They found Naruto in Ruby's grasp, the girl consoling him as he shivered, unable to fully explain what happened.
They'd assumed the worst, seeing the blood-covered teen in her arms, but thankfully hadn't panicked, Ruby's assurances accepted as just that.
Until Blake had seen the corpse that sat opposite Naruto.
"No… it can't be…" She muttered under her breath, a tad too loud if she hadn't wanted to be heard.
It seemed to snap Naruto out of his shock though, much to everyone's surprise. "Wh-what is it?"
Blake's head snapped to Naruto guiltily. "This was the Lieutenant."
Nora seemed a little confused, leaning close to the dead Faunus seemingly without a care. "His name was Lieutenant? Didn't that get a little confusing?"
Blake shook her head. "No, we never knew his name. I'd never even seen his face before today. He always wore the mask, even more than Adam did. It's his weapon that I recognize."
Naruto's gaze flicked to the chainsaw that lay in his hand, nearly having slipped out.
"Students, now would be a good time for you to depart."
The voice was as commanding as it was compassionate, and so familiar and yet so foreign.
Naruto realised it was Professor Goodwitch, and despite his situation, he was surprised. "Professor?"
Ruby volunteered to explain. "I called her as soon as we got within range. I figured a heads-up would be appreciated."
Goodwitch nodded. "I did appreciate it, Ms Rose, thank you. Thanks all of you, in fact. Your actions this day have saved countless lives, especially you, Mr Uzumaki. From what your partner has told me, you sealed the tunnel yourself."
The professor looked at the earth-work behind Naruto. "An impressive wall, as well. Do you happen to know how thick it is?"
Naruto nodded as Ruby helped him to his feet, Pyrrha retrieving his blade. "At least a meter, Professor. I had to make sure no Grimm would get through easily."
Goodwitch nodded, already adding to her mental report. "Thank you, Mr Uzumaki. Your contribution has helped more than you know."
"Not enough, though. I should've been able to do more," Naruto said, eyes straying to the remains of those who'd been less fortunate.
Goodwitch shook her head. "Mr Uzumaki, I have been a Huntress for many years. That sentiment stays, no matter how hard you train, no matter how much you do. It can lead you to rapid growth just the same as it can lead you to an early grave. Do not make the mistakes those before you have made time and time again. You did as much as you could, Mr Uzumaki. No more, no less. Take pride in that fact."
Naruto nodded, albeit slowly. "Thanks, Professor."
Goodwitch's more traditional nature reared its head. "Now, back to Beacon with you all. Classes start back up next week, and I expect to see you all there."
AWBN and RRYN shared a glance at that, exhaustion forming at the front of their minds, before they simply began trudging back through the tunnel, one goal in mind.
Naruto had exited the Raid Zone by now, and found himself rather disappointed that he hadn't gotten anything from the Shai-Hulud aside from the quest reward. It was apparent that if you didn't do any kind of damage in the fight, you didn't get any XP.
He knew they dropped items, though. He'd seen a few drop from the Grimm Pyrrha had killed, ones he knew he hadn't touched.
Though, even if that meant that the Shai-Hulud had dropped items in its grave in Mountain Glenn, Naruto wasn't willing to go back and check.
Honestly, it wasn't worth it to him. There was only so much pain and suffering he could take.
He'd gotten a Raid skill book and a title from the quest, and that was all that really mattered. Also XP, but that was a given.
He'd never noticed before, but the Bullhead was slow.
Maybe it was because he was used to the speed of a Razorback now, or maybe it was simply the adrenaline still in his body. He didn't know, and really, he didn't much care.
If he ever changed his career and became a pilot, maybe he'd care a little more, but he didn't see that happening.
The skill book and the new title weren't the only things that he'd received from his fighting.
Two title upgrades were the biggest things. He'd gone from Huntsman Trained to Huntsman Professional, all in his first year at Beacon. That was an interesting take. And that wasn't even mentioning how he'd gotten 48,400 Lien and gone from Copper Banker, all the way past Bronze, to Silver Banker. That was a lot of money.
Also, excluding the XP from the quest, gained 2,131,380 XP. Which was a staggering number.
Then there were the items that his summons had picked up for him, something he needed to thank them for, plus the items from his impromptu training session before they'd even departed.
So many skills had leveled, too, as had he. He'd reached Level 37, and gained 25 Skill Points because of it. It was an influx of information that he could appreciate. It distracted him from his failures.
That wasn't even all of it, though, because he'd, finally, gained additional stats from excessive… whatever he'd done. Even the System seemed to struggle as to what to quantify exactly what he'd done that had been so risky yet so rewarding.
So, as a gesture of metaphorical goodwill, he'd gained three STR, three END, two AGI, two INT, two WIS, one CHA and one LCK.
A full spectrum reward, in that sense. Which, coincidentally, had unlocked a new perk, too.
Naruto had a lot to look at.
The Bullhead faltered slightly, engines stuttering for only a split-second as turbulence hit, and Naruto grabbed the nearest railing, his grip tight enough that Aura pooled around his hand.
Then it touched down, engines winding down as the doors slid open, and the exhausted members of AWBN and RRYN began piling out, garnering significant attention from other students as they realised that the only students who'd actually had an opportunity to respond to the short-lived klaxon were the ones who were just now getting out of the airborne vehicle.
All that attention went from the group as a whole to Naruto the moment he stepped out, and suddenly the courtyard became deathly quiet as they took stock of the blood-covered teenager, one hand on his sword, following the rest of his friends as his fellow team leader stayed next to him, her glances flickering between the blond and where she was walking.
Naruto needed to stay positive for his team, though. That much he knew.
So, he kept walking, and decided to initiate conversation. That would at least make them think he was alright.
"Dibs on first shower."
Three heads of varying colors swivelled atop exhausted shoulders as Blake, Weiss and Pyrrha looked at him with what started as objections and quickly began choked noises of understanding.
Somehow, they'd forgotten the fact that Naruto was still quite bloody. Not his own blood, too, Naruto would have preferred that.
His own blood would at least mean that people hadn't died on his watch, terrorists or not.
Less than a meter away from the entrance to Beacon's dorms Naruto turned about-face, a sound registering in the back of his head.
The rest of his friends noticed it too, Blake's bow twitching as she too turned, and the eight stared up at the horizon as the Daedalus, wounded as it was, emerged from a cloud, effectively pushing it apart as it trailed a smoky trail.
"Well, we all made it. Good news, I guess," Naruto remarked.
Ruby let out a massive sigh as she saw the gigantic aircraft swim into view. "If all our missions are like that, I think I'll be ready to retire by our third year."
Yang snickered. "Says the fifteen year old."
Ruby glared at her sister. "I'll be sixteen soon, thank you very much!"
Naruto was still staring at the Daedalus though, something they all noticed. "How many do you think lost their lives in that first impact?"
That turned the mood somber quickly.
"Naruto, it wasn't your fault. You can't seriously be blaming yourself for that," Weiss said, grabbing her leader by the shoulder.
Naruto nodded. "I know, I just… there had to be something else. Another plan, or a different angle of attack, or-"
"No. That decision was made by the General, Naruto. Nothing that happened was within your jurisdiction. You were in charge of Pyrrha and yourself, and by extension the squad you were assigned. If anything had happened to them, this would be a different discussion, but we all know that anything that happened was outside of your control," Ren said calmly, and Naruto met his closest male friend's eyes. "You did excellently, Naruto, we all did. No casualties, nothing went wrong, and we drew out the worm. That was our job, and we accomplished it."
Yang threw an arm around her partner, much to Nora's amusement. "Well said monk-boy."
Ren extricated himself carefully. "Once again, I'm not a monk. I just meditate."
Yang nodded slowly. "Right~" She drawled. "Gotcha. Monk-boy."
Ren sighed. It was a long-standing back-and-forth, one that Naruto and the rest were all too familiar with.
Naruto gave the Daedalus one more glance, admiring the late afternoon sun behind it, before turning again, following everyone else inside, trying his damndest not to leave bloody footprints in his wake, and failing miserably.
Not that he really cared too much. At this point, if a professor was going to get angry at him for trailing someone else's blood through the dormitory hallways, then the whole threat that he'd been worried about was definitely dealt with.
Everyone important was certainly dealing with more important issues at the present time.
It took no more time than usual to walk to their dorm rooms, possibly less time by the sheer size of the berth that students were giving them, though perhaps that wasn't just because of Naruto.
There was no doubt in any of their minds that they smelt like a battlefield. They'd been on a battlefield. It kind of came with the job, at that point.
Dead Grimm, rubble and ignited Fire Dust had a very distinct scent, and when you immerse yourself into it, you stand out. It was common sense.
Human, or in this case, Faunus blood, that had a bit more of a distinct scent, and all it did was add to the general atmosphere that there group was exuding.
Naruto let someone else on his team open the bathroom door for him, thanking them as he stepped inside, Blake closing the door behind him, and Naruto didn't bother to lock it, realising that it would defeat the purpose of keeping it at least somewhat clean.
Besides, his team knew he was in here, it didn't really matter all that much. Unless they had a special guest that wanted to use their bathroom, he didn't really see himself in that much danger.
Well, 'danger'. Not real danger, at least. Maybe before he had gotten this semblance he'd consider it danger. Back when not locking the bathroom door meant multiple sisters walking in on you. Or you walking in on a sister.
Naruto shuddered involuntarily as he remembered so many awkward situations. His sisters never learned to lock the doors themselves, and Naruto was a pretty deep sleeper. Or had been, anyway.
Thankfully, Naruto wasn't dealing with the invasive Uzumaki family, so he quickly hit the shower taps, steaming water pouring out, and he stepped in, still wearing his clothes.
There was no way Beacon were going to let him wash his clothes as covered in blood as they were without at least rinsing them first, so Naruto decided that he would quickly hit two Nevermore with one stone.
He did change out of them under the water though, and soon he was lathering himself with a hefty amount of soap, scrubbing at his skin.
The blood had dried, somewhat, so it wasn't the worst thing to get off, and it wasn't like he'd been as coated in it as the girl.
Naruto's grip on the shampoo bottle slipped and it hit the ground with a wet slap.
He recognized that girl. It was the same one that had helped Roman escape at the docks, and again when they'd fought the Paladin Torchwick had been piloting.
Of course, when he did see those times she hadn't been covered head to toe in blood.
Naruto leaned over and picked up the bottle of shampoo, pouring some into his hand and leaning back.
His hands began to massage the gelatinous substance into his hair and he felt his shoulders relax, no longer as tense as they had been moments before.
He could see himself in the mirror from where he was in the shower, and as he looked at himself, pink and brown eyes staring back at him from beneath his wet blond hair, he marvelled at his improved muscles.
He'd never looked this… strong, before. He knew he was getting stronger from his training, but now he had an objective look at his own physique, and it blew him away.
Naruto looked away once more, sticking his face under the warm water, rinsing away whatever was left over, before turning off the shower and stepping out, towelling himself off.
Now was the time to go over the day's progress with the System, but first he'd be leaving the bathroom. No sense in taking up time from his team, they wanted the bathroom as much as he had.
He quickly equipped a pair of dark sweatpants and stepped out of the bathroom, towelling his hair dry as he sat down on his bed.
"Uhh… Naruto?"
Naruto glanced up at an occupant of the room he hadn't previously noticed. "Oh, hey Ruby. What's up?"
He was happy to see her, she'd obviously used her leadership powers to demand that she have the bathroom to herself first.
Ruby's eyes were glaring a hole in his chest, and he looked down, wondering what she was looking at.
Right. He wasn't wearing a shirt. It wasn't that big a deal, he hadn't thought, at least a quarter of his team was attracted to the same sex, or at least he assumed so, considering Pyrrha's choice of date to the dance.
Then again, his date to the dance, and his girlfriend in general, and wasn't that word enough to send chills down his spine in all the right ways, was sitting on the end of his bed, and staring mouth agape at him.
"Do you… want me to put a shirt on?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ruby slowly shook her head. Naruto wondered if he'd accidentally broken her. Sure, he'd admired his own physicality only moments before, but that was him taking pride in what he'd accomplished. It wasn't like he was taking part in some kind of ritualistic appreciation of his attractiveness.
Ruby looked like she wanted to conduct a number of rituals involving him.
Naruto decided to put a shirt on, lest he continue to be treated like a slab of meat.
The addition of the magically appearing shirt seemed to be enough to snap Ruby out of her trance, her cheeks lighting up red as she locked eyes with Naruto. "Right, sorry. I was going to ask if you wanted to go get some dinner?"
Naruto's answer was summarily drowned out by the answer his stomach gave, and he smiled sheepishly. "I guess that's a yes?"
Pyrrha stifled a snort at that, to which Naruto rolled his eyes at her in reply.
"Don't you have to go seduce my sister or something?" Ruby teased, something that apparently Pyrrha had not been expecting as she choked on the very air she breathed, face very quickly turning bright red.
The blond teen hopped up off his bed quickly, afraid of any vengeance Pyrrha might take, no matter how completely innocent the champion's vengeance may be, and opened the door. "C'mon Ruby, I'm starving, if you didn't already know." He gave his traitorous stomach a glance. "If we're gonna get food let's do it before Pyrrha decides to use her semblance on my fork while I'm trying to eat."
Ruby let out a laugh and gave Pyrrha and Blake a quick wave, ducking out of AWBN's dorm room and into the hallway.
As the two walked towards the cafeteria, Ruby stuck to his side, arm wrapped around his own.
They'd gotten a tray of food each, unsurprisingly, as that was the typical allotted amount of food, but with the trays came the stares, and Naruto wasn't quite sure if it was Ruby or himself that were struggling with that fact.
Though, it could be both. That whole equal-awkwardness thing that made them so similar had been somewhat ironed out after so long as team leaders, but it was still pretty central to their personalities.
Not that who it was directed at really mattered.
Nearly at their table, Naruto felt the stares intensify, and Naruto sighed, Ruby echoing his sentiments.
"Want to go find somewhere outside to sit?" Naruto asked, and Ruby nodded quickly, equally preferring to find somewhere quiet.
The two quickly redirected, pacing out of the cafeteria and out towards Beacon's cliffs, the path instinctual to Naruto now. It was just where he went, whether he needed to think, train, or relax.
His spot, he guessed. He knew Blake had basically claimed a corner of the library to herself, and that Yang and Pyrrha had taken complete control over one of the small gyms, so it wasn't too far of a stretch to say that the clearing was his place.
Not that any of his friends weren't welcome there. Far from it.
"The stares will die down soon enough, I think," Naruto said, more for his own benefit than Ruby's.
Ruby nodded, however, suitably assuaged of her concerns. "I hope so. I don't know why they're staring at us so much, though. They're going to go on missions like that at some point too. Did we really do something super weird?"
Naruto shook his head as he began climbing down the stairs, almost out of habit more than anything else. "I think they're just surprised we got a special mission, or something. They're probably jealous."
Ruby actually laughed out loud at that. "Jealous? Of that? All we did was get swarmed by Grimm for a while, and then watch a giant Grimm die, and then get swarmed by more Grimm!"
Naruto shrugged. "I know. I think they'll figure it out when they go on their missions. We did go kind of early, I guess."
Ruby hummed in agreement, stepping of the carefully Naruto-carved stone and onto the grassy clearing, finding a mysterious door in the cliffside. "Uh, Naruto?"
Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh, right! I hadn't even gotten a chance to actually mention this place. I started working on carving out a little hideout sort of thing just to kill a little bit of time and to find a place to work on some of my more… obvious skills. Like Crafting."
Ruby poked her head inside. "It's a little dark. Don't you have lightning or something to power this place?"
Naruto didn't quite know what Ruby meant by that. "You want me to what, stick my hand in a power socket and hope for the best?"
Ruby blushed, much to her chagrin. "I didn't mean it quite like that."
"I figured as much," Naruto laughed. "I know what you mean, though, I only carved out a hallway and the one room. I figured I wouldn't need much more space anytime soon, though."
Ruby wasn't dissuaded though. "You gotta make this place cool, though! It's a hideout!"
Naruto had to agree, and it helped that Ruby's enthusiasm was infectious. "I mean, I did get a lot of Lien from today."
"Exactly! You can get a TV, and a big couch, and a hugemongous bed!"
"I don't think hugemongous is a word."
Ruby ignored his interruption. "You can put a big worktable there, and another there, and then you can set up a proper foundry, not like the one back in Beacon!
That caught Naruto's attention. "What do you mean a proper foundry?"
Ruby's shyness caught up to her enthusiasm. "Well, I mean, it's not that Beacon isn't great and all…"
Amused, Naruto shook his head. "No, I mean what's a proper foundry for?"
And again, Ruby's enthusiasm rocketed far beyond her shyness, once again taking the lead. "Well, Dad knew I had a really complicated plan for Crescent Rose, so he and Uncle Qrow helped me build a proper workshop for me to work in at home. We cleared out the old shed, started putting stuff in, and before I knew it all my allowance was spent on parts and tools, and Dad and Yang helped me out with installing some foundry-standard stuff that I spent time customizing, so I could process my own Dust rounds, and build custom weapon parts, and assemble PACKs, and forge alloys, and it kind of got more and more complicated from there?"
Ruby trailed off, seeing the look of confusion on Naruto's face.
It quickly changed, though, as Naruto was struck by an absolutely brilliant idea. "Ruby, if you teach me all you know about whatever it was you were just talking about, I'll turn this place into our secret foundry-slash-workshop-slash-crafting-area."
Ruby very deliberately placed her food tray on the ground, and took Naruto's from his hands, placing it next to hers, before rocketing into his somewhat confused arms, hugging him tightly.
"YesyesyesyesyesYES!" She cheered through his shirt, face pressed against his chest.
He raised an eyebrow at her antics, as she looked up at him, her face slowly but surely turning red as she realised what she was doing. Naruto had never been more thankful for System Mind doing its best to eliminate the sheer embarrassment he was feeling at her physical contact, though it looked like Ruby was wishing she had it as well.
Disconnecting from Naruto with an awkward yelp, she backed away and quickly retrieved Naruto's tray of food, doing the same for her own once he'd taken his out of her hands.
Naruto was thankful he'd started with the hallway and already made one room, though, as it gave him a frame of reference for what he was going to have to do, and having Ruby finally get to witness him actually using Terrakinesis was always a plus.
She also had a pretty good idea of the size the workshop would need to be, but Naruto had an idea, another one.
A basement, of sorts, where he could put the workshop. Then he didn't have to worry about space constraints in case he ever had to expand.
He could make that room later, though, because first he wanted a table to sit at for the two to eat at.
So, Naruto converted the first room he'd made into a makeshift dining room, raising a platform of dense stone from the floor in the center and carving it around one-handed, his other hand carefully balancing his tray of food as he finished, placing the tray down and making two stone stools.
They weren't the most comfortable of seats, of course, but the Candlelight made for a nice source of light for their dinner, and if Yang had been present both Ruby and Naruto would have struggled to prevent her from making a 'Candlelit dinner' joke, so it was honestly a benefit that the two were alone.
The two began to animatedly dig into their meals, hunger taking control of whatever resignations that the day had left in them, and they quickly devoured their food, thankful that it hadn't gotten any colder than it already had.
Worth it, though, in Naruto's opinion.
Once they'd finished, Naruto decided that he'd use a little bit of time to do some work on the architecture, something Ruby was more than happy to watch, enraptured by his ability to shape the earthen elements as he began moulding the stone to make sharper edges, evening out the corners of the room so it looked more like a box than a box that had been out in the rain for at least an hour.
Sharper, more defined edges were the result of a few minutes of hard work, something he was glad to see, and Ruby reminded him that they had at least three days before class started back up, before it once again shut down for the break as students went on their missions, and preparations for the Vytal Festival began.
Naruto had forgotten all about the Vytal Festival, too.
"I'm really looking forward to it, you know? I always watched it from home, so even if I don't make it in, I get to see it in person, and that's always something I wanted to do, so it's kind of a win-win sort of thing!" Ruby said, her cheer as infectious as always.
Naruto could understand the sentiment. "I always watched it at home with the whole family, if they were home. Most of the time it was at least six of us, so we'd cram onto the couch and cheer for Beacon. Or whoever Marigold and Azalea decided to cheer for, anyway. I still don't think they've grasped the whole concept of national pride."
Ruby laughed. "Yang just cheered for whoever was winning. Makes sense, considering her and Pyrrha."
Naruto finished the rough carve of the second room, quickly checking the rough dimensions. "Any idea how that happened?"
Ruby shrugged. "I barely know how we happened, and isn't Pyrrha your partner?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the red reaper. "Yeah, but Yang's your sister. Shouldn't you, I dunno, share everything or something? That's what my sisters did. Well, do, I guess."
Ruby shrugged. "Apparently Pyrrha caught her super off-guard. Though, between you and me, I think Yang's always been kind of smitten with Pyrrha. Something about her competitive nature being the same as Yang's, or something equally weird."
"Well, I'm yet to properly face off against either of them, so I can't say for certain, but I know for an absolute fact if I went toe to toe with Yang or Pyrrha without my semblance, they'd wipe the floor with me."
"Oh, without a doubt," Ruby said, doing wonders for Naruto's perceived self-confidence.
Naruto finished evening out the second room, the edges being the ninety-degree corners that he appreciated so much in general architecture.
"You know, if this whole Hunter thing proves to be too much, you could get a job as a builder."
Ruby's offhand comment made Naruto choke on air as he laughed, caught completely off-guard.
"Thanks, Ruby," He exhaled, barely getting his lungs back in working order. "Glad to know you have such faith in me."
"What? No, I didn't mean it like that!" She quickly exclaimed, rushing to cover her accidental slip of the tongue.
"Mmhmm," Naruto hummed, facing away from the girl so that she couldn't see the teasing smile he couldn't hide on his face.
Ruby wasn't an idiot though. "Shuddup, meanie."
At some point, when Naruto was halfway through clearing a third room, Cadejo decided to summon himself, something that still caught Naruto a little off-guard, and slinked up to Ruby, effectively begging for the girl to run her hand through his fur, which she did so with glee, more than happy to give the wolf some attention as Naruto continued his work.
It was therapeutic, for both of them, Naruto's excavation.
Relaxing, in a way. No one was demanding anything from them, aside from Cadejo, of course. It meant that Naruto and Ruby could just talk, exchange little teasing jabs and just generally catch up, something they increasingly had less and less time to do, especially after how their dance had ended.
They still hadn't really talked about their relationship properly yet, either. It had been more or less of a mutual agreement that they'd figure things out at a later date.
Naruto finished the third room, which he had decided to make twice as long as the other rooms, effectively making the hallway connect to it twice, though he decided to seal up one of the doors upon further deliberation, and checked his scroll.
Evening had well and truly fallen by now, and the last vestiges of whatever energy he had were fleeting at best.
Ruby herself looked like she was going to appreciate her bed more than ever this night.
"Hey, we should head back up," Naruto mentioned, and Ruby nodded drowsily.
So when he went to leave his little hideout and Ruby didn't make a move to follow him he was a little confused.
"Carry me, please?" She asked, sounding like she was giving him an ultimatum. Either he carried her up to Beacon or she would sleep on the floor, using Cadejo as a pillow, though from prior experience Naruto could confirm that Cadejo was in fact a good pillow. The wolf was surprisingly spongey when he wanted to be.
Naruto rolled his eyes at her antics and did so, effectively scooping her up and beginning his long, somewhat more exhausting-than-previously-expected walk back up to Beacon.
Maybe he needed to change the stairs for an elevator.
Yang had accepted the sleeping Ruby with a nostalgic smile, though the handover had been a bit more awkward than Naruto expected it had been a decade earlier. Ruby was a little taller, for one thing, and there were only so many spots Naruto could use to hold her lest he anger either the red-hooded girl or her equally, if not more so, terrifying sister.
Yang at least had some practice with a sleepy Ruby, and Naruto watched in amusement as Yang effectively threw Ruby at her bed, the girl landing in a sprawl and, still asleep, adjusting herself until she was under the covers.
Naruto raised an eyebrow and Yang just shook her head. Sometimes there were no explanations.
He bid the awake members of RRYN a good night before retreating to his own dorm room, opening the door and stepping inside quietly, only to find that his three teammates were still awake, and all reading various books.
He noted with humour that Blake's was the only one that was distinctly not schoolwork-related, but he decided against mentioning it, in favour of not being stabbed in his sleep.
Naruto decided, right before sleeping, that he'd give the System one final check.
His inventory had a pending notification, that was the first thing he noticed. A list of items he had acquired that he hadn't seen.
And what a list it was.
20 Inert Dust, various Grimm materials, a bunch of Lien, and a few things that sparked Naruto's interest.
2 Minor Potions of Healing, 1 Minor Potion of Mana, and 3 Grade IV Lightning Dust crystals.
Now those were items that Naruto could appreciate. The new Lucky Looter perk was coming in handy.
Speaking of perks, his new one, Marathon Runner, appeared to double his Stamina. That was always appreciated.
So, Naruto had some things to do tomorrow. Potions to learn, a hideout to excavate, and various pieces of machinery, equipment and furniture to shop for. Oh, and read that new skill book he'd gotten, look into his new title, and see what it would take to create a fourth summon.
Maybe it was going to be a few things to do over the course of a couple days.
Naruto turned off the lamp next to his bed, rolling over.
There would be no sleeping for Naruto tonight.
No matter how hard he tried.