//------------------------------// // No Path is Safe // Story: Undestined Friendship // by Boyzilla //------------------------------// Book 1: Magic Chapter 7: No Path is Safe A warm breeze blew across the grass fields of Silvercross Town, Naruto Uzumaki sitting criss-cross in an effort to try and think ‘Harder’. His problem? No good places around to begin the Water Walking exercise, and the solution didn’t seem to make itself known anytime soon. Seriously, how hard is it to find a sizable source of water? ‘Guess I could try looking around again,’ Naruto thought to himself, standing up and starting to walk around. It has been three hours since the training session between himself, Gohan, Korra, and Jaina. The group didn’t seem to have been going too well, specifically Jaina, whose silver eyes seemed to hide what inner emotions she held within. But Naruto knew that look, he knew it all too well. Naruto retreated to his thoughts. What kind of event had transpired to cause that? As far as he knew, Jaina had no Tailed Beast sealed within her gut. Through, now that he thought about it, he barely knew her at all. Besides the pleasant greetings first given when he, and everyone else, first entered this world, information is scarce. ‘Let’s see, Jaina said she was a Dragon Knight, whatever that is, ruled a Battle Tower, which sounds awesome, and her dream happened to be becoming the best Dragon Knight that ever lived. In a way, it’s like my dream to become Hokage, the best ninja ever. Who also rules the leaf village.’ Naruto thought, nodding to himself. ‘Talk about similarities- Hey is that Korra?’ Naruto looked ahead, spotting Korra standing there, her head lay low. Before it shot up, and she started to move in such a way it seemed like she was dancing. The grace in her movements, seemed unparalleled, Naruto was stunned beyond belief. Her arm moved forward, generating a stream of red flames into the sky. Korra then spun around, her left foot kicking into the air and releasing a spurt of fire onto an imaginary foe. She edged forward, her steps one in front of the other as her fist were raised. She started punching in a rapid motion, each time a jet of firebended flame launching outward. ‘She controls fire like it obeys her will, that’s so awesome!’ Naruto thought as he continued to watch. Korra brought her fist together, a huge wave of fire spewing forth like a huge fireball. It’s size larger than any Fireball jutsu that Naruto had even seen used. She shifted her body, trying to get in a stance unfamiliar to the ninja, before continuing her barrage of fire-based attacks. ‘Wait a second, doesn’t she control water? Maybe she can make me a water pool like Yamato!’ Naruto reasoned to himself. He ran up to the training avatar and greeted her with his trademark foxy grin. “Hey Korraahhhhh!” Naruto screamed as he hit the deck, a line of burning hot flame passing over head, “I’m not ready to be ramen myself yet! I got so much to live for!” He yelled in anguish. Korra stopped her bending, and crossed her arms, “What are you doing? I could’ve made you into toast!” Naruto, still lying down, raised his hands like a prayer, “Don’t burn me goddess of flame! I know my name means a ramen topping, but that doesn’t mean I have to become one!” The twelve year old avatar sweat dropped, “I’m not going to burn you.” Korra answered him. Naruto looked up, “Really? Great!” He stood back up in a flash, “Hey, you control water right? Can you make me a pool? I need to train my water walking technique!” “Water walking?” Korra questioned. “Yep, it’s a way of controlling my chakra to… Uh… Better levels! Quite hard, not everyone can do it.” Naruto boasted, knowing they couldn’t use chakra. “I did that when I was six, didn’t seem so hard to me.” Korra boasted back, arms resting on her hips. “Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Naruto said mouth agape, “Prove it! I need proof! Solid evidence!” He exclaimed. “If you haven’t noticed, there’s no water to walk on.” Korra said, her thumb pointing at the environment behind her. “Of course I noticed that, that’s why I asked you to make one.” Naruto replied. “Bending doesn’t exactly work like that, I don’t really want to kill the whole grassland to make a big puddle.” Korra answered the blond ninja. Naruto scratched the back of his head, “Huh, guess there’s a difference between bending and chakra… Alright then… “ He trailed off in thought. “Can’t you just summon clones to scout around for water?” Korra suggested. Naruto’s eyes widened in realization, “Well, I feel stupid,” he commented before performing a cross handsign. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Twenty clones of Naruto appeared around the original and Korra. The original Naruto raised his fist high into the air. “Alright, spread and search for clues- I mean water!” He said. “Yosh!” The Narutos cheered. The twenty clones spread out, running off in their search for a suitable training/showing off area. After a few foot tapping minutes of waiting, the original Naruto’s head shot up, and grinned. “Found one.” Naruto stated, as he felt the other clones dispel. “Great, lead the way!” Korra exclaimed, eager to prove her skills. Meanwhile, back with a half saiyan Z-fighter, Son Gohan flowed through a complicated defensive orientated kata. His body moving in a fast paced motion, nearly invisible to even a well-trained eye. A punch, a kick, elbow strike, knee block, reverse throw, uppercut, stomach hit, he performed all of them expertly and quickly. When Gohan calmed down, the ground below his feet had dirt traced lines of his movement. The Z-fighter wiped drops of sweat off his forehead as he used his sensing abilities to pinpoint one of his fellow's location. 'Strange, Jaina's energy signature is fluctuating, why is that?' Gohan thought as he began to lift himself into the air with his Ki. 'Korra and Naruto are moving, possibly just talking and training a bit. Sure am glad sensing is not just limited to Ki energy.' The half saiyan hybrid Ki aura flared around him as he flew toward Jaina's life signature. Flying over the buildings of Silvercross Town, Gohan's eyes scouted over the constructs for any sign of trouble. He spotted the young armored girl sitting on the roof of a tall tower, and landed next to her, kneeling to her level. "Hey, I sensed your energy fluctuate, everything alright?” Gohan said. “Not really…” Jaina muttered under her breath. “Huh?” “Yes, everything is fine. Now go away, else I’ll make you.” Jaina threatened the half saiyan martial artist. Gohan raised his hands in alarm, “Whoa, whoa, take it easy. I said before that we’re all in this together. Not that difficult to comprehend that ideology.” She tilted her head slightly in his direction, her eyes glaring at him, “You would not understand, you’ve probably been surrounded with companions throughout your livelihood," Jaina stated. Gohan scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face, “You got me, but that doesn’t explain why you’re so against it.” Jaina groaned in irritation, “If I tell you, will you leave me in peace?” She questioned. Gohan nodded, but also sensed Naruto eavesdropping nearby, ‘Then again, it could be one of his clones as well.’ Gohan thought to himself, looking toward Jaina as he listened in. “Many moons prior to our arrival in this world, I after finally completing my training from childhood and up, I was fully initiated into the Dragon Slayer order in Farglow. My commander and friends congratulated me upon my ascendance into the elite ranks and we were about to head back home when a dragon was spotted.” Jaina said. Gohan nodded, “Go on…” He said with interest. “Heading toward Broken Valley, my commander ordered me to stay within the safety of the town while they head off and chased after the last Dragon Knight. However I was rash, and ready to slay a dragon. And being the last of its kind, this was the last opportunity for some glory and fame.” Jaina sighed, her fingers massaging her temples. “How foolish, how idiotic I used to be.” She stated. Gohan spoke up, “How old were you during this?” “Eighteen, I’m currently nineteen… Well… I will be nineteen once we find the remaining Elements.” Jaina answered him. “Alright, what else to your story?” Jaina took a deep breath, “On my way to find my fellow slayers, I met up with her. The last Dragon Knight, Talana, within my view, only a few meters away from me. I walked up to her, ready to deal the killing blow, for she had been injured due to a slayer’s enchanted great sword.” Jaina sighed again, her shoulders slumping, “Before she succumbed to her wounds, she began to talk. Suddenly without warning, my mind was taken over by her draconic prowess in an instant. Talana slammed her dragon magic into me, changing my very being, forcing to become and take the responsibilities as the newest, and last, Dragon Knight.” Jaina’s expression went into that of slight anger, before she calmed, reminding herself of something that Gohan did not know. She then continued the last bits of her story. “A few hours later, I met up with my commander and friends at the entrance of the Maxos Temple. Where they immediately picked up the draconic magic now coursing through my veins. They instantly branded me a traitor despite my efforts to reason, and even through my commander left the field. My friends sought to kill me.” Jaina said. “How did you get away?” Gohan questioned. “The only way I knew how, I killed them first.” The hybrid’s eyes widened, clearly shocked at the turn of events. ‘She killed her friends? She wanted help from them, and they instead try to kill her? What kind of friends are those!’’ “Now leave me alone,” Jaina said to him as she shifted her body away from him, going back to watching the clouds above. Gohan stood up, and used his Ki to slowly fly away from Jaina, ‘No wonder you don’t want our companionship, you don’t want to be betrayed once again. Well, Jaina, I’m sure we can get to you eventually.’ As the hybrid saiyan flew away, his eyes pinpointed Naruto’s clone leaning against the roof, having eavesdropped. ‘Especially Naruto, he’s so much like my dad that I’m sure he can get to you.’ Gohan closed his eyes, remembering his father’s face. ‘Dad, you always know what to say. If you’re watching, guide us in helping us gain Jaina’s friendship.” Landing around a small stall containing an wide array of food, Gohan grasped a bag of money he had earned earlier when helping repair some of the city walls. He had done this after training in both the goodness of his heart, and a way to get something to eat. He now spent the whole bag of bits in getting said food. They’ll have to ration it, but today they were going to journey toward the Fairy Capital. Where not only will they find more information, but possibly find a lead on discovering more of the Elements’ locations. Being twelve years old again, while an interesting prospect, got old really fast. Remembering back when they were within the cave, Gohan recalled that there were six Elements in total. They knew that one meant Kindness, but he couldn’t recall what the others represented. Each Element aged them closer to their original selves, as well as returned all their combat experience, training, and abilities to them which each Element. Considering each one of them had unique energies of their own, their little team could prove quite formidable against the Darkness in future encounters. But first, they had to get to the Capital. “Time to move, better get Naruto and Korra ready first,” Gohan said as he flew toward their direction. The Avatar, Korra, cracked her knuckles in preparation to show how she can walk on water to Naruto. Which kind of sounded a bit bizarre now that she thought about it… Nah! “I’m going to prove it, right here, right now.” Korra boasted, facing the orange-clad ninja. “You can’t do it! There’s no way!” Naruto exclaimed, inwardly hoping that she couldn’t. ‘Just sit there, you’ll see,’ Korra said as she walked to the lake. Approaching the edge of the lake’s H2O, Avatar Korra placed her right foot over the water’s surface area. Instantly, her waterbending abilities guided the water’s properties into a increased density, yet maintaining its liquefied form, allowing the twelve year old girl to walk on top of the lake as if it was solid ground. “How the hell are you doing that!?” Naruto shouted with a shocked expression. “Waterbending,” Korra explained as if it was a everyday thing. “That doesn’t explain anything at all!” Naruto retorted. “Well… Um… Hm…” Korra said as she tried to think of ways to explain it. “My… Chi… Um… Huh…” “Well? I need a explanation,” Naruto said, crossing his arms. “Then show me how you walk on water Mr. Ninja!” Korra exclaimed to him. “Fine then, I will!” Naruto said as he rushed toward the lake, running up to the water walking Korra. Naruto decided to jump on to the deep parts where Korra now stood, “Chakra Water Walking, hiyaaaah!” And then falls neck deep into the water. Korra bent over, facing the floating head that was Naruto, “Water walking hmm?” “Shut up,” Naruto merely commented. “I’m partially water walking…” He trailed off. Korra raised an eyebrow, “Yeah… I see that… Well, if you need me, I’ll be in the middle of the lake.” Korra started walking away from the ninja, who immediately called out to her, “Wait! Don’t go! Help me out of here first- Ahh!” *SPLASH!* Korra quickly shifted her foot and left arm toward the area where Naruto had sunk in the water. Remarkably, the surface water froze into its solid form of ice within seconds of her movements. The shinobi swimming back up then using the ice as a form of life raft, before climbing on top. “Oh sheesh, I think the ice made everything colder!” Naruto yelled as his body shivered. The Avatar then said, “I can always make a fire-” “No, no, no! I’m good! Totally good! Not cold at all! I’m fit for duty, ma’am!” Naruto quickly interrupted as he stood up, squeezing the water out of his clothes, a small grin on his face. “Okay, so… You were going to practice your version of water walking, correct?” Korra questioned. Naruto nodded, “Yeah, couple clones here and there, then I’ll have it down pat in no time.” A handsign forming as fifty clones popping into existence. Half of those clones fell into the water, having no where to stand. The original Naruto face palmed himself. “Do you want a bigger ice field?” Korra questioned. “That’d be great,” All the Narutos said in unison. Korra swiped both arms forward, her previously created ice field extending another few meters for Naruto to clone himself once more. “Alright, since you’re all me, you know what to do!” The original Naruto proclaimed. “Do what?” “Huh?” “No clue,” “What an idiot,” “I don’t know, what does he mean?” The original’s eyebrow twitched, “Sometimes… I truly do wonder if you’re really my clones.” Korra giggled, her hand reaching to cover her mouth to stop incoming laughter. Naruto took a deep breath, before screaming loudly, “Stop joking around and practice water walking already!” The Naruto clones saluted their creator, “Right away boss!” The bender of the four elements, Korra, put a hand to her head, “I don’t think I can handle so many clones of me…” Naruto nodded, “I don’t even know how I manage at times.” He said as he watched his clones fail multiple times, puffs of white chakra smoke surrounding both himself and Korra as they trained in his chakra control. The ninja of Konoha created more clones of himself as the others dissipated due to failure, before he also went and practiced. Approximately half an hour later, Naruto stood bent over breathing heavily. His clones had dispelled, and the ice melted, yet the ninja stood on top of the water expertly. Despite having slight chakra exhaustion from spending so much on excessive clone amounts. Avatar Korra whistled in awe, “So, many, Narutos.” “I’ll say…” The voice of a fellow said, floating down and landing, a brown fuzzy tail waving in the wind. “Gohan!” Korra exclaimed in surprise. “Hi,” Gohan waved at her, “How’s it going?” “Great, just helped Naruto in his training after finishing some of my own,” Korra replied to the hybrid saiyan. “That’s great news,” Gohan said, “But I think it’s about time we get going,” Naruto stood up, “Where to?” He asked. “Fairy Capital, its about time we head off from Silvercross.” “Sounds great!” Naruto grinned. Korra crossed her arms, a smile on her face, “Sure thing, it was getting a bit boring around here anyway.” “Fantastic, can you get our supplies from the hotel while I go inform Jaina?” Gohan questioned. “Sure thing, I’ll get it.” Korra volunteered, she turned to Naruto and said, “You rest up, we’ll meet at the town gate.” Twenty minutes later, at the town outskirts, four humans traveled further and further from the safety of Silvercross. The Dragon Knight, Jaina Draconis, followed her companions’ lead as they trekked along the road toward the Capital of the Fairies. As she watched absently the clouds overhead pass by, she remniscanted the smell of fresh air, and the clear blue skies. A small breeze passed through, the feeling of the air flowing through her armor and gently touching her skin. Her hand clenched itself, Jaina’s eyes narrowing in slight anger, ‘Curse you Damian.’ Looking back down from the skies above, Jaina glanced toward grassy fields, trees decorating the plains, giving it a perfected view of nature as the natural wildlife grazed on plant life. Her hand came upward toward her backside, gripping the handle of her blade. ‘My skill in duel-wielding has suffered greatly, I’ll have to relearn the movements before relying on using both my blades.’ She mentally sighed, ‘For now, I’ll use single-bladed forms and strikes.’ A feeling swelled in Jaina’s gut, causing her head to snap up in attention, looking around frantically for any sign of trouble, an enemy, trap, something! ‘This feeling, it has always informed me of danger beforehand.’ Jaina thought to herself. Continuing their path downward for hours on end, the sun had just settled over the horizon, allowing the moon to come up from the other side, however the sky appeared filled with clouds, blocking the moonlight and starlit view of the night sky. Jaina stretched, easing some of the uncomfortableness that had made itself known after hours of residing in her armor. She watched as Gohan turned around, stopping the group from continuing their journey. “How about we stop here?” Gohan suggested. Korra collapsed on the ground, sitting upright, “Finally… My feet are killing me!” Naruto also sat down, “So much walking…” Jaina walked ahead, passing by Gohan as her eyes scouted the terrain around them. Nothing seemed amiss, despite the feeling she had earlier beforehand. Her body constantly reminded her that it hurt, and it wanted to rest. But Jaina’s determination to try and find wha- “There!” Jaina yelled out loud, shocking her companions as her palm opened up in front of her and a ball of magical flame shot forward. The fireball sped across the grassland before it impacted against the trunk of an unlucky tree, causing it’s bark to explode outward. A shadowy figure stepped out of the way, it appeared as tall as Gohan, a dark magenta cloak covering its form prevented most of his figure from being seen, however two horns came out of the hood, and two hooves stepped outward as it closed in on the group. A rough, gruff voice spoke outward, holding a sinister yet amused tone, “Your instincts served you well, human. However you don’t necessarily hold the experience to match them.” Naruto and Korra jumped to their feet as they walked up to Gohan’s side, Jaina however, stood in front of them all. Her hand gripping the handle of her right blade, eyes glaring at the enemy before her. “Such hostility,” The cloaked figure stated, before two royal blue fur-covered hands revealed themselves and pulled back his hood. This revealed the face of a minotaur, multiple scars decorating its face from every angle made his skin look broken and stitched together just barely. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am called by those of my prey, the purple scarred demon.” Naruto commented on this, “Does this mean he has purple-colored scars?” “No,” The Purple Scarred Demon answered, “But you won’t live long enough to figure out why.” The minotaur’s hands reached into his cloak, before pulling out two identically looking battle-axes, decorated with the appearance of serrated teeth along the backside, yet holding the look of black steel, a royal blue handle matching his fur color. Jaina drew her blade, her right hand gripping it tightly at her side. “Goodbye, humans.” The enemy stated, before charging forward with unbelievable speed. Jaina barely registered it as she hastily brought her blade up in defense, the sound of colliding steel echoing throughout the grasslands before her eyes darted to the second incoming axe. Her feet moved as it glided right past her left arm. Jaina reflexively used her whirlwind ability, her magic fueling its power as she spun around quickly, the air picking up around Jaina as the Dragon Knight brought her enchanted blade toward the minotaur’s body. But the self-proclaimed Purple Scarred Demon reverse gripped his left battle axe, and used it to grab Jaina’s blade and fling it from her grasp. “Damn it!” Jaina swore as she rolled from a strike just narrowly, her feet skidding along the ground and tearing the grass from the dirt below. Her free left hand grasping the handle of the second blade, unsheathing it quickly as she leapt toward the minotaur. Jaina’s eyes caught the speeding right-hand battle axe coming toward her, and she gripped her sword with both hands, bringing it toward the right side of her face and effectively blocking the blow. Pain erupted from Jaina’s left leg as the Purple Scarred Demon’s battle axe embedded itself within the metal plates, brute force impacting harshly against the nearly indestructible armor, causing it disrupt her balance and bruise her left leg. This action against her allowed the minotaur to free its right battle axe from her sword’s parry, and come down toward her vulnerable head. However, a chakra enhanced kunai blocked the strike just barely, before she felt herself being pulled away from combat by a orange-clad ninja’s free hand as he held onto the kunai. The battle axes begin glowing a sinister purplish color, as the minotaur crossed them over the front of his cloak covered chest. He then slashed them in a X pattern, two lines of magic shooting outward. Naruto Uzumaki felt the earth beneath him shift greatly, before being thrust to the side by the earth coming outward and pushing him out of the way. The bended earth was then decimated into four pieces as the Purple Scarred Demon’s attack sliced right through them. Avatar Korra, having successfully saved Naruto from being cut to pieces, thrust her arms forward as flame came forth. The minotaur dodged it easily, and charged toward the young bender only to parry the longsword belonging to Gohan. The half saiyan Z-fighter sliced at him, but the minotaur blocked the strike by angling his left battle axe so the blade would be caught between the serrated edges. Gohan didn’t have a fast enough reaction time, and so his weapon got caught just as anticipated. The Z-fighter abandoned his blade and reinforced his arms with Ki energy quickly. Throwing the blade to the side, the Purple Scarred Demon brought one of his legged hooves and kicked the center mass of Gohan before he could react. Gohan stumbled back, but opened his palms to reveal a blue Ki blast. The minotaur’s eyes widened in surprise, but quickly calmed down and spun his left battle axe in front of him as the Ki blast came forth toward him. The Ki blast dissipated easily, much to our hybrid saiyan’s shock. A aura of powerful blue energy burst around Gohan, the half saiyan’s speed improving greatly as he shot his fist forward toward the minotaur, only for it to go right through the cloak which the enemy wore. “Who are you?!” Gohan yelled as he dodged the incoming blow of the foe’s weapon. “Already told you,” He replied as he swiped at Gohan with his axe once. Gohan tilted back, the battle axe passing through the air, he slammed a kick into the minotaur's side. Prompting the Purple Scarred Demon to back off, weapons raised on both side as the single-edged battle axes faced Gohan’s direction. “Are you part of the darkness’s forces?” Gohan questioned while in his fighting stance. “Is it that obvious? Did the ominous cloak give it away?” The Purple Scarred Demon replied. Korra went to Gohan’s side, shouting at the minotaur, “Why are you attacking us?!” “Orders, personal pleasure, fame, whatever, pick your reason.” “How about, Rasengan!” The minotaur sidestepped to the right, causing Naruto Uzumaki to fall forward and cause his completed Rasengan technique to drill into the ground, creating a crater. The dark enemy slashed his blade right through Naruto’s back, only for him to dissipate in white chakra smoke. The Purple Scarred Demon turned swiftly to deflect a few shuriken thrown his way before his weapons glowed once more. With great strength, he leapt high into the air, before coming down straight down toward both Naruto and a now recovered Jaina. The two human pre-teens dodged out of the way as he landed, creating a crater with his strength and his weapons impacting against the ground. This caused a small quake which brought Naruto and Jaina out of balance. The minotaur spun one-eighty degrees, ready to slice Naruto in two. “Naruto!” Jaina screamed out as she ran toward him. “Die, human!” The minotaur screamed as it slashed its left battle axe at the ninja. Naruto’s eyes widened, but soon, an expression of shock appeared. Jaina had stepped in front of him.