A/N: Presenting the longly awaited...Beyblade x Naruto story! (applaude) I bet you haven't read one of this before. And to those who have not watched Naruto, don't worry. There'll be guidelines at the bottom of each chapter to explain their language. Like the meanings/names of the weapons they use and etc etc..Btw today's my birthday (I feel so old...) so consider this my present to you wonderful fans out there!
So on with the story!
Chapter 1-One bright sunny day...
The sunlight barely broke through the dawn, chasing away the night as it rose into the sky. Its gentle rays reached across the land warming all living things to its core. The cheery chirps of birds echoed through the fresh morning as the winged creatures flew from tree to tree and across the brightening sky. At this time, the greenery of mountain Akina were fresh with dew. The breeze was sweet with the scent of nature's breath/ Its surroundings were peaceful, not tampered by human touch.
"MY LEGS ARE KILLING ME!"
That was until now. The quiet serene was broke by a loud wail and soon the soft grunts of exhaustion that belong to five teenagers tugging up the mountain's dirt path. Behind them was the owner of the whiny voice, a navy-haired boy. Pausing on the path, his teammates glanced back at him and a blonde-haired kid with freckles shook his head at him.
"Honestly Tyson, you could wake up the entire neighborhood." Max Tate said.
"I think he already did, Max." the only female of the group said, wincing from the boy's earlier outburst. It was only eight in the morning and Jade Raven already had a mild headache due to Tyson's constant complaining. Carelessly, she brushed back a rebellious strand of raven hair out of her emerald green eyes as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder.
"Get that lazy butt of yours up and moving, Tyson." the hard cold voice of Kai Hiwatari snapped. Their seventeen-year old leader stood slightly ahead of them, glaring impatiently back at them.
Tyson was moving step by step forward with excruciating slowness to catch up with the group. It wasn't hard to see why Kai's patience was wearing thin. It wasn't even his idea in the first place to have this camping trip on Mount Akina. The chairman of the BBA had insisted the Bladebreakers to have a training camp in the mountain away from human distractions as part of their preparation for the up-coming World Championships although Tyson begs to differ…
"Kai, can we please take a breather now?" Tyson wailed.
"We're breathing. We are always breathing."
"Ha-ha. Very funny." Tyson grumbled.
"Wow. Kai just made a joke." Jade taunted as she looked at the slate-haired teen.
He glared at her but she was not intimidated. Very few people knew how to defect his death glares and she was proud to declare herself one of those very few people. Sure, he was pretty intimidating with blue triangles that marked his cheeks and the dark jacket, shirt and jeans he wore. The white scarf around his neck only added to his silent graceful posture as one of the best Beybladers in the world. The rest of course being his own teammates and a several few he had acknowledged as professionals. No, clothes weren't what made him the cold, almost untouchable leader that he was.
To Jade, it was his attitude, the way he carried himself with a confidence no one could. It was his very presence, the cold steel in his eyes that could freeze even the toughest bladers.
That was what made him the Bladebreakers' captain and not Tyson. Speaking of Tyson…
"My feet are aching to no ends!" Dragoon's owner groaned, collapsing on his knees.
Well aware of how close his leader was to killing Tyson judging by the way his left eyebrow was twitching dangerously, Ray moved to Tyson, offering a hand. "Come on, Tyson. It can't be much further. I'm sure the campsite is just around the corner."
"That's what you said the last time." Tyson complained but accepted the raven-haired neko-jinn's hand anyway. He allowed Ray to pull him up and continued tugging slowly behind them.
At the rate he was going, we would probably reach the campsite by noon, Jade thought.
They turned at a bent and continued walking for another ten minutes in silence with the exception of Tyson before they finally came to a stop at a spacious clearing. The rush of running water was loud and clear through the trees. This was clearly the campsite.
"You can drop the act now, Tyson. We're here." Max announced.
"Yes!" shrugging off his bag, Tyson made a dash for the river only to be held back by the cuff of his jacket. Looking over his shoulder, he glared at the person who dare interrupt his sprint to the river for a time of fun. "What's your problem, Kai!"
Kai released the shorter boy and crossed his arms in front of him. "We're not here on vacation. We're here to train."
"What for?" Tyson whined. "We're already the best! We're the Bladebreakers! The World Champions!"
"If you want to keep the title, you'll have to work for it." Kai retorted impatiently. "Now get to work."
Tyson made a face. "Fun sucker."
Nevertheless they got to work, setting up their tents while Ray started on the campfire to boil the river water that will serve as their water supply for the next few days. Max and Kai gathered firewood to feed the fire while Jade removed the canned food and utensils from their bags. Tyson's job was to lunge buckets of water from the river to the site. Not without complaining.
By noon, he sat on the ground, moaning about how his arms and back hurt. Kai and Max returned with firewood in their arms and while Kai scowled in irritation at the navy-haired boy, Max broke into laughs at the sight of his friend. Tyson was a mess. The water had splashed from the buckets onto his jeans and made him look as though he had wetted his pants. The sight of a red-face Tyson protesting on the top of his lungs only drew more laughter from Max.
"This is so unfair." Tyson grumbled. "Why does Kenny gets to stay at home while we have to do this stupid camping thing?"
Max shrugged, still barely containing his giggles. He wiped away a laughter tear. "Beats me. It's probably one of Mr. Dickenson's weird ideas again. You know he likes to do this sort of thing to us."
"Yeah." Ray said, pausing a moment to catch a breath. Starting a fire without nothing but a flint and a piece of rock was harder than it looked. "Remember that time in America he sent us out to the middle of nowhere with that Antonio kid?"
Tyson nodded his head vigorously at the memory. "And remember that time he also made us run all over Europe?"
As the others bobbed their heads, Jade called out. "Hey, you guys can go down memory lane later. We have a problem now."
Sighing, Tyson looked over at her. "What is it?"
"We don't have any knives or anything sharp to open the canned food." she said.
"What!" Tyson gasped, eyes widening in horror. "No food? For the next four days? How can I survive?"
"Can't we use our Beyblades to open the cans?" Max asked thoughtfully. "I'm sure our attack rings are sharp enough…"
But Jade shook her head. "Not unless you want to be eating off the ground."
"Who's the evil genius who is supposed to have packed the knives?" Tyson demanded. "Huh? Tell me so that I may cobble him…!"
"I believe that 'evil genius' would be you, Tyson." Kai said dryly. "We told you to pack the knives yesterday if that brain of your is still functioning enough to remember."
"Me? I would not forget such an important…." Tyson's words drifted off as he suddenly recalled being told to pack the knives during the meeting at the BBA headquarters and on the way home, he had been challenged to a Beybattle which he gladly accepted. All thoughts of packing the knives were abandoned. When he noticed the murderous glares of his friends, he laughed weakly. "Oops?"
"I would kill you now if I had those knives." Jade growled.
"But if you had those knives now, you wouldn't have to kill me…hehe…"he swallowed.
Max piped in anxiously. "I don't suppose any of you would happen to have a can opener with you right now, would you?"
Ray shook his head. "Nope. Left mine back at the restaurant in Hong Kong."
"So what're we going to do now without a knife?"
Kai spoke up, his voice holding a tone Tyson did not like. "Here's an idea. You will go, find one and bring it back here."
As if Tyson's eyes couldn't get any wider or his voice couldn't get any louder, they did when he exclaimed. "What? Are you nuts? We're on the top of a friggin' high mountain! You don't expect me to find a knife in the middle of here!"
"That's the general idea." Kai said sarcastically. "I suggest you start walking now."
"But Kai…"realizing he wasn't going to be able to appeal to his captain, he turned to the others. "Come on, guys. You can't let him make me walk all the way down just to find a knife."
"Well," Max began carefully. "It's your fault and you should bare the consequences."
"I think I already have. How can I survive without food?" he groaned. "I shall die of hunger."
"Oh, shut up, Tyson and start moving." Jade said, whacking him over his head. "You're not the only one to suffer here too, you know."
Finally he managed to pick himself up and was slowly walking down the dirt path muttering about unfair teammates and the world being against him. Once he was out of sight, Max turned back to Kai.
"Don't you think that was a little too harsh?"
"He needs to learn how to take responsibilities seriously." Kai said. He dug a hand into his jean pocket and pulled out a Swiss Army knife from within. Casually, he flipped through it until he found what he needed.
"You mean you had that with you all the while and you didn't tell Tyson?" Ray asked astonished.
"Hey, we're talking about Tyson here." Jade said. She produced her own Swiss army knife from her pocket and proceeded in opening the cans. "You know how…'absent-minded' he can be. It's best to come prepared."
"Oh." Max nodded, understanding now their logic.
Ray frowned down at the half burnt wood that was supposed to be on fire seconds ago. "Um…would you guys happen to have a lighter with you?" he asked hopefully.
"Stupid Kai."
Chanting that line under his breath repeatedly, Tyson stomped through the woods, not even looking for what he was supposed to be looking for or where he was walking. So obsessed he was in his anger that he didn't realize that he had trailed off the original path and wandered into the woods or did he notice an up-rooted root in his path. His foot caught onto it and sent him stumbling forward on his knees. A yelp of pain escaped him when his arm bruised against the course ground.
"Ow…" he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his arm. "What, so I can't even walk around without some stupid tree trying to kill me? Good thing the others are not here."
He could easily imagine what they would say right now. 'Can't you even walk properly without tripping, Tyson?' or 'Typical Tyson. Can't even do something like walk right.'
Angrily he stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. Then he glanced around, realizing now he was no longer on the path. Great. Now, I'm lost, he thought. He started to turn to head back in the direction he came when his eye caught something, half hidden within the bushes between the roots of a large tree with its branches hanging low. Curiosity over-ruling his priorities, he bent and pushed aside the leaves of the bushes, revealing an old wooden box.
Judging by the creepers that had grown all over it over the years, it was an old shrine. The wood was dark brown and tarnished from age and the rain. It was the size of Tyson's head but what drew Tyson's attention was the black knife that held the doors of the wooden shrine closed. The hilt of the knife was wrapped in a red cloth and its blade width widened from hilt to the center and narrowed from there on. The rest of the blade disappeared into the wood of the shrine. And from the end of the knife, tied to its handle with a thin tread was a faded red rectangle paper. The words were so faded that he barely make it out.
Dismissing it as nothing, he wrapped his hands around the hilt of the knife and with one quick pull of his arm, he yanked it out. As he did, the red paper broke from its tread and fell to the ground. He ignored it.
"Hah! Let's see what they have to say when they see this!" Tyson declared triumphantly, turning the knife in his palm.
Spinning on his heel, he turned and started making his way back to camp. In his eagerness and excitement, he failed to notice the faint dark glow emitting from between the cracks of the slightly open shrine.
The sudden change in the weather was very peculiar. One minute it was bright and sunny, the next dark clouds came into view associated by the sudden strong breeze of the wind. The fire Ray had finally succeeded to lit was blow out, its flames dying in the wind. As it turned out, they did not have a lighter with them so he had to do it manually; through flint and rock. Frustrated, Ray gave up and glared at the sky angrily. His angry gaze soon faded into a curious look as his senses flared. His animal side was very sharp in detecting a change in the weather and he had not sensed this storm coming. His keen nostrils tested the air and he frowned deeply.
There's something…off about this weather…, he thought.
"Looks like rain." Max commented.
"More like a storm." Jade said dryly.
"We better move everything inside." Kai said, peering at the sky. There was something strange about the way the weather had sneaked up on them without any of them realizing. Moreover, Dranzer was restless within his pocket. Kai could feel the brush of its mind against his, warning him of…something…
"Hey, guys!" a loud familiar voice hollered. "Look what I found!"
They looked up as Tyson emerged into the clearing, holding something black in his hand. He skidded to a stop in front of them, his eagerness not allowing him to sit down and catch a breath. Opening his palm, he showed them his finding.
"TA-DA!" he announced proudly. "A knife! See? Told you I could find one."
"No, you didn't." Max corrected. "Kai made you, remember?"
"Whatever. The deal is-Hey!"
Jade grabbed the hilt of the knife and studied it carefully. Kai watched her face and noticing the familiarity in her expression, he asked. "You've seen it before?"
She nodded. "It's a ninja dagger. Used for tossing or hand to hand sparring. There can't be ninjas here. So what is one doing here?"
"A ninja knife, eh?" Max grinned. "Cool."
Her eyes narrowed growing serious as she looked at the teen who found the knife. "Tyson? Where did you get this?"
Dragoon's keeper scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Um…somewhere back there." he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder back at the direction he had come from.
"Show me." she ordered.
Excited to show them what he had found along with the knife, Tyson led them down the dirt path and after a few uncertain turns, he found the same place where he had discovered the knife and the shrine. "Check this out." he said, his back turned to the miniature temple as he beckoned at it.
Automatically the others stepped back away from the dark tendrils slipping through the cracks of the shrine and rising towards the sky like smoke. Above them, the sky grew dark slowly and the wind was picking up. Something red in the breeze flew past Kai's view and with quick reflexes, he plucked it out of mid-air and frowned at it.
"What's it, Kai?" Ray asked.
"It's a warning." the slate-haired teen said flatly. Eyes narrowed to make out the words, he read it. "'Here lies the serpent demon, Orochimaru. Do not free his lying soul or the light shall turn to darkness and chaos will reign through Konoha and through out the country.'"
"Way to go, Tyson." Ray said.
"Come on, Ray." Tyson said defensively. "It's just an old shrine. You really believe in all this demon stuff?"
"Tyson, I'm a neko-jinn. Half human, half cat?"
"Oh, yeah." a nervous laugh and shrug was Tyson's way of avoiding an awkward question.
"Who was this Orochimaru and what in the world is Konoha?" Max asked aloud, bringing the conversation back to present.
Instinctively all eyes turned to the person who had more experience with the supernatural than any of them but Jade shook her head. "Don't look at me. Never heard about either one."
Tyson looked at the dagger in Jade's hand. "So what do we do with now?"
Before anyone could answer his question, a shadow casted over them, cloaking them in its darkness. They looked up and stared in amazement and awe as the moon drifted in front of the sun in a steady pace. It happened so quickly, taking them by surprise the same way the change of weather had taken them off-guard as the moon blocked out the sun's warm bright rays and turned their surroundings dark and windy.
The light shall turn to darkness…, Jade wondered. Was this what it meant?
Then once directly in front of the sun, the moon stopped moving. No signs of ending the eclipse. The outer light of the sun shone over the moon, making it look as though a golden ring was afloat in the sky. What Kenny wouldn't give to see this…?
The light shining over the rim of the moon from the sun shone down on them in the form of a distorted circle of gold. They stood in the center of the new-formed circle. As they were watching the eclipse with fascination, no one noticed the black wispy-like tentacles forming a complete shadow of endless black at their feet.
"Hey, guys?" Max called, looking at his blade. "Draciel is acting weird."
Tyson checked on his Dragoon and confirmed that his dragon spirit was throwing a fit too. Ray informed them that Driger wasn't his usual quiet self. Kai didn't have to look at his Beyblade to know how Dranzer was acting. He could sense her and like the others, the phoenix too was worried. He was worried too. This was not natural.
The wind, the eclipse…it wasn't Mother Nature's doing. No. It was something far more powerful than just that and he feel it all around them. Not like what Black Dranzer had given out during the World Championships. No, this was pure evil.
He wondered if anyone else could sense what he sensed. Then he heard his name being whispered and he looked at Jade. She was staring at her Beyblade with a frown on her face and he could see why. Draizer's Bit was glowing but there was a rare urgency in its light. He could sense it in his mind and hers. A warning. It was trying to warn them about something. His frown only deepened.
Without warning the ground beneath them disappeared literally and they were falling. Flailing helplessly as their screams echoed into nothing. Falling…away into an endless darkness that surrounded them…
Then the black vortex winked out of existence along with the teens as though they never ceased to exist.
A/N: And it starts out like any ordinary crossover...It'll get better, I promise! Naruto and the gang will make their appearances in the next chapter. Till then...let me know what you think and keep those reviews pouring in!