Chapter 20: Crash the altar!
Kiba: Where is Peru? She's supposed to start these a/n's.
Kuro: She said something about studying for an exam before walking off.
Me: What the heck are you guys talking about? If I was studying then I wouldn't be doing this chapter.
Nashi: When did you get here?
Me: Oh long time no see Nashi!
Sinitria: Answer the question!
Me: Fine. *pouts* I was here all along.
Kiba: Then why didn't you start the a/n?
Me: Do I have to start every a/n? Geez! Sai!
Sai: Here!
Me: Do the disclaimer! I better go call Hidan, I need to punch something!
Sai: Okay, Peru doesn't own the original Naruto manga/anime. But she does enjoy the book.
\(0.0")/=3=3=3=3=3
Sinitria's POV
"Kuro! Where the heck are you?" I called from the top of the small hill that our camp was being held. "Food is ready!"
"Coming, geez don't have to be so loud." He grumbled. Dragging himself off the spot he was napping on a few minutes earlier.
"Hurry up! Before the food is all gone!" I checked behind me and it was too late. All the food was gone. "Hey! Who ate all the food!"
Kiba and Asuma burped, making their cover blow. "You two! Fourty push ups!"
"Why?" Both of them said in unison.
"For eating Kuro's share as well!" I fumed.
"It's alright Sin-chan~ I can catch a fish." Kuro yawned as he headed for the river. I watched him go and turned back to Kiba and Asuma.
"See what you made him do! Now he's going to be all lonely fishing!" I stuck out my tongue. Everybody froze, and Kiba fainted. My temper stopped. "Why did Kiba faint?"
Shikamaru muttered his infamous word, whislt Hinata was silent. So Asuma told me what was on everybody's mind. "Sinitria, did you spray paint your tongue or something like it?"
I looked at him questiongly. "Last time I checked, I'm pretty sure I didn't do such an absurd thing. Why do you ask?"
"Then why is your tongue silver?" He asked. There was a moment of silence, the situation didn't quite reach me until a moment later.
"You mean my tongue is silver? I gotta see this!" I ran towards the river. I spotted Kuro fishing his lunch, I changed my course and ran towards him. "Hey Kuro!"
"Hah?~" He yawned as he turned to look at me. "You need something? Ya?"
"Yeah, there is a couple things I need to ask you." I slipped on the grass near him and fell in the river with a huge splash. I came out gasping for air. When my hearing came into focus, a laugh was sounding near the river bed. I turned to find Kuro laughing his head off. "Yeah that's right laugh your head off!"
"Sorry, but that made my day! At least it took off the pressure that was hanging over my head. Ya." He wiped a tear away, then held out his hand to me. "Here I'll help you get dry."
I took his hand and got out of the river. My teeth were chattering non-stop. I was too busy trying to find what little warmth I had to see Kuro doing a hand sign. But then a warm gust of wind seemed to pass me, and when it had ended I was dry as if I hadn't slipped into the river at all. "Wha?"
"Well what do you want to know?" I looked at Kuro who was still smiling, his eyes glittering with amusement.
"Oh that's right! I came here to ask you about the last conversation we had." My face grew serious.
"You mean about how the pumpkin pie was better then the cherry pie?" He said.
"No not that one! The one when we met!" I reminded him of that discontinued conversation.
"Oh that one. So you want to know about the changes?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"And I want to know how my tongue is silver!" I exclaimed. Frustration was starting to get to me. For a second I thought Kuro was going to toss the conversation away like he always did, but this time his reaction was simply surprised. I just looked at him. "Why are you so surprised?"
"Your tongue is silver!" He asked his eyes wide. "Let me see it please!"
"Uhhh… okay, …?" I stuck out my tongue, catching a glimpse as I did so. It really was silver! Kuro inspected my tongue with a poker face, so I couldn't tell if he was fascinated or disgusted. But I did hear on what he was thinking about it.
"Maybe changes happen to everyone that gets dropped here…" He withdrew from his inspecting, I took that as my cue to take my tongue back inside my mouth.
"So…" I asked him hoping he would answer.
"So what?" His face was as blank as a blank sheet of paper, yet to be used. I sighed my frustration.
"So, what do you think? And please give a proper answer, I'm tired of hanging on a thread." I said, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Fine, I'll tell you," Kuro sighed in defeat. He looked back at his fishing rod, then back at me. "Why don't we sit down first? I'd still like to catch my lunch. We'll talk about it while I fish."
"Okay, but you better spill it all. Otherwise I'll let your lunch go!" I threatened him fiercely.
"Alright, alright. Geez how many times have I spilled a hidden story?" He muttered as we both sat down near the riverbed. "Then I'll tell you who I really am."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him.
"It means I'm not a guy, duh!" Kuro's words betrayed his expression. But I was getting the new fact around my head.
"You're not a guy?" I repeated his answer. 'Then that means he's a girl?'
"Ya. So as I was saying I don't come from around here, I'm not a guy, I'm not eight, and finally my eye and hair color are not the same." He didn't look at me when he said them. "So you should probably get the picture now, right?"
I was deep in thought, so I only gave a small sound that said I understood his situation. Then my second question ran through my head. "So what does that have to do with me getting a silver tongue out of the blue?"
Kuro was silent for some time before answering. "That, I can only give you a small answer right now. But the fact that you didn't change into a guy, means that not everybody will have their genders switched up. And bringing your tongue into the picture means, that you will have changes sooner or later. That's my answer for you, anymore than that will just be a hypothesis."
"I see." I nod my head absentmindedly. The silence that stretched afterwards was quite tense, or maybe it was just me. Then Kuro's rod began to move and it was being reeled in. I looked to see what Kuro's face was like when his lunch was caught, but I saw nothing. Kuro wasn't there and the rod was reeling itself! I sat there staring at the rod as if it was possessed, only to have me dragged out of my trance with a familiar yell.
"Gami! Lunch is ready! Come and get it!" I turn to see Kuro standing and facing the woods, where Gami and Akamaru went into a while ago when we set up camp here. A few minutes after his call Gami and Akamaru both came out of the forest, Akamaru ran towards Kiba. While Gami came towards Kuro.
You called Kuro?He rubbed himself on Kuro's legs.
"Of course I did! I caught you lunch." He smiled.
Kuro's POV
I looked up to see Sin-chan staring at Gami. I turned back to Gami. "Why don't we go get you lunch."
I'm right behind you! Gami purred as he padded behind me. 'He's grown so much since the day I got him.' We reached my fishing pole, which caught a huge salmon. That still needed to grow into adulthood. I watched Gami devour it, before turning to look at Sin-chan. Who seemed to be back at stage one.
"You seem to be in a dilemma." I smirked.
"Yeah, cause I have two newly found questions. The first being is your fishing rod being possessed?" She pointed at my fishing rod, which was simply lying down in the grass.
"I don't think so, why do you ask?" I asked her, a smile playing on my lips.
"Cause it reeled the fish that you were catching!" Sin-chan exclaimed, paling as if she really did see a ghost. I chuckled, and sat down.
"It's not possessed, I just used telepathy to move it in my will. Like this." I made the rod stand up on it's own. I heard Sin gasp as it happened. And when I put it back down, I got fired with another question.
"Then can you read minds!" She said with extreme curiosity.
"No, moving objects doesn't mean I can read minds. Besides, who would want to read them anyway? All the thoughts are displayed on the face." I fiddled with a piece of grass.
"Okay then, well onto the next question: your panther can talk?" At this I whipped my head up to face Sin in the eye, my eyes narrowed.
"You can hear Gami?" I asked her, noticing Gami perk at my question.
"Um, yeah?" She was as puzzled as day.
"Well Gami, someone other than me can hear you as well." I laughed slightly.
It sure seems so, your name was Sinitria. Am I right?His tail twitched in a steady rhythm.
"Yeah and I think I'm paranoid." Sin grumbled.
"I thought so too, when I first talked to Gami." I chuckled at the memory.
You still do.Gami mrrowed.
"I do not!" I gaped at him. He purred his amusement. Sin giggled at the fight.
"Well at least I can hear both sides talking. It isn't as confusing." She smiled.
"Yeah, not like Kakashi. Hehe." I rubbed the back of my head nervously. We were quiet for a while and Asuma called us to finish packing up. "Ah, we're coming Asuma-sensei!"
"Do you use sensei when you talk to them?" Sin asked as we made our way up the hill.
"Yeah, but not everybody knows that I came through a portal. So it's worth it to act like a kid." I said.
Packing took us a few minutes, and when we finished we continued our journey to the Palace of Flames. 'My second home, the place where my mother came from.'I must have looked serious, otherwise Hinata wouldn't have talked to me. "Is s-something wrong Kuro-kun?"
"Hah? Ah, no. Nothing is wrong." I gave her a smile. "It was just some passing thoughts."
"I've been wondering, why are we going to a palace of 'flames' anyway?" Kiba asked.
"Oh you're alright Kiba!" Sin glomped him.
"GAH!" Kiba almost reeled over, with the force of the impact. I laughed at his expression.
"Actually, I've been wondering about that too. Just what is this 'palace'? And we didn't get a full explanation on what and why we are going on this mission." Shikamaru mused. He then turned to face me. "Would you care to explain?"
"Hmm, sure why don't I tell you." I said. "But why don't we start walking, I'll tell you on the way."
We started walking, it was quiet for some time. Then I started. "What did your mission scroll say Asuma-sensei?"
"It stated that we must go find and protect you Kuro-kun, and to make sure that you reach the 'Palace of Flames' safely." He recited the rough outline of the scroll.
"Nothing more?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Nope, and the Hokage didn't say anything extra either." Asuma sighed.
"Well that just leaves me to explain everything I know. What a pain~" I sighed irritably. "It could have at least told you something else. Ah well, there isn't much in changing it though."
"Just get on with the explanation!" Kiba shouted angrily, Akamaru barked his agreement. I had to plug my ears, since I was walking right beside him.
"Ugh! Okay, okay! Just don't shout anything when I say something alright?" Sighing deeply, I stated a single sentence. "I am the 'supposed' Prince of the Palace of Flames."
It was quiet, but I kept on walking. Assuming that everyone was following. But when I looked back everyone was standing with their mouths open (with the exception of Shikamaru and Hinata). "Why'd you all stop walking? We can't afford to waste time like this."
Just then Kiba ran over and grabbed me by my collar. "YOU'RE A PRINCE!"
"Geez! Didn't I say not to yell in my ear!" I shouted at him, hitting him on the head with the side of my hand. "I only have one set of ears! If they both go bad I won't be able to hear ever again!"
"Argh~! That hurt~" Kiba nursed his head, but stood up nonetheless. "But then, you said you were a prince! How can I let that just slip?"
"My mother claims herself to be a Princess of that Palace. She also said something of being a person of Dragon Clan…" I trailed off in mid-sentence.
"Well that aside, are we there yet? My feet are falling off!" Kiba grumbled, shifting his weight on his feet. I actually gave it some thought. 'It has been around three weeks since we left Konoha, so we should be well in the west of the land hidden in the clouds…' I took a look around, but nothing was seen for miles. 'Thats funny… it should be here…' I then spotted a person 'disappear' in the light fog.
Kuro, that person, did you see?Gami must have seen the same thing. Sin must have heard as well, for she turned to see what was happening.
"Alright, I'm going to gamble my life on this." I started walking towards the fog that hung in the air. I turned to the others. "Whoever wants to follow is welcome to come along. And if you don't want to you can just go back to Konoha."
"To hell with that! We are going to follow you, even if it is means that we are going to die in doing so!" Kiba yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me.
"Alright, I get it. But don't kill me if it turns out to be a dead end." I turned back towards the fog and walked through it. On the other side was quite a sight. it was like a totally different dimension. There were dragons everywhere you looked, the trees were completely different than the ones we've been seeing for ages, they had no leaves leaving them bare. Their gnarly branches was reaching for the sky, the bark was scorched. But there was a few exceptions of normal trees with leaves on them, but the trunk of the trees were quite similar between the scorched and normal trees. The breeze carried a slight burnt smell but it wasn't bad. But what amazed me was the people that I saw, almost every single person (even children of five) had a dragon with them. Some of them were super huge, others were small. A huge variety was seen in one glance, it almost felt like it was a dream.
"Now this is a different world!" Asuma whistled. Kiba was gaping, to the extent of making it look elastical. Shikamaru was gathering the scenery around him, so was Hinata. Sin was awed at the sight of the dragons, and scenery.
"Can you believe that the grass is all lush green even though the trees are scorched?" She asked, particularly to no one.
This feels like a comfortable home, don't you think?Gami pounces on some flowers that wasn't that far.
"You think Gami? We still need to get to the Palace." I looked around, Searching for a close passerby. No luck. I saw a guy leaning against a tree, reading a book. His dragon was sleeping in the grass beside him. 'Might as well ask him.'I walked over to him. "Hey mister! Do you know where the Palace of Flames is located?"
He looked up, a scar was on the side of his face, which was pretty much weather worn. His burgundy hair was neatly combed back, making a strand of hair to pop out of the rest. His green eyes had a tinge of softness to them. He smiled as he put down his book. "And who might you be, young lad?"
"Ah! Forgive me, my name is Kuro Shinigami." I gave my briefest introduction.
"Ah, and you were looking for the Palace of Flames?" He flashed a smile, I smiled back as I nodded. He caught sight of the others behind me. "And who are these? Companions of yours?"
"Ya." I introduced everybody, and turned back to the man. "Now can you kindly show us the way to the Palace? I have an urgent meeting there."
"Meeting? I didn't know we had an urgent meeting, are you here to meet with the King?" He asked, his expression serious.
"No, not the king. Now please sir, lead the way, I cannot afford to waste time here anymore than I already have." My voice went into pleading mode, as my patience was wearing thin.
"Okay, but in return you must tell me your story; once we get to the castle. Agreed." He raised his hand in the contract.
"Agreed." I shook it. But seriously, it took almost everything just to make sure I wouldn't jump randomly.
"Well let's get going then, Demetrius." He told his dragon, who lifted his head in response. It bounded to a wide space and started growing larger. Everybody, (excluding the owner of Demetrius) was looking onwards with awe. The man hopped onto his dragon and looked back at us. "Well are you going to come?"
Without further ado we all went and climbed on. Demetrius, flapped his huge wings twice and was aloft in the air. It was a wonderful view being up high in the sky but I realized that I didn't ask for the man's name. "Excuse me Mister, but I forgot to ask for your name. What is it?"
He Boomed in his laughter. "Kid you sure are funny in your own way."
"Thanks." I replied, not wanting it to continue.
He laughed again. "Well I guess I should tell you my name. It's Dak Torino."
"That is a nice name Sir Dak." I complemented him.
"No need to be so formal, kid." He smiled. The rest of the flight was quiet, and I enjoyed the scenery. I must have dozed off near the end because I seemed to fall to the ground, but ended up on my feet. I looked up at the Palace and it seemed to be decorated with the live dragons that sat on the roofs, the Palace itself was made out of gold (or at least I think it was, it sure glinted like one). Gami and the others came off as well and Demetrius shrunk back to his mini size; he climbed Dak and sat on his right shoulder. Dak turned around and motioned us to come follow him inside. "If you would kindly come with me."
We went inside and around us on the walls were intricate drawings of dragons, the wall was also decorated with stones that looked rare if you compared it to the normal rock that you'd see on the riverbed. The floor was a marble that seemed to shine way brighter then Gai's smile. All in all, the corridor was just too extravagant. When we exited the corridor we came into a huge room, the dome ceiling was painted with signs that were unknown to me. In the middle of the dome was a huge chandelier, with glass dragons on the rim. The floors had a mosaic of the world, and there was two large staircases leading to the second floor. But the first floor had a lot of the same corridors of the one we just came through, where they end up was a mystery all on it's own. 'Wow, this place is huger than the mansions back at home. Even Queen Elizabeth's castle!'
"Now kid, what were you going to do when you got inside the palace?" I was brought out of my thoughts when Dak had asked me a question.
"That's right, I wanted to look for my mother. Have you seen her?" I asked, still looking at the pretty ornaments.
"Your mother? You must be joking right? A small peasant lad's mother wouldn't be in this palace!" Dak exclaimed.
"Unfortunately, my mother lives in this palace. Now do you know where she is?" I turned to meet him in the eye, my face was way too serious for an eight year old to have. "Have you seen Princess Mai?"
The last statement left Dak gaping, but he quickly regained his composure. "Princess Mai is at a wedding, getting married I hear. To the new King of the Palace."
"That can't be! Where is it being held? I need to get there quick!" I gritted my teeth and started grinding them. 'I can't let my Mother get married to some other man! She even told me at home that she won't marry another man!'
"Take that far corridor and turn at the first left you see, then keep going straight and you'll eventually find two huge white doors. That's where it is being held, the wedding." Dak pointed out the corridor. I thanked him and started to run like never before.
Mai's POV
'Ugh! This is such a mess! Who knew the first time I return to the palace I'll be bombarded my this ugly fat ass's love? I should have been more forceful on Po.' I took a quick look at the 'husband-to-be' and felt like vomiting. His facial features were too ugly to even be mentioned. All the while I hear the Pope giving the vows for the fatass to repeat them for me. 'Like I'll ever say 'I do' in front of you pig!'
The Pope turned to me and started rehearsing the lines from the bible. 'Someone please save me!'Cold sweat came down more colder than it's average temperature, as he said the last few lines. "Do you, Mai, wish to become the wife of Drake?"
I felt something clog my throat, and it was painful to swallow my saliva, since it gets caught in my already formed lump. I was about to start my sentence, when a loud interruption broke the silence for me. Every single head turned around to see who made the rude interruption. I let out a gasp, it was my daughter (now son) Kuro! Oh how glad I was to be able to see him! "I OBJECT!"
"Who are you to object this wedding, outsider!" Drake (my husband-to-be), pointed a stubby and oily finger at my precious Kuro. 'You will so pay for that you slimy pig.'I glared at him from the corner of my eye.
"Why do you want to know, you fat pig! You've got no right to marry the Princess!" He spat his words angrily at Drake. Who was fuming right now.
"Guards! Arrest this little filth of a peasant!" Drake yelled at the top of his lungs. Before the guards could get to my precious child, I ran towards him and hugged him. Tears streaming down my face.
"Who told you to come here?" I chided him softly.
"Sarutobi, said that you got taken away so he sent me to come here. Of course I got lost on the way, but eventually I found my here. Along with some others." Kuro spilled the story.
"That's good that you didn't get hurt or anything on the way." I stroked his hair, and kissed him on the forehead. Then hugged him tightly.
"What's going on?" Drake screeched. "Why is my wife hugging that piece of filth!"
Kuro pushed me away, and ran towards Drake. "She is not your wife! She is my mother! You swine! You're not aloud to touch her!"
He landed a swift kick right in the middle of his face. 'He is just like his dad.'A crunch sounded underneath his knee. "Agh! My nose! Somebody call the healers! My nose is broken!"
"Serves you right pig! For touching my mother, there is hell to pay." He spat in front of Drake, hatred in his eyes. "Who let you become the king anyway? Your dead grandmother?"
Drake on the other hand was too busy trying to cope with the newly found pain that he had conjured. While Kuro turned to the Pope, who flinched under his gaze. "You, are the only one living here?"
He nodded his head, afraid to reply. Kuro continued. "If you make this fatty married to my mother, you will be dead in the next following two hours! And this rule applies to every male who wants to get married to my mother! I will hunt both you and the according male. But since this fucking fat swine is the King, he is an exception."
Kuro crouched down, so he could look at Drake in the eye. "And if you try to get near my mother, or do anything dirty on her, I will kill you then! Mark my words fucking swine!"
I could have laughed at Drake's feared posture, and I could thank Kuro for that. It's not everyday that you see a King cower under the gaze of an eight year old. It makes me proud to have a child like this. I was deep in thought, when I saw a hand in front of my face. I looked up and saw Kuro smiling. "Mother dearest, let's get you changed back in your original clothing."
"That is very thoughtful of you, Kuro." I smiled as I took my child's hand and left the wedding hall. When we were quite far from the wedding hall, I laughed. "Now that was quite a show there Kuro."
"I only did it because you were married to dad. And I knew you didn't like to get to any other man. Isn't that what you said? 'I will not marry another man, even if they were a hundred times handsomer than your father.'"
I giggled. "Those were my exact words alright."
We came out of the corridor and was met by ninjas and a foot solider of the Palace. "And who are these Kuro?"
"That is Asuma-sensei, Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, Sin-chan, and Dak." He introduced everyone. "Everyone this is my mother, Princess Mai Angelica the XIV."
Me: So glad this is finished… my hands hurt.
Kuro: WTF IS A SWINE DOING WITH MY MOTHER!
Mai: Yeah I'm pretty much happy with this one kid right now. :)
Hinata: You h-have a pretty m-mother, Kuro-kun.
Kuro: Thanks, Hinata. :)
Kiba: Your mom's hot Kuro.
Kuro: Touch her and you die! *has a sniper at the ready*
Kiba: *pales*
Sin: Wow, it's getting dramatic here!
Shikamaru: Troublesome.
Dak: When did Princess Mai get married?
Me: When you weren't here.
Hidan: I'M HERE PERU! YOU BETTER BE READY TO GIVE BACK MY SCYTHE!
Me: I still have it? 0.o
Hidan: OF COURSE YOU DO! NOW BE PREPARED TO DIE!
Me: Well here goes nothing. *shrugs*
Sai: I guess I'll close this a/n. Thanks for reading! And don't forget to review!
Me: And that makes my 2000th win! Oh and to you readers come and check the Anti Critics Union on your time! Now bye~!
Kiba: She's feeling in a good mood.
Kuro: Yeah no doubt about that.