Reviews:

mastercheif1229:

Thanks.

Guest (Apr 2):

I never understand you people that for some odd reason think that every OC is a self-insert. It's stupid. I mean, every character ever created is an OC. Do you think Darth Vader is a self-insert? What about Malty Melromarc? Of course not. That'd be idiotic to the highest degree. OC's are the creation of the author to create a story. That's it.

1234567890:

Yup.

Xud10a:

Glad you like it. Funny you should mention that little idea.

Xconan25x:

Uh, no.

Buterflypuss:

Thanks.

Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.

"This is speaking in English"

"This is speaking in Japanese."

Chapter 12:

Heading for the Beach

After leaping off the cliff while carrying Roth and Lara, Minato landed in the middle of a forest. He let them down to his feet as they looked around the area.

"Damn, that was a close one, girl," Roth said, "We're lucky to get out of there."

"Yeah, thanks to Minato," Lara said, "We never would have gotten out of that without him."

"No argument there, girl," Roth agreed, "I'm real glad you got him on our side. Been a big help he has."

"Lara-chan, we shouldn't linger here," Minato said, "The Solarii or the other guys could catch up at any moment!"

"He says we should move on," Lara translated.

"He's right, but we've got another problem," Roth said, "The others will be heading to the crash and if we don't warn them, they'll head straight for any Solarii still in the area."

"Yeah," Lara said before she pulled out her radio to contact her allies, "Reyes, Jonah, can you guys hear me?"

"Lara? What happened?" Jonah asked, "We saw the copter go down!"

"I'll explain everything later," Lara said, "Roth and I will meet you and tell you what happened."

"Any chance you can give us a hint?" Alex asked through the radio.

Lara glanced to the two men watching her, "There's something on this island that won't let us leave. There's some kind of intelligence that won't allow it."

"Intelligence? What do You mean?" Alex asked.

"I'll explain when we meet," Lara said.

"Hey, Lara, what about Roth? Is he okay?" Reyes asked, her worried tone heard clearly through the radio.

"I'm fine," Roth said, turning the radio in Lara's hand, "We'll meet up on the beach. Be sure to avoid the rest of those bastards."

"Will do," Reyes said.

"Give 'em 'ell you three!" Grimm called through the radio, "And tell tha' boy Ah owe 'im a drink!"

"Lara, be careful," Jonah said through the radio, "Be sure to trust your instincts. I know you think that they're a weakness, but they're a strength. They'll lead you right."

"Wait, Jonah, what about Sam? Have you seen her?" Lara asked.

"No, I thought she was with y-wait, she just showed up," Jonah said, "Wait, that ninja guy's here too."

"Yeah, it's a, well, he calls them clones," Lara said, "He can duplicate himself for a time. They seem to disperse after a while or after taking damage. Anyway, fill Sam in and meet us down on the beach."

"You got it, Lara," Jonah said before Lara put the radio away and turned to Minato and Roth.

"So, how do we get there?" she asked.

"Looks like we've gotta pass through the forest here," Roth said, "Should be a straight shot down."

"We should be careful. The Solarii could still be around here," Lara said.

Minato, Lara, and Roth moved slowly through the forest and a couple hours into their trip, they heard voices of more Solarii. Since they were the only ones with quiet ways of attacking, Minato and Lara left Roth at the rear while they silently moved towards them. Lara used her bow to take them out one by one while Minato used his superhuman speed and kunai to kill them before they had a chance to cry out. Just as they finished taking out the few Solarii that were guarding the area, Roth made his way to them.

"Damn, girl, you two have gotten to be a good team," Roth said.

"Lara-chan, Roth-san, we've can probably get through here!" Minato said, pointing at a nearby cave.

"Thanks, Minato," Lara said before turning to Roth, "He thinks we can get through the cave."

"Sounds like a plan," Roth said as he followed the ninja and Lara into the cave. After moving their way through a short tunnel, the group jumped when suddenly the group jumped as they were surprised from loud dogs barking at them. "Bloody hell, they've got wolves!?"

Sure enough, there were wolves locked in stacks of cages. The wild beasts were barking and snarling at the three.

"Are they breeding them?" Lara wondered.

"Makes sense," Roth said, "That would explain where they keep getting new ones to send after us."

"So, how do we get out from here?" Lara asked, "Minato, any ideas?"

"Up there?" Minato suggested pointing up above a mechanism that hung a dead deer over their heads where an edge could be seen.

"Looks like it could work," Lara said before Minato created a single clone with the clone picking up Roth and the original Minato picking up Lara before both of the Minato's ran up the wall to the edge before dropping them down.

"Well, that's a useful skill," Roth said, as the three continued down the tunnel.

"Yeah, his cloning and running up walls makes things a lot easier," Lara agreed as they stepped out of the cave and into the fresh air. They rode a nearby zipline across another river.

As they dropped to their feet, the radio went off and Sam's voice was heard.

"Lara, are you there?" she asked.

"Sam? Is everything alright?" Lara asked worried.

"Yeah, we found a straight way down to the beach. No sign of the Solarii so far. Now, we're just waiting for you all."

"How's the boat?" Roth asked.

"Is that Roth? Alex says it's in pretty bad shape, but he and Grimm seem convinced they can fix it," Sam explained.

"That's good news," Lara said.

"Yeah, but there is some bad to go along with it," Sam explained, "While they think they can fix it pretty easily, they need the right tools to do it."

"Which they don't have," Lara finished.

"No," Sam said.

"Course not. Well, we'll meet up and make a plan," Lara said.

The trio, with Lara explaining everything that was said over the radio, soon came upon a series of ropes connecting some towers with the final one being the hub for a gondola system that lead down the mountain. Lara and Roth shimmied across the ropes connecting the towers while Minato simply walked across the ropes. The three easily hopped on the gondola and began to ride it down the mountain.

After a few minutes of riding it in silence, Lara's radio went off again and Sam's voice came over the radio, "Lara, have you guys found a way down here yet?"

"Yes, we're on our way now. It shouldn't be long," Lara said.

"Great, we'll see you when you get here," Sam said.

"Wait, Sam, I need to tell you something," Lara said.

"What is it?" Sam asked with a worried tone.

"I-I think there's something on this island, something that won't let us leave," she said.

"What are you talking about, Lara?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but every time we get close to escaping this island, the storm suddenly attacks and destroys it. Twice, I've actually heard a voice when it's happened. I don't know what causes it, but there's something on this island that prevents us from leaving."

"This place is weird, but something that can control the weather like that? I don't know, Lara," Sam said.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but I've seen too much that can only be explained by that. Besides, Minato can do some strange things too. Clearly there's more at work than we realize."

While Lara was talking to her friend, Minato was having his own conversation, though to everyone else, he would have looked like he was just staring into space.

"Brat, we need to talk!" the Juubi growled from the depths of Minato's being.

"Well, look who finally willing to speak up," Minato said.

"Shut up and focus! Didn't you feel it?" Juubi said.

"Feel what?"

"Clearly you're too focused on mating with that woman to notice. You didn't sense the nature chakra being used?" Juubi asked.

"Nature Chakra? You sure?" Minato asked.

"Did you forget who you are talking to? Of course I'm sure! But one thing is weird, it wasn't right."

"What do you mean? My dad uses nature chakra. What's the difference?"

"The way this nature chakra was used was different. Your father harnesses nature chakra, but this was different. It was like a whipped dog made to attack."

"So it's not someone with sage arts. It's someone forcing nature to bend to their will," Minato said, "Any idea who it is?"

"No, but whoever it is, we haven't seen them yet," Juubi said, "Watch out, brat! You've got company!"

Minato snapped back to reality just in time to spot a giant fireball flying at them. Minato sped through a series of handsigns before shouting, "Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"

A wall of water formed between the fireball and the gondola to block it from reaching its target.

"Where the hell did that come from!?" Roth demanded, just before a swarm of the Shadowguard started running down the wires towards the trio.

"Shadowguard! This is the worst time for them to show up!" Minato said.

"Who?" Lara asked.

"No time to explain!" Minato shouted as he created two clones and the original picked up Lara in a princess carry while the other threw Roth over his shoulder with the older man shouting his disapproval of being treated like luggage. The two clones grabbed the line the gondola was riding down with their free hands while the third Minato cut through it with a swift cut of his kunai.

The group cried out as they rode the lines down. The Shadowguard launched a barrage of long-ranged attacks before they fell to their deaths. The attacks missed the swinging trio and they line started dropping so low that they had to let go.

Minato and his clones landed on their feet and began sliding down the mountain, going faster and faster as they dodged rocks and trees. They came to a rock that shot them up over the rest of the rocks. They flew over a cliff and Minato angled them to a lake below them. They crashed into it with a big splash before coming out to find themselves on the beach.

Reaching the edge of the lake, Lara said, "Looks like we made it. Now, we just have to find the others."

A/N: And there's chapter 12! Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.