Alright, first of, sorry for the delay. I know that lines getting really old and all, but I have got other things that needed to be done. Plus, school just started up again. Hopefully, none of you are that angry.
Second, I'm also sorry for the very short chapter, but a lack of inspiration made it hard for me to make an interlude before the bridge battle.
Third, and this is for my beta-reader, sorry for publishing this chapter without having it go through you first, but I really didn't want to keep everyone else waiting.
I still don't own Disgaea or Naruto by the way.
Chapter X: Cold Front
Naruto- That's it! I'm sick of this! You guys can't honestly expect me to write poetic shit every chapter do you? I'm a fighter dammit, not a poet!
Kasumi- Prince… maybe you should calm down. I'm fine with getting angry at people and all, but you might just drive some of the readers away.
Naruto- Fuck like I care! I'm sick of this shit! The only time I ever managed to get a brake was in chapter six, and even then that was after Hinata joined us and gave her own line.
Charlotte- Well, look at it this way, at least the author took the fall for you last time.
Hinata- Readers? Chapter? Author? Why are you guys talking like we're in some sort of book or something?
Naruto/Kasumi/Charlotte- StaresatHinataconfusedly. Huh?
Charlotte- Struckwithrealization. Oh! Right, I forgot, you were only integrated into the Nippon Ichi world recently. Well, see, here's the thing: right now, we basically arein a story, a 'fan fiction' to be precise. Since the three of us were either created in the parameters of the Nippon Ichi world, or have been integrated into it for most of our in-story lives, we've gained the ability to break the 'fourth wall'.
Hinata- … and that would be… what exactly?
Kasumi- It's the metaphorical dimensional wall that separates us from those of the outer dimensions.
Naruto- Don't worry if you're still confused. Everyone gets used to it eventually. Just try to do so before you become insane.
Hinata- WHAT!
Sagitarius- That's it! You four have taken up nearly an entire page with this. Get back to the story. I still have plot twists I need to use to screw you guys over with and I won't b able to use them unless the story starts!
Hinata- Shocked.ActivatesherByakugan,onlytofindnoonearound.Who the hell was that!
Naruto/Kasumi/Charlotte- The author.
Sagitarius- I said get back to the story!
-X-
"Why do you even keep trying! You're all going to end up getting killed anyway!"
Naruto grumbled in annoyance as he set his spoon back on his half filled plate, a hand quickly coming up to rub his temple. Stormy blue eyes narrowed towards the cause of his frustration. Team eight had just gotten back from their morning training –which mostly consisted of developing their own personal skills– to be greeted by a newly set table for lunch. All in all, Naruto found their first day in Nami –not counting their tense arrival– starting off great… and then Tazuna's grandson, Inari came in.
It was frustrating really. The little kid was glaring at him and his team ever since he saw them. Sure, Naruto was used to receiving glares all the time, but that was only when people outright hated him, or wanted him to die, or kill him… or the person was someone he annoyed… or fought… or was suspicious of him. Okay, so there were a lot of reasons, but none of them ever looked down on him… well, most of the Konoha civilian council and some members of the dark assembly did, but then again, he hated the former and most of the latter were the leaders of their respective groups, who were also close to the generals' level of strength. This kid didn't even look like he'd ever been in a serious fight in his life, and he looked at him like he was a prinny that loved to jump off of cliffs!
"You know kid, you're really starting to annoy me," said the blonde, before his face took on a confident smirk. "Besides, there's no way some Hoggmeiser wannabe is gonna beat me, so just do all of us a favor and stop being so broody all the time. It's annoying."
Most of those seated at the table had stopped eating then, watching the exchange worriedly. The only exception were Shino and Kurenai, the latter only sparring a moment to give him a warning glance not to start anything.
Inari glared harder at Naruto. "Oh! And I suppose you think you're some kind of superhero then!" the brunette challenged, trying to anger the older boy. Much to his surprise though, the only reaction he received was an incredulous stare, followed by Naruto suddenly falling off his chair, laughing like a mad man.
"A… a… a super… hero!" the blonde shouted in between breaths, trying his best to control himself… and failing very miserably. "Hahaha!… that's –hahahahaha– that's a good one… hahaha. Seriously hahahahaha! As if… hahaha… as if someone like me would ever act like those justice spewing selfless space stooges!" he howled out, finally managing to get to the point where he could stay till on all four of his limbs.
"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!"
The sudden outburst knocked Naruto out of his fit, but the smile on his face had yet to leave. As the blonde returned to his feet, his gaze shifted back towards the young brunette. "Listen kid," he started, his tone taking on what could only be described as mocking reassurance, "I don't really know what the hell made you act like this, and honestly, I don't really care. But if I were you, I'd stop the whole 'there's no hope' whining for someone that actually cares. If this Gato guy is as strong as you claim, then why isn't he in here, right now, trying to kill us with his bare hands?"
The silence that followed only made Naruto's smirk widen. "See? You can't answer that. That just shows that even you don't believe he's that strong," he told Inari, even as the younger boy tried his best to avert eye contact. Naruto chuckled. "Still gonna be like that huh? Heh… whatever. This place is a little too depressing for me right now," continued the prince, not even bothering to wait for an answer. "I'll be out on one of the fields. Just ask Agni or Rudra to track me down if you need me."
Before any objections could be made, he was already long gone, leaving the room completely silent…
"What the hell was with that flowery speech?"
Until Hinata finally broke it, shrugging at her own question before returning to her meal. Neither Kurenai nor Shino showed it, but both were rather surprised by her newfound callousness.
-X-
Sometimes, Naruto couldn't even believe his own luck. Just when he needed an excuse to leave on his own, it suddenly came up in what was possibly the strangest circumstances. Granted, it was a lame excuse and he would have left even if he didn't have one, but it did help. He allowed a satisfying smirk to encroach on his face, as his hand reached up to the shoulder of his coat. With an unnecessary flourish truly befitting a prince of the netherworld, he threw the piece of garment off his frame; the two small wings on his back expanding to their true size.
Not a moment later, he took off, flying headfirst into the thick forest at breakneck speed, twisting and turning to avoid being hit. This was something Naruto had been missing since he started living in Konoha. There were precious few things Naruto enjoyed which he could do alone, and among them, flying around as fast as he naturally could was his favorite. His step-grandmother once said that it probably had to do with the fact being free was something he yearned for while an orphan, and only received when he took to the air, but he didn't really care either way. He loved flying, and now was the first time in a long time that he could go about it the way he loved to.
The blonde was already far enough from the village to make sure that nobody would disturb him, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth. Sure, he managed to get some flying in while he was teaching Hinata, but that was in the item world, and there were never any good obstacles to fly around then. Plus, teaching someone how to fly, and actually flying on your own were two entirely different things.
Naruto's grin grew wider and wider as he weaved around the various flora that filled the landscape, performing every possible trick he could think of: from something as basic as a loop-de-loop to a diving corkscrew. The blonde always enjoyed flying best while in a forest. Not only was it challenging, it was good training as well.
"Now,ifonlyIhadsomethingtohunt." He mused to himself as he neared another clearing. A clearing that just so happen to have a girl picking flowers in it. Naruto's smile turned into a frown almost instantly. He kicked his legs to the front and pushed back his shoulders, getting himself into an upright position, slowing him down in the process. He landed without so much as a sound; a skill he'd picked up from years of sneaking up on hostile demons. "Hmm… whattodointhissituation?" he contemplated, "ItwouldbeeasytojustknockheroutwithashotfrommyBBgun… butthensomeonemightlookforherlater,andiftheyraiseanalert,thenIwon'thaveanywhereelsetofly.Icouldjustflyaroundtheplacetoo,butthen,theremightbeotherslikeheraround."
It would have made sense. If one girl went out this far to pick flowers, then others might have come too… except, she wasn't picking flowers. Naruto's eyes widened for a second, only to narrow moments later as he stared at the plants the girl was around. At first, he thought it was just a mistake, that he had possibly missed something. But no, there wasn't a single flower near the girl, only herbs.
Under normal circumstances, he would've dismissed the fact as irrelevant. After all, with the level of poverty that Nami no Kuni was suffering, it would only make sense that some people would rather search for their own medicine, rather than attempt to buy it at their insane price levels. Yet he didn't. Upon closer inspection, he felt a sense of familiarity with her.
Narrowing his eyes, the blonde focused on the girl in front of him, trying to get a glimpse of her spirit. The ability to see into the realm of spirits, if only partially, was quite possibly one of the most useful abilities that demons are born with. It allowed them to gauge the power levels of those around them, with some of the older demons even being able to identify others with a single glance alone. It was also what allowed them to use Geo panels, symbols, and cubes so effectively.
It was thanks to these senses that he was able to discern what had happened to Zabuza the night before, and it was what gave him the identity of the person in front of him. Naruto could only smirk at the opportunity he'd received, but suppressed it soon enough, willing his wings to shrink and his tail to coil around his waist. No use scaring the girl right off the bat after all.
"If you're out here to pick flowers, then you're doing a pretty bad job at it." Inwardly, Naruto smirked, both at the girl's suppressed shock, as well as his use of his previous mistake. When the girl turned around to look who had managed to sneak up on her, her eyes instantly widened as they gazed at him, a bright pink flush spreading very noticeably on her pale skin.
"Lookslikeshe'sangryatherselfforbeingcaught," the blonde mentally concluded.
Haku quickly turned her gaze back towards the herbs before her, trying to calm her breath. As if being snuck up on wasn't bad enough, but to find out the person who snuck up on you had –if only technically– beaten your mentor was a little too much for the young woman's usual aversion to surprises. The fact that his black scarf did nothing to hide his rather impressive figure didn't help either.
The ice user quickly shook her head of such thoughts, reminding herself of exactly what it was he had done to her teacher. "I'm not here looking for flowers, I'm looking for herbs," she corrected, talking as politely as she possibly could.
"Oh? For who?"
"My teacher," Haku replied honestly , "he was injured very recently," she added, and for a while, only silence followed. The ice user was nearly convinced that the young sword user had already left, probably as silently as he'd approached; a fact she was very relieved about… until he spoke again.
"Really now? So he didn't just decide to take over a new body huh? Definitely didn't expect that."
Haku's body became stiff as a board almost instantly at his statement. Then, without the slightest hint, she spun around, pulling out a handful of senbon from her basket; primed to be thrown at the blonde's pressure points. Unfortunately, they never got any further than half swing as her throwing hand was caught by her intended target's… tail?
Despite herself, Haku blinked confusedly, running her gaze over the long black appendage that was binding her arm, barely believing her own eyes. There were many a strange sights one could find in the elemental nations. She still remembered Zabuza telling her about one of his former teammates, who looked as though he was the product of bestiality between a human and a shark. That didn't mean the tail and wings that were clearly part of the blonde's body were expected though.
Naruto, for his part, could only smirk. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you," he warned, his tail uncoiling off of the pale girls limb before pushing it back to her side. "That was pretty stupid of you, you know?" he asked rhetorically, eliciting a silent growl from the ice user. Naruto chose to ignore it.
"So, any reason why peach boy's so adamant about staying in that old body of his?" he asked instead, crossing his arms over his chest. A few moments of silence caused one of his eyebrows to raise in curiosity, right before his eyes widened. One quick tail whip behind him had a smirk growing on his face, as the sound of shattering ice soon followed. "Using the remaining morning dew to from an ice weapon," he began, an analytical eye darting towards the arm that held her herb basket, "all done with single-handed hand signs, while hiding their movement with the plants you collected." He suddenly couldn't keep his smirk from growing wider, "You're quite the prodigy aren't you?"
Haku only continued to glare at him defiantly, frustrated that her attempt at killing him had failed. "What did you do to Zabuza-sama!" she demanded vehemently, completely abandoning her earlier façade.
"I turned him into a real demon," Naruto answered bluntly. So much so, in fact, that it actually caused Haku's thought process to stumble.
The blonde in front of her was a ninja. Certainly, getting an answer would have been harder than that, even if she did know most of the facts already. That couldn't just be it right?
The ice user quickly shook her head, trying to get it back on track. "Why?" she followed up, her voice quieter, but just as fierce as before. "What could you possibly gain from doing that?" Haku continued, taking a small step back as she tried to hide one of her hands from his sight. It was a futile effort to try and attack him, she had no delusions about that. The wings and tail were big enough hints about his nature, and his statement all but confirmed that he wasn't human. That didn't mean she couldn't try though.
"I thought it would make our next fight more interesting."
Unfortunately, her focus was once again broken by the winged shinobi's response. The ice user expected many things in reply: a sudden attack, some kind of condescending speech, hell, she even accepted the small chance that he'd explain his plans to her in some obscure manner like they do in mangas, but this… "Hecan'tbeserious," Haku thought to herself in disbelief. Never once had she ever heard of a ninja so… free, with information. Even amongst allies there were always certain secrets kept between each person, the only exception being those who were either too naïve to understand the importance of such an act, or if two people were exceedingly close. Yet here in front of her was the person responsible for her master's current condition, answering all her questions without so much as the slightest bit of hesitation.
Faced with such odd circumstances, there was really only one conclusion Haku's addled mind could come up with: "You're lying!" she accused vehemently, refusing to believe Naruto's reasoning. "That can't just be it! What are you planning!"
Naruto gave the ice user an annoyed look. "I already told you everything there is to it," he deadpanned. "I'll admit, Zabuza's good, but in the end, he's still just human in a backwater world. He may have more in the way of technique, but he still wouldn't be able to match up against some of the humans from more advanced or esoteric worlds," continued the blonde, not once taking notice of the very confused look on Haku's features. "He isn't even kage level either. In the end, the only way he could possibly put up an interesting fight is if he's a demon."
Haku's eyes narrowed once more, clearing herself of whatever confusion the blonde's explanation had caused. "So that's it? You just turned him into a demon for your own amusement?" despite herself, the ice user let out an audible growl at the shrug she received in reply. "Turn him back!" she demanded angrily, throwing caution to the wind as she lunged at the demon in front of her.
What happened next was only to be expected. One moment she was charging, attempting to stab him with an ice kunai, and the next moment she found herself held in the air by Naruto's tail wrapping around her neck, choking her lightly. Desperately, she plunged her makeshift weapon into the spike tipped appendage, receiving a satisfying hiss for her actions. But Naruto held on.
"You're really starting to get on my nerves, you know," he told her, his irritation as clear as crystal in his voice. "I wouldn't have had to do this if you had just stayed calm, but I guess if I want my message to go through to your teacher, I'm going to have to resort to excessive force… not that I mind, of course."
Bringing a hand to his back, Naruto quickly pulled out a familiar book. From where, Haku didn't know, but it made her eyes widen all the same. "Whether he wants to use his original body or not, I don't really care. Just make sure to tell him that the next time we fight, I'm expecting more of a challenge, because this time, I aim to kill." His piece said, the blonde flipped through his spell book until he reached the page he was looking for.
Keeping the distance between him and Haku as far as possible, Naruto began chanting, a spell circle appearing in front of his hand. "Lux Hypnotica!(1)" at his command, a beam of light shot out towards his captured target. He felt the girl stiffen in his grip, before slowly relaxing as she was forced into slumber.
Naruto dropped the girl's body to the ground as soon as the spell took full effect; just gentle enough to not wake her up before retracting his tail. "I really should stop doing stuff like this with my aura suppressed this much," he mumbled to himself, staring at the small wound the ice user had inflicted. Sighing, Naruto made to turn around and continue his flight… only to stop short as he felt decidedly sleepy all of a sudden.
As he dropped to his knees, the blonde couldn't help but chide himself. "I'vereallygottogetbetteratusingspells." As if to mock him, the spell took full effect there and then, causing the blonde to fall face first onto the ground, right beside Haku; one of his hands conveniently landing on the ice user's chest.
It wasn't until later, when Hinata angrily kicked Naruto in the gut with a huge flush on her face while calling him a pervert did he wake up. Fortunately Haku still continued to sleep for some time after that.
-X-
At the same time: Zabuza's Hideout…
A bed-ridden Zabuza eyed his long-used sword with narrowed eyes, a curious expression on his face. It had taken precious little time to figure out the basics of his new 'body'. There were so far four things that he and his apprentice had figured out:
First, his consciousness was in fact, trapped in Kubikiribōchō, and would only return to his original body when in contact with the sword.
Second, he could actually choose not to possess someone holding onto him, and could also choose between different bodies when in contact with more than one.
Third, the host body did not necessarily need to be human, alive. Of course, too badly damaged bodies aren't exactly very useful –or easy– to possess. Neither are chickens for that matter.
Fourth, and most important of all: while it was his consciousness, anybody he possessed was still limited by their original strength and chakra capacity.
The fourth reason also happened to be why Haku as currently away. Despite the young kunoichi's suggestion of simply possessing someone else, Zabuza still found it a smarter course of action to use his old body until their current job was finished, if only because it was the one he knew best how to use.
An amused smile spread over the nukenin's uncovered face at the sheer irony behind his own thoughts. "Ineverthoughtthatwhole'theswordchoosesthewielder'crapwouldactuallycometrue.Somebodyuptheremustbelaughingatme rightnow."
It really surprised Zabuza, at just how easy he was taking to the sudden turn of events. Normally, he was a man that was always careful about everything; never taking any good event for what it looked to be. Now, though, it seemed as if he'd let his guard… down, wouldn't be the right word; there were still many things he was cautious about. Lowered, would be a better term.
He also found himself caring about his apprentice more than he ever did. Thinking about her the same way he wished his parent's had thought about him when he was a child.
Where it all came from, he honestly couldn't figure out, but the concept of both had comforted him and sent a chill down his spine –or whatever equivalent a sword had– all at once.
"Well, well, well. I thought I felt another demon near here."
The sudden intrusion of an unfamiliar voice cut Zabuza off from his musings. A kunai was in his free hand not a second later, and was flying towards the source before he could even turn his eyes towards it. Once he did though, it was to his surprise and disappointment that, rather than finding a soon to be dead body, he was greeted with the sight the projectile being batted away with, of all things, a scepter.
"That wasn't very nice," the scepter's wielder, a little girl, said matter-of-factly, sitting on one of the windows at the far end of the room.
Actually, the word 'little' was probably an understatement. She looked like she was at least a head shorter than Haku who was already pretty short for her age. And if that wasn't strange enough, the rest of her appearance certainly was. The black horns on her head, accentuated by a well-kept mane of white hair, received greater notice. The simple ensemble of a white button-up shirt, black blazer, and matching pleated skirt would have had him categorizing her as a simple –if odd– civilian, were it not for the fact that she'd just deflected a kunai he'd thrown at high-speed without so much as a hint of effort.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" demanded Zabuza, completely ignoring her prior statement. It came as a bit of a surprise for him when she actually seemed to look embarrassed by it.
"Ah, of course! I shouldn't just barge into people's huts like that, should I?" she said in reply, more to herself rather than to the bed-ridden swordsman. Said swordsman sweatdropped despite himself at the girl's reaction.
"Sorry about that. I guess I should've asked if I could come in first huh?" she apologized, earning another sweatdrop from the room's occupant. "I'll make sure to remember that next time. That little matter aside, I must say, I never expected to see an Alastor of all things in this world."
A non-existent eyebrow rose on Zabuza's forehead at that statement. "Alas-what? What on earth are you babbling on about?" he asked irritably, glaring at the horned girl. "You still haven't answered my previous question either. I'll repeat this only one more time: Who are you, and why did you come here?"
For a while, the white haired girl only looked at him incredulously, then curiously. Finally a look of realization crossed her face, right before a very triumphant smile spread across it. "To answer your most recent question: I'm talking about what kind of demon you are, which you obviously have no knowledge of. As for who I am and why I'm here," she paused, and Zabuza swore that her smile had just gotten wider. "My name is Garnette, and well… I guess you could say I was sidetracked while searching for my rival."
The nukenin once more raised a wary brow at the smirking girl –Garnette if she was telling the truth– as she continued to sit on her window perch. Her rather casual declaration of him apparently being a demon was worrisome. More so from the fact that she apparently knew what he really was now, whereas he himself did not.
Before he could say anything though, Garnette had already beat him to it. "Say. I know this is sudden but… I have a proposition for you…"
-X-
And that's the end of that chapter. All questions needed to be asked must be put into the form of a review, preferably with a long line of text expressing both praise and criticism (constructive only) so that I may learn what it is in this chapter that I did right, and what I did wrong. I shall answer everything as best as I can.
(1) Lux Hypnotica- Sleep inducing light. Ripped off directly from the Negima list of spells. More specifically, Nebula Hypnotica.
See you all next time!