A/N: A new chapter…probably the shortest I've done so far for this story. Anyway, it'll mostly be another chatty chapter, but I promise action in the next chapter or so. We'll delay a bit on the potential attack on Konoha, but suffice to say there will be more homecomings and reunions in the future.

In any case, do read and review, would you kindly? And keep it classy!

…

[Konohagakure no Sato Farmer's Market, morning]

It was a typical morning in the village, as business picked up in the Farmer's Market. Genin couriers running around to make their deliveries and complete their missions, while shinobi assigned to police duty kept their eyes out for trouble on the streets. However, that paled in comparison to the din of merchants trying to sell their wares to any chef wishing for the best ingredients. Sometimes however, someone at one of those restaurants would drop the ball on the one thing they were supposed to do before it even opened: to get those ingredients very early in the morning.

This was the mission that Hanabi was currently running, while Yuri quietly guided her through the crowd: an Akimichi clansman had forgotten to turn on his alarm and overslept. Because of that, many of the freshest ingredients had already been bought out at the fish market. This meant that she had been tasked with going to the nearby creek, and catching as many carp as she could find to buy him time to restock on his supply. Luckily, the client still had a few fish in storage, but he still needed more to buy his stand more time before his regular suppliers arrived.

The only good thing about being heiress was that she was given more personal mentorship as opposed to being placed a normal team like Konohamaru. While it was lonelier, at least she had someone who was more invested in her education. Still, would've been better if I didn't have to go this alone.

Hanabi was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a yelp, getting her attention. She looked down from the rooftops to see a crowd of people gathered around the main boulevard, staring and pointing at the main street. She could hear them murmuring and whispering to each other. What the hell is going on?

"Looks like it's finally on," supplied Yuri, hidden away in her pack.

"They're really doing this?" Hanabi asked, moving in closer for a better view, "What about the whole 'we're doing this in the dark' bit?"

"Not much a choice. We're all gonna have to stand together if we want to survive the Darkness…and that means making the Guardians come out in public."

"Do I have to do it too?" Hanabi wondered to herself, looking down at the street. She could see a line of Guardians filling up the boulevard. It was almost like a parade, with how the people just stood by, gawking in awe at the march. She saw a lot of Titans, striding with pride in their heavy armor. There were also a few Hunters, Warlocks, and the new Paladin class interspersed at the edges of the parade. She also saw that the ones leading the parade were none other than Naruto.

"Only if you want," Yuri answered, "You're not even dead yet, so you still have a choice in the matter."

As she leaped from building to building towards the Akimichi district, she got better views of the parade as she passed. She could see several Guardians operating vehicles; there were a lot of Sparrows, though she could make out several heavier vehicles moving in. This new one had a wide and blocky frame, was well-armored, and had a machine gun turret mounted at the back. Like the Sparrow, it hovered over the ground, but it was large enough to accommodate six people at once: the driver, four passengers, and someone to operate the turret. She'd heard rumor that there was an argument in the R&D Initiative over it, engineers still debating heatedly over whether to name it the 'Warthog' or 'Puma.'

Hanabi quickly followed the path the Guardians took. It only took her a few moments to realize that their destination was the Hokage Tower, where Naruto would very likely speak with Tsunade-sama about the upcoming war.

"But to be honest, I don't see what kind of help we can get from the Shinobi," Yuri sighed, "I mean, are they ready for the things we're going to share with them? And somewhat more importantly, is the heart of all Humanity open enough to accept the Traveler again after all these years?"

"You'll never know until you try," Hanabi replied, running across the rooftops to turn in the large bag of carp to the Akimichi restaurant owner. "I mean, I still have doubts about the whole thing with the Traveler myself. That's not to say that I don't believe in it and all; I'm just saying, we need to give it some time before we make a final judgment on the issue."

"And if they refuse our olive branch?"

"Nothing changes," Hanabi answered sharply, "We'll stay in the village and help defend it in the shadows. When the day comes that we have no choice but to come out of hiding, then there's nothing more to be said: we'll step out, and reveal ourselves to the world."

As she sped across the rooftops, she kept her focus on the task at hand. As much as she hated putting up with glorified chores, she still had to do them until she was ready for D- and C-ranked missions. The only saving grace for her situation was that unlike most other teams, the payment was a little better as it was still technically an apprenticeship. Still, she couldn't help but wish that she'd be able to get these low-level jobs done and over with so that she could really sink her teeth into more serious work.

Using the tree-hopping technique, Hanabi made good haste towards the restaurant in spite of the extra weight she carried on her back. She'd managed to catch enough carp today that at the very least the chef would have about an hour-long buffer until the delivery for more fish came through. Until then, he still had plenty of items on the menu to satisfy his customers before they started leaving in disappointment, and she would be denied her pay—especially if the fish spoiled by the time she got there.

In her rush to deliver her package, Hanabi failed to notice the feminine form watching her from above.

…

[Training Ground 12, Konoha]

Yūgao strolled through the forest, taking in the scenery and the light wind breezing through the trees as she toted a sword bag over her shoulder. She'd finished pouring a libation in honor of Hayate, as well as leaving some incense and flowers for him; now she was headed for her personal training ground. Ever since the Konoha Chūnin Exams, she'd been training hard in preparation to avenge his death at the hands of one of the Suna Shinobi.

For now, however, she had to put her revenge on hold: Tsunade-sama had made the announcement to prepare for war. The only problem was that she wasn't clear with whom; however, with Uzumaki Naruto's brazen return to the village, she feared that their enemy was the Guardians. Up until now, she hadn't thought much about them, barring the capabilities they'd shown during the Kirigakure Incident. And to think that the Guardians had come back from the grave was just mind-boggling in her eyes.

As she came to a stop in the clearing, Yūgao set her bogu down by a tree before pulling a broad-bladed bokken out of the long cloth bag. Even at its normal weight, the suburito was too heavy to be a practical weapon; however, what made this one special was that it had a metal core lined with adjustable gravity seals for kata training. It was fitted tightly into a solid oak sheath that was carved into a sword-shape around it. In the right hands, it was a deadly weapon as the ancient samurai named Musashi could attest.

Adjusting the amount of chakra she sent into the suburito, Yūgao felt the weight of the wooden sword gradually getting heavier before she settled on a weight she was satisfied with. After a few stretches, she began to run through her kata, one form at a time; once that was done, she had to do some drills before she could honestly call it a day.

"Your form's good," noted a voice hiding in the tree branches, momentarily startling Yūgao. She glanced upward to notice a figure literally looking down on her from a nearby branch. He wore a hooded cape and an advanced-looking helmet with a rebreather over the light armor that marked him as a scout. "Although, you're gonna have to do more than just impress people with your kata."

"I'll take that into consideration," she answered tersely, studying the newcomer carefully as she tightened the grip on her suburito, lowering the weight slightly, "So what brings a Guardian to see me?"

"Not much, really; parades aren't my sort of thing," replied the scout, "That, and I wanted to see someone I could relate to."

"How do you figure that?"

The scout reached out to the side to pick up a bokken, tossing it to the ground in front of Yūgao before lowering himself onto the ground. "I also like to let my sword do the talking," he stated matter-of-factly.

"So a sparring match?" she asked, picking up the sword.

The scout nodded, striding towards her confidently. There was something in his voice and his walk that seemed somewhat familiar to Yūgao as he came to a stop a few feet in front of her. "Yeah, but to be honest, there's also stuff our R&D guys wanted me to try out. See if it was worth using…don't worry though, it won't be lethal."

Shrugging her shoulders, Yūgao took the wooden sword in both hands before assuming chudan no kamae. "I've got no problem with that, but where's your sword?"

In answer to her question, the scout reached out to the sides, a pair of bokken made of some kind of heavy plastic materializing in his hands. One was a full-sized katana-type bokken, the other was a shorter wakizashi-type. The shorter blade was held in front of him, pointing at her while the katana was held closer to the pommel, and held over his shoulder. "A Nitō-ryū fighter?" she asked, almost surprised by the scout as he slightly tightened his stance, "You sure you got the dexterity for it?"

Yūgao had a feeling that he was smirking under his helmet at her. "Hey, you never know; I've had a bit of time since my first death to pick up on it. And since we Hunters like our knives, I figured I might as well get to know it even more."

With an amused sigh, Yūgao smiled back at her opponent. "Don't cry when I knock you on your ass."

The two of them stared each other down, waiting for each to make the first move.

…

[Elsewhere]

Nagato's vision cleared up as he studied his surroundings. The first thing he saw was a white ceiling, illuminated by sterile white lights. To his left, he noted an IV drip hanging by his head. As he tried to sit up, he noted resistance around his wrists, coupled with the clattering of metal chains against hollow metal pipes. He was handcuffed to both side rails of a hospital bed with a strange-looking device on each.

"I wouldn't try to escape," warned a voice in the room at the foot of his bed, "One word out of me, and the Titans outside will knock the door down. And since you're pretty much a prisoner here, their orders take precedence over mine; which means they'll make sure you're good and dead by any means necessary."

Straining his neck to look down at the foot of his bed, Nagato saw someone sitting in a chair, fiddling with some sort of clipboard made of light. He wore the white canvas coat of a doctor over a well-tailored black pinstripe suit. From what he could make out of his features, the doctor was roughly in his early- to mid-forties, with a build that implied he kept himself in good shape. His jet-black hair had a small patch of white as it covered almost half of his facial features. The part of the his face that he could see had a darkened patch of skin grafted over his left eye.

"Where…?"

"You're in the Nami Tower," answered the doctor, his eyes focused on the clipboard, "The main headquarters for the Shinobi Nations' Guardians. And you've been treated so that the Speaker can have a word with you."

"The Speaker?" Nagato parroted, memories of the woman flashing through his mind. He recalled how after the Traveler had appeared, six little machines floated down from the sky. The last thing he remembered was a surge of pain rushing into his head before he blacked out.

"She's never been seen outside the Ocean Tower until she decided to take matters into her own hands with you," the doctor explained, continuing to ignore Nagato in favor of his clipboard, "Given what I've heard about the return of the Darkness and all, this is the last place she should be. But she's dead-set on speaking with you personally, so who'm I to stop her?"

Nagato glared at the doctor, focusing chakra into his Rinnegan.

"I'm no shinobi, but if you're trying to use a jutsu, then give it up," noted the doctor, after trying fruitlessly to channel any chakra, "R&D's been working on a lot of things, including a chakra nullifier for highly dangerous nuke-nin like yourself."

After he was finished with whatever he was doing on his clipboard, the doctor turned to face Nagato with a scrutinizing glare. "Trust me, it's better this way," he groused, "Of all my patients, you were bar none one of the most difficult. It was already a pain to pull out all the spikes in your back. And on top of that, I had to deal with your malnourished body; you haven't had much to eat or drink, and the problem was made even worse with how quickly you burnt yourself out on constant jutsu usage. Honestly, it's a miracle you're still alive."

Nagato heaved a sigh of resignation. He'd lost, it was simple as that…besides, the doctor bartered no compromise when it came to the health of his patients. It's always the doctor, he thought to himself.

"How is he looking, Hazama-sensei?" asked a feminine voice in the doorway. It was hard to forget that voice, especially considering the encounter he had with its owner. The Speaker walked into the room with an escort of two heavily-armed and armored Guardians flanking her.

"If you're talking about a full recovery, then he's got a long road ahead of him," explained Dr. Hazama, "But he IS lucid enough for the two of you to have words. Looks like the R&D's really pulled through; that Medi-Gel stuff really closed up his wounds. I still trust my scalpels and sutures though."

"As always, you're the best at what you do," she answered gratefully. As she walked closer, the Speaker pulled up a seat next to Nagato. Her guards stood at the foot of his bed, no doubt ready to massacre him for the slightest misbehavior.

"I'll leave you to it," dismissed Dr. Hazama, bowing respectfully before exiting.

There was a tense atmosphere between the two of them, as Nagato and the Speaker stared at each other silently. "Where is Konan?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"She's recovering in the ward next to yours," Kushina answered tersely, "After you blacked out, I had a team of Guardians en route to capture you both alive. She's recovering, so no need to worry there."

Nagato sighed in relief, before turning to regard the Speaker. "What happened?"

"The Traveler sent out Ghosts to raise your Paths of Pain from the dead," she explained, "In more recent years, the Guardians of old have found a way to restore a soul, thus giving Guardians their memories back. For some reason however, something messed with the resurrection process, and pretty much wiped those Guardians' memories. I'm guessing it's because of those piercings you put into their bodies. Now, because they have to rediscover who they are, they will no longer be the people you knew."

Nagato widened his eyes, his mouth agog. This meant that all the memories Yahiko had shared with him and Konan were lost forever, and he was to blame. Still, it was a chance to start over and forge new bonds with him.

"I'm not gonna lie, it looks really bad on you," said the Speaker, "All the things you've done to try and make peace in the world, and all you've done is plunge it further into war. I want to kill you for everything that you've done; but as it stands, we're in a tight spot. The Darkness has returned, and it's gotten to the point where we have to work with men like Shimura Danzo if we want to survive the coming night."

"And what would you ask of me?" Nagato asked.

"I want to know about the real leader of Akatsuki," answered Kushina, earning a shocked expression from Nagato, "What, you didn't think I'd figure out that you're just his puppet? I want to know what he's planning, and why he's doing all this. He's a loose end that really needs to be taken care of; permanently, if necessary."

"Will there be peace if I tell you what I know?"

"I can't promise you peace," answered Kushina honestly.

"Then what's the point if I tell you?"

Even though she wore her mask, Nagato could feel her fixing him with a glare. "You don't seem to understand why I'm asking, so I'm going to make it clear for you: The Darkness is returning, and it's corrupted Uchiha Sayuri to be its herald. From what I understand, she has cursed many of our Guardians into betraying us. As it stands, we cannot afford to have our attention split between the masked man and the Darkness…so the sooner we deal with this problem, the better off we'll be when the war comes in full."

Nagato took a moment to ponder a future with the Darkness's victory—and felt fear for the first time. "For the record, we never promised peace; just a better future for the next generation, where humanity is strong enough to push the Darkness out of our home. With any luck, we'll be able to experience yet another Golden Age in this lifetime…where we can tell tales of victory over the unknown. Help us out, and we'll take you to see the Traveler again…so that you can find the Light once again."

…

[Hive Battlecruiser King of Tyrants]

Smoke clouded the screen as Sayuri took in the burning remains of the base from the bridge of her newly-christened Hive battlecruiser, the King of Tyrants. She enjoyed the spectacle that her ship was capable of unleashing in the moment it was summoned into the world. All of this began with a shot from her ship's main gun, tearing a hole through the base for her forces to take prisoners. She particularly enjoyed the light show of Void lasers strobing around, killing the guards with pinpoint precision. Then there was also the look of horror on the faces of stragglers as they tried to outrun Seeker pulses, which promptly blew them to bits.

Orochimaru wasn't there, which was a shame…what they did find were survivors of his experiments. If they went back to their homes, they'd be pariahs; but to her, they would be very useful. A number of them were more cooperative, gleefully taking her orders to kill fellow prisoners that resisted. I guess payback against the snake himself is as good a motivation as any, she thought.

"You were never like this," stated a voice next to Sayuri. The person in question was a red-haired girl with glasses, currently on her knees. A Knight stood gently on her calves, preventing her from escaping; he had a Cleaver in both hands, prepared to execute her on command.

"True, but then you'd notice, wouldn't you Karin-chan?" she asked, not taking her attention away from the carnage below.

"You were so much better than this," Karin rebuked, pleaded almost.

"This is better," Sayuri corrected her.

"No it isn't," she spat, turning to glare at Sayuri, "Better is coming out of a situation stronger than before. It's being a better person than you were before. This is anything but better."

"And I suppose I'd have done better in the Light?" Sayuri asked, finally turning her attention to Karin, "Oh yes, I know about the Light…and I've learned to savor its taste. And to be honest, yours tastes the best so far; I haven't tasted Light like this since I ran into him."

"You're not the girl I knew," Karin shot back, "The Sayuri I knew was sad, but at least there was hope for her to find redemption. Now? You're pure evil."

Sayuri cackled wickedly. As her laughter settled down, she regarded Karin with a sharp-toothed grin. "The Sayuri you knew was a weak little bitch. Me? There's no such thing as good and evil—I guess I'm addicted to power."

"This won't end well for you; we've picked up on the Guardians' transmissions for a while now. They know about you, and they're making an alliance with the Shinobi to fight back."

"Good," Sayuri drawled, confusing Karin with an amused half-smile, "That just means more Light to eat, and more power in my hands. After all, why serve a god of darkness, when you can be the goddess instead?"

Karin was horrified at her admission, hands covering an agape mouth. The addition of the bridge crew's bewilderment at her admission only added to the high Sayuri was feeling. "You're crazy," she whispered, her voice gradually becoming louder with anger, "You've gone drunk on power!"

"Maybe," Sayuri taunted, "But when given this much, who could stay sober?"

There was a moment of silence as Karin stared in disbelief at Sayuri. "When the Beasts of Darkness invade Heaven, the divine sentry shall sound his horn; the gods will weep, for the war at the end of days has come," she began to recite, "Such is the magnitude of the conflict that the king of Heaven shall call forth the spirits of slain warriors to do battle with the Beasts of Darkness. Nobody shall escape the fires of the war; there will be no mercy, nor will there be peace. The gods shall fight and die in the war with the Beasts and their herald, until only the last man and woman in the world survive to repopulate it."

"A sad tale for sure, but what does that have to do with me?" Sayuri asked sarcastically.

"With your appearance, Uzumaki Naruto sounded the horn, oh herald of Darkness," Karin explained, "Eventually, this war will be so big that your gods will have to get their hands dirty. And when they learn of your ambition, you can bet that they will do everything in their power to stop you."

Sayuri snorted. "Let them try. I'll just eat them both, and take their divine power for myself." She then turned her attention to the knight pinning Karin down. "Take her to my chambers, I'll deal with her myself at a later occasion; until then, nobody is to touch her"

"Yes, milady," the Knight answered, forcing Karin onto her feet.

"One more thing," Karin said as they turned to leave; in response, Sayuri raised her hand, silently ordering the Knight to stand by. "The divine sentry and the herald of Darkness? They both killed each other in battle."

Satisfied, Sayuri waved her hand away. As the Knight forced Karin into her chambers, she pondered the story. Maybe we will end up killing each other, she thought to herself, Or perhaps we'll be the last ones standing…

…

[Training Ground 12]

Yūgao and the Guardian sparred with each other, the sound of their training blades striking each other filled the air while also taking the opportunity to land empty-handed blows. As the fight went on, she began to notice details in the way her opponent fought. For example, the Hunter's footwork implied that he was more familiar with ittō-ryu. His movements were a little too clumsy for the amount of dexterity that nitō-ryu demanded. Still, he showed that at the very least, he was capable of utilizing tantōjutsu in tandem with ittō-ryu, if only to help him parry.

However, clumsy as his fighting style was, she noted that it was somehow familiar to her. Throughout the fight, he'd been aiming for her weak spots, as if he knew her very well. But, given the difficulty of nitō-ryu and the rarity of its practitioners, she failed to place this person in her past. That, and what the Hunter lacked in familiarity with his discipline, he compensated with his ability to capitalize on openings. Sometimes, he would parry away her sword strikes with his wakizashi, before following through with a riposte with his katana; other times, he would try to knock away her sword with the wakizashi, and then moving in for the kill.

She saw her opening: swinging her bokken upwards, Yūgao knocked her opponent's wakizashi out of his hand. In the same movement, she brought her blade down for a quick cut only for the Hunter to parry with his own bokken and kick her away in the abdomen.

Staring down at her sparring partner, Yūgao panted wearily. Her opponent didn't seem winded at all, as he shouldered his blade while looking back at her through his goggles; waiting for her to catch her breath. "You seem a little tired, don't you think you should rest a bit?" he asked.

"What, and you're not?" asked Yūgao in between breaths.

"We Guardians are already dead, so we don't really need the basic stuff humans take for granted," explained the Hunter, "All we need is the Light."

"And the 'Light' is…?"

"It's too hard to explain, so lemme give you the rundown," replied the Hunter, "The Light is energy that we Guardians need to stay alive, and powers our abilities. Without it, we'd still be dead. Just like everything has chakra, every living thing in this world has the Light within them. It's just that for some reason, unless you're a Guardian or been touched by the Light, you can't use it."

"Sounds mysterious," commented Yūgao thoughtfully.

The Hunter snorted. "You really ought to run into the Traveler then. We don't know where it came from, or why; just that it chose humanity to be its agents."

It was hard to understand what the Hunter meant by that, but Yūgao felt that she would see soon enough.

"Ready to continue?" asked the Hunter.

Yūgao smirked, resuming the chudan no kamae. "Ready and willing."

She could feel the amused grin under the Hunter's helmet as he pulled something out from his satchel. "Then let's end this in one more attack."

The Hunter tossed two walnut-sized balls into the air , each with a glowing white stripe across their circumference. They both hovered in the air, stripes glowing brighter by the second before the flash vanished, leaving behind two clones of the Hunter. "Let me tell ya, these may not be actual Kage Bunshin, but they'll do the job," said one of the Hunters.

"But don't underestimate me," added another of the Hunters, "I used to be a shinobi too, so there's no guarantees."

"There's really nothing to it: two of us are fakes," finished the last one, "The only question is, which of us is it?"

Yūgao looked at the three clones. With the clearance between them and the Guardian's muscle memory, he had multiple chances to play kendama with her. Nevertheless, she tightened her stance and prepared for whatever he had in store for her.

The Hunter and his duplicates tightened their grip on their bokken, sprinted towards the ANBU operative. As they neared her, Yūgao noted that the three of them approaching to hide their movements by swerving in and out of her field of vision. Once they came within a few feet of her, the Hunter and his clones split up; two copies went for her flanks, while the last leaped high into the air. The aerial attacker brought his bokken down on her shoulder while the other two went for her core from the front and back. As she recognized the jutsu, she understood the identity of the Guardian, moving to block the bokken from the aerial attacker. On contact, her sword passed through the bokken; at the same time, she felt something hitting her from behind.

"Mikazuki no Mai," she noted, smiling in realization, "A totally different way of using it; creative too. You wanna take your mask off for me?"

There was a long silence, the sword placed on her back stilling. She turned around and watched the Guardian with hope as he shifted his sword to his back. As he pulled down the hood of his cape, his helmet faded away, revealing a face that she'd recognize anywhere. He'd changed, looking healthier than before, but this was still her Gekko Hayate. "Long time no see, Yūgao-chan."

Yūgao's eyes watered, her grip on the bokken loosening slightly…before slapping him with her free hand. "What kept you?" she asked angrily.

"A lot of work out in the world," Hayate answered, "Trying to make a better future for everyone."

"And you didn't think to come see me?"

"I came by whenever I could," he stated, "And trust me, I wanted to hold you in my arms again. It's just that I was told to go incognito…to help make the world stable again, and to make it strong. I wanted that future for the two of us so badly that I was willing to do that for you."

Yūgao huffed, turning away from Hayate. She didn't want him to see her tears falling. "I've missed you"

She dimly felt her partner's arms reaching around her waist. "Well we're here now, Yūgao-chan…and this time, we're not going anywhere. I'm only sorry that it's a situation like this that brought us back together."

The clearing was silent as Hayate and Yūgao sat in the training ground, taking in the calming sounds of nature.

…

[Hokage Tower]

After the Guardian parade that happened two days ago, things had quickly progressed. Talks were made to reintegrate the Guardians back into the armed forces. To further cooperation between them and the shinobi, concessions were made, which included sharing intelligence. Another included training shinobi in the use of the Guardians' advanced arsenal and tactics.

To help the Guardians and the Shinobi get accustomed to each other, a Guardian or two was to be assigned to a Shinobi team. The mission they were given was a sort of trial run to test the concept out, before more Guardians could be handed assignments to teams to try and integrate them back. However, they weren't the only ones to be given Guardian support for the mission; the other teams of the Konoha 12 were each assigned a Guardian for a better testing pool.

"How much longer are they gonna make us wait?" asked Tenten, frustrated by the absence of their assigned Guardian. "I don't think the mission's going to wait!"

"What could be so important that they'd just stand us up?" Neji added, nodding in agreement.

"Yosh! I'm going to Hokage-sama's office to find out who is assigned to us!" Lee declared, rushing back into the building.

"Give it some time, team," Gai chided, grabbing Lee by the shoulder, "They may not have received their orders yet and…"

Before he could say anything else, Gai suddenly raised a hand for silence. As Tenten focused her ears she could hear a low drone that gradually became louder. One of the boxy vehicles from the parade to moved in from the left, coming to a slow stop in front of them. The machine lowered itself to the ground, allowing Tenten a better look; it had four windowed doors on the sides, as well as a small tower with a weapon at the back. One of the doors opened, revealing Naruto at the controls. "Hey guys," he greeted.

"Are you the Guardian assigned to us?" she asked.

"You got it," Naruto answered sheepishly, "Sorry I was late, people just kept asking me for rides along the way."

"And what is this?" asked Gai, gazing at the thing in some amazement.

"This is a 'truck,'" explained the blond, "It's sorta like a wagon. New anti-gravity technology means it moves faster and is a smoother ride."

"And why are you bringing this thing along?" Neji inquired, eyeing it skeptically.

"I've been told to test-drive this thing for R they want to see how well it does off-road and long-distance," answered Naruto, "And since we're going to the border of Kaze no Kuni for this mission, I figured, why the hell not? Kills two birds with one stone."

There was a moment of awkward silence between them. Naruto broke the silence. "So…you guys wanna come in?"

…

A/N: My apologies…I would've submitted this three days ago in celebration for the release of "Destiny 2," hence why it's rather short. Still, at least it got done.

I give credit to NorthSouthGorem, Soleneus, and UnitedOsprey1991 for their assist and setting me straight…and of course serving as shouting boards for ideas. Give them all a round of applause, and do please check out their works.

NS: More importantly, how about credit for slimming down your stilted-ass writing, ya nag?

Kuro: Then stop taking a year before finishing a beta.

NS: Then make your writing less densely dry.

Kuro: Okay, fine, you win…my writing's bad…ha-ha. {Sighs} Anyway, to avoid a long-drawn out confrontation I am obviously too inarticulate to win, do please check them all out and keep your reviews classy, would you kindly?

…

Cameos/References

The Engineers' Argument—This is the famous Warthog or Puma argument from Red Vs. Blue, the very same argument that started the company.

Dr. Hazama—Dr. Black Jack, probably the best doctor in the history of anime and or manga.

Medi-Gel—Mass Effect's all-healing medigel.

Karin's story—the Ragnarok