And we're back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 50!

This chapter was started back in late August, but I never got around to finishing it. Some of you probably can guess what I've been focusing on instead in that time.

Longer chapter than normal!

I've only been back in school for a week and a half and I already feel like I've been getting my ass kicked by the amount of work.

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.'

Bijū/Deity Talking: "Insert witty remark here."

Bijū/Deity Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'

Scene Change: Insert Place Here

Jutsu/Magic/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here

Rooftops of Mahora (6:07 pm)

"The city's barrier is failing."

A transparent dome became visible, encasing the entirety of the city within it. A moment later, small particles of what Naruto was able to identify as light began to leak from it. As Naruto and Kairi watched, more and more particles of light slipped from the barrier.

"…What do we do?" Kairi asked him.

Frowning in worry, Naruto slowly shook his head, much to her surprise. "There's nothing we can do." He replied. "We don't know where the barrier's source is, so we can't go there to strengthen it. And we also don't know what's causing it to fail, so we can't put a stop to it." His frown deepened. "…This is really bad. The barrier was the only thing that was keeping the heartless out of the city."

Kairi looked to him with wide eyes. "So now they will start showing up?"

Naruto slowly nodded. "Maybe." He cursed under his breath. If they weren't being jammed, then he could get in touch with the headmaster to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, Naruto and Kairi stumbled in place as the tremors shook the area. "Whoa!" Acting quickly, Naruto braced himself against a rail while also reaching out to prevent Kairi from falling over.

"Now what?!" Kairi demanded.

"No idea!" Big movement from the corner of his eye caught Naruto's attention, prompting him to swivel his head around towards the lake. "The lake!"

Rising out of the water were three huge robots, easily dwarfing all the others in size. Seeing them, Naruto couldn't help but compare the situation to the chūnin exam invasion, where three different one tailed bijū attacked.

"…I guess those must be some of the demons that Chao-san got a hold of…" Kairi said weakly. "You can't even tell that they aren't robots…"

"That explains why Lingshen weakened the barrier." Naruto muttered. "There's no way she could've activated those things while it was up…Or have them move into the city."

"The Martian army's heavy hitters are here! Be careful of these large foes!" Kazumi announced.

It was at that point that the middle robot opened its mouth and showed a bright light shining in it. "What's it doing?!" Kairi asked. "Something like that will get someone killed!"

Grimacing, Naruto shook his head. "No. Remember that Lingshen is making it a point that no one is harmed. I don't know what these lasers do, but they're meant to incapacitate people, not hurt them." Before anything else could be said, a flash and a blinding beam signaled that the robot launched its attack at the lakefront. Kairi and Naruto shielded their eyes for a minute as they waited for the light to die down. Once it had done so, they looked back towards the lake. After watching for a moment, Naruto spoke again. "They're powerful and able to launch bigger attacks, but they're also slower."

"We should focus on taking those out first." Kairi said. "Didn't Chamo say that they are the ones that took over the world tree? So they're important."

Naruto was about to nod, but another development stopped him. "Look!" Several large magic circles came into existence around the three oversized robots, stopping them in their tracks.

"What's this?! It looks like the «Hero Units» were ready for this!" Kazumi exclaimed. "But they can't hold them back forever! Hit the giants while you can!" Not needing any further motivation, numerous blasts of light shot at the giant robots from different angles. "Be mindful of the smaller enemies! It's going to take a lot to stop the giant ones, but the smaller ones haven't stopped yet! Coordinate your efforts!"

Hearing this, Naruto frowned and glanced down to the street. After thinking for a bit, he sighed. "Leave the giant ones to the others." He instructed, much to Kairi's surprise. "While we can't let them get close to their targets, they're going to take a long time. The smaller ones are closing in much faster. Focus on them for now."

"If you say so…" Kairi agreed. Just as she finished speaking, sound from above made them snap their heads towards the sky. What they saw there made Naruto scowl and Kairi gape. "Since when can they fly?!"

A group of the humanoid robots landed on the roof, surrounding the pair of them. Tightening the grip on his Keyblade, Naruto scanned their enemies. "Since they got jetpacks, I'm guessing…" Noticing one of the robots take a small step, Naruto tensed.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Naruto whirled his body around while lashing out with his Keyblade as he did so. Smirking, Naruto watched as the two robots that attacked him fell to the ground in pieces.

At the same time, Kairi bisected the first robot to approach her, only to jump to the side and slash apart the one that came immediately after. Regaining her smile as the adrenaline set in, Kairi rushed the next robot. Behind her, Naruto cut off the leg of an enemy and then followed up with a swift slice to destroy it.

Jumping back, Naruto thrust his Keyblade behind him, stabbing it through another robot trying to catch him by surprise. Swinging the weapon, Naruto flung the robot off his Keyblade, all while using the same motion to cut the next one.

Finishing the motion for a slash, Kairi saw that another robot was in the process of leaping at her. Thinking fast, she cartwheeled in order to evade. As she came returned to her feet, she swept her Keyblade in a wide arc. "Bubble Blaster!" A volley of bubbles shot out of her Keyblade and impacted multiple robots. Aiming her Keyblade higher, Kairi shot down a couple of the smaller robots that were flying around.

"3 o'clock!" Hearing Naruto's warning shout, Kairi jerked her head around to see what he was talking about.

"Whoa!" Startled, Kairi jumped out of the way of two robots lunging at her together. Feeling something press against her back, Kairi stiffened, but relaxed a second later when she realized it was Naruto. At some point, the two of them were surrounded again, as if they didn't even destroy any of the robots. "Shouldn't we be almost done by now?!"

Taking a moment to shoot off a fireball, Naruto quickly counted the number of robots. "There are actually more of them now than when we started." He answered. The sound of jetpacks from above provided the reason. "They're getting reinforcements as we fight." He paused to slash at another one, but it evaded, only to get destroyed by the following ball of wind. "And is it just me, or are they getting tougher?"

"It's not just you!" Kairi impaled a robot, but had to kick it off her Keyblade when that didn't serve as enough to finish it. "They're getting stronger, faster, and harder to kill!"

"I guess that the barrier going down also gave Lingshen a chance to power them up…"

"Then how do we finish this?!"

Smirking, Naruto crouched. "Get down!" As Kairi ducked, Naruto created a torrent of wind that whipped around his Keyblade. Seeing the robots moving in, Naruto jumped up and spun his body around. "Windcutter!" The wind surrounding his Keyblade spread to cover Naruto's entire body, and from there, it exploded out in the form of a powerful whirlwind. The high speed gale slammed into the enemies and flung them away, all while blades of wind sliced them apart. Landing back on the roof as Kairi stood up, Naruto nodded. "That should do it." He said with a satisfied grin. However, the grin was wiped off his face when another group of robots landed on the other side of the roof. "…Never mind…"

"You were saying?" Kairi giggled at him as she faced the new opponents.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Not my fault that they don't know when to quit." His playful mood ended abruptly and was replaced with alarm when he spotted the object in the leading robot's hands. "Get behind me!" Throwing himself in front of Kairi, Naruto brought his Keyblade up. "Reflect!" Naruto barely got his spell up in time to block the attack. "Where the hell did they get guns?! That's totally unfair-ttebayo!"

Kairi gasped at what happened when the bullets impacted Naruto's barrier. "That gun isn't normal!" Every time a bullet hit the barrier, a spiraling orb of darkness would form, with each of them being large enough to encompass a person. "What are these things?!"

"Something that either Lingshen or Misa made! Or maybe even they made them together!" Naruto grunted out. "There are a lot of them, but the only things attacking the barrier are the bullets, not the darkness. But I would still rather not find out what they do."

"Then what do we do? We can't just sit here forever!" Kairi responded.

He shook his head. "We don't have to. Only one of them has a gun, the other three are unarmed. When the one shooting finishes, then I'll drop the barrier. Right when I do, you attack. There are four of them."

Kairi nodded. "I got it." She crouched in preparation. The next few seconds were filled with nothing but the sounds of gunfire and bullets impacting the barrier.

Suddenly, the bullets stopped and the orbs of darkness stopped forming. "Now!" Naruto declared, taking down the barrier.

Jumping up, Kairi swung her Keyblade. "Bubble Blaster!" She showered the robots in exploding bubbles, destroying them easily. Landing next to Naruto, Kairi beamed. "Perfect!"

Naruto grinned back. "Nice shot." He complimented. Turning to the sparking pile of scrap, he quirked an eyebrow. "But seriously, what was up with that gun?"

Shrugging, Kairi followed him over to the robots. "No clue. I didn't think they would have anything like that…"

"Neither did I…" Naruto's eyes widened as a thought came to him. "Crap, how many of these things do you think are using guns like that?"

Running over to the edge of the roof, Kairi looked down into the street. "Enough so that each group has at least one gun!" She called over to him. "But other people can't block the bullets!"

Quickly moving next to her, Naruto followed her line of sight. Some of the robots indeed had guns, and they were using them freely. Each time a bullet hit someone, the person would be encased in an orb of darkness, only for the orb to then disappear, taking the person with them. "What the hell…?"

"What's happening to them?" Kairi asked worriedly.

Naruto slowly his head. "I don't know…" He crouched down. "We're going down there to help." He decided, but the sound of jetpacks behind them made him groan. "Again with this?" He muttered, turning to face the newest batch.

A robot holding a gun stepped forward. "Priority targets confirmed. Commencing attack."

"Well that explains why so many of them are coming after us." Kairi sighed, lifting her Keyblade up.

"That only makes it more annoying." Naruto shot back. Any further talk was interrupted by the gun taking aim at them. "Here we go again…" Pulling on some twilight, Naruto surged forward as Kairi jumped to the side. In the face of the hail of bullets, Naruto opted to slide across the roof, allowing the danger to fly over him.

The robot readjusted its aim, but Naruto was already in the process of carving it in half. Not stopping his momentum, Naruto sprung over the falling robot while swinging his Keyblade, slashing the robot behind the gunner diagonally. Landing with a roll, Naruto came to a stop while crouching in front of a third robot. Lashing out, his Keyblade sliced both of the legs of the robot clean off. Still not finished, Naruto jumped up and spun around so he could finish off the robots on either side of him.

Off to the side, Kairi destroyed a lunging robot, only to quickly cut apart the following one. Flipping over the falling robot, Kairi thrust her Keyblade up. "Spark!" A pair of crystals made of light formed on either side of her. "Go!" The crystals began to revolve around her at high speeds, barreling into the surrounding enemies.

Touching back down on the roof, Kairi took a glance around and was disheartened to see that there were still many more robots appearing. "It feels like it never ends…"

Jumping back so that they were standing back to back, Naruto frowned and scanned the rooftop. "I think this is the last group."

"But it's the biggest one so far!"

Naruto smirked. "I thought you were having fun?" Hearing the tease, Kairi playfully glared at him.

"I was, but that was until they stopped giving us a chance to breathe!" She retorted.

Humming lightly, Naruto's smirk grew. "We can take a breather after this group is done. Let's just finish them all at once."

Kairi frowned at him. "How are we going to do that? I don't think that whirlwind spell from earlier can hit this many."

By this point, Naruto had a full blown grin on his face. "We're going to do this together." He raised his Keyblade above his head and pointed it towards the sky. "Help me out with this." Knowing what he meant, Kairi smiled and placed her hand over the one he was holding his Keyblade with. Once she did so, Naruto began calling on some light, and his grin widened when he felt Kairi's ability to amplify it kick in. Not knowing what they were doing, the robots crouched in preparation to attack, prompting Naruto to hurry up. "Ready?"

"You know it!"

"Good!" Naruto channeled the light into his Keyblade, and the two of them were levitated a few feet into the air. "Ragnarok!" A beam of light shot out of his Keyblade and into the air, but it exploded a moment later. What followed was a shower of numerous projectiles of light cascading down onto the roof, completely destroying all the remaining robots. Once the attack ended, Naruto lowered his Keyblade and Kairi removed her hand while gravity took hold of them again. "There. And I don't see any other ones approaching."

His partner sighed in relief. "Finally. I don't mind going out and seeking them myself, but it's annoying when they keep coming to us. Especially when it is never ending."

Naruto nodded. "I hear you. That was a pain."

"Things are getting serious!" Kazumi's voice grabbed their attention. "Because of a sudden and overwhelming shift in firepower, the world tree plaza is about to fall into the enemy's hands! How are you guys going to combat this?!"

"The sudden use of guns must be too much for most people." Kairi said with obvious concern. "I doubt that there are that many people who are able to use barriers…"

"Fufufu…" The sound of a new voice laughing made Naruto and Kairi's eyes snap to the source. What greeted them was the sight of a giant image of Chao standing over the lake. "Looks like you're having a tough time, defenders of Mahora!" She said. "I am the leader of this Martian robot army. The evil last boss is me! Chao Lingshen-ne!"

"Now what's she doing?" Naruto frowned as he stared at the image.

Despite the situation, a small smile broke out on Kairi's face. "It looks like she's playing the part of the evil boss."

The crimson blond rolled his eyes. "She's just being dramatic…" He muttered.

"Your swift attacks for the start of the invasion were impressive. I suppose it's to be expected of Mahora students-ne." Chao continued. "It appears that the rule of being able to get back up after getting hit was too lenient for such capable individuals. Therefore, I am introducing a new rule."

Naruto's eyes narrowed when Chao lifted up her hand, revealing that she was holding a bullet. "I think we're about to find out what those bullets do."

"Getting hit by one of these means instant disqualification. On top of that, through the latest of cutting-edge equipment, the moment the bullet hits you, you will be forcibly sent to the loser room and made to sleep until the game ends." Chao declared.

Both of their eyes widened. "We were almost hit by those…" Kairi whispered numbly.

"Rather than simple disqualification, don't you think sleeping through the festival's climax is far more serious-ne?" Chao smirked. "Are you starting to feel the thrill now? Feel free to forfeit at any time." They could hear angry shouts come from the streets below, but they were unable to make out any words.

"I don't want to know what will happen if we get hit by one of those." Naruto said quietly, getting an agreeing nod from Kairi.

"By the way, my forces have already finished off more than half of your «Hero Units»! How can you hope to stand a chance without them?" An answering roar of defiance made Chao's smirk widen. "Such courage, even now…But while your last defenses crumble, I still have my general, who is ready to fight at any time." The projection of a second person flared into existence next to Chao. Naruto scowled at the sight of a smirking Misa. "We're both somewhere nearby, so come and find us! Come 8 o'clock, my final goal will be achieved, whether my army captures the targets or not. Can you defeat the both of us before all the targets are captured or time runs out? Be sure to put up a good fight!"

As the projections died down, Kazumi's voice returned. "The last boss has revealed herself! Chao Lingshen is the one leading the enemy attack on the city!" A new projection formed, but this one was a picture of Chao with the word 'Wanted' above it. "Chao Lingshen is hiding somewhere in the game area! Bonus points will be awarded to the person who finds her!" A picture of Misa joined Chao's. "But be careful! Chao's strongest fighter is also out there! If you come across her, be ready for just as tough of a fight!"

With the end of the announcements, Naruto turned back to Kairi and was met with a determined look. "We're joining the search."

Nodding, Kairi spoke up. "Where do you think they are? They could be anywhere in the city."

Taking a moment to think, Naruto's eyes went to the world tree. "They're probably somewhere near one of the six magic focal points…But I don't know which."

"So what do we do?" Kairi asked.

Dismissing his Keyblade, Naruto brought his hands up into a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." In puffs of smoke, fifty clones came into existence on the roof. "I want five groups of ten to search the other five areas. We'll handle this one. Try to conserve energy as you search, and be mindful of not letting yourselves be spotted together. That will just get people to ask annoying questions." The clones nodded or saluted before speeding off in different directions.

Kairi sent a worried look at Naruto. "How are you holding up? You've been keeping the contract activated this entire time, and you've been fighting. On top of that, isn't that clone technique really tiring?"

Naruto tilted his head in thought as he assessed his current condition. "I'm doing fine, so far. Because of your affinity to light, it takes nearly nothing to keep the contract going. I haven't thrown around too many spells, so that's also fine…And yeah, that jutsu is a little taxing, but I have more than enough energy to spare."

"If you say so…"

Hearing the hesitation in her voice, Naruto smiled at her. "I'm fine, really." He reassured before glancing at the setting sun. "If anything, I think we're going to be at this for a while yet, so we can take a breather if we really need to. And I'll start being more careful with just how many moves and spells I use." Kairi nodded, bringing a grin to his face. "Now then, let's get back at it."

Rooftop Near Keyhole Plaza (7:30 pm)

Naruto panted lightly as he struck down another attacker. "And that takes care of another group."

Nearby, Kairi was trying to catch her breath as she braced herself on a wall. "Finally…" She muttered. Placing her back against the wall, she slowly slid down so that she was sitting. "I'll take that break now, if you don't mind."

Glancing at her, Naruto noted how exhausted she was. Nodding, he walked over and sat down next to her. "How you holding up?" The groan he got made him chuckle. "That bad?"

"Shut up…" Kairi retorted, although it lacked any heat. "It's like there's no end to them. I thought that with our numbers, we would be evenly matched!"

Humming in thought, Naruto spoke up. "Those bullets are a problem." He replied. "Our side was doing well at first, but that was only against the first couple waves of the army. Once those guns came into play, the flow began to shift." His eyes flicked towards the streets below, where shouting and fighting could still be heard. "But that doesn't mean that people are going to just give in. They're tired, but they're still putting up one hell of a fight."

Kairi nodded. "Yeah…" She looked off into the distance, where the other battles were being waged. "Have your clones found anything?" Naruto's glare off to the side made her sigh.

"Not a thing. They've scouted about the entirety of the other five areas by now, but there hasn't been a sign of Lingshen or Misa." Naruto answered. "At this point, only about fifteen of them haven't been dispelled yet."

"I guess the only thing we can do is keep searching…"

"Yeah…" A slight tremor halted their conversation. Bolting to their feet, Naruto and Kairi scanned the area for the source. "There!" Naruto's head snapped around to the direction that Kairi indicated, and he grimaced at what he saw.

Making steady progress towards the plaza was one of the six giant robots. This one was shaped similar to a knight, but it had six arms. From their position, the two of them were able to see that despite the many people firing at it, no visible damage was being dealt.

It was at that time that five massive pillars of light shot into the air from different parts of the city. "What? What are those?"

An influx of chakra and a rush of memories made Naruto's eyes widen. "They've captured the other five locations." He said, much to Kairi's surprise and dismay. "My clones let me know a second ago."

"This is the worst possible situation!" Kazumi's voice cut in. "We have received reports that other than the world tree main plaza, the defense points have all been taken over! If the last plaza gets taken over, then it's game over!" The wanted image of Chao reappeared. "But don't lose hope! There's still a chance of recovery! There's still about half an hour left! If you defeat the enemy's leader before time runs out, then it's still a win for the Mahora Mage Order!"

Naruto swore. "That's not a lot of time…" They still had no clue where to even find Chao.

An image of a magic circle popped up. "Intel says that the last boss is waiting somewhere outdoors within the game area on top of a sigil similar to this! The sigil is approximately thirty meters in diameter! How hard is it to spot something like that?!" Kazumi demanded.

Frowning, Naruto repeated the question in his head. "…She's right…Something like that should be easy to spot." He said.

Kairi bit her lip. "So with this people searching, why hasn't she been found yet? The entire city is looking for her."

"Good question…" Naruto muttered, but he wasn't able to put much thought into it before the approaching giant grabbed his attention. "Meanwhile, this thing is still getting closer…"

"What do you think?" Kairi frowned and turned back to the robot. "Are we going to help with it? We probably should, but we still have tougher fights to save our energy for…"

Naruto scowled, but before he could say anything, a voice interjected. "Leave it to me." Both of them blinked and looked behind them, where a smirking Gray stood. "I'll take care of it." He declared confidently.

"…How long have you been running around the city without a shirt?" Naruto couldn't help but ask that, even though he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"…"

"…Never mind…" Sighing, Naruto turned to fully face the ice mage. "So you'll handle it?"

Regaining his smirk, Gray nodded. "Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard. I still have plenty of energy left in me to fight."

"Hold it!" The sound of the new voice immediately made Gray scowl.

"Great, now this moron shows up…" As he finished talking quietly to himself, a madly grinning Natsu landed on the roof, Happy joining him the next moment.

"I haven't fought one of the giant ones! I wanna get a crack at it!" Natsu proclaimed excitedly.

Growling, Gray glared at the pyro. "Back off! I was here first!"

Scowling, Natsu turned to face him. "Huh? If you wanted to fight it, then you should have done it by now!"

"I was about to, but you decided to interrupt!"

"Interrupt what?! You were just standing around looking like a dumbass!"

"I was looking like a dumbass?! You were the one who flew in with that obnoxious grin and shouting about how you wanted to fight it!"

"In my opinion, you both are pretty stupid…"

"What?!"

Groaning, Naruto rubbed his temples when Happy added fuel to the fire. "Why is it always like this…?" He mumbled. Some days, he wished that he didn't agree to travel with them.

"Hehehe…" Kairi laughed weakly at the interaction of her friends. "…Um, guys?" No response. "Guys?" The Fairy Tail members continued to ignore her. "Hello?" Naruto sent a sympathetic glance her way.

A loud explosion drew their attention back to the immediate problem. Scowling, Naruto turned to the Natsu and Gray. "I don't care which one of you does it, just make sure it doesn't get any closer to the plaza."

At the same time, they smirked. "Is that all?" Gray asked, cracking his knuckles.

"Heh. That'll be easy!" Natsu said.

Returning the smirk, Naruto nodded towards the robot. "Then get on it. Kairi and I will keep searching for Misa and Lingshen."

"Tch, give us twenty seconds. That's all we need!" Gray declared. "Destroying stuff is the specialty of a Fairy Tail mage!" And with that, they leapt off the roof and rocketed towards the robot.

Battle Against the Giant

"Fall back! Regroup at the staircase!" Yuna shouted, hoping that everyone would hear her. Much to her relief, she saw that the few dozen people remaining began to make their way to the stairs that led to the plaza. Her relief was short lived as another tremor reminded her just why they were falling back in the first place. Scowling, she fired off a couple of shots as she ran. "Dammit, how tough is this thing?!" She demanded, sliding into cover behind a wall.

"Apparently really tough." Akira said tiredly. "And according to what we've heard, they're all like this."

Yuna grinned, although it was tinged with nervousness. "Then that just means that we'll be the first and only group who manage to take one down." She proclaimed. Yet another tremor made her grin fall into a grimace. "...I hope."

Suddenly, the giant halted, gaining the attention of all those in the area. "...It stopped?" Someone questioned. "Does that mean we beat it?"

That question was answered when the giant's mouth opened, revealing a bright light that sent panic coursing through all of them. "No, it doesn't! It's going to fire!" Yuna yelped. "Get behind cover!" Everyone scrambled to do as she said, but there just wasn't enough time. Most of the remaining fighters were too far away, including Yuna and Akira. "Crap, crap, crap, crap! We're not gonna make it!" Closing her eyes, Yuna prepared herself for the utter humiliation that the robot's beam was about to force on her.

"Ice Make: Shield!" Surprised by the interruption, Yuna's eyes snapped back open, and she watched in shock as a huge construction of ice sprouted up from the ground in front of the group, just in time to intercept the beam. "Tch! You're strong, but not strong enough!" Following the voice, Yuna looked towards the voice and saw the back of someone that was vaguely familiar to her.

"Huh?" She mumbled in confusion. After a minute, the light from the beam died down, allowing her to see more clearly. "…What just happened?"

"Is that…Gray-san?" Akira asked uncertainly.

Hearing his name, the ice mage glanced over his shoulder at them. "Hey, you guys can focus on the smaller ones. Leave this one to us."

"To us?" Yuna repeated, not yet able to wrap her mind around the situation. Suddenly, her attention was pulled back to the robot when it moved its hand in their direction. "Hey! Watch out!" She raised her gun to shoot at it, but she never got the chance.

"Hey! Over here! Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Out of nowhere, a huge ball of fire impacted the side of the robot's head, making it stagger back and fall over. The jaws of all the non-magical people in the vicinity dropped in awe when a single attack did more than anything they had been able to do the entire time. "Ha! How do ya like that?!" Natsu cackled in glee as he jumped down next to Gray from his spot on a rooftop.

Gray smirked at the dragon slayer. "Hmph. Well what do you know? It looks like you can be good for something. Then again, we always knew that your specialty was destroying things…"

"Aye!" Happy swooped in to hover next to the two. "To make Natsu useful, all you need to do is point him in the direction of the things that you want to break!"

"Screw you guys!" Natsu snapped, but he didn't continue beyond that because the robot started to get back to its feet. "Hey, I think its gonna try again!"

Nodding in agreement, Gray glanced back to the students again. "You're still here? I told you to focus on the other ones!"

"We can't leave this to you!" Someone shouted back at him. "We can help!"

Gray shook his head. "Sure, but this thing isn't the only problem. We still lose if one of the robots makes it to their target. Leave this to, uh, the «Hero Units»!" He ordered.

"Natsu! Gray! Look! The robot is changing!" Happy announced, slightly fearful of what he was saying.

Snapping his head around, Gray watched as darkness pooled at the robot's feet before it started to crawl up its legs. "The hell is this?!"

"It's darkness!" Happy cried out. In no time at all, the entirety of the robot was colored purplish-black, and its eyes at turned yellow.

"Wh-What…?" Yuna stuttered. "Is this part of the game?"

"Gray! Heartless are appearing!" Natsu pointed at the surrounding area, where Soldier and Shadow heartless were showing up.

Seeing this, Gray cursed. "Shit, this isn't good…" Whirling around, he hurriedly spoke to the students. "Hey! Like I said, we'll take care of the big one! You guys need to get rid of everything else! Especially the new ones!"

"Huh? Wait, what are the-"

"Go!" Gray barked, sending them scrambling to follow his orders. Turning back towards the giant, Gray glared. "This is gonna be tougher than we thought. You up for this, Flame Brain?"

Natsu sent a smirk his way. "Heh. If anything, you're just gonna hold me back!"

"Cocky bastard." Gray grinned. "Let's go!"

"Right!" The two of them dashed forward.

With Naruto and Kairi (7:36 pm)

"Heartless?! In the city?!" Naruto growled. "Dammit, Misa…" They had been fortunate so far, but this only made things that much more serious.

"We need to find her." Kairi said. "She's probably the one controlling them, right? So we should find her."

"But where is she?! We haven't found her or Lingshen! And time is running out!" Naruto gritted out. "And even if we do find her, Lingshen is still a problem! So how can we-"

"This just in!" Kazumi's voice cut him off. "We've found her! Chao Lingshen has been located!"

Naruto and Kairi's eyes went wide at this. "What? Really?" Kairi wondered.

"After sending a scout to check, it has been confirmed that Chao Lingshen is two and a half miles above the world tree on top of a blimp!"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Naruto muttered as both he and Kairi turned their eyes in the direction of the world tree. After a moment of looking, he scowled and pointed. "There." Following his finger, Kairi spotted the object in question in the darkening sky.

"As of right now, our final «Hero Unit», Negi Springfield, is on his way to face her!" An image of Negi popped up. "He's our final hope of defeating the enemy leader! However, there is no fixed scenario in this game! Lingshen has no intention of going down without a fight! And she has called in her last line of defense to aid her!" A picture of a heartless appeared over the lake. "These creatures are even more dangerous than the robots from before! Do not let them get close to you! And on top of all that, Lingshen's best fighter has yet to be located!"

Kairi's eyes shone in worry. "This are really getting out of hand…"

Naruto nodded in agreement, still staring at the blimp. Slowly, his hand started to move towards his dream eater deck. "…Come on, we need to get up there. Lingshen is Negi's fight, but Misa is mine. And that's probably where she is."

"Hm, not quite." The sudden voice made Naruto and Kairi whirl around with their Keyblades raised, ready to attack or defend. Standing behind them with a smile was the person they were talking about a moment ago.

Glaring, Naruto's grip on his Keyblade tightened. "Misa."

Misa nodded to him, seemingly completely at ease. "Hey there. I figured that since Chao is going to have her big fight now, why don't we have ours? And isn't that a great way to end this? It'll be an awesome climax!"

Naruto's glare darkened. "So this is just a game to you? Bringing heartless into the city? Kidnapping Kairi? All of it is a game?"

She shrugged and glanced into the streets, where a battle against the robot and heartless was still waging. "Well, most of the people in the city think it is, so I'm just following the mood." She grinned. "I've been looking forward to this!"

"Naruto…" Kairi mumbled. She knew how angry he was at the situation, and Misa's words wouldn't be helping him.

"…Fine. Then let's do this." Naruto said lowly. Shifting his eyes towards Kairi, he spoke up. I'm cancelling the contract now, okay." Kairi bit her lip, but nodded her head in agreement. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the small slip of light leaving his body and moving to Kairi. Finding the link, he cut it off. Not even a second later, the slight glow surrounding Kairi's body faded away. "And here. I'll give you some help to stay out of harm's way."

"How are you going to do that?" Kairi asked curiously, making sure to keep an eye on the patiently waiting Misa.

"Like this." Reaching into his deck, Naruto pulled out the desired card. "Summon: Halbird!" He declared. In a flash of light, the dream eater was flying in place next to him. The dream eater cried out in greeting upon seeing Naruto, but quickly noticed the atmosphere. "Hey, Hal. Can you keep Kairi safe while I fight? She needs to still be close though, so don't go too far away. She'll tell you when you are far enough. Just be sure to keep out of the way of the fight." The dream eater nodded in affirmation before landing next to him. "Thanks." Turning to Kairi, he nodded towards the dream eater. "There you go."

Kairi nodded back. "Okay…She glanced between him and Misa for a moment, but she then pulled herself together and moved towards the dream eater. "Good luck. Win this thing quickly, okay?"

Naruto grinned. "You got it." Kairi turned her Keyblade back into a card and climbed onto Halbird's back. Seeing her finish getting a grip on the eagle, Naruto nodded. "Take her up, Hal."

"Kah!" Flapping his wings a few times, Halbird took flight into the air. And as Naruto said, he stopped gaining altitude when Kairi instructed.

Misa glanced between the pair in the air and Naruto a few times. "So why does she need to stay close? Wouldn't it be better to get her far away from me while you can?" She asked curiously.

Hearing this, Naruto frowned and turned to face her. "No, because I'm not going to lose here, so there's no need to worry."

Play Kingdom Hearts 1.5 ReMIX OST: Another Side-Battle Ver. Extended

His answer prompted a giggle from her. "Confident, are we? I wouldn't be too sure about that." Misa raised her hand up, and her black Keyblade appeared in a flash of darkness. "I'm pretty tough." She slid into a combat stance.

"Doesn't matter how tough you are." Naruto retorted, getting into his own stance. "You're not getting Kairi." The two of stared at one another in silence for several moments, not budging an inch.

Then the silence ended.

"Let's go!" Misa flipped into the air before coming back down at Naruto with her Keyblade. Seeing this, the crimson blond jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the explosion of darkness that erupted from the impact.

Landing on his feet on the other side of the roof, Naruto cloaked his Keyblade in fire. "Fire Dash." He sped forward towards Misa.

Not hesitating, Misa mimicked his actions with her own version. "Ice Dash." A miniature blizzard came to life, coating her Keyblade. Blurring forward, she met Naruto partway in a clash of fire and ice.

The two of them struggled against one another, staring into each other's eyes.

Breaking away, Naruto and Misa both leapt back at the same time and pointed their Keyblades forward.

"Fira!"

"Blizzara!"

An explosion of smoke covered the roof.

Down in the Streets

"Whoa!" Many of the people running around fighting paused in shock and alarm as one of the nearby rooftops suddenly exploded. "What the hell was that?!" Yuna demanded, trying to shoot a heartless and glance over at the same time.

"I don't know! Do you think it's part of the game?!" Akira shouted back.

Their questions were answered as Misa flipped out of the smoke and down into the street. Landing easily, she quickly raised her Keyblade up to block a downward strike from Naruto, who also came out of the smoke.

"Huh?!" Someone shouted.

"Who're they?!"

"Hey, isn't that girl the one of the bad guys?" Ignoring their audience for the moment, Misa and Naruto launched into a flurry of blows and parries, both attempting to land a decisive hit on the other, only to end up in another power struggle with their Keyblades. "Shouldn't we help him? She needs to go down, right?"

Hearing this, Misa smirked at Naruto. "Aw, it looks like they like you better than me. I'm a little jealous~"

Naruto scowled and applied more strength. "Leave them out of this. Your fight is with me."

"Heh, I can't help it if they involve themselves." Misa said with a smile. "It's just self-defense, you know? I won't be the one to start anything with them." Her smile sharpened. "Although I can't guarantee that they won't get hurt if they do try anything…" This only served to make Naruto's scowl deepen.

"Hey! I've got some big news!" Kazumi's voice came to life again. "It looks like Lingshen's general has been found! She's now locked in battle with one of the «Hero Units»! And if my info is right, then they have something of a history together! Stay out of the way of this fight! It's gonna get ugly! Focus on the other enemies and trust the «Hero Units» to do their job!"

"She's right. The robots are already super close to the goal! We don't have time for her!"

"Dammit. I wanted to get that prize bonus…"

"Shut up and shoot!"

A wave of relief flooded Naruto as the students diverted their attention elsewhere. He would have felt extremely guilty if someone had gotten hurt because they were pulled into the crossfire of his fight.

"And there they go." Misa laughed quietly. "It's really impressive how much the magically aware people are able to keep things under control, even as the non-magical people are fighting their battles." She paused before shrugging. "Well, it's either impressive or depressing that people can't tell that this isn't just a show. If something like this happened back in Konoha, there's no way that those paranoid shinobi wouldn't have assumed the worst."

Naruto's anger grew at how casually she was treating the situation. Here they were, fighting in the middle of a legitimate war, and she was joking around. Noticing the grip on his Keyblade tighten and his teeth clenching, Misa quirked an eyebrow. "Hey, what's wrong? Why are you making that face?" She asked innocently.

"Stop screwing around!" Naruto demanded. Breaking the struggle, he swiftly brought his Keyblade back before slashing it at her. "Take this seriously!"

Now grinning, Misa jumped back a couple of feet. "What do you mean? We always talk while we spar! We've done it since we were in the academy, remember?"

"Yeah, but I also remember you stabbing me in the back!" Naruto snarled as he rushed in for another attack. "You stabbed me in the back and smiled!" He shouted. "And you're still doing it!"

"Guh!" Misa grunted as she was forced back a couple of feet when she blocked the blow, but she still didn't lose her smile. "Come on. You can't hold that against me."

"Like hell I can't!" Naruto shot back. "Shadowbreaker!" Darkness coated his Keyblade as he spiraled at her.

Misa swiftly canceled the darkness out with some of her own before leaping up onto a nearby balcony to avoid the following light empowered slash. "Hey, that's the one you used back in the Forest of Death!" She laughed. "Man, that feels like forever ago."

Her refusal to stop acting as if nothing between them had changed only made Naruto angrier. "Meteor Shower!" He shouted, aiming his Keyblade as he did so. As a result, numerous projectiles made of light shout out of his Keyblade and hurtled towards Misa.

"Whoa!" Still refusing to drop her smile, Misa jumped into the air, flipping and twirling around as needed to dodge all the attacks. At the height of her jump, she pointed her Keyblade at Naruto. "Dark Volley!" Misa's orbs of darkness matched Naruto's own projectiles of light, causing many small explosions to appear in the space between them, but some of them still made it through and headed straight at Naruto.

Swearing softly, Naruto stopped firing light at her and leapt up into the air. Rotating his body, his feet touched down for a moment on the side of a building. Using the building, Naruto sprung at the still falling Misa.

Seeing this, Misa ceased her own attack and brought her Keyblade up in time to intercept the oncoming one. The two of them clashed momentarily in the air, sparks flying from their Keyblades. Twisting around, Misa broke contact with Naruto by using the force of his attack to push herself back into the wall of a building.

Sticking to the side of the building with chakra, Misa turned and ran in the opposite direction. "Come on! Let's find a better spot!" Scowling, Naruto touched back down on the ground before sprinting after her.

With Kairi

"Naruto…" Kairi said quietly in worry. As she had instructed, Halbird had been sure to keep a constant distance from Naruto, despite the moving fight and the odd stray ball of light or darkness. She hadn't heard every word being said between the two, but she was still able to put enough together to guess. Between Naruto's angry expression and Misa's smile, it wasn't hard for Kairi to figure out that the crimson blond was frustrated by her apparent lack of care.

When Naruto and Misa clashed again as they ran down the street, Kairi bit her lip. She had faith in Naruto to win, but she was still worried about him.

'Maybe I shouldn't have let him fight alone…' She thought to herself, but she quickly banished the idea with a shake of her head. 'No. He's going to win this. I shouldn't be worried about him. And this is something that he needs to do, or he will be stuck on it for a long time.'

With Naruto and Misa (7:45 pm)

Misa landed in a crouch ahead of Naruto, only this time, she didn't continue running. A second later, Naruto came to a stop as well. Now that they had stopped moving, Naruto glanced around, recognizing the location. "The keyhole plaza?"

Hearing the question, Misa smiled lightly with a shrug. "Why not? It has enough room for it, after all. And that giant is being held off by your friends, so we have time to fight." Her smile widened as she fell back into a combat stance. "Now then. I'm not running anymore! Let's do this!" Darkness shrouded her body as she sped at Naruto. "Dark Haze!" She brought her Keyblade down on him.

Covering himself in twilight, Naruto met the attack head on. The two of them clashed once, and he used the chance to parry her Keyblade back up towards the air. Not letting up, he then brought his quickly slashed his Keyblade upward. "Aerial Slam!"

Misa was knocked high into the air, Naruto immediately following after her. Jumping with enough force to overtake her, Naruto came into existence above Misa, bringing his Keyblade back down on her. "Gah!" Misa was launched back towards the ground, but instead of impacting it, a pool of darkness opened up and swallowed her.

Landing back on the ground, Naruto tensed and looked around warily, watching for any signs of her reappearing. Suddenly, a new pool of darkness emerged from behind him. "Gotcha!" Misa's eyes widened in surprise and her smile faltered when Naruto successfully whirled around her in a reversal and blocked her blow within a second.

"Not quite." Naruto grunted out before kicking her back. He was definitely happy for the boost to his reflexes this Keyblade gave him. Focusing back on the fight, Naruto swung his Keyblade at her. "Dark Firaga!" Several balls of fire coated in darkness rocketed at Misa.

Acting quickly, Misa batted the fireballs out of the air and then responded in kind. "Blizzara!" She shouted, sending ice at him. Knowing that it wouldn't be enough, she also stabbed her Keyblade into the ground. "Ice Barrage!"

Naruto, caught in the middle of slashing through the flying ice, was unable to avoid the ice crystal that abruptly sprouted out of the ground. "Gah!" Gritting his teeth in pain, Naruto was launched into the air, only to be sent slamming back down when an awaiting Misa slashed at him with her darkness infused Keyblade.

Landing in a crouch, Naruto snapped his head back up before quickly rolling to the side. Getting to his feet, he swung his Keyblade. "Wind Storm!" Seeing her get hurled back, Naruto crouched in preparation of his next move. "Wind Dash!" Using the wind as a boost, Naruto blurred towards Misa and slammed his wind coated Keyblade into her side, changing the direction she was flying in.

"Agh!" Misa flipped her body around to be upright again, but Naruto was already upon her once more. Alarmed, Misa hastily melded her body with darkness to evade, reappearing behind Naruto with her Keyblade raised. "Hyah!"

Naruto stifled a pained scream as the attack connected. Fighting through the pain, the crimson blond spun around slashed at her, but only met with air as she gained some distance. Not letting up, Naruto pursued her right after. "Aero Buster!" Naruto swiped his Keyblade again, but both the blade and the blast of wind were ineffective as Misa jumped over him.

"Dark Break!" Darkness poured from Misa's weapon as it came down on Naruto. Seeing this, Naruto rolled to the side, but was hit head on by the resulting shockwave of darkness. Regaining his bearings, he rushed at Misa again, intent on finishing the fight quickly with one powerful move.

"Zantetsuken!" The strike was successful, managing to make contact with Misa's body and sending her hurtling back.

"Agh!" Misa's back impacted the obelisk that stood in the center of the plaza, and she stayed there for a moment before falling to her knees, panting and in pain, her Keyblade on the ground next to her. By now, the smile had long since been wiped from her face. The keyhole and magic circle came into existence, but they both ignored them.

Seeing that she was down, Naruto lowered his Keyblade and slowly walked up to her. Glaring, he spoke up as he tried to regain control of his breath. "You can't win, Misa. You're not strong enough to beat me."

"…Heh…Looks like it, huh?" She said weakly. "I should've…figured. I don't know…how long you've had your Keyblade…but from what I've seen…you've definitely had it for a while…You've had more time to train than I have…" Misa laughed quietly. "That kinda sucks…We've always been pretty evenly matched…before…Or have you…always been holding back?"

Naruto stayed silent for a moment, searching her face. "…Why did you do it?"

"Huh…?" Misa blinked at him, and her confusion only made his anger resurface.

Glaring harder, Naruto elaborated. "Why did you join Orochimaru? Why betray everyone like that? What could that freak possibly offer you that made it worth it?" No response. "Or were you with him from the start? Was it all just an act? Were you ever really my friend?"

"Ha…So now you ask?"

"Answer me!" Naruto demanded.

"…No…" Misa finally said. "I won't. If you want those answers…" She shakily pushed herself back to her feet, grabbing her Keyblade as she did so. "Then you're going to have to beat them out of me." She said, smiling slightly.

The reappearance of that smile drove Naruto's frustration to new heights. "Look at yourself! You can barely stand! And you still want to fight?!"

Misa chuckled. "Then I guess I should even the odds, shouldn't I?" This question made Naruto's eyes narrow and his guard go back up.

"…What are you planning?"

"You've said it yourself…I'm not strong enough to beat you." Misa said quietly. "…Then that only means that I need to get strong enough!"

A sudden pulse of darkness from Misa made Naruto's eyes widen. "What?"

"Gah!" Misa's free hand went up and clutched at her shoulder in obvious pain. "Man, he wasn't kidding when he said that the first use would be painful!" She said humorlessly. Suddenly, a strange, flame-like pattern started to spread across Misa's skin.

Seeing it, Naruto's mind went back to the Forest of Death. "…You didn't." He breathed numbly. Seeing her pained smile, his anger flared again. "You actually let that freak put that thing on you?!"

"Hey, to be fair, it wasn't my idea." Misa winced as the markings spread some more. "Orochimaru-sama told me that since I may end up facing you in the near future, it would be better for me to have some kind of boost." She winced again. "You know how it is. What the boss man says, goes."

"He shouldn't even be your boss!" Naruto shouted.

"So you've said." Misa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by another pulse of darkness coming from her body, only this one was much stronger. By now, the curse mark had spread to cover half of her face. In addition to this, an aura of darkness was visible around her body, completely enveloping her. Misa grinned widely and opened her eyes back up, showing that her right eye had changed. What was previously brown was now the same yellow that Kuro's eyes were, and her sclera had also turned black. "Wow! What a rush!"

"Misa…"

Misa's grin widened. "Hey, what's with that face? I feel great!" She laughed. "Better than great! This is awesome!" She slid into a battle stance. "Come on, let me show you! I can only use this thing for a short burst, so we better hurry! Try to keep up now!" She disappeared in a burst of darkness.

"What?!"

"Naruto, above you!" It was only thanks to Kairi's alarmed shout that Naruto was able to dive to the side in time to avoid Misa's strike.

Rolling to his feet, Naruto readied himself for anything. 'I guess that this is the boost she supposedly caught me off guard with before they came back in time…' And if that was true, then he needed to be careful.

His opponent laughed. "Sorry was that too much for you? Let's try again!" She blasted towards him, ready to attack. This time, Naruto managed to get his Keyblade up in time to parry the blow. Following this, he rotated his body around her in a reversal. Seeing her exposed back, Naruto attacked. "Too slow!" Misa melded with darkness again, resurfacing a few feet away.

Scowling, Naruto rushed her. "Wind Dash!"

Still grinning, Misa's Keyblade shot up. "Dark Barrier!" A barrier came into existence around Misa, causing Naruto's Keyblade to bounce back. "And then Counter Aura!"

A discharge of darkness threw Naruto back, tumbling through the air as he went. Disoriented, Naruto was unable to defend himself when Misa quickly followed after him, ready to attack again.

"Sonic Shadow!" Misa's body became cloaked in darkness as she shot at Naruto. Striking his front, she disappeared in a burst of speed before she reappeared to his side, only to vanish again after slashing at him again.

Naruto grit his teeth in pain as he was batted around by the onslaught. Every time he lashed out at her, she would vanish again to hit him from the other side. Becoming frustrated, Naruto began channeling wind. "Multivortex!" A tornado of cutting wind exploded out around him, catching Misa as she came at him again. The second she hit the wind, it blasted her back as small cuts were made on her body.

Landing back on the ground, Misa twirled her Keyblade as the tornado faded away. "Hah!" A volley of darkness and ice careened towards Naruto. Spotting this, Naruto began moving between the projectiles as he could, while hitting away others. Seeing that she still couldn't land a hit, Misa's smile faltered a bit. "Just give up!"

Hearing her shout, Naruto glared as he sliced through another ball of ice and deflected a ball of darkness into a different orb. "Not happening!" Pushing himself to move faster, Naruto jumped high into the air. "Heat Dive!" Fire ignited across his Keyblade as he came at Misa with a downward strike.

Cutting off her volley, Misa raised her Keyblade to block the blow. "Guh!" Misa winced as the force behind the strike served as enough to make her arms go slightly numb. Throwing off the feeling, she pushed back against Naruto, prompting the crimson blond to leap back.

Not wasting a moment, Naruto wrapped wind around his Keyblade and flung it at her. "Wind Raid!" Misa deflected the Keyblade into the air, but she was caught off guard by Naruto suddenly appearing in front of her. With no time to react, Naruto's fist embedded in her gut, earning a pained grunt from her.

Snarling, Misa swung her Keyblade at Naruto, but it was deflected by his own Keyblade coming back from its throw, the wind still guiding it. Misa's eyes widened when she felt Naruto kick her in the side, sending her tumbling back a few feet.

Grabbing his keyblade from the air, Naruto dashed at her again. "Enough!" Misa screamed, creating a shockwave of darkness that slammed into Naruto. Not expecting this, Naruto was launched back. Smile completely gone by now, Misa glared at Naruto. "This ends now!" The aura of darkness surrounding her body flared, and Naruto watched as she rose into the air. "Sorry, Naruto. But you lose!" She thrust her Keyblade into the air. "Dark Abyss!" A pillar of darkness shot into the sky, and Naruto's eyes widened when he realized what she was doing.

Acting quickly, Naruto raised his Keyblade up. "Reflega!" He shouted, putting up the strongest barrier he could. The next second, darkness rained down from the heavens on him. "Shit…!" Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration and his knees threatened to give way under the overwhelming pressure.

End Music

With Kairi (7:55 pm)

Kairi gasped in alarm as her entire view of the battle was shrouded in darkness. "Naruto!" Halbird cried out as the shockwave from the attack hit them, making it difficult to stay airborne. 'Come on, Naruto!'

With Natsu and Gray

Gray panted in exhaustion as he glared up at the giant robot. "…Dammit…Why won't this thing…go down?" He gritted out.

From his spot next to the ice mage, Natsu was faring little better. "What's…What's the matter? Can't keep…up?"

"Tch…Like you're doing better." Gray said halfheartedly. "You…look like you're about…to fall over."

"Ha! As if!" To prove his point, Natsu ignited his fists. "I can keep this up all night!" He declared.

"Heh. And there's no way I'm going to tire out before you do." Gray retorted. Placing his hands together, he began to create ice.

"Go, Natsu! Go, Gray!" Happy cheered. "It's almost finished!" The cat tilted his head at the robot. "…I think? I can't really tell…" Suddenly, an explosion in the distance caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity. "What was that?!" Happy cried fearfully.

Snapping his head around, Natsu saw an explosion of darkness. "The hell? Is that darkness?"

"Yeah…And there's a lot." Gray answered. A frown formed on his face. "Naruto was fighting over in that direction…" He and Natsu glanced at one another. Then at the same time, they turned to the giant with identical scowls. "We don't have time for you anymore." Gray said.

Nodding, Natsu crouched in preparation of his next attack. "Yeah, a friend of ours might need some help."

"So that means…" Gray continued.

"That you…"

"Need to get the hell out of our way!" They shouted together before charging.

Keyhole Plaza

Misa gasped for breath as she slowly lowered back onto the ground. "That was…everything I had left…Now stay down…" Sweat was trickling down her face as she spoke. Smoke covered the area, preventing her from seeing Naruto. "Uh…That was tiring."

Suddenly, pain flared in her shoulder, causing her to snap a hand up and grip it. Scrunching her face up in pain, Misa bit back a whimper as the curse mark receded. Once it was gone, Misa rolled her shoulder. "I really hope I get used to that thing…" She muttered. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked towards the sky, where Kairi was. Putting a smile back on her face, she called out. "Naruto lost! You know what that means, right?"

Kairi glared down at her. "You don't know that he lost! And even if he had, I can still fight you!" Halbird landed on the ground, allowing Kairi to jump off of his back. Pulling out her pactio card, she summoned her Keyblade. "Adeat!"

The defiance brought a small and pained laugh to Misa. "Don't even bother, princess. If Naruto couldn't beat me, then there's no way you could. Just come quietly and I won't hurt you." The redhead shook her head, bringing a sigh to Misa. "Come on, I'm tired and want to rest. Naruto was the best your side had, and he lost. Give it up."

"…Sorry to disappoint." A familiar voice said, making Misa freeze. "But I'm not done yet."

Smile wiped from her face yet again, Misa scowled and swung her Keyblade, creating a small gust that rid the area of the residual smoke. Right where he was last seen, panting and using his Keyblade as support, Naruto glared back at her. "You've gotta be kidding…"

"Naruto!" Kairi said in relief.

Naruto pushed himself back to his feet. "If that was your strongest attack, then you're the one who should give up, Misa. Whether it be in your normal state or with the curse mark, you aren't strong enough to put me down."

Misa's glared at him. "No. That's not true."

"Yes, it is." Naruto said with finality. "You said you put everything you had into that, and yet I'm still here." He shook his head. "So I'm telling you one last time…Surrender."

"No! I refuse!" Misa shouted. Her curse mark flared to life again, this time spreading to cover more of her face and the entirety of her right arm. She cloaked herself in darkness. "I won't lose! I can't!"

"You've already lost."

"Shut! Up!" She couldn't lose! Not after all of that! Misa raised her Keyblade again, preparing to attack. She rocketed forward.

"Naruto!" Kairi screamed, not seeing him put up any attempt at defense.

Ignoring her, Naruto watched Misa close the distance between them. To Kairi's alarm, he didn't move out of the way or gather twilight to attack.

"This is the end!" Misa shouted. When she was close enough, she slashed her Keyblade down at Naruto.

"Too slow."

Misa's eyes widened in shock as Naruto's Keyblade lashed out and deflected hers, knocking it out of her hand and across the plaza. "…Wha-?"

Not giving her any time to react, Naruto took a step forward and gathered chakra into his free hand. "Rasengan." The spiraling ball slammed into her unprotected stomach, launching her back into a wall.

His opponent screamed in pain as the force of her impact created a spider web of cracks in the building. Not able to support herself any further, she fell to the ground.

Slowly, Naruto lowered his hand, only staring at Misa with a sad expression. "You lose." He said quietly.

"Gah…" Misa struggled to push herself back up, but her arms gave out. "…Dammit…" She whispered as her curse mark receded again. Unable to do anything else, she rolled onto her back.

"That last charge was the slowest one all fight." Naruto told her. "That would never hit me."

"But…I…" Misa attempted to find something to say, but she eventually sighed. "Fine…I've lost this one." She conceded.

Naruto stared at her for a moment. "…Will you tell me now?" He asked. "Why did you do it?"

Hearing the question, Misa laughed quietly. "…Do you believe in destiny?" She inquired.

The crimson blond scowled. "Answer my question." He demanded.

Misa weakly shook her head. "I need to hear your response first."

Naruto's hand balled into a fist. "What do you mean?"

"Destiny…That everything is predetermined. That no matter what we do, the ultimate outcome is already chosen for us."

"No." Naruto said immediately. "I don't believe in that. We make our own destinies. Anything can happen. There is a person in this world who is traveling back in time to change things. So, no. I don't believe in destiny."

"And if I said it was my destiny to betray you?"

"Then I would say that that's a load of shit!" Naruto shouted in frustration. "You chose to turn traitor! You chose to stab me in the back! You chose to side with Orochimaru! You chose to turn your back on every single one of your friends! So don't blame it on destiny!"

Misa smiled, but there was something sad in the expression. "Hm…You're right…It was my choice." She agreed. "But because it was my choice...does that mean I'm accepting destiny...or fighting it?" She asked.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Naruto demanded.

"…You'll figure it out." Misa told him.

Suddenly, a Corridor of Darkness opened up under her body. Spotting it, Naruto's eyes widened. "No!" He made to stop her, but he was intercepted by a group of Armored Knight heartless. "No!"

"You beat me this time, Naruto." Misa told him, still smiling. "…I had fun for a bit. It's been a while since we've fought."

"Misa!"

"See ya next time." She slid her eyes over to Kairi. "Goodbye to you as well, princess." With that, she vanished into the corridor. Once she was gone, the heartless also disappeared, leaving Naruto, Kairi, and Halbird alone in the plaza.

"…"

"…Naruto?" Kairi asked hesitantly.

Instead of responding to her, Naruto spoke up. "Thanks for keeping Kairi safe, Halbird. You can return now."

"Kah…" The dream eater let out a sorrowful cry before disappearing in a flash, leaving his card in his place. Picking up the card, Naruto returned it to the deck, still not looking at Kairi.

"Naruto, please say something." Kairi pleaded.

The two of them stood in silence for a minute before Naruto let out a sigh. "…What do you think, Kairi?" He asked without turning to face her.

The sudden question made her blink in confusion. "Huh?"

"Do you believe in destiny?" He elaborated.

Kairi bit her lip as she considered the question. "…Yeah, I do…"

"You do?"

She nodded. "Maybe…Maybe not in the same sense that Misa was talking about…But I do think that it's destiny that connects us." Kairi said. "It's because our destinies are intertwined that we met in the first place. What were the chances that you guys would just happen to go to that world and find me on the top of that mountain?" Seeing him glance back at her, she gave him a small smile. "That was definitely destiny. What happens from there…" She shrugged, her smile growing. "…the rest is up to us."

Naruto stared at her for a moment before returning the smile with a small one of his own. "…Makes sense, I guess." Before anything else could be said, Kazumi's voice returned.

"Well, everybody! The robot army has been mostly destroyed! The last giant robot has been demolished. And I've just received word that both Lingshen and her top fighter have been defeated! But was it done fast enough?! Has the deadline already passed?!"

Suddenly, the keyhole reappeared without being promoted, showing that the magic circle attacked to it was growing brighter and brighter with each passing second. Along with this, the world tree was also starting to glow brighter

"What's happening?!" Kairi asked. "Were we too late?!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the magic circle. After a moment, he smirked. "No. we were in time."

Out of nowhere, a beam of light shot out of the magic tree and into the air, where it eventually exploded like a giant firework. In response, the magic circle flared once before fading away, leaving only the keyhole behind.

"You did it! The enemy was defeated with not even a minute to spare!" Kazumi shouted. "It's the Mahora Mage Order's complete victory!" An answering roar of celebration echoed throughout the city, drowning out the celebratory fireworks.

Kairi sighed in relief. "Oh, good." She shot Naruto a beaming smile. "We did it!" Naruto smiled back.

"It was pretty close though." He said. Turning to the keyhole, he pointed his Keyblade at it. "But yeah, we did it."

Hollow Bastion

A Corridor of Darkness opened up into the entrance hall of the castle, depositing a battered Misa onto the floor. Grunting in exertion, she slowly pushed herself to her feet.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Hearing the voice, Misa frowned and looked over to the side. Standing there was a teen with silver hair. "What's wrong? Not happy to see me?" He wasn't even attempting to hide his amusement at seeing her in such a state.

Misa's frown deepened. "Am I happy to see the witch's pet? No, not particularly."

The teen snorted. "Says the snake's pet." He shot back.

"I'm not a pet. A pet does nothing but obey their master without question." Misa replied. "Someone like you."

"Ha! That's rich coming from the girl who betrayed her friend when her master told her to."

Her eyes narrowed. "Like you have any room to talk! You're here working against your friends, just like me! Didn't you kidnap that one Princess of Heart when your friend was trying to save her? Alice was her name, right? You're also a traitor!"

"No, I'm not!" The boy shouted. "Sora betrayed me first! He replaced his friends the first chance he got for new ones! He's the traitor! He betrayed both me and Kairi!"

At this, Misa paused before a smirk slowly spread across her face. "Ah, Kairi. That's right…"

Seeing her expression, the boy shot her a wary look. "What about her?"

Misa gestured to her injuries. "It just so happens that I got these from fighting against Naruto. You remember him…" The boy nodded, not understanding what she was getting at. "Well, the reason I was so late to return isn't because I wanted to fight him for fun. It was because of the fact that Naruto is traveling between worlds with some new friends…Take a guess as to who one of them is."

His eyes widened, hope and confusion clear in them. "Kairi…"

"That's right." Misa confirmed with a smile. "She's been traveling with Naruto for a little while now. The world I crossed path with them in was actually hosting a festival." Her smile sharpened. "Based on what I saw while there, she was having a great time. A whole lot of fun exploring the festival. Seemingly without a care in the world."

The boy's hands clenched into fists. "…But that's…Does that mean that she…" He whispered.

"If you ask me, she forgot about you…Just like how Sora did." Misa shrugged. "She saw the chance for a change in friends, and she took it."

"You're lying!"

Misa laughed. "Nope! Check it out for yourself! All you've got to do is find Naruto, and you find Kairi too! Both of your friends really have forgotten about you. Two out of two!" She clapped slowly. "Good going! What did you do for both of your best friends to replace you the first chance that they got?"

"Shut up!" He summoned his weapon in a flash of darkness and dashed at her.

Seeing this, Misa smirked and summoned her Keyblade. Swiftly, she parried his weapon and disarmed him of it, sending it spiraling through the air and across the room. The boy's breath hitched when the tip of her Keyblade pressed against his throat. "I may be tired…I may be injured…But I am still better than you…" Misa said quietly. "You are nothing compared to me." The boy's eyes shone in hate as he glared at her, but he was unable to do anything.

"Enough." Both of their eyes snapped towards the top of the stairs, where Orochimaru was standing.

"Orochimaru-sama." Neither of them were sure as to the exact moment that he got there.

Orochimaru stared at them blankly for a moment. "…Misa, dismiss your Keyblade. Maleficent would be…irritated with me if you harmed her pet project." His words made Misa smirk and the boy scowl. Doing as ordered, Misa willed her Keyblade away and took a step back from the boy. "…You said that your primary mission was a success?"

Misa nodded. "Yes, sir. I have the data from the world tree for you."

"Good…Now as for your current appearance…" Misa withheld a wince as Orochimaru's lips dipped into a frown. "…You fought against Naruto-kun…and lost? Even with the curse seal?"

Swallowing nervously, Misa nodded. "…That's correct, sir…"

A shiver raced down both her spine and the boy's as Orochimaru suddenly smiled. A smile such as that never spelled good news for the people they were intended for. Privately, the boy even felt pity for her.

"…That just won't do." Orochimaru said lightly. "It seems that we have to up your training again."

City Park (A Little Later)

Naruto sweat dropped as he watched class 3-A tear themselves about over what he considered to be the dumbest reason possible. "Is it weirder that they are fighting over a book or that they are fighting over a book to see who ends up with who in the future?"

Kairi offered him a hesitant giggle. "Uh, yes?"

"Fair enough." The sound of footsteps approaching made him turn his head. Upon seeing who it was, he made his expression neutral.

A sore and fatigued Chao stood across from him, sporting a small smile, despite the fact that she lost. After a minute, she spoke up. "Well...I guess I lose." She shook her head. "Even after all of that, you guys still beat me." She glanced over to Kairi. "And you managed to keep Kairi-san away from Misa, too."

Naruto nodded, opting to remain silent.

Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything, Chao sighed. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Naruto-kun. This path lies to ruin."

"We won't let it happen." Naruto finally responded. "Whatever future you come from...It isn't ours."

Sadness invaded Chao's smile. "I hope so...I really do." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her time machine. Taking a glance at it, she continued. "I can't stay in this timeline any longer. If I don't leave now, then I'll be trapped here until the next time the world tree gathers power."

Kairi frowned. "So this is goodbye? You're just going to leave?"

The time traveler shrugged. "I wasn't really supposed to be in this time, anyways. I would have left already, but I wanted to say goodbye." She looked over to her feuding classmates. "I've already said goodbye to everyone else, it's just you guys that were left." She smiled. "Whatever the outcome...I'm glad to have met you. Both of you. Even against the odds, you never lose faith...I'm glad to have seen that." Her time machine started to glow. "Ah, time is about up."

Not satisfied, Naruto quickly spoke. "Wait, I have one last question for you."

Chao blinked and titled her head at him. "You better hurry, the time machine is going to activate any minute now."

Not needing to be told twice, Naruto said what was on his mind. "In the future that you know...You said that it was my desire to protect others that got me killed...What did you mean by that?"

At this, Chao averted her eyes, unable to meet his gaze. "...That's..." She shook her head. "...You've misunderstood." She finally said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"In my future...You...You haven't been killed..." Chao hesitated. "You're just in no condition to fight Xehanort."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, so I've been crippled? I'm in a coma? Lost in darkness?"

Chao frantically shook her head. "No...No, I shouldn't have said that." She took a deep breath before smiling shakily at them. "Don't worry about it. You won't let it happen, right? No matter what happens, you'll keep fighting, won't you?"

The crimson blond opened his mouth to demand an answer, but he paused when he saw the sheer desperation Chao had to hear his response. Taking a moment to sigh, he gave her a small smile. "Yeah, of course."

Kairi nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely. We'll all keep fighting! Don't worry about that!"

The two of them saw relief flood Chao's eyes. "...Good. Promise me that you'll keep fighting against them?"

"Promise." Naruto and Kairi said together, understanding that it was important for Chao to hear that.

The last traces of desperation left Chao as her time machine glowed brighter. "...Thank you..." Her new smile was brighter and more sincere than any of the others she had given them previously. "Seeing this...Seeing all of you...I think that maybe things will turn out okay, after all." A magic circle appeared under her feet. She waved cheerfully at them. "See you later-ne!" In a flash, she left their time lime.

Kairi stared at the spot she was standing in for a minute. "...What do you think she meant?" She asked hesitantly. "What do you think happened to you?"

Naruto frowned for a moment, but eventually sighed and folded his arms behind his head. "Doesn't matter...Whatever it was, it won't happen this time."

Headmaster's Office (Two Days Later)

"So you're leaving?" Negi asked sadly.

Naruto offered the child teacher a smile. "Yeah. We've been here for long enough. We should get back out there towards the next world." The off-worlders had spent a day recovering from their battles, and while that normally would not have been enough, the miracle of magic had drastically decreased their recovery time.

"I see…" Negi mumbled.

"Hmph. I don't see why you're so sad, boya. At the very least, the boy will be back." Evangeline said.

Hearing this, Naruto blinked. "Huh? I will?"

Evangeline smirked at him. "Of course. You don't seriously think that little bit of training you did was enough to master darkness, do you? No, when your current journey ends and you want to continue your training, you will come back to seek me out. I always finish what I start."

"Uh, sure…" Naruto wasn't sure if he would really do as she said, but he still filed it away for later consideration.

"Ohohoho~ You should consider yourself lucky, Naruto-kun! It is not every day that someone as powerful as Evangeline willingly takes on a student." The headmaster laughed.

'I don't feel very lucky…' And Takahata's smirk didn't help him feel any better about it, nor did Negi's shiver.

"Anyways, I would like to thank you again for everything you have done for us." The headmaster continued. "This world is in your debt. All of you." Kairi blushed under the praised while Gray smirked silently. In contrast to this, Natsu and Happy burst into laughter and began boasting about how awesome they were.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto smiled. "We were happy to help." His smile dimmed. "And I'm sorry that my problems put your people into danger. I'm just glad that none of the heartless were able to take any hearts."

The headmaster waved him off. "As you've said, no one's heart was taken, so do not fret about such things. Simply focus on the task ahead instead of the past. Your mission isn't completed yet, so don't lose focus."

"Right."

Nodding, the headmaster opened a drawer. "I have something for you. It was given to me by Yen Sid, the other Keyblade master I know. But I believe you will have better use for it than I will." He pulled out an object that made Naruto blink.

"A keychain…" In the headmaster hand was a keychain designed like a crescent moon.

"Indeed. I trust you know how to use it." He held it out, allowing Naruto to take it.

"Yeah, I do…Thanks." Naruto took in the keychain's appearance for a moment, but then he recognized it. "Wait…This is the keychain that was attached to Nox's Keyblade." He realized.

"Huh?" Gray looked over Naruto's shoulder to get a better look. "Yeah, you're right…"

The headmaster smiled. "Oh? You know someone with this keychain? Then perhaps they are an apprentice of Yen Sid!" He laughed again. "I didn't think that he still took apprentices, but that is welcome news!"

Happy floated next to Naruto. "So this Yen Sid person is Nox's master?"

Naruto pocketed the keychain. "Could be. There aren't that many masters left, so the chances are actually pretty high…" He shrugged. "When we see him again, we can ask." He nodded to the headmaster with a smile. "Thanks again."

"It was my pleasure, my boy. I wish you all the best of luck in your mission."

Gummi Ship

Kairi let out a sigh of relief as she relaxed into her seat. "Phew. I'm beat!"

Hearing this, Gray sent her an amused smirk. "What's the problem? You tired out?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, duh! Between searching for Happy, the festival, the training, and that huge battle, we were running around so much while here! Sure we got a day off, but I'm still tired!"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "She's right. We were pretty active the entire time."

Natsu laughed. "Yeah, but it was still loads of fun!"

"Aye!" Happy flew over to hover next to Naruto. "So where are we going next?"

Considering the question, Naruto pulled up the world map. "Dunno. Does anybody have any preference?" Glancing around, he saw that Happy, Natsu, and Gray didn't have anything to say.

Kairi groaned. "Wherever we go, I just hope that we can stay seated in the gummi ship instead of running around a city. I don't want to do that again right away."

Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, sure. We aren't that lucky."

There we go! All done with Chapter 50!

Ugh, finally done with that world. I normally wouldn't have let it drag on for so many chapters, but there was just so much to do there. Between the power ups, the confrontations, and whatnot, it kept going!

…And I may have gotten a little carried away.

Whenever I'm writing a scene where the enemy is a large number of what is basically cannon fodder I usually wind up playing From Shadows by Jeff Williams. This was no exception.

I'm semi-shaping Kairi's fighting style to be like Aqua's.

Hm…Any guesses as to what the next world is? (This could be a short world, but you know how it is. If I think it will be, then it becomes super long).

Review Responses!

Kairitrion Cerulean: That delay came faster than expected, huh? Eh, if you ask me, the Kingdom Hearts story was already a bit of a chore to keep up with because of how much it jumps consoles. If it wasn't for the internet, then I would only have an understanding of three games out of the series.

fallendemon248: Sorry about that. This was the last chapter.

keyblade master cole: Did that answer your first question? As for your second one, not yet.

Dark Natsu Dragneel: I already know how I'm going to handle the end of the Kingdom Hearts 1 story.

redlox2: I'm planning for Hikari and Yami to be out of contact for a while yet.

rinsegaku: Ugh, don't make me think about it. I'm done with this time travel crap...For now, at least.

Weeldx: One of the planned worlds is a Kingdom Hearts canon world, yes.

Rio Skyron: Nope, can't say that I've seen that, sorry.

fresh prince1: Relax, the time travel confusion is over with…For now(?)

Xion The XIV: I'm not completely certain how it is done in the manga, but I remember reading some theories that there are two timelines, like in DBZ. As for this story, I'm thinking of doing it that way.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!

Until next time,

Kog6943

Shameless self-advertising!

"Thrust into an unfamiliar world with no way to get back, Naruto has no choice but to adapt, and quickly. And as if that much wasn't already a big enough problem, the manifestation of this thing called the Lifestream refuses to let him live there...Unless he accepts her offer to become something called a WEAPON and defend her."

I've got a new story! This one is called The Final WEAPON: Preliminary Crisis. It's a crossover between Naruto and Final Fantasy VII.