Ok, on with the show! I don't own anything, all characters are the property of their respective owners, blah, blah blah... besides, I'm broke and good luck finding me, hah!
As Brittany released Sheila from her choke hold after casting a final withering glare at the contrite jag-were, the were-cheetah rushed over towards her sisters, concerned with Brianna as she still had not woken up. Sheila coughed pitifully as she massaged her neck, guilt for the rash action she had taken and concern for her friend that she had unintentionally hurt.
"Is... is Brianna ok?" Gina looked at the scared jag-were, her gaze as cold as a glacier as she finished her inspection of Brianna as she was held in Jaliera's arms.
"She'll be ok, it's only a concussion. You're lucky she has a hard head, otherwise you'd be in serious trouble. And I'm not talking about trouble with us. After all, she is one of Naruto's girlfriends and he's... 'protective' I guess you could say." Sheila's eyes widened as she slowly sunk back into the water, having an idea of how insane this whole situation could have turned out if Naruto had decided to get back at her for hurting Brianna. Just as Sheila was thinking about running from the angry girls before her, a soft moan caused everyone to freeze, the once still form of Brianna reaching for the back of her head and wincing as she felt the large lump there.
"Ow, my aching head..." Moments later a babbling jag-were was holding onto Brianna's hands, babbling out apologies for her temper and knocking her out. As Sheila's apologies continued to spill form her mouth, Grave Digger was thinking furiously about the situation and how she could turn it towards her advantage.
'Blast, I can't access Brianna's memories! Damned jag-were, this is her fault... although, if she hadn't knocked out Brianna I would still most likely be trapped in her mind. Well, I'll just have to kill all of them right now while I have the element of sur...' Just as Grave Digger was about to focus her energy on a devastating flame spell, a simple question caused her to pause in surprise. "What did you say?"
Sheila looked at Gina, a worried expression on both of their faces as Sheila asked her question once more. "I said, is everything ok? Are you having problems remembering things?"
Grave Digger's expression didn't change as she looked at the girls and nodded slowly, a look of confusion masking her internal glee. 'Perfect.'
Chapter 16
Naruto grinned gleefully as he continued to read the book before him, seeing exactly why Kakashi-sensi had enjoyed doing this to him and his team. A deep laugh from Kurama caused Naruto to grin and stretch his senses out, seeing the trio of were-cats he was facing stealthily sneaking into position, hoping to catching him off guard at least once. Naruto dogged eared his page and put his book back into his kunai pouch as he felt the three signatures stop suddenly at his movement, his admiration for the Edge Guard members raising a notch as they observed every motion he made,
'It's really not fair to them in the end, I mean I could just overwhelm them with numbers and I have an energy source that allows me to fight on par with... well, just about anything on the planet, at least I think so. Hey, wanna go find a dragon later and fight it? It'll give us a chance to see how we stack up to the current 'powerhouses' that exist in this time.' As Naruto and Kurama debated over the pros and cons of finding a dragon to fight, Onoli and the others watched with narrowed gazes as they saw their target show an opening, his attention apparently elsewhere as he stood in the field. Each of the were-cats leapt out at the same time, rushing towards Naruto as they fell back on their years of teamwork, their attacks meshing together in such a way that Naruto could only dodge initially, his grin growing as he flowed around each strike and blow that neared him and finally began to fight back, his attacks reversing the course of the spar and now all three were-cats were on the defensive. But all good things come to an end as Thorpan missed a block and received a quick jab to the face, stunning the were-panther and setting him up for a vicious palm strike to his gut that sent Thorpan tumbling away, the were-panther now out of the fight. Grinning joyfully, Naruto pivoted and launched himself towards Onoli, the senior Edge guard member raising his hands and met Naruto's head on dash as he diverted blow after blow, the pair fighting back and forth while Gar watched desperately for another opening to aid his comrade.
"Not bad Onoli! Your close to the same level as an old friend of mine when he was a genin, his name was Rock Lee, he couldn't do a jutsu to save his life but he was one of the most capable shinobi I ever met even when he was a kid." Naruto managed to sweep Onoli's leading arm to the side, forcing the were-lion of balance and ripe for the taking. A palm blow charged with a small amount of wind chakra to Onoli's shoulder sent the were-lion spiraling towards the resting Thorpan, the pair groaning after the impact as they picked themselves up and watched as Gar made an attempt to finally put down the blasted blonde. Naruto's gleeful expression soon morphed to one of concentration as Gar pulled out all the stops, using all of the moves he could think of that Julia had taught him to put Naruto off his game and catch the blonde flatfooted. But, experience was against Gar this time as the unpredictable shinobi trapped Gar's arm and threw the startled jag-were over his shoulder as if he were as light as a feather. Just as Gar was flipping over Naruto's head the shinobi slid forward, grabbed Gar's tunic and threw the improvised missile towards his comrades, their cries of surprise causing Naruto to laugh loudly.
Naruto grinned at the groaning pile of tangled bodies before him, clapping his hands together as if cleaning off some dust. "So! Good enough spar for you guys?" A trio of moans was the only answer and Naruto laughed loudly as he folded his arms over his chest. "Well, since this is the first time in a while I haven't had to cook breakfast for everyone, I'm going for a nice relaxing walk around the Hamlet. When you see the girls let them know I'll be back later!" Naruto leaped towards the nearest building and began hopping over the rooftops as he entered Seer's Hamlet, the tired and sore were-cats watching him quickly vanish. Onoli slowly stood and looked at his comrades and shook his head.
"Alright, we are never, ever, doing that again. Let's head to the pond and get cleaned up, we got a long day ahead of us now." Just as the others were about to get up a clearly anxious Brittany came running into the field, panting as she looked round desperately.
"Guys, where-where did Naruto go?" As soon as Onoli pointed towards the town Brittany sped past the trio, not even sparing a glance at the hurt lawmen, causing the three were-cats to look at each other in concern.
"Gar, I think you better go check on our guests. Thorpan and I will head into town and see what the sheriff wants with us. We'll meet up later."
Several hours later
Naruto grinned as he lounged on one of the many rooftops of Seer's Hamlet, enjoying the fresh air and mild weather to their fullest. After eating a filling breakfast in a local cafe, Naruto decided it was high time to tour the small town that he had heard so much about but never had been able to see during his time that he was stuck out of phase with the rest of Jade. The sheer number of different species had caused the blonde to smile as he was browsing the markets, grabbing a few odds and ends for the girls he was living with at the moment. He'd even grabbed something for Sheila as a way of apologizing about what happened when they met, hoping that the jag-were was going to let him off the hook for that mess. His shopping done and sealed away, Naruto had climbed on top of the tallest building he could find and settled in for a light nap, the very same nap he had been awakened from when he heard his name being yelled faintly. Raising his arms over his head and stretching, a loud yawn passed Naruto's lips as he looked over the edge of the roof, a rapidly approaching Brittany dodging pedestrians and shoppers as she continued to yell for the shinobi. Naruto rolled off of the roof and landed on all fours in front of Brittany, causing the were-cheetah to squeak and backpedal rapidly.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down Cheets! What's wrong, tell me what happened?" Brittany began talking a mile a minute, gesturing wildly as Naruto sighed, the blonde rubbing his forehead as he put his hands on the anxious were-cheetah's shoulders, causing Brittany to immediately fall silent.
"Cheets, STOP. Tell me what happened, SLOWLY." Brittany took a deep breath and tears started to fall from her eyes.
"It's.. Bri, she's been hurt, she can't remember anything or anyone!" Naruto scowled as he immediately released Brittany and stood tall, his hands forming a cross and a dozen clones appeared. The squad of clones disappeared in different directions as Naruto helped Brittany to her feet.
"Well, lets get her some help then. My clones will look for Genn while we go and keep the girls company. After all, who better to help with mental problems than a telepath? Even if Genn can't help, we need to be there for Brianna, so lets go find the others."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Seer's Hamlet
G'Nolga and Hanzo stood before their current master, a filthy old man that was currently surrounded... surrounded by young, nubile elven women that were all over the strange, old man. Hanzo's face was currently hidden by his mask, but if the occupants of the room could see it they would have been amused at the sheer dumbfounded expression on the swordsman's face.
'Every time, every single time we come here he's got a new batch of ridiculously hot woman falling all over him! Dammit, what the hell is he? And how can I become like him?' As the elven women continued to rub and press themselves up against the chuckling man, G'Nolga sighed once more and cleared her throat, trying to grab he employer's attention.
"Ah, Mighty G'Nolga, on to business. I hear that you failed to capture your targets and in the process you even lost one of your associates. What excuses can you offer me for this failure?" G'Nolga grimaced as she lowered her head, her pride hurting for haven fallen so low as to have become a 'gopher' for the man before her.
"There were some... unforeseen interruptions, namely a member of the edge guard and a unknown blonde haired man. Between them and the arrival of a lycanthrope that could use the Lunar rave we were beaten." The old man nodded slowly as one of his girls kissed along his neck, causing him to chuckle softly as he cupped the girls cheek for a moment.
"Now now my dear, I am in the middle of business. We'll play after I'm done. G'Nolga, you've put me behind schedule! Also I worry that your hireling will be forced to reveal what he knows about my plan." Ignoring the sounds of the simpering females surrounding her employer, G'Nolga nodded and looked directly at the old man as he focused on the weapons-master, expecting an answer.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that, I've worked with Cruk for many years. Not only can he withstand obscene amounts of pain but he is also a master tactician, he sound be able to lead the authorities on a merry chase, no matter the type of interrogation until we can break him out. Master, about our pay..." The words that G'Nolga were about to speak suddenly died in her mouth as the old man looked at her directly.
"Your pay will be provided to you when you deliver three more mages to me. You have until noon tomorrow and for every minute you are late, I will deduct one percent of your pay! Now, off with you, my lovelies require my full attention!" As G'Nolga and Hanzo exited the building, Hanzo looked back and just shook his head one more time at the scene before joining his partner. As the pair exited the building, Hanzo shook his head as the pair began to walk down the road towards market.
"Every time he has a bunch of new women fawning over him, I just don't get what they see in an old dirty fart like him. And why the hell did you take that guff on the chin G'Nolga? I thought you'd have decked him by now from the way he was talking to you." G'Nolga laughed lightly as she picked up a apple from a fruit cart, flipping a coin at the vendor as she walked further down the road.
"Because, that 'old man' isn't who he appears to be. He's actually from Earth... and he is far more powerful than he appears. As for allowing him to treat me like a lapdog, I'm curious what the mages we were contracted to obtain are for. Perhaps we could use it to stop any interference from a certain Arch-Mage that is involved with a certain Arms-Master. Also, I'd like another crack at the damn blonde that interfered with our snatch and grab."
Meanwhile, at the Brass Bone Tavern
Gar sighed as he looked at the scene before him, a visibly confused Brianna looking at everything around her while Jaliera and Gina tried to get her to remember anything, while a visibly upset Sheila did her best to stay out of the way.
"Sheila, tell me again what happened. I think I didn't hear you correctly the first time." Sheila squirmed in her seat for a moment and nervously looked over at Brianna as she began her explanation again.
"Well... we were all in the north pond, taking a nice leisurely morning bath, when Tirga showed up. After he left Brianna said some things... and well I kinda... got mad at her and kapowied her."
Gar hung his head for a moment then looked at his sister with a stern glare. "Sheila, what am I going to tell Sensei? 'Oh, yes, I'm so sorry when you sent your daughters her on vacation my little sister attacked Brianna and made her lose her memories!' I can just see it now, her disappointed look will be all I get when she find out about this. Sis, you really need to work on your temper!" Sheila lowered her head to the table and groaned, hoping that the situation didn't get worse.
"Hey Gar, where's my girlfriend? You know the one, the one that lost her memory because of your overly violent sister?" Sheila began to slowly bang her head on the table as Naruto's voice sliced through the conversations of the tavern and everyone turned towards the obviously annoyed shinobi. Brianna seemed to perk up a bit as she spotted Naruto and looked over at her sister Gina, who nodded happily and gestured for Naruto to come closer. Brittany entered the tavern and quickly sat at the table her family had staked out, waving at Gar as she watched the meeting taking place before her.
"Well Bri, that's Naruto, our boyfriend. Go and say hello, I'm sure there are things you want to ask him. Maybe he'll jog your memory." As Brianna rose from the table, Naruto could have sworn he saw a minute smirk appear on her face briefly, but the shinobi passed it off as a trick of the light as he felt the warm body of one of his girls molding to his own. Looking down, Naruto checked the young woman over and winced as he saw the large knot on the back of her head. The continuing thumping of Sheila's head on the tavern table caused Naruto to sigh as he held Brianna close, the sight of the despondent jag-were almost making the shinobi burst out in laughter before he finally decided to take mercy on the contrite girl.
"Sheila, stop that before you give yourself a concussion. One head injury in my circle of friends is the max I allow in one day." Sheila stopped banging her head on the table and looked at Naruto with a hopeful look in her eyes.
"So, your not mad?" Naruto laughed at the question, turning towards Sheila as 'Brianna' slid her hands from his shoulders and gently rubbed them against his chest, the blonde not even paying attention at what was happening.
"Oh, I'm absolutely pissed, but I have a feeling it's not completely your... fault?" Naruto looked down at the girl in his arms, a quizzical look in his eyes. The sight that met him nearly made his blood run cold as he looked into a pair of feral eyes and a sadistic smirk, both expressions he had never seen Brianna use in the entire time he had known her. Looking up Naruto saw Jaliera jumping to her feet and leaping over the table but it was too late as his vision went white.
"AURA CRUSH!"
A few moments earlier - inside of Naruto's Seal
Kurama yawned loudly as he continued to watch the situation developing outside of his host, their partnership allowing the sealed Biju to access his senses so that he could relieve the boredom of staring at the same walls after all these years. As Kurama chuckled at how Sheila was reacting to his host's arrival, a brief shimmer appeared on the wall of Naruto's mindscape that caused Kurama to pause, remembering that every time someone other than Naruto entered the seal, bad things tended to occur. Looking around, Kurama hid in the darkened corners of the cage that once held him, waiting to see who would appear. Moments after he settled down, a young blonde woman appeared, one that Kurama recognized.
'Brianna?' Kurama's eyes narrowed as the young woman began to cackle loudly and rub her hands together in glee, something that definitely put the Biju on edge.
"Excellent, breaching his mindscape was child's play. Now, if this man is truly an unstoppable juggernaut of chaos and destruction like Gina described him to be, he will make the perfect instrument for my sister's demise. All I need to do... is..." 'Brianna' trailed off as Kurama slowly stood, having heard enough to know whoever this was, it wasn't the same woman that she appeared to be. Kurama grinned evilly as he leaned forward, his large sharp teeth bared as if he were about to take a bite out of the woman. Kurama began to circle the woman with his tails, cutting off escape but the sudden grin on her face caused the Biju to pause, the Biju trying to withdraw as he felt the woman gathering energy but it was too late. "FORCE WALL!" Kurama was slammed into the wall of Naruto's mindscape, giving 'Brianna' enough time to escape from the Biju's clutches, all that remained of her presence was mocking laughter. Kurama roared in anger and opened the link, trying to warn Naruto.
"KID! IT'S A TRAP!"
At the same time, outside of the seal
Jaliera sighed as she watched Naruto holding Brianna, checking the girl over for any other injuries, the Kryn woman wishing that she was the one in Naruto's arms, even if it took an injury to happen. Gina grinned as she watched the lovesick expression on the woman's face and shook her head as she nudged the daydreaming ex-Archon.
"Hmmm, is someone jealous?" Jaliera's gaze narrowed as she glared at the grinning genius beside her and growled softly.
"You know I am, why bother asking me that?"
"Well, Brianna and I were talking and... hey, your forehead, it's glowing." Jaliera eyes slid shut as she felt her artifact activate, wondering what she needed to see this time. Moments later Jaliera's expression changed from inquisitive to horrified, the scene she was witness to causing her blood to freeze in her veins. Her eyes flying open, Jaliera jumped to her feet and leaped over the table, but she was too late to stop what she had already seen: the man she was coming to love was attacked by one of the people closest to him, the spell used against him catapulting his broken body out of the tavern and through several street level buildings until finally he rolled to a stop in the middle of the road. Jaliera slowly fell to her hands and knees, tears streaming down her face as stared out of the hole that Naruto's flying body had created, his attacker shaking her head as she surveyed her dirty work. A smirking 'Brianna' turned towards her sisters and that was the straw that broke the camel's back, a furious Jaliera screamed in fury as she used her telekinesis, slamming the half were-cheetah into the ground and held the struggling woman still as 'Brianna's' captive laughed mockingly.
"Oh, isn't that sweet, the alien is so concerned for the man that she's ready to kill his girlfriend. I wanted to use your boyfriend to kill you Gina, that would have been sweet irony! Shame on you for not telling me he was possessed by such a powerful being, otherwise you'd already be dead!" Gina's hand slowly rose to her mouth as she realized who exactly was talking to her right now, a ball of ice settling in her stomach.
"Oh no... Grave Digger. You bitch, if you've killed my boyfriend, I'll find a way to get you out of Brianna and make you regret ever even thinking about hurting Naru." As Gina raced out of the tavern to check on Naruto, Jaliera looked over her shoulder at a shocked Brittany and motioned at her currently disabled sister.
"I'm going with Gina, we may need to move Naruto and I can do it safely without aggravating any injuries he may have. Can you stop her from trying to finish what she started?" Brittany's eyes clouded over with anger as she stood up and cracked her knuckles, the fire back in her eyes now that she had someone that she could protect, her determined nod a clear indication that she wou;dn't let Grave Digger get past her. As Jaliera dashed for the door her telekinesis field dropped, releasing Grave Digger from her invisible bonds. Grave Digger cackled madly as her hand's stretched in Jaliera's direction, a spell on the tip of her tongue as she took aim at the running woman. But a fierce punch from Brittany sent her skidding towards the bar, patrons scrambling to leave before they got pulled into the increasingly dangerous fight. Just as Grave Digger was about to stand up, the point of a spear resting against her throat caused the cursed being to reconsider moving right at this moment.
"Sheila, I'll backup Brittany, you go and help Gina and Jaliera with Naruto. They'll need someone to protect them and show where the clinic is." Sheila growled as she held Ice Fang in her hands but after a moment of glaring at Grave Digger, the jag-were nodded and rushed out of the tavern. Gar held the point of Thunder Edge against Grave Digger's throat while Brittany closed in, her fist lashing out and grabbing the smirking girl by her shirt.
"Aw, poor Brittany, first you lose your fiancee and now your going to lose your friend. Such a careless person, you really should just hand your life over to me instead, I'll take better care of it than you ever could." Brittany's eyes widened as she screamed out her rage at the being that possessed her sister, but a blast of ethereal energy sent the were-cheetah skidding towards Gar. The jag-were knelt down quickly and helped Brittany stand as they observed their opponent, looking for an opening they could exploit without hurting the innocent woman caught up in the middle of this battle.
With Naruto
When Naruto had been promoted to Jonin, Tsunade had taken him out for a unforgettable night of celebration and drinking. Lots and lots of drinking. Sometime during the night there had been a bar brawl and the next thing Naruto remembered was the sounds of various equipment around his bed as he woke up in the hospital . A nurse on her rounds proceeded to tell Naruto the laundry list of damage he had sustained, the worst being that all of his ribs had been shattered, several of his internal organs had ruptured and his left leg was broken in three places. Tsunade had sheepishly admitted that she had lost track of the blonde in the fight and she had been the one to injure him, allowing Naruto the opportunity to relive first hand the monstrous strength that had nearly killed his sensei in his youth.
Thinking back on the amount of pain and the severity of the injury that experience had caused, this was a close second, the only thing missing this time was the broken leg and only getting severely bruised organs. Naruto kept completely still as he lay in the road, his eyes shut as he entered his mindscape so he could communicate with Kurama, the both of them getting a feel for how badly Naruto had been hurt
'Kid, you better not even think of moving, your ribs are basically shards of bone right now, I'll need at least a day just to rebuild them. Not to mention the internal injuries, you're lucky to even be alive. Anyone else and that point blank attack would have been killed instantly... that wasn't a debliltating hit, that was a kill shot.'
Just as Naruto was about to completely ignore Kurama's 'advice' and wake up, he felt the presence of Gina rushing towards him, as well as Jaliera and Sheila right behind the running genius. Gina skidded to a stop before him, her hand shaking as she fell to her knees and physically examined the blonde in the road, assessing Naruto's injuries as Jaliera and Sheila appeared over her shoulders. The jag-were looked down the street, making sure that the group was safe when she suddenly paled as G'Nolga and Hanzo rounded the corner, the pair or warriors pausing as the saw the injured blonde laying in the road and grinning evilly at this stroke of luck, the pair charging towards the helpless blonde.
"Well shit. Gina, we've got move Naruto now, we've got company!" Just as Jaliera was about use a TK field to lift Naruto, the blonde kept mumbling something as he floated in the air. Gina leaned in close and listened for a moment, grinning as she gently kissed Naruto's cheek and reached for his weapons pouch. Gina pulling a tri kunai from it and held it in front of the charging pair, her arm reared back and the let the weapon fly from her fingers, the pair skidding to a halt and tensing for a moment as the weapon...spun end over end, landing with a soft plop right in front of the pair of mercenaries. Both fighters looked at the weapon, then back up at Gina and laughed loudly, slowy advancing towards the quartet. The blonde genius pouted as she folded her arms under her breasts and glared at the warriors before her.
"So I can't throw a kunai to save my life, sue me. Besides, that's not the dangerous part." A dozen flashes of brilliant yellow light flooded the area as the clones Naruto had created earlier appeared, many of them using chakra to stick to the sides of the buildings around Hanzo and G'Nolga, their angry glares causing the pair to slowly back towards each other. "They are. Get'em boys!
Nali's clinic
Nali, a prominent healer of Seer's Hamlet peered into the room that contained her latest charges, a young aura mage and his companion, a Rakashasa that refused to leave the young man's side for even a moment. A soft smile crossed her face as she watched Genn gently rub the back of her hand along the young man's cheek, a soft murmur the only sign that he had felt the contact. Just as Nali was about to attend to the rest of her duties a rapid pounding alerted her to someone trying to enter her clinic while disturbing her patient. Nali immediately spun around and calmly walked towards the door, throwing it open and paling at the sight before her. A panting Sheila Silvear looked at the healer hopefully as a blonde haired man hovered behind the obviously tired jag-were, his injuries sluggishly leaking blood on the ground.
"Nali, I need your help! He's hurt really bad, we need you to take care of him while we get the person that did this to him under control!" Nali waved the tired jag-were into the room, the body behind her gently floating in with her as two other woman finally entered, another blonde and a furred woman that was most definitively not a were-cat. As Nali's hands began to gently poke and prod at the man before her, her expression grew more concerned the longer she observed the new patient before her.
"The damage is grave, I'm not sure that I will be able to repair it entirely. Most people in his position would be crippled for life, if not killed immediately by the level of damage he has sustained." As Nali backed away from her patient, the blonde haired woman that entered with Sheila stepped forward.
"Nali, correct? My name is Gina Diggers, Sheila's told us you have some skill as a mage as well as being a healer, is that right?" As Nali nodded in response to Gina's question and the girl before her took a deep breath. "In that case, I believe that it would be best if you entered Naruto's mindscape, he most likely is there right now assessing the damage as well, you really should talk to him before we proceed with any kind of treatment." Nali raised her eyebrow as she looked at the unconscious man on the bed before her and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Gina was it? Your friend displays none of the makings of a mage and it is exceeding rare to find a non-magical being that can even access their mindscape." The warm smile that Gina gave as she trailed her finger tips along her fellow blonde's cheek gently caused Nali to pause.
"Trust me, when you get in there you'll understand just like I do, there's not much Naruto can't do, if you think that he'll just keep surprising you." Just as Gina said this, Genn entered the room and gasped at the sight before her, rushing over to Sheila and pulling the jag-were out of the room. Nali sighed, deciding to humor the woman and placed her hand on his forehead, slipping into her patient's aura. Moments later the healer was pulled into a darkened corridor, the sound of dripping water causing the healer to look around in concern as she took in the dank room before her.
'I've never seen a mindscape that looks like...' Nali's internal dialogue slowed as she felt a presence behind her, the malevolent energy nearly causing the healer to run screaming from the malice directed at her. Looking over her shoulder Nali fell to the ground as she looked up... and up... finally seeing the massive being that drew it's lips back, an angry growl echoing through the enclosed space. Nali paled, her body frozen in terror at the sight before her until she saw a young man sitting on the massive being's snout, a jovial smile on his face as he waved at the frightened healer
"Hello, my name is Naruto, who are you?" Nali's eyes widened and she answered to the best of her ability, a shrill scream of fright escaping her as she tried to back away from the sight before her. Naruto sighed, looked at the being he was perched on and dropped to the floor, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture.
"Hey, s'ok, he won't hurt you... unless you're here to finish what Hime started." Nali's eyes widened as the man before her helped her to her feet and gestured at the gigantic being before them. "Don't mind Fuzzy, he's just worried about me."
"Well, if you didn't let your girlfriend do this to you I wouldn't have to be hostile to anyone that comes in here!" Naruto stared at the chakra being, his eyebrows raised incredulously and Kurama snorted softly. "Fine, I'd still be an ass to her but I wouldn't have scared her half to death." Naruto folded his arms over his chest and tapped his foot softly on the ground. "Well fuck you too, aibou. And stop calling me Fuzzy!" Naruto chuckled as he turned back towards Nali.
"I'm going to guess the girls got you to help me, right? Heh, they worry to much. Just give me a comfortable place to rest and we'll take care of my injuries." As Nali tried to argue with Naruto, the blonde turned away and waved as he walked deeper into his mindscape, his parting words causing the healer's face to pale considerably. "After all, the most powerful jinchūriki in existence won't let something like this keep him down." Nali was forcibly expelled from Naruto's mindscape, the healer gasping for air as she looked at the woman gathered around her. Gina looked at the woman and shook her head.
"Told ya. So, what happened in there?" As Nali began to explain to Gina what happened, a returning Genn was sporting a darkened expression, having been told of the situation by Sheila while Nali had entered Naruto's mindscape. The normally shy Genn strode past Nali and Gina and stood before the still Naruto, her hand gently touching his arm as she began to glow softly. Several minutes later Genn spun around, a look of fury that looked completely alien on the normally relaxed being face and the energy she had absorbed from Naruto causing her power to increase significantly. Genn grabbed Sheila and walked out of the building, her parting words causing Gina and Jaliera to smile in relief.
"You two protect Naruto, I'll stop Brianna. Don't worry, no one's going to die today." Jaliera and Gina shared a look of amusement, amazed at the changes Naruto caused in everyone that befriended the hyperactive blonde, wallflowers becoming lions and beings of great power caving into his demands... or his fits, which ever was convenient for the shinobi at the time.
Back with G'Nolga and Hanzo
"To the left, get down!" G'Nolga dove to the ground, the brace of kunai that Hanzo had warned her about sailed over her head, her attention passing over the desperate battle of her partner as Hanzo continued swinging his sword around wildly, defending against the trio of identical men that continued to press him to his limits, the only thing stopping the swordsman from being cut down was his amazing skill with his chosen weapon. G'Nolga growled as she watched the trio that she was fighting against perched on the rooftops, grinning down at they prepared several other long range tricks that the weapons-master was hard pressed to counter. The pair of mercenaries had thought that the fight would be won easily as they had managed to take out half of the copies that they had faced quickly, but the remaining blondes began to learn from the deaths of their cohorts, adapting to the pairs fighting style on the fly and managing to hold their own quite handily. Looking at the street before her, G'Nolga saw a nearby building, two of it's outer walls nearly destroyed but the central support was still able to hold the weight above it and the group of slack jawed locals that refused to run, whether from fear or the desire to see blood spilled. G'Nolga's grin slowly reappeared as she started to run for the building, recognizing a distraction when she saw one and also when continuing a hopeless fight was foolish.
"HANZO!" The swordsman spun away from his opponents, seeing his partner running for a ruined building and dashing after her, trusting in G'Nolga's apparent plan to escape. As the pair entered Hanzo continued to run while G'Nolga's staff lashed out, knocking the support free as the pair burst out the other side, running from their opponents and running headfirst into the crowd of onlookers. Naruto's clones watched as the building fell towards the petrified citizens that had been watching the fight in the street, the shinobi clones leaping into action as they all stood below the falling structure. As one, each clone raised their hands and ferocious winds whipped around their still bodies while the building continued to fall towards them.
"FUTON: KAMI OROSHI!" Each clone created a vortex of dense wind chakra, the six blasts flying from their outstretched hands and sending the building and most of the debris flying into the air, giving the clones time to rescue the terrified people. Each clone prepared a brace of tri Kunai, scattering them across the building's eventual point of impact, all excepted for a lone blade that was thrown to a cleared area. Multiple flashes of light dazzled the frightened citizen's as they quickly vanished from there places at the point of impact and reappeared across the road. The final teleport occurred a mere second before the destroyed building fell to the ground, debris scattering through the street.
The six clones slowly stood and looked at the fallen building, not caring that their quarry had escaped since they had a feeling they'd be seeing them again. Loud shouts of praise and whistles of appreciation caused the squad of clones to turn around, wide grins covering their faces as they waved at the grateful citizens. Moments later a loud explosion from the Brass Bone stopped the cheers of the people, the clones turning as one towards the tavern and running down the street, realizing that the fight was far from over.
In the Brass Bone Tavern
Gar raised Thunder-Edge, deflecting a fireball that blew one of the outer walls of the tavern to dust and bought the jag-were a few moments to catch his breath as he observed the battle. Brittany raced forward, fists flying as Grave Digger dodged or blocked most of them. A stray Aura Bolt clipped Brittany, sending her spinning towards Gar and causing the cursed woman to grin evilly, her hand glowing as she charged a final spell, one powerful enough to destroy both nuisances before her.
"PLANET..." But before Grave Digger could complete the spell, a large hand grabbed the woman's forearm, breaking her concentration as she was tossed towards one of the still intact booths. As Grave Digger slowly stood, she smirked as she looked at the male form of Genn, an angry expression on his face as he faced off against the possessed woman. "Oh little Genn, I see you've come to play with me?" Just as Grave Digger was about to charge towards her new 'playmate', a scimitar appeared below her chin, ice magic radiating off of the weapon and the cold eyes of Sheila showing that she wasn't going to hold back. Grave Digger scowled at the reinforcements, but still held hope that she could pull this off, that was until she saw the Naruto clones appear around the ruined bar room, several of them holding glowing spheres of energy in their palms as they waited for the woman to make her move. Letting out a sigh, Grave Digger lowered her arms and fell to her knees, glaring at her gathered enemies.
"Fine, you win. I surrender."
Several hours later
After Genn had put Grave Digger to sleep, the group made it's way towards Nali's clinic so they could check on Naruto and have Brianna examined. A still sleeping Naruto appeared to be quickly mending, his healing factor causing even the were-cats to look on in jealousy as his wounds healed at a faster rate then even Sheila would. Nali ran every scan that she could think of, but no information was revealed on how to help free Brianna from the curse that was afflicting her, which led the group to contacting the leader of the Northern Edge Guard, Gaja, a powerful jag-were mage and healer. While this was happening, the remaining members of the Edge Guard were summoned to the office of the local Sheriff to explain what had been happening these last two days that had thrown the peace of Seer's Hamlet out the window.
With Sheila and Tirga
Sheila sighed as she walked beside her teammate, the pair slowly making their way towards the office of the Sheriff. Sheila glared at Tirga as he giggled, his roving eyes catching the women around him and causing the young jag-were to punch the were-tiger in the arm and growl loudly. "What the hell was that this morning? Because if the stunt you pulled I got pissed at Brianna and that was what started this whole mess!" Tirga's eyes widened as he adopted a hurt expression.
"Me? What did I do, all I wanted was to enjoy a peaceful morning bath when I was interrupted by the beautiful women we are charged with protecting during their stay in Jade. Do you suppose they would have allowed a naked man to stay with them while they bathed? Of course not, so I took it upon myself to leave as quickly as possible. It wasn't my intention to start a fight... that is, unless it was to determine who got to spend their time with me." Sheila growled as the pair reached the Sheriff's office, the group laid out before her not giving Sheila much hope of getting out of this meeting without some kind of punishment. The Sheriff of Seer's Hamlet, a stern faced, pinked haired woman glared at the late arrivals while a member of the local Rangers, O'Green, was calmly smoking a pipe. Sheila looked over at her teammates and groaned internally as Thorpan tugged his ear gently, the sign crushing any hopes Sheila had of getting out of this meeting unscathed.
'Great, that's the sign that were in for it now... this sucks.' The Sheriff impatiently tapped her fingers on the desk before her as she cleared her throat, her gaze capturing the attention of everyone before her.
"Finally, we can get this meeting started. We have reports of two establishments in my province that were partly your doing, as well as a half a dozen more by a... 'blonde haired man that can make copies of himself?' What kind of joke is this!" The Sheriff angrily threw the reports on her desk, her glare prompting Gar to clear his throat and step forward.
"It's no joke Sheriff. This man, he can somehow make exact copies of himself, each of them capable of independent thought and action and each of them as powerful as the original. He's currently at a local clinic, recovering from injuries that he sustained during one of the 'incidents' you mentioned." The Sheriff rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she tapped her finger against the reports on her desk.
"Very well, I'll have him transferred to a holding cell and hold him for questioning... Onoli, why are you shaking your head?" The large were-lion stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the official before him.
"That man is under Edge Guard's protection, he prevented the kidnapping of several mages and saved dozens of people from a falling building. I will not allow you to take him into custody." The Sheriff quickly stood, slamming her hands on her desk and was about to jump into a tirade when a small package landed softly on her desk, causing everyone to look at the ceiling where it had fallen from, but there was no one there. The Sheriff reached forward, grasped the package and slowly opened it, withdrawing what appeared to be a... snowball? A small piece of paper was thrust into the icy sphere and the Sheriff looked at it in confusion as she looked at the piece of snow in her grasp. Onoli stepped forward, took the paper and read it to he rest of the room.
"Dear Sheriff, you have as much of a chance of putting me in jail as a snowball's chance in hell. Signed, The Sixth Hokage." As Onoli finished reading the note a veritable blizzard of snowballs rained down from the ceiling, completely burying the sheriff in fluffy white ammunition. Sheila and Tirga both stifled giggles at the scene before them, even O'green was covering his mouth as he attempted to hold in his laughter. The Sheriff growled as she shook herself free, sitting back in her chair as she tried to show some form of restraint as she shrieked internally.
"Bring him in... NOW."
Meanwhile...
Brianna slowly woke up, shivering as she rubbed her freezing arms and look around the darkened room she found herself in, wondering where everyone had gone.
"Hello? Is anyone there? And could you turn up the h-heat, it's fr-freezing in here!" A soft laugh was the only indication the Brianna wasn't alone, the young woman rubbing her arms as she looked around for the source of the laughter. "Come on, this isn't funny! At least gimme a blanket, it's so cold in here!"
"Of course it's cold, what else would it be like in a shadow?" Brianna froze as she turned towards the voice, hearing the approaching footsteps and backing away as another woman walked towards her. Brianna eyes widened as an almost perfect mirror copy of Brianna appeared before her.
"What d-do you mean, a sh-shadow?" As the woman pointed over Brianna's shoulder, the freezing woman turned around and she looked up at both of her sisters towering over her as their shadows stretched across the room. As Brianna backed away from the image before her, the woman that had entered the room came behind Brianna, wrapping her arms around the shivering girl and whispered in her ear.
"Did you really think some memories, some different experiences would pull you out of your sister's shadows? You're nothing but an amalgam of Brit and Gina, take that away and what are you?" Brianna broke free, spinning around and shaking her head vehemently.
"NO! Naruto said I'm my own woman, I'm unique! I have my own soul, my own life!" The woman crossed her arms under her breasts and placed a finger on her chin, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.
"Ah yes, Naruto, the same man that is dating your older sister, isn't he? You're just a reminder of Gina, that's why he's with you, not because your unique." As Brianna listened to the words being hurled at her, her gaze narrowed as she began to piece together what was happening.
"You... I know you... You're the CURSE! You tried to ruin my life before it even started!" Grave Digger laughed loudly, throwing her head back as Brianna continued to glare at the woman before her.
"Oh poor deluded clone girl, I am that which gave you life! You should be thanking me, without me affecting Gina and Brittany, you wouldn't have existed! And no, I want to help you gain the life you deserve, a life free of your sisters!"
With Gaja and Nali
Gaja was thoughtfully rubbing his chin, the puzzle before him refusing to expose the slightest of clues that could give him an answer to his dilemma. As the jag-were healer thought of the task before him, Nali entered the room and cleared her throat, catching the old man's attention as she observed the sleeping form of Brianna.
"Ah, Nali, was there something you needed?" Nali looked at the jag-were before her and sighed, wringing her hands together as she wondered how to discuss this subject with the mage before her.
"Yes, I wanted to inform you that the man that Sheila brought her, Naruto? There's something I think you should know. I entered his mindscape, apparently even if he is not a magic user he has a fully developed inner world. In there I found him... and he wasn't alone. The being that inhabits his body was the most powerful creature I have ever encountered, but when Naruto told me what he was, I knew that I would need your help. He's a..."
"A Jinchūriki. I know, I could feel the energy flowing off of him when I entered the clinic. I wonder how what that man had been thinking, sealing a demon in his body." As Gaja looked over at the silent Nali, the jag-were cocked his head to the side as the healer shook her head slowly.
"Gaja, I'm familiar with demons and this is most definetely not one of them. I do not know what it is, only that it is a red furred, nine tailed fox the size of a mountain." Gaja's eyes widened as he rushed to the door, opening it and quickly walking down the hallway towards Naruto's room, leaving a confused Nali in his wake. Gina and Jaliera both looked up, surprised as Gaja strode forward, placing his hand on the resting Naruto's head, the pair looking at each other in surprise at the latest situation that was evolving.
Inside of Naruto's Mindscape
Naruto lounged on top of Kurama's head, the pair relaxing as the Biju's chakra continued it's work at recreating Naruto's ribs. The pair looked up as another portal appeared, this time an old jag-were dropping to the floor and staring at the two beings before him. The old lycanthrope looked at the lounging Biju and pointed at the being before him, his voice shaking in shock.
"Impossible... you and your kind were lost! How have you found one of the Biju!" Naruto sat up and rested his arm on his bent knee, looking at the old man before him and grinned.
"That's what happens when you get lost with him in time. Who are you old man, and how do you know what a Biju is? Depending on your answer the Kyubi here just may get a snack." The Biju below Naruto grinned, flashing it's deadly teeth as the pair waited for the old man to respond.
"My name is Gaja, leader of the Northern Edge Guard. Jag-were archmage and descendant of Darui, Jonin of Kumo." Naruto jumped off of Kurama, stepped closer and narrowed his eyes as he stretched his senses out and using his chakra to feel the old man's body beside his own in the real world. Moments later his eyes widened and he pointed at the old man in yelled out in shock.
"AHHHHH! You have a chakra system! It's under developed and almost totally useless, just like Fuzzy Brows, but it's there! I've got so much to ask you, what happened to Mu? Konoha, has it survived all this time? Well, speak up man!" Gaja sighed, a dejected look crossing his face as he placed his hand on the excited blonde's shoulder, the action calming the excited blonde.
"The story of our journey has been passed down for generations, I will share it with you in it's entirety later, but I thought I recognized you, you could only be Naruto, the lost Sixth Hokage of Konoha and the most unpredictable shinobi to ever come from that powerful village. Near the same time that you disappeared, the Raikage decided to try and expand Kumo's borders to the other continents. He sent a large number of his best ninja's as well as numerous artisans and their families to create a new colony that would be the first of many." Naruto was nearly bouncing on his feet, his excitement at the chance of learning anything about his people, causing him to revert to his more excitable persona.
"For many years the group prospered, news from Kumo was rare and after several years we never heard from them again. Several teams had been sent out to find out what had happened, but they all reported the same thing. The contient of Mu was gone and with it Konoha I'm afraid. So, left with no choice our people pressed on, taming the land and continuing with our way of life. That is until a powerful mage named Iceron appeared and with no warning at all he conquered our people, decimating our armed forces and making us his slaves. Our chakra was chained within us and our people were captured as our cities burned to the ground, all while we were led away to our life of slavery." Naruto nearly growled at the treatment of his fellow shinobi and the people of Kumo's colony. Even Kurama was paying attention, though of course he had a aloof expression as he listened intently.
"Iceron had a burning need to experiment with different forms of life, wishing to create a perfect being. So, using his slaves that he had acquired, he created multiple were-folk, the first being the were-rats and were-hounds. As he progressed he took my ancestors and used them to help create the jag-were population, his magic ensuring that while we would still have a chakra system it would never be allowed to develop, any possible threat was ruthlessly crushed or destroyed in the man's bid for power. After thousands of years on earth, our people migrated to Jade and settled here, our history passing down from our elders to our children for countless generations." As Gaja finished, he watched Naruto shake his head as a saddened smile appeared, the blonde hitting another dead end in his search for his home.
"Thanks old man, at least I know I'm not the last of my kind. And who knows, maybe Kurama and I can help out with this chakra blocking enchantment." Gaja sighed as he shook his head sadly.
"Alas, that is impossible. Several of our shinobi ancestors managed to escape the destruction of our lands, freeing several of the jag-weres from captivity in an attempt to purge them from the magic that had crippled them. The few medics we had used every technique they could think of, but the enchantment stood strong against all applications of chakra, nothing can break it..." Gaja trailed off for a moment as he smirked, causing Naruto nod expectantly as he waited for Gaja to continue.
"Actually, there is one person though that you can help, there is a female jag-were that could use chakra, a childhood illness played havoc with her jag-were enchantments, switching several between her forms and disabling others. When we examined her, we were shocked to find that her chakra system was now free of any outside influence, but she requires a burst of chakra to awaken her own abilities." Naruto nodded as he crossed his arms over his chest, having an idea where Gaja was going with this.
"And since none of you had chakra to do this, she has never knew that she could possibly use chakra, limiting her potential. I'm guessing the jag-were in question is very sensitive about her size, has a thing about kicking ass first and then asking questions, right? I'm thinking that this could be a pretty good pick me up for her, ne?" Gaja grinned and was about to continue speaking when he turned towards the portal and shook his head.
"Something's wrong..."
Several minutes earlier
Nali sighed as she watched the two mages before her arguing, both having been summoned by Gaja regarding the curse afflicting Brianna. Both Dee'em and Bugie were powerful mages, their expertise and knowledge making them the perfect consultants for just such a case. The only problem is that Gaja had left in a hurry after discovering the being that inhabited the young man that was in her clinic and had failed to return. As such both Dee'em and Bugie dove into the problem, having hashed out a possible solution.
'This plan is a bad idea... but no, no one listens to the healer. I just know that casting 'Final Protection from Evil' then reversing it's alignment, creating a 'Final Protection from Good' spell, is going to backfire on us. But what do I know, I just keep people alive for a living!' Nali bit down on her fist as she watched Dee'em cast the protection spell, while Bugie reversed it's alignment. A red aura surrounded Brianna and the pair of mages sighed in relief, seeing that their work had been sucessful. Dee'em raised his arms and as a web of energy formed between his hand he slowly pulled the appendages apart, the Spirit Divide spell creating two bodies where there had once been one. Grave Digger and Brianna both woke up, looked at each other and screamed, one in joy and the other in anger.
"WHAT THE HELL! WHAT HAVE YOU OLD FOOLS DONE!" Brianna grinned evilly as she pointed at her other half and laughed heartily at her angry expression.
"Aw, is the wittle curse scared of the big, bad, mages? I know I'd be, they look pretty powerful!" As the pair of floating woman began to bicker back and forth, Bugie turned to Dee'em and nudged him with his elbow.
"My friend, now is the perfect time to cast Remove-Curse, quickly!" Dee'em raised his hands, paused for a moment, then turned back towards Bugie.
"Me? I thought you were going to do it, it was your idea." Bugie cocked an eyebrow as he shook his head.
"Me? Heavens no, I don't know how to cast Remove-Curse. Oh, this is bad..." The two mages looked at the bickering woman floating before them, the pair reaching out towards each other as if they wanted to throttle one another.
As the mages looked on, Grave Digger growled and raised her hand, blasting through Nali's roof and floating towards the hole. As Bugie went to cast a spell, preventing the curse from escaping, the mage bit back a groan as he realized that their own intelligence would be their undoing. 'The Protection from Good spell would stop anything magic that use on her,we can't do anything to stop her!" Just then, Gaja rushed into the room, his eyes widening as he took in the scene before him. Grave Digger smirked evilly, realizingthat something was wrong if these mages were doing nothing to try and stop her. Deciding to test this theory, Grave Digger raised her hand as a fireball slowly appeared, the flames reflecting in her crazed eyes.
"So many targets, now who should I..." A massive fist of telekinetic energy slammed into Grave Digger's from above her, sending the curse crashing to the ground as her fireball was smothered. Growling loudly, the curse struggled to her feet, glaring as Jaliera floating down from the hole in the ceiling, her expression murderous as she laid eyes on Grave Digger.
"You're disturbing Naruto's rest. Rest he needs because YOU almost KILLED him. Now, now I'm going to show you what I do to people that hurt the ones I care about."