210Sorry about the wait, I've got an important announcement at the end of the chapter.
He could see the frost-covered shape of a wicked chakra blade forming in front of his eyes, beautiful in its symmetry and graceful lethality.
Is this the end…?
That thought wasn't directed at anyone in particular- just a stray thought, really. But an answer came regardless.
Do not be a fool. My power is at your disposal. All you have to do is look inside, and open one of my doors.
The voice was familiar… yet not. It was Kyuubi's velvety voice- deeper than Keeper's… but somehow lacking in the emotion and depth that he had grown accustomed to these last few years. It was cold, dispassionate… uncaring.
But he could not spare the time to ponder the reason. Because the voice had just reminded him- he did indeed have that last option available to him…
He mentally scanned through the doors in his mind, and finally stopped at the fourth one.
Nike held the frozen chakra blade in one hand, impassively looking down at the sprawled body of his shinobi counterpart. The blond had stopped moving for some reason- fingers no longer scrabbling to pull himself to safety, eyes no longer darting around to spy any possible avenue of escape. Perhaps he had given himself up to the inevitability of his fate.
"Oh well," he said to himself, "Goodbye… my friend."
Nike brought the blade flashing downwards… aiming at the neck to ensure a quick and painless death, when something exploded out from the motionless body. Recoiling backwards, the dark haired boy rapidly backpedalled, eyes wide.
He had something like this up his sleeve? Why didn't he use it earlier? he thought as he brought his hand up defensively, a swirling circle of white chakra orbiting it, ready to be fired at the slightest sign of danger.
Nike shivered.
He wasn't really scared, per se. He knew most shinobi only used chakra in the most basic way- slinging it in a physical form towards their opponent- the easiest type for him to counter with his chakra disruption. So he wasn't scared- he knew he could defend against it… but… there was something emanating from his opponent that made him feel that the oozing red energy pouring out of the blond was not mere chakra. It just felt… wrong.
His first impression would be to call it 'evil'- full of malice- but that wasn't quite accurate. It was dangerous… incredibly so. It reeked of lethality, of an endless ocean of power, capable of warping reality itself. This energy made him uncomfortable- him, trained from birth to appreciate chakra in all its various forms. His very skin was crawling, as if every atom inside him rejected this power.
But humans are not solely dictated by their instincts, and Nike wilfully overrode his body's instinct to flee and stood firm, confronting the dark energy. By now, Naruto, shrouded by this strange energy, had recovered and had regained his feet, head down, swaying lightly as he stood.
"What is this…" said Nike out loud, "…strange chakra…?"
At the sound of his voice, Naruto's head snapped up, and Nike met his eyes. His now slitted crimson eyes.
Kekkei genkai?! thought Nike in surprise.
His hand, still at the ready with a bolt of white chakra, lifted slightly. Then, suddenly, almost of its own volition, it made a quick jerking motion, and the white energy burst out in the sharp of a diving falcon.
It flew towards the seemingly unprepared Naruto, but was quickly swatted out of the air by a tendril of the red energy that reached out from the blond without any gesture or command.
An arm…?
Nike raised both arms and commanded his chakra to form a multitude of broad-tipped spears that floated around him for only a merest second before flying out to impale his opponent with lightning speed.
But his enemy was too fast. A low, animalistic growl rumbled before the red-shrouded figure disappeared entirely from Nike's vision. This immediately sent alarm bells in his head ringing, and when he saw his frozen spears splintering in mid-air, he quickly leapt away.
Not a moment too soon, too, as a hulking crimson shape slammed into the ground where he had been standing, cracking the ground, and sending shrapnel everywhere. The shape crouched low at the point of impact, but as soon as it had landed, numerous chakra tentacles, composed of that same boiling red chakra, shot off to try and impale Nike where he had dodged.
How many of these things does he have? thought Nike as he desperately twisted his body to avoid two twisting chakra tendrils.
Finally a third one came from an angle he wasn't expecting, and he knew instinctively he physically wouldn't be able to dodge this one. He winced and raised a hand out to try and 'catch' the tentacle.
Let's give this a shot… it should just be red chakra, right?
He channelled enough chakra to barely coat his palm, and then varied the ratios to try 'deconstruct' the tendril. This was one of the more basic of monk abilities- the power to destabilise chakra constructs by matching the ratios of chakra and reversing it- essentially dissipating the chakra before it reached him. However, although it was basic, it required adequate reflexes and control to actively channel and manipulate the appropriate chakra before the enemy attack hit, as well as the knowledge and experience to actually recognise the structure and composition of said attack and know the corresponding counter-composition.
However, when done correctly, it was devastating, especially against long- or mid-range ninjutsu specialists, and it was one of the reasons why shinobi are warned as a general rule not to utilise ninjutsu at all against monks, as the more proficient ones are capable of rendering almost all external ninjutsu useless.
The problem was that Nike, although quite a prodigious talent for his age and thus had no problem using chakra deconstruction, had never encountered this type of chakra before. It was unlike anything he had ever managed to deconstruct before, and right now, all he could do was make an educated guess and hope for the best.
But, as soon as his hand touched that chakra appendage, he knew he had gotten it wrong. It felt denser than regular chakra, and was hot to the touch. It definitely wasn't regular red chakra. Nike hissed and tried to push it away regardless. He couldn't deconstruct it, but maybe he could still reduce the impact somehow.
A haze of red covered Naruto's eyes as he commanded the three flailing tails behind him, controlling them with such ease they may as well have been limbs he was born with. They twisted and raged in the air, violent… powerful. A wild rush of power and vicious joy ran through him, powered by the burning electricity that ran through his veins.
A reckless grin adorned his face as he saw the opponent who had just given him such a hard time- the enemy who he couldn't defeat no matter how hard he tried- driven into a corner, scrambling to regain some ground, panicking.
This power… is so good… he purred in his mind.
And when the dark haired boy finally slipped up, and tried to block a tail instead of dodging, a thrill of sadistic pleasure rippled through Naruto as the powerful appendage slammed his adversary into the ground with enormous force.
How do you like me now?! roared Naruto, Who's killing who now?
He frowned.
He meant to say that out loud, but for some reason, it had only resounded in his head.
But the power- the rushing, pounding energy that buoyed him up from inside- it wouldn't let him sit and ponder such mundane matters for long. It demanded battle, it cried out for blood. All this strength… it needed to be used.
He shook his head once, red youki streaming off him like water, and then bounded forward towards his downed enemy. He landed right in front of Nike, the impact of his feet on the ground enough to crack the pavement through sheer force. Bending down, Naruto grabbed Nike's collar and lifted him up, ecstatic at how easy it was… how much power he now had.
His crimson eyes stared at Nike's own dark ones, which were glazed and blinking as they tried to focus on something. Naruto's malicious grin widened.
The other boy lifted a hand weakly to try and wrestle away Naruto's iron grip on his collar, to let himself down to the ground and regain some semblance of control back in the battle.
To his credit, Nike managed to gather his wits remarkably fast and put a respectable amount of strength into his effort, but he just couldn't overpower Naruto in his supercharged state.
He struggled for a few seconds, bringing his second arm up to try and gain some leverage.
And Naruto's power simply disappeared.
The comforting cloak of swirling energy, the lashing tails, the confidence, the rage, and buzz… it all simply vanished.
"Huh?" he said out loud, in shock.
He was so confused… he felt so empty without the driving bloodlust which had fuelled him these last few minutes.
Then his arm finally felt the pressure of holding up a struggling Nike and gave in, letting the other boy drop to the floor.
What happened? he asked the pair inside his mindscape, a light fluttering of panic starting to stir.
Without the power-crazed confidence, without the overwhelming power of his Three-Tailed Forme, he was once again just a normal shinobi-in-training- one that would quite convincingly lose to Nike, who was even now clambering to his feet.
I don't know! said Keeper, The door just closed on its own! Kyuubi?!
I… I've felt this before, said Kyuubi, Back in Kiri, fighting that assassin! Something's draining my youki! That blasted key?!
It's not the key, interjected Naruto quickly, It's still in my pouch back at the house!
But he didn't have much time to talk, as Nike was now standing tall, facing him. Without his Three-Tailed Forme, Naruto knew his chances of winning were slim at best.
We're back where we started, huh? he thought bitterly, gritting his teeth.
He saw Nike shakily raise a hand, and reflexively flinched away, expecting a blast of frozen chakra. However, nothing came, and Naruto quickly realised that the gesture from his opponent was not an attacking posture, but instead a plea, a questing palm.
"… Give it back to me…" said Nike unsteadily.
"What?" said Naruto in confusion.
He glanced around, until noticing a small silver object stuck to his chest.
What's this? he thought as he peeled it off his jacket.
It was a simple silver pendant shaped like a diamond, complete with a trailing length of broken chain connected to the loop.
"That's mine…" said Nike, his voice getting a little steadier as he recovered slowly from being slammed into the ground, "Give it back…"
Naruto curled it in his fist.
"No," he said shortly, on a whim.
The strange pendant was obviously something that Nike had an emotional attachment to, and withholding it might mean that he would become enraged and attack recklessly to try and get it back.
"You don't understand," said Nike, a strange quality entering his voice, "The importance of that item. My family has protected it for centuries… it's a Sacred Treasure. Give it back!"
He staggered towards Naruto, his fist starting to be encased in white chakra.
A Sacred Treasure?
Naruto snuck another quick look at the pendant. It looked rather ordinary for something that had been revered and worshipped by a clan of monks. The metal was undecorated, and apart from a strange black cross, was really kind of plain and dull. The chain was broken from where it had presumably been attached to Nike's wrist or neck, and overall, the so-called 'Sacred Treasure' looked kind of… well… cheap.
"Hmm…" he said, unconvinced, "Well, all the more reason I won't give this shitty trinket back to you."
Nike glared at him.
"You fool! That 'shitty trinket' is a Stone of the Second Door! I'll take it back from your corpse."
Naruto froze, his eyes wide.
'Stone of the Second Door'? he thought in shock.
He knew that phrase. It was what Isobu, the Sanbi, called the strange key he had picked up.
NARUTO! roared Kyuubi in his mind, jerking his consciousness back to the present.
His attention snapped forward, just to see Nike hurling himself at him, his raised fist glowing white.
Shit! he thought, just as his hand began to move of his own accord.
Naruto bit the inside of his cheek as he realised what was happening. The hand that had was gripping the pendant was holding itself out straight defiantly, pointing at the incoming Nike despite all of Naruto's attempts to move it. The limb simply wasn't listening to his brain's commands.
But as Nike's fist hit the sudden shield of green chakra that sprung up, sending violent shockwaves rippling across its surface, Naruto sighed in relief, remembering that the same thing had happened last time the phenomenon had occurred, although he seemed to recall that the dome had been red previously.
"What... what is this?!" growled Nike, wild-eyed, "Disappear! Disappear, damn you! Why… why don't you deconstruct?"
He pawed at the green barrier, intermittent whispers of blue chakra glowing occasionally through his fingers where he had forced through enough chakra for it to become visible. Finally, realising it was futile, he clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it one more time into the barrier, this time not empowered by his frozen chakra. It was simply an action born through frustration, as Nike gave up on trying to break through the dome.
"Listen…" he said slowly, "The Stone of the Second Door is a Sacred Treasure that has been treasured by my clan for as long as anyone can remember. Legend has it that it has a special relationship with demons. I don't know how you created a shield from it, though."
He took a deep shuddering breath, and then continued.
"I'm not feeling very well at the moment, so I'll let you hold onto it for a while… but beware. When I get stronger and recover, I'm going to hunt you down, just like I'm hunting those blasted Suzumiya bastards. And I'm going to wrest back our clan's treasure from your cold, dead fingers- you better live your life with one eye over your shoulder if you want even a small chance at surviving."
He rummaged at his belt, sweeping aside his jacket, and suddenly, Naruto saw a blinding glint as sunlight reflected off a metallic object. It seemed to be a gourd or strangely shaped water canteen, from the shape of it.
"What are you looking at?" snarled Nike, pulling out a Sweetdough Skewer and chewing it viciously, "We've got more Sacred Treasures… so what? This Jar of Souls is none of your business, cursed shinobi, none at all. None! Our revenge will be sweet. Now it's time we go… time to use the Dreamer's Coin… use it…"
Naruto stared in confusion. Nike's speech was getting weirder and weirder and he was starting to breathe heavily as he rambled on- a stumbling monologue that no longer seeming to be directed at Naruto at all.
The dark-haired boy pulled out a small object and flipped it into the air, spinning end-over-end rapidly.
"Remember," he growled, turning once again to face Naruto, "We'll be back, to take back our Treasure. It belongs to us. It does."
Then, he caught the airborne object as it fell to the ground, and simply disappeared in a flash of light and a soft swish.
'We'? thought Naruto, wondering a little at the strange choice of words that Nike had used.
The green dome slowly faded away as the danger passed, and Naruto now took the chance to inspect the simple pendant a little longer. A 'Sacred Treasure', Nike had called it.
Perhaps you should just ignore his words, Naruto-sama, said Keeper, He seemed to me a bit… insane.
Maybe, Naruto replied.
But his gut instinct was screaming that ignoring what Nike had said would be a big mistake. These Sacred Treasures felt like they'd be vitally important in the future.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" asked Misaki as she stood up and stretched, putting down the bucket of wet cement she was holding.
Naruto looked up from his hammering and spit out the nails he was holding in his mouth into his palm.
"Whataya mean? Nothing's wrong," he said, confused.
Misaki frowned.
"Oh, you just seemed a bit more serious than usual. I guess you aren't used to seeing this much destruction firsthand?"
It had been about a week after Nike's rampage through the village, and everyone, including Naruto, Haru and Misaki, were banding together to help rebuild the trashed areas. However, the cause of the destruction had not been well-circulated information, and most people just believed the rumours that 'it was just a rogue shinobi'. Misaki and Haru didn't know it was Nike or indeed, who Nike was, and for some strange reason he couldn't quite name, Naruto didn't feel like telling them either.
"Um… yeah, I guess," shrugged Naruto, picking up a nail and lining it up.
"Well, you'll never really get used to it, but you learn to just cope, I guess. Our world is a cruel and violent one, and the reality is that things like this happen more often than any of us would like. Luckily no one we knew well died…" said Misaki, with a hint of kindness.
"Mmm," murmured Naruto as he put the nails back in his mouth.
"Well, look on the bright side," smiled Misaki, "After we help out with repairs, we should be good to head back to Konoha! Aren't you excited? You'll be able to meet all your friends again!"
Naruto's lips turned up.
At least that's some good news, he thought happily, I'll be able to see Neji again… and jii-san, and Hana, Kurenai and Anko. I bet they haven't changed at all…
Naruto grunted as he bumped into Haru, who had stopped in the middle of the road. It had been a good many weeks since they had left the Water Country village, and they were even now on their way back home to their beloved Konoha.
"Why'd you just stop?" Naruto complained, rubbing his head.
"Silence, brat," replied Haru curtly, "We're being followed."
Naruto's eyes widened and he looked immediately to the team leader- Misaki. However, she didn't meet his eyes, and was instead communicating silently with Haru, although whether it was through the use of her kekkei genkai or just a demonstration of the bond created through years of comradeship, Naruto never found out.
Haru, meeting her gaze squarely, nodded once, and leaped backwards, a trail of blue light tracing his path through the air slowly. He landed, and then rotated around his landing spot once, vanishing in a spiral of navy chakra.
Naruto blinked.
Where did he-
BOOM!
There was a titanic crash, and then the trees to his left were suddenly blown apart by an enormous impact. Naruto's head snapped in that direction, and, as a testament to his training and reflexes, his hand had instinctively lifted itself defensively, chakra ready to be moulded at a moment's notice. But it was no threat.
Haru stood in the midst of the felled trunks, one raised fist still smoking blue. At his feet, cowering, was a man clad in a dark robe.
"Speak," ordered Haru, straightening his fingers, "Or forever lose your ability to. Tell us why you were following us."
Blue chakra gathered around the pointed palm, covering it in a knife-shape, before elongating to point down to the man's throat.
The man hissed and turned to stare at Misaki and Naruto, revealing glowing yellow eyes.
"You know nothing, human fool. The affairs of demons are beyond you. The pretender of a Demon Lord behind you has only limited days left on the throne. Stunts such as creating demon beacons… your ignorance shows. To think you can taunt greater powers, you must truly be a deluded wench!"
The demon stopped for a second to gather his breath and licked his lips, saliva dripping to his chin in his fanaticism.
"Mark my words, pretender… a fox like you has no right to sit at the head of the High Council. My mistress is coming… and she will bring down the entire might of our demonic army on you. Neither you, nor your pitiful human vessel will be able to stand against our power."
He paused, and then gathered himself to spit onto the ground.
"Kill me, human," he glared up at Haru, "I can't bear to be in the presence of this pretender any longer."
Haru expressionlessly glanced over to Misaki, who shrugged. He set his lips into a thin line, and then made a short thrusting motion that quickly drove the blue chakra spike into the demon's throat, killing it instantly.
"What was that all about?" asked Misaki.
Haru dusted off his hands and resumed his place with the group.
"Demon stuff, I presume," he said uninterestedly.
"Yeah," piped up Naruto, "Kyuubi said it's just demon politics. There were a lot of people eyeing the position of the ninth Demon Lord, and she took the position as a young, relatively unknown demon. Obviously the thing over there was a servant of one of the people shafted when Kyuubi took the title, and when we were setting those demon beacons, all it must have done was enrage those people. It has probably been seen as boasting or bragging- rubbing salt into the wound. So it seems like they're out to get us now. After all, defeating a Demon Lord is one way to take their position."
Misaki buried her face in her hand.
"Great," she said, "Just great. Demons again. So what you're saying is that there was no real demon threat in the first place, but when we went around trying to prevent that same non-existent threat, we ended up fucking creating the threat?"
"Um… yeah."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I still can't get over the fact that Kyuubi is female," chipped in Haru, who had changed Faces into a decidedly less severe one.
I'm just confused as to why the demon over there wanted to get killed so quickly. I mean, he was a Lesser Servant, so there was no way he could take on your ANBU friends, but he doesn't have enough years to reincarnate, and most demons, especially fanatical ones like him, are way too proud to just die without a fuss to humans. He must have had some kind of ulterior motive… said Kyuubi thoughtfully.
Well, I guess we'll never know, replied Naruto with a shrug.
"Naruto…" came Haru's voice, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts.
"Yes?"
"Why're your hands moving like that?"
"Like what?" asked Naruto, tilting his head to the side.
Then he realised that both of his hands were indeed undulating slowly in small circles.
"What the fuck?!" he squawked.
He tried to bring his hands down, but they refused to his commands.
"Not this again," Naruto wailed as he recalled the last couple of times his hands had started to move on their own.
"What's happening?" asked Misaki, jumping in front of him, eyes alert and hands at the ready.
Naruto could see that one hand held the key and the other, Nike's pendant, and very slowly, the pale outlines of two protective domes of chakra, one red and the other green, were starting to form.
Wait a second, said Kyuubi suddenly, Why's this happening? You're not in one of your Tailed Formes, so there's none of my youki for these things to absorb. Why are they activating?
They had already confirmed that the 'Stones of the Second Door' seemed to absorb away the youki generated during the Tailed Formes, and forcibly converted it into a shield. And although it had been useful when fighting the assassin in Kiri, automatically creating a protective force field that had saved Naruto's life, it could also prove to be a hindrance, as shown in the recent fight with Nike. With the Three-Tailed Forme active, Naruto was actively winning the fight. Without it, even with the youki shield granted by the Stone, the best outcome he could hope for, with the rest of his abilities, was a stalemate.
Having these Stones effectively sealed his jinchuuriki Formes, but at the same time, Naruto was loath to just discard it. After all, apparently they were 'Sacred Treasures', so perhaps they were important… or valuable. Plus, they seemed to activate automatically when danger threatened the user, so perhaps they were worth holding onto in the case they could save his life again.
Of course, if the damned things activated randomly like this, then perhaps it was better to just toss them!
"I don't know!" replied Naruto frustratedly, "These things just activated randomly again!"
"What things?"
You didn't tell Misaki about the Stones? asked Keeper incredulously, I thought she would've been the first person you would've told! She probably knows what they are.
Oops, replied Naruto, mentally kicking himself.
He could be forgiven for his oversight, though. When he first picked up the key in the river back when they were travelling through Fire Country, he had no idea it was anything more than a fancy looking antique. And after its first activation, Naruto had been preoccupied with Fen's death and then Mei's increased focus with the war and ending it. The fact that the Stone had activated to protect him was only one small part of the life-or-death struggle against the assassin, and as it had been his first taste of mortal combat against enemy shinobi, he quickly forgot small details about the fight, instead remembering things like the hard-firing emotions and pumping adrenaline.
However, the second occurrence of the phenomenon in the battle against Nike, proved that it was no coincidence, and these Stones could prove to be very important. But, once again, after the battle, there was more pressing matters to attend to. The urgent restoration of the village for one, as well as planning their departure back to Konoha. Added to this was Naruto's emotional pain at having lost someone who he had thought was a close friend, who instead turned out to be a powerful enemy, meant that he wasn't really in a stable frame of mind. He just wanted to forget the fight ever happened, and return to a time where Nike and he were still friends, not fighting to end each other's life.
But it was not to be.
"Misaki," Naruto said, "Do you know what 'Stones of the Second Door' are?"
Misaki's fingers hovered mere centimetres over the surface of the dual spheres as she ran her hands over it, inspecting it for any clue as to what it might be.
"Stones of the Second Door?" she repeated without looking up, "No, I can't say I have. What's that got to do with anything?"
"I think that they're what're causing the shields to appear."
That caused Misaki to snap her gaze up sharply.
"You're being affected by an outside source?" she asked intensely, "Do you know who?"
"No, no, no!" said Naruto quickly, "The shields are coming from objects in my hands."
"Well, drop them!"
"I can't! I can't move my arms!"
Misaki's eyes widened.
"Haru!" she called over her shoulder.
"Roger!" replied Haru, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulder back.
What… wondered Naruto, before he realised with a sense of rising horror that a crackling column of electric yellow chakra was hovering over Haru's right shoulder.
"I'll try to leave you alive, Naruto~" smiled Haru cheerily as he wound up his punch, the golden chakra coalescing ominously around his fist like gathering storm clouds.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" yelped out Naruto desperately, "The shield goes away after a while! It did last time!"
Misaki raised a palm to stop Haru from attempting to bust the dome open. He pouted but opened his fist nonetheless, the readied chakra ballooning from his elbow in an explosive airburst.
"This happened before?" asked Misaki, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Exactly! piped up Keeper.
"I um… forgot?" said Naruto sheepishly.
"Well… how long does it take to go away?" said Misaki, looking a little worried.
"Um… generally pretty quickly? It's been going on for a while, though, I don't know why."
Misaki looked unimpressed.
"Is the thing supposed to fizzle like this, too?"
"Fizzle?"
Misaki wordlessly pointed to the boundary edges of the spherical barrier, where, true to her word, the green chakra was fizzling and spitting like oil in a frypan.
A curse! exclaimed Kyuubi suddenly, causing Naruto to wince at the sudden outburst.
A what?
That's what the demon was doing! He was using his life to try and attach a tracking jutsu on you using his death essence! It can't cause any harm, not at his level, but his 'Mistress' would be able to track you, and by extension, me, through it! Luckily, this shield seems to have sensed it trying to attach to you and activated automatically, using the youki of the curse to sustain itself. After all, the same thing happened with my Three-Tails Forme on a larger scale. It must use nearby youki, either from the user or externally, to create a shield.
Naruto noted there was a slightly bitter tone entering Kyuubi's words at the end of her hypothesis. He also didn't miss the way she said 'my' when referring to the Three Tailed Forme. Perhaps she was holding a grudge over having her youki forcibly drained.
So how long do I have to stand here? he asked.
Oh, until the youki fuelling the curse runs out, I guess. And judging by the signs of sizzling at the edges, it should be starting to run thin by now.
A time limit please?
Oh, I dunno, two hours maybe?
Two hours?! How're my arms gonna hold up for two whole hours?!
Oh, don't be a baby.
NOTICE: To everyone who stuck with this story: I'm sorry, but I've decided after many hours of thinking and deliberating to discontinue this story. It wasn't an easy decision, but I think it's the best one given the circumstances. It's been a bumpy ride, but Splitting Leaves, Flying Shadows was my first foray into fanfiction writing. It has a lot of mistakes in it, which, judging by the relative success of my other fics, I have since rectified to some degree. I go into more detail about why it failed on my profile, but long story short, I overreached while writing it. I tried too hard to make something unique, something memorable, something original, that I can't keep it up any longer. I'm running out of ideas, and it doesn't help that the pure Naruto fandom is so over-saturated that anything I wrote has most likely already been done to death already.
Again, I am really, really sorry for anyone who liked this story and wanted it to continue, but I am having too much trouble writing it to a satisfactory level. It has gotten to the point where I look forward to writing chapters of my other stories much more than this one, and when the situation progresses to the point where writing becomes more of an ordeal than a hobby, then I believe its time to put down the pen (or in this case, laptop).
I am by no means quitting fanfiction, and my other two stories Remnant and Legend Reviving, will continue for as long as I am able.
Thank you for those who have joined me for this ride, but I'm afraid this leg of the journey has drawn to a close. Perhaps you may be able to finish it off in your own mind, with your own imagination. Most likely, you'll do a better job than I.
Deepest Apologies-
ChickenGodofDOOM