Naruto looked up at the mountain as he tilted his head to the side. The young man knew that this was going to be tough though that was mostly due to the fact that he was going to fight rock men that could easily roll him over or worse… kill him. Gulping, the young man tried to get himself to relax, the young hero knew that this was going to be a little difficult for him though at the same time he was the only one that could do it. After all, he was the chosen hero, the only one that could handle this journey.
"Naruto, you alright? You seem nervous about something…" said Hinata with concern in her voice.
"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine… just wondering if these boots will work for me. I'm just… thinking that the Gorons won't let me in even if I do win…" said Naruto with a sigh before getting off his horse. It was now or never, he knew that he would have to get it done now or else he would never be able to save the world for that matter. After all, he didn't know what he would end up doing if he didn't save the world… in fact; many people could end up getting killed because he doesn't go there to save them.
Inhaling softly, the young man started to climb up the fence as he tried to get his thoughts back in order. He was going to make sure that he got to the top and kicked some serious ass. This was the only way that he would win and he was going to take it. Sure, it may be cheating to use the boots but his father had mentioned that as humans, Gorons would allow them one thing that would give them some kind of advantage in the fight. Their prides were as big as a mountain… which, he thought was a little much to be honest.
"Naruto, do you think they'll let you in?" asked Hinata with wonder.
"I believe so. Dad said that they let him fight with the boots so that gave him a good shot to winning. For me, I won't just have the boots but the super strength as well so that should be enough to not only win but to prove myself. At least, I hope that will be the case…" He said with a frown before making his way to the top. The young man blinked at what he saw… The Goron from before was standing back in the position that the young man saw it in before… did it just go back to the same spot as before or did someone take its spot? He didn't know…
Shrugging to himself, Naruto pulled himself up and started to walk forward. The Goron though glared and started to roll toward him, shouting "no humans!" Naruto yelped in surprise before he felt the boots appear on his feet. That was when he knew that now was a perfect chance to test these things out. Holding his ground, Naruto held out his hands and felt the rock hard bolder of the Goron's body slam into his palms before Naruto got a firm hold. "See you next fall!" shouted the blonde before throwing the Goron off the cliff and just watched as it kept on rolling further and further away until it was no longer within his sight.
"Naruto does that line even work?" asked Hinata.
"Of course it does, he falls off the cliff after all." Naruto said with a laugh before the boots disappeared. To be honest, Naruto had been scared out of his mind but refused to show it. There was no way that he was going to allow himself to show his fear when Hinata herself already seemed so nervous for his safety as it was. Though now that he thought about it, she also seemed desperate but at the same time nervous to ask for Naruto's help when she first found him.
Maybe it was just one of the many things as to who she was that she didn't want to reveal as of yet. There was after all no way of knowing what it was that made her want to try to help his world and stop Zant in the first place. There had to be something but at the same time he also knew that they had to find the true ruler of Twilight. They were the only ones that could help to stop the world from falling apart or worse… destroying itself in the process.
Turning to stare at his shadow, Naruto calmly said "Hinata, do you know what to expect in the temple? There has to be something that you know right?"
Hinata just peeked up at him from his shadow. Her lavender eye looked scared and nervous. What was in that temple that could cause her to feel such fear in the first place? In fact, Naruto was almost nervous with asking her what it could be though he knew that he had to know or else he would chicken out at the last second by saying that it was okay for her not to tell him anything about the temple.
"There is some kind of object in there that is filled with dark magic. Nothing like the Fused Shadows, but something else that is almost just as powerful. The sacred object left by the hero is only for those of the pure of heart may use it. So the dark object is used to see if they are pure enough and face their darkness. If they can handle that itself, then they shall be worthy of the object that was left by the hero of legend." Hinata said, so that's what it was. It was just a test to see if they were worthy of the hero's item… Sure it even sounded a bit risky but Naruto knew that he had to do this or else he wouldn't be a hero but a damn coward and he wouldn't have it that way in the least. He had to fight, and he had to win at any cost… well, he wouldn't sacrifice anyone anyway…
Naruto breathed heavily as he made his way through the passageway into the mountain. He had to take down a few Gorons just so he could get through and so far it hadn't been easy. Some of them were stronger than the first one he had taken down and now? Well, he just prayed that nothing else got in his way. All he wanted to do was earn his way into the temple then get it done and over with. It was already hot as hell in here, how did the Gorons do it anyway?
Moaning in discomfort, Naruto set aside his hat and his neat-styled long sleeved shirt along with his white shirt before tucking them away, or at least getting Hinata to make them disappear for now. It felt a little better though too bad there was nothing that could be done about the long pants and boots he had to wear. Sighing softly, the young man hoped that the next temple was cool, maybe a Water Temple, or maybe an Ice Temple. Either one would be fine for him.
Taking a deep breath hoping to calm down his nerves, the young man made his way through the large doorway only to stare in shock at what was prepared for the young hero. There were a dozen of Gorons, all lined up in front of some kind of stage and arena. Okay, he wasn't going to lie but he was screwed.
The Gorons all rolled themselves into boulders as they prepared to roll Naruto over. They wouldn't allow him through and that much was easy to see, though Naruto wasn't going to like this at all, he would have to fight to protect himself. Narrowing his eyes, he made the boots appear on his feet as he got himself prepared for the fight. "Bring it!" shouted the young man.
"Hold it!" shouted a voice causing all the Gorons to free and release their bolder forms and stand on their feet once more. Looking up, Naruto stared and saw an older looking Goron. He had a white beard and a tough looking face much like the other Gorons. In fact, he was the only one that didn't look like the others. "Those boots you have there… who gave you those? The only one I know to possess those is my friend and brother…"
Naruto gulped a bit, though he kept his tough façade up as he said "my father gave them to me. He fought here years ago with these boots and I've come here to go into the Fire Temple for a dark item so I can save the world." The Goron just stared at him, as if trying to place him though at the same time the young man knew that it wouldn't be the case. Inhaling softly, he added "my father's name is Minato Namikaze…"
The Goron stared at Naruto with wide eyes for a moment before crossing his arms and smiled. "I thought you looked familiar, you look much like your father though it seems you may have more of your mother's looks." Naruto just blinked at him for a moment, as if trying to understand how the Goron would know what his mother looked like but shrugged it off as if it meant nothing. "So, you want to go into the temple hm? If you can beat me young warrior I shall let you through. Only the strongest of warriors may enter. More so now that we have a great and terrible monster in there now…"
Naruto could only nod, he knew that he would have to do this, it was the only way and he would have to fight and beat the Goron elder if he wanted to go into the temple. Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto said "alright, let's do this!"
With that said, Naruto made his way over to the small arena that was in the center of the room. The other Gorons just stared at the blonde hero as he made his way. Naruto of course did feel a little nervous but knew that he couldn't back down. His father did this and knew that his ancestor must have done this as well, how else would they have gained the respect of rock men? No idea but hey, at least this was a start.
Naruto stood in the arena and narrowed is blue eyes at the Goron elder as he prepared himself for the fight. The boots on his feet, heavy of course and a little difficult to move in but at the same time he knew that the end result would be worth it. The Goron elder smiled a bit, though his smile was in a way, a smirk as if he knew that Naruto would use the boots. Ding! "Where did that bell come from? Where does it keep coming from?!"
"Maybe it's the writer…" said a Goron.
"What?" Naruto said with confusion.
"Never mind that!" said the elder before he made his way over to the blonde hero. Naruto of course acted quickly and jumped over to the right. It was hard for him to do the movement with the boots being as heavy as they were though thanks to his super strength he could endure some of it. But that could only help him with so much. The blonde hero looked up at the elder as he saw the rock man slowly turn to stare at him again. Naruto had missed his chance to grab him to throw him out of the ring… He would have to wait for another moment.
Pushing himself back up Naruto waited for an opening. The elder wouldn't just let himself be wide open or there would be a high risk of being defeated. Though maybe he could get another opening if the elder had tried to attack Naruto to make his own defences open. That could work though he wasn't really sure to be honest.
Just then, the elder managed to slap Naruto as hard as he could, though with Naruto's boots and unbendable stance, he was able to remain standing. Though the Goron Elder had managed to grab a hold of him. 'No! I can't lose!' thought the hero before he slammed his gloved covered palms onto the Goron's shoulder and shoved as hard as he could. This resulted in the Elder to be pushed back, arms flailing around as if he was trying to regain his balance. Naruto wasn't going to lie with this but hey, he did get what he wanted, just didn't think the Goron would lose balance like that, or that easily.
Narrowing his eyes, the young man rushed forward and grabbed a hold of the Elder. Using all of his strength to move forward, pushing the Goron toward the edge, Naruto knew that this was going to be difficult though it was a ways from where he could shove the Elder off the edge. Sadly, the Elder managed to shove Naruto off of him and tried to grab a hold of the young hero.
Acting quickly, Naruto managed to move out of the way, saying "you're pretty good… I knew you guys were tough but I didn't think it'd be this tough."
"That is because we are strong by nature, and only view strength. Your father is a man of great strength that was how he had defeated me." Said the Elder with a small chuckle. Naruto couldn't help but smile at that, it did make him feel a little better inside to know that he was fighting the same Goron that had battled his father; now all he had to do was beat this guy and prove himself to be able to handle the temple. "Though I do not think you have what it takes to be here… to defeat me. You do have super strength I won't lie but is it enough?"
Naruto wasn't really sure if it was enough to be honest, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from trying. Narrowing his blue eyes, the young hero rushed forward as fast as he could in the boots, the Elder went to grab him in what he figured would have been a bear hug, though the young man ducked and circled around the Elder.
"What the?" cried out the Elder in shock before he tried to reach behind him. Hoping that he would be able to grab a hold of Naruto though had no luck. "What do you think you're doing?" said the Elder with a frown on his face and of course while he struggled to break free.
Naruto though wasn't going to let it happen. He kept a firm hold over the Goron, his super strength serving him very well for he was able to keep him in one spot. Though knew that he would have to shove him out of the ring at some point before he broke free of Naruto's grasp. This was going to be close since he couldn't just turn around to get him out but to keep pushing forward… Whoever made that rule up though… well, he wanted to break their knee caps at the moment. Inhaling softly, Naruto started to shove the Goron forward, knowing that this had to be done if he was going to win at this point.
Narrowing his eyes, the young man looked over and saw a bunch of Gorons were cheering and shouting for their Elder to break free. Now that he thought of it, why wasn't he called their 'leader' instead? If this guy was an Elder, why was he even fighting? Wouldn't he be too old to fight in the first place? None of this made sense to the young man though at the moment he didn't mind, he just wanted to win.
Soon, Naruto found himself at the edge of the ring and managed to shove him out of the ring. Everyone stared in shock when they saw that their Elder had lost… No one dared to move, hell, Naruto didn't even think they breathed for that matter. Tilting his head to the side, the young man just stared at his opponent as he tried to think if the guy was alright though; to be honest Naruto didn't think that it would have been enough for the guy to be knocked out though there had to be something… "Um… you alright?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah I'm fine…" said the Goron as he pushed himself up and just smiled. "You have defeated me, just like your father had before. You truly are the hero that was said to save this world from darkness and to take the hero's weapon and the dark object we were to protect." Naruto just smiled, he couldn't believe that he had proven himself so easily but hey, he wasn't going to complain about it at all.
"Come hero, I wish to speak more to you." Said the Elder as he, and Naruto both made their ways to the temple's entrance. Though, Naruto had to make the boots disappear before making his way over to the gate.
The hero looked up at the giant red gate as he wondered what it would be that awaited him behind there. Naruto turned to the Elder as he asked "what do you need to speak to me about?" The Elder seemed sad for a moment before he looked away. In fact, Naruto almost felt bad, whatever it was it had to be something bad that would make this guy seem so sad like this. "If it's too hard to speak you don't have to…"
"In the locked chamber, there is another Goron, he wanted to use the dark object to try to save the mountain or even the world but instead it had consumed him." Said the Elder with a soft sigh. So, it was another Goron huh? Where was he taking this though is the tough part. Naruto in fact was almost afraid of what the man was going… wait, no not man, what the Goron was going to say in the first place or at least where he was going to take it.
"So you need me to release him?"
Shaking his head, the elder looked at him saying "it is too late to save him. You will have…" He paused for a moment; it was easy to say that this hurt him to even say it in the first place. To see one of your own kinsmen like this must have hurt in a way more than anyone could ever think of. "You'll have to kill him…" Naruto's eyes widened at hearing that… all he could do was shake his head quickly. "You must, it is for the sake of the world…"
"No, if I believe there is a way to save him, I will save him. I won't kill him unless it truly is my last option." Naruto looked up at the gate before he pulled out the orange and black ocarina as he started to play a song that seemed to be playing through his very being. The essence of his soul as he felt the song flowing around him as it slowly started to open the gate. Naruto didn't know if he would ever get sick of the feeling he got by playing the songs that opened the temples though he knew that at some point it would end and he would miss it. It just felt so free…
Yet with the Fire Temple, it felt empowering, as if he was receiving something from the temple itself to help him endure the temple while he wandered through it… Whatever it was though, he would endure it. He would go through this temple, get the hero's item, save that Goron, then get the Fused Shadow and go to the next Temple. It was the only way and he knew that it would all work out in the end. The only thing that did have him concerned was what Hinata had mentioned to him. About something that would prove if he was really worthy of the hero's item… He just hoped that he could endure that task just like he believed he would when he fought the Goron…