AN: ATTENTION, this is for those who immediately jumped to this chapter. I've posted a new chapter one so you will want to go back and read that if you already haven't. What was chapter one will be reposted at a later time once the fic has reached that point, with possible corrections depending on how the fic progresses.
For those of you who have gone back and have already read chapter 1 I hope you enjoy chapter 2.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Gosick
The Ghost of the Queen Berry
"Talking"
'Thinking'
(Author's Note)
By the time that Victorique and Naruto had arrived at where the luxury linear was located the sun had already started to set, and they could both see storm clouds gathering in the distance, making everything all the more ominous. As the two were allowed onto the ship and walked up the gangplank Naruto noticed that the name on the side of the ship was the Queen Berry, the same name of the ghost ship that the blonde shinobi had read about the other day. If Victorique noticed the name on the side of the ship she didn't show it. By the time that the blonde duo were led to the dining room where dinner was being served the ship had already set off.
The dining room was dark with only a few candles on the table lighting the entire room, but not enough to see the faces of the other occupants of the room. While Naruto took in what he could of his surroundings, Victorique sat in the seat reserved for Roxanne and started to eat the meal laid out before her. Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he watched the emerald eyed girl eat the food without a care. Even though the whole point that they decided to board the ship in the first place was to investigate the connection between it and Roxanne's murder, when they had learned of it being a Miniature Garden Box Evening and the fortune-teller's Arabian maid's rambling of "revenge of the box." Not to mention how the fortune-teller raised hares and the main dish would be hare as well.
"Oi," Naruto spoke up, his voice noticeably annoyed, capturing Victorique's attention.
"What is it Uzumaki?" Victorique asked, unperturbed by the annoyance evident in Naruto's voice, as she took another bite of the food.
"What are you doing?" Naruto questioned incredulously.
"Eating," The golden haired girl answered simply.
"I can see that," The cerulean eyed shinobi said dryly. "What I want to know is why are you eating? Didn't we come here to check things out?" He asked, making sure to whisper the last part as to not draw the attention of the other guests.
"We came here using Roxanne's invitation." Victorique replied calmly, "It would be rude to not accept the meal offered."
At that point Naruto's stomach started to growl, causing the blonde male teen to scratch the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "I'm hungry too." Naruto stated obviously.
"There's only one dinner setting." Victorique said, "Among the things my mind calculated we would need, snacks and emergency provisions were included, which you proceeded to store in that scroll you carry." The long haired girl reminded him, somewhat smugly recalling how the taller blonde seemed reluctant at first to bring everything she packed, as she gave him a pointed look.
"Right," Naruto murmured as he took a couple steps back and turned away from the other guests, so they didn't see what he was about to do, and unsealed some the snacks and chair Victorique decided to bring on their trip. Naruto applied the minimal chakra necessary so the items were unsealed without creating a cloud of smoke; it wouldn't be smart to give away one's position behind enemy lines by sealing or unsealing something after all.
Afterwards Naruto brought the chair and snacks to the table, none of the other room occupants besides Victorique having seen what he had done because of the low lightning. While not as extravagant as the meal that Victorique and the others seemed to be enjoying, the food that Victorique chose to bring wasn't all that bad either, not as good as ramen of course. Though when the blonde shinobi tried to eat one of the candies that the golden blonde had packed he had it swiped right out of his hand the small girl sitting beside him, and a bread roll stuffed into his mouth. Apparently Victorique had a serious sweet tooth and didn't like to share all that much. It was only a few minutes later that Naruto started to feel woozy, absentmindedly noticing that a few of the other guests had started to pass out, when he realized that the food had been drugged just before everything went black.
When Naruto finally woke up, it was to the thoughts of how once upon a time whatever was put in the food wouldn't have affected him. But with his "death" in his old world the Shinigami decided to take Kurama, and with the giant fox Naruto's incredible healing factor. Naruto still possessed the advanced abilities Uzumaki clan, but it just didn't compare to the healing factor he had from having Kyuubi. As such the drug in the food was able to knock him out, but not as long as it would have. On that note there weren't any poisons strong enough to kill him, but they were strong enough to make him feel extremely ill.
Looking around Naruto saw that he, along with everyone else, was in a finely furnished room with plenty of couches and chairs, the other guests still passed out on one the couches or chairs like he was. On the sofa next to the one he was laying on Naruto found Victorique still passed out. With the blonde girl still asleep Naruto couldn't help but notice how vulnerable Victorique looked while sleeping, it was completely different from the girl's usual confident expression. It wasn't long after that Victorique and the other guests started to wake up.
"Are you ok?" Naruto asked her.
"I'm fine." Victorique replied as she sat up. "It seems that the food was drugged." The emerald eyed girl observed as she quickly took note of the other guests that had been invited. Naruto followed Victorique's lead and looked at the other people who were just waking up. Most of them were non-descriptive elder men in black tuxes, the only exception being a blonde man in a white tux, and a woman in a long red dress, with raven colored hair, blue eyes, and necklace with a heart on it.
"Where… where are we?" One of the men asked bewildered.
"The door won't open!" The women shouted, drawing everyone's attention to her, from in front of the door as she tried to open it. "What is this?!" The black haired woman demanded angrily, as she moved away from the door and made her way to one of the seats, swinging her purse as she went and inadvertently hitting Naruto in the back of the head as she passed him by to take her seat.
"What the hell do you have in that thing lady?!" Naruto grumbled as he grabbed the back of his head.
"Uzumaki," Victorique began, cutting off Naruto's incoherent grumblings and getting an annoyed glance from him for using his last name. "There is something strange here." She said.
"What is?" Naruto asked.
"There were nine other people in the dining room earlier. Including us 11, but now there are 12 people here." Victorique stated after making some observations of their current situation and glanced at her fellow blonde companion. "We've gained a person." She finished.
Naruto did a quick head count for himself and noticed that Victorique was right there was one more person. "You're right there are 12, so whoever the extra person is will be the one who brought us all here." Naruto concluded, Victorique nodding her head to show she agreed with Naruto's deduction. She was once more pleasantly surprised that Naruto could figure things out for himself.
Off to the side three men had gathered together and started to whisper to each other.
"The miniature garden box," One of them said.
"So it would seem." Another one agreed.
"Then the hares are those children?" The last one asked.
Naruto wasn't sure what they were talking about, but he definitely didn't like the way that they were looking at him and Victorique. Out of the corner of his eye the blonde shinobi spotted a model of a ship that looked remarkably similar to the one they were currently in. Moving closer to the model Naruto saw that the name on the side of the ship was the Queen Berry, unconsciously he reached out to touch the name printed on the side.
"Don't touch that!" A man's voice shouted from behind Naruto.
From behind an arrow was fired at Naruto the moment his hand touched the ship model, of course with his shinobi training Naruto was able to grab the arrow out of midair without even looking back, shocking the others by his seemingly incredible feet, the blonde shinobi looking at the arrow in his hand disinterestedly.
Eventually the other occupants of the room came out of their shocked stupor. "Then this ship is…" A man began fear entering his voice. "Yes, there is no mistake!"
Victorique quickly moved over towards Naruto, stopping once she reached his side. "Are you alright, Naruto?" Victorique asked him, concern clearly evident in her voice and on her face.
"I'm fine," Naruto told her reassuringly as he gave her a smile, tossing the arrow off to the side. "Hey what do you think are the chances that this ship is the ghost ship, the Queen Berry?" The cerulean eyed boy asked Victorique fearfully. "The one that sank ten years ago and that is raised by the dead on stormy nights."
Victorique gave him a dead pan stare, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." The emerald eyed girl laughed insincerely.
"What the hell is up with that laugh?!" Naruto demanded.
"I thought you were joking, so I did you a favor and laughed." Victorique replied stoically.
Naruto was going to say something back when the lights suddenly turned off plunging the room into darkness making it impossible to see anything that was happening while they were off. Taking a step closer to where Naruto knew Victorique was standing, to make sure that he would be able to protect her incase anything happened. The shinobi tried to extend his senses to try and determine what was happening around the room, but before he could get a good feel of what was happening the lights came back on. A scream from the only other female in the room was heard as everyone turned their attention to where she was standing, across the room from Naruto and Victorique, while pointing at a wall that had letters written, in what looked like blood, on it.
"Th-these words…" The man in the white tux stuttered out. "They weren't here before!"
One of the older gentlemen in the black tuxes started to read what was written out loud for the benefit of everyone. "It was ten years ago, but it seems like yesterday. This time it's your turn. The box has been prepared. Now… hares… run!" The man finished completely panicked and his eyes wide with fear, as another man fell backwards.
"The Miniature Garden Box Evening…" Another man with glasses began his voice shaky.
"The hares!" The man that fell over said, his knees shaking. "We aren't here to enjoy the running of the hares! We are the hares themselves!" The man concluded as he started to sweat a little.
Naruto let out a mental sigh, at the rate things were going it wouldn't be long before everyone broke out into a panic. Gazing at the other guests closely he noticed how the older generation seemed to be the most afraid while the younger one was far calmer.
The man that had fallen suddenly got up and made a mad dash for the door. "They're going to kill us!" The man shouted crazily. "Those children are going to kill us!" Reaching the door the man pulled it open, despite the fact that the woman said it was pointless, only to receive an arrow to the head the moment he did.
Besides a moment of shock at seeing one of their companions killed the other older generation ran out of the room now that the way was safe without sparing a glance at their dead friend, something that Naruto scowled at.
"You two, you'd better hurry up!" The man in the white tux said to Naruto and Victorique, before following the others out of the room.
"Right," Naruto muttered. Glancing at his companion Naruto watched as the golden blonde girl calmly walked out of the room, completely unaffected by the corpse she passed by or how she had just watched someone die right in front of her. To Naruto the sight of a dead body wasn't all that strange, he was a shinobi he was taught not to be affected by death at a young age, not that it was ever an easy thing to witness. But Victorique had no such training and yet she was handling it a lot better than most genin that watched someone die for the first time. Victorique was proving to be a very mysterious girl.
"Come along, Uzumaki." Victorique called back to him.
"Right," Naruto repeated with a tired sigh at having her call him by his last name once more.
Outside the storm was raging fiercely and the sea thrashed with powerful waves, but despite this the men in black tuxes were all trying to get into a life boat.
"You're gonna take a boat out when the sea's this rough?! All you're going to do is get yourselves killed!" Naruto yelled, arriving in time with Victorique to see the foolish attempt by the frightened men, the blonde man wearing the white tux stopping one of the men from getting on the life boat.
"We'd rather take our chances out at sea then stay here!" One of the men shouted back.
"L-let go' of me!" The man that was being held back shouted desperately. "If we stay on this ship, we'll become the hares!"
The men soon lowered themselves, despite the protest of Naruto and the others, and the one restrained man begging them to wait for him and not leave him behind. It wasn't long after the lifeboat was lowered that a giant wave crashed into the small lifeboat, claiming all the men's' lives in an instant.
"We warned them." The black haired woman said solemnly as she moved away boats railing.
"It's over, eh?" Victorique said softly looking down into the raging waters far below.
Glancing at her from the corner of his eye Naruto was once more surprised by how casually Victorique was dealing with everyone dying around her. 'Just who are you, Victorique?' Naruto wondered silently to himself.
Everyone eventually agreed that it was better to go back inside, only to see that once they reached the lounge they were in before everything looked like it had been flooded, old, and weathered.
"All this happened while we were on deck?" Naruto wondered out loud, but as he stood in the flooded lounge he could faintly smell the smell of paint and he wasn't sure why.
"Hey," The blonde man spoke up drawing everyone's attention. "Where's the corpse?" He asked, making everyone realize that the body of the first person who had died was gone.
"The ghosts!" The only man alive who was wearing a black tux spoke terrifyingly. "It's them! The hares have come back!" The man finished as he tried to run away, even though there was only one exit and it wasn't in the one he was running, and ended up falling over a chair.
A few minutes later the man had finally calmed down again and was holding a glass of water in his shaking hands, thankfully and strangely enough the pipes still seemed to work. Even though the man was calmer Naruto could tell that he was close to breaking and going completely insane, he'd have to be ready for when it happened.
"I'm Maurice." The now named Maurice said after taking a drink of water. "I work for the Foreign Ministry of Saubure. Who are you?" He ended with a question.
The first to answer was the woman with black hair and wearing a red dress, "Julie Guile." Julie said. "My occupation is… nothing. My father owns a coal mine." The raven haired woman revealed holding onto her heart shaped necklace.
"I'm Ned Baxter." The blonde man in white said, playing with a ball by tossing it up in the air and catching it. "I'm a stage actor in England. Funny story, but in a show next month… I play a murderer." Ned finished with a smirk on his face.
"D-don't tell me you…?!" Julie left her question unfinished, although it wasn't that hard to figure out what she was asking.
"Of course not!" Ned shouted in denial standing up from the chair he was sitting on.
Though Ned said he wasn't Naruto felt that there was something strange about the man who called himself Ned Baxter, something that told his shinobi senses to be careful and keep his guard up around the older blonde man. Deciding that it was best to keep the introductions going Naruto went next. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki," He said simply before gesturing to the petite girl standing beside him. "And this is Victorique."
"Victorique?" Maurice said strangely, "Excuse me, but have we met somewhere before?" He asked the golden haired girl.
"Maurice," Victorique said ignoring the man's question. "Shouldn't you explain everything to the young people on board this ship?" She asked him, making everyone look at him questioningly.
"W-what do you mean…" Maurice said, trying to act innocent.
"That model," Victorique continued, cutting Maurice off, as she pointed at the model of the ship. "When my companion was about to touch the model, you warned him. How did you know about the trap?" She inquired, her tone slightly demanding.
Maurice was quite for a moment before he let out a resigned sigh. "That's right. I know about this boat. The reason is, it's the very same ship that sunk in this Mediterranean Sea ten years ago, in 1914… the Queen Berry itself!" Maurice went on to tell the other four about how children who were named "hares" were brought on board the Queen Berry from all over the world, chosen by the adults for a purpose. He then told them how the next day he went to examine the ship and found the children dead, how they murdered each other through the night.
Naruto could easily see the cruel smile the man had on his face when he told them that fact, "What purpose?!" Naruto demanded angrily, grabbing the man by scruff of his neckline and holding him up with one arm. "Why bring all those children together just to let them die?!"
"All I did was collect' the bodies!" Maurice retorted, trying to break free of Naruto's hold. "I don't know any details!"
"I don't believe you." Naruto told him, tightening his hold on the man.
"That's enough Uzumaki. Let him go." Victorique said coolly. For a second it looked like Naruto wasn't going to listen to her, but then he released his hold on Maurice, throwing him on the ground.
After a moment of silence, where Maurice picked himself off the ground and moved away from the irritated whiskered blonde, the conversation continued.
"Still, what would prompt kids to kill each other?" Julie asked, looking at Naruto tentatively.
"I don't know that either." Maurice continued. "The ship continued to rapidly take in water and it sunk, clinging to any evidence on the bottom of the sea." He stated.
"This is where the ghost story you know comes from, Uzumaki." Victorique explained, glancing carefully at Naruto, who looked at her his rage subsiding. "The ghost ship Queen Berry. The shipwreck raised by the souls of the dead."
"Exactly ten years have passed." Maurice continued, getting everyone's focus back on him. "The adults that caused their death were gathered here like this and killed. It's over. We're going to die, too!" The gray haired old man finished hopelessly.
Victorique stared at the man neutrally, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." The emerald eyed girl then laughed the same fake laugh she gave Naruto earlier.
"What's with that laugh again?" Naruto muttered in annoyance.
"W-what's?! What's so funny?!" Maurice enquired.
"This time, I was laughing at your joke for you." Victorique said coolly unaffected by the anger in Maurice's voice, as she brought out the invitation meant for Roxanne. "Do you believe… that a ghost can write an invitation?" The golden emerald eyed girl enquired, silencing everyone in the room with her question, and getting a sigh of relief from Naruto at the possibility that ghosts weren't involved.
"B-but this ship undoubtedly sunk to the ocean floor!" Maurice countered, gesturing to the entirety of the room.
"Everyone, would you put your noses to work?" Victorique requested.
"The paint," Naruto realized before the others could do as Victorique asked. "Someone painted this room to look like this." The sapphire eyed shinobi declared, getting a nod from Victorique.
"And this wine," The golden blonde said, moving toward the bar located in the lounge and pouring a glass of wine out. "According to the label, the vintage is 1890. A Saubure-produced wine, fermented more than 30 years ago. But its shade is clear and it still smells young. The place where this wine as fermented burned to the ground in the summer of 1914, during the outbreak of the Great War, you can't get this wine anymore." Victorique explained.
"Then the label is," Ned started.
"Probably from a different bottle," Victorique confirmed, as she walked out of the flooded room.
"But why go through all the trouble?" Naruto asked, watching her leave the room.
"It's obvious," Victorique replied from the entrance, "To turn this ship into a perfect replica."
"But what about the red words on the wall?!" Maurice once more contested, pointing to the words on the wall. "And this flooded lounge?! Where did the corpse disappear to?!"
Pulling out her ceramic pipe Victorique continued her explanation. "Instead of a series of words, I'll make you see by reconstructing the chaos." She stated with a confident smile. "When we returned from the deck, we entered this room as a matter of course, but why?"
Victorique went on to clarify that the reason that they entered the room was because it was the only one with the door open, when the room they had originally awoken in was the one across the hall. This was proven true when the door to that room was opened and everyone saw the corpse still lying on the floor with the same words written on the wall as in the flooded lounge. Victorique then went on to reveal how the words had been there all along and were just hidden by some wallpaper that was torn off when the lights were off. All the guests were shocked by how Victorique seemed to figure it all, though Naruto wasn't as much surprised as he was amazed by her again.
"It's so simple when you know how it was done." Julie remarked.
"You're really ama-" Naruto started only to stop midsentence when he heard something. Channeling some chakra into his ears the sound became clear enough for Naruto to make it out. "That's the sound of water. The ship is starting to sink!" The blonde shinobi realized.
His statement surprised the others, especially the fact he was able to hear it at all, Maurice placing his ear to the floor just to confirm it.
"He's right, we're flooding!" Maurice said standing back up and facing them, "Let's go to the radio room and call for help!" He said before running out of the room, the others were hesitant to follow. "What are you just standing around for?!" Maurice questioned them demandingly. "Do you want to go down with the ship?! If this ship is the Queen Berry, we have to go one floor below to head for the radio room!" The gray haired man told them. That piece of information got the others moving, as they all started to follow Maurice's lead, and they began running through the ships many halls.
As they were running Naruto noticed that Victorique was lagging behind the others. "Here," Naruto said holding his hand out to the girl. "We need to hurry."
Victorique looked at the hand held out towards her in confusion. "What's that?" The emerald eyed girl asked perplexedly.
"We need to hurry and this isn't exactly the safest of places." Naruto replied.
Victorique's cheeks puffed out as they grew a nice shade of pink; of course with the look she was giving him Naruto wasn't sure if Victorique was embarrassed or irritated. "Uzumaki let me tell you something! For some reason, nothing is more infuriating than you trying to manage me!" The petite golden haired girl shouted.
"What are you talking about?! I'm just worried about you and trying to make sure you stay safe!" The sapphire eyed shinobi said back. "There's no reason for you to act like that, you midget!"
"Excuse me?! What was that?!" Victorique shot back, stomping her foot on the ground, unintentionally setting off a' booby-trap, Victorique had a momentarily look of confusion on her face when her foot sunk a bit. Not even a second later Naruto pulled Victorique to him, holding the girl close to him, as he quickly moved away from where they were standing. Just in time too, as an arrow had been fired from one side and would have hit Victorique if Naruto hadn't reacted, but was now lodged into the wall opposite of the one it had been fired from.
"Whoever is responsible for this was serious about killing everyone, if they would even put a trap here." Naruto muttered, looking at the arrow stuck in the wall.
"Hey, just how much longer are you going to hold me?" Victorique questioned still held against Naruto's chest, her cheeks a rosy red, getting a sorry from Naruto as he released her.
"Hey everyone!" Ned called back from ahead, "We found the stairs just ahead!" He informed them.
As the group of five was walking down the stairs to get to the lower level Julie stopped for a moment to stare at Naruto. "You're a nice boy." She told him.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"Just before, you protected her with all your heart." Julie said, shifting her gaze to Victorique for an instant before turning it back to Naruto.
"Of course, I'd do anything to protect my friends." Naruto said surely, Victorique looking at him with some surprise at being referred as his friend.
"Really?" Julie asked with a giggle as sent a beautiful smile Naruto's way. "I guess they are very lucky then. To have someone so gallant looking after them," She said before continuing walking down the stairs.
Naruto was about to follow her when he felt something on his hand, looking down the blonde noticed how Victorique had taken his hand in hers. The girl didn't even look like she knew what she had done, and Naruto might have even considered it to have been some strange accident, if it hadn't been for the way she tightened her hold on his hand at that moment.
"Let's go, Uzumaki." Victorique said softly pulling him forward.
After a few minutes of walking they came across a hall filled with water, sadly they need to cross the hall if they wanted to reach the radio room.
"It's over." Maurice said despairingly, "It's all over."
"Come on, let's go and fast!" Julie said stubbornly lifting up the end of her long dress a bit. "If we hurry, there should still be enough time!" She told them all determinedly. "Now hurry!"
Maurice and Ned soon followed the determined young woman, though Naruto paused just before entering the water.
"Come on," Naruto said kneeling in front of Victorique with his back to her. "Get on." He instructed. Victorique looked hesitant for a second before she eventually relented. Naruto had a smile on his face as Victorique put her arms around his neck and he got a firm hold of her small legs, glad that she had complied without putting up much of a fight. "Good, we're in a hurry and don't have time to argue." He said his smile turning into a smirk. "Besides I'd have been too worried about you drowning with how short you are." Naruto commented as he stepped onto the water, using the Water Walking exercise while everyone else was focused on moving forward and not looking back. The hold that Victorique had around his neck suddenly tightened. "Victorique, you're choking me." Naruto managed to gasp out.
"Deal with it." Victorique replied indifferently, not relaxing her hold in the slightest. The golden haired girl was so focused on choking Naruto to death that she hadn't noticed that the blonde shinobi was actually walking on water. "You shouldered this heavy burden of your own free will." She said softly almost as she didn't mean for Naruto to hear her.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto murmured, as he continued walking after the others. "My friends are never a burden." He told her, the hold Victorique had around his neck slackening just the slightest bit. "Don't worry Victorique everything is going to be alright." He reassured her.
Victorique didn't say anything back to him, but if Naruto had looked over his shoulder he would have seen the smallest of smiles on Victorique's face. Nor did he notice how her once trembling hand relaxed a bit.
"Look," Julie said from ahead of them. "It looks like we can get out from the front of the ship!" She indicated standing by a doorway.
"No!" Maurice moaned as he fell to his knees. "At this rate, we'll become hares!" The man shouted out loud, and already Naruto could tell whatever mental stability the man had possessed was gone now.
"Get a hold of yourself." Ned said placing a hand on Maurice's back. "We're going to the radio room so that won't happen, remember?"
"And what are we going to do if help doesn't come?!" The gray haired man insisted, slapping the arm off him as he stood up and making his way toward the doorway that Julie was standing by. "I'll kill you before letting myself die!"
"What was that about?!" Julie asked angrily. "Hold it!" She shouted at the man.
"This really isn't good." The cerulean eyed shinobi muttered, as he continued to follow the others.
From ahead of them Naruto could hear Maurice opening door after door, walking around the corner everyone was just in time to see Maurice to emerge from one of the rooms, whose doors he opened, carrying a gun that he pointed at them, a completely insane look on his face.
"There are a lot of weapons hidden on this ship." Maurice informed them, "In drawers, in vases, under carpets! Here, there, everywhere!"
"For what?!" Julie demanded irritably.
"To kill each other!" The insane man answered clearly and honestly. Truthfully to Naruto at that moment it looked like someone had tried to drown the man. "The hares are stirred up by the hunting dog. They lose trust in one another. They find weapons and hurt each other! So… who's the hare?" Maurice asked pointing his gun at them one at a time.
"The hares are dead, you know that." Ned tried to rationalize with the man.
"Shut up!" Maurice snapped. "There were survivors, too." He revealed to them. "Right now, they'd be just about your age!" The man said holding his head. "But I don't know who's who and what's what anymore! So I'm going to kill all of you and escape from this ship alone!" The old man claimed grasping the gun with both of his shaking hands and pointing it straight at Victorique. Seeing that the gun was directed at Victorique, Naruto stepped forward and stood protectively in front of her.
"I'm warning you right now old man." Naruto said, glaring at Maurice who didn't seemed at that concerned with what Naruto was saying, "Stop or I'll be forced to stop you." He said threateningly. "I won't let you hurt Victorique." The blonde shinobi stated. While he hoped to avoid it Naruto was more than ready to kill the insane man if it meant that Victorique would be kept safe.
"Uzumaki? What are you doing?" Victorique asked confused and a bit worried as she tapped his back. Why was he putting himself in danger like that, and for her?
Despite the situation they were in Naruto couldn't keep from smiling a bit at the fact Victorique still refused to call him by his first name, what a stubborn girl. "You're my friend Victorique." Naruto told her unhesitatingly. "That means that you are someone I consider precious to me. And I won't let any of my precious people be hurt." He finished resolutely staring Maurice down, unnerving the man all the more by how determined the blonde teen seemed.
Victorique was honestly surprised by Naruto's answer not expecting him to consider her someone so important to him after such a short time.
"I see, I see." Maurice said with a mad chuckle. "You're the hare, eh?" He finished his hand far more steady.
"Last warning old man," Naruto said again. "Stop now." The sapphire eyed shinobi warned him, hidden in the sleeve of his jacket was a kunai. As a shinobi he was sure to always be prepared for such a situation in case it was necessary.
Guns weren't a common thing in the Elemental countries, the closest thing being kunai launchers, but once the Uzumaki-Namikaze had crossed over Kushina had gotten a few, discretely of course, and made sure they were all prepared to stand against them. Kushina made sure that she, Naruto, and Minato could avoid a bullet if fired at them; the trick was to not be in the bullets path before it was fired from the gun's barrel, or have a way to effectively block it. His mother proved to be not only a slave driver when it came to training, but also slightly crazy one. Thankfully the bullets fired had been fake ones, so they only seriously hurt if any one of them was hit by one of the bullets.
Of course Naruto couldn't evade or risk the bullet hitting Victorique, so the only choice he had was to stop Maurice before he had the chance to fire.
"Die!" Maurice yelled, ignoring Naruto's warnings, as he started to pull the trigger.
Two things happened instantly and almost simultaneously of one another. The first was the kunai that cut into Maurice's hand, taking a couple of fingers with it. The second was the sound of gunfire and a bullet that went into Maurice's head ensuring the old man's death.
Looking over his shoulder Naruto saw that the person holding the gun responsible for Maurice's death was Julie.
"I found one too, hidden in a wall lamp." Julie explained lowering her gun. "It looks like you found a weapon too." She said, though Naruto noticed the strange look that she sent him before gaze shifted to the kunai on the ground and back to him. Victorique also noticed the look that Julie was sending both Naruto and the blonde's weapon.
Ned walked up to Maurice's dead body and picked up both the gun and kunai, before tossing both weapons down a stairwell, not that it mattered to Naruto since he had more Kunai and a few shuriken. "Throw away your gun, too." He said to Julie, but the black haired woman didn't look all that eager to do as he said. "Our situation is bad enough without suspecting each other." Ned reasoned with her, "Unless you have a reason for wanting to carry a weapon?" The blonde man finished by giving her a questioning stare.
A scowl appeared on Julie's face for a moment before she proceeded to throw the gun down the same staircase, when Julie walked forward though she accidently bumped into Naruto causing her to drop her purse.
"Ah sorry," Naruto apologized while Victorique picked up the woman's purse, holding it for a moment before tossing it to Julie.
"Thank you." Julie said as she turned, "Come on, let's go."
Naruto was about to follow when he felt Victorique once more take hold of his hand. That would be the second time that Victorique had taken his hand and Naruto found it a bit strange, because it seemed so different from the proud and confident girl he had met a couple of days ago.
As they were walking down another hallway, this one far more extravagant then the one they were in before, Victorique could no longer hold her curiosity back. "Uzumaki," She began somewhat unsure of what to ask. "Before you talked about precious people what does that mean? Is it something that is common in Japan?" Victorique asked him curiously, still holding on to his hand.
"Eh, not really," Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's something that I learned from someone I once knew. He told me that we can only be truly strong when we are protecting that which we consider precious, like our family, friends, and home. It's something I've followed and believed in since then." The blonde shinobi told her, recalling his meeting with Haku in the woods of Wave Country back during his first C-rank mission.
"And you consider me as one of those precious friends?" Victorique asked him tentatively without looking him in the eye.
"Of course," Naruto answered instantly. "Why wouldn't I?"
Victorique could actually think up of a few reasons why but before she could voice any of them, though she wasn't all that sure she wanted to in the first place preferring for Naruto to continue considering her a friend, the three people heard a shout belonging to Ned coming up ahead from another case of stairs. Julie having slowed down to hear what the two blondes were talking about. Rushing toward the stairs, Naruto and the others came to a sudden stop when they found Ned lying face down in the far corner with a single arm behind his back. Taking a few cautious steps closer Naruto grabbed Ned's arm and checked for a pulse only to find none, he voiced his discovery to the only other two survivors.
"It's… the same." Julie muttered quietly though Naruto was still able to hear it.
"Come over here, Uzumaki." Victorique suddenly said, drawing Naruto's attention to her. Looking at her Naruto saw her shaking arms and how her hair covered her eyes. "I'm scared." She told him her voice quivering just a bit. Lifting her head the blonde shinobi was entranced with the golden blonde's pleading emerald green eyes. "Please stand by me, Naruto." Victorique asked him, and with the look she was giving him Naruto couldn't find it in himself to deny her.
Could it be, Naruto wondered as he made his way towards her, that he could have been wrong about Victorique not being affected by everything that was happening around her and that she was actually scared? Naruto wasn't really given the chance to think it over as the moment he made it to Victorique's side she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him down till his head was next hers.
"At this rate, we'll be murdered, too!" Victorique whispered urgently to him, her voice once more calm and collected.
'She was faking being afraid.' Naruto realized, as he stood back up straight, before what she said registered in his mind.
"What's wrong?" Julie asked, having noticed how Victorique pulled Naruto in.
"I'll explain later." Victorique said back to her, taking Naruto's hand once more in hers. "Run!" She instructed leaving no room for arguments, as took off in a sprint with Naruto being pulled behind her and forcing Julie to follow them.
Easily keeping up with Victorique as they ran through the halls Naruto paid close attention to what Victorique was saying.
"Let's hide in the nearest room!" Victorique said, "Then look for weapons!" She finished opening the doors to closest room and entered along with Naruto and Julie. Once inside the room Victorique and Julie started looking throughout the room, Naruto didn't bother looking around for weapons since he was already carrying some, until Julie heard something from outside the room and let the two blondes know and they all hid.
A few seconds later the doors to the room burst open and to the shock of most of the others Ned walked in without his white blazer, clearly showing his gray vest, and carrying a halberd. Even from his position Naruto could feel the bloodlust the guy was giving off. It wasn't anything compared to what a shinobi could give off, but for a world where the desire to kill wasn't a common thing it was mildly impressive.
"I have to hunt down the Hares." Ned said ominously, "Because I'm the Hunting Dog!" The man finished darkly, spotting the trim of Victorique's dress from behind a couch.
Seeing how close the man was getting to Victorique caused Naruto to step out from where he was positioned, throwing a kunai that cut into Ned's cheek drawing blood and drawing the hunting dog's attention to him. The two women seemed surprised by Naruto's actions, but he knew that if he hadn't done something Victorique would have been put in danger.
Naruto stood across from his blonde counterpart with a kunai in hand, glaring at the older man. Ned didn't seem all that affected by the glare that Naruto was sending him, or all that concerned with the blood that was trickling down his face. At some unknown signal the two blondes charged at each other, Ned swinging his halberd down at Naruto. The blonde shinobi sidestepped the descending blade and retaliated with a punch to Ned's head, making the man take a couple of shaky steps backwards as he once more swung the halberd with a single arm while the other nursed his face. Naruto stepped into the swing, avoiding the bladed axe at the end, and grabbing ahold of the pole and then, adding wind chakra into his kunai, swung it down on the Halberd slicing it into two.
Ned tried to punch Naruto, but the younger blonde dodged under the punch. Following up his failed punch Ned swung the part of the broken halberd, that he still held in his hand, nearly hitting Naruto because of its lighter weight. Barely avoiding the staff Naruto hit Ned with quick succession of punches, temporarily knocking the older man out.
With Ned passed out Naruto turned to face Victorique and Julie, "Let's go." Naruto said to the two women as they hastily left the room before Ned awoke, taking the two pieces of the broken halberd and using it to jam the door shut.
It was only a short time later that the trio found themselves on the ship's deck just a few feet away from the radio room.
"There it is," Julie pointed it out once, she and Victorique caught their breaths from having run all the way there.
Naruto nodded his head acknowledging Julie's statement before his gaze shifted over to Victorique. "Hey how did you know that Ned wasn't really dead?" He asked her curiously.
"I want to know, too." Julie said, "After all, he didn't have a pulse then either." She finished.
The blonde shinobi turned to her, "'Then?'" Naruto questioned his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.
"Nothing, forget it." Julie replied with a shake of her head, as she focused on Victorique.
"It's the tennis ball." Victorique eventually answered after a moment of silence. "That man was fiddling with a tennis ball the whole time. Holding it tightly under his armpit would momentarily stop his pulse. Naruto was once more impressed by Victorique's detective skills.
"I see. You caught on right away, which is why you were scared and called him over to you." Julie said sending Naruto a knowing look at the end.
A light blush appeared on Victorique's face at Julie's declaration. "I wasn't really scared!" Victorique denied, though the tone of her voice was completely different from what it normally was. "If I hadn't acted like that, this idiot would never have moved." The golden haired girl stated as she walked toward the radio room.
"Hey don't call me an idiot." Naruto said, with a bit of irritation in his voice, as he followed Victorique.
"But you are an idiot." Victorique pointed out like it was an obvious fact.
Naruto only had a moment to sense the bloodlust coming from behind him before he heard Julie let out a terrified scream. Looking back Victorique and Naruto saw Julie being held by her long black hair by Ned, his face terribly bruised. The man let out a mad chuckle before throwing Julie off to the side and made his way toward the blonde duo, a demented grin on his face. In his right hand, Naruto noticed, the bruised blonde man held the broken half of the halberd with the bladed end.
Acting quickly Naruto opened the door to the radio room. "Victorique get in, now!" The cerulean eyed shinobi said trying to push the girl into the room, while she gave him a momentary confused look. "Use the radio and call for help!" Naruto said, he could deal with Ned easily, but they still needed to be rescued from the sinking ship.
"What about you?" Victorique asked fearfully, putting her hands up against the doorframe to keep herself' from being pushed into the room.
"I'll keep him busy while you call for help." Naruto answered, he saw that she was about to say something but cut her off before she could start. "I'm the one responsible for bringing us here, if I didn't want things to get exciting again, we wouldn't be here. I have to make sure that you're safe and get home." The sapphire eyed shinobi said. "I guess that white haired bastard is happy now." He finished in a mutter, quickly glanced over his shoulder to see how close Ned was.
Victorique heard what he said at the end and wondered who he was talking about, but couldn't focus on that now. "No, you're wrong. I wanted to come here! I found the invitation and showed it to you!" The emerald eyed girl insisted, still refusing to enter the room.
"But the choice was mine wasn't it? You wouldn't have come here if I hadn't agreed to come here also, right?!" Naruto retorted. "Besides I told you that I will protect those I consider precious to me, that means' I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe."
"Naruto," Victorique whispered before she was pushed into the room and the door closed behind her, "Naruto please!" Victorique said as she started to bang on the door. "Be with me! Let's go home together!" She pleaded. "I don't want to be alone, Naruto!"
"Don't worry Victorique." Naruto said softly, his back against the door and facing Ned. "I promise to protect you." He said determinedly, "I promise that we'll both go back home together, and I never break my promises or go back on my word." The blonde teen stated.
With Victorique now safe inside the radio room Naruto could focus his attention solely on Ned, the man finding some sick pleasure in prolonging their confrontation. Channeling a bit of chakra into the soles of his feet, so he wouldn't slip on the ship's wet deck, Naruto dashed at Ned. Because the halberd was now shorter Ned could easily swing it with a single hand instead of needing to use both hands, so Naruto had to dodge it the moment he got close to the blonde man. With his free hand Ned tried to punch Naruto, only for the younger blonde to block the punch before retaliating with a kick to Ned's midsection. Holding his stomach Ned swung the halberd upwards, Naruto moving back just enough for the halberd to miss by a few inches.
Pulling out a kunai Naruto threw it at Ned the weapon piercing the shoulder of his right arm, causing him to drop his halberd. Ned grabbed at his wounded shoulder, pulling out the kunai, placing his left hand over it in effort to slow the bleeding. Anger flooded Ned's face, as he started to wildly swing the bloody kunai at Naruto, the older blonde losing what little reasoning he possessed while the younger blonde appeared almost bored and completely unconcerned with the fact that someone was trying to kill him. After another failed slash Naruto attacked Ned with a series of punches that left the man completely dazed before taking his kunai back and ending it with a slash across Ned's chest, copious amounts of blood spilling out. A second later Naruto heard something impact with Ned, looking over the man's shoulder Naruto saw the halberd sticking out of Ned's back, Julie having come up behind the man and stabbed him with his own weapon. It didn't take long for Ned to fall over and die from both of his wounds.
"Are you alright?" Julie asked Naruto after Ned died.
"I'm fine." Naruto answered, as he moved passed her, he had a stubborn golden blonde haired midget to assure he was fine.
Inside the radio room Victorique focused solely on signaling for help, knowing that at the moment it was the most she could do to help, and tried not to think about what might be happening outside with Naruto. The emerald eyed girl was startled when she heard the door to the room open, turning to face the entrance she was prepared for the worst in case it turned out that Ned had managed to get passed Naruto, as such she was very relieved to see Naruto's familiar spikey blonde hair and whisker marked face.
"Naruto," Victorique whispered with a relieved sigh.
"See told you, nothing to worry about." Naruto said with his fox like grin.
A smile appeared on Victorique's face for a second before she composed herself and acted like she wasn't worried. "Yes, it appears that you're out of danger." She spoke calmly as she stood up from her seat and made his way towards him, taking one of his hands in hers once she reached him. Victorique needing the physical connection as proof that Naruto was really okay.
A few hours later the storm had finally passed and the sun had started to rise. Naruto and Victorique watched as the Queen Berry sunk to the bottom of the sea, the three survivors having been rescued by a nearby ship not too long ago. Glancing down at his companion Naruto noticed that Victorique had the same smile on her face as the one he saw when they were on the train to Sauville.
"What are you looking at?" Naruto asked, wondering what could cause such a beautiful smile to appear on Victorique's normally stoic face.
"I don't hate beautiful things." Victorique answered, pointing out to the sea that reflected the sun's light on its surface.
When they finally made port Victorique held Naruto back to allow Julie off the ship first. The reason as to why became clear when Grevil greeted Julie as she was walking off the ship with more than a few officers behind him. With a single look back at Victorique Julie knew that whatever secrets she possessed had been discovered by the short golden blonde haired girl.
"How did you know that I was the culprit?" Julie asked after they had all been taken to the police station.
"You lied." Victorique replied simply. "You introduced yourself as the daughter of a wealthy person."
"How do you know that's a lie?" Naruto asked confused, as far he knew Julie didn't do or say anything that would go against her claim.
"She has this habit." The emerald eyed girl said, standing up and beginning to pace around the room, everyone's attention focused on her. "She walks a few paces, then turns around and comes back. Right?" Victorique finished by turning to Naruto to confirm her statement, and getting a hesitant nod. "It's not how a person who grew up in a spacious mansion moves. It's the habit of someone who's spent a long time in a place where she would bump into a wall if she walks five steps." She explained, and by the look on Julie's face it was definitely true. "For example, a prison cell, hospital room, or the attic room in a mansion." Victorique finished.
After Victorique's last example Grevil not so subtlety cleared his throat.
"That was just a generalization." Victorique said, with a look back at Grevil.
Naruto stared at the two other blondes curiously when he saw the small interaction between them. Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion, he was sure that there was something significant about what Victorique said and everything he's noticed about her so far.
"Don't read too much into it." Victorique finished, cutting into Naruto's thought process.
"If you say so." Naruto muttered, not sounding all that convinced.
"Moving on. There's a couple more important things." The emerald eyed girl stated. "The gun you used to shoot Maurice, you had it on you the whole time." Victorique said before pointing at Julie's purse that was on Grevil's desk. "Naruto, do you remember getting hit in the head with that in the lounge?" The golden haired girl asked.
"Kind of hard to forget." Naruto answered rubbing the spot where the purse had hit him.
"However, when I picked the purse up, it was as light as a feather." Victorique stated. "Then there was that knife you carried. It was clear that she didn't recognize it and it confused her as to why she didn't. Most likely because she already knew of all the weapons present on the ship and the knife wasn't one of them." The emerald eyed girl finished.
With a reluctant sigh Julie began to speak, "We were all orphans." She started. "Ten years ago, I was put on a black, iron-barred carriage. I lost consciousness and woke up on that cursed ship. Our nationalities were different, so even our conversations were faltering. But because our circumstances were the same, we were able to communicate. And yet…" Julie then explained how Ned's faked death back then was the catalyst that caused the children to start killing each other, and how even with all that she was able to find a friend. She also mentioned how all the other guests and Roxanne were involved.
"The running of the Hares, you say?" Grevil questioned after Julie got done telling her story.
"We can surmise that it refers to a large-scale omen." Victorique theorized.
"Omen?!" Julie asked surprised, Victorique grabbing her pipe and putting it against her lips.
"Roxanne raised hares and used them as an augury tool." Victorique explained. "She would release them amongst hunting dogs and predict the future based on which hares survived."
"And we were the hares." Julie said in realization.
Victorique nodded her head in response. "Data can be analyzed from several fragments of chaos: The orphans who were gathered from 11 countries around the world… The meaningful words of Roxanne and her people… And the fact that the original incident occurred ten years ago in the spring." The golden haired girl said.
"Ten years ago? Wasn't that around the time that led up to the Great War?" Naruto asked.
"That's correct," Victorique said, "And incidentally is also the answer to the omen that Roxanne predicted. At the end of June 1912, the Archduke of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo. When this triggered a war, people in the government used fortune-tellers in an attempt to read the future of the world. It was a large-scale stage. They prepared a 'box', the Queen Berry, and there let loose the 'Hares' collected from each country."
"That's why?!" Julie gasped standing up in shock.
"Hey, halfway-bright Naruto, tell us the outcome of the war." Victorique instructed looking at Naruto who was seated to her right.
"I'm not sure if I'm happy that you're actually using my now if you're going to insult me while doing it." Naruto muttered with a frown on his face.
"Just get on with it." Victorique said with a bit of impatience in her voice.
"Yeah, yeah. The Great War ended with a victory by the Allies." Naruto recited from memory.
"And those countries were?" Victorique probed encouraging Naruto to continue.
"France, Italy, England, America, and Saubure." Naruto answered automatically before he', and the others beside Victorique, realized their significance.
"The prediction was right." The emerald eyed girl stated.
"Then they based their political activity afterwards on our actions that night." Julie comprehended, a bit of resentment in her voice, as she took a light breath. The black haired woman then explained what happened to her after the events of that night. "When I was released from the hospital, I spent the entire fortune on recreating that box, the Queen Berry. Tell me, little detective, when did you realize that I was behind it?" Julie finished with a question directed at Victorique.
"I first suspected you when we woke up in that lounge. You made a fuss about the door being locked, but that was a lie." Victorique said starting her explanation of her suspicion. "You persuaded the guests to stay in the room and showed us the threatening words so we would think that it was some sort of ritual." Naruto was impressed, while he had suspected Julie of something it was later into the night, Victorique had been suspicious from the beginning.
"I see," Julie murmured with a bemused smile. "I understand why you held his hand firmly." The raven haired woman declared with that same smile. "It's because he spoke to me amiably, not knowing I was the culprit. I'm right, aren't I?" The blue eyed woman asked, Victorique pouting at the question. "And here for a second I thought it was because you were afraid I might steal him away." Julie finished teasing her lightly.
"D-don't be ridiculous." Victorique stuttered lightly, her cheeks growing a light shade of pink.
"Well, I've heard enough." Grevil spoke up, as he stood up from his desk. "It's time." He said and proceeded to lead Julie out of the room.
On the way out Julie passed by the maid responsible for Roxanne's death. Julie only needed one look to recognize her as the friend she had made on that night, and proceeded to return the heart shaped pendant around her neck back to its rightful owner.
The next day Naruto and Victorique were back at Saint Marguerite with things seemingly returning to normal after their adventure on the Queen Berry.
"Oi Victorique!" Naruto called, calmly walking up the last of the library's many steps, with the day's paper in his hand.
"What is it, Naruto?" Victorique asked after letting out a yawn, she was once more sitting on the ground this time with a basket of candies near her.
"So is this a normal thing?" Naruto asked back holding up the paper with Grevil's picture on it. It reported how Grevil solved the mystery of the Queen Berry, of course all the information that was given was everything that Victorique had revealed the other day.
"My brother is an egomaniac." Victorique said with another yawn.
"Brother?" Naruto repeated surprised.
"Is it that surprising?" Victorique asked indifferently
"Sort of," The blonde shinobi admitted.
Victorique hummed thoughtfully as she looked off to the side. "Well, I say 'brother', but we have different mothers." The black clothed girl said softly. "He's a marquis, the legitimate son of the Blois family. And my mother, a mistress, was seen as a dangerous figure by the government." Victorique explained, looking straight at Naruto, her face expressionless. "I was isolated deep inside the Blois family mansion and raised there. Even after entering the academy, I haven't been allowed to go outside without the Duke's permission." She continued revealing some of her past to Naruto. "I'm a captive princess. But that doesn't suit me, does it?" Victorique finished once more looking off to the side.
Naruto looked at the girl silently for a moment. He finally remembered what that look in her eyes was when they had first met, it was loneliness. Because he was given a second chance to be truly happy with his family, to live a childhood filled with happiness, Naruto had forgotten at the time what it looked like for a person to feel true loneliness. Naruto had originally grown up surrounded by people, but ignored by every one of them. Victorique had grown up with the misfortune of being completely alone. But she was able to survive living in that loneliness, they held that much in common.
'You're amazing, Victorique.' Naruto thought to himself.
At that moment Victorique let out another yawn. "And that's why the princess is always bored." She said.
"Oh,"
"Go downstairs to the real world and find me another interesting mystery." Victorique ordered, her emerald eyes looking straight into Naruto's sapphire.
"Oi, it's not like that sort of thing happens every day." Naruto pointed out, just a bit of annoyance appearing in his voice. Plus right at the moment he didn't feel like do anything that would entertain the damn Shinigami.
"I'm bored! I may die of boredom!" Victorique complained loudly, throwing a little tantrum and making her hands go up and down wildly, before pointing at Naruto with a serious look in her eyes. "Uzumaki, with as few friends as you have can' you afford to lose even one?" The golden blonde emerald eyed girl demanded.
"Why are we back to you using my last name?!" Naruto asked incredulously. "And don't make it sound like I don't have any other friends!" The blonde shinobi would have continued, but at that moment leaned against the front of his chest. "H-hey V-Victorique, don't tell me you actually died of boredom! I always said that I'd die of boredom while listening to Iruka-sensei's lectures, but I didn't think it was actually possible!" Looking down at the girl resting against his chest Naruto noticed that Victorique was in fact sleeping. Naruto let out a tired sigh as he looked up at the ceiling. "A friend of mind would call you troublesome, but I don't mind all that much." The shinobi started. "We're a lot alike, I can see that now. I promise Victorique that you'll never be alone again. I'll be there with you no matter where you go, making sure that you're safe." Naruto continued looking back at the girl with a smile. "I also promise that someday I'll take you back to the ocean, so that we can see the light sparkling off its surface again."
Suddenly Victorique snapped her eyes open. "That's a promise." She stated before closing her eyes once more, Naruto was strangely warm and she found it comforting. "And you don't break your promises, right?" Victorique finished in a whisper.
"Huh?" Naruto uttered looking at the girl in surprise for a moment. "You were awake the whole time? You tricked me into thinking you were asleep and making you a promise!" He accused.
Victorique didn't answer Naruto and chose to just silently enjoy the moment.
AN: And that is the end of Chapter 2, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this. I'm still not sure if I'm getting Victorique's character all that right, but hopefully I'll be able to get better with that. I'm not sure when I'll update this fic again, most likely it will be at some point between my two main crossover fics.
Well until next time please remember to review.