Adventures of the Orange Flash
"Okay then, I think we're all set," said Naruto as he adjusted his ECG-X gloves and gave a lookover on his current attire. Has switched out his usual clothes for the remade variation of the Yakan ninja attire consisting of a black mesh t-shirt and worn over is a black/ red long sleeved hoodie jacket with the large design of a red roaring fox at the back (Refer Assassin's Creed III Connor Kenway Jacket Hoodie), and a pair of black pants and black boots.
"It has been a while since I last saw you wearing this," said Nico, fluttering around Naruto in her Faerie Form.
Naruto brought down the hood to smile at the Holo-Lynx "Yeah it has, figured this to be the right time to don it,"
"So, are you guys ready?" asked Sally.
"Uh…yeah," said Sonic awkwardly due to Amy hugging one of his arms while looking at him with infatuated eyes. He leaned sideways to whisper to Sally "I thought that this mission required just me and Naruto,"
"I figured that a feminine opinion would help in a hostile world that we know nothing about, plus Amy's been dying to spend more time with you," said Sally mischievously.
"You're so cruel," the blue blur groaned out.
"So how are the secondary Star Posts looking?" asked Sally,
Rotor and Tails were applying a few more adjustments with aid from Nicole before closing the panel and activating the Star Posts as a green swirling portal is formed in between them.
"I believe we're done princess," said Rotor.
"Yeah, we're able to form a gateway to Moebius," Tails added.
Sonic slung a backpack on and was jogging in place with a grin of excitement, Amy brought out her Piko Piko Hammer "Alright then, let's get this party started,"
Rotor called out to them "Keep in mind we don't know exactly where the portal will drop you three on Moebius, so be careful,"
"Thanks for the heads-up Rotor," said Naruto in affirmation.
"On that note, here we…," the trio leapt through the portal and emerged at the other side, ready for a- "…go?" They found themselves standing in the middle of a hallway which has a rather cushy décor around them "The way Rotor spoke made me think that we were gonna land somewhere perilous,"
"Must be a lucky break, gotta say that this place is pretty nice looking," said Amy, admiring a painting of Chao hung up at the hallway.
Naruto's ears twitched before calling out "Heads up guys, we've got company,"
They looked to see an Omega unit boosting towards them, though its color scheme is cyan-and-black instead of the red-and-black which they were familiar with.
"Now that's more like it!" Sonic lunged at the Omega with a Homing Attack whilst Amy rushed in to aid the blue hedgehog. Naruto was about to join in when the Omega spoke…in a feminine tone?
"I ain't gonna let anyone get the drop on the doctor, not while I'm still breathing!" the Omega as it pointed a hand at Amy to launch green foam around her feet which quickly hardened, restricting her movements, then she pointed the other hand at Sonic to launch soundwaves which seems to inflict a sense of wooziness on the hedgehog before facing Naruto "And you're next,"
Naruto shook his head in response "Not likely," he used Shadow Step to grab Sonic and went over to Amy and shattered the hardened foam with a punch, freeing her "You guys good?"
"Oh man, if this what it feels like to be drunk then I'm never gonna drink," Sonic groaned.
"There's something different about this Omega," said Naruto.
"What do you mean?" asked Amy confusedly.
"Unlike the badniks we've fought before, I'm actually sensing life in this one. I suspect that there's someone inside of it,"
Sonic stood to his feet with the wooziness now worn off "Might as pry it open with a can opener and find out who's inside then,"
Both sides were about to engage each other with intentions of subduing when a voice suddenly called out in worry.
"No Buns, please stop! They're not enemies!"
They turned to see what Naruto would best describe as a skinny version of Eggman and a shocker is that there isn't a tinge of negativity from the man, even Kurama was surprised as this one is a stark contrast to the three Eggmen they had encountered previously.
"Are you sure doc?" asked Omega.
The doctor nodded in affirmation "Indeed, they're from the Prime Zone,"
"Sorry about that, can't see colors through this thing,"
"No biggie, we came here cause your versions of us except Naruto caused trouble at our place and we're looking for a way to prevent them from barging in for good," Sonic explained.
Eggman sighed "I did find it somewhat strange that Scourge and his squad were unusually silent these days, what say we continue this conversation outside as it's such a lovely day,"
"A polite Eggman, never thought that would ever happen," said Kurama.
"Tell me about it," thought Naruto.
The doctor led them out of the building which turned out to be a tower and through a forest towards a clearing where they sat on wooden logs serving as benches before the doctor proceeded to speak.
"For those whom I haven't officially met, allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Ivo Kintobor, I run the medical tower we just came from which houses the forcefield generator used to protect the Grand Forest and all the Moebians who fear King Scourge's tyranny," Dr. Ivo introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you Ivo-san, I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze," Naruto greeted.
Dr. Ivo nodded in response "A pleasure to meet you,"
"Say doc, what can you tell us about Scourge and his latest batch of craziness?" asked Sonic, crossing his arms in question.
Dr. Ivo bowed his head in shame "I am afraid it was my fault; they stormed into my tower and stole my experimental Globe Posts which they must have used to cross into your Zone,"
"What did you make those Globe Posts for?" asked Amy.
"I had hoped to search for new medical techniques from other zones, finding the suitable one to heal Buns Rabbot," Dr. Ivo explained.
"Now that you mention it, I didn't see Anti-Bunnie when Scourge and his group attacked HQ. where is she anyway?"
"Over here," Omega spoke up, then the head opened up to reveal the counterpart of Bunnie Rabbot to them.
"Naruto did say that someone was in the suit, why are you here instead of with Scourge?" asked Amy.
Buns scowled before answering the question "Not long ago, I developed N.I.D.S which started at the base of mah spine, Scourge considered me as deadweight and left me for dead. But the doc took me in and built this suit for me,"
Dr. Ivo smiled fondly "It was the least I could do, the Omega Care Unit builds a stasis field that prevents her symptoms from progressing and helps her immune system. But she is still mostly trapped within that robot body, I will not rest until she can walk again,"
"And till then, I'll protect the doc from those backstabbing so-and-sos!" said Buns eagerly.
"*Sigh* It still displeases me that I had to arm Omega, but at least it's with non-lethal weaponry,"
"Man, Grandma Tsunade would love to have this guy working with her. They would be able to save so many lives together and cure diseases with greater effectiveness," said Naruto with a smile, liking this counterpart of Eggman.
"Guess it's the universe's way of saying that there's a good egg in a basket of bad ones," said Kurama, making Naruto roll his eyes at the pun.
"You don't have to strain yourself any more as we've got just the guy to help Buns," said Sonic with a smirk.
"You mean your friend here knows a way to cure Buns of her disease?" asked Dr. Ivo curiously.
Amy nodded in agreement "That's right, our Rotor had bad spinal damage with almost no way of recovery. But Naruto used his powers to heal him, I'm sure he could cure Buns too,"
"I would be most grateful if he could do so and willing to pay any price to help Buns walk again," Dr. Ivo turned to Naruto and looked like he was about to plead on his knees.
"You don't need to do that on mah behalf doc!" Buns protested.
Naruto spoke up as he stood from his seat "She's right Ivo-san, you don't need to beg as I don't have a reason not to help her," he walked up to Buns as he took off the glove to reveal the Yang Seal which he placed on her shoulder and channeled its power through her body before standing "How do you feel?"
Buns' eyes widened in shock as she noted the change in her body "I…I…I can feel mah legs, they're not numb anymore!"
Dr. Ivo took out a device from his pocket and scanned Buns' body only to be surprised by the result of the diagnosis "Astounding, it's as if her body never developed the N.I.D.S to begin with!"
"Good to know, but she would need to undergo rehabilitation in order to get used to walking on her legs again," said Naruto, recalling Rotor having to do something similar after healing him.
"Now that Buns cured, think you could help us out with our Scourge problem?" asked Sonic.
"Well, they could recruit you-know-who," Buns suggested.
"Absolutely not, she's far too dangerous!" Dr. Ivo refuted strongly.
"Who are you talking about?" asked Amy.
"…Rosy the Rascal, the Anti-Amy. She absolutely hates Scourge,"
"Sounds like just the person who could help us out," said Sonic with a smirk.
"But is there a reason why you're seriously against her being recruited?" asked Naruto.
"Rosy tried to use the magic of a special ring to make herself older but it rather turned her completely insane," Buns explained.
"That sounds like what you did, Amy," said Sonic.
Amy nodded in agreement "Yeah, only that it turned out well for me but not for her,"
"In that case, we're better off without her," said Naruto.
Sonic quirked an eyebrow in confusion "Why not, she could help since we're after the same guy,"
"Remember what Buns said, this version of Amy is insane; a berserker in every sense of the word. She wouldn't listen to anyone but rather do her own thing which is possibly killing anything that moves, it would be too risky to bring her along with us,"
"I see your point there and besides; we were able to give Scourge and his cronies the boot back home. If it ain't broke then don't fix it," said Sonic with a shrug.
"What do ya'll have in mind?" asked Buns curiously.
"Now that we know exactly how they came over, we'll take back the Globe Posts and 'persuade' them to back off," said Naruto.
Sonic nodded in understanding "Sounds like a plan plus I've got something in mind for Scourge after we lay the smackdown on him,"
"So where can we find Scourge?" asked Nico, emerging from the SAC.
"Pretty obvious, he and his posse at over at Castle Acorn since he's the king here," said Buns.
"Alright then, let's juice!" Sonic scooped Amy into his arms and got ready to take off.
"Do be careful, they are rather ruthless," said Dr. Ivo worriedly.
"Don't worry about it doc, we'll be fine," said Naruto in assurance "Seems to be a bit of a mother hen,"
They took off at highspeed with Buns keeping pace with them by using the thrusters of the Omega suit as they raced through the forest in direction of Castle Acorn. Naruto had them stop at the edge of the Grand Forest with the castle in view ahead of them.
"So, why have us stop here?" asked Sonic confusedly.
Naruto proceeded to explain his plan "I intend to infiltrate the castle and locate the Globe Posts in order to disable them. This way, we'll cut off any escape route should Scourge try to run away when things don't go his way,"
"And then what?" asked Amy.
"Do what we do best,"
Sonic smirked at that "Now that's speaking my language!"
"Okay, Nico will send a signal once I've disabled the Globe Posts or my cover gets blown by any chance for you to storm and launch an assault of which I'll quickly join,"
"Don't keep us waiting for long," Sonic leaned against a tree as he began to wait.
"I won't," Naruto activated his Earth Aspect as small pieces of stones began floating around him "Terra Dive!" he leapt into the air before diving headfirst towards the ground whilst spinning like a drill and began to burrow underground in direction of the castle.
Using his senses, Naruto dug up to the surface and emerged at the more secluded part of the castle, he took one glance and could already tell that the place was halfway to crumbling down to the ground. Then again, it doesn't come as a surprise given the current residents.
"Now then, let's find those Globe Posts and deactivate them before letting Scourge that he has guests," Naruto deactivated his Earth Aspect and switched to his Aura Sight to keep track of his enemy and anything of interest "He doesn't even have any guards patrolling around,"
"Like you expect him to do so? He's that arrogant to think that he doesn't need any to begin with," Kurama pointed out.
"I get what you mean, wouldn't have changed anything,"
He stealthily made his way over to the throne room where he could sense Scourge as well as the members of the Suppression Squad who are bowing to the tyrant king. Naruto silently climbed up one of the pillars to the ceiling and listened attentively to their conversation below.
"So, is everything set?" asked Scourge as he lounged on the throne with a scowl on his face.
"Yes, we have finished constructing the bombs and waiting on your orders," said Boomer Walrus.
Scourge scoffed "It's about time you guys got done, been wanting to get back at that goody two-shoes of a hedgehog and that mangy fox after what they did to me. Go and start up the Globe Posts and I'll come over to deliver the gifts myself,"
Fiona was about to respond when she sudden gripped her head in slight pain, much to the confusion of everyone around including Naruto.
"Oy, what's up with you?" asked Scourge with a quirked eyebrow.
Fiona shook her head before responding with a small smile "…it's nothing, just a little headache,"
"Well, it'd better not get in the way of things,"
"It won't…,"
"Good, now get going!" Scourge commanded with everyone bowing in affirmation before leaving the throne room with Scourge remaining behind for now.
"So he's planning to bomb the HQ just to get back at us, what a sore loser," thought Naruto with a frown.
"What do we do?" asked Nico.
"We'll follow them to secure the posts and get rid of the bombs then we have another chat with green bean,"
The Holo-Lynx nodded in understanding "Okay Naruto,"
Naruto trailed after them whilst sticking to the ceiling and using the shadows as cover to avoid being detected as they walked through the hallway towards where the posts would be located.
"I often find it ironic that nobody ever looks up, then again I've always been good in stealth," said Naruto in amusement. Suddenly, Boomer spun around to fire energy waves from his gauntlets right at where he is! "What the!" Naruto quickly dropped from the ceiling to the ground to avoid the incoming attack "Should have known better that the universe loves to prove me wrong!"
"You sometimes make it too easy to do so," said Kurama as if it's a fact about him.
"Okay, I'll bite. How did you guys know I was there? There was no doubt that I hid my presence from you guys," asked Naruto with a small frown, feeling a bit of a hit at his pride as a ninja.
"What is the need to explain to explain to someone who has just walked into his doom," said Miles Prower.
"For starters, cause I'm being polite as I would have been forceful from the beginning and for your information…I didn't come alone,"
The castle doors suddenly burst open to reveal Sonic dashing in with Amy in his arms and Buns close behind in her Omega mech as they slowed to a stop next with Naruto with the latter opening up the cockpit to reveal herself to them.
"Buns?" asked Princess Alicia in disbelief, a feeling shared by the others.
Buns sneered at them in "Long time no see, I'd say ya'll are a sight fer sore eyes but I'd be lying to myself,"
"We thought you were dead," said Boomer.
"Sorry to disappoint ya, but I ain't gonna be dying anytime soon," said Buns before closing the cockpit back up.
"Alright guys, Scourge is planning on bombing HQ we need t-OOOFFFF!" Naruto felt the air knocked out of his chest without warning by Fiona who tackled him through several walls away from the surprised group.
"Did Fiona just slam Naruto through more than one wall?" asked Amy in shock.
"I'm pretty much asking myself the same thing," Sonic replied.
"Ya'll better get yer heads out of the gutter cause here they come!" Buns pointed out as the Suppression Squad moved in to attack them.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Fiona smashed through about the sixth wall before crashing into the desolated courtyard where they broke off and rolled away before standing to face each other.
"You're changed, different from the previous encounter," said Naruto with a small frown.
Fiona scoffed in response "Like you're one to talk, given what you used to be,"
The blonde kitsune quirked an eyebrow at that "What are you talking about?"
"Ever since the last time we fought, I've been seeing your memories practically in High Definition, enough to know that you used to be human, contain a nine-tailed demon in your gut, didn't truly originate from that other Sonic's dimension," said Fiona.
Naruto glared at her in anger "So you're telling me that you've been looking at my memories willy-nilly?"
Fiona scoffed and rather looked annoyed "As if I wanted to, I wasn't even able to get a wink of sleep because visions of your past kept popping up in my head! It's your fault to begin with!"
"I don't recall doing anything with the intention of having you look into my memories," Naruto retorted.
"On the contrary, I seem to notice that during the clash, a bit of your foxfire seeped into her which must have affected her to the point being able to see your memories. In other words, it technically is your fault," said Kurama.
"What? But it's not like I knew that this would happen!" Naruto protested.
"I don't care about your excuses; I've been wanting to pound you to the ground for humiliating Scourge!" said Fiona.
Nico emerged from the SAC in faerie form to frown at the vixen "I don't understand why you continue to be with someone like Scourge, he's the polar opposite of Sonic,"
"Exactly, he isn't someone who's as wishy-washy like him,"
"But he would willingly do anything that benefits him alone, we saw him actually hit you without a second thought. If you continue like this, your heart will shatter into many pieces with no way of mending them back together,"
"SHUT UP!" Fiona lunged at them in rage.
Music Start: Celldweller; Eon
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at her new level of speed and blocked her punch with a forearm only to be shocked at the impact actually pushing him back a bit before pushing her away from him.
The blonde kitsune maintained defense as Fiona continued to lay the pressure on him, all the while he observed that her attacks are much faster and stronger, almost like she's a whole new person compared to before. Naruto crossed his forearms in front of himself to block a kick from Fiona and using the impact to launch himself backwards and landing on the ground with a sliding stop.
[She's completely different compared to before, I doubt I would be able to fight her on even ground at this time] said Nico with concern.
"I thought as much, better watch myself around her. But at the same time…," Naruto took a more offensive stance "…this might be fun after all, Fox Fang Fist!" he rushed forwards at high-speed then unleashed a barrage of punches, clawing and kicks with Fiona now being the one forced into the defensive, actually keeping up with his attacks and blocking most of them but some were able to get past her guard. Fiona deflected a claw swipe then countered with a kick to the torso, disrupting the barrage of attacks and knocking Naruto back.
"It's strange, the way she blocked my attacks, it almost like she knew what I was about to do," Naruto muttered with a small frown.
"It might be due to her viewing your memories, it's likely that she saw the times when you were training," said Kurama.
"And she has the strength and speed to keep up with me, this might get a little tricky," thought Naruto, he charged in once this time running on all fours like a beast and attacking very fiercely.
The fight grew intense with both sides trying to gain an edge over the other, it got to the point that Naruto shifted to signature fighting style of Shadow Combat where he coordinates with his Shadow Clones to launch back-to-back attacks without giving his opponents a chance to effectively counter. Fiona wasn't one to give as she pushed back just as strongly thanks to her experience of fighting with Sonic which sharpened her reaction speed along with this mysterious boost of hers, she rapidly deflected the incoming attacks with some able to land on her until she grabbed one of the clones and swung around like a hammer to take out the other clones before dispelling it with a kick to the gut.
She turned to see Naruto descending towards her with an axe and swung her arm upwards much to the kitsune's confusion when he's still a short distance out of her reach, he was completely unprepared for when a large spectral arm of red mystic energy suddenly appeared and grabbed Naruto in midair. Fiona smirked gleefully as she moved her arm with the spectral arm mimicking her movements to repeatedly slam Naruto violently against the ground before throwing him down resulting in a large earth crack.
"Ugh, what the heck?" Naruto groaned, getting back to his feet. He looked to see red aura shaped as claws on both her hands and feet "This is new to me,"
"This power came to me around the same time I started seeing your memories. Guess I should be grateful about this one at least," said Fiona smugly.
[It's rather similar your chakra arms when you're in your transformed state] said Nico with concern.
"Just what kind of effect does my Foxfire have? Or does it have a different effect on her?" Naruto muttered, feeling a bit frustrated about all this.
"You can save the questions for later and focus on beating this girl," said Kurama.
"…right,"
Naruto straighten his body a bit, feeling his healing factor ease the bruises on his back before activating his Fire Aspect with fists and the tips of his tails igniting in red flames as his body emit intense heat "Burning Barrage!" he thrusts his hands forward to launch a salvo of fireballs at Fiona who leapt into the air to evade the incoming projectiles then thrust her hand to launch a spectral arm him to attack "Blazing Kick Strike!" he coated one of his legs with swirling flames before deflecting the spectral arm with a fiery roundhouse kick then lunged at Fiona in midair "Dancing Phoenix!" Naruto enshrouded himself in flames taking on the shape of a firebird and launches an aerial combo of punches and kicks against Fiona who responded in kind with her mystic energy until both sides broke away from the clash and landed a short distance away from each other.
Naruto and Fiona dashed towards each other before clashing forearms in the middle and engaged in a power struggle.
"Bet you didn't expect me to be able to do this," said Fiona smugly.
Naruto shrugged in response "Eh, been there and done that," they continued the struggle until it ended in a draw with them breaking away from each other and the vixen looked a bit peeved all of a sudden.
"You're acting just like him, just what is the point of all this?" asked Fiona in annoyance.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow in response "What are you talking about? What I don't even get is why you've gone against your own home and dimension for that matter, Sonic and the others have been nothing but loyal to you but you rewarded that loyalty with betrayal,"
"Just like Sonic, you're so fixated with loyalty. I don't owe anyone anything! Everytime I trust somebody, I get burned! Sonic, my parents, my partners, everybody! And you know what? For once, I'm not going to rely or trust anyone!"
Naruto frowned at this "And yet you're doing just that with Scourge, the most likeliest person to do the very thing you hate to you. Right now, you're setting a very bad ending for yourself and you haven't realized it yet,"
Fiona flinched at the statement before glaring "It's not like that!"
"How foolish, being a hypocrite and lying to herself," Kurama scoffed.
Naruto took note that Fiona tensed slightly in preparation of doing something "What is she up to this time?" Naruto muttered to himself.
"Who knows but stay sharp," said Kurama with caution.
"Let's see you handle this!" Fiona dashed at Naruto with great speed and leapt into the air for an aerial roundhouse kick, Naruto instinctively ducked underneath the kick but it was what she did next that stupefied him…Fiona landed sideways on one hand whilst still spinning and used the momentum to land a kick to the face which sent him flying and crashed into the courtyard's fountain.
Naruto blinked in confusion "No way…that attack was…the Leaf Hurricane!" he looked to see Rock Lee standing before him in his Strong Fist stance before blinking and see Fiona leering at him arrogantly "You…,"
"I must admit, the people of your world possess some interesting techniques, hope you don't mind if I borrowed some of them," said Fiona.
But Naruto wasn't listening to her entirely, his mind was rather recalling the memories of his bushy browed friend and comrade. He was even hearing Gai's voice which was full of pride when he spoke of Lee.
"You see; Lee had no aptitude for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, so we skipped them and focused all his time and energy into developing his Taijutsu, turning his disadvantage into a blessing. Now he doesn't need those two in order to win, because he transformed himself into the world's greatest Taijutsu specialist,"
His goofy but well-meaning friend worked hard to master his skills, training till he dropped both day and night to get to where he was. A supposed dead last who was the first to land a solid hit on the untouchable Gaara, pushed back the insane Raiga twice, the guy who would always have your back no matter what…all because he wanted to prove to the whole world that he could be a splendid ninja despite the glaring weaknesses.
"What's with you? Does it really surprise you that I-," whatever Fiona was going to say got stuck in her throat as the air suddenly felt heavy and a chill crawled up her spine, she looked to see Naruto having deactivated his Fire Aspect but is now emitting a blue aura from his body "W-What's going on?"
Naruto calmly…too calmly rose to his feet with his head lowered before slowly raising to revealing red eyes with slitted pupils which were giving the vixen a gaze which made her feel like they were looking straight into her soul and are about to pass judgement.
Kurama shook his head at this "She has gone and awoken the beast within him…besides me," he has long since learnt that an angry Naruto is a very frightening enemy to face as he would focus intently on taking down his opponent no matter what, something Pein learnt too late when he attacked Konoha and nearly decimated it.
"You have a lot of nerve to imitate the techniques of a good friend of mine, he worked hard to master them in order to protect the ones he cared about. You haven't earned that right," said Naruto, his voice full of barely restrained rage.
"Like what you say matters to me," Fiona retorted.
Naruto's eyes narrowed further in anger "I think it's about time that you learn what it means to be strong, and I'm going to be your teacher,"
He moved at highspeed with afterimages trailing behind as he lashed out with a punch, Fiona crossed her arms to block but was shocked to see how far she was pushed back from the impact and fought to gain an edge. However, Naruto wasn't backing off an inch but rather putting a full-on offensive, his Fox Fang Fist had changed as well as he fought like an actual beast akin to when he was using the fox cloak which made him very unpredictable. Fiona knocked him back with a spectral arm and launched another to grab him only for it to phase through, revealing to be an afterimage.
"What? Where did he-," Fiona looked around frantically for the kitsune only for the ground at her feet to burst open and was suddenly launched into the air by an uppercut from Naruto which he followed up with an additional attack, he stretched out several of his tails to grab her then slammed her violently to the ground, creating a large earth crack as a result.
"As you are right now, you can't win. Not against me or anybody else," said Naruto truthfully.
"Just what are you talking about?" asked Fiona while rising to her feet, smarting from the bruise on her back.
"…," Naruto didn't respond but took a stance before silently speaking "…you've been marked,"
"Wha-,"
Fiona blinked for a moment and Naruto was gone in a yellow flash and reappeared in front of her then proceeded to pummel her with punches and kicks as he blitzed around with the Flying Raijin which he had placed on her from his previous attack. He reappeared in front of her with an open hand aimed at her stomach before performing a One-Inch punch to the gut, Naruto concentrated intently and found a small bit of his foxfire which he pulled out of her and absorbed back into himself albeit noticing that she still retained the mystic energy within her. Fiona was sent tumbling away from Naruto before skidding to a stop, too damaged to continue the fight.
Music End
Fiona painfully opened her eyes only to see Naruto looming over the vixen, filling her with fear from his stoic gaze.
"Wh-Why?" Fiona groaned out "I saw that you were also betrayed several times in your memories…how could you continue to trust them?"
"…I won't deny that hurt when my trust stamped on, even my own dark side called me out on it and for being naïve. I could have acted like you did, but what I've experienced throughout my life and learning from each person I have ever met made me realize that responding to hatred with hatred doesn't solve anything and would instead make things worse. Despite being a victim of unjust hatred by my own village, I should have hated them right back by all rights for hurting me since childhood, but I chose to forgive them instead,"
"But why? It doesn't make sense to do that,"
"I learnt there are two things to do with pain, to let it control you or learn of its origins. Learning the cause of the pain leads to understanding which in turn gives you the power to decide whether to begrudge or to forgive. I chose to give them a chance and they would later prove my choice to be the right one," Naruto smiled in memory of the hero's welcome when he returned from facing, the acknowledgment which he had sought for so long and had finally gotten it "But at the same time I can understand why you're doing all this…you're scared of getting hurt again and at the same time don't want to be lonely,"
"Th-That's not true…," said Fiona, but the tone in her voice showed that she wasn't truly denying what he said.
Naruto decided to ask a critical question "Fiona, do you have someone precious to you? Someone you cherish with all your heart that you'd be willing to face an army or a being like Enerjak just to protect them?"
"Of course I do, it's Scou-," Fiona wanted to say that it's Scourge, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say his name fully much to her confusion. It grew even more so when she began to think of her parents, friends and the Freedom Fighters…why was she thinking about them instead?
"A friend of mine once told me 'When you have something precious to protect, that is when you become genuinely strong'. I have people whom I treasure with all my heart and will do everything I can to protect them, it's why I refuse to let myself lose because if I do…who else will protect them? That's why you couldn't beat me, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters as we all have something precious to protect while you cast away yours. It was why they took your betrayal so hard; you were someone precious to them, someone willing to fight till their last breath for,"
*BOOM*
There an explosion inside of the castle, getting Naruto to turn towards the sound and prepare to investigate but not before saying one more thing before leaving "I don't hate you, just disliked what you did. There's still a chance for you to set yourself on the right path Fiona, you just need to want it badly enough. Just know this; If you never fight for anyone but yourself, you will never be strong no matter what you do," then he dashed away, leaving Fiona to her thoughts.
"Don't know why you're bothering yourself with her, she doesn't know what she really wants and is being hypocritical with her actions," Kurama spoke up with a frown.
"Come on, we've all had our rough patches in the past. Remember you used to be distrustful of humans in the past before we became friends," thought Naruto.
"Hmph, that was something different compared to this,"
"Whatever you say,"
Making his way back via the holes in the walls which he had made during his exit into the courtyard, Naruto had finally arrived back into the main hall only to come upon a rather strange scene. Let's put it in a way that is easy to understand.
Apparently, the Suppression Squad are all knocked out with Buns nowhere to be seen, there's a younger looking version of Amy wielding a spiked hammer and a manic look on her face. There were also some new guests being Shadow the Hedgehog, Metal Sonic, a hedgehog wielding a bow and arrow while dressed up like Robin Hood, but it was the last person who surprised him the most.
"Silver?" asked Naruto confusedly.
"You know who I am but I don't know you," said Silver, having been using his Psychokinesis to restrain everyone and hold them in midair.
"…would it be weird to ask what's going on while I was gone?" thought Naruto.
"Yes, yes it would," said Kurama.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto along with Sonic and Amy are assigned to launch an assault on Moebius as a way of returning the favor to Scourge and his Suppression Squad for attacking their HQ. at the other side they met the friendlier counterparts of Ivo Kintobor and Buns Rabbot albeit with a slight misunderstanding in the beginning. After learning of how Scourge and co got to Mobius through the use of the doctor's stolen Globe Posts and healing Buns of her disease, the group headed over to the castle to get them back as well as carry out their main objective.
Naruto attempted to infiltrate the castle via stealth but got found out by Fiona with Sonic and co barging in to help. Naruto and Fiona separated from everyone else and got into a fight where she revealed that she could view his memories and awoken a mystic power due to Naruto's foxfire seeping into her body. Things then turned tense when Fiona imitated one of Rock Lee which angered Naruto into fighting more fiercely and winning the fight, he went on to point out to Fiona that her actions and decisions are wrong and that she'll end up getting hurt if she continues at this rate before returning to the castle to find that there were additional guests while he was gone.
For those wondering about Fiona's new power, it's basically Energy manipulation which follows the gimmick of Nero's Devil Bringer except it can be used from every part of her body. There will be more to come for her along the way as the story progresses.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.