Yawning, Naruto had taken a seat on a small bolder as he took a sip of his water. Damn it was warm in here. How could anyone tolerate this place? Shaking his head, the young man leaned back for a moment as he tried to think on what he should do… least, besides getting to the heart of the temple and getting… whatever it was that he was looking for. Frowning, he looked up at the roof of the temple wondering what was in store for him.

"You okay Naruto?" asked Hinata from within his shadow.

"Yeah, just thinking on what I'm going to do after this temple is done."

"There are still more temples Naruto… We still have many places to travel…"

"Damn it…" Naruto said with a sigh before pushing himself off the bolder and headed on toward the hallway, which he had assumed to have been a pathway to the heart of the temple. Grabbing a torch, Naruto saw just how dark this place was… why didn't he grab a lantern or something? Would it have been that bad to have grabbed one? He let out a sigh as he kept on walking down the hall. Though, he just hoped that he didn't need fire for the other temples later on in the future.

As he walked down the hall, he could feel how warm it was getting. The heat was unbearable. It was amazing that he hasn't melted at the moment. "Naruto, I could use a spell to help keep you cool in this heat…" Naruto just nodded, he didn't think that he could last much longer in this heat. After hearing Hinata mutter a spell in some unknown language, he started to feel a little better. Least now he could handle the heat that was washing over himself; it would be nice for it to stay over him so he could travel without over heating in this outfit.

Naruto frowned as he walked, wondering if his super strength would even come in handy for the temples, it wasn't like he could get close to whatever monster would be there right? Come on, he would get eaten alive! Shaking his head, the young man kept on walking, the torch lighting his way. Along the stone walls were just vines, it doesn't seem that there would be any hints as to what would be a way to stop the one behind all of this…

But, maybe it wasn't meant to be found in this temple. Maybe there was a hint in the next temple as to how to defeat Pein.

Yawning, Naruto kept on walking down the hall, it seemed like it was never ending for some reason. Unless the beast in this temple had some kind of illusion over it. Frowning, he crossed his arms; least as well as he could without burning his face off. If this was an illusion to hide the fact that he was getting closer to the temple's main room… to the heart of this place, maybe he has to break it, unlock this illusion like he did with the temple?

Smiling, he put the torch into the wall, reached into his pouch and pulled out his ocarina. Staring at its smooth surface, he could see the reflection of the flames dancing around. He could still remember that this had been a gift for the royal family but, at the moment it was the one thing that could unlock the temples for him. Sighing softly, he held the mouth piece to his lips and started to play the song that he had used to open up the temple.

The music flew from the ocarina like an unending river as it flowed down stream. Naruto felt like with each time he played in the temples that the power behind it got stronger and more powerful. How that was, he couldn't be sure, though he knew that it had to do with something…

The music swam around in Naruto's ears, the music made Naruto feel so relaxed and calm. Like nothing could bother him anymore.

Hinata flew from Naruto's shadow and sat on his shoulder as she tried to listen to the music. Hinata smiled softly as she said "the music is beautiful Naruto…" Naruto didn't break the music, he just kept on playing as the flow of music continued. Naruto felt a wash of warmth wash into his heart, not the heat from the temple but a kind of calm that helped to ease his nerves of this place, to let him relax while fighting the one thing that had been within this temple for who knows how long.

The music was slowly starting to fade; Naruto looked ahead and saw a big door starting to come into focus. It seemed that the illusion was placed here to keep those protected by going into it… Even though he could also see a lock over it. Must have been the first protection, and the lock being the second, either way he had to keep going on ahead. Maybe the leaders of Konoha had this illusion up to keep those safe from harm if they should ever wonder. Everything had been a key… a safety lock so to speak. The entrance only being opened by the one that knew the song, the illusion to keep someone wondering until they wanted to leave… and finally, the lock that doesn't seem to have a key but to the one that has the one thing that could open it… But what could that be?

Soon, the song had completely faded and vanished into silence.

Putting away the ocarina, Naruto looked at the door and frowned at the lock. Wondering why they used such a strange lock, for right now it seemed that the lock… was the Gale Boomerang. The item he got from the monkey not long ago. That was a little strange, he had to admit. But it was also very convenient for him so he wouldn't have to look for a key. Shaking his head, Naruto walked over to the lock and reached for the Gale Boomerang. "You sure about this Naruto?" asked Hinata with a small hint of fear in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure Hinata. If you want to get… whatever it is you're looking for, we have to beat this thing. It may, or may not have it and we'll never know unless we kick its ass." Said Naruto with a smirk before grabbing the boomerang and watched as it grew in his palm. This was something that was amazing, that was for sure. Taking a deep breath the young man raised the boomerang and slid it into the lock as he watched the lock turn and fall over. Blinking in shock he stood back as the chains that had surrounded the sliding door hitting the ground with a hard 'thunk' sound, and the rattling chains echoed through the hall.

Gulping, Naruto felt a little nervous as he took the boomerang out of the lock and kicked down the door, watching as the stone wheel was shoved away from the entrance and shattered as soon as it hit the wall… about twenty to thirty feet away. Maybe more, he couldn't really say, the room was huge. Walking into the room, Naruto frowned for he had expected to see… well a monster or something. Looking around the room, he saw that there was a lake of lava, slightly pointed boulders with strange insects on them. To Naruto, that was a little strange, if this was a forest temple where was the water that kept the tree alive?

Looking around some more, Naruto tried to think on where this monster could possibly be, but it seemed that it was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe there was never a monster in here…" said Naruto with a sigh, to be honest he had been looking forward to the battle but now, there was nothing in here! What a rip! Sighing, he started to scratch the back of his head as he started to turn around. Suddenly, there was a strange sound… almost sound like… gurgling mixed with a deep roar. Frowning, Naruto turned around and almost fell over with what he was seeing. Submerging from the lava was some weird plant thing; it almost looked like those tulips that his mother used to plant when he was a kid. Though, to him it didn't seem much like a monster in the least. Instead, it just seemed like an oversized plant that would eat a whole town… well, sorta.

"Naruto, that monster is filled with dark magic… you have to stop it." said Hinata with a hint of dear in her voice.

"Come on Hinata, it's just a plant. What harm could it do?" Naruto said with a chuckle before turning his attention back to the plant, only to blink. For, the plant-creature bent forward, opening its leaves to reveal sharp teeth, and in the center, normally where the pollen should be, was one big eye. As it glared at Naruto, it let out one big, mighty roar. Blinking, Naruto stared at it as he said "okay, I'm killing it." The monster just growled at Naruto, as if it understood what his intentions were. "I guess we can't see eye to eye then…"

"Really Naruto, another pun?"

"I did say that I'd do them with each boss and… whatever the monkey counted as. Least if I could think of any. Don't worry though Hinata, I have my 'eye' on him." Hinata just let out a sad sigh before disappearing into his shadow. Looking up at the beast, Naruto sighed and shook his head, thinking that this was a stupid boss. "I've seen better creatures in nightmares." Said Naruto with a sigh before reaching for his sword.

The beast growled, opening its maw and shot out a torrent of flames. Yelping out of shock, Naruto jumped out of the way just in the nick of time. "Okay, I stand corrected." He said with surprise in his tone. Looking over at the bugs that were just standing there, he wondered what he was to do… he had to think, he knew that those bugs were more than just bugs. He had read about them when he was a kid but damn it what was it?!

Looking at the beast once more, Naruto saw it glaring at him a sure thing that it thought that it was winning this battle.

Narrowing his eyes, he tightly held the Gale Boomerang in his hand as he knew that he had to use that bug in something. It was the only way to make sure that he gets this done right… and that he could say that he at least tried to do something. Throwing the boomerang at the bug, his thoughts filled it with the desire to use the winds to carry the bug toward the plant's eye. It had to be something at the least… When he looked up, he saw that the bug was flashing red and sparkling, almost like a bomb. What was-oh yeah! They're Bomb Bugs! Laughing to himself, he stared at the bug as it hit the beast and explode. That was something he hadn't expected. Though, as he watched in shock the monster fell down, Naruto took that chance to charge.

As he ran, he caught the Gale Boomerang and grabbed his sword, tightly holding the hilt in his palm as he slashed at the eye ball that was attached to the monster. Naruto didn't know why, but the eye wasn't getting scratched or anything, it was amazing that was for sure. It seemed that this eye was made of some kind of alloy or something.

Suddenly, the beast growled and pulled itself back up and roared as it sank back into the lava. Was it retreating? That was just too easy, there was no way that it would have just given up from one hit… that just doesn't make sense to him in the least. Gulping, Naruto felt a strange rumbling under his feet, the ground shook almost as if the temple was about to crumble beneath his feet. Damn it, this isn't supposed to happen! He isn't supposed to be crushed, he was a hero damn it!

Suddenly, shooting out of the lava was the plant monster, but this time it had two friends with it. Naruto just stared at it with wide eyes as he said "oh fuck…"

"Any ideas Naruto?"

"Sadly, no… that was the only Bomb Bug, we're really fucked here Hinata." Said Naruto with a gulp, thinking that all hope was lost, and that the village would fall because he couldn't stop a stupid plant! Suddenly, a new sound echoed through the chamber. Frowning, Naruto looked up to the right and gasped at what he saw. It was the baboon from the last room! But, that wasn't the only thing Naruto noticed, for in the baboon's hand was a Bomb Bug!

Hinata shot out of Naruto's shadow and stared at the monkey as she said "I guess he wants to thank you for helping him break free of the control." Naruto could only nod; he just might win this battle after all! Smirking, he nodded to the baboon and watched as it swung on the strange rope that hung from that one cavern up in the wall to the other, holding the bug in its feet. Maybe it wanted Naruto to use the boomerang on it so the bomb could knock the plant monster down? Couldn't hurt to try, though he just hope that his aim was perfect, he doesn't need to hurt the baboon either.

Grinning, Naruto had on a smirk, holding up the Gale Boomerang, the power of the boomerang starting up once more as he focused on the bug, locking on his targets carefully before he swung the boomerang. The young hero watched as the boomerang took the bomb bug from the baboon and hit the beast. 'Wow, a lot of b's…' thought Naruto with a shake of his head and watched as the monster fell down onto the ground.

Letting out a battle cry, Naruto charged, catching the Gale Boomerang once again as he swung the sword at the eye once more. Slashing at the orange eye ball, the eye starting to crack finally. Maybe this battle was coming to a close. Though, just before he could stab it, the eye popped back up and roared at Naruto and shot out flames at him once more. Yelping out in surprise, Naruto spun around in a circle, causing the flames to just go around him. To him, that was pretty amazing… but, how did he think of that without thinking? That doesn't make sense to him in the least…

"You're tapping into your inner hero Naruto… The TriForce is helping you to act without thinking." said Hinata, her voice sounding cheery. Naruto had to admit, she did sound cute with her voice sounding happy…

Shaking his head, Naruto ran back, he had to get out of the way in case the beast tried to attack him again. He didn't like it, but he had to stay back and attack when the creature was down on the ground. It seemed… cowardly but at the moment, there was nothing more that he could do. All he could do was kick some ass and take some names that was for sure. Sadly, this beast didn't have an ass… or a name. Shaking his head, the young man looked up and saw the monkey doing it once again. Smirking, he swung the Gale Boomerang once more… with the eye cracking maybe he has a chance to destroy this thing once and for all!

The beast could only watch as it hit the middle head once more. Least, the two heads could only watch before falling over. It was strange, it seemed that the two heads were connected to the middle one, he couldn't say if they would have still fallen over if he had hit the two on the side… Either way, he was happy that they were going down. Narrowing her eyes, the young man charged. The boomerang heading back toward him, if Naruto was going to finish this thing off, he was going to do it in style.

Acting quickly, Naruto jumped into the air, tightening his hold on his sword's hilt. Curling his body into a ball, Naruto flipped through the air before his body released itself from its ball-state, grabbing the boomerang while in midair, body twisting around before he stabbed the eye in the center. The beast didn't make a sound; the only sound that was made was glass cracking. Naruto blinked in shock that the eye was cracking like glass… that itself was pretty amazing… least, it was until the beast started to turn black and break apart into black squares and form a strange shape floating into the air. As its body had faded, the temple had started to transform. The lava had started to cool, the evil magic that had transformed this place turned it into a paradise for animals as it turned into water. Vines had started to appear on the walls of the temple and the sunlight started to shine right on through.

Looking up at the wall, Naruto noticed that the baboon had disappeared. Must have taken off to get some bananas or something, ah well… maybe he could thank him next time.

Looking at the fragmenting beast, Naruto watched as it kept on breaking down, the evil magic that had once coated this place disappearing with it. Though, Naruto wondered how it had formed in the first place. Looking up, he saw the pieces forming something. It was hard to describe what it was though, from what he could figure out; it reminded him of the hat that Hinata wore. To him, it looked like it would fit at the front of her hat. A few black circles in the middle, though between those dots least down the center of the strange looking armor, was a slit, like it would slide into something. He couldn't really say how else to describe it… but he could feel the evil magic from it.

Just as he was about to touch it, Hinata's voice had stopped him. "Don't touch that Naruto! If you touch it, you'll be consumed by darkness." Naruto stopped trying to reach for the strange object as soon as he had heard her voice, causing him to blink in confusion. Looking down, he saw Hinata come out of his shadow and grabbed the object in question before it vanished from his sight. Just as he was about to ask what it was, Hinata had already beaten him to the punch. "It's called a Fused Shadow… it's what I've been looking for. I can't explain why I needed it but, there are still two more pieces I need Naruto. I believe that the Fused Shadows can stop Pein and save both worlds… I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

Naruto just smiled a bit as he said "don't worry about it Hinata. Let's just get the next ones okay? Besides, it isn't like I have to go to a bunch of places right? Just the two." He chuckled before he started to leave with Hinata and get out of the temple. Now, he had to help this little imp girl to get the rest of these 'Fused Shadows' but, he had a feeling that he was going to be in a lot more trouble than he had thought. Oh well, he just hopes that he can find the kids, and his mother… and possibly to find out who that girl was from that carving when he first came in here…