(Hi, just a brief little message. I'm currently in the process of doing summer school programs, so sometimes an upload will take an extra week. However, with that being said, I plan adding some college level information into the story as we progress. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the epic scenes with it! Take care, and have fun. Next Two Chapters will begin wrapping up Act 1.)
Chapter Thirteen: Go All Out, And Survive!
"I think it's the human spirit inside of all of us that has an enormous capacity to survive."
-Amanda Lindhout
{Near The Grimm Army.}
[Twelve Hours Later. 7:24am]
The machine flew across the sky, slowly descending down onto the dunes painted red by the morning sun. They had been unfortunate enough to have been on the trail of that massive Grimm army for around twelve hours now. Naruto was the first to feel uneasy, and in his own mind's eye he could feel the massive dark hole in front of them.
Aurum looked through his binoculars, and grimaced. "No two ways about it, Kihana is dead if we try to go around." He stated with unease laced in his voice before looking over toward Naruto. "How are you feeling sense your little pain transfer session the other day with Luna?"
"About as good as a kunai up someone's rearend." Naruto retorted whilst crossing his arms and sighing as he felt them land in the sand. "So, if we try to go around…Kihana is dead?"
"Yes."
"It's a call that we all must make as a group. Kihana is passed out, she wouldn't feel any pain, she'd simply pass in her rest." Aurum grimaced before looking at the massive sand trail on the horizon. "Going through that, however, is almost a death sentence for all of us."
Luna emerged from under the cover, she only needed to take one look. "Oh, Gods, it's that Grimm army, isn't it?" She shuddered as she saw the horizon dance with turned up sand.
"It is, Luna, sorry but I think all your efforts to save Kihana- "
"We're going through it." Naruto suddenly interrupted Aurum, who took a doubletake on the much younger blonde-haired pre-teen. "I'm not saying this as a pessimist, I'm never a pessimist…I try to see the best things in the darkest of times. However, I made myself a vow that I'd protect those I care for, no matter what. You guys had my back, you all are my teammates."
"Naruto…" Luna felt some emotions well in her as she saw the shinobi take a look at the horizon. "What are you suggesting?"
"How fast can this thing move on full blast, Aurum?" The pre-teen soldier asked.
"I can get it up to three hundred miles an hour, but it'll eat a good chunk of the dust fuel. Wait a damn minute, why?" Aurum questioned him, only to see the look of determination inside of the kid's eyes. "No way, hell no! You're not throwing yourself as a bait out there!"
"We don't have a choice, it's either this, or we definitely lose Kihana. I'm not letting anyone die, ya know! So, it's either we do this together, or I go on my own and force you." Naruto reached down on his beltline, pulling out a scroll. "I'm not saying I'm gonna die, because I'm not, I'm going to get back to Kuo Kuana with you guys."
"Even for you," Luna looked at the horizon. "That's a stretch."
"I'm not going to stay in the fight, I'm just going to get you guys out and retreat." The blonde shinobi slammed his palm onto the scroll, making a few bundles of kunai appear with paper bombs attached to them. He took a deep breath. "If I move fast enough, and you guys as well, we might not even stir them up too much."
"That's a hugely inflated gamble, with so many unknown factors." Luna argued whilst shaking her head. "You can't possibly know that."
"You're right, I don't know that, but I know that Kihana is going to die if we don't." Naruto equipped the kunai along his beltline, stuffing ones he could fit into the pouches. "I know that I made a vow to always protect my teammates even back in my old world." He rolled his sleeves up, and then took off his armor. It weighed him down anyhow. "I'm trying too hard to fight like you guys, to move like you guys, but you're too slow for what I go planned."
"Planned?!" She exclaimed in confusion, throwing her hands up in the air. "What frigging plan?! You don't have a plan! you have a wing and prayer!"
"I got by on less," Naruto slightly chuckles before taking a moment to cut the sleeves of achkan off with the kunai, stuffing them into the pouch as makeshift bandages if the time came. "So, are we on the same page, or am I just gonna have to start running?"
"Wait, wait!" Aurum screamed out before he got out a map. "I know where we're near. This here," he points on the map at a large drawing of wavy mountains. "Is The Deep Dunes. It's a unique location because it's a quicksand basin."
"Okay, so, what?" Naruto questioned the interruption. "How does that help us?"
"Um, it just probably increased our chances of getting out here by a ton! Okay, so that one giant Grimm is leading the group. What if, and I'm just saying this as an if you were able to grab it's attention?" Aurum asked as he went over the map, using his finger to point out The Deep Dunes.
Naruto felt a smile cross his face. "If I am able to grab attention? Sheesh, you guys don't know me at all, I'm always grabbing attention! Okay, so I make it angry and have it chase me north a little?"
"Yes, and we can regroup here!" Aurum pointed at an area just west of The Deep Dunes. "It's so stupid, so asinine, that this plan could frigging work!"
"Hell yeah!" Naruto whooped before noting something, and his eyes widened as he suddenly kicked Aurum down onto the floor before leaning back as a bonelike spear flew just between them. "Oh, great, we got company!"
Luna leapt over to her rifle, picking it up, and bracing it on the edge of the aircraft. "I spot five spear-tails. No, make that six, seven, gods damn it all! Are arguing created some negative energy and drew in some of the stragglers! She loaded a round into the breach, and cocked the charging handle back. "I guess our time for planning is over!"
"Nah, really, ya think?!" Naruto yelled out as he leapt up, and threw two explosive kunai into two different spear-tails which then sunk deep into their armor. "Boom!"
The tags exploded, killing the two range Grimm instantly. Naruto rolled forward, and got a combat kunai out whilst checking to see if his weapon were on his back just in case, he'd need it. "Alright, get going, ya know!" Naruto yelled whilst charging forward, and forming clones. "I guess this plan starts early!"
Aurum hesitated as he watched young kid charge into battle. Luna was taking shots at newly arriving stragglers. The mechanic took a deep breath before looking down into the shaded part of the makeshift vessel, seeing a shallow breathing Kihana, who churned slightly.
Naruto dodged to right as a bone spear impacted near him. He growled out as the massive insectoid Grimm chittered. He knew that if this continued on, and if Aurum couldn't do what he needed to do, they were dead! With that in mind, the Jinchuuriki found himself slowly gathering his anger inside of him, and growling.
His azure eyes becoming a blazing crimson as more of the insectoid Grimm came just over the dune.
"It's all, or nothing, and I'm not letting you hurt my them!" He called out to the Grimm as Aurum found himself, and then leapt over toward the engine. Naruto smirked when he heard it fire off, and his foxlike eyes saw the vessel fly past him overhead. "Alright, let's go-go-go!"
Naruto took off sprinting, flooding his chakra system with the Nine Tails' chakra as he kept pace with the machine flying overhead. Obviously, Aurum wasn't punching it just yet, but the blonde shinobi kept pace easily enough. Dodging, weaving, and sometimes slashing through any Grimm that got into his path.
All at once, the dust started to kick up into the air as Naruto began to sprint on all fours. Running with a clear purpose as he heard the jet engine on the machine cut off, watching it descend. He figured, gloomily, that it needed to land one more time before Aurum really kicked it into gear. Using his superior reflexes, Naruto rolled forward just barely dodging a group of jackals as they tried to grab him with their spindly arms.
His clones were killing, or righting, any Grimm behind him as he continued running forward. He formed more clones ahead of him, sending them sprinting forward to take on a couple massive scorpion creatures that had began to emerge out of the dust storm ahead.
He heard the screech above him, and saw shrikes in the air. Growling, Naruto leapt and bounded forward before grabbing wire out of a pouch on his right hip. Attaching the wire to the kunai in his hand, he saw the massive buzzard-like Grimm descend toward him.
He rolled forward, dodging it's claws before launching the kunai into it. Holding on for dear life, the shinobi felt himself get launched into the as he pulled back on the wire. Leaping upward, Naruto formed a clone next to him, and with that clone he held out his right hand above his head. The clone next to him began to help him form a rasengan.
"Alright you overgrown buzzard, eat this, rasengan!" Naruto screamed out as he slammed the ball into the back of the flying Grimm, making it split in half as the ball exploded and sent it spiraling into several other Grimm. "Alright, whoa!"
The Jinchuuriki leaned back midair just in time to avoid a spear-tails bone spear being launched at him. He grabbed an explosive kunai out, and threw it into the insectoid Grimm with practiced ease before landing with a forward roll into the sands. He saw Aurum, and Luna taking shots with her rifle, and turret respectively as another shrike tried to come after him.
Naruto turned on his heel before flipping backward into the air. This caught the beast off guard as he landed atop of it, and began to wail on it with his fists. Punching the demonic bird in the head over and over again. The shinobi's crimson foxlike eyes locked onto where makeshift aircraft landed, and sunk his newly formed claws into the beast's skull before yanking back!
The loud, pain filled, screeches from the massive Grimm filled the air as Naruto made it charge direction. Satisfied with the result, he stood atop it, using chakra to anchor himself down before reaching behind him. He got the wakizashi out before attaching it to the scabbard that extended it out into it's naginata form. Spinning the polearm several times to gather momentum, filling it with chakra, he slashed downward.
A head flew off in the air as the shrike's body began to disintegrate. Naruto leapt off, landing next to the makeshift aircraft whilst slamming into a scorpion Grimm blade first. Twisting, and slashing, the massive beast roared out in death throes before slumping forward.
"Naruto, you good?!" Luna yelled out whilst taking out another large jackal Grimm that came over a dune.
"Never better!" Naruto yelled back, despite feeling more of The Nine Tails' influence come into him. He hissed when he felt minor scratches begin to steam close. "Get going, will ya!"
"Alright, engines charged and ready!" Aurum screamed out as he got off the turret. "Full steam ahead!"
Naruto heard the sonic blast from the engine as it began to slide the aircraft forward. He followed it as closely as he could whilst slashing, cutting, and ripping apart any Grimm that close to it. His hands weaving the hand seals for clones every so often to replenish their ranks as he saw the storm just in front of him.
"Okay, this is it!" The young shinobi mentally readied himself before running into the storm. The sand whipped in his face as he continued forward at breakneck speeds. "Gotta keep moving, gotta keep moving!"
He saw red eyes dancing in the darkness of the storm around him. Noting him, seeking him, and following him as he ran. His heartbeat against his chest rapidly as he suddenly heard a loud roar, and only had mere seconds to react as a massive stinger suddenly came toward him. He dodged to the right, only to roll to the left as second massive stinger almost got him!
Dodging back briefly as several limbs stumped down near him. The shinobi saw the overcast above him, and leapt forward to avoid getting smashed. He then leapt to the side as one of the massive stingers from before slammed downward. He barely blocked the next stinger with the naginata before feeling himself getting slammed backwards from the force.
The stinger itself was easily the size of him, even longer. It's barb dripped with black venom, which stained the ground. His crimson eyes failed to meet the source of the attacks, but he knew he had caught the main beast's attention simply because it was stalking him in the sands. Flowing chakra all around him, Naruto put away the naginata before crisscrossing both of his arms, and focusing as he slammed his arms down.
Blasting out pure waves of pressure, Naruto saw the sand briefly clear. Then he saw it!
His crimson eyes met human sized red orbs in the air above him as a clawed black hand launched toward him. He brought a rasengan up formed in a hurry, not even to the third stage, deflecting the claw with the malformed ball before running to the side. Heading north as planned, forming clones ahead of himself that began to tackle, and rip into other Grimm around him.
He exited the sandstorm just as he saw Aurum and co. ahead of him. His legs burned with soreness, but he continued forward. For good measure, however, he turned around and launched several explosive kunai behind him. They flew through the air, whistling, and then they hit their marks.
CLANG!
BOOM!
The explosions filled the air, only clearing the sandstorm from the front as the beast made its presence known fully via spreading it's thin wings. It roared out, holding out it's visible arms as minor bulbs formed on their surface. Suddenly, as if they were shotguns, the hands launched bone pellets at him in spreads. These pellets were thornlike, barbed, and impacted the sand around Naruto who used all the advantages The Nine Tails gave him whilst using his chakra.
It's massive frame escaped the sand, following him, roaring out to him in challenge. For some reason, either out of pure spite, or to challenge himself. Naruto gathered air into his lungs, and roared back at it. His childlike, high-pitched roar mixed with the beast deep baritone of the monster in front of him. It worked, however, and it began to charge forward all the same.
"Now you've gone and done it, brat."
"Oh great, here we go, what is it?!" Naruto mentally screamed as he ran fast toward the north. "Are you saying that what I just did wasn't a little badass?"
"You challenged it, and it accepted."
"Didn't know you spoke Grimm, Nine Tails." Naruto shot back before suddenly forming clones to block the massive, barbed pellets it once launched at him. "Crap, that was too close!"
"I don't speak 'Grimm,' brat. This abomination is an amalgamation of dark energies. Darker than even my own."
"Heh, well, I guess we need to figure out a way to beat it!" The Jinchuuriki laughed mentally before seeing Aurum speed ahead of him. "If I fall here…at least they got away."
"You truly are an idiot, boy. Your trading yourself, gold, for a clipped bird who might not even survive."
Naruto frowned at that, but kept a pace to where the beast would follow him. Occasionally summoning forth clones to block long range attacks. The beast roared out behind him, calling out to him in anger. Naruto took a long moment to think of his response, and then he smiled.
"Minato Namikaze sealed you into me because I was chosen to be a vessel. I could've let you win at any point, but the one reason I continue forward despite everything is purely to show you that I'm not like other people! I don't care what happens to me, this thing could eat me for all I care, but as long as I never go back on my word…I think I can go to the afterlife proudly." Naruto mentally replied to The Nine Tails, he heard the beast growl before it then chuckles. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing, the irony is just…very on point, I can almost put the tip of my claw into it."
"That's a weird statement, but okay." Naruto suddenly turned around when he saw something keeping pace with him. "What the?!"
Naruto slid on his knees just in time to avoid the slashing tails of strange new Grimm. They had tails that were scythe like in shape. They moved quickly, almost tackling him down before the blonde swept both of them up into the air with an upward kick with the Nine Tails enhancing it. He formed clones which tackled, and stabbed them repeatedly.
It only became more confusing when the massive beast took a moment to suddenly stop. Naruto turned around, only to watch hold both hands out in front of it. "What's it doing?" The shinobi pondered to himself only to see a dark bolt of lightning suddenly emerge from it's hands.
The beast almost cackled before suddenly it's fists crackled with dark lightning, and then it happened all at once. It flexed the humanlike hands of its upper torso, which launched a torrent of those barbed pellets. However, unlike last time, these pellets suddenly formed a black netting of lightning around them.
Naruto's only choice was to counter, and formed two clones next to him whilst flowing red chakra downward. He took a deep breath before filling the twin spheres form in both of his hands. He launched himself upward, thrusting both out in front.
"Nine Tails Rasengan Barrage!" Naruto screamed, breaking through the netting of lightning before seeing twin shrikes roar right at him. Using the spheres, he blocked the bonelike projectiles they launched from their mouths before slamming downward onto other shrikes that tried to attack him from below! "That was too close, what in the hell was that?!"
It roared at him, frustrated by his ability to negate its attack. Naruto took a moment to breathe before turning and running. "Man, chief toad would really be handy right now…" He thought to himself before looking down at his palm. He thought about it, he seriously put it to thought, but then decided against it completely. "I couldn't forgive myself if he got stuck here too, damn it all!"
"Choices, choices, we all have to make them."
Not in the mood, he cut the mental link before he continued north. He heard screeching above him, and rolled his eyes before leaping upward, forming a clone to kick off of. He backflips, landing on top of the shrike as it tried to do like the others, and snatch him midair. Grabbing the tuft of its blackened neck feathers, just over its armored head. Naruto got higher into the air, and saw his destination, massive dunes toward the north.
He saw Aurum's machine fluttering in the wind, beseeched by two other shrikes. He saw one fall from the air, a shot from Luna, but then horror struck him as he saw the other shrike get a lucky hit before getting shredded by the turret. One of the chutes had a hole ripped into it, and then the machine began to descend rapidly.
With no electronic radios, Naruto could only hope his efforts weren't in vain as he began to punch the buzzard Grimm in their direction.
{The Barren Wastes: Deep Dunes.}
[Ten Minutes Later.]
Aurum was struggling as he crawled from the wreckage. He had shielded Kihana with his body whilst Luna held on for dear life. She was the first up, getting her rifle up, noting the dunes in front of her. Aurum took up Kihana, carrying her in his arms before handing her off to Luna.
"If any Grimm are near, it's close range only." He said to her before getting out his Halberd before slamming it into the side of the machine. "Forge!"
Suddenly the bottom of the halberd heats up, and opens up to reveal an inward built mechanism. It began to crunch, and melted metal inside of it. It was creating slugs slowly, the electric launcher built into the halberd whistled to life as Aurum spun it around.
"Did you see Naruto?" Luna asked.
"No, we lost him in the storm, I think he's okay because I heard a lot of roaring from the distance." Aurum found himself smirking before gathering supplies up. "We have to hoof it from here, watch the low dips in the dunes, quicksand basins and all."
"Right…quicksand." Luna shivered before jogging away from the wreckage with Kihana over her shoulders.
The rabbit faunus easily keeping pace with arm, but sliding every so often on the side of the dune. She got over the crest as he did, and saw the sandstorm trail from the Grimm army shift toward them. Aurum nodded his head before looking at the machine, noting the broken engine.
"Well, Black Cat Five, you got us this far." He smiled under his chagrin thoughts before looking at Luna. "C'mon, slide down, this bottom is safe. When you see something shift below the dune, that's the water from the local aquifer mixing into quicksand."
"Ri-right!" Luna yelled out before sliding down with him, and when they bottomed out, they ran up the next dune. Cresting above the massive dune, Luna turned around and her breath hitched as she saw massive Grimm in the distance charging in a frenzy toward them. "Aurum!"
"Oh Gods, Naruto must've really pissed it off!" Aurum yelled out before looking down, and nodding. "Slide!"
Both of them slid down before running up the next dune, followed by sliding down that dune as well. They kept at this until they reached a particularly high dune, and just before Luna was going to slide Aurum stops her. She saw it, the churning sand below before grimacing as she noted that it stretched a good distance on either side.
"Left!" She yelled before dashing to the side with Aurum, attempting to find some solid ground to cross on. They heard a screech above them as they saw a shrike fly overhead, flapping it's wings violently as they noted something attacking it. "It's Naruto!"
Aurum looks up, watching as the blonde shinobi was struggling against this large shrike before finally forming a clone, and slamming a ball of energy into it. "Holy shit, Spunky, he friggin' made it!" The mechanic wanted to celebrate before suddenly hearing the massive roar.
Both turned to see the massive Grimm charging closer, and closer. That's when it stopped before slashing with both of it's long tails! It attempted to swat Naruto out of the sky, who was somehow guiding the shrike he was on. Aurum watched as Naruto abandoned the shrike as the stringer practically blew it to pieces when it impacted.
He saw the younger blonde youth falling through the air before the beast attempted to stab him with it's other stringer. A loud, resonating boom echoed, and he saw the orange clad shinobi fly across the air, and over them. His right hand bloody, obviously, he had done something last minute to block an attack meant to be a death blow.
"Naruto!" Aurum screamed only to have reality scream back at them as the beast slammed by tails down and shook the ground. This caused Luna to stumble, and trip over to the side. "Luna!"
Luna held onto Kihana as she slid down into the wet sand below, she struggled to keep from falling too deep in. Aurum slid down next to her, trying to help her up as she struggled with her gear and Kihana too. She began to remove her armor, finally her hump as well, which allowed her to be light enough to gain some footing on the wet sand.
The mechanic was helping the rabbit faunus up until he noted a shadow overhead. He felt his heart freeze, and if he had been younger with less stalwart will he'd pissed himself. Looking up, he saw the massive frame of the beast overheard, it's giant red eyes looking right down at them as it stopped it's charge.
Luna whimpers before closing her eyes. "Oh Gods…please forgive me of my transgressions, and welcome me to the tree, and reform me…"
Aurum didn't meant to do it, but if this were his last moments, he would die at least clutching someone. He grabbed Luna, taking a deep breath before doing one last act of defiance. He got up, roaring as he used his super strength, he launched Luna and Kihana across the bottom onto the other dune.
"Run!" He ordered them before getting Forge ready and spinning around. "Run, Luna, run!"
She wanted to help him, she was only able to get up, clamber over the next dune before hearing the echoing shot of Aurum's weapon echo into the air. She turned back around, watching as the man ran to the side, sprinting as a fast as he could on the dune before trying to strike at several spots on the massive foreleg of the beast.
Nothing had an effect, but Aurum was nimble enough to dodge its attempts. That was until purple mist began to leak out of it's mouth. Aurum saw this coming, and then targeted it's mouth before firing a single slug into it. It had the desired effect when the beast lurched upwards, and screamed in pain before slamming both stingers forward toward Aurum. He was luckily able to use his superior reflexes and strength to maneuver around them in time before suddenly a black hand scooped him up.
"Aurum!" Luna screamed as she turned back once again, this time on a different dune as she tried running. "Aurum, no!" She got her rifle out whilst laying Kihana down, and targeted the beast hands. "Let him go, you overgrown bastard!"
Several shots ricochet off the beast's bony armor. It smiled as its horned head met the gaze of Aurum, who looked no different than a tiny pear inside of a human hand. A ripe pear, fit for eating, which the beast was planning to do as it opened its jagged maw wide open!
"Oh, my sweet girl, daddy is off to see mom." Aurum closes his eyes before smiling a little bit. He then took a deep breath, readying himself for the pain to come. "Lily, I'm coming, hope you didn't miss me too much."
"Aurum!" Luna screamed again as the beast brought him closer to it's mouth. The man had stopped all struggles before Luna cried out his name again. "Aurum!"
A loud screech suddenly filled the air, and a blast echoed over the dunes as a massive horde of Naruto clones suddenly emerged. They were all screaming, raving, and holding shuriken in their hands. The sniper watched as they all launched their weapons at once, and the resounding clanging rang throughout the desert air. However, some found soft spots, and sunk in before making the beast shrill in pain which in turn made it release Aurum.
Naruto suddenly appeared below Aurum, catching him before sliding to a stop on the ground. "Aurum! Aurum, are you okay?!" The child shinobi inquired whilst watching his clones charge at the massive Grimm. It began to shoot those bone pellets out from all directions of it's body to counteract the attacking clones.
"Thought I was a goner, thanks, Spunky." Aurum commented before weakly getting out of Naruto's arms. "We lost the aircraft."
"I don't care, but you guys need to move, because I'm not holding back against this thing!" Naruto told him before feeling the last bits of his clones get destroyed, and suddenly it's focus shifting towards them. "Go, Aurum, I got this!"
Aurum was about to protest before Naruto took off, kicking up a dust cloud as he did so. He saw the blur of orange move fast, faster than he had previously! The soldier watched the shinobi maneuver, and dodged any of those barbed pellets that were targeting him. Not arguing any further, Aurum ran down the dune before leaping over the quicksand basin, and grabbing Kihana. He looked back at his weapon laying in the desert, sighing.
He could always build another.
That's when the beast roared out as Naruto threw explosive kunai at it. The blasts made it take steps back as the blonde shinobi threw bundles of five at a time. Loud booms filled the desert air as he backflipped away after throwing the last bundle of explosive knives. He watched as the beast started to charge forward, almost unscathed save for sinches on the bony armor.
"Alright, you overgrown bug! Time for a technique out of one my friend's handbooks!" Naruto declared whilst getting several kunai out with pouches on the back of them, leaping backward as the right stinger slammed into the sandy dune he was on. He rolled to the side midair to dodge the left one, and angled himself to run along the tail. "Straight from Team Seven's Shinobi Handbook!"
The Jinchuuriki moved out of the way as the tail formed barbs that launched themselves at Naruto like a point defense system. Running down the length of the tail in a spiral Aurum and Luna noted as they looked behind them the paper fluttering out from the pouches. They noted that they were explosive tags, and finally Naruto leapt off before twirling midair before throwing the pouched kunai at the monster.
"Sakura Haruno's Cherry Blossom Blizzard Blast!"
All at once the pouches ignited, and then…
BOOM!
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
A rapid series of explosions scattered across the massive Grimm, knocking it back and forth. Naruto landed with a slide near the quicksand, but used chakra to stay afloat as he slid into it. Aurum, who was carrying Kihana, was absolutely stunned at the display. Only for horror to fill his face as the beast emerged no more damaged than before. Naruto growled as red chakra swirled around him, and formed a couple of hand seals.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He screamed out as hundreds of smoke plumes emerged around them, and they charged all at once. The shinobi clones and the original moved in tandem as they launched each other at the beast, rolling into balls and impacting near it's head. "Alright, let's go with one of my techniques, ya know!"
Naruto and four others his clones kicked the face of the monster with enhanced chakra kicks. Nearly falling back down, they each formed a clone that threw them right back up into a sort of uppercut kick to the chin of the beast. It made it lurch upwards as the others worked the legs, punching, kicking, and even biting any bit they could get ahold of.
The massive Grimm shook most of them off, and then began to pour violet mist from it's mouth. Spraying it forth with a massive roar that caught most of the clones it shook off in its wake. Many of them grabbed at their throats, disappearing in puffs of smoke. Naruto, and his cohort of four other clones moved fast along the body of the beast. Dodging, and weaving through the pellets as they formed and launched from the bony armor of the monstrous Grimm.
He and cohort launched themselves up. His red eyes scanning over the beast before noting the violet mist gathering up, and it's wings drawing back. He noted where it was now, and saw in the air a massive quicksand basin about thirty meters away. He and his clones all formed hand seals before channeling chakra.
"Straight from my Shinobi Handbook!" Naruto screamed out as a massive torrent of orange filled the sky. They launched themselves down, impacting the Grimm in waves! Making it backup toward the quicksand basin Naruto had seen whilst in the air.
"Na-Ru-To!" They screamed after each hit, with the kicks making them disperse from the usage of chakra in each one. The fourth wave came down hard, with the most clones opting to use chakra enhanced punches straight at the beast's face, and upper torso half. "Uzumaki Two-K Barrage!"
Aurum, and Luna were stunned and silent. They watched as the clones dispersed at each hit, forcing them all from the waves of pressure. Kihana shook, and stirred awake as she the massive Grimm getting beaten back. Her yellow eyes filled with tears of hope as she saw the blonde shinobi amongst a few remaining clones.
"Can he do it?" She felt her eyes beginning to close again. "Win…"
Naruto and clones dropped from sky before dashing forward. Aurum held his hand over his heart he noted what Naruto was doing, and it was ingenious! "Go Naruto, knock it into the quicksand basin! It won't be able to stay afloat!" He screamed out, only to watch in horror as the beast suddenly lashed out with all limbs.
Naruto, and his clones, were all knocked away. With the original sent flying straight into another dune, and out the other side. The duo of soldiers felt their hearts sink as the beast turned to them. Already he could see the barbs forming on it's skin, and so without much more to do…Luna suddenly threw herself him in front of him just as the first barbs launched!
He felt thump against him as her white aura shimmered, and then broke as one of them pierced through her right clavicle. She went back as blood flew from her mouth. Fetal positioning herself on the ground as blood poured from the cuts on her from the deflected barbs. Aurum felt the world stop as he saw her twitch, noting that the area hit wasn't fatal, but it was more than enough to cause her to go into shock.
"Luna!"
Aurum dropped Kihana, and got Luna's rifle before transforming it into the claymore sword she used for closed combat. The next barbs launched were mostly deflected. His golden aura shimmered from the ones he couldn't. The beast wasn't taking a second chance this time, and instead prepared the black lightning attack it had used earlier. Fully intent to be rid of these annoying insects around it. Aurum watched as it began to form only for a large red hand made of energy suddenly come out from under a smaller dune and drag it right down into its black lightning net.
The beast let out a shrill scream of pain as it picked itself back up. After it does, another giant red hand, this time balled into a fist, smashes right into it's center. Aurum looked over toward the smaller dune that the fist had emerged from, and saw Naruto emerge up from it. Red energy shrilled, screeched, and swirled around him as coldness filled the air.
"You bastard…" Naruto breathed under his breath as his began to form claws, and then he looked over at Luna who was laying motionless. "You bastard…you'll…you'll…I'll kill you!"
"Yes, use my power…boy."
An explosion of shrilling filled the area as Naruto lurched forward, grunting under the strain as the energy began to thicken up. His lips began to turn darker, and they curled upward, showing his ever-elongating upper canines as they poked from over the lips. He watched as the beast briefly turned it's attention away from him, and back towards the much weaker prey!
It reared up, preparing to smash them to pieces. Aurum had no choice, and shielded both Kihana and Luna with his body as he awaited the end! Only, another loud boom filled the air!
"Get away from them!" Naruto roared inhumanly as his voice echoed with the screams of monster behind it. A cloak of energy bubbled around, forming a single tail whilst his features became much more animalistic that before. "HIIYAA!"
WHOOSH!
Naruto suddenly appeared above the massive Grimm before kicking it face first into the sand. He bounced off on each kick. Ending it after the fifth kick to it's head, only succeeding in giving the bony armor a slight indentation. The beastlike Naruto roared out as he flipped backward, and ran on all fours toward the monster.
The beast's massive body meant it couldn't turn fast enough to track the now enraged shinobi. The boy ran up the beast on all fours, attacking any weak point saw with vicious slashes from his newly formed claws. Some even connecting against something other than the bony armor, and with black smoke spilling from the wounds.
It roared out in pain as Naruto, in a fit of animalistic rage, ran up to it's face and bit down on the ear of the humanoid top. Thrashing about, stumbling around, it only managed to dislodge the little monster from it! Naruto was sent soaring downward from the dislodgement, but his chakra cloak slowly widened, allowing him to essentially glide down instead of just tumble.
Landing on the sand, the Jinchuuriki growled out as spat out the little piece of blackened ear flesh he had torn off. Aurum, who had watched this, felt his blood go cold as he saw Naruto stand up with his arms loosely dangling down. There was no sense of humanity inside of the boy's eyes, just pure animalistic rage, and it showed when the massive Grimm roared.
"GRAAAAH!"
The baritone of the massive Grimm shook the desert air. However, whilst Aurum was shaken, the beastlike boy stood tall and responded in kind. With the response, an outpouring of that red energy swirled around him. Then Aurum saw it for the first time, perhaps he would be the only one to see it!
In the clouds of red, it emerged, a fox with nine tails. It's transparent visage hugged near the Jinchuuriki whilst Naruto roared out in a bestial challenge!
"HIIIYAAA!"
The cloak bubbling around him began to form a second tail. With Aurum watching as Naruto's eyes gained a black circle around them, and his lips turned black. Much like the shadowing, and lip color of a fox. The blonde shinobi, this Jinchuuriki, showed no hint of fear in his body as he continued roaring his challenge at the massive man-scorpion in front of him.
The massive Grimm began to have violet mist pour from it's mouth as it unfurled it's wings. It was an immediate reaction, one that Aurum barely followed as Naruto seemingly teleported above the beast in a sheer feat of speed. Crashing into it's back, the Jinchuuriki made it's eight legs buckle from the impact, forcing it to squat into the sand. Fully aware, it seemed, of the danger the violet mist posed in combination.
The massive, and ancient Grimm's red eyes widened as both tails from the cloak grew, and wrapped themselves around the joints of the wings. It thrashed, even rolling, and skimming just over the surface of the quicksand basin. Everything, and anything to keep the beast on it's back from doing what it seeking to do.
It failed, and with a loud popping noise. Aurum watched as the enlarged energy tails popped off the wings, shredding them from the beast's back before throwing them to the side. With pain in its screams, the ancient Grimm reached back with it's stretchable black arms, managing to grab a surprised Naruto and throwing back into the desert sands as hard as it could.
With a massive impact, the Jinchuuriki took out a dune from impacting it. Sand exploded into the sky as the Grimm roared out, only to watch in confusion as this insect got back up again. Aurum wasn't sure if he was seeing it correctly either, but it seemed under the boy's blackened lips, a smile had formed as blood leaked down his lips.
Wiping it away with his clawed hands, Naruto was indeed smiling. A wicked smile, an inhuman smile, a demonic smile. He saw the blood turn black on his hand, becoming a thick vapor before flowing into the winds. He was losing himself, and it was joyful, this anger and desperation turning to hatred and joy.
Was it The Nine Tails? It didn't matter, it felt good. He needed to feel it some more, and judging by the massive Grimm's stance he would indeed get plenty more! Naruto nearly laughed, but then failed to catch himself as clutched his claws to his face.
"Yes, the thrill of my power excites you, funny enough that you pushed yourself into a two-tailed state. Heh, still, this monster is a challenge. It's best that we take care of this quickly, brat."
The Nine Tails' words echoed into Naruto's head before he stopped laughing. Standing upright, body angled flat with his head turned to face the monster that was his challenger. A brief, pregnant silence filled the air. With it finally giving birth to massive thumping, and whooshing noises as both moved!
Both combatants, mismatched only in size, charged at one another. The massive Grimm, easily twenty times bigger than the blonde shinobi below him confidently ran forward on all eight it's legs. Meanwhile, what started as a slow run on all fours, quickly ramped up to an all-out sprint on them for the Jinchuuriki. His image blurred from the speed alone, and then he became nothing more than a streak of red running across the desert floor.
Gathering all of his momentum, he slammed forward with a bright red energy trail behind him. It was if a comet flew from the ground, and slammed into the beast itself. That attack sent the beast hurtling backwards, rolling onto it's side toward the quicksand basin. It stopped itself just short from falling into the massive churning, and bubbling liquid sand.
It reared up, with it already targeting Naruto again!
The first four legs were used as makeshift giant clubs as they soared right at him. With stunning reflexes, the Jinchuuriki maneuvered around them midair, once again slamming into the massive monster! This impact pushed it closer to the Deep Dune's quicksand basin pits. However, unlike last time, there was no indentation against the bony armor.
Falling toward the dune, Naruto flipped backward upon landing to dodge one of the large tails that stabbed downward. The massive Grimm's humanoid arm suddenly sprouted a large bonelike wrist blade that it sent down along with it's other tail to try and cut down the annoying little beast that was attacking it!
Leaping to the side, and then jumping backward to avoid both attacks. Naruto's crimson foxlike eyes widened slightly with a pulse as he saw the wrist blade. He launched a red hand, using the chakra arm to rope itself around, and then held it down before forcing the beast to pull him up. With this makeshift slingshot, Naruto spun midair before appearing above the beast again, and launching himself down into the back of it's head.
CRASH!
Naruto's massive flying kick shook the air from the power exerted from it. It sent the beast stumbling forward on the dune, whilst Naruto himself began to slash at the back of it's neck. Fully intent to hewn it off with his claws, only for the beast to suddenly roll over on itself!
The Jinchuuriki jumped up, and then flipped backwards midair before dodging to the sides as massive barbs were launched at it. Grabbing one of those barbs midflight, Naruto swings it back around at the beast. It careened whilst breaking the sound barrier into the chest of the massive Grimm, though the barb only managed to crack a little bit of the beast's armor plating!
With the Grimm closer than ever to the quicksand basin, the Jinchuuriki knew the time had come! He ran forward after landing back on the ground. Switching from running on all fours, to just running like a normal man, Naruto took a deep breath before jumping!
The Jinchuuriki leapt upward, flipping forwards a few times to gain height as he held his right palm out. All of the red energy swirled off his body, and formed a sphere next to him. The sphere grew massive, and continued growing as he zenith of his jump. It looked like a glowing, red star in the palm of the boy's right hand as it grew to be about twice the size of himself.
It echoed it's swirling noise across the dunes as Naruto reared his hand back. It grew slightly larger, threatening to destabilize before it formed into a perfect sphere. Then, Aurum saw it again, the picture of a massive fox just behind Naruto as he launched himself downward at the beast!
The vermillion-colored ball swirled like a typhoon at the center! Energetic whines filled the air, and with The Grimm Army behind the monster. Naruto cocked his hand back as his red eyes turned azure as he descended down. Aurum watched as the young warrior descended down, with a mighty roar, Naruto slammed into the beast's thorax as it reared up to use it's forelegs to help block it.
The two-tailed cloak's full power was put into this sphere! Naruto's eyes widened as he felt the ball become more distorted. He wasn't maintaining the form, it wasn't being maintained, but it didn't mean he could stop! He pushed forward with a scream, a human one finally, and felt the ball blast apart!
The shinobi felt his arm shatter from the backblast as the ball carried the beast back a few more feet before blowing up. It launched the massive Grimm into the giant quicksand basin. It splashed into it, struggling to stay afloat before sinking. Naruto smirked before his eyes rolled backward, and he then slammed into the sands below.
Aurum noted that Luna was recovering slightly, and then ran over toward Naruto. Using his semblance to clear some distance over quicksand basins. He saw the boy pass out on the bottom part of the dune, with his arm already turning black and blue from the breakage of his bone. Scooping the boy up, he heard the massive Grimm roar as it tried to stay afloat.
"Drown, you demon." Aurum hissed at it before scooping up the shinobi and running away. When he did, he failed to notice that the beast had indeed sunk below the surface.
Getting over the crest of the dune, he watched as the army was approaching closer, and closer. Sighing to himself, he then saw something unusual. Grimm were beginning to attack Grimm! He smiled before seeing Luna get up, and she looked over at Naruto.
"He…actually did it, didn't he?" Luna asked weakly before pulling the barb out, using rifle's claymore as a crotch when Aurum handed it back to her.
"Hell yeah, he did, but we're in terrible shape, we need to move before that Grimm horde decides to start coming after us." Aurum stated before grabbing Kihana as well. "It's going to be a long walk, and we cannot stop."
"Alright, well, I'll do what I can. Aurum," the mechanic looked over toward her, struggling with the two people already. "We're going to make it, right?"
"We better, because otherwise all that he just did means nothing, and we have our teammates to save!"
{The Barren Wastes: Near Western Mountain Range.}
[Three Days Later. 3:00pm]
Aurum was finished, and this was it. Carrying three people was extremely taxing. It had been three days, and nights. He was done, his body gave put when he fell to his knees. With most of their equipment having been destroyed with the crash. He had only his one camel pack, and that was it. He had shared water from that, and his skin was breaking out in blisters.
He saw them, The Western Mountains, and beyond those was Kuo Kuana city herself. He took a deep breath, and looked at the three that lay on the desert sand. He just slumped down, so close, yet so far. He did his best to cover them up, to keep from them getting sun poisoning. Luna had tried to help every so often, but she herself was heavily injured.
"I tried guys, I really did." Aurum breathed out as he laid back on the sand. "Gods, please, please don't let this be it."
Woosh!
His golden eyes widened when he saw an aircraft pass overhead. His heart raced as he tried his scroll, but sunk when no signal emerged. Growling, Aurum did the only next best thing he could do. He reached over to Luna's claymore-rifle, and took aim at another aircraft passing overhead.
It was risky, and it was dangerous. Still, he hadn't any choice left. He took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger. He saw the bullet make impact from the distance, noting how the aircraft suddenly changed direction. He saw that it was now flying lower.
"C'mon! C'mon!" Aurum screamed as he pulled the sword out of it's rifle scabbard, trying his best to reflect the sun. "C'mon! Don't let it end like this, c'mon!"
He felt his hands grow weak, and the sword drop out of them as he saw the aircraft pass barely overhead. He rolled his eyes back, breathing hard. Luna, however, was able to wake up and see what he couldn't. That aircraft was circling back, and heading right for them.
It stopped just overhead, and the bay door opened. Several soldiers dropped out, surrounding them. She breathed weakly out, calling out to them. Almost pleading, begging, whatever term one so pathetic muster in their situation.
"Please…Brothers' mercy on us, and help us…please…"
The last thing Luna felt was hands grabbing her, and the last thing she saw was hands grabbing ahold of the others as well.
Then the whole world went black.
{Kuo Kuana Hospital.}
[Two Days Later. 1:00pm]
"She is lucky that they got here when they did. Just one more day, and she would've been a goner." A voice, feminine, faint filled Naruto's ears. "Are we not going to talk about the fact that this kid here has almost fully healed up?"
Naruto's azure eyes opened up, he breathed harshly, coughing and sputtering. His lips dried, cracked, and he felt parched. He saw an IV line attached to him. He felt his chest racing, and he looked over at the doctors in the room. Both of them had dropped their clipboards as they had been scared by the suddenness of the blonde's gasping.
"Holy shit!"
"Damn it!"
Both cussed at the same, with them grabbing their clipboards. The lead, a woman with pigtails, and pinkish blemishes across her face walked over to him. "I need you to breathe, alright? Breathe into your nose, out your mouth, slowly." She instructed the hyperventilating Naruto, who shook lightly as he saw Aurum in the bed next to him. "Don't worry about him, he's fine."
"Where…am I?" Naruto asked as he coughed a little. "Oh man, where's Luna, Kihana?!"
"They're both in recovery." The other doctor, with butterfly antenna stated whilst jotting things down into a chart. Her thick glasses glimmered from the fluorescent light above. She had brown hair with red highlights. "What is your name, and date of birth?"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, my birthday is October Tenth." Naruto answered as he looked at the little jog in the corner full of ice water. "Can I please have some water? C'mon, I'm parched, ya know."
The doctor with butterfly antenna rolled her violet eyes before getting the jug. She handed it to him. Instead of filling up his cup, both doctors were mildly stunned when the blonde chugged the entire pitcher full of cold water down his gullet. Finishing with a raspy cough, Naruto wiped his lips before leaning back in his bed.
"Where am I?" He asked once more, looking up at the ceiling. "Is this purgatory, or something?"
"What, no, you're in Kuo Kuana's Hospital."
Naruto shot up at that, smiling brightly. "Say what, we actually did it, we made it?!" The Jinchuuriki breathed a sigh of relief before trying to uncover himself. Blushing lightly when he found he was only in a gown. "Um, what happened to my clothes?"
"Dr. Vista insisted that we got you prepped, in case you needed emergency surgery." The pink blemished doctor answered before looking toward Aurum. "He's been out for the last two days. He has severe sun poisoning."
"Damn it, Aurum, I'm sorry I passed out on you…" Naruto grumbled before getting adjusted on the bed to sit straight up. "Who performed the surgery on Kihana?"
"Dr. Vista himself, saved her life." The antenna bearing doctor stated whilst watching her partner walk over to Aurum. "Cherry, is stats up?"
"Yes, Scarlet." Cherry answered before jotting down a few notes. "His daughter is in the waiting room, waiting on him to wake up."
"Alright, well, since this one woke up, we'll move him into a room. There's quite a few people that are wanting to see him." Scarlet started before biting the tip of her pen, sighing before jotting a few more notes down. "Dr. Vista warned us that this kid usually has an explosive wake up, but Gods above he shouldn't even be able to sit straight up."
"Why wouldn't I be able to sit up?"
"Three days of dehydration in the desert, a shattered arm, and various other internal injuries. Gods know what type of sun poisoning you had before your rapid healing factor pretty much made it a nonfactor when you started receiving fluids." Cherry stated whilst focusing on Aurum. "Scarlet, go ahead and move him."
"W-wait, hold on a second, is Aurum gonna be okay?" Naruto questioned whilst filling the brakes on his bed come off. "Hey, c'mon, I'm not leaving my friend behind!"
"He'll be fine, sheesh, kid you gotta let us work." Scarlet deadpanned before pushing the bed out into the hallway. He noted several people looking at him, whispering amongst themselves, and then feeling himself getting pushed more down the hall. "So, you're probably wondering about the stares?"
"Um, yeah, kind of." Naruto sighed before leaning back, looking over his shoulder back to where Aurum was. "Be honest with me, is Aurum going to be okay?"
"He'll be fine, just needs a few days in a healing coma." Naruto's eyes snapped around to see Dr. Vista walking beside the bed. "Hello there, been quite the minute, hasn't it?"
"It has doc, dang, am I glad to see you." Naruto replied before relaxing a little bit. "So, they all made it, even Kihana?"
"She's still in the woods, but I did everything I could. I expect her to make a recovery, but she's probably done military wise." Dr. Vista answered whilst following Naruto, along with Scarlet. "The other one, Luna, suffered similar damage…she may also be done."
"Damn it," Naruto curses before leaning back, and then sighing. "At least they're alive."
"Yes, and that in of itself is a miracle." Dr. Visa states while opening the door to Naruto's room. "Scarlet, please after getting him in here, I need to speak with him alone for a minute."
"Yes, Dr. Vista." Scarlet acknowledged before putting the brakes on Naruto's bed after positioning him. "Good day young man, please recover ever so quickly."
"Um, thanks, I guess?"
They watched as she exited the room. Naruto was looking over at Dr. Vista, who was looking at him. "Is everything okay doctor?"
"Yes, and no. Turns out I owe you an apology, Naruto, I discovered that someone has been leaking our personal conversations. To whom, and why, I don't know." Dr. Vista locked the door whilst walking toward a chair, and sitting in it. "Luna Crest, in a delirium, stated that you took on a giant Grimm and won…I need to confirm this."
"I…" The shinobi felt the haziness of his memory, and scrunched his face up a little bit. "I think I did, but I'm not sure, I just remember seeing them almost die and getting really angry." The blonde child took a deep breath. "So, how much do you know?"
"I know enough that even with your power, you shouldn't have been able to fight that thing." Vista took a deep breath, and sighed. "Naruto, listen to me, I am suspecting that the tattoo on your stomach is holding something…whilst examining you I saw energy flow from it that began to heal you rapidly."
"Okay, yeah, about that…" Naruto looked away before sighing. "I have been holding a huge secret from you guys, but it's only because I was scared of being rejected like I was back in my own world."
"Whatever it is, you saved people with it."
"It's giant demon fox that killed my village's last leader, along with hundreds of people. I know it's not exactly an easy way to say it, but I know you like me being straight up." Naruto told him whilst crossing his arms before taking a deep breath. "I was made it's vessel when I was born. I am what is called a Jinchuuriki, a vessel made of human flesh. Basically, I am me…but I also have a whole separate being inside of me as well."
"Ah, well, that certainly explains all the other supernatural things then. Two different energy feelings, the rapid healing, and sometimes the coldness I feel from you." Dr. Vista chuckled nervously before leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands folded under his chin. "Still, this does change some things about you. Going forward, I advise that you don't tell anyone else about this power, because I'm hearing rumors on something."
"I already know about The White Fang wanting to use me as a weapon. Ferrous let it slip before he got killed by what are things called…they have tails that launch spikes." Naruto tried to find the answer he was seeking, drawing a blank the more he thought about it.
"Spear-Tails, nasty Grimm, I'm sorry to hear about your loss of a teammate." Dr. Vista said before taking a minute to lean back. "I am glad that you are here, demon or not, because if you weren't then those people wouldn't have come home."
"I…"
"Shush it, and just listen. I don't care what you are, Jinchuuriki, human, faunus, doesn't matter to me." Dr. Vista lightly punched Naruto on the arm, making the blonde look him in his violet eyes. "I know for certain, that you are one thing…and that is a hero."
"How am I a hero?" Naruto asked whist adjusting himself, and taking a moment to relax more. He finally noted the bandages covering his right arm. "Heh, wait a minute…did you sign this?"
"Of course, I did, it's a little fun thing we do with people with broken arms. Well, in your case, a fractured arm at this point. Still, you're a hero because not only did you come back from the dead, almost literally, you saved people by doing so. If you truly defeated that Grimm creature, you might've just saved all of Kuo Kuana as well…it was marching this way." The good doctor explained to him before smiling, and then looking toward the door. "I've let Luna have visitors, and Kihana had her sisters stop by. When Aurum wakes up, his daughter will be with him."
"Heh, well, that's good then." Naruto commented whilst leaning back, only to hear knocking on the door. He watched as Dr. Vista got up, laughing under his breath a little bit. "You've got a lot of people out here. They were waiting for you to wake up."
Naruto's breath hitched when Dr. Vista walked over to the door. Opening it, he was greeted by a group of familiar faces. The biggest, and goofiest smile was plastered on his face as he saw Ghira, and Kali walk in first. He merely just gave them a two-finger greeting, and smiled.
"Yo!"
Kali dropped what she was carrying, along with Ghira. He was the first to speak up before fidgeting, and smiling all at the same time. "You're really awake, Gods above, you are actually still alive!" He declared before jogging over to the bed with his wife in tow.
Naruto just laughed boisterously, and smiled brightly. "Of course, I'm alive, it wouldn't be a mission unless I was assumed out before making a grand reentrance, ya know! Plus, I promised that no matter what I was always going to come back!" He stated with a beaming foxlike smile. "I never go back on my word."
"Of course, you don't, kid, you've got no idea how much we're happy to see you." Ghira said before sitting down on the foot of the bed before watching his wife take a seat at the chair. "You know, we actually put a small remembrance of you in the garden?"
"Hey, who knows, I might actually be a spirit!" Naruto joked whilst moving his left arm to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "Nah, I'm too hungry to be a spirit, unless I'm a Soul Sucker!" The young pre-teen told them whilst making a face to mimic a mosquito trying to suck on something.
"Don't joke about such things, we mourned you."
The young shinobi hummed before looking toward the door. He saw Blake standing there, nary a tear in her eye. She held about three books in her hands. The young Belladonna heir took a moment, and then allowed a rather rare smile to grace her lips. She walked over to him, and looked over his injured form.
His right arm was still recovering, obviously. His skin was beet red in some areas from sun poisoning, and there was bandages with aloe vera gel across his body. He was under a cover, thank the gods, because she figured that he didn't have anything under the gown.
"You're right, I'm sorry, how'ya doing Blake?" Naruto asked her before giving her the same two finger wave he had given her parents. "You look tired."
"Because we've all been crying." She admitted before she held out the books. "These are for you, I picked them up at the library the other day. I was going to send them to you when you were allowed to receive mail whilst living in the barracks."
"Huh, hey, these are cool!" The shinobi exclaimed as he took the books. "Hey, wait a minute, cultivation for dummies…eh?!"
"It wasn't meant to be a joke, but as they say the jokes write themselves." She deadpanned lightly, and then smiled before looking away. "You always mentioned that you wish that the desert sands outside of Kuo Kuana could one day be a forest…well…I thought about it, and so I went looking for a book."
"Aww, Blake, that's so sweet." Kali gushed a little bit.
"Mom…" Blake lightly bemoaned before shrugging, and sighing. "The other books are The Philosophies Of The Wise Ones, and of course just because I figured you'd like it, One Hundred Different Ramen Recipes."
His eyes lit up, and he went for the ramen book almost immediately. "No kidding, there's really one hundred different recipes in here! Can't wait to try them out, ya know!" He declared before looking at the other books and smiling softly. "Thank you, Blake, I really mean it…I missed you guys."
Blake looks away, bashfully, and blushes lightly before turning toward the door. "I need to get some food, mom, dad, do you want anything?" She asked.
"Hey what about me!"
"We don't know if you're on restrictions." Blake replied before turning back around to him, pointing a finger in his chest. "Plus, you're in recovery, and I heard that unless you're cleared by a doctor you get hospital food."
"Ooh c'mon, I mean I'll kill for a bowl of ramen right now!" Naruto complained before seeing the glare from Blake's eye. He fidgeted, and crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, at least hospital mac & cheese isn't so bad."
"Yeah, I've always noticed that, haven't you dear?" Ghira asked his wife, trying to deescalate the tension at hand. "All other hospital food usually stinks, but mac & cheese at hospitals usually are great!"
Kali lightly chuckles before rubbing the back of her own head. "Now that you mentioned it, yeah, it's always been a weird thing. Anyway, yes honey, we'd like some ramen as well." She told her daughter before looking at her with a softer expression. "You need to go home, and get some rest, you've been up here for three days."
"Wait, why were you up here for three days?" Naruto asked crossing his left arm over his injured right one. "C'mon on now, Blake, you better do as Lady Kali says and go get some sleep! After all, wouldn't want you to start getting white hair while you're just a kid, ya know!"
Blake balled her fists, hiding her blush before walking toward the door. "Well, I was going to sneak you some ramen in, but since I need go home, and you're on restrictions…" She didn't stop before smiling as she got closer to the door. She heard the squirming, but hid the smile when she turned back around. "I guess you can go one more day without ramen."
"That's just cruel." Naruto whined with an expression of tears running down his face. He was slightly sniffling, and imagining the flavors of ramen that were now out of his reach. "I would kill for some miso pork, or tonkatsu, or shoyu, heck I'll even take vegetable ramen at this point!"
Blake felt a mischievous thought cross her mind, and then looked at Dr. Vista. "Vegetable ramen is healthy for him, right?" She asked.
"Yep."
"Good, I'll get him some." Blake started before walking out of the door. She then looked toward her mother, smiling lightly. "Extra carrots since he likes orange so much."
Naruto was stunned silent, and then what had happened slammed into him. He gripped his head before leaning back, and whining a little bit. "Oh man, c'mon, I just got tricked! Blake, hey Blake, can you please put some pork fillet in there, c'mon I'll do anything!" He begged before hearing no response.
Had he been able to see past the wall, he would've saw Blake giggling up a storm. Cloud, who was standing guard over the door, just out of sight was laughing all the while as well. However, since Naruto couldn't see this happening, he just leaned back before looking at both Kali, and Ghira.
"Hey, um, so while I was in the desert I sort of had an epiphany on some things." Naruto got nervous before sighing. "I…need to really talk to you guys about how you view me, and how I view you. I'm just scared that you'll hate me afterwards."
Kali lightly pinched him, making him yelp. "Don't say such stupid things, Naruto. We would never hate you. We're happy that you're alive, and here. That's all that counts to us, and you have always been free to say what you will." She chided him lightly before bringing a hand to his. "So, tell us, what's on your mind?"
"I…well, it's a long story." Naruto admitted before looking downcast. "It might make you guys scared of me, and resent me."
"We got all the time in the world to get over it." Ghira reassured him before looking toward Dr. Vista, nodding his head as the younger man left the room, closing the door. "So, go on, and tell us."
Naruto bit his lip, and he smiled lightly. "Well, I think I need to start with how I view you guys. I…don't know if I can view you guys as parents." He noted the little bit of downcast on their faces before frowning. "See, I told you you'd be upset about it."
"We're not upset, just concerned." Kali replied.
"Okay, it's not the fact that I don't want that, it's the fact that I've grew up without it for so long that I don't know if I'm ever capable of having that bond. It's like, I don't know, a bird growing outside of it's flock. Is it truly still part of the flock, can it ever be apart of a flock?" Naruto tried to reason it with meaningful examples, and then thought about it some more. "Maybe, the best example is like a wolf growing up without a pack, perhaps he just gets used to being without a pack for so long he doesn't know how to feel when he starts to hang out with one."
Ghira nods his head, and smiles. "So, you're unsure of what you want to be to us?"
"Yeah, I'm unsure, and it's not your fault. It's mine, and it's not like I don't value you guys like parents. I mean, c'mon, you all are super nice to me. You've shown me unconditional care feels like, and it's the most precious thing I've ever felt in my life. It's just that…even though I want to feel the same way, it's just…I don't think I can bring myself to attach fully. I'm scared, because, I am used to people saying they'd be there…and then they weren't." The young man explained further whilst thinking, trying to come up with better explanations. "I know it's not what you guys wanted to hear, and I'm sorry if I gave off the wrong feelings for doing the things I did. I was just…always trying to return the kindness."
"You've got nothing to be sorry about." Kali states as she looked him dead in the eye. "You're just expressing how you feel, and that's okay. It may not be where you are from, and I've noticed that you struggle with the clash of cultures here and there. We're more open here, we're more accepting, and it bugs you because you come from a society that is probably more largely closed off."
"I mean, yeah, that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. I…" Naruto took a deep breath before feeling something running down his face. "I do value you both as precious people in my heart, people who I'd give my life to protect, no matter what."
"You love us?"
"Of course, I do, but I just don't know if I can love you guys as parents." Naruto admitted before blushing lightly. "As I said, you guys are pretty much best friends, and I love that bond. I love cooking with you, Lady Kali. I love talking about stuff in the garden, Ghira. I just, I don't know, part me wants that bond to be like child and parent…but a larger part of me realizes that too much time for me has passed to ever form such a bond."
"Plus, there was already someone from your world that already holds that spot, just a little bit, isn't there?" Ghira realized whilst looking at him, smiling softly, though he was slightly hurt on the inside. "You can talk about them. We won't get mad."
"I just miss him, ya know. I know he has a silly nickname, but to be fair he's a lecherous old far. He's my sensei though, more, or less, my master. However, if I could just look at Jiraiya again, I'd tell him that he's been the closest person to me. I mean he taught me how to literally walk on water, how do the things I can do now, save for the clone and…that one jutsu." Naruto giggled a little before looking at Ghira and Kali. "You know, Sexy Jutsu."
"Oh Gods, don't you dare!" Kali yelled out before laughing.
"I'm not, I promise, at least this time. I'm just saying, that if there is someone that I wish they'd know that I'm okay, I would want it to be him, and Iruka sensei. Iruka sensei was also the first person to ever acknowledge me as someone other than a Jinchuuriki!" Naruto blurted out before his eyes widened, and he clamped his hands around his mouth.
All at once the mood in the room shifted, and the two Belladonna looked at him suspiciously. Ghira took a moment, rerunning what he had just heard. Finally, with his heart slightly sinking a little further down into the pit of his stomach. Ghira looked into Naruto's azure eyes, and asked a fateful question.
"What is a Jinchuuriki?"
{The Barren Wastes: Deep Dunes.}
[Around the same time.]
Despite the wet sands shifting deeper, and deeper. The cascading effect was created from the boy's powerful, almost magical, attack. It rumbled, and stirred the surface. That boy, the fox boy, as it would come to know him. Inside of the dark mind searing the image of the boy into its malevolent machinations. For it was born from The Will Of Destruction.
The Dark God's, Tenebris's, will. He was one of the four primeval creations, made to counter all that Solis created. For his armor withstood that attack, that attack of similar, yet different energies from the magic it had fought against.
Those half-breed vermin, those curs, a basterdization of them and whatever filth Solis made with his father. Even now, the glow of it is father was felt in them, and here it thought the Gods forsook them so.
It's hand emerged from the bottom of a tall dune. The local aquifer that had been mixing with the sand, creating a soup for which had it trapped. Almost, and yet it found it's brethren gathering atop of the dunes behind it as it crawled forth. Eight giant, armored, spiderlike legs marching in rhythm. It's wings, damaged, began to slowly peel off into black smoke.
Black smoke, it had seen it's brethren return to the ethereal in so many ways as such. It knew, one day, that it too would. As all things wrought with life turned to ash, to dust, and returned. It's purpose was always to help those things along a little faster. Still, even as it's wings died, a new thing took their place as the black smoke reformed them, molded them anew.
Pain.
That's all it could feel, whatever darkness that child had in him rivaled even his father. It would cackle if it found the means to do so. Yet, here, on these Deep Dunes it just began to shake. Slowly, it grew two longer limbs, not wings but hindlegs similar to a locust. It roared out, a mighty roar, and his legs thumped against the sand as slowly it's army reformed behind it.
Not as strong as it was, but it would be enough. For in the distant west, it could smell them. Vermin, humanoid vermin, a result of Solis's machinations to rig the great game once again between brothers. Pathetic, pitiful, and lackluster. These creatures, animalistic humans, only gained sight in darkness as a gift.
It steered its massive body, and with one last roar before the march forward onto that large settlement. The Girtablilu felt immense hatred, burning hatred, and only want of destruction. It would rind, tear, and rip anything in it's path.
Man, woman, child, or blessed ones.
For that was its purpose, which was its will, and so it shall come to pass. No matter the desperate struggle, all will fall from the miasma.
All will fall to The Will Of Destruction!
It's hind, locust-like legs coiled and then with a massive thump it launched itself. It didn't fly, never would, but by The Dark God could he leap now! Clearing hundreds of feet with each coiled jump with the charge of hundreds of Grimm behind it still. Legs, limbs, and wings beating. Shrikes flying overhead, jackals running amongst the sands below, and the spear-tails moving in tandem.
They moved, a cancer upon the land since time immemorial once more. With it, and their goal set, the hatred of red eyes faced the ever-growing glimmer of thousands in it's wake. For it shall fulfill the ancient edict bestowed, and governed onto it by Tenebris himself.
It was going to make a kingdom fall, just like all other times before. No demonic brat would change that, no other abomination would stop this from happening.
They all marched, a cancer upon the land.
End Of Chapter.
Trivia.
Naruto's Massive Vermillion Rasengan actually first appeared in a game known as Naruto Ultimate Ninja 4.
Girtablilu's evolution is a callback to The Hounds in RWBY Vol 8. For all it's problems, I thought that idea was neat, and not entirely impossible.
Naruto 'version one state' does grant him a chakra that does actively protect him similar to aura, and this has been seen in series.
Aurum's semblance goes in tandem with his halberd.
Naruto's Ninja Handbook Vol 2 is based on a similar attack used on Gaara, except this Naruto is a little wiser.
The Bijuu for this story harken back to their original ideas.
The Girtablilu's ability to think, and coordinate, is due to it being alive for eons, and being "blessed" by The Dark God Tenebris.
Two Tails Naruto makes his full appearance, although in canon only his lips turn black, I figured I'd spice it up just a little bit.