Chapter 2
Disclaimer, I do not own Naruto nor the Skulduggery Pleasant Series
I would like to make it known, that aside from being my very first try at this writing/crossovering/whatever the hell I'm doing and that this story was done at a flight of fancy after far too many days without sleep. May contain OOCness, AU and other applicable nonsense
Note: I made Naruto look like a girl because reasons
On with the story
[At the Hibernian]
Kit, we have a problem
'You don't say Kurama!'
While Naruto's body slept comfortably on a very soft bed, his mind was on other matters. Specifically the nine others in his mindscape, well technically there were ten, but that other one can't talk all that much as of yet.
The moment he was seated on the black harried girl's lap—Valkyrie, he thought her name was—he had to struggle to stay awake, somehow he lost almost, if not all his strength—not to mention height—when he emerged from the portal. He was instantly plunged into his mindscape the moment the weird contraption they entered started moving.
Laughter. That was the first thing he noticed, Kurama, Shukaku and Chōmei were openly laughing at Naruto's childlike form, and the others were at least attempting to stifle their laughter.
Naruto glared openly at all of them, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. Of course it would have been more intimidating if he wasn't the same height he was when he became a genin.
"What?" Naruto muttered, irritation obvious in his voice.
"Oh nothing," Kurama replied in amusement, "Besides the fact that you look adorable."
"What Kurama mean is that we have a problem," Gyūki cut in, before Naruto could make a remark.
"What exactly is it?" Naruto asked, "It can't be that bad."
"We're have almost no chakra left," Matatabi supplied.
"I was wrong, what do you mean no chakra."
"Exactly what I mean, we lost a great portion of it when we emerged from the tunnel."
"Don't worry kit, it's still there and it's filling back up, with the way things are you should be up and running in a day or two," Kurama said, resting his head back on his paws.
Great, he knew he felt weaker the whole time when he encountered the dark haired girl and the skeleton in nice clothing. Naruto would never admit it, but seeing the skeleton talk awakened his fear of ghosts, all he could do was shiver slightly at the memory.
"What are we going to do now?" Naruto asked.
"For now, we wait, and if you do wake up, I suggest you ease up on you jutsu usage for a while."
White. A familiar colour, it even smelt familiar. Naruto hated hospitals. Not exactly the ideal place he wanted to wake up in, but it was a touch better than waking in the middle of nowhere.
Good thing he was still in his clothing, which remarkably shrunk with him, it made sneaking out a lot easier. With some trouble, he eased himself out of the bed, stumbling as he got on his feet. In the end, having to resort to leaning on the walls for support as he made his way around.
Walking through the pristine halls, made him shiver at the overly sanitized smell of the place. That and for the fact that he was sure that he passed the same corridor twice. Then he heard it, voices, or rather shouting. Now normally, as a ninja, one would sneak into the area undetected, but Naruto isn't Naruto if he followed the norm, as he proceeded to walk where the noises came from.
As he came to a door, he saw a gathering of people and one particular old man yelling at the others. There was that skeleton, Skulduggery if he remembered correctly, and his apparent partner Valkyrie, along with people he didn't recognised or didn't know the name of, being the teenager with the spiky hair, the blond lady, the one with the scars, the tall muscled man, and of course the old man yelling at them.
"…not facilitate your battles. All of you, get out." With that the old man turned to move to the door, only to stop in mid-step when he caught sight of Naruto leaning on the door frame.
"…Um, hi?"
The silence was overwhelming. Not to mention extremely awkward. You could almost feel the tension in the air, it was kinda eerie.
"H-hey there," finally someone spoke, it was Valkyrie he noted, who took a small step towards him as the others watch intently, "How are you feeling?"
"…I'm fine," Naruto replied tersely, generating a small Gudōdama hidden behind him just in case things go way south.
"You might not remember m—"
"No, I remember."
"Oh."
Silence.
"What's your name?"
"…"
"My name is Valkyrie, Valkyrie Cain."
"That's not your real name," Valkyries eyes widened, the only sign that she was surprised by the accurately true response.
"No, but it's the name I've taken."
Naruto looked deep within her eyes, trying to find out whether she was trust worthy and so far he still hadn't detected any negative emotion from the girl.
"Naruto," he said.
"What?" Valkyrie replied, taken aback by the piercing stare he had.
"My name, it's Naruto."
"Well Naruto, we need you to come with us," she took a step forward with her hand outstretched, "Okay?"
Naruto stared wearily at her hand, inclined to accept since the dark haired girl had took care of him when he was still spooked by the talking skeleton, and thought, why not, before taking a step forward. Of course letting go of any support was a mistake, the leg buckling under his own weight, resulting in a rather quick meeting with the floor.
Naruto gave a started yelp, when he was lifted from the floor, his face flushing fiercely soon afterwards. It wasn't that he was being carried that had him blushing, it was how he was being carried. The tall blonde lady was lifting him up, via bridal carry. Sure he's used to his feminine appearance, but he drew the line at being treated like a damsel in distress.
"Heh, your right Val, she is cute." The remark had Naruto scowling at the one holding him, granted it would have been more effective if he didn't look so much like a tomato.
Wait, did she just say 'she' when she referred to me, Naruto thought dryly
Naruto may have missed the conversation the others had,—he was sulking about being referred to as a girl—since the spiky haired one took hold of Valkyrie's hand and promptly vanished. The redhead merely looked at the blonde lady with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know either." was the reply to the unasked question.
'You're almost back to half you chakra levels kit,' Kurama spoke inside Naruto's mind, 'when are you going to make a break for it.'
'Don't rush me,' Naruto replied in his mind, 'I just need the right time.'
'With how closely the blonde is watching you, there might not be a proper time'
"Hey, you okay?" Naruto straightened in his seat with a surprised jump, said blonde being the one that spooked him, "You looked upset."
The genuine sincerity on her voice shocked him a little. It's been a while since he had seen the good in humanity. After the Allied Shinobi Forces fell apart several decades afterwards, he had pretty much given up on other people and had secluded himself in his shrine in the mountains. This could be a fresh start with a whole new world. Maybe this could be a good thing
"I'm fine," he replied, grinning back at the blonde, who can't help but mimic the action, "I'm fine now."
'Wait a minute, where are my geta?'
End
That's all for now, hoped you like the ooze that poured from my head
Questions and Criticism are welcome,
Bye Bye now ^-^