Adventures of the Orange Flash

Chapter 13: Taking the Highroad and Data Diving

Up high in the cloudy sky, we find Naruto and the others on board Tails' biplane known as the Tornado which was used to depart from Ice Paradise in pursuit of Dr. Eggman who had been tagged by Naruto with his likely destination being the fabled Angel Island where they're heading towards.

"I can feel the signal from the chakra beacon tag getting stronger," said Naruto from atop the top wing of the Tornado.

"Then that means we're almost at Angel Island, I'm pretty sure that it's just beyond this incoming cloud bank," said Tails.

"I've heard about a floating island but I've never seen it before, not even on television," said Mina.

"Me too, but thanks to Naruto and Mr. Tails, we now have the chance to see it. I'm so excited!" said Cream with Cheese chirping in agreement.

After passing through the cloud bank, the group except for Tails were treated to a sight which they would never forget for a very long time. Ahead of them is a massive island with tall mountains varying environments like forests, icy terrain and more which was actually levitating in the air. Naruto could sense the chaos energy coursing through the island like veins to which he speculated to be the reason for why the island is capable of levitation.

"There's Angel Island, that's where the Master Emerald is kept and Knuckles serves as its guardian," said Tails.

"And probably what Eggman's targeting, he's over that way Tails," Naruto focused on the tag and pointed at a certain direction.

"Got it," Tails turned the biplane in the direction which Naruto pointed at and flew over there, soon they found themselves flying over a region full of nothing but canyons which were blanketed with clouds, though they could make out mechanisms which functions as fans and windmills of varying sizes.

"This is where I'm sensing the chakra beacon tag, best we locate it from the ground in case Eggman laid out any traps for us," said Naruto.

"I'll go look for Knuckles, I'm sure he'll help us out," said Tails.

"In that case, Mina-chan and Cream-chan will pair up and seek out any badniks and then free them,"

"Why can't we come with you?" asked Mina, feeling a bit let down that she wouldn't be able to accompany the fox with Cream and Cheese feeling the same way.

"I'm sure that Eggman knows that we're coming and is sure to try and leave quickly before we catch up, so I'll need to get to him fast before while leaving the clearing out of the badniks to you girls," said Naruto.

"Okay Naruto, we'll do our best," said Cream.

"I'll catch you guys later!" Naruto flipped off the top wing and dove towards the ground below as the Tornado flew away to another location where Tails will drop off Mina and Cream before going to look for Knuckles.

Music Start: Sonic Advance 2 OST; Sky Canyon Act 1

As he drive close to the ground, Naruto threw a Hirashin kunai towards the floor and immediately to it once the weapon struck the floor before taking off at high-speed and launched off a dash ramp over the clouds to land on a platform then leapt to another one. A buzz bomber dove towards him and fired multiple energy bullets at its target, Naruto formed a windmill shuriken and folded it out before spinning rapidly like a propeller as it deflected the incoming projectiles then throwing to slice the airborne badnik in half and freeing a flicky inside. He was back on the move and stepped on a dash panel which sent him speeding through a narrow pathway that formed an upward guiding loop then shifting into an inverse loop with the path leading upwards which sent him high into the air.

Naruto looked ahead and saw a dash ring ahead then created a shadow clone that grabbed him and spun around once before throwing him towards the ring which launched Naruto further to land safely on a platform and took to the air again from a dash ramp before landing on the ground. Naruto landed in front of an electric fan that blew an air current strong enough to push him forward and grind along an ascending grind rail into a miniature windmill which had him performing a spin dash as the impact caused it to swirl around before launching him upwards onto an upper level. Naruto jumped from one platform to another while avoiding the spikes suddenly shooting out from the ground and walls before leaping towards another windmill to be sent upwards to another platform.

Naruto ran to the edge of the platform and saw multiple springs all mounted on propellers letting them hover in the air, he bounced off each spring to ascend to a higher level. He boosted off a dash panel down the slope and up a narrow path into another electric fan which redirected him up another narrow through an uphill loop into a second descending slope till he ran off the edge onto another platform which had a ramped wall to move upwards right into a windmill to be launched higher and land on top of a grind rail which he slid along to reach a platform, past an electric fan and got boosted again to run down a narrow path towards a wall where a spring was placed for he to bounce off into an upwards loop before running downhill.

He jumped off the edge when a tornado suddenly picked up and he got caught in the current and was whisked up high into the air above a row of multiple hovering springs for him to bounce along towards a platform where he launched off a dash ramp right onto a spring to ascend to the top of the level where there's another spring for a minor boost to the secondary level. He ran up and down the narrow path straight into a windmill and got flung to a higher platform, then dashed through a downhill loop and bounced off a diagonal spring towards a platform where he ran up a ramped wall into an upward loop. Afterwards, Naruto launched off a dash ramp towards a chain of springs which sent him higher for another tornado to boost him all the way towards yet another row of hover springs to cross along to a narrow path.

Naruto ran down a narrow path where he ran into a windmill which swirled around before launching him higher towards an upper narrow path, there was a dash panel which he stepped on for a burst of speed down the narrow path into a quarter loop which had him running upside down as he ran off the edge but he quickly somersaulted in midair and landed on his feet before skidding to a stop.

Music End

"Whooooooo, another rush but in a literal sense of the word. I can feel the signature of the tag getting much stronger which means that Eggman isn't much further from here," said Naruto.

"Indeed, a single misstep would have sent you careening to the sea or ground below. Though you might have used the chakra mode or bijuu mode to fly back up here," said Kurama.

"You're right, I better call Tails and find out if he found Knuckles yet?" Naruto raised one of the gloves to his hand as he tapped thee crystal before a holographic interface appeared, he scrolled down a bit before activating the comm feature which soon made contact "Yo Tails, this Naruto. Can you hear me?"

[Tails here, I read you loud and clear] Tails spoke from the other end of the link.

"I getting closer to where Eggman is, what's going on at your side? Have you found Knuckles yet?"

[No, I've been to where the Master Emerald is located but Knuckles was nowhere to be seen]

"Maybe he's gone off to fight the badniks on the island, so we might meet him halfway,"

[Okay then I'll regroup with you guys]

"Gotcha, I'll see you later," Naruto closed the connection then focused on the tag again and dashed towards its location.

Music Start: Sonic Advance 2 OST; Sky Canyon Act 2

Naruto ran down a slanted platform into a narrow pathway which then curved upwards before curving again for to be running upside down. He ran off the pathway into an upper platform where a diagonal spring was positioned there for him to bounce high into the air "Swift release: Shadow Flight!" he dashed in midair while leaving behind afterimages to clear a great distance before landing on the ground by performing Gale Force Dash to zip along the ground just in time as a new badnik was currently attacking him. This one was built to resemble an armadillo which is currently curled up and rolling towards the vulpine ninja, the clash was obviously one-sided as the wind pressure overwhelmed the badnik and smashed it into pieces before freeing another animal inside.

Naruto rolled up a short ramp and took to the air as he landed on a narrow pathway with an electric fan behind to blow him forward up and down the slopes before launching off a dash ramp into the air and landing onto another platform where he zipped through a downhill loop and off another dash ramp for a platform where he bounced from a spring to be sent backwards and grinding up a rail, then bouncing from a diagonal spring high into the air and landing on a narrow pathway and running along it. Naruto reached the end of a wall where he bounced off a spring to catch some air and reach several hover springs which he used to ascend towards a platform above him. He ran along it and boosted off a dash ramp towards another platform whilst picking up speed before running into a windmill and getting flung upwards onto a row of hover springs to cross along to the other side.

Naruto ran past an electric fan to get himself propelled forwards and launch off a dash ramp onto a spring to ascend to an upper level for him to dash along a sloping narrow path to a ramped wall, he quickly kicked against the wall to flip backwards and land on top of another narrow pathway before boosting off a dash panel to ascend where electric fan redirected him to run up another pathway to the edge of platform and he performed a chakra enhanced jump to land on top of a grind rail to ride along before doing a stylish somersault off the end. Upon landing, Naruto boosted off dash panel through a narrow pathway which formed an inverse loop before shifting into a downward loop for Naruto to run off the edge and bounce from a diagonal spring towards a wall full of spikes.

"Whoa!" Naruto threw a kunai up above the spikes to the top of the platform before quickly flashing over to it and landing in a safe spot "Whew that was close, I almost ended up being a pincushion!"

"Lucky for you, be careful since these might lead to potential death traps," said Kurama.

"Already noted,"

Naruto ran over to a spring and launched himself high into the air onto a platform where an electric fan blew him back to grind up a rail behind him then running up a ramped wall to bounce from a diagonal spring which sent him into a windmill that flung him into another electric fan that blew him back into the mechanism to be launched high into the air and land on a platform. Naruto ran along the platform through two downhill loops and launching off a dash ramp into a chain of springs to ascend to a higher platform above where there were several hover springs to be used to get across to the next platform. He ran along it then down a narrow pathway to bounce from a spring, redirecting him down another pathway with a second spring to change his directions yet again before slowing to a normal pace as he felt that the tag could be felt nearby.

Music End

"The signal from the tag is much stronger this time, Eggman is close by!" said Naruto, then a rumbling sound was heard and getting louder as if moving towards where they are.

"And I'm sure the source of the rumbling and the placement of the tag is none other than the doctor himself," said Kurama.

Sure enough, they saw just what was causing the sound and it wasn't that much of a surprise that it was a giant machine obviously created by Dr. Eggman. It is a giant wheel which has three stations attached to it and slowly rotates along the wheel as it moves. The top is the cockpit which has dark tinted glass which made it hard for Naruto to see who it was inside, the one on the left is a laser cannon, and the one on the right is a large hand which was currently moving around.

"Looks like he stepped up his game a bit," said Naruto as the machine rolled by, he quickly called on Tails "Yo Tails, I just found Eggman and moving in to engage."

[Got it, I'm on my way with Cream and Mina] said Tails.

"Better hurry cause this fight will be over before you know it," Naruto smirked before taking off after the latest soon to be trashed mech.

Music Start: Sonic Advance 2 OST; Knuckles Boss

Naruto soon caught up with the machine and began to look it over for any signs of a weak point while keeping an eye out for any incoming attacks, he took note of the laser cannon which was currently taking aim as energy gathered at the muzzle before firing a deadly beam straight at him. Naruto dashed to the side to avoid the incoming attack when a shadow fell over him, he looked up only to see that the giant hand was descending towards him in an attempt to smash him to the ground but he skidded along the ground to reduce his speed in time for the hand to hit the ground a few inches away from him before he picked up speed to pursue the vehicle once more.

"So that's how it works, both the laser cannon and hand serves to defend the cockpit as well as attack in both long range and mid-range," said Naruto placing a steady distance between himself and the vehicle but keep his eye on the laser cannon.

"I suggest destroying the laser cannon first before going after the cockpit, I can tell that giant robot hand is built to withstand anything," said Kurama.

"You have a point there, well let's take it to em!"

Naruto put on a burst of speed to close the gap as the giant hand launched a punch at him, he jumped into the air and placed a palm on the fist before vaulting over then he saw the laser cannon fire another beam at him "Swift Release: Shadow Step!" he literally blurred from view for the attack to miss completely and reappear before the cannon. Naruto put his hands close together as chakra emitted from the gloves and took on the shape of a spiked two-handed war club (an Kanabō) which he raised above his head before bringing it down to smash the laser cannon, he was about to attack again when he looked to see the giant hand coming down at him with a karate chop and quickly kicked off the cannon with a somersault to land back on the ground.

Naruto looked at the laser cannon which is now crackling with electricity and moving around erratically and firing beams randomly with a few shots nearly hitting him if he hadn't been dodging them in addition of the giant arm attacking him as well. He could tell that one more attack will be able to take down the laser cannon and he knew just how to go about it. He raised a hand above his head as he channeled chakra to form a spear, the giant hand swiped at him but he leapt into the air whilst fusing the spear with wind chakra, a gust to swirl around the tip before hurling it. The spear shot like an arrow and pierced right through the laser cannon, causing it to explode.

"That's the cannon taken care off, now for the cockpit," said Naruto. then he dashed forward and performed a slide to evade a smack from the metal hand before leaping into the air above the cockpit where he curled up and started spinning for a Kitsune Spiral Dash as he impacted the cockpit and began to grind against it and inflicting damage before moving away in case of being attacked. He then saw the hand close into a fist before punching at him, Naruto slowed down bit before clinging onto the hand with chakra while forming the Rasengan with a free hand before slamming it into the cockpit.

The giant hand started to jerk around frantically in an attempt to shake him off, Naruto still held on and reached into his ninja pouch and brought out a handful of regular kunai having explosive tags of a higher grade which he then threw at the cockpit and embedded themselves deep into the metal. He allowed himself to be thrown and then formed a handsign before calling out "Kai!" for the tags to ignite shortly before unleashing a chain of explosions which destroyed the metal hand as well as the cockpit while Naruto landed back on the ground and skidded to a stop with a smirk on his face.

"He sure went out with a big bang, didn't he?" said Naruto.

Music End

Naruto approached the wreckage with the cockpit in particular when he heard footsteps from behind and smiled upon seeing Tails, Cream and Mina.

"You guys just missed one of my best boss fights so far," said Naruto with a foxy grin, getting Mina and Cream to giggle while Tails laughed a bit "Now to pop Eggman the big question and find out what's going on?"

"You're right about that, Naruto," said Tails.

"I hope he could tell us where my mom is," said Cream looking hopeful.

Suddenly they heard banging coming from the wrecked cockpit the glass was shattered outwardly as someone came out of it, this person wasn't but he was definitely familiar to both Naruto and Tails who were shocked upon identifying the person.

"Well this is unexpected…" Kurama mused.

"Knuckles?!" said a surprised Tails.

"What were you doing in there?!" asked an equally surprised Naruto.

Indeed it was their friend Knuckles the echidna covered in black oil who was supposed to help them out, not the other way around.

"Well the strangest thing happened…Eggman came by and warned me about a group of thieves coming to steal the Master Emerald and gave me the vehicle which he calls the Egg Saucer to help me out," said Knuckles but he was sweating a bit, Naruto could sense that he was feeling nervous and recalled something which Sonic told him.

"Knuckles…you didn't let Eggman trick you again, did you?" said Naruto with a deadpanned expression, seeing Knuckles flinch was pretty much his answer.

"I think he did…again, and this wouldn't be the first time," said Tails shaking his head in disbelief.

"But everyone knows that Eggman isn't to be trusted," said Mina.

"Cheer up, Mr. Knuckles. I'm sure next time you won't be tricked," said Cream cheerfully.

Knuckles simply slumped over in depression, every word pretty much hammered at his self-esteem especially since he has no way to refute their statements "…leave me alone," he barely mumbled.

"Well now we don't have any clues of finding Eggman, with the chakra beacon tag being destroyed along with the machine," said Naruto.

"Not really, I might be able to salvage something useful from Eggman's machine which could give us an idea of where the doctor would be," Tails spoke up.

"Good idea Tails, I guess we'll be waiting till you're done then,"

"And when he's done…I'm coming along too, I'm not going to let Eggman get away with making a fool out of me," said Knuckles clenching his fists with a growl.

"Again," said Kurama with a snicker.

"Sure thing Knux, you can come along," Naruto gave the echidna a thumbs up.

"Well we could use a place to rest after all this," said Mina.

"We'll got to the Altar of the Emeralds where we can wait for Tails there until he's done," said Knuckles.

With Tails starting to work on the salvaging process, Knuckles led the remainder of the group to where he normally resides which is the Altar of the Emeralds. It is a mystical ruin where the Master Emerald is enshrined with Knuckles serving as its guardian to make sure that no one comes to steal it for selfish purposes. Upon arrival, Naruto gazed at the large green gem and sensed massive amounts of Chaos energy from where he stood and he wasn't even standing next to the ancient relic. Naruto was currently relaxing a bit when he heard Knuckles call out to him.

"Hey Naruto, I've been meaning to ask but where's Sonic? I figured that he would be going after Eggman too so why isn't he with you?" asked the echidna confusedly.

"Oh that, Sonic is out on a family vacation with his parents and aunt. They tried inviting me to come along but I declined and chose to remain behind, that is until this whole thing with Eggman happened," Naruto explained. Knuckles nodded in acceptance of the answer and turned away, that was when Mina walked up to Naruto and spoke to him.

"Um Naruto, I think the tags that you gave to me have run out of power," said Mina.

"Really? Let me see," Naruto stood up and walked up to Mina before taking her hands into his, causing her to blush "…You're right, the tags are out of chakra. I'll just have to refill them, it won't take long," Naruto concentrated on his chakra as a blue flaming aura radiated from his body before channeling them into the seal tags, unknown to him was that due to physical contact with Mina's hands, his chakra was giving a certain sensation.

"His energy…it feels so warm, like a blanket is covering my whole body to protect me from the cold," Mina was fighting the urge to lean against him and just relax with no worries at all, which was why she let out a small whine when he stopped and let go of her hands.

"There, all of the tags are restored to full…is there something wrong? Your face is kinda red," Naruto leaned forward, causing Mina to back up a bit.

"I-I-I-I'm okay! There's nothing wrong at all! I'm just fine!" said Mina hastily.

"Oh okay, if you say so," said Naruto "She kinda reminds me of Hinata-chan with the way she's acting,"

"Kid still has no clue how much of an effect his chakra has on people and things alike," thought Kurama amusedly. Chakra reflects its owner's personality and emotion, which was why at first Kurama's chakra was red due to his hatred towards humanity until it changed to gold after becoming friends with Naruto. Naruto's chakra in particular was bright and warm which was why he took to Senjutsu quickly, also accepting his inner darkness made his chakra shine all the more brighter.

"I'll be doing a little exploring but I'll be back soon," said Naruto.

Cream jumped up and ran next to him with Cheese following her as always "I want to come along too,"

"Okay then, let's go," the duo and Chao were off on a little stroll while marveling at the nature and animals which are running around happily "I guess with the badniks destroyed, the animals can rest easy now,"

"It's nice to see them so happy," Cream nodded in agreement. Suddenly Cheese perked up and flew off much to their surprise "Cheese, where are you going?"

"Let's follow him!"

Naruto and Cream ran after the little Chao until they saw it fly through a small bush which they pushed aside to reveal a cave hidden behind it. Curiously, the duo wandered through the tunnel and saw a bright light at the end but upon emerging, Naruto and Cream were surprised with what laid out before them. They were on a wide cliffside with wood railings on the edges, the place is overgrown with lots of grass and soil rounded in the medium by the mountains. In the middle is a lake with a waterfall running into it, and behind it is a cave where Naruto and Cream had come out from. In the lake is a little island with a fruit palm tree on it and there were ancient ruins with one being a broken stone bridge scattered all over the place with a few more palm trees. But what surprised them especially Naruto the most was the large number of Chao in the area, some were flying around, others swam in the lake and a few were chasing each other like they're playing a game.

Cream looked rather excited "Oh I know this place, it's Chao Garden!"

"Chao Garden?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"It's a place where all the Chao live and there are lots of gardens all over Mobius," Cream explained.

As they walked further in to the garden, some of the Chao scampered over and chirped happily as if greeting the newcomers. Naruto smiled and knelt down to pet some of the Chao that leaned into his hands with the floating dots changing into heart shapes depicting how much they're enjoying it. Naruto and Kurama could agree on one thing; these creatures are the most friendliest they have ever met. As of right now, Naruto and Cream sat down to eat some lunch which the fox had packed into a storage scroll, the Chao were at first surprised before cheering at the sight of his 'magic trick' and some were hanging on to his tails but not too tightly this time. After learning from Cream that the wild Chao can also eat homemade cooking, he allowed the curious creatures to eat some of his rice balls which they found delicious much to their delight.

Naruto was relaxing at the lakeside with Cream and Cheese playing with the Chao when he suddenly felt something tugging his pants and looked down to see that it was another Chao but this one looks different. Unlike the normal Chao, this one's body is white with blue tips on its hands and feet while the head is rounded with two small circles on the very top and a small light yellow oval in the belly's center. Its eyes are white with a black outline, feathery wings, a split tail and a small blue halo hovering over its head.

"Chao chaoo!" the white Chao flapped its wings and flew up to his face while chirping its name cheerfully. It had been watching him from afar ever since he came with the rabbit girl and became more and more interested especially with the aura he was emitting…it was powerful but at the same time gentle and kind which made the Chao start liking him already, and so wanted to meet him face-to-face.

Naruto smiled and petted its head for the Chao to respond happily "I haven't seen a Chao like you before, I wonder if Cream knows what you are?" he was about to call out to her when he again felt something tug one of his tails a bit roughly, he looked to see what it was but saw nothing and felt another tail getting tugged. Every time he tries to see what tugs his tails, it seems to hide from his sight. So Naruto waited until he felt a tail being touched and quickly used the Shadow Step to disappear and reappear to see a Chao with its back to him and this was just as different from both the normal and white Chao. This Chao's body is dark red-brown with magenta and violet tips on its hands, feet and head, there is a light pink mark in the shape of a crescent on the top of its. It also has batlike wings, a devil's tails and a pink spike ball hovering about its head. Feeling the need for payback, Naruto used a tail to tap the Chao which caused it to jump into the air with a loud "Choa!" as it turned around to reveal a row of sharp teeth and its eyes were white with a sky blue outline. The Chao was currently frowning at a smirking Naruto.

"Hey you can't be mad at me, you played a trick on me so it only makes sense for me to do the same which makes us even," said Naruto with a foxy grin, getting the Chao to grin back at him.

"Nice set of teeth, bet it could bite through a lot of things," said Kurama with a smirk.

"Choa choa!" said the darken Chao, it was also watching Naruto when he showed up and thought to play a trick on him and certainly wasn't expecting the fox to do the same but it was all in good fun.

"Chao chao!" the white chao flew up to it and chirped in greeting for the other to wave as if saying 'Yo' which reminded Naruto of how his sensei would do the same before saying a lame excuse for being late.

"I guess the two of you know each other?" asked Naruto, the two Chao nodded as the white Chao sat on his shoulder and the other settled on top of his spiky blonde hair. It was then he heard footsteps and turned to see Cream and Cream approaching them.

"Naruto I-oh!" Cream stopped in midsentence and gasped upon seeing the Chao with Naruto.

"Oh Cream-chan, I was just about to ask if you know these two Chao," said Naruto.

"Yes I do, the white one with the blue halo is a Hero Chao while the black one with the pink spiked ball is a Dark Chao. The Hero Chao are very kindhearted and like to help people with good intentions like you, and the Dark Chao are known for being very rowdy and like to play tricks on others for fun," said Cream.

"So that's what they are, I can relate to them too. I always protect those close to me with everything I've got and back in my younger days I've been a prankster with no one being able to catch me or prove that I was the one," said Naruto with a look of nostalgia. The Hero Chao chirped happily and the Dark Chao smirked from his words.

*Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep*

The beeping sound from the gloves alerted Naruto of a call from Tails to which he quickly answered in response.

"Naruto here, what's up Tails?"

[Naruto, I've managed to figure out where Eggman could have gone and how to get us there. We're all waiting back at the altar so you and Cream need to get back as soon as possible] said Tails.

"Got it, we're on our way," said Naruto before closing the comm link "It's time for us to go back to the others Cream-chan,"

"Okay Naruto," said Cream as she and Cream got ready to leave

Naruto placed both Chao on the ground "I have to get going, but I'll be sure to visit you afterwards ok?" then he walked away with Cream and Cheese towards the tunnel and back to the others, not noticing the sad look on the Hero Chao's face and the frown on the Dark Chao.

"Chaooooo," Hero Chao chirped sadly, then it felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to Dark Chao.

"Choa choa, choa choa choa," Dark Chao pointed at the tunnel where their new friend just went through.

"Chao?" Hero Chao perked up at what its dark counterpart just said.

Dark Chao nodded with a wide grin "Choa choa!"

Back with Naruto and Cream, they had returned to the Altar of the Emeralds where they met up with the others and saw some sort of contraption next to Tails.

"Hey guys, we're back. And what's that?" asked Naruto.

"It's related to where Eggman has gone. After salvaging enough parts, I found a chip that contained information about entry to the datascape which is where he has gone to,"

"Datascape? As in going inside a computer?" asked Mina confusedly.

"That's right," Tails affirmed the question.

"So how exactly are we going to enter a computer?" asked Knuckles.

Tails fondly patted the device next to him "With this baby right here…powered by the Chaos Emerald, it will generate a portal that will grant us entry into the server belonging to Eggman with the chip I found,"

"Okay then Tails, fire it up and let's-" Naruto was talking when something interrupted by tackling him from behind to the ground before he could react and heard two familiar sounds.

"Chao!"

"Choa!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he quickly sat up to see the Hero and Dark Chao hovering before him with a smile and grin respectively while the others looked on with surprise as well. Knuckles then spoke up to ask Naruto.

"That's a Hero Chao and a Dark Chao! What are they doing here and why did they come to you?" asked Knuckles confusedly.

"Well Cream and I found a hidden Chao Garden where we played with the Chao and befriended these two, I don't know why they're here though," Naruto explained to them.

The Hero Chao then started chirping "Chao chao chao, chao chao!"

Cream being able to understand the Chao thanks to the time spent with Cheese translated what it was saying "He said that they didn't want you to leave them so they decided to come with…they must really like you Naruto,"

Naruto turned to the Chao "Is that true? You really want to come along?" they nodded in affirmation to his question, then he smiled "Then you're welcome to join then!" the Hero chirped cheerfully and hugged his face while the Dark Chao smirked in response.

"Never expected to see a Chao befriend someone out of their garden," said Knuckles.

"Awww that's so cute, you need to give each of them a name," said Mina.

Naruto thought deeply for a moment before perking up as he pointed at the Hero Chao "Your name will be Kou which means light…" then he turned to Dark Chao "…and yours will be Yoru which means dark. What do you think?" both newly named Chao responded happily to their new names.

"Those are very nice names Naruto," said Cream with Cheese chirping in agreement.

"Thanks, now let's get going as there's no time to waste," said Naruto.

"Got it Naruto, starting it up now!" Tails punched in a few codes on the device as a humming sound was then heard before a blue beam shot out from it and diverged to form a circular swirling portal before the group "That's the portal to the datascape, let's go!" everyone ran inside with Knuckles carrying the device along through the portal before it fizzled out to nothing.

Upon exiting from the other side of the portal, Naruto and the others found themselves looking at an interesting environment. On the walls are big computer chips connected by blue and green circuits which all of a sudden turn into a flashing red light and then gets distorted like a broken TV. The ground appears to be made out of multicolored pixels and beeping sounds could be heard around them.

"Hmmm, according to the chip this server is called Techno Base," said Tails thoughtfully.

"Well now that we're here, let's go find Eggman and give what's coming to him," said Knuckles as he bumped his fists together.

"Then let's split up, Tails and Knuckles will go west while Mina and Cream pair up again to take the east, and for me I'll be going north. Contact once you find anything of interest," said Naruto

"Got it!"

Knuckles and Tails took off in one direction while Mina and Cream went in another, Kou (Hero Chao) settled on his hair and Yoru (Dark Chao) sat in the hood of his vest before taking off at high-speed.

Music Start: Sonic Advance 2 OST; Techno Base Act 1

Naruto ran along the pixelated path as he reached a large gap along the way and was about to perform a chakra enhanced jump across it when a stream of data materialized in between the gap to form some sort of bridge for him to use. After crossing it, he ran down a small slope then bounced up from a spring to land on top of a large cube which quickly elevated upon landing and stopped to fling him up to a platform above where a badnik was waiting for him, it was a bizarre looking winged bot which was hovering in the air. The badnik flew above Naruto and launched a laser blast at him but he evaded with a backflip and conjured a pair of chakra shuriken enhanced with his wind affinity and threw them at the badnik to slice its wings off for it to fall to the ground where he smashed it up with a roundhouse kick. He continued onwards and crossed over another digital bridge to run up a ramped wall and along the ceiling where he flipped off to land on another large cube which elevated his to an upper level. Naruto dashed across the platform to run down the wall where he kicked off to grind along a rail made of data to the lower level. He was dashing to the edge when something suddenly flickered into sight to reveal spikes which Naruto hastily leapt over but that led to him falling down a long way before landing on top of rail which he grinded down to the lower level.

"Now how do I get out of here?" said Naruto looking around a bit. Kou patted his head to catch his attention before pointing ahead where two walls are positioned parallel to each other with their surfaces, reminding Naruto of those…piano keys from the Musical Plant! "Good eye Kou!" the Hero Chao chirped happily as it and Yoru flew in the air as Naruto performed his Kitsune Spiral Dash and jumped at the bumper-like walls and proceeded to bounce upwards till he got back to the other side of the upper levels. He dashed along the path and bounced off a diagonal spring into a combo of several more before a spring changed his direction to land on platform where he ran up a ramped wall to the top before kicking off to land on the next level to boosts off a data construct of a dash panel to launch off a dash ramp and land on a grind rail ahead which he rode along to somersault at the end.

Naruto ran along the path when more of the winged badniks materialized to attack, he formed a windmill shuriken this time to take down some of them, then Yoru flew straight at the last of the badniks and actually chomped parts of it off with its sharp teeth with the fox looking stunned.

"I always thought that Chao's got some bite, I like it," Kurama smirked at the sight, revealing his own set of teeth.

"That's really something, Yoru," said Naruto,

"Choa," the Dark Chao responded with a smirk, displaying his teeth.

He resumed running and reached the edge with a large gap but increased his speed before jumping high into the air and performed his Shadow Flight technique to cross the gap and land on the side, the fox took a downward path and stepped on a large cube which carried him forward to run up a ramped wall to the upper level, there he boosted off a dash panel to go through an uphill loop and then a downhill loop before bouncing off a chain of springs sending him downwards before the last one bounced him up to a platform. He jumped down the lower platforms before bouncing off a spring to land on a grind rail to the other where there is a hole ahead for him to jump into and land on top of a cube to be moved to the next platform where he ran off the edge down the wall and along the ceiling to hit a spring, bouncing down along a few more and land on the ground. There he boosted from a dash panel and ran up a ramped wall all the way to the top.

Naruto ran down the sloped pathway though a downward loop to the lower level and launched off a dash ramp to grind along a sloped rail which he flipped off to land on a large cube and was elevated to the top where he jumped up to bounce against the bumper-like walls to climb even higher and land on the next platform. A group of badniks materialized and attacked in an attempt to intercept him, Naruto took Hirashin kunai in one hand and formed a katana in the other "A chapter from my dad's ninja handbook!" he threw the kunai for it to fly in the middle of the group before disappearing in a yellow flash and then reappeared behind the badniks having caught the kunai and the katana appearing to have performed the motion of a slash, the badniks fell to the ground in pieces and Naruto then spoke "Flying Raijin Slash!" he ran down a slope and grinded along a rail before running down ledge to bounced down from springs which then switched to bouncing him forwards and then finally landing on the ground with a lengthy skid.

Music End

Naruto reduced his speed down to a jog as he looked around for any sort of clues which could lead him and the group to wherever Eggman could be hiding and so far he's getting nothing not even a smidge, the Chao were also looking, wanting to help their new friend but were saddened from being unsuccessful.

"We've come this far and there's still no sign of Eggman, where's that smart omelette?" said Naruto.

"Would have been easier if you used your sage mode but there's no natural energy in a computer," said Kurama.

"I know that much, buddy. But we're losing time here, it's only a matter of time before he leaves this place altogether,"

*Beeeep, beeeep, beeeep*

A sound came from the ECG gloves and it wasn't the one signaling a call from Tails, he curiously tapped the crystal and the interface materialized while displaying a 3-D blue arrow pointing straight ahead but he noticed that when he turned his body, the arrow would change direction telling him that it's a compass but leading him to where? Suddenly he heard the sound of radio static and a voice was heard only barely.

*kshhhhhhhhhht*…llow…*ksssht*…row…*kshhhht…fol…*ksssshhhhht*…arrow…*kssssssshhhhht*

"Did you get that Kurama?" asked Naruto.

"I couldn't hear it any more clearly than you, but it seems like someone is telling you to follow the directions of the compass," said Kurama.

"What if it's a trap?"

"Then we use bijuu mode to burst out with no problem, I doubt Eggman has anything capable of restraining our true strength,"

"If you say so, then I follow the compass,"

So Naruto and the Chao followed the compass as it led them through the area, at times climbing up a few level and vice versa till he walked around a corner only to quickly double back to hide before poking his head out to scope the area. It was a wide room and at the center is some sort of white diamond hovering while encased in a circular transparent dome shield, patrolling the place are badniks whom he recognizes from previous zones.

"Well it isn't a trap, more like they're protecting something. It must be very important for Eggman to post this much security," said Naruto.

"Then let's take a closer look after clearing them out," said Kurama.

Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and took out a single kunai which he channeled his wind chakra through before dashing into the room and grabbing the attention of all the badniks as they turned towards him and were about "Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu!" he flung the kunai and watched as it multiplied into a thousand copies of the original before piercing through every single one of the badniks, making them appear like Swiss cheese. Naruto walked into the room and approached the diamond when his gloves started beeping for him to tap the crystal and hear the voice much more clearly albeit it sounded feminine.

[We finally meet Naruto Uzumaki] said the voice.

Naruto noticed the diamond glowing as the voice spoke then realized that it was the one that led him here "Who or what are you, and how did you know my name?"

[My name is Nicole and I am an Artificial Intelligence, I know of your name from the records of Dr. Eggman's records of his encounters with you] said Nicole.

"So you're a creation of Eggman?" Naruto braced himself for combat in case it was a trap after all.

[Negative, the professor is not my creator. I was forcefully from the database of my true originator Dr. Ellidy, I was created for an untold directive which I had immediately failed upon activation due to lacking a certain function. I was to be deleted but Dr. Ellidy withheld on that decision and stored me away deep within his database before leaving without a word. A year later I was extracted from the database by Dr. Eggman and enforced to function under his command] said Nicole.

Naruto frowned at hearing her story, he was angry at both doctors for what they did and that was putting it lightly. Her creator for his negligence just because she didn't have what he wanted and threw her away, and don't even get him started on Eggman, he's got a lot to be mad at the doctor which includes kidnapping and enslavement.

[It was within my duration within this server that I had created a new directive which is to be free from Eggman. However there were numerous restrictions placed upon me, preventing any escape. So the next logical plan would be to seek assistance from an outside source]

"Then you could have asked Sonic for help," Naruto pointed.

[Plausible, however he is absent and lacked technology for the assistance. But you possess both requirements]

"Okay then, how do I help you out of there?" asked Naruto, there was a pause before Nicole responded.

[…I find it illogical for you to lend me your assistance without having asked for further reasoning]

Naruto simply shrugged "You were taken and forced to work for Eggman, and you want to leave him. That's more than enough reason for me to help you out, if I needed a reason to begin with,"

[…simply illogical. Very well, you would have to disable the shielding and touch me directly with one of your gloves then I shall begin the download]

"Got it," Naruto approached the shield and placed a hand on it, tapping a few times then took a stance with an open hand palm reared back as blue energy gathered around and formed a spiraling sphere "Rasengan!" he rammed his signature technique into the shield and watched as it grinded through before finally shattering. He walked up to the diamond shaped object and touched it "Okay, Nicole-chan. I'm touching it,"

[Affirmative, I'm proceeding with the download] said Nicole. A holographic screen popped up from the glove and streams of data starting rolling by with a long bar slowly filling up before it was complete followed by beeps and the diamond stopped glowing and dulled [Download complete]

"That's good to hear, by any chance do you know where I can find Eggman?" asked Naruto curiously.

[Affirmative, I will give you coordinates to where the doctor is located as you go] said Nicole.

"Thanks a lot, Nicole-chan!" said Naruto happily.

[Why do you add 'chan' to my name? it's illogical] asked Nicole.

"Oh that, it's an honorific I usually attach to girls whom I'm friends with,"

[You consider me a friend? It's illogical from the amount of time we've spent just a moment ago]

"Length of time means nothing when it comes to being friends to me, let's go!" Naruto took off after sending a message to Tails to track him down so they'll meet up.

Music Start: Sonic Advance 2 OST; Techno Base Act 2

Naruto was currently running up and down the rolling hills before it suddenly sharply sloped downwards then rise slightly, he ran off through and inverse loop and took to the air to land on a platform. Nicole directed Naruto to run across a digital bridge where he boosted off a dash panel to run up a ramped wall to the ceiling where he flipped off the edge to bounce up from a spring to the higher level. He continued his run and dived down a hole and land on a grind rail which took him to a large cube and was elevated towards two walls with bumper-like surfaces where he used his spin dash to bounce upwards to the next platform.

[Take the spring to a grind rail, it leads to a route above] said Nicole.

Naruto complied as he dashed towards said spring and bounced high into the air and grinded along the rail to the other side. Some badniks appeared from below the edge of the platform, Naruto lengthen his claws with chakra and pounced at one to slash it to bits before leaping at another till all were taken down to latch on to a wall with chakra from his feet and run up along it then flipping to the top. He ran towards where a spring was situated to redirect him up a slope towards another spring to be bounced up to higher ground, barely a row of spikes which materialized in midair so Naruto formed to toss him over it before landing back on the ground.

Naruto saw a grind rail ahead of him as he ran and performed a long jump upon reaching the edge of the platform to get across the gap and land on it then riding along to the other side, there he ran downhill at high-speed and jump at a wall where he slid down to the bottom of a ramp before running down another slope to redirect himself with a spring at the end and sped forwards.

[There's a hole ahead which you must descend into to cross a digital bridge] said Nicole.

"Got it, Nicole-chan!" Naruto ran ahead and dived into the hole and landed on the lower levels, he waited a moment till the digital bridge materialized over the gap before quickly making his way across to the other side of the platform. He boosted off a dash panel to zip through a shuttle loop and up a tall ramped wall to kick off from one wall to another repetitively until arriving at the top of the next platform. He dashed along the pixelated pathway and launched off a dash ramp towards a group of hovering badniks where he performed the Kitsune Spiral Dash to bounce off each of them to land on a small platform with a spring at the center to send upwards and running along a ceiling to the top of a large cube.

The cube move to the side towards a platform for Naruto to resume his run which sent him rushing up a slope and bouncing from a spring at the end to move along a ceiling again before jumping to dive to the next lower levels and using a dash ramp to pass through several dash rings to maneuver over a large bottomless pit. Landing at the other side, Naruto boosted off a dash panel and bounced off a diagonal spring along a combo of several more into two walls with bumper-like surfaces to ascend to the top before diving back to the ground on the other sector.

Naruto channeled chakra into one of his gloves to fire a grappling hook which embedded into a wall and he swung along in a wide arc with the Chao holding on tightly and cheering loudly as they're having fun before he landed with a roll on the ground before dashing down the slope and through a half-loop to land on a large cube to be elevated to the highest level.

"Okay where to next?" asked Naruto.

[…]

"…Nicole-chan? Are you there?"

[…Huh? Oh yes, just keep moving straight ahead. Dr. Eggman isn't too far now]

"Okay, I was worried for a moment since you weren't responding,"

[My apologies, all of my systems are functional] Naruto nodded in understanding and continued with the run, leaving the female AI to her [What were those sensations? They weren't in my system for the longest time till now. This requires analysis for their presence]

Music End

Naruto was running along the pathway which Nicole directed him through and couldn't help but take note of the slightly bigger above his head because it differed from the rails which he grinds along while he ran around here. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Kou tapped his head and was pointing behind, he looked to see Knuckles catching up to him.

"Hey Naruto, wait up!" Knuckles called out to him.

"Hey Knuckles, where are Tails and the others?" asked Naruto.

"They're right behind me and would soon show up, so any sign of Eggman yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure we're on the right track…do you hear that?" asked Naruto, hearing a faint sound.

"…yeah, I hear it too," Knuckles replied.

The humming sound grew louder until something overshadowed them and went past for the duo to see what it was. It was a yellow Egg Mobile which is moving along the rail with four platforms attached and encircling it, two orange and two gray with each platform having a blue light on them.

[Proceed with caution Naruto, that is one of Eggman's most recent inventions…the Egg-Go-Round] Nicole.

"What's that?" asked Knuckles about the voice coming from the gloves.

"A new companion during my run, turns out Eggman forced her to work for him before I busted her out," Naruto explained.

Eggman looked down from his cockpit and was shocked upon seeing Naruto and Knuckles running side by side in pursuit of him.

"What?! How did you get here?!" the doctor demanded.

"That's for us to know and for you to figure out. Nice try on transporting here to lose us," said Naruto.

"It's time for you to pay for tricking me Eggman!" said Knuckles.

"You'll have to defeat my invention before doing that!"

"That can be easy fixed!"

Music Start: Sonic Advance 2 OST; Boss

Naruto and Knuckles drew close to the vehicle noticing that the four platforms were rotating clockwise around the cockpit and sought out a weakness before deciding on striking at the cockpit directly to inflict some serious damage. Naruto waited until a blue platform was within his jumping range, then leapt onto it with his gloves forming a pair of clawed gauntlets and was about to pounce at the cockpit when the blue light suddenly changed to red before the platform spun rapidly for Naruto to be taken by surprise and fall to the ground.

"I guess those platforms aren't for show," Naruto mused.

"Well that won't stop us," it was Knuckles taking his turn to jump onto the second blue platform and quickly leapt to the yellow one before it started spinning, but then Naruto noticed Eggman smirking and realized that something was up.

"Shadow Clone jutsu!" Naruto created a copy of himself who threw a hirashin kunai at Knuckles before disappearing in a yellow flash and reappear to grab the echidna then throw him high into the air.

Knuckles used his natural ability to glide in the air before glaring at the clone "Hey! What's the big ide-!" he stopped in midsentence when he saw spikes shoot out from the yellow platform after the blue light changed to red and struck the clone for it to be dispelled "Whoa, it was a trap,"

Then from the center of the Egg Mobile, orange electrified bullets shot out at both of the pursuing duo. Knuckles veered left and right to avoid the incoming projectiles while gliding, Naruto was about to dodge with his Swift Release when Kou flew in front of him.

"Chao!" the Hero Chao's body outlined with a white aura then it put its hands forward to conjure a large white energy shield which reflected the projectiles back at Eggman and damaging the cockpit.

"Whoa, didn't know you could do that Kou!" said Naruto, Kou simply chirped happily while Yoru seemed to be pouting.

[Analysis complete, the blue platform rotates to prevent mounting and yellow platform extends spikes for attacks. Signals for activation is when blue light changes to red on current platform] Nicole spoke up.

"Thanks for the info Nicole-chan!" said Naruto with a smile.

[Y-you're welcome] the female AI stammered, feeling all the more confused why her speech wavered like that.

"Yo Knux, don't be on the platforms when the lights turn red and watch out for his shots!" Naruto called out to his partner who nodded in affirmation.

"Got it, things just became much easier now!" He waited for the red light on a yellow platform to change back to blue before jumping onto it then lunging at the cockpit with a fist reared back and slammed it to deal some serious damage then landing back on the ground.

"My turn!" Naruto formed a shadow clone which transformed itself into a foldable windmill shuriken that he threw before disappearing as well. Eggman fired at the incoming projectile and managed to knock it off course…but a second windmill shuriken appeared from another angle and slashed at the gun turret before puffing into smoke and revealing Naruto "Demon Wind Shuriken; Windmill of Shadows!" he followed it up with a blue spiraling sphere in hand "Rasengan!" he rammed it into the cockpit directly at where Knuckles punched for critical damage. Causing the Egg-Go-Round to explode with Eggman frantically ejecting from the vehicle in a slightly smaller Egg Mobile and glared at the duo.

Music End

"Damn you two! Your continuous interference is ruining a majority of my plans, I must push up my schedule of world domination before you ruin that too!" Eggman pushed a button for a white beam to shoot out from the Egg Mobile and diverge to form a circular swirling portal which he flew through for it to close behind.

"Rats! He's a slippery one!" Knuckles growled.

"Agreed but there's his talk about world domination," said Naruto.

"He always tries to do that, but we always put a stop to that,"

That was when Tails, Mina and Cream showed up, and the duo filled them in on what transpired as well as Naruto introducing Nicole to them much to Tails' fascination.

"Now the question is where he would go to commence with his world domination plan?" said Tails.

[I may know of where the doctor would go to next] Nicole spoke up for everyone to stare at the glove.

"Do you where?" asked Mina.

[Affirmative, when Naruto attacked with his technique, I used that opportunity to hack into his system and download some data. According to it, he must have retreated to his hideout which is situated in space called Egg Utopia and I have the coordinates that will transport us there with your device]

"Hang on, and I'll bring it out," Naruto took out a scroll from the pouch on his vest and unrolled it to channel chakra onto one of the seals to bring out the portal device which brought them into the datascape.

"Okay, inputting coordinates…there! We're all set for transport!" Tails had activated the device as it projected another portal to their next destination.

"Time to settle things with Eggman!" said Mina.

"Ditto!" Knuckles nodded in affirmation.

"Looks like we're at peak condition, let's go!" Naruto ran into the portal, quickly followed by the others to where they'll face Eggman with nowhere to run this time.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, the team arrived at Angel Island in search of Eggman but ended fighting Knuckles who had been tricked(Again) by the doctor before joining them to get payback for the deception. It was during their stay while Tails figures a way to track Eggman that Naruto and Cream wandered into the mystical Chao Garden with the former befriending a Hero Chao and Dark Chao for them to want to be with him. Afterwards the team track Eggman to the datascape where an enslaved AI program by the name NICOLE was rescued and integrated into Naruto's gloves, now they give chase once more into space to stop Eggman's plans once and for all. The next chapter will mark the end of the Sonic Advance 2 arc.

Here's the complete harem with slight chances of change:

Honey the cat
Rouge the bat
Blaze the cat
Shahra the genie of the ring (Secret Rings)
Merlina (The Black Knight)
NICOLE
Bunnie
Barby koala
Sonar the fennec
Mina mongoose
Julie Su The echidna
Tikal The echidna
Clove the pronghorn & Cassia the pronghorn
Fiona the fox
Sally acorn
Lumina Flowlight(fuse void to become whole again)
Coral the Betta
Perci The lady bandicoot(sonic boom)
Lupe the wolf pack leader
Leeta the wolf & Lyco the wolf sisters in wolf pack
Sash Lilac the water dragon
Carol tea the wildcat
Milla the hound
Bride of the Conquering Storm (NEW ADDITION)
Relic the pika (NEW ADDITION)

Send your suggestions via PM if you have ideas which you want to discuss with me concerning this story.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out.