Gahhh... This took forever. Or at least it felt like it. Not much action that takes place in this, but it was getting long, so I'm cutting Wonderland in half. Wiv a knife! Mwhahahah!! Okay, anyways, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto OR Kingdom Hearts. They belong to their respective owners.
A Ninja and a Keybearer
Chapter 7: Wonderland
Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at the smiling blonde in the back of the gummi ship. His arms were behind his head and he wore his signature foxy grin. "So when are we going?" he asked.
"N-Naruto," Sora sputtered out. "Wha- what are you doing here? Weren't you…?"
The shinobi just sighed and looked off, a slight pout showing. "I wasn't going to just stay in Traverse Town while you had all the fun. I told you before; I have to help the keybearer. Plus, if by any chance I do find Sakura, I can rescue her, or Sasuke, I can pulverize him!"
"Did you're world disappear, too?" Goofy asked.
"Yup," Naruto answered.
Donald cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "I would like to point out something." The duck paused and looked straight at the blonde. "Just how did you end up in the ship?!" he yelled.
"Henge no Jutsu," Naruto said simply. Silence was all that answered him. The blonde sighed yet again and explained. "Transformation technique. I can transform into almost anything with it."
"So what did you transform into and when?" Sora asked.
The blonde shinobi just grinned.
-Flashback-
Naruto stomped into the hotel room. "Those idiots. Who do they think I am? You know this is all your fault, right fox?"
"Psh. Not to mention your precious Yondaime's fault," the fox snorted.
"Yeah, but if you hadn't have attacked Konoha, I wouldn't have had to be cursed with you being sealed in me. But now I can't help Sora or rescue my friends. What am I going to do?"
Kyuubi sighed. "I thought it would be obvious. Just stow away. Simple as that."
"How?"
"Transform into something they're going to bring along. Duh!"
"Whatever." Just then, voices could be heard outside the door. "Uh oh." And with that, Naruto jumped up and crouched upside down on the ceiling, hoping not to be spotted, and just in time, too. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked in and laid they're weapons on the bed before leaving to prepare to ship off.
Naruto grinned. This was getting better and better. Hopping down, the shinobi picked out the smallest thing on the bed, which just so happened to be Donald's mage staff, and transformed into an exact replica.
Now, all he had to do was wait…! 'Crap.' In his mind he could hear the fox snickering. Everyone who knew him probably would be if they knew his situation. It was a commonly known fact among the Konoha Genin; Uzumaki Naruto had NO patience.
"Hey, Kyuubi?" he asked, trying to sound nice.
"What?" came the half-hearted reply.
"Can you-?"
"No."
"Can you please, please, please-?"
"No."
"Darn it fox! Let me talk!"
"...No."
"Can't you do something cool to entertain me?" Naruto quickly got out before Kyuubi could protest.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Please?"
"…No, brat. Now leave me alone." And with that, Kyuubi disconnected their telepathic link.
"Stupid fox," Naruto muttered under his breath, just as Sora and the others came back in.
-End Flashback-
An awkward silence occurred. Naruto had told them all, excluding the part with the Kyuubi in it, and was waiting for some praise of his brilliance.
"You mean my brilliance," a voice growled in the back of the ninja's head.
Sora and Goofy shared a look of speechless amazement. Donald however was not so happy.
"YOU TRANSFORMED INTO MY STAFF!?" the magician started ranting. "HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE-!!"
"Relax, duck," Naruto said almost pouting while pulling something out of his kunai pouch. "I still got it." Donald caught the object that blonde had thrown at him, and indeed, it was his staff. But instead of cooling him down, it only made matters worse.
Sora and Naruto looked scared as Donald started a long, wordless rant, complete with quacking and high pitched screaming.
"Don't mind him," Goofy said. "We're headed to'ards another world!" Everyone followed his point finger and saw a red and pink checkered sphere in front of them. A castle sat proudly on the top, surrounded by hedges cut to look like hearts. On the bottom was a small cottage that looked quite comfortable.
Donald immediately calmed down and looked directly at the two boys that were staring wide eyed at the sight. "Eh-hem…" he cleared his throat trying to get their attention. "I said, eh-hem!" he quacked out a little louder. Still neither boy took notice of him. "HEY!!"
"I ain't deaf you know!" Naruto shouted, holding his ringing, sensitive ears.
"Then don't act like it, Blondie," Donald muttered under his breath.
"I heard that, wise guy!"
"What do you want, Donald?" Sora asked, breaking into what would become another fight.
Donald cleared his throat again and looked between the boys. "I'm going to tell you a few rules that every new traveler needs to know."
Naruto sighed. "I know all these already. Don't insult another country's culture, no killing anyone unless asked to, don't draw attention to yourself, don't disrespect the country's Feudal Lord, or, especially, a Kage..."
"I meant GUMMI traveling," Donald interrupted. Naruto just grinned his foxy grin. The duck rolled his eyes and continued. "We can't let anyone, and I mean ANYONE, know we're from another world."
"Yeah!" Goofy agreed. "We gotta protect the world border!"
"Order," Donald corrected rather loudly. "If you do, that'd be considered meddling and could corrupt all of history as we know it."
"That's a lot to happen by telling someone you're from another place," Sora commented.
Donald sighed. "Just don't let on that you're from anther world, 'kay?" Everyone saluted.
"Alright!"
"Hai!"
"Okie dokie!"
A small voice suddenly sounded from behind them. "We're approaching Wonderland!"
"Gak!" Naruto jumped. "What was that?"
"Oh, hello!" the voice sounded again. The blonde ninja looked around frantically. "Down here!" Looking downwards, Naruto saw a cricket dressed in a coat and top hat. In one arm he held a book, and on his other, an umbrella. "Cricket's the name! Jiminy Cricket!"
"Uhhh… hi. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha."
"Oh! So you're from the Shinobi Nations, are you not?" Jiminy said.
"Yeah! I am!" Naruto beamed.
"Well, welcome aboard!" the cricket chirped, taking off his top hat in a most gentlemanly form.
The hole seemed to never end. All around them, clocks ticked as they fell. Finally, some light flooded the scene. Naruto seemed to be floating on his back, arms behind his head, as if he were stargazing. Goofy was in much of the same pose, only on his side with his eyes closed. Upon seeing the ground coming up, Sora and Donald quickly righted themselves and landed on their feet. Naruto and Goofy weren't so lucky.
Getting up from his face plant, the orange ninja saw a most peculiar sight. "Look! A rabbit!"
Donald turned to Sora. "Is he always this random?"
Sora's eyes widened. "No! Look at it!" Indeed, the rabbit was a strange sight.
He was adorned with a little red vest and looking at a large watch and running rather hurriedly. "Oh my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He panted for moment, but did not slow his pace. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there!"
After he ran out of sight, Naruto grinned. "Let's follow him!" And before anyone could protest, the blonde had run down the tunnel, following the rabbit.
"We really need to get a leash for him," Donald grumbled.
Sora tried his best not to laugh. 'A leash? On a fox? Oh the irony!'
The trio found their blonde escapade arguing with… a door. "Common! Let me in!" the ninja whined.
"Go away and leave me alone!" the doorknob yawned. Immediately, he started to snore. Naruto just sat on the floor and pouted. Walking over to the bed that was against the wall, Sora noticed a hole behind the foot. One swing from the keyblade and the bed folded into the wall, revealing a rabbit's hole.
"Hey guys over here!" Sora yelled. Upon seeing the keybearer's excitement, the duck, dog, and ninja walked over.
"Well, lookie there! It's a hole!" Goofy stated.
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Donald grumbled.
"But we're too big to fit," Sora sighed.
Naruto just turned to the door. "Hey! Sleepyhead! Let us in!"
The doorknob peeked an eye open and frowned. "Why don't you try the bottle?" he muttered, motioning to two bottles that appeared with a poof of smoke on the table. Naruto ran towards the table and looked at the bottles. 'Which one do I try?' he wondered. Taking the blue one, the shinobi sipped a small portion of it. Almost immediately, he started growing until his neck was bent so his head wouldn't crash through the roof.
"Gahh!!" He yelled. "What's happening!?"
"Take cover!" Goofy yelled, running as fast and as far away as possible, closely followed by Donald.
Sora hurried over to hide under the table and picked up the blue bottle Naruto had drank. "Drink me?" he read. Turning the bottle around the label read, 'One makes you large…' Looking up at the other bottle, he took it down. The label read, '…and one makes you small.' "Hey, Naruto!" Sora called up to the giant shinobi, handing him the red bottle. "Try this one!"
Taking the small bottle into his large hands, Naruto took a sip, and instantly his size changed back to normal. "Much better! So if I take another sip from this, I should get smaller." Sora nodded.
After Naruto took another drink, Sora took his turn, then Donald, and Goofy. "Now we can fit through that little hole!" Goofy said, pointing at their destination.
And with that, the group found themselves once again in the pitch black. But only for a moment. A bright light blinded them as they walked through the hole and found themselves in what looked like a courtyard, complete with hedges that served as a wall.
Two guards stood by the entrance, which didn't seem all that unusual, except for the fact that they were cards. In fact all the guards were cards! And every one of them were either spades or hearts. Ahead of them, stood what looked like a defendant's box before the judge's chair. In the box, were two people facing their backs toward Sora and the others. One of them had on a blue dress and long blonde hair held back by a black ribbon. The other was slouching and had on brown pants, a fishnet shirt, with a green jacket over it. His hair was held up in a spiky ponytail.
"Hey look! It's the white rabbit!" Naruto pointed out.
The rabbit in the waist coat ran up a long set of chairs and blew into a trumpet before calling out, "Court is now in session!"
"I'm on trial? But why?" exclaimed a sweet voice, obviously from the girl.
"How troublesome," someone else muttered, probably the boy.
"Her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!"
Looking up the judge's chair, the boys could see a rather large and ugly lady with a small crown upon her head and a fan that resembled a heart in her hand. She looked at the two figures that were in the defendant's box.
"Hey. Wait a minute," Naruto mumbled to himself. That black pineapple hair looked oddly familiar…
"Well, it's obvious," the Queen of Hearts said suddenly, "that these two are the culprits. There's no doubt about it. And why?" she paused, and immediately, her eyes blazed cruelly at the two accused. "BECAUSE I SAY SO! THAT'S WHY!!"
"That is so unfair!" the little girl cried. The boy just sighed.
"Well," the Queen of Hearts continued, "Have you anything to say in your defense?"
"Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" the girl said, pointing an accusing finger at the woman.
"Look lady," the boy sighed, "I don't even know her. How could I be in league with her? This is such a drag." He closed his eyes and shook his head, like idiots surrounded him.
'That voice!' Naruto thought.
"Exactly!" the girls said. She crossed her arms and frown at her accuser. "You may be queen, but doesn't give you the right to be so… so mean!"
"SILENCE!" the queen roared, scaring the girl. The boy pushed her behind him and he glared up at the woman.
"This is so troublesome, but who do you think you are scaring little girls like that!" he growled out. "Queen of Hearts my butt. More like Queen of Heartless."
'That couldn't be him… could it?'
This only succeeded in making the woman even madder. "You dare defy me?" she yelled.
"Guys, we should help them out!" Sora suggested.
"Yeah, but the-" Donald started, then faltered.
"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be considered muddlin'?" Goofy finished.
"Meddling!" the duck quacked out.
"Oh yeah," Goofy chuckled. "And that's against the rules!"
"What do you think, Naruto?" Sora asked blonde, but the shinobi was too interested in staring at the boy to notice him.
"The court finds the defendants…" the queen started, "GUILTY AS CHARGED!!" The girl gasped. "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…"
The boy turned his head and looked away. Naruto gasped when he saw the face. "Shikamaru!"
"What?" Donald asked.
"Off with their heads!" the Queen of Hearts cried.
"No, no! Oh please!" the little girl pleaded.
Just as the cards started making their way towards the pair, two voices yelled out.
"STOP!!"
"Hold it right there!"
"Oh no," Donald muttered.
Sora and Naruto ran up to the defendant's box, Goofy and Donald following closely.
"Naruto?" the boy said, baffled.
"Who are you?" the woman in the judge's chair asked, leaning forward. "How dare you interfere with my court?"
Naruto ignored her and ran up to the boy and the girl.
"Excuse me," Sora said, stepping forward. "but we know who the real culprit is."
"Uh-huh! It's the Heartle-!" Goofy covered his mouth, catching his slip of the tongue just in time.
"Anyway," Sora said, trying to take attention from Goofy's mistake, "they aren't the ones your looking for."
"That's nonsense." The queen tapped her heart shaped fan impatiently on the chair, looking utterly bored. "Have you any proof?"
Sora hesitated.
"Heck, yeah!" someone cried out. "I know this guy!" It was Naruto and he was pointing at the boy. "He's too lazy to do anything except play shoji, sleep, and watch clouds!"
A vein popped out the boy's head. "Thanks a lot, Naruto," he said sarcastically.
"Any time, Shika!" the blonde grinned, placing an arm around his shoulders.
"So, wait. You guys are from the same… place?" Sora asked.
"More like another world," the boy grumbled. "Naruto, what is going on? Who's he and where are we?"
"Shikamaru, shush! I'll fill all the details later, but that's Sora, Donald and Goofy. I've been traveling with them ever sense… that storm." Leaning forward, the blonde whispered into the boy, Shikamaru's, ear. "They're from another world, too, but we can't let anyone know. Got it?"
Shikamaru sighed. "Keeping secrets are such a drag." Naruto grinned his signature foxy smile.
She was being ignored. No one was paying attention to her. And that was something the Queen of Hearts would not have! She gave a flick of her wrist and immediately the guards walked over to the stand and took hold of the little girl. It wasn't until she gasped did the boys noticed that she was being locked up in a golden cage.
"Hey!" Sora yelled.
The cards headed towards Shikamaru who let them take him away without a fight, mumbling that fighting was too much of a drag. "Gawrsh, he's kinda lazy, ain't he?" Goofy stated, somewhat surprised.
"You have no idea," Naruto muttered. "Hey lady," he yelled up at the Queen of Hearts, "let our friends go!"
Not being called by her proper title was a real blow to the crabby woman, but she decided to hold her temper, although it was as plain as the nose on her face (that was in fact turning red) that she was mad. Not that Naruto really cared anyways.
"I will let them out… after you bring me evidence of their innocence. If you fail… then it's OFF WITH ALL YOUR HEADS!!" she yelled. The boys unconsciously grabbed their throats at this statement. A barely audible 'troublesome woman' was mumbled out, but ignored. The queen smoothed out her hair and composed herself before saying, "You can gather as much or as little as you want. Report back here when you're ready."
The gang nodded, their agreement. Donald and Goofy had started their way to exit when Sora called out to them. "Hey guys hold up! I want to see something first."
Donald grumbled under his breath, but walked over anyways. Walking over to the golden cage, Sora crouched down so he was at eye level with the little girl locked in it.
"Who're you?" she asked.
"I'm Sora."
"The name's Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Well, I'm Goofy, and that there's Donald."
The girl smiled. "My name is Alice."
Someone sighed next to her. "Nara Shikamaru." The shadow user was in another cage close by. He was leaning against the bars and looking up at the clouds. Over all, giving him the lazy atmosphere he greatly deserved.
Sora turned back to Alice. "Don't worry, we'll get you guys out."
A look of relief washed over her face and her blue eyes sparkled. "Oh thank you!"
"But where can we find evidence?" Donald asked.
"The Cheshire Cat I met in the forest may know something. But be careful-"
"Hey! Get going!" the guard by the cages called out. He'd had enough of their chitchatting. "No talking to the prisoners!"
As the boys turned to leave, Shikamaru called after them. "Hey, Naruto! I know it's a drag, but make sure you use whatever there is of your brain! Dying right now would terribly troublesome."
Naruto grinned. "Sure thing, Shika!"
"Good luck!" Alice exclaimed while they were heading out the exit and into the forest.
Huge lily pads met the group. In fact it looked like a giant forest, much like the one surrounding Konoha, making Naruto feel a little bit closer to home. But the forest wasn't the only thing that met them.
A pink and purple striped head suddenly appeared and bounced in front of them. It had huge grin plastered on its face, big enough to put Naruto's own trademark one to shame.
"Gah!!" the blonde screamed. Everyone took a step back as a body appeared standing on the head. Jumping down, the body picked up it's pedestal and put it on its shoulder, showing the form to be a pink cat with purple stripes.
"Wh-wha-what are you?" Naruto stuttered out. All he could think about was ghosts; a secret fear that could have him hiding under his covers for the rest of the day.
Sora pushed past the stuttering blonde and walked up to the cat. "I was wondering if you could answer us something."
"The Cheshire Cat knows everything," he replied. "All you have to do is avoid getting confused."
"You're the cat?" Donald quacked out.
"Indeed!" he purred.
"Ah-yuck!" Goofy said. "Then maybe you know where we can find the-"
"Evidence?" the cat interrupted.
"Yeah!"
"There is four boxes hidden through out this world," the Cheshire Cat told them. "Three of them are a cinch to find. The last is a bit harder. The evidence you seek will be in the boxes… or are they?" While he was saying this, the cat had started to disappear. Before he vanished completely, he added one more thing. "To trust or not to trust. I trust you'll decide."
Meh. I though that was a good of place as any to stop. This one was kinda boring, but the next one will be cool! Naru-chan gets a shiny new weapon! :D
Four boxes contain the evidence they need to prove their friends' innocence. But can they get them in time? Meanwhile, a strange new weapon has appeared. It's wielder has been chosen. But we must remember one thing, when you turn on a light, a shadow is made.
NEXT TIME: Guilty Until Proven Innocent!
