The Dragon Dilemma
I don't own Naruto and Zoids
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"Talking"
'Thoughts'
/-- Scene change
)-()-( Different point of view
?-? Flash back
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Chapter 19
He is getting pissed off with the both of them. He needed to find a safe place where Shadow could defuse from the Rogue Liger, he growls and decides to end this and hopes that whoever's within the canine Zoid won't chase him when he's through with the Lightning Saix. He activates all four blades once he puts some distance between his opponent and himself.
He notices that the other pilot also seems to be thinking about something. He charges, the other tires to leap out of the way of the blades, but he leaps up, cutting off the right leg of the Lightning Saix. He continues running once he lands, his blades returning to their pervious positions.
"Idiots." He says, frowning at the fact that he might not put enough ground between himself and the Leaf ninjas; he refuses to think of them as friends or allies. A painful growl erupts from the Zoid, he says, "Just a bit, Shadow. Then you can rest, I promise." He smiles softly as he continue directing the Liger.
/----
He blinks worriedly at the prone figure of Shadow. He's worried about his friend, they've been resting for about a week now and Shadow has regained a bit of his strength, just not much. He has tried a lot of things, but they haven't worked too well. He mentally curses the two Leaf nins that had pursued him that night.
'If we didn't fight them, Shadow wouldn't have been that exhausted. Damn them, I hope that Zoid's taking a long time to recover.' He thinks grimly. He sighs and looks out of the cave. He had used that modified house jutsu to hide Rogue Liger; he just hopes that there weren't any curious kids around to check out the 'haunted' house.
He leans on the wall of the cave, yawning. He hadn't had much sleep over the week; he's been so worried about Shadow that he couldn't sleep for long before some kind of nightmare caused him to wake. He bites back another yawn. He just feels so useless and he doesn't like that feeling, for it reminds him of all of the other beatings he experienced when he was younger, before he met Shadow.
He must have started to doze off, for when Shadow growled out as the Organoid tried to move, he felt sluggish as he moved to Shadow's side. "Don't try to move, ok? I'm going to try something." He tells his friend softly. Shadow growls in acknowledgement and he focused some chakra into his hands. He then placed his hands on Shadow, slowly his hands glowed blue and then after about three minutes, so did Shadow.
After ten minutes, he stopped feeding chakra into his best friend and watches as the blue chakra encases the black Organoid for about another four minutes, then it fades. He sighs in relief as his friend and partner moves without any problems. "If I'd know that would have done the trick, I would have done that before now." He says, semi annoyed about how easy that had been and just plain relieved to have his friend returned to normal. "Agreed." Shadow growls and then adds, "Get some sleep, you look like you need it." He smiles tiredly and nods. "I'll do that." He says and lies on the ground where Shadow had been resting on. It didn't take long before he was sound asleep.
)-(Shadow)-(
Once the blond teen is sleeping, he scans the current area to find out if they were the only ones around with a Zoid. He found Rogue Liger with ease as well as about five other Zoids; two headed east, one southeast, one west, and the last one straight north.
His systems finish running a check and found that he's fully functional and his energy levels were better then ever. He lets out of soft growl as he knows that with this power boost he received, he'll be able to bond to the evolved Liger for a good two minutes, better then the five seconds he had before. He would have detached himself from Rogue Liger if they hadn't been trying to out run the pair of ninjas.
He would have flinched if he could as he remembers another instance of when he had been bonded to a powerful Zoid longer then he should have. He decides that it's his connection to Naruto's mind that kept a repeat of that occurring. 'Or if might be that the Fox just didn't want me to be destroyed so easily.' He muses as he stands guard over his sleeping friend and partner.
He also has to wonder just how much of him has undergone alterations since he's been with Naruto. He definitely knows that it's not natural for him to use that energy that these ninjas use. He also has to wonder just when Naruto and him became mind linked. A really odd thought brought itself forward.
'Could he be? But I thought that the only survivors were Hiltz, Fiona, and Reese.' He ponders to himself. 'But then, a great deal of these Zoids are as new to me as they are to the ninjas, perhaps from my current future? If so, then a relative of Naruto's could have crossed over, the gate's been open for about forty or thirty years. He did understand me on the first encounter between us, unlike most non Zoidians.' He turns and studies the blond on the ground, wondering if, perhaps, his musings were acute. Neither of them knows the names of Naruto's parents, for it seems that nobody felt like the blond needed to know about his parents or any other relatives that he might have. In the end, they most likely will never know their names, let alone any clan history that the clan might have had about birth records.
)-(Naruto)-(
He observed his friend and partner; he's kind of worried about the black Organiod. Shadow has been quiet, a bit too quiet considering that they usual chat about what kind of defences that might be erected around the portal by Stone Ninjas in Earth Country. It's been about three days of slow going since he healed Shadow and they have only spoken much during those days and he has to wonder just what's on Shadow's mind that the black dragon seems so distant.
They were getting close to the boarder and they haven't had any major run inns with people piloting Zoids or ninjas. He only hopes that luck continues to be on their side once they cross every boarder until they make it into Earth Country. He snorts and muses in his own thoughts as he continues to pilot the Rogue Liger. 'I doubt we'll have that kind of luck.'
The mist isn't interfering with his scanners, so they did have a worry too much about enemies using the mist to their advantage to attack them. It's happened before, groups of ninja have attempted to ambush Zoids and try and get rid of their pilots so that they could claim the Zoid as their own. Shadow and him were familiar with that, for quite a few had even had the nerve to try and steal Shadow during the night.
They had seen something they shouldn't and he had to silence them the only way possible. He shakes his head, dismissing those thoughts from his mind. He had other things to worry about then what has happened in the past and he has much to think about as he journeys towards his dream and, hopefully, his future.
)-(Sasuke)-(
Zabuza and Haku had helped reattach the leg to the Lightning Saix. They didn't both trying to track the Zoid, for it seems that whoever the pilot was, they were good enough to get that kind of hit on a Zoid being piloted by someone using their bloodline limit while fighting two Zoids at once.
They hadn't really got anything out of the pair of missing nins and they just weren't going to push it considering that they didn't feel up to engaging in a scentless battle over what they kept from them. For the pair of missing nins don't have any obligations to them and could have easily just left without helping them with the Lightning Saix.
Though they're parting words pretty much revealed that they knew who had been piloting that odd blade Liger. "You ever think that he's been burnt enough?" Those simple words had been Zabuza's parting words. The hint made it clear who they had come searching for and who they had lost to.
'Naruto.' Was a name that always seems to stir mixed feeling within him. It would seem that sometime after he had been kidnapped, he found a Zoid and had learnt how to pilot it. He sighs as he lies on his bed, thinking about quite a few things, mostly about that small black dragon Zoid that had kidnapped Naruto. It brought to mind another small dragon Zoid, a red one that lead to him finding about Zoids.
That one was still being kept in a cell; they had once tried to knock the red dragon out so they could take it apart to find out how it fuses with a Zoid. Especially how it increases the strength of the Zoid it bonds with. That one had a mean streak as well as being a bit sadistic in nature as the dragon had acted like it was out and then waited until they had carried it out of the cell and into that room.
The group that had been chosen to examine that small Zoid had all been injured as it had attempted to escape; three of them lost a limb to it while the others still have the scars inflicted by those tail spikes. They never attempted to take the Zoid out of the cell since and few visit it as well. For the only reason they even keep imprisoned was that they believe it would attempt to steal another Zoid. They also don't know how to kill it too, so they just try their best to not think about what kind of possibilities that small Zoid is capable of for it would only make them bitter about the whole situation.
'Maybe I should pay it a visit.' He thinks as he stares up into the ceiling of his room, looking for answers. He tries very hard not to think about the simple fact that someone killed his only reason to grow stronger and main reason to live.
He frowns as he tries to steer his thoughts away from THAT. He truly doesn't want to think about how it wasn't him that killed his elder brother to avenge his dead parents and clan. He doesn't want to think about how much stronger that single person had been to be able to kill off so many A class and S class missing nins without keeling over in exhaustion or from the injuries that they must have received from the fighting they had done.
He unclenches his left fist, taking deep and slow breaths as he tries to relax his muscles. He thinks of his Zoid, the Shadow Fox and about his favourite food and drink, deciding that he'll treat himself for supper. Of course he'll make sure that neither Ino or Sakura get wind of his plans to eat out, he was certain that the pair had long since decided to share him between them, making it a threesome, except that he doesn't want anything to do with any girls that he's met so far.
He rolls onto his right side and then onto his butt. He then stands up and walks towards his dresser. He pulls out a blue shirt and black pair of shorts. Once he's finish getting dressed, he heads out of his apartment. When he was younger, he had wanted to continue living at his family's house. The Third hadn't thought that was a good idea and had agreed to give him his own apartment, since he had refused to live with a foster family. It had been a compromise between them; he never once regretted keeping his side of the agreement, for deep down he knew he'd go mad after a month of being forced to live with a foster family or if he had continued to live at the murder scene of where his parents were killed.
He looks over at his team's photo. He stares at the blond standing to his right. His eyes gaze over as he remembers that day; he shakes himself out of it and turns away. He had things to do and places to visit. He finishes grabbing his kunai pouch, belt, and scroll pouch. Once everything was where it should be, he walks out the door. He locks the door and then heads out of the building, walking towards the hanger where that small red dragon Zoid is being kept.
To be continued …