A/N: READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY? Its got some important info.
Had to cut this interlude short, running to the hospital.
First, As ever, we're sticking with the tried and true "Embers" Rule for this story. If folks don't like it, it'll be deleted. So speak up! Make yourself heard! Your voice matters!
Second, As state above, off to the hospital for another battery of tests. Lungs are being...odd. Not coughing up blood anymore or anything, just...odd...and its freaking me right the hell out.
Third Consider this an appetizer for what's to come, a teaser for the main dish. I wanted to update "Don't Judge a Book", but my muse pitched a fit. That chapter's also going to be VERY LONG so I needed to make it longer.
Warning! This one's gonna make you laugh.
Now then, time for some quick questions and answers.
Q: Alright, I gotta be that guy. Where the hell is Cinder?! No way she'd ignore something like this.
A: Funny you should mention that. She finally appears in this chapter...
...and its glorious. I don't think anyone's tried this angle before.
Q: You haven't done a single Weiss pairing yet. Why?
A: Please don't tempt me.
Q: How powerful are Naruto's dishes?
A: They'll knock your socks off and make everything else taste bland by comparison. We're talking Food Wars levels of nonsense here. To answer another question, Salem and Ozpin are...aware of Naruto, but they don't know what to do about him. They're also terrified of trying his food. After all, if its powerful enough to win over a Schnee...whatever might it do to them?
Alright, I've kept you long enough! Kick up your feet and get ready to grin. Hope you brought some popcorn~!
As ever, I own no quotes references, themes or memes. Not a wit or a one!
The Food Wars research continues. Its...certainly something.
"Emotions are wonderful things. I find they add flavor to life. Like spices, you know."
"I disagree. Emotions restrict and curtail the intellect. They cripple the mind and hobble the strong."
"They also enhance life! When did you last have the pleasure of smelling a flower, watching a sunset, or eating a well-prepared meal?!
"These things are irrelevant to me now. I have no need of pithy feelings or attachments. Now, make your choice. Serve or die."
"For some people small beautiful events is what life is all about. Here. Try this. It might change your life."
"Are you...offering me food? Whyever would I try that dish?"
"Well, if you're not brave enough...
"Give me that, you fool!"
"..."
"More! Now!"
~A Piece of the Past.
Taming a Monster (Interlude)
"I'm home...
The door clicked open.
Naruto didn't so much stumble as he did stagger across the threshold of his home. His shoulder struck a wall and he braced himself against it, pressing his forehead against the cool plaster to catch his breath. From there he immediately whirled and locked the door behind him. After a moments thought, he laid a hand against the metal frame and activated the seal there for good measure. There. Home secure. Wouldn't do to have someone come barging in after him...again.
Only then did he allow himself to hang up his coat, relax, and exhale.
Weiss had been, noisy to say the least when she'd caught him with Winter. Well, caught implied he hadn't expected her in the first place. More like she'd stumbled upon them. Winter hadn't exactly been quiet. Poor thing. Quite the shock to her system, that. Winter hadn't much helped in that regard; if anything her bumbling -and tipsy!- efforts had only made matter worse. She'd called them improper, and since Winter had been entirely too soused to care...words were spoken.
In the end he'd left the two sisters to hash out their disagreement and gone home. To his actual home, since it didn't seem they'd be leaving his quarters at Beacon anytime soon.
Oddly enough, he'd heard them say something about war before he left. Probably nothing important.
"Well, that was an experience." Kicking off his shoes, the weary chef padded his way into the living room. "Wonder if she's working today? Pretty sure I gave her the week off aaaaandnevermindismellfood...
His nose caught the faint aroma of a piping hot dinner long before he saw her; sure enough, a familiar face was waiting for him when he rounded the corner into the kitchen.
"Welcome home, Master~!"
A dark-haired beauty clad in a white apron and absolutely nothing else awaited him. Hers was a body forged from pure sin, long leg and flowing curves paired with a generous bosom besides. As he looked on aghast, she bowed low at the waist, exposing a tantalizing expanse of creamy white skin both above and below.
"What would you like first?" Golden eyes rose to meet his, framed by a coy smile. "Dinner? A bath, or me...?"
Naruto felt his right eye begin to twitch.
This mustn't register on an emotional level. She was doing this to get a rise of out of him...and succeeding.
"Cinder, why?" he didn't dare avert his eyes, if only because he knew she'd do something else the moment he looked away. "Every time! Why do you always do this?!"
"Are you flustered?" her smile turned sly as she straightened and smoothed out a wrinkle in her apron. "Does it bother you, master~?"
Again with that word! "In a manner of speaking, yes!"
"Then yes, I must." Her lips alighted upon his cheek; then she sashayed away back to the kitchen, giving him an generous view of her hips and much more besides. "I had a feeling you might return today; as such, I went out and prepared your favorite."
His ear twitched. "Ramen?" No! Resist! "Pretty sure I gave you the week off, though...
"Why, master!" she spun, touched a hand to hear heart and swayed where she stood. "You wound me! Would you cast a poor, defenseless maid into the streets?"
"Yeah, no." he deadpanned. "We both know you're anything but harmless."
"Hmm." Molten golds orbs narrowed. "Guilty as charged~!"
There it was, again, that subtle hint of rebellion.
Cinder Fall had come into his employ some two years ago. She'd tried to recruit him at the time for some reason or another at the time. It hadn't gone well. For her. To be fair, Naruto really hadn't intended to break Cinder in such a manner, nor had he known she would become this at the time. It simply...happened. One dish was all it took to seal her fate. Followed by another. Yet another. Another.
She'd been like this ever since.
Sometimes he wondered if Cinder was secretly a masochist. She certainly did her work well enough to be sure, and he could never sense any negative intent from her. He wasn't blind. She was clearly up to something, but so long as Beacon was kept clear of it, he didn't much care. What was the old saying? Better the devil you know than the one you didn't? Something like that. Whomever she really was, Cinder clearly didn't bear him any ill will these days.
How could she? If she killed him, she would't get anymore of the Food.
He knew she had a life separate from this, but she seemed keen to keep them separate. Poor thing probably didn't want anyone else to see her true self. She'd kill to keep her secret. Amusing as it might be to reveal this to the world, he knew she'd go absolutely ballistic if he ever outed her secret life. Another day, perhaps.
"Here you are." Cinder laid out the dish for him. "I followed your instructions to the letter."
She really had. Damn, but that ramen looked good.
Naruto patted her head. "Good girl."
She preened a little.
For a man who cooked everything under the sun, it was a simply joy to have food prepared for him. Naruto liked to bask in it whenever he could. he did't even pay Cinder in the traditional sense of the word; if only because she refused it. She simply craved his food and demanded it as payment. Whatever her intentions were, he could at least keep an eye on her like this. And if anyone saw her in such a state...well. No doubt she'd gone to great lengths to keep her professional life separate from this.
"Well?" Searching golden orbs turned to regard him before he could dig in. "Did you bring me anything? I've been-
"Good?" Naruto arched an eye brow, unable to keep the smile from his face.
"Ack!" She all but choked on the word. "No, I didn't say that!"
The other brow climbed yet higher still."
...yes." she slumped. "I was good."
"That's what I thought. Here."
Beneath her watchful eye, he extracted a small sealed case from his coat, one that contained today's leftovers. Her eyes lit up at the sight of it. He set it on the table and opened it slowly, allowing the faint aroma to do its work. Cinder inhaled once and those golden eyes became glazed as she regarded the feast he'd set aside for her. Times like these made Naruto think he might have gone a tad too far with her. Just a touch. Just a little. Had he accidentally made her a food whore? Was that even a thing?
Cinder reached for it, only to falter as he grabbed her by the wrist and reeled her in.
She didn't fight in the least as she landed in his lap. "You're in a mood today."
He hadn't been...until a certain Schnee riled him up.
Cinder shivered anew, knees twisting in thinly veiled ecstasy.
Naruto only grunted. "I'm afraid you'll have to earn your keep this time.
She needed no further provocation. A hand reached up; her apron slipped from her shoulders and puddled at her feet.
"Here, let me help you relax, my master."
This was the woman who once wanted to conquer Vale. Once.
Truly, Naruto had no way of knowing just how badly he'd broken Cinder Fall.
(.0.0.0.)
"You have a maid?!"
...yes?" Naruto looked up at Weiss as he worked the next morning. "She's a perfectly nice girl...if a little strange.
Waitaminute. Why did it sound like she was grinding her teeth?
And just like that, the Food Wars intensified.
A/N: Before anyone squawks, read this note.
As ever, we're sticking with the tried and true "Embers" Rule for this story.
If folks don't like it, it'll be deleted. So speak up! Make yourself heard! Your voice matters!
There we go. A Tamed!Cinder. There's delicious irony to be had here. She'll have to choose between the food she's absolutely addicted to, or her plans for world domination. Ought to be fun seeing her squirm. Of course, that's not to say the threat is gone. We all know how Salem works. Take away one pawn and she'll find another. And another. Another still.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
And have some previews.
Also. References ahoy!
Because why not?
(Previews)
"Salutations!"
Naruto paused. Blinked. Looked down.
"Well," he muttered, "You're new. What'll it be, kiddo?"
Emerald frowned. "Cinder, you're acting strange."
"I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean...
"This is not a discussion for the two us, unlike the salt and pepper over there," he gestured to the well prepared meal he'd been eating while he waited, "It's not on the table."
"I think we'll call it a day there, wouldn't want to wear you out-
When he looked back, Weiss was sound asleep at the table, her head buried in the cookbook. A tiny snore reached his ears.
Naruto pinched the brow of his nose.
"Silly girl...
"You don't know what death is, you have no idea what death is."
R&R~!