AN: Just a little chapter that I wrote a long, LONG while back. Thought, what the hell, might as well upload it. Disclaimer, own no rights to any characters, yaddie yadda. You know the drill.
Chapter 1: A New Journey
Waking up in the morning had never been his strong suit. Maybe it was because he never had a reason to get up in the morning before. Nowadays, the mornings were the best part of every day. The silence of the early morning, before the birds woke the rest of the natural world with their calls.
Sliding out of his bed, a simple wool cushion and furs on top of a wooden frame, Naruto stretched. So many things to do. Repair the windmill, clear out the stream of debris, check on his crops, nourish the trees. It was going to be a busy day, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Kurama." A snore was his only response. "Lazy son of a bitch."
Leaving his partner to sleep, Naruto checked on the rest of his friends. Shukaku, Matatabi, Son Gokū, and Chomei remained asleep, much like their elder brother. He wasn't going to bother them, not unless he wanted the local area to be turned into a smoking crater.
His morning routine was continued alone. Brush his teeth with some campfire ash and floss with fibrous plants, boil some water, eat some breakfast. Unlike a few brief years ago, there was no rush, no hurry. No alarms blaring in the middle of the night. No assholes knocking on his door and yelling at him about a mission issued by the Hokage.
The sound of nails clicking against the house's wood flooring made him smirk through the small slice of cheese and bread he chose to have for breakfast. Around the corner, a small bundle of dark orange fur stumbled forward, followed by nine bushy tails that dragged along the floor.
"Good morning, Kurama."
"Too early for a good morning," was the lazy reply.
That was a sentiment he used to share. Now, there were too many things to do to sleep in. The Tailed Beasts could sleep in though. They had nothing to really do. No crazy bastards looking to lock them up in a statue, no power hungry assholes looking to seal them into new hosts.
A simple, blissful existence.
His shoulder served as the next resting place for the miniature tailed beast. A cute yawn, revealing diminutive canines, filled the house. It was the signal he used to start the day. After a lifetime of warfare, this simple existence in the middle of nowhere was heaven by comparison.
x-x-x-x-x
Run.
Her heart, her ego, begged to differ. Still, she held a duty to the cause and crown. Thus, she urged her steed forward. Her wards and armor did little to repel the onslaught of arrows. Cuts continued to appear on her skin as small, black blurs flashed through her vision. In the distance, lumbering shapes continued to shift in the darkness of night.
"Urgals," she hissed, channeling her anger to suppress the stinging pain of her wounds.
Brutish beasts. Twisted horns, uneven fangs for teeth, and stocky legs. A truly savage race.
"Garjzla!"
A bolt of red light, one she knew all too well, slammed into her steed before she could respond. Her white horse went from a full gallop to a dead stop as its legs gave out. She braced her cargo against her chest, rolling along the forest floor, protecting her charge with utmost care. No harm will come to it, of that she was sure.
Green eyes burned with rage as she stood, her sword no longer at her hip, but in her hand. Her blade sang through the air, cleaving apart a trio of urgals who dared to stand in her way.
"Blood for blood!"
Her feet carried her forward. Though under duress, she would not panic. Even if she perished that night, she would not do so quietly. Her eyes scanned the forest for the one who had slain her steed, furious green met with sadistic red.
This was not a fight she could win.
Her sword in hand and her precious cargo cradled against her chest, she bolted. The sound of her pursuer's laughter echoed through the trees. A thousand curses were on her tongue. She heard him pursue her across the forest floor, but she paid it no mind.
Her mission took precedence; vengeance will only doom her people.
Her thundering heart sank when her ears picked up an all encompassing sound: the distant crackle of fire. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a ring of fire encircling her, cutting off all hopes of escape. That haunting laughter continued to mock her.
"Face me, Durza!"
The laughter faded into silence. Two bright crimson lights pierced through the veil of flames.
"As you command," it mocked.
Even in the blinding firelight, she could see the smile on its lips, a caustic sneer that promised nothing but pain. She met its smile with one of her own. A string of ancient words left her lips. The creature's sneer switched to a snarl of anger. She hefted her cargo - its prize - into the air as her lips stilled.
"GARJzLA!" It screeched, a demonic sound that echoed with the voices of the damned.
The forest was bathed in a tsunami of light, washing away the cover of night for a few brief moments. Once darkness reclaimed its domain, she collapsed against the dark creature's spell. Though she would not escape, victory would not belong to the wretched abomination that had slain her comrades…
...for the object she once held was nowhere to be seen.
x-x-x-x-x
"... uto! Na…"
The voice came and went, interlaced with the ceaseless ringing in his ears. His vision normalized long before his hearing did. Kurama, seated on his chest, wordlessly worked his lips.
Did Kurama split himself in two? Why were there two of him?
"Ughh. What happened?" He thought he'd spoken the words, but he didn't know if they got past his lips.
"Bl… sion… ov… ere."
Tapping into his partner's limitless reserves, Naruto felt his body heal. His eardrums sealed themselves up, restoring his hearing but did little to stop the ringing.
It'd hurt like a bitch.
"Fuck, that hurt."
Kurama's tails pointed him in the right direction, but even without them, he would've found his way towards the cause of his injuries. What was once a normal-looking part of the forest now bore a smoking pothole.
"What the hell?"
At the center of it lay a smooth, blue stone. The earth beneath it still glowed from the heat of whatever had brought it to its current location.
"Kurama? Did you see where it came from?" A shake of his partner's head was the only answer he received.
Whatever it was, not only did it destroy a small portion of the forest floor, it also knocked him out for a brief second. That was quite the feat, given how tough he was. Granted, he was caught unawares, but still.
"What the hell is it?"
"Whatever it is, it's still intact." Kurama perched himself on Naruto's shoulder. "Careful. That's not a regular stone, Naruto."
"It laid me out on my ass. Of course I know it's not a regular stone!"
"Shut up and investigate it."
"Fucking asshole."
"Dumb fucking blond."
Saving the argument for later, Naruto lifted a piece of debris, a charred, smoking chunk of topsoil, off the illuminated object. Brushing his hand against its surface, his intrigue was only stoked to find it cool to the touch, regardless of the smouldering earth beneath it. Even the air around it was uncomfortably warm, but the stone itself remained unaffected.
"Whatever it is, we should leave it."
"Agreed."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"You're not going to leave it, are you?"
"What do you think?"
"That you're a fucking idiot."
x-x-x-x-x
"It's not a stone."
"How have you survived this long?" Shukaku questioned, legitimately concerned.
"Lots of luck," sighed Kurama.
"It's an egg."
The nine Tailed Beasts stared at him questioningly, equal parts concerned and confused.
"What kind of creature… lays such a large egg?" Chomei whispered.
"What kind of creature… lays a blue egg?" Son Gokū muttered, offended.
"I hope you choke on your next meal," Matatabi deadpanned.
"Can we cook it?" Shukaku asked, poking at the egg with his paw.
"We're not cooking it!" Naruto proclaimed, picking the egg back up. "I wanna see what hatches, y'know!"
For the most part, his partners agreed. They were as curious as he was. After all, it was the first change in routine they've had in quite a few years.
"Then can we cook it?"
"Yes."
"Really?!"
"No!/No!"
x-x-x-x-x
Something was in the air. He could sense it.
Magic.
It was the only thing that spurred him onwards, to journey deep into the Spine. Some time last night, something had blasted the surrounding area with so much magic that he could sense it from within Carvahall. With the town to his back and the wilderness before him, Brom pushed forward. Beneath the heavy cloak, his warded leather armor protected him from the morning chill.
"What I wouldn't give to have you back, my dear," he mourned.
Even on foot, it didn't take him long to find the source of last night's outburst. The ever present frown on his face deepened. With staff in hand, he surveyed the small charred crater.
"A magical explosion?" His mind raced, trying to piece together the scene before him. There were no other craters around and there didn't appear to be any footprints around. "Teleportation?"
If it was, whatever had been teleported was no longer there, but the question remained: why teleport something to the Spine? As far as he knew, no one, and he meant no one, had any forces near the Spine to receive any item teleported to the area.
"A blind port?" If it was, whoever casted the spell must have been desperate. Judging by the size of the spell's backlash, the object wasn't that big, but it was more than enough to drain most casters of their reserves.
"What could possibly be important enough for their caster to sacrifice such strength to remove it from danger?"
He needed to find it. It would be hunted down, either by the defenders or the pursuers. He wasn't going to wait around to find out which side played which role.
Snap!
In a single motion, before he consciously registered it, he whirled around, his staff held up. His reflexes proved to be his saving grace as one of two black, metal staves crashed against his walking stick. His assailant, garbed in a blue fur-lined cloak. The assailant's face was hidden behind a porcelain animal mask, bearing strange ovoid decals, framed by a spiky blond head of hair. It was this decadent appearance that placed him on edge.
Only the Empire could afford to outfit their assassins so luxuriously.
"What kind of assassin uses blunt weapons?"
He didn't get to ponder that line of thought as his assailant went on the offensive. A series of strikes from the dual-wielder, ones he'd blocked, sent him stumbling back, each strike sapping away at the wards he had placed on his staff.
"What monstrous strength!"
A sweeping strike from his staff bought him just enough time to unsheathe his sword. He thought the blade's enchantments would give him the advantage, even at the loss of range and defense against the fighting sticks. That assumption died an ugly, undignified death when he realized he couldn't land a single hit against the blond in spite of the gaps in his defense.
The blond was toying with him.
His final thoughts were of a strange, heartbreaking dichotomy: regret and relief.
"Eragon… Saphira…"
THWACK!
x-x-x-x-x
"I told you to leave that stupid rock behind."
"Come on, Kurama! How would I know they'd send someone after it?"
"Because it appeared in a flash of light! Do you think rocks just suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere for no reason?!" His partner, for all his skills and training, had brains the size of a goddamn cashew whenever something caught his attention. "I'm poaching that egg and feeding it to the tanuki."
"WOO!"
"Don't you dare!"
It had been a week since Naruto's encounter with the sword wielder. After whacking the man upside the head, he left a tracker seal on the man. Nothing else was really needed. It's not like the man could even hope to enter Naruto's little slice of heaven.
A squeak brought silence to the wood cabin. All noises brought about by its inhabitants ceased as they turned towards the source of the noise. The blue egg that had joined them for the last week was rocking back and forth in the small nest of cloth Naruto had made for it.
"Goodness! It's hatching!" Matatabi purred, visibly excited at the prospect.
"Places, places!" Kurama ordered.
A flurry of movement left the cabin's living room devoid of life, save for Naruto and the rocking egg.
"Wait! What the hell am I supposed to do?" Naruto yelled.
"Let it imprint on you, dumb ass!" was Kurama's helpful advice.
"Do nothing!" Kokuō hissed.
With that, the siblings hid themselves away in the bedroom. None of them wanted the responsibility of being the imprinted parent of any would-be hatchling. It would've been way too troublesome. Which left Naruto as the sole target of the soon-to-be-hatched creature.
"Goddamn traitors," Naruto muttered.
All thoughts of his backstabbing friends were left on the backburner as the egg's rocking gave way to muted chirps and audible cracking. A series of small cracks appeared on the egg's surface.
"Is it… a bird?"
Minutes passed by as he waited for the newborn to fight its way out of its prison, though it felt as if hours had passed. It took all of his patience and self-control to stay his hand and not interfere in the creature's hatching. It finally paid off when a small snout pierced its way through the egg's outer shell.
"What…"
Another chirp followed as the tiny blue snout continued to push against the miniscule opening. Blue scales and what appeared to be soft spines followed suit.
"... the…"
A membranous wing, tipped with a small, bone-like protrusion broke through. Countless spider webs cracks spread across the egg's surface in an instant. A small, spined tail ripped through the shell's remains.
… fuck."
Blue eyes, bright and intelligent, fluttered and focused. The tiny creature scoured the room, though for what, he knew not. Although, it didn't take long for him to figure out what the little tyke was looking for: him.
The little creature - a dragon, for there was no other creature it could be - squeaked as it crawled its way across the small bundle of clothes that acted as its nest. Its shaky movements on unsteady legs, while relatively slow, was more than enough to move the hatchling towards Naruto.
"You are so adorable!" Naruto whispered, afraid speaking too loudly would scare the little one. "Come here."
He offered the little blue dragon his right hand, leaving the extremity on the cabin floor with all fingers unfurled. The dragon's eyes - he was going to have to name her at some point - lit up. It hustled along the floor, an awkward sideways shuffle that nearly tempted him into picking up the little thing, but he knew exercise, especially early on, would be for the best.
"That's it!" Naruto encouraged. "You can make it!"
A flash of blinding light erupted from his palm the instant the dragon's snout touched his hand. A wave of power pulsed through the small cabin, knocking Naruto flat on his ass. The blue dome of energy continued to wash outwards, pushing past all of his home's defenses.
Naruto fell backwards, yelping in shock as his hand burned at the point of contact. As his vision cleared, he immediately took note of his palm. A silver, ovoid spiral surrounded the Mark of the Sun. A happy trill brought his attention away from the new addition to his palm. Just when he thought there weren't any more surprises to be found, such a notion was quickly disproved from a brief look at the cause of his new tattoo.
While the little dragon had not grown, it - she, he vaguely realized, though he didn't know how he knew - had visibly changed. Her scales shone with their own radiance, practically outshining the flickering fireplace. Bright blue arcs of energy raced across her frame. A dim light glowed beneath the scales of her throat, down to her belly.
"What the fuck have I gotten myself into?"
Elsewhere, mismatched eyes opened, staring across the vast expanse of wilderness. That wave of power. There was something familiar to it, something that the world hasn't seen in years.
"So you finally show yourself eh, dobe?"