Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics21 does not own Naruto or Final Fantasy XIII
Naruto and Jiraiya were taking a break from their traveling at a nearby shrine where Naruto put some ryo in as he rang the bell and put his hands in prayer. "So, I hear that you have some sort of new form called C'ieth Mode. Can you explain it to me?" Jiraiya asked once Naruto finished praying at the shrine. "Yeah, I guess…" Naruto replied as he pondered a bit. "What's with the long face? It's not like a knucklehead like you be depressed." Jiraiya said. "Well, I was thinking that if I do fail to complete my Focus, I would stay in that C'ieth Mode of mine and rampage like the Undying did. Combine the powers of the Kyuubi, I would almost be impossible to slay…unless you're a warrior from one of the 13 legends." Naruto said while muttering the last part to himself.
This made Jiraiya raise an eyebrow at what the boy said and heard about the 13 Legends made him quite curious. "Well you were just branded a few weeks ago; I doubt you'll be a permanent C'ieth for some time." Jiraiya reassured only for Naruto to shake his head. "The brands are connected to a L'Cie's mental state, going into shock or have extreme cases of fear increases the growth rate of the brand. Sometimes, they would become C'ieth the instant they are branded due to the shock." Naruto said making Jiraiya wince at. "That is cruel, and for a kid to suffer that fate is beyond anything I've seen. Especially since Naruto's life was hell on earth." He thought and decided to accelerate the boy's training and help him fulfill his Focus.
He doesn't know when Naruto's time is up, but he'll do whatever it takes to help save his godson from a fate far worse than death. "Alright Naruto, from here on out we are starting your training effective immediately." Jiraiya said with a serious expression that Naruto mirrored as he nodded his head. "I'm going to teach you a jutsu that was invented by the Fourth Hokage, your father which took him 3 years to master." Jiraiya said making Naruto's eyes widen at the mention of his father. "This technique requires good chakra control so you must combine the tree-walking and water-walking exercises for the first step of training." He said as he held out a water balloon. Naruto watched as suddenly, the balloon popped as water dripped from the man's hand.
"What is the name of this jutsu exactly?" Naruto asked with his eyes narrowed as he had a feeling he's seen this technique when Kyuubi showed him what happened when he was born. "That was the first step of making the Rasengan." Jiraiya explained as Naruto nodded his head as he recalled that name when his father hit Madara with it. "Spiraling Sphere? It looks like it is supposed to grind into enemies when it hits. Short-range with incredible power, but lacks long range capabilities." Said Naruto as he analyzed it from what his father did in the vision as Jiraiya nodded. "That's not all, that jutsu is still incomplete" Jiraiya mused making Naruto's attention focus 100% on him. "What do you mean 'still incomplete' exactly?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya smirked.
"Simple, Minato tried to add his elemental affinity to the jutsu but still didn't have time due to his…death." Jiraiya said as he solemnly looked at the sky. "I see. Well I know I will master the Rasengan soon and I will surpass my father and finish off where he started for him." Naruto said in a determined voice surprising Jiraiya with his determination. "I know you will kid, but even you will have reached your own limits as a shinobi and a L'Cie one day." Jiraiya thought as they continued to Shukuba Town not knowing they were being followed. "You alright Itachi? That woman did a number on you." Kisame asked his partner who was bandaged up. "I'm fine, I merely underestimated her…It won't happen again." Itachi replied calmly as they observed their target and the Sannin with him.
"I'm pretty certain you can go toe to toe with him. Though I'm not sure I could. He's on a whole other level." Kisame said as they looked at Jiraiya who was talking with their target. "Yeah, if we face each other, both of us will be killed…A rather unappealing outcome." Itachi stated as the wind blew, his hair swaying with the wind. "Even if there were more of us, the result will remain the same." Itachi continued as he calculated their skills and experience with Jiraiya's own and knew the outcome if they were to fight. "Never thought I'd have to go up against one of the legendary Sannin. If we fight him, then both the Uchiha clan and the Seven Swordsman of the Mist will have their names dragged through the mud." Kisame said. "True, but still…even the most strongest of opponents, always has a weakness." Itachi replied as he thought of an idea to separate the two.
At a hotel lobby, Naruto was using his chakra trying to pop the water balloon Jiraiya gave him and noticed something was wrong. "That's strange, it's going in circles. The way Ero-Sennin popped it was a spiral shape." The young L'Cie thought as he began experimenting with his chakra when Jiraiya came back to him with a key. "We're gonna rest here for the day then pick up where we left off tomorrow. This will give you some time to learn the first step." Jiraiya said as Naruto nodded his head. "So what are you going to do? Some more of that "Research" of yours with some hot girl?" Naruto guessed knowing the man's antics well. Just then a gorgeous girl in a one piece sleeveless blue dress with no straps and a yellow gold chain belt around her waist in high heels with a single red magatama jewel necklace and gold earrings walked at the entrance of the hotel with an alluring aura surrounding her as she flipped her hair with her hand.
The girl looked at them which caused Jiraiya to turn to his lecherous self again causing Naruto to sigh, "I knew it…" he muttered as the girl blew a kiss at…him? "Did…did she just blow a kiss at me?" Naruto asked out loud as Jiraiya patted his student on the back. "I'm so jealous of you kid! First that Lightning chick and now her? Master, teach me!" Jiraiya begged while grabbing onto Naruto's legs and kissing his feet. "Um, she's all yours Ero-Sennin?" Naruto said confused as he tried to pull his perverted sensei off his legs as said man stood up. "Normally I would, but since it's you that she's interested in I'll have to pass it up." Jiraiya said making Naruto give him a look saying "Who are you and what have you've done with Ero-Sennin?" causing said man to laugh before giving a gentle push causing Naruto to walk up to the woman. "Um, hi?" Naruto said.
"That was unexpected Itachi, for a minute I thought that Jiraiya was going to take the bait." Kisame said as Itachi looked confused. "Indeed, though I guess I had to be more specific on what target she was supposed to lure away when using my genjutsu." Itachi replied as they used a telescope to get a better view on their target. "He looks just like the Fourth Hokage, no wonder why she targeted him instead of Jiraiya." Itachi muttered as Kisame looked at him. "What was the order you gave her with your genjutsu?" Kisame asked as Itachi looked at him. "Charm the most handsome man of the two." He said with a straight face as Kisame snickered at that. "Looks like Jiraiya isn't as handsome as he claims to be then." Kisame said as he recalled Jiraiya proclaiming he is as quoted "envy of men and desire of women." "You're right; it seems Jiraiya will leave him alone for the time being so we can use this as our chance to get Naruto." Itachi said as they vanished into thin air.
"I swear, after that time travel incident to the Vile Peaks and gaining this new outfit, I'm some sort of…chick magnet!" Naruto mentally swore as the woman Emi was holding his arm and lead him to a few places on their "date" while giving him tips when he goes on a real date. "Well, I guess I can use the experience." Naruto thought as she led him to a stall where a young man with short black hair waved at them. "Hello Emi! What brings you here with this young man?" he asked. "Well, I'm here for a certain item that only you have." She said as the man looked around to see if anyone heard her. "What's in it for me exactly?" the man asked. "Oh come on Nione, would you do this for little old me?" she asked with her eyes shining full of hope causing the man's will to crumble. "I hate it when she gives me that look." Nione thought as he went to the back of his store to get something.
"Ano…Emi-san, what is he getting exactly?" Naruto asked as the woman giggled. "Well I can't have my date be a 13 year old can't I? It would be embarrassing if any of my friends found out." Emi replied as Naruto tilted his head to the side not getting it. Meanwhile on top of a building behind Naruto and Emi, Itachi and Kisame were watching their target from above with said latter getting impatient. "This is starting to annoy me Itachi, why aren't we abducting the kid?" Kisame demanded as Itachi pointed to a corner of the street revealing Jiraiya stalking the two "dating" couple with a notebook and pen in hand. "I hate my life." Kisame muttered with Itachi nodding his head in agreement.
"I guess you should hate it more since our target is Naruto of all people." Itachi said as Kisame gave him a look. "Why is that?" he asked as Itachi replied while focusing on their target. "Because Naruto is able to outrun and hide from Anbu Black Ops the minute he learned to walk and run. His skills with pranking were legendary that you wouldn't even notice the pranks he does until after he's done. By the time you find out, he's already gone. I've spent most of my Anbu days being his guardian and he's eluded me to the part that I would have to bribe him with something extremely dangerous just to keep him in line." Itachi replied recalling many of Naruto's infamous pranks, from exploding toilets to having the entire male parts of the Uchiha clan wearing pink underwear and wearing Gai's evil green spandex. He shivered at the last one; he'd gorge his own eyes if he sees himself wear one again.
"I see, so what did you bribe him with?" Kisame asked to curious for his own good. "I gave him the scroll that has instructions on how to use the Bushin Daibakuha." He replied as Kisame's eyes widened. "Itachi are you insane! You want another Deidara walking around causing random explosions again?" he asked as Itachi smirked. "The technique requires the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which is something that Naruto lacks. So you don't have to worry about that." Itachi reassured as Kisame nodded his head wearily.
"Here it is!" Nione shouted as he brought out a bottle of…candy? "Uh, what's so special about this candy exactly?" Naruto asked as Nione had a glint of mischief in his eyes. "Open your mouth and you'll find out." He said as Naruto did so. Nione tossed a red one into his mouth and suddenly, Naruto was engulfed in smoke. "So…how do you feel?" Nione asked with a knowing look. "I feel…better." Naruto's voice said as he, Emi, Nione, Jiraiya, Itachi, and Kisame heard it from their positions and noticed it was deeper and mature. Once the smoke died out, everyone from both genders dropped their jaws and was awestruck at his appearance save Nione who whistled. "Wow kid, you're gonna be a heartbreaker one day." Nione said at the figure.
The smoked died down revealing a man in his early twenties with jaw length bangs on both sides of his face, a narrow face, crystal blue eyes that shined a hidden light in them, lean muscles meant for those who use speed in battle, a smile that could warm even the coldest heart, and his whisker birthmarks were faintly there on his cheeks as he looked at them. "How do I look?" he asked. Emi, even though she was under a genjutsu was about to faint the minute she saw his face and smile as her heart skipped a few beats, "…." Was her only reply as her face was blushing fiery red…as well as other girls within the vicinity?
"Damn it kid, you really are like your father in looks…though I wouldn't help myself to one of those candies." Jiraiya thought with many perverted ideas going inside his head if he can change his age at will. Meanwhile on the rooftop, Itachi was rubbing his eyes again and looked at the older version of Naruto and looked at the boy with pity, "He's going to have his own fan club soon. I'd better leave him that book just in case…" Itachi muttered as Kisame was sulking about how Konoha had a lot of good looking men and he's just funny looking.
"It finally works! Emi, where did you find this kid?" Nione asked as Emi looked at the salesman. "At a hotel, I just felt…that he would be the one." She replied as Nione nodded his head. "Good thing too, it only works with those with the powers of the crystal…so that means you're a L'Cie then." Nione stated surprising the older Naruto. "How did you-""Know? Well let's just say I…travel through places thought to be myths and lore and tend to learn a few things…" the man said cryptically making Naruto narrow his eyes about the man. "I'll give you a life time supply of this stuff for free since you're practically the only one who can make this work! Now I have more room for other merchandise!" the man said changing his personality as he handed Naruto 10 dozen storage scrolls containing the weird candy in them. "By the way…tell Lightning Nione said hi." He whispered in Naruto's ear making his eyes widen.
Naruto leapt back with his gunblade drawn ready for a fight. "Who are-"Naruto stopped only to see Nione and his shop gone. "Who the hell is that guy?" the adult Shinobi L'Cie muttered before a piece of paper landed on his face. He pulled it off and read it. "Red makes you older, blue makes you younger, and the orange one changes you back to normal-Nione" it read. Naruto wondered where he should place all of those scrolls this "Nione" gave him as the metal band on his arm he got from the Mirage Arena was activated and it absorbed the scrolls into itself before shutting down.
"Strange, I don't recall having this thing on." Naruto said before looking at Emi with a blank expression, "Sorry miss, I must thank you for teaching me important details on dates, but now it's time for you to sleep." He said as Emi had a confused expression as he placed a finger on her forehead. "Kai." He said as the woman fell limp as he caught her in his arms and placed her on a nearby bench. "This is low, to put her in a genjutsu to do the dirty work, disgusting." Naruto muttered as he looked at the metal band on his arm that dispensed an orange candy drop which he popped into his mouth and reverted back to his 13 year old self again. "You can come out now Ero-Sennin." Naruto said without looking as the super pervert came out looking sheepish.
"So…how was the date?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto shrugged. "It was good, but I'm counting on you to find her house." Naruto said pointing to the unconscious Emi "And don't get any ideas or I'll shoot your balls off right where you stand." Naruto said in a dead serious tone that made Jiraiya pale and sweat nervously as he nodded his head. "So what are you going to do?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto gave him a tired look. "I'm going to sleep." He said holding out the room key and started making his way to the place. "That kid is just as scary as his mom…" the Toad Sage grumbled as he carried the woman and began looking for her house.
As Naruto fell onto the bed in the hotel room, his eyes were beginning to drop as he began to fall asleep…only to be woken by a knock on the door much to his annoyance. "He forgot his key didn't he?" he grumbled as he got up and went to the door and opened it. What he saw was an older Sasuke with two sets of completed Sharingan eyes looking at Naruto. "I-Itachi, is that you?" Naruto asked as the man nodded his head. In a split second, Naruto crashed into the man with a bone crushing hug thanks to his L'Cie strength. "I missed you nii-san! Where were you for the last 7 years?" he shouted as Itachi was being choked to death. "Naruto…need…air…" he said hoarsely as Naruto let go of him as he fell to the ground. "Sorry, kind of gotten carried away." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Itachi got up and caught his breath.
"It's been a while Naruto, I know this is sudden but you must come with us?" Itachi said as Naruto noticed Kisame right by him. "Are we going to the Carnival?" Naruto asked with stars in his eyes as Kisame rose an eyebrow. "Carnival? What's that?" the walking shark asked as Itachi looked at him. "It's the biggest festival of the Elemental Nations that came from a place called Rio where people go to play games, dance, eat, etc." Itachi replied as Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah, in a few weeks there's going to be another one in a hot springs town and might permanently shut down afterwards." Naruto said sadly as Itachi's eye twitched.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked in a quite tone as Naruto pointed an accusing finger at him, "Ever since you were my guardian and took me to those Carnivals, a lot of people were there to meet the "Samba Master Itachi" as they all enjoyed the music and adventures there. But ever since you've vanished for over 7 years, less people stopped coming so this might be the last time the Carnival will come here in the Elemental Nations." Naruto said as his shoulders slumped in disappointment. "…Not on my watch it won't." Itachi said making both Naruto and Kisame look at him as he had a weird expression on his face. "If its "Samba Master Itachi" they want, then it's "Samba Master Itachi" they will get." He said as Naruto smiled and Kisame looked at his partner like he's lost it.
"Well that's good Itachi, but aren't you forgetting that we need to take Naruto to the boss first?" Kisame asked reminding them of their mission. "Sorry, I can't go anywhere until the stupid pervert comes back, maybe next time okay?" Naruto asked as he went back in his room and closed the door. Itachi kept his expressionless face on while Kisame got an eye twitch as Itachi knocked on the door again only for it to crack open a little bit for Naruto's hand to put a "Do not disturb" sign on the doorknob before closing it again. As he was on his way to bed, he felt the familiar presence of Lightning returning to his mind again. "Hey Lightning, what's up?" Naruto asked as he felt her glaring at him. "You're in danger is what's up! Two rouge S-rank ninjas named Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are after the Kyuubi inside of you!"she snapped as Naruto paused for a minute and put the pieces together "Crap!" he muttered.
Outside of the room, Itachi and Kisame looked at each other. "Did he just do what I think he did?" Kisame asked. "Yes." The Uchiha replied emotionlessly again. Kisame blinked a few times before taking a deep breath and snapped, "OOOHHHH HELL NO!" he shouted and with a swift kick at the door, it snapped open into splinters as he walked in with Itachi following him nearby as they noticed an empty room and an opened window. "He must have escaped." Kisame stated as Itachi nodded his head. "Indeed." The Uchiha agreed as suddenly, Naruto jumped down from the ceiling right behind Kisame with his hands set on the Tiger hand seal with a malicious smile on his face.
"A fire jutsu? Ha! My Samehada will eat the chakra before it even singes my cloak!" Kisame thought as his sentiment sword hung onto his back. Itachi on the other hand, knew Naruto's habits and recognized what the little yellow-devil-disguised-as-an-angel kid was going to do if he's a student of Kakashi. "He wouldn't dare…would he?" Itachi thought before realizing that this is Naruto he's talking about, he let out a small smirk at what he was going to see. "A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" Naruto shouted as he rushed forward with the hand sign in perfect aim of its next victim. Meanwhile all parts of the world went out of balance as in the Crescent Moon Kingdom, it started snowing, in Konoha, time stopped flowing, in Kumo, Killer Bee accidentally destroyed 5 building while using his Biju powers, in Kiri, Mei Terumi had a zit on her forehead causing her to scream in fright, in Suna, it started to rain, and in Iwa, the Tsuchikage broke his back again.
Back in Shukuba Town, Kisame was shot out of the window screaming in agony as he clutched his ass as his screams were heard through all of Fire Country. Naruto started falling on the floor laughing his own ass off while rolling around clutching his sides while Lightning who was in his mind was currently trying and failing to hold back her laughing fit as Itachi tried to compute what just happened before shivering from head to toe before laughing himself as he leaned on the wall for support. Their laughter was ended abruptly as a massive shadow covered them. When they looked up through the window…they saw the biggest water dragon in existence that stood higher than Gamabuta looking at them. "THAT'S IT! NOW I'M PISSED!" Kisame shouted as the dragon charged at them.
Naruto got up and Itachi stood straight, they looked at each other, then at the dragon before looking at each other again. Naruto turned around with Itachi doing the same, and then they started running as fast as they can and tried to get as far away as possible. The enormous dragon crashed into the hotel completely destroying it as it flooded the town; luckily all the people evacuated when they saw the dragon so no one got hurt. Kisame landed on the water and started frantically looking around for Naruto; he didn't care for the mission anymore as he only thought of two words that were repeating themselves in his mind: KILL BLOND.
Kisame found his target a few buildings away with that pink haired woman with that mysterious blade that injured Itachi with him and she had an amused look on her face for some strange reason, Itachi was on his way to Kisame with a smile tugging on his lips which annoyed Kisame already. "You're not gonna let me live it down are you?" he asked, "Nope." The Uchiha said as his smile faded away again. "Hello little brother…" Itachi said without turning around as Sasuke was staring at his brother with his own Sharingan active and filled with hate. "Itachi today is the day you die!" Sasuke shouted venomously as he charged at Itachi with a Chidori.
Naruto saw what was going on and looked at Lightning, "Take care of Shark boy while I help Sasuke!" he ordered as she nodded her head as they went to their targets. Kisame was going for the kill on Naruto as Lightning blocked it with her own Blazefire Saber and the two glared at each other in deadlock. "I'm very thankful I gave Naruto my spare Blazefire Gunblade just in case." She thought as she had nearly forgotten she had a spare one just in case she lost her first one, while the spare didn't have any Cocoon writing on it like her own, she had a feeling Naruto will have something written on his own soon.
Naruto had his own Blazefire Saber in gun mode as ran on water to Itachi as he aimed for Itachi who has blocked Sasuke's Chidori and was about to break his wrist as Naruto started firing bullets that scratched parts of Itachi who threw Sasuke back and looked at Naruto and blew a Phoenix Flower jutsu barrage making Naruto Dodge Roll it while leaping into the air as he made his gunblade switch to sword mode while in midair as Itachi drew out his own sword and in an instant, they slashed at each other as blue rose petals appeared as Naruto slid on water with Sasuke appearing at his side and he stood up as Itachi turned around and looked at them with a slash mark on his chest from Naruto's attack as said Jinchuuriki got into a battle pose as they had a stare down. (A/N: think of how Lightning fought Garland in Dissidia 012 opening with a few alterations).
"I'll tire him out and you help but you get to deal the finishing blow!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke nodded as said Uchiha grudgingly knew that if they worked together, Itachi would be defeated.
"Toss down your blade, and say goodnight." Itachi ordered with no emotion as Naruto pointed his blade at the man, "No thanks. It's not my bedtime." He replied as both Naruto and Sasuke charged at the rouge ninja. Naruto made his trademark hand sign and created 50 clones that were charging at Itachi and the man himself wondered what was with the smiles on all the clones, "Hey Itachi! I finally get to fulfill my promise to you and show you the jutsu you gave me!" the original said as he kept himself and Sasuke a good distance from the clones and Itachi whose eyes widened in horror as he realized what the boy was talking about. "Let me tell you something good…Art is an Explosion! Witness its Eternal Beauty!" Naruto shouted while crackling like a madman as Sasuke took a few steps back from his deranged teammate as Itachi thought of something after hearing the last two quotes with a sweat drop. "Did he take lessons from Deidara and Sasori?" he thought as he was surrounded by clones that started to exploded causing massive waves from the force as Naruto and Sasuke looked at the site with awe.
"Turn up the heat Sasuke." Naruto ordered as Sasuke made hand signs and took a deep breath. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted as he blew an enormous fireball heading straight for ground zero of the clone explosion not waiting for the smoke to clear. "You think that did it?" Sasuke asked as Naruto's sixth sense kicked in, "Move it!" he shouted as he pushed Sasuke away and leapt away himself as Itachi bursted from beneath the water where the two genin were standing with a singed cloak from both Naruto's exploding clones and Sasuke's fireball attack and was annoyed from the looks of his eyes as Naruto gave Sasuke a secret code with blinking telling Sasuke to stand on a roof of one of the flooded buildings which he complied as Naruto leapt onto a nearby roof himself as he switched to Ravanger.
"I'm impressed Naruto, you too Sasuke. For you both to injure me is a significant sign of both of your growths, but this game must end now…" Itachi said as he closed his eyes. Feeling a dark foreboding, Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Sasuke, use your Chidori on the water!" he shouted as Sasuke got the meaning as he charged one up and plunged it into the water as Naruto fired barrages of Thunder spells around Itachi as the combined forces of electricity conducted together as Itachi realized he was trapped as he was electrocuted and screamed in pain until both Naruto and Sasuke stopped using their electric attacks as Itachi was still standing.
"Let's finish this!" Naruto shouted as he and Sasuke charged at Itachi who had his head down. "…Fools." Itachi muttered as Sasuke was closer to him as he grabbed his little brother by the neck and kicked Naruto in the stomach causing Naruto to be pushed back as he flipped in the air and regained balance as he landed. "This is the extent of your power foolish little brother?" Itachi asked as he stared into Sasuke's eyes with his own. "You have the hatred in you, but it's still weak. My shadow is burned into your heart; let me remind you how it began." Itachi said as Naruto appeared behind him with his sword pointing at Itachi's neck. "Put him down you traitor, I'm the one you want." Naruto said coldly as Itachi chuckled darkly, "You are the light that guides him in the darkness, I will severe the bond between the two of you with your death." Itachi said as a clone of him caught Naruto off guard as he held him in place. "How the hell did a clone get behind me?" Naruto thought as he began struggling to get out of the clone's grip.
"Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me. And yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life, and when you have the same eyes as mine, come to me." Itachi said ominously as his Sharingan eye transformed as he looked at Sasuke who was struggling against his brother's grip. "Which one will you lose first? Your bond with Naruto as I kill him, or your mind?" he questioned as he said one word. "Tsukuyomi." He muttered as Sasuke was dragged into another realm. When Sasuke noticed he was in another place, he looked around wondering where he is as found himself with a red sky and warped moon with black clouds as his horror was realized as this is the very same place where his brother killed their entire family.
He looked down at his hands and saw they were smaller…he was in his childhood form once again as he shivered in fear of this horrible memory as Itachi's voice echoed from everywhere. "Yes…It's our childhood home." The voice said as if reading his thoughts as Sasuke saw his mother and father on their knees with their eyes closed, he tried calling out to them as he saw a younger Itachi standing behind their parents with his sword in hand. The real Itachi was behind Sasuke with a smile of pure cruelty as he spoke again. "You're weak Sasuke…" he began as the younger Itachi begun to raise his sword, "24 hours from now…" he said as Sasuke begged him not to do it "…you will be weaker still." Itachi said as the cruel smile never left his face as the younger version of him swung his sword ending the lives of their parents as Sasuke screamed as their parent's blood stained the floor.
Back in the real world, Naruto was struggling to break free from Itachi's clone's grip only to stop as he heard Sasuke let out a horrifying scream that unnerved him, "That bastard! He won't get away with this!" the young L'Cie thought as he began to gather chakra to the center of his body. Back in the world of Tsukuyomi, Sasuke was forced to watch Itachi kill his uncles and aunts in front of him as he tried to tell them to run as they got killed making him scream again. "You're not even worth killing…Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me one day…Foster your hatred and despise me, survive in such an unsightly manner as this…by all means flee, cling to your wretched life." He said as he showed a crucified Naruto as Itachi smiled cruelly at the sight as Sasuke's eyes widened with more dread as Itachi drove his blade into Naruto's heart. "I have taken all you have held dear to you. Our family, your friends, next time it will be your loved ones." Itachi sneered as he began to repeatedly kill Naruto in various ways as Sasuke watched helplessly as his brother killed his best friend over and over again and did the only thing he could do, he screamed.
Back in the real world, Lightning and Kisame were once again clashing with each other in another deadlock as Sasuke's screams filled the air making Kisame look at where it was coming from with an amused look on his face. "Aw, isn't that heartwarming? Using Tsukuyomi on his own brother." Kisame said with a grin on his face as Lightning looked at him with disgust. Back with Naruto, he gathered up as much chakra he could get and let out a roar creating an explosive force of pure chakra destroying Itachi's clone as he charged with his sword and did a feint on Itachi who fell for it as Naruto gave him a kick in the face before grabbing Sasuke and ran off. Quickly recovering, Itachi followed them into a hotel hallway that hasn't been flooded by Kisame's water dragon only to stop in the hallways near a window having a sense of déjà vu.
"Stay away from the light…" he muttered as he quickly put his hand in the window's light and quickly pulled it back as a trap activated as a barrage of kunai were launched at him. With the grace of a dancer, Itachi dodged them like they were kid's stuff as he continued his hunt for Naruto. As he ran into another hallway, Itachi stepped on a floor panel that sunk in and he heard a rumbling noise as he saw a giant boulder made of…Naruto clones? "Exploding Clone Boulder!" they all shouted as Itachi's dread grew as he started running for it. "Katsu!" the clones shouted as they glowed brightly before the entire building exploded creating a massive shockwave revealing the real Naruto carrying Sasuke on his back using a plank from the wooden floors as a surfboard as Naruto was surfing the giant wave towards Lightning and Kisame. "Surfs up dudes!" he shouted getting their attentions making the two swordsmen widen their eyes as they were swallowed up by the water…actually Lightning just returned to Naruto's mindscape to be avoid being swallowed up by the wave leaving only Kisame to deal with it alone.
Naruto's surfing wasn't over as he saw Kisame in the waves moving like a shark would with his sword acting as a shark fin as Itachi appeared using his own plank as a surfboard as Naruto was surrounded on both sides. "Time to jump!" he shouted as he leapt in the air with Sasuke's unconscious body on his back as he landed on the water and started running as if his life was depending on it since it was true. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Where the hell is Ero-Sennin?" he shouted as he got inside another hotel building and didn't even bother setting up any traps this time as Kisame and Itachi followed after him not noticing the walls around them turned organic and slimy-like. Naruto reached a dead end and turned around to be cornered by both Itachi and Kisame with said latter wanting to maim and kill him if the look in his eyes said anything about it as the place turned into a giant oesophagus as a figure appeared in front of Naruto as the figure began doing a series of kabuki poses as he began introducing himself.
"I am the great Gama-Sennin! I am known by all the lands and all the seas! I am the man who writes books from the heavens! I am the one who is the envy of men and makes women swoon and babies cry, the Gallant JIRAYAAAA!" exclaimed the super pervert as he did a finishing pose while Naruto, Lightning, Kyuubi, Itachi, Kisame, and somehow an unconscious Sasuke sweat dropped at the intro. "You're late." Naruto said with a blank expression causing the man to face-fault as the two rouge ninja's rolled their eyes at the stupidity of it all. "Shut it brat! At least I'm here aren't I?" Jiraiya snapped as Naruto had a depanned expression on his face as he pointed behind the Gama-Sennin. "Shouldn't you be dealing with them first before chewing me out?" he asked as Jiraiya turned around muttering something about disrespectful brats and such. "Kisame, it's time to go. We aren't in full condition to take on Jiraiya of the Sannin." Itachi ordered emotionlessly as Kisame had a grudging look on his face as he glared at Naruto as they ran off trying to run from the living innards of the jutsu. A great explosion was heard as Naruto let Sasuke rest on the wall as he and Jiraiya ran to the source of the explosion and noticed a hole in the wall edged with black flames.
"That can't be good at all…" Naruto muttered as Jiraiya nodded his head. "No one has ever broken out of this place. From the stomach of the mountain toad that can spew fire itself…this is some extremely powerful jutsu they were using." The Sannin said as he drew out a blank scroll and quickly drew seals on it and Naruto watched in awe as the black flames were sealed into the scroll. "Am I going to learn that to?" he asked as Jiraiya looked at him. "Not till you're ready squirt." The toad sage replied causing Naruto to pout as a swirl of red rose petals appeared behind them revealing Lightning with her arms crossed. "Looks like your training has to go up another level then." She said causing Naruto to sigh as a kunai latched itself to the wall getting their attention before quickly turning around to see someone running towards them.
The figure leaped into the air as it revealed to be Might Gai doing a jump kick which the nearest target that was unlucky happened to be Jiraiya. "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" the youthful man shouted as he kicked Jiraiya in the face with a smile only for it to immediately disappear as he realized who he kicked in the face. After Jiraiya got some tissue in his broken nose and yelling at the man responsible for it, Naruto and Lightning rolled their eyes at them as Gai picked up Sasuke and placed him on his back. "Hurry and get him to the hospital Gai, whatever Itachi did to him wasn't any normal jutsu at all." Jiraiya instructed as Gai saluted with his trade mark Good Guy pose with a smile as his teeth shined and had the ping sound effect.
Before he turned to leave, Gai looked at Naruto as he rummaged through his pockets looking for something. "Naruto I have a present for you that you might love. Hearing that you are a Genius of Hard work like Lee deserves something like…this!" he shouted as he pulled out a green spandex outfit much to the horrors of Jiraiya and Lightning as Naruto happily took it. "If you ever want to improve your taijutsu just wear it and train with me and Lee and we can let our Flames of Youth shine!" he said smiling as his teeth shined with the ping affect as Naruto smiled. "Yeah! Look out Konoha, because the Green Beast has arrived-Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted as he did a good guy pose with a smile and a glowing ping effect with Gai. Seeing this, Jiraiya was doing various methods of dispelling genjutsu and even tried to see if he was having a nightmare as Lightning planned to burn the spandex suit the minute Gai was out of sight.
"Well, I'll be off now. Stay youthful Naruto!" Gai shouted as he ran back to Konoha with Sasuke on his back. As the man vanished from sight, Naruto looked at Lightning. "By the way Light, some guy named Nione told me to tell you he said hi." He told her as the woman's eyes widened with pure dread and horror at the mention of the man's name as this made both Naruto and Jiraiya raise an eyebrow. "This is bad. If he's here…then the end of the world is near…" Lightning uttered with no hope in her voice unnerving both warriors at that, they never heard her sound so…dead. "What do you mean Light?" Naruto asked as the Master L'Cie looked at him. "He is the physical form of an unstoppable entity that can destroy even gods themselves if they got in his way. He goes by many titles like Ragnarok and not the beast of destruction but the actual Ragnarok itself, Judgment Day, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, the Fall, Day of Wrath, Doomsday, End of the World, and the Omega…he is Death." Lightning said as Naruto felt a sudden sense of familiarity with those names and was at peace with them, like he knew them from a long distant memory.
"Why is this "Nione" person doing here exactly? Does he have something planned?" Jiraiya asked wondering if this is something beyond the boundaries of humans and gods. "Like I said, he is Death, every world he goes to meets its end as all life in the world he visits and the world is engulfed by the Void. Nione is just a codename actually meaning the number 21 for those are the numbers of worlds he had ended. If he's here, then this will become his 22nd world that will be ended by his hand." She replied as Naruto noticed a sense of sadness in her eyes, he put the puzzles together and he realized what Nione did. "…He was the one responsible for everyone on Gran Pulse's death's and you and the other 5 members of your group to be sealed in your weapons wasn't he?" Naruto asked as Lightning nodded her head.
"He claimed to have been hired by Buniberzei to end this world but Muin and Etro knew of his plans and sealed me and the others in our respective weapons and had Nione seal my sister Serah and her friend Noel in their own weapons and banished the two into another paradox in time. As we all watched helplessly as Nione ended the world only for it to life to start again, I head something interesting from Nione while still sealed in my sword. He was muttering something about "The Cipher shall be born anew and shall cleanse the realms for the Fourteenth Final Fantasy, where the era of gods ending and the crystal legends become nothing more than a mere story." I don't know what Muin, Etro and Nione are up to…but I have a feeling he might mess around with the other versions of you Naruto. Because for some reason he resurrected Anima and created 6 time loops with different scenarios in them making me guess they were other paths you might have chosen." Lightning explained as Naruto placed a hand on his chin.
"What is Cipher? And what does it have to do with these paradoxes involving me? Just what do Muin, Etro and Nione have planned if they did this? Does this somehow involve these necklaces somehow?" Naruto asked as he held out the two sets of magatama necklaces with each necklace holding six magatama jewels in them. One set showing the other L'Cie paths he encountered only for the rosy pink and icy blue ones shining brilliantly signifying himself and Snow Jr. while the other set showed his roles with only a glowing red, blue, green and yellow showing his 4 roles of Commando, Ravanger, Medic, and Sentinel roles respectively. "I don't have all the answers Naruto, but I think the closer we get to complete your Focus, the more answers we might discover." Lightning replied causing Naruto to sigh as he put the two necklaces on and hid them underneath his turtleneck shirt.
"Well I guess resting here isn't an option. Should we carry on with our journey then?" Jiraiya asked as he felt left out in the conversation as the two L'Cie agreed as they left the submerged town not noticing Nione watching them with a female companion with him. His female companion had reddish-black hair and brown eyes and was wearing the outfit fitting for a Red Mage as she carried an interesting sword with her. "Things are getting very interesting huh Sapphire?" Nione asked with a smile on his face. "You could say that, the plan is set so both the Storm and Dragoon will meet in the Mirror Rift is coming soon and please call me Fire." She said with a friendly smile as Nione felt an ominous aura under that smile. "Y-you got it Fire." Nione said nervously as his companion chuckled at him. "So, what happens after they meet?" Sapphire asked her companion as Nione looked out into the sky with an amused look on his face.
"Well I'll be…the Dragon of Ruin is making his way here. Looks like Cid wants in on this scenario of ours." Nione said as Sapphire looked at him. "Shinryu is coming here? You know the Elder Gods won't like this. They will try to kill Naruto and the other paths so they won't lose their seat of power." She said as Nione shrugged. "Who cares? I'm just doing my job, though I have a feeling…" Nione trailed off as he pulled a coin out and flipped it. "Lady Luck is going to be at the boys side for a while." He said as he caught the coin.