Another Heart
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Final Fantasy, or Naruto. Bite me.
Okay, I understand that the last chapter sported some pretty outstanding plot mutilations. I took the plot of Naruto, mutilated it, burned it, and took a leak on the remains. I'm truly sorry for that. I'll do my best to fix it in this chapter, because I've actually paid attention to Naruto for the past few weeks, and now I understand things much better.
So again, sorry for the horribly maimed plot.
CHAPTER X: Ninjas, Heartless, and Keyholes, Oh My!
"So, where are we going anyway?" Raphael asked. Sakura, who was obviously still irate, answered venomously.
"We're TRYING to find our sensei. We were supposed to meet him, but then SOMEBODY had to get in a fight with the second most dangerous missing-nin around!"
Raphael recoiled. For being three years his junior, Sakura certainly had an air of command.
"Sakura! Naruto!" A voice rang out behind them. Raphael whipped around. The owner of the voice was a strange individual indeed; a forehead protector like Naruto's covered his right eye, restraining his spiked silver hair. And behind him was…
"Guys!" He rushed past the strange man, and grabbed the nearest person he could find. "I was so worried! I--" he then realized that he had grabbed on to Kaiba's hand, and turned away coldly. "So, how's the jet?"
Kaiba looked like he would explode. Yuna cut him off. "It's fine, Raphael. There's nothing damaged that we can't easily repair," she smiled warmly, and then slapped him across the face. "What the HELL were you THINKING?! We could've been KILLED! YOU could've been killed! THEY could've been killed!" She pointed at a thoroughly bewildered Naruto, Sakura, and Mystery Man. She fell silent, panting heavily in her rage, then regained her composure. "I'm okay…"
The silver-haired man cleared his throat. "If you're done, then I must report to the Hokage. If you would be so kind…" He motioned for them to follow him, and turned, only to be cut off by a black-haired boy around Naruto's age.
"You're not going anywhere," he said coldly. "Or at least until I get Sakura,"
Kakashi moved protectively in front of the girl. "What do you want with her, Sasuke? Or more correctly, what does Orochimaru want with her?"
"That's no business of yours," Sasuke retorted. "All you need know is that Orochimaru demands Sakura be delivered,"
"Does he now?" Said a voice from behind them. Itachi from before had appeared. "What a coincidence; I've been sent to assassinate the Keybearer," he smiled. "Perhaps we could work together, brother,"
"Like I'd ever work with you. Go kill your Keybearer, but leave me out of it," he drew a kunai from his belt. "Come Naruto, if you dare," he rushed the blonde, slashing at him. Naruto quickly engaged him, trading blows with the other ninja.
"Sakura!" Kakashi barked as he blocked a blow from Itachi. "Take the others and go!" Sakura nodded, and led Mokuba, Rebecca and Yugi down a side-alley, Kaiba reluctantly following.
Yuna quickly leapt to Kakashi's aid, blasting away at the samurai. Meanwhile, Naruto, Malik, and Raphael were having their own difficulties. Sasuke was younger than everyone but Naruto, but he was far faster. He lashed at Malik with a shuriken, simultaneously blocking an attack from Naruto. Raphael rushed in with his Master Thief, striking the younger boy in the stomach before retreating under a hail of kunai. Malik launched a Blizzard spell at him, and Sasuke was stunned long enough for Naruto to ram a fist into his gut.
"You won't touch Sakura," he growled.
Sasuke, now on one knee, smirked up at his rival. "That's what you think," he looked at something behind them, and nodded at it, teleporting away. The trio, along with Yuna and Kakashi, who had by now fended Itachi off, looked around.
A small group of strange Heartless was standing ready to attack. The first type wore what looked to be dark purple samurai robes, the Heartless symbol stitched on the back. These also carried wicked-looking katanas. The second group was wearing forehead protectors like the other people in the village, but with the Heartless symbol where the leaf would be. They all carried large shuriken as well.
"Great…" Raphael muttered.
"What the hell are those things?" Naruto looked towards Kakashi fearfully.
"I don't know…" He backed away. "These aren't any normal creatures… We might need reinforcements on this one. I'll be back as soon as I can," he disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Wonderful," Yuna muttered, "Running off in the heat of battle…"
"Hey, back off Sensei! If he says he's getting reinforcements, he's getting reinforcements!" Naruto cried indignantly.
"Okay, people?" Raphael interrupted. "There's a group of demonic creatures waiting to devour our hearts right now, so can you guys just fight later?"
"Good point," Malik said, and blasted the first Heartless that had come close with a fireball.
"Alright, then! Here goes nothing!" Naruto charged the Heartless, raining shuriken down on them. Raphael followed, using Sonic Blade to take out numerous Heartless. Yuna and Malik exchanged glances, but leapt into the fray.
The first thing Raphael noticed was that these particular breeds were marginally tougher than the run-of-the-mill Shadow and Soldier Heartless; it took several strikes with Master Thief to take them down. The samurai types were of course brutal in close combat, and the ninja-looking ones were constantly throwing stars at the four of them. Despite all this, they managed to take out most of the Heartless that had appeared, and permitted themselves a moment to breathe.
"Okay, question:" Naruto panted. "What the hell are these things, and why are there so many of them?"
"No idea," Yuna lied, "But--" At that moment, a group of Heartless appeared, this time even larger than the first. "Oh, come on!"
The Heartless moved to attack, but found themselves pinned down under a virtual hurricane of shuriken. Most, if not all, of them fell dead, and the remainder fled.
Kakashi was standing on a rooftop above them, along with numerous ninja in black armor. Next to him was a fairly young-looking blonde woman. From the way the others crowded around her, and the way they moved aside to let her pass, Raphael figured that she was a leader of some kind.
"They're coming in greater numbers now," she observed dryly. "So, these are the 'outsiders' I was told of," She smiled. "It appears that we have nothing to fear from you. Tell me, what are your names?"
"Raphael," Raphael stepped forward, and pointed back at the other two. "And they're Malik and Yuna. Now what's yours?"
"I am Tsunade, Hokage of this village. Now tell me, how is it you and the others came to be in this village?"
"We… um…" Raphael looked to Yuna expectantly, who sighed.
"Your ladyship, we have come to eliminate the creatures which have appeared in your village," she groaned inwardly, knowing that she was probably setting them up for serious trouble later. "We are here to help, and mean no harm,"
"Indeed," Tsunade said. "If that is true, then how do you explain the flaming wreckage outside our--" she was cut off by a shriek coming from the alley Sakura and the others had fled into.
Naruto and Kakashi were both off like a shot, Yuna and Malik in hot pursuit.
"Yeah, I'll be going now…" Raphael said nervously, and took off after the others.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Tsunade cried angrily at the ninja. "After them!"
By the time Raphael arrived at the problem, the danger had apparently already passed. Nothing seemed wrong, except that there was nothing there.
"What happened?"
Kakashi held up a scrap of fabric. The same musical note from Itachi's headband was etched on it in black ink. "They took Sakura, and your friends as well, it seems,"
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Raphael cried. "Let's go get them!"
"Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. "We can't let snake-face get a hold of Sakura!"
"If you ask me, it's a trap," Yuna said quietly. "That Itachi person said he was supposed to assassinate you, Raphael. And it can't be mere coincidence that Sasuke kidnapped Sakura…"
"And what's more," Malik added, "They both seemed to be working with the Heartless,"
"What, are you trying to say that we should leave Sakura behind?!" Naruto growled. "'Cause there's no way I'm gonna let that freak Orochimaru hurt her!" he turned to Kakashi. "Those who disobey orders are scum, but those who abandon a comrade are worse, remember?"
"And here I was thinking you never paid any attention to my lectures," Kakashi chuckled. Then his mood turned much more serious. "But Yuna is right. It is most likely a trap, which means we must be careful. I suggest we split into two teams; we will be able to more effectively attack them. Better yet, if we can locate Sakura's chakra, it should lead us right to your friends!"
Sasuke dropped the pink-haired girl's limp form at his master's feet. "There. Now what is it you want with her, Orochimaru?"
The sennin only smiled at him. "Nothing. He, on the other hand, has great need of her…" He gestured to a cloaked figure behind him. "Well done, Orochimaru… I believe a reward is in order…"
"My Lord! You are too kind!" the golden-eyed man knelt before the other, while Sasuke looked on in awe and fear. If Orochimaru was calling this man 'Lord,' he had to be extremely powerful.
"This," the cloaked man deposited a black gem into Orochimaru's hand. "will grant you the ability to extract a heart from one individual, thus transforming them into a Heartless…"
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "You are sure, my Lord?"
"Of giving it to you? Of course. But beware," a red glint shone in the other man's eyes, "just because you summoned it, do not expect such a Heartless to obey your orders…" A loud crack sounded through the air, and in that instant, the other man was gone, and Sakura with him.
Orochimaru turned back to Sasuke. "Get Itachi, and bring that blasted brat with the Keyblade to me at once! And use the Corridor; it's faster than on foot!"
The black-haired boy was still reeling from this strange turn of events, but found himself bowing, before turning to leave. What's going on here? Who was that man?
Tsunade sighed. "I can't find her… Sakura doesn't seem to be anywhere within my range,"
"And what is the range on your chakra-finder-thing?" Raphael asked.
"Let me put it this way: if she's on this planet, alive or dead, I can find her," the blonde said through gritted teeth. "What's confusing, though, is I can get a general sense of where Orochimaru's chakra is coming from, but Sakura's is nowhere to be found… Almost like she's disappeared completely…" All occupants of the room fell silent at this revelation.
"I have an idea," Malik said quietly. "Kaiba told me that he has these locators installed in these necklaces that he and Mokuba wear. In theory, provided one of them is still wearing a necklace, we can find them,"
"Well that's great Malik," Yuna said sarcastically. "But we don't have a GPS locator, so… yeah,"
"Wait, the jet has a computer!" Raphael said.
"We're not a hundred percent certain Kaiba's scanners work without a satellite signal to carry off of," Yuna replied. "Remember, he was the one who said that there were no cities down here, when there quite clearly are,"
"That's most likely because of the barriers surrounding the villages," Kakashi supplied. Everyone turned to look at him. "There are actually many villages scattered around here. Each village has a barrier set up around them, so that no form of external sensors can detect them, unless of course one happens to be able to sense the chakra surrounding such a place. We're not called 'The hidden ninja villages' for nothing, you know," he smiled. "As far as I can tell, your friends have no such barrier around them, so your scanners should work,"
"That still doesn't solve the problem with Sakura," Naruto muttered. "Why did Sasuke take her?"
"I don't know," Tsunade answered. "But if we want to get to the bottom of this, rescuing their friends is as good a place to start as any,"
xxxxvxxxxx
"You know, I really didn't think this through," Malik said quietly. Raphael, Malik, and Naruto had gone to the Kaiba Jet in hopes of working the computer and finding the numerous missing people, while Yuna and Kakashi had stayed behind to try and locate Orochimaru. What none had counted on was that most (if not all) of their party were mostly (if not completely) computer illiterate. The fact that Kaiba's computer seemed to have more buttons than any normal computer should have been allowed to have did not help.
"So, um…" Raphael stared at the mass of knobs, switches, and otherwise unintelligible items, utterly nonplussed. "Well, I know one way to find it," he pressed a button experimentally, and the laser cannons on the ship blasted away roughly twenty feet of trees. "Okay…" he pressed another one, and the ship's engines fired, burning up any foliage near the back of the ship. Panicking, Raphael switched them off. "Dammit, there's too many buttons! Which one is it?!" He kicked the console viciously, and only succeeded in hurting his foot.
"How about the one that says 'GPS Locator' on it?" Malik said, pointing to a switch on the far right.
"Oh yeah, that might work," Raphael admitted. He ceremoniously flipped said switch, and a kind of radar display appeared on the computer's screen. Up in the top-right corner, two faint blips appeared side-by-side, one red, one blue.
"That's good, right?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe," Malik said. "We know that something is there, but we don't know if it's Kaiba and Mokuba, or something else. What's more, we don't know how far away it is. It could be five miles, or five hundred…"
"Arrgh, I freakin' hate computers," he kicked the console again, and much to the shock of everyone else in the vicinity, the computer actually did something; the radar screen disappeared, instead displaying a string of information:
SIGNATURE A: LOCATOR CARD Kaiba, Seto
LOCATION: 103.5 KM NORTH-NORTHEAST
SIGNATURE B: LOCATOR CARD Kaiba, Mokuba
LOCATION: 103.5 KM NORTH-NORTHEAST
DISPLAYING TOPOGRAPHIC DATA…
The words disappeared, followed by what Raphael could only assume was a map, though the lines covering the screen made absolutely no sense to him. "Okay…" he jumped back in alarm when the computer started beeping, and a sheet of paper slid out of a slot beneath the screen, showing the same unintelligible lines. "I really don't like computers…"
"We should go back and show this to the others," Malik said. The other two nodded.
xxxxvxxxx
Back in Tsunade's office, Yuna and Kakashi were having troubles of their own.
"Are you going to tell me where the Keybearer is, or am I going to have to make you scream it?" Itachi glared, leveling his sword at them.
"What does Orochimaru want with Raphael, or Sakura for that matter?" Kakashi asked, drawing a kunai.
Itachi only smirked. "I thought your precious code states that a shinobi need not know the reason for a mission, only follow orders without question?"
"And what would you know about that?" Kakashi retorted. "You turned your back on your own village!" He threw the kunai, but it was easily blocked.
"I see we're going to have to do this the hard way…" he snapped his fingers, and numerous Samurai Heartless appeared. "Prepare yourself!"
Kakashi looked over at Yuna, nodding grimly. They both drew their weapons, ready to fight.
"Not so fast!" A fist collided with the side of Itachi's head, sending him sprawling to the ground. Naruto stood over the samurai, scowling. "If you think for one second that you're gonna get Kakashi-Sensei, then think again!"
Itachi quickly pushed himself off the ground, landing nimbly on his feet. "Please. I want nothing with that copycat fool. It's you I want," he pointed his katana at Raphael, who paled.
"Oh yeah?" Raphael summoned Master Thief. "Well what the hell do you want with me anyways?"
"I suppose it doesn't matter, seeing as how you're going to die anyways," the samurai smirked. "I have been ordered to kill you because you are seeking to use the Kyuubi. Obviously, I cannot allow this. So, you must die." Naruto and Kakashi's eyes widened in shock for a moment.
"Kyuubi? What the hell are you talking about? Is that some kinda shampoo or something?"
"Just shut up and die!" Itachi charged, and Raphael blocked the attack just in time.
"Not this time!" Raphael growled, and swung the Master Thief at Itachi's head. The samurai raised his own sword to block it, but at the last second, Raphael arced his swing down, catching the man in the stomach. With a grunt, he followed the attack with a dizzying flurry of combos, leaving Itachi helpless to do anything but block.
"This fury…" he grunted, just barely managing to fend off the attack. "Impossible, you are nothing!"
"No," Raphael said triumphantly, kicking Itachi away from him. He nodded at Yuna and Malik, who backed away, Kakashi and Naruto following suit. "You're the one who's nothing! Sonic Blade!" He felt the rush of energy to his legs, and dashed at Itachi, striking him with his Keyblade, causing him to be knocked off his feet. Raphael hit the wall, rebounded off it, and leapt at Itachi again, slamming him up into the ceiling. Immediately after, he bounced off the ceiling and another wall. For him, the whole world seemed to slow down as Itachi's airborne body rushed towards him. Spinning the Keyblade in midair, he turned around as he passed the samurai, slamming the thick barrel into his gut and sending him plummeting to the floor. In the instant before the hit connected, he thought he saw a flash of red in Itachi's eyes, but figured it was largely unimportant, and landed as Itachi crashed into the floor, panting heavily.
"Anyone else want some?" he panted, brandishing the Master Thief at the remaining Heartless. They seemed to sense that they were beaten, and disappeared.
The room was deadly silent, the other occupants staring at the panting Keybearer in awe.
"Yeah! Kickass!" Naruto cried, pumping his fist in the air. "That was awesome! I mean, you're like, bam-bam-BAM, and Itachi is down! WOOYEAH!" He continued in that manner, while Yuna and Malik walked over to Raphael.
"You okay?" the gunner asked.
"Yeah," Raphael wheezed. "Just gimme a sec…"
"I didn't know you could do that!" Malik said ecstatically. "Look at you, in just the little time you've been with us, you've become so strong!"
So, Kakashi mused, smiling beneath his mask. This is the power of the Keyblade… Now to take care of— "Uh-oh,"
Yuna turned back to the silver-haired Jounin. "What's wrong?"
Kakashi's eyes narrowed angrily. "Look," he pointed at the crater where Itachi should have been, but in his place, there was only a beat-up chunk of wood. "A substitution jutsu. I should've known. Well, this does complicate things…"
It was at that moment that Tsunade walked in, carrying a large armload of scrolls. "Yuna, I got those maps you asked for— What happened to my office?!"
"Itachi," Kakashi muttered darkly. "And what's more, he's escaped, and it seems he's under the impression that Raphael knows about Naruto."
"Whoa, hold on!" Raphael interrupted. "What's wrong with Naruto?"
"Yeah, he seems fine to me," Yuna added, Malik nodding behind her.
The other three looked away for a moment. Finally, Tsunade sighed. "Twelve years ago, there was a powerful nine-tailed fox demon called the Kyuubi no Youko. It ravaged the countryside, its raw ferocity and power matched only by its insatiable lust for blood. It tried to attack Konoha, but the fourth Hokage of this village fought the Kyuubi in a life-or-death battle. In the end, he won, and sealed the fox spirit away at the cost of his own life."
"To help contain it, he sealed the fox's spirit into a newborn boy," Kakashi spoke up. "And that boy…"
"Was me," Naruto finished sadly. He turned away from Raphael, his body tensed up.
There was a very pregnant pause following this proclamation. "… And? Is that all?" Raphael asked.
Naruto turned back around, his eyes wide. "You're not gonna hate me, or anything?"
"Why? I don't see any reason to," Raphael replied. "I mean, it wasn't your fault you got chosen to have this, and I liked you just fine before I knew. It's just pointless to hate people for things they can't control,"
The boy's eyes widened. Suddenly, Raphael jerked back as he was tackled by Naruto, who hugged his waist tightly. "T-thank you…" he pulled back, wiping tears off on his sleeve. "We're gonna get your friends back, Raphael! Believe it!"
There was an awkward silence after that. Finally, Tsunade spoke up. "'Believe it?' What the hell was that?"
Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, that was really retarded. Sorry," he turned to Raphael. "Well what're we waiting for?! Let's go!" The blonde made a dash for the door, but Tsunade grabbed him by his collar, pulling him back. "Hey! Lemme go!"
"Idiot. We still don't know where they are, Naruto. We have to figure that out before we can do anything!"
Raphael suddenly remembered something. He pulled the printouts from the jet out of his pocket. "Hey, we got a location for Kaiba and Mokuba, they're probably all together!" he handed the papers to Tsunade, who looked over them for a moment. "These are topographic scans of the area…" she frowned, pulling a scroll from a pile on her desk. When she opened it, Raphael noticed that it had the same squiggly lines all over the place as the data from the computer. She examined the two for a minute, before circling an area on the map.
"You've found them?" Yuna asked quietly.
"Yes, I think so…" Tsunade pointed at the map. "It's not exact, and this is a horrible scan, but there's no doubt about it; this location is deep in the heart of the Sound…" She looked forlornly at Raphael. "It could be extremely dangerous to go after them."
"Well we can't just leave them!" Naruto yelled. "What if Sakura's with them?! She might be in danger!"
"Going into the middle of Otogakure, relatively alone, and exhausted is complete and total suicide, Naruto," Tsunade countered. "You've seen Orochimaru fight, and the last time you saw him, he didn't even have use of his arms, which he more than likely does now, and if it's true that both Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha are on his side, then things could become extremely difficult…"
Naruto clenched his fist. "Dammit, Old Lady, I don't care if that bastard and Itachi are dancing in pink kimonos around Orochimaru! I'm still going over there to kick his ass!"
Tsunade's frown deepened. "Naruto, be quiet. I'll gather an ANBU team and have them retrieve their friends. You can't handle Orochimaru, he's just too powerful."
"Rrrrgghhh… AGH!" Naruto kicked Tsunade's desk in rage, before storming out of the room.
"I'm sorry," Tsunade said sadly, "But I can't let you three leave the village, it's just too dangerous."
"But we want to help!" Raphael interjected, "And come on! I kicked Itachi's ass last time!"
"You don't get it, do you?" a nerve was twitching in the side of the woman's head. "Itachi-was-just-toying-with you! Itachi and Orochimaru are both extremely powerful ninja, moreso than anyone in this village! You don't stand a chance, especially taking into consideration the fact that Orochimaru seems to be behind all the Heartless attacks!"
"Come on, Raphael…" Yuna placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Dammit…" Raphael pushed the hand away, dashing after Naruto.
And on that note, we end this chapter. I apologize, this story arc is running longer than I originally projected, and this chapter is running long.
New Heartless:
Samurai- small, fast Heartless that wield dual katanas.
Shinobi- Heartless that attack with numerous tricks and long-range weapons.
New Keyblades: none
NEXT CHAPTER:
Raphael and Naruto have been forbidden to go after Sakura and the others, but the question is, do they actually follow those orders? Of course not!
So what happens when they finally track down the Uchiha brothers and Orochimaru?
What's with the 'flash of red' Raphael saw in Itachi's eyes?
And what does Orochimaru plan to do with the Heartless Orb?
To be concluded in:
The Heart of the Matter