Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics21 owns nothing but his imagination, OCs, and made up weapons or gear.
"You ready Naruto?" Inoichi asked as the blond boy sat on the hospital bed with a blank expression. "Let's get it over with." He grumbled as Inoichi connected their minds together and delved deep into Naruto's mindscape. When Inoichi landed in the mind of Naruto, he was in awe of the heavenly sky, the gentle earth, and the hellish pit that separated into three realms. "This is Naruto's mind? What a find! I've never seen a mindscape like this before…" he thought as he walked forward on the Earth Mind as he looked around.
It was nature at its finest, the trees were strong and big, the wind was cool and gentle to his skin, and the very grass felt soft. "I'm off to school mom, bye dad!" spoke two young voices as Inoichi turned to the source. It was Naruto, and a girl around his age that looked like a carbon copy of Kushina as they were dressed in strange clothing he was unfamiliar with as Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze waved at the two who were running off with smiles on their faces. "I see; this earthly realm of Naruto's mind must be the basic desire that Naruto sought his entire life. All he wanted was a family and a life that wasn't connected to shinobi's, just an ordinary civilian life." Inoichi realized as he nodded his head. Then he pondered, was the heavenly realm some sort of…realm of bliss and joy?
"Not exactly." a familiar female voice spoke as Inoichi turned to see Lightning standing there, watching the same thing that the mind diver had seen moments ago. "I've been in the Heaven's Feel part of Naruto's mind as he calls it, contains a library holding numerous scrolls and books of many ages that are locked tight. I had managed to open a few to see they were happy memories he had, and knowledge he collected in his time." She told Inoichi as he looked at the other side, one that felt dark, ominous, oppressive, and death. "Then that realm is…" he guessed as Lightning nodded her head.
"He calls it, Heaven's Fall; the dark side of his view on the world. That place is dangerous to enter, he's created his own imaginary demons that guard the place and I'm the only one they don't attack. There are horrible, dark memories locked there or fractured that I can't get a glimpse of yet. But at the same time, there is a special field located somewhere in there that you must not enter." Lightning explained as Inoichi nodded his head. "And the Kyuubi?" he asked, "Locked over there as well, but be warned, I'm not going to guarantee your safety if you enter there alone." She warned as she began walking past him towards Heaven's Fall. He followed her, wanting to see this "Heaven's Fall" for himself.
"By the kami…" Inoichi muttered as he gasped at the sight. If he knew the Christianity religion if it existed in his world, then he would compare it to Hell itself. The evil he was seeing was too real to exist in such a mind. He was seeing things he did not want to see at all. It was revolting, hideous, and he might be driven mad if he continued to look at this. "Snap out of it Inoichi, this is part of the collective human unconsciousness we're in. Naruto is somehow connected to it by some unknown means and it's showing us this for a reason, and one being knows why." She told him as Inoichi broke from his trance glance and looked at Lightning. "Who, or what exactly?" he asked as a dark chuckle echoed in the air.
"That would be me who knows the answer Yamanaka." The voice spoke, malicious, twisted, evil to the core as Inoichi shuddered at the sound of it as the presence drew near. When he saw it, it was a four tailed black fox that looked like its fur was partially made of crystal as red fissures covered the body. "Magatsu Arashi, I heard about you from Naruto. Still trying to take over?" Lightning asked with her arms crossed as the black four tailed fox laughed. "Indeed, but I shall play the waiting game; waiting to see when the brand opens to the final stage…and consumes him." the dark fox laughed as Inoichi was on edge. "What are you? And how are you connected to this…nightmare!?" he demanded as the fox hissed at him.
"Don't make commands against a creature like me human." It growled as its glowing yellow eyes pierced through any courage the blond man had. "But I shall indulge you, for you survived seeing most evils here in Heaven's Fall." The fox chortled as he stood upright. "You do not know of Zoroaster, but I shall explain on basic concept of this religion." Magatsu Arashi said, waving his hand like he was doing a magic spell dramatically. "What kind of religion has to do with this place?" Inoichi thought as Magatsu Arashi smiled. "Zoroaster is the very first religion to have two beings do the classic Good VS. Evil cliché that many humans have used in their own religions, folklore, and fairytale stories on their children for countless aeons and ages in the history of man. Two gods, Ahura Mazda, God of all the good of the world…and Angra Mainyu, source of all the evils of the world."
The mentioning of Angra Mainyu in the Heaven's Fall realm shook greatly as the human screams worsen. But Inoichi knew one thing; this Angra Mainyu is connected to Naruto and this demon's existence. "What does Angra Mainyu have to do with Naruto?" he asked as Lightning knew parts of it. By exploring some of Naruto's memories, there were two types of Angra Mainyu, the evil dark god himself, and the human sacrifice given that name as a title to be the one who carries all evils within his soul. "It can't be…" she realized, but it was impossible if Naruto had contacted the latter version of Angra Mainyu, the human sacrificed version and took some of the taint. It shouldn't have corrupted parts of his mind to create this mental hell; it only had enough evils and curses for the likes of Magatsu Arashi to be born.
"You guessed right Lightning, Naruto was chosen to become an Angra Mainyu like Avenger by the will of the gods." Magatsu Arashi grinned as Lightning eyes flashed in anger. "Even in this new life and age, the gods are up to no good." She thought bitterly as Inoichi narrowed his eyes. "So in other words, Naruto is declared insane then, correct?" he asked as Lightning noticed his hands were cautiously and slowly moving up to perform the release seal. "Oh no, he's actually resisted the curse due to only Naraku being infused with it, and it was only one third of him blackened like that. But circumstances from previous encounters like Avenger had made it a fifty-fifty. The more despair, the more hate, the more madness that consumes him, I shall be born into the world and all humans will be devoured by my shadows. And there is nothing you can do, that can stop the inevitable!" the monster laughed as the shadows started moving.
Lightning drew her Blazefire Saber quickly and sliced the demon fox in half as it fell apart. The shadows dying as well as Inoichi looked at her. "Heh, this won't change anything my Queen, I'll be back…" Magatsu Arashi warned her as that split face smiled as he faded away. She sheathed her weapon with a concern look on her face, "What he says is true." She replied as she looked at him. "You cannot stop it for Naruto's curse, the curse of the L'Cie and the death clock he has will consume him and that monster will enter your world and end it; with the powers of the Kyuubi as well." She told him as Inoichi shook his head. "There has to be a way to remove this thing from him! Therapy, constant medication, something!" he exclaimed as Lightning shook her head. "No, the god Hallowed Pulse branded Naruto with the curse, only a god or goddess of equal power can undo it, and free Naruto from the dark influence." She told him as Inoichi fell to his knees. "We have to keep him in Konoha." He told her as she walked up and punched him in the face, hard.
"Idiot! You cannot stop this inevitable scenario like that. Not even delaying it as this curse grows with every passing second. Do you want this thing to be born and ready to kill inside Konoha?!" she demanded as Inoichi widened his eyes as he was plagued by possible scenarios of what would happen. He was told of the L'Cie Curse, of the brand's evils if the Focus was incomplete and the fate of such failure the gods of Lightning's era will inflict. "What can we do then?" he sighed as Lightning turned from him. "Don't give up hope. That's what Naruto is trying to do." She replied not looking back as she disappeared in a flurry of petals, leaving the mind of Naruto as Inoichi began following suite.
As Inoichi opened his eyes, he looked at Naruto's calm face and his eyes spoke one message: You've seen him. Inoichi nodded as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing…" he said as Naruto smiled a bit. "You forget, I'm the most unpredictable person you've met, remember?" he asked as Inoichi smiled a little before getting up and walked out of the room. "He's clean." He told Tsunade who waited outside the room as she narrowed her eyes. She felt like he was hiding something from her. She walked into the room and placed a hand on her hip. "Since you've been given a clearance, you can leave." She told him as Naruto nodded his head and stood up, stretching as he cracked his neck. "Finally, the long dark days of hospital foods and beds are over!" he exclaimed as he walked out, flashing Tsunade a smile.
"Not so fast Naruto," Lightning spoke, appearing right behind him as he paused in mid-step. "You just got out, and have gotten rusty. You are going through rehab, and no excuses." She told him in a serious tone. "Understood…" Naruto sighed in defeat as Tsunade smirked, looks like someone was able to tame that little ball of energetic trouble for once.
*Training Grounds*
Kakashi watched as Naruto and Lightning stood in front of each other as she handed him two broken swords. He looked at the swords Naruto took; they were advanced technology that the people of this era could not use. Too advanced for ordinary warriors to use; the reason why Kakashi was here, was to help Naruto with one thing and one thing only: elemental chakra manipulation. For now, he must wait and let Lightning's rehab class begin.
"Sorry, but I was able to gather most of the fragments after Kisame broke them." Lightning apologized as Naruto held the broken Leoedge and Eloedge gunblades and their respective sword fragments. "You just made it easier to fix them actually Light." He replied as he grabbed the handles of the two broken gunblades. The lion eyes of the hilts glowed with new life as the maws open to extend the broken blade parts as energy seeped out of them and searched for the fragments. They immediately melded into one with their respective parts and were perfectly restored. This sight amazed both Lightning and Kakashi as Naruto smirked. "These guys are still in their beginning stages, so it will take time for their durability to fully kick in." he told them as Lightning gentle caressed on of them.
The metal was shard when she gently traced it as a small cut caused her blood to trail down the sword as it was absorbed by the sword itself. Lightning knew these gunblades were forged by some sort of mystic arts, but the way and methods are unknown to her since she was but a mere soldier of war. It seems Naruto's skills as a smith was something truly to be reckoned with if he had the right materials.
"These two are ready, how about you Light?" Naruto asked as Lightning smirked and drew her Blazefire Saber. "Ready when you are." She replied as they both jumped back as Kakashi held his hand up. "Begin!" he declared as the two L'Cie charged at each other.
Lightning ducked under a swipe, only to see the second blade coming in as she blocked it with her blade. Naruto twisted his body as he slashed at her with Leoedge and made a feint with Eloedge. Lightning didn't fall for them as she quickly thrusted her sword forward as one of the hook like appendages of Naruto's weapons caught and moved the tip aside from nearly piercing his body as he switched Leoedge into gun mode and aimed at Lightning point blank range at her head. Lightning smirked as Naruto felt something press against his heart as Lightning's Omega Weapon gunblade was in gun form as well and was aimed at her heart. "Draw…?" he asked as Lightning chuckled. "If I was serious and went all out, what would you think?" she asked gently as Naruto sighed in defeat.
"There's no beating you even with every last bit of power I have right now." He admitted with a shrug as Kakashi eyed the two. "For some reason, they remind me of a recently married ninja couple…" he thought as he eye smiled. "Well now that your rehab duel is over, it's my turn for teaching." He spoke up as Lightning and Naruto separated, sheathing their weapons as Naruto looked at Kakashi. "I recalled you were going to teach me elemental manipulation, correct?" he asked as the silver haired Jōnin nodded his head with a hidden smile. "That is right, and to help you with your training, use this." He said, tossing a slip of paper as Naruto caught it and examined it. "Just pour some chakra in there, and behold the results." He told Naruto.
The Shinobi L'Cie nodded as he began pouring a bit of chakra into the paper and was startled by the results. At the same time, the paper crumpled and was cut into threes as one was turned to ash, another part got soaked, and the third one crumpled and was cut into pieces. "Four affinities…" Kakashi muttered as Naruto heard him as he looked at his hand. "Maybe my L'Cie powers were infused into my chakra network to give me those affinities, because they're based on the spells I use in my Ravager Role." He guessed as Kakashi looked at Naruto. "Well then, we'll work on one elemental affinity at a time. We'll start with the two prime affinities, wind and lightning." He spoke as Naruto looked at Lightning with a wry grin.
"Funny how my name means maelstrom, because the winds and lightning is at its most destructive neh?" he asked as Lightning smiled a little at him and his wits at times. She watched as Kakashi gave Naruto lessons on how to manipulate wind chakra by cutting leaves with just his chakra. It took a while, but Kakashi was impressed by the progress he had by himself, since he didn't tell Naruto of the Shadow Clone method. "Not bad Naruto, it's as if you've known how to use wind chakra for most of your life." Kakashi stated as Naruto laughed sheepishly. Lightning resisted rolling her eyes, she knew that this Naruto was a clone of the 'Original Timeline' Naruto and inherited a certain degree of memories of his original and is practically cheating with the wind chakra.
How did she know? She spent some time looking into his memories to find out what info he might have that could speed things up (but due to his mind being fractured and split into other parts of his soul via Nione's trap in Anima, only a few things could be learned.) and found a door leading to some of the "Canon Naruto" as Naruto calls him and found the wind manipulation one, and the results of training into this Rasenshuriken he invented. She had to admit, that was one awesome killing move on that strange thread monster he fought.
"Well then, since you've pretty much mastered the basics of wind chakra, we'll work on the lightning chakra, and I have to warn you, it's not a fun one." Kakashi stated as Naruto snorted. "Nothing is fun in training unless you're competing against someone you call a rival." He retorted as Kakashi eye smiled. He wondered what the unpredictable Naruto would do, since he had taught Sasuke how to use lightning chakra before.
*3 hours later*
Naruto panted as he swiped the sweat from his brow and took a massive gulp of water from the water bottle offered to him by Lightning as he sighed in content. "Man, lightning chakra is no joke Light; I actually fried a few of my nerves while practicing on harnessing it." He told her as she had her arms crossed. "So, what did you learn from it?" she asked as Naruto grinned. "It works the same as wind chakra; they both can enhance bladed weapons with more cutting power. But wind chakra is more on raw power while lightning chakra uses vibrancy frequencies to work. It also adds numbness and the fact lightning chakra is energy, the cutting power could surpass the already brute strength of wind chakra if one hones in their skills with it to the point of mastery." He explained as Lightning let out a low whistle.
"Now that is something useful, I wonder if I could pull off the same trick with my Sparkstrike?" she wondered as Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that would be an interesting theory to try out in the future, but for now, let's relax." He told her as he pulled out a bento box. "Thank you mom for your glorious cooking," He praised as he opened it and separated the box layers as he shared some of his food with Lightning. "You know, Kushina really does know how to cook." Lightning admitted as she bit into a specially seasoned rice ball. "I'll say; a mother's love is the secret ingredient to making a delicious dish. They prove to be the best chefs that no one could beat." He replied as he bit into another dish.
The wind blew gently as Lightning took that special candy and took on her Éclair Farron form as she smiled in content. "This form is more comfortable when we're eating now." She said as Naruto smiled. "I agree," he told her as they continued eating in this peaceful atmosphere, not aware of Kakashi hiding in one of the trees as he eye smiled at the sight. "My cute little student is growing up." He told himself jokingly as he leaned back on the branch he was on and opened open his adult romantic slapstick comedy Make-Out Violence.
*Hokage's Office*
"This is crazy Sensei, why would you go after Orochimaru yourself!?" Tsunade demanded as Jiraiya was there with his arms crossed as Hizuren sighed. "He is a mistake I intend to correct. I'm dying already from time, but if I ever wanted to die, it is by dying as an honorable shinobi of Konoha." The old Sandaime replied in a calm, elderly tone, but with edges of seriousness in them. This caused Tsunade to slam her hands on her desk as she snapped. "You old fool! I will not allow another person I cared about die like that! Why can't you spend the last of your days with your family and pass on like normal old people?" she asked as Hizuren chuckled. "But that would be giving up Tsunade, and I have to tell you something, I ain't dying until Orochimaru's threat to everyone is gone for good." He told her as Jiraiya sighed.
"Well, I had just recently found our teammate's lair, guarded by undead ninja not worthy of that cheap knock off of Edo Tensei while investigating on how to undo the jutsu. We'll need the best of the best to go in there and storm the place. Taking out the source of the undead ninjas would be one of the key strategies of our victory here. The other is taking out Kabuto and Orochimaru as well, and they are both cunning bastards that will escape us a second time." Jiraiya told them as Tsunade merely sighed as she sat down and looked at Naruto's profile, only to catch her eye on three words. "Fabula Nova Crystallis…" she muttered as she had found her answer.
"Boys, I think we found our ace in dealing with our slithering friends so they don't escape for good." Tsunade spoke up as they saw that trademark look of the Sannin who will gamble with her life on the line.
To be continued…