The Dragon Dilemma
I don't own Naruto and Zoids
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
/-- Scene change
)-()-( Different point of view
?-? Flash back
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 25
They roar as he begins to feel more connected to the transforming Zoid, it was like he was joining with Shadow and the Zoid core as more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra alters the Rogue Liger. The Zoid, Shadow, and himself seem to fuse together mentally as they attempt to keep the Kyuubi from trying to fuse with the Zoid core. Though the Kyuubi did assault their combine mind, it subsided for now.
They were Liger Eternity, Rogue Liger's enraged mode. Through unblinking eyes, they turned and with a snarl, launch themselves at the remaining Zoids. The one they wanted dead seems to be trying to put the army he had gathered between them and himself, not that it mattered they were more then up to the task of obliterating them along with the snake man.
)-(Tobi)-(
Once he had Sasuke in his arms he had run about twenty feet away until he found that nobody was following them. He turns and gasps as massive amounts of demonic chakra begin to cover the Liger. He watches the Liger roars as it increases its size and began to grow taller and fill out. The armour grows blades and out of the shoulders grows barrel guns.
He couldn't make out the colour of the liger for the red chakra is still covering the whole Zoid. Then the Zoid turns and shakes slightly, causing the red chakra to dissipate, revealing the colour change. Around the edge of the blades and joint pins, the colour of green jade, the plates shadowing the silver armour are a mute purple. He couldn't see the eyes of the liger that is now towering before him.
The Zoid that had been Rogue Liger had grown eleven meters and lengthen about twelve meters. The usual four blades that Rogue Liger has have been changed and hadn't grown longer, but broader and permanently fixated in their spots on the two sides of the changed Liger.
He watches as the Liger snarls and launches into the group of enemy Zoids. He had a hard time keeping track of where the new Liger was, though he did find that its easier to tell where the Liger had been by the ruined Zoids that were falling apart or blowing up. Some tried to get away, these were the ones at the far edge of the group but as the Zoid that the snake nin was piloting was trying to bolt pass them, the Liger goes through them instead of around them.
He flinches as he hears a splat sound as the Liger diverges from chasing after the Zoid. It took a few minutes for it to register that the Liger had just stepped on the leader of Hidden Sound. "What happened?" Sasuke asks once the teen realizes that it's over. A deafening roar sounds out once the altered Liger destroys the last remaining Zoid.
They freeze as the Liger turns and glares down at them with its glowing blue eyes. The Liger rumbles as it begins to move towards them. He watches as the red chakra begins to make an appearance once more. This time the Liger roars in pain and he watches as the Liger begins to shake its head and then begins to shake its whole body, bucking around as if trying to get rid of an unwanted passenger. He blinks as the armour attempts to alter once more, but soon blue chakra begins to clash with the red, it seems that the fox is trying to take control and Naruto with the help of Shadow and maybe even the Zoid itself are battling to keep that from happening.
"What's wrong with … it?" Sasuke asks softly. "I think Naruto and Shadow's minds are trying to fight off the fox's attempts of claiming the Zoid for its new body. Which begs the question, how can it do that when it's within Naruto's body?" He wonders out loud. "What do you mean?" Sasuke asks without taking his eyes off of the bucking Zoid. "Only that in theory, the only being that the demon should be able to take over would be Naruto's human body, not a metallic machine shaped like an animal." He says and then adds, "Which begs the question of just how did Naruto become bonded to his Zoid."
Sasuke nods, agreeing with his last statement, he turns his full attention back onto the bucking Zoid before him. He frowns under his mask, wondering just how long it will take for Naruto to take control of the fox. He hopes it's before Sasuke's team shows up.
)-(Naruto)-(
They grinded their mental teeth and began to push back the enraged fox. They were in agony from the mental wounds that the fox inflicted, but then they gave the fox blow for blow. A thought crosses into their mind, coming from the one called Shadow, they pause once the fox withdraws slightly. They considered it and then they calmed down and began to weaken the bonds that brought them together.
Slowly he becomes himself once more, the fox growling its displeasement over this tactic, but it could do nothing to stop it. He forces the fox back with the help of the seal and soon he can't even touch the minds of Shadow or with the Zoid core. He's exhausted, so is Shadow and he's engulfed into Shadow as the Organoid pulls out of the Zoid, taking him with.
He feels a rush of air, which wakes him and he feels someone touching him with warm hands. He smiles, happy to have things back to how they should be. He drifts off into a dreamless sleep.
)-(Sasuke)-(
He blinks as the bucking liger pauses and seems to look thoughtful about something, then the energy surrounding the Zoid that had been at war just faded away. The Zoid then shrinks and consumes parts of itself, then a streak of something launches itself out of the Zoid, he watches as the black Organoid stands for about a few seconds, opening up his hatch and Naruto getting dropped out. Then the Organoid drops onto the ground, not moving at all.
He watches as the masked man moves to check up on Naruto. He notices how tired the blond is and sighs as Tobi declares that the blond ex-team mate is just sleeping. He sighs as he hopes that the blond demon container recovers.
He then blinks and looks around for Ambient, but can't seem to find the red Organoid. "Err, I can't seem to locate Ambient." He says to Tobi. The man looks at him and sighs. "Then you might want to head back before he makes it there without you. He's most likely up to mischief." The one eyed man says. He nods and turns away from the two humans and the Organoid.
He doesn't feel like he belonged there, he just prays that Naruto will be fine. He pauses and glances at where the Shadow Fox lies. He looks thoughtful as he turns away, soon he's jogging away from the scene, hoping that by tomorrow, he could come and recover his Zoid. He soon picks up the pace until he's moving quickly through the brushes and rocks. He wonders just what Ambient is planning as he flies over the group, leaping between large rocks as well as a few medium sized ones.
He blinks as the Rev Raptor comes into view. He pauses and watches as the Zoid looks down at him and over the loud speakers Hinata's voice comes out. "Sasuke! Are you alright?" Hinata stutters from the cockpit of the red Zoid. He shouts out, "I'm fine. Have you seen Ambient?" "We thought he was with you." Hinata stutters out. He sighs and climbs onto the Zoid's head once Hinata makes it bow. He rides on the head as Hinata directs the Zoid back to camp, giving him time to think up a few good excuses as to why they should wait before retrieving his Shadow Fox.
)-(Naruto)-(
He woke to find himself staring up at the ceiling of a cave. He blinks as blur memories begin to become crystal clear and he turn his head right and then left, he finds Shadow resting to his left. He smiles as he realised that Shadow must be as tired as he had looked. He sighs and closes his eyes once more, allowing himself to once more the dreamless blackness to over come him.
He wakes again to the smell of cooking meat. He opens his eyes and struggles against the weight that seems to weigh them down. He rolls onto his side and finally sits up. His vision dazes over and his ears seem to ring as well. He stiffens and soon that disappears, he's unsure what to make of it for he's never experience anything like it before.
He then surveys the cave until he finds Tobi sitting before a fire. He glances over to where Shadow is resting and bites his lower lip in worry for his friend and battle partner. He crawls over to the black Organoid and rests a hand on Shadow's shoulders. He lets out a sigh and turns to find Tobi watching him without his usual mask on.
"How long?" He manages to say as his voice cracks. He swallows, suddenly aware of how thirsty he is. "About three days." The elder nin says softly. He turns away and looks at Shadow once more.
He closes his eyes and gathers some of his remaining strength; he then focuses on his hand that's resting on Shadow's shoulder. A blue glow shimmers as he puts a little too much chakra into his hand. It steadies out and within four minutes; Shadow moves slightly and lets out a soft growl. He stops and pulls away from his friend, satisfied that Shadow will recover on his own now that he jumped started Shadow's energy flow.
He smiles at his best friend and then turns to face the cooking fire. He considers his opinions and decides it's best to just crawl over, not wanting to find out if that odd sensation would repeat itself as he tries to stand. He then sits cross legged once he's by the fire; he glances at the entrance of the cave. He looks away and once more surveys the area that the fire illuminates.
"Did anyone get hurt when we were fighting for control?" He asks after drinking a glass of water in one go. He hands the cup back to Tobi and the man pores water from a water skin into the cup. Once done, the youthful looking man with one eye hands the cup to him once more. Tobi then answers once he took a sip from the cup, "Other then trampling on the ruined Zoids and most likely their dead pilots, nobody."
His unknowingly tensed muscles relax and he feels like a heavy burden was lifted from him. He looks at the fire, saying, "Sorry about losing control like that. It's just…" He didn't know how to describe the array of emotions that had been stirred when he saw what that group of Zoids had been doing to Sasuke and then when he thought that Sasuke and Tobi were in grievous danger.
He blinks as Tobi says something, which he didn't hear. He watches as the cooking pig is taken out of the fire. He sets his cup of water on the ground and picks up a simple sharp knife. Soon Tobi finishes cutting into the smallish pig and placing meat onto two plates. His stomach rumbles as Tobi turns and hands him his portion. He swallows to keep from drooling, he places the plate on his lap and begins to use the knife to cut the hunch of meat into sizable pieces.
Once he has most of it in smaller bits, he wipes his hands on a clean rag, he sets the knife down and picks up a pair of chopsticks. He tries to savour his meal, but he's so hungry that he finishes within nine minutes. He then switches the chopsticks for the knife and once more gets about the task of cutting the meat into small bits. He pauses as he stares at his meal; he then sets the knife down and picks up the portion with both hands and tears into it.
He lets out a content sigh once he finishes off his portion of meat. He smiles and begins to feel tired once more. He picks up that rag and uses it to wipe his hands and his mouth. He says, "Thanks for the meal, Tobi." The man nods in acknowledgement and takes the plate from him. He gets up and walks back to where his sleeping bag is. He takes time and crawls under the sheet that's covering his sleeping bag. He then slowly drifts off into slumber with a full stomach.
)-(Tobi)-(
He smiles softly at the sleeping blond. Movement from Shadow cause him to focus in on the black Organoid. The metal beast growls softly before rising his head up. Once Shadow checks Naruto over, the glowing blue eyes turn to look at him. "He just fell asleep." He tells the Organoid. Shadow growls in a low tone and then stands up.
He watches as the Organoid turns towards the entrance. He nods as Shadow glances his way. Then Shadow turns and walks about of the cave, to do what, he couldn't say. He then turns to the pig he had cooked and wrapped it up. They had enough meat to last them for a few days, which gives Naruto and Shadow time to fully recover their strength. He glances at his mask that's resting by a rock.
He shifts slightly, not at all comfortable without it resting on his face. His hand traces where his lost eye had once been. 'You were sure skilful when you removed it, Rin. You didn't make any cuts that weren't needed. I'm proud of that.' He muses before he removes his fingers from that area. Thoughts of his other team mate drift through his mind's eye, but he doesn't want to focus on Kakashi. He sighs and glances at the blond that reminds him of his blond mentor, wishing that where ever his teacher is that the Fourth was proud of him for helping Naruto pursue his dreams.
)-(Sasuke)-(
They hadn't seen the red Organoid in the last five days, which could mean a lot of things. But in the end, it hardly mattered, for they were busy trying to help the Shadow Fox repair itself. It had been tricky, but for the last three days, the black Zoid was looking better then it had when they went to pick it up from the battle field the day after his appointed fight with Naruto.
He pets Akamaru on the head unknowingly, for his thoughts were centred on what he had witnessed that day. A part of him was kind of pleased that Naruto had been protective of him, despite what their relationship had been like before Naruto and Shadow left Leaf. Another was really pissed that their battle had been irrupted by that army of Sound piloting Zoid.
He did have to admit that even though Naruto would have won, he still wouldn't mind losing knowing that he had put up a good fight. He did wonder just how the fight would have been like if they had been allowed to continue. He had Ambient bonded with the Shadow Fox's core and Shadow with that Liger's core. It would have been the first time Ambient and him would have actual done battle together.
An enraged cry comes from the northeast of the camp, startling everyone. He blinks as he feels a part of his leg suddenly become cold. He blinks and notices the dog hair on his pants. He shakes himself and gets up quickly, pacing with Kiba as they race toward where the cry originated from.
He spots Neji about to do something to Hinata, he doesn't think twice as he launches two kunai at the older Hyuuga. Lee tackles Neji as TenTen moves to check up on Hinata. Neji glares into his eyes and he returns the glare with one of his own. "What the hell were you doing?" He asks in a tone of controlled fury, voicing everyone's thoughts. They all wait for Neji's answer.
To Readers:
I would like to thank DeathEmperorDaeron for helping with Liger Eternity's colour scheme and for the shoulder guns. A huge thanks goes to all of you who have been reading this since the beginning as well as for my regular reviewers, for it's always nice to read how much you guys like my story and what you think is going to happen as well. I also hope you likes the part where Hinata's piloting the Rev Raptor hyperthermophile, that was done especially for you. I believe this story is coming to a close, so enjoy.
To be continued …