up his claims of godhood prior to all of this it was a miracle that he was even standing.
A man in red came storming out of the cluster of yellow, calling themselves out as the leader of the group. He stared long and hard before ripping off his helmet to get a better view of the Uzumaki. Metal encrusted fingers clutched painfully at a handful of orange fabric. Panicked cerulean met furious brown.
"I don't know what you did..." His voice came out heated and raspy."...But after that stunt you just pulled I don't even care anymore!" He emphasized by roughly throwing away Naruto's collar.
"Hey now, I'm sure if we talk it out we can all realize that this is just a big~ misunderstanding." He pleaded, shielding both his hands behind his head; one of them sinking down toward his high collar.
"You just avoided arrest for nearly five miles! On foot I might add! Why the hell should I believe anything you say?"
"Because~...I'm~...super trustworthy! That's it!" The blonde cried out as his fingers dislodged something from its stitching.
"I find that very hard to believe."
"No really it's true! I'll even tell you something really embarrassing just to prove it!" The teen waved both of his open palms out at the mass of officers. They weren't amused.
"My first kiss was with a boy!" The one in red, fed up with his antics gestured two of the initial line to restrain the lunatic.
"Some nameless asshole bumped me into him. Our lips met when I fell on the bastard." The two Guardians didn't even seem to be listening anymore as they slammed him into the outlining wall. One of them pulling out a pair of glowing handcuffs to slap on to the teen's wrist.
"The entire class thought we were GAY!"
"You done?" The leader finally said. A nod came from the blond as his cheeks reddened from getting nowhere with the policemen after spilling one of darkest secrets. "Good. Lock him up in a nice cold cell. I want him to suffer for all the trouble he caused." The two nodded before guiding the teen through the rows of yellow, making sure to prod him with their weapons as much as possible.
"Can I at least say something before going to prison?" Naruto said once he had reached the center of the pack.
"Sure. But I'm kind of supposed to inform you that anything you say can and will be used against you in court." The leader mocked in a relaxed tone as placed a cigarette in his mouth.
"Cheese."
"Cheese?" was all the Guardian managed to say before a slip of paper with the kanji for "flash" dropped out of an orange sleeve. Then there was chaos
Crouched on a high on a ledge overlooking the alley a blond looked on as fully grown men screamed while clambering over each-other desperate to rid the blinding light from their eyes.
"Well that worked out better than expected..." He stated, handcuffs no longer restraining his movement in any way. With the squadron scrambling to figure what had just happened he had plenty of time to make his escape.
But for that he needs to regain his bearings. And with these "Guardians" combing the streets returning to the map would be suicide.
Naruto's surveyed the Bodhum skyline. His vision gravitated to a set of interconnecting buildings that steadily increased in height as one approached the center of the cluster. From someone with his background, who leapt across cities on a daily basis, the collection of structure might as well have been a flight of intricately giant staircases. The perfect place to get a view of his surroundings.
In a single bound, Naruto sailed across the urban jungle. His feet making contact with concrete again only after the momentum from his previous leap had carried him over several buildings. Down below he could see the forms of soldiers scrambling around the crowded streets; moving as if they were trying to balance searching and not causing a scene at the same time. Considering he was up here and they were down there, he'd say they were fail in both regards.
Before long the blond was already atop the first structure of the twisting structures. Scaling them with the same effort that one would when going over multiple steps at a time. Even without relying on chakra to traverse the walls of the structures he still managed make his way from building to building with ease. His younger self had achieved similar feats while having a sizable portion of a nation's highly trained assassins on his ass. His present, more badass, self should be able to manage at least this much.
Legs kicked off the railing of his current building. His orange clad form shooting across the gap like rocket toward an exposed pipe. Shimmying up the pipe, Naruto then vaulted up to the lip of a ledge. And in one final heave he lifted himself up to the top of the highest tower.
An arm rose to shield the blond's face from the relentless gale force winds as he trudged over to the other side of the rooftop. Once at the edge Naruto eyes swept over the landscape, eager to finally get a sense for where he was.
As the seconds passed eyelids, that had nearly been force shut by the wind, began to steadily rise up the more scenery he began to take in. The emotion across his orbs flashing between awe and terror.
"...What in the world?" At this point he wasn't even sure if that saying even meant anything anymore. From his new vantage point he spotted all the things that he'd failed to notice whilst amongst the streets: barriers of light blocking off restricted areas from the public; a circular structure floating above the waves of the harbor; a massive, robotic entity in the distance seated on throne of machine and magma.
Overwhelmed by his surroundings Naruto's vision shot upwards to escape the madness. Only for his efforts to have been in vain, for instead of a sun there was only a massive structure lined with a halo of light.
Naruto suddenly found his body unable to move as his conscious mind fought to reject the conclusion that his logical developed using the newfound information.
All of it made so much sense now:
The plastic cards they used for currency.
The existence of given names before family names.
The astronomical difference in technology.
It was like a science-fiction novel stepping into the realm of reality.
All of it made so much sense. Yet, at the same time it made so little sense.
Where am I? No matter which way he spun it the answer just kept leading to the exact same place. The problem was that that answer had to be incorrect. It was impossible. And this was coming from someone who grew up where short range teleportation and walking on water was commonplace.
Whilst the shell-shocked teens body refused to move a gentle humming noise could be heard that grew louder and louder. Retching his neck into motion; Naruto came upon the sight of men, vehicles and even machines circling around him. The thing that settled his doubts being the glowing trails of green light that each one of them was using to propel themselves through the air.
"I get the feeling that I'm a lot farther away from home that I originally thought..." At the utterance the troops, unwilling to allow him another opportunity to escape, opened fire.
However, just as the projectiles intersected on their target he burst into a plum of white smoke.
-Back in the Festival Grounds-
"I don't believe it ladies and gentle! Despite Team Lightning having three out of its four members incapacitated Team Leader Lightning Farron has managed to single-handedly gain total control of the field; earning her team the right to move on to the Main Event: where only one member of the advancing team will be representing their respective academies." A holographic display overlooking the town square depicted a pink haired girl standing triumphantly at the center of the arena.
"After a performance like that the ragtag band from Bodhum would be stupid not to choose Ms. Farron for that position." Highlights began to play of Lightning subsequently destroying the competition.
"Haha I couldn't agree more Tom, I couldn't agree more."
A cold chill ran down the blond teen's spine as he took in the extent of the girls combat prowess. That was the "awesome big sister" that Serah was always talking about. He couldn't refute that she was impressive but he wasn't so sure he was comfortable with that form of "awesome".
Unbeknownst to him - the teen had greater things to worry about than an overprotective sibling as a Guardian tackled him from behind. The man's fellow soldiers coming to assist in restraining the blond.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!"
The Guardian, however, seemed to be deaf to his cries. "Blond hair; blue eye; above average build; roughly fourteen to sixteen years old ;wearing black-" The man raise up the teen's torso to reveal the orange shirt he had under his coat. "-and orange. Perfect match Sir."
"Excellent work soldier. You can expect a nice raise for tracking down the terrorist here."
"You're too kind Sir." The man how had instigated the encounter raised a hand to salute his commanding officer.
"Wait a second here pal, I may have spray painted my name all over some jerk's stall for ripping me off but don't you think terrorist is a bit much?!"
"A likely story. I bet 'spray paint' some type of code for breaking into a government-owned facility."
"I didn't do that! Come on man, you have to believe me!" He bellowed out as the Guardians raised him up to properly bind him.
"Sure it wasn't. I suppose it was just some other guy with your exact description who did it." The officer exclaimed sarcastically. The blond cursing the entire way as the Guardians guided him to their cruiser.
Meanwhile, as this all was taking place a man wearing a scarf and hat-despite the hot Bodhum weather - craned the brim of his hat downward. Tufts of bright yellow peaking out from underneath the edges of the cap.
Author's Notes:
FOR ANY NEW READERS, be sure to check the author's notes of the next chapter to be sure that you are reading a chapter that has been revised already. You wouldn't want to get yourself confused by conflicting content.