Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Or FFX for that matter.
Naruto shook his head in a daze and tried to take a breath, quickly regretting the action when seawater flooded into his lungs. The blond paddled upwards, breaking the surface and taking a deep breath before feeling something grab his leg and pull him back under once again.
Now with a full breath of air he was at least able to take stock of the situation. There was a giant... squid pulling him under, or at least what looked like one, and he grimaced in disgust before swinging his sword downwards and cleaving apart the tentacle that was holding him.
The monster screeched in pain and Naruto scrambled for the surface once more. There was no reason to fight this damn thing on its own turf, especially with Sin still down here under the water somewhere.
"Kit! Behind!" Kyuubi urged and Naruto quickly looked behind him to see the monstrous form of Sin bearing down on him.
His eyes widened comically and he paddled even faster, desperate to get back to the boat where he at least stood a fighting chance against the giant whale-like embodiment of terror.
It opened his humongous mouth and swam forward, its intent obvious. It was trying to eat him, and Naruto had no intention of being food. Just before becoming giant monster chow, he plunged his hellfire blade into Sin's upper lip to avoid going into its mouth. The giant whale monster only seemed irritated, and before it could do anything else Naruto swung himself on top of the monster, clinging to it with chakra.
Naruto sighed in relief as Sin broke the surface and allowed him to breathe. The relief was short-lived however as he suddenly had to dodge a needle attack from behind. He turned and his eye twitched at the sight of hundreds of little Sinspawn all aiming to take a shot at him.
"Where the hell did all you bastards come from?" Naruto deadpanned before dodging another needle attack shot at him. All of the Sinspawn suddenly took this as their queue to rain needle hell down on him, forcing him to hold Goukatoushin out in front of him vertically like a shield. For once in his life he thanked the gods that he was short.
"Sin seems to be far enough away from the boat now for them to be safe, you need to get out!" Kyuubi exclaimed and Naruto paused to think.
"Wait, I haven't been focusing on distracting it at all. I've just been trying to survive. How are they already far enough away?" Naruto said and looked behind him, seeing the ship as a mere speck in the distance. Naruto gaped and had to resist growling.
"YOU BASTARDS DITCHED ME!" He cried out and quickly turned and ran across the water, placing the sword on his back and hoping it'd still act as a half-decent shield. At the same time he made about three dozen kage bunshin and had them stay back so Sin wouldn't immediately follow him back towards the boat.
"They probably assumed you were dead the moment you fell into the water." The fox mused. "Not many could survive being in the water with Sin."
"That doesn't make me feel much better." The blond mumbled. "They could have at least TRIED to help."
Naruto ran as quickly as he could across the water, wincing as dozens of the tiny little needles found their way into his legs, the only part of him not sufficiently protected by the blade. He refused to let them slow him down though; they didn't seem to be poisoned, so if he just pushed past the pain and got away from Sin he'd be fine.
After what felt like a lifetime of running he actually caught back up to the ship. He swore he could have died with relief, he didn't even care that a bunch of people were pointing at him running on the surface of the ocean.
With one last leap he landed on the surface of the ship, panting in exertion and adrenaline still coursing through his system. The blond ninja looked around and noticed a circle of people had formed around him, with them whispering among themselves.
"I guess they're pretty shocked about the whole walking on water thing." Kyuubi chuckled and Naruto couldn't help but agree. It didn't seem like a big deal to him but it must be shocking to these people.
Deciding he didn't like the attention he was getting, Naruto moved to stand up before suddenly crumpling to the deck again. He blinked in confusion before looking backwards and grimacing.
It seems that his poor legs had taken more damage in the escape then he thought they had. The constant burning sensation of Kyuubi's healing, combined with the adrenaline pumping through his system had caused him to ignore how much they were actually hurting.
His legs from his knees down were pretty much a bloody mangled mess, he wasn't even sure how he had been running on them. Looking back on it though he wasn't all that surprised; there were thousands of needles in the air at one time back then, of course tons of them would land in his legs even if they weren't being aimed there.
"Uhm, would someone mind lending me a hand?" He questioned, and looked on curiously as the people actually backed away from him.
Now he was just confused. What's up with these people?
A moment later he ended up getting his answer. Someone pushed their way to the front of the crowd; he recognized her as that summoner lady from Kilika. Her short brown hair was damp with sweat, yet she still managed to hold a somewhat regal look with the white and blue robe-like clothing she was wearing.
She grimaced when she caught sight of his legs and moved to help him before she was pulled back by someone in the crowd. "You mustn't Lady Summoner!"
The woman frowned at the one who pulled her back; though from his position Naruto couldn't see who it was. "And why not?"
The man seemed to pause for a moment, as if searching for the right words, when someone else in the crowd spoke up on his behalf. "He sprints across the water like a fiend, and wears the clothing of the Al Bhed!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the one who said that. These are the people whose lives he just saved? Refusing to help because of the clothing he wears? Not to mention the fact that he had lived with the Al Bhed for a while and knew first hand that they were good people.
"Completely useless, all of them!" Kyuubi growled out. "Just move somewhere more reclusive and start removing the needles so I can heal you myself."
Naruto nodded, it didn't look like he would be getting a lot of help here. He grunted and pulled himself to his feet, despite the shocked gasps of the onlookers, and pushed himself through the crowd to limp away to somewhere away from prying eyes.
Ignoring the warnings of the crowd, the summoner walked up to him in a sort of panic. "You really shouldn't be moving around in that condition!" She exclaimed.
"I'm fine." He retorted, though he was assuredly NOT fine, and she could see him straining to move. "I'll only need to be moving for a minute anyway, then I can start treating myself.
She bit her bottom lip and seemed to be arguing with herself for a moment before resigning herself to just following behind him silently, though she did make another protest when he tried to walk up the stairs to the small upper level of the deck.
When Naruto sat himself down and began the slow process of removing the needles from his legs, the woman was still just standing there, and he had to wonder just what her problem was.
"Would you... like some assistance?" She asked quietly, as if unsure if she should even be asking the question.
Naruto grinned up at her. "Are you sure? I could be a fiend you know." He said jokingly. The woman smiled and the blond had to admit, she was quite pretty.
"You do not seem like a bad person. I would... like to help." She said with a smile. "I am Yuna."
Naruto thought back to the sending at Kilika. That's what that woman had called her wasn't it? Naruto smiled back. "I'd appreciate the help, this would take a while by myself. My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
It did indeed take a long time. A few hours of just meticulously plucking the needles out of his legs isn't the way Naruto wanted to spend this boat trip, but it couldn't really be helped. At least he had someone to talk to, and Yuna was really nice. He even got to meet some of her Guardians when they came looking for her. He had met Wakka, a spiky orange-haired guy who was pretty cheerful, and a gothic looking woman with long black hair and big breasts, called Lulu. He wasn't sure if he liked her much, since she kept glaring at him suspiciously.
Summoners in this world could apparently summon "Aeons" rather than just a specific kind of animal. Aeons were powerful spirits created by the Fayth, which were people who sacrificed themselves to try and help defeat Sin. The Fayth weren't really dead; they were just eternally dreaming, and their dreaming could make things reality, which was where Aeons came from.
This stuff was probably general knowledge for Spira's people, so Naruto was thankful that Yuna didn't make him feel like an idiot when he was asking questions. Yuna probably just thought he was delirious or something and was just answering to placate him, though what he didn't know was that Yuna had actually answered most of his exact questions not too long ago to a different blue-eyed blond.
She also told him more about Sin, and it was nice to get some concrete answers about the monster he'd have to kill. Though it seemed like most of what she said was just guesses at best.
"Sin is the embodiment of all of our crimes, our sins. It does nothing but consume and destroy, and it will continue to do so until we have atoned." She stated sadly.
"What have we done that is so terrible to make a monster like that destroy everything?" Naruto questioned, honestly very skeptical about the whole thing.
"There were many wars fought in our past, using Machina. Both sides would fight harder and harder, with both building more and more powerful Machina, intent on destroying the other side." She frowned to herself and pulled another needle out of his leg. "Eventually, the war was over once and for all. And our reward... was Sin."
"It killed everything on both sides, didn't it?" He said, more of a statement than a question. Yuna nodded.
Kyuubi whispered a question to him and Naruto decided to ask it, being quite curious himself. "You say Summoners are tasked with defeating Sin. Even with all these summoners, nobody has ever succeeded?" He asked curiously.
"Oh, many summoners have succeeded in the past." She said and smiled. Naruto on the other hand just looked more confused.
"But... its still here. How is that succeeding?"
Yuna frowned. "Sin will never completely go away until we have atoned for our sins. We may defeat it... but it only brings the Calm, the time between when it is defeated, and when it returns. It always comes back after it is killed."
"But doesn't that seem rather pointless then?" Naruto said offhandedly, but he suddenly had to back up as Yuna got right up in his face.
"Please do not say it is pointless!" She exclaimed, and Naruto blinked. That was the first time she had ever really spoken up. Whenever she normally talked she seemed downright meek.
She seemed to notice how close she was and how confrontational she got and sighed before sitting back and removing the last few needles from his legs.
He began to wonder if he had really upset her before she spoke up again softly.
"Even... even if it is only for a short time. During the Calm, people may walk outside without always glancing towards the ocean like scared animals. Children may sleep safely in their beds, not wondering whether or not they will wake the next morning." She dipped her head slightly, letting her bangs shadow her face. "Time like that... is worth any cost. Please do not say it is pointless."
Naruto smiled sadly. He was actually rather touched with how heartfelt she was being with this. "I understand, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."
Yuna smiled back, pulling the last of the needles from his leg before pressing her hands to his wound, with her hands glowing with white energy. It reminded Naruto a lot of medical jutsu.
After a few moments she removed her hands and he marveled at the smooth, mended flesh. Yeah, definitely a lot like medical jutsu.
"Thanks a lot for your help." He said happily. "It would have taken a while for me to do it myself. And thanks for not making me seem like an idiot for asking questions like that." Naruto said and flushed slightly in embarrassment.
"Its no problem, I was happy to help." She chirped happily and stood to leave. "And the questions weren't as odd as you may think. Being close to Sin tends to make people lose their memories."
As she left Naruto blinked at that little tidbit of information. It was very convenient.
"You know most of what she said was religious nonsense." Naruto nodded, he had picked that out for himself. "A monster doesn't stick around for centuries because of the sins of man. That's just people being egotistical, thinking they're the center of everything that happens."
"You don't have to put it like that." Naruto said out loud.
"It is true though. It isn't sticking around because they haven't atoned; its still here because its never been truly 'dead'. Even us Biju work like that; being believing us immortal when we return after being 'killed', when in reality we were never 'dead' in the first place, since we can never truly die."
"So do you think that means its like a Biju? And we can't kill it?"
"I don't know if it has similar properties to one... but I can say for sure that it isn't one. Which means we can probably kill it."
Naruto grinned. "That's all I needed to know. Doesn't matter how big it is, or how powerful, or how dangerous..."
"... It can bleed, and therefore, it can die." Kyuubi grinned as well, in an identical way to Naruto.
Yeah yeah I know, I'm such a liar when it comes to updating. Sorry.