Naruto: Legacy of the Sand

Chapter 13: Jorogumo - The Woman-Spider

After what felt like forever, Sora, Kaze, and Naruto continued to go down the tunnel, which was getting more challenging as the spider webs got thicker and thicker. "It's a good thing you made that torch, Kaze." Sora said as he was in the middle of them both and getting annoyed by how thick the tunnel was with the webs, "I agree, the torch is convenient, and these webs don't feel like normal webs." Naruto said as he took a tiny bit of the web with three fingers and looked at it, but he didn't know what these webs were. Naruto then dropped the webs and kept following Kaze and Sora. "I honestly have a bad feeling about this!." Kaze said as Sora and Naruto stopped and looked at Kaze's back. "YOU'RE SAYING THIS NOW!..." they both said in unison, but they continued to follow Kaze down the tunnel. The webs were getting thicker and thicker, "I feel like all these webs were put here for a reason," Sora said as both Naruto and Kaze nodded in agreement. Still, after ten minutes, they finally got through the web tunnel and out of the other side to find an underground cavern. The walls were covered in gems and jewels that amazed the trio. "Just be careful here. The ground looks slippy and sticky," Kaze said as he looked down to see the webs were making them stick around, but then Naruto and Sora noticed this and moved their feet too much to cause vibrations through the webs, signalling the owner of the lair. "Awe man... Temari's going to kill me... these sandals were a gift from her last year!." Naruto said as both Sora and Kaze looked at him. "Seriously... You're worried about some sandals than worrying about what could be down here." Kaze said as they suddenly stayed quiet and heard something or someone moaning and groaning from one of the tunnels before them. "There is seriously something in this cavern," Sora said as he slowly walked backwards, wanting to leave the cavern. Kaze and Naruto agreed as they walked backwards for the exit.

"WHO DEARS ENTER MY LAIR!." the voice roared throughout the cavern, making the trio freeze in place, and their faces went so pale they could be mistaken as yokai as they slowly walked back for the exit, but the voice roared again. "WHO IS IN MY LAIR!." said the voice as it was coming from the tunnel to their right and the trio's eyes open wide and saw a shadow of the creature, as it was getting closer and the shadow was getting smaller and smaller integrating that it was getting closer to the tunnel's entrance but the trio could only watch as they are stuck and can't move their feet but they try to move again and they slowly getting back to the tunnel they came back into but the creature stopped walking and is now standing at the tunnel entrance standing at six feet tall and has its hands above its head and gripping the top frame of the tunnel causing the trio to stop and looked back only to see horror and fear, the creature turns out to be a woman with silk back-length black hair, her body is athlete and slender wearing a black and red kimono with a white obi belt with six spider limbs on her back and has black chains around her body as she scans the room to find who had enter her lair but her ruby blood eyes had lay upon Naruto, Sora, and Kaze who were scared to almost death just looking at her "Who... Who is that!." Kaze asked as Naruto shook his head. "No idea... I've never seen her before!." Naruto said, but then they both looked at Sora, who was sweating bullets down his head and neck, and he looked like he had seen three ghosts at once. "That... That's... That's Jorogumo.... The Woman-Spider..." he said as he had his jaw wide open and his eyes looked like they wanted to leave his head; both Naruto and Kaze looked at Jorogumo after they heard her cackling with laughter, and then she stopped and looked at the trio. "I am so flattered that someone knows about my legend. I feel so special," she said with a dark smirk that put icicles down their spines. Then Jorogumo started walking again and towards Naruto, Kaze, and Sora. They stood their ground but were still scared that they'd never met someone like her. Then she stopped before the trio and looked down at them with red-blooded eyes.

"Now, how is it you know of me, young one? I am curious," she asked. Even though she could tell that Sora was scared, Sora found the strength and courage to speak. "My Mother tells me stories about you and My... My Mother tells me if I wasn't good or misbehaved, she said you would come for me while I sleep," he explained as he was too scared to speak anymore and slowly backed away from her and stood next to his step-brother Naruto, "Hm... Parents are very smart these days with stories like that." Jorogumo said, chuckling. She stopped chuckling and looked at them. She sniffed the air, getting their scent. "My my... There's more than three of you." she said, then Jorogumo licked her black lips, scaring the trio "Wha... What are you going to do with us?." Kaze asked, and then Naruto and Sora both sharply looked at him. "Stop saying things that's just going to jinx us!." Naruto said as Jorogumo just chuckled once more, causing Naruto and Kaze to look at her once more as Jorogumo just stood there with her arms at her stomach, "Why, I only wish to see the surface again... But alas, I am sealed in this craven." she started as the others listened and also puzzled of her works. "I was sealed down here over two hundred years ago. I was once a mortal, but my greed led me to dark magic, and I became what you see before you," she said as the trio was unsure if she was telling the trust. Then they looked at each other and then back at her. "If you're saying what is true then... How would you leave?." Sora asked as Naruto and Kaze didn't want to ask just in case she was lying and just wanted to break free from her prison, "Oh, you just need these." she started as she handed over three small statues of herself in her current form "With these I will be able to follow you anywhere you go." she said as the trio looked at the small Jorogumo statues while secretly Jorogumo was darkly smirking that she's finally going to be free of her prison, she quickly hid it as the trio looked back up at her. "These can't be the other things that keep you here?." Naruto said as the other two were wondering the same thing. "You're very observant." she started, then turned toward the centre and pointed at the pillar. "That pillar is the only thing keeping me here. If it was destroyed, then I can leave here freely," she said as the trio looked at each other and were worried what they'd do was right.