Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just the ideas…
Gilgamesh's hair fell flat, covering her eyes with its dimming luster. Even so, the wave of hair could not dampen the bloodthirsty gleam emitting from her red, inhuman eyes. Without another word, she placed her outstretched hand to the side, pulling her oldest, most revered weapon from the deepest caverns of her treasury. "I do not wish to sully my blade with a mere pest, but admittedly, you are strong."
A shimmering chasm of pure light fractured the space on top of her hand, warping and twisting itself, before parting to the sides to make way for a tool that Naruto could only describe as a monstrosity. Even as the so-called King had left herself open, the shinobi was unable to move a single inch. To do so meant breaking the sanctity of the summoning performed before him. So he stood there with his hands dropped to his side and only one thought running through his mind: "Wrong."
"But do not mistake that praise as acknowledgment. No matter your strength - No matter your boorish determination, only one stands equal to the King." She sneered. Her armored hand grasped a shining handle, slowly pulling out what appeared to be a lance with its covering on the handle. But instead of a pointed tip, her weapon had a tri-sectioned cylinder placed on top of the handle. "Even so, I shall grant you the privilege of gazing upon Ea - even tasting its wrath. Be honored, mongrel."
Wrong.
Naruto laughed, banishing his doubts and nervousness with the usual vigor and enthusiasm only he could have. "What is that? Are ya gonna bash me to death with that thing?" Yet for all his boyish bravado, residing within the recesses of his mind was a treacherous voice that refused to cease its utterings of "Wrong."
"A fool to the end. How fitting." Gilgamesh lifted the weapon and within seconds, the sections began rotating slowly. Yet all around the weapon, spirals of red energy flickered, distorting the air between them. Ea whirred further into motion, heeding the silent command of its master, now sending waves and spirals of lightning all throughout the room. Sections of the floor were upended, breaking into fine grains as the wind howled in protest. Unable to fully withstand the whiplash, the shinobi lifted his arm, covering his face with his forearm.
Wrong.
"This kind of weapon is on a different level, if I can even call it that. There's nothing in my arsenal that can take such a blow. My walls can't hold against her regular Noble Phantasms and if Rashomon couldn't even defend Cu's attacks, it won't stand against Ea." Naruto dropped the kunai in his hand. At the rate of the energy building up, Ea's range of explosion would be far greater than what he would be able to deal with. "I can't even use Flying Thunder God… Ea will blow this entire place up."
"It's over!" Gilgamesh grinned smugly with the satisfaction of momentarily purging a bug from her kingdom. "Look up and behold! Enuma Eilsh!" She brought down her arm, elegantly flicking her wrist as if what she was holding was nothing more than a ball. In reality, she brought down megatons of force - the full fury of a weapon that showed the truth.
But in her arrogance, the King had failed to notice Naruto throwing his headband off his face, revealing a crimson orb flecked with three tomoe spinning furiously before sliding into an ominous formation.
~o~
He laid on the ground, blood seeping through his blue cloak. His orange spiral mash had fragmented, leaving much of his face exposed. But Naruto looked down on him with indifference. Knowing his identity would not help him avenge his friends by killing Orochimaru. The masked man was merely another stepping stone and another testament to his strength.
But what laid in his right eye socket was of far greater interest to him. Naruto nudged what was left of the mask to the side, exposing the Sharingan for him to see. Even in death, his power was nothing to scoff at.
Naruto stood there in silence, gazing down on the uncovered treasure. Through their fight, he had realized that Kakashi's Sharingan and the masked man's Sharingan were somehow interconnected. The man somehow held access to a dimension of his own, and Kakashi's Sharingan was capable of sending him to that same dimension. But more importantly, it was just their eyes that had access to this kind of power. If he could summon that dimension and destroy Kakashi's eye, he would be untouchable. No other shinobi would ever be able to set foot in his world.
Making his decision, he squatted down and deftly plucked the eye from the man's face. He sealed it, deciding to leave the medical procedure for the experts. Naruto turned back and he hesitated momentarily. He looked back at the dead body, and if one had a good look into Naruto's face, they would have seen a phantom of a familiar Uchiha, starving for any scrap of revenge.
The final ray of light sputtered out from existence, the gray clouds smothering the sky. Then, the sky began to weep as the shinobi began his trek home and continued his descent into vengeance.
~o~
Gilgamesh scoffed, holding out her hand as her treasury reclaimed Ea, restoring it to where it belonged. The mongrel had certainly put up a fight, but in the end, he was slain, just as his King had decreed. But even as the dust cleared and the winds died down, there was no sign of the pest's defeat. "How odd…" She mused, surveying the land all around her.
She hadn't put all her force into Ea, but even so, the blast had to have decimated the mongrel. So why were there no particles? Had the mongrel perished that quickly? Gilgamesh chuckled. Yes. That was it. That must be it. How else would he have escaped Ea?
Having finished her duty, she let her arms slacken, falling limply to her sides. Though she loathed to admit it, the mongrel had pushed her, breaking all expectations she had of him, however small they were. Though Gate of Babylon was efficient in its damage-cost ratio, it still required mana, and extended use of it would tire her, not to mention Ea itself. "I thank you mongrel, for having entertained your King for so long." She murmured. "But it-"
A sizzling blade stabbed through her chest with no obstruction, burning her flesh with the intense lightning running all around it. Her eyes widened, blood involuntarily spurting from her mouth as she grasped the tip of the sword.
"Sorry to disappoint, your majesty," Naruto snarled, pushing the sword deeper and twisting it. "But the fight's not over just yet."
~o~
Naruto cursed his hesitance. He'd thought he escaped his ghost from his past by being in the Throne of Heroes, but even in the afterlife his decisions haunted him. Kamui was undoubtedly an invaluable ability, and with the masked man's eye, Naruto was capable of transporting himself to his personal dimension in close range.
But it wasn't without cost.
The shame that coursed through his body pulsed with pain and embarrassment. There was no worse feeling than remembering his treatment of his sensei's gift. To trample and spit on his sacrifice by trading Kakashi's eye for the masked man's was a sin - one that he'd have to live with forever.
That same shame had cost him his arm and a segment of his chest. His use of Kamui was a split second slow, allowing Ea to strike his body before he had escaped. But he was alive. Alive enough to bring Gilgamesh down with him. Alive enough to savor the satisfaction of defeating Gilgamesh.
"You!" Gilgamesh spluttered, unable to formulate words. Rage and pain clouded her mind, forcing her to writhe purposelessly. Veins bulged underneath her pale skin, her neck toiling heedlessly to turn around and face the mongrel. Yet her strength was unable to compete with that of Naruto's. She was held firmly in place. "How…"
Having dallied long enough, Naruto paid no heed to her words, instead pulling his sword out and moving to behead the King.
Yet Gilgamesh was less incapacitated than Naruto had estimated. It was only in her anger and shock that the King had forgotten the extent of her abilities. Even as blood seeped through her teeth and down her chin and even as Naruto's blade creeped ever so close, Gilgamesh called upon her legend - the Gate of Babylon. Even her, the King of Heroes, would not give up.
For the last time, golden shimmers bloomed all around them, channeling weapons into their middle before hailing pure metal upon the two.
The two heroes, one of the old and the other of the new, stood there, blood pouring from their wounds. Then Gilgamesh's headless body toppled over, leaving Naruto standing in his extended position, his right arm stuck in a swinging position. He had only a moment to himself before he too, collapsed from the severity of his wounds.
He groaned as he hit the floor, its fragments pricking his wounded skin. "I told you, didn't I?" Unable to turn himself over, a grunt of protest escaped his mouth. Shards of golden light broke away from his body and his physical body began dissolving in tandem. He closed his eyes, unwilling to accept his "death". "What a bummer. Couldn't even have lived long enough to brag about the kill." Only his head remained, the lower segment of his body having disappeared seconds before.
Naruto opened his eyes, just to see shining particles not unlike his own fade out of existence. And not a moment later, he disappeared, ready to face what else this "Throne of Heroes" had prepared for him.
~o~
Boudica frowned. "He still hasn't appeared? It's been a while now. Shouldn't he have regenerated at this point?" She tapped her leg impatiently. Though they had only met for a short time, the redhead considered herself a good judge of character. Naruto may not have been innocent, but hardly anyone ever was. Even her hands were stained with blood. But like Siegfried, there was something overwhelmingly noble yet boyish about his body language.
Siegfried clenched his sword, frustrated with his strength, or rather, the difference in his and Gilgamesh's. "It is as you say. Thus, there is no other explanation for his lack of appearance."
Her eyes widened. "You don't mean…"
He nodded grimly. "A quest. Unlikely for a first timer, but possible nonetheless."
"So he won't be back for a while. At least, not until he carries out his duty." Boudica sighed. "How unfortunate. I wonder what Hari's gonna have to say to this."
Ignoring Boudica, Siegfried voiced his inner thoughts. "Naruto has a sense of duty. He may be no knight, but I trust him to show the meaning of a hero to whatever world he goes to."
~o~
Chirp chirp.
Naruto opened his eyes. Though he was trained to keep enemies at bay even in his sleep, a feeling of wrongness and anxiety gnawed at his lethargy. He sighed. Even in death, trouble stuck to him.
Knowing your surroundings is key. Understand where you are, Naruto.
No. He wasn't in the Throne of Heroes anymore. Still, where he was now was no wasteland. Wherever he was, he could sense an abundance of Sage Energy. The air was untainted and there was lush, green grass as far as he could see.
Trust no one. To lie is the very essence of a shinobi. There is nothing more dangerous than an enemy that cloaks oneself as your ally.
Naruto stretched his senses, using the Sage Energy to his advantage. He was alone in the wilderness, reflected by the lack of - A sharp intake of air silenced the creatures' chirping and croaking. How was it that this presence escaped his radar? It was nearly impossible to hide from his senses, yet this individual still managed to do so.
Strike swiftly and with purpose. Hesitation leads to error and error leads to death.
Naruto jumped from one tree to the next, just as he did in his Genin days. "Thanks for your training, Jiraiya. Hope you're proud of me from up there, you perverted fool." Upon reminiscing about his former sensei, the faintest wisps of a smile emerged.
~o~
Gilgamesh laughed. Out of humor? Anger? For once, she was clueless, conflicted. The mongrel had beat her, humiliated her even. In retaliation, she should have him locked up and tortured until hell froze over. Her breathing was uneven just from the thought of it.
Yet it steadied. For the first time in a while, she was challenged and brought to defeat. Apart from Enidu and a select few, the mongrel - no, Naruto was a mountain in her path. He was an enigma with a will few could hope to match. He was - dare she say it - interesting!
Her eyes ignited with an inextinguishable flame. Even better. He was here! Of course, she was no fool. She had recognized that the Throne of Heroes placed her in another conflict, willing her to carry out the duty of a hero. She sneered at the word. The arrogance. She was the King. But as luck would have it, Naruto was with her in this new world.
She summoned Vimana to her side, eagerly climbing on the vehicle to meet her form of amusement.
Here was a man that had admittedly, bested her But it was only a matter of time before Naruto would fall before her too. Just like the other mountains she had faced in her life, she would bring Naruto crashing down and then tear him into rubble.
After all, she was the King of all Heroes.
A/N: I ask that you all be patient with me, at least until June 10th. My schedule is going to be chaotic because of tests. I'lll still try to update every week, but it's getting harder and harder.
Also, please review. That's it. Yup.
Next Update: Magi and Assassins
Peace out!