Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 16: Scouring for a Tail
Naruto opened his eyes and sat up from his bed as he stretched out his arms and let out a yawn. He went to the bathroom for a hot shower, fully awakening from it. The orange fox made his way back to the bedroom and to the closet to change from his pajamas into his regular clothes. Naruto turned towards the S.A.C placed on the media cabinet and called out to it.
"Good morning, Nicole-chan," said Naruto with a smile as the waist pack-like device suddenly turned on by itself then a large stream of data flowed out of it and took of Nicole who was smiling in return.
"Good morning Naruto, I hope you slept well," said Nicole.
"I slept good, let me get Kou and Yoru before we go downstairs to get some breakfast," Naruto walked back to bed to find the two Chao still asleep and gently shook them awake "Wake up you two, it's morning already," the Chao eventually woke and perched on his shoulders before they headed down to the kitchen.
There he proceeded to prepare things like fruit salad, toast and jam, omelet, cocoa among others. Naruto and the Chao were about to help themselves when they heard the doorbell ring.
"I wonder who it is?" Naruto got up from his seat and went over to the front door and opened it up to see who it is "Oh…hey there Sonic,"
Said hedgehog waved a hand in greeting "Sup Naruto, hope you don't mind me dropping in to say hi with some of my relatives along for the visit," Naruto looked over his shoulder to see that three others were standing behind him.
First is a middle-aged blue fur of a lighter shade but bares many physical similarities to Sonic except he has a thick grey moustache that obscures his mouth as well as thick grey eyebrows arching over his blue eyes. He also wears an attire of maroon colored, slightly pointed shoes with two dark yellow straps and white cuffs, and a pair of white gloves.
Second is a female hedgehog with fuchsia pink fur, pink hair in a style of curly spikes and a full fringes. She wears a dress with short dark purple skirt and a red sleeveless top. The two sections are separated by a gold belt that forms a pointed shape at the front with a small circle in the center of the belt, red stockings under purple boots with the toes of which are a matching red, and she also wears a pair of long purple gloves.
The third and last is a green furred hedgehog whose quills are shaggier than Sonic's, he wears a red vest, black spiked wristbands, an orange waist pack, and red shoes with white toes and grey soles.
"Sure I don't mind, you all can come in. I was just about to have some breakfast so you're welcome to join," Naruto opened the door wider for them to pass through with Sonic being the first.
"Thanks, don't mind if I do," said the green hedgehog as he walked by.
"Manic, please behave! We're guests here," the pink hedgehog scolded following after him.
"Chillax Sonia, nothing worry about. I can tell Sonic's buddy is cool with it," Manic replied.
"I would like to apologize on my nephew's behalf, he's a little rough around the edges but certainly means well," said the elderly hedgehog.
Naruto simply shook his head "It's no trouble at all mister…erm,"
"Charles…Sir Charles the Hedgehog, though everyone prefers to call me Uncle Chuck,"
"Well Chuck-jisan, I don't really have a thing for formalities in the least bit," said Naruto in placating manner.
"It just like Sonic said, you're certainly most relaxed around friends," Naruto simply grinned to Uncle Chuck's statement.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "It's nothing really Chuck-jisan, let's go in and meet up with the others,"
They went inside through the parlor and into the kitchen where they found the others at the table with Manic helping himself to the food on the table with Kou and Yoru, Sonia was having a conversation with Nicole, and Sonic was leaning against the kitchen counter. He perked up upon seeing Naruto and Uncle Chuck enter the kitchen and called out to them.
"Yo Naruto, I was waiting to introduce ya to my cousin since I can see that you've met up with Uncle Chuck," said Sonic.
"Sure thing Sonic, go ahead," Naruto replied.
Sonic pointed at Manic "That over there is Manic, he's a streetwise kind of guy and knows his way around the city,"
"And that's only the half of it," Manic spoke up before taking a bite out of a toast.
Then Sonic pointed over at the pink hedgehog "And she's Sonia,"
"It's a pleasure to meet you Naruto, our mother told us much about you and please excuse my brother's manners," said Sonia.
"Hey!" Manic called out in protest.
"It's alright, I can be pretty much the same way when around guys I'm cool with," said Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I've been meaning to ask, I can't help but notice that those clothes are a brand from Honey Brand Clothes and Accessories?" asked Sonia.
"You're right, Honey happens to be a new friend of mine and Nicole's, she even helped out in choosing other clothes," said Naruto.
Sonia was taken aback from what he just said "You're friends with Honey, the CEO of one of the top clothing industry? That's amazing!"
"Well whatever," Manic rolled his eyes at his sister's reaction, until his sights set upon the headphones "Hey Naruto, that's a spiffy set of headphones you got there. Have a set of catchy tunes on it?"
"No, I just got these so I don't really have any music on it,"
"Now that just ain't gonna fly with me, if you got a computer then I can show you the right sites to download some tunes to suit any kinds of occasions, whether you're kicking butt or dashing through the zones,"
"I'll help out too Manic, don't forget you aren't the only one with a thing for music," Sonia spoke up.
"Uh thanks guys," said Naruto.
"I'll be pitching in later, especially since DJing is one of my hobbies," Sonic spoke up.
"Really? I never knew,"
"Sonia and Manic had wanted to form a band with Sonic, but he couldn't especially with him constantly engaging Eggman," said Uncle Chuck, Sonic could only rub the back of his head sheepishly.
"So what instruments do you play?" asked Nicole.
"I play the electric piano while Manic specializes in the drum, and Sonic's pretty good with an electric guitar," Sonia replied.
"That's pretty cool," Naruto smiled softly in memory of one of his dear friends Menma who was a talented player of the ocarina. His friend used to be a member of a clan that resorted to crime and had attacked a village, out of guilt he used a jutsu to wipe away his memories before meeting Naruto. In the end, he sacrificed himself to save that very same village as an act of redemption much to Naruto's sorrow with only his repaired ocarina as a memento which he still has stored in a seal on his left shoulder.
"I'll leave you younglings to your fun, I'm off to open my chili dog stand so I'll see you all later," said Uncle Chuck.
"Right behind ya Uncle Chuck, wanna have a bite before juicing," said Sonic.
"Then we'll be seeing you later then Uncle Chuck, Sonic," said Sonia, waving them goodbye as they left.
"Lead the way Naruto, got some uploading to do for ya," said Manic.
"Sure thing guys, come on,"
Naruto created a shadow clone to clean up the kitchen, Sonia and Manic were mildly surprised since Sonic told them earlier about Naruto's abilities. Naruto led them up to his room and started up the computer connecting his headphones to the system. Manic took the reins as he sat at the chair and was typing away on the keyboard with practiced hands.
"Goes to show how long he has been doing this kind of thing, have only seen the young kit do the same as well," said Kurama, which Naruto mentally nodding in agreement before turning his attention back to Manic who was speaking to him.
"So here we are, check out these tunes," he clicked on one of them which started playing for them to hear (Skillet - Monster), Naruto began nodding his head to the rhythm and felt his feet wanting to flow with it, and Yoru was even dancing to the music
"It's pretty catchy," Naruto admitted.
Manic smirked in response, which was when Sonia took over by taking the mouse away from him much to his displeasure.
"Let me show you some of my choices," She typed in another entry before clicking one of them to start playing too (Avril Lavigne – Runaway) this one was just as good and Kou was liking it too.
"Sounds nice, are there any others that you want me to listen to?" asked Naruto, from then on he started listening to many genres of music with hip-hop and J-pop among others being his favorites, he also downloaded some songs of his own into his headphones and planned to acquire more later on.
"We better get going and meet up with mom," said Manic with an annoyed look on his face.
"You guys heading somewhere?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, we're of a noble family and there's an oncoming meeting for us to attend to," Sonia explained.
"Ugh, really hate those, bores me to death and I have to wear one of those monkey suits for hours," Sonia rolled her eyes at her brother's grumbling.
"Come on Manic, it's not that bad," said Sonia.
"For you…not at all, but for me…a whole lot," Manic retorted.
"Guess I'll catch you guys later then," said Naruto.
"We hope to see you again," said Nicole with a smile and Sonia smiled back.
Naruto and Nicole watched as Manic and Sonia left for Sonic's home to meet up with Aleena before heading towards their next destination.
"So do you have any plans for today?" asked Nicole curiously.
"Not really, but I'm going for a little stroll over at Emerald beach for a bit. I want to try out something while I'm there," Naruto responded.
"Okay, I'll be remaining here, there's some data which I'll need to acquire online," said Nicole.
"That's okay, we'll see you later then," he walked out the door with Kou and Yoru riding on his shoulders as he put on his headphones and selected one of his customized playlist and began playing one of the tunes (Avicii – Wake me up)
Seeing that they were gone, Nicole went back to the room and sat at the computer where she was planning to do some invaluable research which could help improve her interactions with others…especially Naruto himself. Meanwhile said fox was currently walking down the sidewalk all the time nodding his head and mimicking the lyrics, even Kurama was thumping his tails on the ground within the mindscape to the rhythm.
"Man, these guys sure know how to crank up some music," said Naruto.
"I must admit, it's a whole lot different from the ones in our world," Kurama was in agreement with his partner, "I'm guessing the reason you're going to the beach is to experiment more with that mysterious flame of yours,"
"Yup, it could be useful especially since it doesn't use any chakra at all. If I learn more about the flames, it could serve as a backup should my chakra run low," to Naruto, a power like this one could be beneficial for the both of them.
Soon enough, he arrived at the beach. Naruto had Kou and Yoru sat on a rock nearby with the headphones set to loudspeaker mode, then he sat on the sands in a cross-legged position and eyes closed in mediation like he often does when preparing to go into Sage mode. As he concentrated, Naruto ignored the familiar feel of both his and Kurama's chakra as well as avoiding the absorption of natural energy, he sought deeper into his body to locate the flames when he suddenly felt warm sensation and knew that he had found what he was looking for. He calmly beckoned the flame to flow throughout his body and it was all too eager to do so, Naruto quickly calmed it to prevent the flame from going wild, he opened his eyes and raised an arm to see the azure flames emanating from it before standing up to see himself enshrouded in the flames like the last time.
"I really wonder what kind of flame it is," Naruto concentrated some of the flame to his hand and watched as it formed a ball of fire which hovered a few meters over it. Wanting to test something out, Naruto thrust his hand forward to launch the fireball as it shot forward at high-speed and impacted a wave to be extinguished with a hiss "Heh pretty cool, now what else can I do with it?" he looked around until setting his sights upon a nearby boulder, then he concentrated more of the flames to his right clenched fist before rushing forwards and lashed out with a straight punch, resulting in the boulder shattering into many pieces with most of the rocks seriously scorched "And now for this, Kitsune Fire Wheel!" Naruto curled up into a ball and started spinning rapidly as he shot forward whilst leaving behind a long trail of azure fire.
Kou and Yoru watched as their friend zipped around all the while letting out whoops of excitement before hitting a hitting a nearby rock for a makeshift ramp to launch himself into the air then landing on the ground after a triple front flip.
"Excuse me sir," suddenly a female voice called out to them from behind to which they turned to see who is was.
She is a teal-furred female Pika with matching her fur which is kept in a lock that sticks out from her forehead and in a bun at the back of her head, wearing a shoulderless black bodysuit with a long, light-brown jacket and matching gloves, as well as white and brown shoes. She also wears a backpack matching her coat and pair of purple spectacles.
Next to her is a robot with orange and yellow armor and a triangular pattern of circles on the chest on its chest, a head fixture resembling that of a postman's hat and its eye lens are green orbs. The robot has dark orange upper arms and shoulders with yellowish hands with two fingers and a thumb, and instead of legs is a cone-like aperture of matching color as it hovers in the air. Naruto took note of a large square container on its back that is dark orange marked with an alternating yellow and black strip.
"Excuse me sir, but you wouldn't happen to be an actual Kitsune would you?" asked the female Pika curiously.
Naruto and the Chao tilted their heads to the side in confusion at the sudden question but he responded nonetheless "Yeah, I'm a nine tailed Kitsune to be exact," next he knew was that she zipped right in front of him, holding his hands in hers while staring at him with sparkles in her eyes.
"That's great! I've been hoping to see one of your kind but stories were saying that you all were extinct and I almost gave up hope then I heard rumors of a Kitsune alive and traced those rumors all the way here in hopes of finding you, and here you are alive and using one of your clan's power-" she would have kept talking when the robot spoke up.
[Madam Relic please calm down, he appears to be a bit surprised and you have yet to introduce yourself] said the robot.
The female Pika looked to see that she was still holding the fox's hands and he appeared to be uncomfortable so she quickly backed away with a look of embarrassment and was readjusted her glasses "Oh dear, I'm really sorry for doing that. I tend to babble aloud and talk too much when it comes to the study of ancient and foreign civilizations,"
Naruto managed to gather himself together and replied in a placating manner "It's okay, I tend to act a bit eccentric when it comes to my favorite food so I can tell where you're coming from. By the way, my name's Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and these are my buddies Kou and Yoru," he gestured to the two Chao respectively who waved at her.
"My name is Relic the Pika and this is my assistant Fixit," said Relic.
[It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Naruto, Kou and Yoru] said Fixit with a bow.
"Same here, so why are you looking for me and what's this about me using my clan's power?" asked Naruto curiously with Kurama feeling the same way.
Relic looked at the fox confusedly "You mean you don't know of your clan or that the power which I just saw you using a few minutes ago is the legendary foxfire as stated in an ancient scroll which I found some time ago?"
"Wait, I have a clan?" Naruto glanced at the flames on his palm as he had withdrawn the rest back into his body "At least I now know what these flames are called but can you explain to me exactly what this is all about?" Relic was just about to explain when he spoke up again "Actually, let's talk elsewhere. This might not be the right place to have a chat,"
"Oh of course, lead the way," said Relic.
Naruto walked off with Kou and Yoru climbing back on his shoulder and putting the headphones back around his neck while Relic and Fixit followed him out of the beach, it didn't take long till they reached his home and he opened the door for them to enter.
"Nicole-chan, I'm back and I've brought guests!" Naruto called out.
The Holo-lynx came down the stairs and greeted Naruto with a smile on her face "Welcome back Naruto, my name is Nicole and it's a pleasure to meet you all,"
"The feeling is mutual, my name is Relic the Pika and this is my assistant Fixit," said Relic.
"A pleasure to meet you," said Fixit.
"Make yourselves at home while I go and get some refreshments for you…though I don't know exactly what to provide for Fixit," Naruto looked sheepish at the end of the sentence.
[There's no need Mr. Naruto, I'm quite alright on my own] said Fixit.
Naruto nodded in affirmation as he made his way to the kitchen, several minutes later he came back holding a tray holding a tea set, biscuits and water. With a word of thanks, Relic helped herself to the refreshments while Naruto and Nicole sat themselves on the other sofas with the Chao plopping on their bean bag chairs.
"So what is this about a clan? Cause this is the first time I've heard of it," asked Naruto curiously.
Relic took another sip of tea before setting the cup on the table and responded to Naruto "Before I tell you of the clan, I should give you a brief history affiliated to it. A long time ago, there are ninja clans each is limited to one particular species of Mobian with each being led by its own bride who is considered as being 'married' to the house above anything.
The Yagyu Clan, a clan of bats which were unorganized assassins and outlaws until they were unified by the Bride of Rich Nights many generations ago.
The Shinobi Clan are a clan of chameleons who act as spies and informants in order to keep evil in check, but because of their low numbers, they work subtlety and secretly.
Next is the Gossamer Clan, they are a clan of spiders that follow the enigmatic directions of the Web of Fate where each strand hints at the future, but it can only be read and interpreted by certain members of the clan.
And the last is the Raiju Clan, this clan of lynxes live for combat and are the most aggressive of the ninja clans with a strong belief in power and strength being above all else,"
"How do you know all this? Ninja clans keep these kinds of information very well guarded and would silence anyone outside of their clans in order to protect themselves from their enemies," asked Naruto, thinking back to the clans he had met and their unique bloodlines.
"That's true, luckily I didn't have to go eavesdropping since I found these during one of my excavations over at Chu-nan inside an ancient temple a couple months ago," Relic reached into her backpack and brought out a scroll and a metallic canister looking very old but still durable and there appears to be some sort of lock on it resembling that of a sliding puzzle but he can't seem to make out the images though "I got the information from the scroll, and after much research I discovered that the scroll didn't belong to any of the four clans leading to the belief that there was a fifth clan amongst them…a clan of Kitsune called the Yakan clan,"
"A ninja clan comprised of foxes, sounds interesting," said Kurama who was currently listening from the beginning of the conversation.
Naruto and Nicole were intrigued with the information provided so far and wanted to hear more as the former then spoke up "So what do you know about this clan of mind?"
"Unfortunately, not much. All I could gather from my research was that the Yakan clan are masters of illusion and ninja tactics with the help of their unique flames called foxfire to take down their enemies and never go back on their promises until they fulfill them," said Relic then she held up the canister "I just know that there are more clues locked inside of it, but I have no idea of how to open it and so I figured that only a Kitsune can open it,"
"But then there weren't any Kitsune to ask until you heard of me and came here right?" asked Naruto, getting a nod of affirmation from the Pika "I don't know how to unlock it but I'm willing to give it a shot,"
Relic handed the canister over to Naruto as he carefully examined the item and focused intently on the unique lock, trying to seek out any kind of clues to solve the puzzle…suddenly his vision began to change and his surroundings lost their color and appeared monochromatic.
"What the…?" Naruto looked around confusedly and noticed that Nicole, Relic, Fixit and the Chao were glowing bright blue before looking down at the canister and noticed that the pieces were glow a bright shining gold color and that he could make out part of an image this time unlike before.
"Naruto, is there something wrong?" asked Nicole worriedly, seeing how the fox was acting strangely.
Naruto snapped out of focus with his vision returning back to normal "I think I'm okay, I was staring at the lock when my sight changed all of a sudden and I was seeing things differently but I was seeing the lock in a much clearer form,"
"Maybe you instinctively triggered another ability which could help you figure out the lock much easier than for others, so I was right that only a Kitsune could open the lock," said Relic while nodding to herself.
"Sounds like it, we still have yet to learn about this body of yours," said Kurama.
"Okay, now to find a way to unlock it," Naruto focused once more with his changing once more with the etchings being traced out with a golden aura like before, he proceeded to slide the pieces from left to right, from up to down multiple times with help from Kurama who have linked himself to Naruto's sense until eventually form a picture of a fox howling before hearing a click and the lock unhinged to allow the canister to be opened.
"You did it! Let's see what's inside," said Relic excitedly with Fixit attempting to calm her down.
Naruto opened the canister and took out another scroll which he unfurled to reveal the left side full of inscriptions and the right side displaying some sort of map.
Relic adjusted her glasses and looked at the scroll critically "A writing and a map, hmmmm…I think I can read it,"
"Ok then, what does it say?" asked Naruto with Kou and Yoru peeking out his shoulders in curiosity.
The female Pika nodded in affirmation and began to interpret the inscriptions "…to our fellow Kitsune who reads this, we welcome you to the Yakan clan from the depths of our souls despite our sudden disappearance from many years ago. We were one of the strongest ninja clans back then and rivals with the Raiju clan and secret allies with the Shinobi clan to combat against evil. We held no concern to prove our supremacy over others but wouldn't hesitate to punish any foolish enough to fight against us. The four ninja clans had been warring for centuries without a care for the free people getting caught in the crossfire much to our anger so we posted ourselves as their shadowing guardians and this continued on for a very long time. One day, our celestial foxes revealed to us that a great evil threatens to appear in our world and that no one would be able to survive its onslaught. To defy such an abominable fate, all my clan members and I went to face the beast with full knowledge that we wouldn't be returning alive, however it was foretold that our legacy would continue where we had left and so placed this scroll at where it would eventually come to you my fellow Kitsune. Before our final departure, we had sealed our scrolls and important artifacts into a well hidden which only a Kitsune will be able to find and unlock to claim them. My only request is that you restore the Yakan clan to its former glory, and our role of fighting evil and helping the repressed. Asami, the Bride of Vulpecular Shadows,"
When Relic had finished interpreting the inscriptions, everyone was stunned from what they just heard. The Yakan clan had sacrificed themselves to protect the world without anyone knowing of what happened back then, Naruto was floored to hear this for he felt that he have fitted right in with them.
"It could explain why they hadn't been heard of for a long time," said Relic.
"…I'll be going to find their treasury," Naruto spoke up.
"Naruto?" Nicole looked at him in surprise.
"They did this, willing to entrust their future to me and I intend to live up to their expectations," he replied.
"Well, I'll be accompanying you. this is a great opportunity to learn more about a hidden history of South Island," said Relic, Naruto nodded in affirmation since she was the one who made all of this possible with her discovery of the buried scroll.
"Well first things, we'll to locate the treasury from this map over here," said Naruto before triggering his new vision again to see the hidden details and saw the Yakan symbol of the howling fox before pointing a finger at it "I see the marking over here,"
"Hmmm, the map is pretty old and the landscape might have changed through time so it will be hard to pinpoint the exact location," said Relic thoughtfully.
[Might I suggest that you compare both old and new maps together? You might be able to find certain similarities between them] Fixit spoke up.
"That's a great idea Fixit!" Relic smiled at her assistant.
[I live to serve]
"Okay Nicole-chan, could you project a map of South Island?" asked Naruto.
Nicole nodded in affirmation "Got it Naruto," she stretched a hand towards the coffee table as a blue beam of light shot out before displaying said map for them to see. Despite being mildly surprised from what she saw, Relic set to work on examining both maps with utmost focus while looking back and forth between both of them and taking down notes with Naruto and the others looking on with patience. Eventually, Relic looked up from her notes and spoke to them.
"I've managed to pinpoint the exact location of the marking on the map," She placed the scroll on the coffee table and shifted it to overlap a part of the holographic map and pointed "Over here at Marble Zone,"
"I recall Sonic telling me about that place sometime ago, maybe we could find some clues amongst the ruins with some help from my new visual sense," said Naruto.
"Then let us be off post-haste!" said Relic excitedly.
"Ok then, let's get moving!" Naruto got up and headed out of the living room towards the garage where he wheeled out the bike and started the engine before revving a few times to warm it up for a bit. Naruto then seated himself with the Chao sitting in front then materializing a helmet which he handed over to Relic "Here, put this on. But can Fixit keep up with us?"
"Of course he, especially since he could hover in the air," Relic replied.
[It's like Madam Relic said, so there's no need for you to worry] said Fixit.
"Alright, let's go!" at his words, Relic climbed to the backseat with the helmet on while Nicole digitized herself and went into the S.A.C, then he rolled on the throttle and took off down the road…but not before putting on his headphone and playing a song (Black Eyed Peas – The Now Generation) while Fixit hovered after them.
The riders sped through the highway at high-speed until turning off into rough terrain as they passed through the woodlands and rolling hills, Relic served as the navigator with use of her handheld GPS and giving out the right route for them to take towards their destination with Naruto complying with them. Soon enough, they began to feel the atmosphere getting with Fixit informing them of the rising temperature which meant that they were drawing close to their destination.
"Well, this is it," said Naruto as he parked the bike and was standing at the edge of the cliff with Relic, Nicole and the others, overlooking a landscape which comprises of grass growing over ancient marble buildings, and there are columns and statues everywhere. The most noted are the flowing magma, lava pools with floating rock platforms on top of them "Man, this place is just as hot as the Hot Crater zone,"
"Indeed it is, my fellow archeologists had informed of an ancient underground complex below the magma flow," said Relic.
"Then we should make our way there to begin our search," said Nicole, getting nods of affirmation from the others.
The group made their way down the cliff and were walking through the ruins and marveling at its beauty despite the gradual degradation, Relic was excitedly examining etchings and pictographs on the obelisks and statues, then taking pictures of them for later research with Fixit helping her out. They resumed their walk and making sure to stay well away from the lava pools as large balls of magma would shoot out from them before falling back with a splash, however they ended up standing at an edge with lava flowing in front of them which they have to cross over to the other side.
"So how do we get to the other side?" asked Relic worriedly.
Naruto looked ahead and carefully measured the distance in his mind before mentally nodding to himself then speaking up "I should be able to jump to the other side while I'm carrying you,"
Relic looked at the fox rather skeptically "Can you really do that? But what about Fixit,"
"Sure I can, I've jumped farther than these before and as for Fixit…" Naruto reached into his ninja pouch to take out a blank paper tag along with a bottle of ink and brush, then he swiftly drew an intricate design on the tag and let the heat from the lava to dry it quickly "This is an Inverse Gravity Seal, it will reduce Fixit's weight for one of my clones to carry over too,"
Relic examined the tag closely "Hmmmm, I've never seen anything like this before. Where did you acquire such knowledge of this?"
"From the ancestors of my mother's side, not to mention that my dad was also an expert in sealing arts too. Anyways, let's cross to the other side," Naruto scooped Relic, getting a squeak from the Pika as he created a shadow clone without handsigns which went to pick up Fixit over his head. For Nicole, data emitted from her back to form wings before taking to the air with Naruto not seeing her pout at how he was carrying Relic. Naruto hopped back a few times to build some distance then he dashed forward about halfway before leaping high into the air over the lava below and safely landing on the other side with the clone doing the same with Fixit before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Naruto placed Relic on the ground who stumbled a bit before speaking to him "That was quite impressive…," the orange fox rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment since he's not used to praise. Afterwards, the group resumed their trek for a few more kilometers before finding the pathway descending to a dark tunnel.
"That must be the entrance to the underground complex, we should exercise caution for the booby traps hidden within to attack intruders," said Relic.
"Roger that," Naruto replied to affirm.
As they walked inside, Relic took out a flashlight from her backpack while Nicole stretched out a hand for a beam of light to illuminate her way. For Naruto, he came up with an idea then he concentrated the foxfire into his hands to create small orbs of flame as they hovered into the air and remained close to him to search as his source of light. They went deeper down the tunnel until exiting from the other side where they saw a large hall which is lit up with torches, and lava could be seen flowing through here as well.
"Astounding, the residents must have lived here peacefully, I wonder what made them leave?" Relic mused to herself as they walked through the hall.
"Perhaps, the lava might have forced their evacuation," said Nicole.
Naruto simply shrugged at this, suddenly he heard a clink of metal from above then instinctively swung into action as he wrapped a tail around Fixit's and grabbed Nicole and Relic before dashing forward. That's when they heard a loud clang and the ground shook a bit, hearing more clinks above made Naruto run faster to outpace the continuous clangs, eventually the clinking sounds stopped so Naruto slowed down and placed everyone one the ground as they all looked back to see many weights of varying sizes all with chains attached and some adorned with spikes at the bottom.
"That was close, and it was a good thing that I didn't take off the seal from Fixit," Naruto let out a sigh of relief from their narrow escape.
[Quite a fortunate decision, Mr. Naruto] said Fixit in agreement.
"Indeed, we would have been crushed had you not heard the traps and acted quickly," said Relic.
"Let's just say that I have some experience with stuff like this back where I came from," said Naruto.
"What were you doing to have such experiences?" asked the curious Pika.
"How about we talk about it later, after we find more clues to the Yakan clan," said Naruto, getting a reluctant nod from Relic.
"Kit, how about you use that new vision of yours? It should play a strong role here," said Kurama.
"Good idea buddy," Naruto activated his vision for the surroundings to become monochrome and seeing the blue auras from Nicole, Relic and the others, he looked around and a long golden trail of footprints that leads down the hallway and around a corner "Guys follow me, I found a trail with these eyes of mine,"
"Okay Naruto," said Nicole.
Naruto traced the hidden footprints through the path with the others following him as they went through one passage to another whilst avoiding any more of the booby traps and the flowing lava. This kept up until they found themselves standing at a dead-end.
"Is this it?" asked Relic confusedly.
"I don't think so, the trail continues beyond the wall which means there's a secret passageway through here," Naruto could see the footprints continuing through and so prepared to use a Rasengan to break his way through, he suddenly took note of a handprint on the wall and approached it then placed his hand on it but nothing happened "Hmmmm, maybe I should apply my foxfire to it and see what happens then," he ignited his hand in the azure flames and instantly the wall glowed brightly before fading away to reveal the hidden passage behind it.
"These Kitsune really are secretive," said Relic.
"Quirks of being a ninja, information is extremely vital among clans as you tell from reading the scroll which you found earlier," said Naruto, getting a nod of affirmation from the Pika.
Walking through the hidden passage, the group began to notice that the temperature around them was dropping with Nicole and Fixit confirming their speculation with their sensor abilities, the passage opened up to a large cave, there was a brick road leading towards a Japanese style temple with an ascending staircase leading to the entrance. Relic took out her camera and started taking pictures in rapid succession, to Naruto it reminded him of the temples which he had visited back in the Elemental Nations. Wanting to discover more, they climbed up the stairs and went through the entrance, however the hallway was very dark that neither Relic nor Nicole flashlights were able to pierce through it with exception from Naruto's will-o-wisps.
"There must be some sort of enchantment for only your foxfire to illuminate the way," said Relic.
"It looks that way, so you should all stay close to me," said Naruto,
They walked down the hallway with massive stone pillars adorned with pictorial designs that Relic had to fight the edge to go and examine while remaining close to Naruto. They finally arrived at the end and came open a circular platform, at the center of it is a pedestal designed to resemble four foxes holding up a circular bronze bowl with their tails, inside it is an anthropomorphic nine-tailed fox wearing a kimono whilst in a meditational state and holding a small white-gold ball in its hands.
"Astounding! This has to be one of my greatest discoveries yet!" said Relic as she excitedly took more pictures of the unique artifact, then something caught her eye as she took a closer look at the bronze bowl "Hmmm…there's something etched over here, it translates as 'A fox hides within its den to avoid the detection of its enemies, refusing to come out until sensing the flames of its brethren burning',"
"That sounds more like a hint to something," said Nicole.
"Well it has something to do with foxfire, but for what for what?" asked Naruto confusedly.
That's when Kurama spoke up for him to hear "Hey Kit, I think you should use your foxfire into the bowl over there. That should do something,"
"Okay Kurama, I'll give it a try," Naruto approached the bowl with an azure fireball which he threw into the bowl when immediately the flames blazed out strongly, at the same time torches which were attached to the pillars lit up as well to light up the whole temple. Everyone were looking around confusedly then they noticed that the white-gold ball floated out from the pedestal and hovered before them then red flames emitted from it then took on the form of an anthropomorphic fox with white fur and eight tails while donning a grey kimono with the Yakan symbol designed at the back, the entity looked at the group before setting eyes upon Naruto at which he smiled at.
"So it was as foretold by the celestial foxes, a nine-tailed fox marked by the sun will appear to restore the glory of the Yakan clan and lead it to its true power. It is an honor to meet you after all this time, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze for I had been awaiting your arrival," said the flaming spirit.
Naruto and the others were taken aback from what the spirit just said with the former responding to it "Who are you and how do you know my name?"
"My name is Tetsuo the fire fox and a proud member of the Yakan council. How I know of your name? When you used your foxfire to reveal the hidden passage after seeing it with you Aura sight, a piece of your flame was transferred to my star ball and saw through all of your memories and judged you worthy of entry. Had it been on the other hand, I would have activated the traps during your entry. Though I must say that you're certainly a wildfire of youth which burns brightly,"
Naruto suddenly hugged himself and shivered in fear at the memory of two certain green spandex wearing training nuts, heck even Kurama wrapped himself up with his tails. Nicole, Relic, Fixit and the Chao looked at the fox in confusion of his odd reaction. Naruto looked up to see Tetsuo chuckling and quickly figured what he meant.
"HEY! THAT WAS NOT FUNNY, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TRAUMATIZING THOSE TWO CAN BE!?" Naruto yelled out.
Tetsuo finally stopped laughing "My apologies, but it was quite amusing,"
"Whatever, so can you tell us more about the Yakan clan, we pretty much got a summary about it from the scroll we found and unlocked," said Naruto.
Tetsuo nodded and began to explain "We Kitsune are known to be mysterious as well as mischievous thanks to our illusionary abilities. Each and every one of the Kitsune have a tie or ability from an element and possess their unique strength based on which they are aligned to. For me as a fire Kitsune, I would be immune to fire and strengthen myself by feeding on it but I would be vulnerable to water. So our clan is viewed as the closest to nature. Also the power level of a Kitsune is measured by the number of tails that it has and in our clan, our bride possessed nine tails and led with great power and wisdom,"
Naruto nodded in understanding "Okay, but we wanted to asked about this great evil that the scroll told us, what was it that was so powerful for you all to sacrifice yourselves to destroy?"
They saw how the elderly fox looked down in sorrow and fear "We daren't speak of it, merely glancing at the monster was enough to tell us of the potential disaster it posed on our world and strengthened our resolve to defeat it even our very lives on the line. Asami-sama was worried about our legacy until the celestial foxes foretold of your coming, encouraging us to store away our most valuable possessions and pass it on to you in hopes of restoring the Yakan clan back to its former glory once more,"
"This creature…could be it be on the same level as the Juubi?" thought Naruto.
"I certainly hope not, for this world might not be ready for it," Kurama responded.
"Same here," Naruto turned towards Tetsuo and replied "Your clan reminds me of my former home before I came here and I had been wondering what was my next step, but now I know what it is…and that is to help you and the others protect this world,"
Nicole went to stand next to him "I'll be there to help you as well,"
Relic then spoke "I may have just met you, but Fixit and I are willing to help out as well. Not to mention that I get to learn more about the past as well,"
Tetsuo bowed to them "I thank you all, the spirits of my fellow Kitsune will forever be grateful to you,"
Naruto simply smiled "Don't mention it, so where do we find the treasury?"
"The treasury isn't here but placed somewhere to avoid thievery and none can reach it unless by foxfire, come along and I'll show you how to get there," Tetsuo will his star ball to float away from the vestibule down into hallway for Naruto and the others to follow, this took a while until exiting to find themselves standing in a large circular room where the appears to be numerous runes of intricate designs to form an equally circular pattern.
Relic knelt down to carefully examine one of them "These runes date back to centuries even before the ninja clans were created,"
"Indeed they are, these were created by our ancestors…grumpy old ancestors," Tetsuo grumbled at the last bit.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at that "Dude, you're also an ancestor,"
"…touché," the spirit fox agreed grudgingly "Anyways, this is a Transmission Rune. It uses the Kitsune's foxfire as fuel to teleport from one rune to the next and will reject any other energy. We will use this to send us to where the treasury is located, I'll need you to activate the rune with you foxfire while I focus on the coordinates as I've been there before,"
"Got it,"
Naruto and the others went to the center of the rune with the former placing his hand in the ground as his hand ignited in azure flames, suddenly the rune lit up as the foxfire swirled around them, mostly felt the heat as the flames engulfed them then there was a bright flash of light before everything went black, the next sound they heard was dripping of water falling from above, causing them to open their eyes to see that they're currently standing in the middle of a darkened ruin with water leaking out from the cracks in the walls which is adding to the one reaching up to their knees.
"Where are we?" asked Nicole confusedly.
"This place happened to belong to a civilization that used to reside here and were well known for their tendency to build mazes for entertainment as well as to defend against enemies, which was until the sudden rises in water levels that forced them to evacuate just like the ones in Marble Zone," Tetsuo explained.
Relic suddenly perked up in realization "I know this place, it's the Labyrinth Zone!" Nicole activated the holographic map and sure enough, that was where they are.
"That is correct, now let us be off…and try not to splash any water on me please," Tetsuo floated ahead whilst keeping a paranoid height above the water which is a bit understandable, given that he is a fire Kitsune.
The group walked through the hallways, traversing the broken pillars that fallen over and carefully the crumbling stone bridges and staircases over a hundred foot drop to the watery abyss below them. Exiting from another passageway, did they find themselves in a chamber and before them is a large double gate with a fox breathing fire on each side and facing each other. In the center is a rather complicated looking lock shaped like a fox's head with its teeth bared.
"I guess that's the entrance to the treasury, right?" asked Naruto, getting a nod from the vulpine spirit.
"So are you going to tell us how to unlock it then?" asked Relic, to their surprise Tetsuo shook his head in the negative "What? Why not?"
Tetsuo replied "Because this is a test for Naruto to solve on his own and prove himself worthy of possessing the treasures inside,"
"I see what you mean, there are no shortcuts to achieving what you seek…just like I told someone who was like a little brother to me," Naruto smiled softly in remembrance of Konohamaru and his friends, then he looked up with determination in his "There's no time like the present, time to crack this door open!" Naruto approached the door and carefully every bit of it for clues and so far found nothing "Hmmm, I'm seeing nothing from a normal point of view. I'd better switch to Aura sight then," he focused on his sight and this time saw that both incisors were missing and an indent on the forehead "Guess I better find them then," Naruto stepped back to look around till his eyes caught sight of a pair of footprints glowing in a gold aura towards the ceiling.
"There's one!" Naruto ran up the wall with chakra applied to his feet while Nicole, the Chao, a surprised Relic and an impressed Tetsuo watching on. Naruto arrived at the scene and went down on one knee, then he channeled chakra to his claws to make the longer and sharper before proceeding to dig through the stony surface for a few minutes before pulling the teeth out of it "Now where to find the other?" Naruto landed back on the ground and scoped out the chamber again, took note of a soft glow within a clump of moss near the locked gate and went over to check it out only to find the second incisor "Great, I found both incisors! And now to put them in place," he walked back to the lock and carefully inserted the incisors into the empty slots.
They heard a clack before the fox head opened its mouth wide enough for a hand to fit inside, Naruto placed his hand through it and felt some sort of orb before pulling it out. He noticed that it was small enough to fit inside the indent and inserted it, this time they heard several clicks then the gate slowly opened up for them to pass.
"Most impressive, Naruto-san," said Tetsuo.
"I have to admit that it was quite the puzzle," said Relic.
"Thanks, let's go in and see what's inside," said Naruto, he led them inside and were in awe of what they were seeing. Inside is a large room which is bone dry with not a drop of water and there were tall rows of shelves full of scrolls, volume books with stairs leading to the first floor where Naruto went up to and saw numerous racks of various weaponry and gear with some rather familiar and others foreign to him "Man, look at all of this stuff! Would have been a heyday for Tenten if she were here," his eyes caught sight of something from his left hand side and turned only to be surprised to see an oddity…two katanas, one with a black handle and sheathe while the other is red, both were currently levitating before him and when he stepped back, they floated closer to him as if beckoning him to take them "What's with these things?"
Tetsuo floated up to check what was going on and his eyes widened upon what he was seeing "I never would have thought that they would seek you out so soon,"
Naruto turned to him with a look of confusion "Do you know what they are and why they won't leave me alone?"
"The black katana is Masamune, a blade whose blade shall cut any that is undeserving of its blow, a holy weapon to be exact. The red ninjato is Hazy-Moon, blade carefully crafted by ancient secret arts and forging techniques, making it the clan's most treasured ninjato with Asami-sama being its previous wielder. These two swords among others have a certain level of sentience and must have deemed you worthy to be their wielder,"
"It's similar to how the Samehada chose Gyūki's host over its original wielder, guess it's your turn," said Kurama.
Naruto was hesitant but he stretched hands out for them to immediately float into his grips before turning to Tetsuo "You said there are more with minds of their own that want me to be their master?"
"Indeed, your past actions have proven that you're far more than worthy to be their user. Now that we're on the subject, there's one which has been lying dormant and was waiting for your arrival, so now is the time for it to awaken," Tetsuo floated away with Naruto following him while still holding his new blades in hand, then they came upon what appears to be a statue of horse "Here it is,"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at it "A horse, I can get around faster with my bloodline or bike you know,"
"True, but the special thing about it is that it transforms to suffice the rider's needs. This form was what Asami-sama rode during our time, and it has been waiting for its next rider which happens to be you," said Tetsuo.
"Okay so how do I wake it up?" asked Naruto.
"Simply touch it with your foxfire and it will do the rest,"
Naruto complied by sending a small azure fireball to the statue which absorbed it to his surprise, then it started to glow brightly and was morphing its shape for almost a minute till the light fade away to reveal its new form. It has a large white body in both lateral width and mass while loosely resembling the form of a bird with its wings spread out, sporting a mysterious red symmetrical design across it. each of its 'wings' possess a large curved talon of a steel-like color and texture extruding forward, the rear of the main body is adorned with a single jet propulsion-style engine, also extending out from the rear of each wing are four teardrop shaped spikes which hover mere inches from the body itself, composed of various warm colors.
"Whoa," Naruto could only gawk as the new form of the Dragoon hovered in the air with a low hum, Kou and Yoru flew around it with curiosity.
"Impressive isn't it? I'm sure you'll be wanting to ride it but first we'll need to gather everything here before I lead you to our old home," said Tetsuo.
"Got it, Shadow Clone jutsu!" Naruto then created a large number of copies and passed along many scrolls to them "Okay guys, let's get to packing so we can get out of here,"
"Roger boss!" the clones saluted in affirmation and moved to seal the items into the storage scrolls given to them, Naruto noticed something on the table and went to see what it was. Apparently it was bracer made of brown leather but trimmed with metal pieces, he rotated it to see some sort of mechanism. He fiddled around only for something to suddenly shoot out, revealing it to be a rusted blade from the bracer's underside.
"A hidden blade...this gives me an idea! I'll get it over to Tails and Rotor and maybe they can work something out of it," thought Naruto. they went back downstairs to meet with Nicole who was waiting for them and Relic reading halfway through a large volume book while a heap of scrolls lay nearby before storing them into the S.A.C "Looks like we're done here, our next stop will be the Yakan clan house,"
"So I guess we're going to have to make our way back to the Transmission Rune to get there then," said Relic, getting a nod from the vulpine spirit. They made to leave when they heard a low hum and turned to see Dragoon floating after them "It's following us,"
"More like following Naruto, it must want to help him," said Nicole.
"Well it could help out us getting back to the rune," said Naruto, sure enough Dragoon was assisting by carrying Relic over the gaps upon Naruto's command while he easily leapt over them with Fixit and Nicole was using her data wings to fly until finally backtracking to the Transmission Rune.
"Alright Naruto, you know what to do," said Tetsuo.
"Okay but what about the Dragoon?" asked Naruto while looking at the newly formed air glider.
"Nothing to worry, one of its features to always know where to find you and form a void to arrive at your side," Tetsuo explained.
"That's pretty cool, guess I'll see you at the other end then," the red glowed as if responding to Naruto's statement. Then he activated the rune with his foxfire and they were teleported out of the Labyrinth Zone. The flames finally died down for the group to find themselves standing in the middle of a small clearing with a thick forest surrounding them.
"This way to the clan house," Tetsuo proceeded to lead them towards their next destination, which was when Naruto decided to try something.
"Dragoon!" Naruto called out, almost immediately a small void appeared and said air glider flew out of it and hovered before him "Too cool!" he turned to the others "I'm going on ahead, pretty sure Dragoon knows where the clan house is,"
"Of course, we'll meet you there,"
Naruto nodded in affirmation then he hopped onto the air glider with Kou and Yoru climbing onto his shoulders and holding on tightly "Take flight, Dragoon!" the air glider pointed its nose skywards then took off whilst leaving behind a trail of white gas. Naruto latched on with his chakra to avoid being blown off from the g-force, soon he was high in the sky and flying through the clouds "Yahooo! This is awesome!" he learnt that he could control the Dragoon's path of flight by simply sending his thoughts to it, he started pulling off some aerial maneuvers which he had seen Tails do when piloting his Tornado with Kou and Yoru enjoying the thrilling ride, Naruto then looked down to the ground with his Aura sight active and saw Nicole and the others down below "That's enough fun time for now, I better get back to the others," he sent a mental command to Dragoon for a descent for it to comply by performing a single loop then follow it up with a nosedive.
Soon he arrived at the ground and met up with the others before a long flight of stairs which led up a slope. The group climbed up to the slope and past a tori gate to be greeted with the sight of a building complex much larger than the one back at the Marble zone but beaten by age and covered in greenery (Refer to the Jade Palace of Kung Fu Panda).
"Home sweet home…or what's left of it," said Tetsuo with a sad look at his old home.
"Don't worry about it, nothing a little elbow grease won't fix up the place," said Naruto a foxy grin, getting the vulpine spirit to smile back at him.
"Thank you Naruto-san,"
The group walked across what appears to be an outdoor arena and into the main building to see revered hallway with Relic and Fixit taking to explore the building while the rest chose to remain behind and look around for a bit before planning anything else. Naruto looked at the portraits depicting different Kitsune with a varying number of tails and their exploits, he could think that one day a portrait of him and his feats will be added along with that of the others soon to follow behind him.
Meanwhile on Angel Island, Knuckles stood at the entrance of the Altar of the Emeralds with his arms crossed while keeping an eye out for whoever might come to steal the Master Emerald. Had he been paying attention, the echidna would have noticed that the Master Emerald was pulsing faintly with energy and that a dark silhouette within and spoke in a feminine voice but barely audible
"I can hear a cry for help…someone…please listen to it,"
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, After a visit from Sonic and his relatives, Naruto headed out to the beach for some experimenting with his mysterious flames when an archeologist and a robotic appeared with some answers as well information which link him to an extinct ninja clan. Wanting to learn more, they headed out in search for answers which they found in that of a spirit of the clan. He informed them of the clan's past as well as requesting Naruto to help restore the clan to its former glory. Now armed with ancient gear, Naruto prepares to undergo training to be the strongest to protect his friends.
But the question now is who is within the Master Emerald? And what's this about a call for help? Stay tuned to find out more about it.
Hazy-Moon is from The Revenge of Shinobi (SEGA)
Dragoon is from Kirby Air Ride.
Masamune is from Japanese Legends.
Hidden Blade is from Assassin's Creed.
There will be more to add so be sure to read and review as always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana
Signing out.