//------------------------------// // Dimensional Tales: A Nostalgic Return and Fighting the Prophecy Pt 1 // Story: Adventures of the Equestrian Ninja // by hussbek //------------------------------// ADVENTURES OF THE EQUESTRIAN NINJA Chapter 21: Dimensional Tales: A Nostalgic Return and Fighting the Prophecy Pt. 1 *Thump, thump, thump,* that is a sound which one would hear whenever they pass by Sweet Apple Acres which means that a member of the Apple family is hard at work bucking apples from the trees in order to sell or use them to make cider. Inside the orchard, Applejack was standing with her brother Big Mac with a look of concern on her face as they listening to the thumping of the trees as they were bucked for the apples to drop in the buckets laid near them. "He's been like this for a while now, hasn't he?" asked Applejack. "Eeeyup," Big Mac responded, they were watching their good friend Naruto buck the apple trees with no problem, but the issue is how he was doing it. Despite bucking the trees for the apples to drop, Naruto had an absentminded look on his face which is quite unusual for someone like him. Then Applejack decided to call out to him "Okay Naruto, that's enough for today!" Naruto stopped and gave a nod affirmation "Gotcha AJ!" he walked over to them, Applejack was silent for a moment before finally speaking up. "Naruto, Is there something bothering you?" Naruto looked surprised for a moment before replying "No, nothing that I know of. Why do you ask?" "Well you've been looking kind of lost in your thoughts, and you've been like that for the past three days. I and the others are a little bit worried about you," "Sorry if I worried you, if there's anything I need your help with, I'll let you guys know," Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Sure thing Naruto, I'll see ya later," Naruto waved goodbye to the two ponies and made his way back home. Trixie had gone to Canterlot to get a new spell book while Scootaloo was hanging out with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, which made him the only one in the house. He walked to his bedroom, taking off his headband, goggles and medallion and putting them on the cabinet before laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. "I know I told AJ that there's nothing bothering me, but I keep getting this feeling of foreboding that something is bad is about to happen and I should be there. I had this feeling when Nightmare Moon made her return and now I'm feeling it again," Naruto mused to himself, suddenly the medallion started to glow and an orb floated out of it much to his surprise "I didn't command the medallion to release anything….unless it's," the orb floated over to him and turned into a white scroll. "I think Kami-sama has a mission for me in another world, I'd better get ready and head over to Dr. Whooves to transport me," Naruto resealed the scroll and quickly geared up, then he wrote a note to Trixie and Scootaloo and pasted it on the front door . He galloped over to Dr. Whooves house and knocked on the door. Dr. Whooves opened and smiled upon seeing who it was "Ah Naruto, it's good to see you again. I guess you're being here must mean that Kami has given you a mission right?" "That's right Doc, and I need your help to get to the next world. Is the TARDIS ready to go?" asked Naruto. "Of course, just let me input the coordinates from the scroll into the TARDIS and we'll be on our way," Naruto unsealed the scroll and handed it over to the doctor. Then they entered the machine and were soon travelling through the void to their next location. "So what information do we have for this world that we're going and what is the threat?" asked Naruto as he was looking over his current gear and crystals in the pouch. Dr. Whooves reopened the scroll and started to read through it and then had a quirked eyebrow "Strange, it doesn't say anything about this world," "Really, that's weird," "What it does say is that many years ago, a man used the power of a demon called Moryo to try and conquer an entire continent by raising an invulnerable army. This army went from one country to another, devastating everything in its path and putting the whole world on the brink of destruction. Then a priestess appeared and used a powerful ritual to separate Moryo's soul from his body and sealed them far away from each other," "And now someone has gone and set a part of Moryo free right?" asked Naruto. "That's right, somepony has gone and freed Moryo's soul and raised the ghost army again, and plans to reunite it with his physical body. And if that comes to past, then nothing will be able to stop him," said Dr. Whooves. "So what is my mission?" "Your mission is to escort the descendant of the priest to the shrine where the body is sealed, and seal Moryo's soul away again. But you must be vigilant as Moryo will be sure to send his forces to kill the priestess in order to prevent being sealed away," Naruto gave a nod of affirmation "Alright, so who's the hero that I'll be helping out?" "It doesn't say in the scroll either, but it says that sometimes a world would change your body into a form suitable to move around in it," Dr. Whooves turned to look at the controls "Looks like we're almost there, so be ready," In a deep forest where a stream flows nearby, the TARDIS appears in bright flash of light before settling on the ground with a slight bump. The doors opens and Naruto steps out to look around, he suddenly feels his magic power being cut off but feels his connection with Kosei no Ha and his chakra. He began to glow brightly and felt different, Naruto looked at himself and was surprised to see that he actually stood on two feet and had fingers again. He ran over to the stream to look at himself, he was wearing his hoodie jacket which was black and orange with a red spiral on the back with orange pants and black ninja sandals. He also wore his medallion and goggles around his neck and his headband around his forehead, the Kosei no Ha materialized and stuck to his back while glowing a bit. "Why am I a human again and why does this place feel so familiar like I've been here before?" Naruto thought deeply before coming upon a conclusion that shocked even himself "Could it be that I'm back in the elemental nations?!" Then Dr. Whooves stepped out and called out to him "You'd better get going Naruto, the scroll says that you should head east which is where the priest could be located," "Got it!" Naruto then took to the trees and headed in that direction as fast as he could in hopes that he makes it soon before anything bad happens. A group of four in white attires stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking a castle with evil smiles on their faces. "Come on brother, let's get this show on the road!" said the one white hair and a cloth covering his mouth. "All in good time," said the one with violet hair, then three black snakes came out of his body and inserted themselves into the others, then purple chakra burst out of them as their eyes changed to pitch black, hair became wilder and markings appeared on their faces "We now have the chakra strings as promised," "Now let's get down there and get busy!" said the white haired man, hey all leapt into the air towards the castle. "Alert! Alert! Four intruders have invaded the castle, protect Lady Shion at all costs!" shouted one of the guards. A squad readied their bows and let loose a hail of arrows at the intruders. One of them moved forward and started spinning like a propeller, breaking the arrows while the other took out shurikens, kunais and other tools to return fire before smashing through the roof as they proceeded to make their way to where the priestess slept all the while taking down any guards that tried to stand in their path. Another squad were making their way the priestess's sleeping chambers as fast as they could until they finally made it to the entrance of their destination, they opened the door and ran inside "Lady Shion we have intruders! We have to flee!" but then the roof came down and crushed the guards with only two to get out of the way. Then from the cloud of dust, the white haired burst out and punched one of the towards the priestess's bed, knocking off the screen and started toying with the other guard who tried to fight back before knocking him to the ground while laughing maniacally all the way "Hahahahaha, so there you are!" the rest of the group appeared and immediately threw shuriken at the priestess, but the first guard moved in to intercept and took the hit. "Taruho…take care of…Lady…Shion," the guard fell to the floor and laid there unmoving and the priestess sat there with a blank look on her face. The newly named Taruho grabbed his sword and stood in their way to protect her. "Pretty little priestess, your life is ours now," said the purple haired man as they slowly approached. "I don't think so!" a figure flew through the entrance and jumped over their heads and landed before them. It was a male ninja dressed in orange and black with a sea blue broadsword with an outward motif for the guard and in the center is a white swirling energy attached to his back but without a sheath or harness, they couldn't see his face since his hood was put up "None of you guys are going anywhere near her!" "Who is this guy and why did he just charge in like that? Could he be as strong as we are?" asked the orange haired girl. "Could be, or maybe he's just an idiot," said the blue haired man. The unknown ninja turned his head towards and spoke "You get her out of here while I deal with these guys," Taruho nodded in affirmation, he ran over to the priestess and carried her away before passing through a secret passing which Naruto quickly moved in to block "None of you are getting past here," "Are you kidding me, how are you supposed to stop us by yourself huh?" laughed the white hair man with the rest of the group joining in. "You guys will soon learn that it's never a good idea to underestimate Naruto Uzumaki! Let's take this fight outside!" four chakra arms shot from his back and each raced towards a selected target, and punched them in the face with enough force to send them smashing through the ceiling and out into the courtyard. "That guy certainly knows how to prove a point, he's better than we thought," said the violet haired man, they got up and looked to Naruto jump out from the castle towards them, then he crossed the index and middle finger of each together and called out. "Multi-Shadow Clone jutsu!" In a large puff of smoke, many copies of Naruto appeared and surrounded the group in a fighting stance. "Gitai, Setsuna, Shizuku! Bust out an earth, fire and wind combo!" said the violet haired man as he jumped back for the whited hair man known to be Gitai step forward "With pleasure! Earth style: Earthen Corridor!" Gitai slammed his large fists on the ground which began to shake as it started to rise over Naruto and his clones, creating a cavern. "Darn, we gotta get out of here!" they spotted an opening and made a dash for it. The orange haired girl known as Shizuku made her move "Fire style: Fire Run!" she spun around a few times to form a circle of flame before kicking towards the opening. Naruto saw the incoming attacking and jumped through the circle to avoid the flames. "What was that supposed to do?" said Naruto as he and the clones kept on running for the exit. Then the blue haired man known as Setsuna followed up with his next move "Wind style: Divine Down Current!" he blasted a vortex of wind into the makeshift cavern. Naruto's eyes widened upon seeing the incoming wind and turned around to see the flames still present if those two elements mix together!" Naruto raised his left hand which had a bracelet with a bracelet with a white crystal that has a symbol drawn on it attached "Protect!" a transparent dome appeared around him and shielded against the blazing inferno although the clones were forced to disappear due to the flames "I gotta get out of this makeshift oven!" then he heard a girl shout above him with a voice that was all too familiar to him. "Chaaaaaaa!" he felt the top of the cavern break open and quickly jumped out to see someone whom he had thought he would never meet again. She wore a sleeveless red top with a zipper in the middle, accompanying it are black gloves, low-heel, knee high boots, black shorts underneath a short grey apron skirt, and pink elbow protectors. He also noticed that she changed the cloth of her headband pink and is carrying a pouch different from the normal one. "Sakura," Naruto whispered softly so that she wouldn't hear him, she turned around and spoke to him. "I don't know who you are but you look like you could the help, Lee and I will help you fight these guys," said Sakura. "Bushy Brows?!" thought Naruto, he turned to see someone engaging the group. He has his black hair in a bowl-cut style with very thick eyebrows and wears a green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers and a flak jacket of the Hidden Leaf village "Dude hasn't changed since then huh," Naruto gave a silent nod before jumping in to assist his old friends. "Chakra Bullet: Rapid Fire!" Naruto aimed his palm forward and a rune appeared before releasing a barrage of small white orbs at the group, forcing them to jump back in order to avoid the attack, He moved in to engage Setsuna in an exchange of kicks and punches Lee dashed forward and launched himself at Shizuku "Leaf Hurricane!" he aimed a high kick which was evade and quickly switched to a low kick that connected successfully, knocking her back. Gitai charged at Naruto with a fist raised to strike "Take this you twerp!" Naruto kicked Setsuna away and turned around to charge at him with a fist covered in chakra. They both clashed with either trying to overpower the other for dominance "Looks like that's all you got?!" Naruto smirked underneath the hood "On the contrary," he pulled his fist back with the chakra arm holding back Gitai's fist in place and punched again, driving his fist into Gitai's gut and sent him skidding backwards "There's more where that came from," he was about to attack again when they got up and took off. "Hold it!" shouted Sakura as they pursued them. "Hey bros, I'm gonna need some more chakra to deal with that twerp!" said Gitai. "He's right, we wasted too much on that combo," said Shizuku. "Alright, let's find Kusuna," said Setsuna, they leapt to the rooftops of the castle and saw the violet haired man known as Kusuna "Brother, we need more chakra!" but they immediately jumped off the roof just as white orbs impacted with the roof before Naruto and the others landed on it. We have to retreat, there's no way they'll give us the chance to replenish," said Kusuna, then they leapt over the waterfall and ran away. Naruto, Sakura and Lee jumped to the bottom of the waterfall where he saw the priestess, Taruho and another familiar face "Neji," he now wears a white kimono-shirt with long, loose sleeves, matching pants, a navy-grey apron tied to his waist, and black Shinobi sandals. "I'd like to thank you all for protecting lady Shion," said Taruho, then he turned to Naruto "Especially you," Naruto simply gave a silent nod as he was feeling nervous around the others "I'll take lady Shion back to her sleeping quarters and we shall meet in the throne room," then Taruho carried the priestess away, leaving the rest behind. Neji stared at the stranger "I'm grateful that you helped to protect the priestess, but we'd like to know who you are," Naruto was silent for a moment before finally speaking "It has been a long time since we last saw each other," he took off his hood to reveal his face, much to the shock of the others before they started glaring at him angrily. "I don't know who you are, but you better drop the disguise before I break your face in," Sakura cracked her knuckles as Neji and Lee took fighting stance. "Guys wait, it's really me Naruto!" "The Naruto we know is dead, and we buried his body back in the Hidden Leaf village," said Neji coldly. "We won't let you desecrate the death of our friend!" said Lee. "Then how can I prove that it's really me?" asked Naruto. Sakura was silent before finally speaking "What was the last thing Naruto told me before he died?" "I promised that I would bring Sasuke back no matter what," their eyes widened as no one aside her and the assigned team heard those words. "N-Naruto? Is that r-really you?" Naruto nodded in affirmation "But how?" "When I was stabbed by Sasuke's chidori and died, I met Kami who gave me a chance to be reborn in another world so that I can live a new life," "If so then why are you here instead of being in the new world?" asked Neji. "Since it's you guys I can tell you. Kami-sama requested my help to travel to different worlds and stop evil forces alongside the people of those worlds," "Then that means you're here to help the priestess seal Moryo away," said Neji with Naruto nodding in affirmation. Let's head to the throne room since we're supposed to meet the priestess," Naruto walked into the castle with the others close although Sakura looked deep in thought. Later, the group sat down with the priestess who was now wearing a lavender kimono with her hair kept tied back with a golden crown. "Behold Shion, the priestess of the land of Ogres," said Taruho. "I am Neji Hyuuga my lady, captain of the Leaf's team seven," said Neji. "I am Rock Lee," said Lee with a salute. "Hi Sakura Haruno," said Sakura with a smile. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you," said Naruto with a grin. "We've come to escort lady Shion to the sealing shrine," said Neji. "A lot of lives were lost in the assault last night. And just as lady Shion foretold, Suski was among that number," said Taruho. Shion simply looked like she didn't care "Humph naturally, but as you can see that I still breathe. I'm sure they shoulder no regret," Naruto gritted his teeth in anger as he remembered the bodies that laid dead when he arrived to help, and that she simply shrugged off their deaths like it was nothing "How could you say something like that?! You should show respect to the people who died for you!" When Shion looked at Naruto, her glazed over for a moment before coming back into focus. Then she stood up and walked over to him "You're going to die…very soon," "Could you repeat that? I don't think I heard it clearly the first time," "You're going to be pierced through the chest and die soon," Upon hearing her words Naruto looked surprised while Sakura and the rest were horrified, someone whom they had just reunited with has just been told that he was going to die again. "So that's what I heard and all I can say is…NO WAY! I already died before and I have no intentions of dying again!" said Naruto before walking away in a huff, this brought confusion to Shion and Taruho with what he had just said. "Wait, you mean he died some time ago?" asked Shion, Sakura and the others simply gave a silent nod. "Yes, a few years ago, he and I were assigned to a team to retrieve a member of the Hidden Leaf village. We encountered enemy ninjas and split up to face each with Naruto being the last to continue the pursuit. But by the time we found him, he laid on the ground with hole in his chest and Sasuke was unconscious nearby," said Neji. "Then how did he come back?" "From what he said, he was reborn in another world and was given a mission to help you seal Moryo away. This was the first time that we met again," they were all silent Neji and the others excused themselves and Taruho escorted them to one of the rooms where they found Naruto leaning back against the wall. "How did I get stuck protecting someone like her?" Naruto grumbled. "Please forgive her, lady Shion often sees visions of people's deaths. But please, you shouldn't let it worry you," said Taruho. Hearing this, Naruto relaxed a bit "Oh so that means she doesn't get it right all the time right?" "Actually no, she's always right a hundred percent most of the time," "Then why did you just tell me not to worry about it?!" said Naruto with a tick mark on his forehead. "Because worrying wouldn't change anything," "Well then let me tell you something, there's no way I'm gonna let any prophecy decide whether I live or not!" the others simply smiled as this is Naruto they're talking about, he's too stubborn to accept things as they are. "Very well then, I'll go and gather the guards so that we can escort lady Shion to the sealing shrine," Taruho got up and left the room and Neji went after to try and change his mind. Naruto turned to the others and asked "So what has happened since I was gone from the Hidden Leaf village?" "When everyone heard of your death, we were all sad about it. Lady Tsunade kept crying about how the Hokage necklace claimed another loved one, master Jiraiya fell into a depression and Kakashi-sensei visited your grave and Hokage monument more often now," said Sakura sadly, Naruto felt guilty since he promised her that he wouldn't die until he became Hokage. "What about Sasuke?" "Ever since then, Sasuke had changed. He became more withdrawn and won't let anyone get close to him, ANBU keeps watch over him to make sure that he doesn't leave the village again and Tsunade decreed that he would never be promoted to Chuunin or Jounin," "What about Gaara?" asked Naruto, he wanted to know how his friend has been doing since then. "Gaara became the Kazekage of the village, but then he got captured by two members of the Akatsuki. We immediately went to his aid with one of the elders of the Hidden Sand village by the name lady Chiyo. But by the time we got there, Gaara was dead. Sakura and lady Chiyo defeated one of the members while the other performed a kamikaze attack when we were about to defeat him. Lady Chiyo then used a jutsu which brought Gaara back to life, but she ended up offering hers in exchange," said Lee. Naruto clenched his fist in anger "Damn that Akatsuki, at least Gaara came back and Kurama is in the Makai world, so I doubt they'll succeed in whatever plans that they have for the bijuu," thought Naruto, then the door opened to reveal Neji with a look of annoyance. "This is ridiculous, Taruho insists on taking more of their forces with us. We're to wait until preparations are complete," said Neji. "We don't have that kind of time, we have to get Shion to the shrine before Moryo does," said Naruto. "Then let us be off," they turned to the voice and saw Shion but she was wearing a different clothing. She wore a bra-like white top, with a mustard yellow jacket which looks a little big for her and red pants. "Are you sure that you wish to leave without Taruho?" asked Neji. "I am the priestess of this land, if I want to leave my attendants behind I will," said Shion, she led them back to the waterfall which she says is where she purifies herself and it also has an escape route. They passed through the waterfall and began their journey to the shrine to seal the spirit of Moryo away.