Chapter 3: Amnesia

Yo my jinchuriki miraculers!

Welcome to chapter 3 of :sparkles: ezzie :sparkles: and mine’s Naruto AU collaboration series!

I’m so sorry for my crazy long absence and that this chapter took so long to write since there was quite a lot to fit into this part and that it was rather complicated to write. On the bright side, you all get a nice, lengthy chapter to read to your hearts’ content. It’s about 4K words, haha :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

WARNING: This series is rated PG-13 due to coarse language and mild violence, viewer discretion is advised. :blush:

Cover and background art belongs to the incredible artist shann so be sure to check her out and her Instagram, @shannanigans_and_such! I have asked permission to use it and the screenshots for proof are attached to the end of the blog :grin:

The CLAWsome music for you miraculers to listen to while reading this chapter is the second opening of Naruto, Far Away (Haruka Kanata) by Asian Kung-Fu Generations!

And that’s all! Enjoy the chapter! :wink:

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Edit: 9TH FEATURE?! AH! THANKS SO MUSH!!!!! :sparkling_heart: :sparkling_heart: :sparkling_heart: :sparkling_heart: :sparkling_heart:

***

Chapter 3: Amnesia

He was in darkness.

Utter pitch-black darkness.

There was no light to see in this cave of blackness.

There was nothing to see in the vacant emptiness of his mind.

He floated, no gravity pulling him to a nonexistent ground.

“Am I,” He wondered, “Dead?”

Drifting across the endlessly jet black abyss, the boy blindly moved his body in a swimming-like motion, searching for answers.

“Is this,” He asked no one in particular, “what heaven is like?”

But to him, this place was no heaven. Not the Elysian-like heaven called “the better place.” Not the dream-like heaven talked about in stories or where lovers and families go in their happily ever afters. No, to him, this place was like the morbid void of what’s inside a timeless black hole.

The boy couldn’t how he had gotten here. In fact, he couldn’t what had happened in what felt like years. He recalled his feet running like his life depended on it, as far away as possible from the cloaked in maroon, unknown pursuers. Shooting arrows and exploding kunai. Panicking hollers to capture him alive.

Running. Running. And more running. His mind conjured up...a cliff? Him jumping? Falling? His head ached from the pain of trying to recollect the jumbling puzzle pieces named as unanswered questions.

Who is he? Where is he? What happened to him? Who were the ones chasing after him? And why?

“Adrien.” A raspy voice purred like a lackadaisical kitten.

The boy whirled around at the sound of the voice. “Who’s there?!” He yelled into the limitless darkness.

“Adrien.” The voice called again.

“Show yourself!” The boy trembled as he listened in on a soft growl rumbling through the devoid atmosphere. “Who’s Adrien?! Why do you call me that?!”

“Why it’s your name. Isn’t it, kid?”

“M-my...My name?” The boy queried, not quite understanding.

“But, of course!” The voice said unbelievably. “Do you seriously not anything? Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten your own name!”

The creature suddenly gasped. “Wait a second, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten my name too! Oh gods above, this is worse than I thought! Please tell me you’re playing some sick, human joke or something! Why do I even put up with this stuff! Arg! Next time I see them, I’m gonna pound whoever put me in here into a-“

The cryptic voice kept rambling his death threats about something in between the lines of vengeance, kicking someone’s butt, and...Camembert cheese?

Adrien lowered his guard and released a relieved sigh that the enigmatic cat-like creature in his mind wasn’t going to hurt him. “Uh...Excuse me?” He hindered the demon-like creature’s venting.

“Hm?” The creature acknowledged the boy’s existence as if he never noticed that he was there the whole time.

“Who...Who are you? How do you know my name? Where am I? And what happened to me exactly?” Adrien blurted out multiple questions, sending numerous sweat drops down the tailed-beast’s back.

The creature sighed and pondered for a moment before making a decision. “Perhaps it is best that I don’t relay most of that information to you yet for both of our sakes. It’s not exactly safe where we are if you know what I mean.” He said mysteriously.

“But-“ Adrien started to protest.

“As for who I am however,” The beast stomped his foot and like magic, the onyx black darkness lit up with limelight; displaying his true self. “Name’s Plagg, and I’m the kwami tailed-beast of destruction and bad luck.”

Adrien gaped like the wind was knocked out of him at the monstrous-sized animal before him. Behind some obsidian cage bars acting like a jail cell was a gigantic ebony-furred angora cat with the pointed ears of an elf at the top of his head, silvery whiskers, a long, trailing tail, and large, electric green irises around inky black pupils.

“Whoa...” Adrien was awestruck at the colossus black beauty and flew closer for a better glance.

“I’m gorgeous, I know,” Plagg boasted proudly with a grandiose pose like he was on a catwalk made just for him. “I’m practically a god in a cat’s body.”

“Now don’t be shy, just tell me how good I look right now. I know everyone would be envious of a body like this and by the way-“

“How’d you get in there?”

“Can you get me some-Wait what?” Plagg inquired.

“I said,” Adrien repeated. “How’d you get in there? I mean, someone as nice as you shouldn’t be stuck in a cage like this. So, why are you in there?”

Plagg blinked his meadow green eyes twice, incredulity circling his brain over and over at the boy’s words overflowing with pure truth.

“Kind-hearted as always.” The cat mumbled, amused and unburden from the possibilities that his holder could never truly change.

“Hm?” The blond-haired seven-year-old queried.

“Nothing,” The black cat sucked in some oxygen, lazily determining how best to explain this to a child. “Hey, kid?”

“Yeah?” Adrien responded as curious as a cat.

The tailed-beast pointed with one of his claws to something on Adrien’s finger on his right hand. “You see that ring on your hand there?”

Adrien peered at his hand and noticed that there was a sterling ring on one of his fingers. “You mean...this one?”

Plagg nodded with a grin countenance. “That one and only ring there is called a miraculous and it’s the only thing keeping me caged in this dank prison like some sort of prized bird,” The creature shuddered. “I absolutely despise birds. I never did quite understand why you mortals kept those...things as pets. Ugh...”

The sandy-haired boy inspected the piece of jewelry quite thoroughly, swapping his hand back and forth from front to back at the argent accessory. “So, if I just take the miraculous off,” He drawled as he reached for the ring. “I can free you-“

“No!” Plagg roared suddenly. “Don’t! That ring’s the only thing left that can protect us!”

Adrien immediately stopped at the cat kwami’s unexpected outburst. “I don’t understand. You said that this ring is the reason why you’re stuck here so if I take it off, won’t it free you?”

Plagg sighed exasperatedly at his holder’s ignorance. “Look kid, if things were as easy as that, I would’ve escaped a long time ago. Live alone. Faraway from humans. Sleep in all day everyday, and eat all the Camembert cheese I want. Unfortunately, the amount of chakra and power applied to this here jutsu seal is much more complicated than that.”

“What do you mean? What jutsu seal?” The leaf-eyes boy asked.

Plagg paced the inside of his confinement space and stretched his stiff limbs before rolling into a comfortable resting position as if he was getting ready to tell a rather wordy story.

“You see kid, every kwami is a very powerful being with endless amounts of chakra, but one of our weaknesses is that when we were discovered, we were all linked to a type of everyday mortal object that humans can wear and use for their own purposes. For example, your ring. But, while each of us may be pacified through only a specific kind of accessory, that does not mean anyone could harness those powers. At most, people die shortly after just from becoming a temporary vessel to one tailed-beast chakra. I think only one jinchuriki in all of history has ever even fused just two tailed-beasts into their own body and survived,”

“As for the jutsu power, that ring is just a vessel for a mere seal someone used and fused their own chakra meant to keep me locked-up. However, only someone with extraordinarily superior amount of chakra and chakra control can successfully force even me into another piece of jewelry, but I sense that this one is nearly a hundred times stronger than all of my previous holders so you can’t just take the ring off and expect me to easily get out without some backup spell kicking in. You must have the key needed to unlock the jutsu seal to break open the cage or it’s plain useless to just take off the ring and release me.” Plagg explained, bored with the speech-like explanation.

“I...I think I get it now,” The boy said sheepishly, “but, wouldn’t it be better for you to be outside and not...um...sealed inside the ring?”

“This way, it’s easier and safer for people to confine me, but as much as I hate the fact that I’m forever bonded to that miraculous on your finger, it’s legions better than being some villain’s monster puppet or some sort of trump card weapon used for warfare,” He spatted out the words bitterly like he had experienced both before.

The tailed-beast then realized that the sunshine-haired boy was still listening and began to sputter out his words as the child continuously gave him a perplexing look.

“N-Now l-let’s not get into my whole life story! Although I wouldn’t mind there being a biography written about me someday...”

His sputters shrunk quieter into inaudible mutterings. “B-But anyway, the point is that this miraculous not only protects me in a way, it also protects you and the people around you if you can’t control my power accidentally taking over your body and soul cause if you die, I’m gonna have to wait a few thousand years till I’m reborn again! I’ve already been through that so please don’t make me go through it again!” Plagg begged.

Adrien placed a hand over his heart, “Okay, I promise that I won’t take off the ring.”

“You’d better not!” Plagg shouted with a hint of pleading.

“But,” Adrien pouted with his cheeks puffing out rather adorably, “I really wanna learn about your past and more about the miraculouses. Are there others like me and you? And what about my past? Do you know who I am? There’s so much I wanna ask you.”

Plagg clenched his teeth at the sheer captivation of his holder’s unresistable baby doll, emerald green orbs.

That little punk! I know he’s doing that on purpose! But, I’m not falling for the same old trick in the book twice!

The jet-haired angora cat’s forest green irises softened. He wasn’t falling for it, but at least the boy had tried his best.

“When you’re older, I promise that I’ll tell you,” The gentle rumbling of his voice acted as the wind, sending ripples through Adrien’s waves of hair. “Besides, where would I even start?”

The two bantered like old friends sharing an inside joke between them. Plagg smiled softly, positively content at the nostalgic widening grin on the child’s face. The smile the boy had with him before being forced to stoop down to bowing to a false facade, wearing a meaningless smile. Stuck in a genjutsu of fake pleasantry whole in reality, he was happily obeying his bloodthirsty superiors as their-No, he couldn’t be reminded of that. Never again.

Plagg knew in that moment that he yearned nothing more than a second chance to protect that innocent smile unlike when he had failed to warn the boy of the perils awaiting him last time. It seemed as though fate had shown him mercy and has offered the tailed-beast a chance at redemption.

For as long as possible, he would bargain for time and prolong the day when the harsh, murderous truth must be revealed. And for him, he’ll gladly make that choice even if his holder will abhor him later in life. The kwami beast had lost so many of his holders that he lost track. Most of them he had loathed, but this boy was like the reincarnation of the few holders he had cherished and he refused to make the same mistake again.

The creature’s mind conjured up a past visual of a young man with the same honey yellow hair, summer green eyes, and carefree smiles.

Suddenly, the prison begins shaking like an earthquake attack, snapping Plagg out of the past images and unbalancing Adrien as he tumbled to the floor.

“What’s happening?!” Adrien shouted over the vehement noise from the demolishing walls caving them in by the second.

“Hm,” Plagg said thoughtfully as he licks his pristine fur. “Must be a sign that you and I have overstayed our visit, or in more boring , you’re waking up.”

“Waking up?!” The blond yelled bewilderedly.

“Your remains consciousness created this place so we can communicate and now that you’re waking up, it’s being destroyed by the inside out.” Plagg explained nonchalantly.

Still wavering on his two legs, Adrien tried his best to steady himself. “What’ll happen to us once I’m fully awake?!”

“Oh, nothing’s happen to you, but as for me however, I’ll be sent back to my real prison,” The tailed-beast growled. “Aw, cheese-wits, and just when I was getting use to this place.”

“This place isn’t r-real?” Adrien squeaked.

The angora cat frowns. “Trust me kid, this place ain’t nothing compared to the real deal. This place is as closest to paradise as it can be for me. The jutsu seal that had been performed on us is much more...” He struggled, searching his mind for the right word that wasn’t too explicit for the child. “Secure.”

Plagg smiled sadly. “Nice talking to ya, kid. Next time we chat, I hope we can actually have a proper conversation...once you get your memories back that is.”

Adrien’s lips quivered like he was catching a cold. “You mean, you’re...leaving?”

“Don’t think of it as me leaving since I’m technically still inside the ring, but do me a small favor an don’t tell anyone about me yet, okay? And don’t forget your promise.” Plagg reminded him.

“Okay...thank you, Plagg,” Adrien said graciously. “Don’t forget your promise either.”

The cat tailed-beast grunted and rolled his eyes. “Don’t thank me just yet and I won’t,” He saluted jokingly with a quirky wink. “See ya around, kid.”

With a final glance at the hulking kwami creature, the black hole of Adrien’s consciousness awakened and sucked the leaf-eyed boy back into the real world, leaving the angora monster all alone once more.

***

“He’s waking up!” A chipper voice squealed, sending vibrations through the straw-haired boy’s brain like water droplets dripping into a river. A mind-splitting headache welcomes him coldly so he focuses on the anonymous voice.

Who...Who is that? Why does that voice sound so...familiar?

Adrien squeezed his eyelids harder; attempting to uselessly block out the sunlight streaming through the shutterless window. As his emerald green irises try to adjust to his surroundings, his field of sight weakens and becomes a haze once again.

He barely saw anything else, but white sheets and similar colored bandages wrapped tightly around his left arm. A fearful yet worried brunette with hazel orbs in a matching dress by his side was feeling his casted forehead with a wet piece of cloth. And to his left was a girl about his age with the most peculiar colored hair he had ever seen.

He thought back on his outlandish dream of a black angora creature, erased memories, and his miraculous. Urgently, his eyes flitted to his right hand and was met with a silver ring glittering on his finger.

The sandy-haired boy hardly paid any attention to what the mahogany-haired nurse was saying in rapid language about having slight symptoms of a fever and few shouts for a doctor or a medical ninja. As he tuned out the woman’s incessant words, all he could gaze at in a daze was at the young girl on the left side of his hospital bed.

She was beyond adorable with her azure hair tied in by garnet ribbons with short tresses at the front that shrouded her inky black earrings, porcelain clear skin sprinkled with light freckles, and sapphire gems for eyes. He also noticed that her tan-colored top was shredded at the fringes with spots of cardinal red, dried blood for some strange reason.

His irises trailed down her thin, pale arms and legs that she uselessly tried to conceal, but he catches violet smudges marking her skin like an unnerving warning. The bluebell-haired girl realized his piqued interest and squirmed away nervously into the corner, staring at the floor with a light pink blush.

Both of their attentions are captured when the nurse screamed vehemently. “Can someone get a doctor in here?! The patient’s awake!” The female medic shouted into the hallway with a hand on her forehead in annoyance. “Geez, the people in these parts all seem to have a hearing impairment these days.”

She forced a tired smile and patted her precious patients on the head. “I’m sorry sweethearts. The doctor will be with you both in no time okay?” She cooed and pinched Adrien’s cheeks, making them swollen.

Then, she grabbed another freezing cold towel that is wrapped around a chunk of ice and tenderly like a doting mother, she instructed the girl to gently apply the cloth to her blemishes to reduce the blood flow and swelling.

The brunette nurse assisted the golden-haired boy into drinking a soothing remedy and felt his forehead bandages again in indiscreet worry.

“Thank...you.” Adrien croaked.

“I’m sorry again for the trouble.” The raven-haired girl apologized.

The medic waved her off unconcernedly. “No need. It was no trouble at all darling, I do this for a living. After all, nothing makes me happier than helping others,”

The green-brown-eyed woman grinned veritably. “You know dear, what you did today was a very brave thing to do. Not many people have the courage to take action like you did today. And because of that, you saved a life.”

“Oh...” The baby blue-eyed girl blushed darker. “You don’t really mean that. I mean, I hardly-“

“Don’t sell yourself short, cupcake,” The sorrel-haired woman said sternly, wagging her finger. “Modesty is a good thing, but sometimes you gotta take credit for your accomplishments. You did an irable thing today, and this boy here is grateful for it. We’re all grateful for it.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Adrien chimed in, full of nothing, but gratitude.

“I-“ The young girl was speechless at the medic’s and the boy’s earnest words as they touch and affect her heart immeasurably. “Thank you, Miss...”

“Call me, Nonna. And thank you,” Nonna smirked cheekily. “You’d make a pretty cool medic ninja one day. You know that?”

Again, the child was left on mute as her vocal cords refused to work properly. “Ah! Well...uh...you see...I-“

Her explanation is hindered as the private patient’s room slides open and the minuscule shadow of a short figure enters.

Adrien cocked his head to get a better look at their uninvited guest, but before he could, Nonna, with her back turned at the startling new arrival, snatched her medical bag and hurls it with all of her strength at the unsuspecting person.

“What in the world took you so long, you good-for-nothing doctors?!” The brunette shrieked.

Both of the seven-year-olds began to boisterously protest to no avail as he heavy health kit soared overhead, about to land square in the face of the poor doctor. Until, the enigmatic person caught it single-handedly in his left hand.

Everyone else in the room blinks twice as if they are imagining the abrupt, bewildering scenario and that it was all in their heads and that the nurse’s pack had actually smashed into the doctor’s face. But if they were all picturing the exact same thing...

“Now, is that how to greet your former teacher, Nonna?” A voice laced with humor said. The mysterious figure comes out of the obscurity with a joyous smile and the health handbag twirling around his fingers.

He was a pint-sized man with a coral red shirt with chalky white hibiscus flower patterns, beige capri shorts, and spruce brown sandals. The man also had wispy grey hair with a mustache and a goatee, ochre brown orbs, and a jade green bracelet on his right wrist.

“Hello Nonna, don’t tell me you didn’t miss me.” He waved happily as he handed back the medic’s health kit.

“Lord Hokage!” The brunette squeaked astonishingly at the surprising guest that was not the doctor and bows low. “Forgive me for my crude actions Lord Hokage, I had mistaken you for someone else.” She beckoned Adrien and the bluenette to do the same to which they obliged.

The grey-haired leader of their village awkwardly sweat-drops at their formality, still not use to the bowing and address. “Now, now. No need for that, Nonna. Children. You all know how I feel about all this “formality” hogwash.”

“Well in that case...” The medic said with a ferocious fire in her eyes. She marched up to the elderly Hokage and whacks him vigorously on his bald spot at the top of his head.

Both of the children were in utter shock with their mouths in a perfect ‘o’ at the unexplainable actions of the tawney-haired medic. The abrupt punch had been unforeseen and baffling to say the least. Adrien tilted his head in awe and slight amusement at Nona’s actions while the onyx-haired girl beside him was paralyzed and absolutely stupefied at the sight of the Hokage getting smacked in the face by a nurse. It was quite a sight to behold.

“Ow!” The Hokage wailed with tears prickling the edge of his maroon eyes. He rubbed his head where his former student had struck the powerful blow. “What was that for?!”

“For scaring the heck out of me, you idiot. And for scaring the children.” She gestured rather irritably at him.

“I think they’re more scared of you.” The elder muttered embitterly.

“Do you want me to punch you again?” She threatened. “Why are you even here?! Are you skipping out on your paperwork again? Because, let me just remind you Fu, the Elders and I have warned you multiple times after that library incident to not-“

“T-That w-was only one time!” The smoky-haired man sputtered.

“That was only one of the numerous times you had tired to escape!” Nonna shot back. The two adults bickered back and forth for a few minutes like children fighting over the last lollipop.

In advance of the medic’s next snappish remark, Fu cleared his throat, interrupting her yammering. “Despite what you may think Nonna dear, I actually am here on official business,”

He strides over to Adrien’s bedside and gently placed a hand on the golden-haired boy’s plastered temples. The boy squirmed at the sudden touch, but relaxed almost immediately after. An ethereal glow radiated from Fu’s palm, boosting the recovery process of the injured boy even quicker.

“After all, it’s my duty to help anyone in need as a fellow medic ninja...” He whispered, “even if they aren’t from here. Mister, do you have a name?”

Adrien turned away slowly, avoiding eye . “It’s...Adrien.” He had no known surname to offer.

“A good name.” Fu hummed to himself in quiet thought as he sustained the healing aura.

“Not from here?” The brunette interrupted. “Whatever do you mean, Fu? Are you saying the kid isn’t from the Hidden Leaf?”

The Hokage frowned, leaving hard creases on his face. “Yes, I’ve had Matthias and Cerisae look through the resident logbooks for me to see if this boy matched any of the descriptions or if anyone has reported their child missing and they found something quite bizarre. This boy’s family does not reside here.”

“Eh?!” Nonna shrieked. “How can that be?! But, she said that she found him by a river by the edge of the village!”

The sterling-haired leader focused his attention on the bluenette. “Say, what’s your name?”

“Gah! Um...Marinette! Uh...Marinette Dupain-Cheng, uh sir!” Marinette stumbled over her words nervously and can’t seem to wrap her head around the fact that one of the greatest Hokage of their time was speaking to her.

So, that’s her name. Marinette.

Adrien thought.

“Dupain-Cheng, you say?” Fu inquired, astonished. “You wouldn’t happen to be Tom’s daughter, would you?”

The beryl-eyed girl blinked twice. “Yes, sir. You-You know my papa?”

“But of course! Tom’s another one of my old students! Nonna, why didn’t you introduce this young lady to me earlier?” The leader queried genuinely.

The nurse rolled her nut brown irises and crosses her arms, “If you haven’t noticed, Fu, we have more pressing matters than reminiscing about the past.”

“Alright, alright. How’s his condition?” He asked seriously.

Nonna pursed her lips, withdrawing the bad news. “The boy has a mild fever, but I have no doubts it won’t heal by tomorrow. He had hit his head pretty badly, but luckily there were no other broken bones except for a wrist sprain so he’s gonna have to stay in the hospital for a little while longer. And...” She sucked in a breath sharply. “He seems to be suffering from terrible amnesia.” Both Marinette and the Hokage share a horrified gasp.

Adrien gripped his bedsheets even tighter, so tight that his knuckles were becoming white. Shadows from his yellow hair overcoats his disappointed eyes. He bites his lips in frustration at the veritable reason as to why he couldn’t recall a single thing that had happened.

“He can’t recall anything that’s happen until now. So, his past is a complete mystery. Stars, so much for getting him home Fu.”

“What about the-“ Fu started.

“Medical team? No luck. They can’t figure out what’s wrong since nothing in his brain seems to be critically damaged, but they’re theorizing that the amnesia might have come from the aftereffects of an impact against his memory drive, and that it might be incurable. The Kubdels can’t hack into his brain and memories either. Not even the head of the family could do it. It’s like some sort of powerful, invisible force is blocking us from figuring out his past.”

“Hm, strange indeed,” Fu stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Say Marinette, where did you find this boy?”

“Well,” The bluenette drawled, scratching her head anxiously, “it’s kinda a long story.”

“We’ve got all day,” Fu smiled. “Let’s hear it.”

Marinette filled him in on what truthfully happened before and after she saved the yellow-haired boy. She told him and Nonna about how, when, and where she had discovered Adrien’s body, believed him to be dead at first while tactfully leaving out the part where she had talked to his corpse, and the hospital rush after she realized he was still alive.

“After that,” The sapphire-haired girl continued, “I decided to head back to the hospital to give him my get-well present.”

“Let me guess, your gift were those lovely chrysanthemums over there,” Fu pointed on top of the bedside stand where the golden blossoms were placed meticulously in a plain white jug. “A splendid choice I must say since I assume you chose them because they represent good health and optimism?”

She nodded shyly, but before another word could utter from her mouth, the patient’s room door slides open again. This time, two unknown silhouettes alight themselves inside.

“Is it the doctors?” Nonna asked, relieved. “Honestly? What took them so-“ She pauses, her lips in an ‘o’ shape.

Precipitation poured down the Hokage’s back once again as he sputtered incomprehensibly at the two people. “Matthias! Cerisae! W-What a-are you two doing here?”

***

Cliffhanger? Check. :joy:

Okay, I did not mean to make the scenes between Adrien and Plagg so long. Whoopsies.Did you enjoy their interactions at least? I hope I portrayed Plagg’s lazy personality perfectly :joy:

And I also hope I explained the process of a tailed-beast and it’s jinchuriki holder easily for you guys which I also tweaked a bit to fit into the MLB world as well, but it probably still needs more tweaking :sweat_smile:

And Marinette’s interactions with Master Fu aka LORD HOKAGE (Ingenious idea :ok_hand: ) were so much fun to write! I’ll be sure to release the next chapter a lot quicker!

Thanks so much for reading! Queen Out!

-PrettyQueen325 :heartpulse: :heartpulse: :heartpulse: :heartpulse: :heartpulse:

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