Ok, revised Chapter 1 is here! Read and review, but more importantly I hope you enjoy what I've added. The main idea for the chapter is similar to the original one, but there are several things in this chapter that are different and will be important to the rest of the story

Since she had been 'born', Brianna had discovered many things that she truly enjoyed. Good food, sleeping in, not to mention young, hot ... ahem, male companionship. These were just a few of the things she loved most about her new life. But there were some things that she truly hated and of course she was experiencing both at this very moment: the first was being stuck in the cold, while the other was being stuck in the dark.

They were silly things to be afraid of, considering one of the things she'd inherited from Britanny was her infravision. Both her sisters thought she was even more boy crazy than Gina, but the truth of the matter was that she really just wanted someone to be there with her while she slept, even if it was just a one night stand so that she wasn't alone. 'And since neither of my sister's know this, they thought it was a GREAT idea to split up while exploring this dark... spooky...dammit! That's it,' Brianna thought vehemently while she scanned the dark cavern she'd found. 'The next time Gina asks me to help her on an expedition, I'm staying home!'

Chapter 1

Flashback -

Earlier that morning - Zhejiang, China

"So this ancient temple of... What was it called again, Gina?"

Gina sighed softly, her gaze shifting towards the her sister as she watched Britanny lazily leaf through the magazine in her hands. Resisting the urge to growl in annoyance, Gina realized that her were-cheetah sibling wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything she said unless she was finished with her 'reading'. Reaching for the brightly colored magazine, Gina tore the fashion mag from Britanny's grasp before her younger sister could even begin to protest. "Now that I have your attention, Britanny, I'm sure you'll actually hear me when I tell you that we are headed to a site that was known as the Temple of Mu. Apparently it was some kind of outpost for a continent that disappeared approximately 7,000 years ago."

"Wow, sounds like Atlantis!" Glancing at the rear view mirror, Gina grinned at the sight of Brianna as she finished reassembling a pulse rifle that she'd brought.

"That's one of the names for the same place. Mu, Atlantis, Hyperborea, Thule, Lemuria, Rutas... each of them have a single thing in common. All of them are the same continent, but no one has been able to prove that it actually existed. I'm hoping that we'll find something that will give us a clue to our next step in finding this lost land."

Nodding slowly, Brianna paused for a moment before turning looking at the rear view mirror. "Gina, there's something we need to talk about. Is it just me or has something been off for the last few weeks at home? It's almost like... well, like..."

"Live we're being watched."

Tearing her gaze from the mirror, Gina turned towards Britanny, the young were-cheetah resting her chin on her fist while staring at the cloud filled sky. "Watched? But that's impossible! My security systems haven't detected any intruders!"

Arching an eye brow as she turned towards the eldest Diggers sister, Britanny let out a short bark of laughter and shook her head. "Yeah, because no one has ever gotten into the house without us knowing. Need I remind you about the 'rodent'?"

Wincing lightly at the memory of the demon that had taken on the shape of an unassuming mouse, Gina let out a soft grumble of annoyance. A soft tone drew her attention to the car's on board systems, the instruments alerting her that they were closing in on their destination. "That was an aberration! It used magic and... and since when are mice dangerous? Even though I think it's impossible, what proof do you have that someone is in our home?"

"What about the faint smell of ramen that's covering every inch of the house?" Gina gave Britanny a cockeyed expression, but before she could respond Brianna cleared her throat.

"And don't forget that all of her ramen is missing."

Gina looked back and forth between Brianna and Britanny before turning back to the car's controls with a dismissive tone. "Oh please, I've never detected the scent of ramen in the house."

Leaning forward, Brianna flicked the back of Gina's head reproachfully before responding. "Gina, before you take that tone with us you should remember we both have heightened senses. Trust us, the house smells like ramen. Something is definitely up. There have been several times I've felt like someone's been watching me, but the more damning evidence is your 'ramen locker'."

Blushing lightly at Brianna's mention of the storage locker she'd stocked with the ready made food, Gina refused to meet either sister's eyes. "H-hey, I was going through a rough time at school! I didn't have time for anything more elaborate!"

"That's not the point, sis. When was the last time you checked on it? And I mean actually opened it up and looked inside?"

Pausing for a moment at Brianna's question, Gina hummed softly as she stroked her chin. "About a year ago?"

"Well, sometime between then and now something cleaned it out. And I mean CLEANED IT OUT, there wasn't a single pack left in that thing."

"That's impossible!" Reaching for the dashboard, Gina tapped several buttons until she heard a series of tones. "Skynet, stock level of locker Alpha Sigma."

"LOCKER IS CURRENTLY AT FULL CAPACITY, GINA."

Eyes widening in shock as she turned her head toward the occupant in the backseat, Gina's mouth opened and closed for several moments as Brianna gave her a deadpan stare. "Someone's hacked into Skynet! What the hell is going on?"

"You think that's messed up, Gina? There are times I'll find things still running even though I know I've turned them off. Like last week I found a dozen computers in the house that were still running, so I checked the recent history and I found some irregularities."

"What irregularities?"

"Geographical information for the middle of nowhere, searches regarding unexplained phenomenon for the last several hundred years, how to make home cooked ramen... Gina, you have to admit something fishy is going on here."

"And Gina? Even the car smells like ramen." Gina was about to respond when a soft thump from the back of the car attracted everyone's attention, the three girls sharing surprised expressions before they turned towards the backseat. After several seconds of silence Gina spun around, stabbing several controls on steering wheel before slamming her foot down hard on the accelerator. Ignoring her sister's protests Gina guided the flying car towards their destination, post haste.

"Gina!" / "Sis, what the hell!?"

Gina spotted the platform she'd chosen as their landing zone after her satellites had located the temple. Her hands swiftly running over the controls, Gina impatiently waited until she felt the car finish it's landing cycle. Tearing her seatbelt free, Gina leaped from the the car and ran towards the rear of the car and immediately opened the trunk. Her eyes narrowing as she stared at the empty compartment, Gina took several moments to study every inch of the small enclosure before turning towards her sisters with a bewildered expression. "It's... empty."

Following her sister to the back of the car, Britanny stared at the empty trunk for several moments before taking a few deep whiffs of the compartment. "Hmmm, rubber, oil... a slight undertone of ramen, just like the house." Reaching into the small trunk, Britanny pulled the spare tire free and placed it against the bumper before pressing her hand against the carpeted floor. "Nothing cloaked... I dunno, sis. Maybe it's haunted?"

Frowning thoughtfully, Gina pulled out a tablet, her fingers flying over the devices controls for several moments before she pocketed the item once again. "I've redirected a satellite directly overhead. If anything moves on the ground, we'll see it. If nothing happens between now and when we're getting ready leave the site... well, I'll think of something else. For now, let's get our gear ready."

Turning towards the tall structure that was carved into the mountainside, Gina took notice of various clues the large building was providing as she listened to the familiar sounds of her sisters manhandling various pieces of equipment through the light gate. Turning away from the impressive sight, Gina smiled at the sight of Britanny as she flexed her glove covered hands in anticipation, a similarly grinning Brianna cocking her rifle as the bright sunlight glinted off of her suit of powered armor. "Ok, here we go!"

"This place is a dump!" Gina stopped for a moment and took in the structure's dilapidated state, the archeologist unable to disagree her sister's reaction.

"Brit, this place is thousands of years old. I doubt there's been anyone around to clean up so it's kind of expected to be a mess." When the trio had cautiously entered the temple's surprisingly clear antechamber, Gina was hopeful that this trend would continue as they delved deeper into the building. But her hopeful wish was quashed he moment the trio entered the main hall when a room full of destroyed and melted stone work greeted the trio. "It almost looks like some kind of battle took place here. The temperature needed to melt stone is at least 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that this had to have been a truly epic conflagration. But the real question is what the heck happened here?"

Deciding to come back to this mystery later, Gina and her sisters continued to travel deeper into the ruined temple until they reached an untouched door. Rubbing her chin thoughtfully at the sight of the massive portal, Gina carefully schooled her expression while taking note of the characters etched into the surrounding stonework. Brittany crossed her arms under her breasts and sighed impatiently, while Brianna fingered her rifle trigger as she made a slow circuit around the room.

"So, what does it say? Can we crack this thing open yet?" Gina stepped back, stared at the door for several moments and turned towards Britanny.

"Yeah, we can, but that's not the problem. The real problem are the characters on the door. They're not Chinese, ancient or otherwise. They're also not any of the dead languages from past empires that I'm familiar with." Brittany threw her arms up in exasperation before gesturing impatiently at the sealed doorway.

"Big deal, sis, so it's a new language for you to learn. Let's just open the door and see what's inside." Gina slowly shook her head and pointed once again again at the characters engraved in the stones.

"No, I do recognize them, but that's the problem. It's... well, it's pretty much modern Japanese."

Britanny cocked an eyebrow as she looked at the various characters carved into the stone before turning her attention towards her sister. "And?"

"Britanny, don't you think it's weird to find modern Japanese in a temple that's thousand of years old?" As Brittany continued to look at Gina in confusion, Gina sighed as she shook her head.. "The Japanese used here is written in a slightly older version of Kana, which was created around 800 A.D. There is no evidence of anyone having been here for at least a thousand years, so how did a modern writing style end up here?" Before Britanny could respond, the sound of stone grating against stone froze both girls in their tracks as the doorway slowly opened. Turning towards the third member of their group, Gina and Brianna watched a grinning Brianna pass between the pair and walk through the open door.

"I found the controls! Now, lets see what's inside!" Gina's expression turned frosty as she packed up the few tools she'd been using before chasing after her sister, the half were-cheetah standing perfectly still on a nearby platform. Gina tuned out everything else as she stalked towards sister, an angry poke to Brianna's ribs going unnoticed as she continued to stare towards the chamber they'd entered.

"Brianna, what the heck are you doing? We need to be careful, something is not... right... whoa..." Gina trailed off as she finally turned her attention towards the chamber the pair had entered. A vast city stretched out before them, the soft flowing lines of each building evoking an almost aquatic feel to the massive chamber. Despite the fact that they were deep within the mountain there were clusters of glowing crystals sprinkled through the chamber, the natural light source providing more than enough light for the sisters to see. "Amazing, this is more than I could have hoped for! This city is an amazing find, I can't wait to see what other wonders we'll discover here!"

Brittany whistled appreciatively and placed her hands on her hips as she settled in beside the wildly grinning pair. "Wow, now this is nice. Almost makes me think that living underground wouldn't be so bad. So long as there was a shopping mall." Tearing her gaze from the wondrous sight before her, Britanny giggled softly as she watched Gina nearly skipping towards a large staircase that led into the city. Looking towards her sister, Brianna and Brittany gave each other a pointed look before laughing softly at Gina's antics. "And there she goes, geeking out about the stuff she's found once again."

"Come on, Cheetah," Brianna said as the pair followed their sister at a more sedate pace. "You're just as bad when there's a sale at the mall, admit it."

"Yes, I'll admit that I'm a little... 'overzealous' when it comes to shopping. Sometimes. But the stuff I buy can be seen and used whenever I want."

"That is true... but it's this 'stuff' that pays for your 'stuff'."

As the pair reached the bottom of the stairs, Britanny gave Brianna a deadpan stare before nodding in agreement . "You have a point. Let's go make sure sis doesn't break her neck or something in her excitement." After several minutes they finally caught up with Gina while she was busy inputting some information into her tablet.

"Amazing! This place has to be at least a mile across. And these buildings, they look like they were grown right out of the ground! Look, bio-luminescent crystals to get past the lack of sunlight! Ooooh, look at that over there!" Gina rushed towards an ornate fountain, the ancient system that fed it apparently still working as intended as clear water flowed into a large stone basin. Brianna rested her rifle on her shoulder and looked at Brittany, the pair grinning at their overly enthusiastic sister as she gushed about the 'Greatest Find of the Century!'. Just as Gina was about to pass the pair once more, her eye catching sight of another 'incredible find', Brittany reached out and grabbed her sister's battered leather jacket. Squawking in indignation as she was lifted into the air, Gina managed to twist around and glare at her taller sibling.

"Hey, what's the big idea! I was... OW!" Brittany flicked Gina's forehead lightly, the chastised scientist pouting as she focused on her sister.

"Calm down sis, we don't know if this place is dangerous or not. So how are we going to do this? Do we stick together or should we split up to cover more ground?"

End Flashback

Grumbling under her breath about old caves and the crazy people that used to live in them, Brianna held onto her plasma rifle with a death grip while she scanned the area. As she waited for her on board computer's results, Brianna tilted her head back to stare at the stalactite dense ceiling. Swallowing loudly, Brianna tore her gaze from the tons of rock hanging overhead at the sound of a soft ping from her armour's computer. "Let's see, initial analysis... no life signs, heat signatures or electronics... wait, whatta mean there's contact on the motion sensors?" Tapping several keys on the side of her helmet, Brianna watched silently as multiple lines of script slowly scrolled across her field of vision as her armor performed a self diagnostic. After several minutes of reading the results, the half were-cheetah growled in annoyance, shouldered her rifle and tore her helmet from her head. "Stupid thing is broken, it has to be. After all this time there can't be anything that big still living down here. And if it were some kind of vermin, they'd show up on the thermals."

Tsking softly, Brianna turned the helmet around in her hands, studying the piece of armor for several moments before shrugging her shoulders. 'Well, there's nothing I can do about it now, it'll just have to wait till later.' But just before she donned her helmet once more, the sound of falling stones echoed through the dark cavern. Her ears twitching, Brianna looked over her shoulder and yelped in panic, the sight of a large stone statue surprising the nervous woman. A burst of her were-cheetah speed sent Cheetah racing across the room as she slapped her helmet back in place. Spinning around once she felt she'd gone far enough, Brianna dropped to a knee, raised her rifle and took aim at... an old statue? Brianna stared at the tall sculpture while trying to get her breathing back under control and after several moments she stood and approached the statue. "How could I have missed you when I came in?"

As Brianna leaned in closer to examine the old sculpture, she never even saw the statue's eyes as they began glowing brightly.

Meanwhile, Outside...

The stone platform was as silent as a tomb, the elevation of the mountain preventing all but the most hardy (or foolish) of creatures from reaching the plateau. The Ginamobile sat silently as it awaited the return of it's driver, but the spare tire Britanny had neglected to put back in the trunk let out a relived sigh before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Brilliant blue eyes blinked slowly as a tall, lanky blonde haired man exited the cloud of smoke, a bandaged hand running through his short hair as he pushed himself to his feet. "Ugh, and this is why I left infiltration missions to the others. How the hell could I forget that both Brit and Brianna have enhanced senses? You'd think I'd have learned not to discount how sensitive a nose can be, what with growing up around Kiba and all, but nooooo. Not me, no siree, I just act like they'll never find me cause I'm a bad ass shinobi. Ero-Sennin's probably rolling in his grave right now, Kami rest his soul." Uzumaki Naruto yawning loudly while stretching out his stiff right arm, the tall blonde turning towards the dilapidated temple. "Since the girls are gone, how about I take a look at this place?"

Naruto studied the ancient ruins as he slowly approached the ancient structure, one of his hands stroking his chin thoughtfully as he entered the main hall. "There's something familiar about this place." After entering the old temple, Naruto paused for a moment as he studied the familiar sight of battle, his expression hardening as he reached a hand towards some of the half melted stone. "A katon jutsu did this... a powerful one. And those blast marks, they look similar to the scorch marks from an exploding tag. But that pattern... it's definitely strange. Something really weird is going on here..."

His expression growing more grave, Naruto's pace picked up as he made his way deeper into the temple. Once he entered the inner chambers his eyes passed over the warning as he approached the open doors. "Well, it didn't stop the girls, so it can't be that... well, shit."

Directly above the archway was another message, the only difference being that it was glowing brightly hand seemed to hover in mid-air. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw several seals etched into the doorway, a smile appearing as he nodded slowly. "Hmm, chakra detection seals. They won't activate unless someone possessing a high enough lreserves approaches. Very advanced stuff." Tearing his gaze from the seals, Naruto squinted his eyes as he read the message.

THE SERPENTS HAVE TURNED ON US, WE CANNOT LET THEM ROAM FREE.

DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO FOOL YOU, THEY WILL TURN ON YOU THE MOMENT IT SUITS THEIR NEEDS.

LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER COME BACK

After several moments the glowing characters faded from view, leaving the frowning Uzumaki staring at the open door. "Hang on, this door was sealed against anyone without enough chakra. How the hell did they open it... unless... oh you stupid idiots, they tied the lock seal into the detection matrix! That never works, the seals can't properly differentiate between people in the area and it'll open for anyone!" Breathing deeply, Naruto closed his eyes as he fell back on lessons from another lifetime, the blonde's body filling natural energy that allowed his senses to stretch throughout the system of caverns.

"So there's two people up top... looks like Gina and Britanny. So that would mean... oh come on, how the hell does one person get into so much trouble?" Naruto had managed to locate Brianna's unique chakra, but it was not alone. The half were-cheetah was amid a group of smaller signatures, several of which appeared to be slowly approaching the unsuspecting woman. Sighing once more, Naruto opened his eyes and grinned widely. "Well then, I guess it's time to go and save the girl."

Brianna took several steps back from the statue, her brow creased in puzzlement as she shook her head. "This... this makes no sense. It's not even a single piece of stone, how is it even held together? Maybe a sample will tell me more..." Reaching for a small pouch at her hip, Brianna pulled out a small tool and activated it, a small flame leaping from the end of the torch. Leaning towards the bizarre statue, Brianna's eyes widened when the hand she was going to take a sample from began moving. Looking up slowly, Brianna's startled gaze was greeted by a pair of brightly glowing eyes as the once immobile figure reached for her. "Oh hell no, eat this!" Rolling away from the slow moving construct, Brianna unlimbered her rifle and began firing on the advancing golem. Several shots slammed into the oncoming mass of stone, but the golem barely even flinched as it continued to slowly close in. "Shit, of course you couldn't have been an organic. Your insides would've been mush after taking those shots." Brianna reached for her hyperspace beacon to summon up some heavier weapons, but the display told her that she couldn't connect the main signal hub. Growling in frustration, Brianna pulled a oblong shape from her belt and hurled the item at the advancing golem. A powerful explosion rocked the small cavern, dust and debris obscuring Brianna's sensors for a several moments as she tried to see if she'd brought that strange construct down.

As the smoke cleared Brianna grinned at the mangled remains of the statue, but her celebration was short lived when something grabbed her shoulder in a vice like grip and flung her across the room. Her armor sparking as she slid across the uneven terrain, Brianna managed to catch herself before she crashed into a wall. Pulling another grenade from her belt, Brianna threw it towards the advancing golem when a second construct batted the explosive aside. Brianna felt her blood run cold at the sight of a third golem joining the others as they advanced towards her, each of their glowing eyes focusing on the lone woman as she continued to back away from them. 'No more explosives, the rifle's useless, no way to teleport in any heavy weapons... all I have left is one little handgun and my armor. This is not good.'

As she continued to back away from the advancing statues, Brianna finally ran out of room as she hit the cavern wall. A single golem continued to approach the trapped blonde while the others stood guard. Gritting her teeth angrily, Brianna spread her arms wide as she faced approaching construct. "Well, what are you waiting for? BRING IT!"

As she watched the construct raise it's fist towards her, Brianna closed her eyes as her thoughts turned to her loved ones. 'Dammit, this was not how it was supposed to end!' The sound of the golem's fist speeding through the air sounded like an avalanche, the half were-cheetah tensing for the final blow.

"Oi, you can open your eyes now." Eyes flying open in surprise, Brianna stared dumbly at the sight of a tall, masked blonde standing in front of her, his arms wrapped around the golem's forearm. "Wow, you are REALLY crude. Someone either had piss poor teachers, or they didn't really care about quality." Having said his piece, Brianna watched in awe as the blonde let out a loud roar and swung the golem towards it's comrades. Turning away from the airborne construct, the masked man crouched down and swiftly gave Brianna's armoured form a once over. "Are you alright?"

Brianna could do little more then watch in shock as the stone golem bounced across the floor before it fell to pieces. Once the remains of the construct crashed into the far wall, Brianna tore her eyes from the pile of rubble and focused on the young man that had just saved her life.

"Do I have your attention now?" Nodding slowly, Brianna was rewarded with a loud laugh before the tall blonde rested his hands on his knees. "Good, very good. Anything broken?"

"Just my pride." Brianna felt her cheeks grow warmer as the young man began to chuckle at her words, his hand reaching out towards her. As she stretched out her own hand towards him, Brianna's eyes widened as the remaining golems approached the pair.

"BEHIND YOU!"

Brianna watched in mounting horror as one of the stone constructs drew it's arm back, her blonde saviour waving away her warning. "Don't worry, everything will be fi..."

Brianna tried to grab his arm but it was too late, the golem's arm slamming into the blonde and catapulting him towards the wall. Her hand falling to the ground, Brianna felt tears slowly trailing down her cheeks as she looked towards the young man's crumpled body. Anger replaced sadness as Brianna turned towards the approaching construct, her hand angrily pulling her pistol free and aiming it at the mobile statue. "You fucking killed him!"

"Wow, these guys do not know how to fight a shinobi at all, let me tell ya." Brianna's mouth dropped in shock once she heard the familiar voice, a surprised squeak passing her lips as a sphere of blue energy burst through a golem's chest. The final golem turned towards his brother's killer in an attempt to avenge him, but the familiar blonde danced around each swing of the creature's boulder sized fists. After several moments of what looked like playful dodging, Brianna watched in awe as the mysterious blonde raised a brightly glowing hand and thrust his stiffened fingers through the constructs chest, the statue's hands reaching for the young man as it fell to pieces. Brianna raised a shaking finger and pointed it at the unmoving blonde while trying to make sense of what had just happened. "B-b-but...you... you should be dead!"

Nodding his head slowly, the blonde shook his arm free of the golem's remains before turning his attention to a small orb in his hand. "Yes, I see... wait, no! Dead? Seriously? Do I look dead to you?" Turning towards the far wall, Brianna's eyes widened at the sight of a shattered stalactite on the ground.

"Wait, what the... that was not there before! WHO ARE YOU?!"

Laughing softly as he pocketed the small sphere, the masked blonde turned his full attention towards Brianna and flashed her a victory sign."Uzumaki Naruto. Now that we have that out of the way, can we please go find your sisters before they run into something that'll get them killed?"

Meanwhile...

Brittany cocked her head in amusement as she continued following an ecstatic Gina, the elder Diggers sister tapping away at a tablet they made their way down a dark tunnel. 'Man, give Gina a dark, spooky crypt or ancient building and she's as happy as a clam. Honestly, it looks the same to me as all the other places I've visited over the years, I really can't see the appeal. Now if it were a shopping mall, I'd be all over that!'

Britanny and Gina had taken the upper levels of the ruined city, the excited archeologist hoping to find some form of records or evidence of what had happened to city's original inhabitants. But as they continued their investigation, more questions came to light. "This doesn't make sense, Brit. There's no sign of disease, no sign of a battle like we saw outside, no bones, no real damage to any of the interior buildings. It just looks like everyone in this place just, for lack of a better word, vanished."

"Well then," Britanny said, gesturing over her should towards the main gallery. "Why don't we go back where we started. This place is giving me the creeps."

Her pace slowing, Gina turned towards Britanny and gave her a worried look. "You're not the only one, sis. I'm getting some bizarre power readings from further in, after we've located their source we'll head back."

"Alright... I just hope Brianna's doing ok by herself."

After pushing herself to her feet, Brianna slowly approached the masked blonde, her hand reaching out towards him and gently pressing against his chest. When he didn't disappear into thin air, Brianna looked into his eyes and laughed softly at his mirthful gaze. "You're real..."

"That's right, I am real. Now since we've established that, we really should be goinGUGH!" Naruto groaned loudly as Brianna's fist slammed into his stomach, her happy expression shifting to furious anger as she watched Naruto fall to his knees.

"YOU ASSHOLE! I WAS WORRIED SICK THAT SOMEONE HAD BEEN KILLED BECAUSE OF ME! I SHOULD KICK YOUR ASS!" Breathing deeply as she tried to regain control of her anger, Brianna hovered angrily over Naruto as he coughed loudly from the floor.

"K-kami," Naruto said, a short fit of coughing interrupted his words. "What is it with girls and hitting me?"

"Well, it's you're own fault you got hit, I thought you'd died! Did you even think about how I'd react to that... wait a minute, how DID you survive? I saw your body hit that wall at terminal velocity and all that's there is a destroyed stalactite! I want answers, buddy, and I want'em now!"

Rising slowly to his feet, Naruto backed away from the visibly angry woman before holding up his empty hands. "Alright, alright! Just calm down! If I tell you, you can't hit me again. Agreed?"

Brianna scowled at the blonde as she folded her arms under her breasts. "Fine, but this better be a good explanation."

"It is. I used my chakra to save myself."

Nodding slowly at the blonde's explanation, Brianna rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she stared at the masked man. "Well, that explains everything! I said I wanted an explanation," Brianna said as she pulled her pistol free and aimed it at Naruto. "I didn't want to hear about your hokey 'spiritual beliefs'. So, lets try this again. And if I don't like what I hear, I'm gonna bust a cap in yer ass."

"Hey, it ain't no 'hokey spiritual beliefs'! We've called it chakra for hundreds of years, so we ain't gonna change it cause you don't like it! And another thing," Naruto said, the masked blonde disappearing in a swirl of leaves before appearing behind the irate woman, his hand casually snatching the pistol from her grip. "This is your experimental plasma pistol! I know the last one you made destroyed the testing equipment you rigged up, you're more likely to lose a hand then busting a cap in my ass!"

Tearing her helmet free, Brianna rounded on the masked blonde and she jabbed a finger into his chest. "Hey, this is a working prototype, I figured out what destroyed the other one ... wait a minute, how could you possibly know that?"

Naruto looked from the pistol in his hands, his eyes flicking nervously towards a now scowling Brianna as she awaited his answer. "Uh...lucky guess?"

"Wait a minute. It was you! You're the one that's been breaking into our house!"

"Oi, you make it sound like I was constantly breaking in and out! I only broke in once and stayed there... hang on, that doesn't sound any better. But it's ok," Naruto said as he placed the pistol gingerly on the ground. "I had permission... oh, BALLS." Naruto slapped a hand over his masked visage while Brianna's expression grew suspicious.

"Permission? But who could have..." Gasping loudly, Brianna angrily jabbed a finger towards the blonde. "Dad! I'll bet he had something to do with this, didn't he?"

'Dammit, the old man was right. Looks like it's time to pull out the secret weapon, here's hoping Julia was telling the truth...' Sighing loudly at the accusation, Naruto closed his eyes as he grasped the edge of his mask and revealed his face. "Yes, your dad was part of this. He wanted to make sure you and your sisters were safe, a job I should be getting back to since were stuck in a extremely dangerous place. Now are there any more questions?" After several seconds of silence, Naruto opened his eyes and restrained a smirk at the sight of a visibly stunned Brianna. 'Well, whatta ya know, she was right!'

Naruto smiled widely as he approached Brianna, his heightened senses making note of several signs that the tall blonde was starting to warm up to him. "Oi? Is everything ok?"

"...hot..." Smirking internally, Naruto acted as if he hadn't heard the young woman's comment as he rose to his feet and moved closer, a charming grin forming as Brianna let out a soft squeak of surprise.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite catch that last comment."

"N-n-nothing! Hey, d-didn't you say we should find Gina and Britanny?" As Brianna let out a nervous giggle, Naruto gently took Brianna's helmet from her hands and crouched down, the still giggling woman missing the triumphant grin the shinobi was sporting.

'Still got it. Welp, time to go rescue the others.' Pausing for a moment as he pulled scroll from his pouch, Naruto unfurled the roll of parchment and placed Brianna's helmet on top of it.

"Wait, what are you doing with that?"

"Simple," Naruto said, his roguish grin eliciting a blush from the taller woman. "It's easier to talk to you without the helmet. And since it'll take some time to catch up with your sisters, we should discuss a few things." A quick burst of chakra and the piece of armor vanished in a cloud of smoke, a surprised gasp following the demonstration of the shinobi's skills.

"Whoa, that was awesome! I've never seen magic like that before!"

Chuckling softly as he packed away the scroll, Naruto zipped forward and gathered the blushing half were-cheetah in his arms. Smirking as Brianna sported a massive grin, Naruto let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Nope. Not magic, chakra." After a quick visual scan of the dark cave, Naruto spun around swiftly and raced towards a nearby tunnel that led deeper into the abandoned mountain.

Meanwhile, Brianna's mind was going into overdrive as her arms instinctively wrapped around Naruto's neck. 'OH MY GOD! He's such a hottie! A hottie... oh shit! I was gonna shoot him!'

After a half hour of walking, Britanny and Gina finally arrived at the source of the bizarre energy readings. The sight of the large grotto they'd found brought exclamation of surprise from both girls. A multitude of colors shone from the various patches of crystals scattered throughout the cave while in the center of the chamber lay what appeared to be a small pond. The calm waters glittering under soft lights, while the sight of a pillar filled with glowing runes had Gina nearly squealing in excitement. "Yes, now that's what I'm talking about! I have a good feeling about this place, Brit. Now, lets see if we can find some answers!"

While Gina setup her equipment, Britanny decided that she wanted a better look at her surroundings. Several minutes later Britanny had finished her inspection, but something continued to nag at the were-cheetah. 'There's light everywhere, except for that section over there. It's too cold for me to see anytrhing with infravision, so I'll need a light.' Glancing at her sister, Britanny shook her head at the sight of Gina, the young genius wasn't even paying attention as she tapped away at her tablet. Reaching for Gina's flashlight, Britanny shone the light at the darkened section of the cavern and swallowed loudly at what the light revealed. "Gina, there's a really big hole here!"

Grunting in acknowledgement, Gina reached into her pocket and tossed a small disc towards her sister. "Throw that down the hole."

Cocking an eyebrow at the device, Britanny did as instructed. Within moments the small piece of metal vanished from sight, a puzzled Britanny turned to Gina once more. "Now what?"

Holding up her hand, Gina tapped something on her screen before nodding slowly. "Huh, a 600 meter fall. Don't get close, if you fell from that height not even your regeneration would save you."

Swallowing loudly as she slowly backed away from the edge, Britanny felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. "Gina, I really don't think that this place is safe. Maybe we should come back later with Bri and some remote equipment?" Looking over her shoulder, Britanny sighed angrily as Gina ignored her words as she continued making adjustments to her equipment. "Sure, I'm just the dumb muscle, what do I know. Stupid glowing rocks, stupid mysteries, just once I'd like to find...

"Yes, what is it that you would you like to find?"

"I'd really like to find... find... wait." Turing back towards the dimly lit room, Britanny eyes swept back and forth rapidly. "Who said that?!"

"Down here." Looking down, Britanny's jaw fell at the sight of a small snake resting by her feet, it's fork tongue flicking lazily in her direction. "Hello."

"AHHHHHH!" Gina dropped her portable scanner and swung towards her screaming sister, her eyes widening as she watched Britanny race towards her. The scared were-cheetah managed to skid to a halt and promptly hid behind her sister, Gina shifted her attention to the dim cave in front of her.

"What!? What is it! I don't see anything!"

"Down there! IT TALKED!" Looking towards her feet, Gina crouched down and watched as a small snake slither from out of the darkness corner of the cavern and approached them

"Oh, Brit, it's just a snake. It couldn't possibly have spoken to you..."

"Ah, but I did."

Pausing in mid sentence, Gina stood slowly backed away from the approaching reptile. Britanny followed her sister's lead, her eyes never leaving the sight of the advancing serpent as she gave it a wild eyed gaze. "Ok, so it did speak to you. Then I apologize for my rudeness, my name is Gina Diggers. Do you have a name?"

A sibilant laugh was the serpent's only answer as it came to a halt. "Ah, such manners. Alas, my name would be nothing but a series of meaningless hissing to a human, but you may call me Hebi. Well met, Gina Diggers. I assume you've come to learn of this place? And who is your frightened friend at your back?"

"F-f-frightened!? You came out of n-n-nowhere and surprised me, I should make a snake skin belt outta ya for pulling that shit!"

"My apologies," Gina said as she silenced the still shivering Brianny with an angry scowl. "But my sister Britanny has a problem with snakes and it's not normal for us to find an animal that is able to communicate with us. But you are correct, I am here to learn of this place. I was hoping to find some records or clues pointing to what exactly happened here."

"Well then, you've come to the right place. This pillar you see rising out of the pool? It is a memory stone, one which contains the secrets and history of this colony and it's original inhabitants. My kind were placed here to guard these records from any would be looters that stumbled upon this city."

Gina's eyes narrowed as she considered Hebi's words, the small reptile patiently observing the blonde. "I see... well then, can you tell me how to access this 'memory stone'?"

Nodding it's flat head slowly, the small snake turned towards the pillar and stretched its snout towards the pool's edge Just as the reptile's body was about to pass over the edge of the pool, a bright spark of energy flared to life and the snake reared back with a pain filled hiss. "A barrier was placed around the pool to protect the stone by a man known as Genji. All that is needed is the touch of a human and the shield will fall."

Turning towards the pool, Gina studied the glowing pillar at the center of the room for a moment before turning back towards the polite reptile. Reaching for the holster at her hip, Gina placed her hand on the large handgun resting there as she glared at the sapient reptile. "I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid enough to blindly trust your words, Hebi. You seem much too helpful for a creature that was charged to protect this place from looters. Not to mention the fact that you seem very eager for us to bring down the barrier. I wasn't born yesterday, snake."

"Hmmm, I seem to have miss judged you... or have I?" Gina's eyes widened fearfully at the sound of Britanny yowling angrily, the eldest Diggers sister activating her weapon and smoothly pulling it from her hip as she turned towards her sister. Gina 's expression hardened at the sight of a second, larger snake that had coiled around her sister as she aimed her weapon at the reptiles head. "Now drop your weapon, Gina. We wouldn't want my brother to snap your sister's neck, would we?"

After several moments of staring at the larger serpent Gina closed her eyes, thumbed the safety on her weapon and dropping the blaster. Turning towards Hebi, Gina scowled as the small reptile's body slowly grew until it occupied nearly half the cavern. "An illusion. I am assuming that this is your true form?"

"You would be correct, Gina. I find it easier to conserve my chakra by assuming a smaller form. Now, unless you'd like to see my brother crush the life out of your strange looking sister, you will place your hand on the barrier as I instructed you." Looking back at her trapped sister, Britanny tried to shake her head but the serpent that held her simply tightened it's grip. Shaking her head in defeat, Gina strode towards the pool and placed her hand on the barrier, a large ring of characters appearing on around the pond. Within moments a loud crack was heard as the characters splintered and shattered into motes of light. "Excellent. And now we can awaken the others. I must thank you Gina, without you stumbling upon us we may never have escaped this prison."

"Prison?"

"Yes, a prison. Thousands of years ago our ancestor was summoned to this place by the man that sealed off this pillar, Genji. It was child's play for the first of us to convince him and his band of followers that he was their friend, one who could show them a way of using their chakra that they had never imagined." Slithering through the water, the large snake hovered overtop of the pillar and chuckled darkly. "These people were a group of Ninshu practitioners, the fools had left the elemental nations before ninjutsu had been discovered and as such they were unaware of the folly in trusting a unbound snake."

Gina stared at the serpent intently, her mind racing as she memorized the reptile's every word. "The Elemental Nations? Is that were you are from? Are their other species like your own? What about these people that use, what was it, ninjutsu?"

Scoffing loudly, Hebi stared at the pillar for several moments before it touched a rune with it's snout. "You are a chatty thing, Gina. Yes, there are other summon animals like us, but that really doesn't matter. The First was able to convince these people to summon more of my clan. As our numbers grew we devised a plan to remove our hosts, but we'd underestimated Genji's cunning as he managed to seal the majority of us far underground at the first sign of treachery. But now, thanks to you, we will be free once more!"

"How much farther is it?" Brianna said, the gleeful woman wondering how much time she'd have in the blonde's arms.

"It shouldn't be much farther. I can sense both Gina and Britanny about 30 meters ahead... and about 100 meters above us." Naruto was still running at a steady pace, his attention focused on the tunnel that stretched out in front of him. Glancing down at his cargo, Naruto held back a smirk at the sight of the blush Brianna sported while her head rested comfortably against his chest.

As the pair neared the end of the tunnel, Naruto went through a quick mental check on his remaining chakra. 'Let's see... well, I've still got plenty in the tank, even without Kurama's help. As long as I don't need to do anything crazy or stupid I should be fine... wait.' Skidding to a halt, Naruto turned his attention upwards and silently stared at the ceiling. Brianna blinked slowly at the sudden stop, her head rising from it's comfortable perch and turning towards the shinobi.

"Hey, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to hurry up and grab the others."

"They're not alone anymore. Something's up there with them... and it's using chakra." Pushing hard against the stone floor, Naruto continued racing towards the tunnel exit. And as they neared the end, Naruto's chakra enhanced feet skidded across the floor, stopping just before the pair could fall into a dark chasm. Brianna swallowed loudly at she peered down into the dark abyss stretching out below them, the young clone muttering her thanks for the narrow shelf of stone they stood upon.

'That and the fact that Naruto has freaking air brakes in his feet!' Looking upwards, Brianna's eyes narrowed at the sight of a faint light. "I'm guessing that the light is from Gina and Brit." Setting Brianna back on her feet, Naruto held in a chuckle at the sight of Brianna pouting at the loss of contact before looking towards the dim light. "It'll take forever to climb that, if only I had my thruster pack..."

"Heh, no need. Watch this. Kage Bushin no Jutsu."

Brianna cocked an eyebrow at the cloud of smoke that appeared out of nowhere, her nose twitching at the acrid scent. Before she knew it Brianna was surrounded by four identical Naruto's, each of them wearing the same wide grin. 'Oh my god, he's perfect! Brianna definitely wants, come to momma!'

"Shadow clones, the ultimate scouts. They can do anything the original can do and anything they learn, I learn." Raising his hand towards the clones, Naruto made several hand signs before the trio leaped towards the wall, their chakra coated feet sticking to the sheer cliff face as they ran towards the light.

"Whoa... what else can chakra do?"

Chuckling softly, Naruto pulled out his scroll and swiftly unsealed Brianna's helmet. Holding the piece of armor out towards her, Brianna grinned playfully as she reached for piece of armor. "No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. The real question is this, 'Is there anything that chakra can't do?"

Laughing softly, Brianna gave the clones a final look before the ran out of sight. Turning back towards the handsome man at her side, Brianna couldn't help but smirk as she stared at him. 'I can think of a few things, hehehe...'

As the trio of shadow clones approached the target, their breakneck pace eventually slowed to a crawl. Motioning for the others to hang back, the leader of the trio raised his head enough to see what was happening, a curse threatening to escape at the scene before him. Ducking back down, the leader of the trio motioned at one of the other clones before popping himself.

"Oh, come on... you have got to be kidding me."

"What? What is it?"

"Ugh, snakes. I hate snakes." Swearing softly, Naruto ran his bandaged hand through his hair before letting out a sigh of frustration. "Dammit, what the hell is going on here?"

Cocking an eyebrow while staring at the annoyed shinobi, Brianna pulled her pulse rifle from her back and cocked the energy weapon. "Snakes? Come on, they can't be as bad as those golems you fought earlier."

Naruto gave the grinning girl a deadpan stare. "These snakes can end up growing hundreds of meters in length, not to mention the can manipulate chakra to increase their speed and strength."

"Ok," Brianna said, her expression turning doubtful as she lowered her weapon. "I stand corrected. These snakes are bad news. So, what do we do about them?"

"Is there any chance you can talk to your sister's up there?"

Her confident expression returning, Brianna slapped her helmet on her head once more. "Let me see what I can do about that."

Gina watched helplessly as Hebi continued working on the central pillar, her mind racing as she ran through every scenario she could think of in an attempt to get both her and her sister to safety. 'If only there was a way to get a hold of Brianna, then maybe we could take them by surprise...'

As luck would have it Gina's commbud activated at that moment, the blonde forcing down the flash of hope she felt at the sound of her youngest sister's voice. 'Hey, Gina, can you hear me? All the crap in this mountain is really fouling up the comms, but if you can hear me then make some noise." Looking back and forth between her captors, Gina decided that they were sufficiently occupied that she could risk a it, her hand covering her mouth as she coughed lightly. Hebi's eyes swivelled towards her, but after several moments the massive snake turned back towards it's task. As she watched another rune wink out, Gina could have sworn she'd seen movement over by the chasm Britanny had found. "Nice. Ok, we've got some backup moving into position, but you need to try and stay where you are. We wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire, now would we?"

'Backup? Who could possibly be assisting us as backup? Did another archeologist locate the temple?'

"Now here's the tricky part, you need to get the big guy to talk. If he knows what's happening he'll kill you both, according to our new friend. Hang in there, ok?" A soft click and Brianna was gone, Gina's mental gears spun wildly as she tried to make head or tails of what she'd been told.

'Who else could be here? And how do they know anything about these strange creatures? How did they even... GAH! Priorities, Gina! Save the questions for later! Once we get out of here, then you can ask our mysterious rescuer just what the hell is going on!' Taking a deep breath, Gina squared her shoulders bravely and turned towards her captor.

"What exactly are you doing? If that pillar is controlling some kind of stasis field, then shouldn't destroying it free the rest of your kind?"

Ignoring Gina's question for a moment, Hebi's snout touched another random glyph. A high pitch tone echoed through the cavern before the rune went dark, eliciting a relived sigh from the massive serpent. "Such a curious human... very well, since you're going to die soon, I'll indulge you. This is a complex, multi layer seal. If it is disassembled in the incorrect order, anything could happen."

"I see. And how did the others get trapped by this Genji?" Gina stiffened as Hebi swiftly turned towards her, his dark eyes sparking angrily as he slithered away from the pillar and around the still scientist.

"Though these people were not warriors, they were still cunning. Despite not knowing how to use ninjutsu, Genji somehow managed to perform a summoning. Normally this would force him to appear in our domain... but somehow the first of us was transported here. After our ancestor tried to return home and failed, he concocted a plan to overthrow the people of this city and spread throughout the world."

"I see. I'm assuming that Genji discovered this plan?"

"You'd be correct, Gina Diggers. Genji discovered our plan and warned the rest of the humans before we were fully prepared. Many of us were sealed underground, but their were enough of us that escaped the human's trap to fight back. In the end we drove the humans from their home, but they sealed us within the mountain." Hissing softly, Hebi's forked tongue flicked towards the still woman as he drew closer to her. "Tell me, how much longer are you going to try and distract me?" Hissing loudly, the large snake's fang filled maw opened wide before he lunged towards a shadowy corner. The serpent hissed angrily as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Gina turning towards her sister in time to see a blonde haired man fall from the ceiling towards the second serpent. A small blade in his hand glinted dully before it was surrounded by a glowing blue light, the tall blonde expertly throwing the glowing weapon at his target. The small blade penetrating the serpent's skull with ease, the dead reptile crashing and allowing Britanny to struggle free of the dead creature coiled around her. Rising to her feet, the blood covered were-cheetah turning an angry glare towards her sister.

"Did you have a nice conversation? Would you like some more time to find out what his family likes to eat, where they like to go on vacation? You could have helped me get free, sis! And I got blood on me, this'll take forever to come out! This is all your fault, it was your idea to come here!"

"Will you shut up! You both need to get out of here before he... oh shit!" The mystery blonde rolled to the side as Hebi lunged towards him, another small knife sliding into his grip before he flung the weapon towards the massive serpent's snout.

"Really, a knife? You expect to hurt me with thARGH!" Hebi's mocking tone became a cry of pain as it's entire head was engulfed in an explosion.

Turning back towards Gina and Britanny, the mysterious blonde appeared beside Gina in an instant. "You need to leave, now!"

"SHINOBI!" Both Gina and the mystery man turned towards the furious serpent, his massive bulk rising up as he revealed his fang filled maw once more. "DIE!" Hebi's tail lashed out and flung both Gina and her rescuer into the air, Gina's terrified scream splitting the air as she fell into the chasm.

Brianna's blood froze at the sound of her sister's scream, her head shaking in denial as she watched Gina falling towards the dark abyss at her feet. "NOOOO! GINA!"

Not wasting any time, Naruto leaped into action and ran towards the cliff's edge. As Gina fell out of sight, Naruto leaped into the darkness after her. Bursts of futon chakra flung him towards the falling woman within moments, the shinobi spreading his arms wide before he crashed into the frantic scientist. Naruto gritted his teeth as Gina continued to scream in fear as the pair tumbled out of control . "GINA! GO LIMP, I'VE GOT YOU!"

Despite the terrifying situation, Gina immediately followed the blonde's order. Naruto let out a calm breath as he felt the Gina's muscles grow slack, the shinobi releasing another burst of chakra that righted the wildly tumbling pair. 'Son of a bitch, I guess we're doing something crazy AND stupid after all!' Channelling as much chakra as he could spare around the pair, Naruto held onto his charge tightly as his crashed feet first into the ground. Naruto wondering if this was what Rock Lee felt like when Garra crushed all his muscles, his body screaming in agony as he struggled to disappate the energy from the pair's fall. The stone floor had cratered upon impact, shards of rock and stone dust flying through the air and pelting the duo as the mountain shook violently. After several moments Naruto let out a pain filled groan, a final burst of chakra scattering the dust and debris that had nearly buried the pair. Taking a deep breath as his muscles slowly began to heal, Naruto smiled at Gina as they lay at the bottom of the of the significantly deeper chasm.

"Hey, you ok?" Gina could only stare in awe at the man that had saved her, his wide grin setting off what felt like an entire flock of butterflies in her stomach. After several minutes of silence, Naruto reached up and brushed at a small line of blood as it sluggishly worked it's way down Gina's cheek. "Sorry about that, I thought I used enough chakra to protect us both."

Gina let out a startled squeak of dismay and pushed herself away from the blonde, her cheeks growing warmer at the intimate contact. "I-i-it's f-fine! You saved me, but I d-don't even know your name... wait, you look like the guy that saved my sister! What happened to him?"

Smiling tiredly, Naruto pushed himself to his feet before bowing politely. "Uzumaki Naruto. Jounin level shinobi of Konoha, all around bad ass and combat specialist extraordinaire. Pleased to meet you. And don't worry about him, he'll turn up."

"But... "

"It's fine, really. Trust me. But we really need to get back up there." Naruto said, his voice growing thick with exhaustion as he looked towards the far off cliff Gina had fallen from. "I've got just enough fuel in the tank to get us back up to Brianna, help Brit and walk out of here. Past that, I'm gonna be pretty much useless."

Looking towards the cliff looming overhead, Gina turned towards her rescuer and frowned. "And how do you propose we get back up to my sisters? It'll take hours to climb our way out."

Turning around, Naruto crouched down and looked over his shoulder. "All aboard, I'll have you there in 2 minutes or your money back."

Gina swallowed loudly as she approached the crouching blonde, her arms wrapping securely around his neck. As Naruto's own arms wrapped around her thighs, Gina held back a happy giggle at the feeling of the blonde's hardened muscles. "Ok, I-I'm ready."

"Up we go!"

Britanny had watched in horror as Gina flew through the air, her sister eyes locking on her own for a moment before she fell into the darkness. As the sound of Gina's scream faded away, Britanny released a furious howl before leaping towards Hebi, her clawed hands lashing out at the massive creature. Hebi cried out in alarm as the were-cat's claws actually penetrated his hide, dark eyes flashing angrily as he attempted to encircle his opponent. But the summon wasn't sneaking up on Britanny, the were-cheetah's superior speed allowing her to keep ahead of the gigantic reptile. Hebi hissed angrily as he continued trying to tag the speedster with his tail, but he had no more luck than before as Britanny managed to stay ahead of the deadly appendage while still managing to score several blows with her surprisingly effective claws. "Once I catch you, I will crush your bones! And as you lay there dying, I will retrieve your sister's remains so that you may spend your final moments with whatever is left of her!"

Tears running unashamedly down her cheeks, Britanny wrapped her arms around a stalagmite and tore it free of the stone floor. Raising the piece of stone over her shoulder, Britanny threw the impromptu javalin at the snake's head. A feral grin grew as the stone shard struck Hebi, the massive creature bellowing in pain. "FUCK YOU! YOU KILLED MY SISTER AND I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"

"Uh, sis? Hate to break it to ya, but I'm pretty sure Gina's gonna be fine."

Taking a moment to swiftly tap her commbud, Britanny continued zipping around the massive cavern in an attempt to stay ahead of her increasingly angry opponent. "Brianna, what the hell are you talking about?! I just saw Gina fall into a chasm, she said it was a 600 meter drop!"

"Well, Naruto jumped in after her. After what I've seen him do, I'm pretty sure that he'll save her."

"What the hell is a Naruto?" Before Brianna could respond the entire mountain shook violently, the speeding were-cheetah loosing her footing and crashing into a wall as she held on to anything solid until finally the mountain ceased moving. "Bri, what just happened?!"

"If I was to make a guess, I'd say Naruto did it."

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK IS A NARUTO!?" Britanny dove towards the center of the room, a grin appearing as Hebi's tail missed her once again.

"I will strip the flesh from your bones! Your remains will hang as a reminder to any who would dare to cross us!"

"You'll find out in a minute, he just dropped off Gina and he's on his way up."

"He? What do you mean.. oh shit!" Britanny's attention had wandered while speaking with her sister, allowing Hebi to catch her off guard as his tail slapped her towards the wall. Groaning loudly as she rose to her feet, Britanny glared at the slowly advancing serpent.

"You've put up a valiant effort, but now you will diAIEEEE!" A trio of explosions slammed into Hebi's massive body, the serpent crying out in pain as a dirty, ragged and tired looking Naruto faded into view between a shocked Britanny and the screaming serpent.

"Blah, blah, blah, you're as nutty as Manda. And he died like a little bitch. And to answer your question," The blonde said while looking over his shoulder. "I'm Naruto. Futon: Daitoppa!"

Hissing angrily, Henbi held out against the techniques gale force wind for a moment before he crashed into the far wall. Groaning in pain, Hebi watched helplessly as the blonde stood over him, a sphere of chakra spinning in the palm of his hand . "C-c-curse you, shinobi..."

"Rasengan!" Naruto's attack slammed squarely into the summon's skull, the serpent's chakra enhanced hide resisting for a moment before giving out. Naruto let out a disgusted groan as he wiped futiley at his blood soaked clothing when his vision blurred, the excessive chakra usage finally catching up with the shinobi. His knees shaking, Naruto tried to grab the wall before his body finally gave out but it was too late, the blonde grimacing as he fell towards the floor until he felt an a strong arm wrapping around his waist. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto gave the concerned were-cheetah a weak grin. "Thanks. Saving you and your sisters is hard work."

"Is Gina ok?" Chuckling softly, Naruto gave Cheetah a shaky thumbs up, the blonde let out a surprised gasp as he was pulled into Britanny's arms and hugged tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you... she drives me nuts sometimes, but she's my sister. If you hadn't been here..." Britanny broke off as she swiped at her tears, the blonde in her arms grinning happily.

"No worries, s'all part of the service. Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi for hire. Rescuing damsels in distress is one of my specialities."

Giggling at his antics, Britanny held the blonde at arms length as she gave him a once over. "And what else do you specialize in? Making an unholy mess?"

A feral grin appeared as Naruto gestured at the dead serpent. "Nope. Kicking ass. I also do windows, for the right price."

"Is it safe to come up now?" Turning towards the cliff, Naruto waved and a pair of clones clambered over the edge. Brianna and Gina peered over the shoulders of each construct, their expressions growing dumbfounded at the carnage laid out before them.

"Whoa..."

"Look what you did, you destroyed the place!" Naruto and Britanny took a moment to glance around the room and finally notice the crushed crystals and debris scattered throughout. Turning towards each other, both Naruto and Britanny gave each other a deadpan stare before giving the same look to the furious woman. Swallowing nervously as the pair continued to stare at her, Gina let out a nervous laugh while she blushed in embarassment. "I mean... I'm so glad you're both ok?"

After several seconds of further staring, Naruto and Britanny looked at each other with similar expressions of acceptance before the shinobi stepped away from the were-cheetah. "Thanks, Brit. I just needed a minute to get my second wind. Alright you two, off the clones."

Gina pouted as she silently complied, the sheepish girl not wanting to say anything else to annoy the hunky blonde anymore than she already had. Brianna, on the other hand, was a little more vocal in her protests.

"Ah, come on! How come I have to get off? It was Gina that was being a jerk!" Her head whipping towards her sister, Gina gave Brianna an evil glare while the young clone merely flashed her a smug victory sign.

"You two can fight later, I need the chakra from one of these guys and the other is going to stay behind to bury this place."

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T!" Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he turned towards an aghast Gina, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at the blonde.

"It's not by choice. Look over there." Gina reluctantly turned in the direction he'd indicated, her eyes blinking at the sight of the so called 'memory stone'. Several glyphs that had once shone brightly had turned dark, while others flickered weakly in the dim light. "That's not a memory device, think of it more like a central node. Whoever made this place was smart, he found a spot that is full of chakra conductive metal so he could easily place seals through the structure and run it all from this central location. When we hit the chasm floor, we destabilized a large portion of those same seals that keep this place in one piece. They're still running for now, that's why we weren't crushed, but it's only a matter of time before they fail. I'd rather control it now when no one is nearby, rather than risking a person's death because we wanted to preserve a piece of history."

As he turned towards the pillar, Britanny and Brianna cleared their throats loudly. Pausing in mid stride, Naruto turned towards the pair of women and arced an eyebrow. Fixing the shinobi with a glare, Brianna motioned meaningfully towards her silent sister while Britanny folded her arms under her breasts. Turning his attention towards Gina, Naruto nearly winced at the hurt expression the contrite girl wore.

"Dammit...Gina?" When the crestfallen blonde turned towards him in acknowledgement, Naruto flashed her a grin while gesturing towards the pillar." Wanna learn about these seals before I deactivate them?"

Gina's expression lit up as she happily skipped towards the shinobi, her sisters giving Naruto a thumbs up for the quick save. As the shinobi and his temporary student began discussing the intricacies of sealing techniques, Britanny turned towards Brianna and gave her a sly smirk. "So, a buff, studly, insanely powerful guy just happened to stumble onto our expedition so he could swoop in and save us. What are the odds?"

"I'd say they're pretty good," Brianna said as she watched both Gina and Naruto animatedly discussing the functions of the various runes adorning the pillar. "When said guy was hired by Dad to keep an eye on us."

Gina repressed a giggle as she listened to Naruto explain the functions of the seals that were carved into the pillar. 'That was close, I was afraid I'd messed up when he gave me that look. He's perfect! Hot, buff, powerful and smart! Maybe not as smart as me, but he sure knows his stuff when it comes to these seals. But where did he come from? He said Konoha, but I've never heard of it before.'

"HE'S WHAT?" Looking towards her sister, Gina's eyes narrowed at the shocked expression Britanny wore as she pointed towards the crouching blonde.

"Well, that didn't take long." Chuckling softly as he ran his hand along several of the darkened seals, Naruto turned towards the now suspicious woman at his side. "Brianna just told your sister that your dad hired me to watch the three of you."

"Wait, what?! Wait, were you the one that broke in and hacked into my servers?"

Naruto grinned cheekily before turning back to his work. "Yep, that was me. You really need to work on some better security. And thanks for the ramen, that was some good stuff. We'll need to stock up on some more sometime."