"Mas…Mast...Master!" Came a worried, tinny voice that put 'Navi' in Sora's mind. "Wake up!"
She suddenly gasped and sat up, looking around, looking for- "Anders?!" She said, relief and worry going through her as she saw Anders laying in a bed, his face seeming fine, Nana floating by his side.
"Sora, calm down. You're both fine." Nana said, laying a calming hand on Sora's head. "You jumped again."
"What- what happened?" Sora asked. "The last thing I remember, I was- Black was shooting me again. I hate that guy."
"Yeah, Black fired a rocket at you and, well, at that moment Anders wasn't protected by the Dog Talisman like you were, but when he… well the same that happened to him when you got killed happened to you," Nana explained. "And your mask is by your bedside, it kinda popped off after you landed."
Sora looked to the other side, and saw that yes it was there. "Oh. Okay. Uh, you wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"
"No, I don't know where we are," She said, making a big circle motion to mimic earth.
"Me neither!" Azrael piped up.
"But do you know where we are?" Sora repeated. "Or...who put us in these beds? This doesn't look like a hospital." She said, taking in the room. It looked like a spare room at best. Bit run down, not bad, but not as well kept as it could be. Looked pretty clean though.
"You landed outside of a small family's house, they found you a bit after you arrived and took you inside, it consists of a grandfather, mother and a young kid," Nana answered.
"Oh." Sora said, looking around. No electric lights to be seen, so… either poor, a fantasy type, or both. "Any names perchance?"
"Yeah, been around them for the last four days while you have been out," Nana said. "Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari."
"Ta-" Sora stopped as she realized what that meant, quickly reaching for her pocket to grab the Dog and wake him up- only to realize she was currently only in her underwear, causing her face to heat up as she quickly covered herself with the blanket again. "Uh. Why am I?"
"They took your clothes off so that you sleep comfortably, they are in the closet alongside all your remaining Talismans," Nana answered.
"Oh, okay." Sora said, carefully getting up -her legs felt like jelly- as she noted Azrael was still there, and that she was still in minimum form from before. "O-kay, o-kay… Azrael, are you okay?" Sora asked as she walked slowly to the closet.
"Ah, you're awake now," Spoke an unknown female voice.
"Ah!" Sora startled, tripping in the process and falling back, staring up at the woman who had managed to sneak up on her. She was a pretty woman with longer bluish black hair, and currently taller than Sora.
"Oh, sorry dear I didn't mean to startle you." The woman who was probably Tsunami said. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just, uh, wanna be dressed." Sora stuttered.
"Your clothes are in the closet along with your brothers, and your items," Tsunami answered.
"Uh, thanks." Sora said awkwardly as she got back to her feet and headed for the closet. "Uh, thank you for helping us, miss."
"My name is Tsunami and you don't have to thank me, we just did what anybody should have done," Tsunami said back. "And you must be hungry after sleeping for so long." As if to answer, Sora's stomach rumbled loudly. "I'll go down and prepare some food. Hopefully your brother will wake up before then," She said as she gracefully exited the room.
"..." Sora waited until the door closed to continue to the closet and get her clothes.
Thankfully, all four of the remaining talismans were still there.
Tiger, Dog, Sheep, and Pig.
She grabbed the Dog and immediately felt the wave of reinvigorating energy wash over her, her footing become much more steady as she let out a sigh. "All right. Waking Anders…" She said, going over and resting the Talisman against his forehead.
And he immediately rocketed up in response as he drew in a large breath of fresh air. And he then began to hyperventilate, a cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Hey hey hey, everything's okay, we're good, we're safe." Sora said, rubbing his back comfortingly.
"Anders calm down, it's okay, you're fine, you are safe now," Nana said in comfort as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
And after a few seconds his breathing began to calm and a few more seconds it returned to normal. "Oh my god, I died. I felt that."
"Yeah it sucks right?" Sora said. She could still feel the bullet entering her skull every time she closed her eyes.
"What is wrong with Black? Who brings a freaking RPG in such an enclosed space?" Anders asked as he touched his chest, and that was when Sora noticed a star-shaped scar on it that now covered most of it.
"Oh my god." Sora said, tracing the edge of it with her finger. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I just had a rocket to the chest," He answered. "But I don't really feel the pain, just, just the aftermath."
"Well it has been like four days." Sora informed him. "But I know what you mean."
"Is that how long I have been out?" He asked.
"Yeah," Nana answered. "But thankfully you got found by a nice family that took you in."
"Yeah, and you'll never guess which one." Sora said excitedly.
"The Incredibles?" Anders asked, as that was the only thing that was coming to mind. Though their current environment betrayed that idea immediately.
"I wish." Sora said, suddenly hoping that was one they'd end up in. "No, it's a certain family of aquatically named bridge builders. A family of three. A boy, a mom, and a grandad."
"I feel like I should recognize that, but I am blanking on that right now," Anders said, but that could just be his recent brush with death doing that.
"Well, how about I tell you the name of the bridge?" Sora asked. "Because apparently, the name should rhyme with 'Bort'."
"...I would like to call a friend."
"Brrring, brrring." Sora faked the sound of a phone ringing, before miming picking it up. "Uh, yeah, Uchiha-fest, the series. Click." She said as she 'hung up'.
"Fuck we are in Wave," Anders said it all finally clicking with that.
"A-yup." Sora said, popping the p. "And we're in Tazuna's house. And they think we're siblings."
"Why?" Anders asked. They looked nothing alike?
"I have no idea~!" Sora sang. "But Miss Tsunami didn't say anything about me being blue or having horns so it's probably after Nort so they just know how to roll with the punches."
"Yeah, they think it's probably some ninja bullshit," Anders responded, and that was when they heard his stomach rumble.
"You must be as hungry as I am, we should get dressed and go down." Sora said. "Tsunami-san said she was making food, maybe we can help if we're quick enough."
"Good idea," Anders answered, the two of them then doing so and noting their clothes to have all been washed.
"Oh, uh, here, before I forget." Sora said, handing Anders two of the Talismans. "I think you might be squishier than I am, so you should hold on to Dog for now. And take Tiger just because."
"What do you have left?" Anders asked as he deposited Tiger and Dragon his Shadow while keeping Dog on his person.
"Pig and Sheep." Sora said, holding up each. "I think Imma keep 'em somewhere more hidden than my hoodie pocket, with how easily Jade took the others."
"Hmm, you think we can do body seals to store them?" Anders suggested.
"Ooh, probably." Sora said, excited as she realized- "We can become Fuinjutsu masters! Hell yeah!"
"If we got Chakra on transit," Anders said as he picked up the mask, holding out for Sora to take- which she immediately snatched out of his hands.
"Oioioioi, no touch, this one's mine." Sora said defensively, holding it to her chest.
"I was just giving it to you," Anders said in an 'offended' tone of voice.
"I know, but…" Sora's defense was cut off by her stomach growling. "...We should probably go eat."
Anders' stomach growled in agreement.
They both nodded at each other before heading out, quickly entering the kitchen where Tsunami looked to have begun making food. "Oh, I'll just be done in a bit, don't worry."
"I can help!" Sora quickly offered, setting her mask on the table. "What are you making?"
"I am just making a simple breakfast, fish, rice and miso soup," Tsunami answered. "It's good to see that you're both up now."
"Yeah, thank you for taking us in. Though why did you think that Sora was my sister?" Anders asked.
"Why are you saying that like we aren't, onii-chan?" Sora said, mouth not moving as she 'grinned' at him, since this did seem to be the best cover at the moment.
"She is not?" She asked.
"Ah, she is, but people usually don't make that connection too easily due to her appearance," Anders said.
Tsunami looked between them for a moment. "Ah, I can understand that. Well it was the most reasonable assumption to make, she is too young to be your lover, you're too young to be her father, but just the right age to be siblings. And the two of you give of the same kind of presence," Tsunami explained.
"You have really good intuition, Tsunami-san." Sora said.
"Thank you. Now, if you want to help…"
20 minutes of cooking later, Anders and Sora had a sizeable amount of food in front of them at the (rather rickety) table, letting out an "Itadakimasu" before digging in with the ferocity of people who hadn't eaten in a week- which they hadn't.
As they ate, two more people joined the table, but Sora's mind was focused solely on the rice she was devouring like it was going out of style.
It was only once she finished what was probably her third bowl of rice that it registered that Tazuna and Inari (who else could they be?) were also there, making idle chatter with Anders.
"I can definitely tell that you haven't eaten for several days Anders-san," Tazuna said, still eating his first bowl.
"Yeah, no idea how we managed to survive that," Ander answered.
"Well, my dear daughter did manage to give you some water while you slept. So how did you and your sister end up in our backyard?" The bridge builder asked.
"We were in a fight with some bandits and ninjas, and we managed to escape by using a scroll that contained a single use teleportation Jutsu, didn't know where we were going, but it was good we ended up here," Anders said twisting the truth of what had happened a lot.
"So are you Ninjas? Is that why Sora-chan's skin is blue and she has horns?" Inari asked with an excited tone of voice.
"Yeah, it's a Bloodline thing." Sora said easily between food. "I can also shoot beams from my eyes."
"Cooool," Inari said. "Then why don't you have blue skin and horns Anders-san if you're siblings?"
"Different mothers, so we got different things," Anders answered quickly.
"Ah, so, are you Leaf Ninja? We didn't see any headbands on you?" Tazuna asked.
"No we aren't, we are not affiliated with any of the Hidden Villages, we're from a small clan from Demon Country, and we just go from place to place lending a hand. But we were on our way to Leaf when we got attacked and had to escape," Anders explained.
"Ah, so I don't assume you will be staying for long then?" Tsunami asked.
"Not too long." Sora said. "At least long enough to properly thank you for being nice, help you guys out a bit."
"And we don't want to intrude on your hospitality too much," Anders added.
"That is not a problem," Tazuna said. "One should always do their best to help others in need. There has been way too much selfishness in this country."
"Ah speaking of, where did we end up?" Anders asked.
"You're in the Land of Waves, in Uzi Village home to me the great bridge builder Tazuna," The man said boastfully.
"Father don't brag to our guests," Tsunami chastised him.
"The Tazuna?" Sora asked excitedly. "The one who made the Great Naruto Bridge?" She figured since Inari looked happy and thought she was cool it was after that all happened.
"That's right it's named after the most awesome ninja in the world," Inari stated.
"Ah, so you have heard of me? Didn't think the word would travel that far this quickly; it's only been a month since I finished it," Tazuna said.
"We were just about to pass the other end." Sora said. "People were talking about it over there and the trade they've been able to get done and stuff, and I have good hearing."
"Ahhh, I see." Tazuna said with a nod, thankfully accepting yet more of their lies. Sora felt a little bad about lying so much to them, but on the other hand she lied about basically everything all the time, so…
"Well father your bridge is most definitely a success," Tsunami said in a happy voice.
"Yeah, it was all worth it in the end, now enough about me," Tazuna said.
"Yeah, I wanna know more about you?" Inari said as he pointed at Inazuki's mask. "What is with that thing?"
"What do you mean?" Sora asked, picking up the mask and pulling it out of Inari's reach just in case. "You didn't try to put it on, did you?"
"No," He answered.
"He tried to, but I pulled it out of his hands," Tsunami said.
"Good, this isn't 'just a mask', this is a dangerous tool." Sora said. "It's the focal point for my family technique. If someone who isn't me or onii-chan wears it…" She inhaled sharply through her teeth. "Very bad day."
"That is what I told you Inari, it was a ninja tool after all," Tsunami said.
"So what does it actually do, and do you have one as well Anders-san?" Inari asked.
"I do," He answered.
"Where is it?"
"In my shadow," He answered. Sora gave him a look she hoped conveyed the idea to stop telling them things.
"Well if you're not going to tell then don't answer," Inari said with a pout on his face while his mother and grandfather laughed.
"Haha, yeah, so… is there anything you guys need help with then?" Sora asked, hoping to change the topic. "So we can repay your kindness?"
"No we can't possibly make you do stuff," Tsunami said.
"Well if you're offering," Tazuna said at the same time.
"Father?"
"What? She is offering?" He replied.
"Yeah, I'd feel really bad if we didn't do something to say thank you." Sora said. "Four days taking care of us is a long time."
"That it is," Anders agreed.
"Well I can't stop you if you wish to help," Tsunami said, still very much against the idea.
"Soooo, what do you need help with?" Sora asked.
"Well…" Tazuna began.
Xxx
"Finally I have time to go here," Anders said as he walked up a hill on his own. Well not his own as Nana was by his side as always. It had been two days since they had woken up in Tazuna's house and helped out the city by fixing up all the damage Gato had dealt which was still being dealt with. And all the ghosts the man had created, finally putting their Shaman skills to use and exorcise various spirits. And Anders had also learned that he could still use the Ninja Khan Mask despite it being in his shadow alongside the Talismans as it still counted as being 'on' him.
But now it was evening and he was not dead tired like last night, though they would be leaving in the morning.
But before that he had to see if they would be around or not.
"So Anders where are you going exactly?" Nana asked.
"To a grave, I want to get a thing and see if I can recruit a ghost or two," Anders answered her.
"So you can do Over Soul with others besides me?" She asked, almost sounding… disappointed? By that fact.
"Yeah, though most Shamans only stick to one spirit, some have many at once," Anders said. "I want to see if they want to join up."
"I see," Nana responded as they came to the top and saw a massive sword stuck in the ground that acted as a grave marker.
"I told you Haku, I want you to move on," The ghostly form of Zabuza said in a harsh tongue as he was seemingly arguing with the ghost of his protege.
"No you need to, Zabuza-sama, I need to stay and watch over your body and sword," Haku argued back, his mask on his face.
"I won't move on before you do," He said back.
"...Wow never thought I would see two ghosts argue with each other to move on," Anders said as he and Nana looked upon the arguing pair.
And at that the two of them turned their attention to them.
"You can hear us?" Haku asked.
"You can see us?" Zabuza asked.
"And talk to you," Anders responded.
"Who are you?" Zabuza asked.
"I am Anders S. Viking, and this here is Nana Shimura, and I am a Shaman," Anders responded. "And I would like to recruit you to my side as Guardian Ghosts."
"What?" They both asked at the same time.
"Allow me to explain…" Anders said as he gave the two of the deal. "So that is why I want to 'hire' the two of you? So what do you say?"
The two ghosts stayed silent for a bit before Zabuza spoke up. "Well, it is better than staying here and arguing for all eternity until one of us gives up. And Kubikiribocho shouldn't go to waste. So you got yourself a deal kid, we work with you and you help me get Haku to move on."
"You help me get Zabuza-sama to move on," The two said at the same time before turning their heads to look at each other and Anders was pretty sure Haku was making a pout in response to Zabuza's glare.
"Good to have you on the team you two," Anders said as he went over to the implanted sword and tried to pull it out.
Tried being the operative word here.
"Kid those are some weak sauce arms," Zabuza said and Anders could just hear the disappointment in his voice.
"Not everybody can be a muscle head," Anders said as he tried to pull with both of his hands and only pulled it out a bit.
"Just screw the handle to the left, then right, then left, and pull up." Zabuza said and Anders followed his instruction and then Anders just held the sword's handle in his hands. "The sword can generate with blood, and as you said your Over Soul thing can probably make a blade you can use better until you can lift the actual thing."
"Yeah, that is probably a good idea," Anders said. "Now let's go back and introduce you to my companion."
"Companion?" Zabuza asked.
"Ah I forgot to mention her, well she is a Shaman too," Anders said.
Xxx
"Okay, Azrael, you know what to do, right?" Sora asked, making sure the spirit of her cross understood the plan.
"Yes, ma'am! Stay by your body, and inform Lord Anders upon his arrival that you are using The Sheep Talisman!" Azrael repeated.
"Good." Sora said with a nod. She'd made sure Azrael knew the instructions well to make sure there was no miscommunication -she hated miscommunication between friends- since Anders had gone off to do… whatever he was doing.
"Alright…" Sora said as she sat on the bed, before laying down as pristinely as possible, hands folded over her stomach, Sheep Talisman beneath them. "Three… two… one… showtime."
And with a lurch, she was suddenly floating over her own body. "Woah. That's weird."
"What is weird, mistress?" Azrael asked.
"Oh, you can still hear me?" Sora asked.
"Of course, mistress." Azrael answered. "You are still here, after all."
"Huh. Spirits and Ghosts can see this. Good to know." Sora said to herself. "Alright Azrael, remember to stick to the plan."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Alright, so, do I just…" Sora turned and looked at the wall, before flying straight at it.
And through it, much to her delight.
"Yeeeess." She chuckled. "Ooh, I can fly again!" She said as she did a loop de loop and flew straight up, and up, and up, and up, until she burst through the clouds. Not as quickly as she could with all the talismans, but definitely faster than Rooster alone.
Sora looked down upon the world (not from space, she didn't want to know what would happen if she went that far), but even from here she could start to see the curvature of the earth, the town below, the edges of the countries- well, she couldn't actually tell what was what, but Wave was an island and Fire was the mainland connected by the bridge, obviously, so she could tell that.
"...What do I do now?" She asked herself as she listed through the clouds, the moon high overhead.
Her attention was drawn to it.
"...Huh. I wonder…" Sora said, before she once again started to fly up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and-
Xxx
"I wonder when she is going to come back," Anders said as they sat in the room that they had been staying in.
"You didn't mention that she was blue, and that you were staying with the bridge builder," Zabuza said he leaned against the wall alongside Haku.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Anders asked.
"No, but I was hired to kill the guy," Zabuza responded.
"Why did you get this guy again Anders?" Nana asked.
"Because they are strong," Anders said.
"Damn right, so what are you some kind of goodie two shoes?" Zabuza asked.
"Well she was a superhero in her universe," Anders said.
"Really?" Haku asked.
"Yeah, they didn't have Chakra instead they have things called Quirks which gave them an unique power," Anders explained.
"Is that what your shadow inventory is, Anders-sama?" Haku asked.
"Yep," Anders answered. "Which is also why she is blue and has horns, she isn't an actual Oni."
"Bitch I am an Oni." Came Sora's voice suddenly from above them, causing everyone in the room to look up and see Sora's face phasing through the ceiling. "Also, I'm back and… oh hello, you seem, you seem uh, hmm, Anders what the fuck?"
"I went and recruited them to the cause," Anders responded.
"...Ah." Sora said, before extending a hand to Zabuza. "Nice to meetcha, I'm Sora, and you don't need any introduction."
"Glad to see that my reputation still instills fear," Zabuza said back, not extending his own hand.
"...Sure, let's go with that." Sora said. "And it's to meet you too, Haku."
"It is nice to meet you as well Sora-sama," The overly polite boy responded back.
"Oh, please, no need to be so formal." Sora said, the orange in her cheeks darkening a bit. "Just call me Sora."
"Of course Sora-sama," Haku responded.
"Well, now that introductions are over, let's go down and see if Tsunami has finished making dinner yet," Anders said.
"Ooh, yeah, let's." Sora said, floating over towards the door.
"Sora," Nana said.
"Wha?" Sora asked, looking back at her.
"Your body," She said as she still pointed at her body.
"...Oh, right, I'm using Sheep." Sora said, before flying back into her body, and then sitting up. "You really need to try this then Anders, it's really cool. A lot faster than Rooster, too, but nowhere near as quick as with Rabbit."
"So how did you do that?" Zabuza asked. "Never seen a technique like that, is something you Shamans can do?"
"Uhh, yes." Sora said.
"Ignore her, we've got a few artifacts that can do stuff, the one she has in her hand is called the Sheep Talisman and it allows for astral projection," Anders explained.
"Useful tool, really could have used that when I was alive," Zabuza said.
"Does everything have to do with killing with you?" Nana asked.
"Yes?" Zabuza responded. "It was my job Miss Hero."
"Ninjas are literally assassins, spies, and saboteurs, Shimura-san." Sora said. "You gotta be good at at least one of those to be as famous as Zabuza."
"That is part of Shinobi's job but that is not everything."
"Yeah, I understand, not my world, I don't have a say in what they need to do to survive, but do we really need professional killers Anders?" Nana asked again.
"As I said before Nana they are strong, and I need the power they can provide, as in this world and many others there are people and things much, much worse than All for One," Anders said.
"I understand," Nana replied, accepting that reasoning very, very well.
"Now, let's do down and get some grub," Anders said.
"Yay, food!" Sora cheered.
Xxx
"One last thing before you go you two," Tazuna said as he stood in the door frame of his house Anders and Sora along with Anders' recruited ghosts turned to look at the bridge builder.
"Did you need something, sir?" Sora asked.
"When you cross the bridge there should be a little resting spot, so if you happen to see a bald man sitting on a carriage tell him that Tazuna sent you and he will give you a lift to the Hidden Leaf Village if he is present. If he is, you hopefully won't have to walk the entire way and cut down travel time by a week," Tazuna said.
"Oh, well, thank you very much." Sora said, deciding to use the Japanese manners they'd learned from their short time in actual Japan and bow-not too deep. "Thank you for your hospitality as well."
"Bah it was nothing, and if you see a blond brat in orange clothes named Naruto tell him that Inari hopes he will visit soon one day," Tazuna responded as he went back inside.
"Yes, sir." Sora said before the door closed and they turned around to leave. "They were really nice. We lucked out this time, y'know?"
"We did, and we kinda did with Nana as well," Anders said. "But fuck, ending up in Section 13 was just the worst of luck. Hopefully we never go back there...Oh god."
"What? What's wrong?" Sora asked.
"I just realized there was a high chance of Jade seeing me get exploded," Anders said.
"You know that is still weird to hear, people are supposed to die when they are killed you know?" Zabuza said.
"...Oh my god." Sora said as she had a revelation of her own.
"What? What's wrong?" Anders said, repeating Sora's words.
"This." Sora said, holding up the Pig Talisman. "We have five of the Talismans. I don't think they used them as much from the Oni stuff onward, but they definitely still needed them."
"Well, at least they still have Horse," Anders said.
"Yeah, I guess." Sora said, suddenly feeling very, very bad for her impulsive thievery. She hadn't really thought that part through till now, which was joined by mounting horror. "...Oh god, does that mean Drago's gonna win at the end of his thingy? Because they only beat him by having full-powered Shendu hold him off long enough to banish them both if I remember right."
"Let's not think about that," Anders replied.
"Are you kidding me? That's all I'm gonna be thinking about now." Sora said. "Aghhh, dammit."
"Don't worry mistress!" Azrael chimed up. "Everything will be OK!"
"Really? And why's that?" Sora asked.
"I dunno!" Azrael said, it's perpetual cheer ticking Sora off slightly as it spoke. "I just know it will be."
"That doesn't make any sense." Sora dismissed.
"Hakuna Matata," Ander simply said.
Sora thought about it for a moment. "It is a wonderful phrase."
"Hakuna Matata," Anders continued.
"Ain't no passing craze~." Sora said, starting to sing it.
"It means no worries, for the rest of your days." He sang back.
"It's our problem free, philosophyyy," They sang together. "Hakuna Matata."
And as they continued to sing Nana and Haku joined just out of step while Zabuza just groaned in cringe.