Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
Deep in the depths of the jungles of Madhya Pradesh, India…
Anjali was a humble and devout woman – quiet and demure as society demanded she become to best support her husband. Thankfully, the man she was wed to was a kind and open minded individual – a quality most appreciated since the couple was a duo of roving traders selling spices, fabrics and jewelry (a true husband and wife venture indeed). They had just finished up their rounds selling their wares in a little settlement close by and were just setting up their caravan for the night, with Anjali taking the time to feed her mewling baby boy (he had just begun teething and breastfeeding him was now a gamble on whether he'd worry her poor nipples with his hard gums or not). As the family looked over to the jungle from the roadside they were on, marveling at how the setting sun dipped into the forested mountains, the peaceful scene was interrupted by a savage roar.
Her husband was quick to fall to the fangs and claws of their interloper – a massive Bengal tiger. While his courage in trying to protect his family was admirable indeed, it was all for naught as the jungle cat rent his very flesh from his bones with claws that looked like ebony meathooks. His death was not a quick one, as the animal seemed to revel in the poor man's screams and yells as he felt his bones break and his flesh savaged by the tiger above him, even taking the extra pains to choke the man out slowly as its jaws closed around the man's neck, granting the hapless man a torturous death via asphyxiation.
Anjali was rendered numb with terror – so stricken with fear that she only came to her senses and attempted to run away when the beast looked up to regard her with an amused glance, his sadistic gaze seemingly zeroing in on the wailing child in her arms as he licked his chops, cleaning them of the gore they were slathered in. The mad glint in the tiger's eyes was what compelled her to run for her life, her baby tucked tightly to her bosom, all while the tiger growled in amusement in a grim imitation of a harsh cackle as he watched the defenseless woman run into the jungle. She was hoping to escape his claws but she made one crucial mistake – she ran into the jungle, his domain. Having sealed her fate as the new warmth in his belly, the tiger lazily followed after the woman, luxuriating the scent of fear she seemed to veritably ooze out in her panicked scramble. After all, what cat didn't love playing with their prey?
Scene break…
"Oh great Vishnu preserve me and mine – please do not let that cursed beast find us!" Anjali prayed as she ran for her life, stumbling over some of the undergrowth as she did so. Her son (Mowgli for those curious) had fallen into a deep slumber, all the excitement having tuckered the baby out. Her breaths came out in shuddering gasps, the initial adrenalin that fueled her run now having run out, leaving the poor woman heaving out long gasps, the taste of blood lingering on her tongue. Taking stock of her situation, she quickly came to the grim realization that she wouldn't be able to escape her pursuer.
"Oh my dear son, not even a year into your life and already on the way to becoming an orphan…I must at least save you from the jaws of that tiger!" She said, placing the boy (who was in a small basket) in a secluded little thicket before running in the opposite direction, taking extra care to make as much noise as possible to attract the tiger's attention.
This worked and the little boy's life was spared – however, this spelled certain doom for poor Anjali, who was finally cornered by the tiger in a dark and dank part of the jungle. The sadistic predator was taking his time killing her though, as he had initially lunged at her claws bared, slicing deeply into her legs to cripple her (this was when Anjali had screamed in excruciating pain). Now he was pacing around her, deliberating on just when the best time to tear her throat open would be.
Anjali had crawled up to the base of a tree, gasping in pain as her legs throbbed and oozed more of her blood on the ground, the crimson pools not as large as they could have been(the tiger's claws hadn't nicked an artery…small mercies).
"So this is how I die…I had hoped to see at least one grandchild before my passing…at least I saved Mowgli…" She said, her head lolling to her side, the blood loss making her more than a little woozy.
The tiger, seeing as his prey was more likely to die from her wounds before he could kill her himself started to approach her, fangs bared. However, just before those cruel teeth could find the supple brown flesh of Anjali's throat, a foot was introduced to his face, launching the yowling tiger into a tree nearby.
Growling in anger, the tiger turned to see who dared to attack him in such an ignominious fashion. He was taken aback by the looks of his attacker.
Gone was the ordinary brown skin of his usual victims – what stood before him was a strange human. Peach of skin and blond to boot, the tiger had to do a double take when his eyes landed on the whiskers on the man's cheeks. A woman was quick to appear at the man's side, this one looking more like the Indians he so commonly terrorized.
"Hey! Back off – I know you can find something else to eat! This is a freakin' jungle after all!" Naruto yelled at the tiger while Tiger Lily simply scoffed at his side.
"Darling, it's a dumb beast, a man killer by the looks of it. Once predators like this get a taste of human flesh, they cannot stop partaking of it. Just kill it – I will tend to the woman it was attacking since she looks like she has lost quite a lot of blood…" She said, dismissing the tiger entirely before walking over to Anjali – the tiger allowing it since it could understand human speech and was more focused on the man who would try to kill him.
"Yeah, I guess it's for the best – I can sense its hate for all humans. I'll make it quick.You know, this was the second time I kicked a cat in the face and yet it never gets old!" Naruto said, pulling out a dagger before rushing towards the tiger, who was taken aback at his speed and was unable to react as Naruto leaped onto his back before plunging the blade into the base of his skull.
The tiger collapsed immediately, its spinal cord severed. Naruto then pulled the dagger out and cleaned the blade before turning to Lily.
"Hey Lily, how's the woman doing? Do you need my help suturing her wounds? This bastard sure has some long claws!" He said, pulling up one of the tiger's paws and inspecting the claws.
"Yes husband – the beast's claws bit deep into this woman's calves…I'll need your chakra to mend her injuries." Lily said, gently nudging Anjali, trying to keep her awake (if she fell asleep, the chances of her waking up again were almost zero).
"W-what is it? W-who are you?" Anjali mumbled out, unsure if she was hallucinating or if people really came to her rescue. She mistook Lily for a villager from a settlement nearby so she spoke to her in Hindi, much to Tiger's confusion(yes, even with all the adventures Naruto and his group had, they had never encountered someone who didn't speak the King's English).
"Oh dear, the poor woman seems to be speaking in tongues…her blood loss must be worse than I thought!" Tiger said, watching as Naruto came close to the two women before laughing at Lily's confused look.
"Nah, she may be delirious but she's speaking an actual language. You look like one of her people after all!" Naruto said, running a hand to the back of Anjali's legs before flaring his chakra. Sure, he knew that it would take a sizeable chunk of his reserves to heal her but even with his gimped recovery rate in this dimension, he couldn't just let her die in front of him like that.
A-are you a god sir? Y-your magic…it's healing me!" Anjali said as she felt the warmth of Naruto's chakra lick at her legs as she could sense her energy return to her. It was a heady feeling indeed and she was tempted to just let it take her away but remembering that Mowgli was still in the jungle somewhere had her jumping to her feet as she made to run back into the undergrowth.
"Hold on a second there! Where are you going in such a hurry?" Naruto asked Anjali as she looked at him askance, his language sounding like gibberish to her. Facepalming at the obvious barrier between them, Naruto slowly approached the nervous woman, his hand now glowing a faint blue as he placed a hand on her head.
Using his chakra and accessing the surface levels of her soul, Naruto gained a basic proficiency in Hindi, enough to talk to Anjali without much issue.
"Please sir! Use your divine powers to help me get back to my son! I left him in the jungle as I tried to lead the tiger away!" Anjali said while tugging at Naruto's shirt (Lily was just standing off to the side, shaking her head at the crazy situations her husband seemed to always find himself in).
"Hey hey – I am no god ma'am. Just a mortal man like you and my wife here!" Naruto said as Anjali looked at him disbelievingly before pulling his hand, dragging him with her.
"Of course, of course sire. You must be a demigod then as surely no normal man would save me the way you and your wife did. I must beg for your help again however – my son is still out there!" Anjali said, watching as Naruto passed some chakra (what little he had left) to Lily so she could understand what was going on before the three of them went off to find Mowgli again.
It was a short walk back to the thicket that Anjali left her baby but when they arrived, all they found was the basket and not the baby in question.
Understandably, this worried Anjali a great deal, as evidenced by her bereaved wailing. Naruto and Lily were quick to comfort her though, assuring her that her son's life force was still strong (Naruto did know his mother's chakra signature after all) and that they could go out and explore on the morrow with the sun to illuminate their path (it was the dead of night now and you could barely see your own hand in front of your face). Their plans now settled, the trio made the journey to the closest village, unaware that the corpse of the tiger (Shere Khan in case you were wondering) was being resurrected by Maleficent under the behest of the Grimm Lords to wreak havoc in the very same village they were going to.
This time however, Naruto wouldn't be able to intervene in time and lives would be lost…
And that wraps up chapter 45! The Grimm Lords are using Maleficent to empower Disney villains to weaken Naruto in the many worlds he visits in addition to the chakra taxes during the world travels. Naruto regains some power every time he passes through the void but his natural recovery is affected by his destination, a fact that you might have gleaned from this chapter. This will make some mundane Disney stories more interesting!
If you'd like to support me you can find me on P-a-t-r-e-o-n on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link:p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!