See? I said I'd have it up by this weekend. But not all of you read my HP fic. You should! Go read it! As Supreme, Magnificent Ruler of the Fanfiction Universe I order you to--wait. Never mind.
So, this is something I don't think any of you have mentioned in your reviews yet. Oh, man, I'm tired. It's 3 am.
Chapter 8
Naruto scrambled after Kyuubi, who was hurtling down the slope at a breakneck pace. In the distance, the eerie, all-too-human screams could be heard.
"Kyuubi," he called. Hope was beginning to form in his chest. "Do you think that's my dad?"
The fox jumped over a small crack in the ground and continued running. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure that there are more humans in here. Besides, do you really want your dad to be in pain like that?"
"No, I guess not," he muttered, sliding down the slope.
Kyuubi stopped for a second and spun to look Naruto in the eye. "You guessnot? You guess not? What the hell do you mean?"
Naruto was saved from replying by another agonized scream. The fox glared at him a second more, then spun and flew to the source of the sound. Naruto followed, albeit a bit more slowly. His ribs were still impairing his movement, and guilt was worming its way into his stomach. Ahead of him, Kyuubi started to all-out sprint as the ground leveled off.
"Remember," he called over his shoulder. "Don't use your chakra unless absolutely necessary."
Naruto nodded and trailed after the fox, unhappy and conflicted. He didn't fall too far behind though. If one of the tentacled creatures came after him, Naruto wasn't sure he could handle it on his own. He would have been eaten if Kyuubi hadn't been there last time. Even though it wasn't the end of the world, since he couldn't die in this world, but still. He couldn't actually, permanently die, but that didn't mean he was fine with the idea.
Then why am I waiting behind? Why am I going so slowly?
Naruto picked up the pace again, berating himself. What is wrong with me? As the ground Naruto was on leveled, he risked raising his head. It had been down so that he didn't trip and fall. He scanned the horizon, and froze in horror.
Kyuubi was shrinking into the distance, rapidly approaching a large, morphing, white something. The thing wasn't Slimy or Big Mama, but something told Naruto this thing could be worse. It was attacking something, someone rather, on the ground. With a roar, Kyuubi launched himself at it.
As Naruto got closer, he saw that the white blob wasn't in fact a blob at all. It looked like an amorphous, boneless monstrosity, but in fact it was made up entirely of bones, tiny little bones that shifted and rearranged themselves. An appendage suddenly jutted out of the thing, spiking toward the figure on the ground. Kyuubi leaped at it, lengthening his claws and swiping through it.
The unattached spike shattered as it hit the ground and all the little pieces skittered, of their own volition, back into the main body.
Naruto gaped, dread over taking him. This was worse than the other things they'd fought: it reformed! As Naruto continued to sprint forward, Kyuubi made more attacks, but almost immediately, the thing healed itself.
"Naruto!" Kyuubi bellowed, dancing out of the walking graveyard's way. "Forget what I said!"
"You say a lot," Naruto shouted back. The closer he got to the thing, the more he realized how enormous it was. He then saw that it was, in fact, expanding itself to meet the threat of both Kyuubi and Naruto.
"Use your chakra!" he roared. "Use jutsus, use Rasengan, use anything, dammit!"
"Got it!" Naruto channeled his chakra to his legs, which gave him an extra burst of speed. He surged forward and created four shadow clones of himself. Two jumped over the thing's, uh, head, and the other three sprinted around it.
Naruto pushed himself off of one clones back, launching himself high into the air. The four clones attacked each giving Bones a kick into the air, right at the original Naruto.
"U!"
"Zu!"
"Ma!"
"Ki!"
Bones shot at Naruto, who raised his right leg high above his head. He pumped chakra into it. Tsunade had never taught him the secret of her superstrength, but she'd explained it to him once. Hold all your chakra into one point on your body, then release it exactly at the moment of contact. It took a lot of chakra control, which Naruto wasn't too good at, but hey, what was the worst that could happen?
"Naruto Rendan!"
Instead of all Naruto's chakra going into Bones and blasting him into little boney bits, it exploded everywhere. Bones was sent plummeting back to the ground and Naruto was sent in the opposite direction—namely, up.
"Naruto!"
Kyuubi stared up in horror as the blond bumblehead flew high, high into the air. How does he always manage to do this? Well, the kit wasn't coming back down anytime soon. The fox sprinted to the figure lying on the ground, who was not actually Minato. He hooked his hands under the man's armpits and began to drag him away. Kyuubi wasn't too worried about the man's injuries, seeing as how he was already dead. He'd come back soon. Probably before Naruto and Kyuubi found a way to incapacitate the damned monster, too. He just needed to get the corpse out of the way so he didn't trip over it.
Both of them were knocked back a good twenty feet as Bones crashed into the ground. The shockwave also destroyed all of Naruto's clones.
Damn, those clones were his only real hope of landing safely. Especially with his broken ribs.Kyuubi scanned the battlefield—Bones was stirring—for any hope of catching Naruto.
He got zilch.
Naruto was putting swear words together in ways he had never thought possible prior to his trip here. This was the second time he had been sent airborne since entering the Shinigami's stomach. He did not enjoy it. Oh, no, quite the contrary, he hated flying. Hated it, as of right now.
An incredible sense of urgency filled him as he saw the ground approaching again. He cast around for Kyuubi desperately, but the fox was making no moves to catch him this time.
Well, it's up to me, huh?
Unfortunately, no ideas were forthcoming as gravity dragged him to the ground.
Think, think, think
Naruto screwed his eyes shut and wracked his brain.
More shadow clones?
No, not enough chakra!
I can't just land! I'll break my legs.
What can I do? Maybe if I roll and try to absorb the impact—
No, my ribs are already broken, my lungs'll collapse if I try that. Granny Tsunade always warns me about pushing myself too far.
Can I use my chakra to make a cushion before I hit the ground?
No that'll—wait.
Shouldn't I have hit the ground by now?
Kyuubi narrowed his eyes. Naruto was glowing. Not just exceedingly happy, which he wouldn't be at the moment, but glowing.As in, providing a light source. A pretty, soft, white glow had enveloped the kit. Not only that, he was slowing in his fall.
By the time Naruto was within ten feet of the ground, he was just drifting down, rather like a feather.
At this point, Naruto opened his eyes and stared blankly. "Wha—?"
Unfortunately, before any analysis or comment could be made, Bones woke up from his shock. The creature obviously had some kind of intelligence and pride, because it appeared to sneer at Naruto, who was floating to him, before forming itself into a cudgel and slamming itself into his torso.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamit!"
"Great, now he's all the way over there."
A moan from behind him grabbed Kyuubi's attention. The man was coming back, to life and consciousness. The fox crept closer to him, head tilting to the side. This man was oddly familiar.
"Kyuubi!" Naruto howled. "Help!"
Bones formed himself into a vertical position and swiveled to 'face' Kyuubi. He tensed, glancing between his airborne kit and the monster.
"Take out that thing," the man behind him coughed. "I'll catch the blond."
Kyuubi didn't question how, he just threw himself back into the fray. Bones made himself taller, apparently trying to intimidate Kyuubi.
The nine-tailed fox was undaunted, and told the creature so, in the form of a roar.
Bones was knocked back a few paces, but regained its equilibrium quickly. It went through a series of transformations, each more complex than the last. Two appendages slithered out to each side, and Kyuubi received the message he was supposed to be quite impressed.
With a sneer, Kyuubi summoned up his own chakra—cut in half though it was. The red energy whipped out of his body, wrapping around him and shooting into the sky. He knew it was rather foolish, but he had to show this plebian demon who it was dealing with.
The nine tails stretched up, wrapping around themselves into one, giant coiled mass of demonic chakra. Kyuubi grinned. Bones had stopped his shifting in awe of the power that was Kyuubi. The fox snickered and prepared to bring it smashing down on the creature.
"Wait!"
Kyuubi froze and spun around, pinning the previously dead man with a glare. To his credit, the man only flinched slightly. "Why?" Kyuubi demanded.
"Even if you pummel that monstrosity into a million pieces, it will only heal itself and come after us again. I for one don't fancy being butchered by it more than once."
"You have a point," the fox conceded. "But do you have an alternative suggestion?"
The other man chuckled. "Just tell me you know a Containing Sealing Spell."
"I do, how will that help?"
The other man smiled back and raised his hands into a quick handseal. "Mokuton! Wood Style: Four post enclosing prison!"
The man thrust his hands out and two long trunks of wood exploded out of each, shooting up and surrounding Bones. Branches split out from each of them, forming a six-sided box that completely imprisoned the writhing monstrosity. Within seconds, Bones was no longer in sight, trapped inside the interlocking branches of the man's technique. Several of the branches suddenly extended itself in the direction Naruto had been thrown, chasing after him.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked, giving Kyuubi a look. "That thing will break itself out in a matter of minutes. Seal it!"
Kyuubi threw his head back and laughed, but sealed Bones inside the wood prison, enforcing the wood with demonic chakra. He finished quickly and spun back to the man. "Where's that idiot who calls himself a ninja?"
"I caught him with my trees," the man answered. "This way."
The two set out sprinting across the expanse of plain. "So, what else are you running from?"
"You met the creatures with the tentacles, the ones that eat your chakra?"
"Oh, damn."
"Definitely."
"So you naturally sent out huge waves of chakra, like a huge beacon. 'Come find me! I'm right here!'"
Kyuubi hissed as they approached a huge amount of trees, all tangled and interwoven. In the middle of them, there was a struggling figure, all limbs and frustrated curse words. Kyuubi jumped up and dragged Naruto out of the brambles.
"You okay, kit?"
"Argh! I'm fine! Lemme go!" Naruto thrashed and broke free of Kyuubi's grip. He leaped down, landing hard on his feet.
"You'll get shin splints if you're not careful," the other man warned.
Naruto looked up and his eyes widened. He wore a Konoha forehead protector and red body armor, reminiscent of about fifty years ago. "You—"
"Gotta move, kit," Kyuubi urged, grabbing Naruto's elbow and steering him away from the side of the battle. "There are bound to be a lot of things coming after us now. We can talk later."
Naruto made a face, but resigned himself to more running. Flying and running, flying and running that was all he'd done since Kagami ate him. That and—whatever had happened when Bones had thrown him into the sky. What had happened then?
After who knows how long of running, Kyuubi dragged the ninjas up another mountain and they fell to the ground, panting slightly.
"Can we rest here?" the man in the red armor asked.
Kyuubi nodded. "Yeah, but not for long. Who are you?"
"He's the First Hokage."
The fox looked between Naruto and the 'Shodai.' Now that he thought about it, it was the only answer. Only two humans in history had the ability to manipulate trees in that manner. One was Naruto's captain, Yamato. The other was the First Hokage. Kyuubi leaned in and inspected the man's face. "You know, you don't really look like the face on the mountain."
The Shodai gave a tight lipped smile. "Indeed. Apparently, Konoha's talent doesn't lean toward carving. You'll find that more in Rock."
"Well, you look like him, and you've got his talent," Kyuubi mused. "But how the hell did you get in here?"
"It was Sarutobi," the man murmured. His brow knit as he thought back. "I had died, and moved on, but someone summoned me back. He had black hair, gold eyes and a very long tongue."
"Orochimaru!"
The Shodai started. "Yes, I believe Sarutobi called him that. He performed some kind of jutsu." Here he reached up and touched the back of his head. "Something that made us obey him."
"Us?" Kyuubi asked.
"My brother and I. We were forced to fight Saru." The Shodai's eyes filled with sadness. "He ended up using some old sealing technique. Orochimaru apparently recognized it, because he tried to get us to pull back, but Sarutobi was a bit too quick. And I wanted to get caught, if it meant we ended the fighting."
"He used the Dead Demon Reaper Seal," Kyuubi said, scratching his head.
"Yes, that was what he called it," the Shodai confirmed. "He managed to seal me and my brother, but apparently, Sarutobi couldn't quite get all of Orochimaru. His arms are . . . floating around here somewhere."
"So that's how he defeated Snakeface," Naruto muttered, eyes wide. "Wait, does that mean the Old Man's in here, too?"
"Old Man?" The Hokage asked.
Kyuubi nodded. "The brat comes up with disrespectful names for everyone. If you hang around him long enough, you'll get one."
"What are you?"
Naruto grinned and Kyuubi grimaced. "Furball."
He chuckled at that. "You've got guts, young man. What's your name?"
"Naruto, Nam—uh—Uzu . . . just call me Naruto." Naruto noticed the strange look Kyuubi gave him, but didn't respond.
"You know, when I saw you, I thought you were someone else. He's been here a while, saved my ass a couple of times."
Naruto nodded. "That would be my dad. We're here to save him. We're here to get him out."
The Shodai perked up, his interest caught. "How do you intend to do that?"
"Well, there's a way, but . . ." Kyuubi trailed off regretfully. "It will only work for us, and only once. We can't help you."
The Hokage seemed to deflate slightly. "I see. Well perhaps I can help you find this young man. I've seen him wearing the Hokage robes."
Kyuubi bobbed his head in affirmation. "Yep. He was the fourth. Died sealing me into the brat over there."
Said brat was deep in concentration; there was something nagging at his brain. It wasn't fair that the First, the Second, and the Old Man were all trapped in here. All because of Orochimaru.
"Your granddaughter's the Fifth Hokage, you know?"
The Shodai's eyes lit up. "Tsunade, my little Tsunade?"
"Well, she's not so little if you—never mind." Kyuubi figured it might not be a good idea to mention a man's granddaughters assets in front of him.
Once you come out of the Shinigami's belly, you cannot go back in.
Once you come out . . .
"Wait."
Kyuubi and the First Hokage turned to look at Naruto. The blond raised his head and grinned at the pair. "Samuru didn't say anything about coming out once. He said I can't go back in once I come out."
"And?" The Shodai asked. "What does that mean?"
Naruto's grin widened. "I know the Shadow Clone Jutsu."
--
Well, that's all for now. I don't think that's a cliffhanger. I think you can all figure out what he's going to do.
Tell me what you think! Pleases :D
Oh, and what was I going to say? That's it: I'm registered as a beta reader on this site. If any of you are interested, spring break is coming up and I'll need something to do after I sleep for 36 hours.