I am BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!! :D And I have brought the eighth chappie with me! Hooray!! The reason this is so late is due to a bunch of reasons. 1) I had to study for final exams for a bunch of weeks. 2) I am working two jobs at the moment. 3) This chapter is uber uber long! and 4) I had a bad case of Lazyitous! Well anyways, enjoy the story!
DISCLAIMER!: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Naruto. They belong to their original owners. If I did own them however... well, let's just say that the world would be begging at my feet! Evil laughter in the background
A Ninja and a Keybearer
Chapter 8: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Sora and the gang wandered through the forest. Already they had found one box of evidence. Upon opening it up, the boys had found an antenna. It was really quite disturbing actually, considering that it was still twitching. Unfortunately for him, Naruto had been elected as the official carrier of the boxes. Said ninja had taken one look at the… thing… inside and stuffed the box into his kunai pouch.
"So that leaves three more," Sora stated, his arms resting behind his head.
"Greeeaat!" Naruto said, sarcasm dripping in his voice. In a much more serious tone, he asked, "Why can't we just bust them out?"
Donald sighed and pinched the bridge of his beak, trying to calm himself down. "I've already told, five times, that would be going against the rules of this world, which would qualify as meddling."
"Yeah!" Sora said, smiling. "It's obvious that what that queen says goes."
Naruto pouted. He hated being wrong. "I break the rules all the time," the ninja mumbled, thinking of all the pranks he'd pulled as a kid. "Heh. Once I even painted on the Hokage Monument!" He grinned, thinking of how much fun he'd had. All eyes had been on him for once… until Iruka-sensei had taken him back to class.
"Hey, fellers," Goofy said, suddenly stopping. He was ignored.
"I already told you Blondie! We could change the whole course of history if we did anything stupid!"
"Hey, fellers…"
"Well, maybe changing the course of history wouldn't be so bad! And don't call me Blondie! It's Naruto! NA-RU-TO! Got it?"
"Fellers…?"
"Why would changing history 'not be so bad', hmmm? And if you don't want to be called it, then don't act like it!"
"Um… Fellers?"
"Because the past can be painful! We could stop someone's life from being unbearable!! And I'm not!"
"Not in my book it wouldn't!"
"Hey, fellers!"
"GUYS!!" Three pairs of eyes turned to Sora, who had yelled out. "What did you want to say, Goofy?"
"Oh, uh, well, I found another box." An awkward silence occurred at this statement, followed by an immediate crowding around Goofy.
Sora took the box and opened it. Inside was a piece of wood with long marks scoured into the bark. "Claw marks," Naruto explained, being the most familiar with wild animals and their habits, namely a certain humongous fox.
"So, uh, I guess that leaves two more, right?" Goofy asked.
"And that means we're closer to saving Alice," exclaimed Sora.
"And Shikamaru!!" Naruto yelled.
"Not so fast!" Donald said, stopping the three in their excitement. "There's still the hardest one to find, and even if we do, there's no telling whether or not the Queen of Hearts lets them go."
"Oh, yeah," Sora mumbled, starting to walk forward again with everyone closely following him.
"Spoil sport," a certain blonde ninja muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, oh great one… idiot."
"I heard that!!"
"So whatcha gonna do about- gah!" Naruto stopped in the middle of his sentence and fell to the ground, choking.
"Gwarsh! What's wrong, Naruto?"
"Need… Air!" the blonde gasped out. "Clean air!"
"You know," Donald said, not paying any heed to the choking boy. "It does kinda smell bad here."
"No kidding," Sora said while holding his nose. "Hey, look! It's another box!" Running over to the object on the ground, the keybearer opened up the lid. What came from that box was not something that would have been expected. When the top had been taken off, a greenish black vapor rose out of the box. Behind him, Sora was vaguely aware of a certain shinobi crying out for his mother.
"Well, it's obvious what that is," Donald commented. "Stench. Who knew Heartless smelled so bad… And who knew that boys had such a strong sense of smell. Are you okay, Blondie?"
Naruto, who had found the strength the pinch his nose and hold his breath, held up his free hand, making the OK sign. Mentally he was cursing his Kyuubi-enhanced nose.
Sora put the lid back on the box after that and looked between it and his blonde friend, who was breathing in the somewhat clear air deeply. "Umm. Maybe I should hold on to this one."
"You do that."
"Well, Donald," Sora said, grinning, "it looks like we only have one more to go!"
The magician just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
She sat smugly on her throne. Those fools wouldn't be able to do it. There was no way they could find any evidence. Then she could prove once again about how dangerous it is to cross her, the Queen of Hearts!
The queen chuckled and looked over at her two captives. "It seems, my dears," she said, catching the full attention of the girl, who looked extremely worried, "that your friends aren't coming."
Alice gasped and fell to the floor. "I'm not ready to die," she whispered.
The queen ignored her and looked directly at the boy. "Does that not affect you at all, young man? Do you not care that you are about to die?"
Shikamaru looked at her out of the corner of his eye then gazed at the clouds again. "No." The Queen of Hearts started to say something, to try and make him fear her, when the shadow user interrupted. "I don't necessarily care about anything. I've often wondered what my life would be like if I was a cloud. Nothing to do. Just floating along living life. A carefree life. Problems are such a drag. If I die, I'm just going to the next world, right? What's the point?"
Alice looked at him with awe. Were these his last words? He seemed so fearless. Was he really ready to die? Then he smirked and closed his eyes. "Besides," he said, "Worrying about pointless stuff is too troublesome anyways."
"What are you babbling about?" the Queen of Hearts asked, not really caring. "Do you think useless words will work on me? I'm going to have both of you beheaded! Right here, right now!!" She roared.
Shikamaru chuckled. "Words won't work on you. Begging is such a drag. But I'm not going to die."
Enraged, the woman was fixing to yell at him, but someone beat her to it. "Hey! Shikamaru!!"
Four figures emerged from the entrance of the bizarre room. Two of them were grinning madly, one had a happy smile, and the last one was sulking. "Shikamaru!" one of them yelled. "We gottem!"
Shikamaru looked at the queen and smirked. The queen ignored him and glared at Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Naruto. What was she going to do now? No one could, should, or would defy her. Not now, not ever! Through her anger, a plan suddenly found its way inside her twisted mind.
The Queen of Hearts smiled and called out to the group. "Alright then, now show me what you have found." Each boy took a box and set it before her. "Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence… but I'm still not impressed."
Naruto looked at her with squinted eyes, crossed his arms, and pouted. "Look lady! Finding all of these things was hard, especially the last one."
"Really," the woman said, not at all interested.
"Yeah."
-Flashback-
"Alright! One more box!" Naruto yelled.
Donald ignored him and turned to Sora. "And where do you think we're going to find this extremely-hard-to-find box? Hmm?"
The keybearer put his hands behind his head and gazed at the sky. "Dunno. But we'll find it."
Naruto gazed at his friend. "Yah, know… If Old Man Hokage had met you, he'd probably say…" The blonde fell silent and gazed at the ground, pain evident in his eyes.
"Say what?" Sora pressed.
"Um… nothing."
Donald sighed and went to lean against the trunk of a tree. "You know, if you're going to say, something, at least think it ou- Quaaaack!!" Before he could finish his sentence, Donald had disappeared.
"What the..." Naruto muttered. "It's almost like he used the Shunshin no jutsu… but he's not a ninja."
"Where'd he go?" Sora asked. "I know he's a magician, but he's not strong enough to turn invisible, is he?"
"Gwarsh. Do ya think this little hole might have something to do with it?" Goofy asked. And once again, the slowest one in the group had been proven right again. Their duck friend had fallen through the hole, onto the huge faucet, and onto the ground knocked out. "Heya, Donald!" The magician didn't seem to notice.
Sora looked around in amazement. "We're in the bizarre room again!"
"It's the box!" Naruto yelled. And so it was. The box was sitting on the shelf opposite of their position on the water faucet…what the heck was a water faucet doing there anyways? But back on subject.
"That's a pretty long way to jump," the keybearer said, a worried expression on his face. "I don't know if we can jump that far."
Naruto just snorted. "You can't," a familiar foxy grin slowly found its wait on the blonde's face, "but I can." And without a second thought, the Konoha shinobi leapt to the other side and back, box in hand.
Goofy was amazed. "Wow, Naruto! That was amazing!"
The blonde only grinned, enjoying the praise. In truth, any ninja could have done it. It was so simple…but why should they need to know that? "Let's get back and save everyone."
-End Flashback-
"Sounds tough to me," Shikamaru said to Naruto, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Naruto squinted his eyes at his friend and frown.
The Queen of Hearts ignored them. "Cards!" she called out. "Bring forth my evidence!" She smirked as the cards brought out a box that resembled those that contained the evidence Sora and the others had collected.
"Wh-wh-wh-WHAT!!" Naruto yelled. "You can't do that!"
"Actually, she can," Donald inputted.
The queen smirked. "You strange friend here speaks the truth." Suddenly she sighed, as if bored. "Checking all five boxes would be a waste of time… Alright, choose one to present to me. I will decide if they are guilty based on the evidence."
"What!" Sora yelled, repeating his blonde friend. "After all the trou-"
"YOU DARE OBJECT!" The queen's face turned an unhealthy shade of red. "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!! Now choose one box!"
"Yes, ma'am," saluted an extremely scared brunette.
While this exchange had taken place, the cards had switched the boxes. Walking up to the evidence, Sora walked between the boxes. 'Which one.' The keybearer sighed. "I guess I'll have to use the most ancient and effective way of picking," he said aloud. Everyone leaned forward, interested in what this technique was. Each had their own thoughts running through their heads.
'Is it magic?'
'Is he usin' the keyblade!'
'A special jutsu?'
'This kid's embarrassing.'
'Shut up, fox! This doesn't concern you!'
'Is he cheating?'
'Will he save us?'
'As far as I know, there isn't anything that could work like that.'
Clearing his throat, Sora pointed at each box in turn and said, "Eenie! Meanie! Minie! MOE!" Everyone sweat dropped. "It's that one," Sora concluded.
Despite everyone's embarrassment, Sora opened the… and as soon as he did, a heartless jumped out. The Queen screamed as it raced towards her, jumping at her chest, trying to get its cold claws on her heart, but it never had a chance. Moments before the Queen of Hearts lost her own, a keyblade came sailing through, cutting through the heartless, rendering into nothing but dust.
"Wh-what was that… thing?" the queen gasped out.
Sora stood back and glared at her. "There's your evidence. Our friends are innocent."
The Queen of Hearts growled. No one, and I mean no one, told her what to do! "SILENCE!! I am law!" she roared. "Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"
"That's crazy!" Naruto yelled.
"SEIZE THEM AT ONCE!!"
A tower suddenly appeared out of no where and lifted Alice's cage above the ground, but not before covering it with a red cloth, much like what you would put over a bird's cage.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled, just as they were starting on his own cage. "Give me a kunai!" Naruto threw the projectile at the shadow user, who caught it with ease. Cutting open the lock, Shikamaru quickly formed a seal and called out, "Kagemane no Jutsu!" Instantly his shadow stretched and raced towards the approaching guards, making them immobile. "Heh," he smirked.
"What on earth is he doing!?" Donald quacked.
Naruto looked at the duck with squinted eyes. "He's using his shadow jutsu, duh!"
"Don't DUH me, you little twerp!"
"Whatever. I'm gonna go fight!"
"Get 'em, Naruto," Shikamaru said, over his shoulder, his gaze locked onto the cards caught in his jutsu.
Naruto walked up beside his friend and stood there for a moment. Then, he formed an all too familiar seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Where there was one, suddenly ten Narutos appeared. "Ready everyone? These guys should be easy to take out!"
Donald watched from beside Shikamaru (who had held his jutsu long enough to let Naruto grab hold of the cards and… dispose of them) as Sora, Goofy, and the orange clad ninjas fought their enemies. "I'm surprised he didn't use it," he said to no one in particular.
"Use what?" the lazy shinobi asked.
"Just something he found in the forest. It was actually pretty cool… not that I'd use it or anything."
Shikamaru grinned as he saw the tell-tale sign of a large bundle under the blonde's orange jacket. "If I know Naruto, then he's probably saving it up for something bigger than a fight against… hearts and spades." Donald just shrugged in agreement.
Eventually, the trio out in the battle field reached the tower and spun the wheel that brought Alice's cage to the ground. But when they went to uncover it, they were surprised to see it empty.
"Where'd she go?" Naruto asked.
The Queen of Hearts yelled at her guards. "Fools! Find who's behind this!" Immediately, the cards rushed to do her bidding.
"She must have gotten kidnapped," Shikamaru said in a bored tone.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sora asked the shadow user.
The lazy boy sighed before explaining. "While we were locked up, Alice told me that some strange black creatures, (the heartless, right?) kept attacking her and trying to drag her away. I suspect that while we were all busy, they must have snuck in and took Alice."
Shikamaru had just finished his explanation when a squad of menacing looking cards surrounded the group. "This… doesn't look to good."
The five boys ran into the woods of safety with the Queen's shouts of, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!" following them.
Upon entering the woods, yet again, the five figures looked for a place to hide. "There has to be somewhere she won't find us!" Naruto complained.
Donald was fixing to comment, but never had the chance when Shikamaru yelled out, "Duck!" At the exact moment that they all scattered, a huge rock flew out at them. But it wasn't the rock that amazed them the most. It was the figure on the rock.
It happened the way it first had. A broad, cheery smile appeared, followed by the body of none other than the Cheshire Cat. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said. And like last time, Naruto screamed.
Shikamaru stared at the cat for a moment before muttering out a half hearted 'troublesome'.
Sora walked up to the cat and got straight to the point. "Have you seen Alice?"
The cat chuckled before saying, "Alice, no. Shadows, yes."
"Where'd they go?" Donald asked forcefully.
The Cheshire shrugged. "This way? That way? Does it matter? Left right, up down. All mixed up thanks to the shadows." Before anyone could ask anything else, he pointed to the hole in the wall that had been covered by the rock he had been sitting on. "Go to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside down room." And once again, he disappeared before anyone could question his riddles.
The five boys looked at the hole that the Cheshire Cat had pointed at. Naruto scratched his head, utterly confused. "How'd he move the rock?"
Through the hole they went, not knowing what to expect, but they weren't expecting what they saw. It was a garden with a long table in the middle. Many teapots and teacups were set out on it. But what was most peculiar about it was the large picture sitting at the head of the table. It showed a brown rabbit in a red coat and a small man in a much too large green hat. Both looked mad. The group headed for the cottage and opened the door to find another weird room.
It was a room fit for a giant. There were two tables in the middle of the floor. On them were lamps.
Shikamaru looked upward. He was really bored. But instead of looking at what should have been the ceiling, it seemed to be… an upside down room? "What the…"
Naruto looked up, too, just to see what his friend had seen. "Hey! Isn't that the…"
"Bizarre room? Yeah," Sora finished for him.
"That's pretty neat!" Goofy exclaimed.
Donald sighed. "What do we do now?"
"They're hiding somewhere," a voice echoed around the room. And none other than the Cheshire Cat faded in soon after.
Naruto crouched behind Shikamaru, shivering. "Do you think he's a… a ghost? I mean, how else can he just… appear out of no where?"
A pained expression came across the lazy ninja's face. "Naruto, you're just too troublesome."
The cat ignored them and continued. "Did you know that when you turn on a light, a shadow is made? You'll see them soon. They might go after the door knob." And once again, he smiled a toothy grin and disappeared.
"Turn on a light," Sora mumbled. An idea hit him as he glanced at the two lamps. "That's it!" he yelled before jumping onto the table. "Fire!" he yelled. The flame that sprouted from his keyblade ignited the lamps, making the room suddenly brighter.
"Now what?" Naruto mumbled.
"We go to the doorknob," Shikamaru sighed. "Anyone know where one is?"
"Yeah! In the bizarre room!" Goofy smiled. "But how do you know that?"
The shinobi sighed, as if it was painfully obvious. "Troublesome. He said, 'They might go after the door knob.' If they're gonna be anywhere, they're gonna be there. Geeze, this is such a drag."
"Oh yeah!" Sora cried. "Come on! Let's go!"
As they rushed to the room that might hold the answers they were looking for, many thoughts flittered around Naruto's head. He couldn't help but worry for his teammates. It was his fault that they weren't here. Sakura was kidnapped, too scared to fight back, and Sasuke… lost to the darkness. 'Sakura… Sasuke… I'll find you. I promise.'
Naruto was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't his ever-cheerful grin was falling. Sora looked at him worriedly. In the short time he had known him, Naruto almost always had a smile on his face. Something had to be wrong. "Naruto?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
The blonde instantly grinned and looked at Sora. "Who me? Yeah! I'm fine!" Naruto walked a little further so he was ahead of Sora and wouldn't be able to watch him anymore.
Shikamaru walked up behind the keybearer. "It's a mask you know," he muttered.
"What?" Sora asked in bewilderment.
"Naruto's smile and happy atmosphere. It's a mask. A cover up."
"But… why?"
"He doesn't like people worrying for him. I guess he's not used to it. Back home, he's the bane of our village. A monster, some would call him. No one really notices him or his achievements. Nobody cares. But none of us know why." Shikamaru told him, mumbling the last part.
'I know why,' Sora thought. 'It has to be the Kyuubi.'
Shikamaru smirked, interrupting the brunette's thoughts. "Heh. Naruto is the kind of person who feels he has to hold everyone else's weight. He never gives up with out a fight, and even then he almost never does. He wants to prove to everyone that he's strong on his own. And that's probably why Hinata likes him so much."
"Who?" Sora asked, completely confused.
"Just a girl who cares about everyone else's well-being too. It's a drag sometimes, but she's actually pretty nice. One of the few girls who aren't so… troublesome. Come on. Let's catch up to Naruto before he does something stupid." Sora smiled and hurried after their blonde friend.
Unknown to both of them, Donald, who had been walking in front of them, had heard the conversation. The duck magician just couldn't help but feel a little guilty for yelling at the blonde earlier. 'Is that why he wants to change the past?'
The bizarre room was just as they had left it; huge and vacant. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and mumbled, "This place is just too troublesome."
"Yeah, yeah. We know, Shikamaru," Naruto said, waving it off with his hand. "What're we here for again?"
Donald sighed. "To find Alice, idiot!"
Naruto's eyes bulged and he glared at the duck. "You know what! I'm getting really annoyed you and your stupid attitude!!"
"Deal with it!"
"Maybe I don't want to!"
"Well maybe you should!"
Goofy looked worried. "Gwarsh, guys. Shouldn't we be lookin' for Alice now?"
Naruto and Donald paused in their fight to look at Goofy. Naruto scractched the back of his head and looked away. "I guess," he mumbled.
Donald looked at life long friend. "Sorry, Goofy. Guess I got carried away that time."
"THAT TIME?" Naruto screamed.
Before another argument broke out, another voice pitched in. "Well, aren't we the happy group."
"You!" Naruto screamed. This cat was really starting to scare him.
"Hello, all! Have you found the shadows yet?" the Cheshire Cat asked, appearing right in front of them.
"No," Sora mumbled, looking at the floor.
"Well, you might have a better look from up here." The purple figure disappeared from sight and showed back up on the table in the middle of the room.
As the group walked towards him, Goofy stopped and rested his chin on his hand.
"What's wrong, Goofy?" Donald asked.
"Hmmm. Something doesn't feel quite right," he muttered.
Donald rolled his eyes. "Ah phooey!"
Jumping up onto the chair and onto the table, Sora found the Cheshire Cat laying on his side. "Are you prepared for the worst?" he asked. "If not, then too bad."
"Wha-" Sora started.
"It's a shadow!" Shikamaru (almost) yelled.
And indeed it was. It was very tall, with the many heads stacked on top of one another almost touching the ceiling. In its hands it spun around two juggling pins, creating a deadly shield.
"You tricked us!" Naruto yelled. The cat just shrugged and grinned before fading from sight, and just in time to stay out of trouble. The blonde just growled and glared at the heartless, intent on making it a punching bag for his fury. He quickly formed a familiar hand seal and cried out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twenty Narutos appeared and, each yelling a blood curdling battle cry, charged at the heartless. However, one swing of the Heartless's pins destroyed the invading boys, rendering them to nothing more than little clouds, poofing out of existence and sending the real one flying backwards.
Sora jumped from the table and seemed to glide over to the heartless, his keyblade pulled back and ready for the swing that had the big juggler stumbling back a bit, dazed, but instantly retaliated with another swing of its arms, knocking everyone back. While everyone was fallen, the heartless started high stepping, bringing its foot down hard in hopes of further injuring its opponents.
Naruto growled yet again. "Shikamaru!" he yelled. "Stop that thing with your Kagemane!" Slowly, the blonde shinobi started reaching behind his back.
Shikamaru, seeing the movement, was already a step ahead of his obnoxious friend. After performing the necessary hand seal, his shadow stretched across the tiled floor, reaching for its enemy, paralyzing him for the moment. He smirked. "Shadow beats shadow."
Naruto's bangs covered his eyes as he grabbed something under his jacket with both hands and pulled it out. It was a long katana; a nodachi. The words Enkou Namikaze engraved on the blade. Wind and Waves of Flame. Naruto looked up and glared at the Heartless before asking his shadow-using friend, "You ready, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru nodded, knowing exactly what he wanted. Sora, Donald, and Goofy could only watch, wondering what the pair were going to do. There wasn't any secret plan as far as they knew. They hadn't said anything to each other. Did they?
"Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu," Shikamaru muttered. He shadow suddenly turned into a hand started its way upwards toward the heartless' neck.
The large juggler tried to force the shadow back down, Naruto took his distraction as an opening. Jumping up onto the table and pushing himself forward, the blonde raised the sword above his head and brought it down enough force to push the heartless away and on the ground.
Sora instantly rushed forward and started attacking his enemy with combos, battering it around like a doll. "BLIZZARD!" Donald yelled while ice formed its way around the heartless' ankles, keeping it unable to get up. Goofy rushed at it, his shield in front of his body and pushed back the heartless' head, making it hit against the tile floor.
Trying to get up, the heartless realized that it was still held captive by Donald's spell. And upon seeing it was ice, it blew fire from its mouth to melt it. Naruto cursed. This wasn't going so well. The heartless was bringing its juggling pins toward the group again, intent on doing more than just knocking them out. But just as the pin was going to hit, it stopped in its tracks.
"Man," someone muttered behind them. "I really didn't want to get involved. You guys are just too troublesome." Shikamaru looked at them with half closed eyes, as if accusing them of all the trouble he was going through.
"Thanks, Shika!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning.
"BLIZZARD!!" Donald cried out again. This time the ice didn't stop at the feet, but the legs, arms, and eventually the head. He was taking no chances this time. Goofy set his shield flying like a boomerang, hitting the two pins out of the heartless' hands and onto the floor. Naruto quickly took action and sliced through the heartless, not killing it, but making it unable to move against them.
But the heartless still had a trick or two up its sleeve. While it couldn't move its body, it could still breath. And that is exactly what it did; right at the three figures in front of it. Naruto, Donald, and Goofy could only watch in horror as the flames shot out of its mouth and towards them. Sora jumped in front of his friends and hit the incoming fireball with is keyblade, sending it right back at the heartless, hitting it square in the face. "What the…" Naruto muttered.
"It's the power of the keyblade," Goofy said, smiling.
Because it couldn't move to catch its balance, the heartless fell backwards.
Sora lunged at it, attacking ruthlessly. All he could think about was Alice. He needed to find her. He didn't know why, but he felt that it was his duty to. Sora continued hacking at his fallen enemy, even after it started dissolving, signifying they had won.
"Sora you did it!!" Naruto yelled. The keybearer was instantly tackled by his friends in an over excited hug.
Shikamaru walked up and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and muttered, "Good job."
"Ugh!" someone grumbled. The group looked back to see the door knob was awake again. "What is it? What's going on?" he yawned. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?"
"This world is so messed up," a certain lazy ninja muttered.
Donald was steaming. "HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!"
Sora didn't pay any attention to him. There was some shape in the doorknob's mouth when it yawned. 'Eh? Something's glowing…' he thought. Out loud he muttered, "Keyhole?" A beam of light suddenly shot out of the keyblade and towards the doorknob's open mouth. "Whaa-!!" Sora exclaimed.
A noise emitted from the doorknob. "What was that?" Naruto asked, completely amazed.
"You hear that?" Donald asked. "Sounded like something closed!"
"It sounded like a click," Shikamaru pointed out.
Goofy looked down and saw something glittering in the light. Bending down, he picked it up and examined it before exclaiming, "Hey, fellers look what I found!" the boys all rushed over to him. "This ain't like the others. No sir! See?" Goofy held out the object. A small green gummi block glimmered back at them.
"Okay! I'll hold onto it!" Donald said, holding out his hand. Goofy placed the gummi into his friend's hand just as the same mysterious voice that always showed up at the most peculiar times called out to them.
"Splendid! You're quite the hero!" Naruto could feel himself shiver. He couldn't way until they far, far, far away from this psycho cat.
"Cheshire Cat…" Sora called up to him. "Who are you?"
The purple striped cat just grinned at them. "If you're looking for Alice, she's not here."
"What?" Sora exclaimed.
"My friends, I'm afraid she's gone. Gone with the shadows… into the darkness."
Sora fell to his knees. Naruto put a comforting hand on his shoulder before looking up at the cat with a serous look on his face. "Where is she?" he asked, every word promising a slow and painful death if he was not told what he wanted to here.
This simple amused the cat to no end. "You'll see her again. Make no mistake of that. A ninja and a keybearer. What an odd pair indeed, but strong nonetheless. You'll rescue her… and us." And with that the Cheshire Cat disappeared.
In a dark room, seven dark figures watched in raging silence. "That darn cat!"
"He needs to keep his big mouth closed!"
"We should have finished him off when he turned down our offer!"
"Too late for that."
"Even if we let him live, he can't do us much harm."
"But the boy is a problem!"
"He found one of the keyholes!"
"My, my, my," one more figure said. Orochimaru looked at his new… well, we'll just call them comrades for now. The snake shinobi had never sat at the table, and never really cared to. He liked to feel apart from them. Unlike them, Orochimaru could see what they were. Pawns; little toys for Maleficent to play with. And the snake Sannin refused to become a pawn for someone else.
"It seems that little Naruto-kun is indeed living up to be the Yondaime's legend," he continued. "In fact, he found the fourth's old weapon. Waves and Winds of Fire. Your little keybearer is not the only one you should worry about. It seems the cat was right. They are strong. Very strong."
One of the shadows stood up and banged his fist on the table. "We need to take care of this right away-"
"There's no need to rush," a chilling voice murmured. Turning around, everyone saw Maleficent smiling coldly at them. It will take Sora ages to find the other keyholes. And as for Naruto… well, little pests can easily be taken care of." She paused before saying, "Besides… the pieces are all falling into place in our favor!" A shadow materialized out of the darkness, revealing a very frightened Alice.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! I finished it! does a happy dance I would like to thank Lithius for helping with the weapon. It really came in handy! :D
Jungles can be fraught with danger. And its mostly with pure luck that most survive at all. What happens when Sora and the gang crash into one of the most dangerous places of all?
NEXT TIME: The Deep Jungle
