Ignisha: Chapter 4 is up and running...!

Of the Past: Vampires and Foxes

Chapter Four: Crossing

It has been days since Jiraiya decided to unlock the seal a little bit. That time was a literal nightmare. After resealing the Kyuubi again, Naruto, being unconscious for about a week, had took the time to really get to know his Bijuu after getting bored on the second day. During that week, Naruto and Kyuubi managed to get to know each other more and started out a complicated nephew-uncle relationship, mixed in with an older-little brother relationship as well.

While being unconscious, Naruto and Kyuubi also conversed about the dreams Naruto kept having. And while Kyuubi had no idea what it meant, he theorized that maybe it had something to do with Naruto's fated girl. Of course, Naruto was surprised by that comment.

Anyway, now isn't the time to talk about the two becoming closer, we now fast forward to about a month later, when Jiraiya and Naruto got ambushed.

(Present Time)

*BOOM*

"WAH!" Naruto yelled as an explosion tag detonated near him. "Naruto, are you ok!" Jiraiya asked as Naruto grunted. "Yeah, Ero-Sennin, I'm alright! Whatever injury I got, Kyuubi-ossan is taking care of it, tebayo!"

*BOOM*

"Gah, no matter how many times I hear that, I'll never get used to you calling Kyuubi an 'old man'...!" Jiraiya commented as he jumped off the branch in time for it to be detonated. Naruto snickered at that as he tossed a Kunai with a tag tied to it. The two watched as a huge explosion came afterwards. "Neh, Ero-Sennin..."

"Nh?"

"If something happens to me... take care of Konoha for me, okay? Without me, they won't have a hero there, so..."

Jiraiya stayed silent as he jumped off another branch as it exploded in flames. Suddenly, he punched Naruto upside the head. "OW! What the hell was that for, tebayo!"

"Ahomono! Don't even think about you not making it!" Jiraiya scolded. "I'm going to bring you back alive! That's what I promised Tsunade, so don't even think about it, alright!" Naruto nodded dumbly, holding his injured head. "H-hai, Ero-Sennin..." The two were interrupted when another tag landed between them. "Ah..."

*BOOM*

"It's kinda hard to stay alive when the enemy's trying to kill you, you know, tebayo!" Naruto yelled in anger as Jiraiya grunted. "Shut up and fight back!" Jiraiya yelled, going through a handful of seals. "Doton: Doryuudan (Earth Dragon Bullet)!" A dragon made of mud came out of the ground below and started shooting. Naruto, following up, made his own hand seals and started spewing out fire. "Katon: Karyuudan (Fire Dragon Bullet)!"

The two Jutsu merged together to create a small barrage of fire balls. A huge explosion was followed as Naruto and Jiraiya jumped away.

Naruto then shocked when a Ninja got in front of him. "GAH!" He grunted as he was kicked to the ground. "Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled, trying to get to his Godson only to be blocked by massive amount of stone. "This Jutsu...! Iwagakure!"

Naruto hacked and coughed as the Ninja in front of him glared at him. "That look... that Chakra... Yondaime Hokage!" The Iwagakure Ninja roared in question.

"Y-yondaime...?" Naruto wondered as many of the Iwa Ninjas glared at him. "I dunno about Yondaime, but... I'm not Yondaime!" He yelled, creating a dozen clones. "Naruto Ninpochou: Bunshin Renpatsu! (Naruto Ninja Art Book: Clone Barrage)"

The Iwa Ninjas sliced down the clones as Naruto jumped back and used another Karyuudan. "Good thing Ero-Sennin discovered I had Fire and Wind as my affinity! I heard they make really good combos!" He thought as he created another clone.

"Katon: Endan (Fire Bullet)...!"

"Fuuton: Kazeryuu (Wind Stream)...!"

"DAIFUUENDAN! (Grand Wind Fire Bullet)" The two roared in unison as the fire bullet and wind blended together to create an enhanced fire ball. The Iwa Ninjas jumped away as a few got burned by the enhanced fire Jutsu. The Jutsu spread out farther as the trees got incarnated.

Naruto panted as he leaned on one of the trees. His eyes widened as a kunai with a Kibaku Fuda attached landed on the same branch. A light filled him as the explosion sounded off. On the other side of the small range of rocks, Jiraiya heard the explosion and yelled, "Naruto!"

Naruto coughed in pain as he fell to the ground with his left arm incarnated. Grunting in pain, he heard Kyuubi yell out, "Kit! You ok!"

"Y-yeah…" Naruto let out, gasping in pain. "Just… peachy…!"

Moving his head, Naruto glared at the Iwa Nins in front of him, kunai drawn in each of their hands. "Your time is now ending, Yondaime Hokage!" One of them roared as time drew slower, the Ninjas charging. Naruto slowly drew breathe as the Kyuubi gave a suggestion to escape this situation through a very risking Kinjutsu with the cost of not being to come back in a few decades. Unknown to him, a black crow was circling above him before landing on top of his back. With no choice to go through, Naruto agreed to the plan, whispering goodbyes to his friend back at home, and apologizing to Jiraiya, Sasuke and Tsunade one last time before whispering:

"Jigen-Kousa no Jutsu… (Dimensional Crossing Technique)"

The Iwa's shocked as a huge relic-like circle appeared under Naruto before sucking the blonde in. They threw their kunai at Naruto, but their timing was late as Naruto was fully sucked in just as a huge molten lava-like Jutsu incarnated them all. Jiraiya appeared on top of the rocks in time to see Naruto disappear.

"NARUTO, NO~!"

Jumping down to where he last saw Naruto, he fell on his knees and started pounding the earth in anger and resentment. Angry at Naruto for disappearing. Angry at the Iwa's for coming after them. Angry at Konoha for banishing Naruto. Angry at himself for not being able to fulfill his promise. "Dammit! WHY! Why me! Every one of my students died before me! WHY! God f#&$ing dammit, WHY!"

Hours after sobbing and mourning the loss of his most recent student, Jiraiya whipped the tears from his eyes before noticing a note etched to the ground near the site where Naruto disappeared. Scrambling to the note, he read the note and tears once again brimmed on his eyes. All of a sudden, he started laughing. In fact, he never laughed even more so than the time when Minato became the Hokage or the time Minato named him as Godfather for the yet-to-be-born baby.

Soon after laughing, Jiraiya gazed at the skies grinning like a mad man. "You better come back brat; I'm not facing Tsunade's punches alone!"

With that, he grabbed his scroll and walked away, the wine blowing as a lone leaf landed on top of the note.

"Uzumaki Naruto is alive and will come back, that's my promise of a life time"

The note said before disappearing into the dust.

(Meanwhile, in a different world…)

Evangeline was resting inside the cave as she huddled in. She shivered in the cold of winter as there appeared to be a blizzard (Note: hey, I dunno about the time when Naruto was attacked, so just stick with it!). Leaning more into the fur coat she made from a dead animal, Evangeline puffed hot air from her lungs onto her hands and started rubbing them together, in hopes to get warmer.

An hour passed as the blizzard seemed to have ended. Walking out, Evangeline shivered more as she cautiously walked around the spots where the sun was shining upon. Previous encounters had her prepared for it. Looking around, a large shine of light filled under her. Yelping in surprise, Evangeline landed on the soft cold blanket of snow as a relic-like circle formed.

Evangeline gasped, remembering the Magic she witnessed a few weeks ago. Getting herself ready to be attacked, grabbing the knife she stole, she blinked as a figure seemed to be coming out from the snow, lying with his face down. Evangeline paled at the figure's smoking left arm which was charred with the remains of burned skin. Seeing blood around the figure, Evangeline gulped and crept closer to the figure to see that it was a boy, and was knocked out. The crow on top of him crowed a bit before spreading its wings and flying away.

Looking left and right, Evangeline grabbed the boy's unburned arm and started lugging the blonde back to her hideout for the week. After lugging the boy into the cave, Evangeline took her time to take a look at the boy clearer. He seemed to have been attacked and only escaped through the use of Magic. His clothes were cut and burnt in places and blood filled almost every place where the cuts were visible. Evangeline covered her mouth at the thoughts of who would have done this. Shaking her head to rid of the thoughts, Evangeline gazed at the boy's face.

His face still had baby fat despite his age and had three whisker-like stripes on each side. His eyes were closed so she couldn't see what his eyes looked like, but remembering the boy in her dreams, Evangeline remembered that the boy's eyes were bright cerulean blue. Trying to remember her dreams, Evangeline recalled the boy was exiled like she was, orphaned as well, but in the care of a white-haired man. She was so intent on trying to redraw her memories; she failed to see the boy waking up.

"Unn… Dokodattebayo…? (Where am I)"

Hearing that, Evangeline drew her breathes fast, reaching for her knife. "Wh-who are you…?" She asked as the boy opened his eyes to reveal the most cerulean eyes she ever seen. Finding herself losing herself to those eyes, she shook her head, repeating, "Who are you?"

The boy sat up, shaking his head before turning to the other occupant in the cave. "Omae… dare? (Who are… you)" He seemed to be asking. Evangeline tilted her head in confusion. "Wh-what?"

The boy blinked, looking around. "Ero-Sennin…? Unnngh, ita-ta-ta-ta…" He suddenly let out, holding his head. It was then Evangeline widened her eyes in realization. There was a language barrier between the two. She cursed lightly as an awkward pause entered the cave.

Several minutes later, the boy looked out of the cave to see the snow. Shivering, the boy looked back at the ember remains of the fire. Seeing him shivering, Evangeline boasted, "See that? I saved you from the snow, got that?" The boy looked at her confusingly. Getting frustrated, Evangeline pointed at herself. "I." She then pointed at him. "Saved you." Making pulling gestures, she pointed outside. "From the cold."

Watching hopeful that the boy got that, Evangeline sighed in defeat. "There is no way he'll understand that…"

"Eeto…"

Evangeline widened her eyes, looking at the boy who was flustered in embarrasement. "Nani ga wakaranai, kedo… Omae ga, ore wo tasukeru dana? A-arigatou… (I don't know what happened, but… you, saved me, right? Thanks)" He said. Evangeline blinked. Was he thanking her? Feeling herself flustering at the unknown feeling I her stomach, she looked away. "Umm… y-your welcome…" She trailed off.

"Naruto."

"Huh?"

The boy pointed at himself. "Ore wa Naruto dattebayo! (My name's Naruto)"

"N-naruto…" Evangeline repeated as the boy, now named Naruto, nodded vigorously.

Following suit, Evangeline pointed at herself. "Evangeline."

"Eh… wanjie… rin?"

The Lolita shook her head, repeating again, "Evangeline."

"Ebanjerin." Naruto repeated.

"Ehh, close enough…" Evangeline sighed. She turned her attention back to the fire as Naruto kept repeating her name, trying to get it right. A few moments later, Evangeline started to strive off to sleep when Naruto crawled to the fire, checking the temperature before checking his bag. Blocking the view of the fire with his body, Evangeline was faced with the cold once again, shivering. Before long, the cave began to feel warmer as Naruto moved away from the fire, a small stick in his hand that was lit in fire and the logs on fire now bursting brighter and hotter than ever. Evangeline gazed at her temporary companion in awe as Naruto shook his hand to get rid of the small flame on the stick. In his other hand was some sort of thick paper with more of the same sticks inside.

Sighing, Naruto placed the pocket-like paper back into a backpack before snuggling towards the fire, trying to get some shuteye. Evangeline blinked before following suit. Before long, she began to shiver at the cold wind as Naruto gazed at her with an eye. Sighing, Naruto reached into his bag and took out a scroll. Unscrolling it, he muttered a single word as a small puff of cloud appeared and a bag of some sort was in his hands.

Crawling to the girl, Naruto covered her with his sleeping bag and watched as Evangeline reached for the sleeping bag and snuggled against it. Smiling a bit, Naruto went to his side of the cave and laid down. A single thought ran through his mind. "Koko wa dokodattebayo…? (Where is this place)"

Ignisha: End of chapter 4, moving on to chapter five!