A Serendipitous Key of Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts.

The X Keyhole: The Humbling Emperor

Up at Kuzco's palace, reconstruction has taken through the entire empire; what used to have his face now sports that of an elderly woman's. Said scary woman sits upon the emperor's throne giving out orders and sentencing people.

"Ah, it feels so good to be the empress. I'm a much better ruler than that foolish brat Kuzco," says the woman, taking a drink of wine afterwards.

By her side is her muscular servant. "It's nice everything's worked out for you, Miss Yzma."

"Ah-ah-ah! Empress Yzma Kronk." Upon her correction Kronk addresses her as such.

"Oh yeah, those guys came back wanting to talk to you. That lady with the horn thing on her head."

"Oh, her?" Yzma scoffs at the notion of listening to that annoying bitch again. They delivered her the potions, power of darkness and alchemy that allowed her to turn Kuzco into a llama, which should have been poison but wasn't thanks to Kronk's incompetency, but now that he's dead she doesn't need them anymore. If anything, she can drop them like a consultant now that she's gotten everything she needs. "Blow her off; we don't need any of those freaks telling me what to do! Now that I have the power of darkness I can get rid of anything that gets in my way, and once we take the sun I'll be young forever!"

She cackles triumphantly. "Oh, to think after that little blunder meant nothing after all. We should have had Kuzco dead long ago; good work, Kronk."

"W-Well, yeah of course! I mean, he can't get any deader than that!" Kronk nervously chuckles, walking away awkwardly as if hiding something. Yzma immediately catches on.

"Kronk." She follows him, pulling him away from whatever he was about to do. "Kuzco's dead right?"

"Well, yeah, of course he's dead! You told me to kill him right? We had an incredible 60 second funeral about it. What, you need me to say it?"

"Yes!" Yzma grabs his Atlas chin. "Just say it. Tell me Kuzco is dead; I need to hear those words!"

"... Do you need to hear those exact words?" Something in Yzma's head snaps.

"HE'S STILL ALIVE?!"

"He's not really as dead, as we would have hoped."

"KRONK!"

"Just figured I might give you a heads up, incase he ever comes back-" Yzma slaps him, almost breaking her hand.

"HE CAN'T COME BACK!" she screams at the top of her rusty lungs. "If he does we'll be executed before we can succeed in swallowing the sun!"

"Well, it's a good thing those darkness guys are around. We can just send them and-"

"No!" Yzma turns away. "Those guys will only leave our world alone if we can deliver a world of darkness, and I refuse to rely on them any more than that! We'll do it ourselves.

"By the end of all of this, Kuzco will be dead and I will be young again! And there's no one who can stop me!"

...

"Here you go; three pills bugs. Enjoy!" Three plates hit the table lightly, exposing three enlarged pill bugs emitting white steam. A grossed out Naruto stares down at what he's supposed to be eating, bluer than the skies above.

After leaving the jungle into a clearing they come upon a restaurant. Hungry and tired, they decide to go in. Unfortunately, animals aren't allowed. Thus, the idea comes upon them to disguise Kuzco as an old, hunchback lady, that's not really good.

"This... This is what's considered food?" Naruto is on the verge of puking.

"Not even I would eat this!" Kuzco can't believe terrible food like this existed.

Pacha? He's eating it like it's normal. He even opens the bug up for the others.

"This food is more unbelievable than Kuzco's disguise." As Naruto pushes his meal away, Kuzco gets up to go to the kitchen. "Where are you going?"

"Seeing if this menu has anything that doesn't look like it's still alive!"

"You're gonna get us thrown out," Pacha states while slurping.

The talking llama goes in anyway. Naruto sighs staring down at the pill bug. "... Well, I might as well." He takes a tiny bite out of the inner filling, eyes widening in shock. "Eh? It's... It's good?"

"Told ya." Pacha proceeds to munching the outside, as Naruto goes back to eating.

As they eat, Yzma and Kronk sit down at the seat nearby. The empress complains, "I can't believe we got lost! That's the last time we take directions from a squirrel!"

"He wasn't fond of you either," replies Kronk as he checks the menu.

"You don't get to talk! If you hadn't mixed up the potions and gave him the poison instead Kuzco would be dead!" Though she whispers this, she and Kronk are so close to Naruto and Pacha they almost choke on their food.

"Calm down, Yzma. He's a llama; how far can he get?" Kronk's words cause Yzma to grip her hand so tightly she bends her fork in half. "I'll get a new one."

Kronk turns back to our heroes' table. "Hey buddy, you using that fork?"

"No, here!" Pacha immediately hands over the fork.

"Wait, do I know you?" Kronk asks him, to which Pacha denies. He then immediately gets up and heads into the kitchen. 'Could have sworn I've seen him before.'

Naruto pushes his pill bug aside. 'Better give them time.' He takes to the shadows like a ninja.

"Is there anything on this menu NOT swimming in gravy?" Upon Yzma's complaint, Kronk gets up.

He goes into the back, just as Kuzco is being dragged out by Pacha. "Hey buddy, you got anything on this menu-"

"That's it! I quit!" The chef of the restaurant packs up his gear, including gravy, and leaves.

"Uh oh..." Kronk is soon flocked with orders. Naruto comes in, making a request.

Back with Pacha and Kuzco, the big guy tosses him out the window. Naruto then rushes outside, hearing the celebration he started going on. The blond Keybearer reaches Pacha and Kuzco. "We got time; let's go!"

"Time, what?! What's going on; I'm still hungry!" shouts Kuzco.

"There's two people in there looking for you," says Pacha.

"Who?"

"One's a big guy, and the other's an old woman," Naruto adds.

A thought hits him. "Wait; was this woman scary beyond all belief?"

"To a T!" Pacha and Naruto say in unison.

"Oh, what are you doing? That's Yzma and Kronk; they'll take me back!" Kuzco takes off all his make up and prepares to go inside. "Thanks for the help guys; you've been great!"

"No, you don't understand!" Pacha gets in front of him. "They're trying to kill you!"

"What? No, they love me! They can't live without this guy!"

"He's serious; they turned you into a llama in the first place!" Naruto tells him. "You go back they kill you!"

"Huh?" He looks at them, before frowning. "Oh, now I get it; you're trying to get rid of me."

"What?"

"Yeah it all makes sense now; you're still mad because I'm planning on destroying your home so you're keeping me away from them! And here I thought you were gonna help me, but instead you're deceiving me!"

"You have no right to say that!" Naruto replies.

"Forget it, I'm going."

"Kuzco!"

"Just leave me alone you jerks!" Kuzco storms off.

Naruto growls, as if giving up. "Fine! You deserve everything that's happened to you!"

He turns to Pacha and leaves. "Why do I even bother? If he wants to get himself killed then fine."

Pacha looks over between Naruto and Kuzco. Sighing, he walks after the blond swordsman. "Naruto, are you sure you can go through with this?"

"Oh screw him!" Naruto replies, waving off the idea of rescuing the selfish king. Though as he walks, he moves slower with each passing second before coming to a complete stop.

"Knew it."

"He doesn't care about the fact that he's bulldozing your home for himself." Naruto then looks down, feeling bad about thinking something like that. "Let me guess, he'll die without us helping him?"

Pacha nods. "I'm way too nice." Naruto runs back to where he last left Kuzco with Pacha.

But along the way, a shadow rises up before them. "What's this?" asks the village leader.

"The Heartless!" Naruto takes out his Keyblade and slashes the shadow. More Heartless appear, each one wearing an Emblem.

"What are Heartless?" Pacha asks him.

"Putting it short, they're the manifestation of people's darkness." Naruto cuts down one as he explains.

One monkey looking Heartless, a Powerwild, jumps before Naruto, who swings at it. The thing rolls out of the way and kicks him the back of the leg. Another claws at him from the front, forcing the ninja to cartwheel to the side.

"We gotta get out of here!" The big guy tries to get away, but they block his path.

Naruto is soon surrounded. "Wind!" He unleashes Aerora, blowing away all the Heartless upward. He then jumps high up and slashes, turning them all into hearts. He then grabs Pacha and leads him away. The rain begins to pour heavily. "We gotta find Kuzco, or else they could take him heart! Someone like him would be an easy target."

"I knew you cared."

"Shut up!"

...

Meanwhile, the selfish emperor can be seen lying underneath a giant leaf. It protects him from the rain, but he's more down than the metaphoric setting.

Minutes ago...

Yzma and Kronk waltz out of the restaurant. "What? Are you that upset over that?"

"Kronk, I don't want to deal with that now," she replies, throwing the cake to the ground out of anger. Kuzco sneaks up on them. "This is all your fault! We wouldn't be having this much trouble if you hadn't mixed up the potions because then Kuzco would be dead!" At her declaration Kuzco tries to reveal himself, only to be mortified when she declares her true character. "And now we're stuck in the booneys just so we can track down and kill that useless little llama!"

"I told you I was sorry," Kronk suggests. "You could be a little understanding during your birthday. Besides, he's pretty useless by himself."

"You better be right." Yzma gets into the carriage. "The sooner we find that brat and slit his throat the better off everyone will be!"

"Well, you got a point there," says Kronk while attaching the carriage to himself, before running off. "No one seems to really care that he's gone."

Kuzco watches as they leave, morbidly saddened and unable to comprehend the truth. Pacha and Naruto were right; Yzma was the one who turned him into a llama. And she's been trying to kill him ever since! Did he really deserve this; was he such a horrible person that literally no one cared?

Upon his realization, he stumbles in the forest taking a moment to take in his character. "They were right... I deserved all this."

The light fades away as night falls. The sad llama wanders a grassy plain as the rain concludes. He makes the most pathetic sigh, before hearing an explosion go off. He gets closer to examine, and spots ice covering an entire tree before it shatters. A Heartless flies in the air before exploding, turning into a heart that soars the skies.

"What's going on?"

"Booyah!" Naruto comes out kicking another Heartless away, before slashing another coming at him from behind. He then lands by Kuzco, raising his Keyblade to cut down a falling Heartless. His eyes narrow followed a scowl. "Kuzco."

The llama immediately proceeds to crying. "I'm so sorry!"

"Okay." Naruto looks over at Pacha coming in, before grabbing him and pulling the animal with him. "Let's get going; those Heartless will be coming for us!"

"Who?"

"Little black monsters! Don't bother trying to understand!" Pacha tells him, and they continue to run. "So you're sorry?"

"YES!" Kuzco bawls.

"I guess he was worth the save after all," says the adult as they move faster.

...

Elsewhere in the jungle, Kronk and Yzma sleep after a fruitless search. Outside, holding a stuffed animal somehow, Kronk awakens. With a stern and serious look in his eyes he grips his fists.

"That peasant at the diner! ... He didn't pay the check." He falls back asleep, as if that's all that was important.

Before almost immediately waking back up, saying, "Also, he's the same guy who disappeared in the city that night with Kuzco in the back of his cart, so if we find the village then we find him and if we find him we find Kuzco! Oh yeah, it's all coming together."

He then breaks into Yzma's tent. "Yzma!"

She rises up screaming, "WHAT," with facial cream and cucumbers on her eyes. Kronk recoils in horror at her appearance. A cucumber falls off as she says, "This had better be good!"

The Following Morning...

Once the sun hits the skies, Pacha, Naruto and Kuzco make a beeline for the village leader's home. "We just gotta stop by my place then it's off to the palace!"

"What, for supplies?" asks Naruto as they run. He's noticeably faster than the rest.

"I haven't seen my wife since I left; I don't want her to worry." Pacha's response, while quick, is truly a smart decision that Naruto can agree with. He knows just how violent women can react for situations like this. "We're almost there!"

Along the way up the hill, they stop by some old folk playing this world's version of chess. One of them says, "Oh hey, Pacha! Was wonderin' when yer butt was showin' up."

"Oh yeah I don't got time right now to talk."

"Yeah! Yer gotta speak to dem relatives of yers."

The three look at one another. "You have relatives?" Naruto eventually asks.

"What did they look like?" questions the village leader.

"Oh, one of dem was a big guy, very muscular!" He begins his explanation. "The other was an old lady... Um, how would you describe her?"

Naruto immediately asks, "Scary beyond all belief?"

"Dat's it!" As soon as he finishes, Naruto and the guys head straight to Pacha's home.

There Pacha and Kuzco make out Yzma sitting in his home. "It's her."

"You guys go to the palace; I'll stall." Naruto summons his Keyblade and moves in, before Heartless appear. These are Soldiers and Power Wilds. "Go!"

The two don't hesitate to move quickly, knowing just how destructive and powerful Naruto is. It's a wonder to their minds as they try to understand how exactly can he do these things.

As the blond swordsman nears the home, Naruto easily knocks Soldiers out of his way. The Power Wilds are smart enough to avoid his initial charge, but Naruto is much wiser to their fighting style now. That's exactly why he charges lightning around his Keyblade. "Stun Edge!" He flips in the air and stabs down at the nearest one; the electric current travels across the surface and paralyzes the surrounding Heartless, while he lands with ease.

He then rushes towards the closer of the remaining Power Wilds with his weapon enshrouded with fire. "Fire Edge!" He slides by the Heartless, slicing them apart. Their remains explode into flames, hearts soaring into the sky.

"What's all that noise?" Yzma comes outside with Kronk to see Naruto.

"Hey, I think I know that guy! He was at the diner with that peasant!" Kronk states.

"What?!" Yzma looks at him in shock, her eyes drifting down to the Keyblade the blond holds. "Is that..."

"Thunder!" Naruto unleashes Thundara, causing them to back away as he runs off. "We're setting Kuzco free!"

Yzma jumps off of Kronk, seething with rage. "Kronk, looks like we're gonna need that power after all."

"What power?"

Naruto moves faster than usual to catch up with Pacha and Kuzco, who are already making a beeline for the palace. "How close are we?!" he shouts the moment he reaches their hearing range.

"We're halfway there!" Pacha replies as he points up ahead, feeling tired. 'Wish I had stopped to eat.'

"That old lady is getting closer; we need to slow them down!" Naruto notices a bridge up ahead. "Good!"

Soon the trio reach the bridge, and one by one they cross over to the other side. Once they do, Naruto sees Kronk with Yzma in her carrier tent. Naruto draws a spare kunai and cuts the ropes, leaving them no way of crossing. "Whatcha gonna do now?!"

"Kronk, now!" On her orders, Kronk pulls a rope. He then jumps over the cliff, bat wings shooting out from the side to simulate a glider.

"Aw what?" Kuzco groans in defeat.

Not wanting to deal with this, he throws the kunai at the left wing. With a hole open, they lose balance and spiral downward off the cliff. Taking that as their problems being over, they continue to the palace. From there, enough time passes by for them to reach the secret entrance, a warthog statue with two horn levers. And put it to use.

"Why does she even have that lever?!" Kuzco comes in from another entrance kicking off an alligator from his tail. He then grabs the left horn and pulls, sending them into a rollercoaster ride that takes them to the basement of the castle. After coming out of their scientist clothes they go to a set of shelves with potions in vials.

"Alright, which one?" Naruto asks as he checks them.

"Let's see, above the shelves are pictures of things so..." On Pacha's suggestion they check above, which reveals animal pictures. They eventually stop before a human looking one, only for the shelf to be one hundred percent void. "Nothing!?"

"What?!"

They quickly turn around when they hear a cold cackle. From the shadows, Yzma stands holding a vial. "Looking for this?"

"What the heck?! How did you get here before us?!" asks Kuzco.

"Yeah, you totally dropped down that cliff!" Naruto points out what happened moments before they reached the palace.

Yzma prepares to explain, only to pause and ask Kronk how they beat them. His response? "Yeah, you got me. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."

She then shrugs. "Anyway, now that we're here it's time to get rid of you. Once and for all."

"I don't get it; why?" Kuzco questions. "I mean, I know you're probably bummed that I fired you, but you really wanna kill me for it?!"

"This is above and beyond you!" she replies, cackling a bit before coughing. "It may come as a surprise to you three, but I am old."

"You don't say," is the deadpanned response from all three of them.

"In order to secure my position as ruler of this world I need to be young again, or I'll just die in the next thirty years."

"Or thirty seconds." Naruto jokes, and all three laugh.

"Enough! Look over here!" Yzma, dark red with anger, points to a diagram on a chalkboard. How they have one no one knows. "Ever since I came into power yesterday I've had the workers draw white paste in a circle around and within the capital and the entire kingdom. By this hour's conclusion, I will sit within the center on the throne, and the power of the sun will be absorbed into everything standing at the center and give me the power of eternal youth!"

"Eternal youth?" asks Kuzco. "I think you're going senile in your old age."

"I can set things on fire and summon a key out of nowhere, not to mention the fact that you're a talking llama," Naruto begins, "and THIS is what you don't get?!"

"What happens to the sun?" asks Pacha curiously. "And why get rid of Kuzco when you have an army of monsters you control?"

"Because I don't like borrowing something I can't stand, and I just really hate Kuzco! As for the sun, it burns out and disappears. But like I care; this world's gonna flood with darkness anyway once they show up!"

"Borrowing?"

"Wow. This is a lot to take in," Pacha states.

"I really wasn't expecting this either," Kuzco adds.

"I bet you weren't expecting this either!" Yzma raises her dress, exposing her legs. The boys recoil and scream in horror, before she reveals a knife strapped to her leg. Seeing it, they all calm down, as if the thought of her revealing something else would be more horrible.

"What's a knife gonna do?" Naruto asks her. He's surprised she thinks that would scare him since he can set her on fire.

"I want you gone. Or else I destroy this vial and Kuzco never becomes human again!" She holds the knife up to the vial. "I don't know who or what you are but obviously you're too strong for me to handle right now. So I'll keep you out of the way while I secure my immortality."

Naruto looks back at her and then Kuzco. A thought then enters his mind. He summons the Keyblade and swings.

Julia: Here's the list of Disney Worlds considered for the story, some of which we're going straight for. They are...

Kingdom of the Sun

San Fransokyo

Litwack's Family Fun Center and Arcade

Arendelle

Muppet Theater

Land of Dragons

Wonderland

Halloweentown

Mount Olympus