Another quick chapter.
Kind of on a roll now that I got started!
Well, let's get to it, my friends!
Ugh… This place wasn't any better than the hospital…. Naruto twitched as he leaned back on the couch, trying to relax his nerves by attempting to get comfortable.
It wasn't helping. He couldn't identify precisely what his problem was with seeing doctors or therapists…
He just didn't like 'em! Felt like he could be doing more…
Even if this woman seemed kind and generous… Which made sense since Pyrrha was very polite and courteous in everything she did… Except for fighting.
She was aggressive and blunt when she was in combat mode.
Why wouldn't her mother be the same?
But as she pursed her lips, deep in thought as she formulated her words, Athena pushed her glasses to fit them back on the bridge of her nose. "So you've seen an image of a fox these past few days?"
"Yeah, he's been around," Naruto muttered, glancing over at the window of the room and squinted at the sight of the fox sitting patiently, staring directly at him. "He just kinda… Appeared. When I first woke up at your home, since you let me stay there. Showing up and attempting to push me in certain directions. Other times, it just stares at me."
Disclosing her frown at that statement, Athena's expression turned thoughtful as she followed his gaze momentarily. "Do you see it now?"
"He's just patiently waiting by the window." Naruto squinted and glared at the creature as it let out a long yawn. "Or maybe not… The little bastard is bored."
Its muzzle twisted into a sly grin, a hidden glint of amusement sparkling from its scarlet eyes.
"Is that so?" Athena had a thinly veiled smile as she turned her attention to Naruto before sighing and exhaling. "The field of mental health… Is quite vast, as there are still so many things we don't know about how the mind works. What one person would call a delusion may very well not be."
"Your situation is more unique than most," Athena commented, glancing over toward where Naruto saw this mysterious fox. "There are very few records of someone suffering from amnesia quite like you. And none of them ever had as potent Aura as you possess. To simply dismiss this manifestation as simple delusion would be a disservice to my field."
"Huh?" Naruto furrowed his brow and scrunched his face. "Why would that be?"
"Because it may not be a figment of your mind." Athena's attention was firmly fixated on Naruto; her emerald eyes shone. "Just like mental studies, there isn't a clear understanding of what Aura is and the drastic variances per person. What is known is that it is the manifestation and power of one's soul. I believe that is the case and with your situation…"
"I believe there is every possibility that this fox you see is a creation of your soul attempting to reach out and guide you."
It was rare that their household received visitors.
Most nowadays were for his daughter and not let through. Too many paparazzi looking to get a scope on her. It was aggravating. He was glad his old friends did not mind assisting in the matter.
Outside of that, any other visitors he was aware of when they would arrive, especially when business sponsors came calling constantly. He could handle the business side of things for his daughter, so she didn't have to put herself out there. He ensured every penny was put into her account regardless of her demands.
If she wanted to spend something for the family, he couldn't stop her. But they had a comfortable life due to his previous employment… How he longed for the day of being an active Huntsman…
He winced as his left calf ached before letting out a sigh. Phantom pains were the worst. They never went away…
And it was for the best. Pyrrha struggled to deal with that side of things. She had always been extraordinary ever since she was young.
Still, this gruff man at his door… No, this Huntsman… Why was he here? What did he want…
"Apologizes for dropping in like this, Homer. Just following a few leads, and they brought me here." The gruff man drank from a flask, the stench of alcohol reeking from him.
Scrunching his nose from the foul smell, Homer glowered. This man knew who he was?
"And what leads would that be?" Homer responded with his steel gaze intently concentrated on the man. "I'm not sure what you are implying…"
"Nothing like that. Just that you might have information on an incident two weeks ago." The gruff man slouched in front of him, putting away his flask. "There was a massive Aura discharge near Argus that the sensors of CCT in Vale picked up. There's the worry that Grimm will be drawn to the area soon, so I was dispatched to investigate and monitor the situation."
Homer's eyes flickered widely. He frowned before shaking his head. "I was unaware of that. My friends had informed me there was a noticeable uptick in Grimm activity along the borders of Argus but didn't think anything serious of it. Things like that happen on occasion for no discernible reason."
"Afraid that might not be the case this time around." The drunk Huntsman slurred his words yet stayed focused on the conversation. "See, I was informed about two weeks ago that your daughter witnessed an explosion. Something they couldn't explain… And found an unconscious kid in the devastation of that explosion."
"If you wouldn't mind, I want to talk to him personally."
Battle was always exhilarating.
No matter who or what she was fighting, she felt a certain amount of satisfaction in combat. She thirsted for that thrill. The elation of victory was sweet when, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough.
Nothing ever satisfied her. …Until now.
She had always put in her best effort to learn everything she could about combat. Sought to master everything she could. Compete against others to discover more.
Pyrrha was under no illusion of the profession she sought after and the dangers associated with it. She wanted it. If she could help others with her natural talent while seeking the thrill of the battle, she couldn't refuse. To protect others with the gifts she had been granted and push herself to her limit?
It was the perfect job for her.
Yet that euphoric feeling dangled before her. She was unable to grasp it. Even after joining the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row, no one could push her to grasp it. She learned quite a lot, and she was thankful for that… But no one could challenge her…
Until just now.
Even if this was just a hand-to-hand spar to help him get acclimated to missing an arm, he could keep step with her. Push her in a way no one ever had before.
And he was doing it while handicapped!
With every move, he tested her. Bested her. Caused her to react faster. Change her approach.
Naruto was unable to recall who he was, but his body remembered how to fight. And it was glorious.
Pyrrha wanted to see him at his peak. To know what that was. To test herself against it.
Lightly breathing despite the intensity of the spar, emerald eyes dazzled, staring into two calm oceans of blue. Perhaps… He was the one she could genuinely unleash on.
"Think I'm starting to get the hang of this." Naruto let out a warm laugh, rolling his left shoulder to stretch it before bringing his hand before him and flexing it several times. "Making less and less mistakes each day."
Settling from her aggressive stance into a standing position, the euphoric thrill of battle slowly faded from her system. Yet she felt satisfied, for now at least.
"I can tell." Pyrrha chimed in, faintly smiling as she approached Naruto with her arms behind her back. "Your ability to adapt and improvise is impressive. Every time I can tell you've made a mistake, my ability to capitalize on it has shrunk. And you've adjusted well to me exploiting… Well…"
"Nah, you can say it. My right side is wide open, so I gotta figure out how to work around it. No telling how useful this prosthetic is gonna be when it gets attached in a few days." Naruto exclaimed, chuckling at how suddenly Pyrrha shrunk after mentioning the void he had on his right side.
Returning the laughter with a light smile, Pyrrha could only nod. "I've heard it takes some time to get adjusted to. Finer movements will be difficult initially, but you'll get the hang of it. You could always ask my father. He lost his leg while fighting Grimm when I was a child. If anyone knows about how prosthetics work, it would be him."
"Seriously? It happened to your old man, too? …Rough." Naruto ruffled the locks on the back of his head before grimacing. "Gah, losing a leg would suck more, I would think."
"You'd be surprised at what you can manage without once it happened." Homer's voice resonated from nearby.
"Ah!" Naruto shrieked as Pyrrha's tone went pale, both looking back toward her father as he approached with another man beside him. "Didn't mean to be talking about you behind your back! It just kind of…"
"I'm aware. I've been here for a few moments. Didn't want to interrupt. You both seemed to be enjoying yourselves." Homer chuckled, his eyes shifting between his daughter and Naruto. "But you have someone that wishes to see you, Naruto. He's investigating the incident around the explosion site you were found in. Don't think it will do him any good to ask you, but…"
"To see me?" Naruto squinted at the statement before his eyes trailed over to the gruff man beside Homer.
"Yeah, got a few questions to ask you if you don't mind." The man beside Homer followed up, focusing on Naruto's presence.
"I mean, I don't know what I can say to help you with your investigation, but I'll try and help!" Naruto chirped as he turned to the man and smiled. "I barely remember a thing about myself, much less what happened!
"So I was told." The gruff man retorted, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at Naruto.
But it was those dark crimson eyes that caught Naruto's attention. He had been seeing strange red eyes stare at him in the darkness constantly.
…Boring their gaze into his soul.
"Ah…" Naruto grimaced, reaching for his temple. A sharp pain shot down his spine. Now of all times…
And before him, the image of someone roughly his age with crimson eyes stared back at him.
His gaze filled with hatred.
"Naruto… you are too late. Nothing you can say will change this course I have charted! I am going to kill every last person in your village! If you stand in my way, I'll kill you too! If you want to protect your home… There is only one option. You have to kill me. Better make your decision…"
"For I will kill you if you take too long."
"Naruto, Naruto!" Pyrrha desperately called out to Naruto, grasping his shoulder as he fell to a single knee.
"He's having an anxiety attack from another memory resurfacing!" Pyrrha recognized the situation and spasming of his body, and she quickly turned her head to her father.
"I'll go find your mother!" Homer quickly darted to the house, knowing his wife would have far more insight into the situation than either of them.
"Naruto, I'm right here…" Pyrrha tried to calmly reach Naruto with a soft and calm voice, something her mother stated could be effective if such an incident happened around her again.
"Here, take this." The man knelt before Naruto after reaching into his pockets and held out a small pill.
Pyrrha snarled and glared at the man. He had already caused this problem, and he conveniently had a solution. "Sir! Whatever that is…"
"Name's Qrow," Qrow responded calmly and measuredly, gently extending the pill. "It's a sedative. I take it all the time. Helps calm my nerves and lets me fall asleep at night… When I'm sober."
Pyrrha's eyes fluctuated for a moment before they sharped. She still didn't trust the man. It was all too convenient…
"Naruto?" Pyrrha snapped her head back as Naruto rapidly swiped the pill and swallowed, breathing heavily.
"Sorry…" Naruto panted heavily, sweat dripping from his face as his eyes dilated. "I saw something… No, someone… I recognized that person…"
"I think I know who left me in this state."
"He'll be okay for now." Athena sighed, watching Naruto slowly breathe as he lay on his bed before turning her attention to her daughter.
"This one was more intense than any of the others before." Pyrrha scowled, her arms crossed as she gazed at his sleeping form. "They had only been giving him headaches and mild shivers…"
"Memory lapses like this are almost unprecedented," Athena exhaled once more, softly smiling at the care her daughter showed. "But an incident such as this does not surprise me. The sudden rush of memory to return… One associated with severe pain… Is likely to be an overwhelming sensation."
"His recovery will take time," Athena added before solemnly shifting her attention to her patient. "I cannot tell you he will ever recover… The likelier scenario is that he only remembers part of who he was and has to live the rest of his life like this."
"And it may be for the best that he does so he can move on with his life knowing what he has to do instead."
As Pyrrha hung her head somberly, her fist clenched tightly, another jumped onto the bed.
With a swish of a tail, two scarlet eyes glistened with remorse. Laying next to Naruto's, gently nudging at him, it lightly yipped.
Can you hear me?
Sighing deeply, drinking from a thick, rimmed glass, Qrow grimaced as he swallowed hard. Today had been a day…
Instead of learning something about his assignment, he had caused a kid to have a full-blown anxiety attack. All because his eyes shared the same color as this Sasuke person.
The person likely to have been behind that Aura explosion…
"If not both of them," Qrow muttered, downing the rest of the drink in a single gulp. "But still, two people being able to cause that kind of damage and catch our sensors? …Something else has to be in play."
Squinting as he felt a vibration from his pocket, Qrow groaned. He knew what that was…
Pulling his scroll from his pocket, Qrow lifted it to his ear. There was only one person that would be calling him at this time… Well, two, but he doubted Tai would call him while he knew he was out on the job.
"What do you want, Oz? Haven't learned much yet. But I can tell you what I've gathered so far."
"I am more than willing to hear what you've picked up, my friend. Seems like this wasn't the only Aura reading of this magnitude that happened."
"What?" Qrow snapped and turned his head to the image of the scroll. "Are you telling me there was another?"
"Seems so… James has been monitoring a reading he discovered for the past two weeks and has contacted me after gathering every detail he could."
"There seems to have been a large pulse of Aura within the Dark Continent."
This place… Looked so unnatural.
A crimson sky with black clouds to violet clouds that occasionally blacked out the sky—the stained light reflected from the shattered moon.
Yet these colors brought forth familiarity to him. He couldn't explain it. He wasn't sure why, but it brought forth… A sense of dread… Pain…
Hatred.
Howls of the monstrous creatures of this land resonated from below the keep. A single onyx gazed down upon them from his isolated perch, his right hand clenching the stone tower. There was nothing here besides himself…
And the owner of this fortress of solitude.
"How are you feeling?" The sultry yet commanding voice of the owner of this desolate estate snuck up behind him.
His only visible eye narrowed. She snuck up behind him… Something felt… Wrong about that.
"My recovery has been… Adequate." He articulated, turning the top half of his body to greet the figure, showing his left eye covered by an eyepatch.
And before him stood a tall, pale figure casually approached him, a crimson and violet cape that trailed to her calves fluttered from every movement. A woman with her hair bundled uniquely and dressed in a black robe that dragged beneath her feet with dark red trimmings lining her collar down, visibly present where she purposely left a button undone to show some cleavage of her well-endowed bust.
His lone eye trailed her form, carefully observing her with a modicum of distrust. It was a gut feeling…
He felt he could trust no one.
"Voids and gaps in my memory still plague me. I am unable to recall almost anything that has happened to me." The young man with unkempt raven hair eloquently continued to relay his condition, rubbing his temple as he attempted to draw on his memories. Nothing still… Why couldn't he remember anything?!
Snarling, he clenched his fist before flexing it several times. That was another issue.
"Furthermore, my muscles still ache. I require more space to alleviate this issue, Mother." He shot a single unwavering glare.
A bemused smirk slivered onto her lips. Her crimson eyes bathed in the void of her sclerae sparkled with amusement. "I will make preparations in the chambers below to give you the space to operate and relearn your limits, my son. Whatever it takes to help you in this time of crisis… No price is too high."
Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, an annoyed breath escaped as he simply nodded his appreciation and stared into the darkness of the land. "Good… I have been restless for some time."
Feeling her hand gently rested on his back, rubbing soothing circles to calm him, his mother stood at his side and looked upon her lands. Her gaze fell upon him, a hint of worry expressed within. "Have you remembered anything, my child? Or is everything still…"
"No… Everything is still blank. Even my name." He grunted, his jaw clenching as his spine shivered from the touch.
It felt unnatural.
A disappointed sigh left his mother's lips as she hung her head. "A shame… If you could only remember what had happened to you, I could organize a search to take care of it."
Despite her caring words, he felt a bubbling pit of anger building within. No, he didn't want her to take care of it… He wanted to…
Gasping, clutching his temple, an electric shock sent a shiver down his spine, and a single voice began to reverberate through his mind.
"I always thought you were like… A brother to me. That's why I can't let you go through with this. Why I can't stand to see you like this. I can't just stand by and let this eat away at ya."
He squinted his eyes, his body trembling as he saw a young man before him. Sunshine, spiky blonde locks. Vivid blue eyes gazed upon him with regret and hope. What… What is this? A memory?
"Even if you attack Konoha, I will stop ya! I won't let that hatred consume you anymore! Take all of it out on me, got it?! I will shoulder and bear that burden with you even if we have to die together! You are not alone in this, Sasuke!"
His body violently convulsed. He fell to a single knee as his hand fully draped over his pained face. The passion in his voice… Who was he? Why was he so concerned with him?
And why did he feel a sense of… Satisfaction from those words?
"My son? Are you okay?" He felt his mother kneel at his side, her concern evident as she embraced him.
"Who are you?" He muttered at the figure in his image, his eyes dazing over before a short scoff escaped his tongue.
"Naruto…" His eyes glimmered with euphoria, his fingernails digging into the skin of his face. "You are here too, aren't you…"
"It's time we finished this."
Once more, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Let me know what you thought about it if you have a moment!
Hearing back from you keeps this flame going!
So, let's have a quick Q and A since I've been struggling getting to comments! (Don't even remember if I got to the comments of the first chapter, lol)
Kharaki Takan - Yeah, Kurama is around. The thing is I'm not making it obvious in what capacity he is around. There are details I'm intentionally making vague.
DevilBeast - So was I! It just kind of came together after a sister project to this one kind of flopped hard (one that used a similar side story to this one). And with the Pyrrha ships being lacking, it makes sense. She passed away early in the series while other characters stay prominent. Funny thing was early on my favorite characters were Yang and Pyrrha. Pyrrha never really fell off, I just came to enjoy Neo, Blake and Weiss more but that was more because how their characters continued to receive more work. Yang... Fell off a cliff and found Emerald at the bottom.
Nameru A - I noticed, but I also didn't want to insert their names too often either. It kind of becomes a fight on what to do or finding a way to restructure what I'm saying. There are also moments where I don't want to use names, like in this last segment. We know who they are, but the character in question doesn't. But appreciate that you brought that up!
garza75, 4malchicken, guest reader, Ludwing Zamora Donoso, Gilgamesh50 - Glad you are enjoying the story so far!
Arrexu - I know I answered you, but want it everyone to see as well. As stated in earlier comment, I'm purposely keeping Kurama's details vague so it very well does seem like he's playing with Naruto and is at some points. But I don't want anyone to know precisely what is up as it too early to go into those details! Also yeah, I have to celebrate characters with my birthday! They are extremely rare! Like the only three I can think of our Pyrrha, Neliel from Bleach and Tenchi Murasaki (think I spelled that right) from Tenchi Muyo.
Dasgun - O.O
Until next time,
Peace!