Ok, in my defence I never said which new year I'd be done by. I don't have any excuses, this just became one of those things where I'd say 'I'll get that done today' then the day would be over and I'd have done absolutely zip.
Now, I've been planning out the last chapter for a looooong time so I should het that done in a more timely manner. So expect that sometime before 2030.
Enjoy
Chapter 25
Hunter didn't know when he'd fallen asleep, the last thing he remembered was watching Devil fighting with the Leaf ninjas, but now he was waking up in a pitch black void. As his eyes opened he saw a faint glow coming from beneath him and looked down to see a massive circular stain glass window.
'My heart.' he though as he gently landed on its faintly glowing surface.
"At last you arrive."
Hunter looked round and saw Devil standing a short distance away. Despite his earlier loss he seemed in high spirits, grinning from ear to ear.
Hunter groaned as he turned to face his evil half. "You seem chipper for someone who just had their head popped like a zit."
Devil just shrugged "You win some you lose some. Dying out there has no real consequences but in here." He started walking round the edge of the platform, never taking his eyes off Hunter. "Well, in here's a different story."
Hunter curled his hands into fists "So this is like a Highlander thing?"
Devil shrugged innocently, then he shot a dark bolt right at Hunter. He leapt out of the way and launched himself at his evil doppelganger.
The two were just about to collide when a stream of dark bolts came out of nowhere, nearly hitting them both.
Hunter stopped in his tracks while Devil turned to face the source of the attack. "You." He spat.
Fem-Hunter stood at the other side of the platform.
"Sixty-three?" Hunter asked.
"What, you think I want to be stuck in here forever with the two of you?" She took a few steps forward "This is my chance at a real life; I won't let it slip by."
Devil smiled "Ménage à trios it is then." He ran straight at Fem, only for her to kick him in the stomach so hard he was sent flying almost to the other side of the platform. Hunter attacked next, dodging her kick and managing to land a punch of his own before getting blindsided by Devil. Fem rejoined the fight and knocked Devil to the ground with a kick to the back of his knee, followed by Hunter punching him in the face. Fem's next kick was aimed at Hunter, catching him in the face and sending him spinning off to the left.
The three ran towards each other, about to clash again when yet another stream of dark bolts struck the ground around them. They all turned as one and saw yet another Hunter clone standing a few feet away.
"I think this nonsense has gone on long enough." He looked right at the real Hunter "Don't you?"
Back in the land of ninjas
Naruto was tired, sore, hungry, out of chakra, had a splitting headache and above all he was worried about Hinata.
She was currently being carried in Kurenai's arms as the ninjas made their way home. She wasn't the only casualty of course. Choji was still unconscious as well and was being carried by his teammates and just about everyone had some kind of bandage on their arms or legs. Yeah, their first stop when they got home would probably be the hospital, even though the only place Naruto wanted to go was Ichirakus Ramen.
"Is Hunter dead or not!?" Sakura yelled at Nick.
The alien mercenary was walking just in front of the group, having agreed to escort them home in case Hunter or Thorn returned.
"Hmm, sorry, wasn't listening. News was on." His helmet projected a screen that hovered about a foot in front of him. On it was what looked like a news desk and two Mummies having an argument. Naruto had gotten use to weird by now but this was bordering on the surreal.
"Don't you talk about Nagash!" yelled the left mummy, angrily pointing a bony finger at the one on the right.
"Eat shit! I'll talk about Nagash as much as I want!" the one on the right spat back.
The left mummy launched himself over the table at the other and the image was replace by a screen card reading 'Experiencing Technical Difficulties'.
The sound was still working however and Naruto could hear crashing, yelling and other sounds indicating a fight.
"Get back here you son of an elf!"
With that Nick closed down the image. "You were saying?"
Sakura groaned and repeated herself. "Is Hunter really dead?"
"No." He responded matter-of-factly. "Heartless can't really die as far as I know. That being said this one has some serious abnormalities like talking, thinking or doing anything beyond fighting everyone else."
"I'm more concerned about which Hunter comes back." said Kakashi.
Guy nodded in agreement "So Nick, any chance you'd-"
"No, no, absolutely not, no!" Nick cut him off "I don't care what you're paying; I am not going up against a Heartless Lord!"
"Just what the hell is a Heartless anyway?!" Sakura demanded.
Nick just shrugged "Wiser men than me have gone completely nuts trying to answer that. Best I can give you is that they're evil made real. You want to stop Hunter, then you'll need a hell of a lot of Light." He noticed the questioning expressions the ninjas were giving him "You know goodness, love, peace to all mankind and all that mush."
Asuna sighed "At the risk of sounding nihilistic I don't think we have enough of that in this whole world."
"Yeah, you guys are screwed." Nick concurred.
The rest of the trip proceeded in silence for the most part and before long the village gates were in sight.
"OK, this is where we part ways kids." Nick said with no small amount of relief in his voice.
"Nick." The mercenary turned to look at Kakashi. "Thank you for your help today. We couldn't have beaten Hunter without you."
"You're paid for something you'd best do it well." For a moment Nick looked like he'd say more, but decided against it. He simply wished them all 'good luck' and then departed, flying off into the sky.
"Alright." Guy spoke up first "Now how do we explain this all to Tsunade?"
The World That Never Was.
Twilight Thorn staggered out of a dark portal and collapsed onto the ground and his body slowly disintegrated. He'd found the deserter Roxas hidden in a datasacpe in Twilight Town but when he'd tried to apprehend him things had gone wrong. There had been a fight and he'd lost and now he was fading away. He barely had enough strength left to make it back here. He tried to look up, he could see the Castle just up ahead, he was so close.
There was someone else there too, coming towards him but he couldn't quite make them out.
"S-superior?" was all he managed to say before he fell unconscious.
Young Master Xehanort looked down at the dying nobody. It had never really shown much potential on its own but if its Heartless had developed in unexpected ways then maybe the Nobody could too. Perhaps it could serve as a backup vessel should other candidates fail.
Deciding on a course of action Xehanort picked Thorn up and carried him into a portal. In a moment there were in Radiant Garden, standing before a computer system hidden in the Garden of Assemblage. He set Thorn down before the machine and typed a command. A light appeared on the antenna atop the computer and shot a light at Thorn's body, digitizing and absorbing him.
Xehanort typed a few more commands and was met with a query.
Combine data set No1 through No13 with new data set y/n?
He tapped the 'y' key.
Merging data sets. One percent. Three percent.
Back in Hunters Heart
"The absolute fucking SNAP!" Hunter yelled. "Four! There's FOUR of me now!"
"You only have yourself to blame." said the new Hunter clone. "Each of us is an aspect of your mind. I'm the part of you that's sick of this ridiculous game, the part that wants to do the right thing for once. I guess you could call me your conscious."
Hunter thought for a moment "So you're like Jiminy Cricket...Jiminy Hunter."
The newly named Jiminy rolled his eyes.
"If you're here for a hostile takeover "Devil interrupted "then you'll have to get in line."
Jiminy looked from Hunter to Devil before asking the former "Do you know what he is?"
"Yeah, he's the person I used to-"
"Wrong!" Jiminy started advancing on Devil "He's not a memory come to life or anything like that. All this thing is is your fear." Devil started looking nervous as Jiminy continued "He's your fear that you're a bad person. He didn't even exist until that time you nearly killed Kakashi, remember."
Hunter nodded slowly "It was the first time I lost control of myself."
"The first time you were afraid of yourself." Jiminy turned to face Sixty –three "And this, well she's just procrastination incarnate." Now it was Sixty-three's turn to look nervous "Always going off topic, never taking anything seriously, never really accomplishing anything."
She crossed her arms defensively "Hey I could do plenty if I wanted to."
"No you couldn't. You can't 'want' or 'do' anything meaningful because you are just part of a person. The lazy part." Sixty-three seemed to wither at Jiminy's words.
"You said something about a 'ridiculous game', what did you mean by that?" Hunter asked.
"There's a reason you've been feeling a pain in your heart. You saw what it did when that" he gestured at Devil "took you over. It's Light poisoning."
Hunter looked at him quizzically.
"It's the best way I can describe it. Heartless are made of pure darkness, they're not supposed to make friends or care about people but you do. The thing that makes you 'human' is what's killing you. The only reason you've lasted this long is..."
The anger drained out of his voice and now he just looked sad and tired.
"Is what?" Hunter pressed him to go on.
"You...didn't get your memories back from Namine." Sixty-three sat down while Devil just walked over to the edge and stared off into the abyss. "Telling you this never gets any easier. When Organization Thirteen was defeated their Kingdom Hearts was destroyed, it released a massive burst of power. You were there in the Dark City when it happened and one of the things it did was awaken your memories."
Hunter shook his head "I don't remember any of that!"
Jiminy continued "You couldn't stand the regret so searched through the ruins and you found out about a girl who could manipulate memories. Of course by then she didn't exist anymore so you used the most dangerous power you had. You went back in time to a place you knew she'd be."
"I can do that!?" Hunter yelled in disbelief.
"You can and you have. You attacked Namine knowing she'd defend herself and erase you memory. This process has repeated time and time again. You remember the truth, then you go back and start the loop again."
"How long?" Hunter forced himself to ask.
"Eighty years."
Hunter was lost for words but Jiminy still had more to say. "Every time you forgot it got rid of most of the Light in your Heart but not all of it. It's been building up all this time and now...Well now you have no restarts left."
Hunter looked down at the stained glass window they were all standing on "I've wasted so much time."
"I wouldn't say that exactly" Jiminy countered "You've had a great adventure, over and over again. You made friends each time, people who love you, even if you are annoying." Hunter gave a half hearted snort at that "And you love them to."
"Alright." Hunter agreed "No more games. How do I fix this."
"Before you can fix anything you have to fix yourself." Jiminy indicated Sixty-three and Devil "You can't function like this. We were all brought to life buy you believing in us. Stop believing and we'll go."
Hunter nodded, the he walked slowly over to where Devil was standing. The two stared at each other for a while then Devil just sighed and said "Alright, I give up. I guess I should have seen this coming. I was beaten by Hinata of all people. There's no coming back from something that embarrassing." With that he broke apart into tiny lights that quickly faded away like embers in the wind.
"He died as he lived. Being a dick."
Hunter went over to Sixty-three. Again there was a long silence. When he tried to break it she interrupted him "Save it. It's not like I'm dying. I wasn't real if the first place."
"You guys were real to me."
She smiled at that. "Yeah well, even if I'd won, it's not like I'd have done anything with life anyway." With that she disappeared to.
Now it was just Hunter and Jiminy left.
"Well, 'bout time I left too." said Jiminy with a sort of relived finality. "Once I'm gone you should get all your memories back. After that everything's up to you." Then his whole body began to glow faintly as he started fading away.
"No! Wait!" Hunter yelled in alarm "I don't...I don't know what to do! Everything I've ever done had turned out to be the wrong thing. I can't do this on my own!"
It was too late. Jiminy, Sixty-three and Devil were all gone, leaving Hunter alone. That was when the memories started coming back. It wasn't a rushing tide; they sort of dripped into his mind slowly. He sat on the floor, examining each one and before long all his lost eighty years had returned.
"OK." He placed his fingers on his temples as he thought "Need a plan...need a plan." Hunter got back up and started walking slowly round the circumference of the platform. "I need them...and that...yes, yes." He increased his pace as ideas started slotting together. "I have a plan!"
His vision faded for a moment and when it returned he was standing in a place he knew well. The foyer of DiZ's mansion.
"Namine! Riku!"
"They are not here."He looked round and saw DiZ descending the staircase. "Riku departed some time ago. Apparently he ignored my orders to get rid of Namine."
Hunter glared at him "Small wonder you don't have any friends."
"Everything I have done has been to ensure the stability of the World. All other concerns are secondary to that."
Hunter was about to yell at him but decided against it when he realised there was no point. "I'm going back to the Leaf. Thorn's coming back and I have to stop him."
"If that is what your Heart is set on."
Hunter watched as DiZ turned away from him and started walking towards the computer room. "I have to know. Were you every really going to help me find my home?"
DiZ stopped but he didn't look back. "That is beyond my ability. You are a powerful and unique Heartless. You were too valuable a tool to simply send you on your way. I had assumed that your creation had lead to the destruction of your world but I had no real way to prove it."
"Yeah well, apparently you guessed right." Hunter's shoulders sagged as memories of his now lost world drifted through his mind. They were followed by the years he'd spent in the Hidden Leaf and how happy everyone who lived there was. "I lost my home. I won't let Thorn take theirs." He looked back up at DiZ, who was looking down at him almost quizzically. "I don't know what to say to you, so I'll stick with 'good luck'."
With that he portaled away leaving DiZ alone in the mansion. Not that he was bothered by that of course. He still had one more guest to arrive today.
Sora would awaken soon.
Back at the Garden of Assemblage
Merging data sets : one hundred percent. Operation complete.
Xehanort pressed a few keys, then he stood back and watched as the machine recreated Twilight Thorn. The Nobody stood looking at its own hands for a moment, then it reached out an summoned Marluxia's scythe. It gave the weapon an experimental swing before dismissing it and then summoning a different weapon, this time Vexen's shield.
Thorn smiled as he looked over at his saviour "What is thy bidding, my master?"
The ninja world. One day later
Hunter gave a grumble of annoyance as he marched down the busy street. He'd lost a whole day trying to find these two and he didn't have a day to waste. He was in a large tourist town a few miles away from the Leaf. His targets were staying in room four-oh-six of the largest hotel. There wasn't time for pleasantries so he marched past the welcome desk, leapt up the emergency stairs, forced the door open and walked in.
Yugito and Killer B bother looked up in surprise but before either of them could draw a weapon Hunter cast a spell.
"Graviga."
The two ninjas were smashed through the floor by the force. And the floor below that, and the one below that, all the way down to the hotel's basement where they were pinned to the ground.
"The...force of...gravity has gone...and doubled...at this rate ...we'll-" Bee tired to force out a rap.
"Will you...shut up..." Yugito grunted.
"Both of you shut it!" Hunter dropped down beside them. "Now listen well, because I need your help."
A short while later in the Hyuga compound
With phase one complete Hunter moved on to phase two. He stepped out of a black portal into Hinata's room where the girl lay on her bed sound asleep. Even from here he could sense she'd changed. Yet another thing he was to blame for. He stood over the sleeping girl for a moment, weighing his options then he cast a spell to wake her.
Hinata groaned as her sleep ended and she groggily sat up. Her eyes shot open when she realised Hunter was there. "Wha-!"
"Shh!" Hunter knelt down beside her to look less threatening "It's all right, I'm back to normal." He wasn't sure if she was convinced but she wasn't yelling for the guards so that was a good start. "Now listen. Naruto's in danger and I need your help."
About an hour later, in Tsunade's office.
Kakashi didn't like being summoned to the Hokage's office, because it always meant bad news. Bad news and having to listen to Guy give another 'power of youth' speech. The two were walking together and as usual Guy was doing all the talking, Kakashi having learned years ago how to simply tune him out.
Guy stopped his speech halfway though as the rounded a corner and saw Kurenai and Asuma waiting for them "Seems we weren't the only ones summoned."
Kakashi gave a tired grumble. This meant serious trouble.
The four of them went inside. Tsunade, or her chair at least, had its back to them as they entered. That was unusual for her. Odder still was when she didn't turn round after a good thirty seconds.
"Lady Hokage?" Kurenai spoke first, thinking Tsunade had fallen asleep at her desk.
"I'm right here." The four jonin turned in surprise to see Tsunade just entering the room. And she clearly wasn't happy "I just got a message from 'me' summoning me to my office." She glared daggers at the chair. "Naruto if this is one of your pranks I swear I'll-"
The chair swivelled round to face them, revealing Hunter sitting there. "Come on, admit it" he said "you've all had this exact nightmare."
"My nightmares are more creative than this." said Kakashi as he and the other jonin got into more combat ready poses.
Tsuande was about to speak but Hunter held up a hand for silence. "I know, I know. You have questions but I don't have a lot of time left so here's the short version. I have good news, bad news, worse news, and horrible news. The good news is that Devil and Sixty-three are gone. I'm alone in here now." He tapped the side of his head for clarification.
The tension in the room eased a little. "Ok, the bad news?" asked Asuma.
"Thorn's still alive." Tsunade gave a grunt of frustration as Hunter continued "The worse news is he's had a massive power boost. I'm...not sure I can beat him on my own."
"I can already guess the 'horrible news'." Tsunade muttered "He's on his way here, isn't he?"
"Yep. He'll be here in-" Hunter look at the clock hanging on the wall. "Oh snap! Can't stay! Must find Naruto!" He leapt up from behind the desk, knocking the chair over as he went. Before anyone could stop or question him further he'd run straight into a dark portal that appeared in the wall. "You've got one hour!" he yelled as he disappeared.
Tsunade stared at the space where the portal had been, the she look at the others. "Well don't just stand there! Prepare the Village for invasion. Go!"
Everyone yelled "Yes Lady Hokage!" and ran out the door.
A short while later, near Ichirakus Ramen
Naruto gingerly removed a banana peel from his shoulder and threw it away. For complicated reasons he'd wound up in a dumpster just moments ago and was now trying his best to get the smell out of his nose.
"Having a rough day are we?"
Naruto whirled round and saw Twilight Thorn standing there. He quickly surveyed his surroundings. They were in an alley behind Ichiraku's Ramen, no one came this way except to put out garbage, if he yelled or ran Thorn would kill him before he found help.
"You know we've never really had a chance to talk one on one now have we Naruto."
That was when he noticed that Thorn was smiling. He'd never shown emotion before. "You seem...different."
"Hmm? Ah, you noticed. I've had an ...upgrade you see. Got it memorised?" he tapped the side of his head, then gave his hand a strange look, like it had just acted on its own. He shrugged, dismissing whatever that was and took a few steps closer to Naruto "But enough about me, I've come here to save you poor Naruto."
"From what?"
"Oh, where do I start?" Thorn seemed to regard Naruto with pity. "All your sacrifices and achievements lately, they seem to have gone by unnoticed. They didn't promote you to chunin even after all the talent you displayed." A hint of uncertainty crept into Nartuo's face. "Hmm, didn't think so. Did you even get as much as a 'thank you' for what you did in the Sound Invasion?"
"I didn't do it for the reward." Naruto growled at him.
"Oh how selfless of you." Thorn sounded like a condescending adult talking down to a toddler. "No matter how much you're overlooked, ignored or flat out hated, you still defend these people. But their betrayal of you is nothing compared to Sasuke's."
Naruto smirked at him "Ha! Sasuke can be...well he is a huge jerk but he's still my best friend. The only one I need saving from is you!"
"Oh, but that's part of his plan." Naruto flinched as Thorn jumped backwards and took a seat on the dumpster. "Did he tell you how his brother killed his family?"
"No. He's never told anyone that."
"And why do you think that is?"
Naruto folded his arms "Well, because it's too painful, duh!"
"No." Thorn's smile went from friendly to wicked "Even with all his skill Itachi couldn't fight a whole clan. He needed an advantage. Mangekyo Sharingan." Naruto gave him a quizzical look so he continued. "The Sharingan can only be improved by powerful feelings, like pain and anger. Its regular form can be unlocked easily enough in a ninjas line of work but to truly ascend you need to put yourself through something horrible." He looked Naruto right in the eye as he said "You have to kill your best friend."
Naruto took a step back. "What are you saying?"
"I just told you!" Thorn leapt off the dumpster and marched up to Naruto, who kept backing away until he hit a wall. "He's going to kill you to improve his power! Even after all you've been through you're just a tool!"
"No!" Naruto yelled at him but Thorn carried on.
"Just a stepping stone for more power! He doesn't give a damn about you! All that matters to him is killing his brother and you know it!"
"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as a dark aura built up around him. Thron grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.
"Make me!"
"RAAAHG!" the aura around Naruto bust outwards, pushing Thorn back and making him let go. Naruto landed on his feet. He didn't move, he just stood there breathing heavily while staring at the ground.
Thorn smiled and started walking towards him. "There, now you see the truth. Poor Naruto, lied to all your life overlooked by everyone." He placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, causing the boy to flinch. "But I don't lie. I see your potential. And with my help you can make them see it to."
Thorn held out his hand in a offer of friendship. Naruto hesitated of a moment, then he reached out and took it. Thorn's grin grew even wider as a dark portal appeared around them both, taking them away.
As soon as the ally was empty the dumpster opened up and Hunter poked his head out. He looked at the spot where Thorn and Naruto had just been, unable to hide his concern.
"This plan had better work."