Wow, I am really into this story considering I had so many ideas for the next chapter. I would like to thank A Dragon Knight, Agurra of the Darkness, ERX06001, Rubius, and Raidentensho for their reviews. They made my day(s). =D
Some of these people asked very good questions which I shall answer to the best of my abilities unless they contain spoilers.
- Is there going to be a timeskip later? Yes there will be.
-Does Hunter appear in the story later? Later, after the timeskip.
- Who will be paired with Naruto? Personally, I don't know (*sweatdrops*) I'll decide later, unless one of you give me an extremely amazing reason why he should be paired with Corona or Aqune. This story is an adventure story, so it probably isn't going to focus that much on a relationship.
- Which side will Naruto join? That is for me to know and you to find out. *hehe*
Disclaimer- I do not own either Naruto or Spider Riders (sadly...*sighs*)
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An undisclosed village
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Naruto groaned as a shaft of sunlight hit his eyes. He gasped as he remembered what he saw last; a giant SPIDER! Not that he minded spiders. They were never mean to him so he ignored them, most of the time. He chided himself gently. After all, getting distracted was not a good thing to do if you were in a location in which you knew nothing about. Well, at least that's what Sandaime- ojiji said, but why would he listen to Sandaime- ojiji now; after all the Sandaime hid all that information about his father from him. Naruto rambled on in his head not noticing a scuttling noise or footsteps. A hand tapped his shoulder interrupting him from his rambling.
He turned quickly and his blue eyes took in the sight of a young raven haired girl. Her stare brought his attention to her eyes. They were a mix between grey and blue giving it a dusky blue color. She looked at him with curiosity in her eyes. Naruto smiled brightly at her.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Naruto immediately narrowed his eyes, "Where am I?"
The girl blinked at him but smiled all the same.
"You're in Fumant Village. Who are you? Dsiban just brought you here and left."
"I'm Naruto. Naruto Namikaze, nice to meet you." Naruto grinned sheepishly, "I don't suppose that you know where Konoha is, right?"
"Konoha? Was that where you lived?" At Naruto's eager nod she frowned, "I'm sorry, but I don't that I know where that is…and I know every single place around this village. Granted, there aren't many places around here either ways… Does that mean…" Naruto frowned at her ambiguous answer. Just then, he remembered his scroll wasn't near him when he woke up. He looked frantically around him.
"Oh, umm…I still don't know what your name is…" Naruto's grin was even more sheepish. She laughed.
"My name's Sarin Nashira, but you can call me Sarin."
"Alright Sarin, you know, when that huge spider brought me here. Did I have a scroll with me?" Naruto had a panicking tone to his voice. Sarin mouthed a 'oh' and rushed out. When she returned a few minutes later with Naruto's scroll in her hand, her other hand held a basket of fruit. She offered the basket to Naruto first and took a peach from it after Naruto took an apple. She handed the scroll to Naruto and began to gnaw on the ripe peach.
"Sorry, but I read some of your letter. I was curious about you and I thought that the scroll would have something about you." Sarin apologized. Naruto smiled back at her.
"It's alright," Naruto said in between bites of apple, "You were only curious, no harm done." Sarin leaned forward with amazement with a grin on her face.
"Was your father really a ninja?" Naruto nearly laughed at the excitement in Sarin's voice.
"Yes, he was the Yondaime Hokage. That meant he was the strongest ninja in the village. He defeated the Kyuubi by…" Naruto's grin suddenly slipped off his face. Sarin noticed it and continued his sentence, "sealing the beast into you……But it doesn't matter does it? The Kyuubi is gone now, and you're free." Naruto smiled sadly.
"I may not be the container of the Kyuubi anymore but it doesn't change the fact that so many people used to beat me up when I was Konoha." Sarin interrupted him with a firm tone.
"So why do want to go back to that place. It sounds to me that they practically hate you. I wouldn't want to go back even if you offered me a load of money." Naruto looked at her with a funny look on his face.
"I don't think you understand, Sarin. Konoha is my home. I was born and raised there, nothing can change that fact." Sarin shot back a reply.
"You're right. You were raised in that place, but you don't have to accept it as your home." Naruto sighed sounding really tired.
"Then what do I accept as a home? Konoha is all I've known for my entire life."
"Fumant Village." Sarin's answer was prompt and to the point.
"Huh, really? I can stay here?" Naruto voice conveyed a mix between confusion and happiness. Sarin nodded while turning to leave again.
"You should get some rest, Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow." She left him alone in the room. Naruto stared at Sarin's retreating back. He smiled a bit before holding his arm up. He admired the onyx sitting in the manacle. After a few minutes, he was asleep.
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Outskirts of Fumant Village
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Sarin swept her bangs out of her eyes while sitting on a rock. She looked around at the desolate landscape before standing up. She thought to herself. Naruto has a manacle. A manacle. Which meant he was a potential Spider Rider. She smiled to herself. And his father was a ninja. A NINJA. That was crazy. She carefully took off the bandages she kept wrapped around her left wrist revealing a golden colored manacle. The silver jewel glinted in the Oracle sun's dying light. Her voice rang out in the silent plains.
"Arrakis, where are you?!" A medium sized black spider appeared in a flash next to her. Gold markings decorated it body. A silver crest was visible on top of his head. The spider turned towards Sarin almost immediately.
"That boy…has a manacle… He is Dsiban's Bonded; I can…feel it… Sarin, I must… inform Dsiban…" Sarin nodded her consent and watched as the swift black arachnid bound off in the distance. Sarin sighed, Arrakis definitely needed to boost his confidence or one day it might prove his downfall. After losing sight of the spider, she entertained the thought that she might be able to learn jutsus. After all, Naruto could and he was human. She was human, but it was in Naruto's blood. His father was the Hokage, the strongest and the leader of a village. How could she keep up with that? There was also the fact that Naruto was, with no doubt, an Earthen. Maybe it was a skill only Earthen's had. Dismissing the thoughts from her head and rewrapping her wrist, she stood up and headed back to Fumant Village knowing that Arrakis would return back to her after meeting up with Dsiban and convincing him to meet up with Naruto, and knowing Dsiban, it would take quite a while.
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Hours later… Dusty Plains
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Arrakis was a black and gold blur against the drab color of the plains. Arrakis's thoughts were calm and focused on getting to Dsiban as fast as possible. As the spider bounded on the dunes as fast as he could, his thoughts strayed to his human friend, Sarin. After all, he had practically known her for her whole life, it was natural he think of her sometime. He stopped and shook his head chiding at himself for getting distracted; after he was focused again, he sped off again in search of the Earthen's Bonded.
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A few more hours later…
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A large grey spider jumped silently on the rocks as he pondered about the small Earthen he found. He seemed familiar in a really peculiar way. As he stood on a large rock to rest, he noticed a medium-sized black spider with gold markings land next to him. Dsiban turned to face Arrakis.
"Arrakis, what's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" Dsiban's thoughts tumbled out one after another. "Was the village attacked? Is-" Arrakis's voice cut through Dsiban's next question.
"I'm…fine. I had to catch up…to you…That Earthen…is your Bonded…I can feel it…" Dsiban stared at the black battle spider in disbelief.
"Arrakis…Have you eaten rotten fruit? That boy? My Bonded?! I do not believe what you are saying. He is an Earthen, a bad omen. I only rescued him because it is my duty as a battle spider to protect the weak and he could have died if an Invectid came upon him." Arrakis sighed.
"Dsiban…Stop being so stubborn…Please…Just come to the village…and meet the Earthen…for yourself…"
After a few minutes of silence passed among the two warriors, Dsiban turned away grumbling under his breath.
"Fine, I will meet the little Earthen. I will listen to you, Arrakis. You…have not been wrong yet." Dsiban turned towards Arrakis again, "By the way, have you asked that little human friend of yours, her name was…?"
"Sarin…Her name is…Sarin." Arrakis seemed to shrink in on himself, "I…have not ventured the question yet…No…" Dsiban chuckled.
"You have the audacity to tell me my Bonded is an Earthen and then not break the news to your own soon-to-be-Bonded?" The black arachnid would have scowled if he could.
"I…want to tell her…but I am afraid…Afraid…Sarin might reject me…" Dsiban laughed loudly scaring away a few small birds.
"Sarin has a manacle. She can be a Spider Rider as well. You two get along very well and you've known each other for years. The two of you will make a powerful team in a few years. That girl is a strong human and the Oracle's light falls upon her. She will not reject you, Arrakis. You two make a perfect team."
Arrakis was filled to the brim with confidence after Dsiban's speech. He motioned to Dsiban with one of his eight legs.
"Come on, Dsiban… You will meet the Earthen…and I will offer the bond to Sarin… We must hurry… The darkness will lift soon…and the Oracle sun will shine once more."
The two battle spiders nodded to each other in complete agreement and bounded off in the night.
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New character! Oh, and before I get people asking me if Naruto will be paired up with Sarin, the answer is 'no'! They are going to be friends, albeit very close friends, and nothing is going to change that fact. But of course you give me a very persuasive reason, you might nudge me to decide otherwise (I highly doubt you will).
Pronounciations
Fumant Village is pronounced (Fuu-Mont Village) Fumant means smoky in Latin.
Sarin is pronounced (Czar-Rin) Sarin is a type of corrosive poison, but I didn't choose this name because of that fact. Sarin is a star in the constellation Hercules.
Arrakis is pronounced (ARE-A-Kiss) Arrakis, besides sounding cool, is a star in a constellation. It's in Draco and the meaning of its name is 'dancer'.
Dsiban is pronounced (Tzee-Baan) Dsiban is also in the constellation Draco. Dsiban means 'the two jackels'. To be serious I had a lot of trouble with this spider. First it was Ginrou, then Shinkan, then Lesath, and then Dsiban. (wow) This made me want to kick something.
But I have to admit, I learned a lot from trying to find names for characters. Makes me think I'm going to have to learn a s***load of things about insects for the Invectids.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (For the people who celebrate it) And happy late Thanksgiving to the people in Canada (I think it was Canada...). =D
R&R
Ja ne