A/N: Hit with a sudden inspiration, I'm trying to type up the next chapter. Please don't blame me if this chapter is super-short because I'm doing this on the run.
Only certain reviews will be replied to at this point. I'll regard your presence at the end if you don't get a formal reply.
NewSon: I didn't change Naruto's outfit. It's still the same, but thanks for the suggestion.
Calimora: There is something that nobody in the original Naruto series can do, but the ToS characters can.
Arganaut: No, I'm not. Kyûbi's chakra will be like it is in the series except the part about losing himself after drawing the fourth tail. The difference is the fact Yondaime is in the seal. You'll see.
Tellemicus Sundance: I don't plan on keeping them there for very long. They do have a purpose, though. I'm only going to tell you one thing: sometimes you have to strengthen a person to bring them down.
Kitsu Maharu: Now, now, (drinks cup of tea) don't kill him, now. If you do, many people will be after you and I don't think you want to go through something that troublesome. You got some nice tea, there. I'm going to have to watch my intake.
IcecreamMakingGuy: Oh man, I have to explain this again, don't I? I'll just copy and paste my last explanation. "No, it's Yoko. "Yo"in Yoko can be written with the Kanji for mystic. "Ko" can be written with the Kanji for fox. The Kanji for "Ko" can also be pronounced "Kitsune" alone, but with the Kanji for Mystic in front of it, it sounds like Yoko. If you don't believe me, watch the Japanese version of the first episode when Mizuki says that Naruto is the Kyûbi or the 77th episode when Naruto has a flashback of that day during the Naruto vs. Gaara fight. He says, "Kyûbi no Yoko."Thanks for trying to clear that up, though." I hope you get it now.
X-275 Strike Fisha: It's a spoiler for the end of the game. If you don't want to know, STOP READING AND SKIP TO THE STORY! I won't spoil anything within the story itself on how he gains the wings or the journey of Regeneration.
Spoiler Warning: Lloyd gains his own set of wings at the end of the game before Lloyd and Colette both wield the Eternal Sword to revive the Great Kharlan Tree. If you're reading this, you probably know this. I'm writing this story post-game.
Becky Yuy: Wow, I really thank you for your thorough checking of my grammar. Thanks for pointing that out. For a junior in high school, I have to fix that. I didn't mind the rant at all and this is one of the most useful reviews I've received in a while! Thanks!
I thank everyone that reviewed this time around. I apologize for the fact that I'm a little time-constricted so I don't have the time to rely to everyone.
Here's the 23rd installment of "Cheerfulness Incarnate" (working title if necessary).
Disclaimer: Okay, Mary, don't forget your booster seat and your pillow. Benny, set next to Tommy. Juniper, stop picking on Ronald! Joseph, don't sit on Harry!
(Walks away from excessively large van)
OG: Anyway, I know you know what I'm about to say. If you excuse me, I have a van full of animal friends to transport.
(Chapter Start)
Shino was currently hiding in the bushes as one of his bug clones were hit with a couple of poisoned daggers.
"Now, block the puppet's joints when the clone dissipates. I'll go plant a female from your colony onto the puppeteer. One of you males will have to lead me to him when it is time," Shino said to his bugs.
As planned, Shino's bug clone exploded into bugs and some of the bugs were thrown onto the puppet. Then, Shino appeared behind Kankurô and secretly placed a bug on him as Kankurô blocked a punch.
"You made a clone and snuck behind me to attack. Nice strategy," Kankurô said as he jumped to another branch.
"You are strong in mid to long-range combat. I figured that your weakness would be your weak close-range combat skills since you must keep your concentration on controlling the puppet," Shino said in response.
"You know a puppeteer's weak spot well. But now, I'll show you what a puppet master is capable of. That is, I'll show you the true power of the combat puppet Karasu!"
Reattaching the chakra strings, Karasu charged forward. Shino prepared to dodge another blade coming from Karasu's arm, but that's not what happened.
The mouth opened, sending a bomb of some sort towards Shino. Shino guarded with his bugs as the sphere made impact.
(Meanwhile)
"Okay, what do we do once we catch up to the Sand kid?" Sakura asked as the group jumped/flew through the forest.
"Actually, I haven't thought about that," Naruto said. The rest of the people present sweat-dropped at the statement.
"What do you mean, 'I haven't thought about that yet'?" Sakura asked, annoyed.
"Well, I don't really know how much damage the Sand bastard can do. Also, I don't know how much I can do with this little…WHOA!"
The branch under Naruto cracked and broke, sending Naruto falling about 50 feet. Naruto tried to catch himself on another branch on the way down, but that branch broke also. Breaking 10 more branches (painfully), Naruto finally made a somewhat rough landing upon the ground. Naruto suddenly realized something.
"Wait a second, why did I say that? Shouldn't I be the stupid one? Has my mask really fallen that far?"
"Maybe it has. You're going to have to be more careful about keeping your true abilities a secret."
"Yeah, you're right. But, how do I keep it a secret now? I've damaged my disguise too much for it to be recovered."
"Well, maybe you should work with what you have. I mean, everybody knows that you're more than you seem to be. Prove them right, but not too much."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I'm saying is that you should be intelligent, but not too much so. You can loosen your original mask, but, at the same time, keep it secure by not revealing too much. Hide more of your ability, but feel free to use some of it."
"Hmm, that just might work. Thanks, Inner Me."
Naruto reentered the real world as he heard laughter from somewhere. He looked around to see who was laughing, but he couldn't sense anyone else there except the group he was traveling with. And they weren't laughing. Naruto shrugged and stood up. He jumped into the trees and saw Pakkun sniffing. The dog pointed them towards Sasuke and they were on their way again.
(Meanwhile)
Sarutobi was enshrouded in a veil of darkness as he blocked the relentless attacks of the two previous Hokage. At the first opportunity, Sarutobi used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to create two other clones. Performing seals, he called out into the darkness.
"Now, Orochimaru, I will show you a technique that even you do not know!"
Orochimaru's voice pierced the darkness and it sounded as if Orochimaru was surrounding him.
"Really now, Sarutobi-sensei; enlighten me on this. What don't I know?"
The three Sarutobi's were deep in concentration as the death god appeared behind him. The god then lifted its left hand and allowed the beads to wrap around it. The hand was then covered in black marks as it plunged its hand into the blue dummy in front of it. Sarutobi groaned.
"So, this is the Death God that only the summoners can see. It is truly fearsome."
Sarutobi mentally commanded his clones to go out and capture anything they can find. They soon grabbed onto two figures and awaited the technique's activation. The darkness shattered and the two captured figures were brought into view. The legends of the village, the First and Second Hokage, were captured and scheduled for execution.
(Meanwhile)
Flashing through the seals, Sasuke activated the Chidori for the third time that day. Although Sasuke was warned to not use it more than twice, he had to win this battle. Sasuke was battered and bruised by the raccoon…thing that Gaara turned into. Actually, it was more of a half raccoon, half human creature thing. He was covered in sand above the waist, but the lower half of his body was still human, if he was human in the first place. Who would've thought that it would be so powerful, though? Sasuke knew that the Sand genin was tough, but he sure as hell didn't expect this!
"I must win here. No matter the cost, I will prevail!"
The two charged forward, Gaara swinging his chakra enhanced arm and Sasuke is wielding the sword that was the Chidori. Halfway through the attack, Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his arm. Wincing in pain, his focus broke for that one moment, allowing the Chidori to fade. Noticing this, Sasuke forced it back out. A large ripping sound was heard as a flash of light surrounded the area.
The two boys stood on opposite tree branches, waiting for the other to move. Sasuke looked over his shoulder just in time to see Gaara's arm drop. Gaara screamed out in pain and the laugh turned into a devious laugh.
"You are very challenging Uchiha Sasuke. But, it seems you're at your limit."
Indeed he was. Just as Sasuke heard that, he felt the throbbing pain of the curse seal followed by the immense exhaustion of severe chakra depletion. He knelt down onto the tree branch and collapsed. He was still conscious, but he couldn't move. Gaar thrust hhis hand forward to ensnare Sasuke when…
"Sasuke-kun!"
A red flash appeared and jumped in front of the hand. Gaara moved the hands path into a tree to see that a pink haired woman was captured within his hand.
"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted, panicked at his teammate's interference.
"I see that there are bugs here to interrupt our fight. We'll have to take care of that."
Gaara squeezed Sakura with his hand and Sakura groaned in pain. Naruto jumped down in front of Sasuke as he began to stand again.
"Back off, Gaara," Naruto said, his voice dripping with malice.
"Do you wish to fight me, Uzumaki Naruto?" Gaara asked; curiosity and amusement evident in his voice.
"Actually, no, I don't. I'm just here to defend my village. If you want to destroy my home, you'll have to go through us."
"Really now? Who else will help you?" Gaara asked.
Naruto smirked and pointed upward.
"They will," Naruto said as he looked upward. "LET HIM HAVE IT!"
"JUDGMENT!"
"CYCLONE!"
Beams of light burst from the air and struck him. A tornado formed around him as another red flash ran up to him and caused balls of light to rise from the tree branch he was on. The multiple attacks thrust Gaara into the air as the red figure sliced down on the Sand genin sending him falling to the ground. Naruto jumped into the air and quickly formed the seals for Denkô Dangan no Jutsu. Charging all 5 shots into his finger, he shouted around him.
"Okay, let's finish this!"
A thousand clones appeared from the trees around Gaara and Hinata burst from the bushes, attempting to move Sakura to safety before Naruto unleashed his attack.
"Kage Bunshin Raidanketsu: Jûkei (Shadow Clone Lightning Combination: Death by Firing Squad)!"
Flashes of light appeared from all sides as the clones unloaded all five shots into Gaara. 1000 clones and 5 shots each made 5000 shots, all of which hit Gaara from a different angle. Gaara was pummeled deep into the ground by the shots as he felt the pain of the shocks. Looking up, he saw one more Naruto charging up a large shot. Naruto (the original) fired the incredible bolt of energy into the Sand genin as the bolt pierced his sand armor. A large cloud of dust rose from the wreckage as Naruto landed on a nearby branch. Everyone paid close attention to the hole, Naruto ready and waiting with his wind kunai, Lloyd with his swords drawn, and Genis with his kendama, muttering to himself as he casts another spell. Colette was currently helping Hinata take Sakura to safety.
Naruto then heard a demonic laugh as the dust began to settle. Everyone in the clearing saw a figure in the dust, but one thing was certain.
It was definitely not human.
A burst of wind came from nowhere, knocking everyone off balance and sending everyone flying, except Naruto, who was struggling to hold back the wind with his kunai.
"Uzumaki, it seems that I'm in the mood for blood. Since you're the closest thing here, I guess that means you. MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE!"
Naruto stepped back and tried to hold his ground as a sandy raccoon charged toward him. The winds intensified as Gaara grew closer. At most, there was about 5 seconds worth in distance between them.
4 seconds. The winds intensified as Naruto pumped more chakra into the kunai.
3 seconds. Gaara laughed evilly as he sped towards his target. Sand is gathering around his body as he rushes forward.
2 seconds. Naruto can get a good look at Gaara as the genin that resembled a sand boulder with a head drew closer.
1 second. The wind kunai shatters, leaving Naruto absolutely defenseless. Naruto braces himself for the impact of the boulder.
Impact.
CRACK! SNAP! BAM! CRUNCH!
Naruto is sent flying. He sees the forms of the others who were with him as they watch in horror. Sakura is unconscious and Sasuke watches in shock. Naruto goes through about 20 trees before coming into a stop on a relatively large one. Naruto is barely able to move as he hears a voice.
"Suna Shuriken!"
Packets of destructive sand fly towards him. Unable to react, Naruto takes the impact as he feels the distinct pain of a broken arm. Naruto attempts to rise, but his body feels too heavy to stand. Naruto is able to see Gaara at this point. He is now the size of the trees he broke on the way there and he was extending his hand towards Naruto.
"Raiton: Denkô Dangan no Jutsu!"
Naruto widens his eyes as he sees Sasuke firing a semi-powerful bolt towards Gaara's extended hand. Gaara faces Sasuke as he speaks to Naruto.
"Hey, Naruto, rest for a bit. I'll take care of him."
Gaara only smirks and speaks to Sasuke.
"I'll deal with you momentarily. First, I'll take care of the Uzumaki."
Gaara thrust his hand forward as Sasuke rushed toward his teammate. Running slightly ahead of the hand, Sasuke dove toward Naruto and snatched his right arm, the arm that wasn't broken. The left arm hung limply in the wind, and Naruto was cringing in pain.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Naruto asked as he was dropped onto a tree limb about 300 feet from Gaara..
"Helping you out. I refuse to see one of my friends die."
"Friends?" Naruto thought.
Ignoring the pain in his arms, Naruto smirked and brought his left arm next to his right arm.
"Sasuke," Naruto said, getting his attention.
"What?" Sasuke asked; his Sharingan active.
"Watch closely."
Naruto formed five seals with great difficulty.
Ne, Tori, Inu, Tatsu, Hitsuji(Rat, Bird, Dog, Dragon, Ram)
Naruto clutched his hand on this forearm, splinting the broken bone. Just as he was sure that it was positioned correctly, Naruto's hand shone a distinct green. After about 2 minutes, Naruto removed his hand and started to move his left arm as he clutched other parts of his body, healing them. Naruto stood unsteadily and smirked at Sasuke, who was looking at him in shock.
"That was Kôsei no Jutsu," Naruto said, "It'll heal any minor injury and some moderate injuries. I can move my arm now, but it still hurts like hell."
Stepping forward, Naruto began to speak.
"Now, it seems as though Gaara won't regard you until he's finished with me. You stay back and try to recover. The Denkô Dangan uses a lot of chakra, especially the first time you use it."
Naruto jumped into the air and landed on another branch a little ways away from Sasuke. There, he pulled out a scroll from his weapons pouch.
"I think it's about time I tried these out."
Naruto opened the scrolls and pulled out his swords. They were lighter than regular katana, but Naruto made them durable as well.
(In Naruto's mind)
"Well, the blades finally come out to play, huh?" Kyûbi said to no one on particular as he observed the battle and the boy's actions. "This should prove quite interesting."
"You think so? I think it can become a lot more interesting than this," a voice called, catching Kyûbi's attention.
"Really? What do you mean?"
"Simple, I can help out a little bit."
Kyûbi widened his eyes at the comment. "You can do that?"
"Why not? I'm perfectly capable of aiding him in battle. There's not really much else to do here other than screw with Naruto's thoughts of you-know-who, but I'm not willing to do that in the middle of a fight."
Yondaime disappeared from Kyûbi's sight and Kyûbi gave a small smirk as he looked back towards the battle.
"So, once again, you face one of us. This will be very interesting indeed."
(Outside)
"Are you sure you know how to use those? Hayate hasn't really taught you that much," the mysterious voice said.
"Ah, shut it. I'm thinking here," Naruto thought in reply.
"Uh-huh, sure; you have no idea how to fight this guy, do you?"
"Of course not, that's why I'm trying to think of something. By the way, if you haven't noticed, you're not helping!"
Naruto thought of ways to attack Gaara when he finally showed up, but none of them were good enough. He needed to incapacitate Gaara fast if he even wanted to stand a chance.
"Hey brainiac, have you thought of slicing off the sand armor? If you want to take out the redhead, you got to get to him. I'm pretty damn sure he buried in there somewhere."
"How the hell do I do that? I'll be sliced to bits before I can even get close to the guy!"
"Use the swords, dumbass; if you can focus and cut through wind with a kunai, you sure as hell can do it with a sword, it just takes more chakra, stupid."
"Yeah, well chakra is something I don't have at the moment, if you hadn't noticed."
"Since when were you such an idiot? Did you forget about the demon inside you?"
"…"
"Ha, got you there, didn't I?"
"Shut up."
Naruto called upon the demon's power. He questioned the fact that Kyûbi was chuckling when he gave it to him, but he didn't really pay attention.
He was a little busy trying to find a way around a big sandy mountain in front of him.
"Holy shit; that guy's huge!"
"No shit, Sherlock; you just noticed?"
Naruto gulped before leaping up onto Gaara's head. Naruto brought the blade down onto Gaara's sandly head, to feel it bouncing off the hard surface. That unfortunately, lost Naruto the element of surprise since Gaara quickly retaliated with a gale force wind.
"Fûton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!"
Naruto began to hear the voice again. Naruto listened carefully, seeing as he had no other option or plan for this situation.
"Use the blades to cut through the wind. When you do, you will have a fraction of a second to move forward of move out of the way before the wind restores itself."
Naruto took this advice and slashed, with difficulty, through the wind. Doing so knocked him off balance, but Naruto was able to move his arms.
"Spin your body like a top and focus chakra into the blades to create a temporary shield. It's kind of like the Hyûga's Kaiten, but with swords."
Naruto performed that maneuver, also with difficulty, but succeeded, making Naruto able to move without being harmed by flying debris.
"Continue spinning, slowly gliding your body within range of Gaara. When you get about 5 feet away from him, destroy the shield with a large gust of wind and allow the bits of the shield to embed itself within the armor. Then, stab your sword into one of the holes the shards create before it closes up."
Naruto groaned as he moved slowly towards the Jinchûriki. Gaara increased the force of the wind, making Naruto groan as he strained to move towards the ninja. After about 5 minutes, Naruto finally got within range and blasted through the shield around him with a potent gust of wind. Momentarily, the wind around him stopped as the shards were propelled deep into the armor of Gaara. Naruto then took both of his swords and stabbed them into the two nearest holes, gaining a roar from Gaara. Naruto was then smacked away into the trunk of a nearby tree.
He was really dizzy from the maneuver and he began to complain.
"What the hell? That only pissed off the bastard! Now I'm dizzy and I have yet another injury!"
"Well, it worked, see?"
"What would've happened if it didn't work?"
Naruto looked up to see the double-vision image of Gaara's sand sliding off of him, revealing the Sand ninja, clutching a wound in his side. Ignoring the double-vision, Naruto took the chance to knock out the redhead.
Smashing him in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, Gaara fell to the ground, face up, unconscious. Naruto panted heavily as he looked down at his foe. Naruto began to sit down to rest when he felt something.
"What was that?"
"I have a bad feeling about this," the voice said.
"This is going to be fun to watch," another voice responded.
(End)
A/N: Well, I hope you guys like this. I'm currently playing an everlasting game of catch-up in my classes in my new school (4 AP classes) and I may not update as often. I'm sorry this chapter's so short. I'll try and put in the next installment when I have the time. Well, Happy Halloween to you all and a Happy Birthday to me! (It's sometime during the month of October, like I said on my profile. I'm not telling you exactly when though.) I'll see you next time!
By the way, I apologize to Arganaut, VenomLord and Tellemicus Sundance for not reviewing to your respective stories for a while. I'll get right back on that.
Arganaut: I like your idea about Auron's sickness, but be very careful about how you explain it. It has to make sense. You can't say anything about …say, a sickness because of the dimensional shift without it making sense.
Tellemicus Sundance: I don't know, maybe, you'll teach Naruto another technique since you already taught Naruto the Rasengan.