A Serendipitous Key of Hope

Disclaimer: My imaginary lawyers tell me I do not own products owned by Disney, Masahi Kishimoto, anything from Shonen Jump, or Square Enix.

- Omakey -

Yahiko lies in his room, suffering with anxiety. "Poor Nagato. He was working so hard on that too." He holds up a fake Keyblade made of wood with Terra's name carved in the side backhanded, as per his style.

His musing comes to an end when the bell domes, causing him to rise up. He slides out of bed and walks out. "Better hurry Hiko-chan." He looks back to see the person who spoke, a boy his age wearing dark clothes and a mask.

"Who are you?"

"Or you'll never see Nagato again."

"What? Get real; I can see Nagato anytime I want!"

"Like right now? He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up, you won't recognize him anymore.

"You don't know the first thing about him. We'll always be a team. You trying to pick a fight?"

The boy walks towards his desk picking up a picture of Yahiko and Konan. "Aw grow up. Is that what you call friendship?" He drops the picture before stepping on it, shattering the glass and angering the young Keybearer. "You'll never know the truth unless you go out to find it for yourself. I mean, what the hell could you know when you're stuck here, looking at only what's in your tiny world?" He summons a portal of darkness and walks through.

Yahiko looks down at the wooden Keyblade, before making a move. "Nagato!" He rushes out to see his friend. Coming out the church he spots Nagato about to leave. "Nagato?"

"It's okay." He lightly punches Yahiko in the shoulder before summoning his Keyblade Armor. With it, he summons his Keyblade Glider and takes off for space.

Konan arrives at this time. "What's wrong?"

The younger apprentice sighs, before summoning his own armor. He then activates his glider and takes off. "Sorry Konan, but I gotta go after him!"

Later on, after three misadventures and incidents, Yahiko appears in a desolate wasteland chasing after the guy. He dismounts his Keyblade Glider and faces him. "Alright, it's time you talked!"

"Oh? Is little Hiko-chan getting an attitude?" says the boy in the mask.

"Why did you say that? What did you mean Nagato would become a different person?!"

"What did you think I meant you idiot?" He steps forward. "It's exactly as I said; the Nagato you know will be long gone, forever."

"Yeesh, and you call me stupid. That's the dumbest, baseless thing I've ever heard!" he retorts.

"Dumb and true are interchangeable. As for baseless…" He stops just in front of him holding his hand out, before summoning a Keyblade of red and gray color. It strangely has chains on it and two eyes on the key part and the guard.

"A Keyblade!" Yahiko summons his Keyblade backwards, taking his stance.

"Good. Let's see how you've improved."

- End Omakey -

The XXIX Keyhole: Blast Away! Hollow Bastion Arc 1

Traverse Town...

As Yugi brings in some coffee, Kaiba examines the Gummi piece he received from Naruto. "Yeah, this is indeed a Navi-G. Wait here and I'll install it." The silvery white billionaire takes off to work on the Gummi ship.

Naruto yawns as he backs away. "So, Hollow Bastion… We're getting close to stopping Maleficent's plan… Although, I haven't seen Akatsuki in a while."

"Yeah, what happened with those guys?" asks Goofy.

"I know two turned to darkness, but then there's the rest. They haven't shown up yet, so I'm a little worried they're up to something," says Naruto as he looks over to the side. "I'm going to take a nap and calm myself down."

Naruto goes over to a bench and sits down. He then lies back with his eyes closed. Donald looks at him saying, "He's carefree."

"I think it's fine if he is," says Goofy. "Frowning isn't going to help out out there."

"True..." The duck looks aside and sees Elsa standing over in a corner watching them. "Elsa?"

"Oh, hi. How are you guys?" she asks as she comes closer. "I was wondering how preparations were for leaving."

"Kaiba still has to install it into the Gummi Ship," Donald tells her. "We still got some free time until he does."

The queen then looks down at Naruto. "And Naruto…"

"He's just tired. Been worried so much about things," says Goofy. "Apparently, one of his friends has been taken by Sasuke to Maleficent."

"You know Sasuke?"

"Sasuke is Naruto's friend from his world, or, was his friend," Donald remarks. "What's more, one of the people taken was his friend Hinata."

Elsa nods. "Yes. I was here when it happened. He took us on that pirate ship with her and the others, and left me and Wendy behind. I want to help, but there's nothing I can do here."

"Don't be ridiculous! We'll all be there to save everyone, including Anna!"

"Hold still, right there." He hears this man, this familiar man.

"Please, whatever you want! I'll do it, but please spare my son's life!" He recognizes that voice too.

"As if I would harm him." He sees the man raise his hand, and place it on the little baby's chest. A dim light shines from the infant.

"Leave him alone!" A new girl appears to dispel the darkness around him. Hinata?

Naruto opens his eyes in a shock. "What was that?"

"Naruto?" Elsa goes over to him. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Just had a weird dream." He holds his head and moves over to his friends. 'Hinata? What were you protecting me from?'

Goofy looks down. "Hey look!" Kaiba makes his way over with Yugi. "Kaiba!"

"Kaiba!" Naruto walks over. "Is it good?"

"You're ready to ship off. Just make sure it gets back in one piece." Kaiba then takes off.

"Naruto, we're all counting on you. This may be the last battle," says the King of Games.

"Yugi, why don't you come with us?" Naruto asks him.

"I still have to stay here and protect the people from the Heartless. This will all be on you." Yugi pats his shoulder before he prepares to take off. "Thanks for your help."

"Right. We'll make sure this work out." Naruto turns his eyes over to his friends. "Let's get going guys! Time to stick it to Maleficent and Sasuke!"

"Yeah!" Donald, Goofy and Elsa pump their arms up. They then head off to the Gummi Ship, which takes them off into space.

Up in space, they fire up the navigation system. A world pops up on the monitor in front of everyone. Naruto looks at it and asks, "What's that?"

"It must be Hollow Bastion," says Goofy as he looks at it.

"Guess Hook wasn't lying. Set course for Hollow Bastion!" Donald sets in the coordinates and the white ship takes off.

As they dance through space, Naruto takes a moment to look out the window. Elsa comes up to him. "Naruto, can I ask you something?" she asks him. Seeing this take place, Donald and Goofy leave to give them privacy.

"What's up?"

"While I was in Traverse Town, I got to know some of your friends." This gets his attention. "And, I got to know a little about Hinata, the one who was kidnapped."

"Huh? How did you know?"

"Sakura." Elsa brushes her hair aside. "She told me how she likes you."

"She did?"

"Do…" Naruto feels himself tense up as she moves closer. "Do you feel the same for her?"

"Huh?" Elsa sits down beside him. She brushes her hair aside, almost hesitating.

"Do you feel the same about me?" His heart skips a beat at that. Just like with Hinata, he doesn't know what to say. How to answer her feelings. He didn't even know it was possible!

"I'm sorry," he says to her. "I… I don't know how I feel for either of you."

"I see..." She sighs as if getting what she wasn't expecting. "Then, I have a chance don't I?"

"Eh?" Elsa leaves a kiss on his cheek. His face turns redder than his Valor form as a result, and he watches as she takes her leave. 'Whoa.'

Elsa on the other hand is also bright red. She's to embarrassed for doing that. 'Why did I do that?! I can't believe it!'

Eventually, time passes by enough for them to get closer to Hollow Bastion. Heartless ships appear in their trajectory and block their path. "Prepare for battle!" The lasers fire and shoot at the Heartless, breaking and blasting away their opposition.

Eventually more appear before them, creating a junction in front of them. Donald gripes, "We'll never get past them!"

"Horobi no Burst Stream!" Naruto hits the white button, and fires Horobi no Burst Stream to annihilate all of the ships in their way. "Let's go before more show up!"

They fire up the exhaust and jet forward towards Hollow Bastion. Eventually they stop upon the colossal world, and enter within. The Gummi Ship hovers over a waterfall like area and beams them down. It's at this point they take in their surroundings:

The area they've come to is surrounded by water, with bubbles hovering atop the shallow places. Up ahead is a towering waterfall before a floating platform of blue stone, but beyond that is much more impressive. At the farthest end of the waterfall appears a mighty castle, a veritable bastion of darkness and clouds overhead in the bleak magenta skylight. At the center of said castle is the Heartless emblem, signifying their target.

"Naruto, ready for this?" asks Donald as he looks up.

"Yeah. Hey, you still think we can fly?" Naruto jumps up and floats a little. "Seems like the effect's diminishing."

"Let's not rely on it then," says Elsa before she steps forward. Her shoes transform into boots along with her dress into a more combat outfit for her to move around better in. She uses her ice magic to also make a path up the floating stones. The trio follow her safely as they make their progress, noticing some of the stones are even flying up and down.

"This feels like a video game level," says Naruto before reaching a certain height. He sees a strange sight up ahead, one that catches his immediate serious attention; Ichigo is confronting Sasuke.

"So, no vessel, no help from the Heartless; how the hell did you get here?" asks the Uchiha as he stands atop a platform with greenery growing on it.

Ichigo feels tired, but doesn't show obvious signs. "I simply believed, that's it. When Inoue was taken, I followed her into the darkness. I got lost even when I found you, but eventually I got right back on track. No matter where I headed into the darkness it led me to where I needed to go, which brought me here. And I can feel it, her reiatsu in that tower. I'M TAKING MY FRIEND BACK NO MATTER WHAT!"

"Try it!" Ichigo disappears in a flash and slashes at Sasuke, who catches him and flips the Soul Reaper to the side. As he recovers, the Uchiha rushes in and impales his abdomen with a black Chidori.

"STOP!" Naruto shouts as he and the others make it to the scene. Sasuke looks back and throws Ichigo towards him. As he catches his friend, the Uzumaki speaks, "Sasuke, stop this now!"

"I knew you'd make it. It's all as he transcribed. I've been waiting for you Naruto," says Sasuke as the darkness around him grows. "You've always been my rival, trying to reach my level and surpass me, keeping me on my toes as I trained for my revenge..."

"Sasuke..." He places Ichigo down and steps before everyone.

"But this is where it ends. I may not be able to use the Keyblade yet, but neither will you." He holds a hand out, releasing a dark wave that Naruto forces himself to block with the Keyblade. The sword is surrounded by the dark aura and enters his hand.

"What?" The same darkness captures the now screaming Donald, Goofy and Elsa. "Guys!"

"I saw your fight with Jafar. He was able to use magic to keep the Keyblade from you. I figured I can do the same with a little more effort." Sasuke then stares into his eyes with the Mangekyou, locking on.

"Wha-" The dark pulse enters his body, forcing him down to his knees. "What's going on?!"

"You're really pathetic; you didn't know that when infused with mana, the Mangekyou gets stronger. I just sealed away all your magic simply with a glance. So simple."

Sasuke then walks forward, kicking Naruto in the chest when he's close enough. The weakened Keybearer grabs his foot however, but gets blown back by the second. "You really didn't think I wouldn't notice, that every time you were in trouble you needed someone else's help to get you out of it. Your faith in your friends is your weakness.

"I'll be waiting up in Hollow Bastion. If you somehow manage to break free of this, then I'll be there to put you down for good." He then disappears in a flash, taking the Keyblade and Naruto's friends with him. Naruto groans before holding himself up, looking over at Ichigo.

"Ichigo, get up," he says as he helps him up. "We have to get going; our friends need us"

"Naruto?" He manages to focus on him, ignoring the bloody wound in his stomach. "What are you doing here?"

"Same are you. You found her, right?"

"Yeah." Finding a second wind, he tears off some of his kimono and wraps around his wound. "Let's go."

The two step up the stone steps to reach the highest platform, which floats right where the waterfall's peak is. A beige, hovering elevator appears in front of them, and upon entering it, it takes them over the glades of ocean miles.

As they look down at the sea before them, they see the castle up above. The ominous building gives them a dark feel of its interior. As soon as they reach the front gate, they see Heartless in their way. But unlike the usual variety, these are Shadow and the Darkballs he faced in Wonderland.

"Great. These guys always get stronger!" He runs at them and throws a punch, which goes through. "Crapbaskets!"

The Shadow kicks him to the ground. "Without magic I can't fight the way I'm used to!"

"I got this!" Ichigo draws his sword and slashes through them, their dark fumes dancing off his black blade. "Next!"

The Darkball flies in at him chomping, forcing Ichigo to block with his blade. His injury takes over as he holds back. 'I won't be able to destroy them all at this rate. It can't be helped!' His long sword turns white from the tip down, causing a powerful wave of energy to splash off him.

In the smoke Naruto stares in shock at Ichigo's transformation, as he slices through the Darkballs with ease. One remains before being cut in half by the white sword. Ichigo then comes out of the smoke in his new appearance.

He now stands normal as usual, but a curved white horn extends from the left of his head with a red line coming down his left face spread down his body. The white in his left eye has turned black with the iris yellow. "Ichigo, you okay?"

"Yeah. This is just me using more of my power." He steps forward holding where his wound is, towards the large door leading inside the castle.

"I wish I could use my powers..." Naruto follows after, clenching his heart when he feels a sharp pain. A faint glow forms in his eyes as he walks, unlike before.

Naruto tries to pry open the door, only to fail. He then turns to Ichigo, who charges his attack. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

His attack blasts the door, but fails to destroy or even go through it. "What is this thing made of?!"

'If I had the Keyblade, I'd be able to unlock it...' "We'll have to find another way in." He turns around to follow down the path, which leads to closed gates and a ledge. As they walk down the path they see the beige cage elevator, that they take down to the lower levels.

As it takes them, Naruto asks, "What am I gonna do?"

"Can't you fight without it?"

"I might have been too reliant on the Keyblade. And without magic I can't even fight him!"

"So? I don't give a pig's knuckle!" Ichigo draws his smaller sword. "I'm just surprised you didn't give up, but I had a feeling you weren't going to."

"No. I'll take the Keyblade back and my friends, and save those girls from Maleficent!" The elevator stops and takes them to a level above the water. He sees the bubbles from before. "… Hmm. Why not?"

"What?" Naruto jumps into the bubble, and it splits up to take him away underwater. Seeing how it worked, Ichigo jumps into that one, and comes up inside the castle's dungeon.

"Another maze..." Naruto and Ichigo continue forward, moving up and down through the oddly designed dungeon. Eventually they hit a new location that leads to a dead end. "Aw man."

"Hmm..." Ichigo looks along the walls and sees a switch. "I wonder what this does..." The Soul Reaper pushes, and a locking mechanism moves in the walls. "We just unlocked something."

"Maybe it's that door!"

"That'd be too convenient."

"A little blind hope's gotten me this far!" They turn around hopeful before seeing a shield stop in front of them. A Heartless appears on the other end of this lion faced shield before it moves forward to bite them. "Look out!"

Ichigo knocks Naruto aside to take the hit, slamming back into a wall. The Heartless' eyes turn red on the shield, which may be its real face, and exhausts flames. Naruto grabs the arm holding the shield to give Ichigo space, but gets thrown back. "Naruto, stay back! You'll just get in the way!" The Heartless then breathes an icy mist trapping Naruto. "Naruto!"

Naruto screams out feeling the ice on him, trying to move from his spot. "I'm not giving up that easily! So many people are counting on me to win!" An orange aura shines off his body. It breaks up and resists the ice hitting him, a strong light glowing in his eyes. This same aura resembles the one of his drive forms.

"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-baachan, Shizune, Aladdin, everyone's waiting on me to save them! To set everything right!" As he thinks about the important people in his life, the aura brims so brightly it repels the ice.

Not giving the Heartless a chance to recover, he jumps in and knees it into a wall. "Now!"

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo wipes out the Heartless, leaving nothing but its floating heart behind. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Naruto stares at his clothes, which have turned. If anything, the main color of orange remains but his clothes have a style similar to his old clothes. There's also the symbol of the spiral where they usually go. "Whoa. This feeling, I remember it."

"Remember what?"

He holds up his hands into a Tiger seal, and smiles. "Come on, let's go. I got a little surprise for Sasuke up there." They backtrack their movements to where the maze started, and use the bubbles to move to the other side.

Elsewhere…

In the castle of Hollow Bastion, Maleficent stands on a stage over top of Hinata. The other six princesses can be seen in capsules unconscious: Orihime, Jasmine and Anna on the right side, Aurora, Snow White and Cinderella on the other.

"Oh purest of hearts, reveal to me the Keyhole!" As she chants, the six lights of their hearts fly out and enter a giant Keyhole in front of her. She cackles triumphantly as the end nears.

Back to Action…

After fighting their way back to the top, they come before the locked door from before. Naruto opens it with ease now, as if it was never locked. "Good."

Together they step in and travel through the large hallway, coming before the Entrance Hall. The twin steps circling the water fountain invite them. Ichigo says, "Be on your guard. This is where everything gets harder." He holds where his wound was, having been healed thanks to his Hollow Powers.

"I was born ready." As they step in, Ichigo stops briefly sensing something. He looks back to see an anaconda wrap around his left arm. It drags him back into the hallway, where Naruto reaches out for him just as the doors shut. "Ichigo!"

"Good, everything's going to plan." Naruto turns around to see Sasuke. "And it seems you awoke a new power."

"Who was that?"

"Orochimaru." This surprises Naruto. "Maleficent recruited him shortly after I left. I don't know how, but he now works with her."

"Where are my friends?!"

"You'll get them back as soon as you leave."

"Not without Hinata, Anna and the others!" he demands.

Sasuke's appearance makes a drastic sudden change, turning into a blue outfit with the dark red Heartless symbol. "Dark Firaga!"

He fires his attack, but instead of taking it Naruto jumps to the side quickly. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Four clones of him appear and rush Sasuke, who skillfully avoids their attacks.

"Kage Bunshin?"

"I don't know how, but I guess this form does something a little different; instead of mana, I can use chakra again!" Two of the clones turn into swords for two others, who fight back against Sasuke.

"Enough of it!" His Soul Eater sword rips through the transformed blades, slicing apart both the clones. He then fires a Dark Firaga at the other two, leaving only the original left. "Chakra or not, you're nothing without your friends. I bet it was a struggle for you to get here without Ichigo."

"I'm ashamed you can say that after all we've been through. After all this time you haven't changed a bit! You're mean to me, you treat me and everyone else like crap, you hate everything for no reason, and you don't care enough to do something about your own world disappearing into darkness!" As Naruto begins his rant, Sasuke dashes in a flash and kicks him into a pole. "You're always pushing me around, or pushing me away! It's a wonder what Sakura ever saw in you!"

This causes a twitch on Sasuke. "Then why do you try so hard? I've pushed you away, fought you, called you names, abandoned you and reduced you to this!" He slashes Naruto's right cheek and grabs him by the collar. "I told you before, that you could never understand my loss! How the hell can you call me your friend?!"

"BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO, THEY FORGIVE EACHOTHER!" This is accompanied by a punch to the face. Sasuke stumbles backwards a bit. "Friendship is never onesided; it's not about what you've done for me lately, it's what you mean to me! You've been in darkness too long, otherwise you'd realize how much it's destroying your heart. You've forgotten what you've been trying to do, that now you're stuck as someone's lackey. What exactly does this have to do with Itachi or your family?"

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Sasuke swears, dark energy releasing from him. "Kingdom Hearts will fix everything! With it I can restore my family, return everything back to the way it was, and I'll finally be happy! I don't care how deep I dive into the darkness; unlike you who's afraid of it, it won't destroy my resolve!"

Naruto stands up, forming the Rasengan. "Are you really going to fight me? Even if you defeat me without the Keyblade, how will you defeat Maleficent or the Heartless without it? How will you win without a weapon?"

"I just realized something; I don't need the Keyblade." This answer takes the Uchiha offguard. "I have a better weapon, and that is my heart."

"Your heart?" Sasuke forms the Chidori around his sword and lunges at Naruto, who counters with the Rasengan. "What good will that weak thing do?!"

Sasuke's weapon begins to cut through the power of the Rasengan. Even so, Naruto struggles to fight back. "Although, my heart may be weak, it's not alone. My forms come from others! Valor is from Goofy, Wisdom is from Donald, and this one! This one comes from everyone I've met! My heart has found a home with all the friends I have made, growing with every new experience! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine! As long as they remember me, our hearts are united!"

A bright light shines in the remains of the Rasengan, blocking the Soul Eater. "So go ahead and say my friends are my weakness, for even that's okay to me, because I don't need a weapon; MY FRIENDS ARE MY POWER!" With a final roar, he swings as hard as he could and repels Sasuke. The dark user corrects himself and faces Naruto, surprised to see him standing tall.

In his hands, Naruto wields the Keyblade in its Kingdom Chain form. "What?! But how?! I sealed it away!"

"If my faith in my friends is a weakness, your overconfidence is yours."

Yusei: Well now, we come to part 1's ending. Pretty soon he'll be hunting down Phantom and that other guy.

Claire: Kurt Zisa.

Kenshin: As a special thank you to everyone, there will be three chapters this month: the first is this one, the second is the 13th, and the third will be Christmas.