CHAPTER 3
Author's Notes: This is just to explain that I will be going a little crazier than intended with this chapter as opposed to the last two chapters.
(Kingdom of Zoanthropes)
It was the next morning and Naruto had just walked out of the shower in his new apartment building. He had somehow become the new manager/landlord/ handyman for it, on top of his responsibilities as a knight for Prince Cronos. While he was walking out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, a smaller towel drying his hair and a toothbrush in his mouth, he froze when he noticed his mother in his room, sitting on his bed. Kushina smiled at her son as he was walking out.
"Good morning Naruto-kun." She said.
"Morphin mfm," he said with his toothbrush still in his mouth.
"Spit out the toothpaste and talk to me like a normal person." she stated.
Going back into the bathroom, he spit and rinsed and then came back out while wiping his mouth.
"Morning, mom." he said to her.
"Much better." She said. "Now. What do you have planned for the day?"
"Well, Prince Cronos wants me to take a Chunin test and help out in the academy. Then he wants me to help find other oppressed zoanthropes."
"Do you mind if I go with you and help?" she asked.
"Sure." he said as she hugged him tightly.
"And once this is all finished, I'll take you home with me."
"Home?" he asked. "But I thought Whirlpool Village was destroyed." he said.
"What you think I'm from Whirlpool? I'm from Metal." she said proudly. She noticed the still confused look on his face and explained. "Whirlpool Village was where I was born. It's not where I'm from. I was younger than you when my Zoanthrope powers first activated. It was then that I was found by the lord of the metal kingdom and taken there for my own safety." she explained while he got dressed for the day. "The current Kingdom of Metal is run by Prince Kuyo, successor to his uncle who is..." she started to say, only to trail off.
"Who is... what?" Naruto asked.
"Well.... let's just say that Prince Kuyo is.... rather strict about things. More so than Prince Cronos. To an almost... military discipline of sorts."
"Military?" Naruto asked, noticing the concerned looks upon his mothers face. "Mother, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Naruto-kun. Really. I just.... like I said, it's nothing. You've got a big day today, so we'd better get going."
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, three women were sitting around the Hokage's office just talking about their current situation. They were mostly talking about what they could do now that their secrets had been exposed. As well as how they had all come to this.
"I still can't believe that the Sandiame put you with Orochimaru!" Tsume said.
"He figured that since I was a viper zoanthrope, Orochimaru would be a good sensei." Anko said.
"In a twisted sort of way, I guess that makes sense." Tsunade said, pausing for a second. "Anko? Orochi.... he's not a... zoanthrope like us... is he?"
"Not that I know of." she said.
"Thank Kami." she sighed. "The last thing we need is to have something else in common with that bastard."
It was then that Tsume looked up at Anko, questioningly. "Speaking of which, do you have any idea how we can find Naruto?"
Anko turned her head for a second. "No.... but I may have an idea who might."
The trio arrived at the Hyuga compound ten minutes later where Hiashi received them in his study.
"Hokage-sama. Tsume-san. Anko-san. What can I do for you?" He asked the trio.
"We need to speak with Hinata." Tsunade said.
"Hinata? What for?"
Anko quickly explained their situation to him and, remarkably, he understood. Rising up from his desk he lead them out to where his daughter was.
Leading them out to a secluded courtyard where three individuals were practicing, Tsunade, Tsume and Anko noticed Hinata was practicing her kata's as Hanabi was sparring against Neji. Hiashi first went over to Hanabi and Neji and ordered them back into the main house before approaching his eldest daughter.
"Hinata?" He said softly to her.
The girl stopped and looked up to her father. "Yes father?"
"The Hokage has a mission for you." he said, as the busty, blond woman made her presence known.
Hinata bowed to the village leader. "What c-can I do f-for you Hokage-sama?" She asked.
"Hinata, Tsume, Anko and I have something to show you." Tsunade said as the trio transformed into a wolf, viper and cougar respectively.
"Z-Zoanthropes!" Hinata gasped when she saw them.
"You know what we are?" Tsunade asked. Hinata nodded. They deformed back to their human forms, "How?" the Hokage asked.
Hinata looked nervously looked to her father before he nodded. Taking a deep breath, the young pale-eyed girl slowly transformed into a cat-like Zoanthrope, her fur the same color as her hair had been.
The instant Tsunade saw her, she immediately gushed. "Oh she's adorable!" the cougar woman said.
"So she's just like us?" Said Tsume.
Hiashi nodded as he explained. "Her mother was from the village of Zoanthropes." he said. "I kept her secret just like I have kept Hinata's, in order to keep her safe from the Hyuga Council."
"The council? You mean..."
"They are not as tolerant of Zoanthropes as I am, because I loved Hikaru, despite our differences." he said, then looked to Anko. "And the only way you could have known of Hinata... is if Kurenai told you."
"Precisely." Anko said. "And you put her under Kurenai's care to keep her away from the council while she was developing her powers."
"Of course. It was all I could do to protect her."
"Father." Hinata gasped, as if suddenly realizing that in his own way, her father did love her.
"So... if she's a Zoanthrope like us.... how does that help us locate Naruto?" Tsume asked.
"She knows where the village is." Anko said.
"A village? You mean there's a whole village of Zoanthropes?" Tsunade gasped.
"I will leave this to you then." Hiashi said, before starting to walk away. "It would be best that I not know of your mission." he said before walking out of the courtyard.
"So, you're telling us that she could help us find Naruto?" Tsume asked once Hiashi was gone.
"But how? Has she ever been to this village?" Tsunade asked.
"No. But... if Kurenai is right... she might know how to get there." Anko said. "Or maybe her mom told her how to get there when she was a kid."
"I-Is... d-did something ha-happen to N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"He's gone missing, Hinata." Tsunade said. "We think that someone might have taken him to this village. Of course, that's a long-shot. Still, we need to find him to make sure he's alright."
"I-I'll do what I c-can." She said.
"That's all we ask." Tsunade said with a smile.
(Kingdom of Zoanthropes)
In the large courtyard of the castle, 13-year old Naruto stood across from Ganesh, Cronos' head bodyguard and advisor who possessed the ability to turn into an elephant. Naruto gulped as he saw Ganesh turn into a bulky, muscular elephant man.
"Do not worry young Naruto, I will not hurt you." He said.
"This is coming form a 9 foot tall elephant man?" He said, "Forgive me for being a little nervous but I think I'm justified."
Ganesh just laughed and pat Naruto on his shoulder.
Standing next to Cronos's throne, which was off to the northern side of the courtyard, where the prince sat, Kushina just looked at the kingdom ruler.
"Are you sure this is fair?" Kushina asked.
"If I am right about Naruto, then it's more than fair." Cronos said, noting the motherly concern she had for her son.
Naruto took a deep breath and shifted into his golden fox form.
"Begin!" Cronos declared as the thundering feet of Ganesh launched the elephant man towards the golden fox.
Naruto leaped over the towering elephant and flipped back onto his feet as Ganesh continued running and turned around to make another charging run. Naruto dashed towards him, and jumped at his feet, almost rolling underneath the massive foe, which made his mother's heart nearly stop at that rather bold move.
Ganesh skidded across the courtyard and turned around to pull something from behind his back. It was a greenish metal ball (about the size of a bowling ball) attached to a strong-looking chain. He took the chain in hand and started swinging the flail round and round until he launched it right at the golden fox.
Naruto back flipped out of the way, over and over as Ganesh continued to try and hit the quick and agile fox. Due to his great strength, Ganesh was able to whip-snap the flail numerous times, until he finally managed to corner Naruto. However, that was when the situation changed. Ganesh launched the metal sphere at Naruto, only to have Naruto quickly leap into the air as the ball became lodged into the stone wall. Naruto came down and landed on the chain, quickly rushing towards the elephant man, and letting loose a fury of punches at Ganesh's face.
The elephant man stumbled back a bit, but didn't fall as he released the flail. Naruto took a good look at his opponent before making several hand motions with his clawed fists. In an instant, a single golden fox had become ten, all of them rushing towards the elephant man, jumping at him as they threw punches and kicks with incredible strength and swiftness. Two of the golden foxes pulled the flail out of the wall and rushed over to where their brothers were quickly tiring out Ganesh. They quickly ran around the elephant man's feet until they were tightly wrapped. The other foxes leapt away from Ganesh, grabbed the chain, and tugged on it hard.
Ganesh was pulled off his feet and crashed hard into the ground as the first Naruto leapt on his chest. His fox claws were out and aimed right at Ganesh's throat.
"How was that?" Naruto asked.
"Heh. I would have settled for a draw. But you did good. This is the first time that I have ever been defeated." Ganesh said, "You pass."
"Thank you Ganesh-sensei." Naruto said, jumping off the elephant man's chest.
"You're welcome." Ganesh said as he and Naruto deformed back into their human forms.
Cronos and Kushina came over to the pair, Naruto's mother hugging her son tightly. Cronos then presented Naruto with a black chunin vest with a golden foxhead on the back. Since Zoanthrope's had no official recognition in the world, each of the vests were individualized for each person based on what animal they were.
Naruto wore the vest proudly. He had now made Chunin.
It was hours later as a quartet of attractive women came into a clearing just south of the Zoanthrope valley.
"Are you sure about this, Tsunade-sama?" Tsume asked.
"What do you mean, Tsume?" Tsunade asked.
"You! Leaving the village just like that?"
"I made sure my proxy was taking care of things while I was here." Tsunade said.
(Back In Konoha)
DAMN YOU, TSUNADE-CHAN! Juraiya mentally shouted. YOU KNOW I HATE THIS DAMN PAPERWORK AS MUCH AS SARUTOBI DID!
(Back At The Valley)
"I still don't know how you convinced pervert-sama to take over for you in your absence." Anko said to the older woman.
"Oh it was easy. I just gave him the Third's crystal ball so that he can peer into the bathhouses without leaving the office."
"YOU DIDN'T!" Tsume gasped in abject horror.
"Relax. I made sure that the damn thing couldn't be used until nighttime when the bathhouses were about the close. And this time of year they close a lot sooner. He'll probably only get a couple of minutes worth of looking."
The group continued on until Hinata stopped.
"Is something wrong, my dear?" Tsunade asked.
"I..... I don't know." Hinata replied.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Tsume asked.
"I..... when my mother told me about this place, I was only a little girl. It was so long ago I.... I'm having trouble remembering exactly where to go from here." she stated.
"Hmm. Well, since none of us have been here, what do we do?" Tsume asked.
Anko suddenly pulled her kunai from her jacket.
"Worry about the attack that's about to come!" Anko hissed as her features became more reptilian.
Suddenly, several shadows leapt from the trees and hurled spherical objects at the quartet. Exploding all around them, Tsunade quickly shouted.
"KNOCK OUT GAS! ANKO! GET HINATA OUT OF HERE!" Tsunade shouted as she tried to morph into her cougar form.
Before Anko could react, whip wrapped around her throat and yanked hard, pulling her down. Ropes quickly wrapped around her wrists and legs, pulling her in four directions.
Tsume tried to get to Hinata, only to have something slam into her chest, knocking the wind out of her and allowing the gas to seep into her mouth and nose.
Tsunade was slowly getting tired, but continued to stand, even as a net was thrown over her. She took hold of the net and threw off her attackers, only to feel a sharp pain in her arms and legs as she was hit with four tranquilizer darts. She dropped hard.
Hinata, who was the first to go down, had a net thrown over her.
Within a minute, the gas cleared and a group of ninja appeared from the trees.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Konoha ninja!" one of the ninja said, nudging the bound forms of the human Tsume and Hinata.
"Hey! Look at this!" another ninja shouted, staring at the zoanthropes known as Tsunade and Anko.
"What the hell are they?"
"Don't know. A couple of freaks, maybe."
"New ninja technique?"
"Maybe we should kill them?"
"Maybe we should sell them?"
"Maybe you should let them go before we kill you?"
The ninja suddenly looked around and noticed a quartet of humanoid 'freaks' surrounding them. The group consisted of a large gray wolf, a female spotted hyena, a messy-haired jackal, and a dingo with a mohawk. They eyed the ninja's with malice, seeing two of their kind bound and netted like, well... animals!
"I think we should kill them anyway!" the dingo growled.
"Agreed." the hyena huffed.
"Ditto." the jackal snapped.
"Sorry, boys. Majority rules." The wolf snarled as he moved first towards the ninja.
A young man walked into the throne room and bowed to Cronos.
"Ah Ryujin. Are you ready?" Cronos asked.
Ryujin was a short stocky man with red hair was brown eyes. He was dressed in a black bodysuit, gloves and boots.
"Ready your highness." he said.
"Ryujin, you and I have been friends for a long time." Cronos said, "don't call me that."
"Right, Crony." he grinned.
Quicker than anyone expected, particularly out of the shorter man, the pair burst from their positions and started throwing punches and kicks left and right to each other. Cronos tossed Ryujin to the floor as the red-haired man suddenly turned into a red-haired penguin. Cronos jumped on his back and started riding him across the floor.
Not my best idea. Ryujin said as he tried to throw the prince off so that he could transform into a more useful for. Ryujin eventually succeeded in this, tossing Cronos off of him and transforming into a red and white panda. He quickly launched himself at Cronos and head butted him back towards his throne.
Cronos growled as he jumped back up to his feet and transformed into a tall phoenix with fire-like wings and a forceful piercing cry from his mouth. Cronos moved towards Ryujin and pinned him to the floor with his talons. Ryujin looked up and swallowed hard, realizing he was in a lot of trouble now.
Suddenly, the pair deformed into humans and started laughing like crazy.
Just then, Yugo burst into the throne room with a group of Zoa-Knights on his heels.
"My Lord!" the wolf zoa-knight shouted.
"Yes, Yugo? Is something wrong?" Cronos asked, quickly becoming serious.
"The Pack found a group of zoanthropes outside the valley. They were attacked by a group of ninja and were hurt." Yugo said as the four members of the Pack gently carried the four unconscious, and now human, women into the throne room.
Cronos looked at the quartet and gasped.
They are from Konoha? But they smell like.. he thought, going over to each of them. "Cougar." he said, sniffing Tsunade. "Wolf." he said, sniffing Tsume. "Snake." he said, sniffing Anko. "And panther." he said, sniffing Hinata. "Put them on the couches!" he ordered the Pack. I had no idea there were so many zoanthropes in that village. He thought as the Pack complied. "Summon the doctors at once! And inform Naruto also. He might want to see them."
"Yes, sir!" the wolf zoanthrope said, and dashed off to carry out his lords orders.
TBC
Authors Notes: It should be mentioned that the Zoanthrope Pack was based on the villains 'The Pack' from the Gargoyle animated series that was on TV several years ago. Also, the ninjas who attacked Tsunade's group were from Iwa. And Kuyo, who is mentioned in this story, is the character from Rosario+Vampire. I'll probably add more characters later on.