Recommended Story: Beyond the Shadows by NeonZangetsu
Chapter Seventeen
"I told you we shouldn't have done this!" Ino screamed as the group ran from their pursuer.
Traveling thru Yggdrasil was definitely not like the group had expected. With all the elevator references, that's kind of what they were expecting. Instead, they appeared in some light-blue abyss, like the sky had curled around around them in every conceivable direction, and the only thing to stand on were enormous tree limbs that snaked everywhere. The limbs forked, merged, bent, ascended, descended, looped, curved, and in some spots did more than one of those at once. It looked like something out of an abstract arboretum.
That was not what Ino was yelling about though. No, what she was yelling about was the fact that the group was being chased by some see-thru apparition that could only be described as some sort of hybrid between a bear and a squirrel.
"Just keeping running. It's a slow one anyway." Kushina yelled, running the fastest since she was carrying Tayuya on her back.
"What is that thing?" Someone asked, but it was impossible to say exactly who asked it. For all Kushina knew it was everyone at once.
"It's a native of Yggdrasil, a Pretan. They're quite territorial of otherworlders using this realm to get around, and it's just our bad luck that one of them happened to spot us. Just keep running and try not to yell unless you want more to show up."
That silenced everyone, but sadly that didn't solve all their problems.
Moegi was of course the slowest one in the group since she was the smallest and the least experienced. Naruto was holding her hand trying to help her keep up, but she was having trouble still. "Boss! I can't keep up!" She yelled, feeling tired and sore from all this.
Unable to form a clone with one of his hands full, Naruto settled for tightening his grip. "Just hold on Moegi! We'll make it!"
The group had to make a sharp turn because they came to a point where the branch they were on did as well, and in the motion Moegi's hand slipped out of Naruto's and her body stumbled forward unbalanced. After the tumble onto the uneven surface the young girl rolled over and almost fell off the branch entirely, tightly gripping the bark to avoid falling into the depths of Yggdrasil.
"BOSS! HELP!"
Before she even had to shout Naruto turned around to go get her. The problem was the squirrel creature was heading her way too. Reacting on impulse as usual, he created a clone and charged up a rasengan. However, it didn't want to form.
"What the heck?" He asked, but saw no time to try again. Doing the only thing he felt he could do, the real Naruto moved to pull Moegi up while the clone ran to the Pretan hoping to stall it somehow.
"Hold on!" he shouted as he grabbed the girl's wrist and tried to heft her back up, ignoring what was going on around him in the meantime. Luckily movement to both his left and right made him aware of his surroundings again.
"We'll help you out." Isaribi said as she and Sakura tried pulling Moegi up with him.
"Thanks guys." He said as the rosy-cheeked girl started to rise.
The clone meanwhile was doing a good job distracting the Pretan but no luck in actually hurting it. Apparently it didn't just look like a ghost, it acted like one, which sadly was something Naruto was not fond of. The only reason the clone wasn't freaking out was because Naruto was even less fond of those close to him getting hurt. "Dammit, how am I supposed to hurt this thing?"
"Chakra won't work here and physical attacks are near useless against the Pretans. You need mana, and even then Yggdrassil makes it difficult to cast spells!" Kushina yelled back as Naruto managed to pull Moegi back up and the clone got destroyed by the Pretan's claws.
"You okay Moegi?" He asked. She nodded and held him tightly, but allowed him to reposition her on his back. Without a look back he started running to catch up with the others.
Sakura and Isaribi tried to catch up too. Sakura was doing better since Isaribi had no true shinobi training, but both were giving all they had just to outrun the ghost squirrel creature. Naruto looked behind himself to see if it was catching up and saw the two of them were close to being caught. Reacting immediately he created two clones which knelt down in front of them and allowed them both to be carried. Neither Sakura or Isaribi resisted, and noted even with passengers Naruto could run faster than they were.
'This reminds me of what Naruto said he did in Snow Country.' Sakura thought, remembering how Naruto said he outran a train with Princess Koyuki on his back. 'I thought he was exaggerating, but maybe he really did that. Naruto, will you ever not surprise me?'
"We're almost there." Kushina told everyone, though no one could tell how exactly she knew that. "Everybody ready?"
"YES!" Everyone screamed. "GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Kushina nodded. "Then jump!" She jumped off the branch and revealed her wings, flying in place for everyone to see where she was. "Jump and follow me." She then descended, Tayuya involuntarily going with her in the dive.
No one jumped off the branch. "Is she out of her mind?" Ino asked then looked down. She and everyone else could see her diving towards what looked like a whirlpool floating in midair made out of grey light with a white epicenter. "There's no way I'm jumping into something like that."
"It's either this or that." Ayame told her, pointing to the approaching Pretan at the word 'that'.
"Geronimo!" Ino shouted as she jumped towards the whirlpool.
Tsunade, Shizune, Ayame, and Hinata followed right after her, and Naruto, Moegi, Sakura, and Isaribi followed too once they got there. Just as they jumped, the Pretan caught up and swung its claws, missing them but Sakura felt a slash on her back, making her cry out.
Everyone fell into the whirlpool of light but instead of being caught up in any current, they just pass right thru it. They couldn't see anything, just a lot of grey and white, and for a brief moment it felt like there was no gravity at all, then a simple thud, as if they had fallen a few feet instead of what couldn't have been less than 20 meters. But now they were at least on solid ground it felt like.
Their vision was now all black with small flecks of white light, which got bigger and clearer. Then they could all see again, and they saw themselves at the base of a gigantic tree again.
"Where are we? Is this back where we started?" Tsunade asked as she got back on her feet. She and everyone else looked like they landed ungracefully yet unharmed.
"No, this is Alfheim." Kushina told the sannin, being the only one here who didn't look like she jumped out of a tree.
Everyone got up at their own pace, Naruto's clones dispelling and Sakura, Isaribi, and even Moegi allowed to support themselves now, then looked over the area. They saw a wide open meadow that could only be described as a sea of grass with forests obscuring the horizon in all directions. The sky was blue, the sun was yellow, the clouds were white, everything looked completely normal.
"It looks just like Earth." Hinata stated.
"What were you expecting, a Martian desert?" Kushina asked. "There are three earths my dear, Alfheim, Midgard, and Makai. They all look alike for the most part, the differences are mostly what lives in them and how the landmasses are shaped. The biggest difference of course being the type of energy used in the world. This is the world of mana."
"So where exactly are we in this world?" Shizune asked.
"Here, I'll show you a map." Kushina said, letting Tayuya down and reaching into her supply pouch to pull out a rolled up piece of paper. She unrolled it as everyone gathered around to show a map. It looked almost like the map of the Elemental nations just flipped upside down. (Think of a map of Europe but take away the Mediterranean Sea and combine Europe with the top of Africa, that's what this map is showing) The countries were clearly marked and five of them looked larger than the rest.
"In Midgard we have the Elemental Nations, where countries are named after the five basic elements and other environmental features. This here in Alfheim is called the Emotional Nations, with countries named after the five basic emotions and other personality traits. The five major countries here are called Kanki no Kuni, Kanashimi no Kuni, Ikari no Kuni, Osore no Kuni, and Ai no Kuni."
"Joy, sorrow, anger, fear, and love." Tsunade repeated.
Kushina nodded. "The five most basic of all emotions. We are here, within Ai no Kuni, which is where I've been all this time." She added, pointing to the country in the lower right corner of the map. When comparing this to the map of the Elemental Nations, Ai no Kuni was where Land of Fire was, Kanki no Kuni was where Land of Earth was but as an island, Kanashimi no Kuni was where Land of wind was, Ikari no Kuni was where Land of Lightning was but as a peninsula, and Osore no Kuni was right in the center of them all. In between all of them were smaller nations.
"So what should we expect in this world? How is it different than our own?" Tsunade asked, certain that Kushina could easily answer that given her experiences in both worlds.
"The differences are probably too much for me to list if I were to go into complete detail. So I'll start you all in on the basics. One, there are multiple sentient races here, most of which only exist in Midgard in legends. The dominant race are the elves which come in varieties. Other races that live here include merfolk, dwarves, and of course, the succubi. Two, there are no ninjas here or hidden villages. Wars have been fought using other types of warriors and mana usage has been developed for many uses, not just combat, espionage, and healing. Three, the ruling system is different here. They don't have daimyos or kages, instead they have something called kings, queens, and lords and counts. Though the managing system is essentially the same. Or at least it will be again."
"Beg pardon?" Tsunade asked.
At the same time Sakura winced, catching Kushina's attention. The pinkette was trying to bear some kind of pain. "Are you hurt Sakura?"
"I'm fine, I just got scratched on my back." She said, trying not to make it a big deal when she felt no blood.
Kushina's eyes widened. "You better let us see it."
Sakura nodded, turned around, and pulled up the back of her dress, revealing her black shorts and a pink bra, but no injury.
"I don't see anything." Tsunade said.
"Were you at all hit by that Pretan?" Kushina asked.
"Maybe, right after I jumped it might have knicked me."
"Not good. Just like how you can't damage a Pretan physically, they can't damage us physically either. What they do is much worse. Each hit they make... takes years off your life until you have none left to give. No one told me what they do after you die though, but I think they eat the body."
Sakura looked horrified and turned around covering herself. "What? How much time do I have left?"
"Hard to say. Pretan's never leave wounds so it's impossible to know how much damage it did. You might have lost as little as a few days, or as much as several years. But I wouldn't say one glancing attack will put you in immediately fear of death."
"Can you help her like you can help me or fishface?" Tayuya asked.
"Hey!" Isaribi complained.
"I don't know. It's certainly possible, but I can't promise that. For now, all we can do is wait until we can see someone much more educated on Pretans than myself. When it comes to these subjects I've struggled to learn as much as I can in the past few years, but there's still a lot left for me to learn." Kushina told everyone.
"I'll manage for now. It just feels like I sprained my back. Maybe a good massage would ease it." Sakura noted, then glanced towards Naruto. "Naruto, could you help me?"
"Sure Sakura-chan." He said before going up behind her and starting a basic back rub. "That good?"
Sakura smiled and hummed in content. "Hmm... much better. Thanks Naruto."
Hinata lightly frowned but she decided to let this one go. There was nothing to be jealous about after all.
"Anyway, back to what I was saying, the population is composed of several different races here, most of which you might consider the 'good guys' of fantasy. Of course not all of them actually are good, but humans are not native to this world so don't expect to see many if any." Kushina continued.
"So there are humans here?" Ino asked.
Kushina nodded. "Yes but not many. Their ancestors came here long ago and just stayed so they left descendants. Some of them are even half-human half-another race. Here in Ai no Kuni, the majority of the non-elf population is composed of succubi like myself. In fact, the royalty here in Ai no Kuni are succubi, and... well, I'm not sure how to explain this, but apparently I'm part of that family."
"What?" Everyone asked.
"It's true. My mother was the previous true queen of Ai no Kuni, and since the line usually succeeds the first born succubus or incubus, that means Naruto is the first successor to the throne of Ai no Kuni should I perish or pass it to him." Kushina said as Naruto just stared in mid rub.
"Boss?" Moegi asked as she patted his back for him to fall down immediately. "BOSS!"
Sakura by virtue of being the nearest was the first to check on him, with Hinata very shortly coming up to him as well. "I think he's just in shock. Can't say I blame him. Not everyday you find out you're royalty."
Hinata nodded. "It's overwhelming alright. Learning he's a different species, learning his mother is alive and his father was a hokage, lear-"
"What?" Ino asked. "What did you say? Naruto's father was a hokage?"
Everyone froze, now realizing they had forgotten to mention that detail to the Yamanaka. Sakura sighed. "Yes Ino, he is. And not just any hokage. His father is the Yondaime."
"The Yondaime? Seriously?" Ino repeated. She was certain this was a joke, but so far in her time with this group she had no reason to believe any of them had lied to her about anything. And when she looked at Naruto, she noticed there was a similarity given the spiky yellow hair both men had and the blue eyes. "But then, why do so many people in Konoha want to kill him?"
Everyone was hesitant to answer, and so finally Sakura turned to her old friend. "Ino, if we tell you, you have to swear that this information is absolutely off-limits gossip-wise. Thrown in a vault and buried underground, not something you can just tell anyone. Ever."
"Who am I going to tell here?" Ino asked, opening her arms to indicate the lack of uninformed people.
"No one. Not now. Not ever. Not for any reason. I'm completely serious Ino." Sakura reinforced.
"I think you're only making her more interested." Hinata commented while trying to break Naruto of his catatonic state.
"Even so, you agree with my message right Hinata?"
"Oh absolutely."
Right then Naruto returned to the world of the conscious. "Mom, were you serious?"
"When haven't I been serious with you Son?" Kushina asked. "Here you're a bonafide prince, and I swear here you'll be treated like one."
"You mean I'd be treated like Sasuke?" Naruto asked, not liking the idea.
"I can't say for certain since I wasn't there to see it, but I can say you'd be treated with dignity and respect."
"Why? Just because you're my mother?" He asked.
Kushina could now see where this was going. "Naruto, unfortunately that is how it may start. A sad fact about life is there are plenty of shallow people who love or hate you for anything, be it your fault or not. There will be some people that will treat you like an elite just because you're my son, but there are also people who won't but will at least be polite enough to give you a chance to impress them yourselves. I know you want to be liked for your own worth instead of mine but you can't expect to get that right away."
"Still doesn't feel right."
"No, but it's better to be liked for the wrong reason than hated for the wrong reason in my opinion. At least then you have a better chance of being liked for the right reason someday." She told him, but Naruto just sighed as if defeated.
"What's the problem here? I'd thought someone would love to find out they're royalty." Ino asked, confused.
"It's just hard to accept. I wanted to be seen as myself, not as something else. But I guess that will never happen." He said to himself.
Hinata wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I've always liked you that way Naruto-kun. So it has happened. Am I not good enough?"
He turned and surprised her by kissing her, which surprised the others since this was the first time they saw him initiate affection between them. "You're terrific Hinata-chan, I'm very happy to have you. I'm just upset others can't see what you can."
"I can Naruto." Sakura told him gently. "I'm sorry it took me so long to. You may not be perfect, but you're my friend, my hero, and overall the best boy I've ever known. That's who you are to me."
Naruto turned red from the praise. "Thanks Sakura-chan, that means a lot to me."
'Wow, Forehead sounds almost exactly like Hinata.' Ino thought, noticing the way Sakura looked at Naruto. 'Wait a minute, could she...?'
"Ah, this is so sweet it just has to be fattening." Tayuya sarcastically stated, breaking the mood. "If you guys are done, I'd like to see someone who can get me on my feet again please. I'm getting really tired of asking for that."
Kushina nodded. "Yes, we'll get going. Just try not to touch anything, say anything to anyone or draw attention to yourselves. Naruto, don't show your wings and tail yet, that is best saved for later. Now the nearest town is about two hours away, so let's get going."
After a long walk they reached the town Kushina was referring to, and it was unlike anything the others had expected. When they heard that this world was dominated by elves and the like, they kind of pictured it looking like something out of Tolkien. Huts instead of buildings, dirt paths instead of roads, and lots of little people working and frolicking outside.
Instead this was like the villages they were used to back home. Buildings made of metal with glass windows, paved streets with sidewalks, even electric streetlights and power lines. And the people out and about looked as human as they did, except for the ones with wings and tails like Kushina.
"Wow, this is a normal town here?" Ino asked.
"What were you expecting? Technology exists in all worlds, though Makai is probably the least advanced." Kushina answered.
"I guess I was expecting something a little more... medieval." The ponytailed blonde replied.
"Nope." was all Kushina said to that.
They walked thru the town, the group doing their best to stay inconspicuous. Kushina was the only one standing out given the fact she showed off her succubus features without fear. The others kept themselves busy by taking note of the town, seeing how it differed from Konoha now they had a closer look.
Signs were in front of shops written in some unrecognized script, but the merchandise was often seen and recognizable to them. The people that looked normal apparently had pointed ears and various hair and eye colors, but their clothes were oddly normal compared to Konoha's casual clothes. There were no posted guards anywhere, none that could be seen anyway. In a way, it kind of reminded them all of the towns they went to on missions.
Kushina smiled during the walk, aware that looking unfriendly here would not be a good idea, and led her group to the center of the town. Near there they found what looked like a hotel and she went inside. "Hi, I'm here to see Admiral Banfu or at least one of his men please."
The receptionist, a pointy-eared woman with violet hair and eyes wearing a white uniform, nodded. "I'll see if any of them are in their rooms at the moment." She then headed off.
Kushina turned around. "While we wait, how about we get some lunch?"
"Do they-?"
"Yes Son they have ramen here in Alfheim."