Mar's Maelstrom

By The Obsidian Blade

Chapter Eight-training and the other Ed

Snow snapped her head side to side. Her gaze fell on the man and her face lit up. "Edward! I knew you would save me!"

The man sighed as he looked at Snow. "Not me Snow. The dog went and got help. And the one who freed you is the kid with the fox ears and the tail." She looked at Naruto and blushed. She always liked foxes so the ears and tails were a big up for her. She almost ran over to the blonde and pet him. That was until they heard a voice.

"Sorry to be late Loco. How is the princess?" everyone's eyes looked towards the voice. The man was, in Naruto's opinion, a horror movie. His head was incased in a jack-o-lantern. His body was wrapped in a black clothe in a way that his arms were covered. Leather straps connected him to a large block of cement. (Not sure if it's metal or concrete so concrete it is). A large spike like pendent attached to a long chain around his neck.

"You certainly took your sweet time," Loco said. "I ma very angry with you."

"Our situation has changed too," the Halloween reject said. "I have come with new orders. All Chess Pieces are to assemble to launch second Great War of Marchen."

"A second great war?" Loco asked. "So we have to fight off the whole world again?"

"Hmm the capture of the princess can wait," Halloween mumbled. "So says Phantom. I'd say that life is going to get a lot more interesting"

"Hey you!" 'Edward' yelled. "What are you mumbling about tomato head?"

"Ah, I have heard tales but never quite believed Alan," Halloween spoke.

"You're wrong," Alan said. (I am going to refer to Edward's human side as Alan) "It's Edward now. It's been six years hmm?"

"Glad we both survived," The other man chuckled out.

Naruto looked at the man before griping Kubukiri. "So by the feel of things I guess you are another Chess Piece. Just when I thought things would lighten up."

"Who's the kid with the spiky hair?" Halloween asked.

"He's Naruto and he almost killed me!" Ian yelled in glee.

"I don't get the joke." Seriously. Ian was almost taken down by a child? It certainly must have been a joke.

"I am serious!" Ian yelled with a pout.

The crazed man broke out in a loud laughing fit. Ian, a rook, was nearly killed by a kid with a big sword and a few daggers? What wasn't funny about that!

"And what if the story's true?" Alan questioned. "What will you do then Halloween?"

"Boy." Naruto looked at the man. "What is your name?"

"Naruto," the kitsune answered calmly. The blonde then slowly slipped into a stance while readying his free arm to do some hand seals. The man started to laugh even harder. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Mistaking people as a non threat would certainly be the man's down fall.

"Sorry, I can't stop laughing," the man wheezed out.

"Look at his hip," loco said. His gaze went to the ten's hip and fell on the kitsune ANBU mask.

"If that's true then Babb can't be to far away." His eyes scanned the room, searching for Babbo. His eyes finally landed on the Arm. "It's what Peta said. Babbo being used by someone other than Phantom. And I thought it was a joke! So you have taken fancy to him, eh Babbo? But come back to us!! Come on!"

"Don't speak to a gentleman you would a dog!" Babbo yelled. "I'll ea your squash of a head!"

Halloween looked at the Arm strangely. "Seems like his memory is gone," Ian whispered.

"DON'T TAKE NARUTO SO LIGHTLY!!" Jack yelled. "HE'S A PERSON FROM ANOTHER WORLD!"

Naruto palmed his face. He was going to have to beat out that out of the boy too. Everyone other than Naruto, Babbo, Jack and Halloween had a look of shock. "Is this TRUE!?" The look in Halloweens face was crazed. Naruto could see his teeth gleaming in a psychotic smile. Naruto shook his head as he hear jack scream.

"Yeah it is," Naruto replied. He shot a glare at Jack. "And I am going to have to teach where the line of 'too much info' is."

The slightly mummified man laughed darkly. "An other-worlder just like 'that man'. Now I can believe that you nearly ended Ian's life."

"May I have permission to kill him now?" Ian asked

He orders were to assemble at the castle!" Halloween yelled. "Nothing else is permitted! Capture the princess and bring back Babbo will have to wait and so will kill the other-worlder!" The man's eyes still had a crazy gleam to them. "However I do suspect that this will be and interesting war." The man started laughing hysterically before they vanished. Naruto eased out of the stance slowly.

"I just got a feeling shit's about to hit the fan," the blonde said softly.

"I don't like this," Alan commented. 'So he's an other-worlder eh? So that feeling of déjà vu wasn't just my imagination'

Naruto's ears twitched as he heard someone walking up to him. He turned to the person to fond Snow walking up to him with a kind smile. "Hi, I am Snow." Her gestures were different from what he was expecting. He was expecting a stuck up snob but the girl seemed to be kind. "Thank you for rescuing me!"

Naruto smiled before he extended a clawed hand. "Welcome and I am Naruto." just then the Kyuubi started to mess with his mind, replaying the kiss between the two. His face reddened before he shook his head and started muttering something about 'horny vixens'. She looked at him clueless before she started to replay it. She looked at Alan with a panic stricken face.

"Edward! Were you watching?!" she yelled in panic. "What do you think of the-..?"

Alan cut her off. "The kiss? So what?"

"But…but it was my first!" she stuttered

"Forget about it!" Alan told her. "There'll be plenty more! Though Ed the dog might mind…"

"My heart's racing! Don't joke about this!" the dark haired teen complained.

After a while they were on the mess hall. Naruto and the others got filled in what was happening. Snow turned out to be the princess of Lestava. The place also seemed to be the Chess Pieces' HQ. He also figured out the ranking. Pawns were the weakest in rank. Then came rooks like Ian and the blonde haired girl that they fought earlier. Then there were the bishops. The last multiple rank was knight like Halloween and Phantom. The last to ranks only had one of each and hat was queen and king. Pawns usually had low magical power and had identical masks. Higher ranks were allowed personalized masks and earrings to indicate their rank.

Alan tried to play a prank on them with food but Snow put t\he kibosh to that. "I am not throwing this conversation so we can chat." Alan declared. We got to compare intelligence on our current situation. Naruto how long were you here."

"Ten, sir," Naruto answered.

"Ten uh?" Alan said to himself "Then we can assume that you know nothing of what's going on. Snow."

"Right." Snow rolled out a map of Marchen.

Alan started pointing at random places or what seemed random. "This is Marchen. We're in the north, the remote island of P'Zurika, a nation of only to towns and no ruler. Here on the southern continent is Lestava. This is the place of Snow's birth. This is where the journey for her and me began. But now it is the head quarters of the Chess Pieces. The continents and islands are divided into smaller kingdoms, each with its own ruler. But the one that ruled over them, symbolically, was Lestava. To rule over Lestava is to be "Ruler of Rulers".

"It's a lot like where I come from," Naruto commented. "The ninja villages have their own power as well as some big cities but the real power goes to the daimyo."

"The other guy said something completely differently," Alan commented. "Where did you come from exactly?"

Naruto sighed. He knew he was going to have to explain everything to them. "I come form a ninja village called Konoha. There we could use extraordinary powers. The power to fuel them is called chakra. We use hand signs to use such techniques. There are three forms of four forms of these powerful techniques. They are ninjutsu, genjutsu, tiajutsu, and fuuinjutsu. Ninjutsu are the general offense and defense techniques. Genjutsu is generally illusionary techniques that revolve around the mind and senses. Tiajutsu is hand to hand combat. Fuuinjutsu is sealing techniques. There are other branches such as kenjutsu, boujutsu and other things. What I use is Nin, ken, and tiajutsu. Now there are multiple ninja villages with one specific leader called a Kage. There are five main villages with well known Kages. They are Konohagakure no Sato with the Hokage, Kirigakure no Sato with the Mizukage, Kumogakure no Sato with the Raikage, Sunagakure no Sato with the Kazekage, and Iwagakure no Sato with the Tsuchikage. The village's military might is determined by there ninja power. I am or was a ninja with Konoha. The ranks are something to remember easy. The go by genin, chuunin, jounin, ANBU, then Kage. Usually ANBU is only achieved by people over twenty. Before I left I was an ANBU. The reason to that was because I had special reasons, reasons I am not ready to go into yet. The ANBU units wore masks that represented animals that they were closest to. I was closest to a kitsune so that is why I have the fox mask."

Alan looked at him before sighing. "You killed a lot more than you would like to haven't you? Naruto looked at him then nodded slightly. "The first time I gave this speech to the other-worlder didn't even hurt a soul. He was the leader of the Cross Guard army. The one called Boss. Valiant warriors stepped from every nation to oppose the Chess Pieces as the Cross Guard. The save Marchen during the last war. He wanted to return but he died here." Naruto's face darkened before he hung his head.

Snow started to look at Babbo with interest. She picked the sphere up and started to rub it. "This is amazing!" she squealed excitedly. "You're truly alive! Hello Babbo!" she looked outside. Ed, can I go out and play with Babbo?"

"Well," Alan said as he felt for any thing dangerous. "I don't sense any magical powers nearby… but keep your mouth shut round one!!"

"Who are you calling round fool?!" Babbo yelled in anger. Naruto looked as Snow left with a smile on her face.

'She's being targeted and she still keeps a carefree attitude?' Naruto asked himself.

"Your attitude was the same way when you were in ANBU," Kyuubi said.

'That was when I first entered.' Naruto took a heavy breath before watching the girl.

"She's a tough one," Naruto commented. "Most people her age would crack under the pressure."

"You are one to talk Naruto." Naruto looked at Alan with a raised eyebrow. "You're holding a lot back. I can see it in your eyes. I know you don't trust us with it but hear me out. Until recently she lived in a castle without a care in the world. An innocent child who knew nothing of the cruelty of the world. Then her mother died sand she was separated form her father and now she's being targeted by her murdering stepmother!" Naruto could feel the killing intent rolling off the man. Naruto knew he stood no chance against Alan in a fight. There wax no way. "'Someday' she tells me 'good things will happen'. Making a child suffer like that! No one could be so brutal! But the Chess Pieces!"

Naruto hung his head. "It could be a lot worst." Naruto's voice hinted sadness. "Alright so Phantom and the Queen are the ring leaders right? And Lestava is their HQ right? Why not infiltrate the place and lop off their heads. The have targeted us anyway so why wait here and wait for them to weir us out? "

Alan looked at him funny. "It's far. Don't you want to go back to your own world?"

Naruto looked at him and smiled a sad smile. "No. I am not going back at all. I entered this world because of the special cause that got me to be elite. The only reason I am searching for a back door is so I can relay a message back to my world."

The man looked at him odd as he got up and strapped Kubukiri to his back. He started to smile a bit before it turned into a full blown grin. "Don't get so cocky shrimp! You almost killed a low level rook but can you take on a higher class Chess Piece. You can grow as strong as Boss? Can you defeat the Chess Pieces?"

Naruto looked at the man before smirking viciously. "No I can't. I am going to become stronger than Boss. I am going to not just defeat the Chess Pieces, I am going to destroy them." Jack nodded.

"SNOW!!" Alan yelled out. The girl came running in with Babbo near by. "These guys have just joined the party!" maybe it's time we tried "it" out again." The man slipped on his trench coat as the walked out side. "You guys want to get stronger?"

"Wrong question to ask jiji-san," Naruto remarked.

The man led them outside. "Naruto, you only have to Arms right, the Ten Dagger Bracelet' and the Arm of Phantom, Babbo? Long time no see. Not since I was a warrior of the Cross Guard and sealed you away six years ago."

"So you're the genus that set up the traps?" Naruto asked. "You know a lot of those traps hurt."

"You actually got hit by each one of those things?! How could you be alive?!" Naruto shook his head no. "Bah, what ever. Yes it was I the cave up. That treasure chest was actually an Arm, rigged so that only someone with no magical power could open it. Even if they'd found it, those Chess fools wouldn't be able to get in! And no non-magical mortal without Arms could have gotten past the guardians I'd planted. They were perfect traps. But somehow you were able to get Babbo out without being crushed by the guardian."

"Before you get any further could I check something out?" Naruto asked.

Alan looked at him before smirking. 'The kid may not have any magic powers but he has a string nose.'

Naruto blurred out of sight, appearing right behind a near by pillar. Behind the pillar with him was Dorothy with a dagger at his sensitive area. "You know you can get the dagger away form there. I actually want to have kits someday."

She sighed before turning the dagger back into a ring. "That is what you get for trying to get the drop on me. You could pay me back though." Naruto raised an eyebrow not liking the smirk on her face. It promised either pain or pleasure. He hoped it to be the ladder of the two. She launched her elf at him before bringing him to the ground, scratching his ears. She knew that she couldn't do anything here and he had to be completely willing for the 'special potion' to work. For now she would settle with his head in her lap while she scratched him. Besides, his purr was soothing to her.

Alan was getting impatient. The boy went behind the pillar five minutes ago and he still hasn't returned. He could still sense the magical power around so he knew that the person didn't go anywhere. So being the guy his was he led the group quietly to the pillar to come upon one of the most hilarious sight ever. He started to laugh a bit before he started tot really go hysterical. "I can't believe it! A soldier like you brought down by anyone who knows how tot scratch an ear!" Dorothy looked at the man before stopping her actions on his ear. Naruto, being oblivious to what happened looked at Alan laughing hard, a jealous looking Jack and an angry Snow.

"What did I miss?" that question caused Alan to laugh even harder.

'Alright let's keep this going shall we," Alan finally said after calming down. "Naruto, I am pretty sure you know the difference between mastering a weapon and using it?" Naruto nodded. "Good. Now I want you to put these in Babbo and this one in your bracelet. The ones for Babbo are the key for his power and this one." The man pointed at one of the stones. "Has an ice element in it seeing as you are mainly ice and water." The man handed him four round stones that had a certain gleam to them.

Naruto slowly took the gems and slid them into the holes on Babbo and his bracelet. "You're not going to tell me how to use them are you?"

Alan smiled. "Now you're getting it." he shook his head as he grabbed the chain dangling form his belt. 'Better not separate them too far. Seems like Naruto was helping Jack in training. By the looks of the boy he is more into team work than two man squads. He most likely would go searching for his 'troops' then complete a mission.' The mouth on the chain started to open slightly. "Dimension Arm, training gate!'

Two double door s appeared on the floor, one beneath Snow and Naruto and the other beneath Jack and Dorothy. Naruto looked at the man before speaking. "I fucking hate you." And with that they fell into a dark void.

Naruto and snow landed on their feet. Naruto looked around. The place was ruins. Most of the pillars were knocked down the ones that stood represented men with hawk like masks. He could see cliffs that were good for training. In the sky was a large vortex. In front of them was as pyramid with a lot of steps.

"So where are we exactly?" Naruto asked.

"We're in another dimension," she answered as if this has happened before.

"Another dimension?!" Babbo practically yelled in Naruto's ear. Naruto groaned in pain while holding his ears in shock.

"Yep. You can get here by an Arm that only Ed can use," the girl answered. He says the Cross Guards used to come here and train. Jack's probably here in another area." The girl walked up to the blonde before grabbing his hand and squeezing it slightly. The poor blonde blushed a deep crimson. He couldn't just be interested in one woman. No, he had to be interested in three. Why did Kami hate him? Inside Kyuubi was almost certain that he chose his three first mates. And she was damn certain that she was one of them! She had to be. "I want to get stronger. Let's get stronger together."

The smile on her face was contagious. He smiled at her slightly. "Alright but tomorrow we go scouting for the other two." She looked at him oddly before raising a questioning eyebrow. "The reason is that where I come from, team work is golden. Even the strongest man can be taken down by a team of weaklings if they work well together."

She nodded at his reasoning. The blonde did have a point. Not everything was won by one person alone. He had to have people by his side. "So what does the Arm around your neck do exactly Snow-chan?" Naruto asked. The thing looked cute fro kids but it wasn't really what he thought as dangerous. Then he remembered how dangerous Babbo could be. It was scary that a novelty toy could do so much damage.

She smiled at the suffix that Naruto used on her name. For some reason it felt right to her. "It's a Guardian Arm. It allows me to summon a snowman." Naruto looked at the girl.

"Could you demonstrate Snow-chan.?" Naruto asked. It seriously had no vicious bite to the feeling. Even Babbo seemed to have more of a bite.

She smiled and nodded slightly. In a poof of smoke there was a small snow man, about waist level to him, with stubby arms, no hands, and a block shaped mouth. Naruto looked at the strange snowman with a wondering eye. There had to be more to it than that. There just had to be. "It really is a snowman."

She smiled at the blonde as he inspected. His ears screamed scratch me to her. It was just so hard to resist! She managed to creep up on the blonde. He turned around in time to see where her hand was going so he could curse at his weakness. Her hand connected to his ear and he sat like a fox, purring and his tail swishing happily while she smiled and scratched his ear. She hoped that he was listening to her while he was enjoying her scratching. "That is the official name of this Guardian Arm but I like to call it Yuki-chan."

Naruto was listening and somehow managed to get out of the scratching session, much to the despair of Snow, asked a quest ion. "Most of the Guardians I have seen looked like they had a lot more bite than 'Yuki-chan'."

"Guardians are popular to wielders who don't like Arm-to-Arm fights," Snow filled in. "When one is invoked, a magical being appears as a protector… but while it's out, the Arm wielder can only move in a limited range."

Naruto shook his head. 'Now that could have some serious draw backs.' He thought. The blonde looked at Snow as she continued. What the fuck was this feeling? Why was he feeling it? Why the fuck was it the same for three girls? The blond shook his head to clear the thoughts. He would figure it out tonight or before they went searching in the morning.

"The guardians are varied. There are some that even talk. But I am amazed to see an Arm that talks on its own, Babbo." The sphere jumped at the praise that Snow gave him.

"Ah well. I am amazed at how pretty you are Miss Snow!" Naruto palmed his head. That was the lamest line he ever heard.

Naruto raised his hand. "Alright, just what kinds of Arms are there in this world? I know about weapon Arms and Guardian Arms but my mind is still foggy on the rest."

Snow did this weird nod while she crossed her arms, making her look like some kind of teacher. "Well, Dimension Arms are able to bend space and can open other dimensions. That is how we got here. Darkness arms are terrifying Arms that casts a dark curse on its opponent when invoked. But the curse has a side effect, bringing violent pain or terrible loss to the one who uses it. Holy Arms protect and gives strength to the wielder through its holy power. Nature Arms taps into the power of nature. That is how I sealed myself in the castle. There are also other Arms that can't be categorized," Naruto just gave a glance at Babbo. "And 'Ordinary Arms', like Jack's shovel, that are used by laypeople as part of their everyday lives. You can by specialized Arms with low grade magical power but the powerful Arms aren't bought in stores." Her face had a down cast look on it that struck a cord in Naruto's heart. It pained him to see her like this. "The curse on Ed, I might be able to break it with a holy Arm. If only I could find one. It's sad to see two people trapped in one body."

Naruto looked at the ground. Why did it pain him to see her like this? Why was it so difficult to look at her when she was like this? Naruto looked at her as eh tried to think of a way of cheering her up. "Snow," Naruto said, gaining the girl's attention. "If the curse on Ed was sued by an Arm then there has to be someway to counter act it right? All we have to do is search in the right place." Naruto had a fox like smirk. She smiled at him.

Naruto turned to Babbo as he heard the Arm pant. His body was glowing a strange color. "My body feels strange." Naruto's eyes widened. This could be only of two things. Either really good or really bad. Kami, he hoped that it was the former of the two. Naruto looked at the hammer part to find it glowing as well. Naruto's mind flashed through several memories, trying to find one that seemed reasonable. His mind thought that he was regaining his memory but that didn't seem likely as he was sure that it would be a lot more subtle than this. His mind then flashed to the stones. Yes, that must have been it. He did say these wee the key to Babbo's power.

The Arm continued to glow. His face however lost emotion. It looked more animated. It didn't really suit Babbo at all. "The skill data imbued in the stones have been erased. Please input new data." Naruto's eyes widened. What the hell was wrong with the Arm? His voice sounded robotic. (Again people I am guessing as I don't watch the anime.) "You must use your imagination for the creation of the special powers for the Arm 'Babbo'. Please input data!"

"What is it talking about?" Naruto asked out loud. This was getting creepy, creepier then Babbo normally was! That was just plain out rages!

"Invent a new ability within your mind." Naruto looked at him before smirking. If that was so then this was going to be fun. He was going to be sure to think of a power and form that wouldn't be easy to take Babbo away and it packed a lot of bite.

A/N And cut! Yes people, I am that cruel! Muhahaha! Yeah I decided to go with fem Kyuu but I am still contemplating on what other character to add if I do add another. If something is off such as color or voices please don't get pissed at me, as stated before, don't watch the anime. I am going of f the issues I have and I only have volumes one through six right now. I am also reading it offline so I can continue after six. So yeah, since I have nothing else to say, bye and review or I will sick my army of blood hounds on yo

d hounds on your asses!