Guardian of the Tower

Authors NOTE: If you want to read 15 more chapters ahead right now. Search for (banmido P atreon) in google and click the first link. Chapters 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 are all ready to read on my P atreon at banmido

____

The tea was bitter and smoky.

Like ash scraped from the walls of a hearth and stirred with river water. 

It clung to Naruto's tongue and left a strange heat curling in his chest, but he didn't mind. He blew on the rim of the cup and took another careful sip. The warmth soaked into his fingers, steady and grounding.

They sat cross-legged on hand-woven mats in the corner of the hut, gathered around a low table made of twisted wood that creaked with every shift of weight. The air inside was heavy with the scent of herbs and old smoke. 

Bundles of dried leaves, roots, and bones hung from the ceiling like sleeping bats, brushing softly against one another with each draft of wind. 

Somewhere behind them, a clay pot simmered over coals, bubbling low and steady like a heartbeat.

Elder Granny sat opposite him, her back straight, and her legs folded with the ease of someone decades younger. The years hadn't dimmed her posture much, only her eyes. 

Milky-white and unblinking, they stared through the steam rising from her cup as if it told a story only she could "This drink will help your recovery," she said at last, voice calm as dry grass.

"It will bring you clarity. Strengthen your bones."

Naruto sipped cautiously. Then grimaced.

"Good," he said. "I was worried they were gonna stay cracked forever. Especially after you hit me in the skull."

Amaya, seated to his right, didn't look up. "You're lucky it didn't shatter."

Grandma Xochitl smiled. 

"Don't thank me," she said flatly. "I'm only doing what any kind old woman should do when a strange and lost boy falls from the sky and crash-lands into her world."

Naruto chuckled into his cup, shaking his head. "Speaking of being lost… you got any idea how I can get out of here?"

The old woman took a long, slow sip before answering. When she set the cup down, her hands remained around it, soaking up the warmth like she might coax out a vision.

"If anyone knows how to leave this world," she said softly, "it would be Tiboro and his kin. They carry knowledge that is ancient and terrible.."

Naruto lowered his cup, the humor fading from his face. "Tiboro again. The guy in the tall creepy tower, right?"

Amaya scoffed. She sat with her arms crossed and legs tucked neatly beneath her, the picture of skepticism.

"Yea, but good luck getting anywhere near it," she said. "The tower's guarded by Teōtl the Terrible."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Toe-what now?"

"Teōtl," she repeated, slower this time. "That's what the villagers call it. Some kind of giant. No one gets close, just close enough to see the shadows and feel the ground shake. They say it's taller than the oldest trees, with jagged teeth and a body that makes the earth tremble when it moves."

She hesitated, glancing toward her grandmother.

"Or at least that's what Grandmother told me for bed stories."

Elder Granny let out a long, weary sigh and set her cup aside. Her fingers drummed the edge of the table.

"Amaya, you're going to give the poor boy a heart attack," she said dryly.

Naruto blinked and leaned back slightly, but he didn't laugh this time. He just stared at the floor, expression tightening.

His chakra still hadn't bounced back. He could feel it thin and sluggish, like syrup through a cracked funnel. And Kurama... wasn't just quiet. He was gone. No growl, no snarky one-liner about how reckless he was being.

Just silence.

And that silence felt colder than anything.

He didn't like it. Not one bit.

He leaned back slowly, shoulders tight, eyes drifting toward the curtain-covered door. A breeze tugged at the woven fabric, but his mind was elsewhere.

His fingers curled around the tea cup. The steam warmed his skin but did nothing for the chill inside his chest.

"I'm barely at half of my power," Naruto muttered. "I'm practically walking around blind with my hands tied behind my back."

Elder Granny slowly turned her head toward him.

Her milky-white eyes didn't blink.

Naruto froze and almost instinctively shielded his head.

"…No offense," he added quickly. "Totally different kind of blind. Like metaphorically blind. You're cool."

She took a sip of her tea without saying a word.

Amaya gave him a look. "Then you should rest," she said. "You don't have to go looking for death."

But Naruto didn't lift his eyes. He stared into the steam, watching it twist and turn.

"No," he said quietly. "I don't back down. Not now. Not ever."

Amaya blinked. "Wait... you're serious?"

"I need answers," he said. "And if this Tiboro guy has them, then I'm going to the tower."

"That's it?" she asked.

"That's it."

"But Teōtl.."

"Is in the way," Naruto cut in, "So I'll move him."

The words hung in the air like a drawn blade.

Amaya stared like he'd grown another head. But Elder Granny only smiled.

She reached out, fingers tapping the table gently. "You don't speak like a boy," she said. "But like a warrior with a fiery spirit."

Naruto turned toward her.

"And a warrior always finds a way," she added, tilting her head. Her milky-white eyes stared straight through him.

He held her gaze for a moment longer, then let out a slow breath.

"I've got people waiting on me," he said, quieter now. "My friends. Kamala, Kate, America…"

His mouth tilted into a faint grin.

"They're only teenagers. They probably won't survive long without big brother Naruto making sure they don't spontaneously explode or get arrested by some secret government agency."

Amaya blinked again. "That sounds like a disaster."

"Oh, they are," he said with a smirk. "But they're my disasters."

Elder Granny let out a quiet chuckle. "Then you'd best not die here, outsider boy."

Naruto rolled his neck, the grin fading as he looked out toward the distant hills.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Elder Granny."

WHACK.

A cane smacked the back of his head.

"OW! Hey! What was that for?!" Naruto clutched his skull, eyes wide.

"My hand slipped," she said, sipping her tea like nothing happened.

Naruto blinked. "Your hands were just holding a cup."

She didn't answer.

She just drank.

_______

The next morning came with little fanfare. A gray sky. A whisper of wind through the dry grass. Naruto stood at the edge of the village, hands in his pockets, staring toward the hills where the tower loomed like a thorn jammed into the ribs of the world.

Behind him, Amaya crossed her arms, expression unreadable.

"You could wait a few more days," she said.

Naruto shrugged. "I could also wait until I'm dead. But that's kinda the same thing."

"You walk toward death," she said finally. "You must've taken one too many knocks to the head."

Naruto gave a faint grin.

"Yeah," he said. "People keep telling me that."

And then he left towards the tower.

The villagers didn't try to stop him. But they didn't look happy, either. They just stood in their doorways or sat on steps, watching the boy with strange hair and eyes walk into the Forest of the Forgotten.

A child whispered a quiet prayer under their breath.

An elder spat into the dirt, muttering that he would bring the gods' wrath down on them all.

The path wasn't marked. Just a trail of dead grass and scorched roots stretching between cracked stones. Every step away from the village felt like a step out of time. The wind died. The birds were gone. Even the insects were silent.

Trees lined the path, but they weren't right. Twisted at the base. Scarred with long, claw-like marks. Their leaves hung limp like forgotten flags. Some had charms tied to them. 

Some made of bones, feathers, and brittle scrolls written in a language Naruto didn't recognize. He paused once to examine one, but the string snapped before he could touch it.

The air thickened the farther he went. Not hot. Not cold. Just heavy, like it carried a weight that didn't belong.

After nearly an hour of walking, he reached a clearing.

A shrine stood at its center, semi-crumbled but still intact. Stone steps led to a squat altar. A statue sat behind it, carved into the shape of a coiled dragon with black obsidian eyes and a wide, fanged grin. Its wings stretched into broken pillars.

Offerings were scattered around the base. Rotten fruit. Bloodstained cloth. A child's doll, half-burned.

Naruto's fists clenched.

He didn't say a word. Just turned away and kept moving.

The hills rose slowly, then steepened. The ground cracked in spiderweb patterns. He passed a series of upright stones, each one carved with a different sigils. A sound reverberated through his ears like drums.

Naruto paused, one foot on the slope. The sound came from below, deep and steady. Like a heartbeat made of stone.

He kept walking. 

"If Kurama was here he'd tell me to come up with a plan first." Naruto muttered.

When he crested the hill, the tower filled the horizon.

It was closer now, far closer than it had seemed from the village. A twisted spire of black stone rising into the sky, spiraling like a broken screw driven into the heavens. Clouds coiled around its peak, and lightning flashed across its face like veins in a corpse.

At its base, a massive gate waited. Dozens of feet tall and the color of bone. It was carved with an unfamiliar script. The wind howled through the valley like a warning.

Naruto exhaled slowly.

"Okay," he said to himself. "Big tower. Big gate. Big monster. No Kurama. No backup. No problem."

He steeled his resolve and walked forward.

Naruto slowed as he approached the gate. There were no hinges. No visible way in. Just one enormous slab of stone at the wall's center that was cracked and sealed.

Then he saw it.

The giant they called Teōtl.

The gate itself didn't move, but standing in front of it was a monster so massive it made the slab behind him seem small.

The giant didn't resemble any common warrior or statue or dragon. He looked like a twisted beast from a child's fever dream. A hulk of fur and muscle, with thick, stubby limbs and fists the size of boulders. 

His body was broad and squat, covered in patches of matted white fur that steamed in the cool air. His eyes bulged with fevered light, set deep above his grotesque maw of golden, jagged teeth, too many teeth for a face that round.

In his right hand, he held a massive, iron-clad club that was crudely shaped, but deadly nonetheless. It dragged grooves through the stone with every shift of his weight.

He didn't stand poised like a dignified warrior or guardian.

He just stood there.. menacingly..

Drooling and daydreaming.

Naruto stopped about twenty paces away, hand rubbing the back of his head.

"Alright," he muttered. "This guy looks like a Furby that got dipped in a radioactive pit."

The beast's eyes twitched. His entire upper body rose with a sudden gasp, as if surprised someone had spoken.

"MMMMMMMMMHHHH?!"

He lumbered forward, hunching to get a better look at the human in front of him. Each step sent little quakes through the ground. A puddle of drool hit the stone and sizzled like acid.

"IS THAT?! IS THAT LITTLE WALKING SNACK?!"

His voice was deep, slurred, and stupid in a way that felt almost impressive.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Snack? That's a new one."

"SNACK TALK! GOOD! TALK MAKE FUN SCREAMS!" the giant bellowed, licking his lips like a starving toddler with a ham.

He slammed his club into the ground beside him, splitting the stone. His oversized face twitched with glee.

"TEŌTL GO WHERE TEŌTL PLEASE! TEŌTL GUARD GATE! TEŌTL GUARD TOWER! TEŌTL SMASH WANDERERS INTO TINY BITES AND EAT THEM!"

Naruto looked disgusted. "Ewww. You eat people? Gross."

"TEŌTL EAT MANY THINGS. IF IT WIGGLE, IT SNACK."

He paused, then pointed a meaty finger straight at Naruto.

"YOU LOOK WIGGLY."

Naruto tilted his head. "Are you sure about that?"

"YES. TEŌTL SMART. TEŌTL KNOW SOFT WHEN TEŌTL SEE."

Naruto sighed. "Great. You're the biggest thing I've ever seen… and the dumbest."

Teōtl blinked. Slowly. Like his two neurons were arguing over who gets to drive.

"…THANK YOU!" he beamed happily.

Naruto snorted. "That wasn't a compliment, big guy."

He stepped forward just enough to feel the pressure in the air, the way the ground seemed to hum under the weight of the gate behind Teōtl.

"Look, I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk to Tiboro. I've got questions. He's got answers. So how about you scoot your fat ass to the side and let me through?"

Teōtl tilted his massive head and let out a low growl that turned into a snort halfway through.

Then he grinned.

A horrible grin. All slobber and teeth and no thoughts.

"NO ONE GO PAST TEŌTL UNLESS TIBORO SAY 'OKAY.' TIBORO NOT SAY ANYTHING."

He raised the club again, this time scraping it against the wall behind him and showering sparks.

"YOU WANNA TALK TO TIBORO? YOU GOTTA GET THROUGH TEEEEŌTL."

Naruto stared up at the giant.

He had no Kurama.

No chakra cloak.

Just his own chakra, raw and simmering beneath the surface of his skin like a slow-burning flame.

He let it rise.

Blue light sparked from his skin. The dirt beneath his feet cracked. His hair whipped in the sudden wind. His eyes sharpened, and his grin matched the giant's.

"Fine, have it your way Toe-turd." he said.

He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles.

"Let's see what happens when stupid tries to stop stubborn."