Chapter 23: Getting lost and meeting ghosts.

Me: Last night I slept at 12 somethin'.

Kiba: … So?

Me: But I thought you guys wanted me to go to bed last chapter!

Kiba: Yeah but we didn't want to know what time you slept. Now let me get some sleep. *turns and starts snoring*

Me: Fu~ Alright where's Sai?

Sai: Right here!

Me: Let's do the disclaimer. I want to get this over with.

Sai: Alright. Peru doesn't own Naruto, including characters. But her own.

Me: Enjoy!

\(0.0)/=3=3=3=3=3

Kuro's POV

I banged my head against the wall, when I reached a dead end. Again. "How many times was it that I hit a dead end?"

I peeled my forehead of the wall, rubbing my new bruise. "Oh yeah, the 150th time. Now that tells you how big this place actually is."

I muttered as I retraced my steps back to my starting point. I stopped midway, just realizing that I forgot which way was the starting point. I sighed miserably, leaning on the closest wall. What I didn't expect was for it to give way. "Whaaaaaaaaaa!"

One way you don't want to slide down, is head first facing backwards. This chute went all the way, non-stop, without no end. After what seemed like hours, I stopped screaming like a maniac. Letting my body fall down with the flow. "Man this ride is getting tiring… like the Corkscrew in Playland back at home."

I yawned, and nearly fell asleep when the ride came to an end. I hit the ground head first, then scraped my elbows. Lucky for my back, it's fall was broken by the book. "Oof!"

"I could get used to the landing." I groaned when I got up and dusted my pants. Looking around, I started inspecting the room I fell into. "Well one thing is for sure, this place needs a good scrub. Cause it just reeks!"

I walked along pinching my nose as I went through, yet again, another set of corridors. Minutes later I found a door at the end of my line, I ran towards it hoping it would take me out of this reeking stench.

"This door is really frustrating. I can't even find a handle!" I brushed my hands all over the door, disgusted by the things on the door. All rust and fungus, stuff like that. Shivering, I continued my search. "Gross! I do hope I find the handle on this thing."

I found a crack in the moss and fungus, and started poking it. Bits and pieces fell away, and something shone from underneath all that grime I fist pumped the air and shouted gleefully. "Yes! I found treasure!"

I chipped away the grime and eventually uncovered the missing doorknob. "Che! I am so awesome! Now to open this damn door."

"Arg! Damnit! This stupid door won't budge!" I slammed my shoulder into it. Pain shot through my arm, but I let it pass. I concentrated on breaking the door, slamming my shoulder repetitively into it. On the 10th slam I fell onto the floor as the door opened. "Ugh… I shouldn't let my guard down when trying to open the door. Now let's see, where am I anyway?"

I got up and looked around. It looked like a garden. A huge circular fountain was in the middle of a huge rectangular courtyard. it was decorated with dragons facing towards the sky, and spouting water in the compass directions. If you looked closer they had small differences that told each of them apart. The pillars that held the roof of the Palace, were wrapped with vines that had orchids and roses patterning it on the way up. The ground around the fountain was paved with cobblestones, and had four ways paved with cobblestones as well. The garden dirt and grass filled the rest of the open holes that were leftover. Also there was a single tree in the Northeast corner. I have to admit I was pretty amazed at the design of the whole place. "Probably an apple tree. But other than that this place is pretty peaceful. Let's go near the fountain."

I walked up to the fountain and looked at the clear water. I stared at my reflection for quite a while, until a small movement caught my eye. I squinted and looked harder but the movement never came. I shrugged and sat on the edge. "Well doesn't matter to me. But what does matter is that I won't get a piece of mind to think things through!"

"You hear that ugly bandits! Let me have some piece of mind!" I raised my voice to particularly no one. There was a few moments of silence, before a rustling sound appeared and grew louder as the person came forth. He was tall, he looked around mid twenties to thirty, had peach skin, and his eyes were turquoise. A very pretty color that fit with his dark auburn hair. Which he wore slicked back. He flashed a smile, showing his white teeth.

"Oh and who do we have here?" His smile widened. "Hey! Boys! Looks like we have a guest! Why don't we show him some of our piece of mind, Eh?"

"What kind 'piece of mind' is this if you are calling your friends here to come and beat me up?" I sighed as I stretched my legs. Yawning in my boredom. I looked at the group of boys who came out of the shadows. There were four people in total. One was supersize fat, with his black hair. You could hardly see his eyes, and how he could see was a mystery to me. His shirt and pants left a whole lot of blubber outside, so in short you could say that he looked like a well stacked hamburger. The second person was completely the opposite of the first. He had matching blue hair and eyes, but was as lean as a person starving in the poorest part of the world; yet he looked quite healthy. Third guy was a midget, nothing really special about him except that he had red hair and a beard with bushy brows. Finally the last person was a normal guy, but his height could compete with basketball players back at home. He had brown hair, really light brown hair. His eyes were purple, which did not make any sense to me. I looked at the first guy who came out, and raised an eyebrow. "This all you got?"

He laughed, throwing his head back as he did so. He looked back at me. "No these are my true brothers, the others are here hidden in this garden. Hidden from sight."

I thought about what he had said, and nodded slowly. "Well I do suppose that you want to use little forces to stop me. And save the rest for the fatty old king."

I turned and faced him, looking at him straight in the eye. "But I wonder if I will be able to survive this?"

"Oh I don't know about that. Because we aren't going to let you come out of here." He sneered. I smirked at him. I may have looked all calm on the outside, but in truth I was panicking on the inside. My mind was racing with the possibilities that could be possible. 'I wonder if one of those doors are available to run through… but what if they are all guarded? Think Kuro! Think! Where do you think that it is least likely to bump into an ambusher?'My eyes darted from top to bottom and to either side, scanning the whole courtyard for any signs of the hidden people.

"I see you are very observant, every little crevice here is taken up. Whether it's the edge of the bush or the wall, you can't find my men who are pro at hiding in the shadows." The dude smirked, placing his hands on his hips as he did so. I just stared at him. 'He really spilled the beans on where his men hid… I never knew he was that stupid. Ah well, now it's time to look for a way out the does not involve corners.' I looked up and searched the roofs. The edges were slightly shadowed but nothing was on them. I inwardly sighed. 'Guess my only way out is up. Now if I remember there should be a wind jutsu in my book. But I don't want to show these stupid people a book that precious.'I slightly grumbled, making the people in front of me question my health.

"He's weak." The hamburger said grimly, no soft spot at all in him.

"The boy did come here accidentally, but who really cares if he lives or not? I want to get to the grinding part already!" The midget spoke in a shrill voice, his hands balled into fists.

"You'll get your part soon, but I want see if the boy tastes good." The stick man said, cracking his knuckles.

I stopped what I was thinking about and turned and pointed to the stick man. My mouth dropped open. "Wait, you said that you want to eat me?"

"Yeah what's wrong kid? You got a problem with that?" He scowled, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Yeah you're a cannibal! That's what people say, where I come from that is." I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Dude you're gonna burn in hell with your mouth on fire. I feel sorry for you already."

I stood up, stretching. "Your days are over man."

"Oh yeah? What makes you think that? I'm gonna cut you to pieces if I have to!" He started running towards me. While ranting a recipe. "First I'm gonna chop you up, put you in water and boil, put in some peas, add salt and pepper and bring a bit of spice into you. All the flavones are going to be combined beautifully!"

I was really disgusted, who wouldn't be if some random dude was coming at you with saliva streaming from his mouth. I jumped up two steps, so I was up on the top of the fountain. Cannibal dude just rammed into the fountains trunk, breaking it. And man did it fly, when it got close to the edge of the roof I jumped off of the fountain piece landing on top of the roof instead. I looked down and smirked. "Well look who's stupid to let me get out. Heh, see you guys later!"

I ran off leaving the garden behind me. "Well that was easy, who knew cannibals had such strength… and now to find my way back."

Sin's POV

We reached the end of this corridor and went through the double doors. Inside was a room with a two step stage, and on top was two identical thrones, except that one was a bit bigger and larger. "Man this place is huge!"

"You're going off track again." Kiba said. "You said that we have to go meet the King. But where is he?"

"You're right. Aren't all Kings supposed to be sitting on their thrones for the day?" I questioned no one in particular.

"How about we search the area? He's supposed to be here right?" Shikamaru brought up the idea. "Besides he is too big for us to miss, even if we wanted to."

"Which reminds me where the hell are the others? I mean we were a big huge group, where did the others go?" The thought just dawned on me.

"Who knows. Maybe they are somewhere around this castle." Shikamaru shrugged.

"That really helps a lot." I sighed, sweat dropping.

"Your welcome." He said it so plainly, that it makes you twitch with frustration.

"Haven't you heard of sarcasm?" I asked him, not hiding my end of the line.

Before he could respond (which I doubt that he would any way) Kiba butted in. "You guys it's not the right moment to start fighting! Sin said that we had to find the King, for a reason that I don't know about. By the way, what was the reason anyway?"

Kiba turned to face me, the question was just readable off his face. I snorted. "I got a secret message."

"What message?" He asked.

"Like hell I'll tell you! Now let's get back to finding that fat pig of a King!" I went inside the room and started searching a part of the huge room.

I could hear the others getting on with their searches as well. I looked to see where they were. Kiba and Shikamaru were both on the other side of the room, opposite of my side. And since Akamaru is Kiba's best pal, he went with Kiba. Gami was on my side of the room, sniffing everything. His ears were twitching from time to time. After a while he turned to me. Where do you think Kuro is?

"Huh? Kuro? I'm not sure." I replied sheepishly.

I hope he's okay…Gami had a distant look in his eyes.

"I'm sure he's alright. He won't go down that easily." I reassured Gami as I headed back to my own work.

Sin-chan can I go and find him? I can't stand not being by his side! I envy Akamaru with his loyalty with Kiba. Please can I go?I looked at Gami and his ice blue eyes were hurting. Showing his true feelings.

I sighed. "Well I can't keep you away from him if you're like this. Alright you can go, have speed Gami. This whole place is like a maze. I wish you luck on finding him."

Thanks Sin-chan, I'll meet up with you guys later with Kuro by my side.Gami purred as he sped away. I kept looking until his tail tip disappeared. 'Have speed Gami.'

I went back to searching, but there was no sign that the porkbutt was here. I sighed as I went to meet up with the others. Akamaru, noticed that Gami was gone. Hey Sin-chan, where's Gami?

"Ah he left to go find Kuro. Couldn't make him stay, so I let him go. Poor guy." I nodded my head. Remembering his hurt eyes.

Akamaru's tail dropped. Oh I see…

"Cheer up buddy, he'll be back soon. You just got to believe he will." I bent down and patted his head. I straightened up and looked at Kiba and Shikamaru. "Any luck?"

Both shook their heads. I huffed. "Well there is no helping it then. We have to check the other rooms and hopefully we will find everybody else."

We left the throne room and went to search the rest of the place. It was a good two hours before we all got tired and gave up. Kiba was complaining again. "Agh shut up Kiba! Our problems aren't getting any better than it already is!"

"But how the hell are we supposed to find the pork chop in this huge mansion!" He yelled back. "I'm getting sick and tired of this!"

"It's not like I'm not tired of this either! So shit up and pay your respects for the dead!" I smacked him on his head.

"What dead are you talking about?" Kiba replied as he nursed his head.

"The dead right in front of you!" I pointed to a gravestone, that was in front of him.

"When did we get in a graveyard?" Kiba asked.

"About an hour ago, when we were still looking for the porkbutt." I shrugged, placing my hands on my hips.

"And when did you get a tattoo on your leg?" Kiba asked, pointing to my left leg.

"Huh? What tattoo?" I looked down and saw something faintly glowing. It looked like a torso of some animal. "I didn't get a tattoo. I wonder how that got there."

"Well you've been changing your looks quite often when we got to the Palace. Are you sure you don't have a make up stash?" Kiba questioned.

"Dude do I look like the girl who wears make up?" I emphasized the word 'wears'. This gave Kiba a second time to think.

"On second thought no." Kiba turned back to staring at the tombstone. "Hey is that… hey Sin that's the pork chop! Who would have guessed that he would be in the grave yard!"

"No kidding!" I breathed as I saw the familiar back of the pig King. "Come on you guys let's sneak up on him! Go Shikamaru!"

"Why me?" He groaned.

"Because you are from the clan who is best at sneaking behind people! Now go!" I pushed Shikamaru, who stumbled forward.

"Why me?" He groaned as he went towards Porkbutt. "Hey, you the King here?"

Porkbutt turned and seemed surprised. He didn't seem to recognize us. If you looked closer you could see his eyes were rimmed with red, not to mention that they seemed to be puffy. He sniffed. "Who are you people?"

I stepped in front of Shikamaru. "You don't remember us? We are the people that came into the Palace of Flames about a day ago."

He looked clueless so I continued. "You know the companions of Kuro?"

There was a flash of recognition but he was still clueless. I sighed. "Look we came here so we could take Kuro's mom back with us but then we got caught up in the whole situation that we didn't get to leave!"

"Oh! Well what do you want? Can't you see that I'm busy here? Can't it wait?" He asked tiredly. 'The total opposite when we were at the baths.'

"What is a King doing out here? You do realize that this place could be crawling with enemy troops!" I threw my hands up in the air in pure frustration.

Porkbutt here was letting the new information sink in. "Enemy troops?"

"Yeah, now listen well Porkbutt. A voice in my head tells me that there are enemies crawling around. They set up a three day barrier but dropped it again. And they are coming in now. Fast! There is no point in stalling right now! You have to get back to the Palace and bring in your army! Clock is ticking!" I explained hurriedly, but no matter what all I saw was a slow pig. 'God please make him understand!'I prayed silently. Then as in answer to my prayers a light seemed to brighten his puffy his eyes.

"Get Kuro!" He ordered.

"Wha?" All three of us (me, Kiba, and Shikamaru) said in unison.

"What's Kuro supposed to do about this? He is just a Prince, you are the King! The King for goddamn sake!" I started yelling.

"That is the point. His Grandpa, my brother, was a great strategist. He could win a battle when the odds were stacked against him. That is why we need Kuro." He explained.

'Is he really alright?' I sighed frustratedly. "Listen Porkbutt. You, as King, is supposed to know how to rule the Kingdom. Why are you acting like this? You were about to kill Kuro in the baths, remember?"

I brought up the past. Then something happened, Porkbutt lost all his fat. Now he had a good build, looked real strong and was way more handsome than before. "WTF? Who are you?"

'Porkbutt' sighed. "I'm the previous King. King Tye. I didn't want you to freak out, I have my wandering times."

"Wait, let me get this straight. You're a… ghost?" I asked him.

"Yes I am. These wanderings are all because of my brother." King Tye said wearily. "I just can't see why he won't turn his his head towards the people. Now go get Kuro."

"What-"

"I won't answer any of your questions, you must find Kuro!" King Tye said seriously.

"Alright old man you win. But the problem is, where do we find Kuro? We don't know where he might be! This place is just too damn huge!" I complained.

The deceased King was looking past me for quite a long time. I turned around to see what he was looking at, and in the distance I could see two figures, one with a streaming tail and the other running on two legs. "It's Kuro! Quick Akamaru! Bark as loudly as you can to get their attention!"

Akamaru barked real loud, and somehow both figures turned towards the sound. They both looked at each other and then started running towards us. As they got bigger I confirmed that it was Kuro and Gami.

See Sin-chan, I brought Kuro!Gami purred his accomplishment.

"Good job Gami!" I praised the panther before turning to Kuro. "Kuro this old man says that he is your Gramps."

"Gramps?" Kuro said confused.

"Yeah, this guy." I jabbed my thumb behind me.

Kuro looked closer at the ghost. He inspected him from head to toe. "Grandpa? Mom's dad?"

"Yes it is now talk to him, he says that you have inherited his strategical way." I turned back to King Tye. "And you speak up! He needs to hear you!"

He looked from me to Kuro, and reached out for him. He grabbed Kuro's shoulders. "Kuro, you must fight this battle, the present King is destined to die soon! You must inherit the throne!"

"Wait! How do you know if I am even a royal member of this Palace? Besides Mom can be the Queen." Kuro asked the ghost.

"Your friend here has told me that your mother is back. But you must take your place as soon as the King dies. Remember a King learns best if he travels. Just like my daughter." Tye smiled at the memory. He was about to fade away when he gave his last word. "Oh and Kuro."

"Yeah Gramps?"

"Name your child Lyfe."

"What? But I'm eight! It is way too soon for me to get a child! This mutiny!" Kuro complained.

"Uh… Kuro that was meant for you when you grow up. Not now." Shikamaru said.

"Uh… I knew that?" Kuro said nervously. Making the rest of us facepalm.

"So what have you got Mr. Strategy?" Kiba queried.

"For what?" Kuro asked.

Kiba suppressed himself from yelling. "For winning this battle. Your Gramps said so that you can do this. So what's the plan?"

Kuro looked clueless. Then brightened up. "I know! How about we go find the others?"

"That's a good start. Since it gives you a whole lot of advantage as well." Shikamaru said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get hunting!" I fist pumped the air and started off, the others followed close behind.

Me: Sweet! It's done! ^-^

Kuro: What was the point in searching the throne room? I mean is there anything in the throne room to search in?

Me: … Oh yeah.

Sin: So we were searching the walls for Porkbutt? He's Spiderman?

Kiba: Who's Spiderman?

Me: Oh well… just pretend that the throne room was filled with tables of food, lots and lots of food. *starts drooling*

Kiba: Who's Spiderman?

Kuro: Hey look it's the whole Akatsuki group!

Hidan: Peru, I brought the money now just give my scythe back.

Me: *still drooling*

Hidan: …

Kuro: …

Sin: …

Kuro: I'll take the money, and here's your scythe.

Sin: Wait then why is the Akatsuki here? I mean if Hidan wanted his scythe then he could have come alone right?

Kuro: You're right… Sasori what are you doing here? And why the he'll is everyone in the Akatsuki wearing suits?

Sasori: We came here to discuss business with Peru. But it seems like she is not responding.

Kuro: Just wait I'll get her for you.

Sin: How?

Kuro: *clears throat* Okay everyone! I'll tell you a spoiler!

Peru: No! Not the spoilers!

Kuro: Well there you go guys. She's all yours.

Peru: Huh? Oh it's you guys. Just on time. Come with me. Kuro end this for me will ya? Thanks!

Kiba: Who's Spiderman?

Kuro: Just some dude who climbs walls.

Kiba: …

Sin: It's time to end this! See y'all later!

Kuro: Don't forget to review! :)