"Actually, in Luce's stead for now, I have contracted someone else for this particular mission."
Checkerface gave them a strained smile, moving aside to show a cloaked person.
"Face-san, you didn't tell me I'd be with… This type of people." The husky voice gave the illusion of a male, but the figure let the hood of the cloak fall, showing a gleaming headband. "And what, if I may ask, is a Sky?"
There was a silence in the room.
"You contracted another civilian?" The cocking of a gun was all that was heard before a gun spat out a bullet – and the girl simply stood there.
Renato was knocked out of his seat, pinned to the wall by several knives and the stranger.
"Call me civilian again, civilian, and I'll cut out that tongue of yours," the woman snarled in his ear.
"As long as you don't call me, the world's greatest hitman, a civilian, again, we're in agreement," Renato whispered in her ear, audible to the whole room.
"How are you in two place –" Skull was cut off by the image of the woman vanishing.
"Afterimage," Fon said. "Her people are well-known in Triad circles. Nobody messes with the Hidden Continents."
He dipped his head to her in respect.
"You are in the presence of the Strongest Shinobi in the universe," Checkerface said, sounding disgruntled. "And while you are here, I'll tell you about Flames and unlock yours, Naruto-san. For now, rest, I am sure your journey is quite exhausting."
The shinobi nodded and stepped back, Renato falling to the ground as the knives were gone.
The shinobi vanished, an afterimage flickering in the doorway for a moment.
"Don't," Checkerface said, "piss her off. She can kill you all within a few minutes."
He glanced around the room.
"Except Skull," Checkerface said after spotting the civilian. Skull blinked. "More than likely you'd be, like, an innocent to her or something."
There was a thud.
Checkerface sighed. "If you'll excuse me, I have to see what she broke now."
~:~
Naruto tried to set the door handle back on as Checkerface approached, looking exhausted.
"Okay, Checkerface," she said, setting the doorknob aside. "Tell me the truth."
"A truth you're not quite ready to hear." Naruto bit the inside of her cheek. "I am not using you lightly, little one."
Naruto backed out of his reach.
"You and Kaguya seem to be attached to the line of Asura a bit too much."
Naruto walked into the room, intent on slamming the door.
The door snapped from its place.
Naruto sighed. She needed to tone down her strength even more, apparently.
~:~
Eliminate all the Weylyn Famiglia.
Renato turned to look inside a room. Naruto stood in front of two children, who were sleeping soundly, her eyes filled with sentiment.
Renato cocked his gun, but he was disarmed within seconds. Sky Flames flared almost unintentionally around her, tinged with a strange, crackling energy.
An energy that had declared him an enemy. Her Flames seemed to become Wrath Flames, her eyes seeming to be cut out of diamonds.
"You protect those we've been ordered to kill."
"I protect those who have yet to make a choice," she said, her voice freezing. "If you seek to harm innocents, I will end you."
"You're only a temporary insert. When Luce gives birth, she'll take your place." Renato couldn't fight against such power that this woman had, but he could learn until he could do something against her.
"Perhaps. But until Luce does, you can suck it," she told him fiercely.
~:~
They sat around the meeting table, most of them pissed off. Checkerface had berated them, in his quiet way, about not doing as ordered – and then he'd gone silent.
"It was not your place to keep the children alive, Naruto."
"Someone had to," Naruto replied, leaning forward.
"I ordered you to eradicate –"
"You ordered us to eradicate the entire Famiglia. I did what I was ordered. I wasn't, however, ordered to eradicate innocents."
"You left a butler alive to protect the children," Lal said, her posture militarily straight.
"I did." She lifted her head. "And he can't describe any of us."
Checkerface slammed his hand on the table, stopping any possible questions.
"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. I ordered you –"
"I don't follow your orders!" Naruto stood up, sending her chair backwards and upbending it. "I went out with them, killed with them. I am here to complete a damn mission, not to follow your orders to the fucking letter. If you order me to do something and I leave innocent children alive, as well as maybe a butler or two – who the hell cares? Nobody could identify them or me. I worked with them. End of story."
She was breathing hard and her Flames seemed to suffocate the room; everyone, it appeared, was having a hard time breathing.
Checkerface only seemed angrier. "You –"
"If you say one more damn word, uncle, I will kick your ass like I did Kaguya's," Naruto snarled, her Wrath Flames curling in preparation for an attack. Her bandaged hand twitched, betraying just how much rage she felt at that particular moment.
Checkerface seemed to blanch at that particular movement.
"Fine," he choked. "Fine."
He looked around. "I expect to see you here in two weeks' time. Stay in the country, please, Naruto."
Naruto said nothing, only walking out of the room, her bedroom door slamming.
~:~
He bumped into Skull upon leaving the bathroom, half-naked.
"N-Naruto?" Skull yelped after seeing his chest. "You're actually a guy?!"
There was a pause.
"Sometimes," Naruto responded, inwardly facepalming. "I can change my gender. It's a me thing, not quite a shinobi thing, if that's something you're curious about," he added.
Skull blinked. "Um… Not to be offensive, but how did you change your Flames from Harmony to Wrath?"
Naruto eyed him weirdly. "I still don't know what these 'Flames' are."
Skull's eyes widened, and he laughed. "Yeah, I'm actually new to this thing myself."
"I noticed on our mission," Naruto said with an easy smile, missing Skull's face dropping. "But it's okay to be new to things." He smiled. "Want to trade life stories?"
Skull smiled at her. "Over dinner?" he asked hopefully. He might have known she was only temporary, and even though she was a he currently, Skull wanted to get to know him/her better.
"Sure thing," Naruto beamed. "I can make it if you want?"
Skull knew assassins poisoned people, so it was only fair he asked this next question.
"Are you planning on poisoning me?"
"Nah," Naruto said. "It'd be useless to try. I didn't bring any poisons with me."
Skull blinked at him, not sure whether or not to believe him.
~:~
Luce stepped into the room, stopping when she heard laughter. A small smile graced the mafia boss's face, and she kept walking forward.
"No!" Skull yelped, falling backwards as a pillow flew at him.
The living room was a warzone. Shredded pillows blew feathers everywhere.
Naruto laughed, a smile lighting her face. Luce could feel the airy, Harmonizing factor of her unAwoken Sky Flames.
Beautiful. Luce had made a better choice. Once they discovered the true reason, none of them would be happy with either her or Kawahira.
"You dodged it!"
"You shattered a vase with a pillow! How can you do such a thing?!" Skull looked ready to laugh.
Naruto flexed her muscles, less intimidating in her female form but still impressive.
"I'm stronger than most people. With chakra I could kill someone with a feather," she admitted, her smile never faltering. "Just like my speed – remember when I dodged that projectile? I was only using normal speed."
Skull's eyes bugged out. "What?"
Naruto looked uncomfortable and hesitant. Luce stepped in.
"Her physiology is different than ours," Luce said, making Naruto glance over to her and making Skull shriek and jump up. "Isn't that right, Naruto-san?"
Naruto's sharp eyes assessed Luce. "Yes," she responded carefully. "Shinobi are more flexible. We break the boundaries between logic and reality."
"Indeed you do." Luce stepped in and sank down into the ruined couch, sighing as she got off her feet. "My apologies for not being here sooner, Naruto-san. I had hoped to be back sooner. Family business, however, kept me away."
"It's fine," Naruto said, shrugging.
"Tell me more!" Skull said, looking to her entreatingly. "Can you survive being killed?"
"Dead is dead," Naruto said immediately, then she grimaced. "Well. Mostly." Luce looked at her sharply, Skull looking confused.
Naruto sighed.
"We can't bring back the dead, in the sense that you and I can feel each other and, if we so desired, could procreate together," she said. "But not all that long ago, I was in a war." She glanced at her arm. "It was a while. Lasted a month." Naruto closed her eyes. "We were facing enemy shinobi… Who were also our allies."
Skull's mouth dropped open.
Naruto drew her legs up. "Shinobi whose spirits had long passed to the Pure Realm had been forced to work under the command of one named Kabuto. That slimy bastard used this undead army and pit those spirits against old allies; forced those undead to work with old enemies."
Luce frowned.
"And it was all my village's fault," Naruto admitted. "An asshole decided he could bring back the dead, he was fucking wrong, sealed the damn jutsu, and then it was used again. Several times. Twice by an asshole named Orochimaru." Naruto closed her eyes, pain flashing across her features.
Luce had the sense from the way her Flames curled inward, seeking to protect herself, that she wasn't yet ready to talk about it.
"Right!" Luce smiled, a bit of a forced smile. "Who wants cake?"
~:~
Naruto heard the door behind her open, but ignored it as she worked out, taking her frustrations out on the punching bag.
Four of them, already split open, lay spilling out sand, and this one wasn't far behind.
"You're quite good at hand-to-hand if you use kunai, Naruto-san."
Naruto stopped, sniffing the air. Spice and moments before a storm. According to Luce, having explained Flames to her and Skull that night over cake, Fon had Storm Flames.
Naruto twisted enough to avoid getting caught by Fon's movement to unbalance her shoulder.
"I am afraid you're wrong in that assumption, Fon-san." Naruto settled into a loose stance. "I'm so far from a master I should have been dead the first mission I went on."
"You can't be that bad," Fon said with a head tilt, assuming a stance as well.
Naruto scoffed. "I'm shit."
Nevertheless, she attacked first.
~:~
"Whoever taught you should have been dead." Fon pressed a bag of ice to his eye. Naruto winced as she caught sight of the bruise that bruised his stomach and back. "But I do admit what you lack in finesse and formal training, you make up for in brute strength."
Naruto bit her lip. "I can heal it."
"You're not a Sun, my dear." Fon gave her a tolerant smile.
"At least humor me," she scowled.
He sighed and moved his bag of ice.
Naruto closed her eyes.
Fon felt a shift in her Flames. Warm, sun-like power emanated from her hands, with a bite of lightning-esque flare. Staring at her hands, a green energy flowed from them, soothing his wounds and bruises. Skull watched, his pasta falling to the plate that the rest was in with an open mouth.
Fon remained silent, impressed beyond what he was currently capable of saying as she turned to his eye.
He could feel both Sun-Flames and Lightning-Flames in her hands, healing him.
He glanced at Luce, whose eyes were wide.
~:~
"You never said she was an All-Encompassing Flame."
"I didn't realize it. Perhaps she can be –"
"You are not condemning just her."
"Then my plan goes forward."
~:~
Lal Mirch shot at the targets, then stopped to reload.
"Lal-san."
Lal whirled, squeezing the trigger – only to gasp as Naruto appeared on the ceiling, a smile on her face as she leaped down. The bullet slammed into the wall.
"What is it?" the COMSUBIN member growled.
"Please teach me how to shoot your gun."
Lal internally shrugged. "Fine. Only if you know you can do it."
Naruto stared at Lal with the look of someone who thought Lal hung the stars.
"I have no idea how to manage a gun!"
Well, Lal did always like teaching.
"Then let this be your first lesson, idiot." Lal pulled out an owner's manual on her current gun, an automatic. "Read that."
Naruto squinted.
"What language – oh, I see."
~:~
Verde scowled as he wrote in his book.
"Do you do human experiments?"
Naruto's inquiry made him look up at her.
"Only on people that I'm supposed to kill." It was the truth – people he was supposed to kill went missing and nobody bothered to look for them. Not his fault.
Naruto nodded, leaning back in her chair. "Verde, I'm going to kill you if you ever start doing experiments on children." It was said in the air of someone commenting on the weather.
The only person that reacted was Skull.
"Would that mean he's a second Orochimaru?"
Naruto snorted, an odd expression twisting her face.
"I don't think anyone could become a second Orochi-fucking-maru." She stabbed her chopsticks down, twirling the pasta on them expertly, and took a bite before continuing. "But, if Verde-san does decide to start experimenting on children out of fun, I will happily – no, cheerfully and slowly – kill him."
"Oh?" Verde smiled, letting his glasses glint. "What if I concocted a poison that would kill anyone with merely the fumes?"
Naruto smiled serenely at him. "I'm immune to nightshade and iocane powder," she said bluntly. "I doubt you could make a poison that doesn't give me a mild case of indigestion."
There was another pause.
"What." Verde stared at her. "No way are you immune."
Naruto blinked at him.
"I am."
Luce coughed delicately. "I have business to take care of after lunch." She cut the conversation off. "Renato should be arriving today."
There were only two more that needed to come. Skull, Lal, Naruto, Fon, and Verde were all there; all they needed was Renato and Viper.
"Great, now I'm going to be shoved around," Skull said, looking annoyed.
"Why?" blinked Naruto.
Skull hummed. "That's right, your arrival caused him to be a bit off balance."
"He likes to beat up Skull. We all do, it's just not interesting to do when Renato's not here." Verde fixed his glasses and continued to write, ignoring Naruto's gaping mouth.
"Come on, Skull." Naruto stood up abruptly.
"Where are we going?" Skull asked eagerly.
"To teach you some defense!"
"Your forms suck. I will help," Fon said, standing as well.
~:~
"I have to go on a mission with Renato, alone." Naruto was worried. If Momoshiki was really in this part of the world, then she had to explain a lot to Renato. An explanation that she didn't want – and if Momoshiki was helping a Famiglia do terrible experiments, then –
Her thoughts of the Estraneo Famiglia paused as she took a deep breath.
Skull placed his hand on her arm, and she tensed.
"I wish I could go," Skull said, "but I'm still technically just a civilian."
His disappointment was clear.
Naruto settled a hand on his shoulder, causing the young stuntsman to look at her.
"How old am I?" she asked him, her eyes sad.
"Twenty-two?" he guessed, by her mature outlook.
"I'm seventeen."
He gaped at her.
"I think it is better for you to be called a civilian rather than having to kill your enemies out of contracts," she divulged. "I never made a kill until after the war with my people. I hate killing." She poked her arm. "Also, can you hold my arm for a moment?"
Skull opened his mouth to ask her what the hell for, when she violently took her bandaged arm off.
Skull's shriek was heard in the entire house as her arm started to move and talk.
~:~
Renato watched her as they were taken to the dropoff point.
"You're still a young girl." Her eyes flickered to his. "I heard you talking to Skull."
She grimaced. "Yeah, I'm seventeen. What of it?"
"By the time I was seventeen I'd –"
"-already made a name for yourself in the mafia world as the world's greatest hitman, I know. All of you have something, I have nothing but a title attached to my name," Naruto said, looking weary. "I've had 'jinchuuriki' attached to my name for ages."
"I've never heard that word," Renato admitted. He made a note in his mind.
"Look, I'm only going on this mission because I know the enemy ninja," she told him, letting her hand fall into her lap. "Let's hope he's the only enemy nin there."
"So otherwise I have autonomy."
"If you kill any who haven't been given a choice, I will shred you to pieces," she informed him, examining her nails.
Every one of the 'I Prescelti Sette' were getting sick of her death threats. Except Skull, seeing as they seemed to get on swimmingly.
~:~
Naruto walked into the room first, the house dark. This was just a front for the Estraneo Famiglia; not that Naruto particularly cared. Her senses were on high alert – especially when Renato paused, his eyes narrowing.
"What's wrong?" Naruto breathed out, tightening her grip on her kunai.
"I seem to be caught up in string," he commented.
Naruto closed her eyes, sending chakra to them; opening them, the unearthly red glow of her Kyuubi-eyes spotted the reflection – and the paper bombs.
"Definitely not Momoshiki," she murmured. "But still – a puppeteer."
She carefully maneuvered herself, twisting her body in cringe-worthy moves to the regular people, flipping herself to where she was standing a little too close to Renato.
"You're going to have to trust me for a second," she told him, then cut the string before he had a chance to say otherwise.
The paperbombs exploded. Naruto shoved Renato down, taking the brunt of the explosion and covering herself with a thin layer of Kurama's chakra, protecting herself from most of the damage. She kept all her limbs away from Renato, because Kurama's chakra already burned people in her country with even the slightest touch – she didn't want him to be hurt by it.
A sinister laugh was heard.
Naruto's eyes snapped up, and she stood in a fluid movement, turning around and staring at the shadow.
"You went missing." She allowed Kurama's chakra to once again show her who it was, and indeed – it was Orochimaru.
He laughed again.
"I have always been here."
Her eyes found the gleam of a chakra string. So… This person had Flames and chakra. Hmm.
"I can see you're like me," Naruto said, speaking to the person behind Orochimaru's unfocused golden eyes. "Chakra and Active Flames, hmm?"
Orochimaru smiled. "So you've been drafted. Hero."
That sneer was definitely like Orochimaru.
"I never said I was a hero," Naruto said nervously, licking her lips.
"No," Orochimaru laughed. "No, you didn't. You must love the positive attention you get… Kyuubi."
Naruto stilled. "You're from Konoha." She slipped into Japanese unintentionally.
"I was," the maniac puppeteer said in a drifty voice. "Until you and Pein clashed. Then I left. I became the Magician Puppet, the world's greatest puppeteer. I have my own pupil, a few puppets I took from Konoha most recently… Too bad I never got you, trash. I wanted my revenge for you killing my husband!"
Orochimaru's body lunged forward, and Naruto lunged forward too, having no choice but to do so if she didn't want to knock into Renato.
Orochimaru started to hit her. It was rather annoying but not too effective.
Naruto kicked straight up, sending Orochimaru back and making an imprint on the wall.
"So you're either a civilian shinobi or you're just weak," Naruto growled. "I've known one puppeteer and he was so far beyond your caliber – you are weak compared to him."
Goading her opponent was easy – however, Orochimaru flew past her and towards a shocked Renato. Naruto flashed in front of Renato and shoved Renato back, taking the killing blow meant for him.
"Run," Naruto snarled towards him, poofing into nonexistence.
Two of her jumped into the room as Orochimaru once again attacked, Naruto shoving him back with a well-timed Rasengan.
Renato had vanished.
"Welcome to hell, Uzumaki Naruto." A girl with a doll appeared, smiling. "I am Marionette Doll."
What a stupid-ass name, Naruto thought as she pushed chakra into her kunai, ninja – some familiar and some not – appearing, jumping down from their shadows.
Naruto erased their names from her mind. Now, they were simply the Enemy, and she was their destroyer.
She jumped forward, intent on killing Marionette Doll.
Stupid-ass name, still.
~:~
Renato blinked at the note that was suddenly in his hand.
Asshole,
I've been captured. Don't come looking for me, because if it's Momoshiki then I'm dead anyway and there's no reason for you to become a useless corpse. If it's not Momoshiki then I'm a shitty ninja.
Naruto
Renato set the letter down at the table, where the rest of the I Prescelti Sette sat.
"When did she have time to set this up?" asked Fon, curious.
"I guess in between the time we left the car and the time she had to be there to save me," Renato grunted in answer, miffed that she'd saved him. He couldn't do anything about it, but he did have a source of pride.
"You're lucky whoever she's facing didn't follow you," Luce said, her blue eyes hard. That in itself was strange; Luce normally wasn't bothered by things. "Marionette Doll is the name you're looking for. One of Naruto-san's past… Acquaintances that was injured in a battle Naruto-san had with another, far more powerful enemy."
"Something about a pain," Renato said, watching the boss of the Giglio Nero famiglia.
"Sound familiar, Checkerface?" Luce asked, her blue eyes going to the side.
Checkerface stepped out of the shadows.
"Pein," he said, making the single word sound exactly the same as Marionette Doll had put it. "He was a relative of Naruto's who destroyed her village and killed everyone in it."
"How did Marionette Doll survive?" asked Skull, leaning forward.
"Because Pein had the peculiar ability to bring back people from the dead," Checkerface replied. "At the cost of his own life."
Renato eyed Checkerface with narrowed eyes.
This whole situation – the seven, Naruto's appearance, Checkerface's sudden friendliness compared to the emotionless-ness of the being before he'd vanished for a month to come back with the bubbly blonde – stank of something. What was Checkerface's plan? Why was Checkerface so open?
And why did he seem to care about Naruto?
"Naruto has that same ability," Checkerface went on. "I would advise you not to ask her how she got it when you rescue her."
Lal scoffed. "If she was foolish enough to need rescuing, then she can die there."
Checkerface laughed. It was a cold laugh.
"I cannot be in the I Prescelti Sette."
Luce's calm voice cut through the atmosphere. Renato frowned, gazing at Luce.
"Naruto is formally taking my place. If you do not want to rescue her, that is, of course, entirely up to you." Luce stood. "I suppose, then, I must go make more arrangements."
Viper scoffed. "If this Naruto is so important, why send her on a mission that you obviously knew was going to end this way?"
"Because she thought that we'd go rescue her," Fon said quietly, unheard by any but Renato and, by the twitch, Skull.
Renato looked to the doorway as his friend left.
~:~
Naruto breathed harshly. Three days of this, and she was exhausted.
Seeing as the Enemy were many and she only one she could do nothing. They were far more powerful than she was.
Nevertheless, she'd failed too many people back home.
"I suppose I could tell you who I am now, demon child." Marionette Doll snapped, and a woman in a jounin uniform was seen.
"You're…" Naruto's eyes widened. "From Konoha?! But – you were Gaara's student!"
"Yes, I'm from Konoha," Daichi Matsuri answered with a smile. "And I was Gaara's student."
Matsuri twirled her fingers.
Naruto yelped out loud as senbon flew out of nowhere and struck her.
But just like what had happened with Haku oh-so-many years ago, Naruto could feel Kurama's chakra filling her up, preventing her from collapsing.
She could feel his chakra making the changes; her nails on her natural hand growing. Her eyesight sharpened, her teeth lengthened.
"Monster," crooned Matsuri.
Naruto snarled in answer, running forward faster than Matsuri could track.
Kurama's chakra grew wild. Confused, Naruto stopped.
Matsuri started to laugh. "I have Orochimaru, you idiot!"
The senbon!
Naruto growled ferociously, blackness swallowing her vision.
~:~
There was no feeling of Naruto, Skull found.
He was stupid, coming alone. He'd had to come – after all, Naruto had been the one to help him learn to defend himself from Renato and Verde.
Skull heard a roar, and the house exploded.
Skull gasped and fell backwards into the recently-fallen snow.
There it was, the faint sense of Sky. There was a Storm sense, but Skull focused on the Sky.
Marionette Doll was running, her face panicked, but the red thing shot a beam of light, erasing her.
Skull gulped, then froze as the creature turned to him.
Skull swallowed, standing.
"Naruto?" he asked, stepping forward. "Hey, Naruto. It's me, Skull."
He dug deep, deeper in his Cloud Flames than ever, and gathered it in his hand.
He saw his hands light up in purple Flames in the corner of his eyes, but kept his eyes on the creature fixated on him.
"I was wondering something," he went on. "You never told me about this form of yours. Is it a result of you being a jin- jin-" Skull's Flames flared as he shrugged. "Fuck it. Whatever it was?"
Naruto's Sky was returning, and Skull let his Flames go towards it.
Her Sky shied away.
Skull took a deep breath and started walking to meet her.
He faltered for a second when she snarled, but kept walking nonetheless.
"I don't have a Sky," he told her, holding out his hand to the one he badly wanted to be his Sky. "And you don't have a set of Elements. So can I be your first Element?"
He waited.
A clawed hand – her real hand – shot out, but stopped, inches from his.
Mine? Her Sky Flames danced around his, seeming lost and confused.
Skull had no idea how he responded to her, using his own Flames. Yours, if you'll have me. He tried to project his feeling of 'incomplete' to her. How he wanted her and not Luce to be his Sky.
She seemed to get it.
Her Sky Flames connected with his Cloud, and he and her Harmonized.
~:~
"This is Ginger Bread." Naruto smiled at everyone as she nudged the little kid forward.
The orange-haired boy clutched at Naruto's leg.
"He's Matsuri's – Marionette Doll's – pupil. Or was." Naruto ruffled the boy's hair.
"Was?" Renato cocked his gun. "How do we know he's not in league with Marionette Doll?"
"Because I erased her from existence," Naruto said, at full volume and with all the seriousness her cheerful face could muster. The silence was broken by Luce's choked laugh.
"Right," Luce said, with a smile on her face, a smile of knowing something the others didn't, "I have to tell you something while you're here. My Famiglia is hosting an event. Many people want to meet the chosen of the I Prescelti Sette."
"What would be required and how much would it cost?" Viper questioned, the hood shifting briefly.
Naruto turned to Viper, holding out her hand. "I'm Naru –"
"Don't care unless you have money," Viper interrupted.
"Dresses for the women, suits for the men, and a request that nobody kills any of the guests," Luce answered with that always-ready smile.
Naruto tilted her head. "What's a dress?"
Everyone turned to her, confused.
And then it was understood.
Fon coughed. "Would a formal Japanese-style be good for Naruto-san, as her profession and country remain a secret?"
Naruto tilted her head. "No, seriously – what is a dress?"
Lal produced a magazine of the latest fashions even as Luce agreed to Fon's statement.
"Those are pretty, but rather stupid," Naruto criticized. "How on earth do they protect themselves from men who wish to do untoward things to them?"
"Most people can't," Viper muttered.
Naruto blanched a bit. "That's disgusting."
"You can't honestly say that shinobi haven't taken advantage of powerless civilians," Renato said, causing Naruto's eyes to close.
"No," she agreed. "But those who do are worse than nuke-nin."
"Nuke-nin?" Skull whispered.
"Ninja who have abandoned their home villages." Naruto tapped the band on her arm, moved from her head days ago. "This is the symbol of my home village, Konoha. If it was scored through with chakra, I would be considered a nuke-nin of Konoha."
"You give information too freely," Renato mildly said.
Naruto gave him an innocent smile. "It's not like you can ever see it," she said in the nicest tone possible. "Anyway, nuke-nin are considered the scum of the earth. Aside from, you know, the Akatsuki."
The word left her mouth like it was something particularly vile.
"Perhaps we should refrain from visiting the past while we finish up the details of the party," Luce intervened before any more questions could be asked.
~:~
"You noticed?"
"I'm surprised nobody else did."
"I'm surprised that they Harmonized, but given her past and the child I am not at the same time."
"I know. She can still utilize Cloud Flames."
"I think I know what will happen."
"Excuse me? You're not the one with precognition, here."
"Are you denying it?"
"Nope. What you're thinking is more than likely going to happen."
~:~
"Please welcome the I Prescelti Sette," Luce intoned to the gathering of the closest allies; in fact, none of these famiglias were close to her save the Ottavo Vongola boss, Daniela, who stood next to one of her guardians with a stern look on her face.
Renato was the first to appear, murmurings passing through the crowd as quickly as a bird flew. Skull was next, slouching and in his usual attire, just like Renato.
Luce twitched as Fon exited with Viper, both in normal dress.
Does nobody follow orders?
Lal exited in a tux.
Perhaps I should have been more specific.
Verde came in, his tie half on and half off.
"Why do we need to do this?" he muttered loudly.
And finally, Naruto.
The only one to dress remotely formal, with Ginger Bread (why the hell did Marionette Doll name the kid Ginger Bread?) following behind her. Luce found herself silently gaping at the woman's obvious beauty.
Her hair had been put in a braid, her kimono sweeping against the floor. Red and gold designed it. Luce found herself looking into a painted face of red and white, and realized that Naruto had put a mask on her face that added to the mystery – who was the one, so clearly a woman – that had a child and yet hid her face behind a mask?
A clever, clever idea.
Nobody would know exactly who the Arcobaleno Sky would be.
Luce smiled a secret smile.
Despite knowing what was in store for the young woman and feeling terrible, Luce knew her granddaughter would find a way to stop the Curse.
And it would be a beautiful thing to see one of Naruto's future Guardians helping.
Luce's passive smile stayed, even as the night seemed to grow colder.
Ah, yes. Bermuda would indeed have a part to play.
~:~
"You harmonized with her?"
Naruto blinked at Skull, who squared his shoulders.
"I did," he admitted.
"Luce was supposed to be our Sky," Viper said coolly. "I didn't take this very long, paying mission only to not be paid."
Naruto sighed. "Would someone tell me what harmonization means?"
"That's right, you didn't know a thing about Flames," Fon said, his usual smile intact. "Harmonization is when you form an eternal bond with a Flame that is compatible with your specific Sky Flames."
Naruto blinked at him. "Say what now? I bonded with Skull and now he doesn't have a choice?"
"I knew that going in," huffed Skull, crossing his arms. "I would rather be Naruto's Cloud than Luce's."
There. He said it.
"Good," Luce's voice said, causing the group to start and turn to the boss of the Giglio Nero Famiglia, who looked extremely mad. "Now, tell me one thing. Why were Naruto and Ginger Bread the only ones in proper dress code at the ball?"
Skull felt a chill down his spine and any and all backbone the Cloud had vanished with Luce's anger. Skull inched behind Naruto.
Unknown to everyone in the room, one of the other Chosen was staring at Naruto with a curious amount of interest.
~:~
Naruto practiced her kunai-throwing. The blades were made with the power of the Kyuubi, so they would never dull. She had the ability her father did, so she could collect them should she lose them.
Repetitive, never losing her mark or wavering.
You've been practicing.
Her movements didn't falter.
You're awake, teme.
Usually am, the spirit of Sasuke murmured in her. I'm always here to talk to you.
Makes me feel a lot more lonely. There was only one reason he was still lurking in the back of her mind, and it was entirely because of the Indra/Asura problem. Skull couldn't exactly make this feeling go away. Sasuke would always be with her, for better or worse. He was an asshole at the best of times.
She stopped throwing the kunai, unnecessarily jumping and collecting her kunai before settling in a meditative pose and summoning a clone, who took on Sasuke's guise.
The man before her smirked at her.
"You usually have to focus a lot harder to bring me out."
Naruto rolled her eyes. "I had no reason to not bring you out."
Sasuke's eyes gentled. "And I thank you for that, precious imouto. Now, tell me everything."
Naruto hesitated, but then she told him, smiling.
Sasuke simply watched her, answering her with his customary 'hn'.
Naruto stood up, just to emphasize something – speaking of the ball and the woman who'd tried to recruit Ginger Bread.
Sasuke chuckled, making Naruto pause, looking down and grinning to herself – and sat back down, finishing her explanation to him.
"I don't blame you," Sasuke said to her as he felt his consciousness going back to her, her clone vanishing like he always did. Sasuke brought his forehead to hers, and she teared up. "Imouto, I'll be there for you, I promise."
"But you're always asleep," she whispered, clutching his hand to her face. "And whenever I need you –"
"-isn't enough, I know," Sasuke answered, agony for her flashing over his face. "Don't worry, Imouto-chan. I'll be there for you."
He vanished, and Naruto closed her eyes as his presence settled itself in her mind.
Don't worry, he whispered. You still have my powers.
Naruto clutched herself. But I don't want them, she wanted to scream. I wanted you alive.
~:~
Lal stared, her eyes wide and shocked. The girl looked to be on the verge of hyperventilation; Lal did the only thing she thought she could and entered the room.
The Sky jerked, startled, but Lal brought out her Rain Flames.
"You look like you're on the edge of a panic attack," Lal informed her, as gently as she could, letting them wrap around the Sky.
The Sky sniffled. "Thank you," she said, gathering herself – only for tears to start falling.
Lal swallowed and settled next to her. "It's an effect of my Flame type," she said. "In this world, we were all experienced killers by your age. Why do you stop Renato from carrying out his orders to the letter?"
"Because the innocence of the world must be cherished," Naruto said, touching her face and looking at the wetness on them. "That is the belief that the Will of Fire came from. That's what our village was founded on – and now…" Naruto swallowed. "Now, I can't – I won't be able to go back there."
Lal blinked. "Was your village destroyed?"
"No," her Sky gasped. "This was my exile from my home."
The Harmony snapped into place, Lal closing her eyes and placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"If you want, after this group disbands, COMSUBIN could always use another hand," Lal smiled kindly.
~:~
"Another Guardian bond – I thought Fon would be the one to Harmonize with her."
"I don't care."
"…"
"…"
"Don't lie to me."
~:~
Naruto had left for an hour. An HOUR.
"Skull was kidnapped?"
Luce nodded, looking annoyed but not harmed. "Luckily the headquarters weren't hit – Skull and Ginger Bread were out getting some food."
"Ginger Bread was taken?!"
Naruto felt fury course through her.
"The Corvino Famiglia has been bold in the past," the Giglio Nero boss said, a dark frown on her face. "But now, capturing Skull and Ginger Bread – I hired Renato to take down their boss, but as they're not like us, they don't have a strict line of succession."
Us meaning the higher Mafia famiglias – Checkerface had covered that with Naruto.
"I've been in contact with the Donna of the Vongola Famiglia," Luce said, holding her stomach briefly. "But the Ottava can't spare anyone at the moment, she's dealing with an internal matter."
Naruto clenched her fists.
"The Corvino Famiglia isn't something you need to worry about," Naruto said icily, whirling around and stalking off.
Dressed in loud orange, Luce imagined she'd be a walking target.
~:~
Fon felt the Storm move past him, a swirl of Sky Wrath and Storm Rage; Naruto is gone before he registers the blur, the blur that indicated she wasn't quite using chakra to augment her speed but still pretty damn fast compared to most.
Fon jumped after her, following at a respectful distance; Naruto didn't stop him, only stopped and inhaled, standing still for a few long minutes.
Fon waited patiently; he was rewarded when her Storm Flames started to Rage again and she took off, faster than before.
~:~
Skull held Ginger Bread close to him, the child shivering in the cold night. Skull had given the younger his jacket, so he wasn't freezing, per say, but it was still chilly.
Ginger Bread hugged Skull, Sun Flames tickling at his senses, warming him like the sun.
They'd tried to get information about the Giglio Nero, about his Sky, and they'd tried to get Ginger Bread to bond with a Sky of their choosing.
Skull had flared his Cloud, and that undercurrent of Chakra Naruto seemed to send him unconsciously spiked; Ginger Bread had latched onto him.
He felt her, coming ever closer.
There was a Rage in her – if he remembered correctly, she was exhibiting Storm Flame characteristics.
He moved from Ginger Bread's hold.
"She's coming for us," he said, barely able to believe it.
~:~
Naruto stared at the mansion, her eyes clear and angry. These people would have no mercy from her.
'The Corvino Famiglia is made up of idiots,' Naruto recalled Vongola Ottava saying at the ball, watching a man dressed in black. 'A Famiglia I have chosen to break off all alliance with.' Luce had commented on it before moving aside.
Naruto took a deep breath and sat down in a meditative pose.
Fon turned to her, opening his mouth –
-only for his words to die before he spoke as Flames wreathed the woman's body.
"They want an angry Sky." Her words hissed out in the cold night, her eyes snapping open and revealing ruby orbs with an elongated pupil, like a cat's.
"They'll get a Raging Storm," Fon added quietly, their Harmonization brief in the time it takes for the duo to leap up and run for the household.
'They keep the women and children in a different mansion. Prisoners, for all intents and purposes.'
Naruto abandoned herself to her Sky Flames, letting them lead.
~:~
She woke up, her head pounding and face swelled up, in a hospital.
Which, in itself, was surprising. Naruto knew she was healing – which meant that she'd been so beat up that she'd landed herself in the hospital –
-abruptly she realized she was a he and also realized that with everything, his illusion was gone. The scar Sasuke had given him was still there, raised and, underneath the white shirt that had stretched over his chest, quite visible.
Verde was eyeing her.
"I don't like Flames," he told her, matter-of-factly. "They ignore science. I like you, but you ignore science. Every time I get a sample of your blood it destroys itself so I can't replicate the effects Flames and chakra have on your system." He leaned forward. "Is it your chakra that's destroying it?"
Naruto snorted. "No," he answered honestly. "It's my Uzumaki blood mixed with Senju blood." Naruto sat up, wincing a little, and pulled bullshit out of his ass. "See, my clan was an expert clan at making seals – something to do with chakra – so the Uzumaki decided that, since people were stealing blood of clan members, they would prevent theirs from being stolen. They tested a seal on people, it worked, it became a genetic anomaly. They gave that to the Senju when they created my village's Eternal Alliance. Sadly, the Shodai didn't get the seal until after some of his cells were stolen, so some people made some weird shit with his DNA. Anyway, my DNA destroys itself because it's Uzumaki as soon as it comes from my body. I dunno why, exactly."
Naruto smiled at him almost nervously.
Verde eyed him for a long moment.
"I'll find out the truth eventually," he said after a long moment.
He moved away, then paused.
"I would like to Harmonize with you," he said, his eyes glinting, "for science."
"Whatever you want," Naruto agreed.
~:~
Renato scoffed to himself as he watched her with her collective Elements. Viper was hidden in the shadows, having Harmonized with the Sky that seemed to wrap them in a protective embrace while the Sky had been rescuing Skull.
She was at the table, listening with an open smile on her face.
"You should Harmonize with her."
Luce's quiet voice caught his attention.
"Why?" Renato asked, his eyes turning to the Sky boss.
"Because, if you'll notice, she didn't push for Harmonization. It was her Elements that asked for it, begged for it." Luce smiled softly. "She didn't ask, and she gives all she can. Some parts she keeps to herself, but, well." Luce shrugged delicately. "If you Harmonize with her, the future will be much smoother for all of you."
Something dark lurked in her eyes, something she hid from everyone.
Renato eyed her. "And if I asked to be your Sun?"
"I would have to decline the offer." Renato's eyes widened, but Luce only smiled and placed her hand over Renato's. "She is meant to be your Sky."
Renato found no source of lies in Luce's eyes.
"Become her Sun, Renato. It is the only way to ensure the future."
Luce smiled at him before speaking with Ginger Bread, who was asking her to make cookies.
~:~
Naruto blinked at Renato. She hadn't had much of a time to speak with him, and here he was, noticeably uncomfortable about something, but asking her to go on a job.
"Sure. What kind of job?"
"A retrieval one," he said, looking away from her. "A retrieval and hit."
"Who?"
"Hibari Akito. You should fit right in; after all, your culture seems to be steeped in Japanese mythology."
Naruto smiled. "Is it that my country speaks Japanese, or is it that Japan-folk speak my language?"
With that question, Naruto gave him a wink and flounced off.
~:~
"You normals actually wear this?" Naruto messed with the tight, revealing skirt. "I do not like it, -ttebayo."
She froze as her verbal tick popped out with zero prompting. Renato eyed her with amusement.
"I've been learning Japanese," he said. "I have a question for you, though. How did you know Italian?"
Naruto chuckled humorlessly. "I don't." She placed a few pieces of hair in place, then straightened her shirt.
"Ready if you are," she said, walking out into the living room of the safe house, checking to make sure her weapons were all in place.
"Right, well. I'm taking him out, you're going to hold him up in the middle of a public place." Renato gave her a briefcase. "If this plan doesn't work, then you have to take him out."
Naruto nodded, mentally taking a breath and distancing herself.
"Yakuza have their eyes on him, so we have to take him out first. Proof and all that."
Naruto nodded once more, making certain she looked extraordinarily feminine.
"And your hair is supposed to be black, and your eyes brown."
Naruto smirked at Renato and put her hands in a seal. Just like that, she could tell her hair was an unassuming black and her eyes an almost ebony.
"I'm impressed," Renato admitted, looking grudgingly so. "Luce said that the Chinese Triads are protecting Hibari. Don't tell Fon about this, though."
"Why not?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Renato, who shrugged.
"Luce told me to tell you that."
"Of course she did. So when are you two going to Harmonize?"
"We're not," Renato said shortly, checking his guns. "I prefer to remain unattached."
"Mmm." Naruto took a deep breath. "Heading out." She placed her earpiece in and left the place, fitting in with the bustle of Japan with ease.
~:~
Hibari Akito sat in a park, letting his scheduled twenty minutes for free time finish and stood, ready to go to work with his day job.
Before he could, a woman running down the street looking panicked ran into him, making both fall on the ground.
"I'm sorry!" the girl cried in flawless Japanese. "I spilled my coffee! I'm sorry!"
Akito waved her away. "It's only coffee," he smiled at her.
The girl bowed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chanted, producing a handful of napkins and shoving them at his shirt – Akito met her eyes. Filled with cool intelligence and the knowledge, yet still authentically panicked, made him know what was going on.
"I see," he said, letting the napkins drop and producing tonfa. "You're here to kill me!"
The girl sweatdropped. "Eh… What?" She laughed. "No, I'm not here to kill you! Though I am part of the –"
The girl dropped, a shot to the head.
Just like that, yakuza members flooded the area.
"Shit," Akito said. "Feng Mian will kill me." The eighteen-year-old genius got ready. He had to be quick.
He started, whirling on the nearest person – and everyone opened fire.
Akito vanished behind a tree, having taken down three of the yakuza but not near enough to get out of there unscathed.
"That wasn't nice, Renato."
A voice, the voice of the woman who'd been shot in the head, rang out and caused silence.
"You were about to break Omerta, dear. The Vindice get called for shit like that."
Great. Mafia. Feng Mian's brother wasn't enough, was it?
"But he was about to die."
"Rules are rules."
"For the love of – why are the Vindice here when I didn't break Omerta?"
~:~
Naruto kept an eye on the bandaged child-like figure whose eyes seemed to linger on Naruto while being back to back with Renato.
"Ignore him. Unless we really fuck up he won't take us in." Naruto followed his instruction and watched the yakuza warily, who in turned conversed with each other before turning to Naruto and Renato.
"Die!"
They lifted up guns. Naruto scoffed and let a little KI out.
Renato and the bandaged child remained unaffected as Naruto laughed, stepping away from Renato.
"You're making me mad," she smiled, advancing a step – then she vanished, her kunai striking each affected target with ease. Blood stained her relatively new blouse, and the few 'lucky' ones got shot by Renato.
Bodies littered the ground.
"How are you going to fix this?" the eerie voice of the Vindice leader asked.
Naruto snapped her fingers, her eyes hardening angrily.
The black flame of the Hunter-nin danced in her fingers, leaping to each body she flicked it to after snapping another flame up. Anger or hatred was the way to get a pure Hunter-nin flame; a few hunter-nin had orange flame, meaning peace with themselves and theirs took time. The black flame destroyed every bit of evidence and faded before it hit the ground.
Naruto transformed, putting on a henge of different clothes before burning her bloody clothes.
"I made sure to put this area under illusion. Now where's –"
Mist appeared before her, causing her to black out. Renato shouted something, and Naruto swore there was a moment of sun flickering in her soul before tiny hands grasped her.
~:~
"You don't know the rules of Flame-wielders."
She woke up hearing that kinda awful, echoing, slightly intimidating voice.
"Ugh…" She really hated getting beaten into unconsciousness. "What –" She stared at the boy, his dark eyes staring at her. This was no boy. "Who are you?"
Names always had power.
"Bermuda," the boy said. "I am Bermuda, leader of the Vindice. And you, little akuma, are not truly in the mafia, but in enough to where you should know the rules."
"I know the rules. Don't tell a civilian your identity as a mafia person, I know." Naruto pressed her lips together as she stood up. "I was only going to put the fear of the gods into our target –"
"Rules are RULES!"
Black Mist streamed from the boy. Naruto narrowed her eyes.
"Rules are made to be broken."
"What if I were to break you?"
The boy seemed to switch between angelic voice and terrifying.
"I've been broken before, Bermuda-san," Naruto replied with a smile. "It doesn't scare me."
She gazed at the baby's unseen face.
"Let me leave this place."
"Find your own way out… If you can," Bermuda laughed coldly, snapping his fingers.
~:~
Colonello was totally ready to shoot at Tsuna, maybe toss him off the cliff.
But black mists consistent of the Vindice appearing indicated someone had broken Omer-
Reborn aimed as someone fell to the ground with a short scream, then popped back up.
Colonello felt rather faint, his gun falling to the ground, his blue eyes wider than ever as he took in the sight of the woman before him.
Leon shifted in Reborn's hand, the hitman ready to kill.
"Wait, kora!" Colonello lunged at Reborn. "You know it's her!"
In his core, Colonello did. And as the woman turned towards them, looking extremely confused, there was no doubt that this woman was definitely her.
Colonello wracked his memories. Before the Curse, before Luce had taken the Curse in place of her, Lal had written to him about helping with a rescue.
"Where am I?" the girl asked, looking extremely not confused.
"Mafia Land," Dame-Tsuna said, looking confused. "Naruto-san… Why do you look so big?"
Naruto blinked at him again. "Kid, I don't know you. Why is there –" She broke off, going pale as she stared at Reborn. "Re -?"
She was cut off by a shot.
"Reborn," Colonello said, impressing upon the woman Reborn's chosen name. "Isn't she –"
"Obvious questions are obvious, Colonello," Reborn said. "Obviously, the Vindice are to blame for this."
Reborn eyed her, then smirked coldly.
"Die."
He shot her.
She fell backwards, mouth agape, and vanished into blackness.
~:~
She fell through the air, towards the village she knew well. Konoha looked unchanged.
Naruto slammed into the ground, painfully; she was lucky in the regard Bermuda must have put clothes on her while she was unconscious in the prison, though they were ripped to shreds.
She felt ninja approach her downed form and swore.
A hazy image of Bermuda seemed to appear. "Don't worry. I'll be watching for you to break into a thousand pieces." The child cackled.
"BERMUDA!" An unholy rage seized her and she attempted to strangle the image – but she was flattened by wood imprisoning her body.
She shattered the wood and stood up fluidly. She was barely fazed by the strength she'd used.
"Exile, you should not be here." Yamato raised his hand up, as though to restrain her.
"It's not by choice," Naruto said, attempting to ignite in Flames, or use her chakra. She found both of those out of her reach. "If we could resolve this peacefully, I would be most happy."
"I'm afraid not," Yamato said, relaxing minutely. "Akuma-san –"
"Oh, for the love of Inari, I'm not the damned demon," Naruto snarled at him, hurt. She clenched her eyes shut, gritting her teeth.
Let me talk to them. Sasuke shifted, reaching to take her over.
Naruto let him.
~:~
Sasuke felt her body change to suit him and stared at Yamato with bored apathy. "You really are an idiot, aren't you all?"
Unlike her, Sasuke didn't see a limit on his chakra.
"Sasuke-san," Yamato said.
"No," Sasuke said. "Indra, if you will address me by anything, fool."
"Maa, maa, Sasuke-chan, don't be so superior. Won't make you any friends."
Sasuke turned, and Naruto soundlessly screamed as Kakashi spoke his next words.
"After all, the demon absorbed you, so you can't –"
Sasuke heard Naruto screaming and his eyes changed.
"You." Hatred oozed from that one word. "You were there." Purple flame rose around him, his Susano'o raising around him. "Where's the bitch?"
"Married, in Suna."
GAARA?!
"Oh…" Sasuke smirked, then started to laugh. "First his student, then the bitch? Wow, that's asking for me to kill her like I did that Matsuri bitch."
Lies. Sasuke wanted to taint their memory of him. Not Naruto. Him.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke laughed again as the bitch appeared, white-faced.
"Why don't you tell them?" Sasuke leaned forward to her, feeling Tsunade getting closer. "Tell them, Sakura, how you healed Naruto instead of me." He stepped forward, tilting his head. "Tell them, how you knew she'd heal because of her personal little curse, thanks to what I did to her! Tell them how you healed her and then lied about her killing me!"
Sakura was white.
"Because little Sakura wanted her fucking fifteen minutes and decided to wreck Naruto's life a day into her Hokage title." Sasuke glared at her. "You've made Naruto run, and run. The least you could do before we die is tell the truth!"
"Sakura…" Kakashi's voice gave nothing away. "You said –"
"Don't play innocent, you damn bastard," Sasuke snarled. "You and Sakura both teamed up to make Naruto take the fall. And after all this time, you dare to call her a demon? ALL OF YOU!" He raised his voice. "She dealt with so much shit because of you! She somehow persists to call this place home because she believed you would never do that!"
Sasuke fell to the ground, clutching his head. Not much time…
Naruto took over, ready to take any punishment.
~:~
Tsunade heard those words, then acted like she'd just arrived.
"What's going on?"
Her sharp voice stopped Sakura from punching the surrendering girl in the crater into smithereens.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Tsunade stormed into the circle of ninja and saw a puddle of wet dirt, slowly getting wetter, under Naruto's face.
"The traitor came back, and –"
"Arrest Hatake and Haruno."
"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura and Kakashi were suddenly in the arms of experienced hunter-nin, whose blank masks unnerved even the veteran ANBU.
"Naruto." Tsunade took her pseudo-grandchild's face and gently brought it to look her in the eyes. "I pardon you."
More tears filled the eyes of the girl who was far from okay, and she hugged Tsunade.
Tsunade picked her up, the weight nothing with her Strength of a Hundred, and walked away.
~:~
Two months dawned.
Naruto had long since resigned herself to staying; Bermuda's Mist had stopped her from leaving the village in the dead of night, or in the daytime, when she'd tried to hug Konohamaru on one of his first missions out. Konohamaru had been forced to step over the boundary and hug her.
Naruto slid on a black kimono, a hat, and walked to the market.
~:~
"…it's almost time, and they're nowhere where they're supposed to be."
"Checkerface, we may be related, but you are a goddamn idiot. Renato is her Sun."
"…FUCKING HELL, I AM GENUINELY GOING TO KILL THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS."
~:~
Renato strode purposely through the gates of the unfamiliar bullets, guns already tracking idiots who could perceive them through Viper's Mist.
"Ready, idiot student?"
"Always ready for you, Lal!"
Renato ignored the two Rain and infused his eyes with Sun Flames, allowing him to see everything faster.
Sadly, Verde had calculated that if Naruto could handle poison, most of these 'ninja' were probably similar to her in that regard.
So, he'd calculated the amount of tranquilizer that would keep a normal person down and doubled it.
Lal shot, and Renato gave up any hope of remaining unseen.
They made it to the market before they were completely surrounded.
Renato remained relaxed. Colonello and Lal kept their weapons trained.
"I AM GINGER BREAD, THE MAGICIAN'S DOLL!"
Ginger Bread rose up –
"SKULL, I TOLD YOU TO STAY BEHIND AND WATCH THAT FOOL!" Lal's temper spiked.
"Minna?"
The ninja in front of Renato parted, and they were presented with Naruto, who looked a little odd in a black kimono.
Her expression crumpled, and she ran at Renato.
"You're here!" she bawled upon hugging Renato.
"Baka," Renato scoffed. "You didn't actually break Omerta." He eyed everyone around her. "Lal said you couldn't return home. That Vindice bastard told us you'd returned home."
"Naruto!"
A woman appeared, looking pissed.
"Tsunade!" Naruto threw an apologetic glance at Renato before assuming a subordinate's position, kneeling as the rest of the ninja did before the woman with big boobs.
"Who are they?" Tsunade demanded. Renato followed this strain with help from one of Verde's latest invention, the translator that translated known languages into Italian.
Naruto looked over to them and smiled.
"My Family."
Renato grinned.
Tsunade pinched her nose. "You're not staying." There was no question to her words.
Naruto stood.
"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized softly. "But… I don't know – they might not accept me for who I am, or what I contain. But I know that whatever they do to me will be far less painful than what happened here."
Tsunade nodded. "I see." Tsunade snapped her fingers. "SHIZUNE!" the woman bellowed, a nervous-looking woman with a pig on her shoulder appeared. "You have the release forms?"
"Hai, Tsunade-sama!"
Tsunade turned to Naruto with a scroll.
"First, your belongings and your house." She smiled sadly at Naruto. "And lastly, release papers."
They looked signed and documented.
"Hokage-sama," Tsunade said, bowing her head and taking out a hat with an orange kanji on it, "Goodbye."
Naruto left with them, taking one last glance behind her at the mountain with her face on it.
~:~
Their final mission went haywire.
Naruto was on a mountaintop with her assembled Family, and Checkerface was there with boxes.
Upon opening them, a bright light shone out of them, shooting to each of them and assaulting them with agony.
Naruto blacked out.
Upon waking, Checkerface had given her a sorrowful glance.
"You share the Curse of the Arcobaleno with Luce," he said, looking sad. "The other chosen are gone."
Naruto thought he meant dead, and didn't check her damn bonds.
Dumbass.