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.

53. Return to Traverse Town

And we're finally back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 52!

Yes, it's really true. A chapter has been posted. I've been writing this one off and on for a while now, and this is the result. I am sorry that I suddenly disappeared without warning, but I am not sorry for actually disappearing…If that makes any sense.

I've been making small edits here and there to earlier chapters. Nothing substantial, just a few extra details or altered phrasing. There's no need to go back and scan the story for them, but you will probably notice mention of an added detail in this chapter. I promise nothing plot wise has changed in the instance I'm talking about. It's just that I made a piece of plot tie in better.

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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.'

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

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Gummi Ship

"...Gentle...Gentle..." Naruto muttered to himself, putting all of his focus into his task. "Almost there...Right about..." Slowly, he reached over and grabbed a lever on his console, bringing it down carefully. "And...touchdown." He smiled slightly, happy that nothing had gone wrong with the landing. More confident now, he pressed several buttons, and the gentle hum of the engines died down. With that final step completed, he released a sigh and sat back in his chair. "There we go."

From where she was seated, Kairi smiled at him. "Nice job. Besides the caution, I could hardly even tell that the ship was damaged."

Gray nodded lightly in agreement. "Same here. Nice flying." Glancing at the screen, he stared at the ship's status, which had yet to be taken down from their time in Corneria. Because of some Heartless vessels encountered on their way back to Traverse Town, even more damage had been dealt to the ship. It spoke a lot of Urahara's skills when it comes to building durable creations that they still were able to operate as well as they have been. "So what's the verdict? How bad is the damage?" He asked.

Frowning slightly, Naruto pressed a few buttons, making the image that reported the ship's damage enlarge until it took up more of the screen. Along with it were several boxes that each contained information details of different parts of the ship. As he read over the boxes, Naruto's frown deepened. "On top of what we were already dealing with, now one of the wings has a chunk of it missing. I'm pretty sure you all noticed when it suddenly became harder for us to fly steadily?"

Recalling the last leg of their journey here, Natsu's face turned green. "Ugh, no way I would forget that!"

"Yeah, that seems to be the worst of it. We did a good job avoiding most of the attacks sent out way and destroying anything that got too close. Nice going there, you guys." Gray smirked at this while Natsu grinned through his nausea.

Wanting to test something, Naruto reached over and began the normal procedure to start the ship. Suddenly, another box on the screen popped up, making Naruto blink. Reading it over, he sighed. From his seat in Natsu's lap, Happy tilted his head. "What does that mean?" He asked curiously.

"That means the system has detected a critical failure in the ship and the safeties have kicked in, preventing me from starting the engines until repairs are made." Naruto explained tiredly. "We already knew that the ship was damaged, but I wanted to see if it would even start. Apparently not."

"There are safeties that do that?" Kairi asked in surprise. "Why didn't they activate sooner? We've been damaged for a while."

Naruto shrugged. "They did activate, but because we were already flying, they didn't do anything besides provide a warning. If I'm being honest, they had tried to get me to land sooner, but I ignored them because I wanted to do it somewhere where we had a chance of finding repairs. I could override this, but now that we're here, I agree with it."

"Oh..." That made sense to her. "So...What now? Do we start looking around for someone who can repair the ship?" She asked the room at large.

Natsu grinned widely. "No way! Now we go visit Wendy and Carla!" He declared, Happy instantly agreeing with him.

Kairi's eyes widened. "That's right! You guys said that your friend was here." At the mention of reuniting with friends, two boys came to the forefront of her mind.

Spotting her expression, a small smile pulled at Naruto's lips. "Keep in mind that this is also the last place that we saw Sora, so there's a chance of getting something on him while we're here. And who knows? Maybe Riku, too." That served to be enough to make Kairi grin widely. Shifting his eyes over to the dragon slayer, Naruto continued. "And we can do both at the same time. I was planning on asking Leon's group if they knew anyone who could repair our ship, which means that we would run into Wendy anyways."

Practically vibrating from excitement, Natsu leapt to his feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He dashed towards the door with Happy flying after him.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Impatient match stick." He insulted under his breath, but the grin gave away his true feelings. He was just as excited to see his friends.

Nodding, Naruto stood up as well. "We should hurry up. I feel like every time we lose sight of them when we get to a world, something annoying happens." Hearing this, Gray snorted and Kairi giggled.

---

"Well?"

"Aren't we impatient?"

"Just shut up and tell me."

"Hmph. They've arrived."

"Is…?"

"Is…? Oh. Yep, exactly like I said. You ready to go see for yourself?"

"...Yeah."

---

Traverse Town (First District)

Walking through the large doors and into the plaza, they all glanced around. Idly noting that just like their previous visit, it was night time here, Naruto took a moment to watch the activity around them. Nothing seemed to have changed from the last time they were here, right down to hustle and bustle of the people around them.

"You're doing it again." Naruto was pulled from his thoughts and turned to face the voice, only to find the others watching him. Seeing his confusion, Gray elaborated. "As soon as we walked through those doors, you started to smile. You did the same thing the last time we were here."

Naruto blinked, only then becoming aware of the fact that he indeed had a smile on his face. But the moment he became aware of it, the smile faded. "Huh...That's weird." He said before returning to observing the surrounding area, not really concerned about it.

Gray quirked an eyebrow. "That's it? You comment that it's weird and then go back to doing it?"

Not seeing what he was getting at, Naruto shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I told you last time that there is something relaxing about the world. That's still true now. I can't help but like this place."

"But why this place?" Gray pressed. "Why do you like this world to the point of instantly relaxing when we enter the town? Why not the others?"

Tilting his head in thought, Naruto considered the question. One by one, he compared each of the worlds they had visited to this one, only to come up blank. "No clue. But it doesn't matter, does it? I'm sure you would find yourself more comfortable in a world that was covered in ice. Or Natsu with one that was on fire."

"Oh! I want a world that's all fish!" Happy interjected cheerfully.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned away. "Yeah, I'm sure you would." He muttered. "Anyways, let's get moving. Cid's shop is just up ahead." Without another word, Naruto started walking towards the stairs. For a few moments, Gray watched him, only to sigh and shake his head before he followed with the others.

Entering the shop, the group looked around, noting the distinct lack of people. Frowning slightly, Naruto walked over to the counter and rang the bell on it. "Hello?" He called out, only to not get any reply. "You think the shop is closed?"

"But then there would have been a sign that said it was, right?" Kairi asked.

Grinning, Natsu walked over to the counter. "You just didn't do it right!" Before anyone could question what he meant, he took a deep breath. "HEY! WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!" The dragon slayer bellowed, repeatedly slamming on the bell as he did so. "HELLO?!"

"Shut your trap! I heard ya the first time!" A somewhat familiar voice shouted back from the back room. A moment later, a scowling Cid walked through the door behind the counter, eyes fixed on the pink haired teen. "What the hell is wrong with you? Who does that?"

Naruto rubbed his temples in a futile attempt to stave off the oncoming headache. "I'm really sorry about that." He apologized.

Taking another moment to glare, Cid nodded. "You do that again, and I'll show you what I can do with a spear." He threatened before turning to Naruto. "Good to see you again, kid. We haven't heard from you in a while, so some people were starting to get worried." It was then that he noticed Kairi. "And who's this? You got another person tagging along with you?" Kairi offered him a smile and a wave.

Smiling, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that's actually part of the reason that we're here." Gesturing for her to come forward, Naruto introduced her. "This is Kairi." Hearing the name, Cid frowned thoughtfully.

"Hold on a sec…" Cid began. "Isn't that the name of…"

Seeing that he understood, Naruto confirmed his suspicions. "Yep. This is the same Kairi that Sora is looking for, along with Riku."

A hopeful light entered Kairi's eyes as she took a step forward. "Naruto and the others mentioned that they ran into Sora the last time they were here. Have you seen or heard anything since then? Or anything about Riku?" She asked.

Grimacing, Cid averted his gaze. "Sorry to say, but you just missed him. He was here a couple of days ago, but left pretty quickly." Spotting her dejected expression, he hastened to continue. "But maybe one of the others know more about where he planned on going! You should ask them!" Cid reassured, not wanting to be the reason for a girl to become sad, even if he didn't do anything wrong. He relaxed when Kairi perked back up.

"We'll do that, thanks!" She beamed at him.

Nodding, Cid returned his attention to Naruto. "And? I take it you're not here to buy anything, are you?" The Keyblade wielder shook his head. "Tch. Wastin' my time…" Growing slightly gruffer, Cid waved a hand impatiently. "So? You mentioned that you had more than one reason for being here? What are they?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "We ran into some trouble in the last world we visited, which ended up with us getting into this huge dogfight with Heartless ships. We won, but our ship…"

"Got damaged, and now you need repairs." Cid finished, an interested gleam entering his eyes. A wide smile broke across his face. "Well, you've come to the right place. I can fix your ship right up for you, no problem!" He declared, surprising all of them.

"Wait, seriously?" Gray asked. "You know how to fix up a gummi ship?"

Cid scoffed. "You won't find anyone better in any world!" He said with obvious pride. Internally, Naruto wondered what Urahara would say about that, but remained quiet. "Don't doubt me on this."

Smiling at the unexpected bout of good luck, Naruto nodded. "If you would, that'd be great. We really appreciate the help."

"Now hold up. Who said I would do this for free?" Cid asked, smirking at their expressions of disbelief. "Fixing up a gummi ship is a lot of hard work. Not to mention it can be expensive. Why would I do it without some form of payment?" With each word, Cid's smirk grew wider and wider.

"Huh?! But you just said that you would do it!" Happy exclaimed.

"I didn't say anything like that, cat." Cid denied. "I only said I can fix it up, not that I will."

Now scowling, Naruto crossed his arms. "Okay...So what kind of payment are we talking about? How much is this going to cost?" This question only made Cid's smirk grow wider.

"There you go making assumptions again. I didn't say anything about you paying with anything monetary." Cid shook his head. "Oh, no. You lot are gonna be working off the debt."

Trading glances with the others, Naruto was given shrugs and unsure looks. "...Sounds reasonable." He eventually said. "What do you want us to do?"

Grinning triumphantly, Cid reached behind the counter and pulled out some paper and a pen. "I'm sending you to meet up with Leon. He'll tell you more about what to do." Quickly writing something on the paper, he folded it up, wrote something else on the outside, and handed it to Naruto. "Give that to him. You'll find him in the house closest to the north staircase over in the Third District. I wrote the address on the paper. You know the way?" Receiving a thoughtful nod, he continued. "Good, then I don't need to explain. Where did you land your ship?" Getting the location and the passcode to enter the ship, Cid hummed. "I know the place. I'll go check it out and let you know what I find. Now scram! Get movin'!" He made shooing motions with his hand at them.

Growling at the gesture, Natsu opened his mouth to shout something, but didn't get the chance to when Naruto's hand grabbed the back of his scarf and started to haul him in the direction of the door. "Thanks again for the help." He called over his shoulder, not letting up his hold on the struggling dragon slayer, much to the amusement of everyone else present.

---

Third District (A Little Later)

Glancing around, Naruto double checked the address he was given. "This is the place…" He said.

Happy glided over to his side. "I wonder what Leon is going to make you guys do?" The cat wondered.

Gray and Naruto frowned at him. "What do you mean by 'you guys'? You say it like you're not going to help." Gray asked.

"Eh? But what can I do? I'm just a cat!"

"Why doesn't that ever prevent you from doing the things you want, but then it pops back up again when there is work to do?" Naruto asked in mild irritation. Happy simply gave him his best innocent look. Shaking his head, Naruto walked up to the door. "Never mind…" Raising a fist, he knocked on the door.

The group only had to wait for a few seconds before the door opened slightly, revealing a curious Aerith. Spotting them, her face lit up. "Oh, you're back! It's wonderful to see you again!"

Naruto offered her a smile. "It's nice to see you too, Aerith-san."

Stepping back, Aerith opened the door wider, granting them entry. "Come in. I'm sure the others will be happy to see you as well. Both Wendy and myself were starting to get worried at the lack of news." Walking inside, Naruto looked around curiously, noting the bed and furniture, along with the sword leaning against the wall, before his eyes landed on the other occupant in the room.

Glancing up from where he was looking over a map on the table, a small smirk twitched at Leon's lips. "You're back." The man said in greeting.

"Yeah, we only arrived a little while ago." Gray said, nodding to him.

Leon quirked an eyebrow. "And the first thing you did was come see us?" He asked, earning a swat on the arm from Aerith.

"There's nothing wrong with them coming here, even if to simply say hello." Aerith chided lightly, earning snickers from Natsu and Happy at Leon's expression, but their laughter died when the man turned his gaze to them. While Naruto and Gray smirked, Kairi giggled.

The sound of the unfamiliar laughter drew the attention of both Aerith and Leon, prompting them to look at her. Noticing this, Kairi smiled at them. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I've been tagging along with these guys for a little while now. My name's Kairi." Hearing the name, a small gasp escaped from Aerith.

"Kairi?" Aerith repeated. "Oh, you must be Sora's friend. He'll be so happy to know that you're okay!"

At the mention of her friend, the hopeful gleam returned to Kairi's eyes. "Yeah, that's me. Before we came here, we stopped by Cid's shop, and he mentioned that one of you might know where Sora planned on going. Do you? Or maybe some other news about him?" At this, Leon shrugged and turned the majority of his attention back to the map, not having an answer for them, but Aerith tapped her chin with a thoughtful look.

"Let's see...I don't think he stated where he next planned to go, no..." She began, making Kairi slump slightly, but Aerith's next words made the redhead gasp. "...But he did mention briefly that he had come across...Riku? That was the name of your other friend, right?"

"Yeah, that's it!" Kairi confirmed excitedly. "Sora and Riku found each other? They're both okay and together now?" This was some of the best news she's heard since they were all separated!

Much to the confusion of those present, Aerith shook her head. "They're not traveling together, no. I didn't ask for the details, but from what I could tell, Sosa and Riku met briefly here in Traverse Town, but because Sora and his friends left without Riku, I don't think they've joined up."

Kairi frowned in confusion at this. "Huh? But why...?"

Naruto chose then to speak up, having been listening silently. "It's a little weird that they didn't stick together, but then again no one ever said that they had to." He smiled slightly. "Maybe they decided to split up to more easily search for you?"

This thought brought a smile to Kairi's face. "Huh...Maybe you're right." Nodding to herself, she continued. "Yeah, that could be it!" Kairi turned back to Aerith. "Thanks for telling me! I'll just have to make sure that we don't accidentally miss each other next time."

Aerith giggled at her enthusiasm. "That sounds like a good idea. I wish you the best of luck. I know you'll all find your way back to each other eventually." She looked to Natsu, Happy, and Gray. "Sora did also mention that he came across one of your guild members."

In an instant, Natsu was in front of her, vibrating in glee. "Really?! Where?! When?! Who was it?!"

"Um, I think her name was...Erza?" Aerith recalled.

Hearing the name, Natsu deflated. "Oh, it's just Erza..."

Spotting Aerith's confusion at the apparent lack of interest from the dragon slayer, Gray explained. "We ran into Erza a while ago. She did mention at the time that Sora had been through there." She nodded in understanding. "Did Sora say anything else? Did he come across any other friends of ours?"

"I'm sorry, he didn't mention anyone besides Erza."

"No, it's fine." Gray waved off her apology. "That just means we'll have to keep looking. And speaking of our guild members, where are Wendy and Carla? We were hoping to visit with them while Cid fixes up our ship."

"They're out with Yuffie right now, doing some scouting for us." Leon informed, surprising everyone but Aerith with the knowledge that he had been paying attention to the conversation. "They'll be back here soon."

Stepping forward, Naruto held the paper Cid had given him out to Leon. "Going back to Cid fixing our ship for us, he said that in return for doing that, we would need to work as payment. He said to give you this and you would tell us what to do."

Quirking an eyebrow, Leon accepted the piece of paper and proceeded to read whatever Cid had written. As his eyes scanned message, Naruto spotted a small smirk growing on Leon's face. When he finished reading, Leon nodded and put the message in his pocket. "I see...Well, you've come at a good time. We could use a Keyblade wielder's help right about now." Stepping away from the table, he leaned his back against the wall with his arms crossed.

Naruto frowned slightly. "How so?" He asked.

"A few days ago, we finally managed to locate the Keyhole for this world." Leon began.

"Oh, so you need me to lock it?" Naruto guessed, somewhat annoyed with himself for not considering the possibility that this world's Keyhole would need to be locked the last time he was here. "Sounds simple enough."

"No, that's already been taken care of." Leon denied, making Naruto blink. Not waiting for anything to be said, he continued. "The Keyhole was locked, and thereby making it so that the Heartless couldn't get to it."

Naruto tilted his head. "Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that even though the Keyhole has been locked, we're still dealing with more Heartless than we would like." Leon said grimly. "In fact, I would even go as far as to say that there are more Heartless around now than the day that we locked the Keyhole."

"But wait, shouldn't locking the Keyhole stop the Heartless from coming here? Or at least stop the amount that do come to this world from rising?" Kairi asked in worry.

"Normally, I would agree with you, but that isn't the case this time." Leon frowned. "We had been expecting exactly that to happen. Imagine our surprise when it didn't."

"You have any idea why?" Gray asked.

"I have a guess." Frown deepening, Leon explained. "This world acts as a refuge of sorts for people who have lost their original world. When your world is consumed by darkness, there is a good chance that you end up here. But not everyone managed to make it here. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't have a friend or loved one that they lost because of this. And that doesn't even consider losing everything else in your life."

"Grief is understandable." Aerith took over. "It's normal to grieve those lost, but it is also dangerous. It's easy for grief to turn into something worse."

"Anger…Sadness…Despair…Fear." Leon supplied. "Those are also normal, but..."

"It breeds the darkness in people's hearts. In such a large amount, it can attract Heartless." Naruto concluded, earning a nod.

"Exactly." Leon confirmed. "So, while we did lock the Keyhole, that didn't stop the flow of people coming here from other worlds that weren't as fortunate. As time goes on, more and more worlds get consumed by darkness, and this is where many of the people from those worlds end up."

"Which in turn means that there are more people whose hearts are attracting the Heartless." Naruto sighed, grimacing at the situation. "I understand."

"That's terrible." Kairi said quietly. "Even after losing their homes, these people are still in danger."

"That just means it's our job to protect them." Aerith responded. "It's what we've all been doing ever since we got here, and it's what we will continue doing." Naruto blinked in slight surprise at this declaration. Aerith had always struck him as somewhat reserved, so he wasn't expecting to see her be so passionate about this. Then again, he had only ever met her once before.

Gray and Natsu smirked, approving of her attitude. "So when you said that the others were out scouting..." The ice mage began.

"They're out scouting the other districts to get a grasp of how many Heartless are roaming around right now." Leon confirmed, gesturing to the map on the table. "We're planning on doing a sweep of the districts to clear them of as many Heartless as we can."

"And that's where we come in." Naruto said, smirking slightly. "You want us to help with the sweep."

Leon nodded. "Cid's message suggested that you help out, and I find myself agreeing. I trust you're up to the job?" He asked.

Grinning, Natsu pumped a fist. "Hell yeah! This'll be a cinch!" Mildly amused by the dragon slayer, Naruto and the others nodded and voiced their agreement.

"Good. We'll lay go into greater detail as soon as we know what we're up against." Leon said, glancing at a clock on the wall. "The others should be back soon. Will you be ready to go immediately?"

"Yeah, it won't be a problem." Naruto told him. "None of us are injured or anything like tha-"

"Hey guys! The awesomeness that is Yuffie has returned!" A loud voice interrupted, the owner opening the door at the same time. "Squall! We finished up with the scou-Oh, hey! You're back!" The next thing Naruto's group knew, a grinning Yuffie was in front of them. "Good to see ya!"

From her spot by the door, Wendy spotted them and smiled widely. "Oh, welcome ba-"

"Wendy!" Before she could get any further, Natsu and Happy shouted in glee and rushed over to her, Gray following behind at a more sedate pace.

"So you've returned." Carla observed, sounding somewhat disinterested.

Kairi and Naruto gave them all a little time to themselves, instead turning back to Yuffie as she proceeded to talk to Leon. "Bottom line is that it's bad, Squall. There are even more out there compared to the last time we checked. You can't even go down a single block without running into some Heartless!"

Leon frowned at this information. "That's not good..."

"Duh."

Ignoring the hyperactive ninja, Leon continued. "Then we should get things going before it becomes unmanageable." Walking back over to the table, he spoke to everyone in the room. "Listen up. Playtime is over. You can get back to it later." As they gathered around, Wendy gave Naruto and Kairi a smile in greeting, which they returned with Kairi quickly introducing herself as they did so. "Thanks to Yuffie, Wendy, and Carla, we now have a better idea of what we're up against. Unfortunately, it's worse than expected." He pointed at the map, drawing all eyes to it. "This here is a map of Traverse Town."

Gray's eyebrows scrunched up. "Is this a map of the entire world?"

"No, it's not." Leon denied. "Only the nearby districts that we operate in. There are a couple of other areas, but most of the population reside in these. We are currently in the Third District." He pointed it out on the map. "The scouting party went as far as checking out the Fifth District." He moved his finger to the indicated location. "Yuffie, tell them what you told me."

Nodding, Yuffie stepped forward. "There are Heartless in every district. It's impossible to cross the town without seeing at least a few. The spots with the most Heartless are the Post Office, the Second District, the Back Streets, and the Fifth District. Those four areas seem to have the highest number of Heartless."

"Which works for us." Leon took over again. "There are eight combat ready people here, and four locations that have a higher number of Heartless."

"Four groups of two." Naruto concluded, gaining a nod from Leon.

"Exactly. We'll split up and head to different parts of town; clearing out the Heartless in our assigned areas." Pausing for a moment, he regarded Kairi with a small frown. "...You can fight, right?"

Taking a moment to throw a small glare his way, Kairi nodded. "Yes I can, thanks." Now smirking, she pulled out her pactio card, much to the confusion of those who hadn't seen it before. "In fact, I think you'll be surprised to see what I can do. Check this out! Adeat!" In the customary flash of light, Kairi's Keyblade appeared in her hand. The redhead grinned at the shocked expressions she was getting.

"A K-Keyblade?!" Wendy squeaked, not even noticing that Carla lost the concentration needed to stay floating in the air, instead falling to the floor. Aerith raised a hand to her mouth in shock, while Leon's eyebrows shot up.

"Another one?!" Yuffie shouted.

"A third Keyblade wielder?" Leon muttered. "What are the chances of that?" Before he even finished, Kairi was already shaking her head, making him frown slightly.

"I'm not really a Keyblade wielder." Kairi said. "Not a true one, anyways."

Leon's crown deepened. "Explain."

Kairi returned her Keyblade to its card form and showed them. "This is a pactio card. It's something that we learned about back in one of the other worlds we visited. It basically gives my physical abilities a boost and an artifact to use. In this case, a Keyblade. It has some of the abilities of an actual Keyblade, but it isn't a real one."

"Could have fooled me." Yuffie said, taking a closer look at the card. "I couldn't even tell."

"I agree. I wouldn't have known it was any different if not for the way that you summoned it and you telling us." Leon stated. "So you can fight. Good. Going back to what we were talking about, there are eight of us here that can fight, so we'll split up. The next question is who here knows how to heal?" At this question, Aerith, Wendy, and Naruto all stepped forward. "Huh, I would have preferred to have a healer in each group, but we'll work with this." His eyes met Naruto's. "I already know Aerith and Wendy's abilities, but not yours. Can you give a quick rundown?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm mainly offensive, but I know some supportive stuff too. I'll admit that most of my skill set revolves around my Keyblade, but I'm not defenseless without it or those techniques. I know a decent amount of magic, but it's not my go to. I'm a close range to mid-range fighter." He paused. "We all are, actually. And I think I'm the only one of us four that can pass as a supportive role if absolutely needed. I think that Kairi has some potential for support magic, but I haven't had a chance to teach her yet."

Seeing that the others nodded in agreement, Leon considered the information. "I see...Anything else?"

After a moment, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Kairi and I have to be a pair." At this, Leon and Naruto locked eyes again. "Where she goes, I go. The opposite is true as well."

Glancing between Naruto and the slightly nervous Kairi, Leon slowly nodded. "...I can agree to that, although I am curious as to why. But it's not important right now. I trust that you know how to work together." Not waiting for a response, he looked to the others. "Any other requests for pairs?" He asked, only to get negative responses. "Alright. Here's how it's going to go." He pointed to their current location. "Districts Two and Three will be covered by myself and Aerith." He pointed to another spot. "Next up, we have the First District and the Back Streets. The Back Streets can be confusing to navigate if you're not familiar with them, so at least one of our group will be going there." He motioned towards Wendy. "Wendy, that will be you. Natsu will be your partner."

Wendy nodded with a determined expression. "I...I won't let you down!"

"Ha! We're gonna go all out!" Natsu shouted in glee.

Huffing quietly, Carla crossed her arms. "No need to shout. We can all hear you perfectly fine."

Ignoring them, Leon continued issuing instructions. "Gray and Yuffie will handle the Post Office and the Fountain Plaza."

Gray quirked an eyebrow. "The Post Office?" He repeated, voicing the question he thought of upon first hearing the name.

Yuffie laughed at the question. "You'll understand when you see it!"

"So that leaves the Fourth and Fifth Districts for us..." Naruto said, double checking the map to make sure.

"Any questions?" When none were raised, Leon nodded. "Alright. You guys said you were ready to go at any time, but give us a few minutes to get ready." With that, Leon moved over to his weapon and started his last minute checks.

Seeing Naruto reach into his pouch, Kairi quickly grew curious. "What're you doing, Naruto? You don't have anything you need to do to prepare, do you?" The Keyblade wielder was well known in their group for always getting his supplies ready before they left the gummi ship, so to see him start going through his supply pouch was something of a small surprise.

Naruto shot a smirk at her. "Not in the normal sense, no." He said. "But I figured that this would be a good time to test something out." His response drew the attention of the other people in the room.

"What are you testing out?" Happy asked.

Grabbing what he was searching for, Naruto grinned. "This." Held in his hand was a keychain. Spotting the design of the keychain, Aerith let out small gasp of shock as Leon's eyebrows shot up and Yuffie gaped.

"Hey, wait! I know that symbol!" Yuffie exclaimed, surprising most of the others.

Blinking, Naruto looked at her, noting the expressions on Leon and Aerith's faces as well. "You do?"

With a nod, Aerith took a tentative step forward to get a closer look at the keychain. "This motif is Fenrir...It's the call sign of a close friend of ours...A friend that we haven't seen a while." Her eyes turned hopeful. "Where did you get this?"

Trading glances with the others, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Um, it was given to me by someone I met on another world...Is your friend's name Cloud? He was the one who gave me this."

At the mention of the name, Aerith nodded as her eyes began to grow moist. "It is."

Yuffie whooped in joy as a smirk made its way onto Leon's face. "Ha! I knew it! I knew that chocobo was too stubborn to go down!" Yuffie cheered.

Deciding to explain, Leon spoke up. "Cloud is a friend of ours from our original world, but we haven't seen him for a long time. We weren't sure if he made it off of our world, but this confirms that he did." He paused. "What world did you meet him in?"

"We met Cloud in Olympus Coliseum." Naruto replied. "He's well known there for fighting in the tournaments. He and I actually fought while we were there." Naruto smiled ruefully. "I got my ass handed to me." Yuffie snickered at this while Leon's smirk grew a bit more.

"It wasn't that bad." Kairi said in his defense. "It was actually really close. You forced him down to a knee, but that last clash hit you a bit harder than it did him."

This piece of information prompted a somewhat impressed look from Leon. "Cloud is no slouch. If what she says is true, then you did well."

"If you say so." Naruto said, somewhat unsure of what to say. "Anyways, after our fight, he gave this to me." He jiggled the keychain. "Said I would get more use out of it than he would. Then he left without another word."

Aerith smiled upon hearing this. "That definitely sounds like Cloud."

Yuffie bounced up and down. "Hey, Squall! We should totally head over there and see him! Maybe even fight in a tournament!"

"My name is Leon." Leon muttered absently as he thought it over. "...It could happen." He finally decided. "It depends on Heartless activity after today. If they don't immediately come back in higher numbers, then I don't see a problem with it." When Yuffie pumped a fist into the air, he continued. "But only if things work out."

"Psh." She waved him off. "You worry too much. It'll be fine!"

Sighing, Leon shook his head. "Anyways, we should get back to getting ready." Not saying anything else, he turned his attention back to his gear. With the conversation done, Naruto raised his hand, summoning Midnight Roar.

"I wonder what this one is going to give you." Gray mused, moving closer to get a better look.

"Only one way to find out." Reaching over, he pressed the new keychain against the one already attached, generating a flash of twilight. A moment later, he was holding a brand new Keyblade with Midnight Roar's keychain in his hand.

Leaning in, Natsu scratched his head. "This one doesn't look like the other ones. Is there something wrong with it?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's fine." He said absently. "This Keyblade is named Fenrir. Along with the bonus of the longer reach, it makes my strokes more powerful, but it has the downside of restricting my movement somewhat."

Held in his hand was a Keyblade with a red handle and a dark grey guard, where two rods jutted out of the top of the guard. The blade was the shaft of a pin tumbler lock key, and the base was wrapped in bandages similar to the ones wrapped around the sword that Cloud had used.

"It restricts your movement?" Gray asked. "Is it okay for you to use then? That sounds like a dangerous thing to use if it makes you move slower." Before he even finished, Naruto was already shaking his head.

"That's not really what I meant. When I say restricts my movement, I don't mean that my speed is reduced, I just mean that the longer reach is a little awkward to work with. All of the Keyblades I have used before now were shorter than this, so it will take some getting used to. It's also a little heavier than the others...But I can work with this." Naruto explained. "If anything, I just need to compensate for it by making sure to not overreach with it. Ending my combos a step or two early will fix it." He gave them a smile as he dismissed the Keyblade. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"Trust him to know what he's doing." Leon called over without looking up from his work. "If anyone knows if he's okay to go out, it's him." Finally satisfied with his check, he nodded and holstered his weapon. "If everyone's ready, then let's move out. We'll meet up back here when we're done. Agreed?" He got a round of nods. "Good."

---

Fourth District (A Little Later)

"Crap crap crap crap crap...!" A man muttered under his breath as he sprinted down the alleyway. "I knew this was a bad idea!" He skidded to a stop as he exited the alley and his eyes darted around, attempting to locate the best possible path. Coming to a decision, the man turned left and began running again. "This is why we were warned to stay inside, idiot!"

It was supposed to be nothing more than a quick shopping trip. The stores in the First District didn't have quite what he wanted, so he had no choice but to go to the ones in the Fourth District. A little out of the way, sure, but he thought it would be worth it. Simple, really.

And then they showed up.

He had only made it partway through the district when a horde of Heartless had appeared out of nowhere. The only reason his heart wasn't already taken was because the shock of suddenly getting attacked made him stumble back, and thereby narrowly missing the claws of the attacking Heartless. And so here he was, sprinting through the streets in an attempt to get back to safety.

Why hadn't he listened to the warnings given? It was so stupid of him to just scoff and wave off those strangers. At the time, he thought they were exaggerating about the danger. He had been in this "world" for the better part of three weeks now, so he felt that he could manage himself well enough.

"Crap crap crap crap crap cr-shit!" Suddenly, a pair of Shadow Heartless appeared in front of him, claws already extended in an attack. Throwing himself to the side, the man tripped and fell to the ground. "Agh!" He screamed in pain as one of the claws slashed into his shoulder.

Now bleeding onto the ground and nearly hyperventilating, the man pushed himself back, away from the Heartless, but was stopped when his back reached a wall. "N-No...Please!" He begged, but his words were ignored as the Heartless crept closer. Once they were close enough, they leapt at him, and the man screwed his eyes shut. "Someone! Help!"

"I gotcha!" The sudden inclusion of a girl's voice surprised the man to the point that his eyes snapped back open, just in time to see a girl with red hair who seemed to be glowing destroy the Heartless. Stranger still, her choice of weapon wasn't like anything he had ever seen before.

"Hey, you okay?" At the sound of yet another person's voice, the man's attention was pulled to the boy standing next to him. While the girl scanned their surroundings for any additional Heartless, the boy looked the man over. "You're safe now. You can relax." The boy said calmly.

Swallowing nervously, the man nodded shakily. "T-Thank you."

The boy shot a small grin at him. "No problem. After all, we're here to help. You know Leon's group?" He waited for the man to nod before continuing. "We're with them."

"I, uh, I see..." The man said. If only he had listened to that group in the first place, then this situation would never have happened.

The boy's eyes went to the man's shoulder. "Hang on, let me get that." The boy raised a hand until it was hovering over the gash. "Cure." Immediately, the man felt a rush of warmth and he watched in awe as the fresh wound healed over. A few seconds later, a newly healed shoulder remained. "There." The boy held out a hand to help the man up.

Only hesitating because he was still in awe at the magic, the man accepted the boy's help. "I...Thank you." He breathed.

The girl smiled at him. "You're welcome, but the area is still dangerous. We're about to clear out some of the Heartless now. There is already a path back to the First District that has been cleared from us coming here, so you should take that route back." The spike of fear that resurfaced upon the reminder that he was still in danger faded, allowing a new wave of relief to rush through.

The man listened closely as the two of them gave him directions of which path to take before he thanked them again and quickly went on his way. As he walked, he couldn't help but shake his head. Kids fighting monsters with magic and giant keys.

What a weird place.

---

"It's a good thing we got here when we did." Kairi commented. "That was a close call."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "A minute later and he would have had his heart taken." His eyes roved the city line. From where they were standing, they had a great view of the district.

The main gate that connected the Fourth District and the Fountain Plaza sat at the top of a diverging set of stairs, with both paths leading deeper into the district. In the center of the district was a large tower that had numerous streamers running from it to the nearby rooftops. The entire district was well lit, to the point that the distinct lack of people didn't seem to fit. Off in the distance, Naruto could see a large balloon tethered to the roof of some sort of arena.

Finished with taking in the size of the district, Naruto pointed at the balloon. "The gate to District Five should be over in that direction." He glanced at Kairi. "How do you want to do this?" He asked.

Kairi frowned slightly as she considered their options. "This district is kind of big…" Her eyes lit up as an idea came to her. "Do you think we can do the same thing we did back at Mahora?"

Naruto easily caught onto what she was suggesting. "You want me to send out some clones to help us?"

Smiling, Kairi nodded. "I mean, if you don't mind."

"It's fine. This will make things easier." Naruto formed the needed hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." He waited for the customary explosions of smoke to fade before speaking to the newly created clones. "Alright, listen up. Spread out and do a sweep of the district, working towards the direction of the arena. Be sure to prioritize civilian safety as needed. You don't need to be careful of not getting spotted together. Move out!" The clones saluted or nodded before rushing off to do as ordered.

Once they were gone, Kairi hummed thoughtfully. "That's really handy."

"Yep. I'm glad I know it." Naruto told her. "I don't use it too often in fights, but for this kind of thing, it's insanely useful."

Hearing this, another thought came to Kairi. "Come to think of it, I haven't really seen you use that many techniques from your world. Jutsu, I mean." She thought back to everything she has seen him done. "I've only ever seen you walk and walls and create clones…Oh, and that spinning ball thing."

"The Rasengan." Naruto corrected absently. "Yeah, I don't use jutsu that often. I can, but…" He shrugged. "I just feel more comfortable with my Keyblade, magic, and Keyblade techniques. I'm not really sure why." He admitted.

"Just like how you can't help but like this world?" Kairi teased lightly.

Naruto huffed in amusement. "Could be. And it doesn't hurt that I'm definitely more skilled and versatile with those techniques than with my jutsu." Shaking his head, he summoned Fenrir. "Anyways, we should get moving."

Nodding, Kairi smiled. "Right behind yo-Move!" She cut herself off as she caught movement behind Naruto. Not questioning it, Naruto rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the surprise attack sent his way by a Soldier Heartless. Springing up, he destroyed the offending Heartless with a quick slash of his Keyblade. "That was close." She said in relief. "That thing came out of nowhere!"

"And it brought friends." Naruto muttered, tensing as additional Heartless appeared around them. He slowly positioned himself so he and Kairi were standing with their backs to one another. A rush of memories made him frown. "The number of Heartless in the district suddenly spiked. There were already a lot of them, but now they've started swarming the place." He could even see Heartless gathering on the rooftops around them.

Kairi frowned as she tightened the grip on her Keyblade. "So what's the plan?"

"My clones will be able to take care of most of them, but we should still help clear them out." Naruto said. "We're going to fight our way to the tower and clear out the Heartless there before heading towards the gate. By the time we've worked our way there, most of them should have been taken care of."

"Sounds good to me." Kairi agreed, and at the same time, they dashed apart, lunging at the closest enemies.

Stepping to the side to avoid the claw of a Soldier Heartless, Naruto cut it down before immediately bashing the next one over the head, stunning it. As the Heartless swayed in place, Naruto grabbed it and threw it up into the air, directly into a floating Heartless that was preparing to cast a ball of ice at him. "Fire!" In a small explosion, both Heartless were destroyed.

A few yards away, Kairi jumped out of the path of a lunging Heartless before whirling around to cut both it and another one. Not slowing down, she leapt into the air and spun her body. "Bubble Blaster!" In a volley of bubbles, another three Heartless were killed. Landing back on the ground, Kairi rolled forward to dodge under the swipe of a soldier Heartless, making sure to take it out as she sprung back up.

"Kairi, jump!" The abrupt demand from Naruto surprised her, but she didn't question it. "Windcutter!" A moment later, a whirlwind blasted out in every direction, clearing the immediate area of the rest of the Heartless. Glancing around, Naruto nodded. "Come on." He ran at the nearest building, with Kairi only a step behind as they jumped up and onto the roof of the building. As their feet touched down, a new group of Heartless appeared around them. Without hesitating, Naruto got rid of the two closest ones with a single slash, trusting Kairi to get the others. As they reached the other side of the rooftop, several flying Heartless swooped into view, cutting off their path to the next building.

Thinking quickly, Naruto spoke up. "Take them out as we go!" Selecting his target, Naruto leapt off the roof. Once he was close enough, he lashed out a hand and grabbed onto a hook that was hanging from a chain attached to a bat-like Heartless. Not passing up on the chance, Naruto used the Heartless to swing across the rest of the gap between buildings. As he let go of it, Naruto spun his body around and aimed his Keyblade. "Fira!" The spell created a blast of fire large enough to get both the Heartless he had used and the two that were next to it. As he landed safely on the next building, he saw that Kairi had also taken advantage of the Heartless to get across, only she had used a Darkball as a stepping stone. Turning around, the two of them continued towards the tower, and were repeatedly confronted by groups of Heartless as they went.

Arriving at the tower, Naruto and Kairi slowed to a stop, looking around in case there was another ambush waiting for them. Exhaling slowly, Kairi twirled her Keyblade around in her hand. "They're really coming at us, aren't they?"

Naruto frowned. "…Yeah."

Noticing the hesitation, Kairi glanced at him. "What's wrong?" She asked, somewhat concerned.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself. With a sigh, he shrugged. "I'm…not really sure, to be honest. There's just something…off about this?" Naruto finished lamely.

"Off as in…?" Kairi questioned curiously.

"I don't know." Naruto confessed. "It's like there's something about this that doesn't seem right to me, but I can't exactly tell what it is." Breathing out sharply, he shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We can figure it out later. For now, let's get the job done." Several pools of darkness came into existence in front of them, forming a semicircle. "Heads up." They tensed their bodies as more Heartless surfaced from the darkness, but the appearance of the Heartless caused them both to falter momentarily. "Well, that's new…" He had never seen Heartless like these before.

Kairi shivered. "Ugh, creepy is more like it." She mumbled. The new Heartless greatly resembled the typical Shadow Heartless, but not only were these much larger, but they were also more humanoid in shape. It was then that the Heartless all jumped into the air and tucked into balls before spinning rapidly. "Huh?" The next thing they knew, one of the Heartless came out of its ball and launched itself through the air, aiming straight at Naruto. Not having expected this, Naruto was unable to defend in time to stop the claws of the Heartless from grazing his side.

Hissing in a mixture of pain and agitation, Naruto was about to swing at the Heartless, but aborted that plan in favor of rolling to the side when another one came at him. He heard Kairi yelp in alarm, but didn't have time to do anything beyond briefly glance her way before focusing on his attackers. Naruto finally managed to block when a third Heartless launched itself at him, and using the small opening, he lashed back at it. He smirked as his Keyblade made contact, but the smirk fell when the Heartless didn't fade into darkness, instead stumbling back before sinking into the ground.

'Great. They're fast and resilient.' Naruto ducked to the side of the Heartless that attempted to use the distraction to get a hit in. Reversing their positions so that he was behind the Heartless, Naruto performed a leaping slash, completing the reprisal. Not letting up, he dashed forward, landing a few more hits until the Heartless was finally destroyed. With that done, Naruto whirled around, swiping at the next Heartless as he did so, but his momentum was broken when he felt himself become slightly unbalanced. 'Wha-?' Not having expected this, Naruto's guard wavered for a moment, but it was enough for a claw to scrape against his back. "Ugh!"

Recovering, Naruto leapt away to gain some distance. With a wince, he shifted his stance and scanned the remaining Heartless. 'Can't believe I forgot about the balancing thing…' Naruto said internally. He had already known that the Keyblade he was using had drawbacks when it came to movement weight, but it had faded to the back of his mind as the fight went on. 'Gotta be more careful in the future.' Wanting to finish the fight then and there, Naruto pulled on some light. "Sonic Blade!" In a flash, the last few Heartless were gone.

Happy that it was over, Kairi took several deep breaths in an attempt to slow breathing. "…No question about it." She said quietly. "…I really don't like those ones."

Huffing in amusement, Naruto raised a hand into the air. "Cura." Both of them were bathed in a green light for a few seconds, and Naruto sighed in relief as the cuts on his back and side disappeared.

Kairi grinned as she felt rejuvenated by the spell. "Whew! Thanks!" She said brightly before shooting him a pleading look. "Do you think you can teach me that one next?" She asked hopefully.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, sure. We can get to work on that one once we have the time." He agreed easily. "I really should have taught you some sort of support technique by now, anyways." He paused and tilted his head as more memories came back to him. "Oh…"

"What's wrong?"

"Another report from my clones." Naruto informed her, his smile disappearing. "Apparently, most of the Heartless in this district are gone."

"Then what's the matter?" Kairi asked him. "You look like that's not a good thing."

Naruto's mouth formed a line. "They're gone because they left." He said quietly.

Kairi blinked. "They left?" She repeated incredulously.

"At nearly the exact same time." Naruto confirmed.

"That's…not normal."

"My thoughts exactly." He frowned. "Even stranger, a lot of them didn't leave through darkness; they turned and ran." Naruto's eyes trailed towards the direction they were heading in. "The ones that ran escaped into the Fifth District."

An uneasy feeling crept up Kairi's spine. "I don't like the sound of that…" She mumbled worriedly. "Do you know why they're acting like that?"

After a moment of thought, Naruto grimaced. "I've only ever seen Heartless run away while not using darkness once before…" He shivered as the memory of sword and long silver hair flashed through his mind. "They did it because they were running away from something that was a bigger threat than they wanted to risk…One that would be able to continue the pursuit through the darkness if it bothered." He glanced around warily. "But for our sake, I'm really hoping that it's something else."

He wasn't arrogant enough to think that he was ready to face someone on that level yet.

Spotting the tenseness in his body, Kairi swallowed nervously. "…Anything else?"

Taking a breath to compose himself, Naruto nodded. "…There is another possibility…" He said slowly. "…But this one is a problem in a different way." Upon her curious expression, he explained. "It's possible that they received instructions to leave."

The implications of that didn't make Kairi feel any better. "There's someone here who can control the Heartless?"

Feeling his headache return, Naruto sighed and rubbed his temples. "Could be that. Either that, or there's something in the district that's more attracting to them." He replied as he tried to will the dull throbbing away. "If it's not one thing, it's another." He muttered.

Kairi gave him a worried look. "Are you alright?"

He gave her a small smile. "I'm fine. I just have a bit of a headache." Naruto shook his head. "I can rest after we figure out what's going on. "Let's go." He began to walk in the direction of the gate. After a brief moment of hesitation, Kairi followed.

They walked through the rest of the district in silence, doing nothing but taking in their surroundings. The lack of activity of other people was even more obvious now, and it made the district seem slightly unsettling.

Eventually, they stopped to look around when they came upon a large plaza. One end of the plaza led back to the way they came from, and the other end of the plaza stopped at the entrance to the arena. Off to the side was the gate leading into the district.

"What do you think that's for?" Kairi wondered, staring up at the arena.

Naruto shrugged and his eyes landed on various heavy machinery stationed around the arena. "Nothing right now since it's still under construction...But probably some sort of attraction revolving around fighting. What else would an arena be used for?"

"Right you are, kupo!" Surprised at the unexpected voice, they turned around.

Floating in the air behind them was a small, white creature that resembled a plush toy, with a large, spherical head, small ears, bulbous nose, and stubby hands. Its eyes appeared to be closed, but it could obviously see them. On its back were tiny, purple, bat-like wings. Completing the off look was a large red ball attached to its head.

It raised a hand in greeting. "Howdy!"

Kairi blinked before offering a smile. "Uh, hi."

Pulling himself together, Naruto echoed her. "Hi."

"I heard you kids talking about the coliseum, kupo!" The Moogle said cheerfully. "Sorry if I scared ya!"

"No, you're fine." Naruto said. "You know what it's for?"

The Moogle seemed to puff out its chest in pride. "Do I? You bet I do! You're looking at the proud owner of that magnificent structure, kupo!" It deflated slightly. "Sadly, you're also right when you say that it is still under construction. We're doing some heavy renovations right now, so I'm afraid that if you came over here to see it, you'll need to wait for the grand re-opening, kupo."

Naruto didn't show it, but he was actually somewhat relieved to hear that. If Natsu were to learn that this world had an arena as well, and that there was some sort of fighting going on in it, it would become very hard to convince him to leave again. "That's unfortunate, but we don't really have the time right now, anyways. We're kind of on a tight schedule."

The Moogle tilted its head. "Speaking of which, what are you kids doing out here, kupo? Don't you know it's dangerous to be out and about right now? The Heartless have made it unsafe for most people."

Kairi smiled reassuringly at its concern for them. "We're actually here because of that. We're with Leon's group." Mild surprise radiated from the Moogle.

"Really? Well that's a relief." It said. "You look kinda young, but I've also seen that girl with blue hair running around with that group, so I won't doubt ya, kupo. That mean you're heading to the Fifth District?"

"That's right. We're going to try and clear out the Heartless there."

"I see, kupo…" The Moogle hesitated. "I won't tell you not to go -You're the ones who know how to fight, not me- but be careful, alright? You'd have to be blind to not have seen all those Heartless pass through a little while ago."

Naruto frowned slightly. "Yeah, we saw it."

"They're probably heading for the Garden as well, kupo." It mused.

This input made their eyes widen. "The Garden? Why there?" Kairi asked.

More surprise came from the Moogle. "You mean you don't know?" It sounded dumbfounded at this. "I thought for sure that's why you were here, kupo."

"We only knew that the number of Heartless hanging around was higher than normal, so we're clearing them out." Naruto frowned. "What's wrong with the Garden?"

"For the past couple of days, Heartless have been gathering in the Garden. It's mostly just the smaller ones, but there have been a few of the other kinds as well, kupo." The Moogle told them. "And then all those other Heartless passing through earlier? It's really weird. I've never seen anything quite like this, and neither have any of my friends in other worlds. I mean, some Heartless converging on something they're attracted to, sure, but this?" It shook its head. "As far as I'm aware, there's nothing in the Garden that they would want, kupo. Something's up."

Naruto's frown deepened as his unease with the situation grew. "You're right. There's something else going on here." He nodded to the Moogle. "Thanks for telling us about it."

"No problem. You guys are the ones fighting to keep the rest of us safe, so I'm happy to help, kupo!" It waved at them. "I'll leave you kids to it, but he sure to be careful!" With that, it floated off.

Once they were alone again, Naruto and Kairi traded looks. "...So what do you think?" Kairi asked quietly.

"...We should check it out." Naruto decided. "We'll be careful about it though. If anything happens, we'll leave immediately. If the Heartless are gathering for some reason, then it can't be left alone."

Kairi nodded. "Right."

They walked through the gate.

---

"What more proof do you need? You can see it for yourself right there."

"I…"

"Face it and move on with your life. You're apparently the only one who hasn't."

"No, there...there has to be some reason."

"You're in denial."

"No! There's something I'm missing! I know it!"

"Ugh, you're impossible. Are you going to go through with this or not?"

"...I…"

"Well? I'm waiting."

"...!"

"Hey, wait! Where the hell are you going?!"

...

"...Fine. It'll be easier if you're not here to interfere, anyways."

---

Fifth District

Naruto exhaled slowly after he cut down another armored knight. Glancing over, he saw that Kairi was finished dealing with her Heartless as well. After a quick check to make sure she wasn't hurt, Naruto scanned their surroundings. Not seeing any other Heartless around them, he hesitantly relaxed his posture, but didn't completely let his guard down.

He heard footsteps approach him, but he didn't turn to the source. "You okay?" The concern in Kairi's voice prompted him to give her a small smile.

"I'm fine. They didn't even touch me." Naruto replied, turning his attention back to what he was doing.

"...Then what's the problem?" Kairi asked, unsure.

"..." Naruto hesitated.

"Naruto?"

"...The Heartless that just attacked us were the sixth and seventh ones." Naruto eventually said.

Kairi's eyebrows rose. "You've been counting?" He nodded. "...I guess they were…" She rubbed her arm, now joining him in looking around. "Where are all of the other ones? You think they're at the Garden?" The building in question took up the majority of the district.

He frowned. "Only one way to find out." The two of them walked the rest of the bridge until they reached the looming building.

As they approached, Kairi began to fidget. "This place is creepy…" She mumbled.

"You're not wrong…" All of the lights in the Garden were turned off, making the building stand out even more than they already did in the otherwise brightly lit district. Reaching the entrance, Naruto and Kairi traded one last glance before opening the door.

"It's so dark in there…" Kairi said quietly. From where they were, they could make out a reception area in the darkness, but not much else.

Naruto sighed. "Let's get this over with. Be ready for anything."

"Got it." And with that, they entered the Garden.

---

"Showtime."

---

The Garden

Naruto and Kairi slowly walked through the Garden, remaining alert in case any of the Heartless they were warned about appeared. But despite being told about how this was supposedly a gathering place for Heartless, they had yet to see any of them. "Where are they?" Naruto muttered. He didn't think that Moogle was lying to them…

Kairi bit her lip in worry. "We've already checked out nearly this entire level...How big is this place again?"

He pointed over to a map a nearby wall. "There are three floors. The entrance is on the third floor, so we can only go lower." He leaned in to get a closer look. "There's not much left for us on this floor…" He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt Kairi start tugging on his sleeve.

"Naruto." She whispered, her tone making him turn around. "Look." Following her finger, Naruto frowned.

There was a single Shadow Heartless lurking by the slope that led to the next floor.

They stared at the Heartless for several seconds before it seemed to notice their presence. Upon spotting them, the Heartless spun around and ran down the slope.

Naruto's frown deepened. "It...ran away?"

"I guess we follow it…?" Kairi suggested hesitantly.

After a moment of indecision, Naruto groaned quietly. "This is a really bad idea…" But he had to admit that he was curious. Not to mention that the last time he heard the Heartless were acting strangely, it led him to meeting Kairi.

So, no. He wouldn't risk leaving something like this without finding out as much as he could.

"Come on." They ran to catch up to the Heartless, soon seeing it as it turned a corner. They tried to reach it, but it would always turn a corner and duck out of sight before they could get to close, only to reappear a couple dozen feet away.

Eventually, the chase led them to the stairs that led to the bottom floor. Kairi was about to run down them, but Naruto suddenly snapped his hand out in front of her, stopping her from preceding. "Wha-Naruto!" She yelped in surprise at the unexpected loss in momentum. "What gives? It's going to get away!" No response. "...Naruto?" It was only then that she finally noticed the expression he had on his face.

Naruto stared at the stairs for several moments. He didn't know why, but his unease with the situation suddenly spiked. With a frown, Naruto scanned their surroundings again, but he didn't notice anything different from the rest of the building. He took a deep breath. "Something is definitely wrong. Let's take this last one slow." Unnerved by his actions, Kairi nodded. Cautiously, they began to walk down the stairs, keeping their eyes peeled for any movement, but it was hard to do so because it seemed to get darker with every step they took.

"Look! There it is!" Kairi said hurriedly, pointing to the bottom of the stairs. "I almost missed it. It really blends in with the ground."

Blinking, Naruto saw it. A pair of glowing yellow eyes stared up at them, the only thing visible on the floor because of how dark it was. The body of the Heartless blended in perfectly with the surrounding floor. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto tensed. Even for how dark it was, for it to blend in that well…

Something shifted a few feet from the Heartless.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror as it dawned on him what they were looking at.

Kairi took a step forward, but his hand lashed out and snapped around her wrist. "What's wrong?"

"We need to leave." He hissed, watching the "floor" warily.

"Huh?!"

"Now!" Naruto realized his mistake a second too late.

In response to his shout, the entire floor began to ripple, and countless yellow eyes opened to peer up at them.

Kairi whimpered at the sight. "N-Naruto…?"

Play Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2 OST: Final Boss Phase 1 - Extended

"Run!" They spun around and ran for the exit.

The floor seemed to surge up and lunge at them as the countless Shadow Heartless covering it leapt at them in a sea of Heartless.

---

Fifth District

Naruto and Kairi sprinted out of the garden and immediately threw themselves to ground on the side. Not even a second later, the doors were blown off as a wave of Heartless streamed out of the building. The two of them stared in shock as more and more Heartless poured out of the building and flew into the air in one giant torrent.

"There are so many of them…" Kairi said numbly.

The sound of her voice served as enough to pull Naruto back into the situation at hand. "We...We have to stop them." He said, and with a great amount of effort, Kairi forced herself to look at him. "If they leave the commercial districts and get to the residential areas…" Her face turned ashen at the thought. "It'll be a massacre." He pushed himself to his feet, Kairi doing the same a moment later. By then, the Heartless had formed a sort of shape that could almost be mistaken for a black cloud.

Kairi glanced around. "We can't fight them here. The bridge doesn't have nearly enough room."

He cursed under his breath as he acknowledged that she was right. "Oh, that's just perfect…" He muttered sarcastically. To get to the entrance of the Garden, you had to cross a long bridge that cut through a waterway. It wouldn't be impossible to fight in the water, but unlike him, Kairi couldn't stand on water, and he didn't want to risk her getting slowed down by the water in a fight like this. Thinking quickly, he recalled all the nearby locations they passed on the way there. "There's the plaza that the arena is in…" That plaza was pretty close by.

"But the arena could get damaged!" Kairi protested. "Not to mention all the other buildings."

Naruto grimaced. By then, the Heartless had stopped coming out of the garden and were instead gathering in the air. "Then the next place that comes to mind is the Fountain Plaza." The only problem with there was…

"That's a district away!"

'We're running out of time.' Naruto thought to himself. The Heartless cloud was starting to shift around, as if looking for something. "We don't have a choice. Anywhere else has either people or buildings nearby." Kairi still looked nervous, but she couldn't argue. "We're going to have to lead it there with us as the bait." He locked eyes with her. "Kairi, this is important. I need to know right now if you think you can do this. Otherwise, I'll summon a dream eater that will take you to the others. I'll wake you up after I finish with these things."

If possible, Kairi became even more pale as she glanced from him to the Heartless. After a brief moment of indecision, she gathered her courage. "I can do this." She stated, determined.

Her tone brought a smirk to his face. "Then let's ready up." He reached into down and took out his deck of dream eater cards. After leafing through them for a few moments, he found the card he wanted and held it up. "Summon: Pegaslick!" He declared, and in a flash, the dream eater had arrived.

Standing in front of them was a dream eater that had the form of a winged horse, but the wings themselves weren't connected to its body. Its tail was shaped like a wing, and there were also smaller wings placed near its hooves. Most of the dream eater was colored various shades of blue, purple, green, and yellow. Finally, the dream eater emblem was present on its lower neck.

The dream eater appeared to be happy to see Naruto, but before it could greet him, its attention was drawn to the cloud of Heartless in the air. Pegaslick's eyes narrowed at the sight and its body tensed.

"Good to see you, buddy, but as you can see, we've got a problem." Naruto said. "Slick, this is Kairi." He said, gesturing to the redhead. Pegaslick glanced at her from the corner of its eye and nodded, but didn't turn away from the Heartless. "Do you think you will be able to carry the both of us at the same time while also outrunning those things?" Naruto asked.

The dream eater almost seemed to frown as it considered the question. Prying its gaze from the air, it studied Naruto and Kairi in silence for a few seconds before looking to the Heartless. After a brief debate, it slowly nodded.

"You're sure?" Pegaslick's eyes narrowed at it and it huffed, drawing a small smile to form on Naruto's face. "No, it wasn't a challenge. If you say you can do it, then I believe you." The dream eater nodded and crouched to a level where they could climb on. "Thanks." Once they were both seated, Naruto continued. "The destination is the Fountain Plaza over in that direction." He said with a point. "There's a district between us, as well as the rest of this one to go. You understand?" The dream eater nodded. "Great. Kairi, are you ready?"

"Is it possible to be ready for something like this?"

"She's ready." Naruto told Pegaslick. "We're gonna grab their attention now, so be ready to go." He raised his Keyblade, prompting Kairi to do the same. "On three. One...Two...Three! Flame Salvo!"

"Bubble Blaster!"

Water and fire careened towards the Heartless, impacting the center of the cloud and destroying multiple Shadow Heartless as a result. "Go!" Pegaslick didn't need any further encouragement, instead shooting off into a sprint and up into the air, making sure to not get too close to the Heartless.

The tide of Heartless crashed after them.

---

Pegaslick flew over the gate and into the Fourth District, heading straight toward the gate that stood between them and the Fountain Plaza. Naruto risked a glance behind them, only to see that the Heartless were closer than he was comfortable with. "I'm going to attack!" He warned them. Not bothering to wait for any responses, he swung his Keyblade behind them, trusting Pegaslick to not be thrown off balance by the movement, and created an arc of light that shot back and cut through the cluster. As he had hoped, the swarm had collectively faltered, but they were quick to recover.

"That didn't do much!" Kairi shouted over the wind.

"I noticed!" By then, they were flying over the rooftops of the buildings in the district, making quick work to close the distance to their goal. Naruto's eyes widened when the eyes of all the Heartless turned red.

"I think you made them angry!" A stream of Heartless was launched out of the cloud and rocketed at them. "Definitely angry!"

"Slick, incoming!" Naruto shouted. "Hold on!" Kairi adjusted her grip around his waist as Naruto ensured that his hold was secure. Pegaslick swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding the Heartless, but the collective wasn't done yet as a second stream was sent their way a second later. "Again!" The dream eater veered the other way, dodging this one as well. Naruto watched as the Heartless that attacked them moved to rejoin the rest of the tide. He was about to sigh in relief that they were done attacking, but his blood froze when two jets of Heartless split off from the main group. "Crap!" The offshoots sped up so that they were flanking the dream eater and its riders before changing their trajectory so that they would crash into them.

"Naruto!"

"I know! Slick, don't stop!" He raised a hand. "Reflera!" The barrier flashed into existence around them, and the next second, their vision was obscured by all the Heartless bashing against it. Naruto gritted his teeth at the effort of keeping the barrier going, silently hoping for the attack to end soon, but there didn't seem to be any end in sight. Slowly, a crack formed in the barrier, much to the alarm of Kairi and Pegaslick. "I...I can't…!" The crack grew. "I can't hold it much longer!" Naruto bit out as the crack splintered.

Narrowing her eyes, Kairi tightened her hold around him and leaned closer, focusing on the feel of his light. Immediately, Naruto felt his light surge. Knowing it was Kairi, he smirked.

"Back...Off!" Channeling the light into the barrier, Naruto forced it out in a single explosive release. The ensuing shockwave of light blasted all the Heartless off of them, as well as the ones that were closer to them. Panting slightly, Naruto checked where they were. "There's the gate!" He called out, pointing up ahead of them. While their vision was obstructed, they had continued to make steady progress towards the gate. "We're almost there!"

"They're coming again!" Kairi shouted, making Naruto snap his head around to see. But this time, instead of attacking with smaller streams of Heartless, the entire main group was rushing at them.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop that many attacks simultaneously long enough, Naruto cursed. "Slick! One last burst of speed, put everything you've got into it!" The already panting dream eater neighed in response and started to emit a faint glow. The next thing they knew, Naruto and Kairi were hanging on as their speed suddenly increased. Trying not to fall off, Naruto glanced behind them again, only to see that the Heartless cloud was still gaining on them. Turning eyes back to the front and fighting against the wind, Naruto saw that they were nearly at the gate. "It's gonna be close!"

Pegaslick pulled on the last of its strength and forced itself to go faster, turning into nothing more than a streak in the air. With one final push, they shot over the gate.

"There!" Naruto shouted in triumph. "Get to the ground!" The dream eater rocketed towards the large plaza and skidded to a stop as the wave of Heartless surged over the gate as well. "Awesome job, Slick!" Pegaslick dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. "You were fantastic, go ahead and take a rest now." Naruto said, recalling the dream eater back to its card form. With that done, he joined Kairi in watching the torrent of Heartless circling in a ring in the air above them.

"That was terrifying." Kairi said weakly. "I never want to do that again."

"We're not done yet." Naruto replied, readying his Keyblade. With a small sigh, Kairi copied him.

"I know, I know…" Their short conversation ended when the eyes of the Heartless turned crimson. Without any other warning, the tide of Heartless dove down at them. "Whoa!"

"Out of the way!" They dove to opposite sides and watched as the Heartless vanished into a Corridor of Darkness that opened up. Able to guess what was about to happen, Naruto's eyes scanned the ground. When a new corridor fully formed to their right, he was alright in movement. "To the right!" He shouted, pointing his Keyblade at the spot. "Fira!" The fireball slammed into the Heartless as they reemerged. The spell succeeded in blasting apart a small chunk of the group, but the majority were still there.

Kairi was quick to follow up by slashing apart the Heartless that were thrown out of the group and onto the ground. "Spark!" She deftly directed the light crystals to destroy a pair that were attempting to rejoin the cluster.

As she was doing this, Naruto made sure to keep the tide's focus on him, trusting her to pick off the stragglers. Seeing them dive at him again, Naruto rolled to the side, but wasn't expecting for a set of thorns constructed with darkness to erupt from the ground in the vicinity of the corridor. Hissing in pain, Naruto jumped up and swung his Keyblade. "Dark Firaga!" The trio of dark fireballs exploded upon contacting the Heartless, doing even more damage.

When he landed, Naruto cut down a few Shadows while also making sure to keep an eye out for the tide's retaliation. Unexpectedly, the ground directly under him was suddenly bathed in darkness. His eyes widened, but he wasn't able to move out of the way in time to avoid the surge of Heartless. "Gah!" Naruto was carried several feet into the air before getting dropped back onto the ground.

Managing to land in a crouch, Naruto groaned and eyed the Heartless as they made a loop around the plaza. "You okay?" Kairi asked as she joined him.

"I've been better." He muttered. "The way it keeps vanishing is annoying." He brought his Keyblade up as the Heartless began to swoop down at them. "Help me out here." He waited for her to place a hand on his shoulder and the customary boost in his light. "Reflega!" The shield came up just in time to block the wave, but they turned around and went in for another attempt, making him unable to relax.

A bead of sweat trickled down his face as he mentally counted out the number of passes the Heartless made. He counted out five before the tide finally let up and their eyes turned back to yellow as they started to lazily float about the plaza. Releasing a relieved breath, he watched the Heartless move as they turned around to dive again.

Springing apart, Naruto and Kairi looked carefully for the next corridor. Upon spotting it, Naruto spiraled at it. "Shadowbreaker!" The attack didn't get rid of as many as he would have liked, but it did manage to dislodge more Heartless that Kairi was able to pick off. Tracking the Heartless as they turned around to make a swooping pass, Naruto cloaked himself in darkness and jumped at them. "Dark Haze!" He sheared off another layer of Heartless before landing and whirling around in preparation of the next attack, but he frowned when their eyes instead turned yellow and the cloud began to lazily float around the plaza.

After a minute of staring at it, Naruto's eyes narrowed. "...Kairi, I'm about to send another volley at it. Can you help me out? Try aiming for the front of the cluster." The way he asked it made her glance at him in slight confusion, but she nodded and raised her Keyblade as well. "Flame Salvo!"

"Bubble Blaster!" The attacks streaked at the Heartless and exploded upon meeting the leading few. Naruto's efforts were rewarded when he caught sight of a flash of violet in the mix.

"There's something in there." Naruto said quietly.

"Huh?"

He pointed at the Heartless. "Up at the front. You see those Shadows that are in a ball? They're shielding something, and all of the other ones are following their lead."

Kairi squinted as she attempted to see what he was talking about. After a few moments, her eyes widened. "You're right!" She gasped. "What do you think it is?"

Naruto smirked. "No clue. But I bet they wouldn't like it if we break it." They traded conspiratorial looks. Suddenly, the eyes of the Shadows turned red. "Here we go again." The two jumped apart as the Heartless descended, leaping and rolling as needed to avoid them when they reemerged. This time, when they stopped vanishing into corridors and instead started to fly around, Naruto crouched and waited for them to get closer. Timing his jump, Naruto gathered wind around his Keyblade. "Wind Storm!" A gale of wind erupted from his Keyblade and cut into the tide, destroying the first wave of defense, revealing a violet orb. "Kairi!"

"I'm on it!" She shouted. Following up on his attack, Kairi created a pair crystals out of light and aimed them at the Heartless. The crystals barreled into the group and eliminated even more Heartless before eventually exploding in a blast of light.

They watched as the explosion grazed the orb, momentarily turning it orange and sending it veering off course. The Heartless almost seemed to collectively panic and scramble to secure it. "Yep, they definitely don't like that." Naruto observed.

"Then we should aim for that."

Naruto frowned. "They're increasing the number of Shadows that are guarding it. That attack won't work again. If we want to get another crack at it, then we need to cut down on the number of Heartless."

Kairi's shoulders slumped slightly at this. "So more of the same?"

He quickly did a mental check to see how tired he was and grimaced. "...It doesn't have to be." At her confused glance, he elaborated. "You mind giving me one more boost? I think we can finish this in one shot. All we need is one attack to cut through them and hit the orb at the same time."

His request made her eyes widen, but then she smiled. "You got it." She walked over to him as he raised his Keyblade and placed her hand over the one holding his Keyblade. Pointing it at the Heartless, he channeled light into it. The eyes of the Heartless turned red again and they dove down at the pair. "Now!" A blast of light rocketed out of the Keyblade and met the wave of Heartless head on.

Boom!

End Music

The ensuing explosion forced Naruto and Kairi to shield their eyes and brace themselves against the shockwave. "Gah!" Naruto gritted his teeth and used chakra to plant himself to the ground, adding more to it when he felt Kairi use him as an anchor. After several seconds, the wind died down, prompting them to hesitantly open their eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me…" Naruto groaned quietly.

The orb was floating in the air in front of them, but it was now glowing an angry orange. A majority of the Heartless were gone, but a dozen or so still remained.

"I thought for sure that would be it." Kairi sighed. Suddenly, the orb's glow flared, making them both tense and ready their Keyblades. They watched as another Corridor of Darkness opened up under it, and the orb flew into it. "They're coming again?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed when the remaining Heartless all fled into their own corridors. When he realized what was happening, he cursed quietly. "No, they're running away!" He scowled. "After all of that, they're just gonna run away!"

"Seriously?" Kairi asked in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"We should've finished it when we had the chance to." Naruto growled. He scanned the plaza, but there wasn't a single Heartless. He dismissed his Keyblade and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it."

Kairi dismissed her Keyblade and put the card away. "Nothing we can do about it now…" She trudged over to the fountain and plopped herself down on the low wall of the basin. After a moment, Naruto sighed and sat down next to her.

For the next several minutes, the plaza was silent except for the sound of running water as they relaxed. Absently, Naruto noted that much of his irritation at the fact that the Heartless escaped had already left him, instead getting replaced by a sense of calm.

"Hey! You guys!" Naruto blinked at the voice and turned his head in the direction of the voice. "What the heck's with all the noise, huh?!" Yuffie called as she ran up to them.

"We heard the explosions all the way from the Post Office. What are the two of you doing here?" Gray asked as he joined them as well. "This isn't your assigned area."

Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly. "We had to move here because this was the closest place that had enough room."

Gray furrowed his brows. "What? But you don't need that much room to fight a Heartless…"

"Maybe not one Heartless, but how about enough for you to go swimming in them?" Kairi muttered.

Hearing this, Gray and Yuffie's eyes widened. "Wha-Wait. Wait." Yuffie's jaw dropped. "I misheard you, right? You didn't just seriously say that! How many were there?!"

"Too many." Naruto replied. With a great amount of effort, he pushed himself back to his feet. "We'll tell everyone at the same time back at the house in the Third District. I only want to have to explain this once." Not allowing them a chance to say anything, he began to walk away. Agreeing with the plan to only relive their activities once, Kairi was quick to follow.

"Huh?! Hold up! I'm not through with you yet!" Yuffie shouted, giving chase. Rolling his eyes, Gray moved after them.

---

"Well, that was something..."

"Indeed."

"Wha-?! Oh, sir! I'm sorry, I didn't notice your arrival. May I ask how long you've been watching?"

"Long enough."

"I see…"

"Come along. Our business is finished here. This foray has given me plenty to think on."

"Yes, sir."

---

Vacant House (Later)

"…the rest of them vanished after that, and then Gray and Yuffie showed up a little later." Naruto informed them. "We came straight back here without coming across a single Heartless."

Leon's face was set in a heavy frown as he listened to the story. "That's…worrying." He finally said.

"There were that many Heartless in the Garden?" A pale Wendy asked.

"That's very unnatural." Aerith added.

In contrast to the general mood of the room, Natsu groaned. "I can't believe I missed that! We didn't find anything like that where we were!"

"Are you saying you would have liked to come across an assembly of Heartless of a scale that they are reporting?!" Carla snapped.

"Yeah!"

Ignoring them for the moment, Leon regarded the map carefully. "Even stranger is the way that the number of Heartless in every district suddenly dropped to near zero when the ones you were facing ran away." He shook his head and leaned against the wall. "There's no way that isn't connected."

"You think that they were attracted to that…core?" Gray inquired.

Leon shrugged. "They could've been…But then what brought something like that here?"

No one had an answer for him.

Sighing, he continued. "There's nothing that we can do about it now besides keep an eye out for anything similar in the future." Leon nodded to Naruto's group. "We appreciate the help. Things would have been a lot worse if not for you guys."

Kairi gave him a small smile. "It was tough, but we were happy to do it. I mean it's not like we coul-" She was cut off as a yawn escaped her. Regaining control, she blushed slightly as Leon smirked while Aerith and Wendy giggled.

"Hmph. Sounds like you guys are tired." Leon observed, noting the way Naruto was also slouched slightly. Gray, Happy, and Natsu seemed to be fine, but Leon had no doubt that they weren't at full capacity. "We all are, really."

Naruto hummed in thought. "Pretty much. We can't go anywhere until our gummi ship is finished with repairs, so we might as well use the time to relax a bit. I should probably go find Cid and ask how long until he is finished…"

"Don't bother, I'm already here." A familiar voice said from the door. Closing the door behind him, Cid glanced over the room's occupants. "What's the matter, kid? The job too tough for you? Should I have asked you to do something easier instead?"

The jab earned him a mild look of annoyance from Naruto. "Shut up. I didn't see you out there getting chased across Traverse Town by a horde of Heartless."

With a scoff, Cid sat down in an open chair. "No, I was just checking out your ship." He sniped. "Now, are you gonna shut yer trap and gimme a chance to tell you about how badly you messed it up?"

Taking one last moment to glower at him, Naruto sighed. "So, how bad is it? Is it going to take you a while to finish?"

Cid snorted at the question. "Don't be stupid. I'm already done."

Naruto blinked at him as Kairi, Gray, and Natsu's jaws dropped. Their reactions made Yuffie and Happy burst out laughing. "…You're…done?" Naruto repeated. "With the repairs?"

"That's what I said, ain't it?"

"But it's only been a few hours!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Clearly, you don't know much about gummi ships." Cid rolled his eyes. "It doesn't take a whole bunch to fix a gummi ship. It's not like a normal machine. Part of what makes gummi ships so great is the way that you can quickly assemble and disassemble them. I figured you lot were in a hurry, so instead of actually repairing each and every busted part, I just switched them out for new ones. The biggest obstacle I came across was working out how this model was built." His eyes gleamed. "I sure would love to meet the mind behind your ship. It's one of the best I've seen!"

"But you said it was hard work to fix a gummi ship!" Natsu shouted.

"And expensive!" Happy agreed.

Cid smirked at the two. "Well, it can be a lot of hard work, not to mention expensive...But then again, I'm a pro at this." He bragged.

"I'll, uh…I'll leave you their contact info." Naruto said quietly, getting an appreciative nod from Cid. "So…We're good to go?"

"Ready for launch whenever you are." Cid confirmed, but then he paused. "I also did a quick diagnostic of your systems. You realize that the navi-gummi you have installed only has one more unexplored world left in it, right?"

Naruto frowned. "I forgot about that…"

"Thought you might say that." Cid shook his head. "Nothin' I can do for you there. If I had navi-gummi blocks lying around, then I would give you one."

"Damn." Naruto closed his eyes. "We'll have to figure something out."

"Be sure to do that." Cid stood back up. "If that's all I'm needed for, I'm heading back to my shop. I added all of our numbers to your communicator, so gimme a call if you need anything. Don't forget to stop by to give me your gummi ship's creator's number." With that, he left.

Following his lead, Leon pushed himself off from his leaning position against the wall. "Good work today. We'll come by tomorrow to see you off." Aerith smiled at them and said her farewells, Wendy echoing her a moment later.

After they left, Naruto put his forehead down on the table. "So freakin' tired-ttebayo…"

---

Gummi Ship (The Next Day)

Naruto frowned as he considered the map. "Not much choice left, is there?"

"Not really. Like Cid said, we only have one new place to go." Gray drawled.

"I wonder what we'll find there…" Kairi mused. "I'm not really sure what to expect at this point…I wouldn't even be surprised if we wind up in another school."

Natsu bounced in his seat. "Maybe we'll finally find someone from Fairy Tail there!"

"I bet we will!" Happy chirped.

"Could happen, I guess." Naruto shrugged.

---

There we go! All done with Chapter 52!

The Neoshadow Heartless used to creep me out. To be honest, I still don't like them.

Next chapter comes out when it comes out.

Keep going after the review responses for something extra.

---

Kairitrion Cerulean: Wasn't planning on doing World of Final Fantasy, no…

The10thDoctor1964: This story starts after Birth by Sleep, goes into Kingdom Hearts 1, and then I will eventually get to the rest of them. Kairi already had a physical body, but not a heart. As for your final question…Pending.

V01dSw0rd: If I do Misa, it definitely won't be for a while. And I wrote in during their first launch in the gummi ship that Naruto casts Esuna to heal him of motion sickness. I haven't written it since then, but it's implied.

redlox2: I added Nox for reasons that will be addressed later.

jburk40: Naruto casts Esuna to take care of Natsu's motion sickness, I just don't bother to write it every time they use the ship.

DarthChaos05: No, the dreams of canon Naruto didn't just go away. I have actually added to that particular build up a couple of times, but they were subtler than that particular dream sequence. As of the ending of this chapter, we are at the point in the Kingdom Hearts timeline where Sora's group had their second visit to Traverse town. Their group has about three or four more worlds until they reach Hollow Bastion. I plan to revisit the tournaments, yes.

cvillegas1998: Who knows? :P

---

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!

Until next time,

Kog6943

---

Extra: Undertale World Ending

Written On: 5/3/17

Last Edited: 5/6/17

Chances of turning out to be a spoiler: Unlikely

This is something I've had stuck in my head for a little while now. Not sure if I'm going to use it, something similar, or maybe even not do this world at all, but I wanted to post this. At this point, it probably won't be a spoiler because I already have the rest of the worlds picked out. Depends on reactions and how I feel about it later, really.

---

"So…let me see if I'm…understanding this correctly." Immediately, all eyes snapped to the speaker. "…In this world…the person with the most determination has…the ability to SAVE and reset…right?" Naruto asked softly from his spot on the ground, where he now lay in a small pool of his own blood.

No one answered him, but he didn't need them to.

"And…every time a reset happens…time is rewound back to…" He coughed weakly. "…back to the beginning…Undoing everything that happened…"

Ignoring the inexplicable feeling of dread that they should definitely not be feeling, Chara's face cracked into something that resembled smile. "Yes…That's right. It's amazing, isn't it?" They asked.

To their confusion, the sense of dread grew when Naruto's lips curled into a smile.

"That's what I thought." Naruto said quietly. "Then…Then I have one more question…for you." Chara stared at him in silence for a minute.

Why was he smiling?

He shouldn't be smiling.

He was bleeding out on the ground.

He just watched all his friends die.

There wasn't any hope left for him.

He failed!

SO WHY WAS HE SMILING?!

Not letting their thoughts show, Chara's smile widened. "Yeah? And what's that?" They watched as Naruto's smile grew. Summoning the last of his strength, Naruto slowly raised his closed fist so that he was holding it out towards Chara with his palm facing up.

"…What…What would happen if…" Naruto's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but they were able to hear him perfectly well. When he revealed what he was holding, the smile was instantly wiped from Chara's face.

Play Undertale OST: Dummy! - ElectricMudkip Remix

Glowing innocently in the palm of Naruto's hand was a golden star.

"…If someone who wasn't from this world used a reset?" Naruto finished, smile widening.

"…didn't see that one coming…" Sans wheezed, hand still clutching his bleeding abdomen. He couldn't see anything in Naruto's hand, but he got the idea.

Chara's head lowered, shadowing their face behind their hair. "You…How…"

Naruto chuckled, but quickly stopped due to the pain. "You hurt my friends…That kinda pissed me off…" He replied. "Now I'm pretty determined to…get them back…"

"…I…" Chara's form started to shake. "This shouldn't…I can't…" Chara's head snapped back up, showing them the utterly enraged expression on their face. "I AM THE GOD HERE! NOT YOU! ME! I'M THE ONE WITH THE POWER! IT BELONGS TO ME! SO GIVE! IT! BACK!" They screamed before launching them self at Naruto.

Cerulean and violet eyes hardened. "Just shut up already, you megalomaniac." Naruto muttered.

His fist clenched around the star.

---

I would like to do Undertale, but that isn't really a game I could do as well as I would like without dedicating a bunch of chapters to it. It would turn into something like Negima, and that went on for longer than I had intended. Not to mention that it would mean even more confusing time travel. My last problem with this scene is how much of a deus ex machina it is.