Recommended story: 'Broken Hearts, Shattered Dreams' by pudgypudge
Chapter Thirty-Eight
"I wish we could walk on snow like we could on water." Naruto muttered as he and the others kept marching on, feeling the snow resist their attempts to speed up.
"Someone please tell me that we're getting closer. Because to me it looks like we haven't." Isaribi pleaded, looking ahead. Whatever glow on the horizon Naruto had directed them to still wasn't visible from the ground level.
Another howl could be heard from the distance.
"Those sure sound like they're getting closer." Isaribi added.
Naruto grit his teeth and let Moegi off his back.
"Boss?" She asked, confused.
Naruto did his trademark hand sign and created several clones. He along with them each grabbed the girls and put them on their backs.
"What are you doing Naruto?" Ino protested, yet she didn't actually try to get free of her clone. Isaribi was uncomfortable but also went along with it.
Without saying a word, each Naruto began to run as fast as they could. Pushing themselves as hard as they could, much like when he had to outrun a train with Koyuki on his back in Snow Country. To him though this was worse, at least before he knew what he was running from and how close it was. Each Naruto stretched out their wings as much as they could, none could fly right now but the extra lift would hopefully make them go a little faster while running.
"I think it's working. They don't sound so close anymore." Ino noted, feeling better.
"But where are we going?" Isaribi asked.
"Where is there to go?" Naruto replied, and no one responded.
After a bit though, the real Naruto tripped over something in the snow and collapsed, forcing him and Moegi to roll in the snow. The clones and their passengers turned to assist the downed duo.
"Ow that hurt." Naruto grunted, getting up on his hands and knees as some snow fell off his body. Moegi was showing more pain, crying louder and clutching her shoulder.
Suddenly the ground trembled under them and began to slowly rise. Panicked and acting quickly, everyone got Naruto and Moegi and got away. They wanted to keep running but Moegi kept saying she was hurt and Naruto was slowed a little himself. The sight of what was rising also made them stay and watch, as much as they were afraid to see what it was.
At first Naruto thought that whatever this thing was, it had to be as big as Gamabunta. Snow fell off in clumps, revealing white fur underneath but other than the fact that this thing had four legs nothing else could identify this. They saw no head, so they figured this creature, whatever it was, was facing away from them. When it stopped rising it stood at a height close to half Gamabunta's size rather than the entire amount, which sadly wasn't much of a relief all things considered.
"Shouldn't we be running?" Isaribi asked.
"I don't know if we can outrun this. We may have to fight it." Naruto replied.
The creature started to turn around, giving them more clues. It walked like a bear, but it had visible spikes along its legs and shoulders now that more snow was falling off the body. No tail had been seen yet, but a white mane was seen around the shoulders like a lion, with four horns sticking out and pointing backwards. Soon enough, the face came into view. It was like that of a goat, except more reptilian in structure. The mouth opened showing many sharp teeth, with the young teens below estimating them to be about as long as their arms if not longer. The eyes were purple like amethysts with four black dots making a diamond shape, no visible pupils within.
"We can't fight that!" Moegi asked.
Naruto turned to the platinum mindwalker. "Ino, you and I are the only ones who can do anything. What do you think?"
Ino's training was the only thing keeping her from trembling. Sure she was somewhat desensitized to getting scared on the job, but she had never faced anything like this before. Her instincts were telling her to make a break for it and hope this thing couldn't keep up. But at the same time, she now had new options for how to fight back, and a part of her wanted to try them out.
"We shouldn't provoke it if it's willing to let us go. Let's try to go without running, if it follows I'll try something."
"You sure?" Naruto asked as the creature snarled like it was warning them.
"Yes, let's see if we can get away."
Naruto nodded and ushered for Isaribi and Moegi to go on while keeping their eye on this arctic dragon or whatever it was. He was ready to create shadow clones at a moment's notice, with Ino keeping close and her eyes on the creature too. It monitored them but so far it wasn't making an effort to follow. After they gained some distance the dragon stepped closer, like it didn't want them to get too far from it.
"Can anyone hear the howls anymore?" Isaribi asked.
"Now that you mention it, no. Think this thing scared them off?" Naruto replied.
None of the girls replied, they just kept walking away, this time a little faster, refusing to take their eyes off this dragon. The dragon still stepped closer, looking hostile yet acting merely as if it were a curious dog not wanting them to leave just yet.
"I don't like how it's following us." Moegi said quietly, as if afraid speaking up would provoke this creature.
"Wait, let me try something." Naruto offered, creating thirty clones. The arctic dragon looked confused, then the clones collectively began to walk away from the others at a faster pace. Not running, but certainly faster than they had been before. The dragon kept looking at them, losing interest in the others, and started to follow after the clones.
"Good, now once we have the chance, let's scram." Naruto said as the clones tried to direct the dragon as much away from them as possible.
The dragon turned its rear to them and gave chase to the clones who were now fully running away, and so the four real people chose to run away while they could.
"Wait, we're not heading the way we were before anymore." Ino noted, seeing that now they were diverting from their original destination.
"Right now anywhere is better than right here." Isaribi argued.
'Please hurry Mom.' Naruto thought, not sure how long they had been in this world and what was holding up Kushina from getting to them.
"Careful Hinata." Kushina used a chain to prevent the white-eyed girl from falling off a branch. The young girl was in a hurry as the group descended the realm of Yggdrasil. So far there were no locals to bother them, which was appreciated.
"Thanks, but we need to move faster." She insisted once safe.
Kushina shook her head. "Hinata I understand why you're in a hurry. Honestly I admire your desire to get to Naruto so quickly. But you can't be reckless here or we'll lose you too."
"Naruto-kun wouldn't take his time if it were me who was lost." Hinata rebuttled.
Kushina nodded. "No I suppose he wouldn't. But right now we're at the Makai level of Yggdrasil. If you get lost here, you could end up in the demon realm and be at the mercy of who knows what."
"What kind of demons?" Ayame asked as they resumed going down the interdimensional tree. It was clear Hinata was forcing herself to go slower than she preferred but still trying to take the lead.
"Well, think of Alfheim as the world of civilized demons and mythical creatures. Succubi, elves, vampires, the kind that talk and act like normal humans. So with that in mind, Makai is the opposite. All the beasts that you would consider more feral and animalistic. Trolls, ogres, tentacle hentai things, that sort of thing."
The girls all looked at the Uzumaki matriarch with wide eyes. "Those things actually exist?"
"I've been told so." Kushina admitted, sounding like she didn't like it anymore than they did. She looked down to Hinata again. "So please try not to get ahead of us, okay?"
Hinata nodded.
"It's those howls again."
Naruto and the others slowed down and looked for the source. The dragon was no longer visible and Naruto's clones last memories gave him reason to believe it would be walking away from them if it was still lumbering around.
"Hold on." Naruto said, spreading his wings and taking off. In the back of his mind he noted that he was getting used to the cold here, and he wondered if that was a good thing or not. Once up he looked around to get an idea of what to be on the look out for, and something caught his eye. This time, he smiled.
"I have good news." He told the others as he landed. "That way there's a herd of grazing horses." He pointed forward and towards the left.
"Horses? Oh it would be nice to have a fast ride." Moegi replied happily.
"Horses? In this place?" Isaribi asked, skeptical.
"At least we know it's not something that would want to eat us." Naruto pointed out.
"C'mon, it's better than nothing." Ino insisted, and sure enough all four headed towards where Naruto had pointed. The horses in question were not visible just yet, but considering that Naruto hadn't had to gain too much altitude in order to see them, they couldn't be that far off.
"What?!"
"Calm down Sakura, we understand-"
"How can you understand? You just said that Naruto was lost in another dimension! Who knows what could happen to him!"
"Sakura, calm down. Getting worked up won't solve anything." Tsunade firmly told the worried pinkette. "I'm worried about him too. But Kushina is going to bring him back. Right now you're in no condition to go after him, and even if you were we have no way to follow."
Sakura slowly nodded but looked so perplexed. "I know, but I can't just sit here and do nothing."
Tsunade put a hand on her shoulder. "One time my sensei the Sandaime asked me a question when my little brother went out on a mission. What do you do when the only thing you can do is wait?"
Sakura sighed and slumped, not having an answer to that. She suspected that when Tsunade had been asked that, she didn't have an answer either.
Tsunade retrieved her hand. "Shizune and I will go look for some food and water, and then send word to Konoha of our return. Hopefully things will be better there now. In the meantime, you and Ursha stay here. If you want to get used to your Gift more go ahead, but do not go overboard like you did before."
Sakura nodded, not looking at the slug sannin. She continued to not look at them as they left, only the sounds of them leaving being her clue that they did so.
"So this is Midgard." Ursha said to avoid an uncomfortable silence. "Just humans here? No other species?"
"None that I know of." Sakura quietly admitted.
"We should probably try to make ourselves look human then. Think you can cast a spell for that?"
Sakura looked at her wings for a moment then closed her eyes. 'I got carried away. I have limitless magical potential, but the practical applications aren't. It would be like having all the jutsu in the world, but still a finite amount of chakra. I have to work in small amounts. I'm not going to risk dying like that again.'
"Let me try." She said, this time looking at Ursha then pointing at her. "Turn into a human."
Right away Ursha felt her wings and tail reduce in size and withdraw into her body. It was like her puberty in reverse. It ended quickly so she stood up and looked over herself, seeing no inhuman features. Though she did lose balance and fall.
"Whoa, I forgot how to move without those parts." She commented, letting herself stay down this time. "I'm going to need some practice later."
Sakura pointed at herself. "Turn into... wait, no. Look like a human." Her wings and tail disappeared too, but her more matured figure remained.
Ursha raised an eyebrow. "Why did you edit yourself?"
"A thought hit me. This way my body only looks human, but it should still have the abilities of a succubus." She pointed at a random flower. "Change color." The petals then turned pink. "There, I was afraid I'd lose my Gift and not be able to turn myself or you back. Do you still have your Gift, or did I make you lose it?"
Ursha's eyes widened, having not considered that. She pointed to the same pink flower. "Random."
Nothing happened.
"I don't believe it. I... I don't have my Gift anymore." She stared at her hands like she had never seen them before. "I honestly don't know what to think about that. I mean, sure it had its downsides, but it was still mine."
"Have your Gift back." Sakura commanded, pointing at the succubus princess. "Wait, do you want me to alter it?"
"You better not. Don't overdo it with your own, and who knows what could happen if you alter a Gift." Ursha cautioned.
Sakura nodded and laid down in the grass, staring up at the clouds much like Shikamaru loved to do. She put a hand over her stomach, already feeling it get firm if not swollen. 'I hope Naruto gets here soon, and I hope we still have a home in Konoha to return to.'
"There they are." Naruto said when the horses came into view.
"Wow there really are horses here." Isaribi commented, seeing a herd of pale horses. "What are they eating? Is there grass under this snow?"
"Do you think we can get them to give us rides out of here?" Moegi asked, hopeful.
"That's what I want to find out." Naruto answered, coming up to the animals.
The horses one by one saw the approaching humans, plus one incubus, and stopped to look at them. Every horse doing so was actually kind of unnerving, but it gave them a chance to have a better look at them. They were definitely horses, much like any they had seen back home, yet there was something off about them. Maybe it was the tails and how they looked more lupine than equine. Maybe it was the paleness of their hides, making you wonder if they had any fur at all. Maybe it was the eyes, those unnatural yellow eyes.
Nonetheless, Naruto slowly came closer to one, holding out his hand in an attempt to soothe the animal. The horse kept looking at him and Naruto did the same, closing the gap between them.
"No, something about this isn't right." Ino quietly said, getting a bad feeling.
"What do you mean?" Moegi asked, having heard her.
Naruto got close enough to hear the horse's breathing, and then reached out to touch it. Then the horse started to open its mouth.
"Naruto! Pull back!" Ino shouted.
Startled, Naruto did so, and that was when he saw the problem. The horse's mouth opened much wider than expected, revealing a mouth more suited for a crocodile with teeth included and a serpent's tongue. The horse snapped its jaws in a clear attempt to bite the whiskered blonde's hand but obviously missed. It snorted in anger than made an angry call, rearing its head back.
"That sound, that's the howl we've been running from this whole time." Naruto thought out loud, backing away as more horses joined in. Some even reared up, kicking their front legs revealed hooves that looked clawwed rather than cloven.
Naruto created as many clones as he could and had them try to fight off the horses. The herd bit and kicked, turning many clones to smoke right away as the real Uzumaki attempted to get everyone away.
"There's nowhere we can go where we won't find trouble." Isaribi lamented.
"We can't outrun them, not for long." Ino noted, getting a fierce expression. "We have to fight them off now."
"Are you crazy?" Isaribi and Moegi shouted in panic.
"We've been running for hours, we can't keep doing it." Ino stated firmly, her body starting to change. "Fighting is the only option left."
Ino' body got bigger and wider, becoming less human in the process. Soon enough she was a colossal platinum snake, no one was really sure what species but it certainly wasn't a cobra. The horses paused and looked at this newcomer, looking afraid and backing away. This gave the remaining clones a good opportunity to fight back, prompting them to back away. Except one.
One horse in particular stood firm, ready to oppose the Ino snake. This one was a little bigger than the others, only by a small percentage, with the most noticeable feature being black streaks in its white mane and tail, with a slightly red tint to its pale skin making it look like a faded pink. It fumed and stomped the ground, looking like it had no intention of running away.
"That must be the alpha of the herd." Isaribi theorized.
Ino kept her eyes on this brave horse and hissed, as if to dare it to do its worst.
The alpha horse breathed fire, which by itself was surprising enough. But it breathed fire mostly at is feet and kept going, making the flames grow around it like it was trying to burn itself alive. Soon the entire creature was shrouded in flames, and the flames got bigger. The other horses backed away, and after a bit the alpha horse was the same size as Ino's snake form. Not only that, but it was a brighter angrier red with more pronounced black streaks.
Ino backed up slightly, not so confident anymore. The alpha horse then spewed fire directly at her, prompting her to duck. Once she was down the alpha horse reared up and attempted to stomp on her head, but she rolled away and morphed back into her normal form.
"We can't run, we can't fight, what can we do?" Ino pleaded, unable to come up with anything now.
'I've only got one option.' Naruto thought, not liking it but not seeing any other choice. 'I'm not sure Gamabunta would be able to do much here, or if I can even summon him here. I just got to see if I can use it on purpose.'
Naruto took a few deep breaths, trying to will himself to draw on the chakra of the kyuubi. Seeing the alpha horse try to crush Ino, Isaribi, and Moegi helped him get angry and pumped, but it wasn't working.
The alpha horse roared and spat some fire in front of Ino, Isaribi, and Moegi, preventing them from going away. With them trapped it raised an hoof and readied to squash them like bugs. Naruto rushed to intercept, forging the kyuubi entirely.
All of a sudden, two spears pierced the alpha horse's leg. Where they came from, none of them saw, but the sudden attack made the horse miss and fumble but not fall. The girls managed to maneuver around the flames, and when Naruto came to them they saw a trio of people wearing black cloaks with hoods. Two of them were holding ropes that were attached to the spears embedded in the alpha horse's leg, while the last one wielded a large scythe and moved in to attack directly. None of their features could be seen, the hoods obscured the faces underneath completely.
"Who are they?" Moegi asked.
"No idea, but it looks like they're not here for us." Naruto comforted.
One of the cloaked figures looked to them and froze, releasing their hold on the tether. This surprised the other tether holder who admonished the other, and with their distraction the alpha horse broke free and attacked the scythe wielder. Said scythe wielder pivoted and used what looked like an earth jutsu to make the horse's hooves sink into the snow. It struggled but could not break free, making it roar and spew fire more. Hearing its distress, the rest of the herd decided to get involved again and charged at them all like a stampede.
The scythe wielder swung the scythe and cast some sort of wind jutsu at the stampede. The horses were sliced into chunks that collapsed in the snow turning it red. Those that survived, unscathed or otherwise, panicked and ran off with nervous howls of alert.
"Holy crap!" Naruto, Ino, and Isaribi all said in awe.
One of the tether holders pulled in a way meant to remove the spear from the alpha horse's leg, opening the wound and making it bleed out. It roared and stepped away, trying to burn its own wound. The other tether holder didn't bother and instead came up to the four who fell into this world, taking out a large white circular shield and offering it to them.
The scythe wielder went to the still working cloaked figure and grabbed the tether still attached to the alpha horse. They grabbed it and jumped, while the other tossed their spear again towards them. The scythe wielder used it to rebound up more and got in front of the alpha horse's face. They swung their scythe and did a wind jutsu that cut up the face of the large beast, but it didn't kill them. It merely ripped chunks of flesh off its skull, exposing parts of it. The eyes were badly damaged too.
The alpha horse roared and stomped and flailed in tremendous pain like anything would in its place. This time it lost balance and collapsed to the ground, causing a tremor. The cloaked figure by the kids used the shield to protect them from the snow debris while the other two went in to finish the creature off.
"Uhh... thanks, but who are you?" Naruto asked.
The cloaked figure put away their shield and turned to them, reaching up and pulling back their hood.
Moegi gasped. "MOM?!"