Chapter 26: Fun, a Cat, and a Slaughter

Moods lifted once the air cab came to life and slid out of Ropeway Station, carried up into the air by the long cables they had seen on the ridge, taking them towards the Gold Saucer theme park.

Aeris and Tifa both pressed themselves against the windows and looked out as the land gradually fell further away from them and swept past. Land that they knew they would eventually have to walk across in order to head further south. Looking ahead they could see the mountain range spreading further south, and a vast forest separated from them by yet another river they would have to cross.

They were distracted from their map plotting when a large patch of yellow suddenly swept its way beneath them and made them look down. The green grass that lined the floor rapidly faded as yellow sand replaced it, swamping the grass and choking it out till nothing but sand remained. Unfortunately the sand did not belong to a beautiful beach like Costa del Sol. It belonged to a vast desert that stretched across the entire area.

Tifa remembered reading about the desert in the Midgar Times – an entire squad of Shinra soldiers had entered the desert and sank in quicksand. The desert was full of them, and no one knew just how deep they ran.

Lifting her gaze away from the sand and looking ahead, she quickly spotted the Gold Saucer. They had only seen it from a distance before outside the perimeter of Costa del Sol, but now it was rapidly coming up close into a perfect view. Even Yuffie was forced to break out of the silent mood she had been in since they set off and look out of the windows to see it.

It was not a disappointment. The Gold Saucer looked absolutely spectacular from above, and it would look even better at night. Up close it still looked like a giant gold flower with giant leaves, possibly even taller than Shinra Headquarters back in Midgar. Brightly coloured lights shone out from almost every leaf, shining through the air and reflecting off the gold plating that covered the entire building. Sliding open the air cab window the sound of carnival music hit their ears – festive and happy.

They looked down as they passed near one of the giant leaves, where a roller coaster sped past. They only briefly saw the people there, hearing their joyful screams for only a split second before they sped off back into the park. Aeris could barely contain her excitement and jumped up happily, grabbing hold of Yuffie's arm and pulling her round to see the roller coaster before it disappeared, for they were already beginning to descend to their departure point.

They landed on the very bottom 'leaf' of the theme park, entering a small tunnel that turned dark as they reached the entrance. The sound of the music became louder as they entered, and after a second two they emerged from the dark tunnel and out into the light again, this time inside the park.

Aeris was the first to jump out of the air cab and look around. She saw the tunnel that they had come out of, and saw that it was shaped like the head of a Mog, and that they had come out of its mouth. Turning around she saw a man walking nearby, also dressed like a big, fat, cuddly chick. The man spotted her looking at him, and did a fancy little bow.

"Welcome to the Gold Saucer," he said cheerfully.

Aeris beamed. Other people she had met dressed in mascot outfits were usually very grumpy, having to force a cheerful smile and a cheerful tone when they spoke. This man did not sound at all unhappy. The others came out of the air cab then after saying farewell to the driver, and together they headed towards the entrance leading right into the park. There was a woman, clearly one of the park's staff, waiting for them as they approached.

"Welcome to the Gold Saucer," she announced to the group, sounding just as genuinely cheerful as the Mog-man. "Are you together? A single pass is 3,000 gil, or you can purchase a lifetime pass for 30,000 gil."

Naruto dug into his pocket and fished out his money bag. He hefted the bag with one hand to determine how much there was. It seemed that there was definitely less than 30,000 gil inside and he looked at everyone.

"I don't know how much I have but I'm sure I have over 10,000 gil. We'll need more for the big one," he said.

Slowly but surely, the others began to empty their pockets. Everyone except Garra and Nanaki that is. Nanaki had nothing to carry money in, and Gaara left Naruto in charge of the money. Tifa managed to fish out 3,000 gil from the pocket of her skirt, and Aeris pulled out 1,500. Barret pulled out an impressive 7,000 gil that he had kept on him from the AVALANCHE savings. The only money Cloud had was whatever he picked up from his own jobs, the only recent ones being those he had done for AVALANCHE. So he threw his 3,500 gil onto the floor along with the others. Yuffie searched her pockets and was able to produce 5,000.

"That makes 30,000 gil exactly," said Tifa after she quickly counted it. She gathered up the money into a spare money bag and gave it to Naruto, who gave it to the woman.

"Lifetime Pass please?" asked Naruto.

"Thank you very much," she said. She pulled out a Gold Ticket from her pocket and handed it to Naruto. "If you have a Gold Ticket, you can come and go freely into the park… as long as you don't lose it. Here at the Gold Saucer, there are many places where you must pay with GP. Just think of 'GP' as money that you can only use at the Gold Saucer. GP can be redeemed at the games in the Wonder Square and at the Chocobo Races. Your GP limit is 10,000, so please be careful. Please enjoy yourselves." She then stepped aside from the door, allowing the group entrance into the park.

The main Station of the Gold Saucer was a very plain entry point. It was circular shaped, with a number of wide holes bordering the edges, each with a sign above it. In the Gold Saucer, the only way to get from section to section was through those special tubes that carried them safely from place to place. Aeris ran into the Station first and went straight to the map at the head of the room.

"Wow!" she exclaimed cheerfully, looking at all the wonderful attractions available in the park. "Let's have fun!" She turned towards the others behind her. "I know this isn't the right time to do this," she added. She stopped as she spotted Barret standing with his back to them, lost in his thoughts. Aeris ran over and stood beside him. "Hey, Barret, cheer up!"

Barret didn't reply for a moment or two, and didn't look at Aeris. "…I ain't in no cheery mood," he said finally, his voice extremely quiet. "So jes' leave me alone."

"Really? That's too bad," said Aeris. She spun round on her heel and ran away from Barret. She instead ran over to Cloud and linked his arm, putting her head fondly on his shoulder. "Let's go!" she exclaimed.

Ignoring Cloud's befuddled face, Tifa ran to Aeris with a rather shocked expression on her face. "Wasn't that a little harsh, Aeris?" she whispered. She had never seen Aeris act so harsh before.

Aeris lifted her head from Cloud's shoulder and looked at Tifa, not at all bothered by Tifa's almost angry glare. "Just act normal when this happens," she advised her, giving the young woman a wink.

Tifa stared, not entirely sure whether Aeris's thoughts were the same as hers. "You think so?" she asked.

"Of course!" Aeris replied confidently. She let go of Cloud, who still looked extremely confused, and ran back over to Barret. She stopped next to him again, a sly and knowing smile already on her face, and slowly reached up on her toes to get as close to his face as she could. "We're gonna go play…" she said to him.

That seemed to work. Barret's face creased up as a large frown appeared, and he clenched his fist tightly. He started to shake slightly, until finally… "So PLAY!" he exploded, the sound of his angry voice making everyone, including Aeris, jump slightly. "…messin' round. Fuck! Don't forget we're after Sephiroth!"

With that he turned and ran towards one of the transportation tubes, the one marked for the 'Wonder Square'. Everyone watched as he jumped down through the hole and disappeared, a loud whooshing sound being the only signs that he was off towards the Wonder Square. When he was gone Aeris slowly turned back to the others, a little surprised.

"…I think he's mad," she said, stating the obvious.

"He'll be fine," Tifa assured her. "He seems to be doing a little better now. We'd better be careful. Sephiroth might be around."

Naruto trying to hold his laughing in but he finally broke and "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone looked at Naruto and they all started laughing. As they finished they started looking round.

Aeris ran to another of the tubes, this one signaled to head for the Chocobo Races. She turned and gave the group a small wave before jumping down through the hole and disappearing with a whoosh.

Nanaki and Yuffie soon followed suit, choosing their own destinations separate from everyone else.

"Shall we?" asked Tifa.

Cloud looked at her for a moment, and then slowly nodded his head. They both headed for the Chocobo Races.

Naruto and Gaara summoned Kyuubi and Nibi and they both left for their destination, Naruto and Kyuubi going to the Wonder Square and Garra and Nibi went to the Battle Square.

The journey through the tubes was exhilarating – it felt rather like traveling on a wind slide. They were almost sucked easily down the tube before turning upwards as they shot up the stalk of the Gold Saucer structure.

When they emerged it was with the sound of a loud 'whoosh' as they flew straight up out of the tubes, the wind blowing them upwards, until they landed safely and securely on the ground. They took a moment to recover themselves from the journey, and then looked around at the Wonder Square.

"Woah, that was a rush," said Naruto as he shook his head a bit. They saw the main games room ahead and Kyuubi turned around and looked at Naruto using Puppy Eyes no Jutsu. Naruto could not resist and he nodded. Kyuubi beamed at him before running off to the games, her hair streaming out behind her. Naruto started thinking about how to think of Kyuubi. It seemed that they were getting into a relationship that was further along than simply friendship. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't know that he was being watched.

"Hey you!" came a peculiar, slightly mechanical voice. "What're you lookin' so down for?"

Naruto looked up and saw someone – or rather something walking towards him. It looked like a little black cat with a white muzzle, riding on the head of a gigantic stuffed Mog. Naruto stared as it headed towards him. The cat had a little yellow crown sitting on its head and a red cape tied around its neck. In its white-gloved hands was a yellow megaphone, it was clearly a worker in the Gold Saucer. The Mog was mechanical, as was the cat, Naruto presumed, controlled by two small joysticks barely noticeable on the Mog's head, its inner controls hidden by its furry covering and sealed by a large zip at the back. The cat seemed to grin at Naruto as it plodded over to him, guiding the Mog over with the joysticks. Although slightly awkward at walking he managed it quite well, until the Mog and the cat stopped in front of Naruto.

"How 'bout it?" the cat asked him cheerfully. "Want me to read your fortune? A bright future! A happy future! Oh, but don't hold it against me if it's not a good prediction!" The cat stopped and seemed to flush a little, making Naruto wonder whether it was mechanical or not. "Oh, so sorry. I'm a fortune telling machine. The name's Cait Sith!"

Naruto smiled and bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you. The name is Naruto Uzumaki,"

Cait rubbed its hand on the back of its head, seemingly embarrassed that it was getting such a polite greeting. Naruto decided to think of it as a he since it did not seem like a normal machine. "I wouldn't mind my future read," he said while still smiling. For some reason he liked this guy.

Cait's black eyes seemed to light up. "Okay, here goes!"

Naruto watched as Cait pressed a few practically invisible buttons on the Mog's head, and then vigorously moved the two joysticks back and forth. In response the Mog made a peculiar mechanical grinding sound and began to rock back and forth in opposition to Cait's movements. After a few moments of this Cait stopped, and a small ticket slid up out of the Mog's head. Cait tore it off and held it out to Naruto with a beaming smile. Naruto took it and looked down at it.

"As the star sign Calipso falls into the North, the planet Segren aligns itself to the west in front of Corisen and Teron to form…. Uh I don't understand."

"Huh?" Cait said. He leaned over the Mog and snatched the paper back from Naruto. He was surprisingly flexible for a machine. His eyes scanned the paper for a second, before he carelessly threw it aside. "Let me try it again."

He went through the entire process again. Naruto watched as the Mog rocked back and forth, its feet moving with them. Only Cait's balance on top was what kept the Mog from falling over. Another slip of paper then emerged from the head of the Mog, and Cait tore it off and gave it to Naruto, who read it again.

"Your star sign Libra and animal sign the Rat are in conjunction to the morning tide at 6:17am …"

Cait looked up desperately, clutching his megaphone in his hand. "Wait, wait, give me another chance!" he pleaded, sounding as desperate as he looked. He almost jumped up and down on the Mog's head, trying to keep Naruto's attention. "Wait! Let me try it again!"

Naruto wasn't the sort of person to walk away when someone pleads like that so he stayed and said, "Third times the charm,"

This time Cait pushed it harder and the Mog rocked vigorously back and forth, almost slipping over itself in Cait's desperation. Naruto almost got the impression that the machine wanted to talk to them. Perhaps it felt lonely just talking to people day after day, or…

He never got the chance to finish his thoughtful debate, for Cait had finished and was already tearing off the new slip of paper with its last prediction. Naruto looked and was startled by the lengthy prediction.

"The road to your true ambition is long and hard, but faith in your friends and you will persevere. The trials ahead will seem impossible but you have the power to overcome all obstacles. And as you, Heavens Champion, strides forward, you will conquer the true darkness that lies beyond the line of reason, logic and truth. And remember to always believe in yourself and others."

He lowered the paper and looked at the ground. He didn't know what to think. Both were silent for a while.

"I don't know if it's good OR bad…" Cait said finally. He put his megaphone down and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "This's the first time I ever got something like THIS." He picked up his megaphone again, and looked at Naruto. "Then shall we?"

"Wha..?" was the intelligent response.

Cait sighed and leaned forward on the Mog. "As a fortune teller," he began, speaking as though it was an obvious assumption. "I can't help but think about this. If I don't see what it leads to, I won't be able to relax." He suddenly jumped upright on the Mog, megaphone raised high. "That's why I'm going with you!"

Naruto thought about this. While there was the possibility that he would be absolutely useless, there would be a chance that he wouldn't. Deciding to take the risk he nodded and smiled. Cait seamed to be glad and he bounded off in the direction where Kyuubi was. Naruto, still smiling, walked off in the same direction, not realizing that he had unconsciously slipped the piece of paper into his pocket.

As Naruto was introducing Cait Sith to Kyuubi the others were exploring. Aeris and Yuffie had met up at the Chocobo Races. They were both acting like school girls as they watched the races.

Nanaki found himself in the Event Square on the top floor of the theme park. Safely encased within the leaf's thick structure, he could see and hear everything going on. Crowds of people were lined up on benches in front of a huge stage, waiting for the next show to start. The air was heavy with the scent of popcorn, toffee apples and other such sweets. It made him feel a little sick, but seeing the people so happy made him forget about the others, at least for a little while.

As Barret emerged from the tunnel halfway up the Gold Saucer stem, he found himself at the entrance of the Battle Square. Neither the Wonder Square nor the Speed Square had impressed him at all – in fact he'd found all the noise and the people a mere annoyance. There was no place quiet in the Gold Saucer, which was what he wanted.

Yet, as he looked up at the steps leading up to the Battle Square, felt the faint twinge of a smile at the corner of his mouth. The Battle Square was, as its name said, a place for battles. It was probably the best place to let off a little steam. So he headed briskly up the steps, making sure his gun-arm was cocked and ready to fire, and went through the open entrance.

Cloud and Tifa meet up with Naruto, Kyuubi and the new member. As they were having fun Gaara and Nibi joined in the fun. Eventually they were all having a good time. Naruto and Kyuubi impressed everyone as they were dancing to a cool song on a game called "Dance Dance Revolution". The directions to where you had to stomp your feet on would scroll upwards and they would dance to the beat. The song was called Vacation by Vitamin C. Everyone in the arcade started clapping to the beat, even Gaara and Cloud. Naruto and Kyuubi were getting perfect after perfect and it was astounding. Afterwards the person in charge of this section clamed that no-one else had done so well. When the song stopped, everyone applauded the two. Naruto was rubbing the back of his head and was grinning a huge fox grin. Kyuubi was blushing slightly. After that Cloud versed Gaara in a virtual fighter in the middle of the room. Cloud got his ass whooped as Naruto said. Nibi went on the snowboarding game and didn't do very well. She kept crashing. Tifa found a cute little game about a Mog learning to fly, which had amused her to no end. All in all it was a very memorable time.

After an hour they all split up again. Naruto, Kyuubi and Cait Sith headed to the Battle Square. Naruto was the first to emerge from the hollowed out tunnels guarding the tubes and headed towards the stairs. The first thing he noticed as he looked around was that it was surprisingly quiet in this area of the park. He could still hear the faint sounds of music from the Wonder Square and screams from the Speed Square, but there were no sounds coming from the Battle Square.

When Kyuubi and Cait came out of the tunnel, Cait annoyed at the wind tunnels ruffling his fur, Naruto's gaze fell on a Shinra guard who was standing at the bottom of the stairs. His gaze was caught by the way the guard was standing unnaturally still and rigid, as though someone was behind him and holding him upright, almost like a puppet. Looking closer Naruto could see a blank expression behind the shadowed out visor, as well as the faint trickle of a red liquid at the corner of the soldier's mouth.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed. The sound of his cry seemed to shake the soldier free, for he suddenly fell to his knees and collapsed face forward onto the floor, his helmet falling off his head and rolling across the floor.

He ran forward and knelt beside the soldier, reaching just under the rim of his helmet to feel for a pulse on the side of his neck. There was no throb, no gentle rhythm that signified blood pulsating through veins, not a single pulse. Naruto could see that the soldier's eyes were still open in an expression of total surprise. Naruto stood up.

"Dead…" he said quietly.

Kyuubi looked at the soldier then up the stairs. "Naruto!" she said and the blond turned to meet her eyes. He nodded and she poofed back to the sword. Cait cried out in confusion and was just about to ask Naruto where she went, Naruto said, "We'll talk later, right now we need to find out what's going on."

Cait nodded as this wasn't the time and walked to Naruto as he was picking up the sword. They ran up the stairs and into the room. The waiting area was filled with people, all of them lying on the ground in small pools of blood. They were sure that they were all dead, but judging from the size of the blood pools, they hadn't been dead for too long. The two receptionists were slumped over their desks, their hair strewn over their faces, their hands still grasping onto the edges of the desks in desperation. Naruto found his fists shaking almost uncontrollably, and he fought to contain them.

"This is terrible. They were innocents," he growled.

He dashed forward to one of the guards lying dead in the middle of the floor. Again Naruto checked for a pulse, but he knew just from looking that the guard was dead. It made him think back to the Shinra building, when all the Shinra employees lay dead on the floor.

Thinking of that made Naruto notice something he hadn't before. There were no deep-cutting sword wounds on this guard, or the one lying dead outside. There was a wound penetrating his armour, but it was too rounded, too rough to have come from a sword, even one as long and as swift as Sephiroth's. It looked more like a gunshot wound.

"Well that rules out the idea that it was Sephy," he said. "They're all shot… Sephiroth doesn't use a gun… at leased I don't think so,"

A strange noise began to sound throughout the waiting area. It sounded like a gurgle, choked with blood. Naruto spun around just in time to see one of the female receptionists shudder awake and cough. There was at least one person alive. The two ran over to her.

"Hey, what happened!" Naruto asked quickly.

The receptionist slowly turned her head and tried to look up at Naruto and Cait. She found she could not move very much, for each breath hurt. It was no wonder, Naruto noted as he looked down at her, for she had two very bad bullet wounds in her chest, and blood had stained half her uniform. They very much doubted that she would live for very long.

"Ugh… ugh…" the woman mumbled, hardly able to control her own voice. She coughed, and Naruto gently rubbed her back. A few specks of blood fell onto the desk before the woman was ready to speak. "A man with a gun…" she whispered, her voice coarse. "On his arm…"

Naruto froze. 'It couldn't be…' he wondered.

"I don't think so either. Barret wouldn't do this. Maybe to the Shinra soldiers but he wouldn't shoot innocents,"

'I agree, let's look around some more.'

"Hold it right there! And stay quiet!"

Naruto and Cait spun round to face the entrance, in time to see two guards burst into the waiting area, guns in hand, looking around at the dead lying in the room. As they saw Naruto and Cait they cocked their guns and aimed at them, ready to fire at the slightest movement. The two did as they were told and stood frozen, not even twitching. The only one who moved was the receptionist, as her head fell back down onto the desk and she shut her eyes, unconsciousness overcoming her once more.

As they stood there, the doors opened once again and another man walked into the Battle Square. A very tall, muscular man, dressed in only a tight pair of shorts and a head of long, brushed-back black hair. Naruto recognised him, from a brief glimpse of a statue he had seen upon their arrival at the Gold Saucer. He was Dio, the owner of the Gold Saucer theme park. He certainly didn't look happy as he saw them standing there, amongst the dead. He looked around at his dead workers and the few dead customers, before settling his stern gaze on Naruto and his new friend.

"Did you guys do this?" he demanded.

"No. We just got here," Naruto said seriously.

Dio stared back at them, and it was clear from the look on his face that he didn't believe Naruto's protest of innocence. It was also clear from the way the guards raised their guns, as though ready to fire.

"If you don't believe us, look at the bodies. Its clear that these wounds were inflicted with bullets and that means that it was by a gun. And as you can see I use a sword. I don't know what he" Naruto flicked his eyes over to Cait, "uses but I doubt that the megaphone is a gun in secret."

Dio seemed to go over this new info for a minuet before he said, "Stand down men," and all the soldiers lowered their weapons.

Naruto and Cait relaxed as Dio walked over to them. "Do you know who did this?" he asked.

Naruto decided to just tell the truth cause lying wouldn't be good in this situation. "The receptionist behind me said it was a man with a gun on his arm. We had such a person in our group and he hates Shinra, but not enough to murder innocents just to get to them."

"We've already apprehended everyone else in your group and sent them down to the desert prison. The only way to get them out is to win at a chocobo race. I can't bent the rules. Sorry." He said while looking down. "As for the gun arm guy, are you sure he wouldn't do this?"

Naruto nodded and looked him straight in the eye to show he wasn't lying. "I swear he didn't do this,"

"Then I think I know who did this. For a while we had a guy with a gun on his arm down there. It was probably him," he said thoughtfully.

"I don't mind racing to get them out," Naruto said.

"Ok, I'll set you up. Do you have a chocobo?"

Naruto returned to a conversation he had with Myifee the other day.

"If you ever need a chocobo with more speed than us summon Shu, she'll help you out," said Myifee.

Naruto nodded. "I have a special gift to summon my chocobo from the stables instantly. Just give me a few minutes to get her and we'll be ready," he hoped that he would swallow that lie.

He did.

"There's a couple of private rooms at the chocobo racing section. We shall go there now." And with that he turned round and beckoned them to follow.

Naruto found himself in a small waiting room that was attached to the main waiting room. He was waiting for a manager to come by and enter him in the race. He decided that now would be the good time to summon Shu. He bit his thumb, made the seals and said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Chocobo Shu!" as he slammed his hand onto the floor. After the smoke had cleared Naruto gasped at what he saw.

A beautiful white chocobo with blue eyes stood in front of him. The chocobo swiveled its head and said in a kind, feminine voice, "Are you the one who called?"

Naruto nodded and straightened up. "The names Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. You are called Shu, correct?" he asked.

The chocobo nodded and said, "I heard about you a couple of times. The first time from our leader, Lord Chobi and then from Myifee-sempi. It's nice to see you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment but then remembered that he needed to ring Gaara. Just then his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Naruto, its me, Gaara,"

"I was just about to call you,"

"I was just ringing to say that we're all alright but we don't know how to get out and since you haven't been thrown down here yet it means that you were able to convince Dio that you were innocent?"

"Yeah and I do have a plan. Just sit tight and wait for me kay?"

"Sure thing. We'll be waiting," and with that Gaara hung up.

Naruto sighed and started explaining the situation to Shu. She agreed to help out saying that she was very speedy. Naruto was glad and mentioned that she shouldn't talk around others. Just then the door opened and in walked a very strange person.

She was dressed in a rather strange-looking dress; her hair so neatly parted and tied up it almost looked unreal. Her face was also quite heavily plastered in make-up – she almost looked like a doll. It was quite hard to suppress the giggles that were forming in his throats, and it wasn't helping that Kyuubi was laughing up a storm. Thankfully he was able to keep a straight face.

"I'm Ester. I'll be your manager," the woman said cheerfully, giving him a cheery smile. She looked at the chocobo and her eyes widened. "You have a white chocobo?"

Naruto, not knowing the difference other than color simply nodded.

"Well you're going to breeze past the competition today. It's obvious that you know how to ride a chocobo so we'll get started right away."

She motioned for the two to follow and they walked to the door and out into the main waiting room.

The door led Naruto straight into the jockey waiting room, where all of the registered Chocobo jockeys were currently waiting for the next race to start. There were maybe a dozen registered jockeys in all, but at that moment there were only five in the waiting room. The others were all currently racing; hence the sounds of cheers and groans from outside as people either won or lost their bets.

Naruto looked around at the group of jockeys, eyeing them over. They were all professionals, dressed in smart and somewhat silly-looking tunics and riding pants, boots and helmets included. Four of them were sat at a table in the middle of the room, playing cards with one another and enjoying the odd cigarette as they waited for their races to start. There was one other jockey leaning against the nearby wall – a smart-looking jockey with neatly trimmed hair and a rather upper-class expression of smugness on his face, although he didn't look unfriendly. He was the only one who looked at Naruto when he came in, and eyed him over as well.

"You new?" he asked of Naruto. His voice also carried the tone of someone from the upper classes. He looked up over Naruto's shoulder as the door behind him opened, and Ester walked into the room, the cheerful smile still on her face.

"Hi, Joe," she greeted as she looked at the upper class jockey.

"Hey, Ester," Joe replied, tilting his riding helmet slightly in politeness. "You're looking pretty as usual."

Naruto noticed Ester's cheeks flush a little as she spoke. "Thanks," she replied. Realizing that she was blushing, she quickly turned to Naruto. "Let me introduce you, Naruto. This is Joe, one of the top Chocobo Jockeys."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto. That's a mighty fine chocobo you got there," replied Joe, looking at the white chocobo.

"Isn't it?" agreed Ester as she gazed at the chocobo. She then shook herself a bit, remembering why she was there. "I'll go register you and this chocobo. What's its name?"

"Shu," replied Naruto, thinking it was a strange name for a girl chocobo.

Joe nodded. "I have a feeling that we'll meet again. Then, until we meet again, Naruto."

With a polite bow and a smile to Ester, Joe then turned away and headed off to the stables to prepare his Chocobo for the race. Naruto watched him leave. Joe wasn't at all like he had expected from someone so clearly upper class. He was not at all snooty and stuck-up like the Hyuuga, and quite clearly liked the idea of some new competition.

"You just wait here for a while." Ester said suddenly, breaking Naruto from his thoughts.

Naruto felt a little awkward standing in the middle of the room by himself, so he went over to where Joe had been standing before, and leaned against the wall.

After a minute or two of waiting, the speaker above the stable door finally crackled into life, and a clear masculine voice spoke through.

"The race will start in a few moments. Will the jockeys for the next race, please proceed to the paddock. I repeat…"

Naruto watched as the other jockeys put their cards back down onto the table, put out their cigarettes, picked up their riding helmets and headed briskly towards the stables to collect their Chocobos. Naruto stayed where he was for a few moments, wondering what he was supposed to do.

While he was waiting, his arm slipped off the ledge he was leaning on, and something red and shiny was knocked off and rolled onto the floor. Naruto quickly caught it before it rolled under the table and saw that it was a piece of Materia, just lying around. He hadn't seen this piece of Materia before so he asked Kyuubi.

"That looks like Ramuh, the God of Thunder,"

'Really? Lucky!'

Quickly Naruto pocketed it, feeling bad about stealing what could have been someone else's Materia, but they needed every bit of help they could get.

"Naruto," came Ester's voice suddenly, and Naruto quickly bolted upright. Ester was standing in the doorway to the stables. Naruto wondered if she had seen him, but when she carried on speaking, he relaxed with the thoughts that she hadn't. "Thanks for waiting. I registered you in the next race. Oh yeah… You know how to ride a chocobo?"

Naruto nodded, wondering if she had forgotten that she said that already. "Yeah, I got it."

"Then, good luck."

AN: Hello again! How was that? I told you there was going to be a spooky prediction, didn't I? Naruto, you're destined for greatness.

Naruto: Oh yeah. I'm so awesome!

Kyuubi: (mutters while blushing a bit) Yeah, you really are.

Naruto: Huh? Did you say something Kyuubi?

Kyuubi: N-not at all.

JK: (sniggers softly) Kyuubi's got a-"

POW!

…

…

Naruto: You do realize that you just knocked out the author.

Kyuubi: Ooops. Um…. Well I'll just say what he was going to say.

Naruto: Kyuubi can read minds? Awesome!

Kyuubi: Anyway, next chapter we'll have some VIP's commentating on the race. Till then keep those reviews coming. I just know the author will like it. See you next time.

Naruto: Yeah, see you guys next chapter. I'll totally kick ass.