Well, here's the new chapter as promised, guys! Chances are though, it'll be the last one for a few weeks; soon, I'll be heading back to college for a new semester, taking 5 classes like I've been doing the past few semesters and I can't be sure how rough it'll be. Especially since two of my classes are 10 weeks long instead of the usual 16. Now while that may sound good (getting out early for those so I only have to worry about 3 after that), chances are the workload for those 2 classes will be crammed into those 10 weeks, hence why I say it might be a while until the next chapter is out. I could be wrong – this is all purely speculation on my part – but only time will tell.
At any rate though, balancing schoolwork and my writing is something that I can worry about later. Here's the new chapter!
Chapter 6
A slight groan escaped Naruto's lips.
"Ugghh…." He uttered as he slowly came to. His eyelids felt heavy and so did his body, though he could begin to slowly feel better.
Opening his eyes little by little, Naruto could only find himself gazing almost sleepily at a ceiling. "Where?" he thought. Turning his head to the right, he looked around to see that he was in his room, a plain place consisting of his bed, which he currently lied upon under the covers, in addition to his closet, a desk, and a book shelve with only a dozen books or so on it. "How did I….?"
He felt a little too out of it still to continue that line of thought and so he decided just to settle back in and rest some more. "Huh, feels a little odd though…" he muttered ever so lightly as he then proceeded to turn his head to the left.
"Oh, Hanako…" he thought tiredly as he spotted said girl right next to him in bed, sleeping peacefully judging by how she lightly breathed on him with closed eyes. Then he turned his head so that he was now looking straight towards the ceiling again and shut his eyes, deciding to get some more sleep.
This didn't last very long as his mind finally digested what, or rather who, he just saw.
"What."
Now wide awake, he looked again. Hanako was still there.
"What?!" This time, his 'what' was not quiet, but rather loud and full of energy as he all but leaped out of his bed, falling off the side and hitting the floor with the appropriate thud.
"Wh-How-Whe-?" He stuttered out these words rapidly.
Then he felt a light breeze come in through his room's one window and looked down. He wasn't wearing his shirt, only his pants.
"What the hell?!" he whispered harshly in disbelief. He looked around to see that right by his feet, his shirt simply lied there on the floor while he had no idea where the vest he wore was at. His sandals at least were nearby, being by his bed.
"Nnnnnnn…." Hanako sounded like she was really enjoying her little nap. However, Naruto's voice just now appeared to rouse her from her slumber as she proceeded to shrug off the covers of the bed and yawn cutely.
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Hanako opened them and saw Naruto on the floor. "Oh, Master." She smiled tiredly at him. "Morning."
"W-Wha….?" was Naruto's sole response. Despite Hanako being dressed – said clothes consisting of a white dress with red flower markings on it, with no sleeves and the dress ending at just above her knees while a red scarf could be clearly seen around her neck – Naruto was very much unused to waking up half naked to the sight of a girl in his bed.
"Eh~?" Hanako, now fully awake, tilted her head to the right as she looked at the dumbfounded blond. "Master, are you alright?"
Naruto blinked, snapping only a bit out of his stupor, but before he could even begin to formulate a reply in his mind, he heard the door to his room begin to open.
"Onii-chan?" Reiko called out. "Are you here?" The daughter of the hokage, usually a bit of a late sleeper, had woken up considerably early in the hopes of catching her brother before he took off. She really wanted to try and at least talk with him, but because of how he went out of his way to avoid her and her parents, she had been having a hard time doing so.
Until now, that is.
Reiko spotted her brother on the floor as she fully opened the door and she smiled joyfully at having finally gotten to him before he could leave for the day, though her face was slightly red at the sight of Naruto shirtless. "Onii-chan, you're-!"
She stopped when she took in the rest of the room and saw Hanako on the bed. Reiko froze midstep in Naruto's doorway and looked with wide eyes. Then her eyes shot back to her half naked brother and then back to the girl on the bed.
Naruto, for his part, could only look on in horror as he could almost literally see what kind of conclusion his sister was coming to in her mind.
"W-Whoa, wait, Rei-," he began to say, but alas was too late.
"O-Onii-chan, why are you half naked with a girl in your room?!" Reiko yelled, her voice just loud enough for anyone and everyone in the house to hear.
In Minato's and Kushina's room, both of the parents, sleeping in since today was supposed to be nice and quiet day for the two of them, startled at the sound of their daughter's voice, their sleep interrupted.
"Wow, Reiko sure is energetic…" Minato muttered tiredly as he began to fall back asleep.
"Yeah…." Kushina tiredly agreed before following her husband's lead.
That is, until Reiko's words finally sunk in.
Suddenly, the two of them were very much wide awake, with equally wide eyes and matching looks of shock. "W-WHAT?!" Both of them yelled, even louder than how Reiko had just yelled.
Back in Naruto's room, he mentally cringed at the sound of his parents' exclamation whereas Hanako and Reiko both startled at the sudden sound.
"Ohshitohshitoshitohshit…." Naruto thought rapidly.
Realizing that he was in a situation that was not only completely foreign to him in a number of ways, but also one that was just about to get a whole lot worse as soon as his parents got here, Naruto came to a very temporary solution.
Grabbing hold of his shirt and sandals with one hand, he used the other hand to take hold of Hanako's right hand and all but yanked her along with him as he leapt out the open window.
Landing quickly on the ground, Naruto let go of Hanako's hand long enough for him to slip on his shirt. "Run!" he said to her, quickly gripping her hand again while using the other to just hold onto his sandals.
"Wah, master, what is-?!" Hanako tried to say as she was dragged along by Naruto off in some random direction.
"W-Wait, onii-chan!" Reiko called out through the window just as her parents came into the room. But it was too late for them; Naruto had successfully managed to flee his own home.
Truly, this was quite a way to start the day.
Elsewhere, Yuko was leaning against a tree, resting. "Should probably get moving soon…" the red eyed girl thought tiredly as she began to stand, ignoring how her clothes were disheveled, especially from the attack Hanako had landed on her yesterday.
She was near Konohagakure, which she has heard from others to be a pretty nice place and decided that after the events of yesterday, she should pay the hidden village a visit to try and relax. "And get my mind… off Naruto-kun…."
Yuko looked down at the ground in sadness. Why did this have to happen? Why did Naruto-kun have to be a member of Ragnarok? He was her friend, her first one in a long while. Was life so cruel as to take someone else away from her again?
"I feel so lonely…" Yuko hugged herself, the calm visage she had put up yesterday as she tried to kill Naruto now fully gone.
She stayed like this for several moments. And then she finally began her trek to Konoha.
Back with Naruto, the teen kept on running with his humanoid magical weapon in tow, having stopped only briefly to slip on his sandals.
"Master!" Hanako called out to him, confused by him suddenly running like this, yet doing nothing to really stop him. "Why are you running?"
Naruto's eyebrow twitched and then he finally came to a stop a few seconds after that. "Haaaaa….." He sounded very tired and exasperated. "Because I've never been in a situation even remotely like that one before…" he muttered.
He turned towards Hanako, confusion now in his eyes. "Just why were you in my bed?!" he demanded. "Hell, how did I even end up in my bed without my shirt?!"
Hanako pouted. "Mou, Master, even though I took you home after you passed out yesterday and tucked you in, you're angry…" she replied childishly. "I even went as far as to warm you up with my body when it looked like you were shivering. Shouldn't you be happy you had a beautiful girl to do that for you?"
She asked this with such a serious expression now that Naruto had no immediate reply to it, merely for his eyebrow to twitch once more. "Oh yeah," he thought as he now began to recall his brief interactions with Hanako yesterday. "She sort of does remind me of my sister…."
Then it hit him.
Yesterday was real. Him meeting Yuko, the subsequent fight with her, all of this talk about magic and a ritual, the young man named Daisuke. All of these memories came back to him and his eyebrow twitching stopped.
"We…. We can talk about that later…" He sighed, knowing that going back home could lead to a very awkward talk with his family despite how tense things already were with them. "What I want to know right now is about yesterday."
Hanako's pouting stopped and she went from acting like Reiko a bit to being unusually focused. "You mean Ragnarok," she simply said.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Whatever you know about it, you have to explain this all to me." He grimaced as slowly, he found himself knowing a number of things that simply didn't make any sense to him. Hopefully, this wouldn't be permanent. "What is this weird bunch of info entering my mind?" he thought as he began to rub his head.
"Looks like it finally kicked in, Master," Hanako said. "The knowledge download, I guess you can call it."
At that, the blond blinked and looked down at Hanako, the humanoid magical weapon being noticeably shorter than him, with surprise etched all over his face. "How do you-?"
Hanako smiled as if to reassure him of something. "I'll explain that in a bit, Master." Then suddenly, she went from being serious to suddenly looking remarkably lively and energetic. "But before I can explain anything, can we get something to eat?" she asked excitedly, with stars in her eyes.
Naruto, off put by the sudden switch in demeanor, was once again rendered unable to comply. Instead, he settled for numbly staring at the girl. Was this girl bipolar?
However, before he could fully regain his composure, he and Hanako were surprised when someone called out to him.
"Naruto?"
The blond and his humanoid magical weapon turned to see both Ryuichi and Miki walking towards them.
"Naruto-kun!" Miki looked very happy to see him. "You're alright!"
Ryuichi, for his part, simply smiled at his best friend as he and Miki continued to approach him and Hanako. "Looks like you've recovered. That's great. We were just about to pay you a visit at your house too."
Then Ryuichi's smile dropped and he looked at Miki sternly. "Now that we're all gathered, I say it's time you explain to us just what exactly happened yesterday, Miki," he said seriously.
Naruto blinked in surprise. "What?" He looked at Miki. "Miki, you know what's going on here?!" he nearly exclaimed, thankful that there was hardly anyone else around to be disturbed by them. Hanako simply stood by his side in relative silence.
Miki silently gulped as both Ryuichi and Naruto, her best friends, stared at her intently. But then she inwardly sighed and drooped her head a bit.
It would seem that she had quite a bit of explaining to do.
With Yuko, the young red eyed girl was now running at a leisurely pace, for two reasons. One reason being that she simply didn't have to hurry towards Konoha. After all, it wasn't like it was going to go anywhere.
The second reason, however, was more understandable. Wincing, Yuko patted her stomach, where Hanako had blasted her. Although the wound had already healed, she could still feel some phantoms pains that were only aggravated further if she exerted her body anymore than this. "That attack is still giving me some pains," she thought, "Naruto-kun, just what kind of magical weapon did you summon?"
Not adept to fighting shinobi or other magi, Yuko was very much aware of this fact and also seemed to instinctively know that even by magi standards, a humanoid magical weapon was unusual. This in turn brought up other questions such as why Naruto would have one then and also how in the world his beliefs or desires created the girl.
"Whenever I see him again, if it's in Ai Space…" Yuko began to think, "I'm going to have to be very careful around that girl."
Suppressing the urge to sigh in frustration, Yuko pressed onwards to Konoha, the thought of having to once again fight her only friend bouncing around in her mind. She could only hope that the next and last time they have to fight will be over relatively quick.
With the group, it had been several moments since they had met up. After having stopped by Ramen Ichiraku to get several bowels of the place's best ramen – much to the surprise of Naruto and his friends – for Hanako, they all relocated to the top of the hokage monument.
Sitting atop the head of the current hokage, Naruto and Ryuichi looked to Miki expectantly, said girl sitting across from the two of them.
The serious atmosphere was so great that not even the bubbly and happy aura of Hanako, sitting to Naruto's right and loudly slurping up ramen at frightening speeds, was enough to get their attention off the matter at hand.
"I… I honestly don't even know where to start," Miki said, looking down at her knees.
"Just start with how you awoke as a magus," Ryuichi replied calmly. "That way, you can lead up to…. whatever it is that is going on now."
Naruto just stayed quiet in favor of hearing Miki. It wasn't as if he could offer her any help in where to start given his severe lack of information. But nonetheless, he took note of the fact that Ryuichi appeared to know more than him about this magic business.
Miki slowly raised her head. "I-I guess that's fine." And so a little awkwardly, but overtime more assuredly, she began to explain to them how she came to awaken as a magus, leaving out no details whatsoever.
"Yeah, I remember that mission," Naruto finally spoke up minutes later, after Miki briefly yet thoroughly recounted the event. "Those bandits had been pretty tough since they were secretly practicing ninjutsu to an extent…" Then he just looked at Miki in surprise. "To think that happened to you…"
Miki looked down. "Sorry. I didn't mean to keep something like this a secret, but I just didn't really know how to explain it at the time."
Naruto and Ryuichi looked at their female friend, feeling a little awkward as they could literally feel the depressed aura she had going on.
"I-It's alright," both teens said.
"But still, just what exactly is a magus?" Naruto questioned, ignoring the pleased hum Hanako let out upon finishing all of her ramen.
Then he pointed at Ryuichi. "And it seems like you know something about this too."
Ryuichi now looked a little sheepish. "Ah, right." He scratched the back of his head. "You see, Naruto, like Miki – and now you – I am a magus."
He nearly flinched at the very much shocked and intense gazes both his friends gave him. Even Hanako, now focused on the situation, was a bit taken aback.
"Wha-? How?" Naruto stuttered out.
Sighing, Ryuichi briefly spoke. "It occurred before Miki awoke as a magus, about a year and a half ago," he began. He looked up at the sky as he recalled the day. "Unlike Miki though, who awoke during a mission, it occurred during a more private time for me, a training regime I had put myself through."
He looked at his listeners. "You know that big cliff overlooking a ravine, a bit of a ways out to the north?" he asked his friends, pointing in said direction, past Konoha's hot springs. With the exception of Hanako, both Naruto and Miki nodded. "Well, that was where I decided to train. And you know me when it comes to training…"
Naruto smiled, amused. "Train yourself 'til you drop. Then do it some more. Just like me."
Ryuichi returned the smile. "Yeah." Then the smile dropped. "Well, I did exactly that, exhausting myself completely. Unfortunately, after I decided to return home, I didn't pay attention to where I was standing – near the edge of the cliff – and due to the collateral damage of my training, the ledge broke into pieces and I fell."
His friends and Hanako looked at him in shock. He continued. "With virtually no chakra left to do anything, I could fall helplessly. But even then, with no way to survive, I was still determined to continue on living. And that was when I awoke as a magus, allowing me to save myself from falling all the way to the bottom."
Now he looked at his best friend. "As for what a magus really is, Naruto… well, it's exactly as it sounds; a magus is someone who possesses latent magical abilities. When awakened, these magical abilities take the form of something known simply as a magical weapon, which the magus will immediately know how to use, including knowledge of its capabilities and weaknesses. This is in addition to a boost to a magus' senses and physical abilities." A pause. "Though these are simply things that I myself know of…" He looked to Miki now.
Getting the unasked question, Miki elaborated. "Those stones we found as kids, Naruto-kun," she said. She didn't have to remind him or Ryuichi of that day; she knew that they needed no other reminders of that. "What exactly the stones are and where they come from is still unknown, but they bond with and only with those that possess latent magical abilities and during a time where their will is particularly strong or if they experience a great trauma, the stone will help bring their magical abilities forth in the form of magical weapons," she explained. She then went on to tell her friends of the other benefits magi have such as their increase in lifespan, their slowed aging, and regenerative ability.
"W-Wow…." Naruto was amazed by what he was hearing and that was putting it mildly. All of a sudden, a number of things were cleared up, regarding how his senses were sharper and the like. But there was still plenty more that needed an explanation.
"Wait." He glanced at Hanako with hardened eyes. "If a magus automatically knows how to use his magical weapon, how come I don't know what you're capable of and such?"
Hanako suddenly looked embarrassed. "Wha-?!" She even sounded embarrassed. "Master, I can't tell you that!"
Now all eyes were on her. "Why's that?" Naruto asked.
Hanako looked away, a pout on her face. "Because if I were to let you know everything about me, that'd be really embarrassing." Then she looked back at them. "Don't you know that girls don't like to give away such personal information on them to others so easily?! Like their three sizes?! It's too private!"
Naruto, Ryuichi, and Miki just stared at the girl. All of them then promptly blushed, suddenly feeling awkward.
"Wh-! Why you-!" Naruto began. "If that's the case, can't you just withhold info like t-that and just give me the basic info on what you can do?!" He stood up now and pointed at Hanako. "After all, knowing what you can do would be pretty helpful!"
Hanako pouted again. "Mou, but in addition to being a beautiful girl, I'm also a magical weapon, Master.~" Her cheeks puffed up. "Giving away that kind of info is still pretty private.~"
Naruto's mouth opened. No words came out though, so he just settled for opening and closing it repeatedly.
Ryuichi just scratched the back of his head. "Y-Yeah, that wasn't what I was expecting to hear…" he muttered. He guessed that even Naruto's unpredictability extended to his magical weapon too. Truly, it was impressive.
Miki was blushing and poking her index fingers together. "T-Three sizes…." she muttered. "W-Well, if it's stuff like that, I guess I can understand…."
"Gah, you stupid weapon!" Naruto yelled.
Hanako gasped, shock and hurt evident on her face. Then she pouted even more. "Master, you're mean! I'm not just a weapon, I'm also a girl!" She said that last part with something akin to pride in her voice and even went as far as to strike a pose that emphasized her considerable, uh, assets.
Naruto's eye twitched. "For the love of…. make up your mind then! Would you rather be treated as a girl or as a weapon?!"
"Both!" Hanako retorted.
Naruto just palmed his face, his patience having reached its limits. "Ugh, why me?" he muttered.
Then, opting to switch topics if only to avoid busting a vein or something, Naruto did his best to calm himself before looking at Miki. "A-Anyways, getting back on topic here…." he started slowly, ignoring Hanako's cry of 'Master!' "Just what exactly is Ragnarok?"
That one word was all it took to kill the humorous atmosphere. "Y-Yeah, just what is it?" Ryuichi echoed.
Miki's blush disappeared and now she looked rather grim, causing her friends to be taken aback. Even Hanako suddenly calmed down and appeared ready to listen without interrupting.
"Ragnarok…. is a magic ritual of sorts. One that, if its rules aren't followed, could end the world," Miki started, earning looks of shock from Naruto and Ryuichi.
It was with that statement that Miki began to explain to her listeners what had happened just several days, when Takehiko had first gathered her and a few other magi. She left no detail out, telling them everything she could remember. She told them of Takehiko himself, of what he told them regarding magi, Ai Space and its rules regarding magi and battle, and lastly she told them of what would happen if within 13 hours a magus was not killed.
It took quite a bit of time for her to fully speak of all this, even though her listeners didn't so much as make a peep during it all. By the time she was done speaking though, both Naruto and Ryuichi were incapable of hiding their shock and horror. As for Hanako, the humanoid magical weapon simply looked off into the sky, a grim expression on her face.
All was silent for several minutes, Naruto and Ryuichi coming to terms with what they've heard just now. Then finally, the silence was broken.
"That bastard!" Naruto snarled. From his side, Ryuichi could be seen clenching his fists tightly, nearly drawing blood.
"Agreed." Ryuichi's voice was low, almost quiet, but contained just as much shock and rage as Naruto's. "This… this Odin, whoever he is, is a damn monster to come up with this ritual."
Naruto nodded gruffly. "And that Takehiko kid, for him to be serving as the game master of this thing is probably just as bad!" Even though Miki only told him what she knew and experienced, it was obvious even to Naruto that Takehiko was very much full of himself, to a sickening degree really.
Miki nodded. "You can say that again…" she muttered, remembering quite well as she spoke how Takehiko had acted like. And that big guy too that was yelling at her at the time… something about him also seemed a little off.
Silence.
Then Naruto finally stood up and started to pace around a few minutes later. "Hanako," he called out.
Said girl perked up at hearing her name called. "Master?"
"Earlier, before Miki and Ryuichi here met up with us, you said something about…. A knowledge download."
Hanako nodded. "That was simply the best way I could think of describing it." All eyes were on her now. "The same occurred for you two as well, right? When you awoke as magi, not only did you automatically know how to use your magical weapon, but you also found yourself knowing other things as well?"
Both Miki and Ryuichi blinked, but slowly nodded nonetheless. "All of that information you now have, including you, Master, is information that all magi inherently have," Hanako explained simply.
The blond looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? How is it even relevant?" he asked.
"It's more relevant than you think, Master. For example, notice how the name of this ritual – Ragnarok – is among the knowledge you now have," Hanako replied calmly.
Naruto blinked and then his eyes widened as he realized that Hanako had a point. If the situation wasn't so serious, he might have harshly laughed at how appropriately named this demented ritual was. "I get it now…."
Miki and Ryuichi also stood now, having come to the same conclusion as Naruto. "I see," Ryuichi said simply. "Is this strange… mythology I suppose I should call it… perhaps the root of all magi?" he asked.
Hanako shrugged in response. "No one really knows, but it's been strongly believed by all magi ever since the beginning that at least some of our roots come from this."
All three teens could only nod in response to that. That made about as much sense as they can manage to understand for now.
"Well, at any rate, I think that's enough info that we need to know for now, right?" Naruto then declared. His friends and Hanako now looked to him due to the sheer amount of steel in his voice. "What's important now is this: this ritual, Ragnarok, is a damn abomination. It's horrible and beyond cruel to the participants – us – and to the rest of the world should we just sit on our asses."
Naruto took a bit of a deep breath. "So what I'm getting at, guys, is this: to hell with this fucked up ritual!" He smashed his right fist into his open left hand. Due to how much stronger he was now as an awakened magus, he was unaware of the slight shockwave that the action generated. "I don't know about the rest of the magi that'll be involved, but I plan to try and find out who this Odin is, track him down, and take him down, hopefully ending all of this before anyone else is erased from existence."
He then looked Ryuichi and Miki in the eyes. "You guys with me on this?"
Both of his best friends couldn't say anything at first, taken aback by how suddenly Naruto declared this. Then both smiled. "Ha, Naruto, are you really asking us that?" Ryuichi said, mock sighing as he spoke.
Miki shook her head, as if in exasperation. "I know, how horrible, for him to ask us this…."
Naruto's eyebrow twitched and he found himself feeling a little uncomfortable by how nonchalant his friends were acting. "H-Hey…."
Then both his friends looked at him, still smiling, but with determination blazing in their eyes. "Naruto-kun," Miki started, "it was wrong of me to try and keep this from you and Ryuichi. But now that things are different, let's find this Odin and put an end to all of this!"
Ryuichi nodded in agreement. "But we're going to have to be careful about how we do this," he started. He was already trying to plan ahead. "Chances are, we're going to be on our own for this. The other magi involved might not feel the same way about this, after all."
Naruto smiled. "Right." He was well aware of that fact too, but he didn't plan to let that stop him. He may have only gotten around to hearing all this today, and while he may not consider himself to exactly be a hero, Ragnarok had to be stopped.
The blond now looked towards Hanako, who was smiling at him, almost serenely. "Hanako." Said girl perked up. "You with us?"
Once again, all eyes were now on her. Hanako giggled. "Normally, any kind of action that could potentially lead to you getting killed is one that anyone else would protest against…" The group almost tensed up, thinking that perhaps an argument was about to start. "But I'm not just anyone, Master."
She moved closer to Naruto, looking into his eyes. "Like I said yesterday, I am your strongest sword and invincible shield. No matter what you do, I will always be there to fight by your side."
"Hanako…" Naruto's smile was small, but it was filled with gratitude.
Miki and Ryuichi appeared to be just as touched by Hanako's words as Naruto was.
Until.
"Ah."
Ryuichi's eyebrows shot up as something occurred to him. "Since Hanako-san here is your magical weapon, she'll be with you almost all the time, right?"
Naruto blinked, but nodded.
"So how do you plan to explain her to your family?" Ryuichi asked.
Everyone looked at Ryuichi for all of one minute. This was then followed by a very simple reaction from Naruto. "Fuuuuuuuu….."
Elsewhere in the elemental nations, a young woman, a few years older than Naruto, stood up from where she had been sitting. As she stood, her mind began to wander to what had happened yesterday.
Yesterday, just like all the other participants of Ragnarok, she had been dragged into Ai Space, though she – and not that she knew, but also all of the other uninformed participants – had no clue about this whatsoever. All she knew was that she had, for a time, ended up in some strange place that appeared to be a part of the real world yet separate from it at the exact same time.
"What could it have been?" the young woman thought as she began to walk forward, her long and thin eyebrows creased from equal parts worry and curiosity.
She couldn't help but shiver ever so slightly as her mind continued to dwell on this strange phenomenon, but to no avail.
She had a feeling that she would be seeing that strange place once again relatively soon.
With Yuko, the red eyed girl had managed to start running faster towards Konoha, the phantom pains slowly going away.
She continued on in silence for several minutes before the smallest of smiles finally graced her nearly emotionless face. "There it is," she muttered, spotting the gates to Konoha just a kilometer or two ahead.
Not wanting to risk any shinobi spotting her, an otherwise everyday civilian, moving at chunin level speeds, Yuko slowed down considerably before eventually coming to a near stop, now slowly walking towards the village.
It was a pretty silent and uneventful little walk. Until her stomach rumbled. Yuko's face scrunched up from slight embarrassment and hunger. "First thing first, get some food…" Her thought then drifted off as she began to ponder just what to have. "Maybe something quick like barbeque… no, maybe ramen…"
Completely oblivious to what fate had in store for her, Yuko pressed on towards Konoha, her stomach now, in a manner of speaking, leading the way.
Back with Naruto, the blond sighed as he quickly made his way home. "No choice but to just get this over with," he grumbled.
At his side was Hanako, who he had been chatting with for a bit after they left the hokage monument just now. Following saying his good byes to Miki and Ryuichi for the day, he and Hanako had proceeded to talk about a number of things. One of the things that had been talked about was the power that Naruto had exhibited the other day.
Da Capo.
When they had talked just now, Naruto had pondered aloud why exactly he hadn't brought it up with his friends whereas Hanako had replied to this with something along the lines of 'you can always tell them next time.'
The other thing that had been their main point of quick conversation was really less of a conversation and more of a slight lecture from Hanako to Naruto on the relationship between a magus and his magical weapon. She had told him just how a magical weapon would get its form partly from the magus' own powerful desires and/or beliefs. She had also made it a point to tell Naruto that because magical weapons are practically created from such desires and beliefs, magical weapons were essentially an extension of magi themselves. In other words, magi and their magical weapons are essentially one and the same.
Naruto wasn't sure why, but as he prepared to walk through his front door in the next few minutes, he had the strangest of feelings that somehow that last bit of useful information was going to be working against him.
"Master?" Hanako looked at Naruto, somewhat worried by the nearly grim expression he wore.
"It's nothing, Hanako. Just me considering whether or not I should turn around right n-," he began, only to be cut off by the one person he didn't want to see right now.
"Onii-chan, you're back!" Reiko exclaimed as she had, by sheer coincidence, walked out the front door just as Naruto and Hanako approached it.
"Never mind," Naruto muttered.
Then Reiko's eyes widened as they locked onto Hanako. "And you're that girl that was in his bed earlier!" she yelled, pointing a shaky finger at the humanoid magical weapon.
"Is that so?!" Out of the house and now quickly standing by Reiko was Kushina, who was practically glaring at Naruto and Hanako, a strained smile on her face.
Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "Kaa-san," he greeted.
Then Minato exited the house and stood by his wife just as she greeted their eldest child. "Naruto." Kushina's voice sounded a little cracked and for a number of reasons.
She and Minato were still clueless as to why Naruto was so distant from them and Reiko and both were rather hurt by how he had gone out of his way to stay out of the house as much as possible the past few days. And now they were suddenly awoken this morning by their daughter to hear that apparently, Naruto was found half naked with a girl in his bed of all places.
Minato smiled at his son as well. While it wasn't as strained as Kushina's, it looked every bit as awkward. It was obvious to even a blind person that the hokage was, very much like his wife and daughter, unsure of how exactly to react to this situation. Hell, Minato wasn't even sure if this was the time to try and recall if he ever gave his son the birds and bees talk or not.
"Tou-san," Naruto now greeted his father, suppressing a grimace. He had been hoping that Minato had to spend time at the hokage's tower, but evidently his luck wasn't all that great today.
At his side, Hanako seemed to be almost oblivious to the familial tension, her gaze cutely switching back and forth between her master and his family.
"Naruto," Minato greeted back, hands in his pockets.
Reiko, who was pretty much standing between her parents, just lamely gaped at Naruto and Hanako, unsure of what to say. Then again, she doubted there was much a sister could say to her older twin brother when he's apparently been caught in a not so innocent situation.
"E-Excuse me," Kushina started, deciding to try and end the awkward silence that had followed the stiff greetings. These words were directed towards Hanako.
"Yes?" Hanako looked at Kushina, clearly confused.
"J-Just what exactly happened between you and my son?" Kushina asked. "A-Are the two of you, uh, dating or something?" Kushina prayed that Hanako would clear things up so that she could stop worrying here. She wasn't sure if she or Minato could handle so much as the idea of Naruto sleeping with a girl in their own house while they were there.
Hanako eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Dating? Oh no, you have it all wrong!" She then said with closed eyes and a cheerful smile.
At the sheer truthfulness in Hanako's words, Kushina visibly relaxed. Minato sighed in thankfulness and the awkward smile he had just now disappeared. As for Reiko, she looked just as relieved as her mother. And as for Naruto, he looked at Hanako with a small smile, grateful that she had managed to so succinctly defuse the situation.
He thought this far too soon.
"Master and I are already one!" Hanako innocently said with the same cheerful smile. She even went as far as to link her arm with Naruto's.
Every member of the Namikaze family froze, each of them with their own expression.
Kushina's eyes had widened to an almost comical degree and her mouth was ajar as she appeared to be taking a step back. Minato's facial expression was completely blank, his mind having shut down, thereby leaving him standing there like some kind of statue. Reiko's jaw had dropped and her body was positioned in such a way as if she had just been punched. Naruto simply stood where he was, as still as a statue, his small smile just a second ago now looking unbelievably fake while his eyebrows had practically receded into his spiky hairline.
It was as if time had stood still solely for the Namikaze family. This only lasted for several seconds before they all appeared to be able to move again.
"A-Already o-o-o-one…?!" Reiko choked out.
"M-Master?!" both Kushina and Minato stuttered out, their minds, stuck in the proverbial gutter, focused entirely on that sole word. Being completely unaware of the fact that Naruto was a magus and Hanako was his magical weapon, the two parents' minds were leaping to the more unfortunate implications of the word 'master.'
"Eh?" Hanako looked at the near horrified expressions of the Namikaze family with a look of pure innocent confusion on her face.
Then she turned towards Naruto. "Ne, Master, did I say something wrong?"
Naruto palmed his face, directing all of his will power to the now sole task of not screaming as loud as he can in frustration.
This day definitely wasn't off to a good start.
And that's a wrap for this chapter.
Now, there's really not much for me to say in regards to what I wrote other than that Da Capo will be elaborated on in the next chapter. Once again, this is done to avoid giving too much of an info dump in just one chapter. That and I felt it wouldn't really fit the dire context of Miki explaining Ragnarok and such to Naruto and Ryuichi.
As always, I hope you enjoyed it! Until the next chapter!
