The chance of me ever owning Naruto and/or Pokemon is like the mass of an electron, so small that it is basically non-existent.
III
Steam gently wafted past Naruto's pajama clad body as he exited the bathroom of the underground complex. He stretched his arms and let out a content sigh, glad to have the dust and sweat of a hard day's training off his skin. The blonde walked out into the bedroom area where he had awakened earlier yesterday afternoon. There, Sasuke laid on his back upon the farthest mattress from the washroom with his hands behind him beneath his pillow. Charmander was curled up tightly on the floor near his trainer's bed. Sakura sat leaning against the headrest of the bed next to the Uchiha while she calmly petted the Chikorita snuggled in her lap.
With hardly a moment of hesitation, Naruto ran and belly-flopped onto his own bed. The subsequent bounce allowed him to reorient himself so that he landed cross-legged and facing his teammates. Mudkip, whose sleep had been interrupted by said action, shot out from underneath the mattress and tackled the newly minted Pokétrainer to the ground. The two partners began to wrestle on the floor, their laughter and other sounds of glee filling the room. Sakura huffed and glared at them.
"Naruto, quit fooling around. We need to get some sleep." They definitely needed it what with the day and a half the three just had. After Mewtwo showed them how to operate the strange, dome shaped machine they had seen earlier, he brought them food to eat while they waited for their Pokémon to heal. Apparently, the facility was meant to house humans as well as Pokémon in case of emergencies and therefore had been stocked with almost everything the three would need. It was surprising that it was all in good condition considering it had been down there for over a thousand years.
Once the Pokémon were done recovering, Mewtwo spent the rest of the day drilling them into the ground. They fought for hours, yet none of the genin nor they Pokémon were ever able to get a clean shot on the legendary. Mewtwo eventually called a halt to the combat and let the children eat supper while he began teaching them basic information about Pokémon. That continued until what they guessed was night time, and the six were sent to bed. The next day was roughly the same schedule, battle for awhile, then eat while the psychic lectured them.
"Oh, come on, Sakura. We're just playing around." Naruto said in between snickers. Mudkip had managed to grab a couple of his sun-kissed locks in his mouth and was lightly tugging at them.
"Idiot, we're not here to play. We're supposed to be training." He said simply waving off her chiding.
"Yeah, yeah. But it's not like learning to use that Power of Dominance thing is that hard." Sakura's gaze bore into him even harder at his comment.
"If it's so easy, why haven't you been able to use it yet?" Naruto was caught off guard by her question and floundered to come up with a retort. Sakura smirked, and Chikorita tittered at his expense. He pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke.
"What about him? Sasuke hasn't been able to do it either!" Sakura flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Sasuke probably hasn't tried yet. I'm sure he could do it the very first time if he wanted to." The blond in frustration at his teammate.
"Fine, you want me to do it; I'll do it." He jumped up off the floor back onto his bed the way he was before. Grabbing Mudkip at the same time, Naruto set his Pokémon in front of him and, after a short grunt, focused every ounce of his concentration on connecting to his new partner. The mud fish Pokémon stared back at the trainer sitting across from him with his head cocked to the side in a puzzled expression. The two remained in that same position, never moving a muscle. Sakura watched them intently, waiting to see what would happen. Even Sasuke sat up to pay attention.
Over a minute passed by, suspense building in the air. The entire room grew still like the calm before a storm. Two minutes passed. Sakura shooed Chikorita out of her lap and cautiously got up from her bed. She approached Naruto in three slow, carefully planned out steps. Standing beside her teammate, the pinkette paused for a moment, then smashed her fist down upon his head.
Naruto's torso snapped forward from the blow, but he instantly sat back up, gulping down huge amounts of air. His navy blue face quickly returned back to its normal color in response to the oxygen flooding back in to his system. Mudkip looked back and forth between the two teammates, still trying to understand what was going on.
"You moron! You're not supposed to stop breathing!" Sakura shouted in anger. Naruto could not respond as he continued to try and regain his breath. Sasuke muttered something that was incoherent to the others and laid back down on his bed.
"Darn it. Sakura, how were you able to do it so easily?" The young kunoichi was about to smirk and pump her fist in triumph, but she stopped herself when she heard the disappointment and self-doubt in Naruto's voice. It was something she had never thought she would hear. Ever since she first met the boy, Naruto had never once backed down from a task. He always dived head first into every task even if he had little chance of success. The most he ever did was whine a little but even that did not last to long. Sakura looked up at the ceiling with a frown, letting out a small sigh. Taking a second to collect her thoughts, the pinkette looked back at the blonde.
"Its not something you can force, Naruto. You just have to...feel it."
"Huh?" Sakura ran a hand through her hair while she tried to figure out a better way to word what she was trying to say. She soon clenched her fists and stomped a foot in frustration.
"Hrrrgh, just try and do what I tell you." Naruto nodded and repositioned himself so he was facing her, and Mudkip was at his side.
"Close your eyes and relax. Don't think about anything." He grumbled a bit at those words. Naruto had never been one to sit still for very long. Even when he was a toddler, he was constantly on the move. The fact that he now needed to remain sitting in one spot not doing anything was almost torture. The blonde took a few deep breaths and tried to concentrate once more. This time, however, he did as Sakura had instructed and tried to clear his head. The female of Team Seven saw the muscles in Naruto's face gradually loosen up as his mind emptied. She waited a few seconds then proceeded to go on with the lesson.
"Good. Now you should be able to feel a tugging sensation in the back of your head. Focus on that and let it guide you." Unbeknownst to Sakura, Naruto was no longer listening. In his meditation, Naruto's consciousness had been whisked away deep inside of his own mind, where dangers lurked even for him.
III
The sound of slowly dripping pipes echoed endlessly around Naruto as he came to. He propped himself up on his hands and knees then shook his head, dislodging any remaining grogginess within. The first thing Naruto noticed after doing so was that he was in the middle of a shallow, trickling stream. The water was only about an half-inch deep, just enough to wash over the tops of his young hands. The liquid had a strange feeling to it. It seemed to cling to his skin, swirling about the flesh briefly then continuing on its journey.
Putting that oddity to the side, Naruto pushed himself up and observed his surroundings. He was standing inside of a large tunnel, the ceiling about five feet above him. Rusted, cracked pipes obscured the curved walls. Tiny beads of water leisurely gathered together on the metal underbellies before their inevitable fall. The entire area was covered in a dark red glare originating from one distant end of the sewer.
It was towards that side that Naruto felt inexplicably beckoned to. His feet began to move as if they had a mind of their own, bringing him nearer to crimson light. He drew closer to the source little by little. Though the bloody haze, he could just make out an opening to the tunnel. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks a short distance away from the mouth.
Behind him, a small, white glimmer began to gently glow. Naruto only caught a short glimpse of it before the speck was consumed by the darker rays around it. Curious, the blond turned and walked back to where he had first awoken.
As he did so, the pale light grew in strength. What had once been a speck grew with every step, beating back the harsh red of the other. Soon, Naruto was naught but a few yards away from the source of the new glow, and he began to feel the differences.
The first light was filled with rage and malicious. It hung in the air, smothering anything it touched. The white gleam, however, was solid and impartial. Its rays carried with them the weight of ages. He could tell that this was something that had existed long before he was and would remain far past what he could imagine. Despite this, the light had a strange familiarity to it, like a word he could not remember but was on the tip of his tongue. He crossed the remaining distance between himself and the white orb and gently placed his hands on each side.
The light's brilliance exploded outward as soon as his hands touched, filling every inch of the damp sewer with its radiance. Naruto's eyes widened in shock, but there was nothing he could do. His arms refused to obey his commands, instead staying firmly stuck to the shining orb. Soon, all Naruto could see was white. The light continued to expand, growing ever larger, enveloping him in its grandeur.
III
Naruto's eyes shot open as his mind returned from his journey inward. Every part of his body felt energized. He could almost taste the deep power rising up from within himself. He looked down at Mudkip who was smiling back up at him. Naruto actually feel his partner's joy. The Pokémon had finally found someone he could connect to and bond with. After a thousand years of waiting, he finally had a true partner once more.
Naruto chocked back tears at the emotions he was feeling. Whether they belonged to him or his Pokémon, he did not care. He, too, was overcome with happiness. He had found a friend that he knew would stick by him no matter what, and he silently promised to do the same. Naruto bent over and wrapped Mudkip up in his arms in a warm hug.
Sakura smiled. She could tell the instant Naruto opened his eyes that he had done it. Chikorita nuzzled her neck against the pinkette's legs, and Sakura knelt down to pick her up. Through their bond, Sakura felt the grass-type's happiness for her fellow Pokémon and his trainer. The young kunoichi flipped the light switch next to her bed then tucked herself and Chikorita into their bed. She heard Naruto and Mudkip start playfully wrestling about again to her side but decided to let them have their fun.
On the other side of the room, Sasuke laid quietly in his bed. He had been listening in on the lesson since the beginning. Naruto was not the only one Sakura's coaching had helped, though Sasuke would never admit that out loud. It was a strange feeling for the boy. He had long ago closed himself off from the rest of the world, yet now here he was, sharing a deeper connection with a creature whose existence he had only learned of a few days ago. He felt closer to his Pokémon than anyone else he had met in his twelve years of life.
In the back of his mind, Sasuke could feel Charmander examining him the same way he was. An inkling of mutual acceptance passed between the two at the end of their appraisals. That being done, Charmander climbed his way up the sheets from the floor and coiled up at Sasuke's feet. The Uchiha huffed and rolled his eyes at his Pokémon's presumptuousness but then joined the fire-type in drifting off to sleep.
III
The following afternoon, the genin of Team Seven stood proudly next to each other, their partners at their sides. Mewtwo stood across from the group, observing them with a keen eye. Above them shone the bright lights of the arena. The dome was quite at the moment as the genin waited for their new teacher to speak.
"You three have done exceptionally well these past two days. Your control over the Power of Dominance and the bond between you and your Pokémon have both grown at astounding rates. I am proud to call you my students," Sakura and Naruto accepted the praise with beaming smiles while Sasuke did so with a small smirk. "But now it is time for you to leave this place." The abrupt turn threw the genin for a loop and sent them reeling in surprise.
"What? Why? We don't want to!" Naruto stammered, voicing the others' opinion for them.
"It is necessary. The longer you remain here, the more likely it is someone will find this place while they search for you." Sasuke frowned at the psychic.
"What do you mean 'search for us'?"
"Including the time you three spent unconscious after awakening the Power of Dominance, you have been in this facility for three and a half days. You must have realized someone would have noticed your absences by now." The group was thoroughly cowed. In actuality, none of them had given any kind of thought to such a prospect. They had been so caught up in the thrill of discovery that they failed to think of little else. This realization brought about mixed feelings.
Sasuke mentally berated himself for not realizing such a fact sooner. Even if there was no one he was particularly close to, the disappearance of any clan member was always treated with high priority. It would be even more so if that person happened to be the last surviving member.
Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders, for the most part. Sure, Teuchi and Ayame might be a bit concerned that he had not shown up for ramen in a while, but he did not believe it would go much beyond that. Iruka probably thought he was just busy with missions, and the Old Man was most likely to caught up in doing Hokage stuff to have noticed he was missing.
Sakura was racked with guilt. She had told her parents she would be back in time for supper after meeting with her sensei. They must be worried sick about her, not knowing what horrible things might have happened to their only daughter to make her vanish for over three days. She could not even imagine how she would feel if the situation were reversed. Naruto felt the heaving mode surrounding his teammates and tried to lighten everyone up.
"Heh, I guess we're the ones late for our team meeting now, right guys?" He said scratching his right cheek. Sasuke muttered 'idiot' under his breath and shook his head at the poor attempt at a joke.
"So, if you don't want other people to find out about this place, how are we going to explain where we were the past three days and where our Pokémon came from?" The raven-haired boy asked. Mewtwo raised a hand and called forth three Poké Balls from the Pokémon storage room. The red and white globes stopped and hovered just above chest level in front of the children.
"You will not need to explain how you found your Pokémon, for they will not be joining you."
"What? No way!" Sakura yelled, his voice filled with anger. Naruto and Sasuke added in their own protests until Mewtwo had had enough.
"Silence." His voice never changed in magnitude, yet the sheer authority in it quieted the children. "The existence of Pokémon must remain a secret for as long as possible. Should anyone see your partners, they will surely question what they are, where they came from, and if there are any more like them. Therefore your Pokémon must remain here where it is safe." Mewtwo's words cut the genin deep because they knew he was right. The best case scenario was that the village allowed them to keep their Pokémon as long as the three revealed where they got them. A spark of inspiration suddenly darted across Sakura's eyes.
"What if we kept them in their Poké Balls? That way, we could still have them with us, but no would see them." Mewtwo shook his head.
"It would still be necessary to keep the Poké Balls hidden and out of sight at all times. Aside from that, it is far easier to lose or steal a Poké Ball than a Pokémon; therefore, the safest course of action is for your Pokémon to remain here." Sakura visibly deflated at Mewtwo's counter. She could not find anyway around his logic.
"Nevertheless, do not think this means an end to your training. You will return here the moment you have the chance to slip away unnoticed. There is still much that I must teach you three." Mewtwo smiled slightly at the sight of Naruto's, Sakura's, and Sasuke's faces. They each had different ways of expressing it, but he could see in each of them a sense of relief and joy at the prospect of reuniting with their partners in the future. A twinge of bitterness crept into his hapiness for the children, as it brought forth memories of his life a millennium ago. The psychic Pokémon returned his thoughts to the present. He had yet to answer his raven haired student's first question.
"Not far from this facility is a small system of abandoned tunnels. I have seen to it that a plausible amount of food and trash has been moved there and the entrances collapsed. Your henge technique should be adequate to make yourselves look the part. Go straight to your homes and release the jutsu under the guise of cleaning yourselves up. Upon your return to your village, you will tell them that it was there you were exploring when a cave-in trapped you inside. Any investigation your government will conduct of the structure will simply support your claims."
"But I thought you didn't want people coming near here?" Naruto questioned.
"Now that I am awakened, the psychic barriers protecting this place have been greatly strengthened. You three shall be the first and last to enter here unwelcomed. Of that, I will personally make sure." Naruto chuckled awkwardly at the reminder of how his team was able to, for the most part, walk straight into the supposedly secure facility. "It is time. You may say goodbye to your partners first before leaving."
In an instant, Chikorita found herself squashed between her trainer's arms. She struggled against the hold until Sakura felt her distress through their bond and loosened her hug slightly. Chikorita then reciprocated the loving gesture as best she could. The two remained that way for their entire farewell.
Sasuke stared down at his Charmander and nodded. The fire lizard did the same, beginning to understand the strange way his new partner preferred to communicate. The Pokémon had an advantage over others in this department, for their shared bond through the Power of Dominance allowed Charmander to feel the thoughts Sasuke would never voice.
Naruto squatted down to Mudkip's level. He patted the water-type on the head once, then twice, then again and again. He grinned at the sensation of Mudkip's irritation in the back of his head. The blonde continued the action as his Pokémon's annoyance grew. Finally, Mudkip had had enough and bit Naruto's fingers on his next attempt. Naruto yelped in pain and tried to pry the mud fish off of his right hand. Mudkip stubbornly refused to let go, chomping down harder in response. Now it was Mudkip's turn to have a smug smirk at having reversed roles with his tormentor.
In the end, Mewtwo was forced to step in and break the two up from their childish antics. After being separated, Naruto stuck his tongue out Mudkip. Surprisingly, the Pokémon responded in the same manner. They remained that way until both were eventually overcome by a fit of giggles at the situation. Mewtwo shook his head.
"That is enough. Return your Pokémon as I have should you." The three shinobi nodded their heads in understanding and grabbed the floating Poké Balls out of the air. Seemingly as one, they squeezed the orb causing a translucent red light to shoot forth from the front and envelop each of their pokémon. The creatures then disappeared inside the balls with a strange whooshing sound. The act done, Mewtwo commanded the Poké Balls back to where he had summoned them from. "I shall be awaiting your awaiting your arrival."
With that dismissal, the genin transformed themselves with a henge. Each of them was now covered in grime and dirt, slight tears added to their clothes for further effect. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura waved goodbye to their sensei and headed towards the lift that had first brought them here. After one last lingering gaze, the flashing button was pressed, and the three ascended back to the surface.
III
So our heroes are going back to the real world, leaving behind their new friends. Will their Partners ever join them there? Find out next time, or maybe the time after, or the time after that. Who knows? Well, I do, but I'm not telling so there. Nyah!
Not much else to say this chapter. Expect more action next time, which with any luck won't take two months to get out. Yeah, sorry about that. Anyways, here's to a brand new chapter to go with a brand new school year! Glock3bb in the house sucka's. Let's raise the roof and make some noise!...Man, I'm white.