Hinata Chronicles Chapter 47: Fighting a dragon and aftermath of a war
"Come on you!" Naruto said as he struggled to get his second blade out of the wall it was embedded in.
The final attack on Maleficent drained a lot of energy and chakra, especially since he had to create practically three Rasengans. Luckily, he had a few more ethers in his pockets and the group quickly drained them, mostly him though. Like he decided when he joined the fight, he put his returned strength to use and tried to pull out his second blade from where it was stuck in the wall. Needless to say, it barely even budged.
Xion sweat-dropped at the sight. "How did this happen again?"
Hinata giggled a little before answering. "Thanks to that one attack from Maleficent, the blade got hotter and got stuck in the wall." The two looked on as Naruto started to rant a little and summoned two shadow clones to help get it out. She, too, sweat-dropped at the scene. "Dang, it's really stuck in there. . ."
Xion looked away from the comical scene for a moment, noticing a portal nearby where Maleficent faded away. She quickly recognized it from a memory of what happened after Sora's fight with Maleficent. "Ah man, not again. . ." She sighed as she palmed her face.
From behind her, "Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he smashed the wall, finally releasing the blade. Unfortunately, this also released a cloud of dust and he spent the next few minutes coughing and waving it away before he walked over to retrieve his fallen blade.
"Aeroga!" Hinata called out as she got rid of the dust with a small tornado of wind.
"A bit much there, Naruto?" Xion ask as she continued coughing until Hinata got rid of the dust.
"Sorry, my bad. It's just that my blade was really stuck in there," Naruto explained as he picked up his blade and put it back in its holster. "Hey, what's that?" He then asked as he noticed the portal.
Xion sighed as she and Hinata walked up to him and the three stared at the portal. "That Maleficent. . .she just doesn't know when to quit. . ."
Naruto and Hinata spun around and looked at her wide-eyed. "SHE'S STILL ALIVE!?" The both yelled in unison, both in a mixture of shock, horror, and aggravation.
Xion nodded. "Yeah. After Sora and his friends defeated Maleficent the first time, in this same room even, she disappeared into a dark portal, wounded. When they met up with her again, Riku, or rather, Riku possessed by Ansem the Seeker of Darkness, appeared with a unique blade. It was forged from the 6 hearts of the Princess of Heart, though it was incomplete because Kairi, who was the seventh, didn't have her heart at the time. It was in Sora. Anyways, that blade, resembling a keyblade actually, had the power to unlock people's hearts. The possessed Riku used that blade on Maleficent, unlocking the darkness in her heart. From that, she transformed into a powerful dragon, but Sora and his friends managed to beat her, again."
Xion's eyebrows suddenly furrowed, her expression stern. "Unfortunately, they left out something after her defeat. Her cloak and her pet raven, Diablo, escaped the castle and a year later, after Sora woke up from his sleep and took off on another adventure, somehow. . . Maleficent came back. The three good fairies said that Diablo simply came into the room after Sora and his friends headed out and dropped off the cloak into the room. They left soon afterwards to report to Master Yen Sid and the cloak was left to gather dust. . . or so everyone thought. Now it seems like the same thing is happening and Maleficent only looked defeated, in a flashier way, too," she commented as an afterthought.
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, worry in their eyes. The fight had only just begun.
Back in Radiant Garden, all the teams finished off the last of the heartless. Kakashi, Sai and Leon looked on at the castle, panting slightly in exhaustion.
"Do you think they beat them?" Leon asked.
"I'm gonna have to guess so, Leon. . .it's hard to say." Kakashi explained.
The three then headed back to the headquarters of the committee.
The remaining Konoha shinobi and the committee regrouped at Merlin's place as they healed up after the intense battle.
"So what happened exactly?" Choji asked as he munched on his chips.
"What do you mean?" Ino asked his comrade, flexing her hand as it was healed by Aerith, who looked a little exhausted. It was understandable, though, as she had to use up most of her magic to maintain the barrier that kept the evacuating citizens safe.
"He means what happened to all the heartless. . . it seems like they decreased dramatically." Shikamaru said, smirking afterwards.
"Shikamaru?" Sakura asked as they turned to look at him questionably.
"How troublesome. Look, let's think for a moment and answer a question; Who are the only three not here at the moment?" Shikamaru sarcastically asked, noticing Shino smirking as well under his scarf.
Kakashi nodded, also knowing what had happened to the heartless. It took a few minutes for the others to figure out, most of them looking around to see who actually was there in the cluttered room and who wasn't.
It was Ino who voiced everyone's thoughts as she said rather jubilantly, "Naruto, Xion, and Hinata!"
"They must have stopped the source of the heartless," Sai nodded in agreement.
"Alright Naruto!" Sakura said proudly, pumping a fist into the air. She winced a little afterward, having pulled a muscle.
"Heh," Kiba smirked, his eyes proud. "Hinata's grown not only really strong, but also confident."
"She's come a long way," Shino added. Next to them, Akamaru barked in agreement, his tail wagging.
"YOSH!" Lee yelled, a fist in the air and flames in his eyes. "Their flames of youth burn strongly within them! They are indeed strong!"
Everyone sweat-dropped. The Konoha ninja even more so, already suspecting what would happen next. Sure enough. . .
"Gai-sensei!" Lee suddenly cried, his eyes spilling comical tears. "I have failed you! I am not as strong as my comrades and for that, I shall do 1000 push-ups to get stronger!"
With that declaration, he dropped to floor and began his promised task. While doing so, he began to say to himself of the other exercises he would do if he failed to complete the previous one. This only made the Konoha ninjas sweat-drop more and earned him weird looks from the Committee.
Leon, an eyebrow raised, turned to Kakashi. "Is he always like this?" he asked.
Kakashi sighed a bit before turning to answer the warrior. "It's worse when his teacher is with him."
This only served to creep Leon out a bit, but he hid the expression well. With a slight cough, he turned back to everyone in the messy room.
Kakashi bit his lip, but it was hidden behind his mask. He knew that Naruto and his group had gotten stronger. They had even taken out the source of these heartless. But a foreboding feeling had settled on his shoulders a moment before, heavy and dark and stayed there.
Their fight wasn't over yet. He could only pray that they would make it back safely, if not victoriously.
Back in the castle. . .
"You've gotta be kidding me!?" Naruto ranted indignantly. "Maleficent's pulling the same crap like she did with Sora!?"
Xion sighed. "Apparently so. . ."
"She still must think we aren't that strong. . ." Hinata said, a little insulted. It strongly reminded her of how Neji and some of the other members of the Hyuga clan thought of her, especially before she got her keyblade.
"She is a stubborn witch. . ." Xion pointed out. The three then stared at the portal for a moment. "I guess we better head in there."
"Yeah." Hinata agreed.
"Time to end this!" Naruto said as he took out his blades.
"Just don't get your blade embedded in a wall again." Xion reminded him.
The three started to chuckle a little at that, especially at how Naruto struggled to get his blade out of the wall minutes before. "I'll try not to." Naruto replied with a sheepish smile. The three then went in, ready to fight and determined to defeat the horned witch.
It startled Naruto and Hinata as they went through the portal. While they weren't hurt by it, it was certainly different from Xion's light portals; this one just felt colder and even darker. Luckily, their clothes prevented any of the more harmful side effects.
Xion, who had used the dark Corridors before when she was still with the Organization, wasn't all that affected by the portal. Though she did glance back to give a worried look to her companions.
When they made it through to the other side a few minutes later, they found themselves in a room bigger than the last one. The first thing they noticed was how tall it was, the windows at the top of the rounded roof showing the sky outside, blue slowly fading into purples, oranges, and pinks. The walls were practically covered in pipes of all sizes and metallic colors, steam leaking out every once in a while. The edges of the walls were lined with thick clumps of black thorns, the same as the one in the previous room. The floor was made of stone, with some sort of carving engraved lightly in the center and spreading out.
In the center, and glaring at the trio hatefully, was a familiar horned figure in black robes.
"It's over Maleficent!" Naruto shouted to the witch.
"Fools!" the dark mistress sneered. "You have only defeated a mere illusion of me! My power is immeasurable!"
This piece of news shocked the trio and a chill went down their spines. Only then did they notice that Maleficent didn't look at all injured, no scratches or rips in her robe from their attacks in the room before.
"What?" Hinata whispered, eyes wide. "You mean that she's only been holding back?"
Xion looked worried and surprised. "I had no idea that she could create illusions of herself; and such powerful ones too," she said quietly, biting her lip.
Naruto was also shocked at the news. But instead of getting worried, his glare hardened. "So what? That still doesn't mean you're unbeatable. If we were able to take down an illusion, than there's a chance that we could take you down!" he shouted in determination.
Seeing how Naruto didn't back down and his never-giving-up attitude, the two Keyblade masters felt their spirits lift and they straightened back up from their hopeless slumps. Xion even gave herself a shake as though it would dispel that pessimistic feeling that had seemed to take over her.
"Yeah," Hinata agreed, lifting her head back up from staring at the ground in defeat. "Yeah, he's right. Even if that chance is small and that we might lose," she said, a fire of determination in her pale eyes.
"It's still a chance," Xion finished for her, pointing a keyblade at the witch. "And that's a chance we're going to take!"
Maleficent cackled in response. "Insignificant imbeciles!" she jeered wickedly. "You think that just by besting an illusion of my weaker self, you are able to defeat me?"
"Well, that's what the power of light does best!" Xion shouted in retaliation. "Winning even though the odds are against it!"
"And no matter what, we'll never give up!" Hinata added in.
"Yeah, so get ready to lose, you witch!" Naruto yelled, blades gripped tightly in his hands.
"So be it!" Maleficent declared, eyes glaring and a smirk on her lips. "You think that your feeble light will help you win?! You were doomed from the very beginning! And now, you shall taste the true power of darkness!"
As she spread her arms wide, her entire figure was engulfed in a gigantic pillar of green flames. Her shadow lengthened and the flames began to distort into a shape. Bony wings appeared first, followed by four gigantic limbs, two in front and two in the back, and ending in a set of sharp claws. As the fiery pillar faded away, a long snakelike neck topped with the head of a lizard appeared and glared down at them. The head had two long, curved horns, and its eyes were a pupil-less acid green. Its body was covered in black scales and its underbelly was a deep purple. Green flames licked its maw, the light glinting off the many sharp fangs.
With a ferocious roar, the transformation was complete. Maleficent had transformed into a giant, black dragon.
Naruto blankly stared at the dragon, blinking his eyes three times before yelling, "ARE YOU FRICKIN' KIDDING ME! We have to fight a dragon of all things?! It's practically that Heartless snake version of Orochimaru from the Chunin Exam!" He continued to fume a little more and the two girls sweat-dropped at the scene he was causing.
This did not, however, amuse the giant lizard. If anything, it only served to aggravate her. Maleficent, in dragon form, roared loudly, the force from it almost pushing the three back a little. It certainly caught their attention though as they struggled a bit to stay on their feet.
"Well I never said she wasn't one for being menacing." Xion pointed out through grit teeth.
"You've made your point there!" Hinata said as Maleficent started to attack by launching green fireballs. "Barrier!" She quickly put up a shield, blocking the attack. The force made her clench her jaw, a little sweat running down her neck as she struggled to maintain her shield.
Noticing his girlfriend's trouble, Naruto quickly came to a decision. "Split up!" he commanded and the moment the attack stopped, the shield disappeared and they did as he said, each of them running to a different corner of the arena.
Hinata wiped the slight sweat from her brow, but she kept most of her focus on Maleficent, who was swaying her reptilian head to and fro from one warrior to the other.
The dragon, irritated, reared itself up onto her back legs for a moment before slamming the ground hard. The shockwave that followed was tinged in white, green, and purple and it hit all of them, making them stumble. Before they could regain their footing, Maleficent spun around quickly, her long tail lashing out at the warriors and swatting them to the walls.
Hinata and Xion were slammed into the wall and pipes, but Naruto managed to flip himself and planted his feet on the large pipe behind him. Pushing off, he hurtled towards the dragon's body, which was turned towards Xion, who was just getting up with a hand to her head. He slashed with his blades at the exposed side, feeling the resistance of metal against thick dragon hide. He only managed to leave a few shallow cuts before Maleficent twisted her long neck around and snapped at the blonde, forcing him to jump away.
Meanwhile, Hinata, after getting back up, was taking careful aim at the dragon's head, keyblade pointed towards it. "Ragnarok!" she cried, sending out bright projectiles to the head and landing her mark, earning her a slight roar of pain from the dragon.
A fireball joined the fray, courtesy of Xion who had recovered from the assault. She was little disoriented, having hit her head on the thinner metal pipe with a loud 'Clang!' and bending it, but that wasn't going to stop her. With careful precision, Xion threw one of her keyblades at Maleficent's head, halting her focus as she tried to prepare a glowing green fireball and hurl it at the blonde shinobi.
Naruto took this opportunity to slash at her snout, finding that it was harder and more solid, but seemed to be the weak spot as the damage was much more immediate. Hinata and Xion were firing other spells at the dragon, making sure she never had the opportunity to retaliate.
Maleficent was beyond irritated now. With a roar that sent the keyblade bearers stumbling and causing Naruto to fall to the ground, she fired a stream of black and green flames to the fox-boy. Before it could hit, a barrier rose up around him, translucent hexagons glowing brightly as they absorbed the attack. However, some did manage to escape and split off to touch the thorns surrounding them. They quickly caught ablaze, surrounding the arena in bright green and black flames.
Xion was strongly reminded of her fight against the data-Axel, beginning to sweat. She noticed that the heat was also starting to get to Hinata who wiped her brow from sweat for the second time that day. A burst of light to the other side of the room broke her from her thoughts, which was followed by an inhuman moan of pain.
Xion quickly took off to join Naruto, noticing Hinata doing the same. They grouped back together in front of Maleficent's draconian head, which was shaking to and fro in a vain attempt to stop the pain and dizziness from the second effect of Hinata's Reflect spell.
They began their assault, blades glinting in the eerie light as they slashed at her head. Maleficent had shaken the pain off and took to stomping the ground, sending smaller shockwaves that stumbled them a bit.
Blades flashed, spells were cast, the ground seemed to pulse erratically, claws ripped through the air, and jaws snapped. All the while, the flames surrounding the combatants burned on.
The trio were sweating profusely and it was getting harder to continue the fight. The heat was getting to them, draining their energy and weakening them. But Maleficent seemed to be empowered by the flames and the heat. A roar of fury was followed by a stream of fire spewing out of her maw. They barely managed to dodge it, the fire licking their heels.
They found themselves split again but before the girls could focus and cast spells from afar, Maleficent lashed out with her tail, whipping them dangerously close to the fire barrier.
Naruto was getting irritated, the heat not helping much. The Nine-Tailed fox was quiet in the back of his mind, though if he focused, he would detect the fox's interest in the flames. Fingers in a handsign, he called out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" In puffs of smoke, at least thirty clones appeared, blades at the ready.
The group charged, accompanied by lightning strikes and glowing streaks of light courtesy of the keyblade masters. Maleficent was not to be deterred at the sight of such a large number of opponents. Her upper half lifted itself off and she quickly slammed herself back to the ground, releasing fireballs shortly afterward. Nearly half of the clones were destroyed in the process, plumes of smoke littering the area. A blow, this one freezing, caught her attention and she whipped around to see Xion glaring determinedly at her, one keyblade pointed towards her. Next to her was Hinata, who also had her own keyblade raised next to Xion's.
Her attention shifted, no one noticed the crowd of Naruto clones suddenly split up. In between them was the real Naruto, who was being flung by two more clones towards Maleficent's exposed back. As he flew through the air, his blades flashed in the light. Lifting them up, he stabbed Maleficent in the shoulder blades, producing a loud roar of pain and fury.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he landed on Dragon Maleficent's back. Maleficent started to shake wildly, trying to get Naruto off of her, but didn't succeed; Naruto stuck to her like glue. "Hey, fox!" He yelled mentally, talking to the Nine-Tails. "Look, I know you don't like what the fairies did but will you quit being a baby about it and just get over it, damn it!"
The Fox grumbled, muttering under his breath about something involving who knows what. "Whatever. . ." He finally said. "You owe me meat sack, and also. . .nevermind." He then sent out his chakra with a flick of his paw.
Naruto smirked as he went into Kyubi Mode in a blinding red-tinted light. His clothes changed from orange and blue to dark red and black. The energy swirled around him, creating the marks of nine tails on the red parts of his clothes. His eyes turned red and the pupils thinned into slits like a fox as his whisker marks became more feral. The energy that came out of the blades once again shifted as they went from normal swords coated in blue to red-tinged buster swords. Naruto rested one on his shoulder as he spun the other one with ease, his strength increased.
"Alright. . .let's do this." He said with a smirk. With that, he began slashing at Maleficent's back, causing the witch-turned-dragon to roar in pain. As she spun and stomped around, the rest of the clones were trampled and smacked into the firewall, where they turned into puffs of smoke. Luckily, the girls were far enough away to not get hit.
Xion looked on at Naruto's Drive form. "Gotta say, that's still impressive," she commented to Hinata, who nodded in agreement, a proud smile on her face.
"I guess Naruto and the Fox have a mutual agreement for now." Hinata thought as they looked on at the dragon. "Attack at once?" She called out.
"No question about it," Xion answered.
"Let's get it done!" Naruto called back.
Xion and Hinata raced to the front of the dragon, seeing that it was more distracted by the blonde shinobi on her back than at the incoming keyblade bearers. Maleficent's long neck was twisted to try and take a bite out of Naruto, but he fought back with his buster swords.
At one point, Maleficent managed to clamp her jaws around Naruto, but was rewarded with the smoky puff of a shadow clone. The real Naruto had dived under the head and, with a burst of strength, slashed at the dragon's neck via crossed blades. At the same time they connected, Xion and Hinata, whom had managed to reach the front of Maleficent's draconian body, slashed at her neck, nearly on the direct opposite side of the dragon's neck. Their blades crossed as well, Xion slashing from left to right and vice versa from Hinata. This earned them a loud roar of pain from the dragon.
Naruto leapt back a bit, but still stayed on the dragon's back. "Hah, is that all you got?" he taunted with a smirk.
Below, Xion and Hinata were preparing a powerful blizzard spell, but Hinata managed to quip in, "This is the end of you Maleficent!"
"And this time, stay dead!" Xion added, though she was worried. The fight so far had almost been too easy.
Maleficent had had enough. Her head to the sky, she expelled a humongous pillar of green fire, the flames around them rising higher. The stream, no, river of fire burst through the roof, creating a hole big enough for even the Nine-Tailed Fox to fit through, its edges melted and smoldering. The girls' concentration broke in surprise at the change of events.
She reared up and slammed into the ground, the shockwave pushing the keyblade masters back. Naruto stumbled, but otherwise stayed on. However, he was surprised when the air left his lungs as some outside force pushed him down and, though he tried to stab a sword into the dragon in order to stay on, he fell off and was thrown onto the floor, rolling until he stopped on his back. With a groan, he opened his eyes and found the answer as to why he had fallen off:
Maleficent the dragon had taken flight, slipping through the hole she made. She circled the remainders of the roof, roaring loudly.
Back with the Committee. . .
Everyone was busy resting up and regaining their strength. Their physical injuries had been healed, but now they had to wait for their chakra and magical energy to return. Some of them were curious as to why it was taking a long time for Naruto and his group to return, but they were confident that they will return, notably Kiba and Sakura.
However, Kakashi just couldn't shake off that foreboding feeling he had ever since they had regrouped in the wizard's house. He knew that some of the others were worried, too, but most of them were content with resting (and eating, in Choji's case as he munched on his chips).
Some had even taken an interest in the room's contents and asking the Committee members questions. Sakura and Ino were sifting through a few books and when he glanced to look, he caught the title, 'Magic 101 for Dummies,' on one of them. Tenten was chatting with Yuffie, mostly questioning her giant shuriken and admiring it. In turn, Yuffie asked questions about the weapons Tenten had in her arsenal (though she didn't summon them out as it took chakra to do so). Kiba was chatting with Nanaki, or Red XIII, and Akamaru even added in a few barks himself, the red-furred creature apparently able to understand him. Sai was busy drawing in his sketchbook and Lee was still doing his push-ups in the corner, now being joined by Snow. Shino and Aerith were conversing quietly, something about the attraction his bugs felt towards the unique, otherworldly flowers when they were making their way back to the house. Cid and Leon were explaining the computer and all the other technologies they have to Shikamaru and Choji, though the latter seemed to be more focused on eating his chips.
With his sharp eye, Kakashi managed to detect the suspicion and worry in only Shikamaru, Leon, Sai, Aerith, and Shino, though they were good at hiding it. The rest of them were calm and confident about their missing friends. He knew that he should trust the young shinobi, but as the only experienced Jonin among their group, he couldn't help but worry. He could barely focus on his book because of it.
As the masked (and perverted) jonin tried to figure out the cause of his worry, Sai had looked out into the window, hoping to see if there was anything really worth drawing outside, when he saw a pillar of green flames reaching straight into the sky. With wide eyes, he suddenly rushed outside, catching everyone's attention and prompting them to do the same. What they saw shocked them and the following roar nearly made them clamp their hands to their ears. But the thing that struck fear and horror into their hearts was not the 'what' but the 'where'. The pillar of flames may have vanished, but they already figured out the location.
The source was coming from the dark castle, where Naruto, Hinata, and Xion were last seen.
Back in the castle. . .
Hinata and Xion made their way over to the fallen shinobi, but before they could reach him, Naruto gasped and pointed upwards. Turning their attention to the hole in the roof, they saw Maleficent glare down at them, wings flapping to keep her airborne.
Green fire built up in her maw and, realizing what she was about to do, they quickly pulled Naruto to his feet and ran away as quickly as they could. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by the ever-rising flames and there were no ledges they could jump onto. With nowhere else to run, Hinata and Xion turned around, keyblades raised and magical energy building up within them.
With a roar, the dragon released another stream of green flames, angling her head to directly hit the heroes. Just before it hit, the keyblade bearers cried, "Reflega!" and a large sphere made of transparent hexagons appeared around them.
The flames surged around them, some being absorbed by the magical barrier. The heat was nearly unbearable, draining the Keyblade Masters of their already falling energy as they continued to hold up the barrier. Seeing their struggle, Naruto had to bite his lip in utter frustration at not being able to help, not knowing any magic and his attacks, blades and jutsu, practically useless against the heat and fire. He had even run out of the ethers and was stuck with just three potions left, not even able to use them in fear of breaking their concentration.
Maleficent pressed on, unrelenting and vengeful of her ruined plans. If she could not crush them, then she would just settle with frying them alive.
Unnoticed by any of them, as the temperature rose higher and higher in the room, many of the smaller pipes began to melt. But something else was happening to the bigger and thicker pipes. They were expanding and glowing an angry red, some steam bursting through the cracks in-between segments.
Xion noticed the pipes that were expanding. "Oh no! No no no!" She yelled, her limbs shaking from having to keep up the barrier. "We gotta beat her quick and get out of here!"
"What do you mean!?" Naruto asked, a little worried.
"This place is gonna blow at any minute!" Xion indicated the heated pipes with a quick nod of her head, wanting Naruto to look as well.
"How are we gonna get out of here though!?" Naruto, panicking after looking and realizing the danger, asked. "We're basically stuck with the witch breathing fire on us while you two are keeping a barrier up!" He then heard a frustrated sigh from the fox. "Oh what now, fox!?" He thought, speaking to the fox.
"You really are a dobe like the Uchiha said." The Fox commented.
"What was that!?" Naruto said in a irritated voice.
The Fox then palmed his muzzle with a giant, clawed paw. "Just get a loud enough roar in to blast back the flames at the dragon. I will not let my container get killed by something as weak as an over-sized lizard."
"Figures you just want to upstage someone." Naruto sighed as he focused back on the incoming flames.
He intensely stared at the fire, noticing that their group was in the exact center of the room. He then turned to his companions, who were nearly to their knees, and spoke, "Guys, the fox had an idea. When I give the signal, release the barrier."
Xion glanced back. "Naruto, are you crazy? We're gonna get burned alive! And I, for one, don't want to end up like a crispy dinner!"
"Just trust me, okay?" Naruto said reassuringly, face serious.
Xion looked about to protest, but Hinata interrupted, though it was hard to as she had to keep most of her attention on the Reflect spell. "We trust you, Naruto." she declared, giving a stern glance to Xion.
Seeing how serious they were, Xion finally nodded. The two keyblade bearers turned back to place almost all their focus on keeping the barrier up, waiting intently for the blonde's signal.
Meanwhile, Maleficent was finally letting up the flames, believing the trio would never have survived such an onslaught of heat. After all, there was a limit to how long one can keep up a barrier, and against such an intense attack while also being surrounded by additional flames, there was no way they could have lived. There was probably nothing more than ashes left in the room.
Once the flames disappeared completely, she snapped her jaws closed. A small flick of her tail, and she landed on the very edges of the tower, wings slightly open to keep her balance, her claws tearing into the hot metal and keeping her grip. She looked in and through the hole she made; what she saw surprised her.
Naruto, noticing the flames blasting against the barrier beginning to lessen, got ready, feeling the chakra, both his and the fox's, build up within him. He closed his eyes to help his concentration, taking to feeling the weakening stream of fire.
The moment the dragon stopped and closed her maw, Naruto's eyes snapped open, alight with the demon chakra. "Now! Get down!" he shouted, tilting his head upward and shifting into a wider stance.
Xion and Hinata broke their concentration on the barrier and immediately dropped to the floor. The barrier, glowing a bright white from the energy it had managed to absorb, broke and they felt the familiar pulse of retaliating energy surge upwards. But they were surprised to feel and hear another pulse go along with it.
It was Naruto, who had let loose a tremendous fox-like bark upwards and infused it with his chakra, pushing the flames surrounding them in the same direction. The force of the bark and the added flames combined with the rebounding energy of the broken Reflect spell, creating a pulse of immense power.
It surged outwards and smacked Maleficent right in the face, eliciting a roar of pain and surprise from her. Maleficent's face started to get burned from her own flames, shaking her head wildly with her eyes closed.
Naruto quickly made some shadow clones. "Alright guys, launch us up!"
"You got it boss!" The clones saluted before rushing to position.
"Wait, what!?" Hinata and Xion protested, but they were too late. The clones grabbed all three of them and threw them into the air, landing them on Maleficent's back. She was too distracted by her burning snout to notice.
"Naruto. . .never do that again." Xion said as she began to calm down from the rush upwards.
"Don't worry, that was a one time thing." Naruto reassured, a mischievous look on his face. Hinata was too busy cooling herself down after having been nearly cooked.
The flames then cleared from Maleficent's face and she looked down into the hole again to find them, not knowing that they were on her back. Thinking she destroyed them, she then started to fly off, straight to Radiant Garden.
"She's heading for the city." Naruto whispered, making sure that Maleficent didn't know they were on her.
"Should I summon my glider?" Hinata asked to her fellow master.
"No, we can't let her know we are here until the right moment." Xion explained.
"Being?" Naruto then asked as the three heard a snarl. "Crap. . ."
Looking up, they noticed that Maleficent was glaring at them. With a roar, the dragon twisted in flight, hoping to throw them off. Unfortunately for her, they stabbed their blades into her back and gripped onto them, not only inflicting pain, but also staying on her back.
Maleficent stopped in midair, wings flapping strongly. She turned her neck back to the trio and roared. Using her long neck, she reached to snap them up in her jaws.
Xion reacted and, raising her second keyblade, shouted, "Reflect!"
A sphere of hexagons surrounded the three and they watched as Maleficent bit onto the barrier, making it glow on impact. An unwise move. Maleficent received a shock for her trouble and she reared back with a shriek. Then, the magical shield shattered and sent a small pulse around them, hitting Maleficent in the back of the neck, making her stumble in flight.
They trio used this opportunity to attack, seizing the opening as the dragon tried to shake off the pain. Tearing their blades from the dragon's back and rearing it back, they gave each other a look then nodded.
With that silent word of agreement, they stabbed the dragon in the back of the neck, right where it joined the rest of the body. Maleficent gave a tremendous roar of pain before falling unconscious, literally.
Realizing the consequence of defeating the same dragon that kept them in the air, they screamed as they fell with her. Fortunately, after the initial panic, Hinata's common sense returned and she quickly turned her keyblade into a glider, catching Xion and Naruto.
The unconscious dragon hit the ground with a large thud, blowing up dust and dirt. As they looked down on it, they noticed there was a group of people nearby. A familiar group of people.
Widening their eyes and smiling, Hinata flew the glider down and landing. Turning it back into a keyblade and then dismissing it, she suddenly found herself nearly tackled clean off her feet as someone hugged her. It took a second for Hinata to recognize that it was Kiba that was hugging her, but by that time, Kiba had already lifted her and spun her in the air a bit before setting her down and letting go.
"Hinata!" Kiba shouted in joy. "You're okay!"
Behind him, Shino came up and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Great job," he said quietly and proudly. "I knew you could pull through."
Hinata smiled brightly in return. "Thanks guys," she said gratefully.
The sound of barking and laughter caught her attention, and she turned to find that Xion had been knocked onto her back by Akamaru. She was laughing as the giant canine slobbered her, giving him pats in return and scratching behind one of his ears.
"Haha!" Xion laughed, thoroughly enjoying the slobber-fest and affection. "Down Akamaru! It's great to see you again after all that! Haha, down!"
On her other side, she found Naruto on the ground holding his head, trying to hide the big welt between his blonde locks. She turned fully and noticed that Sakura was next to him, a fist raised and face raging mad. But she wouldn't be fooled; she could see the worry in her green eyes.
"Naruto, you baka!" Sakura yelled. "You had me worried sick! What were you thinking? I should hit you again for making me so worried when we saw those green flames!" She raised her fist threateningly again to show that she meant it.
"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto lamented, hesitatingly getting up with a hand to his bruised head. "But we had to stop her or else this entire world would get overrun!" he defended.
"Naruto, Hinata, Xion. . .you did it." Leon interrupted as he looked at Dragon Maleficent. Though he didn't show it, they could feel his surprise that they could defeat such a powerful foe.
"Ah man, you knocked out that dragon like it was nothing! Gotta say, I'm impressed." Yuffie said as Snow agreed with her, an enthusiastic fist in the air.
"YOSH! THIS WAS A MOST YOUTHFUL VICTORY FOR THE SIDE OF GOOD AND JUSTICE! IF GAI-SENSEI WAS HERE HE WOULD BE PROUD!" Lee blurted out with fire in his eye and tear-streaks.
Tenten palmed her face at the sight. "He'll never change." She muttered.
Kakashi looked at Naruto as he returned to his normal form. "He really is Sensei's son." He thought as he watched Naruto go up to Hinata and kiss her cheek.
"So then. . ." Naruto then looked back at the dragon. "What are we gonna do about her?"
"Her?" Sakura and Ino asked, glancing between Naruto and the dragon.
"This is Maleficent." Xion bluntly said as everyone's eyes widen, though the Committee, Shino, and Sai either weren't surprised or stayed passive.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kiba yelled as he pointed at the dragon. "That's the witch!?"
"Yeah, real pain in the ass too," Naruto muttered. "Almost tried to barbecue us back at the castle."
"And here I thought it was the overpowered ball-less wonder." Sai said, earning him a punch in the face from Naruto, a kick in the nuts from Sakura and a double-Thundaga from Hinata and Xion.
Kakashi palmed his face. "He brought that onto himself. . ." He then shook his head in shame.
"The kid is right though," Cid said as he looked at the dragon. "What are we gonna do about this witch?"
Choji's stomach started to growl as Shikamaru, also, palmed his face. "Troublesome. No Choji, you're not eating a dragon." Shikamaru bluntly said.
"I didn't even ask though." Choji responded, a little insulted. His eyes did glance curiously back at the dragon, though.
At that moment, Maleficent's unconscious dragon form burst into green flames.