Naruto took in the country side spread out before him. The small troupe of Emilia, himself, and Puck had been on the move since first light. The fighting yesterday had blown over, and aside from some statements being taken, Naruto had been given some time to rest and recover.
Now, he was traveling with Emilia back to her sponsors home in the country side. It was some hours away, so he had been losing himself in thought frequently.
What was happening? This world, this country, he recognized very little. People, trees, breathable air, and water. It SEEMED like his home, but it was so much more fantastical. Beasts of burden and even entirely different species. There was no way this all could have been hidden from the Big Five.
He had been the world over, met political leaders, Heads of State. Never before had he met any one of the people Emilia had mentioned.
He wasn't anywhere near the Elemental Nations. That much was clear.
"N-Naruto-san...?" The soft voice of the half-elf made Naruto snap from his thoughts, and he slapped a quick smile on before turning to her.
"What's up Emilia?" The blond asked, all sugar and sweetness. He may be worried, but here was no reason to upset the kind woman beside him.
"Ah..you...you seemed pretty...distant...are you okay?" She asked softly. The rough sound of wheels on gravel filled the cabin of their carriage, and for a moment, Emilia feared she had offended her...friend.
Naruto just stared at the silver-haired girl, weighing his options. Emilia was a very sweet girl, a century old or not...could he...
"I'm fine Emilia! Don't cha worry. I'm kinda just trying to figure out what's going on." The blond assured. He wanted to trust her. He did. But he had been harmed by a kind voice more than once.
For now, she would be kept at arms length.
"I-I see...I wanted to thank you..." she responded. This blond had done so much for her. Had helped her reclaim something vital to her continued dreams.
But why?
"What for?" Naruto asked in only minor confusion. He understood her need to thank him somewhat, he had saved her life after all. Plus the whole finding Felt bit. But still, he wanted to let her get out anything she needed to say.
"If you hadn't been there yesterday...I may have been removed from the running of the Royal Selection. Who knows what could have happened had you not saved Felt and I...so thank you." Emilia gave a very pretty smile there, and the sound of the gravel beneath them once more took control of the carriage.
Naruto simply gave her a smile and a wave of the hand. He had never been one to stand by and let others suffer. He would have felt bad about just ignoring Emilia's plight, especially after he had actually gotten to speak with her on a more in-depth level.
As the two relaxed in a comfortable silence, Puck let an eye take in the blond. He was a little on guard about his summoners newest companion, but all in all, Puck believed the human could be trusted. The blond gave off a brilliant vibe, and he was so very good at making Lia-tan blush.
This morning had been an interesting affair that proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
~Flashback~
"Naruto-san!" Emilia called as she turned the knob to the hotal room she had been gracious enough (in Naruto's opinion) to rent for the wayward shinobi. Puck was following along, hoping to get a good ear scratch from the nimble fingered blond. "breakfast is..."
Emilia's words died in her throat as she took in the lean form of muscle before her.
Naruto was frozen, looking at the door in confusion. Had she knocked? He didn't think so.
Naruto had been in the middle of some kata, to stretch his still aching muscles and hopefully help speed up his chakra recovery. After five hours of sleep, only running on half a tank could end up problematic.
Well for most people it would. For Naruto it was more like having half an ocean.
Semantics.
"Good morning Emilia." Naruto said as he relaxed his stance, his arms falling to his sides as he walked toward her.
The half-elf could take her eyes off him. His skin was toned a light brown, and faint scars crisscrossed his body. The way he was formed really grabbed her though. Almost perfect definition everywhere her eyes fell.
Arms sculpted from bedrock, abs as tough as steel.
What would it feel like to touch them? Would they relax under her fingers? Would he laugh as her hands traced his skin delicately?
Fingers snapping in front of her face brought Emilia's eyes back to the blond's colbolt orbs. "Are you okay Emilia? You said something about breakfast?" Naruto asked in concern.
She had been staring at him for almost a full three minutes now.
Why was her face getting so red?
"I'm sorry!" The half-elf shouted and quickly retreated from the room, the door slamming after.
"Well. That was weird." Naruto said as he scratched a cheek. He had seen reactions like that on a few occasions, but he never really understood it.
A certain lavender eyed Hyuga came to mind.
"Not when you think about it." Came Puck's voice, colored in amusement. He had never seen Emilia react like that to someone shirtless before. This blond got some very strong reactions from that girl.
"How do you mean?" Naruto reaches a hand out and began to pet Puck's cheek, receiving a pleased purr.
"Well, you are shirtless, and very physically fit. Most woman would be embarrassed at finding such an attractive scene." The cat half explained, half lazed into the blond's loving fingers. Damnit this man's hands were soft.
"Huh. Never looked at it like that." Naruto thought with a shrug. He had never really taken the time to strive after a woman so one finding him attractive was a bit of a novelty.
Bah, it could be dealt with later.
Naruto threw on a shirt after releasing Puck from his heavenly grip.
Breakfast wouldn't eat itself!
~Flashback End~
Puck had a field day with teasing Emilia after that, and for that alone he would give Naruto the benefit of a doubt.
He hadn't seen Emilia that red since she was 80.
So for now, he'd keep a weather eye on the blond, no more, no less.
He lazily floated over to the blond's head, before plopping into the mass of yellow softness.
He may need to take to someone about this new addiction he was developing.
Naruto's hair was so soft~.
~Relapse~
A steady "Whoa." Reaches Naruto's ears, pulling him out of his headspace. He had been tempted to check in with Kurama, see how the fox was recovering, but had decided against it in the end.
He couldn't run to the fox for every answer, right now, he needed rest.
"Ah! We're here!" Emilia spoke happily. Naruto could see why.
This place was huge! The front yard may as well have been a parade field! A massive garden with fountains and walking paths took up the large area, and high walls separated the manor with the outside world.
The house itself was just as grandiose. With two off shooting wings, and standing at a massive four stories, Naruto had to sweat drop a little.
Whoever owned this place was ridiculous. He just knew it.
"Ah Emilia-san!" A make voice filled Naruto's ears, dragging his eyes down to see...yep. Ridiculous.
A man stood a dozen of so feet away. He stood about six one, with indigo colored hair. Dressed in two off shade colors of purple, a flowing cap, and a small dress hat, he looked all the part of a jester.
The make up didn't help. Pale as you please with a purple design over his left eye.
Curiously, Naruto noted, he held two separate eye colors. Green and yellow. Odd feature that.
"Roswaal-san!" Emilia greeted back cheerfully. Naruto decided to go back to examining the grounds around him. It was odd. Something about it felt...detached. Illusive.
Where were the people? Did this man live here alone? Who maintained the grounds? Where were the servants?
Naruto tried not to be quick to judge, but something about this house was unsettling. His gut told him as much.
"To thank you for Naruto-san." Roswaal spoke snapping Naruto to attention. "I'm sorry, what was that?" The blond replied, a little abashed at his distracted state. So much to think about so little time.
"Emilia was regaling me with your heroism. I must say, we have much to thank you for." The benefactor informed.
"Ah think nothing of it. Emilia is a good person. I doubt anyone would leave her to suffer." Naruto replied with a shrug. She had needed help. Simple as that.
"Quiet so it seems." Roswaal spoke, a gleam in his eyes that Naruto couldn't miss. Something was...off about this guy.
"Please! Come in. Allow me to extend my welcome and home to you, for however long you may need." The strange man announced.
A set of maids descended from the steps, neither saying a word as they moved to take the luggage from the carriage.
"Ram, Rem, my servants and bodyguards." Roswaal introduced as an after thought upon catching Naruto's slightly curious and tense gaze of the two.
Naruto didn't respond outwardly by more than a head nod. He could feel something from those girls. Something primal and dark. Not cruel, nor malicious. Just...muted? It was a strange presence, but Naruto didn't let it bother him.
Even in his current state, neither girl could match him in combat from what he sensed.
~Relapse~
"Emilia told me you aren't from the Kingdom of Lucida, is that true?" Roswaal asked as he and Naruto walked the halls of his manor.
They had separated from the small group of girls so Emilia could unpack her things in peace.
Naruto had asked for a tour, and thus, conversation was born from strange questions the boy asked. Nothing overt or prying. Not the true questions the boy wanted to ask if Roswaal's senses were being true to him, but giving the boy an idea of what he was dealing with all the same.
Spectacular information gathering skills.
"Ah yeah. Honestly, I've never seen a place like this before. Where I'm from, we don't have anything as luxurious or...massive." Naruto replied. He wasn't lying, not fully. Even the Hokage Tower was dwarfed by this mansion.
"Yes we of the Lucida Elite can tend to be a bit lavish in our exspenses. Ah here we are!" Roswaal spoke, a small grin appearing in his face. They stood outside a door. Innocently looking like every other door throughout the house so far.
Looking and feeling were two different things however, and Naruto could feel the runic power radiating from the structure.
'Isn't that odd...I wonder what's behind door number 1.' The blond thought to himself, a huff of a chuckle leaving him.
"This is where my last guest stays. She is a bit of a shut in, and something of an old friend." Roswaal spoke as his hand softly rapped on the wooden door.
Nothing was heard, but Roswaal opened the door all the same. What greeted Naruto wasn't exactly what he was expecting.
It was a library. A massive one at that. Rows upon rows of bookshelves and a high ceiling that seemed inconsistent with the outward appearance of the room. This room seemed taller than the actual mansion in fact.
'Folded dimension perhaps? Like that of a sealing scroll...interesting. How do they maintain it?' Naruto thought to himself as he looked of the collection of texts.
He stood in the middle of the room, at the base of a tall spiral stair case, spinning in place slowly. There must have been tens of thousands of books in here.
Sakura and Shiho would have had a field day.
"Beatrice, are you here?" Roswaal called out with a small smile.
Soft steps came from the stair case, causing Naruto to turn and direct his attention to the person making slow, steady steps to the base.
"Of course I am. Not many other places I can be -kashira." It was a girl, perhaps 11 or 12, though Naruto had to keep in mind that in this world, looks were very deceiving.
She stood shy of five feet tall. Dressed in a frilled dress colored in pink, a matching set of tights, capped off with black dress shoes that held a golden buckle. Her cream colored hair sat in a twin drill fashion, pink ribbons holding them in place. A small crown, something one might expect on a child, sat in the right side of her hair. A red cap with fur lining adorned her shoulders, tied at her sternum in a butterfly bow with pink ribbon.
The real stand out features where both the girls eyes and expression.
A startling blue, with pupils like butterflies colored pink.
And a mask of stone.
"A pleasure as always Beatrice. I came to introduce you to Naruto-san here." Roswaal gestured to his guest, and Beatrice eyed him all of three seconds, only to snub her nose at him.
Naruto just sighed, of course. There had to be at least one of them here, didn't there?
The holier-than-thou type.
"A pleasure to meet you Lady Beatrice." Naruto started off cordially. No reason to make a bad first impression he supposed. "I must say this is an impressive collection."
Beatirce gave the blond man a lone eye, before speaking with a huff. "It is not my collection, but I do try to take care of it."
"It's seems you are very skilled at such a task. I'm very curious about something however..." Naruto started as he lightly knocked a knuckle against the railing of the stairs.
"How do you sustain the pocket dimension?" The blond finished, a small smile on his face.
Roswaal just gave an amused hum, interested at the strange question.
Beatrice gave a more notable reaction.
"Hum, you seem quite clever for a human. Please, hold still." A hand landed on Naruto's core, drawing his eyes back to the young looking girl. Well this got-
A flash of fire ran through Naruto for a brief moment, before the girl fell back with a sharp gasp, clutching her slightly smoking hand.
Naruto immediately reacted as he was want to do.
Namely kneeling down and pulling a bandage from his hip pouch.
"Ah hell, are you okay?" The blond asked softly, watching as light pin pricks of tears appeared in the girl's eyes, his hands working delicately to wrap the slightly burned extremity.
Roswaal looked on, truly curious. He knew Beatrice had been attempting to test the Blond's mana, but...that kind of reaction was unheard of.
"I'm fine -kashira!" Beatrice snatched her half wrapped hand back, her voice biting out in a growl. This human wasn't normal! No mana should harm her in such a way!
"Easy there. You'll only exaggerate the injury. Let me finish wrapping your hand." Naruto replied, not minding in the least. He had felt the girl reach into his energy pool, and was only half surprised at the injury. Kurama's chakra wasn't something just anyone could handle after all, and it mixed with his own chakra network regularly now a days.
The girl hesitantly surrendered her hand, and allowed Naruto to carry on as he had been.
"You shouldn't try to take energy from everyone you meet, ya know? Sometimes the energy can fight back." The shinobi spoke lowly, his eyes not meeting Beatrice's own.
She was good, at energy transfer, but Naruto could already tell his chakra wasn't compatible with the energy of others around him. Something was missing from them. Some key element.
He could probably work past it, but that was for a later time.
"So I take it you are not human -kashira." Beatrice said, a judging look in her eyes. Most humans had a mana pool she could take from, the only time somethingike this had happened was upon meeting someone related to the Witch, or another artificial spirit.
"As human as can be actually, just...something a little extra." The blond replied with a small laugh and smile, tieing a small knot in the bandage, securing it to the girl's hand. "There, all better."
Beatrice looked at her hand for a moment, before hiding it behind her back and turning her nose up once more. "Thank you -kashira."
Naruto just laughed a little, even if she wasn't as young as she looked, she was pretty cute, acting the way she did. He dropped his hand on her head and ruffled her hair jovially. "It was kinda my fault, so I should do what I can to make up for it. -ttebayo."
This had several immediate reactions.
A small laugh from Roswaal, an annoyed huff from Beatrice, and Naruto being launched from the room by the blue eyed girl with a powerful use of magic.
How dare that human touch her so affectionately! The nerve!
As Roswaal left the room, laughing the whole way, Beatrice looked at her bandaged hand once more.
Still...It was nice of that human to bandage her hand...she supposed.
~Relapse~
"All told, I think that went extremely well!" Roswaal spoke as he patted Naruto on the back in a friendly manner. He had never seen that kind of reaction to Beatrice before, so it had been quite comical.
"Says the one not blasted out of a door." Naruto spoke back, one eyebrow twitching. That had been totally uncalled for.
"Yes, yes I'm sure it was completely unfair." Roswaal patronized as he lead the blond to the dining area.
He wasn't completely sure on the boy...but, Beatrice didn't kill him outright, and Ram and Rem hadn't reported anything malicious or selfish leaking from the blond.
Perhaps...perhaps the boy could be useful.
For now, it was all wait and see it seemed.
"Come Naruto-san, I believe lunch has been prepared, it wouldn't be kind to leave Emilia-chan to eat all by her lonesome now would it?"
Naruto just nodded absently. This man was eccentric, and dangerously clever. That ploy with the girl trying to take or measure his power had been inspiried. Something straight from the Nara handbook if he could say so himself.
But he had connections. Connections Naruto NEEDED. For now, he'd play his game.
Besides, Beatrice seemed like she'd be fun to mess with, plus he still wanted to know how she sustained that pocket dimension.
A.N. And that's a wrap for today. I know not a lot happened plot wise, but I was having a real issue trying to decide what parts to keep and to change from the original work. As I've said before, this will be an AU version of Naruto, meaning somethings will be the same, some will be different. His intelligence is one of them, which will be expanded on next chapter.
Rem and Ram will be introduced in a more meaningful way next chapter as well, along with some fluffiness involving Emilia, cause why not.
Any questions or concerns, let me know!
"Kashira - I suppose."