Good news, fans of this story! I will be focusing on this for a while, probably posting at least three more chapters before I go back to my other story. I'll probably go back and forth like that, posting a few chapters and then switching to the other. All in all, you can probably expect updates about once a week, maybe more often if I get less lazy.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the song last chapter was Schism by Tool. I forgot to write it again.
Previous Chapter:
Under a pile of rubble, Naruto found Tazuna's grandson Inari, curled up in ball clutching a bleeding wound in his side and barely conscious. "Inari!" Tazuna shouted worriedly. "What happened here? Where is your mother?" Inari looked at him with terrified eyes. "They took her! The monsters came and took her away!"
Naruto quickly placed his hands over Inari's wound, a deep gash in his side, and his hands glowed forest green. Inari was quickly healed, and fell asleep. Naruto handed him to Tazuna. Looking around, he saw strange tracks in the dirt that led off into the forest. He shouted, "Anko, come with me! Haku, Zabuza, stay behind and protect Tazuna!" He and Anko rushed off into the forest, following the tracks.
Chapter Six: The NightNaruto and Anko followed the tracks deep into the forest, their minds trying to piece together what could have done this. As they progressed further into the forest, they came upon several large spider webs scattered throughout the trees. Naruto's eyes widened as he heard a rustle in the trees behind them. Naruto suddenly threw himself at Anko, tackling her to the ground. They barely missed being tackled by a dark shape that launched itself out of the forest.
Naruto and Anko quickly got to their feet, turning to see what had attacked them. What they saw was a gigantic spider, as big as a horse. Anko launched several kunai and shuriken at it, but they bounced off, not leaving a mark. The spider produced a sort of hissing scream, and threw itself at Anko. She jumped back, preparing to make hand seals, when she tripped on a root and fell backwards.
Defenseless, she closed her eyes as the spider pounced on her. She was surprised when she felt no pain. She opened her eyes to see Naruto in front of her, his sword through the spider's face. The faint glow given off by the sword's blade allowed Anko to see the dark look on Naruto's face.
"What was that thing?" She asked. Naruto sheathed his sword and answered, "An Onigumo. A spider demon. It shouldn't be here. This isn't normal." Anko stepped around the corpse of the demon and said, "We should get back to the others. There could be more of these things." Naruto nodded and he grabbed Anko's shoulder before the two of them disappeared in a flash of red light.
They reappeared in front of the ruins of Tazuna's House to find Zabuza desperately trying to fight off two Onigumo of the same size as the one Naruto and Anko encountered. Haku, who was guarding Tazuna and Inari, was slowly being backed into a corner by three more giant spiders that were approaching her.
Naruto seethed in rage at the demons attacking his friends. He raised his hand, and the Onigumo gave out simultaneous shrieks of pain. "Enough!" he shouted in a demonic tone. He clenched his fist, and all five spiders exploded in a shower of ash and fiery sparks.
Inari, who was now awake, stared with wide eyes at the smoldering piles of ash that had once been giant spiders. Zabuza whistled appreciatively. "Damn, kid. Those things sure don't stand a chance against you."
Naruto glanced at the forest, and after performing several hand seals said, "Tajuu Kuchiyose no jutsu." Ten large foxes, each as tall as a full-grown man, and each with five tails, appeared in swirls of fire. They were wearing ornate armor covered in many dents and scratches. They had seen many battles in their lifetimes.
The leader, a black fox with a scar across its left eye, bowed to Naruto and spoke in a growling voice, "What do you wish of us, Naruto-sama?" Naruto addressed the group of foxes, "I need five of you to stay here and protect these people, and five of you to come with me to search for someone. A large group of Onigumo is in the area, and they have taken my client's daughter."
The foxes nodded and split into two groups. One group stayed with Zabuza and the others, and the other group went with Naruto and Anko. Naruto's group quickly headed back into the forest to follow the tracks.
As they were moving through the forest, Anko asked Naruto, "So, why are there Onigumo here anyway?" Naruto shrugged. "I don't know." He replied. "There are plenty of Onigumo in this world, but I know that there have never been any on this island. Someone must have brought them here."
Anko furrowed her brow. "Well, can't you control them? You are the Lord of all demons, right?" Naruto shook his head, replying, "Onigumo have a hive mid. The regular ones are just mindless drones, all controlled by a queen. Somebody else must be in control of the queen. The question is, who?" Naruto and Anko both fell silent, returning to their search.
After several hours of searching, Naruto's group had found no trace of Tsunami or the Onigumo, aside from several large webs scattered throughout the forest. After a while, the tracks just stopped, along with the scent. Reluctantly, they pulled back and returned to Tazuna's house.
Tazuna was standing among the ruins of his house, a mournful look on his face. Naruto walked up beside him, saying, "I'm sorry. We didn't find her. But we won't stop looking." Tazuna nodded. "It's okay. You're doing everything you can. I just wish we still had the house."
Naruto thought for a moment. "I could build you another one if you want. It wouldn't take long." Tazuna looked over at him. "That would be great, if it's not too much trouble. The last thing we need right now is to be homeless." Naruto nodded, performing a few hand seals. He slapped his hand on the ground, and large pieces of wood began to shoot from the ground, interlocking with each other and forming into a house.
The others all watched in fascination as this process took place, until it stopped a few minutes later. Finally, the process halted, and Naruto drew a small scroll from his coat, unsealing the contents to reveal a small paintbrush and ink jar. He walked up to the house, and began to ink a complicated seal on the wall. When he was done, it glowed for a moment before vanishing.
"What was that?" Tazuna asked. Naruto replied, "A fireproofing seal. You wouldn't want your house to burn down again, right? The house itself is fireproof, but any furniture or other things you put in it won't be. Also, since I created the wood with my youki, it's stronger than normal, about as strong as most metals."
Tazuna whistled looking at the new house. It was two stories, same as the old one, but was much larger, and better looking, with an intricate pattern worked into the wood. "Wow," Tazuna said, "It looks a lot better. I'll have to get some new furniture, though. Everything was burned to cinders in the fire." Naruto nodded. "First, we have to focus on finding Tsunami."
Tazuna looked down. "Yeah, as soon as possible. I don't even want to think of what could have happened to her." Naruto thanked his foxes for their help, dismissing them. They bowed to him one last time before vanishing in swirls of fire. Tazuna and Inari walked inside their new house, and the group of ninja stayed outside to keep watch.
They took turns alternating watch shifts for a few hours, before they suddenly heard a scream of pain coming from inside the house. They quickly got up and ran inside, running up the stairs and bursting into a room to see Tazuna holding down Inari, who was thrashing about and yelling in pain. Naruto performed a few hand seals, and touched Inari on the forehead. The boy quit thrashing and fell still, occasionally giving off a slight shudder.
Naruto lifted up the boy's shirt, and saw that the skin around the wound he had healed earlier was swollen, with a sickly yellow tinge to it. "Shit!" Naruto cursed. "He's been poisoned by an Onigumo!" "Can you cure it?" Tazuna asked worriedly. "I can distill a cure, but I'll need venom from a Queen Onigumo. If there is a true colony on this island, then we have to find it within four days, or there is no hope for Inari."
Tazuna's eyes widened. "Will he die?" Tazuna asked. Naruto shook his head. "If he had received a smaller dose of venom, he would only suffer for a few days before dying. However, a dose this size is much worse. If we don't get him a cure, then he'll eventually transform into a cross between a human and an Onigumo. He'll go wild, attacking everybody he sees. Onigumo use these half-breeds as slave labor."
The color drained from Tazuna's face. Naruto stood, and began to walk out the door. "I'm going to go search for the nest. The rest of you stay here, guard the house. You'll be needed in case the Onigumo show up." He walked out of the house, beginning into the forest, when he sensed someone running up behind him.
He turned to see Anko coming up to him. "I'm going with you." she said. Naruto was silent for a moment, before nodding. The two began to run into the forest, in search of the Onigumo nest.
They ran through the forest, soon finding themselves at the place they were first attacked. Naruto gave the signal to stop, and he and Anko stopped in the trees, looking out into the clearing. There was a spider, slightly smaller than the ones they had seen so far, only about a foot tall, hurrying about the clearing, stopping in different areas, and then moving on. While the larger ones were black colored, this one was a phosphorescent green color, and its eight eyes were electric blue, with slitted black irises. It had a scorpion's tail attached to its rear, and its mandibles were dripping a clear liquid that was likely venom. It was a very chilling sight.
It stopped for a moment, at the edge of the clearing nearest Naruto and Anko. The ninja held their breath. Suddenly, the spider turned and looked directly at them, its body starting to vibrate quickly. "It's going to signal the others!" Naruto yelled. Anko quickly threw a kunai at the spider, which stuck in one of its legs. It screeched, running off quickly. Naruto ran after it, yelling, "Follow it! It'll return back to the nest!" the two ninja ran after the spider, following the trail of glowing green blood through the forest. The webs around them grew larger and more numerous as they progressed, but they were not attacked by anything.
Eventually, they came to a large clearing in the forest, with a large fallen tree in the center. The entire clearing, including the surrounding trees, was covered in a glowing green substance; similar to the color of the spider they had followed. Anko was about to run to the stump in the center, but was stopped by Naruto.
"Stop. This is wax, created by a special breed of Onigumo like the one we followed here. They cover their nests in it, as a defense. When the wax is broken, it alerts the spiders, known as Keepers, and they swarm the source of the disturbance, injecting their paralyzing toxin into the victim so it can't move. Then, they cover the victim in the wax, spinning more and more, until they're covered in it. And then the wax digests them, and the Keepers eat the wax. Then they spin more wax, and the cycle repeats."
Anko's eyes widened, and she looked closely at the wax, peering into it to see the decomposing body of a crow trapped beneath the surface, eyes glassy. "How do we get across?" she asked. "A distraction." Naruto replied. "The Keepers see heat, so we need to lure them away. After that, we need to get across the wax without breaking it. Should be simple enough. I can take care of the fire."
Anko nodded, taking a breath, and they retreated to the tree line, and Naruto waved his hand, a fire appearing on the wax on the opposite side of the clearing. Suddenly, the forest was filled with the sounds of screeching, and dozens of the small glowing Keepers appeared out of the trees, rushing to the fire. Naruto and Anko took their chance, jumping down from the trees and standing in front of the wax.
"That should keep them busy for at least ten minutes. It's only about a hundred feet to the stump, so of we take it slow, we should be able to make it. You go first." Anko nodded, removing her shinobi sandals and stepping out onto the wax. It had a cold feeling, and was slightly sticky. She shuddered, placing one foot after the other, carefully trying not to break the wax. Naruto soon followed her, removing his boots and moving at a slow pace. He had to use wind manipulation to decrease his body weight though, otherwise he would have instantly cracked the wax.
When they were nearly there, Naruto heard a screeching that he recognized as the signal to return to the wax. Anko was right next to him, and the two began hurrying as quick as they could. Finally, they reached the tree stump, which was hollow on the inside, and had a tunnel leading underground inside it. Naruto jumped down into the tunnel, sliding down a good twenty feet before landing in a crouch in the darkness. He heard Anko land next to him, and whispered, "Stay close. We don't want to be detected, not in here. No light, and stay quiet."
They progressed into a maze of tunnels, Naruto's night-vision guiding him through the darkness. As they walked on, the tunnels became wider and taller, and went from softer dirt to hard rock, leading downhill more and more. Suddenly, Naruto stopped, pressing himself and Anko against a wall. A very large spider, at least twelve feet tall, lumbered through a tunnel intersecting the one they were in, stopping for a moment and looking around before continuing on its way.
Anko let out a slight breath, and they continued moving. After what felt like an hour, they entered into a gigantic round cavern, many other tunnel entrances across the walls. The cavern was illuminated by what looked like balls of the Keeper's wax hanging from the ceiling. In the center, was a large dome of the glowing wax. Naruto pointed at it. "That's where we'll find the queen."
He cloaked himself and Anko as best as he could, using his Hyoton to coat them in a layer of frost before making them invisible. They made their way down to the dome of wax, which had several openings. They entered, and Anko was surprised by what she saw. Against one wall was the unconscious form of Tsunami, her skin pale and sweaty. In the middle of the dome, with its back turned to them, was a human-looking figure in a black cloak.
"I sense your presence." The figure said suddenly. "Reveal yourselves, Mortals." Naruto revealed himself, saying, "I am no mortal. I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and I am your rightful ruler. Now, what are you doing on this island?" The figure let out a hissing, raspy laugh. "Fool. We do not answer to you. We answer only to our true masters. Nothing you do here can stop what we have set in motion."
The figure turned, revealing its face. It was humanoid in shape, but that was as far as the resemblance went. It's two eyes were glowing pools of vile green, surrounded by the chitinous glossy black exoskeleton. It threw off its cloak, revealing the rest of its body. It had eight limbs, but walked upright, supporting itself on two legs. Each of its limbs ended in four long spindly finger-like appendages, which ended in claws. Its body was all the same glossy black, except for a glowing green spot on the torso. It had a scorpion tail, similar to the Keepers. It hissed, revealing a mouth of fangs.
Anko drew a kunai, rushing at it, but the creature was too fast, swatting her hand aside and shoving her backwards forcefully, causing her to slam against the wall of the dome. The creature was about to finish Anko when Naruto drew his sword. The creature laughed again. "Killing me will not save them. This world will fall, one way or another. Our masters will see to it."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "You will know in time." The queen responded. It hissed, launching at Naruto. He swung his sword, cutting the creature in half as it charged. He pumped extra energy into the blade, making it even hotter, so the wound was cauterized, leaving the queen alive. Naruto walked up to it quickly, knowing that more spiders would come, attracted to the screams of pain. He forced its mouth open, holding a small vial underneath one of its fangs as he squeezed some venom out. When the vial was full, he sealed it, putting it away inside his coat. He drew his sword again, cutting the queen's head off and silencing it once and for all. He set the body aflame, burning it to cinders.
Naruto walked overt to the unconscious form of Tsunami, checking her over quickly. He was relieved to see that she had not been bitten, as he had only been able to collect enough venom for one person. He scooped her up, placing her over his shoulder, and helped up Anko, who was a little wobbly. They made their way out of the cavern, dozens of large Onigumo heading after them.
Naruto ran, carrying Tsunami as Anko followed after. They reached the tunnel, and Naruto turned back, creating a huge ball of fire in the center of the cavern. It slowly began to get smaller and smaller. Naruto turned back, running through the tunnels. They ran as fast as they could, forgoing stealth in favor of a quick escape. After about ten minutes, they could see the end of the tunnel, and the exit. The spiders were right on their tail, however. Naruto jumped up the tunnel leading to the surface, landing above ground. He waited as Anko emerged, taking hold of his hand to pull herself up. However, as she was about to exit the hole, she felt herself tugged backwards, a spider attempting to pull her back down. Naruto sent a blast of fire at it, making it let go and retreat. He pulled Anko up, carrying her as he ran across the wax, not caring about it.
Meanwhile, in the cavern, the huge ball of fire stopped shrinking, and was released. It exploded violently, filling the cavern with fire, which spilled out into the tunnels, destroying every spider still in there. Finally, it raced back up the entrance, incinerating the spiders trying to get out, and sending a huge jet of fire into the sky. The wax was ignited, burning intensely. Naruto jumped off the wax right before it was engulfed in flames, landing several meters away. He looked back at the burning nest, smiling in satisfaction.
He began running through the forest as quickly as he could, destroying webs as he went along. Eventually, he exited the forest, and made his way back to the others. He entered the house, running upstairs where the others were standing by Inari.
Tazuna saw Naruto carrying Tsunami, and rushed overt to him. "You found her! Is she hurt? Did she get poisoned?" Naruto shook his head. "No, she's just unconscious." He let Anko off his back, setting her on her feet. She winced in pain, collapsing to the floor. Naruto stooped down next to her, asking, "What's wrong?"
Anko moved her trench coat, revealing a large wound on her leg. The skin around it was already turning yellow. "I got bit when we were escaping." "Shit! I don't have enough venom for this!" Naruto yelled. "Heal the kid first, then worry about me." Anko said. Naruto nodded. "I'll figure something out." Anko leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. Naruto went to a different room to begin working.
Naruto came back twenty minutes later holding a syringe in his hand. Everybody looked at him, and Tazuna asked, "Is that it? Will that cure him?" Naruto nodded. "Yes." Tazuna sighed in relief. Naruto walked over to Inari, injecting the needle into his neck. Naruto backed away, and everybody held their breath.
Soon, Inari's skin began to return to its normal color, and his breathing evened out. Naruto checked Inari, and found that there was no trace of the poison left in his system. "He'll be fine, he just needs to get some rest." He said. Everybody let out a sigh of relief.
Naruto walked over to Anko, who was still conscious. She looked up, asking, "So, what now?" Naruto was silent for a moment before he replied, "I might know something that could work. But it's extremely dangerous, and I can't guarantee it'll work. It might just speed up the transformation."
Anko shook her head. "I don't care. If there's any chance you can cure me, I want to take it. I'll endure anything." Naruto looked down. "Even if this works, I don't know what kind of side effects it could have on you. You might not even be human when you come out." Anko snorted. "Those bastards in Konoha already think of me as less than human as it is. Like I said, I'll endure anything."
Naruto nodded. "All right. I'll try." "Hey." Anko said. "If this fails, and I turn into one of those monsters, don't think twice about finishing me off." "I won't."
Naruto drew a kunai, and slashed his palm. He stopped the wound from closing, ad placed the bleeding hand on Anko's leg. He began to reach into Anko's body with his youki, grasping the poison, and pulling it back into his own bloodstream where he could safely destroy it. In some places, the poison had already affected Anko's body, and the best Naruto could do was prevent it from spreading further.
After about an hour, Naruto had drawn the last of the poison out of Anko's body. He withdrew his hand from Anko's leg, and allowed the cut on his palm to heal. He looked down, seeing that Anko had passed out. He covered her with a blanket, healing the wound on her leg. "They'll both be fine with a bit of rest." Naruto said. Tazuna nodded, and they all left the room. As Naruto walked out the door, he cast one last look back towards Anko.
Sorry to end this chapter so soon, but I just thought that this was a good place to stop for now. Next chapter will be longer, I promise. I'll try to have it up as soon as I can. The song for this chapter was The Night by Disturbed.