And we're back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 33!
Just gonna say this. I am dead tired as I write this chapter. As in, I keep nodding off in my chair. So I don't know how it compares to the others, quality wise.
It's amazing how much being sick takes away your motivation to get shit done. I honestly pushed writing this thing back multiple times over the last three days.
I'll just start giving the dream eaters genders…cuz why not?
You know what confuses me? Stories that literally only have 2k words in them and yet still have over 1k favorites and follows. I mean, I get the author is known for good stories, but they are also known for having trouble sticking to one fic for an extended period of time…Case in point, a story with 2k words that has a single chapter and was published like 8 months ago…
Kairitrion Cerulean: Maybe. That is a kinda cool idea…And thanks!
guest-bat: I already have a girl in mind for the pairing. I'm not going to commit to her, but I might hint that there is something between the two of them and gauge how to proceed from reactions. I don't care if there is a pairing or not…But having one with the girl I have in mind might help my plans.
redlox2: Ugh. You too?! Yes, I plan on giving him some more jutsu stuff before he leaves.
The Eternal FrostbiteLeo: Maybe and perhaps. :P
LordGhostStriker: Yeah! Or maybe. I dunno.
Stick Figure man: That answer would lead to spoilers no matter if I confirmed or denied it.
CyberDragonEX: I jumped the gun in giving him that keychain. It was way too early for me to do that and I regret it slightly. It is also because of that that no, he hasn't gotten any since then.
Anyways, on with the story!
I don't own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or anything else. I'm just a broke college student...
Normal Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Normal Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Biju/Deity Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Biju/Deity Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Scene Change: Insert Place Here
Jutsu/Magic/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here
Last Updated: 4/6/17 (Minor Improvements)
"Has he still not been spotted?" Yūgao's face was serious, but there was still obvious worry in her eyes.
"No…" Aoba was beating himself up for letting something like this happen. "I can't believe I lost track of him like that."
Genma chewed on his senbon for a moment while rapidly going over all the facts again in his head. "Relax, it's not like this is the end of the world. We just need to find him. Let's start from the last time you saw him."
Aoba sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Right. The last time I had confirmation on his location was the day before last. As per instructed, I was keeping a fair distance between us. I was ready to rush in the moment I felt a large spike of chakra or any similar signs of a fight, but..."
"But it never came." He nodded at Genma's words.
"Exactly. I stayed where he was supposed to pass through, but he never came. After three hours and a growing sense that something was wrong, I went to investigate." He gestured around them to the crater filled and scorched clearing they were standing in. "And here we are."
"Safe to say Naruto got into a fight..." Yūgao said, gaining nods from the other two. "But with who? And who came out as the victor? And even then, where is he now?" Neither of them could answer her questions.
"...You think it was Orochimaru?" Genma asked. This possibility sent a jolt of dread down Yūgao's spine.
"...I wouldn't rule out the possibility..." Aoba admitted. "The Hokage has already been informed of the situation, right?"
"Yes. The message was sent right away." Any further discussions were interrupted by a small burst of smoke appearing in between them. Immediately on guard, the three of them relaxed when they saw it was one of Anko's messenger snakes. Yūgao took the message, allowing the snake to disappear, and opened it. The others waited silently for her to finish. Their eyebrows rose when a harsh frown formed on the purple haired kunoichi's face. "What's up?"
She put the message away and turned to them. "We need to move, now. Naruto has been spotted crossing the border recently."
Relief flooded their bodies, but a small sense of confusion accompanied it. "Then what's the problem?" Aoba asked.
"The problem is that-" Her words were cut off as several polls of darkness opened up around them, giving form to heartless. Without wasting a moment to think, the three turned away from each other so that they would be back to back and slid into battle stances. "...All of our allies are now being confronted by heartless." She finished.
"Wonderful..." Even a small child would be able to pick up the sarcasm in Genma's statement. "So, what's the plan?"
Yūgao unsheathed her sword and mentally counted the number of heartless. "The plan is to fight our way to Naruto. We need to get there before Orochimaru does."
"Alright then..." Aoba said. "But first, would our guest like to show himself?" He called. All was silent for a minute, but a voice soon responded.
"So you detected me…I suppose the three of you have earned your ranks after all…" They turned their heads to view the speaker.
Standing there was a young man with pale skin, green eyes, two scarlet dots on his forehead, and shoulder-length white hair that was divided down the middle of his head. His outfit consisted of a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants, black shinobi sandals, and a purple rope belt.
"Orochimaru-sama instructed me to prevent any of the trash from interfering." He raised a hand, and they all watched as a bone emerged from it until it was about the length of a katana. The newcomer then slid into a battle stance. "I will complete this order, even if it costs me my life."
"Your life, huh…" Genma muttered while taking in the appearance of the boy. 'Enemy. Slightly young, but still a threat. Judging by the weapon, he is a Kaguya. Due to the importance of getting to the others, there is no time to capture. Elimination is the only option.' "You do realize that you really will lose your life by fighting us, right?" He asked. "You can't possibly defeat the three of us on your own; Even with the heartless backing you."
The Kaguya considered his words. Eventually, he nodded with his apathetic look still in place. "If that is my fate, then so be it. As long as I die so Orochimaru-sama's desire come to fruition."
"You won't stall us for long." Aoba said. "It shouldn't take us long to get by you and reach the others. You do not have the power to keep us here for too long."
"That is where you're wrong." That declaration made the three of them all the warier of the newcomer. That wasn't a declaration of false bravado, but one of the utmost confidence, as if he knew something they didn't. "Orochimaru-sama granted me the power to succeed." Their eyes widened when a purplish-black aura started to form around him. "With this, I will surely do my duty…" He brandished the bone sword. "Now, prepare yourselves. The time for talk has ended."
With Naruto
Naruto panted lightly as he glared at the downed forms of Sakon and Ukon. "They were annoying…" He muttered. Although they didn't look that strong, they were definitely capable of keeping him and Yoruichi there for longer than he would have liked. Because of that, Naruto was unable to go and save- "Misa!" His head snapped around to the way that that mutated cat thing had gone. "Shit!" Channeling some chakra to his legs and pausing just long enough for Yoruichi to jump on, Naruto dashed after them.
"How much time has passed…?" Paying attention to the time was the last thing on his mind during the fight, so he wasn't sure.
"Hm…" Yoruichi glanced to the position of the sun. "I would say that he has a good thirty-minute head start…" Naruto cursed under his breath.
"He rode off on a freaking heartless. Add to that the head start, and I will never catch up on foot." His hand shot to his card deck. "Ryu is still hurt…But this guy is pretty fast as well." He raised the card. "Summon: Halbird!" In a flash, the desired dream eater appeared.
It was an eagle dream eater with wings and a tail that resembled blades. The legs, horns, and tail of the bird were both outlined in aquamarine while the rest of the body had shades of purple mixed in. Completing its look was something similar to a yellow mane and a blue chest.
The dream eater flew over to Naruto with a friendly look. Naruto smiled back, but his expression soon turned serious. "Sorry Hal, but I don't really have time to talk. A friend of mine was taken and I need help catching up to them. Are you okay with giving us a lift?" The Eagle gained a determined look and nodded before bending lower so Naruto would have easier access.
Grinning, Naruto hopped on. "Thanks!" He pointed in the direction they had been going. "They went that way. I'm not sure how far they've gotten, so we better get a move on!" With another nod, the dream eater started to pick up speed in the direction he pointed in. After a few yards, it leapt into the air, and started to soar through it.
"What does that thing want Misa for, anyways?" Naruto wondered out loud.
Yoruichi shook her head. "I haven't the faintest clue. But do you remember what he said?"
Naruto scowled and nodded. "The thing said that he had 'specific instructions' to take Misa…" He looked to the cat. "But who would order that?"
"Is it really so hard to guess?" His scowl deepened.
"No, but I was really hoping you would tell me otherwise. Maybe some evil mutated cat lord you heard about while adventuring as a cat…anything but the freak would have been preferable." Their current direction took them west, if Naruto was correct…Which meant that they were heading towards the direction Land of Sound was in. That alone gave some merit to his theory as to who was behind this.
Yoruichi sighed. "I'm afraid that it may be much worse than that…" Naruto sent her a look that was mixed with curiosity and trepidation.
"How can it be worse?" Wasn't just having to deal with Orochimaru already the worst situation?
"Naruto…What exactly would you classify the thing that took Misa as?" Yoruichi asked instead.
Although he didn't understand why she was asking him that, Naruto figured it probably had something to do with the current situation. "I already said it's some kind of mutated cat thing…" He replied.
"Really? Is that all?" What more is there than that? He wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was some kind of result from one of the freak's experiments. Yoruichi looked him in the eyes. "Because I for one, would classify it as otherworldly."
All of Naruto's thought processes froze at that last word. "…You…you don't think…" Yoruichi nodded.
"I do…Sephiroth being on this world was the first indication, but we never gave it much thought. Who is to say that others have not made their way to this world as well?"
"…And if these people have met with Orochimaru…And are willing to ally themselves with him…"
"Then things could get much, much worse…I truly fear for Misa. I do not know what she could have possibly done to attract their attention, but it most likely isn't good."
"Shit. Hal! We need to pick up the pace!"
"Kah!" The Eagle reared in the air before streaking across the sky, nearly doubling their previous speed.
'Gotta get there, now…'
Later
Naruto's eyes frantically scanned the slightly mountainous terrain below him in order to find his target. 'Where…How far could they have gotten?' Naruto was already uncomfortably close to the Land of Sound. If it came to it, he would venture into the Land of Sound, but he would really love to avoid that if he could. He ignored the small thoughts in the back of his head that told him that he might have been too late.
"There!" Naruto's head snapped around at Yoruichi's exclamation and he immediately spotted them. The fat cat thing was still riding on the back of the heartless, and Misa was still unconscious. It didn't look like they knew he had caught up yet.
Back on the ground, Pete was grinning widely to himself. The plan was going just as expected! If things kept up this way, then they would have to agree that he was just as much of a force to be reckoned with as the rest of them!
"Hal, you see them?" The dream eater nodded. "Then you know what to do. Let's hit them hard before they even know we're here!" They immediately fell into a steep dive that was aimed right at the large heartless. Naruto waited until they were within mere feet to raise his keyblade. "Fly-by Knight." In a flash of light, Halbird's speed increased again, and it aimed right at Pete's back.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock when, at the last moment, the heartless Pete was riding on jumped to the side, avoiding the entire attack. Halbird was quick to recover from his surprise and whirl around in midair so that they were now facing Pete.
Pete glowered at Naruto. "Oooh, you stupid brat! You should have just stayed out o' the way!" He shouted.
Glaring, Naruto spoke up. "You're going to give Misa back, now." This can be done through one of two methods. Either you do so willingly…"
"Ha! Or what?" The cocky grin on Pete's face faltered when an aura of twilight formed around Naruto.
"…Or I beat you until you look even more deformed, and then I get Misa back…" Naruto's glare turned colder. "So which will it be?"
Sweat dripped down Pete's head as he stared at the glowing opponent. "W-well, you see…I, uh…"
"Hurry up and choose. I don't care either way. Honestly speaking, I think I will enjoy the latter option a bit."
Pete gulped. "Well, w-when you put it like that…" He began to shift his hold on Misa, moving her so that she was being held out to him. Naruto smirked and the twilight aura died down. "I'd rather choose option three!" He kicked the sides of the heartless, making it put on a large burst of speed. "The one where I get the heck outta here!"
Play Kingdom Hearts 1.5 ReMIX - Squirming Evil Extended
Naruto glared after him, rage bubbling in his chest. "Sorry, that isn't an option…" He said quietly. "And therefore, option two is chosen by default." Halbird reared again before shooting after them.
Once again, Naruto found himself slightly surprised by the speed that the heartless Pete was riding possessed. In the few seconds after it took off, it had already sprinted a larger distance than he would have expected. But it was still nothing Halbird couldn't handle. Without giving Pete the chance to even realize what was going on, he found his path cut off by Naruto.
"Why you!" Pete growled. "Fine! If you want a fight, then you'll get one!" He hopped off the heartless and pointed a finger at Naruto. "Teach that brat a lesson!" Immediately following this order, he ran off to hide behind a boulder.
After scowling at the bit of cowardice, Naruto turned back to the heartless. "Fine, I'll just get rid of you first…Get in close!"
"Kah!" Halbird dove at the heartless, poised to slash at it as it flew by. As they sped towards the heartless, Naruto's mind went over its appearance. It didn't look like it could be hiding anything unexpected…
Suddenly, the heartless disappeared from view, making Naruto's eyes widen in surprise. "Veer left!" He quickly instructed, but the order came too late as an invisible swipe landed on the airborne dream eater, hurling them away. "Hal!"
When the ground was feet away from them, Halbird recovered from the surprising blow and stabilized them. Although it had been unexpected, the dream eater was able to avoid any major damage, but it was still glaring hatefully at the spot the heartless last occupied.
Naruto was cursing himself in his head. "I forgot it could do that…" His eyes were scanning the surrounding area in an attempt to spot the heartless.
"I think we both did…" Yoruichi agreed while helping in the search. "This may prove to be more difficult than expected."
"Tch." Naruto didn't respond to that one and continued the search. Turning his head, he caught a shimmer of light out of the corner of his eye. Not even bothering to question it, he aimed his keyblade at the spot. "Fire!" The fireball shot out of the keyblade and rocketed towards the indicated spot.
To the slight surprise of Naruto, Yoruichi, and Halbird, the fireball made contact with something that they hadn't seen. A victorious grin filter across Naruto's face when he heard the pained warble of the heartless. "If we pay attention, we can spot the light shimmering off of it!" He instructed.
"Right, good catch…" Yoruichi complimented. Her feline eyes zeroed in a small glimmer to their right. "2 o'clock!" Without hesitation, Naruto directed his keyblade at the indicated spot.
"Fira!" A larger fireball than last time was launched at the hidden heartless, and like the previous time, it met its mark.
Naruto grinned when the heartless reappeared in front of them. "I guess that it can't maintain its invisibility after taking damage. Now is the time to get rid of it!"
"Kah!" Halbird shot towards the heartless. The Eagle surprised the heartless with the fast speeds, therefore earning a clean hit on the side of the heartless. Halbird whirled around for another attack, but was forced to abandon such plans in order to avoid the swipe of a claw.
"Thunder!" Naruto frowned when the chameleon heartless jumped out of the way of his spell. Halbird followed this up with another charge, but the heartless was able to avoid it this time. "This isn't going to work…" He said quietly. "Hal, keep attacking from the air!" Naruto hopped off and landed on the ground. Glaring at the heartless, he slid into a battle stance. "You probably can't do as well against two targets."
The heartless set its eyes on Naruto and lunged at him. Naruto rolled to the side to avoid the attack before springing back to his feet. He used the chance to slash at the side of the heartless and was rewarded with a shout that was a mixture of pain and rage. It whirled around on him, but soon found itself under attack by the dream eater.
Halbird dove between swipes to land an electrified charge on the heartless. Stealth sneak, annoyed by the flying horse, turned towards the dream eater to get a better shot at it, which gave Naruto the perfect opening to its back. Taking the chance, Naruto jumped onto its back.
Immediately noticing that it had an unwanted passenger, Stealth sneak started to buck and move in frantic motions to hurl him off. Using chakra to make sure he didn't fly off, Naruto ran the rest of the way up to the head.
"Now then…Shadowbreaker!" Two fast and powerful strikes to the back of the head served as enough incentive for the heartless to roar in further agony and double its efforts in losing Naruto. "Whoa!" Caught off guard by the suddenly more violent movement, Naruto was unable to stop himself from losing his balance. Not wanting to fall to the ground directly in front of the large heartless, Naruto jumped away.
Now free of the passenger, Stealth sneak glared at Naruto for a minute. But instead of lunging at him, like Naruto expected, it instead reared onto its hind legs and its eyes started to glow.
Naruto's eyes shot open in surprise when two laser blasts shot out of its eyes and straight at him. Reacting quickly, he dove out of the way of the blasts, only to be further shocked when they altered their course to follow him. Naruto's keyblade shot up to intercept the attack. "Gah!" He managed to block one of the blasts, but the other struck him in the side. Naruto shoved the pain to the back of his mind and jumped back into battle while Halbird had the attention of the heartless.
"This ends now…Hal!" Knowing what he wanted without being asked, Halbird veered off of his previous trajectory and instead flew to Naruto. Once the avian was close enough, Naruto leapt into the air, with Halbird still racing towards him.
From his spot behind the boulder, Pete squinted his eyes at the action. "What's he up to…" If they kept going like that, then they would collide in the air.
Right when Halbird and Naruto were inches from each other, the area was bathed in a bright light, forcing Pete and even the heartless to avert their eyes. When the light died down, the mutated cat was shocked to see Naruto floating in the air with the dream eater nowhere in sight. But what was alarming was the fact that a bright aura of light was shrouding Naruto's body; Even his eyes were glowing with it.
"Shining Hammer." The crimson blond intoned. The next second, Pete was greeted with another flash of light, but this one was accompanied with the pained cry of his heartless. Pete's jaw dropped in shock at the high speeds Naruto was darting around at and the helplessness his heartless now exuded.
Naruto slashed from the right, before shooting by a feeble swipe and attacking from the rear. The attacks were relentless and it was clear to Pete that this fight was about to finish. "I better get out o' here…" He turned towards the still unconscious Misa, but stumbled when a shockwave blasted from behind him.
"You aren't going anywhere." A quiet voice said.
End Music
Pete's entire body shook in fear at what he knew was right behind him. Shakily turning his head, his thoughts were confirmed by the glowing and angry eyes of Naruto. "N-now listen…There's no need t-"
"I gave you a chance." Naruto interrupted. "I told you that you could just leave Misa and be spared any harm, but you instead chose to fight. And I'm not even going to comment on your stupidity in not running away while I was busy." The sweat pouring down Pete's face grew. "I hold no pity for those who don't take the warnings they get."
"Such cold words, Naruto-kun."
Naruto's body froze in place at the new voice. Pete on the other hand, looked as if he had just been saved from unimaginable pain.
...Which was probably true.
Slowly turning his head and hoping that it was just some kind of twisted figment of his imagination, Naruto paled upon seeing the grinning face of Orochimaru standing a few feet behind him. When he saw that Naruto was looking his way, the grin on his face grew.
'Move!' Naruto shot to the side, not even fully understanding why he did. The answer came an instant later when a blast of darkness impacted the spot he was just in.
"Oh? It would seem that you are learning...How wonderful."
'Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Terrible. Worst case scenario. This is really happening. Bad. Bad. Bad!' Naruto needed to grab Misa and leave, now! He held no false conceptions on just where he stood in comparison to the snake sannin. He had just finished a fight with Sephiroth and was in no way eager to jump into another impossible fight. He glanced back to Misa.
"Ah, please keep your focus on me, Naruto-kun." A cold feeling washed over him. Looking back, Naruto was horrified to see that Orochimaru was now leaking darkness, and it was much more than he ever had before. "Doing otherwise may prove to bring...undesirable results." That sick grin was still in place.
"...What do you want?" Naruto asked.
"What I want has never changed from our meeting in the forest. I want you to show me what you are capable of. The abilities you possess when it comes to light and darkness." His snake-like eyes glanced over Naruto's still glowing form. "It appears that you still had more to show when it comes to light, at least." He shook his head. "But while I admit to being curious, that is not the only thing about you that interests me."
'What now?'
"You see, Naruto-kun, I recently made a new...associate." He said, and Naruto saw a brief flash of both intrigue and annoyance in his eyes "I had believed that I was the only one to delve into the research of the heart, and therefore, light and darkness...but I was terribly mistaken."
Naruto could feel the dread seeping into his veins at his words.
"This new associate of mine was quick to rid me of that notion." He started to pace around Naruto, and like the previous time he did so, Naruto found himself unable to move from his spot. "While I was initially annoyed at this revelation, I must admit that it brought some truly interesting information to my attention."
"My ultimate goal has always been to learn everything that could be learned. To accumulate every shred of knowledge that exists in the world. That has been my goal since I was young…" He almost seemed nostalgic with the way he said it. "…But then…" His grin sharpened. "Why should I settle with what is to be learned in this world when I can learn everything there is to know in all of them."
'He really knows.' A cold sweat dripped down the side of his face.
"Imagine, Naruto-kun, my surprise, my shock, my curiosity, my joy in learning that there were other worlds that exist. Each with its own unique history, and some with a past that may even be similar to ours. Upon being enlightened to this piece of knowledge, I began to wonder, what if there was another world out there like this one we stand on now? What if that world had its own inhabitants that were similar to us? What if those inhabitants had evolved as we did, fought as we did, create new and intriguing discoveries as we did?" The way his eyes were lit up was similar to a child's on Christmas. "There is so much more than just this world and its jutsu, so why should I settle for just that?"
Naruto swallowed, but didn't say anything. What could he say? That Orochimaru was right? With every point he made? There are other worlds out there and some of them were similar to this one in some regards.
Oblivious to Naruto's internal thoughts, Orochimaru continued. "After being told of this, I naturally quizzed my new associate on any and all information that could be immediately given. The first thing I asked about was the reason that the worlds were separated." His eyes met Naruto's again. "That had led to a whole new well of information." He took a step closer to Naruto, who found that he did not have the ability to move a single muscle. "And it also makes me curious as to just how much of that information you know…" Naruto already hated it, but now he was starting to have entirely new levels of distaste for that grin.
"I wonder, Naruto-kun…" Orochimaru said softly. "Did you know of the other worlds? Of the darkness and light? Of the nature of the heart? Of the keyhole to the world? The very heart of the world? Of the barrier between worlds? Or how ours recently crumbled?" He stepped closer again. "I read in some reports about the nature of the beings that are created from the darkness of a person's heart…The very beings that I first introduced to our world…Do you know what the report called them?" He leaned in closer, and that was when Naruto's body finally reacted and jumped back, sliding into a battle stance as he did so, although it was obvious that he was shaken by who he was with and what that person was saying. "…I truly wonder how you knew they were called heartless, Naruto-kun…Won't you tell me what else you know that I don't?" His eyes slid to the weapon in Naruto's hand.
"…Perhaps you would be willing to tell me about your keyblade?"
'RUN!' Naruto's body snapped around and rocketed towards Misa. There was no fighting Orochimaru. The only chance of survival was escape. This was far beyond his current level. He didn't make it more than a few feet before he found his path blocked by the still grinning snake sannin. Naruto soon found himself suffocating, making his shroud of light finally fade away. And unlike he had hoped, Halbird had returned directly back to card form, likely from working so hard since Naruto summoned him.
"I'm afraid that you won't be leaving until I have satisfied my curiosity…And perhaps not even after that." Faster than Naruto could react, a pale hand snapped around his throat, strangling him. "Now then, shall we be of-" Wham!
Naruto collapsed to his knees and his hand flew to his throat as he gasped for air. "Get up, we need to move, now." Cracking an eye open, he was relieved to see the fully human -and clothed- Yoruichi standing in front of him. She glanced back to him for a moment before returning her eyes back to the direction she had launched the snake in.
"R-right." Naruto put away the dream eater card before rushing over to Misa. Pete gaped at him and made to stop him, but a glacial look from Yoruichi sent him scrambling in the other direction to hide again. Shaking Misa's shoulder, he spoke in an urgent tone. "Misa, wake up. We have to get out of here right now." After a few more moments of repeating this, Misa began to stir.
Cracking an eye open, she looked blearily at him. "N…Naruto? What happ-"
"No time to explain. We have to get out of here while we can."
"B-but, what happened to that weird cat th-"
"I'll explain later! We have to go!" He tugged her to her feet and began dragging her back in the direction they came from.
"You won't be going anywhere." An oppressive power pushed down on them and forced him and Misa to their knees. "I have already lost too many resources to distract Namikaze and his entourage to just let you walk away now." Turing with shaky head, he and Misa saw a Orochimaru walking back towards them. And for all of a quarter of a second, Naruto missed the creepy smile.
At least that one didn't come with the obvious and overbearing feeling of death.
The snake sannin looked over Yoruichi, who didn't even flinch under his look. "I'm not sure who you are, but I would hazard a guess that you are the woman who I received some reports about helping during Konoha during the invasion?"
Yoruichi nodded. "And you must be the creepy snake who keeps causing problems."
"Hm, charming, aren't you?" He looked between her and the two Konoha genin. "I don't suppose you will simply step aside and allow me to continue with my business?"
"No."
"Well, then I hope you are prepared for your death!" He blurred towards her at a speed that would outstrip most opponents. "Gah!"
But then again, he was facing Yoruichi Shihōin.
Launched back for the second time within two minutes, Orochimaru was seething with new levels of rage. "I will enjoy killing you." He sped back towards her, but with an obviously higher amount of caution that a minute prior.
Seeing that the two strongest people here were going to keep each other busy, Naruto hurriedly turned to Misa. "We are leaving, now." She nodded.
"Oh, no you don't!" Naruto groaned when they found their way blocked by the large form of Pete. "Orochimaru may be busy with that scary lady who just popped up out o' nowhere, but you two will have to get through me!" He snapped his fingers. Naruto and Misa paled a bit when a huge pool of darkness opened up in the rocky ground.
Emerging from it was one of the types of heartless that Naruto saw Sephiroth dispatch like it was nothing. The problem was, he wasn't sure if he could do the same. Its body was majorly lilac in color, but its back and all four of its legs were violet. Each leg ended with two toes with black claws. Coming out of the lower jaw were two large, curved tusks that were colored white on the upper half while the other half was lilac. On the forehead of the heartless was a conical, black horn. Like most heartless, it had the signature jagged maw and yellow eyes. Finishing the look was the heartless emblem on its chest.
Play Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMIX - A Fight to the Death [Armored Xemnas 1] Extended
"And by me, I mean him!" Pete guffawed at them before pointing a finger. "Sic 'em!" The large heartless roared before it lunged at them.
"Move out of the way!" Not even needing to be told once, Naruto jumped to the side to dodge the heartless that landed where he and Misa were standing only moments before.
"Guh!" He grit his teeth in pain when the shockwave of the landing was enough to injure him somewhat. 'What kind of monster can actually attack by jumping on the ground?' Although he thought this, Naruto was outwardly being more productive. Raising his keyblade, he shouted his spell at the same moment that Misa launched a few explosive kunai. "Thundara!" Lightning struck from the sky and the explosion engulfed the massive head of the heartless, but it didn't even seem to notice.
"That didn't even do anything?!" Misa shouted in shock, which Naruto mentally agreed with. It was like fighting the one tailed heartless hybrid all over again!
Naruto's eyes widened and shot to the massive horn on the forehead of the heartless. Looking closer, he could see a faint aura of darkness coating it. The heartless chose that moment to turn towards him and raise one of its massive legs. Knowing what was coming, Naruto jumped back with a much larger safety margin than he would normally have done. However, he was glad to have done so when pillars of darkness shot out of the ground in the area he was just in.
"Misa! I've got an idea!"
"What?!"
"Distract it for me!"
"That's a shitty idea!" Although she complained, Misa complied. Pulling out even more explosives than before, she shouted. "Hey, overgrown pug!"
'It doesn't even look like a pug!'
"Over here!" She lobbed the bombs at the target, but they also did no damage. But they did the job of making the behemoth turn away from Naruto and towards her. "You better do whatever it is fast, Naruto!"
"On it!" 'Alright, just as before…' Channeling chakra to his legs, Naruto leapt onto the hind legs of the massive heartless. Despite the human now on it, it didn't even seem to notice, but Naruto wasn't going to complain. Jumping again, he landed on its back, with the horned head directly in front of him. "Ars Arcanum!" Twilight coated his body as he launched in a flurry of rapid strikes.
"Grah!" Unlike previous times, that attack seemed to catch its notice. Grinning at the success, Naruto didn't let up and continued to attack. Acknowledging him as the bigger threat, the behemoth stopped attempting to kill Misa and instead started to try to fling Naruto off.
"No…You…Don't!" Naruto growled. He was about to launch into another attack, but paused when the horn suddenly to emit even more darkness. Naruto's eyes widened in shock when the behemoth reared onto its hind legs and succeeded in knocking him off. Landing on his feet, Naruto's head snapped up when the behemoth launched an orb of darkness into the air. 'Going by how most heartless attack, that's probably going to…' His worries were proven correct when blasts of darkness shot out of the orb and rocketed at him and Misa. "Dodge them!"
"Nah, I wanted to let them hit!"
"Shut up and move-ttebayo!"
Naruto dove to the side to avoid a blast that narrowly missed him, but wasn't as lucky when a second one hit him in the shoulder. Hissing in pain, Naruto endured through the onslaught and didn't suffer any more hits.
The moment the darkness stopped raining down, Naruto took the chance to launch himself back onto the heartless. And just as before, it only noticed his presence there after it suffered a large amount of damage. "Shadowbreaker!" Naruto blinked in surprise when the behemoth lowered its body all the way to the floor and stopped attacking.
"It's knocked out!" Misa's shout brought a wide grin onto his face.
"Then let's not give it the chance to wake back up!" They both quickly attacked with a chain of several heavy hitters that would have effectively taken out any other enemy they were up against. Unfortunately, that still proved to not be enough when the behemoth soon got back to its feet and roared out its anger at them.
When its horn started to glow again and dark clouds formed above them, Naruto had an idea of what was about to happen. Acting on pure instinct, he dove at Misa. "Hey, wha-"
"Aerora!" A deafening crack echoed in his ears, and a burning pain lit his back, but Naruto knew that could have been a lot worse. He pushed himself up from his position on top of Misa and saw her shocked look. "Come on." He got to his feet and quickly pulled her up as well. "We need to finish it and get out of here."
"R-right." They turned back to the behemoth and saw that it was about to stomp again. "Same plan as before!" She instructed.
"You got it!" They dashed in opposite directions with Misa being sure to keep its attention on her. Once he got back onto its back, he focused on its horn. "Meteor Crash!"
"Grah!" The behemoth bucked again, but Naruto was careful to not fall off.
"Hey, I'm here too!" More explosions punctuated that statement. Misa grinned at the angered roar she got from that attack.
"We're almost done…" Naruto grinned. "Ars Arcanum!" That attack further sent the behemoth into a fit of rage.
Its horn began to glow, deflecting all of Naruto's attacks. Knowing that this meant it was going to attack with either lightning or dark blasts, Naruto jumped off its back to gain some distance. "Grah!" Cerulean and violet eyes widened in shock and fear when instead of doing as expected, a concentrated beam of darkness shot out of its horn.
And shot right at an equally shocked Misa.
"Gyah!"
"Misa!" Naruto could do nothing but watch as she was flung back. Her body harshly impacted a boulder before falling onto the ground, motionless. "You…" Naruto's anger boiled over. Gripping his keyblade tightly, he launched himself at the behemoth. "Sonic Blade!"
"Grah!" Although the behemoth tried, it proved unable to keep up with Naruto's high speeds.
After finishing his combo, Naruto reappeared in front of the heartless with his keyblade raised. The tip of his keyblade glowed brightly in a mixture of light and darkness. "I'm through dealing with you! Twilight Blast!" A large blast of twilight shot out of his keyblade and impacted against the heartless.
The explosion was so bright that it forced Naruto to cover his eyes as he braced himself during the shockwave it created. When it died down and his vision returned, he smirked to see that there was nothing remaining of the heartless, but the smirk died when he remembered the reason for his anger.
End Music
"Misa!" He turned and rushed over to the fallen girl. No one paid attention to Pete as he silently opened a Corridor of Darkness and entered it.
Skidding to a stop next to her, he took in her pained expression. She cracked an eye open when he reached her. "I-I'm fine…" She muttered. "I just…need a minute…"
A nearby explosion drew their attention. Shaking his head, Naruto spoke up. "It may just be a minute, but I don't want to be so close to that freak for any longer than I have to. Give me a second." He reached out a hand and hovered it above her chest.
"H-Hey, what are you…"
"Cura." Misa gasped at the sudden glow and warm feeling. To her astonishment, she could feel the pain receding and her breathing was becoming less labored.
"W-What was-"
"We can talk about it later." Once again pulling her to her feet, Naruto continued. "We have to make contact with our allies." He slung her arm around his shoulder. "Let's go before the snake realizes we're leaving."
"Too late for that." A deadly voice hissed behind them. Naruto whirled around and maneuvered Misa so that she was behind him. The sight that greeted them was a dirty and scuffed up Orochimaru. He was giving him a look that Naruto felt had to have caused nightmares at some point in the past. "You will not be going anywhere."
"Yes, they will." Yoruichi blurred into form in between them. She was also slightly worn, but ready for a fight. "Get going."
"No! I won't let them!"
"It isn't about what you want, snake." A mischievous smirk made its way onto Yoruichi's face. "Besides…I think that you've already lost." Orochimaru seemed to be as lost on the meaning of that statement as the other two.
"What-" Before he could say anything further, three things happened.
The first was a flash of yellow appearing next to them.
The second was a blur of red only a moment later.
The third were ethereal chains shooting out of the ground and binding Orochimaru in place.
Naruto felt his face split into a relieved grin at the sight of the new arrivals. "Thank kami…" He said quietly, finally letting himself relax somewhat.
Minato spared him and Misa a glance where his face briefly turned warm and reassuring, before he looked over to the still smirking Yoruichi. His face lost the warm look, but it wasn't hostile either. It was more of a neutral look. He then turned to Orochimaru, and that was when his face turned deadly.
"I have no idea how you managed to remove my Flying Thunder God kunai from the scroll, Orochimaru, but your plan has still failed." He said.
Orochimaru hissed furiously. "Namikaze!" He struggled against the chains, willing them to break. An aura of darkness reemerged around him.
Kushina grit her teeth, but didn't show any other signs of strain. "Don't even bother. If the Kyūbi can't break them, then there is no way you could." She turned to the genin with a warm smile. "You two have done wonderfully to have lasted this long. Take a rest now." She looked to Yoruichi. "…I'm still not sure who you are, but I guess this is the second time that you've helped us…" She only got a shrug in return.
Minato took a step closer to Orochimaru. "This is the end, Orochimaru. Your plans have failed and you're captured. Just accept your defeat."
The sannin ignored him and continued in his attempt to break free, but was still met with no success. After a minute of struggling, he began to chuckle. That chuckle then turned into a laugh, which then morphed into a cackle. The other people there had no clue what he could possibly find so entertaining in his current situation.
Soon, Kushina was the first to lose her patience. "What the hell is so funny?! You lost, we won! There is no possible way for you to escape-ttebane!" She shouted.
Orochimaru continued to chuckle for a few moments, but it was nowhere near the level of insane laughter he just release. "Oh, my dear Kushina…How could you be so sure of that?" He said. "After all, if I were you, I would doubt a lot of things I take for granted…"
"What was that?" Kushina said quietly.
Minato placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't listen to him. He's just trying to get in your head."
"Kukuku. Well yes, but I still hold some information you will definitely want to hear…"
"Are you negotiating for your release?" Minato raised an eyebrow. "You know as well as I do it will never happen."
"Undoubtedly…But that is why I have contingency plans." The grin resurfacing on his face set alarms off in all of their heads.
"There is nothing you can do with those chains on." Kushina said resolutely. "Those are just empty words."
"Kukuku…Well, you are not wrong…" He turned to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, I do wish that we had the chance to discuss things further…"
"Don't talk to him!" Kushina snapped, but was ignored.
"And it is also a pity that I will have to use another keyblade wielder when you are so interesting…" Naruto's eyes widened. "But perhaps the next one will agree with my way of thinking?" His grin grew, making a chill run down Naruto's spine.
Something sharp pressed into the square of his back. With no small amount of surprise, he slowly turned his head to see what it was, only to have his eyes widen even further in shock. "Wha…"
Misa smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry, Naruto. But it looks like that promise is going to be unfulfilled after all…" In her hand was a black keyblade.
And it was pointed directly at him.
"It's been fun. Now please...Open your heart to the dark."
Darkness overtook him.
There we go! All done with Chapter 33!
I will never create an OC unless I need to. That has been a long time coming. And it was kind of obvious, really.
This chapter took a lot of thought and redoing in several places. I'm satisfied with how it turned out, for the most part.
Two boss fights in one chapter? Oh, what fun…
If you need me, too bad. I'm going to sleep and I don't plan on getting back up for another fifteen hours. Thank god for professors who cancel their morning classes.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!
Until next time,
Kog6943