Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Dancing Backward ❯ A carp in Red Sea ( Chapter 2 )

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. No profit, no sue. God knows I'm vengeful.

 

Author: Sythe (ACCVN.net, ff.net)

 

Author note: First time with a Naruto fanfic. Be merciless, please. This fic is set in the near future after chapter 277 (latest chapter in stoptazmo.com) so you may find something you didn't know was there.

 

Pairing: Undecided

 

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Lostworld

 

I crossed over a thousand nights

To meet you

So I'll never let any of you go again

Let me hold you like this

Feel my pain

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Chapter two: A carp in Red Sea.

 

In the world, there're supernatural things going on. Sometimes they are bad, sometimes they're good. The people have many times tried to uncover these secrets, yet things keeps existed without any redemption from the human. Many like to call it superstition. Shelikes to call it inevitable happenings.

 

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Down a small rut in the outskirt of a small town, a young girl happily treaded along side her black pony. The girl had shoulder-length brown curly hair with honey brown eyes, completely donned in an auburn brown brassiere and knee-length ginger breeches. Her name was Ayumi Miroshi and today was her sixth birthday.

 

From the time when she was young, well younger than now, she had always believed in fate and destiny. It was somewhat of a sudden to her parents since neither of them was superstitious. Even to the other people like her neighbors or that boy that used to play with her in the kindergarten, it was still a surprise. Till this day, her superstitiousness remained a mystery to many of her beloved ones. They wondered.

 

What was the cause of such devoted belief?

 

No one but the girl knew yet no one thought of questioning her, thinking she was too young to fully realize it on her own. In contrast to many people's reasonings, the answer she held was of nothing terribly tragic.

 

She wanted to believe. It was such a simple cause like that. She liked to believe. It gave her something to trust, something she knew would always give her the reason of her existence, like a task endowed upon her that only she could do, like her mother's death when she turned three.

 

Her mother was given a task.

 

It must be for some good cause that her mother had to leave her forever, right? Her mother would never leave her side if there wasn't anything really important she needed to tend to. Even her father said that. She had gone to help the angels. They were all around the world, trying their best to smooth sorrowful souls of the war.

 

Ayumi was very proud of her mother's task. And because of that, she needed to believe, just like her mother said. To someday, find the purpose of her existence, a destined task.

 

 

The event that happened in Ayumi's sixth birthday was one like that, an inevitable event coming only to the right place, at the right time, to the right person.

 

 

Ayumi was proud to believe and she stretched to believe. It was true that she was a little afraid at first, just a little, nothing much. It came and it went. But Ayumi was determined. In that day, on the small street to her father's honey farm at the outskirt of the rain village, Ayumi believed that she had to help this battered black-clad angel who just fail down from the sky.

 

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It was a very hard task getting the `black angel' to her father's honey farm.

 

Ayumi wanted to take him home at first, since there were medicines and warm beds available but after contemplating the distance from the angel's falling spot to her home and to father honey's farm, she decided that taking the `black angel' to her father would be the better choice.

 

Decision done, she immediately set to work. Although the man was somewhat heavy, and her little pony, Mika, seemed somewhat offended when she began tying him to its back, the honey-colored girl succeeded strapping him to Mika's back and started her way to her intended destination.

 

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The trip was, all in all, uneventful though Ayumi received some weird glances from passers-by. Needless to say, the image of a six-year old girl and a pony with an unconscious man on top wasn't something one could catch everyday.

 

Ayumi peered at said unconscious man all the way to her farther's farm. She could tell that he was very handsome in the other older village girls's standard. He had long blond hair that she bet could reach half way down his back with blond bangs framing his face and funny-looking whisker marks that made him seem exotic. His face was angular, almost elfish to the looking. His skin though would definitely create some ruckus girl debates. The cherubic girl remembered one of the older girls in the village saying something about her preference for tan skin lads and immediately being argued back by another girl screeching that fair skin men were more regal. Looking at the `angel's ivory skin, Ayumi wondered what the girls would think.

 

But if she was ever asked, Ayumi would probably answer that it was kind of enticing, his skin. It glowed. Since the time she heard the other girl's screeching about fair skin men, she had many times tried to resist the urge to ask. She had never seen a `fair skin man' as told in her life before. What could one expect? She was only five and Wave country wasn't exactly a temperate country either. In fact, the tiny isle country was filled with hot beaches and heat waves for most of the time in a year. So, tan men were a regular, and fair men were … non-existent.

 

She glanced at `angel'. He was the first fair man in her life (1) and as a result, she referred to him as a curio reeked with sparkling and promising fun.

 

Wait till her daddy saw this. She giggled.

 

The browny red roof of her house could, now, be seen perching on top of a small hill just yards away. Her pace quickened. She couldn't wait to show father her `angel'. What would he say? Would he praise her for her cleverness getting home an `angel'? Would he laugh and help treat the `angel' so that he would stay with them?

 

The mahogany door to her house was only meters away. The little girl almost busted with excitement. Her lips pulled into a full-blown grin.

 

She really couldn't wait.

 

She bounced to the door in just three leaps, Mika trekking behind her with `angel' on its back.

 

The mahogany door trembled as she swung it open, producing a loud bang in the process. Her father was inside, looking rather surprised.

 

Ayumi yelled gleefully.

 

`Papa! Look! I caught an angel'

 

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It was normal sunny days like this that he liked the best.

 

Along the long coast of Wave Isle, a man named Ryusuke Ryuuchi strolled silently.

 

The weather was nice as usual, hot and humid air with a cheerful heating sun hanging above and dunes of sand entombing his pacing black sandals. Normally, he wouldn't wear sandals for a walk along the beaches. The things were quite unsuited for the geography setting yet he still wore it. He nearly laughed at his self humor. May be he was getting the thing his new habit. It was a necessity for his job anyway.

 

Ninjas don't wear beach slippers.

 

The red-haired man trugged around rows of coconut trees. He was off-duty today but old, or not so old, habit had always been hard. Not that he cared but it would be better if situations raised the need.

 

He loved the peace here in this small isle. Just this time last year he had still been a teacher, a normal one at that, with no killing and jutsuing meddling around. He missed the peace. Slowly, he reminded himself of his duty, of the reason why he was out there, nostalging for a just recent past and not in his old, familiar martial art class.

 

The damn war. He cursed.

 

It had begun with nothing sort of important. Small things. Petty grudges between petty bastards. Just why the hell did they have to make such a fuss out of it? Probably got too little brain to think over their knuckles.

 

It was … what? Eight? Ten years since then. A small dispute that finally led to a devastating war that dragged on for five long years. Thousands of people had died, millions others homeless and hopeless.

 

In his personal experience, Ryuuchi had never witnessed war before. Everything he knew about it he heard, if not from the mouth of a history teacher then it would be from his reminiscent grand grand-uncle. The man ought to know. He had lived through two wars in his life, still alive and alone. The wars were of course not of the Wave.

 

But even if that was the case, he would gladly decline if the offer presented if self. War was, after all, not something to be taken lightly.

 

He sucked in a long breath of sea essence. If he died, the involuntary nin thought, he could at least remembered this taste, this aroma. Salty, wet and soothing. The sea breezes caressed his youthful face, threading invisible fingers into his fiery masses.

 

Wave country was, all in all, a pacifist country and in its lengthy history, wars were once in a looonng while. But now it was not the fact anymore. The war from the east continent had stretched out too far. What was, in the beginning, a ninja-to-ninja battle only had evolved to a full-scale political and tactical war with the shinobis as its main factor.

 

And that was how Wave country was dragged in on the way.

 

If considered on the shinobi aspect, Wave would be a complete nil for it had abandoned its military aspect for centuries. However, the war had turned tide for a long time now. And from an unimportant ethnic zone, Wave had, all at once, rolled to a stage of a highly appraised strategic troop station…

 

`…that was literally screaming to be invaded with its near-to-none defense.'

 

Ryuuchi thought bitterly.

 

The attempts to resist were fast… and sloppy. They hadn't the time to waste.

 

Men from fifteen to fifty were summoned from their home (2). Women who were available were gathered. Little children were stowed away in the supposedly safe country sides.

 

After a hundred and eighty so years in peace, the Wave prepared to go into war for the first time.

 

Inexperienced. The lot of them. The so-called soldiers and nins of the Wave. Just as beggars can't be choosers, the Wave couldn't be picky on their military material. Available was the only requirement besides the age for recruitment. And people like him, Ryuuchi, were taken, snatched away from their loving homes at an almost frenzy rate then trained in crash courses for the very much possible up-coming war.

 

Ruuchi didn't blame the elders. The things they did were obligatory, harsh, but necessary. Still, that wasn't enough. No matter how much the elders tried to reassure the people, everyone knew it was not enough. There would always be a gap between their peaceful country and the other more aggressive ones. Even if they tried, they knew it wouldn't be enough. Their loving home was practically waiting for the set steps of the invaders.

 

A small wooden trail leading from the beach further to the considered plateau of the island appeared on the corner of his vision.

 

A small smile crept its way on Ryuuchi's face. Living here from the first dawn of his life, and with the island so small it was ridiculous, Ryuuchi knew every nookie pit and turn on it like the back of his hand. And he knew just where that wooden path led to. A pleasant shelter with a welcoming smile from a friend.

 

The man was rather popular amongst the people here. Kiro Miroshi. Very few people could find something unlikable in the jovial young man even though he was not originally from around here. Ryuuchi had heard rumors about the man's past before he and his daughter came here. It was said that the man was once a healer, a shinobi with powerful medical power, and that he himself had participated in the shinobi war in the west continent, but after the death of his beloved wife, whose name remained unknown, he had withdrawn from the war and found seclusion in the borders of Wave. No one knew how much of this was true, but one fact was proved as the man's medical skill outran even the most experienced doctors in this village of Wave.

 

Even so, no one was eager to dig further in the topic. They liked the man for his sweet smile and his even sweeter honey pies.

 

Ryuuchi's stomach made a loud announcement on its empty state. He chuckled and began climbing up the pathway towards the only honey farm of Wave. He and Miroshi had been neighbors for quite a while now. May be he could convince the man to let him have some free honey pies of his.

 

The red-haired nin lazily sauntered up the steps of the hill, pushed only by his stomach. The path up the hill wasn't very long, just about five minutes walking, but, well, damn it was now. He cursed in his mind as his steps quickened. Suddenly, at the other and of the trail, a figure emerged. Ryuuchi looked up, and very much to his surprised found a very stricken looking Kiro running towards him, his trademark smile nowhere to be seen.

 

`This is strange'

 

The redhead frowned. In all the short years Kiro had stayed here, Ryuuchi rarely witnessed him without a smile on his face. There were occasions, yes, but those were far and few in between, may be one or two time. So the moment the red-haired nin noticed the look on Kiro's face. He knew what was coming. A patient. Because Kiro was known for his skill in healing, and his charges weren't even real charges as they varied from a fish for the dinner, several books for his daughter Ayumi, or some plants for the herb he was preparing, many people sought out for him when they got sick. After a short while, the visits were so frequent that Kiro had to seriously consider equipping both his home and his farm with medical tools. And he did, just after a session of five miles running from his farm to a medical store for a CAT scanner that was desperately needed.

 

Still- the mar on Ryuuchi's face did not cease- seeing the look on Kiro's face irked him. Well, it wouldn't harm a thing just to make sure.

 

“Hey! Kiro! Hey!”- He called out to a profusely sweating Kiro and nearly didn't have the time to brace himself as the other man lunged at him. He staggered.

 

“Whoa! Whoa! What's that? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?”- He blurted out.

 

“Uh, no” the short brunet looked at him hesitantly “Good afternoon, by the way”

 

He looked at the face across his in utter disbelief. Why, he never thought Kiro would have such a …uh… peculiar way to say hello to some body. The mar deepened. Or was the man sugar-highing, which was pretty weird since he had all those yummy honey pies all for himself for everyday bliss. He flinched. Now that glare certainly didn't spell Kiro to him at all.

 

“I know what you're thinking!” The brunet deadpanned “I'm not sugar-high, and I have something to ask you.” Not giving Ryuuchi a chance to reply, he continued on “I know it's not my place to ask this I've heard that the nin hospital have just received tags and jutsus for treating chakra related cases. Is there any thing for chakra depletion there? And if yes, can I borrow some” He finished with a pleading on his face.

 

Ryuuchi looked at him. Was the patient a fellow nin from another village. His mind did a somersault at the thought. If that was the case, then an army of shinobis could be near the border of Wave, preparing for an onslaught already, and the injured nin could be the bad-news bearer. He grunted.

 

“Who is it?”

 

Kiro looked him in the eyes, his face dead serious.

 

“An angel” (3)

 

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Ryuuchi looked down at the blonde on the bed, deep in the arms of Morpheus, his eyes full of curiosity. Kiro was on the other end of the room, busying himself with a bunch of tags and strange-looking plants. He winced at the cracking sound from the machine attached to the blonde's arms. His eyes glazed when the conversation from two hours ago flashed into a flood in his mind.

 

“Uhh… pardon?”

 

“An angel”

 

“…”

 

“You're so gullible”

 

.#choking sound#.

 

“Sorry. Just walk, we'll talk on the way.”

 

Step

 

crunch

 

“Yeah. So what's that?”

 

“My daughter saw him on the way to the farm. She said he fail from the sky in a halo, hence the name `angel'”

 

“How corny!”

 

“Don't look at me. The poor guy is a bad case though. He has injuries but not too dangerous. However, his chakra is totally depleted. Greatly. I'm not surprised if he walked off the case with a handicap or two.”

 

“Which village?”

 

“Leaf”

 

Relieved sigh

 

“That's better. Our village is allied with Konoha.”

 

“I'm not so sure about that. His attacker could be around here somewhere.”

 

“Don't remind me. Here!”

 

“??”

 

“You need these to get in the storage. Tell Yuko I sent you and she will let you pass. Be quick.”

 

“Thanks”

 

“Don't. I'll come for the pies”

 

gurgle

 

 

Ryuuchi lazily munched his specially-made-big honey pie number five as he surveyed the blonde. Snapping sound echoed from the other side of the bed.

 

`He sure is strange'

 

`His skin is too white, and… what's that on his belly? Is that a seal?'

 

Ryuuchi had never been one of the travelers, those that set their ambition to the new worlds free, and for sure, he had never been to Konoha. So obviously, he didn't know what was there to expect. He swallowed a huge bite, eyes still glued on the stranger.

 

`This… boy'-He mused-`is definitely the eye candy'-An image of a horde of teenage girls squealing in a `girl's talk' about `ideal men' flew though his head in a fleeting moment. He had the unfortunate of housing one of the hosts of these frequent talks as her older brother.

 

The stranger was young. He could be no more than nineteen. No freckles. His skin was smooth, almost flawless if those whisker-like scars weren't there on his face. He had long blonde hair fanning halo-like around his head in his dead slumber. It kinda aid in to the picture though.

 

`Very beautiful hair'-Ryuuchi suddenly found himself stroking his unruly red mop.

 

`And what's that strange-looking spiral thingy on his stomach. Is it a seal or something?' He questioned silently.

 

On the other side of the room, Kiro had finished mashing the herbs in his medium-sized mortar and proceeded to pour some dark brown liquid into the concoction. The red-haired man eyed the `brown thing' suspiciously. A sudden sympathy for the blond stranger rose in his stomach. He knew he would never touch that thing much less drink it if he could help it.

 

The red-hair jounin finished his last bite with a munch, making sure that none was left on his honey-smeared hands.

 

“So what are you going to do with him?” He asked.

 

“Well, I don't know. But I think he will have to stay here for a while. It won't be good for his case if he gets moved around too much.” Now Kiro was pouring that `brown thing' into a bowl. He positioned the funnel in his other hand above the unfortunate stranger's mouth, brown bowl ready.

 

Ryuuchi grimaced. A strange guilt nibbled at him. He felt like he was turning blind eyes upon some dying man. The brown liquid slowly crawled down the edge of the funnel.

 

His forefinger twitched.

 

“Then I'll make sure to report this back to headquarter.” He heard himself pronounced. Of course, the elders needed to know about this. It could be vital information.

 

Poor kid.

 

“Right” Ryuuchi thought Kiro looked too at ease with what he was doing. It didn't take much for a fit of goosebumps to surface on his arms. The rumored medic nin continued.

 

“Since he's from Konoha, do you think the other Leaf nin on mission here would help” The poor blonde victim choked on reflex, a mud-brown trickle leaking out from the corner of his mouth. Kiro smiled.

 

“Ahh.. finally. And I thought he's never going to do that”

 

Huh?

 

The redhead stared, completely mystified.

 

“Oh.Why? Is he supposed to choke like that?”

 

“Yeah. If he didn't, then it meant his chakra depletion had reached the dangerous level”

 

It still doesn't answer the question

 

Kiro threw a mild glance at him, the corner of his mouth turned slightly up-ward in what was most definitely a smirk.

 

“You have a very funny expression on your face, you know. Reminds me of a lost puppy”

 

The redhead scowled indignantly.

 

“Hmm… seems like you didn't learn your lessons very well, Ryusuke-san. Forgot to learn your chakra theory lesson?”

 

The scowl on the other face only deepened. It wasn't like it was his fault that the elders decided to give ninja crash courses instead of full-length lessons. He wasn't prepared. Either way, he wasn't going to complain now. Hokage knew he wasn't a whiny wuss. He grunted when a muffled snicker was heard echoing in the room.

 

“Just spill it, will ye'?”

 

“No, it's nothing much. I think. What can I say? You know what chakra is right? How stupid! Of course you know.”

 

He nodded.

 

“ But in medical notions, it is different, though. You can say it's something like… life energy. It explains why commoners have chakra as well. They just don't use it as much as the ninjas, nor in similar ways.”

 

Ryuuchi stared in fascination. He was never taught this side of the problem, just as he never knew even some of the most basic things concerning chakra.

 

“ It also explains why you're dead, biologically, when you're out of chakra. Chakra is like blood. Without an exact amount, the body can't function right. In chakra depletion cases, if the chakra level is too low, the body will shut down by parts.”

 

“ So if he didn't choke..” the redhead began slowly.

 

“Then that meant his nervous system had shut down, and that's the beginning of biological death, mostly.” Kiro finished.

 

The Wave nin shuddered gently as he glanced at the unconscious blond on the bed. The stranger looked too peaceful for someone who was near death gate. He idly wondered how many parts of the blond's body had shut down.

 

“Where's Ayumi?” He asked, not taking his eyes of the stranger.

 

“She's at home. I asked her to go look for my plants.”

 

“Oh. Yeah. I think I'll … go and report this. May be the Leaf will send someone.”

 

“Om.”

 

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“Grro..”

 

Nausea was the first to welcome him when consciousness started to seep back on the line of his blackened vision. Naruto inwardly reminded himself to never EVER let Kyuubi had his way with him again.

 

`What was that?'

 

He blinked as something stung his eyes.

 

“??”

 

He tried to focus.

 

`Wha..?'

 

“Easy now…you've just recovered”

 

`I don't…'

 

`Huh..'

 

He whirled on his stomach, hands out-stretched in a dead clutch around his chakra kunai and found his vision speeding towards what, as his groggy visibility decided, looked vaguely like wooden floor.

 

`Hu? There's wooden floor cell in the Akatsuki? I don't seem to remember there's one though. Was I caught by Orochimaru?'

 

Not likely. The slimy bastard would have killed him the instant he was able to set his claws .. er .. scales … fangs … whatever on him. So that was not the case.

 

“Grrr…”

 

His stomach suddenly churned and lurched upward. He staggered, lips quivering in pre puke-mode.

 

`Fuck. I hate hang-over.'

 

His legs suddenly gave out beneath him and the shadow danced before launching forward in a choking embrace around him.

 

`Damn. I'm turning girly'

 

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“He woke up”

 

“Yeah. Just about an hour ago. Not for long though”

 

“ He has slept for… how long? Two weeks already? The elders are worried.”

 

“I really don't know. Truthfully to say, his recovering without a single casualty is a miracle itself. He nearly died. I…”

 

“!”

 

“Do you know that when he heard me behind him, he immediately summoned a kunai, a chakra kunai. Observing that, it must be on instinct. His eyes didn't seem focused enough.”

 

“!”

 

“What?”

 

“The elders… I wonder what they will do once he wakes up. Konoha has sent theirs. Ought to be here in couple o' days.”

 

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“Hey!”

 

 

“!”

 

“Ayumi! Go hide the pies!”

 

 

Pff…

 

 

“Kiro-chan! How mean! I'm just here to visit our lil' blonde enigma. The Konohas want examination”

 

 

“Stand back! You fiend! I won't let you touch my precious pies!”

 

 

Thud… Bonk

 

“PAPA!”

 

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Kksssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (4)

 

 

“Ryusuke-san! Can you please move your ass down to the pantry fridge and get me Kirroi's dose. He's sweating again.”

 

“I can't understand why you insist on calling him Kiiroi (5). It's down-right corn… Yowww…”

 

“Move your ass faster, mister! And don't you dare insult my daughter's creativity.”

 

“Gzz… sucker!”

 

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“So… what did they say about that?”

 

“Uhh… they didn't really say anything.”

 

“Huh…?”

 

“ No, he's not a missing nin. I think they said something about `lone…lony'…something like that. Didn't really hear it right!”

 

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“Has he shown any progress lately?”

 

“Hmm…much. I think he'll wake soon. Can't really tell though. All the cases before him died before they reach nullifying state”

 

“Must be a monster to be that hard to die”

 

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Grrrr…

 

..hah..

 

 

 

Black

 

 

 

..!...

 

 

I

 

 

`Wher..?'

 

 

`Wha…?'

 

 

`Kyuubi'

 

 

A shrill sound tore through the thick veil of looming darkness, echoing from deep pits of his oblivion.

 

He knew where he was.

 

`KYUUBI'

 

 

The young blond called again, louder this time. Still, his only answer was solid static. A sudden chill running down and along his spine caused him to shiver gently. He hated it here. The looming darkness.

 

 

`KYUUBI'

 

 

The goddamned fox. Where was he?

 

He wanted to curse. He had been here, in this coal black veil, before… many times, yet never once had it failed to unnerve him, to bring back the childish fear he had long since left behind.

 

 

`Kyuubi, you bastard. If you don't come out now I swear I'm going to have that hairy hides of yours.'

 

 

The blond nearly cursed aloud again when a throaty voice abruptly drew from the other side of the darkness. The veil melted away almost simultaneously.

 

 

`Why I wonder many times. Do mans not teach their younglings manners at all? Certainly you lots are not that tactless'

 

Slowly, a dim corridor started to appear.

 

 

`Don't you smartass me, Kyuu. We both remember how it ended the last time'

 

 

The blonde snarled back in response although the snarl lacked its sharp edge. Having Kyuubi here with him was way better than standing alone in that forsaken void. Naruto let out a sigh as his face pulled into a huge grin and in a swept of hands, legs and paws, tackling the fox playfully.

 

 

`I thought I was starting to miss you'

 

`Oh, is that so?' Kyuubi purred.

 

 

By that time, the corridor had already fully lightened up. Numerous doors, turns, and stairs could be seen along its length. The young blond mused. If a Yamanaka or any other mind-controlling specialist ever was to try and venture into his head, he/she would be definitely in for a big surprise.

 

He cocked his head to one side, surveying the condition of his self-made psychic labyrinth.

 

It wasn't his idea at first to remodel and rebuild his own mind, but after a nasty face-down with a mind controller from the Mist and the result not entirely in his favor, he and Kyuubi was forced to confront the problem. As a result, not long after another temporary missing of his, his mind was neatly built into a literal maze, his memories, skills and the `miscellaneous' orderly put into labeled rooms, traps carefully and strategically placed, ready to welcome any Yamanaka's attempt to prick through his mind.

 

`Well, it didn't turn out so bad. No. Not bad at all' he thought to himself.

 

`Hh… What's that?'

 

The blond turned a discreet glance toward the fox. Even now, after twenty-one, nearly twenty-two years with the fox as his companion, he sometimes still forgot how easy it was for one to read the other's thoughts, especially after the bar's take-down three years ago. It strengthened the bond between them, true, but sometimes he felt the need to have some privacy.

 

`Ohh… nothing, just reminiscing. You remember how hard it was for us to build this…'

 

He swept his arms out, punctuating the words.

 

`…beauty'

 

 

Kyuubi blinked.

 

 

`Never mind' He shook his head `Anyway, any idea what happened at weasel's den. I thought I was going to die. How did we wind up here instead?'

 

 

`Hn… you…don't remember'

 

`Was I supposed to?'

 

`No. I was hoping you could tell me'

 

`Hhh??' Naruto did a double-take on the fox. Kyuubi? Not knowing what was happening? That's rich.

 

He tried to staunch the worry that was beginning to ooze out. It seemed the situation was not as he had thought. Out of thin air, a comfy-looking armchair materialized and Naruto settled on it. He looked at Kyuubi with unvoiced question, subtly hinting that he was giving his patience. They had long since passed sound-based period of conversationalists.

 

 

Kyuubi idly assembled himself on his many tails in front of the blond. With a gentle nod of his head, he began.

 

 

`We were attacked by the snake. You do remember?'

 

`Yeah.'

 

`We were…not prepared for the onslaught. Yes?'

 

Naruto nodded his confirmation.

 

 

`We would have died'

 

`You panicked'

 

The fox scowled.

 

`I was unprepared.'

 

`So what did you do? Tried to get us out of the mess, I suppose'

 

`With a twist, yes. I performed an….ancient jutsu… of the demons'

 

`One that you don't remember'- The twitch on Kyuubi's molten eyes when he stressed the word `ancient' was a dead give-a-way.

 

 

`What did you do, fox?' Naruto frowned. This could turn dangerous. Unknown jutsus, demonic ones at that, were extremely unpredictable. The outcome of one particular jutsu could vary on different levels depended on the chakra mass the user called upon, the situation the jutsu was used in, or even the natural flows of other's chakra in the near vicinity.

 

`It was passed along the line of youkos'- The fox reasoned.

 

`You didn't even remember what it was for'

 

`The situation called for action'

 

`The situation called for extremely drastic measure?' He raised one of his eyebrows at the fox. Sometimes, just sometimes, he wished Kyuu could push aside his enormous ego.

 

 

`It was safe'

 

`Oh, isn't it?'

 

The renowned fox demon flicked his tails uneasily. Really, he could just have forgotten how closely Naruto resembled his father, the deceased Yondaime. And…damn was the man able to interrogate.

 

 

`It was said to be used only in dire threats, inevitable death.'

 

 

`Just get to the point Kyuubi. What does it do exactly? Our presence in the void before was proof enough that we both got a decent chakra-sucker. I doubt normal jutsus can drain the infamous Kyuubi that much, huh'

 

 

 

`…'

 

 

`…what? I hate it when you look at me like that, you know? Remind me of …distant memories'

 

`You… all those years watching that usual adorn mask on your face make me forget how closely you resemble that little ningen brat'

 

 

`For your information, that brat's son is sitting right over here, in front of you'

 

The fox sighed a wistful sigh as Naruto muttered a quite `old coot' under his breath.

 

 

`It was said to originate from a transportation jutsu…' The fox grumbled, closely watching the tiny hint of interest flickered in his vessel's eyes.

 

`…there wasn't much, just that it transport the user, or in this case, users, to a different place, the safe haven.'

 

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000

 

 

“Morning, Papa”

 

As a loud BANG from the door echoed through the house, a little brown ball dashed inside the small house, skittered to an abrupt halt in front of the brown hair man who was busying himself grinding dried leaves. Kiro idly let go of the pestle, straightened him self and automatically pulling his face into a welcoming grin.

 

“Morn', butter cup. Coming to visit Kiiroi again?”

 

 

The girl in question giggled sheepishly, bringing the small black contraption in her hands to eye-level.

 

“The girls in the village wouldn't believe me. They want proof, and since they can't come, I asked Mira-chan to lend me her…” She waved the `ancient-looking' camera around excitedly “…Capi-chan”

 

 

The brown-haired man stifled a laugh. Really, girls and their tendency to adorn names to cute little things. He eyed the obviously outdated camera. Not that that was really a cute little thing to begin with.

 

 

“He's in the back room. As usual. I've just washed him this morning. Careful with the bottles. Last time you knocked them over, we had a hard time gathering all the ingredients to remake the potion, again.”

 

“I won't, pop” The girl swiftly disappeared through the bead-curtain door, her childish bell-like giggle lingering behind.

 

Kiro smiled gently as his hands resumed their abandoned work. Just how he loved his daughter! The acrid smell emitting from a nearby pot signaled him the completion of their sleeping guest' daily drink. His hands immediately pumped faster, in hope of finishing with the leaves before the draught over-boiled.

 

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000

 

 

He floated around lazily in the grayish blue globe of his mind, the in between of consciousness and unconsciousness, his hands hanging loosely on the sides as his brows creased, concentrated. Suddenly, the globe seemed to pulsate, its elastic structure tugged into one point as if punctured by an invisible needle. The floating blonde scowled, clearly annoyed.

 

`Really! Do you have to use so much chakra into that god-damned jutsu. We are practically stuck in our own mind.' He nagged.

 

 

`Watch it, brat! Id I hadn't done that, we could have died, or worse, parasitized.' The other conscience in the form of a bear-sized fox grumbled (5).

 

 

`Great! Just why does chakra depletion coma have to be so hard?' The blond muttered under his breath.

 

 

`Hmm… try the other side, it's…'

 

The fox never had a chance to continue his sentence when a sudden FLASH sound pierced through the globe with blinding white light gripping at his eyes.

 

`Wha..' Both the blond and the fox reacted in lightning-fast speed, their hand striking forward instinctively, tiny chakra thorns fledged out, closing around the source of the light. The globe vaporized and the blond opened his eyes, slowly adapting to the brightness of the room.

 

He stared at the thoroughly crushed camera in his hand. The brown-haired wide-eyed girl behind it stared back at him. Transfixed. A small gasp shattered, then the girl stated in dead-serious voice.

 

 

“Bad Kiiroi” (6)

 

End Chapter 2

 

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(1) Couldn't resist the exual innuendo in that one. That was the exact line I said when I first tried to talk with my English teacher: “You're my first fair-man” I couldn't look him in the eyes for a long time when I finally understood what I had said. How embarrassing!

 

(2) I don't really know if fifty-year-old men are allowed into military. That one I made up. They are desperate, remember?

 

(3) What do you want? She was only six with a superstitious and girl-talk induced mind, and Naruto was `falling from the sky in a golden halo'. I need her to be real.

 

(4) rain fall sound. If any of you read the English version manga, you'll notice whenever there's a rainy scene, the sound will be Kkhhhhhssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh.

 

(5) Kiiroi means yellow. Naruto hair is yellow. Got it?

 

(6) I know in both the manga and the anime version of Naruto, Kyuubi is ALWAYS this big no matter where he is (in Naruto's stomach or above the Konoha in fir), but face it. If you talk to somebody that high, you're going to have a killer neck sore.

 

(7) Don't know if any of you get it, but in my country, kiiroi yellow is a common name used for dogs (smirk). So Ayumi was actually, literally saying “Bad dog!”

 

 

Geeze! This chapter is a pain to write. Anyway, to any one who cares, the Wave will be very different from the one in the original. There will be no Gatou, Tazuna is one of the elders since he built the bridge, thus helped developing the Wave's economy. I'm thinking if I should let Inari in on this. One sugar-high prone kid is enough you know. Zabuza and Haku are also in, but they won't meet Naruto in the Wave (since there's no Gatou around). The Miroshis are actually related to one of the Naruto characters. The relationship between the Leaf and the Sound wil be stained. There's going to be politics (Always wonder how the shinobis fund themselves when all they do is fight. The only source must be the lords. As a result, there will be political dispute between villages). Oh, and Ryuuchi is going to die *cackle maniacally*

 

 

Scythe no see.

 

 

To Stitches_OFire and Mistical Kat : My sincerest apology. It seems that my Vietnamese version is faulty. Hopefully, that will the all of the mistakes. Thanks anyway.