A/N - Yay! Another new fic! I blame those evil things known as plot bunnies. They breed and breed and they just don't stop.
Anyways, I might do a second Naruto x Final Fantasy X crossover, but I dunno just yet. For now, you get this! Yay! lol
A lot of Al Bhed is spoken in this chapter, but I provided translations at the end of each paragraph, so you'll know what's being said. kk? Good. Other than that, not much of note to say. Sooo...read on and enjoy!
Chapter 1 – Stranded
Naruto groaned as he came to. The first thing he realized upon awakening was the fact that his mouth was full of sand. Spitting it out, he slowly pushed himself up onto his knees and looked around at his surroundings. All he could see for miles was sand. "How the hell did I end up in a desert? Am I in the Land of Wind?"
Slowly rising to his feet, Naruto looked behind him and saw nothing but ocean. "Nope, I don't think I'm anywhere near Sunagakure. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm somewhere pretty far away. Just what the hell happened? Think Naruto!" Smacking his cheeks to help shake the damn cobwebs off, he closed his eyes and tried to think about how he could have ended up in this situation.
Let's see here…I was fighting Pain…I think I lost control when…who was it? Hinata? Yeah, Hinata jumped in and died fighting him! I met my dad. Um, what next? Hmmm… Sighing, Naruto ruffled his hair in frustration and continued trying to figure things out. I defeated Pain and he supposedly revived everyone. But when I got back to the village, things went bad. That's right! That giant thing appeared in the sky! It attacked what remained of the village! Ugh, I was so stupid, trying to fight that damn thing feeling as weak as I did! Umm, let's see here, who was with me when it happened? We got sucked up into the sky towards that thing. I remember Yugao and Shizune…who else though? I know there were two others. Why can't I remember who was there?!
Sighing in frustration, Naruto looked around some more and came to the realization that he'd just have to hoof it in a direction and hope he found some kind of civilization. First though, he looked down at himself and did an inventory check to see what he still had on him. "Sage cloak? Check. Nearly empty kunai and shuriken holsters? Check. Gama-chan wallet? Yep. I feel like I'm missing something though. Ah well, it'll come back to me sooner or later, I'm sure." He said with a shrug.
As he prepared to set off, he came to the sudden realization that he didn't have any food or drink of any kind. Looking himself over and patting himself down, he began to cry comically. "My scrolls. My food! Everything! It's GONE!"
Taking a deep breath, Naruto turned to look at the water behind him, but decided against drinking any of it, as it'd likely only make him thirstier. So with a sigh, he turned and began heading into the desert. As he walked, he continued to try and figure out who the other two were that had gotten sucked up into that thing were. All he knew for certain was that it was two girls. Ugh. C'mon Naruto, think! You know them! Wait! Hana Inuzuka! I think the other was…hmm…was it Kurenai? It can't be. She has a baby, so I doubt she was fighting. I could swear it was her though. I guess she was fighting to keep her family safe? If she's stuck here too… Frowning deeply, Naruto shook his head and said aloud, "I'll find a way back home so they can return to their loved ones. First though…where the hell am I?"
All Naruto could see around him was sand, sand, and more sand. It didn't help when the wind kept blowing sand everywhere, getting some of it in his eyes, nose, and mouth. Off in the distance he could see a dust devil raging relentlessly across the desert. Thankfully it seemed to be heading in the opposite direction, so he wasn't too worried about it. He paused, however, when a lone tumbleweed rolled past him. "As if I wasn't confused enough." He said with a sigh.
A while later
Naruto groaned as he collapsed to his knees. The desert had started sapping away his energy early on in his venture. On top of that, he was starving and thirsty as hell when he started this trek across the desert. Now he was practically begging for even a little bit of rain, or perhaps some cloud cover. Dammit…
It was at this point that he heard a strange whirring sound from the east. Looking in that direction, he saw a bunch of mechanical things gliding across the desert sand with people riding them. They each wore goggles that covered their eyes, and they appeared to be almost all male, with a couple of noticeable females amongst the group. They were all dressed in what looked like a mechanic's getup.
As they approached, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle dryly to himself. "Please be friends…" he said quietly before he promptly passed out on the ground.
Upon reaching him, the shorter of the two females walked up to him and knelt down, checking for a pulse. Looking at the others, she spoke in a strange language, "Ra'c ymeja. Mad'c kad res pylg du Rusa. E's cina Bubc fuimt mega du dymg du res." (He's alive. Let's get him back to Home. I'm sure Pops would like to talk to him.)
One of the men walked forward and moved to kick the unconscious male before the other woman gripped his arm painfully, stopping him from doing so. Not quite sure why he was being stopped, the male said, "Fro pudran? Ra'c hud Al Bhed. Oui ghuf ruf baubma mega res jeaf ic! Ed'c paddan du mayja res uid rana du tea." (Why bother? He's not Al Bhed. You know how people like him view us! It's better to leave him out here to die.)
The shorter female shook her head and said, "Ev fa tu dryd, drah fa'na hu paddan dryh dras un dra fiends. Hu, fa dyga res du caa Bubc yht caa fryd ra fyhdc du tu fedr res. Syopa drec uha ech'd mega dra nacd?" (If we do that, then we're no better than them or the fiends. No, we take him to see Pops and see what he wants to do with him. Maybe this one isn't like the rest?)
Everyone else reluctantly agreed with her before loading the unconscious blonde onto one of their hover vehicles. Riding along, the smaller female looked back at her 'guest' and frowned. What were you doing out here in the desert, all alone? It makes no sense!
Home – Later that night
When Naruto finally opened his eyes again later that night, it was to the sight of a rust-colored ceiling and the feel of a slightly lumpy bed beneath him. However, compared to what he'd had to deal with before, it might as well be a luxury suite in a hotel somewhere. With a sigh, he made to sit up, only to hear someone say something in a language he was unfamiliar with. "Tuh'd kad ib. Mad sa kad oui cusa fydan vencd." (Don't get up. Let me get you some water first.)
Naruto blinked as he stared at the unfamiliar girl seated near his bed. Not quite understanding what she said, he said, "Um…okay? I didn't understand a word of what you said, but…"
The girl sighed and held up a finger, motioning him to wait. Walking away, she went into the bathroom and filled a small cup with water. When she brought it back to him, Naruto thanked her before taking a sip. Afterwards, his eyes lighting up, he downed the rest of the water and handed her the cup again. "Thank you."
The girl brushed back her long, golden locks and smiled kindly at him. "You're welcome. Tell me, where are you from? It's not every day we see somebody trying to cross the desert like that."
Naruto blinked a couple of times and said, "So you can speak my language. What was it you said before? And in what language?"
The girl frowned and said, "In order, I told you not to get up while I went to get you some water. And I was speaking Al Bhed. Don't tell me you've never heard of us."
Naruto sweatdropped and asked uneasily, "Al Bhed? What's an Al Bhed? And where am I exactly? I get the feeling I'm nowhere near Konoha or the Elemental Nations anymore."
Frowning deeper, the girl looked him dead in the eyes and said, "I've never heard of those places. And you've obviously never heard of us. Tell me, before you ended up in the desert, what's the last thing you remember?"
The spiky-haired 16 year-old frowned and shook his head. "I just finished fighting my strongest enemy ever. When I returned home, this giant THING appeared out of nowhere and destroyed more of my village. When my comrades and I tried to fight it, we were sucked up into it. The next thing I know, I'm waking up in the desert with no food or water, no idea where I am, nothing. I couldn't even scratch the blasted thing!"
The girl's eyes widened and she asked, "Was it Sin?"
Naruto blinked and asked, "Sin? What are you talking about?"
"Do you remember your name? How old you are? Your birthday? Anyone that's come in contact with Sin usually suffers a few symptoms, such as memory loss." The girl explained.
The blue-eyed teen sighed and said, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm from the Elemental Nations, more specifically the village of Konohagakure. I'm 16 years-old and my birthday is October 10th. I'm a Genin-ranked shinobi, though I probably should've been promoted ages ago. But, when I woke up here, I was having trouble remembering certain things. It took me a while to remember what happened before I ended up here and who I was with at the time. I'm still not sure if I'm right about who else came here with me. We tried to fight that Sin thing, as you called it, and lost bad. I was still weak from my fight against Pain. There was no way I could've won a fight with something that damn big in my weakened state."
The girl blinked a couple of times in shock before saying, "Wowzers. You're pretty brave, aren't ya? Anyways, the name's Rikku! Nice to meetcha!"
Before either of them could continue conversing, the door opened and in walked a tall, bald man with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Fryd ryja oui maynhat?" (What have you learned?)
Rikku glanced at Naruto for a moment before looking into the old man's eyes. "Sin. Rec hysa ec Naruto Uzumaki. Yka 16. Caasc mega ra lysa rana vnus yhudran funmt un cusadrehk." (Sin. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Age 16. Seems like he came here from another world or something.
The stern, bald man's eyes widened momentarily before he looked into Naruto's eyes. "Do you come from the Elemental Nations, Boy?"
Naruto quirked a brow and nodded his head. "Yeah, why do you ask?"
The old man sighed and closed his eyes. "Sin's swept you up and deposited you in a whole other world. You're in the world of Spira now. Seems we've got a LOT to teach you while you're here. Far as I know, only Sin has the power to travel between worlds like that. So unless you've got some kind of magic spell that'll whisk you back home, you're stuck here in our world. Sorry kiddo."
The blonde teenager sighed heavily and nodded his head. "That's about what I figured. This Sin thing, it sucked my friends into it as well. Their names are Hana Inuzuka, Kurenai Yuhi, Shizune Kato, and Yugao Uzuki. Do you know where they could have ended up? I'm afraid we were separated when Sin swallowed us like that. Kurenai's got a baby at home, so I'm really worried about her. I need to find some way to at least return her home, no matter what it takes."
The old man frowned deeply at this and shook his head. "'Fraid I don't have any answers for you kid. The name's Cid by the way. You're welcome to stay here and learn as much about the world, its races, and pretty much everything you could ever want to know about Spira here at Home. I can tell you this for certain though: the last person from the Elemental Nations that visited Spira never returned home. It's unknown exactly what happened to her, I'm afraid. She went on the pilgrimage with Lord Braska and Auron to put a stop to Sin. They succeeded for a time, but nobody really knows what happened to Braska's guardians."
Frowning in thought, Naruto soon realized something. "Did they succeed in stopping Sin?"
Cid nodded and said, "Sure did. And before you ask, Sin tends to return after a total of 10 years. People have tried all kinds of methods to try and kill it for good, but nothing works. It just keeps coming back and terrorizing the people of Spira. It's just too damn powerful."
Scowling now, Naruto clenched his fists at his side and said, "Then I'll just have to find some way to permanently kill the damn thing. But first, I need to learn everything you and your people can teach me. I don't care if it takes years, I'll find a way to beat Sin and I'll figure out a way to at least get Kurenai home safely. I don't care if I ever get to go home, but the others? They deserve the chance to go home to be with their loved ones again."
Cid and Rikku both frowned as they took in his words. After a brief period of silence, Rikku voiced the question that was on their minds. "Why don't you want to go home?"
Naruto clenched his fists tight for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I'm a jinchuriki. I hold a demon inside of me called the Kyuubi no Yoko. We jinchuriki are treated like outcasts by the very people that made us what we are. Back home, my life was not a pleasant one. My birthdays were the absolute worst. I wasn't just lonely and starved for attention, I was beaten and damn near killed every damn time. All because I housed the Kyuubi and they wanted to punish the demon for pretty much daring to exist in the first place. Personally? I just don't care if I get to go back home or not. I didn't really have any loved ones back home. I was just kind of living day to day with no real purpose in my life. On top of that, I was being hunted by those who wanted to capture we jinchuriki so they could extract the demons inside of us. Problem with that is that doing that kills us. So with me here, the Akatsuki can't complete their plans anymore. So in the end, it's like a win-win scenario for me."
Cid frowned for a moment before he walked up to Naruto and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Tell you what kid, I'll take you under my wing and personally teach you everything there is to know about this world. You deserve to know the full truth of things, unbiased and honest. I'll even teach you how to repair machina, how to dismantle hostile machina, and I'll get you a proper weapon, since it seems you're lacking one right now. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be a true Al Bhed in all but blood. You'll have a home here with us. Sound good, kid?"
The blue-eyed blonde felt tears welling up in his eyes for a moment before he wiped them away. "Thank you Cid-san. This means a lot to me."
Cid chuckled a bit and said, "No worries kiddo. And I'll do my best to look into where your friends might be. If we're lucky, we can find them and bring them here, to Home. But there's no guarantees. Spira's a big place and they could be practically anywhere, even in Zanarkand. That's a pretty dangerous place, sadly. Used to be a bustling city with technological wonders and buildings higher than anything you can imagine. Now it's in ruins after Sin rose and destroyed the city. The teachings of Yevon would have you believe that Sin came to be as a result of the sins the citizens of Zanarkand had committed. They say that they relied too much on forbidden machina and were trespassing into the territory of the gods. It's all a bunch of hogwash, but the people continue to buy into those lies and the slander. They hold onto their faith and pray with all their might for Sin to disappear so that people can live their lives in peace. They send summoners to their deaths in an effort to defeat Sin and banish him for another 10 or so years. Well I'm bound and determined to find some way to stop the unnecessary sacrifices. We're all working hard to put a stop to Sin in our own way."
Naruto found himself smiling at Cid's dream. "If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it gladly. Heck, if I have to, I'll beat the hell out of that thing and hit it with a good ol' Rasenshuriken. Whatever it takes to see your dream come true."
Cid chuckled a bit and slapped Naruto on the back. "Glad to hear it. For now, get some rest. You're still weak from everything you've been through. Rikku will take care of you in the meantime. I'll explain things to the others. You'll be safe here with us."
As Cid left the room, Naruto turned to Rikku and offered an awkward smile. "Looks like we're stuck together. I suppose I should call you Nurse Rikku now?" he teased.
Rikku stuck her tongue out at him before giggling a bit. "Meanie. Seriously though, I'll look after you. The others might not be so accepting at first, but you'll be just fine, I promise."
"Thanks Rikku. I appreciate it."
2 months later
Naruto scowled as he read page after page of the book he had in his hands. So far, he had used his Shadow Clones most effectively, using them to speed up the learning process so he could learn absolutely everything he could about this world known as Spira. So far, he had to admit that he disliked pretty much everything about the religion known as Yevon. It was quite the effective brainwashing technique and it seemed that damn near everyone throughout the world fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The whole religion just screamed bullshit to him. More than that, however, he had a REALLY bad feeling that something just wasn't right about the whole thing. It was like there was something shady going on behind the scenes, but he couldn't piece it together because he didn't have the right pieces…yet.
Something that absolutely infuriated Naruto, however, was the fact that the Maesters of Yevon had everyone convinced that Sin kept returning because the people were full of sin. What made it even worse is that they had people convinced that the Al Bhed were guilty of all kinds of crimes, the main one being the use of machina. After all, machina were forbidden, they were evil. And yet, the Yevonites used certain types of machina all the time. Fucking hypocrites!
Closing the book he was reading, Naruto set it upon the table before him and massaged his temples. He was getting a headache from just thinking about all the shit that was wrong with this world. It was at this point that a number of his Shadow Clones started to disperse in small groups, which only added to the headache he was suffering from. However, one memory brought a small smile to his face. Kurenai…
Standing up off the chair, he summoned a few clones to finish reading the books he had chosen to read today. Leaving the library, he wandered the halls, greeting the various Al Bhed he passed along the way. Finally, he reached the room where Cid was waiting for him. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside and said, "I'm here."
Cid smiled and motioned towards the red-eyed woman seated in front of him. "Glad to see you made it. Naruto, we found one of your companions."
Naruto nodded in thanks before turning to Kurenai, who was now staring at him with tears brimming in her eyes. "Hi there Kurenai-san. I'm glad my friends finally found you. I…I'm trying to find a way to get you and the others home, but the only real clue I've got to go on is the big, bad Sin. I've been doing some research into this magic stuff, and I've also been trying to create a seal using fuinjutsu that might be able to do the trick, but I'm barely making any progress. I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to get you home to your child. Please, just be patient with me, okay?"
Kurenai stood up and hurried over to Naruto, wrapping him in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I was alone…" After a moment, she stepped back and looked him over for a moment, seeing that he had changed his outfit up a bit. Now, instead of that tracksuit he wore, he was wearing brown pants and a blue-grey shirt with short sleeves that hugged his form nicely to the point you could easily make out his compact muscles. He still wore the sage cloak, though his entire outfit looked to be a bit dusty, though she supposed that was to be expected in a rundown place like this. All-in-all, he looked quite handsome.
After a moment, she shook her head and looked into Naruto's eyes. "Don't kill yourself trying to get us home. I miss my child, I really do, but I don't want you working yourself too hard for my sake. For the time being, I trust my students to look after my daughter. I trust you, Naruto. But…" Looking at him sadly, she decided to just come out with it and asked, "You said you were searching for a way to send me and the others back…but not yourself. Do you not want to return home?"
Naruto sighed and scratched his cheek for a moment, unable to look her in the eyes. "Kurenai-san…you know how life was for me back home. I would love to say I did…but I didn't really have any loved ones. No family. And my supposed 'friends' would rather insult or abuse me than treat me with any kind of respect. And before you tell me that Hinata loved me…please don't. I understand she had problems of her own to deal with, and she may have claimed to have loved me, but she never worked up the courage to reach out to me and let me know somebody cared growing up. I have no feelings for her, romantic or otherwise. We barely even interacted with one another."
Sighing once again, the blonde rubbed his head for a moment before continuing. "And I may have defeated Pain and saved everybody…but it wouldn't take long for them to realize that the reason they even attacked the village was to get to me. And Danzo, but that's a story for another time. The point is, as soon as they realized the truth, things would've turned even worse for me than they already were. Exile would have been a light punishment for my 'crimes'. Hell, even just existing in that world was a crime."
"Kurenai-san…I want to get you home to your daughter. You deserve the chance to raise your daughter and enjoy a good family life. Hana-chan deserves to go home and be with her family. Shizune-chan has Tsunade-sama and Tonton to worry about. And I'm sure Yugao-chan would like to go home too. But…I'm not going to be going with you. I'm sorry."
The black-haired beauty frowned sadly and simply hugged Naruto close. "I understand. For what it's worth, I'm sorry we weren't there for you. You may have been Kakashi's student, but I could have done more for you if I had just chosen to be there for you. I know I could have taught you a lot, I'm sure of it. If…if it means anything, I did push to have you on my team instead of Kiba. But…"
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "I know. Kakashi played the whole 'I was Minato's student. It's only right I have his son on my team.' card, right?"
Kurenai looked shocked as she peered into his eyes. "You know?"
The teenage blonde shrugged and said, "Yeah. My dad left a soul imprint inside of the seal. We talked for a time and he told me all about himself and my mother, Kushina Uzumaki. He told me a lot, actually."
The ravenette nodded and said, "I see. You're right, Kakashi did play that card. And the Hokage bought it and gave you to Kakashi, despite protests otherwise. That whole team was a toxic environment for you. You and Sasuke couldn't get along, Sakura wanted nothing to do with you, and Kakashi played favorites with the Uchiha. But the Third wasn't listening. And even upon learning the truth of just what you and the others went through on that team, he still refused to trade you to my team. I tried, Naruto. I really did."
Naruto shook his head and simply hugged the slightly shorter woman closer. "It's okay Kurenai-san. Thank you."
Kurenai simply smiled before she stepped back and smiled at Cid. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to stay here, in Home. I want to make up for lost time and do what I can for Naruto. I promise I'll make myself useful too."
Cid chuckled softly before saying, "I had already prepared rooms for you and the others. You are welcome here, the same as Naruto is. In fact, I think I'll show you the way myself. But I do have one favor to ask."
The red-eyed beauty asked, "What's the favor? I'll do whatever I can to help."
The bald man simply looked her in the eyes and said, "It's the same thing I asked of Naruto: learn our language so you can communicate with my people. Naruto's picked up on it pretty quickly. Still a bit rusty, but he's getting there. You need to be able to talk with us without needing a translator nearby at all times. I'll have my daughter teach you, same as she's done with Naruto."
"That's a reasonable request. Who knows? Learning a new language might be pretty fun." Kurenai said with a smile on her face.
"Glad to hear it. Now come on, let's show you to your room. Naruto, I expect you to take care of her while she's with us." Cid said, looking hard into Naruto's eyes.
"Of course, Cid. No worries there. Anyways…" As they walked along, Naruto turned to look at Kurenai for a moment. "Do you know where the others could have ended up? I landed in the desert, but where were you?"
Cid cut in at this point, saying, "Found her in the Calm Lands. She was resting at the travel agency there. She looked completely lost and out of place. Wasn't hard to tell she was with you."
Kurenai sighed and nodded her head sadly. "Yes. I didn't expect to see so many monsters though. Just what were those things?"
Naruto frowned at this and said, "They're called fiends. The closer you get to Zanarkand, the more powerful they get. Considering the Calm Lands is so close, I'm not surprised you encountered some. I'm glad you're okay Kurenai-san."
"I see. Are these fiends, as you call them, everywhere? How do people deal with them?" Kurenai questioned. Then she looked pointedly at Naruto and said, "And you can call me Kurenai. You don't need to keep calling me -san."
Naruto chuckled a bit before saying, "All right Kurenai. And for some reason, fiends tend to stay away from cities and towns like Luca and Kilika. They don't seem to like heavily populated areas. But at the same time, there's a bit of a problem…"
Cid frowned as they reached the room Kurenai would be staying in, which was conveniently located right next to Naruto's. "Fiends are created when the souls of the dead refuse to pass on peacefully. If they're attached to something or someplace and they harbor enough anger or hatred in their hearts, the souls of the dead will turn into fiends. The only way to prevent that is to allow a summoner to send them. However, there is such a thing as an unsent person, though that's rare. An unsent is someone who has perished, but simply refuses to let go. Their strong wills allow them to remain in their bodies and go on as if nothing was wrong. It has happened in the past, but very rarely."
Kurenai just stared between Naruto and Cid blankly for a time. After a while, she said, "Someone's going to have to explain everything to me later. I think I need to lie down for a while…"
Naruto chuckled a bit and nodded in understanding. "Get some rest Kurenai. I'll do what I can to help you out later. For now, I'm going to head on out with Rikku and Brother, see what we can find today."
"Brother? There's somebody named Brother here?" Kurenai asked confused.
Cid chuckled at this and said, "I see you ninja think alike. Naruto here couldn't quite grasp that either. Brother's my son. Older than Rikku by a few years, but he's a good kid. Little stupid, but a good kid."
Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Little stupid? The idiot's the reason Rikku's scared of thunder and lightning. Still, he was trying to help her, so I can't really fault him for that. But he's still stupid."
Cid sighed and hung his head. "Sadly." He muttered dejectedly.
Kurenai sweatdropped at this interaction before simply shaking her head and entering her room. She'd worry about asking for spare clothes and a shower later. Right now she just wanted to sleep.
1 year later
All Naruto could do was stare at the scene before him with a deadpan expression on his face. He and Rikku, plus a few other Al Bhed, had heard about a strange woman on the Mi'ihen Highroad. So, curious as they were, the four of them sailed to Luca and, from there, went up to the Highroad so they could hopefully find this strange woman. It took a while, but they eventually stumbled upon a black-haired woman using some kind of strange technique to heal injured travelers while felling any fiends that came too close. Now here she was, battling a few Mi'ihen Fangs, poisoning them and generally just tearing away at them with her taijutsu and whatever weapons she had on hand.
With a sigh, Naruto rushed past her and cut down the remaining fiends with the sword he had on hand. Turning back to face her, Naruto said, "Shizune-chan. You seem to be having fun."
Upon seeing Naruto, the black-haired kunoichi rushed up to him and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. "Naruto-kun! It's you! I was beginning to think I was all alone in this strange, new world! Where the heck have you been?! Are you eating properly?"
As Shizune peppered him with question after question, Naruto began to feel a headache rising. So, pressing a finger to Shizune's lips, causing a slight blush to spread across her cheeks, Naruto said, "I'm fine, Shizune-chan. My friends, the Al Bhed, found me when I was lost in the Sanubia Desert. They took me in and they've treated me kindly, I promise. Yes, I've been eating right. Plenty of fruits and vegetables, and whatever else we get to eat. And we're not the only ones to come here to Spira. Kurenai's here as well, and I'm 100% certain that Hana-chan and Yugao are here as well somewhere."
Shizune frowned slightly and shook her head. "I see. I wish I knew where they were. When I came to, I was being attacked by something the people here called Chocobo Eater. They helped me kill it and I was taken to Luca to rest and recuperate. I've been wandering the Mi'ihen Highroad almost every day, hoping to come across you and the others. Do you know if there's any way we can go home?"
Naruto frowned and proceeded to tell her what he had told Kurenai over a year ago. "I'm not going home with you, Shizune-chan. I'm staying here. I'll find a way to get you and the others home, I promise. But…"
The black-haired woman frowned sadly and nodded her head in understanding. "I see. Then I'm staying here with you."
Naruto blinked a couple of times from the shock of what he had just heard her say. "Come again?"
"You heard me Naruto-kun. If you're staying here in Spira, then I'm staying too. You're one of the only reasons I was even staying in Konoha to begin with. I'm sure Tsunade-sama felt the same. Besides, as much as I'll miss Tsunade-sama, I'd miss you more. You're very important to me, Naruto-kun. Now no complaints! Introduce me to your friends!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly at him before turning around to approach his friends.
Naruto chuckled humorlessly before walking up to the Al Bhed of the group. In Al Bhed, he said, "Kioc, drec ec Shizune. Cra'c y jano tayn vneaht uv seha." (Guys, this is Shizune. She's a very dear friend of mine.)
Shizune looked confused as can be at hearing Naruto speak this strange, new language. However, she soon snapped out of it when they each waved at her in greeting.
Turning to look at Shizune, Naruto motioned towards his friends, one by one, and said, "This is Albedo, Lugo, and Rikku-chan. Rikku's my best friend here. Her father's been taking good care of me and Kurenai too."
"Yep yep! Looking forward to getting to know you better Shizune-chan!" Rikku exclaimed, smiling at the black-haired woman. "Naruto-kun's told us a lot about you and the others. I think you'll like Home. Um, you are coming with us, right?"
Shizune giggled a bit and said, "Yes, of course. I'm going wherever Naruto-kun does."
"Glad to hear it Shizune-chan." Naruto said, smiling happily at her. "Now come on, we should probably get going before anyone gives us a hassle."
The ravenette frowned and asked, "Why would people have a problem with you?"
Rikku frowned sadly and said, "The Al Bhed aren't the most popular people in the world. Yevon has singled us out as the root cause of Sin's continued existence, calling us sinners and blasphemers. And because pretty much everybody follows the teachings of Yevon so devotedly, they immediately fell on the 'I hate all Al Bhed' bandwagon. You wouldn't believe how many people are racists towards us simply because Yevon told them to be. They don't even TRY to think for themselves."
Naruto sighed and pulled Rikku into a hug before smiling sadly at Shizune. "Trust me, I'll explain everything once we're back at Home. It's best that we don't linger here for too long."
Shizune smiled sadly and nodded once in understanding. Naruto-kun's going to have it hard here too, I can tell…
1 year later (Canon timeline)
"Oui'na ypcumidamo cina drec ec dra bmyla?" Naruto asked, a small frown on his face. The place they were at looked like it had DEFINITELY seen better days. It was flooded for one thing, and the structures were all broken and in disrepair. He also didn't get a very good feeling from this place, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why that was. (You're absolutely sure this is the place?)
Brother frowned at him and folded his arms across his chest before saying, "Uha uv ouin vneahtc ec eh drana, E's cina uv ed. Drec ec Al Bhed danneduno. Fa gaab uin aoac ubah vun drehkc mega drec." (One of your friends is in there, I'm sure of it. This is Al Bhed territory. We keep our eyes open for things like this.)
Naruto sighed and nodded his head. "Nekrd, nekrd. Yhodrehk oui lyh damm sa ypuid ran? E't mega du ghuf fru E's muugehk vun vencd." (Right, right. Anything you can tell me about her? I'd like to know who I'm looking for first.)
Before Brother could reply, Kurenai walked up to him and said, "It's Hana. Reports said she had large dogs with her. I hope you know I'm coming with you."
Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Right. I'm kind of amazed she's in a place like this. I mean, what are the odds she'd wash up here, of all places? Ah well, no point dwelling on it. Let's get in there and save her."
Kurenai giggled a bit and said, "I'm sure she'll be happy to see us again. It's been two whole years since we came here, after all. I'm sure she and Yugao are feeling more than just a tad lonely."
"I'm sure. But are you sure you want to go in there and, y'know…?" Naruto questioned a bit unsurely.
"Naruto, I'm only a few months pregnant. I'm fine to be a little physically active. Besides, you might need the help." She said, smiling sweetly at him.
Yes, Kurenai was pregnant again, this time with Naruto's child. She and Shizune had both fallen for the loveable blonde and had come to the agreement to share him with one another. It had been an interesting relationship, for sure, but they were happy with the arrangement. Was it a bid odd to be with a younger man? Probably, but they weren't complaining.
"True. Sorry Kurenai-chan." Naruto apologized. Turning back to Brother, he said, "Fa'mm pa pylg cuuh. Cdemm haat du muug vun dryd yencreb, nekrd?" (We'll be back soon. Still need to look for that airship, right?)
"Tysh nekrd." Brother said, grinning at his friend. (Damn right.)
Chuckling a bit, Naruto, Kurenai, and Rikku all ventured into the Baaj Temple, ready to rescue their friend. As they approached a wall, Kurenai frowned and said, "She's right behind this wall, but I don't see any way to get to her from here."
Rikku simply grinned as she pulled out a few explosives. "Good thing we brought these then, isn't it?" she asked with a giggle. "I'll set these babies up and then we might wanna step back. They're gonna make a big boom!"
Kurenai smiled softly at her before taking her boyfriend's hand in hers and walking away with him. Once Rikku had planted the charges, she stepped back next to them and counted from three with her fingers curling against her palm with each number she counted down. When the last finger went down, the explosives went off and blew open a hole in the wall.
Stepping through, they were pleased to see Hana with her three ninken laying around a makeshift campfire. At first, they were prepared to fight whoever had just blown a hole in the wall, but when she saw Naruto and Kurenai, Hana told her ninken to stand down. Slowly rising to her feet, she took a few shaky steps towards them before it changed into a full on run. She glomped onto Naruto, hugging him tight and crying. "I thought I'd never see any of you again! Thank Kami you're okay!"
Naruto hugged Hana back gently and patted her back to show his support. "I'm glad you're safe, Hana-chan."
Hana simply smiled at him before she walked up to Kurenai next and hugged her. "I missed you Kure-chan."
Kurenai hugged her friend back and said, "I missed you too. I'm glad you're okay. How have you survived out here for so long?"
Hana grumbled and said, "It hasn't been easy. I've snuck out a few times to kill those monsters, but they disperse into weird little wisp-like things when they die, so I couldn't exactly eat them. No, my pups and I have been surviving off of fish. Mostly fish. I'm so sick and tired of fish. Then there was that thing with blades for legs that tried to kill us. I was so pissed off after being attacked by that giant fish-like thing that I just wasn't having anymore of that stupid crap."
Naruto chuckled softly and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "We'll get you back to Home real soon. We've got to look for something first. Once we're back at Home, we'll explain everything to you. I've been looking into some way to get you and the others home, but I haven't had much luck. I've been trying out a bunch of new seals using fuinjutsu, but so far? Nothing. The only real clue we have to go on is Sin. That big whale-like thing that attacked Konoha before."
Hana nodded and said, "Uh-huh. So in other words, we're stuck here?"
The blonde slumped over slightly and said, "Yeah. Pretty much."
Rikku giggled at their interaction as she walked up beside Naruto. She had developed well since Naruto had known her. Whereas before, she was a simple 13 year-old girl, now she was a blossoming beauty at age 15 that insisted on wearing short green shorts and a sleeveless brown top that hugged her form nicely while leaving her belly slightly exposed. On her left arm, she wore both an armband and a long, brown glove that extended up to her elbow. On her right arm was her weapon, a clawed gauntlet. Of course, she was wearing a full body suit over all of this at the moment. Naruto wasn't entirely certain, but he had a feeling the younger woman had a slight crush on him.
Smiling at Hana, Rikku extended her hand and said, "The name's Rikku! Nice to meetcha Hana-chan! We should probably get you back to the boat. You look terrible. We need to get some real food and drink into ya before you shrivel up in here!"
Hana giggled a bit and nodded her head in thanks. "Thank you, Rikku-san. That does sound lovely. Come along you three!" she said before calling back to her dogs, getting them to hurry over to her side. When she saw Naruto and Kurenai hold hands again as they walked, Hana's eyes widened slightly and she asked, "Wait, are you two…?"
Kurenai blushed a bit as she turned and nodded at her friend. "Yes. We're in a relationship. I'm actually pregnant with Naruto-kun's child. We…have a LOT to tell you, Hana-chan."
All the Inuzuka heiress could do was blink dumbly a few times as she followed along. "Yeah, I'd say. Still, I'm happy for you Kure-chan."
"We're happy too." Kurenai said with a smile as she squeezed her boyfriend's hand. Moving closer to him, she planted a kiss on his cheek and giggled at his blush.
Onboard the Al Bhed boat
Hana watched as both Rikku and Naruto put a couple of items in their mouths, which she was told by Kurenai were rebreathers. After a few moments, the two of them leapt into the water and soon vanished under the water. Once they were out of sight, Hana turned to Kurenai and asked, "Okay, so what exactly is going on?"
Kurenai, easily seeing what her friend was really asking, turned and looked hard into her eyes. "Naruto-kun is trying to find a way for us to go home. Us, not him. He doesn't want to go home with us. And…I've come to like it here as well. I want to find a way home so I can bring my baby girl here to this world. I'm going to stay here and live with Naruto-kun as my husband. Shizune has come to the same decision. If you don't want to stay here, I'm sure that when Naruto-kun finds a way to get us home, he'll let you be the first one through the gate, so to speak."
"Wow. You've really fallen for him hard, haven't you Kure-chan?" Hana asked. Then, a moment later, she blinked again and asked, "Wait? Shizune too?!"
Kurenai giggled a bit and nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes, Shizune too. We're both happy with Naruto-kun."
"I see. Wow." Hana muttered. After a moment though, her stomach growled and she giggled somewhat nervously. "I could really use something good to eat. Eating nothing but fish for a few years has not been good for me."
Kurenai simply smiled and walked up to one of the nearby Al Bhed, saying, "So vneaht luimt ica cusa vuut. Seht vadlrehk cusadrehk vun ran du ayd?" (My friend could use some food. Mind fetching something for her to eat?)
The Al Bhed, a woman by the looks of her, nodded and said something Hana couldn't quite make out before she went inside the boat to get some food, or so she assumed. When Kurenai returned to her side a moment later, the brunette asked, "Okay, what was that?"
"The language? That's the language of the Al Bhed. Naruto-kun, Shizune, and I all had to learn it because a lot of Al Bhed don't speak our language. It's pretty easy to learn, actually. Once we return to Home, we can begin teaching you as well." Kurenai explained.
Hana simply nodded and said, "I'd appreciate that, Kure-chan. I don't know anything about this world. The only thing I've really come to know for certain is that we aren't in our world anymore. Whatever that giant thing was, we were spit out in a whole new world."
Kurenai nodded and offered her friend a sad smile. "Like I said before, there's a LOT we need to tell you…" And so, she began to tell Hana everything she could about the world, its people, the religion, everything. During this long explanation, the Al Bhed had returned with food for Hana. Meanwhile…
Naruto & Rikku
Naruto looked through his goggles at the creature that had decided it wanted he and his friend for lunch. It was a squid-like monster known as Tros. They had managed to enter the sunken airship and were going about their inspection of the great machina when the damn thing sprung up out of nowhere and began attacking them.
Shooting a quick glance at Rikku, he motioned for her to swim around behind it. Getting the message, he watched as his friend circled around behind Tros and pinned it in between them. Together, they both went on the attack, making use of their weapons to fight it. Naruto with his sword and Rikku with her claws.
Eventually, the damn thing died and faded away in particles of light, or rather what was known to everyone as pyreflies. Once it was dead, they went about turning things on and checked to make sure everything worked properly before they left and swam back up to the boat.
Once they were back onboard the boat, Rikku went about telling everyone what they found and talks began about how to haul the thing back up so they could take it home and get to work on repairing it. Naruto, on the other hand, walked up to Kurenai and, after taking the rebreather out of his mouth and removing his goggles from his eyes, planted a kiss on her lips.
Moaning into the kiss, Kurenai blushed when she felt her hubby-to-be pull her against him. When they parted moments later, he simply grinned at her. "What was that for?" she asked with a giggle.
Naruto shrugged and said simply, "I felt like it."
Giggling a bit more, Kurenai placed a hand on his cheek as she leaned in and kissed him again. When they parted this time, she rested her head in the crook of his neck and whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too, Kurenai-chan. I should probably get inside and out of these wet clothes." He said. Before he could take even a few steps, however, the boat rocked violently, nearly throwing them off. Eyes widening, Naruto peered over the edge and, sure enough, there was an enormous fin sticking out of the water. "Oh shit…" Turning around, he yelled at Kurenai, "Take Hana and get inside, quickly! Tell the captain that we need to get out of here NOW!"
Kurenai frowned for a moment, but soon nodded and led Hana inside, along with her ninken. Once they and the others were safely inside, Naruto focused chakra to his feet, rooting himself in place as the boat rocked once more. "All right big guy, you're not going to take my new friends and family from me. It's time for some payback."
Before Naruto could do anything, however, he heard Rikku calling out to him. Eyes widening in horror, he turned and prepared to yell at her to go back inside. However, the moment he opened his mouth to do so, Sin hit the boat again and caused it to lurch violently, sending Rikku flying. Cursing his luck, Naruto leaped after her, wrapping her up in his arms for a moment.
Looking into her eyes, Naruto said, "I'm sorry. Tell everyone I'll be all right, okay? We'll see each other again, I promise." Leaning in close, he placed a chaste kiss on her lips before summoning a number of Shadow Clones that, with a little help from the real Naruto, got Rikku back aboard the boat and to safety.
Turning around in midair, he looked at the violent whirlpool that had formed as a result of Sin's disturbance, and sighed. "This fucking sucks…" And with that spoken thought, Naruto fell into the water and got spirited away just like when he was first brought to this world. Please stay safe, Kurenai-chan…
A/N - And that's the chapter! Yay chapter fun-fun!
Anyways, as you can see, a lot did happen in this chapter, not the least of which is Kurenai being pregnant with Naruto's child. Fun times, huh? I also mentioned that four girls were sent to Spira right along with him, three of which were brought into the story in this chapter. The fourth, Yugao, will be revealed in the next chapter, I promise.
Anywho, not sure what else to say. I've got a massive headache right now and my sinuses are killing me, so I'm not thinking too well at the moment. x.x Ah well. I like how the chapter turned out. I hope you all did as well. :)
Also, not sure if anyone has noticed this or not, but 's been pretty buggy lately. I can't see any new reviews for any of my stories and haven't been for a few days now. So in case you guys were wondering why I haven't been responding to your reviews, that is why. I can't see them, and therefore can't reply to them. Sorry. :(