Chapter 10: Under my watch
"Mmm, that tickles…" murmured Tayuya as she hug the pillow ever closer to her.
"Huh?" gasped Tayuya as she opened her eyes and found herself changed into a white gown which was a bit larger on the chest area.
"What the fuck?" she almost screamed as she realized that this as no longer the ground of the factory and by the smell no longer the hive itself. She was in a small but clean cabin with a window that allowed her to see they were currently in space and nowhere near Hysperia.
She was confused as of where she was and while moving noticed the bandages around her head and also that she was sparkling clean, even her hair was glossy and silky, not dry and dusty as she usually had it.
Her flute was neatly placed on the desk at the opposite wall and her clothes were placed at the locker near the door. She started to remove the blankets but at that moment the door of her cabin opened revealing Hinata in less combative clothes carrying a tray of recently cooked food.
"Miss Tayuya! What a relief! How are you feeling?" asked a smiling Hinata as she left the tray on the desk and sat next to her.
"Where are we? What happened? Where's Naruto?" Tayuya asked in quick succession.
"The Daring Fox, you fell unconscious and he is piloting the ship towards a midway station" responded Hinata while placing a table in front of Tayuya so she could eat.
"How long have I been asleep?" wondered Tayuya as she started to wolf down the food.
"Three days. You were quite in a bad shape; you blew several blood vessels and damaged some nerves. Truthfully those Thornian sound weapons are scary. But you managed to kill the Thornian engineer working for Servian" said Hinata while serving a cool drink for Tayuya.
"Huh, right those things are quite a handful aren't they? But how comes we are already on space didn't you two had to do all the Justicar stuff after crushing those bastards?" asked Tayuya while taking the drink.
"Well, you see several things happened back then and we kind of had to make our stay a lot shorter than expected" said Hinata with a nervous smile
Flashback!
The elevator fell stridently as Naruto had cut off the lines holding it making it drop the fifty meters of the shaft in a few seconds.
Naruto stood at the edge waiting for something still sporting that feral grin on his face. At last a loud explosion reached their ears making Naruto smile back to Hinata.
"There it is! Now, go down the emergency ladders and once you get down there neutralize anything that moves and find a way to shut down the energy of the factory" said Naruto as he recklessly jumped into the shaft.
Hinata wanted to ask several things to Naruto but was cut short by his hasty behavior. Gulping down her worries she went to the ladders and began the long descent to the factory where she couldn't imagine the surprises expecting them.
On his side Naruto landed hard upon the remains of the now useless elevator and quickly stepped out of the smoking shaft expecting some kind of resistance but to his surprise found the remaining guards unconscious or squealing about having lost their hearing; apparently the combined flash bangs had been quite the sensorial bomb he expected as the confined space and the metallic walls amplified their effect several times.
Naruto let out a sigh of disappointment and proceeded to put out of commission those still moving. Hinata arrived shortly after as she managed to slide down using the rails of the ladders.
"What now?" loudly asked Hinata while carefully looking ahead for traps or ambushes.
"We clean house and put the factory out of service. I will secure the production lines, you follow that hallway and try to find a way to power down this place" said Naruto without looking back as he powered his gauntlet and moved forward.
Hinata just nodded and hugging the wall moved carefully into the bowels of the Factory.
Naruto got itchy with anticipation "Damn, not enough! Common! Show your faces and bring it!" roared Naruto at the now paralyzed production lines where several weapons were sprawled unfinished.
He sniffed the air and realized that there was sweat and fear in the air "I know you are here! Step out and I might consider giving you a chance to surrender!" commanded Naruto rearing back his armored fist preparing a blast to whoever was fool enough to raise its head.
"Please don't hurt us! We are unarmed!" fearfully screamed a young girl in her teen years and wearing a dirty white jumpsuit with no pockets as she stepped out with arms in the air and followed by several other girls of different ages with the same attire.
Clearly surprised by the unexpected personnel Naruto powered down his gauntlet and breathing in and out a few times managed to speak in a much gentler voice. "Is there anyone else here? Are there anymore guards? It's alright I am a Justicar you see"
The lead girl dropped her arms and signaling the others that there was no need for fear faced Naruto "We were brought here by force several months ago and we haven't seen the surface in all that time. Sorry, all the guards went to the elevator shaft as they told us to keep quiet and behind the production lines. The Thornian engineer went to his office some time ago and that's all"
Naruto nodded recovering part of his smile "So there is another one, huh? Listen, stay here and don't move, authorities are under way and it's dangerous outside"
The girls nodded and went back to their hiding spot as Naruto powered his Gauntlet once more and confidently walked down the hallway seeking the last mark of the day.
Walking further down he saw two bodies crumpled on the ground close to each other; one was clearly a Thornian male with large red horns while the other was a red haired woman with a worn black cap on her head. Realizing who she was, all his expectation for battle turned into panic as he quickly reached her side and cradling her in his arms began to try and rouse her up.
"Tayuya! What were you doing here? I told you to wait outside!" screamed Naruto while rubbing Tayuya's cheek.
He panicked when he saw the blood still dripping from her nose and ears. Knowing a bit about Thornian sound weapons he feared the worst and growing more desperate held her close to his chest.
"No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! This was supposed to go smoothly! Ever since Hinata joined me only good things were supposed to happen! I am sorry Tayuya, I am so sorry…" said a sniffing Naruto as he gently cradled her limp body.
With Hinata,
"Mmm, seems like we got them all; no firearms, no agonizing whimpers, no explosions. Just this obnoxious smoke screen and those amber lights on the roof. Seriously sending me alone to shut down this place" thought Hinata as she walked down the aisles of the factory searching for the power source of the factory.
"I don't even know how those look like!" thought a now annoyed Hinata as she went through several aisles and rooms that looked similar and the smoke becoming stagnant mean that the air circulators were broken.
Deciding that she was getting nowhere, Hinata leant against a wall to determine how she could pull this assignment.
"Energy, I must shut the energy. Oh! I know!" standing straight she exhaled and closing her eyes began to concentrate.
Slowly she opened her eyes and though it still hurt, she was beginning to get used to the sensation her strange Psionic ability got her through.
The world was once more one of grey and shadows but no place within was beyond her sight now; looking around she caught glowing pulses of yellow light going into the factory. Seeing the origin of the pulses she managed to start walking in the right direction.
"I am still not certain how this thing works or for what purpose but it sure comes in handy" thought a merrier Hinata as she finally found the door with the big ENERGY CORE sign on it.
Entering the small room she was expecting to find some power breakers or a big red button; instead she found a makeshift power conduit extracting energy from the hive's main power grid.
"Huh? How do I go about this?" wondered Hinata as she tried to deduct the best way to power down the factory.
Once more scanning the room with her Psionic skill noticed that a clamp was transmitting the power to the main lines of the factory, so she went to the mechanic controls that allowed her to open the clam and successfully shut down the factory.
"At last! Naruto, it may be obvious but the factory is effectively neutralized. Please acknowledge" said through the comm link a now more relaxed Hinata as she leant against the wall outside the power room.
Hinata waited for some moments but when she didn't received any response she tried once again the comm link to reach Naruto "Naruto? I repeat the power is down and the operation is a success"
She now remained still trying to listen to whatever response Naruto would send.
"Help me Hinata!" lowly said Naruto to a now petrified Hinata.
This sent a sharp cold shiver throughout her body that brought the worst fears into her to surface.
Without noticing her Psionic was once again activated but much more strongly and almost by instinct began to search for Naruto.
At one moment she saw the unconscious guards by the destroyed elevator, a second next she saw the crouching figures of several persons by the assembly lines. Focusing on them allowed her to see that they were all smaller frames than Naruto.
Finally she caught sight of a large figure crouching and as if holding something in his arms. She also noticed the other large frame sprawled in front of it.
Immediately her sight returned to a normal focus and managed to see the right hallways to reach them.
Setting to run frantically she crashed a couple of times to the walls as she was running too fast to turn appropriately. Finally after a few turns she reached the scene her sight showed her moments before; right in front of him was a male with large red horns lying dead with his head covered in blood, next to him was Naruto holding something very close to his chest as he whimpered and softly repeated "Help me, help me Hinata"
Carefully she kneeled next to him and compelled him to move in her direction to look for any injuries, but as he turned and relaxed his arms she noticed the almost lifeless body of Tayuya in his arms.
"What?" gasped Hinata as she froze.
"She was like this when I got here. I don't know what happened but she may have been hurt with one of those sound weapons. Please help her!" said Naruto still holding her.
Blinking twice she remembered her first aid training and compelled Naruto to lay her carefully on the floor. She then moved her hand to feel a pulse.
Hinata waited a few moments and after letting out a long sigh she said "She is alive, her pulse is strong but she may have head or internal injuries, we must bring a medic team in here"
Flashback ends!
"Then we brought you up into the infirmary where the auto medic station took care of you, good thing the machine comes programmed with every humanoid physiology in it. I wonder if it has the Augyan too?" finished saying Hinata as she cleared the table in front of a now satisfied Tayuya.
"So he did come for me" thought a slightly blushing Tayuya. Still there was something not being told here.
Right before Hinata could get out, Tayuya called her back "Hey, so what happened afterwards? Did you get the bad guys? Did your daredevil tactics worked?"
Hinata turned on her heels and giving her thumbs up sign exclaimed "Yup! We saved the day! Rest easy Tayuya!" quickly said Hinata with a nervous laughs as she closed the door and leave.
"Mmm, she is just a bad liar. Humpf, Naruto probably screwed up again and we are on the run from Hysperian authorities" thought Tayuya as she went back to sleeping with no more care about the events on Hysperia.
What she didn't knew was that in her hurry Hinata didn't noticed that the mechanic controls of the power clamp needed to be secured in order to avoid accidents, so the clam shut back on the hive's power grid with so much force that the clamp cut clean the main line effectively shutting down the entire hive. From bottom to top a huge black spot appeared on the surface of the planet that night.
Thankfully the emergency reactors kept going the most crucial systems that allowed hospitals, air circulators, and water purifiers going for hours after the greatest black out in almost four centuries.
Authorities were shocked beyond belief when they descended to the area where Hive command indicated the power line was cut and found an illegal operation running there, countless wounded armed men and a smoking shaft leading to an underground weapons factory where a Justicar and his assistant where carrying out a wounded woman while being followed by a bunch of girls.
Authorities immediately assisted Naruto under his order to secure the factory and keep the arrests as rioters going too far to make their demands be known. Once Tayuya had been placed under care Naruto went straight to find out who this Servian guy was; but when Naruto removed the mask a lethal neurotoxin was unleashed into Servian's brain killing him instantly and damaging his brain to the point where neuro scans would be impossible to find more clues.
DNA tests found out that Servian was a former Factory master who fell in disgrace after a few bad management decisions and an aggressive take over from a rival master. He made shady business to recover and perhaps meddled with a far more dangerous man than he expected.
Documents at his home discovered his clients at the Soundya systems but when Federation security forces lead by another Justicar in the area moved to make the arrests such clients where already dead apparently poisoned by a similar substance to that used on Servian.
All in all, the mission was a success for under the command of Magister Tsunade a thorough audit of Hysperia's elite began in order to investigate any treacherous activities being carried out and to send a strong message to other industrial systems of the Federation's constant watch.
But not all was a resounding victory…
"NARUTO! From all your previous disasters, this is by far the most expensive one! It took three days to reestablish energy to the hive! Do you have any idea of how much money did your stunt cost the planet? All the panic attacks, induced births, indecent behavior and robbery attempts to mention some of the crimes unleashed by the blackout! All you needed to do was to confirm the existence of the weapon smugglers! Or is that too much of a mission? Maybe I should send you to a border patrol mission? NO! Knowing you, you would start a new war with the aliens from the Yordan veil, or the Uchiha or better yet a new found species!" finished screaming a furious looking Tsunade while a bothered Jiraiya stood silent on his screen.
Naruto stood straight while withstanding the lashing from his superiors fully understanding that his nature got the better of him once again.
Calming down Tsunade breathed in and out trying to regain some sense of order in the midst of her angry lashing. Jiraiya taking the chance to offer some insight took the word.
"You know, you could have carried out the job for this Servian and found out about the clients in Soundya. That way you would have killed two birds in one shot instead of just killing them all, which brings a note of attention about their demises. They were all killed by the same substance but the curious thing was that they were killed almost at the exact moment you took Servian's mask. That kind of technology is extremely advanced and there are only two places of the known galaxy where quantum technology is being studied, with us and the Uchiha pact though this level is yet unheard of. It's quite troubling, so I have assigned some agents to find out more about it"
"In any case you stopped some very dangerous weapons from reaching the Soundya systems and that's something don't you think Tsunade?" finished saying Jiraiya.
"Ahh, Guess you are right" said Tsunade.
"Excuse me, but I was the one who shut down the power lines. I didn't know what I was doing and made a mistake. Please don't blame Naruto for this" said Hinata while bowing in regret.
"It's not your fault you followed orders and to begin with, you shouldn't had been there in the first place" dismissively said Tsunade.
"Naruto, you have people under your command now, your actions no longer affect you anymore but all those who follow you. You brought a rookie operative into a very dangerous situation and an inexperienced civilian which you coerced to work for you; though you could have conscripted her with you authority!" patiently said Tsunade.
Naruto turned to Hinata thinking "You don't have to be so explicit!"
"Anyway, Naruto you can count yourself lucky this time but don't gamble away those who follow you into the fire" finished saying Tsunade while disconnecting.
"Naruto I will be sending you your next assignment soon, so be done with that redhead as soon as possible. Take care" finished Jiraiya.
Finally the debriefing ended allowing Naruto and Hinata to let out a long breath while taking seats.
"I am impressed Hinata" said Naruto while smiling
Blushing she turned her head to side and quietly responded "Thanks, but I really didn't do anything"
"I mean, knocking the lights out of an entire planet! I have disabled space stations, boarded ships and came out of Mexican stand offs unscathed but you crippled an entire Hive! Guess there's always room to improve" Naruto said in a playful manner.
Hinata just wanted to cry; Naruto was mocking her and all on a very innocent mistake. Guess the first week in the job truly is the hardest.
Falling into silence Naruto and Hinata just stayed alone in the meeting room, feeling quite tired of the mission and meditating upon it.
"Hinata, I owe you an apology. I should have listened to you. Because of my eagerness I placed you and Tayuya in unnecessary risk. I promise it won't happen again" said a thoughtful Naruto while leaving the room.
Hinata didn't find words to reply for there were none. This is the kind of tests one must go through to grow as a person and a leader.
xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo
After five days of space travelling the Daring Fox was finally arriving at a midway station between systems. These stations are particularly large as they tend to grow in size over the ages as new sections are attached or another station merges with it effectively making them deep space colonies where locals tend to the needs of travelers. And one of such needs is transportation.
Tayuya had been up and about walking around the ship as a way to recover from the self inflicted damage sustained during the battle with the male Thornian. So far she has been secretive on the details of her battle and so far Naruto has taken it for the truth though Hinata has been more inquisitive about since she took the duty to write all the reports and so far there was one thing that didn't added up.
"Say again Tayuya, how come the male Thornian had similar injuries to yours? According to the authorities the Thornian weapon from your battle was set to small shock sound bursts, from records I found that that kind of setting would have caused superficial bruising along with…" said Hinata while interrupted by Tayuya.
"Muscle paralysis; I know, I am a Thornian you know?" said while pointing to her head as she walked around the vessel to get her body back in regular shape while closely followed by Hinata and her information slate.
"Exactly which makes your wounds and his very rare, especially considering that you didn't had any sound weapon, just the small auto pistol from the armory" continued Hinata as she read the slate.
Getting tired of Hinata's constant questioning she slammed her fist at the wall and said "Listen Breasty! I don't recall much from the fight alright? I went down there because I can't stand my own people doing such things as producing weapons for terrorists and keeping little girls as slaves! Be glad it's done and we are alive, ok?"
At this she turned and huffing waited for Hinata to scramble but after a few moments of not hearing her footsteps she dared to turn a bit only to find a teary eyed Hinata trying her best to not cry.
"Whoa! Hey calm down! Seriously it´s not so much of an issue; things were chaotic down there and I guess I just got lucky" said a now guilty and uncomfortable Tayuya.
Stifling her tears Hinata managed to calm down and nodded "You are right these things are not my business, it´s only that it was my first mission and things went so horrible. So I just was trying to learn as much as possible so this doesn't happen again…" finished saying while threatening to start crying again.
Sighing Tayuya beckoned Hinata to follow her into the assembly room of the ship.
"I´ll tell you a few things but you better keep them to yourself!" said Tayuya in a menacing way.
Hinata nodded and happily followed Tayuya while thinking "Hah! The cute act worked again! If only I had known at Augya!"
Sitting down Hinata stood at the edge of her seat waiting for the story while Tayuya removed her cap and allowed her small white horns to see the light.
"It's true, I defeated the male Thornian and yes I did it with a sound weapon, my flute" said Tayuya while grabbing her flute from her belt and showing it to Hinata.
"The reason of why I followed that guy was because I am tired of people treating Thornians as criminals and troublemakers; the last thing we needed was to add terrorists to the list. So I went to put him out commission." said Tayuya.
"Why do people believe such things about your species?" asked Hinata.
"Well, because three hundred years ago we were part of the splitting species when the Uchiha betrayed the Federation and attempted to become an empire. My people had been swayed by the cunning Uchiha on promises of power, territory and a position of prestige in their empire. But when the Uchiha bet failed and the Federation remained, my people were left abandoned as the Uchiha fought to keep several territories under their control. The Federation brought its wrath against my world destroying our already small fleet and crushing our world government which in turn broke up the unity of my planet into smaller countries that almost immediately began discussions of how to lead our planet" continued Tayuya.
"After two hundred years of lacking a unified government the Federation finally decided to help us reestablish order after they had gone through their own reforms to avoid things like the Uchiha from happening again and securing our planet was one of the final steps to it. But when the Federation tried to force a government upon the now two hundred year old nations a great planetary war erupted forcing the Federation to leave the planet and let us sort out things. The war lasted for a hundred years and ravished much of our planet, not to mention that our sound weaponry is extremely destructive and according to Federation standards considered of Mass Destruction, even the little ones we found in Hysperia" finished Tayuya.
"Why? They are impressive but all weapons aren't they?" said a curious Hinata.
"The thing with our weapons is that being a species of high sound sensitivity we managed to control sound frequencies like no other. This made our music legendary for many centuries since the music goes at so many levels that we can almost make your entire body feel the music conveying even our feelings through it, or so they used to say. But on the other side we learned how to use those sound frequencies in war. A properly calibrated sound weapon could peel the flesh from your bones or have your bones shatter within your body. Those weapons don't have much range but shooting one in the middle of a crowd could create a real massacre in seconds" sternly said Tayuya
"Imagine turning those weapons against ourselves for a hundred years" finished Tayuya.
"Oh my" was all Hinata managed to say as she cringed remembering how close she came from becoming a victim to the one Tayuya almost used on her back in Augya.
"Finally the war ended not with a victor but with a new philosophy that became popular during the dark days. It ended the battle and returned peace and unity to my world but the damage was too great and our once glorious cities were no more. This new philosophy demanded from us constant acts of penance and mourning as we rebuilt our world, renouncing to our pride, our arts and our desires for they were the things that cursed us when we followed the Uchiha" continued Tayuya as her look started to wander into the window where space could be seen.
"Our cities are much humbler and black, silent and solemn; boring if you ask. Back in our better days our cities were radiant and golden and were a cacophony of music, study and creation!" spoke Tayuya with great passion.
"But our new leaders fearing those who wanted our days of glory restored, denied them and said that such ambitions were what led us to destruction. Tensions rose once again as we were conflicted upon which path to take. We were all worried that a civil war would sunder us again and probably extinguish our species so the Great Admiral Hiruzen made a proposition which seemed to be the only solution. He offered passage out of the planet to the Thornians who wished to restore our ancient ways while leaving those who removed themselves from such things behind in Thornia" said Tayuya with sorrow in her voice.
"Many were horrified by the idea but our divisions were very true and quickly leading us to a new conflict so swallowing our fears grabbed whatever little of our past we could carry and boarded huge Treelian freighter ships donated by the Federation and left to space for the first time in three centuries" continued.
"But the rest of the Federation wasn't so eager to take us back after the betrayal which almost plunged them into unending chaos. So everyone were treated as outcasts, renegades, not worth of any trust and in some places as demons whose tunes enchant people to hell"
Hinata remained silent taking the tragic story as Tayuya breathed out.
"This made us unwanted in every place and as we were poor no one wanted to trust us with a world to colonize so must of our people still fly on those huge ships while many among the younger generations took to the space to make a name and a living as privateers; certainly not helping our already bad reputation" finished Tayuya.
"Wow, I don't know what to say" meekly said Hinata.
"Don't say anything, I left the exodus ships to find a better fate and for people to recognize Tayuya not the Thornian girl. And now that I shared my story I ask you to keep it to yourself and tell no one" said Tayuya while leaving to make another walk around the ship.
Alone Hinata just could think that in a way Tayuya was like her, setting out into the unknown to make her dreams come true no matter the risk.
Meanwhile Naruto just closed the comm link to the meeting room after Tayuya's long story and getting up from the pilot's seat thought aloud "Guess that makes it easier then…"
xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo
After getting clearance to land the Daring Fox coupled with one of the many small docks of the midway station number 1008 with a population of nearly two hundred thousand of many species that had come in the past and made of the station their home.
As per their agreement Naruto and Hinata would help Tayuya find a ship of her own to start anew her life as a privateer. Having grown up in a massive ship made of Tayuya an expert on vessels and so she was confident in getting a solid one for her to restart her life in space.
As soon as the small party descended several traders mobbed them asking for prices on the radically new ship offering other vessels in exchange or going as far as offering money and more than one vessel. One went as far as offering her young daughter!
Tayuya just sent them a diabolical glare which was enhanced by her horns and with it the mob scattered quickly.
"Got to know your way around these places" said a satisfied Tayuya as she clearly felt more confident in these stations.
Naruto and Hinata nodded though they also were spooked by such display.
Hours went by as the trio visited several ship traders and for some reason Tayuya turned down every single offer that in Naruto and Hinata's eyes seemed quite good. Tayuya always said that those vessels were more damaged than they seemed and that some of the newer vessels were from species with bad reputation in ship building.
Tayuya said that she waited for the vessel to scream out for her, a good sound from it, but so far none seemed to satisfy her demanding standards.
Finally the lights of the station dimmed to an almost nocturnal feel which indicated that the final hours of activity were coming as the 24 hours cycle approached its end.
"Man! We went through half the ship dealers of the station and none had a worthy vessel! People no longer care for their things these days; they just break once and immediately jump to a new one not caring for the partner who carried them for so long. And then they just sell it to these fools who only perform basic sustenance ignoring the most subtle damages of the ship; they are selling coffins!" almost screamed a frustrated Tayuya as she ate an extra sweet milk shake.
"Oh, you sure know a lot about ships. Probably from growing up in one I presume" said an impressed Hinata as she too had an extra sweet milk shake.
"That's right, a ship is more than a transport or a weapon; they are your home and a lot of memories go with it as it flies you across the stars in search of fortune and adventure. That's what hurt me more after losing my small freighter to Bragg and learning he sold it as scrap! Glad you took him down and is now rotting in prison!" said Tayuya as she finished her milk shake in one long swig.
Naruto who had been silent the entire day finally spoke "Tayuya, what do you think of my vessel? What sound does it make?"
Hinata blinked in confusion as Tayuya started to cough clearly surprised by the question.
"Well it's a fairly new vessel and of course her sound is rather harmonious showing an excellent craft and careful dedication to its making. To say the truth I would love to keep it, after all you cost me my last ship!" said Tayuya with a humorous tone clearly not meaning her last words.
"How about you fly it?" said Naruto looking straight into Tayuya's eyes.
Hinata dropped the straw of her milk shake as Tayuya cleaned the corner of her mouth with her sleeve as she couldn't believe the words Naruto just uttered.
"Huh, what did you said? You want me to keep your ship? You know I was kidding right?" carefully said Tayuya not wanting to think of the other possibility and have false hope.
"I don't want you to keep it but I think it would fly greatly if you are the one behind the steer. Tayuya I want you to fly my ship as I go from one mission to another" said Naruto leaning across the table.
Tayuya stood up and took a step back ready to run away from this clearly demented Naruto.
"E-Enough with your jokes! This is not the time! You want a criminal to work for you?" said Tayuya as she withdrew a bit further.
Naruto caught her arm and brought her back "I do want you to fly my ship. I acknowledge you are the better pilot and the way you speak so fondly of ships tells me that you will treat it as it deserves. Besides you are a failure as a criminal and you get into trouble very often so I decided to keep an eye on you from now on" finished saying Naruto with a slightly red tinge out from embarrassment.
Hinata, though surprised, smiled tenderly as she saw this compassionate side of Naruto who clearly felt responsible for Tayuya's wounds and became too worried for her as to lose her from sight.
Tayuya on her side went red with both fury and embarrassment over the sudden offer and the remark on her skill as an independent contractor.
Tayuya was about to reply a loud no but Naruto's next words changed that.
"I want you!" said Naruto while lowering his head not wanting to show this rather soft side of him to Tayuya with whom he had a weird connection being that she was his first successful assignment.
Tayuya's fury dropped to zero at that instant as those words struck an old desire of hers making her blush warmly. Stopping her struggle to go away she replied a low "Say it again"
Naruto blushed harder and said in a more awkward tone "I want you"
Tayuya cleared the small tears forming in her eyes and replied contently "Alright, I will be your pilot. Can't let such a fine ship being flown by a joke like you and a big breasted bimbo"
Naruto stood right at her face and screamed "Who is the joke? Me? Or the one who got caught more than six times by it?"
Tayuya stood her ground and screamed back "You only caught me because you cheated! You dumbass!"
As Naruto and Tayuya exchanged taunts Hinata continued to suck on her milk shake wondering what a bimbo was.
AN: Done!
That was fast don't you agree? But sadly I may have to put this story in the freezer for a while.
Reasons? I want to start a new story where I can better exercise my humoristic skills and this story has an impressive lack of support despite my best efforts to make it entertaining and original in its own sense since Naruto sci-fi stories are quite rare.
So I will dedicate more time to my main project, The Wandering Sage, and to the first chapters of my new project.
In any case I don't want you to think that I am abandoning this story but instead I am going to dedicate more time to my other projects so it may take me a rather long time to update again.
I invite you check out my other projects which will be in my profile and of course, to review this chapter.
In the meantime you may also contribute with ideas for further chapters, especially on who you want Naruto to meet up next or where you want his next adventure to take place.
Read, Enjoy and Review.