You guys are all like,
"MONO! YOU &!$*%^ WHERE WERE YOU! ASDFLKDSAGHLAKSFDRHGA;JFDS!"
And... I'm sorry.
Look, I loved working on this story in the past, and I had no intentions of quitting or ending it. My heart and mind just wasn't in the right...setting for this type of story.
Please, forgive me.
Here is the new chapter.
(P.S. Happy Valentines Day :D)
0o0o0o
Menma watched worriedly as Naruto and Revide clumsily and shakily made their way up to the correct draft. Revide was hacking and extending her chin upward to better the flow of oxygen. If given the opportunity and right angle, one would see pink slivers of skin and read droplets, tarnishing her silver fur.
Naruto looked no better. His skin had gone a bleak pale and his hands were shaking on the leather. Menma could tell that even now, his bandages had been split too far by Sasukes sword, and the stress of the previous activities had wrenched the scabs open.
He sloppily brought a hand up to his stomach and pressed.
The brown that peaked through the half-coat was stained and blotted a rich ginger.
"Will you be ok for the next two hours?" Menma pried. He stiffened when Naruto didn't look at him. The injured teens cheeks bloated a bit and his spine bent in the slightest.
"Yeah...We can go."
Menma scowled at the obvious lie. Naruto was being stubborn, and best to let him learn his lesson.
Menma exhaled and turned his head, bravely.
Swarms of black creatures covered the area of the palace. All of them deformed and mutated in their very own way. Sasuke was currently exchanging blows with Riku. The strange man was cautiously whipping around his (very) strange weapon.
"It would seem that Riku came to give us some leeway." Menma stated, Naruto slowly turned around, and Menma knew that he didn't imagine that sharp inhale.
"Good." Naruto said stiffly and scanned in the swarmed castle. He turned slowly back the other way and looked straight ahead. "It'll give us some more time before they...counter and follow." Naruto spoke quietly.
Menma didn't reply. He instead stared at the approaching areas.
He didn't come to the Northern areas often, maybe twice in the past couple of years. His memory was foggy about the territories and oppositional groups. Sometimes they all fought like illiterate tribes, or had generally calm agreements.
He had no clue where to go or what to avoid. In his head, he slapped himself a couple times.
With that out of the way, he would have to wing it. The best idea would be to just find a spot that looked uninhabited. If anyone found them, Menma would calmly explain it was only for one night, and then proceed to run.
That is, if they even were encountered...
The basic set up would need... A lot of shrubbery, a small supply of water, and located in the lower altitude.
Menma began scanning the surroundings in much more detail.
Mountains, hills, and planes bubbled up from every corner of his eye. When passed over, the rockier hills appeared as paper and crinkled parchment. Such an interesting sight. It made him check his fastenings again, just to be careful and cautious.
As his eyes scanned in the passing grounds, and the palace began to disappear behind the many bumps in the ground, a question crossed Menmas mind.
"How did I summon the fires without a source of flame?"
He frowned and his eyebrows gradually lowered, he had been so elevated that he barely remembered it. Cautiously, he raised his arm and glared at it, as if not trusting his own appendage. He didn't feel like he could burn large amounts of wood and strengthen a multitude of binding beads. He tried to make his arm catch flame again...
Nothing.
Stupid and more stupid. This was why he didn't trust magic. Probably took eight years out of his lifetime or something.
He glowered and shoved his hand back at his side, thinking about when he used the binding beads. Come to think of it... when DID Naruto get these binding beads? He'd just tossed them at Menma like they'd materialized out of his bag.
Carefully, Menma turned around on his seat and opened his mouth slightly.
His question was cut off right away when he saw Narutos pale face and rigid posture, his jaw seemed to have dropped and his cheeks seemed slightly puffed, like his tongue was shoved into the back of his throat.
Menma gritted his front teeth, his lips meshing together in a vat of mixed emotions. Now he was somewhat convinced Naruto wasn't telling him something. Not that he had ANY right to question, it was just...strange.
Menma returned his gaze back to the earth below. No water could be seen at any angle. Even if they saw some water, Menma was convinced it would still be too close to the Uchiha borders.
Forcing back a groan, Menma inhaled. He didn't dare urge Alden to go faster, the griffon was cautiously watching Revide and dodging her every glance. Suicide would translate well for 'speeding up'. Menma stifled and shoved down a stick of irritation. He really wanted to look at something shiny to calm his nerves. The sudden drain of adrenaline and the even faster stress of Naruto gaining an object he had no clue about really made him worry.
What if those binding beads weren't meant for Sasuke, but Naruto had a plan...
He really should just stop.
Menma closed his eyes and made two fists. Just because something seemed amiss, didn't mean it really was. And really, he had no right to question Narutos allegiance, considering he was already up in the air and out of the palace.
Stuffing down his panic, he continued to stare straight ahead.
0o0o
Some time had passed. Maybe an hour and thirty minutes at the most, when a he spotted a small brook, barely perceivable at this height. Excited, he trailed his eyes over the brook, scanning in a much more cover area.
"I think I've found our resting point." Menma said loudly. Naruto looked much worse. "Will you make it dow-?"
"Yes!" Naruto said abruptly. "We just need to get down there as fast as we can." Naruto said even faster as his palm further cushioned the mass of blotching. Naruto leaned onto Revide and sank faster than Menma.
She dropped at an alarming rate, out of either exhaustion or comfortable with falling at that speed.
Alden sank at a much slower pace, but made sure to keep up with her all the same.
Menma notioned for Alden to increase the rate of descent, he more than happily obliged.
Within some-odd-couple-thousand-feet, he stopped descending as fast and flapped his wings, making Menma sway bumpily. At the last few-hundred feet, Alden flapped even more viciously. His wings slapped and clashed with Menmas face and legs, until finally landing.
Swirls and storms of dust billowed at every beat of his heavy wings. Menma unhooked the straps and clumsily made his way off of Alden.
He fell to his knees as the sudden sensation of colliding with gravity hit his equilibrium with an invisible sledge hammer. He coughed and hacked at the ground, he registered dust and grass threading through his fingers as he clung to the spinning world for support.
The dizziness made for a near limitless vertigo, years of practice and preparation would never ease him of this spinning.
"I'm never flying again." Menma said when the world gradually began to merge back into a solid image. He needed to tend to Narutos wounds, else all the worse happen.
A thud and shuffle of body mass with clothing tugged at his sight and hold. Naruto flopped off of Revide and rolled himself over and on his back. He inhaled and exhaled furiously. Revide teetered from side to side and lied next to him, nudging her beak to his blotched clothing.
Naruto yanked out the X-threading and tossed the leather slivers aside, he lifted up his undershirt and his eyes widened at the damage.
The bandages were either burst or sliced. Red intermingled with ominous syrupy chocolate colors. Naruto scowled and gritted his teeth. "Of all places." He growled and began testing the blood. If it was already beginning to resemble some form of scab, he needed to tear it off. He wouldn't be able to walk like that, or move. If the blood dried in such a huge mass, that is.
Closing his eyes and clenching his teeth, Naruto began to smear and scrape away the blood. He winced when his hand came into contact with several of the cuts, cursed barbed whips!
"Hold on!" Menma said as he ripped open Narutos pack and yanked out the bandages and vial. There wasn't any hot water around, and certainly no way he could summon those flames at will again.
Snarling, he grabbed Narutos half-coat and pulled it off of Narutos arms. "Press this as firmly as you can against the wounds, do you think the waters here is infectional?"
"Not..this area." Naruto said and began immediately applying pressure. "Just...stop the bleeding." Menma didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled and ran towards the stream, batting away any foliage. He hurriedly tore off his own coat and soaked it, he collapsed onto his knees. Water seeped into his pants and began crawling on his skin. He submerged the coat a second time and cradled the soaking fabric. He sprinted back to Naruto and blindly began wiping away the blood.
"That's cold!" Naruto snapped when Menma pried away the orange half-coat. He swabbed the wounds until he could see the outline of the cut themselves. He then snatched the vial and popped the cork off. He tried to be generous in his amount, even if it was a pressing situation and he was half delirious in his own measure. He rubbed the soap all along the material until frothy and once again, smeared the coat all over the wounds.
Naruto hissed, and that hiss grew in volume into a low scream. Menma blindly ignored his companion, and chose to pop Naruto up as the soap began its stinging path into the skin.
Menma snagged the bandages, cutting them with his own teeth and wrapping Narutos belly like a mummy. It was sloppy and a clumsy way of doing such, but he chose to go about it like that anyway.
"SHIT, you're heartless!" Naruto said when Menma pulled back.
Menma didn't reply and stared at the swaths for as long as he thought it would be. If the bleeding continued and peered through the bandages, well... he would wait even longer.
Menmas eyes widened when Naruto tried to sit up and strain the bandages. Menma roughly shoved Naruto down and blumberingly told his that if he moved, Menma would knock him out.
Naruto growled and began resting on his back while Menma began to go off and do something else, Naruto couldn't tell what, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the stinging on his abdomen. Menma wasn't in his right...balance, but the bleeding had stopped nonetheless. Or... it FELT like it had stopped.
There hadn't been anything careful about his...methods.
Naruto wondered how deep that whip even went in the first place. It usually didn't even go that far... It shouldn't have in the first place. Naruto closed his eyes and breathed.
The bandages weren't wet, at least.
Menma sighed and leaned back. That was over quicker (and messier) than he expected (or liked). Menma scooted farther back and clutched his head. The world just wouldn't stop rotating on it's new schedule.
He was convinced that the ground was gradually turning upside down and he was going to drop, but when opened his eyes... The world was flat and friendly as could be.
"Never, never, never, never..." Menma mumbled and gritted his teeth for extended amounts of time. He couldn't seem to get the right sense of direction and balance.
He'd forced himself too fast when trying to get a grip on the wounds. "Neverneverneverevernever." Menma rolled over into a fetal position.
His world was split into two and seemingly they were falling in and over each other. Menma decided he should just wait until his sense of balance came back. The ground is still bending and bowing when finally, the thick, slimy, fuzzy sensation inside his frontal lobe and ears begins to drain and fade.
He exhales against the grass as the dew drops come into crisp focus, slowly.
Menma clumsily lifted an arm and slapped it down on the grass below, he jerked his other arm out from under his ribs and planted it firmly in the grass. His fingers curled around the grass and when he pushed himself upward, the blades broke.
He dragged his knees upward and pushed his body right-side-up. He stood and let the heated fuzz fade one last time, and cautiously looked around.
They had landed in a small clearing. Leaves circled the perimeter and Menma presumed it was from Revide and Alden's landing. There was a (fresh) path from when he bashed through the foliage to get the water from the stream. In fact, there were several other paths lining the area.
Naruto seemed like he would be ok. Revide was curled up in mess of limbs and much needed rest.
Alden was sitting on his haunches alternating between looking at the sky and observing the new area.
Sticks littered the area to no end, providing his hazy mind with the idea that other people might've used this clearing prior. Menma wonkily tottered to the edge of the small clearing and began observing.
Slightly frayed edges of the branches, the wood was still green, meaning that it hadn't been just too long ago. Menma brought his hand to his face, it was always something. He had NO clue where they were, he was nauseous, Naruto wasn't in the best condition, and both of their rides were tired. He himself was in no mood to bash someone.
"Shit." Menma cursed lowly and began rubbing his temples furiously.
"Qwarrrk..." A low mixture of a cluck and growl brings Menma out of his numerous back-up plans and plan-Q ideas. Menma grumbled and turned around to see Alden giving him a look that clearly said 'shut up and be quiet, I have things to do.' Menma felt his brow descend.
"Well, what?" Menma snapped at the ever-so-serious griffon. Alden rolled his eyes so that Menma could see the whites. He stalked up to Menma and slammed his feet on the ground. His giant wings came around and a feather brushed over Menmas lips. The teen stared for a moment, dumbfounded and agitated. "Oh." Menma said, and then shut his mouth firmly. Alden gave him an incredibly sour look, then dragged his feathers over to Menmas ears.
Menma couldn't quite understand griffon, but the look on his face and the wing movements clearly said "Listen."
So he did.
He listened HARD.
The simple sound of nearly nothing crossed his ears, the winds crossing over the trees and waving the leaves over each other. The sound of Naruto and Revide breathing heavily, there was a faraway raincloud that pounded every several seconds, his own haywire breathing...
But no feet, no shouts or screams of incoming soldiers.
Menma opened his eyes, he hadn't realized they were closed. Alden retreated his feathers, making sure to smear them every excusable inch of face he could. Menma took several deep breathes.
Alden scowled at him with the intensity of a lime with a grudge. His whole body seemed to be telling Menma to 'Pipe the fuck down.'. As a comedian he saw once would put it.
Menma sighed and loosened up in his posture.
He'd over-reacted and over-thought everything to the max. He should've trusted Alden, with being an animal with hyper-plus hearing, Menma reached his hand back and scratched his neck.
"Sorry...?" He said quietly. Alden snorted loudly and rolled his eyes. The griffon turned on all four heels and paced back to his sitting point, occasionally giving Menma the glare. Menma didn't really know what to do.
He sighed and remembered Riku, surely the strange man would stall them long enough. Him just being that way, meant he didn't trust his ally in the slightest.
He paced over the area, taking in useless details that would never help him when they came back.
That thought caused him to halt in his tracks, would they come back?
Maybe for those gems, maybe... He snickered at the thought.
0o0o0o
When Naruto came to from his half-sleep, a stiff heat was crawling up his left side. A faint crackling accompanied by an occasional hiss slowly crawled into his ears. Slowly, he became more aware.
He gradually roved his fingers over the bandages and felt along the areas where he KNEW it was too deep. He didn't blame Menma, yet. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and pushed himself upward.
Groggily, he observed.
They were still positioned in the clearing, Menma had apparently built a fire. Alden sat along the edge of the clearing, head down, probably instinctively on guard. Revide was even closer to the fire than himself, her neck had apparently healed to some extent and she seemed to be recuperating.
Menma was just sitting on a log, staring at the flames, his head resting on his knotted hands.
Menma gradually let his eyes slid over to Narutos form. "You're awake." Menma said and continued to look back at the flames.
"Yeah..." Naruto replied and pushed himself further upward. He found his gaze drifting to the fire. "When did you..?"
"Tree sap here is remarkably flammable." Menma said quickly. "Even more so than the Tropics." Menma said and began tapping his foot. "Naruto."
"Hmm?" The injured teen rose an eyebrow.
"Where...did you get those binding beads?"
"..." Naruto was silent for several seconds, as Menma watched the dazed blond, patiently. "I've had them for a while, but never found a good time to use them." Naruto said and rubbed his head. "Why you ask?"
"You didn't have them, or really even suggest them, we could've used them..."
"Shaddap, let me explain something." Menmas eyes widened under furrowed brows. "I think they were flying beads, specifically designed for high altitude." Naruto said, speech getting less slurred with every word. "Back when I had plans to go solo, I nicked them from Sasukes storage." Menma nodded slowly.
"Were they...magical?"
"To an extent I guess..." Naruto trailed off and began to think about what he said. Menma nodded, so THAT'S why the beads caught fire. "Anyway, we're out...of...there..." Naruto trailed off...
"WE'RE OUT OF THERE!" Narutos voice rose about eight decibels. Menma cringed slightly. "Ahh, I've been waiting for this for so long!" Naruto popped right up from his placement and Menma nearly reached up to sit the boy back down. Naruto bounced over to Revide, who woke suddenly at his shout. "Revide..." Naruto pulled her up and grasped her jaw. Naruto began to do more griffon-speak, Revides eyes gradually widened. She began mewling and cawing at him, Naruto proceeded to jump up and down. Revide began bucking wildly.
Menma watched Naruto act like a tribesman, talking to his animal. But then again, Menma shouldn't say anything, he was always free...he couldn't relate. Naruto reached out and wrapped his arms around her small neck. She expanded her wings and wrapped them around his human form.
Menma felt his spine crawl as Alden sat next to him and watched the two engage in...festivities? Alden watched her, watched her dance and embrace the human. He gruffed and caught Menmas attention.
"What?" Menma whispered. Alden looked at the joyous pair and nudged his head toward them. Menma frowned... He pointed at Revide and nudged his own skull fore ward. Alden flinched, but then took the attitude of 'touché'.
"Hm?" Naruto said a bit louder as Revide cawed a little more actively.
"What's wrong?" Menma said and bluntly ignored the griffon next to him.
"She doesn't know if they'll stay with us." Naruto said calmly. "She's worried about Alden." The larger animal snapped his head fore ward at the name. "Menma, why don't we combine our knowledge and figure out where in the Tropics we'll actually be?"
"Uh, yeah." Menma said and reached for a nearby stick. He hurriedly scratched a compass rose with 'N, S, E, W' written hastily as Naruto motioned for Revide to follow. Menma reached over and grabbed another stick. He handed it to Naruto when he came by. The injured teen plopped down next to Menma and looked at the compass rose.
"We're along this area." Naruto said and began scribbling mountain chains along the dirt. He made a triangular shape and placed a noticeable "U" next to it. Naruto then began to smear the dirt along the previous lines. "This is us." Naruto said and made a dot along the lines marking the territory. "Since the air is pretty damp and it hasn't quite rained yet, I'd say we're around the Hikeyan chain. " He began to make more furious scribbles. "Since the Hikeyans border both Nocht and Bisk, two groups that are particularly feisty, we'll have to go through the Raisog."
"Woah, woah slow down." Menma said and waved his hands around.
"The Hikeyans are a sliver, right here, that's a tad northwest to the Uchiha. It borders and bars the Nocht and Bisk from the Uchiha territory. However," Naruto began making a small cut through the triple borders. "If we go through the Raisog chains, we should slip under most of the radar."
"Who and what are these people? Is there anything I need to know? Customs? Regards?"
"A bunch of people who don't involve themselves in others business. They don't even trade with Sasuke due to prior disagreements. I haven't even seen them. Nocht and Bisks are pretty hermit-like." Naruto then began trailing the line over the Raisog until it looped around the more southern Bisk until his stick began gradually going southwest. "As long as we sneak through the borders, we'll go unharmed."
"Naruto, we'll be flying, how will they not spot that?"
"I didn't say we would be flying ALL the time. Like I said, unless it's changed some, they're pretty hermity." Naruto then began dragging the stick then looked at Menma. "Now, what do we need to avoid when the temperature starts increasing?"
"There really isn't many unfriendly territories in the Tropics." Menma began drawing some other mountains and the occasional lake that he'd memorized by heart. "We should be able to make a nice slice to the Aihuimanuwa. It's...like a village I guess you could say, farther along the coast..." Menma nailed the stick in an inch below the village. "Is our hideaway."
"Is it...Really tropical? It's such a tropical name?" Naruto said and peered over the landmark.
"It isn't called the Tropics without a reason..." Menma trailed off.
"Oh, right."
After around twenty minutes more of talking about the possible options, they finally ironed out and sorted all the bumps and ridges in the plan. Naruto was now relaying the plan back to the griffons. Menma, didn't understand squat. Naruto eventually dragged them over to the map and had to (obviously) re-explain the plan several times before the griffons understood.
Menma grumbled when Alden began speaking back in garbled and low roars. He occasionally interrupted Revide, who backed down with her tail swishing. Naruto fisted his mop of hair and turned back to Menma.
"I believe they'll be coming with us for a portion of the way." Naruto coughed and cleared his throat before speaking again. "After we exit the mid-section of the mediums, they might take off." Naruto explained. "Alden wants to head back north to the areas of intense snow, Revide will follow wherever he goes."
"I've seen griffons in the tropics, sometimes they come there every few years to hatch eggs. But I don't think that's why they'll go." Menma withheld a smirk as Naruto translated to them. Alden snarled at Menma, he just snickered.
"Er, well..." Naruto came back to Menma, fisting the back of his neck. "Revide is...not like that...apparently." Naruto shook his head and resumed. "They hatch the eggs there because even with combined heat, they can't hibernate that long in the snow. Revide MIGHT sway him to meet the hatchlings-."
"How do griffons reproduce? I mean with the egg and fetus combination?" Menma blurted out and Naruto coughed, choking on the sudden question of such...caliber.
"I wish to forget that part of the book."
"Tell me later."
"Maybe."
A terse silence blanketed the group, leaving Naruto to stand there and be expected of.
"ANYWAY..." Naruto stated loudly to deter the topic. "The point is, they're undecided..as of yet. They'll have an answer much later." Naruto then gasped when his fingers traced over something clinkety.
He reached behind and pulled at the fastenings of the necklace. "I've forgotten to take it off." Naruto said and his hand held the necklace. "How much do you think it's worth?"
"Depends if it's real or not." Menma said and stood up, he took the necklace from Naruto, weighing the shards individually. "Will it bother you to have it?"
"It's just an item. Outside of Sasukes perimeters, it has no power." Naruto said and took the necklace back. He placed the gem laced string in his pocket and it noticeably plunked and dragged his pant down...slightly.
"...If you say so." Menma said and shrugged. "When should we leave, tomorrow?"
"As long as there's some kind of fog. Later than that, and we've lost a day." Naruto said.
"You should get some sleep. Give your injuries a chance to heal." Menma glanced at the sky...too cloudy to gauge the time, but he'd say around eight-to-nine o'clock.
"What'll you do?" Naruto inquired. The fire was still high, and the clouds still low.
"Sleep."
"Oh."
0o0o0o
So... Not too much going on in this particular update.
I'm so sorry, you guys. I've just now been getting back on my 'robin-hood' like kick. This is a particularly short chapter, but the next one will be longer. My goal is about 12,000w for that one. It'll describe the going through of the Raisog... I get excited just thinking about it.
Some of you may be REALLY sad about the really long wait, but all I gotta say is... Several people like interactions of Menma and Naruto. If you like it so much, why don't you write a fic about them, PM me about it.
Until next update,
~MonoChro