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 26
They all waited for Neji's answer, for Lee had allowed the teen with the frosty demeanour to stand. Neji gives Hinata a heated look, but the younger Hyuuga didn't see this as TenTen holds Hinata in a tight hug. His eyes narrow as the teen hasn't answered to his question. Kiba and Shino were on their guard as Kiba's dog moves to be by Hinata and TenTen.
"What were you going to do to Hinata, Hyuuga. What were you going to do to our team mate?" Kiba growls out in a threatening tone. Bugs begin to gather above Shino, which means that Shino also is quite angry about what Neji had been about to do to their female team mate.
A flash of uncertainty flickers on Neji's face as the teen finds no friendly faces among them. If he hadn't known what to look for, he would have missed that look. Lee glances over at Hinata with his eyes, keeping his face calm. He's privately glad that Lee hasn't gone sprouting his usual nonsense that the green wearing teen picked up from their instructor. Out of the corner of his eye he can tell that Shikamaru, one of Naruto's friends before they graduated from the academy and Naruto left, had also formed a familiar seal.
He didn't know about Ino or Sakura, but everyone was ready to deal with the cousin of Hinata, whether the young woman wanted them to or not. Finally Neji grunts out, "Why not ask her." They blink and he glances at Hinata. He snorts and replies, "Maybe it's because we want to hear it from you." He can tell the many of them nod their agreement at what he said.
Once more that look of uncertainty flickers on the older teen's face, but it seems that Neji doesn't want to answer out of pride. After a good ten mintues, he growls out, "Ino, go get the rope. Shikamaru, do you mind getting Neji in the correct position? Since you don't wish to answer our questions, Neji, we'll just tie you up." Ino and Sakura hurry off to get the rope, even though he had only asked Ino to do it.
Neji didn't try to get away, for that would only make it official that Neji could be call a traitor. As soon as the girls come back, Shikamaru's shadow bind captures Neji's shadow. Soon they were heading back to the campsite with Neji in toe. They didn't cover Neji's mouth, mostly for they did want the guy to talk, not to shut him up. He didn't ask where TenTen took Hinata or wonder why Ino and Sakura didn't go help the elder teen either, knowing full well that the pair wouldn't know how to comfort the shy and quiet teen.
He sets about the task of gathering Neji's things. They'll be going through them to see any clues as to what Neji was going to do. He wonders what could have been if someone had been the glue to make this group work, but then, who would be skilled enough to sort out all of their differences? He shakes his head and returns to the task at hand, despite the glares coming from the owner of the bags.
)-(Naruto)-(
He leans on the rock face as he watches Tobi mediate. He wonders if Tobi was doing this to make himself look more impressive as dawn's light appears over the horizon. He wouldn't put it pass the dramatic comical man, for Tobi does seem to know just how to make a lasting impression. He notices that Shadow too is watching Tobi as well.
Neither of them was disappointed as dawn approached once more. At first it was just a bit of orange light appearing among the few clouds and on the one eyed man. Red light along with yellow soon plays around Tobi, highlighting his pale skin and raven black hair. Tobi's profile is illuminated, with the wind toying with the older nin's medium length hair. The brown shirt with green vest was slightly in the light, but like the part of the face facing Shadow and him, still in shadows.
At that moment, he's kind of reminded of Sasuke and a bit about Sasuke's elder brother. He could see some kind of resemblance between Tobi, Sasuke, and what's his name, Sasuke's older brother and the guy that killed off most of his clan. He frowns slightly, doubting the thought that entered his mind. He shakes himself out of it, snorting at the thought that the man he's been traveling with could be blood relative to Sasuke.
'And if he is, why hadn't what's his name kill him when Sasuke's brother had the chance? If that guy wanted only Sasuke and himself to be the remaining members of their clan, why let Tobi live?' He assured himself as he watches as the yellow light covers all, driving the orange and red away. Soon the shadows that covering Tobi's side that faces them grown small now that the sun has successfully chased the remnants of night away.
It took about fifteen minutes before Tobi finishes his mediating. He rolls his eyes as Tobi gets up gracefully, moving about much with as much grace as a cat. He watches as Tobi holds his spiral mask in his hands before him. He frowns slightly, sensing something off this morning, like Tobi was about to alter something significant this morning. He's not sure if he would welcome such a change as he watches Tobi warily.
Something altered in Tobi's demeanour and with a swift movement; Tobi breaks his mask in half and tosses them into the air. Then with two quick hand seals, Tobi burns what remains of his mask. His jaw drops, totally shocked that the man would think of destroying his mask, let alone going as far as actually going through with that course of action.
"I don't think you'd like the taste of fly, so close your mouth." Shadow growls softly at him. He blinks and closes his mouth, smiling sheepishly at his best friend. "Sorry, it's just… I didn't expect him to do that!" He states in a low tone. "Odd indeed." Shadow agrees as they watch Tobi eyeing them from where he's standing. He's kind of glad that there's about fifty feet between them or he might just ask bluntly why Tobi just torched his own mask.
He begins to get the feeling that Tobi wasn't quiet done yet and he gets this odd weight pressing down in his gut. He bites his lower lip nervously; he looks away from Tobi, looking intently at some bush holding onto the edge of some rocks. Shadow gets up and he follows suit, trying not to look towards or at Tobi as he climbs over some of the cliff, towards the location of the cave that has been housing them for the last few days.
He glances towards the sun that's slowly climbing in the sky. His balance was tested as some of the path rumbles and parts of the edged cliffs broke off and fell off. He stiffens and glances over at Tobi, they shared a glance and they both swallowed as Shadow roars into the morning. "It comes!" Shadow's roars become a sentence inside of his head. His puzzled as to what that means and blinks as chakra flashes like lightning over Shadow's body. He wonders just what's coming that would make Shadow so upset.
He shrugs as Tobi gives him a questioning look. Shadow's aura hasn't faded one bit once Tobi approached them. "He says that It comes, I don't know what he's talking about though." He tells the twenty something year old. "Any clue as to what this It he's talking about?" Tobi asks. He looks thoughtful and as he frowns as a few thoughts entered his mind, Shadow answers, "Deathsaurer."
He pales at that name. "But you guys destroyed it!" He says, totally stunned about hearing that name, for he does remember those stories that his partner told him. "Destroyed what?" Tobi asks in alarm. "Deathsaurer." He informs the man. "This it?" Tobi asks in a relief tone. "It's not just something to be relieved about; it destroyed a civilization on Zi. Then someone else tried to recreate it again, twice. It's huge and doesn't have any exploitable weakness other then its core. It's can't be controlled, for it controls others. It's a machine totally geared to destruction." He says to Tobi in a matter of fact tone.
"Oh." Tobi says, clearly unsure on how to react. "But it can be destroyed, though?" Tobi says softly. "It can be." Shadow snarls out. "It will be." Shadow roars as flocks of birds fly overhead. He looks to where the Rogue Liger is and says, "It's time is running out." Shadow growls in agreement and Tobi just looks lost as he glances at the pair of them. "I still don't get it." Tobi admits out loud.
)-(Sasuke)-(
He looks over at Kakashi, they all wonder just what it was that caused the locate wildlife flee southward. They all felt that earthquake, but hadn't been too bothered by it. Now though, they had just been in a middle of some kind of stampede of various life forms, he was more then a little unnerved watching wolves, deer, and bears flee as one pass them, almost running them over.
Most of the students were looking at their instructors, expecting answers. It seems that none of the older ninja know what's going on either. Not that he was surprise, oddly, his thoughts drift onto Ambient. 'Why do I feel like that Organoid is in the middle of this?' He wonders to himself as he looks northward, the direction which the wildlife seems to be fleeing from.
He frowns slightly as he wonders whether Naruto was close to the disturbance. A picture of the blond lying on the ground, totally exhausted flickers in his mind's eye, he shifts uncomfortably as feelings flowed. Guilt was one of the major ones, for he never really forgave himself for not trying to get to know the blond better when he was on the team. 'If I had swallowed my pride and continued to push, he might not have been in that fire. If I had just followed him… So many ifs. I'm not going to stand around wondering any more! I'm going to get to the bottom of this and I know that Naruto will as well. I'm not going to do nothing as Naruto faces this foe!' Were his thoughts as he gaze northward, his right hand balled into a fist.
"I'm going to check it out." He says in a steely tone, not caring how many of the group gasp and begin to try and point out reason why it's none of their business. He ignores the others as he moves towards his Zoid. He did notice that none of the jonin seem to be objecting, which means that they'll let him.
He eases into the cockpit and just as he's about to make the Zoid move, Kakashi says, "I'll come to keep an eye on you." Then oddly enough, Hinata says in a firm tone, "I'll come too." Then the moment disappears as she adds, with her usual stutter, "If it's ok with either of you." "You're welcome to join us." Kakashi says lazily.
Kakashi enters into a cockpit of a stolen Zoid called Berserk Fury as Hinata enters into the Rev Raptor's cockpit. They are soon off with him leading the way at a fast trot. He just hopes that whatever awaits them, that they will be able to handle it, one way or another.
)-(Shadow)-(
He tries and fails to try and remember what happened to the original Deathsaurer, for he knows for certain fact that the two Van had faced off with had been destroyed. He had a sinking feeling that they were about to fight the one that the ancient Zoidains created and that thought didn't comfort him one bit.
He did know that the Zoidains created a pair of scorpion Zoids to stop the evil monstrosity that was… is the Deathsaurer. It was kind of hard to remember that the Death Stinger was used to stop the Deathsaurer, for the simple fact that its core had help create the second Deathsaurer that he had been with Raven. He makes his version of a sigh as he paces the Rogue Liger.
'So it comes down to this, can Rogue Liger be able to get to the core of Deathsaurer or will we need Liger Eternity to battle it? I don't like that prospect of forming Liger Eternity one bit. That fox is as much a danger as the Zoid we're going to be battling. I wouldn't put it pass the beast to try and take over during the fight with Deathsaurer.' He thinks to himself. 'Plus, it'll only be just be Rogue Liger battling with the evil beast of destruction. I don't like our odds of survival one bit. If the Deathsaurer doesn't get us, the fox demon will.' He does his equivalent of a snort.
He decides it's useless to think such things, for in the end they do have to fight the gigantic Deathsaurer. They had the better chance of destroying it then anybody else alive on this world. For he does know where the Deathsaurer's weak points are and they do have a powerful Zoid as well. He doesn't doubt that Rogue Liger is stronger then Blade Liger, for unlike the Blade Liger, he couldn't always stay bonded with Rogue Liger for a large amount of time.
It's odd that instead of just pushing the time by a few more seconds each time he bonds with first Liger Zero and then with that's Zoid evolved form Rogue Liger, he tended to increase that time by a minute instead of little or no improvement. He wonders if it might not be from the infusions of chakra that Naruto often feeds him with. He has run many diagnostics to see just how the chakra is affecting him, but according to all of his scans, he's in tip top condition.
His musing are cut short as his scanners reveal that three Zoids were heading north from the southeast of their position. They were moving at a run and they will most likely be noticing them within a few seconds. He wonders just what kind of fight they're in for as they begin to alter their direction, heading their way.
Naruto increases the speed at which they had been traveling at, which had been a fast walk for they weren't in any real hurry to confront the Deathsaurer. He didn't blame Naruto for setting such a slow pace, oddly he's kind of proud that the blond wasn't as foolhardy as Van was about Naruto's age. But then, Naruto had been forced to grow up rather quickly, even though the blond had retained some of his naivety when he first met the beat up six year old blond child.
He easily keeps pace with Rogue Liger as they try to put more distance between that group of three that's coming towards them. The scenery seems to fly pass as they continued to race northward with those three Zoids following behind. He noticed that the group of three seem to be able to match the pace, but they can't seem to gain any real ground, which was what they wanted, even though it would be better if they were actually pulling away from the group behind them.
He was also awarethat it wasn't the Rogue Liger that the group was using to locate them, but him. He's about to venture off when Naruto says over the loud speakers, "I need you with me, Shadow. And whoever is behind us will definitely be busy dealing with the Deathsaurer to try and take us out. In a way, this could be a good thing for it wouldn't just be a one on one battle, but a four on one." He nods showing he understood what Naruto is saying.
He relaxes and focuses on his scanners in hopes of locating the Deathsaurer ahead so they don't walk into an ambush. He wouldn't put it pass the combine might of Ambient and the Deathsaurer. He just hopes that the three following behind them were good enough to be able to stand up to the Deathsaurer for more then a minute.
)-(Sasuke)-(
They located a Zoid, they have been following the Zoid but not gaining the ground they had when they first spotted the lone Zoid. He figures that it's Naruto's Liger, so he hopes that it means that the blond is alright. He also didn't question why the blond was running from them, guessing that Naruto thinks that they were either from Sound or Stone.
He just hopes that where ever Naruto was leading them, that it'll be worth their while. "Maybe we should over take this guy." Kakashi suggests and before he could reply, some kind of light weapon appears to their far left, vanishing within a minute. He stares at the path of destruction that's left behind from that beam of light. "What caused that?" Hinata asks softly, seemly forgetting that they could hear her over the com link between their Zoids.
As one they all move over towards this cliff's edge and they all gasp at the gigantic red Zoid that's shotting of that light weapon willy nilly. "That's Deathsaurer. Hope you're ready to fight for you're very lives, for thing is evil incarnate. It won't be satisfied until all living things are dead." Naruto says over the com link. "Naruto!" Kakashi and Hinata say in surprise.
The Liger drops down in front of them and they all gasp yet again, for according to their map, the Zoid they had been following was east of them. "Nice to see you too Kakashi, Hinata. But I think we should do something before it realises we're sitting ducks up here." Naruto says dryly. The Zoid that they had been tracking suddenly seems to heading their way at high speeds. Soon Shadow appears and as they watch, the black Organoid fuses with the Liger that Naruto's piloting. Then they watch as the Zoid's blades come down and it leaps off the cliff they were resting on and begins to engage the gigantic Zoid that Naruto claims is Deathsaurer. He just feels kind of numb, but he soon follows Naruto's lead, hoping that the blond knows what he's doing.
To Readers:
This is the ancient Deathsaurer that's come through the gate, not either of the ones that Van destroyed. I also can't seem to find any reference to it being destroyed, for if there were any survivors, they would have died of old age before getting a chance to tell the first human or hibernating Zoidian, I also doubt that any of their writings would have remained completed to tell how the Deathsaurer was defeated and who'd done it. So lets just say that in this universe, that ancient Zoid found its way through that gate with Ambient's help. So I hope I don't need to repeat myself again, but remember, this Deathsaurer is the one the Zoidians built. The end is coming soon, I promise!
To be continued …