Spirited Away
Chapter 1: Lost
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Attack on Titan, Naruto or any of the characters.
The ground was soft, and he could feel the sun beating down on his aching body. Blearily he opened his eyes, putting a hand over his face to provide some cover from the smoldering heat of the sun.
He was greeted with the sight of thick tree tops, the sweet summer breeze ruffling the leaves. The sight roused something within him, it looked somewhat familiar.
Slowly, he willed his body into an upright position, leaning on his hands for support.
"Ugh… where am I…?"
He inspected his state of clothing. His jacket was torn and tattered, pants torn off a bit at the ankles. Mud and grime was soaked into the back of his clothes, where he'd lain on the ground.
In the corner of his eyes, he caught movement near the bushes. A deer, he realized and a picture of a pineapple haired teen popped into his mind. Is this close to the Nara compound?
He rubbed the back of his head, wincing slighty at the dull throbbing pain.
He got up on his legs, eyeing his surroundings more carefully.
Cerulean blue eyes observed the forestry in silent fascination, enraptured by the beautiful sight of greenery. But what caught his attention was the size of the trees. They were humongous! Looming over him like giants, casting great shadows both far and wide.
Yet again, he felt a tingling sensation of familiarity at the sight before him. Then it hit him. The Forest of Death. That was where he'd seen the like before. This forest looked oddly similar to the one in the second stage of the chuunin exams. At the same time, the atmosphere was somewhat different.
Kneeling down onto his right knee, he placed his index and middle finger on the ground. The familiar feeling of warmth enveloping him as he started to build up his already depleted chakra reserves. He sent a miniscule amount through his arm and into the ground, warmth leaving as soon as the chakra left his body. Like a drop of water hitting the ocean's surface, a wave streaked through the terrain.
He raised a brow in mild surprise "Huh? That's weird"
The pulse of energy hadn't picked up any readings of people nearby, not even wildlife.
His gaze shifted towards where he'd seen the deer moments earlier. Its presence was still there, he could even see the outline of its form somewhat in the distance, napping at some berries growing in the shrubberies.
This was indeed strange. It was common knowledge that all living—breathing—creatures needed chakra to live. No matter how miniscule the amount; it was necessary.
He recounted what he knew about chakra. Each person's chakra was different and as such gave off a unique chakra signature. It was essentially like a fingerprint. He also knew that chakra signatures were passed on genetically, allowing one to identify people of the same clan. Absorbing DNA from various people could alter the composition of one's chakra signature, as mixing various signatures created a whole new one. But never had he heard of cases where chakra was completely absent.
He rubbed his forehead in exasperation. These thoughts were leading him nowhere and could wait until he got home. There were more important matters at hand.
Coating the soles of his feet with a shrill layer of chakra, he ran up one of the trees intending to get a better grasp of his current whereabouts.
Upon reaching the top, he peered out over the horizon, the expanse of the forestry going on for miles and miles around him with not a single village or sign of civilization nearby.
"Damn" He bit his lip in slight frustration.
This wasn't Konoha, not at all. He knew every the layout of Konoha and its surroundings like the back of his hand. He'd spent most of his young life running about the forests and exploring. But if this wansn't Konoha, then where the hell had he ended up?
He jumped down from his spot to land on the soft ground, while thinking about his current predicament.
One way would be to simply choose a direction and head that way until he met on someone. He would then ask for directions to Konoha and get the hell home.
He lifted his hand to his chin in silent contemplation. Was this the best option though? He'd been called out on his shortsightedness on numerous occasions, and it would often get him into trouble.
He shook his head and made up his mind.
A few hours of walking and he'd finally made it to the outskirts of the forest. He'd tried to run while channeling chakra, but for some reason his chakra reserves were unusually low. Deciding it would be best to let himself rest a bit, he'd settled for just walking.
What he'd found upon exiting the forest was quite disappointing. A few abandoned houses at the foot of the forest, and plain grassy fields as far as the eye could see.
Curiously enough, the houses seemed to have been abandoned in a rush. Broken glass strewn about on the ground, wood, broken and splintered, and for some reason, there were holes in the roof tops.
The architecture in itself was old. Outdated by Konoha standards. One would rarely see such structures in the elemental nations—mostly the poor regions.
It piqued his interest and he decided to approach a house.
Placing a gentle hand on the door, he pushed, the door creaking as it opened.
"Hello?" He said upon entering. "Anyone here?"
No reply came and he made his way through the through the corridor to examing the interior, while trying to not be too noisy.
Rubble from the broken rooftop lay scattered on the ground. Some tattered clothing, books, and toys. It was dusty, to say the least. Whatever had happened, had happened some time ago.
He studied what he believed to be the living room, sun peering down through the window, lighting the room in a yellowish hue. His eyes danced over every nook and cranny, taking in everything. Exploring a foreign place like some detective was thrilling to say the least.
His exploration came to a sudden halt however, when a glistening object caught his vision.
In the far end of the room, near one of the windows, there was a shelf. It looked to be on the verge of falling apart and on it sat a little frame, half lit by the sun and half overshadowed.
He picked it up, careful not to damage it.
The frame contained a drawing of a woman, and what was presumably her husband. She was pregnant by the looks of it, easily discernable by the bulging of her stomach. Most likely the ones who'd lived here.
"A drawing, huh? This place really is old" He stared at the picture for a second and placed it back.
He needed more information. He needed to know where exactly he was. What part of Fire country was he in now? Was he even in Fire country at all? And what was with this place, anyway? It gave off such a wierd ambiance.
Thump!
His thoughts cut off abruptly and body froze at the sudden noise reverberating through the ground; house shaking in the slightest and dust jumping from the motion. His spine went ramrod straight.
Thump!
The earth shook in a rhythmic fashion and his instincts as a shinobi took over. Something big was approaching, or at least very heavy by the sound of it. Couldn't be a human. Then what? Maybe a summon? No, couldn't be. He couldn't feel any chakra signatures outside. Wait, nothing had chakra here, anyways. Damn, what was he to do?
Thump! It sounded yet again, louder this time.
It's approaching me or at least coming my way, he thought. He eyed his surroundings quickly. He couldn't stay in this house; it would limit his area of movement. He had to get out fast, before he got caged in.
Thump!
He dashed for the door, taking a few calming breaths and preparing for whatever was waiting for him outside.
3, 2, 1!
He slammed the door open, movement a blur as he strengthened his muscles with chakra.
…And promptly froze in his steps, his eyes wide in utter astonishment and jaw dropping at the implausible sight before him.
"What the fuck?!"
Some distance away stood what could only be described as a gruesome beast. Like something out of a horror story.
He eyed the creature in front of him. It had long lanky arms that reached down to its knees. The stomach was bulging outwards while the chest was skinny and disheveled, ribs pressing outwards enough to be visible.
It had an oversized head with black hair and sunken, beady eyes—zeroed in on his position. It's facial expression was contorted into a viscous snarl, baring a maw of yellowish teeth while saliva trickled down its chin.
The damn being was enormous, looking to be around eight or nine meters tall! But that wasn't the most surprising feature. No, the most surprising feature was that it looked so very human.
The earth cracked under its feet, footsteps thundering as it strode towards him.
"What the, —Who are you!" he yelled after regaining his senses, but it just continued while ignoring his question.
"O-oi! I asked you who you are! And what is this place!"
Thump!
It came to a stop a short distance ahead, looming over him with a cold gaze that never left his form.
"Hey! I asked you a question!"
The monster grunted and slowly raised one of its lanky arms in an awkward angle.
He tensed and eyes narrowed slightly. Huh? what was it doing?
Suddenly, it swung the gangly arm in a wide arc heading straight for his position.
SMASH! The arm crashed into where he had been standing a moment ago. The collision destroyed the very earth, creating spiderweb-like cracks and throwing dust into the air, somewhat clouding the area.
He gaped at the crater situated where he'd stood previously with wide eyes.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?" He raged, fist brought up in a threatening manner.
"RRAAHHH" it grunted and gurgled in disappointment, ogling its empty hand. The oversized head turning to look at him once more.
Raising another arm, it tried to pummel him again and again, while he dodged over and over, his ire rising with each attempt.
They was a sloppy attempt at hitting him, of course, movements slow and easily predictable. He was a trained shinobi. The act of reading the enemies every movement to anticipate their next course of action, had been a vital part of his training.
"OI! CUT THAT OUT!"
The giant continued his tireless assault.
"Last chance dipshit! Who are you and what is this place!"
…
…
"… AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!"
Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with this place? Dumb ass naked giants with no genitalia running around trying to crush him; had the world gone completely mad?!
When the naked giant ignored him in favor of playing whack-a-mole, he decided to get serious.
"Tch! You leave me no choice…" Placing his hands in a familiar cross hand-seal, he shouted. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A clone puffed into existence and he placed one hand out with the palm facing upwards before the clone got to work.
The shadow clone technique was a forbidden jutsu created by the second Hokage. It allowed the user to create one or more copies of themselves. Unlike the illusions made by the clone jutsu, the shadow clones were physically real and possessed the same clothing, damage and transformations as the user upon creation. A replica was completely indistinguishable from the original, even to the prized doujutsus of the Hyuuga and Uchiha.
Chakra started swirling in his hand, coalescing into a blue ball of destructive energy and making the wind pick up around him.
Completely serious, he dashed forward while at the same time dodging another of the giant's futile attempts at striking him down.
"RASENGAN!" He roared and slammed his Jutsu into the beasts bulging stomach. The flesh ringing itself into an inwards vortex, flesh rupturing at the contact with raw concentrated energy and blood sprayed all over the clearing.
"GRRRaAHhh!" The monster screamed, stumbling backwards to land on its rear.
"You ready to talk now?" He queried smugly while landing on the soft, red stained ground.
Abruptly, steam started pouring out of the wound and light in all the various colors pooled around the flesh, slowly recreating lost tissue at a rapid pace.
His smug smile dropped into a scowl. "… you have to be shitting me; it can fucking regenerate?!"
"Ok, then, we'll have to do it another way" He turned to his clone. "Get some paper tags, we're going for its legs" The clone nodded and reached into the holster on his back.
If you can't defeat it; immobilize it.
The lumbering form tried to get up, but he was faster. He rushed at great speeds and applied the paper tags to the Achilles tendons—the largest and strongest tendon in the body. Focusing the tough band of fibrous tissue connecting the calf muscles to the heel bone would leave the humanoid beast incapable of moving. Despite its strength, the Achilles tendon was extremely vulnerable.
Katsu!
Boom!
Flesh and blood exploded outwards in a hail of gore, blood staining the grass a crimson red. Some splotches of blood hit his clothes and he wiped it off in mild disgust.
"Graarrhh!" came to consequent blood curdling scream. Now, with no feet to stand on, the creature fell to the ground. The impact sending tremors through the landscape.
However, there seemed to be more to it than just plain regeneration—the stumps where the feet had once been connected to the legs, were re-growing at an alarming rate.
He growled. What the hell was he supposed to do. Rasengan wasn't enough to pierce the giant's thick skin, and even if he pierced it, the wound would just regenerate—even lost limbs!
And what was up with this regeneration anyways. It couldn't have been a Jutsu, the thing hadn't used any hand signs, nor had there been any signs of chakra build up.
Ok, I didn't want to have to do this, but I've got no choice. Gotta go for the head next.
The clone got to work again, creating another rasengan. Once again he charged the downed form of the giant, whom was struggling to crawl after its prey due to its still regenerating ligaments. He thrust his rasengan into right between the eyes with a furious grunt.
The giant gurgled and screamed. Blood oozing from its shredded face.
But to his dismay, steam started billowing out from the wound.
Damn it all! This was like Kabuto all over again!
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
His ears twitched to the sound of more footsteps and his head whipped around to be greeted by another giant—This one 12-13 meters by the looks of it.
"Great, just my luck…" He muttered in annoyance.
This just wouldn't go. He couldn't keep wasting chakra fighting these things. He needed to know their weakness to kill them off or find a way to immobilize them permanently, else whatever he did would be pointless.
Decision made, he barreled for the forest he'd been in earlier. He could lose them there, or deal with them some other way if the need came. Either way, it was the best option for now.
AN: Hello!
So, this is my second fanfiction, and one that I'm very excited about writing. I've been itching to write a Naruto-AttackOnTitan crossover for some time now, and this is it.
Though, a bit short, I've put in a lot of thought and effort in writing it, so I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Also, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of it and what I might improve on :)
~Zenix404~