Chapter's title brought to you by Janis Joplin.
Stifling a yawn, a blonde haired man dressed in a semi-formal attire which consisted of a long sleeved white dress shirt, black slacks and matching oxfords roamed the quiet halls of the facility. He rubbed his eyes using his fists as an attempt to shrug off the feeling of sleep, something he was lacking of.
It had been a week ever since he arrived in Chaldea and his 'employer' was quick to give him work. He was expecting to be put on maximum security of some sort before they could even hope of letting him roam on his own, but Olga Marie was nice enough to spare him from such hassle. Instead, he got his new work shoved onto his face like an unpaid intern stuck on a two year 'training' enrichment programme.
Honestly, having to work immediately was not that big of a deal. He could imagine the stress that these people had to go through when they found out the bleak end for humanity's future. And he promised to contribute; lightening the load or so to speak.
His quiet walk took him to his destination, which was none other than the command room itself. However, instead of approaching the center of the chamber where the global environmental model was, he took a left and walked up a short flight of stairs to the bleachers.
The humming of computer consoles and hardware was immediately heard, and the way dimmer lighting forced his eyes to re-adjust the level of light it needed in order to see.
"Ah, old man Naruto, what's up?"
Naruto held back a sigh. His new co-worker - a ginger haired girl who happened to be the only acting master of Chaldea's servant division - had gotten familiar enough with him to call him by that title. Walking up to the younger girl, the blonde man lazily waved his hand in greeting.
"Personally, nothing much, Ritz." shot back the man, bumping fist with the shorter female.
From observing the way they interact alone, anyone could tell that they're close. Even after only a week's time, the two had gone close enough to share jokes and give each other nicknames. Their attention was brought elsewhere when the sound of footsteps drew closer, causing both the blonde and the ginger to swivel their heads to the source.
"Ah, senpai, mister Uzumaki." A sweet, soft, marshmallow-like voice belonging to another female greeted them. Approaching them was none other than Matthew herself… or Mashu… at least that's what they told Naruto they called her here.
He was even more perturbed by 'Mash', even more so than 'Matthew'. Seriously, Mash? Did she name herself that?
"Yoho Mashu!" Ritsuka leapt forward and glomped the curvier girl, enveloping her in a hug. "Fuah, you smell nice as always Mashu-chwaaan!" However, the moment she plunged her face into the other girl's chest confirmed Naruto of her less than decent intentions.
"S-Senpai! P-People are w-watching…" the bespectacled girl whined in a way that sent shivers to the spine of any onlooking male.
Naruto, on the other hand, was too busy shaking his head to get turned on by the sight. Besides, he'd seen even bolder developments before. Stepping forward, the whiskered man pulled the ginger haired girl by the collar of her uniform, breaking the embrace.
"Alright you two, keep the touchy-feely for later; right now, we have a job to do."
Ritsuka openly grumbled, sulking with her arms crossed and her lip showing a full pout. "You're such a party pooper, old man." complained the female master. "Can't we do the briefing later? I want to see how good our chances are with a summoning today."
It explained why she's here, then.
"Remind me again, how exactly do you guys summon heroic spirits again?" asked the blonde with a scratch of his chin.
"Ah, I can explain." Matthew stepped forward, straightening whatever creases and folds that were present on her uniform from Ritsuka's earlier glomp.
"We utilized the summoning system similar to the rituals used in the previous Holy Grail Wars. Sadly, we weren't able to really fully utilize the system and previous attempts of summoning had been… unsuccessful to say the least. Ah, but miss da Vinci's an exception as she's one of the two servants we managed to successfully summon."
'One of the two?' The blonde noted the could be slip up, keeping it to himself.
"However, during the Fuyuki incident, we managed to overcome this problem by using my shield as a catalyst and an establishment of a summoning circle." The girl with the purple motif explained. "A-Ah, but, I don't have my shield to show you, so, maybe next time?" laughed the girl sheepishly.
The blonde brushed her off politely, nodding his head in understanding. "Right, you're a demi-servant." He noticed Matthew fidgeting the moment he said the 'd' word. "That explains why I sense another presence from within you."
"E-Eh, you can sense…?"
Smiling at the girl's confusion, Naruto flashed her a toothy grin. "Yup. We're similar in that regard, actually. But you probably have it easier than me. At least you don't have nine voices annoying you from time to time."
"Boo…"
'Shut up, all nine of you.' retorted the blonde mentally before paying attention to the demi-servant again. "Maa, anyway, Matthew. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable… ahaha..."
The glasses wearing girl shook her head, smiling reassuringly. "No, it's fine. Galahad has been very helpful, he's nice too."
"Alright, alright; let's keep the mushy-wushy on the low, mmkay?" Ritsuka interrupted, now with an even bigger pout. She shot the blonde haired man a glare, saying, "You're unfair old man. I can't get a moment with Mashu but you can?"
"My 'moment' with her doesn't involve me sexually harassing her in front of a group of people, Ritz." droned the blonde man crisply. "And besides, the three of us are assigned on this assignment, so I need both of your full attention on this."
Sulking one last time, the orange haired master relented and straightened her posture; seemingly ready to listen to what the older man had to say. Matthew, too, snapped to attention; a lot more seriously than Ritsuka.
"Since we're all present, might as well do the briefing right here," the blonde turned his head, looking at the general direction of the technicians present, "hope you guys don't mind."
Several shook their heads in response, allowing Naruto to resume what he was about to say.
"Alright, Ritz, Matthew; listen up." By the tone he's using, both girls could tell that the man was getting serious. "Da Vinci told me that we're doing less than stellar when it comes to power and honestly, I can already tell the moment Roman brought me to see the magic reactor himself."
The reactor, which was an impressive piece of scientific construct in itself, was doing a poor job in supplying the facility with power. Having gone over the basic functions with da Vinci and the good doctor a few days ago, Naruto knew enough to conclude that should the main reactor fail, they would be in a whole lot of trouble. Every electronics in this place were powered by the reactor; from the global environmental model itself to Romani's cell phone charger that he would always use whenever he's farming for waifus on that stupid mobile game of his.
And their solution for 'backup' power wasn't the most reliable solution since they had to rely on industrial generators. There's a lot of them, and they did provide Chaldea with the needed minimum amount of power to at least make some of their most important facilities operable, but it was not a good long term solution. Olga told Naruto that they used to have an oil platform and a nuclear reactor, but those were used to power the global environmental mode only; and even the both of those weren't enough to fully power CHALDEAS.
"Which is why we're going to need to find a source of power that can improve the amount of energy the magical reactor outputs." Naruto explained clinically.
"Huh, they mentioned this in the staff meeting a week ago. I was wondering when are we going to do something about it…" Mashu mumbled, feeling glad that the upper echelons were finally doing something about their energy problems.
"Wait, they did?"
"Senpai… you weren't paying attention again, were you?" Matthew gave the orange haired girl a pouty look that really made Ritsuka feel guilty about not listening.
"G-Guh…!" Panicking at the sight of a pouting Matthew, Ritsuka tried hard to not crack underneath the look. "O-Oh yeah, that! Now I remember, haha, in fact, I know about it all along! I was just speaking to myself, Mashu, don't mind me!"
Sighing, Naruto coughed loudly to get both girls' attention back on him.
"Anyway, the dossier should already be sent to you digitally." The blonde looked irked as he was saying this. "Though I'd rather they give us physical copies…"
"Get on with the times, old man. It's all about the digital age." chuckled the orange haired master at the older man. "Helps that we're going green while at it."
Rolling his eyes and dismissing the jab Ritsuka made at him, Naruto crossed his arm and resumed speaking. "But I'll let you girls in briefly on the need-to-knows: we're looking for a mana-condenser - don't worry the term's not that important - da Vinci told me that if she shoved the thing inside the magical reactor, it'll help output energy better."
"Yup, whew, good thing you spare us the details." Ritsuka breezed through the report she received from da Vinci on her wrist mounted terminal. "No way I'm wasting my morning reading through that and rotting a few brain cells along the process."
"It'll probably do the opposite, Ritz. Go and read the dossier, I don't want you to charge into this with air in your head." Naruto sent Matthew a stern look. "Matthew, make sure she reads the document. I'm counting on you."
"Of course, mister Uzumaki." After saying this and giving the older man a firm nod, Matthew held her senpai's hand in a strong grip, undoubtedly causing pain and discomfort for the other girl. "You heard what mister Uzumaki said, senpai."
"Ow ow ow! I-I appreciate that you're holding my hand, but not too tight Mashu and not like this!"
Snorting in amusement over the scene, Naruto shook his head. It seemed that he fit in quite nicely even only after a week of being here. Still, it felt strange that they're letting him take charge of an operation so soon, but as long as people were okay with him leading, he got no reason to complain.
"So," Matthew started, still holding the struggling orange haired master with her hand, "when will we depart and where are we going exactly?"
"We'll depart at 1600 hours, let's meet again in the command room; Olga would want to have a few words before sending us off." The blonde said. "And as for where we're going… err… it'll be easier to show you guys, later." Coughing to a closed fist, Naruto waved it off.
Confused, the two girls could only wonder what the man meant.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Eyes snapping open, the Seventh Hokage lowly raised his head to meet the face of the intruder that had managed to find their way into his personal bedroom. The place was slightly bigger than the normal sized ones they gave out to other staff members, and it was equipped with facilities that no ordinary employee could get access to. A private shower, wardrobe and study desk all to himself; what more could he ask for?
Seated on his twin sized bed, the blue eyed blonde glared at his intruder standing just within a reach of his arm.
"I must say, they accommodate you pretty well don't they?"
The intruder's soprano voice would otherwise melted the ears of any red blooded male within hearing vicinity, but he had built up immunity to anything that could kill him or just dangerous things in general. The intruder, however, was deceiving in nature.
Purplish pink parasol, folded, on her person; she carried herself like any fair maiden would. Graceful not only in sight, but also decorum, she appeared to be above the common rabbles. Her beauty transcended looks alone, but as far as superficialness went, she had it all covered. The color purple reigned as a supreme motif, appearing on all manner of accessory that she had on her; even cosmetics.
Her golden waterfall of a hair was only second to the Uzumaki in terms of brilliance, yet they were more well groomed and maintained than the whiskered man's own. Her eyes were nothing but dangerous gleams of stars, tantalizing everyone careless enough to set their own eyes upon hers. Luscious and thick, those lips could straight up kill a man by movement alone when done correctly.
A chorus of heavenly giggling echoed the darkened room. The lack of lights and the light switch flipped to the 'ON' side confirmed Naruto's suspicion of being trapped in her ludicrous mechanism and it pissed him off to an extent.
"...what do you want, Yakumo?" the blonde man asked with flat voice, as if he was not in the mood to see an intruder in his quarters.
"Oh, can't a lady visit her favorite gentleman from time to time?" The woman in purple shot back, covering the lower portion of her face with an oriental fan. "Since we both know you won't, little ol' me had to do it myself."
The silence to her response was Naruto's way of saying that he was not amused by her answer.
"Ufufufu…" From behind her fan, the woman's giggling only served to annoy him. "Why the serious look, Naruto-kun, am I not welcomed here?"
"Considering that this is not my property in the first place… yes, I can say that you're not welcomed." Naruto droned, trying to crack himself out of the woman's illusion. "...and knowing you, I know you want something. Something you shouldn't even be hoping to have in the first place."
Snapping the fan close, the purple garbed woman raised her chin, letting her blonde hair shift with the movement of her head. "You know me so well, Naruto-kun. And, yes, you're right. I do want something… some things, actually."
He could not access his chakra. This was bad. She somehow managed to disconnect his connection with his Bijuu friends from within his soul, too. Sweat started pouring from his forehead, his body strained. The only two things he could move were his lips and his eyes when they blinked. Looked like she came here prepared. He didn't even sense her.
"I'm sorry about muzzling your friends from you, dear, but I'm here for a very important conversation with you." Her smile, now fully visible and no longer covered beneath her folding fan, was sickeningly sweet.
But dangerous.
She raised her left hand, raising it slowly towards him, while the other one held both her fan and parasol in place. Leaning forward, she cupped the man's chin, trailing her index finger along his jawline sensually, and then ending her trail around his neck. He felt bone chilling tingles coursing down his spine, while teeth gritting in discomfort at the action done onto him.
"I can't afford disturbance… especially not when I'm with you."
Her hot breath hit his face and he caught a whiff of her hypnotizing scent.
Lilacs.
Vanilla.
Lavender.
Flowers could be so deceiving. Because, surely, the one in front of him was a thorny rose.
"Ready to listen? If you're ready, I'll let you move."
Powerless, the man was only allowed a nod.
"Good boy." She whispered, before retreating back to her previous spot.
With a snap of her fingers, Naruto no longer felt the sensation of being restrained, now able to move his muscles and body in overall. Directing a stink eye at the woman, he switched to a more comfortable sitting position, his doujutsu activating with a blink of his eyes.
"Ooh, those eyes of yours… tricky, tricky." The mysterious woman clicked her tongue in rhythm with her fingers tapping against her bicep. "Looked like I forgot about those." She retracted the illusions she casted inside the room before Naruto could even hope of dispelling them.
Suddenly, things became normal. Naruto no longer felt a sense of unease that would usually happen whenever he's inside an illusion and he could feel her presence even clearer now. He was still glaring at her, Rinne-Sharingan activated and all, but he was not using his eyes actively.
At her chuckling, his glare only increased in intensity, but it softened shortly after.
He knew that she wasn't here to catch up on lost times or things like that. The woman said it herself; she wanted something. Things. Whatever.
"Now before you ask," he spoke, garnering her attention, "I may not be able to answer most of your questions since it's only been week ever since I was accepted as a part of their staff." Naturally, this meant Chaldea's still keeping certain information from him. But this last part was left unsaid.
The woman hummed, acknowledging his words. "Naturally. But knowing what little you know about this community wouldn't hurt."
"I assure you, we're very straightforward on our goals." The blonde said in his gruff voice. "But the problem is, we don't exactly have the means of accomplishing them."
"Oho? A roadblock so soon?"
"It involves our sustainability." The blonde man waved off. "We're looking to better our energy production. Shouldn't be too difficult to solve considering the brains behind our ops."
"I see." The woman commented. "Anything else you're willing to tell me?"
Disregarding the choice of words she used, the former shinobi spoke, "Aside from the fact that the magi community's treating this whole thing as a magi exclusive business only, I don't have a problem with the people here. In fact, I'm kind'a rooting for them. It always tugged at my heartstrings seeing people working together to survive."
"True, I kind of see what you mean at the end." chuckled the woman.
"So, is that all? Because aside from what I've told you, everything else might be subjective."
"I suppose it'll do." The woman said, straightening the creases on her stylish purple dress. "I believe you, dear. Unlike that mutual… friend of ours."
Smirking, the blonde was reminded that she never went along well with Zelretch.
"You know, Zelretch told me not tell you anything." Naruto said while resting his chin on an open palm.
"Oh did he now?"
Naruto almost chuckled. The woman bristled at what he just said. But quickly regaining her composure, the woman with the blonde hair only let minor irritation took over her beautiful face for a moment.
"I truly abhor that man…" Naruto saw the few rare cases of the woman getting visibly annoyed over another person. Only Zelretch could do something like that… well, maybe him too, if he tried really hard.
But wasn't about to do that any time soon.
The woman hissed out a sigh. "Regardless… I appreciate your willingness to talk to me dear." Her charmingly sensuous tone returned. "Please, don't hesitate to visit little old me. I'm sure the girls back home would love to meet you again." She gave him one suggestive wink, causing the other blonde to wince in guilt.
Some things were better left unsaid.
Unfolding her fan, she looked ready to leave. And he was right to assume so. A seam with ribbons holding both of its ends appear on the space below her, consuming her lower half. Due to his position and superior height, he could see the inside of that seam. It was an action he quickly regretted doing.
Many, he's stressing the word, many eyes stared back at him; each of them blinking sporadically as if they're alive. He felt himself shuddering, averting his eyes from the sight.
"Well, ta ta for now and good luck, hero." The woman was swallowed whole by the eldritch portal like seam, but not before blowing a kiss his way.
Closing his eyes, Naruto deactivated his eyes, returning them to their usual sea blue state.
"Naruto, what in the name of Rikudo just happened?! We couldn't reach out to you for a while back then!"
"It's… Yakumo." The blonde briefly answered Kurama. "She wanted to talk… but not before disconnecting my connection with you guys, as you could tell."
"That woman, huh…? She's dangerous, Naruto, way more than Kaguya. Be careful, we don't want someone who could disconnect our connection with you as an enemy."
"You don't have to tell me that, Kurama." The blonde, who was already exhausted after his conversation with the woman in purple, sighed.
"Oh good, all of you are here."
Olga Marie might not be very friendly with her greeting, but Naruto flashed the senpai-kouhai duo a smile as well as a small wave when they entered the Command Room side by side. Romani and da Vinci were already present as well.
The director was dressed in her usual clothing, but her face still showed tell tale signs of her most recent all nighters. Wincing, Olga Marie held back a splitting headache, pushing through the pain in order to be able to convey words for the second briefing.
"Mashu, Ritsuka," the owner of the two names mentioned snap into attention, "as per stated in the dossier - I sincerely hope the two of you read it - you two will be accompanying mister Uzumaki to find the necessary apparatus needed for the magical reactor. This is an important task because we can no longer rely solely on normal means of power for our day to day operations."
"We are not expecting any irregular encounters related to a Grail or whatsoever, but it won't hurt to observe caution in the field. With how little we know about the Singularities themselves, we might as well treat secondaries like this with maximum awareness." Olga Marie stopped talking, deliberately pausing her speech. "Anything else you would like to add, mister Uzumaki?"
Stepping forward, the blonde man, now dressed in a fresh set of his suit, thanked the director.
"You two, I know I skipped out on telling you guys about it from the short briefing we had earlier up on the control room, so I'm going to show it here."
To those closely observing the blonde, pretty much everyone present on the floor, the man's eyes changed color and… pattern? One was red, one was purple; but both shared similar features of rippling spiral pattern and magamatas like commas.
"M-Mystic Eyes!" Romani exclaimed, pointing a gloved finger shakily at their newest addition. "You have Mystic Eyes!"
Ritsuka, like the others, noticed it too; but the eyes Naruto was showing were different from the ones she saw during his first day here. Uncertain, she did not say anything.
"Yes, thank you for pointing it out, doctor." The blonde replied without scorn. "I know a place where we can get this… condenser… thing. Or at least something similar to it. However, in order to get there, we'll have to use my eyes."
"What do you mean?" Olga Marie asked, still slightly overwhelmed upon learning of Naruto's Mystic Eyes.
"I can sort of open rifts that can lead to other dimensions. It's one of the reasons why the association and the church have a hard time tracking me." Explained the blonde in a concise manner.
"W-Wait, other dimensions!?" da Vinci exclaimed, once again seizing up the blonde. "Are you telling me you can tear open the fabric of space-time?!"
Arching an eyebrow, Naruto slowly nodded. "Yes? Why do you sound so amazed? The Rayshifting procedure you guys invented is much more complex and amazing."
"It's not about which is more amazing or whatever, signore!" The Italian genius cried, flailing her arms on her side, much to Naruto's amusement. "If you can do something like that, why not tell us sooner?"
"Well, first, you guys didn't ask." Naruto chuckled at seeing their deadpanned reaction. "Second, I wasn't quite sure how you guys will react when I tell you. Now, I know." He laughed.
"Also!" Romani joined in, looking worried. "What about communications? Is there a way for us to monitor you?"
At that, Naruto grew quiet.
"Hmm… you brought up an interesting question, doctor." The man with the set of Mystic Eyes murmured.
"Wait, you don't know?" Olga Marie exploded. "If there's no way we can monitor you, then there's no way in hell are we going to let the three of you continue!"
"Ah," Naruto raised a hand, stopping Olga Marie before she could even bombard him with more questions, "let me clarify myself. I didn't say that you won't be able to monitor us while we're on another dimension. You can. In fact, I've tried that several times when I need to go for a supply run to a different dimension."
He went to other dimensions for supplies… was what everyone was thinking.
"The question is… how are you going to monitor us?" asked the blonde, scratching his head.
"We rely on built in communications that we've programmed into SHIVA." Roman explained. "It's another one of our more important inventions but basically, it requires rayshift accompanied properties in order for it to work."
"But since you're not rayshifting, we've no way of using it." They had da Vinci to thank for concluding their dilemma. "Inter-dimensional communications is a field that even I haven't seriously tampered with and even if we're to do so, it'll require more time and testing."
"Hm, is that so?" The blonde muttered, scratching his chin. "Not to worry, as I've told before, I have a way for communications; so there's no need to worry. Please, miss Olga, may I have your hand?"
"What are you going to do?"
The former shinobi could not blame her wariness. Trust never came easily. "I'm going to place a…" he struggled to find the suitable word, "rune that will allow you to communicate with me while we're dimension hopping."
"Runes? I was not aware you know magecraft…?"
"It's…" Naruto's face contorted to one of thinking. "It's not your standard magecraft runes. It's something unique to me, as far as I can tell."
With a slight hint of hesitation and uncertainty, Olga Marie gave the blonde her right hand. Carefully, the taller man held her hand with as little pressure as he could. He used his grip to place his thumb over the back of her hand, before pressing it with as little force as he could.
It required closer observation, but one could see an ink black marking slowly fading into existence on the back of Olga Marie's hand. She did not show any sign of pain or discomfort upon it appearing, only surprise and fascination.
Da Vinci stepped forward for a clearer look. "Interesting… it's not like any runes I've seen before." The genius Italian inventor murmured in suppressed awe at the mark on the back of the director's hand.
"I'll need to do the same to you and the doctor too." Naruto said, holding out his hand.
The similar process was true for Romani and da Vinci, quick and simple.
"What about us?" Ritsuka asked, obviously referring to herself and Matthew. "Are they only able to communicate with you while we can't?"
"I was just about to do the same to you, be patient will ya?"
However, rather than another marking on the back of her hand, Ritsuka and Matthew received their means of communications by having their foreheads marked. A small, ink black, diamond shaped tattoo-like marking appeared on the centre of the forehead.
"Huh, neat." Ritsuka poked the diamond shaped marking on her head, impressed. "So, how does this work, old man?"
"It's quite simple." Naruto pointed at Olga Marie's mark. "The ones I've placed on miss Olga, da Vinci and the doctor allows them to communicate with us mentally and also synchronize with our senses, although I've limited them to visual and audio only."
Then, the blonde closed his eyes, causing everyone to wonder what he was trying to do.
The ones on Ritz and Matthew simply allows them to communicate back here and to each other.
The Chaldeans were surprised when they hear the blonde's voice echoing in their heads and, as expected, each of them reacted differently.
"W-Whoa." Ritsuka appeared to be slightly disoriented, blinking repeatedly while shaking her head. "That's veeeeery weird, it's like talking to myself in my head except it wasn't me."
"Interesting, interesting!" Meanwhile, da Vinci was openly gushing. "So, so, how does the shared senses work, signore Uzumaki?"
"Just focus your mind to see through either Ritsuka's or Matthew's eyes." The blonde explained, now verbally. "You can only see what they're seeing. So, let's say, if either Matthew or Ritsuka's blinking, you will too."
"Ah…" Now it's Olga Marie's turn to get disoriented from the shared vision. "It's… going to take a while to get used to."
"If you feel like you had enough of what you're seeing, just focus your mind again. Try thinking of a… wall or some sort, that'll undo the effects."
It took the three of them a while to finally get used to the sensation of sharing senses. Naruto had his his doubt of using Fuinjutsu or even showcasing it in front of them, but Kurama reminded him many times that he was not in this alone. If he wanted progress, then he'd need to work with his new friends here.
"How many people can you share this 'shared senses' thing, mister Uzumaki?" Matthew asked, looking at the man.
"Hm? The original technique I based this rune from was used as a means of communications within an army." He explained, before making an expression showing that he's doing complex calculations in his head. "So… around a thousand? Two? Three? I don't know exactly, since I've never had to reach those numbers before."
"This will be useful…" da Vinci hummed, her gesture showing that she was entering her 'genius inventor' mode. "If we could apply it to all faculty members, there won't be a need for anymore unnecessary staff meetings."
"What was da Vinci?" Olga Marie growled, tapping her foot on the floor, shooting the Italian inventor a dangerous look. A look that was challenging the Servant to speak up louder.
"Nothing director Olga Marie~" It seemed that da Vinci was used to handling a grouchy Olga Marie, a skill Romani would admit he needed to learn sooner or later.
Of course, the sing-song manner in which da Vinci dismissed Olga Marie served only to irritate her further.
"Now, now." Not wanting Olga Marie to combust like a volcano, Naruto stepped up, redirecting everyone's attention back on him. "That would be hard to do without the proper conditions." said Naruto, referring to da Vinci's solution to solve a 'problem'. "You see, this... neurolink, yes, let's use that term, we have is all based on my brain. It means that everything that needs to be done to maintain connection are all done through concentration and mental effort on my part." He chuckled. "Unfortunately, my mental fortitude isn't as strong as the members of family who originally invented the technique... so sorry da Vinci, we'll still have to stick with good ol' fashion radios."
"Bummer." She said that, but everyone knew that it'll only be a while until she found a way to solve this issue.
"Now," the blonde started again, this time intending to progress their conversation, "We've solved our communications issue, boom, now can we go and start the sortie already?"
"Well." Romani spoke up, earning him Naruto's disappointment. "Even if we've solved something as important as that, I still can't monitor you guys physically. I mean from a medical standpoint, of course."
He then proceeded to elaborate.
"Our computers here are equipped with sensors so good that they can get both the physical and mental reading of a person. So far, we haven't integrated mister Uzumaki into our database just yet, but that's a given since it'll take some time before our techies could do that due to our effort of conserving energy." The doctor was scratching his head. Normally, that was not a good sign. "It will reassure us - me, that Ritsuka and Mashu are in good condition throughout the whole mission."
"Hm," the doctor's concern made Naruto think, but unfortunately for Romani, he had nothing for him. "I'm sorry doctor, but there's nothing I can do about that. But if it's just physical diagnosis, I'm more than qualified to take your place."
The blonde then continued.
"You see, my friend was a field medic back in the days. She taught me a thing or two about things like this."
Romani, seemingly still uncertain on whether or not he should trust Naruto's words, could only nod. "Alright, I'll trust you. But please, keep Ritsuka's safety as number one priority."
"Don't worry about me, doc!" The ginger haired master whined, while Matthew chuckled awkwardly at how unprofessional they looked at the moment.
"Romani's right, mister Uzumaki." Olga Marie nodded. "The only acting master of Chaldea's servant division's safety is very important and should take priority of any objective in the field." The silver haired director looked at Matthew. "Miss Kyrielight, I trust that you'll see to it?"
"Of course." Matthew replied in a soldier-like manner; curt, firm and sure.
Nodding, the blonde haired man expressed his understanding. He knew that Ritsuka's position in the organization was one of the most important, if not the most important one, out of everyone else. Even Olga Marie herself knew this. With the rest of the masters on cryostasis and critical condition, she was their only chance of figuring out this whole Ragnarok-like scenario.
He couldn't help but feel sympathy, however. Someone so young, having to bear all that weight…
But his sympathy for her died as quickly as it came.
He'd been there before. Him, her and he, himself.
He had to endure. They all had to. By logic, Ritsuka and the rest of the Chaldeans had to do the same.
But, hey, it's not like he's a big fan of going silently into the night either.
"You ready, Ritz?" Naruto glanced at the female master, placing an arm on his hip.
"I was born ready." The girl replied, smirking.
Seeing that huge smirk plastered on her face made Naruto produce a smirk of his own, too.
"Alright then." Taking in air, he released it shortly after.
Turning his back towards the rest of the Chaldeans, he looked at the empty space before him. This actions confused those watching, but that confusion was then changed into something else entirely.
"Kamui: Authority of The Gods."
He had to thank his old and dearest asshole of a friend. His last gift to him was certainly godsent.
He was his brother in all but blood, yet it was their blood that had the highest chance of potentially matching when compared to things like style, looks and attitude.
Or maybe it had to do with him having all the nine Bijuu sealed into him?
...he liked the previous one better.
A spiralling, almost rippling pattern form on the fabric of space in front of them. They watched as a phenomenon occured right before their very eyes. It was a phenomenon because it had been stated to be plausible, yet they had only seen it right now with their very eyes.
Everything beyond that spiralling portal was darkness, black, more dark than the darkness of space.
Before the breach, the former Shinobi turned his body so that he may face his allies again, looking completel nonchalant as if it was a normal occurence to see the fabrics of time and space being ripped open for him.
"Well, that's our way on solving our energy issues, let's go."
Gulping, Ritsuka shook off whatever uncertainty she had in her. Her mind's made up. This was her job. Matthew, who was standing beside her, looked like she had prepared herself for what's to come. Shaking her head, Ritsuka was now determined to start the mission.
Besides, she'd played Portal before.
With the lead of the formally dressed blonde, both kouhai and senpai duo entered the breach, leaving behind nothing but traces of prana and od for the sensors in the room to pick up.
...just hope the cake they're looking for wasn't a lie this time.
Next time on Fated to End:
Our protagonists finally reached their destination, a mysterious dimension that was the remnant of what would be… of what could be. Join our trio of dimension hopping, time travelling, energy saving heroes as they search for the source of power they need for their home.
And… what's this…
Magical Girls?
Welp, that's it for this chapter.
How was it? Good, bad, decent? I don't care, but hey, if you feel like wasting time writing reviews in the reviewer's section please do so! It's not like I'll use them to underhandedly improve my writing or anything.
But, enough sarcasm, real talk now.
I know that I like to put references in my stories, and sometimes, I got a little bit too ambitious and made full blown story arcs just from them. Now, the question is:
Would you guys want me to put a list of the things I might reference in my chapters? Like the ones in the first half of my "I'm just an immortal living my life as a youthful teenager!" story?
If so, please do tell. If not, please do the same.
Well, that's all I have to say. See you guys next time.
And don't worry, I'll have that rewrite of immortal posted soon…
...soon in my own terms, at least.
-Rain