Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Key Through the Heart ❯ Shadow Game ( Chapter 7 )

llVoice of Destiny/Inner Sakura

“Normal Talking”

Thoughts/Sound Effects

“Flashback dialogue/Japanese/Emphasis of words”

“Demon speak”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Key Through the Heart

A fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters or properties mentioned in this story. The story's mine, the concept is mine, but everything else is not mine. And I'm certainly not writing this for profit.

Author's Note: Wow, over a hundred reviews and I'm only up to chapter 6! I don't think any of my fics have enjoyed such popularity. I do appreciate all the reviews, so keep it up please, even if you think the story sucks. I can't please everyone, but its nice to know what the readers think of what you've written.

Okay, I'm not going to directly respond to reviews anymore as Fanfiction.net is a Nazi about such things. However, I will continue to write notes on the story and request suggestions, as my outline is very flexible. If you want direct communication with me, feel free to check out my forums for this story.

Now, with all that out of the way, roll `em!

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Again, thanks a lot for your help Kurenai-san. Ever since I broke my foot I've been behind on my work,” the tall, dark skinned man said gratefully, leaning on a crutch outside his small home. Kurenai smiled back, as her genin stood behind her holding several boxes.

 

“Its not a problem, Makihara. How long until you're back on the job?” The man grimaced.

 

“A week at least. Guess I should be more careful while training…”

 

Kiba groaned under the weight.

 

“The hell is in these things anyway?!” Makihara shrugged.

 

“Some kind o' wheels for these new kinds of wagon up north. Supposed to run on their own,” the dark-skinned ninja continued, ending the sentence with an incredulous snort.

 

Hinata fidgeted a little under the weight of her box.

 

“Ano… M-Makihara-san… If you're a ninja, w-why are you taking on other j-jobs?”

 

The man smiled as a petite, pale, black haired girl stood in the doorway next to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she blushed, a hand over her protruding belly.

 

“Until I get a promotion, I need as much income as I can get with Chiaki-chan here expecting.” His wife smiled.

 

“Thank you ever so much!” Kurenai nodded and turned to head down the street. Her genins obediently followed, Akamaru trotting along his master. Kiba groaned again.

 

“Great… Are we even getting paid for this mission?”

 

Shino raised an eyebrow, displaying no difficulty with his boxes.

 

“We were appointed this mission per the standard procedure. I imagine we will be paid.”

 

“Yeah,” Kiba began, “but you heard him. He needs all the income he can get!” Kurenai smiled.

 

“Well, as this is a low-rated D-Rank mission, the money made by getting his orders in more than covers what he'll pay us. Besides, as he is a friend, I've decided to decline my own pay from this mission.”

 

Hinata stumbled a bit, her teammates turning back as one.

 

“Hinata, you okay?” Kiba asked. Hinata nodded and smiled weakly.

 

“I'm f-fine… Don't w-worry about me,” the pale-eyed girl responded.

 

Kiba furrowed his brow, but resumed walking with everyone else, passing through the streets of one of Konoha's middle class districts. Merchants noisily advertised their wares, as civilians and shinobi milled about. Street performers danced and entertained for coins, while a few old men sat in the shade, playing shogi…

 

“GANG WAY!”

 

And a familiar orange-clad blond barreled right into Hinata, sending both genin to the ground in a heap.

 

“Ow, my head… Huh? Hinata-chan! I'm sorry! You okay?”

 

Hinata gazed up into the wide, concerned eyes of her crush, and felt her face burn in a blush. She began to have trouble breathing as she became aware of their (somewhat scandalous) position.

 

Naruto-kun is on top of me… Naruto-kun is on top of me… Narutokunisontopofme-!

 

“HEY! GET THE HELL OFF HER, DEAD LAST!”

 

Naruto was roughly yanked away from Hinata. Inside, the girl felt both relief and anger at this turn of events. She soundlessly accepted Shino's hand up as Kiba and Naruto began to argue.

 

“Watch where you're going next time, moron!”

 

Naruto growled back at the dog-like nin, as Akamaru barked angrily at the blond alongside Kiba.

 

“Don't call me a moron, dog-breath!”

 

“It-its okay, K-Kiba, I'm f-fine,” Hinata said quietly. Kiba would have continued his yelling, if not for his sensei clearing her throat loudly.

 

“Hinata is fine, Kiba. No harm done.” The red-eyed jounin turned to the glowering Naruto.

 

“And you, Naruto, should be far more careful.” The blond sighed.

 

“Right, sorry, um… Kurenai-sensei. But I've got to deliver these letters and fast.” Naruto indicated the pack he was carrying. Kurenai nodded.

 

“Well then, off with you.” Naruto nodded and smiled at Hinata.

 

“Sorry about that again. See you later, Hinata-chan!”

 

With that, Naruto headed off, ignoring the glares and glowers being sent his way by the people on the street. Hinata blushed and twiddled her fingers a bit.

”All right! Let's get going again,” Kurenai interjected. Hinata started and nodded, picking up her box and resuming her trek. Kiba walked alongside her, looking concerned.

 

“Hey, sure you're okay Hinata-chan?”

 

Hinata nodded and smiled. It was noticeably brighter than her previous ones.

 

“I-I'm f-f-fine! Really!”

 

Shino raised a single eyebrow at this. Kiba noticed and shrugged, his expression one of exasperation. Kurenai smiled slightly as they continued their trek.

 

She was just bowled over by Naruto, and she's happier for it… This could prove interesting… Kurenai smirked evilly.

 

Not to mention that it would make her bastard father blow a gasket…

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Naruto sighed and looked at the last letter in his pack. The woman who had requested the mission had needed extra help delivering mail across town. The blond had been a bit surprised at her kind manner towards him. It turned out she'd only recently moved to Konoha, and so didn't know about him.

 

Yet, he thought, a bit glumly. This wouldn't be the first time he'd met someone new to the area, got along with fine, and then found those people turned against him by the other villagers.

 

Naruto looked up at the wooded path leading up a ridge. It was in one of the more forested areas of Konoha, and near one of the larger training fields. Naruto checked the address on the letter.

 

“Why does she want to mail out all these contest offers anyway? She's not rich,” the blond ninja mused as he hiked the path up slowly. He came to an open space in the wood, the forest canopy stretching out over the area and casting the place into dappled shadows.

 

Naruto grimaced, suddenly feeling a mild chill in the air. He felt a mental nudge, usually only felt when the Keyblade was out…

 

And then he saw movement. A patch of shadow moved between the spots of sunlight. Another and another and another… Familiar monsters rising from darkness.

 

“Shit,” Naruto muttered, stuffing the last letter back into his pack before summoning the Keyblade. He took a good, three-hundred and sixty degree angle survey of the area.

 

They were all around him, twitching, jerking, hungry yellow eyes glowing in the shade. The silence was as unnerving as their appearance, because they reminded Naruto of fire ants. Fire ants that had once been set into his apartment by a disgruntled villager. Even now he could remember the hordes of insects scurrying, crawling, seeking him out…

 

But that was then, and this…

 

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” A dozen Narutos appeared among the dark creatures and as one, slashed through the little beasts. Several hopped high above the strikes, only to be caught as Naruto as his clones leapt into the air, striking them down. Naruto was glad to see that his copy's Keyblades worked just as well as the original against these things.

 

Naruto landed from his jump, spinning around and taking three of the creatures out at once. He cursed as one of his clones went down to some of the monsters, poofing out of existence. The dark creatures sat still for a moment, as though confused, which allowed two other clones to cut them down.

 

Naruto tumbled backwards to avoid another creature's pounce, and thrust his Keyblade through it. The thing dissolved into dust, but even so more creatures began to appear. Naruto glowered and created a dozen more clones.

 

It soon devolved into a hack and slash routine. Over and over, Naruto's clones easily dispatched the monsters, and yet more and more kept appearing. After fifteen minutes, Naruto was about to make a clone to go find help, as he wasn't sure he could keep these things contained for much longer… When they all vanished.

 

“Huh?” Naruto panted, looking around. His remaining clones did the same.

 

“Yo, Naruto.”

 

“GAH!” Naruto shouted, turning and throwing his Keyblade as hard as he could at the voice. Though chakra boosted, the speaker had little difficulty avoiding it. Naruto gaped as he stared at Kakashi. The copy nin stared back, his single eye showing an almost bemused expression.

 

“Sakura's found the cat, and Sasuke is… Done with his special training. Are you finished?” Naruto took a deep breath.

 

“Um, almost… I just…”

 

I was attacked by numerous dark creatures that wanted to eat my soul? Yeah, that'll go over well…

 

“Looks like you were fighting a rather fierce battle,” Kakashi observed dryly. Naruto smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“Um… Well, I decided to, um… Get some extra training in! You know… Um… Because to be honest, these missions really suck.” Kakashi raised his single visible brow, and shrugged.

 

“Well, since we have to go to the mission office anyway, I'm sure we can find something more exciting right?” Naruto nodded.

 

“That sounds great, Kakashi-sensei… Anything's gotta be better than this!”

 

Kakashi chuckled a bit as Naruto shoved the last piece of junk mail into the mail box, and they headed back for the village proper.

 

Emerging from a burst of dark fire, a tall woman watched them go. Dressed in black, spiky robes, with a horned headpiece and green tinged skin, she exuded a menacing air that dominated the atmosphere. Tapping her tall, green-orb tipped staff on the ground next to her, she waited. A black crow appeared, cawing before landing on the orb.

 

“Much sooner than we anticipated, my dear,” she spoke quietly, regally, with an ethereal tone. The crow cawed in acknowledgement, as the woman frowned.

 

“We will have to accelerate our plans… Watch him,” she ordered. The crow bowed, before taking off for the village. The woman lingered a moment longer, before vanishing in a plume of dark fire in much the same way she had appeared.

 

Down the ridge, Kakashi paused and turned back, looking over his shoulder. Under his mask, he frowned. Naruto blinked and turned back curiously.

 

“Kakashi-sensei? Something wrong?”

 

The silver-haired jounin turned back, and shook his head.

 

“Nothing, Naruto.” Kakashi's single visible eye narrowed as he traced the flight of a black bird in the clear blue skies above.

 

“Nothing at all…”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Shorter chapter than the others, but I really want to get into the Zabuza Saga already. It starts next chapter. Haku's status is still undecided.

 

Hell yeah! Maleficent makes her first appearance. Along with her crow Diablo. Expect to see more of her in upcoming chapters. The other villains who are part of the “Heartless Council” won't be appearing for a while yet though.

 

Still torn on when Donald and Goofy show up. For the first encounter with Itachi, or at the Valley of the End battle? My outline is down to those two possibilities.

Okay, the reviewer who correctly figured out the reference last chapter was Dreads. The reference was to the Ranger-mobile from Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers. Therefore, he/she got to choose the anime cameo for this chapter. I may do this again in the future, but too many cameos detracts the story so I'll be using them at my discretion.

As always, I ask that you review honestly. Tell me if I'm doing well or if I am completely sucking up the story.

Preview for Chapter Eight:

“Feh… This is my escort? They don't look like much… Especially the stupid-looking midget with the giant metal dildo.”

“IT'S A KEYBLADE YOU BASTARD!”