Naruto: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter 28: Rebirth

"Become one with fire?" Kai asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Noshii, show him." Bird Gramps ordered, and Noshii immediately flew up into the air a ways before surprisingly diving into the lake of magma around them. Though he didn't stay there for long before he emerged from it again, the fire that his body was giving off seeming to flare slightly before he flew over the platform and landed beside Bird Gramps again.

"Sooo... what exactly was I supposed to see?" Kai asked, wondering if the birds thought that he would be impressed by them diving into lava when they were made of fire in the first place.

"I suppose another example is necessary." Bird Gramps sighed. "I'm sorry, Noshii, but may I?"

"Go ahead. No pain is to great if it means the return of Queen Etna." Noshii replied before he seemed to brace for something, and Kai was wondering just what was going on before Bird Gramps suddenly raised his fist and slammed Noshii to the ground with it. Almost instantly, Noshii's flames went out, revealing the mutilated form of a normal bird with bright-red feathers. However, while Kai had finally found out what the phoenix looked like, he still couldn't believe what had just happened.

"H-hey?! What did you do that for? You killed him!" Kai asked in shock.

"Be quiet and pay attention." Bird Gramps replied, looking out towards a spot in the lake of magma that had a lot of fire blazing over it. And when Kai started looking at it to, he was absolutely shocked as a phoenix flew out of it.

"Do you see now?" Noshii asked as he walked across the ground towards Bird Gramps.

"W-what? But you- I just saw-" Kai stuttered, looking between the new Noshii and the phoenix's former body before the body started turning into ash, shocking Kai even more as it seemed to happen almost immediately. "What the heck was that?!"

"An ability that only we phoenix possess." Bird Gramps replied. "The use of fire to restore our bodies once we die. In other words, Rebirth."

"And now, you will be trying to learn this ability as well." Noshii added.

"I-in the lava?" Kai asked.

"The act of Rebirth is a natural thing." Bird Gramps started explaining. "First of all, you will attempt to make your body adapt to the fire and heat of this place. Then you will practice your control over the element, and finally you will be thrown into the heart of Hinokoku, which holds a flame so fierce that even we phoenix may be burned."

"Say what now?" Kai asked. "Did you guys really send me here to train me or am I some sort of sacrifice?"

"I promise that you are here so that you can train." Bird Gramps laughed. "Now, pay attention because every second counts. First, in order to adapt to fire, you must know it's absolute nature."

"It's absolute nature?" Kai asked.

"Fire is life." Bird Gramps continued. "Just like other forms of life, it can start in an instant, it consumes substance in order to grow and it can end just as quickly as it began. It is energy incarnate, and you must learn to harness that energy if you wish to use it to it's full capabilities. And once you are able to fully understand it and accept it into your very being, Rebirth will be just as natural for you as it is for us."

"Can that really happen in two weeks though?" Kai asked, slightly concerned with the future. Because with the way that they were putting it, he suddenly felt that second degree burns were going to feel like nothing but a tan by the time he was finished.

"There is only one way to find out." Bird Gramps replied before reaching down and placing what looked like a giant water jug down on the ground beside Kai. And when he thought giant, he ment that the jug was a time and a half taller than he was while easily being three times as wide.

"Inside of that bottle is nectar from a fruit that can only be harvested here in Hinokoku." Noshii explained. "It will open both your body and soul to allow the process to become easier. It is also the only liquid here other than magma, so use it whenever you feel parched."

"When you are ready, drink the nectar, take off your cloths and meditate while trying to take the surrounding temperature into your body. And when you begin feeling that you can withstand Hinokoku's natural heat without protection, then we will begin the next phase of the training." Bird Gramps continued explaining. "The cloths will disappear as soon as you start unraveling the wrap on the top of your head, but they will appear again when the cloth is wrapped around your head again, so use it whenever you feel like you are succumbing to the heat."

"Do you understand what you have to do?" Noshii asked.

"Drink the juice, take off my cloths, awaken my inner masochism and try to accept the burn. Got it." Kai confirmed.

"Then I will leave you to it." Bird Gramps nodded once in Kai's direction before floating through the air back towards the cave that the'd come from. However, while Kai had expected to be alone, he was surprised as Noshii laid down on the path leading to the platform so that he could watch Kai from a distance.

"Aren't you leaving to?" Kai asked.

"If it looks like you are about to die, I will do everything in my power to save you." Noshii declared. "After all, you are necessary for the return of our queen."

"Not because we're friends now?" Kai asked teasingly.

"I've already told you that no one here will be your friend." Noshii replied grumpily.

"Oh, don't be like that. I'm a nice guy once you get to know me." Kai laughed slightly before he climbed the bottle and looked inside, suddenly thankful towards Bird Gramps as the guy had left a ladle that was Kai's size at the edge. And now that Kai took it, he dipped it into the bright orange liquid inside before he prepared to move his mask so that he could drink.

"Well... down the hatch." Kai sighed before he quickly removed the cover over his mouth and his lips immediately started to burn from the heat. However, once he started drink it, Kai almost gagged as it tasted exactly like melted butter.

"This can't be healthy." Kai cried before steeling his resolve and drinking even more. And when he did, Kai paused slightly as his stomach started growing warmer. Soon it almost felt hot, though not hot enough to actually burn him before the feeling spread throughout his entire body. When the feeling finally spread to his fingers and toes, Kai breathed deeply through his mask before he climbed back to the ground and prepared himself for the burns that he was most likely going to receive. And while he found himself hesitant to remove his clothing, Kai told himself over and over again that this was so that he could survive.

Reaching up to his head while ignoring the stinging in his veins as the bone shards cut him, Kai clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as his cloths disappeared with a poof of smoke and he immediately he felt the burn of his surroundings. His entire body was being burnt from the heat alone while every breath that he took felt as if his chest were on fire, and Kai persisted for as long as he could stand it before he finally started wrapping the cloth over his head again and his cloths thankfully reappeared. Though now that he'd been in the heat for several minutes, Kai fell forward and started coughing, tasting blood from his lungs before his back started feeling tingly and he looked up to see that Noshii was healing him.

"Your lungs will be both the hardest and most painful part of your body to change." Noshii explained. "I will heal you though it, but please try to focus on them first. Otherwise the rest of the training will be harder for you."

"Thanks..." Kai replied through gasps, closing his eyes again as he felt his lungs begin to hurt less. Before long, he was ready to try again, though he still only lasted for a few minutes before Noshii had to heal him again. And so, Kai's time of both training and pain began as he continuously burned himself to a point that most people would have given up. Though for him, this training was a matter of life and death and he fought through it with sheer determination.