I'm actually really surprised people liked the Mission Chapter, well, honestly, thanks, anyway here's Ruby's debut, might have to split it into two Chapters, I was following the Manga for this Chapter and was half-way done until it felt completely disjointed and it completely tossed Naruto and Mizore to the side to the point where they had such few lines, so I decided to rewrite it and mix the Anime and Manga but I'm gonna make a couple of changes, the biggest being that it's not a beach trip, and I might have dug myself into a deeper hole by accident with past Chapters but what can you do
also, thank you, lads, for the Criticism and stick around to the long note, I'll keep it in mind going forward especially since I re-read some of it in order to apply it in future Chapters but I still feel kinda new to this, still thanks again and now onwards
Normal Speech: "the World calls for wetwork!"
Flashbacks and thoughts: "and we answer!"
Biju/Fox/Summoning/Inner Moka/Mikogami: "No greater good, no just cause"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV for dimension-hopping scene changes
Disclaimer: I don't think I want to do disclaimers anymore not because I want to pretend I own this but because I'm running out of witty remarks for these but I don't own anything
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"Well, yeah we weren't supposed to make a big scene back at the Factory, I probably should have mentioned that earlier" Naruto sheepishly said as he scratched his cheek,
"You really should have...now I think I looked kind of silly when I blew up the truck..." Yūgao trailed off as she set two bowls in front of them
"Okay, so what is this?" Naruto asked, poking the food with his spoon
"Snake soup, it appears this particular dish originated from a region called 'Hong Kong', try it" Yūgao answered, Naruto gulped, he looked at the bowl and felt slightly uneasy.
"So...it's actually made of Snake?" Naruto questioned, he scooped up a spoonful and Yūgao pointed to it with her own spoon
"The threads right there are the Snake's flesh, just trust me it tastes pretty good and it's great for your body," Yūgao said, Naruto gave her a half-hearted smile but slowly place the spoon on his lips, to the whiskered blond's surprise, it wasn't as bad as he thought it was, a little salty but he expected far worse
"So, Naruto, I wanted to ask what you meant by 'disarming these guards feels risky' is there something wrong your CQC that you think needs fixing?" Yūgao asked while Naruto finished chewing his food
"Well, when I disarmed one Guard, I did what you told me to do when someone has a weapon to push it to the Side and subdue them as fast as you can before they have time to react, the problem is...when I grabbed the Firearm's barrel and when I pushed it left to right, the barrel had a clear shot in my upper body. I think if he had a better reaction time he might have had a good shot on me" Naruto answered as Yūgao hummed
"And with what the old man said getting hit by those weapons at all would be bad news…" Yūgao trailed off before smiling
"It's good that you caught a flaw in your own fighting style, now we'll work on fixing it up once we get back to the Academy" Yūgao spoke, Naruto raised an eyebrow
"We're not going to be training during Summer break?" Naruto asked while Yūgao shook her head
"Where would we train in secret? We're stuck in this small apartment and it's not like the Academy where we had the woods to cover us...but we will be doing some minor things like Strategy and mind games as an important as physical prowess is, it can be useless if you don't think like a Shinobi" Yūgao responded, Naruto frowned as he picked up the bowl and drank down the liquid after he was done, the Shinobi placed the Bowl down
"I was never really that big on the whole strategy stuff" Naruto muttered while Yūgao snorted
"Are you kidding? I heard from Kakashi-senpai that you and your teammates were able to trick Zabuza Momochi of all people and free Kakashi-senpai in the process, that's not a small feat, you know" Yūgao pointed as Naruto blushed lightly at that
"I...almost forgot about that," Naruto said and the Purple-haired Anbu sighed
"Well, Tsunade's orders were to make you proficient in all aspects of the Shinobi arts, mentally and physically, everything from Interrogation to Strategy to Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. all of that is on the table, even if you have no natural talent in some of those aspects we're still going to work on them" Yūgao spoke, Naruto flinched at that
"A-All of that?" Naruto asked as Yūgao nodded
"don't worry too much about it though, Shadow clones are going to be your best friend when we finally get down to work" Yūgao stated and the Anbu picked up the dirty dishes
"Go get some sleep too, you have to be up extra early for your trip"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Tsukune was daydreaming out the Bus window, the past three days were interesting for the human, at first he was looking forward to the trip, even counting the days till the Bus got here, a chance to finally be among real Humans again? Tsukune was overjoyed but then things took a quick turn
It had to do with Yukari being more and more distant from everyone, she stated she didn't want to go anywhere near the Human world and almost completely abandoned the trip until Moka pointed out Naruto would be meeting up with them and reassured her that everything would be okay.
Thankfully they had already crossover to the Human world now it was just a matter of time before they'd reach their destination. Tsukune blinked for a few seconds as he started to recognize the houses they were passing by now.
"Wait for just a second, there's no way he's staying here of all places" Tsukune thought before glancing on the other side of the bus, for a brief second, Tsukune saw his own house and his eyes widened
The Bus finally stopped just in front of an eager looking Naruto and Nurari let out a sigh of relief
"We're here," the Bus driver said as he stopped the Bus just in front of Naruto, the blond finally put on the Casual clothes Jiraiya had given him, he wore his black jacket with a plain white t-shirt under it, he also wore a black cloth headband with an orange Konoha symbol on it.
Naruto put up a smile as he hopped on the Bus and hesitantly put his hand up to greet the Newspaper Club. He still didn't have an excuse for why he just disappeared on them and just hoped to avoid the question for now
"I-I didn't miss anything did I?" Naruto asked as the Club fell silent and glanced at each other
"No not really" Tsukune spoke up, Naruto quickly sat next to Yukari and exhaled, the rest of the Newspaper Club continuously stared at Naruto in complete silence for a few seconds before he turned over to them
"Alright, you're starting to freak me out" Naruto stated and Moka gave him a half-hearted laugh.
"Sorry, it's just a little strange, you disappeared for a couple of days and we didn't really know why," Moka said, Kurumu nodded with her
"Yeah, what was up with that? We had to pick up your weight for the last issue of the Newspaper, you know" Kurumu said and Naruto let out a deep sigh
"I...had some stuff to do that I can't really get into right now," Naruto said, Kurumu raised an eyebrow but waved it off, she could pick up the hint that Naruto didn't want to talk about it
"Whatever you say" She dismissed
"Alright buckle up kiddos" The Bus driver spoke, he started the Bus and Naruto noticed there was someone missing
"Hey, Where's Gin-senpai?" Naruto asked and Kurumu started snickering
"He failed Ms. Ririko's class and had to make it up" Kurumu answered while Yukari glanced at her
"Now, Pole-dancer, you shouldn't be talking, you not only failed that Class but you also skipped summer school" Yukari pointed out and Kurumu glared at her
"Zip it" Kurumu ordered and the small Witch blew a raspberry at her, Naruto turned over to Tsukune with a small smile
"How are you holding up?" Naruto asked while Tsukune returned the smile
"Good, I can't tell you how great it feels to be back here!" the Human answered and Mizore peeked over from her seat
"You say that as if you're human yourself," The Yuki-onna said, Naruto, Tsukune, and Moka nearly jumped when they heard this
"W-Well, Tsukune-kun used to live in the Human world before coming to Yokai, so it's not out of the question that he might feel some sort of attachment to it" Moka spoke, Naruto nodded in agreement, Mizore sighed
"Not out of the question, I guess" she muttered, Kurumu eyed Naruto again before she spoke up
"You know we're going camping right?" Kurumu asked as Naruto nodded
"Yeah, I know," The Whiskered blond said, Kurumu blinked before pointing at him
"You...did bring some Camping stuff then, right?" she questioned and Naruto smirked at her before taking out two Storage scrolls
"I did, don't worry about me," he replied, Kurumu had no idea what those two Scrolls were for but she shook her head and sat back down, her mind raced around with ideas for her plan. Kurumu shot a look at Mizore and her smile only grew
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
The rest of the trip was pretty much in silence aside from small chatter between the group, Eventually, the Bus had gotten off the highway and driven right by a no trespassing sign.
"W-Wasn't that a No Trespassing sign?" Kurumu said as she pointed out the window and Mizore nodded with her
"That can't be legal…"
Naruto and Yukari looked out through their window
"We're getting deeper and deeper into the hills" The Small witch softly spoke while Naruto stayed silent, the scenery was starting to remind him of Konoha even feeling a bit homesick.
The Bus once more finally stopped…at the edge of the field and the Bus driver motioned for everyone to get off
"This wasn't what I was expecting," Tsukune said as he watched Naruto entered the field of sunflowers, Tsukune looked over to his left and squinted his eyes, just in the distance he could see a small shack but everything else to his right was covered by the ocean of Sunflowers, the rest of the Club wander around the area but Ms. Nekonome decided to stay in the Bus.
"So...I thought we were supposed to be at the Camping grounds, why did we stop here?" Tsukune asked the Bus driver turned to let out a cloud of smoke from his lips before turning back to them
"Just a small detour...Take a look at this," The man said as he took out a local Newspaper and handed it to Naruto. the blond read through it with Tsukune peeking over his shoulder behind him
"...You're joking right?" Naruto asked as he passed the Paper over to Tsukune who groaned.
"Eighteen people have gone missing from this hill, it's believed to be haunted, wanderers should steer clear of the hill…" Tsukune felt a chill run up his spine as he read this and the Bus driver smirked
"That or it could be just plagued with unfortunate events, in any case, you kids better watch your step here," The Bus driver said as he left the two teens and slowly walked back into the Bus.
"So how about you and I head into the City for some lunch?" He asked, Ms. Nekonome simply hummed
"Won't we be leaving the kids behind?" She questioned and the Bus driver shook his head
"We'll be back for them, Sunday afternoon, the Camping grounds aren't too far from here so they shouldn't have a problem getting set up, there's also a Sushi bar over in Kyoto I've wanted to try out for some time" the Bus driver answered, Shizuka began to drool slightly at the thought of Sushi
The Sound of an Engine starting startled the Newspaper Club and they all turned to see the Bus nearly completely disappear from their view
"N-No way they're leaving?" Yukari said
"W-Wait! Don't leave us here!" Kurumu called out
"They actually left a bunch of Academy students stranded in the middle of nowhere…" Mizore commented Kurumu let out a frustrated sigh
"Well, what do we do now?" the Vampiress looked around nervously and the group stayed silent, Naruto suddenly froze and looked over to his friends
"Did you guys hear that?" Naruto softly asked, Kurumu blinked at him and furrowed her eyebrows
"What are you talking about I didn-"
"Just listen!" Naruto interrupted as he placed his index finger on his lips, the Newspaper Club stood still before they heard a loud growl from the Sunflowers and Moka whimpered
"I-I don't like this" She muttered, Naruto attempted to reach for a Kunai only to grab air, the Shinobi let out a silent curse, he left this Shinobi pouch in the bus
"I should have hooked up some Kunais to my sleeves today" Naruto mentally kicked himself for forgetting something so important, he was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw sharp white teeth peering from the leaves of the Sunflowers.
Before anyone else could do anything, Several daggers made of Ice flew past him and into the leaves. An animalistic scream of pain was heard as Mizore stood in front of the Field with her ice claws drawn, a shadowed figure slowly scurried deep into the fields
"Well...that's over with" Mizore calmly stated, she slowly reverted back to her human form. the Club was about to let out a collective sigh of relief until they heard several more growls from the Sunflowers
"We gotta get out of this field!" Kurumu shouted, she dropped her bags and the growls soon turned to screams. Tsukune quickly pointed into the other direction and shouted
"there's a Shack on the other side of the field! Come on!"
The group quickly sprinted out of the field and towards the direction of a small shack. One by one the Group made their way into the shack, Naruto was the last to enter as he locked the door behind him.
"So...W-What the hell was that?" Kurumu asked, trying to catch her breath
"The old creep ditched us in some haunted place or something…" Naruto stated before turning over to Tsukune
"Hey, do you still have the Newspaper he gave you? Maybe we could figure out what's going on?" Tsukune nodded and took out the Newspaper the Bus driver had given him.
"Eighteen people have gone missing from this site and the surrounding camping grounds...according to legend a Witch lives on the hill, leading to rumors that she is responsible for the incidents and misfortunes that have occurred here" Tsukune readout
"A Witch is behind this? Why am I not surprised, Witches always do awful things after all" Kurumu smirked as she glanced over to Yukari who returned her smirk
"Don't tell me you believe everything you read on the paper! I knew you were gullible but this is ridiculous! Did your last brain cell finally clock out?" Yukari said before it could get any worse, Naruto intervened
"Alright! That's enough! Seriously we don't have time for this stuff right now" Naruto said as he got between the two and turned over to Tsukune
"Tsukune, it said there were some camping grounds nearby right?" Naruto asked the Human gave him a nod
"Then we should get set up there, they wouldn't just ditch us here…" Naruto said and Tsukune gave him a deadpanned look before pointing to the Newspaper
"Naruto, the paper said this Field was haunted, I don't think we should be anywhere near this place!" Tsukune replied Naruto sighed
"Well, we could...we...could" The Shinobi trailed off trying to think of what the group could do.
"Look, it's probably a good idea we stay somewhere close by so if they do come back, we won't be too far," Kurumu said, Naruto nodded with her
"Y-Yeah, we might be close to...other people at the Camping ground as well, it's not like we were left for dead" Naruto followed up, the Club wasn't still completely on board until Moka let out a sigh
"That makes sense I suppose" the Vampiress spoke
"..."
"..."
"Didn't we leave our bags back at the Sunflower field?" Mizore pointed out, silence fell around the shack, she was right, aside from whatever Naruto had in those storage scrolls and Tsukune's backpack, they dropped most of their things in a panic.
"W-We'll just go pick them up really quickly and head to the camping grounds," Tsukune said, Kurumu nodded in agreement
"Good idea, you and Naruto should go," the Succubus said, the two male teens did a double-take at that
"Wait, just us? Why?" Naruto asked and Kurumu gave him a sly smirk
"Call it a guy's night out" Kurumu answered before grabbing both the two teens and dropping them outside the shack.
"Whew, okay good, they're gone" Kurumu spoke as she turned over to the rest of the girls
"So, why did you send them alone?" Mizore asked, while the Succubus rolled her eyes and struck a pose
"For Operation Frozen heart" Kurumu declared, Yukari snorted
"What a lame name" Yukari commented while both Mizore and Moka looked slightly concerned with their blue-haired friend
"Operation...Frozen heart?" Moka repeated, Kurumu straightened herself out and nodded
"Yes! We're gonna hook up Naruto and Mizore by the end of this trip" Kurumu declared as she gave her friends a thumbs up, the rest of the three girls fell silent, Mizore began to slightly blush as Moka and Yukari glanced at Mizore
"And...that's why you sent Tsukune-kun and Naruto-kun out?" Moka questioned as she glanced back at the Succubus who nodded
"Yeah! I had to get you guys alone to tell you all about the plan" She responded, Mizore blinked at her before pulling out her sucker and twirling it
"You realize you sent them to get our stuff next to whatever was stalking us by the Sunflower fields, earlier right?" Mizore asked as Kurumu slightly paled.
"Oh crap! We gotta go after them!" She said before running out of the shack
"Tsukune-kun! Naruto! Wait up!"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
It took about a few hours for the Club to get set up on a nearby camping ground but it wasn't anything special, just a bench and a clearing for them
they were finally in the process of setting everything up, just as Dusk set in with Tsukune and Naruto trying to start a Campfire and the Girls unpacking everything
"Alright, Naruto, you got those rocks right?" Tsukune asked Naruto nodded as he motioned towards a pile of rocks and firewood
"Yeah, I also got that Wood" the Shinobi answered, Tsukune thanked him and began to make a small fire pit, it only took another few minutes until Tsukune finally lit the Firepit with a Match, the brown-haired Human took a step back and looked at his handy work
"I guess that boy scout stuff I used to do back then was worth it." Tsukune glanced around and noticed Moka was staring at him from her spot, the two shared a light blush before Naruto tossed Tsukune a wooden stake
"We still need to set up the tents," Naruto said, Tsukune snapped out of his daydreaming as he caught the wooden stake, the Human let out a sigh and got to work setting up the tents with this blond friend
"So have you ever been Camping?" Tsukune asked as he picked up a hammer, Naruto nodded
"Yeah, if we had missions outside of our village, we'd set up a camp to rest up before heading out again" the Whiskered blond passed a second stake over to Tsukune.
"What kind of missions?" Tsukune questioned, aside from little bits Naruto would tell him and Moka on occasion, Tsukune really didn't know too much about Naruto's life outside of the Yokai.
"Ah...well, usually just stuff here and there like dealing with wild animals that are harassing civilians and sometimes escort missions" Naruto answered almost like he had practice it Tsukune blinked at that then scoffed at him
"No offense, That…doesn't sound Shinobi-like, aren't you supposed to be doing like sneaking missions?" Tsukune pointed while Naruto scratched his cheek and didn't want to go into that territory
"That type of stuff is usually given to some of the higher rank Shinobis because of the risk and stuff" Naruto dismissed before Tsukune could open his mouth a voice cut in
"Naruto, Tsukune-kun! Come on!" Kurumu called out, the two teens perked up at Kurumu's sudden call but the two slowly walked over to them. Naruto picked up whatever Kurumu gave him and stared at it for a couple of seconds, he never really seen anything like it back in Konoha
"..."
"Alright, what is this?" Naruto asked Kurumu shot him a strange look
"It's...a s'more, you've never had a s'more?" the Succubus asked as Naruto shook his head
"Never" He replied and Moka smiled at him
"Just try it, Naruto-kun, you're gonna like it, I promise," the Pink-haired Vampiress said, Naruto slowly bit down, it was sweet, really sweet. The blond smiled slightly as he finished the rest of the s'more
Naruto suddenly did a headcount of everyone and realized one of them was missing
"Hey, where's Mizore?" Naruto asked Kurumu had to hide a grin as she pointed over to the bench not too far from them, the Yuki-onna sat there alone on the bench with a mini-cooler in front of her
"Why is she over there?" the Shinobi spoke
"She doesn't like the fire…" Yukari responded in a flat tone, Naruto got up and walked over to her, it didn't feel right for him to leave out the girl even if she really didn't like fire.
"Good, he went over to talk to her, this might be easier than I thought" Kurumu watched his retreating form and began to smirk before going back to her friends.
Naruto approached Mizore and put his hand up
"Hey, whatcha got there?" Naruto asked as he took a seat in front of her, Mizore blinked before opening the top of the mini-cooler
"Snow cones"
"Want one?" She offered with a small grin, Naruto returned her grin and nodded
"Sure why not" he responded
As the two ate their frozen treats in comfortable silence, Mizore realized she finally had him alone
"...all I have to do is just tell him, right? That shouldn't be too hard" The Yuki-onna took a deep breath before facing Naruto
"Hey, Naruto-kun?" Mizore softly spoke, Naruto turned over to her with a plastic spoon in his mouth and grinned.
"Yeah?"
"...This was so much easier in my head," Mizore thought as her heartbeat began to steadily increase, she tried to find the right words but everything was practically coming up short
"I've been wanting to tell you this for a while now b-"
"Look, You Pole-dancing Cow! All I was trying to say is that we should be on our toes for anything!" both Naruto and Mizore turned over to the rest of the group to see Kurumu and Yukari arguing again
"Don't tell me you're already scared? We just got here and now you want to bail?" Kurumu replied, Yukari grit her teeth
"Just listen to me! There was something in the Sunflower fields, we passed by a No Trespassing sign on the way here, there are no other Campers nearby at all, and check this out!" Yukari started as she took out several Cards
"My Tarot cards are saying 'Disaster' and 'Catastrophe', this is the human world, anything can happen!" Yukari finished, Kurumu glared at her
"I don't care about your stupid cards...just go home, you're being a baby right now, Seriously we should have just left you back at Yokai if you were going to keep bugging us" Kurumu harshly stated, Yukari grit her teeth
"Shut up! you don't know anything!" She shouted before throwing the Tarot card straight at Kurumu's forehead, the Witch quickly ran into the woods surrounding the Clearing
"Yukari wait!" Moka called out, Naruto glanced at Moka
"I'll go after her, you guys take care of Kurumu" Naruto shouted before running into the woods. Moka and Tsukune looked over to Kurumu, the Succubus's forehead was bleeding a bit too much.
"Wow...those...cards are really made of Iron, aren't they?" Kurumu kept muttering as she stumbled around. Moka and Tsukune quickly got a hold of her, so she wouldn't fall into the fire
"Can you get the rubbing alcohol from my bag?" Moka asked, Tsukune nodded and walked over to the tents
"Witches, pfft I don't...really like Witches" Kurumu continued to mutter, while Moka was trying to remove the iron card from Kurumu's forehead
Mizore stood not too far from the group in shock, one second she was about to confess and finally get her answer then the next, this ended up happening.
"Damn it!...at least I still have the rest of the trip to get this done," Mizore thought before slowly approaching the rest of the group
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"Stupid Pole-dancing Cow, she doesn't understand anything…" Yukari muttered as she entered the surrounding woods, the Small Witch didn't know how long she had been walking around the place but after a few seconds she reached the edge of the Sunflower Field
"Why would they? They're Monsters, they don't know what it's like to be a 'Filthy' half breed…" Yukari bitterly thought. She didn't know why but she casually walked through the dirt paths of the Sunflower Fields.
Yukari walked through the pathways and oddly felt a bit at peace, she could see that Night was starting to set in but she didn't really care too much,
"We really shouldn't be here…"
Yukari suddenly stopped when she heard an unfamiliar voice and decided to listen in
"Come on it's perfectly safe, you aren't scared about that silly Witch myth right?"
"You can't call it a Myth when Eighteen people disappeared at the same time, even if it's not a Witch…it could be a serial killer or something even worse...I think we should go"
Yukari hid in a nearby ditch and watched a Couple exit the field
"T-Those were Humans...actual humans..." Yukari anxiously thought she stayed there for a couple of minutes, trying to process everything
"So is there really another Witch here?" Yukari mused
a rustle from the Sunflowers startled her and Yukari took out her wand.
Not too far from her was a feminine figure that stepped out of the Shadows, the first thing Yukari noticed was the Gothic clothing this mysterious woman wore and her scarlet-orange eyes
"Who are you?" Yukari demanded while the Woman gave her a warm smile
"You're...a witch too?" The Woman asked, taking notice of Yukari's wand and outfit.
The Younger Witch slowly lowered her wand as she sensed no ill-intent coming off this woman, her Violet eyes widened when she noticed the talisman dangling on the Woman's neck
"That's...I've never seen one of those in person before!" Yukari shouted as she pointed at the talisman, the Woman smiled at her and extended her hand
"It's so wonderful to finally meet another Witch...I'm Tōjō Ruby..." Ruby greeted, Yukari beamed
"Yukari Sendo!" She proudly said as she shook her hand, it wasn't every day she actually met another Witch.
"Would you like to be friends, Yukari?" Ruby asked while Yukari fiercely nodded
"Of course! We're both Witches! Why wouldn't we be friends?" Yukari accepted and to her surprise, Ruby suddenly pulled her into a hug
"Oh, this is just wonderful! You have no idea how many things I want to tell you, please follow me!" Ruby said, Yukari was about to open her mouth to speak when a loud growl caused her to freeze, the Older Witch was quick to take notice of this.
"Don't worry as long as they know you aren't a threat they won't hurt you" Ruby informed, Yukari gave her a slow nod and began to follow Ruby deeper into the Sunflower fields
"So, Ruby-san, you must be the Witch that lives here, right?" Yukari spoke as Ruby nodded
"Yes, Witches have lived on this hill for generations, here we didn't have to worry about humans and their prejudice or even concern ourselves with other Monsters who only looked down on us...we lived here in complete peace away from it all" Ruby explained, Yukari blinked
"Then what happened?" Yukari asked and Ruby stopped, the Older Witch turned over to Yukari with slight confusion
"You said these things in the past tense, so something must have changed right?" Yukari clarified, Ruby gave her another grin and nodded
"You're pretty observant for such a young Witch" Ruby complemented before taking a deep breath
"Humans…" She started, her tone was no longer filled with warmth as she said this
"Recently a Human Corporation has taken an interest in our wonderful hill, they plan to tear it all down and build a public facility all for their own profit and greed," Ruby said, Yukari looked shocked that such a beautiful place like this would be torn down just like that.
"But…" Ruby spoke again as Yukari looked at her, the Young Witch could see Ruby cupped her hands together
"Our ladyship has a plan to exterminate those pests and protect our hill…Yukari, I know this is so sudden but we could use someone like you to join us, What do you think?" Ruby proposed, Yukari froze at this but before she could respond another voice
"Yukari! Seriously this isn't a joke! It's getting dark already…"
"Nii-san?" Yukari thought as she watched the blond approach them
"Oh, man! don't run off on us like that! Seriously you had me worried!" Naruto said before noticing Ruby next to her
"Ah...who's your friend?" Naruto asked, he suddenly flinched as he saw Ruby's heated glare directed at him
"You...You're here to defile our home, I-I won't let you!" Ruby yelled
She held up her now glowing wand and Three Human-Plant like creatures appeared from the Sunflower fields. Naruto took out his storage scroll but just as he was going to unseal his sword, several tarot cards began to fly past him and make quick work of the creatures.
The screams of pain coming from the Plant Creatures soon died down once they were cut into pieces. Naruto looked surprised as he saw Yukari proudly stood between him and Ruby with her sparkling wand in the air.
"I'm not gonna let you hurt him!" Yukari proclaimed, Ruby recoiled at this, her mind couldn't process that Yukari could even value this...filth over a fellow Witch.
The Uzumaki quickly used Ruby's hesitation to his advantage and he dashed towards her. Naruto used his palm to strike her chest before grabbing her wrist and twisting it, the Older Witch dropped her wand and Naruto delivered a clean sideswipe to her jaw.
Ruby's vision began to turn blurry as she stumbled and Naruto was slightly taken back at this, a Low-Chunin level Shinobi would have already been out cold from that chakra-enhanced punch alone but the Shinobi still acted fast and landed a palm strike under her chin.
Ruby's world finally turned black and she fell on the ground, Yukari was frozen in shock at what had just happened, she watched as Naruto kneel over Ruby's body and checked her vital signs
"N-Ni-san, Did you just…" Yukari trailed off before Naruto slowly picked up Ruby's unconscious body, he turned over to Yukari with a small smile
"She's fine, come on, we'll take her to the campsite and find out what's going on" Naruto spoke as he slowly began to walk back to the campgrounds, Yukari bit her lower lip before jogging over to catch up with him
"How did you do that?" Yukari asked Naruto exhaled before glancing over at her
"Practice…" Naruto answered and Yukari's lips curled into a frown as she gave him a deadpanned look
"I mean how did you knock her out so fast and so easily?" Yukari pressed on as Naruto smiled at her
"A clean hit to the jaw from the sides can make someone's head spin and with enough strength, you can knock them out" Naruto explained and Yukari gave him a slow nod, that sorta made sense to her
"She's actually tougher than she looks, it took two shots to do the job with her, I guess Witches are tougher than normal Humans…" Naruto mused
"I still don't wanna see Cow-tits yet" Yukari muttered under her breath, however, Naruto heard her and patted her back
"Yeah, I get ya…" Naruto responded before an idea crossed his mind
"Hey, why don't we get back at her?" Naruto offered, Yukari turned over to him, she blinked for a second before seeing a familiar grin on Naruto's face
"I didn't bring any pranking supplies through" Yukari spoke as she shot him a downcasted look
"I got back up supplies," Naruto said and Yukari looked up at the night sky
"I'll think about it…"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Knock* *Knock*
"Come in!" Tsunade spoke, she quickly stuffed a bottle of Saki into her drawer, a brunette woman with her hair tied into two buns hesitantly stepped in
"Tenten was it? Take a seat" Tsunade gestured towards the chair in front of her and Tenten blushed
"S-Sorry, I just...never expected Tsunade-sama, of all people, to ask for me personally, you've always sorta been my idol," Tenten said as she nervously sat down and Tsunade grinned, it was nice that she was able to inspire so many young Kunoichi but Tsunade composed herself and took out a poster tube
"I have a proposal for you" Tsunade started before taking a deep breath Tenten felt her palms start getting sweaty as she watched the Senju slowly take out a blueprint.
"Konoha...doesn't really have a major company to supply us with Kunais or other shinobi tools unlike the other Villages, we rely on minor individual weapon shops for that and while that has its strengths and weaknesses...let's just get straight to the point, please take a look at this" Tsunade said as she opened the blueprint and presented it to Tenten
"A...mortar? what is this?" Tenten asked, her brown eyes scanned the blueprint in front of her and Tsunade took a deep breath
"Where I got this is classified but what I want is for a weapon similar to this, something far lighter and something that a Shinobi can carry on their backs to the frontlines, the little odd-looking hunk of metal is what's called a 'shell' it's to be fired from the cylinder and upon impact, it's to explode…I don't expect it to work the exact same way so feel free to take some creative liberties as you see fit but as long as it serves its purpose we'll sign off on it" Tsunade continued, Tenten blinked as she studied the blueprint before glancing back her idol
"I'm...not questioning your orders, Tsunade-sama but do we really need such a weapon? How would it function? and how would it benefit a Shinobi in the middle of Combat?" Tenten said as Tsunade scratched her chin and sighed
"For one, this weapon would almost be practically useless in a one on one Shinobi fight but that's not what it's intended for, it's goal is to soften enemy stronghold defenses with indirect fire from above in support of an assault...at least that's what I'm hoping for" Tsunade explained, Tenten fidgeted in her seat
"Well...I've never done anything like this, ah, Tsunade-sama, why did you come to me exactly for this?" Tenten asked as Tsunade smiled at her
"I've heard my subordinates only speak positively about your shop and how it's considered to be one of the best in Konoha, I also know I can trust you, not to say that those shops aren't loyal to Konoha...but it's always better to trust a fellow Konoha Shinobi with this type of stuff" Tsunade answered before something crossed her mind and she snapped her fingers
"Ah! I almost forgot" Tsunade exclaimed before going through her drawer and taking out a storage scroll
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Tenten, your shop may be one of the best but it is...well small" Tsunade started as Tenten looked away in slight embarrassment
"Y-Yes I know, I practically had to build it from the ground up with my family" Tenten responded, Tsunade placed a medium-size Storage scroll on the table along with a small check that she quickly signed
"This Storage scroll has all of the raw material you'll need for a prototype for this new weapon, Iron, copper, Gunpower, you name it, the Check is a small fortune of what Jiraiya and myself were able to cobble up along with some funds from Konoha's treasury, if you accept, you'll be able to start your own company with your own workers, working primarily for Konoha...what do you say?" Tsunade offered this completely shocked the young chunin
Tenten struggled to stand up from her seat, her legs practically felt like jelly. to her, this was an offer of a lifetime, an opportunity to rise above her civilian background and write her own name in the history books.
But she was downright terrified of the fact that she might not be up for such a huge task as Tsunade started at the Chunin in front of her, the Senju woman saw a fiery passion in her eyes before a determined grin soon found its way onto Tenten's face.
"I'll do it," Tenten said and Tsunade smiled at her
"I'll summon you in a couple of days, we have an empty warehouse for you to use to kick start this operation" Tsunade spoke, she leaned back in her chair as she watched Tenten give her a slow nod as she picked the storage scroll and exited her office
Just as Tenten closed the door, a familiar white-haired man jumped through the window and into Tsunade's office, the Senju woman nearly fell back on her Chair in surprise before she caught herself
"Damn it, Jiraiya, not again!" Tsunade scolded as the Toad Sage let out a short chuckle before closing the window and turned to the Senju woman
"So, how did the interrogation go?" Tsunade asked, Jiraiya frowned and took out a folder
"Well, he was still a tough nut to crack even without the seal...now know where most of Danzo's bases are located but I have good news and bad news" Jiraiya answered, Tsunade held her breath
"What's the bad news?" She questioned as Jiraiya's sighed
"We know why Danzo was colluding with Orochimaru now and what he was after" Jiraiya trailed off before swallowing some saliva in his throat
"Tsunade-hime, as your former teammate, I want you to try to keep your anger under control after I tell you this, please" Jiraiya started, Tsunade frowned at that
"Alright, go on" Tsunade spoke and Jiraiya nodded
"We had our suspicions that there were other motives to the Uchiha massacre and as it turns out it's a pretty deep rabbit hole, the full unaltered report on the incident is in this folder...now we learned that Danzo decided to implant the Sharingan's from the deceased Uchiha into himself with the help of Orochimaru and we...learned that he's also appeared to have defiled your Grandfather's grave and spliced some of his DNA into himself"
Just as those words left Jiraiya's mouth, Tsunade lifted her fist and prepared to slam it on her desk, however, it stayed in the air for a few seconds as Tsunade took several deep breaths to calm herself down. she was a Shinobi despite how much she wanted to break her desk in anger and go looking for the one-eyed cripple now, Tsunade knew she had to keep her emotions in check for now. the blond Kage lowered her fist.
"What's the good news?" Tsunade demanded in an emotionless tone that made Jiraiya slightly sweat
"W-Well, as I said, we found the location of Danzo's most visited hideout and so we'll know where to strike him when it's time, Inochi and I are also working on a new seal designed to replace Danzo's seal and gives you complete control of Root though, Inochi said something about how might be a long process due to 'Memory' drainage, whatever that is…" the Toad sage finished and Tsunade smirked, there was at least a couple of victories in all of this.
"We'll bide our time then, I'm sure he's slightly on edge that one of his own Anbu never arrived at his destination, we'll wait till he lets his guard down once more than strike him with everything we got," Tsunade said as she spun her chair towards the window behind her
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"So, she's the Witch that's been behind all of the disappearances?" Tsukune asked with a look of concern as Naruto nodded, zipping up the tent behind him
"Yeah that's what Yukari said anyway" the blond replied before Tsukune could give him a response, a loud shriek was heard from Kurumu's tent
"No! No! Get them away from me!" Kurumu yelled, she unzipped her tent and with a look of sheer terror, she ran behind Tsukune and Naruto. the three heard a soft giggle from behind Kurumu's tent that soon turned into full-blown laughter
"Haha, I had no idea that hahaha, you were that scared of Spiders, Pole-dancer, you should have seen the look on your face," Yukari said with an amused grin as she approached them with three small orange spiders following her. The Small Witch waved her wand and the Spiders suddenly fell down lifeless, Naruto picked one up and smiled at her
"Told you it would work," Naruto said
"Seriously what just happened?" Tsukune asked, Naruto turned over to him and held the Lifeless Orange spider by the leg
"It's just a toy" Naruto started before Yukari nodded
"Yep! All I did was use a spell to make them seem like they were alive" the Witch snickered as she turned over to a stunned Kurumu
"And you completely fell for it! I don't think I've ever seen someone run that fast in my life" Yukari giggled, Kurumu finally mentally process everything and an angry look fell on her face. she glared at Naruto, then Yukari, before storming off back into her tent, mumbling something they couldn't hear.
"I'm gonna go check on Ruby-san," Yukari said, the Small Witch walked back to Naruto's tent and Tsukune turned over to Naruto with a look of slight concern
"Hey, since Ruby-san is in your tent, where are you actually gonna sleep? I don't think any of us brought an extra sleeping bag or tent but if you want I could sleep outside and you cou-" but the Human was interrupted when Naruto held his hand
"Nah, I'm fine, thanks for the offer" Naruto declined with a friendly smile but Tsukune did have a point, he technically didn't have a place to sleep right now.
though the blond wasn't a stranger to sleeping outside sometimes due to his rough childhood, it was still nice to have a warm spot for the night. The Temperature around the two teens suddenly dropped and Mizore appeared behind Naruto.
"You could sleep with me in my tent" Mizore proposed with a light blush on her face and Naruto's cheeks slightly heated up as well. Tsukune scratched his cheek when he heard this and suddenly felt an awkward aura like he shouldn't be there especially catching a glare from Moka that told him to leave them alone.
"I'll let you two talk" Tsukune briefly said before walking over to his tent
"I...don't know, Mizore, I'm not sure the two of us would fit, hehe or I could keep you up with my snoring" Naruto spoke, Mizore's blush only deepened as she twirled her hair cutely and tried to avoid making too much eye contact.
"I could move the Ice cooler to my side and make space for you. It won't be too crowded and I don't mind the snoring I promise, you can't just sleep outside..." Mizore insisted before Naruto could say anything else, Yukari came running over to Naruto
"Nii-san! I think Ruby is waking up!" Naruto's eyes widened at that and quickly turned back to Mizore
"Go tell the others" Naruto spoke before he made his way over to his tent. Mizore watched her love interest runoff and clenched her teeth, again this was the second time she was interrupted in the same night just as she was going to make a move!
The Yuki-onna let out a frustrated sigh before she decided to sit back down on her bench and make another Snowcone for herself
Naruto let Yukari enter his tent first, the small Witch was ecstatic that Ruby was finally awake and while there was some worry Ruby would still be hostile, Yukari was confident she could talk her down.
Yukari entered the tent with a small smile and watched Ruby slowly opened her eyes, Immendality as Ruby was able to get her bearings, she sprung up in surprise.
"W-Where am I? Who are you?" Ruby shouted, Naruto kneeled by her, and Ruby backed away from him, she scanned the Shinobi in front of her with narrowed eyes
"Oi, just take it easy!" Naruto spoke as Ruby gripped her jaw, something the Uzumaki was quick to notice and rubbed the back of his head
"Sorry about that" Naruto apologized, he cleared his throat and pointed at himself
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, you've already met Yukari, we were on a School trip then we suddenly just got ditched here" Naruto spoke, Ruby narrowed her eyes at him
"So You're human," She said, Yukari shook her head
"No, he's a Monster, our whole group is...well except me, I'm just a Witch" Yukari responded as she pointed to her pointy hat, Ruby looked to be taken back at this before an angry look set in
"As if Monsters could ever be friends with us," said Ruby, Yukari frowned at this, recalling how she had been just a few months prior
"I thought the same thing when I first met them, please just give them a chance" Yukari replied, Ruby still continued to glare at Naruto while the blond simply avoided her gaze all together
"You still haven't told me where I'm," Ruby said, stealing glances at both Naruto and Yukari.
"The Campsite, the one farthest from the Sunflower Fields actually" Naruto answered with a friendly smile, Ruby soften her glare and eventually watched Naruto exit the tent while Yukari stayed with her
"Hey, would you like to join us outside? I promise that you'll enjoy it!"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Yūgao looked out her Apartment window and let out a sigh, sure the colored television was an interesting thing and the number of channels on it, to her it almost seemed endless but she soon grew bored with it as the novelty wore off.
at the moment the Anbu was feeling restless, She had to keep her mind occupied or else it might start drifting off to a place it really didn't need to be.
Knock* *Knock*
The Sound made Yūgao perk up and she was somewhat concerned as to who would be at her door, Naruto wouldn't be back till Sunday at the very least. The Anbu took a glance at the peephole, her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly opened the door.
"Didn't expect me so soon I bet?" the Bus driver said with a grin
"No...I didn't, weren't you supposed to keep an eye on the kids on their trip?" Yūgao questioned as she narrowed her eyes at the man who simply shrugged
"It's not too uncommon for teens in Japan to be doing these types of things on their own, they're only young once I'd say let them have their fun, they can take care of themselves" The Bus driver answered and Yūgao softened her glaze at that but figured he was right about them being able to take care of themselves
"Well, why are you here anyway?" Yūgao asked and Nurari took out a cigar much to the Anbu's annoyance
"Shizuka and I are gonna head into Kyoto for a night out, care to join us?" the Bus driver asked as he began to light the Tobacco
Yūgao debated on her answer, on the one hand, a part of her wanted to mop around and flip through the channels again on the other hand...Tsunade told her to enjoy herself and experience new things
"Let me just get changed," Yūgao said and the Bus driver nodded
"We'll be outside"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"She then said 'it's no wonder you came across the old swamp man, that's the place he and his late wife once stayed and though the woman said it in a passing tone, Kazuto knew the full meaning of what she said" Kurumu finished in a dramatic tone as she gave her friends an evil grin.
the Succubus decided she wanted to stay up just a bit longer to introduce herself to Ruby and the group then sat around the slowly dying Campfire to listen to Kurumu's stories
"That was...alright, Kurumu-chan, don't really know what a worrigal is though..." Tsukune stated, he started slowly clapping for her but he was the only one clapping, the Blue-haired teen nearly face faulted and pointed at the group
"Come on! I worked really hard on that story, I even did research to come up with it!, you guys could give me some credit for it at the very least" Kurumu ranted while Mizore simply shrugged
"Sorry, it just wasn't too scary" the Yuki-onna commented and Moka placed a finger on her chin
"I think you should work a bit more on your delivery, Kurumu-chan, it has potential," the Pink-haired Teen said, Ruby, had a grin plastered on her face as she watched the interaction in front of her before quickly realizing something
She was smiling and enjoying herself with these Monsters who constantly looked down on people like her, the grin soon disappeared Ruby stole one glance at Yukari then she glanced at the Soda can the Younger Witch had given her, there were so many conflicting thoughts and feelings going through her head that it all culminated into anger
"I don't get it" she slowly muttered, though the rest of the Newspaper Club heard her and turned over to her
"Don't get what?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head in confusion, Ruby ignored him and stared at Yukari
"I don't understand how you could ever be friends with them, they hate us, they want us dead, they're no better than the humans who once burned us on stakes" Ruby sprouted with a venomous tone, the entire club fell silent though Naruto and Tsukune flinched at that, both knowing full well of the Witch hunts through their history class
"Yukari may be a crybaby and sometimes she's a bit more trouble than she's worth but I will say that all of us do care about her, we don't care that she's a witch, she's part of our group and a good friend that's all I care about," said Kurumu as she crossed her arms under her chest, Yukari looks slightly surprised that this came out of Kurumu of all people and Ruby's soul-piercing glare made its way to Kurumu.
"You don't know what it's like to be hunted and discriminated like we were" Ruby shot back, the bluenette still didn't back down and glared right back at her. Despite the tension in the air, Tsukune stood up and got between them
"Look, we might not know what it's like to go through that but I can tell you that we do care about Yukari, we wouldn't be here for her otherwise," Tsukune said and the rest of the group nodded
Naruto hesitated for a quick a part of him wanted to tell Ruby he knew what that was like but the Whiskered Shinobi closed his mouth saying anything about his life back in Konoha would only lead to questions he didn't really want to be asked right now.
Ruby's eyes moved back to Yukari and the Younger Witch saw a malicious intent in her eyes
"It's time to decide, Yukari, will you join your brethren in our struggle to protect our home or will you betray us for those that looked down on you?" Ruby declared and Yukari stayed silent, she glanced at all of her friends then looked back at the Older Witch
"Ruby-san some Monsters might be just straight-up jerks but not all of them, Moka-chan, Nii-san, Tsukune, Mizore even cow-tits were there for me in some way, I just can't help you" Yukari answered, Ruby's left eye twitched. Naruto, Moka, Mizore, and Kurumu all suddenly tensed up as the bushes around their campsite started to rustle
A cloaked humanoid figure dashed through the treelines and slowly Naruto reached for his pocket, Mizore created an Ice dagger Moka backed up slightly and Kurumu just looked through the treelines as if she was trying to pinpoint something and Tsukune looked at his friends with slight concern and curiosity
"You...You would really betray us for these...pieces of trash?" Ruby slowly muttered and Yukari gave her a slow nod
"I don't hate you Ruby-san and I don't blame you for feeling the way you do, I think I'd be a hypocrite if I did, given how I used to...be but my friends saved me from myself, I just can't do it," Yukari said as she never took her eyes off the Stunned Older Witch and somehow ignoring the actions of her friends.
Kurumu's eyes widened as several humanoid plant Monsters began to make themselves visible to the Club from all directions, Naruto summoned his sword and Mizore dropped her Ice dagger in favor of her Ice claws.
Tsukune was frozen in fear when he laid his eyes on these Monsters that just seemed suddenly appeared, the Plant-like Monsters did nothing but continued to circle the group from a Distance
"You won't join us…" Ruby muttered not exactly comprehending what Yukari was saying but as it finally clicked she looked back at Yukari with so much hate in her eyes it made the smaller Witch flinch
"Then Her ladyship has no place for traitors like you!" Ruby yelled as black feathered wings sprouted from her back
Squelch*
Time also seemed to slow down as Tsukune's body slowly hit the ground and blood began to gush out of a deep cut on his collarbone
"Tsukune-kun!" Moka and Kurumu shouted in absolute horror
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
End
Times Rewritten:4
This whole Chapter was a Kryptonite for me in terms of writing, feels off and all, like I said Naruto being here changes a couple of things but Mizore also being here changes a bunch more, I did switch it up from anime beach trip or a Manga city trip to a Camping trip because I figured it was a good way to blend the two and have Naruto and Mizore still do things and because I might have something else for a city trip in a couple of chapters who knows.
The main reason for the weird stuff is that I'm trying to keep Naruto as close to canon personality as I can without everything going crazy like with Ruby, I think canon Naruto would have asked questions instead of attacking like that but I needed to push the story forward so a little CQC did the job
Though this chapter felt a bit weak in some aspects especially with Ruby and how off the rail I went off the source material I promise it'll work itself out, it somehow usually does
On the Guest bro review, yeah, power scaling is my greatest weakness when writing, the whole Gin Chapter should be a shining example of that like you pointed out, I might even rewrite it when I have time maybe, possibly, potentially but I'm just one lad so yeah, I'll try and with some pushes in the right direction, I think I can pull it off and thanks for the pointers for the other Club members.
on Inner Moka, that was my fault, I was trying to get a certain point across that should show up like in three Chapters from now, which is Inner Moka's not necessarily hatred but dislike for Naruto getting the drop on her due to her nature as a Vampire and not wanting to be one-upped and her blunt disregard for Tsukune, that'll change for Tsukune wayyy down the line through a certain arc, though yeah, I might have overdone it there with how aggressive I made her
Okay one last thing which is the Tenten stuff, I'll show more down the line but this is all testing, no doctrines have been developed nothing, Konoha has nothing but books and blueprints, I have some idea about introducing more Monster types and how they interact with the world, if you caught one this chapter good on you, there are attempts going on here, If there are any mistakes I didn't catch let me know and I'll roll out hotfixes
Anyway, the next Chapter should be wrapping up Ruby's arc then laid back then Grand mission then back to school, sorry for any grammar mistakes still one guy and sorry for the long note, later
hotfix 1: I completely forgot to spend an extra day correcting mistakes, my bad