The Orange Flash and the White Dog

Author’s Notes: A new paragraph has been added as well as all typos, etc. have been fixed. Any grammatical errors that I may have missed please let me know by pm. Thanks, The Lady of Shadows.

Chapter XI

Naruto looked around curiously at their arrival point in the Makai. He looked at Yaone and said, “It really doesn’t look any different then back home.”

Yaone smiled at him as she pulled off her gloves, mask, and tucked them into her backpack. Then she unwrapped her forehead wrap and it to joined her gloves and mask in the pack. She fluffed out her bangs and then said, “You are right, this area of the Makai it does not look any different from the Hidden Realm. On the other hand, if you go to other parts of the Makai you will find strange yet wonderful scenery. Remember this, Naruto, here in the Makai you really have to look beneath the underneath. Things that seem normal or benign on the surface may hide something dangerous. Like this shrub.”

Yaone bent down and picked up a large branch, which she proceeded to through into the nearby shrub. Vines emerged from the shrub and they ripped the branch into tiny, little pieces. Naruto gulped and whispered, “I see what you mean.”

A few minutes later, the bushes rustled and a five-foot tall squirrel stepped through the foliage and looked at them inquiringly. When it got a good look at Yaone it bowed and said, “Welcome home, Lady Yaone.”

She nodded her head slightly and said solemnly, “Thank-you, Tsubasa. How have you been?”

“I have been good my lady,” Tsubasa replied cheerfully. “I take it you are here to see Totosai Jr.?”

“Yes, I have completed my Mastery in smithing in the Hidden Realms like he told me to. So now I have come to continue my training with him,” Yaone said quietly.

“Yes, yes and who is your companion?” Tsubasa asked curiously.

“This is my partner, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto,” she replied.

The giant squirrel nodded his furry head thoughtfully and said, “Well, come this way, my lady. The safe paths have been drastically changed since you were last in this part of the forest.”

Yaone simply nodded her head and they followed the giant squirrel through the forest. Naruto eyed the forest around him carefully, wondering about what was dangerous and what was not. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the opening to a large cavern and Tsubasa stopped in front of the dark entrance of the cave. “I will leave you two here,” he said before turning around and scampering off into the forest.

Yaone and Naruto stepped into the cave and headed toward a red, flickering light in the back. “A gnarled and boney youkai was sitting by the fire and Naruto assumed that he was Totosai Junior. The skeletal youkai looked up and stared at them with large yellow eyes and he nodded slowly. He cleared his throat violently and spat a gob of spit into the fire causing the fire to hiss and pop. When Totosai Jr. spoke it was with a creaky, rough voice and he said, “Well, you have finally returned Yaone and you brought a friend.”

“Yes, I have returned,” Yaone, said, “This is my partner Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.”

The youkai eyed Naruto before saying, “You feel human but have the essence of a youkai within you. I have a feeling you have an intresting story to tell me young man. Sit and tell me your story.”

Naruto smiled and he and Yaone sat down. Naruto began his story with, “It all began when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked my home village of Konoha. My father, the Yondaime Hokage, came up with a plan to seal it and he . . .”

*****

That night Naruto slept in a bed that Totosai provided and smiled happily to himself. After he told the youkai his story, Yaone asked if he would train Naruto as well as her. Totosai had smiled and said that he would. Tomorrow they would begin training in the yore of the youkai weapons smith. He snuggled deeper into his blankets. It was a little chilly in the cave. Soon enough he felt the excitement of the day hit him and he fell asleep. In the morning, he woke up early and got dressed. He joined Yaone in the main cavern and they got ready for the day. Yaone said, “The cave system here is huge and Totosai has weeded out all the dangerous critters and sealed all those who would bring harm to those within the system out. You can summon your kage bunshin’s and have them perform your chakra control exercises while we are working.”

Naruto created two-hundred kage bunshin’s and sent them out to do various chakra control exercises. In order to maintain his chakra control he had to constantly practice his chakra control exercises or his chakra pool would get out of control with the way it was constantly growing. He searched for an empty cavern and began to stretch and warm up for his morning exercise. After he did his one thousand squats, pushups, sit-ups and pull-ups from the cave ceiling, he began doing the kata’s of Kitsune-Wu. From there he moved onto the dances that used his katana and then the ones using his long sword. He summoned Nikki and they began to spar with their stiletto’s giving Naruto a good workout. After he was done, he washed up and changed into the new clothes he had gotten to train with Totosai. He returned to the main cavern and soon Totosai joined them.

“Well, you two. We will have some breakfast and then our day will begin,” he said jovially.

As Totosai said, they had breakfast and began training. Naruto quickly got into the swing of things. He quickly picked up what he was taught and the day proceeded swiftly. Since they were already masters of the craft they only needed to learn how to bring forth the powers of that the material they used had within it. Months passed quickly and soon Totosai had nothing left to teach. All they had to do now was create their own unique youkai weapon. Two days later, the four lords showed up to see how their training with Totosai was going. On hearing, they needed material for crafting their master piece two of the lords stepped forward and yanked out a fang. Sesshoumaru handed his daughter one of his fangs and murmured, “Use it well, my daughter.”

“Thank-you, father,” she whispered softly.

Kamuro handed his fang to Naruto and smiled, saying nothing at all. Naruto bowed his head in thanks for his most gracious gift. Soon the two protégés of Totosai were feverishly working on their masterwork. A week later, they handed their finished pieces to Totosai. Naruto had made a katana. The swords power manifested itself as a stream of elemental dragons. When Naruto had slashed his katana into the air dragons of fire, water, wind, earth, lightening, ice, wood, lava, metal and poison emerged and laid waste to the surrounding forest. “Once again, Naruto, overkill much?” Yaone said with a dark smirk.

Naruto grinned back and said, “There is no such thing as overkill, Yaone.”

Yaone just laughed and presented Totosai with her sword and said, “I know.”

Her long swords power manifested it self the same way as Naruto’s except instead of dragons they were ghostly white dogs that looked exactly like her and her father’s true forms. Naruto cocked a brow at her and said mockingly, “You were saying?”

Yaone just smiled and said nothing. Totosai looked at the two of them and said, “You both passed. Now leave me in peace.”

After he said that, he turned and stomped back into his home. Naruto and Yaone just laughed and followed him back into the cave. Today they would pack their things and tomorrow they would leave. The night quickly passed and the new day came. That day they said their good-byes to the irascible youkai and finally left the cave system and him behind to begin to explore the Makai together.

*****

Naruto and Yaone began moving through the Makai and Naruto soon learned how hostile it was to humans. Youkai came out of the woodwork to attack him and Yaone wherever they went. Naruto quickly realized exactly what his sensei’s had meant when they said that the Makai would refine what they had taught him.

******

Naruto looked grimly at the streams of youkai headed toward him and Yaone. Thousands upon thousands of minor youkai were headed straight for them and all of them wanted a piece of his flesh. “Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Tim and Nikki,” he yelled and slammed his hand onto the ground summoning his two favourite toads.

“Things are always exciting with you around, tadpole,” Tim muttered and drew his serrated blade. “Let’s dance, shall we.”

Nikki laughed wildly as she drew her silver stilettos and prepared for battle. Naruto unsealed his scythe, Doksooma and drew his katana, Soma from its sheath at his side. If any time was a time for extreme overkill then this was it. Naruto and Yaone stood there waiting for the approaching horde with the two toads flanking them. Naruto’s orange duster and Yaone’s tattered red cape danced in the wind and then at some unheard signal they charged the approaching horde as one. Streams of elemental chakra and youki erupted from the besieged four.

As soon as he had let loose his elemental dragons, he sheathed Soma and laid into the horde around him with the business end of Doksooma. The five chains whipping around him in an elemental frenzy, protecting him form the fangs and claws of the youkai around him. As chakra infused chains whipped around him, he spotted the center of he horde. He yelled, “I found the center and I am going in. Brace yourselves!”

He pulled out one of his three-pronged kunai and threw it into the center of the writhing mass of youkai. With an orange flash, he appeared on top of his kunai in the center of the horde. The five chains at the end of Doksooma wound around each other and then violently split apart. The elemental typhoon expanded outward and destroyed thousands of youkai as it spread out around him. When the typhoon died out only three living things were in the clearing besides him. Yaone and the two toads grinned at him. “Well you sure know how to finish a fight with a bang, tadpole,” Tim said before he and Nikki left with a soft pop and a puff of smoke.

Naruto and Yaone left the clearing and continued their journey toward the village of Seikai. An hour later, they were about a mile from the village when they caught whiff of burning wood and flesh. The looked at each other and picked up the pace. They quickly arrived at the village only to find devastation. The bustling youkai village of Seikai was no more. Everybody in it was dead. “Do you think that horde did this?” Naruto asked.

“More than likely,” Yaone said quietly. “Once a horde of youkai like that starts up they keep gaining momentum and they quickly leave nothing alive in its path of destruction. Seikai was in its path. Naruto, can you summon one of your toads. I need to send a message to my father. He needs to know about this. These hordes do not usually start out of nowhere. Something has to rile them up and get them moving.”

“Okay,” Naruto muttered before summoning a smaller toad.

Gamanichi arrived with Deirdre in a puff of smoke. “Deirdre, what are you doing with Gamanichi?” Naruto asked.

Gamanichi smirked up at him and said, “She is my new sidekick, Naruto.”

Naruto laughed softly, he unsealed some candy from the candy stash he carried and said, “Really, well here is some candy. I need you to take a message to Lord Sesshoumaru from Yaone, okay.”

“No problem, Naruto,” Gamanichi said and took the candy from Naruto and a letter from Yaone. “See you later!”

“We will wait here for my father’s arrival and see if he wants us to do anything,” Yaone said.

Naruto nodded his head and sat down to wait. It would not take long for Sesshoumaru to arrive. This was because he had portals set up all across the West to make it easier for him to travel. As they waited, a sound caught their attention. A whimper emerged from the wreckage of one of the houses. Naruto got up and followed the whimpering until he found where the sound emerged from underneath a pile of destroyed timber. He quickly pulled the wreckage off whatever was under it. He soon found a young ferret kit. Its fur was sleek and dark brown and it was about two and half feet tall. It opened its eyes and looked at Naruto. It cried and leaped into Naruto’s arms. It whimpered pitifully, “I want my mommy and daddy. Have you seen my mommy and daddy?”

Naruto looked around helplessly. He did not know how to tell the kit that its parents were dead. It was a miracle that the kit was even alive. The kit although young saw the sorrow in Naruto’s blue eyes and realized that its parents were no more. It’s sobbing grew louder as it realized it was all alone. “Shhhhh, little one, I am here. What is your name?” Naruto asked quietly.

“I a…a….a…a…m…m,” the kit hiccupped and continued, “I am Ryang.”

“Well, Ryang, I am Naruto,” he told the young ferret youkai.

A sound caught his attention and he watched as Sesshoumaru walked into the village, a cold expression on his face. “Father,” Yaone acknowledged.

“Yaone,” he responded.

He looked at the wreckage of the village as Yaone explained their encounter with the hoard. Sesshoumaru closed his gold eyes and then whispered, “Find out who was responsible for creating the horde and take care of them.”

He then looked at Naruto and his young companion who was desperately clutching the front of Naruto’s jacket. He smiled slightly and said, “It seems you have a new companion for your journey, Naruto. I doubt that he will let you out of his sight. Welcome to fatherhood.” He turned and left the village and said as left, “I will send up a clean up crew. Just find the ones responsible.”

Naruto looked down at Ryang and sighed. He knew Sesshoumaru was right. He now had his own sidekick. Yaone looked at him and smiled before saying, “Let’s go. We will follow the trail of destruction the horde left in its wake. It will lead us to where it formed and we may find the one’s responsible for its creation.”

With that, she turned and began to move out of the village. Naruto shifted Ryang to his back and told him to hold on as he ran after his partner. The left the devastated village of Seikai behind them and followed the path of destruction that the horde had wrought until its encounter with the two of them earlier on today. They swiftly moved through the forest, determination in their eyes. They would find the ones responsible and they would pay.

Naruto and Yaone raced through the trees following the path of the horde. Yaone was worried; the path of destruction was headed toward another village. The village of Araimel was just over the ridge five mile ahead of them. She glanced to her left at the running orange blur beside her. The young ferret youkai, Ryang, clutched the back of Naruto’s duster tightly as his wide chocolate eyes peered over Naruto’s shoulder in wonder at the speed in which they were traveling. In minutes, they raced down the ridge and into the village of Araimel. They stopped and stared at the carnage the horde of youkai left behind. It was jus like Seikai. “Naruto, send a toad to my father,” was all Yaone said.

Naruto summoned Tim and once the large, blue toad arrived, he looked around and sighed. “What is up, tadpole?” Tim asked.

“That horde of youkai we faced did this,” Naruto said simply, “This is the second village we found like this.”

“Shit,” Tim muttered, “What do you want me to do?”

“Go and tell Lord Sesshoumaru about what you saw here at this village and then wait for a response. Once he gives you one report back to me,” Naruto said grimly.

“Tim, tell my father the village is Araimel,” Yaone said quietly.

Tim nodded his head and then noticed Naruto’s new attachment. “What is with the new fur sole, tadpole?”

“This is Ryang. He is the only survivor of the other village we found,” Naruto said quietly. “I found him in the wreckage and he seems to have become attached to me.”

Tim’s eyes softened slightly and then he said, “You are a good kid, Naruto. I am off; I will see you in a bit.”

Tim popped out and the three of them waited in the destroyed village for Sesshoumaru’s response. Two minutes later an enraged roar was heard and a light brown, eight foot tall Minotaur ran into the center of the village toward them carrying a gigantic flaming quill. He was wearing a dark brown kilt with two flaps of light orange fabric with an orange flame set in the center hanging from a dark brown leather belt with the buckle another orange flame. On his shoulders were red pauldron’s attached to two dark brown leather straps that crossed in the middle of his chest forming an x. The Minotaur red eyes were filled with rage and his tail streamed behind him as he ran toward them. The end of the tail was an orange flame and some the sparks from it fell onto the wreckage behind him and started a fire.

Naruto and Yaone leapt apart as the gigantic flaming quill slammed into the ground where they had stood. The flames from the quill spread across the ground and raced toward them. Yaone yelled, “Wrimo, wait it is me, Taishio Yaone!”

Wrimo paused and looked carefully at her before relaxing and letting the flames gutter out. “Lady Yaone, do you know what happened to my village?” Wrimo asked.

Yaone shook her head sadly, “A horde of youkai ripped through here, Wrimo. This is the second village we found like this.”

“Damn,” Wrimo screamed in rage. “What bastard started the cursed thing?”

“We do not know but we are going find out and deal with whoever is behind this,” Naruto replied with a gleam of determination shining in his eyes.

Ryang whispered, “You will get the ones responsible, Naruto nii-san?”

“Yeah, kit, I will,” he replied.

“Good,” Ryang stated.

Wrimo lifted a horn that had been hanging at his side and blew two short notes. One-minute later two large black cats entered the area. Their shoulders came up to Naruto’s head. They eyed Naruto and Yaone carefully before they blurred and transformed into forms that are more human. In the place of the humongous cats were two female neko youkai. They both had long inky black hair and green slit eyes, porcelain skin and slightly pointed ears. The one on the right had three light purple slashes across each cheek and a silver snowflake on her forehead. The other had light blue slashes on each cheek as well as a silver snowflake on her forehead. This one on the right was wearing a skin tight, royal blue one-piece outfit. The one on the left was wearing a skin tight, royal purple one-piece outfit. Wrimo said, “The one on the right is Cheemo. I warn you right now that she is a little hellcat. Her sister is Roy.”

Yaone smiled and said, “I remember Roy. When she was little, she used to chase mice all the time. Also when she got really excited about something she tended to chase her own tail and rabbit kick herself in the face.”

Roy blushed and whined, “Lady Yaone that was a long time ago. I’ve out grown that now.”

Naruto chuckled and then Tim arrived in a puff of smoke. “Tadpole, the big guy says to wait her for the son of the minor lord that governs this area for him. The son’s name is Jon and he is a member of the White Dog Clan,” Tim informed them.

“Thanks, Tim,” Naruto murmured.

“Anytime, tadpole,” Tim responded and then left with a loud pop and large cloud of smoke.

“Another dog,” Cheemo murmured sulkily.

“Get over it, Cheemo. We do live in the West after all,” Roy stated.

Cheemo grumbled under her breath for a few minutes before she quieted down. Ten minutes later another youkai stepped into the clearing. It was obviously Jon because he had the typical ice white hair and gold eyes found in the White Dog Clan. His white hair was long and held back in a high ponytail at the back of his head. The two stripes on his cheeks were a pale red and he had a blue circle on his forehead instead of a crescent moon like Yaone. He wore a black hakama with a dark blue haori with gold seals scattered across the fabric and it was tied with a black obi. On his feet was a pair of black sandals. He carried a katakama yari. He bowed gracefully to Yaone and said, “Lady Yaone, I am Yuki Jon.”

“Welcome to the party, Jon. This is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto,” she pointed to Naruto before continuing. “The fur ball on his shoulder is Ryang. The Minotaur is Wrimo. The two nekos are Cheemo and Roy.”

Jon bowed slightly in their direction and said, “It is an honour to meet you all.”

“Jon, have you been briefed on what is going on,” Naruto asked.

“Yes, Naruto I have,” Jon replied.

“Good,” Yaone growled. “Let us move out. Cheemo, Roy led the way. Let’s sniff out this bastard!”

Roy and Cheemo nodded and shifted back to their true forms. The two of them raced swiftly out of the village. The rest of the group of determined warriors swiftly followed them out of the destroyed village of Araimel.


*****

For the next couple of days they swiftly followed the trail of destruction. Only pausing to eat and sleep. The group began talking to each other over their meals, getting to know one another. Yaone and Jon seemed to really hit if off and Naruto could see a potential romance between the two forming. On the third day of the chase Cheemo and Roy said that the horde’s scent was shifting and it was more than likely that the end of the trail was near.

One hour later the group found the end of the trail of destruction. It led to a dark, forbidding castle. Naruto looked up at the castle, cocked one golden eyebrow, and asked, “Does this seem cliché to anybody else?”

Wrimo looked down at his flaming quill which hung off his belt and flicked his flaming tail before he said, “Yes, yes it is very cliché. Every medieval type youkai bent on world domination always seems to be attracted to the dark, forbidden castle sitting in the middle of no where.”

“Uh huh,” Cheemo and Roy said in unison as they bobbed their heads vigorously.

“Narako always seemed to be attracted to this type of real-estate,” Yaone murmured as she remembered her mother’s stories about her parents arch nemesis.
John leaned on his katakama yari and said, “Yeah, youkai villains do often seem to go for all the clichés. He or she will probably have an evil maniacal laugh as well.”

“Mwah ha ha ha ha! Mwah ha ha ha ha! Mwah ha ha ha ha! Mwah ha ha ha ha!”

They looked at each other as the dark, evil maniacal laughter echoed around them. “Jon,” Naruto groaned. “You just had to say it didn’t you?”

Jon flushed a little and muttered, “Sorry.”

“Alright, enough of this crap,” Yaone growled irritably. “Show yourself, you fucker! I am not in the mood for this shit!”

“If you insist,” a dark, cool voice said from the nearby forest.

A group of nine individuals stepped out of the forest. The obvious leader of the group was flanked by two beautiful female youkai. The other six were ranged behind the first three. The leader was eight feet tall with long, magenta hair that fell loosely around him. Most of his hair was held back from his face by a matte black metal headband but some long strands of hair framed his face. His eyes were blue but for a moment seemed to shift to a reddish gold before shifting back to their former icy blue. In his left pointed ear, he wore two matte black hoops. He wore a dark blue vest with two buckles that were left hanging open to display a broad, heavily muscled chest and stomach and a large, red, round jewel set on a silver disk hanging from a silver cord that hung from his thick neck. His massive corded arms were wearing gloves and had fabric wrapped in the same dark blue material of his vest. The wrap left only his fingers and the top part of his biceps showing.

His pants were also the same dark blue fabric and were loose and baggy. The pants were held up by a wide blue sash that hung from his waist in loose folds and the ends trailed to his feet. On his massive feet were black boots with a dark purple stripe going up the center and two red jewels set on each side. The boots had pointed toes and came up to mid-calf on him. He carried a five-foot long broadsword. The hilt was pitch black with strange designs etched into the metal and the hilt was topped by another red jewel. The hand guard where the hilt met blade was shaped into diamonds meeting in the center of the blade. In the center of each diamond, there was a smaller diamond that had a chip of sapphire embedded in the center.

The female on the left had long, loose blue-green hair and eyes. Her pointed ears had simple silver hoops adorning them. She wore a red, Chinese dress with black spandex pants underneath. Slouchy, brown leather boots that went to her ankles were on her feet. Strapped to one thigh was a light brown weapons pouch.

The female on the right had long, black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore her hair in an elaborate style. She had two braids that looped up and around a bun at the back of her head. An elegant hairpiece surrounded the bun and was held in place by many jewelled pins. Two pieces of hair framed the sides of her face and the hair hat was not in the braid or bun flowed down her back and was loosely tied back with a purple bow. Long, dangling earrings adorned with tiny pearls hung from her earlobes. Around her neck was a choker of milky white pearls. She wore an elaborate purple kimono with the hems and lapels edged in gold fabric. The sleeves were long and flowed down to her knees and the obi matched the hems and lapels of her kimono. At her waist, she carried a simple, sheathed long sword.

The rest of the leaders companions were a group of young males. The first male had shoulder length, black hair and blue eyes. He wore a simple brown hakama and haori tied with a black obi and black boots that went up to mid calf. He carried an elegant, long sword sheathed at his side. The second male had long, black hair held back in a bun, which was wrapped, in brown fabric and blue eyes. He looked like an older version of the first male. He also wore a simple brown hakama and haori that went to his knees, which was tied with a black obi, and black boots that went up to mid-calf. The next male had shoulder length silver hair and silver pupil-less eyes. He wore royal purple pants and undershirt. Over top of that, he wore an elaborate dark blue over-shirt with gold designs along the hems the front of the shirt ended at his waist the back of the shirt fell to his knees. A dark blue sash was tied around his waist, he wore black ankle boots, and he carried no weapons.

The fourth male had long, brown hair and emerald green eyes. His bangs covered half of his face from view. He wore a black shirt with blue pants topped by a blue haori held open with black leather belt with a silver buckle. On his feet were a pair of dark blue boots that went to mid-calf and he carried a long sword sheathed at his side. The fifth male had shoulder length black hair, black eyes; chestnut coloured skin and harshly chiselled features. His formed was draped from his shoulders to his feet in an enveloping black cloak. No weapon could be seen. The final male was all in black. He wore baggy, black pants, a loose, black, long sleeved shirt, black boots and a black cloak with a hood. His face was covered by a black mask and all that could be seen of his face was purple eyes and two strands of black hair framing them. On his back, he carried a metallic black container.

“Who are you?” Yaone growled aggressively.

“My name is Majeh. The two ladies are both known as Dohwa. The one on the right is simply Dohwa the one on the left is Baik Dohwa. The first male is Chung Poong the one beside him is his older brother Chung Hae. The third male is . . . Baby. The fourth is Young. The fifth is Hunter. The sixth is Samhuk,” Majeh said pointing to each one of his companions. “And you are?”

“I am Taisho Yaone,” she replied.

“Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.”

“Cheemo.”

“Roy.”

“Wrimo.”

“Yuki Jon.”

“Well,” Majeh said, “It is a pleasure to meet you. I guess it is time for us to dance, yes?”

**********


Those who reviewed, Thanks!

chineseartist: FYI, King of Hell wasn't discontinued by Tokyopop. King of Hell, like Naruto, is still an ongoing manga. They just had to wait till the two creators got a few volumes ahead before brining out any new volumes. Volume 23 is slated to be released at the end of this month.