Twilight Key

by Kog6943

As the battle ends with no victors, a decision must be made. Someone is needed to protect the balance of the worlds from the threat that looms before it. This person will be chosen by Kingdom Hearts as a champion to defend the worlds from the threat. This person will be the chosen wielder of twilight.

34. Stop Lying To Yourself

And we're back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 34!

Wanna hear something extremely awesome? Check out the Simple and Clean Rock Remix by Rising Sun. I can seriously play that thing on loop in the background for hours.

This chapter is way longer than I expected it to be. I mean, I knew it would be a fair amount, but this? I had decided to not cut it off where I had initially been planning to. That's also why it's a bit late.

Wow. I'm honestly surprised that so many of you did not see the Misa thing coming. I seriously thought it was fairly obvious. I meant to lay out some hints, but only ever got around to a couple of them.

I learned a lot about my writing style after reviewing this chapter. Some of the things I noticed annoy me, but no one has ever said anything about them. In the future, I will aim to improve further.

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Azarune: The feels are like the best part though!

Kairitrion Cerulean: No spoilers :P

plums: Don't mean to be rude, but I honestly sigh whenever I see your name on a review. You've always made a lot of assumptions about things that I never confirmed, only implied. And too much fighting? Sorry, but this is a crossover between an Action-Role Playing game and an Action-Adventure manga. Fighting is a guarantee. In my opinion, I feel like I had enough plot development in the first half of the story as well as mixed in between the fights. But I'll guess you'll be happy to know that I'm done with the fighting for now. I already said in the AN last chapter that I thought the Misa thing was kind of obvious, so that's great that you saw it coming (Although a lot of people still didn't see it coming). And no shit the parents are going to start asking questions now.

redlox2: Yep! That was the entire reason I created her. The plan for the reveal has changed a bunch of times over the course of the story, but the core elements have always stayed the same.

risnsegaku: Lmao. What the hell does getting "knocked up" by the darkness mean? I agree with several of your suggestions, but I have a bunch of songs I'm actually saving for later times. I'm not against reusing songs, but I want to save their first uses for other things. A lot of the KH OSTs are great in-game, but I can't really picture them working that well when I'm not in the middle of playing them. I just feel like they don't give off the right atmosphere…like Rowdy Rumble. I've heard of the game and watched some gameplay of it, but I don't know too much about it. And get out of my head! (You'll understand what I mean after this chapter)

Justaquestion12: 13 on 7 seems a little small for a war…

guest-bat: No worries, you are way better than some of the other people on this site. And is she Naruto's Riku? Meh, ask me again in a few chapters.

Dominus1: Things are more fun when I'm cruel!

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Anyways, on with the story!

I don't own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or anything else. I'm just a broke college student...

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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

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"It's been fun. Now please…Open your heart to the dark."

Boom!

"AAHHH!"

"Naruto!" Yoruichi braced herself against the rush of wind that slammed into her. Gritting her teeth, she tried to get a look at Naruto, but all she could see was a giant pillar of darkness where he was standing. She swore in her head when she was pushed back.

"What?!" Minato whirled around with wide eyes at the explosion and was stunned to see the mass of darkness covering his son.

"Naruto!" Kushina stopped moved to reach her son, but was stopped when Yoruichi grabbed her and held her back! "Let me go! Naruto!"

"No way in hell! You'll be consumed by the darkness!"

"I don't care!"

Unnoticed to them, Kushina's lapse in attention meant that the chains binding Orochimaru slackened. With a broad grin, Orochimaru took the chance to escape the chains and rush at Misa, who had jumped away from Naruto.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways." A Corridor of Darkness formed behind them. Spinning around, Minato glared and created a Rasengan in his hand.

"Undo what you did, now!" He demanded.

Orochimaru's grin grew. "I'm afraid not. And even if I wanted to…I'm not sure it's possible to reverse the process at this point." He and Misa took a slow step back. Minato crouched, prompting Orochimaru to raise a hand. "Ah, you have more important things to focus on. If it is possible to reverse the process, now would be the time to do it." Minato paused and looked back to Naruto. Using the chance, Orochimaru and Misa entered the portal. "Until next time, Namikaze." Misa smirked and sent a salute their way.

They disappeared into the portal as it closed.

"Damn!" Minato turned back to towards the pillar of darkness and narrowed his eyes against the wind. He was about to take a step forward, but Yoruichi shouted at him.

"Stop!" Yoruichi yelled. "Don't get any closer!" She was exerting a lot of effort just to keep Kushina from rushing forward, there was no way she would be able to stop Minato as well.

Minato glared at her. "You can't stop me from helping my son!" He looked back to Naruto. The screams coming from the darkness were tearing him up on the inside. Never before had he felt so…helpless.

"You won't be helping him by walking into that!" She yelled back.

"Then what the hell do you want me to do?!" Minato shouted.

"I want you to stop acting like an idiot and start acting like you actually want to help! You owe Naruto that much!" Her words cut off any and all protests that Minato and Kushina were making. "Now the both of you, shut up and listen to me!" Seeing that they would, she let go of Kushina. The wind was picking up, making it harder to hear. "Naruto's heart is strong! He won't lose to something like this!"

Minato sent a suspicious glance her way. "What do you know about what's happening?!" He shouted.

"More than you do!" Yoruichi observed as the darkness began to spiral and condense into a sphere. "If you want any hope of getting Naruto out of this, then you will do as I say!" Minato glanced at her before going back to the sphere of darkness. He didn't trust this woman, but she was the one to fight off Orochimaru until they arrived and she also helped during the invasion.

And there wasn't really much of a choice.

Nodding stiffly Minato yelled back. "Fine!" Kushina's eyes were fixed solely on the darkness. It took everything she had to hold herself back from rushing in to get to Naruto. Without looking away, she nodded. Seeing her agree, Minato deferred to Yoruichi. "What's the plan?!"

Yoruichi stayed silent for a moment and watched the sphere condense even further. "We first need to see if Naruto can stop it himself! Naruto! I know you can hear me! Don't let the darkness get to you! You have to fight it!" She yelled. Minato was slightly skeptical that simply calling out to Naruto would help, but Kushina held no such reservations.

"Naruto, please! I don't know what they did to you, but don't let it win!" She yelled. There were tears in her eyes as she shouted.

Minato looked back to the sphere. "We know you are stronger than this! There's no way that you will let Orochimaru win like this!"

"Naruto! Think about your friends! About everyone! Me, Kisuke, your siblings, the other genin, Hikari and Yami! Focus on the light!" Yoruichi said. She was growing increasingly worried as the darkness condensed further with no signs of stopping. "You have trained to use the darkness, not to let it use you!" Suddenly, the sphere seemed to waver, making her eyes widen. "I know you can do it!"

The sphere of darkness condensed further until it was a few feet in diameter. The three of them saw it rise into the air and the wind spiraled around it. Abruptly, all motion stopped, as if entire world froze. The darkness was shaped into a solid sphere several feet off the ground, the wind disappeared as if it was never there, and Naruto's screams stopped. Minato, Kushina, and Yoruichi traded cautious looks.

Crack!

The sound of something similar to glass breaking alerted them to a change in the cocoon. Snapping their eyes back, they saw a crack had emerged in it. Minato opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when a second crack joined the first, with another soon following it. More and more cracks formed.

Then all at once, the darkness shattered like glass.

"Naruto!" When a body fell to the ground and landed in a crouched position, Kushina smiled widely and made to rush forward, but was stopped when Yoruichi thrust an arm in front of her. "Why are you stopping me-ttebane?! I need to get to him!"

Yoruichi didn't even bother to look her way, instead choosing to warily watch Naruto, who had not moved. Because his head was lowered, they were unable to see his face. "Naruto, can you hear me?" She asked.

"…"

A dark chill ran down Minato's spine. "Naruto, please talk to us."

"…" Still no response.

"Please, Naruto…Say something!" Kushina pleaded. When she still got no answer, she sprinted around Yoruichi's arm and rushed towards him.

"No, wait!"

Kushina skidded to a stop and crouched to get a better look at him. Reaching out a hand, she spoke up. "Naruto, are you alri-"

That was as far as she got when a pulse of darkness sent her flying back.

"Kushina!" Minato rushed forward and caught her before she could impact anything. Setting her down carefully, he took in her condition with a worried expression. "Kushina, are you alright?"

She winced and moved a hand to her side. "Never mind me." Taking in Naruto's appearance, the worry in her eyes was obvious. "What was that?"

Shaking his head to show he didn't know, Minato followed her example and looked at Naruto. Surprise and worry filled him with what he saw.

Naruto pushed himself into a standing position with his head still lowered. After staggering a bit as if he was going to fall, he steadied himself.

Yoruichi tensed in preparation. "Naruto, are you still you?" Her question prompted the eyes of Minato and Kushina snap to her for a moment. They looked back to Naruto in worry. "If you don't answer me, then I will have to take the needed precautions." Silence filled the area as they all waited for him to say something. Just when Yoruichi was beginning to think that he was just going to stand there, he moved.

Slowly, Naruto raised his head. The three of them held their breaths while they waited for him to give some indication that he was still with them. It was at this point that a small smile was spotted on his face, which in turn almost made Minato and Kushina smile.

Yoruichi felt no inclination to smile. Her eyes were riveted to Naruto's face as she tried to get a look at his eyes. She felt her heart freeze when she saw them.

Staring into her cat-like eyes were glowing yellow eyes.

Immediately, Yoruichi slid into a battle stance, which gained the attention of Minato and Kushina. Glaring, Kushina spoke to her. "What are you doing?"

Yoruichi shook her head. "That's not Naruto. Just look at his eyes." They did so and were shocked to see the glowing yellow eyes. "Naruto! Wake up! There's no way you would let the darkness control you!" The smile on Naruto's face grew.

"Naruto, can you hear me?" Naruto's eyes snapped to Kushina when he heard her voice. "Please…Talk to me." She pleaded. The smile on his face disappeared, leaving a snarl in its place. Everyone there was taken aback by the abrupt hostility.

Naruto growled and slid into a battle stance. Raising a hand, he summoned his weapon. In a flash of darkness, it answered his call. While she was expecting a keyblade to appear, Yoruichi was not expecting it to be a different one.

In his hand was a keyblade where the teeth were black with red outlines and possessed a round, cog-like shape. The handle was red while the guard was identical in design to the teeth. The shaft was majorly colored in shades of grey, but had a copper gear in the center. Wrapping around the shaft were two intersecting black chains. At the head of the blade was a blue, cat-like eye, while an identical eye was embedded in the hilt. The keychain hanging from the blade was made up of three small, copper gears and ended in a charm that looked like two halves of a gear shaped to the letter S.

There was something about that keyblade that just seemed…evil to Yoruichi. "You don't want to do this…" She cautioned. "Just dismiss the keyblade and we will help you." Naruto smirked.

That was all the warning they got before he attacked.

He blurred towards his parents and slashed his keyblade down. Although slightly startled, Minato's quick reflexes allowed him to take out a tri-pronged kunai and use it to block it. "Naruto, what are you doing?!" Instead of answering, Naruto pressed down harder. Gaining a stern look, Minato vanished in a yellow flash, only to reappear on the other side of Kushina.

Kushina appeared to be desperate. "Why did you attack?!" With another snarl, Naruto leapt at her. She ducked to the side and thrust her hand out at him. Glowing chains shot out of her hand and surrounded Naruto. When she saw that she had him, Kushina clenched her hand into a fist, making the chains begin to tighten.

The second before the chains made physical contact with Naruto, he smirked. Seeing this, Yoruichi tried to warn them, but she was too late as Naruto disappeared in a flash of darkness and reappeared behind Kushina, who screamed in pain when an orb of darkness slammed into her back.

"Kushina!" When Naruto raised his keyblade for a follow up attack, Minato stopped him with a kick to the stomach, but because he held back, Naruto was only thrown back a few feet. Landing in nearby, Naruto crouched in preparation to rush back in, but he never got the chance to when a fist suddenly slammed into the side of his face. Unlike Minato's attack, Yoruichi's had enough force behind it to send him flying into a boulder.

Kushina tracked Naruto's trajectory and turned to Yoruichi. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I can ask you the same thing!" The redhead did not expect such a strong reply, so she faltered. "You two need to understand that while he is like that, Naruto has no problems attacking!" Yoruichi eyed Naruto as he stepped out of the pile of rubble.

Rubbing the side of his face, Naruto scowled at them and slid into a battle stance. Yoruichi prepared for his next attack, but it didn't come. In its place, a shroud of darkness formed around Naruto. Yoruichi, Minato, and Kushina watched with dismay as the darkness grew in amount and began to cling to Naruto's body. When the only thing that was left untouched by darkness was his head, Naruto closed his eyes. After a moment, he smirked and snapped his eyes back open.

The darkness faded away, revealing a black and red body suit that almost looked to be made up of muscle-tissue. Much of the black on the outfit faded to a dark red around the wrists. Added to the outfit were dark red boots, a black cloth around his waist, and a dark red belt. On his chest was a distorted heartless emblem.

Naruto took in his outfit with an ever-growing smirk. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to his opponents.

'Damn it. Can this get any worse?' Yoruichi knew that this was about to turn into a big fight, but she was very reluctant to fight Naruto. "Please, Naruto. I know you're in there somewhere. You can still come back from this. You just need to fight it." Naruto looked to her and tilted his head.

He vanished in a flash of darkness.

Yoruichi's instincts flew into full alert and yelled at her to move out of the way. Not questioning it, she did so and narrowly avoided a stab of Naruto's keyblade. Despite missing, Naruto did not seem to be surprised as he immediately thrust his hand out and hurled a fireball at her. The fireball missed its mark when Yoruichi flashed over to Minato and Kushina.

"Listen, we need to stop him…" Yoruichi said.

Kushina glanced at her. "I…I can't hurt him…" She knew Naruto had no problem attacking them, but she just couldn't bring herself to harm him.

"I'm not saying we have to kill him." Yoruichi bit out, her eyes never leaving Naruto. "The longer he stays like this, the worse it's going to get."

This raised Minato's sense of worry a notch. "What's happening to him?" Yoruichi debated on answering him, but the choice was taken away from her when Naruto rushed at them again. Raising a hand as he moved, several orbs of darkness appeared around him and blasted forward.

"Now isn't the time! You can get all the explanations you want later!" She ducked under an orb that shot at her head. "Naruto comes first!" Minato frowned and considered the situation. He knew she was right, but…He was in the same boat as Kushina. Fighting Naruto was something that he wasn't sure he had in him.

Minato's eyes went to Naruto and met with his son's yellow ones. Seeing the hatred and anger burning in those eyes triggered something in him. Scowling, Minato slid into a battle stance. This action gained him a startled look from Kushina.

"Minato?!" He couldn't seriously be considering this, could he?!

"Kushina, we don't have a choice." It hurt him to say that, but Minato knew it was true. "We aren't going to aim to kill, but if we leave him like this, Naruto will only get worse. We have to subdue him." Kushina looked from Minato to Naruto.

"But…"

Yoruichi moved out of the way of another attack from Naruto's keyblade. 'Damn it! He definitely wasn't this fast before!' It wasn't anything she couldn't keep up with, but fighting an opponent who was out for blood while at the same time ensuring that you did no serious harm was tough. "You aren't doing Naruto any favors by refusing to fight! If you really want to help him, make sure he can't hurt anyone!" Her eyes met Kushina's. "Do you really think that Naruto wants to do this?"

Kushina bit her lip. "You're right…" Taking a deep breath, she slid into a battle stance of her own. "I'm ready."

"Good." Yoruichi watched as Naruto scowled and created even more orbs of darkness. "Because I think Naruto is getting impatient with our talking."

---

'…This feeling…'

A pair of cerulean and violet eyes crack open to look at the surroundings. A black abyss.

'I…know this feeling…'

The eyes attempt to close once more as a feeling of immense fatigue wash over them, but the owner of the eyes fought off the feeling.

"…aruto! I kn…me! Don…you!…Fight it!"

'That voice…Yoruichi?' He was too tired to think…

"…did to yo…it win!"

"…stronger tha…like this!"

'Kaa-san? Tou-san?' Were they…yelling for him? Why?

Sluggishly, the eyes moved back to the direction that the owner thought was up.

'…I think…I'm sinking? This is just like…the first time…' It was too tiring to think. Wouldn't it be better to just rest for now?

"…your friends! Ab…Kisuke, yo…ari and Yam…Focus on the light!"

'The…light?' But why did he need to do that? The darkness was where he could rest.

"…not to let it use you!"

'…Use me?' What was she talking about? He was in perfect control. The light and darkness always balanced each other out equally, he made sure of that. '…No…That's not true.' He could feel it. His senses were extremely dulled, but he could feel the darkness rapidly growing and blacking out the light. 'I need…to fix that…' His eyes slid back closed and focused. He was losing his way to the darkness. To help find it again, he needed…Cerulean and violet eyes snapped back open.

"Light!"

A bright flash illuminated the abyss and Naruto felt his strength returning. Flipping his body, Naruto landed on his feet and looked around.

"I'm…in the Station of Awakening? What am I doing here?" Looking down, Naruto was confused to see that while he was wearing the outfit he always wore in the station, all of the black had disappeared from it. Taking a moment to gaze over the altered outfit, Naruto then looked to the floor and noticed that he was standing on an unfamiliar platform. This platform reminded Naruto greatly of the one depicting Ventus and Vanitas, but there were still some differences.

Such as the fact that half of it was pitch black.

The half that he could see had Naruto himself on it in a position that was identical to the one that Ventus was in on the similar platform. In platform Naruto's hand was a basic, silver keyblade, not Two Become One. The visible half of the platform was colored a bluish-white and had some hearts going around the edge. After getting a good look at it, Naruto's eyes moved to the obscured half.

"Why is that part hidden…?" He muttered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto whirled around in surprise at the unexpected voice. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened in shock.

Standing there was a boy that looked identical to him. They were so similar that if Naruto wasn't able to tell the severity of the situation, he would have entertained the joke that this new boy was the quadruplet he never knew about. The only differences in the boy were the yellow eyes and the dark body-suit that almost looked to be made out of muscles.

The boy smirked at him. "It's hidden because you refuse to admit it's there."

Naruto glared at him. "Who are you? How did you get in here? And why do you look like me?"

With an ever-growing smirk, the boy raised a hand to his chest. "Oh, that hurts! How could you ask that? We are practically brothers, after all. We've been together for so long…I can honestly say I know just about everything there is to know about you…"

"I'm pretty sure I would remember having another brother…"

"Ha! I guess so…" The boy started to slowly walk around the edge of the platform, gazing into the abyss as he did so. "But really, do you seriously not know who I am?"

Naruto frowned at him. "Can't say that I do, sorry." There was something that was familiar about him, but Naruto wasn't sure what. It was almost as if he knew who the boy was on an instinctive level.

The boy sighed. "Wow. You really can be an idiot…And I'm not sure if I just insulted myself." He stopped walking and turned to Naruto. Crossing his arms with an amused look, he continued. "Come on, guess. Who could Ibe? Who could possibly meet you in here besides Hikari and Yami?" Naruto thought over the question.

"…No one. As far as I know, only Hikari, Yami, and myself have free access to my Station of Awakening." He knew he didn't bring anyone else in. "…That means…" Naruto gained a surprised look and he looked over the boy again. "…You're me." He finished.

"Ding ding ding! You got it!" The boy mockingly said. "Now, can you tell me which part of you I am?"

Naruto thought about the question. After looking into the boy's eyes, he turned back to the blacked out portion of the platform. A feeling of trepidation was growing in him. As he watched Naruto's every move, the boy's smirk grew.

"I see you have figured it out."

"…You're my darkness." Naruto whispered.

The moment he said this, the darkness covering the other half of the platform faded away, revealing the lookalike in a reverse position to Naruto, similar to how Vanitas was in his platform with Ventus. The now visible half of the platform was colored red and had the heartless emblem going around it. In the boy's hand was a black and red keyblade that resembled a gear.

"Right again." The boy said quietly. "For the sake of simplicity, call me Kuro. We haven't used that name since we first met Yoruichi."

Naruto looked to Kuro. "Why are you here? How are you here?"

Kuro sneered. "I'm here because you are the dumbest person to ever exist." Naruto glared. "Oh, don't give me that look, it's true. It was stupid of you to ever think you could control the dark. You're too attached to the light. Not only that, but you also fight against the dark at every turn." He shook his head. "Someone like you could never control it. No one who fears the dark ever could."

"That's not true!" Naruto said. "I know it's just as important as light! I don't fear darkness!"

"Stop lying to yourself!" Naruto faltered at the rage in those words. Kuro glared at him. "If you didn't fear darkness, then I wouldn't be here! My very existence is proof that you do! Your fear is obvious to anyone who looks." Naruto stared at him with a defiant look. "I see you need some proof…You have so many attacks. So many abilities…And yet you still refuse to use any of the ones that don't have ties to light."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but quickly snapped it shut again. "That's…"

"It's true. I see in your eyes that you know this." Kuro growled. "You have been taught to use the darkness, to control it, but you fear it so much that you refuse to use anything that doesn't have some light in it. You want to know why you have so much trouble staying in a Corridor of Darkness for a period of time that is longer than a few minutes? It's because you're scared of the dark!" He shook his head. "Your fear of the dark is obvious to anyone who looks. Sephiroth saw it right away."

"Will you truly accept your darkness?" Naruto remembered Sephiroth's parting words. Shaking his head, Naruto glared.

"…There's nothing wrong with being cautious of the dark. It corrupts and twists you into doing things that you would never have done otherwise."

Kuro snorted and his glare turned harsher. "Funny…I can say the same about the light…" Naruto blinked in confusion at this.

"…What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb!" Naruto was not expecting Kuro's angered shout. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! The light makes you act like an idiot! A weak! Emotional! Forgiving! IDIOT!" Kuro clenched his fists in anger. "After everything they did…After years of neglect…HOW CAN YOU ACT AS IF IT NEVER HAPPENED?!"

Naruto looked away with a conflicted look. He didn't need Kuro to clarify to understand who he was talking about. "It wasn't their choice." He defended.

"That doesn't change the fact that it still happened!" Kuro swiped his arm through the air as he said this. "Whether or not they meant to do it and saying sorry doesn't make up for eight! Fucking! Years!" Kuro shook his head in disgust. "It's obvious the light makes you weak and foolish. If you open your heart to them, all they will do is let you down! You can prevent that by not even giving anyone the chance to!"

"You don't know that!" Naruto snapped. "You can't just act like everyone is going to betray you sooner or later!"

"Ha! I can't?! I fucking can't?!" Kuro repeated. "Are you really that stupid? What the hell is the last thing you remember before waking up here?!"

Naruto flinched. "I…"

"Exactly! You opened our heart to Misa. And what did it get you? Nothing but a kami damn keyblade in the back. Literally!"

"She…She must not have been in control of herself!" Naruto said, although he didn't seem too sure of what he was saying. "Misa would never betray me. We're friends!"

Kuro snarled. "You still don't get it! It's because she was our friend that she even had the chance to betray us! It's only a matter of time until our parents do the same all over again!" He practically spat at the word 'parents.'

"No…"

"Yes! It's true! You know it as well as I do! You are trusting them too easily! Can you honestly tell me that you have no doubts about their remorse? I'll answer that for you. You. Can't. You can deny it all you want, but I know how you really feel."

"Shut up…"

"You doubt them. They neglected us for years, and suddenly they act like they're sorry?"

"Shut. Up."

"So what if we found out someone influenced them? That just means they were weak enough to let themselves get influenced into forgetting about their child. It was stupid of you to forgive them like that."

"SHUT UP!"

"NO! I've had to watch you make one stupid choice after the next, and honestly, I'm tired of taking a back seat to watch you act like an idiot. So I'm going step in."

A tense air filled the abyss. Naruto eyed Kuro warily. "What are you talking about?"

Kuro pointed a thumb to his own chest. "I mean that I'm going to be the one in charge from now on." He pointed at Naruto. "You can be the one who gets locked up in here." Kuro smirked. "And honestly? I've been having doubts that you are even strong enough to do what needs to be done."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I'll never let that happen."

Play Kingdom Hearts BBS OST: Enter the Darkness - Extended

This declaration earned Naruto a snort from Kuro. "You're talking as if you have a choice. Let me tell you right now…you don't." He raised his hand. "I'll prove to you here and now that you are too weak to actually do anything." Naruto was surprised when, in a flash of darkness, a black and red keyblade resembling a gear appeared in Kuro's hand.

"You won't win." Naruto raised his own hand and summoned his keyblade, but was distracted when something unexpected happened. Instead of Two Become One, a silver keyblade that looked like a normal key with a golden guard appeared in a flash of light. "What?"

"You just keep proving how dumb you are." Naruto's eyes snapped back to Kuro. "Did you already forget what we were talking about? What I am?"

Naruto looked to the Kingdom Key in his hand before looking to the keyblade in Kuro's hand. "I can't use darkness."

"Exactly." Kuro nodded. "Someone like you doesn't even deserve to wield the power of darkness." His smirk extended. "Me on the other hand…" An aura of darkness formed around his body. "I don't think there is anyone better suited for it." He slid into a battle stance. "I'm done talking with you. Let's go, you and me, right now. No jutsu or chakra, just our keyblades, spells, light, and darkness." His smirk faltered when he suddenly paused, as if considering something, but he soon shook his head and regained his smirk. "I hope you're ready to see the dark!" He rose into the air and raised a free hand. As if answering his call, orbs of darkness phased into existence around him. "Perish!" The darkness shot at Naruto.

Rolling to the side, Naruto avoided the first orb and used his keyblade to deflect the next one into the third. "You can't beat me if all you can do is use knockoffs of Sephiroth's attacks!"

"I don't need to use knockoffs." A voice said behind him. Naruto's eyes widened. "I have our moves." Naruto whirled around, but was not fast enough. "Dark Firaga!" A darkness coated fireball slammed into Naruto's gut and sent him flying back.

Skidding to a halt, Naruto gripped his stomach and winced. "That move was…"

"The move that Yami taught us." Kuro finished. "The one that you have been too scared to use. You haven't used it a single time. The same goes for the other darkness spells."

"I haven't been too scared to use them!"

"Stop lying! Lying to me means that you're lying to yourself, so cut it out! There's no one who knows you better than I do!" Kuro yelled. "I know you're scared to use them! I can feel it whenever you're in the middle of a fight and going over your options. You don't even consider them! When are you going to just admit you're scared?!"

"I…I'm not!"

Kuro shook his head in disgust. "Fine then. Cling to the pitiful lies you have yourself believing. I'll show you the truth!" Naruto watched as a pool of darkness opened up at his feet and consumed him.

Immediately after, an identical pool of darkness opened under Naruto. Knowing what was about to happen, Naruto jumped back, narrowly avoiding an attacking Kuro. Naruto swung his keyblade at Kuro, but missed when Kuro dove back into the darkness. Another portal opened in the ground next to Naruto, who prepared himself. But while he was expecting Kuro to resurface there, Naruto did not anticipate the volley of fireballs that came with him.

"Gah!" Caught by surprise, a few of the fireballs landed before Naruto was able to block any.

"Ha! If this is the best you can do, then it's a good thing I'm taking over! You're too weak!" Kuro taunted. Gritting his teeth, Naruto ignored the pain and shot at Kuro. Slashing his keyblade down, Naruto's keyblade met Kuro's, creating a shower of sparks. While Naruto had a glare on his face, Kuro's smirk never faltered.

"I'm not weak." Naruto bit out.

"Prior evidence implies otherwise." Kuro jumped back. "This is what true power really is!" Darkness was channeled into his keyblade.

"Your power comes at too great a cost." Naruto replied and channeled light into his keyblade. "If I do things your way, then it will defeat the entire purpose of having that power."

"Wrong! The purpose of having power is to be the strongest! If we're the strongest, then all of our worries will stop!" Kuro rushed at Naruto. "Why can't you realize that?!"

Naruto ducked under his lunge and retaliate with a swipe to Kuro's back, eliciting a grunt of pain from him. "Why can't you realize that it isn't that easy?!" He brought his keyblade back for another strike, but was surprise when it phased right through Kuro.

"Pathetic!" Naruto's head snapped up at the shout, allowing him to see Kuro dropping down at him from above.

"Aerora!" A whirlwind formed around Naruto even as he raised his keyblade to block the downward strike. "Guh!" The moment Kuro's keyblade made contact with Naruto's a large pillar of ice erupted from below him and slammed into his back.

Using the chance, Kuro kicked Naruto in the chest, hurling him away. Naruto flipped in the air and landed on his feet before dashing back at Kuro, prompting the two of them to launch into successive slashes and parries as they both tried to get the upper hand.

Suddenly, Kuro disappeared in another flash of darkness. Taking a guess on Kuro's battle tactics based on what he has already seen, Naruto rolled forward and spun around. In doing so, he was greeted with Kuro's exposed back.

"Photon Charge." Shrouded in light, Naruto sped at Kuro and slashed at him as he sped by.

"Gah!" Not giving him the chance to recover, Naruto turned around and came back to go into a combo of high speed attacks. Kuro tried to defend himself, but Naruto kept on moving out of the way of any of his strikes and every attempt at a block was met with Naruto attacking from a different angle.

Kuro growled as the number of cuts on his body kept on growing, along with his anger. "Fuck! Off!" A pulse of darkness exploded from his body, forcing Naruto to abandon what he was doing and get out of the way. Snarling, Kuro slashed his keyblade towards Naruto, which shot a crescent-shaped wave of darkness at him.

Sidestepping the attack, Naruto then parried the keyblade that streaked at his neck and retaliated with a slash of his own, but missed his target when Kuro quickly sunk into a pool of darkness. Resurfacing a few feet away, Kuro pointed his keyblade at Naruto and launched a large fireball at him. Naruto dodged to the side, but frowned when the fireball split off into three smaller ones, each homing in on his new position. With two small fireballs of his own, Naruto intercepted the first two before stopping the final one with his keyblade.

Jumping into the air, Kuro channeled more darkness into his keyblade and came back down on his opponent.

'This again?' Naruto back just in time to avoid both Kuro and the pillar of ice that shot out of the ground, but he caught off guard when a pool of darkness opened up under Kuro the moment he landed. 'Shit!' Naruto made to move, but he was not fast enough. A second pool of darkness opened at his feet, giving way for an attack from below.

"Gotcha!" Kuro jumped out of the pool and struck Naruto with his keyblade. Doubling the agony was the pillar of dark fire that accompanied Kuro and dealt additional damage.

Naruto stumbled as he tried to gain some distance. Hurriedly, he raised a hand to his chest. "Cur-"

"Too slow!" Naruto's spell was cut off when Kuro flashed in front of him and punched him in the face.

Rolling with the force of the blow, Naruto got back to his feet and slid into a battle stance. He was panting and his body was covered in injuries, but he was still able to fight.

Kuro smirked again. "Wow, I was kind of expecting you to put up more of a fight…"

Naruto crouched. "I still got plenty of fight left in me…"

"Then I'll have to beat it out!" Kuro rushed forward and clashed against Naruto again. "There is no way you don't see it now! I'm much stronger than you are! Here we are, in our heart, locked in a heated battle, and you are clearly on the losing side of the fight! You're good, but none of your attacks are strong enough to win!"

"I only need a single good one to take you out!"

"And where are you going to get the strength to?! You're too weak!" Kuro jumped back and awaited Naruto's answer.

Naruto was silent for a moment. "I…I'll do whatever it takes." This response seemed to further infuriate Kuro, making him rush back in.

"That isn't an answer!" Naruto deflected Kuro's keyblade and sliced at his chest. When his keyblade phased through Kuro, Naruto cursed and rolled to the side. Springing back to his feet, he shot his keyblade up.

"Flame Salvo!"

"Dark Volley!"

Fireballs met darkness and created explosions in between them. Not bothering to wait, Naruto channeled more light and sped towards Kuro, working his way in between the smoke and explosions. Kuro didn't seem to expect another attack so soon, because he still had his keyblade raised and was trying to see through the smoke when Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him.

When a red-tinted glow formed around Naruto, Kuro's eyes widened in a mixture of recognition and alarm. He started channeling more darkness to get out of the way, but wasn't fast enough.

"Sacrifice!" Boom!

"Argh!" Kuro's pained shout echoed throughout the station, although Naruto couldn't see him through the smoke after being flung back from the explosion.

Pain wracked every nerve in Naruto's body as he tumbled across the floor. When he finally came to a stop, he could do nothing but lay there and wait for the pain to subside. Cracking an eye open, he glanced back over to the other side of the platform where a cloud of smoke still lingered.

"…Whatever it takes…" He repeated before struggling to push himself to his feet.

End Music

"…You're fucking crazy." Naruto froze at the voice and took a closer look as the smoke finally started to disappear. Standing there was Kuro. He was panting heavily and favoring one side, but he was still standing. Glaring, he spoke up. "You actually used that attack…Hikari and Yami said it was a last resort."

Naruto struggled harder to get to his feet. "I don't…care…I can't let you win." He finally managed to stagger to his feet.

"Tch. I'm getting really sick of your stupidity. I'm ending this." Kuro said. He began to walk forward, but stumbled. Catching himself, he used his keyblade as a support. "Damn it." Naruto gave a weak smirk.

"For all your talk, you look to be in the same position I am."

"Shut up! I'm not a weak idiot like you are! I'm stronger! Faster! More willing to do what's needed!" Kuro shouted. He paused. "…More willing to do what's needed…" A malicious grin formed on his face, making a new sense of dread swell in Naruto. "I'm willing to go the distance and do what I have to in order to grow stronger!"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto demanded.

Kuro laughed. "Just think about it! Our anger and hatred give me strength! The rage we feel for what they've done is what gives me power! But what if I used a new source of rage? One that's even stronger than what we already have? I would become the strongest person in any of the worlds!"

It didn't even take a second for Naruto to understand what he was saying. "No." Kuro laughed even more.

"Just because you're too scared of the dark doesn't mean I am!" Kuro snapped, making light start filtering down in the distance, illuminating a nearby platform. "You said it yourself…Whatever it takes." He disappeared in a flash of darkness.

"Damn it!" Naruto ignored his protesting body and turned towards the edge of the platform. When he ran up to it, a floating bridge of tiles appeared, giving him the chance to make his way to the new platform. As he ran, he raised a hand to his chest. "Cura." The feeling of his wounds healing over let him speed his pace up.

Soon, Naruto made it to the new platform. Taking a moment to glance down at it, he noticed that there was a change since the last time he saw it. The Kyūbi no Kitsune was still snarling in the center of it, but there was darkness oozing out of the keyhole. Naruto rushed forward when he saw this, determined to redo the lock, but stopped when black flames erupted in front of him, forming a ring around the keyhole.

"You aren't stopping me!" Naruto's head snapped up to see Kuro floating in the air above the platform. He looked down and met Naruto's eyes. "This is the power we need! You may not see it, but I do!"

"Don't do it!" Naruto shouted. "You can't possibly hope to control the Kyūbi's darkness! It's too much!"

"Maybe for you!" Kuro pointed his keyblade at the lock. "But for someone who isn't afraid of the dark, this is the next step to growing stronger!" Before Naruto could say anything else, a beam of darkness shot out of the keyblade and into the keyhole.

Click.

Both Naruto and Kuro stared at the keyhole in silence as they waited for something to happen.

Boom! A powerful blast of darkness pushed Naruto back several feet, but he managed to not fall off the platform. He watched with horror as the most overwhelming aura he has ever felt exploded from the keyhole.

"Yes! Yes! This is exactly what we need!" Kuro laughed at the sight of the darkness. He dismissed his keyblade and spread his arms out. "We will be the strongest!" He continued to laugh as the darkness swallowed him.

"No!" Naruto was about to try to reach him, but stopped when the platform started to violently shake. Looking down, Naruto saw that large cracks were appearing in it. Some portions of the platform were even falling away into the abyss. With no other option, Naruto spun around and ran back to the other platform.

---

On the Outside

Yoruichi tensed when she felt something in Naruto shift. "Get back!" Not knowing what was going on but deciding it was best to not risk it, Kushina and Minato complied.

"AAHH!" The next second, Naruto screamed. A pillar of darkness that was even larger than the one from earlier shot into the sky. In the center of it was a thrashing Naruto who was clutching his head in apparent agony.

---

Cold blue eyes observed the darkness from a few miles away.

"…So in the end, he was consumed. That is…disappointing."

---

"Naruto! What's happening to him?!" Kushina shouted.

"I have no idea! Something in him must have changed!" The darkness was rapidly growing in amount. Soon, there was so much of it that the sky was starting to darken with storm clouds. Kushina, Yoruichi, and Minato braced themselves against the wind and the ground shook. Suddenly, a reddish-orange tint joined the purplish-black. The sight of this new addition froze Kushina and Minato's blood.

"Impossible…" Minato whispered. "That can't be right."

"I take it you know what that new energy is!" Yoruichi said.

"That's...He doesn't have the chakra!" Kushina shouted. "How is that here?!"

That was all Yoruichi needed to put the pieces together. "The Kyūbi..." Things just got a whole lot more serious if the Kyūbi's heart was freed. "Naruto may not have the chakra, but he definitely has the darkness! That's what we're seeing right now!" Lightning was starting to crackle in the sky.

"Darkness?!" Minato asked. "You said that before, what the hell is it?!" And why does he feel like he has heard that before?

"That's not important right now! I told you explanations can come later!" Although obviously unsatisfied with this, Minato relented.

"If the Kyūbi is escaping, then we need to restrain him, now!" Kushina shouted. "The only thing that can hold him down now are my chains! I need you to give me an opening!"

Minato and Yoruichi nodded. "When you do that, I will get a suppression seal on him! I don't know what that stuff is, but it may still work if it's from the Kyūbi!" Minato responded. The darkness was still growing in output. "But we can never get close like this!" Even the ground was starting to shake!

"AAHHHH!" Naruto's screams rose to new heights. At the same time, the pillar of darkness shot even higher into the sky, piercing the clouds entirely. If they weren't trained the way that they were, then Minato, Yoruichi, and Kushina would have stumbled by now.

Off in the distance, a large chunk of a cliff side splintered off and plummeted to the ground, while fissures split the battle field. Yoruichi knew that the situation was escalating even further, but there was nothing she could do while the darkness blocked their path to Naruto. 'At this rate, the world is going to be consumed just by the darkness here!' "If we don't stop him right now, then we can kiss the world goodbye!"

Seeing the surrounding area get destroyed by what could rival a natural disaster, Minato grimaced. "Right. I'm going to try and stop whatever's happening with a long rage jutsu! The moment I do, you will need to rush in and get Kushina that opening! Got it?!"

"Got it!"

"Good! Ge ready!" Minato brought his hands together and started to blur through long chain of hand seals. But he only managed to get through the first few when the darkness convulsed. All at once, the entire pillar of darkness exploded outward, blowing them back a few feet.

"Whoa! What the hell?!" When the darkness finally faded, Naruto was seen standing a few yards away. The changes in his appearance made their breaths hitch.

Naruto stood there with a vicious snarl on his face. His whisker marks were darker than they had been and looked more feral. What was truly startling was the fact that his eyes now had slit pupils and seemed to have some kind of glow to them that was colored a mixture of reddish-orange and purplish-black.

His eyes shifted between them, as if trying to decide who to attack first. After some thought, his eyes landed on Kushina and his expression grew darker. Raising a hand, he summoned his keyblade back and slid into a battle stance.

"He's about to attack!" Yoruichi yelled. Naruto crouched in preparation, but paused abruptly and frowned, slightly confusing the others. Tilting his head as if to hear some far off noise, Naruto stayed silent.

"...aahh..." Minato frowned at the distant voice, but didn't let it distract him.

"..Aaahhh!"Kushina glanced around in confusion, Yoruichi doing the same.

'I'm not hearing things...' Kushina thought to herself.

"...AaaaAAAAHHHHHHHH" Naruto's head snapped up when he identified where the screams were coming from. The others were only a second behind him in doing the same.

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes at a small speck that was falling from the hole Naruto made in the blackened sky. She couldn't make see that many details, but if she had to guess... 'People are falling from the sky?'

---

High in the Air

"AAHHH! We're gonna die!" A high pitched voice shouted in despair.

"We aren't going to die!" A male voice barked.

"Yes we are! We're gonna hit the ground and go splat!" The first voice resumed its screaming.

"I don't want to die!" A different male voice yelled before joining in on the screaming.

"Both of you shut up!" Ordered the second voice. "Hey, idiots! Have you forgotten that one of us can fly?!"

"Really?! Who?!" The high pitch voiced asked.

"You!"

"Ah, you're right. I'm saved!"

"That's great, buddy!" The third voice cheered, somehow forgetting that he was still falling.

"Yeah, fantastic! Now catch us!"

"Eh~? But you're heavy..."

"Do it or I'll haunt you after this!" That did the trick of convincing the first voice.

"AYE SIR!"

---

Back on the Ground

Two people and one animal touched down roughly on the ground nearby. The people were clinging to the animal like it was some kind of lifeline as it was the only thing that stopped them from being killed on impact.

"We're alive!" One of the people and animal cheered together. The last person slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

"That was closer than I would have liked..." His eyes turned back to the sky. "How the hell did we wind up falling from the sky?"

"No clue! But who cares?" The other male asked.

"I do! Shit like that isn't normal, flame brain! For once in your life, would you just think?!"

"Huh? You wanna say that again, snow cone?" Growled the other person.

"I said you're that you're the dumbest person alive!"

"Oh yeah?! Well your twice as dumb as I am!"

"Great comeback, dipshit! You get that off of Asuka?"

"No, I got it from myself! If it seems stupid to you, that's only 'cause I needed to dumb it down so you would be able to understand it!"

"I'll freeze your fire-retardant ass!"

"Bring it! I'll melt your popsicle face!" The two of them were butting heads as they threw insults and threats at each other.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The animal cheered.

Getting over his surprise at the unexpected and strange interruption, Naruto's hostility returned. Gripping his keyblade, he sped towards the newcomers.

Yoruichi recovered her bearings when she saw this. "Watch out!" She shouted.

The two humans blinked and turned as one towards her voice. Their confusion at the shout was obvious to all. After glancing to her, their eyes turned to Naruto and widened in alarm at the keyblade slashing down at them.

"Crap!"

"Whoa!" While one of them jumped out of the way, the other grabbed the small animal and rolled to safety. Springing back to his feet, he slid into a defensive stance with the animal cowering behind him. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"He's scary..." The animal shivered.

Not answering the question, Naruto swiped his keyblade through the air and shot crescent-shaped wave of darkness at them.

"Get out of the way!"

"I know that!" The teens dodged the attack. "Darkness magic?!"

"I guess so! But why is he attacking?!"

"No clue!" The second teen smirked. A familiar swell of excitement was pooling in his chest. "But if he wants a fight, then I'll be happy to take him on!" Flames erupted around his body.

The first teen gained a matching smirk and got into his own battle stance. "Better move fast or I'll be the one to beat him." The ground at his feet began to frost over.

"You're on!" Igniting a fist, the second teen rushed forward, but someone else blurred into existence in front of him and sent Naruto flying with a surprise attack. "The hell?!" He skidded to a halt and barely managed to not run into the woman. "Where did you come from?!"

Yoruichi didn't take her eyes off of Naruto. "I have a similar question for you, but now isn't the time. You and your friends need to leave."

"Huh? No way! I called dibs on this guy!"

Minato flashed into existence next to them, startling the newcomers. "This isn't up for debate. Leave the area." He ordered. Kushina jumped over to them, but her entire focus was on her son.

The first teen looked between the three of them. Taking in their slightly battered appearances, he then noted the destroyed area. "You guys were already fighting him..." He concluded. Minato and Yoruichi nodded.

"Huh? They were?" The second teen deflated at this new piece of information. "Aww...That sucks." He sulked.

His companion scrutinized the others again. Almost immediately, he noticed the similarities between the man, the redhead, and the boy that was getting back up. "Is that your son?" He asked quietly. Judging by their reactions to his question and the extremely distressed expression of the woman, he was pretty sure.

The pink haired teen and animal turned to him and gaped. "What?! He is?!" They shouted together.

"What the heck is wrong with him? Is he sick?" The animal asked.

"In a way." Yoruichi said cryptically. "Now get out of here." Naruto crouched and summoned more darkness. "Here we go again..."

"…" The second teen looked at Naruto before taking in the appearances of the others for the first time. His eyes lingered on the expression Kushina had.

"No. I'm gonna fight too."

After everything that had happened, Yoruichi's patience was wearing thin. "That isn't an option! Leave!"

"I'm not leaving!" The teen shouted back.

"This isn't your fight!"

"Then I'll make it my fight!" He pointed at Naruto. "I may not know what's going on, but I understand how hard it is to be forced to fight family." His mind went to the time that his surrogate sister had to fight against someone she knew from childhood. Then there was his own fight with someone he saw as a brother.

…A rude, arrogant, sarcastic, jackass, lightning brained brother, but still a brother…It helps that he got over himself a bit.

"You don't even need to say anything for me to know that you're hurting inside. All of you are." He glared at Naruto. "Seeing him be controlled by something else to turn against you really pisses me off. This is the Tower of Heaven all over again." He made a flaming fist and punched it into his other hand. "Family fighting family is wrong, that was one of the first lessons Gramps taught me."

The other teen smirked and moved to stand beside the flaming one. "Sorry, but he's right. We can't just sit by and watch this happen. We're helping you stop him."

The cat nodded with a determined expression. "Aye!"

"Listen, that's nice of you, but-" Minato was cut off by Naruto when he shot an oversized fireball at them. "Scatter!" He, Kushina, and Yoruichi all scattered, but the teens and cat stayed in place. "Move!" Minato shouted to them, but they didn't listen.

The first teen smirked and glanced to the other one. "This is all you." He and the cat took a step back.

"Ha! Too easy!" A wild grin made its way onto the pink haired teen's face, showcasing his sharp canines. The adults watched with shock as he stood his ground and actually caught the fireball. What made things even more confusing was that he then began eating it like it was food.

"What?" Yoruichi said in disbelief.

Even Naruto stared as the teen slurped the fire. With a loud burp, he patted his stomach contently. "A little funny tasting, but pretty good!" He punched his fists together again, creating sparks. "Now I'm really fired up!"

The other teen turned his smirk to Minato. "We can handle ourselves pretty well in a fight, so don't worry about that. I assume you have some kind of plan to stop him?"

"Kicking Jellal's ass worked well enough, so let's just do that!"

"Aye!"

He glared at his companions. "Shut up! That may not work this time!" Dark blue eyes went back to the others. "Well?"

"We need to get an opening on him to detain him." Yoruichi finally said. "The problem is that he teleports out of the way whenever we are about to catch him. But having more capable fighters would increase our chances."

"So we just gotta keep attacking until we land a hit? Is that all? I can do that, easy!" The pink haired teen grinned again. "Hey, you!" He shouted to Naruto. "I hope you're ready, 'cause I'm about to turn up the heat!"

The other teen snorted. "That was lame."

"Go Natsu! Go Gray!" The cat cheered. "Win it for Fairy Tail!"

'There's something not right about them…' Yoruichi chose to look at them in greater detail for the first time.

The pink haired teen had spiky hair, black eyes, and a lean, muscular body with slightly tanned skin. He was wearing a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat that was left open and untucked, showing that he had nothing on underneath. Going around his waist was a black cloth of the same color scheme that was held by a leather belt. He also had on white pants that only went to his knees, black sandals, and around his neck was a scale-patterned scarf. On his right shoulder was some kind of red tattoo.

The other teen had spiky black hair, dark blue eyes, and was also muscular. His choice of clothing was a white coat with blue trims, a red shirt under it, dark blue pants, and black shoes.

Yoruichi stared. 'Why is he stripping?'

As if the teen never even noticed, he threw off his coat and shirt, leaving him in nothing but his pants and shoes. On his chest was the same mark that the other teen had, but dark blue in color.

The probably strangest one of the three was the blue cat with a large head and white stomach that was carry a green knapsack.

Naruto seemed to grow even angrier when he saw the pink haired teen eat his attack. With a growl, he crouched low and conjured more orbs of darkness. This served as enough incentive for Yoruichi to focus on the important matters.

"Fine! If you really want to help, then make sure he stays occupied!"

"You got it!"

"Can do!"

Naruto leapt at them.

---

Station of Awakening

Naruto swore loudly after glancing back to see that the tile bridge was collapsing behind him. 'Speed it up!' The platform was just ahead! Pumping light into his legs, Naruto jumped for it. He landed and rolled until he finally came to a stop in a crouched position. "That was closer than I would have liked…"

Standing up, he turned his eyes to the platform that the he just ran from. The bridge to it was completely destroyed, but there were still some parts of the platform standing, although he didn't think they would be for much longer. Every few seconds, another part would splinter off and fall into the abyss. A chaotic storm of darkness spiraled above it.

"Damn it…This isn't good."

"How can you say that? This is freaking great!" Naruto's head flicked up to see Kuro floating there with a manic grin on his face. A vortex of reddish-orange and purplish-black darkness surrounded him. "There isn't anything I can say to describe this! This power is amazing!"

"Kuro! Stop it now! We can still lock the Kyūbi's darkness back up! It isn't too late!"

"Ha! Lock it back up? Why the hell would I want to do that! We finally have the power we need! Why can't you see that?!"

"All I see is the darkness driving you insane! It will consume you!"

Kuro shook his head. "No, it won't. Don't you get it? Darkness consumes those who fear it. I have no fear of the darkness! I embrace it! That's the difference between you and me! I will become one with the dark!" The vortex picked up speed and the darkness closed in on him.

"Kuro! Don't!"

"If words won't prove it to you, then maybe this will!" He spread his arms out. "Witness the power of the of dark!" The dark aura flooded into his body. When it was all gone, Kuro gently lowered to the ground. He had a giddy look on his face as he looked at his hands to see that the mixed darkness now covered him in a shroud of aura. "This is…This is it!"

Slowly, his pupils turned to slits and his eyes started to glow with a mixture of normal darkness and the darkness from the Kyūbi. Due to the Kyūbi's influence, his whisker marks also darkened and became more feral looking.

"This is it! I can feel the darkness!" Kuro's eyes met Naruto's. "I can finally prove to you that the path of the dark is the path to victory!" He raised a hand, summoning his keyblade, but it was a different one from before.

This new keyblade had a dark red jagged shaft, rust orange teeth that resembled flames, and a rust orange guard shaped like the tails of the Kyūbi. On the top of the guard was the Kyūbi's head with yellow glowing eyes. Spiraling around the shaft and hilt of the blade was another tail that also resembled flames. The shaft of the keyblade had visible darkness coating it.

Play Kingdom Hearts BBS OST: Unbreakable Chains - Extended

Pointing it at Naruto, he spoke up. "The time has come. I'll defeat you, forcing you to admit that your way won't cut it." He got into a battle stance. "Prepare yourself."

With a scowl, Naruto summoned the Kingdom Key and got into his own battle stance. "There are better ways to do things than rely on the dark." The two of them stared at each other in silence.

Suddenly, Kuro shot his arm up. "Darkness will show the way!" A pillar of darkness exploded around him, granting him power. Using this, Kuro launched himself at Naruto with his keyblade coming down in an arc.

Naruto dodged with a roll, but Kuro was quick to react. Stopping on a dime, he spun around and leapt into the air above Naruto. Just coming out of his roll, Naruto hastily jumped to the side again to avoid the newest attack, but he was not expecting a shockwave of darkness that was created.

"Gah!" Naruto was knocked back by the blow, but he was able to recover. Gritting his teeth, Naruto thrust his hand up. "Chaos Snake!" Zigzagging projectile of light shot out of his body and flanked Kuro from both sides.

Staying calm, Kuro waited until the last moment to backflip over the first beam. He then turned his body in midair to avoid the next one. The others were dodged in similar displays of acrobatics. When the last one faded from existence, he landed on the ground and launched several waves of darkness at Naruto.

Using some light, Naruto batted it away with his keyblade, only to find that Kuro used the cover provided by the darkness to get close and surprise Naruto. With a smirk, Kuro coated his keyblade in darkness and slashed at Naruto.

Knowing he would never get out of the way in time, Naruto instead aimed his hand down. "Fira!" Both Naruto and Kuro were caught in the blast.

Kuro jumped back out of the smoke, smirk nowhere in sight. He raised a hand to his injured side. "Harming yourself just to land a hit on me? And it wasn't Sacrifice? You're getting desperate. I didn't think you would do that."

The smoke cleared, showing a grim and injured Naruto. "I guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did." Kuro snorted.

"Don't count on it working again!" He disappeared in a flash of darkness. Immediately, Naruto spun around, successfully blocking the surprise attack from Kuro. Staring into Kuro's surprised eyes, Naruto allowed a small smirk to appear on his face.

"The funny thing is that while you can predict my moves pretty well, I can do the same for you." Kuro snarled and disappeared in another flash. Naruto jumped back and avoided his downward strike. "You see?"

"Shut up!" Kuro disappeared in another flash of darkness. The fight was thrown into a flurry of teleports, slashes, and parries, but neither Naruto nor Kuro were able to land a decisive blow. When Kuro disappeared again, Naruto jumped back and glanced around the platform in an attempt to find him.

"Impossible." Naruto swiftly looked up and spotted Kuro in the air again. "You shouldn't be able to keep up with me." Kuro growled. "How are you doing this?"

That was a good question. How was Naruto keeping up? Naruto shrugged. "Maybe the darkness isn't all that it's cracked up to be."

"Liar! The darkness will grant us the power we need! I won't let you say otherwise!" His shroud of darkness grew stronger. "There's no escape!" Kuro's body swooped down at him, making it look like he was a large darkness bullet.

Naruto dodged the attack, but Kuro halted in midair and came back for a second attempt. This time, his keyblade made contact with Naruto's back. "Gah!" Stumbling forward, Naruto tracked Kuro's movement before throwing himself to the ground to avoid the third strike. After he missed, Kuro dispelled the darkness surrounding him and raised his keyblade to the air. "Embrace the dark!"

Having witnessed the attack before, Naruto knew what was coming. Because he was still prone, he chose to dodge the keyblade slamming into the ground by hastily rolling to the other side of the platform. The shockwave of darkness that came after flew over him by a few inches.

Springing to his feet, Naruto was just in time to duck under Kuro's angered attack and retaliated with his own strike. Still outstretched from his attack, Kuro was unable to get out of the way in time. The Kingdom Key cut into his chest, but it wasn't done. Naruto did not want to give Kuro the chance to recover, so he launched into a swift combo, but he disengaged when one of the strikes phased through Kuro.

The next moment, Kuro reappeared behind Naruto with his body already spinning around to add momentum to his attack. Naruto jumped into the air, but wasn't able to fully dodge as the keyblade sliced into his calf. Grunting in pain, Naruto flipped and lashed a kick out at Kuro from above.

Kuro's hand snapped up and caught the leg. Not deterred in the slightest, Naruto pivoted his body around so he could attack with his keyblade. Kuro blocked the attack before jumping back. He raised his keyblade at the same time Naruto did.

"Chaos Blade."

"Sonic Blade."

Both of them shot at each other and met in the center of the platform. They clashed their keyblades together for not even an entire second before blurring away, only to reapper off to the side in another shower of sparks, but cut off their attacks again. Naruto's eyes were bathed in light, while Kuro's were shrouded in darkness. Vanishing in another burst of speed, they continued to increase the pace until they almost looked to be teleporting around the platform.

Finally, the two of them blurred into existence on either side of the platform. Naruto was panting heavily on the half of the platform that had his image on it, while Kuro was looking the same on his own side.

"…How…?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "How what?"

"How are you doing this? I am the one with the darkness! I have the darkness of the Kyūbi aiding me! How are you fighting evenly with me?! How are you becoming stronger?!" Kuro yelled.

Frowning, Naruto thought about the question. It really didn't make much sense for him to be able to keep pace with Kuro. Earlier, Kuro had the advantage for most of the fight, so shouldn't that be amplified now that he gained a power boost?

Cerulean and violet eyes went to Kuro's body. Just like Naruto himself, Kuro was littered with various cuts and scorch marks. There was a small trail of blood dripping down his face and sweat was covering his body, but like Naruto, he didn't pay attention to that. That's when Naruto saw it.

A small flinch in the arm that was holding the keyblade.

Understanding dawned on Naruto. "You're wrong." He finally said.

Kuro snarled. "What?"

"I said you're wrong. I've done nothing to grow stronger. I'm the same as I always was." Kuro shook his head.

"Stop! Lying! You are stronger! You are keeping up with me after I absorbed the darkness of the Kyūbi!"

"And that's the problem." This silenced Kuro. "You're in a lot of pain right now, aren't you?"

"Of course I am! We both are! That's what happens when two people fight!"

It was Naruto's turn to shake his head. "Wrong again. You assumed your pain is from what I did, but that's not it." Kuro actually laughed this time.

"Oh yeah? Then what the hell is it then? You aren't actually going to tell me that I'm in pain because I'm getting burned by the light, are you?!" He slashed his hand through the air. "This isn't a joke! Your light isn't harming me!"

"No…You're not getting burned by the light."

"Then what the hel-"

"You're being destroyed by the dark." Kuro's mouth snapped close and he stared into Naruto's eyes. After a minute, a small chuckle escaped his throat. This was soon turned into a laugh, which also grew in volume. With a shiver, Naruto was vividly reminded of Orochimaru.

"The dark? I'm being destroyed by the fucking dark? I told you that this isn't a joke!" Kuro flared the darkness around him again. "I am darkness! It will never harm me!"

"Maybe not the darkness already in my heart…but then you went and added another source of darkness to yourself." Kuro froze. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Shut up!" Kuro roared. "I took the Kyūbi's darkness and made it my own! It's mine now! It can't harm me!" Naruto was growing increasingly frustrated with him.

"Stop kidding yourself! Hikari and Yami warned us about how deep the darkness of the Kyūbi ran! I can't control something like that, and neither can you!"

"Yes! I! Can!" Kuro shouted. "It bends to my will and becomes my strength! It already belongs to me!"

"It isn't giving you strength and you haven't absorbed it! Open your freaking eyes and look at yourself! It's destroying you! Just let it go now before it is too late!"

"No! We need this strength! Without it, we will perish!"

"Damn it, Kuro! Listen to yourself! You're me, so you should understand better than anyone that we don't need that power!"

"Yes we do!" The darkness vortex reformed around him, creating wind that whipped through the area. "You won't convince me otherwise!" He pointed his keyblade at Naruto. "Enough talking! This ends now!"

Scowling, Naruto raised his keyblade into an identical stance. "I don't want to do this, Kuro!" A cloak of light faded into existence around his body.

"You don't have a choice! Because I do!" They grew quiet as they waited for the right moment.

The moment soon came.

"Dark Cannon!"

"Dark Link!"

Beams of light and darkness collided in the center of the station, creating a large bubble of chaotic energy fighting for dominance. Kuro and Naruto both poured everything they had into their attacks, knowing that the outcome would be decided right then. The platform they were standing on was starting to shatter from the power struggle.

'Can't let him win!'

'This won't be the end!' Naruto and Kuro stopped powering their attacks at the same time and rushed forward.

The area was thrown into a blinding flash.

End Music

---

On the Outside

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu opened his mouth and spewed a torrent of flames at Naruto. Growling at the attack, Naruto jumped into the air to avoid it, making Natsu smirk. "Gray!"

"I know!" A voice shouted above Naruto, prompting him to turn his head towards the source. Higher in the air was a grinning Gray. Forming a fist and bringing it into his free palm, he conjured his attack. "Ice Make: Hammer!" A large hammer made of ice formed in his hand, which he then swung at Naruto.

With nowhere to go, Naruto was forced to teleport to what he thought was a safe location, but it proved not to be when Yoruichi flashed in front of him with a kick already thrown. The attack landed successfully and launched Naruto back into a nearby boulder. "Now!"

Kushina thrust her hands out and created chains that sped towards Naruto. Snarling, Naruto flashed out of the way.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed. "What does it take to beat this guy? He either teleports away from our attacks or just brushes them off! Right, Happy?!"

"Aye!" Happy chirped. "It's totally unfair!"

Minato landed next to Natsu. "We just need to keep at it. He can't outmaneuver us forever. Are you still good to fight?" Although he was reluctant at first, both Natsu and Gray proved to be valuable help.

Natsu whirled around and jabbed a thumb at his chest. "Of course I am! If I couldn't handle this, then I wouldn't be the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail!"

"But you aren't the strongest, Natsu. You can't even beat Erza." Happy said innocently.

"Erza doesn't count! She's a monster!"

"That's true…But what about Laxus?"

"I kicked his ass!"

"You had help, but okay…Mira?"

"She's a monster too!"

"Ah, you're right…Gildarts?"

"I almost had him last time! I'm sure I can beat him now!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"What was that?!"

Minato sweat dropped at the interaction. "Um, now isn't really the time for-"

"Aahh! I'll prove to you that I'm the strongest!" Natsu spun around to face Naruto and ignited his fist again. "Just watch!" He dashed at him.

"No, don't!" Minato made to stop him, but Natsu wasn't listening.

Speeding towards Naruto, Natsu brought his fist down while Naruto moved his keyblade to intercept it. "Take this! Fire Dragon's Iron F-Wha?" Before he even got close, Naruto dropped to his knees and clutched his head in pain. His keyblade disappeared in a flash of darkness while the darkness surrounding him wavered.

"AAHHH!"

Natsu was extremely confused by Naruto's sudden agony. "Um, what?"

"Natsu, that was amazing! You beat him with nothing more than a shout!" Happy cheered. Natsu looked at him with wide eyes, but he soon puffed out his chest.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! I told you I was the strongest!"

"You really are! I'll never doubt you again!" Happy said. "…Until the next time you get your ass kicked…" He muttered.

"Hey! What do you mean by th-"

"Kushina! Now!" Ethereal chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around Naruto, binding him in place. Immediately after, Minato appeared in front of him with a seal in his hand. Placing it on Naruto, he formed a hand seal. "Seal!" The seal activated, forcing the reddish-orange coloration of the darkness to fade away, but the purplish-black portion remained. "Why isn't it being suppressed?" He whispered.

"Because it's not the Kyūbi's." Yoruichi answered as she landed next to him. "That's all Naruto."

"What? How is this Naruto's?"

"This is what he has been training to use since he was six. But it's growing out of control."

Gray ran up to them. "Then how do we stop it?"

"…We can't."

"What?"

"I said we can't." She repeated. "Only Naruto can. We have to have faith that he will pull himself back from this…But he has to do it soon. His heart can't handle much more." This threw a new wave of silence over them.

---

Station of Awakening

Cerulean and violet eyes stared into yellow eyes from a few inches apart. Both of the pairs of eyes lost any glow that they had during the fight. Slowly, the yellow eyes glanced down. A small victorious smile appeared on the owner's lips.

"Well…I guess we have our conclusion…" Kuro said quietly. Following his eyes, Naruto looked down as well.

There was a red keyblade stabbed through Naruto's chest.

A pained cough escaped Naruto, making Kuro look back up to meet his eyes. "I guess so…" He could feel the adrenaline leaving his body, making way for extreme pain and fatigue. "So…Who won?" Kuro blinked sluggishly and glanced down again.

There was a silver keyblade stabbed into Kuro's chest as well.

"Oh…Didn't see that…I…don't know." He admitted. Naruto chuckled.

"Well that's a shitty ending…"

"I know…Nearly as bad as the one about Ventus, Aqua, and Terra." Their eyes met, both full of mirth. Suddenly, wisps of darkness started to come off of Kuro's body, attracting their attention. "I guess that decides it for us…" Kuro sighed and closed his eyes. "So this is it, huh? Forever fated it fade into the dark? This is how I lose?"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that…" Naruto's words made him open his eyes again. He was surprised to see Naruto staring at his own arm, where particles of light were coming from. "If fading into darkness means you lose…then does fading into the light mean I lose?" Both of their bodies lost their tangibility, making the keyblades clatter to the ground. Taking a step back, Naruto chuckled quietly. "I don't suppose you'd settle for both of us winning?" Their eyes met.

Kuro opened his mouth, paused, and closed it. With a sigh, he shook his head. "No, I won't."

Naruto frowned. "Why? Why can't we both win?"

"Because we can't!" Kuro yelled.

"And I'm asking you why the hell not!"

They glared at each other. "How?" Kuro finally asked. "How can we both win? It's either one of us fades away, or we both do. Either way, there is always one winner at most." Naruto grew silent. "It's impossible."

"No…It's not." Kuro frowned at Naruto's reluctance to accept the situation.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you suggest? How do we both walk away as a winner?"

Naruto had a small smile on his face. "You said it yourself. There can only be one winner."

"…You lost me. Did you just argue against yourself?"

The smile on Naruto's face grew. "That's exactly it. All I've been doing is arguing against myself." Kuro's eyes widened in realization. With a sigh, Naruto looked down at the platform. "Light and darkness. One cannot exist without the other. Balance is needed. That was the very first thing that Hikari and Yami taught us…And we forgot it."

"…"

"You're right…I am extremely angry still that they neglected us. And I am scared of the darkness. I don't know what lies in it, where it leads, what it wants, it's just…" He shook his head. "The light is where I feel safe…But I can't have it that way. We need both." His eyes met Kuro's and he offered a hand. "So…how about we work together?"

Kuro stared at the hand for a minute. Slowly, he returned his eyes to Naruto's. A small smirk formed on his face. "You sure you can handle the dark?"

Naruto mirrored his smirk. "I'm positive. You think you can be so close to the light without getting burned?" Kuro snorted and grasped his hand. At once, their bodies began to glow with light and darkness.

"Yeah…I think I can do that." They closed their eyes as a flash of twilight bathed the area.

When it died down, only one person was standing there. Naruto was standing in the exact spot that their hands met. Opening his eyes, Naruto looked himself over and grinned. "Glad that's taken care of…" The black flame pattern had returned to his outfit.

A bright glow in the corner of his eye attracted his attention. Turning, he saw that the two keyblades were intersecting one another and emitting a twilight aura. With wide eyes, Naruto watched as they merged together and changed shape. For a moment, they seemed to be deciding what to turn into, almost becoming what he saw at the end of his fight with Sephiroth, but they soon settled on Two Become One. The keychain had changed minutely. In the intersection of the χ was a yin and yang emblem.

With a broad grin, Naruto picked up his keyblade. "That's more like it." Now to go check on that stupid lock...

---

On the Outside

"Um…Is it over?" Happy asked hesitantly. The sky had cleared up and the screaming stopped, meaning they won, right?

Yoruichi smiled softly. "Yeah, it is."

"Hurray!" Happy's cheer was cut off when a twilight aura surrounded Naruto, hiding his body from view. When it died down, they were surprised to see he was wearing a different outfit.

What he had on was a black shirt with a silver collar. Over that, he wore a short sleeved hoodie that was left unzipped. It was majorly a silvery-white color, but it had black going around the edges and black flames. It also had an orange Uzumaki swirl on the back.

His pants only went down to his mid-shins and were of the same color scheme as the hoodie. It was silvery-white in most areas but was black in the pelvis. The color changed from silvery-white to black towards the ends of the legs, and on those were white flames.

His shoes were predominately black, but had some silvery-blue that matched his belt. He also wore fingerless gloves that were black with a silver x on each. He wore a silver chain necklace that was of a heart with a pointed bottom and the point where the heart was made curled in on itself towards either side.

"Whoa…He knows Requip magic!" Natsu said excitedly, making Gray snort.

"I don't think that was Requip magic." He said.

"Oh yeah, then what the hell do you think it was, huh?!"

"How the heck should I know?!"

"Well obviously you had some thoughts, otherwise you wouldn't have said anything, idiot!"

"You have no room to call me an idiot, dumbass!"

"What was that?!"

"Oh, did you finally melt your brain completely? Was that too hard to understand?"

"Bastard!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The others watched as Naruto and Gray broke out into another fight.

"Ugh…Shut up…" A voice groaned. Instantly, all eyes snapped to Naruto as he cracked an eye open. "It's too early for your crap, Urahara."

"Naruto!" Kushina threw herself at him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Gah! K-kaa-san?!" He patted her on the back. "Too tight! Too tight! Everything hurts right now-ttebayo!"

Kushina's body shook as she cried silently. "I…I was so worried." She whispered. Minato knelt down next to them with a small smile on his face and wrapped them both in a hug.

Unsure what to do, Naruto glanced around at the others for help. Yoruichi smirked at him and shrugged her shoulders, earning herself a light glare. It was obvious to Naruto that she was enjoying this. His eyes then turned the next person. Naruto's eyebrow raised.

"Another mutant cat?"

---

"Hmph...So he accepted his darkness..."

---

There we go! All done with Chapter 34!

I regret giving Yoruichi the name Kuro when Naruto first met her. I should have saved it for this, but I didn't think far enough ahead to plan out a name, despite knowing I wanted something like this to happen.

Kuro's outfit was the one that Ventus wore while Vanitas possessed him, but with a heartless emblem. The first keyblade he used was Vanitas's Void Gear.

A big thank you to chouzuXtao for letting me use his keyblade design! That was what the second keyblade was. You know I suck at descriptions, so go check it out! Here are links to both his profile and the keyblade (Remove spaces and replace "dot" with ".")

chouzuxtao dot deviantart dot com

chouzuxtao dot deviantart dot com / art / Naruto -s- keyblades - 115231358

I modeled the fights between Naruto and Kuro after the ones between Ventus and Vanitas. For those of you who don't know, Dark Link is a light based attack, despite the name.

Hey, I've been wondering this for a while, but should I apply Naruto logic to spells and other attacks? I'm basically asking if it is a good idea to make it so that wind based spells like Aero don't block very much damage from fire attacks. Should I use Naruto logic like that or leave it alone? Hell, should I use Pokémon logic? Because as someone that played Pokémon before getting into Naruto, it doesn't make sense to me that earth beats water.

Normally, I have music playing in the background as I work, which is fine, but it is impossible for me to write a fight scene if I don't have some kind of battle music going, usually the one I will be putting for the fight. If nothing else, I just have a playlist of extended OSTs that run in the background.

That was definitely not how I wanted to introduce Natsu, Gray, and Happy. That was one of the harder parts to incorporate. Originally, Naruto was meant to fight some heartless boss when they fall out of the sky and crash into him, but things changed. I don't hate what I have, but I still would have preferred the original idea if I could have used it. The problem was that I'm running out time to do it and had to introduce them soon.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!

Until next time,

Kog6943