Naruto: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter 2: Lost

Walking down the road towards an unknown destination, Kai was still attempting to get used to the way that everything looked now as he felt disorientated to say the least. Also, while he figured out that he hadn't actually turned into a skeleton, he'd discovered that he was quite smaller than when he'd gone to sleep and both his pants and his shirt didn't seem to want to stay on him, causing him to have to hold them up with his hands while he walked. However, he didn't even know where he'd gotten the linen clothing from as he'd never owned such cloths in his life. And because it was to big for him, Kai's progress down the road was slow going as he started wondering just where he was even headed.

Hoping that there was some sort off settlement nearby that could help him, Kai continued his slow progress while attempting not to let his pants fall down. Though while his progress was slow, it did give him time to slightly adjust to the new visuals which still felt completely strange as he was literally walking around in an anime world in which he could freely look in any direction that he chose.

It took him a few hours but eventually Kai grew used to seeing everything as it was, and all the while he had been travelling down the road that led across the side of the mountain and hoping that he would soon run across some travelers or something. Though there didn't seem to be anyone on the road save for him before he finally saw something rather than the plain brown rock that had the scenery had thus far consisted of. However, the change wasn't that welcome because it consisted of a heavy layer of clouds passing the mountains, creating a misty barrier that didn't allow Kai to see though it for more than five feet around him in any direction. He could hardly even see the road, and Kai's progress slowed even more as he knew that one wrong step could send him plummeting off of the side of the cliff and to certain death. Though that appeared to be the least of Kai's worries at the moment as something suddenly fell from the sky directly in front of him, and he looked down at his feet to see that it was some kind of knife that was stuck with its blade down in the road in front of him.

"Hold there and state your purpose! We won't hesitate to kill you if you don't comply!" Someone yelled from out in the mist, and Kai stumbled backwards and tripped over his shoes as three more of the knives were thrown all around him.

"W-What?! Who's there?!" Kai yelled out in surprise before looking around him as several tall shadows seemed to surround him in the clouds.

"It's just a brat..." One of the shadows said before Kai suddenly felt someone's hand reach and and grab the back of his shirt, lifting him up into the air while he still desperately attempted to keep his pants up. "Hey brat, what's your family name?"

"Eh?! I- Uh..." Kai stuttered in surprise, not feeling comfortable at all now that he was surrounded by giants that could so easily pick him up with only one hand. And as he was so surprised, the fact that he had somehow grown smaller never even crossed his mind as he attempted to answer the man's question.

"Those clothes are a little big for you, aren't they? Where did you get them?" A nearby woman asked, and again Kai couldn't seem to speak as these people probably thought that he'd stolen his cloths, and who would possibly believe him when he told them that he'd not only shrunk but was seeing everything in anime vision?!

"Hey! Can't you guys see that you're scaring the poor kid?!" Another woman spoke up from somewhere, and soon one of the shadows moved in front of Kai and picked him up by the arms before gently setting him down on the ground. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"W-who are you people?" Kai asked, and finally the clouds passed so that he could finally see his assailants for who they were. All of them had their faces hidden by light-grey masks with strange headbands on their foreheads. They also had matching white shirts that ended just below their waists, though what Kai noticed more was the bizarre array of weaponry attached to each of them. Swords, daggers, throwing knives and even throwing stars... These people were either incredible ninja role players or-

"We're shinobi from Kumogakure, or the Hidden Cloud Village, if you're more familiar with that name." The woman in front of him answered kindly from behind her mask. "May I ask who you are?"

"Kai... Kai Nazaru." Kai hesitated as something nagged at the back of his mind. His body had changed, the world seemed to have changed and now he was meeting people dressed just like ninja... could it be? "Is this Naruto?"

"Weren't you listening, brat?" One of the other ninjas replied angrily. "We're cloud ninja, and you're on the outskirts of Kumo, The Hidden Cloud Village."

Attempting to remember all of the Naruto episodes that he'd watched so long ago, Konoha had been the Hidden Leaf Village, right? But this seemed to be another village entirely, which meant... he'd somehow gotten stuck in the Naruto Universe? How was that even possible?!

"Do you know where your parents are?" The woman from before asked in a tone that sounded as if she were speaking to a child, though Kai had other things to worry about other than being angry about that.

"No." Kai answered truthfully. He didn't even know where he was at the moment, much less anyone else.

"How about where you're from then?" She asked.

"I-" If this really was the Naruto universe, how would he even begin explaining where he'd come from? Best not to say anything. For now, at least. "I don't know... The last thing I remember is waking up on this road."

"Hmm... amnesia maybe?" The woman asked before she started gently placing her hand all over his head.

"Ow!" Kai suddenly flinched as her hand found a spot on the top of his head that sent pain shooting down his spine.

"A head injury? We'd best get him to the medical facility." The woman looked at the others in concern before she moved quickly and Kai suddenly found himself in her arms as she started carrying him down the road.

"Hey!" He complained.

"Don't worry, we just need to get your head looked at as soon as possible, alright?" The woman assured him. "Just stay still and try not to move as much as possible."

Not sure how to respond, Kai reluctantly let himself be carried, though he didn't know where he was being carried to as another cloud had moved in to obscure his view. However, that didn't last for long before it ended and soon an entirely different view than before was shown to him. The mountains were the same, however, now buildings started appearing one after another, each either built into or around each mountain with a large blue building built into the largest of the peaks. Paths of different elevations and stone bridges were visible below, and Kai looked down with his mouth agape as he'd never seen any city like this one, even on Earth.

"Amazing, isn't it?" The woman asked with an amused tone, and all Kai could do was nod silently before the heavy feeling from before suddenly returned, hitting him like a landslide as it almost seemed like his eyes were forced shut. He almost instantly lost control of his body as his arms and legs fell limp, and while Kai thought that perhaps the woman carrying him was calling out his name, he couldn't tell for sure as he slipped unconscious.