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On Fortune's Wings

Chapter Four: New Faces, New Places

"So…those things weren't really after the treasure?" Naruto questioned the girls as they made their way to Hollow Bastion.

Yuna bit her lip from behind the controls while Rikku awkwardly rubbed her arm and Paine sighed. She had a feeling that coming clean would be awkward, but she didn't think her friends would behave like this.

"We admittedly don't know a lot about them. They're different from another creature called the Heartless," she explained. "However, what we do know is that they are dangerous, and they have targeted people before. And since you have a Keyblade, you'll be a bigger target for them."

"What does me having a Keyblade have to do with them coming after me?"

"People who can use Keys are very rare, Whiskers," Rikku took over. "We've only seen a couple of others using a Keyblade against the Heartless before; and we've been to dozens of Worlds throughout our journey."

"What makes a Keyblade so special, besides what you said earlier about unlocking stuff and peoples' hearts?"

"Rumors say that there are Keys aligned to Light and Keys aligned to Darkness, and the type of Key someone can use shows what their Heart is attuned to," Paine elaborated. "I'm pretty sure your Key is a Light-based one, considering how you're a nice guy with a good Heart."

Naruto blushed at the compliment. "But the keychain was given to me by Ayame. For all we know, it could've responded to my chakra or my emotions."

Rikku puffed her cheeks at his denial before she swooped in and took the keychain before zipping off to another part of the Gummi Ship. Naruto would've protested, but a look from Paine made him refrain.

"Okay, Whiskers! Summon the Key to your hand!" Rikku was heard from the other room. "If it only responds to your chakra, then it shouldn't work!"

Realizing now why she had taken Ayame's gift, Naruto held up his right hand and stared at his palm. Closing his eyes, he focused on the Keyblade he had summoned against those white husks back in Twilight Town. He mentally brought himself back to his thoughts on his sister and her wish for his safety.

Behind his closed eyelids, a muffled flash was seen, and his hand reflexively gripped a new weight that had appeared in its grasp. Slowly opening his eyes, they widened faintly at the sight of the Keyblade from before while Rikku flew back in with an almost smug smile on her face.

"Still think this Key isn't yours?" she challenged.

Naruto gave an awkward smile at that before mentally willing the Keyblade away. In another flash of light, in vanished and reformed as a keychain that was hanging around his neck. "Okay, so I have a Keyblade…"

"Hollow Bastion in sight, everyone," Yuna called from the controls.

The others moved over to the cockpit of the ship, and Naruto was greeted with his first glimpse of Hollow Bastion. Excitement welled up inside him again, making him eager to see yet another new World.

"Hang on," Yuna advised. "I'm starting our entry into the World's airspace."

A young woman, garbed in a simple white lace dress that reached her thighs and light blue sandals with yellow starred emblems, was seen sitting at a table in the white room of the abandoned mansion of Twilight Town. She was currently working on a drawing while being observed by Riku, who was leaning against one of the walls.

"We had some interesting visitors here while you were walking around town," he informed her casually.

"Those faery girls again?" she asked in amusement, knowing that the trio used the mansion to hide their loot. "They add to their pile?"

"Yes, they did. They also had someone with them that I've never seen around town before."

This caught her interest. "Is he a friend of theirs?"

"Looked that way. I think he's joined their treasure hunting group," he answered, throwing out air quotes with a smirk that she giggled at.

"It's nice that they're making new friends. Did you get a name?"

"They called him Naruto…"

The girl froze at the name, and the colored pencil in her hand slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor with a light clatter of noise. She stood up abruptly, catching Riku off guard as he watched her look through the posted drawings and the drawers of her desk.

"Naminé…?" Riku called out in concern.

"Where is it…?" she was heard muttering, sounding almost distressed as she kept searching.

"He took a picture that you left on the table."

This made Naminé stop again and turn to him. "He did?"

Riku nodded. "He looked a bit weirded out by it, but he took it with him."

"…oh," she whispered, her tone sounding sad as she took a seat at her table again. "I missed him…"

"You know him?"

She shook her head with a sad smile. "Not personally… I met him as Kairi…"

"As…Kairi…?" he repeated, thoroughly confused. "But, when? And why didn't Kairi remember?"

"When Kairi split, and I was made, the memories that she forgot or lost would come to me in dreams. I would draw so that I won't forget them, and one of the dreams had a boy with whisker markings on his face and golden hair. Sometimes, the dreams would have him with red hair; but it was always the same boy."

Naminé looked out the window with a faint smile as she started drifting to the memories of Kairi while Riku took a seat at the table.

"It was after Kairi met Aqua at Radiant Garden. When Kairi was sent away from there, she was lost in this large settlement full of people and ran into Naruto after he had pulled a prank on a shopkeeper."

Naminé giggled at the memory of the paint bucket and how comically angry the shopkeeper had become while Naruto ran off laughing.

"He hid in the alley that Kairi was in, and he bumped into her before apologizing and offering to show her around. I remember he took her to see different important buildings before taking her to the top of a mountain that had the carved faces of the leaders of the village on it. He mentioned how he wanted to become the leader of the village someday, and Kairi gave him some words of encouragement."

A stray tear fell at the memory of him grinning with the sunset lighting up his face.

"She was found by Aqua and dropped off at the Destiny Islands after that. Before Aqua took her, she said something to Naruto, and he looked sad but understanding. I think she told him that she was taking Kairi away for her safety, and that Naruto would forget about her. Kairi forgot about him when she was dropped off at the Destiny Islands, and a part of her Heart was left hurting afterward. But she then met you and Sora, and you two helped heal the small hole she didn't remember was there."

"But…you remembered," Riku concluded, and he saw Naminé nod in response. "I'm so sorry, Naminé…"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes as more tears threatened to fall. "I started to miss him after the first few dreams about him, and I kept trying to draw him as best as I could; but each one wouldn't feel right when I finished it. And when I finally get it to where it felt right…"

"You missed your chance to see him again…" he finished, and his heart went out to her when she nodded again; this time with tears falling. "Well, if he's with those faery girls, I'm sure he and they will be back to add to their loot pile."

"But how long will that take? DiZ wants me to focus on helping Roxas adjust to the Data Twilight Town and make him believe he's living a normal life while Sora recovers from Castle Oblivion. What if he comes and I can't see him again?"

Riku stepped up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention as she looked at his blindfolded face. "Listen to me, Naminé. Everything will be alright."

"How can you be so sure, though?" she challenged.

"Because that's what your Heart is telling you. And don't think for one second that you can convince me that you don't have one. Why else would not seeing him cause you to react like this?"

Her blue eyes widened at his question, and she realized that he was right. She did have a Heart; one that was all her own and, while still linked, separated from Kairi's. she may be Kairi's Nobody, but Naminé was her own Somebody.

"And besides," Riku continued, getting her attention again, "DiZ wants me to keep a lookout for him. If I see him, I'll let him know about an old friend waiting for him here."

A few more tears fell as Naminé jumped forward and hugged Riku. "Thank you…"

He gently patted her back with a small smile. "It'll be alright, Naminé…"

As she hugged her friend, Naminé felt hope stirring in her Heart. And she loved how it felt.

Exiting the Gummi Ship with his three friends, Naruto looked around in wonder at the various other ships being worked on in the massive port slash garage. Yuna had gone ahead to find someone in charge while Rikku and Paine were seated on his head and shoulder respectively.

"Whoa… There're so many kinds of ships here… That one looks almost like an actual boat with sails and everything!" the whiskered blonde exclaimed in excitement, pointing to a specific ship that had two people currently on the main deck while various other crewmen worked on prepping for departure.

One was a woman with feline features and dressed in a blue coat while the other was a man the looked to be made of stone and wearing a red coat. From what he could see, since they were too far to hear, the woman was in charge and was staying silent while the man was yelling out orders at such a rapid pace that Naruto couldn't keep up with. The woman must've known he was watching them, for she turned to him.

He instinctively stood at attention, but relaxed when she smiled at him before turning back to her working crew. (1)

With a relieved sigh, he was left blushing when Rikku and Paine snickered at him. He then pouted and grumbled, "Ha-ha… Very funny…"

"What's funny?" Yuna was heard asking as she came back, though she wasn't alone.

Joining her was a very tall, attractive woman with bright blonde hair that reached to her waist. She had fair brown skin, turquoise eyes, and a purple marking on her forehead. She was wearing a revealing pink tank top along with brown pants and a white lab coat while holding a brown kiseru pipe, which she was grasping at the tip with her fingers as if holding a conductor's baton.

"Nothing important," Naruto answered firmly before bowing politely to the woman. "Nice to meet you, miss. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Oh? So polite," she responded with a slightly teasing voice. "He a new recruit?"

"Yes/Yep/Uh-huh," were the replies of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. Yuna then continued, "Naruto, this is our Gummi Mechanic, Rakshata Chawla. She was stranded here after her World was lost to the Darkness, and she took over the garage here at Hollow Bastion a few years ago. She's been our personal mechanic for roughly a year now after we gave her an energy core that we took from another World."

"Yes, that miniature Arc Reactor you took from a World that resembled Earth," Rakshata spoke up in revery, recalling the enjoyment of breaking the reactor down and rebuilding it better than before. "Speaking of which, I think it's time your ship got an upgrade. You three are still using the basic Highwind Model."

"How long would it take for you to upgrade our ship?" Paine asked curiously.

"Oh, your current ship will be scrapped for parts and spare munny," came the immediate reply from Rakshata.

'Geez… No mercy,' Naruto thought as he looked at the varying degrees of shock on the girls' faces. "Does that mean you were already working on a replacement ship?"

"Smart boy," she complimented, earning a faint blush from him. "Yes, I've been working on a ship for my dear friends here for quite some time, now. It's nearly finished, and I need to finetune a few things. At most, it should only be a couple more days."

"A couple days?" Rikku repeated with a pout. "But we just need repairs!"

"Actually," Naruto spoke up, looking sheepish, "do you think we could stay and wait for her to finish? Twilight Town was nice, but I kinda wanted to take some more time here and explore, y'know?"

The trio shared a glance before Yuna sighed and nodded to Rakshata. "We'll wait for you to finish, then."

"Fantastic! Now, run along and explore! I'll send for you when I've finished my masterpiece!" the woman proclaimed a bit dramatically.

The quartet then left the garage, but Naruto turned back around when he heard the roar of engines and watched as the ship that he had been staring at earlier rose up above the garage and opened its sails. The sails then gathered power that lit them up with energy and had them puff out as if wind was hitting them. The exhausts spewed flames as the ship took off, shooting away from the World and into the vastness of the space between Worlds.

"Awesome…" he whispered, and the Gullwings smiled at his reaction.

They had to keep reminding themselves that, while they were used to these occurrences, Naruto was seeing them for the first time. So, of course he would find genuine awe in them.

"Let's keep moving, Naruto," Yuna said, earning a nod from him as the quartet walked away from the garages.

"You can't be serious, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked with a frown. "You expect me to let anyone associated with Danzo near my team?"

"We're out of options, Kakashi," the man replied tiredly. "All other potential Genin are assigned to other squads or missions. Now, I understand your reservations about Danzo, but I have no choice but to assign Sai to your squad."

The Jonin's frown deepened. "I'm not about to let an emotionless drone anywhere near my students, Lord Hokage. Especially when Sasuke has always been an interest to Danzo."

"What would you have me do, Kakashi?"

"I would have you approve of my team having two Genin."

"What about when the Chunin Exams come around?" the Hokage challenged.

"There are other ways to promote from Genin," Kakashi fired back with ease.

"Those cases are rare, Kakashi."

"I'd rather take my chances with that than with anyone linked to Danzo, sir."

The Hokage sighed. "And if I ordered you to comply?"

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "Are you?"

"I would rather not, but I will do what is needed."

"What is the issue with only having two Genin on my squad?"

"The survival rate of outside missions goes down the fewer members there are on a squad. You know this, Kakashi. Why do you think solo missions are higher ranked, even if it's just a delivery assignment?"

"Then we'll enlist a Chunin to assist whenever we're outside of the village."

Having had enough, Sarutobi stood up from his desk and demanded, "Kakashi, I'm through with this. Now, you will either accept Sai's addition to your squad, or you will be replaced as Jonin Sensei of Squad 7. Make your choice, or I will make it for you."

"…fine," the Jonin grudgingly relented.

"Good. Sai will join you for your squad's meeting tomorrow. You're dismissed."

Kakashi said nothing as he vanished in a flurry of leaves. The flurry blew away the papers on the Hokage's desk in a moment of pettiness, but the elderly leader said nothing. He understood Kakashi's frustration, but there was nothing he could do with Naruto being MIA and the Ichiraku keeping their silence on his whereabouts.

He could always interrogate them, but he'd rather not lower himself to sending civilians to the Torture and Interrogation Squad of the village. Throughout his career, he has done many regretful actions; but he has never harmed or doomed someone who couldn't defend themselves.

At least, he hoped he didn't. Naruto's mistreatment within the village could put that hope into question, and he'd rather not question it and live in denial.

After all, he already knew that he would suffer Kushina's wrath when he died. He had cemented that fate the moment he put Naruto's life in the village's hands.

Naruto was more than happy that he paid attention to the lessons on basic storage sealing in the Academy back home, and that he had packed a few empty scrolls before leaving his World with the Gullwings. It made shopping easier by putting their purchases in storage scrolls so that they didn't have to carry several items awkwardly.

Yuna, with what munny they could spend, had purchased potions, ethers, and what were called "tents" for their journey. Potions would help heal wounds, ethers would recover lost energy, and the tents were meant for emergencies when they were away from trouble. Naruto was still amazed that these items were available in shops across various Worlds.

They were making their way through the slightly crowded streets of the town, and Naruto was able to see what looked like the ruins of a large castle in the distance. It had an emblem on it that looked like a black heart with a red outline and red lines making a cross within that had thorns on the lines.

"That used to be a stronghold for the Heartless," Paine explained to Naruto, having seen where he was staring. "The Heartless are physical, living manifestations of the darkness within people's Hearts, and they appear when someone loses their Heart."

"So…they're like a lingering spirit of someone who dies?" he asked.

"Not exactly, but I can understand why you'd think that. They're darkness made real. That's all I can really tell you…"

"I'm guessing people with darker emotions and feelings create stronger Heartless, huh?"

"That's the common belief, yes," Yuna spoke up. "However, one thing will remain universally clear: the Heartless are dangerous."

"Gotcha…"

"Hey!" Rikku exclaimed, pointing out a more peculiar looking home. "It's the old geezer's place! He moved from Traverse Town!"

Naruto stopped in front of the home, a curious expression on his face. "Old geezer…?"

"She's talking about an old wizard," Paine explained. "He helped us get a grasp on magic, and we improved on what we knew throughout our escapades."

"We also found that we each excelled in a different aspect of magic," Yuna continued. "For example, I'm more inclined to the usage of supportive and healing magic."

"I prefer disruptive magic that trips up enemies," Paine said. "That includes status ailment magic."

"And I'm all about offensive magic!" Rikku rounded off with a small cheer in her voice. "Hey, maybe you should see if he's home? I'll bet he could help you get started too!"

"Really?" Naruto asked, looking eager. "Okay!"

He stepped up to the door and knocked politely before stepping back. Waiting for a moment, nobody responded, and Naruto frowned faintly before knocking again.

"Must not be home…" he murmured.

Rikku pouted at this and cupped her hands around her mouth. "HEY, GEEZER! OPEN UP ALREADY!"

To Naruto's surprise, the door swung open at her shout and revealed a man dressed in blue robes and an equally blue hat. He wore round glasses and had a very long, white beard that nearly reached his feet.

He also looked a bit miffed.

"Now see here, young lady! I am not some geezer! I am Merlin the Wizard!" the man exclaimed before he spotted the target of his ire sitting pretty on the head of a young teenager. Coughing to compose himself, he asked, "May I help you, young man?"

Naruto bowed politely to the wizard and greeted, "Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I was hoping to learn some magic from you."

"Magic lessons, eh? Well, I'd need to see if you have the potential for magic, first."

"If it helps," Naruto began before summoning his Keyblade, "I have this Key…?"

Merlin's eyes widened behind his glasses, and he stood aside before motioning the quartet inside as Naruto dismissed his Key. "Come, come in!"

Once ushered inside, they saw that the home was bigger on the inside than the outside suggested. They also weren't alone since there were two men and three women inside the home as well.

One of the men had blonde hair and was typing away at some screen while the other, a brown-haired man, leaned on the wall next to him and watched the blonde work. The brunette woman wearing white and pink clothes noticed them first and waved politely with a smile while a black-haired young woman was talking to the last woman who had rose pink hair.

"Welcome," the woman who waved at them greeted.

"Hello," Naruto greeted back while the Gullwings floated off him and started talking with Merlin privately. Holding out his hand, he added, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

She took his hand and shook it while introducing herself. "Aerith Gainsborough. Over there at the computer is Cid Highwind, and next to him is Squall Leonhart, but we all just call him Leon." She pointed to the last two and rounded off, "And over there are Yuffie Kisaragi and Claire Farron, though she prefers the name Lightning."

As Aerith was introducing them, the others had taken notice of the new guests and moved over to see them. Naruto introduced himself to the others just in time for the Gullwings to retake their spots on his shoulders and hair.

"Hello again, everyone," Yuna greeted.

"Well, if it ain't Miss Leader Treasure Hunter," Cid replied. "And the other two munchkin hunters."

"Hey! I resent that, old man!" Rikku fired back.

"Who's the kid?" Leon asked Paine.

"Our newest recruit. We offered him a spot after seeing what he was capable of in his World," she answered.

"He doesn't look like much," Lightning said in slight dismissal, making Naruto frown.

"Well, I was just a rookie back home. I was gonna be part of a squad and be trained, but I decided to leave with my new friends and see other Worlds. I haven't found any regrets yet, save for leaving my family behind until I return," Naruto said in defense of himself.

"Plus, we've discovered that he has a Key," Yuna added, catching the interest of the others. "Show them please, Naruto."

Nodding in comply, Naruto summoned his Keyblade again. "I was able to summon this back in Twilight Town when we were fighting these weird husk things."

"Nobodies…" Lightning muttered with a frown. "They're the vessels left behind when a strong Heart is separated from someone's body." She held her hand out expectantly, and Naruto hesitantly handed her his Key. She held it for a few moments before it vanished and reappeared in Naruto's hand. "It's the real thing."

"We tested that out back on our ship," Rikku explained. "Whiskers, here, is a Key Bearer!"

"So, you're here to study under Merlin then?" Yuffie asked. "And what were you gonna be trained for before you left?"

"I'm hoping Merlin will teach me. And I was being trained as a ninja. I left not long after passing my sensei's test to become a Genin."

"A ninja, huh?" she repeated with a grin before vanishing in a burst of smoke. Reappearing behind the young man, she offered, "I can help you improve your skills if you're interested, kid?"

Turning around with a small grin, Naruto nodded. "Sure! Sounds like fun!"

Aerith smiled at his exuberant attitude while Leon and Cid smirked in amusement at what Naruto was getting himself into. Lightning was cupping her chin in thought as she watched the scene.

"Well, before any of that," Merlin spoke up, "we should see if you can use magic first. Now, step forward and let me get a better look at you, young man."

The Gullwings floated off Naruto once more as he stepped forward. Merlin waved his wand and outlined Naruto in some magical energy as he scanned the blonde teenager. The outline started off as a white coloration before it slowly turned to a golden shade while Naruto's seal lit up a bloody crimson.

"Curious… It seems that you already have an energy source within you, as well as something far more powerful locked away behind that branding," the old wizard commented.

"People back home can use chakra," Naruto explained. "And the brand is actually a seal…"

"A seal for what, if I may ask?"

"It…It locks away something dangerous…" he answered sadly.

The others were either curious or concerned at his response before Yuna spoke up, "Naruto's seal shouldn't be an issue. What I want to know is if he can use magic or not?"

Rikku and Paine, knowing why Yuna was waving off the seal, stayed silent. They knew that Naruto was still apprehensive about letting anyone know about the Kyuubi sealed within him. He was afraid of being shunned or feared like he was back home.

"Well, from what I can see, young Naruto might be able to use magic. We can start with a simple Aero spell," Merlin suggested before he led everyone to a hidden bunker of his house. "In here, you can safely practice your magic without worrying about damaging anything. Now, I will show you the Aero spell, and I want you to try and recreate it through your Keyblade."

Naruto nodded and watched closely as Merlin pulled out his wand again and twirled it once before raising it above his head. Magical energy responded, and the wizard was surrounded by a small barrier of wind that soon dispersed as a small burst.

"The Aero spell is both a defensive and an offensive spell. It protects you for a short time before expelling outward with small force. As the spell becomes more advanced, the defensive abilities become more durable and last longer, while the expulsion of wind becomes more potent."

"I get it," Naruto replied with a smile and nod of understanding.

"Good lad. Now, through your Key, gather energy and imagine wind swirling around you protectively. Give it a go!"

Nodding again, Naruto tightened his grip on his Keyblade and closed his eyes to focus. Picturing wind surrounding him in his mind, he held his Keyblade in both hands and spun it once before holding it upward.

"Aero!" he declared, and wind swirled around him for a moment before dying off. He frowned for a moment, but it turned into a smile as he realized that, while unsuccessful, he still managed to produce the magic for the spell.

"A fine first attempt, my boy!" Merlin praised as he stepped up to the young Uzumaki and patted his shoulder. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting the spell to work for at least a few attempts, but you have potential."

"Thanks! So, does this mean that you'll teach me?"

"I will most certainly try. How long are you four staying?"

"A couple days while Rakshata finishes our new ship," Yuna answered.

"Then we haven't a moment to waste," the wizard stated. "A couple days isn't much time, but I've worked with tighter constraints before."

"I'm in your care then, sir," Naruto replied determinedly.

As the Gullwings excitedly talked to Naruto and Merlin about his upcoming lessons, the others conversed amongst themselves.

"Well, looks like we might have another Sora on our hands," Yuffie commented.

"It's still a bit too soon to tell," Leon shot down calmly. "Besides, Sora was already destined to take on the Heartless as the Chosen Key."

"True, and this kid doesn't seem to know much about what he's getting into," Cid added.

"He'll be fine," Aerith assured them. "He has those three with him, and they can take care of themselves. They wouldn't have brought him along if they weren't sure of his ability."

Lightning frowned faintly. "Still… Maybe he should be prepared for what's out there."

"You looking to handle that yourself, Sergeant?" Cid asked her curiously."

She gave him a look at the use of her old rank. She had been part of the Guardian Corps of her old World before it was lost to the Darkness. Only she, her companions, and her sister had made it out of the World's consumption into Darkness.

"I think I will. I want to see what this kid is made of," she answered, keeping her eyes on Naruto as he made another attempt at the Aero spell. 'He has a drive in his eyes. It reminds me of myself a bit… Show me what you're capable of, Uzumaki.'

1~ I offer cookies to whoever can tell me the underrated Disney movie these two characters are from WITHOUT having to look it up!

And that's the end of the chapter!

Reminder to all of you out there:

My profile page has a list of stories that I have given up on and have offered for adoption. Any and all takers are welcome to adopt the stories, even if someone else has already adopted and/or posted their versions.

PM me if you're interested, and I will send you the files that I can, as well as serve as someone to bounce ideas off of.

Next Time: Naruto trains under Merlin and Lightning before the Gullwing Quartet takes off for their first official Treasure Hunt!

Until next time!

Stay safe, healthy, and positive!

Dreaming of the Future

pain17ification