Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Nexus Academy ❯ Nexus Academy Grande Prix: Epic Battles in the Maze: A-Naruto’s Secrets Revealed! ( Chapter 18 )

Nexus Academy Grande Prix:

Epic Battles in the Maze:

A-Naruto's Secrets Revealed!

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I only own the original characters. I do not own characters from TV shows, video games, books, and so on. They are owned by their respective creators.

 

 

 

“So what are you planning to do?” Jango asked mockingly. “I can survive anything you throw at me; it's almost like immortality except… I'm… already dead.” He started thinking about what he'd just said.

 

“Immortality… that's a four-letter word to me.” A-Naruto said angrily. “I've seen the price of immortality personally and hate anyone who possesses it.” A strange glow began surrounding his body and he chuckled. “He willingly gave up his body to that monster… damn him… damn Orochimaru… well, I guess I should thank them for what happened after that…”

 

 

 

Naruto stared at a headband that had scratch-marks on it. It bore the unmistakable sign of the Hidden Leaf Village. The person who once wore that headband had been his friend and rival… but he had turned his back on the entire village.

 

“Naruto!” A kunai knife flew towards Naruto's face and he grabbed it before it got too close. Kakashi-sensei walked into Naruto's house, late as usual. Naruto waited to hear Kakashi's excuse for being late. He'd heard them all, and they kept on getting more and more ridiculous.

 

“Naruto, Orochimaru and Sasuke…” He started. “They're attacking the new village.” Naruto's eyes widened (well, opened and then widened) in surprise. “Why would they attack that village?” He asked. “It was only started a year ago; they barely have anything worth taking.”

 

“I don't think it's about taking anything.” Kakashi said. “It's about securing one of our allies; that village allied with us for protection, due to its lack of ninja. Since they're our allies they—.” “Would help us in case of an all-out attack!” Naruto said as he suddenly got up and ran out the door.

 

“Uh… right.” Kakashi said. “Huh. Two and a half years of training did more than make him taller, that's for sure.” He gave chase after Naruto.

 

 

 

A-Naruto should have been paying attention to Jango; he barely had time to dodge as Jango tossed one of his bombs at him. The bomb hit a wall and exploded. “Is that all?” A-Naruto asked as he swiftly took out a kunai knife and ran up to Jango. “I was expecting more from you.”

 

Suddenly, there was an explosion underneath A-Naruto's foot as he stepped it down. “You dodged the explosion, but it scattered tiny mines.” Jango said. “The mines might even be on you. So give up; you're in over your head.”

 

A-Naruto chuckled. “Mines.” He said. “As if I don't get enough of these from explosive experts.” The energy around his body seemed to be taking a shape. “But an explosion can't do this…” The energy had completely covered his body and two tails of energy were coming out of his… area where a tail comes out of.

 

“This is my Two-tailed kyubi transformation.” A-Naruto said. “I don't want to kill you, just shut you up… so I decided I'd just use my second-weakest form.” “Well it's a very pretty light show.” Jango said. “But what does it—?”

 

A-Naruto was standing right behind Jango. “Don't blink…” He made a long sequence of hand-signs. “Earth Style: Thousand Tremor Claw!” He dug his hand into the ground and the earth began shaking violently. The ground underneath Jango sent him flying into a wall, causing a thick cloud of dust to enshroud him.

 

“Face it, Jango-sensei.” A-Naruto said smugly. “You're not a match for me. Now give it up before I'm angry.” Jango's jetpack suddenly flew out of the dust and crashed into A-Naruto. “Don't count me down just yet.” Jango said. His helmet was gone and much of his armor was dented. “I'm full of surprises.”

 

A-Naruto began laughing insanely. “I'm growing very tired of you, Jango-sensei.” His voice grew more and more disturbing as he spoke. “You're lucky… many people would die a hundreds time over to see what I'm about to show you. Thing is, most people wish they had died after they see it…”

 

 

 

Outside of the maze where the fights were being held, Dr. Patooka was minding the students that had been defeated and teleported out of the maze. “Happy… happy… joy… joy…” One student said while crying. “There, there, X.A.N.A.” He said. “It'll be alright.”

 

“Dr. Patooka!” Chopper yelled as he ran up to the witchdoctor. Rather than fighting, Chopper had decided to help Dr. Patooka take care of injured students. “We just got another one who's in really bad shape! He can't even talk!”

 

Dr. Patooka ran in the direction where Chopper had come from to see who it was. There, lying on the ground was Jango Fett, bloody, beaten, and pale. “Oh, my lord.” Dr. Patooka said. “Okay, um… Chopper! I need you to get me some of the special salve I keep in my trunk, stat; Homer, I want you to call Dr. Kevarkian and—no, not Kevorkian; Kevarkian, with an A—call Dr. Kevarkian and tell him it's an emergency; Dean, I want you to go get warm water for his wounds.”

 

Everyone stared at the usually scatter-brained doctor like he had grown four noses, six mouths, eleven eyes, and a billboard announcing what the pool rules are all on his arm. “Yes, everyone, it's still me.” Dr. Patooka said. “Now move out!”

 

 

 

Back in the maze, several things had happened: 1), Luffy had fallen unconscious from not eating anything in a while; 2), Haru, Musica, and Ellie had all been defeated… by Ploo; 3), Bo-BoBo, Poppa Rocks, Jelly Jiggler, and Gasser had all been defeated… by Bo-BoBo; 4), Right before Sokka could get his butt thoroughly kicked by a student, that student was suddenly transferred to a different school; and most importantly 5), all of the fighters were going closer to the center.

 

Iso and Zolo were among the warriors heading towards the center of the maze, but they were still engrossed in their sword-fight. Zolo's sash had been cut off, his clothes were torn, and he was bleeding in places he didn't think he could bleed. Iso was in no better shape. His white jacket had been cut to bits, leaving only the brown shirt he wore underneath; the JUST pin he wore on his jacket had been stepped on… by him; and, to make things worse, the sheaths for his swords had all been cut off, forcing him to carry all of his swords and sheathes at once.

 

“Getting tired, Pretty-boy?” Zolo asked while panting. Actually, he was growing more tired by the minute; he had been fighting Iso for at least an hour! “No…” Iso said while gasping for air, “Just… just getting my second wind.”

 

Zolo dropped his swords down on the ground and collapsed. “Really?” He asked. Iso sighed, dropped his swords, and fell flat on his face. “No, that was a blatant lie.” He said. “I can't go on anymore, can you?” “Not… a minute… longer…” Zolo said while panting.

 

“That's good to hear.” A voice said. A huge man dressed in black armor and with two stupid-big swords on his chest was looming over Zolo. He was bald and his face was virtually covered in scars. “The name's Ender.” The man said. “I'm a teacher for the students over at Raven Dorm. And I've had my eyes on them swords of yours…”

 

Ender reached down to take Zolo's white-hilted sword. “Wado?” He asked as soon as he saw it. “That's real nice… bet it'll sell good over on the Nexus Black Market.” He tried to pull the sword away but Zolo reached up and grabbed it. “No…” was all he could say.

 

“What?” Ender asked as he tried to pull the sword out of Zolo's hand. “Just give me the damn sword!” Zolo smiled. “These swords… have a curse, honor… and the one you're trying to take from my hand has a promise on it.” He said. “I can't let you have any of them.”

 

Ender pulled one of the swords off of his back. “Than let's see how well you can hold onto your sword in the after-life!” He yelled as he brought the blade down to cut off Zolo's arm. “Hey, doofus!” A voice said from on top of Ender's head. Ping was sitting there, holding two broadswords in his hands. “Why don't you try taking my swords from me?”

 

Ender tried to grab Ping, but his hand didn't catch anything. “It's called teleportation.” Ping said from behind Ender. “The moving of solid matter using only one's mind; it's the special skill I mastered at the temple I was raised in.” Ender roared and charged at Ping… only to crash into a wall that suddenly appeared in front of him.

 

“This leads us to my special skill.” Pong said as he stepped out from behind the wall, just as it started fading out of existence. “Telisolidification: the creating of solid matter using only one's mind, if only for a brief period of time. Now give me my broadswords.”

 

Ping smiled and tossed the broadswords at Pong, who caught them. He then pulled a pair of nunchucas out of a small holster he was wearing. “We've both got our weapons.” They said in perfect unison. “And we're going to win this tournament as a team!”

 

Ender raised his two swords up but suddenly stopped when a blue glow surrounded him. “And with our minds together we share the gift of telekinesis, being able to manipulate solid objects with out minds.” They both said as the blue, eye symbol appeared on their foreheads. “Now what?”

 

“Run for your lives, he's gone mad!” Yusuke screamed. He and Kuwabara both crashed into Ender. “Ow.” Ender said right before being teleported outside the maze. “What are you two running from?” Iso asked as he struggled to get up.

 

Yusuke began panting. “K… Kurama!” He said. “Kurama's gone crazy and is ranting about the… the number nine!” “Oh, is that all?” Iso asked. “Where's your creepy midget friend, Hiei?” “Kurama kicked his ass in an insane rage!” Yusuke said. “I've never seen anything like it.”

 

Two vines suddenly shot out of the ground and wrapped around Yusuke and Kuwabara. “What the hell?!” Kuwabara said. “9… four 9's… I sense four of them…” Kurama began stumbling towards them.

 

“Oh, crap.” Yusuke said. “I used up all of my spirit energy already! Who was that guy in the black outfit…?” “I don't think that really matters!” Kuwabara said. “All that matters is that after meeting him, Kurama went crazy!”

 

Kurama walked up to Yusuke and Kuwabara with a blank expression on his face. “What in the seven levels of Hell is wrong with you?!” Yusuke yelled. Kurama put his hand to his forehead. “Yusuke… there's at least four Nine-tailed Foxes at this school.” He said. “When we met that man dressed in the black robe, I realized he had a Nine-tailed Fox inside of him, just like I have a Five-tailed Kitsune. I reached out to sense if there were any other kitsune, and… they were more violent than any kitsune I've ever met. They have a hunger, and one of them was worst than all others! One of them has become the same being as the human it resides in…”

 

“I suppose you're the lesser fox that was peering into my chakra, eh?” A-Naruto said as he marched towards the group. “Consider yourself lucky that that's all you saw. I have thoughts that could drive most men mad, just ask Jango-sensei… if you can.”

 

“So you're the guy who made Kurama go crazy!” Yusuke yelled. “Make him stop being insane!” “It's not my fault.” A-Naruto said. “Kurama just wasn't ready to see the thoughts in my mind.” “It's like you're more than one person!” Kurama yelled. “I know there are at least three minds in your head! What are you?!”

 

A-Naruto suddenly began laughing. “You want to know what I am, eh?” His tongue suddenly stretched out of his mouth and licked his lips. “Let's just call me a killer, eh? I have more killers in me than most people.”

 

 

 

Kanegakure, or Village Hidden by the Metal, had just been started a year ago, and therefore was rather small. However, it did have a mediocre ninja army, and its leader was recognized as a Kage by the other villages. (Though not one of the great Kage; he wasn't experienced enough for that title.)

 

“The ninja here aren't all that great.” Kakashi said when he, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai had arrived there. “Mostly genin, and maybe a chunin or two, but it does have some of the best craftsman and blacksmiths anywhere. That is why Orochimaru must want it.”

 

Naruto put his hands behind his head and looked around at all of the small houses and shops. He even saw what must have been their Ninja Academy, but it was… not big. “There's not really much to look at.” He said calmly.

 

“There's something to smell, that's for sure.” Sakura said. “This place stinks!” Sai nodded. “The hag's right; with all of the metal-work they're doing, they work up this smell. They could try to cover it up or some—.” Sakura punched Sai. “Stop calling me `hag!'”

 

“How do we even know they're going to attack here, anyway?” Naruto asked. Kakashi held up a piece of paper and began reading. “It says, `Dear Kanegakure. How are you? We are fine. We will attack and take over your village in a full six days. Do not attempt to stop us, as you would lose many of your shinobi, who I hear have some very interesting jutsu that Lord Orochimaru might want. Signed the Hidden Sound Village.'”

 

“They must be pretty cocky to send a letter.” Sai said. “How long ago did it arrive?” “Yesterday.” Kakashi said. “But the messenger said it had taken him a day to get here, due to running into a number of bandits and highway men.”

 

“So we have four days.” Sakura said. “How do we know they'll keep their promise?” Naruto asked. “For all we know, they could arrive in a few seconds!” “That's why we need to help these people.” Kakashi said. “They're not ready for an attack like this.”

 

Naruto thought back to the size of the academy he'd just seen. Kakashi was right. “So…” Naruto asked with a grin. “When do we get started?”

 

 

 

Five days passed since Team 7 had arrived at the Hidden Metal Village. Naruto, Sai, Sakura, and Kakashi had spent the entire time training, checking the defense, and stopping occasionally to eat at a ramen stand. (Naruto commented that the ramen tasted like metal shavings, causing mild discomfort among the rest of Team 7.)

 

Finally, on day seven, a scout said he had seen a lone figure coming in fast at the village. “Orochimaru's coming alone?” Naruto asked. “I expected he'd bring Sasuke at least.” Kakashi's eyes widened (well, technically only one could be seen widening) in shock. “Naruto… how many years ago did Sasuke leave to train under Orochimaru?”

 

Naruto thought for a second. “Um… I think it was three years as of yesterday.” He said. “Why?” “Orochimaru can only take over his heir's body once every three years, Naruto. Three years ago he used it to gain a new body after Hokage the Third sealed the soul in his arms… Orochimaru did bring Sasuke… and that's how he's coming alone!”

 

“Well, well, Kakashi, aren't you clever?” A voice said from behind the leaf-nin. The group turned around to see Sasuke, dressed in the clothes Orochimaru would normally wear. His tongue stretched out of his mouth and licked his lips. “Like the new body?”

 

Naruto suddenly found himself overcome with feelings of anger, sadness, and disgust. “Of course, for some reason, there's too much of his mind still in his body.” Orochimaru said. “If I ever leave his body he may return to the surface. But I plan on squelching his presence after I squelch your's.”

 

Naruto suddenly found himself bleeding. “What?” He thought. “I can feel the fox's chakra… he's taking over!” The blood began mixing around his body as he hunched down on all fours and an aura surrounded him. He had nine-aura tails coming out of his… tail area.

 

“Oh, no.” Kakashi thought. “The full power of the Nine-tailed Fox is surfacing in him. It's causing him to bleed from every pore of his body, just like when he had trouble with his Four-tailed Form.”

 

“That's an interesting trick.” Orochimaru said. “But I'm afraid that it's useless. I have Uchiha blood running through my veins, remember? I can stop this trick before it gets out of hand.”

 

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes flashed. He tackled Orochimaru and… disappeared. “What happened to Naruto?” Sai asked. “I think we're about to find out.” Kakashi said as he pointed at Orochimaru, who was gripping his head in pain.

 

“It's called Fox-possession.” Kakashi said. “Legend says that the Kyubi can possess another human, but in doing so, that human's mind will go catatonic for at least a day.” Kakashi looked at Sai and Sakura. “We need to get out of here; now!”

 

Before they could, Orochimaru fell down to the ground, with Naruto standing behind him. Naruto was in his normal human form, although some of his hair had been dyed red. “What did I do?” Naruto thought. “I'll tell you what you did!” A voice in Naruto's head yelled. “You've ruined everything! Sasuke was my new body, but now I'm stuck in your's!”

 

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. “O-Orochimaru?” He said quietly. “Unfortunately it seems we're stuck with each other… but on the plus side, I have some company along with the other monster running rampant in your mind…”

 

Naruto fell down on the ground and gripped his head. “What's happening to me?” He said. “You took some of young Sasuke's blood when you left his body. Happened to me before I became trapped in here.” A third voice said. “That's what turned your hair red. And that's why you seem to have some new eyes.”

 

“Naruto.” Kakashi said. “Are you okay?” “No, I'm not okay. I'm stuck in here with a boy and a wolf!” “I'm a fox.” Naruto looked into a nearby puddle of water and saw his eyes had changed to match Sasuke's Sharingan eyes. When he saw this, he panicked and his eyes changed back to normal.

 

“Naruto, whatever you did seems to have gotten Orochimaru out of Sasuke's system.” Kakashi said as he walked over to Naruto. “Yes, out of Sasuke's and into your's.” Orochimaru's voice said. “We're going to take him to Konaha, but we're not sure what to do with him after that.”

 

Naruto got up. “You go to Konaha.” He said sadly. “I'm not too sure if I should go there. You saw what happened, what I did to Sasuke! He's barely breathing! I'm… leaving the village for a while. I'm sorr—.”

 

 

 

A-Naruto looked around, waiting for the flashback to end, but it didn't. “They just don't make flashbacks like they used to.” He thought. Then he noticed everyone had gone. Since his flashback had taken so long, they decided to leave if he wasn't going to do anything. A-Naruto just sighed and walked away.

 

 

 

“It's finally over!” Homer yelled as the maze cleared. “Here are your contestants for the fighting tournament!” The maze disappeared and seven familiar faces… and one guy were standing alone in the center.

 

“Are contestants, folks! Give it up!” Homer yelled. There was weak clapping from the people in the stands. “Right. Anyways, we'll shuffle the people up and choose who will fight who in the first round! Until then… everyone else has to go through the same preliminaries for whatever tournament they signed up for!” There was a loud groan.

 

 

 

Next Time: The Fast and the Delirious