No, I'm not dead. And I know it took a whole month for me to get this chapter out, but hey, I do have a life (kinda). Okay, I know some of you are wondering if there will be some type of pairing and you're going to find out. There is no pairing planned at this time. But I can tell you right now it won't, and never will be yaoi.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the author or owner of Naruto or Shadow of the Colossus. This is a work of fandom and I am in no way profiting from it.
"Italic"- thoughts
"Quotations" – normal speech
"Bold Italics"- jutsu
The Shadow of Kyuubi
Chapter 2
"Looks like no one's around," thought Naruto as he took off his backpack.
He was standing in an empty forest clearing outside Konoha as he pulled the sword from his backpack. Unsheathing it, he examined the keen blade.
"This is still so weird. Something doesn't feel right about all of this but… I have to bring Sasuke back, for Sakura-chan. For myself."
With his determination renewed, he stood and firmly gripped the hilt. He slowly pushed chakra into the blade like he and Kyuubi ha discussed. To his satisfaction, it began to glow blue. It then gave a slight tug, as if someone was lightly pulling on it. Nodding his head, Naruto pushed more chakra into it. The pull became stronger and seemed to be going southwest.
The blonde shinobi slung his backpack over his shoulder, strapped the sheath to his belt, and , with one last deep breath, headed southwest.
The cool morning air filled his lungs as he raced through the trees whose leaves were beginning to turn yellow. Naruto had always loved Fire Country in the autumn, but it wasn't until then that he realized how truly beautiful it was. But then again, losing something makes you truly appreciate it, or at least that's what they say.
And it wasn't just the scenery that he had missed during his training trip. His friends he missed the most, especially Sakura. She had grown like the rest of his friends in skill and maturity.
This made him think of his current situation.
"How am I going to explain this Sakura-chan and everyone else? Well, maybe they'll never find out. Yeah, I'll just make sure they don't find out. I don't think they'll be too happy to find out I've been talking to the fox."
He shook his head in attempt to clear. He didn't need to worry about that now. All he needed to worry about was getting the rest of Kyuubi's power so that he could bring Sasuke.
"This is strange," commented Naruto with a cocked eye brow.
He had been traveling for about an hour when he came upon something odd. It looked like a very small village with the buildings being made of stone. But it was mostly ruins now, a skeleton of its former self. What was strange was that the architecture of the buildings was like nothing like that of the rest of the country, even the extremely old structures.
"Wow, looks like no one's been here for ages! I wonder how many people know about this place?"
He walked slowly through the ruins, admiring its mysterious beauty. The thick stone walls and pillars were covered in moss and cast dark, intertwining shadows. The whole place had an aura of secrecy and possibly foreboding?
Naruto was sure it would have been a sight to see during its heyday, but now it was nothing, many of the sculptures broken and worn.
One that was still intact was one of a lion-like beast sitting on its haunches in a regal position. It was about as tall as Naruto and was the same color as the rest of the ruins. Instead of looking smooth like a lion's fur coat, the surface looked like thick armor. All of which was ornate, although a little worn.
But there was one particular thing that stood out about it: its eyes. They were completely black, they didn't even reflect light. It was almost as if they absorbed it.
He eased his face closer to the mysterious orbs. There was something just so amazing about them. Soon, Naruto's face was just few inches from them and he put his hand of the statues snout to stable himself.
And he saw it. It was just flicker, a candle in the darkness. But then it turned into a blaze and then an inferno. A flame of life.
He jumped back quickly at the sight of the illuminated eyes. That initial surprised turned into fear, if not awe, as the statue began to move!
"This can't be happening! It's just a statue!" he shouted in alarm.
The statue-turned-beast stood up and shook itself like a water-covered cat. It slowly turned its gaze to the shinobi, who was rooted to the spot.
"Maybe it's friendly…or at least won't try to kill me."
The beast lowered its shoulders and bent its back knees in a charging position.
"Or not."
Its shoulders surged forward as lunged at him. Thanks to his well honed skills, he escaped its attack, but barely.
He landed on its back and held onto the ridged armor. It began to buck furiously and he tried concentrated chakra in his hands in order to stay. But somehow it didn't help him at all and he was flung to the ground.
Naruto quickly pulled himself off the ground and formed his signature seal.
"So, you want a fight?"
The beast eyed him dangerously as it slowly walked toward him, like a predator stalking its prey.
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
Poof!
Four shadow clones appeared next to Naruto. One stayed with him while the others ran in different directions to confuse the creature.
Just as he had hoped, the creature quickly swiveled its head in multiple directions in order to watch all the clones.
The three clones then charged the beast while letting out a war cry. It bucked its body and lashed out with its claws in an attempt to take them out, but they were able to dodge the somewhat slow attacks.
Poof!
A clone disappeared as a stone paw slammed into its chest. Another poof sounded soon after that. The creature was about to take out the last one, but was interrupted by a very loud yell coming from the sky. It looked up just in time to see the real Naruto and another clone were coming down upon it.
"Rasengan!"
The rasengan slammed into the beast and there was a huge explosion that sent him flying back. Landing nimbly on his feet, he smiled in triumph. However, when the dust cleared, the beast stood completely unharmed!
A slacked jaw and furrowed brow adorned the teen's face. One of his most powerful attacks had done absolutely nothing! Thoughts of confusion and panic flooded his mind, enough so that he almost didn't notice his opponent about to head-butt him.
He tried to dodge the creature, but one of the menacing stone spikes on its face caught his left leg and hurled him into the air. His mind was drowned in pain as he felt his flesh torn by the spike. It was increased tenfold as he heard a cracking noise as he landed on it.
He had no time to think about it as he barely rolled out of the way of the charging beast. The wounded shinobi looked around desperately. He no longer cared about killing the beast, surviving was on top of his priority list. That's when he spotted a stair case leading to a stone balcony. A small, raised area like that would be the best place for him to make his stand.
He tried to stand, but pain shot through his left leg and it gave out.
"Why isn't Kyuubi's chakra healing me?!"
His hope dwindling, Naruto crawled quickly towards the stairs, having to dodge the hulking creature once again.
The crippled teen was almost to the top of the staircase when he heard it. The sound of stone hitting stone. He turned his head and gazed upon his predator readying itself at the bottom of the staircase.
For the first time in a long time, Naruto was truly terrified. His body was broken. He had nowhere to go. He was doomed.
The creature lowered its shoulders and launched into a sprint.
His instincts kicking in, he rolled to the side and off the staircase. However, he latched on to the edge of it to save himself from the ten foot drop.
The beast's momentum sent it onto the balcony and right into one of the small columns supporting the stone roof above it. The roof quickly gave out, smothering the beast in heavy stone. Due to the sudden weight, the balcony also collapsed.
A sigh of relief escaped Naruto's weary body as he hung onto the edge of the stairs. He closed his eyes and let a small smile grace his face.
"It's finally over."
His eyes snapped open at the sound of shifting rocks.
"No, it can't be."
But it was. From beneath the avalanche of earth came the creature. Much of its stone armor had become detached, especially on its back, and revealed a sod-like fur. It shook its body, as if covered in water, and instantly looked up at Naruto with those cold, hollow eyes.
Terror gripped his heart once more, but he clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to block it out.
The beast prepared to ram the wall holding up the staircase.
His heartbeat pounded in his head. His arms were on fire from having to hold on to the ledge.
The beast ran toward the wall.
"Sasuke."
The wall shuddered from the impact and the weakened shinobi lost his grip. But the beast did not hear the sound of a body slamming into the solid ground. It only felt the feet of a furious and healed ninja landing on its vulnerable back and taking grip of its fur. A ninja with slit-like pupils and crimson eyes.
It bucked and ran in a craze, but the shinobi held. He unsheathed the sword and forced chakra into it. A large, spiral seal began to glow on its back. He thrust the sword in to it with all his might. A jet of black blood erupted from the new wound. And the three after that.
Soon the creature stumbled, its energy gone, and collapsed. Naruto was launched from its back and with his eyes once again blue, landed in a heap. Blackness was closing in around him, but not before he saw his opponent begin to dissolve into multiple ribbon-like strands of chakra that flew towards him. They forced themselves into his navel; he let out a cry of pain and passed out.
Chapter End
I wanted to give you a taste of action and leave me a review if you think it could be improved. I'm not going to make any promises for the next chapter, only that it won't have little to no action and will focus on character development. Last of all, thanks to all my reviewers and readers. And no, I will not tell you to R&R.