Finally! After months upon months of waiting, I managed to come up with a new chapter! However, I was forced to change my beta reader, seeing as how my first was having a lot of problems with his life and his family, so I decided to let him have a time out, thus the slow release of this chapter. Many thanks to Aethereal Devastation, my new beta reader for beta reading this chapter. Also, I seem to have forgotten a lot of the animes, thus making it impossible for me to type this chapter out. And for that, forgive me. And so, without further ado, a new chapter!
CHAPTER 6: HENRIETTA'S TRIAL Uploaded 04/09/2013
-CHAPTER START-
Immediately they exited the throne room after Louise had finished bowing to her old friend Henrietta, extremely elated at the fact that she was given the title of Chevalier from the princess. She was now one more step closer to proving to the world that she's not the Zero that everyone pictured her in mind. "Just you wait Mother! I will show you that this child of yours is not worthless!" She thought, lifting her trembling fist up to her face. Watching this, Siesta can't help but feel happy for her master, knowing that her spirit was buoyed from the short visit and the title.
Naruto yawned for a bit before saying, "What am I? Chopped liver? But then again, a familiar's achievement was the owner's, so it's kind of like you're the ones doing all the fighting. Well, can't say anything to that." His voice sounded a bit like he's complaining, but it's actually just for fun. Even the two in front of him understood from the smile on their faces as they walked within the lavishly decorated hallways of the castle.
A moment of walking and dodging people running around for Naruto later, they reached their rooms, but before Louise could jump on top of the bed, a Hiraishin kunai tossed by Naruto shot towards the floor in front of her before stabbing the floor with such strength that the handle still vibrated even as the kunai was buried up to its prong's base into the floor. Louise was about to turn around to let rip at her familiar for damaging the castle when a powerful hand grabbed her shoulder and she felt the sudden, forced transition through Warpspace, her entire perception of the world skewed for a moment as she exited and reentered Realspace, her body wobbling due to the aftereffects of the Hiraishin.
Naruto stood there, watching his charges steadying themselves after the Hiraishin back to their cottage at the Academy. "I don't like this." He said as he watched both Louise and Siesta steady themselves before standing back on solid footing on the wooden floor. Pacing in front of the two, he continued. "She's a princess, in command of an entire nation. Yet, she asked you, her friend as a child, to infiltrate a town. Why?"
Louise, who finally steadied herself shouted out towards Naruto. "She lacks manpower! She told us that just now! She even reluctantly told me to perform said mission!" She didn't like it when someone belittled her friends, and especially the princess, her ruler!
"Obviously you are still young, Louise." Naruto sharply replied. "If I was in her position, I'd protect my friends, not involve them in potentially dangerous missions or force them to be involved in something shady, like infiltration. I'd rather do it myself if I have to. She must've had a dire need of you to force you to perform that mission."
"Well then! If she had a dire need of me, then that's more reason for me to accept it!"
Naruto just shrugged at Louise's stubbornness. Being from an entire clan of stubborn-as-all-hell people, Naruto knew better than to argue with her. But a warning will still be made to her. "Perhaps. It's your choice in the end, Louise. Just know that I will not bail your ass out of every bad situation that you stumble into. I trained you, and I'd like to say that I trained you well, but until we come to a situation where it would be life threatening for you, I won't save you."
"What?!" Louise said, aghast at such words coming out of her familiar. "B-b-but you're my familiar! It's your task to help me!"
"Is it?" Naruto asked. "I thought you said that you want to prove to everyone that you're not a Zero." He said as his face inched closer towards Louise, his eyes emitting a terrifying sight to her, making her felt as if she's at the chopping block, sweat pouring out of her body. His face stopped an inch from Louise's, his bright blue eyes boring holes into Louise's own, who felt as if she was being judged for all her sins right in front of this half-demon she summoned as her familiar. "How will you do so if I'm the one bailing you out of every trouble? Doesn't that mean that you're still a Zero, depending entirely on her own familiar without an ounce of your own strength?" Naruto said as he jolted away from her before walking away. "Training continues as usual today. Your clones are in need of replacement. They've been there for a while, and some changes would be good." He said from afar as he exited the house.
Louise's mouth opened and closed as she tried to answer, yet no answer came to her mind. With trembling hands balled into fists, she swore in her mind that she'll prove him wrong. She'll prove them ALL wrong! She'll make them eat their own words! She'll make sure that everyone will know her! Suddenly, as she held back the tears that almost fell from her eyes at Naruto's words, a pair of warm hands encircled her. She felt it as a mass of hair and boobs landed on the nape of her neck and her back respectively, together with the hug. "Lady Louise, you're not weak. We've been training. And we're getting stronger."
"Let go of me, you plebeian maid!" Louise shouted, trying to pry herself away from Siesta's hug. Unfortunately for her, Siesta's strength exceeds hers, and she didn't manage to escape her cooldown hug from behind. "Let go! Let me go!" She said as she struggled more, her tears almost breaking through her eyes. "Let ... me..." She slowly said before her words ended in sobs as the tears started falling down her face in beads before they turned into a stream of water as Louise bawled within Siesta's arms, for once not caring about decorum and looks, the warm hug of her maid and training partner broke through her tough exterior.
Turning around, she hugged Siesta back as she screamed within her ears, her tears staining the maid dress that Siesta wore. "Why?! He suddenly said that he won't help me! He... *sobs* He wanted to ignore me!"
Tenderly, Siesta rubbed her master's back, never expecting such a soft side to her master. "Shh... He just wanted us to get stronger. We won't grow if we kept relying on him, won't we?" She slowly said, her voice gentle and calming, never for one moment stopped stroking her master's long, pink hair. "He never ignored us. He never will. If he could save me when he didn't even know me, how could you say that he would ignore us?" she gently said into her mistress' ear.
"But... but..." Louise could only stammer out air as Siesta's logic hit her square in her face.
"Shh... Calm down, milady. He'll help us, no matter what. It's just that if we depend too much on him, doesn't it made all this training he gave us worthless?" Siesta said. "I think that's what he was trying to say. He was not belittling you, just telling you the truth in the most direct manner." She continued.
Louise never stopped crying, though she didn't respond either. A while later, her cries turned to sobs and those sobs turned to sniffles before she stopped crying entirely, Siesta having a smile on her face all the time. Suddenly, Louise roughly pushed her away before getting up, wiping her tears on her hanky. Siesta still had a smile on her face at all times though, knowing of her master's tsundere tendencies. Not that she called it that though. "Maid, we shall not speak of this. Never." She said with as much authority her tear-stained face and her slightly stuffy voice could manage.
"Yes, milady. Shall we go now?" Siesta said, kneeling on the floor with a smile on her face as she watched her master recover from her sadness.
"Let me refresh myself then we'll go." She said before going to the bathroom, Siesta following right behind her.
"She's a good master, and he's a good person." she thought. "I'm glad I was bought by them instead of someone else like that sick Count Mott."
-OUTSIDE-
Naruto heard every piece of their conversation, sadly for Louise, and Siesta's reaction made him smile. It's just what he expected. Louise may be a powerful lady with quite the aristocratic blood in her, but Siesta's capability to read a situation was what made them both a formidable partnership. Now, if only he could further refine their bond. Louise still needs to be broken out of her noblewoman thoughts for the two to be able to properly work together.
Both of them then exited the house within their usual all black training clothes and went straight in front of a cross armed Naruto, standing still with their training schedule within his mind. "Alright. The clones will dispel as usual, be created as usual, training the usual stuff. You guys, however, won't. We'll perform warm-ups before both of you will spar against me. Together. I'll Hiraishin us back to the castle tomorrow, and we can move to the town of Chambery (AN: As far as I know, there was no record of the town's name that Louise 'infiltrated' in ZnT, so I used the name of a town in France that I randomly picked from a site. If anyone's offended by this or knows what the actual name was, PM me.) by tomorrow morning." He said, his arms crossed as he showed his game face to the two.
The two sighed at the same time as they both went down on the ground, sitting cross legged in a meditative pose, ready to receive the information from their dispelling clones. "Today's going to be another hard day of training," They both thought tiredly.
-THE NEXT MORNING-
Within the Royal Palace of Tristain, the entire staff of the castle was panicking and rushing all over the corridors of the castle. The reason of their panicking was the fact that this morning, as the maid tasked to deliver breakfast to the guest room went there, she was surprised to find that no one answered her knocks. Curious, she peered through the tough wooden doors that blocked the access to the guest room and gasped in horror even as she slammed the door open, such was her hurry in opening it. Inside, she found nothing. Not a person, luggage, or anything that showed the existence of their princess' esteemed guest, the recently named Chevalier. Nothing but a certain strange shaped object with some paper wrapped around it wedged into the marble floor, so tightly stuck that she was unable to pull it out from the floor as she examined the room.
In abject horror, she ran around, asking the guards and passersby if any of them saw their guests. When all of them said no, she brought them to the room, showing the undoubtedly empty room, causing everyone to panic. This created a chain reaction that sent the entire castle into a widespread hysteria, the disappearance of their esteemed guest, a Chevalier and the Vallière's daughter too! Karin will have their head for this!
This was the situation that Henrietta woke up into as the staffs of her palace all ran around, searching for a missing chevalier and her escort. Calling up one of her guards, she asked, "What is going on? Are we under attack?"
Saluting from the princess's address of him, the guard answered. "No milady! It's just that Lady Vallière went missing from her room! The people are searching for her right now!"
"What?!" Henrietta gasped. "Take me to her room!"
Still in her sleeping garb, she immediately followed the guard to her old friend's room. Upon reaching the room, she was also surprised as she saw none of the signs that showed someone even stayed there for the night. She was about to turn around and give orders to her guards when a certain object caught her eye. Walking towards it, she saw that it was a steel ring attached to a rod with some paper with strange markings on them stuck on the floor.
Immediately she took out the Hiraishin kunai that Naruto gave her when she went to visit the academy before. For some reason, she had the kunai at all times with her and she never failed to pocket it every time she went anywhere, with it staying on a drawer beside her luxurious bed as she slept. It brought her calmness and strength somehow as she held the tiny instrument of murder within her dainty hands.
Everyone there was surprised when their princess took out the exact same thing as the one stuck on the floor, except this one had a sharp end with two smaller prongs protruding from its base, clearly made for stabbing. Comparing the one she held with the one sticking on the floor, she turned around and spoke. "Everyone! There is no need to worry! They are not missing! I implore you, be calm!"
A yellow flash appeared behind her as she finished speaking and the figure of Naruto, Siesta and Louise appeared from the flash, their body wobbling slowly, still unused to the shock caused to the body by the Hiraishin. Henrietta immediately turned around with the kunai in her grip with everyone at the door watching as they gasped in shock.
Looking downwards towards Henrietta, Naruto saw that she had the kunai that he gave her in her hand. "So you still kept that," he said, nodding in agreement. "Good," he said before he had a serious look on his face. "Princess Henrietta of Tristain, we need to talk," He said, his tone deathly serious. "Privately."
Hearing the way Naruto said her name and the way he looked, she knew that this was a serious matter and her body unconsciously straightened itself without any prompting. "Alright. Follow me," she said towards the lumbering figure of Naruto before moving outside the room, the rabble of people in front parting away to let her and the giant pass. Before she could proceed, she looked towards her people before saying, "Back to your tasks, please," with a soft, understanding smile on her face. Not wanting to bother her and the giant that was somehow emitting an oppressive feeling behind her, they all went back to their tasks with the clacks of various types of footwear on the floor echoing as they continued in their original tasks.
And so, Naruto followed behind Henrietta as she brought her somewhere that they could talk privately. She brought him to her room, not even bothering to change out of her light blue pyjamas that she wore that night as she turned around to face Naruto after asking her guards to leave them alone. She was about to say something when she saw Naruto clapping his massive palms together before a bluish wave of power expanded from his palms, crashing into her, sending tingles all over her body before the wave hits the walls and seemed to coat them with a strange bluish glow before disappearing.
"Fuuinjutsu: Keeper of Secrets," Naruto said. "Now we can be sure that no one will hear us, no matter what."
This actually made the princess fear for her life, wondering why or how did she trust the half-demon familiar of her precious friend with something like this. Immediately she lifted the kunai that she still held in her hand before placing it in a two handed stabbing grip. "What do you want?" she said, suppressing all her fear deep into her heart.
Naruto just chuckled lightly at this. "Have no fear, princess. I did not wish to harm you, not at all. Let's have a seat. I just want to talk," he said as he walked towards the elaborately carved small wooden white coloured coffee table in her room. Unsealing his special chair from a seal on his hand, he said, "Nice table. Unfortunately, I am unable to sit on your chairs, so my own chair was needed in most situations." And so he sat on his chair, which was actually just a regular wooden chair painted a brown colour with a lacquer finish, just expanded to his size. "I just want to have a talk."
Feeling no deception in his words, Henrietta slowly let her kunai down before going to the chair located opposite of Naruto's location, though her posture still seemed wary of Naruto. Noticing this, Naruto sighed before saying, "Sorry for placing that seal on your room. The truth is that I don't want anyone able to listen in on us, especially my master and any of your personal guards. The matter might be a bit personal for me and Louise, so forgive me for the precaution," he said to calm her anxiety down.
Relieved at his assurance, Henrietta slowly placed the kunai on the coffee table, though she still discreetly palmed her wand in her pocket. She may not be able to fight against him for long if need be, but she still was a Triangle class mage, and she won't go down without a fight! "So, Naruto. What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
Naruto actually noticed her motion but made no effort to stop or note her of his knowledge. Besides, he understood better than anyone. Being a person who had assassins on his head for a long, long time, he knew that blindly trusting someone without some precautions would be dangerous. But still, he came here for something, and by the Sage, he'll get it. "Princess, tell me. What are you planning to do with my master?" Naruto asked, not bothering to conceal anything from her.
"What?" Henrietta replied, surprised at this turn of events.
"You gave her quite the rank, then suddenly gave her a mission that even with all the training that she did with me, I'm not sure that she could do well," he said. An infiltration mission, especially one that forces a person to go against what he or she normally do would be insanely difficult especially for someone like Louise. "You cited that you had a shortage of manpower, and if not for that, you wouldn't have her do something like this, correct?" he asked. "Answer me truly, and I might even turn my skill to helping you," he added as a bonus, trying to persuade Henrietta with the promise of his own involvement. "And as you already know, my skills are diverse."
"Yes. Yes I did. And of course, any assistance from someone as powerful and experienced as you are would be very much appreciated," she answered without hesitation. "The truth, Emperor Naruto, is this. You know how I just took the throne from my mother, right? I'm sure Louise told you that already," she said.
Naruto, hearing this just nodded. Louise didn't tell him, but he managed to get the picture from his clone's research around the academy. So he knew the current news and everything that was happening around Tristain, and can be considered quite knowledgeable at it. Or at least from what fragments of news that entered the academy.
"As you can probably see, I tried to close the gap between the people, the civilian masses and the nobles that they are under," she continued.
Naruto nodded before saying, "Your humility and understanding is commendable. In fact, from what I can see here in Tristain, the fact remains that most nobles don't give two shits about the people under them. In fact, I daresay that they'd rather watch their people die and scoop away their money rather than help them." What he was saying was the absolute worst case though, and even Henrietta knew that. "Your effort to close the gaps between the two castes and the respect that you showed both your people and your staff, even your servants is something that you have done well, setting yourself as an example of what a good leader should do." In fact, Naruto himself went through his populace in a Henge just to check on their condition every week, even if only through a clone. From the trip, he could learn his people's problems straight from their mouth and solve them if possible. If not, he'll make sure the problem was solved in less than a week. It's part of the reason why people adored him so much. He even lets his people met him directly for them to tell him of suggestions and complaints. He never turned his back on anyone that needs help, thus why he liked what Henrietta was doing. He understood the balance between the one with power and the ones below them. Without one, the other cannot live. As simple as that.
"Thank you," Henrietta said with a bright smile. Having such words of praise coming from a being so much more powerful and experienced than her was something that she could take pride in. But her smile turned into a frown as she continued. "But unfortunately-" her words were cut short by the sight of Naruto holding a hand up to stop her.
"Let me guess," he said. "The nobles, so fixated on their notion that they are superior in all aspects to the commoners, did not want to take your example and continued to treat their people like shit and keep extorting huge amount of taxes from them with the use of threat and violence. Which is actually what they do, and still do right now. Then, every report that came your way was filled with flowery words and good-natured comments, when the truth was hardly that. Or at least that's what you expected. Sure, some may go with you, but most didn't want to. Combined with your 'supposed' lack of manpower, this makes you unable to check whether or not the conflicting reports about the supposed mistreatment of the people and the excellent management that the people had," Naruto said, his arms crossed halfway as he emphasized the 'supposed' lack of manpower. "Still, this begs a question. What does this have to do with Louise though?"
With a sigh from her mouth and a smile on her face, Henrietta replied. "Accurately correct guess, not a word wrong. Just as expected," she said. "Your experience was definite, and this talk just helped me realize that truth further." Her face then gained a hard look as she continued. "The truth, Emperor Naruto, was that Tristain might be at the brink of war. And right now, thanks to the instability my new policy caused within, combined with the civil war raging in Albion, war might be coming to Tristain. To hold off any attacks that might come, I have dispatched my available men towards critical locations on our borders. This is what led to my shortage of men. And about Louise's involvement, it's just that I wanted her to learn more about how being a commoner is like. By being able to get a member of an influential noble family to follow my example, others might be inclined to do so as well," she responded.
At this, Naruto replied, "We're of the same thinking at that last part. I knew how it was like living as a follower before I was an emperor, so I always kept that in mind as I made decisions for them. Even I plan to make her learn quite a bit about how commoners lived," Naruto said before he continued, a worried tone in his voice. "But princess, what about her safety? Infiltration missions like this one would be quite dangerous," though one of my ninjas would have no problem doing so, Naruto thought, "and she might get into trouble. What would you do if she got caught? She will be up against nobles and their men, if bad got to worse. And she has not a shred of magical capabilities in her, no magical ability at all as far as we know, and going up against a high class noble would be deadly, even for her at the moment," Naruto said, trying to judge her based on her response. "If she got captured, you would have to disavow her as a traitor, or risk civil war," he continued, another concern appearing.
To her credit, she just smiled calmly before replying. "Well, that's what you are for right? To protect your master from anything that she cannot handle. And also, you trained her, and you trained her well from what I can tell. Placing her in such a situation will help her later, and she will be able to practice her training in real world situations."
However, Naruto's mind was quickly running through what her words secretly implied and reached to a conclusion, inspired probably by his own capabilities and memories as one. "You're planning to make her, and by extension me, as a human weapon," he said in a truthful tone. Not one of accusation or sadness, but one that was just stating the truth.
"What?!" Henrietta said out loud, her shock extremely apparent in her voice. "No! I will not consider my friend as a human weapon! I will not consider any of my people as anything but numbers in a battle and bodies to throw towards an enemy! I will never do something as vile as that!" she shouted in response. She almost stood up and hammered him with her Water spells if not for the fact that she knew it won't do jack shit to him.
"Do you? Will you?" Naruto said as he pushed his chair backwards, the wood of his humongous chair scraping on the floor of the room as he stood, showing his massive 7' 2" height towards Henrietta. Slowly he walked towards where Henrietta was sitting, his giant foot creating massive booming footsteps within the room. "You know of my powers, my skills. You've seen them. To you, they're insane. Otherworldly," he slowly said, not once slowing down from his already slow walk. "I am capable of matching the entire army of every country you know of, even if they all band together." He spoke with no pride nor boast in his voice. "I alone have more than enough power than your best mages combined together and can easily best them." He said as he reached Henrietta's side before pacing around her, his body casting a massive shadow on her entire petite frame.
"And I am currently training your friend, Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière in my otherworldly arts together with her maid, Siesta." Naruto said, still pacing around Henrietta, not once stopped staring at her with his slit blue eyes, eyes that seemed to dig deep though herself, daring to expose her greatest secrets to the world. "Together, I will train them to be the best. No, they'll be beyond the best," he said truthfully. "They'll be so great, so powerful that the mere mention of their name brings fear to enemies and happiness to allies. They'll be warriors without peer, fighters without rivals, yet diplomats supreme, capable of defeating any enemy either by overwhelming force or by their words. No enemies will be better than them, no allies will have to worry with them on their side," He continued to slowly pace, not slowing down, not stopping. "And you know that I am more than capable of doing so. Training them, that is."
Finally Naruto stopped, staring straight into Henrietta's eyes, his blue straight into her greenish ones. "And with all that in mind, how can you say that we won't become your weapon? A sword, sharpened to an edge beyond lethality to point towards your enemies, within or without?" he said, flaring a ridiculously tiny amount of his chakra (which still amounts to the chakra of a jounin), creating a gust of wind that blew out from him in a wave, crashing into the princess and creating a huge wave of fear within her entire body, nearly triggering her fight or flight response, causing adrenaline to shoot through her entire body as she took deep breaths to overcame the effect of the chakra flare. "How can you, with all your confidence and determination, blindly say that we will not be used as a tool of the country, especially for a person who's so loyal to you that she didn't even stop to think about what she could be forced to do in your name?" Naruto continued, never letting up his flaring chakra, creating a suffocating atmosphere of power around him.
Henrietta gasped as she felt the unrelenting, unforgiving torrent of power that washed on her from Naruto, the sheer feeling that a drop of Naruto's ocean of power caused her even as her eyes never broke contact from Naruto's brilliant azure blue eyes. Her mind rapidly spun under the onslaught of power as the words she barely heard from Naruto ran within her mind even as her entire body reacted horribly to Naruto's radiating power, hyperventilating and sweating and shivering rapidly, her body's adrenaline running higher than she ever felt before, sweat pouring off every inch of her pores, and Naruto didn't even exude an ounce of his KI! His gaze on her eyes shows the depths of his soul while baring every inch of hers for him to study, to break, to pick apart at the slightest provocation from her.
She closed her eyes before drawing massive breaths to calm herself down even as her entire being felt the flare of Naruto's chakra, she managed to keep her mind running straight and coherent enough to respond to Naruto's challenging words. Her eyes snapping open, the greenish eyes staring straight into Naruto's bright blue slit eyes, she responded, pushing back her terror and worry behind a facade of strength through sheer willpower. "N-now that you've said it, it's t-true," she stuttered out as confidently as she can in the face of such otherworldly power. "Y-you, and consequently Louise herself, with your training is a weapon, one of the highest quality and s-strength, a weapon unlike any other in history of Halkeginia, probably only matched by Founder Brimir himself," she said as she stared into Naruto's eyes, not once breaking eye contact despite the waves of power slamming into her.
A sudden confidence surged within her, causing her to stand straighter as she continued her ongoing battle of wills against Naruto, her eyes staring straight into the terrifying visage that was Naruto's who seemed to be cloaked in inky blackness, only his strangely glowing eyes shone as his entire surrounding was consumed by a shroud of darkness that seemed to permeate the immediate surrounding area. "I will not deny the fact that you trained her to be such. Which begs the question: do you not train her to be a weapon? She's a powerful weapon, but only with your training. You're the blacksmith here, and only with your expert forging that she'll be such a great tool for Tristain," she said, wanting to dig into the motivation of why Naruto taught her with his skills.
"Because she wanted me to train her," Naruto answered nonchalantly, not even blinking. "She wants to prove to the world that she's not a Zero, and thus I taught her my techniques. Which reminds me of Hina-hime, but I won't tell anyone that. Sure she isn't, and never will be as powerful as I am, but she'll be a force to be reckoned with in this world of yours. Unfortunately, she still haven't realized that the path that she is walking, both because of her wish and because of my teachings, will force her to abandon her humanity, and I plan to rectify that soon," Naruto continued with a tinge of sadness at the end. It turned back into his sharp tone as he said, "You still haven't answered me."
Henrietta felt a huge weight slamming down on her shoulders as Naruto finished his words. Gritting her teeth and judging her words carefully within her mind, she replied, "In my mind, I have absolutely no thought that I'll make her into my tool, a weapon for me to point towards an enemy. Only after you've said it that I thought about it," she said honestly. "And now, I realized it. By having Louise act within her capacity as my personal agent, I am using her as a tool, an item to be used. This is true," she said, not once denying that fact.
"However," she said, her confidence peaking despite the weight Naruto's chakra caused on her. "I will not have her become a weapon for me," she said again. "She may be my agent, my spear, my sword, but what I will use her as is a shield. A protection, both for me and for the people under my rule. I will use her, not as a club to crush others with, but as armour that protects the people. As a protector of the country, not as the destroyer of another. Tristain rarely starts off wars, but we have been involved in a lot of them, directly or indirectly. I plan to use her strength, and consequently yours, not to conquer and pillage, but to protect and defend. Yes, she'll be my tool, but a tool of defence," Henrietta said, her mounting confidence seeming to light the room as she spoke her mind towards Naruto who was waiting for her answer, his entire body shrouded by the abrupt appearance of the milky darkness around him.
The staring game continued for a while with Naruto staring into Henrietta's eyes, his stare and his aura of power still causing her to shiver and sweat, though she managed to put the shivers under control despite everything, with herself staring defiantly into Naruto's eyes. A couple seconds that felt like years to her passed, and suddenly the all-encompassing darkness around Naruto disappeared, revealing him in his flak jacket and white shirt, a smile on his face.
"Good," he said. He then went back to his chair before sitting back on it, arms crossed at chest level. "That is just what I wanted to hear," he continued. "You're a good princess, and your confidence and force of will are strong. I'd have to say, not many here can stare at me eye to eye as I unleash even a small part of my power without going catatonic nearly immediately, yet with nothing but sheer willpower you faced me. And for that, I congratulate you," Naruto said. It is true. Not many can claim to win a staredown against him, and most definitely not a weak-willed person. To be able to do so would be a marked accomplishment for anyone.
Henrietta let out a long sigh of relief as she slumped on her chair, all royal decorum forgotten in front of such power and the fact that she barely won a staredown against the being that owned said power. Naruto just chuckled watching the previously confident and strong, albeit shaky princess fell on her chair and wiped the beads of sweat pouring down her face. His face then turned serious before he said, "Princess, there's something else isn't it?" Naruto asked. "I can sense one's emotion. I may not be able to read one's mind like a clan on my world is capable of, but I can read body language and emotions very, very well, and it's a skill that helped me immensely over the years I've been an emperor. Tell me, what's the actual reason that you wanted Louise as your agent?"
Henrietta just sighed at Naruto's question. "Nothing went past him, does it?" she thought. Once again looking straight at Naruto's eyes, she remembered a certain detail that Naruto said about his jutsu, which was the fact that it prevents any and all sound from escaping the room. Drawing a deep breath to rebuild her shaky confidence, she said her piece. "Emperor Naruto, actually, right now I fear that I have a traitor in my court. I'm not sure whether he or she works alone or with accomplices, but what I am sure of is the fact that I definitely have a traitor amongst my people."
"That can't be helped," Naruto replied. "It is fairly common even in my own country. So? What are you going to do about it?" he asked.
"For now, nothing," she replied. "They might not know that I know of them, so I will keep it a secret for a while. And right now, my most trusted men are away on an assignment that I gave them, which forces me to have Louise help me. Her family's loyal to the throne and she's my personal friend, so I am sure that she won't betray me for anything."
"A nice thought, though this proved that you had a different reason to have Louise perform the mission you gave her," Naruto said in reply. "However, I understand your motives well. 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer' is an old saying in my empire. Dangerous, but good advice nonetheless."
Standing up, Naruto resealed his chair into its seal, before looking towards Henrietta again. "I approve of this task. Consider that you've gained my help," Naruto said. "However," and his tone gained a hard edge and he released a minute KI, enough for Henrietta to gasp in shock and fear, "If I felt as if you've overstepped your bounds or went against what you've said just now, I'll make sure to put a stop to it. Remember, power is not meant to be abused, little princess." Killing off his KI output, he turned around before facing her again to give her one last word of advice. "I will help you in nearly anything Princess Henrietta, and if you wanted me to be there for you, just throw that kunai I gave you. I'll be there as fast as lightning," He said with a smile on his face as he looked at the once again sweaty princess.
A clap from Naruto, and the blue glow reappeared before it retreated back to his hands, his jutsu over. With a backwards wave, he opened the door, leaving her room but not before some parting words. "We will leave this evening. If you want to meet with Louise, then do so before we leave," He said before closing the door behind his back, leaving Henrietta in her room alone.
She was still on her chair as she clutched a hand on her chest, her heart beating wildly due to Naruto's KI at the end. "He changes moods and feelings like a leaf in a storm, the movement unpredictable and wild," she said to herself. "Yet I know that he means well," she continued as she looked at the Hiraishin kunai Naruto gave her before. "I will treasure this well, Emperor Naruto, together with your wise words," she said before standing up, a myriad of things running through her mind as she went for a bath, the kunai being brought together with her.
-WITH LOUISE-
Louise was pacing around the room with Siesta watching from aside, worried about what Naruto wanted to 'talk' about with Henrietta. "He must've wanted to talk about why she gave me the task! She had no manpower at her side, and she wanted me to help her! I cannot refuse a command from my princess!" she shouted, her feet almost creating grooves on the floor at the speed she was pacing.
"Milady," Siesta said, trying to calm her master. "He meant well, I'm sure. He won't ask that question if he's not worried about your safety," she said, trying to reason with her master.
"But he trained us!" Louise replied, her voice rising. "He trained us well! Even I could tell that! We're stronger than we've ever been, and I feel that we can meet any challenge that we face!" she said with a shout at the end.
"Then you might just get that wish," Naruto's voice was heard by the two. Turning around quickly, Louise came face to chest with Naruto who appeared without any warning behind her, forcing her to tilt her head upwards to look into Naruto's eyes. He looked downwards to Louise before saying, "We'll leave this evening, so pack quickly later."
Jumping backwards before leveling a finger towards Naruto's face, she shouted out. "What did you talk to the princess about?! Are you threatening her?! I will not forgive anyone who threatened my princess!" she shouted out, her entire body shaking with rage at the thought of Naruto threatening Henrietta like that.
Lifting two empty hands in front of him, Naruto replied with a smile. "Nothing," he said. "I had quite an enlightening talk with your princess, and I'd have to say that I will have no problem with us taking on this mission," he said.
Louise's mood made an abrupt change from angry to happy, her eyes sparkling as she said out loud, "Really?! We'll take this mission then?!"
"Yes, and yes we will," Naruto said. "Now, maybe we can have some rest and relax before we go on this mission. After all, we're going to go on foot!" he said cheerfully.
Louise's happy mood was cut short as she heard this part, her head spinning around so quick her long, pink hair flew around her as she stared into Naruto's cheerfully smiling face, her shock reaching its boiling point. And so, that morning, the entire castle heard a loud shout, a shout that caused everyone to jump in shock and alarm, with Henrietta chuckling in her bath as she heard her old friend shout out loud.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH?!"
-CHAPTER END-
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