Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 8-

-Last Time-

Leaning against Nausica's shoulder was a beautiful blonde-haired woman wearing a sleeveless grey kimono with a dark blue belt and black pants. Her eyes were a light brown that held an excited gleam, a large busty chest that was only emphasized further by her arms being crossed under it, and a lavender triangle in the dead center of her forehead.

Stretching a bit, the woman draped her arm over the Eniripsa's shoulders and hefted up a large bottle of Saki. "What's wrong gaki? You look like you've seen a ghost."

-And Now-

"…T-Tsunade-baachan?" Naruto muttered in shock, subconsciously scooting back as he stared at the woman in disbelief. "H-how… you're dead."

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." 'Tsunade' said sarcastically as she deadpanned at him. "That's kinda what happens after a few thousand millennia."

"B-but, y-you're-"

"Naruto?" Before Naruto could finish his question, Tsunade vanished just as Eva's face suddenly appeared right in front of his.

"Gah!" Naruto jumped in surprise with a shout, before yelping as he inadvertently hopped off the edge of the bed and started falling to the floor. Luckily though, he didn't fall far before a slender hand grasped the collar of his jacket and pulled him back up.

"Oh my, it seems like you're starting to hallucinate as well." Nausica said as she and Eva set him back on the bed. The fairy woman then began chanting under her breath as she placed a glowing hand on his chest.

"Hey, what are… you… doing?" Naruto asked, his voice starting to trail off as the glow spread across his body and he began to feel incredibly groggy.

"Calm down dear, it's just a weak sedating spell to help you stay relaxed." Nausica said once she was finished. "The more you stress or push yourself, the more you accelerate the poison's affects and the less time your friend's have to find the Severum Sap."

"Fine, then why don't… you just knock me out… like you did Happa-chan?" Naruto asked slightly breathlessly as he jabbed his thumb towards the Sadida princess as she whimpered quietly in her sleep.

"It's too much of a risk," The Eniripsa said with a shake of her head. "I still have very little idea how the Rose's poison will affect you as it is now, any potions I used could cause potentially more harm than good and I don't know any other spells for sleep."

"Figures," Naruto groaned in annoyance as he let himself go limp and sank into the soft padding of the mattress.

"Yep, you're not gonna get rid of me that easily gaki." Naruto barely managed to hold back a shiver as he heard Tsunade's voice again as she reappeared next to Nausica with a grin.

'Ruel and Yugo better find that sap soon.'

-Meanwhile, deep in the Evil Forest-

Inside a tree that had somehow been grown into the shape of a house, Ruel and Yugo could be seen tending over an elderly sadidan woman with annoyed looks on their faces, with the former massaging her feet and the latter fanning her off with a large fern leaf.

This woman was Sybannak, the sole remainder of a Sadida clan that had lived in the forest before a great tragedy struck and the others had left without her. The duo had run into her when they had first arrived at the forest and several giant plant monsters she had created for company had attacked them.

After a quick apology on her side, introductions, and a brief explanation for why they were there, the old plant woman had told them that she knew exactly where the Severum Tree was. Happy at their luck, Ruel was quick to ask if she could take them to it which she agreed too… with a few conditions.

*Crack* *Crackle* *Crack* "By Enutrof, this isn't a foot, it's a bwork hoof." Ruel grumbled quietly with a grimace as the foot he was working on cracked repeatedly.

"Ah, Sybannak's feet feel so much better now." The woman said, speaking of herself in the third person for some reason.

"Enough that she'll finally tell us where the Severum is?" Yugo asked hopefully, a bright smile crossing his lips as she nodded.

"Yes, yes, Sybannak will now tell you where to find Severum. It is…" Ruel and Yugo leaned in excitedly as the woman spoke. "…" However, that excitement quickly vanished as Sybannak remained silent for a while.

"…"

"…Uh, Sybannak?" Yugo asked after a full minute of silence.

"…Sybannak sorry… her throat… so dry… she… cannot… speak… anymore… ksjdfhkagflkfjlghkljgh." Both males deadpanned as they stared at the elderly sadidan speak utter gibberish.

"You know, that's the second time she's been 'conveniently' interrupted right when she was about tell us about where that stupid tree is." Ruel whispered to Yugo after he gave the woman a glass of water, with the hat-wearing boy nodding in agreement.

"Do you think she's lying about knowing where it is?" The boy asked quietly, before blinking in surprise when Ruel shook his head negatively.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I've seen this kinda act before," Ruel said as he carefully watched Sybannak in the corner of his eye. "She knows exactly where it is, the old bat just doesn't want to tell us, so she's stalling out until we leave in frustration while milking us for what we're worth."

"Great, so all that time we spent pampering her was for nothing." Yugo groaned.

"Au contraire my little Yugo, we may still be able to get something from this." Ruel said, causing the boy to tilt his head in confusion until he elaborated. "It's simple, given how old Sybannak is, it's likely she has the location to the Severum written down somewhere in case she forgot."

"You'd know all about that, huh?" Yugo couldn't help but quip, earning himself a playful glare from Ruel.

Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, Ruel smirked before continuing. "Anyway, all we have to do is continue to let Sybannak stall until nightfall. Then, when she falls asleep we'll search the place until we find those directions."

"Oh, good plan Ruel." Yugo said with a smile…

"Would one of you nice boys brush Sybaddak's hair? It's oh so messy."

…before frowning as Ruel quickly shoved him towards the woman as she held a simple wooden comb.

-Back at Nausica's, Nightfall-

"Ugh, is it just me or did is getting really hot in here?" Tsunade asked, leaning against the currently lit fireplace as she used a hand to fan herself.

"Oh… ha ha… very funny baa-chan." Naruto laughed sarcastically, his face red from the fever he now had… and the fact he was currently in nothing but his boxers, and a few cold damp cloths laid across his legs, arms, forehead, and stomach.

The reason for this was clear though, as sweat was quite literally pouring from every inch of his body. The bedding underneath him was soaked completely already, creating an almost perfect outline of his body in the cloth. Beside him, Amalia was still out-cold from the Dreaming Daisy extract, squirming and wiggling from whatever dream she was having.

"Naruto, you need to stop talking to her, she's not really there." Eva said from her seat at the edge of the bed as she peeled the sweat filled rag from his arm. After ringing it out thoroughly, she dipped it into the bucket of fresh water at her feet before returning it back where it was.

"Wow, harsh much? I'm right here." Tsunade said while pretending to wipe a tear from her eye.

"I know Surudoi-chan, but she's also… just as persistent as the real baa-chan." Naruto said with a sigh, before coughing harshly thanks to his throat suddenly drying out. "…W-water please."

"I gotcha dear," Nausica said as she walked over from her medicinal area with a large glass of water that held a light green tint and tiny flecks to it.

"I thought you said you couldn't give him any medicines." Eva said while eyeing the drink dubiously.

"No, I said I couldn't give him any potions, this is just an herbal drink." Nausica explained calmly, getting the Cra to nod in understanding.

"Hmm, ground mint leaves and boiled echinacea root with a few drops of lemon juice if I'm not mistaken." 'Tsunade' mused as she leaned close to the glass. "A simple but effective remedy for dry throat and fever."

Naruto ignored the fake blonde as he watched Nausica walk towards him and once she was close enough reached out for the cup. However, the moment his hand started to grab the drink, the whiskered teen swore as both it and the Eniripsa vanished from sight before reappearing two feet to the left with a pitying look on her face.

Ever since Tsunade had first appeared, his perception of reality had been declining at a steady rate. He kept seeing things that weren't there and things that were there only in the wrong place than they really were. At first, Naruto had been able to easily tell when something was off as the false views had been blurry and distorted. But, over time they begun to become gradually sharper and more realistic, making increasingly more difficult to discern the difference.

He could barely look Eva in the eye thanks to an earlier incident an hour earlier when she had tried to give him a small bread roll and he had accidentally grabbed her breast instead.

The only thing that remained consistent during all this was Tsunade herself, who had been continually popping in and out of existence at random intervals. Naruto didn't know why this was, nor did he particularly care as while he knew it wasn't real, he was at least a little happy to hear his mother/aunt figure's voice once again.

Before he could delve deeper into these thoughts, Naruto was snapped back to the present as he felt the smooth glass of the cup push between his lips and the cool refreshing liquid within poured down his throat.

After the cup was about half-empty, Naruto waved his hand to signal Nausica to stop and a relived sigh escaped his lips once the glass was pulled away. "Ahhh… thank you Nausica-san."

"Of course dear, the rest is right here if you need more." The fairy woman said with a smile as she set the glass down on the nightstand and went back to the medicinal area, where she started going through various different books and papers with a look of deep concentration.

A long silence filled the room after that, broken only by the rustling of paper, the muffled yells of Amalia's tied up doll, and the dripping of water as Eva continued to regularly rinse out the rags covering Naruto.

"Wow gaki, this must be the longest I've ever seen you stay put in your whole life." And of course, the unending commentary of a certain dead busty blonde. "Oi! You'd better stop using my chest as a way to point out who I am or else."

Naruto couldn't help but raise a brow at Tsunade's odd comment as she stared up at the ceiling with an annoyed glare, before shrugging it off as just being part of the hallucination.

Deciding that he'd had enough with today's insanity, Naruto closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep, doing his best to ignore the blazing heat that was wafting off of his body and the stickiness of his own sweat. However, just as he was beginning to doze off, the sickly blonde's ear twitched as a soft barely audible noise entered it.

"ch… ah ak… uh ch…uh"

'The hell?' Naruto wondered as his eyes cracked back open and he slowly turned his head toward the direction the sound was coming form. At first he didn't see anything amiss, though given his current state that wasn't saying much, but after a moment his sight settled on Amalia's form.

Almost immediately, the blonde felt alarm bells going off in his head as the greenette lay almost completely still next to him. Amalia had been tossing around almost nonstop under the covers ever since Nausica sedated her, so the fact she wasn't moving except some mild spasming of her lips and eyes was alarming to him.

"chah… uk.. ch cha"

That worry only increased further once Naruto not only realized the sound he'd heard was coming from the girl, but he also figured out what the sound was. "Nausica-san, get over here!" He yelled, startling the two females in the room while he suddenly sat up and leaned over Amalia in concern. "I think Amalia's choking!"

Upon hearing these words, Nausica dropped what she was doing and dashed across the room at an impressive speed to the sadidan girl's side with Eva. Pushing Naruto to the side, the fairy woman barely begun to look Amalia over when her eyes widened in alarm.

"By Eniripsa, she's not choking, she's having a seizure!" She exclaimed as she pulled the blanket covering Amalia back to show the spasms that were rocking through the whole girl's body.

"Oh crap! Naruto, move! We need to give Amalia space now!" Eva said, grabbing her fellow blonde and dragging him off the bed, not even reacting as his sweat clung to her skin and clothes.

"What's going on? I thought you said Happa-chan was… what the hell?" Naruto asked himself midsentence, his head swiveling around in confusion as he suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a forest, fully dressed and full of strength again.

Of course, it didn't take the whiskered teen long to figure out what was going on and an annoyed growl rose up in his throat.

"Kami damn it, I don't have time for this." Lifting his right hand, he clenched it tightly into a fist and held it as from himself as he could…

*SMACK* "Kuso yarō! (Son of a Bitch!)" …and then promptly punched himself right in the face as hard as he could.

"Owwww, okay, not my smartest idea." Naruto groaned as he rubbed his aching nose.

"Like any idea you've had was smart Dope." A dreadfully familiar voice said, causing Naruto to freeze in place before slowly turning his head to the side. Several feet away, a young man with pitch black hair and pale skin leaned against a tree with an arrogant smirk on his lips. His red eyes boring into Naruto's as a trio of comma-like marks spun lazily around his pupils.

"Sasuke-teme, just the jackass I didn't want to see right now." Naruto said dully before he turned back around and started to walk away.

"What's wrong Dope, aren't you gonna try and drag me back to Konoha?" Sasuke asked as he pushed off the tree. When Naruto didn't answer, an annoyed look crossed the dark-haired boy's face and he drew the katana that was hanging from his waist. "Hey, stop ignoring me."

"There's no point talking to you, none of this is real," Naruto said without looking back, his hands held out in front of himself in an attempt to find the walls of Nausica's cottage. "It's just something my brain came up with thanks to the stupid poison."

"Ha, you mean from that little genjutsu world I stuck you in?" Sasuke asked, his smirk returning when Naruto stopped again. "I always knew you were terrible when it came to them, but to actually believe that-"

"Shut up Sasuke, we both know that you didn't do something like that." Naruto cut the emo boy off. "You'd face me yourself head to head with us both at our best. Your pride wouldn't let you do it any other way."

"…Hn, you may be right." Sasuke said with a nod as he seemed to relax, before appearing right next to Naruto with his sword stabbed through the blonde's back. "But that doesn't make this hurt any less."

Naruto's eyes shot open and a hand shot to his chest as he felt the pain of getting stabbed flood through him. The initial shock was quick to wear off though and the whiskered blonde found himself back in Nausica's house, kneeling at the side of the bed where Amalia lay.

While noting that the girl was no longer convulsing and gone back to her previous restless sleep Naruto tried to stand up, only to stop when he noticed an unusual amount of weight pressed against his chest and felt something wrapped tightly around his waist.

Looking down, his confusion swiftly turned to shock and then just as quickly to concern as he found Eva hugging his chest as sobs racked her body. "Surudoi-chan? What's wrong?" He asked while nudging the girl softly, only to get no response. "Surudoi-chan? Eva? Evangeline?"

Naruto kept trying different names in order to get any reaction from his friend to no avail until he felt a hand on his shoulder, and raised his head to see a grim-faced Nausica standing over him.

"Leave her be dear, she's taking the news rather hard." She said sadly while giving him and Eva a look of guilt and pity.

"What news Nausica-san? What's going on?!" Naruto demanded as a familiar feeling of dread started building in his stomach.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this… it's all my fault… I should have been paying more attention… then maybe I-"

"Nausica-san! What is wrong!?" Naruto yelled, snapping the woman out of her rambling.

Sighing deeply with a shake of her head, the Eniripsa said in the most even tone she could manage.

"Your friend Amalia is in much worse condition than I thought. I'm sorry, she's dying."

-End chapter … Just Kidding, Back at Sybannak's-

"You find anything yet Ruel?" Yugo asked in a whisper as he quietly searched through a cabinet that had been made from an old stump.

"Other than a few moldy cawwots, no." Ruel said as he rifled through the pantry with a candle for light.

Their plan had worked perfectly, with all the pampering they did putting Sybannak into a nice deep sleep and leaving them free to search her house for anything related to the Severum.

Unfortunately, after several minutes of searching neither of them had any luck so far in finding anything of use at all in the old woman's home.

"This lady may be crazy, but she's definitely not stupid." Ruel grumbled as he closed the pantry door and Yugo closed the cabinet. "She either hid the directions somewhere only a sadidan could find them, or she truly doesn't need any."

"Then what do we do Ruel?" Yugo asked, desperation starting to show on his face.

"I'm thinking Yugo, I'm thinking." The old Enutrof said as he paced back and forth. 'Let's see, if she hid the directions, it probably be in some kinda plant that only she could handle… like those.' Ruel thought, stopped to look out a window where two ginormous plant monsters were sleeping.

Shivering at the thought of dealing with those, Ruel frowned as he started to move again. 'On the other hand, if she truly doesn't need directions it's likely because it's nearby. If that's the case, she likely has it hidden somewhere in plain sight, disguised as something no one would think… twice… about...' Stopping once more, the elderly man stared intensely at a nearby wall before suddenly grinning widely. "Of course!"

"Uh Ruel, what are you doing?" Yugo asked as Ruel walked over to the wall and fished out a small chisel from his bag.

"Here's a fun fact about sadidans Yugo," Ruel started to say while stabbing the chisel into the wall, causing a brightly glowing orange sap to seep out. "They always build their houses around the most valuable tree in the forest."

"Alright Ruel, we fou-mmph!" Yugo started to exclaim happily, before getting cut off by Ruel covering his mouth and both their eyes shooting to Sybannak's sleeping form.

*Snrk* "bad rock… no wetting in the house… zzzzzzzz."

Sighing in relief, Ruel let Yugo go before digging around in his bag again and pulling out several wooden vials and shoved some into the young boy's hands. "Here, fill these up as fast as you can. I'll try a different spot."

'Alright, Naruto and Amalia are gonna be fine!' Yugo thought happily as he pulled the cork out of the vial and held it up to the oozing sap.

-Nausica's home-

"What do you mean she's dying!?" Naruto demanded, grabbing Nausica by the front of her blouse and pulling her close. "You said that she was going to be fine!"

"I-I'm sorry, I m-made a m-mistake, I-I missed s-something," Nausica stuttered nervously, a wave of fear passing through her as she swore that Naruto's eyes flashed red briefly. "W-when the rose b-bit Amalia, it nicked her k-kidney and a s-small portion of its v-venom went d-directly to her h-heart."

Naruto opened his mouth to keep yelling, but stopped when he finally noticed the fear in the woman's eyes. Realizing how he was acting, the blonde let the healer go and took several deep breaths to calm down. "I'm sorry Nausica-san."

"I-It's quite alright dear," Nausica said, her own breathing leveling out as she relaxed. "You're just c-concerned for your friend."

Focusing his attention back on the bed, Naruto sighed heavily and rubbed Eva's back in support. "How long?"

"…Ten, fifteen minutes at most,"

"And there's truly nothing you can do?"

"Not a thing, the only hope there is left is if your friends make it back with the Severum Sap in time."

"And they still think they have a whole week, kuso!" Naruto swore. He hated this. His friend was right in front of him dying and there was nothing he could do.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that gaki." Naruto grit his teeth together as Tsunade reappeared next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "There is one thing you could do still."

'Just ignore it, it's not real.'

"You know, I can hear you," Tsunade said as she grabbed Naruto's other shoulder and squeezed it painfully. "And I'd appreciate not being called an it."

'Of course you do,' Naruto mentally grumbled, ignoring the pain as he continued to comfort Eva as best he could. 'Could you just go away?'

"Hmph, fine then, I guess you don't want to save your friends life after all." The busty blonde- "What did I just say about that?" Fine, the bodacious blonde said, happy now? "Meh, I'll allow it."

Ignoring Tsunade's argument with nobody, Naruto frowned heavily as his mind warred with itself. On one side, the logic portion was screaming at him to ignore the woman, that there wasn't anyone there, while the other was telling him to take the chance.

And as per usual, Naruto ignored the former, though much more hesitantly than he normally would. "Alright, what is it?"

"What is what?" Nausica asked, only for Naruto to wave her off as he looked towards the empty space besides him.

"Well gaki, it's real simply," Tsunade said with a smirk, "Your friend needs more strength to keep fighting off the poison until that magic sap gets here. She also happens to be basically part plant, part of nature you might say."

"You can't seriously mean… that could kill her." Naruto said, causing an alarmed look to appear on Nausica's face and Eva even stopped crying as she looked up at him in confusion.

"And if you do nothing she'll die for sure." Tsunade retorted, "Which do you prefer, probable death or definite death?"

"…"

"That's what I thought gaki, now get to it already, the clocks ticking."

'I must be going crazy, I'm agreeing with a figment of my imagination.' Naruto thought with a sigh while prying Eva off and pushing her into Nausica's arms.

"Naruto… what are you doing?" The elf-girl asked, her bloodshot eyes widening in recognition as the whiskered blonde crossed his legs and curled his hands in his lap.

"Hopefully buying some more time." Naruto said before he closed his eyes and his entire body went still.

"Uh, is he alright?" Nausica asked after a minute or so, a little disturbed as she couldn't even tell if the teen was breathing anymore.

Eva didn't answer, opting to instead watch as a familiar orange coloration spread across Naruto's eyelids until they snapped open to reveal his now bar shaped pupils and yellow irises. Getting up on his feet, he stepped closer to the bed and looked down at Amalia as she weakly gasped for breath before raising his hand as it was enveloped in a soft greenish-blue glow.

"Okay, seriously Naruto, what are you doing?" Eva asked again, grabbing Naruto's arm just as he started to lower it towards Amalia.

"I'm going to transfer pure senjutsu chakra into Amalia." Naruto said while effortlessly pulling his arm free. "With her connection to nature and plantlike bio-something, it should hopefully help keep her alive long enough for Ruel and Yugo to get back with the sap."

"And the part where it could kill her?" Eva asked with narrowed eyes.

"There is a… moderate chance of that," Naruto admitted before adding, "But if I don't do anything she'll die for sure."

Eva couldn't argue with that, she could see Amalia's breathing getting weaker by the second. With a reluctant nod of understanding, she stepped back from her fellow blonde as he focused his attention back on Ama-

*Shnk* Naruto stopped cold as a blade erupted from the center of his chest and he found himself back in the middle of a forest.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to get away from me?" Sasuke asked before delivering a harsh kick to Naruto's back, knocking the blonde off his sword and skipping across the ground for several feet until he crashed into a tree.

"Owwww," Naruto groaned as he peeled his face out of the bark and sent Sasuke an annoyed glare. "Damn it Teme, you could not have worse timing than right now."

Spinning his sword to clean the blood off it, Sasuke smirked. "Oh, I'm not so sure, I'd say it's just perfect."

-XxXxX-

Meanwhile, in the real world Nausica and Eva watched Naruto give a sharp gasp before going entirely still. "Naruto? Naruto?! Naruto!" Eva yelled while shaking the young man repeatedly to try and get him to respond.

"Oh dear, it looks like he's gone catatonic again." Nausica said, snapping her finger a few times in front of Naruto's face without response.

"We need to snap him out of it, and fast." Eva said, her gaze going back to Amalia, who's face was rapidly losing color.

"Well I'm open to suggestions dear."

-xXxXx-

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he smashed a spinning blue ball of energy against Sasuke's sword, filling the air with the sound of shrieking metal.

"Give up Naruto! You know you can't beat me!' Sasuke yelled over the noise, only to be ignored as Naruto continued to press on and the Rasengan tripled in size.

Right as the blonde was about to start winning though, a soft tingling sensation on his cheek distracted him just long enough for his opponent to ram a fist in his stomach.

-XxXxX-

"Ow, okay so much for slapping him out of it." Eva said as she held her aching hand with a grimace. 'By Cra, that was like hitting a block of steel!'

"Oh boy, then we may have to take… drastic measures." Nausica said while Eva nodded.

Getting into a crouch beside Naruto's unmoving form, Eva gave the boy a look of pity before raising her fist. "Sorry about this Naruto."

-xXxXx-

"Annoying Teme," Naruto sighed as he dusted his hands off and started walking, leaving a beaten up and bloodied emo on the ground. "Alright, how the hell do I get out of he-EEEEIII!"

The whiskered boy curled over and his voice rose several octaves as an immense amount of pain shot through his family jewels. Cupping his groin in agony, Naruto barely even registered as the world returned to normal around him until he felt someone shaking his shoulder.

"Naruto, cringe in pain later, Amalia needs you now!" Eva yelled, getting the boy to nod weakly before placing his once again glowing hand on Amalia's stomach.

The instant he made contact, the energy began to soak into Amalia's body and, much to everyone's relief, her breathing leveled out. Eva began to relax slightly as she saw her friend/ward's condition improve… before blinking in surprise as she noticed an odd and concerning fact.

Naruto's face was showing a large amount of exhaustion, with his breathing becoming haggard and the coloration around his eyes starting to fade away already.

However, just as she was about to ask him if he was alright, Amalia woke up, and her vision was filled with green light.

-In the Air-

"Man, I can't wait to see everyone's faces when they see that we already got the sap." Yugo cheered as he and Ruel rode on the back of a winged blue dragoturkey wearing aviator goggles.

"You don't have to much longer Yugo, there's Nausica's place now." Ruel said as he pointed to the small cottage in the distance that was just visible thanks to the soft moonlight.

*CRACKLE* *GROAN* The instant he pointed this out though, both he and Yugo were shocked as the whole place began to glow a bright green before a MASSIVE willow tree burst into existence.

"Oh boy, that can't be good."

-Real End Chapter-

AN: I'll be honest, I winged it with this chapter. I had a lot of ideas what could happen for this part and had trouble deciding on which to go with, so I just wrote whatever came to mind at the time. If you think it sucks because of that, then I'm sorry and I promise I'll try to do better next chapter. Thank you for reading and please review.