The city of Crocus. It was a flowery place, as such, it smelled of flowers. That was odd, seeing as it was fall, August. Maybe the flowers were kept with magic, or that the flowers weren't dead just yet, whatever he wasn't a florist or a gardener. He didn't know a whole lot about flowers period.
The architecture of the place had a lot of stone. Stones, bricks, lots of that in buildings. It was the capital city of Fiore and where the ruling government stayed.
Maybe. He actually wasn't so sure on that front. The type of government was lost on him too. It didn't really matter.
Naruto wandered through the streets of Crocus. It was fairly lively, people running around to go to their jobs, and mages doing a wide assortment of things, performing, doing missions.
He got lost for a little bit, before finding a map of the city. There was a couple of black markets here, and he visited sometimes, but only to those places. So, him actually exploring in the city was a new experience.
Naruto dressed accordingly to the style of the country, this place was similar in that respect in regards to his country. Somewhat.
He understood the map soon enough, some turns here, a few landmarks there and he would arrive without trouble.
Naruto wondered how Lucy was faring. The job was fairly simple, if not a lengthy mission. Just a simple courier type. He had gone into a little more details with Makarov, the old man had picked a team named Shadow Gear. Naruto didn't remember the names of the group, but it was appropriate with the similarity in names.
What he did remember was the sight of Lucy's features when he announced she was doing a joint job with Fairytail. He could get used to seeing that sight.
What was Lucy doing now? He hoped she was getting along well with Juvia and the others.
The streets he walked turned into something different. Gone were the casually dressed people, and replaced by high fashion, and business related clothing. Expensive looking buildings and decorations. His clothing wasn't exactly in line, but he didn't stick out too much either. That was the way it was supposed to be.
Naruto was in Crocus to meet Ultear. He saw the building in view, gold letters that reflected the pale grey sky. The Silver Side Inn.
Naruto walked through the dull gold linings of the large door, inside was one of the similar to some place that prided itself high quality furnishing and fancy painting and a whole lot of things.
He walked up to the desk where a receptionist stood behind, she looked up and smiled in courtesy. A little nametag on her well-kept uniform spelt 'Janna'. "Hi, how may I be of use for you sir?"
Of course, he noticed the brief flicker towards his missing limb.
"I was supposed to meet someone here, Ultear Milkovich."
She nodded, "Ms. Milkovich, yes she said she had a guest. Your name is?... Naruto Uzumaki? Let me confirm, aha, there we go. Miss Ultear is currently in one of the private rooms in the restaurant section. Please wait for a moment."
He nodded lazily and looked around at the lobby they were in. People were dressed fancily, in dresses and suits. Some others looked at him, then at both of his arms, or lack thereof. The people stared at him with differing looks, interest, pity and some others he didn't bother trying to think of.
"Excuse me, she will see you now, please follow the waiter."
The waiter himself, who could only be described as good-looking. The same could be said of the girl behind the counter. Naruto was led through the lobby, going through the doors of restaurant of which a large line was formed.
He expected more bustling when he entered the restaurant, whose name he didn't bother to catch. It was relatively quiet; a gentle hum of conversation and clatters of plates being placed were heard throughout. A small fountain was affixed at the epicenter of the floor. Naruto quickly scanned the large room, looking for any hint of Ultear but the waiter kept walking and he kept following.
What he did see of the layout of the restaurant was that there were two floors, darkly tinted windows with silhouettes behind them. Naruto followed the waiter up the stairs and through another set of doors with a greeter or security or whatever they called the door boys. When they entered, the quiet noise behind him disappeared as they walked through a small hallway aligned with doors on the left.
The waiter stopped suddenly, turning to him and with a bow opened the door to let him inside. Naruto rolled his eyes as he entered, finding Ultear dressed very nicely with her arms crossed as she looked through the tinted windows. The dark-haired girl only decided to look at him when the door sounded shut behind him.
"Kinda over the top don't you think?" He voiced.
"Think of this as a celebration, besides, I decided to take advantage of some of perks and money that the magical council provides. Before I betray them of course, come, sit."
He complied, sitting on the only other chair in room. It was a rather intimate setting, especially with the smooth sounding music being played. "What is this like a date?"
Naruto would have likely said something about the choice of meeting place, but with the way she blatantly spoke of her intentions dispelled that.
"If you wish, but it's a bit more exciting like this, isn't it? Adds a flair of dramatics to the plot we're conspiring."
He smiled, chuckling. Oh, boy.
"I find it weird that you're telling the truth, or mostly."
"It's my boredom and impatience, a life of papers isn't one for me."
"Really? It's that simple?" He asked. Of course, being Hokage would likely be involved heavily with that. He probably wouldn't like it, but it was all worth it if it involved his village.
She nodded, "Things don't necessarily have to be complicated."
A gentle knocked alerted him, and Ultear mentioned for the person to enter as another waiter came in with plates of food. An expensive looking bottle of wine was set down on the table, along with two plates of fancily arranged food.
"Drink?" She asked, pouring herself a glass of the dark drink.
"I'm good, I'll eat though."
Ultear frowned, but otherwise nodded and took a sip of her liquor. They ate in silence for a little while. The food tasted pretty damn good. He occasionally looked down below seeing the patrons mutedly talking amongst themselves.
"So, it was just pure boredom that led you to take a huge risk and possibly low reward type deal?"
While he did something like that a lot, he had a big reason.
"Yes, there was just nothing to do! All day was just papers and old men whining about Fairytail," She whined dramatically. "Ugh, such uninteresting and unimportant matters."
"Right…" He replied deadpanned. "So, for our…Partnership, what is it that you want me to do?"
"It's to simply finish what Jellal had started. Tower of Heaven will be activated."
"I destroyed it."
"I fixed it."
How was that possible? She gave a victorious smirk.
"However, the activation is irrelevant, as only the firing of Etherion is important. What we'll be doing is burgling."
Oh, Burgling huh? Now that was a coincidence, "Etherion?"
Ultear took a sip of her wine before she answered, "It's a weapon that's supposedly capable of destroying a nation, it sends a beam of magic upon a desired area."
Sounded familiar. Like the entity living in his stomach.
She continued. "Once I manipulate the council into firing Etherion, my group will move into where the magical object is stored and take what we need."
"So why is Etherion so important?"
"The magical runes set in place will be temporarily unavailable. Etherion requires a massive amount of magic, it take a lot from the atmosphere and the mages firing it. The only thing we require of you is too is be bait and be the catalyst of firing Etherion."
He took a few bites of his own food as he thought about their plan. It wasn't that hard to come into an conclusion. He wasn't feeling it. "No, thanks."
Ultear pursed her lips, and for the first time, she looked annoyed at him.
"I got a better plan, it goes like this. How about I go inside, and steal it? Whatever that is?"
Silence.
"You do know that there's magical scripts that are impossible to enter without authorization. These seals are supposedly designed by one of the three gods of Ishgar himself. Though, that can be just a rumor."
Naruto shrugged, "That doesn't matter, I have an ace up my sleeve too. I'm sure you figured it by now, or at least thought about it. I have snuck into the Tower, and I have experience."
Ultear looked interested, taking a sip of her wine, "Experience?"
"Working in the magical council, it's obvious even to me that you heard of the mage Nine."
Her eyes widened at this, "Nine? Do you mean the 'The Regretful Thief' is that you?"
Naruto nodded, that title was silly in his opinion. Why couldn't he have a decent title like the 'Vault Breaker' or something even marginally better than the one he had now. Anyways, he was gifted the title by leaving a note when he returned a stolen object. Whenever he had stolen an object from a family or individual, he would return it and leave a note stating he was sorry for stealing it. Although he only returned them if he found they were decent people.
The more dangerous and illegal ones were not exactly reported to the Magical Council or Rune Knights. However, the underworld was a bit of a different place. Some higher ups had placed bounties on him.
"It makes sense; I have only noticed a couple of artifacts that had been obtained by you. I assumed you got in touch with him. Sorcerer's Weekly finds you amusing in the silly notes you leave."
Naruto leaned back on his chair, "I get bored too, so I draw something to show I'm actually sorry for stealing it."
"Like a terribly drawn little Nine-tailed fox?"
"It was a masterpiece…"
She laughed almost musically, before her expression took a more dangerous glint. "Stealing from the Magical Council will surely put your status as a harmless thief too full blown dangerous. It's nothing like breaking into museums or warehouses and the like. They will have top of the line security, not to mention that lethal force will be used."
"Yeah so? This will make sure that I actually get something out of this. I don't have any information on what's held inside, while you do."
Ultear hummed thoughtfully, taking a drink from her glass as he ate more of the food. "Well, if you get caught- "
"I won't. Even if I do, any prison won't hold in me in for more than a day." He replied confidently. Magical cuffs would not hold him nor would their equivalent of seals.
"You're that confident, are you? It's true I hold most of the information, and it's likely you wouldn't be able to find this information unless you were a part of the magical council itself. Even if you fail to steal anything, we could always try again. It would also help build your reputation instead of impersonating Jellal."
She thought loudly as he ate the delicious food. Her fingers tapped the table rhythmically. Tap tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap in quick repetitive beats. She was likely thinking of how she benefited more from this.
He had thought a bit of this too. The Magical council storage likely held some one-of-a-kind items, dangerous ones, useful ones. So, it was in his own interest that he get them. Ultear likely had this information, and she knew it.
She would agree. Because it worked more in her favor.
Naruto felt her own scrutinizing eye on his as he ate happily from the mouth-watering food. How expensive was this food? Why did he care? He wasn't the one buying it. Her empty glass settled on the table like a final statement.
"Fine, let us make preparations over the next two days."
"Okay then, Partners?" Naruto held his hand out.
"Partners in crime." She replied with a warm smile and her soft hand wrapped around his and shook, "Now, would anything persuade you to share a drink with me?"
"No."
"Why?"
He drank some water and ate some more food, "Nothing personal, it's a request from my late mother. She didn't want me to drink, until I was at least twenty. So, I want to keep that."
"Oh, and when do you turn twenty?"'
"Several weeks, on October ten."
Ultear looked curiously, Naruto had a frown he didn't know he had, "Are you not looking forward to it?"
"Hmm, my birthday never really mattered," The one thing that did matter was that the next day would signal the three years that he had been here.
"I feel the same way, it's just another day to me. Though, after you do turn twenty, would you mind taking a drink if I offered?"
He never thought a whole lot about it, "No, I wouldn't mind at all. It would be interesting actually."
"Of course it would be interesting, it would be with me after all." She smiled.
"Hm, maybe."
He could imagine the laughter whenever his late master drank some. Though, Naruto didn't think very positively of alcohol when he was younger. His master always said it was useful in some ways. Honestly, now he was a bit curious.
They were finished eating by now, "That was pretty damn good, it's been a while since I've eaten something high class."
"Hm, yes, the bottle was fairly expensive too. On another note, do you think you can manage to infiltrate in the next two days? I would have an alibi."
This worked more in her favor, but he agreed anyway. "Oh yeah, that I can do."
"I like your confidence," She sat back, relaxing. "You know, no matter the outcome, I think this would be fairly entertaining."
Naruto was in Era again. Instead of being of on top of the plateau where the main building of the council stayed. He was at the bottom of it. The storage was a separate building that was built inside of the small mountain. 'Astoras' it was named, it wasn't very original.
Ah, his own guild wasn't either, but he didn't dwell much on naming it.
Currently, he was in yet another hotel room with Ultear. It was a mid-ranged class hotel, the only once available with a view of the storage Building. Their best, and most expensive room could not even compare to what he saw at the 'Silver Side Inn'. Plain was a very suitable description.
"What's with the cane?" Ultear asked, she was seated on the edge of the bed as he prepared.
Naruto looked down to his left hand that held a black cane that wasn't a cane at all, "It's my choice of weapon."
"I don't think it'll be very effective."
"Less messy, and more discreet."
Hmm, it might hinder him for a little while. He willed the black cane to hide within his sleeve for the time being.
"Another type of magic? Re-quip?"
"Sure." Naruto replied. He had no idea what re-quip was.
"Never mind, but I see what you mean now."
He shrugged, making sure he had everything he needed. Ninja pouch, shuriken, kunai, wire, smoke bombs. "Ready!"
"I'm hesitant to believe that you will pull this off."
"Well, you're not the first to doubt me. I'll follow through that's for sure."
She raised a brow, but said nothing.
"If all goes right Ultear, then I should be back within the hour or two," Naruto said as he opened the door to the small patio. The woman followed him outside and rested her arms on the railing.
"Looks like a beautiful day." She commented.
He looked to the skies, some clouds hung in the air like a grasping hand. An unvaried blue that tinted the rest of the heavens. The sun lighting up the expanse of the duplicate streets.
"A dull one," Naruto added, stepping up to the railing with Ultear looked at him in curiosity, "So why don't you tell me where exactly your artifact is being held now? As well as the 'objects of interest' as you put it."
He looked down at her and she stared back. "When you are inside and in front of the council's storage."
He sighed. Deciding on getting started on his so-called infiltration, he transformed into another person.
"Oh, who's this? He's very attractive."
Naruto hid his scowl. Why did he have to use this person of all people?
"It's not important," He replied, and didn't bother listening to her response. He jumped off the railing and across the street and onto the next building.
Hopping across the familiar buildings, his gaze suddenly looked towards the mountainside of the Hokage monument.
It morphed into the magical council building. Deciding that he was close enough, he hopped down below and into an alleyway. At least all the last-minute planning was accounted for. It was the middle of the day, less security and lax personnel. Ultear said that the building always had security on site populated twenty-four hours, but with more security at closing.
He walked through the entrance of the building, the place doubled as a company for highly secured storage. Aimed towards high-end businesses and wealthy patrons. This definitely wasn't the first time he had done this.
The first time he had tried, Naruto's initial transformation was Kakashi, but then he remembered that he actually hadn't seen his face. So, after that and all the burgle attempts he attempted he was under the appearance of Sasuke. Definitely contrasted with his own appearance.
He looked at the lobby, finding a set of doors where two security personnel stood on either side. Card readers were on either side, with both guards likely having one of their own. He sat down in the waiting area, making sure the orange scarf he wore could cover his face in a quick manner if his transformation were to be dispelled.
Since this part all depended on waiting, he might as well try to amuse himself for the time being. A neatly stacked pile of magazines was arranged on a coffee desk in the corner. Taking a quick look through the pile, he settled on what appeared to be the latest issue of Sorcerer's Magazine. The one that Lucy liked to read, several issues were always lying around the apartment.
He noticed that she looked at that one the most. What was she doing now? Probably well.
The cover and its titles and other annotations did not reveal anything particularly interesting. Usually the newspapers carried nothing interesting that would solve his problem, but he would quickly skim through them. Not something like this however.
He skimmed through some articles, until he came across one that caught his eye.
Mirajane Strauss.
Naruto remembered her name, this was the person that Lucy raved about. Hoped Lucy met her, Mirajane seemed nice from their small interaction. She was a part of an article, modeling some sort of expensive dress that some mage made. He had to admit, she was beautiful. There wasn't a whole lot that told him about her. So, he quickly put it down… after looking through the rest of pictures.
Naruto's patience was being tested. A whole twenty minutes later and none of the guards had barely moved.
Finally!
One of the guards finally decided to move, giving a gesture and some words that Naruto took note of. The guard left towards the direction of the washroom. Naruto stood up, placing back the magazine and quickly followed the guard.
The guard walked down a small hallway before entering an employee's only washroom. Naruto followed him inside and made sure no one else was in the room before he grappled around his neck. The dark-haired man fell unconscious to the floor with little problem.
He would be up in a few minutes, a little Genjutsu would have solved that problem. However, for some reason it didn't seem to affect the people here, or that if it was the problem on his end. It wasn't like he was trying to be a genjutsu user, the Perverted-sage said you had to be a particular kind of person to utilize it effectively.
Naruto quickly tied him up and gagged him, leaving him inside a toilet stall. He took the card that was required to unlock the door and quickly searched him for anything else important. Nothing. He was done, so he quickly transformed into the guard's likeness.
Naruto made sure everything was perfect, even the voice had to be similar. When he was done he walked out of the washroom and quickly found the other door guard.
"Hey, some guy is…doing drugs inside the men's employee washroom, come help me kick him out."
"Sure, beats standing here all day."
"Yeah." He led the way back, "He's inside the stall."
Naruto opened the door for the other guy to go through, checking to make sure no one else was coming. He knocked that guy out too, and repeated the process he had done to the guy earlier. He placed the passed-out person in the adjacent stall. He made two clones and each took their cards and transformed into spitting images of the duo. He left another clone to make sure they stayed unconscious.
"So far so good," Naruto transformed back into Sasuke's appearance before walking out of the bathroom with his two transformed shadow clones.
Naruto stood at the reinforced door with its security card reader. Man, it would be so easy just to blow it off his hinges. He seriously entertained the thought as his clones tried to figure out how it worked.
"Wrong cards, I think," He muttered. If it were anyone else but his clones he would have called them an idiot. Sadly, he thought of it, but no one had to know it.
His clones switched cards before a green light appeared on the door. He passed through the door and down some hall ways. Naruto nodded at two official looking people who passed by him, but otherwise didn't do much to suspect him. He had to make sure he looked like he belonged here, which wasn't too hard. Confidence was key.
Hmm… there was supposed to be a security station on the second floor. His destination was down an elevator.
Making two more clones, he had them transformed into other people to find the Security station upstairs. Now this was more along the lines where he got more suspicious, he just needed to remember where the hell the elevator that went to the government's storage.
He sneaked a glance towards down hallways after some mindless wandering, it was much bigger than he thought it was. Seemed smaller on the map, whatever, he hadn't received memories of his clones taking care of security cameras.
Naruto knew that there was supposed to be a different kind of guard near the elevator. The special one wore the garbs of the rune knights, sort of turquoise color and dressed out like some sort of religious person such as a priest of some sort.
As he tried to find his way through the halls and trying his best to look like he belonged. He finally got some memories of his clones impersonating the others and taking over the security center where the cameras were controlled.
Finally, now he could let loose a little. No longer did he have to worry about the cameras.
"Any reason as to why we're here?" Naruto asked. Or rather, he was a shadow clone tasked to keep Ultear updated on his status.
"Because I want to be here if you fail," Ultear said, taking a sip of the wine she seemingly liked to drink. She had offered him a glass again, which he had declined once again.
Ultear had placed two comfortable loveseats in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, these windows gave a clear view of the relatively plain sight of Era. Specifically, the magical storage facility where the original Big Boss had infiltrated.
Naruto couldn't help but feel that she had something else in mind, because he could feel the anticipation rolling of in her violent waves. Like how she occasionally swept a hand over his remaining one, or glistened her plump lips with a sensual lick of her tongue. She looked to be impatient, constantly switching her long smooth legs to rest on one another.
Wow, this woman was really attractive. He really liked her thighs.
Other than the stray thought, she did seem like she was expecting something to happen. Something was bound to occur, that much he silently agreed on. He wasn't so naïve to think that this would go smoothly, especially something so heavily guarded.
Naruto once again looked outside the window and into the boring streets of Era, "I can see why you're sick of this place."
There was nothing really special in Era, other than the tall plateau that held the council building. No children littered the streets or any vendors, hardly any vibrant colors decorated the signs and there was hardly any variation in the building themselves. It lacked character.
"So Ultear, hoping for a show?"
"Yes, I am."
Naruto found himself walked down the long hall. A really, really long hallway. This hall appeared to go inside the plateau. A Rune Knight was stationed beside another security door that was supposed to be sealed once again.
It was a bit awkward with his own silent stroll. Naruto wasn't quite sure that he should try and keep eye contact with the guy, or keep looking away from his eyes. It also did not help there was no windows that could occupy him.
It came as a relief to him when he finally reached the guard.
"Halt! State your business. Anything less than official magic council business and you will be tried for trespassing."
He whistled in surprised. "Wow, the magic council seems really serious, don't they?"
Naruto was met with no response, in fact, the Rune Knight seemed insulted and glared at him. Naruto frowned, and reached into his jacket like he was trying to grab a document.
Faster than the man could understand, his face met the marble flooring of the hallway. "No hard feelings."
He threw a shuriken at the camera, making sure anything unnecessary wouldn't be accidentally captured. Well, hopefully no one would be going through this place because he was just going to leave this guy here.
Hmm.
Naruto forced the two slides of the steel doors open. He looked down into the dark, concrete chasm below. Large steel wires hung the elevator down below. He created a shadow clone to grab the Rune Knight, he'll just place the guy on top of the elevator for now. Naruto stuck himself to the walls of the elevator shaft, and pulled the doors closed. Walking down the shaft, his clone already set the guy on top of the elevator, before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The only sound in the corridor was the groans of the metal, and the loud breathing of the rune knight throughout the 'hall'. He could feel a malleable substance flowing through his right arm. Like oil that didn't leave any trace of its presence. It flowed from out of his sleeve and snaked its way through the air. Before bunching together, and leaving no flaws as it formed into a sphere the size of a rasengan. It was black, and looked like it held depth, an abyss.
The Truth Seeker Orb.
It was ridiculous at how much chakra it consumed and the concentration required to create a single one. He had made it earlier today. It truly was terrifying at how Kaguya was able to create one the size of a meteor. He had been in prison once in this world, in another country. That it was when he found out that his Truth-Seeker Orb was able to negate their seals.
In many situations, using this technique wasn't worth the effort that another could do with much less chakra. However, this was one such occasion where it had to be used. It can form into any shape he desired, dangerous to the touch, or simply harmless.
Reaching the top of the elevator, he opened the hatch inside and jumped in. He forced the doors open, and molded his orb into a small solid staff. He willed it for its touch to be non-lethal and wielded it in his right arm.
He forced the two doors open, and spotted someone casting a curious glance before turning into shock and alertness.
Naruto shot out from inside the elevator and towards the Rune Knight. Naruto swung his staff at his knees, and heard the crunch and snapping of his leg, before he had a chance to scream in pain, Naruto ended it by grabbing a hold of his collar and slamming him against an adjacent wall to knock him out.
There was no one else around, as no one appeared to find the cause of the commotion. He dragged the guy into some empty room. Deciding to be more discreet, he took on the appearance of this guard.
He walked through the door, scratching his head on where to go. Well, there was only one way to go, so he went that way. Hopefully someone would point him towards the right way because he forgot exactly where it was. All he knew was that the place was called 'High-Risk Storage'. The people who are in charge neglected to place directions. Ultear wasn't very helpful either with all her directions, hell, she couldn't provide a copy of the blueprint for this place.
A lie probably, or maybe not. Either way he had to make do.
After some wandering, and a quick knock out of another guard, he finally found the area he was looking for. It was guarded by two Knights, but really, they weren't expecting someone infiltrating. So, they were easily put down and out for the count.
He shook the dust off his hands, his right hand didn't need it, seeing as it wasn't real. Either getting hit or striking too hard would dispel his transformation. He made a quick clone that immediately dispelled to relay the information to Ultear. Now he could actually find what he was looking for.
Naruto stepped through the large set of doors. When he did, an alarm was sent blaring throughout the complex.
"Shit," Naruto sighed, seeing that there was some sort of sealing technique that was placed over the door that he hadn't noticed.
He heard the stampede marches down several halls, and along with some yelling and panicked voices. Naruto glanced in the corners of the new hall he was in and destroyed a camera that he found. New information of the clone he left with Ultear entered his mind, of several relevant items and of her own.
From what his clone surmised, Ultear seemed impressed and disappointed altogether. He guessed she really wanted to be a part of the action if the complaints of the dullness of her life was of any indication.
The alarm would have excited her.
Naruto made a shadow clone and gave it a scroll to seal the artifacts within. He also gave his clone his Truthseeker ball, as each section and each storage space had their own seal applied to stop any theft attempts.
It shouldn't take too long, but for now he had to do something about the approaching horde of Rune Knights. He could hear their loud steps echoing down the hall so unlike his own people. Naruto glanced down the halls, shadows of people was seen first before they all appeared. Down the hall where had came from.
"There's the intruder!" Someone shouted in the mess of the group.
There was a lot, each carried their own weapons and began to charge. Naruto was in danger of his true identity being revealed if he fought in hand to hand combat. It was too risky, so a technique would have to be used.
Water style would be useful, or an Earth style technique. Naruto decided on water since it provided some crowd control and less collateral damage. Being underground also provided unnecessary risks to everyone here. He was in a building, so there was plenty of water with the different kinds of water systems in place.
He remembered Yamato had used it with their collaboration, Water style: Ripping Torrent. Naruto formed the hand signs before water starting forming around his left hand, since he wasn't able to use form techniques in his right.
He heightened the power and water before sending the technique down the hall. They seemed surprised, like he wasn't going to use magic against them.
Ah well, only the higher tiers of mages, or sorcerers, or witches, or whatever the damn hell they called themselves would provide trouble for him. He tried to avoid fighting as much as possible, as fleeing was more preferable, but sometimes you needed a very personal touch.
The technique he shot was enough to fill the entire hallway and crashed against the Knights and sending them down the hall and slamming them against the wall.
He heard the groans and some yells of pain as the water began to flow freely. Some of them writhed around on the floor and clutched their injuries. Others looked at their comrades and him before deciding that running away was a more reasonable choice.
The ones that felt more brave stood up, weapon in hand. It was too bad they stood in the water as he streamed some lightning into it. Just powerful enough to subdue them, though a bit unfortunate for the ones who were already down.
He always liked using that combo, it was effective crowd control.
Naruto continued to wait. What was only a minute felt like an eternity with his creeping nervousness. If the ruling people were to discover his identity, it would cause problems for Lucy.
His clone finally appeared with the scrolls and his truth-seeker orb.
There. Now it was all done, he could just focus on escaping. Naruto sprinted down the hall, past the hall of the subdued soldiers. He was a little more than a blur from the indistinct hallways. He wanted to reveal as little as possible to maintain his 'innocence' for lack of a better term. Forgive him, he was mostly focusing on trying to get the hell out of here.
Great he was talking to himself.
He reached the elevator doors without much trouble, some red light was blaring and spinning above the doors. It was likely shut down, not like it mattered much, he didn't even use it in the first place.
He forced the metal doors to open, before jumping up and running up the elevator shaft. Stealth wasn't such a concerning matter, speed was important. Naruto jumped the opposite side, sprung his legs and formed a rasengan in his hand before blowing the doors of the elevator open.
He landed on the floor, the debris echoing down the hall. He realized that he wasn't alone. Standing halfway down the large hall was two other individuals. These ones were obviously not apart of the others here, as they weren't dressed in a ridiculous get up.
One of the them was large in size, dwarfing his companion. He had tanned skin, a bald head and very muscular. He wore blue and white striped mantle, showing off his chest. With it a…fur skirt? It probably wasn't named a skirt.
His companion was an orange haired blonde dressed in a light purple suit.
"So Jura, this is apparently Nine, the Regretful Thief." The shorter one stated. He was going through some sort console, a golden magical construct.
"Thank you Hibiki, it's a pleasure to work with someone from Blue Pegasus. Lord Nine, it's a pleasure to meet you too. Would you perhaps consider turning yourself in?" The one known as Jura suggested.
Lord Nine?
Naruto was slightly stunned at the generosity he was being showed. Didn't really sound like he was being sarcastic either. Naruto stood up and folded his arms. The smaller guy looked at him warily, and at his friend before taking a step back. He Still working on the magical construct.
"I can't, this is something I have to do." Naruto replied.
"I can hear that conviction in your voice, it makes me doubt my abilities."
That was unusual.
The dark blond one spoke, "Jura, you're one of the ten wizard saints. I really doubt that."
You can't be serious. Another one of these guys?
In this fight, he'd really risk revealing himself. Even in his fight against Jellal, he was outed. However, he did not have to fight here. That was a saving grace. His only objective was to escape.
Naruto tried to rush through the hole in the wall. Tried being a keyword here. Instead of the freedom that he was expecting, the gift he received ended with his face slapping against an invisible wall. The impact was enough to dispel the transformation, and light smoke appeared from him.
He ignored the burning throb that his nose was sending out to reach into his tool kit for a smoke bomb. He hoped neither of the duo saw his features as his bomb detonated and further obscured the area.
"I suppose Nine was not aware of the safeguards that falls in place when an alarm is sounded."
Naruto quickly put on his transformation before the smoke could dissipate. He created a clone to leave behind, and this time he put forward his Truthseeker ball to negate the sealing and left on his way.
"Fuck that would have been so much cooler if that hadn't happened!"
The Shadow clone quickly replaced the transformation as the smoke disappeared.
"I was expecting an attack." The shorter one said.
"He must have something in mind, that was not accidental."
That was true, he was just a clone, so he was here just to buy time. There were no windows, so they likely didn't see anything.
"Nine, it seems that your thieving days had come to an end."
"Well, maybe." Naruto replied.
"Unfortunate that you decided to rob from the government, makes it easier for the magical council to officially declare you as an dark mage."
"You mean I wasn't dark mage before this?"
"You made it difficult for the criminals, and caused a minor inconvenience for many others. So yes, you skirted the line of being a dark mage."
"How about Fairytail? I heard they like to break stuff."
"True, but that's just due to negligence. Mostly. I'm curious as to why you're not attempting to pass through us. The more time passes become of a greater benefit to us." Hibiki said. Honestly, Naruto would likely forget the name of the guy the next day. Someone like Jura though, he would likely remember someone like that.
Also, Hibiki had it the wrong way.
"So which guild are you guys from? I know the smaller one…" Naruto replied.
"What are you getting at?" Hibiki said. Still working on his console that Naruto had no idea was about.
"I am Jura Neekis, from Lamia Scale." Then he bowed.
"Jura, it's very difficult to actually find information about this guy. Almost like a ghost, other than some reports that he could manipulate lightning and water and the capability to…"
Hibiki suddenly put his hand up.
Naruto wasn't expecting a construct to appear directly in front of him. He felt a force that sent him flying. He felt his shoulder connect with the ceiling, and fell back onto the floor with the momentum. He bounced off it, and into the elevator shaft. Naruto quickly caught himself before he tumbled further below.
He almost popped, but the transformation did. Reapplying it, he hopped back into the hallway.
"That was as douche-y as you look."
It was similar to Nagato's abilities, just not as potent and telegraphed. Also, it was getting really annoying to do transformations.
"Does that answer your question Hibiki?" Jura said. "There's no need for violence when he hasn't done anything."
Wow. He could admire the values Jura carried. It was what more people needed.
"What question was that?" Naruto asked.
"I would like that you not answer that Jura." Hibiki said. Which Jura returned with a nod.
"Well, I think that I used a bit too much of your time." Naruto said, the time he bought should be plenty. He bowed in farewell. "I'm nothing more than a shadow after all."
That should make up his earlier exit. So, then he disappeared.
A/N: I have an arc planned after this, definitely larger in scope, and not canon.