Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics 21 does not own Naruto, Final Fantasy XIII, or any other references to other works.
This is a filler arc for Naruto's growth in powers and to show his bonds with other Konoha members. If you don't like it, please wait till the Uzumaki Chronicles arc is done before I move on to the Bloodline Purge arc. One thing I hate is being rushed to certain things.
*Valhalla: Year?*
Lightning looked on to the field of battle as the war continued. Her Servant walked by her side, frowning at the display before him as he shook his head with disappointment. "These Narus will never learn. They will never become the Maelstrom King due to their natures and ideals." He said as Lightning looked at him. He looked just like Naruto, but with an aura of death surrounding him and the eyes of a veteran warrior who had seen countless battles in his eyes. This was Lionheart, Naruto's past self that was created from the memories sealed within the necklace Naruto had cherished, one that had a matching pair that his sister had.
He was a legendary hero in his past, the one which killed countless numbers of other Naruto and Naruko Uzumaki incarnations that come from all across time and space for the crimes they've committed in disrupting the space-time continuum. His killing record was unmatched by even the heroes and villains of the other Crystal Legends combined. One who had beaten Death himself at his own game and had become a hero to all of the worlds threatened to be destroyed by Nione. The original Maelstrom King that keeps other incarnations in check for the sake of the fabric of reality, one of the most powerful warriors to ever be summoned by her will.
"I guess you're right. They're trying to follow their own paths and ideals without knowing the cost of being the Maelstrom King." Lightning agreed as she looked at Lionheart. "What is the duty of the Maelstrom King exactly? You've told me little about it besides keeping the other Narus in check and the fabric of reality itself from collapsing." She asked as Lionheart sighed. "To be the Maelstrom King is to govern the way of life of all Narus out there. To birth the infinite possibilities out there for them to learn, grow, change, evolve, and find their own paths to happiness. My job was to do so and I did it. But it is because I will it, for one who is the Maelstrom King, controls the infinite possibilities out there for the Narus." Lionheart explained. This made Lightning begin to wonder if there is more to it than meets the eye.
"So, what happens of a different Naru becomes the Maelstrom King?" Lightning asked as Lionheart had a serious face on his expression. "If that ever happened, then that Naru will be able to influence every Naru out there to follow his or her way of life and limit the possibilities out there. Basically, it takes away those Narus' free will and rights to become something that could unlock their unlimited potentials." He replied his voice cold and menacing at the thought. "For example, if the original human Naruto Uzumaki were to ever become the Maelstrom King, he will eliminate every possibility that connects to any other Naru and make them stay only on the path of a ninja and the path of Light. If that happened, there are no new possibilities, time will be ruptured, space will become unstable, and Reality itself will collapse, destroying everything around it. That is the price for narrow-minded idiots who choose to bear such a heavy burden." He told her. His voice was silent and cold, as if he was a living corpse as Lightning shuddered at the scenario.
"And of course, my former self wouldn't have met you or fallen for you." He added in as Lightning felt her cheeks warm up from that. She recalled that confession, when the day came when he was going to die; he told her those words before he went to face the inevitable fate ahead which leads to his 'death'. While he had the body of a child, his soul was older than hers and was a good person at heart. She hated to admit it, but when she spent time with him, she fell in love with him as well. But she knew his time was limited before he would no longer be there, as the two timelines would split and the time they had together would be forgotten, like those many years ago when Cocoon's history was corrupted. He came to fix it when she was a teenager at the time.
Looking back, she recalled herself traveling back in that time to help fix history, which she had already done before meeting Lionheart and now was forced to help control the Maelstrom Wars from becoming too chaotic. To her, this war was a bloodbath for personal gain, power, control, ideals, and for their own pleasures. She hated it; it was worse than anything she ever fought in during her time as a member of the Guardian Corp. and as Etro's knight. But for now, she had to survive in this war, and wait for Naruto's rebirth to restore balance to reality itself.
*Konoha-013 AKA (After Kyuubi Attack)*
Naruto awoke from his slumber, rising up from his futon as he looked around. He was in his room again, and there were two boxes of chocolates there for him and a repaired Blazefire Saber by his side. "…Oh yeah, Valentine's Day…" he muttered, recalling that yesterday. He knew one was definitely Hinata's, but the other one he could not identify. "Good morning, Naruto-sama." Jaken greeted as he walked in the room as Naruto sat up. "Who sent this box of chocolate?" Naruto asked, pointing to said one as Jaken looked at it. "That one my lord, is from Princess Sera of Roland, if I recall correctly." The vassal replied as Naruto looked at it with a smile. He recalled the day when he first met the Princess of Rōran.
*2 days before Finals of Chunin Exams-Rise of the Knight of Rōran-*
"Man, Lightning is such a slave driver…" Naruto groaned as he walked into the nearby town near the First Ark. How they had failed to discover the ancient deathtrap he'll never know. He didn't care. Lightning wanted him to rest up for the next two days and he was going to enjoy it. But Lightning made sure to give him a spare copy of her Blazefire Saber, which didn't have any writing on it like hers did. He wondered why she got him one when he had hers and she told him that hers is more special, it was a memory of hers. Respecting it, he agreed to take the spare Blazefire Gunblade and had proceeded to the nearby town.
He just hoped nothing chaotic will happen for the next two days.
As Naruto was walking on the road, he spotted a series of caravans moving towards the town, probably traders or travelers looking for a place to rest. Curious since it's been a while since he's seen ones while in Konoha, but out here made him wonder what it's like to travel to minor towns that don't involve villages. He decided to tag along.
As he got to the town with the caravan, chatting away with the people and learning they were nomads of sorts and a brief history of how they came to be, he began to look for something to eat. The rule was (from orders by Lightning herself) no ramen. While he hated the fact he can't enjoy his favorite dish made him depressed. But when he smelt the barbeque of a nearby restaurant, it reminded him of Choji. He might as well eat there then.
…
…
After enjoying a good combination of beef, vegetables (which he's gotten used to eating thanks to Lightning's strict diet), he was going to find a nice place for a nap. "Help—!" a scream cried out, gaining Naruto's immediate attention. "So much for that nap, this is such a drag." Naruto thought before mentally slapping himself. He was starting to sound like Shikamaru as he dashed towards the scream. "Princess—!" voices called out as Naruto noticed it was the nomads again, and it looked like a red-haired girl in orange robes (he liked the style just by seeing it. Plus, it's easier to read the atmosphere of what's going on.) As she was being carried by a few ninja against her will. "Looks like a kidnapping," he thought as he leapt after the ninjas, "And they picked the wrong time to do that." He added in as he began pursuit.
/Sometime later/
"Let me go!" the redhead demanded as she struggled against her captors as they looked at her. "She's a feisty one, better tie her up and then gag her so the trip can be much quieter." One ninja said as the second one nodded. "Indeed, for Kumo's sake, we'll need every bit of military boost in power we can get for it and this girl's power over the ley energies is the key to improving it." The other one replied. The girl's eyes widened in realization, these ninja were after her powers over the Ryūmyaku, but what they didn't realize is that it was sealed away by a hero in her mother's dreams when she was young. "But what about the seal that holds the energies back? The Fourth Hokage made sure such powers could not be freed to be used for war ever again." The third one asked as the other two nodded.
"There's a research team working on the seals. But it seems that the seal's matrix is beyond our level and would take years to unravel. If only we had an Uzumaki, then we could undo Namikaze's work and gain the power for Kumo." The leader said as the trio nodded. While they were talking, they didn't notice their prisoner pulling strands of hair out and dropping them on the ground, leaving a trail behind, hoping someone would save her.
Naruto followed in pursuit, he nearly lost them in the forest until he saw strands of red on the ground. It was hair, a lovely shade of red that was nostalgic for some reason. He felt happy, yet, sad about the color. It felt…like his heart was torn from him, like he had lost something that not even the greatest of powers could offer.
The boy ignored it; he could figure it out later. Right now, he had to save that girl from those Kumo ninjas. His blood was pumping, feeding him adrenaline as he knew he was going to fight alone. These kinds of battles would have been easier if Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi were here. Heck, even Lightning would have sufficed. He had tried numerous times to contact her telepathically, but no avail. She blocked him out. He had no choice but to do this alone.
He observed the three Kumo ninja. Their outfits alone said Chūnin with the last one being a Jōnin from the flank jacket's designs being different from the ones the two Chūnin wore. It would be a tough battle if he jumped in head first. He'll need to weaken them somehow. Pick them off one by one would suffice. Now all he needed to do is plan things out and use whatever resources he had. This is one of the times that Naruto had to thank Lightning for making him redo the basics of military survival training and how to make the hunter become the hunted. Damn sadistic bitch.
"Hey, is it me, or is the forest more quiet than usual?" one of the Chūnin asked as the Kumo team stopped. "You're right, the birds aren't chirping and squirrels aren't running about." The leader replied, taking notice of the silence in the forest. The leader's years of experience had taught him one thing, when a forest is silent like this; you're being hunted by another enemy, whether it is man or beast. "Keep your guard up, we're being hunted. But the question is by who, or what." The experienced Jōnin told his men as they drew out kunai as their eyes narrowed as they cautiously looked around.
The princess stayed quiet, hoping that whoever it was the one who would save her, and not some predator that will probably feast upon her. The silence continued as the sounds of birds chirping returned. Causing one of the Chūnin to sigh with relief, "Well, whatever it was looks like it's over." He said as he looked around. "I'm using the bushes." He quickly told them as their leader groaned. "You've got five minutes. Make it quick." He told his subordinate, still on edge from the previous silence, he had a feeling that whatever was following them, was waiting for the right time to strike.
Naruto slowly walked down the tree his target was relieving himself at, his coat hanging on the branches as his kunai was drawn. Once the target was done, turning his back from the tree, he made his move. Dashing as fast as he can, he leapt, his arm outstretched as he covered his taller enemy's mouth and slammed him into the ground and quickly impaled the heart with the kunai. He pressed it as hard as he could as he muffled the man who tried to push him away. But his physical enhancements by turning L'Cie made it possible to withstand the strength of his taller opponent. With that done, his target's arms fell, dead as any other corpse can be. But now that he's done with one, he needed to take care of the other two.
This calls for a trap. And he had a clone scout ahead and mentioned two trunks of wood lying around, strong and hard, time to squash a bug, Konoha style.
"He's sure taking his time. Should I go check on him?" The Chūnin asked as the Jōnin nodded. He went to where his teammate had gone to, only to see the corpse in front of him, and snakes, lots, and lots of snakes. "There's only one ninja besides the infamous Anko who could use snake jutsu…" he muttered with dread as laughter rang out from the forest. It sent chills down his spine; it meant that the infamous Snake Sannin was having the same idea as they were. Not good at all.
Naruto watched from above as he placed his coat on again as it fluttered downwards as the cape on the left shoulder blade of the coat swayed from the wind. He smirked, if things went just as planned, then the idiots won't know what hit them. Using Shadow Clones and turning them into snakes fooled these guys easily. He recalled how dangerous that Grass ninja was back in the Forest of Death and how she/he used snake themed techniques in battle, he had a feeling that these people would be intimidated. But he didn't expect it to be that intimidating. Oh well, time for phase two in butchering these bastards.
The two Kumo ninja moved one, taking their prisoner with them as they were on edge. After what happened to their teammate, they knew someone was after them, and after hearing the dozens of snakes surrounding the body of their deceased comrade, they feared Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin had taken interest in their prisoner and is currently taking them out, one by one, till only their prisoner remained. "We should just leave her here and flee for our lives; I'm not suicidal in facing Orochimaru of all people." The Kumo Chūnin told his superior, the fear slowly eating his heart from the inside as the Kumo Jōnin glared at him.
"I don't care if it was the Sage of Six Paths himself, I'm not going to fail this mission because of some rogue snake is after our objective. Now get your ass in gear and move it!" he ordered as his subordinate sighed in resignation. He had a feeling that things were going to get from bad to worse any minute right now. The princess had doubts that it was this 'Orochimaru' person that killed their teammate. If there was one thing she learned from her travels and stories from other ninjas, is that making it look like an infamous shinobi did the deed to intimidate an enemy and make them paranoid. Once paranoia kicks in, they freak out.
"Did you hear that?" the Kumo Chūnin asked, hearing the bushes rustling as the Jōnin merely threw a kunai at the bushes and checked it out, only to see a dead rabbit. "You dumbass, it's just a rabbit. Now go check the pathway and see if we have an ambush of any sorts up ahead." The Kumo Jōnin ordered as the Chūnin nodded and ran forward to scout. That was when a voice rang out. "Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly." It said in a mocking way, as the Kumo Chūnin stopped at the voice as the Jonin noticed where his subordinate was standing. "Kay, get out of there!" he shouted. But it was too late. The trap was sprung.
Kay was pulled up by a rope wrapped around his leg as two massive tree trunks revealed themselves as they collided together, with Kay in the middle as he was mercilessly crushed by the colliding force as his bloody remains rained the spot he was at. The princess turned her eyes at the last minute to avoid the sight, as the Kumo Jōnin looked shocked at the sight; his comrades were all wiped out. He was the only one left, but who was the one responsible for doing this to his team? Definitely not Orochimaru, for the voice was a child's. Whoever taught this child how to make a trap that horrifying was a monster, for no human would make a trap for brutal and gory like that.
"Show yourself brat, or are you afraid that you can't beat me one on one?" the Kumo Jōnin demanded as the princess kept calm and looked down. She heard footsteps from ahead, calm walking ones as she looked at the one who came to her rescue. A boy around her age, with blond spikey hair, blue eyes cold as ice and ruthless, a serious expression on his face, and whisker shaped birthmarks as his coat and long red cape fluttered in the invisible wind. The Kumo Jōnin looked like he had seen a ghost back from the dead. "I-Impossible…How can you still be alive Namikaze?!" the Kumo Jōnin asked in absolute shock as the boy raised a brow.
"I'm not sure who's this Namikaze person is, but I'm here to save that girl you kidnapped for no reason at all." The boy replied coolly, his hand reaching behind him as he pulled out a strange contraption that transformed into a saber as he pointed it at the Kumo Jōnin. "There is no way I'm going to let you take her, boy." The Kumo ninja told him, "Her powers are unique, so rare to find one that Kumo can study and exploit in our cause to increase our military powers. I will not let this mission fail while I still live." He told the boy who narrowed his eyes. "That could be arranged." He told the older man and charged at him.
The two ninja clashed kunai against sword as the sparks from the blades erupted. The man and the child glared at each other, not giving an inch to each other as they swung their blades. Fury behind each strike they swung as their blood speed up. Adrenaline pumping as the two warriors slashed at each other, deflecting their respective blows over and over again as the two enemies came in contact with their blades again. "You're quite the swordsman kid, what's your name?" the Kumo Jōnin asked as the boy merely raised a brow. The princess watching the battle in awe as she was watching excellent combat prowess from two warriors, one a man, and one, a child.
"Shouldn't you give your name out first out of courtesy, or did your mother forget to teach you manners?" the boy asked mockingly as the Kumo ninja furrowed his brows in anger at that insult. "Names Jay, yours?" the Jōnin replied as the boy smirked. "Names Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage." The boy replied as Jay's eyes widened. "Uzumaki…? As in Ku-"Jay started as he felt something pressed against his chest. He looked down to see a strange contraption of some sort that reminded him of the boy's sword, which was in his right hand. "Never let your guard down, even when talking in battle." Naruto chided as his finger pressed the trigger.
The princess watched, as the sound of roaring thunder echoed throughout the forest as blood erupted from the back of the Kumo ninja's back as the man stiffened. She watched as the older man fell on his back, stiff and silent as the kunai he had in his hand fell as the boy named Naruto sighed. "Great, I had just washed this too…" he grumbled as he turned towards the princess. She saw his face and clothes, stained in blood of his enemy as he wiped the blood off his face and grimaced. "Urgh, this is going to smell bad." He said as he sniffed himself. The princess chuckled, he was more worried about his hygiene than the fact he killed someone in cold blood. What an odd person.
"You alright?" he asked as he sheathed his weapons and walked towards her, a concerned expression on his face as he undid the rope that tied her arms together. "Yeah, thank you for saving me from those ninja." She replied as Naruto chuckled. "No problem, I do my best to help others. Now let's get you back to the others." He said as he scooped her up bridal style and leapt up to the tops of the trees, the full moon shining brightly as they saw the lights of the city ahead. "So, you have a name princess?" he asked as the princess looked at him, "My name is Sera." She replied as Naruto smiled. "I see, so Sera, hope you enjoy the ride." He told her as he leapt from tree to tree as Sera hanged onto him while doing so.
"How did you find me exactly?" she asked as Naruto looked at her and smiled. "I noticed your beautiful hair right away." He replied. Sera's cheeks turned red at that, it was the first time a boy around her age complimented her hair before. His eyes were different than before; she noticed, back in the fight, his eyes were cold and merciless, like a trained warrior who knew how to kill, but now, they were warm, caring, and completely different from then. She felt like she was swept away by an angel as he leapt into the sky with her in his arms. What was this feeling?
As Naruto landed in front of the city, he gently let her down as she stood up. "Thank you Naruto, I don't know how I can repay you." Sera thanked him as Naruto smiled. "Well, I'm not one for rewards, but just avoid trouble so this doesn't happen again okay?" he asked as he began escorting her back to her caravan. When they reached there, Sera ran to her people as they were overjoyed as an older woman who resembled Sera in appearance hugged her. He turned to leave when he heard Sera call out to him.
He turned, seeing everyone from the caravan there looking at him with gratitude in their eyes. They were thanking him for saving someone close to them, and they want to honor him in some way. "Can you come here young Konoha shinobi?" the older version of Sera asked him, this made him comply, if Sera is the princess, then this woman is her mother, and queen. Really bad idea to get on royalties' bad side; he walked towards the queen who smiled at him. "Thank you for saving my daughter from those ninja." She told him as Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He wasn't used to such gratitude, or being thanked for. "It was nothing, I only did what I thought was right." He replied.
The queen looked at him and an idea came up. "For going out of your way to save my daughter, I have a reward for you. I hope you can accept the gift." She said as she pulled out an old worn blade. "That's a Konoha Chakra Blade, what's she doing with it?" he thought as she asked him to kneel down. "For your valiant efforts and compassionate heart, I, Queen Sāra of Rōran, make you, Naruto Uzumaki, Knight of Rōran!" she announced as she tapped his shoulders with the blade as his eyes widened by the announcement. The people of the queen's caravan clapped and a few whistled as Naruto felt happy. "So, this is what it's like to be acknowledged…" he thought as he spent the last two days with the people of Rōran celebrating and having a good time.
*Rise of the Knight of Rōran-End*
"Now that was a good time…" Naruto thought as he ate the chocolate. It was warm and sweet in his mouth, and full of gratitude, definitely a friendship he would never replace in the entire world. When he finished it and bit into Hinata's chocolate, he felt the smoothness of the chocolate, gentle, warm, sweet, and comforting. This made Naruto mentally kick himself, how was he going to break it to Hinata that he was in love with someone else? Urgh, one of the many trials in love life, and he'll have to do it the old classic way, tell her straight out and try and keep the bond between them as friends and keep it like that.
"Naruto," Kushina spoke up from the hallways, gaining Naruto's attention as Jaken handed his lord his trademark coat and shoulder pauldron as he walked out of his room. "Yes mom?" the Shinobi L'Cie asked as Kushina looked at him. "Tsunade is asking for you, saying something is wrong with your body after you were admission to the hospital, and that I come along as well. You might want to get Lightning to come along, this is important." She told him as he nodded. "Jaken, could you…"
"I'm already on it sir." The former Iwa-ninja-now-servant replied as he dashed off. Now what was left was to find out what Tsunade-baa-chan wanted and what she discovered about him.
*Konoha Hospital*
"Glad you three could make it." Tsunade said as Naruto, Kushina, and Lightning were seated as Tsunade looked at the file she was holding and looked at Naruto sharply. "Naruto, have you've been aware you're…L'Cie powers I believe, are double-edged swords?" she asked as Naruto nodded. "Duh, I'm on a time limit, once the brand reaches the final stage, I'm a dead man walking." He replied bluntly as Kushina had to resist the urge to smirk at Naruto's disrespect for the Hokage, then again, she did so in her youth and it wasn't anything special. "That's not what I meant." Tsunade said, gaining the sudden attention of the three. "Naruto, your very body is slowly being turned into crystal and swords." She told him seriously as Naruto kept himself calm as Lightning and Kushina's eyes widen in shock.
"But that's impossible, no L'Cie power can do that unless…" Lightning said looking at Naruto as his eyes showed that he knew the answer for why it was happening to him. "Two Reality Marbles are in conflict, and they are starting to take effect on my body." He told the three as they were all wondering what a Reality Marble is.
"Here's the run down version since I'm not a fan of giving lectures, a Reality Marble is the inner world of a being that is able to be projected into the real word by using the World Egg theory. The Reality Marble itself works, in a sense, as a dissimilar method of 'world creation' that creates a world that defines the practitioner and all of the rules in it must be followed. It is closer to ancient magic than any other spell out there and is a taboo among taboos and a mystery among mysteries. The Reality Marble is the diagram inscribed on the soul, showing the person's true nature and view on the world. A world that the practitioner forever alone stands in." he finished as Lightning instantly knew that he was referring to bits of his old past's powers and how it works. Kushina and Tsunade were amazed by what he was saying, and Kushina knew that he must be talking about his dark past while Tsunade assumed it was an ability bestowed to him when he turned L'Cie.
"I see, but this doesn't explain the crystal and blades replacing your muscle tissues Naruto." Tsunade told him as he looked at her. "Due to the nature of my Reality Marbles, two of them, and my fast regeneration abilities, its forcing those two internal worlds to start physically manifest by replacing the damaged tissue. If I don't find a way to both save myself from the curse of the L'Cie and whatever group Itachi and the fish man were working with that are after me, I'd be killed from either being skewered by blades or parts of my vitals being turned into solid crystal." He told them, and all three women cringed at that. For such great and terrible powers, come heavy, painful, agonizing prices.
"Is there any way to fix such a condition Naruto?" Kushina asked her son, hoping there was another way as he shook his head no. "Impossible, my two viewpoints on the world are now clashing for control, with my body paying the price. If I don't find a way to make them find a middle ground, I will probably die in less than a year." He told her as Kushina looked horrified as Tsunade narrowed her eyes. She had one thing she was proud of as a medic-nin and that was finding a way to heal her patients, and she would be damned if she lost her distant relative to some supernatural powers gone out of control inside of his body. "Anything else you need Baa-chan?" Naruto asked cheekily as Tsunade resisted the urge to punch him in the face. Yeah, she knows that she's old, but he's really pushing it at times. But for some reason, she feels like it's a family nickname for her, oh well. It's not like he's going to be stopping calling her that anytime.
"Well, I have a mission for you to do." Tsunade replied as Naruto looked at her. The look in her eye tells her that it was going to be an interesting mission. "Go on," he told her as Tsunade had him reeled in. "Ever since Orochimaru's stunt back when you and Jiraiya came to Tanzaku Town to get me, he's up to something terrible that's affecting other hidden villages. Since we're all low on manpower, Genin are now allowed missions higher than C-rank. So I want you to help out with something." She explained as the look in the Genin's eyes knew she had him hook line and sinker.
/
"How is this supposed to be an interesting mission again?" Naruto thought in annoyance as he pulled the cart full of supplies as he made his way to Tanzaku Town. It was a simple D-Rank mission of course, and every entity living inside of him was laughing. "You have to admit Naruto, you always did have strength to do things no single person can, but this takes the cake!" one voice replied as Naruto's brow twitched. "True, while it is due to his L'Cie enhancements, I think this teaches him diligence and patience, seeing how he's instantly disliked the mission right off the bat." Another voice replied to the first. "Hey, how about making us a meal with some of that?" Magatsu Arashi asked jokingly as the other voices laughed. "One of these days I'm going to kick your asses for this." Naruto thought bitterly as he paused for a second as he noticed a mere run out of the mill bandit ninja in brown traditional ninja clothing.
"Kid…Drop the goods and go!" the older ninja told him as Naruto cracked his neck. "In your dreams pal, I've got a delivery to make and I would avoid trying to take me on if I were you." Naruto told him as the older ninja scoffed. "I'd rather avoid killing, but nothing beats hunger as a motivator." Then the sounds of a rumbling stomach confirmed this. "It can't be helped…Prepare yourself!" he shouted. Naruto smirked; this was going to be easy.
*2 minutes later*
"Heh, there's no way in hell I'm going to lose to some starving ninja." Naruto said to himself as he pulled the cart away from the beaten up body of the older ninja. Reaching Tanzaku Town was easy because he remembered being there before, so it'll be a breeze when taking the road there.
…
…
"Thanks for the help kid!" the trader shouted as Naruto walked back home. He merely gave him a wave as his coat fluttered from the gentle breeze as a mission was a complete success.
/
"That was fast." Tsunade stated, as Naruto sat on his chair with a yawn. "Only thing there was a Ninja Bandit, a starving one at that and was pretty easy to take out. Got anything else interesting?" he asked boredly. "Naruto, please show respect for the Hokage." Shizune chided as Naruto looked at her with a sly look. "Really, you didn't say that back in Tanzaku Town when we were all alone." He told her as he watched Shizune's poor face turned scarlet red at that night. "Oh, do tell me what happened then Shizune. I'm quite curious of what made you scream that one night." Tsunade told her pupil who looked like she was having a heart attack. "I-I need to go check on the status reports on the recent road attacks, so if you will excuse me…!" Shizune replied as she dashed out of the office.
"You are one horrible person Naruto." Tsunade told her distant relative with a wry smile on her face. "Of course I am. I'm fucking evil like that." He replied with a grin on his face. Tsunade already knew he had inherited Kushina's mischievous personality, but to play with a girl's heart makes him a devil in disguise that she'll never stop being amused by. "Alright, here's your next mission. There's a request from the only store that sells ninja equipment in the village, 'Emporium Karin'. You are to go to the shop and learn of the owner's situation and help restore the business." She told him as he nodded. "I'm on it." He replied as he stood up to leave until something hit him.
"By the way, did the Chūnin promotions get announced yet?" he asked. Tsunade shook her head. "Due to the current situation, decisions for those capable of being Chūnin are decided by the results of missions completed and skills. From what I hear, you gained the interest of a few Feudal Lords during the fight with Suna's Jinchūriki while Shikamaru is definitely getting promoted due to his high IQ, which is actually a common thing when the Nara clan is involved. Plus Sasuke has his own positive reviews from other ninjas as well." Tsunade replied. Naruto nodded, turning to leave as he began heading towards the directions of the shop he was hired to help out.
/
Naruto slide the door open as he walked in and closed it behind him. The store was dark, and was deathly quiet, he didn't like it. "So this is Emporium Karin eh? So where is everyone? Hello?" he called out. "…Can I help you…?" a female voice spoke up as a girl appeared out of nowhere. She had brown hair that reached down to her neck, red eyes, and wore traditional shopkeeper clothes with a red obi on. The only thing Naruto could do at that moment was scream in shock. "Damnit, she appeared out of nowhere like a ghost." Naruto thought. "And she's gloomier than one; poor girl must have had a hard time coping with the loss of a loved one." The voice replied. "I get it Tenryū, let me handle this." He mentally replied as he looked at the girl.
"I'm sorry…I'm Karin Kagura…the owner of…Emporium Karin." The girl bowed and apologized. He walked up to her, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I came here on a mission to help out." He told her as she looked at him. "Oh…right, that…" she said recalling having sent a mission for a ninja to help her. "Actually…I have a favor to ask…" she replied, her voice sounding depressed, which really got to Naruto. One thing he didn't like, are sad people, and he'd be damned if he left someone in a state like that. "So what's your request?" Naruto asked, hoping that whatever she needed him to do will help brighten up her mood. "Well, actually…" Karin began as she looked at the shop.
"Last month, my dad died after an illness. And I inherited this shop…" she explained. "So I was right on the mark once again, time pay up Naraku!" Tenryū spoke up as Naruto heard Naraku groan about 'stupid holy dragons always being right' and such nonsense. "In no time at all, the customers stopped coming…" she continued as Naruto sweat dropped. "I'm not surprised." He though, especially since Karin has a depressing aura around her. It makes people want to stay away. "If this keeps up, the shop will go under. So, please! Please…Please save my shop!" Karin begged. The look she had look like she was really desperate, and Naruto knew that if he helped get people to shop here, then Karin's spirit might lighten up a bit.
"Alright, what do you want me to do?" he asked. "If you could just help advertise the shop…" she said as Naruto's brain froze for a second. "Extra, extra! Naruto Uzumaki, once proud shinobi of Konoha, now advertising sap, is currently doing his pathetic job in advertising in order to help a poor little girl from going out of business!"Magatsu Arashi exclaimed as Naruto twitched a little, not that Karin noticed. "Any suggestions on how to advertise for the shop, because I'm not sure there are any good suggestions that'll get the customers attention?" He asked Karin who nodded. "Well, you know how there have been a lot more of outlaws as of late?" she asked as Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Ninja Bandits, some try to steal precious cargo and freeing fellow criminals and all that? Met a few and gave them all a good beating." He replied.
"If you could fight the outlaws…and punish them…" she began as Naruto realized at what she was getting at. "By making the village safer, then it will help increase the sales of the shop when I advertise by beating them up." He concluded. Karin nodded, "It would also help if you pass out flyers as you fight." She told him as she handed him a good amount of advertisement flyers as he noticed they were quite a lot of them. Then Karin gave him several ninja tools from kunai to shuriken to bombs as Naruto noticed a nodachi on the wall. Since he didn't need his gunblades, he left Leo and Elo with Kushina who was probably giving them baths to keep their fur clean and kept his Blazefire Saber in his room, and using Chizakura against mere bandits is an insult to him and the blade. But using a normal blade with good quality metal like that one could benefit for his swordsmanship.
Karin gave him permission to use it as he felt her place something on his back. He looked to see another advertisement poster attached to the back of his coat. "…Alright." He replied as he knew if he refused, she would beg again. "I'll do my best. Wish me luck." He told her as she thanked him greatly. With that, Naruto walked into the light, going on his way to become a hero.
As Naruto walked through the outskirts of the village, he knew he was being watched already. He felt the hostile intent aimed at him from the trees as he stopped. "You can come out you lowlife scum." Naruto taunted as a group of ninja appeared several yards ahead of him. They were definitely Bandit Ninja, regular people with basic ninja training and no ability to use chakra that make them both easy and annoying to deal with. "You look like a fine kid you little brat." The leader said holding kunai knives out intimidatingly. "Hand over your wallet and pretend nothing happen kid, and we'll let you live." He ordered Naruto who looked at the kunai knives his victim had.
"Man, I've seen crappy gear, but that takes the cake. Emporium Karin has better quality ninja gear than…wherever you get that piece of crap you call kunai." Naruto mocked as the bandits narrowed their eyes in anger. "Are you mocking us brat?" another member asked quietly as Naruto smirked. These idiots are so easy to trick. "Oh, of course not, I'm just saying you should change the gear. The metal quality is bad and it looks like it was made in a half-assed attempt to be sold." Naruto replied with his voice being straight as he pulled out one of the kunai Karin gave him. And even then, the outlaws and the nearby pedestrians who were sneaking past them noticed the quality of the weapon. "Here I come you morons, do you have enough weapons at your disposal?" Naruto asked as he charged in.
"You better beg for mercy for that you son of a bitch!" a ninja bandit snapped as he drew his sickle as Naruto's eyes narrowed at that insult, that man was the first to pay. Drawing the nodachi, he deflected the blade of the sickle as he swept a nearby bandit's leg and did a heel drop kick in the stomach before throwing the kunai he had in his right hand right in the leg of the third member of the group, rending him to limping as Naruto broke the sickle's blade with a quick twist from the blade and the right amount of force. Then, Naruto decked the guy right in the face and slammed him headfirst into the ground. "Don't you ever dare call my mother a bitch you asshole." Naruto told the unconscious man as he threw one more kunai as the ninja bandit limping away was hit in the shoulder and fell.
"I feel bored with these guys. Heck, fighting Cie'th was more challenging than them." Naruto thought with annoyance as he tossed some flyers into the air. "If you're looking for good quality equipment, come shop at Emporium Karin's today!" he shouted out loud as he turned his back as everyone saw the advertisement on his back.
*Three Hours later-Konoha Dango Shop*
"I heard you took another odd mission again Naruto, and you didn't take any of your gunblades or Chizakura." Lightning spoke up as Naruto sat at the dango shop for a break. "Yeah, I'm advertising for Emporium Karin by hunting down ninja bandits and handing out flyers. I show off the weapons and all that, but now I'm all out, and I'm tired of facing…" Naruto trailed off, trying to find the right words. "Lame, non-ninjutsu using ninja that don't have a life…?" Lightning guessed as Naruto snapped his fingers. "That's the exact words I'm looking for." He replied as he took a bite of dango before sighing. "Sometimes, I wish for more challenging opponents, the monsters back in your time sounded promising. I mean, they can probably put up better fights than most ninja in this era." He told her as she sighed.
"There's one thing I've learned about a few things in life, and that is to be careful with what you wish for." She told him as a couple of Chūnins passed by the dango shop. "Hey, did you hear about Emporium Karin?" the female of the Chūnin asked, gaining Naruto's attention. "Yeah, I hear that place has good equipment. Plus, I heard a ninja used equipment from there to take down dozens of ninja bandits. And from what I heard, powerful Paper Bombs and sturdy kunai that don't break half the time like ours do." Another one spoke up. "We should check it out; I heard that it's quite popular as of late, maybe we can find something we like there." He told them as they all nodded.
"Looks like I should go check on the shop. See you later Lightning." Naruto said as he ran off again. Lightning smiled, that boy was truly something else at times. She still had questions for him, but she could hold it off till another time.
*Emporium Karin*
"Hey Karin, how's business? Did it work?" Naruto asked aloud as he looked around, seeing most of the stuff being gone, and from the looks of it, the shop did really well. "Oh yes. It was so busy all day. I had a rough time with it." Karin replied as she smiled a bit. "Then I did one hell of a job advertising then." Naruto said as Karin nodded. "Yes, thank you…very, very much…" Karin told him with pure sincerity in her voice as the mission was a complete success. Now Naruto had one more thing before he left, he returned the borrowed nodachi and gave a bit of advice for Karin. "Hey, Karin, just for the record, you shouldn't be gloomy. If you do, then it'll make the customers stop coming again. Just, smile, you look better like that." He told her as she looked at him. "I understand. I'll try my best." She told him as she smiled an actual joyful smile that radiated happiness in it.
*Uzumaki house hold-sometime later*
"Hmmm….it needs a little salt." Naruto said as he tasted his recipe in the kitchen. "Here you are sir!" Jaken replied as he placed a pinch of salt into the cooking stew as Naruto tasted it and gave him an OK sign. "Dinner's ready!" Naruto exclaimed. Lightning, Kushina, Jaken, Leo and Elo all sat in their respective seats at the dinner table as the special stew Naruto and Jaken cooked together was divided evenly among everyone. "Let's eat!" everyone announced as they dig in. The minute everyone (minus Naruto of course, since he made it himself and knew its taste before) were all froze in amazement by the taste.
"Son…" Kushina said silently as she looked at him, "You definitely know how to cook." She told him straightforwardly as Naruto looked at her sheepishly. "Well, I did inherit your skills with cooking, so I went out of my way on how to improvise and make new dishes with you." He told her, but inwardly, Kushina and Lightning knew he was probably referring to Kushina's Cipher counterpart. How Kushina would have loved meeting her Cipher counterpart, it would have been an honor.
"So, how well did you do on your mission without using ninjutsu or your L'Cie powers?" Lightning asked as Naruto smiled. "Well…using only Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, pretty boring. The ninja bandits I fought were pretty lame. I hope a better challenge will come up that I'll need backup." He replied as Kushina looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, I'm going to be shopping for a while, how about taking Jaken with you to help out with the missions then?" she asked, getting Naruto to nod. "Good idea, I want to see how my loyal vassal performs in combat." He replied as he looked at Jaken. "Don't worry sir; I won't fail your expectations!" Jaken saluted as Leo and Elo purred in delight of their stew before speaking up. "Gao, Gao, Gao, Gaaaoooo!" Leo spoke up.
"Oh really then, you two want to join me and Jaken tomorrow?" Naruto asked.
"Gao." Elo replied with a nod.
"Alright, then I'll make sure to take you both then. Besides, I wanted to see how well I did with creating my latest and proudest creations." He told the two lion cubs that held their chests up high with pride. Kushina, Lightning, and Jaken merely blinked at the sight, and wondered what kind of sorcery he did to give such weaponry life and the ability to transform like that. Truly the Unpredictable Ninja indeed.
*Konoha-Unknown time*
"Noooooooooooooo….!" Anko wailed as she fell forward crying. It's gone; the one favorite of hers besides dango is gone. But she wasn't the only one sobbing, but the fellow sweet-tooth brethren beside her as the wept in great sorrow and anguish, the Tamasaburo was out of stock.
*Night time-Naruto's Room*
Naruto opened the case and examined the contents, he wondered how he found it, but he heard from Magatsu Arashi he found it in a weird dimension of sorts and won it in a game competition of sorts, which was confirmed by Leo and Elo as he observed the weapon in front of him. It was a weapon from a different era and world completely. An American gun called the Thompson Contender that was modified to the original user's style. Its grip and forearm are carved in walnut, making it reminiscent of a dagger in its scabbard as the only visible mechanical parts were the trigger and the hammer, with neither a cylinder nor a slide on the simple exterior, making it similar to the percussion pistols used in the last hours of the Middle Ages with a fourteen inch rifled barrel made for hunting specifications and fitted for .30-06 Springfield bullets. This is the weapon of the legendary Magus Killer Kiritsugu Emiya, the hero of justice forgotten to all but the few that truly knew the great man for who he was.
Naruto recalled this weapon many times in his previous life, how he used it only against the strongest of enemies among magi. He was the second coming of the Magus Killer in one life, and now must make a new bullet and become something just as terrifying as the Magus Killer himself, the Shinobi Killer. He opened the weapon and slid the bullet he made and took aim at his target. And pulled the trigger…
To be continued…