So starts number…..what was it, 5? 6? Of my series…..Well I got a new idea. Im gonna write in the dates that I started and finished so this is 3 AM …..um….. march……21, yeah. So the giant plot twist is coming that will change both the enemy and the goal of the heroes, not that they really had a goal before, but you get the point. So with out further procrastination,
Two Selves, Two Worlds
Presented by Jordan Santacruz
A.k.A. Japord713
It was a bright sunny morning which matched the mood at the cottage/workshop precariously perched on the cliff overlooking the vast, sparkling, ocean. There was a slight breeze that many birds of different colors sailed on overhead while a couple of butterflies danced on the plain in between the house and waterfall. If you were to watch the house, which is very unlikely because of all the everyday wonders that were taking place away from it, you would see a golden-cross, two tailed fox with white fur on his chest, tail tips, and lower face, walk out. He stretched slightly and took a second to close his eyes and just breathe. He then walked back into the house and closed the door. After a few minuets time, he came back out wearing a light shirt and thick blue-jean pants. He also had a camping back pack that looked almost filled. After he had taken a few steps forward, a cream-colored rabbit, wearing an orange tang-top and similar jeans, stepped out and followed him. She had a similar book bag, but it looked filled to the brim. The fox looked around once and ran down the slope of his house's perch and across the plane of grass, stopping at the water fall. She quickly followed.
"Ok, Tails, so what did you want me to see?" She said, almost brisling with the cuteness and naivety that comes with her age.
The fox used his thumb to point at the waterfall, and said, "This waterfall is pointing east. When the sun comes up, the light hits it and when the light is just right-"
As if on cue, the sun was in the exact spot to shoot a beam of light straight at the waterfall. It glimmered as if someone had dumped diamond after diamond at the top and they all fell with the water. As the light reflected between the droplets of water as they fell, several rainbows appeared in and around the waterfall, furthering the experience.
The rabbit was speechless, totally enthralled by the beauty of the seen taking place in front of her. She closed her agape mouth after the light had moved and took another pause.
"You can see this every morning?" She finally asked, still looking at the waterfall. (yeah, it was that nice, people, stay with me)
"Well, yeah. There's a whole bunch of stuff like that all through the mystic ruins," He answered.
"Are we going there to camp?" She asked.
He smiled. "No. We've already explored all through the Ruins, plus we don't want to deal with Eggface. He never moved his base from there." He liked it when she had a lot of questions and he had a lot of answers.
"Oh." She said, downcast.
He saw this and felt he had caused it, but instead of just apologizing, "But hey, where were going was just discovered and barely explored, and we don't know what we'll find there." He said.
"Really? Tails what do you think we'll find there?" She asked, now recast at the mystery of their destination.
"Its supposed to be these ruins of an ancient civilization, even older then the echidnas!"
He said, trying to raise her excitement as well as her spirits.
"So this place could have stuff just like this waterfall?" She asked.
"As far as we know, it could have a bunch of waterfalls like these!" He said with a smile.
She proceeded to laugh and sit down and he sat down next to her.
"But you know," she said, "I don't think any of them could be as beautiful as this one"
"Oh? And why is that?" He asked.
"Because-
"YO! LOVEBIRDS!"
They both blushed for a second and looked behind them. Sonic was calling them with his hands cupped over his mouth.
"Were about ready, but we still have tah convince Amy to just bring a back pack instead of her whole room.
"What about the other guys?" Tails called back, still slightly annoyed that Sonic had interrupted his moment.
"I helped them pack! We had some cloths laying around," He answered.
"Why aren't they out here yet?" asked Tails. At this point, he just wanted to give Sonic a reason to leave.
"Turns out that one with the bubblegum for hair is a lot like Amy. Her friends are trying to pry her from the guest room."
Yeah, Tails had figured that. Its like which ever god/gods is/are in charge took those girls from the same womb. That's when he saw two pink blurs from behind Sonic.
Sonic turned, feeling the ground shake, as the two pink blurs ran up and gave him a sucker punch. Sonic fell on his back.
"Bubblegum for hair?" Said Sakura "I'll have you know I'm the hottest girl in the town I'm from!" She seemed to be in her enraged state
"Bring my whole room?" Yelled Amy just as mad "Are you saying that I can't ruff it?"
Both Tails and Cream didn't want any unnecessary bloodshed, so they ran in between Sonic and Amy and Sakura, with their arms spread to their sides.
"Please don't hurt Mr. Sonic. He doesn't know what he's saying," Cream started.
"Yeah. He's just trying to cover up the fact that he likes girls like that!" Tails finished, half trying to tease Sonic, half trying to save him.
"Hey what's that-" Sonic started, but was interrupted by Sakura and Amy both yelling-
"KAWAII!" They then hugged Tails and Cream while saying how cute they looked when they tried to protect some one and how they should make a great couple and such. As you can imagine, Tails was annoyed. He hated when people did this kind of thing to him and Cream had said something similar before hand.
Tails pushed both Sakura and Amy away.
"Ok, ok. That's enough. Lets just go," He said. He took Creams hand and started walking away.
"Thanks," Cream whispered.
"No problem"
TIMESKIP-1
Train Station
Sonic, Amy, Tails, Cream, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke (almost forgot he was here!), and Kakashi, were gathered at the train station. Amy had gotten in a heated discussion with Sonic about which one could win, a chili-dog or a ball of twine, in an extreme gear (Sonic riders) race. Tails was talking to Cream about when to schedule her next flying lesson with him. It turns out; Cream has just as much natural piloting potential as Tails.
Naruto was not hiding his excitement and asking Hinata a million questions about what she thought about were they were camping. Sakura had actually got in some words out of Sasuke, and was having a slightly less one-sided conversation as usual. Oh yeah, and Kakashi (do I really have to put this?) was reading.
Naruto then looked over and asked Tails, "Neh, Tails? What are we waiting for here anyway?"
"Just the train" He answered, eager to keep his conversation with Cream.
Naruto thought for a second "I think I've seen one of those before. It's a big metal thing that blows out black smoke as it goes on a track."
Tails couldn't believe his ears. It's like whatever world these guys came from was still in its steel age. But before he could answer, Hinata said:
"Ano,……..Na-Naruto-k-kun? Do y-you know ……..wh-wh-what we-we're riding in?"
"Yeah, see, they can only run on tracks," He said, pointing at the metal bars on the ground a few feet from them, "And they're big and metal and if you're not careful, you'll get flattened by their big wheels!"
"Not exactly" Tails interjected. He continued, seeing their faces, "Trains were like that back when people didn't know what air pollution was. Now, trains are much sleeker and most are powered by electricity. The one we're taking is magnetic powered so it hovers without any wheels. Where did you see that train anyway?"
Naruto thought "Snow country" He said, thinking it was perfectly well known where that was.
Tails was about to say something, when the train pulled into the station.
After much assurance to Naruto that something that "Skinny and fragile" will stand against enemy ninja attacks, and much promising that no enemy ninja even know about this world, they all got on, took seats and resumed their conversations, much to Hinata's gratitude.
TIMESKIP-2
In front of woods.
"Well, here we are," Said Tails, rechecking the map.
They were in front of a dense coniferous forest with many different kinds of trees. It was now that Naruto had his first sense of familiarity.
'Must be because the village is inside a forest like mine' He thought, putting the feeling aside.
Sonic then looked over at Tails. "You said we needed to take a vertical road, right?" He asked.
"Yeah, there should be one starting just up ahead. If we take it, it should lead us to a clearing close to a ruined town." Tails answered, knowing the "guests" wouldn't know what a vertical high way is, he turned around and said, "You'll see. Just try to keep up."
Naruto took this as a challenge and smiled. 'No way I'm ganna fall behind, whatever this vertical road is!' He thought.
"Well, come on," Kakashi said. "We're not getting any younger,"
They walked in silence until they came to a large ramp-like, natural cliff side going straight down but it was relatively small compared to all the flat forest all around them. This narrow strip of land kept going through the forest while twisting and turning until it was out of view.
"Tails," Cream asked. "How hard do you think this one will be?"
"Pretty easy compared to other ones we've gone through. Don't worry. Just keep your eyes open and keep your speed up." He answered
"Wait, your not actually planning to take that path, are you? How are you supposed to get through the loops and turns?" Asked Sakura. Just looking at the road made her queasy.
"Its no problem. It almost feels like your flying!" Amy said, trying to reassure her new friend.
Cream nodded in agreement. "When we're through, you'll want to do it again! It's really fun."
'This might be a chance to test my theory.' Kakashi thought. "Alright team-7, treat this like a physical exercise. No chakra to stick your feet on the ground!" He said.
"What?! No chakra?! How are we supposed to get through the loops?!" Sakura yelled.
Sasuke didnt flinch.
"Heh. This doesn't look so tough. See you guys at the end." Sasuke said, in his usual, cool, demeanor.
Naruto growled. "Don't act so tough. I'm not ganna lose to you!" He yelled.
"Bring it on, looser!"
"Jerk!"
"Idiot!"
"Suck up!"
"Dead-last!"
Both of them leapt off the edge and started running along the path, totally dead set on beating each other, they didn't feel their weight decrees.
'Neither of them can run that fast back home! I was right.' Kakashi thought.
"Ah! Those jerks! There's no way I'm getting left behind!" Yelled Sonic to no one in particular, as he jumped off after them.
"Sonic! Wait up!" Yelled Amy, running after him.
"Do those two remind you of Sonic and Shadow?" Tails asked Cream.
Creamed giggled slightly before answering. "Actually, Mr. Naruto reminds me more of you"
Sakura pounced on Tails. "There is no way Naruto could ever be this cute!"
"Wha? Get of a' me!" Yelled Tails, struggling to get free "AHHHHH!" The first chance he got, he jumped down and started running.
Cream started laughing at Tails' fright endorsed speed and then held out her hand to Sakura.
"Come on" She said. "We can go together."
Sakura just looked at her with her mouth agape. This girl couldn't be more then six or seven, yet she hadn't complained or been a burden at all. No questions, just keeping up with her team. She could learn a few things from her, she realized.
Sakura took her hand and nodded as they jumped off together.
"Touching." Kakashi said to himself as he started walking down the slope. The way he saw it, this meant more time with his book.
'Team 7 knows enough to set up a decent camp by the time I get there.' He thought as he opened his book and started reading.
TIMESKIP-3
Running
The runners were grouped like this:
Sonic, Amy, Naruto, and Sasuke were up front. Tails, Cream, and Hinata were in the middle, And Kakashi and Sakura were taking up the rear.
Suddenly, Kakashi had a thought. He rushed up to Sakura and said:
"Sakura. Lets meet up with Naruto and Sasuke!"
At first, she was against it, and was going to complain, then she heard "Sasuke".
"Sasuke!" She yelled.
"I'll take that as a yes" He said with a sweat drop. They both jumped of and started using the huge trees above them, instead of the vertical road. Then they spotted Tails, Cream, and Hinata on the ground below them, going through the bungee obstacle were they'd run to the end of a ledge and get picked up and dropped by a long vine, and when it snaps back up, they jump off and reach the next ledge.
Sakura felt queasy again. She was thankful that Kakashi asked her to come with him.
With Tails, Cream, and Hinata:
Tails looked over his shoulder and saw that Cream was sweating heavily and slowing down. He could plainly see that her filled backpack was the cause of the problem. He quickly stopped himself and grabbed her arm as she was passing and stopped her. Hinata quickly stooped a few feet away and walked to them. Tails quickly asked her to keep running, saying he would help Cream. Hinata reluctantly agreed.
"Hey, Cream, let me take your backpack. You look tired," Tails said, caring as always.
"No –pant- No, that's ok Tails. Its fine." But just as Cream said that, her legs buckled from under her and she fell to the ground.
"Why did you pack so much anyway? That's not like you," Tails said as he knelt beside her and offered her some water from a canteen.
After a large gulp of water, she looked up at him and said, "Amy said she wanted to impress Mr. Sonic by packing light but still wanted to take more things."
Tails filled in the blanks.
"Cream!" He said, "Amy is using you! You really shouldn't let her do that!"
Cream just looked down. "I…..I'm sorry," She said lowly.
"Its really not your fault. You always try not to hold anyone back so that its easy for people to take advantage of you. I need to talk with Amy, though," He said after taking off her backpack.
Cream looked at him again. "Please don't be mad at her. I'm the one who-"
"You see? There you go again!" Tails said with a smile. "It's fine to think of others first, but once in a while you should think of yourself,"
"Like when?" Cream asked.
"Like now. You can barely stand, so I'll carry you to the campsite. As for the backpack, it's Amy who put you through all this so its only fair that she come back and get it. Besides, I'm sure Amy wouldn't want her precious stuff lost in the middle of a dangerous, unexplored forest, would she?" Cream giggled at this but then hesitated.
"But you really don't have to carry me, do you?" Cream asked.
Tails smiled. "I want to. You deserve it after having to tug that backpack all the way here." Tails scooped Cream bridal style, and started to run before Cream could protest.
Cream blushed. 'Tails is carrying me. ME!' Cream practically yelled in her mind.
Tails looked down and saw the red on Cream's face.
"Huh? Am I making you uncomfortable? Cause it's really ok and-"
"No! I mean, no it's alright. I'm ok," Cream said, showing conflicting emotions then what she was just saying.
Tails just laughed for a second. "Man, Cream. Your kind of weird," Cream looked downcast. "-But I like people like you," Tails finished.
Cream gasped. She looked up and saw that Tails didn't see her frown. He wasn't just being nice. He was telling the truth. Cream just giggled and tucked her head closer into Tails' chest, looking really cute in the process.
(I just added this in because I thought I haven't been putting in enough fluff. Tell me if this sounds good to you.)
Kakashi and Sakura had finally caught up with the three racing rivals and one obsessed fangirl/ vague love interest. They jumped down behind them and matched their speed.
Kakashi called out, "Naruto, Sasuke, the next time we pass water, use the water walking exercise. I'm taking off the chakra restrictions I put into effect. I want to test something, so remember, use as much chakra as you would in our world and try not to reduce speed!"
"Got it!" They yelled in unison as they continued their race.
"Water walking exercise?" Sonic and Amy asked in unison.
"You'll see," Said Kakashi, smiling.
As the runners kept running, they quickly closed the distance between the planned campground. Tails, still carrying Cream, was still behind and the racers up front were nearing a small lake that the vertical road went around. As they got nearer, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi jumped up and started running on the water. That's when the confusion started.
Sonic looked at them again after stopping and rubbing his eyes after seeing them once. They were running on water. WATER! He, of course thought that by "water walking" would have something to do with water, but walking on it was impossible! Wasn't it?
He looked over his shoulder and saw Amy looking as astonished as him. He followed her gaze to see that she was looking directly at Naruto. Sonic looked closer at his feet and saw that Naruto was doing something even more amazing then running on water. He was running on air! Sonic had to ask them about it, so he started running again. Amy then followed, jogged back to reality by his running away.
Kakashi looked back on his squad. He knew he didn't need to, as he's seen them all do this dozens of times, but just call it a teachers responsibility. Anyway, he saw something that really shouldn't have been there. Naruto wasn't walking on water, but air! Naruto hadn't noticed yet, though.
"Stop!" Kakashi practically yelled. He abruptly stopped as his students halted a few feet away.
"What do you want? Hey! Did you guys get shorter?" Naruto asked.
"That's why I stopped you guys. Would you please direct your attention to-"
Kakashi started, but Sakura cut him off.
"Hey! Naruto's floating!" She yelled.
Sasuke looked, and it was true.
"How the hell are you doing that!?" He asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I'm just doing what I'd do back home: Channel chakra to my feet and walk."
"How is that possible, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Well in theory, it could happen. Since the chakra in your feet attracts water molecules like a magnet into a compact, almost solid state under your foot. So, you could probably do the same thing with air molecules. But air molecules are smaller and much less in quantity. Therefore, it would take much, much more chakra to do."
"Wait, but we're all doing the same exercise. Why is it that Naruto is the only one floating?" Sakura asked.
'Uh-oh. I'm sure that it's the Kyuubi's seal's side effects, but I'm sure as hell not going to them about all that.'
"Well, Naruto isn't the best at chakra control. He probably splurges his chakra in large amounts until he can float." Kakashi thought and then lied.
Naruto then dropped off his "air pads" and landed on the ground.
"What happened?" Asked Sasuke.
"I don't know. I just, sort of, lost it." Naruto answered with a confused look.
"I think I can explain that too, but I'll save that for when we get to the campsite."
And they all ran off.
Oh GOD!!! This is my worst chapter ever!!!!! The sheer lack of detail and big words! ARG!!! Oh, well. I actually had important things on my mind when writing this. (Spring-break as opposed to school.) But hey. At least the plots moving………..Oh yeah. I finished this chapter on April…..3rd? 4th? Something like that. Whatever. It's also kind of short, but also really important. Kakashi's theory will pave the way for really cool fight scenes, so bear with me on this chapter. Tootles!