Chapter 12

Author Note: Hello again everyone I am back with another chapter. I would first like to thank everyone who reviewed Chapter 11 by welcoming me back to writing and the kind words you gave so thank you very much as it really meant a lot.

Now depending on when this chapter goes out when compared to when Chapter 11 was posted the reason why it is out so fast is due to my hands having actually been feeling a bit better lately and all the positivity I got in the reviews for Chapter 11.

That being said I do apologize if this chapter is on the shorter side as I am still getting back into writing…However if this chapter is of normal 3,000-5,000 Word length then disregard said apology.

After telling everyone to get to the subpods Naruto then looks to Vinny "Vinny we are going to need that thing out of the way if we want to launch" he says.

Vinny nods before pulling out a grenade and pulling the pin on it "Coming right up extra oregano" he says before chucking the grenade into the water where it detonates next to the tentacles causing the monster to screech and withdraw said tentacles from the launch bay.

This momentary retreat gives the group time to climb into the subpods with Vinny taking one, Mole taking one, Audrey in another, and Naruto and Kida with Obby taking the final one. As the group flips various switches in the subpods to turn them on and launch them Vinny comments "Next time I use Chili Powder".

The launch ramps the pods are on rise up one by one and proceeds to catapult the pods into the water one by one. However as Naruto and Kida's pod is about to be launched the ship is rocked by the creature slamming into it and the sound of metal straining and creaking can be heard in the launch bay. Hearing this Naruto winces "Oh that can't be good" he says right before the ramp they are on breaks and falls to the floor of the launch bay.

However the launching mechanism of the ramp still activates sending Naruto and Kida's pod sliding across the floor of the launch bay in a shower of sparks before they slam into a parked tuck. The impact punctures the gas tank of the truck and the sparks proceed to set it ablaze resulting in the truck exploding and sending Naruto and Kida's pod sliding back towards the launch bay and into the water where it begins to sink into the ocean.

As Naruto and Kida sink into the ocean in their pod they get their first glimpse at the sheer size of the tentacles attacking the ship with said tentacles easily dwarfing the size of the subpod in thickness alone.

Over the comms Mole can be heard saying "Its pulling the ship down on the starboard side!"

Then Audrey chimes in by saying "Where's Naruto and Kida? I didn't see them launch…Naruto are you there? Kida?" sounding worried near the end.

Inside Naruto and Kida's pod Naruto is pushing several buttons and flipping several switches "Come on back up batteries time to do your job" he says getting frustrated as Kida is trying to turn the entry hatch shut tighter as it is leaking sending a steady jet of water into the pod. Then a rivet pops out of place resulting in another leak of water into the pod.

Audrey can then be heard over the comms saying "Vinny, Mole keep that thing off me while I look for Naruto and Kida".

Naruto flips a few switches managing to get the radio working and says "This is Naruto, we took heavy damage trying to launch. We're currently on backup batteries but they are failing fast. We have no control or propulsion and are sinking fast and to top things off we have a major leak…"he lists off before another leak springs forth this time from the viewport "Leaks!" Kida says.

Naruto then shakes his head "…Make that LEAKS and the viewport is cracking heavily" he says finishing his assement of their less than stellar situation.

Audrey hearing this thinks for a moment before responding "If the ballast valves aren't blocked you can flush the water by rerouting the pressure…" she begins.

However Naruto cuts her off by saying "Audrey! Our pod is trashed the only thinking working is the radio we have no control over any of the valves or anything…and we are up to our butts in water already!"

Audrey grimaces in her pod hearing that as it meant Naruto and Kida were essentially dead in the water "Okay we are on our way just hold on" she says before linking up with Vinny and Mole to head to where Naruto and Kida's pod is sinking.

Naruto sighs in reliefe hearing this before paling as he sees Kida point out the cracked viewport "If it's not to much trouble do you think you could put a rush on that rescue...AS WE ARE ABOUT TO HIT AN UNDERSEA MOUNTAIN!" as the pod sinks closer to the mountain. However as the pod gets closer the mountain begins to move and open up revealing a massive mouth causing Naruto's eyes to widen "…That's not a mountain" he says.

As Naruto and Kida's pod is just about to sink into the massive monsters mouth Vinny can be heard over the radio "We got you covered Naruto" he says before a torpedo slams into the monster and explodes. More torpedoes this time 2 from Vinny's pod and 2 from Audrey's pod slam into the monster resulting in a large explosion that buffets Naruto and Kida's pod away from the monster. Vinny and Audrey then maneuver their pods on either side of Naruto and Kida's locking it between them before heading to the surface.

As the group is making their way to the surface Naruto asks "Where is the Kraken?"

Mole who is picking up the rear in his pod looks back before saying "It has disappeared!" in disbelief that the massive sea monster that was nearly the size of a mountain could simply vanish that fast.

Back in their pod Kida lets out a sigh of relief "At least it was not Atlantean" she says relieved to know it wasn't something Atlantean causing all the chaos and destruction.

Naruto nods his head through he has a determined gaze in his eyes "Yes that is a good thing though it does raise the question of what exactly Kraken is then as not even a sea monster could grow that large and then continue to feed itself without its actions being noticed" he says pointing out how the Kraken not being of Atlantean origin raises several questions about its existence and how it remained hidden.

After having reached the surface Naruto, Kida, and Obby are now in Audrey's pod as she is in theirs trying to fix what she can. Naruto holds the radio in his hand as he talks to the captain of the ship "The creature buckled hull plates fore and aft, and will be lucky to make it back to port for repairs. I'll send a rowboat to pick you up" he says.

Naruto shakes his head before responding "Don't worry about use Captain just take care of the Atlantean" he says referring to the ship which was ironically named that "There is a fishing village a short ways to the northeast. We will be there when you finish repairs" he says before hanging up the radio.

Naruto then looks over to see Audrey climbing out of the ruined subpod as it begins to sink and helps pull her up as she jumps over to her subpod. The group then watches as the pod sinks into the ocean depths "Whoa! That's your subpod…That's not coming out of my paycheck" Audrey comments.

Vinny then chimes in saying "Okay, let's get to shore as soon as we can"

Audrey and Naruto smirk hearing this as Audrey says "What's the matter Vinny afraid to play patty-cake with the sea monster" before she and Naruto chuckle.

Vinny then grins before responding with "Nah I don't mind a little patty-cake, but I really don't want to be around here when the bombs on that subpod hit bottom" he says before getting back into his subpod.

Naruto and Audrey's eyes widen hearing this and they gain a nervous look before they quickly climb into Audrey's subpod and the group begins making their way to shore. However they are unknowingly being watched by an elderly man who is standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean with a grim look on his face before his form vanishes in the extremely thick foggy weather.

After a several minutes the group had made it to the beach of the fishing village and anchored the subpods to the shore via ropes with stakes at the end hammered into the sand. Looking around the foggy beach at the wrecks of fishing ships covered in mildew Vinny says "Looks like fishing hasn't been very good around here lately huh?"

Kida then shakes her head "That is not surprising no doubt that tentacle demon devoured the local fish stocks long ago" she says.

Audrey then walks over and asks "Then why is it still here?"

Kida turns to Audrey and says "Because it doesn't eat fish anymore" morbidly implying that the creature now feasts on the townspeople and unfortunate sailors.

Naruto then walks over and says "I am not sure about that as to feed a creature the size of the Kraken would likely require thousands of pounds of food a day and the village can't have more than a couple hundred people living in it so the creature should have starved or moved on long ago".

Vinny then shrugs his shoulders and says "Either way maybe the creature is the reason why they built the village way up on the cliffs. You don't want that thing showing up as a surprise guest for dinner" before the group start making their way up to the village.

When they reach the village they see that the buildings are covered in the same mildew as the boats on the beach likely a result of the thick fog that permeates the area. As they make their way through they notice the residents of the village closing the shutters on the windows of their houses. Seeing this Naruto raises an eyebrow and comments "Not very welcoming are they?"

Audrey then wrinkles her nose in disgust before pinching it close "What is that smell? It's like rotting fish." She asks trying not to gag from the strong odor.

Mole then gasps as he was standing in front of her "Why do you accuse such a thing? I have bathed…recently. No appreciation for fine cologne" the dirt loving French man says in indignation.

Naruto shakes his head before turning to look at the digger "Easy there Mole she is upwind of you. It's more likely we're all smelling the mildew that is everywhere as a result of everything being wet due to the fog" he says wiping some mildew off of a statue of a man that unknown to them is the same one that was watching them from the cliff.

Kida then looks over at Mole and smirks "But you do need a bath" she comments.

Audrey then looks at a sign above a door and says "Look at that" catching everyone's attention. They all look at the sign to see it be a picture of a Kraken attacking a sailing ship.

Naruto then raises an eyebrow and comments "Interesting way of advertising to tourists"

Vinny then looks in front of the group and says "Naruto we got company" getting everyone's attention.

An elderly man with two burly men behind him walks out of the fog towards the group "I am Edgar Volgud, the magistrate of this town. What is your business here?" he asks in a deep gravelly voice. Naruto makes to introduce himself only for Edgar to cut him off by saying "I doubt there is anything in Krakenstad that concerns you".

Kida then marches up to Edgar and says "What about your town pet that nearly sank our ship!" getting in his face as the two stare each other down for a few tense moments.

Edgar then turns to look at Naruto and says "Your ship will be repaired in the shipyards of Trondheim. You should leave soon, the roads are treacherous after dark" forebodingly near the end.

Naruto then narrows his eyes at the subtle threat "I'm sure they can start the repairs without us. We thought we'd stick around a while and enjoy the scenery" he says.

Edgar scowls hearing this "Trodheim has excellent views" he says.

Naruto then smirks a bit yet keeps his eyes narrowed "All the same we'll stay" he says resulting in him and Edgar getting into a stare down.

After a few moments Edgar breaks the stare down by turning away "Miss Eliassen is the innkeeper here. She'll give you rooms for the night and a driver will take you to Trondheim in tomorrow" he says before walking away into the fog with the two men following him.

After he leaves Vinny then remarks "I think I seen that fella someplace before. I think it was under a rock, the guy reminds me of a worm, a leech, kind of salamandrish" he says as everyone makes their way into the Inn.

However as they are doing so obby rushes past everyone and jumps into the open fireplace that is currently alit and circles a few times before lying down. At seeing the question look of Audrey, Kida chuckles and says "Well he was born in molten rock".

Audrey then thinks for a moment "Wait wasn't Volgud that statue guy?" she asks.

Naruto then rubs his chin "That would make him even older than he looks and he looks really old already" he says.

All of a sudden a voice interrupts saying "They say he made a deal with the devil to live forever, but forgot to ask for eternal youth" causing everyone to turn to see a blonde haired woman in an innkeeper dress holding a tray of steaming coffee cups. The woman sets the tray down on a table and says "This will dry the fog from your bones" before everyone takes a cup thanking her as they do so and confirming that she is Miss Elliassen and that Inger is her first name.

Miss Eliassen then randomly says "There is a darkness surrounding Edgar Volgud, and that shadow has dimmed all that was happy here. We would leave but this inn is all my child and I have, though it is no place for me to raise my little one. Ultimately things will not change here until Edgar it's power is broken"

Naruto raises a brow in confusing at hearing the way Inger worded that ""It's" do you mean Edgar…or the sea monsters?" he asks.

Miss Eliassen stares off into space for a few moments before blinking rapidly a few times "I will prepare rooms for you. But do not cross Edgar Volgud, and leave as soon as you can" she says randomly avoiding answering Naruto before going off to prepare some rooms.

Vinny then shakes his head and jokes "They really have to work on their tourist industry".

*Few Hours Later*

After spending several hours at the Inn the group waits for nightfall before sneaking out to investigate. As they begin their snooping under the cover of darkness and the fog Naruto spots Edgard walking down through the village with a lantern and alters the group "Come on we will follow the light of his lantern" he says as the group proceeds to do just that.

As they follow the light of the lantern out of town and further from it they start hearing a metallic-sounding groaning "Where is that coming from?" Kida wonders.

Audrey then asks "What is it".

Then immediately after that Mole gasps and says "It is not of this Earth" in fight.

Vinny then shakes his head "No that's a bird, it has to be a very big gooney bird…or uh a puffin yeah a puffin…" he says in slight fright before the sound gets much louder "With a very upset stomach" he adds.

Naruto then shakes his head "No its voices, though I can't make out what they're saying as its like that are overlapping each other and speaking at the same time" he says only for the group to stop as they notice the light from Volgud's lantern has vanished. Naruot rubs the back of his head as he looks around "Damn the fog is too thick we could be walking in circles, we better try and head back to the village".

Audrey then raises an eyebrow "Well which way would that be" she asks causing Naruto to frown before the group sees a bunch of lights off in the distance and assuming it's the village start heading that way.

As they are walking Mole begins to notice something "Wait a moment listen to the gravel".

Audrey then sighs before saying "Not now Mole".

Mole continues to look at the ground under his feet as they walk and says "But this is decomposed granite, which would mean we are headed for the CLIFF!" he says with a yell at the end as the group ends up stumbling of the cliff minus Obby who paces back and forth at the top of the cliff in worry.

As the group slides/falls down the cliff Mole manages to pull out two collapsible pickaxes and stab them into the cliff slowing him down before ultimately stopping him only for Naruto, Kida, and Vinny to slide to a stop on top of him. Audrey however has slid off to side and misses and continues sliding down the cliff.

Naruto seeing this yells "Audrey!" before jumping down after her and using what literal chakra he can begins running down the side of the cliff after her using the tree-walking jutsu. Audrey tries to catch herself on a ledge but the ledge crumbles and she begins to freefall.

However moments later Naruto reaches her and catches her bridal-style as he stands on the side of the horizontally on the side of the vertical cliff. Feeling she is no long falling Audrey opens her eyes to see Naruto looking at her with a slightly worried look as he casually stands on the side of vertical cliff like its nothing. Audrey then raises an eyebrow "So I guess this is one of those "Powers" you mentioned about having awhile back?" she asks.

Naruto chuckles slightly "Yeah one of a couple that I can still use" he says only to wince as Audrey punches his arm "Ow what was that for?" he asks.

Audrey rolls her eyes "Oh I don't know how about leading us off a cliff?" she says almost sarcastically.

Naruto gives her a deadpan look before saying "Hey I was just heading towards the village…lights?" he says trailing off at the end after looking at the direction the lights were only to see them start moving around before fading "I guess there is more going on here than just sea monsters" he says.

Vinny thing shivers slightly "Oh great somebody's doing Hocus Pocus…I hate Hocus Pocus!" he says before the group begins either climbing back up the cliff in the case of Kida, Vinny, and Mole, or walking up in Naruto's case as he carries Audrey and reaches the top of cliff moments after the others.

After reaching the top Naruto sets Audrey down so she can walk and she surprises him by kissing his cheek "What was that for?" Naruto asks.

Audrey shrugs it off as she begins walking in front of him "It's thanks for saving me…don't look to much into it" she says causing Naruto to shake his head in amusement with a slight grin.

Kida however who was in front of Audrey as she started to walk away briefly noticed the slight saddened look on Audrey's face as she said the latter part. Kida then looks to Naruto and asks "So what do we do now?"

Naruto narrows his eyes before saying "Now we get some answers".

Back in the village inn Miss Eliassen is setting the table when she looks up to see Edgar standing there silently watching her which startles her causing her to drop a plate. Edgar looks at her for a moment before saying "Gather the possessions of the strangers…and burn them!"

However he hears a growling and turns to see Obby growling at him while the rest of the group watches on "What's the matter Volgud you think we got fleas?" Vinny asks jokingly.

Naruto then smirks "Wow you seem kinda surprised to see us" he says before Volgud storms out slamming the door as he leaves.

Vinny then rubs his chin "Definitely reminds me of a worm or leech, salamanders are too cute" he jokes.

Naruto then turns towards Miss Eliassen and says "We would like to hear more about Volgud's deal with the devil" with a slight edge in his tone.

Miss Eliassen flinches before saying "it is an old wives' story, a folk tale nothing more".

Naruto narrows his eyes before softening "Miss Eliaseen we want to help. Lives have been taken at sea…and I suspect in this town as well" he says trying to convince her.

The innkeeper sighs tiredly "I would love for my little one to see the sun for once...A long time ago the fish left the sea in this area and the town was in danger of dying. It is not said how but a bargain was struck. The souls of the people for the life of the town" she says before looking at a picture of a giant octopus attacking a ship.

"The Kraken!" Mole exclaims.

Naruto then rubs his chin in thought "Sometimes known as the devil fish" he says referencing one of the nicknames for the sea monster.

Miss Eliassen then continues her tale "The town is provided for but no one can leave. Many have tried but all of failed and been swallowed up by the beast including my late husband and father of my child, and the sun has also not shone since" she says finishing her tale.

*The Next Day*

The group were now walking along the beach looking for clues "Folklore or not there is a connection between the Kraken and this town" he says.

Kida then comments "Volgud hands out food and supplies from somewhere…maybe a hidden cave or something?"

Vinny then holds up a stick of unlit dynamite "I could search it would me a very nice boom" he says eagerly wanting to blow something up.

Mole then scoffs "Ha the answer is staring you right in the face. Regard how and igneous boulder has been futilely disguised as sedimentary rock. They might as well paint a road sign" he says before walking to the side of the cliff and reaching behind a rock to pull a secret lever which makes a rock next to him slide out of the way revealing a secret tunnel which he then proceeds to start walking down.

Kida points at the two rocks and says "They look exactly the same to me" in slight confusion.

Audrey then rolls her eyes "Yeah but you weren't raised by naked mole rats" she says before heading into the tunnel followed by Vinny.

Kida then raises an eyebrow and smirks "That would explain so much" she says before she and Naruto also enter the tunnel.

End Chapter 12