All Naruto knew was pain. Every single cell in his entire body was screaming at him. Unending agony, the likes he which he had never experienced before. If his eyes were opened, all he could see was white. Immeasurably bright, pure, painful white. If his eyes were closed, all he could then see was black. Filthy, burning, hated black.
He tried to scream, but found himself unable to. It seemed that where ever he was, there was no air. Had he the presence of mind, he would have wondered how even being alive was possible. Writhing in his torture, Naruto reached out feebly, trying to touch something, anything to ease his suffering.
For what seemed like hours, he reached out, unable to cry, unable to keep his eyes open; unable to keep them closed, unable to do anything. He didn't know how long he reached, but eventually something grabbed onto his hand with a suction like grip. His hand flailed around, desperately trying to drag himself towards it. Whatever it was, it felt cool, like a waterbed mattress only a thousand times softer.
His hand seemed to fall through it as he shifted and as it did so, sweet relief came to the limb. That single fact pierced his consciousness like a bucket of ice and with a mammoth effort, Naruto reached out with his other hand and let himself be pulled through. Peaceful respite flooded his body as he was pulled free from the world of pain, flopping to the ground outside with a solid thump. The last thing Naruto saw before he passed out was a number of odd looking trees surrounding him and a strong feeling of natural energy. His eyes closed and just as darkness claimed him, a strange voice called out in the distance.
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"Natsu! Quit stalling already! I wanna get home and have a bath."
"Nah, hold on a second, I smell something funny that way."
"But what about Macao? We really should get him home to rest."
"He'll be alright. Come on, let's go check this out! Happy! Go on ahead would ya?"
"Aye, sir!"
Voices carried through the forest easily in the afternoon light as three curiously dressed individuals veered off the road and began following the nose of the boy who had been identified as Natsu. A larger man was leaning heavily on his shoulder, looking like he had just come out of a rather brutal fight. He didn't look too much like he wanted to take this unnecessary detour either, but didn't really have a choice as he was dragged along energetically. Rounding out the three was a rather pretty young blond girl, the type you'd expect to see in a fashion magazine and not trekking through the mountains covered in dirt. She had a pout on her face as she stomped along after her companions, trying her best to convey her displeasure through physical means. She failed spectacularly.
"Natsu, Natsu! There's something weird just over that hill!"
Looking up, Natsu was greeted by a long time friend floating in the air. A small blue cat with white fluffy wings protruding from its shoulders hovered just above them, pointing energetically over towards the anomaly.
"Hurry up! You might miss it!"
Quite literally smelling an adventure, Natsu let out a howl of excitement and charged off in a cloud of dust, leaving his female friend behind, squealing in embarrassment as she tried to stop her skirt blowing up and revealing everything underneath. Dashing over the hill, his eyes widened as he skidded to a stop.
"Natsu? *cough* Where are you? I can't see anything cause of this stupid dust cloud you created."
"Hmm?"
The girl ran from the dust, only to smack heavily into the backs of her two friends. Crying out, they all toppled forward and landed in a tangled heap. Happy floated down, looking curiously at the group as they tried to free themselves from one another.
"Lucy, it's not really the time for cuddles ya know?"
Growling, Lucy pulled her arm out of the group and glared at the cat. "It's not my fault Natsu stopped so suddenly! You could have been of more use and let me know while you floated up there."
Happy just shrugged and looked down at the still fallen men. "I just thought you'd be fast enough to avoid them. It's not my fault if you're too fat and slow to stop in time."
The girl started grinding her teeth together, glaring at the blissfully ignorant cat as she muttered death threats under her breath. Her grumbling was interrupted though when the strange occurrence caught her eye. Her eyes widened in surprise as she actually saw an arm floating in midair, looking like it was crawling from the center of a strange airborne whirlpool.
"N-N-Natsu, w-what's that?"
Heaving Macao off the top of him, Natsu jumped up and looked at the strange phenomenon before them. "I dunno, looks like an arm."
Lucy smacked the back of his head in frustration. "I know that! But like, what's it doing in the middle of the air?"
Walking up to it, Natsu gave it a few experimental sniffs as he tried to work it out. "No idea. Pretty cool but hey!"
The girl shivered as the arm continued to grow rapidly from the hole. "S-someone's coming out!"
Hearing a groan, Lucy looked down at Macao who was trying to push himself over. "Can you help me out here? I can't see what the thing is and I'm too weak to roll over."
Pursing her lips, Lucy dug her toes into the man's side and gave him a kick, flipping him onto his back. "Much better, thanks."
Just then, a pained cry sounded out from the thing behind them and Lucy dived behind a large tree in fear. Natsu just continued to stare at the torso that was being spat out from the hole. In a final heave, a blond haired boy popped out of the air and fell flat onto his back. His eyes flickered a few times before they closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.
"N-Natsu!"
"Lucy, I think he heard you the first five times."
"Shut up you useless cat!"
"Oi Lucy, come have a look at him! Do you think he's dead?"
"I certainly hope not..."
Cautiously approaching the unmoving human, Lucy looked over Natsu's shoulder. Seeing the slight rise and fall of his chest reassured her enough to walk past her friend and take a closer look. He didn't look all that unusual except for his clothing. He had a strange black and orange jacket on, along with a set of bright orange pants with a bandage wrapped around his right thigh. Actually, those strange marks on his cheeks were also a bit curious...
Hesitantly reaching out, Lucy touched the mark before sharply pulling her hand back. Natsu and Happy were instantly besides her, looking in keenly.
"Oh, what happened when you touched him? Did he bite you?"
Lucy rolled her eyes and ignored them as she rubbed her fingers together. "Those whisker like marks... they're actually in his skin."
Blinking owlishly, Natsu stared at the marks before taking in a huge whiff through his nose. "Heh! He smells super weird!"
"What was that Natsu?"
The boy looked over his shoulder at the still incapacitated man lying several meters back. "I said he smells funny! Like nothing I've ever smelt before!"
"Really? That's rare for your nose. Think we should bring him back to the guild?"
A smile broke out across Natsu's face when Macao suggested the next move. "Yeah, sure! Lucy, you carry this guy. I'm'a grab Macao 'n' we'll head back!
Stiffening at the order, Lucy whipped her head around as Natsu quickly picked up his partner. "Wait, what? You want me to carry this guy all the way back to the guild?"
Happy floated down beside her and looked at the boy. "Well, he couldn't be much heavier than you. I struggle to fly when I carry you."
Taking a swipe at the cat, Lucy missed and settled for shaking an angry fist at the animal. "Shut your mouth! If you think he's so light, you carry him!"
Happy had already started floating away, ignoring the girl's protests. "No, I can't, I'm just a little cat. How would I carry him? He's too big."
Stomping a foot angrily, Lucy pointed at his back. "You always carry around Natsu without a problem!"
Hearing no response, the poor blond was left to grumble about crappy team mates and struggle to lift up the deceptively heavy boy.
XxXxXxX
'Ohhh... my head...'
Naruto's mind slowly began to kick back into gear as consciousness started to spread over his senses. His eyes twitched as he struggled to think back over what happened. There was that fight with Pein, then Kakashi came and caught him, then... sleep? It started getting fuzzy about that stage and Naruto racked his brain to try remember what happened.
An explosion, then a hard landing, then someone standing over him? He remembered splitting an eye open and seeing someone in a black coat standing over him. Akatsuki? That would explain the pain that followed. But it was too fast, wasn't it? But still... did that mean he was dead?
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