Kishimoto-san owns Naruto

Opening theme: Cha-La Head-Cha-La(1st opening theme of Dragon Ball Z)

Chapter 8: Ozaru

The Kingfish arrived at the coast of Kaiju Island, landing at a desolate beach. About twenty yards away they could see the entrance to a jungle of sorts. The skeletons of what used to be odd-looking creatures littered the sand.

"Ohh, I don't like the looks a'this," muttered Oda, looking everywhere with his good eye. Suddenly there was a sound of some bird cawing.

"I hope that was a seagull," Hinata commented uneasily.

Naruto, however, was undeterred by the uncivilized look of the place, or the strange sounds of the native wildlife. "All right, everybody!" He called out, "Let's move!"

He was about to charge off when Shikamaru called out to him.

"Hold it!" Shikamaru yelled, "Do you have any kind of plan for this?"

"Sure I do!" Naruto boasted. He picked up Kawazaki("Hmm?") and held him up for all to see. "Kawazaki here will tell me where to go, and we'll go there!"

"In other words, you have no plan at all." Shikamaru sighed. He knew Tsunade had him come to do Naruto's thinking as well as his own. "All right, would sit still while I iron out a few details?"

Naruto looked annoyed that he was supposed to not move when he was(In his mind) so close, but decided to let Shikamaru do his thing.

"All right," Shikamaru began, "The five of us ninja are going to proceed in a single line formation. Naruto, you'll be in front with Kawazaki. Your clones can provide us with a few distractions as well as keep him safe. I'll be directly behind you in order to support with my Shadow-Bind Techniques. Lee, I want you in the middle. Out of all of us, you have the best reflexes, and your speed and position will allow you to go to anyone's aid. Hinata, you'll be last in line, acting as lookout. Your Byakugan will be good to keep an out for any trouble. And Sakura, you're our striker. With your strength, you can end any fight you want. The rest of us will give you an opening, and- well, you should know what to do." Shikamaru turned to Inari and Oda. "You two should stay here with the ship; get it ready. I want to be able to leave whenever. Got it?"

Inari nodded, tightlipped, while Oda saluted. Satisfied, Shikamaru turned back to Naruto. "Okay, whenever you're ready, 'Captain.'"

"I've been ready since we got here." Naruto unzipped his jacket and began to stuff Kawazaki inside.

"Excuse me!? What are you doing? Stop that!" protested Kawazaki, as he stuggled to get free.

"I don't wanna lose track of you in case something goes wrong," Explained Naruto, "This way, you'll be with us no matter what happens."

Kawazaki pulled himself out of Naruto's jacket and climbed onto the teen's head. "As touching as your concern is, I'll think I'll be safer up here. That way, I can get away quickly if danger shows up!"

Spineless toad, everyone thought.

Ignoring Kawazaki, Naruo tightened his headband. He waved to Inari and Oda. "Take care, guys! Team Naruto, move out!"

Kawazaki concentrated for a moment, then pointed into the jungle. Without another word, the Leaf Ninja sped off into the foliage, leaving the boy and the sailor alone with the ship.

"I hope th' cap'n 'ill be okay," Oda commented.

"Bro'll be fine," Inari replied confidently. He then saw something in the sky. "Hey, Oda. Look-"

"Look? Look at what? Where???" Oda began looking this way and that. While his head was turned in one direction, a huge flying lizard came in from the other direction, snatching him up in its claws!

"…Out." Inari finished weakly.

"It's one word!" screamed Oda from his captor's grip. "Lookout!"

"Uh, uh, I'm coming, Oda!" Inari yelled, giving chase.

DATTEBAYO

As Team Naruto zipped through the jungles, they met with surprisingly little trouble. Hinata's Byakugan, as Shikamaru predicted, allowed them to sidestep any monsters without problems. That didn't mean there weren't any, though…

"Naruto, look out!" Hinata cried, and Naruto leapt to the side to avoid being bitten by some kind of giant flytrap plant.

"Aren't we going a trifle fast?" Kawazaki asked, clinging to Naruto's hair. "We're liable to run into problems if we rush!"

"But if we slow down," Lee asked, "Wouldn't that make us a target for some beast? We've only gotten so far this fast is because of our speed and Hinata-"

Hinata then gave a slight gasp of horror.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"T-there's this giant…monkey…thing…to the east of us," She explained, looking a little pale. "It's huge!"

"Forget it!" Naruto yelled, "If it's not in our way, it's not our problem!"

"Oh… Oh dear!" Kawazaki cried suddenly.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, not liking the sound of that.

"Kushina's moving! And fast!" Kawazaki answered. "She's now to…the…east."

There was an unhealthy pause as Team Naruto took that in.

"East, huh?" Naruto muttered. "Then let's move!"

As Naruto zipped off in that direction, Sakura nearly slapped herself in frustration. "That…idiot! Didn't he hear about the giant monkey?"

Shikamaru suppressed a smirk. "You know Naruto. In one ear, out the other. We better move if we wanna stay with him."

And so Team Shikamaru II took after their team Maverick.

DATTEBAYO

By the time Team Shikamaru II caught up with Naruto, he was standing on lumpy hill covered in dead grass.

"Hey, glad you could catch up." Naruto said casually. "What kept you?"

Wham!

"If hadn't charged off like that, we wouldn't need to catch up!" Sakura snarled, peeved.

"Owwie," Naruto muttered, rubbing the bump on his head.

"Excuse me, Miss Hyuuga," Kawazaki said from Naruto's shoulders, "But didn't you say there was a giant simian in the vincinity?"

"Yes…" Whimpered Hinata, "And we're standing on it!"

"What?"

Shikamaru was the first to realize that the 'lumpy hill' was actually a gigantic, hairy body! However, before he could alert his comrades to this fact, the creature leapt up from its sleep, throwing everyone in different. It was then that the Leaf Ninja got their first good look at a monster of Kaiju Island.

Giant Primate Monster: Ozaru

Standing little over fifty stories, Ozaru resembled less of an monkey than it did a giant ape that had a tail. Roaring furiously, Ozaru's first act of business was to grab Naruto, who was too stunned to react quickly enough.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed in horror. She and Hinata leapt at Ozaru to Naruto's aid, but the monster whacked them with its tail, sending them flying into the distance.

"Sakura!" Lee cried. However, before he could do anything, Ozaru slammed its other fist onto him and Shikamaru, smashing them into the ground.

"No!" Naruto cried in terror. "You…you…you monster! What was that for!?" Naruto gave cry of pain as Ozaru squeezed even tighter. Then, bored with its captive, Ozaru flung Naruto into another direction, away from where he whipped the girls with his tail. Roaring victoriously, Ozaru stomped off.

From under a pile of rocks, Kawazaki stared out at the monster. "N-now what do I do…?"