The Kinkou of the Yajuu
I don't own Naruto and Animorphs!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
-telepathy-
XD Scene change
/ Different point of view
):P Flash back
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4
He leans on the rock, watching Hork-Bajir children play a game of what appears to be tag. He sighs as he feels kind of sad for the trick Visser Three had pulled on Tobias last week. But he's also slightly jealous of the other teen since now it seems that Tobias knows who his real father is and the circumstances surrounding why he left.
"I can't believe you choice a crow for a morph." Rachel says as the attractive young woman stands to his left. "Crows are more common birds where I come from. I mean, I did watch that movie Crow and I thought it would be kind of ironic to be able to turn into one. I mean, in a lot of ways I'm a lost soul, much like the main character of that movie. Think is, I don't know what to avenge is all." He replies, supporting his choice.
Rachel just shakes her head, clearly amused about his argument. He cocks his head as he studies the other teenager. "So, what brings you here? I get a feeling as to why Tobias likes to come here, but you others don't normal come here just to socialise with them." He says and Rachel glances at him before looking away.
Rachel remains quiet it for a bit before she asks, "What are your scars? You've morph before and yet you still have them. So what's up with that?" He chuckles and runs a hand through his longish spiked hair. "I think they're birth marks, I mean, what else can they be?" He asks the other teen, hoping that she doesn't push it. He watches as Rachel's lips are pressed in a straight line, he just grins at her and soon Rachel just sighs.
"You're a living puzzle, you know that?" Rachel states and he just replies with a grin. "What can I say, I'm a complex person." He says off hand and Rachel chuckles slightly, before she leaves she says, "Goof." He watches her go, he might not lying but he won't tell anyone about the blasted fox that lives in his gut, he just didn't want people freaking out about it, especially since this world doesn't have such entities. 'I hope they never have them.' He thinks before he glances to where the Hork-Bajir children are lying on the grass, seemly exhausted from chasing each other around.
XD
"What's up with them?" He thumbs at the hovering dancers. Marco and one of the Chee crack a smile at that comment. –Ok, where is he?- Tobias demands, he blinks and glances to where the human turned hawk is perched. "Ok, who's this he?" He asks and it seems that the others turn to stare at him. They blink as Marco says, "I guess you've never met the guy."
"True, but then, Naruto is a wild card, highly unpredictable." A female voice says smoothly, he blinks, kind of surprised to see someone other then them moving. He cocks his head to the side, he sighs as he tries to figure out if that's an insult or not. He sighs and listens in on what the 'higher' being is asking them to do.
He looks thoughtful as his mind races with what it would be like to visit some alien world. He feels a slight surge of demonic chakra and concludes that the demon was also interested in accepting this being's deal. He also takes time to judge the other's expressions to this, he sighs as he notices how pissed off members of the rebel movement look.
He cocks his head as something catches his attention. "Hey, I didn't get your name." He says to the being that's currently in the form of a teenage girl. Many turn to look at him; he swears they timed it so how, as they blink at him in an owlish style. "I'm the Ellimist, Naruto-kun." The being says. "I'm just wondering, but are you the reason why I can't…" He says and then thinks, 'Summon toads?' The Ellimist nods it's head slightly, hearing the end of his question.
He sighs; he was kind of hoping it might have something to do with being in a parallel world then someone keeping him from summoning his toads. "I think I know a way to make it up to you, though. I think he'll agree to this." The Ellimist says and he perks up, a look of surprise graces his face, though it was out classed by the Animorphs startled looks. "Thanks!" He says cheerfully, he notices that the Ellimist smiles slightly at this.
He can tell that the others seem slightly disapproving as Jake says in a flat tone, "You said you'd give us time to think about it." "But I want to go." He pipes in; once more the others give him various looks of disapproval. "What? I'm always up to seeing new places and if he… she says that they'd make it up to me, then I don't see the harm." He adds. "The group has to be in agreement for this." The 'higher' being says and he shrugs, not doubting for a moment that the others won't go through with this.
Soon he's once more back at the wild life center that Cassie's parents have set up. He had heard about them treating a coyote and thought to acquire the coyote's DNA. He had already acquired an owl from the property, a Barred Owl. He glances to where Tobias is perched and he smiles sheepishly at the human turned hawk.
Soon enough he's finished acquiring the golden beast, he holds the coyote so that Tobias can acquire it. Tobias nods his head and he watches as the teen turned hawk leaves through the open loft door. He climbs up into the hay loft.
Without really thinking about it, he begins to shrink as his head and arms begin to transform into the Goshawk. Feathers flow over his whole body as rest of his bones crack and pop into their new locations. The whole transformation takes about a minute and as soon as the instincts that make up the mind of the Goshawk come forward, he launches himself into the air and cooperating with the mind of the Goshawk, flies out of the open loft door.
XD
He blinks as he cocks his head at a very familiar figure. "Hinata? Hinata!" He shouts before racing towards the shy girl. "Naruto- kun?" The timid teen stutters. He hugs her as he says, "Long time no see, Hinata!" He blinks and Marco says, "I think you killed her." He sighs as he lowers the other member of the Rookie nine.
"Naw, she usually faints, it's kind of common with her." He says and he notices the looks Rachel and Cassie exchange. "I'm guessing she's done this whenever you're around, right?" Cassie asks. He nods and then Marco asks, "Is she blind?"
He blinks and then begins to chuckle as he shakes his head. "She's a Hyuuga, their whole family has that colour for their eyes. It's part of their Bloodline Limit." He explains. He glances back at Hinata as the teenager stirs.
"You're awake. It's been a long time, huh? So you know what's going on?" He asks Hinata as she stands up, he notices that she's blushing slightly as she nods. "It's good to see you too, Naruto-kun." Hinata stutters out, looking first at Erek and then at Ax, who's still in his natural body.
"Guys this is Hinata Hyuuga, Hinata the one you're looking at is Ax, short for Aximili. The metal dog is Erek, the hawk is Tobias. The blond girl is Rachel and the other one is Cassie." He says, he takes a breath before he continues, "That's Jake, he's Rachel's cousin and that's Marco." Hinata stutters her greetings to each of them as they greet her.
"So, what's this Bloodline Limit that Naruto mentioned?" Jake asks. Hinata looks alert and he smiles reassuringly at her. "It's called the Byakugan and it allows me to see 360 degrees." Hinata says, he can tell that got Ax's attention. –That's impossible!- Ax says in an alarmed tone. "We just imploded a building with pieces of paper with some freaky symbols on it, Ax. I think this is slightly more believable." Marco says, smiling a bit.
He's not the only one that's noticed how Ax is standing. Just as they were about to continue, they're interrupted by one of the Natives. His head swims as he attempts to follow what the native was saying. He's just glad that someone seems to be following what the native was saying as Jake interrupts the native by asking, "So you're some kind of Guide?"
XD
He pads to Hinata's right side as Jake walks on Hinata's left, he's currently in his puma morph as Jake is in his tiger one. His ears scan their surroundings; they had gotten split up from the others during the Howler's attack, leaving the three of them falling off a building while the others attempt to battle it out.
Hinata and himself were able to use chakra to slow their descend through the sky while Jake morphed into his falcon morph. He knows that Jake's worried about the others while his thoughts were on something else, something that's thrown his mind into turmoil. Sure, the guy hadn't helped in the attack, but still…
'Sasuke…' He thinks to himself, there's only one reason why Sasuke would be here and it's most likely because Crayak promised the Teme power to kill his elder brother. He feels something on his flack and holds back the cat's instincts to attack whatever it was.
Hinata looks at him with a worried expression, he sighs, and he notices the startled expression on Hinata's face at this action. "Naruto-kun…" Hinata says softly. –He's here. I guess it evens it out, doesn't it?- He says, he notices Jake perk at this and asks, -He? Who's he?- He replies, -Sasuke, my old team mate turned traitor.-
-This is bad?- Jake asks and he explains, -Like Hinata, he has a Bloodline Limit. It allows him to copy and predict his opponent's moves, though I think that if I have a handy cap, then so does Sasuke, which might be a good thing. It keeps him using the cursed seal of his.- He sighs and asks, -What time is it?-
Hinata blinks and looks slightly puzzled until she remembers about the watch he gave her. "The short hand it by the three." Hinata stutters. Jake and him pause, though he doesn't have to worry about the time limit like the others, he doesn't want to rub it in their faces.
"What's that?" Hinata asks, vein on her head were pulsing. He glances around; he searches out using his chakra. His eyes narrow as he realises that they're surrounded. Jake begins to morph a polar bear, but he has another idea as one of the beasts come into view.
The beast stands about three feet tall and reminded him slightly of a dinosaur, since it looks reptilian. Pair of large fangs are jetting out of the lower jaw as two sets of eyes glow in the darkness. On the head, he spies three horns, one in the middle with the other two on either side of it. The hide is a mottle of colours, but he couldn't make out the colours though since it's so dark in this place.
He judges the alien beast to be slightly over three feet long. The back has sharp spikes coming out of the back, he guesses about a ten cm space from the shoulders going to the base of tail. The beast stands on four legs and has a part of fore paws that were similar to hands, wicked looking claws gracing each finger; there were three fingers in all.
The beast launches itself at Hinata; he moves and grabs the beast in mid air. He focuses on acquiring the beast's DNA as Jake and Hinata begin to deal with the rest of the beasts. Once he has acquired the beast, he drops it and joins the battle, his hand going through a fire jutsu he learnt from one of his scrolls.
He blinks in surprise as the kick ass fire dragon he created. The little buggers fled, though some did fall to the fiery fury of his fire dragon. Jake and Hinata stop fighting as the beasts flee the might of his fire jutsu. "I didn't think it would be that big." He says, stunned and a little awed by what he created. –You created that?!- Jake shouts. He winches from that shout, he can tell that Hinata also looks slightly startled about it as well.
He scratches the back of his head as he explains, "I never practice that jutsu, I honestly hadn't thought it would work." He feels guilty about not giving them an advance warning and he won't make the same mistake again. –You will warn us the next time you try an untried… jutsu?- Jake ends it by sounding out the word jutsu in a puzzled tone. "It's what our energy manipulation is often called." He explains, Hinata nodding in agreement.
"Sorry, but I think people would notice if I practice out in the woods, unlike Hidden Leaf where there are training areas marked off to us to train. Starting a wild fire or something similar doesn't seem like a good idea." He says. Jake sighs as soon as the 'fearless' leader finishes de-morphing back into his true form.
"So, you see an exit yet?" Jake asks Hinata after they've been walking for about fifteen minutes. "There's one a level above us, I see a way to get up to that level, but it's going to take time." Hinata says in an apologetic tone. "It's not your fault, Hinata; we thought using these tunnels would allow us to get back to the others, right Jake?" He says, Jake blinks, surprised to be asked to help reassure Hinata. Jake nods and he slaps the other teen lightly on the shoulder, beaming at the leader of the group of rebels.
Jake smiles slightly, he could tell that in a way, he helped make the Animorph feel better about something. He makes a note to try and get Jake to open up some more, since he knows that none of the human teens ever expected to have so much weight on their collective shoulders. He could only worry about their mental health.
"Jake… I think it's time to talk about relocating family out of harms way." He says as they locate the ramp that leads to the next level. He notices how Jake stiffens. "With me around, we can fake their deaths, you know. I don't even have to morph to do it." He adds. He notices a haunted look on the teen's face.
Hinata stands and remains out of it. "This isn't the time or the place." Jake says, ending the subject, but he knows that Jake will think it over. Hinata gives him a weak smile and they then head up the ramp. He doesn't try to liven up the atmosphere, knowing that it'll only rub salt into Jake's emotional wounds.
XD
"Is that Tobias?" Hinata asks, Jake and him looks up into the air, to where Hinata is pointing. "Only one way to find out." He says and then shouts at the top of his lungs, "YO, TOBIAS! DOWN HERE!" -Jake? Jake! Naruto and Hinata, what a relief!- Tobias says once the teenage hawk gets close enough to them.
"How is everyone?" Jake says, clearly nervous to hear what happened during their absence. –We got a tour of some of the sectors around this place. We also learnt that the natives are symbiotic; it seems that they're distance relatives to the Yeerks.- Tobias reports. He looks thoughtful while Jake looks dumbstruck while Hinata looks confused.
-It's true, also, there's a human siding with the Howlers. In Rachel's words, he's a pretty boy.- Tobias says, he detects a hint of jealously in the hawk-boy's tone. "That would be the Teme." He says. –What does that mean?- Tobias asks after a few seconds. "Bastard." He informs Tobias. Hinata nods in agreement. "His name is Sasuke and he's a benefited ice cube. I swear he as a permanent stick shoved up his ass." He says, Hinata giggles nervously.
Jake shakes his head as Tobias just kind of gives him a piecing look, but then, Tobias is a hawk and his face is kind of like that all the time. –Is he the same one you spoke of before?- Tobias asks him, he guesses that the teenage hawk was talking to his privately. He inclines his head slightly, his mind feeling slightly better that nobody had suffered from Sasuke, but he also knows that he'll have to face the Teme.
Soon they're on their way to where Tobias had left the others in order to scout around. "Jake!" Cassie shouts and within seconds the two were kissing, he hears Rachel say something about it being time. The pair pull away, Jake and Cassie both have a bit of a blush. "Doesn't that just warm your heart? Two people sharing a tender moment in full sight of their friends?" Marco says and Jake's face reddens even more.
"Not to ruin this touching reunion, but what are we going to do about the Howlers and this guy they're with?" Rachel asks. "I'll deal with the Teme, you guys can handle the Howlers." He says, he can tell that the others look surprised. "He and I have … history and I know I can handle him." He says and Jake nods his head in agreement. "If you think so." Erek says.
He glances over to Tobias and asks, "Where was the last time you saw him?"
/ Hinata/
She looks nervous about what they're about to do, she does trust these people simply because Naruto does. Though she has to admit, it's kind of weird their ability to transform into beasts, but then, its not as odd as having her memories copied by a really advance machine so they can make the attacking Howler's see life in a totally different light.
She spots the Howlers before Tobias reports their presence. "Ok, action people." Jake says and she nods. She waits for the signal by staying close to the robot in the shape of a dog on its hind legs, oddly feeling comfortable around Erek since he reminds her of Kiba and Akamaru.
It's not long before the signal happens and she surges forward, aiming for the Howler's nerves. Then Marco and Ax go about putting the head phone instruments on the Howler's heads, within ten minutes, the attacking Howlers vanish, leaving only the memory players on the ground. –Now it's up to Naruto.- Ax says, she bites her lip as memories of the injuries Naruto received from the last encounter with Sasuke.
Suddenly the natives begin to panic as alarms go off. "What's going on?" Jake asks and Guide replies, -There's a huge battle going on in the Warmonger's district.- "Huge? How huge?" Rachel asks and Guide replies, -Large enough that the two are levelling buildings left and right.- Rachel whistles at that and she stiffs as she begins to feel the chakra from the fight. "Naruto-kun." She says, her eyes looking in the direction of the fight that's going on between Naruto and Sasuke. 'Please be ok.' She prays.
/ Naruto/
He found it kind of appropriate that the fight will be taking place in the most war-like district of this world. When he spots the Teme on one of the roofs, he landed on one of the buildings close to that building and de-morphs quickly back into his birth form. The Teme looks up once he's done morphing, he wagers a slight look of surprise had flashed in those cold black eyes once Sasuke felt his chakra being so close to him.
They glare at each other from their respective buildings, memories of another time and place flashes through his mind's eye. His hands ball into fists and he itches to pummel the Teme. By some unspoken signal that they both recognized, they begin their fight.
He summons an army of shadow clones as Sasuke launches small fire balls at them, causing some of the shadow clones to vanish, but other were summoned to take their place. He feels the demon's presence in the back of his mind, more then eager to help him in this battle. He and the clones leap the distance between the two buildings, some begin to engage the Teme, he notices that Sasuke has his Sharingan out.
He clears his mind, focusing on the flow of battle; he even feels the fox with draw from his mind. He only reacts; he doesn't try to think of anything, just fighting for the move and the counter move. It's not long before he's overwhelming Sasuke with numbers as well by shear raw power.
He keeps creating shadow clone, he pumps chakra into his muscles, trying to make them move faster so he can attack quickly and evade Sasuke's attacks. Sasuke growls and retreats, he takes a breather, his eyes glaring at the Teme. Sasuke does the hands seals for a familiar jutsu, the Chidori. He snorts and focuses chakra into his right hand; soon a full Rasengan is in his right hand. He notices a surprised look on Sasuke's face, he smirks at his rival, at his ex-team mate.
"You're a fuckin' prick Teme. Let's see how much you have improved, Teme." He says and Sasuke's face becomes a stony front, but he knows that Sasuke's uneasy, which supports his guess that Sasuke can't use the curse seal that Orochimaru gave him. "Dobe." Sasuke says in a blank tone, his eyes flash at his nick name.
They charge each other, Sasuke's Chidori ripping the roof apart as the Teme keeps it close to the ground as the Teme charges at him. Something goes wrong as somehow, his balance is thrown off and it seems that Sasuke suffers from the same condition. His Rasengan grinds into the roof as does the Teme Chidori.
Sasuke and him exchange looks, he then groans as he figures out that somehow, Sasuke and him weren't allowed to use those two attacks on each other. As his attack fades, he gets to his feet. 'There are other ways to skin a cat.' He thinks to himself before his mind races through the list of jutsus he has learnt but never practice.
'If they work half as well as that fire dragon jutsu, then this fight is in the bag.' He thinks as he smirks at Sasuke, the Teme frowns slightly. He summons shadow clones and once more charges towards the prick that use to be his team mate. He makes sure to have a clone covering his use of hand seals; he doesn't want to add to the Teme's inventory of jutsus.
To be continued …