A/N: Yeah I've updated on time! Now I just have to set a steady update rhythm on both this and my other story. X_X Right… well I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I kinda betaed this in a hurry. Please tell me about any mistakes.
Sunero: Why did you do that?
Kage: I wanted to make sure I updated as quick as I could. And I did! Yeah! I'm so happy.
Sunero: If you're so happy, why hasn't your mindscape changed?
Kage: Huh? I like my mindscape.
Sunero: You like it?
Kage: Yeah. Why? What's wrong with it?
Sunero: It's a big blank expanse of black nothingness!
Kage: So?
Sunero: *facepaws* Anyway read on and…
Kage: We hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Naruto and Kyuubi would be working together. Though I can't guarantee on which side they would be on.
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to TheMysticDuo, my second Story Alert. (The first already has a chapter dedicated to them)
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Chapter 4
One Step Down… 999 To Go
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The purple and black swallowed the two questers. Hisa looked at Naruto and was surprised to see the swirling colors starting to cover him. Soon she couldn't see him at all. But on closer inspection Hisa noticed that the same thing was happening to her as well.
'Am I even moving?' she thought. She had the sense of floating, but when she struck out with her foot it caught something solid. Hisa maneuvered all of her paws to what she thought could be a floor. Though she couldn't see it there was definitely something solid below her.
Hisa hazarded a step forward. To her immense shock she met no resistance and her paw fell once again upon the floor. Hisa couldn't stop the grin from seizing her muzzle. She was in the portal between worlds and a colossal wave of giddiness overtook her.
She started to race forward. Hisa never stopped to think about the consequences. She just leaped and strutted about as if she was an ichibi again. Hisa had recaptured her childhood and she didn't want to let it go. Thoughts of the quest flew from her head. But thoughts of Naruto crowded in. She had to share this revelry with him. Though a quick look around revealed he was nowhere near. So Hisa simply decided to go find him. As she took off a deep pain rattled through her body.
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That scent, it was the scent of prey. Those sounds, it was advertising that it was hurt. Saliva filled his mouth, it was soon overflowing. The thrill of the hunt took him over. His eyes burned red and his gums foamed. He rushed forward to kill his prey.
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Naruto trotted up to the moaning Hisa. He had been worried about her when he saw her being engulfed by the portal mass. Then when it happened to him, his worry was minimized but not negated. When he heard her whimpering he had come as fast as he could. Though the scene in front of him was not what he had been expecting.
Hisa was lying down with her paws folded over her nose.
"What are you doing?" Naruto cocked his head to the side.
"Being in pain, thank you very much!"
"What did you do?" A smile formed on his muzzle and a small laugh escaped from it.
"I'm not sure. I was running and then I hit something." Hisa peered at the space in front of her. She then lifted one paw and slowly drifted it forward. Naruto gasped as it stopped in mid-air. He came up and did the same with his own paw.
"What could this mean?" Naruto asked Hisa.
"Well if we view the portal as a tunnel, where we came in would be one side."
"So this would either be a wall or the other exit."
"Yep."
"So which is it?" Naruto face was a mask of confusion and complete innocence.
"How am I supposed to know?" Hisa yelled. Naruto shrugged. "I think I went straight, but I could be wrong."
"Why don't we try pumping our chakra into it?"
"Huh?"
"Well that's how a lot of doors are opened in the palace. Normally there is just a wall, but if you pump your chakra into it a door appears." Naruto was faced with a sweat dropping Hisa.
"That is just weird."
"It is a good way to hide things."
"But couldn't someone just pump there chakra into the wall at intervals and find the hiding places?"
"I guess they could, but- wait! Why are we talking about this now? We have to get out of here!"
"You're the one who brought it up." Naruto and Hisa stared at each other for a little while and then faced the wall.
They pressed their tails to the surface and started siphoning chakra through them. To their amazement the wall seemed to take in the chakra like a starved human would take in food. They were beginning to tire out when they noticed the difference in the wall.
The black was morphing into gray and the purple was lightening. All of a sudden a bright flash of light blinded the two demons. When it cleared there was a pink circle in the wall.
"Is that the exit?"
"Naruto."
"Yes?"
"Please stop asking questions that are impossible for me to answer. It insults my intelligence."
"Okay."
"And to answer your question, I have no idea. But maybe."
"So let's see!" Without waiting for an answer Naruto jumped through the opening.
"Wait Naruto!" Hisa watched her friend disappear into the pink light. "Might as well come so you don't get yourself killed." With that Hisa bounded after Naruto.
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The sun beat down upon the flat desolate land. A rare breeze cut across the land. Upon it traveled sand from the opposite side of the desert. There was not a drop of water in sight.
All of a sudden the air started twisting and distorting. It seemed to be ripping apart at the seams. A white sphere was born from this distorting of the atmosphere. And from this sphere fell the two demons.
"Hisa, please get off me," Naruto grumbled, his face in the sand.
"Gladly." Hisa shifted her weight and rolled on to the sand. "So do you know where we are?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her and then slid one of his tails into his pack. It came out gripped around a scroll. Naruto flipped it open in front of him. He put his muzzle down close to it. His eyes flicked across the map. Then he glanced up at Hisa and smiled.
"Absolutely no idea!" He knew that now wasn't the time for humor when he heard a low growl. He didn't wait for Hisa to shoulder him away; he got out of her way.
"Well this area here supposedly has a lot of deserts."
"So that's where we are?"
"Most likely."
"And where is this exactly?" Naruto asked with a cheeky grin. But he had to quickly dodge the claws flying at him.
"The Land of Wind."
"Oh, isn't Sunagakure in this country?"
"Yep. Should we go there?"
"It's a good as any place to start, so yes." Naruto closed his eyes when he was finished speaking. He focused his chakra so it started to swirl through his body at a quicker and quicker pace. When he had enough chakra Naruto's eyes shot open. "Henge!"
A cloud supplemented by the sand surrounded him. When it cleared Naruto was gone. In his place was a teenager. He had electric blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, and spiky golden hair. He wore orange shorts that had a black waistband, a red muscle shirt with yellow sleeves, and black sandals on his feet. Three feral whisker marks decorated each cheek.
"My henge has changed!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Of course, you're older and more powerful than you were."
"Now Hisa I wanna see what yours looks like." Hisa stared at her partner for a bit then started gathering chakra.
"Henge!" A cloud similar to the one that had surrounded Naruto formed around Hisa. Except hers was a pure white instead of a tan mixed with brown. A pale white hand shot from the cloud and flicked from the wrist. In an instant the white screen was gone.
Hisa now had deathly pale skin, aqua eyes, and long, silky black hair that went down to her waist. She had on black short shorts and tube top. A good amount of cleavage pressed against the material of her top. On her wrists were black wristbands decorated with silver spikes. For shoes she had black sandals that attached to a band around her upper calf, they, like her bracelets, were adorned with silver spikes.
"You look deadly," Naruto commented. Hisa grinned to reveal greatly enlarged canines.
"I am deadly."
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"This heat is gonna kill me!" Hisa was walking with her head down and her hair swirling about her. "Why do my clothes have to be black!"
"Cause your fur is black."
"True, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"You know as soon as we're out of this heat you are going to love your clothes."
"I realize that."
"Then why are you complaining?"
"….Leave me alone."
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"I'm gonna die!" Naruto dropped down to the sand and started to pull on his hair. To his immense surprise and pain strands of it came away wrapped around his fingers. "Aahhh! The heat is causing my hair to fall out!"
"Nope that's you." Hisa stood over Naruto and shook her head. But then a grin took over her face. "Wait! Now who's complaining?"
"Me…" Naruto mumbled and his lower lip stuck out in a pout.
"And you don't even have on any dark colors. All you do with your clothing and hair is reflect the damn heat."
"I'm still hot." Naruto glanced up at Hisa with just his eyes. They had gotten larger in the act. He let out a pathetic whimper to realize… Hisa was walking away. He jumped up and threw his fist in the air. "Where are you going?"
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"I wonder where all the civilization is." Hisa looked down at the map in her hands. "According to this map, there are villages and towns scattered all around the desert."
"Then why haven't we run into any of them yet?"
"Who knows? Maybe this land is larger than I'm figuring."
"Are you calculating by the scale?"
"Yeah, but it's not like I have a ruler."
"True… so we keep moving?"
"We keep moving." Hisa gave a nod of confirmation.
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Darkness was starting to descend when they finally decided to stop. The scenery around them had not changed. The earth rose and fell and was covered in sand as far as the eye could see. A cold breeze slithered across the bare skin of the demons.
"Brr. I thought deserts were supposed to be hot." Naruto tried to ignore the shivers coursing up his spine.
"During the day. At night they can reach freezing temperatures."
"I hope you don't mind but I suggest we stop for the day."
"Naruto that was probably your smartest idea today. But where should we bunker?"
"Somewhere low." Hisa and Naruto took a look around. The area surrounding them was relatively flat. The only feature standing out was a large mound in front of them.
"I'll see if there is a place over the dune." Naruto watched Hisa climb on top of the dune and cocked his head when he saw her freeze. Then she gestured to him over her shoulder. He trotted over to stand next to her. Surprise took his body and froze it in place.
The dune fell back down with a gentle slope. But a bit of a ways away was a small cottage. It was actually very similar to the abandoned one in the ninth realm. Except it was prime condition.
"Do you think they'll welcome visitors?" Hisa asked.
"Only one way to find out." With that Naruto launched himself down the dune. Hisa had no choice but to follow. Though she did mutter a few curses.
When they were at the foot of the dune the two demons crouched down. They lay suspicious eyes over the cottage.
"Are you trying to spy on me?" A voice from the right caused them to nearly jump out of their skin. Naruto and Hisa turned to see an old lady wearing a blue dress and pink apron. She had silver hair and smile wrinkles and worry lines creasing her face. Her soft green eyes glittered and hinted some secret power. Hisa was the first to stand and greet her.
"I'm sorry. We don't mean to intrude, we were simply wondering if we could have some shelter."
"We've been traveling all day!" Naruto felt that detail had to be emphasized. The old woman shook her head.
"That much is obvious. If you hadn't you wouldn't have been able to find me and my home." A smile creeped onto her serious features. "And I would be glad to offer you accommodations. It has been a while since I was visited by your kind."
"Our kind?" Hisa asked raising one eyebrow.
"We shall talk inside." The old lady walked over to her house and entered, leaving the door open to them. Naruto jubilantly rushed inside. But Hisa followed at a much more cautious pace. But she relaxed a little when she got inside.
The cottage only had one room. But despite that it was quite roomy. Opposite the door were three beds, two were situated into bunk beds. There was a small kitchen area and a table to the left. And to the right was an old wooden rocking chair that sat by an old fashioned fireplace. Nothing about this cottage screamed dangerous.
"Please sit down," the lady said, motioning toward the table and its chairs. They all sat down and stared at each other for a few seconds. Suddenly the lady gasped. "Excuse me! My name is Sen Kensha."
"My name is Naruto!" Hisa shook her head at her friend's enthusiastic introduction. She waited until Ms. Kensha looked at her to introduce herself.
"I am Hisakata."
"I am so very glad that I am able to help you." The smile on Ms. Kensha's face tweaked at Hisa's nerves. It was so warm, so trusting. Where was the secret she had seen in her eyes before?
"Not to be rude but why is that?" Hisa ignored the look Naruto shot her. He was always attentive to manners at the most awkward moments. "I mean we're complete strangers. We could be thieves for all you know."
"Well you are the first of your kind I've seen in a while."
"Our kind? What do you mean by that? You said those exact words outside." Naruto stopped glaring at her and turned to Ms. Kensha.
"Oh that! Well for as long as I can remember I've been able to see demons for what they are." There was the secret.
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A/N: Hahaha, cliffhanger… kind of. I hope you like it. I would like to make a few points:
1. Naruto's whisker marks are such a big part of him I couldn't bear to not include them.
2. Any questions can be directed to me via PM or Review. I'll be happy answer questions you have.
3. I apologize for any OOCness. All I can say is: I try.
4. Facepaws is the same thing as face palming (slamming forehead with palm of hand) except with a paw.
5. The title of this chapter is a play on the saying: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Now for the translations!
Ichibi-One-tailed
Sunagakure-Village Hidden in the Sand
Sen Kensha-As one word it means seer
Hisakata-Moon (Sky)
Henge-Transform (they're doing the Henge no Jutsu or the Transformation Jutsu, whichever you call it)
Okay that's it for now! I'll update in two weeks. Make sure to review before you leave! Comments, critiques, flames, I don't care!
Kage out!