Chapter 12: The lost
To say Naruto was confused when he awoke would be a true albeit incomplete statement. In truth he was more than just confused he was quite concerned for one simple fact. Namely that his most constant companion (if you don't count the multi-ton vulpine trapped in side him) had simply vanished without a trace. Not having any better ideas Naruto did the only thing he could under these circumstances which was namely to mentally call out to him.
'Xy? Hey XY! Where are you Xy?'
For a long tense moment there was nothing until
'...test...test...can you hear me all right kid?'
Naruto felt himself release an audible sigh at the mental voice. Once upon a time telling him he would be glad to hear voices in his head would have had him look at you like you were smoking some real cheap drugs and needed to have a word with your dealer. Now he couldn't imagine his life without them.
'Oh Xy! You had me worried for a sec. Where are you? And why did you leave without a word.'
'Well to put it simply, I found a way to interact with others without raising an alarm about the whole talking tome thing and decided to use this to my advantage by taking a little trip.'
'How'd you manage something like that?'
'With more than a touch of difficulty'
'...seriously? You can't get more specific than that?'
'Hah! No. Well I could but why miss out on half the fun of making you guess? You'll understand when we meet again.'
'Which will be when exactly?'
'Honestly that depends. Best guess? I'm going to say between two weeks to month depending on how long this boat takes to get me to where I need to go'
'And what pray tell am I supposed to do in the meanwhile?'
'A couple of things actually. Before I left on my excursion I left behind some seals. Put a drop of blood on each one of them and then leave them in your mail box and the rest at various places around the building. They're alarm and observation seals and will allow me to look about your apartment remotely in case anyone decides to try and enter the perimeter. That way I can get to the bottom of whose been stealing the money that's suppose to be going to you. Assuming that is it ever reached your apartment in the first place. Oh and one more thing. You know how I said you having a benefactor?'
'You mean the Uchiha lady?'
'Yes. Well as it stands circumstance will not permit you two to interact with one another for reasons that are complicated to explain. However if you do something that I'm sure you'll enjoy doing…'
Though the two could not see one another the words that Xy mentally whisper to Naruto made a smile creep across his face.
'Got it?'
'Got it.'
'Good. Oh, seems I have to go. I'll talk to you later kid. If you need me just send a mental holler and i'll hear it.'
And with that the connection suddenly cut out.
Several hundred miles away a certain man on the deck of a certain boat suddenly raised himself from where he had seemingly been sitting by the starboard railing. Someone was coming, he could sense it. Just who it was was soon made apparent as a sailor he recognized from earlier in the trip approached him.
"Um sir?
"Yes. What is it?" spoke the formerly seated man in a tone that sent shivers down the spine of the sailor.
"My apologies for bothering you, but the captain requested your presence."
"Does he now? Very well."
And before the sailor could say anything else the other man began walking away. Navigating the ship as though he were the experienced one on it and not the sailor who had been working on it for the past five years. In short order the two reached the helm of the ship. Seeing the man approach the captain waved another to take the wheel and turned to speak to the new comer.
"You asked to be informed about when we were close. Well we're nearly there. Another hour at most."
"Good however that doesn't explain why you felt the need to tell me this in person? You could have easily have done so via one of your subordinates."
"I'm very well aware, however in this case I figure I might as well give one last try at trying to convince you not to go through with this plan of yours."
"If it's a matter of payment..."
"It isn't. Look friend what your asking to do is beyond dangerous."
"I'm well aware of that fact."
"Are you? Are you really? Now I've seen my fair share of ship's grave yards and old war-zones, but this place takes the cake. Truly is it a realm of specters and spooks."
"That is to be expected though. After all it isn't exactly everyday that an entire village gets wiped off the face of the earth."
"And it didn't go down without giving a good licking to those trying to take them out and making sure that every spare inch of that place was rigged with enough booby traps to make an Anbu think twice about venturing in there."
"Traps that I assure you will not be an issue."
At this he suddenly pulled a knife. The captain tensed but it ultimately proved to be unnecessary as the other figure quickly raised his arm up and made a small cut in his own flesh causing the blood to drip down to the deck.
"This blood which flows through my veins... is the same as that of all those who walked, who weeped, and laughed in the now empty streets which we head towards. It cries out to return home. And I fully intend to listen to that cry. To heed it's call until it brings me to what it is I seek precisely.
"And what pray tell is it that you seek? Treasure? Knowledge? Power?"
"A little of each... but mostly? I intend to simply get what is due to me and the one whom I look after."
"Is what your seeking really so valuable?"
"To you or most people? No. To me though, it is priceless, and I will be damned before I let it rot in that empty tomb of a land any longer.
"Land ho!" Cried a voice interrupting the conversation.
And as the men all watched from amidst the mists it emerged on the far horizon. A seemingly nondescript island in the middle of the ocean
"This is as far as I can take you. Any closer and we'll be risking the whirlpools of that place."
"Well then, best of luck to you captain"
And before anyone could say another word the man leapt off the ship and landed atop the water. Before he could sink he instantly channeled his energy to his feet and was soon running across it as if it were dry land.
The captain could only mutter to himself and order his men to head to the nearby docks.
Meanwhile Xy continued on his course running parallel to the shoreline for quite some distance till it at last began to fade from sight. Onwards he ran into the evening mist the waves buckling beneath him till at last a certain sound began to fill the air. A roaring sound like that of an angry beast growing louder and louder till at last it's source came into view.
A great swirling hole in the sea. A whirlpool of such apocalyptic size that no ship would have stood a chance against it. Something made even more terrifying that almost beyond sight another of these monsters could be seen also hungrily pulling at the sea around it,
Yet before these monsters could claim their seemingly foolish victim he acted. Pulling forth a knife Xy slit open his finger with it and let drops of blood fall into the water before uttering certain words learned from the memories of his host body. There was a moment of ominous silence and then...slowly...impossibly the great void in the sea before him began to collapse in on itself. Yet incredible as it was Xy knew it was only a temporary thing at best. So onwards he ran never slowing down till at last after what seemed like an eternity but what was in fact only 10 minutes or so he caught sight of it. His true destination…
Uzugakure.
Or rather what was left of it. For neither time nor the armies of its enemies had been kind to it. The once great metropolis of stone buildings that reached towards the heavens was gone. Now only moss and lichen encrust ruins were left.
Stepping onto the shore Xy carefully reviewed his hosts memories doing his best to recall where the various buried bobby traps were hidden at. The last thing he wanted was to have traveled all this way just to step on an DIY land mine some former inhabitant had thrown together.
In carefully coordinated bounding leaps he leapt from one rocky outgrowth to another till slowly inexorably he at last began to make progress away from the shoreline. Finally he reached the edge of the buildings
"Now then the center of town should be...that way." He muttered to himself before plodding off in a seemingly random directions but ones he knew would take him eventually to his target. At last after making one final turn down one of the numerous winding roads that made up the place he reached it.
Stretching for miles it lay a great park enclosed on 4 sides by rows of buildings. Once this had been a place of fun and family memories. Now it was just an overgrown mess. The once verdant and manicured grass replaced with rank weeds and mushrooms and other growths. And hidden amongst them…
Bones. Lots and lots of bones. Some half crushed, some burnt. All with their flesh long since picked clean from them by carrion birds and other predators.
To many this would have been a solemn place. A place to remind people of how fleeting life truly was. Momento mori and all that.
Xy's response to seeing all this...was to yawn. To him it was just more of the same. Something he had seen a thousand times in his existence and something he would probably see a thousand times again. So ignoring what to a normal human would have been a terrifying and awe inspiring sight Xy gradually made his way toward the center of the park. There he found at last what he was looking for. A grand fresco or what remained of it etched into the ground. Once it had been a marvelous sight he presumed. Now the stones were smashed and weeds poked up between the cracks.
He sat down and then almost immediately words suddenly began to utter forth from between his lips. Words old and ancient when the world's foundations were laid down. Words of power, words long forgotten to all…
Only...nothing happened. Wildly Xy spun his head about in confusion mystified by a lack of progress till a certain thought entered his mind and he abruptly slapped his forehead in consternation at forgetting what effect the years passing might have done to that particular incantation.
"Very well then...I guess a different recourse is in order."
Abruptly Xy pulled forth a small bag. From within he pulled forth a small dish some incense sticks and…
Fishes.
Gently he lay them down in the dish before lighting the incense sticks.
"Y' l' uln ymg' fhalma Bubastis. Mggoka'ai ya ng f' mgulnah ymg' gof'nn l' ya llll Y' ot ulnah f'"
Then as the sun at last began to set and the shadows began to become large and choking they appeared. Like green embers hidden amidst the buildings or dancing fireflies moving closer and closer they came their source mysterious and unknown till they approached closer and the faint light of the incense stick fell upon them to reveal...
Cats. Hundreds of cats. Some black, some grey all drawn by the words uttered by the one before them. Or at least they were till he gazed at them and they all abruptly stopped, their heckles rising their fur standing straight up in terror. All of them frozen stiff.
Save for one.
Ignoring all the others, one dared approached. A small white one gaunt in the extreme to the point bones could be seen poking through its skin. Without pausing, without stopping it ran forth and began to devour the offering before it.
Until that is the man before it spoke again a single word.
"Yurine."
Instantly the cat's eyes jerked upwards to meet his.
"Yurine nafl'fhtagn"
A bolt of energy suddenly shot forth from Xy's hands to meet the cat. A howl of agony burst forth from between the cat's lips. A sound so horrible it immediately sent the other cats running in abject terror from that place.
Xy could care less about the little mongrels as they fled his eyes solely for one thing one single being. A being whose form was suddenly warping until at last in its place was left something totally different.
A girl. A white haired girl with yellow eyes as gaunt at the cat that once stood in her place and covered in the ragged remains of a kimono that barely concealed anything.
"Hmph…truly you have fallen far to become like this. You even forgot you were more than a mere beast. How sad."
"Who are you?" The girl...if she was a girl...barely managed to whisper out.
"One who has need of you lost one. One who seeks you for the sake of another."
"Who…?"
Slowly, gently Xy placed his host's hand behind her head and brought her close and whispered two words.
"An Uzumaki"
She looked at him. Not merely in the normal human way of understanding but in a deeper way. For a moment she flinched as she realized what she was speaking with and she almost drew away…
Almost. Yet when she saw the truth of his words her eyes, once limp and nearly lifeless seemed to glow with a sparkle. Glow with new found power and purpose.
"Do you accept oh spirit of this place?"
"Yes."
Gently did he place his hand upon her head and mutter certain words. There was a flash once more and the girl was gone and in her place an orb. Xy grabbed it and stuffed it into his bag.
"Now then" he said to himself. "Let's see what else this place has to offer."
A/N: Another short one but an important one. The first one to figure out what series the girl is from get's a virtual cookie. While your waiting for this to update may I recommend checking out some of my friends works? Their names are Dracohalo117 and darkscythe drake. Enjoy!
